Popcorn Kernel

One popcorn bag ... $2.00

One night at home watching TV with the family... $Priceless

One popcorn kernel, a trip to the Instacare, and another trip to the ENT... $Really Expensive

The other night we decided to pop some popcorn while we watched TV. The next morning there was a little left over in the bowl and the boys wanted to finish it, so I let them. Then they started to play and make a mess more than eat it so I took it away. I noticed Landon was holding some kernels in his hand and I told him to go throw them away. About 5 minutes later, he kept saying to me "somping in my nose" I thought he was referring to a booger and didn't think much about it. I tried to get him to blow his nose with a tissue, but he is not much of a blower yet and it didn't work. He was very distraught and kept sticking his finger up his nose to try and get it. A couple of minutes later he yelled "momma" and I turned around and saw blood coming from his nose so I picked him up and took him to the kitchen to clean him up. The blood was gushing out and wouldn't stop. It was at that moment I realized what was up his nose... a popcorn kernel. What do I do now, I thought? I ended up taking him to the Instacare, but they couldn't get it out because it was lodged so far up his nose. So they sent me to a Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Luckily, this doctor was able to get the kernel out with his special tools. On the way home, I thought about how much this little popcorn kernel was going to cost me. I wished that I had realized what was up his nose before it was too late. I never really had a problem with Landon putting things in his mouth, nose or ears until this moment. He definitely knows better now. Later he kept telling me "the doctor did it", which I thought was funny. He's okay now, but it was a little scary for me when his nose wouldn't stop bleeding and it was literally pouring out all over the place. This reminded me of the time when I was babysitting my youngest brother, Michael, while my mom ran down the street for a moment. He was about 2 or 3 years old and he put some wheels to a toy car up his nose. I was 8 or 9 years old and I can remember panicking and ran next door to my Grandma Great's house to get help. She helped me get a hold of my mom and then my mom took him to the doctor. I still remember how frightened I was and really thought he was going to die. Obviously, he didn't and everything was okay.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I want to wish everyone that I haven't seen in a while a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm sad that the holiday season is over. I just love Christmas. That is probably why I haven't taken my Christmas tree down yet, although, I'm making a point to take it down today. I think starting a new year is great because it's the perfect time to look at your life and evaluate things about yourself that need improvement. This year, Nate and I have made a New Year's resolution that we are working on together as well as three that I have made personally. I feel really motivated right now to accomplish these goals set. We'll see!

Here is a run down of our family holiday experience...

On Christmas Eve, I asked McCoy what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to go swimming. What? This wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I had envisioned something along the lines of baking cookies and looking at the Christmas lights, but we decided to go swimming instead. After, we went to Grandma Peggy's house (Nate's mom) to say Hi and make cookies. It was really nice.

Christmas day started bright and early and 6:30am. Nate was just excited as the boys to get up and see what Santa had brought. I was a little reluctant to leave my bed, but I didn't have much of a choice. McCoy said next year he wants to stay up and watch Santa eat the cookies and then give him a big hug. After breakfast it is tradition to go to Grandpa Hardman's house (Nate's dad). We snacked on chips, dip, ham and rolls. My boys love going there to play with their Uncle Jordan and Taylor. Next we went to Grandma Peggy's again to hang out with the rest of the family, eat ham and play games.

My boys weren't really up for taking pictures. They were definitely more interested in their toys then smiling at me. I believe I took two dozen pictures which only included a couple of them actually looking at me. Oh well!

Grandpa and Grandma Hardman with Jordan, Grace and Emily

McCoy had his cousin, Jaxson, sleep over on Christmas night. The next morning we woke up to about a foot of new fallen snow. The boys had a lot of fun being pulled on the sled by Nate.

Nate and Landon

McCoy and Jaxson on the sled

McCoy and Landon dressed in their Christmas best

.

The next weekend we went down to Orangeville to stay at Papa and Nana Jewkes' house to celebrate. It gets a little crazy now that their are nine of us siblings. McCoy and Landon had so much fun spending time with their cousins and making great memories. On Saturday, we all went sledding with my Uncle Scott and his family down a big hill out by the farm. The first couple of runs were a little scary. We realized after that we didn't need to go all the way up to the top to get a good run. I really enjoyed going down to Orangeville and spending time with all of my family.

The first run - Nate, McCoy and Landon on the sled

Oops, we hit some dirt. Luckily no one was hurt

Papa and Grace

Whoa, that's a big hill

Papa and Grace coming down

Nate and Landon

McCoy

Stacy and Kalley

Kamey and Katelynn

Fletcher and Mason

Beautiful view of the castle valley!