Screeeeech

Halt.  You there.  Stop your growing. 

Jayce has been on my mind a bit more than the usual lately.  This toothless, skinny, hysterical-at-all-times child is growing up without even consulting me.  I find myself sneaking in extra hugs and kisses (of course not in public) or just wanting to be near him.  This is his year.  The year he is shiny and new.  Well, he has always been shiny to me, but this year the rest of the world is seeing him sparkle.  He is learning how to be funny without the annoyance, clever in the right setting, polite when necessary, and eating without complaint.  Thank goodness those youthful freckles aren’t fading.  This is the year he has realized his sister is not too shabby, that cleaning up after himself is way easier than getting in trouble for not doing so, that even though you (and your mother) can’t stand your teacher, sometimes you gotta suck it up and learn anyway.  So to my Jayce, I am so proud of who you are becoming and the choices you make,

but please, please slow down!!

Wascally wabbits

This is what I found when looking for the quote about chasing 2 rabbits and losing both. (Amazing advice.)   Which by the way, is my LIFE.  Sometimes I get a mouth full of grass in the process, but here’s the thing.  Yes, there are 2 rabbits, yes, chances are that they will both get away.  You see, my brain doesn’t allow for letting one go.   I need them both.  The trick is to enjoy the chase.  Grab some flowers as you slide through the fence,  run through the sprinklers, do a little twirling, maybe get your exercise in while en route, sometimes you just plain forget what you are running after,  but eventually you catch a glimpse of one or both of your goals and your back on track.  Here’s my point.  Maybe life isn’t about finishing everything you start.   Maybe the trick is learning from the journey.  Plus, if you have friends like mine, there are times when you have 2 people chasing 2 rabbits and that really helps.

Jumbo mess

Thank you Kathy for this:

and the other lovely things you sent my way, (including your wisdom!)

I attempted to make one of these babies the day after it arrived, for my mom’s birthday.  It turned out pretty cute.  Like a giant cupcake.  Pictures you ask?  Oh, we will get there.  We were meeting at the park, so into the car it went.  Lainy struggled to hold onto it without tasting it every few seconds, so in the front seat it went.  I called Kathy to thank her and let her know I had already made good use of it.  Before that sentence escaped my lips, I had taken a corner too sharp and down it went. 

So there is your picture.

And Happy Birthday mom.

It’s time for some change

This is typical me.   I do something at full speed for as long as I can possibly go and then I quit.  The more I thought about this logic, the more I realized it’s truthfulness. 

When I clean, I clean like a madman as much as I can, and then I don’t clean at all for weeks.  (besides, picking up and bare minimum.)

When I run, I love to sprint as hard and as fast as my body will take me and then I walk.  And when I do take to running, I will run for a few months nearly everyday.  Then I just stop.  For months. 

Blogging.  I blog consistently, then I stop completely.  

I even do it with work.  I cram in as much as I can- eat sleep breath hair (gross) until I crash and inevitably the words “I quit” escape my mouth every couple of months. 

And if you know me even slightly, you have heard the never ending cycle of, “I’m moving. No we’re staying forever.  No now we are moving.   Nope, we are staying.  We are REALLY moving.  We would never leave here.”

Change.  I thrive on change.  That must be it.

No Drama Mama

She says I’m calm.  (laughter)  She thinks I am patient.  (snicker) 

I love this girl.  Meet Candace. My sweet sis-in-law who is staying with me and my family for a bit.  She is funny, and spontaneous, and healthy (holy cow, she is healthy!) she’s passionate, fiery, and loving.  She has two sweet angels, John and Blazer.  And of course, her man, JJ.  (Jason’s little bro) 

In the few weeks they have been here I have learned more than a thing or two.  When I assumed I would be playing the part of the example-er, I learned more than a thing or two from watching this young mama of two…

• enjoy my children at all times
• patience goes a long way
• look for the positive in my kids
• less sugar really does make a difference in children! (wow.) 
• Studying the scriptures no matter what your beliefs, should be like drinking water in the desert.
• Judging is a no no. 

None if this was learned by her cramming it down my throat or even mentioning it casually.   It was all by her example in my home.  I have come to really love this family.  And not just because she thinks I’m calm.  Which I love.  Give it a few more weeks… she’ll come around.

Catapults and Dancing

Nice eh?

Knocked down a level

When Jayce was 5 and getting ready to begin Kindergarten my wise sister-in-law Kathy gave me a much needed head’s up.  She said, “are you prepared to take a back seat and not have all the answers?”   Huh?   “Once your kid starts school, you become second in command after the teacher.  If the teacher says something is true and you feel otherwise, the teacher trumps mom.”

This info has since been proven accurate many times over.  Lainy is now preparing to enter the same doom school.  She began a little early with this convo yesterday…

L: When Tessa chews gum, she chews it so long that it just disappears.

M: Mmm,  usually if you chew gum too long it just gets small and hard. 

L: No, Tessa said, mom.  It’s Tessa’s gum and it disappears. 

M:  Ok, she is probably right then.

L: She IS right.

Children’s Museum

 

***PICTURES AHEAD*** Explanations if necessary. 

Pizzeria with cloth pizzas and toppings

This was a loft with plastic half pipe lining the walls and you dropped baseballs from this platform to watch them roll around the perimeter of the room.  Lainy apparently had something they all wanted!

At the carwash yeah.  

A shoe-in for a favorite spot…

Sorry Shell, I know you are not a huge fan of this picture, but it’s all I had, for documentation purposes of course! Thanks or spending such a fun day with me. (I swear I won’t post your noodle forest picture without permission.)

Jared was in supermarket heaven here.  He expressed a deep desire to either stay forever or return home with his grocery cart.

Ice cream you scream, please don’t eat the foam ice cream!

Racetracks that wound around from a top floor to the ground, as did my children. 

 

This was a result of catching a glimpse of…

The noodle forest!   Easily the favorite location of the day.

 

So many stops to take the time and just be silly!

Even Shelli got in on the crazy!

This little beauty was a fun one,  it had air constantly running through it and you popped one of these balls in and it shot through…

another opening and went sailing through the air only to be followed by peals of laughter and a race to retrieve it and start again.

Jared was not a fan of being photographed, this was in the fort-making room, and he permitted me to snap this one. 

The clan, minus Jared for aforementioned reasons. 

 

The utensil cloud.  Very cool. 

 

F words

As we made our rounds at the dinner table tonight telling the best part of our day, Lainy’s was “Learning the letter “F” at school” 

I asked her what words began with F that she learned at preschool.  A list ensued…

Frog (Lainy)

Fantastic (mom)

Flight (Jayce)

Funny (mom)

Frrrroundle (Lainy)

Fast (Jayce) 

Flink (Lainy) 

I Farted.  (Jared)

Sigh.

Rambling

I wish I had the ability to explain something I am passionate about to a person without overwhelming them. (i.e. The gospel, running, or Thrive the new food storage company I am promoting) I tend to just chatter my way through an explanation until I realize I have said too much, in an unorganized manner until they get that glazed over look and have checked out. 

Here are a few possible solutions I have come up with…

• Don’t curb your enthusiasm if it is real.  But don’t force it either. 
• Be an active listener and allow conversation
• Don’t plow through with info if you can’t get them interested
• Think before you speak and organize your thoughts
• Remember, not everyone is in the same place in life.  They just may not be ready

Can’t say that I have to ability to follow all of these things, but at least they came out of my own brain so there is hope!

Night time selfishness

Last night I was tired.  I did not want to spend another night up with Jared and his coughing fits which ultimately result in vomiting.   After 4 months of this, my patience has worn thin. Why can’t we fix this? I got angry when I had to change his clothes after he gagged and got yuck on him.  I was annoyed that he was so particular about how his breathing mask went on.  I sighed a lot when he wanted more than one drink.  And I wanted to sleep! 

I I I.  Me me me. 

Rewind to the last post about not being a very good chorister for my family.  I signed up for this mothering business.  I knew it was going to have it’s perks and its challenges.  And here I was thinking only of myself. Again.  This thought went through my mind about 3 am last night. Yes, I was tired.  But my sweet little one was the one coughing uncontrollably.  He was the one who’s throat hurt.  He was the one who had to drink that nasty medicine. He was the one who had just had his little tonsils taken out.  And he couldn’t sleep either!  All I had to be was awake!  Oh, I did a lot of snuggling and coddling the rest of the night.

A Mother’s Symphony

As I quickly re-applied mascara over yesterdays mascara and threw my hair into a ponytail for the day, I listened to what was a house quiet of children and here is what I heard… 

• Jared snoring in my bed
• the clock ticking next to me
• the washing machine making it’s rounds
• the dryer complimenting with buttons inside rhythmically tapping
• a dishwasher whirring softly
• Flapjacks paws ticking across the floor

A mother’s music.  So many times I have gone through my day stressed and trying to quiet the sounds of my family.  I should be leading them in song!  Directing and teaching.  Not shushing them. 

(Stay tuned for more on this subject night time- version, in a coming post.)

A few of my favorite things…

They named it well.  My lashes are very stiletto-like. Love.

Somehow these make my writing look prettier.

Cannot live without the manipulator.  The smell alone is worth the money. Not to mention it’s awesome.

Shade clothing.  I think my wardrobe is 50% shade.  This little beauty has been on my list for a few months now.

Love AE all around.  Best sweats in the world.  And of course the jeans.

I have skinny feet.  Converse makes skinny shoes.  My feet like these shoes.

Umm.  Pollo Grande.  I get it every time.  I think I will go there today.

Often times twizzlers and milk duds make up my night time snack.  And afternoon snack, and well, all the time.

Simple little flowers that need no fluff for beauty. 

Yes, I like Pink.  I know.  It’s terrible.  I buy all the clean versions of her songs.  It’s the rebel  deeeeeep inside me. 

Chrysler 300

I have no idea why I love this car.  It just caught my eye and stuck.  I’ve never actually driven one, or even seen the inside of one.  But I like it.

Halle-stinkin-lujah

I love to run.  Well,  I loved to run.  Until it became a chore and requirement. I hope to regain that love again. I signed up to race the Ragnar del sol this coming weekend with 11 other crazies.   I had grand images in my mind of the adventure it would be.  (And it will be! Have fun!)  But I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am to have found someone to run in my place.  I tend to be a bit on the flaky side, so I can’t duck behind excuses all day, but it was just really bad timing for the craziness I call my life.  So, to Laurie Glade Janelle and Brett:  Good luck, have fun and be careful!

Glorious greasy goodness

Jason mentioned I was racking up points with my Sunday menu.  Fried chicken strips, french fries and a homemade cheesecake.  I know, I could hear my little heart sputtering as I licked my fingers. 

While the children inhaled (we had to tell them to sit in their chairs and finished chewing before they refilled their plates) the food at dinner, Lainy between bites said, “mom, you are the bestest mom all the way to planet Pluto!”  Jayce quickly responded, “No Lainy, Pluto isn’t a planet, it’s a moon.”   Well, Sonny, back when I was your age Pluto was considered a planet….

Clean and Clear and under control

Now I am no clean freak.  I don’t need vacuum lines in my carpet daily, I don’t need to see my reflection in my floors, but I am definitely happier when my house is clean.  

It has been quite a few days since I have ventured to think of cleaning my house.  Jared has been more of an attachment than I thought after his surgery.  And since he is so little and so rarely snuggles I certainly took advantage. 

And the filthier my house became, the darker my mood became. 

Yesterday the vacuum made its appearance.  I could actually feel my mood starting to lift as the dirt did.  Tonight I could feel myself starting to snap a bit at the kids, (no- you can put your own band-aid on, please just go sit in front of a movie so I can relax, and a lot of because I said so’s)  I found that as soon as I started a load of laundry and pushed start on the dishwasher, things like yes sweetheart, and of course I can hold you started to flow again. 

I knew there was a reason that Monica was my favorite on Friends.

Sleepless = Tonsil/adenoid-less

Poor little Jared had his tonsils and adenoids out this morning after several months of sleepless nights and a diagnosis of sleep apnea.  He did great.  All went well minus his crankiness coming out of anesthesia.  No faulting him there! 

Lainy has been worried about him and asked if she could see what they looked like.  I mentioned that I could look them up on the computer later.  Later came and she asked again, “Can I see a picture of Jared’s asteroids now?”

Sunday meal- the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

BEST cooking magazine.

Not the BEST doughnuts ever, but still yummy!

A childhood favorite made tonight is sausage bread.  In looking for pictures online so I didn’t have to take it back out of the fridge to snap a photo, I came across this beauty…

Gag. Cough. Ew. Jason has dubbed it Bobbitt bread.  Ha ha. 

Below is how it is supposed to look…

It’s coming down in Buckets

Our Father in Heaven has given us, His children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend. Under His direction the Great Jehovah created this wondrous world we live in. God the Father watches over us, fills our hearts with breathtaking joy, brightens our darkest hours with blessed peace, distills upon our minds precious truths, shepherds us through times of distress, rejoices when we rejoice, and answers our righteous petitions."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Love of God," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 22

I struggle with consistency in all departments.  Discipline, eating habits, exercise, daily scripture and prayer.  It always seems as though I wait until I become depleted and desperate that I have a desire to put these things back into working action.  Each time that I do, specifically speaking of scripture study and prayer, I see and feel significant change and blessings as though they are poured and sometimes dumped onto me and my family.  Today is no exception.  My most recent beautiful blessing came in the form of a prayer by a 7 year old.  Asking that his mom have strength, and his siblings with health.  Seems pretty basic right?  That’s part of the blessing.  That I get to become aware of the small beautiful things I have been given.  An outpour of blessings doesn’t mean circumstances will change or you will be handed a free pass. Mostly, it is strength to overcome, to have gratitude and enjoy what you do have. 

Doesn’t take much

Driving to school we pass many horses.  The boys are chattering in the backseat and then I hear a burst of laughter.  Jayce is laughing and doubling over.   Through gasps of air he says,

“That horse totally farted!  I saw it’s tail go flying outward from it!” 

David, without laughter, says calmly, “Jayce, Horses just swish their tails.  It wasn’t a toot.”