Day Care

Hey everybody, I need your help! I am trying to find kids to babysit in my home. I have an ad on Craig's list and was going to put an ad in the newspaper until I found out it costs over $100!!! So, I am hoping that someone out there knows someone who needs a babysitter! I have 2 possibly 3 openings (I won't watch more than 4 children at a time). I have a lot of experience and we will have a lot of fun every day. We will have activities, story time, preschool activities, etc. I charge $125 per week for full time, $50 per week for after school (my kids attend Red Mountain Ranch Elementary in Mesa). I am located at Power and McDowell. If anyone knows anyone, please pass on my number or just leave a comment! Thanks!

Messy House

We were on our way Saturday to finish cleaning out the old house when our realtor, Greg Askins, called and told us not to. I was like, Huh?!? Well, he explained that the bank was sending someone over to roughly appraise what the house is worth to see if the offers we have recieved are around fair market value. He said the worse the house looks the better. I said that is no problem as the kids rooms look terrible! The carpet looks like something exploded all over it and the walls are horrible. We also never finished the base boards, but the wood floors did look nice. Oh yeah, the pool was growing algae all over the sides. We were actually at walmart buying shock and trying to buy acid (which Walmart does not sale!!!) to fix that problem. Greg said to do nothing today. I said, "All right, lets go to the lake!!"

So instead of working, we picked up our kids and Jon's friend Darrin and went to the lake. At first the kids were crying cuz they were scared when we were giving Jon and Darrin a wild ride, but then they got over it and we had a great time! It was fun to take an afternoon off and have a mini vacation. Many thanks to Gerry for allowing us the opportunity to use his boat! We loved it! The kids want him to go next time, they think it is more fun when he is there. Anyway, you will have to check out Jon's blog later for some fun clips of the boys in the tube. They were a riot!

Have a good Sunday!

Good News!

Yeah, we finally have some good news!! Bryan has gotten a bit of a promotion and a small raise to go with it. I wish it was more, but I will take it! I am excited about the promotion because it gives him a chance to get hired on permanently!! It is in a better division, but I will leave all the details for him to share. He also got a new calling in the ward, he just can't be sustained until the records arrive! I don't know if we are supposed to even blog about that yet then. Oh well! I will leave those details to Bryan also, I don't want to steal ALL his thunder.

We are getting settled in here, my mom and my sisters have been so helpful in this move. They are spending a lot of time and effort here and you can see it. The place is really coming together and we are feeling like we belong. It is a nice feeling. Sweet little Alex is still asking to go home and seems a bit confused/upset by it all. Leslie took them swimming at their house today and afterwards, Alex asked to go swimming in my pool. Poor kid just doesn't understand that we are not moving back. This move has been so hard on the youngest ones and the oldest one. Fortunately for Jon, he is finding his place in YM's and also on his football team, so he is excited about that.

One of the saddest moments of all this mess was on Sunday during Sacrament Meeting, little Connor looked a little pale and not quite right and I asked him if he was okay, and he started to cry. Seeing that, I could hardly hold it together, in fact I am tearing up now! He was so scared and missing his last ward. He was trying so hard to be strong and keep it all inside, he is not usually one to share his feelings much. I was so worried about him and was hoping he would find a friend. He did! There was only one boy in his class and he is 2 weeks older than Connor and they really seemed to hit it off! And little Jenna was also so frightened but has 2 really cute girls in her class that are very close to her age, too. But her favorite surprise was finding out that her cousin, Tyler (Todd and Julie's son) was in her class at school. That just made everything okay! We are so glad for that! He is such a cute kid, too!

Anyway, it is so nice to have some good things happening! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have had enough of the hard stuff and was good and ready for something positive! I hope you can find your happy place today, too!

Is the real estate market really in trouble?

Okay, I know it is, but I am beginning to think that all these "reports" that say no one is buying a house are all a bunch of bologna. We have so many potential buyers coming through our house that I am getting sick of it. I know it is a blessing, people keep reminding me of that, but the constant intrusions are making it so hard to live my life here. Take today, for example, we are cleaning up our side yard and taking a load to the dump and two different realtors show up with their clients. We look like messy white trash, but today is the only day to get it done. We finish that and are cooling off when Kate comes running in and says that Alex has flooded the bathroom. He took a couple rolls of toilet paper (is that so sad when my first thought is that my little pain in the butt has just thrown money away!!) and he put those down both sinks and the tub and flooded the entire bathroom. We even had water in the drawers and cupboards of the bathroom. We grabbed every towel we had and cleaned it up, as well as plunge the sinks and removed all the mess.

As soon as we finished, I was just starting to pick up the towels and throw them in the wash, our doorbell rings and more people want to see the house. So I send Bryan to the dump and he takes the kids, esp. Alex, and I am now alone. I would love to go swimming before I start packing again, but someone else is supposed to come and see the house in an hour and I don't want to be caught in my bathing suit if they come early. Same goes for the shower. So I am hot and sweaty and afraid to do anything about it!!! We already have one offer and the people who just left said not to be surprised if they put in an offer also, so I am hoping this insanity will end soon!! No more than a week, cause we are moving out then anyway! Well, I am all done complaining for now, maybe I will complain some more tomorrow!!

How MRSA is spread....FYI

Alright, I realize that everyone is probably concerned about getting this MRSA from Alex. It is definetely a possibility, and I am sorry for having him in contact. Once he was on the antibiotic, he should have been fine, but it appears it was not working. He is now on a new one, it is apparently the last one that we have to try, so I am praying it will work. He had MRSA for quite a while before I took him to the Doctor, which is why my kids have it now. MRSA is spread through contact with blood or fluids that come out of wounds (like puss or something totally gross!). It is not airborne and stuff. A thorough hand washing will kill germs and antiseptic wipes on door knobs and stuff will go a long way. He should not share towels or linens and stuff. Which is probably how my kids got it. Alex and Connor sleep together every night and Jenna sometimes too. They are now taking a new antibiotic, which smells like a combo of vomit and another really stinky bodily function! I feel so bad for these kids having to take it! I give them a syringe full of their medicine and "wash" it down with a syringe full of juice or koolaid. That is the only fun part! Anyway, hopefully we haven't infected the entire family, but I think everyone will be okay, as Alex's sores haven't bled or ruptured and we don't all sleep together! lol. Let me know if anyone has any more questions about it!

See you all later!

More MRSA and the strange combination of Soy Sauce and Baking Soda!!

That kid, I swear!! He is enough to drive me absolutely insane!!!

First off, I took Alex, Connor and Jenna into the Doctor today because Alex now has a rash all over his whole body. I thought he was having a reaction to the Bactrim he is on for MRSA. The doc said it is not a reaction that he would have broken out in hives all over if that was the case. He also said that since he started getting the rash last night that it would not be from the antibiotic that we started 8 days ago. (Gerry told me that it probably was a reaction and I tend to believe him more.) Anyway, I also took Connor and Jenna in because the each had a little pimple looking thing that Alex started with. It appears they all have the MRSA now. Now they are all going to be on the same antibiotic that Alex will be on, a new one that I couldn't pronounce if you paid me to. Connor has to have 3 Tbs, 3 times per day! 9 TBS per day!! I am going to go insane!

While I was digesting this, I got a phone call that someone else wants to come over and see the house. We are having someone come by almost every day and I swear it is always during dinner or some other important time. While I am happy for the traffic coming through the house, I am not enjoying trying to keep the house clean, while packing and keeping up with Alex. Speaking of cleaning up after alex, right after the potential buyers left the house, that little turd (affectionately called such) went and stole my soy sauce (I was making Chicken Stir Fry) off of the counter and also took the baking soda (I had just made a batch of cookies) and proceeded to pour out half of my new bottle of soy sauce and dumped it on Kate's carpet. Then he sprinkled the baking soda on top of it. It was all Bryan and I could do not to pick him up and throw him through the window!! I had just told Bryan that Alex was not getting into very many messes lately. Remind me to never open my mouth on that subject again!!! After he made this mess, I went and got my carpet cleaner and found that the last time I used it I forgot to empty out the dirty water. That smelled so bad and was so gross!! I don't know if it will ever be the same again! Anyway, I am tired, sooooo overwhelmed with trying to move and sell this house, and slightly discouraged. I am excited to move and have a fresh start in a new area and a new ward and new friends, but I wish I didn't have to do all this garbage to get there!

See you all later!

It appears to be........MRSA :(

Well, the Doc thinks Alex does indeed have a staph infection known as MRSA. It's the antibiotic resistant one that has been in the news. The doc tried to scare me and say that it is the one where you check into the hospital and you don't check out. Thanks for that, doc! It only kills you if it is a very bad infection, which his is not, so a little antibiotic known as bactrum and he should be good in about 10 days. If not, then the dermatologist will straighten this all out. Anyway, a little troublesome, but hopefully not a big deal. Grandpa didn't seem too concerned, so it is probably nothing. However, my mom was VERY concerned and started talking about parasites and full moons and poor little Alex. I will admit his immune system must be shot, but I think he will recover just fine. A little acidophilus would not hurt him, tho.

Anyway, that is what is going on with my little psycho. I only refer to him as that because he is! He is driving me crazy! In the last 24 hours he ruined my new food processor, dumped out my shampoo, poured out a very large box of powdered milk all over the floor and table, then dumped water on it, climbed up the tall shelf in the garage and took Jon's RC airplane in the house and played with it, would not sit still for FHE and disrupted the WHOLE thing, stripped down completely 3 times- once while he was poopy!! and this was just in the last 24 hours. I am making very little progress in the house cleaning and he will be lucky to reach his birthday next month! But then he will be so cute, like after the doctor appointment, he was hungry and said he wants a burger, would I please buy him a burger? Then asks, you want a burger too, K? And asks it in such a sweet way that I so badly wanted to buy him a burger. Especially after the mean doctor squeezed one of his sores to make the puss come out- it hurt him and scared him! Unfortunately for us, we have NO money for any extras, including burgers. Sucks! So, I am doing my best to love him when he is so cute and try to remember that I love him when he is not! Hope your 24 hours was better than mine!