This snow is smothering my ability to be productive!

I came home from the gym and the chiropractor's today in what can only be described as NOT SPRING! Which meant being trapped inside the house with my three bedlamites for another day. I had so much that needs to be done, dishes, laundry, putting away said laundry.... and I just did not want to do any of it! So I didn't. I let the children turn on Tangled for the 47th time this week and I curled up in bed with a book. And I don't regret it either. Tomorrow I will take on the piles and stacks and bags and clutter that my house has filled up with over the week, tonight I am going to put my children to bed and enjoy some time relaxing with my husband. Unless of course it snows again, then I may just crawl back into bed with another book until spring finally decides to show up...

The Backwards Kid strikes again....

We had a crazy morning today. I hurt my shoulder yesterday and so was very slow and trying to do everything left handed. Jake stepped up and was my right hand man, literally. He was so sweet and with such a cheerful attitude went about trying to do as much as he could to help me. He even got Lila dressed for the day. (Although we did have to have a second take at matching the shirt...) He even picked out the hair bow and stuck it in the ponytail that was left over from yesterday.

Pretty great job right?

I guess I should have seen this coming...

It was Jake after all.

I'm still trying to figure out how he even got it on backwards while she was laying down...

Even good days can go downhill...

Today started out great. The kids woke up in great moods and Jake made them all a delicious breakfast of toaster waffles. (I seriously think that might have been the highlight of the day for Evie...) 

Then we all got ready and went to see the movie Hop with Aunt Caite. Even more exciting as we were pulling in the parking lot Emilie and her kids pulled up next to us! Jake was so busy hanging out with Karaia and Beckham he didn't even talk to me again until we left the theater. Lila on the other hand, decided after the second trailer that she had had enough movie fun and was ready to go home. Fortunately I came prepared with m&m's for just such an occasion.

On the way home Jake started with the teasing. I don't know what his deal is lately with teasing his sisters, but I am about ready to rip my hair out! When he started to pretend he had a gun and was going to shoot Evie I intervened by saying, "Jacob. Was that an appropriate or inappropriate thing to say?" He asked, "Do you mean in the metaphysical sense?" I just managed not to laugh and still sound stern as I responded, "No. In the literal sense."  It is so hard not to just crack up at the most inappropriate times...

As I was making dinner Evie was sitting at the counter coloring and jabbering away a mile a minute. She was not happy that Lila was trying to join her and she must have seen that I wasn't too pleased with how she was treating her little sister. Before I could even say anything to her she said, "I'm not being bossy, I'm just telling her what I want her to do." 

I'm thinking of having that made into a tee shirt for her....

But the hands down winner for naughtiest child tonight goes to Lila. And as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Don't believe that pouty lip for a minute.

As I snapped the picture she was whispering, "Dat's not too much toof-paste, dat's just a little bit..."

sigh

For those who are about to rock, we salute you!

Aunt Caite came over to hang out with us this afternoon and after watching a movie we ended up dancing to the music on the credits.... like ya do. (Oh come on, we can't be the only ones who do this.) And we were having so much fun that we turned Pandora on the TV, broke out the wooden spoons and rocked the house!

Evie loves to preform! She is a great singer. 

"I need you now"

"Take me baby, or leave me"

Don't they make such a cute girl group?

Aunt Caite demonstrating the fine art of emoting...

Jake wailing away on the guitar solo.

So then we all took a turn.

Showing the kids that this mom can still rock it!

I still get out done by Aunt Caite...

Show-off.

I am too old to really pull this off...

And Evie is just too darn cute.

The best part of the whole thing was when I was attempting to teach Jake a quick step. After a few minutes he felt like he had the steps down and then tried to get all fancy and dip me. As I got back up off the floor he got that analytical look on his face and said, "Hmmm, maybe we should try that again when you lose a little more weight." 

Ouch! I think he needs to be a little taller too. Good thing that both of us are growing in the right direction... 

A little about me; a little about you?

I was feeling very at a loss for something to post about tonight, it was just one of those ordinary-everyday-Mommy-is-about-to-become-a-four-letter-word-if-I-hear-it-again kind of days. I came across this idea on another blog and totally swiped it, so thanks for the inspiration!
Making : A second grey sweater vest
Cooking : Chicken and steamed veggies
Drinking : Ice water, lots and lots of ice water
Reading: The Spirit Lens 
Wanting: To go on vacation...
Looking: For something to post about... wait, check!
Playing: The Glee version of Firework by Katy Perry
Wasting: All my cleaning time with knitting, but I don't really consider that a waste...
Sewing: Easter dresses
Wishing: I could have some chocolate
Enjoying: My husband's general awesomeness, and his specific kindness of doing the dishes...
Waiting: For all the children to go to sleep so I can have a bath without visitors
Liking: Having time to play with my children during spring break
Wondering: How many hours are left during spring break?
Loving: The mini popsicles specially formulated to be slower melting that I got for my girls
Hoping: That the sun comes out and lets us get some much needed vitamin D
Marveling: At Lila's attitude, that girl won't take no crap off no one! EVER!
Needing: The motivation to do some serious spring cleaning
Smelling: Fabric softener. I love doing laundry and just sticking my nose into the clean clothes and breathing deep...
Wearing: Reindeer pajama pants with cute bows at the ankles and a long sleeved white tee shirt
Following: The trail of destruction that follows a two year old
Noticing: That new pajama pants are probably going to be upgraded to necessity in the near future, for both me and Brian
Knowing: That I need to go to bed earlier tonight
Thinking: That I probably won't
Bookmarking: More lace work socks on Ravelry that I won't ever get around to knitting
Opening: The freezer for more ice
Giggling: About Jacob telling me he is "so depressed" because he is running out of teeth (he lost another one Saturday night) 
Feeling: Hungry! Only 5 weeks and 6 days to go... right?


So the you part? If you need some inspiration for a post feel free to copy. Then leave me a comment so I can come read yours too. :)

Farewell, but not forever...

Freaked you out a little? No I am not stopping on my cool blogging streak, the farewell is to my good friend chocolate. Tomorrow I am starting a challenge at the gym and part of it is going back on the crazy diet. I am not terrified like I was last time, because I've done it once and survived, so that's good. And I had a lot of success with it, so I have high hopes for this time around. In fact I even had to go buy new pants again this weekend, which is great motivation to keep going! But I will admit that tonight all I can think about is how hard that second day is and how much I crave the chocolate when I can't have it....  Excuse me, I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard there.

Okay, so I need to work on staying focused on how much better I feel and the positive changes I am seeing, instead of feeling deprived.
1) For instance, I was in the bath the other day and happened to glance down at my leg. I looked again and thought, "What is that?! What is wrong with my leg?" So I looked at my other leg and realized that it was just my calf muscle. You can actually see them now. I have definition! I was equally proud and relieved that I didn't have some sort of strange growth on my leg.
2) Another positive, I was just realizing this weekend that I haven't had heartburn in months now! I had been popping Tums on a regular basis since I was pregnant with Lila, but not once since I've started eating better and working out.
3) What I want my next NSV (non-scale victory) to be, I have only a few pounds to go until the weight on my driver's licence is no longer a lie! It will be nice to no longer have that one on my conscience.

So cheer me on my friends, I will need it as I adjust back to living on chicken and steamed veggies for the next six weeks...

A spoonful of sugar is right!

I decided this year that our children are old enough to play conference bingo. (I don't know who the person was who first thought up this idea, but she was a genius!) Simple enough concept, a bingo card filled with words that might be said during the talks, a handful of buttons or beans for markers, and a big old bowl of fun sized candies perfect for bribing small children to listen quietly for two whole hours!

This was a tradition for my family when I was growing up, and it taught me many things. First that even small children are capable of sitting quietly if there is a promise of sugar at the end of it. Second, natural consequences: I remember that my parents never forced us to sit and listen to conference, but a child who sat through all four sessions would probably have a large amount of candy and a child who listened to a talk or two and then went out to play would only have a few pieces. This wasn't done with guilt or meanness, just a clearly stated rule that the candy was only given out for a bingo. Third, I started to really look forward to conference. As a child it was mostly for the game and the candy, but as I got older I realized the wonderful messages and spirit of the weekend were an even "sweeter" reward. 

I am sure somebody reading this will probably get up on their high horse and think it is a horrible thing to "bribe" my children into doing something they should be doing for righteousness sake. To them I say, "Okay." Today was the first time in years that I was able to listen to a whole session of conference without threats, tears or tantrums, and have my children in the room at the same time.  And they were listening, really listening. Sure, right now it might be for the candy, but they will hear the messages and lessons and those will linger long after the chocolate is all gone. 

Case in point, during a talk on repentance my seven year old looked very contemplative. Afterwards he asked me, "Mom? If somebody did a bunch of bad stuff during the first part of the year, and then they got baptized during the middle of the year, how would that affect their standing with Santa?" So, obviously we have some more learning to do, but at least he's got the basic concept down...