Just a few tidbits of information

I loved women's conference Saturday evening- creation and compassion.

I am only 2 hours short of receiving my young women's medallion (again).

I got stopped at the mall today by a security guard.* Sounds ominous doesn't it?

Another reasons I love the fall is peaches and pears at less than a dollar a pound.
(Just be careful- you never know what you are really getting when you buy fresh fruit from Wal-Mart- never judge a peach or pear by its cover).

I had crepes with Nutella last night- to DIE for!!!

Well, I love you all and miss you.

Love,
LaDale


*Karla and I were taking pictures of different things for a scavenger hunt for the priest and laurel activity tomorrow. We were only taking pictures of things in the main thoroughfare and not of any of the stores or their items so in the end we were given the okay to finish and to have the scavenger hunt tomorrow.

Two baby steps forward, One GIANT step back

Ahh, fifth graders!!!

Teething

I say give the Tylenol a try. He doesn't have to be running a temperature for it to work. He could just be in pain. They also sell a topical numbing type balm you can rub over his gums to try and help. It's in the baby section. I always froze melons and put them in a little net type thing and let them chew on it. They all loved the flavor and it helped their gums. Hope any of that helps! Good luck.

Yes, you read that time stamp correctly...

It really is 2:38 right now. I really am awake. NOT of my own volition, but because Jayson has decided that he can't make it through the night anymore without a midnight snack. I don't get it. He's been great, sleeping through the night since he was about 3 months old. Last week, he was sick, the whole throwing up, temperature, flu-y type sick. But he's over that now. He's teething. Katy never had this many problems teething. Could it be that and I just got lucky with her? I don't know how many more nights I can do this. He screams and screams and screams. I check for everything and everything seems to be fine. He's not really running a temperature, so I haven't been giving him tylenol. Should I be? All I know is if I have to go through one more night like this, I may do something I regret. It probably wouldn't be that bad, except he gave me whatever he had last week, and now I'm sick. Mostly with a headache, that after talking to mom yesterday I have self-diagnosed to be a sinus headache. It won't go away. I love my boy, but if I don't get some continuous sleep, I may snap. Any suggestions? Please?

In-Laws

Frankly, my in-laws also drive me crazy. They are never around when I need them, never remember my birthday or Christmas. They NEVER answer the phone or my e-mails and WORSE, they raised a son who is just as negligent. Oh, well!! I suppose that's my cross to bear.

Well, after all the complaining I've done about my class this last six weeks or so, I am settling in. I can't say they are fantastically better, but I've given up on a few things and am much nicer for it, so they are much nicer also. Hopefully, we'll all make it through the year in one piece.

I love you all and think about you constantly. I can't wait to see you all over the holidays. I think I'll see all of you either at Thanksgiving or at Christmas.

Merry, merry and all that.
LaDale

RE: In-laws

No, Jen, I'm not, but then they are thousands of miles away right now...no, even when they are close I've never gotten frustrated with them. You get a special cross to bear, apparently. I'm sorry you're frustrated.

So, my darling brothers and sisters...please make sure you are registered to vote. It's an exciting election this time, honestly historic, so don't forget to vote! I'm planning on voting early, sadly (I don't like early voting as a general rule), but Baby Awesome could come and mess up my plans on election day. Probably not, but...you never know. I could be that lucky.

In laws

Is anyone else currently fed up with their in laws? I have just about reached the end of my rope. Today was just about the last straw. Not to get into any details, but my father in law, despite having been a member of the church for his entire life, has absolutely no idea how the gospel really works. He is the kind of person who reads the scriptures, not for personal insight or for greater understanding, but to get more ammunition for his personal beliefs. I am really tired of beating my head against that particular wall and am simply grateful that my husband understands so much better then his father, and doesn't allow himself to be sucked in to his father's delusions.
Anyone who is too confused, I have no problems explaining further, but not here! Thanks for letting me rant!

Happy Happy

Happy Happy Birthday Tyler!

Sorry this is so late in the evening--Telima, I JUST got home. It's nearly eight pm. We went for our walk at 11 am.

I'll bore you all with my day tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to bed.

Love you!

My new motto

"Keep the Rocks"

I'm SO adopting that as my new motto. Going to have it embroidered on my family flag and crest (if I had one, that is). So much more applicable to my life then "Spem successus alit" (Success nourishes hope), the Ross Family motto.

Bonus: "What's a motto?" "I don't know, what's a motta with you?" Name that Disney movie!

i just thought of a new one

Keryn,
I just thought of a new one {for your initials of ktr}. It could stand for "keep the rocks". I thought you might approve of me ammending that a little. What do you think? "Keep the rocks". Hey it could be our new family slogan.

caren

middle name

keryn,

yes you can keep "ip".
i've got a suggestion for the middle name. I think it should be "napolean". I hope i'm spelling that right.

initials "inr" for inner and all that since you have other cool initial spellings in your family.{ eor,bar,............ ktr etc.} wait a second, hey keryn it supposed to be "ctr". Are you starting
a new religion or what? Well i guess "ktr" could stand for "kick the rock". I don't know though that my be blasphemous to you and your love of rocks. What do you think?

caren

Great name!

Hey, Caren, we're still looking for a name for Baby Awesome--can we borrow "ip"? Ip Ross has such a nice ring to it.

our renamed child

Our postcards from our long term health care for the boys arrived in the mail. They are just the cheesy ones that remind you to get your child in for their well child visit. Except for ours always comes quite a while after we've done it. {oh well}

The hilarious part comes next. In printing name and addresses on the post cards. They accidentally dropped the first letter of the first name. So we got one for ip Tobler and one for dam Tobler.

I could see myself on the phone when their reviews inevitably will come up and having a person on the other line not knowing how to ask me why i named my kid "dam". I thought about it and i could say well we were driving over the hoover dam when my water broke and i thought it would be perfect!

Anyway i'm planning on making sure the spelling gets corrected in their system.

love ya,
caren

preschool

Lillian's first preschool screening went very well. She is too young to complete the screening in one sitting, so we had to make a second appointment to complete it. It was for Oct 15. That is just the next available appointment that they had. However, they also went ahead and set the appointment to sign her IEP so they can get her enrolled as soon as possible. That appointment is set for Oct 22. Hopefully she will start of the 23, but it could take until the next Monday, the 27. We'll see.
Congratulations, David and Amy. You will continue to be in our prayers.
Also, did anyone catch the ASU game last Saturday. Jeff wishes he thought to watch it. I would have paid money to watch ASU, ranked 15 in the nation, loose to UNLV in overtime!
The good news however is that at least this moves BYU up into striking distance of the top ten!

Hey Y'all

This must be some kind of record...I'm posting twice with in a month...nay within a week!
Soooooo, has anyone got any information on when the end of the world is to occur...it must be soon.

Anyway, Amy and I have been talking and the divorce is off. We both got in to see our bishop today and we worked out the preliminary stuff. Amy came to church with us today and was glad that she came. We obviously still have a lot to work out but, for now, we believe that we can work it out.

Just thought you all should know...

David

Evil Twins and Parties

Mom said your twin only makes noise when no one else is there...Activating the insta-party will quiet him down but...how do you get rid of the party. I don't think Mom's dehydrator is that powerful but I could be wrong.

Evil twins and parties

Well, there you go, momma. Every time you hear my evil twin brother knocking around in the basement, just go upstairs to the big bedroom and sprinkle some water in the closet. That instant teen party will make him jealous and he'll stop bothering you. =) Don't ask about my logic there...I know, it doesn't make much sense, but what do you want from me? I had a bad night.

my own addition to mom's house

I left something there at mom's house after we moved to arizona. We were in the big bedroom of course. I left rowdy teens in the walk in closet. I later told mom while we were talking about parties. I told her all she needed to do was open the closet door and sprinkle some water in there and poof! An insta-party!
caren

UNO WHO

Communism was just a red herring.

Disappearing Family

I like of the idea of keeping the family secrets very, very secret but just to clarify...When I make family members disappear, I don't kill them. I just lock them in my basement with Telima's evil twin brother. He is back by the way. He makes noise when no one else is here but me.

The Secrets of the Tobler Family

Tyler,

I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but we all have our little secrets that we keep away from the general public. If you had known that David was artistically minded before you married my dear sister, we would have had to kill you. This is a well kept secret that you must now hold on to forever. There are others that I cannot say here as they may be intercepted by the 'enemy.' Once you discover them, you will also be obligated to keep them secret. You life depends on it. I know how disappointed Mom would be if I had to make you 'disappear' like Mrs. White's nuclear physicist husband. So keep it in the family and don't let the 'enemy' discover our secrets. SKT

New Realizations

So, I have been around the family for a little while now and yet there are somethings that I apparently missed. Mom was talking to Telima (or so I understood it) and they were talking about what David was studying (or about what I am studying, which is probably more likely) and Telima was telling me about their conversation when I got home.

That might have worked better in an outline:

• Telima and Mom talked
• My schooling came up (I will graduate in December 2009 if all goes well, by the way)
• Mom had Telima explain what I am studying
• Telima told me about the conversation when I got home

Anyways, Telima discovered that what David is studying is apparently close to what I am doing for work right now. Telima was telling me that Mom and her were joking about us going back to Vegas after I graduate and starting a company with David.

Here is the point of all of this, Telima then tells me (what you already know) that David is artistically inclined. How did I miss this?

Let's go fly a kite...

I'm very very sorry for being MIA for such a long time...one reason is certain keys on my keyboard don't work. (For example, this sentence would look like this: For eample, thi entence ould look like thi) It's a huge pain in the neck, and I really need to bite the bullet and call in to get it fixed. But I'm irked by the necessity of it.

Bradley has been crazy busy at work--the start of the school year (with multiple computer mishaps, most of which he is responsible for now), training new employees, roadshow practices, choir practices, elders quorum responsibilities, stake conference (he gets to speak at the priesthood session today)...am I missing anything? Well, yes, a husband! Many nights he hasn't gotten home until midnight, and then gets up around 2am to start some computer task. Hopefully this won't go on too much longer. For his sake, mostly, but a little bit for me, too. I miss him!

Also I've been doing a lot of running around--well, walking around, really. We got our bike trailer/stroller, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it, except when I hate hate hate it. It's a complicated emotion. (Quick, name that movie.) The tires--it has inflatable tires, like a bike--have been giving me fits. I finally cried to Bradley one day, "I'm so tired of being the tire-slayer again!" The very first evening we had a completely flat tire--you see, here in marvelous (yet occasionally rural) Spanish Fork, sticker-bushes grow EVERYWHERE. And even if you stay on the sidewalks, you get them. And those things are murder on bike tires.

So, on top of the expense of the trailer, I bought these fabulous (read: expensive) tires that are bulletproof (no, really, they have Kevlar inside them). And they haven't let me down all week. I'm very very pleased with them. But the small front tire--that one I couldn't replace, because it is a special size--has gone flat three times. Fortunately we bought that goop that instantly fixes leaks, so I think we've got that problem licked. But then the latch that attaches the front wheel to the trailer stopped working. So I've requested a replacement part.

But other than that, I love it. (Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?) No, I really do. It is marvelously easy to push, has lots of room for my babies, and has helped me get a lot of exercise in the beautiful fall weather that has descended on our city. (I agree with LaDale, YAY FALL.)

Gideon update: This boy is rapidly amazing his therapists (I agree, Caren, aren't they amazing!) with his progress on the walker. He now free-stands in the walker (without a seat or attached to it in any way) and loves to walk and walk--as long as I'm offering chocolate. This boy LOVES chocolate (smart kid). He's making excellent progress, and he's really, really cute on top of it.

Yesterday the kids and I went to the Sky Spectacular (i.e. Kite Festival) here in Spanish Fork. It was very very fun! If you want a description, I wrote about it on Hot Blava. I love my town.

Even when there is a random race that ends on my front doorstep this morning. I have no idea what race it was, who sponsored it, or anything. It was very slightly annoying, because they set up right in our driveway, essentially. But not that big of a deal, really, as things go.

Let's see, what else? Not much, really. Baby's getting big, and I'm getting less sleep, which is par for the course. Other than that...we're doing fine, just fine. How 'bout you?

teachers

I'm absolutely amazed by teachers and the way they are able to work with our children. I'm amazed at my kids' therapists and how dedicated they are. I'm also pleased to say as of recent that Kip has been able to vocalize "all done!" and know exactly what it means.
love ya'
caren

So about those 24 kids

I had three separate people at three separate times today stop me and tell me about my class. (Not in a good way.) They all patted me on the back and said, "I am praying for you. You have quite the class this year."
I was actually feeling much better about mt kids the last two days. They are finally starting to get the idea that I mean business. I carry a stop watch around my neck ALL THE TIME. Every time they start to talk over me (which they did from the first minute of school, I simply lift the stop watch in the air and press the button. The beep is quite a soft noise, although sharp, like a cricket across the room and under the couch. It is amazing. Those fifth graders can't seem to hear my voice telling them to be quiet but they sure do hear that beep. Suddenly they are shushing each other.

When afternoon break comes around, whatever time has accrued on the timer they spend working instead of outside playing.

It's working so far. We'll see how long it lasts.

I'm headed up to Boulder this weekend with Shauna. We're going the spend a few hours in the national forest, go to some singles BBQ, then stay the night with a friend of Shauna's who, apparently, lives in a house in the side of a mountain. I was not really looking forward to it at first, but now I am quite excited. Although, right now, it means I better get off the computer and finish grading all my papers so I am not up at 3:00 AM Monday morning getting ready for school.

I love you all tons and miss you.

LaDale

P.S. Fall is beginning to wrap it's arms around my fair city and I come alive!!!!!

10 year olds

I just wanted to say that 10 year olds are easier than 13 year olds, so be happy for what you have because I remember scout troops with 12-13 boys. I think that Samuel's group had that many at least part of the time. And LaDale, I'm glad you love teaching because someone has to do it and no one does it for the money.

That put things into perspective

LaDale, Thanks for your comment. That totally put me into the right frame of mind. I do enjoy my Webelos but I forgot they are the same age group that you teach. I'm glad you love it so much. Love you all. SKT

Happy Birthday, Arabella

Even though I know she can't read this but I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Arabella. I'm glad that you are a part of our family.

24 of them

It is late tonight but I needed to take a moment and say to Samuel, "I have 24 of those 10 year olds for 7 hours 5 days a week!!!!"

But I love it!!!

And I love you ALL!!!

LaDale

Fun with 10-year-olds

So hopefully you all know that I am the Webelos den leader. First time in a scouting position since I was in scouts. No big surprise there but this is what I hope to be a good start to my involvement with the scouts. These boys are 10. During the summer months we had a hard time getting the boys to turn up. They would be on vacation with their families or doing other activities like swimming lessons or martial arts classes. All of a sudden, with 3 boys turning 11 in the next month, I go from being lucky to have 2 boys each week show up 7-8 boys showing up. We recently had a boy move in to our ward but he will turn 11 soon. Now I know it's hard at that age to sit still and listen. I try to play games and other activities to keep them involved. But I sure want to rant for a few sentences to say that this is not easy. Several only want to run around. Others only want to goof off. And it seems at times that they all don't care what I am trying to say. Enough ranting. I am really enjoying myself. 2 of the 3 boys turning 11 soon will get their Arrow of Light award. I am very happy to see them progress to this point. I hope they do have fun and I hope they like coming. I'll just have to do the best I can do. SKT

Just some information

Just to let you all know, David is now reading the blog often. He just hasn't posted anything yet. He is doing as well as can be expected but life is tough right now. He is still looking for a job and hasn't had an luck so far. He came by tonight by himself and we had a good talk. He has a lot going for him and I think that he will be fine. He did tell me that they have told the children. Skyler was in tears until they told him that Mommy was moving out and he was staying with Daddy and the other kids. He then was not crying. He didn't want dad to move out but he was not as broken up about mom moving. David said that Amy was okay with that because she said that she has always known that Skyler was a daddy's boy and not as close to her as he is to David. The others don't really understand what is happening because Amy is still there. She has found an apartment but can't move until she has a job. She is not going to Monte Vista anymore. Today was her last day, so she will be looking for work now and hopefully she will be able to find something soon. Please remember to keep them in your prayers.

You're Not Alone (Sung)

I just wanted to post quickly a paraphrase of a nice demotivator: If ever you are thinking that you are alone, just remember that you are not alone, and yet you are alone, so very much alone.

I will post much more in the next 48 hours. Love you all tons. SKT

Stephanie Meyers

Everyone should go to Stephanie Meyer's web site. http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/
I won't ruin it, but she has posted quite a bit of the rough draft of her newest book, Midnight Sun. I enjoyed it!
Thanks!
Jen
PS I starting to feel all alone in the bloggosphere. Please post!