Happy Labor Day

 Last night, around 5:00 I got the cutest phone call.  I picked up the phone and it was my little niece, Rylie.  She said, "Aunt Tamara, McKenna and I were wondering if we could come and spend the night at your house?  We haven't seen you guys in a while and we just were wanting to, you know . . . see the kids!"  Of course I said YES!  I love it when they come over.  So,  I met my sister at our halfway meeting spot (halfway between Scottsdale and Gilbert) so I could pick up Rylie and McKenna.  All the kids had a big slumber party downstairs in the family and living room because our air conditioning isn't working upstairs.  Too much fun!
Then, this morning, we made Monster Pancakes (a Chamberlain favorite - we make it every time the Fuhriman girls spend the night!) and then watched about 4 episodes of "Chopped" on the Food Network.  Kelsey and McKenna decided to play "Chopped" themselves and created a dessert using:  canned peaches, chocolate pudding, oats, pretzel sticks, and Nutella chocolate spread.  They were pretty creative in what they came up with.  Kelsey won for presentation and McKenna won for taste.  ha ha!

Me and my awesome sister, Melanie!

 Then, around 1:00 we met at Makutu's Island Play Place and let the kids run wild for about 2 hours.  Fun!

Kelsey, McKenna, and Sydne - the magic threesome!

Here's Spencer with his little cousin, Keegan.  They are total buddies!

Well, after two hours of dealing with a lot of crowds, stinking bodies, and sweaty kids----we all decided to head to McDonalds for some ice cream shakes and french fries.  Spencer especially enjoyed his because look what happened to him after he ate his chocolate shake------------------

Ha Ha!!  Actually, this is Spencer's face that was morphed using "Fat Booth" on my cell phone.  Still---it's pretty funny!

Well, I'm off to come up with an incredible Family Home Evening lesson, make dinner, and get Kohler from football practice--all within one hour.  Yikes!  Happy Labor Day is right!!

Can I just freeze time?

Friday nights used to be something I looked forward to.  Tom and I would get a babysitter and the kids would play at home for a few hours while we were out.  They had more fun with the babysitter and we needed the break getting out.  Then, as the kids got older we would all rent a fun movie or play games together on Friday nights.  So fun!  Now---with two teenagers in the house, it's all about FRIENDS.  Whose house are they going to, which friends are they going with, are their parents home, who is driving, when do you need to be picked up????  It's a circus!  Even my 9 year old wants to have a "late night" with his friend so he can be entertained like his older siblings.  


As Tom and I got the older two where they wanted to be and brought a friend over for Spencer, we got out some ice cream and some cones.  We scooped ice cream and listened to these sweet kids talk about their "squishees" that they bought from the library today at school for a quarter each.  They were laughing about all of the different kinds of "squishees" they would make if they could.  (btw - squishees are tiny little rubber characters no bigger than your thumbnail)  Their innocent comments and laughter made me seriously want to freeze time and keep them like this forever.  

Here's Spencer, Hailey, and Grayson having a fun late night ice cream party (with their "squishees" on the counter!)

Don't get me wrong----there are some Friday nights that are wonderful (particularly the ones where I get to have a date with Tom!).  But that is a real reason why we take our kids away on vacations so that we can have some good old-fashioned FAMILY TIME.  Friends are awesome (especially if they are GOOD friends) but some days I just wish our kids were all little again and we could just have them stay home like little chicks under our wings. . . 

Happy day yesterday

So - two things really made me happy yesterday and one thing really did not make me happy.  The yucky thing was I had to get 3 moles removed (that means CUT off) from my body.  Not a fun thing to do.  But the other two things are pretty awesome.  First of all, I had a pretty sweet lunch.  Really---it ranks up there in the top 5 "made at home" lunches.

It's a green and white lunch:  Jarlsberg swiss cheese, grapes, french baguette, and
avocado salad ( fresh lemon juice and salt/pepper. )  So yummy!

The other thing that made me extremely happy was that I have a new Rod Works store 3 MILES FROM MY HOME!  I can't believe it!  I absolutely LOVE this store and every summer my sisters and mom all spend crazy money, load up our cars with their home decor stuff and bring it back to AZ.  Now I have one 3 miles from my home??  Wow!

New Rodworks store on Higley and Ray in Gilbert.  The only store in AZ!

The funny thing is, I don't think I have ever walked through a Rod Works in Utah without buying something.  But yesterday, it was so fun to just walk through and walk out without spending a dime (knowing I can come back later anytime!)  This could be a bad thing . . . ha ha!  Kelsey and I will definitely be going there often!

Lesson learned

  I always take Thursdays off from going to the gym because I just love being able to shower and get ready earlier in my day and not late morning.  Plus, it's my temple day.  I decided to go to the temple this morning instead of this afternoon because I planned to take lunch to Dr. Q's office to thank them for doing such a great job with Hailey.  So I drive up there and plan to only spend about one hour because that is all my day would allow.  When I got there, they said the wait time for inititories was over an hour and they also couldn't use me in sealings.  My only choice was to do a session and now I didn't have time for that.  So, I just sat in the lobby and read some scriptures then put my names in the temple roll like I usually do.  When I walked out I just had an empty feeling like something seriously was missing.  I will NEVER limit my time up at the temple again like that.

Wait . . I thought the dentist was suppossed to be fun?

Today I told Hailey that she was having a "Mommy Day" because she got to stay home from school and we would watch movies and drink chocolate milk all day.  She was super excited about that.  Then I told her that first we had to go to the dentist and let him fix her teeth.  She loves going to the dentist because they "tickle her teeth" and she gets to pick out a prize from the treasure box.  Well . . . at her last visit, the dentist said she needed to get some fillings done and a silver cap put on one of her teeth because she had ground it down so much.  He said she would need to be sedated in order to give her all of the shots necessary to numb the six areas he was working on.  Wow!   I have never yet had a child need to get fillings like this before.  So, this morning Hailey couldn't eat or drink anything before the appointment and we got there around 8:15 a.m.  She had to drink the sedation juice (which she thought tasted Yucky!) then she and I had to wait in a special room for about one hour for the medicine to take full effect.

Here is Hailey getting her vitals taken.  She is about to drink the "yucky" juice.

 It was actually a wonderful hour for me to spend with Hailey.  We played with toys, read stories, then I got to rock her in a really comfortable rocking chair as she began to get a little sleepy.  She started saying really wierd things like, "Mom, where do carrots come from?" just randomly as we were reading stories.  It was so fun to snuggle and hold her like I used to when she was a baby.  She is way too active now and I only get to hold her for about a minute or so, then she is off wiggling around or doing something else.  (So, I was actually looking forward to today's appointment!)

Here is Hailey resting in the dental chair.  She wore flip flops but wanted to take them off.  She also got to breathe "bubble gum air" through the nose piece.  Ooh--yummy!

 When Dr. Quackenbush (love him and his staff!) came in to see her, he said, "Hailey, are you doing ok?"  She said, "Hey, do I sound like a boy?  I think I sound like a boy?"  He said to me, "Yep---the medicine is kicking in just fine!"  ha ha!  He and his assistant worked like a well-oiled machine handing instruments back and forth.  I was mesmerized watching how efficiently they worked and with such precision.  It was so nice to know my little girl was well taken care of.  I am bringing their office some lunch on Thursday to thank them for being so incredible.

Here is Hailey---all finished.  You can see her silver cap on the bottom right of the picture.

She fell asleep on the way home but boy is she smart---right when we got home, she woke up and went into my bathroom and wanted to look at her teeth.  She gasped, "Oh my gosh!  I have a silver tooth!  I didn't know I was getting a silver tooth!!!"  We have really had to work through that one today.  It's about 3:15 p.m. and she just said to me, "Mom, I still don't like my silver tooth."  This is going to take some time . . .

First day of school pics

OK - so I know I haven't blogged all summer.  I honestly didn't have the energy to.  We crammed so much into our summer that at the end of every night I just crashed on my bed.  I will do a summer catch-up blog sometime here soon.  But for now, here are some fun pictures of my kids and their first day of school.

Kohler is a sophmore now at Campo Verde High School.  

Kelsey is an 8th grader at South Valley Jr. High.

Here is Hailey and Spencer getting ready for school.  They walk to the bus stop together.  

Here is my little Hailey on her first day of kindergarten.  She was super excited!

       After 16 years of having children in my home, this is the first time everyone is in school full-time.  I have to admit--even though I knew it was coming, that first day was hard.  I cried on the way to the school and then again after I dropped her off.  But I am SO glad that she didn't cry and hug my leg not wanting to go to school.  She is so eager to learn and loves making new friends.  That made it so much easier on me.  Now, after a few weeks of school have gone by, I am loving all of this time now and wonder how I used to do everything I did before!  ha ha!

Kohler is 16 now----watch out!!

Why do I feel so much older knowing that I have a 16 year old now?  I don't know---there is just something about the number 16 . . . driving, dating . . . it's crazy!  I still can't believe my Kohler is 16 years old!

Hailey made Kohler a picture and wrapped it all by herself.  How awesome is that!

                        I asked Kohler what he wanted to eat for dinner and of course, he said, "Steak."  So, we grilled steak out in the 115 degree weather and then opened presents.  He still had football practice on his birthday so we had to wait until later in the evening to celebrate.  How does he practice football in helmet and pads in that kind of heat??  Kohler says it makes him stronger.  Still . . . I worry about him out there!

I am so glad Kohler likes to give hugs.  They are the best!

   
     Kelsey wrote him the most incredible letter.  It was so touching that it made Tom and I well up with tears. Kelsey really loves Kohler and wants to have a better relationship with him.  Right now, they get along--they never fight  (unless Kohler is bugging her incessantly and won't stop--then she gets upset at him! ha ha)  But I think Kelsey is hoping that the older they get, the more he will talk to her and do things with her.  Maybe that will happen more next year when she is in high school.  I think the letter really meant a lot to Kohler.

My two oldest, Kohler and Kelsey.  

Notice how small the cake is----we can't have yummy cake like that lying around here!  It was a very tiny ice cream cake and we all devoured it in one night!

      Kohler is such a great kid.  I am so proud to be his mom.  He does have his rough days that about make me and his father go crazy, but still we love him like nothing else and we are so glad he came to our home!!                          Happy 16th Birthday Kohler!