TOO. MUCH. PEEPEE!!!!

Tuesday:
-Spencer has four, FOUR accidents before 2:00 PM
-Oliver pees in the middle of the living room. He hasn't done that for MONTHS. The back door is open for him to go out. Still pees.

Wednesday:
-Poor kitty Simba is caught peeing out of the litter box again. He doesn't have all his parts in the right places, so he sort of has an excuse, but he is now an outside kitty.
-While playing at Gio's house; Spencer lowers his pants and pees on Gio's bedroom throw rug. He does NOT have an accident; he purposely pees on the rug. Gio's mommy is having a baby tomorrow. She really needs to be dealing with other people's kids' bathroom issues.

Today:
-Elijah has an accident right at the end of school. He doesn't tell his teacher, so I have to tell her in the morning that the rug needs to be cleaned.
-Ten minutes later, we are in the car and he pees his booster seat.

WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!?????

accident update

so its been a couple days and we are doing okay. mom did go to the doctor and nothing was seriously wrong. they gave her some prescription strength motrin and we have just been taking it easy. i have developed some soreness as well, but nothing too serious. it just feels like the muscle pain i get after working out for the first time in a long time. i have developed a new best friend though; i sewed a small rectangular pillow and filled it with uncooked rice. you can put it in the microwave for a couple minutes and it makes the BEST heating pad. great for my sore shoulders/neck.

so today we are going to paint the little boys' room. they want blue and orange. photos to follow.

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!
we love you so much. let's ignore the pain and do something great today!!

thanksgiving that almost was

happy thanksgiving everyone. ours was eventful. when heading to keith's (big brother) for our annual get together, we were broadsided by a little white bmw. we had the turkey, rolls, pie, mashed potatoes, and a delicious apple/pear tart. so we had to call keith and let them know there would be no turkey. but they had plenty of food, including a ham and another turkey. the only thing they didn't have was a batch of my rolls. so, we came home, cleaned everything up and set the table for a small, yet delicious thanksgiving meal.




now we start the headache of car repair and claims adjusting. mom is a little sore. she was in the front passenger seat and her side airbag deployed. i think she took the brunt of the impact. so we are off to the doctor to make sure nothing is broken. the kids are fine.

spiderman thumb

at 2:00 PM on halloween afternoon, spencer sliced his thumb and had to get stitches. the boy is only 3 1/2 years old and he has been to the er TWICE for stitches.
i was dozing on the couch when suddenly spencer comes running in with an opened can attached to his right thumb. he had gotten into the recycling bin and found the one can that still had the lid attached by a thread. he had his thumb wedged between the sharp lid and the wall of the can. so i basically had to tear his thumb out of the can, which sliced it up badly with the sharp yet jagged can lid edge.
once the can was removed he began to run about the house, shaking his thumb wildly and producing all kinds of blood splatter. i guess he was really unsatisfied with the amount of halloween decorating we had done. by the time i got him settled, there was blood all over the kitchen. I had to pin him down to get any sort of pressure on the wound, and he is incredibly strong.
by the time we got to the er, he had calmed down significantly and was holding his arm up in the air (i told him it would help stop the bleeding). then the doctor came in and all heck broke loose once again. we had to wrap him in one of those papoose things. then, even with the papoose, it took the nurse, doctor, and myself holding him down to get two of the "least sterile sutures" (doctor's words) in his little thumb.
they sent us home with some antibiotics. 10 days later, we had to go back to take them out, which was just about AS dramatic as getting them in. thus, the spiderman thumb (we called it that to make it cool) saga ends.

Pa's Pumpkin Patch

last month, Tot Lot took the kids to the pumpkin patch for an excursion. we had a great time. it was a typical patch with lots of pumpkins and silly $3 rides. there was also a petting zoo with two very friendly emus. spencer has never shown any interest in rides, which is fine with me since i'm not interested in spending that kind of money on stuff that spins, but i did find it strange that he wouldn't even ride the train with his best buddy gio. all he wanted was this crazy looking gourd for 75 cents. he hung that thing around his neck the rest of the day.

family photos

Hi All
Our new friends, the very talented Stukis, have been very generous and have taken family pictures for us. Here are a couple web albums where you can view them. Please help us choose our favorites. Ann did such a great job and we are having a very hard time narrowing it down.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stucki.ann/ZollingersPart1

http://picasaweb.google.com/stucki.ann/ZollingersPart2

let us know what you think

a bunch of posts

I've been behind on blogs lately, so keep scrolling down . . .

ward halloween party 2008

We had our ward Halloween party last night so we got to get the costumes out early this year. Jake as a Jedi night:

Spencer as Curious George with Brent as the Man in the Yellow Hat:

Elijah the Pirate:

Elijah's pirate friend Sebastian and the awesome skeleton decor at the party.

snacktime

The kittens seem to think that Oliver's water bowl is better than theirs so they spend a lot of time climbing into his bowl. Oliver thinks its great; free snacks anytime.

first day of school 2008

School started on September 4, 2008. Jake started third grade. Elijah started kindergarten. Spencer began his second year at Tot Lot.



Elijah 's classroom. The pocket chart in the background is so they can "build rainbows" when they do something good. He gets very excited when he gets to build a rainbow. He gets to a lot; he's a great kid and loves his class.I love this Charlie Brown moment on his way to his first lunch in the cafeteria.


We've already had our parent/teacher conferences and they are both doing really well. They love school and I love to take them so Spence and I get to hang out.

a day at the pool

Our Cruise

Brent and I had a great time on our cruise. We traveled on the Carnival Paradise to Catalina and Ensenada. The staff was attentive, the food was plentiful, and we had zero cares. It was wonderful to leave the everyday worries (what should I make for dinner, how long can I sleep before picking up the kids, etc) and just be together. Its amazing how distracting those kinds of things can be. Brent and I actually just spent time sitting together, talking, and daydreaming. It was heaven. We really needed a chance to connect for a while and the cruise let us do that. I love my husband for so many reasons and it was great to be able to concentrate on just us for a few days. Thanks again to my mom for using HER VACATION TIME to be mom to our boys. It made the trip that much better knowing the kids were well cared for.

an update

So I have a lot to post about but I just haven't been that good at getting my photos uploaded and part of me thinks I can't post without pictures so I end up not posting at all. The other problem is the kids are always on the computer so I end up using my mom's laptop more than my own; and her computer does not have my photos on it. So you see my problem.

So here is what has been going on around here:

1. SCHOOL!!!!! Jake is in 3rd grade this year and already seems to be doing very well. Elijah started kindergarten without too much drama. A few days into it he asked which days he didn't have to go to school (he was used to 3 days a week preschool). I told him he had to go every day and he said he didn't want to have a long day. But, I think he is adjusting. He has even been getting himself out of bed the past few days without me having to wake him up. His teacher is very sweet and incorporates a lot of music and art into her curriculum so I think he will do well with her. He has full day kindergarten, which has been hard on him; and me, but we are dealing with it just fine. Spencer started Tot Lot. He goes five days a week for two hours in the morning. I work on Monday mornings and the rest of the week I get to drop him off. So far I haven't had a whole bunch of time to myself, but I am looking forward to being able to shop all by myself once we settle into the schedule.

2. Brent's job is going great. The customer he has been working with recently canceled his project. But it is turning out to be a good thing. As disappointing as it was to lose the project, many at his work felt it had been run very well so Brent seems to be getting a lot of attention. They like his management style and have been bringing up ideas for other positions in the company they think he would be a good fit for. So that has been great for him to get some accolades from someone else besides me.

3. Mexico. Brent and I are leaving soon for a 4 day cruise to Catalina and Ensenada. We are very excited about getting some much needed alone time. My sweet mom will be watching the kids for us and we can't thank her enough. We have been married for close to 11 years and this is our first EVER vacation with just the two of us for the sole purpose of just being together. I can't wait.

I sure hope life is humming along for everyone as well as our life is going. We are truly blessed.

why i love my kids

since it has been a long day, i thought i'd better remind myself why i love my kids.

jacob:

super super smart
great giggle
he's finally at an age where he is fun to do stuff with (he plays a great game of speed and i don't even have to let him win anymore)
he is kind
very polite
loves to read
passionate
sensitive
his face turns red when he runs around a lot
generally obedient
self-motivated
tells silly jokes and then giggles
dimples

Elijah:
walks on his toes
LOVES art
very routine-oriented (which also drives me crazy)
likes to read
always turns off the lights (my new little "green" nazi)
stays up late; sleeps in late like me (although i know that is about to become one of my greatest challenges with kindergarten starting)
very very mellow
will speak his mind; but in a totally round about way
he is the calm amongst the storms that are his brothers
will choose fruit over candy
he's a mini-me

Spencer:
potty trained himself
runs around the house spelling his name and his brothers' names
he's trouble with a capital T
he gives the dog commands in the exact same manner in which i give the dog commands
dimples, red hair, tan skin, blue eyes
can read books (the ones he has memorized anyway)
he talks to himself
he runs up to you out of nowhere to give you a great big hug around the thighs
when he is tired, he will drop where he is and sleep; LOVE when that happens
how he says "EE-WHY-SHA" when he calls his brother
when he talks on the phone he says "Heh-woh? heh-woh-oh!!"
he's adventurous
he pronounces our last name: "Zon-gshur"
he cocks his head a little to the left when he asks a question
he's persistent (which is also a reason why he makes me crazy)