Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Twelve Tasks of Hercules

Some of the great Greek myths have to do with heroes and the challenges that they have been given by the gods or the ruler of the land they are in. These include the twelve tasks of Hercules, which demand either slaying monsters or capturing some sort of article that could be considered either treasure or sacred to one of the gods.
Did you know that originally, there were more tasks than that? But not being anything more than a great Greek hero, it was impossible for him to complete them. No, these tasks were left until the Greek gods and Karma came together last week and decided that there was nothing good on television. So they decided to bring them back out, and see if Sarah could perform these impossible and wondrous feats. Let me tell you what they were.
The Capture of the Golden Pearls of Urina-Benjamin has been sick. I mean, really sick, with a temp that was at 104 last night. Cliff took him in to Urgent Care while I stayed at home with the other two and tried to convince myself that Ben did not have either form of meningitis or something equally worse with only 24 hours to live. They ruled out most things, but wanted us to get a urine sample to make sure it wasn't a severe urinary tract infection.
Do you know how hard it is to convince a 2 year old who loves his diaper that he needs to give me a urine sample? You don't want to know how many tricks I tried, as well as my mother and Cliff. So while the diapers got fuller and fuller, the urine sample cup stayed depressingly empty.
On the positive side, this has really upped Ben's vocabulary and enunciation. Benjamin has become really quite good at telling me, "I don't like the toilet" and "I wanna go out of bathroom".
Finally, Clifford came home. We decided to just give up and tell the doctor we really had put out our best effort, even if Ben hadn't.
Then, miraculously, Clifford noticed something in the bottom of the bowl. Yes! It was! Sometime during the day, Ben had left us those precious golden drops in the little toilet, and there were enough for the sample!
Clifford took this treasure and the treasured 2 year old back to the doctor, who ruled out bladder and UT infections, and said Ben's white blood count was looking much better and that he'd probably be over the viral infection in a few days. VICTORY!!!
Other tasks yet to be completed but in the works:
The abduction of Payton: okay, not really abduct, but get to know. She is Brandon's girlfriend and pushes him on the swings at recess. It's cute, but being the paranoid mother that I am, I wonder if anything else is going on there.
The slaying of the Hormonally-Overloaded Monster of Pregnancia: Do you know how stupid I feel when I cry about inconsequential things? Like when my dog looks at me funny or I can't remember what page Nadia's piano lesson is? I don't know exactly when, but this monster is going DOWN.
The Labor of Caleb: should be happening any time, but I think he's going to continue to be a stinker and just keep giving me stop and go contractions until the doctor decides it's time to get him out. But like the slaying of the monster, it will happen. Caleb just doesn't know who he's up against yet.

Holy Holiday Season, Batman!

Do you remember the old Batman series with Adam West? Where they would hit or punch the villains with a big POW! ZING! Like in the comics? Personally, my favorite was always the FWAP! Right now though, this is how the week has been feeling. I am starting to wonder if we will all need a vacation after this holiday vacation is over.
To start:
Christmas was great. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house, where I realized too late that my pregnancy and their guest bed do not work together. I slept on the couch. But it was a great Christmas. I would show you pics, but my camera and photo sharing software are holding them hostage. ZAP!
December the 26th was also very eventful, but for different reasons. We were cleaning out kids rooms, and somehow the Smiling Terror (aka Benjamin) did a head dive off Nadia's bed. Straight onto the corner of the baseboard heater. He got up, looking a little dazed, and then the first gush of blood spurted out. Both of the older kids screamed bloody murder (not the best analogy, or is it?) and so Ben started screaming. Quick thinking Mom grabbed some kleenex which Dad slapped on Ben's head, and then tried to find a wash cloth. Ben went in to Urgent Care and got one stitch, and his puncture wound irrigated. He's just fine now, thank goodness. BANG!
Sunday looked as if it would be a break from all the drama. Alas, it was not to be. Around 7, I started having contractions. At 7:30, I started counting. At 8:30, I called the hospital to tell them my contractions were about every 5 minutes, and my son could still be breech. They said to come in. Good news: contractions slowed down around 3 am, Caleb is head down, and we may be having him early. Bad news: we are not prepared. No crib set up, no bags ready, no clean baby clothes washed and folded, etc. I think this may have been a practice run to tell us that we need to get it in gear. FWAP!
Tonight, we were getting ready to go to my parents' house for dinner after yesterday's excitement. While telling the children to get on coats, Cliff and I heard a loud pop/crash noise. It sounded like someone had burst a tire outside. Unfortunately, it was Uncle John. And it wasn't just his tire. It looks like someone side swiped his car, popped his tire, and did something to his rear axle. Hopefully the majority of it can be taken of before he has to go back to school in Provo next week. POW!
I know the holidays are supposed to be memorable, but I think this is a bit over the top. I would really appreciate a little quiet now. Let's see if we get it.

Eight Is Great

This is Nadia. She is the newest member of the Iona 4th ward. She was baptized and confirmed by her father on December 12th, 2009, at the Iona stake center. Both sets of grandparents were able to come, as well as Cherie, Beaner, Jenny, Braedon, Kambrie, and uncle John. We were a little worried about this, because there was a big storm system which dumped a lot of snow that weekend, but everyone was able to drive safely to and from their destinations.
I was hoping to get a picture of her in the jumpsuit that is standard issue for all baptisms in our stake, but there was never any time. When she came into the chapel wearing it, I almost cried. And not just because I am pregnant and cry at everything. My little girl isn't so little anymore, and what a wonderful thing to know that she can be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's, has a worthy father that could help her perform the ordinances, and that we have so much support from loving family and friends.

Baby Caleb Is Upside Down

So. It's official. Little Caleb Carson Sharp has decided to follow the Sharp tradition of giving his mother grief before making his big debut.
What is it about the Sharp boys that they feel the need to cause their mothers drama? Isn't it enough that I get really bad morning sickness, lose the use of a leg from sciatic nerve pain, and have so many stretch marks that I look like a elevation map? Apparently, that's just not enough.
Today I had my 34 week appointment. That's right, folks, 6 weeks to go. I was starting to think that I might pull off a simple boy birth. But it may not be. Again.
Several weeks ago, Caleb decided I make a pretty good hammock, and was lying transverse. That felt really weird, with his head pushing on one side of my ribs and his legs kicking the other. He had stayed like that until today's appointment, when we discovered that he was heads up, like Brandon had been.
I have two thoughts to comfort and console me:
1. If he is still breech in 2 weeks, we will do an ultrasound and try to manually turn him. Right away, not 4 days before his due date, like my doctor tried with Brandon.
2. I will take a C-section over Bell's Palsy (temporary facial paralysis, and the drama I had with Ben) any day. Only now that I have publicly announced it, I will have both. Because that's the way my life works.

Brandon Is Six!

Yesterday was Brandon's 6th birthday. He wanted to go to Leo's Place for pizza and the play area. He also wanted a sledding party, but that will have to wait, as all the snow is gone right now.

Actual dialogue from the opening of presents:

-Transformers! I always wanted these guys!

-Dinosaurs! I 've been waiting for those!

-Money! Just what I always wanted!
-Shirts?! Who got me shirts? I don't want shirts!

He also got a bunch of John Deere stuff that he has been very nice about sharing with Ben, and decided that some of the shirts were okay, since they had dinosaurs and 4wheelers on them. Except the two that I bought for him, because one was plain and the other just has a cobra on it. So not cool.

We made a new vanilla cake for the vanilla boy, and it is a hit at our house. You can find the recipe on the Kitchen to Kitchen blog. It was his idea for the whipped cream and strawberries. Such a sophisticated palate for one so young. We will still do the sledding party, I think, and in the mean time, we have plenty on our hands with a ward Christmas party (Cliff will be singing in a quartet, if he can find enough men for a quartet), a baptism, and having the talk multiple times with our children about how it's okay for other people to believe in Santa, even if we don't.

Slacker Sarah Rides Again

So here (finally) is a post about what my turkeys and the rest of us did for Thanksgiving. I went over on Wednesday to help make the pies, only to be told that my father had already bought 3 of them and we only needed to make some pumpkin custard. He is a pie fiend, and I should have realized that he wouldn't be able to wait for us to bake them up. I was also going to bake a new very vanilla cake that sounded FABULOUS, but had to wait until tree decorating time the following week to try it.
My mother's mixer finally gave up the ghost. She originally bought it in Germany, and it is the heavy duty big brother of one of those Kitchen-Aid mixers every one raves about. The Bosch beast lasted about 25 years. Mom was able to make rolls, but they were definitely not the same.

This is a too close picture of the enchiladas that my mother makes the day after Thanksgiving, and why we need such a large bird in the first place. An 8 lb Jennie-O just wouldn't cut it for the Thanksgiving feast AND for these babies. My brothers will actually skip eating more turkey just to make sure there is enough to make the enchiladas. What better endorsement to their yumminess is there? I should have posted the recipe for them right after the big turkey day, but the title for this post says it all, friend.

Brandon made this turkey for school. He was very proud of the color pattern he used for the feathers. Yes, very organized when it comes to color patterns, but actually putting the turkey away instead of letting it sit on the table for 3 days? Not a chance. He also realized that he likes mashed potatoes and gravy. Right when Cliff decided to go on his low carb diet. Oh, the irony of it all. One boy who needs to avoid carbs, and one who I push to eat any carb I can find.

This is Nadia's turkey creation. Her 2nd grade class was given the red piece of paper with a turkey outline, and fill it out any way they wanted. Most of it is different pasta shapes, pretzels, some licorice and skittles. It was a great way to get rid of some old Halloween candy, instead of letting it sit around where I might just happen to see it and eat it.

Poor Benjamin's picture is lost somewhere, but the good news is that we finally got a new camera, so it will be MUCH easier to download pics and know they are on a memory card instead of my finicky phone. Cliff actually braved Black Friday to get it. He is a much braver (and bruised) person than I.