To the dogs

Today I went visiting teaching and ended up getting bit by a dog.  I know, it's a dangerous business that church stuff...... I shouldn't joke about this because it is really serious and it actually really got me thinking about the whole situation.  My kids have been sick for about 2 weeks.  Rachel started with it:  a horrible hacking cough, fever and incessant whining.  Then she passed it along to Josh with which came: a horrible hacking cough, fever and incessant whining thrown together with waking up at night, no energy (which is a miracle for this boy) and that sad sick look in his eyes.  Then Kate managed to get this thing (I know how could that possibly happen?) Luckily she only got the horrible hacking cough, incessant whining and enough snot running out of her nose to fuel the entire state of Utah.  (I don't really know what that means, but you get the point, right?) 

So ALL of them have had this cough and the incessant whining and they have been driving me nuts!  Okay I get that you don't feel well but do you have to yell at me and throw a fit every time I say ANYTHING?  I honestly have been trying to be the patient, loving mother that never raises her voice and stays up all night tending to the sick child.  But I need sleep too!  I need to not be coughed on for 3 minutes straight and the boogers?  I could do without those too.  I have been going nuts and I apologize if you've seen me in the past 2 weeks and I've bitten your head off.  I'm just wound a little too tightly these days. 

So this morning started out like every other morning with drama, tears, fighting and finally me getting so mad the kids are afraid I'm officially going to come apart.  (Seriously, the lid to the toothbrush?  This is why you are making everyone miserable?  You think I'm joking that this was a cause for a meltdown...don't you?)  Well I got Rach off to school and Josh, Kate and I were going visiting teaching.  We hit one house...success!  Then as we are approaching the door to the next house we hear a dog going crazy barking.  I look up and this dog is headed straight toward us...first at my companion, then at me (who was holding Kate), then came straight at Josh.  He was barking like crazy but I knew this would scare Josh to death (he's already kind of afraid of dogs besides our next-door neighbor, Cash).  So I blocked Josh in the corner of the entryway to protect him. I put my leg out and that's when I got bit.  I know without one doubt in my mind that if I wouldn't have done that he would have bit Josh.  This was not a nip either.  I was wearing jeans and I have 1 long bite, a puncture and a scratch, 2 of which were bleeding.  If he would have gotten Josh it probably would have snapped his leg in two. 

I've always been a dog lover, but this was totally unprovoked. They said they are going to put the dog down today because this is not the first time it's happened (like the 10th).  The bite didn't hurt too terribly bad, about as bad as a puncture wound and a scratch can be, but after we came home I totally had a come-apart at the thought of that dog getting Josh.  He seems totally un-phased, thankfully.  But it just helped reassure me that no matter how crazy my kids make me (and yes I feel like I'm going to ram my head into the wall sometimes) that I will protect them at no matter what the cost. 
Had that been a bullet?  I would have taken it without even blinking. 
Some mad man with and axe?  Come and get me. 
As long as those kids are safe from everything I can protect them with then I am a good mom even though I really don't feel it most of the time.  I know I'm just rambling at this point but I know that I'm not the only mom out there that is being driven nuts by their kids.  Don't loose faith.  Don't lose hope in them and think that they will become a menace to society.  They know their mom loves them and would take a dog-bite for them.    

The happiest place on earth

I'm going to start off by saying that this post is not for the fainthearted.  I have a million pictures (and this is barely a fraction of what we took) but I didn't have the heart to not document some of it.  So sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy and entire week of Maughan life in the happiest place on earth.  

When we gave a trip to Disneyland to the kids for Christmas it seemed like it was so far away and their countdown chains weren't getting any smaller and now all of the sudden it's over!  What happened?  It was honestly one of the most fun (if not the most fun) vacation we have ever taken.  Yes we left Kate home and yes it was hard, but honestly it was a lot easier without her there.  No diapers for a whole week!!  It was a very long drive though but these two angels were so good despite Rach trying to look mad in this picture, she was just posing.

 

To break the trip up a bit we stopped in Las Vegas and spent a night there.  Even though Vegas is my least favorite place in the whole world we actually had a lot of fun.  We decided to go see the fountains at the Belagio which was awesome.  As we were walking in from the parking lot there were 2 ladies standing by the door and 2 men walking in next to us.  One of the men said to the ladies, "Are you two prostitutes?" and the lady said "You can't afford us."  I about died!  This is my kids first experience with Vegas, we've been there for 2 minutes and this is what they hear!  Come to find out the men were just parking and they were actually together (hopefully happily married) and just joking.  I'm glad my kids don't know what prostitutes are yet.  That could have been really bad.......

 

We made it to California the next day and hit Disneyland hard for 3 whole days from opening until they kicked us out at night, no rests, no naps, hardly even sitting down to eat.  This is one of those rare times where I'm so glad my kids can function (and prefer to function) on little sleep.  I knew there was a reason they never napped.  We met all the characters and got autographs too.  And now I know if I ever want to torture Trav all I have to do is stick him in It's a Small World and he will slowly be driven insane.....

 

One of the favorite rides by far was the teacups.  We went on that one several times.  I have to say that is was the perfect time to go to Disneyland. Lots of rides we could just walk on and most of them we waited for about 5 minutes to get on, so we actually hit pretty much every ride in both parks, (I can count on 1 hand how many rides we missed). We went on our favorites a few times and the weather was PERFECT.

 

Here's Josh relaxing after the first day in Disneyland in the hotel with the coveted twinkie.  Man, life is good.

 

Day 2 we decided to go see the princesses.  This was BY FAR the longest wait we had and it was about 45 minutes but lucky mom got to wait in line while everyone else ate lunch.  Rachel was a little star struck but she loved seeing the real princesses.

 

This is what Josh's face looked like while we were visiting the princesses.

 

Let's get some sugar flowing through those veins so we don't have to stop!

 

This is more what Josh liked.  Lightning McQueen.  They're building a whole section for Cars in California Adventure.  I'm sure it will be so cool when it's all done.Last time I went to Disneyland California Adventure didn't even exist. What!?! It's been a while and long overdue.

 

Here we are getting ready for the Toy Story ride.  SO much fun!

 

Don't you wish you sometimes had one of these in your house?  Anyone...Anyone?  Ummm okay I guess I'm the only one.

 

We went on Mickey's Fun Wheel (the big ferris wheel) about 6 times and of course we had to get on the carts that swing. It was so fun and kind of a rush.

 

On night 2 one of our friends that lives about 5 minutes away from Disneyland came and took the kids around for a while so Trav and I could go on some of the bigger rides.  Thanks Tamera!  It was awesome.  After a couple hours Josh started missing us even though he won that cute Mickey playing a game. 

 

By the time we got back to the hotel he got his 2nd wind again and they played until I wanted to go to bed. 

How do they never get tired?

 

Our third day (okay this is getting long) was spent devoted to hitting all of our favorite rides again.  Yes Rach and I match, no I didn't plan that.

 

We let them each pick out a souvineer to bring home.  Josh chose a supercool light saber.  I thought this picture turned out kind of cool with no flash on. This is what kept us all entertained while we were waiting for the World of Color fountain show.  It was so cool!  (I keep saying that)

 

We were sad to leave Disneyland but vowed to go back again.  I have to admit it was nice to have a day to relax and drive down the coast to San Diego. We stopped at the beach and this was the kids' first time ever seeing the ocean.  The water was colder than Bear Lake (gasp!) so we just stuck our toes in but we literally had the beach to ourselves. Only those crazy Utahn's think that 65 degree weather is warm. No, it's perfect.  They loved playing in the sand and waves and this beach was beautiful with cliffs and caves and some sea lions too!

 

These ones are just soaking up the sun but in the water right next to them there were some mothers teaching their babies how to swim. It was so cute!

 

After spending the night in San Diego and swimming in the hot tub (it was outdoor and kind of stormy so the pool was cold) We went to Sea World!  Even though half of the park was under construction it was still cool.  And for people like us that can do Disneyland in a blink of an eye this was a piece of cake.  We had spare time!

 

Josh wore a very appropriate shirt but I couldn't get a good picture with the real sharks so this was the best I could do.

 

We even ran into some old friends from West Jordan. How random is that? 

Before leaving San Diego we had to hit the beach again.  We tried a different spot this time.  There were more people and lots of surfers which was so cool.

 

Josh's favorite part was burying rocks and building sand castles.  They always have to have a "flag"

 

Rachel loved playing in the freezing water.  We didn't put her swimsuit on because we thought there was no way she'd want to get in.  Well, she was soaked from the bellybutton down and didn't even bat an eye. 

 

This was the best vacation and we couldn't have anything happen any better than it did (okay the whole prostitute thing I wasn't a fan of and we didn't realize that Nascar was going on in Vegas when we were trying to leave so it took us an hour to get out of Vegas.  What is with Vegas?)

While we were gone Kate stayed with grandma and grandpa Schick and not only learned how to crawl up and down the stairs but how to walk too.  Grandpa you're in so much trouble!  She was a little shell shocked when we got home....no more peace and quite.  Only the chaos that we know and love so well.  After about an hour of being home I was holding her and she stuck her head in my shoulder and started breathing so hard, like she was just breathing me in.  She patted my back and after that we're back to normal, as normal as we can be here at the Maughan's.   

So keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times and have a great day!

Valentines out the ears

Okay, to start us off today here is a picture of our yard after that big snow last week.  Our stream is still gorgeous in the snow.  Anyone want to go swimming?  

 And I just can't get enough of this little (okay it's pretty chubby) face.  I'm sure going to miss it when we're in Disneyland!  Only 3 more days......not that I'm counting or anything.

 Valentine's day was great this year.  I had to work that night but we still had fun and celebrated.  (okay people, just because it's Valentine's doesn't mean you have to tip bad) Trav went and picked Rachel up from school and she had gotten about a million treats from her Valentine's party.  So she decided to line up all her treats to see what she got.....

It started in the bedroom......

 

Went down the hall.....

 And into the kitchen....

 Those of you that have been to my house know that this isn't a tiny little hallyway. It's actually pretty long and these candies were lined up neck and neck.  It'll be a miracle if we get through this without any cavities.

If their teeth aren't clean at least their bodies will be.  Also when I was at work (there seems to be a trend here) the kids decided to take a deluxe bubble bath.  I think it's 30% water and 70% bubbles.  But they sure had fun!

 Don't forget the beards.....

 Hmmmmm, what is this funny stuff?

 Mental note, don't eat the funny stuff!

 Then on that gorgeous Sunday we had a couple weeks ago we took a lovely walk to the ponds.  Of course Rach and Josh had to find the biggest sticks they could carry and yes, carry them with them the whole time. 

And you are probably thinking.....gorgeous...what's with all the snow?  Oh no!  That is not snow it's the fuzzies off of the cattails.  It looks like snow though!

 There were lots of hungry geese and ducks there so we helped feed them.

I love that this is within walking distance from our house.  We had such a blast and told our tired kids we were training our legs for Disneyland.  When I suggested a walk the next day they replied with a groan, "We already did that.  We don't need to do it again."  I guess walking is one of those things you don't need to practice. 

My baby's not a baby!

Kate turned one yesterday!  Is it just me or was this past year the fastest one we've had so far?  

Well, we'll get to that in just a minute.  First things first here's a few random photos.  

Joshy's "thing" lately is to take his shirt off and say as loud as he can "I'm a man!"  Okay, I know he didn't get that from me, I'm just getting a little curious to what goes on Saturday nights when I'm at work?  And although he insists, no Josh, I don't want to be "a man" too.

Don't you just want to start singing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam?" when you look at this picture?  I do!

 For family night a few weeks ago we pulled out our new game we got for Christmas.  Twister.  Yes, Kate was even in on it too.  Josh dropped out after one game, he couldn't spread his little legs that far.

 Here's another thing Trav gave to my kids......sticking their tongues out while concentrating, especially when coloring or writing.  Trav ALWAYS does that! (and he's an architect so I'm thinking there's a lot of tongue sticking out at work?) But now the kids are in school and drawing more they both do it all the time too.  It's a good thing he doesn't have habit of picking his nose or farting or anything....um......let's just move on.......

I just had to throw this one in.  What a little cutie, and you can see 2 of her teeth really good.  The grand total is now 6 beautiful teeth!

 Well, when it comes to birthday's I know I've said this before.  I am NOT creative.  I love birthdays, I love celebrating them, but sorry kids you will never get a super-cool totally awesome birthday cake from me (Julianne, thanks for setting the bar so high). So my specialty is funfetti and I just might color the frosting and put sprinkles on it.  But now Rach and Josh are old enough they can help decorate too!  I found these cool food coloring markers that worked great so the kids decorated the sides of the cake for me.  Maybe next year I'll just leave the whole thing to them.

 Notice the balloons, hearts and the messages of "I love you" on the sides?  Awesome.

And now we've made it to the birthday!  Yes it was on Superbowl Sunday, and did I even know who was playing?  Nope, and I'm okay with that.  This party was much more fun.  We had both sets of grandparents and my sister and her little boy, Jack, over for dinner.  It was so great to have everyone there to celebrate.  After dinner Kate got her very own birthday cake (I know I actually made 3 cakes, look how cool I am now!)

Anyone want to give me a kiss?

Maybe if I just lick the cake I can get more in my mouth.....

 I think I'll just have to pick the whole thing up and dump it in my mouth....that's the most efficient way!

Wow, I think I've had a little bit too much sugar.  I'm starting to feel a little funny....

After a quick, or not so quick, wash we got to open presents! She got a totally awesome stash, especially for someone that really doesn't need anything.  Pretty much everything she got was loud, lights up and played music.  Good thing she loves to dance!

Maybe Kate will be mine after all, no more getting all the traits from Trav.  This girl is a book worm.  Come on baby, stay on team Em......

And here's some last pictures of Kate with grandma and grandpa Maughan.

And grandma and grandpa Schick.

Now if only Kate could play with her new toys.......

  Happy Birthday baby!  I love you!