Hailey and Hannah's room

So the girl's room was this boring color that the majority of the house is painted. However, the ceiling, trim, and inside doors are white. I was very excited when I found that out because I was losing motivation quickly. As a side note, I still had Rachel with me and painted with her on my back most of the time.

 So I painted their room pink!

 I also got this end table from my parents and painted it yellow.

 I love this vanity area. I ended up making two more hair bow ribbon holders and spray painted the mirror's frame white.

I did not paint the closet white though. My goal is to not have dressers in the kids room. I tried having the dresses hanging up and then using the shelves for everything else but that system failed. Now where I have the purple clothes holder, is all of Hailey's dresses. Both girls now have the outfits hanging up (shirts and pants on one hanger). This has worked out great except that Hailey can't actually reach her clothes yet.

Robert's and Rachel's Room

Here is the before picture. Nathan does not like this room red at all! This was used as an office by the previous owners.

So I painted the ceiling, trim and doors white. Painted the rest of the room green with a tan accent spot. Though this is both Robert and Rachel's room it is still geared to Robert because eventually Rachel will be too old to share with a boy and will be kicked out.

I also painted the closet white too but it took three hours so I stopped doing closets after this one.

I have put up some art work and more trains and will show off the finished look a little later.

Playroom

Nathan needed to go to a Math conference in Wisconsin, so I decided it would be a great time to visit my parents. However, his conference was less then a week long and he needed to go back to WY and get ready for the university to start. Since Hailey's school doesn't start until September, I drove Nathan back with Rachel while mom and dad kept the other three kids. I stayed at home for a week to get some painting and organizing done.

The first room I tackled was the playroom. We have all 5 bedrooms upstairs together. Luckily we only live in three so we have a playroom and a craft room. The room was originally blue and for now I am going to keep it that way.

 My first project was to paint the closet white. It was not a fun project and very time consuming but I do like the result.

 

 Most of the toys fit in the closet which is perfect! We even can hang up the dress up clothes which is way better than shoving them into a box.

 In the playroom we have a train table, an air hockey table, a doll/stuff animal corner, and a reading corner. This picture isn't up to date but I still want to put art work up so we don't have a finished look yet.  This is a very big room and I am happy with the space.

Summer outdoors

While we were in the rental house, there wasn't much to do since we were not unpacking anything. Nathan and I walked around the park in the morning before the kids woke up and most meal times were eaten outside.

After almost a week, we are able to get a rental car from Cherie and Stan. However, we still had a week before we closed on our house and before we needed to leave for Iowa. So, Grandma Cherie took Hailey and Robert for a week back to Utah. When they came back we finally were able to close on our house, so they once again helped us move and watch the kids. It was a pretty crazy day because the next morning after we moved our stuff in, we left for Iowa.

Wyoming Territorial Prison

While Grandma Cherie and Papa Stan were with us, we visited the Territorial Prison. I really liked it and thought it was neat. It was good that we had four adults to tag team while they ran around. I though the history of the prison, the inmates, and the system back then was fascinating. We spent about 3 hours there.

 They also has some homes and stores in the same time period as the jail. Here is Robert working an old washer machine.

Seizure in the water (July 19th)

I'm so glad that Nate's parents helped us move. I enjoyed talking more with my mother-in-law in the car. Unfortunately (for them), we got them stranded in Wyoming. We thought that there would be no problem to rent a car so we planned on that without reserving one. It happened to be Frontier Days in Cheyenne and all the cars were already rented out.

So we made the most out of it and went on dates and walks as a couple. Rachel was still a handful and very attached to me, I'm thankful for Grandma Cherie's patience with her to give us time alone.

Also, I really like doing freezer meals and now I had someone to watch the kids. So, on Thursday (we moved Wednesday), I had Grandma Cherie take the three kids to the wadding pool while I went to Walmart. Hannah would not take a nap that day though we tried to put her down. So I dropped them off at 3:00pm and said I would be there by 4:30pm (when the pool closed) to pick them up.

I had a good time shopping. It felt nice to be doing something familiar. I went to the pool a little after 4:30pm and no one was at the park. I figured that they just walked home. I got to the house and Stan said Hannah was with Grandma at the hospital, that they needed to take her to the ER. That's when I finally realized that I didn't have my phone with me. It was still charging inside. I quickly went to the hospital to find out the whole story.

Shortly after I left, the kids were playing in the pool. A lady came and sat by Cherie. By the time she turned back around towards the kids, Hannah was face down under the water in a seizure. The life guard was watching but saw a kid swimming like that just a couple of days earlier and since she was "moving" was counting to 10 before she got her. (She got to 5 I think) Grandma ran and pulled her out of the water. Her seizure didn't last long at all. However, her breathing slows down a lot in a seizure and since it started in the water, Hannah stopped breathing. 

Grandma did a lot of life guarding growing up and pulled from that knowledge to gave Hannah CPR. According to Grandma the life guard wasn't much help.  The ambulance was called. (The ENTs cut off her swimsuit which was a little disappointing but I understand the reason). Somehow in conversation, Grandma Cherie was telling the people there that we just moved in and said our address. Luckily three ladies from our new ward was there and one recognized the address because her husband helped moved us in. She took Robert and Hailey back home to Papa Stan while Grandma went with Hannah to the hospital.

I went to the hospital and found that someone got a hold of Nathan also (his phone was also charging at home and he was at his office for the day). Hannah was still groaning and very out of it but not peacefully sleeping. She didn't start resting well until 7:30pm which is a long time to be in the after seizure out of sorts stage. This was a sign on how big of an ordeal she went through. Thankfully she was able to sleep it off and by the time she woke up in the morning she was back to normal. Just to make sure she was going to be okay, she slept in the front room with Rachel and I, while Nathan slept with Hailey and Robert.

I'm thankful that overall things went smoothly. Women from the ward were there to help with Hailey and Robert. Grandma Cherie had the skills and fast reaction to help Hannah breath. Due to cutting her head open in Laramie, she has already been to the hospital so they had some medical records on her. A lot of people from the ward reached out to us and the Bishop even stopped by that night. It was a rough seizure for her but I know that God was watching over us.

Moving weekend

We got the moving truck Saturday July 14th. It was also the same day as the fire clean up service project so there went all the men from our ward. Luckily, Nathan called on a few people from work and we ended up having a trip of at least 10 people to help. There were people everywhere and we got things moved to our front yard and truck fairly quickly. I am so thankful for the help we received. Not everything fit in the truck well so it was pack and repacked three times I think.  I never want to move again. Even though we had a lot of help, moving was no fun and by the end of it, I just wanted to get rid of everything.

 

That night was an Elder's Quorum dinner and game night. It was fun to see our friends there and have some fun after a long day of moving.

 

After church on Sunday we went to Idaho Falls to say good bye to Aunt Darlene.

Monday was spent doing the last few details, saying good bye to more friends and heading down to Utah. After we left our house, Carrol, who taught me how to quilt, cleaned the carpets for us. That was a major help. We are very thankful for her service.

Tuesday, Hannah had her genetics appointment. Gramma Cherie watched the kids while I took Hannah. It was a great appointment with the conclusion that since Hannah isn't developmentally delayed that doing testing now would be too expensive and wouldn't give me that answers I seek. While that was going on, Stan and Nathan started there drive to Wyoming. They made it there about 7:30pm and then had some church members help them unload.

Wednesday was when the rest of us started our trip to Laramie.

Hat

Hannah needed to keep the head wound out of the sun for at least a week to avoid more scarring. So Nathan found a hat for her at Walgreen's.  For the most part Hannah was good about keeping it on outside. Unfortunately, the wound opened a little under the glue. She'll have a noticeable scar all her life now.

Dinners

While Nathan stayed very busy doing school stuff, I ended packing the entire house myself, except for Nathan's things. Since we had a bed bug problem, that meant that I rewashed and dried all of our clothes, bedding, and towels all over again. I think the worst thing that could happen to us would be bringing a bed bug problem to Laramie. 

 

Since I'm on the subject, I'll update you on the issue. I blogged in May that I thought the bed bugs were gone. Well that wasn't the case and we still got bite but not nearly to the degree we were at. I washed everything in hot water and changed our sheets frequently. I checked the beds every other day to kill any bugs we saw.  By the end on June, no one was getting bitten and I saw a bug maybe once a week. Our 90 days warranty expired July 5, the day we went to Laramie. So we had Terminix come out one more time to scan our house. He could not find any evidence of the bugs. However, our landlady was still freaking out about how she would be responsible to take care of the problem.  Terminix agreed to come back after we were gone and respray the house for free.

 

The other problem with the house was that the lawn was very unhealthy and was dead in most spots. We did water it but it didn't help that much. We've asked her for help but she was too concern about the bed bugs that we received no help. While trying to pack the house, I spent many hours trying to weed the side walk and yard (mainly the front). I should have been weeding the whole time we were there instead of waiting the last minute but it's difficult with a new born and a two year old who runs out into the street. So long story short we didn't get any of our $800 deposit back. We are glad we are out of that situation with the landlady.

 

So back to what I really wanted to blog about. Since I was doing so much work with packing, I decided that no one appreciated what I do.  My plan was to have everyone cook once a week. The kids picked out what they wanted to cook and did most of the work. Hailey wanted to do pizza. She did a great job and just needed help rolling out the dough. Also if you cook, you clean, so the kids and Nathan had kitchen duty also.

Starting this right before we left was not the best timing. Now that we our in our new home we have continue taking turns making meals for about 3 weeks.  Nathan cooks on Saturdays, Robert on Sundays, and Hailey has Tuesdays.  On Saturdays, we pull out the cook books and the kids decide on the main dish, a veggie, and a fruit. Then we all go shopping with our individual lists. Robert has made breaded drumsticks and pancakes. Hailey has done waffles and meatloaf. The kids are so proud of themselves and I do feel like it makes cooking fun again.

What started as a selfish desire to get help has turned into a great learning experience on how to cook and also how to be responsible. Another benefit is that the kids get one on one time with which ever parent is helping them cook. They also are learning about a balance diet and to try different veggies. I have stopped making them do the dishes because I am much faster and our night were getting too late.

Hannah's head wound

Nathan finished teaching his summer class July 3rd, so on July 5th we went down to Laramie to be there for the inspection on the house we want. The kids are really good travelers for the most part, it's hard being stuck in the car for 10-12 hours.

 

The inspection happened Saturday morning. The big thing about the house is that it means a new roof before we close. There was a big hail storm a few years ago and our roof was hit. Their insurance should cover the cost, it just takes time.  The other big thing was the main water heater (they have two) was condemned and needed to be replace. There were a few minor things also. The previous home owner really wants to be done with the house, so he agreed to the items on the inspection and took care of them.

 

Later that day, I took a nap while Nathan took the kids to a playground. They got rained out and come back home. Somehow Hannah slipped into the skinny edge of the open car door and had a big gash. After calling a couple of places to see if they would accept Idaho Medicaid we ended up at the hospital. (*side note - the hospital accepts out of state medicaid but the physicians who work there do not. $400 for this  ER trip)

 

We decided gluing her head would be the best option, knowing that either way we went Hannah would have a noticeable scar since the wound does not follow wrinkle lines.  She did really well. I was sure she would fight them and we had her wrapped like a burrito so she could move her hands and we had 3 people to help hold her down. They weren't needed. Hannah was very calm and a little bit curious. I was very impressed.

We went to church in Laramie to get to know the ward a little bit before heading home. Everyone was pretty friendly. A lot of people were moving in or moving out around the same time.

4th of July

We went to Caldwell park to see the 4th of July parade. Before the parade, The Friends group from the First Baptist church held a carnival in the park. There was a face painting station, free waters and Popsicles, and a big bounce house. It was hard to keep track of all the kids. They had a lot of fun and we were able to meet up with the Jardines and watch the parade with them.

 Hailey got a cupcake on her face.

 

At the end of the parade all the fire fighters and all the trucks that helped in the Charlotte fire came through. The fire destroyed 66 homes and was 100% contained on Monday July 2 after 5 days from when it started. It was very touching to see all the people and resources it took. On Tuesday July 3rd was a donation drive sponsored by DI to help the families. It is an amazing thing to see the community come together.

 

After the parade there were free hot dogs in the park. Then we spent the rest of the day getting ready for our trip to Laramie for the house inspection. We had dinner with the Jardine's. Then they watched our kids while Nate and I packed the trailer.  Nathan needed to finish something, so I took the kids to Bartz field to watch the fireworks.  The kids enjoyed the day a lot. They really like playing with Bethany and Edmund. We will miss their family a lot and the frequent dinner/game nights we had with them.

June's Seizure

Before I finish blogging about our adventures in June, I need to make a note that Hannah had a seizure June 15th.  She had speech therapy in the morning with Jessica and was fine in the beginning but got really cranky and tired before speech was done. She has had a slight cold the whole week. We stayed home the rest of the day and she went down for nap as usual. I was upstairs while Hailey and Robert were downstairs, when I heard strange moaning from Hannah. It was 1:30pm and she had a two minute seizure in her sleep. There's nothing to do for her but sit and wait for her to be done with it. She fell back to sleep so I continue with whatever I was working on. Then at 2:00pm she had another 2 minutes seizure in the sleep. She slept until 4 or 5pm that day. (Generally she wakes up from her naps at 3:00).

Museum of Clean

I was reading a friend's blog when she wrote about their kids' experience at the Museum of Clean. Her kids loved it and spent hours there. I was so surprised to find out that it was in Pocatello. So when we walked in we expected someone to be at the front desk so we could pay and get a little map about the place. However, there was just a basket to drop your money in based on an honor system. As we left the kids explore the area in the front, Don Aslett, a very famous cleaning expert and the owner of the museum, came to the front to give us and another family a tour.  He should us all around and told us about future plans that he has. I'll be exciting to see in a few years when it has it all completed.

Don Aslett showing the kids how to clean a window.

This is a cleaning hypnosis chair.

There was a section on chimney sweepers.

Hannah sweeping.

Here's a full body vacuum so that everyone is clean.

The kids had a lot of fun and even came back another time right before we moved.

Liquid Chalk

I saw a post about making liquid chalk on the notimeforflashcards.com website. It's just corn starch, water, and food coloring.

 Robert loved it and spend a while outside playing with it.

Hailey's bottle didn't work out so well (or I got the consistency wrong) so she lost interest quickly.

I want to remember the activity and do it again next year.

Caldwell Park

At Caldwell park during park lunch time, the First Baptist church holds a "Friends" carnival on Thursdays where they have different activities for the kids. There was a bubble station that also had three ball pools for little kids.

There was also a face painting station. They have crafts set up and Popsicles to hand out. The kids enjoy the activities a lot.

McKee's

I will miss taking the kids to McKee's Pet Store. It was a great way to introduce the kids to different kinds of animals.They have dogs, cats, bunnies, a very old monkey, birds, snakes, fish, turtles, guinea pigs, emus, pigs, llamas, miniature horses, sheep, and a donkey. Up until recently they had a yak too. There is also a little swing set to play on.

 

The kids favorite part was feeding the goats. Hannah is really fearless about most things. Hailey at this age was very afraid of goats.

 

A funny story about the baby goats in the picture is that while we were there, two of the baby goats escaped the fence. One was chased into a corner by the kids there. The other mom was able to get it and put it back. The other goat, I was able to catch and hold for a little bit. The kids enjoyed petting it. For a moment, I thought it would be fun to have a baby goat. Then I remember that they grow and changed my mind.