CONGRATULATIONS!

Jayce won a Reflections award for his song, which is called "My Reflection Song" (creative- right?)
Nice job buddy!
I just love that he LOVES to play the piano. It is the best pass-time for him and he literally plays for at least an hour every day!

The lady in the cubicle....

That is how life has been for me- my identity has become this. 

I am the lady in the cubicle on the 2nd floor, down the hall, to the right, directly behind the sign that says

"Compliance Office"

"Shelly Fowlks"

 Yes- the name is even spelled wrong. I don't mind. I don't think anyone will ever notice.

I do love my job. I have become so HIPAA compliant that I can't even talk to myself anymore. But I am grateful to have work. Life has offered  us some changes again which are also really good for us- hard, but good. After having Ross home every night for the last 5 years, he has been moved back to the field as a Battalion Chief. This means 48 hour shifts with 96 hours off in between- but the constant manning staffing has been crazy so he has been working 96 hours on and we have been lucky to have him home for 48 hours in between. 

We call that alot of hours away from home- but Ross calls it Christmas and school and savings- which sounds pretty good, most of the time.....but there are times during the 96 hour shift that I feel like I am going bananas! We wake-up, prepare for the day, leave the house, drop off at school, rush to my cubicle, rush to the school, rush home to get homework and dinner started and then eat and clean up and shower the boy and read scriptures and have family prayer and drop into bed.

I occasionally wish I could quit my job (but I do love it) but I do also long to have a day where I don't feel like a crazy mother-

-running around the house looking for shoes in the morning (and its MY shoes that I can never find- and its because the grand babies like to play in them)-

-When my boy has all the time he wants each morning to eat a balanced breakfast that is warm and homemade and served with juice and milk- okay scratch that. At least a bowl of microwaved oatmeal that he willing eats- that would be a nice change- I feel so awful when I have spent the morning saying 

"Jayce eat your breakfast" 

"take a few more bites" 

"you have 2 minutes to finish that" 

"What the heck have you been doing for the last two minutes?" 

"Didn't I tell you to eat?" 

"What in the WORLD have you been doing all this time Jayce?"

 "Seriously, you need to eat kid?" 

Until I finally shut up and dscide that he can just deal with it himself and if he is hungry at school its his own stinking fault- he will learn. Someday. 

The hassle after school exhausts me- just thinking about it makes my eyes cross. The kid that wont eat in the morning WILL NOT STOP EATING in the PM. I feel like a freaking all night restaurant chef- which is good since we spend plenty of time at the kitchen counter doing homework and reading and chatting and cooking together and laughing, talking about the day and sometimes he will even sing me the song that he is working on- or hum the tune for me-- sometimes Bay has time to tease Jayce- or she has time to just visit before she runs off to work-

Sometimes the grand babies stop by, which means that I get to see their moms and dads too- 

Oh, I love that time of day!

Okay- I feel better now

I am the lady in the cubicle on the 2nd floor, down the hall, to the right, directly behind the sign that says

"Compliance Office"

"Shelly Fowlks"

 Yes- the name is even spelled wrong. I don't mind. I don't think anyone will ever notice.

But at the end of the day I am still a mom and a grandma, and a wife--

Life is good!

 

One of the most interesting things we have seen while out hiking in St. George, Utah

Welcome

Our newest additions
Meet Rylee Paige and Hadlee Jane
Born April 26, 2012
Weighing 5 Lbs 13 Oz and 5 Lbs 6 Oz
And because I am the Grandma to these little sweeties, I think its proper for me to brag on their parents just a little. Both mom (Whitney) and dad (Jordan) are AMAZING, JOYFUL- just DELIGHTED with these two little girls- and big sister Paisley, she is just BEAMING!

I AM SORRY....

Some weeks or days just seem hard to get through.
This week has been one of them.
What can be said to a sweet mother of four who is about to bury her little boy- he was almost three- almost. "I am sorry" just doesn't seem to be enough to describe how I feel- probably how we all feel when a little person leaves this earth.
It helps to know that he is no longer suffering.....
but they will still miss him, and long to cuddle him, and comfort him and care for him. A little boy needs his family-

My heart just hurts for them.

Vision...

About 8 weeks ago I began a series of anti-biotic to get rid of a sinus infection. That is what I was told- although the reason I went to the doctor to begin with was because I was experiencing a great deal of discomfort in my left eye. It watered constantly and my head hurt- a consistent, pounding headache in my left eye- if you could have a headache in your eye- and I can!
So due to my dry scratchy throat and watering eye- he treats a sinus infection. And the anti-biotic seemed to help- after two rounds and some serious eye drops- and about two weeks after the last meds- i have an even worse headache in my eye and my vision has changed drastically in that eye. After spending the day with some adorable cubs scouts out in the bright sun as it glared of the snow- my left eye was useless- I wanted someone to stab me in the eye to relieve the pain. so I went to the doctor again- and this time I learned that my eye hurts because it has many scratches throughout the cornea. Nice. Off to the eye doctor- who explains something I wish I had know 8 weeks earlier- it makes perfect sense now that I know-
Antihistamines were created to dry mucus and such- the eye drops that the first doctor gave me were meant to dry the watering eye- which helped but really dried my eye out- so when I put my contacts in- the dry eye would immediately absorb the moisture- making my lenses uncomfortable- but because I hate wearing glasses- I would suffer- which also meant that I was scratching at my dry contacts all day.
So now- 8 weeks later- I have at least one stage 4 scratch in the cornea and multiple others- not to mention crappy vision(It is sort of like looking through vaseline- nothing is clear) and did I mention that I hate wearing glasses- well- I get to wear them for at least 3 weeks- probably longer- as we work to heal this eye. I might even get to wear a patch! Fun stuff!
or not............

8 is GREAT!

Jayce's baptism was wonderful!
I am a bit embarrassed that it has taken me so long to blog about it- I have excuses- the best one being that the computer and I haven't been working well together- it will not upload his pictures from his baptism- and I hoped that we could work it out. For now, just imagine him in his new church suit with his own brand new set of scriptures and new "missionary" shoes. HANDSOME! Baptism's are amazing!

And a quick catch up- (all about the GRAND BABIES!)
Little Miss Chloie (who will soon be 1) is finally teething. She's pretty unhappy about it- but still just as sweet as ever. She really is the best little girl! And she is also walking! Fun times!

Paisley, who is 2 and a half, LOVED Christmas and every time I see her she reminds me that "Santa brought me presents." I also love her "HO HO HO, BERRRRRY CHRISTMAS" which I have on video- but again, the computer and I cant get along!

Jordan and Whitney's babies are .........................
GIRLS!
This might just be the best mothers curse EVER!
My Jordan has little to NO patience with girl DRAMA.
I always told him he needed to get a grip on it or he would end up with a house full of girls- and who was right??? Actually I think of it more as a mothers blessing! Hopefully he will see it that way too!

I hope you had wonderful times throughout the Holidays!