Christmas

Ok, ok.  I'll do a Christmas write-up.

Our Tree:  We don't have a "theme tree".  I have colorful, warm, cozy lights that remind me of my childhood and the magic that was Christmas.   None of my ornaments match and I love it.  They all have a memory or were a creation of my children.  Sometimes I look at other trees and think maybe mine looks a little messy, but that's how I like it.  A messy, colorful, warm tree.  It's magic.

And, to make you all faint, I'm throwing in a picture.  That there is the tree.  And when I was taking pics, Brynja's cute antique-ish Radio Flyer rocking horse happened to be in front of the tree.  Kinda fitting.  (And this is me messing with my new camera off of auto-mode, but I don't have a tripod so flashless pics are tricky as of yet)

Christmas Eve was a mellow thing this year.  I usually find myself shopping for a few last minute things that day, as well as trying to make cookies or treats of some kind for neighbors and friends.  I managed to get all my shopping done beforehand and I thought, perhaps, I'd be baking or something that day, but I decided I wouldn't do it until I had cooked the chicken noodle soup (homemade noodle kind... takes forever) that we were planning on having for dinner.

I got the food done and had no time to make anything for neighbors and that was completely ok with me.  (sorry friends and neighbors!  next year...)

The morning of Christmas Eve, I had the choir practicing the Christmas program that was scheduled for the next morning (Christmas) at 10:30 a.m.  The practice when FANTASTIC and I felt, for the most part, completely ready for the program.  And it was good.  Good, I tell you!  Tears were shed during the practice as stories were read and songs were sung.  It was fabulous.  

So, back to the afternoon... Had dinner ready and went to my mom's house.  My mom was feeling not-so-great at the time.  She had been in the hospital earlier in the week... Sunday through Wednesday... after dealing with serious pain in her chest.  It wasn't a heart attack, but pericarditus that she's been battling ever since her heart attack in September.  So, Christmas festivities were kept very low-key, which suited all of us just fine.  We ate soup and bread, laughed and talked with my parents and my brother, Taylor, and his girlfriend, Cherryn.  We did our version of the Nativity which is pulling out the pretty ceramic pieces that my mom painted years ago and telling about the role each figure played in the story of Christ's birth.  It's a nice time to reflect on why we celebrate Christmas.  Then I read a few Christmas stories and we called it a night.  Low key.  Perfect.  

We got home, did the Christmas pajama thing and sent those excited kids off to bed.  

And then Dustin and I started the Santa process.  We had a very frustrating time trying to assemble a toy.  It took more than an hour and it DIDN'T WORK when it was all put together.  We were freaking out.  I was so upset.  We ended up writing a note to Ella from Santa telling her that his elves must have broken the toy while assembling it and that her parents would get her something else.  (The note was really for the benefit of Rohan.  Ella inquired as to the true nature of Santa a month or so before Christmas and learned that it is her mom and dad who act in the name of Santa and the Spirit of Christmas.)  It was disappointing, to say the least.  It was compounded by the fact that I didn't feel very well.  I was agitated and SO INCREDIBLY tired.  All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but we had things to wrap and stockings to fill.

Aside:  My kids and husband had been shuffling the flu between them for the week previous.  Brynja was sick, throwing up and feverish, the previous Saturday night and spent all of Sunday completely miserable.   Next came Ella and Rohan on Monday and Tuesday.  They shared their sick day.  Poor Ella threw up over and over and over.  I bet she threw up every ten minutes for four hours straight.  It was terrible.  And then it slowed down to every 30 or so minutes for the next, oh, six or so hours.  Rohan had it coming out both ends.  Not as much puking as Ella, but he made up for it in other ways.  (Think 1 a.m., 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. baths...)  And I forgot that Dustin shared this sick day with Ella and Roh as well.  Lucky.

Mac waited until Thursday/Friday and he was miserable too, but his manifested a little less severely than the other kids'.

As for me, I told my body that I was healthy.  I didn't have time for anything otherwise.  I couldn't spare a moment to succumb to the bug that plagued the rest of my family.  And I didn't.  And I was proud of myself because I really and truly felt like I kept it at bay by sheer force of will.  

Pride comes before a fall.

Usually, as we finish up laying out Christmas for the big morning, I go wash all the dishes, clean up any extra stuff in the living room and make sure everything feels good in the room before I go to bed.  Not this time.  By the time we were wrapping up, I was really feeling weird and I was scared about it.  Over and over again, I did my mental exercises  to fend off illness.  And it got worse.  There were dishes in the sink and some clutter on the table, but I decided I didn't care.  Not even a little bit.  I went to bed at about 1:45 or 2:00 a.m.  

I fell asleep for about 15 minutes and then bolted out of bed.  I was well and truly sick.  I had it like Rohan, coming from two directions.  I was so cold.  I would go in and lay on the hardwood floor in front of the heater in between my special times in the bathroom.  I had this little tiny fleece blanket that I would try to squeeze my body under as I laid by the heater.  

I know I fell asleep several times and was continually awakened by my body trying to expunge the virus I had previously eluded.  It was the most intense illness I've ever had.  

All my kids were sick for a minimum of 24 hours.  I started throwing up at about 2 a.m. on Christmas morning.  Here's where I was freaking out.  You recall that I direct the choir in my church?  And you recall that we do a big Christmas program every year?  And this year happened to be on Christmas Day?  I was totally clueless what I should do.  I was most likely going to be sick until at least the next morning at 2 a.m.  Should I call my bishop in the morning and tell him I wouldn't be there?  Me, the director of seven of the nine songs and the soloist singing the eighth?  What would they do?  Could Sandy lead them all?  Should they just sing congregational hymns?  Would they cancel the whole thing?

Amid puking and other things, I had these thoughts floating around.  I couldn't believe that I chose THIS time to get sick.  Seriously?  But when I say the thoughts were floating around, that's really how I felt.  This illness was so intense and I was so tired that I was fairly delirious.  I might have even passed out at one point.  I don't really know what happened except that I remembered sitting on the porcelain throne and then the next thing I remembered was pushing myself off the floor because I needed to sit there again.  And throw up.  At the same time.  Lucky me, I had a bowl and lucky me, I had the toilet paper holder to hold up the weight of my upper body because I couldn't hold myself up.  But I don't know how I got on the floor in the first place.  So I either passed out, or fell asleep and laid myself down with my pants still down.

It was violent.  It was delirium.  It was horrible.  And it was short.

I had, without much recollection of getting there, laid back in front of the heater on the hard floor and fallen asleep.  I'm guessing I left the bathroom for the last time at about 4:30.  I woke up to the sound of my kids coming through the kitchen to wake us up.  I exploded off the floor (don't know where the energy for that came from) telling them that it was too early and they needed to go back to sleep.  My kids informed me that it was 6:30 and I replied that it was still too early.  They had to wait until 7:00.  They grumbled until I told them I'd been throwing up all night.  Then they felt bad and acquiesced.  

I went and laid in my bed next to Dustin.  He told me how sorry he was that I was sick.  As I lay there in my bed, I did a "body check", so to speak.  An evaluation of what was going on.  I discovered that I didn't feel like I needed to use the toilet.  Good news.  And in checking on my stomach, I discovered that I felt.... HUNGRY.  Hungry?  I was shocked.  Who feels hungry when they've been throwing up?  Only people who are on the mend.  I allowed myself to hope and I ate a saltine cracker.  

Dustin had gone downstairs to hang out with the kids for the half hour they were required to wait.  I slept a little bit and then we all got ready to go see what "Santa" brought.  I just sat on a chair through the festivities and tried not to move my tender stomach.  

As time went on, I felt a little better and a little better.  At about 9:15 I went and showered and got myself ready for church.  I was shaky and weak, hollow feeling and tender-stomached, but I managed to get ready and go.

As I led the music and the program progressed, I seemed to get more strength even though I was exerting more energy and had only had a few crackers and some water.  Things went very well.  My solo was kinda disappointing, but considering how I felt, I was happy I was able to do it at all.  So I took the mediocre assessment and decided instead that it was pretty great.

And then it was over.  

And that was my Christmas miracle.  The Reader's Digest Version of the flu.  Two hours instead of 24-36.  

I was so grateful for that gift, and I just took it easy the rest of the day.  

Here are more pictures so you can faint again.  (don't worry, I didn't take any selfies of me barfing or similarly engaged...)

 On my bed, waiting so sweetly.

 The magic moment of walking into Christmas.

 Mac got a nice digital camera.  (The shark was the toy that didn't work.  MEGA disappointing)

Dustin and Rohan... opening something.  (proof of Dustin's presence.)

And me... trying to enjoy myself on two hours of sleep and shaky, hollow, sick-recovery-ness.  

Ella made this pillow for Mac (with help from me).  She was so excited! 

Rohan opening a gift I made for him... and I'm kinda proud of it, so....

Here it is.  It's a suitcase that I got from a thrift store and made a dinosaur habitat inside.  

It has a volcano and a cave and "water" (painted).  And then, when he's done playing with it, he closes it up and it's just a suitcase!  :-)  It's cool.   

And Ella after opening her art stuff that I spoke of a few days ago.  She was SO excited.  

Brynja was so cute.  She loved this doggie that Rohan gave her.  She snuggled it for a long time.  

In spite of the wild flu-ride, it was a great, low-key Christmas.


THE END.

Recently in Clancy's Life...

My baby girl, Brynja, is so darling.  I marvel at the fact that she is 19 months old.  I wish I was better at taking pictures so I could share her charms with the world, but, for now, writing will have to suffice.  She has been my latest bloomer in the speech department.  Not to say that she's not communicating, because she most certainly is.  She has the most precious ways of expressing herself and telling us what she wants.  She hums and squeaks and signs, and very recently, has started to open her world even further by trying to use a few more words.  I swear that she tried to say "street sweeper" today as she and I giggled at the machine sweeping our leaves from the gutters.  She is my pal on these long days with the other kids in school.  We have so much fun. 

Just today we played with a plastic elephant and a stuffed armadillo.  We made them run like horses and I would try to make elephant noises.  Brynja thought this was hysterical.  She laughed her big, open-mouth laughed, exposing her new molars and her yet-to-be-I-teeth holes.  It's the cutest thing.  She laughs with gusto and gallops around the house like a joyful little horsey.  She brings delight to our home like sunshine warming the sidewalk.  I love her so much. 

Bedtime or nap time is my favorite.  As soon as I turn off her light and settle in the glider next to her bed, she snuggles her little head into my neck or chest and calms herself down.  Sometimes I sing her a song, other times I simply rock her and wonder at the love flowing between us.  It's like a force of nature that is impossible to resist.  Not that I'd want to resist it.  I just jump in and bask in the glow of that love.  I just want to squeeze her and never let her go.  I often feel a sense of loss as I lay her in her bed, the heavy weight of her small body taken from me and put down for her autonomous nap.

I get it now.  I really get it. 

People used to say to me when my other kids were small, "Oh... treasure this time!  It goes so fast.  Before you know it, they'll be driving and then off to college!" or something like that.  They said it all the time!  I'd smile at them through clenched teeth as I heard these words for what felt like the thousandth time.  They really meant well, but I just wanted to punch them or tell them to shut up.  They didn't know how hard those days were!  And they were hard.  Mac, in particular, was a challenging child, and I just couldn't wait for each day to end so I could see my little kids asleep, looking angelic and not fighting with each other.  (He definitely had his sweet moments too... I don't want to discount those, but I remember the challenging times best, it seems!)

I can't cite the source, or perhaps even the correct quote, but recently I heard something that went like, "Motherhood is full of the longest days and the shortest years." 

How true that is!  Each day can feel like an eternity, and then you blink and your oldest son, who used to be so full of challenge, is 11 1/2 years old!  What?  And my Ella is 9 1/2?  Huh?  My baby Rohan is 6 1/2?  How did that happen?

They were right.  It really does go fast.

And so, I hold my Brynja a little closer.  I ache when I put her down to bed.  And most of all I cry for my other babies, Mac, Ella and Rohan.  I look at theses big kids and wish so hard that I could hold them as infants just one more time.  I cry for that time that is gone from me.  If I found a magic lamp today, I'd rub it and wish for one day with each of my kids when they were small.

And so with Brynja, my last baby, I hold her tighter knowing that time will slip through my fingers anyway, but at least I know it this time.  I don't think the knowing makes it any easier, just more poignant. 

Day 6 of 30

Something you bought recently...

It seems like all I spend money on lately is my rentals.  Last week I bought a gallon of paint, a gallon of polyurethane for refinishing hardwood floors ($50 for ONE gallon!!), a floor-finish applicator, blinds for windows, a shower curtain rod, and I rented a floor sander.  I also purchased the service of a roto-rooterish company (FOUR times in as many months), a sewer line camera, an excavating company, and a furnace repairman.  Not to mention paying for heat and power in a vacant house for two months...

Just so you know, these are my least favorite things to spend money on. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I just sent all my children to bed for being Bratty McBrattykins. (Brynja was the exception)   Right now I'm listening to a chorus of screams.  If someone is walking by outside they might be worried about what is going on in this house.  Ella is screaming like I severed her arm, and Mac is mock-wailing to make fun of Ella.  (Don't worry, no arms have actually been severed.)  They are in their rooms.  Ella can hear him and so she screams louder and then he screams louder too, to make her mad.  She screams back at him to be quiet and he continues screaming.  I told her, just now, the magic secret.  STOP SCREAMING.  If you stop screaming then he'll stop making fun of your screaming.  She hasn't seen the sense of my motherly wisdom yet. 

Mac just discovered that Rohan is no longer in time-out.  He ceased his mock-wailing and started yelling the question, "Why is Rohan out of time out?"  Rohan, who sat quietly on the couch (his time-out spot, as he shares a room with Ella and I didn't want to deal with that time-out disaster) during his punishment, was thanked for taking his sentence with good grace, and was promptlly freed from his cushiony prison.  Mac didn't think this was fair.  I told him he was still trapped because he was making fun of Ella's screaming and he then tried to tell me that he wasn't making fun of her.  Sure, kiddo.  Nice try. 

It's shaping up to be one of those evenings I wish I could hold an auction for a couple of kids.

Any opening bids?

Missing Manic Monday: Investment

Hi there.  Sorry I fell off my little bloggy wagon again.  We've just busy with the first week of school for Mac and finishing the rest of the basement.  Someday I might put pictures up of these remodels, but not tonight.  I'm just hoping to make it through the post without falling asleep. 

I'm really tired.

So, Random Word Generator has spoken and the word is "Investment". 

So many things come to mind with this word... duplex, basement finishing, banking, equity, 401K... blah, blah, blah. 

I could write about any of those... but I won't. 

I'll write about my most rewarding and challenging investments.  Each one took nine months to gestate and will take a lifetime to mature.  Each was a physical investment of my own body.  Each is an emotional investment as I navigate the rocky waters of motherhood.  But the prize... the joy and satisfaction when you watch it all unfold...

Best investments I've ever made.

School Shopping

Target

3:30pm

Tuesday afternoon

One sassy ten-year old

One dramatic eight-year old

One "floppy" five-year old

One fussy four-month old

Three school supply lists

One sleep-deprived mother


This is a recipe for disaster, people.  When did school supply shopping become such a huge undertaking?  I think I remember buying pencils, a lunch box and a backpack when I was a kid.  And one new outfit. 

These lists are going to cost me some serious cash... I'm guessing we'll break a hundred just for the pencils, highlighters, notebooks, crayons, markers, paint, tissues, glue, glue sticks, scissors, hand sanitizer, blah blah blah... the list goes ON and ON! 

We got some of it, but I couldn't finish.  I needed to regroup and come back later all recharged.  I'll see if I can hit it again tomorrow.  Phew.

Distracted

I was right in the middle of a veritable cleaning frenzy.  And now I'm distracted by my blog.  I need to write things.  I love to read them later.  I just reread "Bounce" and it satisfied me to read it, silly as it was.  And so...

My older three children are on a little trip right now.  Dustin's parents met us halfway(ish) between our house and theirs and picked up Mac, Ella and Rohan.  This morning the kiddos got to ride on a passenger train of Union Pacific's.  I don't know details except that they were excited.  I can't wait to hear about it. 

This was important to Marsha, my mother-in-law, because her father was a train engineer for Union Pacific for a long long time.  He retired with UP.  She wanted her grandchildren to have an experience with trains and I wanted to be supportive of that desire.  Not to mention my kids were STOKED to ride a train.  I thought it sounded fun myself!  But the thought of driving anywhere of any distance with my newish baby and without my husband makes me sweat.  Brynja does not, particularly, enjoy riding in the car.  So, we met them halfway and they took our kids and are keeping them for a couple days, which is a nice little break for me, coupled with the duality of missing them.  *sigh*

Speaking of Brynja, she and I went on a long walk this morning.  One hour, to be exact.  I haven't moved my body very much since she was born.  (or before, for that matter)  It was excellent.  I am anxious to get myself moving and get my body back into shape.  Miss B seemed to like the stroller.  She hasn't liked it much so far, but she's almost three months old now and she's becoming more aware of the world beyond the 3 feet surrounding her person.  I think that made the difference in her stroller-enjoyment factor this morning, plus the fact that it was finally a pleasant temperature outside (hello, it's June 15th!  'Bout time, I say!). 

Garage sale is still pending.  I'm shooting for this weekend now.  It's rather an involved process, preparing for it.  And so, I best get back at it, the cleaning and yard-sale prep. 

Brynja Leigh and the Contest Winner

Hidee ho.  I had a baby!

Most of you already know that thanks to the wonders of Facebook, but I did post a little contest on my blog a while ago and some of you might be wondering who the winner of that contest is! 

This was a tough decision for me.  I sat in my bed in the hospital making a chart of all the guesses, and figuring out who got what right.  I was hoping that some soul would have guessed two of the three right, but sadly, no.  Anyone who got any correct only got one.  There were many guesses for girl, and INDEED, we got ourselves a girl!  The most angelic little girl I've met.  She's so sweet and mellow and I can't kiss her enough.

So, good job to all those who guessed girl, namely Polly, Maria, Jenn, Holly, Emily, Ginny, Jen, Kristin, and Marci!

Then we have the date... March 20th was it.  She was born on the first day of Spring, which really fits somehow.  Why didn't I think of that before?

We had one correct guess for the date and that was by my friend Beth.  Good job, Beth!  :) 

And then the weight... my biggest baby yet!  She weighed in at 8lbs 3oz.  I could tell the moment they set her on me that she was bigger than my other kids.  She just looked fuller in her skin.  Ella came later... 11 days overdue, but she only weighed 7.13, Mac was 7.6 and Rohan was 7.3. 

We also had just one correct guess on the weight and that was Miss Stevie Kay!  Good job, Stevie!

But, alas, there was no one, not ONE person who guessed more than one correct "stat".  I was in a quandry!  I didn't know what to do.  Dustin and I hashed over a few ideas and then I kind of forgot about the whole thing for a while. 

And then the winner came to me.  My exact words in the contest rules were: "The person whose answers come closest to the actual stats will win some homemade treats from me. "  And guess what?  Marci came the closest!  She had one correct guess, GIRL.  And then, her other picks were March 19, just one day off, and 8 lbs., 4 oz., just one ounce off!  So, she was the closest to the actual stats! 

Congratulations Marci!  You are the winner of some homemade treats!  I will get them to you some time in the next couple weeks.  :) 

Thanks to everyone for playing!  It made that last little bit of overdue-ness more bearable to have more than just me guessing at when the baby would ever come.

And for your viewing enjoyment...

Miss Brynja Leigh
born March 20, 2010 at 7:14pm, weighing 8 lbs., 3 oz., 20 1/2" long.
(and her head and chest were both 14 1/4")

 Mom and Brynja 

(by the way, her name is pronounce BRIN-ya... Scandinavian J...)

Dad and Brynja

I want to write more about the labor, etc., but I will have to do that another day.  My kids have been so sweet with their new little sister.  They can't get enough of her!  These pics are of her first day home from the hospital.  She was not quite 48 hours old. 

We are so blessed.

Concrete...

Our basement is largely unfinished.  Remember back about a year ago when we finished the two bedrooms in my basement?  That was a great day.  Now, the time is upon us where we should be able to finish the family room and the bathroom and the hallway too (or, in other words... all the other rooms in our basement)!!!  Isn't that exciting?  I think so.

As I'm writing this post, my Ella is wearing my Rollerblades (she wears mine because she doesn't have any of her own because her feet grow like mad.  MAD, I tell you!  The child is seven years old and she wears a size 4 or 5.  I wore a size 5 when I was in 5th grade... she's in 2nd!).  She is wearing my blades and zooming from her [finished] room, through the [unfinished] family room, down the [unfinished] hall and into Mac's [finished] bedroom.  My children have done this every day for the past month or two... strapped on their blades and zoomed around on our concrete, unfinished floors.  What a blessing this has been through the dreary months of winter when outside play on concrete sidewalks is just a memory, and the dream of Spring dances in front of our closed eyes as we cuddle in front of gas-forced-air heat.   


If that wasn't enough, Rohan spent a good hour yesterday doing drawings with sidewalk chalk on our concrete basement floors while Mac and I were doing school.  We've had a few ants in our basement as the weather is starting to change and Roh drew "traps" for them in addition to a large, Rohan-sized arrow that pointed toward the invaders with the word "DEAD" written after the arrow.  He had to let the pesky ants know that their fate was sealed...

And so, when the time comes (soon!) to enjoy carpeted floors and real walls rather than our own in-home skating rink/chalk-drawing board, it will be a bittersweet thing.

But mostly sweet.

Rohan

I was reading a blog of my friend Corrinne today about what she does all day as a mother.  I was engrossed and not paying attention to what Rohan, who was sitting on my lap, was saying to me.  (He talks a LOT and sometimes I tune him out)  Involved in my reading as I was, I finally tuned back in when he touched my cheek to turn my face toward his, raised the decibel of his voice and said, very sternly, "IS. THAT. CLEAR. ??"

(I, apparently, say that enough to my kids that he's parroting it back to me.  Awesome.)

This got my attention CLEARLY, and I asked him to repeat what he said.

"Mommy.  Will. You. Get. New. Batt. Er. Ies. In. My. Mote. Con. Trol. Car."

(Translation: Mommy, will you get new batteries in my remote control car?)

And then, once again, "IS. THAT. CLEAR?"

I laughed.  "Yes, that's clear, son.  Now ask me nicely."

He did and followed his now-nice request by yelling suddenly, "I need to get dressed!"

"Yes, you do," I replied.

He went to his clothes basket and found his clothes.  As he was putting on his shirt he said, "This shirt smells like stinky food."  I stifled a laugh (as I do so often around this child) and told him to put on another shirt.

"But I like this one, Mom!"  he responded.

"Well, then," I said, "Wear the shirt that smells like stinky food!"

He just giggled.

And so did I.

And... he's still wearing the shirt.

What's Been Happening...

.... around Clancy's house? 


Well, I'm not redecorating!  And you know what the funny thing is about that statement?  I'd have to have already decorated to be "re"decorating!  I've never really done the first phase.  Just what was here when I moved into my house... the wall colors, the curtains (both of which I hate now!), and added my own bits here and there.  Someday....


So, as I mentioned yesterday, I'm going to try to blog more.  Try to "get my groove on" again.  We'll see.  It might just be ramblings and randomness, but, wait, isn't that what my blog has always been?  :-)  For now I'll start with what I've been up to.



For the months of November and December I spent a fair amount of time dipping pretzels.  I guess I should say the months of September, October, November and December.  It's been four months of dipping, really?  Well, I guess that takes up some time.  I've been less inclined to grumble about the whole dipping thing this time around.  I don't know why, but somehow I enjoyed it more than I usually do.  I was more cheerful about it overall and that, my friends, is always a good thing. 

Dipping ended, quite literally, on Christmas Eve.  I had a biggish order come in on the 23rd, and since it was for a very good friend of mine, I did it.  I don't normally do things that close to Christmas, but this was an exception.


I have grand plans every year of making "neighbor gifts" for my friends and neighbors.  More like "neighbor treats", I suppose.  I like to make a plate of yummies and bring them around to those I love.  Most years I end up scrambling around, stressed out and crazy trying to get it done.  This year was going to be the exception!  I had the best intentions of making the treats on the 23rd and then delivering them in the morning on the 24th.  But...between the last minute pretzel orders and trying to sew my kids pajamas for Christmas, I ended up not making any plates to deliver.  There were a lucky few people who, if they caught me at home when they dropped by their own goody plates, got a plate of pretzels, caramel corn and caramel pecan bars that I had on hand from my last minute order!  So, to all those who've gotten a treat plate from me before and did not this year, please forgive me.  It was a very conscious decision to let that one go this year and I even allowed myself to shed all guilt surrounding the issue.  And I'm happy about it.  And I still love all of you who didn't see me with a plate of treats.  (The guilt was eased knowing that most of you, like me, had an abundance of treats to tempt you during the holidays and mine would likely not be missed)

There's always next year.

So, I mentioned that I decided to sew my children PJ's this year.  I always get my kids jammies to open on Christmas Eve.  Lots of people do this tradition.  As a child, my mother always sewed our Christmas Eve pajamas and this year I decided that I would too.  I started in plenty of time.  I suppose plenty is a relative term... it was plenty of time for me, the great procrastinator.  It was a good week and a half before Christmas and THAT is a LOT of time for me!  I could only work on them at night after my kids were in bed because my sewing machine is out in the open of our living room/dining room area and I wanted them to be surprised about the fabric they were getting, if not the fact that they were getting homemade pajamas.

Let's just say that what started out as me having lots of time to sew one of the simplest things there is to sew, ended up being one of the more nightmarish projects of my illustrious sewing career.  I was up sewing until 3am on the 22nd and until 2am on the 23rd (and more nights than that, but those were the winners for lateness).  I'll just say that if you're ever buying flannel to sew on, plan on a LOT of shrinkage... so much that you might have to change the whole layout of the pattern for cutting which might cause you to need more fabric, which the store just might run out of a mere two days after you bought it... which might cause you to have to buy a whole different fabric, which by now you realize you'll need extra fabric for shrinkage, but how much extra might be out of your realm of comprehension and you'll STILL come up short which, by this time, it might be December 23rd at 11:00 at night and you can't get more fabric because the store is closed and the darned PJ's need to be FINISHED, WRAPPED and UNDER the tree by the next evening (but you can't sew when your kids are awake).  *big gasp of air*  So, you might just have to spend an extra TWO hours adjusting the pattern to make the amount of the !*$#@$ shrunken fabric work for what you've got, which will make you VERY frustrated indeed.  Not to mention a myriad of other strange problems you might encounter with the other TWO pajamas you're making. (yes, that story was only about Ella's PJ's... Mac's and Rohan's had their own set of "issues" that were very special and cry-worthy.)

So, yeah.  I had a wonderful, nostalgic time sewing PJ's for my kids. (are you sensing the sarcasm?  it's hard to pass on through a blog)  But the important part is that I made it work, got it done and they LOVE them!  Rohan is always so sad if his "monster" jammies are dirty and he can't wear them.  And, actually that statement is true for Ella and Mac as well (aside from the "monster" part!).

So, the weeks before Christmas I was exceptionally busy.  I can't remember what I was doing aside from dipping and homeschooling... oh, and trying to get all my "shopping" done.  I was actually fairly well prepared in that arena this year.  I was almost done shopping a good week before Christmas, which is UNHEARD of for me!  I was proud of myself for that one.  I even got most of the presents wrapped about two weeks (maybe a week and a half!) before Christmas.  Usually our tree is barren of presents until about the 23rd or sometimes the 24th.  Go me!

I had been up too late for too many nights and pushing myself with the sewing and the dipping and the homeschooling and the whatever-elseing and by the time Christmas Eve rolled around I was exhausted.  Regardless, we had a nice quiet Christmas Eve.  We went over to my mom's house.  I made Thai Noodle Soup, my mom made potato soup and we had little baguettes of bread.  It was a simple dinner followed by hot chocolate, shortbread and our tradition of pulling out my mom's nativity set.  Each piece is wrapped in cloth and we take turns pulling them out and telling the story each person played in the birth of Jesus Christ.  We did this same thing in my growing up years and it's special for me to have my kids experience it too.  Especially because it takes the focus off of the commercialism that is ready and waiting to happen the next morning and puts the focus, quietly, simply and sweetly back on the birth of Jesus Christ and the gift that he was and is to the world.  It was tender and it completely suited my exhausted but content state of mind and body.

An observation that we make every Christmas Eve is the fact that the children start telling the PARENTS it's time to go home.  We usually have to pull teeth to get our children to leave my mom's house.  They never want to go.  But Christmas Eve, they were putting their shoes on and telling Dustin and I that it was time to go home.  And we, of course, obliged them.  Home we went! 

Upon arrival, all three of them ran in to brush their teeth as quickly as they could.  (again, a once a year occurrence.)  They forgot, in their haste to reach their beds, to open one special present (homemade with much love and sacrifice!).  I reminded them and they came and ripped open their special Christmas Eve presents.  They oooohed and ahhhed appropriately and I felt very good about my efforts and all the metaphorical hair I lost during the sewing ordeal.  (I never ACTUALLY pulled my hair out in frustration, but I wanted to.  A lot.)

Mac loved his dartboard jammies, Ella loved her big dots (that was NOT my first choice in fabrics, but by the time I had to buy replacement fabric, it was slim pickins!), and, strangely, Rohan threw a fit about his monster jammies.  He didn't like them and he didn't want to put them on.  After a little coaxing, he finally did and then he was upset (as was I) because the elastic was too big and the pants were falling off.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.  I measured both of the boys' waistlines while they were asleep.  It worked on Mac, but not my skinny little Rohan. 

Never fear!  I have a seam ripper and my sewing machine was still out.  So, in about 5 minutes I had the seam opened, elastic adjusted and sewn in place, the seam sewn shut again and a happy little boy.  Suddenly his monster jammies were cool (his fabric was my favorite by far!) and he ran off to go to bed!

We tucked in our little munchkins and got to work doing the things parents do on Christmas Eve after their children are nestled.... which, in this case, involved watching the new Harry Potter.  ☺  Really we were worried that the kids would be awake for a while and so we sat down for a bit and killed time with the DVD player.  It only took about 15 minutes before the three little ones had visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads and we got to work.

And, amazingly enough, I was in bed before midnight.  That's NEVER happened on Christmas Eve.

I woke in the morning to the sound of the shower.  Dustin had been awake for a long time and decided to take a shower hoping that the kids wouldn't wake up while he was in there.  Of course, that slight shift in the noises of the house must have woken the kids because within minutes they were upstairs surrounding my groggy-I-wish-I-could-sleep-more self.  We made them wait, as parents do, in our room while I went and turned the tree lights on.  We made them brush their hair... well, Ella and I did anyway... and we gathered and said a prayer and talked for a minute about the why of it all- Jesus Christ's birth.  It was neat.

Rohan, Mac and Ella waiting to go see if Santa did, indeed, come!

Then, the wonderful madness that is Christmas morning ensued.  It was very fun.  We had a wonderful, magical, toy-filled time and I felt gratitude for my little growing family and the amazing people I'm blessed to have in my home.  And here are a few little pics for the picture hungry!

 Dustin was very irritated with the people who package children's toys.  They make them iron-clad stuck in those packages!!! :)  Isn't he cute?  It became a personal vendetta for him to get this toy opened completely before we could proceed with unwrapping presents!  I ♥ Dustin.

Those cute little monkeys in their new jammies.  

 Don't you love Mac's face?  It's so Christmas morning!  Ella is so sweet.  

Rohan LOVED his remote control car.  In fact he still loves it and he's actually a really good little RC driver!  (And look at his extra cute PJ's!  The child will NOT wear a shirt to bed.  Somehow he's decided that's the way it is and once he's decided, he's not easily swayed.  So, he is shirtless.  Saved me having to sew a top, so I won't complain!  ☺)

At Dustin's company work party we had a white elephant gift exchange.  We ended up with these goofy-yet-cute sock monkey slippers.  We weren't sure what we'd do with them, so we wrapped them and gave them to Mac.  He thought they were the coolest and Rohan and Ella were quite jealous.  They both inquired why THEY didn't get sock monkey slippers.  Anyone know where to buy these silly things?

We acquired a gigantic box Legos from a friend of mine.  It's HUGE.  My kids (and I!) love Legos more than any toy and were SO excited to see this massive collection unveiled with the tearing of the wrapping paper!

 I even made Dustin take a few pictures of me, since last year there was not a single shot of the mother of the family in the family archives.  So, I remedied that this year.  See?  Don't I look all sorts of Christmas-morningy?

We went to my mom's house later in the day... about 4:00 and we ate snacky food and opened a few more presents.  It was relaxing and wonderful to have nothing to do but be together.   

And I will end my Christmas Chronicle at this point because I am going to bed now.  I'll tell more later.  (It's really not as late as the time stamp shows... I'm publishing this later so it will be "tomorrow" when it posts, because it makes me feel better.  It's really only 10:30pm and I am treating myself to my bed and my pillow and some rest!  Just FYI, if ever the time stamp says 12:08am, it was a scheduled post.  I always set posts that I want to publish later to come at 12:08am.  Don't ask me why it's 12:08am... just one of those quirks.☺)

Rant

I love my sister.  Dearly.  She is wonderful, creative, thoughtful and fun.  She has a knack for making things beautiful.  She also has a weakness for Webkinz.

For any of you who might not know what a "Webkinz" is... a Webkinz is simply a stuffed animal.  Upon purchasing said animal you open a little thing attached to their ear, neck, leg, waist... (I don't really know what part it's attached to because, unlike my sister, I avoid Webkinz at all costs)... that has a code on it.  This code gets you into a "virtual world" for your new pet.  My sister's darling children have owned a Webkinz, or perhaps several Webkinz pets for a few years now.  My sister thinks it's great fun and loves to help her children take care of their "pet" in the "virtual world". 

For several years (probably since she bought her first "pets") my sister has told me that I should get these for my kids and I've resisted in every manner possible.  I have even told her that I don't need any other reason for my children to want to get onto some think-for-you, creativity-sapping electronic device (in this case, the computer) and exisit, even for a little bit, in some non-physical plane that is NOT reality (ie., the Webkinz world).  They get enough of that with our Wii that I don't let them play very often.

So, mid-December, my sister called me several times while I was in a movie theater.  I had my phone on vibrate, so I didn't hear the calls and my phone was in my purse so I didn't see the calls either.  When I got out of the theater, I noticed her missed calls and called her back.  She told me that she had been in a store and they had Webkinz for only $5 and she was wondering if she could get one for a gift for each my children.  She remembered that I didn't really want them for my kids, hence the calling, but since she couldn't get a hold of me, she made an executive decision and bought them anyway.  I'm not gonna lie, this announcement made my blood boil a little bit.  I suppose I could've told her she needed to take them back to the store, but that's not my style.  It's a gift, after all, and she loves them but doesn't understand why I don't want them in my life.  So, I conceded.  The gifts were given this last weekend. 

My children flipped out.  They were so excited.  I was not.

Their cousins helped them log on and set up their world.  They played on it some while they were at my mom's house over the weekend.  Whatever. 

This year I have suffered a severe post-Christmas crash.  I pushed myself beyond my limits for several weeks, trying to do too much and not getting enough sleep in the process, not to mention the fact that I'm growing another human being in my body, which tends to sap energy.  I have felt groggy every morning (including Christmas morning) and felt as though I could sleep until noon each day.  (I haven't, but waking daily has been a serious challenge) 

With that preface: Ella, upon waking this morning, came and climbed in my bed.  This is normally a sweet thing.  I love to converse with her in the mornings.  But I was downright grumpy today as she tried to talk to me.  And one of the first thing out of her mouth was something about how she needed to get online and feed "Marci" (her Webkinz) or Marci would die.  Seriously?  Your stuffed animal's electronic persona will die?  I had no tolerance for it.  I told her she better wait until I was a little more awake (like in a non-horizontal position) to talk to me about that. 


Grrrr....

I guess this is where I get to assert my position as "Mother" and just tell them too bad.  Your little pet will have to live on whatever they get with a "once every couple weeks" visit online. 

And, just for the record, I'm not mad at my sister.  She made her choice to give them to my kids and I made my choice to NOT tell her to take them back.  I now get to choose to be a "mean mom" who let's virtual pets go skeletal with malnutrition and neglect. 

I just feel better for the telling of the story, so thanks for listening, Blog. 

Sick

It's hit our household.

We've all been sick.

It started on Saturday with Ella. She had a fever. Not too high, but a fever that made her somewhat lethargic. She had nothing, aside from that fever, Saturday, Sunday and all day Monday. Then, Monday night she threw up. Tuesday she was mostly better.

Monday night, Dustin and Mac started feeling crummy and slightly feverish. Tuesday Dustin felt awful and Mac, to compliment his fever, threw up. Just before he threw up, Dustin and I heard Mac yell out, "HERE IT COMES!!" (He despises throwing up.) Dustin and I laughed at his announcement.

Rohan was showing no signs, except some chest congestion, which has been my story since about Friday.

Wednesday, Mac continued with his fever. Dustin stayed home again, still feverish. Rohan started showing fever signs, while I simply continued to have a lot of chest congestion. Ella returned to school.

Today, Dustin is feeling better and back at work. Mac and Rohan are feverishly languishing in the living room, and I STILL have chest congestion but only that. (for which I am grateful)

For as much as I dislike sickness in my house, this has been a relatively fun one. Dustin was home with ALL of us on Tuesday, albeit sick, but he was home. Ella went to school Wednesday, so with the exception of her we were all home together yesterday too. That is a treat for me, even if we are sick.

We all have been laying around like slugs the whole week. I've only been dressed for a couple of hours at a time when I was forced to go out and buy things like Saltine crackers, Sprite and children's Ibuprofen. It's been an adventure in hibernation and healing, watching non-stop movies and reading books.

I hate being sick, but I love my little family's togetherness.



P.S. I keep having people ask me if it's Swine Flu (insert bloodcurdling scream and scary music) and I'll just say for the record... I don't know and I don't care. I think Swine Flu (insert bloodcurdling scream and scary music) is purely propaganda. I think it's a scare tactic. For heaven sake's people... it's just the flu!

I just heard on the radio the other day that our Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning president has declared a National Emergency because the Swine Flu (insert bloodcurdling scream and scary music) deaths have now totaled 1000.

1000? Are you kidding? I've been researching a little and everything I've read states that the flu kills about 36,000 people per year. EVERY YEAR! And now our president has declared a National Emergency because 1000 people have died?

Healthcare propaganda, is what I think it is. A bunch of B.S. with a creepy name...

Dinner Is Not Cooked

It's 5:34 pm right now. Dustin is working late tonight... late-ish. I haven't cooked dinner and I'm blogging instead!

The truth of the matter is that I'm in pain right now and I can't easily stand up from this chair I sat in a few minutes ago. I have been having issues with the ligaments in my abdomen... I've read that it's the ones that hold up my uterus. Anyway, whatever they are, they have a tendency to get irritated and it feels like a severe side-ache... you know when you're running and you get a side-ache? It feels like that. And when it is bad, like it is at this moment, I have to sit still 'til it goes away because moving doubles me over.

Soo... that's my really good excuse for not having dinner cooked or even started at 5:34pm.

We went for a lovely visit over the weekend to Logan, UT... our former place of residence. We visited with our friends Jennie and Jared and Justin and Amy. We had a Halloween party of sorts, but mostly just visited and played.

Then the next day we went and visited with my lifelong friend, Beth and her family. Our kids got along swimmingly and were very sad to leave their friends that they see far too little of. They are still talking about "Eric" and how cute and funny he is. It was a good day and we were all sad to leave. Hopefully it won't be so long before we see all the friends we saw this weekend again.

I've been in sewing mode. Halloween is my favorite time of year to sew. I love to make my children costumes and watch them light up as they come to fruition.

Rohan is going to be a "mommy" this year. (Mummy, but he always says it like mommy, which confuses all the people who ask him what he's going to be for Halloween!) I am having so much fun making up his costume. It's rather tedious the way I'm doing it, but it's turning out great! I'm excited and so is he!

Mac will be a Grim Reaper and Ella, a little devil. They are all loving it and can't wait for the real deal.

I love Halloween and have so many fond memories of my mom helping us get all dressed up. She loved it too and always went "all out".

So, it's now 5:50 and my ligaments or whatever hurts is not hurting so much now, so I think I'll go make dinner!

Pontifications on Cereal

This is the 401st post on this little blog. Can you believe I had 401 things to say! Wow.

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I am a cereal junkie. I love cereal. Yesterday I ate it for breakfast AND lunch. Very healthy choice, I must say.

I, unfortunately have also passed this love on to my children. I say unfortunately, but it's not entirely unfortunate. Just think if they didn't like cereal! I'd have to make them a real breakfast every morning. *gasp!* I struggle with making a real dinner at night. That would be problematic.

I will tell you what is unfortunate about this situation. Cereal is not the cheapest thing to eat for breakfast. Eggs would likely be cheaper. Oatmeal, definitely cheaper. I've thought I should define things a little bit regarding the cereal. I've thought I should tell the kids I will buy ___________ number of boxes per week and if they eat it all, then they don't get more until the next week. Good idea, huh? But the flaw in that plan is this: when the cereal runs out, there's one grown-up cereal junkie who has the power to run her little butt to the store and buy some more. And that is exactly what she does.

Post Cranberry Almond Crunch is my favorite, usually. I'm a big fan of Bran Flakes and Frosted Mini Wheats as well. Rice Chex, and Kix hit the spot. And with all of my pregnancies, Cheerios were my lifeline in the first trimester when sickness reigned and nothing sounded good.

Rohan lives for Life. Mac loves Special K. Ella will eat whatever suits her fancy that day, but she seems to ask for Frosted Mini Wheats the most.

I think we're winning Dustin over to the dark side. Together he and I will rule the cereal universe with our children. Although... Dustin loves Grape Nuts and they make his breath smell like dog food. If he eats them too much, I might have to destroy him. But, lucky for me (and him!), bwwaahahahaha, I'm the one who does the shopping!

The Saturday Morning Miracle

Just thought I'd share the coolest sound in the whole world with you. Well, the coolest sound in my whole world, anyway.

It happened last Saturday morning. I had stayed up too late the night before. You see, Dustin usually goes to karate on Saturday mornings from 7:00am to 9:00am. Last Saturday was no exception. He went. I vaguely remember kissing him goodbye, as I was still sleeping at 6:45.

Around our house, the typical Saturday morning goes something like this: D goes to karate and about 20 minutes later my kids wake up. Rohan wakes up first... or Ella, but mostly Rohan... and he wants me to get him a bowl of cereal. The little stinker! Doesn't he know that I want to sleep in on a Saturday!! At least a tiny bit! Please!!!? Anyway, then follows the rest of the kids and I try to pretend I'm still sleeping until I hear them fighting or something and I have to yell at them to be nice or get their little fannies spanked or go to time-out or some other really mean threat. Did you know that pretending to be sleeping and yelling at your kids are not congruent? They don't fit very well. It's usually around that time that I get up out of bed and act like a human being for the day.

So, that's the norm. But last Saturday, as I told you, Dustin left for karate and I went back to sleep. The next thing I heard was Rohan saying he wanted cereal. Groaning, I started to try to put him off, but realized he was not in my room, nor was he talking to his mother. It was then that I heard the most beautiful thing an up-to-late-wanting-to-sleep-in mommy could hear; my ears were caressed by the melodious sound of Dustin's deep voice telling Rohan to go pee while he got him some cereal. Dustin was, in fact, not at karate but was home and getting Rohan his beloved bowl of Life cereal while I lay in my bed.


HEAVEN!


I drifted in and out of sleep for the next hour or so. Those few times I woke, I heard something even more wonderful... Dustin telling the kids to "leave Mom alone... she's sleeping!"


RAPTURE!


I thought that life could not be sweeter, but let me tell you about my husband... He is sweetness with a thick coating of muscle and grit. As I came more fully awake, my senses keyed into the noises around the house... the activity that was occurring. I still heard my dashing husband asking my darling children to leave me alone and let me sleep (I let him continue with that for a while, event though I was fully awake by then), but I heard something even better. As I listened, I realized that Dustin was ordering the kids around telling them, "We are cleaning this house and we are cleaning it well!"...with nary a whine from the children!


ECSTASY!!!


Shortly after, I revealed myself to be amongst the living. I cleaned my room while Dustin continued to boss the kids. They worked from 7:30am until almost noon. No fights were had, minimal whining was heard... it was one of those little miracles on a Saturday morning that ended with a sparkly clean house.


And there was much rejoicing.

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- Ella asked today, "Where is that rug we have that has roads on it?" I told her. This is one of those rugs that has a whole little town on it complete with a church, hospital, school, police station, etc. It's been put up for about a year since we started remodeling their rooms last August. Frankly I had quite forgotten about it. Ella got it out and, after doing chores, all three kids got all the cars we have, divvied them up and have been playing for a good long while now. I love hearing and observing them using their little imaginations and playing. It is my very very favorite part of being a mother and I wish I still thought playing like that myself was fun.

2- Dustin and I officially scrubbed the last wall yesterday in our duplex. There's still some things to do, but they don't involve cleaning anymore. Well, not really. We had a bit of water damage last winter in a closet from some ice dams on the roof so my dad (bless him a thousand times for his skills) is going to come patch the ceiling and then I have to paint some Kilz on the mold that grew here and there. Then, I will have to repaint the whole closet, which of course is a walk-in closet that is a putrid gray color. But... I don't have to clean anything else. No more gum, no more stuck-on food, no more grease, no more pee in bathrooms! It took seven days of cleaning, but we are done. YAY!

3- I had a really weird dream last night. I had to climb on this mountain to get into this cave and I had to hang on to these staple-ish things that were put into the mountain. The problem was I had to hang upside down and backwards and all sorts of awful contourtions and the staples kept sliding out. I was terrified. I was so glad to wake up in my bed. Beds are so nice to be in when you thought you were on a giant mountain with a 100+ foot drop below you and the staples you were holding keep falling out.

4- Frosted Mini Wheats. Yum.

5- I am looking forward to wearing clothes that are NOT my paint/work clothes. I've worn the same pair of pants since last Wednesday... my cleaning pants. They are not cute and I don't like them. But I don't care if they get dirty so that's why I keep wearing them. But, I'll be glad to wear something else.

Logic...

My kids and I were eating lunch around our table yesterday and we were talking about a guy named Cliff that we know. Ella said, "Who's Cliff?"

Mac replied, "You know Uncle Dave? Cliff is Uncle Dave's brother." (Uncle Dave is, in fact, my uncle, married to my mom's sister)

Ella's face was still blank. "Who's Uncle Dave again?" and even as she said that, you could see the wheels turning and see her remember who Uncle Dave was (because we see him a lot and she definitely knows who he is...). It all clicked for her just as Mac said, rather incredulously, "YOU KNOW who Uncle Dave is!! He's our uncle, silly!"

They got it all sorted out and, because they are now old enough to grasp such concepts, I added that Uncle Dave is actually not their uncle, but my uncle making him their GREAT Uncle. At this revelation, Ella, who had just figured it all out, looked at me like I pulled the rug out from under her. "He's our Great Uncle?" she replied and with her cutest little shocked, dramatic, Ella-voice she said, "Then why isn't he dead!!!??"

I totally busted up laughing. The logic of my seven-year old Ella... all the "Greats" are dead in her mind!

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday Morning

It is Tuesday, isn't it? I'm losing track...

- Yesterday I fell asleep at about 5:00 and slept for about an hour and a half. It was blissful, and that's coming from a girl who normally abhors taking naps, but it did make it very hard to fall asleep at bedtime so I watched a movie.

- Don't watch the moving "Knowing" if you want to fall asleep peacefully. Especially if your husband is working out of town. I missed his reassuring presence in my freaked out state.

- I am so glad Dustin doesn't work out of town all the time anymore. I feel incomplete when he is not home. I am such a lucky girl to love my husband so much. (and to have him love me as much in return and miss me too.)

- I suck at watering the lawn. Dustin is good at it. Another reason he's awesome to have around.

- My [clean] laundry pile is rather large again. I do great, and then I don't. I still like me, even when I don't do great at keeping up on laundry. Isn't that awesome?

- Getting dressed everyday can be frustrating when you're feeling vain and you are sick of your clothes.

- My favorite pants, the Big Star jeans, are nearing the end of their life. They are the comfiest, cutest jeans and their old-age/near-deathness makes me sad.

- I love Cheerios.

- I love cheese.

- I love nectarines.

- I love it when I make dinner.

- I don't like it when I don't make dinner. Last night we had cereal for dinner. That's a sure sign that Dustin is out of town.

- I don't want to be a landlord anymore.

- I didn't make my bed this morning, and that just makes me laugh.

- My dryer just shut off and I sat down here at the computer when I started the dryer. That means I've been sitting here WAY too long.

- My dryer is quiet and I STILL appreciate that. Never take your quiet dryer for granted.

- I need new sheets. My favorite super-soft cotton ones now have a hole in them because they were so threadbare that I put my little toes right through them in the night. That makes me sad.

- But new sheets will make me happy.

- Air conditioning is really really spectacular. Really.

The end.

Rohan...

This morning I woke up to Rohan climbing up beside me in bed. A conversation began...

Rohan- "Mommy, where's Daddy?"

Mom- "He's at karate."

R- "Oh."

...pause...

R- "Mommy, can you get me some cereal?"

M- "Do you need to go pee?"

R- "OH YEAH!!!" and as he walks off to go potty I say,

M- "You go pee and then I'll get you cereal."

R- "Yes, Commander."

M- "Did you say, 'Yes Commander?"

R- "Yes, Commander Mommy."

Stifling laughs, I think to myself, 'Commander Mommy'... I like it!! Then, as he's walking further he says, more to himself than me,

R- "Yes, Commander Karate Kid."

(Commander Karate Kid would be Dustin)




After the potty trip was finished he comes back and lays by me.

R- "Mommy... I really want to see inside Karate Kid."

Umm... what? I think to myself.

R Repeats- "Mommy... I really want to see inside Karate Kid."

I rack my brain a little bit. Karate Kid is what Rohan calls Dustin's karate. For example, if Dustin is wearing his Gi (the white karate outfit), Rohan will say, "Dad, you goin' to Karate Kid?" So, after I come up with that train of thought I apply it to "seeing inside Karate Kid"...

M- "You want to see the place where Daddy does karate?"

R- "Yes! I want to see inside Daddy's Karate Kid!"

M- "Honey, Daddy just does karate at Grandpa's church and you've already been there."

He now looks rather confused...

R- "At Grandpa's church?"

M- "Yep, at Grandpa's church building."

R- "Oh."

And he walks off very satisfied because he, indeed, has already seen inside "Karate Kid".


I love Rohan.

For the Picture-Hungry...

I hope it fills you up, oh-hungry-readers, cuz pictures are few and far between on this blog!!!

Here's what I've been up to this summer... in pictures.

YARD WORK...

The new fence, mid-building. That whole fence line was a wild jungle (much like the rest of the neighbor's yard you can see behind the fence). And see that dirt that Rohan and my dad are standing on? That was sunk in way deeper before from the Bobcat ripping up the jungleness, and my dad brought about 15,000 pounds of dirt in with his dump-trailer which we could only dump over at the end of the fence that's unfinished. So, we had to shovel and wheelbarrow all that dirt, spread it around, rake it smooth... it was a TON of work but so worth it!

More fence building... isn't Rohan the cutest little helper ever? My husband and my dad rock! (that's not my husband pictured, btw. That's my neighbor, A.J.)

Dad, doin' his fence building thing!

My ginourmous squash. (I've been gardening)

After the fence got finished we wanted to "cute" things up. We got two new trees for a SCREAMING deal and so we had to enlarge our beds to accommodate them! Dustin worked his butt off removing sod. (and then he pitched the tent so the kids could sleep out! What a good daddy!)

The front beds used to go just around the edge of those three tree trunks, but Dustin, my sod-cutting/removing machine, worked really hard and did my bidding of reshaping the bed into something much bigger!

And this just shows the flowers a'bloomin'.

This is the other bed, which we made a little bigger too...


Same bed, a couple weeks later with more blooms.




FURNITURE REFINISHING

I refinished Ella's bed (finally!) and it's hard to see how cute it is, but there you go...

More Ella's bed.
And inside with the dresser I refinished too. (in her BEAUTIFUL new room!)


Closer up of the dresser...




FOURTH OF JULY...

Taylor's girlfriend, Cherryn, is an aritist and she kindly volunteered to face-paint at my mom's house on the fourth. Rohan, my little Tiger. Mac already had his shirt off from playing in the water so he wanted body-paint rather than face-paint.

Cousin Lance, the dog. Cute Rohan and Mac's back dragon.

The artist-in-residence and all the painted children! (Lily the lemur and Ella with various little spot-paintings!)

MAC'S 9th BIRTHDAY!

Part of the outdoor Idaho-birthday-candle experience often consists of all sorts of windbreaks to try to keep your candles lit. Hence, the cooler lid behind the cake. Just after this picture was taken, all the candles went out in the wind. We relit, put up more windbreaks and huddled close around the cake and just as we sang the "TOOOO YOOOUUU!!!!" at the end of the song, Mac prepared to blow out the candles but the wind came up and blasted them all out for him! It was rather hysterical and we all laughed and said, "Oh well!". Maybe next year we should do them inside, huh?

Present rippage....

Some of the party attendees. Aunts, cousins, grandmas... lot's of love!




CAMPING

The only pics I took while camping were atop the GIANT slide that is at this campground. Here is my little family on top of the slide. As you look at these (way too many) pictures, keep in mind that you can't even SEE where we are standing in this lovely family shot in the following pictures. It is a BIG slide!!!

Rohan and his extra-cuteness! (Enlarge the ones of my kids... they're so CUTE!)

Ella with a big grin and wind-blown hair!

Mac lookin' cool on the slide!

My dad laying down for extra speed!!!

My mom looking very cute on the slide!

Me, looking not very cute on the slide...

"Dustin rocks the slide!


Not to mention the teeter-totter!



ADORABLE KIDS HAVING SUMMER FUN!!!