25th Birthday

So yesterday was my 25th birthday. I had a lot of fun. Justin let me sleep in, and then I just spent the day relaxing. In the afternoon we went swimming and then heading to my birthday BBQ. I had steak, my favorite. My family and Justin's family came, as well as a couple friends. It was great to have everyone together. Justin and my Grandma Clark gave me 2 tickets to an OSU Beaver football game, and Justin also gave me a cool scarf and some earrings. My mom gave me some really nice orange foam shoes (think Crocs meet Mary Janes), and some stuff I had asked for from Deseret Book. My brother and sister-in-law gave me the Church movie Testaments. And Justin's parents and my sister gave me some much needed money. After the BBQ some friends came over and we played games and watched a movie. It was really nice to just spend some relaxing time with everyone. Today, as a part of my birthday gift, my mom is taking me to get a pedicure, that should be nice!

Seattle Trip

So these last couple days we have been in the Seattle area. Bremerton to be exact. Justin's Grandpa Crook turns 80 on the same day as me (August 28th, this upcoming Tuesday), so we went up there to wish him a happy birthday. He was so happy to get company and see us all, it made it worth while. I just wish we all could have stayed longer. I also got to meet Justin's uncle Dan (his dad's brother) for the first time. He is a great guy, and seems really fun. We went to the county rodeo while up there and I actually sat through an entire show. I usually only got to catch one event in the past. It was fun, and we really had a great time. Levi fell asleep in the middle and slept until it was over, but then stayed awake for a couple hours before falling asleep for the night.

Levi did amazing during the trip. We didn't have hardly any fussing or whining from him at all! We were seriously impressed. On the four hour drive up he slept for nearly 2.5 hours, and on the way home he slept two hours. That was very helpful for us and our sanity. He kept playing the 'Where's Levi' game the entire way up and back when he was awake. I think he may be obsessed.

He also learned new words this weekend and said them over and over again with glee. I just hope he'll remember them. He said 'boat', 'flower', and 'pray'. He learned boat because we took him on the ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle. He was in heaven! He kept running up and down the decks saying 'Wow!' and 'Cool!' It was so cute, and he gave the other passengers a giggle. He learned flower because we stopped by my Uncle Gordon's place, and although he wasn't home, his wife had some amazingly beautiful flowers that we got some pictures of. Levi kept grabbing at the petals, and we would pull his hand away and tell him not to touch the flowers, so he started saying flower. And when we were home and said it was time to pray he folded his arms and said 'pray.' Sometimes he can be so precious. I'm so glad I can stay home with him and enjoy these moments more and more often!

On our way home we stopped by the Portland Temple and walked the grounds. From the moment we got out of the car Levi was saying, 'Wow!' over and over again. He kept pointing upward and saying it, made me wonder if he knew who he was looking at and where he was. I'm sure he did. He wandered the whole grounds before we left, and I think he would have wandered longer if we would have let him.

When we got home Justin found his early birthday present sitting on our porch. I found an amazing deal on an X-Box (like Nintendo... a video gaming system) on Ebay, so I bought it for his birthday in early October. However, I am letting him play it now because I know he would have gone crazy knowing he had it and couldn't play it. I've been listening to him lament over the loss of his amazing X-Box that he had, so this was the best gift I could think of. He loves it, and as long as he isn't playing it instead of helping me out, doing his responsibilities, and taking care of Levi, he can play as much as he likes.

It's been another busy week, and next week will bring even more busy times.

Lasagna Spaghetti

I just created a cheap, simple, and fast dinner tonight that tasted great! Thought I would share it since there are so many young mother's out there who could use more fast meals. I call it Lasagna Spaghetti.
1 Package Egg Noddles
1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce (whatever flavor you prefer)
1 Pound Ground Beef (or Turkey)
1/2 Brick of Cream Cheese
1 1/2 Cup shredded cheese
Seasons to your liking
You'll want an apron too!

1. Brown the beef or turkey (create little one inch meatballs if you like).
2. Pour sauce into pan. Cut one half of a brick of cream cheese into the sauce and mix with an electric mixer. Bring to a simmer, let sit.
3. Boil the noodles until done. Drain noodles and then drain meat.
4. Add meat, noodles, and sauce together. Season as you wish and mix together.
5. Serve with shredded cheese on top. Yum!

Blessings

Yesterday we received a letter in the mail that indicated our medical bills (totaling over $1000) would be reduced by 60%! We are ecstatic! It seems we are constantly being blessed! Justin and I are so grateful for the out pouring of blessings, we can hardly ask for anything better! It seems whenever we wonder how we are going to manage, someway presents itself! Moral of the story... pay your tithes and fast offerings!

Discovering

Who knew that blowing into a plastic cup would be hysterical? My son loves it! He came up to me the other night and held the cup up to my mouth, so I blew softly in it. He started to laugh... so I blew harder, and he went into full hysterics! He kept holding up to my mouth so I would blow, and when I did he would laugh so hard he was on the ground. Then he would get up and do it all over again. This lasted about half an hour. By the time we ended my lips were aching!
Levi is also in that stage where he repeats what you say, and it is so cute sometimes! Last night Levi slept in the bed with me, which doesn't leave much room for Justin, so he slept on our hide-a-bed. When Levi woke up he smiled at me and just laid there cuddling for a bit (kicking my thigh all the while), and then sat up and looked around. After squinting, rubbing his eyes, and looking around again he asked, quite clearly, 'Where's Daddy?' I think he has learned that because we often play the game 'Where's Levi?' with him. But it was so precious this morning to hear him say that. I then took him out to his dad where we just repeated, 'Daddy' over and over again! What a little sweetheart I have!

Handsome Man!

So on Sunday Justin and I were laying in bed and Levi kept coming in and jumping on the bed. Then he grabbed the door, and closed it. As he was closing it he kept saying 'Bye!' over and over again. It was adorable! Bye seems to be his favorite word. He also likes to say 'Hi!' to random people. Later that day we went for a short drive, in hopes Levi would sleep. He did, for about 20 minutes. He then refused to fall asleep again. So our church was cut short and we brought him home to sleep, which he did for over two hours. Then my sister made a wonderful lasagna, our family favorite of hers! Followed by a grasshopper pie, yum! She is leaving tomorrow to go home to Chicago, so she did it in honor of my birthday coming up. I wish she could stay for my birthday, but I understand her need to get home.

Busy Saturday!

Well we took family photos today. This was the best shot we could get. Having nine little kids under the age of six makes things very difficult to get organize! But we managed and this one really isn't bad!

After the pictures some of my family went up to the new Ikea (a home furnishing place) in Portland. We went to a yummy restaurant called Noodles for lunch. You can order all sorts of types of noodles from around the world. Very tastey! Then off to Ikea... and oh my word was it packed! It opened a month ago, so we thought we were okay... we were wrong! The place was a mad house. You would have thought the entire city of Corvallis and then some were inside that store! The chaos and cramped people made all of us a little edgy. But we managed, and decided to return again sometime in March on a random Tuesday at 10am when no one else is there!
From there we went to OMSI. They have a Body Worlds exhibit where they use plastination to preserve the body in whole. You can see muscle, skin, bones, blood vessels, nerves, you name it! We even saw a camel! It was amazing. We then explored the rest of OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), and Levi loved the kids area they had. He played in the water like he had never seen it before. He also got his face painted with a spider! So cute! Then he mellowed out while we walked through other exhibits, and he passed out asleep on the drive home. Justin and I enjoyed the whole thing, and we went and sat in a mock space shuttle, that's our upside down picture. Justin had never been to OMSI, so he had a blast!

When we got home we gave Levi a bath, and Justin styled his hair... this is the result!

It was a long day, but definitely enjoyable!

Fore!

We went and played mini golf today. Levi was alright at first, but then he became tired and fussy. We didn't let him play, and that could have been part of his fussiness. My nephews Quinten and Robert came too and they loved it! They kept grabbing the ball and putting it in the hole or hitting the ball over and over again! It was fun.
Afterward we went to K-mart and there were some ducks outside. We let Levi feed the ducks and he loved it! He kept quacking at them and pointing saying, 'Duck!' He then handed some food to them and said 'Too!' Which is his version of thank you. A car started up in front of us and he started waving and saying 'Bye! Truck!' over and over again! It was precious! I live for these moments!

Just the Usual

Yesterday I got a letter in the mail from Staples. I used to work for them, so I decided I should open it. It contained information about a man who is suing Staples. He was a former employee and he claims that Staples did not comply with Oregon wage and work hour laws. Because he is saying this for all of Oregon, everyone who was employed by Staples during the time period that he worked there in the state of Oregon can take part in the settlement. This would include me. The settlement will be decided until September 11, and any payouts mailed on October 11. So, I mailed off my form saying I would like to participate. After all, when I worked there I was often asked to work through my breaks and forced to take a lunch late or not at all. As for wages I only got a 5 cent raise in the two years I was there, even though minimum went up 50 cents over that time (I was getting more than minimum to begin with). If they win the settlement I could get anywhere from $320 to $450! It just seems that so much is looking up for Justin and I! We are so thankful for all we've been given!

Levi is learning more and more words, even if he doesn't say them. He can understand what you are saying if you use short sentences and words he knows. Like Justin will ask him if he wants to bounce, and he smiles and says, 'Yes!' The same goes true for enforcing punishments. Justin and I are really cracking down on consequences with him because he seems to think he can do anything he wants. When he throws tantrums we send him to his room until he calms down. We have also been doing 30 second time outs, which I'm not sure works with him yet. But if he is misbehaving and you ask him if he wants to go to his room he adamantly says, 'No!' It's cute, but I'm just glad something is working. As for his screeching we are trying to ignore it. Everything we've read says you just need to ignore that behavior, and hope it goes away. We are also changing our Sunday routine of letting him leave Sacrament and play in the nursery. From now on when he misbehaves in Sacrament we take him out and sit with him until he is calm. Last Sunday I had to leave the building because he was screaming so loud, and we had to leave church early because he wouldn't calm down. I hope after that and all we've been working on this week with him, we won't have a repeat this Sunday.

Well we did it! We bought a new car. It is a 2003 Chevy Cavalier. It has 41K miles on it with a 100,000 mile warranty with it. It is a certified car, so we can take it in to any Chevy dealer and they'll fix it for free up to 100K miles. We get one free oil change as well. It gets 4-5 mpg better gas mileage than our old car. It has brand new tires, and they filled the gas tank. We are very happy with the deal we got. It doesn't have some features we would have liked such as cruise control, power door locks, and power windows; but those are wants, and we were looking for a car that met our needs. So again we are finding wonderful blessings in our lives!

Alas the Life of a Mother With An 18-Month-Old.

On Saturday we got to go swimming and took some more underwater pictures...

As adults we take some luxuries for granted. Such as walking, talking, and being able to use a toilet at free will. This last one has really opened my eyes as of late. I've heard horror stories from my siblings about their toddlers potty-training and smearing poop on carpets and such. I figured I would still have about two more years before I had to worry about that. Let me assure you this fascination with feces starts long before potty-training. Yesterday evening Levi was peacefully eating his dinner and then watching one of his shows. I started to smell something funky, so I went and got his wipes and a new diaper. I laid him on the carpet and started taking off his onesie to change him when I noticed there was poop on his leg. I cleaned it up fast before he could reach down and grab at it (which is the normal occurrence). Then, as I am pulling his shirt up to undo the diaper, I notice the poop is all up his back. Now, since he has been laying down it has soaked through the shirt and is on the carpet. Luckily my carpet is dark brown, so you couldn't see it, but you could sure smell it. So I carefully pulled off his shirt and set it aside. I let Levi stand up and then grabbed the shirt so it would not further embed in the carpet. Well then Levi runs to the sofa and tries to climb up. Luckily for me he had no poop on his front so this didn't do any damage. However, when I told him to stop because he had poopies on his back he reached around and grabbed his backside, covering his hands in poop. When he pulled them forward he must have thought it was war paint because he smeared it on his belly. Well, I already knew he was destined for a bath, so I took his straight to the shower, took off his diaper, and let him sit in the running shower for a bit while I cleaned up a little. I then went in there and hosed him down. Once he was clean I got him out and put him in PJ's. I then proceeded to clean out the shower as it had specks of poop everywhere. While I was cleaning Levi tripped and bonked his head on the corner of the door. I stopped cleaning and held him until he calmed down again. Then I finished cleaning the shower. My next move was to clean the floor where the shirt had leaked the poop. While I was scrubbing Levi thought it would be nice to throw books off the shelf, leaving yet another mess for me to pick up. I then washed my hands as Levi continuously flushed the toilet over and over again. When I was done cleaning I made him some oatmeal and milk for bedtime. This time Levi ran amuck in the kitchen, turning on the stove, oven, dishwasher, anything in reach really! By nine o'clock I finally had him in bed and asleep! Wish I could have joined him! Alas the life of a mother with an 18-month-old.

The last couple nights Levi has been waking up screaming. I think he may be having nightmares or something. We thought at first he was scared of the dark, but we have tried plenty of nightlights and they don't do the trick. However, leaving him in there screaming his head off isn't an option... neighbors complain. Alas the life of a mother with an 18-month-old.

Yesterday morning Justin took Levi to the riverfront to throw rocks into the water and see the geese and ducks. He loved it! Justin said he kept running in the water and yelling and throwing rocks! What a cutie! Aww, the life of a mother with an 18-month-old.

Today we went and picked blackberries near-by, and Levi thought this idea was wonderful. He picked all sorts of berries (whether they were ripe or not) and then threw them on the ground or squished them in his hands. Aww, the feeling of berries between your fingers! We got quite a bit, and I have enough to give some to my mom who likes to make jam. We had to leave church early today because Levi was screaming again. So we went for a Sunday drive. We took the back roads up to Independence and then through Ankeny Hill Wildlife Refuge. It was a great drive, and we decided to make a tradition of Sunday drives!

Our car is acting up again, so Justin and I have decided we need to trade it in. We are going to look at a few dealers tomorrow in hopes to find a good deal on a Kia. Hopefully we'll find something more reliable for us!

Festival or Feast

Today we went to the Scandinavian Festival in Junction City about 45 minutes south of Corvallis. We had a blast, and definitely loved the food! Justin had a Swedish meat pie (beef, potatoes, onions, and cheese in a flaky crust), and I had a bite, YUMMY! We are going to try and re-create them. I had what was called a Fri-Jo, which is about a 1.5 inch thick, 4x4 inch square of fried dough with cinnamon and sugar on it. Similar to elephant ears, but thicker and smaller, and by far much tastier! We also had a treat called an Abelskiever (pronounced able-sc-a-ver), which is like a rolled up ball of sweet pancake! Topped with a bit of jam and it is almost heavenly! We topped it off with a Carmel apple, equally as yummy! The arts and crafts were amazing to see! They have several talented people there. Justin and I saw some woodwork that was phenomenal!

We also found out today that we were approved for educational reimbursement through Justin's work. Another wonderful blessing! We made an appointment today with an advisor at OSU so Justin can make sure he is setting up classes on the right track to graduate as soon as possible. So much is falling into place, and I am so grateful for the many blessings that are coming our way!

Get Notified

So I have been led to a site by a cousin that allows you to get an email notification when I post something new. This may be handy for family or friends who would forget to check the blog on a regular basis. The link is to the right side.

Great News

Well today Justin informed me that we are going to receive $1300 a term in Federal Grant money! Yea! No student loans! At least for now. We are also waiting to hear from Justin's work as to whether or not he will get tuition reimbursement. So hopefully this will cover a lot of costs we have piling up. We are also waiting to hear if he qualifies to have most of his medical bills paid for by the Lymphoma Society, as well as some caner related scholarships. So today was a good start for what he hope is many more days of good news!

Learning New and Cute Things

In the English language and many others we have words that sound the same, but mean different things... such as two and to or fair and fare, and many more. Well the same is true of baby language. My son has been saying 'bus' a lot lately, and pointing at things he knew weren't busses and calling them one. I would always correct him and yet he would still insist it was a bus. Well today we were in the car and pointing at things and saying what they were. He knows how to say tree, so when I got to that he was right on. Then he started calling it a bus and I had to correct him again. I said, 'No that's a tree.' And he replied, 'Usa Tree!' It then dawned on me that sometimes when I think he is saying bus he is actually saying 'That's a ...' (fill in the blank). I can tell that teaching him to talk is going to more challenging that I thought, but what mother doesn't have these moments?

Later in the day we visited my sister again in the hospital and saw her little girl. Levi was fascinated by her crying (which was surprisingly soft). He didn't like the confined space too much and became rowdy quickly. The tantrums didn't stop all evening. We went to my mom's house to help her can some tuna my uncle caught and he just screamed and thrashed about until he felt he had full attention, and even then he would scream. I don't enjoy canning the tuna, mostly because of the smell, but it does provide free tuna for almost a year (until we can again). However I had to call the night short and head home with my unhappy boy. Once we got home I talked to him sternly stating that he needed to be nicer to people and more cheerful. I also explained that screaming and throwing tantrums was not the way to get what he wanted. I don't know how much he understood, but he did know I was upset with him because he frowned the whole time. I then gave him a kiss and asked for one in return. It took a little coaxing, but he did give me a little kiss. Once that was over he was happy as a clam and chatted all the way up to the apartment! He can be so cute sometimes!

8-6-2007 Newsletter

So our new week started by finding out Justin's younger brother has proposed to his long-time girlfriend (she waited the two years he was on a mission). The wedding will be September 22nd, which will make a busy weekend again for us, but a wonderfully busy weekend. Since his brother is getting married in Portland we will be spending quite a lot of time with Justin's family, of course, and then on the 23rd my cousin is having a mission farewell in Roseburg. So busy but wonderful! On Sunday we attended the morning church so we could make it to our friend's wedding. We picked my mom up and headed to Dallas (about 25 miles north). It was at a vineyard and it had an amazing view of the valley. You could also tell that if it hadn't been cloudy you would have been able to see at least one mountain in the distance. The bride (our friend) looked amazing, and it was a very simple and elegant wedding. Not to mention the food was wonderful! Levi, whenever it became quiet, would fold his arms as though we were going to pray... very cute! He behaved for the most part, which we all appreciated. I was surprised though to find so many people breaking wedding faux-pas. Several people were wearing black or white (which I have always been told you never do for a wedding), and numerous people were casually dressed, including several in jeans. My mom and I were appalled! I guess if the wedding theme warrants such dress then it is fine, but this was an elegant wedding... nothing casual. Anyway, what are you going to do? After the wedding, and dropping my mom off, we headed to Justin's parents in Albany for dinner. It was a Levi-friendly dinner, as there was Mac 'N Cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and peas! He was in heaven! He ate very well that evening. His parents then let us borrow the seventh Harry Potter book as we left and both Justin and I separately read through chapter five before bed.Well during the family reunion last week Justin spoke to my uncle Gerry about his career as a pharmacist. Ever since then Justin has been very intrigued and curious about this field. It has really sparked something in him! He has more desire for this career than any other we have discussed. He and I have done a lot of research, and even found that he can become a Pharmacy Tech at the school he is currently attending in less than a year. And with that job he would get a three dollar an hour pay raise. So we are really looking into this and finding out all we can first before making a decision and praying about it all. Another thing we are looking into is trading in our car. We really need one with better gas mileage and one that is more reliable. Our car has caused many holes in our money bags. So we are going to look into that further as well. With this Monday became a lot of research for both of us (as well as reading Harry Potter). Some more blessings came our way on Monday when Justin found out that if he bikes to work 8 out of the 10 days he works in two weeks then he'll get a $40 bonus with each paycheck! He already bikes every day, so without any changes on our part we'll earn more money! Such a wonderful blessing for our situation!On Tuesday we took the car over to a dealership to see how much we could trade it in for, and they only offered us $3000 tops. That is well below what we thought we could get, so we are trying to sell it ourselves. If you know anyone looking for a car for around $5000, let them know we are selling! It is a very good car, a 2001 Dodge Stratus, with 80K miles on it. We have kept up to date on the maintenance and it recently had a tune up and oil change. Okay, enough of me plugging my car. Well, after that news we were a little less uplifted, but we listed our car at Justin's work and on Craig's List. Hopefully something will come of it.The next couple days we spent in the pool since it was hot outside. I was able to use my underwater camera to get some fun shots of Levi and his cousins underwater! I was very pleased at how they came out. I decided one day I would like to buy an underwater digital camera. Levi is doing a lot better now with saying words and even uses some on a regular basis (besides Choo! Choo! and Car). He loves to say cookie and bus. And he'll even say his version of thank you, which sounds more like 'schoo' than anything else. He has also taken to grabbing a shoe and throwing it at me or Justin when he wants to leave, that or knocking on the front door and saying 'Go!' It is quite adorable to watch. We are still working on saying 'All done.' and 'Please.' But all in due time.I was asked this week to take photos for Justin's brother at his wedding. Hopefully I will be able to do this, I think it would be a great experience, and surely a money saver for Marcus. I am very excited about doing it!Saturday we had the Benton County Fair here in Corvallis. It was fun to watch Levi get so excited, especially when he saw the animals. This fair didn't have all that the other fair we went to did, but we still had fun in the sun! Levi wanted so badly to pet all the sheep as we walked past them, and he kept pointing and saying 'Baa!' over and over again. He led the way through the animals and we walked past sheep, goats, and pigs. When we left he got to see horses and cows, he was thrilled! That evening we had the opportunity to celebrate Levi's cousin's second birthday with him. Justin's sister recently moved back to Oregon, and we are so happy that we can now attend things such as birthdays! Besides Levi loves playing with his cousin and they have their own language and everything! It is so cute to watch them play.Sunday we found out the power at our church building went out. Our bishop decided to proceed with our first meeting anyway, so we had church by camp lamp-light. It was a new experience, but almost made it more spiritual! Mostly because so many people showed up, even though the power was out! We also had a family dinner at our house that evening and made BBQ ribs! It was a very yummy meal, and Justin hasn't ever had homemade ribs, so he loved it!

I am on my way right now to the hospital where a neice of mine was just born. They haven't given her an official name, but it may be Evelyn. She's the infant picture!!