Cornbelly's

Since I loaded all the pictures in the wrong order, and I'm too lazy to change them, we will start with the end of our visit and work backwards.

This huge rocking chair was awesome. It held all our kids with some room to spare. I guess Zoe didn't realize what a drop it was because when she was getting down she just stepped off and did a face plant. She bounced back pretty quick. No tears. She's tough.

Back row: Jace, Kylie, Alivia, Nick, Maggie, Chandler. Front row: Landon, Zoe, Camille

The boys won these huge magnetic rock things and discovered that they could hang them on their ears. Yes, we got lots of funny looks from people. They looked like hooligans!
Chandler, Landon, Nick
(I believe it was while I was taking this picture that Maggie got away from us, but as you can see in the picture above that she was found)

It really pained me to have to pay extra for things after having to pay an entrance fee, but Maggie really wanted her face painted. She decided to get the BYU logo since Grandma and Grandpa Brown are such big fans.

Zoe waiting for the face painting to get done. It started to cool off quite a bit by the end of our fun day. She was also very tired.

I was not going to go on the bumpy hayride, but while all the other kids were in line I just couldn't stand the fact that Zoe would miss another chance so I decided to go. We warned the driver to be careful and not hit too many bumps or he may be delivering a baby in the corn field.

Maggie, Me, Maria, Jace

Camille, Maggie (despite her expression she was having fun), Zoe, Landon

Landon is somewhere under that sombrero. A future rodeo star I'm sure!

That must be my child under that hat.

Has anyone seen Camille?

The "wealthy" Mexican
(that was Landon's description)

Looking for gold...or filth.

Zoe came back from this station drenched. Shortly after she decided she wasn't dirty enough and spilled A LOT of Dr. Pepper down her front. She was a total mess!

These big huge bouncy pillow things looked like so much fun. I would have been out there if I could have.
Camille and Zoe sitting on the edge and getting bounced down by all the jumpers.

Zoe on one pillow yelling for Landon who was on the big pillow.

Jace had lots of fun too!

Kylie and Landon enjoyed them as well.

Zoe was very adventurous. She was out there all by herself and loving it. She even wormed her way into a game of ring-around-the-rosies with someone else's Grandma. She loved it!

Zoe spent several minutes jumping off this hay bale next to the slide. She's pretty easy to entertain!

Maria and Jace

Maggie and Zoe

I thought this head sticking out of the window was pretty cute!

One of these things is not like the others!

The girls really liked this little wooden train. All the other kids were off playing and having fun, but they wouldn't leave the train.

Maggie was working so hard to get the cart around the gravel track.

Camille chose the bigger tractor thing, but she still had a hard time in the gravel. The turns were pretty sharp.

No one was harmed in the taking of this photo. Maggie and Zoe were terrified to even stand there, but we shoved them in there and snapped the picture. I'm surprised Zoe has a smile on her face.

Landon, Jace, Kylie, Nick, Chandler

Camille, Maggie, Alivia

Zoe

The older kids chose to ride the more "adult" train.

Landon and Kylie racing their...ummmm....tractors?

Maria and Jace in the cow barrel train

Maggie and Zoe in their cows

Alivia waiting for the train to start

Camille in her cow cart

And here we are at the beginning. Waiting for Maria and her kids to find us.

We had such a great time. Thanks Maria for suggesting this activity. By the end I thought I may pass out, but I really did have a great time!

A Busy But Fun Week

The beginning of our week was a little crazy, but we handled it and have been enjoying our fall break.

Monday was Maggie's eye appointment in Salt Lake. I had to check her out of school early so we could make it on time. When I made the appointment she hadn't started school yet so I had no idea that her fall break would be at the end of this week and I should have scheduled it for Thursday or Friday. Oh well. I don't think she minded getting out early too much. She mentioned later that she didn't have to do PE because of it.

We recieved more good news this time. Her eyes are twice as good as they were at her last appointment. I was totally in shock when he told me that. Since she has been in school we have had a difficult time patching her eye after school. Then when she started her Princess U class after school she wasn't getting home until after 5:00. She was only getting 2-3 hours of patching a day instead of the recommended 6-8 hours. She will still need to patch for next three months and then we go back again to see what improvements she's made. It was good to hear that despite my lazy forgetfullness her eye was doing it's job and working hard.

Tuesday was my 28 week appointment. Everything sounds good. Nice strong heartbeat and lots of activity. Just before the Dr. walked in the room I got a nice forceful kick to the ribs. The first thing she asked me was if the baby was moving a lot. Yeah, sometimes a little too much!

Wednesday was the first grade field trip. I was going to be a chaperone so we all had to be ready to go, with lunches in hand, by 9:00 AM. I almost forgot the lunches. Almost. At one point during our drive from Evanston to Syracuse, Utah (apparently there are not any farms in our area) I got squeezed out of the convoy by a dump truck merging onto the freeway. I didn't really think much of it since I had gotten directions off the internet just in case. After the truck got into the lane of traffic he just kind of sat in the way and I couldn't get around him to get back behind the bus. I decided to go ahead and just go. I would meet them all there. So I was following my directions to the exit they said and as I was leaving the freeway I looked in my rear view mirror to see the buses continuing to go straight. Not a problem. I'll just keep following my directions. Turned out to be a problem. They were horrible directions and I got a little lost. Luckily I had my laptop with me so I tried again. Still gave me the same directions. I decided just to head back to the freeway we were on and find another exit. Once off the freeway I found a place to stop and try again. It finally gave me a different route and we were off. By the time we got there all the others had loaded onto the hayride. Not too bummed about missing the hayride. It was probably a little more bouncy than I could have handled.

Zoe waiting patiently for the hayride to return

By the time they all got back it was time for our lunch and for the kids to just run around and play.

Before our lunch was done they started the pig races. It was pretty funny to see how fast those little pigs can run. They said their reward at the end were Oreo cookies and by the way they were running they must really like Oreo's. It was very funny and the kids loved it.As soon as the pigs were done the girls were off to explore and climb and slide. This farm was pretty amazing. Lots to do. The only thing Zoe wanted to do was go down the largest slide they had and then run around and climb up the rope ladder and do it again. It made it nice for me since I could sit at the table near by and keep an eye her. I didn't have to worry about where she was. There were a couple of times she was a little slow getting up the ladder and I started to wonder if she ran somwhere else, but then I would see her head just over the top of the slide.Just moments before the teachers started rounding up the kids to leave Zoe was at the top of the slide crying. Two employees were trying to help her and find out what was wrong. She was crying pretty good and lifting up her shirt. I had no idea what it was all about. One of the guys went down the slide with her and told me she had gotten a bee sting. Oh lovely! One of the Moms sitting at the table with me had a first aid kit so we got her wiped down with alchohol and a dab of antibiotic ointment on the sting. It got a little red for a few seconds, but it never swelled up and it didn't seem to bother her at all. She just looks like she got poked with a needle. It's good to know she's not allergic. No serious medical attention was required. After all that drama the girls decided to run over to the bouncy house pumpkin. They barely had enough time to jump a couple of times and then it was time to go. We all had a great time and I am so glad I was able to take Zoe and let her run and be crazy.After the field trip I signed a release so I could take Maggie in the car with me. We headed down to Mom and Dad's for the rest of the week. Since we were so close to her house we decided to stop in and say hi to Tanaya and Cheryl. We had a good visit and then headed out. I even got some jam out of that visit that I'm excited to try. The girls got some baby squash out of the visit and I think Tanaya's attempt to become their favorite is working. They enjoy being around her and her family.

(Pictures of the rest to be added later)
Thursday was another big day...well afternoon anyway. We had plans to meet up with my good friend Maria and her kids at Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. Another shock for me. That place was huge and they had so much stuff to do. ALL the kids had a really good time. We got to take Landon and Camille with us which made it even more fun. Landon decided to do the bull ride. He did really well. Future cowboy? They were both really good and taking Zoe with them and making sure she had a good time. She escaped once, but luckily I caught her before she got too far.

I did have a minor heart attack while we were getting everyone packed up and ready to leave. I started looking around to make sure all MY kids were close and ready to leave when I realized that Maggie was no where to be seen. NO WHERE!! I started to panic a bit and Maria started to get worried as well. She left her oldest with her baby so she could walk around and look for her. I left Zoe with Landon and sent Camille to look in the Shaved Ice shack where she was last seen. I walked into three or four little buildings around and no one could see her. Total fear and panic has now set in. Landon was on his way to the information booth to have her paged when we hear a voice say,"we have a lost little girl at the information booth named Maggie Tomlinson..." I started walking that way with all the other kids while Landon ran ahead to get her. By that time Maria was also pretty close and got over there to help her calm down. I'm not totally sure what happened since we were all standing together as a group. She apparently went to look at something and must have gotten turned around. She couldn't see us anymore. She was close to the face painting booth we had been at just minutes before so she told the girl she was lost and that sweet girl helped her to the information booth. After Maggie tried to explain what had happened she said, "I did the right thing Mom." Yes you did! You found an adult and asked for help. Good job. I hope we don't have to experience anything like that again! So after the collective sigh of relief we left Cornbelly's and headed home. With everyone in the car!!

After all that excitement I really needed a day of rest. However, I had a few things I needed to do while in the big city. Yes, Provo is a very big city with tons of shopping compared to Evanston. I'm not sure how many more times we will be coming down before having the baby so I needed to start looking for carseats. I also needed to find Zoe some shoes. She has grown out of all her church shoes and her boots. I was so tired and sore from the day before that I didn't get to do all I wanted to. I found shoes and possibly a carseat. Mission mostly accomplished.

So today is really going to be a rest day. Tanaya and her family will down here this afternoon and we plan to have lunch with them. Those are the only plans for today. Should be nice.

We hope Glenn had an enjoyable weekend with the guys and got to shoot something!

School Picture

We just got Maggie's school pictures back.

7 years old

1st grade

My Daily Routine

Get up - Unfortunately for my girls (Maggie in particular) I am not a morning person. I get highly irritated very quickly by disobedience and being ignored. Maggie is a master at both! This morning was particularly fun. I was literally pushing both girls out the door so we wouldn't be late to school. Wonderful way to start the day!

Get to school - I try to get to school a few minutes early so Maggie can have some play time with friends before school and decompress from the stress of the morning. She has had a rough start to this school year and has had issues on the playground. It started to get to the bully stage, but I think it may be resolved now. I hope!

Visit Glenn - Zoe and I have gotten to drive to Glenn's work almost every morning to say hello. Some days he is out at sites and we don't get to see him, but we have enjoyed our quick hello's and kisses.

Drive home - On our way home I usually get a request to go to the castle. I posted about this already, but the other morning it was covered in snow and the bear that "guards" the castle was so covered we couldn't see his face. It made me even colder. I'm glad I'm not an animal that has to live in the cold and snow. I like my heater!

After that the days just don't have much routine. We do whatever. I'm pretty much healed and recovered from the surgery and I am so glad that the glucose testing is over as well. I do still spend A LOT of time in my rocking chair. I get so tired so quickly. I am really hoping that passes soon after having the baby. However, I am able to climb all of our stairs with less effort. I'm still out of breath, but I recover faster. I am grateful for my Doctors that were able to find the problem and then get it resolved. I'm still paranoid that something is going to go wrong with the pregnancy. My OB keeps telling me that our angel baby is doing just fine, but something tells me otherwise. I did have that feeling with the other two as well and I was wrong so my fingers are crossed that I'm wrong this time also.

Well, that wasn't were this post was headed in my mind, but whatever.

As Glenn was walking away from the van this morning Zoe said, "that's so cute that Dad". That turned the morning around for me. It was too cute. I turned to look at her and Glenn had really bundled her up with her blankets. She could barely see over the top. Very cute, but sad at the same time. We spent most of our summer with out AC and now we get to spend the winter without heat. We tried the good old fashioned beat-the-heck-out-of-the-dash remedy in an effort to save some money, but it didn't work. So we'll just be cold...VERY cold! We have a large supply of blankets in the van to wrap up in. We'll be good!

3 Hour Test Results

No gestational diabetes! YEAH!!

Masculine Bows?

I made a more boyish car seat cover, but I went ahead and put ribbon ties on it instead of the button tabs. I'm not sure I like the ribbon. Does it make it look girly? Should I take them off and put tabs on? I really do like how the ribbons look, but I can't decide if I like them for a boy.

Another question is what to do with the two girly covers I have. I most likely will donate one to the YM/YW auction, but I don't think I will do both. Is someone having a girl that would like a cover? Let me know soon so I can get you the one you want.

Apparently I did not take any picture of the finished argyle cover. I used the green and blue buttons.

Names

Any suggestions?

Something You Should Know

Since we have shared our news about our newest arrival being a boy we have gotten a lot of people asking if Glenn is excited to have a boy.

So what is it you should know?

Glenn does not show much emotion!

Yes, he is excited, but you would never know it by the way he acts. We got a more excited response from our friend Russell than we did from Glenn. I could hear the excitement from Russell over the phone. He is very happy that Glenn will get his little boy that will be able to carry on his name, and in a few years apparently go to Houston and work with Russell. Another friend was also excited that Glenn will now have someone to walk around the house naked with when the girls are gone. That worried me a bit. Does that actually happen? Is that what goes on here while the girls and I are at Mom and Dad's? I don't think I want to know the answer to that!

(OK, Russell...are you happy now or do we still have to name our kid after you?)

The Latest

I had my 26 week appointment this morning and all is well! Well...almost all is well. I didn't pass the glucose test so now I get the pleasure of hanging out at the hospital for three hours on Tuesday. They will do a fasting test then an hour later do the sugar water test then an hour later do another test. Fun times ahead.

In better news the baby is doing well. The Doctor did an ultrasound and we got to see the spine, hands, feet, face, etc. Do you know what else we got to see?

Zoe and are crossing our fingers that we will be able to find out if it's a boy or girl...

What did we find?...

This baby has something that our other two did not!

We're having a BOY!!