The Balloon

Taygan loves balloons. We were going to get her a whole bunch at her birthday but no stores around here had helium still. Now the helium shortage is over so Tony bought her one a couple days ago. Just Tony and Taygan went into the store while the rest of us stayed in the van. Taygan comes out holding a huge Minnie Mouse balloon. I think Tony said it cost him $10. Whoa! While we were on our way home the string came loose. The boys were really worried because we do not have luck with helium balloons. I said that everybody needed to stay in the van when we got home and I would make sure the balloon made it into the house. After we park I get out and get the balloon. I open the sliding glass door to step in and the balloon tears away from the tag and floats away. I say, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!! Tony is like, "What happened?" I tell him and this is when he tells me how much it cost. Taygan still isn't out of the van yet. She gets out and I'm already crying. She asks Tony where her balloon is and he tells her to ask me. She sees me crying and she starts crying and I have to tell her I lost it. We go sit on the couch and I start getting her ready for bed while I'm telling her how sorry I am. All the boys are sitting on the couch silent not knowing what to do to help. I take off her shoes and then I take off her tights. He underwear gets caught with the tights and ends up around her knees. Taygan says, "What?" We all start laughing with tears still in our eyes. The ice was broken and the boys begin to bring out toys and treats to make her feel better. It was a fine moment for the Bullocks. We went from tragedy to laughter within five minutes.

Back at the Gym

I signed up for some classes at the gym. I'm in something called Xfit and another called cardio blast. I do xfit Monday Wednesday and Friday and cardio blast Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is my first week doing it and I'm good and sore. I'm doing good with the weight training and core strengthening but the cardio is killing me. I just can't breathe and my chest gets all full of phlegm and I cough like crazy. I don't know if I'm pushing myself too hard because it's been two years since I've worked out. Nobody else seems to have any problems and I'm the only one who's breathing like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy. I hope things get better because I really want to fit back into non maternity clothes again someday.

My Clenched Fisted Little Girl

Last week Taygan just got a toy from the store and was holding it at home when she let out a little scream. She cried and said she got poked by a needle. I couldn't see anything on her hand. She decided to clench her hands to protect herself. She kept her fists like that the remainder of the afternoon. Tony asked about it that evening and I explained. At this point I still did't know what had happened but when I looked again I could see the bee sting. So it all made sense. Taygan is still clenching her fists afraid to open her hands. It's amazing what she can do with little stubs for hands. She has completely adjusted to not having fingers anymore. It cracks me up but I'm also worried about her at the same time. I open her hands for her a couple times a day to make sure everything is still working and now I'm trying to have her open them herself from time to time. Any suggestions of how to help my terrified little girl who is too afraid to use her hands anymore?

Relax

Today while my kids were enjoying a cartoon I decided to hop in the shower. I turned the water on as hot as it would get and just enjoyed the quiet. While I was at my most relaxed I pictured a woman in a third world country splashing freezing cold filthy water on herself at a river with dozens of others around doing the same. Boys would be urinating upstream, babies would be crying because it was so cold and I realized this woman would never enjoy a hot shower in her life. I felt so guilty I turned the water off and got out. Hot showers truly are one of my favorite things and I'm very happy I live in a time and country where it's a possbility and I'll try not to take it for granted anymore.

Am I the only person who has a hard time proving I'm not a robot? I have to try three or four times. They make those word verifications too difficult. While I'm ranting, why can't I do spell check on here anymore?

Long Time No See

I just noticed I haven't written a blog enrty at all this year. It's true that not much exciting has happened but I need to write about something, even if it's totally lame. So here is my day today. 7am woke up to get kids ready for school. Wednesdays we get to sleep in a half hour because the teachers have a morning meeting. For some reason 7 feels hours later than 6:30 so I love Wednesdays. 8 am got them on bus. chilled with the girls then got ready 9 am left to pick up missionaries with Tony. Picked them up and traveled to Bluffton. I think they were bummed Tony brought the wifey and some kids but I really wanted to go along. 10 am exchanged missionaries and talked them into going to Berne. Saw the Glockenspiel but couldn't wait till noon for it to do its thing. 11 am Ate at Coco's Chinese buffet back in Bluffton. It was pretty good. 12ish dropped elders off. Headed home. Hung around the house until the boys got home at 2:30. Did homework, watched Pocohontas, ate some reward chocolate and ate dinner. Got ready for scouts. They had to be in complete Class A uniforms for an inspection. 7 pm Watched the boys get inspected, asked some questions, learned something, and then walked around the church. Got stopped by the young women who wanted my help with a song they've been practicing. I was in yw and got released about a month ago. The alto section missed my voice and wanted my help. We decided since I was in there when they started practicing that song I should be able to perform with them in sacrament meeting. I think it's fair. 8:30 Wrangled up my children and headed home. I couldn't find my phone and searched the van and my diaper van. I tried to make it scream but it wouldn't work. It turns out I had left it home the whole time and it was in my at home spot. 9 pm made sure all kids were in bed and got on the internet. Checked my email, facebooked and then remembered I used to have a blog. Checked it out, realized I was a loser for not writing all year and got straight to work. You will notice that there was no cleaning mentioned in my day here. That was not a mistake. I now have some serious cleaning up to do. Hopefully I can get it done in 30 min. or less because I am tired.

Bullock 2011

I have not gotten Christmas cards out yet this year and in all reality I'm not going to. I just cannot muster up the time or umph to do it. So here is my Bullock Christmas newsletter for 2011.

The biggest news for our family is our daughter Gillian Rose. She was born in October and looks just like the rest of our clan. She's a good baby who doesn't cry too much. She seems to have a favorite in Brandis mostly I believe because he is the quietest of the family. The others adore her and want to entertain her constantly. She has a great smile that melts all our hearts.

Our other little girl Taygan is growing up well. She loves anything girly. Because she is two she likes to get into everything. Most of my day is following after her putting things away. She has turned into a huge Daddy's girl and loves to climb on him like a jungle gym. Even though she is very girly she also likes to wrestle the boys. They don't fight back so she can really take them down. She likes to dance and sing the songs she learns in nursery.

Brandis is four and he is our happy boy. He's very quiet but when he does say something you know he put a lot of thought into it. He says I love you 20 times a day and is just about the cutest boy I've ever seen. I'm really glad I didn't put him into preschool this year because I know I would miss my little buddy too much. He also likes to sing and dance.

Dougan is six and he is our reader. He reads constantly and is blasting reading levels left and right. He is also our most social. Dougan has never met a stranger, everyone is his friend. This includes girls and adults. At church people come up to me every week to tell me the funny thing Dougan said to them. I am so interested to see what he'll be when he grows up. He entertains us all with his made up songs and stories.

Eades is eight and he was baptized this year. He took it very seriously and he still does. Eades is our more thoughtful child. Lessons he learns in church and school have a great impact on him. He remembers things well and I am amazed at his ability to recall facts and stories that I know would have gone in one ear and out the other when I was that age. I call Eades my little hero because he fights injustice when he sees it. His teachers have told me that he encourages others to choose the right when they are doing something wrong.

Koen is nine and enjoys being the oldest and first to do everything. He is my right hand man. He helps me out with cooking, cleaning, laundry, gathering children and getting them ready, and he's my gopher. I appreciate him very much. He definitely makes my life easier. He also likes to read and do sports. He has a lot of talents which he's usually too shy to share with others.

I spent my year doing regular mommy stuff. This summer the kids and I enjoyed participating in the summer reading program. We also spent a week at the fair. We went everyday but Sunday. Our highlight was the reunion. It was great to see my parents, some of my siblings, and my nieces and nephews. Hopefully next time all of us can be together. I also went to girls camp this summer. I love girls camp and had a great time. My kids also had a great time with their babysitter. I was pregnant most of the year but this one was pretty easy. A sister from the ward took care of the children while I was in the hospital and even after I came home for a couple weeks. She has become such a dear friend to our family.

Tony is still working for Atlas Oil. He enjoys it and he's good at what he does. He was called into the elder's quorum presidency this year. He really likes planning activities and doing guy stuff with his friends. He's a really good dad and is the much cooler parent of our family. He likes taking the kids to movies when I need a nap, which is really brave because even I wouldn't take five kids to the movies by myself.

We've had a happy year. We're glad we moved to Huntington where we have met so many great people and the town is just awesome. We're also not too far away from all of our friends and family in Niles who we got to visit this summer. We're hoping 2012 is just as good to us. We give are love to all of you. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Love, The Bullocks