Addie says, "Eew!"

Addie decided to help me feed Taylor some rice cereal. Honestly, Taylor does seem to like it, but from all the cereal you can see on her bib, it may look otherwise....

I can tell Addie didn't enjoy that as much as she thought she was going to. :o)

Thanks for being a really good helper, Addie! You're a sweet girl!

This is what we've been up to lately:

Taylor's been rolling around to get where she wants...She'll be facing one direction (on her back) one second, then the next second she'll be facing 180 in the other direction, and on her tummy! She's quite pleased that she can turn circles & chase down her toys. She hasn't figured out how to get up on her hands & knees--just her hands or just her knees--but it's only a matter of time! Next step: baby gates!

Mikey's been reading lots & lots & lots....he has Pokemon cards to work for! His 3rd grade teacher started the whole thing by rewarding his students with Pokemon cards for every 340 pages read. This sure fired Mikey up--he's always enjoyed his reading time, but for Pokemon Cards!!!!! It was a dream come true! Needless to say, Mikey started earning his own collection quickly. Too quickly. His teacher finally said that Mikey couldn't earn Pokemon cards anymore. It was too expensive! Let me clarify--Mikey couldn't, but the other kids in his class are still earning cards. Hmm.... Mikey does love a fun book! I decided to pick up the slack by purchasing a deck of the cards & raising the bar from 340 pages/2 Pokemon to 1,000 pages/3 Pokemon. Mikey's doing great keeping track, & I just keep picking up new books for him at the Library.

Mikey and Kelli had Crazy Hair Day at school to show their school spirit. (I also think it was a part of green ribbon month--the program promoting pedestrian safety, etc.) Mikey got the 'flock of seagulls' hairstyle, but he came home telling me that everyone liked his "birthday cake hair"---can you see the candles on his head? :o) Addie had to be a little crazy, too, hence the peanut butter toast hanging out of her mouth. :o)

Kelli & Addie have kept wonderfully entertained with their imaginations....everywhere we go (whether they have toys or not) I'll overhear them saying, "Pretend I'm doing.... and then this happened..." It goes on and on.

Addie & Kelli have continued to make me nervous about their well-being.

Kelli's arm is doing a bit better, but yesterday, Kelli was racing Mikey to the crosswalk, tripped over his foot, & went sprawling onto the pavement--she's got a nice battle wound on her hip for that one....luckily missed her face! She scraped up the knuckles on her broken arm, but her arm wasn't hurting more. Whew!

Addie decided to swallow a chain bracelet of Kelli's today, and we are anxiously awaiting the resurfacing of that item. (Yes, that warrants another, "Eew!")

Sunday evening, we all got together for some silly time...Here's a few of the silly pictures we took--most of them looked awful of me, so this is what I'd allow to be 'published'--everything else is in desperate need of photo-shopping! We also had another funny moment--which ended up costing us a pretty penny. Mark came up to me on Friday evening saying, "You know how you've been wanting to replace the sink hardware in our bathrooms?" "Yes..." "Well, we're going to have to replace them a little sooner than we thought." He handed me the handle to our bathroom sink, which had just broken off. You can see from the picture that it wasn't about to go back on without a nice welding job. I'd rather have a nice new faucet! There weren't even any replacement handles readily available--that would have been a lot cheaper!Here's the new one. All of the nice "oil-rubbed" ones were about $50 more than we wanted to spend...oh well. They were a little on the dark side anyway. :o) Mark got the faucet installed Saturday night (after a full day of activities), so the sink stopper hasn't been repaced to match the new faucet yet...that's still coming, but I have promises that it will happen! Thanks, Mark! You are becoming a pretty good "Handy Manny." :o)

That's all for now! Happy Days! Joy

It's Pink?

Well, Kelli surprised me on Monday by choosing not the light blue cast like she had been planning, but a hot pink cast! What are you thinking?! I guess she just wanted it to match her shirt. :o) Oh well.

Also, we've also learned that you can give yourself a rhino horn by splitting the seed-side of a helicopter/whirly-gig & place it on your nose. It actually sticks there! Who knew? :o)

Mark & I have been enjoying playing "Settlers of Catan" in an online version called "Xplorers." Go to games.asobrain.com, click on "play" (found on the left column), then join one of the non-ranking forums to play (or play in one of the ranking forums...up to you!). It's a lot of fun--uses a lot of stratagem. On the left column, just above "play" is a button for FAQ...that will get you familiar with the rules if you haven't played Settlers before. Fun stuff!

Have a great day!

Joy

Poor Kelli!

With all the Instacare/ER visits we've had over the years, we've finally had a broken bone! Not that a broken bone is something you ever hope for when you go to the ER. :o) Poor Kelli was the lucky winner. Here's the story:

About 2:30am Thursday morning, I woke up to hear someone crying hard--it was Kelli. Through the sniffles & tears, she told me that she had fallen out of bed--from the top bunk! I was quite concerned when she said her arm was hurting (mostly her wrist), & gave her some Tylenol to help with any aches. My first thought was, "Is it broken?" but after having her move her hand around & twist, I could see she had some movement & wasn't too upset about it. Do you remember when Kelli got her hand/wrist slammed in the door up at Bear Lake? I figured it would be the same outcome as that--Dr. would say it was just tissue damage & to keep icing it. So I iced it, gave her Tylenol, & sent her off to school Thursday morning. She was a bit more sore coming home from school, so we iced it more, & gave her more Tylenol. I wanted to take her in, but was still fighting the urge, thinking of what the Dr. said last time. Well, this morning, I could fight the urge no longer! Her arm just wasn't feeling better--it was feeling a bit worse! We had to go to the Instacare facility, since our family Dr. was out of town & his radiologist was on maternity leave & we'd have to go elsewhere for the x-rays anyway. Sure enough--it's a buckle fracture on the radius bone, right near the left wrist. I should have just taken her in yesterday! It's a very common type of break & usually heals beautifully--no worries for her wrist in the future. (She'll be a great athlete/musician yet!) She's got a splint on her arm right now--she'll be wearing that until the swelling goes down, & Monday afternoon she'll get a cast. She's thinking light blue would be nice. :o) It's going to make soccer interesting. She's having a really hard time not getting it dirty or wet. How many weeks are we going to do this?!!! This is nuts!!!

Addie's also been getting beat up--she tripped & biffed it hard on her face while trying to skip. Shame on me for suggesting that she skip down the side walk! Poor girl! The scabs looked pretty nasty the next day--all over her bottom lip, top lip, above her top lip, & on her chin. I don't know why, but that girl just can't seem to land on anything but her face! We need to teach her to put her hands out a little bit further in front of her--she's always rocking off of them onto her face before the fall stops. Mom, was I this accident prone? I know I'm a bit clumsy, but really!!!She's getting excited to go to school, though she doesn't have much attention span to work on her letters. (Even if I make it fun with M&M's...this just might be interesting trying to teach her!)

Taylor's getting stronger each day--I had her sitting up for a while today. It wasn't totally on her own & she was making sounds like her tummy was getting squished, but she was still pleased!

Mikey's been having fun playing a new game that he & his friends call "Mario Kart Live," which basically means they ride around on their bikes pretending to be characters from Mario Kart 64. It's pretty funny to hear them play--"Ha, ha! I just got you with a green shell!" Well, I hear someone else crying...better go! Hopefully it's not another visit to the Instacare!

Oooh, Noooo!!!

I've finally grown up, everyone. I hit my big 3-0 the other day.

Have to admit it doesn't feel much different from 29...except for the immense wealth of knowledge & wisdom that comes with age. :o) Just kidding. But like my Mom told her Dad when she turned thirty--I'm not a young whippersnapper any more, & you have to listen to me! :o)

Funny, when I blew out my birthday candles with Mark & the kids, I'm pretty sure I didn't wish for any gray hairs to disappear, but for some reason I can't remember what I DID wish for... does that come with the grander years, too? Immense knowledge & wisdom, but the inability to remember what is it you are so wise about? :o) Must be. Thanks, everyone, for making my birthday fun, & thanks for all the gifts, cards, and sweet birthday wishes!

My birthday pie was a cream cheese & lemon pudding delight, complete with swirls of fresh, home-grown blackberries & homemade blackberry syrup, and a dreamy cloud of real whipped cream on top. Lovely! I had more than my hips could take!

I'm starting something new--Volleyball season has begun, and along with enjoying playing with the fun girls in my ward, I decided to accept the challenge of becoming a ref! Imagine me with a whistle! Along with learning how to not sound like a dying quail whenever I blow the whistle, I have now taken the challenge of learning how to flip a coin. :o) It's not something that I've ever felt compelled to do, so I felt a bit awkward my first time flipping a coin at the game. I've since practiced. :o) As soon as volleyball ends, training for reffing Basketball begins! Whoopee! This is actually fun! :o) I'm glad the girls are forgiving of refs-in-training. :o)

Taylor had another first the other day...her first feeding of rice cereal! She wasn't thrilled, but not terribly offended either. We'll keep trying. :o)

This is one of her more smiley pictures after eating. Most of the pics were quite grim. :o)

This video makes it look like she was enjoying at least a bit--wanted to keep trying--but by the end of the feeding (about 60 seconds later) she had had enough! All she wanted was to chew on the bowl--forget the spoon! It looked like a much more exciting toy anyway. :o)

Saturday was an exciting day. Mikey & Kelli had their first soccer games of the season! Yes, we put them both in soccer--Kelli because she really wanted to play after seeing Mikey play this last spring, and Mikey because he couldn't let his sister get better than him at sports! Besides, Kelli has these really cute pink & black soccer cleats that seem to help her play really well.... :o) They are on two different teams (I know, they're both wearing white jerseys), but luckily their games are either at the same time (both fields are right next to each other), or one after the other. This last Saturday, Mark & I just swapped places at half time--hopefully I got enough footage/pictures of both of them. ;o) Mikey seemed to be getting roughed up a bit, but was quite the trooper & kept working hard! Kelli has been quite the go-getter, & just missed a goal--maybe next time!

Kelli, warming up her pink shoes before the game...

Taylor's a bit concerned at all the whistles & noisy kids. Wouldn't you be?

Taylor hit her 5 month mark yesterday, & we celebrated it with putting on a

Harker Family Talent Show!

I caught the whole thing on tape, but unfortunately, Mark doesn't want it aired on the blog (probably fortunately for you all!!!). If you're simply dying to see it, come visit & I'll plug the camcorder into the tv. :o) Or maybe I could convince Mark that we could at least show the 'grand finale,' which simply means all of us re-doing the same silly stuff we had just performed, but all at the same time. :o) Mark & Mikey, with their soccer talent, Kelli & Addie with dancing (& ballet, as Addie insisted), and Taylor & I with some grooving baby moves, in Baby-Aerobics!

This video was from Saturday afternoon (after the soccer cleats were tossed into the shoe basket), but it'll give you an idea of what Addie & Kelli did for their talent at the talent show.

Addie was quite the announcer for the whole thing--I didn't realize that she was trying to announce each act until Taylor & I took the stage. :o) This morning I realized where she learned that talent (check out the Disney channel--"Did the Monkey Mail come? Did the Monkey Mail come? Yes, the Monkey Mail Came! Well, who's it from? ..... Coming up next, on Play-House-Disney!). Fun times. Good memories! Addie will begin preschool very soon--the class begins Oct. 6th. Hurrah! It'll be weird having just one little Harker at home--especially one that just happens to nap during the same hours everyone else will be at school.... Hmm... just what will I ever think of to keep myself busy?! How about laundry, dishes, bathrooms, bedrooms, dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping.... I could go on. :o) But then you'd have to start singing, "Cinderelly, Cinderelly!" in a high pitched voice. :o)

Have a wonderful day, everyone! Joy

I'm Back

Missed me? So it's been a while since my last post. Sorry! :o) I'm back now. We've had a little bit going on--the kids went off track. So during the first week of their three week break, we had lots of Grandma/cousin playtime. The park one day, Chick-fil-a the next....play, play, play!

One day, Mark, the kids, & I took the time to head out to the zoo with Grandma, cousins, & aunts & uncle. Lots of fun! Long day. :o) I was planning on taking them again during the third week off track, but ended up with Mark's head cold, & didn't feel much like heading out anywhere. (Yech!) Anyway, here's pics of the zoo trip.

Believe it or not, but these kids took off holding hands without being prompted by picture-crazy moms & grandma... :o) So fun!Everyone had their own plastic cup to refill with kettle corn--a favorite treat for zoo retreats. :o)
The white bundle is Taylor--she wasn't a big fan of the sun, and didn't mind having a sun hat over her face. (Especially once she fell asleep.)
Everyone wanted to ride the Tiger & her baby. This is another view of the tiger exhibit--the kids were all swimming.
Taylor loves her Auntie Ambree & Uncle Drew!This is the first time we've been on the carousel. You'll notice while Kelli chose the eagle to ride, she's also holding her new feather up high for all to see. I'm not sure if it's from a hawk or what. Maybe I need to brush up on bird recognition at the bird show, showing at 10am & 1pm weekdays. :o) Her feather has become the subject of her riddle box at school this week. Mikey loves being the fastest (or on the fastest animal).
Addie's favorite animal at the zoo is the 'horse'--just ask her! We had the hardest time explaining to Addie that there were no horses at the zoo ("Yes, there are!!!") until she told us about the ones with stipes--now why didn't we think of that before? Probably because she's always referred to them as 'zebras' before! Too bad there wasn't one with a horn... Everyone got to ride the train--Mikey, Addilyn, Brooke, & Kelli, with the back of Griffin's head in the corner.
Grandma Harker & GriffinLily, Melissa, Sarah & WilliamJoy(me) & Mark, with Sarah & William behind us, & Taylor's sunhat-covered head infront of me.Taylor. Little did I know, the reason for her fussiness was all the spit-up on her face! Poor girl--I fixed that right after I veiwed the picture. :o) Carrie, holding Collin's neiceBy the end of the day, everyone wanted to kick off their shoes & relax--or at least cool off a little!As if we hadn't had a long enough day, we decided we couldn't travel back home to the other side of the valley without visiting a historical monument, & help Mikey out with one of his scouting requirements. I stayed with the baby in the van, while everyone else left us with a bit of silence (hurrah!)--not that the noise wasn't fun or anything! :o) It was just time for some quiet! If you didn't look close enough, you might have just missed Mikey standing at the bottom of that huge tower on the monument. Yep--he's there.

Addie, Kelli, & Mikey, standing infront of a family of handcart pioneers--I'd be praying in thanks, too, if I had made it through that journey!
Mikey was quite pleased to find such a great place to climb up to for pictures. :o) Mikey has a moment of well deserved praise--he has earned his Bobcat (Boy Scouts of America), a few other awards, and is halfway finished with his wolf! Way to go, Mikey!!! You do a great job with scouting! Keep it up! I have also learned what type of fabric doesn't do well with scouting pins pushed into them. My white shirt got a little hole....bummer. Maybe I should wear something a little more forgiving when Mikey earns his Wolf! In all fairness, Mikey did a very good job pinning the Bobcat pin onto me--he's had some practice with his tie tack from Grandma & Grandpa Harker. :o)Mark, helping Mikey get all his awards into place.The activity at the end of pack meeting was great--all the scouts had decorated their own 2liter bottle, and we shot off water-filled bottle rockets until it was dark!--a very wet experience. I love it when Mikey smiles! Maybe we just need to shoot off bottle rockets more often!Mikey & Addie--Getting wet.Mikey's turn to pull the plug & send his bottle soaring!

Addie was having fun tackling Mark--I think Mark was having a bit of fun as well!

Taylor just looked pleased to be outdoors. :o)

Another big bit of news--in August, I posted Taylor's big roll over to her tummy (caught after the fact). She's become a baby rolly-polly proficient in the weeks that followed, and last night, while she lay on the kitchen table, with Mark's family gathered all around, Taylor rolled from her tummy to her back! Huzzah! I told you she's a rolly-polly proficient! Here's a cute clip of Taylor playing with her daddy. :o) She loves to giggle just before bedtime!

Taylor's even getting big enough to sit up (with a bit of blanket support) in a highchair & loves it!

What's next? ....dinner time. :o)

Have a wonderful week, everyone! Joy