April Fool's Fun

April Fool's Fun

This year, Keido seemed to really grasp the fun of April Fool's Day.  We did several different tricks, some of which he came up with on his own.

Prank #1 Cotton Ball Cupcakes.

Targets - Dad, Rosa's Family, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Kristen.
Outcomes -

Dad- Boyd came home from work and Keido slyly invited him to eat a special cupcake with him.  Somehow, Boyd was able to take several bites before finally sinking his teeth into a delicious cotton ball. His face as he pulled the nastiness from his mouth... priceless.

Rosa's Family - Rosa's husband ended up finding the cotton ball first.  Apparently he almost choked. Hmm...Sorry Rosa's husband.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Kristen - We found out the Aunt Kristen is the most polite cotton ball eater out there.  She took a few bites, landed the whole cotton ball in her mouth, paused for a moment and looked at everyone one else, then daintily plucked the cotton ball out and put it in her napkin. Unfortunately, Bob saw her and decided not to enjoy his cotton ball as much.

Prank #2  There's a bear on the porch.
My mom and I were discussing what we could do to trick the kids.  She mentioned that her dad would always wake them up and tell them that there was a deer on the lawn and they needed to hurry out to see it.  When they were all outside, he would shout, "April Fool's." I told my mom that we could tell the kids that there was a bear on the porch.  She thought we should say it was an elephant. I looked over at Emi and said, "I bet your listening to all our plans huh?"  She looked thoughtful for a second and said, "Oh my gosh, there's a bee on the window."

Prank #3 Watch out!  Dragon on the ceiling!

Target - Mom

Outcome - Just after waking up, I walked out of my room, and found paper footprints leading to the kitchen.  As I entered the kitchen, I was shocked to find a sign that said, "Watch out!  Dragon on the Ceiling!"  Sure enough, to my surprise, there was a dragon on my ceiling.  Keido came up with this one all by himself.

Prank #4 Tricky Underwear

Target - Dad

Outcome - I sewed one leg shut on Boyd's underwear, and he almost fell over putting them on.  Wish I would have seen it.  I also sewed the neck of his shirt, which he also put on, but more carefully than his shorts.

Prank #5 No Underwear

Target - Well, let me just tell what happened.

Keido went to the bathroom a few days after April Fool's and came out just beaming from ear to ear. I said, "What's going on Keido?"  He whispered, "I have a trick to play on someone.  I'm not wearing any underwear."  Curious, I asked, "Who are you planning on tricking?"  "Aunt Esta!" he exclaimed.  I laughed and thankfully he ran off without "tricking" anyone.  When it was time to put him in the tub though, I was standing next to him and he pulled his pants off and shouted, "Happy Valentine's!!" I think I'm going to have to keep an eye on him when April Fool's comes around each year.

Sunset Beach

I just want to quickly jot down what we did today.  Right now, it seems like just another ordinary type day here, but I think later on in life I will look back and think...that was pretty extraordinary;)

Boyd had his final test for the semester yesterday, so today was our first day of the three week break.  A few days ago, the ladies all got together and decided on a lot of different activities that we wanted to do together over this break.  We made some great plans, and today was the first outing.  At 9:00 we all hopped/crammed on a transport and headed over to Sunset beach.  Sunset is a place that they have a large restaurant, some places to stay, and pool, and a nice beach with some giant trees shading it.

We all started out on the beach.  Boyd and I watched another couple's (Megan and Nate Russel's) baby, while they went out snorkeling.  We played football, splashed in the water, ate sand...well, that was Emi and Brant, and relaxed until they came back.  Then, they wanted to take all the kids up to the pool while Boyd and I went out snorkeling.  On our way up, there were three giant iguanas just hanging around.  Nate caught one and all the kids got to pet it.  There were also iguanas sitting on the branches of the palm trees hanging over the pool.  How cool is that:)  We tossed are kids in the water and off we went.

Now, just saying, Boyd is kind of a snorkeling snob.  Growing up, he snorkeled in Hawaii and some other pretty awesome places.  So, today, he didn't really care to go, but I feel like I've been missing Boyd lately, and so I made him go.  I'm so glad I did!  Just that little bit of alone time to swim hand in hand was GOLDEN!  We also saw a large ray, some squid, and a bunch of neat fish.  What Fun!

After snorkeling, we headed back to the pool for some lunch, leisure, and great company.  Kasie and Skyler Shippen were there with us and our kids just played and played while we chatted.

What a fun day!  Can't wait for the rest of the break!

The Fourth of July

Tonight, I am sitting by myself on my sinking couch watching the fireworks in America on pirated T.V. while my two beautiful children are snoozing in their rooms and my studious husband is at school studying his brains out.  I can't help but feel so blessed to be from America.  Coming to a small third world country has really made me grateful for the endless oppurtunities that are available to us as Americans.  Our country really is amazing, despite a lot of nonsense that goes on too. A lot of people today expressed how they were really missing home.  I do too, but I'm also very grateful for a home away from home.  As I have been here, I have loved having the opportunity to really bond with my husband, live for my children, and meet friends that make life wonderful.

I have the most amazing husband in the world.  He is my perfect match in every way.  Boyd and I are very different from one another, but that's what makes us work so well together.  I have been so proud of him as he has worked so hard every day to study.  There is no way to know how grueling med school is until you are in it.  Boyd has really taken it all in stride.  He has found a way to keep his family happy and to also find time to study. That's pretty amazing.  He's really sacrificed a lot for us.

Little Keido just melts my heart!  He is growing up so fast.  Tonight, he picked a flower for me, had me put it in my hair, and then said, "That's beautiful Mom!" When I wear dangling earrings, he will tell me, "Those are pretty nice earrings."  When I put him to bed at night, he will put his little arms around me and say things like, "I love you sooo much," and "Let's get cozy."  Lately, he has also really loves playing with all his little friends. He has great friends here!!  There are about ten kids his age that just love playing together.  I just can't help loving Keido with all my heart.

Emi is a Sweetheart! I can't believe how fast she is growing too.  She got two little teeth about a month ago and has been eating everything.  It's a little scary, because I'm constantly fishing things out of her mouth.  Emi loves to play.  She also loves to give Keido a hard time.  There have been many times where I will be pushing the stroller and hear Keido say, "Emi, stop that.  You stay over there."  She will pull his hair, rip his cheetoh bag, suck on his arm, wake him up, and do all kinds of other things to him.  They are the worst of friends sometimes, but also the best of friends.  I have loved lately that they will make each other laugh.  I think my favorite thing though is how Emi lights up and gets so excited when she sees Boyd.  I just love little Emi!

I love all the families here.  I think because we are all so far away from other family, we learn to rely on each other and love each other like kin.  For example, tonight we celebrated the Fourth of July by having a BBQ by the beach.  Our kids played, we grilled, made icecream, chatted, ate, and then shot rocks off the lower seaside deck in place of fireworks.  It was so fun!  I just feel so lucky to have such an awesome group of people to do things with all the time.  I'm not going to want to leave here, because I don't think I will ever find such a tight group of adventure buddies again.  I guess we will have to live it up while it lasts.

I am so grateful to be a wife, a mom, a Dominican for a while, and an American!  I feel so blessed! Even though I miss home sometimes, I really feel that because of my wonderful family(friends included), this is truly one of the greatest times in my life.  I couldn't be happier:)  

Homemade

While I was thinking about starting this post yesterday, I decided that I would title it "Poor and Proud." However, just as that thought started to stew in my mind, I heard a voice outside our gate yelling, "Hello in there!"  I went outside and there was a middle-aged, beggar man standing there.  He pointed to our garbages and said, "I noticed that you have a lot of stuff there, do you mind if I look through it." My neighbor is packing up to move, so she had thrown a lot of things out.  I said that it should be fine, and then went back into the house.  As the man carefully opened the garbage bags and meticulously combed through the trash, I heard him praising God for the little things that he was finding.  I went back out to give him a bag of rice, and he talked to me about how the creator has a plan for all of us.  I left him again so he could finish, and before he left, he straightened everything up so it looked better than before.  I felt like I had been chastised in thinking that I was poor.  Compared to almost all the local people on this island, we live like kings and queens.  So, consequently, I decided not to title this post "Poor and Proud," but "Homemade."

Boyd's job here in Dominica is to get good grades.  My job is to save money and keep these people happy:)  

So here are a few ways that I've found to pinch pennies, keep busy, and teach my children the importance of hard work.

First off...Dinner:) Groceries are way too expensive here.  Let's just say that a gallon of milk is about $8.00, a jar of peanut butter is $15.00, and a box of cereal can be from $5.00 for the nasty cheap stuff, to $15.00 for anything worth eating. So, we are trying to eat more like the locals. Which means...FISH!  So far we have had marlin, mahi mahi, and blue and yellow finned tuna.  I never really liked fish growing up, but I found that it's because I was only eating fresh water fish.  For some reason the salt water makes it taste a lot better.  We also go to the open air market once a week for their delicious produce.  We tried our hand at gardening, and we gather fruit from the campus trees and our mango and lime trees in the back.

(Tuna.  Way more tasty than the canned stuff.)

(Mangos from our tree)

(This is the only time in my life that my garden has actually grown.  Kasie and I got a tip about some good dirt from a homeless guy with a wheel barrow.  We filled up our strollers and mixed it into the clay filled soil.)

The grocery stores are also limited in what they carry all the time.  So, we make our own tortillas, granola, bread, and drink powdered milk.  

(Homemade Granola, Yum)

Just recently, Kasie Shippen and I have also started making and selling our own jam.  The first week she made pineapple-coconut jam and apricot-passion fruit jam.  I made mango jam and mango-coconut syrup.  We sold enough to make us want to do it again, and have enjoyed our yummy extras all week.

Second... Decorating.  When we moved in, our apartment came with two strange pictures on the walls, and nothing else.  In an attempt to make our house more of a home, we've done a little creative decorating.

(Basket weaving anyone?)

(These are dried palm leaves in a jar filled with black sand and sea glass. Then, I needed something large to fill a big, blank, white wall. So, I made a wreath?)

(The stick is from our backyard, and the letters are cereal box cut outs covered in black sand.)

(I weaved the bowl and we made the pictures at a Relief Society activity.)

Third... Laundry.  To support the local economy, most students here send out their laundry to have someone else do it.  Don't get me wrong, I love not having to do laundry, but I don't really love paying the bill.  We have a line out back and little boy who is willing to help his mommy, so we've started doing a load a week in our bathtub.  Have you ever heard of the "stomp cycle?"

(Keido helping with the laundry.)

Fourth... Transportation.  We Walk!!  You also may wonder why I have a picture of our stroller in this post, but this little baby has had more work done to it than Dolly Parton.  Once upon a time in Idaho, it started out as a one-seater bike stroller.  Upon having another child, it needed to be modified to work for us.  So, my dad helped us put a board under the seat in order to help support a newborn.  However, upon arriving here, we found that it just wasn't going to be enough.  We had purchased an old stroller from someone who was leaving, but realized it wasn't going to last.  So, I took the seats and sun cover from that stroller and put them in my bike stroller.  Then, I made some pillows to go under the seat and some to cushion Keido and Emi's heads.  After a few strolls, I realized the sun cover would sag into their faces, so we attached the front handle of the other stroller to the top of this one.  It will also act as a roll bar if anything crazy were to happen;) Then there was the question of a swivel, front wheel that stuck out on the attachment to the bike.  I took that off and bolted it to the front bar.  It only took about a month before the swivel casing broke, so we just bolted the wheel straight to the frame after that.  Our other wheels have broken off several times, but I just keep going back to the hardware store to find new ways to attach them again.  This stroller and I have quite a love/hate relationship.  Hopefully, in October my parents can bring us a new, normal stroller and we will put this one to rest.

Fifth... Wet Wipes!  I have to thank my good friend, Sharese, for this one.  It has really saved us a bundle.  A box of diapers here is about $65.00, and a bag of 250 wet wipes is about $20.  I wish I could figure out something to make a cheaper diaper, but at least I've been using homemade wet wipes and saved a little there.

(Cut a roll of Bounty paper towels in half.  Add 1 1/2 c. water mixed with 2 Tbs. baby soap. WhahLah. Wet wipes that wipe wonderfully:)

There will definitely be more to come on this Homemade blog.  But for now, I just have to say that I have never had so much fun in my life.  I love living here and finding new ways to do things.  What a blessing!

A Lot of Catching Up to Do

As I'm sitting here looking at my sunburnt arms, I'm realizing that the last time I wrote on this blog was when my arms were a constant burnt color from the Bahamas.  There have been so many things that have happened since then that I feel so bad I haven't documented yet.  One being the birth of our second child.  Another, that we moved to Dominica which is a third world island in the West Indies.  And, I also completely left out a whole five months of living in Idaho with my parents. It's time for me to catch up.

First, Emi:)

Oh how we love our sweet little Emi girl.  On November 19, 2012, I went in for a check up at the doctors office to see if I was dilated at all.  I had been doing everything I could think of (raking leaves for four hours, zumba class, bouncing on a birth ball, massaging my ankles, hiking, and lots of walking) to try to induce myself into labor so that I could have her vaginally instead of by C-section.  I saw the nurse practitioner and upon feeling my stomach she said, "I think your baby is turned sideways and so you won't be able to have her vaginally anyways.  Would you like to schedule a C-section."  With seemingly no choice, I said yes, and because of the holidays, they wanted to do it that day.  I drove home as quickly as possible, informed my mom and sister Natalie that I was going to have my baby in a few hours, got things in order, called Boyd, cried from shock, then left for the hospital.


They put me into a room right away, got me all hooked up, and then told me I was going to have to wait until the operating room was available.  We were there for about an hour when my doctor came in.  I told him about my visit with the nurse practitioner and has decided to check and see how things were. After he felt my stomach, he told me that Emi was actually not turned sideways and I could try for a vaginally delivery still.  Now What?!  I was all hooked up and ready to have my baby, but I was still hoping to have a V-back.  Should I go home and wait for my body to maybe go into labor.  Because Keido was a C-section, they wouldn't be able to induce me, and they wouldn't let me go very much past my due date.  Should I try for it, or should I just continue with the surgery and have Emi that day?

I kept asking people for advice on what I should do, but everyone just said, "It's your decision."  Not much help.  So, after an hour of thinking about it and still feeling very unsure, I decided to go ahead with the C-section.  It took a little longer, and then they wheeled me into the O.R.

My mom was there with me for everything, and she carried Boyd on the computer so he could be there too.  When they entered the O.R., my mom handed the computer off to the doctors, and they took Boyd in and showed him around.   It was such a blessing to still have him there, even though he was thousands of miles away.  The surgery went really smoothly, and within about twenty minutes, they had little Emi out into the world for the first time.

I saw her for just a moment before they took her back to get cleaned up.  Emi had lots of black hair on the back of her head.  She was so beautiful and I couldn't wait to hold her.  She weighed 6 lbs. 13 ounces and was 19 inches long. They finished stitching me up and wheeled me to my new room.  It wasn't too long before Emi joined me.  She was hungry and latched on like a pro.  That night ended up being a blur of throwing up from the pain killers every thirty minutes and feeding little Emi.  It's a good thing my mom is best mom in the world.  She watched over little Emi and I all night long and did everything for both of us.  In fact, that's how it was for the next three days in the hospital.  Then she kept taking care of us when we got home!  What a great mom!  She also took care of Keido.  Heavenly Father definitely spoiled me when he sent me to Louise Larson:)

(Emi's first best friend...Grandma!)

From the very beginning, Emi has been a sweet baby.  She has the cutest little pouty face and soft cry.  We thought that she was so nice and sleepy because she had a little bit of jaundice, but it's gone now and she is still a very calm, sweet baby.  She is content most of the time to just lounge in someone's arms.  As long as she is full, and her diaper is clean, she just likes to hang out.  She is such a blessing to our family.  I guess that she is just living up to the meaning of her name, "Beautiful Blessing."

Keido loves Emi too... most of the time.  He calls her, "My baby," and, "Little Emi Dirl."  He also likes to give her kisses and hold her on his lap.  There have been a few scares where Keido tried to smother her with a pillow, pull her off the bed, and bite her arm, but for the most part Keido has really been a champ through everything.  We were blessed to have Natalie and her boys come just before I went to give birth.  Keido was able to make good friends with Wyatt and Clayton and spent time with them during the day.  He came to the hospital to visit Emi and I a couple times, and was really a big boy about it all.  He even complimented me about my hospital robe and said, "Nice shirt mom."

Sweet Emi is also a big eater.  Boyd and I purposely made her initials E.A.T.  Since her birth, she has been sprouting like a little weed in all directions.  She has a great double chin, lots of thigh rolls, and a major muffin top.  Lately, she has enjoyed sitting and chatting with me.  Her smile and laugh brightens our whole house.

Also, Emi's cousin Ella was born just three days after Emi.  As Jeana was in the pushing stage of her labor, we were headed out of the hospital to go home.   We stopped in her room, wished them all good luck, and then waited to here how things went after that.  It was so fun to have Jeana and Ella spend time with us at the Larson home.  Babies pretty much took over everything, and consumed our time for those first couple of weeks.  I'm so excited for them to grow up together though.  It's great to have a cousin close in age.

(Ella and Emi)

Second, Dominica

(Portsmouth, Dominica.  The medical school is on the coast just to the right of these boats.)

(Batibou Beach)

The day after Christmas, Boyd, Keido, Emi, and I embarked on another wild adventure.  We flew out to Maryland to spend a week there with Boyd's family, and then we dragged our six suitcases, three carry-ons, bike stroller, and two kids to the airport to fly to Dominica.  People looked at us like we were crazy!  However, now that I'm here, I wish we could have brought even more stuff.

Well, we spent a night in a really dingy hotel in Puerto Rico, and then landed in Melville Hall, Dominica the next day.  The flight over the island as we landed reminded me of the part in Jurassic Park where they are flying in the helicopter.  It was so beautiful.  They must have filmed that movie here:)  After landing, we waited in a customs line for about an hour, and then found that our luggage didn't fit on our airplane, so we waited another three hours with other students to get it.  By the time we left the airport, we were all exhausted.  The ride to our apartment was a gut wrencher, but we made it without anybody throwing up.  Yay! Our new home!!

We have absolutely loved this place so far.  After having lived in the Bahamas, this place is a dream for a med school wife.  The grocery store is a minute walk from us.  Campus is two minutes walk.  The beach is three minutes walk.  And, all of the spouses live close together.  Nice!!!  Most prices for things are still the same: $10 for a gallon of milk (U.S. dollars), $8 for a jar of grape jelly, $75 for a box of 150 diapers.  Yikes!  But, the saving grace here is that they have a market every Saturday where you can by cheap produce.  I love that part.

Keido and Emi also love it here.  There are lots of little kids for Keido to play with.  We started a joy school one day a week, and on the other days we go to the beach, the pool, the playground, or just get together with other families.  He has finally started going to nursery by himself, and has been growing in all kinds of ways since we got here.  Keido has always been a good helper, but now he helps me do jobs like peeling bananas to freeze for smoothies, gathering mangos from the trees on campus, and snapping beans for dinner.  I thought he might have a hard time transitioning to the  island, but so far he has done really well.

(Enjoying the waves at Batibou)

(Our island cruiser)

Last, but not least, Idaho

(Grandma and Grandpa with Emi and Keido)

When I think back at the time that Boyd and I spent apart, I think two things: I feel so blessed to have been able to live with my parents again. And, I'm very thankful for google chatting:)

My parents are the best!!!  I feel like it was such a blessing to be back under their roof again.  Keido loved being with "Danma" and "Danpa."  Grandma and Grandpa were so good to come home from work and play with Keido.  My mom also spent a lot of time taking Keido to the dump and various construction sites so he could watch the big trucks work.  Even now, he associates ice-cream cones to going to the dump with Grandma, because she would take him to McDonald's for ice-cream afterwards.    Keido found my dad to be a really special friend.  He would always visit him in his office and take him pieces of things that he was eating.  If I couldn't get Keido to go to sleep, I just had to send my Dad up to tell him to lay down, and Keido would do it.

(Working hard with Grandpa)

Keido grew a lot during our time in Idaho.  He went from saying maybe twenty words, to speaking in full sentences.  Boyd was shocked when he came home at how much Keido had progressed.  We also got Keido to finally sleep through the night, which was much harder than I ever thought it would be.  He loved my parents yard and spent hours and hours playing in their sandbox.  When Thanksgiving came around, my mom bought wiggle cars for all the boys, and Keido had a blast on them.  I guess we all loved them.  We took them to the church gym, my mom's school, and Keido and Grandma would ride them around the kitchen table.  (I loved watching my mom scoot around on one of those.)

(Trunk-or-Treat at the church)

There definitely was a crazy couple weeks in Idaho:)  As soon as Emi was about to arrive, everyone showed up for Thanksgiving.  We ended up with a packed house, two new babies in the family, and our annual family Christmas party.  Poor mom didn't sleep for weeks.  It was so fun though.

I miss Idaho, miss my parents, and miss having Keido spend time with his Grandparents.  However, we love it here in Dominica, look forward for more good times to come, and can't wait to have my parents visit us here in October.

So there...I'm kind of caught up. However, I started this post a couple months ago, so now have way more that I need to write.  Oh well, at least it's something.

Oakley, Leaves, and New Babies

 As a little attention-getter to this post, here's a funny story.  Keido and I went to the park the other day and there was a little boy there who was about four.  We were headed up the stairs to one of those tube slides and the little boy said to me, "You better not go down that slide or you are going to get stuck.  Then, we would have to find something to push you out."  I decided that I'm definitely getting to the big days of pregnancy.  I appreciated the honest concern of this little gentleman.

Now, for the meat of today's entry.  We had a great day today!  For the past year and a half, I have been working on a family history/family experience book with my Grandfather.  I've been needing some pictures to go along with the stories and so we went to his house in Oakley, Idaho to dig in his boxes and find what we need.  As the kind, thoughtful man that he is, Grandpa came up with some other ideas to keep little Keido entertained.

Grandpa let Keido play with his  Matrushka dolls from Ukraine.

 The best "Nama" ever!

 While mom, Grandma, and Great Grandpa sorted through boxes in the storage shed, Keido decided to test out Uncle Wayne's Shelby Cobra.

 Keido was thinking, "I should get me one of these,

 "And one of these!"

 Then, we got to see the Lind's nine new Norwegian Elk hound puppies.  

 Josh was so good to help us and keep the momma calm.

The day just got better and better.  Next, we got to ride in this.

 Uncle Wayne let Keido drive as he planted his winter wheat.  For the rest of the day, Keido kept saying "Bye, Tractor, Bye, Tractor."  Not Keido's best picture, but he really did love it.

We ended the day by taking Keido with us to the Relief Society broadcast.  He was so good to sit through the whole thing.  We know that he was even paying attention to what they said, because one of the ladies said, "Sweet joy," and Keido pipes up a couple seconds after her and says, "Sweet, joy."  My mom and I felt like we were in the middle of a revival.

Since the fall weather has been so beautiful, Keido and I have been spending a lot of time playing in the leaves.  We've taken the trucks and buckets from the sand box and have been using them in the leaves.  Fall is my favorite season.  It also makes for great pictures. 

 King of the bucket truck.

 Little boys and their sticks.

 What a handsome little face!

My best buddy these days. 

We are also getting really excited these days for little Emi to come.  Keido and I fixed up the old Larson crib in preparation for her arrival.  My Grandpa Bob slept in this crib when he was a baby.  So did all of my Aunt Beverly's kids, and my brother Bob.  It's almost a hundred years old.  We sanded it, painted it, and made a mattress and bumpers to go inside.  Emi will only sleep in it for about a month, but it will be nice and cozy while she's in Idaho.

I finally did something crafty.  (Are you proud, Boyd?)

Praying for "Joe?"

In the middle of dinner tonight, Keido looked at me and folded his arms as if he wanted to say another prayer.  Of course I said, "Okay," and began to pray.  I thanked Heavenly Father for our broccoli, strawberries, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy, and Mommy, and then I concluded.  He looked at me annoyed and folded his arms again.  I asked him if I had forgotten anyone.  He said, "Joe."  I thought that he might have meant Jeana, so I prayed again and thanked Heavenly Father for Jeana, Trevor, Natalie, and Wyatt, (the names he knows) just to cover my bases.  When I finished, he still seemed a little annoyed, but didn't say anything and gave up on it.

This evening when we were saying our prayers before bed, I made a point to thank Heavenly Father for everyone I could think of.  When I finished, Keido looked at me again and said, "Joe."  So, I started a new prayer, thanked Heavenly Father for "Joe" and concluded.  Keido looked at me with a big grin on his face and said enthusiastically, "AMEN."

I have no idea who Keido could be referring to, but for all you Joes out there, just know that there is a little boy who is very grateful for you.