Week One

3:00 a.m. Monday morning, Michelle, takes the kids and I to the Denver airport. It it HUGE. We left in plenty of time because we knew it was a large airport. I was informed that there were 80 seats open so it was not even a concern. I was very relieved and glad to be in SLC by 7:30. The check in was fast and the security was much more efficient than the Nashville airport. We go in and we have to take a train to our terminal and then walk forever to our gate. We were the last stop on the train so that was really fun for the kids. I go and check in at the service counter at my gate (I was an hour and some early) and she says, "Mam, I am sorry to tell you but the plane is having some mechanical problems and I have no idea when or if it is going to be taking off. So you can either wait and see if this flight will take off or there is a plane that is about to leave to Phoenix and they are boarding. There are some seats open for you in Phoenix to SLC." I just look at her and then the kids and I am trying to decide whether to wait or not. She interrupts my thought process and says, "This plane is not going to take off you you had better run to the other gate." Okay, this other gate is the clear across the airport and back on the train at the first stop. So I get the kids, "hurry get your bags, we have to run back to the train and get on another flight." The kids do great and we run as fast as we can to get to the train. It seems to take forever to get off but then I rush them off and we take off to our gate. Sage decides that she is sick of running and she stops, sits down, and starts to cry. I am telling her she has to hurry or we won't make the plane. Some lady is watching us and she comes to my rescue. She takes my bags and Sage's and so I can carry Sage and Scott and we run to the next plane. The staff had already moved everyone so that we could sit together and we make the hour and a half flight to Phoenix. Not too bad after the rush and I guess in hind sight, it is nice that we didn't have to sit and wait at the airport. When we get to Phoenix, I check in there and it turns out, They didn't give me my tickets and the flight they had booked me for was full. They were very helpful though and they printed me some new tickets. They then rebooked me on another flight and told me that they were just about to board so we would have to hurry to get on. Turns out, the gate was not too far so we had about 5 minutes before we had to board. It also put us in SLC earlier than the original flight had so that is a plus. We got there early and Ammon picked us up at the airport. This experience was so stressful for me that I swore I would never do standby again! I was going to buy tickets for our return trip and think if it as a learning experience that I never wanted to go through again. It is amazing what a little time away from a situation will do for your attitude. Now, I would do standby again in a heart beat and I even rode home standby (without any problems). We stayed at Ammon's for the first week. It was so great. Cole was buddied up with Orion and Sage and McKelle were all about Adam. Of course Henry and Atlas were amazing also. It was nice to spend some time with families before everyone came. That way when there was a crowd, my kids already knew some of their cousins and they wouldn't be so overwhelmed. My plan worked out perfectly too.

We went to Saltaire with Victoria and Ammon's family. It was filled with little knats but it was so fun. The kids climbed up on the rocks and we all skipped rocks. Scott tried to throw everyone's shoes in the water but was caught just in time every time.

Rebecca and Victoria came over for diner one night and we went to Marc's one afternoon. Cole was really sad to find out that they no longer belonged to their goat co-op but was thrilled when they told him they had chickens in their back yard. His favorite was, Uncle John, (yes named after John) who was a banty chicken. I thought that was really funny. The first week went by so fast and it was so fun.

The First Leg

Saturday Morning at 3:00 a.m. Will takes us the airport. He says he will wait to make sure we make our plane before he takes off. I tell him not to worry about it because we will make it. We have to check in because I have a lap child. The line is not too long and then we have to go through security. We get to the front where they are checking I.D. and they tell me that the front counter people did not give me my lap child paper. I ask them if I can come right back to the front when I get done with that. They say "No, but the line shouldn't be too bad". Seriously, what is that. The later it gets, the longer the line is. Anyway, we go back to the baggage check in and the line is 3 times as long as it was the first time around. I wait for a few minutes and then I just grab one of the attendants walking by (they must have just got on shift) and told her what had happened. She takes me up front and looks at my tickets. Guess what, they didn't forget, the security person just didn't look close enough. So we go back through security. I had planned plenty of time to get to the gate and check in but I don't think I added enough time for two check ins. We get to the customer service desk at our gate at about 5:40. By 6:00, we are not so sure that we will make our plane. The standby list is very full and we are not the priority on the list. At 6:20, we are informed that we will not make the list. Will calls to see if we are boarded and I tell him what is going on. I tell him to wait a few minutes where he is and I will call him back. The kids are getting groggy (I guess grouchy would be more accurate and I guess saying Mckelle would be most accurate). I ask the person at the service counter what I should do. They look up the flights and they tell me that if I run, I can make a plane headed to Denver (I was originally headed to Phoenix) and that I should be able to make the plane after that to UT. Good plan. I tell the kids to grab their bags and start to go as fast as we can to the other gate. McKelle decides that she is not going to go. She sits down and starts to wail. I am grab her bag (I have Scott in my front carrier, a back pack on and also carrying a back pack) and try to pull her along. She gets more hysterical. Some guy is watching and he comes running to my rescue. He takes the 2 bags I am carrying plus the one Sage is pulling so that I can hold McKelle and we run to the gate. The other plane is waiting for us and they have to move a bunch of people to get us together. One of the workers says, "Mam, I would suggest that next time, try to make it at least an hour early so we don't have to hold the plane like this for you. Especially when you are taking 4 kids." (He is not rude but I know what he is really thinking.) I tell him that this was not even my flight and how much I appreciate them waiting and letting me on. He apologizes for his previous statement and we finally get our seats and take off. I think that the plane was about 15 minutes late (because of us) to take off but they still made it to Denver 10 minutes before they were scheduled to land. When we get there, we check in at the next customer service counter where they tell me we might not make the next flight. It just so happens that the flight is very full but who knows, sometimes people don't show up. I take the kids to eat and then we mess around until time to board. It has been about a 2 hour wait. The plane boards and then I get called to board. Hurray!...oh wait, they don't have quite enough seats for all of us. The next flight out is not for 5 more hours and they all have at least 1 layover in which I might make it but it will be close. 2 of my kids are screaming and all of them are exhausted. I am stressed out but trying to pull it together. Will calls his sister (she is an hour and a half away) and she says she will love to come and pick us up. So an hour and a half later, we are climbing in and headed to her home. So glad she was willing to come get us. The kids are super excited because they love these cousins. It was stressful but I am glad it worked out this way. The next morning, the plane is very open for the 6:30 flight but we decided to stay an extra day to enjoy and I don't know if I can handle another 3 a.m. wake up just yet. Michelle has the most adorable new born. She should seriously be put in commercials and she is so calm...until Scott comes around. He is loving not being the youngest and he really wants to touch (hit) her all the time. So other than keeping him away from the baby, the stay was great. We went to the "Garden of the Gods" it was so beautiful. It was also so fun to watch the kids climb up the boulders. I loved it so much. The kids all played so well together and it was nice to see Ryan and Michelle in their own element and just enjoy their family's company.

Stay tuned for the rest of my trip.

April Showers Bring...

April is the birth month of my two adorable children. We will start with Scott because his is the first one. Scott's birthday was celebrated a little unusual. We went to the hospital to celebrate with Billy, Will's Dad. This will have been the second birthday party in a hospital. (Cole's 2nd birthday was there too). It was a little cramped in the room. I would suggest using the waiting room for the party for any of you thinking this location maybe ideal for one of your children. No candles also makes some a little sad. It was okay though because Scott didn't care at all and the other three were just happy to finally be getting some cake.

I will tell you a little about my baby. He is the biggest child I have. He is taller and heavier than the other three were. Also, he is fearless. My children are not really fly by the seat of your pants kind of kids. They are not pansies but not wild. Scott, he thinks he can keep up with the others and he does a pretty good job at it. He was crawling by 7 months and walking by 11 months. He loves to laugh. He laughs all the time. He loves to bounce and talk (baby noises). He is intolerant of others talking over him. He will get louder and louder if you are not paying attention to him. Did I mention he laughs a lot? He is a great sleeper now and has a mouth full of teeth. He loves to eat salad, spaghetti, stroganoff, soup, and pretty much casserole kind of meals. He loves slides and swings (in short time periods). He will try to work out with me and run in place. He will get his little legs moving as fast as he can and it is so cute. Scott loves his siblings. Because it is so easy to make him laugh and get him excited, the kids love to pay attention to him. Scott is also a tease. He loves to pretend to give you stuff and then at the last second, he will take it away and run with a big grin on his face. He will cover his head with his blanket all the time and then pull it off to scare you. He is LOUD. He and Sage are scream buddies (this can be kind of annoying). Scott loves to put on hats and lately, shoes. I love this little guy so much. Sage's birthday was 9 days later. She decided this year that she wanted a friend party. So we invited a few girls and had a rainbow party. When the guests arrived we painted their faces and let them put glitter in their hair (we also had colors for their hair but they all wanted glitter. We did sand art, decorated our own little cakes, jumped on the trampoline and had a rainbow lunch. It was fun. Aunt Kim and Aunt Megan came over that evening and ate dinner with us. Then Sage opened more presents. Sage was a little crabby though. She was crabby the whole day until that night when her brothers and sister went to bed. (We let our kids stay up as late as they want on their birthday). She was so pleasant that night. She took all of her toys and placed them beside her then she spent 20 minutes or so on each item. It was so cute. Her grandparents gave her a Hello Kitty scrapbook kit. She "wrote notes" to Granddad for about a half an hour. It was so cute. As she was "writing" (which looked like she was drawing mountains) she would say out loud what she was writing. I had to record it on my camera because it was so sweet. I would upload but blogger won't let me. Sorry you have to miss out on such a precious moment. At 11:00, Will and I were so tired. Will made Sage go to bed (and they call me the party pooper). Oh yeah, the cake, I was going to do something kind of involved and was not looking forward to decorating it at all. Well, Sage and Cole decided that they wanted to help and it made cake decorating so much easier! Sage told me exactly what to do and I let them put on the skittles. I think this is the way I am decorating for now on. Their ideas are so much easier than mine and they enjoy the process.

A funny story about her friend party: Sage wanted to open her presents first thing. I wouldn't let her because I was kind of afraid that there would be the whole not sharing thing. Just before lunch, we were all outside on/around the trampoline. She finally convinced me to let her open the presents. She took off into the house and we all headed up. By the time I had gotten into the living room (about 3 minutes later) she already had all her presents opened and she and one of her friends were coloring in one of her new coloring books. I was so surprised and all I could do was laugh. A little bit about Sage: First off, her first name is Brooke. She is such a sweet person. She loves her siblings and will show it with hugs and kisses (most of the time they don't want them). She is my favorite person to get excited. Her enthusiasm is overwhelming. A compliment goes a long way with her. When someone prays for her, she is so grateful and will them thank you and that they are her best friend. She is loud...very loud. Sage has a soft heart but a big mouth. She is easy to make cry but she doesn't just boo hoo and go away, she cries and then lets the perpetrator know exactly what they did wrong. (Yes, sometimes uncalled for.) She loves to be held and cuddled. She is pretty good at obeying and loves to please me. I love her so much and she is such a good kid.

Yo-Yo dieting part 2

Okay, now on with my quest to be healthy. Here are a few more diet (life quests) that I have tried (always dipping in and out of): Body for Life, P90X and HCG diet. Body for Life: Great program. The work outs are quick and effective and the eating is precise. The program works well and it is actually a life style (not so much for me) that would be great. I LOVE this program. I do this on and off all the time. I am not one that thinks it is worth it to live extremely strict in the food category and I am also not one that pushes my workouts super hard. I am medium on all of it. I do this for a month or two (lose from 2-3 lbs a week) and go off. A month or so later I will go back on for a while etc. I have adopted it into my lifestyle in as much that I eat healthier the majority of the time because of it. I actually learned how to eat from it. I love Bill Phillips and think he is an amazing man. I give 2 thumbs up on this life style. P90X: I never really did the eating. I did the body for life eating with the P90X work outs. I love them. They are by far, the best work outs I have had on videos. The only down side, it is hard for me to stay motivated to work out from a video with out someone as a work out buddy. Luckily, my friend has been doing this with me 3 days a week. It is also hard to do with kids crawling all over/around you. I have no doubt, if you did the program how you should, you would become totally ripped...but, for me, I do what I can and usually I can finish a video with only about 20 interruptions. ha ha ha "Do your best and forget the rest", Well said, Tony. HCG: I swear this works! I only know about 30 people who have done it and have had great results but I have done it 2 times now and would recommend it to anyone. It takes a ton of dedication but I would rather be super strict for 1 month and lose the weight than have my off day one day a week and lose 2-3 lbs a week. I am on the maintenance right now. I started on Apr. 1st, did my 2 "load days" and gained 6 lbs (completely normal), I ended my drops on Apr 23rd and I lost 20 lbs. I am now into my 2nd (of 6) week maintenance and I have stayed at my weight. Not without effort but it is easier to maintain than to lose a ton. I had energy the first 2 weeks of my drops cycle where I could work out, the last week, I had energy to function throughout the day but was dead tired at the end of the day and couldn't work out. I am working out now though and weaning myself back on to all the foods. The first time I did this, I got a dr. to give me the HCG for the shots and I did the real stuff. This time, I used HCG1234 online and it is a synthetic of the real hormone. It seemed to work better for me. The only reason I trusted it is because it was a 100% money back guarantee and I figured I had nothing to lose (except weight). I don't ever plan on doing this again but I am glad I did it. I do need to tone up a ton but I have a great start and the rest of my life to work on it. These are the better sources to go to losing weight and living healthy. I love them all and I bounce all the time between the first two. Maybe one day I will go all out and work the programs how they are suppose to be worked but for now, I am happy with this.