Spring approaching

The snow is going away very slowly. We did get some snow from time to time but they didn't stay long. It has been so long ever since I posted something. I was struggling with flu for two weeks. It began out with sore throat, achey neck and headaches. Then I found myself coughing constantly. I couldn't sleep with having to cough. It was terrible. Ironic thing is that I am the only person that ever got sick in this family. Normally, everyone already has been sick BEFORE me. While I was sick, I barely was keeping up with chores. Dishes, laundry, and all were kept up with. I was meaning to do house cleaning . . . But it came into last on my priority list. No regrets.
I got better around Thursday and was able to get back to normal things. The first thing I did was to clean kids' bathroom! Ha ha. This week, I did the remainder. I am telling you one thing: I can't wait till Clint is done with upstairs. I will be able to organize things and there will be so much less clutter around the house.
Last Monday, I took kids out to visit their cousins in Syracuse. They played all day long together till after dinnertime. I took them back home and arrived at 7:00 p.m. It was very hard for them to get back to the routine next day. Some grumblings and disciplining before we settled into the routine. On Tuesday, I went to Lindon Bishop Warehouse to do some wet cannery shift. It was so different from dry cannery. I just stood there, watching the rows of cans going pass by me with that overpowering scent of tomato soup. It just took me an hour. Ha. It is very interesting! Next Tuesday's shift- I won't be using nice clothes that can get stained very easily. I will be doing diced tomatoes. I talked with my sister in law about it and she told me that doing jams are the best- the scent is sweet and pleasant. Ha.
On Wednesday, I took Anna and Timmy with me to midwife appointment. I had to go in for ultrasound first. They were checking my little girl's kidneys because some time ago- they were swollen with fluid. I was happy to have good news- they checked it this time and found them to be smaller- like slits. That's improvement. There's still some fluid there so they will check me again during 36 weeks. That will be six weeks from now.
My sister in law just had a little guy two nights ago. His first name and middle name is Parker Clay. I heard that he is so BIG. (9lbs and 7oz). Chris is very proud and happy. I am happy for their sake. They have been through so much and childbearing is not an easy thing. As it sounded like, it was a good birth. It took Tracy two days to get in hospital though. She had to wait since that she needed to be induced. The women who are in labor usually get priority over her.
Other days, have been spending purely on cleaning and doing laundry. LOL. Laundry piled up so badly that I had to spend an hour and half folding the clothes on Wednesday. I am washing other load today now to keep up with piles of dirty clothes.
Tomorrow, I am going to learn how to do a pattern at quilting class which I am looking forward to! I went to JoAnn yesterday night to purchase some stuff on sale and am very excited about it. I am disappointed about the price of batting. I will have to wait till I get 50 percent off coupon before I can get that.
Clint's scar is healing nicely. However, there's small part of it that won't go away. I think he is developing infection in that section. I have been worrying about it. Good news is that Clint is done with physical therapy sessions and is able to bend his leg completely. He is able to return to the work upstairs. He has been mudding and is done with the first coat. He will be working on second coat this weekend.
I hope to concentrate on some of my projects next week- scrapbooking and quilting. I am done with Annalise's book and will work on Suzy's. Anna will be excited to know that I am planning to register her in this Monday for school kindergarten next fall.

Sewing, Tree cutting, and Christmas photographs

I just completed my sewing project that I started at Deaf Center in Salt Lake City. I went to Deaf Quilter's Club on third Saturday and learned how to do appliqué style with a heart shape. It was so fun doing all of those varieties.

This is tree cutting activity which resulted in Clinton getting injured. This tree is so BIG and I felt so amazed that just four men could take care of it in a day!

During the Christmas week, we hung out with cousins at museum in Denver, had a wonderful Christmas family home evening where we made gingerbread house. We also had lots of fun on Christmas morning.

A bit of time for myself now

I am feeling a bit selfish now. I want to do my fun stuff now. I can't wait to learn how to quilt this Saturday, doing that heart appliance type. I can't wait to get started on the project I wanted for boys' room- denim out of old jeans with red planes theme on them.
Tonite, I will go to a lady's house to make five cards. I enjoy that sort of thing.

Update on Clint:
On ninth day of taking his antibiotic doses- he develop allergic reaction! Rash was horrible. It got to the point where rashes were joining each other and turning into the appearance of welts. LOL. Clint opted to take last three doses and allergy medicine to manage the reaction. Well, I am so happy to say that it is all over. Unfortunately, that medicine that Clint developed allergy to is sulfa- famous for its "half-life". It takes some time to leave his system. Clint's welts are gone but rashes still are there, fading very slowly. I told him he is forbidden to give me any more worries . . . I already have enough of it (lightly).

I am so glad to say that there's no more cadence of accidents . . . Things seem to be returning to routine. I got back to cleaning the house and doing chores like usual. Kids are very happy to fuss over Shadow, our black dog.

Just put up with my previous blog- I was a bit cranky and needed an outlet. I am glad I have a such sympathetic friends. I really feel blessed!

The latest discipline issue I am facing right now is how kids always
are calling each other names. It is deplorable and chases the spirit away. I felt sad one day when I saw Clint off to the work after some negativity influencing our mornings. I finally decided to have a discussion with my family . . For I felt that my kids can't really understand how negative consequences that cam come out of name calling. I put up printed out fake dollars on the refrigerator. I tell kids that they earn a dollar from us every week but with every name calling they do, they lose five cents off their dollar. We are putting this into practice this week and see how our kids do it. It is very hard on them in controlling themselves. Ian is having it even harder. So far, he just has about 25 cent to spare. But I am happy that we don't have to scold them constantly. It is just going to ref. silently and put on tallies.