Marty says good-bye!

Today is Marty's last day at our house. We have had lots of fun and enjoyed all of his goofiness but it is time for him to head home. He left a picture for the kids of him and Santa in the sleigh leaving our house with a note telling us good-bye. Hopefully he will be able to come back next year!

Opening Presents...

The first thing I heard this morning was Taylor yelling through the house, "He opened a present, he opened a present!" Marty opened one of the presents and was playing it with all of his friends. Thankfully it was a game of Uno Attack. The kids had a great time playing it all day.

Experiments

Last night on one of Marty's trips to the North Pole, he saw one of his friends- Carl Elf. Apparently, Carl is a technology and development elf and he is in charge of the new Christmas gifts. He sent Marty back with three new "gifts" that he wanted the kids to test out. The kids had fun making snow from a powder and marbles from little seeds- but the gifts were very messy and maybe not the best for every kid to get. Our kids had fun though and thought they were pretty cool-- who knows maybe you will see one of them in your stocking next year!

The night before more friends came to play! Timmie and Paulie finally showed up. If you recall- they were our visitors last year as well. Taylor has been having daily discussions with Marty about them and really wanted them to come play (I wish I had recorded a few of the discussion- more like Taylor trying to negotiate with Marty, LOL!). I guess Marty finally gave in and went and got them from the North Pole. That means that we now have a grand total of 5 visitors from the North Pole plus an Elf... At least they behaved tonight and decided to watch Aurthur Christmas- I just hope they continue to behave for the next few days!

**Sick Day**

It's been a rough week because I had to have surgery on Wednesday. So I am playing catch up again- like always they are in the correct order to keep the blog in order.

Tonight Marty is still recovering from losing his magic- that or he is just plain sick! The girls have had a stomach bug and I was in the hospital last night following surgery... Maybe Marty just felt left out and wanted to lay around in bed all day. Either way, he made a mess of the tissue and medicine! I hope he knows the correct elf dosage and that he gets better soon! I love that his friends didn't want to catch it so they are wearing gloves and masks while they take care of him...

Lost Magic

On Wednesday night, Marty stayed perfectly still in his bed. Taylor said, "He didn't move or anything!" Taylor had a rough day at Grandma and Grandpa's house and so we think that Marty had lost his magic. Taylor and I had a loooong discussion about this and he was much better today- I hope that Marty gets his magic back.

All Tied Up....

On Tuesday night the kids and Marty had a sleep over at Grandma's house. You will have to use your imagination because my "picture helper" forgot to take the pictures of Marty.... I guess the toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house were a  bit surprised that Marty was there sleeping over. According to Taylor (as he was laughing), "The other toys, they tied Marty up! It was so funny Mom, they had him all tied up and Sally (Taylor's cousin's elf) was laughing at Marty!! I think she helped them tie him up!" Taylor thought it was very funny and is still laughing about it.

Let it Snow Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Last night we got a decent amount of snow outside. I think that Marty wanted it to snow inside- or at least look like it had. So he toilet papered the tree, the TV, the couch, the other couch and pretty much the entire great room!! I think he had a little bit too much fun! There are a few pictures so you can see the total effect of Marty's efforts. LOL!!

Marty was caught red handed with the end of the toilet paper roll in his hands...

Marty's Multiple Day Post

Sorry... between work and finishing everything up so that I can have surgery, I haven't updated the blog with Marty's antics. So, here they are now that I have a few minutes. I put them in the same order as the blog so they follow the correct order.

Last night, a new friend came home from the North Pole with Marty. To the relief of all the Greenwood children, Santa is ahead of schedule (according to Marty's letter) and he asked Marty to bring some of the Christmas presents back to our home. Marty needed help so he brought his good friend Peppermint Stick the dog home with him. Santa said that Peppermint Stick can stay as long as Taylor continues to be good. The kids were also quick to notice that none of the presents have any names on them... I sure hope that Santa knows who gets what!

Ginger and George Gingerbread must have been missing baking in the North Pole kitchen. They made the kids these HUGE gingerbread cookies and then left everything for them to decorate them. Needless to say, the kitchen was a bit of a mess after all that decorating, but the kiddos had a great time doing it and Taylor has been eating his in small sections for a few days now.

Today the kids had been playing the Wii entirely too much. Marty must have decided that he was tired of the games that they had so he brought one of his own and was caught playing it this morning. The game is based on the old movie "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Leave it to Marty to find a Wii game for Christmas time...

I think that Friday was a very sad day in our country with the shooting of teachers and children in an elementary school. It made me pause and give thanks for the kids in my life and the safety that we take for granted in our very sheltered community. I hope that these events are never repeated again, however, I feel that they are becoming more and more common. The story was all over the news and Facebook was alive with comments, tears and shock. The realization that this happened so close to a holiday that is the joy of children's little lives, was beyond comprehension for me.

As my thoughts turned towards the holiday season and the families affected by this tragedy, I had to give thanks for my belief in a Savior that came here to save us from ourselves. I am so very thankful that I do not have to judge the man that chose to act in such a horrible way- there is no way that I could ever judge him in a fair way and take into consideration all the factors that led him to make this horrible decision. Again my thoughts turned towards Christmas and the true reason that we celebrate this time of year.

Marty must have felt my concern and pain and his thoughts also turned towards the Savior at this special time of year. Taylor found Marty on top of the manger with his arms outstretched towards the baby Jesus. It was almost as if Marty wished that he could just hold that little baby for a few minutes and find comfort and understanding in this tragedy.

Happy Birthday to Jessica

Today we are celebrating Jessica's 11th birthday. Marty started the day off right by decorating outside her room. Jessica wasn't sure what to think when she sleepily ran into balloons this morning.

Jessica is definitely a light in our family- to say the least she provides us with lots of laughs and happiness. Jessica is always quick to tease and make everyone laugh. Of course she is also my sneaky child that will go to any lengths to try and get away with something, anything. She has the cutest personality and I have no doubt that this tween is well on her way to giving Ryan and I a run for a money as she gets into her teenage years. I am often reminded by others that she is just like me in looks and personality-- oh these coming years should be fun....

Crazy Elf!

All I can say is our elf is a bit on the crazy side!! But Taylor laughed pretty hard when he saw this after waking up....

Yes, that is a toilet!

Puzzled

Marty and his friends were putting together a puzzle tonight. It looks like they worked really hard but weren't quite able to finish. Taylor was more than happy to help them finish it this morning and then take it apart and redo it again.

Fridge Decorations

Marty and his new friends must have decided that the fridge needed to join in the holiday decorating festivities. I think the Gingerbread couple were trying to climb up the fridge to get to Ryan's favorite cookies... that's where Ryan tries to hide them from the kids.  Marty was sitting across from the fridge on the counter laughing at his friends. These 3 are just holiday trouble!

Ginger and George

Taylor has been asking Marty when his friends are going to come visit. Last year Timmy the Reindeer and Paulie the Penguin came to play but apparently they are still busy in the North Pole. However, Santa has decided to stop eating cookies until his big trip on Christmas Eve, so he said that two of his master chefs could come visit us. Today we met Ginger and George Gingerbread- these two even smell like Santa's Kitchen! I'm sure we will have a great time playing with our new friends- I just hope they don't make a mess in my kitchen if they get bored...

Magic Elf Seeds Growing...

Remember the Magic Elf Seeds from a few nights ago?? Well they finally grew into something- chocolate elf suckers!! It makes me wonder if this is how Santa gets all the candy he puts in the stockings-- maybe he has candy gardening elves?!?

Mustaches!

I'm not sure if Marty was trying to look super suave or if he just thought it was a funny prank but he cut out and put mustaches on the kids picture and himself. When Taylor saw the new facial hair he said, "Really, Marty! Really!" LOL! Marty is definitely a handful!!

Magic Elf Seeds!!

Tonight Marty's adventure leads him to find Magic Elf Seeds. The instructions tell Taylor to plant the "seeds" in the bowl of sugar and be patient to see what they grow in to. I think Taylor (and the girls) will be very anxious to see what the seeds become-- stay tuned, it may take a few days to grow these seeds!

Marty Gets Online....

Oh Marty, Marty, Marty.... Last night he found Ryan's credit card and his computer. He was able to get online and had over $500 in candy in his online shopping cart at Candy Warehouse when he was caught red handed by Taylor! Thankfully, he wasn't able to place that HUGE candy order before he was caught- I'm not really sure what we would do with that much candy! My guess is Marty had big plans that were spoiled. I think from now on we will lock the computers and hide the credit cards!!! On to the pictures---

Marty Builds a Bed

Last night Taylor tucked Marty back into the box that he came in. I have a feeling that Marty didn't appreciate being put back into that box after he had a long trip being shipped in it. Marty came up with a solution and built himself a bed! He made a mess building it that Taylor had to clean up but now he has a nice elf sized and elf decorated bed. He even made himself a cushioned mattress and Rudolph bedspread- I think only an elf could get away with having a bed wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper!!

The Return of Marty the Elf

Taylor (and the girls) have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Marty the Elf for at least a month now. Taylor has written Santa numerous letters begging, pleading and even negotiating for Marty's return. Santa responded and let Taylor know that Marty was still finishing his chores. (Apparently Marty is a technology elf and there has been a high demand for video games, consoles and iPod products!)

After all the begging and pleading, Marty has FINALLY (in the words of Taylor) returned to our home. Leave it to Marty to appear in style.... He was delivered in a box that appeared to be shipped via North Pole Mail. How the mailman managed to hang it in our kitchen light, I will never know. When Taylor pulled the string at the bottom of the package, out dropped Marty with a sign stating, "I'm Back!!" and numerous elf sized green and red balloons.

I will try to keep up on all of Marty's adventures at our house this Christmas Season- just remember that I am still working nights and cut me a little slack.

On to the pictures....

von Willebrand's Disease

It has been a VERY long year for health issues in our family. Nothing overly major but enough little things that started to add up and finally lead to a diagnosis of von Willebrand's Disease. So, I am sure you're asking yourself- What exactly is vWD??? To answer the question, it is a bleeding disorder that is a cousin to hemophilia. The type we have is not nearly as serious as hemophilia- but some types of vWD can be that serious. If you want more info, this is a good explanation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001571/

This diagnosis explains soooooo many things in our family.
-The fact that both my mom and I had hysterectomies in our early 30's
-Excessive bleeding that occurred with the birth of each of the kids (my own and my siblings)
-The bleeding gums that are always there when the dentists lectures about flossing and I am always saying- but I do floss!
-the easy bruising that makes us look like we beat each other when really I just hit the wall too hard
-The fact that both of my girls had a second surgery for their tonsils to stop bleeding that occurred
-The excess bleeding with the "girly stuff" that growing up I thought was "normal",  I was so wrong!
-The fact that I am considered a "bleeder" when I get shots, cut my finger or anything else minor

Our type of vWD will just take a bit more planning whenever there are medical things done that may cause bleeding. An example you say.... I cracked a tooth eating BBQ last week (fun, huh?!?) and needed a root canal to fix the crack because it went all the way to the root. Weeellll.... in order to prevent any possible complications with the vWD, I had to take a medication before the procedure and then I had to continue taking that med plus a second one for the following 3 days. I know ugh, right?!? Especially since the 1st med makes one feel as if they have a slight case of the achy flu. Another example- I am scheduled to have a pretty minor surgery next month that is an out patient thing with an easy recovery. Now, I'm going to have to stay overnight in the hospital, get a PICC line for meds, take IV von Willebrands factor before the surgery and then have home health come out to run more IV von Willebrands factor for the 4 days following the surgery. All I can say is that I am very thankful that we have reached the out of pocket max on our insurance for the year and everything will be completely covered.

The other thing that I have to be thankful for is that I have relatively healthy kids. All of the testing that has occurred was done at Primary Children's Hospital in the Hematology clinic. This is the same clinic where kids with Leukemia are treated and get their chemo because leukemia is a blood disorder. It was hard to have my kids in a clinic where there were sooo many sick kids and mine seemed perfectly fine with gorgeous heads of hair. I do think that it gave my kids a different view on their disease and an appreciation for how healthy they are and how easy their disease is to control.

The other thing that thing I have thought of numerous times through this year is the what a huge blessing changing jobs has been- not just because I love, love, love working with the moms and babies but because a fellow nurse told me about Dr. Lundell in Spanish Fork. He is truly an amazing doctor that has now helped my girls, me, my mom and other family members. He was also the first one to suggest that maybe we should look at von Willbrands as a possible cause for the issues that were going on. I never would have pursued the diagnosis without his help and prodding and I am very thankful for that. It's amazing how many little things the Lord has His hands in to make small changes that can have a huge impact on our lives. I am very grateful for that influence and the help it has given us. Here's to hoping that next year will have a lot less medical tests and issues.

All About Taylor

Taylor is the Super Star in his Kindergarten class this week. Here is his All About Me poster that we made. We love Taylor so much and he is always our super star! He is always making me laugh and brings so much love to our family.

The rest of our vacation....

I really did mean to post everyday of our vacation but I'm a slacker and we were having too much fun to post. The last two days at Disneyland were great. The kids had a blast seeing villains that we have never seen before and riding the rides. We met up with Ryan's sister and her family for our final day. I think the girls loved having their little cousin along and seeing Disneyland through her eyes.

It's always a little sad for us when we are finished and have to leave Disneyland behind. The girls even shed a few tears on our last walk down main street. I guess that means we are doing something right if they love it so much that even when their feet hurt and they're exhausted they want to stay forever! No worries though, we will be back again soon... but not nearly soon enough!

On to the pictures from the last two days.

Halloween Suprise!!

We took Ryan and Taylor to PCH Grill this morning for their birthdays. The kids had a great time dancing with the characters and eating all they wanted. Then Jake showed up in the hotel and brought a special treat for the kids... tickets to Mickey's Halloween Party!! It was a great day but my feet are tired.... On to the pictures.