Cautiously Hopeful...

I feel kind of silly writing a little post after being absent for so long.  I went a month at least without reading a single blog.  It was no fun, but necessary, I guess.  My 2 year old hit a stage that was particularly rough on me.  It resulted in us putting a lock on my bedroom door to have somewhere safe from her.  My computer desk is bare of everything except the computer.  I figured if there was nothing there to play with, maybe she would stop climbing up there.  I decided that after she peed on my desk and on my chair.  Separate incidents, same day.  I spent several weeks following her path of destruction and that's about all I accomplished.  No sewing, no cooking, no gardening.  Just her and me battling our wills.

She seems to have hit her peak and started down, thank goodness.  Let's hope there's no more mountains like this one to climb.  I would post a picture of the little darling, but she is naked in every single one.  On this downward side, she is being very funny and cute.  Yes, she still makes messes, but she's willing to help clean them up.  She is mastering things like putting on her clothes and knowing how to throw garbage away and that makes her happy and a little more snugly, for some reason.  After finishing some job, she'll look at me, waiting for me to tell her what a great job she did.  It's quite fun.  She helped me plant peas and spinach a few weeks ago and has been pretty good about not climbing into the boxes.  She got a watering can for Easter and seems to really enjoy drowning one section of the garden.  

So, as she is moving on in her life, I'm slowly finding my way back to my life.  I finally read some postings from my blog list and today, I actually baked both bread and cookies.  Oh, and I did a load of laundry.  I'm on a roll!  I am looking forward to starting some new projects and finishing a few that I already started.

My little man is being driven crazy by a loose tooth.  It's been loose for over a week and I mean really loose.  It's been sticking straight forward and grossing me out every time I look at him.  I can't believe it's still attached to him.  This is the boy who, in the fall, decided it was time to loose a tooth and loosened and pulled one in one night.  Then he did the same thing on the other side the next week.  Those teeth are finally growing in, since they weren't really ready to come out.  This one won't give it up despite his best efforts.  I just tied another bit of floss to the tooth for him to yank on.  Yuck.  The life of a mother...

Anyway, I'm hopeful that I will again be able to do the crazy stuff I love and then maybe, if the stars align correctly, I'll share them with you.

Beware the Ides of ...February?

I don't know what's going on, but I have had really bad luck these past few weeks.  Add to that, a very severe case of "mommy brain" and you have a recipe for (near) disasters.

First the bad luck:

My crock-pot cracked.  No, that is not a new way of describing a crazy person (although I do think I'm a few cards short of a full deck...) my crock really is cracked.  You can barely see it from the bottom, which is why I didn't see it and why I was baffled at the pool of water coming out from under the slow cooker while it cooked plain baked potatoes.  I'm not sure what to do with the darn thing.  Maybe Walmart will take it back... there's bound to be some kind of recall, right?

Then, the chair that I used to sit in to type at this very computer decided to try to kill me.  It looks perfectly normal, but lean a little too far in any direction and it will buck you out on your head.  The kids love it.  I now sit on it's twin and wait for it to hate me too.

Nothin' but her goggles on...

My thumb and two fingers on my right hand have split open in very painful ways and for no good reason.  Why is it that when you have a crack under your fingernail, you manage to bump or catch that fingernail on everything?  I suppose it doesn't help that I am washing my hands very often.  Have I mentioned that we are in full potty training mode?  Not by my choice, the little monster has decided to go through life in the nude.  When given the option of either wearing a diaper or using the potty, she chose the potty and has done a remarkably great job.  However, that leaves me to clean it out and wash my hands a few hundred times a day, leading to more cracking and whining.

We finally got some snow!  That's not a bad thing, but it just happened to come at the exact time that I had to drive my little wrestler across town. (wrestling started again, oh joy)  I discovered just how bald the tires on the car really are.  I felt like I was on skis.  You know, slide sideways to stop...  Fortunately, I did grow up in Wyoming, on cheap, second-hand tires, so I can manage.  The kids sure gave an interesting commentary from the back seat.

Oh, and my husband recorded some video of my kids trying to ice skate with the camera, but my computer has decided that it is too old and feeble to process anything like that and rather than just skip on over the offending videos, it refuses to let me have any photos at all, so I don't even have a photo to share with you, other than the child, au natural.

Now, the mommy brain:

While doing the routine task of throwing a diaper away, (she will wear them when we have to leave the house.) I threw it in the toilet instead.  Too much potty cleaning, I suppose...

I mentioned that wrestling has started again.  I do this because my son loves it.  I personally like the sport of wrestling as well, but keeping my little monster under control at wrestling practice has become way too much for me.  I found myself dreading practice and then leaving completely exhausted from the exercise of chasing her down every time she made a break for it.  She of course does not go down quietly, so we disrupt the entire practice with shrieks and a mad dash through the boys.  I decided that she and I will not be staying at practice anymore.  Yesterday, after dropping the boy off and making sure the dancing girl could stay and play with some other unfortunate sisters of wrestlers, the little one and I left.  We crossed the street and I attempted to un-lock the car.  Only the key wouldn't go in.  At this point I'm trying to remember if there is a separate key to unlock the doors. (I don't lock the doors all that much... I'm too trusting that way)  I tried the passenger side... no luck, (picture woman with squirming 2 year old in one arm) and I was about to call my husband to tell him to leave work and bring me his keys, when I look in the back seat and notice.... no car seat.  And there's a fold down arm-rest.  We don't have one of those in our car...  Look about 15 feet to my right, and there's my car.  I laughed really loud and then looked around to see if someone saw this whole production, but I don't think anyone did.

Which leads me to my next act of stupidity, although I should have seen this one coming.  Every time I go to a fabric store with a child, I leave with either the wrong stuff, or far too much (or little) of the right stuff.  Anyway, today the monster and I went to a fabric store.  I like to look through the remnant rack to get some inspiration.  I did find a few little scraps that I wanted to add to a skirt that is in the works for the dancing girl.  (Her skirts are getting way too short.)  I have to put them on the very bottom part of the cart, balanced carefully, because the baby will tear them to bits, making check-out difficult.  Anyway, I notice a sign saying that patterns are on sale for only $.99.  So I took the opportunity to pick up a few that I've been eye-balling, but could never bring myself to buy. (I mean, how can I spend $15 on a costume pattern?)  At this point, the monster escaped and scattered birthday cards on the floor, so I wrapped things up.   Checked out quickly, (a little too quickly as it turns out) and went to pick up the other kids so our evening ritual can begin... That means complaining about wanting a snack and fighting over who gets to stay up a little later.

It wasn't until later that I really looked at one of the patterns I bought, one for me, and realized that I bought it in teenage-girl size.  Oh, well, I thought.  At least I didn't attempt to buy any fabric.  And then I remembered the two scraps balanced on the bottom of the cart.  At least I didn't shoplift them.  I left the cart inside the store.  Maybe when I get back there tomorrow to exchange this pattern, they'll be there waiting for me, on the bottom of the cart that pulls to the right. 

Hopefully, March goes better for me.

Where did January go?

...and where have I been?

I've been here, doing the things I always do, but for some reason there seems to be fewer hours in the day, or at least less time during the afternoon nap.  I just can't fit as much into that time slot as I used to.  We have been furiously filling out financial aide forms, scholarship applications and tax information. (My husband is a full time student)  We finally signed up the Dancing Queen for a dance class like we've been promising to do for at least a year, and that sends us hustling down the road each Thursday.  I'm also a cub scout leader, oh joy.  One hour a week with some wild and funny boys keeps life interesting.

We seemed to spend January shuttling our kids to and from birthday parties.  What's with everyone being born in January?  We took advantage of those parties to take the other, not invited, child out on a "date" with Mom or Dad.

We just had a February birthday.  My "baby" is now 2 and I suppose now she has an excuse for her monstrous behavior.  We celebrated by letting her run around naked and trash the house, her two favorite things.

This is the PG version.  There's usually more skin.

Okay, she does that everyday, so it wasn't that special.  We will be doing the whole cake and ice cream song and dance this weekend when we go to Grandma's.  I did make her some leg warmers to keep her somewhat warm while she goes through this phase of needing to be naked.

Still need to fix the gray socks to make them leg warmers.

Her birthday hits at a perfect time, as far as my crazy creating whims go.  During the month of January, I discovered this blog, and was inspired to make some stuff.  Lucky for me, I just happen to have a couple of little girls that like to play with kitchen stuff.

Beets!

Bananas!

The carrots took forever!

Eggs over easy...

A few varieties of cheeses.

The radishes aren't finished yet.

I think everyday for a week or two, my husband would come home to find me in the middle of some other felt food project.  I find it makes me happy to create something fun and quick like this.

What have you been up to?

I love you Mom?

I'm a little late with happy Mother's Day wishes.  I had an enjoyable weekend, complete with flowers and chocolate... and a Dr. Pepper.  (my husband knows me so well)

Friday, my son came home from school with a marigold for me, as well as a cute little poem.  He was very excited to put the flower in the garden somewhere, and since marigolds are beneficial to the garden, I told him we could put it with the veggetables.  Then I went back to tidying up the kitchen.  Two minutes later he burst back into the kitchen announcing that he had planted it.  I guess I should have been more specific in my agreement.  I meant that together, we would go out and find a good spot... oh well.  I did go out to inspect and I think we'll be okay.  Sure, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but at least it's not exactly where something else is or is planned to be.  I kind of like it. 

The kids have showered me with dandelion bouquets all week.  And of course, I tell them how much I love them... they need pulled anyway, and they are a flower that nobody minds them picking, unlike crocuses or daffodils.  My son did the arrangement with the grass and the dancing queen did the long-stemmed bouquet.  I have distinct memories of delightedly picking dandelions for my mom and grandma.  I remember not understanding their lack of excitement at the ump-teenth bunch of weeds I brought them in a day.  How could they not be thrilled with such a lovely gift?  And so I pull out yet another cup to serve as a vase.  

Sunday morning, I got to sleep in a little.  Since the kids had been instructed to let me sleep, they very quietly came in, put their homemade cards in or under my hands and snuck out.  Of course, I wake up as soon as I hear the door open, but it's worth it... I think.  Not too sure what to think of my son's card.  * I love you Mom? *  Is it really a question?  You might think that he meant to write an exclamation point, but he actually made me two cards and they both said the same thing.  Hmmm.  Definitely keeping this one in his baby book.

Now, lest you think that I had a picture perfect day, I'll clue you into the rest of the story.  We were late to church because when mom sleeps in... we're just going to be late... because I'm slow anyway.  I didn't have time to put on any make-up either and I forgot my sweater and it was raining outside.  There was the usual circus trying to keep three kids somewhat quiet and the occasional chasing down of the baby when she made a break for it.  Then I taught the three year olds, who are very cute, but are exhausting and then, we came home to make a pre-planned, mom doesn't do any work, meal. 

Except mom forgot that she still has to plan the "no work" meal and didn't have even half of the ingredients.  Plan B was rice with cream of chicken soup on top.  Did you know that you are supposed to do two parts water to one part rice?  I knew that too, but I switched  it for some reason.  So... six cups of water later, we had the worst rice I've ever made.  Lots of it.  Lots and lots.

We made up for it today, after making a run to the market for the missing ingredients.  It was almost perfect.  The boy went to school, the girl went to a friend's and the baby went down for a nap...almost.  I was wishing I had some candles to make our little fancy meal a bit more romantic, but the baby in the high chair kind of ruined that anyway.  She munched on cucumber salad, while my husband and I pretended to be in a fancy-shmancy restaurant.  Except that we kept complimenting each other on our excellent cooking. 

Earth Day gardening

Good posture is important.  I slouch too much and when I slouch, this pouch of flab on my middle looks really unattractive, so I am trying hard to remember to sit up straight and stand up straight.  I think it's making a difference because my back is now complaining.  Apparently, I haven't used these muscles in a while.  Or maybe I just slept funny in my mom's spare bed the other night.

I took the opportunity to use my niece as an excuse to make a trip to see my mom and steal some dirt.  My niece was performing in a dance recital, which she did very well at.  At that stage in my life, I could barely walk without falling over my own feet.  The final number was from Mary Poppins - the chimney sweeps on the roof and she was Mary Poppins.  Fun stuff... anyway...  I decided it was too dark and stormy for me to head right home.  Instead, I drove in the other direction to my mom's house where we crashed for the night.  The next morning, I shoveled up a few bags of my very own compost- maybe that's why my back is complaining?-, chatted a bit and then headed back to my house.  The little man had to get back to school.  We ended up being late anyway... the best laid plans...

Now my one garden bed is almost full with dirt.  I'm getting there... slowly.  The husband wants to get a second bed put together and then share my ranch dirt between them, which is a good idea if we ever get that second bed put together.  If it doesn't happen soon, I'm just going to start planting things.  The weather is supposed to finally warm up this next week and I want to get going.  We picked up a free tomato and strawberry plant today, just for going into the store.  I hadn't planned on doing strawberries this year, but I'm certainly not going to turn down a free one.  Now I just have to figure out where to put it.  In a pot?  In the planters?  Still debating that one.  What do you think?  I noticed that the tomato actually has two plants in the pot.  Hopefully I can get them separated without too much difficulty and I'll have two plants for the price of...none!

We did get some things planted for earth day.  The little man picked carrots and the dancing queen picked radishes.  We also planted turnips, beets and peas.  The baby mostly ate dirt and chewed on sticks.  Hopefully, tomorrow I can get more salad stuff planted.  I'm excited to see some green in that dirt!

A refined palate

Rocks, leaves, grass, dirt, sticks... all things that a one year old loves to eat.  Why do I try to share my food with her?  Or stress about her getting enough fruits and veggies?  All she wants to eat is bird poop from the yard!

She is loving being outside though.  We spent quite a bit of time wandering around, her sampling everything and me trying to convince her to stop doing that.  Finally, she was content to just carry some rocks around.

I have one more spinach sprout.  That's how desperate I am for spring, I'm giving you updates on each measly little spinach plant.  Just one more week, and I think it'll be time to plant some peas!  I'm used to getting things started really early in order to get any kind of harvest at all, so I'm antsy for things to get going.  I feel kind of silly though, since none of the neighbors have even started looking at their garden plots yet.  They probably think I'm crazy, lining up re-purposed 2-liter pop bottles against the fence, and peeking in through the spout everyday. 

Photo by Terry Sohl

I did do a little research on my "chickens".  Turns out they are called ringneck pheasants and they are not native to America.  They somehow got here from China and made themselves right at home.  The females only lay eggs in the spring, and they will lay up to 20, then sit until they hatch.  Their life expectancy is only 10-20 months, perhaps due to the fact that humans like to shoot them and eat them.  So, they might not be the best laying hens to have around.  I don't really want 200 fertilized eggs in April, and then none the rest of the year.  Besides, it sounds like they need all the baby chicks they can get!

Spring, is it really here?

I love spring, when 44 degrees feels like t-shirt weather.  It feels so nice out, I just had to get outside for a bit today.  My winter sowing experiment has at least yielded a few sprouts.  Apparently, mustard greens are the hardiest of the seeds I planted, with one little spinach sprout following after.  It gives me hope for my other seeds at least.  The kids and I played in the dirt today a bit, planting some lettuce and carrots.  They love to garden and their eyes lit up when I pulled out their garden bags from last year.  They got their own hand tools for Easter and somehow, they didn't all get lost.  Their gloves are a different story. 

mustard greens

The wonderful weather inspired me to take a stroll with the baby, something that hasn't happened since the fall.  Not too many other signs of spring around.  There are still little piles of snow here and there and lots of mud.  I did see some plants pushing up through the mud.  Maybe spring really is here to stay.  This is my first spring in this area, so I really don't know what to expect.  Everyone here makes it sound like spring is pretty tough.  I don't think they know what "tough" is.  My hometown got another winter storm yesterday, and they still have a few feet of snow in the yard.  If this is tough, I'll take it.

I wasn't quick enough to catch a picture of a wild rooster that was in the neighbors garden.  He flew up on top of her house and ran out of sight.  He and another rooster or two hang out in the pine tree in the yard.  I've seen a bunch of hens hiding out under a neighbors pine tree, under the low hanging branches.  They sure make a racket when they take off.  I wondered out loud to my husband if they would start laying eggs anytime soon.  We can't keep any chickens here, since we're renting, so I thought maybe I'd "domesticate" the wild chickens that are everywhere.  When he finished looking at me like I was crazy, he decided it is probably illegal.  I should look into it I suppose.  Wouldn't that be a fun way to keep backyard chickens?

Beware the ...birthday of March!

I've been lazy lately.  Perhaps it's the ides of March... or maybe I'm just lazy. 

I had a birthday.  Actually, I've had many birthdays.  31 to be exact, or is it 32?  I did have a birth day on the day I was born, right?  Anyway, I'm 31 years old now.  I have to say that turning 31 wasn't nearly so traumatic as turning 30.  I guess I've come to terms with my gray hairs. 

I made the mistake of being honest when my kids asked how old I am now.  In their eyes, it's cool to be so old and they have been telling anyone that will listen just how old I am.  Thanks kids.

My sister was thoughtful enough to make me a nice chocolate cake, and I think she kind of hinted that it would be nice to not have to make her own cake when her day rolls around again.  Remind me in September, would you? 

I think it kind of bothered my kids that I wasn't planning a birthday bash.  My kindergarten son has now been introduced to the theme birthdays, complete with games and party favors, and he thinks I should be doing the same.  He even offered to invite some of his buddies over for my party.  Just what I want for my birthday, a bunch of sugar jazzed six year old boys tearing my house apart.  No thank you.  I would like a half hour to myself to just sit in my room and do whatever.  Read a magazine... doodle garden plans... stare out the window...

Instead, my son gave me ten pennies, my daughter gave me a hug and kiss (several times over) and they both wrote me letters and cards, with my help of course.  The husband, he brought me flowers... tulips, which I love.  He also gave me a giant container of nutella, which I also love.  On top of that, he gave me two, that's right, two cards.  That's how much he loves me.  I was wondering what took him so long at the store.  Now I know, he was reading cards and I have to say, the gushy one he picked was perfect.  I hope he actually read it.  I know guys that just grab the flowery-est card they see and slap their name on it.  I do know that he read the humorous one. 

All things considered, it was a good birthday.

Random thoughts: Movies, Bathrooms and Scrabble

I don't feel great today.  I stupidly stayed up late watching a lame movie, but I kept waiting for some action to start.  Nope, waste of two hours.  It's one thing when you know that it'll be a slow moving movie, but when the description makes it sound like a James Bond/Jason Bourne mix, you expect a little more.  Then of course, the baby decided to wake up a little early this morning.  Little stinker.


I'm also trying to figure out why my little man cannot 1) flush the toilet and 2) close the bathroom door, especially when the toilet is not flushed!  The baby monster can somehow tell when that door is open.  She will come from the far corner of the house to gleefully splash in the toilet.  shudder...  I guess I should be happy that we can get into the bathroom at all.  I like to think I can take care of myself, but my husband had to rescue me yesterday.  He knew the secret location of the tiny screwdriver.  I have my own toolbox here in the house that I am used to using for household things.  I should have looked in his tool box I suppose, but I forgot about it.  However it was done, we are again able to go into our bathroom, for which I am thankful.

We have lately enjoyed the "re-birth" of another time wasting activity.  Just over seven years ago, my husband and I opened a wedding gift to find a board game, Scrabble to be exact.  We were not overly thrilled, and it has stayed in it's plastic in a forgotten drawer under the birthday wrapping paper ever since.  I have only played the game once before in my life when I was not quite a teenager.  It was against my wordy uncle, my English major sister, and her friend.  I won.  And I love to remind them of that fact.

I had not considered playing the game again until we were visiting family for Christmas.  While there, we were introduced to the touch phone application, Words with friends.  It's just scrabble on the phone and you can challenge others to play.  It's actually a lot of fun, especially when you win, and our evenings have become games between my husband and myself. He beats me almost every time.

Our iphone is actually an old one that was given to us.  We don't use it as a phone at all, it's mostly for games to keep the kids occupied during long trips and boring waits.

This new game, however, has cut into their game time, and they have noticed.  They want to get in on the word fun as well.  So, this morning, after several requests to play the word game, I dug the old scrabble game out, set it up and the kids and I made some words.  It was a little tough considering the four year old is still just mastering what letter is what, but with my help, we had a nice little game going.  Of course, we didn't pay much attention to points, or the double word spots.  And I let them stretch the rules a little.  Seeing how words go together is the important thing.  Adding up the points will come later.  All in all, we had us a good time.

Anniversary and a slumber party

I have been married for seven years now.  We observed our anniversary just over a week ago.  I say observed because we didn't really celebrate due to the number of sick people in our house, including my husband.  Celebrating an anniversary without him seems kind of un-anniversary like. 

I guess saying that we didn't celebrate isn't exactly true.  You could say that we celebrated a week late by building a fort in the living room, using chairs and a big blanket.  Under the canopy, we gathered around the recently found wedding scrapbook to show the kids how much they have aged us since that day.  It was a fun and different way to celebrate, I guess.  Maybe not the most romantic getaway in our history, but certainly memorable.

The kids liked the fort so much, they begged to spend the night under it and since today was a holiday, we let them.  They offered to make room for us under there too, but I find that the excitement of a sleepover no longer makes up for sleeping on the floor.  Does that make me truly grown up?

Teaching a little boy to be a gentleman

Is it even possible?  Maybe my son and daughter are too close in age for him to see her as anything but a punching bag and occasional playmate.  He is older and bigger and faster and stronger, and he doesn't see why he should allow her to, say, go to the bathroom first.  Being so close in age, the competitive feel is there.  If one decides to play with a certain toy, the other will try to get there faster.  That's just the nature of siblings, but I would like to at least practice some manners here and there, and we have a built in lady in training to practice on.

He has been introduced to and has expressed his disagreement with the "girls first" rule.  In his mind, if he is faster, he is first.  This goes beyond his sister.  I have watched in horror as he, rather than wait for someone to cross his path, will cut right in front of another person, causing them to stop or nearly trip.  It really bugs me when he does that to older ladies. 

Today, the other little boy that usually rides to kindergarten with us was gone, so I was able to hear everything my son was saying and doing to the little girl that we pick up.  She's a sweet, sort of shy girl, but that doesn't keep my little man from carrying on a conversation with her, one sided or not.  Today, he made her climb over the top of him to get to her seat, then gleefully showed her how he can talk in a way that sounds like he's burping.  They climbed out of the van, him leaving her to close the door, and ran up the sidewalk to the school.  I thought he was going to pull it out, as he swung the door open, and the girl was running up the sidewalk, but then he went inside and let the door slam in her face.   And somehow he manages to have girlfriends already?

I realize that this will be an uphill battle right up to the time that some other woman takes him off my hands, but I think it's one that needs fighting.  We'll be discussing and practicing how to be a gentleman starting tonight and ending when I die, probably.  Any advice on this is appreciated.

Stranger Danger and Getting Organized

It was the other night, the door was locked, we checked on the kids, all was well as I lay down to sleep.  And then, a feeling of un-ease hit me.  A feeling that something bad could or would happen soon.  I knew that all was well in our little home, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

Now, I'm an impressionable type.  Annoying commercial jingles, or songs from kid shows stick in my head for days.  My active imagination keeps books or shows playing in my head for hours after I watch or read.  I definitely can't watch horror shows, or I don't sleep at all.  I just lay in bed wishing that the bathroom wasn't so far down the hall.  I quit watching crime dramas a few years ago because I couldn't sleep just thinking about all the horrible things that could happen to me or my kids someday.

This wasn't like any of those things.  There was nothing specific on my mind.  I still don't know what it was all about, but as I lay there thinking, I realized that since moving to town, we haven't really emphasized safety to our kids, other than wearing helmets and looking both ways when crossing the street.  My kids are used to being surrounded by family and friends.  They don't know to fear strangers.  So, I decided to have a talk with them.  I hate painting such a horrible light on persons that we don't even know, but I know that my son will happily talk to anyone that will listen and my daughter is a sucker for candy.  They can be social with strangers when they are all grown up, but for now, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I still don't know what that feeling was about, but I feel better knowing that my children know how to stay safe.  It was a good little chat. 

Then, we organized!  My awesome husband was still out of school this week, so we've actually been getting things done.  He single handed-ly tackled the main storage closet that held the most mystery boxes and was the biggest mess.  There is now room in there to store the annoying tubs of baby stuff that have been on our closet floor, and still more room for my sewing machine.  There's still room to spare! 

While he did that, I worked on the boxes in our room and it's almost done.  I confess that there is still one box hidden behind my rocking chair that holds those papers I was working on and a few other things that I just didn't have the patience to go through, but it's down to one box!  Okay... I still have stacks of books to find a home for.  If only we had a book shelf... If only we had room for a bookshelf.  So far, their  home is on the shelves where a normal person would store their shoes.  Thankfully, I'm not a shoe person.

Next up is the pantry!

Catching Up

Back, finally!  It was only after agreeing to play daycare provider for my sister in law, that I realized she did not have internet.  Two whole weeks.  I'm not an addict, I can live without internet, but those were some seriously boring days.  I do believe we just endured the roughest Christmas break ever.  Here's the breakdown:

Travel:  Six hours in the car.

Wrestling tournament:  A present for my little man.  He loves to wrestle.

Stomach flu:  Yeah, because driving across the country with three kids in the car isn't miserable enough, lets throw in some vomit.  I could tell you just how my baby covered me from neck to toe, but I still get a little queasy thinking about it.  I got it the following morning and then my husband too.  The two older kids escaped somehow

More travel:  Three hours waiting for an accident to be cleaned up.  I didn't have my camera close by to take pictures of the snowmen on the interstate.

Babysitting:  Baby-sitting was pretty uneventful because I didn't have enough seats to take all the kids anywhere.  All week, in the house with six kids until the parents came home around 5.  And no internet.  I did get some projects done.  I made these slippers for the baby out of a felted sweater and I finished my daughter's doll house.  I started another set of slippers, but they are so much bigger than the baby's feet, I'll have to wait till she grows a bit to fit them to her.

Christmas:  Christmas was rough.  I had this picture in my mind of a nice, quiet Christmas.  Opening presents together and enjoying each gift before moving on to the next.  That just doesn't happen when you have cousins opening presents too.  We focused on homemade, personal gifts and the kids love them, now that they have looked at them.  Unfortunately, watching their cousins open millions of gadgets and video games made things a bit awkward at times.  The dancing queen was wonderful about it.  She immediately jumped in, finding what gifts belonged to her three year old cousin, helping him open them and then squealing in excitement for him.  She was so cute, but my little man noticed that he ran out of gifts long before the cousins did.  He felt bad at first, but then I noticed how he really appreciated his gifts, while his cousins were already whining and fighting about who gets to play what video game. 

More stomach flu:  Christmas celebrations were kind of shut down by the stomach flu, which made its way through all the extended family, hitting hardest on Christmas Day.  20 family members were knocked down by it.  Merry Christmas to all.  :)

Birthday:  The original plan for my little man's birthday was a big bowling party, but due to the sickies, we had a much more intimate bowling  party...and no cake.  The cake happened later at my mom's house.

Bad weather/travel/flat tire:  We delayed our departure because of the weather, but finally just decided to go.  And it went pretty smoothly until I commented on how quickly the trip was going.  We immediately had a blow out.  I'm talking within a minute after my comment.  I had nothing wooden to knock on, or it might  have been avoided.

Baby fever/cold:  Nothing like a crabby sick baby to travel with.  Actually, she slept a lot.  And cut some teeth.

More travel:  To my parent's house we go.

New Year:  We toasted it with sparkling cider while the kids were awake and played games.

A little more travel:  After a sleigh ride at the ranch, we packed up and made our weary way home.

I feel kind of bad that I don't have any huge goals or aspirations to list.  I know I have some, but with the sickies, cranky baby and holidays, the new year kind of snuck up on me.  Hopefully as I catch up on everyone's blogs I'll be inspired and motivated.

*sigh*  So good to be back.

Nativity Scenes

I never intended to collect nativity scenes.  I would really like one out of olive wood, but I'm afraid I'd have to buy it one piece at a time in order to afford it.

What we do have is a strange bunch of very different sets that have been acquired in meaningful places or handed down to us from others.  The two that I bought are the little wooden one and the pyramid that I bought in Germany.  It's nothing fancy, but it reminds me of my Christmases spent there.  Those Germans know how to celebrate the advent.  The Christmas markets were so much fun and everybody seems so happy during that time.  The plaque type one was given to us for Christmas one year and the shiny ones were my Grandmas.  I noticed as I put them out that my aunts initials are on the bottom, so I should find out if she wants them.   We also have a set that I let the kids play with, and boy they have.  It's been fun to listen to their play and their version of the story.   I thought that having their own would keep them from playing with the others, but it didn't.  The pyramid is now up high and the shiny ones are all lined up dangerously on the dressers edge.  I found Joseph down the hall.  I remember wanting to play with my mom's set and sometimes she would let me.

I love how magic this time of year is for children, and not just because of presents.  They seem to sense that there is something different and special about it.  We talked a lot at church today about Christmas being the birthday for Jesus.  I was impressed by the children and their knowledge of the reason for our celebrations.

Twenty days left to complete my projects!  I'd better get organized, and quick!

Happy second advent!

Beginning the Christmas season

My goodness!  All day long I have planned to sit and write what is on my mind, but I just never got to it, and now the day is gone. 

We finally put up the Christmas tree!  It's pretty easy, considering that it's fake and only four feet high.  It is our apartment tree, since we really can't fit a real tree in here.  I let the kids decorate it, which means I'll have to move a few things around a bit.  They seemed to like the same type of ornaments all on one branch, but for a 4 and 5 year old, I'd say they did good.   The nice thing about a four foot tree is that kids can actually reach the top while decorating.  That, and the tree can easily be placed up high on a dresser or table so the baby doesn't climb into it.

So now that we actually have our decorations and Christmas books out, let the season begin!

...and let me go to bed!

Another failure and a lesson learned

After several rather rough days, I'm happy to say that today was a good day.  And I think I know why.  As I stood in the kitchen at 3:00 this morning, warming up a bottle, I had a thought.  First thought was, "why is my baby awake right now?", but my other thought was much more profound.  Because of a deadline, I was working on my projects like a mad woman.  When I'm so focused like that, I can't focus on anything else.  It does no good to have a plan, or lists, or anything else because I won't look at it.  The house was a mess, we didn't have good filling dinners, we ate fast food a few times... my entire household organization went to pot.  I became frazzled from the pressure of the deadline, but especially from the feelings of failing in everything else.  As I stood here early this morning, I realized that my priorities had gotten all out of whack.  I was allowing a project, which is important, and it will get done, take precedence over everything else. 

Have you ever seen the little object lesson where you try to fit rocks, sand and water into one jar?  The lesson being that if you put things in the jar in the right order, everything will fit, but if you start with the small things, it just won't work.

So, first things first.  Feed my spirit, feed my marriage, feed my family (physically and spiritually).  I read a post today at Give a Girl a Fig about being spiritually thirsty, and I realized that I am too.  First on my list... study scriptures and pray with more meaning.

Feeding my marriage is second on the list.  Someone gave me great advice before I married my husband.  He said to make sure my relationship with my husband is a priority, right after my relationship with God.  It is easy to allow children to take over everything and monopolize your energy and time, but if the marriage relationship is kept strong and sound, so much the better for those children. 

Third comes the children and house.  I let it fall apart and the kids were crazy as a result.  Which then made me more crazy, and the cycle continues.

Then, comes the extras, the projects for Christmas, the activities, etc.  And, as a side note, I did make the deadline for my book project (the buy one get one free sale was ending that night) BUT, as I was drifting off to sleep, I was brought straight out of bed by suddenly remembering that I had been messing with the page order and hadn't fixed it before I submitted it!  Too late to cancel the order, too late for the sale.  So much for that great idea, huh?  We'll just add that to that "failure" list.  I'm okay about it though.  I needed more time to work on it anyway and I should have been smart enough to just let it go, but I didn't because that would have been too easy and I like to do things as difficult as possible.  Or so it seems.  I am excited about that book though.  I'll post more about that soon.

No T.V.

Yup,  my kids are watching the Sound of Music.

When we moved here, I insisted that we not hook up the cable, or satellite or anything like it.  My husband looked at me a little funny, but he agreed, besides, we would have to go through our landlord and it would up the rent.  So we started our life here without the television.  We do have movies, but I was a little worried how things would go, as I have been known to use the TV in the mornings to keep the kids busy while I get things done.  I would love to say it's been perfect, but I have missed the kids shows a bit.  (I am a closet backyardigans fan)  But really, it's been tough filling that time for the kids without them being right under me.  I am pondering on getting one of those digital receptors so we can get a few local channels.  I kind of miss the news now and then, but really, with the internet, there's not much I need from TV.

I'll tell you what I absolutely don't miss though.  The commercials!  It has been so nice to not constantly hear my kids telling me that they want or need the latest toy they just saw on TV.  Nice to have them actually use their imaginations, instead of repeating what the commercial said.  Marketing works.  Last summer, my son told me I should get glad force flex garbage bags.  Seriously?  A five year old cares about garbage bags?  I realized just how nice it has been to be commercial free yesterday, when one of our new movies had an advertisement for a toy before the movie started.  My kids were suddenly unhappy without that toy.  It's all they ever wanted.  How could they go on without it?

I think I'll keep on being commercial free.  I'll take the kids under my feet.

Roasting pumpkin seeds

Friday night, we had the great idea to carve pumpkins with the kids, which actually means that the kids pick out crazy designs and then the parents stay up late working on them because I'm not giving my kids any sharp objects to cut with.  The kids got the pumpkins that we grew in the garden, but we bought a bigger one for us big kids.  Hubby decided to use the dremel tool.  He finished the princess and the ghost so we could finally get the kids to bed and then worked on mine.  He kept saying it was mine, but I never got to touch it.  Here's the finished product:

 As I waited for him, and since I had already washed all the seeds, I was perusing all the tabs here on blogger, and I discovered the stats tab.  Somehow, someone got here from a Russian website.  I can't understand the website, but judging from the pictures, it's a building design site.  I can't figure that one out.  It was interesting and fun to see all the different countries that have visited my little blog.

After I picked out some seeds to save, we roasted the rest to eat.  It actually took three days to get the finished product.  I washed them that first night, then Saturday, I mixed in some olive oil and seasoned salt, but we had a full day of activities, so I didn't get the chance to actually roast them.  Finally, yesterday, I roasted them in the oven.  325 for 25 minutes, stirring them up sometime in the middle.  The kids loved them.

They are already gone. 

Bye mom! I love you!

I didn't cry when my oldest started kindergarten. Honestly, he didn't give me a chance. He was through the door, backpack hung up and finding his seat before I could even sniffle. I had to chase him down to get a goodbye kiss. But he did make me tear up last week as I saw him to the door. He was running up the sidewalk, when he suddenly stopped, whipped around and yelled, "Bye mom, I love you!"
What a sweetie. He knows how to melt my heart.
I'm storing this memory for later when it will not only be un-cool to say such things in front of classmates, but it will also be mortifying to even be seen with mom.

Comforting

I knew the minute we bought our mini van that someone would get something slammed in one of those sliding doors. I assumed it would be one child slamming another child's fingers. I was wrong.
My four year old daughter slammed her very own arm in the door. -she has a special talent for hurting herself in new and interesting ways- I didn't see exactly how it happened, I was gathering my bags, but I heard the thud and knew from the long moment of silence (as she sucked in breath to scream) that it hurt pretty bad.
I helped the sobbing little girl to the house and into the kitchen where we found the freezer door wide open with her five year old brother standing on a chair, pulling out the ice cube tray to make an ice pack for her arm. As I took over the ice pack job, he ran to the bedroom to get her favorite fuzzy blanket and asked her what movie would make her feel better so he could get it started.
I guess he was listening as we explained his vocabulary words...

Comforting: something comforting makes you feel better when you are hurt of afraid.