I haven't forgotten to do part 2 of the Easter posting. I just haven't had time, since I will have to add a bunch of pictures. So I will get to it after this weekend is over.

Crazy Goings On

Man, things have been crazy around here! The kids had spring break this week. I only had 5 kids for the week (which doesn't sound like only, unless you have 7. ha!) because I sent Hailey and Tyler to their Grandma Sandy's house for the week. They have been gone since Tuesday. I have to say it is amazing how much quieter it is with the 2 of them gone, and with Tyler not here to be a jerk to his brothers. It has been nice, but I am ready for them to come back. They were supposed to come back tonight, but they will be back tomorrow some time. Dave called and asked if they could bring them back tomorrow. Jessica was supposed to bring them today when she came to sleep over and watch the kids while John and I are in class tomorrow morning, but she forgot that she had ACTs tomorrow. So now Chris is coming to watch the kids, and the kids will be home sometime tomorrow.

Also, while the kids have been off 3 of them have been sick. All week Brooklyn, Camren and Amelia have had fevers and been complaining of stomach pain. Not nausea, just their stomach hurts. Hopefully they will be feeling better by Monday. I guess it's lucky that Austin and Hayden didn't get sick too. I'm just glad that I didn't get sick. With school and all the kids, I just don't have time for it!

It is almost the end of the semester at school. Although I am excited that it is almost over - ok that my math class is almost over - I am going crazy from all the end of semester work that I have to do. Just this weekend I have to finish 4 math chapters, math final review, 3 page literature paper for humanities, and a 1500 word argumentative essay for english. On top of that I need to finish up my sociology class. It's enough to make me want to pull out my hair! I am just relieved that I am getting good grades! I have A's in everything except math, which I have a B in. I am ok with that. It is my worst subject, and lately it has gotten hard enough that I thought I might end up with a C. However I got my current grade today, and it was 88%, so almost an A. If I can do great on my chapter 9 quiz, and my final, I might be able to get an A after all! I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Also to do this weekend: Brooklyn's birthday. She will be 7 on Sunday! I can't even believe it! I am excited because Jacob and Natalie are coming down tomorrow, and they will be coming over Sunday. I haven't told Brooklyn because I thought it would be more fun as a surprise. We don't have a lot of money right now since John's work has cancelled him so many times recently. This week he only worked 2 days! Lame. They keep saying that they don't have enough cases. I told John that they should make all the scrub techs salaried, because it's not fair that they're not making their 40 hours because the surgery center is not getting enough surgeries scheduled. Grrr! It's so frustrating. John has still been looking at jobs back out in California, but I really don't want to move out there so I hope that something works out with his work soon!

The House Hunt Continues

We are going out to Lehi to look at a house tomorrow. We have been told that we can have the house we wanted in Bluffdale. We even negotiated the rent to $150 less than what they were asking. The problem is, they don't want to do a lease for more than 18 months. They are going out of state while the wife has some medial treatment and they don't know how long it will take, but it will be approximately that long. I really want to live out there and get to have a farm, but I don't like the idea of having to move again in a year or so. I couldn't do 18 months, because that would put us at December which is during the school year and right before Christmas. I really would love to have a house on an acre, and all the animals and garden that I could have there, but I don't know if it is going to work for us after all.

We did find another house that we like in Santaquin, but we are still waiting to see if they will come down on the rent. They are asking the same as the Bluffdale house, so we are hoping that they will come down also. It needs some work (paint, finish fencing the back yard) but the owner is willing to provide all the materials if we do the work. He has even agreed to drop $800 off the deposit. Now we just have to see if we can get him to take $150 off the rent. If so, we are going to take it. They are willing to do a 3 year lease, which is what we really want, and the house is perfect for us. It is about 5000 sq. ft. with 8 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. It has a great layout and is on a 1/2 an acre. It's also just around the corner from the freeway entrance. We met one of the neighbors when he came home and we went to ask how the neighborhood/ward/neighbors were. He said all were great, and that he had grown up in Santaquin (he was about my and John's age). I hope that we figure something out soon.

We still haven't even gotten our landlord to give us a straight answer on the house we're in. Every time we ask him if he's going to renew our lease, or sell the house, or what, he just says we'll talk about it more when the time comes. Hello! This is the time! We have 7 kids, and we can't wait around 'til our lease is over to start looking for a house. We need to get something lined up now. I told John that we will just assume that we are moving, and find another house. In the meantime, John called him and said that we had found another house (we always have the Bluffdale house if we don't find anything else) and that we need to know by Monday if we are going to be able to stay here or not. I think that finally got it through his head that we were serious and need to know now, and he said he would get back to us Monday. I am just so tired of living in limbo. Even if he says we could stay, if the Santaquin house owner agrees to what we want I think we will move anyway. If we do get our lease renewed here, it wouldn't be for another 3 years because he really wants to get rid of the house. We wouldn't get more than a year. So I think it would be better to move now, if we find a house we can move into for 3 years, than stay here for another year and then still have to move. So now we get to continue playing the wait and see game.

We did get another house in Spanish Fork that was really nice and they said they would do 3 years, but I think that would be a last choice, just because the yard was so small. It was like .18 acres. That's like the size of my parent's yard in California! Tiny! But it was a really nice house, in a brand new neighborhood, so if it came down to it, it would be an ok choice. It is about the same distance to John's work as we were when we lived in American Fork. We have been looking in a 30 minute radius around John's work and school, so we won't have awful commutes to either one.

Ugh. That's enough of that! More next week when we figure out what's going on.

House Hunting

So today we went and looked at a couple houses. The first one was in Orem, about 10 minutes away from where we live now. I was hopeful, but the house was HIDEOUS! It seriously needed to be gutted and have a do over. It was disappointing because I have been hopeful that we would find something nearby where we live now.

However, at the next house . . . .

I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was just about everything I wanted in a house, plus a lot of stuff I have dreamed about having but never hoped to actually find. It is about 20 min. north of here (Bluffdale, near Salt Lake) and it is a little bit of country - in the city. It was love at first sight. It is 4200 sq. feet and 7 bedrooms (which is what we have now), but the best part . . . . . . wait for it . . . IT IS ON OVER AN ACRE!!! WITH ANIMAL RIGHTS!!!

Oh. My. Heck.

Be still my heart, I am in love. Everyone who knows me knows how much I long for a house with property. It is my dream to have a house where I can have cows, chickens, a huge garden, maybe a turkey or two? My husband? Not so much.

*Sidenote: In fact we have a running joke about the chickens. I have been begging to get chickens for the last month, but John keeps saying no because we don't know where we'll be living. So during the day I will randomly text him "CHICKENS!!!" and then he responds with "NO CHICKENS!", and Amelia (4) and I whisper and plot and threaten to bring some home while he's at work. Then one day it was funnier because we learned how to send voice messages to each other. So I sent him a voice message yelling "CHICKENS!!!!" while he was in Wal-Mart. People were probably like, what the heck? Then of course he sent one back to me, "NO CHICKENS!" LOL

Anyway, so what makes this house so great? It has everything I want, but it is 5 minutes from Bangerter and the freeway, and civilization. It already has a chicken coop and a detached garage converted into a barn. I could live in the country without my husband actually having to be in the country. Win win! Now I just have to hope that he agrees. We are supposed to go see a couple more houses between tomorrow and Saturday, but honestly if it were up to me I wouldn't even bother. The only reason we are going to look is because it is a little more expensive than the house we are in now, so he wants to see what else is out there. Of course, I have picked every house we have lived in. So here's to hoping that we continue with that tradition!

*Another side note: On the way home Tyler (11) asked me if we moved there, if he could have a farmer outfit. I was like, what's a farmer outfit. He was like, you know. Overalls, a blue shirt and a hat. LOL! He cracks me up.

Easter Weekend, Pt. 1

The 6 older kids spent the night at Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Dave's house last night. Their aunt Jessica usually spends the night on Fridays and then watches all 7 kids while John and I are at our Saturday morning math classes. However, this weekend she had the Pony Express ride to Salt Lake, so the kids went to grandmas. Hayden didn't get to go of course, since he is only 6 months old and nursing. I asked my friend to watch Hayden while I was at school, but she went to a wedding last night and had her phone on silent. So that means she never woke up. So Hayden ended up going to my Algebra class with me. I was a little nervous about it, but he was great and my teacher and class loved him. It's not something I would make a habit of, since he made it a little hard to take notes. I liked having him with me though, since I miss him while I'm at school.

After school, we headed over to join the kids and Sandy and Dave's house. It was fun. The kids helped out Sandy around the house, since she just recently had surgery on her neck, and I helped make éclairs. In the 12 years that I have known them, eating éclairs has been one of my favorite Easter traditions. I was so excited that this year I got to learn how to make them myself. When Jessica and everyone else got back from Pony Express, she and her best friend Chelsey did an egg hunt for the kids. They had a blast. I was super excited because when I put Hayden out on the front yard, he sat for a really long time for the first time. Before that he had sat, but only for maybe 5 seconds before falling over. Here are a few pics of some of the kids from the egg hunt. :)

Hayden sitting with his egg.

The boys searching the farm for eggs.

Amelia found one on the porch. Love how she's in jammie pants. haha!

Tyler looking over by the goat pen. This picture cracks me up because it looks like the goat is standing on his head.

Brooklyn looking in the back of Jessica's truck.

Injection, Pt. 2

So John had his epidural injection today. It went well, and now we just have to wait and see how it goes. He will have to have another one in 6 weeks and then hopefully he will be doing a lot better, like when he had to do them with his neck.

While he was in surgery I went and got my nails done and took Amelia (and Hayden) to lunch at Sonic. Then right when we were heading back to the hospital, they called and said he was out. Good thing I was right around the corner. While we were gone, my ex-sis in law went to my house so someone would be home when the kids got out of school. I was so grateful because it was last minute notice, because you don't find out what time the surgery is until the afternoon before. I was glad that the kids didn't have to miss school, since it was the last day before spring break.

After we got home, we went and looked at a house out in Mona. I totally loved the house. It was like a model home. It was sooo nice, and huge too. But unfortunately it was like 40 minutes from John's work, and the backyard was huge and not fenced, so John said no way. I will just have to hope that something better comes along.

Random Ramblings of an Insomniac

I can't sleep. It's 2:32 in the morning and I have to get up with the kids at 7 and I am wide awake. I'm talking middle of the day awake. Sigh.

So what do I do? Get on the computer of course. Maybe if I can get all the thoughts out of my head, they will shut up and I can fall asleep. Hey, how's that for wishful thinking.

Most likely culprit? My new medication. Ugh. I just switched to Wellbutrin. I took Paxil - made me feel like a zombie. Effexor - I felt like I was on speed. Or should I say what I THINK it would feel like to be on speed. John was at my dr's appointment and was like, yeah because you have a history of taking speed. Ha! Of course the papers with my new meds say that if I have trouble sleeping it may be because I took them too close to bedtime. Well how was I supposed to know that 7 pm was too close to 2 am? Seriously! Ugh!

So . . . what are some things that are going on . . . . .

I found a house for us to look at tomorrow. It's in Mona. I'm not sure where that is, but according to yahoo maps, it's 30 min away from Provo. Which is as far as I want to live away from John's work. The house is amazing and 2 years old. Then again, it is frustrating to look at houses here when I don't know for sure that we're going to stay here.

I hope we're at least staying the summer because I just registered for my classes and it would suck to have to move because I would probably end up not being able to take summer semester. I'm taking Math 1010 (ugh), Psych 1100, Nutrition 1020, and Bio 1010. I am not happy that I had to sign up for the Nutrition class that is Tues/Thurs. I already have a Friday night class and a Saturday morning class, and I didn't want to be away from home more than that. I got Bio as a telecourse, so that should be easy. I am looking forward to that class, since I have actually watched that class at like 3 am when I couldn't sleep. Hey, I was bored and at least it's educational and surprisingly interesting. Anyway, I am wait listed for the Nutrition online class. I just have to pray and cross my fingers that I get into it. It is going to be an easy class, so I don't want to waste time away from my family to take it in person. In person classes are for, like, math. Which I would fail if I took online. I have thought about just taking 3 classes for summer, but I already have the whole next year of classes planned out so that I can apply to the nursing program next spring. I don't want to have to add it to another packed semester or put off applying to the program over one stupid class. So I may have to suck it up. At least the class is only 'til the middle of July. It's a 10 wk. class I think. But hopefully things will work out the way I want them to. This is what happens when you are just starting school, so you don't have very many credits. You are last to get to register, so the classes you planned on taking are already taken.

What I really want to do is take guitar. In fact I might still take that if I really don't want to be gone 2 nights a week for Nutrition 1020. I could always add it as an online class for another semester if I had to, since it will be an easy class. I told John that I really want to take guitar, and that I was going to use some of my grant to buy myself a nicer guitar. Yes I have one, but I don't think it would be adequate for taking a class. Anyway, he rolled his eyes at me. Then he was talking about my singing and doing something with that and I was like - hey, remember what I just said about guitar?? He was like you don't need to play guitar to sing. True, but it would help me with my song writing. I can hear the music in my head, but it's not piano music so it never comes across right. I think if I could play guitar I would be able to actually get it out the way I want to. So we shall see . . . . After all, I think I should be able to take one fun class. I will get in the guitar and voice classes I want to take at some point. I have a whole list of classes I want to take for fun. Just because they sound interesting and I like learning things. I will probably still be taking classes when my kids are in college. Ha!

Man, I just caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror (my bed is opposite the master bath, and the huge mirror over the vanity) and yikes! Hello lion from the Wizard of Oz, and what did you do with Michele?? That's what I get for letting my hair air dry and have a break from the hair dryer. I am SO going to have to do something about that in the morning.

John has been doing the HCG diet. He has been naughty and not followed it completely, but he has still averaged 14 lbs in a week. However, I lost 6 and I didn't starve or have to give myself injections. I just started eating more salad and less crap. Hmmm, funny how that works. I have a supply of it so I can try it, but I can't do it until Hayden is done nursing. Which won't be any time soon. He is a little fatty, and I'm pretty sure he would be content to nurse 24/7 if he could get me to agree with it. Sorry, but no. There is a reason I made sure he had a binky from day one. After Brooklyn and Amelia not taking one, I will be a human pacifier no more!

Lately I have wanted to get my nose pierced. Just a little diamond stud. Dumb, right? But I have always wanted to and I just want to do it to see how it would look, so I can have done it. Even if I don't keep it in. I seriously think about it all day. Maybe I am having a age 30 crisis. LOL! I just want to try it just to try it, so I can tell myself I did it. I figure I wanted my tattoo for like 6 years before I got it, and I still like it 12 years later. My mom said I would be sorry, but so far so good. I have wanted to pierce my nose about that long. Just never had the guts to do it. I watched a video of it on youtube. It looks like it hurts like a mother. But I just want to try it, just to see. I don't know though. John doesn't like it, but I know tons of people who have it done and I think it's really hot. If my family is reading this, just don't even start. This is my blog and I can think out loud about whatever I want if I want to. And I am 30 and my own boss. The End.

Ok, well now that I got some of that craziness out of my head I am going to try and go to sleep. After all it's 3 and I have to get up in 4 hours. At least after the kids leave for school I can go back to sleep for a little bit. Maybe. Maybe not since I have to go to Salt Lake. Well, I better get a nap then. I guess I better take my meds now, so I can take the second dose in the early afternoon. Hope that helps. At least so far I'm not feeling all jittery and hyped up, like I did with the Effexor. Now let's just hope for some sleep!

Injection

So, tomorrow - well I guess it is today - John is getting his epidural steroid injection in his back. It is #1 of 2. It is to help with his herniated disk in his back from getting hit (in his car) by a UTA bus. morons. Anyway, I am nervous even though he has done this before (2 years ago when he got injured at work catching a falling patient) but it doesn't make me less nervous. I just don't like any type of medical procedures. period. I told Amelia we will get our nails done while we are waiting. She is super excited. There is a place in Salt Lake that I have been wanting to go to that's really good, and it's 9 min. away from IMC. Plus, it will help take my mind off it, so I'm not stressing myself to death over what is really not a big deal. But it's my husband, so it is anyway.