Yes, I know I am slow

to post things right now. Things have been so busy and that is really not an excuse for not posting, but I do resolve to be more chatty.
So what have I been doing this month? Dyeing yarn, knitting projects. I am getting ready to dye yarn to make my first sweater for myself. YES! For myself, I am so excited.
School started this week. I got a letter notifying me that I had made the Dean's List last semester and that made me feel good. Accomplished. Like what I was doing was not a waste of time.

Here are a few pictures from this month so far:

lexi's new hair cut...thanks to gum that would not come out!

My "NEW" old fashioned plates. For those that really know me, I LOVE vintage things and am always on the look out for something to add to our home that is old fashioned. I found a set of these dishes the other day and just fell in love!

Now this, this was NOT my doing! The kids were home and Harrison came up with this dress and "asked" for it to be on. Kaitlyn dressed him and as you can see, he is quite proud! He twirled all afternoon!

Yummy yarn....it just doesn't get any better than that.

You have to love friends

Tonight I got to go out with the girls. First, I went to dinner with my friend Jessica and then we met up with the other girls at the coffee shop for a night of chit-chat and knitting. I had a yummy iced rootbeer cream drink and got a bit accomplished on my projects. But the best part was the company of friends.
Being home all day you tend to forget how nice it is to get a way and have a few moments to yourself. I needed it.
I ordered some yarn I needed tonight to make one of my friends baby shower gifts. I am so excited to get started on it, but you all will have to wait until after her shower to see it!
I have a few projects on the needles. A felted basket and a pinwheel blanket. I am also getting ready to cast on a baby sweater-as soon as the yarn is dry as I dyed it today!

So much peace in my heart tonight. Knitting, good friends. there isn't anything like it.

Happy New Year!

so did you make any resolutions? how did you do with the ones you made last year?
I didn't do so hot. So this year, I resolve to do better with my resolutions! LOL

Maybe I shouldn't call them resolutions, but more goals for what I hope to learn and accomplish.

so here are my goals in 2009:
1) learn to cook better. experiment every week with 1 new recipe
2) increase my health. remember to take my medications on a regular basis-this is hard for me
3) be an even better mom-totally a work in progress *wink*


so along that mom line, here is a song that I listened to all the time while I was pregnant with Harrison. It embodies the hopes and dreams we have for our children. I found it again this morning and of course just cried as I listened to it! LOL

ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh

JUSTIN IS GOING HOME!!!!

Our family is meeting tomorrow with social worker to work it out, and then he is out of there!


as of right now, they believe he will not need 24 hour care. He does have to do therapy-3 days a week and it will be the majority of day-but he can be home alone!! Our parents will have to check in with him during the day and make sure he has easy things to eat etc,

he has re-learned how to do the microwave, so he will make stuff for himself.

He still has his walker and has a long road ahead of him to just recoup the use of his walking skills - His sensory ability is still a bit lower and he still does not have all his right side back, but he is improving.

He has at least a year in front of him....we will not know how bad or how good he is doing for a while. he cannot walk with a cane because his balance is so bad-but he does good with the walker. His right side is still very limited, and he cannot write well.

JUSTIN IS GOING HOME!!!

Update on brother and just life

We had such a nice visit today. First off, mom and dad came up yesterday early to meet with some of the team of caregivers taking care of Justin. He was given the diagnosis of severe brain trauma. This was hard to swallow. To look at him in his bed, he looks physically normal and fine. But we are looking at 4 more weeks in the hospital and then more time in a rehabilitation center for an unspecified amount of time.

So what does this diagnosis mean for Justin? He may never drive again. He cannot rodeo. He should not ride horses again. It is iffy about working. He may not fully recover. That is the reality of this.

He has no memory of the time leading up to the accident. His long term memory is still in tact, although he does struggle sometimes getting the right words out. He does still also struggle with recognition of things he knew before the accident.

His short term memory is also intact, but he does forget things easily. Like he forgot that I was there last weekend and it took him a few minutes of thinking before he remembered it.

We had fun today. I spent quite a while down there and he was so happy to see me. I first talked to him this morning on the phone and as the day progressed he kept asking mom "when is Jessica going to be here?" It made me feel good. We talked and joked and had a good time altogether. He is still slow and sometimes hard to understand, but there are moments that the old Justin shines through for that brief second-and it is wonderful.

He is still having trouble with the right side of his body, and he cannot write anything-including his name. 20 years old and he cannot walk without the aid of a walker and has to wear depends. Really fair huh?

So that is it. Some good , some bad. But all to be expected with the extent of his brain injury.

I just love him. No matter what happens or how much he does or does not recover...he is my baby brother. And I am so glad that he is close to me so I can see him.

A few more Christmas things

This is the most beautiful picture....I wish they sold the picture by itself, but you can get it in the calendar too...

sock blockers - size medium for making socks

awesome sewing book

Shawn will be glad to see this

Last year, he loved that I did a Christmas list out here...I actually was just doing it for fun to share things I liked, but he printed it off and went shopping. So here we go again-the best help a husband can get at Christmas time!

Knitpicks Imagination Sock Yarn - color Lost Boys...2 balls needed
or (not and...OR)
Knitpicks Felici Striped Sock Yarn - color Patina...2 balls needed

or any of these colors from this dyer:
Mystic Meadow, Minoan Temple, Westley (only need 1 of these)

or Nimbus from this one


Dashing Dach's in Lobster

an applesaucer for canning next year. (but that can even go on my to buy next year list!)

a puffy vest

some addi needles in sizes: 3.25mm/40cm and 5mm/30cm


still working on it-but he was starting to panic so I figured I better give him something!

update on my brother

he is starting to open his eyes and become more conscious!

back to that in a minute though-this is what my mom told me.

he is starting to thrash around a lot-the nurses say that is very good but of course it bothers my mom to watch. they had to restrain him big time today because of his thrashing and he kept trying to pull out all the tubes on his chest.

they had his last CT scan yesterday. there is no negative change. they said something about he had reached the 72 hour point and was maxed out and they felt this was a good thing. I don't understand it and they didn't really explain it to my mom-but that is the update on that.

He did OPEN HIS EYES and followed the nurse with his eyes!

they tried giving him a few commands early this morning and he could not follow-but just a little bit ago they tried again to get him to wiggle his toes. he DID IT! in fact, he kept wiggling and kept wiggling until my dad finally had to say "justin, you can stop wiggling now!"

Today when he was thrashing about, my dad asked him a yes/no question and HE NODDED!


huge huge improvement today! and if he continues this, they are releasing him from the ICU this afternoon and moving him to neurology!


thank you thank you thank you ladies for your prayers and positive energy! I truly believe it has helped him!

WOOT!!!!

today's update on Justin and caringbridge site

I went and saw him this morning. They did another CT scan at 3am this morning. The neurosurgeon talked to us today. He is still bleeding in his brain and does still have the swelling.


his body reflexes to some painful stimuli, but not much. they also tried to get him to open his eyes with severe pain (like he pinched him really hard in the chest) several times while demanding in a loud voice that he open his eyes. he finally on the 4th try was able to open them for half a second and then it was gone.

they are still holding off on neurosurgery though. they really want to let his brain try to figure it out on its own and not have to operate-which is risky itself.

he developed a fever last night so they are closely watching him.
he is still having trouble regulating his blood pressure which is to be expected.

He still has not regained consciousness.

I created a CaringBridge Site to try and keep better updated.

For those following-update on my brother

ok, this is what I know.

he was found this morning at about 7:15 am. His car rolled several times and he was ejected from it. They estimate he lay on the ground for at least 2 hours before he was found. His body was about 30 feet from his car when they found him.

He has not regained consciousness since the accident. They could not life flight him to boise because of the weather so they drove him. He had bleeding in his brain and swelling-but the last CT showed the bleeding was stopped for now.

he had surgery on his leg. He broke his femur and they had to put a rod in. They are very concerned about the risk of clots and an embolism right now. He is intubated and restrained and has a neck collar on.

His body responds to painful stimuli, but he will not respond to verbal commands. He is in the ICU in critical condition.

Girls, I am just so scared. But I am so glad that I could be there. My parents do not understand any of the medical stuff so they kept turning to me when the doctors and nurses came out to talk to them.

I am just washed out. I am exhausted.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. He sure needs them :(

The Mother Letters

so wow. A friend linked me to THIS BLOG today and I was just amazed at what I read.

A husband is putting together this amazing Christmas gift for his wife. He is asking all mothers to send in a letter and he is going to compile a book to give to her..and everyone who sends one in will also get a copy of the letters.

It seriously brought tears to my eyes thinking of something so amazing as reading stories of motherhood from other women all over the world.

You should go participate!

wow-motrin offends babywearing mom's

you know, if there is one way to totally alienate your target crowd and make yourselves the recipient of a boycott--it is to do what Motrin did over the weekend.
Motrin Insults Babywearing Mom's


Motrin makes mom's mad!

See the Ad Here until they take it down!--(they already took it down! I think we crashed their website..so I fixed it to the link at youtube instead!)

here is the ad verbatim:
Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion.

I mean, in theory it’s a great idea.

There’s the front baby carrier, sling, schwing, wrap, pouch.

And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free.

Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience.

They say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others.

But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t?

I sure do!

These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back?!

I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid.

Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom.

And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.

can I insert the biggest bout of eyerolling ever here????

motrin...you screwed up! BIG TIME. You insulted mothers. You didn't do your research. and oh yeah! research contradicts you on what babywearing does!

pie in the face to motrin!

You knew it was coming

those that know me know my obsession.......

Which Criminal Minds Character Are You?

More on Criminal Minds. Created by BuddyTV

Harrison is 1!

the birth story, written the next day after


so I got a call yesterday asking me to come in . seems they were overbooked and understaffed on wednesday so dr lowder had me come in due to how sick I was.

I had already gotten the kids on the bus but thankfully dh had not left yet for work.

so I called stacy to let her know and started gathering my stuff as quick as I could. I had some moments of panic as I wasn't prepared to go in that soon-I joked with dh that it was almost like going into labor on my own! LOL

Dh went and picked up the kids from school and I kept getting ready and off we went to the hospital. I actually was contracting 10 min apart at that moment-maybe excitement or maybe it was supposed to be my day anyway!

We got here and for some reason I was totally dehydrated and they could not start my IV or draw labs. it took about 45 minutes to successfully get my IV started I look like a pin cushion on my arms.

they finally got results back and started the pit at about 11:15am. man-even at the low dose they were some intense pains and I just remember I would look at Stacy as it started, then close my eyes and breath silently. The nurse thought I wasn't feeling anything because I was so calm--I quickly corrected her on that misconception! LOL

They continued to increase my pit. I started to stress because dr lowder had surgery at 12:00 and I really wanted him there. I think that kept me from progressing at the time. Finally at about 12:45 or so I was at a 5. A little bit later I told stacy "that one felt different" she asked if she should call the nurse and I said "no, let me make sure with another one" it wasn’t a pushing pressure but there was a different sensation.
So 2 more contractions and I said "yeah, we better call her to check me" cause I could tell we were close
she came and checked me and said I was a stretchy 8. "you better call him NOW"
By then the feeling was getting quite intense.
Dr Lowder got there and sat down and they had my feet up in position and I remember asking them/him "are you going to even check to see if I am 10 yet???"
he just looked at me and laughed and said "jessica-the head is RIGHT HERE!!"
I laughed too and he told me to laugh again because it was pushing the baby out!

Harrison Parker was born less than 30 seconds later at 1:11pm
7lb 6oz
20 ¾ inch long
14 ¼ inch head

8 years old

I cannot believe she is already 8! We moved to Boise from Twin Falls when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Hannah.

She turned 8 this last week and was baptized over the weekend.

here she is:




So this week has been a lot of contemplation on my part. I am so very grateful that I have the chance to stay home with my children. To see them as they grow and learn and to be a big part of their life. Being a mother is the most important job I could ever have. I am grateful that we live within our means and do not have bills that would force me to get a job and put them in someone else's care. I am grateful to have the support of my husband in all that I do...staying home, running my very part time business and attending school too. I am grateful for the wonderful children I have that are such good kids-especially on the inside where it counts! They are respectful and helpful and a joy to have around. I am grateful for the gospel that teaches me about my role as a mother and how important it is.
I guess this week, I am just grateful for family. for being a mother. for my kids.

Happy Halloween

you should be able to click on nthem to see them bigger

Kaitlyn walked with a trick or treat sign since she was a mime and could not talk! LOL

the kids

conner: number 74-2 seconds later he took this kid down!

kaitlyn before the big hair cut!

Harrison, future computer geek??

or shampoo model???

You have to love midterms

Even with 7 kids, sports and running a business from my home, I managed to get good grades for midterms.
I currently have a B in Psychology, A in Law and Justice and A in Biology. I have no idea what I am getting in Patterns of Criminal Behavior as my teacher can not seem to get her head out of the clouds and grade papers..but what can you do?
Things are insanely busy around here. We are doing another huge group purchase on our yarn from my store Nurturing Threads so I will be mixing up a lot of dye in the coming weeks!
We finally got all our autumn decorations up today. It is amazing how much joy that brings me. This is my favorite time of year and I could just sit here and look around at all the beautiful autumn colors with my scentsy tart warmer going with a smile on my face.
well, until just now when Shawn started cooking bacon and EWWW that is the nasty smell! LOL
Just 16 more days till elections. I am so excited this year. I feel this time we have an actual chance at not getting stuck with a pile in the white house. Lets keep our fingers crossed *smile*

We went to Kathryn Albertson park yesterday and had family pictures done. The scenery was gorgeous and we hopefully got some good shots! I arranged for the photographer that did our family photos in June to come up and do my parenting group so she was here all day and did a wonderful job. Everyone was really impressed and things went smoothly.

Well, bacon calls..so I will be back some other time

quick fly by post

thank you to everyone that did my survey for psychology! I had enough participants and my paper is on its way!

Kids are doing good. Kaitlyn finished up cross country Friday and Conner has his playoff game for football tomorrow night. Hannah just got invited to the enrichment class at school-which we are assured is not acceptance into the gifted program, but they will do that screening next year *smile*

Lexie and Bella are good. Lexie loves school and is reading all the time. Bella is just my little sweetheart. Her and Harrison sure do make me smile during the day. Harrison is walking all over the place. He started walking 3-4 weeks ago and then just started standing on his own and he is off and going everywhere! he has also learned how to call people on Shawn's cell phone! LOL so if you get a call from us that is a hang up or you just hear a lot of nose--sorry! it is harrison



just a quick picture for the upcoming election. it gave me a good giggle

Help Jessica with her psychology term project/paper

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