Jessie's no good, very bad day

Yesterday Jessie had a no good, very bad day! It actually began Monday night after 5pm. She was acting like a normal 2 year old when she came up to me (Mom) with her finger in her ear. She said, "It broke." I looked at her ear and sure enough there was the junk that comes out when an ear drum has burst. She wasn't really bothered by it and went back to whatever she was doing before.

So yesterday morning I called the dr. and the first appointment we could get was 6pm. Annie was now showing signs of strep and Cam had begun to act sick so Ash took all 3 to the dr. (I'm still wiped out from my strep battle and Ash is really great to take them for me.) The dr. confirmed they all have strep. Cameron also has a double ear infection and pink eye in one eye. Jessie has a double ear infection (with one burst ear drum), and pink eye in both eyes. The dr. said Jessie was the sickest of the 50 kids he'd seen that day. Now picture Jessie running around playing and laughing like nothing is wrong. That's exactly how she was acting! The dr. couldn't believe it! We hadn't given her any medicine that day. She never complained or cried at all! I felt like a bad Mom. But Jessie does have a track record of this kind of behavior.

Ash brings them all home after picking up their medicine and dinner. It's about 8pm. Jessie is standing on the bottom rung of the kitchen stool. I'm standing next to her. She steps down off the rung and pulls the stool on top of her. Her head is cut open above her left eye. (She is crying this time.) Ash calls the dr.'s office and ends up with the dr.'s cell phone number. He calls it looking for an after hours clinic, not knowing it's the dr.'s phone. The dr. tells him to bandage it up and bring her in the next morning and he'll see if she needs stitches.

Today Ash took her in and sure enough she needed stiches, 5 of them! What do you know Jessie didn't even cry as he was stitching her up. Ash held her hands and said she was holding them like it was a normal day with nothing unusual happening. No crying or struggling. The dr. was amazed. When he brought her home she wanted to talk about her ice cream cone Daddy got her not the stitches. She's asleep now, so hopefully their will be no add-ons to this post. The dr. said we should try to avoid him for the next week. We'll cross our fingers! Hopefully Thanksgiving will be a much better day for Jessie, and her parents! :)

Tonight for FHE our family is writing down what we are thankful for. It was a fun hour full of craziness as usual. When we say laughter, tears, & mess, we mean it. There are many more things we are grateful for but here are the few we thought of tonight.

We are grateful for:

Cameron: Food to eat and play with, anything he can get his hands on, his big sister Jessie, Daddy's whiskers, playing with Daddy, roaring, running

Jessica: (She said this, really,) Bubba, Care Bear, princesses

Jack: My family, my friends, brothers & sisters, basketball, my teacher, 3 recesses today, my cousin Zach who is coming to visit me, music (rock n' roll)

Tyler: Clothes, Mom & Dad, my good brain, that my teeth are getting straighter, football, good books (The Lightning Thief, etc.), brothers and a sister I can play football with in the backyard, BYU (usually), grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, being tall

Matthew: being on this earth (as opposed to the other planets he's been on), scriptures, prayer, cool parents (his words not ours), to be named after my Dad, tackle football, basketball, food, my brothers & sisters, that I am the first boy in my family, scouts, friends, Prophets, food, Aunts & Uncles, video games, being tall

Annie: sarcasm, my family, that I have a sister - Jessie, that my Mom was in YW with me, David Archuleta, that I can play tennis, I can watch tennis, I can think about tennis, boys, friends, midnight movies

Mom: Ashley, 6 healthy (overall healthy) kids, the gospel, prayer, the YW in my ward, the things I've learned this year (good & bad), a couple of good friends to vent with, other Moms to commiserate and laugh with about children, that I have 4 kids in school all day and no one in preschool or kindergarten, carpeted floors, grass in the backyard

Dad: a wife who listens to the spirit and brings it into our home, a good job & boss, all my kids, kids I can play football with outside, that I can serve others, the truth I know, Joseph Smith, that I can now breathe out of my nose (surgery helped that), Tivo.

Update on the Oviatts

I guess I really shouldn't be writing this while Cameron is awake. He's touching all the buttons he can find on the computer. He's been known to kiss and even lick the computer! But still I insist I'm going to write this before I forget again. Blame any typos on Cameron - thanks! (this may take and hour to write one paragraph)

For the last two weeks I've been sick. That's the biggest news around here these days. I've had strep and a head cold for 2 weeks! It's now down to a cold (that's still driving me crazy) but I am much better than I was. I got it worse than anyone else in the house. We've had a few kids start to show symptoms but we've caught it in time. (now everyone's going to get sick because I said that.)

Jack's loving basketball. You'd think he played for the Jazz the way he talks about it sometimes. It's very important to him. Matthew & Ty have been great supporters of Jack. They give him advice whether he wants it or not.

Ashley continues to work like crazy! He gets home after 8pm at least 2 nights a week. But he has a good job & a great boss and we are very grateful for that.

Annie was invited by a friend to go to the midnight showing of "Twilight" last night/this morning. She hasn't read the books because she hasn't wanted to (Ash and I have read them all). So she felt kinda guilty going when she knew so many people love the books and couldn't go. But she had a lot of fun and is really tired! She got home at 3am. Irresponsible parents! I hope she doesn't fall asleep in 6th period today. How often do you get to go to a movie at midnight?

Well that's it. Nothing real exciting is happening here. Just the same old stuff - messes, diapers, too much Disney Channel for mom, silliness, homework, nagging, cuddling babies, kissing boo boos, laundry, laundry, laundry! Oh great - the babies found M&M's in the kitchen! Gotta run!

Lesson: Always watch the babies

First a little background info. Today Ty is home from school sick. I have been sick for the past week. Cam has gotten into everything and I mean everything in our house today and is driving us nuts!
Ty and I are laying on the couches watching t.v. with the babies. All of a sudden it's quiet. I know I shut all the doors down the hallway except the babies room so I know they are in there. I know I should go check on them but the silence is so nice on my throbbing head. Besides they are in their room, what could go wrong. They've already messed it up and thrown sequins(left over from Girls Camp) all over the room. This lasts for about 15 minutes or so and I began to get nervous but I'm too sick to care. All of a sudden they come down the hall covered from head to toe in lotion! No exaggeration! They are very proud of themselves. They found a tub of Avon lotion and were smearing it everywhere and I mean everywhere! I started to get mad then realized I should just take a picture instead. I'm too sick to really care anyway. As a mother of 6 I really should know better than to enjoy silence! Here's the proof (they were taken with my cellphone so they aren't real great.)

Jessie, Annie & the cup of water

Annie was playing in the front room with the babies, like a good big sister. She was pretending to sleep on the couch and then the babies try to wake her up. So Annie's laying there with her eyes closed when out of the blue she is covered in water. Jessie had gone into the kitchen and got a cup, filled it with water from the fridge and threw it on Annie to wake her up. She was soaked! She said it was just like in the cartoons. Annie said this was a blog moment. Here's the proof:

Matthew's Pro Bowl

This weekend Matthew played in his football league's Pro Bowl! He did a great job and had lots of fun! We are such losers we didn't take very many or very good pictures of sports this fall. I think we were lucky just to get the kids to their games in their uniforms. Here's a couple of Matthew:


Matthew in the regular season on the Chiefs. He was the starting nose guard.


Matthew in the Pro Bowl (He's on the right with a Chiefs helmet) Jamal Willis is on the left. (He played for BYU a while back for those of you who don't follow football. I won't name names. You know who you are.)

Tyler's Teeth Before & After

Before: This is when he first got his braces on. He had 2 extra front teeth pulled (the gap). He had a sideways tooth and a tooth coming in the roof of his mouth.









After: 9 months later! They took his braces off to put new brackets on. It's amazing! The gap was gone within 3 months. He likes to smile a lot more now!


He's braces buddy with his Grandma Liz. He gave her advice when she got her's put on. He also got blue rubber bands for BYU!
GOOOOOOOO Tyler!

I'm Tyler Mark Oviatt

Hi, my name is Tyler aka Ty . I like to play football, basketball and hurdling in my backyard. (we built a hurdle out of stuff in our backyard.) I also play football with Annie and Matthew in the backyard - tackle!

This is Me Today

I will be turning 9 in Dec. I am in 3rd grade and my teacher is Mrs. Nelson. She is so cool! I also have braces. At first they hurt my lips. In fact it hurt so bad I bled. I played flag football this year. I got 5 picks (interceptions) , 0 touchdowns and a lot flag pulls! I drive my mom nuts with how good I played!

I was a nerd for Halloween!

I am reading "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan. It's about a kid named Percy Jackson. He has to go to the Sea of Monsters to clear a centuar named Chiron's name because he got kicked out of camp half blood. Camp half blood is a place that half bloods like Percy can go to be safe from monsters because of Thalia's pine tree that is the boundary line for monsters. It's really good so far.

Sometimes I like my family, if I don't it means I'm fighting with them. But I always love them! Here's my TOP 5 Things I like to do with my family:
5- Play tackle football with Jackson, Annie & Matthew
4- Go to Lagoon
3- Go to Disneyland
2- Playing basketball with my Dad
1- Go to BYU football with my Dad & my Grandpa Mark

That's me right now! TO BE CONTINUED...

Note from Eleisha/Mom: Tyler wrote this himself. I helped edit a bit but he did most of it.

Hi, I'm Cameron

Mommy is always pushing buttons on this thing, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Hi I'm Cameron Burton Oviatt but my family calls me Bubba. My big sister Jessie called me Bubba da when I was really little so everyone else started calling me Bubba. I am 1 year old. For some reason my Mommy and Daddy are really excited about Dec. 17th. Something about nursery and me. I love to go to church. I run all over and eat and eat and eat then run some more. I don't know why all these people sit still. It's much funner to run!

I have great fun at home with my Mom and Jessie. Everyone else leaves while I'm in my PJ's. But Jessie and Mommy never do. I love to play with Jessie! I hate it when she sits on me. I just push her and turn her tv off. What's the big deal! I love to push any button I can find which seems to push Mommy's buttons. Jessie is my best bud! I can't go to bed without her in our room. We laugh and play in our cribs before we sleep. She loves to dance with me and I'm not so sure about that. If she ignores me I get mad. She makes me happy when I'm sad.

I also love phones. Especially Mommy's cell phone. I call Daddy (sometimes he actually does). Mommy doesn't like it when I take her phone, she says I hide it. I don't I just put it away in my room or in the towel basket. I know where it is.

I love to eat food. I love this big thing in our kitchen that is full of food. I love to bring Mommy food out of it all day long. I love to pull everything out of it and find new treasures. I just heard Mommy in the kitchen. She's cooking, I gotta go! I'm back. False alarm she was just cleaning not cooking. I love to watch Mommy and Daddy cook. I whine and cry until they pick me up and let me see what's in the pots and pans. I want them to hold me the whole time they are chopping and mixing but they won't. Something about needing 2 hands. Daddy thinks I'll be a chef someday. Not someday - NOW!

I love Elmo. He's so funny! I also love this show where we pat our legs and say "Lift Off!". It's so fun that I do it all day long! Mommy likes it cause I sit still for a minute. I love Mommy's stuff! She always has a water bottle. She gave me one but I still like her's best. Anything Mommy is eating or drinking I want. It's much tastier that way. Mommy always wants me to play with toys. I don't get it. Her stuff is so much funner to throw and play with. She has pens and markers, papers, computers, laundry (I unfold it), and phones. Plus she pays a lot of attention to me when I play with her stuff. I don't think she's happy though. She's happy after lunch when she puts us in our cribs.

I love to go in the van. Whenever Mommy or Daddy puts on their shoes and gets their keys I know they are going in the van so I run as fast as I can to the door where the van is. When we go if someone gets out of the van and I don't I get mad. I want to go to tennis with Annie. I'd be a great doubles partner!

I forgot my favorite part - Daddy! I love to play with Daddy! Especially the fur on his chin. He tickles me and throws me up until I laugh. Sometimes Daddy doesn't come home until I'm in bed. I can't go to sleep sometimes unless I've played with Daddy. Mommy just isn't the same. I do love to give Mommy big hugs and kisses. She's always there. I love my big brothers. They are fun to play with too. Annie is my biggest sister. She takes care of me for Mommy sometimes. I love her a lot. She takes good care of me.


That's a bit of my life. So fun! I have a lot people around here who love me and take care of me. I have a lot to say, I think it runs in the family. Gotta go. The house is way to clean, I have some work to do!

Update on the Sports Update

Matthew's pro-bowl game is 9:30am Saturday morning, at Lakeridge Jr. High in Orem. He had his first practice tonight and he's excited to be playing again. He probably will not play a lot, because the coach is from another team and he has 12 players on the all-star team, and most of them are linemen like Matthew. He will get a jersey and should play at least some.

Sports Update

Just thought I'd give an update on our next exciting sports season. I know the Oviatt sports fan club is growing by the minute.

First up we have Matthew playing in the Pro Bowl this Saturday. (I'll post the time and location when I get it.) He was selected by his coach to be an all-star. We are very proud of Matthew. (In all fairness we are proud of all our kids but right now we are talking about Matthew, so chill out Tyler. We'll brag about you another time.) He worked hard this season and became the starting nose guard. He found his inner meanness on the field and became a force to pay attention to. In the first half of his last few games he got lots of tackles and even caused a fumble and made an interception. In the second half of those games the other team took notice of Matthew, he was double teamed and held. We are just glad he tried so hard and had fun. The first game of the season he barely played, at the end of the season he was selected for the Pro Bowl. Way to go Matthew!

Tomorrow Jackson starts his basketball career. So he thinks. He is playing Little Hoopsters here in Spanish Fork. It's a training league where they learn to play basketball the first couple of weeks and then they play games. He's just so excited to play basketball after watching his older brothers and sister play. I'm sure he'll be fun to watch. He plays every Tuesday & Thursday at either 6pm or 7pm at the school next to our house.

Then we have Miss Annie. At the first of December she begins her next tennis adventure. She's playing every Saturday morning for 3 months at the indoor tennis courts here in SF. We aren't sure all this program includes but there will be some matches. We'll post them when we have more info. She's excited to continue learning to play tennis. She learned a lot playing on her Jr. High tennis team this fall. (Mostly how to deal with a coach's daughter who can't play but her Mom thinks she can.) Here she comes Wimbledon - watch out!

Matthew & Tyler will be playing city league basketball starting in January. No big news there. Except that Ashley will be coaching Tyler this season. Tyler is quick to remind us that Ash has coached the other kids and not him. We'll see how happy Ty is about it in February. Ash is excited and scouting kids around here to draft for his team. We'll post a schedule, probably in January. The games are on Saturday mornings.

There you have it. I'm sure the babies will be playing games of their own at home or be busy running onto the court. They always do. Our winter won't be as crazy as our fall was but we will be busy. What's new? I'm tired just typing all this.

As a side note - Ashley got a new calling. He was released from 11 year old scouts and put in Primary as my team teacher in the CTR 8 class. He is so excited! Really he is! He loves primary! Primary loves Ash! At least I'll see Ash again. We've now taught together 3 times. 4 year olds, 8 year olds, 12 year olds. Cameron will be with us until the Sunday before Christmas when he leaves us for Nursery. Now that's a great Christmas present! Cameron will be much happier in nursery - he'd better be or his teachers are going to be sick of him crying.

Family Book Review

For the last 6 weeks our family has been reading a lot! We discovered this series of books called "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". It's about a boy, Percy Jackson, who has never known his father, has ADHD and dyslexia. He discovers his father is Poseidon from Greek mythology. He goes on quests that involve other heroes, monsters, Gods, etc. from Greek mythology. It's a lot of fun!

Ashley and I have read all 4 books that are out right now. Annie is on book 4, Matthew book 2, and Tyler is about to finish book 1. It's been a lot of fun to read them as a family and watch the kids get excited as they read them. They are like Harry Potter without the darkness and wordiness.

"They are a great way to learn about Greek mythology. Not a single page is boring!" -Annie Oviatt
"It's Awesome!" -Matthew Oviatt
"It's funny and fun to read!" -Tyler Oviatt
Jackson pretends to read them and thinks they are great.
Cameron and Jessie like to pick up the books and hide them.
"The first book is as good as the last. Kids can understand it but it's not boring for adults. You'll enjoy the journey." -Ashley Oviatt
"I'm glad my kids are reading again. I loved the books." -Eleisha Oviatt

We got them at Wal-Mart for about $6 a piece. The 5th and final book is coming next spring. Obviously we are all excited!

I forgot this picture that I like. Cameron is looking for Candy already!

Halloween

We made it through Halloween! The kids didn't change their costumes since I last posted. That's a Halloween miracle. Here's the pics:

All the kids except Annie (she was still getting ready!)

Annie - dancing silhouette in the IPod commercial

Matthew the Zombie (you fill in the blank) We've come up with - lawyer, Wall Street broker, salesman, missionary (that one's Ashley's).

Tyler the Nerd - You may be asking "Why didn't Tyler dress up this year?"

Jackson - Batman

Mommy's favorite - cost nothing (it was Matthew's a few years ago), no make-up, Jack could put it on all by himself!

Minnie Mouse & Mickey Mouse Jessie & Cameron

They had a lot of fun! Cameron was saying, "Trick r treat". Jessie was very impressed with her 10 pieces of candy. Annie went to a party. The boys continue to count and recount their stash of candy. Ash & I are just tired of candy wrappers on the floor!