Just an observation...or something

I struggle with clutter. I have this habit of picking up my mail and promptly dropping it in the corner of my kitchen counter and leaving it there.....forever. I swear I go through this pile (that sometimes gets quite ginormous) once a month to make sure I didn't forget to pay any bills or miss any important appointments. But its a constant fight to keep that part of the kitchen clutter free. Physical clutter is not the only problem. I have 1807 emails in my inbox right now! I just never delete anything. I should probably just hit delete as soon as I'm done reading an email, but I don't. I'm lazy. Now I am going to have to go through and delete everything non-important. This is going to take several hours. Ugh.

******************

I wished for spring and got cold temperatures, light snowfall, rain and fog.....that'll teach me.

*****************

Ivy and I had our last appointment with the nurse yesterday. She seemed sad to lose us. She is a nice lady, but I'm so glad that we don't have to do that anymore. Ivy hated the nurse. As soon as Ives would see her face she'd scream like crazy. I don't think she'll miss her.

******************

Is anybody else obsessed with watching the olympics? I am normally a sucker for the summer games, but not usually the winter ones. I always thought they were boring. This year I decided to give it a shot, and now I can't stop watching. I actually like the ice skating and speed skating, and the arial skiing. Has anyone else noticed on the arials that the women are way better than the men? I watched the mens qualifying rounds on tuesday and probably 1 in 4 had a rough landing. Last night I watched the women compete for the medals, and only 1 had a rough landing. The women were way better and a lot more graceful! Ps. Does Apolo Ohno get on your nerves or is it just me? Scott says, "Apolo? Oh No!"

*****************

The fam and I will be traveling to the salt lake area in about a week to be in town for my nephews baptism. I'm excited to see some family and friends, so make time for us!

February Book 2: The Poisonwood Bible

I picked this book based on three of my blog readers recommendations. Two of Scott's cousins Jessica and Heather, and Rachel who said the author was one of her favorites. So here goes my review.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Genre: fiction/drama

Overview: This book is about a family that goes to the Congo in Africa in 1959 to bring Christianity to the people there. The family consists of a crazy religious father, his submissive wife, and four young daughters, ranging in age from 16 to 5. They come and experience a life very different from what they have known in their hometown of Bethlehem, Georgia. They girls grow into very different women as they experience things from starvation, religion, prejudice, and death.

The Review: Anyone who knows me really well probably knows how I feel about movies that are over two hours long. I have a short attention span, and I look at long movies as if they are a chore rather than entertainment. It is not always the case that I don't enjoy a long movie, I just don't like sitting through one for that long. This book felt a little like a two hour movie to me. Which I hate to say, since I had three of you recommend it, but it dragged a little bit. I'm not saying I didn't like the book because I did. I loved how it was narrated by all the girls with their different personalities and how the writer was able to convey those differences with her writing. I think that would be a difficult thing to do, and she did it beautifully. I also thought that the general story was enjoyable and interesting, and I was always wondering what would happen next. That being said, I thought it was TOO LONG. The last 100 pages just dragged on for me. I also found a couple of the characters annoying. I thought one of the twins was too darn serious, and the oldest was annoying to me in many ways (which I think was intentional). I liked the other two daughters and found the chapters narrated by them much more enjoyable.....unfortunately one of them only was able to narrate for a short time (I won't say why, but it seems rather obvious) and that was disappointing that I no longer had her chapters to look forward to. Anyway, all in all it was a good book, and I did like it. I just need to work on my patience I think.

I'll give this book a 6 or 7 out of 10, and for marde who needs a grade, c+. But Marde, This is the grade I would give it, and I think if you read it, you would probably grade it a b+. I think you would enjoy it more than I did.

random, unimportant, but enjoyable (for me)

Today I solved the rubik's cube in 1 minute 58 seconds. I think I previously mentioned that Scott had taught me how to do it. Now that I am relatively fast at the long way, he wants to teach me to "speed cube" which requires me to memorize a lot more patterns and algorithms, but if I do I can get very fast...I don't think I'm smart enough....I might give it a try though. Scott loves teaching me how to do things I don't already know how to do.

***********************

Corbin the genius really makes my head spin sometimes. I am continually amazed by the things he does. He reads off random signs and says, "does that say "Hastings?" (which is a book/music store in boise similar to media play). I say(trying not to sound totally amazed) "yes it does. How did you know that?" and he answers quite nonchalantly, "I sounded it out." This boy isn't even in kindergarten. He then read all the other surrounding signs such as, "Walgreens", "books", and "coffee". Amazing. He also knows how to get to a website on his computer that lets him play old-school nintendo games for free. I didn't even know how he got to it until today when I watched him type in "www.google.com" and then type "nintendo" into the search box. Then he clicked on the site he wanted and started playing. Have I said that he's a genius? Because he is!

*******************

Dex is as obsessed as ever with his star jammies, but luckily he's backed off with the hat a little bit. He doesn't want anyone else to wear it, but at least he doesn't wear it to bed anymore. I believe he's also got a little genius in him since he can solve a mildly scrambled rubik's cube as well. By mildly I mean like 6 turns from solved, but its still pretty impressive since he's not quite three years old yet. He can't pee in the potty but can solve the cube.....maybe I should work on my priorities eh?

******************

Ivy was recently declared ineligible to receive money from the government for disability. This is fine with us since it literally caused us more stress than not, but it also means she will no longer be covered by medicaid as of march. I am a little stressed out over this, since without medicaid her medical bills will go sky-high, but the medicaid office assures us that we can apply for a different kind of medicaid. (Although, I feel like they will turn us down anyway.) But there is a silver lining to this stressful situation. I was able to tell the nurse that after Ivy's appointment with her on this coming tuesday, we will no longer be needing her services! I'm FREE!!! Well....sort of. On a compromise I promised the doc that I would bring her into his office once a month to weigh her. Ugh...but at least I don't have to deal with the nurse breathing down my neck anymore.

**********************

And finally. Its been feeling very spring-like around here lately. The sun is shining, the air feels warmer, and the kids have been playing outside again. I almost want to jump for joy, but hold back for fear of jinxing it and waking up to six inches of snow tomorrow morning. I can't wait for endless days of picnics in the park, and riding bikes til our bottoms are soar. Oh glorious summer, how I've missed you!

Your mama dresses you funny

Look at you with your mismatched stripes and polka-dots. You're a mini fashion nightmare! What was your mother thinking? She should be ashamed of herself.

That being said.....You're still the most adorable little girl I've ever seen!

Getting another asterix by my name

Don't you always have your kids' best interest in mind? Wouldn't you do whatever it takes to make sure they are happy, healthy, and thriving? I know I would, and apparently, I do. As everyone knows when Ivy was hospitalized in July and her surgery was cancelled, I was.....peeved, to say the least! I fought with the doctors and tried to force them into admitting their mistakes, and in the process, didn't make very many friends. When we went back in October for the rescheduled surgery, I was going to make sure we weren't screwed again, and I put up a fight when a certain doctor wanted to do something I considered unnecessary. (Dr. Jerkface, in case you don't recall). Pretty soon Dr. Jerkface refused to work with us and the other cardiologists made sure that we were happy. They were basically walking on eggshells. I'm pretty sure there was a big fat asterix next to my name in Ivy's medical records telling the docs "Mom is a fire that needs putting out, and try not to make her angry again!" Which is fine, because I never have to see that doctor again, Ivy got the treatment she needed, and Scott and I got the respect we deserved for being her parents.

Well, I think I got another asterix today. This time at the pharmacy. I've been going to this pharmacy since first bringing Ivy home from the hospital 13 months ago. We have to since Ivy's main medication normally comes in a pill form, its hard to come by in a liquid. We can only get it at a hospital pharmacy. Anyway, you'd think that by now, they could get it right. We had a lot of problems right at first because Ivy is required to be on Amoxicillian (an antibiotic) all the time since she doesn't have a spleen and can't fight infection on her own. It's a very long story that involved a lot of wasted medicine and me getting angry because they just didn't understand that she needed it all the time. It took them at least 6 months before they figured it out! It was so annoying. Once they got that under control we were good for about 3 months. Then Ivy's dosage for her most important medicine, enalapril (a heart medicine)was changed so that it was more than doubled. I called them, informed them of the change, the doctors office faxed over the new prescription, and they proceeded to fill it for the old amount. I immediately told them at the pick up window that it was wrong, and they told me to come back in a few days and they'd give me the rest so it would last the whole month. To make a very long story short, this was the beginning of an avalanche of miscommunication and under-filled prescriptions. It was so FRUSTRATING! So after having to go back to the pharmacy 3 times in 3 weeks in January, I've had enough! Last night night I ran out of the enalapril a full week early, I didn't even have enough for her regular dose. I was fuming mad, and called the pharmacy right then and left them a 5 minute long angry message. (I basically told them if anything happened to her for not getting her regular dose, I would hold them responsible) Today the pharmacy opened at 8:30, and they called me at 8:30 on the dot, to tell me that Ivy's refills were ready and that they double and triple checked to make sure I recieved a full 30 day supply. They were overly nice at the pick up window, and named off everything as they put it in the bag. Needless to say, seems like I got a new asterix. I don't care, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure its done right. I think making sure a life saving medicine is correct is pretty darn important, and if I have to step on some toes to get it done, I will!

preschool valentines day party

Corbin had a valentines day party at his school. I couldn't attend because Dexter was sick, so scott left work early and went to the party and taped the songs for me. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. He's such a cute kid. He came home with all his goodies, very excited. I hope holidays are this fun when he moves up to elementary school.


click here to view it on youtube

Converting to Geekism and other fun stuff

Scott has been trying to get me to try and solve the rubik's cube for months. I always refused saying, "I can't do it, I'm not smart enough." Well, I finally caved and this past weekend he taught me how to do it. I guess I am smart enough, because I've got it down! Who knew? I'm not super fast like him, but I can do it in about 3 minutes. Not bad for my first week.

*****************************

I put Ivy in the bath with the boys for the first time this Saturday. Can you believe that? She's 15 months old and I never bathed them all together. I think it's due to paranoia, the boys are wild and I'm afraid that she'll get hurt. But they did great with her and she had a blast. Plus it made my day a little easier by doing one kid bath time instead of two.

**************************

Corbin is sick. He hasn't been sick in months. He had to miss school today, and it was his day to share a snack. He was a little disappointed, but we're hoping he'll be better by Thursday to be able to attend the Valentines Day party.

*****************************

Dexter has a little bit of the obsessive gene that comes from the Brunson side of the family. For the last week or two he has wanted to wear the same pajama's to bed every night. "I want star jammies!" He screams, and he even wants to wear them in the day too. Its funny, but hard when we have places to go where he needs to wear clothes. He's also obsessed with a hat that we bought in Mazatlan two years ago. He wears it all day long. He wore it to church on sunday, and wears it bed every night! I have to go in at night and take it off while he's asleep so the string doesn't strangle him. He runs around all day with his jammies and hat and says, "I woody, you buzz!" to Corbin, and "To woody and BEYOND!" (apparently he hears "woody" instead of "infinity" when buzz says it.) He's crazy.

(not pictured in the "star jammies". I have to do laundry once in a while.)

************************************

One of Ivy's favorite things to do these days is walk around the house and point at pictures. Her favorite is the collage of Auntie Stacy in the family room. We say to her, "Where's Stacy?" and she can pick her out. (yes, I realize how easy it is, since all the pictures are Stacy, but its cute). Its especially sweet because Ivy never had a chance to meet Stacy since she passed away before Ivy was released from the hospital last December. It seems like she knows her anyway. I like to think that maybe after Stacy died she would go sit with Ivy in her hospital room when no one else could be there, so Ivy wouldn't be alone. I think they will always be connected in my mind.

Dare I say it....

BEST. BOOK. EVER.

It's books like this that make me wonder why I waste time on movies.

February Review:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

genre: um...young adult, WWII, I guess

Fellow blogger Rachel recently raved about this book, so I made it my first February selection, and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. I was devastated, but not disappointed.

This book is about a young girl who is living with foster parents in Nazi Germany during world war II. She has a love of books and usually has to steal to get her hands on one. After her foster family decides to hide a young Jewish man in their basement, life becomes more difficult for them.

I don't want to give a lot of details and give this book away, so take my word for it. Its phenomenal. Its beautifully written, and gives amazing visualizations. I felt like I was there while it was all happening. I would dream about and couldn't wait to keep reading. I laughed, I cried, and enjoyed every word.

When I say "cried", I really mean, wept like a baby. I'm glad I read the last 100 pages while Scott was at work, because I literally sobbed for the majority of the last 50 pages. The kids looked at me like I was crazy, and I'm just glad Scott didn't have to witness my uncontrollable blubbering as well.

You simply MUST read this book, READ IT NOW!

Ps. I totally neglected my family, my housework, my make-up and hair, and pretty much everything else in my life to read this, so I'm taking a week or two off from reading, so I can catch back up on life.

My next book selection (in a week or two) will be from one of you, so stay posted.

Haven't posted pics in a while

I thought now seemed like as good a time as any to post some pics of the kids.

This is why we have to hide the wipes

Ivy engaged in her favorite past-time, taking off her shoes

More shoe removal

I know you can't see Corbin's face very well, but don't the clouds look awesome!

Dex hanging out at the playground

Ivy LOVES to put on daddy's glasses

First taste of licorice

Corbin sent this to scott as part of an email story. Translation: "Thats you driving to work" He tried to sound it out and spell it by himself. I almost cried because I thought it was so adorable.

Random thoughts

Today is groundhog day......does anyone really celebrate such a lame and pointless holiday? I don't. Have you seen the movie with Bill Murray? I love the part when he kidnaps the groundhog and drives off a cliff. Then the camera man says, "maybe he's okay." just in time for the truck to explode in a ball of fire. So funny.

**********************

Tonight the final season of Lost premieres on ABC. I'm so excited. I can't wait to put the kids to bed and get "lost" in 3 full hours of confusing islandy goodness.

**********************

Speaking of Lost. Do you ever wonder why they all want to get off the island in the first place? Its like a permanent Hawaiian(ish) vacation without the costs or tourists. Sounds heavenly. I mean you might have to deal with an occasional terrifying encounter with the smoke monster, but other than that, its like retirement on the beach!

**********************

I have a meeting with Ivy's service coordinator today......I hate these meetings. She makes me set goals of what I want Ivy to do this year. Can I say, "Getting to the point where I no longer have to deal with all of you people coming over to our house to bug us all the time!" Because that's really my only goal right now.

*********************

Is it possible to get lazy eye at 28 years old? Last night I woke up at 4 am when Ivy started to whimper, and it felt like my right eye was involuntarily moving toward the center. Maybe it was my imagination.

*********************

That's all for today, Happy Groundhogs Day! Heres to seeing his shadow, or do I want him to not see his shadow. I don't know, I don't care. See ya!