Benjamin is doing great today--back to his normal self by the afternoon.  He wanted to be held a lot this morning.  Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!  And his teeth look awesome, and no complaints from him!

It's a good thing I have a sense of humor--while we were in town today (Rusty and I went to the temple and got our last-minute Christmas things along with a few groceries), Brienna cleaned the house (swept & vacuumed).  But when we got home, she said the vacuum wasn't picking up very well, and "stuff" had actually fell out into a nice (not) pile on the carpet.  So I turned it on to check it out & is smelled like burning rubber.  JOY!

But thanks for cleaning, Brienna--the house looked great.  Rusty said he's look at it tomorrow--and hopes its a just a belt.  We have extra belts and he can change those.  So cross your fingers!

I really would like to clean up the mess of "dirt/dust bunnies/stuff" that fell out of the vacuum--plus the kids at popcorn while we watched "A Walton's Homecoming--A Christmas Story" & I am certain more popcorn found it's way to the floor that found it's way to their mouths!

Brienna has been awesome today--not only did she sweep, vacuum & clean the bathroom, but while I was reading to the 2 little ones & putting the to bed, I fell asleep (surprise, surprise!) and so she went ahead and washed, dried and put away the dishes from today!  What a great Christmas present!  I knew I probably wouldn't be able to stay awake very easily tonight when I was dozing during the movie, and I could hardly keep my eyes opened when reading the books.  I had to stop half-way through the last book because I kept dropping the book.  

That must mean that it's time for me to finish up and  head to bed.  Good night!

When it Rains, It Pours

I told Rusty we need to one or all of the following:  build an ark, buy flood insurance and/or always carry an umbrella with us.

Because now our dishwasher is not working--(sad face).  Last night I started a load of dishes, then went to read/put the 2 youngest to bed.  I planned on putting the dishes away last night & then starting another load before I went to bed.  We had a lot of dishes because I had been baking a lot, and the kids had decorated/frosted cookies & put the on a few pans & containers.  Plus we had bowls from frosting and frying pans from dinner.

So Rusty took the door apart to see if he could figure out the problem.  After an hour, he decided that it had been a long enough day, and he would look some things up on the internet to see what else he could check.  So no "quick" fix for the dishwasher!

Brienna had already washed a load of dishes earlier, so I finished washing & had 4 dish-drainer loads & then put the rest of the pans on the stove to dry.  At least my hands are nice & clean!

As I was washing the dishes, I was thinking that I should be grouchier/grumpier than I am because of all the challenges that have come our way--but I'm not.  I guess I am taking them with a grain of salt & looking at the bigger picture--at everything I am blessed with.  I was reminded of the article in the Dec. 2011 Ensign magazine about "Choosing to be GRATEFUL" and I realized I truly AM grateful.  

So if we (well, Rusty) can't fix the dishwasher, such is life & we'll live through washing dishes a couple times a day (my parents never had & still don't have a dishwasher).  

I believe that we really are "spoiled" and have some many "luxuries" that I need to be grateful that all of our "needs" are so fully covered.  We have a warm home, good health, & plenty of food in our food storage & freezers.  Everything else is just a bonus!

Benjamin's Dental Day Surgery

Benjamin has "inherited" the Carter side of "bad" teeth.  

 He had 10 (or more?) teeth worked on on Thursday, Dec. 22nd.  Which also happened to be my Dad's birthday!  Happy Birthday, Dad!

He was a bit apprehensive when we first arrived at the hospital & did not want to be weighed and measured.  So Rusty had to be weighed & then weighed again holding Benjamin.  Ben is 31 pounds and 31 inches tall.

 He was able to take his own blanket, pillow & stuffed animal with him.  We settled into a room to wait for anesthesia to come talk to us & wait until the dentist was almost done with the patient before us. 

 

 He was happy--for the time being.  He was able to watch a bit of "Sponge Bob" & then he was lucky enough to watch some of "Toy Story".  And in all of his excitement, he pushed the "nurse" call button on the remote--oops!

 He was so cute in the way, way too big hospital gown, pants & slipper socks.  

He also got a new teddy bear--orange to match his coat & our school colors. 

 He was such a good boy--the whole time.  Usually he doesn't take medicine very well, unless it is the chewable bubble gum Tylenol, but he surprised us all & took it like a pro!  He did say he was hungry once, so he maybe that is why he took the medicine so well.  Once he took the medicine, he was able to drink 1 teaspoon of water--he thought that was a treat! 

 He is just adorable!

 Here he is getting wheeled to the surgery holding room.  Usually they only let 1 family member in the room (there were about 6 other patients in there)

 but they said we both could go.  So we turned the "Toy Story" movie back on for a few minutes.

 The medicine he took earlier didn't have much of an effect on him!  After signing a ton of paperwork & permission papers and a handful of nurses asking us if we had any questions, the anesthesiologist came & started playing with Ben.  He told us he would just take him to the operating room before they gave he any more medicine, and if he started crying they wouldn't stop to let us comfort him.  

But as soon as the nurse & anesthesiologist started playing with his stuffed animals & talking "Toy Story", he was all smiles and headed off to surgery.

 He went into surgery just before 11 am (we arrived at the hospital at 9 & his surgery was scheduled for 10:30) & they told us he would be in for about 2 1/2 hours.  After we were settled in at the surgery waiting room, Rusty ran a couple of errands.  He picked up his banjo strings, bought the heating element for the dryer (YAY!), & found a hinge for our pantry door.  Then he bought us Subway sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria (yummy!).

One of the nurses called a little before 1pm and said that everything was going great & Dr. Baker expected to be another 1/2 hour.

 At 1:30, Dr. Baker talked to us about what he had done (3 crowns, 5 fillings, and some other work on all of his front teeth) & said that Ben would probably be sore from having his mouth opened for so long, be tired from being under so long, and that his gums would probably be sore.  We were to feed him liquids and soft food for the rest of the day, and then back to normal on Friday.

 So at 1:45 we were able to be with Ben.  He had woken up a bit in recovery, so they brought him back to his room, but he went right back to sleep.  The nurses said that is was okay, but when he woke up, we needed to try to get him to drink some.  

 He still had an IV in his hand & an oxygen monitor taped onto his big toe.  His lips were swollen & dry, and when he first woke up, he had that "glazed" look.  They said he might be nauseous.  But all he did was burp a few times, and then wanted to be held. 

 So I gathered the IV tubes & the oxygen monitor cord & held him for about an hour.  He finally decided he wanted to drink some apple juice that they brought in a cute sippy cup.  After he drank the first one & was awake for a while, the nurse came with discharge papers.

We got him dressed and gathered all of our things.

 And then he was able to ride in the wagon to the van.

 He was tired once we got in the van...

 and was asleep within 10 minutes of leaving the hospital.  He slept the whole way home.

Everyone was glad to see him when he was home, and Emmalee made a comfortable place for him on the couch.  They let him pick a movie to watch & then took care of him.

He finally got his appetite around 6:30.  He ate 3 pieces of toast with peanut butter, a little mashed potatoes & gravy, and some of a smoothie.  He drank another 2 cups of apple juice too.

Brienna, Zane & Callum went to the basketball games (both boys teams won, girls lost--against North Gem) while Rusty fixed the dryer.  I am thankful that Rusty is able to repair so many things that break down--otherwise I think we would be going without a lot of things!

December--part 6 (at least I think it's #6)

Monday I took some time to download/sort/edit pictures on my computer.  I also looked all over the house for the charger cord that goes to our portable dvd player.  You would think that out of the billion cords I found, at least one of them would work--but no--I couldn't find the cord.  Maybe I'll find the cord when I find the books I was looking for over the weekend.  And my house really isn't that big, so I really don't know where else to look (unless I want to venture into the unknown--a.k.a:  under the kids' beds).

Since it was Monday, I started working on the mountain of laundry.  When I went to fold the clothes out of the dryer, 

they were still very wet--and cold.  So I figured I had forgotten to start the dryer (I sometimes do that).  So an hour later I went to fold the clothes--only to find the still wet, and cold. 

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The heating element in the dryer went out (again).  So I started the dryer (again) and let it run for over 2 hours.  Finally after 4 hours the clothes were dry.

After lunch, I walked (pushing Benjamin in the stroller) to the post office to mail Ethan's letters & get our mail.  What a weird feeling I had a couple of times--once when I walked through a lot of leaves & heard the crunching under my feet.  And then when the breeze blew a little as I was walking.  Weird because both times I could have sworn it was early October & I should be thinking about hunting & Halloween--not thinking that Christmas is less than a week away!  (The temp. was about 45 too!)

For dinner I had put a roast in the dutch oven & let it cook on the wood stove all afternoon.  Then I made mashed potatoes, gravy & stuffing along with some veggies from my Bountiful Basket.  It was delicious!

The highlight of the day, though, was my e-mail chat with Ethan.  He used to get on the computer to e-mail me in the mornings, but the last few weeks it has been right before dinner time (his time--so dinner time our time or right after).  I just feel blessed & fortunate for the ability & opportunity to e-mail back & forth with him!  We are excited for his phone call on Christmas day!

My original plan for FHE was to make gingerbread cookies, but Ethan was e-mailing me a little after 6 pm--just after we ate, and even if we had started making the cookies right at 6, it would have taken us a couple of hours.  So we changed plans and watched "Little House on the Prairie" Christmas DVD.  (Maybe we can make them when we're at Grandma & Grandpa's--or at Aunt Pamela's?)

Tuesday morning I made pumpkin bread & muffins.  I have never made any before, so I tried 2 different recipes--a "normal" one that turned out moist (& delicious according to the rest of the family) & one recipe that called for honey instead of sugar.  Those tasted okay, but they were dry & I didn't think they had a lot of flavor.  So I think the next time I make them I will add applesauce & a more of the spices.  I baked some of the goodies on the wood stove, and I guess I had the fire going too hot because all the muffins got "burnt" on the bottom.  Thankfully it was only the ones I had planned on the family eating (the rest are for neighbor gifts) so I just cut the bottoms off.

While I was baking, I was also getting the music together for the elementary program later Tuesday night.  The music teacher for the K & 1st graders called me last night and "begged" me to play for the kids tonight.  She said the CD they had burned was poor quality & the kids could not follow along with it.  I guess rehearsal on Monday was more than interesting.  So of course I said I would--thankfully I knew all the songs except for one.  But it was a very simple & slow song.  

So after lunch, Ben & I walked over to the school for the last rehearsal.

 Callum was a shepherd (he is on the right).  He is standing with his friends Weston (left) who was a wise man & Leo--who was the prophet that prophesied about the coming of the baby Jesus.

 I love that our school still allows us to keep "Christ" in our Christmas programs.  Callum is the second from the left.

 Emmalee is the shortest on in red--on the right side. And Rusty got a picture of me at the piano.

Benjamin was really good--I took a bag of  things to entertain him.  He ate snacks, colored & put his 100-piece Buzz Lightyear puzzle together a couple of times.

 More pictures from rehearsal & the program.

 This is our entire elementary students.

 Emmalee couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap.  But Benjamin was not sure about him.

 That is as close as he got to Santa.  When we got home, we opened the e-mails that Santa sent to Callum, Emmalee & Benjamin.  They were video messages from Santa & he knew quite a few details about them & what they wanted for Christmas!  

 Wow--that means that I've actually made it to TODAY--Wednesday, Dec. 21st.  The kids only had 1/2 day of school and they were allowed to wear their jammies to school (if they wanted to).  They watched a movie ("Smurfs" for the high school & elementary--they watched them at their own schools--and the junior high watched "Elf").  Then I was in charge of Callum's party at 10:30.  The kids are playing "Who Am I?"  I taped a Christmas symbol to their backs and they had to ask yes/no questions to figure out who they were.

 Then the passed the giant candy bars around the circle as I read "LEFTy Elf's Christmas Story" (as story where you pass left & right as you hear the words in the story).  The picture above & the next 2 are the "snowball" fight the kids had.  The are all getting ready to throw their "snowballs" (aka:  cotton balls) at their teacher--Mr. Stewart.

 Ready, Aim, Fire!

After school, Brienna, Emmalee & Ben frosted the rest of the sugar cookies & then we got the plates ready to deliver to our friends.  Before we delivered them, I took Brienna to the court house to have them put her information into the computer so she could legally drive--she passed Driver's Ed. & so now she just has to log her 60 hours in the next 6 months.  She drove home--on the newly snow-packed/slick roads.  She did fine, though.

After I took everything off the dryer (I have a shelf that hooks onto the top/back of the dryer) & cleared everything from around the laundry area, Rusty looked at the dryer & confirmed that indeed, it was the dryer element.  I must just work that thing really hard because this is the 3rd time it has gone out since we have lived in Dubois.  But we've had that dryer since Ethan was 2--which means about 17 years.  So we'll get a new part tomorrow & hopefully Rusty can get that fixed by Friday (since the pile of laundry is not getting any smaller!).

By the time we got everything ready to deliver, and I made it through all the love & kindness fighting & bickering between the kids, I was a bit grouchy.  But I know I am just quite tired, and I could really use some extra sleep.  So Rusty kindly volunteered to go with all the kids to deliver the goodies.  Brienna drove while the kids ran the goodies to the doors.  And while they were gone, I crawled into bed, turned on some Christmas music, and started "dreaming of a white Christmas" & other dreams.  I was able to fit in a 1 1/2 hour nap!  It was refreshing, but I think if I could have, I would have just slept until morning.

After dinner (hamburgers & fries--cooked on the wood stove), I worked on blogs, did the dishes & put the kids to bed (after they had baths/showers).  Emmalee discovered that she likes showers, so of course she wanted one instead of taking a bath with Ben.

Now I need to finish up so I can get to bed & be rested for Benjamin's big day tomorrow.  We need to check in at the hospital at 9, so we'll leave here about 7:45.  Zane has basketball practice at 8 in the morning, so we'll make sure he is up before we leave.

I'll try to remember to take pictures of Ben at the hospital.  

December Recap Part 5

Friday, Dec. 17th started as as a "lazy" day--getting ready for Christmas.

The kitchen sink was not draining very good so Rusty plunged it & then got the plumbing snake out.

And then the sink started leaking.  So he found where the leak was (and of course there is no water shut off under the sink so he had to go outside & shut the water off to the house--grrr).

So we got ready to head to town for new parts but first he went to talk to his dad to see if he had any of the parts here.  But his dad was already in IF, so he was able to call him & tell him what parts were needed.  So that saved us a trip to town.  And Rusty made sure that there was a shut-off valve under the sink!  I am grateful that Rusty and his dad know how to do a lot of the repairs needed!

Rusty and I were able to wrap the rest of the gifts--which means we are ready for Christmas (present-wise).

I then took on the task of finding the books I had so Emmalee & Callum could wrap them for their school secret Santa gifts.  I found the easier books, but not the chapter books.  (and I still haven't found them)  So instead of books for the boy Callum had (who is an avid reader), we found a lego car kit, candy and a Santa.

After the kids were in bed, I finished gathering everything I needed for sharing time in Primary & typed up the piano recital program.

I actually didn't have any extra meetings on Sunday, Dec. 18th.  During singing time, the chorister had frankincense & myrrh oils.  She let everyone that wanted some have a drop on their hand.  They both had unique & interesting smells.  After church while Brienna & I were at choir, Rusty & the boys moved the piano into the cultural hall & set up chairs.  I am going to be playing the piano for the choir because the pianist will be out of town on Christmas day.  So I will be singing as I play.  Then Brienna & I put lights up and set some of my nativities up for the recital.

I came home and Rusty had made homemade pizza--it was quite delicious!  Usually there is one or 2 pieces left (he makes 2 family-sized pizzas), but there was none left!  Then I typed up the songs the kids will be playing while Brienna put together a plate of goodies for the recital (again I was thankful that I had made some many goodies earlier in the week).

 This was Emmalee's first piano recital.  She did a great job!

 Callum & Brienna.  Zane played the trumpet, but he was the camera man so we didn't get a snapshot of him.  He videoed Emmalee, Callum & Brienna playing the piano.  Brienna videoed Zane playing the trumpet.

 I have 14 piano students.  Here is the program.  Each student played anywhere from 2-5 pieces.  It was a more "casual" fun-filled afternoon listening to Christmas music.

CHRISTMAS PIANO RECITAL

Sunday, December 18, 2011

STUDENTS OF MICHELLE STEWART

Emmalee Stewart          Zane Stewart (on Trumpet)

Gabe Smith          Abby Grover

Callum Stewart          Leorah Smith

Sam Jacobson          Connor Grover

Matthew Murdock          Madeline Jacobson

Colton Jacobson          Brienna Stewart

Brian Murdock          Josey Grover

Joni Grover 

December Recap Part 4

Wednesday morning (Dec. 14th) was Benjamin's last speech therapy for this year.  He loved working for toys today--and he has some great sounds in isolation.

I don't know if I have really talked bout Ben's speech delay on the blog--so here it goes.

Ben "talks" a lot--but he leaves most consonants off (beginning & end) so he is talking using vowels (mostly).

So about a year ago, I took him to the doctor (for his check-up) & they referred me to the Idaho Infant/Toddler program.  After some testing,Benjamin qualified for speech therapy.  And then when he turned 3, the school takes over. (He had home visits before his 3rd birthday).  But we went through 3 speech therapists & lots of testing.  Since he has outstanding hearing (he had it tested), understands speech amazingly, gestures & signs, and tries to talk, the other speech therapists didn't know what to do for him.  (it was like the needed a diagnosis before they could offer treatment).

Anyways--he is in speech therapy & he is talking all the time.  And I am beginning to understand more of what he says.

After speech I found pictures from the past year that I could put in our newsletter.  I printed the letters & folded/stuffed them into an envelope and did some laundry.  After school,  I had 2 more piano lessons, and also Emmalee & Callum.  Then we had dinner & went to the Junior/Senior High School for the band/choir concert.

Zane played 2 instruments during a couple of songs--it was fun watching switch back & forth between the instruments.
Trumpet.....

....and French horn.

Brienna played the flute.

She also played for one of the choir songs.  Here she is with the 3 girls in the choir.

Brienna and Linsday.  They both looked so beautiful!

Thursday, Dec. 15th I got Ethan's package ready to mail to him.  I put cookies (2 kinds) & all of his presents in plus our letters.

After school the kids decorated the sugar cookies.

Ben did his own cookies--and he was proud of them.

Rusty looked under the van & thought the problem was with the exhaust system.  His dad came & looked too and they both thought it was the "catalytic converter".  We needed a new muffler anyways (under warranty)  so Rusty called the business and they said we could bring it in in the morning.

So Rusty got the flat-bed trailer (that was stored out on the land) & they loaded the van on it.  The van really didn't have much power--Rusty had to back up to get a "running start" to get up on the ramps.

So Friday morning, Rusty and I took grandpa's truck (pulling the van)  to town.  Emmalee & Callum had a field trip to the Museum of Idaho's Christmas display (nativities, gingerbread houses, & other old-fashioned decorations).  Zane was supposed to have his second week of taxidermy class, but it was cancelled.  The school is sponsering a taxidermy class (through a grant)  & so he working on a coyote & his deer.  He did have basketball practice at noon.  So that left Brienna to watch Ben.  

Thankfully it was a fairly "easy" fix for the van--and it only took a couple of hours (and didn't cost an arm & a leg).  While the van was getting worked on, Rusty and I finished shopping.  After we picked the van up, I drove it (and Rusty drove the truck with the empty trailer) to a Chinese buffet for lunch.

Then we headed home.  We were able to get a few things done at home before it was time for our "date"--we decided to go to the basketball games together.  So we took Emmalee (equipped with a bag full of "fun" stuff to do & snacks) while Callum babysat Benjamin (for the first time!).  Rusty and I took turns coming home to check on the boys between games or at half time.  Brienna and Zane both played in the band at the games.  It was a good evening.  Pamela came to our house around 9--she had gone into IF shopping.