Toothless

Monday morning I took Gary in to get his wisdom teeth out. This doctor is notorious for NOT giving an antibiotic until after they have an infection. We went to him with Andy and Drew and they both got an infection. Our friends children have all gotten infections as well. It just seems to be a common thing to get an infection when you get your wisdom teeth out. (I had to get mine out when I was 3 months pregnant with Gary. One was impacted & had to come out. Then we were losing our dental insurance the next month, so they just took all 4 out while they were at it. I had major morning sickness & since I was pregnant, they could only deaden me, not put me to sleep. Great experience. My sister Sharon came up to help me with the other 2 kids since she was on Thanksgiving break at the time. Yup, Thankgiving, 3 months pregnant & I got my wisdom teeth out. What was I thinking? I not only got an infection from the wisdom teeth, but it gave me an ear infection as well.) We now went to this doctor again because of insurance and I was prepared to insist on a perscription before he ever started. They were told when the appointment was made that we were expecting to come home with a perscription for an antibiotic. He went over what he was going to do & asked me if I had any questions.

"When you give me the perscription for pain medication, you are going to give me one for an antibiotic, right?"
"Well I don't like to give those out right away because only 2% get an infection from this."
"My husband got an infection, I got one, and both my other son and my daughter got one. (not reminding him that he was the one who took theirs out) I would really feel more comfortable about leaving here today with a perscription for an antibiotic."
"That is odd because it's only 2% that will get an infection, but OK. Not a problem."
It was all civil and nice and I left with a perscription for an antibiotic. He has done remarkably well.

By Tuesday he was getting up and fixing his own food. But he still isn't allowed to go back to work until after his check-up appointment on Monday. On Wednesday night he commented on how we really ought to move the family room furniture because we hadn't done it forever and it was getting boring. (I think was from him having to sit down there in Dec after surgery & now again this week) I told him I had been thinking the same thing. We mentioned where each of us would like it to be. I came home on Thursday from work and he had done the ironing, cleaned his room AND moved the family room furniture....VACUUMING the whole room as he went!!! He put it where I said I had been thinking of putting it. He is such a great kid. So today he and Wynn went snowmobiling (sledding) with friends and just got home. They had a blast. I think he deserved it, but I hope it doesn't backfire since he has been doing so well. He is sooo not the stereotypical sick male. He is a joy to have around.

Tannerisms #3

This has a long background to get to the point. Bear with me, it's worth it.

Last summer Tanner & I were driving in town. This was the summer right after kindergarten. Just out of the blue he says
"Mom, I know what 1000 x 2 is."
"Really? What is it?"
"2000."
"Who taught you that?"
"Nobody. I just figured that if 1 x 2=2, then 1000 x 2=2000. This is easy. I don't know why people can't figure this out." (remember, he is only 6 1/2 at this time. He gets this math thing from his dad who is such a numbers person, doing them in his head all the time)

So forward to 1st grade. Right after Christmas I was talking to his teacher. I wrote the problem on the board & Tanner just looked at it because up to this time, he had just done it all in his head. I explained that the 'x' was for times & the line under the numbers was for equals, so he wrote the answer. Then as I proceeded to tell her the story from summer, he proceeded to do math problems on the board since he knew how to write them now. By the time we got done talking he was up to 10,000 x 5=50,000. He looked at me & said,"That's where the comma goes, right?" A few days later I told this to the principal. Remember, Tanner just turned 7 a week before this.

Forward to the next week. Tanner was sent home with a letter from school that since Mrs. Skidmore felt the math they were learning in class was too easy for him, he would be going to an excellerated math class on Tuesdays. We talked about what a cool opportunity this was for him. Then a couple days later we got a letter saying that he would be going to another excellerated math class on Thursdays. So now he has 2 different excellerated math classes he attends each week. We talked about how cool this was. He already does something different for reading group because his reading level higher. (gets that one from me)

Forward to last week. Tuesday got here & it was his first day for excellerated math. I could tell he was a little curious/anxious as we talked that morning while getting ready for school....
"Mom, why do I have to go to a different math class now?"
"Because the math you are doing in class is too easy for you so you aren't learning anything new. They are going to try to challenge you with these math classes so you can learn more."
"What if this math is too easy for me?" (no longer anxious)
" Then I guess you will just have to go to high school."
"I can't go to high school!"
"Why not?" (figuring there will be some concern about going with big kids)
"I'm not tall enough to play basketball yet!"

Seriously. Being tall enough for basketball was his ONLY concern with going to high school at age 7. This kid is going to keep me young from laughing all the time!

Tannerisms

I know I haven't posted for a while, will expound on that later. But first we visit Tanner and his wisdom.

A couple of weeks ago they had the 'Baptism' meeting for our Stake. This is for all the kids turning 8 this year. Tanner was invited though he probably won't be baptized until January of 2010 because his birthday is 12/29. I wasn't able to go because of being sick, but Wynn went with him. They of course had refreshments & this is what happened when they got home as told to me by Gary......

Gary was in the kitchen when they got home & Tanner had a yellow frosted sugar cookies, he had eaten the one with blue icing already & there were ones with red at the meeting ....

He gave Gary a bite of his cookie & Gary was teasing him that he wanted the whole cookie because Tanner had already had one, so Tanner says...

" This was for my baptism meeting. When you get married & you go with your kids to a baptism meeting they will probably have cookies there. Then you can have one & you can pick blue or yellow or red & eat your own."

Oh, the wisdom of a 7 year old. I just hope Gary can wait that long for a cookie! (teeheehee)

Callings

Gary & I both got sustained for callings today. I was the Primary secretary until, well, quite a few months ago actually. They did ask me a couple of months ago to do something else, but with everything going on, after speaking with me, they didn't feel it was the right time, & neither did I. So they decided to leave me alone for a while, until last week....

They felt that this calling would be good for all involved. I felt really good about it & where it is a Sunday only calling, I can do it. I only have to teach every other week because.....Gary & I are team teachers for the 14-15 year old Sunday School class!!! Yes, that means Morgan is in this class. It will only be for a few months until he leaves on his mission, but it will be great while he's here. We are so excited to get to do this together & Morgan thinks it will be fun to have us in there. The kids that are in this class are great kids. I'm thinking this is going to be, well, GREAT!!!

Happy Happy Birthday!

Lexie is 12 years old today. Even if nobody believes her because she doesn't look like it. All 4' 6" of her. No more primary, hello Mutual/Young Womens!!!

She has always been little. When she was born, early, she was all of 5 lbs 7 oz, all skin & bones. She had some lung problems & I had to give her liquid proventil (which is what is in the asthma inhaler she takes now) until she was 18 months old. She was feisty though, that's why she made it. When she was 6 months old I remember walking in to the living room & she had climbed up the front of the entertainment center. She was getting something she had wanted off the top of it! We couldn't keep her down from there. What a little monkey she was, and still is. She is still doing acrobatics to this day & has taught herself many gymnastics moves, some her friends that are in gymnastics can't even do. The family favorite is the one her cousins affectionately call her 'Tina move'. (don't know where they came up with the name) They make her do it over & over again at family get togethers. Maybe I'll have to make a video of it to post here.

Happy Birthday Lexie! We love you.

It's only the future of our country/world after all, so what's the big deal?

I am talking about the budget that is spent on the education of our children. It is pathetic, to begin with, and now it is going to be cut even further. I don't know where the rest of the country gets its money, or how they divvy it up, but I do know a little bit about Utah.

We just found out last week that the Trust Land money will be cut by about 25% next year. This is where our district gets money (not sure if they get some from somewhere else as well) for the Paraprofessionals (reading aides) & I think it is pretty much the same for others. The reason for this is that they don't spend the principle, only the interest on their investments. Of course, they have had the same losses as the rest of us in investments, so they can already see where this is going to be. This is after the Para budget was cut for this year. So they really had to tweak the schedules to keep everybody.

This morning we had a meeting that we didn't know we were going to have. We all know that the Legislature is in session in February. We all know that the Govenor & the Legislature will have proposals that they each want to get through by the end of the session, so the end of February. They each have a proposal to cut the education budget.....by MILLIONS of dollars! So this is even more than we were cut this year.The Govenor wants to leave this year alone & his cuts start next year. The Legislature disagrees & wants their cuts to start immediately this year. They want a certain percentage cut this year & then an even bigger percentage cut next year, & the cuts they want are bigger than what the Govenor wants. I'm not very good at remembering numbers, hence being a reading aide & not a math aide, but I'm sure the figures could be easily looked up. So, if one of these goes through, what does this mean for our schools/children? The future of the country/world? Not good things, that's for sure....

• Possibility that:
• Teachers will be cut, meaning even less one on one for the kids because of bigger classes
• Administration will be cut, meaning less people to cover all the kids at the school AND district levels (can you imagine schools with no principals?)
• Possibly cutting programs and/or teachers (or aides) from all schools, meaning at risk in learning kids might not be able to get the help they need in the subjects they need it in or have too many kids per group so the ones needing it the most get left behind
• Or that the 'gifted' or excellerated kids won't have the instruction they need to move on to the levels they are at, therefore becoming bored with school & acting up to pass the time, etc
• And so on, and so on...

These are just some possibilities that are lurking in the very near future. But hey, we'll have some pretty roads to drive on at the expense of education, so the lack of education in the state won't matter. I mean the quality of the roads IS the more important thing. Right?

The furnace update

We never could get the furnace to click on the other night. So we left it, made sure the kids had plenty of blankets & went to bed figuring Wynn would call Friday to have John (the landlord) come fix it. Gary would be home all day so he could be here to deal with it. Then, we got up Friday morning to a nice toasty warm house, so the kids had too many blankets. AND it's worked ever since. Fickle furnace. It's kind of hard for them to see what the furnace is doing if it's not doing it when they come! Not too many more months of having to use it I guess, THEN we'll be plenty warm since we don't have central air in this house. Plus it's supposed to be a warmer week this week, which means inversion. A whole other set of problems with that...me, Lexie & Tanner being allergic to it, it messing with Lexie's asthma so she has to stay inside...at least she doesn't have recess anymore that she has to stay in from.

Anyway, it could be worse than this for sure. Believe me, I've been there & will take what we have now hands down. So we'll just take what we've got & everything will be great.

Did I mention I'm ready for NEW!

I never told how the furnace/frozen water turned out. Tuesday morning we woke up to a warm house & the water was unfrozen before Morgan & Lexie went to school (after I turned up the heat for the day). It has actually been a nice, warm 3 days, warm being a relative term. It was actually in the 40's today, everything was melting, beautiful blue sky. And the furnace has continued working......until now.

I went to the rec center tonight to get on the treadmill instead of going this morning because Morgan wanted to go with me. (We saw my brother there lifting weights.) She hadn't gone before but is in good shape from color guard & now winter guard, so she did over 3 miles in 1 hour. I was proud of her. I did more than that, but I've been working on it for a while. But that is all beside the point. When we headed home it had started to rain in Smithfield. By the time we got to Hyde Park, it was 1/2 rain 1/2 snow. When we got to North Logan, it was snow, that slushy slimy slick kind. Yuck. If it gets cold tonight, it will be slick in the morning. Because of the weather, the satellite had lost the signal & needed brushed off. Because of this, the football game I had recording for Wynn & Gary had a big chunk that hadn't gotten recorded. They're easy going, they will be OK with it. Lexie & Tanner were here while I was gone, but even with a broom Lexie doesn't come anywhere close to reaching the satellite to brush it off. So I got to trudge through the snow to do it. I came inside & realized it was cold so I turned the heat up. After a while I realized it wasn't getting any warmer. That's when I found out the furnace is acting up AGAIN! I haven't been able to get it to click on yet, but Wynn is home now, that usually helps, even though I used to be the only one that could get it working. At least it isn't both furnaces at the same time like happened last winter. At least we do have one room we can go to & be toasty. I don't need a cold house & frozen water again. I'm ready for a brand new house that noone else has ever lived in. New appliances that actually work, new fixtures, new bathrooms, new walls, new windows, new doors, new, new, new..........

and the printer started giving a 'cartridge error' Sunday that for some reason only Drew can fix, & she doesn't live here anymore! She fixed it Tuesday & now it is doing it again. We do what she did (& did the same thing before she ever did it) & nothing. Frustration to no end. And yet, I'm still in a decent mood. Go figure.

Tannerisms of the day....

Maybe you had to be here, but we were laughing.....

I was sitting at the table & Tanner wanted some cereal for a snack after school. He got out the cereal, milk, spoon & strawberry milk for a drink.
Then he asks, "Mom would you get me down a bowl?"
So teasing him I said, "I can't, I'm reading the paper."
"Mom get me down a bowl."
"I can't, I'm stuck."
Laughing, "Mom get me down a bowl."
"I can't."
With no hesitation, in accent..."You can do eet!"

Drew went to give him a hug & noticed his pants were wet.....
"What did you do, pee your pants?"
"NO! I was sliding down the slide & didn't know it was wet. It froze my butt cause I was sitting there and now the frozen part of my butt melted off."

Lexie got some perfume from a friend for Christmas. She brought it upstairs a couple of days ago & told me she didn't like it & didn't know what to do with it. I smelled it & didn't like it either so it is sitting on the kitchen counter.
Gary asks,"What is that?"
"Some perfume Lexie didn't like & I didn't like it cause it smells like old lady perfume."
Tanner, "It doesn't smell like old lady perfume."
"It does smell like old lady perfume & I don't like it."
Tanner, "I don't think it does."
Lexie, "It does & I don't like it. Gary can have it."
Gary, "I don't need it, I have cologne."
Tanner (with no hesitation),"Well I don't need it cause I take a bath."

Should have stayed in bed

Today was the first day back to school/work after Christmas break. I started the day going to work out at 5:30am, it was 3* outside! I went anyway. I got home & the girls left for school & I got me & Tanner ready to leave. It was all the way up to 7* & started snowing as we left the house.

The furnace in the kindergarten section of the school has been having fits all year, & they can't seem to get it fixed. It was freezing there & even though we have all learned to wear our jackets & sweaters when we go up there for reading group, we weren't prepared for it being so very cold. It didn't even seem to phase the kids. It snowed the whole time I was at work & had about 4 inches of snow on the car when I went home.

We have 2 furnaces for the house, but the one for the main section hasn't seemed to be working very well the last couple of days. So when I got home, I got to deal with a kitchen sink that the cold water has been frozen now for 2 days & a house that was as cold as the kindergarten rooms. I fiddled with the furnace since Wynn & Gary had apparently gone stir crazy at home & had been gone doing I'm not sure what all day after their doctors appointment & wasn't aware it had quit working. When Wynn got home he messed with the furnace for a while & finally got it working right. Maybe now the sink will thaw out since the house is finally a decent temperature. I guess it doesn't help that I have had an annoying cough for a week now that won't go away.

But I will get up again tomorrow morning in a nice warm house & go to the rec center in the freezing cold to work out in a nice warm building & do it all over again. Hopefully minus the not working furnaces this time!

Lazy Saturday

Today was a lazy day, last Saturday of Christmas break. School & work begin again Monday morning.

I had to take Wynn & Gary to the doctor first thing this morning. They are doing well. Gary got sick Thursday night, but we think it was just a touch of stomach flu, (not exactly what he wanted on top of surgery the day before) but was feeling better by Friday. Wynn has a bit of the cough that Tanner & I have. We're just glad his hasn't seemed to be as bad as ours has been. But despite all of that, he said they look exceptionally good for just a couple days after surgery. They have to go back Monday morning. Wynn should be able to go to work Monday, but Gary still has 1 1/2 weeks before he can go back, because of all the dust where he works. They are both going stir crazy, they aren't ones to just sit or lie around. They aren't the stereotypical 'sick male'. I have to remind them to rest but they keep doing little chores to get away from the TV.

Gary bought a remote control airplane the morning of his surgery. He figured it would give him something to do while we are all at work & school. Friday night he figured out that it just wasn't going to work. So this morning we took it back to the store. The owner at Magical Moon Toys had helped him pick it out, and happened to be there this morning & helped him. Since he couldn't get it to work either, he got a replacement. This one seems to be working & will hopefully keep him entertained for a while each day. He thinks he will be an expert by the time he gets to return to work. He's also afraid he is going to be an RC airplane junky. We'll see, we'll see. He never spends money, on ANYTHING, (you should see his tennis shoes) so this was a big leap for him.

Sometimes you get what you hope for

Our niece, Kiri, came home with us after Jenny's wedding. They had so much fun being together, Morgan, Lexie & Kiri...& of course they included Tanner in everything they did. They are so good about that. And we love watching them & listening to all the laughing that goes on. We had to take her back today. We, Morgan, Lexie & myself, met her mom, Trudy, in Layton because that is half way for both of us. I just wanted to be back before dark. It was supposed to have a 70% chance of snow today, I wanted to be home before that too. It had just started raining as we were leaving home. It quit once we were out of the valley so we made good time. We met her mom & sent them on their way & headed home ourselves. We were there for a whole 5 minutes. On the way home it was still doing great, except it started to rain once we reached Sardine Canyon, just started snowing at the top. As we came down the other side it turned to rain again, and was rain the rest of the way home. We were home for about 15 minutes when it started to snow, hard & started getting dark. Trudy wound up having to be in Salt Lake longer than planned & was afraid she wasn't going to beat the storm home from there, but they did.

So did we get what we hoped for? Or was it because we had a prayer in our heart?

Happy New Year 2009!

After ringing in the New Year last night, in the midst of taking care of Wynn & Gary, we spent a quiet day at home. I took them to the doctor this morning for post-op, & they are doing well.

This year has many things in store for us, I'm sure. We just attended our nieces wedding, Jenny Higgs to Todd Squires on Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008. It was so great to see everyone again. We had just spent Andy & Leza's wedding & Thanksgiving with them, & we even got to see Duane & Jen & their 2 adorable boys we hadn't got to see for a few years. Now in 2009 we know that we have a nephew getting married in March, a niece getting married in April & another nephew possibly getting married in May. My brother & his wife, Dustin & Cindy, are coming in the summer from Brisbane, Australia. We are way excited to see them as it has been a few years, actually since before they were married, that we have seen them. Wynn will continue his schooling in 3-D modeling & should be getting done. Gary will be leaving on a mission this summer, & he will be missed terribly even though we will be so happy for him to have this opportunity.

I am hoping to stay updated on this blog. I used to be very good at keeping a journal, then with kids & health issues, I let it slip. I know I am supposed to keep one, so that is actually why I started a blog in the first place. I am hoping that as I get better at keeping this updated, it will just become even easier for me to keep a more private hand written one as well. It is sitting on the nightstand just waiting for me.

So here is the first post for 2009. May it find the year starting off well for each of you.

Happy New Year from the Jenkins'!