Jake holding up his picture that he wrote Kindergarten on.

For a while I have been dreading this day. I tried to seem excited for his and others sake but deep down I knew this was going to be one hard but memorable day for me. Jake was so excited for so long until this week when it became a reality that he wasn’t going to be here every day all day with me in his regular routine. He was fine as long as we didn’t mention school. Wednesday we went to Back to School Night where he got to see his classroom and desk and meet his teacher, Mrs. Rasmussen, who ironically enough I went to school with. She is about 9 inches taller than Jacob- seriously.  I really wish I had gotten a picture of her with him but if I get a chance then I will post it later.  After that things were a little better for him, but for me its a different story. This morning he got ready and I cried while he ate breakfast, cried while he brushed his teeth, cried as he stepped on the bus and cried when I hugged him as I left him at school.

Jake waving bye as he hops on the bus.

 I let him ride the bus with the big kids then met him at school where I could make sure he got to his class okay. Call me clingy but I just do what I know since my mom did that for each of us kids on our first day of Kindergarten. On my way out of the school, some of my dry-eyed neighbors, who were also there with their Kindergarteners, were kind of teasing me which I was a good sport about. However, the bad thing was the school counselor must have thought I was some sort of emotional basket case because she caught me on my way out and spent 15 minutes counseling me on what I should say to Jake when he gets home and a bunch of other things. I must have looked like a train wreck because no one could stop looking at me as they passed by to leave. Elizza came with me for support and if it hadn’t been for her pulling on my arm begging me to go I think I would still be there, lying on that counselor’s couch digging  through my emotions. 

 I  know things will be different here at home the 2- 3 days a week he goes all day but I think it will be good for me to spend somewhat one-on-one time with my girls before the baby comes. Life goes on, I just wish it didn’t go so fast.

Jake waving as he sits at his desk. Elizza in lower right.

Jake gets to sit by Riley, his girlfriend from church. Elizza on right.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to spend the morning in the temple witnessing my sister, April recieve her endownments and was anxiously awaiting a day of fun with family members we don’t get the opportunity to see very often.  Our day’s activities were getting off to a start with golfing for the guys and watch making for the girls followed by some splash park fun for the kids and then to return home and have a hot dog and s’more roast and outdoor movie. I had been looking forward to this for a while and as the beads came out I was figuring out in my mind what I really wanted my new watchband to look like when suddenly along comes Elizza wanting to hang out with mom. In my mind Elizza is my “no worries” kid. She is usually pretty timid about things that I never had to worry about her getting hurt too often so I thought ” no problem she will be content  just to sit and watch”. Boy was I wrong, I hadn’t even picked out the first of my beads when I look over to see a bead sticking out of her right nostril. Immediately, I pushed it out and asked her if there were anymore. Well having the tenderheart that she does she got scared that I was quizzing her and started to cry. So grabbing her, I saw way up high in the left nostril she had shoved a bead and it looked stuck, nothing I did worked. Luckily the guys had not left for their tee time and so Tyler came in. Per my parent’s instructions he blew air in her mouth to see if that would dislodge it. Blowing her nose wasn’t working and so out came the vacuum with a nozzle my parents must have bought for this specific purpose-after all they did have eight kids with hard heads. No amount of vacuuming was bringing it out either.  So off we went to Redi-care where we sat for over and hour and  paid our $40 co-pay only to get a retarded nurse practitioner that confirmed there was a bead there and wouldn’t do anything else for us.  He did suggest us waiting until Monday and getting into a Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor  to have it surgically removed but I feared that in the night the swelling would go down and she would get it caught in her throat and choke to death.   Off we went to Madison Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room where if they couldn’t get it out, they could contact our ENT and he would have to come and surgically remove it that night. It was another hour wait before they brought us back to the room. Surprisingly enough, the doctor came in shortly after we got settled. He didn’t stay long but sent a nurse in with some Afrin nasal spray to help bring the swelling down and some Lidocaine to numb her up.  Another hour and a half of our lives went by just sitting waiting for someone to come in,  after that I got up and went to the nurse’s desk and reminded them we were still there. Within 5 minutes the doctor was in the room and the bead was out. Thank heaven no surgery.  Elizza is okay and promises never to stick anything up her nose again. Lets just hope the other children learn from her mistake, if not they sent the Afrin home with us. So if you ever wonder why Elizza’s reception won’t be as fancy as the others we will have the $5000 bead sitting by the cake as a reminder.

Jacob re-enacting the doctor removing the bead from Elizza's nose.

Crazy that something so small could cost so much.

We are so blessed that Tyler works for a company that brings us out to Boise and pays for everything so we can have a free vacation.  This year, besides providing us with a way out there, they provided us with tickets to Roaring Springs, dinner, tickets to Wahooz ( an arcade place), and a nice hotel. Roaring Springs is such a fun place for those who haven’t gone. Jake and Ty loved the water slides while I love the Endless River. Elizza, timid little Elizza, actually loves the wave pool that the rest of the kids are afraid of and Marriah is happiest in the the regular pool falling off the edge into my arms.

Tyler enjoying the wave pool

Cute little Marriah getting ready to fall into the pool.

Elizza showing her cute grin

Jake loving the endless pool

Afterward we went to Wahooz where they have an arcade, bumper boats and go-carts and a playland. However due to the age restrictions Jake was the only one of our kids that was able to ride the go-carts, bumper boats, and play laser tag with his dad. They could have played laser tag all night…and they did. The girls and I ( or more particularly Elizza) played the arcade games. We all enjoyed ourselves so much and would love to go back.

Ty and Jake riding the go carts together.

The girls had most fun running around

While we were in Boise we got wind that Bigfoot was in town. For those of you who don’t have Monster truck obsessed sons like I do, Bigfoot is the first monster truck  ever. They were doing a promotional show for Commercial Tire outside their store so we went and since it  was free it was for me. This being my first Monster truck experience, I really was surprised at how big  and loud these trucks are, but I guess being right across the street from the crushing it will feel that way and although I probably won’t be going to any monster truck shows with Jake and Ty anytime soon, I actually enjoyed myself.  The driver was really nice to Jake and encouraged him to grow up fast so he could join them as a monster truck driver (of course the growing up fast part I didn’t agree with, seems like it is going too fast as it is.)

Picture with Bigfoot and driver

This is really how close we were.

not sure how to turn this

While we were there we decided to stay an extra night and enjoy a few more activities. Before I left we did some research of some places we could take the kids while we were there. One place that seemed interesting was the Discovery Museum. It was a fun place but I think it will be even more fun when our kids are older but they still seemed to enjoy themselves. Tyler loved it though and felt robbed that we didn’t get to spend more time there. Science junkie.

Jake on a bed of nails.

Ty and Marriah making the face talk

Elizza making a giant bubble.

Afterward we saw some people riding on paddle boats and thought that would be fun. However, due to the girls falling asleep in the car and my fear of drowning with fish swimming around me I chose to sit with the girls in the car while the Jacob and Tyler went. Now I am kicking myself for not taking advantage of the moment when it arose. Oh well, next time (right Ty?). Unfortunately I couldn’t find the pictures to illustrate this.

On our ride home the next day, between both Elizza and Marriah throwing up  we stopped at the Twin Falls Temple and walked around. It sure is beautiful as all temples are. The walk was a welcome break from that uncomfortable, smelly car.

It was nice to be home but I wished that the girls hadn’t shared their illness with the rest of the family. I am glad we were able to get away  and enjoy being together.