TAGGED

I was tagged by a sweet friend, so I had to respond. Plus, it gave me a reason to blog tonight, when I wasn't feeling up to it and not sure what to write. Thanks MLS.

One-word responses...

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your significant other? Carl
3. Your hair? wet
4. Your mother? crazy (in a good way, of course)
5. Your father? practical
6. Your favorite thing? sleep
7. Your dream last night? embarrassing
8. Your favorite drink? Powerade
9. Your dream/goal? serenity
10. The room you’re in? dining
11. Your hobby? reading
12. Your fear? inferiority
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? debt-free
14. What you’re not? lazy
15. Muffins? please
16. One of your wish list items? wardrobe
17. Where you grew up? everywhere
18. The last thing you did? bath
19. What are you wearing? jammies
20. Favorite gadget? email
21. Your pets? Skittles
22. Your computer? crashed
23. Your mood? overwhelmed
24. Missing someone? mom
25. Your car? minivan
26. Something you’re not wearing? socks
27. Favorite store? books
28. Like someone? many
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? dinner
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

I tag any of you that read this... beware I check your blogs!

As for the update... Billy's testing the waters by talking back, Ian's playing mommy's boy this week and Carley is getting smarter and sneakier. The dog needs a bath. The dishes need washed. The laundry's due. Busy with my calling. Deadlines coming all the time. Homework and paperwork abound. Getting hard to keep our heads above water with two houses. Trying to keep my smile on.

Another Dimension

I'm writing you all from another dimension... SAFE MODE. That's right, unfortunately two days ago my computer crashed. I've been trying so many things to save it and I've been scrambling to back up all my information so I don't loose it. It looks like I'll have to give up and start fresh. So, in case that takes awhile, please know that I am "safe" and well. Hopefully I'll make it back. Wish me luck!

Random Jabbering

Okay, so it's been a week since I've posted to my blog. Looks like I'm falling off the train. It's such a shame since lately some of my dearest friends have been hopping back on the blogging train. In all reality, I've been meaning to post. So many fun and wonderful things have been happening in our home. And I've been trying to take pictures of it all too.
Billy started Kindergarten... he loves it. Ian does not. He cried and cried the first day of school- not Billy, Ian. He misses his brother every day. The second day Billy went I found Ian laying on the top bunk- Billy's bed- talking to Billy's bear. He's getting used to it, but the peak of the day is when Billy comes home. When he's off half days it will get harder I'm sure.
Carl and I are co-chairpersons on the activities committee for our ward- at church. We have been terribly busy planning an upcoming activity for Sept. 6. It is a Book of Mormon Activity and has many facets involved. We are planning geocache-ing, trivia, crafts, games, lunch and much more. It is sure to be a good time. We appreciate all of the help we've been getting. Everyone has really been reaching out to make this happen.
Our family went camping this weekend (for Carl's 31st birthday). The kids did pretty well, though Ian was not happy come bedtime. The stars were amazing and the weather was beautiful. It was a nice family trip. We learned Carley does not like wind. Billy is terribly curious about many things in nature. And Ian loves to watch the animals, but does not like sleeping in tents. And I learned Carl is a great smoke signaler- not as great at starting fires.
We also visited Grandma and Papa in their new FEMA trailer. That's right, they finally have a place of their own. Annette and Ronnie were so great to host them out at their place, but now they can have family over to their place again and feel more independent. It's a nice place and comfortable. The park they live in is very clean and accomodating. We went swimming at the pool while we were there too.
Today has been a blur. Laundry from camping, still unpacking boxes, haircut for Carl, reorganize the toy room... again. It's never ending around here. And the paperwork Carl and I have been buried under with our most recent venture of becoming licensed as foster parents has been astronomical. You can rest assured that foster parents are well prepared for the task at hand. They are also very analyzed and must have all their ducks in a row before taking on such a task. We look forward to providing stability and love to foster children though. It will be a great experience for all of us.
Well, we've been busy. I'll try to post pictures and more soon. Thanks to all of you who have been keeping up on your own blogs. I love to read them and know you are all doing okay in your new places and new roles. It's fun to see your families grow and change. I'll do my best to jump back in with two feet.

Can't catch my breath

Talk about crazy busy. The house in Burlington is empty. We loaded up Saturday morning and unloaded Saturday evening. Thanks to all of you who came out to help in both locations! It's very full in our new little house, but everything's here. As soon as we can make some sense of it all, we'd love visitors. The house in Burlington also had one big zucchini in the garden and I harvested all of the carrots- there were enough to fill a 3 gallon bucket. There were only 7 ears of corn that were close to ready. Well, I know this will be a short post but I wanted to be sure to put one up today. I feel like I haven't posted in ages.
Carl and I are taking a class up at the community college and it's turning out to be a nice date night for us. We made trades and found babysitting for all but 3 nights of 10. We're so grateful to be among so many friends here. Well, I have to start on boxes and I need to mow. More soon... until then... goodbye.

Busy Busy Busy

Cinnamon rolls, yummy. Pan-licking good!

Relaxing with Papa.

It's been days since I've posted. Sorry for the lull. I've been 1) busy with getting the windows completed 2) watching the Olympics and 3) getting the house ready for the furniture move. Yes, that's right we're finally getting our furniture here. How exciting is that!? Well, many people have assured us we'll have the help loading and unloading that we need. Grandma and Papa will come up and watch the kids for us. Saturday is the day.
As for the windows, I'm finally done scraping, caulking, priming, painting, cleaning up and washing. No more ladder work for me for a long time. I do have 6 basement window to do, but they are small and close to the ground. That should go very quickly. And as for the attic, we're not doing them, because we're replacing those windows and turning the attic into a dormer for the boys. More work ahead.
And the Olympics, wow! What fun it has been to watch the athletes compete. There have been amazing Olympic moments all along the way. Some have been so sad and others tremendous. It has been great to include the kids when possible too. They get exciting whenever swimming is on. Gymnastics comes on too late for them. We try to watch the highlights with them the next day. It's been exiciting and we're looking forward to track and field starting soon.
So, sorry for the absence of new posts around here. I'll try to be better. It's just been busy busy busy here. Hope you guys are having a more relaxing summer than the Hartsons!

Busy Day... Olympic Night

So, for a friend, I wanted to share Carl's take on why the Olympics is so exciting and special. This is the explanation he gave the boys tonight during the opening ceremony... Do you know how countries fight with each other all of the time? Well, the Olympics is a special time of year where all countries decide to stop fighting and play sports. They play all sorts of games and have fun together. It only happens once every four years (so, Ian and Carley, this is your first time), but it's the closest we'll ever get to peace on Earth. And with the globe in our laps, we showed the children where many of the countries represented were on the globe. Billy couldn't believe how small Iowa was on that big globe. It was a pretty special moment. So, hooray the Olympics are here. We'll be watching.

As for today... Ian helped me rinse the dishes this morning. Billy helped fold laundry. Carley fell asleep at the table during lunch and mommy painted the porch. It's been another busy one.

Oh yeah, and last night we planted strawberry plants we got from freecycle. Our neighbor Erma Jean let us plant them in her garden box. And while we were planting them Ian was bit by many mosquitos. He has 5 more bites on his face (plus the one that the doctor deemed terrible looking- but not harmful). That kid needs some bug spray. It's too bad they love the outdoors.

Swollen Eye and Caulking/Priming

Ian woke up this morning with his eye swollen shut. This sweet child of mine is my daily worry. I noticed a bug bite on his eyebrow Tuesday night. It looked a little irritated, but nothing terrible. I gave him some Benedryl and put him to bed. The next day the eye looked puffy. More Benedryl, but it didn't look too bad. Then, this morning, he couldn't even open his eye; so we're off to the doc this morning.

Carl had yesterday off so we decided to get some work done. After a day like yesterday I feel like I should be finished with these crazy windows. We scraped the old paint off a few weeks ago- that took a few days. Then Carl removed the old caulk and replaced it. After he was finished, I primed the windows. And now... we have to paint them. Luckily it's a one day job at best. But I must say besides feeling terribly sore, I do feel accomplished! The end of the windows is in sight. Then of course I'll need to clean them! ;)

We're doing well on getting sitters for the upcoming class Carl and I are taking at the community college. There are 10 classes and we have three sitters planned. We've only been asking for a few days. It looks like we'll make it. If you're interested in sitting for us the schedule is 6-9 p.m. Thursdays from Aug. 14th thru Oct. 16th. I will trade babysitting or cakes or your choice for your service!

More after Ian's doctor appointment, which we need to be getting to.

Ernie Laugh

Yesterday, Carley revealed a little piece of personality we've never heard before. She has an Ernie laugh. Hilarious! I couldn't stop laughing when I heard it. It's so funny. Anyhow, besides the maybe-not-adorable-but-surely-amusing Ernie laugh our day was normal. Skit got his shots at the vet. Neighbor Larry took our mountain from the backyard for fill dirt and the kids, of course, played in the dirt. Great fun, dirty day! Pics of that later...maybe.

LEMON PEZ OR PLEDGE?

Has anyone else ever noticed how much lemon pez taste like Lemon Pledge? I personally have never tasted Pledge of any variety, but this is just how I imagine it to taste. How gross! I'm a Pez lover, but the yellow ones... you can just throw them out as far as I'm concerned. Yuck!

Underwear are all the craze

So, now my baby girl is excited about underwear too. On Saturday- because of the tax-free weekend and school shopping- I went ahead and picked up a 10-pack of underwear for little miss. Now, I know she's only 18 months, but she is telling me when she's stinky now. She pulls up her shirt and pulls at her waistband and shouts at me. I'm waiting until she is verbal before I train her. So, here she is trying on some underwear just like her big brothers. And speaking of big brothers... Ian loves his undies now. He protests diapers when we offer them. And Billy picked out some new Diego underwear for school. So, we're underwear crazy around here. I'll bet you can imagine the giggles we've been having.

Yesterday I went to an eye appointment at 6 p.m. (how nice that I could wait until after Carl was home from work). They dilated my eyes and when I went to bed last night at 11:30 the right one was still huge! It was rather creepy looking. Even this morning, the right pupil is abnormally large. But as cooperative as I tried to be it was difficult keeping my eyes open for the drops. I wasn't exactly an easy patient. And well, when I asked about contacts and expressed a concern that I wouldn't be able to put them in, my doctor politely said, I don't think contacts are for you. So... nocontactforyou... as my buddy Lisa might say of her recent experience! :) Well, that was my day.

I'M A BIG KID NOW

Papa and his girl, enlarge pic to see what the shirt says... Papa picked it out.

Carley and Billy giving Grandma a run for her money. Thanks for visiting!

Ian in his und-ies, taking a treatment for his asthma and a sip of his water.

Here's the kids spending time with Grandma and Papa; they came up for the weekend to visit. Of course, while they were here the kids got a few new clothes from Grandma and Papa. Billy got new jeans and a hooded sweatshirt for school. Ian got new pajamas with Mater and Lightening on them and Carley got the outfit seen above. Papa picked it out for her actually. It was the tax-free weekend for clothing. We picked up a few new outfits for Billy, as well as the usual underwear and socks. He was excited to try them on in the store-not the underwear :) . I got a pair of shoes for him, very little wear, from Freecycle in our area. SCORE!
Ian's been having trouble with his asthma the last few days. This last pic is his inventive way to drink his water while on his treatment- through the vent hole in the front. He is pretty cooperative for treatments lately. The hot and humid weather has been difficult on his breathing the past week.
***CUTE KID HAPPENING***
Ian had an asthma attack today at church-not cute. So, once we got him home, we were taking Ian's clothes off because they are a little constricting (he wears suspenders). We stripped him to the diaper and Ian piped up with, "Get this off of me." So, Carl took the diaper off and then Ian said, "I'm too big for that." HOORAY... he's finally getting it. He wants to be big and he wants his underwear. So pardon the half naked kid picture today, but Ian loves his underwear now and we're excited about that!
As for me, I had a class of 16 today for Sunday School, ages 4-6. I'm substituting for Billy class and two other classes joined us. It actually went very smoothly. I had a little help and the kids stuck with me and were great at participating. It was a fun Sunday... minus the asthma attack for Ian of course. That's all I've got for now.

Migraine and Mint Chocolate Chip

Migraine's suck! More than I can express... they hurt... no really. I've had 5 this year. There have been times- before my experience of these terrible anomalies that I have looked at someone complaining about a migraine like they were insane. How could a bad headache totally take you out of commission for a day? Well, my judgemental attitude has finally backfired. The pain tore across the left side over my eye and just killed me. It also was accompanied by a fit of nausea. And of course, when I tried to lay down, 3 darling little children jumped all over me. I waited by the window for my mother-in-law and when she came in, I told her I felt awful and then I abandoned her with the 3 kids. After a nap, I was much better.

Then, the ice cream... yes, that made everything better. It was nice to have grandma and papa tonight, they really saved the day by taking the kids. Ian and Carley are sick with a cough. Not sure why. It's making Ian's asthma flare up. Well, I'm tired and not remembering anything else important. We just finished playing 2 rounds of hand and foot with the in-laws. Mom and I went out on Carl and Dad before they melted on the last hand. It was so funny. It's the only way we could have won. And we barely did that. I've never seen that one happen before. Goodnight.

Head Over Heels

Carley's got a little gymnist in here, as you see in the above pictures. Once we put the new dress on her that grandma & papa brought, she was all over the place. She stood on her head, rolled around on the floor and insisted on an upside down ride, courtesy of dad. Aunt Annette came over too and she was trying to teach Billy and Ian 2-ball juggling.... funny! There's no pics of Ian to share today, as last night during this photo session his butt was bear or he was only in underwear. We're still going strong on potty training. Ian has accidents every few days, but is doing well and is not deterred. Though most of the work really is mine- just remembering to get him on the potty.

We were blessed to have the Nai kids yesterday. They were a great amusement and out of the ordinary occasion to celebrate. The kids had so much fun playing together and were really rather well-behaved together. Maybe I'm not as afraid to have more little ones as I thought. But surely not ready yet. I got away for nearly two hours yesterday, but it wasn't much fun, just a visit to the ob for an annual exam. But it was sure nice not to have to take the kids. Thanks Krista.

Carley has also started brushing people's hair, including and especially her own. In the last pic you can see grandma was her willing victim. The Nai girls and Carley brushed each other's hair all during the day together. It was so much fun. Haylie was shocked that Carley doesn't mind her hair being brushed. They had a great day and really were wore out when bedtime came.