The Many Faces of an egg Stealer

Yesterday morning I actually cooked myself breakfast as opposed to eating nasty cold cereal.

Grady saw my eggs and immediately crawled into my lap and demanded my fork.  He ate 3/4 of my breakfast.  The cute pictures I took were worth the sacrifice.  

Behold, the many faces of an egg stealer...

When I would stop taking pictures, he would yell, "MORE MORE!"  Hence, why I have so many of these cute eggy shots.

We've been pounding out science projects this week.

I'm happy to say that both Carter and Colby's boards are done and ready to be judged.

Colby's project was really easy and involved adding things to homemade bubble solution and testing how long the bubbles lasted.  It was a piece of cake.

The afternoon we did the project was beautiful with practically no wind.

He did a great job and stuck with me during the entire project from the beginning all the way to putting the board together.

Carter's project was a little different.

We tested household items to see how they worked as solvents.  He had 49 bandaids on his body the first go around.

We ripped them off…with lots of pain involved.

Sadly…oh so sadly, I realized we did the project wrong and had different times for each set of solvents and therefore didn't have at least three trial for each of the same times.  Carter wasn't too happy…but I couldn't blame him.

These pictures are from the first go around, but the second go around had less bandaids and just enough trials.  We simplified.  It wasn't the best project we've ever done, but it totally fulfilled the requirement.

He might not win anything this year…and we are both totally fine with it.

In other news, Steve and I cleaned out the yard this last week.  This included me trimming our fruit trees.  I might have gone a little crazy and I'm praying our trees survive. The only consolation in my butcher job is that our trees were over our property line and needed to be cut way back.  They also had huge fruit years last year and would most likely not produce this year.  Lastly, its been remarkably warm this winter and all my trees are budding and blossoming.  The chances of fruit this year are nil.  It will most definitely freeze again taking any blossoms. 

Andrew was put into the teachers quorum presidency today in church as the secretary.  I appreciate the chances my children have to serve in our ward…hopefully they will learn leadership skills.  

This week included:

Science fair stuff Monday through Wednesday. (I'm always so happy when it is over!)

Parent teacher conferences.

Steve leaves with Carter and Andrew for Targee Ski Trip.

Spring Break starts on Thursday.

cleaning my life away

Our house has showed four times in the last eight days.  Which means…I'm cleaning most of the day.  If I'm not picking up or shining something, I'm yelling at my kids to pick up or shine something.

The science fair is next Tuesday.

Either of these things is enough to keep me busy, but the two of them together is crushing my will to live.

But when a few teenage and pre-teen attitudes are added to the mix, its practically mind blowing.

I hope I live through next Wednesday.

Death Valley

Fishy Update:  All but four of our fish in our upstairs tank bit the dust a day after my earlier death post. So the death toll comes to 10…11 if you count Carter's catfish.  (This doesn't include the fish Steve killed off the first week we had the tank.  Those will not be mentioned.)  Five black skirted tetras and five tiger barbs were flip flopping, gasping for air and ended up coming to "rest" on the bottom of the tank.  I called it Death Valley when I came into the room and saw the carnage.  Andrew saved the last four remaining fish by putting them in a different tank for a while as Steve cleaned out the tank and put in all new water.  We are total fish murderers around here.  

But we are apparently not sentimental fish killers.  The fish weren't dead two hours when the boys were researching online what fish to buy next.  Its pretty morbid around here.

My Mom Really is Amazing!

Last Monday morning I mentioned that Colby needed to dress up like a Jedi for his Blue and Gold scout banquet and that we didn't have anything for him to wear.  My amazing mother immediately volunteered to make Colby a new Jedi robe.  She had this thing whipped out in less that 24 hours.

The woman is a saint I tell you.

As you can tell by Colby's face, we was more than thrilled with his robe.

Best gratitude picture ever!!

Can't you just see the force coming out of this kid?

Steve had a small part to play at the banquet and wore the Jedi robe my mom made for him years ago.  It's quite the fantastic costume.  Saylor fit perfectly in the robe that originally was made for Andrew 10 years ago,  (sniff sniff)  and Carter wore his star wars t-shirt along with a black cape and best sith face.

The night was "AWESOME" if I quoted Colby and this kids had a fantastic time celebrating scouts and fighting the dark side.

Other pictures of randomness from the past week or so include: 

Andrew braided Saylor's hair one night.   He sectioned her hair off in three pieces, braided those and then braided them together.  Saylor asked if he would please braid her hair everyday.  Andrew just begged me not to post this picture on Instagram.

Saylor face is priceless in this picture.  We figured if a yellow banana was healthy for breakfast, than a yellow sugar cookie must be too.  Long live the Dixon tradition of junk food for breakfast!

This was taken two weeks ago on a Sunday morning.

The kids were blindly watching tv while I ironed shirts.  Nobody fought or argued for almost 30 minutes.  I think Netflix deserves a medal for that one!

Steve and I found our new favorite date night restaurant.

Its the new hole in the wall Mexican place on Falls just down from the Turf Club.  The food is delicious and on a Friday night it wasn't crowded at all.  It's my kind of place.

Steve and I sat for over an hour talking about selling our house and what will come after it sells.

Yes…my house is on the market again and I DESPISE IT!!!!!   We've had two showings so far and I'm always mad afterward.  I clean my rear end off and then the feedback we get goes something like this, "The house was great, but was too big for just my mother and I.  We don't need something that big." 

Ok…it clearly states on the MLS listing that my house is 3200 square feet.  Hello.  Please note the size of my home before you make me clean for 5 hours for  you to come walk through…only to say it is too much space.   I could scream out loud right now!

Saturday a friend from Boise asked if I would watch her kids while she and her husband went out to dinner with family.  Her and her husband have three kids and he eight year old Miles has been diabetic since he was three.  Sound familiar?

These two had a great time comparing hardware.  It was hilarious to hear them check blood sugars together and share numbers and adjustment amounts.  Pretty funny stuff that only the mother of a diabetic would laugh at.

Speaking of Carter…he is officially a shark.  He has two rows of teeth at the moment.

Steve tried to pull the baby tooth last week, but it wouldn't come out.  

"Keep wiggling" was his solution, but if it doesn't come out soon, Steve will numb him up at the office and yank it.  Good times.

My daughter is a diva and came upstairs with this delightful morning face yesterday before breakfast.

How can I just not laugh out loud???

Morning are hard when your are four.

Last but not least…Carter finally got to eat something in this ginormous bowl.  This much cereal is out for diabetic reasons…but soup works great.  He finished about half and declared his defeat.

Love him.

Death comes to Cobble Creek

Obviously I've been watching too many BBC shows on netflix so my title is a tad bit dramatic.    That being said,  two of our fish died this week.   The first fishy victim was one of Carter's albino catfish.  Carter found him dead one morning before school.  He was so sad!   Then today, one of Steve's tiger barbs was swimming on it side and turning somersaults trying to fight the current of the filter in our big tank.   They are dropping like flies I tell 'ya.   He made a quick trip to the garbage can.

Steve thinks he may have overdosed the big tank with algae-fix that we were using to kill the algae bloom.  The algae is taken care of and so are the fish!  Two more of our tiger barbs were swimming funny, so Andrew put them in a "sick" tank all by themselves and Steve is currently changing the water in the big tank.  They are hoping the fish will recover from their accidental poisoning.

I'm really glad I don't have a running total for how much $$$ has gone into our fish tanks in the past three months.  I'm also really glad I don't know how many hours have gone into fish care either.   I might gag if I did.  Andrew has been researching how to care for sick fish and now wants us to buy special aquarium salts to treat a possible bacterial infection.  Oh Brother.

To make matters worse, I went down into the boys' room this morning and smelled "FISH"…yuck.  I always said if I could smell the tank, the tank was gone.   I think my kids' hearts would be broken if I got rid of the tanks now though.  But…if everyone came home one afternoon and the tanks were just gone, who would be the wiser???   Anybody want three tanks and about 18 fish (give or take…a few might die in the night)?


If you have to clean the fish tank such an awful boring chore.
If you have to clean the fish tank 'stead of going to the store.
If you have to clean the fish tank, and you throw it out the door…
Maybe they won't make you clean the fish tank anymore.

Backing Up

After looking at the blogs Steve printed for our anniversary, I realized I didn't post all the family pictures we had taken last October.   

They were taken with some crazy beautiful light in the late October afternoon in my parents front yard. 

My obsession and desire for family pictures has been satisfied for the time being.  (-so until next October or so.)   My kids have already changed since October…I can see it the most in Andrew and Grady.  I swear those two change everyday.  Carter's smile has changed already as his teeth are still coming and going.  He is going to hit 12 this fall and his "baby" face will not be around much longer.    Saylor and Colby have changed the least as they are in that perfect darling little kid stage.   

Time needs to stand still and these pictures are priceless as always.  

Grady:  19 months 

Saylor:  Still 4.  She turned 5 the next month.

Colby:  Age 8

Carter:  Barely 11.

Andrew 14 going on 21.

Steve:  40 something

 Jill:  30 something

All of us.

Just the kidlets.

Best Present Ever

Steve for our anniversary (17 years on the 12th of February) gave me the best gift- he had my blog from the last three years printed.  They arrived tonight.  I'm so grateful to him for him printing something that is priceless to me.  I've kept this blog since 2008 and I treasure that I've written down memories with pictures for the past seven years.  I love even more that I've gone further in the past and documented events from before 2008.  I don't want to forget our family memories!

Sadly, I feel my blog is taking a back seat lately.  It's time consuming to write as much as I have in the past with five kids and schedules mixed in with church callings and everything else that is our life right now.  (worst run-on sentence ever)  Also…Instagram is killing my blog.  Killing it!  It's fast easy, and for every 6o pictures I post a cute little book shows up at more door for only $6.  It's hard to beat that.

But I need to keep trying…just keep trying…just keep trying.



Last Saturday night Steve and I put an offer on a house across town.  It's bigger than our house and is in the price range where we feel comfortable.  It's bigger than what we could afford to build new.   We offered full price on the house, but with a contingency of our house selling.  The home owner countered back with some crazy stuff, so Steve and I declined the counter.  Tonight, a week later, I'm sad.  The house wasn't perfect, or even the style I would pick out, but was in a great neighborhood, on a fantastic lot, and would fit our family for years to come.  Our house was put back on the market Monday and we have our first showing on Tuesday.   If our house sells quickly…we will probably try another offer on that same house if it hasn't sold.   If the house is gone when ours sells…we will have to rent and most likely build something different.  I'm feeling pretty blah about the whole thing tonight.  I don't love having our house for sale, I don't like keeping it super clean, and I don't like the thought of having to move.  But for some crazy crazy reason, even though I've tried to push it out of my brain, I can't let the moving thing go.  It's time and we need a change…even if it's just into a new house down the street.  I'm feeling bi-polar about the moving thing.  One minute I'm all for it, and the next I'm scared to death.   Tonight as I type, I'm tired….so I'm blah about the whole thing.  (but a really cute tiled fireplace does brighten up the thought!)

Steve went camping with the deacons last night and Andrew had a campout with the teachers.  Andrew went to the Sun Valley area and Steve went to the church cabins in the south hills.  This morning I had visiting teaching interviews with my presidency involving the sisters in our ward.  We will finish them up after church tomorrow.  This new calling is humbling me in ways I never knew I could be humbled.  I'm learning to love the Relief Society program in ways I never knew I could love.  I've grown up (at least in my head) a lot in the past months.  Not quite sure how to express my feelings about it all without blubbering and sounding like a bawl baby…so I'll just stop right here.  

Carter is 11 and I can tell the hormones are starting to kick in as he approaching puberty.  He is emotional and moody.  He's happy and hyper one minute and surly and bossy the next.  He is also constantly eating…which stressing me out diabetically.  I'm grateful I've been through the 11 year old stage before and I know it will pass.  He is currently off the growth hormone as our insurance won't cover it, and I worry about his lack of height as he approaches middle school next year.  Two of his best friends have applied for the charter school close to our home and Carter has asked to go there too.  I put him on the list and if he makes the lottery, I will let him make the decision of where he goes to school next year.  I know he can handle the tougher curriculum at the charter school and I just want him to be happy.  Time will tell…if we did move across town he would change middle schools no matter what.

Colby is Colby…aka Squirrel.  He is a little hyper nut most of the time climbing walls and running on hyper drive most of the time.  I've had to step back (at least I'm trying to) and let him just be eight.  He recently was pulled into the principals office because one of his friends bit him on the shoulder.  The friend claimed Colby was a chicken and tasted great.  Colby and this friend are two peas in a pod.

Saylor is a dramatic five year old going on 16.  She talks constantly with her hands and everything is of the utmost importance at all times.  Shes all drama and sass.

Grady is talking and new words are coming out of his mouth all the time.  He is becoming a good eater and yesterday after eating his entire breakfast, ate my entire plate of eggs.  He's going to be a bruiser.  He's most happy when he has two or three or four binkies in is hands.  He's also recently started to really drive Saylor crazy.  His new trick is to break apart any toy scene she has so painstakingly put together.   He's Godzilla!  He's finally going into nursery without totally melting down and also gives my parents huge hugs whenever he sees them.  Grady will sit on the couch and watch for my dad if I even quietly mention the word "Grandpa"…its the cutest thing ever.

Andrew just registered for his sophomore year.  He's growing up way too fast.  He will start drivers ed as soon as he gets his Eagle project planned and he constantly hints to which cars he thinks would be appropriate for us to buy him.  Ha Ha.  Not happening.  He's a cute kid with a super deep man voice.  I often find myself freaking out for a few seconds thinking there is some man in the basement, when it is only my teenage son.  His legs are hairy, his shoulders are super broad, he flexes all the time thinking hes so buff, he has diva moments about his hair being just perfect, and I think he might officially out weigh me.  (his is muscle…mine is not.)

Can I just say that I love my family and I wish so badly that I could have a photographic memory at times so I don't forget how each of them are at each darling stage?   Time needs to slow down.  I need to quit worrying about things that don't matter and focus on my children.  I need to squish their little faces in my hands and gaze into their eyes and tell them I love them.  (I'm sure Andrew would love that!)    I need to stop time and listen to them more….really hear them.  I need to share my testimony with them more.  I need to hug them more.  I need to enjoy every minute with them.  (granted they are all fast asleep right now and nobody is fighting or whining or begging me for stuff.  It's all idealistic when they are beautifully sleeping!)

Ok…and just one cute family picture to finish this post off.