Help!

So, what good is a blog if I can't get out my crazies and ask for advice?! I am FREAKING out over...preschool! I know I know, it's just preschool but the preschool monster has been gnawing on my leg since I was pregnant with Quinton! So, here are my rattlers, in no particular order.
Clinton, Utah.
I take it back, this is totally in order so far! #1 reason for sure! I'll sum it up while trying to spare some feelings like this..
-I had less culture shock moving to London than to Clinton, Utah.
-A fruit vendor tried to buy me for 40 camels in Jerusalem. This was less offensive, and way more funny!, than some of the comments I get in Clinton, Utah.
So, needless to say, Ive had a hard time finding somewhere I feel comfortable to even leave my son, to say nothing of the horror I feel about what they might actually say to him.
I grew up in the bubble people. In Utah county it seemed like there was a preschool in every neighborhood. I could find a preschool I liked in Provo by the end of the afternoon. And yes I see the irony in longing for happy valley when all I did was plot how to get out.
I keep trying to say what I mean in trying to explain the preschools I have toured for a million miles around and realize what a freakin snob I look like when I read what I write so I delete it and start over. But all I can say is how a mom feels about her kids doesn't include the worry about being politically correct, (at least not for me) and for me it is only about Evans correct. I have seen firsthand the importance of diversity and, dare I say, tolerance. The world would be a boring place if it didn't include all sorts of different people from different walks of life and probably everyones family generations include the best and the worst of it all- money and power as well as extreme poverty etc but this isn't about any of that. It's about my little family unit and about me trying to find a...PRESCHOOL. One tiny facet of life. I just really don't want to screw it up. So, in that spirit and after hopefully making myself seem less horrific, IN MY EXPERIENCE of looking for a good preschool here, I found myself constantly picturing that kid who comes to school smellin like last weeks breakfast in dirty too small clothes with no shoe laces and a black eye (not an actual person I remember and my heart truly breaks for those poor kids who have it so rough! I swear I have a heart to break!!)Except these preschools pupils were all that kid. And the teachers, OH the teachers. At one place when I inquired about the curriculum the teacher replied that she didn't know about the electrical wiring in the school. OK, I know I'm a snob. I know it. I am not making a judgement on every person in Davis County, I am an obsessive, over-protective, perfection seeking quack but what I want to quack about the most is my kids educations. Please don't take this as my take on the caste system, I really am just talking about preschool and the trouble I have encountered on my pursuit for a most likely unachievable perfection!
So, anyways, the whole point of my ranting and raving is that I need advice about schools. Did you send your kids to preschool for 2 years if they miss the deadline for kindergarten? Do you worry about your kids getting to elementary TOO prepared? Whats up with Charter schools and Challenger and if you do choose a school like Challenger do you have to go that route all through school? Do you worry if the public school system is adequate? Have you had any good or bad experiences? HELP the madwoman! I'm flippin out!

Book Club!

Hey, I just wanted to share my new obsession-books! I found out that I can harness my nutty A.D.D. energy with brain excersize and not just running all over the place like a chicken with her head cut off! I love to read and I'm way OCD about it, I have to finish the book asap or else! I bet I have read 10 books this month already. Nic calls my books my boyfriends, which is silly because he knows good and well that my boyfriend is Jonathan Rhys Meyers from the Tudors! Anyways, go to goodreads.com and join the club! I wanna know what you are reading so I can copy you!

Why I used old pictures for my Christmas Cards...

 

For those of you who don't already know, my worst hairstylist nightmare happened. No, not a bad perm; not even frizzy fried off bangs....worse.

 

That's right...my boys found Nic's hair buzzers. Quinn buzzed right down the middle like a balding old man and Haydie just got his right in front. Needless to say, Mom was not happy! These were just bare blades people, like NO hair at all left behind! Hayden looked like he just stepped out of a halocaust picture. My neighbors and my sister bring their kids to me when they cut their own hair and I have always wondered why the mom freaks out that bad! Its just hair! After all, I have had at least 50 new do's this year! It will grow back, right? But, right on que, I flipped out! Nic calls them his little 300 warriors from that movie because they always run around in their undies and they have no hair.... and they are warriors!!

 

 

Here's my boys with their self inflicted buzzed heads. Quinns is growing in pretty fast but that Haydie...pure halocaust. Talk about what goes around comes around. I made fun of those moms freakin out and now here I am! Serves me right I suppose and like I always tell those girls who wont cut their hair because their husband wont "let" them....ITS YOUR HAIR! If the boys want a buzz, I guess I better just give them one or else....

As close as I will ever get to mailing out Christmas Cards!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! We love you!
Nic, Karen, Quinton and Hayden
ps, I know it's tiny but look at the picture of Haydie with Santa...he HATES Santa! He looks like he is saying- hands off fat boy! Haydie wants nothing to do with the whole Santa thing! He seems to feel violated by a big fat guy busting down his chimney uninvited. After all, Santa IS a stranger! He's like, "mom, can santa REALLY see me? My no like Santa. My no like Santa's boots" We saw a freaky lookin Santa at the mall that looked like they pulled him out of the dumpster out back and plopped him on Santas chair. Haydie has never been the same, and apparently Santa had way bad boots! He is ok with the reindeer landing here but only if it's on the driveway (no driving on the roof!) and I got him to agree to let Santa leave his gifts on the front porch! And absolutely no cookies and milk for the fat boy either, just carrots for the reindeer! Where do they get this stuff?!

Drama, Drama, Drama!

Here are a couple of pix of our little sweethearts on Halloween! Haydie had surgery the day before so it was a bit iffy but we pulled it off and had a great time with our families and neighbors!










Here's just a couple of pix of the boys on the first snow of the year! We were so excited it came early this year! the boys would play out there all day!


Where to begin...well, we have had a crazy buzy summer and a ton of fun! the most recent terrifying experience was on the day before Halloween when Hayden got his teeth fixed FINALLY! We are a little bitter about the situation surrounding the accident that caused all this tooth mayhem but we are so glad our little Haydie bug is doing better now. He still looks like he is in costume for jim carrey's Grinch movie. He looks exactly like a who. his face is so swollen from his lips to his eyes! Its pretty sad, poor boy! but he was very very brave! other than that, we have just been hanging around the parks and pools when the weather was good and now we are preparing for a long winters nap!

Come one, come all!

Mommy's little Haydie bug!

It's that time of year again! We are having our traditional birthday carnival for Hayden! It's on the 5th of July, so I can't resist doing something over the top! Face painting, games and prizes, cotton candy...just your typical 2 year old birthday! If you are going to be anywhere near Layton, send me your email so I can send you an evite....the more the merrier!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Quinn's first superglued stitches! And a rockin mohawk!

We love Summer!

Poor Haydie bonked his head again! And yes, I know he shouldn't have a bottle still!

Haydie swimmin in Grandpa's hot tub! We love Grandpa's house!

"Mom, did you see me swim? Pretty cool huh!"


Don't be mad! I swear I have more good reasons for not blogging forever! Ummmm, Nic beats me. Ya, all the time, it's real serious. Fine, I just suck at blogging!!
Lets see...last you heard, Quinn's head was busted open and Hayden was missin teeth! My superglued slice is lookin nice these days! Hayden hasn't lost any more teeth...yet! That boy is fearless!
Fearless seems to be the theme of the summer around here! Quinn just learned to jump off the diving board! He takes his little noodle thing and goes off over and over again! He loves to swim and would stay in the pool all day every day!
Hayden doesn't like the pool as much, but he loves my parents hot tub! It's not as big so he just jumps all around and blows bubbles. Needless to say, I love summer! The boys are old enough to do things without me a little more so I can get a few things done around this house! They love to play on the swings and in the huge sandbox my dad made them! They play out back all morning and out front all afternoon! I still won't let them ride their 4wheelers until Nic gets home, but they don't seem to even care! Nic and I are going away this weekend for my birthday and I'm like, oh man, I have to miss Saturday with the kids! Thats the best! But, on the other hand, I have not seen a movie for like a year and I have no cute clothes and could really use some uninterrupted sleep! So, Nic insists that we movie marathon on Friday and shop all day Saturday! Poor me! I'm excited to see Indiana Jones since he has been my crush since like 3rd grade!

Who messed with my karma?

Here's a couple pictures to prove the cuckoo factor around here! Like I would post actual pictures of all these injuries...someone might report me! Ok, the real reason is I don't have any and I have NO time to blog! I don't know how you people post so much!I feel so inadequate! I'm going to hire someone to blog for me! orrrrr.....it's about time for preschool!

Ok, I know I haven't written forever but I have a freakin good reason! So, first Haydie pops a tooth. The next weekend Quinn busted a giant hole in his head on the neighbors trampoline. He got "fixed my right up" as he says with some good old super glue care of mommy! I know what you are thinking, I should have taken him to get stitches but I have a huge rollerblading scar on my leg that I have had plastic surgery on 3 times and it still looks like a shark bite and you can see every stitch! They look like spiders.I would show ya, but I'm carrying what I'm calling "baby weight" at least until kindergarten. Anyways, being a wee bit accident prone myself, especially with my hair shears, super glue makes for the littlest scar! Wait, the drama builds....the day after the super glue Quinn steps on a nail!! Whats with the luck! I have been putting out all my good karma and my house is in feng shui and I read the secret! My dad just laughed at me and told me this is just the beginning. Thats what you get for having 2 boys I guess. Hey, not my deciding gene! jk, boys are the best. I can be the only drama queen. But I did not miss the chance to remind my dad that while Dr. Hirsche was digging rocks and glass out of my leg he had to be taken to another room and given oxygen by his own employees! Should have stuck with super glue! So, last time I blogged all about Haydie's tooth and I got screwed so I was just seeing if I kept quiet the lacerations would stop already! No such luck, both boys are getting bumped and bruised everyday and Hayden's legs look like pock marks they have so many bruises! I swear I don't just throw out a ball or 2 and let my animals loose in the backyard! All I do all day is hang out with them and watch them bust themselves and each other. Luckily, the anxiety gods came up with a pill for that!!

Mommy's Nightmare!

so, I knew that being the mom of two super active boys would mean accidents and I have been dreading the day I would have to see my own baby bloodied and hurt. On saturday Hayden was playing with Quinn and our little neighbor Adin and Quinn and Adin were driving in his little golf cart lookin thing and Hayden was playing basketball. His ball rolled down the driveway and as he ran to get it he ran right into the path of the golf cart!! It knocked him down and Adin didn't stop pushing the gas pedal and ran over half of Hayden's face!! Thank goodness mom was inside at the time! I'm so glad I at least didn't have to have the mental picture of a car on my sons head! Well, it knocked out one of his teeth, the one right behind the spiky tooth on the top. I was glad it wasnt his front tooth! The tooth came out root and all and it was HUGE! Hayden is such a champ, he cried for a while when he was still really bloody, probably mostly because of me and Adin's mom freaking out! Adin's mom is 8 months pregnant and I felt so bad for her because I knew it was bound to happen! Both my boys have 4wheelers and drive pretty fast and jump off the driveway and stuff. She felt so horrible that her kid hurt mine. It was so awful! Hayden has the most swollen lip I have ever seen! He looks like he is on the Grinch with Jim Carrey and he is in his who make-up...minus the big teeth! I feel grateful that it was only half his head, not the whole thing or any compact fractures or brains. But it was still pretty horrible. That is like my biggest fear! My poor kids being hurt! Now I know how my parents felt when I tore a hole in my thigh rollerblading and my poor dad had to leave the room while Dr. Hirsche pulled glass and rocks out of my muscle lining! He had to get oxygen! I totally needed it on saturday! I'm so scared of what will be next! I hate knowing I have no control over it and I just have to deal with it the best I can. Since I have had so much trouble with my health for so long I am terrified of all things medical. Well, anyways, it could have been so much worse and I'm so thankful he is ok. He was back on his 4wheeler the next day. I'm the only one who is still freaking out!!! He's like 'back off mom, I'm fine. You are acting like a freak! I can only eat so many popsicles!'

Does God have a phone?

Last night while I was putting Quinton to bed I said we should say our prayers. Quinn is in his "why" phase (AHHHHHHH) and he wanted to know if Jesus would come to our house and talk to him instead of just saying a prayer to him. I told him that Jesus lives in heaven with our loved ones and they are our angels that watch over us. He thought about that for a while, then he said he wanted to get Jesus on the phone!! He settled for a letter that we then turned into a paper airplane and flew it to God out the window.....

Dear Jesus
I wish I could see you so I wrote you this letter and I'm going to fly it to you. Thank you for my friend Simba and for all you have helped me do. Thank you for Daddy,Mommy,Quinn and Hayden. I want you to come talk to me soon.
Amen

How cute is that!!

Told ya I was a Princess! I don't wanna be Ariel!!

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Quinton

These are some of my favorite pictures of Quinton. A couple at Bear Lake, one in the 24th of july parade at my parents house and the others are when I was on bedrest at my parents house. Quinn was such a photogenic kid and so easy to get a picture of because he was sososo chill. When mommy got pregnant, the number of pictures lessened but I am getting back in the swing of it! Momma loves her Quinny pie!

Nic and his Dad at our wedding
Nic at the St Louis Cardinals game
My three sons at the zoo!

Congratulations to my awesome husband Nic! Nic just won rookie of the year at his job! It is a huge honor and Nic worked really hard all year! He went to Austin Texas last week for 4 days (mom and the boys were so lonely) and he played golf with the big bosses and won the tournament too! Hopefully they will let us move to London to head the headquarters there!!
Way to go sweetie! We are so proud of you!

Quinn's Girlfriends Birthday Party

Trot out the ladies! I need a girlfriend too you know!

Rylee's birthday party had a farm theme and it was so super fun and cute. Jamie had little booths set up for kids to win little prizes and she made cute little felt piggy bags to take all their loot home in. Quinn and Rylee are in love!
Mom cut that boys mop! I did after seeing these pictures! jk, he looks awesome no matter what!
The cute birthday girl and Quinn's betrothed lover bug! Rylee Jo

Quinn and Hayden love to go to our friend Rylee's house! They love playing with their toys and all our friends who live far away come up to play too. Quinn loves to jump from the couch to the beanbag and down all the stairs and Haydie loves to wrestle with the big kids who have taught him some pretty sweet moves like how to fish hook the kid on top of you with your finger in their mouth. Very educational and not embarassing at all when Hayden does it to the neighborhood kids! Happy birthday RyRy!

Not the mohawk again mom! How long can this really be funny?

Quinn's favorite thing from his easter basket! ps, he has never seen spiderman! Mom has to wash them like every night because he demands to wear them every day!!
watch out tiger woods!! easter bunny got in troube for this one...they are really just giant swords
Happy Easter! Yes , mom's hair is fake! Thanks Jessica Simpson!

Sorry for anyone who has been waiting for me to write SOMETHING! I have been lazy! Here are a few of our Easter pictures! We had the bunny at our house in the morning and then went to Grandma's house in Hyde Park for the Easter feast! We had tons of fun, my sister Tracy is the best Easter Bunny ever! She got Hayden a horse that does his own horsey noise! Hayden stopped looking after he found that! Yes, we are still on the horsey thing! Quinn got a cute big shovel that he is digging up the grass in our front yard with! Too bad our hillbilly neighbors moved and the new family filled up the big dirt hole in their rv parking! Anyways, we had tons of fun and the boys got lots of fun outdoor toys that we are so excited to be able to use! We love spring! Well, I swear I'll try to be faster on the whole posting thing!