These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It's not even Christmas Day yet and I already feel like I got what I wanted for Christmas. This year I was seeking a simple Christmas packed with tons of memories (as opposed to things) and thanks to my SIL and my my wish is being fulfilled.

Favorite Gifts:
*From my SIL, Carrie, the 12 Days of Christmas ready to give to another family. How fun! Carrie did all the work (cute poems, pretty bows on each gift--it was seeping with creativity) and all I have to do each night is pass it off to Jon and the girls and off they go. LOVED IT!
*From my brother, Justin, a gift that has brought about great discussions and questions with our girls. In our name, honey bees, tree seedlings and training are being provided to families in another country through Heifer International. What a great gift! I loved it for its originality, thoughtfulness and practicality. We gave another family a source of income!!! That's cool.

Favorite Activities:
*ice skating...in the rain (Who would've guessed that 40% chance of rain meant a downpour?)
*finding any excuse for having hot chocolate, like skating in the rain (We discovered flavored coffee creamers that make hot chocolate even more fun!)
*seeing the Nutcracker with the girls--love this tradition
*watching Christmas movies
*making gingerbread houses (sorry, the houses were made with graham crackers, but I did make the royal icing that worked like magic keeping everything together) The girls invited friends over too, so in all about 12 houses were made. We will definitely make this a tradition. And I will definitely do this outside next year. :)
*looking at lights...on other people's houses (because as my girls have learned, we just don't do lights on the outside because that's the part that Jon's in charge of.)

What I'm Looking Forward to:
*making donuts (Yet another excuse for more hot chocolate--you gotta have something to dip the donuts in!)
*finding some snow somewhere (Emily wants to make a snowman and go sledding. So far, the closest snow we can find is 5 hours away, so maybe we'll do an overnighter and have some snow adventures.)
*game nights
*Christmas morning
*watching more Christmas movies (did you see this one?)

Fun Ideas

Check out these sites that I found--way fun ideas!
Thanksgiving Thankful Countdown
Ornament Wreath
No Knit Scarf
Patchwork Duvet (I'm thinking it will be a great way for Emily to be more involved in her room makeover)
Christ Centered Christmas--a whole blog full of ideas!
Fabric Bracelets
Monogram Wreath
Hanging Book Display--I'm dying to do one for each of the girls.
Maybe thinking about all these fun ideas will motivate me to work super hard to get everything done today! Then I'll have lots of free time, right? :)

Am I getting it done?

My philosophy has always leaned towards 'Get in there and get er done.' I might not be having a lot of fun sometimes, but I'm getting a lot done! A couple of weeks ago I talked to a friend who I have always admired. She made this comment to me: "If we're not having fun doing what we do, then what's the point?"
I'm looking at my calendar today and seeing what needs to get done. I have lesson plans for preschool to prepare and November's calendar to the parents to get out. I have a Relief Society lesson to prepare for tomorrow. I have trick or treating tonight (Trunk or Treating was last night) and 13 people coming over for dinner tomorrow so the house needs to be cleaned today. I have 3 dentist appointments and 1 doctor's apppointment next week. I'm volunteering in Emily's class on Monday. Swimming on Tuesday. Relief Society presidency meeting on Wednesday. (Am I doing everything I can with my calling?) Visiting teaching on Thursday evening. Gymnastics on Friday. Family pictures being taken on Friday. Shopping for the family picture will be fit in...???? Preschool on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I just saw the lawn and again had the thought, 'Maybe it's time to hire someone to do the yard.' It's also time for me to get a haircut. (When???) I feel like I call on friends too much to watch my kids so that I can "Get er done!"
Yesterday after gymnastics I went to the store to get food for Sunday's dinner and next week's preschool stuff. I had a cart full when I realized I was supposed to be in Rachel's class with plates and Cheerios for her Halloween party right now!! I left the cart in the middle of the store full of stuff and RAN out, threw Hannah and Lizzie in the car and vroomed off. I hit every red light on the way home to pick up my stuff and H&L just stared at me while I growled at the lights. I tried to make it look like I was having fun doing it, but I don't think I fooled them--I think I scared them. I showed up to the party a little late, frazzled, with H&L looking like they needed a little more love and cleaner outfits. Rachel just seemed to look at me like "Yeah, that seems about right. That's my mom."
Why am I so busy and feeling like I'm doing a lot, but when you look at my house or any other part of my life one has to wonder, What is she doing?

I now know...

After a very fun, very busy day at preschool today, I put Lizzie down for a nap and Hannah and I went upstairs for some quiet time with the telly. (We get 7 stations with the antenna Jon bought--4 are PBS, one is Korean, one is Spanish and one is lame.) After watching Elmo for awhile, I heard noises downstairs. I went to investigate. Lizzie wasn't in her crib. She had discovered something more fun. Coloring! With a marker...a black marker...a black dry erase marker. It's easier to list what she didn't color on than what she did--her rug and, thankfully, the new white dresser were spotless.
Here is what I now know: (It seems that because of my kids' curiosity I've learned a lot!)
~Rubbing alcohol and hairspray take dry erase marker off walls, doors, and baseboards pretty easily. It also takes off paint pretty easily, too. Emily and Lizzie now get to choose a new paint color for their room. Emily's thinking blue. Lizzie says pink. (I'm not sure Lizzie will get much say seeing that she created this dilemma.)
~Baby wipes take dry erase marker off cribs and beds, but not off of skin.
~Murphy's Oil Soap takes most of dry erase marker out of clothes. Ironically, Lizzie was wearing this shirt. Maybe this isn't quite the shirt for her? I tend to stay pretty calm during "moments" such as these. Lizzie kept asking, "Mommy sad?" while I was scrubbing away. I simply replied, "Yes, Mommy's very sad." Then with a smile she'd say, "Sorry, Mommy."
I tried 2 more times to put Lizzie to bed. After hearing noises I checked on her to make sure she hadn't found any more markers. The first time she was in her closet, with the doors closed trying on shoes and the next time she was doing somersaults on her floor. What am I going to do??? She usually takes 3 hour naps! It's such a wonderful thing and I'm not ready to give them up. So, after picking up Rachel from school I tried one more time and told her to stay. The look on my face was enough I guess because she napped until the next teasing match woke her up.
What did you learn today?

This Week's Menu

Monday: Rats and Snakes
Tuesday: Bat Wings in Blood and Ghosts (Parmesan flavored)
Wednesday: Monster Faces (Spider Webs for dessert)
Thursday: Creepy Crawlies
Friday: Saucy Worms

The tests are in...

Three different doctors ordered a total of 10 tests to pinpoint what's been up with me. The results are in from the tests and for the most part I just need to make a few changes and I'll be on my way to health and strength. The easy things? Make some diet changes and increase some deficient vitamins. That's the easy part, though I'm not too excited about minimizing chocolate, wheat, oats and sugar. I bought a juicer, 20 lbs. of fruit and some vitamins and supplements. The problem comes in when the doctor tells me to reduce my stress and increase my sleep. Not as easy as popping some vitamins. I've already set my life course on busy and I've recently realized I haven't left a whole lot of room for me. I have tried. I really have. The two biggest being the gym and house cleaners. I signed up for the gym because my early morning walks weren't working too well, due to Jon's traveling and Lizzie crawling out of her crib while I was out. But sadly, since signing up over a week ago for the gym, I haven't found a time to go just to get my picture taken for my card! I hired house cleaners to help with the big stuff I haven't been keeping up with since starting the preschool. But sadly, I haven't even been keeping up with the little stuff.
My personality that focuses on perfectionism may have gotten me far in life, but now it's getting me in trouble. I feel like my head is arguing all day long. "It's important! It's not important!" I fear that my days of getting lots done are gone. Sometimes projects for church or school, reading a great book, catching up on laundry have to be paid with the price of missed sleep. I might be tired the next day, but I feel satisfied. Now, I know that missed sleep costs me more than just a groggy day. I'm wiped out for a week with a dip in my health. The price is all of a sudden too steep if I am to be a good mom who can deal with the whining, crying, emotions of a bad day at school, homework, life's questions. I'm determined to alter my perspective. I have to. I'm not giving myself a choice. But, I am allowing myself a time of mourning for my old self (the one who thrived on accomplishing tasks, the one who stayed up late because that was my time) before I take the time to get to know the new me (the one with a bedtime, the one who doesn't eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast and the one who allows minimal distress in her life even when her 2 year old rips off a diaper in her room at 8:00 at night that requires the room to be quarantined for sanitation purposes. I'll let you know when I get to know the new me, but so far I don't think I know her very well.

Seriously (#3)

Jon told me today that Obama recently used our current health care provider as a role model for his health care reform plans. I guess I'm not surprised. The provider we use is set up very much like the government. Here was my experience with our health care provider this week.
A week ago I had a health issue, one that's been ongoing but sporadic. I called the call center, explained the problem and asked if it would be prudent to see a specialist. No, just see an internal medicine doctor. I made an appointment for yesterday--the next available one. I went in, described the problem, which by now was no longer a problem. I was told I need to see a specialist. Right--what a great idea. AND see the specialist when I am having the problem. Right--brilliant! Very helpful! So far I'm nowhere and I've paid someone $20 to tell me these things.
Well, the problem came back this morning. So, I quickly called after preschool to make my appointment with the specialist. The next available appointment? Next week. I explain the history and what I would like to happen--to be seen today or tomorrow so that testing can be done and answers can be found.
Here is the solution I am told (after talking to several people who didn't know what to do with me): Call to make an appointment with the internal medicine doctor (who is on the south end of town and referred me to the specialist yesterday). She will take a picture of the problem and send it to the specialist. Then the specialist will look at the picture and determine if she wants to see me and then I will get a call to make another appointment for the specialist (on the north end of town).
Seriously!!!
Let's just hope I never have to use Obama's plan because I would end up frequenting the psych ward every time I needed anything medical!!!
Needless to say, in my frame of I'm-not-feeling-very-well mind, the poor nurse who relayed this crazy plan had to listen to my response. I don't think it needs to be scripted here, but wowie, wow, wow! Don't worry, I didn't use any expletives, but I'm sure my tone sure did.
Ten seconds after I hung up with the nurse (saying something like "I'm not playing your ridiculous game!") I got a call from the specialist's office saying she could see me in an hour. Huh? I frantically made phone calls to friends who knew a bit of the situation--Please watch my kids. (What would we do without friends???) The doctor did some tests and the results will be back sometime in my lifetime. I think the results will be: She has lost her mind, and there is nothing we can do for her! But maybe they can take pictures of me in a padded room and send them around to all of you!

Christmas in August!

What a fun month August has been! I've had some great finds.
Here's my list of what made me happy this month: (Happiness can be found in a box! :) )
-Wooden Blocks-- These have been on my Preschool Wish List for years, and I finally did it! When they came it was like Christmas morning for me! I opened up the box, dumped out all 162 pieces and played and played and then let them sit on the family room floor for over a week until we had the missionaries over. I just had to smile in my heart every time I stepped over them or saw the girls building.

-Roller Boards--Did you have these in elementary school for P.E.? Because they are so fun! As soon as they were unpacked (I got 2) all 4 girls were taking turns going down the driveway. On Wednesday we had 8 friends over to play (from our Summer Babysitting Swap Group) and I got them out. So fun to watch what the kids did with them.

-A nice microscope--I think I might just be fulfilling a childhood fantasy of mine with this one, but I think it'll be a great addition to the preschool. And I have lovely visions of my girls and me being curious and wanting to look at everything under the sun.

-Bleak House--an 8 part BBC period drama mini-series not from Jane Austen or Elizabeth Gaskell (it's surprisingly a great Charles Dickens story)! Just a delight! I thought it was very well done. It took 9 days (I had a presidency meeting one night) to watch it on our new...

-NETFLIX ACCOUNT--Yeah for us for joining this new world! What can I say about this one other than I love the words "Watch Instantly."

-Katie Herzig--Thanks, Carole! I'll be adding her as a Pandora station as soon as the new month starts. (Did I (and the girls!) really listen to 40 hours of music in 2 1/2 weeks???) Ladies, you've got to listen to her "Forever" song and just let the memories flow!

-Mango Coconut Smoothie--I know it's a good recipe when I've written to the side 'triple the amounts'. Here is my diet for the summer all blended together for a yummy drink:
100ml apple juice
1 mango (I suggest frozen mango chunks)
4 Tbl. coconut milk
4 Tbl. bio-yoghurt (hee, hee I just love my UK recipe books!) I use vanilla yogurt.
1 tsp. honey
-I haven't made these tiered skirts yet, but I hope to soon (meaning within the next year). My friend's daughter has a similar skirt that goes with a T-shirt that's been appliqued with a butterfly from some of the skirt's material. Very cute. Very simple. But very easy? We'll see.

Music

What is it about music? Why do I feel so drawn to some music and not others? I usually wonder what my music taste says about me. I listen to Pandora (here's my first post about it) and keep adding stations when I find a group/singer that I like. Here are my favorites right now: (I love finding new favorites!)
Weepies
Josh Radin
Matt Nathanson
Sondre Lerche (found him after watching "Dan in Real Life")
Iron & Wine
Rufus Wainwright
Newton Faulkner
Feist
I almost get excited about doing housework, because that means I get to blast my music all throughout the house! The girls know this and so it's been a great motivation for them to work because then they get to turn Mom's music off and turn theirs on. Currently, the girls have a few stations on Pandora too:
Taylor Swift
Disney
High School Musical

Summer Camp

With our last month of summer left I looked up summer camps for kids. I had talked to a mom who had signed up her kids for some cooking classes and thought that sounded fun. After seeing the price ($600 for both E&R), I thought "I can do that!" (I need to make that my motto.)
The girls and I sat down and made a list of all the foods they'd like to learn to make. Here's what we did:
Day 1: apple pie
Day 2: decorated cakes and cupcakes
Day 3: pretzels and banana bread
Day 4: pizza (homemade dough and sauce)
Day 5: chocolate chips cookies
The "class" started as soon as Lizzie went down for her nap. Some days we invited friends to join us and made even bigger messes. My kitchen looked like we had camped in it for the week, but we all agreed we would definitely do it again.

Things That Make Me Chuckle #6

Emily!
Yesterday I took the girls to our Children's Museum. Our next Netflix movie came just as we were leaving, so the girls watched "The Bee Movie" on the way. I kept the movie playing while I paid the meter and got out the stroller and picnic food. "Okay girls, time to turn off the movie and get out." I take the key out and hear, "Oh no! I forgot my shoes!" I just stopped moving trying to debate the best way to respond. Of course she wanted to go home and get them, but we would lose Lizzie to a nap if we did that, so we stayed. My big 9-year old rode in front of the stroller and Lizzie rode in the back and Rachel and Hannah walked on either side with Hannah crying the whole way in. What a sight! We ended up hanging out in the art room the whole time. It was clay week--a perfect medium for all 4 girls. Emily was a good sport even though she was a bit embarrassed. While she was working on her clay vase I looked at her bare feet and said, "You have to admit, this is pretty funny." "Not really," she said, but she gave me a small smile anyway.

I love being frugal!

Trying to speed morning routines along during the end of school last year, I buckled and bought a box of instant oatmeal. Gasp! I know. I regretted it as soon as the box was opened and consumed within a few days. Some of my thoughts were: "I can't believe I just spent $3 on that box." "I don't even want to think about the amount of sugar they just consumed." And "I have 100 lbs. of oats sitting in buckets! I can just make these, can't I?"
A quick Internet search and a list of ingredients in hand I went shopping. I was sold when I saw the words "cost analysis". 100 bags later (yes, I really do like to do things in bulk) and I had a stash of instant oatmeal baggies on hand in various flavors--marshmallow and chocolate chips, apples and cinnamon, blueberries 'n cream, strawberries 'n cream, brown sugar. A few adjustments needed to be made with the salt and the sugar, but I love them! I eat one almost everyday. The girls weren't as patient during the adjustment phase (a day or two) and will humor me with a bite if I go on and on about how yummy it is. Silly girls. They will learn.

Preschool

With the countdown to 4th and 2nd grade (22 days) comes the countdown to preschool for Hannah and me (29 days). The preschool room is pretty much ready.

Here's the before:

Here's the after:

The girls use this room as their playroom and quiet room. I know that when I can't find one or all of them to look there first. Em likes to play out there by herself with blocks, read or do craft projects. Ray likes to play teacher to her younger siblings, read, make b-day presents or do worksheets. Hannah likes to play dress-ups and school. One day she and a friend decided it would be fun to dump out all 25 puzzles. They then discovered how 'fun' it is to put every single puzzle back together. Lizzie sometimes is not invited because she... well, she's 1.

My favorite things about the room:

-it's a light and happy room
-the closets--one houses my supplies in a neat and orderly way and the other one is the reading nook/puppet theater
-the mirror in between the closets--the kids check themselves out when they play dress-ups
-the rug--it makes me smile when I see it
-I did it!

An Ode to Family Reunions

Horse back riding, riding the ski lift, hiking, waterfalls, family pictures, sleepovers with cousins, beautiful mountains, many mosquito bites, Grandparents, long drives, Yellowstone, bison, aunts and uncles, Rook, tire blowouts, many movies, the flu, good to see family, great to be home.

Crunch time

Book club is Thursday, I'm leading the discussion for North and South, and I still haven't received my book I ordered a month ago. I was hoping it would come before our trip, but alas it did not and now we're home and it's Crunch Time! Enter librivox.org. I listen (for free, of course) to my book while catching up on laundry and various ho hum tasks. Each chapter is read by a different person, which means that some chapters have a different experience other than what the author intended. I have decided that people from the Midwest (or many other parts of the world) should not be reading Britsh lit. The readers say where they are from at the beginning of the chapter, and I feel giddy when I hear "UK" because then I know it's going to be a good one!
I don't think I could listen to the whole book this way, but it's nice to have the option while doing other things.
If you try it, let me know what you think.

Pure enjoyment

A&E's Pride and Prejudice might have just been bumped down a notch on my list of favorite movies. Last Saturday night Jon and I were looking for a movie to watch online (our computer is hooked up to our TV so please don't picture Jon and me huddled around our computer watching our version of TV :) ). I was in the mood for a period drama (when am I not?) and came across a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South from the BBC. I remembered a friend in England recommending it to me (well done, Jo!). We only had time for episode 1, and I could hardly wait until Monday to watch the other 3 episodes. If you haven't seen it yet, make haste and WATCH IT!
I often enjoy the book much more than the movie version, so imagine my excitement in reading the book. I hope to read it quickly (I'm choosing it for our next book club book), but I have been rather busy watching the movie over and over (and over?)!
Here's a great review of the book and movie--read this after you watch the movie (there are a few spoilers and her comments about Mr. Thornton will bring a smile to your face.)
Enjoy!

Seriously?! (#2)

It's time to vent. Here's the story:
E, R and H are in a swim class at my neighbor's (heated!) pool. She invited anyone she knew to have their kids come over for classes with a hired swim instructor. Very nice of her. There are 4 or 5 classes with us being the last one of the day. I was excited, the girls (well, E & R) were excited. So far no complaints. Enter the parents of the other children and the complaints begin. First, the parents of the other child (he's 3) in the girls' class did not want me to invite a friend to join the class because "it would change the dynamics of the class." I don't even begin to pretend to know what that means, but I keep my thoughts to myself. My neighbor tells me of other politics she's having to deal with and I keep my thoughts to myself. Unsurprisingly, I haven't connected with any of the other parents. Let's just say I stand out a bit--I show up to the classes without my husband and I have 4 kids and my nail polish doesn't match my swimming suit. Two lessons ago I had Liz on one hip trying to dive, jump, back float and swim at every opportunity and Hannah on the other holding on for dear life. Hannah has not yet discovered a love of the water and Liz definitely has. I definitely changed the dynamics of that class and not many were amused. I asked a friend to watch Liz during the next lesson so I could be in the pool with Hannah and not change the dynamics of the class again.
Last night I got an email. The instructor is not available, but a substitute is and does anyone mind? Not a problem, I replied. Well, shocker! the majority would like to postpone for a week until the instructor is available!!!!!!! WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL? WHO CARES? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE? were some of the thoughts I had loudly in my head. I won't share my other thoughts regarding parents who have too much time and not enough kids. Seriously!!!!

The Month of May

May was an exhaustingly great month filled with some good stories (see post entitled "Oh Well"). Here are some other happenings for the month:

Most satisfied story:
Continuing with the yard projects. The rest of our sod for the front and back were put in and we spent most of May watering it with a huge water bill to prove it. I then spent a few hot hours mowing, raking and edging the beautiful new lawn--with a few new blisters to prove it. I really do love the look of a crisply mown lawn.











Most frustrating story:
In February I ordered some free mulch from a tree service company. I was put on a list and would get a call when they were in my area. I got the call one day in May--on a day that was going to be devoted to cleaning the house in preparation of a bread making class being held in my house the next evening. The picture doesn't do justice to the amount that showed up--a whole truckload! Every neighbor on our court felt the need to comment on the quantity. Yes, I ordered way too much and over half the pile ended up in the street to be picked up. It took me around 8 hours, but I was able to clear out my driveway and amazingly get my house cleaned too!
I also had the same amount of dirt delivered last month and used all of it--that took me 3 days. I'm always so satisfied (but pretty tired) after these projects.

Most exciting story:
Here is the before picture of my preschool room. The walls, closet doors, baseboards and ceiling were a deep dark salmon color--YUCK! The blinds for the windows and sliding glass door were metallic gold--shiny! Everything has been repainted and the blinds have been thrown away. After a few more touch-ups and a new rug being delivered, I'll post the after picture. It's not done, but I already LOVE it!

Most proud and crazy mom story:
Me and four kids at Open House.

Rachel had been talking about Open House for weeks! It was a big deal. Both girls were excited to show off some of their best projects. It was unfortunate that it happened while Jon was in Spain.

After a long line for some promised books at the book fair as a reward for a job-well-done for their reading program, we had some root beer floats while waiting for the classrooms to open at 7:00! We then quickly went to Ray's room where she proudly led me around the room with her checklist of 15 different things to show me. Em did her best to entertain the younger two, but Lizzie is CRAZY! So back and forth I went chasing after Liz and "paying attention" to Ray. Admittedly, I jealously saw other parents with 1 child slowly and with full attention read everything their child had done. I was sad that I could only give Ray a fourth of my attention knowing that she deserved a whole lot more--she works hard at school.

Em didn't like my idea of "Let's read these 12 reports/poems/stories when you bring them home." So, while stopping Lizzie from destroying the room, I read quickly and with as many oohs and aahs as I could fit in.

Most "What Was I Thinking?!" Story:
Emily wanted to bring in some treats for her summer b-day. Emily's class had been reading Charlotte's Web. So, I thought I would combine the two and make this spider cookie. I emailed the teacher my idea and she said great, but didn't give me a date. Last Thursday Emily came home and said the class finished reading the book and her teacher wanted to know if I was bringing the cookie in the next day. "Sure, no problem!" I say with a forced smile. That night I found myself making 2 (oh, did I forget to mention that Rachel's class also read Charlotte's Web and it made sense at 10:00 at night for me to make an extra one so the other child didn't feel left out???) The recipe was easy (Pillsbury cookie dough, Duncan Hines frosting, melted chocolate chips for the web). It was the spiders that got a little tricky because I forgot to pick up chocolate licorice for the legs so I found myself cutting black Jujy Fruits into little spider legs and carefully jamming chocolate sprinkles into gum drops for the eyes! I was getting to that "I'm so tired I'm going to start laughing with the crazies!" stage. But the next morning, seeing the reaction of Emily and hearing her say "Wow! I just thought you were going to do cookies for my b-day treat--I never expected this, Mom!" made it all worth it!

And the "Just Because They're So Darn Cute!" picture:

Things That Make me Chuckle #5

Jon.

Every year Jon and I try to take a couple's trip. We have some great memories from our past trips to New York, D.C., Hawaii, a Mediterranean cruise. I was looking forward to our next trip partly because the current Jon spends a little freer than the Jon I first married. Or so I thought...

Jon: "I think we should go to Hawaii. I have enough miles to get our tickets (which means free) and I have enough hotel points to get our room (which means free) and if we pack a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter..."

Thankfully, this idea of his made him laugh, so I'm still holding onto my thought of traveling with a carefree Jon who is going to enjoy going to restaurants.

Oh Well...

After a long week of being a single mom, Jon lovingly suggested I take a nap after church today. And I eagerly agreed! No sooner had I laid down than Lizzie came up for a visit. She had a wonderful smell to her. Not a good thing, my brain told me. Jon took a whiff--baby oil. Meanwhile, downstairs, Rachel and Hannah were slipping in the puddles of baby oil in the hallway. Jon and I immediately divided and conquered cleaning kids, changing outfits, cleaning Lizzie's room, hallway, stairs and our room. A freshly clean floor, clean kids and my nap time is over!

Darn pigs!

Jon had a great surprise this week for Em and Ray: he was taking them to Chicago with him on a business trip, leaving tomorrow and coming back Tuesday. They'd get to play with G&G and cousins while he went to boring meetings. We told them Tuesday night. They were excited! I was excited--I had started dreaming about all the things I was going to do over a 5 day weekend with just 2 kids!!!

I got the call from Jon Wednesday morning. The business trip was being canceled due to swine flu. Disappointment all around! The girls took it well. They're easy to please, thankfully. They seemed just as excited about doing some local things with the whole family instead of a big trip to Chicago. Good for them! Too bad their Mom's not as flexible.

Thanks to my good friend Jackie who sent this picture to warn us all to hold off on kissing pigs for awhile.

Seriously?

I went to my least favorite place to visit on a Saturday--the grocery store. Jon had been asking for a week if I was going to go, even offering to go. I didn't think things were looked that desperate in our kitchen, but I guess some people feel that being out of chips, milk and yogurt is desperate.
Of course, the lines were long by the time I was done, and of course, I had a very full grocery cart. I stood in line for what seemed forever waiting for my turn. When I started taking my things out of my cart I heard some comments behind me like, "That is so rude!" and "I can't believe some people." Hmmm, I wondered what they were talking about. I kept taking things out of my cart and finally caught on that the couple (they were in their late 40s) behind me was talking about me! I quickly put it together--the couple had only a few things and were upset because I didn't offer for them to go in front of me!!! The comments continued, but thankfully I didn't hear all of them. But as I was packing my groceries I did hear the wife's one final word to me as she walked by--said loud enough for me to hear. Thankfully, it's a word I don't hear too often.
At what point did they think I even knew to offer for them to go in front of me--they were BEHIND me! No eye contact was EVER made. At no time did they ask if it would be all right for them to go in front of me. I could make a lot of assumptions about them, but it doesn't matter. I love being able to help others and spread kindness when I see an opportunity, but wow did I find it hard to feel any kindness and love towards them after hearing their comments!

Yard Projects

We moved into a house that had recently been updated--nothing needed to be done to the house (except a coat of pink paint in one bedroom). One person who lives in this house would say that nothing on the inside or outside of the house needed to be done. Another person who lives in the house is very happy that she married someone who loves her very much and feels pretty spoiled right now with a frontyard and a backyard that are going to be as lovely as the house. The sod is on hold due to a heat wave, but pictures of the beautiful new yards will be posted in a few days.

Easter Sunday

You can't tell by this picture, but the girls are all in matching dresses for Easter. I wish we would have taken more pictures, because even Lizzie was into the whole matching thing, bringing her dress to me when she saw her sisters all dressed up and getting their hair done. The dresses are adorable--they were made by my neighbor. I have a really, really nice and talented neighbor who has great memories of growing up with her 4 sisters and just loves watching my girls play and seeing their different personalities. We showed off the girls to her before church. I didn't know who was more pleased--my neighbor, me or the girls!

Congrats, Em!

Emily was spotlighted as student of the month a few weeks ago. Thankfully, the program is quick--it has to be--it's done 20 times a year. I had Hannah and Lizzie with me and it felt like church--everyone turning around to see who the loud child was, then everyone turning around to see the mom chase and entertain the child in attempts to keep her quiet. Liz was frustrated she couldn't go sit by Emily, who is always so proud to show off her sisters.

Good Reads

Not too often do I blog about books I've read. But every once in awhile I find a book that is blog worthy.
I like to read books like I watch most movies--in fast forward. If it's a good book I read it quickly, usually in one night. Last week I read Austenland by Shannon Hale. It was entertaining, it made me laugh, it was fun to think about, so I gobbled it up in a couple of hours. I also quickly read through a couple of other books last week. Fun, fun, fun!
But, rarely does a book come along that I read slowly! At first it almost annoyed me that I felt I had absorbed so much only to find that I was only a few chapters in. Is my reading pace slowing in my old age? I wondered. No, it's just a different kind of read. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral is my latest project to help me ignore the laundry, the sweeping, the dishes and all those other things that have not yet made it to my list of hobbies. The book is about a family who devotes a year to eating foods that are found within a hundred miles of their home. It's inspiring and a bit romantic to read about their garden (it's huge), the amount of tomatoes canned (over 300 lbs.) and the good lives their animals (or their neighbors' animals) lived before being 'harvested'. When I read the book I feel a sense of reverence towards plants and animals. It makes me feel even more excited about my garden and ways I can better my family's eating habits. Books are a great source of entertainment for me, but books that help me to change my life for the better get to be placed on a pedestal for awhile.

Hobbies

I had a great chat with a friend a few weeks ago that reminded me once again how overly blessed I am in the friend department. This wise friend was talking about how she has shifted her thinking of hobbies since becoming a mom. Now she gets excited about finding great deals when shopping, trying out new hairstyles on her oldest daughter and cooking for her family. Not a bad list, but it made me laugh. Certainly my hobbies have transformed as well and have broadened to include things like yardwork and organizing preschool curriculum. I also like to refinish furniture and paint walls. I get satisfaction out of big projects and feel empowered when I see things change in a drastic way (which is why I like cutting down trees). I also like simpler hobbies--making things for the girls, baking and reading.
I don't know that I have a favorite because the way I do projects (throwing my whole self into it) burns me out and so I just move onto something else.
Currently my free time is invested in yardwork and reading. At night I dream about 2 dressers I want to make over for the girls. During the day the girls and I bake whenever we can. Emily has even started to take over some of the baking, which is very exciting.
What are your current hobbies? Maybe I can add a new one to my list of things to try!

What a great day!

On Saturday we enjoyed a lovely day of enjoying the wonders of California. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to a forest that has huge, 1,000 year old redwoods. I love being in relaxed settings like this with the girls. It's peaceful, it's interesting, we learn a few things about trees and plants and animals. Rachel was even taking studious notes while we listened to a park ranger talk about the root infrastructure of redwoods!

Being outside means happy kids. We did have one sad occurence: a very loved stuffed animal made it into the forest but unfortunately did not leave with us. Licorice the Cat decided she was happiest in a nature setting and went for a river run. We'll miss you Licorice, but your replacement arrived a few days ago.

When we left the forest we were satisfied and thought we were done for the day. One minute on the road to home we saw a sign for a beach. What a great way to end our lovely day! We weren't prepared to go to the beach, but not much is needed, right? Just let the kids loose and they discover all kinds of things to do. There was a great hill to climb with great views, a horse out for a stroll and tons of entertaining dogs to watch. Another perfect day in sunny California. A person could really get used to this! :)