Mower family publicity

Last week we had quite alot of publicity. If you read my earlier post about seeking out the H1N1 vaccine, the story doesn't end there. Last week I heard that they were administering the vaccine at the Davis Conference Center. I was told that they would be getting around 30,000 vaccines. I thought that meant 30,000 for Davis county, but it must have been for the entire state, because they ran out in just a couple of hours. I pulled up to the center at 12:30. Apparently they had ran out sometime just after 12:00. I decided to park and take the kids in anyway to check it out. I was hoping to use Benjamin who's just a little baby as leverage to help me get one of the last ones. As we were walking in I spotted the news crew for channel 2 there. The reporter asked me to tell my story, so I did. I then turned around to take the kids back to the car, and a guy followed me out and offered to give us the last three child vaccines. I was totally shocked. I actually had no idea the the news crew was still shooting. When I watched in on the evening news I was actually surprised at how dramatic it all looked on camera. A Mom with a young baby, and two small kids in tow being turned away for the flu shot, and then just as I'm putting the kids back into the mini van about to drive away in defeat, I get them after all! It's a good thing that we got them to because the swine flu's been going around our ward, this week. The kids so far are holding up well. Let's just keep our fingers crossed. They actually have to have a booster vaccine to get complete immunity, and I still haven't gotten their regular flu shots yet. Our clinic actually ran out of those a few weeks ago. Here is a picture that was published in the Standard Examiner the following day. I thought it turned out really cute. I couldn't believe that out of the thousands of people who showed up we ended up on the news, and in the news paper. It was a pretty fun to watch myself and the kids on the news. Kirk kept saying, "were on T.V."?

Yummy bread and soup night

Okay since we didn't have heat for a couple of days I've been craving a childhood favorite meal; broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl. Since this craving came on about 3:00 this afternoon I had to improvise a bit. This is my very favorite bread recipe given to me by my sister Kristen. She is the talented chief in the family. So I'm graciously passing it on to all of my blogging buddies out there and hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Peasant Bread
2 1/4 tea. yeast (I use saf instant)
2 cups warm water
1 Tbs. sugar
2 tea. salt
4 cups flour

Mix ingredients in this order, then let rise for one hour. Pull out of bowl, divide into two rounds. Place on a cooking sheet with a little bit of olive oil underneath it. Then let rise for another hour. Place in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 10 min. Then reduce heat to 375 and bake for 15 more min.

You can cover with any sort of Italian seasoning, or Parmesan cheese if desired.

It's the perfect bread to accompany soup or pasta.

It's sooo cccccold!

Okay so what does it mean when your cold, and turn on the furnace, and more cold air comes out of the vents? We definitely have some kind of a heating issue at our house. It's a good thing we have a fireplace, that at least keeps our room toasty. I've got the furnace guy coming tomorrow so until then we'll just have bundle up, and drink hot cocoa to stay warm. At least this happened in October. I'd hate to see how cold it would get in the middle of January. How did the pioneers survive? Well so anyway I was letting the kids eat their cereal up in my bedroom since it's the warmest room in the house. The next thing I hear is Kate saying "Mom Kirk just stuck his feet into my cereal". Honestly, I can't believe some of the things that kid thinks up. I went up stairs and he was hiding under my blanket. He pops his head out and says, "Mom it was an accident". When things happen by accident the kids don't get time out. It seems like more and more accidents are happening!

Hope fully we'll have some heat soon!

Kirk's Feild trip to the grocery store

Benjamin eating some sweet potatoes. He loves to eat, and will polish off the whole jar!

Okay, so going to the grocery store isn't exactly a novelty for my kids. We usually go every single week. So when I was planning on going to the store for Kirk's preschool feildtrip, I wasn't expecting it to be much more fun. I was wrong. I have to admit that it was really cute seeing 10 sweet little preschoolers explore a grocery store. We got to go behind the scenes, and see parts of the store that only workers usually go. Plus Kirk got a bunch of free stuff, and it's always fun to get something for free! I got a couple of cute pictures. Kirk loved it. I have to say that three years old is my all time favorite age for children. He is still so sweet and totally innocent. He gets excited over any tiny little thing, and best of all he still needs his mommy. The other day he kept saying "Mommy, am I cute"? I would say yes you are very cute. Then he would say "Mommy am I smart"? and I'd say yes you are very smart. The sad thing is that he's growing so fast. He's halfway to four already. Don't get me wrong four is great too, but I just love being the center of a three year old's world. It seems like once they hit four it's out with Mom, and in with all the cool friends. I have to always ask Kate to hug me before she leaves for school, and then it's like a half hug. My favorite part of my day is when I pick Kirk up from preschool. He comes running to me full speed and gives me the biggest hug ever. He is one special little guy, and I love him so much!

New beautiful family pictures

I just couldn't wait to post these pictures. We had our family pictures done a few weeks ago. Family photos are one of those love hate relationships. I love the result, but getting it can feel like a marathon. First there's finding a good photographer. Thanks Alison for making that part easy. Next there's the picking out the clothes. I didn't want to spend a fortune buying new things, so I spent sometime digging through closets. Finally the actual day of trying to keep three young kids clean, happy, and smiling, all at the same time. Thank goodness we had such a patient talented friend to photograph us. Trust me we weren't easy subjects to work with, especially Kirk. He had fallen asleep on the way to the photo session. When we woke him up he was tired and upset. Finally I told him that I'd buy him a new star wars toy if he'd smile.....hence the big cheese in a couple of the shots. That was the best $6.77 I ever spent! I love the way all of the pictures turned out and I know that I'll cherish them for years to come.

It's a better day

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm feeling okay now about the whole flu shot thing. I'm going to keep trying to find them, but it's not like the kids are going to die if they don't get one right away. I just wanted to post a picture of Benjamin, he is getting cuter everyday. Also Kate came home from a birthday party with this really cute robot. I thought if anybody was planning a B-day party it's super cute. Kate has loved it. I have to confess I ate the robots feet. Reese's cups are my favorite. I didn't think the kids would notice. Kirk noticed immediately. Wow kids don't miss a thing.

A frustrating Day ( I needed to vent )

Have you ever felt like you're running around like crazy, totally exhausted, and still not getting a single thing accomplished? Well that's exactly the way I've felt so far this week. I began a hopeless pursuit for flu shots. Monday Dan came home and said that a co-worker had the swine flu. I freaked out. I couldn't believe that the virus was hitting so close to home. The next day I got onto the phone and tried calling the county health department in search of the H1N1 vaccine. On the message it said that the H1N1 vaccine would be available that day. I hurried and got the kids ready, jumped into the car and headed down. When we got there they said that they actually didn't have the vaccine's after all. I was SO upset. Then I tried calling several places to try to find just the regular flu shot. Our clinic was out. I kept calling around until I found a clinic 20 minutes away which had some baby vaccines left still. I explained on the phone that our regular pediatrician's office had run out. She made me an appointment and promised he could have one if I followed up for his booster shot. As soon as Dan got home from work I drove 20 min. to the clinic. Once I got there the receptionist absolutely refused to let Benjamin get one. I couldn't believe it. I explained that I had an appointment, and insurance, and was willing to pay a co-payment if he needed to see the doctor first. She just flatly said that I couldn't be seen. She said that they weren't a flu clinic, and if they gave out all of their flu shots they'd run out for their own patients. So I said that I had an appointment, and I'd gladly have Benjamin become a patient. How hard is it to make up a chart, and let me see the Doc. for 5 seconds. She lied to me and said that there wasn't a Doc in. I said who are all these sick people seeing? She said that they had an appointment. I said so do I! She said you don't have an appointment with the doctor, just a flu shot appointment. I said I drove all the way from Layton because your receptionist said I could get a flu shot, couldn't you work me in? She said no. (I've worked in a doctors office before, it's easy to work in a quick visit). The most annoying thing was that I had a legitimate appointment. I thoroughly explained that the clinic that I regularly go to had run out when I made it. The office manager could have at least been nice about it. She made me feel like I was trying to steal a flu shot or something. After I left I cried in my car. I think if it hadn't been for the earlier vaccine fiasco, I wouldn't have taken it so hard. I felt like I was trying so hard, and failing miserably. Now when I hear on the news about how important it is to get the flue shot this season I feel like screaming back at it, "IF IT'S SO IMPORTANT WHY IS THERE SUCH A SHORTAGE OF THE DARN THINGS." There now I feel much better, it's always good to vent about frustrating situations!
Other than that crazy day we are really doing great overall. It's amazing how the days can seem long, but the weeks just fly by! I can't believe that it's almost the weekend again. I told myself that October was the month I'd buckle down and start really organizing the house, but it's looking like that project will have to wait until next year. I have how ever begun my Christmas shopping. Dan hates it when I start early. I inevitably end up finding toys and items later on in the season thus their list of Christmas presents get bigger, and bigger. I think shopping for toys is by far the most fun. I'd rather shop for toys for the kids over clothes for myself any day. I've posted some cute pictures of the kids.

I've gotta go private.

I'm planning on going private soon. If you still want to read let me know so that I can include you to the list.