Sundry stuff.

Still enjoying Spring Break over here. :)

I don't think I mentioned it before, but a few weeks ago I got all excited to plant some peas.  I think it was because I walked past the seeds at the grocery store.  So then I came home and looked up how to grow peas in containers, and then I went to Landi and bought some buckets and dirt and now I have three buckets full of peas!  Well, hopefully they'll be full of peas, right now it's just dirt with some seeds in them.  Youtube has everything you ever need to know- here's the link to the dude that taught me how to put peas in buckets.  :)  PEAS Instructions  And when the peas are finished, I hope to plant some tomatoes in the buckets.  Having a few buckets is a lot less intimidating than a whole big garden, although I would like to have all the produce in the fall from a big garden. 

I went through my closet the other day and I counted up how many plain gray shirts I have.  ...It's a lot.

So last night Orrin woke up about 4 times having a hard time breathing, even though Brett gave him some puffs with his inhaler each time.  So this morning I called the doctor and he could squeeze us in so I rushed out the door with Orrin and hurried into Bern.  The doctor had looked at Orrin's records and it was almost exactly this same time of year last year that Brett had taken him into the hospital for breathing problems, so he figures it must be some pollen that's out right now.  He loaded us up with some steroids and inhaler medicine.  

 My sister Kami, who is always anxiously engaged in a good cause, made all of her siblings a really neat family history calendar for Christmas that has pictures and info about many of our forbears.  My absolute favorite thing was some journal excerpts from one of my great grandmothers, Mary Maude Bennet, who married John Moroni Rasmussen (Cougar Jack) and they lived in Magrath.  Anyway, the part I love was right after they had gotten married and traveled to Salt Lake to get sealed (my favorite is the Feb 13 entry--can you imagine your in-laws dropping in to find you like that?  so funny):

Jan. 25, 1912 Moved into our little home today.  Everything in a muddle but two happy kids glad to get into our own home and straighten up.  Feb. 13 Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen came to see us today for the first time.  Found me in bed and Jack getting dinner.  Ha ha.  Mar. 17 We have sat home and read "The Secret Garden" today.  It's stormy and cold.  The Relief Society are having their party but we forgot that.  Love to sit at home with Jack best.

Oh yeah, I forgot--so continuing the story of the doctor's visit this morning, I went back to the van and it had a parking ticket on it- ARRRGH!  I HAD bought a parking stub thingee but I had been in such a rush that when I had put it on the dash, it was upside down!  So I came home and called the number on the ticket and asked if the person spoke English.  She did, so I explained the matter to her, and she said something to the effect of-- I'm quite sure there's nothing to be done, but you have to talk to the person who actually wrote the ticket.  So I asked that lady if she spoke English, and she didn't, so I said, "Mein sohn spricht Deutsch, moment bitte" and gave the phone to Jethro.  Now, I had thought that I would be able to just talk to the first person who answered the phone and ask them if they spoke English, and if not go ask my neighbor to call for me.  But since they got the correct person on the phone I just had Jethro talk to her.  I think this was actually GREAT, because she told Jethro they normally consider an upside down ticket stub like there's no ticket stub, but if we mailed it in with the ticket then she would take a look and call us back.  She asked Jethro when he is normally home, so she could talk to him (because Brett gets home so late from work usually).  So basically, I think she's going to make an exception for us, and I think having cute little Jethro talk to her helped us out.  Yahoo!

I SWEAR Wyatt gets cuter and cuter every day.  I just can't handle him, he's soooo squeezable and kissable and adorable!!!  He's learning new things at lightning speed.  He learned how to kiss (normally the kiss sound is in mid-air, and then he just touches your lips with his open mouth), do the all-gone sign, wave, he takes my hands and steers me exactly where he wants to go.  He's delicious.

Remember how my sister Kami sews like a NINJA?  Check out her costumes for her and her daughters: Halloween Costumes in March and also, you should look at this post too, because you have to see her dresses matched to the period-specific paintings: Baroque 1630-1660s.  Kami says it really makes her angry when she watches shows or movies where the costuming is not period accurate.  :)

So you want to know what I hate most about this apartment?  (That makes it sound like I hate many things about it, I really don't.  There are a few things I'd change, but mainly it's fine and dandy.)  In the winter it grows mold like crazy!  Especially in my and Brett's room.  In fact, when we moved in, there was a bunch of mold on the wall, and we called the landlord and they sent someone to take care of it, which meant he scrubbed it off with bleach.  So from then on, that's what we did with the mold when it accumulated.  And we were given strict instructions to open the windows and doors twice or thrice a day to air everything out--PARTICULARLY in the winter.  It's so weird, isn't it?  I mean, it goes against everything I've been told--Don't leave the door open and let the warm air get out!  Anyway, the problem is, the mold has gotten really bad in my room but it's where we can't get to it.  I think it's under the carpet.  In the winter, our room literally STINKS like mold.  It's so awful.  Luckily, it has been warm outside for long enough now that it's no longer stinky.  Hurrah for the end of winter for so many reasons!  :)

I had this weird urge come over me to sew some cute Easter outfits (well, more like accessories) for the kids, I think because there is nothing at all cute in the stores right now, but I was reminded again how sewing is not a hobby I can afford in Switzerland.  Especially not with my American mentality, where I'm used to getting 40% off coupons often and sales and just plain cheaper prices.  The price of fabric here is out of control, plus there's not a very big selection at all, and then I have to sew it after all that!  The tension on my sewing machine is off and it's so frustrating.  So who knows if I will finish anything.

 Here's a link to a song I like.  I haven't run in to many new songs to like recently, so if you have any recommendations, pass them along.  Moon Taxi- Running Wild

I got a little too excited about some of the things the Easter Bunny will be bringing, and let the kids open one early.  Also I showed Jethro what the Easter Bunny is bringing Talmage because I'm excited about it.  :)

Giving me that adorable grin isn't going to get you out of trouble!!  Okay, you're right, it is.

I gave the kids my muffin liner thingees, and they took them outside and made sand cupcakes.

They were adorable.

Orrin has completely forgotten how to go to the toilet the last few days and it is SOO frustrating!!!

This is an article about Brett and the prize he won for his robot way back when, around the time when Wyatt was born.

Close-up.  Wow, he looks so smart.

And here's another picture of him and his robot, and a sheep, who was testing out the robot.  Brett almost didn't let me post this picture because he thought some animal-rights activist would get angry, but I assured him that there would be no such scandals.  So there better not be!  Also, I crocheted the hat he is wearing.  He said it was cold in the vet operating room.

Part of the little blurb that went along with it:

Currently, Dr. Bell is investigating various aspects of a clinical implementation of a surgical robot system for minimally invasive cochlear implantation including safety, surgical workflow, and non-invasive registration.

The end.