Halloween

This says it all...

witches and warts...

So...since Halloween is upon us, I think I will share a very appropriate story about warts. Bridger got a wart on his hand (right at the crux of his fingers). I knew nothing of this wart until it was fairly large. One day I was picking him up from school. He got in the Durango and let out a huge deeply sad sigh. Followed by, "mom, I used to love my life before I got a wart." Being the caring mom I was and not wanting him to hate his life, I offered to buy him some wart remover. He was thrilled. I cautioned him to let me put it on because it is an acid after all. However, the first time I put it on I spilled some on his hand and he about went into outer orbit for three seconds before I wiped it off. (He was sure the acid was going to eat his hand away!) This Halloween tale does have a happy and hilarious ending. Bridger was especially happy at church today when he looked down and discovered his wart remover was indeed working. I had a teacher come up to me after Primary to inform me that she had a very good laugh thanks to my son. All the kids where supposed to draw pictures of something they where thankful for and then come up and share their picture with the class. They where going along with the usual...church, family, Scriptures, Jesus, etc...when Bridger got up beaming and displayed a hand drawn picture of wart remover! Yes that is right... he was thankful for wart remover! Happy Halloween!

Trip to Emmett

Since the kids and Levi had school/work off last Friday we took an extended weekend trip to Emmett to see my family and surprise my dad for his 57th birthday. My sister Emily surprised us all by driving up from Salt Lake also. So fun!!! So we had a mini family reunion with all of my siblings there! Here are some pictures from the festivities! (Sorry Chris, I couldn't resist putting in the picture of Deacon in a dress...he just looked so cute!) Did I mention how much I love my family!

We have moved...

For the handful of you that occasionally check my blog and are slightly disappointed that I haven't posted anything for months it is because in the space of a three month period I have...had a baby, moved from Montana to Wyoming, bought a house, sold a house, and become a blonde (this last one I hadn't planned on--I just had an over zealous beautician!)



Here are a few pictures of our new home (I took while we where looking at the house) I'll take some more after I finish painting/hanging things on the walls.

What I want to be when I grow up...

I was talking to the kids about what they want to be when they grew up. Bridger confidently stated that he was going to be a marine biologist and have a pet shark. (Will I ever cease to worry about that kid?) Bailey informed us that she wanted to be a rock star. (another worrisome career path! ) Kes had been quiet pondering while we talked, I finally asked her what she wanted to be. I thought she would say a "momma." Boy, was I wrong! She spoke up. When I grow up I want to be a girl monkey! Does she realize they eat their own poop?

My other mom...

I have heard of kids having imaginary friends, but Kes took it one step further--she invented an imaginary new family for herself. I don't know how I feel about this. Plus she keeps throwing it in my face. Her "other mom" as she refers to her, is named Izzy Pirateshirt. Her other dad is Caw Pirateshirt. I have to give her kudos for originality in naming them! Here is an example of her use of her fake family.
Kes says "Mom, can I have a cookie?"
I reply, "No, we are having dinner in ten minutes."
Kes exclaims, "Well, my other mom, Izzy says I can have a cookie!"

You get the idea. It is rather disconcerting. I feel like the "mean mom" but then I have to remind myself--the other mom does not exist!

Baby Finn arrives

Many of you know that on Monday June 20th I went into the hospital to be induced. Here is the short version of what happened. I spent all day watching movies and reading and nothing happened. Finally at 3 in the afternoon, the Dr. broke my water. After that contractions where fast and furious. I requested an epidural (I knew going in that I wanted one). Unfortunately, all of the anesthesiologists where tied up in surgery and would be for at least an hour. An hour. I could handle an hour I thought. An hour and a half later still no epidural...now I don't consider myself a big wimp, but I REALLY wanted an epidural. So I begged the nurse to call and check again. Then I received the saddest news of my life...the anesthesiologist wouldn't be coming for at least another hour yet. I literally think I started to cry. However 15 minutes later, I was dilated to a 7 so they called my doctor to tell her to come over from the clinic where she was working. I progressed from a 7 to a 10 in about two minutes. Then came the worse part yet...trying to hold the baby in for like 15 minutes until my doctor arrived. I could see the nurses exchanging worried looks. I asked which one was going to deliver my baby as it looked like the doctor wasn't going to make it. At one point the nurse ran out and said, "I have to go find a doctor!" She came back with a dazed looking 75 year old man who was scrubbing up to deliver my baby. I was thinking--I'm going to have my baby delivered by an ears, nose, and throat specialist...and I don't care. Fortunately, my doctor ran into the room at that precise moment. Someone threw a cape around her and she threw gloves on and literally less than a minute later our baby was born. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 21 and 3/4 inches long. Now many of you know, we struggled with a name--but we had it narrowed down to three...Finn, Ryder or Sawyer...but he looked most like a Finn to me. So we named him Finn Thomas Sloan. Here are a few pictures of our great new addition. I also had my mom and dad here for the week helping out and can not thank them enough for all they did. We miss them already!

Baby update...

I know by now, everyone is probably sick of hearing about my pregnancy--one last update. I went to the Dr. on Wednesday and she is going to induce me on the 20th if I haven't had my baby by then. 10 more days! Any bets on weight and height. My guess is 7 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long. Any last minute suggestions on names? :)

laughter...the best medicine

My kids keep me laughing...here are a few of their latest things that made me chuckle.
Bridger was all wet and climbed on something to turn off the hose as he can't reach it on his own. He slipped and fell, and began immediately to scream and cry when I reached him, he looked at me with earnest tear filled eyes and exclaimed, "I think I broke my armpit!"
We have been implementing/enforcing daily chores since summer began. This maybe takes a half hour of the kid's day. One day my mom called and Bridger answered the phone. She asked him what he had been up to so far this summer, with a deep sigh, Bridger reported, "Aaaahhhhh. I've just been doing a lot of working!"
I got sunburned a few weeks ago (on a rare non-rainy day). Kes was really worried especially when it started to peel. So now every time I go outside, Kes says, "Put on Sunscreen, so you don't get heartburn!"

Rain rain go away....

After what seems like two to three weeks of endless rain and cold, it finally seems to be warming up. We had a rainy memorial day weekend...big surprise! In addition, because of flooding, our phones and internet where down. Which also meant we didn't TV either because we don't have cable we just use the netflix instant view (which only runs if the internet is working). It still was a good weekend! We played board games on Sunday evening and then on Monday we went to the church gym and played line tag (I was even slower than Kes) monkey in the middle and dodge ball. We got Yogi Bear from the red box (which I deemed incredibly stupid and opted to sleep in the recliner during the duration of) and just spent time together. It actually was very nice not to have any outside distractions. Now it is Tuesday and the sun is out (yeah) and life is speeding up and catching up to us again. At least the sun is out!

doctor and dilation goals...

I went in yesterday for my 36 week appointment. I knew she was going to check to see how dilated I was. Now usually, when I get to this point, I usually have a "dilation goal" for myself. However, with my last three children, I typically have been disappointed. So I told myself not to expect anything. So I was delighted to learn, I was dilated 1 centimeter and 30 percent effaced. The baby's head was down and engaged--so the doctor said she thought that would help me dilate more. Now 37 weeks is considered full term--and frankly by that point in your pregnancy you are just ready to have that baby out of your body. So any suggestions to help this process along? :)

Hansel and Gretel...

Levi took the kids minus Bailey to a graduation open house on Saturday. Bailey and I stayed home because we where feeling under the weather. The next day at church, my friend came up to me and said that her sister wanted to "gobble Kes up, she was so cute!" After church, at lunch, I was telling Levi the story in front of the kids. Kes's eyes grew large. She asked to say the prayer over the food. Amongst other things, she prayed, "and please don't let anyone gobble me up!" In her bedtime that night she said, "and please let that mean lady who wants to eat me be far far away!" Maybe I should try to clarify this slang a little for her...poor girl thinks she is the next Gretel...

Random Spring Pictures

So I haven't posted pictures for a long time, and decided that it might be fun to see how much my kids are growing. I am not going to explain any except of the one where Bailey is sleeping. When she saw a pink sleeping mask my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday, she exclaimed, "I've always needed one of those. Can I have it?" Of course how could I resist. She wears it every night! One night Kes had a bit of a cold and was coughing. I came in to find Bailey on the top bunk sound asleep with not only the sleeping mask but also Levi's shooting sound blocking earphones on. I had to take a picure!

kidney stones verses child birth...

On Tuesday I went for a walk and at the end of it my back started hurting...and hurting...and hurting...I chalked it up to the fact that I am very pregnant and out of shape. I thought, I should sit down and rest--but it was a busy day and I didn't have time. By about two in the afternoon I started having contractions too. They where irregular and I wasn't too worried--but my back was still killing me. Finally, I called my doctor and she told me to come in. On the way over I kept thinking...I can't have my baby...it doesn't even have a name yet!
Once I got there, they monitored me for a while and then gave me a shot to stop my contractions--which worked in about an hour. But my back was still killing me! Turns out I was going to deliver something else--a little hard piece of calcium--(actually, I ended up "passing" four stones in total!) Not fun! The biggest piece was literally no bigger than my pinkie nail...yet the pain! I have to say--kidney stones are way worse than having babies!
I spent Tuesday night in the hospital in Miles City on Morphine trying to manage the pain. My urethra was completely blocked and my kidney was swollen and full of fluid--and infected on top of everything else! The next day they sent me to the hospital in Billings because they felt I needed to have a stint surgically inserted and couldn't do it in Miles City. On the way to the hospital my blockage must have moved down because suddenly my pain was manageable. I spent the next day and night in the Billings Hospital and ended up passing three stones that night. The next day when they did an ultrasound on my kidneys they discovered one last small stone in my bladder which I ended up passing last night. I just want to say thank you to all the friends and family who called and sent texts wishing me well. I felt very loved!A special thank you to all the friends who watched our kids and brought in meals--I don't know how we would have done it without you! Bless you! I have to say when I do have my baby now, it will be a walk in the park compared to the kidney stones...

name our baby..

Less than 10 weeks to go, and our baby still remains nameless. At least, I am not set on a name yet. Everyone else in our family seems to have an opinion. They go as follows:

Levi: Finn Lee Sloan (Lee is for Levi) Finn he finds fitting because it is latin for "the end."

Bridger: Trooper. (I shut him down on Storm Trooper--but he is insistently clinging to Trooper)

Bailey: Duke. This came into her mind while we where watching the basketball team play in March madness.

Kes: Lucy. Even though I have told her a million times we are having a boy....


Any suggestions????

Ode to my washing machine...

I had to buy a new washing machine Friday. (I think there must be something in the air in our house as this is the second appliance we have had to replace this month.) I personally hate doing laundry so wasn't overly excited about the prospect of spending my hard earned money on a new machine...but it had to be done. Levi installed it last night. Today, I washed all of Bailey's bedding (she coughed until she had thrown up in her bed last night) my bedding, (Kes wet the bed while taking a nap in my bed) and 3 loads of dirty laundry (sadly, that isn't even all of the dirty laundry in the house). As I was taking out my last load of laundry from the dryer, I did realize that my washer/dryer is the work horse of this house--and I should really appreciate them. What would I have done with out it today! If only they would invent a machine that folded and put laundry away! That I would gladly pay for! :)

Music to my ears...

I read somewhere that no matter how bad your voice is, you should still sing to your children. I decided to take this advice to heart. Although I have a less than wonderful voice, I attempted to sing spontaneously to Kes. After about a line Kes exclaimed, "STOP, STOP, STOP...YOUR SONG IS MAKING ME CRAZY!" Thus began and ended my music career.

The joke is on us...

On Friday Levi and I headed into Billings because Levi was having some minor surgery. At first I had arranged for a friend to watch Kes, but as Thursday came, she started with a cough so I decided to take her with us at the last moment. Friday came, and Kes started with a horrible hacking cough. I felt right about my decision to not infect my friend's kids, and off we went. About thirty miles outside of Billings, Kes started coughing...and coughed so hard she threw up (cheese nips and milk--what she had been snacking on). Now for those of you that follow my blog, you realize this has happened to me before. But alas, I was still totally unprepared with extra clothing or cleaning supplies. We had an extra fifteen minutes to spare so we stopped at a gas station to see if we could scrounge up some cleaning supplies. They reluctantly gave us a roll of paper towels (and told us to bring back what we didn't use). Now we where running late, so I dropped Levi off (what a supportive wife, hun?) then backtracked a few blocks to a second hand store we had passed coming into town. I stripped off the offending smelling clothes, wrapped Kes up in my coat, and ran into the store and bought a "new" outfit for her. I have to admit I was a tad self conscious about the "what kind of parent are you?" looks I was getting--and told the cashier the whole story to appease my conscious. Then we rushed back to get Levi and fortunately, he wasn't out yet, so I didn't feel like a complete jerk. After he got out we where going to go to lunch, but by this point Kes was now running a fever too. I drove across town to Walmart, I ran in an got medicine for her and Levi. When I got out, I gave her her medicine, which promptly induced another coughing fit that ended yet another vomiting episode. By this point, Levi was pretty unhappy as was Kes--he drove me across the street to Shopko (Walmart was supper busy!) and told me to buy Kes two new outfits...and then we went home. I commented later that evening, that Kes played a pretty good April Fools joke on us--Levi's response was, "Only it really wasn't funny." I tend to agree.

Bridger's baptism

It seems like the last month whirled by a million miles an hour. Amongst other things, we had two birthdays, two parties, and a trip to Helena. I haven't blogged about it because I haven't had time and also because we lost our camera so we haven't been taking too many pictures. When we where in Helena we got a new camera. This last weekend Bridger got baptized. We really appreciate Levi's mom and dad for coming over to celebrate this special event with us. We had a great time with them. Here are a few pictures from the baptism and Helena trip.

Book club and barfing...

Last night I hosted book club at my house. I really enjoy book club I have to say, and was looking forward to the evening. However, book club in itself, is really nothing to blog about. But I do have a rather interesting story. Unfortunately, as you know if you have been following my blog, my children have all been battling illness. Bridger finally got on antibiotics for a sinus infection and upper respiratory infection and is feeling much better. Bailey, who had been fine since the "marble incident", started with a high fever Wednesday afternoon. I kept her home from school on Thursday and debated canceling book club. Levi assured me that he would quarantine the children in the basement and to go forward with it. I cleaned my house (which is no small task!) made refreshments that coordinated with the book (a book club tradition that I love!) and was ready to go! We where having a good time discussing the book, when suddenly Bridger ran upstairs and as he ran by shouted, "Bailey threw up!" Interestingly, only about two other people besides myself, seemed to recognize what was happening. Everyone else just continued on. I admit, I felt something like a deer in the headlights. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just sat there smiling stupidly. A few minutes later, my sainted husband came up with a grim look on his face and collected some cleaning supplies and disappeared back downstairs. A few minutes later I heard the shop vac come to life. Yet the book group continued on...seemingly unaware of the dull roar of the vacuum sucking up vomit downstairs. I was reminded of an incident when I was a little girl in church. The Morgan family with all eight of their children where sitting in the last row when one of them spewed up their breakfast. Tom Morgan, a janitor by trade, went and found the carpet shampooer and began cleaning the mess right in the middle of the church meeting. I remember the speaker trying to shout over the roar of the machinery. I thought that incident was funny. I did not think the situation I found myself in last night equally amusing. A few minutes later, the vibrant smell of vomit wafted up from downstairs, I discretely tried to get the air freshener out and send it downstairs with Kes. Maybe it was the smell, but finally the meeting wrapped up. It was a bizarre evening--not the best book club night ever. I went downstairs to find the mess totally clean and Levi looking a little sicker than Bailey. Poor boy, he has never had to single handedly clean regurgitate up by himself before! He said the worst part was the chunks of noodles from her soup she had for dinner. Loving my husband all the more for finishing this odious task for me, I took Bailey's temperature which was now 104.5! I felt that I couldn't give her more medicine, because that was what promoted her first vomit! After a blessing, and a cool rag on her forehead she settled down for the night. What an evening!

swallowing medicine...and marbles...

Well after a relatively healthy winter, two out of my three kids are sick. Bridger has been feverish and listless--and has a hoarse voice. Kes has a cold--so we took a sick day from church. But that isn't what I was worried about. Bailey was wreathing in pain on Saturday. I thought she had appendicitis. She told me, "mom, I didn't want to tell you this, but I swallowed a marble a couple days ago, and I think it is coming out of my skin." I thought--fabulous--there goes our tax return--spent getting a marble removed from Bailey's intestine where it has apparently lodged itself. Fortunately, she did "pass" the marble so now I can focus on runny noses and fevers!

I am once again a licensed driver...

For all who where wondering....I passed my tests so I am once again a licensed driver. We woke up to snow this morning so that only added to my anxiety. I went to spin class first (where I am supposed to keep my heart rate between 120- 130 while working out because I am pregnant) but because I was so worried my resting heart rate was 103 (normally it is 75) so that didn't go to well. The people that do the driver's licensing have to drive over from Miles City (about an hour away) and they where a half hour late just getting there. By this point, I have worked my self up to a slight dither. Ironically, the enclimate weather worked in my favor. The place (which I understand is usually packed) was not busy at all--resulting in unusual good moods for the DMV people. I passed my written test, and then had to go out for the driving one. But because the roads where so yucky, I literally had to drive about three blocks before we went back. I did have to do the dreaded parallel parking but lets face it, we don't have a lot of opportunities for that in Colstrip--so I just had to pull up next to a car and "pretend" there was a car behind me. Whew! That took a lot of pressure off. I am a nervous giggler, so I was giggling a little bit to my self, and then had to explain how I was not a very good parallel parker--and how I had never really had to practice it. The lady said, oh you did fine--weather or not I did, I don't really care because I PASSED! (And bonus, I actually got a good driver's license picture--so all in all the stars must have been aligned!). The moral of this story is NEVER let my license expire again...can anyone suggest a way that I could remind myself in eight years?

driving test...

I was writing the check for my registration and I happened to look at the expiration date on my drivers license--turns out I have been driving with an expired license since last April! Oh my gosh! I about had a heart attack. So I have to take the written and driving test on Thursday in order to get a new license! I am totally freaking out--mostly because I can't parallel park. Also, everyone I talk to says the driver license guy is a real grouch. I am so scared!

Valentines Idea

So I got this idea out of the Children's Friend magazine, but we started a new Valentines family tradition. It is called the Love Basket. Everyone in the family gets the love basket for one day (We started this on Monday night for Family Home Evening). Now, in the friend it says to decorate or create on yourselves--but because I am pretty lazy, I just grabbed a cheap pink Easter basket we had hanging around the house. The first day Levi had the love basket, so everyone drew pictures or wrote nice notes about things they liked about him or how much they loved him and filled up the basket. The next day was Bridger...then Bailey..and so on. (You get the idea) I was surprised at how excited the kids where to do this for each other--and how much they loved it when it was there day! I think it will be a new Sloan Family tradition.

Bridger is allergic to me!

Bridger has come down with a case of the sniffles. Something he likes to get as much leverage out of as he can. Yesterday, we where getting ready for church. He would be laughing and playing with the girls and then I would walk into the room and he would instantly start groaning and whining about how sick he was. Finally, Levi made the observation that Bridger must be allergic to me, as that is the only time he feels unwell (when he is near me!) We convinced him to go to Sacrament by telling him, if he was still "miserable" that we would take him home after that. He of course was too "sick" with his occasional runny nose to go to all three hours of church--so Levi brought him home. He had to lay in bed (as is our rule with Bridger staying home sick) By early evening he was sick of being sick and informed all of us that he was "all better now and could he please play a computer game?" I asked him if he was going to be sick tomorrow morning when it was time for school. He thought about it and replied, "probably!"

One for the team....

We had our sonogram yesterday. We took Bailey and Bridger out of school and so the who family got to go. It was really fun to see the kid's reactions. Kes kept saying, "oh the baby is so cute!" I personally thought it looked like a little alien....especially in the 3-d images. Bridger got worried about me and came over and started stroking my hair and said, "mom are you okay?" When I answered yes, he then said, "Well, what is all that nasty stuff all over your stomach?" Anyways, everything went well...the baby is healthy and growing fine. So for the moment you've all been waiting for. We are having....drum roll please....a little baby boy! Bridger was so excited, he said, "Yes! Now the boy and girl teams are going to be even!"

Okay cast your vote...

In two weeks we are going to have our sonogram. For those of you who are wondering, we are not going to be surprised about the gender. I thought about it because it is our last one, but Levi is dead set on knowing. He believes either way your surprised--either at 20 weeks or 40--and he always uses the analogy--wouldn't you want to know your grade at midterm rather than the final? Frankly, I can't bear the idea of him knowing and me not--so we are both finding out what we are having. This is the part where I get all my readers to cast their votes--what do you think boy or girl?
So far this is how our home pole goes:

Me-boy
Levi-girl
Bridger-boy
Bailey-boy
Kes-boy/girl depending on the day you ask her

Alright, cast your vote!

play and equally entertaining thoughts....

So Bridger and Bailey where in the Missoula Children's Theater last week. The play was King Aurthor's Quest. Bridger was a squire and Bailey was a Raven. Bailey even had a line, which she practiced all week..."kah, kah, never more!" I would find her saying it under her breath all week. For example, I would ask, "Bailey would you clear the dishes?" To which I would hear the whispered reply, "kah, kah, never more!" Kes has also kept us entertained with her quirky thoughts. This Sunday was her first as a member of the "sunbeam class" after church she turned to me and said (in a very annoyed voiced) "I never turned into a Sunbeam...I'm still Kesie!" Apparently, she took us literally when we said, "Your going to be a sunbeam!" A few days ago we went to a wedding reception. It apparently disturbed Kes, because she informed us upon leaving that"she was never getting married!" Since she is three, she has a little time to change her mind. A few days later I was leaving the house for a meeting, when she came running up and said, "wait mom! Don't go get married! Okay?"

cooking disasters!

So I have a new year's resolution--try one new recipe a week. This week it was Italian chicken. It smelled divine and looked great too. All I had left was to thicken the sauce that went on top. I grabbed the "corn starch" in order to add my 3 Tablespoons to the water. When I added it, strangely, it began to fuzz. Weird I thought. Still no warning bell went off in my head. Then I added that to the tomato mixture and pandemonium ensued! I finally realized as a chemical reaction was taking place that I had added baking soda and not corn starch! Turns out that reacts violently when added to an acidic base--what I had was an Italian tomato volcano! When it was done "erupting" over the side of the pan, I was left with pink froth. Not one to be easily deterred, I decided to add a tomato bullion cube I had around to see if I could make it back into a sauce. It worked! But I didn't really have the heart to taste test it. So I did what any great cook would do. I stuck it on the table ladled it over the chicken and rice and said, "bon appite!" Turns out the bullion did cure the frothy issue but made it unbearably salty! We ended up scrapping it off our food. So week one I would have to chalk up as a disaster...stayed tuned for week two. If it doesn't work I will be back to spaghetti and tacos!

Christmas...Seattle...and Snow storm

Christmas morning! One of the three pictures taken before our camera battery died!

On the Space Needle...this was my favorite thing we did!


Pike Place Market...anti-theft device!


Entrance to "Little Chinatown" where, ironically, we had the worst Chinese food I have ever tasted!

On a ferry ride to Brainbridge island...it was a little windy!

Our family right before we went sledding.

Western Montana had a blizzard while we where in Seattle and they got major snow! In this picture Bridger is in a drift!