Ashton's Plan

Ashton saw our fetal doppler (yes, we have one... we bought it from China off of ebay when I was pregnant with Will and it is really, really fun and if we didn't have it Jeremy and the kids would never get to hear the baby because I go to my dr. appointments alone) lying on the bed tonight and the following conversation occurred:

A: "I am going to be super, super nice to my wife when she has a baby in her tummy."
Me: "You are?"
A: "Yes, she isn't going to have to do any cleaning up the house."
Me: "That's nice of you. I am proud of you."
A: "Yeah, I am going to help her. I am not going to make my kids do any chores either. I am going to all the cleaning. I am going to be the best dad."
Me: "Is that your plan? Wow, you are going to be the best dad!"
A: "You should think about doing my chores for me. You should make that plan."

That's not going to happen anytime soon.

Farm Mania

This post is not about Jeremy's work or about the way that Will get's dressed in farm clothes every morning and then begs to be able to go help his Daddy. It is about an addicting, heart-racing, computer game.

We discovered this game when I opened the free trial as a way to keep Ashton and Will still on the first day that I was home alone with kids after my surgery. It was only so effective at keeping them from jostling me and hurting my stomach wounds. :)

Anyway, the idea is the girl is trying to help her grandpa save the family farm. She only has so much time to feed animals, grow vegetables, send stuff to market, etc. The grandpa helps scoop water from the well and pitch hay, but the girl has to do everything else. If stuff doesn't get fed, watered, or weeded in time it dies. And the whole time the clock is ticking. It is very intense.

Jeremy was laughing/annoyed when he was trying to talk to me this morning while Katie was playing Farm Mania. I kept shouting things like, "Hurry, your goose needs water!" or "Hoe, hurry the pumpkin is going to die." or "Get your money!" He said, "Wow, it's just like a real farm."

Ashton, who is in the stage of life where he is becoming a little obsessed with fairness/justice was put out and said, "Hey, how come the Grandpa gets to take rests?" I said, "He is old." He was only slightly mollified.

My Kids' Father

So, it's Father's Day and of course I am very grateful for my dad and Jeremy's dad... they made us who they are and are STILL sacrificing and doing so much for us EVERY DAY. But today, especially, I am so, so, so grateful for my children's dad.

To say our kids adore him would be a huge understatement. They love taking turns spending the day with him on the farm. They love the voices he uses when he reads and tells us stories. The second he walks in the door he is bombarded by kids jumping on him and loving him. We have to negotiate who gets to sit by Jer at church because hey, I want a turn too. He is honestly a better parent than me and I am so grateful to share that responsibility with him.

This week has been kind of busy. I had a party at my house on Thursday and then my gall bladder out on Friday. Jeremy has been truly amazing. I don't know how I could have survived the last few days without him. He helped me clean up the house and get ready for the party. Then, he was just what I needed at the hospital before and after my surgery.

Of course he has been perfect since too!! I haven't been able to get out of bed myself so for the last couple of nights since the surgery he wakes up every four hours to give me my pain medications and helps me into the bathroom. He even came home from the farm to get my lunch, medication, and shower. I am so grateful for how attentive he has been.

Jeremy blesses our family with his priesthood and his example and just by being who he is. I am so grateful that my children have such a wonderful man for a father.

Happy Father's Day! We love you!!

Whitey-Tighties or My Failures as a Mother

Yesterday, we had a great day at the swimming pool. Even though it was cold, the kids and Jer swam, splashed, and spun while I observed and ran to the bakery to get our picnic. After stopping for peaches and toast at Grandma Coxes we made came home. I asked the kids to change into their jammies and get ready for scriptures and stories. This request was immediately met by whines of "I don't know where any clean undies are." AND "I think I used my last clean undies last night." You get the point. Anyway, I told them to go look in the laundry room and in their drawers.

A few minutes later, Ashton come up, naked from the waist down, insisting that he didn't have any. I called over to my moms to see if any of my kids had left any clean underwear there. They hadn't. A few minutes later, Katie came up in her jammies. I asked her if she found underwear and she nodded, guiltily. About 10 minutes later Matthew came up in tears because he could not find any clean underwear. I said, "Ask Katie if you can borrow a pair of hers tonight because she found some." He replied, "I did and she doesn't have an extra pair."

At this point I said, "Katie where did you find your underwear?"

"Actually, I couldn't find any of my clean underwear so I am wearing Ashton's. Actually, they are the ones that Ashton grew out of and gave to Will, so I am really wearing Will's underwear." Now, I understood her guilty look.

At this point I was so tired and sick of the underwear crisis that I told Matthew, "Go get you and Ashton a pair of Will's underwear for tonight." I knew he had plenty because I had just folded them.

When Matthew came into the room to get his jammies, wearing size 3 underwear I started laughing out loud and thought to myself, "That gives whitey tighties a whole new meaning."
They had to be miserable! They were so TIGHT on his little rear end and he was walking a little odd.

I swear, I feel like I've been doing laundry constantly. But thinking back, I realize it is mostly just ball uniforms, dirty towels, farm clothes, muddy clothes, camping stuff, and not the important stuff like underwear for my kids!

Anyway, I wasn't going planning on telling anyone about our underwear situation, but when Jer got home and I told him that all 4 of our children were wearing Will's size 3 Scooby-Do underwear, we started laughing so hard that I realized I had to share... If for no other reason that to help someone else realize that sometimes parenthood is about survival and not perfection.

So, now I've aired my dirty laundry, (sorry that was super cheesy) I can go about my day and make sure the kids have SOMETHING (even if it isn't there full uniforms) to wear to ball tonight.

A Handful of Little Ones

I guess it is time to reveal one of the worst-kept (but very exciting) secrets of the year... we are adding another little one to our family! He or she will make their appearance sometime around Thanksgiving. I wanted to wait and post the big announcement until after Jeremy could scan in some ultrasound pictures, but after he informed me we need another USB cable to hook up the scanner I figured I probably shouldn't wait any longer.

Anyway, the first three months were difficult. Not only did I have morning sickness to contend with, but I had my third (in a row) subchorianic (not sure I spelled that right) hemmorage. They don't know what causes it because they usually see it in mom's who smoke and use and drugs, but it required two months of bedrest. That was challenging to say the least. It eventually dawned on me that if I wanted to get better, I really had to stay down and once I was more strict with myself I did improve and get better.

This morning we asked the kids what we should name our new baby and these are the names we came up with. I italicized the more entertaining ones.

Boy

Dallin- Jer

Soren- Jer

Jens- Jill

Callen- Jill

Daven- Katie

Spark- Matthew

Holly- Ashton (after the blue New Holland tractor)

J.D.- Ashton (after the green John Deere tractor)

Girl

Holly- Ashton (again, after the tractor)

Pretty Cox- Matthew

Wonder Cox- Matthew

Bella- Katie

Lucy- Katie (after Lucy in the Chronicles of Narnia)

Hazen- Jill

Haley- Jer

Jane- Jill

Lemon- Katie (after Miss Lemon in Poirot). This suggestion brought cheers from the boys.

We still have 5 months so I'm sure we'll come up with some more interesting ones.

Back to Work

So, after a two month hiatus while I was on bedrest, I had an Usborne Books party tonight. Here is what I learned (or was just reminded of):

• I love helping people find the perfect books for the kids in their life! (And sharing a little something that might make them a better parent.)
• I love helping people get books free!!
• I love having something to look forward to... other than laundry.
• I love actually getting dressed up once or twice a week. (Seriously, this is the first time I've worn foundation since April.)
• I love getting out of the house!!!
• Talking to other adults is FUN.

I've got another party to look forward to tomorrow. It is nice to be doing something again.

My Kind of Camping

This weekend the kids and I went camping with my family (parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins). We had a great time!! The only thing that would have made it better is if Jer would have been able to come with us, but he is in the middle of hay and couldn't leave his dad high and dry right now.

Anyway... for me to say a camping trip is a wonderful experience is very unusual. I really hate camping!! I hate being dirty. I hate preparing food without a kitchen. I hate not showering. I hate not having bathrooms. I hate sleeping outdoors. I do love being with family. I do enjoy going on nature walks and short hikes. I love playing games. I love sing alongs around a campfire. But, all of the other things I don't like about camping have always out-weighed the things I do enjoy. That's why the place we camped at, Heber Valley Camp, was perfect for me!!

There were working restrooms, including showers. We slept in clean, bug-free, cabins. The pavilion had nice gas camp chefs and sinks and counter tops. There was gravel and bark spread around so it wasn't muddy. And the scenery was gorgeous!!!

Heber Valley Camp was the brain-child of President Hinckley and all of the camps are named after righteous women. It includes a lake where you can do paddle boats and canoes (we didn't do that this time) and three challenge courses (we did do that). The staff consists of couple missionaries. I have to say, EVERYONE, thought this would be the best mission ever! We did have to do a thorough cleaning of our campsite which added probably 1-2 hours to packing up. But I think it was SO worth it!! I enjoyed camping for the first time since we stayed in cabins at Yellowstone about 15 years ago.

The first day, while we were getting dinner ready, the kids and my siblings and cousins played catch. Steve found a left-handed toddler mitt at my mom's house and this was Will's first time to use it.

Here is Katie with my cousin Samantha. Katie and Sammy both just finished kindergarten and had fun together!

I brought tractors and trucks for Ash and Will and they spent HOURS driving around the campsite, filling their trucks with rocks and dumping them. As long as those boys have dirt and trucks they are happy!

It was a bit chilly for June, so we spent quite a bit of time around the fire. Well, not Will, ever since he was burned on my mom's gas fireplace, he is scared of fire. One of my favorite Heslop-family camping traditions is listening to David (and others) singing around the fire.

The next morning, Steve, my mom, aunt Joan, and uncle David took all the little campers (my kids, my cousins' kids, and my little cousins) on a hike. They saw deer, ducks, geese, and beavers up close and personal. I think that might be the first time my kids saw a beaver in the wild.

After the hike and breakfast everyone went to the challenge course. My aunt Vinda had reserved one that as appropriate for all ages. Everyone participated in a variety of challenges and the sister missionaries shared gospel applications like faith and commitment after each activity. One the way home, my kids were discussing one of the challenges and they came up with a couple of different applications. I was impressed at the impact those challenges and discussions had on them.

Ashton and Will had such great times that they feel asleep almost instantly. Ashton kept bobbing his head forward and it looked very miserable. So my mom, who was sitting next to him, took a bungee cord off a foam pad and used it hold is held up. He slept bungeed to the seat for about an hour.

A couple of funny things Ashton said:

On the way up, the road was steep and windy (but well-paved!!) for about 5 miles. Ashton said, "Uh-oh! I think this is Thunder Mountain!" (He was pretty scared on that ride at Disneyland.) Then he added, "I do not want to come down! It really will be Thunder Mountain!" (We went down in second and it wasn't a problem.)

Last week, I took the kids to Night at the Museum 2 where they make a big deal about a night guard having a flashlight. The hero of the show is the night guard. Anyway, the first day/night we were there, Ashton kept insisting on having the flashlight with him at all times. Steve tried to take it away when it was for time for bed. But Ashton wanted to take it with him. When we asked him why he needed it, he looked at us very seriously and said loudly, "I want to be the night guard!!"

The next morning he woke up and said, "Steve, Grandma snores like a back hoe driving. She woke me up." Steve, my dad, and I were laughing so hard.

So now we are home and I am remembering the one last thing I don't like about camping, the laundry and clean up that follows. Thankfully, today is the Sabbath so I can put off cleaning it up until tomorrow. What a great weekend!

What was that?

Tonight at dinner Jeremy and I had to chuckle over the following exchange:

Katie: Dad, I want to learn to milk a cow. Can you teach me sometime?

Ashton: Eww! That's disguistin'! I never want to touch those gudders!