There are Aliens in my Washing Machine

"I'm incapacitated here!"

2012-01-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's a genetic thing... when our toes are hurt we cease to function.

My little sister called me this afternoon almost in tears. She has a badly infected toe that a week of antibiotics hasn't helped. She went to the doctor this afternoon and had it treated. (She told me exactly what they did, but I'll be honest, after she showed me the before picture and started using words like puncture, drain, and cauterize I stopped listening and just smiled and nodded to whatever she said.) The end result is that she cannot put any pressure on that foot for 24 hours. That means tomorrow she'll be camped out on my couch with her foot elevated with her knitting and a chick flick fest. I couldn't count myself a good sister if I wasn't there for her in her time of need, so I guess I'll just have to suck it up and spend the day knitting with her. Yeah... twist my arm. Oooh, Caitlin! Aren't you glad it wasn't a finger infection?

Clean slate...

2012-01-24T18:27:00.002-07:00

Let me e'splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up... (movie points anyone?)

Turns out it's really easy to let go of a habit, even if you've been doing it everyday for a year. How depressing is that? I've looked at the computer every night since last Thursday and thought about posting a little something. I've even started a couple of posts. But I just haven't felt like it, and since I basically gave myself permission not to do it if I didn't feel like it... well, I think the results speak for themselves. Even sadder is the many areas in my life that are seeming to go that direction right now. Working out, keeping up with the house, sewing projects. I wake up all geared up in my mind to accomplish a whole bunch. I have a kick-butt game plan all lined up. I start in on the first thing... and then my enthusiasm fizzles out. And before I know it lunch time rolls around and I haven't done a blessed thing. Because I don't feel like it. And I don't like feeling that way.

I'm also tired of feel perpetually chaotic and unorganized. I'm tired of the amount of dishes and towels and clean clothes my children go through in a day. I'm tired of sending my children in to brush their teeth and later finding the sink half full of water with a toothbrush, the toothpaste, the hairspray and a bottle of medicine floating in it. I'm tired of finding food and food wrappers on the floor, peanut butter in the fridge (with the lid always only placed on it, NEVER screwed back on... why? Seriously, how much time can you save by not screwing the lid back on the peanut butter? Two seconds? Three at most?), and milk in the cupboard. I'm most especially tired of the fact that my family doesn't read my mind and just do what I want them to do with me having to tell them over and over again.

So, what is the solution? I don't know (or even believe that there actually is one) but I do know that we are going to try something new around here. I am NOT playing servant anymore. (I'm not making this up, Lila actually calls me that. Usually when I am making dinner and I think she is trying to say server, like at a restaurant, but still.) I am taking a page straight out of my mother's play book and making my children clean their own rooms. By themselves. With no help from me. I helped them clean and organize everything less than a month ago. So I know they know where things go and exactly what I mean by cleaning their room. I don't expect perfection. I expect them to make their beds, put their dirty clothes in the hamper, their clean clothes in the drawers and know where their shoes are.(Hint- if you put them where they go you won't lose them, just saying.) But ~~our~~ their biggest challenge is the toys. They have toy sorters and bins and buckets and shelving and hanging thingys. Every possible way there is to sort and store and organize those toys that has been made, we have it. And every possible method to encourage them to take care of their toys, we've tried. I've tried helping and standing back and giving direction. I've purged and taken away toys. I've taken them away for a little while and let them earn them back and I've taken them away FOREVER!

I know they know how to clean the toys up, so now I am just going to expect them to do it. If it is not done right, I dump it out and they start over. By my calculations it has taken Evie over five hours to clean her room today. Of course that is in part because on the first inspection we found that she had not put the toys away correctly, but had simply shoved anything and everything she could grab into and under the toy sorter. Apparently she didn't believe me when I said that if she did that I would dump everything on to the floor and make her start over again. Twice so far, and I am prepared to keep dumping her toys into a pile in the middle of the floor until she figures it out. I have also said, "I don't care if you cry about it as long as you are cleaning while you cry." Harsh? Maybe. Effective? I hope so.

My mom did the same thing to me as a child. I have a very vivid memory of the summer day I spent nine hours cleaning the bathroom. It took me nine hours to learn that 1) I wasn't going to win this particular battle with my mother and 2) it is always much faster to just to a job right the first time. I just hope my kids are faster learners than I was.

P.(m)S. This may be somewhat hormonally driven, but I think the basic concepts are sound.

Busted...

2012-01-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight Brian shared something that happened with Lila while I was at knitting. He was letting the girls help him make dinner and out of the blue Lila said, "Holy hell!"

Brian was of course shocked and said, "Lila! That is not a good word to say. Where did you hear that?"

Without pausing Lila responded, "School."

"Lila, you don't go to school."

"Oh yeah..."

"So where did you learn that?"

"Church."

I am going to fess up right now and admit that I am the bad example in this scenario, but I promise that I've never said that at church (even though I am her primary teacher.)

They can be taught! (But success is fleeting...)

2012-01-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I wasn't feeling very good this weekend. On top of all that I had a bit of a knitting crisis (yes. That is a real thing.) and I just took a time out from technology. I'm finally feeling better and I think I have the knitting issue resolved, so now I'll play catch-up...

Last Wednesday night as we were getting ready for bed I gave Lila a very stern talking to about the fact that she was NOT welcome in my bed anymore. Not that I really expected it to stop her, because I've given her the same lecture any number of times already. So imagine my surprise when I woke up the next morning to find this...

I had told her specifically that if she came upstairs in the night she would have to sleep on the floor.

Huh.

I guess she does listen after all...

Good Morning Jake!

She was surprisingly chipper for having been asleep on the floor. I thought we'd finally solved this problem, but a few nights later I learned I have to tell her specifically not to get into my bed every. single. night.

Back to square one...

Sometimes love is spelled s-o-u-p...

2012-01-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

I have been just a little bit under the weather today. Headache and upset stomach, but since it wasn't dire enough to stay tucked up in bed all day I still had to do mother type things. You know, feed them and stuff. Caite came down and we watched movies and knit all day, which was lovely and relaxing. But after she left the kids hit their stir-crazy phase. (Have you ever seen a cat go stir-crazy where they run around and jump on the furniture and try to pounce on their own shadows. Yeah, my kids do that in the early evening too.)

By the time Brian got home I was pretty well done for, so I declared it a cold cereal for dinner kind of night. I sat on the couch while the kids ate cereal, and realized that all I wanted was soup. Actually what I really wanted was soup that I didn't have to cook. Even opening a can and heating it up in the microwave seemed like too much work. Brian was passing through the room and asked me what was wrong. I told him I was wanting soup. So when he went to return the videos he stopped and bought me a cup of soup from Kneader's. Such a simple act of service, but it was just what I needed tonight- someone taking care of me for a change. I really love that man...

Wait a minute! How did this become my fault?!

2012-01-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I was getting cleaned up and dressed for the day and feeling pretty okay about myself. It wasn't even 10 am and I had worked out (twice), eaten breakfast, done the dishes and gotten the kids to school early for a change. Lila was in a pleasant mood and was contentedly watching Mickey Mouse while I took a quick shower. Just as I finished pulling on my shirt I heard the ominous sound of many, many small things hitting the kitchen floor. I dashed down the hall to find this...

I took a deep breath and calmly asked, "Lila, why did you pour the animal crackers all over the floor?" She immediately burst into tears. I put my arms around her and gave her a hug. "Lila, look at me. Do I look mad? Am I yelling at you?" She sniffed, hiccuped, and said, "No."

"So what happened?"

"I wanted a cracker."

I realized that the bag had been sitting open on the counter and she must have grabbed the bottom of it by mistake. I told her, "Okay, next time you want a snack will you please come and ask Mommy to help you get it so we don't have another spill happen?" She agreed and I got down to help her pick them all up.

I was just congratulating myself on handling a frustrating situation with maturity and restraint when Lila shot me a look of complete disdain and said, "You know if you leave these out I am going to spill them."

I couldn't even respond.

I really should know better by now...

Conflicted...

2012-01-11T00:11:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering about my role as a mother a lot over the past week.

It's funny how often I can have two diametrically opposing emotions about being a mother. For instance...

It's hard to have small children/It's hard to let your children grow up.

It's hard to have your child around you all day and all night/It's hard to let them go out of your sphere and not know every moment of their day.

It's hard when they ask you the same question over and over again/ It's hard when they don't ask questions (usually for permission).

It's hard when your toddler whines and throws a fit because they don't want to ride in the shopping cart/It's hard when your older children whine about having to walk through the store.

It's hard doing such a thankless job/It's hard because I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing.

So to sum up, motherhood is hard.

I guess I'm not that conflicted after all.

Everyday life...

2012-01-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I didn't blog. (Just in case you didn't notice...) Mostly because I was in a whiny mood and it would have been a rant about switching to 9 am church, the fact that my calling is teaching Lila's sunbeams class and therefore I NEVER get a break from my own 3 year old, and to top it all off we can throw 6-9 (depending on the week) other 3 year olds into the mix, including one who thinks he is a spider monkey. To sum up, I came home needing a Valium and a hot bath, and instead got to make dinner and do laundry because once again I had let it go until we had a bona fide laundry emergency on our hands, i.e. no clean underwear or pants. Once I got the kids to bed I thought about blogging for about two and a half minutes, and then shut the laptop in favor of watching a movie with my husband while he folded the laundry.

Today was a crazy running around kind of day. Get up, take the kids to school, run to the store for a pork roast, run home and put it in the crock pot, take Lila to my grandma's, go to Jake's school and volunteer for an hour, go pick up Lila, go to Emilie's so we can do the workout that we didn't want to get up at 6 am for, realize that I have completely forgotten what time Kindergarten gets out (despite the fact that it's been the same for four and a half months now), run to pick up Evie, run back to Emilie's, do the work out, realize how much easier it is to count to twenty when you don't have to yell "Go Downstairs!" during every other rep and recommit to getting up at 6 am, go home for an hour or so, go pick up Jake from school, and return home for the final time today.

I was so worn out that after I got the kids a snack and got them started on their homework, I crawled into bed to read for a little while until it was time to finish dinner. I lay there staring at the ceiling for a bit and all I could think was, "If getting into pajamas at four in the afternoon is wrong, then I don't want to be right..."

Catch Phrase

2012-01-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

No, we aren't talking about the awesome game from the 90's.

Today at lunch Jake decided that we all needed our own signature catch phrase.

Brian: "That's how I roll..."

Jake: "Aaa-ctually..."

Evie: "Guess what?"

Lila: "But I want to..."

I, however, had three that they couldn't decide between:

"I'm done!"

"I've had it!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

I'm pretty sure they all three get equal rotation...

Miracle

2012-01-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

Did you know that I am a sucker for sports movies? Especially if they are also about the Olympics. I know, for someone who's only ever played one summer of tee-ball you wouldn't think that sports is my thing. Although I did really enjoy playing YW basketball and I wasn't too bad. Even though I am short, I am really scrappy. Maybe that's why I like sports movies. I get all emotionally caught up in cheering for the underdog.

Tonight we watched Miracle for PFMN. (Popcorn Family Movie Night, for new readers.) The 2004, Kurt Russell movie about the USA Hockey team winning gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Such a good movie. Brian still laughs at me because when it was about to come out in theaters and they were running ads for it on TV, every. single. time. it would come on I would turn to him and say, "I am so excited for this movie, I really, really want to go see it!" So he took me to see it, and as we are sitting in the theater watching the movie, I turned to him and whispered, "I am so excited we are here watching this movie!" It was just as enjoyable tonight.

Jake and Evie enjoyed it as much as I did. So after it was over Jake and I ran to the video store and checked out Cool Runnings, The Mighty Ducks, and A League of Their Own. I wanted to get The Cutting Edge too, but they didn't have any copies in stock. My kids are so excited for all the PFMNs we are going to have this week.

The finale...

2012-01-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that today has been very low-key Lila-wise. Which is really good, because frankly I couldn't imagine what was left for her other than something needing medical attention or involving fire. And if she had needed medical attention today I am not sure that anyone would believe that it was an accident...

Today being a Thursday was also good for my sanity because it means Knit Night and three hours off for Mommy. And I think we can all agree that it was very needed this week. I had a great time and was even almost all relaxed until I got in the car to drive home. I called Bri to tell him I was on my way and he answered the phone, "Hello-p!"

"Um... was that hello or help?"

"Both. Mostly help."

It seems that my five year old who is always playing a game of chicken with her bladder finally lost, and I was needed to help with the clean up.

So much for a relaxing night off...

That's hysterical.

2012-01-04T18:43:00.001-07:00

Sooooo... yeah.

I thought today's post would be a quick one where I thanked you all for the kind words of support and encouragement that I received in the form of comments, on Facebook, and emails. (They really meant a lot to me and I sincerely appreciate every one of them.) Then I would tell you all about how I didn't let her watch any Micky Mouse today and explained, firmly but fairly, that it was a privilege that she had forfeited because of the irresponsible choices she made yesterday. And that Brian and I had counseled together to come up with some new things to try to help teach her to become a useful and productive member of society one day.

I was very hopeful of posting that we had had a better day, Lila and I.

Doesn't look too happy, does she?

Can you tell why?

Maybe a close up will help?

Okay. Here's a clue.

Yes.

That would be some of her hair.

Apparently today she decided she wanted a haircut.

She got one.

I was much better today. I didn't cry, scream, wail or even curse. (I may have been in shock.) I did get a bit hysterical when I called Brian. Actually, clinically hysterical. Laughing and crying at the same time, and unable to control either emotion. Then I dried my tears, and took her to the salon so they could repair the damage. Her hair had been in two pony tails and she only chopped at one, so I suppose the silver lining is that it could have been much, much worse.

As I was waiting for the kids to get their coats and shoes on, Jake looked at me and mused aloud, "Hmmm, I wonder what she'll do for a finale?"

If today wasn't the finale... tomorrow I will be posting from a rubber room.

That tears it. I'm done.

2012-01-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

I could probably just post the following pictures with no explanation and it would still make perfect sense to you all. But I need to write this down to work through it, so here goes...

Today after lunch the girls were playing downstairs like they do most days, and after awhile Evie came upstairs with orange marker scribbled on both her cheeks. I asked her why she had done that, and she replied that it was Lila who had drawn on her. Deciding to bypass the discussion about why/how her younger sister was allowed to, or alternatively, could possibly over-power her to draw on her face (for now), we went straight for the obvious. "Why does Lila have a marker at all? Bring me all the markers!" With Lila's track record of drawing on furniture I just don't allow them access to markers. Period. (And don't even get me started on scissors...)

A little while later it was time to go pick Jake up from school. I called the girls up and because we were in a rush and it's unseasonably warm I just grabbed Lila and carried her out to the car. As I was buckling her in I noticed that she had drawn on her pants.

Then I noticed her feet.

I reprimanded her quiet sternly and gave her a talking to the whole way up to the school about why we don't draw on our clothes or our bodies. I also gave Evie another talking to about the fact that none of them are allowed to have markers anymore and if anyone finds one they are supposed to bring it to me immediately!

When we got back home I sent the older two down to start picking up their bedrooms and the play room and told Lila to get a diaper so I could change her. I went and got the camera because now that the unpleasantness of having to get after her was over I thought I should document her naughtiness for when she is a mom and complaining to me because her three year old is drawing all over her furniture...

That's when I discovered just how much she had drawn on her pants.

sigh

And then I took off her pants to change the diaper.

My eye started to twitch at this point.

(These baby tattoos do not come off with either a wipe or soap and water, any suggestions?)

While I was trying desperately to breath and count to ten and say all the state capitols in reverse alphabetical order and calm down before I "talked" to her about it again, Jake came upstairs to inform me (in a very fearful "don't shoot the messenger" kind of way) that Lila had drawn on the couch downstairs as well.

I lost it.

I was scary.

I screamed and cried and wailed and gnashed my teeth and pulled my hair. I smacked Lila's bum and sent her to time out on my bed, where she obviously sensed it was in the best interest of her continuing health and well fare to stay put. And I made a terrible pronouncement that reduced the other two to tears as well. "We will no longer have art supplies of any kind in this house!" I grabbed a garbage sack and made them fill it up.

So there we are, not even together for an hour today and every one of us is in tears. I called Brian, a shaking and crying mess, to tell him what had happened and so he could help talk me off the ledge. I calmed down after a few minutes and agreed with his wise counsel not to throw everything away in the heat of anger. We are going to get a box or tote or something that can be locked, and all art projects will henceforth be done at the kitchen table under parental supervision. It makes me very sad that both Jake and Evie have to suffer because of Lila's continued bad choices, but I simply cannot take it anymore. I have tried everything I can think of to get her to stop drawing on the furniture, the walls, the toys, the television and herself (and apparently anyone else who will hold still long enough) and I have failed. I've talked, I've yelled, I've reasoned, I've cried, I've made her clean it up, I've even smacked her hand a time or two.

I am completely at my wit's end, which is a really scary place to be. It terrifies me to think that I cannot figure out how to parent this child. I have been fighting this same behavior for more than a year and a half (and considering that she is only three is pretty sad) and have not yet been able to teach her not to keep repeating the same mistake. It's frustrating now, but it's terrifying to contemplate later on in life when the consequences of mistakes can be much worse than a ruined pair of pj's and a destroyed couch.

This is one of those parenting moments when I just wanted so badly to lock myself in the bathroom and call my mom for guidance and reassurance. I wanted her to tell me again about the time I drew in permanent marker all over the room that my parents had just finished wall papering and made my dad cry, and see, I didn't turn out so bad after all did I?

Or did I...

I did just throw a rather spectacular Mommy temper tantrum.

Is 5 pm too early for bedtime?

For me.

It's nice to be missed...

2012-01-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

This morning our children let us sleep in a little bit and then were in a mood to be kind and helpful. Especially Jacob, he spread out a blanket and pillows in the front room so he could give his dad a back massage. I switched over some laundry and then decided to crawl back into bed and read for a little while. It took about half an hour for my family to realize that I wasn't out in the living room with them. (I know it was a half an hour because that is how long an episode of Phineas and Ferb lasts...)

Brian: "Hon? What are you doing?"

Me: "Reading."

Brian: "Why don't you come out here with us?"

Evie: "Yeah! And watch a show with us!"

Jake: "Or you can have a back rub!

Lila: "Oooo-or you can make dinner..."

Gee thanks. I think I'd rather keep reading.

New rules...

2012-01-02T01:18:00.002-07:00

Okay. I can't quit. There are too many people out there waiting with bated breath for the next installment of the non-stop hilarity and drama that is my life. (That doesn't sound too full of myself, right?) But having done this for a year already I have decided there need to be a few changes around here.

1. No pressure: If I am just not feeling it or there is literally nothing to post about because I spent the day staring at the wall and twiddling my thumbs I will not spend thirty minutes staring at the computer trying to find a clever way to write about it.

2. I don't have a smart phone (despite Brian's best efforts): So I will not freak out about figuring out how to post when I am out of town.

2b. No Deadlines: I occasionally stay out until after midnight (like tonight) and I won't stress or change the time on the post so that it shows up as the previous day.

3. Terrie, this post's for you: In addition to being a good record for me and my family, I am mainly posting to keep Grandma T. up to date with our family. (This is not so much a change as one of the reasons I'll still be posting frequently...)

4. I'll be posting on my other blog too: When I started the goal of posting everyday last year I noticed that my craft blog went severely by the wayside. My goal for this year is to post over there at least once a week to keep a better record of what I've been making. So between the two blogs I'll still probably be posting almost daily.

There, that sounds do-able.

Come on... tell me you'd miss me. You know you would.

Goal completed

2011-12-31T23:10:00.002-07:00

Three hundred and sixty five posts in one year.

That's a lot of posts.

I didn't think I had that much to say.

Thanks for sticking with me and for all of the comments throughout the year.

Perhaps I will post tomorrow...

Perhaps I will take a break...

I guess we will find out together.

Christmas 2011: part two

2011-12-30T23:52:00.003-07:00

Christmas Morning

Presents and stockings from Santa.

Lila got her new dolly.

Jake got his DS, not XL as requested.

Evie got her American Girl doll that looks like her.

Lila could not be convinced at first that it was worth waking up to see what Santa brought.

(She really wasn't feeling very well.)

Waiting for the okay to come running up the stairs!

Evie was thrilled with her new dolly.

Lila cheered up considerably when she found a Minnie Mouse toy in her stocking.

Jake loved it all!

Did you notice the red heart pillows with arms?

Ikea. $5.

The kids have been begging for these for months now.

How did Santa know?

He sees you when you're sleeping...

Brian and Jake loved the remote control cars they got from Lila and can't wait to take them out for a spin.

Opening the presents under the tree was so much fun this year, because the kids were equally excited to see how people liked what they had picked out to give them. (Especially Evie, she also had a handmade gift under the tree for each of us. I think she is going to take after her Mama in that respect.)

I do want to mention the neat surprises that I got to unwrap, since I gushed so much about how I was looking forward to it.

Brian gave me the Kindle and a gift card so I could download some books for it, and Zumba for the Wii (which apparently was Jake's idea...)

Evie gave me a nice red case for my Kindle.

Jake gave me the last three books in the Fablehaven series.

And Lila?

Lila gave me a Winnie the Pooh stuffed bear that she picked out all by herself, and has since snuggled for me every night since.

And just as I thought, even though these might not have been the gifts I would have picked out for myself, I absolutely love each and every one.

Christmas 2011: part one

2011-12-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

I was going to put off doing this post yet again, when I noticed that I only have three more nights before the year is out, so without further ado...

Christmas 2011

a photographic essay in two posts

This year we brought back the tradition of acting out the nativity story. (After the borderline sacrilegious rendition of Baby in da Hood in '05, the grown-ups said no more.)

Jake was the narrator.

Patrick as Joseph, Evie as Mary, and baby Clark (Cecily and Justin's four month old) as baby Jesus.

There weren't enough children for all the parts so some of the grown nieces and nephews were very kind to step in and fill the rolls.

Lila was the Angel of the Lord.

Nativity Cast 2011

After the nativity we put on a video from Christmas 2005. We just watched the first one that worked in the player, and so I was completely unprepared for the first thing on the screen to be my mom talking. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. (Poor Jake just fell apart and spent most of the movie sobbing into my armpit.) To me it made it feel like she was there and taking part in our Christmas celebrations again.

Just as the movie ended the door opened and there was jingle bells shaking and a loud, "HO HO HO!"

SANTA!

Lila ran right up and hugged his leg and said, "Santa! I missed you!"

No shyness here, she walked him to his seat and then came to sit on my lap and wait eagerly for her turn.

Fortunately she didn't have to wait long. When asked what she wanted for Christmas she replied, "A new doll for my mom. Oh! And one for me too."

Evie was barely audible, but asked for the same thing as the other two times we'd seen Santa this year.

"An American Girl doll that looks like me."

Jake was playing it cool and very specific.

"A Nintendo3DS, black, not XL."

Because to him the XL (the bigger size) defeats the purpose of having a handheld gaming system. Santa didn't mind, the smaller version is a little less expensive...

Lila got a Minnie Mouse chap-stick in her stocking and was determined to use the entire tube in one sitting.

Evie got a Hello Kitty watch and felt so grown-up.

After the party wound down and people left we stayed and skyped with Josh, Elena and Huck and watched them open their Christmas Eve jammies.

Then it was home to open our own jammies.

I particularly like the tee shirts I found for Brian and I this year.

tee hee hee

We did our Christmas Eve toasts.

Lila kept rolling her eyes back in her head (that's how she closes her eyes when she prays too, cracks me up) and putting her hand over her heart to make a wish when it was her turn.

I caught her emptying the minuscule amount of bubbles left in my glass into hers. She reminds me of Tiff, not a single drop of sparkling cider can be left behind!

Last tradition, sprinkling magic reindeer food on the front lawn to feed Santa's reindeer. Then it was quickly off to bed to dream of sugar plums and presents!

A fun day out... well, fun-ish

2011-12-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

One of the things that my kids got in their stockings this year was a gift card to Build-a-Bear. They seriously can't get enough of that place.(I think their love of it is inherited from their Grandma T.) Anyhow, Caitlin came down to spend her day off with us and we got the kids ready and headed out the door to spend the day at the Gateway Mall, including lunch and a movie.

First stop was Build-a-Bear. The kids each had their gift card, plus some money from Grandpa Dave, and were informed that they were allowed to spend as much or as little as they would like but that it would all be their own money. Jake was the only one that seemed affected by this pronouncement, as he always has a hard time making decisions when it comes to spending his own money.

But after a (more or less) pleasant hour spent picking out bears and their clothing we left with the following:

Jake chose a black and tan bear and dressed him in a pair of jeans and cool tee shirt, and picked out skates that can attach to shoes. He decided to save money and just use the skates on shoes that he already had at home.

Evie chose a pink bear and dressed her in a hot pink and zebra pajama set complete with matching sleep mask.

Lila just got a new bunny less than a month ago as part of her birthday stuff, and so she chose a Rapunzel dress and shoes for her bunny. There was also a wig but I said no to having one more head of hair floating around the house turning into a snarled mess. This was apparently the meanest thing I have ever done to her. (I keep thinking that she's only three and we have a lot of years left to live together in which I will undoubtedly do something worse...) She finally pulled herself together at the threat of getting nothing at all and chose a stroller to push her bunny around in instead.

We decided to eat lunch at the food court where everyone could pick what they wanted to eat. Things were going pretty well until Lila dumped her drink all over the floor underneath us and had another meltdown.

At this point I decided that it wasn't worth trying to take them to the movie. Lila was so tired and distraught over everything I knew she most likely needed a nap. So we changed plans and decided to rent a couple of videos instead on the way home.

It was fun afternoon knitting and watching a movie with Caitlin upstairs while the kids played and watched a kid show downstairs.

The lesson for the day: Don't be afraid to be flexible, especially when dealing with a fractious toddler.

Also, for blogging purposes, it is much better to actually take the camera out of your purse and use it while doing fun activities. A picture is worth a thousand words and all that...

He's not the only slow one around here...

2011-12-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our nighttime routine goes (mostly) like this:

Put the kids to bed.

Watch a couple of TV shows off the DVR.

Get ready for bed.

I can be in and out of the bathroom and tucked into bed in less than ten minutes. Brian's night time ablutions take between thirty to forty-five minutes, both because it's hard for him to get around and some nights he's just more OCD than others. So usually I go first and then read in bed while I wait for him. Lately I've been nodding off over my book. The other night as he came to bed I realized that I have been reading the same book for almost a week. (And it's less than five hundred pages, let's just say that's pretty unusual for me.)

I sighed in frustration and said,"It is taking me a ridiculously long time to read this book!"

Brian asked, "What is it?"

I replied, "It's called Split Second."

It took me a good thirty seconds to figure out why he was laughing so hard. I really have to get to bed earlier...

I'm on vacation!

2011-12-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to get over my lazy self to put together a proper blog post about our great Christmas. We had another great day as a family spending most of the day playing with all our new toys. (I've read three and a half books since yesterday! Apparently it goes even faster when you don't have to turn pages...) We went out and did a little shopping this evening and to dinner, and then to get me a new cell phone. Brian was so excited for me to get another new gadget for him to play with, and I think I seriously bummed him out by choosing to go with a basic model instead of a smart phone. I like my new phone though, it's green. :) Anyhow, I don't want to take the time to download all my pictures and do a longer post, because I want to get my children in bed and then snuggle up and watch a movie with my husband.

Short and sweet...

2011-12-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my.

We had the best Christmas EVER!

A short list of the favorites:

Lila- a pink shopping cart and toy cash register

Evie- An American Girl doll that looks like her

Jake- Nintendo 3DS (in black)

Brian- an excuse to go to Cabela's in the form of a gift card

Chrissy- a Kindle!

(I am being drug into technological advances against my will, but now that I've tried it I really kind of love it.)

Pictures and details about all the fun surprises and thoughtful gifts will have to wait, because I've downloaded about twenty books to my Kindle and I am going to snuggle up and read a good e-book...

I want to see Christmas through your eyes...

2011-12-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

Magic.

Pure magic.

I am so excited!

2011-12-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the last time I looked forward to Christmas with such enthusiasm.

Not since I was a little girl I think.

And the reason why... surprises!

I love surprises.

(Good surprises, like parties and flowers for no reason.)

This year, for the first time since I've been married, I do not know a single thing that I am getting for Christmas.

There are three presents under the tree, painstakingly wrapped by little hands, with my name on them.

What's inside isn't the most important part either.

It doesn't matter if it is a handmade macaroni necklace or a bottle of perfume, a pair of slippers or the tackiest piece of costume jewelry you've ever seen in your life, I will love them all!

Because I didn't have to shop for it or wrap it myself.

Because my husband and my children bought me presents and put a lot of time and thought into them.

That makes me feel like the luckiest Mommy in the world already.

(And if one of them happens to be a sparkly blue scarf imported all the way from Idaho, I will still wear it proudly.)

I just love Christmas surprises!

Examining the difference....

2011-12-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

Today has been wonderful. Just about the best day I can remember in a really, really long time. My children noticed it too. Several times today one or more of them would come up to me and tell me how happy they were or that they loved me so much and would give me a big hug. I got so much accomplished today too. The house is clean and Christmas ready. I made healthy and delicious meals, I even doubled the dinner recipe and made a freezer meal for later! I did laundry, washed, folded and put away! We did arts and crafts projects, we put together puzzles, and we colored. We turned off the television and listened to Christmas music all day.

As I was folding the sixth batch of laundry I was reflecting on just why today was so different than our everyday life. Was it just an excess of Christmas spirit? Did someone sneak calm pills into the water? Had my children been replaced by much better behaved droids? No. The difference was me. I am calm. I am happy. I am not frantically trying to finish ten different things at the same time. I am not putting off spending time with my children. They have my complete attention. And guess what? They are calmer and happier too. There is a relaxing and welcoming spirit about our house that hasn't been here for awhile, and it feels so good to feel it again.

I don't know why this is a lesson I have to keep learning over and over again... but apparently I do. That's why I am blogging about this, so next year when I've forgotten that the calmness begins with me and I am rushing around like a mad woman I can (hopefully) look back and remind myself.

My children would rather have my time and attention putting together a puzzle than a hand-knit sweater to open on Christmas morning any day.

P.S. to me: You aren't going to have that many more years when they want your undivided time and attention, so use them wisely.

The Christmas spirit has taken over my husband!

2011-12-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Brian's parents sent us some money to take the kids out to dinner for Christmas. They were very generous, which put Brian and I in a generous mood also. We told them we were going to go out as a special treat and they could pick anywhere they wanted to go. They choose Chuck-a-Rama. And to my utter shock and amazement, Brian agreed! (This is the first time in over eleven years of my knowing him that we have gone to Chuck-a-Rama together. And the experience was everything I ever dreamed it would be...) The kids thoroughly enjoyed their dinner. Brian didn't complain. I'm pretty sure I burned off most of the calories I ate as I had to wait on everyone in my family except Jacob. And the best part, we still have enough money to go out to eat as a family again... or perhaps Brian and I will sneak off for a date night at some place that has actual waiters and no indoor play lands.

A lovely change of pace...

2011-12-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up and began to rush. (Not freaking out, just rushing. To understand the subtle yet important distinction between the two you can read here.) I had to finish the second capelet so that my friend Myra could help me block it, which we were going to do yesterday but couldn't because of an unforeseen knitting emergency. (i.e. I misread the pattern and had to rip the stupid thing halfway back and re-knit it.) Also Caitlin was coming down so we could have a sewing party and slam out the Christmas jammies. The house that I had cleaned spotless on Friday was now a cluttered mess, including two days worth of dishes in the sink. (Because I've been dealing with knitting emergencies, and no one else felt moved to clean up around here I guess...)

Myra arrived shortly after I weaved in the last end, and very kindly pointed out that we would need the sink in order to block my knitting. No problem. I scrambled to unload and load the dishwasher. And just I was rinsing off the last dish and about to scrub the sink out, Evie came upstairs to inform me that there was water leaking out of the laundry room ceiling. "Like, a LOT of water Mom." (I may have started to freak out a little bit at this point.) I mopped off the top of my washer and dryer while I called Brian to ~~demand he fix this problem~~ request his help in finding a solution to this dilemma. Brian called a brother in our ward who is a plumber, and he was able to replace the section of pipe that was completely corroded. (There are not enough Thank You's in the world for Bro. Pease, he has been so kind and helped us so much over the past few months!) In the meantime, Myra blocked my knitting for me, Caitlin looked up information on the rash on Lila's face to see if I needed to take her to the doctor's, and I changed the twenty-seventh diaper of the day.

I could feel the rushing starting to become freaking out, so I made a very important decision. I went to the store and bought Christmas jammies for the kids. I feel good about this decision. I've received a lot of reassurance from my family to back it up. Caitlin (who also gave up the idea of sewing Christmas jammies this year) reminded me that the fabric will keep and we will can have a sewing party after Christmas just as easily. Jacob assured me that his Christmas will not be ruined if his jammies aren't sewn by me, although he did confess that he was hoping for green flannel pants with red holly berries on them this year. (Yeah, they weren't.) And Brian... he calmly agreed that it was a wise decision on my part. But he couldn't quite suppress the glee in his voice that tells me he was singing the Hallelujah Chorus on the inside and thinking, "The crazy Christmas crafting lady is gone!!!"

I just know that the money I spent on the jammies was worth every penny for the peace of mind it gives me. I can spend the next three days calmly and contentedly spending time with my kids, watching Christmas movies, tidying the house for the festivities, baking cookies for Santa, and enjoying the holiday without rushing from project to project. (Except for a couple of skirts for the girls, but I can make those super fast...)

Going to see the lights...

2011-12-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

At Temple Square.

It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions and we went with Brian's sister and her family this year.

It's always bitterly cold on the night we choose to go.

I think Evie looks like a garden gnome in this hat.

I fared much better this year as I had finally done some knitting for myself. Even though Evie borrowed my hat, I still had my head wrap and my awesome new mittens. My hands were a little chilly by the end of the night, but not frozen as in previous years.

Lila enjoyed the lights when she forgot that she was strapped into the stroller.

Jake kept running ahead to hang with his cousins, the only reason I got him to hold still for this shot is that he is actually standing on a wall that I let him climb.

A rare snapshot of all five of us together.

The reason for the season.

The crowds weren't so bad this year, so we got to see the Christus. It is absolutely my favorite place on Temple Square. To sit quietly at his feet for a moment and feel the love and peace of the spirit. The kids were talking about it and asking questions all the way home. One of the things we talked about was that the sculptor of this Christus was from Denmark where Brian's parents are serving their mission, and in their latest letter they told us how they went to a museum recently and saw a display about that sculptor and how he made this statue. I think it helps the kids to be able to find connections like this when they are missing their grandparents.

When I leave the camera laying around...

2011-12-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

I often find random pictures and videos by my children.

Yesterday I erased probably close to fifty shots of the TV playing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, close ups of various ornaments on our tree, and a not so flattering video of Jacob trying to grab the camera away from Evie because she didn't realize it was on the video setting.

Nice.

For your viewing pleasure, these are the choice pictures I kept to embarrass my children when they are teenagers.

Evie, Self portrait.

Evie, Self portrait #2.

Evie's nostril, Self-portrait.

Lila, fairly normal.

Lila, praying for strength.

Lila, looking for her teeth.

Proof that they are playing with Kevin (my minion) when I am not around!

Ye Olde Fun...

2011-12-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

Caitlin, Patrick, Evie and I went to the Dickens' Festival today.

It was mostly shopping with some yummy fair food and people (mostly) dressed up as characters from Victorian England. The accents were also quite varied, everything from cockney and proper British, to Scottish. And the one that threw me the most, straight up pirate.

Caitlin got fish and chips, because you can't go all the way to England and not get fish and chips!

We took a carriage ride down to see Father Christmas.

But we settled for just seeing his reindeer instead.

Tonight we had our friends over for dinner and a movie night.

The kids played downstairs and did arts and crafts.

Evie showed excellent problem solving skills when her crown wouldn't stay on her head.

The one with unagi...

2011-12-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

10 bonus points if you got the reference of this post's title. Unless you are Dinee, in which case you only get 5 bonus points, because that's just too easy.

Today was one of those days where I rolled out of bed and started cleaning. And pretty much did nothing else, except for a little break here and there to pick up a child from school. (My own child, not random ones...) We had the people from the Assist program come back out and go over the blue prints they sent us, and talk some more about the changes that need to be made. I highly doubt that they would care if my house was messy or not, but I care. So I cleaned it. It feels good to have it done and will hopefully help my stress levels stay on the low side through the craziness of next week and the last minute Christmas preparations.

After they left we took the kids over to my Dad's, who had graciously agreed to babysit while Brian and I snuck in a little time together in the midst of all the family and holiday celebrations. We went to the Mikado (because we had a gift card) and had a lovely, leisurely dinner. We also went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie that opened today. (I can't remember the last time I went to a movie on the opening day, but I am pretty sure it was before Jake was born...) I really enjoyed the movie, but realized after we left the theater that I have a splitting headache because of how loud they had the volume cranked. That makes me feel old. It made for some pretty exciting action scenes though!

Okay. Here's a clue if you are still puzzling over the title reference.

Thinking out loud...

2011-12-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Days like today, when I just sit and stare at my computer screen for 20 minutes with no clue what to write about, make me long for the end of the month and my blog daily commitment to end.

I am super proud of myself for replacing the fluorescent lights in my laundry room. Because it entailed driving to the store, purchasing replacement bulbs, hunting up the step stool, and figuring out both how to remove the old bulbs and put in the new ones (which I had never done before). Also, I dusted the tops of the lights. So. gross.

I thought that I could probably make some money by installing a web cam in my kitchen so people could watch me sing and dance as I put away my groceries and do the dishes. Not because I am very talented at either singing or dancing, but I have a sneaking suspicion I am quite entertaining... AFV style.

I spent a lot of time reading a thread on a mom's forum started by a mom who was complaining about the cheap gift someone gave her child when he was chosen off an angel tree. It made me very sad. And worried about if I am doing enough to teach my children to value the things they are given and about the true meaning of Christmas.

I am so grateful for the time my husband and children give me each week to go to my knitting night. It is a much needed break for me and is made extra special when I come home to a cleaner house than I left. (Of course, the children were all still up and running around... but you can't have everything.)

At the cookie exchange tonight someone brought delicious sugar cookies that are flavored with an unusual spice, and none of us could figure out what exactly it was. I kind of want Caitlin to try it and see if her opinion matches up with mine. But I'll be honest, there is no way those cookies are going to last until Saturday morning when I see her again...

I really need to get myself up early and to the gym. I ate way too many cookies tonight. But it would have been rude not to sample everybody's. Right?

Heaven is up there somewhere....

2011-12-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today Evie and Lila came upstairs, and Evie was crying. I asked her what was wrong.

"The reason I'm crying is because I just really, really miss Grandma Kim."

Ouch. It doesn't happen as often as it used to, but the grief can still sneak up and take my breath away.

I sighed and said, "I know honey, I miss her too."

Lila nodded very mater-of-factly and said, "That is because she is very far away. Way, way up in outer space!"

Laughter after tears, always one of my favorite emotions.

Secret Asian Man...

2011-12-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I stopped at the store on my way home from the gym. I like shopping in the early morning because you can hear the music over the P.A. system better when there are less people around. Sometimes I forget that I'm in public and start to sing along (or worse, I start shaking my groove thing) especially if it's a song I really like. Today they were playing an oldies station, which I love.

♫Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together♫

Then this song came on.

And I just giggled. I do every time I hear it. Because my whole life I really thought the lyrics were Secret Asian Man. I still stand by that, if you listen to the original artist I swear that's what he's saying. When we were first married I was cleaning the house or and singing, like you do, and started singing this song. Brian laughed so hard at me. I laughed too, it's pretty funny.

P.S. I still sing it that way. Which will get you funny looks from the other people who like to shop early in the morning...

Yum, frosting...

2011-12-12T23:59:00.001-07:00

Who knew there was a learning curve on how to eat a sugar cookie?

I could not convince Lila that eating the cookie and the frosting simultaneously was a good idea.

She had frosting from her eyebrows to her chin!

1st Christmas

2011-12-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went visiting after church. First to Pa Dave's where he graciously shared his dinner with us and we played some Phase 10 and got to see Caite and Patrick too. Then on to Grandma-great's and visiting with a good portion of the extended family. My Aunt Kristen was up visiting and brought my kids a bunch of toys that they are clearing out while getting ready to move. And when I say a bunch, I mean a whole lot! The kids helped me carry the boxes in the house and then went a little crazy digging through them and seeing what treasures they held. Both the girls spent the next hour playing with a toy castle that you can shoot cannon balls at. Jake went crazy when he found the old Game Boy and all the games. Brian laid down the law that the Game Boy has to stay upstairs when Jake goes to bed, so that he won't stay up all night playing with it. (I think it's that, and because Brian wants to play with it while the kids are in bed.) As we started packing up the toys the kids had spread all over the living room Brian said, "I should probably call Santa and tell him that we don't need any more toys for Christmas." Oh the wails of despair and denial that came from our children. Fortunately it was only a few months ago that we did a serious deep cleaning and de-junking of the kid's rooms and toys, so we can probably find homes for some of these new treasures and the odd Christmas present or two. Also fortunately, we had already decided to have a small Christmas this year.

P.S. Thank you Aunt Kristen and family. I guarantee these toys will be loved and played with a lot. You made my kid's night with your generosity.

Busy little elves...

2011-12-10T23:20:00.001-07:00

It's been a very busy day. I got three Christmas projects finished, got presents mailed off, got a much needed haircut, took both of my girls shopping, and got all of that shopping wrapped and under the tree. Whew.

The best part of the day was spending time with my girls one-on-one. Evie is a fun shopping partner and she's is so excited about finding just the right present for each person in our family. Plus she is so funny, which I think gets overlooked a lot between her big brother's cleverness and her little sister's over the top personality. As we were waiting for our food tonight she turned to me out of the blue and said, "Dogs kiss you on the hand or anywhere because they just don't know where lips are."

A little later she told me she wanted to get something for a gift for Lila. I reminded her that she already had picked out a gift for Lila and she rolled her eyes at me and said, "I me-an for next year." I told her if she could remember it that far away then it was fine by me. She nodded and said, "I am a very good rememberer. I can even remember when I was born." I laughed and said, "Oh yeah, what do you remember about when you were born?" She promptly replied, "Uh, I was born on my birthday." Like, duh.

Lila and I went out again after dinner. Poor Lila didn't quite get the concept of shopping for other people. She thought I was the meanest mom to be buying presents for Dad, Jake and Evie but not for her. After the fourth time I gave up trying to explain the concept and more or less picked out what she's giving them myself. She was so tired she fell asleep at the second store and napped through the rest of our outing, which was quite pleasant for me. Now if we can just keep her from spilling the beans about what we bought before Christmas!

I've had the clever knocked right out of me...

2011-12-09T22:16:00.004-07:00

Tonight we took the kids to see the new Muppet movie. It was some fun family time together and I was quite enjoying the movie, until about a half an hour in, when I leaned down to pick something up off the floor for Brian and smacked my forehead into the railing in front of me. Hard. Like I saw stars and a little bird circling my head kind of hard. And then I cried for the next five minutes because it hurt so dang bad. Fortunately the Muppets is the kind of movie where you can be out of it for five minutes and still follow the plot. Now I have a migraine, a goose egg, and I don't think I'm being overly dramatic when I say I'm quite possibly concussed. So if you'll excuse me I can't post any longer because I am practically incapacitated here!

P.S. Best part of the night was hearing Lila exclaim at the end of the movie, "That Kermit the Frog is ah-MAZE-ing!"

P.P.S. I teared up during The Rainbow Connection, but I can't be sure whether it was from a wave of nostalgia or because my concussion made me acutely light and sound sensitive.

Creativity vs. Vandalism

2011-12-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

It seems like every time I turn around I am finding my children's names inscribed in the house, courtesy of my five year old. (So far Lila has only mastered the letter L, and Jake would probably be writing haiku or slam poetry instead of just names.) Not on walls (so far) but on toys, books, tables and chairs, and the frame of the easel! That one just kills me. There is a chalkboard side and dry erase side and an enormously large roll of paper just for the kids to draw on! Why do you have to use marker on the wood frame of the easel?! I don't want to stifle the artistic nature Evie seems to be developing, but I am a little afraid I have a budding graffiti artist on my hands. I am this close to putting all art supplies under lock and key. Which could be a little awkward as that means fully half of Evie's Christmas presents will be taken away as soon as she opens them...

Random Wednesday

2011-12-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

Lila watching her morning shows...

I love watching this age group as they discover their problem solving skills.

Today we finally started our present advent.

This was one of my kid's favorite things I did last year.

Each day we open one present, a small activity or treat to help us get in the holiday mood.

Today was a new book for our Christmas collection.

Because I was slow getting started I combined days 1-6 into one present. Stained glass ornaments and holiday shrinky dinks, both crafts that require use of the oven and mine was buried in an out of control kitchen. Brian came home and tackled that mess so tomorrow we will craft!

And just because it is such an unusual circumstance I have to share it, today I actually left the yarn store with more money than when I went into it! I had to return a couple of skeins because I had overestimated the yardage for a project. I then spent almost a half an hour wandering the store and contemplating the different yarns and what I could knit with them, but every time I was tempted I would remember the backlog of projects I have to finish by Christmas. Don't worry though, I'm sure I will make up for it later...

It's NOT bacon!

2011-12-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

I found these cute wavy candy cane ornaments at Tai Pan Trading.

As we were decorating the tree the kids kept saying, "Oh! Look at the bacon ornaments! I love the bacon one Mom!" It took me a little bit to figure out what they were talking about. I told them that it isn't bacon, it supposed to be like a ribbon candy.

Now they call them bacon ornaments just to mess with me.

Everything is better with bacon... even Christmas trees I guess.

I'm including this so you can see the tree skirt I made. It's a very simple one, a circle skirt made of red and white ticking fabric and hemmed around the edges.

Lila wanted me to take a picture of her by the tree this morning. We are all still loving the new tree and decorations. I love that every day I will find one of the kids just standing and staring admiringly at it, and they will say, "We have such a pretty tree!" As you can see we have the first of the presents wrapped and under the tree. It is killing Lila! Every day she asks if it is time to open the presents yet. I'm watching her like a hawk so she doesn't sneak some of them open and land on the naughty list!

I am so weak...

2011-12-05T23:53:00.002-07:00

Apparently I have absolutely no will power...

at least when it comes to 50% Baby Alpaca/40% Merino/10% Silk blend yarn and an awesome mitten pattern.

I finished one of my Christmas projects, and as I came to the end of the pattern on the same page was a mitten pattern.

I was instantly smitten.

And now, even though I have roughly 28 Christmas projects left in the queue, I have 3/4 of my first mitten.

Isn't it pretty?

I think I shall call them my Smitten Mittens.

We are ready...

2011-12-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

They are calling for another big wind storm tonight, this time with snow. So we could be waking up to blizzard like conditions tomorrow. Extreme weather is something that is hard for Jacob. He gets very anxious and tends to think in catastrophic terms. So when we were called this morning and told that we would only be having Sacrament Meeting so that we could prepare for the coming storm, he freaked out a little bit. We had a good parenting moment with him, talking through his fears and trying to show him all the ways we are ready for whatever Mother Nature might send our way.

After church Brian and Jake went to the store for a non-electric can opener, as that was one thing I could have really used during the last power outage and had forgotten to get one when I was at the store on Friday. Brain commented on how neat it was to see all the people out clearing up fallen trees and debris. He said it looked almost like ants swarming the way they would attack an area and have it cleared so quickly, and that every other car he passed was a truck or SUV with a trailer hitched to the back either loaded down with tree branches or heading back for another load.

While they were gone I continued to do laundry, cook food and get the house ready. I came across Jake's stockpile of "necessities" in the living room for just in case the power goes out. It includes two lanterns, one battery powered and one that has a crank on it to generate power and is also a radio, a card game, a board game, his Leapster with fresh batteries, and a pile of about 20 or so books. I was talking to him later about how he was feeling now that he'd had a chance to prepare, and he was feeling much calmer. He said, "I even brought up the 78 hour kit, see?" Our emergency kit is better than the average 72 hour kit... we get 6 extra hours! Not that I am making fun of his idea of being prepared. I'm off to make sure I've got enough yarn wound to get through any length of blackout, and I might just have to steal one of the lanterns...

It's a natural defense mechanism...

2011-12-03T22:30:00.001-07:00

Today at lunch I looked across the counter at Lila and just fell in love with her all over again.

"Lila, you are so stinkin' adorable."

"Mom, you are just stinkin'..."

It's a good thing she's cute.

Blood, sweat and tears...

2011-12-02T23:48:00.001-07:00

That's been our day today.

The sweat was mine from trying to clean up my disaster of a kitchen.

I did a load of dishes and cleaned out the fridge, then I took a little break... which turned into a long-ish break.

The blood and the tears were from Evie.

She hasn't bounced back from that last bout of croup two weeks ago.

She's been pale and lethargic.

Now she's not eating.

I took her to the doctors and he did a thorough check-up and ran a few tests...

Then, not seeing any answers, he ordered some blood work.

Shots are bad enough to a five year old, watching them take blood out of your arm is downright traumatic.

(I tried to get her not to look, but apparently that was more scary for her than seeing what was going on.)

We most likely won't get any answers until Monday.

Sigh.

Jake and I had a two hour grocery shopping date night.

He's a lot of fun to be around.

Until he crosses the line to being obnoxious.

We had a good talk about where that line is.

We also had a long talk about self-esteem and self-image.

He doesn't like how his face looks, he thinks it isn't attractive.

It took everything I had not to break down and cry in the produce section when he told me that.

My beautiful boy! That just breaks my heart...

(Seriously though, isn't this a little early for self-esteem issues?)

We had another long talk about the qualities that we should derive our self-worth from. (i.e. kindness, intelligence, sense of humor, the things that really last.)

Jake decreed that when he becomes president his first order of business will be to ban cosmetic advertising that makes people feel bad about themselves.

I say things have come to a sad pass when an 8 year old boy notices that's the tactic most companies take...

AND... I still have to clean the kitchen tomorrow.

Sigh.

Some more.

A very blustery day...

2011-12-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Today the kids stayed home from school because the weather was crazy! Hurricane force winds shut down the schools, many businesses and even the freeway for awhile. We lost power around 8 am and so we had a long day to find ways to entertain ourselves without electronics.

Legos!

It's amazing the hours of entertainment those little plastic bricks can provide.

Everything Evie built she said was a doctor's office.

Jake built houses, vehicles, and even a helicopter with a working propeller.

Lila just likes to pull things apart.

We played cards too.

Caite's power was out in Ogden and so she came down to hang out with us, because it's always more fun to have no power when you are with other people.

The wind took out so many huge, old trees.

The landscape of our area will be forever changed.

Brian drove around and took these pictures. I wonder if this trampoline belonged to this house or migrated there overnight?

This was once a trampoline too. Crazy!

After almost 8 hours without power our house was getting pretty chilly and we didn't have anything to eat except bread and peanut butter. So we headed over to Pa Dave's because his power was back on! Yay for warmth and cooked food. We made a pot of soup and some toasted cheese sandwiches, and got warmed up from the inside out.

Caite and the girls even made sugar cookies.

Lila's theory on sprinkles: There's no such thing as too many sprinkles.

Evie is a great little sous chef.

We are spending the night here with Grandpa because we are still without power. Our house was 54 degrees, the kids were nervous about the dark, and Jake was worried that the power outage would mess up my blogging everyday. We sure are lucky to have a comfortable place to crash!

She made it to three... it's a miracle!

2011-11-30T22:27:00.001-07:00

*As I was waiting for the many pictures to load for this post I thought I'd sneak in a quick bit of sewing, only to find Lila has snipped all the threads on my serger... making the title of this post no longer so tongue in cheek. grrr...

We started out celebrating this morning by watching an animated e-card from Grandma and Grandpa T. I'm pretty sure she watched it twenty times in as many minutes, so good choice on the card Grandma T. She loved it!

A quick break to get dressed for the day and then right back to the computer!

I let the older two kids play hooky today and we went to the Festival of Trees to watch our friend Libby perform with her dance group. We spent a wonderful three and a half hours wandering the festival looking at trees, gingerbread houses and quilts, sampling tasty treats, making crafts and playing games at the Kid's Korner, and even getting to visit with Santa and tell him our hopes for Christmas morning! On the way home we went to Build-a-Bear and Lila got to make a new friend, while the older two each got to pick out a new outfit for their animals.

Lila was simply adorable. She was wearing the birthday girl sash and every person she interacted with asked her if it was her birthday (that made me laugh inside, "no it's not her birthday, but her drama queen sash was in the wash...) and how old she was. And I missed it all! I left the camera at home, bad blogger! I was so frustrated because I'd taken the time to download all the pictures and put in new batteries, so it would be ready for all the photo ops.

So instead I'll just have to share a bunch of pictures from her party tonight.

We went over to Pa Dave's and had Chinese for dinner. Lila got the perfect fortune in her cookie! It said, "A new challenge will soon come your way." All the grown ups looked at each other and said, "Potty training!"

After dinner we were joined by Grandma-great, Grandpa Jerry, Dinee and her girls for presents and cake.

Evie, snuggling her dad and showing off her bear's new outfit.

Lila showing her new bunny.

She wasn't excited to have all the attention on her at all...

Some new outfits, this one from Grandma T.

Plaid and scottie dogs from Evie.

Her very own copy of Ella Enchanted from Jake!

She was thrilled!

(So was I because I've probably rented it thirty or forty times since this summer...)

A Minnie Mouse dress up doll from Dinee and girls.

A Minnie shirt from mommy.

Brian was in charge of taking pictures while I helped Lila with her gifts. He kept falling asleep and when I got after him for missing her reaction to some of her presents he had this excuse, "This camera can't keep up with me!"

I laughed so hard I cried.

Okay, back to Lila.

Lila wanted a Minnie cake, so this is my attempt. I think it was successful because when she saw it she squealed and said, "Mom! You made me a Minnie cake! You're the best mom ever!"

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lila!

I hope your birthday wish comes true.

The last night of the terrible two's...

2011-11-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow my baby will be three. (Although we have had an all day long ~~argument~~ discussion about why you can't just go from two to five, no matter how badly you might want to...) I am feeling, once again, the bittersweet realization that comes from watching your youngest child hit milestones and knowing that it's the last time for you as well. Tonight is the last time I will have a two year old and I am both sad and deliriously happy at the same time. I'm also more than a little bit terrified of what three will bring with this child, but that is an entirely different post.

So tonight when I tucked her into bed, I picked a extra long story and lay down next to her. I didn't get mad when she kept wiggling around and tried to play with my hair or the strings of my sweatshirt, I just snuggled her back down and kept reading. She fell asleep on my shoulder, and I just kept reading until the story was finished, enjoying the warm, still weight of her snuggled into my side and the soft little snores she makes in my ear. When I came to the end I closed the book, kissed her cheek, and wiped away a tear knowing that was the last time I will read a bed-time story to my two year old.

As I sat down to post I read back over what I had written when she was born and for each of her birthdays, and cried a little more. Mostly because what I wrote last year is still almost all true, only the attitude and stubbornness quotient has seemed to multiply exponentially (and again, it makes me scared for the coming year). And a little bit because when she was born there was so much sadness about my mom mixed into that experience, plus the whole "I can't believe my baby is so big" thing.

Tonight I will be melancholy, and mourn the passing of time and that my babies aren't babies anymore. Tomorrow I will be happy and ready to make some special birthday memories. After all, it's the last time I'll get to celebrate a 3rd birthday with my child...

I understand why some animals eat their young...

2011-11-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

I probably shouldn't be posting right now. I should walk away from the computer, count to 10, do some deep breathing exercises, and come back to post when I am not literally quivering with rage. It never ceases to amaze me that a tiny little person who doesn't even come up to my waist yet, can create such total anarchy and chaos in a relatively short time. (I'm honestly not even sure what this one was about, I think it had something to do with bread...)

We have had two very crazy, stressful weeks. We traveled, we got sick, we got better, we cleaned, we had guests, we celebrated a holiday, we partied, we traveled some more, we haven't gone to bed on time more than twice in that time. I get it. Her schedule is all out of whack, her little body and mind are on meltdown and she doesn't have any other coping skills at this point other than screaming like an incoherent little banshee.

I love my daughter dearly but if she lives to see three it might be a miracle (and her birthday is in only two days). Now if you'll excuse me I think I'll go have a crying, screaming, meltdown myself... or maybe not. Writing is pretty cathartic. At least I'm not shaking with the effort it took to not smack her anymore.

Posting from Idaho...

2011-11-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

I am borrowing Tiffany's computer to post from fabulous Idaho this evening! Lila and I drove Tiffany and her kiddos home today and are spending the night, because even though Brian is fine with the idea of himself driving to Idaho and back in one day he doesn't think that I can do it… I don't care though. It just gave me more time to hang out with Tiff. We got here around 7, ate dinner, and then watched Sense and Sensibility while stitching on our advent calendars. All around a good night. Tomorrow I'll get up early and head home so I can be there in time to pick up Evie from school. The good news is when the older kids and Brian called to say good night, they all told me how much they missed me. Sounds like I've got good job security!

Best. Party. Ever!

2011-11-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to a royal ball hosted by Rapunzel!

Every moment was magical.

I will do a better post with all the details once I get the pictures from everyone, so for tonight I just have to say thank you so much to Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder for giving our family such an amazing experience!

It's tradition...

2011-11-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

We put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. I was so excited to decorate because this year I got a new tree and all new decorations! (We also ended up getting new lights because ours got fried because of our stupid screwy wiring last year... but that's a whole other story.)

I'm loving peppermint this year, and have had so much fun looking for ornaments over the past couple of weeks. The only things not new this year are my snowflakes and the picture ornaments I do of my kids every year.

I'm carrying the peppermint theme over to the mantle. I can't decide between the peppermint hat box and the apothecary jars filled with peppermint candies for my favorite.

I let the kids pull out the little tree and set it up downstairs, and decorate it all by themselves!

That's tradition too.

That way I can have my pretty, themed tree and not fill guilty for not letting them help me decorate it...

All grown up and cooking a turkey...

2011-11-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving this year was pretty different. And by different I mean small. My dad is back east visiting my brother's family so it was just going to be my sister, her husband and my family. My cousin Tiffany and her family came down to join us, so it was dinner for 10.

Caitlin, Tiffany and I started cooking last night.

We had lots to do and lists and plans and ingredients spread over every available surface in the kitchen.

We worked quite well together at first.

It wasn't a case of too many cooks in the kitchen...

as much as three very silly, very tired, easily entertained women.

(As I mentioned last night, Caite and Tiffany both snorted soda pop out their noses at some point.)

Caitlin kept laughing so hard she would fall down.

And there was a whole lot of this position happening as well...

Bent over and crossing the legs so as not to wet your pants because you are laughing so hard!

It was a long night but one of the most fun I've had in a long time.

We caught a few hours of sleep and then it was right back to cooking, cooking, cooking.

We had fun setting the tables all cute, especially the kid's table.

Tiff made the cute turkeys with crayons for tails and I printed off a bunch of Thanksgiving themed coloring and activity pages for them. And their names are spelled out with letter shaped cookies.

I hit the wall as I was scrubbing the potatoes and had to take a caffeine break.

And then it was time to feast!

The turkey was so tender we didn't even have to carve it, it just fell apart.

(The turkey was totally a group effort this year as I called my dad for step by step directions, wrote them down, and passed them on to Caite who followed them. Go team!)

We also had mashed potatoes and gravy, squash, corn, green beans, fruits, salad, and delicious homemade rolls. (The rolls were the main reason we were up baking into the wee hours of the morning, but oh, they were so worth it...)

And then, because we couldn't decide on one, we had a dessert bar that included:

Spice bites

(gingerbread tartlets with a white chocolate and cream cheese filling)

Pumpkin pie

Snickerdoodles

Chocolate chip cookies

Sticky buns

and

Rice krispie treats

Yum.

The cute kids enjoying their coloring pages and spelling things with cookies.

The aftermath.

Typical.

It was a good Thanksgiving and it's also good to know that if anything ever happened to my dad we would still be able to celebrate holidays that require you to cook a turkey...

Thanksgiving prep...

2011-11-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

I am too busy baking and prepping for the big event tomorrow to post about it tonight. But I will tomorrow, with really awesome pictures. Because that's what bloggers do, we keep a camera in the kitchen to catch the highlights of preparing to cook a turkey. I don't know how this meal will taste, but I guarantee this is the most fun anyone ever had cooking for Thanksgiving. Both Caitlin and Tiffany have snorted soda pop out their nose at least once. Now that's just a party...

Introducing the sewing cubical...

2011-11-22T22:55:00.001-07:00

The whole house isn't clean, but the sewing ~~room~~ cubical is finally done!

Hooray!

I was worried that one of the children would trigger a craft-alanche and be buried alive...

Now I'm ready for a flurry of Christmas sewing.

Plus I knew Tiffany was hoping to get some crafting time in while they are down for Thanksgiving, so obviously this was the most important space to have done.

That is one great big monkey off my back, and boy does it feel good!

Now excuse me as I hobble of to soak these sore muscles and take a pain pill or three.

A Royal Ball

2011-11-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my cousin's wife, Amy, called me and told me that she had entered our family in a contest to win a free princess party, and we had won! Not only did we win, but the sweet girl who runs the company, Megan, wanted to do more than just give our girls a fun party. So between them Amy and Megan have put together a fundraising event in the form of a royal ball this coming Saturday. Once again I am so grateful for people's generosity towards my family. We haven't told the kids yet what is happening. I think it is going to be such a fun surprise when we go to the party and they get to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder in real life!

I think I've mentioned here once or twice how much these girls love Tangled.

And then to find out that the party is for them... let's just say I am hoping for some great pictures!

Here is the link if you are interested in joining us or know someone who might love the chance to meet Rapunzel and win a party for themselves!

Princess Parties and Events

Please take a minute to check out Megan's site.

She makes an amazing Rapunzel, or just about any other princess you can think of!

Best laid plans and all that...

2011-11-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be wondering about my plan for cleaning my house and how that is all going?

It works great!

At least it did for the first three days.

So I assume that it would have worked great if I had been able to keep following my scheduled one room a day and not had three sick kids cooped up in the house creating extra laundry and chaos...

At least I know that my usual crazy whirlwind method mostly works too.

And I have two days.

That will be enough time... right?

A day of almosts...

2011-11-19T22:00:00.002-07:00

1. We are almost done with having to trick Lila into taking the nasty medicine. (One more dose!)

2. I almost got a free massage today. (I decided to fight with my husband and have a crying meltdown in the parking lot instead. It ended up being cathartic, but nowhere near as relaxing as a massage would have been...)

3. I almost got to go to a movie with my sister. (We decided to go to Tai Pan Trading and look at Christmas decorations instead...)

4. I'm almost ready to take on the turkey for Thanksgiving. (After shopping for Thanksgiving dinner tonight I realize that I have never been properly thankful to my parents and in-laws for the work and expense that goes into a Thanksgiving feast. So, belatedly, thank you Dad, Terrie and Jim for the many delicious holiday meals you have provided for us in the past...)

5. I'm almost ready to decorate my Christmas tree. (See #2, and also, I don't yet have a tree to decorate...)

6. I'm almost excited to have to teach the Sunbeams tomorrow. (With all three children sick and me having to teach, Brian was willing to stay home with the kids. I'm looking forward to sitting quietly through sacrament meeting and actually listening to the speakers and singing the hymns and did I mention sitting quietly...)

Coughs, croup and craziness!

2011-11-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

Last night was awful. Poor Lila started coughing and the dreaded strider breathing that signals the onset of croup. Something we are all too familiar with around here. I called the doctor in the morning and got an appointment, and he quickly confirmed that it was croup.

You can tell your almost three year old is really ill when they spend the whole day holding still, not speaking and mostly asleep. And they leave the mask on their faces for over two hours with no prompting from you, because after the doctors office we had to go pick up some sickness supplies like popsicles, vapor rub and distilled water for the humidifier.

Once home I worked really hard to get Lila some food and her medicine. I just love that she's double fisting the apple juice at this point.

The bright spot of our day, we came home to a package from Denmark!

Grandma and Grandpa T. sent us an advent calendar. The kids can't wait to open it!

Miss Evie had two birthday parties to attend today! One of them was a ballerina tea party. We managed to cobble together a ballet outfit between the dress up box and her closet. After I put her hair up in a bun and added the bow she went to check herself out in the mirror. Her exact words, "Okay. This outfit is adorable!" I seriously need to get her into a dance class.

Lila wanted to dress up too.

And I was too tired to care if she wanted to wander around dressed up like Minnie Mouse while trying to hack up a lung...

Complete with gloves.

Jake is such a sweet big brother. Even though he is sick himself he has been trying so hard all day to help take care of Lila. Tonight he sewed her this little heart pillow so she could have something to cuddle. (Because there is such a shortage of stuffed animals and blankets in this house...)

She absolutely loves it! And Jake is so proud.

But not as proud as I am of my sweet boy and his awesome crafting skills.

Rollin' with my homie...

2011-11-17T22:24:00.001-07:00

Just one more reason I love hanging out with Caite.

We can both use the kiddie carts at the supermarket.

And we do.

But only late at night when there aren't little kids around, because otherwise that would just be mean...

Some life lessons for today...

2011-11-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Some days all you can do is chalk it up under the fail column and try again tomorrow.

When you only own one bra, it's pretty important not to misplace it.

If you have asthma it's also pretty important to know where your inhaler is so you aren't staggering around at 6 am trying to find it while still half asleep and suffering from a lack of oxygen.

Having a closet all to oneself is just plain decadent.

Any day that includes an hour long nap while snuggling a usually busy two year old can't be considered a total fail... no matter what else went undone.

A post for Uncle Josh

2011-11-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

Lila has started to do funny voices and impersonations, just like Uncle Josh.

Unfortunately she has inherited her ability to do funny voices and impersonations from her mom...

I know most of you won't find this particularly funny, but I'm guessing my brother just fell out of his chair from laughing.

Don't be fooled by the apparent sweetness!

2011-11-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lila picked out this dress and sweater to wear today.

(I added the leggings, because it is November after all.)

I thought she looked sweet enough to eat!

Like a walking Neapolitan ice cream cone.

And doesn't she just look like a perfect angel in this one?

Then I asked her to pick up some toys...

and out came the pouty lip, the stubborn stance, and a major battle of wills.

And I finally realized who she reminds me of.

Puss in Boots

They draw you in with the big eyes and the adorable cuteness, and then...

BAM!

They turn into a hissing, spitting, fighting ball of fur.

All that sweetness is a secret weapon to catch you off guard, and it works every time!

We can do this the easy way...

2011-11-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

I hope.

I have one week and one day to get my house clean and ready for holiday guests. And by clean I mean a good, deep, fall cleaning and clearing out. I have done the math. At roughly three hours per room to accomplish the level of clean that I desire, we are talking 33 hours of intensive labor. No matter how you crunch those numbers it cannot be accomplished in one day. Just to be on the safe side we should probably allow a little more for certain areas, so say 40 hours. It could be done in two days, if I got rid of my family, slept four hours a night, and didn't stop to eat or go to the bathroom. No thank you. No wonder it hasn't worked in the past when I've put off deep cleaning my entire house until the day before I have a party or guests coming to stay.

I've always had the intention of trying the method of cleaning one room a day over the course of a week. So that's what I am trying to accomplish this week. And because I know myself and how badly I procrastinate and push the worst rooms off to the last, I decided last night to write down each room and draw it out of a hat to determine the order I clean them in. (Actually I made Brian do the drawing, that way I can blame him when they aren't in the order I wanted them to be...)

Day 1: Laundry Room

This was a good one to start with, mostly because I've been dreading it and putting it off for a month and a half. I didn't think to take any before pictures, but basically this was the black hole where everything that I wasn't sure where else to put it while we were rearranging the downstairs got shoved out of the way. Throw in a motley assortment of holiday decorations, party supplies, craft supplies, toys and laundry, and well... I think you can imagine the horror for yourself.

Two and a half hours later I have another trunk load of stuff for the DI, a mostly full garbage can, and a nicely cleaned and organized laundry room. Yay!

Top shelf: Holiday decorations, each holiday in it's very own tote.

Middle shelf: Painting and crafting supplies.

Bottom shelf: Party supplies, gift wrap and boxes.

The other top half of the cupboard fits my scrap fabric totes perfectly!

I have been very resistant to using these cupboards since we first moved into the house, and now I can't for the life of me remember why... if there ever was a reason. It's such great storage. Sometimes I am a slow learner.

The new home for the scrap-booking supplies, and my downstairs yarn stash.

And last, but not least, something that you hardly ever see in this house...

The washer and dryer without crap piled all over the top of it!

Ta da!

I even took the time to sweep the cobwebs off of the ceiling and walls as best I could. It was dusty and creepy, but it feels really good to have it done. So, day one and a big check mark off my list! Here's hoping the trend continues all week long...

The trip of the thousand Wal-mart stops...

2011-11-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

First of all.... GRRR! I am seriously bummed that I messed up on my posting. I had every intention of taking a laptop with us so that I could post while away for the weekend. Obviously that did not happen. So let me start way back on Friday night and catch you up. (Maybe an insanely long post that can count as three?)

Friday: Getting ready to head up to Idaho for the weekend for Tiffany and Steven's baby blessing.

I have known for three weeks or so that we are going on this trip. So Friday morning I started doing the laundry that I needed to pack that afternoon. And the kids were so excited that somebody asked me when we would be leaving every 20 minutes, starting at 10:27 am. Long story short, by the time Brian got home I was a basket case and still trying to pack. An hour after he was home and by which we should have been on the road.... I think my exact words were, "I don't even care! If we forgot anything we can run to the store!" Looking back, that was an eerily prophetic statement.

At 6:30 we finally are loaded up in the car and on our way out of town. We drove for exactly 7 1/2 minutes, then stopped at Wal-mart for some snacks and some McD's for dinner. Twenty minutes later we hit the road again, and had to ask Jacob ten times in as many minutes to please not turn on the car light in the back while we were driving. He so badly wanted to read his book so Brian decided we should stop and get a couple of book lights (one for Jake and one for me) instead of fighting the issue for the next three hours. We tried two other stores with no luck and then stopped at the next Wal-mart. $5 book lights, score!

After that it was (mostly) smooth sailing all the way up to Idaho Falls. Unfortunately our late start meant we rolled into town after 11 pm and went straight to the hotel. Our girls had slept most of the drive so they were not too pleased to be woken up and dragged through the freezing cold into the hotel. And then once in the room it took forever to get them ready for bed and settled down. I then got to get myself ready for bed and discovered I did indeed forget something. The grown-up's toothpaste. I mentally shrugged, brushed my teeth with disgustingly sweet bubble fruity sparkly stuff and decided that would be the first order of business the next morning. And as luck would have it our hotel was right next to... you guessed it, a Wal-mart. ( I don't know. I guess we are just living right...) The second thing we discovered that I forgot was the laptop, and by the time Brian figured out that I could post from his phone, I was sound asleep.

Lila loved to look out the windows and play in the curtains.

Saturday: Getting ready at the hotel.

Watching cartoons in the morning.

We woke up, eager to get over to Tiffany's house and see that new baby. As we starting getting ready I realized that in addition to the toothpaste and laptop I had also forgotten my razor, any form of hair styling products, and I packed exactly one pair of socks for my girls. We got ready as best we could and then I ran next door to the Wal-mart for an assortment of travel sized toiletries and a bag of socks. Tiffany called to see if we were on our way and asked if I would mind grabbing her a bunch of cilantro.

We spent the rest of the day at Tiffany and Steven's, visiting and letting the girls play. Evie couldn't get enough of holding baby Morgan! Every time she held him he would fall asleep so Tiffany started to call her "the baby whisperer". Evie just ate it up.

We had dinner there and then hung out a little longer until Caite and Patrick arrived. (I'm pretty sure the first thing that Evie told both of them was, "I'm the baby whisperer!") We visited for a little longer and then headed back to our hotel, stopping first at Wal-mart so I could run in and grab some bottled water. I had planned to bathe everyone that night so there would be less to do to get ready in the morning and checking out, but again I was so tired I just crashed. Completely spaced the fact that I have a blog, let alone that I hadn't posted...

Sunday: Oh the drama...

We woke up too early, thanks to Lila. After 30 minutes of trying to snuggle her and keep her from waking up her brother and sister, and the rest of the people in the hotel for that matter, I gave up and took the kids downstairs for the continental breakfast and let Brian sleep in a little more. We got back and started to get everyone ready for church and the baby blessing. Grateful that I had all the toiletries I needed to get ready this morning, I was enjoying the morning at a slower pace than I normally get on Sundays. I started to help Evie get dressed and discovered that I had packed two pairs of Lila's tights and none of Evie's. (I also discovered that I hadn't packed either of them a casual outfit for traveling home in. Correction, I had packed a pair of pants for Lila and a shirt for Evie But that was it. Whatever, they could ride home in their pajamas. I didn't even care at this point.) Sigh. I got her as ready as I could and then started to get myself ready only to find I had forgotten to pack my slip. Grrr. Ox firmly in the mire I headed back to Wal-mart for the necessary items, determined that this would be the last time I crossed that threshold on this visit...

But it wasn't to be. After we checked out of the hotel, but before we got to Tiffany's, Lila had a massive diaper blow out and got it all over her dress, her tights and her car seat. There was no time to wash and dry them before we had to be to the church, so... back to Wal-mart for a new dress and tights.

Seriously. Four trips to Wal-mart in 48 hours. That's just ridiculous.

Anyway... the blessing was wonderful. Afterwards we headed back to Tiffany and Steven's for a delicious dinner and a little more visiting before we headed home. Only right after dinner Jake got sick. And Lila had another blow-out, fortunately before I had changed her into her jammies, because she didn't have anything else to wear and she would have been riding home in a diaper!

Jake trying to enjoy the ride home, Lila catching a cat nap.

We had a slow trip back because we kept having to stop for Jakey to use the bathroom, and just as we crossed the border back into Utah he lost the fight and threw up. Thankfully Tiff had given him these special traveling barf bags she had gotten at the hospital and he got sick just before an off ramp with a gas station right next to it. (The only one for like 20 minutes either direction.) Jake was a champ and there was no mess for me to clean up. He was pretty miserable for the last hour of the drive, but he didn't whine or make it miserable for the rest of us. In fact the only thing he said was to mention that he really wished he could take a bath when we got home. I hate that any of my children had to be sick, but since they did I am so grateful that it was Jake. He is so good when he is sick, either of the girls would have been a nightmare!!!

Evie was in a great mood for the whole drive home.

This was our first road trip since we got the hand controls put on the van. It made such a difference! For the past year or so when ever we've gone on a road trip in the van it was a constant battle between Brian and I who would drive. Brian loves to drive and I hate it, but because of his legs I was terrified the entire time while he was driving and couldn't relax at all. This time he drove every minute, both directions, and I leaned back in the passenger side and read aloud to him, without having to worry once about him driving. It was the best part of the road trip for me!

So that was our weekend. Thanks to Tiffany and Steven for having that adorable baby and inviting us up, thanks to the generosity of people in our ward who donated money so we could get the hand controls installed in the van, and thanks to Wal-mart for carrying everything that I forgot to pack. I hope they won't miss me too much if I don't go back for a week or so...

Weary Travelers

2011-11-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

Chrissy is asleep! She'll have to tell about it tomorrow. Brian

This isn't a new concept...

2011-11-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Today while I was blow drying my hair Lila got a hold of my rotary cutter and dismantled it. (I'm not even sure I know how to take it all the way apart... because I sure as heck can't figure out how to put it back together!) And of course she sliced one of her fingers up pretty good. It was all very dramatic, with all the blood and the screaming and the tears, until I got her bandaged up. Once she had calmed down I gently, but firmly, pointed out that her cut was a consequence of playing with my sewing stuff and reminded her, again, that I don't want them to play with my stuff because a lot of it is sharp or pointy and can be dangerous. (I think it was a week ago that she nicked her finger on my dressmaker shears... sigh.)

We picked Evie up from school and she immediately spotted the gauze and band-aid wrapped pinkie. "What happened to your finger, Lila?" Lila told her the sad, sad story, and Evie shook her head and said, "That's why we don't play with Mommy's sewing stuff..."

We then picked Jake up early, for a dentist appointment, and he too wanted to know why Lila's finger was all bandaged. Evie quickly jumped in to explain what had happened. And Jake shook his head and said, "That's why we don't play with Mommy's sewing stuff..."

See. Not a new concept. They've heard it their whole lives. I'm afraid that Lila is going to be my one who has to learn everything by trial and error... for herself... the hard way.

Mornings with my Lila-girl...

2011-11-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

I remember liking this stage with Evie too. When Jake was in school and it was just me and her in the mornings. It's nice to have a little one on one time with each kid. I especially like the days when we have nowhere to be and nothing pressing to do and we just hang out with Mickey Mouse on the TV in the background while I knit or check emails and Lila plays by me.

Today she was playing beauty parlor. She wanted to do her hair herself. You can't see it, but the back of her hair has little clippies in it. She walked in with a huge grin and said, "Look Mom! I'm gorgeous!" (Think John Lithgow in Third Rock from the Sun.)

I had to include this picture.

She got a hold of my camera and wanted to take a picture of me knitting, but she kept turning it the wrong way and taking pictures of herself. She was getting so frustrated! It was so funny I couldn't bring myself to intervene and show her what the problem was.

I am looking forward eagerly to a day when she too will be in school and I will actually get be all by myself, but this morning routine isn't too bad a way to pass the time.

This well has run dry...

2011-11-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have now been staring at this computer screen for 20 minutes. (I know because of the handy little clock down in the right hand corner.) And I've got nothing. I can't seem to string two thoughts together right now. So instead of frustrating myself to death and churning out a lot of disjointed and boring nonsense I'll just stop here and hope for better tomorrow.

Hmmm... this is probably the longest post about not posting that I've ever written.

A sister kind of day....

2011-11-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

A sister is a special kind of friend.

Which makes us some of the luckiest girls in the world.

Dressing for the weather...

2011-11-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

One thing I like about the colder weather is that my girls get to wear their Christmas outfits from last year again. I was pleasantly surprised that the sweaters and the skirts both still fit great, so they will both be able to wear them all winter!

Jake's new church clothes match the girls pretty well too.

Don't they all look so festive?

After church and dinner we settled down for a popcorn family movie night. It was Lila's idea. This morning she found the popcorn and brought it out and asked if she could have a popcorn movie time with all of her friends. Brian and I laughed and asked her who all of her friend were. She rolled her eyes and gestured to us, "Um, all you guys!" Like duh, mom.

We watched Cars 2.

As you can see, they really enjoyed it.

Making progress...

2011-11-05T23:59:00.001-06:00

I woke up this morning with a splitting headache and a fairly all-around grumpy mood. But I was determined that today was going to be the day that I got my crap together and got this house whipped back into shape. And it just kind of went down hill from there. I could probably go on for two or three paragraphs listing just what all went wrong from my point of view, including the fact that after over twelve hours straight of clean, dejunking and organizing there is still not one room in this house that is completely clean. Or that I completely lost my cool around hour three and kicked my family out of the house. (Um, stressed much? What a great example...) Or that I backed Brian's car into the van. (Not fast enough to do any damage, except to my much beleaguered psyche.)

But instead I'll just relate the best thing that happened today. I found the last letter my mother wrote me before she died. I have been looking for it for over a year and a half and was in agony, afraid that I had somehow thrown it away, either by accident or during the first year after she passed when I was going through some serious depression. It was stuck in between some old Ensigns that I was sorting through. (Okay, that is one thing I accomplished to day. All of my church magazines are now in chronological order. Hmmm, maybe it's not that surprising that I don't have a room completely finished...) I read it, and cried, and read it a couple more times, and put it somewhere safe where I'm not going to forget I put it, again. I guess it's okay if it takes me a long time to sort through everything. At least that way I'm not going to lose a treasure by being too hasty.

1st snow...

2011-11-04T23:32:00.000-06:00

Normally I love winter. I don't even mind the cold and snow because then I don't feel guilty for the amount of time I spend snuggled up reading or knitting. But I am not very happy that the weather picked tonight and tomorrow for our first snowfall of the year. They were going to start building our ramp tomorrow, but now we have to hold off so we don't end up with a big, muddy mess in the front yard. C'est la vie... at least I can still snuggle up and knit.

Day off/off day...

2011-11-03T22:29:00.000-06:00

Brian took the day off today because he was sick. I decided that meant I could have the day off too. So nothing much happened around here. He slept, I knit, the kids played. I woke him up so I could run an errand or two, and then I went to knit night and knit some more. Probably the most exciting part of my day was that I was asked to teach a class at the yarn shop. I am excited and a bit overwhelmed at the moment, but I think it could be a fun thing to try. I don't feel like I'm qualified, but everyone else seems to think I am. I guess it's not like you can get a degree in knitting... I don't think. That would be cool if you could, I would definitely go back to school if I could major in knitting. Okay, my contacts are foggy and I am rambling. Good night.

Early morning creativity...

2011-11-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

I have a very vague memory this morning of Lila bringing me the camera. I thought she'd just found it sitting by the computer and didn't want it to get lost.

Nope.

She was practicing her photography skills.

Kitchen Abstract by Lila.

I wonder what motivated her to photograph the inside of the cupboard?

Success!

2011-11-01T21:29:00.000-06:00

My goal for today:

Get the girls into their new beds by tonight!

They were so excited to sleep in their bunk beds, in their pink room, on brand new sheets.

(Which I got on sale at Kohl's, buy one get one free!)

Unfortunately the excitement only lasted until I tucked them in, turned off the lights and they realized that bed time is still bed time whether your room is pink or not.

I foresee a lot of stair climbing in my near future...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:43:00.000-06:00

Too... much... trick or treating....

Good night.

Halloween Party

2011-10-30T23:13:00.000-06:00

After church today we changed into our costumes and headed up to Caite and Patrick's for a party.

(This picture is for Grandma T.)

Doesn't Lila make the cutest Minnie Mouse?

Caite had a bunch of fun party games including Halloween bingo, glow in the dark ring toss, Halloween themed charades, and my personal favorite, wrapping your partner in toilet paper to make them a mummy.

Brian always seems to end up wearing the girls' headbands.

But he actually put on a costume for the party. Can you tell what he is?

He's a jogger.

Come on, that's just funny.

Costume Parade

2011-10-29T23:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Lila and I went to school to watch Evie in the costume parade and the kindergarten program.

I might be slightly biased, but I think she was one of the prettiest princess there.

After the program they had a little party where they played games, made a craft, and had a snack.

Lila was happy to share part of her sister's snack.

Evie thought it was pretty neat to have her little sister get to see where she goes to school.

I was happy that Evie made through the whole parade and program with no tears and only a single yawn. It's night and day from last year.

I really hate painting...

2011-10-28T23:59:00.001-06:00

But I did it.

Color is on the wall for the girl's room.

(As if you couldn't guess.)

Now that it's done I am very happy with how it looks and can't wait to finish putting it all together.

I do a meticulous job when I paint.

Mostly because I know if I screw something up I will not go back and fix it later, so I'd better get it right the first time or I'll be living with the mistake for a long time. I'm serious, almost five years later I wake up every morning looking at a green thumb print on my ceiling where someone touched it while we were painting our room before we moved in. It bugs me to no end, but not enough to repaint the ceiling...

Running around in circles...

2011-10-27T23:06:00.000-06:00

Dropped off kids to school.
Back home for a quick shower.
Dropped Lila off to play at my cousin's.
It was my turn for the dentist, no cavities for me! YAY!
Returned library books.
Picked up Lila and admired Em's newly orange ceiling, I love it! So happy!
Picked up Evie from school.
Ran home and picked up a few things, including a box of books to donate and my sister.
Quick bite for lunch.
JoAnn's, DI, All-a-dollar, and Michael's looking for costume accessories and party supplies.
Donated the box of books.
Walmart where I finally found the elusive pair of plain white gloves I needed to finish Lila's costume.
Picked Jake up after school.
Came home to discover I'd left the front door not only unlocked, but wide open for 4 1/2 hours while I was out running errands.
Felt both incredibly stupid and incredibly grateful for living in a nice safe neighborhood.
Finished the last few repairs and touches for the costumes, and gathered everything up for tomorrow's craziness with two kids in two different schools with two different Halloween celebrations.
Brian got home and I left for Knit Night.
Knit for 2 1/2 hours, came close but didn't finish my project.
Came home to a clean kitchen, but one kid still trying to finish a big book report project and two girls beyond tired who needed baths.
Bathed the girls.
Put Evie's hair up in curlers.
Helped Jake finish book report.
Remembered that I forgot to return the redbox movie for the 2nd day in a row.
Posted on the blog.
That's what I've done today.
Whew.
I'm tired.

Silly girl...

2011-10-26T22:30:00.001-06:00

We have been struggling lately to get Lila to fall asleep in her own bed. She fights going to bed (or even just going to sleep) with every fiber of her being. But especially with the imminent move to a downstairs bedroom we are working hard at getting her to go to bed and stay there.

Last night was pretty typical. I tucked her in, a few minutes later she wandered out to "tell us something", so I put her back in bed. A few minutes later I hear a noise and see her peeking around the corner of the hall, I send her back to bed. That happens 27 a few more times over the next half hour. Brian and I started a movie. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a blanket waving in the air. Lila was spreading out a blanket and was ready to play with her doll in the hallway. I spoke quite sharply to her and she gathered up her toys and cried her way back into the bed. That was the last we heard from her, so I assumed that she had finally fallen asleep.

And she had...

Just not in her bed.

Little stinker.

She is too clever for her own good. She figured out that if I couldn't see her or hear her then I wouldn't chase her out of the hall and back into her own bed. I was seriously tempted to let her sleep there all night. But Brian couldn't maneuver around her to get into the bedroom, and it just seemed a little too mean to make him sleep on the couch because Lila had crashed in the hallway.

Lila-quirks

2011-10-25T22:23:00.000-06:00

I know for a fact that we have over 100 stuffed animals in this house. Everything from teddy bears and bunnies to monkeys and giraffes. But lately Lila just wants to snuggle with her piece of cloud.

(A little bit of fiberfill that she picked up from the floor of the sewing room.)

I also know that it is usual for kids to pretend to be cats or dogs,

I just wish Lila didn't have to drape herself across the top of the couch to watch her cartoons in the mornings...

Why I love my sister...

2011-10-24T22:52:00.000-06:00

1. She's awesome.

2. I never have to explain my jokes to her.

3. She doesn't judge me when I cry during Dancing With The Stars, she just passes me the tissues.

4. She looks up to me. (Literally. Maybe a 1/4" but still up...)

5. Did I mention she's awesome.

6. She's a great aunt and my kids love her.

7. No one can make me laugh harder, or laughs harder with me.

8. As much as we have in common, we are equally different. It keeps our relationship interesting.

9. She is super smart and has a wickedly acerbic wit.

10. She posts updates on her blog when I bug her relentlessly.

p.s. She is pretty much all-around awesome.

(Don't worry Caite, I don't want anything. I just couldn't think of anything else to post about tonight...)

Famous last words...

2011-10-23T19:40:00.000-06:00

"I am not sleepy!"

Full, fun, fall days...

2011-10-22T23:43:00.000-06:00

Today we crammed a whole bunch of fall fun into our day.

We went to the Pumpkin Patch.

We admired the great big pumpkins...

but picked some of a more manageable size to bring home.

Later on we went to the Spooktacular Halloween carnival at the Rec Center to watch our friend Libby in her first dance recital.

This is my new favorite picture of Brian.

It perfectly captures his personality as the scrooge of Halloween.

There were lots of fun activities, like the giant bouncy slide,

canoe rides in the spooky swamp,

and fun games.

Jake's favorite was the gladiator bounce arena.

After all the carnival fun we went out for some Chinese food, and I had to get a picture of my ninja enjoying his dinner.

We always have so much fun when we get to hang out with Dinee and Tay and their girls.

Date Night

2011-10-21T23:36:00.000-06:00

Jake and Evie headed out this afternoon to spend the night with Caite and Patrick. So for most of today it's been just me and Lila hanging out. As you can probably imagine she was a little sad that she got left behind this afternoon, but she's quickly learned the positives to having Mommy and Daddy's undivided attention.

One great perk was getting to tag along on our date night. We went to dinner at Iggy's. Not the best meal I've ever had and easily one of the most apathetic waiters. We had to ask for every little thing and half the time he didn't bring it or even remember that we'd asked for it.

But you couldn't ask for better company!

Fall Break

2011-10-20T22:22:00.001-06:00

The kids have today and tomorrow off of school for fall break. I celebrated by staying in my pajamas all day and not driving anywhere. It's been a while since I didn't have to do the whole "Mom's Taxi" thing, and I really enjoyed my day off. I spent the day mostly resting on the sofa, drinking lots of fluids and knitting. (The knitting part lets me feel like I've been productive in spite of all the resting...) I think it's paid off. I feel much better tonight than I did 24 hours ago, and while my voice is still a little gravelly it's lost that "2 pack a day smoker" quality. My kids helped out by being pretty well behaved for the most part, so I only had to yell at them a little bit. It's hard to yell when you don't have a voice, and I think lately they've been acting out just to hear me yell in my funny sick voice. Also Jake made me breakfast in bed this morning, which I though was so sweet of him. Unfortunately my throat hurt so bad I could only drink the water he brought me. But the kids ate it for me, so it was still a plus because I got to sleep in a bit longer instead of getting up to make breakfast. It's nice to be the one getting taken care of for a change, even just a little bit.

Tooth troubles...

2011-10-19T22:47:00.000-06:00

Poor Jacob. Today has not been his favorite. He had to go to the dentist for multiple reasons. He had a permanent molar coming in half way on top of a baby molar and it had killed half the root of the baby tooth. Because of that it had pushed the baby tooth into the tooth next to it (also a baby molar) and had caused a cavity. Both of the baby molars aren't due to fall out for another two years. So the dentist's decision was to fill the cavity, pull out the tooth with the half dead root, and put in a spacer to keep the permanent molar from migrating any more forward in his mouth. Oh yeah, and let's throw in a frenectomy while we're in there. (Removing a piece of muscle that is connected from the lip to the gums and can cause a space between teeth.)

Up to now Jake has had only cleanings at the dentist, except for last year when we were surprised with an unplanned extraction. To say he was nervous about the whole process would be an understatement. For the past week he's been asking me questions about drills, laughing gas, and retainers. I haven't been able to answer all his questions but I kept reassuring him that I would be with him the whole time and would hold his hand as much as he wanted.

I picked him up from school and he was noticeably quiet as he climbed in. In fact the only thing he said was, "Does the drill hurt?" After we dropped the girls off to play with Libby and Addie, I caught a glimpse of his tense, worried face in the rear view mirror. "Got butterflies in your stomach?" I asked him. "More like a hyperactive tap dancing frog," was his response.

So when they offered laughing gas at the dentist's we quickly agreed that anything that would help him be calmer was a good idea. He insisted throughout the whole procedure that the laughing gas didn't affect him at all, and when he drifted off to sleep a couple of times he was really awake and just pretending to sleep. All I know is that he was incredibly mellow through out the appointment, which is a far cry from having to be held down by both me and the dental technician like the last time he had to get a shot.

An hour later we walked out with one tooth in a treasure box, one tooth with a filling, one frenectomy, and one child insisting that laughing gas has absolutely no effect on him whatsoever. I will admit, he didn't laugh.

A 2nd language?

2011-10-18T20:56:00.000-06:00

Caite came down and spent the afternoon with me today. When we went to pick up Jake after school he was pleasantly surprised to see her in the car. My kids are always happy to get to spend time with Aunt Caite. Today he was particularly happy to see her because Caite speaks French quite well and he had a question for her.

"Hey Aunt Caite? I'm going to say, 'I enter the classroom' in French and will you tell me if I am pronunciating it correctly?"

I'm thinking we need to spend a little more time on English before he works on mastering that pesky French pronunciating...

Highs and Lows

2011-10-17T23:20:00.001-06:00

Today has been a day of contrasts.

I got up early to workout but my workout buddy was up late with her kids and couldn't make it. I didn't go to the gym, but I did the workout at home in my basement and included some extra reps of hefting laundry baskets up and down the stairs. I felt good about that.

I ended up remembering just in the nick of time that Evie had to take a piece of fabric to school for an art project. I almost made us late digging through the piles in the kitchen and living room for the note so I knew exactly what she needed. On the plus side there is never a shortage of white cotton fabric in this house, so no need to run to the store.

The high point of the day was when Brian's contractor friend showed up to take some measurements and with the wonderful news that he's almost lined up everything we need to get the ramp built. I was so excited and amazed yet again by so many people going out of their way to help my family.

I tried to nap this afternoon because I am still fighting this stupid head cold, plus I got up early this morning. But it was the kind of nap that is more of a doze punctuated by my girls come to tattle on each other every ten to fifteen minutes.

The low point of the day was when Evie came up to inform me that Lila colored on the new sofa downstairs. There are just no words. We both cried...

To top it all off, Evie is going through a phase where she must. make. noise. constantly. It's driving me slowly insane. She whistles, she hums, she claps, she snaps, and she never stops! I've probably been even more hypersensitive to it while also dealing with a sinus headache this evening, but seriously. Any tips on how to curb the excess noises? I can't take it any more.

Jake has been a sweetheart today though. I picked him up after school and he said, "How are you feeling, Mom? Because you sound... not well." Sometimes it just helps that someone notices.

My new Sunday favorites...

2011-10-16T22:05:00.000-06:00

1. My crock-pot

I am relearning to love this useful kitchen tool, especially when our church isn't out until four and I am a Sunbeam teacher. After 3 hours of wrangling small children (mine and other people's) the last thing I want to do is come home and cook for an hour. I love walking in the door to the aroma of dinner being ready!

Today I experimented a bit and came up with something I'm calling "Shepherd's Upside-down Pie"

It's always nice when an experiment turns out well instead of going horribly awry... like the great "Pink Soup Fiasco of '94"

2. Crock-pot liners

If you haven't tried these you really should. A bag that goes into the crock-pot first and makes clean up a snap! I especially appreciated it today as dinner was just slightly burned around the edges. But instead of having to soak and scrub the burnt crust off all I had to do was let it cool down, pull out the liner and throw it in the trash, and wipe the crock-pot out with a dish cloth. So very awesome.

3. Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chips

I made some cookies tonight with the above mentioned product.

Um. Yum.

4. Laundrypalooza!

Hanging out with my sweetheart, watching tv, folding clothes together.

It's a date night necessitated by a lack of clean underwear... how romantic.

Whoops.

2011-10-16T01:34:00.000-06:00

So. I completely spaced posting tonight (technically, last night). We took the kids to a movie at the new theater that just opened in Centerville, then splurge on Happy Meals so we could sneak in some grocery shopping. We got home a little after 10. I put away the fridge/freezer items. Then cuddled up with Lila on my bed and read while she fell asleep. And I read, and read, and read some more. And then I finished my book and came out to see how Brian's favorite driver was faring in the night race (Yes, I am married to a NASCAR fan, and no, I don't want to talk about it. Although my unintentionally gained knowledge of stock car racing has come in handy during a game or two of Trivial Pursuit...) I sat down to check my email and looked at the clock and gasped in horror! 12:30! AM! Yikes. How could I forget something that has been part of my daily routine for 289 days? It kind of boggles the mind. Brian laughed at my distress and said, "Yeah, your poor Aunt Donna is laying in bed thinking, '...whiskey tango?'" It's crazy I tell you, and more than a little scary. I just hope that it is a minor aberration and not the start of my senility...

What I was going to post about was the movie we went and saw. A Dolphin Tale. It was excellent. Jake and Evie were both very into the story and Lila was very well behaved until we ran out of popcorn. (Pretty standard for her.) Me, I enjoyed it and I cried. Especially during the closing credits where it showed video clips of Winter (the dolphin) meeting people with disabilities, that hit a little close to home I think. Brian and I were both a little choked up as we left the theater and tried to talk about which parts of the movie were our favorites. For me it was a line said by the prosthetic doctor, "Just because you're hurt don't mean you're broken." I found it inspiring to watch as Winter and other people in the movie didn't give up when they were hurt, they just learned a new way of being in the world. That's how I feel about Brian and his attitude about his disability, even when I'm feeling frazzled and overwhelmed with all the new challenges, he just slowly and steadily works on learning his new way of being. He doesn't complain, he doesn't fret, he focuses on the positives of our situation and works on finding solutions. He helps keep me grounded. He makes me proud to be his wife.

Togetherness

2011-10-14T22:14:00.000-06:00

Tonight as we were heading home from the store Jake piped up from the back seat and said, "Tomorrow morning we should find something we can do together as a family." "We should, huh?" I replied, "Like what exactly?" "Oh, like we could all go for a walk together... or something," Jake said. I said, "How about cleaning the house? That's something we can all do together." There was a long pause and then Jake said in a skeptical tone, "Well, it's not ideal... but it's something to think about."

So I guess he'll let me know in the morning, after he thinks about it.

A little nothing of a post...

2011-10-13T21:24:00.000-06:00

Today I did nothing.

So I literally have nothing to post about.

The end.

p.s. I am still sick and cranky, which may or may not have contributed to the tone of this post.

My father is a genius!

2011-10-12T22:19:00.000-06:00

A week or so ago I asked my dad to help me out with getting a piece of wood cut to the right size to cover the hideous indoor rock planter that lurks in my basement and only proves my theories about interior design in the 60's. (I firmly believe that they put LSD in the water along with the fluoride before they knew about it's harmful side effects. I just don't see any other way to explain how society embraced shag carpeting, harvest gold and avocado green appliances and hideous indoor planters where there are NO windows?! But I digress...)

In my dream world where I could have what ever I want as soon as I wanted it, the planter would be gone and that wall would be floor to ceiling shelving/entertainment center. Since this isn't my dream world I decided to settle for having a plank of wood to cover the stupid thing so my children stop trying to use it as a giant garbage can/hidey hole. I thought that would be a huge improvement over the leftover kitchen cupboard doors I've been using like big puzzle pieces for the past four years.

My dad surprised me this morning by dropping off these two shelving units from IKEA. Put together they are the perfect size to cover the hole in the top of the planter and now I have more storage options! Another bonus is that by raising the television I will be able to see it from my sewing cubical while I work. I am loving my new and improved TV area!

After he put the shelves together and hefted the TV up there for me, we turned our attention to assembling the new couch. Also from IKEA. (I love that store.)

TA-DA!

Those clever Swedes and their ingenious storage solutions.

(I have threatened my children with extreme and dire consequences if I find one toy, one piece of clothing, or any siblings inside of the couch.)

And it pulls out to accommodate an occasional visitor or two.

My cousin Tiffany has already graciously volunteered to test the "comfy-ness" quotient...

I spent several minutes just staring at my new couch and shelves and loving how clean and organized it all is.

Mostly because the rest of the downstairs still looks like this.

(My sewing cubical)

Some days I feel like all I do is move the mess from one room to another downstairs.

But slowly and surely, bit by bit we are coming along.

Thanks to IKEA and my dad...

I hab a code in my node...

2011-10-11T20:56:00.000-06:00

Which means that I am not the happiest mom in the world today. Sinus headache + lack of sleep = grouchy mommy. And all I wanted to do today was stay curled up in my sweatpants and watch movies and knit. But I couldn't because moms don't get sick days. I had two kids that had to get to the dentist and to school and get picked up afterwards. I have an almost three year old who's convinced that the world should revolve around her, no matter how poorly I am feeling. I have a sister who is genetically predetermined to lock herself out of things, so I drove to Ogden to give her her husband's house key. (Seriously Caitlin, if you want to hang out with me you can just ask me to visit... you don't have to keep locking yourself out of stuff.) I did the dishes. I made waffles for dinner. I snuggled Lila on the couch until we were both almost asleep, but then she rolled off my lap and face planted it on the carpet. So I put the kids to bed early and that's where I'm heading in the not too distant future, hopefully doped up on something to relieve the congestion and let me sleep for longer than a half an hour at a time. Stupid cold.

A little bit every day...

2011-10-10T22:34:00.000-06:00

Today Pa Dave stopped by after work and helped us put together Jacob's new armoire.

Since we are moving the girls downstairs we needed some more closet space.

Jake and I are both super thrilled by how organized and clean his room is now.

He decided he wanted to sleep in his own room because it is "awesome"!

He asked if we could get the girls room done tonight too so they could all sleep downstairs.

I told him that we'd get the girls moved down soon, but not tonight.

He thought about that for a moment and then said, "Well, I'll still trying sleeping down here by myself. It will probably be good character building for me..."

Pot roast on Sunday

2011-10-09T19:09:00.000-06:00

I got out of bed this morning because I was dreaming about oversleeping. In my dream I woke up at noon and so the laundry in the dryer (which was all of the clean underwear and Jake's church shirt) didn't get restarted which meant that we were late to church, and I was late getting the roast on to cook so we couldn't eat until 9:00 pm. I shot out of bed and across the room to the alarm clock. It was 9:30... am. Oh. Whew.

So the laundry got dry, the roast got started and we went to church in plenty of time. I was exhausted from my burst of anxiety dream fulled adrenaline, but we were on time. Although Jake, who's job it is every week to pack up the church bag, forgot diapers and wipes (again) so he and Brian had to run back home for them. But I was on time.

I was reflecting as I stood washing up the dishes after dinner, that making a pot roast still makes me feel like I am a little girl playing house. It's the strangest thing. I am a 32 year old mother of three. I have been married for 10 years, lived in 5 homes and have had 2 mortgages. I am right in the thick of my adulthood, but cooking pot roast still feels a little surreal. Pot roast for Sunday dinner is what my mother made when I was growing up, or what my mother in law makes. I could probably count on both hands the number of pot roasts I've made since we've been married. (I might have to use one foot, but only just.)

It's just funny to have something like cooking a meal make me think, "Oh man, I am so grown-up!"

Tunnel vision...

2011-10-08T23:56:00.000-06:00

A lot happened today that I could write about.

We got some more of the furniture we need to finish the basement for the kids so that we can make the upstairs easier to navigate for Brian's wheelchair.

Brian and the girls got haircuts.

Lila got bangs.

We made the 27th and final decision about Evie's Halloween costume.

Lila has broken out in hives again.

Brian and I had a great date night.

But all I can think about is the gigantic spider I just killed in the basement!

It was the fourth one of the night and the whole process involved a whole lot of screaming and squealing and jumping around in circles and talking sternly to the spider.

And that was just me trying to work up the courage to cross the room to see if I could reach where it was hanging out above my sewing machine.

This is probably the worst part of Brian's disability, I have to kill my own spiders now. :(

I ended up having to go get my little stair vacuum and suck the sucker up.

Then what?

I put the whole thing out on the front porch.

I'll deal with it tomorrow.

I figure if someone steals the vacuum they deserve the huge spider that comes with it...

I just hate spiders so much.