Our Crazy Family

Ramblings of a Crazy Lady

2010-08-26T19:50:00.001-07:00

Alrighty, folks. It’s been what? two? three? four months since last writing? How pathetic! I find that I am in the very bad habit of always waiting for life to slow down so that then, and only then, I can get done all the things I’ve been wanting to do but have been putting off because there are dishes and laundry and hungry mouths and dirty bums and fighting children and errands and callings and sticky floors...oh my. I’ll stop; this is making me tired. Anyway, these are all the things that I wait for to go away so that I can then focus on the more meaningful, fulfilling things in life. You know, like reading a book. Or being a better mom. Or perfecting pedal technique on the organ . Or blogging.

By the way, as I type this, I’m watching ABC’s “Secrets of Your Mind”, where, from what I can tell, they look at how the mind and brain control certain aspects of our lives. Can I tell you that one of my biggest pet peeves in this world (and I have a more than a few pet peeves) is when scientists try to explain away human behavior – bad or good – and attribute it solely to biology? or environment? or (even worse) evolution? These factors are all influential (well, I would dispute evolutionary behavioral theories), but they don’t take away our agency. So don’t try to tell me these clinical psychopaths featured on today’s show are all murderers because their brains are hardwired for them to be such.

Sorry. I just really needed to get that off my chest.

So. Now that I’m here I really don’t have that much to say. I’m really just blogging right now because I just downloaded windows live writer and wanted to try it out. Supposedly it makes blogging a little easier. Also, I just found The Incredibles on the Disney Channel (I got annoyed with Secrets of Your Mind) and so I need an excuse to stay up and watch it.

I could make promises and resolutions that I will be better about blogging more faithfully, but who am I kidding? School starts in a week. And then things are really gonna get crazy around here. Good night, everyone!

Ethan as of Late

2010-05-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan.

Ethan has undergone a major transformation in the last 7 months. Ethan was by far my easiest baby: very mellow, easy going, sweet, cuddly, independent. He is still sweet, cuddly, and independent – when he wants to be. Mellow? No. Easy going? Ha!

He has turned into a little fireball of intensity, which intensity he uses to delight, irritate, and anger the rest of the family. Here is Ethan in a nutshell:

Potty Training
I'm pretty tired of changing Ethan's diapers. Let's just say he likes to eat fruit. A lot of fruit.

So we tried the potty training for...a day. I had to coax him into his Thomas the Train underwear; bribe him with candy to sit, even for a second, on the Winnie the Pooh potty; and after every potty session (none were productive), we'd put his undies on, he'd run off, and promptly tinkle on the carpet. So I gave up after one day. One day! Good effort, Emily. Good effort.

So we continue to change his diaper. During the night, because he manages to fill not only his diaper but his jammies and sheets too, we change his diaper before we go to bed. The routine is this: We pull him out of bed. He never opens his eyes, but stirs a bit. We lay (lie?) him down on the changing table, where we wait while he stretches. Then, as we pull off his jammies, he props his head on one or both arms, like so:

And the best is when he then scratches his tummy and smacks his lips.

He's onto our little tricks:
So, we all have our little tricks that manipulate our kids into doing what we want them to do without having to beat them, right? One thing I do often with Ethan is to say, 'Ethan, can you do it all by yourself' or 'Show me you can do it all by yourself!' He's excited to do it “all by myself;” I get my way; it's a win-win situation. But we recently had this conversation; it was rather alarming to me:

me: Ethan, go throw the banana peel in the trash please.
E: Mommy, you's do it!!
me: No, it's Ethan's trash. You go throw it away...
E: (sweetly) Mommy, you's do it all by you-self? Show me you's do it all by you-self!

What a smart cookie.

And what parent hasn't used the (legitimate) “I'm too tired” excuse to avoid doing something? Today, we had conversation that went something like this:

me: No, Ethan, you can't climb on the counter. (he wanted a banana)
E: I too liddoh? (little)?
E: You's get it for me?
Me: not right now.
E: Ohhhhh. You's too tie-oh'd (tired)?

Well, shoot. He's onto me.

Boy, oh Boy
Is it too cliché to say that Ethan is all boy? He loves sports. Anything that involves a ball is his favorite. He spends a good portion of every day pretending to play sports. We have all sorts of balls and bats and hoops, but those often aren't required. He's happy to pretend dribbling his pretend 'backet-ball' and dunking it into the pretend hoop you've made with your arms.

Or he'll pretend that one Star Wars blankie is the baseball; the other Star Wars blankie is the baseball bat. I throw the 'ball' to him; he swings his 'bat' (complete with sound effects); and then we repeat. Sometimes he'll pause this game for a moment - just long enough for him to walk over to me, ask me for a hat, which I pretend to hand to him, and put on his pretend hat (again with a sound effect) - and then he walks back to home plate to resume the game.

Even two found scraps of paper – each the size of a string bean – are sufficient for playing baseball during Church. It keeps him entertained, so I don't interfere.

He loves tools and loves to fix things, just like his dad.

He loves 'fwoggies' (dinosaurs). So much so that that was the theme of his 2nd birthday. After an hour of searching, I stood in line on Black Friday at Walmart for another hour, just so I could get a Fisher Price Dinosaur Volcano Mountain for his birthday. He loved it, especially, I think, because it makes chomping and belching noises. Nice.

At the aquarium at the Outer Banks during Christmas break

And because he is a boy, he loves to fight and punch and kick, and everything can be turned into a sword. Thank heavens he hasn't figured out guns yet.

Church

So, church with Ethan is...a struggle. He loves his nursery class and is always excited to show me the picture on which he drew 3 scribbles that day. But Sacrament meeting. Wow. He's not really naughty. He just can't sit still. Or quietly. Getting him to whisper is like pulling teeth. We have practice sessions at home, where we practice whispering and sitting still. At home, he gets it. At church, not so much.

The only way I can get him to whisper at church is if I say to him, "Shhhh, the baby is sleeping." To which he responds in a whisper, "Baby 'leeping?" Then he resumes his only other volume of talking, which is LOUD.

I have found that he likes for us to draw pictures of food while we sit, which he then pretends to eat. This keeps him occupied and relatively quiet for a good 10 minutes. Pretending to eat the drawn food includes blowing them off when they are too hot; taking off wrappers; and tilting his head back to get the last drop of juice, finishing with a loud "AHHHHHHHHHH."

He also enjoys sitting on my lap facing me, and pulling all my meticulously arranged hair around and onto my face in order to make a beard or mustache, or to encourage me to pretend to eat my hair.

Don't be deceived by that cute little face...

Generally Speaking

Ethan loves fruit. He especially loves to eat whole "happles" - and has eaten as many as 3 in one morning. I often find apple cores on the floor in the basement. Gross. And he loves strawberries. Last week he ate 1 lb of strawberries while I was out mowing the lawn. Grapes are also preferred. A few weeks ago, I gave the kids some grapes for snack. I caught him doing this:

He had pulled all the grapes off of the vine. Then he decided that he wanted them back on the vine. You may not be able to see it well, but here he is putting the grapes back on, one at a time, sticking the vine ends into the little holes where the grapes used to be attached. (What I didn't get a picture of was Ethan pretending the reassembled grapevine was a Bad Guy, making it walk around and scaring his sisters.)

I love the way he talks. Instead of a simple "No," he says "Nopes!" or even "Nopesies!" And more than one person has observed that it sounds like he speaks with a French accent. "Diaper" becomes "Dia-puh." "Pepper" becomes "Pep-puh."

He can be a bit dramatic. Once I told him, 'No, you may not have that.' And so he collapsed to the floor, hands over his eyes, bum in the air, legs tucked underneath him. Then, he began scooting across the floor towards me in this position, every once in a while pausing to peak through his hands to make sure I was watching. Sometimes he climbs under the table to avoid being put into Time Out.

In spite of what we say, Ethan really is a good kid. He loves Good Night Moon and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and reads them along with us. He can get dressed all by himself. He can put on his own shoes. He knows his ABC's and can count to 20. He loves music (he busts out his air guitar daily), and he loves dancing with his sisters.

He can be so sweet. If someone is hurt, he'll ask: "You's okay?" and give hugs and kisses. Sometimes in the morning he crawls into bed with me and rubs my face or softly pats my cheeks until I wake up.

For a little boy whose shirts are always filthy, he does have a clean streak in him. Over Spring Break, Melinda and I took the kids to Virginia Beach. He was way uncomfortable getting his feet all sandy; it took him a while to relax and not worry about getting his feet "all doh-dee" (dirty).

And that is what you've missed from Ethan during my blogging hiatus.

My Goal...

2010-05-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

...is to blog about what each family member generally has been up to for the last 6 or 7 months.

The End.

ps- this could get lengthy. don't say i didn't warn you.

pss- this is my 2nd or 3rd attempt at rejoining the blogging world. don't judge me if i fail. again.

Shell Shock

2010-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Please note that this is a whiny, poor-me, Debbie Downer post. I just need to write this, get over it, and get on with my day. Please feel free to not read this post!!

Last night, I put the kids down to bed. I put the leftover perishable foods in the fridge. I brought in the scooters and bikes from the front yard.

But I left out all the dirty dishes. I left out the cake. I left out all the food that didn't require refrigeration. I left the mound of torn wrapping paper on the floor. I left the pile of wet towels on the bathroom floor. I left the half-done laundry in the laundry room. I didn't even go through Andrea's backpack or get it ready for the next day. I DID brush my teeth, because my diet has been about 89% sugar as of late, but I skipped the floss. I left the sticky kitchen floor. I left the basement a disaster. I left up the birthday decorations. I left the trash can spilling over onto the kitchen floor.

And instead, I went downstairs and turned on the TV. Do you realize how long it's been since I've done that?

I'm not sure when life is going to slow down. I used to be busy. I used to think, 'It has to get easier than this.' And in some ways, it does get easier. But then there are always other aspects that get harder, more complicated. I used to be busy, but I could usually put the kids to bed, and at the very least sit down, watch a movie and fold laundry. But before last night, I don't remember the last time I sat and watched TV, even to do laundry.

My kids, on the other hand, I think have a special relationship with the TV. I think they spend more time with it than they do with me. As I type this, they're down there watching TV. I'm supposed to be showering. But I'm tired of doing all the things I'm supposed to be doing.

I have received comments in the last few months from well-meaning individuals that it seems like my kids are overwhelming to me. And in some ways, they are. But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's not my kids that are overwhelming. It's the other 100 million things going on in life that take my attention away from my kids that make it all overwhelming.

And the thing is, it's not like I'm doing anything extra. It's not like I have a hobby that I devote any time to. I don't look at my day and see things that I could have done without. (Well, maybe spending 3 hours making butterfly cupcakes was a bit superfluous) It seems like all I have time for are the essentials, the essentials being:

clean house=dishes done and having a cleared path from one room to the next
laundry=washed, heaped in piles in laundry baskets
callings=lessons done the night before; practice the organ 1/2 hour before church starts
feeding my children=lots of tacos and trips to chic-fil-a
nurturing my children=planting them in front of the Disney channel

And all my other time goes to other essential things that just come up. A friend has a sick baby. There's an EQ activity. I leave my keys in Anders' car, which gets parked at the airport while Anders is out of town. Andrea has art class. Andrea has a birthday. Natalie has a birthday. Friends have birthdays. There are people that need a lot of help. The basement floods. There are Natalie floods. There are doctor's appointments. I have to do PT so I can walk. Ethan covers himself in Desitin during nap time. Ethan fills the bathtub with every toy that he owns. Ethan draws on the walls. Ethan...no, I'll stop there.

But the list goes on. And on. And on.

Having said all this, I think I'm a bit ridiculous for complaining about life. I'm not dealing with very sick children; I'm not dealing with a bad marriage; I'm not a single parent. My kids love me. My husband has a great job that more than pays the bills. We're all healthy. I have the Gospel. Life is good.

Okay, DONE! No more complaining. My next blog will be filled with pictures of smiling people and funny stories and happy things. I needed to get the Eeyore out of my system and now I'm fine :)

Love thy Neighbor

2010-04-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have this list of about 37-100-thousand-million things to do (that's the format the girls use when talking in big numbers). And yet one thing remains constant amidst the jumble of things swarming through my mind: I must blog. It's for my posterity. It's how I participate in my family history. It's how I find my sanity. It's my alone time. It's one of the best ways to make my mind stop and concentrate on one thing and one thing only.

And, I really REALLY need to be focusing on the good things in my day. Even though it's spring, and the weather is beautiful, and flowers are in bloom, and the sun is shining, I'm still having a hard time shrugging off those winter blues. Here are my 3 things I'm thankful for today:

1) Good neighbors.

Our neighbor Kathy is so good to my kids. She is interested in what they have to say; she remembers their birthdays; she doesn't get upset if they play in her yard. And today, as we were outside enjoying the warm weather, she invited each of my 3 kids to come choose a flower to pick from her garden. They came back absolutely delighted, carrying lovely tulips and daffodils that now make a bright, cheery, slightly squashed bouquet on our kitchen table.

2) Good neighbors.

Our next door neighbors, the March's, have three children - 2 girls and a boy - all a little older than our 3 kids. Today Dad March offered to take Andrea and Natalie along with his 3 kids to the park across the street. The timing couldn't have been more perfect - it was right around 4:30 - right around the time things start to fall apart in our house. It's when everyone starts to get a little tired. It's when everyone needs a little extra love and attention from Mom. And it's when Mom has just (coincidentally?) run out of love and attention for the day, and right when Mom has to go start dinner and not be bombarded by demands for help and justice and snacks.

And so our good neighbor took all the kids - his and mine - out of their mothers' hair and to the park for a while. And I made tacos in peace.

(Ethan stayed behind, but he is a delight when he is an only child. He played trains for an hour, and no one interfered or grabbed or annoyed. Heavenly.)

3) Good neighbors

So Anders is out of town for the next few days. And, since I've done such a poor job of updating the blog, I should explain that my sister Melinda is living with us. So tonight, the kids and I were having a little Family Home Evening (try explaining the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt to a 3 year old, and tell me how that works for you...). After explaining the meaning of "famine" and "slave" and "food storage" a dozen times, we ended our discussion, said prayers, brushed teeth, and I got the kids to bed without incident.

Then the phone rang. It was Melinda. Her car had died and she was stranded at Walmart. And since Anders was gone and the kids were in bed, I called our friends the Wolfords to see if they might come over and sit at the house while I retrieved her. They were so kind, and even as I type this blog, they are out rescuing my sister, whom they do not know, all the while acting like it is no big deal. I know that's it's a big deal. I know that it's their toddler's bedtime. I know they are busy and have better things to be doing.

How did I get so lucky to have such kind, generous, sincere people placed in my life?

I'm not sure, but I am truly thankful for them.

Ummm...

2010-03-23T19:29:00.001-07:00

...It's March. The latter part of March.

My last entry was in December.

And I still have a Christmas background on my blog?

REALLY!?

This. is. pathetic.

I don't have time right now to catch up on the last 3+ months. In fact, I may never catch up. But waiting to blog about TODAY until after I've blogged about YESTERDAY is a recipe for BLOGGING FAILURE.

So I'm starting fresh. I'm returning to my original format: Three things that I'm grateful for today:

1) Chic-fil-A. I have yet to dedicate an entire blog entry to this admirable establishment, but it's pretty much inevitable. I love Chic-fil-A. It is a great place to take the kids when Anders is out of town and you just need to be out of the house during those difficult dinnertime hours. And so tonight, we did just that. We went to Chic-fil-A, where we:

a) were given free ice cream cones;

b) were given free Chic-fil-A hats;

c) enjoyed a clean, un-smelly indoor playground;

d) were asked by courteous and helpful staff if everything was to our satisfaction;

and

e) had the option of participating in Craft Night, where they were celebrating National Noodle Month by creating artwork made from dry pasta. Rock on.

2.) My kids. With only a few minor exceptions, the kids were extremely cooperative, cheerful, and obedient today. Getting everyone dressed and ready to take the girls to school was a delightful experience. There were no potty mishaps. Children remembered to use such phrases as, "Help, please!" and "No thank you!" (rather than the usual "MOOOOOOOOM! He's {insert transgression}!" and "STOP IT!" followed by much screaming).

And when it was time to leave Chic-fil-A, instead of the coaxing, pleading, and desperate threatenings that are usually requisite for us to leave, everyone exited the playground immediately, put shoes on right away, and left without a single tear (usually my tears).

3.) Spring weather. This has been the longest, dreariest, most oppressive winter of my life. (Is that a little over-dramatic?) It wasn't just the multiple blizzards, keeping us indoors for days at a time. It was the blizzards, combined with constant colds rotating through the family, plus the usual short, dark days of winter, in addition to a hectic schedule that has been unrelenting, times a million other little factors, that have all added together in a synergistic way to make me absolutely NUTS!!

And so I am so grateful that winter is coming to an end, that we've been enjoying lovely, invigorating weather, that the days are longer and lighter, and that our crazy schedule of events seems to be lightening up, even if it is only in the slightest bit.

And hopefully, with life calming down, I won't wait another 3-4 months before posting again. Maybe I'll even change my background from Christmas to something more seasonal. Maybe.

2009-12-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes...

... I volunteer at the school.
...the laundry never ends.
...my family wants to eat.
...I prepare lessons to teach at church.
...I accompany others on the piano and/or organ.
...I go grocery shopping.
...every dish and surface in the kitchen are simultaneously dirty.
...it's the holiday season, thus adding about 47 more things to my to-do list.
...I get roped into making a gingerbread temple for the church Christmas party.
...the gingerbread temple takes hours - no, days - to make.

And sometimes I also bring a breakfast casserole to that Christmas party.

But that is not all. Oh no, that is not all.

Sometimes...

...my son goes through the house like a little tornado and turns everything upside down and inside out.

...that same son develops a favorite hobby of pulling glass ornaments off the Christmas tree and sticking them on his fingers, then running around the house while I try to catch him.

...my daughter throws 3 humongous tantrums in one day that involve weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, general mass hysteria, and cause us to be late to wherever we are going.

...my other daughter gets sick and has to be picked up from school. Sometimes this means hauling the other two kids out into the freezing rain (during nap time) to go get her.

...the sick daughter isn't really sick (they sent her home with a 99.2 degree fever? Really?), but still asks for water/movie/snack/
medicine/entertainment every 2.43 minutes.

...a glass shatters all over the floor and adds an additional hour to cleaning the kitchen.

...I get sick and have to see a doctor.

...my left leg is shorter than my right leg. Okay, actually this is all the time.

...that 1/4" difference in leg length causes a lot of pain.

And sometimes all of the above happens in a 48-hour period of time.

But sometimes...

...my knight in shining armor (i.e. Anders in a black wool pea coat) shows up on his white stallion (i.e. gray Mazda) and rescues me from a certain death (or at least from having a panic attack).

...Anders sends me to my room so I can rest while he cleans the house with the kids.

...Anders takes us out to dinner at my favorite place in the whole world: Chic-fil-A.
Sometimes I think I have the best husband in the whole world.

Catching up

2009-11-12T17:12:00.001-08:00

Well, I said I was going to do this Gratitude Challenge every day.

I failed.

But all is not lost. According to the rules set forth by my sister-in-law, I can still participate, but I have to make up each day that I skip. Since I've skipped the last 6 days, and since I'm supposed to list 3 items of gratitude per day, that means I'm behind 18 things of thankfulness. (This sounds like a word problem in math class...)

For the last 6 days, I have been thankful...

1)...that I did not have to potty train my children while living in the various apartments we've lived in - apartments that had only coin-operated laundry facilities in the basement or adjacent buildings.

2)...that we are financially established enough that I can afford to throw away poopy underwear, rather than try to salvage it. That is so worth $1 to me.

3)...for Clorox wipes. I know I've already blogged about how much I love them, but they really are a germaphobe's best friend. And they come in handy when semi-potty trained children have accidents on the tile floor.

4)...that in spite of a few mishaps, Natalie really is doing better in the potty department.

5)...that Anders is done with the audit for this year. This means that he'll be home early enough to: a) help with the kids while I fix dinner; and b) intercept all the calls from charity organizations asking for donations. Apparently I'm on some sort of list entitled "Charitable Suckers," because we get at least 3-4 calls a week; they always ask for me; and if Anders tells them I'm not home, they refuse to talk to him and say they'll call back later.

6)...for sweet potatoes and blueberries. These two delectable foods have been hailed as "superfoods," but unlike their contemporaries, Spinach and Broccoli, the sweet potato and blueberry are delicious!

7)...for boneless, skinless chicken breast, and for the people who sold them on sale.

8)...for butter, sugar, and flour. While they might not make the "superfoods" list in a dietitian's opinion, they're tops in my book. Oh, how I love to bake anything that has these three delightful ingredients!

9)...for friends who host Pampered Chef parties (Kristy!). I'm quite sure my life will be complete next week when I get my cookie press.

10)...for Febreeze Air Effects. It keeps my house from smelling like we have potty-trainees and diaper-wearers living here.

11)...for the Twilight blogs on Sparknotes.com. I 'LOL' every time I read them. (Yes, I just said 'LOL'. And yes, I've read the Twilight series. Admitting this is perhaps the most embarrassing moment of my life. And I've had some pretty embarrassing moments, believe you me.)

12)...that Daddy is around to make fun, happy family memories for the kids. As I type this, he is the basement, playing guitar, and singing silly songs that the kids are helping to make up. My hope is that these memories will override the memories of a grumpy, frazzled mommy.

13)...for a healthy family. No one has asthma; no severe allergies; everyone is cognitively sound; we all have 10 fingers and 10 toes, and that sort of thing.

14)...that my mom gave me a sewing machine for Christmas back in 2001. I have to admit, at the time, I didn't fully appreciate the gift. But next to baking, sewing has become a favorite little hobby of mine.

15)...that Heavenly Father gives me experiences to help me see how living the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings us happiness and peace. I've always known this, but I know this better today than I did even 6 months ago.

16)...for a clean house. Outside of my family, it is one of my greatest joys in life. (And that, my friends, shows you just how lame I really am.)

17)...that my active little Ethan will hold quietly still during our family prayers. The moment the "amen" is said, he is back to his loud, boisterous self, but I sure do appreciate those blessed few moments of silence as we pray.

18)...for Paul Mitchell. Specifically for Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Relaxing Balm. Thanks to Paul, my hair doesn't have to look like this:

(You think I'm kidding? This is seriously what my hair does without any hair products. Just ask my husband.)

Day 2 of Gratitude

2009-11-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

1. So I have this thing about having a clean house. I can't function when it's disorderly; I can't mentally handle clutter and chaos. And so today I am most grateful that I was finally able to get my house in order (after a week of trying and failing). This means laundry done, dishes done, floors mopped, basement clean, carpets vacuumed, and food storage organized. When my house is clean, I feel like anything is possible.

2. I am grateful to have a television, and kids that like to watch it. I [try to] limit TV time, but sometimes I just need the kids occupied long enough for me to empty the dishwasher without having Ethan throw butcher knives at me. Not that this has happened.

(When I first had Andrea, I promised myself I'd never let the TV babysit my kids. I also never gave her a binky that had fallen on the floor without first sterilizing it in boiling water. Yeah...a lot changes with 3 kids...)

3. Speaking of television, today as the kids were getting ready to watch Robin Hood (so that I could empty the dishwasher without the fear of losing my toes to the butcher knife), Ethan and Natalie started fighting about where they were going to sit for the movie. I heard Natalie scream, "You, sir, have taken my seat!!" (This is a quote from Robin Hood.)

While I'm not sure I'm happy about Natalie being able to quote movies at such a young and tender age, I am grateful that the movie she is quoting is my childhood favorite.

Attitude of Gratitude

2009-11-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

So, my sister-in-law Heidi does a Gratitude Challenge every November. To participate, you email her 3 things that you are grateful for, every single day in November. Since this is in keeping with my original platform when I started this blog, I thought I'd give it a go. And rather than email it to her, I thought I'd do it on my blog, because why keep my gratitude a secret?

So, here we go...

1. Today I am grateful for Andrea's school teachers. I volunteer there occasionally, and I cannot get over how well-behaved the students are at the school. The teachers work wonders with the students. They know how to elicit good behavior from the kids, and they can do it without the use of a paddle (unlike the teachers I had when I went to school...but that was in Texas...)

2. I am grateful that Anders' busy season is coming to an end (November 13!!!!). No more 14 hour days for him. No more single parenting for me. No more going for days without seeing Daddy for the kids. (Today he got home from work by 5:45! I could get used to this...)

3. I am so grateful that I have my family. Last night a friend of the family was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was a husband, a father, and a grandfather. I am reminded of how much my own family means to me, and of how much I love them. I am also reminded of how grateful I am to have the Gospel - to know that death is not the end - to know that families can be together eternally - and to know that the Savior has born all of our sorrows and will comfort and support us in our time of need.

You know you're a bad mom when...

2009-10-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

...you eat all the chocolate out of your kids Halloween buckets. And I mean all the chocolate. Down to the last Tootsie Roll.

What can I say? It was a really hard day. The kind of day that makes me want to move to Australia*. The kind of day that makes me eat my children's candy.

Here's hoping tomorrow is better.

*Did anyone else read that book growing up?

Guess who's back...back again...

2009-10-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well folks, after much waiting and anticipating, you can relax. Your long wait is over. I'm returning from my 2-month hiatus from blogging. I know the suspense has been killing you. I know you're anxiously awaiting further news and developments from the Erickson household. I know you're dying - dying - to hear about our visit to Grandma's back in August.

The good news is that I am going to update you generally on the goings-on of the last couple months. But the better good news is that I have a cute new background on my blog...Happy Halloween, everyone! (Did you know: Halloween is quite possibly my favorite holiday?)

Okay, here it is. The top 20 things that you've missed out on over the last couple of months:

20) Our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's included lots of time with Uncle Greg, Uncle Eric, and cousin Dallin. We're grateful for any male association that Ethan can get, what with two older sisters and only girl cousins on the Erickson side.

19) Andrea learned how to play the drums with Uncle Eric, and she was actually quite good at keeping the beat on the cymbal, while Eric rocked out on the rest of the set.

18) The kids spent a lot of time in Grandma's vegetable garden. Here they are, eating their carrots they've just picked, and pretending to be the Fierce Bad Rabbit from Beatrix Potter's book, The Fierce Bad Rabbit (which we love).

17) We went bowling with Grandma and Grandpa. It was the girls' first time bowling. They both did well, but Natalie beat Andrea with a score of 76 by using the kick-n-roll method.

16) Andrea is growing up: She started all-day kindergarten in September. So far it has been a success; she loves everything about it, especially riding the bus, recess, and lunch.

First day of school-wearing her favorite outfit

Now that she is a big kindergartner, I guess she's in charge, because she came home after her first day of school and proceeded to explain The Rules to us. For 15 minutes straight. And then we had to "think about The Rules and remember them." And we couldn't talk to each other. And we had to raise our hands to talk to her.

Yikes.

15) With the beginning of school, so started the major meltdowns. They were a daily routine for a while. There was Andrea, melting down each night as she adjusted to her new schedule of all day kindergarten. And then there was me, melting down at least that often because I felt like this was the beginning of the end of my daughter's childhood. Luckily, we're both starting to get a handle on things.

14) Natalie is growing up: "I'm going to put this hat on and look like a woman!"

13) Ethan is growing up: He walks around, hands in pockets, eating big "happles," and calls after "Lollee" and "Sha-sha" (Natalie and Andrea).

12) I feel like I've become a legitimate Mom: I now volunteer in Andrea's art class at school. And I'm the Homeroom Mom. I'm sure this has to be some rite of passage into official motherhood.

11) We continued our 4-year tradition of apple picking at Hartland Orchard. This year wasn't quite as much fun because of the poison ivy Andrea found on most of the trees (her Eagle Scout father has taught her well), but we still got tons of apples and had a great time.

10) Family prayers have been shortened in response to Andrea's request to "make it short, Dad"

9) So the formerly potty-trained Natalie is now struggling in that department. She wasn't having major accidents, just little dribbles that were enough to require a change of clothes 3 times a day. Since I don't like doing that much laundry, I made her a little potty chart and promised her everything from stickers to candy to money in the hopes that it would motivate her to keep her pants dry.
Day One: She had 3 full-blown accidents. We're talking puddles, not dribbles.

We're open to suggestions.

8) We have finally solved the mystery of why Natalie dislikes wearing shoes with such passion - fierce, angry, tantrum-throwing passion: When she wears shoes, she can't cross her big toe over her 2nd toe, which apparently she really really likes to do.

7) Andrea's favorite music has come to include Beyonce and Taylor Swift. (All the single ladies-all the single ladies!) Not sure how I feel about this. Actually, I know exactly how I feel about this.

6) Natalie periodically transforms into "Fairianna," (pronounced fairy-AH-na). This is the magical fairy person she made up who likes to skip and frolic around the house, casting magical spells with her magical ice cream scoop.

5) With Andrea being gone all day, and Anders working his super-fun busy season hours, we try to make the most of our time together. We do fun things, like visit the farm at Frying Pan Park, watch movies, or my personal favorite: do nothing at all.

4) Andrea is learning to read and loves reading to "the kids." (Now that she is a kindergartner, this is how she refers to Natalie and Ethan.) Here she is reading them her first take-home book assignment (in the port-a-crib):

3) I have made some attempts at domesticity. Completed projects include: canning peach jam, raspberry jam, and applesauce; and sewing pillows, jammies, and a witch costume. Projected projects include: sewing more jammies, sewing curtains, sewing a quilt, sewing Christmas stockings, sewing Barbie clothes for Christmas, and sewing Christmas pageant costumes. A little ambitious, perhaps?

2)We went camping a couple of times. Once with Grandma and Grandpa in Idaho, where we had a pleasant time picking flowers, singing by the fire, and eating delicious food...

...and once in Shenandoah National Park, where they only sell wet firewood, and where we learned that our family of 5 doth not fit into a 4-person tent. Go figure.

1) We realized we have shot ourselves in the foot. Ethan does stuff like this...

...and then we point and laugh and take pictures. And then we tell him 'no'. And then we wonder why he's such a stinker who loves to get into trouble.

And there you have it. The last 2-3 months in a nutshell in our crazy family's life. Now that I'm all caught up, let's see if I can keep this thing updated a little more frequently. (But don't hold your breath...)

6 Days in the Car

2009-08-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

We just returned from three weeks of a wonderful family adventure. I don't know how to even begin to record everything that happened, or how to explain what this vacation did for our family.

My intent was to update the blog while on vacation; I gave up on Day 2. (I did post a little about the adventures of our first day.) So, if you will bear with me, I will attempt to do this in a few segments. (We'll see how far I actually get.)

First, the car trip:

We loaded up the minivan and headed west to Boise to visit Grandma and Grandpa Miller for a couple of weeks. The trip was 36 hours of drive time; we did it in about 4 days with some stops along the way. We got some weird looks and raised eyebrows when we told people we were going to drive across the country with three little kids. Just to spite everyone, we had a fabulous time together in the car.

Passing the Time
I started off with great expectations. I packed books, toys, games, crafts, coloring books, and other fun things to do in the car with the kids. We made Fruit Loop necklaces, ate fun snacks, and played with punching balloons.

The play dough was a hit...

...and the girls made themselves beautiful with their new make-up kits (notice Natalie's pink, glittery face):

We had a DVD player as a backup - just to get us through the hard times. Our goal was to only watch one or two movies each day. Who were we kidding!? By the end of the trip, we were tired and our enthusiasm was spent; we watched Veggie Tales and High School Musical and the Music Man pretty much non-stop that last day...oh well. Good intentions, right?

Hotel
The highlight of the car trip for the kids was being at "Hotel." (To Andrea and Natalie, Hotel is a proper noun and a destination in and of itself - like Red Robin or Florida.) At Hotel, the kids enjoyed Cartoon Network - which made me grateful that we don't have cable at home. A pineapple under the sea? Really? Is that the best they could do?

Swimming is always fun, but swimming at Hotel is extra exciting. Maybe it's because Dad is there to throw, catch, and wrestle with the kids in the water - way more fun than the usual baby pool with Mom. I have to mention that at the last hotel pool, Ethan learned how to dunk himself while holding on to the ladder. He was a little dare devil, going under again and again. It scared me to death - that was probably part of the appeal for Ethan.

Part of the fun of Hotel is sleeping together with the whole family in a cool new room. The kids loved it, and I have to say it was nice to have everyone - Mom and Dad included - asleep by 9:00. I can't remember the last time I went to bed that early. So nice!

Beautiful Country
Maybe this is lame, but we loved seeing the country and its beautiful variety. The Appalachians are gorgeous, lush, and green. The Midwest made me want to drop everything we are doing in Virginia and live simple, wholesome lives as farmers. Nebraska was surprisingly beautiful. Kansas was clear and open, and you could see the whole sky (which is something I really miss in Virginia). Wyoming...well, Wyoming had some very interesting windmills - hundreds of them, all lined up on hilltops. And of course, the Rocky Mountains are always gorgeous and were surprisingly green for August.

Family Time
Since most of our vacation time is spent with extended family (which is great), we don't have lots of our own family time together. The car trip was wonderful for that reason...just the 5 of us for a few days. We listened to music, we played, we were silly, and we just enjoyed being together. We even had little Family Home Evening together on Monday night. Dad gave a great impromptu lesson about the beautiful earth that Heavenly Father created; we sang songs; Natalie offered a sweet little prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the trees and birds. And then we played Name That Tune with the iPod - who knew that Andrea knows John Mayer and Natalie knows Jack Johnson?

I have to dedicate a little portion of this to Melinda, who rode back east with us. Melinda sat in the back with the kids most of the time, which allowed Anders and I some quality/quantity time to chat. She was also helpful in expediting potty breaks. The kids loved having her along; she has lived with us for so long that she's like their second mother and is practically part of the family.

Visiting Family
Along the way, we stayed with Great Grandma Erickson in Provo, where we got to visit with Matt, Tyrelle and baby Elllie, Jonah and Charlotte, and Auntie Melinda. A few highlights from Provo included:

playing in the water fountains on BYU campus...

...and riding in Great Grandma Erickson's awesome elevator in her house.

We also got to walk to church, which is a pretty novel thing to do when you don't live in Utah.

Thank you, Great Grandma Erickson, for your hospitality and kindness!!

We also got to stay with Jake, Amanda, and that sweet baby Audrey in St. Charles, MO on the way back home. I wish I had pictures to show, but alas, the camera was full that last day of our trip. But Jake and Amanda were so good to us and showed us a great time - shopping at the outlet mall, playing on new playgrounds, swimming with froggies, and more food than we could handle. The best attraction was Audrey, the newest little Erickson cousin. What a sweetheart!

Ethan adopted a new habit of screaming at the top of his lungs, and it kind of peaked while we were in Missouri. Our apologies to Amanda for keeping Audrey awake. Thanks, Jake and Amanda, for putting up with our crazy family!

The Bad Points
There were a few bad points of driving across the country, such as:

- nasty, nasty, nasty gas station bathrooms
- Natalie's increased tinkling the last day = bathroom stops every 2 hours
- hours of watching/listening to High School Musical 2
- Anders' speeding ticket in Sydney, Nebraska
- a flat tire while staying with Jake and Amanda (but we are glad it didn't happen on the road)
- eating at McDonald's about 5 times, which is about 5 times too many
- the crumb-laden, bug-splattered, slightly stinky car that resulted from 80 hours of total travel time.

But overall, the journey was a success, and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Stay tuned for Adventures at Grandma's...

They can take my husband away...

2009-07-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

...but they can't take away his Marriott points.

My husband works for PwC, a lovely little accounting firm to which we have sold our souls. Anders is gone from home a lot, and he occasionally travels. This stinks, but it also means that we get free nights at the Marriott from time to time.

Tonight we are sleeping in a Residence Inn. Today we drove 14 hours, crossed through 5 states - Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois - and finally stopped in the 6th state - Missouri. We are on a little adventure we like to call "going to Grandma's."

We've never driven to Idaho before, where Grandma and Grandpa Miller live - we've always flown. But we thought we'd try something different this time and use these 4 days of driving to bond, to see the country, and to use our Marriott points.

Highlights from our first day:

- West Virginia: While driving through the mining communities on windy mountain roads , we discovered that Natalie gets car sick. Luckily, I had a bag that successfully contained the results of her car sickness. We took a quick detour to throw away the bag, and to relocate Natalie to a seat where she could see out the front window. It seemed to help. This adventure set us back about 30 minutes.

- Kentucky: We stopped at a gas station. While waiting for Dad, I had the kids line up by the car and led them in doing head-shoulders-knees-and-toes and other various activities. Only later did I realize I that had an audience. A woman came over and said she enjoyed watching me to that.

- Indiana: Practically the whole state was under construction. One lane, 45 miles an hour, for what seemed like forever. We were glad to get to Illinois.

- Illinois: Smoke started coming from the cd player. Hmmmm. We pulled it out; we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The kids were soooooooooooooooooo excited to "go to hotel." Swimming, cool beds, new room - it's like a party to them. They've been amazing on the trip so far. Let's hope they don't revolt tomorrow when we tell them we get to do it all over again.

(sigh)

2009-07-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

So our old fridge died. I say old, but I know for certain that it wasn't any older than 5 years. A fridge should last longer than that, don't you think?

Anyway, a repairman came to check it out. He said we were the unluckiest people he'd met in his 35 years of appliance maintenance. It's nice to know you're unique...but you don't want your refrigerator woes defining that uniqueness for you. Apparently there was one wire that was 'arc-ing' - whatever that means - and of all the wires on our fridge, it is the one that cannot be replaced.

And there goes one perfectly good refrigerator right down the drain - or to the dump - all because of a faulty wire. (I'm seeing some potential life parallels here...)

I will not relate to you all the drama that ensued over finding a replacement refrigerator. I will say that more than one fridge was delivered to our house, my counter top was sawed off, some baseboards were removed, and a window sill was cut in half.

And I was not happy.

But not to worry. All is well. We have a refrigerator. It works. More importantly, it fits.

Lessons learned from this experience:
1.) Never shop for appliances with children.
2.) Appliances can be returned. So if they don't fit, it is not necessary to cut apart your house.
3.) I do not look American. (The delivery man informed me of this. According to him, I look either British or Irish. He was shocked when I told him I'm from Texas. I'm not sure what this means...)

Perspective

2009-07-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for all the little experiences that help put things into perspective:

1. I have a dear friend from college who is expecting her third baby. She just found out her baby will likely not live more than a few days past birth, if it makes it that long at all. How grateful I am for my own three healthy kids!

Even though I still sometimes cry when I think about my own rotten pregnancies, her experience has made all those horrible months seem so insignificant. And I would gladly go through them again, rather than to know that I would lose my baby.

Her experience has made me realize that the things that 'plague' my life are just so silly - a hip that sometimes hurts, a house that is never clean, a refrigerator that stops working in the middle of the night. Who cares?! I am so grateful for my kids, and that I've never been asked to experience the kind of heartache she is experiencing right now.

2. So sometimes (or a lot of times), my husband works late. And when he doesn't have to be in the office late, he usually comes home and has to do more work. And I occasionally like to complain about that. It would be nice to have a husband home every night for dinner. My kids would love to have a Daddy every night to sing to them at bedtime.

- HOWEVER -

My sister's husband is beginning his training to become a fighter pilot in the Air Force. We are so proud of him for all his hard work and dedication to his family and country. But something my sister said in her blog put my husband's work into perspective: "i wish i didn't have nightmares about losing my husband to war." (To read her most excellent blog, click here.)

I am grateful that I don't have to fear for my husband's life when he goes off to fight financial and IT fraud in the government. The most dangerous thing that he faces is the drive home every day, and maybe a little carpel tunnel. How easy!

3. So I feel like I am failing at most of the things I do. My kids fight; my house is dirty; my cooking is mediocre. But I have finally realized my true purpose in contributing to this household: Keeping the toilets flushed. I walk around, and at any given time I can find at least one potty in need of being flushed. I'm not sure why, but it seems like I am the only person in the house who knows to how to do this.

And I am really good at it.

Quite Content

2009-07-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

(This is another post I started a while ago and am just now getting around to finishing...)

Here I am at the end of another long, crazy - yet uneventful - week. This week brought such adventures as: a terrifying trip to the dentist (Andrea), terribly scraped knees (Natalie), 147 mosquito bites (Ethan), a sprained finger and gimp leg (Emily), and working at the office until 2:00 am (Anders).

But the dentist is forgotten, the scrapes are healing, the mosquito bites don't seem to bother, the sprained finger and gimp leg are manageable, and my workaholic husband took Thursday and Friday off to be with his family.

Last night we went camping. Our intention was to camp at Shenandoah National Park. Then we chickened out - we've not been camping with all three kids before, and we thought something a little closer might be a better way to test our outdoor-survival-with-3-little-kids skills. Burke Lake became Plan B - family camping, lots of bathrooms, playgrounds, and only 20 minutes from home.

Then my hip went crazy on me (you'd think I was in my 80's, not my 20's), and Anders got three hours of sleep Wednesday night (thank you, PwC), so we quickly came up with Plan C: camping at the In-laws.

We had a fabulous time.

We roasted hot dogs for dinner (this is the only acceptable way to cook a hot dog, by the way...)

And camping wouldn't be camping without s'mores. (Apparently, in our family you have to look like an Amazon woman to really be camping. Nice hair, girls :)

We also made blueberry-peach cobbler in the dutch oven, using the blueberries we picked last weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Natalie was the Blueberry-picking Champion...she was very determined to get every last ripe blueberry from every bush.

Camping wouldn't be camping without Daddy. He was the hero - building fires, playing with hot coals, and setting up tents. When it came time for lights out, Ethan wasn't too thrilled to be in an unfamiliar place. And so Daddy came to the rescue. He pulled out his guitar and sang until Ethan and Andrea (and Mommy) were asleep. Natalie couldn't be lulled so easily, so Anders paid her $1. She took the bribe and went right to sleep.

Beautiful weather, beautiful family, and time spent together makes one happy, content momma.

I Heart Clorox Wipes

2009-06-26T20:13:00.001-07:00

I'm always slow to embrace new-fangled things. I was the last person that I know of to get a cell phone, a Facebook account, a digital camera, etc. My general philosophy is that if we could do without it when I was a kid, then we can do without it now.

But oh how I love Clorox Wipes. They eliminate the very tedious step of having to spray a bottle of cleaner. Now all I do is pull and wipe. Genius.

Also amazing are Magic Erasers. And disposable diapers. I don't know how my mom managed for so many years without these wonderful modern conveniences.

* * * * *

On a separate note, I'm still pretty new to the blogging world, and I don't want to do anything that would offend. And so, may I ask a question about blogging etiquette?

When people leave questions in the 'comments' section, what is the appropriate way to answer?

Do I:

a) leave a comment in my own blog to answer to their question?

b) email them the answer?

c) assume that these questions are just rhetorical, and do nothing at all (which is what I have been doing by default)?

And in case you are still wondering...

...yes, Angie, Allison Gagon is my cousin, she did serve her mission in Catania Italy, and she is every bit as awesome as you've heard.

...yes, Marcia, we are coming to Boise this summer, during the first part of August. I would love to get together again; I have to see that sweet baby girl of yours!

...Jennifer, the reason you haven't found my blog until now is because I haven't had one until a few months ago. Also, I'm not sure how to advertise that I have one; I never want to make the assumption that people will want to read it. But I'm so glad you found me!

1-800-222-1222

2009-06-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

A gratitude entry is way overdue, especially after that last whiny entry I made. Sorry about that. I've been keeping a little list of 'positive experiences' over the last several weeks, and I think today would be a good day to just pound them out. So please, pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. Here we go.

I am grateful for...

1. ...the Perfect Preschool Mother, who recently complimented me on how 'collected and calm and together' I always was. (Okay, you can stop laughing now.) This came from the mother at Andrea's preschool who always looks beautiful - perfect teeth, perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect figure. Think Barbie doll.

I'm quite certain that she said this out of pity - pity that would no doubt arise from seeing the train wreck that unfolded every morning as I herded my 3 tiny kids in and out of the preschool - some kids wearing shoes, some not; my hair always a big fuzzy mess; Ethan in his jammies half the time...you get the picture.

But she said it. And I cling to it - to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, I'll be just that someday - collected, calm and together.

2. ...curly hair. I've never cared for my own curly hair, but Ethan's I love!

Also, did you know that "deer with curly hair are really mooses?" Natalie explained this to us the other day as we watched a deer eating grass at the D.C. temple. Which brings me to my next item of gratitude:

3. ...Father's Day. We had such a lovely Father's Day together as a family. No meetings. Nothing scheduled. Just family time, which is rare and precious around here. We took the opportunity to visit the temple and enjoy the beautiful grounds and the beautiful weather...and of course, the beautiful deer.

4. ...Anders. I can't mention Father's Day without mentioning my fabulous, amazing husband. He is another whole blog, so I will save my personal commentary for another time, but I will share something from Natalie's point of view:

Natalie often asks for Daddy during the day while he is at work, but she apparently understands why he works. According to Natalie, "Daddy works to get money to keep the Big Bad Wolf away so he doesn't blow down our house; and also so that the wolf doesn't blow away our bathtubs, because then we couldn't take a bath, and then we'd be stinky forever!"

5. ...that I have the number to Poison Control memorized. It comes in handy when Ethan drinks Woolite OxyDeep carpet cleaner, which he did yesterday. Fortunately, he did it just as Natalie had a little accident while trying to go #2 on the potty. (She missed the potty by a couple of inches. Yuck.) So it was really helpful that I didn't have anything else that needed my urgent attention while trying to save my son's life.* Good thing I had the number memorized so I didn't have to waste any time looking it up.

6. ...that Andrea wants to be my twin. The other day she realized we were both wearing brown Capri's. So she changed her shirt to be the same color as mine, and laid down next to me, with her legs crossed the same direction as mine, and said, "Look Mom! We're twins!!" It's been our little inside joke ever since. Nothing - nothing - is more flattering and encouraging than your daughter wanting to be just like you. Not even compliments from the Perfect Preschool Mother.

*Ethan is fine, by the way. I don't think he ended up with that much Woolite in his tummy. When I found him, he was trying to wipe off his tongue with his little hands. Apparently it doesn't taste all that great. The worst thing that can happen from drinking Woolite is vomiting, which we luckily avoided. The Poison Control number, should you ever need it, is at the top of this entry.

I'm gonna be honest with you...

2009-06-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Warning: This blog entry was written by a girl named Debbie Downer. Or maybe it was Negative Nancy. Whoever it was, I hope you get the point, and you do not have to read any further.

So I notice that a lot of people primarily blog about the good and the fun and the happy things that happen in their families. Cute things their kids say. Fun family outings. Darling posed pictures.

This is great. No one wants to read about the other stuff.

But today I'm going to blog about just that. The other stuff. The unpleasant side of family life. The day-to-day, I-didn't-sign-up-for-this, how-am-I-going-to-survive, no-one-said-it-would-be-this-hard kind of stuff. Most of it tedious and mundane. But the collective effect of it all is enough to drive you insane.

For example, right now I have poop on my shirt. For the second time in a week.

Also, there are ants in my kitchen. These ants are smart - they skip the counters and the sink, and go straight to Ethan's high chair, because they know it is impossible to keep clean. There will always be a yogurt splatter or a banana slice for them to nibble on. No matter how hard or how often I scrub, I can't seem to get it clean enough.

Then other things happen, like Natalie getting Lyme disease. (Remember my old friend, the tick?) It's simple enough to treat, but it means skipping nap time, finding someone to watch your other kids, spending an afternoon at the doctor's office that you despise, cleaning up the little accident that Natalie had in the car on the way there, wrestling with a screaming Natalie so they can weigh her, and antibiotics 3 times a day for 3 weeks.

Do you remember how in Young Women's, you'd have lessons and activities to help prepare you for motherhood? Well, they should have an activity where you learn how to clean up an exploded diaper. Ethan has one every morning. It's tricky trying to get all those little silicon filaments off of sticky wet skin, even in the tub.

They should also give lessons on how to referee. Not a basketball or soccer game, but little kids. Every mom-to-be needs step-by-step instructions on how to make the call when two kids are fighting and you have no idea what happened or who did what first. Because this is how I spend most of my day, and I am completely at a loss.

People blog about the sweet things their kids say. Well, tell me how sweet this is:
Ethan said his first sentence the other day. It wasn't "I love you, Mommy" or "Cookie please." It was, "I poopy. Ew." And speaking of poopy, Natalie likes to tell me, at least daily, that "stinky" and "pee-pee" rhyme. Multiple lectures about appropriate conversation have yet to sink in.

No one tells you that the only time you'll have to exercise is when you're carrying a kicking and screaming child up the stairs for time-outs at least 3 times a day. No one tells you that the constant barrage of questions will make your head spin and cause brain cells to die. No one tells you that the sound of a screaming toddler will cause your hair to start turning gray before you're 30.

My two daughters haven't slept through the night in over a month. Which means that neither has my husband. And neither have I. They are terrified of the thunder, and on the 95% of the nights when there isn't any thunder, they are terrified of the possibility of thunder. Bedtime is painful; it lasts about 2 hours. It eats away at the precious little time I have to get certain things done - things that can't possibly be done with children around.

Like preparing a Relief Society lesson. This has been a hard calling for me, because it requires me to complete sentences and sound coherent...something I haven't been able to do since having kids. The only time I can work on my lessons uninterrupted is when they are asleep. So anytime after 9:30.

Where is my husband? Can't he deal with the kids so I can get something done? The answer is 'no.' He's at work. Or travelling for work. Or at home, working on work. And when he's not working, he's at church meetings or interviews or hometeaching. Saturday is the only day that is ours, and that's the day we try to get all the things done that I couldn't get done during the week.

And since it's been a while since Anders has been home for dinner, may I confess a few things? My kids have hardly eaten anything for dinner besides chicken nuggets and hot dogs for the last couple weeks. Vegetables? No. Fruit? Rarely. Also, I have this great new babysitter. It's called High School Musical 3. It tends my children for me at least once a day.

As I've been writing this, I've had two thoughts come to mind:

1. Being a parent is hard, and on those horrible, rotten, no good, very bad days, it helps to remember that the positives really do outweigh the negatives. I love my kids to pieces. I adore them. I think they are amazing and beautiful and smart. When I think about my options in life, there isn't anything I'd choose in place of this. I choose this over a career; I choose this over daycare; I wouldn't change any of it.

2. "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." This line is from the hymn "Praise to the Man." It has been running through my head for the last several weeks. I think sometimes people who don't have children don't get what is so great about it. It's easy to see the ugly side of things - the side I just wrote about - and be deterred from having kids at all. It's hard to believe that the kisses and the hugs and the fun times really do make up for the hard work, the insanity, the relentlessness of it all. But truly there are few things that require greater sacrifice, greater selflessness than having children, and I honestly believe that the blessings and the joy that come are proportionate.

2009-06-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to notice that my 3 items of gratitude tend to center on my family. Today, I am grateful for my kids:

1. Andrea lately has become Super Child. She walks around the house saying things like, "What can I do to help you, Mom?" Or, "I just made my bed and cleaned my room and set out my pajamas for tonight" (and her jammies will be laid out perfectly on her perfectly made bed).

Or, "Can I sweep the kitchen floor?" "Can I vacuum the living room for you?" "I'll put away my laundry!" "I'll help you clean up the basement, Natalie."

And then she does all these things. I am amazed, and I'm loving all this extra help.

2. Natalie has also been suspiciously helpful the last few days. "Let's clean up the basement before we play the driving game (Mario Kart Wii)." Or, "Look Mommy! I made my bed!" But I am especially grateful because Natalie helps me to feel like maybe I'm not failing as a parent after all:

She tells me that when she grows up, she wants to be a mommy.

She can tell me that it was King Benjamin who said, "...neither will ye suffer that [your children] transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel with one another, and serve the devil..." (Mosiah 4:14). This is the first time she has ever let on that she has been paying attention to scripture time.

She tells me at least once a day that she loves me without being prompted.

Natalie playing with play dough in her jammies and dress-up, with 102 degree fever

3. Ethan is such a boy; he does such manly things that crack me up:

He 'pounds some fist.' This was really cute until he started pounding faces and arms as well.
He turns anything and everything into a gun/sword/fighting thing, complete with sound effects. I have no idea where he got the idea to do this.
He crushes his empty yogurt containers like beer cans

A few pictures from our Memorial Day T-ball Tournament:

"Go?"

Not My Finest Moment

2009-06-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Today Andrea is home sick with the same lovely illness that afflicted Natalie and Ethan this weekend (sore throat, fever, general crankiness). And so I had to cancel the 47 absolutely mandantory errands I had planned, and instead just hang out with the kids. It's amazing what happens when I have to take a time-out from the busy-ness of life - I realize how much of my crazy life I inflict upon myself. It's nice just to be still every once in a while.

Today I have one thing that I am very thankful for. So thankful, in fact, that it is going to take the place of my usual 3 things. Drumroll, please.

1. My very patient husband.
So I can be a pretty smart person. I did well in school, made good grades, got a scholarship, etc. But sometimes, for no apparent reason, I can be incredibly dumb. My common sense is a little flighty. Here is an example:

Last Friday was one of those days I should have stayed in bed. It was hectic and filled with tantrums from just about everyone in the house (myself included). The chaos culminated with a quick, last minute trip to the pediatrician's office because of Ethan's 102 degree fever and hours of screaming. 3 kids+1 small doctor's office+1 hectic day=1 very stressed, frazzled mommy. Anyway, we got back home, and the chaos continued. And then the phone rang.

I answered, and, because of my impaired mental state, proceeded to GIVE OUT MY CREDIT CARD NUMBER OVER THE PHONE to the Fairfax County Firefighters and Paramedics something-or-other. Come to think of it, it was my debit card. Even better.

Didn't I want to help support those brave men and women who run into the burning building when everyone else is running out? Don't worry ma'am, this call is being recorded for your safety, we don't keep your card number on file, my boss is right here making sure I type in $10 instead of $1000, no you can't mail us a check because it is too expensive for us. And if you're still unsure about the safety of what you are doing, here is my boss. His name is Jason Upright. Spelled U-P-R-I-G-H-T.

Since Jason's last name was 'Upright', I figured he must be a person of intergrity. I hung up the phone after giving this perfect stranger the keys to my family's financial life. And then I forgot about it until last night. Around midnight. The first quiet moment in our house in a few days.

I all of the sudden remembered what I had done, and the severity of what could happen began to sink in. I woke up Anders. I told him the bad news. I didn't think he'd be mad at me or anything, but I didn't think he'd be thrilled to know about it, either. But do you know what he did? He laughed. He laughed at me. He laughed a long, long, time.

We talked it over, did a little digging on Google to determine if it was legitimate or not (it was) and checked our bank account to make sure they didn't clean us out (they hadn't). We determined that I should immediately cancel my debit card and get a new one. He also reminded me that it is never, ever, ever, never, ever okay to give out that kind of information over the phone. Ever. Especially to someone with the last name of "Upright." Which I already knew. I just...well, sometimes I do really REALLY dumb things.

In conclusion, thank you, Anders, for your patience with me. And for not taking away my credit cards.

(In my defense, I really did want to support my local firefighters. They sent a whole team of firefighters and paramedics to our house once when I accidentally locked the kids in the car in the middle of the summer.)

Crazy Family, Crazy Thunder

2009-05-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful...

1. ...that Anders is home finally! It was two long weeks, but late Friday night he got home from his trip to Denver. It was hard having him gone for so long, but we were both successful in our endeavors while he was away: Anders got some recognition from a partner for the project that he managed; and I, well, I didn't go nuts and the kids are still alive. And I think they still like me. So overall, I'd say it was a good experience for everyone.

The first thing the kids did Saturday morning was 'play crazy in the family room' with Dad.
It's basically another way of saying 'dogpile on Dad.'
It's a family tradition in our house.

Dancing on the ceiling is another tradition in our house.
Now you know how weird we are.

2. ...for thunderstorms. Growing up in Texas/Oklahoma, you learn really fast not to be afraid of them because they happen all the time. And I know we get thunder here in Virginia occasionally, but it's polite, dainty thunder. Not so much in Texas. There, the thunder would shake your bones. So you just had to learn to deal with it, or you'd be scared crazy.

So, last week we had a couple of thunderstorms. There were some very decent rumbles - one even made my house rattle a bit. I loved it.

My girls did not.

And so now, Natalie will not sleep in her room. Naptime hasn't happened since the first storm last Thursday. And every night, the only way she'll go to sleep is if I'm in the room with her. This was obnoxious at first, but it's been a blessing in disguise. I now use that time for reading scriptures. Ordinarily, I only find time for a few minutes of study. Now I have about 45 minutes every night on my hands to just sit and read. Makes me wonder why I don't do it anyway.

3. ...for Ethan. I just think he's cute.

Funny things

2009-05-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

Here is an old entry I made a month ago but never posted. I thought I might as well publish it as not. It's mainly for grandparental enjoyment.

1. On the way to Red Robin the other night, Andrea requested to hear a particular song by Weezer. I know I'm a bad mom for letting my kids listen to any Weezer at all, but that's another discussion for another time. Anyway, she wanted to hear a song that she thought sounded like HSM3*, and because the song was a little raucous, I told her no (I do have some standards).

And when she asked, "Why?", Natalie promptly gave her this reply:

"Be-tuz it is too far away and be-tuz it tosts money."

Hmmm. Maybe I use those excuses too frequently.

*HSM3: For all you lame-o's out there who don't know, this refers to High School Musical 3

2. While we were at Red Robin, Andrea spotted an EXIT sign. She was excited about that and pointed it out to everyone at the table. After we sufficiently ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed over her amazing discovery of the exit sign, I told her that it was pretty impressive that she was able to find that exit sign amid all the lights, balloons, and carousel horses that decorated the restaurant. To which she exclaimed, "I know. I have really goooooood-lookin' eyes!"

I'm a blogging maniac!

2009-05-12T21:02:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the recent onslaught of postings on my blog. But, you know, Anders is gone, and I ran out of West Wing DVDs to watch. What else am I supposed to do when the kids are in bed?

Today I had the most disgusting, gross, nasty, horrific experience of my life. And for me to say that...well, I won't get started on all the things I vomited while I was pregnant. Let's just say I've had experience with some pretty yucky things. I'm pretty sure I could beat any guy at a gross-out contest.

Anyway, this morning Natalie came into my room, crawled into bed, and asked to watch Sesame Street on my laptop. I willingly obliged, because this gave me a few more minutes to doze. As she sat next to me, I started playing with her hair. And there, to my horror, do you know what I found? Can you guess? It was...

...A STINKING TICK!!!!

I've never seen a tick up close before. And definitely not on a person. Or in a person. And there it was. On my sweet, innocent Natalie. That black, nasty, leggy thing looked so diabolical hiding there in her soft, wispy, golden curls.

My first reaction was to run out of the room screaming. But I didn't think that would go over very well with Natalie. Instead, I calmly (yeah right) got a pair of tweezers, and while she sat in blissful ignorance watching Sesame Street, I pulled that sucker out of her head. It didn't come without a fight. I thought I was going to throw up or pass out or something, being only a tweezer-length away from that thing. But I didn't, and in the end, I flushed that blood-sucking, pin-headed, parasitic loser down the toilet.

Mmmm-hmmmm! That's right. That's what you get, Mr. Tick.

My whole point of this story is that it never ceases to amaze me what I am able to do for my children - things I could never ever do otherwise. If a dear friend came up to me and said, 'Hey Emily, I've got this tick here...could you help me out?' Forget it. I'll drive you to the ER before I go near that thing. But for my daughter...it's a different story.

Natalie: tick-free, new haircut, fresh pigtails, enjoying Sesame Street. She never had a clue.

Survival Tips

2009-05-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

In case your spouse happens to leave you alone with your three small children for twelve-and-one-half days so that he can go gallivanting around Denver - I happen to have come across some tips that may prove to be helpful for you:

Do's
1. Remember to call your local weather man to ask him if he would please avoid thunderstorms in the forecast while you are flying solo. Particularly thunderstorms around bedtime. It makes bedtime that much more of a struggle. So be sure to put in a request for clear skies.

2. Watch West Wing daily. Or some other TV series on DVD that you can watch after the kids go to bed. Anything that makes you feel like an adult...like a contributing member of society...like someone that has a life beyond wiping noses and bums. Something that makes you feel like you could be somebody.

3. Leave some lights on at night. The front porch, the back porch, and one light on every level. This is to scare away possible intruders. Or the Boogey Man. Just in case you are afraid of the dark. Which I'm not, but in case you are, it's a good idea.

4. Wear your kids out every day to the point of exhaustion.
This will help expedite bedtime, and should specifically include going on outings of many kinds - particularly during the 4 - 8 o'clock hours of the evening. Here are a few more pointers for outings:

Do not be discouraged when, immediately after paying the non-refundable $15 parking fee, a child has an accident in her carseat. Do not turn around and go home just because you have no change of clothes for her. Just put her in one of the baby's diapers and she'll be fine. No one will notice the wet spot on her backside.

From the air traffic control tower

Be careful to choose venues that do not have scary airplanes with shark faces painted on them; or that have rocket ship exhibits; or that have creepy astronaut suits randomly placed throughout. If you have little girls, they are going to freak out. Or at least mine did.

The only way I got them to even look at the big planes without being scared was by telling them that these are the kind of planes that Uncle Jonathan flies. They were sufficiently impressed.

If in the event that your chosen venue does have frightening displays, make sure there are a few things to look at that will appeal to and distract the afore-mentioned terrified little girls - such as little airplanes that are "so tute and so fweet!" ( This is Natalie's rendition of 'so cute and so sweet.')

The girls, standing next to the 'tute, fweet' little airplane that was 'just their size.'

And make sure there is a McDonald's, wherever you are going. You can't go wrong with a sundae.

Don't's
1. Don't have your wisdom teeth removed the week before your spouse leaves you. You want to be feeling your best. And no one functions at 100% when they're on Vicodin.

2. Don't go to church. Just don't do it. You may not have problems getting to church alone, and you may not have problems during Sacrament Meeting. But afterwards, you may lean over to clean up the war zone that is your pew, and sit up only to realize that your 17-month-old son is M.I.A. And it might take 15 minutes and half the ward, including one very responsible deacon, to find him. Not that this happened to me.

Okay, so maybe it did.

He just looks like he's plotting his next mischievous act. Little stinker.

To sum everything up:
Yes, it is possible to survive without your husband. You can have fun; you can function; you can enjoy your kids; you can have control of the TV remote in the evening.

But every time Anders goes out of town, it reiterates in my mind that there's a reason marriage is ordained of God; there's a reason why we are commanded to cleave to our spouse; there's a reason why Heavenly Father didn't design things so that we did all this alone. These last two weeks have been great - I think we managed pretty well while Anders has been gone. But we're not complete - I'm not complete. And we are all really excited to have Daddy come back this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-08T20:24:00.001-07:00

Alright, I haven't been keeping track of my daily Three Positive Experiences. Here are today's:

1. It didn't rain all day today. This is the first day in...well, it's been a long time since it hasn't rained. Don't get me wrong - I love the rain. I love it. But being couped up in the house for days and days with little kids gets really old really quick.

So carpe diem!! I called up Nina (sister-in-law) and we took the kiddos to the Zoo. Unlike our recent trips to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum, this little excursion turned out to be a success (meaning they didn't get scared by any of the exhibits to the point of hysterics). The kids loved it, and they did great.

They got to see all the animals they wanted to, including: the panda, who we watched eat a "fruit salad" with great fervor; the kangaroos, who according to Natalie look like me; and the seals, who, to our great delight, sneezed. They didn't have to see any animals they didn't want to, which include but are not limited to the lions, tigers, alligators, and snakes - according to Natalie, these are the mean animals. They got to ride a total of 4 Metro trains, ride on a dozen elevators, and Aunt Nina bought them ice cream. Does it get any better than that?

2. The kids conked out as soon as they went to bed (probably resulting from the 3+ miles they walked today). On the kids' part of our bedtime routine, there were no complaints about not having enough books, or running out of water, or needing to go potty, or needing a bandaid for a finger that has a "bleeding" (but in reality does not). On my part, there was no yelling down the hall, there was no breathing of empty threats, and there was no running up and down the stairs to keep kids in bed. If ever there is something to be thankful for, this is it.

3. My last positive experience goes out to The Guy on Metro. You know who you are. You watched me wrestle my three tiny, tired kids on a crowded train, and rather than get annoyed or shake your head in disgust, as some are prone to do, you just smiled. And you made sure to wish me a happy Mothers' Day as you exited to train. Thank you, Metro Guy!

20 Bajillion Things

2009-05-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

This is how many things I have to write about. I can't decide if I'm going to include them all or not. I want to, because I would like to remember them for posterity's sake. But 20 bajillion is a lot of things to write about, and that's a lot of things for people to read about. I'm just going to list them off and we'll see how far we get. Really, you are under no obligation to read further.

Andrea: "Why doesn't everyone have a computer in their house, Mom?"
Me: "Ummmmm. I don't know, honey."
Me: "Who do you know that doesn't have a computer in their house?"
Andrea: "George Washington."
Me: "Rrrrrrrrrrrright."
I went to Costco the other day. I had Ethan and Natalie, and it was one of those trips where my cart runneth over (I had a lot of stuff). So I was in line, and I started unloading my cart. This has to be entertaining for people to watch, because it always involves me pretending to be an octopus with eight arms, so that I can unload my mountain of stuff, while holding on to Ethan to keep him from jumping out of the cart, while holding on to the cart to keep Natalie from pushing it into the person(s) in front of us, while picking up my Costco card that Ethan has thrown on the floor, while picking up the contents of my purse that fell onto the floor while picking up the Costco card, while helping Natalie "help" me unload the cart, while sorting through the coupons I have clipped to hand to the cashier, while trying to enter in my pin number, while restraining Ethan's hands from pushing the big red button on the key pad.

So, while I was juggling all that, I heard this: "Excuse me, ma'am, but do you mind if I help you unload your cart?" I turned around, and there stood a guy who had "BYU" written all over him - he was clean cut, he was shaven, he was all smiles, he was courteous and helpful, he was with his mother, and he just had a special glow about him. Also, his t-shirt said "BYU" on it.

He helped me, and we chatted about BYU and his fiance and his plans for the future, and then I thanked him for his help and went on with my day. Although I was so grateful for his help, I know I would have managed on my own. I do this kind of thing (pretending to be an octopus) for a living, after all . But I had to write about him, because what I appreciated even more was the gesture of kindness that he extended to me. No one does that. No one offers to help a stranger. At least, not in Northern Virginia. Everyone is too busy minding their own very important business. So thank you, BYU Boy, for looking outside of yourself and finding a way to brighten someone else's day.
Can I tell you that I love to mow the lawn? Because I really do.

Can I tell you why? I'll tell you why: Because I mow it, and I can see that I did something - that I made some sort of progress. And the best part is that no one can come and un-do in a matter of minutes what I've just done. Sure, the grass will grow back. But it will take at least a week.

Alright, I'm done for the day. We got to 3 things. I'm not sure what 20 bajillion minus 3 is, but I guess that's what we have left to cover next time.

It's a good thing they're so cute...

2009-04-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't been very grateful lately - at least, you wouldn't guess it from my blog. I need to get back to doing that. Three more things I'm grateful for:

1. My kids. I've said this before, but I'll say it again: They crack me up.

The other morning I heard a chorus of hello's coming from Ethan's room. I went in there to see what my little monkeys were doing, and this is what I found:

Of course!! Sitting in laundry baskets, talking on their "phones." (Natalie's phone was the only authentic one; Andrea's was a paper cell phone she made at preschool; Ethan's phone was an old blue rag, naturally.)

2. My kids. They say the darnedest things, and in the darnedest ways. Here is a sample:

Ethan: It isn't so much what Ethan says, as how he says it. Or yells it. He sounds kind of like those announcers at Eurpean soccer games when someone scores a gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllll!
-Ethan, do you want some cereal?
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" (which actually means yes)
-Ethan, where is your bottle?
"BAH-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
-Ethan, time to go.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Natalie: If you've never heard Natalie's voice, you must imagine the tiniest, sweetest, most feminine and delicate little voice you've ever heard. Then imagine that sweet little thing say this and tell me you don't laugh: "Sit down Ethan or you'll fall and BUST your head open."

Andrea: (holding Ken doll) "This is Ken. I call him Sting!" Wow. Sting, huh? Where'd you get that name? "I just made it up in my head." Cool.

3. My kids. I'm not biased or anything, but I think they're pretty cute, and I'm grateful for that.

And as my sweet Grandma Gagon used to say, it's a good thing kids are so cute, or you'd smash them. I used to be slightly appalled that such a sweet little old lady could ever say such a thing. But she raised 7 children. She knew. And now I have kids of my own. And now I know.

It can't be worse than pregnancy.

2009-04-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

This was the thought that got me through my wisdom tooth extraction without completely freaking out.

I'll admit it. I was terrified. The thought of what was going to happen to my poor mouth was too gruesome for me to comprehend. And the fact that there were some possible complications was equally, if not more, disturbing.

But the surgery was Friday, and today is Sunday, and it came to pass that all was well. My face is not paralyzed, and only one tooth (or lack of tooth) is really causing any pain.

And I'm not afraid of pain. I've had three c-sections. Were they painful? You better believe it. I've had doctors try to turn two breech babies. Did it hurt? Like the dickens it hurt. And yet, the thought of those things doesn't scare me in the least.

You know what does scare me? Nausea and vomiting for 6+ months, only to be replaced by constant itching all over, to the point of tears and scratching until it bleeds. Basically, pregnancy in general is my worst. nightmare. ever.

And so having a few teeth removed is really no biggie. The worst part was the IV (I hate hate hate needles), and then I woke up and it was all done. Since the surgery, I just lie in bed, watch movies, read, and sleep. And blog. I enjoy an occasional narcotic. I swish with salt water. I wear frozen bags of peas on my face. I eat yogurt and mashed potatoes with a baby spoon. My husband brings my children in to give me love, but then ushers then out when they get too rambunctious.

I'm beginning to think I should do this more often. Maybe next time we think about having a baby, I should just opt to have some teeth removed. So much easier...

First, the bad news.

2009-04-24T05:43:00.001-07:00

The Bad News:
Ethan has pink eye and a cold. Which means I had to take him to the doctor. I hate going to the doctor.

The Good News:
I called the doctor's office yesterday at 4:12 pm, and by 4:30 pm, we were sitting face to face with my favorite pediatrician. She prescribed Vigamox, which unluckily is $25 for a teeny tiny bottle, but which we luckily have a year's supply of (due to the fact that Ethan has probably had pink eye for about 33% of his little life). Also good is that his pink eye never travels far. At least, the rest of the family has never gotten it from him (knock on wood).

My sick little guy with his Bah-doo (sippy cup) and his Shhh (blankie).

The Bad News:
Natalie tripped on the sidewalk and scraped her knee, her elbow, her hand, her cheek, and her foot. This while we getting in the car to go to preschool. And there was "a bleeding," which is always a tragedy.

The Good News:
I have discovered something called Dermaplast, a.k.a. Magic in a Pressurized Spray Bottle. As Natalie sat, screaming on the front steps of our house for all the neighbors to enjoy, I dashed upstairs, grabbed that little bottle of magic, and sprayed a liberal amount onto her "bleeding" knee, elbow, and foot. Instantly, the tears vanished, laughter ensued, and a good time was had by all. Of course, the requisite Hello Kitty bandaids were applied, but this should go without saying.

Natalie, proudly sporting a nice little scrape on her cheek

Disclaimer: You should exercise caution when using Dermaplast. While applying it to Natalie, I somehow managed to inhale some of the residual fumes. My mouth was numb for an hour.

The Bad News:
Today I'm going in for oral surgery. Anders' co-worker recently had the same thing done, and she was out for two weeks. I'm a nervous wreck.

The Good News:
I suppose it would have been good because I get to eat all the Jello I can handle. But I don't really like Jello. I guess the jury is still out on this one.

Not to brag, but I'm amazing.

2009-04-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

So think back to your 6th birthday. Was it just me, or when you were a kid, did it seem like the second you were officially a year older, things magically changed? You know, like you could run faster than you could the day before; you obtained a certain wisdom and maturity that you lacked only yesterday; you had grown 3 inches in 24 hours.

As I've aged, I've come to realize that there is nothing magical that happens on your birthday. Or is there....?

Let me tell you what I did today: made the bed, sorted the laundry, washed the laundry, folded the laundry, put away the laundry (this includes all linens), changed the sheets on all beds and cribs, dusted the entire upstairs (including all knickknacks and lampshades), dusted the ledge on the stairwell, dusted the pictures, vacuumed upstairs, played with my children, made thank-you cards for the children to decorate, actually ate lunch with my kids, chatted with my sister on the phone, filed the papers piled on the table, swept the kitchen and entryway, mopped the kitchen and entryway, scrubbed the boiled-over potato/rice water on the stove, scrubbed the fridge exterior, de-cluttered the nightstands, chatted with a friend, changed 4 stinky diapers, had homemade lasagna for dinner, disciplined my children patiently and lovingly, and painted the living room.

Okay, so I didn't really paint the living room. I was just checking to see if you were paying attention. Oh, and I did the dishes. Twice.

This is not typical for me. I've thought about all the possible reasons for having accomplished so much in so little time, including planet alignment and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder. But the only logical conclusion is that as of a week ago, I turned all of 29 years old. And while I didn't grow 3 inches this year, I must have obtained a certain amount of amazing-ness that has enabled me to achieve great things.

Watch out everyone. Who knows what I'll do next? Maybe I'll actually finish the blanket that I started for my first baby over 5 years ago. Maybe I'll start flossing my children's teeth every night. Maybe I'll shave my legs!

Or maybe I'll just go take a nap.

P.S. Lest you should fall into despair and think you will never measure up to my level of amazing-ness, you should come over and see my basement. And my bathrooms. And my hair.

Friends, husbands, and the Klopeks

2009-04-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

1. Today I am grateful for friends - that I have them, and that they add an extra measure of fulfillment and joy to my life.

2. I am grateful for my husband. I know other people have really great husbands, but I have to say I won the jackpot here - I can't imagine a better husband than Anders.

3. I am grateful for the gorgeous weather we had today; we took the opportunity to do a little yardwork.

Our front yard isn't so bad. The grass is growing nicely, the crabapple tree is in full bloom right now, and the hedges need only a slight trim.

But the backyard. How do I describe it? Have you ever seen The 'Burbs? Do you remember the Klopek's yard? The dead tree, the dead leaves, the dead grass, the big ugly crow? And the way the wind would pick up whenever you stepped into the yard, and the creepy organ music that would play in the background?

This is our backyard. It's shameful. It's embarrassing. I feel bad for the neighbors. And so today we did our best to fix it up a little bit; now it looks like this:

Just kidding. But this is the goal, anway. We have great plans to tear out the patio, plant grass, build a few garden boxes, a gated area for the utility box, and maybe a lilac bush in the corner. Any green thumbs out there are welcome to leave their much-needed advice.

Oh. my. goodness.

2009-04-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

Three things to tbe thankful for today. Here we go:

1. Yesterday Ethan ate ham for dinner. A lot. And today, he ate half of a chicken enchilada.

Oh. my. goodness.

The kid who never eats meat has just eaten a ton of it in the last 24 hours. Which makes me wonder two things:

a-what his diapers are going to be like tomorrow; and

b-if maybe this sudden boost in protein intake has something to do with his sudden increase in furniture climbing (see exibit A). One can only wonder.

Exhibit A

2. I just spent two hours trying to get the girls to go to bed.

Oh. my. goodness.

You may be wondering why this is something to be grateful for. I will tell you. Andrea had a check-up today and got 3 shots and some blood drawn. Consequently, her arms have been in a lot of pain. And so when it was time for bed, the flood gates opened and the tears came uncontrollably. After an hour of making trips up and down the stairs, I finally decided the best thing to do was to stay in their room for a while until everyone calmed down.

I sat down on the floor between their beds. We sang Primary songs, Peter Paul and Mary, the Beatles, even a little Elvis. And then they started asking questions about Jesus and Heavenly Father. When will we get to see Them again? Where do they live? What do they look like? And then we had a sweet conversation that basically covered the Plan of Salvation. It's not very often that I have their undivided attention for more than 30 seconds, so I was thrilled to have this chance to teach them a little about the Gospel, and most importantly, how much Heavenly Father and the Savior love them.

3. Today is my Andrea's 5th birthday. The poor thing has the worst mother ever - I scheduled her check-up for today, without thinking that there are probably better ways to spend a birthday than getting poked and prodded and stuck with 4 needles.

But it wasn't all bad. She went to lunch with Dad; she got to watch a movie during quiet time; she requested and received chicken enchiladas and "zucchini without salt" for dinner; and there were a few presents to open and candles to blow out. She was so funny because every present she opened got this response:

"Oh. my. goodness."

She never ceases to amaze me. From the day she was born, she has been very observant and eager to take in everything around her. Nothing escapes her notice. I remember that during her first several hours of life, she was so quiet and still, but so alert! She had such an intense gaze; she was such a beautiful baby- and so tiny (she weighed 5 1/2 pounds when we took her home). Andrea, I love you! You bring so much joy to our family!

Multi-tasking: Eating cake while talking to Auntie Melinda on the phone

Giving Thanks for Basalmic Vinegar

2009-04-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for the following three things:

1. Basalmic Vinegar.
2. Choices.
3. Natalie.

Read on to find out why...

1. Basalmic Vinegar: So Ethan does not eat anything that isn't sweet or isn't dairy. Forget about breads, vegetables, or proteins. His daily diet goes something like this - Breakfast: Milk, Yogurt (sometimes I can sneak in a few Cheerios with the yogurt. sometimes.) Lunch: Cheesy quesadilla, bananas. Dinner: Nothing.

This is how dinner usually goes - We put something on his tray, like chicken, for example. He screams and waves his arms and writhes in his seat. Then he will either push each piece off with his finger, one at a time, or he will throw the pieces at Anders. Then he screams until we get him down.

Sometimes I give in and give him chicken nuggets. He used to eat those, but recently all he does is put the chicken nugget in his mouth, gums it for about 5 minutes, then spits out the chicken part, having sucked off all the breading.

My only consolation is that the breading is whole grain.

But last night, we had a breakthrough. He actually ate a piece of chicken (1/2 inch x 1/2 inch) that had been dipped in basalmic vinegar. It actually made it to his stomach. I was thrilled! Of course, he didn't eat any more than that. After that he just used the chicken as a utensil to get the basalmic vinegar into his mouth - he would dip the chicken and sucked off the vinegar.

Whatever floats your boat, kid, whatever floats your boat.

2. Choices: So today Andrea woke up in a foul mood. She grumped and groaned and cried pretty much all morning. For the first hour or so, she was such a stick-in-the-mud. And then, all of the sudden, she wasn't. She was happy. She was bright. She was cheerful. She was helpful and obedient. Was this seriously the same child who only 5 minutes ago was sitting on the potty while slamming the cabinet door over and over?

After this dramatic mood swing, we were all getting ready, and as she was helping Natalie get her shoes on, she looked up and said, "Mommy! I'm choosing to be happy!!"

Wouldn't it be great if more people realized they could make that choice?

3. Natalie: Yesterday was my sweet Natalie's birthday. The poor thing is like a door mat - she let's everyone walk all over her. She's quiet and considerate and a peacemaker, and so she often gets the short end of the stick, especially being the middle child. So I was especially happy to celebrate her special day. She got to choose every song we listened to in the car, she had a lunch date with Daddy, she chose dinner (pasta salad), she chose a Belle birthday cake, and all those presents were hers. It was so fun to watch her graciously shine in the spotlight.

Thanks, Grandma Miller, for the awesome Barbie clothes!

I remember the first time I saw her when she was born. She was a c-section, so I couldn't hold her right away, but Anders brought her to me and held her close to my cheek. I just remember how soft those sweet chubby cheeks were. Happy Birthday, Natalie! I love you, and I'm so glad you decided to join our family!

Natalie, sporting her new sun glasses, apron, next to her Belle birthday cake.

Easter

2009-04-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

So in honor of Easter, I thought I'd take a few minutes away from the Easter Bunny and focus on what Easter is really about: Jelly Beans.

Just kidding.

Seriously though, I was thinking about what the Savior and His atonement means to me right now - this day - at this stage in my life. Of course I'm grateful for the general things that we usually talk about: that I can be forgiven for my mistakes and shortcomings; that I have the opportunity to try again and again that death will not separate me from my loved ones; that the Savior bore every burden and therefore knows perfectly how to comfort me.

But as a parent, I am grateful for the atonement in a specific way. Let me try to explain: When Andrea was just an infant, I began fretting over everything that I was doing, because I was sure that I was going to ruin her. Was I holding her so much that she was going to be spoiled? Was I not holding her enough to let her know that she was loved? Was I too strict? Was I too permissive? Was I patient enough? Was I doing a good job at keeping her healthy? Was she getting the nutrition she needed? What about the music I listened to when she was in the car with me? How were all these things going to affect her? The fact that I have a degree in psychology made things worse. In psychology we analyze every single behavior, and they teach us that the first three years in a child's life are the most important in developing a child's attitudes and personality. It was enough to drive me crazy with paranoia.

Eventually - and luckily before I went completely nuts - I had the realization that no matter what I did, I probably would mess up my child, at least a little bit. We all either learn or inherit things from our parents that are counter-productive, maladaptive, or unfortunate. Am I right?

But here is the good news - the important part of my "ah-ha!" moment: Part of why we are here on Earth is to overcome our weaknesses and our shortcomings...including those things that were learned or inflicted upon us by our parents. And the way we overcome these things is through the Atonement.

As a mother, this realization has allowed me to heave a sigh of relief and has let me feel like I can just do the best I can and not worry so much about the rest. I still want to do a good job of raising my children. I don't want to be the one contributing to my children's hardships in life. But there will be ways that I fall short, and it's okay, because the Savior is there to pick up the pieces and fill in the gaps for my children. And for that, I am grateful. Happy Easter everyone!

* These were the best shots I could get, okay, so don't judge me on Natalie's pink tennis shoes and her peanut butter and jelly sandwich face :)

Happy Birthday to...me!

2009-04-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the day, the big 2-9. This is my last year that I think I can get away without really having to grow up and be an adult. Once you hit 30, you don't have any excuse. But one more year...I better make it a good one!

I awoke to my girls jumping on my bed and giving me hugs and kisses and wishing me happy birthday. And that continued all day. Everytime they see me, I get a big, "Happy Birthday, Mommy! I love you!" Does it get any better than that? I submit to you that it does not.

Anders took the kids in the morning, and I had a nice several hours to myself. I went shopping, and I was able to make important decisions without being rushed. Like, should I get Reese's peanut butter eggs or Cadbury eggs for the girls' Easter baskets? If I'd had the kids with me, I probably would have ended up with Whoppers (which are disgusting). I would have been pressured into making a hasty decision because Ethan would have been dive bombing out of the cart, Natalie would have been pulling everything off the shelves, and Andrea would have been asking me at least 47 questions.

Anyway, it was a lovely day. I got some time to myself, which is what each mom needs every year or so. Some gifts of note: a new duvet cover for our bed (I have hated our current one from the first day we bought it 5 years ago. It's purple. Need I say more?); a book by Bruce C. Hafen; and a new temple bag (the temple bag was great - the one I have been using was a bag that I got for my 13th birthday. It was from Claire's. It was canvas. It had flowers on it. Yikes.) And Anders did a magnificent job on the chocolate cake - it was layered!

Ethan rather enjoyed the chocolate cake.

Chic-fil-A was for dinner (my request). I could write a whole blog about how much I love Chic-Fil-A, from their real chicken nuggets, to the fresh flowers on the tables, to the cow that comes to visit every Tuesday night. What's not to love?!

Thanks to my family for making it a great day :)

Yawn This one's pretty boring

2009-04-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

Three great things that happened/will happen today:

1. Elizabeth Jansen (aka-my hero) watched all three of my children for me this morning, and in that 2 1/2 hours, I finished my lesson. It is done. And the best part is that I didn't even cry this time while preparing. Usually, completing a lesson involves lots of stressing and fretting and hair-pulling and a few tears of desperation. (Yes, this calling stresses me out a little. Why do you ask?) But this time, it all went pretty smoothly. We'll see how Sunday goes. And thanks, Yaya, for being willing to read through it.

2. Some friends invited our family to Red Robin for dinner tonight. This is wonderful. This means I don't have to cook dinner. Or do the dishes. Or wipe the dinner up off the floor. Instead, I pay someone else to do all that. Win-win-win.

3. Andrea was invited to play at Abby and Emma's house this afternoon. For a variety of reasons which I will not bore you with, this is what she ended up wearing over to their house:

Pink shirt, white tiered skirt, brown gauchos. Awesome. I'm just glad to have good friends who have been there and understand.

On a separate note, there are now others besides my sister who read my blog. So far I think there are 3. This was exciting at first - 3 whole fans! - but now I'm not so sure. When it was just Yaya reading, no big deal. She already knows my deficiencies and therefore has low expectations for my blog. But now that other people are reading - even if it is just 3 - I feel all this pressure to create this amazingly clever blog that will *wow* people every single time they visit. So let me just say this up front: Keep your expectations low. Think words like "boring" and "pointless" and "rambling," and then you won't be disappointed :)

I got the blues...

2009-04-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

So there's no good reason for it, but today has been kind of a downer day. It might have something to do with the 2 pieces of chocolate cake and innumerable jelly bellies I ate (I don't fall from sugar highs very gracefully).

Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I spent most of the day trying my darnedest to get my kids to "please be quiet and listen to what I'm saying and obey me the first time and be nice to your sister and don't use that tone of voice with me and why are you crying again and go put some pants on and please eat your dinner and don't throw it on the floor and if you get out of bed one more time I'm taking your books away and this time I mean it and please calm down and go to sleep!"

Or maybe it is because I had an appointment with an oral surgeon today who told me the procedure I will be undergoing could result in permanent facial paralysis. Whoa.

Or maybe it's because I haven't written my 3 positive experiences for that last couple of days, so I'm going to now, because I need a boost:

1. Andrea and I had a lunch date today. While Natalie was at her playdate with Olivia, I fixed Ethan lunch (cheesy quesadilla and a banana). While I did this, Andrea fixed lunch for me and her: Turkey sandwiches (with mustard, ranch, and pickles); strawberries (rinsed and de-leafed); and water (ice for her, no ice for me, which is how I like my water). She got the denim quilt and spread it out on the living room floor, and carried in the plates, glasses, and paper towels. I put Ethan down for a nap, and Andrea and I had a lovely time together. What a sweetheart!

2. I teach Relief Society on Sunday, and I feel oddly confident in the material that I'm presenting. I think this lesson could be a half-decent one. This is good, because the last few really stunk.

3. I'm wearing my favorite pants - they are grey, they are stretchy, they are long - I'm just glad that I don't have to be the one looking at me when I wear them, because WOOF!

4. Just to be extra positive today, my fourth positive experience was that in spite of the fact that I had to go to the oral surgeon, and in spite of the fact that my face may be permanently paralyzed, the receptionists, staff, and even the surgeon were extremely pleasant and had excellent bed-side manner. I appreciate that.

5. Oh, and I just remembered something else. When I came home from my appointment, my husband had cleaned up the house. Even if everything else in the world is falling apart, if my house is clean, I can be happy.

It isn't always so easy

2009-04-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to have to dig deep to find 3 positive experiences for today. It wasn't a bad day; it was just one of those days when everything was a struggle. It may have something to do with the fact that Anders and I stayed up until 12:30 the night before watching Harry Potter. We're too old to be up that late. This morning I woke up to no husband, an inconsolable 1 year old, and 2 very hungry little girls. And a splitting headache.

But it wasn't all bad...let's see...three good things...hmmmm...

1. What I heard of General Conference was amazing. I often like to go into conference weekend a little more spiritually prepared than I was this weekend. And so I was kind of nervous I wouldn't get much out of it today, especially with 3 rambunctious kiddos running wild. But last night I did offer a quick pray for guidance on the issue of preparedness. And who remembers what the first talk was about?! Elder Hales spoke on provident living. It was the very first address, which means my kids were still relatively tame and I actually got to hear it :)

2. I am currently enjoying an evening to myself. The kids are asleep, Anders is at the Priesthood meeting, and I am enjoying a very quiet, relatively clean house.

3. My kids crack me up. Especially Ethan. And Natalie. And Andrea. Okay, so they are all equally hilarious. They all love dressing up. Natalie enjoys wearing "beautiful dresses," and will dance around in less-than-modest get-ups. Tonight Andrea and Natalie were both dancing while Andrea sang a song at the top of her lungs. (The song is an Andrea Original. It goes like this: "We can be happy, Every Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" The melody...varies.)

Notice Natalie's "dress" - It is actually a twirly skirt that she wears on her shoulder like a toga.

And then there is Ethan. He loves to wear his jacket around the house. All day. He thinks he is cool stuff when he wears his jacket.

He also thinks that he wants to wear what the girls are wearing, and literally begged me to put him in a Cinderella dress, and later, some sparkly butterfly underwear. I don't know how, but after a few minutes of wearing these things, it was like he knew. He just knew that little boys aren't meant to be beautiful princesses and wear things that sparkle. Hence the tears and screaming.

Luckily, my husband doesn't read this blog. Neither has he seen these pictures. It's probably best this way. (shhhhh....)

Following in Oprah's Footsteps...

2009-04-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

I've started what Oprah calls a 'gratitude journal.' And actually, Oprah isn't the only one who has ever done this. It just sounds cooler to say I'm doing what Oprah is doing - if you like Oprah. (By the way, I used to enjoy her. Not so much any more...I have ended our relationship of many years due to irreconcilable differences in values and beliefs.)

But I digress. I actually resolved to begin my gratitude journal after watching a BYU forum featuring Dr. Martin Seligman. (Anyone interested in learned helplessness? Then he's your man!) He made several interesting points regarding Positive Psychology, and I will not attempt to summarize them all here. But he did say that research has shown that by simply recording 3 positive experiences each day, people were found to be significantly happier and more satisfied with life after a 6 month period.

Who doesn't want to be significantly happier and more satisfied with life in 6 months?! I know I do. So I'm giving it a try. I thought it might be fun to make this a part of my blog...it'll give me something to write about.

So, three positive experiences for today, Friday, April 3:

1. A friend from my ward - Elizabeth Jansen - called me up today and offered to watch my kids for me each month so that I could have time to prepare my Relief Society lessons. WOW! I'm not usually too eager to dump my kids on others (I consider it cruel and unusual punishment - for the babysitter - not the kids.) But I had to take her up on that offer because anyone who knows me knows that I fall apart the weeks I have to teach. This means that my family falls apart during the weeks that I have to teach. And I mean that we are totally dysfunctional. What a huge help! THANK YOU BETH!!

2. It rained today. It even thundered once. I love the rain and I love thunderstorms. We don't ever get thunderstorms here in Virginia like we did in Texas, but then, nowhere can be as wonderful as Texas, and I've come to accept that. Anyway, it rained, and then the sky sort of cleared and it has been beautiful today. I forget how much I love spring.

3. It's not my place to go into detail, but someone close to me had something good happen in her life. She deserves to finally have something good in her life, so that makes me glad :)

Jelly Belly's

2009-04-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

...are a dangerous thing.

All you Costco members out there have probably seen the large 4 lb. Jelly Belly jelly bean jars for sale at their local Costco warehouse. It has been a dream of mine to own my very own jar of Jelly Belly's since I first became an official Costco-card-carrying person.

Today, I lived that dream. I had a coupon - $4 off! - and I knew that if I didn't buy them now, I never would. So I did. And I told myself, "I'll just have a few now and then - a quick little sugar fix to help me through the more difficult times."

Well, we bought the jelly beans, and then I had to drive the 20 minutes to go pick up Andrea from preschool. I drove with the jar in my lap - opened. I probably ate 100 jelly beans just on the way to school. That was at noon. Those jelly beans gave me the strength and happiness I needed to get home and get the kids lunch. Then the sugar started wearing off. I was fading fast. It was all I could do to get the kids down for naps.

At 1:30, I crashed. I slept for almost 3 hours, and when I woke up I felt horrible. See, I thought I could control myself around that much sugar. But I should have known better. And now I have the rest of this jar sitting in my house, tempting me. One would think that as a responsible adult, I would know better than to eat 17 handfuls of jellybeans in one day. If one thought this, one would be wrong.

Now my dilemna is: Do I keep the rest of the jar (that still wasn't cheap - even with the $4 off), or do I throw it out? Maybe I could donate them to Purple Heart...that's what I usually end up doing with everything I get rid of. Somehow it makes me feel better.

And by the way, my favorite Jelly Belly's are the black ones and the "Sizzling Cinnamon" ones. My least favorite: "Cafe Latte," otherwise known as "Dirt."

My Soap Box

2009-04-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

So this entry isn't exactly related to my 'thesis', which I was so excited about a few days. But I've had something on my mind, so here we go...

Apparently yesterday was Red Envelope Day. I didn't know what that was until I was invited to a Red Envelope party. Basically, on March 31, people all over the U.S. addressed red envelopes to President Obama in protest of abortion. I've never been very politically active about anything beyond voting in the presidential elections, so the fact that I participated in this was a big deal to me.

After sending out my 20 red envelopes, I spent last evening reading about abortion and trying to decide why I am pro-life, and why I can't just be pro-choice and let others make their own decisions. There are several facets to this debate, and I couldn't even begin to address all of them. But one things sticks out in my mind as I think about this issue of abortion: We are losing respect for life, and we do not have a correct understanding of the value, meaning, and purpose of life.

Last night I visited the website for the National Abortion Federation to see what they had to say in support of abortion rights. There is a section where women who have had abortions can leave notes as to why they had an abortion and what their experience was like. I found it very interesting that most of the women talked about how they just weren't prepared to care for a baby yet. They felt like they wouldn't be able to provide the kind of life they wanted for their baby - they usually cited the absence of a father, or economic reasons for aborting. I think that most of these women really did have the best of intentions when making this difficult decision. I understand that we want the best for our children. I understand that we don't want them to face any hardship or adversity that they don't have to. But, isn't part of why we are here on earth to face adversity? To have trials? To experience hardship? Isn't that what helps us to grow? to learn? to become better?

It seems that to some people, life is only worth living if it meets a certain (and arbitrary) ideal or standard. And this is where the Plan of Salvation comes in handy. It teaches us that every life has meaning and purpose. Things are never going to be ideal, and isn't that the point? We come here to earth to grow and to learn and to prove ourselves, and having a body - a mortal, imperfect body - is essential to all of this. And the best part is, that in spite of all the hardship and imperfection, we can have JOY!

We have some friends who recently had a healthy baby boy. Early on in the pregnancy, the doctor detected a possible abnormality that potentially indicated Down Syndrome. He immediately sent them to some specialists so that further testing could be done. One of the tests in particular - amniocentesis - carries a risk of preterm labor or miscarriage. Our friends opted to not carry out any of the tests. They didn't want to jepardize their baby, whether he had Down Syndrome or not. The specialists, on the other hand, were surprised at their decision. They had assumed that these parents would want to find out so that they could then abort the baby if they found him to have problems.

While I wouldn't wish disablities on any person, child, or family, those lives still have meaning and the potential for joy! Where do we draw the line in defining a worthwhile life? If we would terminate a life early on because of potential disability - because that life isn't worth living - then what of all those who are born and live with disability? Doesn't the same arguement carry over? Are their lives also worthless because they are less than ideal?

I was talking about this whole issue with Anders last night, and he said the solution to abortion is missionary work. Until people understand the Plan of Salvation, then any arguement we can give against abortion will be pointless. It ultimately comes down to an understanding that every life is of great worth, life itself is sacred, and the power to create life is also sacred and to be used appropriately.

A Thesis Statement

2009-03-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post to this blog. Blogging is something I tried before - and failed miserably. But, I'm going to do it this time. I even downloaded a cute (?) background to encourage me to take this seriously! We'll see...

One of the problems I've had with blogging is that I wasn't exactly sure what to write about. I wrote about my kids. I wrote aboute everyday happenings. I wrote about my thoughts. It all seemed boring and pointless.

In my 6th grade English class, my teacher Mrs. Harrington taught us that we should always start our writings with a THESIS STATEMENT. And so I'm going to fall back on that lesson now. Hopefully it will help me feel like this whole blogging business has a point and a focus. We'll see.

And my thesis is.......(drumroll, please)

Family is the greatest blessing.

And now I have this whole blog to figure out why :)

Our Crazy Family

Ramblings of a Crazy Lady

Ethan as of Late

My Goal...

Shell Shock

Love thy Neighbor

Ummm...

Catching up

Day 2 of Gratitude

Attitude of Gratitude

You know you're a bad mom when...

Guess who's back...back again...

6 Days in the Car

They can take my husband away...

(sigh)

Perspective

Quite Content

I Heart Clorox Wipes

1-800-222-1222

I'm gonna be honest with you...

Not My Finest Moment

Crazy Family, Crazy Thunder

Funny things

I'm a blogging maniac!

Survival Tips

Happy Mother's Day

20 Bajillion Things

It's a good thing they're so cute...

It can't be worse than pregnancy.

First, the bad news.

Not to brag, but I'm amazing.

Friends, husbands, and the Klopeks

Oh. my. goodness.

Giving Thanks for Basalmic Vinegar

Easter

Happy Birthday to...me!

*Yawn* This one's pretty boring

I got the blues...

It isn't always so easy

Following in Oprah's Footsteps...

Jelly Belly's

My Soap Box

A Thesis Statement

Yawn This one's pretty boring