Strike!

Let me preface this with an apology. We forgot the camera. I was about hitting myself in the head and saying, "Doh!" when I realized it. Anyway, WE WENT BOWLING LAST NIGHT!

It was so fun! We haven't done anything like that is a long time. At least not since the weather started turning frigid here in Cleave Land [say it like Vizzini in Princess Bride].

At first Megan and Jeremy kept saying they didn't want to go bowling. I think they wanted to stay home and watch movies we'd borrowed from the library. LAME! So we told them they did want to go bowling and that it would be a lot of fun. So we are into making our children spend time with us. . . hmm. . .I didn't think that would start until they were teenagers.

Once we got there and they woke up a bit (because we can't drive 5 minutes after 4:30 PM without them falling asleep) they got excited to pick out their balls and go at it. It ended up though that Megan, Jeremy, and I all shared a ball while Nathan had his own. The people next to us had a Donkey ball, as in Donkey from Shrek, and Jeremy kept trying to take it off the ball return. Both he and Megan got their fingers smashed trying to take balls off, poor kids.

But here's how the game went down:

Nathan: 114
Kellie: 89
Megan:54
Jeremy:53
Emma: duh. she didn't play, but Megan said Emma could be on her team :)

Nathan was sure Jeremy would beat Meg because Jeremy actually got a strike! His face was priceless afterward! He was so excited and his smile was ear to ear.

However, Megan got a couple spares and I think that's what made the difference. It was funny to watch Megan because I'd ask her how many she was going to knock down and she'd always say either, "6" or "76."

Emma was a great little cheerleader, clapping for us when she saw us getting excited. I think she clapped the most for Megan though. After all, they were on the same team!


If any of you Cleave Landites want a good place to go bowling that is in a nice, safe area go here.

Emma Update

For those of you wondering, Emma is growing so fast. She is still just army crawling (I'm not sure if she's aware of her left leg at all, she just drags it behind her) but she now tries to get up on her knees all the time. It's really funny to watch her try to figure out how to crawl for real. I know she wants to do it, because she sees the youngest kid I babysit doing it and getting around a lot faster than her (and I think she's fast dragging herself all over the place!).

Also, a good friend today told me that Emma reminds her of a Weeble. If you are unfamiliar with Weebles, they are toys that you can knock down, but they just pop right back up. They are kind of like those clown punching bags that never stay down. When Emma gets wobbly she just steadies herself and pops right back up. Usually.



Everyday she is starting to look more and more like a feminine version of Nathan. She makes these faces sometimes that remind me so much of him.

Jeremy is a funny little dude. If he's in a bad mood, especially if he takes a nap and wakes up before he's ready, he doesn't want to talk to anyone. Nothing you can say or do will make him happy. . .unless you bring in baby sister. He will brighten up like a 100 Watt light bulb, that kid. For example, yesterday. He fell asleep in the car on the way home from the store and when we finally got home and he woke up he was mad. He didn't want to be awake, but didn't want to go to sleep. He didn't want to eat dinner, but didn't really want to do anything. However, as soon as he saw Emma he started to smile, his eyes got bright, and he became his normal, silly self. He looked at her and said, "Hi, Bellybutton!" Yeah. He's going through a belly button phase. Not exactly sure why and it doesn't really seem to be fading. . . . Anyway, it's really cute and sweet to see how much he adores his little sister. I hope one day this sweetness and love evolves to include a desire to protect her, like all brothers should for their sisters. Right now, he still likes to sit on her.

My Domesticity Revealed

I was hoping these would help keep our apartment a little warmer.
Unfortunately, the living room windows are rather large.
So I'm now planning on making some to go behind these that will stretch across all three windows there. These are probable the quickest sewing project I've ever done. I'm not sure if that's because they were easy, or because it's so cold in our apartment that I was on quick mode to get them done!

The set by Jeremy's bed have yellow instead of polka dot thingys. Not sure what those are called. I thought a solid yellow would look more boyish than the pink polka dots I put next to Emma and Megan's beds.

I know that there are more than enough pictures for you to get the idea. I'm just way proud of myself and I think they are way cute.

Fun with Fabric!

The other day I was cleaning up the apartment,
trying to get it ready for the book club to arrive,
when I found these two munchkins.
They'd redecorated our living room and made a brand new "stylish" wardrobe for themselves!
I couldn't help but take a lot of pictures since they kept asking me to document how stylish they'd become!

And yes, they are still in their PJs. Most days it's just so cold, they'd rather stay in their pajamas than get dressed in cold clothes if we aren't planning on going anywhere.

After I saw how much fun Megan and Jeremy had with the fabric I decided to make Megan a headband out of the fabric she'd tied around her head. I'm not sure where it is now, but she liked it before it got lost!

Apparently . . .

There is more than one Anonymous. I did state in the comments that I hadn't checked out the time and place of each comment from the live feed, that I did check out most of them. So, sorry if Anonymous #2 got offended. The point is, some people don't think about how their comments "sound" and some people do intend for their comments to be rude. I'm turning off Anonymous comments now because they are too much of a hassle. I still invite people I don't know to comment (and of course I want everyone I do know to comment) on the blog. I just don't like not knowing if something is meant to be rude or not and most of the Anonymous comments "sound" rude. Thanks y'all.

ps, of course people are welcome to disagree with me, but I'd prefer the tone to be friendly and not accusatory. To which ever A. brought up working full-time and going to school full-time as a good option, uuuuuuummmm. . . .let's take a poll, shall we?

The Bug Tag

Michelle tagged me with the ten things that bug me tag. Most of the things on her list would also be on mine, but I told her I'd try to come up with some other ones. Or at least a different way of saying the same thing ;) So here goes!

1.) Cleaning up the same mess ten times in one day. (Emma likes to pull all the kid games off the game shelf and eat the Candy Land cards.)

2.) Stupid people. I don't think there is really anything that bugs me more than stupid people. And by stupid people I mean people who are a.) actually dumb, b.) have no understanding of morals whatsoever, or c.) are in charge of government programs. In some cases, all three of these fit the same stupid people at the same time.

3.) Hollywood and the media. I may be cheating with this because they fall under #2's b, but I guess I am just being a little more specific.

4.) Not getting enough sleep at night. I haven't had a full night's sleep since before I got pregnant with Megan in 2004. That's kind of a long time in my opinion.

5.) Having an eye twitch almost constantly for more than a week (possibly longer, I've lost count of how many days it's been going on). (See #4)

6.) Doing part-time work for a friend who speaks English as a second language and having absolutely no idea what he wants in his website content. Not getting credit for said content, having to sign my emails to his superiors in his name, getting money before I've actually earned it (because it makes me feel like he owns my free time), and being told to find other people who want to help. Um, it's not my website, find your own dang people. And while you're at it, what do you want me to write?

7.) Having people (constantly) tell me a.) I have my hands full and/or b.) look tired, and/or c.) smile. Yes, I have three kids and guess what, I want two more. And guess what else. I'll probably have those two in the next four years. Leave me alone over the number of kids I have. Yes, I look tired, again see #4 and #5. Megan and Jeremy both have night terrors and I have an infant who doesn't yet sleep through the night. Do you think bringing it up will suddenly give me time to sleep, help me sleep better, or help my kids sleep through the night without screaming and crying for half and hour at 3 AM? I didn't think so. And please don't tell me to smile. My face just isn't one of those faces that naturally is in a constant smile. I smile if something makes me laugh, but other than that these lips pretty much stay in the resting position. Don't mention it, m'kay?

8.) People who work in customer service, but have no idea what customer service is.

9.) Fighting kids. (As in kids who are fighting with each other.)

10.) Those stupid cat pictures that say crap like, "I can haz cheezburger?" I hate those.

How to Ghetto Roast Marshmallows or Make Marshmallow Pancakes

Um. Honey? Sweetheart? Nathan? You didn't like our toaster, did you? I mean, you never used it. Did you? You wouldn't mind if I just chucked it since you never used it, right?


You see, Megan asked for a pancake--and you know how I don't like to reheat leftover pancakes in the microwave, so I use the toaster? And remember how I emailed you earlier and told you how Sammy was driving me nuts today and screaming constantly? (I think he may be teething again which means he** for me until those teeth come through.)

Well, he was following me through the apartment screaming at me and it was making my ears hurt (you know how my ear infection has made my ears more sensitive and how he makes my ears ring) and I didn't think twice (or even once, apparently) when I lifted the marshmallows and hotdog buns off the top of the toaster to put Megan's pancake in the toaster, put them back down, and pressed the lever.

I didn't notice until I heard the pancake (try) to pop up and I turned to look. I did notice the strange smell while I was cutting a kiwi for Megan, but didn't think anything of it at the time.



This is the pancake I made for her. I ended up getting her a new one and just warming it up in the microwave. This one actually took some work getting it out of the toaster because of all the congealed marshmallows on top of it. It tasted pretty good though.


Now, for those of you who don't know me from when I was, say, 6 or 7, you may not know it, but me and toasters have a love-hate relationship. I've now ruined three. All on accident, I assure you.

When I was 6 or 7 I went with my dad to deliver newspapers early in the morning. When we got back I couldn't sleep and decided to watch TV. I put an Eggo waffle in the toaster oven (not a pop-up toaster, but the oven kind) and went back to the TV.

I fell asleep.

I woke up to black smoke everywhere and a charcoal black Eggo about the size of a silver dollar.

My grandmother gave us her old one in place of the one I ruined. Guess what? I got up early one Saturday morning, put an Eggo in the toaster oven, went to watch Punky Brewster (the cartoon), and fell asleep.

My sister woke me up with her shrieks coming from the kitchen. This time my brother's soccer water bottle was right there so we unplugged it, filled the bottle up, and squirted the fire out.

Yeah. That's when my family started buying the pop-up toasters. I guess I can't be trusted with those now either.


Sorry, Nathan!! But like I said, you never used it, right?

Experiment

There are two things that have been bugging me for a while. (This post isn't so much of a chance to complain as it may at first appear.) Number one on my list is the economy. Number two is China. Like the country, not the dishes. (I love the dishes.)

I'll start with number 2.

What is their problem?
China, stop killing people, ok?
Stop putting lead in toys and crap in baby formula.
Leave us in the United States alone.
Stop hating us.
Stop being jerks.
OK?
Glad I got that off my chest.

Now number 1.

I know this won't fix the problem because it's a big problem, but I really think this would help a little--if it was done en masse.

Buy things only made in the U.S.A.
and encourage businesses to have their goods manufactured in the U.S.A.

More and more jobs are being outsourced, leaving Americans unemployed. More and more goods are being brought into the U.S. from other countries, providing other countries with an income and leaving us without one.

Today I went to Borders to buy a couple journals, one for our family and one for me. Nearly every journal I saw was made in China (grrr) or Germany. I have nothing against Germany, but I refused to buy one that wasn't made in the United States.
Most of the journals that were made in the U.S. were made of fine leather and out of my price range. All the journals I loved were not made in the U.S.A.
I eventually found two that were on clearance that were acceptable. They were plain, but inexpensive. They were not trendy or cute, but they will work and they were not made in China.

I'm going to experiment. Most of the stores I love aren't Made in the USA kinda stores. Old Navy, for example. A store that makes me think of patriotism just from the name. Yet nothing in the store is made in America. Stores like Target and Wal-Mart (don't get me wrong, I hate Wal-Mart, I'm just including it here) and brands like Levi jeans, most of their stuff is not made in the U.S.

For my experiment I'm going to see how long I can go buying items only made in the United States. I know that some of that will be extremely difficult. It means I can't shop at Old Navy at all. It means my shopping will take longer because I'll have to look at item after item in order to find something not made in China.

Food may be an exception. Some foods are exotic. Some foods aren't around the U.S. in winter time. I don't have a problem with buying fruit from somewhere other than the U.S. if another country in another hemisphere is experiencing summer and has a surplus of fruit while we are in the throes of winter and have no fruit of our own.

I'm going to do this and I encourage others to join in. I know my little stand won't make a difference by itself, but it will make me feel better.

Plus, I'll feel like I have more of a right to complain about the terrible economy, after all, I didn't vote for him and I don't think he'll make it any better.

MMB Giveaway

There's a giveaway at Mormon Mommy Blogs! And it's awesome! Get over there and enter. . .unless you are wanting me to win. In which case don't bother entering :) You know you want me to win!

New Quote Monday

It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to educate his father.

-- Vaughan Monroe

Too Dang Cold

Get Me Outta Here:

And Send Me Here:


please?

Nathan's Story

On a lighter note -- to pull away from the unkind feelings I've felt toward a certain anonymous poster -- I thought I'd share another of Nathan's stories. Of those he's written, this happens to be my favorite. It is called "Gary."

Enjoy.

Gary was upset. All his life he had been ridiculed and tormented because he was different. In a small mining town, being different was not good. His mother had loved him, but now that she was gone, he had to deal with a life of misery and woe. It seemed as if he had no friends, no one to talk to, no one to laugh with. Every day he would walk into town and instantly a barrage of unkind words would plague his ears, for he could not mine. His body wasn’t built for it. He had tried several times, but always failed at the endeavor.

Today he was more determined than ever to succeed. He stalwartly walked to the mining site and noticed several of the townspeople hard at work extracting the precious resources from the ground. To them, the task was a simple one. The ore was not too deep and, to them, the ground was not very hard. However, Gary found the ground to be very tough, indeed. As he would try to dig, it seemed that everything was working against him and the ground would not give way. Not three feet from where he stood, one of the old timers, now gray with age, was merrily extracting valuable resources from the ground.

“If he can do it,” Gary muttered to himself, “then so can I.” With that, he mustered all his strength and courage and began to dig. This time he wasn’t going to let anything stop him! With all his might, he tore at the ground, throwing his very body into each blow. Suddenly something unexpected happened. He felt the ground begin to give way. This only increased his drive to succeed. Soon he found a strength he never knew he had. His heart was racing as he felt the ground move under his forcefulness.

When his joy was at it’s zenith, he felt the ground shake. Suddenly, uneasiness beset him and his zeal slackened. He waited a moment or two, looking around to the other miners who were busy with their work. After determining that everything was okay, he warily began his digging once again. Soon he found himself in the same mad rush he had been in just moments previous. Debris was flying as he vehemently dug. He knew he must be reaching his mark and decided to give the ground one mighty blow. He pounded the ground as hard as he could and instantly felt a deep rumble. Startled, he tried to get out of his hole, but it was too late. The ground ruptured in an explosion of red liquid. The force of the red geyser sent Gary flying high into the air and far away from his people.

When he came to, Gary found himself on a slab of concrete. He could see no one. The dog had moved on, leaving him on the sidewalk to starve. Perhaps another animal would come by that he could cling to, but the very thought of mining made him uneasy. Instead, he decided to fade away, being remembered only as the tick who hit an artery.

A Thank You and A Story

I wanted to write a quick post to say thank you to everyone who posted a comment or emailed me concerning Anonymous. (If you missed what happened read this, then know that some rude woman gave me crap for it, thinking I'd done it to punish Jeremy-which it totally wasn't a punishment, then read this.) Y'all are great friends and since some of you were worried that my feelings might have been hurt from her comments, I'd like to let you know that I'm fine. I mostly found her amusing. Rude, but amusing.

The last couple days I've been thinking about my personal attitude toward people who are rude. I've always thought of myself as someone who just took the rudeness and fumed quietly. I've recently realized that I'm not. Nor have I ever been. If it's someone I care about, like friend I think I might be more likely to just let it slide, but even then I can't say that with certainty. I really do think I am most likely to react with a bite.

The first time I can think of when someone was point blank rude to me was in sixth grade. Again, I thought the situation was funny and I wasn't actually offended at all. The "popular athletic" girl in my class (Shelley) and the "wanna be popular" girl in my class (Vanessa) were talking during recess. They were sitting on the desks inside our classroom portable while another girl, sweet, kind, never missed a day of school in her life Lindsay sat and watched.

I was sitting in the doorway reading Nancy Drew.

Vanessa was trying to ascertain who she should like so she could be as popular as Shelley and was listing a few people in our class to see if Shelley liked them or not. With each name Shelley had either given a "yes" or "I guess so" answer.

Then Vanessa looked at Lindsay and asked, "What about Lindsay?" Shelley looked at Lindsay. She sized her up and finally declared, "I guess so. Who doesn't like Lindsay?" And she was right. No one dared not like Lindsay. She'd cry. And she was so little and nice to everyone.

Then Vanessa spotted me.

The loner bookworm who didn't ever talk.

"Do you like Kellie?"

Shelley looked right at me, "No. I don't like Kellie."

It looked like Lindsay was going to cry. She looked at me and asked me with tears in her eyes, "Kellie, are you ok?"

I just laughed and said, "Yeah. I don't like Shelley, either," and then I went back to my book.

I was honestly ok. And I honestly hadn't liked Shelley. I'd always thought she and Vanessa were full of themselves and I didn't care for them. Vanessa looked a little shocked. I didn't bother to check out Shelley's reaction, I wanted to get back to my book.


I think I've always been like this. Rude people bug me if they are rude to others but humor me if they are rude to me. So I just bite back and let them know what I think of them.

So no worried Anonymous. You're far enough away that you don't have to worry about me biting you for reals. I broke your World's Best Mom mug though. Sorry.

Dear Anonymous,

I feel I must apologize to you. I didn't realize you are the World's Best Mom. Should I be buying you a coffee mug? Send me your address and I'll get that to you right away.

Had I known that you have never lost your temper or found your children exasperating I would never have deleted your comments. Twice.

I fail to understand why, if you think so little of me, you continue to visit my blog. From what I've been able to ascertain, you could possibly be somewhere in Utah. Is that correct? If so, then I think I'm safe to assume that you are LDS, especially since you've checked out the MormonMommyblogs site and possibly have one there, which is why you chose to post your comments anonymously. Since you're LDS, don'tcha think you should send the sister missionaries over to me a.s.a.p.? I mean, they know about all that righteous stuff, right? Maybe they could help me be more like you.

I just want to thank you for your self righteous advice.

I know that because of you and your humble admonitions of my behavior to my son (even despite my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a real case of it and not a case of, "Oh yeah, me to. I don't like to be dirty," but a case of it where it actually affects my day to day life and has made my personal life and relationships extremely difficult. Thank you so much for being so much of a jerk that I get to bring this out in the open for all my family and friends who didn't know this about me before to read and go, "Oh! Her weird actions make so much more sense now!" I know now that all the fun and good things I do with and for my children now mean nothing. How foolish of me for even trying. I could never be as good as you.

I have now learned humility. Thank you for teaching me that invaluable lesson. I will never forget you. Ever.

Thank you for showing me that I should compare myself to mothers like you. (Is there even another mother as good as you? I can't imagine the possibility.) Mothers who apparently know everything (with love and patience), can do everything (with love and patience), can handle anything (with love and patience), and would never, ever shove their own perfections in the faces of others who are not as equally blessed.

You know, I thought Elder Ballard had it right when he said, "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children."

But you've shown me just how wrong he is. Could you point me in the direction of your blog so I can become a better mom? I plan on modeling myself after you. I'll dress my kids just like yours and feed them exactly what you feed your kids every day. Maybe I'll even get out of my pajamas today. Could you email me a list of your family rules. Suddenly the ones we made at Family Home Evening a couple weeks ago seem irrelevant and unimportant.

Quick question: Should I go through a depression period and eat a ton of Girl Scout Thin Mint ice cream? Or should I immediately pretend I'm you--the World's Best Mom (still working on that coffee mug for you).


*********************

Oh, sorry. I took a break to have a tickle hug and kiss-fest with my daughter. I'm back now.

*********************

Another question: What do I do about the OCD? I mean, you obviously have all the answers, right? So what do I do about it? I've been to a councilor to help me work through it, and you really should see the progress I've made. I mean, when I'm making chocolate chip cookies, I don't have to wash my hands between placing each cookie on the baking sheet anymore. Also, I can use baby wipes without grimacing. Each time I grab for one I still feel a little sick from the smell and how it feels in my hand and on my fingers, but I'm able to keep my disgust of the wipe itself off my face. I'm afraid I still can't handle pen ink, though. I will admit my weakness there. I will cry if I get pen ink on my skin and can't get it off. And I do feel bad when my daughter wants to stamp my hand with her Fancy Nancy stamp and I change the subject because I know I'll freak out when I feel the wet ink touch me. I also feel bad when I "borrow" the stamp and put it up on the microwave and let her forget about it for a while. But you know, I am getting better. I can do some crafts that are kind of messy now. For example, I (get this, I) offered to let them play with finger paint one day. I set them up in the kitchen and laid out paper grocery bags. I cut holes in huge garbage bags to make smocks and let them have at it. I was very proud of myself for taking such a huge step. Perhaps that wasn't as big of a step as I thought?

Oh, excuse me again. My daughter wants my help. She's making a present for her little brother.

Ok. The gift is finished so I'm back.

Well, I guess there's not much left to say except: Please let me know how I can be just like you. Unless of course it includes unjustly insulting people, not bothering to look at the whole picture (and I don't mean just the OCD stuff, but the rest of my blog as well), bothering to post the same rude comment twice in hopes that people will read it before I get to erasing it, putting yourself above others so you can feel good about yourself, etc. Because if that's what I'd have to do to be like you, I think I'd rather just work on becoming the best mom I can be and not worrying about what you think of me.


*****************
P.S. I couldn't wait for your advice and I already started digging into the Girl Scout Thin Mint ice cream. But it wasn't in a depression. It was just because it's good and to celebrate the fact that it isn't noon yet.

Who Knew?

I recently discovered that there's a purpose to the extra papers that come in the Disney DVD boxes, henceforth known as "Disney DVD Junk Mail". Ads announcing upcoming DVDs or websites and such. I've always hated all the DVD Junk Mail. All those little papers stuffed into a little DVD box makes it difficult to open it without everything falling out and for some reason I never throw the stupid papers away. But come to find out there's one of those pieces of paper that is actually useful!

I was on the phone with my VT companion (for those of you non-Mormon, that's a Visiting Teaching companion, a lady I go with to visit other ladies from Church to make sure they are doing well, fellowship them, and deliver a spiritual message, etc.) and she told me about the Disney Rewards Program. Now I've seen the little pieces of paper inside the DVDs with their codes, but never cared about a free pair of Mickey Mouse ears or what have you. Today I discovered the greatness of the program. For a mere three hundred points (which I quickly acquired with three DVDs) you can "purchase" 4 phone calls from different Disney characters. You can kind of personalize them with either a birthday greeting, or encouragement, or get well wishes or whatever and set a time for them to call.

Do you want to know what was so cool about this? Tigger called our home for Jeremy today. Tigger called to give Jeremy encouragement in his goal to potty train. Sweet! He didn't specifically say "potty training" in the call, but Tigger said something about how he knew Jeremy could do a good job, etc. and when the call was over I asked Jeremy if Tigger called to tell him good luck potty training and Jeremy said yes. By the time he went to bed he fully believed that Tigger wants him to pee and poop in the potty.

Then of course we had to have one for Megan, so we had Cinderella call to tell her goodnight and sweet dreams.

The other two calls we got with the points we scheduled for their birthdays, Belle for Megan and Mickey Mouse for Jeremy. Who knew that Disney junk DVD papers could be good for something?

Dinner Time Convos

Tonight's Stunning Dinner Conversation

[Jeremy balancing on his chair with his feet up on the back and his hands on the table]
Me: Jeremy don't do that. It's dangerous.
Megan: Jeremy, you always teach me bad things.
Jeremy: No, you always teach me bad things.
Megan: No, Jeremy. You teach me bad things.

Forgive Me Son, For I Have Sinned . . .

I have a good friend who does Motherhood Confessions on her blog. (I'd link you to her, but she's private.) They are things that she feels a little guilty over, but are small and aren't things she really needs to change. For example, her most recent one was at night when her baby needs to be nursed she just doesn't want to get up because, hey, nursing hurts and she's tired! What mom bounces out of bed at 3 A.M. excited to feed their baby? I don't know any.

Anyway. I've been bouncing around the idea of sharing with you, my lucky friends, my big and most recent motherhood confession. Unlike my friend's confessions, mine is something I really should not make a habit of. Or really ever do again.

Some of you may already know it if you've talked to me at all in the last month. But since most of you lovely people live far away from me or are people I don't get to see that often, the chance of you knowing my terrible, dark motherhood confession isn't really that likely.

If you have already heard it, here's another chance for you to glory in your own motherhood and the fact that you've probably at least never done this. . . .

We were at a nice get together with some friends when Jeremy told me he needed to go pee. I took him to their bathroom and put him on the potty. Apparently his bladder was so full he couldn't wait to be properly aligned with the inside of the toilet and as he sat there he started to pee. Right on me.

Without thinking I grabbed his poor little boy head and shoved it down into the stream. And here's what's really bad. Even after I realized what I'd done, I didn't move his head until he was done peeing.

When he was finished I moved my hand and let him look up at me, pee dripping down his forehead. (I feel so awful! But I'm still trying not to laugh out loud as I write this. . . .) He didn't seem to notice just how gross the situation was or really care that I made him pee on his head. I cleaned him up as best I could and cleaned up the bathroom floor and my shirt. Then I sent him on his way to play with the other kids.

Don't judge me too harshly. I freak out if I get pen, marker, food, or really anything other than water on my skin. I can't stand hand stamps (yeah, those re-entry hand stamps at theme parks drive me insane). There's no way I could've handled pee. No way.

Here Comes the Bride!

Da-da-da-daaaaa!
Here come the brides
Detailed and washed
They're all ready to Vroom! off
to their vacation spots

Their tanks are all full
They are spotless and clean
Their horns are melodious
with trumpets on the scene

Ok, that's enough of that. My creative juices stop flowing this late at night.

Yesterday I walked into Megan and Jeremy's room and saw something akin to this:

(I had to have Megan recreate it for me tonight since I missed the all important picture taking opportunity at the original ceremony.)

When I walked into their room all the cars were laid out like this and she said, "Look mom! They got married!" Then she proceeded to point to each car and tell me which one it married.

This is how girls play with boy toys. At least, it's how my girl plays with boy toys.

In this picture she said the peacock feather wings from her Barbie outfit was a wedding decoration for this second ceremony.
She actually spent a lot of time deciding which cars should marry each other.

A Mother's New Year's Resolutions

I came across this blog months ago when someone else (I think maybe Navel Gazing?) put up a link to it on her blog. I asked for permission to post the whole thing on my blog, but was denied since her blog is copyrighted. I think this post is something that every mom who has ever felt frustrated with her children should read. And isn't that all of us? We all have our moments of craziness whene we are rushed and frazzled and whene we feel like one more thing is going to just push us over the edge. Then we reach that one more thing and what do we do? Go read this and then come back. I'll wait.

AntiqueMommy
click the link or copy paste this:
http://antiquemommy.com/2008/09/17/in-motherhood-forgiveness-trumps-failure/


Ok, now that you've read it and presumably gotten some toilet paper from the bathroom to blow your nose (I never have Kleenex, just good ol' T.P.) we can go on.

I have thought about this story many times since I first read it a few months ago. While my kids have never said what her little boy stated so eloquently, I know when I get upset at my kids for whatever my personal "ball of tape" is, be it my crafts, sewing, books, fish food, toothpaste, or any of the 100 things I've repeatedly asked my kids to stay away from, or when I get mad at them for any other reason, I know that they are thinking and feeling the same way as this little boy.

My New Year's Resolutions this year mostly involve improving my relationship with my children. I've promised myself to play more, be more gentle and understanding, less quick to upset or anger, and no more yelling unless someone is in danger. I haven't done that great so far, but really, I've spent most of the New Year in a van or hotel room with them, unable to escape for even a few moments. Now that we are home and aren't feeling like we're duct taped to each other anymore it should be a little easier. I've also resolved to go to bed sooner (which I recently discovered means I need to look at a clock more often at night, otherwise it gets to be midnight and I think it's still 10:30 PM), and write an hour a day (my blog doesn't count). To help me with these goals I've enlisted Nathan who, so far, seems happy to help.

I really don't want to be the mom I am right now. I want to be a better mom. The best mom I can be. I want to have more patience; I want to have a better understanding of what is important and what isn't; I want to let my kids know that I value them above my "tape."

The Marketing of Evil

While we were in Arizona we discovered a book that I had a hard time putting down. Unfortunately it was one of the Omer's library books so I had to give it back before we left for Utah. The book is David Kupelian's The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom.

I'll be the first to admit, actually Dave Omer was the first to admit because he warned me as I was reading it, that you have to take a few of the things the guy says with a grain of salt. Not everything is completely backed up by references, but some of those things, in my mind at least, are just common sense and I don't need to see statistical data graphs or dates of studies tagged with meaningless names of who did them.

Anyway, I'm not all too far into it, but Nathan just got a copy from our library. I'm excited to read more of it. As I read more I'll blog on it, but for now I'll leave you with Dr. Laura's thoughts on the book. I usually love Dr. Laura. I can't always listen to her show because the stupidity of the people calling her irks me, but most of the time I think she's great.

"David Kupelian dares to tell the truth about the overwhelming forces in our society which take us far away from our original American concept of freedom with responsibility, happiness with commitments, and traditional values. 'The Marketing of Evil' is a serious wake-up call for all who cherish traditional values, the innocence of children, and the very existence of our great country." – DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER

So there you have it. I'll let you know what I think after I get some reading done!

Home Sweet Home

Wow. The holidays are over and we are home now. It's really nice to be home, but it was also really nice to visit with friends and family. I went through withdrawals not being able to write or check out other blogs while we were gone. At least, not as much as I would have liked. I did check out a few every once in a while and I wrote one or two posts. Unfortunately we discovered when we got home that at some point the power went out and everything in our fridge and freezer are nasty now. Too bad.

Here's a quick cap of what our crazy adventures were:

Took off in the all too early morn to leave for Arizona. Thought we were going to die in Oklahoma with the terrible roads.

Visited with our friends, the Omers, in AZ. It. Was. Wonderful. I have found that I love Arizona. It was 58 degrees there and we were able to take the kids to the park and play, we didn't need our heavy coats, there were blue skies, and it was just plain fun! I didn't want to leave when we finally started packing up to go. Especially when we hit snow again. Then I mentioned to Nathan that we should just do a U-Turn and go back to Arizona.

In SLC one of the first things we did was attend the baby blessing of my sister in-law's new baby boy, Tristan. He is a handsome little baby and so small! None of my kids were ever as small as he is at a few months old.

Megan, Jeremy and Emma had lots of fun playing with their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Emma enjoyed a game with her grandpa where he'd say "ahh" for a few seconds and then she'd repeat it back, then he'd do a short "ahh" and she'd repeat it back short, too. This went on for quite some time!

Emma also learned to sit up on her own and crawl during the holiday! So yay for Emma! She is just doing the army crawl where she's pushing herself with her right foot and dragging her left leg behind her, but she's realizing when she needs to crawl and when she needs to roll. It's fun to watch her think through it and decide which one is best.

As I mentioned in an earlier post we went up to Logan and got to see some friends there. We also got to see my college roommate, Janeen and our good friends, the Johnsons, whom we ate dinner with and then went to see the lights at Temple Square. Then our friends Jess and Mark came down from Logan on their way to St. George and we got to play a couple games with them.

Here are some Christmas pictures for the Texas grandparents, because you've been begging for them!

The rest of us were too cold to get out and get a good look at the St. Louis Arch.

We went through a little bit of Texas on our way to AZ and of course I had to get out and take a picture because I love Texas. Funny thing, when Nathan and I got out we found a My Little Pony that someone else lost on their drive through and it was in perfect condition.
Megan got an extra Christmas present a little early!

Here are a couple pictures of geocaching in Arizona. Nathan and Dave took the kids out to play with the GPS and find random junk. They brought back a snow globe, a Matchbox car and a small bottle that had dirt in it. I'm not entirely sure what was going on with the bottle of dirt.

Megan and Jeremy kickin' back in the van.

This is how Emma opened most of her Christmas presents. She's pretty talented, eh?

Jeremy opening his pirate map (which he played with quite a bit today, yay!)

Megan and her doctor's kit.

After she opened this she constantly gave everyone shots for the remainder of our visit.

Emma and me with some Logan friends and some of the babes.

Us with Amber and Zann and their new little addition, Teddy, who has won (in my book) The Cutest Baby Ever award.

Nathan, his family, and the kids went to see the lights at Temple Square on Christmas night. I was stuck at my in-laws' sick. Yeah. Christmas day wasn't so happy for me.

Here's another one of Megan giving shots. One night we were playing games and she bounced into the kitchen with her arms out and announced, "Presenting my brother!!" He then came out dressed up in her doctor outfit. It was really cute.

Nathan got Jeremy some race car track for all his Matchbox cars. They spent many hours setting it up so the cars would race into boxes, blankets, and other cars.