chuffing trains

ok, so as you all know, no boy is as happy as when he is playing with trains. I can't tell you how many thousands (it feels like) trains we have here at our house, but of course that is not good enough for my little boys! every day Jaden asks to go to the toy store to "chuff the trains"... this means we are going to spend at least an hour at Toys R Us at the Thomas table so he can play with their trains. And wouldn't you know it?? Jax has caught right on!! he stands there and plays trains with all the big kids. He actually cries when I take the trains away and pick him up!! We were there today and I was talking to a grandma that was there with her grandson, and I told her that I come so often I should just start bringing a folding chair and a book!! but the boys are so cute and have so much fun, how can I resist?? It would almost make it worth paying $200 for the table to get some quiet time at home... neither boy pays the slightest attention to me when they are there... Imagine all the things I could get done!! WOW!

the punkins at Pumpkin Land

So we finally managed to get ourselves over to the local pumpkin patch... Pumpkin Land is just down Geneva Road from us, and we really had a blast... apart from a couple of false starts. First, my neighbor called, he lost his 6 year old, so we had to go back home to look for her... then we got all the way back to the "patch" and noticed I forgot the stroller... back home again! it's a good thing it is only about a mile and a half from our condo!! but once we got there we had such a great time!! First, we looked at all the pumpkins they had to offer, and had a great time shopping for the perfect three. Somehow we got home with a big one for Brian, a medium sized one for Kayla and the smallest one for Jaden. (I figure I will end up doing the kids' anyway so why buy more??)

After the pumpkin shopping we headed out to Pumpkin Land... it is really cute! I have lived here on Geneva Road for over three years now, and I had no idea they had such a cute place over there! Of course Kayla goes every year with her school class, but she never told me anything about it! They have a giant wood pumpkin for the kids to play in, animals (turkeys, ducks, goats, rabbits etc...) they even have some Kangaroo jumpers as my kids call them (you know the inflatable trampolines from Kangaroo Zoo??) guess how long we stayed and played there?? There is a corn maze to walk through, a playground and a "light tunnel" where they have alot of cute lighted displays etc. Of course my kids favorite place was the playground, and I have to say... it was a pretty fun one! Swings, slides, tunnels, and even a giant Pumpkin Mountain that has a slide that goes all the way through it in the dark, and you come out in a cave! Jaden LOVED IT!!

All in all I would say it was a pretty successful outing. Brian was at school studying for a big test, so I had the three amigos on my own. I was very clear on the rules before we got there... which included:
1. No running away
2. Listen to Mommy at all times
3. No crying or whining, if you want something... ASK FOR IT!
4. NO RUNNING AWAY!!!

well, as we were leaving, we were going through the light tunnel, and they got ahead of me and we were all mixed up in a big group of about 4 families... well, by the time I got the stroller out of the barn, there was no sign of the kids... so I looked, and looked and LOOKED! they were just NOT THERE! well, I was getting kind of worried that they had gone back to the entrance of Pumpkin Land, so I asked the lady sitting there stamping hands if she saw them... NOPE! (at least I didn't have to go back through the corn maze!!) well I kept walking and looking and asking, but NO ONE had seen them. So I headed for the car, because by now it was getting dark, and Jax (who already had a cold) was starting to FREEZE! and what do you know?? there they were sitting in the car! Of course they had run through the sprinklers before getting in, so their snow boots were caked in mud and their jeans were wet up to their knees, and naturally they had walked all over the seats, and spread the mud around good... OH BOY! did they get a talking to! but we have our pupmkins now, even though we haven't carved them yet... If I can get organized, we might just get that done before Halloween this Friday!!

My Yoga Buddy

Lately I have been really getting into Yoga. As many of you know I have alot of pain in my joints and muscles, and Yoga has been the best thing I have ever done for myself!! Since I started, I haven't had to take any pain meds, I haven't woken up in pain during the night, and I can pick up my kids without wincing... it's been the best.

This past week, we had Fall Break, and so that means all 5 of us here in our tiny condo together for 5 days! So every morning I would get up, make breakfast, and then go in and pull out my Yoga mat. Well, Kayla and Jaden thought it looked like alot of fun, so one day they joined me. It was great fun (kind of tight quarters in our small living room...) As you can imagine, Jaden got about 10 seconds into it, and said he was bored and took off, but Mikayla stuck with it! she finished the entire work out with me, and the next day she asked when I was going to do Yoga, and could she do it with me again. So for the past week I have had the cutest little Yoga buddy anyone could ask for. She had some very cute comments, like "Mom, I'm not sure I can do this!" while we did some of the harder "poses" and as you can imagine, she giggled the whole time. Her favorite pose is "downward dog" for those of you who are yoga savvy. I think she just liked the name!!

So today she is back to school and I was without a Yoga buddy... I have to admit, it was kind of nice to be able to concentrate and focus on what I was doing for a change. It's hard to meditate when you are giggling with a 6 year old!!

Crabtree's Wrestlemania 1

Is this an approved Sunday afternoon activity?? well, this is how they spent today... at least they are all happy, right?

Featuring Mikayla, Jaden and Jaxson...

CWWE Title Match... Kayla vs. Jaden

sorry it's so dark... we had ALL the lights in the house on, but there is NO sunshine around here!

getting up close with Jax

This is so typical of Jax right now, this video really captures his personality!! I couldn't resist...

winter is here...

wow! wasn't it just last week that I was complaining about the heat?? well, not anymore! here is the weather channels weather advisory for us right now...

Winter Weather Advisory ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT MONDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SALT LAKE CITY IS EXTENDING THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FOR THE SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT UNTIL 6 AM MDT MONDAY.
A LAKE EFFECT SNOW BAND HAS DEVELOPED THAT EXTENDS INTO NORTHERN UTAH COUNTY. IN THE VICINITY OF THIS LAKE BAND...AFFECTED LOCATIONS COULD SEE 2 TO 4 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THIS EVENING. THE BAND IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN OVERNIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

Driving Kayla to school in the morning should be loads of fun!!

sick, sick, sick...

Jaxson is the cutest baby! he is so sweet and good... On Monday I took him to the doctor for a check up. As the Doc was examining him, she asked me how long he had been sick. "UMMM, well" I told her, "he isn't really sick, he just has a runny nose." she just looks at me kind of funny and says "he has infections in both ears". I had NO IDEA... he never fussed or cried he was sleeping through the night a full 12 hours, eating fine... I was totally taken by surprise! Then I had her take a look at his little bottom. He has had diaper rash for about 3 months and NOTHING I did made any difference. I used diaper rash cream, baby oil... anything I could think of! she took one look at it and said "it is infected!!" so apparently my baby has been rotting before my eyes, and I had no idea... NICE! Luckily we only needed to get ONE antibiotic and clear up all his many infections... so that is good!

The point of the bum story is that the rash had really been bothering Jax alot (itching). Since he can't reach back for a good scratch, every time I would take off his diaper to change him, he would rub his little bottom around on the carpet. It is the funniest thing I have ever seen, so I will try to get a video of it before the meds made it go away!! if I can get him to do it again, I will post a cute clip... its hilarious!!

P.S. ok, here it is. But the meds already got it all cleared up, so he just does it out of habit now, this is about how long I can get him to hold still before he takes off!!


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Then there is Jaden... poor little ole Jade!! I went to pick him up at preschool yesterday, and his teacher was carrying him. Well, that's not really normal, so I asked what was wrong. Miss Corrinne said that during playground time, he just turned around and said "I want Mommy!" weird! he is kind of a mommas boy, but NEVER on the playground and never NEVER when he has friends to play with!! as soon as his teacher put him down, he looked at me and said... "Mom, I think I am going to puke!" well, he did! all over the floor in the front office of his preschool! UGH! it was a MESS! not just once either, it just kept coming... out of the nose... everywhere! WOW! luckily they said they would clean it up (I think they just wanted us out of there in case he went again!) as the afternoon progressed, he puked again about 4 more times... poor kid, if he would just sip a bit of water, out it came!! not sure what happened, but he seems a bit better today... he has eaten a little bit and so far no "return to sender". he has been sleeping alot today, so maybe by tomorrow he will be back to normal... I think this is the worst part of being a mom... sick kids!

the little things...

Our kids are growing so fast I thought I would post a couple of short little videos of them...


Jax is getting to be pretty big. He is now eating regular food, though sometimes he doesn't really like it... here is his first banana. And yes, he stuck out his tongue and said "yuck" with EVERY bite he took. It was great!

Mikayla and Jaxson have so much fun together... she wasn't so sure about him when he was first born, but now that he is crawling and starting to walk and talk, she gets a real kick out of him... He is fascinated with both his "kiddo's" as we call them.

He loves to "wrestle" with Jaden. and if you think I am exaggerating on that one, I'm not. Jaden grabs Jax around the waist and they both go over backwards... they both love it and laugh and laugh.

We have three great kids!

Husband Tag...

1. What is his name? Brian Crabtree

2. Who eats more? Brian does... when he eats, he can really put it away!

3. Who said, "I love you" first? Brian

4. Who is taller? Brian
5. Who is smarter? Brian

6. Who is more sensitive? Brian

7. Who does the laundry? Unfortunately, ME!

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

9. Who pays the bills? Bri makes the money, I write the checks

10. Who cooks more? Me.

11. Who is more stubborn? Me.

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Both about the same

13. Who has more siblings? Me.

14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think he does. He thinks I do!

15. What do you like to do together? going to baseball games, going on vacation, just sitting around talking!!

16. Who eats more sweets? Brian.

17. Guilty Pleasures? going to look at decorated model homes and dreaming of actually owning a home someday! and test driving cars that we can't afford...

18. How did you meet? we worked together, I was his trainer

19. Who asked whom out first? Brian asked me (after I got rid of his girlfriend that is!!)

20. Who kissed who first? Bri kissed me first

21. Who proposed? Brian

22. His best features and qualities? Handsome, kind, hardworking, dedicated...

23. Tag you’re it. Who do you tag?

I tag Brittney C., Tiffany C. and Ashlee C. ... my 3 beautiful sisters in law!!

for those NOT in the know...

so I have been getting some responses from friends from Mexico about Mikayla and her condition... for those who already know... sorry!! just skip this one, for the rest here is the 411 on our little girl.

Mikayla was born with "tumors" in her face called lymphangiomas. (they are thin sacs of lymph fluid) she also was born with her right eye physically smaller than her left, and bad vision in that eye (the Drs said it was underdeveloped) when she was born, the OB used forceps to deliver her, so just before going home, the pediatrician advised doing a CT scan to check for fractures in her facial bones, because she had ALOT of swelling in her face. What they found was totally off the charts! not at all what they were looking for. aside form the swelling (the tumors) and her eye being underdeveloped, she had a mass in her brain. but they were not able to diagnose what it was and while they discussed it, a nurse came in to our room and told us our new baby girl had a brain tumor. TRAUMA... (come to find out that she was TOTALLY uninformed!!) We left from the maternity ward to go straight to see a neurosurgeon at Primary Childrens Hospital in SLC... they finally figured out that the mass was actually a brain hemorrhage. Her brain had bled at some point during pregnancy, and the blood had calcified. Needless to say we have had ALOT of doctors over the past 6 years!! and she had 4 surgeries before her 4th birthday.

During her 1st surgery (she was 16 months old) the surgeon severed the connective tissue in her right eyelid, (picture #1) so it filled up with the lymph fluid and tissue from her tumors and got so big that her eyelid actually flipped inside out. That perpetrated her second surgery about 6 months later (she was 23 months old). Luckily we lived in Seattle Washington then and had an AMAZING surgeon!! he really did great work on her and got all the tumors out of her face (picture #3). Unfortunately, during this time her brain hemorrhages were getting bigger and ended up causing a MAJOR seizure, so we spent 3 days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). So now she is on anti seizure meds, and still has small seizures every once in a while. Her brain is still hemorrhaging, also. She had brain surgery about 2 years ago, (she was about 3 1/2 yrs old) and now we are hearing from her neurosurgeon that she is going to need another brain surgery sometime in the coming year (at about 7 years old) ... and then her eye surgeon still wants to do more plastic surgery to try and finish fixing her eyelid but he is waiting for her to get a little older first.

Despite all she has been through, she is an amazing kid!! she is smart, and cute, funny, and so brave and strong!! now you see why she is our inspiration!

sorry for the picture quality... these are all from my old dinosaur camera with the film so I had to scan and upload them... the first is Kayla and I before her 1st surgery, the second is after her eyelid was disconnected and filled with tumor, and the 3rd is after her surgery to remove the tumors and fix her eyelid... sorry I couldn't find her brain surgery pictures... but you can see from her current pictures how great she looks!!