# Chateau de la Tobler

## Saturday, January 31, 2009

### Correction about #5 is alive

This came from 'Short Circuit' not 'Batteries Not Included.' Although both included 'machines' that were 'alive' short circuit was about the 5th robot malfunctioning and becoming alive as a result of a lightning strike or power surge, I forget which. Love you all. SKT

### #52

Unless I am mistaken, and if I am, someone correct me. It was from "Batteries Not Included." Mom had it on VHS. It's been a long time since I saw it though. But that was what popped into my head as I was reading it.

### the 80's

So, I can't say that I really "grew up" in the 80's, but as Tyler and I read through that list, we recognized quite a few. One that I'm curious about that I didn't recognize, though, is #52. And since that was one that you specified as remembering, Jenafer, which movie exactly is "Number 5 is alive!" from? Because I have no idea. It was still a lot of fun to read, though. We laughed through some of it and shrugged through the rest. Someday, someone will come up with a list for those of us raised in the 90's. Love you all!

### 80's

I can personally remember - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 54, 56 and 57.

## Friday, January 30, 2009

### the 80's

Since a pretty good percentage of us at least remember most of these things...enjoy.
You know you grew up in the 80's if:
1. You used to buy cassette singles… and still have some stashed somewhere…
2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
3. You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future."
4. You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name."
5. You've heard of Garbage Pail Kids.
6. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom
7. Two words: Hammer Pants
8. You watched "Fraggle Rock"
9. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and spokey-dokies or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect
10. You watched "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!)
11. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
12. You (your sister, cousins) wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
13. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen..and still know the turtles names.
14. You know all the words to "ice ice baby".
15. Poltergeist freaked you out.
16. You ever had a Swatch Watch.
17. L.A. Gear....need I say more?
18. You Believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power!"
19. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
20. You wanted to be a Goonie. ("Goonies never say die.")
21. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us...head-to-toe)
22. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
23. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
24. Your first Walkman weighed about as much as a brick.
25. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
26. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
27. You knew "The Artist", when he was humbly called "Prince".
28. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up. (Many 80's kids have informed me that this would be incest so scrap that)!
29. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
30. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?" 31. You were a Cub Scout, brownie or girl guide but now you have no idea what all the badges you got were for.
32. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
33. If you ever said "I pity the fool".
34. You have ever played with a Skip-It or Elastix
35. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
36. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
37. You remember when cellular phones weighed 15 lbs. and had to be carried over your shoulder.
38. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
39. You wore socks scrunched down
40. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
41. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.
42. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
43. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales
44. You had to come in the house when the street lights came on.
45. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
46. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB"
47. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class.
48. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - "SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND YOUR TO BLAME.. YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME"
49. You just sang those words to yourself.
50. You have a tendency to turn the collar up on your Polo shirts.
51. Your first computer was a Commodore 64 or an Atari 800.
52. You know what movie the phrase, "Number 5 is alive!" is from.
53. You played with Lego’s when they were just blocks of various sizes, not any of the special little parts.
54. You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.
55. You remember that "Up above the streets and houses,Rainbow climbing high. Everyone can see it smiling over the sky. Paint the whole world with a rainbow"
56. You played and or collected "Pogs"
57. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
58. You played British Bulldog or Man hunt
59."You went to a chinese restaurant to buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread. They wrapped it up in a five pound note and this is what they said, said, said.....
60. You sang " One, two, Freddy's coming for you. / Three, four, better lock your door. / Five, six, grab your crucifix. / Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. / Nine, ten, never sleep again."

### Wow 2.0

Samuel, that is GREAT!!
I second the others and you will have to take lots of pictures to share when you get back...Congratulations!!

### Saving the world from peanut butter..

So, many of you know my friend, David Schefcik. He works in New York right now, doing...well, I'm not exactly sure what he's doing. Anyway, I was talking to him today and asked him what he was up to. He said "Today? Saving the world from peanut butter." I laughed, but it turns out he was serious. For any of you who haven't heard, there's been a massive recall of products made with peanut butter due to salmonella poisoning. Apparently there have been over 500 hospitalizations and several deaths attributed to this. It all comes from one company, which manufactures peanut butter and peanut paste in bulk, then distributes it to other companies to use in their products. So, it's not in the regular peanut butter you would buy in the store, but rather, in the cookies, ice-cream, nutrition bars, crackers, etc. that you would buy. Here's the most recent list of recalled products. I just wanted to let everyone know. Personally, we don't have the money to buy anything that's on the list, but we're poor. =) So, just make sure any treats you have with peanut butter in them aren't on the list before you eat them. Also, they said in the article that it could also be in some dog treats, so check that too. I love you all!

### CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Samuel, that's amazing! I'm so excited for you! Taiwan, wow. Does Caren get to go with you? That is just so wonderful. Congratulations! You'll have to take tons of pictures and tell us all about it when you get back. How long are you there for? Will you get a chance to do some sightseeing in between conference stuff? I am so jealous, but so incredibly excited for you! That is so great.
As for me and my little family, we're all doing really well right now. I'm having more good days than bad anymore, which is good, but I still start to go downhill every day around 4:00. It's a good thing Tyler gets home around 4:30 these days. Katy is kind of, sort of being potty trained right now. It's more my fault than hers that it isn't going as smoothly as it could. I haven't been consistent with it yet. But she loves to sit on her little potty and she's really good at peeing in it. Jayson is just as happy as can be and runs everywhere. The only real issue we have with him right now is he won't eat regular food, only baby food and yogurt. I think it's a texture thing. I'm not too worried about it yet, but I'm keeping an eye on him. And Tyler is keeping really busy with school and work and all that. He's still planning on graduating in December and is right now trying to make sure everything is in place for that to happen. All in all, we're doing great! I love you all and miss you tons!

## Thursday, January 29, 2009

### WOW!!

Samuel, that is wonderful! Congratulations! I just know that you will have an absolute blast! I am just green with envy. Have fun.
Keryn
Does that make my kids prisioners #23601-23605 or 25601-25605? Or don't they get numbers because none of them have unsual names?

### Finally I can say...

Tonight I finally got the official confirmation that this summer, July is as close as they can give me right now, I will be going to
TAIWAN
to attend a conference associated with the fellowship I have right now and how it relates to teaching nanotechnology to K-12 schools. I just wanted to let you all know. This is the first BIG conference that I will have the opportunity to attend. Love you all.
Samuel

### Future Therapy Bills/Court Ordered Damages

My kids are pretty much doomed, then, aren't they? What about girls with unusual names? Should I expand the therapy/damages fund to include Mercy, too?
Prisoner 24601--Crime: illegal levels of cuteness and gap-toothedness
Prisoner 24602--Crime: flashing the "I love you" sign, causing huge love waves
Prisoner 24603--Crime: excessive happiness while walking like a big boy (with walker, video to follow eventually)
Prisoner 24604--Crime: unauthorized use of cute toothless smile (that I can't yet capture on film)

## Wednesday, January 28, 2009

### Re: Pop Science

I guess we'll have to keep a closer eye on Ephram than we thought...
By the by, we did get the internet working long enough to download your story, Jenafer. I just haven't had time to read it thru again yet.
David

### Pop Science

Keryn-
I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this. But apparently your boys are destined to be Juvenile Delinquents.
Don't shoot the messenger.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090128/sc_livescience/boyswithunpopularnamesmorelikelytobreaklaw

## Tuesday, January 27, 2009

### Re: Title

Given what I've read about J K Rowlings, I would probably be sued, even if I could get that title past the publishers. I doubt it. Besides, I'm not sure I want to be associated with Harry Potter.

### so if you titled it

Hey Jen,
do you think if you titled it "The Book That Must Not Be Named" J.k Rowling or publishers would have a few fits? {he, he, he}
caren

### Keeping in touch??

I talk to each of you often, some more than others. But I know that I don't tell each of you the same things. I realized today, as I talked to Keryn and Jenafer, that I don't know who I have told this to. Soooo, I decided to post this and make sure that everyone knows.
Two weeks ago, my Aunt Carol passed away. She and my Uncle John live in Boise. She has been suffering with cancer for two years. The last few months were horrible. Her funeral was a week ago Saturday. The same day Christopher Tobler was married. I knew I wouldn't be going to the funeral but Grandma, Kaylene and Leland were planning to go.
Grandma had a doctors appointment on the Friday and called to change her appointment so that she could go. It hit her that she had cancelled one appointment and then the doctor cancelled the next one and she needed to see him before she went. This is about her pace-maker. At her last appointment she had been told that she needed a new pace-maker because they were not making batteries for this one anymore. She also realized that she had been told that she would have to have it done sometime either before or right after Christmas. It was now two weeks after and she was cancelling her appointment again. She told the receptionist all this and she (the receptionist) said that she would make room for Mom to come in the next day. Part of the problem is that the people who make these pace-makers are from California and only come to town once a month. They are the one with the equipment to check how well pace-makers are working.
Anyway, Grandma went to her appointment and the technician put the sensor on the pace-maker and said, "I need to talk to the doctor." When the doctor came in he told her that her pace-maker battery was completely dead and she was on running on auxiliary power and they had no way of knowing how long she had been auxiliary power. He recommended she go to the hospital and have the pace-maker changed that very day.
I had a funeral to go to that morning (Denise's dad) and when I came home I had a message on my answering machine that said, "LaDonna, this is your mother. I thought you might be available to take me to the hospital. I guess I will have to call someone else."
At that moment, Kaylene called and told me that she and mom were at the hospital and did I want to come hang out with them. I went up to hospital and hung out until about 10:00 pm. Mom was able to get her pace-maker changed and is doing fine. She now realizes that she has not been feeling well for some time. It come on gradually and she didn't know it was because her pace-maker wasn't working. She did not make it to Aunt Carol's funeral but that is okay. Everyone understands that things like this happen.
Now Christopher's wedding was very nice. It is obvious that both families have money but the best part of that trip was the drive down and back. We had a great time. I did all the driving because no one else would. None of the others felt comfortable driving in California. So I just did all the driving. It is a good thing that Kim had given us really good directions. We had a hotel rooms less that five miles from Kim's and Tony and Sheila had a room just across the hall. It was a great time.
I now have no trips planned in the near future and I am glad. I am looking forward to Keryn and Family coming in a month and Jenafer and family coming two weeks later and Telima sometime in March also.
I love you all.

## Monday, January 26, 2009

### Title

Thank you for your suggestion Caren. Lately, I have been thinking "Lost and Found."

### we are reading

Samuel and I have been reading Jen's book together. We are stopping to make comments as we go. So we have not finished yet.
But Jen i have an idea for a title. It just keeps coming back to me. I don't know why.
"The Jagged Edge"
just an idea, use it or don't use it. At least now that i have said it, it will stop bugging me
caren

## Sunday, January 25, 2009

### Callings

I completely understand what that woman meant, about the tempo of hymns. Nothing kills my joy and peace of mind than a S-L-O-W hymn that is supposed to be "energetic" or "joyfully". (Okay, one of my children screaming is a mood-killer, too.) I'm glad that today went well for you.
I've had an interesting couple of weeks concerning church callings, myself. I truly LOVED my calling as primary chorister, it was the best and pretty easy for me. I figured I'd be in it for a long time, because not many people in our ward have the musical background to feel comfortable in that calling (and several who do choose not to serve). But in December I kept feeling like I was going to be released, which I resisted mightily.
But, alas, the day Heber was blessed I was called to meet with the bishop (who turned out to have a little emergency and handed me off to his counselors--both of them), and I was released as chorister and called...as CAMP DIRECTOR! Yay! I probably scared the counselors because I almost yelled, "Yes! I will accept this calling! Woo-HOO!" (Okay, not quite the woo-hoo. But close.)
Mema and Bradley can tell you I was pretty pumped about this calling. If I had to be released as chorister, this was the best calling I could think of. Yay camp! I started thinking about themes, camping sites (oooh, Payson Lakes would be fun, we could rent a paddleboat or kayaks or something...), the girls, etc. I even talked with the YW president and her counselors at playgroup, and we decided "virtue" would be the theme, and the colors would be...etc etc. They were excited that I was excited--last year they asked for something like five different women before someone finally agreed to be camp director--clear in May, I think, was when someone was called. So, anyway, I was pretty darn thrilled about this calling.
I tried to ignore the odd conversation I'd had with the newly-released primary president one Sunday--she mentioned that she was getting a new calling, too, and that maybe my new calling wasn't going to be the one I thought it was. (The one I'd already been extended.)
Then last Saturday night the ward executive secretary called and asked that I meet with Bishop the next morning. I felt my doom approaching. Something was just not right, and I knew it. Darn it! Sure enough, when I met with the second counselor (Bishop Davis ditched me again--he was really sick that day), I was un-called to the position of camp director.
It was actually pretty funny. Remember, he had been the one to extend the original call, and knew just how excited I was. So he was all cautious and apologetic. Of course I told him it was fine, that I was disappointed but I understood, and I'd serve wherever, etc. They are reorganizing the Relief Society, and the former primary president was to be the new RS president, and she wanted me to be the first counselor (education). Sigh. Not as much fun as girls camp, that's for sure.
The funniest thing is how much everyone around me resisted this calling. Apparently when Suzanne first asked for me, the bishop said no. She then asked again, and he said they'd pray about it. Later, he told Suzanne that the answer was yes, but they still weren't happy about it. The counselor told me that when the bishop told him about the change, he warned Bishop Davis that I wasn't going to like this. And the executive secretary is married to the first counselor in the YW, and when he told her that I wasn't going to be camp director, she told him they couldn't do that, and that he needed to tell the bishop he couldn't do that.
And yet here I am. I'm glad that the bishop knew he could call me to whatever, and I'm flattered that so many people were worried about my reaction. We'll be sustained next week (this week was Stake Conference), and then the fun will really begin. It will be interesting, that's for sure. We have a lot of funerals in this ward...

### Church

Today was my first day as organist. Technically, I was supposed to get one more week to practice, but when we got there, there was no one playing prelude and Sis. Parker, the person who had been doing it, wasn't there, so, I played. That's ok. I actually enjoyed myself after the initial terror.
I actually had someone come up to me after church today and tell me how much she appreciated the fact that I actually kept the tempo up on the hymns. Our old organist dragged, quite a bit actually. I tend to have the opposite problem. I have to remind myself to keep things slow on the sacrament songs and such.
I also did a semi emergency sub for the primary chorister today. She woke up sick this morning. I was sitting there waiting for us to start, watching the teacher who took over my old class work with her new class. Typical Sunbeams. One was screaming for his mommy, one was refusing to sit down, two were hitting each other and the last two were sucking their thumbs. She looked at me and sighed and said, "Last years class was so much better behaved!"
I'm afraid I laughed at her! I told her, "Not in January, they weren't! They grow up allot in this year!"
I'm not entirely sure she believed me!

## Saturday, January 24, 2009

### Hyundai

Has anyone else seen these commercials from Hyundai? The ones that say that if you lose your job within a year of buying one of their cars you can return it? I have to laugh so hard at them! Not that I know for sure, I haven't seen the exact wording of any of the contracts or anything, but they are actually making this a selling point! I guess people just don't realize that any car company will do the same. It's called a voluntary repossession. And Hyundai has just made it sound like their doing you a favor! I guess a good advertiser can make anything sound good!

## Friday, January 23, 2009

### Book

I'm not really sure how I did it either Caren! Everything just sort of came together really well. I will say that if I end up being able to sell it, I will be telling the Bradshaws that they will need to find a new sitter for Kate and Bridget. I love the girls a lot, but they are a handful and I will want to try to write another book. I'll need the quiet. Besides, they are starting to drive Jeff nuts!

### the writing

you know jen i still don't know how you managed to write. From everything you've said about the girls you babysit. They are quite the handful.
caren

## Thursday, January 22, 2009

### I'm done!

Ok, everyone, I finished the book tonight. I just ignored almost everything else today and finished it. So everyone check your email accounts, they are there. David and Amy, Mama said that she will put it on a flash drive for you because you don't have internet, so I don't know why I'm writting this as you won't be able to read it either! I love ya all!

### What is going on?

So tell me, what is going on with these investment people who are faking their own suicides? It's not like this should be exactly the first line of defense! But I just read that there is another one of them who has done this. At least this second one didn't wreak a plane in his efforts to apparently run away from his life. Does this make any sense to anyone?

## Tuesday, January 20, 2009

### History

We watched President Obama's inauguration this morning, my four kids and I. It was an historic moment, and I wanted the kids to be a part of it. (Although I didn't try to explain just why it was so historic; Ezra, the only one who would even remotely understand, doesn't understand why it is a big deal that a black man should be president. He'll understand the historic context someday, but for now I'm very content to let it be so.)
So when my children say, "I was alive when President Obama became president, but I sure don't remember any of it," then I will pull out this post and say, "We all watched it together. This is what you did: Ezra, you mentioned twice during the 30-second oath that your feet hurt and you couldn't stand anymore. Mercy, you begged me for more "cherries" (licorice) You also decided that the name Barack Obama must be a girl's name, and kept calling our new president "she". Gideon, you spent the time tossing Goldfish crackers onto the floor. Heber, you contentedly nursed through the entire event. You three older kids begged me to turn off the "news" and put back on your cartoon."
And thus an important, historical event occurred for our nation, and it made no impact on my children. Which, honestly, is how it should be.

## Sunday, January 18, 2009

### Eight is great!

We had our eight is great fireside today with all of Jacob's class. There are 22 children who will turn eight this year in our ward and 13 of them showed up tonight. All of us adults frequently laughed all but hysterically at some of what they were doing and saying. Eight year olds have a great sense of humor, usually unintentional.
When the primary presidency called on Bro. St Gellis, he turned around to stare at his father, despite the fact that they had been marching their way down the seated seven year olds on the front row. Then, when one question asked by the bishop had one of the other seven year olds stumped, the bishop offered to give the answer, only to be startled by the resounding "NO!" He wanted to figure it out on his own.
My own son was his normal bubby charming self. One member of the primary presidency wondered out loud at the beginning of the meeting whether or not Jacob had been given an invitation by accident as he was surely to young to be in the group of almost eight year olds.
It was fun and Jacob was thrilled to be able to go out for an evening with just him and Mom and Dad, although he was disappointed that we couldn't take Jeff's car. He thinks Jeff's car is 'cool'.

## Saturday, January 17, 2009

### My phone is back

I can't even tell you how glad I am!!!

## Thursday, January 15, 2009

### Pictures

LaDale, those are some awesome pictures. I need to see if I can somehow print them out for the boys.
Sorry I have been out of touch so much. At work I finally have an internet connection that is mostly reliable. Today I have excellent signal strength but Tuesday it completely died on my and I could not access the internet at all.
Anyway, UPDATE:
Amy is finally getting completely over her month long bout with Bronchitis. Now it is simply a matter of her regaining the strength she lost after being in bed for that long. She is also recovering emotionally from the death of Denise's father. She lived with them for quite a time when they were teenagers and was very close to him. The funeral was yesterday and she spent the entire day with Denise and part of the night.
Skyler loves being back in school but is having trouble concentrating on his work at school and has been getting poorer grades in math as a result. We know he can do the work he is simply not paying attention to it and during a timed test that is crucial.
Ephram is Ephram. He loves life and having fun. Now that I am at work during most weekdays we is enjoying being the man of the house and taking care of Arabella. His speech is progressing nicely since Amy is forcing him to use correct pronouciation. He can say the words right but simply doesn't a lot of the time since he has been able to get away with it up till now.
Arabella is 3, enough said...but really she is just being her adorable self. She is officially potty trained now though we still have some diapers around. She still has accidents but not every day and only when she is out of the house and doing something exciting and forgets that she needs to pay attention to when she needs to go potty. Lately she has taken to putting a diaper on herself for bed time. We are allowing this only when she is wearing one piece pajamas and still has to remember to go potty. She is usually pretty good even then and once the diapers are gone that is it...we won't buy any more.
For myself...I am settling into my new job as a life and health insurance agent. I did sell a small policy on Tuesday and got paid today (Yea!) even though is was only about $10 at least it is something and I am working hard at continueing the income flow.
I love you all.
David

## Wednesday, January 14, 2009

### Facebook Friends

Not that I am the best person to ask about the Facebook Friends list but I think of it as a social networking application. As such, how well you know someone is irrelevant, it is more important how helpful it might be to get in contact with them if you ever need to do so. Some people I am friends with because we once knew each other and had an acquaintance, others because they are close friends, others becasue they are family, some because I am curious about what they are doing in life and still others because they want to be my friend (few, but there are some). Should I really smash their hopes of being my friend?
I really just do it for K'napd and keeping some essence of being in touch with people (friends for High School, College Friends, Co-workers, etc. who I am curious to see what they will do with their life or what they have done with it). But this is coming from possibly the only person to use Facebook as if it were an email client.

### Cuteness

LaDale, those are some of the cutest pictures that I have seen in a very long time. Do you have software that you use for your scrapbooking?

## Tuesday, January 13, 2009

### A few more.

Aren't these boys darling
These are all the pictures I have finished and wish I had taken a ton more!!
I love these kids!!!

### Still no phone

I still do not have a phone and, suddenly, I have a deep desire to call anyone and everyone that I know.
In the meantime, I want to share some of the cutest pictures I took over the holidays.

### Sea kittens

Most ridiculous thing I have read in a looooooooong time! I laughed so hard!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99249669

### teh facebook

Okay, folks, now that I am on "teh facebook", tell me please--do I friend everyone in the world I know? Even people I don't know that well, like say Brittanie's younger sister? Or do I only friend certain people? Help! I'm the wrong generation for this, by about 3 years. Hee hee.

## Sunday, January 11, 2009

### New calling

Just to let everyone know, I was given a new calling today at church. I am now the ward organist in addition to a visiting teaching supervisor.

### No Phone

My phone is in Westcliffe!! Long story that I don't have time to go into at the moment. Just know, you will NOT be able to get a hold of me before Tuesday or Wednesday. (I'll blog and let you know when I have it back.)
Keryn :( that means, no birthday phone call tomorrow. But please now I am thinking about you and that I LOVE YOU TONS!!! I will call and wish you a belated birthday once that silly little thing is back in my hands.
LaDale

## Saturday, January 10, 2009

### Brotherly Love

### Why I'm swearing off decongestants (WARNING: WHINE AHEAD)

No, it's not because you have to buy them from behind the counter now (lame as that is). (Although I read that one company that makes decongestants with psuedoephedrine went from making $100 million a year to only $30 million a year after the rules about how to buy Sudafed-type stuff went into effect. That's a lot of meth...)
It's because I've had two (count 'em, two) kidney infections in the last two months--nay, the last six weeks. I've never ever had a kidney infection before. They are not fun. Fever and chills are not fun. Not getting to go out for my birthday dinner is not fun. Feeling this crappy is not fun.
I've had a cold/sinus infection for about forever, and so I've been self-treating with Vick's Vapor Rub, hot showers/baths, hot drinks, vitamin C, and of course decongestants. Decongestants dry you out (that's what they're supposed to do). Nursing dries you out, too. Apparently the two together, for a prolonged period of time? Gives you a kidney infection. Or at least gives me a kidney infection or two.
So now I'm on lovely sulfa drugs (oh, being allergic to penicillin and nursing, it really cuts down on your options), and grateful that my doctors' office is open on Saturday mornings for urgent care.
So, to recap: Decongestants bad (at the very least while I'm nursing; Mema says Kaylene can't take them at all because of kidney infections). Sinus infection bad. Kidney infection bad. Doctors' office good. Sulfa drugs mostly good. Husband who cleans the church all by himself (took four hours) very very good.
Whine over.

### Adventures in potty training

I sympathize, Keryn. I really do. I can't even tell you how happy I am, how relieved I am, just how all around ecstatic I am that Lillian was an easy train and that we finally now only have pull ups at night time for one kid! My house is slowly losing that vague wet diaper smell that you can never quite get rid of completely.
Also, I had no idea just how wonderful it was to have the kids out of the house! I basically have a few mornings a week without kids and my house has rarely been cleaner. Not to mention I can actually get my food shopping done without having to put cookies and candies back or being terrified of walking past the toy section!
Love ya all!

## Friday, January 09, 2009

### Potty week

On Monday morning, Mema had Mercy convinced that NOW was a great time to get potty trained. So into the "big-girl" panties she went. Looking at my week, I agree that it was a great week to fight and finally win this battle--I didn't have to be anywhere at anytime all week. And so it began.
Day one: Zero success.
Day two: One success.
Day three: Three successes. (After a rough start--she sat on her little potty for 25 minutes first thing in the morning, nothing. Twenty minutes later, she was soaking wet.)
Day four: No failures, at least four successes!
Day five: Three successes, four failures.
I'm not giving up this time. She is out of diapers, that is THAT. We will keep the laundry running and the carpet cleaner out for as long as needed.
Tomorrow will be an adventure, though. We are cleaning the church (at least two hours), and then driving up to Aunt Kim's so she can watch the kiddos; Brad is taking me out to dinner for my birthday.
(LaDale! I didn't know about the new Vicky Bliss book until Mema told me the day she came up. And then I "made" her buy it for me for my birthday. It came on Wednesday and I am trying to keep my hands off it until my actual birthday, because I'm not getting any other presents. Yay! Have you read it yet? I'll bring it up when we come over in March.)

### Happy Birthday Skyler

Happy happy birthday, Skyler dear!

### Re: Great Teacher

I would have to agree with Jen. That article said a lot of the things that I knew and feared about the teaching profession. I, probably like many of you, saw many 'great teachers' in our own K-12 experience that got shoved aside and beaten down by 'the school board' or even principals in my case. It sure is hard to do the job you love to do when everywhere you turn people think you are a glorified babysitter. I would have to say that in this years experience in the 7th and 8th grade classrooms I am in those students think school is worse then a root canal. From what I have heard from our sister, LaDale, I would say the effort she puts in to her job and the great ideas she has for teaching would qualify her as a 'great teacher' in my book. I do have a current plan to spend some time as a high school teacher in the far future because I enjoy the interaction with the students. I hope I could be as good of a teacher as those I look up to in the profession. There, I have had my say on this topic. Peace out. SKT

### Teachers

This was an article on teachers, or more specifically, the growing disrespect for teachers in our society. It was sad and, unfortunately, nothing I didn't already know. At least the columnist was for respecting teachers!
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Columns/?article=WhatsWrongTeachers&gt1=27004

## Thursday, January 08, 2009

### My kids are strange!

My kids are strange!
Just thought you all should know.
Yesterday, one of my girls came running hysterical into my room yesterday, "She hates me, she hates me, she hates me!"
No, it wasn't Heather...It was Erica. Yup, that's right, my five year old. Huge sigh. I have a very long 15 years ahead of me!

## Monday, January 05, 2009

### Keryn's Round-up

The holiday season was crazy, fun, relaxing, and wonderful:

- Bradley was actually able to take off almost the whole two weeks (which turned out to burn only five vacation days, because he worked part of some days, and had December 25 & 26/January 1 & 2 off anyway). So, yeah, didn't get to use all the vacation time that expired at the end of the year. Oh, well.
- I had my tooth extracted on December 23 (they couldn't save it, so out it came, after considerable pulling and tugging). This resulted in: a) a very puffy chipmunk-cheeked me. Bradley had a hard time taking me seriously because my face was so assymetrical, and b) a HUGE bruise that spread up my jaw almost to my nose, from where the dentist rested his hand to PULL. I told everyone that my husband beats me. Nobody believed me--can't imagine why.
- We had a great Christmas--I got two marvelous presents from LaDale (one of which is a beautiful plate that has a long story behind it [ha ha, a long story!!!!]), a rice cooker, a new saucepan, and a gorgeous, brown-calfskin bound hymnbook that matches my scriptures that I got last year (BYU's gift to their employees). What did you get?
- We rearranged our family/toy room. We took the couch/hide-a-bed out (in pieces, as it is too big to get through the door without trauma) and threw it away, took the bookshelves out of the dining room and put them in the family room, and filled the shelves with toys, games, and preschool supplies. We moved the rocking chair into the family room as well, and kept the cushions from the couch for the kids to play/lay/sit on, until we can afford beanbags. It is really different feeling, but I adore it! And the reorganization of the toys (with the attendant weeding-out and rotation) has made it easier for the kids to put their toys away (yay yay yay). My dining room looks huge and very empty now, but once I figure out what to put on the wall, it will look better and we love the extra room.
- Mema arrived on Friday afternoon (in the midst of the rearrangement). As soon as Gideon saw Mema, he said, "AMM-MA!" and lunged into her arms, and hugged and cuddled. So sweet! Ezra and Mercy loved loved loved having Grandma (and, to be honest, her computer games) here, and Heber very much enjoyed being held more than he is used to, with a third adult to help with everything.
- Saturday night Grandmama Tobler, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Bob, Kimberly, Gabrielle, Tyler, Logan, and Sarah came over for dinner. It was really crowded and really fun.
- Sunday we blessed our precious little Heber Alexander. It was wonderful and far more people were able to come than I was expecting--we took up three middle pews with Bradley's sisters' families, Wendy and Bob etc., Telima, Tyler, and kids. And then Telima and Tyler came over for dinner.

Jenafer--first, what a crazy Sunday you had yesterday. You must be so relieved that your kiddos are back in school, even if that means you are babysitting again. As for "Mr. Obama", conventionally the press will refer to the sitting president (or president-elect) as "President X" the first time he is mentioned in a story, and then refer to him as "Mr. X" the rest of the story. So you read and hear references to "Mr. Bush", "Mr. Clinton", etc.
As for the Yellowstone earthquakes--it could mean that a super-eruption is eminent, but I have as good of a chance of being killed by a falling grand piano as having a super-eruption in my lifetime. Possibly the earthquake swarms mean magma is moving up, getting ready to create a rhyolite dome or cinder cone. That would be WAY COOL. But most probably the swarms indicate fluids (mostly water) moving through the system of superheated rocks. Boring stuff like that.
I love you all!

### Cuteness

My five year old is the cutest five year old girl on the planet!
For some reason, they must have looked tired to her, she moved our entier snowman family up the stairs, into her room and put them all to bed, tucked in with a varity of blankets.
As we were standing them up, thus freeing the beds for sleeping for live little girls, Erica got very concerned.
As many of you know, we have seven snowmen, one for each member of the family. The kids have been bugging me all season for a snowdog, but they are actually difficult to find! (Can you beleive that? The nerve of the fake snowman industry!"
Erica looked at the snowmen and exclaimed in concern, "Mom! Where is Baby Ya-Ya's snowman?"
She just couldn't understand why her dolly didn't have a snowman like everyone else in the family. Baby Ya-Ya is such an important part of her life, why wouldn't I immediately run out and get a snowman for her?

## Sunday, January 04, 2009

### Question for Keryn

This is one I think that Keryn can answer, but if anyone else knows the answer, chime in!
I was watching the news tonight and they were talking about Obama and his transition and so forth. The question is this. The news (CBS, if anyone cares) kept referring to him as Mr. Obama. Shouldn't they be referring to him as President Elect Obama?

### ramblings

I just thought I would sit here and post a rambling commentary on my day. It's Sunday. So it's a rather unusual day all around. It's Benjamin's first fast Sunday as a deacon. So today he did fast offerings with Jeff. It was also the first Sunday we required him to fast two meals with us, and he found this rather difficult, but he survived.
Friday, Erica's new teacher called and asked me to sub for her class today, she had another commitment. So I prepared the lesson, including a picture to color and a badge for each child to wear throughout the class. Both of which needed to be photocopied so I arrived to church a half hour early so I could finish preparing, cutting out and taping and such, before sacrament started only to discover upon entering the library that the copier had just stopped working less then ten minutes earlier. Thankfully, I still had enough time to send Jeff home to make the copies on the machine in our office and come back, but that did mean that I was cutting and taping and writing during opening exercises, feeling like a horrible, unprepared teacher!
Then there was the madness that is the first Sunday in January and teachers and kids don't really know where they are going or what to do. I managed to get my kids all off to class, I did designate Jeff to help Benjamin find his Sunday School class. I wished I could have pitched in more, but with a new Primary Presidency I didn't want to step on any toes. CTR 6, the class I was subbing in, was split into thirds, with each class having between 7 and 9 kids. I, class A, had only two of my kids show up, Erica and Kimber Lee. (Yes, her parents actually named her that!) Class B had four kids, and two brothers for teachers. And Class C had five kids, and no teachers at all. I ended up with Class C mixed into mine. That really was fine. I had taught a pretty good percentage of these kids when they were Sunbeams, so my class was really surprisingly well behaved.
What really surprised me was the amount of people who stopped and asked me if I had been "stuck" back in primary. Four people asked me this! I could kind of understand it. I've only been released for about eight weeks. It would have been surprising if they had turned around and given me the exact same calling as before. Not that I would have minded, I enjoyed being a teacher.
Lillian did really well during her first church as a Sunbeam. She wore underwear and stayed dry! During sacrament, she requested to go twice and then proceeded to strip naked in the women's room before going. Oh, well, it was better then having to take her home and change her. Then, even though I was in the room, she sat on her chair and sucked her thumb all during singing and sharing time, a real little angel.
Jacob was invited to the "It's great to be 8" fireside in two weeks. He is so excited to be going with just Mom and Dad that he could just burst.
Benjamin has his very first baptisms for the dead on Wednesday. He had his bishopric interview today after church and I will be dropping him off at 4:15 at the church to go! He is not terribly excited, probably because he doesn't quite understand the importance yet, but I am thrilled!
It rained all through out church, we are having such odd weather!
On the extremely bright side, everyone goes back to school tomorrow!

## Saturday, January 03, 2009

### Hint

Think of two things cat's play with. One is exactly that and the other is a "play" on words.

### Re: hidden objects

Ok, I will admit it. I am slightly stumped.
I have found everything but the 2 "cat toys"-
Can someone tell me where they are?
Where is the 'hint' button when you need it?

## Friday, January 02, 2009

### the seek and find picture

hey LaDale,
that is what i always have pictured the inside of my head to look like!
love caren

## Thursday, January 01, 2009

### Seek and Find

Dearest Family,
Happy New Year!! To celebrate 2009, we bring to you “SEEK AND FIND IN MOM'S DEN”. Find the following items located in the den:
pliers
2 “cat toys”
3 candles
2 baskets
fire extinguisher
mallet
2 statues
seashell
paint brush
2 paint cans
elf
Santa Claus
“Mothers and Sons”
“a man in a habit”
treasure chest
Love All!!!

### demotivators

mom bought Samuel a calendar with a different demotivator for each month. I just thought i'd share this month's demotivator with all of you.
Blogging
Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.
love caren

### Happy New Year!

I want to wish my family a Happy New Year! May 2009 be exponentially better then 2008!
Good luck on the baby blessing this Sunday for Keryn and all of her family!