Catching up...

      I do realize I have alot of catching up to do. So I am going to give it an honest effort. First of all, let me say that this year has been crazy! With even more stories of trips to the E.R. for Carter, Keaton's quirky ways, and Dryden well... he is just growing too fast. I am head over heels in love with all four of my boys and couldn't be more proud of their accomplishments this year. We recently had a new family move in across the street from us. Keaton has a new best friend, her name is Kenzie. Keaton tells me one day, "Mom, Kenzie is beautiful. I love her." Well, I can't say that I blame him, she is pretty cute and very sweet. They play so well together and he calls her sweetheart and dear. We had to finally draw the line when he kissed her on the cheek. He holds her hand when they cross the street and he sits right next to her when they watch movies. Her mom has commented that she will have to put the standard works width between them when movies are on. Kenzie's mom and I have also became good friends and co-commiserate that we are widow's due to our husband's jobs. So we fill our time with craft projects together.

      Keaton was able to be a founding father on the 24th of July float this year. Carter got to wield an ax as a stripling warrior. Keaton of course wanted to be a pirate and not a founding father. Although, I do love the festivities this year we ditched the long lines and went to Kinoa's for dinner instead, great plan.
     We have planted two more fields to cotton this year in addition to the one we did last year. Thank goodness, we didn't have any more micro-burst destroy our crops or pivots this year. It was a dry year for us but we made it through. Carter has started school and was very disappointed that Mr. Gifford would be his 1st grade teacher. But he has really loved Mrs. Maldenado, it is her first year teaching she has alot of fun things planned for her class. Keaton started joy school and Dryden and Mom nap while he is gone...small miracles do occur from time to time here. I (Jen) started a short story writing class at the college. I am loving it. I get the feeling that my family is thinking that I am wasting my time and roll their eyes at me....but whatever, I love it. I can be whatever I want to be and go wherever I want to go in my daydreams. :) I do wish all the time, that I had the talent of Charlotte Bronte, because Jane Eyer is my absolute favorite. I have written two short stories, one novel, and I'm starting my second novel. My goal is to get something published.
     Jason has stopped flight instruction because he was being spread to thin. So he does aerial photography for the mine as well as work a 40 hour week there. Then after work he heads down to the farm where he truly wishes he could earn a living at. I admire his work ethic, but wish I could see him a bit more. The boys frequently go with him to the farm and I do enjoy that immensely to have time alone to do what I want with a baby in tow. In three more years when the baby is old enough to go I will send him too and be even freer.
    I have been learning to cook gluten and wheat free because I have celiac, a recent discovery. I feel much better now that I am gluten free. It is amazing what a little white flour will do to my head when it finds it's way into my food. The fog, tiredness, and migraines don't seem to plague me as often anymore as well as the tummy issues it gave me. My memory is still like a goldfish though. Baked goods seem to be my heroin, and I frequently go through withdrawals and will eat a whole plate of cookies if they are available.

Sick of being sick.

Well Keaton ran away to the neighbor's house one day. He came back with a nice little gift that kept on giving...Strep...the stomach flu...misery. I probably would have made it out alright if I hadn't felt bad for the poor kids on that hot windy beef jerky day and shared my water bottle with them. Keaton was puking for three days had a fever and tested positive for strep starting that fateful afternoon I shared the water bottle. Dryden started the fevers and I got him on antibiotics pronto to avoid the puking part, but he ended up running a fever for 5 days and developing a rash on his trunk area. Carter seems to be squeaking by so far with nothing, but me and Jason got it too. Sunday night I felt like I had a brick sitting high in my stomach and sure enough about 2:30 in the morning I started the whole head in a bucket ordeal. Well the baby being sick as well, wanted to get up every hour too. I was miserable. Jason ended up getting up and helping, but was suppose to go to work in an hour. He finally decided to call into work and tell them he wasn't coming, I was laying on my bed wanting to be in a medically induced coma. He got the boys up, had them helping him clean the house, and took care of the baby while I puked and puked. The baby still wanted to nurse but I was dehydrated so I think only powdered milk came out. The UPS man came by the house to drop off a package. He rang the doorbell and I answered. He literally jumped back a foot and said, "Uh." I don't think he expected Miss Puke Bucket to answer the door, he left pretty quickly. By 3:00 that afternoon Jason said he didn't feel right, but he loaded up the boys and headed down to the farm. By the time he got back at 6 he was pretty green. So what do you do when both mommy and daddy have the stomach flu, and both grandmas are out of town? Well...lock all the doors, throw cheese and crackers at the kids on the floor, and tell Carter he is in charge. Lets just say that we all had an early bedtime and woke up a nicer color of pasty white.

Little things that make me laugh...

It was Sugar's turn for her booster shot. Jason told Keaton to get Sugar. We are just now understanding most of what Keaton is telling us now. So he yells at Sugar who is across the street, "Sugar Scott come home!" This was shortly followed with me and Jason laughing. I guess you can tell who gets into trouble alot at our house...I'll give you one good guess, his middle name is Scott, and rhymes with Arter. When the puppies where getting their shots Keaton would tell them, "Its okay puppy." Reassuring them that they would be fine. He is so funny sometimes, you can tell when the wheels in his head are turning because he gets this look on his face that is just comical. He is a really good big brother to Dryden. He plays silly little games with Dryden to get him to laugh. His sweet disposition and laid back style is what I needed after Carter.

I Am Smart.

We were traveling home on Sunday from a fun filled weekend with the Griffin gang. We were almost home and the boys where doing pretty good for being little precocious boys. We were about at Bylas (not a place you want to pull over and use the facilities), when Carter said he needed to go to the bathroom. He said, "Mom, I have to go number two and one. That makes three." Me and Jason immediately busted out the best belly chuckles we have had in a long time! Leave it to Carter to say something really funny!

Um...?

     If anyone would like to donate to the "Emergency Room Fund for Carter" feel free to send money anytime. Since most of these trips have a bit of humor or a whole lot of humor, I am sure donations should be flying in since Carter is so entertaining. I have just barely paid all my medical bills off, when Carter decides he wants to go visit his friends at the E.R. again. It all began last night, we go to Pa and Gramma Wendy's house for dinner every Sunday evening and visit with family. It was about 9:30 and Jason and I herded our boys out the door to go home. Jason took Keaton and Dryden to one side and I and Carter went to the other side to load up in the car. I saw that Carter was just messing around like usual and thought nothing of it. Until he tells me, "Mom I just swallowed a penny." His eyes wide opened told the truth all over his face.
     "What?!" I yelled, "Get in the car." In the car on the way home we are trying to get him to tell us the truth about the whole thing. After much threatening he finally tells us that he was throwing the penny in the air and caught it in his mouth and swallowed it. For some strange reason, it doesn't surprise me. So Jason is furious, with Carter. Keaton had swallowed a penny just a few weeks earlier because he had watched a dissapearing penny trick the Carter showed him and he was trying to do it to. In the words of Jason last night, "This is just redamndiculous!"
     Carter then tells me, "Mom, it is stuck right here." He points to his upper chest and says, "everytime I laugh I can feel it move up and down." Jason told me that I would have to take him to the emergency room and he would stay home with the other two boys. It was my turn because he took Carter last time. So I have to feed the baby and change him into his pajamas in the meantime I hear Carter gagging and coughing to I go running down the hall with a baby hung on a lung to find Carter trying to make himself puke so he wouldn't have to go to the E.R. I quickly told him to quit it and to go find his coat while I put the baby to bed. I come out five minutes later, "Mom, I said a prayer to Jesus to help make the penny come up and so I wouldn't die."
     I am thinking, "This little boy has the faith of a mustard seed and could believe anything to happen, but we still need to go to the hospital." We load up in the car and out we go at 10 o'clock at night. The whole way their was full of questions and non stop talking. We walk up to the front desk and I say, "My son swallowed a penny and he says it is stuck." The guy nurse looks at me with a smile on his face like this was pretty silly but what else do ya do? So we get taken back to the E.R. and down the hallway he starts to sing I Am A Child Of God. I felt bad for him because he was probably scared and so I just talked to him about silly things on the way to his little bed. He hopped up on the bed immediately put his hands behind his bed and sprawled out all chill, because remember he has done this a few times before, and relaxed. Which had the nurses and docs across the way at their station laughing.
     Our nurse and doctor came and examined him. The guy nurse said, "Hey aren't you that kid that got bucked off the horse?" I wasn't surprised that he remembered us either. They brought him chocolate milk and apple juice and he watched Astro Boy. He gets an xray and we wait for a little bit. Soon the doctor comes back and tells him to come over to the nurses station and sit down with him. Carter hops up on the chair and the doctor shows him where his heart is and his back bone is and asked him if he saw where the penny went. Well Carter pointed it out pretty easily and they visited for a while. It had moved down to his stomach which was the good news. We didn't have to go in and fish it out. Bad news we would be waiting for him to make change out of a penny or get another xray in a week.
     In the meantime I am looking at his xray and notice that his clavicle bone looked funny. "Hey doc did he break is clavicle bone at one time?" I pointed out.
     The doctor looked at the pic and said, "Yeah it kinda looks like he did. Don't you remember if he did or not?" Most people would be offended by this kind of statement but I wasn't.
     "It could have been any number of times, but I am thinking it was probably when he was bucked off the horse and we missed it."
     We gather up our stuff and are discharged on the way out, "Mom I am sure glad it wasn't in my heart or my brain." The things little kids think sometimes.
     "Me too Carter."
     Driving home he was still watching his movie and I was trying to keep from falling asleep hoping for a small second wind. We get home Carter wants to eat half the kitchen before going to bed and I finally convince Carter with Jason's help to go to bed. I tucked him in and gave him a kiss and he said,"Mom sorry it is going to cost you alot of money." Which that statement pinged my heart strings that he was worried about that.
     "Oh Carter don't worry about the money. But PLEASE don't do silly things like that anymore. Okay?"
     "Okay, Mom."
We shall see...We might start getting Christmas cards from the E.R.

She's lovely.

Carter: "Hey mom do mexicans go to church?"
Me: "Some do."
Carter: "Well Princess is a mexican and she doesn't go to church." (Princess is a girl in his class.)
Me: "Oh that's too bad."
Carter: "Princess is a lovely girl."
Me: "Really?"
Carter: "Ya she is really cute. I should take a camera to school and take a picture of her so I can show you."

-Apparently, he has a thing for brunettes.-

Happy New Year 2011!

I should make a blog just for Carter's adventures or I should say mishaps. I was thinking of all the things he has done or gotten himself into and what 2011 would bring...well it brought pink eye for Carter. At least we are starting off the year in typical Carter fashion. I am pretty sure he could give Dennis the menace a run for his money with all the things Carter seems to get into. Let's see where do I begin...partially deaf in his left ear, he drank a bottle of bubble gum benadryl, ate a glass Christmas ball, spent a week in the hospital with broncliolitis, broke his arm falling from a bunk bed, dumped and painted foundation all over his closet, ruptured his ear drums twice, made friends all over L.A. by showing strangers his new shoes, fell down into a basement under construction, put a whole in his closet door and then took the door off the tracks, took the back of his dresser off, took my steak knifes and hid them outside, hid all the wooden spoons and belts in the house, has made numerous "rockets" and lit them on fire, asked a total of 3oo questions from Pima on the way to Safford (Jason counted), sang in front of a theater full of people and after that he wanted to be a rock star, comes home with various small gift from girls at school, got thrown from a horse split his eye open and a concussion, a month later got 2nd concussion and doesn't remember what happened, and last Saturday he saw some spray paint and went to investigate it and he sprayed himself in his eye. These are just a few example and this in a nut shell is why we call him Carter-Bean. I am tired...very tired. :)