Hurricane Bread

A friend in my ward introduced me to "snow bread" this past winter- the bread you make when you might get snowed in...sooooo I made hurricane bread today. We may or may not get a hurricane, but if we do we will have bread (among other things).

I thought Taylor was going to be good, but she is not. She has cried at school the last 2 days. On Monday they called me and I promised her I'd come have lunch with her and we would have her best friend over for fhe. Today her counselor called and told me she was having another shaky morning, but she was okay now. I feel like I never do the right thing. What to do? I've promised yet another bakugan if she will suck back the tears. I remember in first grade I was so proud of myself for sucking back the tears. In kindergarten I don't remember crying, but I know I did. 8am- 3:30 pm is too long for a 5 year old to be away from home! Now there are 3 year olds going to school- next thing we know it will be 1 year olds tottering to pre-pre school.

While Tates is away

We will ummmm do these things.

Dear Yang,
If you have some time will you please give Tates a little extra guardian angel coverage? I'm sure she needs it at school. I think she's doing okay, but she cried today because she was falling behind. Give her pencil a little extra push, please. I know you're busy, I hope you're happy. We miss you and every night I finish my prayers (cuz sometimes I don't, I fall asleep before finishing because I'm stanky) I pray for you to know that, so I know you know.

Love,
Nessa

ps Can you believe I posted a pic of myself on my blog sans makeup?

pps Can you believe I know how to use the word sans?

ppps Am I using the word sans correctly?

Up

We went to Taylor's school and saw Up. They had already seen it, but I hadn't. Up is SAD y'all! I know what it's like to miss someone. I just hope to be missed like that some day.

Taylor after school

I was so excited to pick Tates up. She made it!! I made it!! I counted down the hours and every time I think about doing it again tomorrow I want to cry. I may be one of the worst mothers on the planet, BUT I do not leave my kids. They have been either with me or their daddy unless it was totally impossible. Leaving her in the hands of public school officials for 7 hours was torture. I hope things continue to go ok. She says her teacher screams a lot and she is going to imagine she is Darth Vader or the Emperor- whatever gets her through.

Don't want it please

I thought I would feel relieved not to be in charge of Taylor's school and fighting her to do her work. But, after walking her to her class, making sure she was settled in, and then walking back to the car- I feel like I've lost my child. I walked in and saw her half eaten breakfast plate still on the table and I sobbed as I cleaned it up. I hope she has a good day because if she doesn't I'll be hard pressed to let her go back again. The house is definitely not the same without Tates. I have watched the clock all morning and it has just crept along. HUrry. UP. I want my child back. If she comes home singing Barrack Hussein Obama MMmm MMmm MMmmm- it will be over. I just hope as she spends less time in the sun her hair will darken and she can blend in a little better :)


I could see the look on all the other kids' faces thinking - "We got whh...another student in here!"



And this is how Ezra and Cagey entertained themselves after Cagey was done with his first little day of Kindergarten. He actually sat and did everything I asked him to do. In the words of my Momma, I am cautiously optimistic!

Back to life back to reality

Except for the disgusting humidity and insane heat indexes I wish summer could last forever. Taylor will be starting school this year. Even though I know she is almost 8 years old and most kids have already done the "first year off to school thing" I am so anxious about her being gone for 7 hours a day. What will she be learning? How will she be treated? Will she be able to keep up with all the writing? (she hates to write) I am trying to act excited for her sake. I'm trying to be excited about the stinkin' uniforms, and I'm trying to paint public school in a good light which is very hard since I did not like elementary school at all. The kids are outside swimming (or were- Cagey just drug his little wet bum inside) and Ezra is asleep. I love peaceful moments when I know exactly where all my little chillens are and what they're doing.

I have bribed Taters and Cagey with toys for doing well in school. Is that bad?

Tomatillos AND tomatoes and whatever else

I planted these little tomato plants in the back right after buying them. Then, after reading more in my handy dandy gardening book I realized there was just not enough space for the roots to spread out and grow. So- I almost pulled them up and threw them away, but figured I'd give them a second chance in my empty front "rock garden". Slowly, but surely they turned into these massive bushes. It took forever for them to finally get fruit on them, but when we got back from Utah we came home to this----->
There are so many stinkin' tomatoes! I thought I'd be canning tomatoes, but unfortunately a lot of them are rotting on the vine. I think they may be getting too hot against the rocks and then the ants are jumping on to get a little taste. BUT I have gotten several good ones off. I've made fresh salsa and tonight I made pizza sauce with fresh tomatoes and tomato paste whirred together in the food processor.

But- this post is about Ezra. This kid will eat anything. Yesterday I pulled a tomatillo off my half resurrected tomatillo plant and Ezra bit right into the thing and ate it all. Today as we left for a walk (after he had eaten 2 pieces of pizza and watermelon) I picked a tomato that I was going to put on the back table to ripen a little more when we got back and made the mistake of giving it to Ezra to hold. After walking for a bit I saw he had something in his mouth. I looked at my tomato and it had a big bite out of it. He started eating it like an apple!

During dinner I got up to get Ezra something to drink in his sippie. I asked everybody if they knew where his sippie was and Tates got up to look but returned empty handed. Ezra stood up in his high chair and thinking he was done I got him down. He immediately walked off to the living room, pizza in hand, straight to his sippie. I filled it with water while he waited and then lifted him, fully satisfied, back into his chair to finish his dinner. What a funny little guy.

Speaking of funny little guys- Cagey gave Ezra his chewed up bubble gum after he was done with it. I guess giving it to little brother was much easier than going to the trash can to spit it out. good grief.

3 reasons why we should stop trying to sell our house

1. There are brand new houses down the road with more square footage and lower asking prices.

2. Our lockbox went through 2 batteries (both times were only discovered when we were having the only 2 showings in 2 years) and has now given up the ghost. We are on our 2ND lockbox!

3. We've known our realtor so long that she is noticeably aging.

I would just like to give a big thank you to the federal government for ruining the housing market. Can we get a round of applause for 'em?

44 jars of fireflies

I finally got a new faucet on my kitchen sink. When we moved in the faucet was so not fitting for the rest of the kitchen. The pretty black appliances, lots of countertops, pretty cupboards and then this blah, bland faucet. So- a couple of days before we showed the house I went to Lowe's for a few things to spruce the house up a bit. I just happened upon this faucet- marked down from...well... a lot in my book as far as faucets go- for shoes maybe not so much. Against Jeebs' will I snapped a picture of him laying under the sink as he was yelling "NOOO!" (I was supposed to be keeping the faucet straight and handing him tools) Isn't it pretty? Don't worry, Ma, I scoured the sink so it would be shiny like the faucet.

As we drove to the beach yesterday there was a truck in front of us with some kind of orange dirt and/or grass blowing out of it. Cagey saw it too and he said it was "44 jars of fireflies flying out of the truck."

BBBBEAACH

I finally took the kids to the beach today. Every time I go to the beach I think to myself, "why don't I come to the beach more often?"

Then the boogie board broke in half after 2 seconds in the water. Cagey tried it again an hour later and it busted into about 5 pieces. It looks like it was attacked by a shark.

I couldn't find anymore swim diapers and was too lazy and cheap to go buy more. So- after Ezra blew up 2 regular diapers, we called it a day. But it was fun- despite Taylor's fit before going and Cagey's fit 45 minutes after we got there.

Floe Tirting

Last night after I got in bed I did my toenails for church. I was sick of pink and red so I went with yellow to change it up a bit. I'm not sure about this color. I was loving yellow for summer, but the nail polish looks a little Hepatitis C, no? After I got them nice and polished I threw my feet over Jeebs and wiggled them back and forth. I started laughing and said, "I'm floe tirting!" Then I laughed even harder because I meant to say, toe flirting. Then we laughed about what floe tirting could actually mean. It sounds disgusting doesn't it? Then Jeebs told me that was a pretty good "spoonerism". Then I laughed some more because Jeebs knows the name of switching the first syllable of two words. (Did you know it was called a spoonerism?) Then I had to pay for floe tirting.

I've got a million of these

Ezra has one face when he sees the camera light blinking- and oh my goodness I can not cut his cute hair. I've never had a child with this much hair and even though he is getting an extreme baby mullet. I think it suits him- he was born in North Cackalacky!

THE Smell

The summer my parents took my sister to college they left my older brother and me at home. We were to fend for ourselves and "hold the fort down" while they sauntered around Utah. After a few days alone we discovered something off in the kitchen. The something off grew into something horrible, something we could only describe as "THE Smell". Because every bad smell you smelled before this smell paled in comparison to this smell. The odor wasn't as offensive as our frustration in trying to find the dang source. We scrubbed the stove, washed the cupboards, mopped the floor and even pine sol-ed the door frame because I could have sworn it was in the darn paint! We didn't figure it out until momma and daddy got home. Daddy was cleaning up and unleashed the beast...in all of our (uncharacteristic) frantic cleaning we could not accept that the smell was something of this earth...and we completely missed the pot of rice a roni that had been sitting covered on the stove for 2 solid weeks.

There has come again in my life a smell. I can not find the source and I can only describe it as another SMEll. This time it's in my bathroom. I have mopped, I have wiped, and I have scrubbed- I am fairly certain there is no pot of rice-a-roni- in my bathroom. I can only trace it back to my bath mats. I have washed and I have bleached and still as I knelt by the bathtub to wash my baby bug it was there. It was lingering on the side of the tub or maybe under my knees or maybe under the tile or in the paint? I donno. Where is it coming from? Why is it invading my bathroom? Who is doing this to me? When is it going to stop? aaaghhhhh

New Bern House 4 Sale

Please buy my house...I worked like an african white snow flea to get it cleaned up to show today. Isn't it lovely? I love having my house perfectly clean, but getting it perfect makes me a crazy woman- just ask Jeebs. Anybody want to live in New Bern, NC? We are only an hour (or 45 min if you drive like mad) from the beach. Come on you know you wanna. Please....please...please

I can die happy

I finally got to ride the Heber Creeper. The kids enjoyed their ride too.
Tates and Cagey posing in front of the old engine.



Tates loves Uncle Tom. It is amazing that Tom is now grown up- the first time I met him he was a little boy in his pajamas, half asleep...have I really known Jeebs that long?

Ezra wanted to jump out of the window.

It was so pretty and dry and breezy- why did we leave the dry? aaghhh
Then we were robbed....he took a hostage, but she was one of those losers that can't cook, clean or sew so he threw her back. ( My sewing machine makes me want to cuss btw- probably because I can't sew)

See ya later Heber.

Dear Belly,

We have had some good times together... you were great while Ezra was growing in there. You kept him safe and warm and healthy. Do you remember that time we took a picture of you and then Jeebs photoshopped out all the stretch marks? That was fun. But now it's time to go. You did a good job, but seriously- it's time to let go. I will welcome you back with open arms one day if we are blessed with a Nicolaysen baby #4- but that time has not yet come so... please go away. Is it fun hanging around while I'm working out and jumping up and down? It's not fun for me- just breath in and breath out, just relax- it's okay I promise- just let go...please....do it now. Bye Bye.

Until next time,
Me

Panic Buttons

Remember the kittens we watched? This is one of them in an Ezra headlock. He was determined to hold them and eventually push their panic buttons. Nasty.

Taters get your gun

Shootin' outside of Park City and Cagey chillin' in the car.
We went up in the mountains- 65 degrees Beatrices! (Cagey has a hard time looking like a normal boy)

A 'happy' bunch o' cousins

AHhhh Temple Square

We finally made it to Temple Square the last FHE night we were in Utah. I love the pics Jeebs took.
This was a big step up from our last FHE to a Temple. We went to the Raleigh Temple to walk around and got locked inside the gate- Tates said she was never going to the temple again. It was Awesome.
We went inside the Tabernacle and heard a pin drop- wow it's like the architecture was inspired or something. wink wink.
I would pay a lot of money to know what Ezra was thinking here- see his little all-knowing finger?Even though it was an incredible adventure just to get there (which included Jeebs splitting the crotch of his suit pants) and then just to find ice cream after, it was worth it.

Life is so annoying sometimes...

1. The realtor calls the day after we get back from vacation- wanting to show our house in 2 hours or less.

2. The realtor doesn't call to tell us the showing was not postponed only one day, but 5 days.

3. Taylor tells the neighbors we'll watch their kittens for the weekend. (She tried to tell them we would only do it if the kittens stayed at their house, but she only got out "my parents said we could watch your kittens.")

4. My plants I worked so hard to cultivate all summer did not do well while I was gone for 2 weeks.

5. Ezra can not stay out of water for anything- including the green swimming pool and the hose with which I am trying to water. He pulls it off of the plant, he splashes in it as I hold it, he goes to the faucet and tries to drink the spray.

6. I can not get inspired to decorate my master bedroom. Inspiration- money to do it- whatever you want to call it. I think the problem is that I will never pay full price for anything- unless I love it and I don't find many things I absolutely love.

7. Did I mention a realtor wanted to show our house the day after we got back from vacation?

8. I can't forget the fact that I have been so tired recovering and cleaning after vacation that I have no idea what I'm going to do for sing time tomorrow- so...gotta go.

Enjoying a Smoothie

While Cagey and Tates rode rides Ezra sucked down their smoothies. While Ezra sucked down their smoothies Cagey and Tates tried to enjoy a ride.
See their "this is a jipp!" face? Their little airplane was the only one that wouldn't go up in the air. They got the Aldi airplane. Aldi- why do you haunt us?

Family Reunion in 1 Photo

This pretty much sums it up- tired children. But- I have lots more pics so stay tuned...I know you're all waiting with bated breath.

Pioneer day

We were in Utah for Pioneer Day. My mom worked hard to get Taylor and me dresses to wear for Pioneer day. Tates turned out like this- and she was super excited. I have yet to get a picture of myself in mine, but my Primary kids should be very excited. At least for Pioneer Day next year I will definitely have a costume. Yay!

Denver, CO

I'm sitting in the Denver airport and Jeebs and I wish we could just make a break for it and stay here. 62 degrees when we flew in! Last night, I'm fairly certain that I had an attack of crypto- if you don't know what that is scroll down. I am just praying I make it to Raleigh on our 3 and a half hour flight without becoming really well acquainted with the airplane bathroom. I am people watching again- the airport is the best place to do that- I just wonder what other people think when they see me. Am I that noticeable or memorable? Hopefully- if I am memorable, not in a bad way- that would suck. See ya on the flip side! Goodbye Utah and dryness :(