Playing Ketchup...Catsup...Catch Up

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted! I can't believe the past couple of months have gone by so fast! Here's what we've been up to:

Brian Regan
For Dave's birthday, I got him tickets to go see Brian Regan at the Vivint Center in SLC. We finally got to go and it was awesome! We got Joe and Linsey to watch the boys and we headed up to Salt Lake with enough time to hit traffic. Luckily we had plenty of time. We parked about 6 or 7 blocks away, and walked to the center where we found our seats and then went on a search to find churros. Once we got our snacks we sat down and waited for the show to start. He had a great opener and then he came on! He had a great set with a bunch of new material and then did an encore of his old stuff. It was awesome! After the show, we made a quick stop by that awesome French bakery we went to for Dave's birthday and got a couple desserts to go. It was a blast and so much fun to do something different.

Cruise's Hair
Cruise seems to be growing faster than I can keep up. He's getting so much taller and I am constantly getting him new clothes and shoes. But in March he decided it was time to start wearing his hair like the rest of the boys at school. Specifically the 6th graders. Here we have this kid who started out hating hair cuts, his hair combed, his hair touched. And now he is asking me to comb, gel and hairspray his hair every morning! He doesn't really like that part, but every day he checks himself out in the mirror, compliments my hair dressing skills, and struts out the door, ready for another day!

Potty Training
Miles has started potty-training himself. Honestly, I am not quite ready to dedicate my week to teaching him how and when to use the potty, so for the past few weeks he's decided if he wants to use the potty and is surprisingly consistent about wiping and flushing. Something the other two still have trouble with. He really likes using the potty, so I am super supportive if he wants to teach himself, but I'm waiting for a week where I don't have anything going on to bite the bullet. So, good job Miles!

Democratic Caucus
Unfortunately, Utah started doing the Caucus this year and I must say, it sucks! I really hate it. It was incredibly disorganized but I have got to hand it to my fellow democrats, they really showed up! We really should've gotten sitters, but I had no clue that we would be waiting in line for an hour and 45 minutes just to vote! It was cold out and the line extended outside pretty far. So we had the kids bundled up and tried to keep them busy.

At one point, two women behind us started talking about autism. Cruise whipped around quickly an asked, "Are you talking about me?" Ha ha! They said no, but that one of them has autism and the other ADD. I said, "Awesome! He has both!" So he spent the rest of the time talking their ears off about robots, and science fairs and autism. It was great!

We finally made it inside the building where the line turned into absolute pandemonium. It took forever to get to the table to get our ballots and then forever to make our way to the other side of the room to fill it out, and then BACK to the table to put them into the box. People were elbow to elbow, the air was hot and stuffy, and the kids were miserable (I also forgot to mention that Miles was on day 2 of antibiotic for an ear infection, so he was the most miserable). But we did it! The whole democrat line was Feeling the Bern! Sure, there were a few Hillary supporters, but the majority were all there for Bernie Sanders. I was pretty proud of our democrats this year.

In The Band
Recently I've been getting tired of playing to my Pandora station and wanted to start jamming with someone. I reached out to a few former bandmates but all of them weren't interested. All except one. Eric Hansen, a guitarist from one of my bands from college has been putting together a show using tech as his band pretty much and was stoked when I asked if I could play with him. We practice every Saturday now and it's definitely coming together. So I guess we'll start playing shows in June! I am really excited to start playing again! I can't believe it's been over 10 years!

Easter
The day before Easter, our neighborhood had it's annual egg hunt and breakfast at the park. However this year, it was not only freezing cold, but windy as well! Most people didn't dress themselves (or their kids) for the weather. Luckily Dave had the foresight to bring hats for everyone. I ended up driving home and getting gloves as well because Miles was crying because his hands were so cold. So everyone quickly did the hunt and ate as much food as possible, then they booked it outta there!

Later that day, I had the boys dye eggs. Dying eggs is honestly the WORST Easter tradition. I don't know why I continue to give in to the boys' demands of coloring eggs. But, wanting to not be an Easter grinch, I made a dozen hard boiled eggs, got all the ingredients and supplies ready, and made them color them outside. It actually worked out pretty well. I didn't get any pictures unfortunately, but they were all happy...but refused to eat any hard boiled eggs. 

Easter Sunday was actually pretty nice. The sun was out and it was no longer freezing. I woke up and the boys had been awake for some time, but none of them noticed that the Easter Bunny had come. Cruise and Jett got bubbles, sidewalk chalk, bunny trail mix, a Lindt chocolate bunny, jelly beans, and a couple caramel eggs. Miles hates chocolate, so I got him a stuffed bunny, which he actually had zero interest in, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, bunny trail mix, jelly beans, and two Easter playdohs.  

We didn't get a picture of all of us; I refused to have my picture taken anyways because I was not in the best of moods since we were running late and no one was listening to me. Ha ha! But these guys looked fantastic!

After church, I made mashed potatoes & gravy, parmesan zucchini, and glazed carrots. Then we all headed to Provo to have Easter dinner with Abby, Casey & baby Liev. Abby made an awesome ham & some incredible dessert! Ah! It was all so good!

Spring Break
Spring break actually started out pretty good! Monday morning, Dave took Jett and Miles out on the boat with Dan, Sofia and Liza to go fishing. Miles had a blast playing with a fish in a cooler filled with water and everyone caught a few fish. Dave brought home 2 for dinner. Cruise did not want to go fishing. He, like me, does not like it. So instead, he and I went out to breakfast at Denny's. While we were waiting for his food, I asked him, "So, Cruise. Why do you not like fishing?" And he responded, "Because, Mom, it's SO BORING!" I responded, "I know!" And then we both laughed like super villains. It was great.

Later that day, Dave took Cruise and Jett to Seven Peaks Fun Center while Miles and I took a nap. A wonderful, wonderful nap. They had a lot of fun playing and they even ran into Cruise's girlfriend Claire!

Tuesday we took the boys to Jack & Jills where they got to bowl and then each got $6 to play in the arcade. Miles really loved the bowling and had a hard time taking turns with his brothers, but he did pretty good for a 2 year old.

Wednesday the boys went to the dentist. Jett surprisingly had no cavities; the kid brushes his teeth, but not very well, so I was impressed when they said he looked good. He did, however, have a couple teeth coming in behind baby teeth, so he had to go back a couple weeks later to get them extracted. Cruise had a little decay between two baby teeth, so they just drilled it and made a space between the teeth to stop the decay.

Thursday, I was struck with illness. I had been having really bad allergies for about 3 weeks which then led to me getting strep throat. So I was stuck in bed all day Thursday and part of Friday. Actually, I was supposed to attend the Autism Conference at UVU on Friday, something I look forward to all year, but I was so sick I had to ask for a refund. It wasn't until later in the day I felt okay enough to let Dave go fly fishing with Joe in the evening. He had a lot of fun and it was a very successful fishing trip. I was really happy he could get out and get a break from the kids and taking care of me.

Saturday morning I was feeling much better and was able to make my hair appointment. While I got my hair done, Dave played Super Dad and took the boys to Provo Canyon to ride their bikes to Bridal Veil and then back down again. He wore them out good! I couldn't believe he did that by himself! Definitely something I wouldn't do alone. So he definitely wins parent of the year.

After he left for work later that day, I was feeling really good and was extremely happy to be making dinner because we had been eating out for the past few days since I was too sick to cook. So I decided to make shrimp lo mein and it was going to be delicious! I got out all the vegetables, had the shrimp defrosting in a bowl of water, and had my music going. I had bought a mandolin slicer a few months ago and had been using it every now and then, but with this meal, I needed to use it for all of the vegetables. I got the onions done, the cabbage, the bell pepper, and was onto the celery. I was going fast and didn't think before my finger got in there and the slicer took off the tip! I quickly grabbed my finger as it started to bleed profusely. I wrapped it in a paper towel, and called to Cruise to run across the street and tell our neighbor, Cassie, that Mom needs help.

While he did that, I found the slice of finger and held onto it as I made my way to the front porch, waiting for Cassie. Cruise didn't know I had cut my finger, he thought I had burned myself, so Cassie's husband, Golden, came over first and pretty much stared at me while I started going into shock. Then another neighbor came over and also stared at me, until finally Cassie came and got the guys busy trying to get ahold of Dave. She told me to put my head between my legs because I was nauseous and starting to black out. The other neighbor's wife, Nicole, came over, who is an RN, and asked if she'd like me to look at it. I said yes. Cassie moved me to my couch where I found myself trying not to pass out. Cassie held my hands up, but I couldn't feel or move them at all. I was unable to open my eyes for awhile, but I continued to talk to Cassie until I finally was able to move my hands and open my eyes. Nicole looked at my finger and said that if she tried to bandage it, blood would just soak through it. She suggested I go to the ER. By this point I was just pissed off. I wanted to make dinner and having my finger sliced off was not how I wanted to end the week. But I had to go. So I put the slice of finger in a sandwich bag and Cassie watched the kids while Nicole drove me to the American Fork ER. I finally was able to get ahold of Dave while I was on the way to the hospital. I had him go relieve Cassie and told him I'd call him to pick me up when I was done.

I got in and after looking at it, the doctor said although it was very deep, she couldn't sew the skin back on. So they cleaned it, which hurt, then put some stuff on it to help stop the bleeding, which hurt even more, then they wrapped it and I sat there for awhile while blood soaked through. Then they sent a nurse to dress the wound. The whole time I was trying to crack jokes about it being my middle finger just so I didn't have to focus on how much it hurt. They showed me how to dress it and keep it from infection, and then finally I was released. Dave met me outside with the kids in the car eating...McDonalds. Ugh! So much for making a nice meal. The first day it hurt terribly, Monday was a little better, but still very painful to move the rest of my fingers a lot. It healed relatively quickly, but was super sensitive for about a week with all those nerve endings exposed. The body is an incredible thing.

So, that was our Spring Break! Whoopty-Doo!

We finally got our garden up after waiting long enough for the weather to ensure no more snow. Of course, it's Utah, so you never know. Dave built a grow box about a month ago and the Ybarras so graciously let us get some dirt from their magic garden. Once the box was built, we spent a few hours measuring and thinking of all the hypotheticals, and then finally we decided to put it in just the right spot. Dave is the gardener around here, so he decided on what to plant and where. He put in a whole bunch of tomatoes and a few jalapenos in the grow box (did I mention he only grows things for salsa?), then I told him I'd like him to plant some zucchini and cucumbers, so those went in the existing grow box with the bad soil, so I'm not sure how well those will work out. He also planted some carrot seeds and some cilantro as well. Our green onion is still alive and growing as well. And, of course, our awesome, spontaneous raspberries are doing well by the fire pit.

Dave got out his riding lawn mower that he fixed up and has really enjoyed not having to spend an entire day mowing the lawn anymore. Miles likes it too.