Tales from the Script

Rubber Cement

2011-09-19T08:43:00.004-05:00

Welcome back! Wait, I guess that would be me talking to myself. I feel like I am kind of a stranger on my own blog because I haven't posted for so long!

I do have a backlog of half-posts, drafts that I have been meaning to share with the world (well, at least the five of you who read my blog...). We have definitely had a lot of things going on since I last blogged. A finished school/seminary year, various projects/activities, working, a VERY full summer (including a 21 day road trip and four sibling weddings), and now a new school/seminary year. I sort of get sleepy just thinking about it! Oh, actually, maybe I am just sleepy from being up since 4:30am :)

But something has been holding me back from sharing. I can't really put my finger on it. All this stuff is fun to talk about and of course, I have some delightful pictures to go along with it all (think flower girls and more!). Things have been busy but not so busy I can't post. Nothing is over-the-top exciting or sink-in-the-pit depressing. We are here, doing our thing. The usual. Maybe that's why.

But this post is supposed to be about rubber cement, you say. That title is what drew me in here in the first place - so what's all the explaining about not blogging got to with it?

I was thinking about rubber cement the other day. I used it pretty much every week in my elementary art class. You remember the stuff, right? It would stick to your fingers and you'd have to rub them together to get it off. Boys would run around shoving in your face and saying it was a booger (ewww). Ah, those were the days.

I feel like my life is a little like rubber cement right now. It's like I have this fake booger stuck to my fingers. I am completely aware that it is not literally a booger, that it is just sticky glue-y stuff. Just like I am aware that there is nothing really wrong with my life, we have been blessed beyond measure. But for some reason I still think the sticky stuff is a gross nasty booger and I want it to get off. It's like it's irritating me all the time. And since there isn't anything really wrong in my life, I keep telling myself - "It's not a booger! It's just some rubber cement so roll it up and flick it off already!"

Since it is just rubber cement, I can't figure out how to explain how I feel to anyone else - like I need some moral support but don't know what I need or how to get it. I can say "Hey, I have this glue on my finger and it feels icky like a booger." And then they will say, "Hmm...that's weird. You're fine; it's not full of germs or anything, it is really is just glue. Just wash your hands now and we'll go shopping." Know what I mean?

I know this comparison is stretching it, but it is kind of the reason why I don't feel like posting. Because of the booger on my fingers. BUT that being said, I am trying to clean off my fingers so they can again type and publish posts and upload pictures, and be witty and a little entertaining. :) Keep checking in, okay?

Thanks.

DISCLAIMER: The reviews and opinions of Elmer's Rubber Cement are mine. I was not paid or compensated in any way. I did not even get a free bottle. And the picture comes from Staples.com. In case you are needing to buy some rubber cement to get your very own fake boogers on your fingers. Hee hee.

RIP (Gr)uncle Chuck

2011-04-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

My wonderful uncle passed away this morning. He suffered a stroke a few weeks ago and things just didn't go well from there... I had the opportunity to go visit him one last time in the hospital, to say my goodbyes and share my love with my aunt and cousin. He has meant so much to me, especially in the last eleven years when he became basically another dad to me.

We love him and we will miss him! He was such a wonderful uncle/grandfather to my kids... I don't think I have many pictures where he isn't playing with one of them :) I am saddened to think of the conversations we won't have again, the laughs we won't share, the advice that he won't be able to give me. But I take comfort in his peace and in the faith that I will see him again!

Love, Mom

2011-02-25T14:22:00.002-06:00

Dear Bubbs,

I know your life is hard. Especially when your brother pushes your buttons and you don't get EXACTLY the same amount of time on the computer as he does. And yes, I remember that time I took the other kids to lunch and didn't bring you home chocolate milk. I will make it up to you. Thanks for being my rock, and it's so nice to know that you never have to "pull your color" at school because you try to do what's right. What a wonderful first baby bear! And don't worry, when I was your age, I too was embarrassed when my mom and dad kissed. Come to think of it, I still am... :)

Love, Mom
______________________

Dear Simster,

I so enjoyed listening to you read your story out of "Frog and Toad" this morning. I probably don't tell you this enough but you can be every bit as smart as your older sister and I am sorry if you fall in her smartness shadow sometimes. There are things you do well that she doesn't. And honey, not everything is a competition. Just don't ask your uncle J about that; he may tell you differently... :)

Love, Mom
_________________________

Dear Buns,

Confession: sometimes I put your favorite baby in the movie room on purpose, and then make sure you know where she is. Then I get to ask "Where is your baby?" and listen to you say, "She's in the oodie room, mom." It really never gets old. It is just so darn cute! And you are so imaginative, like yesterday when you grabbed that Albertsons bag and turned it into your Dora backpack. :)

Love, Mom
_________________________

Dear Buggs,

Yesterday you took 15 steps from the coffee table to the couch. And if I'm being honest, some of me wanted to push you down like your brother did and say, "Just stop growing up!" (He really did cry about you not crawling anymore. And pushed you down. Because I think he's afraid of everything you can get into now. In his defense, he did say sorry and give you a huge bear hug and kiss.) I can't believe you will be one next week! But even though you sucking your thumb is super cute, I wouldn't mind if you decided to give it up anytime now... all on your own... :)

Love, Mom

To go back to bed or...?

2011-02-09T05:57:00.003-06:00

You know how I said we were supposed to get snow? Well, hmm, there was nothing last night. I woke up every hour or so to see if it was going to be bad enough to cancel seminary/school. It didn't seem like it.

The poor Buns was up a lot in the night, so it was kind of hard to drag myself out of bed at 4:30am and get ready for seminary. It has started to sleet but it's not too crazy yet. Except for the wind. Yikes!

The Simster even got up with me. He likes to go to seminary sometimes. Because he adores the YM. Hopefully he picks up only their good habits and not the not-so-good ones :)

Anyway... this is what my classroom looked like at seminary start time - 5:45am.

And at 5:50am. And now, at 6:00am. Finally, at 5:55, the phone rang. AND... no school today! Ah ha! So that's why no one showed up for seminary! I sent the Simster back to bed, but I am debating that myself. I am awake, but not really motivated to do anything. But I think if I go back to bed I'll just lay there looking at the ceiling. What would you do? Hmm... maybe I'll read a book or something in the quiet. That usually puts me right to sleep... :)

Again?! You have got to be kidding...

2011-02-08T13:12:00.004-06:00

Umm... tonight's forecast calls for 2-4 inches of ... ahem... snow! Maybe up to 6 inches in our area. Again. Canceling school, anyone? Again? Maybe.

And this is a picture of the Buns. Sleeping. At 12:40pm. Not too strange I guess, except for the fact that she was at a friend's house for a three-hour playgroup this morning and slept. the. entire. time. She didn't feel super hot, but the thermometer says 101. And she's whimpery. Sick again. Yikes, poor thing. Hopefully it will just be her this time around.

Sigh.

Sigh again.

I guess I'll have to sacrifice doing the laundry and dishes and snuggle up with her while she sleeps and read a book instead. :)

SNOW day... and 11 months

2011-02-04T20:22:00.005-06:00

YAY for a real snow day today - instead of all the yucky ice all over, we actually got some SNOW today!! Probably about, oh, 5 or 6 inches. And the weather was warmer. So it was a perfect day to go outside. This is the kind of day I think about when school is closed. Snowmen, snow angels, hot cocoa, yesh. I love it. And I love saying yesh. Yesh, yesh I do.

And the Buggs is also 11 months old today! We bundled her up to "play" in the snow too. (And yes, those are little boots on her hands. She doesn't have any good mittens that stay on.) I will definitely need to date these because she has all of Simster's old stuff on and she could really be his twin. :)

PS - don't you love DH's pants? I call them his fancy pants. They are warm and comfy. And fancy. Well, not really, I just like calling them that. Because it's sort of a little maybe slightly like I am making fun of him. No, not laughing at him, just near him :)

This just in...

2011-02-03T16:24:00.005-06:00

Yep, schools were closed again today. And now I've heard that there will still be no school AGAIN tomorrow! Hold me! ....

Through all this off of school-ness though, I have really enjoyed one word... PRETEND...
My kids are running around playing all sorts of make-believe games with each other, with minimal fighting actually, and I do love to hear

*Pretend I'm the mom. No, the grandma. And then you can be the grandma's dad. I guess that's like the extra great grandpa or something.
*Oh, let's pretend you were playing Ninja Turtles and they actually thought they were Iron Man but then they looked in the mirror and realized that, wait, we're turtles!
*Mom, can we pretend I'm Kirsten from my American Girl books and do my hair in two circle braids?
*Oh, you know what? We should just pretend that I was dying like Jesus but I didn't want to be a skeleton so you came and founded me and took me to the Tree of Life. Okay? Okay?
*I think we should pretend that this was the mom's house but she only liked mazes so pretend we had to build a maze and a fort house for her and pretend if we did that she could make us the dinner?
*(The Buns) Mom, ahh! Don't touch that! That is. a. monster! It is, it is mom. Oh, wait, actually now the Buggs is a monster. Pretend, right? She. is. a. MONSTER, mom! Okay? Don't pick her up!!

This has gone on and on and on and on. But my favorite... when I was trying to encourage a little tidying up of all this pretending.....

"Mom, but we could we just pretend that we cleaned up? And you pretend you don't see the mess in the movie room? Okay? Okay, mom?"

So yeah, maybe these snow/ice days haven't been so bad after all. :)

Stir Crazy...

2011-02-02T14:48:00.006-06:00

So most everyone in the country is experiencing the arctic air blast, right? So I am sure you can sympathize when I tell you that we are going sTiR cRaZy in here!

Day 1, Sunday: I leave church after sacrament meeting with three of the kids because the Bubbs has the crud now and her cough can be heard and felt in China. And the Buns is still sick, slept (and drooled) on me during the meeting. And the Buggs goes where I go. Then I try to entertain them at home.

Day 2, Monday: We keep the Bubbs home from school in hopes that we can get the cough under control. All four kids home all day long. Meanwhile, I am attempting to finish reconciliation for 2010 for work.

Day 3, Tuesday: School is canceled! We only got about 3 inches of snow, but it is freezing cold, bitterly cold when you add in the windchill. Pretty much a sheet of ice everywhere. No snow plows/salt trucks for residential areas here in Texas. So we don't leave the house. Well, except for the brief attempt to play in the snow.

Time spent getting kids bundled to go out: 20 minutes.
Time spent getting the kids un-bundled, dried off, warmed up when they are ready to come back inside: 30 minutes.
Time actually spent playing in the snow: 6 minutes.
Watching the Buns run around in her super adorable hat and snow pants for that 6 minutes? Priceless :)

We tried to entertain ourselves inside all day. It sort of worked. At least the missionaries came over for dinner to help break up the boredom. And freezing cold weather means yummy food - BBQ spicy chili on cornbread waffles, with chocolate-mint cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert... Mmmmmm.... We said goodbye to an elder who is leaving us for Waco when the storm clears out.

Day 4, Wednesday: School canceled again!! Yikes. The ice isn't melting, it is like negative 500 degrees with the wind chill, they are issuing rolling blackouts to save on power so our power could go out at any second. Luckily we've been blessed - no frozen pipes for us, heat is working, DH telecommutes so we haven't had to face the roads, and we have food, wood to burn, water, and plenty of sweaters and blankets! BUT my wonderful children are going a bit crazy with all this inside together time. Games played, movies watched, books read, toys strewn out all over the house, crayons worn down to stubs, lots of make-believe heroes and monsters running in and out of every room. We're running out of love people. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, we need some absent-ing to make that happen? Ya know?

Who knows if we'll have school tomorrow. Nothing has melted. Our driveway and street are still basically sheer ice. If they have to keep cycling power on and off, it doesn't make sense to have school. I heard on the radio a while ago that the main highway right next to our neighborhood has been closed due to ice buildup. So does that mean even if I wanted to go somewhere, I couldn't? Yikes. It isn't supposed to get above freezing until noonish on Friday.

On the one hand, you would think that with all this time off from seminary, school, errand-running, kid shuffling, etc, I would have gotten a TON of things accomplished! And have a perfectly clean house and everything ready and prepared for weeks in advance. But the reality is that with the kids inside all day everyday pretty much since Saturday night, the house is suffering. I am following kids around to remind them that even though we are having free days, Daddy is still working and we still have to be relatively quiet. I'm trying not to do laundry or other energy-consuming projects to save a little on the electricity consumption. I am trying to find new fun and happy things for us all to do together that will not result in tears. Mine, mostly. :) *sigh* Yesterday was still a blast, today it's getting a bit old, and if we're still stuck in tomorrow? .....

At least the Bubbs had found the time to document her philosophy on loving someone. She also seems to be trying to master the transitive property (she just needs to add no nice = no good life to make it complete). And for those of you who know me well, you know that the transitive property is pretty much my favorite. Glad to see she's just a chip off the not-so-old block! :)

Bridging the Gap

2011-01-25T09:58:00.006-06:00

Hello! So today it is gloomy and a little chilly. You know, a typical blah January day. (I apologize to all you with January birthdays. It's just kind of a let-down kind of month.) I am stuck home with two sickies and one rambunctious definitely-not-sick-jumping-on-couches-four-year-old. It's the hard kind of sick, too. My littles are snotty and runny and super coughy and fairly miserable. I feel like we've gone through a box of tissues in an hour. But they are not so sick that they just want to sleep or lay on the couch and watch movies. They go and play for a bit, then come to me crying with hair full of that-stuff-that-runs-out-of-ones-nose. I snuggle them for a while, then we rinse and repeat the whole thing. Mostly the snotting and whining part.

So what's a mom to do? #1, be grateful I can be home to care for them. Everyone knows you need your mommy when you're sick. #2, stock up on kleenex and go find a humidifier. #3, cross off the things that are on today's to-do list and put them on tomorrow's. #4? BLOG, of course!

So in five hundred words or less (and a smattering of pictures), I thought I'd try to bring you up to speed on what we've been up to. While typing one-handed. Yep, I'm pretty awesome like that.

#1 - My parents and little brothers joined us for Thanksgiving (+ my sister, her kids, and her special friend). It was awesome. My youngest brother recently got home from his mission, and it was great to see him again. We went out, we played together, we ATE together :), we talked with each other, my brother introduced us to English poppers (that's where we got the crowns) - it was really nice to have most of us together (we missed you J & D)!

(Oh, my, I just realized three out of four of my children do not really look thrilled...probably because I was the one taking the picture!)

#2 - the Buns had a birthday! We are officially out of the terrible twos and have moved on to the ~~tortuous~~ terrific threes! She deserves a post of her own, so hopefully I'll be back to blog more about her later! (hint: it's starts with p and rhymes with snotty... yay!)

#3 - We spent Christmas in Nauvoo, Illinois with DH's family. We fit 25 of us in the Hyrum Smith farmhouse (really fun - I'd recommend it to anyone looking to stay there with family). It was bitter cold, but we were able to attend the Nauvoo temple, it snowed on Christmas Eve and we went and sang carols at the temple, we visited some of our Church's historical sites (we would have done more but it was COLD! Yes, I am just a Texan now and yes, I am wimpy when it comes to coldness), we ate together, played in the snow, exchanged presents, watched movies, and more! It was especially wonderful to see all the cousins get to know each other. DH's siblings are pretty spread out - two sisters and a brother are in Utah, a sister in Oklahoma, us in Texas, a sister in Virginia/Washington DC, and a brother in Philadelphia. Before this trip, we hadn't even met a brother-in-law, a nephew, and a niece, and we hadn't seen the east coast families for about 3.5 years. We missed the youngest two siblings, but it was overall a really great trip. Oh, yeah, except the stomach bug everyone got on the last night :( There are two more grandbabies on the way, so we hope to see each other again soon!

#4 - We celebrated New Year's with my sister and her kids and her now fiance and his daughter. Yep, they got engaged! Congrats to her and CK, looking forward to having him as part of the fam. Anyway, we ate a big breakfast, had a belated Christmas gift exchange, played games, and partied the night away (except my poor niece K - turns out she had the flu!). New Year's Day we celebrated both Christmas and New Year's (football + parade + presents + candy + yummy food? Can't go wrong!)

#5 - We are now back into normal life. It's been so long since I've really blogged, I feel like I need to write my little Christmas letter here! You know, the whole thing about what we've been up to and our various activities and achievements and stuff. Naw, I think we're good. I can blog about all that later.

Testing...

2010-12-07T20:53:00.004-06:00

This is a test. Of the emergency blogging system. If this post does not publish, I may have to give up on blogging all together! And resort to morse code. So if you live within a mile-ish radius of me, charge the walkie talkies, folks, I'm going old school! Unless this actually publishes. And if it does, I say you should ALL leave me super excited comments so I can continue blogging. Just like the whole clapping-so-Tinkerbell-will-live thing that happened in Peter Pan. Right?

*Insert pause while everyone is confused*

In other news, one of my sweet seminary students said today she would marry the Simster so that I could be her mother-in-law. Because I would be awesome. That touches my heart - and I would love to have her as my daughter-in-law, love to have pretty much any of them related to me. The whole 10-12 year age difference seems to be the only problem... hmm....

Thankful Thoughts, Day 6

2010-11-06T20:56:00.000-05:00

We went to a baptism this evening. For a mother and her son. And it made me think about the many blessings I have that are related to that ordinance. So today, I'm thankful I was baptized by immersion for the remission of my sins and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I was baptized by my dad when I was eight years old. I specifically remember being baptized on a Friday night because there was a BYU/Air Force football game on Saturday that - ahem - some of the parents/families involved wanted to attend (and I'm pretty sure we won, too). To be honest, I don't remember a ton about that day. I remember the two boys baptized the same day. I remember my grandma and aunt and uncle came to Colorado to join us. I remember the normal chill of the November evening. I remember a sweet sister who did my hair a little fancier than usual. I remember being more nervous that my dad would slip than nervous about me falling or not going under or anything. I remember walking into the water and being baptized. The water was actually pretty warm and when I came up out of it, I remember thinking, "Wow, I really don't feel that much different. Maybe I didn't have as many sins as I thought..." :) I guess I had expected a brand new person to take over my body. A sinless perfect one. But even though I was still me, I could feel warmth and peace. A confirmation that not only was my earthly family pleased to be there and witness my baptism, but my Heavenly Family was too.

Funny that I don't remember all of what happened. It's not that important, actually. I mean, I needed to be baptized to be cleansed from sin and to make my first covenant with Heavenly Father, but the day itself isn't that important. What I think is important is that I continue to remember and keep that covenant I made. That I would follow Jesus Christ and live as His disciple. My baptism symbolized a step in that direction. My path was now centered on Him.

I am grateful for that decision I made as an eight year old. Some might argue that I didn't know what I was doing at that age. Well, I definitely didn't know then what I know now. But because of goodly parents and teachers, I knew I wanted to follow Jesus. To be like Him. And remembering that day and the promises I made reminds me of who I am and where I am going and where I want to be. Remembering that day reminds me to try to raise my children with kindness. It reminds me that I need to forgive when I've been offended. It reminds me I need to ask for forgiveness when I've been stupid (which is pretty much all the time). It reminds me that even though I make mistakes and sin, repentance allows me to again be clean. Like I was that day.

(I recently found this picture of me with my parents after my baptism. And no, I didn't have really short hair. I just had my hair back in a ponytail thingy. And it was fancy.)

Thankful Thoughts, Day 5

2010-11-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

Thankful Thought for today: I am grateful (and super excited!) that my husband's awesome haiku WON his company's contest!

Another one of DH's super cool talents - who knew he was a rap/haiku artist? The winning entry out of 400 (about a Mobile Medication Cart the company is debuting):

Meds on the go, yo
Nurses love it, fo' sho'
Patients be chillin'

Nice, huh? Now he is going to be the proud owner of a brand new iPAD!!! When he entered the contest over a month ago, he told me if he won, he would give me the iPad. Because I adore all things Apple. And because he's sweet like that. Of course, I kind of thought it was a long shot to win, so I agreed. And then I teased him all month about "my" iPad. Don't worry about getting me a birthday present because I'll just wait for my iPad. It will be nice when I'm watching movies on my iPad. Etc.

So now that he won? He is still 100% planning on giving it to me. He says he will take my iPod touch (which I have definitely loved) and I can have the iPad. But I am feeling a little bit guilty... he's the one with the wondermous haiku. He's the one who is overworked and stressed (at times) and puts many many hours into this company. So really, it should be his. Not saying I wouldn't enjoy being the owner of it. Maybe we can just share it.

We'll have to see how this all pans out when mister iPad arrives. I'll keep you posted... :)

Thankful Thoughts, Day 4

2010-11-04T22:32:00.001-05:00

(Please note: Blogger is doing something weird. My posts aren't publishing right away. It's kind of possessed. Hopefully it will straighten out so you'll see one post a day for all my thankful thoughts)

Because she turns 8 months old today (!) and I'm thinking about her, today I am grateful for the Buggs.

Everyone of my children is a delight. And each one brings a unique spirit, individual strengths and new challenges (at times) to our family. The more children I have, and the more I see how different their personalities/spirits are, the more I come to understand my Heavenly Father. So many children in earth's past, present, and future. All of them unique. But He still loves each one of us!

So the Buggs. Overall, she has been a great baby. My first one to sleep through the night on her own. The youngest to roll over, crawl, sit up, stand up, cruise, and probably walk (not quite there yet). My only thumb-sucker. At just after seven months, she popped out two teeth (the other kids have been 9+ months before getting teeth). She is extremely tolerant. I guess she has to be, because there's so much - ahem - LOVE for her from her siblings! Sometimes I catch both Sim and PJ basically laying on top of her and she's not making a peep. Just squirming and looking at them like "Umm... I love you too, can you please get off of me now?"

Eight months seems just too big already. I keep reminding myself to take those moments to just breathe in her babyness because it will be gone before I know it! I love to watch her wait for her daddy and then kick her legs in excitement when he smiles at her and picks her up. She's just what our family needs, she fills an important spot, and we love her!

And today, I'm thankful Heavenly Father entrusted her to me!

Thankful Thoughts, Day 3

2010-11-03T20:27:00.002-05:00

Today I'm thankful for a reliable vehicle. Seems a bit silly, right, but for this soccer mom, it's a necessity. Especially since our little subdivision is right off of a busy highway and I can't easily walk/bike to anything.

Thank you Eisbär, my fantabulous swagger wagon, for taking me everywhere today...

to the school so the three youngers and I could eat lunch with the Bubbs
to my friend C's house where her very nice husband watched her two kids and my three while we went...
to get a massage 30 minutes away (yay!)
then back to grab a delicious burger and
then back to drop her off and pick up my kids
then home to my house
and out again after the Bubbs got home so we could take all four kids BACK to the school to pick up her fundraising stuff
and back home again

That's just today. Tomorrow I'll drive to and from ballet. Friday I'll drive Delfin (our other reliable vehicle) to and from seminary inservice, to the grocery store, to the high school football game. Saturday Eisbär will be headed to the church for a Super Saturday and a baptism. And that's probably not all :)

And looking ahead? He better train for this one, because in December, he'll be taking us to Nauvoo where we're going to spend Christmas with DH's family!

Such a blessing, our reliable vehicles. Maintenance can be a chore, it can be costly, but pretty much everyday Eisbär or Delfin gets us where we need to go. And I'm grateful!

Thankful Thoughts, Day 2

2010-11-02T13:37:00.003-05:00

Today I am thankful for special times I spend with my family. I'm sure multiple posts this month will be related to my family. Because they are pretty much my life! And they are amazing!

But I digress. Specifically, I'm thinking about times where we should be working, cleaning our house, working on the yard, generally doing other stuff, but we don't. We go and enjoy ourselves as a family. And in with the mayhem of getting everyone ready, packing a diaper bag full of essentials + everything needed in case of disaster, finding the lost shoes and socks, doing PJ's hair for the 10th time because she loves to undo it faster than I can do it, buckling car seats, passing out water, etc - - - we eventually make it where we're going. And it's just nice. To be together, making memories, enjoying the good company of friends and other families, laughing more and (hopefully) grumping less. I know sometimes we overdo it and overschedule, but in general, the balance is good, and it makes times out and away even better.

(PS - Happy Belated Halloween! Don't you love our trunk or treatin' Star Wars family? Complete with Princess Jasmine/Amidala, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Leia, and Yoda. Fun times!)

Thankful Thoughts, Day 1

2010-11-01T11:15:00.004-05:00

So I haven't blogged for.ev.er, but November is giving me a chance to get back into it! Like many other people who blog, in honor of this month of Thanksgiving, I am going to share something I am grateful for each day. These will really be in no particular order, but they are all things that bless my life, and help me recognize and honor Heavenly Father who loves me, and I love him!

Thankful Thoughts, Day 1

I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. And a Heavenly Father who loved us enough to give us the opportunity to be tested, tried, and to grow in ways we could only do on this Earth. He loves us so entirely He also provided a Savior to be our example, to suffer and atone for our sins, and die for us to provide a way for us to make it back.

Jesus Christ is my Redeemer, He is my advocate with the Father (see D&C 32:3). He not only went through indescribable pain to pay for my sins, He also suffered for my pains, sicknesses, and deepest sorrows. The sorrows that even with an amazingly awesome family, can't be understood by anyone but Him (see Isaiah 53:4-5). I know He knows. I have felt Him send the comforting Spirit. I have felt the Spirit whisper of soft encouragement in my struggles and in my weaknesses.

Last week I had an extremely hard few days. Have you ever had something said to you that hurt you and part of the reason it hurt so much was because at least some of it was true? That's what happened last week. Something was said (actually written) to me and it hurt me deeply. After a little discussion, the person in question assured me she wasn't intending to make me feel sad or upset. She just thought I needed to know.

After a good cry, it was clear to me that I can always do better. Be a better person. I fail in so many ways. I am imperfect. Pretty much the most imperfect person I know. This one of the main reasons I need my Savior. Because if I was perfect, I wouldn't need to rely on Him and His atoning sacrifice and His grace and His ability to succor me in my weakness and trials. BUT with Him, not only can I feel a renewed desire to be better, I can also understand that even though sometimes I'm not giving my 150%, I am usually hovering between 80-90%. (yeah, okay, edited now to say probably more like hovering around 40-50%. Maybe I was a bit too generous with my self-evaluation...:) And the advice I feel from Him? Sometimes I need to be more gentle with myself and satisfied with the 40%. My best isn't good enough, but my best (and even my not-so-best) can be good enough WITH Him. Because He makes all the difference.

So so grateful for my Savior.

Wow. I mean, really, wow.

2010-09-30T10:06:00.004-05:00

So... I have a tendency to check a few news websites in the mornings. Because I can. Because I have the internet. Because I like to have a general idea of what is happening outside our little family/home, church, school, friends, neighborhood, city, metro area, country bubble.

Today there was a headline "Fisher-Price Recalls More Than 10 Million Items". Um, say what?! Excuse me?! Everyone who has children between the ages of birth-8 probably has a plethora of Fisher Price items! Ahh! My children are going to DIE! So I need to see what the recall is, right? I went to the company's recall page to find out what is going on.

OH NO! Our little Fisher Price tricycle thingy has been recalled!!! What's wrong with it? Is it going to spontaneously combust? Does it have lead paint? Are the wheels going to malfunction and eat up my child's foot? Horrible images are flashing in my mind... I read on...

It turns out that they are being recalled (voluntarily) because of the key. The little key thingy shown in the insert above. It protrudes a bit from the bike and allows the kids to feel like they're putting a key in the ignition and driving away. My kids enjoy it. It's a nice feature. So what's the problem? Apparently, there have been reports of children falling on the keys. And getting hurt. Actually some reports (a whole 6) of genital bleeding from falling on the key. Ouch.

But okay, wow. Is it just me or is this getting a bit ridiculous? I mean, I am the first one to tell you I want my children to be safe. To never ever ever get hurt. Ever. Never. I can be a big bad mama bear on this. But it's not always realistic. And yes, I want the products I purchase for my children to be safe for them. But at the same time, as a parent and a consumer, I am perfectly capable of looking at a toy and thinking, "How could my child injure his/herself on this? Is it worth taking a risk?" Then I try to be involved in being near them as they're playing so I can kiss the boo boos when they happen. And I know they could fall on that key-thingy but I'm not too worried about letting them ride the tricycle. Even if the recall page says to "immediately place the trike out of the child's reach" and order a replacement kit to fix it.

So, am I wrong to think this is a bit silly? I assume the company is trying to avoid lawsuits, right? But where is the line drawn? How much responsibility do companies need to take when it comes to accidents happening with their products? I am pretty sure I played with rusty nails as a child. Sometimes. Because we were playing sardines and I was trying to hide on the top of the roof of our little barn/garage thingy at the back of the house and there were some nails by the fence I was climbing up to use to get on the roof. To play sardines. And technically I turned out okay. You know? But I digress. Products aren't perfect because people aren't perfect. Accidents happen. We all mess up. Just like doctors aren't perfect even though they try to be and probably are pretty perfect 98% of the time. And their malpractice insurance is astronomically high. So the costs are passed on to us and it's astronomically high for us to get care.

Funny how a little Barbie trike turns into me on a soapbox about health care... :) All I know is, sometimes life is not fair. And it doesn't make a bit of sense. Bad things happen to amazing people, and good things happen to less-than-stellar people. Good thing this life isn't the end. It will all be worked out. Our loving Father in Heaven is full of WISDOM, and it will all be worked out. The End.

(Stay tuned... the Bubbs had a birthday, we have a new arrival in the family to blog about, my baby brother's getting home from his mission today - yay! - seminary is just amazing, and baby T is trying to walk or something! Never a dull moment! Well, actually, some of the moments are kind of dull. But we're too busy to remember when the dull moments happened. :)

Grateful

2010-09-21T07:15:00.002-05:00

I have a really fantastic husband. Really, I do. I definitely don't usually deserve him...he's always doing the little things to show he loves me. Like taking off a few hours of work so I can sleep when I'm sick. Or tidying up the kitchen at night so that I don't have to do it in the morning before seminary. Or watching kids while I have a girls night out or go to Time Out for Women. Or tucking me in and telling me to sleep when he's just as exhausted as I am. He really does stuff like this all the time for me.

Like yesterday. My power cable to my laptop broke. There was a short in the wire or something. I adore my Mac Book, but the proprietary-ness of Apple meant that a new one was 30 minutes and $80 away. And my life is sort of on my laptop. Work, seminary, kid stuff, financial stuff, etc. The hassle of using a backup and/or a different computer made me grumpy. In the morning, I used a netbook of his for work, but it was far from ideal.

So in his sweetness, DH took my power cable, did some google-ing, found some info, took the cable apart, put the wires back together, and reassembled the whole thing. And doing all of this meant he came to bed after 1am. It's not pretty :) but it IS very functional. He saw my need (well, mostly my selfish desire to have my computer) and he filled it. Selflessly. Just because he does that kind of thing.

I blog about this because it's ME that needs that reminder. So I'll remember to appreciate stuff he does even when sometimes he's doing other things I'm not a big fan of... :)

Baby T Update

2010-09-19T11:00:00.004-05:00

So... it's Sunday. And I'm home from church. Because the kiddos are sick. The worst part? They're not THAT sick. They have enough energy to run around, fight, yell, umm.. fight, run around, etc. But they are sick enough that I didn't feel comfortable sending their germs into primary and nursery and giving those germs to all the other children. That would not be very fair. And I couldn't foresee having to keep them with me through all of the meetings. So long story shorter... we're at home. Perfect time to blog about the Buggs.

Can't believe it, but she's already SIX months old!!
Some milestones she's reached:

She started eating baby food a few weeks ago and took to it like a fish takes to water. Seriously! She scarfs it all down, prefers to have her veggies mixed in with her fruits (who wouldn't?) and stares longingly at our food when we eat. It's probably just a matter of time before she's eating what we're having.
She is a CrAzY mover! She started rolling just after three months, starting crawling right at five months, and now she's already pushing her legs to a standing position while she's crawling and she's pulling herself up on some of the furniture. I blink and she's already on the other side of the room. My hypothesis, since my kids haven't usually been fast movers: she's trying to get away from the Buns. 'Cause the Buns likes to sit on her. And grab her. And kick her. And sit on her. I would want to walk too, if I were the Buggs. And then run away :)

She is... a THUMB SUCKER! What?! Where did this come from?! I have always been kinda proud of the fact that my kids have all just taken a pacifier and have given it up at 12 months and had no problem with it. So that's what I get. I have a little thumb sucker.

I have been trying to dissuade her. I have. I take out her thumb and replace it with the binky. Yeah, take that! BUT - before I know it, the binky is out and the thumb is in. Especially for naps and bedtime. I'm pretty sure she waits until I've left the room and then emphatically tosses out the binky and sticks in that thumb. I won't worry, though, since the paper I got from the doctor says "Thumb-sucking peaks at around seven months, and most children stop between 9-12 months". So that's my plan. It will work, right? Plus I guess it's kind of cute.

Stats? She's 15.5 pounds (35th percentile), and 26in (50th percentile). And overall, a pretty happy, good kid. We couldn't imagine life without her! :)

Another Letter

2010-09-16T07:33:00.004-05:00

Dear Some-Random-Sickness,

I don't care if you're a virus or a sinus infection or an ear infection or the flu. Just please go away. Puh-lease! Pretty please with a cherry on top? I'm not too proud to beg either. Really. Getting up at 4am for seminary has already been doing some kicking of my trash, I really don't need you to join in.

Thank you. I would write more but now I am going to try medicating myself and go climb back into bed. I think I am going to hire a babysitter so I can sleep. And FYI, I'll be sending you the bill. I think you at least owe me that much.

Miserably Yours,

ME

Transition Complete!

2010-08-30T09:07:00.005-05:00

We had whirlwind week trying to get ready for seminary to start. We looked at paint colors, bought sample paint, painted splotches, didn't like the splotches, bought new paint, decided on final colors, moved the couches and reorganized the formal living room, bought more paint, painted and painted and painted, moved the TV above the fireplace and DH took care of mostly hiding all the cables, we put up a large tile board (to write on) and sheet metal to use for putting up things with magnets. We picked out and hung curtains, put together a little "teacher's desk/podium" for me to use, put up pictures, spot-cleaned the carpet, and set up chairs.

Whew! All of that would have been much easier without DH working a 40+ hour week and our four children traipsing in and out and around. We also didn't get much work time in the evenings - on Tuesday we went to the state fair, Wednesday we watched some friends' kids, Thursday we got to go to the temple to watch some friends be sealed to each other for time and eternity, Saturday we had the missionaries over for dinner... We ended up doing a lot between 9pm and 2am. And we're definitely not done - next up, fixing up the downstairs/powder bathroom. Here are the pics...

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

The pictures don't really do it justice. I really love the colors we ended up with and I think it's looking great!

AND this morning was my first day of teaching! It was nerve-wracking; I could barely sleep because I was anxious and excited. I think it went pretty well. I had 25 students and all of them stayed awake and most of them even laughed at my jokes. :) I of course keep thinking about how I could have done a better job for the first day, but hopefully I will get more comfortable as the days go by. And just keep praying they keep coming back!

A little lost...

2010-08-25T20:10:00.003-05:00

It's a Wednesday evening. And I am at home. I'm feeling a little lost because for pretty much the past two and a half years, I have spent Wednesday evenings at Young Women (youth group at my Church). On Sunday I was released from my calling as YW President. It has been a little harder than I thought it would be. I have spent almost every waking moment (and some sleeping ones too!) these last 2+ years thinking about these precious girls. Daughters of a Heavenly Father, who loves them. Girls who are striving so hard to live righteously and morally in a crazy world. I have LOVED attending activities, teaching lessons, going to baptisms at the temple with them, chaperoning dances, going to Girls Camp, attending their various activities, crying with them, laughing with them, praying for them, worrying about them, watching them love and take care of each other, basking in the light of their testimonies, and just thanking my Heavenly Father for the blessing it is to have this calling. I will so so so so so so miss them!!! But I know it is time to move on and I know the new president (one of my sweet friends) will do amazing things and help the girls grow in new ways.

My ultimate goal is for my sweet YW to remember two things about me: 1 - that I have a strong testimony of my Savior and of the gospel and 2 - that I LOVE every single one of them individually, that I recognize their individual talents and trials and care deeply about them. I hope I have accomplished these two things!

Here's a tribute to my girls -

And I intentionally picked "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" because before I was released, I was actually given a new calling....

Early Morning Seminary Teacher!!!

I am SOOOOOOOO excited! I have been aspiring to this calling for pretty much ever - I love love teaching and I love love teenagers (Yep, I'm crazy) So I really have the best of both worlds - getting released as YW President but I still get to see most of my awesome girls! EVERY morning! At 5:45am! With lots of exclamation marks! :)

Seminary will be at our house, and there are 24-30 students, so DH and I have been diligently fixing up the living room as a classroom. I'll have to post the finished product!

Change is good. Waving goodbye but saying hello!

Oh yeah...

2010-08-25T07:21:00.007-05:00

... with the craziness of the first day of school, we almost forgot about our

8 year anniversary!!

Holy cow, eight years ago I could not have imagined what life would be like today. To be honest, I definitely wouldn't have thought I would have four children with one entering Kindergarten! Although marriage is definitely an adjustment, recognizing differences and accepting changes and compromising, it's the best decision I ever made. To be sealed for eternity to my fantabulous, adorable husband :) He deserves an award for putting up with me... but we celebrated by going to the

North Texas State Fair!

One of my young women was in the Miss Teen North Texas State Fair pageant and we decided to go to support her. Of course, the fair wouldn't be complete without the livestock, rodeo, overpriced food, and kiddie rides. The kids had a blast, it was a perfect Texas evening after the rain cooled us off, and it was nice to spend our anniversary with the most important people in my life!

The Bubbs was our anniversary photographer... this is take #1...

And take #2. Not bad, huh? I especially love how the Buggs is trying to get my chip. Back away from the nachos, baby. I'm very territorial with my cheesy goodness!

Letter to the Bubbs

2010-08-24T10:24:00.008-05:00

Dear Bubbs,

Today I took you to your first day of Kindergarten. You have been nothing but excited for the past few weeks, and today was finally the day! Last night I asked you if you were nervous or scared for the day and you told me you were just excited!!

This morning we got up, ate a yummy oatmeal breakfast, got dressed, watched where the bus will come to pick you up tomorrow morning, did your hair, painted your nails, grabbed your backpack and drove to the school. You walked in so confidently and when we got to your classroom, you dropped off your stuff and let go of my hand and sat down at a little table without looking back. Sitting now with your new classmates. New friends in the making.

I stood to the side and watched for a few minutes, but you didn't look back at me. Even though you can be a little shy, today I saw a sure-of-herself little girl, excitement shining in her eyes and a smile on her face. And my hand felt empty. I know you'll still hold my hand and give me snuggles and let me tickle you for years to come, but this is the beginning. A new adventure for our family. You are the trailblazer but next year Sim will join you. And then PJ. And when you're in 5th grade, we'll even be bringing the Buggs.

I only shed a few tears. I, too, am putting on my excited big girl face today. Because I am confident too. Confident that you will grow this year. That you will make new friends and learn new things. Confident that you will make good choices and begin to understand how to rely on Heavenly Father when your mommy & daddy aren't there. Confident that my Father in Heaven will take care of my baby. You have talents to develop and to share - you love reading and coloring and you have a gentle heart and care about helping others and being a friend. As your momma, I know you'll be an asset to your little Kindergarten class. :)

But princess, my hand still feels empty. And there's a void in our house today. We miss you; is it 2:50pm yet? When it is, I'll be waiting for you - ready to hear EVERYTHING about the day and to put that hand of yours right back where it belongs. In mine.

Love always and forever,
Mommy

PS - had to include this picture. Totally the kind of mom to try to butter up the teacher. Yep, that'd be me. Yep, it's filled with chocolate dipped fortune cookies. Yep, I'm pretty much awesome :) (But most of the thanks goes to the eighteen25 blog for the great idea!)

2010-07-14T12:09:00.002-05:00

Dear Two-hugemungous-bottlenecking-semis,

I need to apologize to you. I was sitting there waiting for one of you to pass the other so that I could start exceeding the speed limit again. I was running slightly late and was really interested in going 75mph not like 60ish mph. Please forgive me for sending grumpy thoughts at you and debating whether or not I needed to call your posted "Tell Me How I'm Driving!" toll free number. I hope you'll excuse the eye-rolling and muttered "Get off the freeway!" comments. I truly was in the wrong.

Because I need to thank you for blocking my speed demon-ness this morning. Thanks to you, I pulled through the speed trap on I-35 cruising at a measly 63mph. Those state troopers drooling while they waited for some poor (non-law-abiding) citizen to zoom through had nothing on me. And I definitely was not in the mood for a ticket. And I owe it all to you! As a token of my appreciation, feel free to drop by for dinner anytime you're in the area.

Sincerely,

ME

(PS - Baby T had her four-month well-child check today - hence the lateness and the speeding. And the four kids at the doctor. But that's another story. Stats - height: 25 inches (75%); weight: 13lbs 2oz (25%); head circumference: 40.75 cm (50%). Everything's looking good!)

Grandma

2010-06-19T23:41:00.003-05:00

Girls Camp begins in 31 hours. Wow.

But although I should be packing, planning, making lists and checking them twice, I am kind of in a daze. My sweet Grandma is in the hospital (a surprise to all) and she's almost definitely not going to make it. And I am so sad and a little bit in shock. I didn't think it would be that hard. In fact, she's almost 95 so really, I've been kind of preparing for this for, well, pretty much my whole life. But now I don't feel ready. There are many things I wish I would have said or done in the past few weeks but now don't have the chance. I've always felt so close to her and I selfishly do not want her to be gone. Not yet. But I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of life after death and that families can be together forever. We will see her again, of this I am certain. It brings me peace.

Like my sister, I plan to post some memories and tributes, but can't bring myself to do it right now.

But until then - you can see the video of Grandma and the Buggs. I keep watching it over and over because it's so precious to me.

Or read my mother's day tribute that includes her.

See her with me and the three older kiddos.

This is Grandma with her namesake (PJ's middle name is Grandma's name)

Here's one of my last pictures of her. Oh, how she's loved my babies! And how they've loved her...

Love you Grandma! With all my heart!

Scripture Reading...

2010-06-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

This is the post in which I tout the greatness of reading the scriptures. I am definitely a fan. The scriptures are my daily dose of eternal reality. When I am caught up in the demands of life, they help me build my foundation on Jesus Christ, inspire me to improve myself and resist temptation, and give me the motivation I need to keep going on those days that are extra hard.

I have NEVER been a fan of electronic scripture reading. Like a technological eternity ag0 (2002), my DH (boyfriend at the time) purchased a Handspring Visor for me. He put the scriptures on it. I never, well hardly ever, used it for the scriptures. If I'm being honest, I was annoyed when ~~the men~~ other members would bring their "PDAs" and look up scriptures on them in Sunday School. I mean, how can you enjoy reading on that little screen when you can have the real thing in front of you, the crisp pages, the highlighting colored pencils, writing notes in the margins... I just didn't get it.

Fast-forward to 2009. I downgraded my cell phone and bought an iPod Touch. Which I adore. I love all my music on there, my organizer apps (to-do lists, calendaring, grocery lists, contacts, etc), a few games, a few that keep the kids entertained. Maybe someday I'll post my personal top 10 list of iPod apps. And then, I went ahead and bought this...

It's not free (and actually, the LDS Church now offers an official free LDS scriptures app that isn't too shabby). But I'm going to stick to this one because it's what I already have notes in and what I know. I didn't start using it right away. In fact, I didn't start using it on a regular basis until March 15. That's when I started reading the Book of Mormon again as part of working on my Personal Progress, Virtue value project. I made a goal to complete the entire book by the end of Girls Camp on June 23. Enter this scripture app. Wow! I LOVE it! Here are the reasons why:

I can read, highlight, make notes, cross-reference stuff ONE-HANDED. Which means I can read while I'm taking care of Baby T! Total breakthrough! Totally using my nursing time much more efficiently.
It has some great highlighting options. I can highlight text, change the appearance of the text (text color, bold, underline, italics). There are a bunch of different color combinations and I can have my own system for highlighting.
It has a great note-taking feature. You just click on the verse and you can type in a personal note. Then the notes can use different icons and different colors as well.
It has a great bookmarking system where I can create folders and save verses in those folders. For example, when I'm praying about and preparing a lesson or talk, I can create a folder and then save a verse in the folder as I'm searching so that I can go back later to put it all together.
It also has a personalizing tagging system. You can assign a tag to a verse or chapter. Right now, as I work on personal progress, when I'm reading scriptures that go along with a certain value experience, I can tag that verse with the name of the value.
There's a lot of material (scriptures, manuals, resources) available and I can cross-reference sections in a resource or manual to scriptures as I wish. Or create a bookmark from a section/quote I really like from a manual.
I can get more content from the website or make my own content and send it to my iPod (like for lessons or talks). I haven't done this much because it already has so much I don't need a ton more. But it's a nice feature! I can also backup my data (highlighting, notes, tags, etc) to the website.
I can email myself my bookmarks. If a choose a bookmark folder and email it, it will come as an htm file that I can open and it includes all my highlighting and notes!
Search feature is intuitive and works quickly and well when I'm trying to find something specific.
It is portable! Now when I'm in a waiting room at a doctor's office, instead of picking up a magazine to read, I find myself reading my scriptures! If I can't fall asleep in bed at night, I can read on my iPod without turning on the lights and bugging DH.

So it totally works for me. Of course, some of these features are found on the official LDS scripture app, so I strongly encourage you to try that one first. But this is working for me. I still use my scriptures and I take them to church and enjoy using them, but on a day-to-day basis, I find myself using my iPod scriptures more and more. Portable and uplifting, it's a win-win!

(PS - No one paid me to write this review. And no one gave me anything for free for doing this. I just really like my scriptures and my iPod. The End. Thanks.)

Random. I mean, really random. Really.

2010-05-27T08:59:00.007-05:00

So... I've never been a HUGE runner. I mean, I never really loved it as a kid, but I never really hated it either. I think my best mile run time in high school was just around 8 minutes. But - I've picked up running here and there and then something usually got in the way (read: being pregnant) and I would stop. And now, I'm at it again. And I. am. LOVING it! Totally my drug of choice, my natural high. I'm working up to it, but I've done 2 miles each day this week. I need to find someone to run a 5K with around here so I'll actually have more of a goal. Though I do think I'll take my rest day tomorrow and do some strength training...

In other news, I am enjoying summer foods already. I made Avocado & Peach Coladas the other day (picture courtesy of Gourmet Mom On The Go) - holy yumminess batman and my kids had NO idea the avocado was even in there! DH wouldn't have known either but he saw me put it in the blender... And yesterday for lunch? A Strawberry Spinach Salad that was to DIE for! So so tasty! And today I'm making a Fruit Pizza to take to a baby shower. I'm in food heaven...

In other news, the Buggs is growing like crazy! My other kids never rolled over until almost five months (or later). Well, the Buggs is not even three months and she's rolling (back to front) and totally trying to sit up all the time. Theory about the rolling over? Trying to get away from her overattentive siblings...

In other news, the Buns is in the beginning stages of potty training. 'Nuff said. Please pray for me.

In other news, Girls Camp countdown - 25 days! We took a long day trip to see the camp this week. (My four kids were angels! Three hours there, three hours back and they barely complained! What a blessing!) The location is gorgeous and we are right on the lake. Swimming is a minute away, showers a minute away, hiking and fishing five minutes away. I'm getting soo excited and hope the girls have a wonderful time and come back with more love for their Savior and each other!

In other news, I really need to get back to my pre-pregnancy size. I gained 40 lbs with the Buggs. And I've lost 33 of those lbs, but I still can't fit into most of my pre-prego capris and shorts. And we're in 90 degree Texas weather, people. I can't be wandering around in jeans!

In other news, I am in the process of getting my Texas teaching credentials. No big plans on the horizon to start teaching again, but we'd like to have the option available.

In other news, I went to a friend's open house this week. She is selling cute cute flowers, headbands, bows and more. I came home with a stash and my girls are loving it!

In other news, my house is kind of a mess. Just thought I would share. That's on my list of things to accomplish today. I also thought I'd throw that in so that if you live near me, you won't wonder why I don't answer the door if you come by today...

In other news, even if I don't have a pretty house, I have sort of pretty feet. Well, foot. Thank you Bubbs for the priceless photo.

In other news, I am totally famous. Thank you Serene :) You should check out her blog. Adorable children, funniness, and many mentions of chocolate. Can it get any better?

In other news, I am supposed to be leaving my house in 10 minutes and I still need to blow dry my hair. Yikes! Signing off...

Thoughts

2010-05-13T17:06:00.003-05:00

Things I'm thinking about right now that make me happy:

That I got a chance to teach early-morning seminary last week (I aspire to that calling - hint hint bishop!)
My calling serving in YW - what wonderful girls and great leaders to work with!
Catching DH strumming his guitar in his office
Watching PJ lovingly take care of her baby just like I take care of the Buggs (and just FYI, if you see her hitting and throwing her baby, I promise I don't do that to the Buggs! :)
Listening to the Bubbs say her personal prayers in her bed at night
Teaching my last day of co-op preschool last week
Surviving a trip to the zoo with all four kids. And really enjoying it - great friends, great company, good kids... Just wasn't loving the humidity and the sweat!
Watching my kids play with their cousins
The Buggs sleeping seven hours last night! Straight through! Once we confirmed she wasn't dead, it was a.maze.ing!
Diet Caffeine-free Dr. Pepper. My almost guilt-free guilty pleasure :)
Watching my kids help daddy make homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner
Chicken Salad on rolls. Yummmm....
Pool preK graduation party. Swimming will be crazy this summer with four kids, but you gotta love mornings at the pool
Scripture reading on my iPod (totally needs it's very own post. That's how much I love it!)
Laughing at the funny things Simster says. The first thing he told daddy about the zoo? "We saw lion poop!" (Yes, only my kids, I know. We are rather open about bodily functions around here. Thank you DH...)
Going to see a play tomorrow night that a YW is in
Fruit smoothies or ice cream while watching Sue Thomas FBEye with DH
Two words: Girls Camp!
Enjoying my own funniness. I love laughing at my own jokes. Which is probably good because not many other people do...I'm kind of an acquired taste. Hee hee here I go again
The gorgeous after-storm night outside - 65 degrees and perfect!

This list makes me happy. I have some other not-so-happy things on my mind right now, mostly thinking about some burdens some friends and family are carrying and wishing I could carry their trials for them. At least do more to ease their burdens. Wishing I could fix things because I love them. I will keep praying. Prayers work, even if they aren't answered in our timing. I was reading in Alma 34:39 today about not being led away by the devil and the thought popped into my mind - "Prayer all day keeps the devil away" It will. It truly does keep us closer to our Father in Heaven and allows the Savior to minister to us.

Meeting the 53rd great-grandchild

2010-05-04T14:34:00.002-05:00

What a sweet moment - Baby T loves Grandma as much as I do!

Tball through the Eyes of the Bubbs

2010-05-04T14:17:00.005-05:00

So Simster is doing modified Tball right now (they call it blastball). It is way cute to watch him, but I'll admit, it's a tad boring. The little boys all get to bat, someone fields it and throws it to first base and then first base throws it home. Rinse and Repeat.

I gave the Bubbs the camera during the last game (our fabulous cousins joined us for this one!) and the photo shoot really says a lot about Tball in the eyes of a five-year-old sister...

Back to Normal?

2010-04-16T14:50:00.005-05:00

So the Buggs - aka Big T, aka Baby - is now six weeks old (as of yesterday). I haven't gone to my six week postpartum visit yet but I will soon. And doesn't that mean I'm supposed to be back to normal? 100% ready to retackle the chaos known as life? By the time baby is six weeks, most people aren't asking how you're doing or bringing meals or offering their services or telling you to take it easy. And don't get me wrong, I really don't think they need to be babying (heehee) me anymore. I just don't feel ready to be completely responsible again. To get my house clean, laundry done, meals made, etc. Most days I feel like this...

except with one more kid... I guess I've forgotten how different life is with a newborn. I'm trying to remember that this won't last, but I feel pretty grumpy when the day ends and nothing much has been done. My to-do list is like a mile long and not getting any shorter. When I had my first, even my second kid, I don't think I felt this behind on my life. But now there's more mouths to feed, more laundry to wash, more toys to clean up... Part of the problem is I am feeling pretty great. I want to be on my feet, putting my life back together. Silly newborn baby is cramping my style. :)

Sometimes I feel like the Bubbs, who said to me the other day, "Can't we just put baby T back in your belly?" Hmm... yeah, the whole pregnancy thing isn't looking so bad right about now...

BUT remind me that in a few short months she'll be on more of a schedule, I'll be getting used to taking four kids everywhere, the Bubbs will be in school (!), and we'll be making it. Just like we always do. And as long as you give me fifteen minutes notice before you come over to ~~hurriedly throw everything in the closets~~ tidy it up a bit, it'll all be good :)

Oh, here's pics of the Buggs at one month. And yeah, her hair has a reddish tint to it. Weird... not sure exactly where that's coming from but it would be fun if it stayed around!

Stay tuned... I've got some more great blog posts up my sleeve...

Firsts

2010-03-17T13:15:00.004-05:00

We are all enjoying Baby Buggs and all of her firsts...

Daddy changing her first poopy diaper (family tradition - he always has done the first one, and during the first two weeks, when he's off work, he changes 90% of the diapers - how awesome is he?!)

First picture sleeping in her car seat

First bouquet of flowers (thanks to DH's coworkers)

First bottle feeding - all the kids LOVED feeding her mommy's milk from the bottle. And the Buggs liked it which is great because PJ never took a bottle. Hopefully this is a good sign for things to come!

And HERE She Is...

2010-03-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

Now here's the good stuff!
We have a new baby! I'm calling her the Buggs on the blog, but she does have a regular name. And it's really cute too, I promise. :) She was born on March 4th at 4:24pm and she was 7lbs, 10oz and 21.25 inches long. She's our biggest baby in weight and length. And now I know why my ribs always felt bruised and I had so much heartburn with this baby - I'm not a very tall person and she was kind of a long baby!

And since I know everyone wants to hear the labor story... here's the short(er) version...

I went in to be induced at 6am. I was already having contractions, so they didn't give me much pitocin. My labor with PJ was pretty quick and even Simster wasn't very long (less than 5 hours and I was induced without having had any contractions or anything). All of us - the nurses and the doctor and DH and I - were pretty confident that the Buggs would be born before noon for sure. No sweat, no problem, just quick and uneventful. My fourth child, right? My body is totally ready for this.

But... the Buggs' heart rate kept going down when I had contractions, so they gave me oxygen relatively early and kept having me change positions. They took me off of the pitocin, but then the contractions slowed down and she was still having a heart rate issue when I had contractions. I was thinking I would go without the epidural this time, since PJ had been around 3 hours and I figured I could handle that. Well, by the time 10am rolled around (4 hours of labor), the contractions were painful and I was only dilated to a 3. Let's remember that DH was a cripple from his sprained ankle and I'd only had four hours of sleep. I got the epidural. And then we both slept, off and on. The doctor was getting a bit nervous because I wasn't progressing much and he didn't want to increase the pitocin because he was worried about the Buggs' heart rate. They definitely warned us about a possible c-section because there was a chance the umbilical cord was around her neck and the longer her rate was down, the scarier the situation.

All of a sudden baby #4 was our hardest labor! That was crazy to think about... And to complicate matters, she was also posterior. That would explain the very painful contractions I'd had before the epidural... So then they were trying to help her flip over by putting me in different positions again. By now, it's 2:30... 3:00pm. DH gave me a blessing and we waited. I couldn't even watch TV because the positions they were trying included where I put my head. We had great nurses (one of them even made sure DH had a breakfast, a lunch, ice for his ankle, and a comfortable pillow!). The afternoon nurse that came in at 3pm had a new idea and she put me in a different position to see if it helped. Wow - it was awesome - within an hour I was fully dilated and feeling pressure to push! They hurried and called the doctor, he checked and she was ready to deliver and she had flipped so she was no longer posterior! What a blessing!
A few pushes later and we got to meet our lovely lady!

Isn't she just beautiful? We are so grateful she was fine and healthy. She didn't even have the umbilical cord around her neck - the doc actually thinks she was just playing with it and squeezing it in her hands because that's what she was doing when she came out! Silly baby!

That night my sister brought our kids and her kids to see the Buggs. Aren't these pictures precious? They were all so sweet with her! (Well, PJ was a bit grumpy about sharing her daddy with the baby, but she's adjusting...)

Before the Big News...

2010-03-14T21:24:00.003-05:00

Yes, baby is here! She's actually already 10 days old...

BUT - before I get to the good stuff, let me just tell you all the craziness that happened in the few days before her arrival...

SUNDAY (Feb 28th)
*DH's birthday. He celebrated by having a church meeting at 7am, church from 8:30-11:30am, then taking the kids home to feed them lunch while I went to a meeting until almost 1pm. Then he changed clothes and went to help a new family move in. We had my sister and her kids over for dinner to celebrate both his birthday and her birthday (Feb 26). I made steak and homemade mashed potatoes, green salad, jello salad, and cookie cakes for dessert. Poor DH - he was still helping with the move when we were planning to eat! But of course we waited for the birthday boy. We had presents and enjoyed listening to the cousins playing happily together.

MONDAY (March 1)
*YW Presidency Meeting
*DH officially is off of work for "paternity" leave from March 1-28, so we decided to do something fun before baby comes. I wanted to get him a new skateboard for his bday, but he's kind of picky about these things, so Monday we packed up the kids in the rain and headed to the mall/skatepark to let him buy himself a new skateboard and skate for a while before going to my final doctor's appointment. Well... needless to say, the new skateboard was not quite how he wanted it and after about 20 minutes of skateboarding, he took a huge tumble and TWISTED HIS ANKLE! Yikes! We thought it might be broken, but he managed to hobble to the car, I drove us to the hospital, and while I had my last nice prenatal visit, my dear hubby was in the ER getting his ankle x-rayed! Luckily it wasn't broken, but it was a nasty sprain and he came out on crutches... Not exactly my idea of a good time three days before I have a baby!

TUESDAY (March 2)
*Instead of getting a jumpstart on some house things before baby, DH spends the day nursing his poor ankle and I spend the day trying to get some things done and take care of him and get in some resting myself, since I know we'll be having a baby any time!

WEDNESDAY (March 3)
*Watched my cute nephew at our house while my sis went to the temple :) She was going to watch my kids while I was in the hospital so I definitely had the better end of the deal!
*Packed clothes/pillows/etc for my kids so they could stay a few nights at their favorite aunt's house (had some contractions too, but nothing crazy, so I wasn't too worried...)
*Drove down to be at her house when my nephew C got home from school and when my neice K and her friend S got home after choir practice
*After my sister got back, I left the kids, made a not-so-quick stop to pick up some flowers, then drove to the theater to meet the YW for our YW activity. We got to see the final dress rehearsal of Brigadoon - two of our awesome YW and our bishop and his wife and older daughter are all in the play and the director let them invite our YW to see the dress rehearsal free of charge. I was praying not to have the baby Wednesday because I so badly wanted to see it! I love going to plays and I love it even more when I get to support people I know!
*Play ends and I drive a few YW home, then get home myself around 11pm
*Finish packing my stuff and DH's stuff for our day at the hospital (he's still icing his ankle...)
*Finally in bed around 1am (setting the alarm to get up at 5am so we can be at the hospital for our 6am induction!)

After those few days, I was starting to think the whole labor and having a newborn would actually be a nice break! :)

Updates

2010-02-22T21:37:00.006-06:00

All of these deserve their own posts. But I am a lazy blogger. So without further ado - what's been happening around here in 10 items or less...

Because I know it's your first question: No. Baby. Yet. Should be 10 days or so, we'll let you know. :)
My fantabulous sister watched the kiddos for us while DH and I went to San Antonio for a few days. In a nutshell: DH had meetings, I shopped, DH went to the urgent care and ended up with a cortisone shot and some meds for allergies, I went to lunch with a friend from high school, we saw the Utah Jazz crush the Spurs (and we didn't get beaten up!), we did the whole Alamo/River Walk/boating-ness, went to a late movie because we had no kids and we could, went by the temple, and drove home!
The sickies went around. Sim had it first (just a cold), then PJ ended up with it and it turned into pneumonia(!) but at least we didn't have to go to the hospital, just a heavy dose of antibiotics and an antibiotic shot at the urgent care. After PJ was better, the Bubbs finished it off. They missed like three weeks of preschool with all of it. Luckily, DH and I survived with just minor colds.
We had YW New "Bee"ginnings :) complete with great musical numbers, a cute bee skit, adorable bee cake, and plenty of wonderful ways to talk about the YW program using "bee"s.
DH went out of town and came back to 12.5" of snow! Yes, folks, we had 12.5" inches of SNOW in TEXAS! We were so blessed that his flight made it back at all! This was our fourth snow of the season(!) and it was HUGEMUNGOUS! The kids are loving it. (And we're slated for a few inches again in the morning. Crazy Texas weather)
I taught preschool. I have a love-hate relationship with preschool. I really do love the kids we have in our co-op, and I have fun planning and doing cool things with them. But sometimes they're crazy and I have to waddle around getting them to settle down. And the hardest is really just PJ - lately she cries through the whole three hours for pretty much no reason. *Sigh* I guess they don't call it the terrible twos for nothing...
Mr. Sim turned FOUR! Wow - he is growing up so much and I can't believe he's already four. I really will do a separate post on his wonderfulness, so beware of some mommy bragging :)
The YW and their moms and the leaders threw me a surprise baby shower. Not planning on that one AT ALL but it was very sweet.
The Simster has started T-ball. Well, I think it's technically called BlastBall, but basically it's T-ball. And he and his daddy have had so much fun getting all of the equipment and practicing for great lengths of time in the backyard. I didn't grow up with brothers playing baseball so it's kind of new to me, but DH was quite the ball player when he was young and I love watching him coach Sim and get excited about it. The first game will be in a few weeks and that should be interesting... :)
I put together a fantastic CARS party for my special birthday boy! (Disclaimer: I did not make the cake, my friend Natalie did. That's why it looks so awesome.) We had a "race track", visited Radiator Springs to lay asphalt and play don't-wake-the-tractor, ate race track food, rolled tires, put headlights and tires on cars and drove them around, and of course had presents and cake. All in all, a success! The kids had fun and once again, my sister rescued me by helping out. If she hadn't, I think I would be in labor at this very moment...

So now you know what we've been doing. Well, some of the stuff. The big stuff that I have pictures for :) We've been rearranging bedrooms and doing work and Church things and hanging out with friends and going to doctor's appointments and more. You know, the usual.

If I don't see you until our three kids become four, wish me a quick and painless labor! (Hee hee)

One Word (or Two?) Resolution

2010-01-04T16:13:00.004-06:00

Thanks to some blogging friends (Jen, The Lazy Reader to name a few), I have decided to go for the whole one-word-resolution thing. You just choose a word that exemplifies what you want to BE at the end of the year, not just a list of things to DO. I like it. There are some great suggestions out there - release, grace, focus, savor, integrity... But since I am beyond boring, guess what word immediately popped out in my mind for 2010?

MANAGE

What would that mean exactly? Well, it just applies to every facet of my life I find myself floundering in. It means to manage my time better, my resources better, my house better, my temper better. But manage also means to get by - and I think I'm thinking a little bit of that is in order as well. As in, get by without freaking out that things don't go as planned. In 2010, I'll be managing a four-child household (yep, if this is news to you, I've added a nice ticker on the sidebar so you can countdown with me), managing my first child in school, along with all the other responsibilities I have as wife, mother, friend, YW leader, employee, functioning member of society, etc. So manage is my main word for 2010.

BUT... Have you ever known me to stop at one word? C'mon, I'm a little verbose, people. And the other word I want to use for 2010 is (drumroll...)

INTENSIFY

Lately I've felt this huge push to really get my tushy in gear in certain aspects of life. Like it's now or never, this is what life is about and you're missing out by not stretching yourself more. Things I've been doing already but need to accelerate. It feels like the gentle naggings of the Holy Ghost, not just the little supermom voice inside of me saying I need to be more awesomer. So I'm taking it. I specifically want to intensify my scripture study, my daily time with my kids, and my temple attendance this year. Of course, I actually have a bigger laundry list of things to intensify (housework, food storage, Church service, cuteness, etc) but these three things are the ones foremost on my mind. And let's not bite off more than we can chew, okay?

Here's to a FANTABULOUS 2010 everyone!!!

On a Lighter Note...

2009-12-18T11:23:00.004-06:00

We are not immune. During the last year, some of the Bubbs' and Simster's friends decided it would be fun to cut their hair. Or their sibling's hair. Or some of each. Up until yesterday, my kids had always followed my fantabulous rule - "Scissors are just for paper"

So... yesterday I came home after a Relief Society activity and helped DH finish putting the kids to bed. I came back downstairs and started to clean up the kitchen. And there were locks of hair on the ground by the table. There wasn't much. In fact, I almost thought DH had decided PJ needed another little bangs trim and trimmed her right there with the kids' safety scissors. He insisted he didn't, so I went upstairs to have a chat with the Bubbs.

Me: Bubbs, did someone cut their hair tonight? Did Simster cut your hair? Did you cut your hair? Did someone cut PJ's hair?
Bubbs: Ummm... no....
Me: Well, I know somebody used the scissors to cut hair tonight. There's hair on the floor. Do you know who did it? It wasn't Daddy.
Bubbs: Well, maybe it was Daddy...
Me: Umm... no. Did you do it? Simster? PJ?
Bubbs: No.
Me: You know that it's better to just tell me the truth, right? We'll both feel better and it's the right thing to do. Do you know what happened with the scissors?
(silence)
Me: Hmm... it sounds like all three kids will be in timeout tomorrow until we find out what happened and someone can tell me the truth.
Bubbs: Oh, no! (pause) If I tell you what happened, I won't have to go in timeout?
Me: If you can tell me the truth, that would be great. Did you cut your hair?
Bubbs: Yes.
(a short conversation ensues about the importance of telling the truth and the rule about scissors being for paper, etc)
Me: Okay, well, the consequence for not using the scissors appropriately is that I am taking all the scissors away for a few days.
Bubbs: What?! (starts to cry. She LOVES coloring, writing, cutting, it is her favorite activity. Taking away the scissors is like cutting off her arms or something)
Me: Well, there has to be a consequence for a wrong choice, right?
Bubbs: Yes...
Me: So we'll have to not have the scissors for a while.
Bubbs: But I told the truth!
Me: Yes, and that's good, and you won't be in timeout. But there still has to be a consequence for using the scissors to cut your hair. If you didn't tell the truth, the scissors would be gone AND you would be in timeout.
Bubbs: Oh. (pause) But I need my scissors! (crying and crying)
Me: So I guess you shouldn't cut your hair anymore, right?
Bubbs: Yeah.
(I tuck her back in and start to leave)
Bubbs: But mom?
Me: Yes.
Bubbs: It wasn't that much hair.
Me: That's good. But you're still not getting the scissors back yet.
Bubbs: (whimpering again) Okay...

Good news? Her hair isn't worse really; you can't even tell she did it. She did tell the truth. AND it was on her dad's watch, not mine :)
Bad news? There will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth until the scissors can be used again. AND I was already debating about a present we purchased for her, and now it really doesn't seem like a good gift...

Blessing and a Curse

2009-12-18T10:06:00.004-06:00

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I am going to vent a bit... My lovely husband works from home. Meaning, he doesn't have an office to go in to work. His company is based in California, and his office is in our house. In. Our. House. Doesn't it sound like a dream, ideal situation? Most people tell me they think it would be - but really, it has it's pros and cons. And this morning, the cons are far out-weighing the pros...

BLESSINGS

No commute time
No paying the gas for a commute
No lunches to pack/money to spend on lunches out
On rare occasions, he eats lunch with us
Sometimes if the kids are napping, he can let me run errands kid-less (BIG plus!)
If someone is in need of a priesthood blessing or a ride or something, sometimes he can get away and help them out
No commute time
No paying the gas for a commute
Once in a very rare while, he'll even do something with us during the day without having to officially take the morning/afternoon off (like go to the swimming pool)

CURSES

He works ALL the time. Since his employees/co-workers/customers know he has a home office, they expect it to be no problem that they call at 6am or 8pm and have him fix something. And he's salary with no overtime...
He has conference calls ALL day. Sometimes they are really important (customers, his boss), sometimes they are moderately important (coworkers, employees), sometimes they are just fluff, but I don't know the difference - so my job is to keep the kids quiet enough when he's on the phone (ALL day) so that the people he's talking to on the phone think he's professional. (And nothing screams non-professional more than three children yelling happily in the background)
Since DH's office is downstairs, keeping the kids quiet means mostly staying upstairs from 7:30am-6pm. We have been blessed with a good-sized home, and there is plenty of room upstairs to play, but the laundry and kitchen and access to the outside are all downstairs. I spend 80% of my day following the kids around and saying "Shh! Daddy's working and he's probably on the phone."
PJ knows that Daddy is home and has no problem running to him whenever she feels wronged. I won't even know something happened and be doing something else and all of a sudden, I hear DH bringing her back upstairs. We could use a gate at the top of the stairs, but we have to buy a custom-size gate because the opening is too wide and then she would scream at the top of the stairs for him, which is almost just as bad.
He almost never eats breakfast with us, rarely eats lunch with us, and often misses dinner as well. And since he's working while I'm making all three of these meals, I have to be quiet then too and try to make the kids whisper.
I don't have people over during the day very often. I would love to have friends over, playdates, etc, but I try to only do this when DH is out of town. Because if it's hard keeping my three kids quiet, imagine everyone else's kids too... And he is definitely not a fan of the days I teach preschool...
I get sad when I hear my kids playing house and the Bubbs is the mom and she repeats several times in a very grumpy voice "SHHH! BE QUIET! Your dad is on the phone! And you cannot go downstairs unless you ask me first!"
I feel like a prisoner in my own house. I try to do laundry, dishes, etc between the hours of 6pm and 6am so we don't bug Daddy, but some of that time I should be sleeping, right?
He works ALL the time
He is on the phone ALL the time

PLEASE don't get me wrong, I am SOOOO grateful that my husband is employed and can provide for us on basically his one income. We have been HUGELY blessed, and I understand that. But I feel better already venting. And it would be nice if some people would feel a bit sorry for our situation instead of telling me, "You can't complain! I would LOVE it if my husband worked from home!"

It will probably be much more ideal when I have children in school all day and then it's just the two of us at home the majority of the time, but probably by the time that happens, he will have a normal go-in-to-work job. :) He says he wants to work on "sound-proofing" his office to help the situation but... we'll see. I have a better idea. I think I know what to get him for Christmas -

What do you think? He could fit his laptop in there, right? And we have wireless internet, so that shouldn't be a problem! The economical outside office... that would make the work-at-home thing perfectly ideal! :)

Kidisms

2009-12-13T19:17:00.004-06:00

Enjoy :)

The Bubbs is off in the movie room, singing to herself when I hear (not exactly sure what the tune was): "I don't have any faith... I'm just a vegetarian"

Simster to Bubbs: Hey, let's play Batman!
Me: Hmm... that's not a very good Sunday activity.
Bubbs: Yeah, you're right.
(pause)
Simster: I know! Let's play Batman CHURCH!

While listening to Christmas music...
"Walking in the winter of the lamb"
"Angels we have heard on high of the high on the plane" (Simster)
"Mom, this is NOT Jingle Bells!" (It was the "dashing through the snow" part)
"He knows when Sim's been bad or good" (Bubbs)

PJ: A-Bee-bee! (AKA Peek-a-boo)

Terrific Twos!

2009-12-02T23:00:00.006-06:00

Today is PJ's 2nd Birthday! And we woke up to this...
SNOW! Wow - snow in Texas happens like once a season, and it happened to be on PJ's birthday! So after a scramble to track down gloves, hats, coats, I bundled up the kiddos and they spent some time enjoying it. Since it had melted by lunchtime, I'm glad they got to go out.
We were thinking about going to the Fort Worth Zoo in the morning, but even without the snow sticking to the roads, it was wet and cold and it's Texas. I'll wait a few weeks until it's 65 degrees again :) But I had some great leaders who pinch-hit for me tonight at YW, so we ended up out to eat at IHOP (kids eat free, it's a beautiful thing!) and then the next best thing to the zoo - Cabela's.

Then home to "cake" and presents.
So see the dog in the above picture? It has a little remote control, walks, wags its tail and barks. PJ loves animals more than the other kids and we thought she'd adore it. But right now, she has a love-hate relationship with it. Sometimes she laughs and sometimes she screams, drops the remote and runs away. We might be looking for a new home for the dog... :)

Overall, a fun day. We're so blessed to have PJ in the family. She is definitely challenging at times but we have loved watching her grow up! Last year she didn't have any teeth, she wasn't walking or talking, it's really amazing how much babies change from one to two.

A few things about her at age two:

She doesn't talk much (some in English, some in German) - about 20 consistent words and some babble. Her favorites? Mommy, Dada, fertig, alle, danke, cheese, buh-buh (bye-bye), Schnappi, baby, ball, hurrah
She LOVES babies and is always carrying one of them around. She loves doing eveything her brother and sister do. Playing with blocks, singing, coloring, throwing the football with her dad, running around, etc. Oh, and having her picture taken. Can you see her great "cheese" face?
She still has some stranger anxiety but not as much as she used to. Now she mostly just looks away if someone she doesn't know tries talking to her.

Happy Birthday! We love you PJ!

Tschüs Samstagschule!

2009-11-30T13:09:00.005-06:00

As many know, I am a big fan of German. I lived there, I studied it, I taught it, I love it! I'm sure I would feel the same way about Spanish, French, Japanese, etc if I had any experience with any of those. I just love the doors it opens when you know another language. You get to really understand other cultures, other viewpoints, other people when you speak their native tongue. Ever since the Bubbs was born, we've been speaking German in our home. I was the most consistent when it was just the Bubbs, because DH traveled a ton and it was just us. With the Simster we already had more English in our home from nursery, play dates, etc and I wasn't as good. Now with PJ, she is really getting 80-85% German at home and understands and speaks both.

Before we even moved to Texas, I had done some research and found out there was a German Samstagschule (Saturday school) in Dallas! I was thrilled because I hadn't found something like that in Utah, and I really wanted the kids to experience German with native speakers and other kids, then they would know it wasn't just crazy Mom's language :)

The youngest class was 4- and 5-year-olds, so we decided to start the Bubbs this semester. She LOVED it!!! She looked forward to it every week! Many of the kids in her class knew less German than she knows, and a few of them with native German parents, knew a lot more. It was hard for the teachers to tell how much she knows because she is by nature really shy (I know, where the heck did she get that from?) and didn't say much. But she ended up with a few good friends (including a little boy who always wanted to share her chair and sit by her... cute!)

They played games, worked on their letters and writing words, sang songs... you know, the basic preschool stuff but all in German. She had two cute young teachers - die Atika and die Laura - and they tried to really speak just German in class, even if some of the kids were still learning. They had two special events during the semester - the first was a big play/production to honor the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (this is E's part - doing a traditional dance, sorry she's so hard to see)

...and they had a St Martins Umzug (a St Martin's parade) to honor the German holiday of St Martin. The kids all made Laterne (lanterns) and we carried them in a little parade at a park, singing the Laterne songs and getting eaten alive by mosquitos :)

She almost cried last week because it was the last week, and I know that the experience was a great one for her. It was out of her comfort zone and she had to make new friends, and she spoke in German and she heard lots of other kids/adults speaking in German. I was actually amazed at how much she adored it!

Now the big question - will we do it next semester (starting in January)? Hard to say. The pros? It's German from native Germans, I got to hang out some of the time with the other parents and speak German, and of course, she loves it! The cons? It wasn't exactly cheap, it was 2.5 hours every Saturday, with about a 45-minute drive each way. Kind of a huge Saturday time commitment, and we did have to do some juggling to make it work every week. Plus, does that mean we now have the Simster go since he'll be old enough? He really wants to, but that does mean more commitment to it. And it means they haven't been able to do any other activities (like soccer, dance, etc) and I would like to have that balance. Technically, we could just do German school at home. I am a German teacher, after all, and they do speak it. I would just miss the interaction from native speakers and other kids. Sigh. We'll have to see what I decide come January.

It was a nice idea...

2009-11-30T12:45:00.002-06:00

Today is November 30th. The end of the whole "writing-a-50000-word-novel" month. And hmm... I made it to about 8000 words. Really, 90% of that happened in the first week, but I really went no where from there. I might write a chapter tonight, just to kiss the experience goodbye, but that's pretty much it. Why couldn't I finish?

Life happened. I was reminded that I have three+ children, a husband who works constantly, Church responsibilities, work, etc. At the end of most days, I felt no desire to write. Plus, I didn't know what I was really gaining. Sure, I enjoy it. But I doubt I'm very good (I have pretty much no talent for anything, you can ask anyone about that) and the time I spent writing was time I could have been doing many other productive things.

Will I still work on it? I don't know. I am still excited about my storyline, characters, locations and everything, but I'm not sure I'll finish it. Without the pressure to get it done in a month, I don't know if I'll find the time. We'll see. I'm not going to delete it or anything. It's just going to have to be content collecting dust on my hard drive. :)

Thanks for all the happy writing thoughts! I'll post another segment for your entertainment/boredom :) Then I'll post about what's REALLY been going on around here!

“A surprise?” That in and of itself was surprising. Don was the least surprisingist person Eden knew. He wasn’t very creative in his dating or wooing. But he was also an engineer. Not really known for their romancing.

“Well, not so much a surprise I guess -”

“Ah ha!”

“Let me finish! Not so much a surprise, but more like a proposition.”

“Hmm....” Eden said. “A proposition? That does sound a teeny bit intriguing...”

“See, I can be suspenseful and mysterious, right?”

Eden laughed without replying. His track record spoke for itself. His proposition most likely was about some very calculated investment plans he had. When Eden had applied for the School of Mines, it was refreshing to think that her peers would be just as passionate about what they could produce in the field of engineering and not so concerned with how much money they could make. Come on, your stereotypical engineer isn’t a smooth-talking, slick-haired schmooze in an impeccably cut business suit and tie. Usually you think of the nerd behind the computer monitor, in a lab or on the street sizing up the world with some strange set of tools. Maybe the modern image doesn’t elicit images of greasy hair, zits, horn-rimmed glasses and pocket protectors anymore, but generally... you get the picture. Even though Eden herself didn’t quite fit the mold, what she expected was quite different from what she experienced. Don was a great example - a top-of-his-class electrical engineer who also had an eye and ear for business. He only accepted a job offer after a thorough investigation of potential for upward mobility, a full stock portfolio, a reputable staff... But also something that would allow him to stay under the radar enough that he could stick out and make his mark - and be a surprise to everyone. In other words, he was choosing solely based on the company’s potential to serve and benefit him not on his potential to serve and benefit the company. He knew options, knew how to play the market, and was building up his assets while simply lying in wait to pounce - to produce the next novelty that would propel him into the national - and hopefully international - spotlight.

Creative Juices...

2009-11-02T14:15:00.003-06:00

I have a bunch of things to post (fun news, the Bubbs' love of Samstagschule, Halloween, etc) and I really do hope to get around to posting them. But right now I'm just letting you know about this...

If you've never heard about NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that aspiring writers often get bogged down after writing a few chapters or pages and never manage to complete that Great American Novel they've been dreaming about. So now there's some motivation to just get the words out on the page in a short period of time and worry about revising, fixing, polishing later.

The real scoop? Participants are attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days! You have to start writing on November 1 (honor system here) and complete your 50,000 by November 30.

Why me? I have always loved loved loved LOVED to write. I've even posted a few short stories on my blog. With the support of my cute husband, I am finally going to try to write a book. Well, 50,000 words at least. I haven't written more than a few pages since my creative writing classes at BYU.

Why should you care? You probably don't :) But the NaNoWriMo people seem to think that the more people that know you're attempting to write a novel, the more pressure they'll put on you to actually finish by the end of the month. So here I am. Be my support group or something, okay?

What I am going to write about? Well, I've already managed to write about 3000 words so I guess I'm off to a good start. I don't want to give much away because then maybe I'd end up feeling stupid and quit now. I'd rather write and then feel stupid at the end of the month. If you're really curious, here's a short sample -

“I have got to get out of here,” Eden mumbled under her breath. It was Mel’s place, after all, and living here was just temporary. At least it could be, if she could find a job. She thought about picking up the paper again to browse the classifieds, but knew what she was looking for wouldn’t be there. Not now. She needed networking, not just newsprint tinting her fingers and browser bookmarks to monster.com and craigslist. She grabbed the throw pillow again, cuddling it to her chest, and stared aimlessly out the window. The view was gorgeous, the mountains even more breathtaking as clouds wisped around their peaks, swirling just enough to create the illusion of islands in the sky. It was lost on Eden this morning, all of it.

Intrigued? Bored? :) Keep an eye on my word count in the sidebar and throw happy writing thoughts my direction!

Favorite Things...

2009-10-13T08:27:00.003-05:00

Remember my post with the videos of Hilary Weeks? In case you didn't see them, one of the videos is her singing a mommy version of "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music. I guess the Simster has heard me sing it a few too many times because here he is...

(Real Hilary Lyrics: Bedtime and Naptime and Bedtime and Naptime
Did I mention it's nice when the kids go to sleep?
These are a few of my favorite things...
When the kids fight, when my husband's late
When I'm feeling sad
I open the freezer and pull out the ice cream
And then I don't feel so bad)

Not to be outdone, the Bubbs will now showcase her version of "Two Voices, One Song" from the movie Barbie and the Diamond Castle (and really, at the end, she's not throwing up on me, she just needed to cough). See how fun life is at the breakfast table at our house? :)

Art Birthday Party!

2009-10-08T13:14:00.005-05:00

So originally the Bubbs was going to have a small party (4 or 5 friends) and we were going to go out and do some fun girly things (I'm planning to do this next year, so I won't spoil it and give the details now). Then she decided that she REALLY wanted all the boys in her preK to come. And then just everyone in preK. And she wanted a princess party but one of her friends with a birthday a week before her just had a princess party. Are you following all this?

Ergo - she does love to draw so I talked her into having an Art Party. The invites turned out cute ("artist E is celebrating the opening of her first art exhibit") and we planned out some crazy fun crafty stuff. One problem - the kids had all had preK here and hmm... an art party seems a little bit like preK. Oh, well, we did it anyway!

DH couldn't take the day off to help (which I know he was not too sad about), but my awesome sister-in-law (she's 17) ended up here for a few days and she was a life-safer! Twelve party kids, one seven-year-old neice, and one two-year-old. Without Addy, it would not have happened. Well, it almost didn't happen anyway... twenty minutes before it was supposed to start, the Bubbs and her cousin were running around and somehow she managed to cut her head open on the edge of the couch. We're talking a pretty good gash and lots of blood in her hair. Thanks to DH taking a break and stopping up the blood a bit (no stiches needed), the party went on...

We...

colored with sidewalk chalk on the driveway
painted a huge mural on the garage door
painted and put footprints on little art aprons
made and ate our own pizzas (colored the tablecloth while they cooked)
played twister and balloon games
decorated and ate our own cupcakes
presents
sent them home with their aprons and goody bags (with candy, play-doh, crayons, and foam notebooks with foam stickers)

(Sorry for the lack of pictures... some of this artsy stuff is pretty messy and we were too busy washing kids and cleaning up to take pics :)

Anyway, she had fun, her friends gave her great art gifts (really nice homemade stuff too!), and she only had a little pool of blood in her hair when it was over (see picture below). She still says she wished she had a princess party *sigh* but I still call it a success!

Happy 5th Birthday, Bubbs!

2009-09-22T22:38:00.006-05:00

From this...

To this...

Can you believe how much she's grown? I sure can't! Craziness! For the last year, I have been lamenting the fact that E missed the school deadline and had to wait another whole year before starting school. Now that it's here and some of her friends are in Kindergarten, I'm feeling blessed to have her home longer. She really is such a blessing in our family! As most of you know, DH and I were convinced child #1 was going to be a boy. We had a name picked out and everything. When we found out E was a girl, I was a little disappointed. Of course, now I know that Heavenly Father knows what I need WAY before I do, and He knew I needed the Bubbs to be the one to help me understand what it means to be a mom. To discover a love that is as close to God's love as I think I will ever get. I'm so grateful for my first baby bear!! (see the book You're All My Favorites if that comment about bears made no sense)

What did we do today? Well, after working and doing lots of prep for the big day, I finally went to bed around 2am. I woke up early to get ready for this...
(Preschool at our house - actually nine kids + PJ wasn't too bad today! Lots of fun! They're doing the Dino Dance in the pic)

Then after preK, I put together these in my new efforts to become more organized with the Mt. Everest of toys we own...

Then inspired by my friend Rachel and this lovely tutorial, I spent *ahem* a little bit of time making the Bubbs a Belle cake. By request. And I'm pretty darn proud of it, even if I had to improvise a little and she also ended up with a little bit of a ghetto booty... Still, not too shabby, what do you think?

We talked to the grandparents, opened a bunch of presents (yep, definitely spoiled) and had cake and ice cream.

Her favorite presents? The Belle dress-up (of course), the Belle barbie in the cake, a new doll from Grandma and Grandpa, and her roller blades. Oh, and the Barbie German movie. And the guitar. And... well, I think she was satisfied :)

Five Great Things About the Bubbs:

She is so happy to be five! There are a lot of things she's been telling me she'll do when she's five - be better at sharing her toys, eat salad, clean up when she's asked... Well, if today is any indication, she's being true to her word! :)
She can spend hours on end drawing pictures, coloring pictures, writing words on pictures, writing her own songs, making pictures for others... She is such a little artist!
She loves to learn - read books, count and add numbers, she's starting to learn letters and sounds in German too and she soaks it up. Like mother, like daughter, I guess. I have always loved book learning.
She is a wonderful big sister - sure, she and the Simster have their moments, but overall, she is caring and helpful. She can't wait to share a room with PJ (which will probably happen in the next few months) and they already giggle together about nothing.
She is so full of life! She's always singing and dancing and jumping and running and laughing and is very animated when she plays with her siblings. It's so fun to have her around!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBS! WE LOVE YOU!

She says it so well...

2009-09-08T20:39:00.002-05:00

So I want to post something exciting, but man, I'm tired. And boring. So I thought I'd post some great Hillary Weeks videos. I heard her perform these when I went with my sister and friends to Time Out For Women last year. And they really epitomize the way I've been feeling lately... enjoy!

Pool Fun

2009-08-27T18:28:00.006-05:00

DH and Simster playing with Daddy's toy at our pool. Is that awesome or what? :)

On My Mind - Summer

2009-08-27T05:52:00.009-05:00

So I am having a kind of hard time with some things right now. I will spare you the details, because I am sure I should just buck up and get over it. But since I can't sleep because of it, I thought, "Hey, I should blog something!" Aren't you proud of me? It's 3:30am right now so bear with me if I don't make sense :)

Summer is coming to an end. My kids aren't in school yet, but we will be starting preschool next week and I can't believe it's already time for backpacks and notebooks and (hopefully) cooler weather and my favorite part of fall - college football!

I won't bore you with a separate post for each of the things we did this summer, but if I had to make a summer-y (get it? hee hee I told you it is 3:30am!) it would be...

lots of swimming!
baby showers - thanks to all my great friends who had babies so we had an excuse to stay out 'till all hours of the night :)
the bubbs' first dance class (maybe I'll post some footage - all the girls were adorable!)
YW camp and other YW activities
my nephew's baptism
hanging out with family and friends
roadshow practices and performance for the Denton Jubilee
DH's band playing in the Jubilee (with a not-so-great appearance from me on the viola)
wonderful vacation really just to visit friends and family in UT and CO that we miss so much!
Oquirrh Mountain temple open house (would have been our temple if we were still in Utah)
working
DH working
entertaining three young children
oh, did I mention swimming?
oh, did I mention YW?
oh, did I mention DH working?
etc

We have enjoyed pretty much all of it and we are doing well. We have been very blessed as a family. We have all we need and many of our wants as well. We are healthy. We have support from a wonderful family and great friends. Even right now, when I'm struggling, I can't help but recognize how much we are truly blessed and acknowledge the hand of my Heavenly Father in all things.

And again, I leave you from within the shadows of the everlasting Texas heat :) May peace be with you, this day and always... (If you get that reference, I hope you are just floored by my extreme cleverness :)

Hope you enjoy a few summer pics and I'll post a little footage later!

Letter to My Children

2009-07-01T08:39:00.003-05:00

Dear Kids,

The older you get, the harder this will be to hide from you, so I'd better fess up now. Hopefully you can find it in your hearts to forgive your dear mother. Here's the deal: if you attempt to look through your life in pictures, you will find a great chunk of 2008 is missing. Where are all the pictures? Of the Bubbs and Simster starting preschool? Little miss PJ weighing like 10 pounds for a whole year? Birthdays and trips and just random little kid cuteness? Did your parents just not love you enough to take pictures?

Here's where I have to fess up. My hard drive crashed a few days ago. It is toast. Fertig. Finito. My sweet husband went out and purchased a new drive for me, we reinstalled, did the software updates and then I went to my backup drive to pull over all of my documents. To make a long story short, even though I was almost positive I had backed up the pictures recently, I hadn't. Yikes. Luckily most of 2009 is on Dad's backup and some of 2008 as well. But the rest of it is gone. Kids, let this be a lesson to you. When your grumpy old daddy :) keeps reminding you to backup your stuff, do it! Even when you think this won't happen to you! It will! So listen to your techguru Dad and not to your "all is well" Momma. And then you won't have to explain to your children where all their pictures disappeared to...

All my love,

Mom

(PS - at least I can salvage some from my -ahem- whole 10 blog posts... And to show you that I am not a complete failure of a mom, check out the title pic of E and S from 2006. I'll make it up to you!)

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T08:18:00.001-05:00

Tribute to Some of the Moms in My Life (AKA my mom collection)...

1. My Mom. What a wonderful person! She is a great example to me of patience, intelligence, figuring stuff out, perseverance, kindness, strength and love. She has always listened to me, talked with me, given me advice (of course, I haven't always taken it), cried with me, laughed with me, and helped to mold the person I am. Sometimes I find myself doing things and realize "I'm turning into my mom!" which is a good thing :)

2. My Sister. If I had been able to have my pick of all the women of the world to be my sister, I still would have chosen her! She has taught me much in my life - in my childhood, teen years, and as the example of a mom now in her life. We can talk all day about all sorts of things, and we laugh and cry together. She is such an example to me of strength and teaches me to rely more on my Heavenly Father when things are rough. Not to be cheesy, but I really feel like she is often the wind beneath my wings and my hero. :)

3. My Grandma. As much as I love being near my sister, I miss my grandma a ton! The older I've gotten, the more I feel love & respect toward her. She has gone through many joys and sorrows in her life and is still adorable and plugging away at 93 years old! I love to hear the stories she has to tell, her wisdom and watch my children grow to know her, too.

4. My Host Mom. When I lived in Germany, I stayed with a host family, and Rafia became another mom to me. It was cool to learn mom-isms from another culture (Tunisian mixed with German) and she always had my best interests in mind. When we went back to visit in 2007, she treated my kids like her own grandkids and I am grateful for the impact that year living with her had on me and my growth.

5. My Aunt. I had the opportunity to live with another mom for a year while at college. They just have one son, and although they've opened their home to many a weary college student, I was the first girl. It was fun to talk about girly things, enjoy the occasional early-morning walk, talk about my day and my life and learn new things from her. After I got married, she even helped me learn more about canning fruit. And she's always been such a great aunt/grandma to my kids! They love to snuggle with her and be tickled.

6. My Mother-in-law. It's pretty neat that all you have to do to get another mom who loves and cares for you is marry her son. :) My MIL is one of the most generous people I know. She is interested in everything we're doing and always finds just the right things for my kids. She has stayed with my kids when I've been at Girls Camp or had new babies. It's been said that DH was a momma's boy as a kid, and I don't blame him! She's a great addition to my mom collection.

There are so many more I can't name everyone - sisters-in-law and so many friends (you know who you are!) who I also look up to as examples and who support me.

So to all you women out there - whether official "mothers" or not - you are all nurturing the children of the world! Thanks for all you do to touch my life and others! Happy Mother's Day!

Easter Dresses (and a Suit)

2009-05-09T09:17:00.003-05:00

I LOVE Easter! Probably more than Christmas, actually. I love how we as a family do better at Easter time about remembering and celebrating Jesus Christ and not worrying about presents and hustle and bustle. We don't really do the Easter bunny (just buy the peeps etc to enjoy as a family) and so it's just talking about the life, ministry, sacrifice and resurrection of our Savior. Sort of last minute, I was able to teach my Laurels the Easter lesson as well. Easter brings such a spirit of gratitude, appreciation, and a new desire to do better, be better, strive to live as Christ would have us live. As President Hinckley said (I love this quote):

"Whenever the cold hand of death strikes, there shines through the gloom and the darkness of that hour the triumphant figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, He, the Son of God, who by his matchless and eternal power overcame death. He is the Redeemer of the world. He gave His life for each of us. He took it up again and became the firstfruits of them that slept. He, as King of Kings, stands triumphant above all other kings. He, as the Omnipotent One, stands above all rulers. He is our comfort, our only true comfort, when the dark shroud of earthly night closes about us as the spirit departs the human form. Towering above all mankind stands Jesus the Christ, the King of glory, the unblemished Messiah, the Lord Emmanuel. In the hour of deepest sorrow we draw hope and peace and certitude from the words of the angel that Easter morning, 'He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.' He is our King, our Lord, our Master, the living Christ, who stands on the right hand of His Father. He lives! He lives, resplendent and wonderful, the living Son of the living God."

One of the things I do like to do for Easter is have new (or at least new to us) clothes for my kids. I love the fact that it symbolizes newness - the bright spring colors after a dark winter, fresh and clean and alive, just as Christ rose on the third day. Here's our Easter children (and their cousins)! Oh, and please excuse Sim - he was very sick on Easter - he had a bad rash and I think an allergic reaction to some new soap I used on him...

Happy late Easter!

Too Much

2009-03-26T11:23:00.005-05:00

Sorry I haven't been back. I have good intentions, really, but things have been rather harried for the past few weeks - well, um - actually months... probably years. This is my problem:

I don't know how well you can see this, but this is a pie chart of my life right now. And my plate is too full! I am overflowing, things are falling off my plate and some things barely make it on. Since the writing is hard to see here are my responsibilities, listed from biggest to smallest:

Family - husband, three kids 4 and under: all the playing, reading, dancing, breaking up fights, FHEs, teaching, awesome moments of being a wife and mother
YW - includes all meetings, calls, emails, visits, activities, etc
Housework - includes cooking, cleaning, laundry, lawn-mowing, weeding, shopping
Work - my actual employment with Alphabet Garten
Coaching Soccer - The Bubbs is rockin' it on her first soccer team (hopefully I will post on that soon) and I agreed to be the assistant coach, so I'm heavily involved in all the practices/games
Running Errands/Appointments - 50 billion doctor's visits with PJ, dentists, car maintenance, etc
Other Church - Primary, Enrichment and other ward activities, supporting DH in his responsibilities
Hosting Online Book Group - We're reading Gaskell's Wives and Mothers
Chauffeuring - 'nuff said. :)
Teaching Preschool - Both the Bubbs and Simster are in co-op preschools. Which means I take my turn to teach (I'll be teaching five weeks worth between now and mid-May).
VTing - I'm not really good at it, but I try. And I need to go. And it's already March 26.
Personal - things like scriptures, exercise, etc
Other - Encompasses holidays, birthdays, baby showers, babysitting friends' kids, TV watching, you know...

I did this exercise mostly for myself, but I thought I would share. I am just, well, swamped, all day every day. And it's not that I dread or detest any of these things (although they all have their moments - let's be honest, I don't always love cleaning toilets). I WANT to do all of these things and more! I feel sad and a little guilty when someone asks me to do something or join something or participate in something and I say no. Ever since I can remember, I have filled up my schedule to the very brim. With good things.

In a wonderful talk entitled "Good, Better, Best" Elder Dallin H. Oaks said:

"Some uses of individual and family time are better, and others are best. We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families."

I agree with this and have tried to apply it to my life. I try to make my family and church the top priorities.

But this goes a little deeper. There are many times when I have wanted someone else to do some of these things. I ask for volunteers and everyone has an excuse. Even though I am full to the brim, I know that things need to be done and since no one has volunteered, I know that if I don't do it, it won't get done. And it NEEDS to get done! This seems to happen a lot in YW with me. I guess I have set a precedant of just doing it if no one else does, so they know they can tell me no and I'll just do it. But it is wearing. me. out. And I don't think I can pull this off much longer. Anyone have suggestions on how to break the cycle? How come so many people (generalizing here) don't seem to feel any guilt about saying no when things need to be done?

And how come I feel guilty for watching a 30-minute television show or a basketball game with my hubby? Or sitting down at the sewing machine and making a nightgown for the Bubbs? Or hanging out with friends? Or blogging? I enjoy taking a break to read a book or play a quick game of Tetris but then spend the rest of the day feeling like I am a waste of life because my to-do list is out of control and I shouldn't take that time.

Anyway, basically this post is more self-exploration than anything else. But I know many of you who read this (when I actually blog) face or have faced similar challenges. How do you do it? What's your solution?

(Here's what Simster thinks of this long-winded post. Hee hee)

Don't Have a Heart Attack

2009-02-26T09:16:00.006-06:00

I KNOW!! IT'S A MIRACLE! I AM BLOGGING!!

I am ready to get back into it. In the interim I have been using Facebook to make sure everyone knows the things that are going on in my life. It's pretty darn easy to just change my silly status... and I can even do it from my iPod :)

Here's a quick picture overview of what we've been up to the last - wow - almost three months:

YW Gingerbread-House-Making and wrapping presents for the missionaries.

PJ celebrating her birthday with her cousins.

My beautiful Christmas girls. (Look at how cute PJ's smile is!)

We were very blessed at Christmas time...

Santa brought us an awesome bounce house, and cousin J spent the night so cousins K & C could go to a live production of "Annie" with their parents.

PJ wanted in on the candy action long after Christmas was over. :)

I hosted a Preschool Valentine's Day Party. I hope the kids enjoyed it!

We have also celebrated a birthday and had a pretty exciting weekend, and have some other cool stuff going on, but I'll leave those for another post. Maybe tomorrow. Or knowing me, maybe in two-and-a-half months... :)

Modern Revelation

2008-12-08T10:39:00.005-06:00

Welcome to the wonders of having a living prophet who receives revelation! They are adding a new value to the seven Young Women values - Virtue will be the eighth value, with the color being gold. Wow! Exciting! And they will be changing the YW theme and adding requirements for this value into Personal Progress.

I think this is a great addition - but some of me is thinking, "Wow, I have a hard enough time motivating the girls to do PP for the seven values, let alone eight!" I know the YW will rise to the challenge and in the end, it will strengthen their testimonies and give them more tools to help them live in the world, but not of the world. Any suggestions on how to jump-start the excitement for this value? I'd like to have a special lesson and activity to really help them understand and be excited about it!

PJ's Big Day!

2008-12-02T23:32:00.006-06:00

I have a backlog of drafted posts. Seriously. I need to write a book - How the Grinch Stole My Blogging Ability - because I haven't finished any of them... After I publish this one, maybe I'll backtrack for the heck of it. Of course, I HAVE to publish this one today!

Author's Note: December 2, 2007 contains all the necessary background information. Read it. And then read it again. It's that good. And if you like it, you can download a copy for FREE (just pay $19.99 shipping & handling).

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE my little princess! I can't believe she turned one today! With the Thanksgiving holiday and then our family being a bit under the weather, it wasn't the perfect day I had envisioned. But we managed to get in some shopping, food, presents and cake, so it works, right? We plan on continuing the celebration in a few days, hopefully with my sister and her family :)

I have seen people write a little tidbit for every year of the birthday person's life, but if I followed that trend, I'd only get to write ONE thing. I am way too verbose and way too much of a proud mama to stick to just one. So I'll try one for each month she's been alive :)

Contrary to the appearance of this picture, PJ has always been a complete and utter Mama's girl. Most of the time I'm overjoyed - it's endearing to see your child scream and reach out their arms for you when someone else is holding them! I partially contribute this to the fact that I've made it the whole 12 months nursing! (The other two stopped at 9 and 6.5 months.) Anyway, I love love snuggling her and don't mind too much that she always wants ME. She'll grow out of that WAY too quickly.
PJ is named after her great-grandma. Well, just her middle name. She is the first of great-grandma's descendants to carry her name. And it is just a perfect fit for her - I hope she can live true to the name she's been given. We miss Grandma so much now that we're in Texas!
She had a hard first couple of months. She was born, we had Christmas, we sold our house, we moved across the country, we put our things in storage and lived in an apartment, we moved again in our new house... She really was a trooper for those first few months, although she did spent quite a bit of time sleeping in her car seat in one of many bathrooms with the exhaust fan going to drown out the excess noise.
PJ is my little roller. Neither the Bubbs or Simster ever really mastered rolling, they both despised tummy time, and both made me feel like less of a mom at our four and six month doctor's appointments... But not PJ! She started rolling before she turned four months and has been rolling every since! (When we still had her in the PackNPlay, she started rolling underneath the changing mat thingy...)
PJ loves her siblings. And her siblings love her! I have really enjoyed watching the Bubbs and Simster learn how to be gentle and play nicely with their little sister. Now that she's more mobile, they do squawk when she takes their toys, but overall they all love playing together! Just today, all three of them played in E's room for half an hour together. It's a beautiful thing.
Of course, how could this be complete without a swimming picture? We do live in Texas, after all. PJ already loves the water. She would splash around in her floaty in the pool until she got tired, then I would tuck her in her stroller or car seat and she'd nap in the shade until we were done. And just look at that cute hat! :)
PJ (with me on the far right - don't ask about my choice of head attire...) joined me for an interesting week at Girls Camp. We had three babies with us that week - I'm sure it's a Girls Camp the YW won't ever forget. She did get the nickname "Onion baby" because she would pretty much cry when any of the girls held her. Mama's girl. :)
Look who's smiling! And look who decided to finally like her swing! She's just so adorable and has a smile to melt your heart!
PJ doesn't really play with other kids yet. Mostly she just lets them attack her. But when we visited with my friend's son while we were in Utah, she had to show him who the boss was!
Mom's prerogative - the no-clothes-on-baby-bath picture. This one's going to be on her wedding video. Hee hee. Another thing to note - have you noticed she looks about the same size in many of these pics? She is very petite - we went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and she's just over 14 pounds. She eats like a piglet but isn't gaining much weight. The doctor was concerned so we did some blood work. Results came back with some anemia and elevated liver enzymes. Nothing to freak out about, but we'll be monitoring it a bit. And on Thursday I'm going in to have a "Feeding Evaluation" at the hospital - they'll evaluate her oral motor function feeding skills to see if something could be involved there. I'll keep you posted. Maybe. If I blog again :)
She loves crawling. She's been doing the army crawl since she was about six and a half months old. She is just starting to crawl a bit on her knees instead of scooting, but she's not really trying to walk yet. Her favorite thing to do is to make a beeline for the electronic equipment in our living room - pull out cables, tip over speakers, generally wreak havoc. And I think also in this picture she's treating me to a present in her diaper. Just in case you were wondering.
Enjoying playing with GeoTrax at her cousins' house over Thanksgiving. I wish I had a picture of it, but she absolutely adores animals - cats and dogs mostly, and they have both. She squeals and tries to pet them and crawls after them and is the opposite of fearful. It makes me a little sad we don't have our dogs anymore...

So that's a PJ update in a nutshell! I am so blessed to have her in my family. I can actually see why people have tons of kids. I am enjoying watching each of my children grow. They are each individual spirits with their own personalities and strengths and weaknesses and each contribute a piece to our family puzzle. I can not imagine life without my little girl! Some final pics of her bday...

Dispelling the Myths

2008-11-14T10:45:00.002-06:00

Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead. I have not been abducted by aliens. I am not lying in a coma in a remote hospital somewhere. My husband and I have not packed up and taken off with the kids to hitchhike through Europe (although that does sound like an adventure - anyone want to recommend us for a reality show on TLC?)...

I am alive. And well. And still poking around in my very own house in Texas. I hope that anyone who has been wondering will now be relieved. Or disappointed, whichever fits. I have just been REALLY busy. I started a new part-time job (using my mad German skills and working from home) at the end of October and I love it, but it's been replacing my web/blogging time. Plus, I just have so much to catch up on, I don't know where to start!

So I thought I'd start by sending you all over to 5 Minutes For Mom. They have great ideas and noteworthy posts, but best of all, right now they're doing some rockin' Christmas giveaways! Check it out while you wait for me to post something substantial :) Hope all is well with you!

Tagged

2008-10-14T22:35:00.002-05:00

So somebody (not mentioning any names... AHEM! Coolwhip!) seems to think I'm not blogging enough. Yeah, well, she's right, I have been so boring lately and so wrapped up in stuff that I haven't blogged much. So tagging me seems to be the cure. We'll see...

I am- so blessed! I have everything I need and many many many of my wants.
I want- a playset/swingset for the backyard to help with the kiddos' energy levels.
I have- a wonderful supportive husband.
I wish- to have more hours in the day.
I dislike- feeling inadequate. Lately I've been feeling like I'm falling short in all aspects of my life. And I don't like it.
I fear- the economic collapse of the universe and not being able to provide for & take care of my kids.
I hear- silence! The ceiling fan and the typing of the keyboard. I LOVE nighttime. That's why I always stay up way too late. I'm addicted to the time when the house is peaceful and I can relax/get stuff done.
I search- the scriptures but not as regularly as I should.
I wonder- what my kids really think of me.
I always- worry about what other people think. Not so much because I have a need to be popular or trendy, I just want people to like me. I want everybody to like me. I'm pretty likeable, right? :)
I usually- watch something on TV or some of a movie before getting ready for bed. It's a habit I got into when DH would travel all the time and I wanted to hear adult voices that weren't speaking baby talk. Now I just relax with some fruit or a bowl of cereal and unwind.
I am not- very good at many things. I'm still searching for my talents.
I dance- to my old school music in the kitchen with the kids. I don't think it's old school music, but apparently it is, thanks to my YW for the heads-up on that. Sometimes I dance with DH in the kitchen. Or at the youth dances when we're chaperoning.
I sing- mostly primary songs. We have a primary CD and the primary program is in two weeks, so we've got to practice.
I never- get through a day without doing something I need to apologize for. Like yelling at the kids because I'm tired or forgetting something or bumping into the counter. I like to apologize though because it clears the air and my conscience.
I rarely- get everything done that I'd like to.
I cry- more than I'd like. Mostly when I'm pregnant or tired (which seems to be 98% of my life). But mostly in secret. I HATE other people to see me cry (with the exception of DH).
I am not always- punctual. I always have good intentions, but it doesn't pan out all of the time. Sometimes it's unavoidable (like a huge blowout or major trantrum right when I need to leave), but often I just get going a little later than I should. I am, however, almost always punctual when it comes to church and church activities (unless I have to pick up the YW... they can be doddlers).
I lose- hmmm... this is a toughy. I lose to DH whenever we box or play baseball on the Wii. And I lose my sanity on a regular basis.
I'm confused- about how people can say there isn't a God or a higher power. It's so evident to me in everything around me. And if there isn't a God, what is the purpose of life?
I need- to get someone to watch the kids tomorrow night while I am at Young Women.
I should- call my Grandma. I miss her and miss talking to her.
I dream- of a perfect mix of my Colorado life, my Germany life, my Utah life and my Texas life. I just want to combine all the good things about each one and create a perfect Utopia. And I dream of victory Thursday night against TCU.
I TAG- my sister Good Life, Emily, Carrie, bilingualandmore, and Jordan Family. Have fun!

Snow?!

2008-10-14T21:57:00.003-05:00

So I heard that the first snow of the season hit Utah on Saturday/Sunday. The beginning of the Rocky Mountain winter. There's a part of me that's sad, missing the soft white flakes, the frozen temperatures, staying home and building a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, shoveling, scraping, slushing through it all... and singing "Let it Snow!" at the top of my lungs. But then there's the part of me that didn't mind so much, since we were enjoying this...

And this...

DH even got out the skateboards for a little driveway training...

And of course, PJ had to get in on the action...

Notice the shorts? PJ without socks or shoes? Yep, we're talking 78 degrees, a nice breeze, and a beautiful October Saturday. Are we missing the snow? Nah. At least not yet! (Of course, we're getting a ton of rain today and it's in the forecast for the week, so we're not out playing much now. But now I'm getting my hot chocolate. This whole Texas thing isn't so bad...)

What the Youth Need to Hear...

2008-10-06T14:39:00.002-05:00

Anyone feeling suggestful?

We are having a youth Standards Night at our church on Wednesday. This is basically a night to emphasize moral values and eternal goals to the youth ages 12 to 18. It is to encourage them to live the standards that will bring them closer to the Savior Jesus Christ. Our particular take on it this year has to do with keeping standards in all our relationships (with family, friends, the community, in dating, etc).

As we prepared for this activity, we decided to ask six adults to sit on a panel and answer questions the young men and young women submitted about relationships and standards. Of course, we only had a smattering of questions from the young people. So now we are filling in the gaps with some of our own questions, questions we think the youth need to hear answers, issues that are on our minds and the minds of all the adults who love and care for teenagers in a scary world.

Overall, we have enough questions. I think we're pretty much set. But as I have been pondering this, I thought I would ask you if you can think of an issue/circumstance/question that the youth of today might benefit from hearing more about. What tugs on your heart strings as you watch kids grow up today and strive to stay close to the Savior?

New Undertaking: Sewing!

2008-10-02T10:21:00.004-05:00

All right, this post is very late. I mean, I meant to post this in early September. But somehow September has gotten away from me. I've spent most of the month being sick. I'm not sure how this is happening, and it's annoying. And I don't want to dish out any more money to our friends the physicians because there's a 97.654% chance they'll tell me it's a virus, so buck up, go home and wait it out. I can tell myself that and save the time and money, right? Anyone a budding doctor? Let me know and I'll tell you my symptoms...

But I digress. Back in early September we had a Super Saturday activity at my Church. Basically, we get together as women and learn new skills, make things, and eat. It's always an enjoyable time. This time around I decided to brush up my sewing skills (and believe me, they needed brushing! And so do my teeth for that matter...) and with the help of my friend Rachel, I came home with this...

Cute, huh? It's a reversible bag, and believe it or not, I've been using it to hold some YW stuff when I'm at church! I felt pretty proud of myself, even if some of my stitching was a little non-straight. I also came home with this...

(No, not the Bubbs, she was already here.) Do you see this cute dress? Wow, am I a great seamstress or what? Okay, yeah, I didn't make it. It was Rachel's handiwork, but her cute daughter didn't like it much and the Bubbs is about the same size, so she passed it off to me!

The awesome thing about this dress? It was made from a woman's dress shirt Rachel found at a thrift store!! You can see this one and another one she made and read about it on her blog. I think it is just the cutest dress! I am hoping to make my own for the Bubbs soon, and another project I'm trying to tackle is the making of pajama pants for all three kids!

I really enjoyed the sewing. It's my goal to really get going on it when DH is out of town... Throw in a chick flick, make sure I have a cold beverage, and break out the sewing machine! Thanks to Rachel for the motivation and if any of you have links to patterns you love, leave me a comment and let me know!

I'm All About the Workout!

2008-09-24T07:34:00.002-05:00

Remember my last great workout? Well, check this out...

While she was doing this...

I was doing squats, lunges, ladder-climbs and working my arms with a roller to do this...

Halfway done and getting exciting!

E is for Elephant

2008-09-24T07:31:00.001-05:00

Halfway to 8!

2008-09-22T23:38:00.007-05:00

September 22nd is one of my favorite days of the year for two reasons:

It's the First Day of Fall! Yea, cooler weather! Yea, sneakers & jeans & hot cocoa!
It's the Bubbs' Birthday!

So my baby turned FOUR YEARS OLD today!! She is growing up so so fast! We are so blessed to have her in our family. She's a wonderful older sister (most of the time) and such a joy to watch as she grows up. She's starting to create her own make-believe world (and Simster joins in the fun). She's starting to sound out words and knows what letter most words start with. She loves going to preschool, primary, the library, and hanging out with the family. She waffles between saying she's a "Mommy's girl" or a "Daddy's girl" and enjoys spending time with each of us on her own. She's getting old enough to help with PJ and for the most part, she likes to. She picks her nose a lot. Pretty much constantly. Just an FYI - and yes, we're working on it. I'm trying to find her a NPA meeting to go to (Nose Pickers Anonymous), but they seem to be all booked with other kids her age. :) She enjoys singing primary songs, especially "I Am a Child of God" and "I Love to See the Temple". She loves to play house, swim, play with trains, dance, jump on the bed, ~~torment~~ ~~boss around~~ play with her brother, and draw (both pictures and write letters). Her favorite foods are cereal, tortillas with cheese, broccoli, chicken, and apples, although she's pretty good about eating most everything. One of the cute things she says "Mom, do you remember when you were little and I was the Mom and I had to make dinner for you? That was nice of me, huh? And you have to say thank-you or I would be grumpy." Gotta love what comes out of her mouth! We've been fortunate to this point, but now that she's four, she is really turning in to a...

PRINCESS! She got a set of dress-up clothes today and was THRILLED! We probably didn't have to get her anything else! Simster also had fun trying on dresses, tutus, tiaras, and high heels, but Dad put a quick stop to that one... We spent a busy day today, with lunch at McDonalds

and several stops to pick out supplies so we could do this...

I think I was insane when I agreed to redo her room as part of her birthday. Well, at least I shouldn't have attempted the project ON her birthday! We just finished up the primer stage and I'm going to work on the colors tomorrow while the kiddos are at preschool. We also have some gifts still to open and a party in the future... Hey, who said birthdays can't last a week? :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBS! WE LOVE YOU!

Long Overdue

2008-09-17T15:30:00.006-05:00

(Update: It looks like the hospital bill will be lower because they are going to bill it as a participating provider - Whew! Thanks for the info on that, Carrie!)

So I was just going through our pictures and realized I never posted about my "business trip" back in August. So here we go...

On the way out to Utah, I had about a three hour layover in Denver, so my Mom and my brothers came to see my at the airport. This is my baby bro A, who will be leaving on a mission in October. Gotta love the shirt, huh?

Of course, PJ had to pose with her uncle before we left. She'll be talking and such by the time he gets home!

The time in Utah was spent primarily working. It was full of mixed emotions - overall, I am sad my stint working there is done, and I will miss the associations I have had and the contributions I have made to the Center. Before I started there in 2003, they had one or two computerized testing programs, so 95% or more of the current testing system was created and supported by me. I will definitely miss it. However, I am sure my replacement will do great things, and it's time to start a new chapter in my life.

PJ and I at work. This is one of the only shots of the lab at work. This is my co-worker Inna and her cute son Sasha. He's two months younger than PJ, but definitely looks bigger! I will miss Inna a ton and am crossing my fingers that her hubby decides to go to law school out here in Texas!

Another cute kid picture. They just sat there on the floor jabbering to each other in Baby-nese.

PJ with her great-aunt J. My uncle & aunt were kind enough to let us stay with them while on our trip. Aunt J even watched PJ a few times while I was working. They have always opened up their home to members of my family and it's been greatly appreciated. I lived with them my freshman year of college.

We got to spend a lot of time with Gma as well, which was so much fun! PJ loves hanging out with her beautiful great-grandma! And I know Gma misses me and the kids, so it was important to visit with her.
PJ cuddling with Gma. Isn't my grandma so cute? Hard to believe she's 93, that's for sure! I miss her a ton!
Hanging out on campus with Gruncle (great-uncle) C. He's such a good grandpa to my kids... I hope he has some of his own in the not-too-distant future!

We also got to meet up with DH's family for lunch on one of the days we were there. Here's PJ with Aunt S.
This is a picture of the little gathering coolwhip threw together. It was fun to see old friends and to eat and visit and chat and etc etc etc! I only have this picture because my camera died! And along these lines, it was so nice of coolwhip to let me stay at her house! It was like old times again and her kids are so fun and cute. I had a great time - closure with my job and visiting with family and friends, most of it at the university's expense :)

This is for DH's benefit - his old primary kids on sk8boards. Gotta make him proud!

On the way back home, we again had a layover in Denver. This time, my Dad met us and we were able to visit with him for a while.

It was really a fun trip! I wish I had had more time to visit with friends, but I hope to be back not too long from now. On the plane ride over, a couple of passengers were discussing all the perks of Utah (national parks, skiing, boating, hiking, and more) and I was feeling very sad that we left. But on our last day and on our way back, all I could think about was getting HOME! We are definitely starting to feel like this is our home! I will always miss family and friends that are still in Utah, but our home, right now, is in Texas!

Capitalism at its Best

2008-09-10T14:31:00.004-05:00

I am very proud to be an American. I am grateful for the freedoms that are mine and especially that I am allowed to practice my religion without persecution, that people still talk about prayer and God in politics (not everyone, of course) and that for the most part, my rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are intact.

That being said, the past few days have made me grumpy. I guess some people take advantage of the system, but I don't classify myself as one of those people. I pretty much consider myself a bill-paying, law-abiding, hardworking citizen. So why....

Although the hospital we went to for my emergency room visit last month takes our insurance, it turns out the silly doctors don't. Of course, I was flat on my back, dizzy and basically passed out while DH was not even in the ER, he was wrestling with the kids - so I guess I wasn't smart enough when the nice doctor showed up to remember to say, "Wait! Do you take my insurance? Oh, you don't? Then can you please leave and let me wait in complete agony for another three hours until a doctor who takes our insurance shows up?" I think it should be a law that if the hospital accepts your insurance, all the physicians in the ER should as well. It seems kind of unethical to expect someone who can barely see a foot in front of her to read the fine print and ask every stinking person who comes in if the $500 billion dollars they'll be charging will be covered with her insurance!!! So now we have approx $1000 we have to pay the docs since they aren't participating providers. DH thinks we should argue with them. We'll see.
I should NOT have to call the 1-800 number four or more times just to cancel a subscription to something! The first two times, I told them I thought I had already canceled, they asked me for a cancellation code (which of course I didn't have) and then proceeded to talk about all the benefits of the subscription. Then the lady said, "Keeping in mind all the benefits of this service, I am going to keep your membership active. You have a nice day!" and click! She was gone. Finally I got smart and used my mean voice. Except the problem I have is that when I get mean, I cry at the same time. The emotions are tied together and it definitely makes me less than credible. The final call, I finally managed to be rude and obnoxious without a tear and we FINALLY are done with it!
How come I pay my bill on time every month and the one time I pay the day it's due at 5:05pm, I get hit with a $20 late fee? My favorite credit card (starts with a D) doesn't even charge me a late fee until like 15 days late. Neither does my mortgage company. And so why does the $100 phone bill charge me $20 for being five minutes late? It doesn't reek of customer appreciation, that's for sure. Maybe if I was a habitual 5-minute-late-bill-payer, that would make sense. But it rarely happens. (And yes, I know I was late, I probably deserve it, but it still doesn't make me happy or make sense.)
Our insurance company, based on the facts from DH and the other guy and the pictures DH took, is convinced the accident he had last week was the other guy's fault. Of course, the guy's insurance is convinced it was DH's fault. Now we have to wait while they battle it out (because neither one wants to pay), which could take who knows how long. And what do we do about the deductible in the meantime? And how long will the car be in the shop? Deep philosophical questions.

Anyone want to vent about something similar? I've been venting a lot lately, so I hope you can forgive me. I'm hoping to get it all off of my chest now so I can move on with my life. I have to prep for YW tonight, tidy/clean the house for an unexpected visit from my BIL, and try to take care of this scratch in my throat. So venting over. At least for a week or two. :) Time to move on, right?

(On another note, I'm feeling better. Thanks for all the kind words and sympathy for my last post. I think you're all right - if I didn't have days like that, I might never enjoy the good days!)

Why I Feel Like a Horrible Mom Today

2008-09-04T14:17:00.006-05:00

There are dirty dishes in my sink.
I was two minutes late dropping off the kids for preschool.
I'm having pediatrician woes and decided to try someone new - who happens to be 35 min away. So I had to wake PJ up from her nap to go to the doctor.
PJ is 9 months and only 13 lbs, 2 oz. The doctor is concerned. I have been avoiding the well-child visits because of my pediatrician woes, so the doc doesn't have all her records to compare. But still - she's very small and the doc is encouraging more feeding, nursing, and formula (And before you get grumpy at him, he did say - "I'm not saying you're a bad mom...")
Because I was picky with the pediatrian and now 35 min away, I'm going to be late to pick up Bubbs and Simster. I bug DH to go and get them.
DH gets in a minor accident on his way to pick up the kids. I call the preschools to let them know I will be running 15 minutes or so late.
DH has the car with the carseats, so I drive from preschool home (5 minutes) with the kids in regular seat belts.
Somehow I managed to hide the insurance card so well that DH doesn't know where it is.
DH needs the insurance card before the cop shows up. Kids are happily finishing lunch. The accident is just around the corner in our own neighborhood, so I rush to the car, leaving the kids alone in the house, drive to the scene of the accident (20 seconds), show DH where I put the insurance card (40 seconds) and drive back home (20 seconds).
When I arrive home, one of our neighbors (someone I don't even know yet) is holding onto a screaming Simster, accompanied by a sweet-looking couple with a baby who were checking out the house that's for sale next door. Turns out, he spilled his water and wanted me to clean it up. So of course the obvious thing to do is unlock the deadbolt and run out into the street.
The couple & the neighbor don't seem to believe me when I explain I'd been gone for only 2 minutes max. I promise I'm not a bad mom - they don't seem to buy it. Not sure I blame them. I won't be too surprised if someone calls the police on us.
Simster comes back in and is grumpy and bites the Bubbs (something he hasn't done for MONTHS!), and PJ is screaming because she's hungry (and didn't the doc just tell me to make sure I'm feeding her?).
Knowing that my children are under 4 and that they are unfortunately smart enough to unlock the deadbolt, and knowing that they know not to run into the street but our neighborhood is still so new so there's not sidewalks everywhere so they would have to run into the street to get to me, and knowing that somehow in 2 minutes something could happen that would make them want to find me, and knowing that a car could come around the corner on our rather quiet street and hit my child who's running into the street trying to find me, I should NOT have left them alone, even for less than 2 minutes!

Because I have a Heavenly Father who loves me, I was still very blessed today! (The accident wasn't serious, DH is fine, kids were at friends' houses for preschool and they were very understanding, a car didn't hit the Simster...) But it's still a hard day for me as a mom. I should know better. The kids need better. I see better moms all around me and wonder why Heavenly Father felt okay sending me kids in the first place. I just hope and pray that He understands, and that my sweet DH and my kids understand that I really am trying. I just mess up ~~sometimes~~ a lot.

Finally! . . . And Yet Too Soon?

2008-09-02T10:25:00.006-05:00

It is 10:25am. The house is dead quiet. Normally, I would worry about such an occurrence, but today all four of my family members are accounted for. PJ is sleeping peacefully after a fitful night, DH is down being productive in his office, and the Bubbs and Simster? They are in PRESCHOOL!

Here's a picture of them today before heading out. Today was the Bubbs' first day of preschool. I'm doing a co-op with her with 7 other moms. We each take a week and do the theme etc at our house. This means I will only be teaching preschool once every 10 weeks (a couple of the moms have more than one kid so they will teach more than once). She has been waiting and waiting for this moment...
I think she will do fine and have fun. She's well-behaved (most of the time) and she already knows all of her letters and numbers and can sound out 15+ words.

Mr. Sim actually started preschool two weeks ago (one of the reasons the Bubbs has been anxious!). He is in a preschool with three other kids run by two of my friends (-> I pay them). I was a little nervous about it because he is the youngest by five months and the other three are all girls. I thought he would be rowdy and hard to manage (like he can be at home). But here are some pictures from his first day...
My friends say he is doing fine; that he listens and pays attention and does a good job drawing his letters. Whew! The funniest thing is that whenever I pick him up at the end of the day, I ask "What did you learn in preschool?" His answer is, without fail, "I dunno." This is his answer to many things right now ("Why did you smack your sister?" "I dunno."), and we all know he is learning and he's having a grand old time.

But me? I have been counting down the days until this moment since the first time the Bubbs shoved Simster's head into the ground when he was like a month old. Some peace! Some quiet! Time to do what I want for once! Could these kids please grow up already?! And now, with the Bubbs almost 4 and barely waving goodbye when she joined her friends this morning, and the Simster 2.5 going on 6 and chattering away about his preschool, I am a little sad. I had a friend over the other day who also has three young ones and we were talking about how people say to enjoy these moments because the years go by fast and all of a sudden they're grown up. She read somewhere someone say "The years do go by fast, but a single day can last forever!" I'm feeling both today. I'm thrilled to have my kids learning, picking up on so much and being so excited to discover the coolness of knowledge. But there's a part of me that is sitting here in the quiet, missing the pitter-patter of two-year-old Bubbs and six-month-old Simba. Life as a mother, right? Last night DH gave the kids father's blessings before they started the "school" year and I cried. I was picturing the Bubbs at 17, asking her dad for a blessing before she starts her senior year. Hopefully recognizing this new chapter in their lives will help me cherish the moments more. And probably by the end of the day, they'll be back to fighting like usual. :)

Oh, and not to be left out - here's some pics of PJ with her mommy and daddy at the park last night for FHE. :)

That Time Again!

2008-09-01T21:46:00.005-05:00

I am MORE than excited. The end of August/beginning of September is more than just a new school year and the beginning of Fall. It is COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON! Thanks to the long-awaited intelligence of a certain satellite company, we are the proud watchers of...
bringing us all the 4-1-1 and the live action and the replays, excitement, interviews and more so that I can drink in another fabulous season. This is definitely my new favorite TV channel. The first day we had it (Aug 27), I turned it on to find them replaying 2006's nail-biter. Priceless! Then we DVR'd the opening game on Saturday because I was at the temple with the youth. We watched it (with a little fast-forwarding) and it was a little more exciting than I wanted it to be... (fumbled AGAIN?! Can we please hold on to the ball, people?!) - but we came out comfortably victorious.

Anyway, if you're trying to track me down sometime this fall on a Thursday night, Friday night, or Saturday afternoon, try our media room. There'll definitely be some whooping and hollering and crying and laughing and many roaring rounds of singing the fight song and such. And forget about Oct 16th. I'll be here -

BUT I'll be wearing THIS -

RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH.... GOOOOOOO COUGARS!

Pump You Up

2008-08-26T11:22:00.003-05:00

I just finished an amazing work out. I found a way to work basically every muscle in my body. When I finished, I was sweaty, toned, thirsty, muscular, and did I mention sweaty? Now I know you'd all like the secret to my success....

Well, using this...

I did this...

You got it folks. And for only three payments of $29.99, you can get my intense workout DVD collection: "You Gotta Mow It to Tone It". If you call now, I'll throw in our recently deceased lawn mower for free! Just pay shipping & handling.

Yep. I am now one buff woman. I can already feel my tighter little glutes. Who knew getting in shape could be so cheap? Added bonus? That fresh grass smell. It's a nice musk.

Candy, Iron & Wood

2008-08-24T19:52:00.006-05:00

What do these three have in common? They are all traditional/modern-traditional 6th Anniversary Gifts!

Happy Anniversary to us (sorry - seems all the most recent pics of us together always contain one of our offspring)! We had great aspirations, but as you may remember, our aspirations don't often come to fruition. The whole needing-a-babysitter thing is really holding us back. :) But I hope we'll have many anniversaries to enjoy when our kids are older and can watch themselves.

Last year I told a bit about us & our wedding day, so I thought this year I'd share six maybe-lesser-known facts about us:

When we were dating and first married, we drove DH's parents' 1988 Toyota Corolla (thanks to them for letting DH steal their car). It was a pretty nice little car ... except for the overheating on Vail pass and a finicky starter problem. We spent many dates with me popping the clutch while DH pushed it down the driveway/road.
We spent our 1st anniversary in Park City at a cute little Bed & Breakfast. It was nice but could have been nicer. I was stupid and got mad at DH for a little excessive skateboarding and almost ruined the whole thing.
On our 2nd anniversary DH was out of town and he surprised me by having a flower and balloon bouquet sent to our house. It was very sweet!
Our current idea of a date is putting the kids to bed and watching a movie we got from Netflix or playing a game. It's cheap and usually involves junk food. :)
I really don't deserve DH. He's always willing to take the kids so I can do my work, my calling, get a little extra sleep, or whatever. He listens to me vent & talk for hours on end. He's very forgiving when I'm being petty or obnoxious. He's my BESTEST friend!
DH is always telling me that one of his most favorite memories is when he first saw me in my dress in the temple. He says that I took his breath away. Isn't he the best?

So six years and three kids later and we still feel like newlyweds! (Mostly because DH is so immature ;) I'm very blessed and looking forward to an eternity to come! It doesn't get better than this :)

Update

2008-08-20T18:41:00.004-05:00

I'm going to the Storehouse. And I'm not happy about it. I appreciate all the support and advice, but when it comes down to it, our ward only has this assignment three times a year, and other people will suffer if we don't fulfill it, and I'm the only one who's willing to make it happen. The end. I'll try and post something uplifting soon. :)

**UPDATE to the Update (Aug 23)**
I went; thanks to my awesome Laurel advisor and Sim's preschool teacher for watching the kiddos. I took my one Young Woman and we went. And it wasn't too bad - I enjoyed the one-on-one time with my young woman and we were able to perform service. The poor girl dropped a jar of spaghetti sauce and it broke and spilled on her brand-new shoes :( but she was a trooper. And my kids were good overall while I was gone. I think the blessings are definitely there from going - I just hope I didn't set a precedent of doing whatever everyone else doesn't do... Anyway, thanks again for the support and encouragement!

Just Venting

2008-08-18T15:39:00.003-05:00

I am alive! And I am back from an overall successful and pleasant business trip. I'll tell you about all of it in my next post.

Right now I am a little bit grumpy. Turns out that while I was gone, the Bishop asked the YW and YM to provide some volunteers to go to the Bishop's Storehouse. This is a good opportunity for some of the older youth to participate in a service experience. I have no problem with that. Except that no one told me about it until yesterday. I have three YW planning on going (our designated amount) and one of the girls gave me the impression that the Bishop was going as well. So today I asked the Bishop about it and he told me that the assignment needs to be three YW, three YM, plus leaders (and he's not going). And, since the YM leaders work during the day, the leader needs to be from the YW. Super. It is this Thursday from 9am to 2:30pm (not counting driving time). There are only three leaders in the Young Women who do not work away from home during the day. And guess who is probably going to end up going? Yep... me.

Don't judge me too hastily. I am normally a service-loving gal. In fact, I am very aware that there are things that we do just because they need to be done. And that part of being a member of our Church is donating our time to help others. But right now, I am feeling less than excited about this. I have now had three days notice, and I have a preschool meeting already scheduled that day that I will have to miss. I need to find a babysitter for three children, one of whom has never been left without either Mommy or Daddy for more than four hours. But I will figure all of that out.

What is really bugging me right now is the whole "stay-at-home-mom" thing. I kind of feel like more and more women in my Church are working outside of the home, either out of necessity or out of desire. Because of that, so many times things that happen during the day are taken care of by those who are SAHMs. And yes, part of the reason I am a SAHM is so I can be available to help others. I just get a little tired of people thinking that if you're a SAHM you have nothing better to do all day than cater to the things the "working" men and women can't do. Like because I'm at home, it's no big deal for me to rearrange things and fulfill assignments. Because I'm too stupid to have a full time job, I should not ever complain if I have to leave my kids with someone or pay someone to watch them so that I can jump to every need with very little notice. We are living on one income so I can be at home to raise my children and sometimes I feel I am looked down on or even penalized because of my choice. Does anyone else feel this way or am I on a selfish soap-box? Don't worry; I won't shirk my duty, but I'd just like to feel appreciated once in a while. Like a simple thank-you from "smart" moms with full-time jobs. What do you think? If you are a SAHM, how do you deal with this situation? And you're welcome to tell me to buck up and stop being a baby :)

MIA Again

2008-08-04T20:24:00.003-05:00

I'm not following my posting goals. Not because I don't want to...

I spent 2 hours in urgent care this morning, was sent to the hospital and was in the ER for 5 hours because they were worried about meningitis.

Good News: The spinal tap was normal! No meningitis. And I'm home tonight. And they gave me narcotics. :)

Bad News: They hope it's just a bad virus, but if it doesn't improve dramatically within 24 hours, they will probably ask me to come back in for a CAT scan. And if there's something wrong there, I won't be making my Utah trip on Friday :( Also, I have a friend going in for a C-section tomorrow and I was supposed to watch her daughter and now I can't do it and I feel like a flake.

In other Munchkin Monday news, please vote in my poll about the Bubbs' structured activity options. I'd love some opinions!

Feature Friday

2008-08-01T21:53:00.006-05:00

Here it is! Day One of the New Plan. And my first FEATURED SITE?

MIKE'S RADIO WORLD

*Description: Links to live streaming for over 5000 radio stations from Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
*More Details: Fantabulous website! Most radio stations these days seem to have a "listen online" choice for some easy access to jamming-in-your-car radio tunes or argue-with-me-political talk radio. The cool thing about this site is that they're all in one place! It's not so much to get the local radio stations to listen to on the web (since, hello, I have a pretty uncool Wally World special that does that for me), but I use it to get access to things I can't really listen to otherwise. The site is divided by country and then, for the US, by state. Each link has the call letters for the station (if applicable), the name of the station (which is a link to the radio station's site if they have one), a listen live link, and a "format" - oldies, top 40, country, news radio, etc. Pretty darn neat. I was introduced to the site while student teaching several years ago. My mentoring teacher showed it to me when I mentioned I missed my favorite German stations.
*Pros:

All the streaming stations listed in ONE easy place! (No more google-ing station names to find a "Listen Live" link!)
Station lists also link to individual station websites for more info, etc
One-click listening availability
For US stations, you can sort by location within a state to find a specific station based on location
You can browse stations by location or genre
Great resource for language teachers or foreign language learners

*Cons:

Only lists for Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. I would love to have links to African, Asian, and Central/South American countries.
Most of the live streams require Windows Media Player or Winamp. Which, if you're a Mac user like me, is a little annoying. You can download Windows Media Player for Mac (or get Flip4Mac to work with QuickTime), though, so it's okay.
Some of the stations are not A+ sound quality, which is to be expected with the variety of internet connections. Most of the ones I listen to are at least B+ quality if not A- or better. But just an FYI.

*My favorite stations:

Antenne Bayern & Bayern 3 - German Adult Contemporary stations I listened to when I lived there; the kids and I turn them on and jam out and it brings back memories of studying in my bedroom while my host sister begged me to play UNO "just one more time"
Radio Teddy - A German kid's station. Stories and kids songs that I like to put on when my kids are coloring. Background noise in their non-native language. I love it!
DeutschlandRadio Kultur - German news and feature stories. Are you sensing a pattern with the German?
Alouette - A French Contemporary station. The music's mostly American, and how I am supposed to make fun of French if I don't listen to it once in a while? :)
FM 100 - I listen to this mostly on Sundays for their Soft Sunday Sounds. I have a limited collection of inspirational music, and I like the variety. I feel like I'm back in Utah getting ready for church :) Downside? commercials. :(
KOSY 106.5 - Same as above.
KBER 101.1 - They often broadcast Utah Jazz games. 'Nuff said.
KSL - They broadcast BYU games. Again, I think that's self-explanatory.
Capital 95.8 - A contemporary station out of the UK. Because British accents are fun. And they say funny things.
Radio CLM - A German/Spanish station out of Spain. It can be confusing. But pretty cool.

But I think I've said enough. Check it out and see if you find an international (or more local) station you love! Leave me a comment and let me know what you like so I can check it out too!

Blurry Blogness & Other Stories

2008-07-31T15:35:00.003-05:00

I am confessing a problem I have. I am a list-maker. (I know, shocker!) And I love to compartmentalize my life. Blocks of structured time are my friend. Otherwise, I tend to waste the day away. Of course, my kids love to de-compartmentalize my life. I seriously think they wake up in the morning thinking "How can we decompartmentalize Mommy today? AKA How can I best disrupt her well-meaning schedule and pre-arranged blocks of time?" But I digress. So after analyzing my blog-slump from the past week or so, I think I have it. And I also think I could make money by becoming a blog-slump analyst. I'll make some business cards for y'all to hand out. Anyway, I decided I love going to certain blogs and knowing what I'm going to find there each day of the week (On My Mind Monday, Thursday Thirteen, WFMW, etc), so I am releasing my alpha version of my new and improved Focused Blog Two Month Plan. Look forward to:

Mondays: Munchkin Monday (all things about my kids; now you can plan ahead to avoid me if you're sick of hearing about them)
Tuesdays: Deutsche Dienstag OR Take-It-Or-Leave-It-Tuesday (I'll either post a German post or a product/book/movie review post)
Wednesdays: Works-For-Me-Wednesday
Thursdays: Thursday Thirteen OR Tell It All Thursday (This is my catch-all for updates and any other randomness - I may even divulge a secret or two. Probably about DH - his secrets are juicier.)
Fridays: Free Recipe Friday OR Feature Friday (Either a recipe or I'll be highlighting a blog or website I like)
Saturdays: Short Story Saturday (Creative writing at it's best. Or worst. You'll be the judge.)
Sundays: Spiritual Recharge Sunday (Thought/scripture/lesson/quote - something uplifting, inspiring, testimony-building)

What do you think? Any topics you'd like to see? I am going to try this for a few weeks and see if I like it. It might not give me a chance to blog as much about my daily life, which of course, is oh-so-interesting, but I will be able to compartmentalize! Yippee!

Youth Conference

2008-07-28T11:24:00.006-05:00

I've been missing my blogging. The past two weeks have been typical summer craziness - first the Simster and PJ were sick sick and more sick. Then I cleaned like mad to get the house presentable for a fun visit from my in-laws. I knew I had to get the entire house looking good, since they hadn't been here before and would want the complete tour. Then I spent a week entertaining, enjoying, playing, and chatting with my in-laws, including my 15-year-old sister-in-law and 14-year-old niece. I didn't go to bed until after 1am the whole time they were here (and I neglected to photo document their fun stay...slacker me!). In the midst of that, I had three kids to keep tabs on, had normal YW activities, I was working on helping my replacement at work, and DH was working his tail off. (Yep, he used to have a tail. But now he's worked it off...) That weekend I spent three days enjoying/chaperoning youth conference and then last week, I had a commitment every evening (fireside, FHE, YW activity, baby shower, RS Activity, made dinner for a family, Stake Water Park). Whew! I'm getting tired just thinking about it. Now I have a week to calm down a bit before heading to Utah on my business trip :)

Quick update on youth conference... It was really enjoyable! I wasn't used to having youth conference so chopped up (Friday 7-11pm, Saturday 9am-2pm, 7pm-11pm, Sunday 7-8:30pm) and no overnight stays, but we had a great time. The theme was "To Shine For Him Each Day" and they focused on letting our light shine. Only four MiaMaids and Laurels were even in town to go, so we had a small group, but they had a good experience.
Friday we started with a fun road rally. I haven't been in the area long and didn't know where I was going, but the kids were supposed to do it anyway, and my group just had fun and didn't worry too much about winning. Then they got to play black light volleyball. The youth conference shirts were glow in the dark, so everyone was glowing. Again, my team didn't win every game, but we had fun. I remembered why they keep putting me in Young Women - I'm not sure I'm going to ever really grow up! :)
Saturday Morning we showed up at the Nelson Center to perform service. This is a group home for children who have been severely abused physically and emotionally and are so scarred and emotionally and/or behaviorally challenged that they can't be put in a foster home right away. These kids spend time at the Nelson center among caring volunteers learning correct behaviors and learning to trust adults so they can be placed in foster care and then hopefully adopted. Our youth spent the morning weeding, pruning bushes, caring for trees and flowers, staining fences, painting signs, even taking out dead trees. It was 97 degrees plus 20% humidity so we were all sweating bullets, but it was such a good cause. I had to gently remind the youth at times what the purpose of the service was and to remember what they have that these kids don't have, but overall, they were troopers. Then we had lunch and played water games with the kids.
Saturday Night we had a banquet, speaker, and a dance. Thanks to my MIL and FIL who volunteered to stay with the kids, DH went with me to this. We had some yummy food, then a great talk on Living in the Limelight and being an example. I loved how the speaker talked about how he loves his wife now more than ever, and he knows that his love continues to grow because of the covenants they made in the temple. The music for the dance was a live band, and I guess they played mostly "old stuff" so the youth weren't totally thrilled. Even though the music was "old" they still played stuff that was too recent for DH and I. Some of the songs DH and I jammed out to, my YW were laughing at us. *Sigh* I always told myself I was going to be one of those cool parents who stayed up-to-date on the music, but the Bubbs is only three, and I'm already out-of-touch! Poop. It was also entertaining to watch DH, since he never went to dances as a youth, and he thought the music was supposed to be hymns and church stuff :) Cute, huh. It was a fun night, and the guy I have a crush on even asked me to dance! Like four times! :)
Sunday Evening was the conclusion with a fireside from a recently returned mission president on Letting the Light of Christ shine through us. He shared some stories of the people he served in Australia and the missionaries who sacrificed to be there. It was so motivating to hear about youth and adults who are so strong in their testimonies even when everything around them is attacking their beliefs. The spirit was strong and I was renewed in energy to "go about doing good." The culmination was a picture collage given to each YM/YW that contained pictures from all the youth in our stake "Shining For Him Each Day". I've scanned it so you can see how talented and creative someone in the stake was to put this together. I had two of my girls with me on the ride home and we had an amazing conversation and I was able to testify to them of how important they are and how Heavenly Father has given them each unique gifts to help them in this life. It was such a great way to end the weekend and it definitely recharged my spiritual battery! What amazing YM & YW who are growing up and standing strong in these latter days!

"Business Trip"

2008-07-17T23:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I am about to embark on my first (and last) air-travel-necessary business trip for my recent job. In order to make the transition a little smoother (from me to my replacement), the department has decided to fly me out for the week of testing so that my replacement can watch me in action and kind of have a chance to pick up where I left off. It's flattering to be needed that much, and it's pretty darn cool to call the travel agents for the university and be able to charge the flight to a department account, instead my own credit card :) I got a glimpse of what DH has been doing all these years. But my trip will be more fun because...

SLC, here I come!

August 8th - 15th

Tons of thanks to a wonderful sister and a supportive husband who are making the trip possible (-> watching Bubbs and Simster), and friends and family to stay with when I get there, I will not only be able to dispense my expertise at work (hee hee) but PJ and I will also be able to hob-knob with people we miss the most!

Please Excuse the Soapbox...

2008-07-15T12:34:00.004-05:00

So I know this has been said before, but I needed to say it again because it drives me crazy.

People, stop bellyaching about gas prices and the economy!

I am not completely inconsiderate, and I have great compassion for people who are desperately trying to make ends meet and cutting corners on everything while the gas and food prices rise. It's other people I have no sympathy for. A recent discussion with some -ahem- acquaintances of mine annoyed me just a little. It was all about how the Bush administration has caused the housing crisis, the mortgage crisis, people to default on mortgages and credit cards, higher gas prices, higher food prices, the recession, and all financial difficulties in general.

And yes, I know Pres Bush is not perfect. He has made mistakes. Big ones. And he is probably a little bit to blame for some of the issues at hand (ie some of the Iraq war decisions were probably not his best). BUT- And this is a BIG BUT (hee hee) - YOU CAN'T BLAME HIM FOR EVERYTHING! I get annoyed when people complain about how hard life is and how the government needs to fix it, when it was they themselves who got into TOO much DEBT! If you default on your mortgage because you tried to get a $400,000 home when you were pretty sure you could only afford a $200,000 home, you've got to own up to that! If you are complaining about the cost of groceries, get rid of your kid's cell phone, the cable TV, and eating out every day. Consolidate your trips so you're not using so much gas. Shop killer deals online and pay for shipping instead of driving to the mall to pay full price for something. Eat less meat and more rice and beans. Set the air conditioning at 78 or 80 degrees instead of 70 or 72. Stay home and play in the backyard instead of traipsing off to Disneyland. Be willing to give up some material stuff! Let's remember that some of those people "trying to make ends meet" are part of the 1 million people who already bought the new $200 + service contract iPhone that just came out...

I know that I don't understand what all people are going through. All I know is that we have one income (decent, but not six figures or anything) and three kids and we're still managing to set some aside in our savings. Sure, we haven't purchased our dream flat-screen with 50 billion speakers (sorry DH) or our grand piano or our drum set and my kids have only enough outfits to last them a week and then we wash and our house is not perfectly decorated, but we are doing fine. And we are cutting corners where we need to. And I have a list of things I would get rid of in order to save money if things get worse. I am not saying I'm perfect, and I'm definitely not trying to offend those of you who are struggling and trying as best as you can to provide for your families. I'm just talking about those of us who seem to think sacrificing something we WANT means the economy is in shambles and the government better hurry up and fix it.

A wise person once said, "It isn't what we look like, what we have, how much we make, the car we drive, the things we wear, or the people we know. It's who we ARE when all of that is taken away." (Actually, I'm sure somebody said something along these lines. If not, I guess I'm the profound one.) So I am trying to be less worried about what I have and more concerned about what people would see if everything was taken away. I'm far from reaching that goal, but I'm going to keep trying and hopefully instill this idea in my kids. Because you can't take it with you!

Just my soapbox. Thanks for letting me stand on it! (I had to blog about it because I can't say it directly to the face of those I'd like to say it to...)

Anyone with me on this? Anyone want to disagree with me? Totally open to it.

Quarantined

2008-07-11T11:10:00.004-05:00

Yep. Welcome to the House of the Sick. The Bubbs had a mild fever for a day or two last week, but no other symptoms. She was pretty much fine by Friday night and a happy family went back to normal activities. Then Monday afternoon, the Simster had a fever. By Monday night, PJ had a fever too. And we've been sick ever since. I haven't given in and taken them to the doctor because, let's face it, it's 99% likely it's a virus and they won't do anything but tell me to give them Tylenol anyway. So I don't feel like packing up the troops, driving across town, and waiting and paying my co-pay just to have the doc tell me to go home and give them Tylenol & Motrin. Anyone else with me on this? (If we're still miserable Monday, I might call the doctor then...)

Good things about a sick house?

Lots of cuddly, movie-watching, sleeping kids. PJ has spent most of her days sleeping away which is nice. The Simster sits still for more than 5 minutes and lets me coddle him.
Little pressure to make dinners and clean the house. The kids need me, and they don't care what's going on around them.
Less fighting, more compassion. The Simster is too sick to fight, and the Bubbs wants to take care of him and help him feel better. I even caught her stroking his forehead and saying, "It's okay you have a fever, Sim. It's okay. It's okay." Nice to see the sweet sibling side!
Some home time. Besides a run to drop off one of my YW at a stake meeting, we've pretty much stayed home. It's kind of nice to have an excuse to stick close to home. I'm a home person anyway.

Bad things about a sick house?

My babies are sad and moaning. And they don't understand why mommy can't fix it. :(
Cleaning up messy sheets and clothes. I don't think you need any more details on that one.
Nothing is getting done besides catering to my babies. And my in-laws are scheduled to come for a visit in the next few days!
Potty-training is on hold. He actually went two days in a row with not one accident and I thought we were home free. Now he's sick and can't concentrate so he's back in diapers for the time-being. Poop. (hee hee)
I miss going to our pool! We've been going at least three times a week, but we haven't gone at all this week, and I'm going through withdrawals. It's like 140 degrees. Okay, maybe only 100. But hot. At least I have air-conditioning.
The worst thing? Last night I started to feel a scratch in my throat. Now I'm a little warm and achy. I hate it when I get what they have!

I hope I can post more next week. And something more interesting. But right now, the Motrin is calling me. By name. :)

England Manchester

2008-07-07T08:04:00.005-05:00

So he has his call! To the England Manchester Mission and he reports to the England MTC on October 11th! I'm SOOO excited for him! We all talked about going there to pick him up at the end, but then I realized that when he comes home, the Bubbs will be in school... so we'll have to see what we can work out. Congratulations to my brother A! You'll be awesome!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T16:13:00.004-05:00

I love this song... and even though I've enjoyed my time in other countries and respect them, I am definitely PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! What a blessing to live in this great nation!

President Spencer W. Kimball said: “The Lord permitted these few poorly armed and ill-clad men at Valley Forge and elsewhere to defeat a great army, … a few against the many, but the few had on their side the Lord God of heaven, that gave them victory. And there came political liberty and religious liberty with it, all in preparation for the day when a young boy would come forth and would seek and make contact with the Lord and open the doors of heaven again.”

(PS Happy 19th Birthday to my cool brother A - he truly is "A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam, born on the fourth of July"! And he's finally grown up enough to realize the fireworks aren't just for him! Now we're just waiting on that mission call...)

Goodbye Sanity, Hello Carpet Steamer

2008-07-02T00:32:00.004-05:00

WARNING: This post is rated PG for some mature themes. And the picture you are about to see is rated PG because of some missing pants. Just an FYI.

I can't put it off any longer. The time has come...

potty-training!

The Simster is approaching 2 1/2 and I've kept saying, "I'll potty-train after..." First it was, after we move. Then, after we move into our house. Then, after PJ is sleeping through the night. Then, after Girls Camp. Then, after DH takes his sabbatical and trains the kid himself (which, yeah, will not happen - and I guess I wouldn't want him to use his sabbatical for potty-training). I mean, the Bubbs was one thing. I understand her -ahem- equipment. This kid? Not getting it. It's a wild thing, if you know what I'm saying.

BUT! In the last two days, Simster has done both #1 and #2 in the potty without much prodding (4 times). And he's been wearing undies OVER his diaper as well. So today, after he again successfully #2-ed, I reluctantly asked, "Do you want to just wear your underwear?" And he. was. thrilled! With a capital T! And so now we've past the point of no return (at least for me) - once you put them in underwear, you don't give in to reverting back to diapers.

So - I'm excited to kiss the diapers goodbye (only 1 kid in diapers! Yipee!). But the whole training process? Not loving it. He had two accidents today (but both pretty little) and I know there's more to come. And here I am, in a new house that's mostly carpeted. With the Bubbs, I had an entire floor that was mop-able. And believe you me, we stayed on that floor 90% of the time during training. Here? Just the entry, kitchen, and bathrooms. And a 2-year-old boy can barely stay put. So I'm in for a lot of soaking up "accidents", aren't I? Any suggestions for making the clean-up easier? Any other suggestions on helping him focus his -ahem- thingy so I'm not cleaning the ceiling? (I'm already training sitting down, much to his daddy's dismay.) Comments are appreciated, all you seasoned little-boy-potty-trainer-mommies!

Overheard...

2008-06-24T23:39:00.004-05:00

Bubbs:
(To the tune of "I Like to Look For Rainbows")

I like to see the temple...
Whenever there is rain...

Simster:

Winnie the Poop, Winnie the Poop...
Super Readers Save the Day!

Ya gotta love it! (Although if they had REALLY saved the day, the aforementioned poop would be in the porcelain throne, not in the diaper...)

How Firm a Foundation

2008-06-24T09:31:00.006-05:00

I have so much to do and so little time, but I wanted to blog a bit about Girls Camp. It was a wonderful experience! Of course, getting used to 95 degree temperatures and high humidity with no cold mountain mornings was a bit of a new experience (especially since we had SNOW last year at camp!), but luckily we did get some rain and we housed ourselves in an air-conditioned building :)

Since I was only called into YW a month ago, much of the preparation had already been done, which was great. Our theme was "How Firm a Foundation" and we focused on the words of that hymn, Helaman 5:12, and the YW values. I had an amazing Camp Director who had never been to camp before as a YW or as a leader, and she poured her entire self into preparation with every aspect of it covered. The assistant camp director was the former YW president. She is an all-around awesome woman, someone who is uplifting, genuine, supportive, and fun. We also had my secretary and my laurel advisor there, who both offered suggestions, support, and filled in wherever they were needed, many times without being asked. Our YCLs were amazing, as well. They helped plan and carry out camp and did it without complaining (at least 95% of the time). And, last but not least, we carted three babies with us up there (ages 10 months, 8 months, and 6 months). Our bishopric was very understanding of our needs as young mothers and supportive of us taking the babies, and overall, the three girls were VERY good and the YW very helpful in helping us out with them.
This was definitely one of the most spiritual camps I have been on. In the week or so prior to leaving, I kept praying about what else I could do to help incorporate the theme. I felt inspired to talk to the camp director about adding a builder theme to blend the How Firm a Foundation and the YW values. When I mentioned it to her, she said she had had the same impressions earlier but dismissed them, thinking it was too much or too late in the game. We got together a week before camp and were blessed to really mesh all the ideas together. It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father was working on all of us separately to create the camp He knew these girls needed. We started with a foundation (Jesus Christ) and then, using a talk by President Monson, I had the girls add to the depth of the foundation every time they prayed, read their scriptures, or performed acts of service. Each tent group built on their future home by adding framing (integrity), plumbing (faith- living waters, flush out the bad), paint (good works - brings color), doors and windows (choice & accountability - choose whether to let in the light and open the door for Him). The priesthood brethren added electricity (the priesthood is the power), and the leaders put on the roof (leaders provide safety and protect). It came together better than we imagined!

The first day was a little rough for me. Despite the "no cell phone" rule, we had several girls come with cell phones. Most were willing to let me confiscate them, but I had a run-in with one girl AND her mother, who was adamant her daughter have a cell phone. I really felt like I needed to uphold the rules and stand my ground, but it was hard. In the end, they agreed to let me keep the phone, but I made an enemy in the process. Actually, more than one enemy, since her friends thought I was being the meanest leader ever. And all of a sudden, I had been YW president for a month, and the girls hated me! Between that and lack of sleep, and I felt horrible! The former YW pres took me aside, let me cry, supported me, and prayed with me. When we had our Golden Hour that day, she sang to the girls "Walk Tall, You're a Daughter of God" and it was beautiful. The girls were crying too, because they felt the spirit and because they love her. And she told them she had a testimony that I was called to be the new president for a reason. It was still stressful, but she brought the spirit to that meeting and most of the girls felt better about me afterward. The one girl was still grumpy at me, and I had to deal with that. That night, though, after dinner, she asked to speak to me. And then she apologized for being a brat about the phone! I was floored! It's hard to admit you're wrong (the whole pride thing) as an adult, and here my 13-year-old YW was doing just that! We hugged and then spent the rest of the camp as friends, and she respected me! What a blessing!

We had so many great unifying experiences - the girls swam together in the lake, worked together during a service project, helped out with cooking and cleaning, pranked each other (of course - but mostly good pranks...), helped each other with certification, shared stories with each other, and sang together. These girls loved to sing, not just funny camp songs, but songs that brought the spirit, too. It was just awesome. The final night, our bishop shared a wonderful message with us and we had a testimony meeting around the fire with such a tangible spirit present. I pray that the girls will remember always the spirit we felt while at camp this year! That last night, one of the YCLs told a few scary stories and the girls got scared. My super laurel advisor told them a story that brought the spirit and then the girls started singing hymns and other church songs. And they sang and sang and sang. It was so beautiful and sweet. I fell asleep (at 2am) listening to them sing. It touched my heart!

Although we all came home exhausted (I'm still recovering), I wouldn't trade this experience. I've been to some more elaborate Girls Camps (both as a YW and as a leader), but this camp, without much fanfare and basically just us, was one of my favorite! I thought I would never love any YW as much as I loved the YW in my last ward, but I really love these girls! They are beautiful, funny, stalwart, charitable young women who are trying to do what's right when there are so few of them and so many temptations. I am just floored at how amazing they are and want to be more like them when I grow up!

Heading Off...

2008-06-17T01:22:00.002-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA. I'm heading off to Girls Camp in 6 hours and if you know anything about Girls Camp, that should explain my absence.

Send some happy thoughts our way & I'll post pics when I get back! (And after a shower. Cause I'll probably be stinky.)