So, What's a Little Blood?

It's Saturday evening about 8:15. I suggested to Andy that we do a little date night and watch a movie on his laptop. It's been a long day - half playing and half continuing to unpack. I don't really get a response. So, I decide to check my email while he works in the basement. (More house pictures to come - basics 3 bedrooms upstairs with kids, playroom, library, living room, kitchen. Downstairs is our bedroom, makeshift bathroom, huge living room, storage area and laundry.) About five minutes later, I hear, "That was stupid." (Besides the fact that word is trying to be eradicated from our house...we won't go there at the moment.) I don't even go to look because from his tone it just sounds like more messes to clean up. Then I hear the shower running and, "Linz! I need your help!" I walk in and see this image (imagine a little more stress on the face and the entire shower floor covered with bright red blood). Andy asks for a towel, paper towels, neosporin and band aids. I'm happy to announce I DID NOT FAINT! I asked what happened. Dear old Andy dropped a dirty, gross, dull MACHETE on his foot.
I got him the stuff and also grabbed his cell phone to call our nearest ward member (Brent) who also happens to be a med student, my old roommate's husband, Andy's previous ultimate frisbee competitor, and our friend. Yes, it needs stitches - just barely missed the artery (Great job there, Honey!), but since Brent is not yet a resident, he doesn't have all the neat little tricks in his bag. He had the numbing medicine to administer before placing the stitches but not the syringe. It's now after 9 on a Saturday night and the nearest 24 hour pharmacy is about 20 minutes away. We decided to just plunge ahead and do the stitches without the numbing. (I say 'we' because, well, I would have to watch, so it was really my call...right?)

Of course, this would have to be in pretty much the dirtiest area of the house at the moment! Stellar, right? So, they sterilized as well as possible with a little bit of rubbing alcohol and got to work! He tested Andy's pain tolerance with the rubbing alcohol on the gash..he did pretty well!

If you blow up this image, you can actually see the skin pulling with the needle. Yuck, I know. Andy said the most painful part of this whole process was the needle finding its way back to the surface. "It felt like a needle poking your skin." (That's why I do the blogging!!!) Sweat did bead on his forehead and he got a little bit pale. I offered my hand for him to squeeze but he didn't want it. (Why is it that I have to have the babies with my minuscule pain tolerance???) I asked Brent if he had a queasy stomach during all of this. "No! I love this stuff!"

A little teamwork helps the process move along...let's just be glad I was the one taking the pictures and not near the blood and the puncturing and pulling of skin involved with stitches. (Amazingly, in 9 1/2 years of marriage and three kiddos, this is our first experience with stitches...besides those baby ones, of course)

Wow. That's about all I have to say. I was not very close (LOVE the zoom) and very light headed. I think it's a good think I didn't go into nursing... :)

A job well done! Thanks so much for saving us from a several hundred dollar trip to the ER!!! Andy is well on his way to recovery and back to unpacking and organizing. Have I mentioned previously that I married a work-a-holic? But I love him anyway!!! Brent is going to check those little stitches Wednesday night after basketball...thanks for being a great neighbor!!!

PS - Thanks Ang for loaning us your hubby on a Saturday night!!!

O-hi-o

Heigh ho the dairy-o, we made it to Ohio! Yippee! This is our 3rd night in our new home and the kids were asleep by 10:20, the earliest night so far! We are unloaded (thanks to our fabulous new ward that came over last night after the stake priesthood session) and working frantically to unpack and get somewhat organized before Andy starts his "Academic Success Initiative Program" that starts tomorrow night. Yuck; I'm realizing how much I DISLIKE unpacking! I'm having big issues with the kitchen because I just can't decide where to put what. I'm so sad that I no longer have two pantries...or even one pantry...and my sad breakfast dishes have been sitting in the sink for two days since we also lack a dishwasher... :) However, it's an adorable house with a somewhat scary shower downstairs that Andy thinks is do-able. The plumber is in the process of moving the house from well-water to the city water, so as soon as that is done, I will scrub the tubs and sinks to remove the rust stains! So many things to do...! I'll take pictures as soon as the computer is set up. I'm happy to report that we do have a firepit! We still need to put the stones around it, but this is such a lifter since we had so much fun with ours at home. AND I didn't get my last fire in, so the s'mores stuff is packed here somewhere! Maybe by next week it will be unearthed... Last, but not least, my Texas friends - yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far...at 91 degrees!!!! We turned on our a/c, not because it was hot but because of the humid stale air! More things to post later...like our story of getting stuck on a roller coaster at Six Flags...

Just a Normal Day...

... at the office. This is the email my sister sent yesterday afternoon. AUGHHH!!!! I LOVE him! Such a cute boy. If only I worked downtown there too... Apparently he was very nice and didn't smell. :) They didn't ask anything else because their speech had been stunted and hearts were beating too fast.

We are still in limbo - no place to move to yet, but fabulous friends are working on it! Hopefully we'll find somewhere to live in the next week or so or we'll be doing the weekly rentals at the local motel! Andy is almost done with work. I'm having fun with the kids and love squeezing on my friend's week old twin boys! Love, love, love all my Richardson buddies!!! I don't say goodbye - I just say see ya later! More pictures to follow, when I can get my Outlook up and running again!

Wow! It's final!!!

Our house is sold! Our mortgage is paid!!! My sister joked that we need to go shopping now. Tomorrow we pack our stuff in storage for a few weeks until our future is a little bit more sure. However, there is a LOT to still do between now and then - unfortunately it's mostly 'Andy stuff" that I can't help with. Nor can I post a cute picture of us standing in our dining room that is packed from floor to ceiling with boxes - all organized by size...seriously! We are transferring all of our pictures from the last 6 years onto a one trilobyte (sp?) storage thing to clean off the old computer to leave with one of the YM here. It's taking my real computer from me. Alas - thanks for all the well-wishes! It's starting to get exciting...especially because we have a LOT of playing to the next three weeks with Andy before he begins reading reading and more reading!!!

So SAD...

I just packed my crock pot and both pantries are empty. Looking at all the boxes stacked in the dining room, I'm SO HAPPY to have a 3 week break before unpacking!!!

S'More fun

"Hey, wanna s'more?"
"S'more what?"
"No, no, you want a s'more?"
"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have s'more of nothing?"
"You're killing me, Smalls! These are s'mores stuff. Okay - pay attention!
First, you take the gram. You stick the chocolate on the gram. Then you roast the mallow. When the mallows flamin', you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then you scarf! It's kinds messy but good. Try some!" THE SCIENCE OF S’MORES

Graham crackers, chocolate, a toasted marshmallow. What more can be said about a s'more?
Plenty, if you're asking Reginald Mitchell, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University. His specialty is combustion sciences, so he knows a good deal about marshmallows - when they're near a campfire, that is. Turns out toasting a marshmallow is actually a six-step process:

1. Swelling. As the marshmallow heats, the moisture in it expands, causing the marshmallow to swell.
2. Escape. As the moisture expands, it blows tiny holes through the marshmallow and escapes as steam.
3. Sugar rush. Depleted of moisture, the marshmallow is now a sucrose char. Oxygen in the air rushes to its surface - it's ready to burn.
4. Flame on. Oxygen diffuses from the air to the marshmallow's outer surface. At the surface, carbon reacts with the oxygen, producing a blue flame. This is called burning in the diffusion limited mode.
5. Oxidation. Simultaneously, carbon atoms grab oxygen atoms, producing carbon monoxide, then carbon dioxide.
6. Oxyinterruptus. Pulling the marshmallow from the fire and blowing it out interrupts the oxidation process. This creates soot, evidence of incomplete combustion.

Found at: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1216/n5_v198/19554054/p4/article.jhtml?term=

Each year the youth get together to look at pictures of Scout Camp, Girls' Camp, and High Adventure. In the past, we've done a fireside, but in an effort to make firesides more spiritual, we planned this for a Saturday night activity. First, all the youth and their parents and leaders (with children) gathered in the front room for a slide showing on the ceiling (it worked the best).
Then we all went outside for a roasted dinner on the fire pit. After kids were done eating, they went out to the soccer field behind our house for a little exercise! I didn't get a picture of that one because I was off on a motorcycle ride!!!

Thanks for all the prep work, YM and YW leaders! We didn't do anything but have the house in some sort of order! It was great!

I was teasing Bishop for being so dressed up. I'm glad he was able to loosen up a little bit and enjoy roasting with us! He did a fabulous fireside the next night about prayers!!! Thanks, Bishop!

Of course, what ward/youth activity would be complete without a cute picture of Annie and her buddy Brynnley?

I'm still looking to do fires at least twice before we have to leave our house. If you're interested, come on over tonight or tomorrow!!! Right, Andy? :)

Cosette's Visit

My niece came home with us from California and stayed for a month to play and help while we sold the house. Unfortunately, the camera wasn't often around while we were! These favorites are fun though - just imagine the rest!
Cosette loves to cook. We made apple pie, blueberry cobbler, strawberry and blueberry jam, zucchini bread cookies, and lots of dinners. She tried and learned to like kale, zucchini and squash raw, meatloaf, and lots of other goodies! Her goal was to hook Emily around her pinkie, and I think that happened!

The first week Ben was at Safety Camp through the city. The last day was an award assembly, so to pass time while there was another house showing until we could go, we went to a local park. They went exploring down by the creek where Emily fell in. Since we couldn't go home, we were the family with the baby dressed only in a diaper. Great...

We had a fun HOT morning at the zoo. We all loved the baby chimpanzee!

Feeding the birds is ALWAYS the highlight of our zoo trip! Then we had to hurry back home for the plumber!

We had great fun! For some reason I don't have a good picture of "bugaboo" (ask Emily to say that; it's adorable!!!) while we did campfires, but she does that at home! Thanks for coming Cosette!!!

Happy News

1. I found my wedding ring that has been missing for about 8 weeks!
2. I won an appeal with my insurance company!!
3. Andy found our missing Zoo passes!!! (anyone up for a morning at the zoo this coming week?)
4. We have finally decided on going to law school at the University of Akron in Ohio!!!!

SAD NEWS:
*still haven't finished packing house (have 12 more days to be out with a clean house!)
*still haven't found a place for us to live in Ohio
*still don't know Andy's last day of work
*still don't know where will be living for Ben's sixth birthday which is a great source of worry for him. :(
*still tired of hearing Annie crying, Ben teasing, and Emily eating my deodorant

BETTER NEWS:
All but one of my "sad news" will be resolved in the next month!

Now, if I could just lose 80 pounds, all would be well in the world!!! Hope you are having a happy day!

~lindsey

Everything Else

We loved each family having a HUGE two bedroom condo. There were four per floor, so we had the entire floor to ourselves. Whenever we were awake, each door would be propped open, so cousins just roamed around. At this moment right before bedtime, kiddos are watching a few minutes of a show... Another evening we went to feed the koi.

Our family took the ferry to Balboa Island. Once a month the nautical museum does a storytime for children 2-5 years (of which I happen to have THREE!), and it happened to be while we were there!

We had a lot of fun walking through the museums after each child made a boat. The puzzle table was a big hit!

One afternoon we spent at the pools, with fabulous chairside service. I don't think I have ever had such a yummy $7 virgin pina colada!

The water was so cold, Emily and I only made it about 30 minutes before she was shivering and I was uncomfortable!

The big kids stayed down at the pool for another couple of hours! They found a friend to play with (I can't remember his name right now, but I'm sure any of my nieces would!) and had a great time if these smiles are to be believed!

Another morning the adults went to a session at the Newport Beach Temple while Grandpa, Aunt Jamie, and JJ watched the little ones (2-13 years). Amazingly, the woman next to me in the session had lived in Dallas and knew some of the same people! These next few got out of order, but I am way too exhausted right now to put them back! This was on our way home, either just before or just after my maiden voyage to In-n-Out burger.

Packing up our room - JJ 'happily' posed for some pictures for us - notice the owie on his forehead.

This was the view from our room. We slept every night with the sliding doors and windows open. It was just incredible!!!

Right before we were to leave, my children all crashed. Granted, Ben had a fever, but the other two were just exhausted. It was a great trip!!!!

Thanks Mom and Mike for all of the wonderful memories and working so hard for so many years to make it finally happen!!!

The Beaches

We spent two days at the beaches in California, and they were incredible! Actually, I should say two afternoons because after about 4 hours, we were all exhausted! We hit Laguna Beach the first day and had so much fun, but there was seaweed all over! The second day we went to Careno del Mar which was a much nicer beach and we could put up the sunshade, but the waves were much bigger and stronger!

Andy played in the water most of the time. Here, he and my brother Rusty are trying to catch a wave to body surf! Oh, how much fun those waves are!!! Looking back through my pictures to choose these has taken me back to the ocean - the sound of the waves crashing against the ground, the volleyball bouncing back and forth, that happy children's voices and the fresh air all around. It was awesome!!! The first day we rented two boogie boards and all shared them. Andy is trying so hard to catch this wave. What an unreal feeling it is to be riding along the top of the wave! It is so fun until you crash on the sand and scrape up your knees over and over again...

JJ riding the waves! It is just so beautiful! Thank you sooooo much Grandma, Aunt Jamie and Aunt Nancy for watching our kiddos on the beach, so we could play so much in the water!!! Our beach time wouldn't have been nearly as fun without Andy and I getting to go out so far to the breaking waves!

Even Ben had a chance to ride the waves! However, twice was enough for him! This wave turned out to be a little bit bigger than we'd anticipated as Bronwyn gets swept away... :) She and Ben had a blast 'riding' the waves with their feet!

Annie and her cousin Ty enjoyed the biggest sandbox either kiddo had ever seen! They played so great together! However, I have no idea what they played because I was busy in the water! Mom? Nancy? Hayley?

I think everyone would agree that Emily's favorite part of the ocean/beach was chasing the birds. She would get just so close and the bird would hope away five feet. Then Em would work so hard to get close again - only to have the bird hop away another few feet. This kept her entertained for hours!

Nothing like a beautiful background. It I hadn't taken this picture, I wouldn't have believed the perfection of the waves!

Another beautiful scene! Roman and Ben finally found something fun to do together!

Our second day at Carona del Mar, Grandpa bought two boogie boards since there was no where to rent them. However, on the first rides (because of the strong waves and the cheaply made boards, unlike the previously rented ones), both boards broke. Poor JJ was the recipient of a nasty gash on his forehead. He spent the rest of the day in his 'family' shirt reading under the canopy with a pounding headache.

The beach was a blast! I think we all agreed we'd like to do this again. The cousins had so much fun playing with one another, and the big kids had a blast too!!!

The Most Perfect Day

So, on our vacation, we had a lot of perfect days! This was the most perfect day! As most people do while preparing for Disneyland, we got lots of advice from friends. Our best piece was from Farrah to do http://www.ridemax.com/! WOW!!!! You buy a program ($3 more than you have to pay for parking, so not really a big deal and COMPLETELY worth it!!!) and enter all of the rides you want to do. It prints out a schedule telling you walking time to the next exhibit, waiting time, ride time, and also when to send runners to get FastPasses (an AMAZING invention since I was a child visiting Disney World). It simply was fabulous!!!! So, we had four different plans printed, stapled and ready to go since we weren't sure what time we would actually get it.

7:15 Andy dropped me off at the gate to wait in line while the rest of the pack drove around until the parking lots opened.
7:40 Andy calls and they are at the gate; where am I? (at the other side entrance of the park.)
7:45 We rush through the entrance and go to ticket booth. (There are so many ways to buy tickets online, but since we just wanted a one-day pass to Disneyland - not parkhopper - it was best to buy them there)
8:01 Tickets purchased (with a little bit of running from JJ to deliver picture IDs) and we are in the park!!!

***Side note. JJ came with us for our trip. This made it even more perfect! Besides being a calming stoic presence, he was a fabulous 3rd adult. I would definitely recommend bringing a friend when you go to take turns watching the littlest of your crew while the other four ride. Now they have these amazing passes where you can either go up the exit ramp or take a shortcut to the front of the line if you are watching smaller children so extra wait time is greatly reduced for everyone to ride!!!***

So, our first ride was Autotopia on our list. This was our first snazzle with Ridemax. They don't open Autotopia until about 8:15 when a line builds up. However, it happens to be next to Nemo (which we were advised not to ride because as soon as the line builds up, it is a super long wait - even with fastpasses). So, we caught the second Nemo boat and still hit the first set of Autotopia rides. Of course, everyone loved these!!! And no, I won't take you through each ride, just some favorites. The kids, of course, loved Dumbo and the flying elephants. Emily just walked around all day with wide open dazed eyes (until she fell asleep on It's a Small World). Ben and Annie soaked it all in and wanted more (and less at times).

I think Dumbo was our third longest wait of about 15 minutes (preceded by carousel and Alice in Wonderland), but the kids were all SO patient.

The two rides I requested were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and The Haunted Mansion. Andy wanted Autotopia and Space Mountain. JJ wanted Splash Mountain. This is from Andy and Ben's seat on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

To Infinity and Beyond!!! Emily wasn't so sure about Buzz...

We road Winnie the Pooh several times as it was across from Splash Mountain and I could take Emily on that while the others did the dropping logs. We got to meet Pooh and Tigger right after the ride too! Emily wouldn't even look at them! But then again, she doesn't like the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause either...

Everyone loved the pirate island! They are working together to raise the buried treasure! (This was in between Andy on the phone with our realtor negotiating a housing contract. Then another bid came it the same day. Then the contract fell through 8 days later. Great times...)

We went to see the Princesses but found ourselves in a 2 hour wait line. Since Annie wasn't really sure what we were waiting for, we decided to find other princesses. We were so happy to come along Jasmine and Aladdin while waiting for Indiana Jones (which I think was one of my favorite rides. I laughed the whole time!). WOW! That Aladdin was something else!!! I can still feel my heart melt as we were walking off and smooth as glass, he says to Annie, "Bye Princess!"

This was a little tense moment. Emily woke up not completely happy. They all got ice cream while I rode Indy (and used the single rider line to go STRAIGHT to the front!). All day I wanted a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Sandwich. I got one while we waited to see the Bird Show at the Tiki House for Emily. JJ took a quiet moment to read his book. I think he was about done with us by then! UNTIL.... Space Mountain!!!!

While waiting in line with Ben, Annie and JJ - and I could think was...AM I REALLY TAKING MY 3 1/2 YEAR OLD ON SPACE MOUNTAIN??? And she did fabulous (hands up most of the ride and screaming the whole time!) Ben had to go potty at the very front of the line, but it would have taken him longer to walk out then just ride the ride and go. So, mean mom that I am, I told him he had to wait (thinking he was just scared). Then JJ got to ride next to him. :) The silly car claimed my sunglasses that I forgot to get out of the pouch. I wonder what they do with all of those lost articles... Andy had a parent swap pass (that works for two people), so JJ watched the three kids for us while we rode together - for Andy's first time!

I think Buzz ended up as Ben's favorite ride. JJ took the complete top score our last ride (he was childless - not that it makes a difference, just wanted to point it out) and did great!!!

8:25 It was time to go home. We had the most perfect day. I was ready and willing to stay longer, but I was vetoed by the boys. We did get to coax in one last ride of the train around the park to soak in our last few minutes of perfection...

Thanks Andy and JJ for putting up with the rest of us! We had such a great time and will remember it forever!!! Thanks Annie and Ben for being so brave on all those big rides and just having fun! Thanks Emily for enjoying your snacks when you were too little to ride. THANK YOU WALT DISNEY for making special moments!!!

***Still to come...the BEACH...along with the beach MONSTER that stole sunglasses, googles, etc.***