Amy J and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

The morning started off with the usual: making school lunches and sending the kids out the door. But then I gave Branson (who is almost 2) a haircut and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



I had to mow Ivy Glades which takes 2 hours if I drive the lawn mower like a mad woman. My mom could watch Branson but she absolutely had to pick up my grandma for an appointment by 2:00 which means I would need to be back to get Branson by 1:30ish. It was 11:10. I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



I latched Branson's car seat into my father-in-law's truck. I latched Branson into the car seat and then I had to run back into the house because I forgot my i-pod and sunglasses (both a must for mowing lawns for two hours.) I hooked up the trailer to the truck, loaded the lawn mower onto the trailer and dropped Branson off at my moms at 11:20. It wasn't until I was headed to Ivy Glades that it occurred to me that the lawn mower was out of gas and I noticed in my rear view mirror that the trailer looked pretty crooked.



I think I'll move to Hawaii.



After driving to the nearest gas station there was a line at every pump. The guy in front of me filled his tank and then nonchalantly headed into the mini mart to do some major grocery shopping. While I was sitting there it dawned on me that I didn't close the garage door at the house and no one was home. OK...so I will have to very quickly swing back by the house and shut the door. I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



When it was finally my turn to pump the owner of the store came out and began directing me. I wanted to tell him that "yes I am a woman but I can pull a large trailer through a gas station." Of course I didn't but when I tried to pull farther out past the pump he started waving his arms all crazy and yelled "stop!" There was still tons of room left! Oh well. When I got out he was instructing the lady behind me and he had her pull within two inches of my trailer. Ummmm, see the big tall sides on my trailer. Yeah, I kind of need to put the back of the trailer down so I can put gas in the lawn mower! I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



I figured since I was in a hurry and I could reach only one of the lawn mowers gas tanks anyway I would only fill up one side. While I was stretched as far as my 4'11 frame would go...dangling over the tall wooden sides of the trailer...pumping gas into the lawn mower...the guy next to me said, "Hey do you know you have a flat on your trailer?" I assured him that the tire had a slow leak but that it was fine. Getting off the trailer and returning the nozzle to the pump I took a look at the tire...not looking good. I'll have to forget about returning home to shut the garage door cause this baby is only going to make it to Ivy Glades. I wish it could make it to Hawaii.



As I drove the 1/4 mile down the road worrying that someone was going to break into the house while I was gone, I heard the tire blow... then I heard the thumpety thump thump of a completely flat tire. I wasn't stopping for nothing...I pulled into Ivy Glades with a totally flat, steaming hot tire. I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



I figured I could worry about the trailer later. I was now going to enjoy some peaceful, although speedy, lawn mowing. As soon as I put my headphones in I realized that in my haste I had actually grabbed Anderson's old headphones. Not only do they not fit my ears but they have a terrible short in them. As I mowed, I got to listen to the background music of all my songs with an occasional burst of singing when I moved the cords just right. There also must have been something wrong with Ivy Glades sprinkler system because two of the large areas where I mow were flooded and I had to drive through several inches of water. Next week, I'm going to Hawaii.



I mowed the lawn in record time and loaded the mower back into the trailer. My plan was to unhitch the trailer and leave it and the mower behind while I ran to my mom's to get Branson. Yeah...I couldn't lift the trailer off the hitch with a heavy duty lawn mower on it! So I backed the mower down off the trailer. Even with the mower off, the trailer was extra heavy and totally lopsided with the flat tire. It about killed me, and I injured the muscle in my shoulder trying to get the dang thing off the truck, but I did it! I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



When I went to load up the lawn mower I forgot what happens when a trailer is no longer hooked to a vehicle. As the weight of the mower landed on the trailer the front end sprang up toward me and the mower...I about pooped my pants! Then, of course, when the mower was completely on the trailer it fell back down again and I about pooped my pants for a second time.
With that all done I was ready to roll, until I tried unlocking the drivers side door off the truck and it wouldn't budge for nothing! Kicking it really hard didn't help either. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



I unlocked the passenger side door and leaned over Branson's car seat to unlock the door from the inside. Yeah, That didn't work either. Cramming my body even further into the truck, my shoulder was on fire and so was my temper, I finally reached the door handle and pushed the door open. As I was climbing back out of the truck and over the car seat I heard the door swing shut and lock...again. I repeated my contortionist moves to open the door a second time and headed to my moms on time to get Branson. It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.



Some days are like that.



Even in Hawaii.

Sibling Spats

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air and saying, "Can't you all just get along!?"

Some days there is no contention whatsoever and it is like a magical veil of happiness has covered the entire house. But most days, as soon as the three older kids get home from school, there is a constant buzz of arguing and whining in the background with the occasional high pitched scream and crying. What is most shocking is how quickly the peace I felt all day long is shattered. Throughout the day Branson and I don't bicker and argue. We get along. We share. We play. We have quiet time. I know how I feel about our calming day coming to a complete halt...How do you feel Branson?

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Good Blood

I am not the type of mom that gets freaked out easily. I like my kids to experience things as long as they don't cause harm to somebody or something. Children running through my house screaming with joy usually doesn't drive me crazy...although sometimes it does push me over the edge.

John and I love our kids and no matter what they are going through we try to treat them as equals. This was surprising to most people while Anderson was going through his treatments for Leukemia. In fact...Children's hospital called us twice, asking our permission to give out our phone number to some local parents of children will ALL. They told us that they had never seen parents so willing to let their children "live" with Leukemia. Many parents are so scared of losing their child that they put them in a box, don't let them attend school, play with friends, and experience disappointments. They wanted these families to give us a call and for us to tell them how well Anderson was doing in public school and living life like a normal kid.

Of course Anderson's condition demanded more of our time, love and concern, but he did just as many chores as his brother and sister and he got in trouble when he did something wrong. John and I realized that children who have life threatening illnesses are usually stronger than most adults. Anderson had experienced more in his 4 years of life than in our 30.

So where am I going with this rambling of thoughts. Anderson was diagnosed in May of 2000 at 4 1/2 with Leukemia. If he hadn't been airlifted that night he would have died. Within 24 hours of being on chemotherapy his body reacted perfectly and he was in remission. Years later, towards the end of second grade he was able to take his last dose of Chemo.

We have had two scares since then. One in third grade, and one last week. I know the yucks have been going around but Anderson doesn't get sick often and there are three things that make my gut clench: Anderson being pale, Anderson having lots of bruises and Anderson saying his legs ache. Last week he had all three and I thought I was going to throw up. Thursday night he told me that he couldn't even do more than jog in PE cause his legs hurt so bad. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't usually freak out, but I was ready to run him into the ER at 10:00 that night to do some blood work. John convinced me that the ER would not be the best place to go and to wait until morning to call his doctor.

To make a long story short...his blood work looks great. His Red and White Blood cells and platelets are right where they should be. I get mad at myself for freaking out, for thinking the worst. So when I look back on this last week I will remember instead that Anderson celebrated his 14th birthday and attended his very first stake dance.

CARS!

If I told you that I was Branson's number one love I would be lying.
All of his waking hours are spent surrounded by his huge bin of Hot Wheels cars. Thanks to his big brothers Branson has 100's of cars to choose from but more often than not he uses them all.

He sends them down the ramps on his Little People Garage and when that gets too jammed with traffic he moves on to our Little Tykes slide where he sends them flying to the pile below.

And quite often he will reach the end of the bucket...
I would love to say that all those cars stay put on their ramps or at the bottom of the slide in the playroom but....

We Find These Cars EVERYWHERE!

In the office...

Under the Fridge...

In the fridge...
In and around the shoe basket...

In the Play Oven...

And my least favorite... the VCR.

(We found about 7 in there, and it is no longer working due to metal die cast cars being shoved into the mechanism)He drives them everywhere... and it is obvious that Grandpa Cazier is a very tolerant man.

(Below: Branson Looking in Grandpa's pocket, just making sure he found all the cars hiding out in there.)You could call it love, or call it an obsession

But here we call it "Good Clean Fun" (Until one of us unknowingly steps on a car with our bare feet and then we call it something else entirely)

(above counting his cars in the bathtub)

Farmer Photo Booth

I was asked to take the photos at our Ward Fair this evening. I wanted to do something fun and different but had no idea how many hours it would take to create this photo stand! The great thing about photoshop...if a couple wants to be the farmer and the wife...
...no hole in the sun!
(And I think I will add some text that says the event so it doesn't look like a big exploding star)

I designed it so that if someone wants to be alone in the photo as either a sheep or a cat they can do that too. I can also do a landscape shot and get just the cat and sheep together without the farmers. Sydney likes that all her animals are wearing glasses.

OK... so this dang thing did take forever and I will not be simply tossing it into the garbage. So if anyone has any desire to borrow it, please do. It will make my time seem so much more worth it!

Times

Walking into my boy's middle school yesterday I passed by several multiplication flashcards that were strewn across the cement. They made me smile and as I got to the door I remembered that I had my camera in my purse. I ran back to the cards and took photos of them, untouched, just as I saw them. I felt kind of silly but no one else was around and the empty school yard added to the way I was feeling about those cards. I can't believe the emotions that these photos bring out in me! Thoughts of the autumn season, kids going back to school, time flying by too quickly with my kids, someone elses kid is as disorganized as mine and losing stuff all the time...I even love the blur of blue paint on the cement from when they painted the panther paw prints on a nearby pole. I am not usually this deep and I think that is why this little experience almost feels like a treasure to me.

Labor Of Love

John's Labor Day was filled with taking care of the deer he shot with his bow and arrow.
Anderson's Labor Day was filled with helping his Dad with said deer.
Cayden's Labor Day was filled with going to the movies and hanging out with cousins.
Sydney's Labor Day was filled with lots of cousins and lots of movies at Grandma's.
Branson's Labor Day was filled with LOVE...

He loved his stuffed monkey that he absolutely must sleep with at nap time.He loved his Grandma lots and lots. He loved the fresh watermelon.He even loved the green part of that watermelon.
And my Labor Day was filled with family and retaking some of my digital scrapbooking classes. It has been so fun going back and seeing all that I have forgotten! I also have loved creating a layout and immediately printing it out on my printer. It comes out 12x12 with no border at all!

Psssssst....

Can I tell you a secret?My mom loves that the kids are gone all day at school!

Anderson's First Day

Heading to school yesterday, barely on time due to Andersonitis and new high school traffic...
Anderson: Mom, Where did you put my schedule?
Mom: I didn't put it anywhere, you had it.
Anderson: We need to go back home and get my schedule.
Heading to school yesterday, again, barely on time due to running back home for the schedule.
Mom: Oh my gosh! We didn't take any first day pictures Anderson!

So these photos of him at the school when he picked up his ID badge will have to do.

He had homework the first day back and I'm telling you right now...this boy is dreaming big time. When John and I go back to Hawaii it will be just that, John and I.

Anderson will be 14 in a few short weeks and I have to say...it has been a great 14 years with this kid.

Back On Track

During the summer we actually had a pretty good routine going. We would all get up, eat breakfast and then together we would clean the whole house. Typically we would start in my bedroom and make our way down the hall and end up in the kitchen. Sometimes this took two hours but mostly it took about 20 minutes. After the clean up was complete, friends could come over and X-Box could be played. With simple reminders throughout the day to pick up after themselves our home stayed in decent shape.

Yesterday after the kids had left for school I found their beds unmade and their room a mess. I spent the day putting things in order and when Sydney and Cayden arrived home they found this note laying on their neatly made beds... The Cazier Household is now back on the "Keeping it Clean" chart and after peeking into their rooms just now...it seems to still do the trick.