I Feel Guilty

I feel bad I haven't updated my blog. I know that I have scores of ravenous fans waiting anxiously for the next brilliant installment, and I hate to disappoint you all. I know, I know, my posts are what keeps you going, and brings meaning to your lives. And I have selfishly refused to oblige you and fulfill your insatiable desire to hear about every mundane aspect of my life. Forgive me, faithful followers! I implore you for your forgiveness, and beg you to overlook my weaknesses!

Ok. Sorry Cindy. And Nicki I guess. I think Heather looks sometimes, maybe Kelly and Lisa on a good day. So, sorry about that. I just have nothing to write. I tried the other day. I started. And then I just kept deleting it. I pretty much live the same day over and over anyway.

Trevor and I came to the conclusion that Afton has her days and nights mixed up. We've been so happy that she takes such great naps during the day, and so bummed that she has stopped sleeping through the night. Then we put 2 and 2 together, so it looks like I'll have to wake her up tomorrow after two hours and endure her grumpiness, for the sake of an uninterupted sleep at night.

Trevor has finished his CNA training! Hooray! He scored a 96% on his test! But he still needs to take the state written exam and the skills exam. They scheduled him for both--in July. That's right. His skills test isn't until July 21st, so he STILL can't look for a job until then. Makes me so stinkin' mad. On the other hand, I do love having him home.

Today I had Kylee all day. Then I picked up Bethany and Natalie. Tomorrow we are going to have a big paperdoll fest and play "Miss America." Aren't I the coolest aunt ever? I really need to make a new paper doll set for Afton. Yes, it's early, but it will take a few years to create the awesomeness that will be her paperdoll set.

Umm...I got a letter from Jordan District that said basically this: "We couldn't come to an agreement with JEA (the teachers' association) about how to factor teacher's pay and benefits with the deficit. So we decided to screw you all over and take away everything. Starve, lose your house, lose your mind, we don't care. Have a nice day." So it looks like I'll be making about $200 less a month next year, maybe more. Bastards. Sorry, but can you blame me?

Trying to think of anything else random that's going on in my life...I've gotten so boring...nope. That's it. I'm that dull. Sorry. But at least I updated and my guilt is officially assuaged. Thanks, you faithful few. This one's for you.

Third Day of Summer

It's officially my 3rd day of summer. And it feels AWESOME. I have had a really great day so far, except for the fact that Afton woke up at 4:00 a.m. for the first time in weeks. I'm spoiled and not used to having to get up anymore! Anyway, I fed her again at 8:30, and then put her in her jungle. I didn't take a picture, sorry. We bought the jungle for her before she was born, and thus far she's had zero interest in it. But last night, out of desperation, I tried it again. And Afton made a huge break-through and discovered her hands! She still doesn't have complete control, but she'll reach for things now. She spent a good 45 minutes in her jungle last night, happy as a clam.

So this morning I put her in there again, while I *get this* worked out. Wahoo! My third day in a row! The last two days I went to the gym, and discovered it's been SO long that I can't even come CLOSE to what I used to be able to do. But I made a goal that I will do SOMETHING active every single day. This morning I didn't have the energy to figure out what to do with Afton in order to go, so I put her in her jungle and just worked out in my living room to my old Firm videos. Been a while. Kicked my trash. I had to stop after only 20 minutes--not so much because I was tired, (though I was) but because my horrible feet were killing me. Makes me so stinkin' mad. As if working out isn't hard enough.

So then I put Afton to bed, she was SO tired. And I showered and did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. This is so very exciting. Seriously. I LOVE having time to do these things again! Oh, and I got on the scale. Yes, I know, it's only been three days. Stupid of me. But I lost 5 pounds already! How? Well, I have learned from past experience that weight you JUST gained comes off pretty fast. I've gained 10 pounds since Afton was born, so this is pretty recent weight. Still, it makes me pretty motivated to keep going! I was motivated enough to have a relatively healthy breakfast and lunch, AND I haven't cheated. I have to be perfect during the day, because once Trevor gets home, it gets pretty hard.

Ok, this is getting long. And I am betraying how boring my life is. So, we'll just end it with some updated pictures of my precious baby girl!

Woah! We're Back from Loa!

Yes folks, I've returned from my ever-so-exciting trip to Loa, Utah. The annual Memorial Day trip that I have had ever since I married Trevor. As much I joke about he microscopic town three hours south of here, I really do love going there. Would I live there? Hell no. But I do love to go and visit. Trevor and I both grew up visiting Grandparents in rural areas, and it's nice to continue the tradition with Afton. Besides, Loa is only a few miles from Capital Reef, one of the most amazing National Parks Utah has to offer!

So on Friday, Jill had Afton for the day because Trevor had orientation for his CNA class, which started today. Jill, a practiced mother with a daughter, immediately seized the opportunity I had missed, and put Afton's hair in pig tails. It was the cutest thing EVER. She had a little red outfit with white polka dots on it, and her little pigtails made her look like a lady bug. When Grandpa Rees, age 89, saw her, he said, "She's a little Mormon baby! She's got horns!" That man has some humor, let me tell you.

I got a million pictures down in Loa. It's a very simple place. We stay in a very old house that my father-in-law bought, which used to be his grandmother's house. It's ancient and falling apart, but we all love it.

We went to church on Sunday, and Afton looked so cute in this dress that her Aunt Claudia made her. Then on Monday we went to the cemetary, where so many of the Rees' are buried. Everyone seems to be related somewhere in that little town. But there are A LOT of war veterans, including Trevor's dad (Vietnam), grandfather (WW2), and great uncle where were there. So were his great grandfather Brigham (WW1)and his uncles. It's a proud heritage. But BOY am I glad HE didn't go into the army!

Calling'd Out

So, Trevor's had QUITE the day at church today. You know, there are times when it just seems like it's all piled on you at chruch, you know? Today was one of those days. First of all, they asked Trevor to teach my lesson this Sunday so I wouldn't have to for Mother's Day. Then, a few days later, they called and asked him to speak in church on Mothers' Day. This meant he would be speaking the first hour, teaching my class second hour, and teaching the deacons third hour, as he is the 2nd councilor in the Young Men's. (And how is this helping me? It means I have the baby for all three hours!!) I felt bad for him, so I told him I'd just teach my class anyway. Then, when he was on the stand in sacrament, they asked him to lead the music--he also leads the music in preisthood as a calling.


So here's a little background: Trevor sings. Very well. So do I. Not so well. We have learned to keep this information quiet. Being able to sing in the church is NOT a good thing. It SUCKS. You get recruited to every stupid choir practice--who wants another hour of church? In our last ward, the choir director would call us at 8:00 a.m to make sure we were coming. So when we got to this ward, we kept it more quiet. We've never even sung in chuch.


So, just when we thought they had asked just about enough of Trevor today, they strike again. Afton is crying, and poopy, and we are in a hurry to get her home (because Releif Society went WAY over since the Bishop was teaching the lesson...)and we get accosted in the hallway by the 1st councilor, wanting a word. We were a little annoyed--Afton smelled. But we went in. And then we get the big killer.

They released Trevor from young men's after only five months. He loves this calling. The boys love him. He loves being involved in scouts. And what did they ask him to do instead? CHOIR DIRECTOR!!! My blood boils even as I type it. Well of course Trevor accepted the calling, but the councilor could tell neither of us were remotely excited about it. It just makes me so sad. Trevor loved being in Young Men's, and just when he's getting a real raport with the boys the pull him out, to make him do something both of us just hate.

Am I being a jerk right now? Yes. And dont' get me wrong--I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our ward. But this was a pretty hard day.


Happy Mother's Day.

Looks Like Fun

So this year I was able to attend the annual Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival trip. Nearly every years my sisters go, and I usually don't go because I have no kids to take pictures of. Not so this year! Though, admittedly, Afton was a BIT young for it. So we all went, though Nicki was unable to due to issues she's had with Paige all week. We were bummed she couldn't go but we understood. Anyway, my favorite thing about it was Jen's comment: "Well we got lots of pictures and it LOOKS like we had a lot of fun..." which is SO true. The pictures are great. But with seven adults and eleven children, it was pretty much insane.

But, well, the kids certainly had fun. I was glad that Trevor came with us, because we were able to get some family shots. We don't have many of those. He said he'd only come if Rusty came, and thankfully Rusty did, so there you are. Anywhere, here's a little matrix I made in photoshop of some of the pictures we took:

Behold...The BAT MOBILE!!!

I don't know much about the pinewood derby. I grew up in a family of girls. And, I suppose if I had thought about it, I would have said I didn't have to worry about said derby until I had a son who was around 9 years old. Not so. After all, everyone knows the pinewood derby is about the men with the sons, not the sons.

So it actually started the day I went into labor. My sister's husband called and begged Trevor to come over and help him make a car for his son. Trevor decided he wanted to make his first car ever. This particular session was cut short when I called Trevor to tell him I was in labor, and thus the project was put on the shelf for a few weeks. But not before Trevor had already determined he was going to make HIS car into the bat mobile. Is there a boy anywhere who grew up in the late 80's who does NOT think the bat mobile is the coolest car ever? (And we're talking Michael Keaton Batman. Not all the crap afterwards.)


I admit I thought he was nuts. I saw the picture. He's never made a car in his life. How could he possibly take on something so complicated? Trevor shrugged me off and found his dremel. He then descended into his Lord of the Rings room downstairs (that in itself is yet another post) and was MIA, with only the gentle hum of his dremel to remind me he was still around.

And after a great deal of work, he eventually ended up with THIS:




Is my husband good or what?? He carved the stinkin' think all on his own! No help AT ALL! I am so proud of him! I am just so blown away by how he can just wrap his head around a project like that, and figure out how to do it. He's friggin' awesome! Now leave a comment and tell him how great he is!

A Few Items

So I haven't updated forever and I'm sitting here trying to think of what to write about. So here's a few items:

My baby is now 3 1/2 weeks old. At what point can I expect her to sleep through the night?? Well, I think that's at LEAST a month away, isn't it? She was fabulous last night--mainly because she was grumpy all day and hardly slept. So we put her in her car seat, which we have realized is the greatest invention of all time. The only reason I am able to update this post right now is because Afton is sleeping in that blessed carseat. She LOVES it. She'll be crying like mad one minute and totally asleep the next. She sleeps in it pretty much every night. But we don't put her in it during the day because we don't want the magic to wear off.

I started my first kit. As a digital scrapbooker, I'm always on the lookout for good kits. But when I stated Afton's book, I couldn't find a kit that was "right" for it. Then I realized, I wanted a kit that used all of her things--and I would have to make it myself. So we took pictures of her blankets, recieving blankets, toys, everything. And I created a kit. I can't wait to get started on her book!

I got my first harrassment e-mail yesterday. I guess I should have known that eventually it would come. When you teach junior high, that's what happens I guess. My school email is all over the school website, since I'm the webmaster for it. Yesterday I opened my school email and I had a nice little note telling me I was a B****. Huh. No idea who it's from. Well, there was a student's name on the email, but it was a student I had last year and never had any real trouble with, so I don't know why he'd send it. Maybe they created the email in his name, or maybe his friends hate me. Who knows. Seemed kind of random, though, since I've been out for the last few weeks. Maybe it has something to do with the stealing incident when my sister was subbing. Urg...it's hard not to be a little down when you realize someone hates you enough to send you a mean email. But then, I guess I should feel lucky I lasted this long without one. Everyone always feels so bad for me when they find out I'm a Junior High teacher, and I always grin and tell them how much I love it. And I DO. But when things like this happen--well, you start to figure out why everyone feels so bad for you...

Yesterday after a particularly fussy day with Afton, Trevor and I called my mom in desperation around 6:30 and begged her to take Afton for an hour so we could go out to eat. Bless her. Not only is my mom willing to take my baby on the spot like that, she's actually thrilled to do it.It's kind of hard to ask someone to watch your child--it's so nice when the people you ask are so kind about it. I don't know what I would do without my mom! We ate out at a chinese restaurant and came right back and then visited for a while. I love my mommy! And my daddy too--he gave me a fabulous, but painful, backrub and footrub that I really needed!

Trevor is now officially registered for a CNA class at SLCC. Hooray! We had to go in there and be very active to get him registered, and he got the last spot in the class. If we had waited another hour we probably wouldn't have gotten it, and then he would have to wait until June to take it. We want to get him trained so he can get a job as a CNA and we can go off unemployment. Well--so we have income when our unemployment runs out! Then he'll do a year of pre-requisites, and then the long wait to get into nursing school. Yes, we are statting late. But at least we're starting. You gotta pay your dues sometime, right?

To close, I thought I'd add a little picture Nicki took of my little family! We don't have many pictures of all three of us! We just got a new camera and Trevor is snapping pictures right and left, but we haven't mastered the timer yet.