Progression

Most people view the word "Progression" as a good thing. Welp, THIS week the progression of my poison ivy hasn't been all too good on me. Since the first of last week I had been on steroid pills/creams/benedryl, you name it and it hasn't really gotten better. Apparently some people are "more sensitive" then others. Um, UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY!!!!!!!!

So for documentation reasons and for your entertainment, I give you the day-by-day of my face. (trust me, you'll thank me for not showing the poison ivy on the other parts of my body)

Friday morning:

I woke up and my face felt like it was going to BURN OFF!!!!!

I kept singing the song, "THIS GIRL IS ON FI-RE!!!!!!" all day long.

I also had a hair appointment that day.

Note to self: when your face needs a constant ice pack on it, do not, I REPEAT DO NOT, let the hairdresser put you under the hair dryer space dome!!!

Saturday: 

Emerson walked in my room in the morning and said, " WHOA".

Then I looked in the mirror. "Whoa" is RIGHT!

Aaaaaaaaaaand, I guess I won't be sticking my contacts in today.....or um, wear make-up since I can't find my eyelashes. 

As painful/stressed/uncomfortable as my face was, it still made us laugh pretty hard. Especially when I would get in Royce or Kellyn's face and say "A Booga Booga" like a giant Wiki Tiki Statue.

Brooks kept saying, "I just can't take you seriously with that face"

I mean, I had a BUILT-IN joke to use whenever I wanted!!!!

But Saturday was a BIG day.......it was Emerson's bday party (I'll blog later about that) so I had to get ready, because afterall, who wants to scare the party guests away?!?!?

Um.....okay, so maybe I can't really "get ready" but that's as good as it got.

Saturday was also a big day because my brother was getting married back in Utah and a ton of my family were all together. My mom even flew up from Brazil for it!!! I couldn't help but be VERY grateful that I didn't fly out there for it after seeing my face. Wouldn't that be lovely to have my face PHOTOBOMB EVERY WEDDING PICTURE?!?!?!?

Yea, it's a good thing I didn't go.

That night Brooks took the 5 older kids to a church party while I stayed home....Quasimodo-style.

While there, he kept texting me "tried-and-true" tips for poison ivy that all the people there had used. I started to try some because the tips on the computer were NOT helping and those peeps there DID grow up by a lot of woods, so they probably know, right?

Let's just say, do NOT ever put bleach on poison ivy on your belly.

Never. Ever. You will be singing in octaves you have never sung in.

So while the fam was at the party, Royce and I just soaked in a baking soda bath to offset the bleach. 

I'm a party animal like that.

One GOOD thing came out of it though, Brooks came home w/ a new cream Ivarest, that after showering and putting on allowed me to sleep through the night w/o itching for the first time in a long time!!!

 Sunday:

Yea, I don't think I'll be going to church today.

The poison ivy started bruising (?!?!?) my upper legs and blisters came on my hands Sunday night. 

Monday:

it's going down, right? Maybe? And let me tell ya, pushing up those cheeks to smile is QUITE the workout. And a 1 and a 2 and a 3.......

I was going to take off my wedding band to knead the cinnamon roll dough, but the blister on my finger had other plans.....

Yesterday morning, I was getting on Iris for something. She never looks in my eyes when I talk to her, so like always, I said, "Iris, look in my eyes."

Then she cocked her head and said, "I can't see them weewy well".

hahahaha

After consulting w/ other ER docs and other docs w/ Brooks he came home w/ a double dose of the steroid pills......like a dose that you might give an "Extreme case" (YA THINK?!?!?)

I took my first day this morning (Tuesday). Here's wishing.............

 And remember, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile"

(For those that have asked, Iris had it a little on her neck for MAYBE one day. Camden had itchy red stuff over his chest/arms/hands for about 4 days and a blotchy face for 2 days. It puffed up a tad, but nothing like the mothership pictured above)

Go Mets

I actually LOVE watching the boys play baseball, especially Bronson and Camden's leagues (is it just me or is tball kinda a joke?!?!? Emerson loves it anyway)

Bronson was embarrassed me following him around w/ a camera, so I quickly snapped this of him waiting for his ride outside. I just think he's so handsome in his baseball get-up and batbag.

Brooks works 'til about 8 on weekdays right now, so any games during the week (around 4) I "get" to take the other kids by myself and watch. It's actually getting easier and easier (thank GOODNESS, I've had some doozies!)...........or I'm getting smarter and smarter in knowing what to bring. ;)

How cute are my girls?!?!? Such buddies. They spend the whole game wandering around looking for their "friends" (aka-any girl remotely close to their age to play with)

And today, this was the girl Iris latched herself to. My girls are such social little things.

Camden and Emerson just run around w/ their friends, so that leaves me w/ Royce and Kellyn. I bring the double stroller and buckle Royce and Kellyn in when Brooks isn't there. Poor Royce isn't allowed out (he's an escape artist), so I just sit there and keep handing him suckers, apples or whatever else takes a long time to eat. The first few games he kept insisting to get out, and I just had issues, so I've put my foot down and make him stay in. Poor kid.

And This. Is. Me. (Thursday), with my poison ivy. That ear was also leaking that day (blisters?)

It itched like crazy.

Poor Bronson. I'm sure he's thinking, "That lady? Oh no, she's not MY mom!!!!!"

I sat by a grandpa to one of the players though who was born on a farm and told me all about his battles with poison ivy. It started making me feel a little better. He kept seeing all these kids coming up and telling me things or giving me trash, etc. Then he asked, "How many kid do you have?!"

I told him I had 7.

Then he starts chuckling and said, "Well, God BLESS you!"

I smiled back and said, "He already has."

 Look at that handsome 1st baseman. He looks so old.

He loves playing catcher.

Aleeya likes it when he puts on his "armor". :)

Throwing 'em out at 2nd.

Then we get home around 7:15. Sometimes we eat before, sometimes after. But last Thursday we ate after and Royce wanted to set the table. He got the plates and forks and did this all by himself. hahaha. He's so proud of himself.

The Great Intruder

Towards the end of Spring Break a week and a half ago I told Brooks, I NEED SOMETHING BIG accomplished so I have something to SHOW for my Spring Break week!!!

I think it's a common feeling among moms..... we clean, we cook, we launder but unless we have something like "oh, today was productive because I switched out the summer/winter clothes of the kids" or "I took a meal to ______" or "I deep cleaned the bathroom" it's hard to feel like the day was super productive........orrrrrrrrrrr, maybe it's just me.

Anyway, our old backyard was so so so bad. It was COVERED in ivy, bamboo shoots, weeds and plants everywhere. (our personal little rainforest). It attracted mosquitos like crazy, so in one day the whole family tackled this back yard and now its cleared. (I REALIZE it probably still looks ghetto, but now at least the kids can play in the stream/bridge thing when it rains. And see my beautiful grass coming up?!!?!

Okay, so fastforward 4 days and Camden started getting this rash all over his face, belly, arms, etc. It was UGLY and itchy. We knew it was poison ivy stuff and just assumed it was from the backyard. (that we had never really gone into since we moved here). Two days later, I started getting it....all over my belly, one arm and my chest, neck and my face. (trust me, I STILL look like a 14 boy w/ acne). Now IRIS has it on her face as of yesterday.....UGH! We're talking SO SO itchy folks. This is almost 2 weeks since we cleared the backyard too!!!!

I kept looking and looking in the backyard for the ivy or leaves of 3 and couldn't find anything!!!!!!

Then yesterday, I found this:

Check out that little plant under the big bush above.

But this little plant is in our FRONT yard......right under the basketball hoop(used everyday w/o fail), where we mow, play, weed, climb trees, etc. I doesn't look ANYTHING like the picture I saw of poison oak online. Then I saw another picture and it looked completely different. Then another version of poison oak. That's weird.

I did some research and found out that poison oak will take on MANY shapes depending on it's environment. If it's next to a plant w/ rounded leaves, it can take on that shape. If it's next to a pointed plant, it can adapt and take on that shape. Pretty sneaky if you ask me. The "Leaves of 3" is the giveaway though.

I started thinking that this is EXACTLY what Satan does.

He's sneaky.

He tries to come in where WE are, blend in around places we already ARE and GO.

For example, we never went in our backyard. Poison ivy there wouldn't have effected us. But the poison oak that got us was when we were running after an airball (me), or picking flowers by the bush (Iris, or swinging on the vines above (Camden). 

Satan tries to sneak in our homes where we ARE anyway through commercials, internet ads, magazines and much more. Think about the last time you were reading something on the internet and the thoughts came into your mind, "I'm not a good parent because I didn't do ______ with my kids", or "I definitely don't look like HER", or "It's easier to sit on this computer and be 'productive' then go be with my kids", etc, etc. Satan WILL put those not-good-enough feelings in your mind in the comfort of your own HOME!!!

My boys will look at espn.com sometimes and heaven help me w/ some of those ads!!!!! They don't need to be seeing junk like that or women objectified like that! I have to go through our magazines first before ANYONE looks at them just to make sure there is nothing ELSE coming into my house w/o my consent. And we don't even HAVE tv!!!! It could be a lot worse I'm sure. 

Satan wants us NOT to be content, feel lazy, not respect ourselves and bodies, feel worthless and join the worldly train.

It is NOT Heavenly Father's way.

ANYTIME I read the scriptures or listen to modern church leaders speak I only feel a sense of worth, love, comfort and that Someone else is aware of ME and more importantly, my children (because they ARE His too).

 So after discovering this physical intruder to my little Garden of Eden (my home)

I've been reminded to spray/cut down and force the SPIRITUAL intruder out of my home as well.

"GET THE HENCE SATAN!"

Now to go find me some more Benedryl Cream.........

Shiner's Circus

 Our friends gave us free tickets to the circus, so on Saturday I took these 4 kids to the Shriner's Circus.

As UNFLATTERING as this picture is, it really depicts the feelings of everyone there:

1) Emerson REALLY bummed that I didn't bring money

 (seriously, I didn't think about it!!! The tickets were free!!! And the people behind us just bought a glowing light saber.)

2) Iris still unsure about it

3) me, gripping 2 things: Royce (for obvious reasons) and my phone (because I was getting updates on Bronson and Camden's baseball game from Brooks)

4) Royce approaching his naptime

5) Aleeya BEYOND excited and so glad that "the best day ever" is finally here.

Did I mention this girl was excited?!?!!?

My nemesis.........

 My kids endured cotton candy man after shaved ice man after glowing toys man passing them over and over......And before it started they had the elephant, horse, camels, etc down front w/ kids riding them (for $10 for one teeny circle of a walk!!!!). It was brutal. But I was kinda glad I DIDN'T bring money, because you really could've spend 100 bucks there (that's probably the point huh)

 My favorite part was the guy who announced the thing. (ok, ok, THAT and the lady who could change her outfit in one second. It was pretty darn awesome) He was in his upper 70s and wore his Shriner's hat. Whenever there was music he would sit there and dance back and forth. It was hilarious.

The first "act" were these 6 "unusual spotted Camels. There are only 100 of these in the world".......odd thing was, they weren't even spotted. Anywho, they would run around in a circle and follow the person in front of them and NEVER deviate. I started wishing my kids would follow each other like that and thought maybe if I wore a colorful jacket like their trainer, it just might work.....then one of the camels butted in front of the other one and shoved him out of the way and I thought, "THAT'S more like it!"

During intermission we went down to see the animals...........and no, I didn't pay $10 each child to take a picture or ride anything

(the bears were Royce's favorite part)

One fast question............is it just me, or am I the ONLY person wondering why EVERY circus lady has to be wearing lingerie as she's training an elephant, swinging in a trapeze, riding a motorcycle or climbing ribbons high up in the air?!?!?! I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for all the wives sitting there w/ their husbands probably thinking, "don't look honey, don't look". Or the fact that my boy was sitting there watching this.

And before you think Emerson did NOT like the circus, he actually got into it.....especially this part:

One circus act had this woman walk out w/ a robe on before she was going to swing up in the air. Then the music started and she threw off her robe all dramatic-like revealing the sequined string bikini that she was wearing. Everything was silent........except Emerson.............who said a-little-too-loud, "EWWWWWWW" (THAT'S my boy!!!! however, I didn't like the smile on his face when he said it)

Favorite parts:

Emerson- acrobats doing flips/jumproping

Royce: the bears, his blankie

Aleeya: "the pretty girl doing flips" 

(hopefully she didn't take note of her outfit)

Iris: the bears

Blending in

I always think it's so fun to watch a baby blend in the the family's schedule/life. When I looked back in my camera I found this picture of Kellyn just sittin on the porch watching the family play a game of basketball...... (girls in swimsuits, of course) 

Even storytime tends to blend in with what the family is doing........ (this is actually from a month or two ago, but I finally uploaded it).....Brooks had no idea I was recording....

I mean that storytime is CRUCIAL to Kellyn's learning in life. 

Seriously, "herpes"?!?!? Pretty sure her survival rate as and adult would've gone down significantly had she NOT sat through that storytime.

And how can I NOT post this picture. It just melts my heart!  *especially w/ little Royce in his scrubs.*

(they look like a married couple snuggling w/ her hand up on his chest like that!)

6 months

6 months is SUCH SUCH a fun age. I love it. So I had to go back digging through old pics to find what my other 2 girls looked like at 6 months. (and believe me, it was hard because a TON of our pics got lost)

Aleeya: 

(I thought Kellyn was my FIRST baby that always sucks on her bottom lip, but maybe Aleeya did too?)

This is as good as I found for Iris at 6 months. 

(yes, I realize none of my girls have hair at 6 months!!!!)

And here is my Kellyn girl, officially at 6 months playing w/ some flowers her sisters picked.

She couldn't decide if she wanted to smile or suck her bottom lip. Such hard decisions.....

 "okay, okay, I'LL SMILE!!!!!"

She has her sights set on that cup of milk. The Fabio-styled child is unsuspecting......

Sometimes she smiles so big her eyes just look like coin slots. Man, I loooooove that face.

I'll tell you what feature I can't get enough of.........her nose.

It has this little ski-jump/button-like shape, that is soooooooooo cute.

Here's a better angle. How CUTE is that?!?!!?

Her nose has such a "swoop" to it! *in love with it*

At church I find her in everyone ELSE'S arms, so she's extremely social. I ran into a guy that said she was the "ward's baby" (a "ward" is the word for congregation in my church). The guy has a point. There are 5 reliable sources that can always get my baby to sleep during church when I'm busy teaching and Brooks is working. Sometimes "it takes a village", right?

As mentioned before, she sucks on her bottom lip and first 2 fingers. No binki anymore (darn)

She prefers to be where the action is (kind of a given when you're #7 huh.....). However, she sometimes does a little "distressed" whining when she's around Iris. 

No teeth, not crawling.........thank GOODNESS for both of those.

And yes, those cheeks pictured above are beyond kissable. 

We love you Miss K!

The Bear

Back in Winston-Salem, our friend Nate used to come over most Sundays to eat and have game-night with us. Nate surprised my kids and came down to see us on Saturday. They were SO excited.

Our old neighbors used to ask, "Who is the Bear that gave your kids a ride on the motorcycle?" :)

Remembering that, my kids each needed rides on his new motorcycle.

Aleeya sure loves Nate...................can you tell?

Iris loves Nate, but not really anything loud, moving or dangerous...........you know, like a MOTORCYCLE!

we were SHOCKED when she wanted a ride. She kinda had a half smile the whole time like she was trying to figure out if she liked it or not.

There was just ONE thing on Kellyn's mind the WHOLE time about Nate......

We're glad he took a daytrip down here.

I thought this picture was funny when I found Emerson dead asleep on the driveway. Whenever he's cold he loves to just lay on the hot driveway. I think he ended up falling asleep 3 different times this Spring Break week on the driveway.

And does any other family out there love asparagus?

This WHOLE pan was downed.......

(and there's just 4 of us that like the stuff............that's kinda embarrassing to admit!) :)

Full Court

I think I've mentioned how we live BEHIND another house.....so in order to understand this post, I figured this picture (taken from the upstairs window) would help out......here is our front yard. (that's Bruce's white  house on the right)

Our neighbors in front have sons that never use their basketball hoop, so they gave us their's. THEN, a cul-de-sac next to where we live was getting a new one, so they asked us if we wanted the older one.

UM...........YES.

So I now introduce you to..................the SMITH FAMILY FULL COURT!!!!

It's actually ridiculous how much play-time this full court has gotten this week for Spring Break. 

The PLUS side of living in someone's backyard, is that we're never chasing balls down the road or even BY the road. Win-win, right?

And speaking of winning...............(you knew it was coming, right?)

Camden and I totally took down Bronson and Emerson in the initiation game of our new full court.

(it's actually QUITE an accomplishment considering Bronson could probably beat me in his sleep)

And you know those marshmallow/cinnamon/rolls everyone makes on Easter to illustrate the whole empty tomb? Well, this picture was funny because you can tell which rolls Iris and Aleeya did......

Their little marshmallows decided to BURST out of their tombs............hahaha