Pinewood Derby 2011

An hour before this year's Pinewood Derby I was slammed with a migraine that kept me in bed for a 5 hour nap. I wasn't able to see it at all. You'll experience his derby the same way I did. Picture. With bad lighting! Brother Bowen is touching Caden's "limo." Caden designed, cut, sanded, painted, and accessorized his own car this year. It was fun to see it all come together.

Caden's is the second car from Brother Bowen's left hand. Little did we know this would be an indication of how well he'd do. He came in second at almost all of his races. Below you'll see that number one is lagging way behind, number three is in first, number two is in second, and number four is third. Caden got first place the first time he raced in the derby (2009). I think he thought he'd get first again this year. Not the case.

His award for "Best Limo," did nothing to lift his spirits. He's as competitive as his parents, unfortunately!

I ended up sleeping from 12:15 to 5:15 when Randy woke me up to leave for the Duct Tape Duel (post below.) I went to bed that night at 9:30. And slept the whole night!

Caden has done so well in Scouts. He earned his Wolf plus one Gold and five Silver arrows. This year he earned his Bear plus one Gold and six Silver arrows and two belt loops. He wants to get his Eagle Scout just like his Dad. I LOVE Scouting!!!

Duct Tape Duel 2011

Two years in a row Randy and Caden have gone to the "Duct Tape Duel." Some company's in town donate random things and each duo gets a roll of duct tape to come up with something cool. This is my Knight in Shining Armor!

They won an award! "The Best Theme Award." Congrats Randy and Caden!!! Caden needed this after getting second place in almost all of his Pinewood Derby races. More on that later! Someone put together a LARGE McDonald's fry container with large yellow fries. There were many different types and colors of planes. Apart from my Knight, my favorite (that I could see in the pictures) is this American Flag. Red, Yellow, and Blue duct tape. Randy said they had even cut out stars. So cool! All of the proceeds go to needy people in Casper. What a perfect way to help those in need while spending quality time developing "man" skills! This just goes to show that men can create anything with a little duct tape:)

Finished- The kitchen anyway!

The finished project!!!

(Although the lighting is better in person)

The ceilings are white, which is something we've planned on doing since we moved in. It makes the kitchen so much brighter and I LOVE it! The painter also said that since we have texture on the walls, it wouldn't look as nice trying to do the lower half of the wall all white. We asked him how he would paint it if it were his house. This is the choice. We kept the lower half of the wall the same color as the rest of the house and lightened the top half of the wall. Our kitchen is so bright and open now!

You can see the color difference a little better on the picture above. We also did the lighter color down the halls. With the ceiling white and the walls lighter, it really makes a difference! It startled me the first night I went to check on the kids. SO BRIGHT!!!

This is Randy's favorite of all of the walls. He sure did a great job. Paint makes all the difference. Casper peeps, we've got a great painter if you're looking for a great job!

Learning to ride a bike!

Can you imagine Randy running alongside trying to hold her up on this bike? Lucky for him, she was a natural:)

We've got a winner!

Congratulations, Rebecca. You're the winner of our Cleaning Games contest. All the names were put into a bowl and chosen by Shelby. She commented that she hoped it was comment number 4, because she is 4! She was right:) Watch your mail for your card. Thanks for playing!

Picky, picky, picky!

Keilie is the pickiest eater! Unless it's desert, of course (pictured above.) Tonight I made a really good cheesy- chicken burrito dinner. I made her close her eyes and try it. Three bites and she was proclaiming this as her number one favorite meal. Satisfied that she liked it I told her she could open her eyes and eat the rest. The minute she saw that there was rice in it, she gagged and didn't eat another bite. She didn't even finish the one in her mouth!! She begged for bread and water for dinner. I think I might invest in a few blindfolds to get this girl to eat a good meal that isn't chicken nuggets, quesadillas, refried beans, or mac and cheese. Argh!!!

4 year olds

I've been learning a lot about "4 year olds." Here's what I know. As per, Shelby, or course.

*4 year olds like to eat their dinner one night, but not the next.
*4 year olds can't buckle their own seat belt.
*4 year olds are the only ones that can sing Follow the Prophet.
*4 year olds don't have to go to bed with the babies. They can stay up as long as they'd like.
*4 year olds love to help mommy cook.
*4 year olds can help clean out the dishwasher.
*4 year olds can make their own beds.
*4 year olds like rice in one meal, but not another.
*4 year olds go to preschool. They'll be 7 next.
*4 year olds help mommy get the peanut butter, not 7 and 9 year olds.

These are just a few examples. I bet you didn't know any of this!

Brooke

Laughing. Talking. Cheese Barrel. Tutoring. Shopping. Johnny J's. Pedicures. House hunting. Chopstix. Laundry. Movies. Mancala. Hobby Lobby. Wii. Snacking. Scattergories. Blizzards. Easter Candy. Sucky Wind. Science Zone. Rings. Potty training. 4 fabulous days of FUN! I love you, Brooke!!!

Runway

I went to sort my laundry and get ready for laundry day and noticed that there was a TON of Shelby's clothes in the laundry chute. I knew she hadn't gotten them all dirty, so I started sorting out her clean from all of the dirty. It got me thinking, why would she put all of these down the chute. It's because she doesn't want to hang them back up after her various wardrobe changes each day. I started out a day telling myself that I was going to take a picture each time she changed her clothes. I only got one picture. However, there is one thing in this outfit that never changed the whole day. Can you guess what it is? That's right, the tutu:) In a day, there is on average 5 wardrobe changes. It always includes something pink, frilly, and completely adorable. I love this stage. And I HATE it!

Cookies

Friday and Saturday we had a Girl Scout Cookie Booth on our driveway. This is our little Tagalong!

Since our house is on one of the two main streets that lead into our town it was a huge success. We thought it would be good to have it going on during the crazy after school traffic, but failed to realize it was Spring Break. It was still great. We sold 98 boxes on Friday afternoon, and about 75 boxes on Saturday morning. Not too bad in my opinion. Next year we'll do it when there is school and hopefully draw more people. Girl Scout Cookies rock!
Keilie wasn't able to make any early cookie sales this year since I was in Texas and Randy had to go to Utah for my Grandma's funeral. She needed 25 boxes to get a patch. She met and exceeded that goal, so she's set. Maybe that's why she decided to take a little break:) She took a lot of them!

Paint Please

Randy finished the last wall of trim work in our kitchen/dining room. We're ready for paint!! We've had a couple of bids. We're hoping to have it done next week:)

Please excuse the tool mess. I knew I would forget to take a picture if I got busy and put everything away. It's nice to have the tools out of my kitchen!
I love this view. Doesn't it look so nice. Imagine how nice it will be to have it all painted:) And nothing on the countertops! Construction is messy, but so nice when it's done. I think our next project will be outside. 1/2 acre is too much land without any landscaping. Can you say muddy?!

(p.s. One of the painters said that Randy's work is as precise as a premier finish work company's in town. He was praising how perfect it all was.)

Hairy Issues

After bathtime, I played around with Ty's long, cute hair and decided to give him a mohawk. We got a good laugh. Not a good look for Sunday:)

Look at his cute, LONG eyelashes. So perfect!
This is the cute "rooster" hair that he has on the back of his head. It WON'T go down. I LOVE it! It's fun to blow:)

In other news, Shelby's hair is now long enough to put into PIGGIES!!!!! She also ASKS for me to curl her hair, or make it look pretty. My dreams have come true. Instead of one that cries while I'm trying out new do's, this one cries if I don't. I love doing little girls' hair.

To commemorate this momentous occasion, the girls all did piggies.

I have such beautiful girls!! And boys!!

All sorts of games

I found another cleaning game idea in the same magazine I found Brennon's birthday cake idea. We tried it out today and added a little twist to make it more exciting. We set the timer for one minute and ran around cleaning everything we could see that was out of place. We had to put it in it's right place, since my kids are notorious for putting things wherever they want. So, here's our own twist. We had to count how many things we put away and made it a contest. We did it three times. The kids had a blast. They actually asked to do it again. After 6 minutes of three people running around cleaning, the house was spotless. I asked the kids which of our cleaning games was their favorite...

1. Clean for 15 minutes then stop for a snack.
2. Pick up 100 things.
3. Power minute.

Caden chose #3, Keilie chose #2. I think my favorite is #1. It's not rushed and the kids can't cheat in their counting- not that my kids do that:) Each time we find a new game, it's their favorite for a while. It's nice to mix things up a bit. What's another cleaning game you've heard of that works for you? Other than burning your house down:)

My blog has been kind of ho-hum for about TWO months now. Let's add a little fun. Post a comment about anything, whether you have a game idea, an opinion on which one of ours is your favorite, or just a note to say hi, and I'll send a lucky reader a gift certificate to Bed, Bath and Beyond to help you clean your own home:) I don't care if I know you read or not, I'll send it to anyone!

Raise

Day 1: 4 Accidents; 3 Successes.
Day 2: 1 Accident; 2 Successes. Dry from 10:30am on!
Day 3: 3 Successes. Dry all day!!

Thanks Brennon for the raise in our income 2011! With the help of http://www.thepottytrainer.com/, we have successfully potty trained two kids in one "weekend." Although I did it on Monday, he was dry on day three. Two success stories in our family alone, Shelby being done in only 1 day. I definitely recommend this site. 4 down; 1 to go!!
YIPEEEEEE!!!

Free

In the five years that we've lived in Casper, Randy's had two jobs. They are both in the medical field, although one was Pharmaceutical Sales and the other is Medical Device Sales. They're totally different, however they share one thing in common that we love. A point program that allows us to "shop" an online sight for free stuff. Randy has earned me a free bread maker, blender, 10-person Coleman tent, palm sander, and a sweet camera. Yesterday we got this...

A 42" 1080p LCD HDTV Panasonic flat screen TV! For FREEEEEEEE!!! We're not a TV watching family. That is to say that we don't purchase TV channels. We love to watch movies, but not enough to buy a TV. Hence the HUGE 1970's TV that was donated to the DIrks. The thing is older than we are and is heavier than both of us combined. OK, maybe not that heavy, but heavy enough to be ancient:) Anyway, we don't have plans to buy anything to make the whole setup look nicer, we're just happy to have gotten it for FREEEEE!!!! I'm not sure if there is another "purchase" that can top this one. They've gotten progressively bigger, so the next one might be a car. Or a house:) Some might ask how Randy earned this most awesome gift?! He made quota the first four quarters "out the gate" of this new job. He's on his way to hitting his fifth! Congratulations, Randy! Keep up the good work.

Day One

Yesterday started out pretty nerveracking. I had planned for a couple of months that I had to start potty training Brennon this week. Since homeschooling Keilie takes up so much of my time, I knew with Spring Break there would be no obligations. It's this week or summer. Since Brennon turned 3 just one week ago, I knew he needed to be done this week. We'd prepped Brennon for about a month telling him that soon he would be a big boy and would go on the big boy potty. We would show him his big bog undies and try and get him excited about the whole ordeal. Day one started out with him whining that he did not want to wear big boy undies. As I was pulling them up, he was complaining and kicking his legs. When it came time for his first sitting, he complained that he couldn't pull them down. As soon as he was sitting I started to tickle his legs. Anyone that knows Brennon knows he LOVES being tickled. That won him over. We would tickle his legs and sing songs. Mostly his phone number song and his name-o song. Then comes the most favorite part of potty training for Brennon, his treat. We give him a plain M&M every time he sits on the toilet and a Starburst every time he does anything significant. Day one stats: 3 Starbursts, 30 M&M's. He had four accidents (meaning even a drop of pee in his undies) and three successes. I went to bed on cloud nine. From not wanting undies to having three successes was better than I imagined. Especially since he was dry all evening after naptime! Today started out a lot less nerveracking, although I wish we were already done:) He's getting it though, so that's more than I could have asked for! Wish me luck on Day 2! And wish me luck cleaning the house after a whole day of neglect. Potty Training is SO time consuming. In my opinion, potty training is the hardest milestone of any in a kids life! And parents for that matter.

Redeemed

Just when I thought Tyson couldn't get any cuter...

He totally redeems himself!

I hope that tomorrow I'm able to post about Brennon's potty training triumph!

Tubes Time!

Tubes Time!!!

The morning of Ty's surgery we had to be up and ready by 6:45AM. Of course it had snowed which made the roads super icy. Go figure! I made it to the hospital at exactly 7:30AM.
Ty did NOT like his bracelet. Most of the waiting time was spent trying to get it off. It was pretty loose, so he succeeded once. The rest of the time I was watching him like a hawk.

He pulled at his ears a lot. This surgery was long overdue. Dr. Podrazik said that his ears were full of a thick amber liquid. He will hear so much better now. And not be in so much pain!

We did get in some fun while we waited. He wasn't able to eat anything after midnight, so his dinner was the last food he'd had. I was worried that he was going to be grumpy. Not the case. The only thing he didn't like very much was when the nurse was taking his vitals and she put the cuff on his arm. He gave her his notorious scowl:) The nurse that took him back to OR got a special snuggle from him. Once she picked him up, he laid his head on her shoulder and didn't lift it until she laid him down for surgery. The other nurses were eyeing her with envy.

And that's all! He came out of anesthesia perfectly, cried his lungs out, and was delivered to me in a tissy. We rocked for about 10 minutes while they got the doctor's ok to leave and we were out of there. I was home by 10:00. He is still pretty wobbly, but doing well. I will never forget the care Dr. Podrazik gave to us when he pushed his schedule around for us. What's up next for the Dirks? Potty training starting tomorrow. YAY!!! I know you all envy our Spring Break!

3.5.2011

Hopeless. Exhausted. Emotional. Frusterated. Sad. Anxious. Sick. Upset. Empathetic. Tired. Sluggish. Flabbergasted. Confused. Angry. Drained. Gut punched. Blind sided. Face slapped. Floored. Miserable.

This is how I feel tonight as four of my kids spent the day with fevers over 102.5. Brennon's spiked today at 103.3. Is this ever going to end? Will we ever get a break? Haven't we suffered enough for two months straight? How much more can I take? I would take it all in an instant if it meant my kids would stop suffering. As my favorite Disney Princess said, "Take me instead!"

Babies

When I came home from the hospital with Ty today, Shelby noticed the hospital bracelet on my wrist. With her most excited voice she screamed, "Did you get a new baby?" I sure hope so, even if it's not the kind she thought. Ty does act happier, although still pretty clingy. More about the blessed surgery tomorrow. For now, I'm exhausted!

Random

Here is some random stuff that has happened to me in the last 12 hours.

*I had to search for Shelby's glasses last night for about an hour(She's lost them only two other times in the last year. Of course, one had to be last night.) We had an eye exam this morning with a new doctor, so I needed to make sure that her Rx was still accurate. I found them in our pile of stuffed animals on the bear she got from Randy for Valentine's Day!

*I found the kids playing on the treadmill that was pulled out of storage for other things behind it so Randy could go out of town. Apparently it's fun to place a stuffed animal on the very front, turn the dial up full blast, and watch the animal careen into the wall. FUN!

*I then walked upstairs to find copies of the kids hands from the copy machine. I'm just glad they didn't learn a new trick from Despicable Me...their bums!

*Next, I walked into the front room to discover that I'd accidentally left out the Girl Scout cookies Keilie sold this week. 8 boxes either had one sleeve or the whole box missing. Here's to a healthy breakfast.

*Now we're at the eye exam. Shelby is still extremely far sighted. She needs a new Rx and frames. Hers have taken quite the beating he said. Remember, she got them two days after her 3rd birthday.

*Caden's turn. He is NOT legally blind, and needs Rx that makes it so that his eyes are closer to the same Rx. Our old doctor, whom Randy never trusted, had his 20/20 eye at a nearsighted Rx and his bad eye at too far of a farsighted Rx. This is why Caden had a hard time reading with his glasses. So all of the stress, prayers, fasting, and patching were for nothing. His left eye is worse than the right, but not Amblyopia bad!

*We're on our way home on the freeway following a truck when I'm suddenly crashing into something huge. I think it was a peice of sheet metal. It WRECKS Randy's bumper. Nice. We love insurance claims.

*Ty has been crying more than usual- and when I mean usual, I mean more than his ear infection usual- so I've been frantically trying to find the cause. Yep, the antibiotic he's on is giving him acidic stools. Instant bloody-bum diaper rash. Can we get a break for this boy? Thank goodness for tubes tomorrow at 9:00!!!

*I came to sit down at my computer and find that our screen saver (family picture) has been changed to a huge bison. That's right, our family picture seemed to disgust Caden, so he changed it to something he likes better. A fat Buffalo!

*I got our tickets for Wicked in the mail today. May 28, 2011 is a shining light in this chaos. Pack your bags girls, we're going out for a night on the town. In Omaha, Nebraska:)

*And last, Brennon got a sucker for being so quiet. While we were looking for new frames for both Shelby and Caden, he put his sucker on the floor to better examine a fun toy. That sucker got thrown away! Well, as we're about to leave, Brennon notices that he doesn't have his sucker. Caden selflessly pulls his sucker out of his pocket and gives it to Brennon. Just like that. Brennon dropped it on our way out of the office!

All this before 10:30AM. Good night, it's nap time!

Dues

(Picture courtesy of Shelby)

As we were on our way to Target to get Brennon some new shoes yesterday I told Keilie that she could spend $5, because she had done so well at school the last couple of weeks. Shelby proceeds to tell me, "You need to pay me $1,000 to be good at preschool." Keilie then asked if I was going to give Shelby $1,000. Before I could answer, Shelby said, "Yes. It's because I've been good at preschool and I'm learning." Yikes, she's expensive!!

Updates

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but have had so much other stuff going on, it's slipped my mind. Keilie was the star student in her class this last week. She also achieved a blue ribbon for the whole school in Math and Language arts. She is doing SO WELL. She is blazing through school so fast. Because she started half- way through the year, she is only expected to get 52% of the work completed by May 27. As of today, she is at 45% or higher in all of her classes. And it's only March 1st. I love seeing things click in her head. I love her excitement when she gets a whole page of math right. I love the enthusiasm when she can tell me what we've learned from days ago. I love working with her one-on-one. I love being able to give her the attention she desires. No public school teacher can give her that. However, she desperately wants to go back to public school. She asks daily when she can. She misses her friends. She misses so much about school it breaks my heart. I figure her IQ is just fine, the doctor said she would go to college and do well, so why not allow her to have the social aspect of school. I now have a baseline of Keilie. I know that after lunch she kind of zones out. I know that she is easily distracted when she sees too many words on a page. I know that she understands a whole lot better when someone else reads things to her. I know that she has good days and bad days when it comes to understanding/attention. I know that she can have days where things click easily and days where she has to really focus to get anything at all. I know that she is smart. That has never been a question for me. She has the funnest personality. She has a quick wit. She is the perfect little girl for me. I will miss learning along with her. We're learning about Islam right now. How interesting to learn about other religions. Science is super fun as well. Here's a secret for you though. I am looking forward to having 4 kids in school next year. Caden will be in 5th, Keilie will be in 3rd, and Shelby and Brennon will be in preschool until 11:30. It will be me and Ty. What to do with all of my time? I need a hobby! How about cleaning and organizing my house to my own expectations!!! Unimaginable.