The boys were busy!

While we were gone, the boys had so much fun! They carved and decoraged lots of pumpkins, helped grandpa with the chores outside, and did lots of raking and jumping in the leaves.

Finally a Vacation

Jeff finally took some time off from work, being that it was the last week in his billing year, and he had more than enough hours.  We stopped in paragonah for a night and did some fishing.

We took off for Salt Lake with an empty van.  How sweet it was.

We stayed with our friends Ben and Noelle's house in Alpine, and thoroughly enjoyed a few nights without the wild boys.   Tuesday night Jeff and Ben went to a Ray LaMontagne concert, and Wednesday night we all went out to dinner at Flemmings and then to a Joshua Radin concert.  It was in this tiny dive of a night club with only a couple hundred people there, if that.  To most people, these two artists are totally unknown.  Jeff dug them up almost 2 years ago and we are both big fans.  Click on their links and check out some of their music.

Happy Halloween!

We tagged along to Kate and Zach/ Greg and Whitney's Halloween Trunk or Treat. Here are the pictures of the final costumes. Simon was done being a boxer and took off his costume before I could get a picture. Here is a good shot of his black eye. The funny thing is, only 1/2 of this was makeup. He really did get a black eye about a week before while playing at his cousins house.

Fun with Friends

My highschool friend Heather, who lives in Chandler, AZ, made a last minute trip to Vegas.  It was so great to see her and her cute kids.  I think it had been 4 years since I saw her last! Crazy! She looks fabulous, her kids are hilarious, and their bar is doing well.  You would think that living only 5-6 hours away we would see eachother more.  WRONG!  It was great while it lasted and can't wait to see her again.

Happy Birthday Grandma Pam

(If you can't open it click on this link.)

Max Update

7 weeks post WinRho and Max's platelet count is 86. So crazy that we can never predict what it will be. In the first 4 weeks it dropped from 500's to 150, then 3 weeks later went from 150 to 86. At least it is slowing down for now. We will see what happens. All we can do is wait.

Simon's Amazing Alphabet Adventure

I was talking to some friends about this book I got Simon last year for Christmas. Here is the link.  It is absolutely hilarious!  A bit more pricey than I remember, but worth every penny!

Bread Part II

I had some requests for the recipe so here it is. It is not my mom's recipe, but my friend's mother-in-law's. She has been using it for years and it never fails to get rave reviews. I altered it a tad, so I will post my version (only difference being 1 cup of white vs. wheat flour)I had some requests for the recipe so here it is. It is not my mom's recipe, but my friend's mother-in-law's. She has been using it for years and it never fails to get rave reviews. I altered it a tad, so I will post my version (only difference being 1 cup of white vs. wheat flour)

2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
2 Tbs salt
5 cups HOT water
~mix~
4 cups whole wheat flour
~mix~
2 Tbs yeast
~mix~
4 cups whole wheat flour
~mix~
*****upto 4 cups white flour*****
*****This is where you are on your own.  Depending on where you live and what the weather is like, this part will change.   The first time I made it I only used 1 1/2 cups, the second time was 2 1/2 cups.  It will vary every time you make it.  You want to add it a little bit at a time until the dough pulls away cleanly from the sides of your mixing bowl (I am using a Bosch, NOT hand kneading).

Mix on medium speed for 10 minutes(yes it seems like a long time but is necessary)

Keep covered and let rise for 1 hour.

Using non-stick spray on counter and hand, form into loaves.

(using flour will make your bread drier.  This takes away all the stickiness and makes the bread incredibly easy to handle)

This will make 5 - 1lb. loaves

(I use kitchen scale to be sure my loaves are all uniform.  I don't have 5 -1lb. pans so I make 2-1lb. loaves and 2 -1 1/2lb. loaves.)

Cover with damp towl and let rise 1 hour, or until 1 1/2 inches above pan.

Cook 1lb loaves for about 30 minutes.**

Cook 1 1/2 lb loaves for about 35 minutes.**

Let cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans.

Cool completely before putting them in storage bags.

**The time you bake them will differ depending on where you live.  My Grandma Edie taught me a way to check if your bread is done.  Lick your finger and quickly tap it against the bottom, center  of the pan.  It should give you a good sizzle sound.  To be sure, I carefully tip the bread out briefly to be sure the sides are nice and golden brown.  If not, back in it goes.

You can't rush goodness.  Let it rise and bake and be patient.  If you rush it you won't be happy with the results.  I allow myself 3 hours start to finish.  Not too long for a little taste of sweet heaven, hot and fresh from the oven.

Bread, Bread, and more Bread

I am on a little kick right now and decided to stop buying crappy bread for my kids, (I still have to buy it for Jeff, however.) My first attempt...didn't let it rise enough and it was really dense and heavy. My second attempt...didn't let the larger loaves bake long enough so we had 2 good loaves and 2 loaves for toast. My third attempt was successful, as was this one, my fourth attempt. One full loaf was gone within 30 minutes - there is nothing as good as hot, fresh bread right from the oven. My kids love it! I have a great recipe I use that is super easy and super yummy! Who knows how long this goodness will last but we will enjoy it while it does!

Sleep, Simon, Sleep

After I put Marshall and Max in bed, I stepped into Simon's room to check on him. I couldn't find him anywhere. I almost started to panic when I heard a faint noise coming from under the bed. I thought for sure he was being silly and hiding from me. When I got down and looked, he was asleep. Since Simon was a baby, he has been notorious for falling asleep in strange positions. Funny how things don't change.

Will and Tabitha's Wedding

Platelet Hell

Not too bad, I guess. Went in to the doctor today and 4 weeks later Max's platelet count was down to 202. Kind of a bummer when you think that the normal range is 150-400. So to me it seems to be at the bottom of the range. Oh well. We go back in 3 weeks. We'll see then.

School

I know my blog has been boring, and this probably won't help much.  I decided to homeschool Max and Marshall this year for a few reasons.

1.  The schools here really aren't great.  They have pretty low standards and don't really offer the opportunity for your child to excel in any subjects.

2.  The kids in the school here really aren't great.  I especially noticed the difference from 2nd to 3rd grade.  Max was being called foul names and for the little time that I spent in their classrooms, I was appauled by the language that I would hear the kids use.  With the large amount of diversity in our school combined with double-income and divorced homes, the kids today are left to themselves with nothing but time, the t.v. and the internet; forcing these kids to grow up faster and be exposed to the adult world way too early.

3.  Even though none of my kids were involved in any extra activites, like sports or music lessons, I never felt like I was able to spend any quality time with them.  As soon as they were home from school it was homework time, for 1-2 hours, play time, dinner time, then bed time.  Life was a whirlwind, we kept going and going and going with not much meaning.

4.  It seemed safter to keep Max home with his platelets still all over the board.  Who knows if and when some punk kid would think it was funny to trip him or push him down, not understanding the consequenses.  The offer was still on the table to have homebound come in twice a week (and I loved his teacher) but I didn't like the hours that we were imprisoned in our home.

So I spoke with a friend in my ward that homeschools 3 of her 4 kids (ages 9, 11, and 14) and really liked the program she was using.  It is called K12, and in Las Vegas, it is paid for by the school district through a program called Nevada Virtual Academy.  It is great!  They send you all the materials for all subjects, including art materials, reading books, teacher manuals, and they even have foreign language.  All the daily schedules are online, which is where you log attendance and assesments.  A lot of the work is even done online.  My kids really like it and so do I.  I never in a million years thought I would be one of those "homeschool moms" but it really isn't so bad.  I mostly didn't think that I would have the patience for it but I am proving myself wrong.  I has been a little tricky to find balance with the 2 of them, and splitting my attention, but we are getting there.  Life is much more laid back and I don't feel to stressed, hard to imagine how having your kids home all the time and being in charge of their education can actually make our family more relaxed, but it does.  I love the time I spend with them, mostly, and I love seeing what they are learning.  We'll see if my tune changes come January, once a baby is thrown into the mix, but I really think it will be easier for me having them around.  Only time will tell but for now I am going to enjoy it.

P.S.  I still enrolled Simon in Kindergarten.  I figured they can't really mess up a 5 year old and he needs to get out of the house and play everyday.  Even if it is for only 2 1/2 hours a day, it helps give me some time with the other boys to be more productive.

Labor Day Weekend in Paragonah, Ut

Update on Max

It has been a while since the latest update on Max, I thought I would take a few and let you all know where he is.  The last update, Max had spontaneously increased his platelets from 70 to 140 in 2 weeks.  Well, 2 weeks later, he was back down to 30! :(  The Dr. has no idea why.  I was hoping for some kind of pattern, but there really is none.  His appointment was Wednesday of last week, so we scheduled his WinRho for that Friday (one week ago).  Simon played at some friends house after school and Marshall got to have a sleep over at Kate and Zach's.  I was really optimistic about this treatment because I thought we had it figured out so that it would be the most comfortable for Max.  First is the IV, followed by Tylenol.  Benadryl (given over 30 minutes so he doesn't feel the side effects) comes next and then some Ativan, so Max can relax.  As times have proven in the past, the WinRho makes him really agitated and mean, so this is given as a preventative to that.  Following Ativan is some Zofran, or anti-nausea medicine.  He always seems to get an upset stomach and this seems to help.  After the Zofran has been in him for about 30 minutes, the nurse then comes in and pushes in the WinRho over a 5 minute period.  Well, not 5 minutes after she was done and gone, Max was asking for a bucket.  Puke, puke, puke came next, and kept coming for a good 5-10 minutes.  The only difference this time was that he was so doped up and "relaxed" that I couldn't reason with him; he was totally out of it.  He kept saying "Mom, there are 5 loogies in my mouth and I need to spit them out!"  I couldn't help but laugh as he repeated this over and over again.  We waited out the hour and left at 2:15pm, 5 hours after we arrived.  I went to pick up Simon and Max had to stop and puke in the bushes 4 or 5 more times.  The rest of the day was pretty miserable for him.  If he was up on his feet for more than 15 minutes or so, he would get nausiated again, so the rest of the day he spent in bed.  By Saturday morning, everything was great, and he was back to himself.  Definately the worse treatment yet.  Hopefully it will be a while until we have to go through this again.