Today while the Sun Shines.

Today, While the Sun Shines,  work with a will
Today, all your duties with patience fulfill
Today, while the birds sing, harbor no care;
Call life a good gift; call the world fair.

The last line says, "Prepare for tomorrow by working today."

This has always been a morning hymn to me; another hymn that I love is There is Sunshine in My Soul Today.

(Being a native to the valley, I don't appreciate sunshine as much as friends who don't live here.  I wait for summer to be over and I love the few months that I don't have to stress about my A/C bill!
I wish for rain, I pray for rain, and I cherish the rain.  I love that it makes the ground soft.  I love that it helps plants grow.  I am in awe of thunder and lightning, I am grateful when the newscasters say it's going to rain and it does. I'm happiest when the sky is overcast and gloomy; I'm like Eeyore.)

HOWEVER...

I think the reason that these songs are my favorites is because it's talking about the soul.  I find that when I sing these songs, I feel loved.  I feel calmed and reassured that the Savior is closer than we know.  I'm happy because they make me feel like the work that I am doing in my home is not futile nor is it worthless.  These hymns make me feel like smiling and more willing to serve others around me.  I was told in my blessing that I need to start the day with a song,  and I find that these two are particularly dear to my heart. 

I usually end my day with a song also.  The top 3 for that are Abide with Me - the long one, The Army of Helaman, and I Need the Every Hour.  There are other hymns that I sing, but Abide with Me really is the best one to end the day with.  It makes me fall asleep as I remember that regardless of how the day went, I am not alone; that He is always aware of me and my needs.

Be Still My Soul will always be the song that I link to my dear little one Olivia.  It's amazing how much this song calms my soul when I think about Olivia's future.  I know that the Lord is in charge and I'm grateful for the little things.  I'm blessed to have a child who teaches me to slow down!

I didn't notice before!

I have a Nook Color and I have been very frustrated that the Pandora Stations don't project very loudly.

Since I can't do anything without playing music, especially chores; life has been very frustrating  

UNTIL...

I noticed an old pair of computer speakers in Curt's computer closet while putting 

away a stray computer-mouse.

I plugged them in and VOILA! 

I have music!   

LOUD, glorious music! 

Can you see my GINORMOUS smile?!??!?!?!????

17 years ago...

Curtis and I got engaged.

October is SB Awareness Month.

 October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month.

So, I thought I'd share some thoughts about Olivia!

She's super happy... most of the time.
If you zoom in on this pic, you can see the one front top tooth 
and the top fang that came in
as well as her cute 2 bottom teeth!
She's also tiny for her age (a first in our familly).
She wears big 9 mo. size or normal 12 mo. size!

 She will let you know when she's mad at you.

There's a scream that goes with the pointing.

You're okay NOT ever hearing it.

Think "Angry Howler Monkey".

 This is how she normally sits on the floor.

We're working on her fixing her own legs to put them out in front of her.

She sometimes sits with them both to one side; very lady-like.

 She's a fanatic about her nail polish.

We use polish bottles for her daily therapy.

She's learning to army crawl!

(If you zoom on this pic, you can see some of her scar.)

 She's happiest around her Daddy and her siblings.

Her first phrase was, "Hi Daddy".

Yep, she's a Daddy's girl.

I wouldn't change anything about this awesome Baby-girl!

Well... I could do without the Angry Monkey yell, but we'll deal with that later.

Um... boys... those aren't muscles.

 Hayden with his "chest muscles"

 Wyatt with his "chest muscles".

 Bosom Buddies?

 "My boobs are bigger than yours."

 Superman is Stacked... um...Built!  Yeah, that's what I meant!

 We're just happy to be here!

This picture makes me laugh.

It reminds me of the end of "Meet the Parents"

Where Ben Stiller looks into the picture frame

and give a message to Robert DeNiro. 

What's that? You want me to what?
 You have another question? 

Sure. I got one question for you.

It's can you deal with that?

Tech advanced?

There are 2 things that I with me at all times.  

One is Olivia.

The other is my Nook Color.

 My biggest problem with this is that Olivia loves to play with the Nook.

 I set this down to use... er... um... the "facilities", 

and came back to the little girl, that I thought was sleeping, was not..

She was playing my game.

I'm just glad she didn't finish it with a better score than me.

Olivia's 1st Birthday

 I realized that I'd forgotten pictures of Olivia eating her first cake!

Here she is trying to shove her fingers into the cake.

So, we gave her a slice to dig into!

 

 She was one happy baby.

 Of course she had to show you that she's ONE!

and she was headed for ONE huge clean-up!

Headshots?!

I was looking through my camera and noticed that there are a lot of pictures of people's faces/heads.  Aaron and Hayden are the biggest offenders, but there are some others who just can't resist taking pictures of themselves.  Isn't this MY camera?

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Just one year...

can make all the difference!

July 22, 2010

About 2 hours old

First Birthday!

July 22, 2011

We love you Olivia.

300!!!!

Yep, here's post #300.  I can't believe that I've written that much.

So, in honor of this, I might just update the world on the Mellor Family.

... or not.

Just kidding.

Olivia turned one.  Yessir, ONE.  I can't believe that this little creature that the Drs. told us might not live is ONE!!!  She's a living testimony of the power of the Priesthood.  We all adore her.  She's been a talker and singer for a while now.  She says Mama, Dada, Hi, Aya (Alyssa) and she's constantly pointing her finger and saying, "Ooooo".  She's sitting up really well on her own, and she's moving around.  We'll put her on the ground and she'll move while we're not looking!  Her goal right now is for her to be able to pull herself into a sitting position from laying down.  She's getting pretty good at it.  She's a smiley little girl and there's always someone playing with her!

Hayden's 4 1/2 and talks constantly.  We get a lot of laughs out of this guy.  He
s seriously a funny kid.  This picture is very typical of Hayden.  He runs around in the store and people marvel at his energy.  As you can tell from the previous posts, he's very involved and loves to sing.  He's always making up things and stories.  He's not very shy... which can be a blessing and a curse.  He's just awesome.  He just started preschool and comes home smiling and tells me all about it!  His teachers are pretty awesome and he loves them a lot! 

Alyssa just started 7th Grade at Carson Jr. High.  She's loving Jr. High. She and Aaron ride their bikes to school, which is new for her.  She loves having a ton of different classes and gets along great with everyone.  She also LOVES being able to wear sandals and shorts to school.  So far, she says that Jr. High is WAY easier than Franklin and she's in the excelerated classes.  We'll see how is goes as the year progresses!  She's still the world's best babysitter... seriously, if you need one, call her.  She's terrific!

Aaron, ever the goof ball, spent his summer tormenting his little sister about Jr. High.  He was excited to get back to school  We debated all summer about whether to send the kids to Carson, but after we learned that a lot of teachers and the principal left, we became much more comfortable with this idea.  Aaron had a very difficult time with teachers last year that seemed to have given up on the kids.  He struggled through the year trying to balance life at home and school.  He's become friends with his sister and they have no problem hanging out together.  It's been wonderful having them both grow up a little and be willing to be nice.  We aren't perfect, but we're working on it.

This is where I spent my summer.  I love having a pool.  It's a trial not to live in it and just swim all the time.
I'm glad the kids are back in school.  If I have a rough night where I don't get enough sleep, it's a blessing to ship everyone off to their destination and go back to sleep for an hour or so while Olivia takes her morning nap.  My life pretty much revolves around my kids and it's nice to take some time for myself~ 
My house is much more cleaner than it was in the summertime!  We have instituted a rule in our home.  No friends Monday through Thursday.  If the kids have done all their chores and their teachers have signed their planners with good grades, then Aaron and Alyssa can have friends over on the weekend.  It has made schedules more sane than I ever thought!!!

Curt spent the summer growing a beard, kind of.   He actually spent the summer looking for a job.  He was laid off on June 1st and since he was a contractor, they can terminate contracts when they want.  Long story.  Anywhoo...  He left his job just in time to go with Aaron to Camp Geronimo and spend the week up there.  (My house was so quiet!)   I kept job hunting the whole time he was there.  He started a new contract with Unisys/ Verve when he got home and they had issues with paying us, so he left that contract and went to work for Wells Fargo.  I don't really know what he does, but he says that he's a cubicle monkey.  I think it's hilarious.

There's the update.  I'll post more later!   ♥ HUGS!♥

... and now...

... it's time...
... for ...
Silly Songs with Hayden!!!!


"I'm a little pee-pout
Short and sprout
Here is my handle, here is my scout
When I get all steamed up
Then I shout
Tip me over and I'll fall out."

Followed quickly by,  "... I think."

 The other one that he's constantly singing around the house
is Katy Perry's ET.

" I'm an aaaaalien
I'll be so foreign
I'm supermatural
I'm tra- tra-torial." 

Usually followed by my laughter.

Hayden's First of Preschool.

From the mouth of Hayden:
"There's a watertable! We play with colored cups and we 'Boo' at people; you know, scare them?  I ate breakfast, they gave me a biscuit hamburger with a chicken nugget inside and they gave me milk.  I drank it all.  Olivia's cute.  She fell over and got back up.  My teacher's name is Mrs. Dillon and everyone else calls her 'Miss Hope'.  I don't call her Miss Hope, I don't know why they call her that.  But sometimes they call her Teacher Hope.  She's happy and has white hair.  Maybe because people 'Boo' at her.  I played with play-doh, uh, legos, and the watertable the other day and I'm just silly today.  Ring around the rosy, pop a toe batosee...  everyone is 4 and 3.  There was a little boy that cried and cried until his mom came, but Mrs. Dillon was all, *imitating spanish* and he stopped for a little bit.  I made a friend, I don't know his name, he's just a black kid.  I'm the only white kid.  She put my name on my back so that she could tell me apart from other kids.  I don't know why.  I'm Hayden, the white kid.  I hope there are more white kids next time.  (There are,  but we had a nice discussion about this topic.)  Can you get off the computer so I can play Club Penguin now?  I don't want to tell you anymore about preschool."

What I wish for Curtis.

I was talking to Curtis the other day about the kind of Grandpa that I want him to be.  I was really trying to find the right words to explain to him everything that I hope that our grandchildren feel about him.

This picture popped into my mind.

I want him to love his grandchildren SO much that he'd be willing to wear a tu-tu for them!  The other day we had Cow Appreciation Day and Noelle's grandpa showed up dressed as a cow and wearing glitterly pink eyelashes.

(Everytime I have met Noelle's grandfather he's just doing something fun.  He's willing to wear costumes!) 

Yes, Curt. This is what I wish for you in the future. 

Glittery. Pink. Eyelashes.


Photo taken by Whitney Dibble

Greens

Hayden has a pair of flip flops that we lovingly call his "greens".  They are, of course, green.

Tonight we went to Walmart to get Curt some fruit drinks because he's heading out for a job.  As we got in the car, I saw Hayden's bare foot and asked him what happened to his green and he quickly responded that it was on the floor of the passenger side.  When we got home, I asked where his other green was and he couldn't find it.  So... back we went.

As we were approaching our former parking space I told Hayden that I'll be more mad if the green wasn't there. 

"I'm looking... I'm looking... I'm looking... I'M SEEING!!!!" 

There was the green, still in the parking spot.

I would have been mad, this was the 4th pair of greens that we've gone through in the last few months. 

Lucky Hayden.

I AM...

Horrible at keeping up with my blog.  So many apologies to my family!  I have a ton of events that have happened and I haven't been very good at documenting them.

I will be better and start with a few pictures tomorrow.

Love you all!

Spring Break: Day 1

Oh, how I love this first day of Spring Break.  As a friend pointed out, however, it's not technically spring... yet!

So, after waking up at 5 am to take Curt to the lightrail, I got back home and climbed right back into bed.  The joy of going back to sleep is something that I've missed.  I was out until 9!  I got up, fed the baby and harrassed the kids into getting their chores done.

We just goofed around until 1:30 when I remembered we need to head down to Honeyville to get some White Wheat.  (I don't want to burn through my food storage too quickly)  Sooo, anywhoo, after hanging out there and looking at all their cool stuff, the kids wanted to head over to IKEA. 

As we walked in, there was an area to make rockets for the kids.  There was also a person in a pineapple costume.  Penelope Pineapple... poor person.  The kids made rockets and since they are truly my children, they started shooting their rockets at the pineapple person.  Did I tell them to stop?  Uh, no.  The pineapple started gesturing to Aaron in a "bring it on" fashion so he kept aiming for it.  He did pretty well too!

After annoying the craft people, we headed over to the kitchen area.  People of Ikea, you really shouldn't have things unpackaged in boxes when the Mellor Clan is there.

I am a bad mother... sometimes.  But I feel as though I'm a great mother and a horrible one at the same time.  My kids and I set probably 40 timers to go off in 30 minutes.  Yes, we sat there for a bit, until we noticed an Ikea person coming into the area; then we left.   As we were leaving, Aaron started laughing and told me to listen.  I could hear  40 timers ticking down the seconds. 

We went over to the bedding and started checking out pillows and had a minor pillow fight... until an Ikea person entered the area.

We went to the kids area and I let all 3 of them run with wild abandon around the area.

I went to lighting and let the kids turn off all the lights they wanted.

Then... we got the call from Curt to get him from the lightrail.  Fun was over.

Can wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Aaron turned 13!

On Febrary 22nd, Aaron turned 13.  We took him out to Red Robin and then let him go to Target to figure out what really wanted.  Thirteen is  a diffucult age to buy for because that's when kids start to want all the expensive things that life has before them!

We checked Craigslist and found Aaron a new bike because he's had 2 stolen on the last year and I'm not willing to buy him a new one.

He's a little disappointed because I explained to him that he's a teenager now and has to start to earn his own money,  He's not liking this teenager thing so far, it's just meaning that he has more responsibility.

Positive

My husband is the only person I know that can be fine when he goes to bed, yet wakes up mad a the world.   I can be mad at the world, but if I get in a good nap, I'm happy again.   We are such opposites sometimes that we really even each other out.
I was asked recently how I can have a positive attitude when everything about me is going wrong.  Here's the answer.

Heavenly Father has given me just one more day to figure it all out.

Every morning is a new opportunity make everything the best that I can.  Not everything can change in a day, not every situation will be resolved, but He trusts me enough with "today" to let me be here.  I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon, but I want to have made an impact on those that I love.


Today, Aaron may not be friends with a single boy in the ward, but maybe one of them might have a moment together that will help them become friends.

Today, Alyssa might not become the ultimate mathmatician, but she might learn just one thing that will make it easier to get that "B".

Today, Hayden might actually poop in the potty.  Hope springs eternal for that one.

Today, Olivia might roll over, or she might realize that she has feet.

Today, I may just be able to get all the things done on my list.

Today, Curt could come home and not be exhausted.

When I was in the hospital, I was thinking about Olivia, her little brain and her surgery.  Yes, I was sad that she was having surgery, but what could I do?  I felt like I should cry.  I tried, but nothing came out.  Why?  because I am SO grateful that there was a way to fix Olivia's shunt.  Risky? Yes; I was sure of that.  Was she going to come out of it alright?  Yes; because she'd had a blessing and I'd felt assurance that what Curt was saying was true.  Do I have to cry?  No, it wouldn't change things, so why not smile?  I know the nurses were grateful.

I wake up and pray that there will always be hope.

Without hope, there's just life.

I want more than just to live.

Merely a flesh wound!

At the hospital, I mentioned that the shave would be Olivia's first hair cut.

  They saved her hair and put it in a baggie for me.

Failure

Last Thursday night, as I was cleaning up the kitchen, Curt was chatting with me and holding Olivia.  (We have a hole in our kitchen from where the window used to be and it's fabulous!)  So, I was looking at her straight on and noticed that her left eye was a little cross-eyed.  She's been whiny for the last few days and I thought it was part of the cold that we'd all had.  We laughed about it and I told Curt that I would get her to the eye Dr. and get that checked.

The next morning she was a little more cranky and her eye was now WAY crossed.  SO I called to make the appt and headed out the door to DES to fix a mistake they'd made.  I was down there for 5 hours and by the time we left Olivia was hurting.  I'd never seen her cry this way.  It was because there was so much pressure in her head.

I'd picked up Curt at the lightrail station and told him that we need to get the hospital.  He didn't think anything was wrong because she smiled at him when he got in the car... then she started crying and cried the whole way to Cardon's.

Aaron stayed with me because he'd never been in the ER before and had wondered what it was like.  So, after a bit, we went to get Olivia a Head CT and she normally loves those... no sarcasm here!  She loves being bundled up and squished!  She cried and was so upset.  She really didn't like the extra squish.


The CT came back that the venticles in her brain were enlarged.  A quick call later and they said that she'd be admitted and have surgery in the morning.  She was going to have to wait the night and they'd do another CT at 4 am. before surgery at 7:30.  The Neurosurgeon, Dr. Elton (we love him!) came by at 9:30 to see her and to explain the exact procedure, he doesn't like talking to the parents just before surgery because most parents are a mess.  We had to wait for another hour before a room could be ready for us.

2 funny things happened before we went up to her room.

* I was sitting on the bed and saw someone walk by that looked like my brother, Rich.  He's a paramedic.   I told Aaron to go in the hallway and see if he could see the guy that I was talking about.  As he turned to look down a corridor, a voice said, "Hey Aaron."  Rich took care of his patient and then came in to find out what was happening with Olivia.  I'm glad we saw him.  My parents were out of town and to see someone from my family was comforting.

* on the way up to the room, I told Aaron to grab my bags and follow.  Olivia and I were on the bed and they were going to wheel us up.  Aaron didn't think this was fair, so the nurse told him to hop on in with me.  He had a blast.  He thought it was so cool to ride in the bed and especially up to the 7th floor in the elevator.  He wants to do it again.

Curt and Derek showed up around 11pm to give her a blessing and I felt so much comfort knowing that my daughter has Heavenly support.  I often feel as though she's being watched over!

So, when they did the CT scan in to morning, Olivia was still a little upset, butnot crying.  The same tech did her Post-op CT and she could tell Olivia was SO much happier.  She babbled and smiled through the whole post-op CT ride.

Surgery went really well and Dr. Elton came to visit us in her room to tellus the good news.  The catheter in her brain was clogged, and was replaced.  He changed the valve because it looked like that wasn't working very well either.  Curt thought it was funny that we sounded like we were talking about a car and replacing a fuel pump rather than our daughter and brain surgery!   We were there when she was waking up and as soon as the anesthesia wore off, the nurses could see the difference.  She started talking, smiling and laughing.  What a wonderful child!

She has a pretty cool scar, but it's also really gruesome looking.  I'll post pictures later of the crossed eye and her scar. She's back to her happy self and all the nurses were glad and sad to have us leave.  They kept saying how we're the easy patient, because if an alarm went off, I could tell if it was serious or not.  I would replace her leads if they came off and they didn't feel like glorified babysitters!

Aaron asked me once if he were in the hospital, would I stay the whole time with him the way that I stay with Olivia.  My answer?  "Only if you want me to."  He was very happy with this answer and told me that he loves me.  It's great to have an almost teenager tell me everyday that he loves me.  My kids all are that way and I tell them at least once a day how much I love them. 

I'm grateful that all of us were sick together, Olivia is well, and that I finally got medcation to fight off my sinus infection.  It's been an eventful 2 weeks, I'm glad that it was only 2 weeks and it wasn't drawn out over more than that!

My 37th Birthday

I loved my 37th Birthday.  It was last Monday the 7th.  It was spent at home surrounded by my 4 sickly kids and husband.  My dear little 4 year old brought in a very strong cold virus and it knocked us ALL out!  Hayden had an ear infection, but we're all getting better.  I still have clogged ears and I'm hearing everything like it's coming in through a tin can.  It should go away soon!

Here's why I loved all of us being sick on my birthday.

*  We all stayed together under the blankets and kept each other warm, especially our cold feet.  Even with the heater going, we still were cold.

*  It forced all of us to be kind because we were all equally miserable.  Knowing that changed everyone's attitude.  There were many moments of laughter and teasing.

*  I've loved sitting and watching movies with my kids.  I introduced them to movies that they'd never seen; that I love.  My thanks to Netflix Instant Movies!

*  Alyssa and I (the least sick of the bunch) loved going to 3 Krispy Kremes and bringing in a haul of doughnuts.  They were out of original at one of the shops, so I got to pick out my favorite custard and kreme filled doughnuts!  Heavenly!!!

*  There were no expectations of presents, or going out, so I didn't have to wonder what everyone was going to do, nor feel bad for not having anything because we were sick.

* It was extremely peaceful because when anyone started to talk, we'd start coughing... hence, not a single arguement.

*  I loved seeing Curt's face and sickly confusion when he woke up after a cold-drug induced sleep to find out it was still Monday, my birthday.  It sounds weird, but it was SO funny!

*  Curt and I are going out next weekend to get my free Keg Steakhouse meal, and then I get to go on a mini shopping spree at Sephora.  It's a Birthday Tradition!!!!   Hooray!

*  I scheduled with "my gals" for my breakfast brunch on Saturday morning!  Oh, the joy!!!!

*  Our family discussed everything that's happened in the last year and I realized how my testimony of trials has grown.  You name it, we've been through almost trial possible... well, gratefully death wasn't a part of it!
   We decided to walk away from our home, Curt lost his job, we had no income for a few months (but we had savings!), we had a baby in NICU for 3 weeks, an emergency C-section, a few weeks of bed-rest and 4 hospital stays, and we still have one car. 

BUT WAIT!

    We found a bigger home that we could afford, Curt has a better job as a Contractor, and now he can ride the Lightrail to work and back.  We have a healthy baby girl who's body has been strengthened through many hours of prayer and fasting, who's a living example of the power of the priesthood.  Life is good, we gained a sense of humor where trials are concerned and patience to wait them out.
   I have fabulous friends that have been listening ears with wise, sagely advice.  Going out to breakfast with "my gals" often has been very therapeutic and I'm grateful for them... more than they will ever understand.  I love them like sisters and they are in my prayers often, along with my own family that I have grown to love more and more.  My parents have been my rocks and I love them and cherish them so much more than I'd ever realized. 

See?  It's been a fantastic year... who could ask for more?

I am so excited to see how this next year goes!

What the What? Wednesday!

Chicken Bakes

I LOVE Chicken Bakes from Costco.  I have driven to Costco, just for one.

I finally decided to make them on my own for dinner.

Here's what you need

2 containers of Pilsbury thin crust pizza dough, each one will make 3.
Chicken that's been grilled and sliced, frozen, found ours in freezer aisle
1 bottle of Ken's creamy Caesar dressing.
large package on Italian Cheese
Green onions, sliced
Bacon, prepared ( cut into small pieces, then cook and drain off fat)

What you do.  Preheat oven to 400.

Empty chicken into a bowl, pour dressing over top.  cook chicken in microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Unroll pizza dough, cut widthwise into 3 strips.   Down the middle of each strip,stack chicken, then bacon, then onions and cheese.  Put in a little of the dressing.  Bring the edges in and crimp into a tube.  roll tube over  so crimp is on the bottom.   brush the top of the roll with dressing and sprinkle on cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Now that we know these are good, we're going to experiment!

Olivia's almost 6 months!

 I don't know how this one got out of order, it was taken at 3 days old.