New Clothing SAGA

While this post will not contain photos, I hope it will be somewhat amusing.

The children have been growing again--darn it! They are so disobedient. I keep telling them to stop growing, and they just laugh. Hannah's pj top has elastic on the sleeves and it was hurting her arm. Toph was getting a melvin because his pj bottoms were so small. Hannah was showing the world her bum with the Daisy Dukes she was wearing. I looked at the sizes of all of these clothes--sizes we were barely fitting into last year.

So it was time to go shopping. It was fairly easy to find shorts that weren't Daisy Dukes for Hannah, but finding pajamas for the kids was almost impossible! We like PJ pants with T-shirts. For several reasons--they can be worn year-round. No PJ pants for Hannah in any of the stores I tried. PJ's in the stores were skimpy. Why bother? Found ONE pair of pants for Toph, and we found silky shirts and shorts (not intended as PJ's but it works). Still nothing for Hannah. I ended up going into the women's section and finding nightgowns in size XS. We also found PJ capri's (pants for my 6-year-old) with strings to make them tighter. Hannah got several new things she loves and Toph LOVES the silky shirts/shorts he's wearing as PJ's.

Shoes will be the next thing on the agenda, but I've learned my lesson. We'll wait until just before school starts. At the rate these kids grow, they'd need a bigger size if we bought the shoes now!

On VACATION.......Summer Vacation!

I looked at the date to my last post and realized that it has been WAY too long!

The end of the school year and vacation the next week were just SO busy that I didn't make time to post. Having discovered Facebook, I DID make time to go there. I need to remember that my blog is my priority though.

Why do I blog? First, because it helps all of the family (and friends) know what we're up to. Since we don't live near any of our family anymore, it helps all of them know what's up with us, and allows them to see pictures of us. Secondly, I've NEVER been good at journaling before, but I discovered that I really like to blog. I can use the blog as a family journal, and I can even make my blog into a book.

So, I've been on vacation. Summer vacation has been full and busy, just like the rest of our lives, but I will make time in the near future to rectify my lack of posting. I'll even post pictures. Robert got me a card reader for my computer, and he's taught me some "magic" to get the pictures from the camera onto my computer. Life is good.

Now I need to go ponder the ramifications of doing something permanent to fighting children who MUST win all arguments. I'm thinking of installing a velcro wall at each end of my upstairs hall. Or muzzles.

See you soon!

It's ALIVE!

So I was on the computer, alone in the house, when I hear strange noise coming from the bathroom. Water was bubbling up through the toilet! It was making a blurp sound as it splashed all over the toilet seats. I'd noticed the "sewer sucker" trucks about earlier, and I went outside to see if they were still on my street. Yep, that's the problem! Apparently our house is so close to the sewer main that when they flush the line sometimes this happens. Joy! Imagine my neighbor's surprise when this happened to his son--on the pot! 2 of my 3 toilets experienced this wackiness, and let me tell you, although the water is clean looking, the smell is NOT!

If you live in the neighborhood and have a wet bathroom, look to the sewer flushers!

Feedom Isn't FREE

I got an unexpected email from our former landlord yesterday and the subject just read, "B... is okay." I hadn't seen the news, so I had no idea that there had been a crash involving his squadron.

For more details, you can read the news story about this sad event.

It just reinforces a couple of things to me: first of all, freedom isn't FREE. We owe our freedom to the many men and women who make it their life's work to ensure our freedom and safety. There are 5 families now who are grieving for their lost loved one, and as a nation, we should grieve with them--those people worked for us too. We owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. Second, we never know when we walk out the door if we'll get to return again. It makes me want to make sure to hug and kiss my family members good-bye and cherish the time I have with them a little bit more. Because life is uncertain. We need to make the most of the time we DO have, so that we have no regrets.

Besides, what are we waiting for? Let's live life to the fullest every day!

Another quick week......

I just don't know where all of the time goes! Last week zipped by possibly even quicker than the week before.

Hannah and Toph are finishing up the school year. The final count down is on, and I am actually excited to welcome summer vacation. I think we're all ready to be done with rigid routines and have some free time. We want to go to the Science Museum!!! We want to go swimming. We want to go to the beach. We want to just be lazy at home. We want to visit with our friends. We have a serious case of spring fever.

This week was the much-awaited Daddy/Daughter Dance on Wednesday and the Mother/Son dance on Thursday. Our school does this each year, and the kids love it! This was Hannah's first time, and she was so funny. On Wednesdays, school has early dismissal, and we almost always go to the park to play. We played at the park for about 90 minutes, and then we went to a friend's house to swim for another 90 minutes. Then the kids came home, showered, and Hannah went to the dance. Anyone who knows Hannah knows how much she LOVES music and dancing, and she was very excited to go dance with Daddy. Imagine my surprise when she returned home after just 45 minutes! The girl was POOPED. She apparently didn't stop moving the whole time they were there, and her style of dance could be described as "aerobic." Dancing following swimming and playing--she slept good!

Toph and I went for our tun on Thursday. He could not wait! He'd made plans to meet certain friends at certain places, and he wanted to be early, so he wouldn't miss a thing. We beat most of his friends there. Toph is a very considerate date. He danced with me right away for 3-4 songs, and then he wanted to look for his friends. So he brought me some punch and then let me talk to some other Moms while he ran wild for a few minutes. Then he checked back to make sure I was having a fun time. He thought we should dance again, so we did, and then I went back outside and talked with our former landlord. It was nice to have a conversation in person instead of email--and it was much cooler outside. Then Toph came back and wanted to make sure I was having a good time. We danced some more, and I thought we might be able to go home. No such luck. More dancing--the chicken dance, the hokey pokey, and the macarena. I did not attempt the cha cha slide--or whatever it's called. More talking to friends, and Toph got to lead "the train." After that we danced another slow song, and the dance was over! We'd been there the whole time, and we'd had a lot of fun. Toph was so considerate of me the whole time--it makes me just burst with pride.

A bit of an uneventful happening--we developed a leak in the kitchen. I came home on Wednesday and found water on the floor. I mopped it up (thinking it was a melted ice cube), and later that night, I found the floor wet again. Under our kitchen sink was leaking from somewhere. I got to wait for the plumber on Thursday. Fun times! I was very glad that the school was having a fund raiser at Islands and that I could talk Robert into going. After 2 days of not doing the dishes, I wasn't looking forward to the washing and then the cooking......

Saturday I had a great day! I'm sleeping better right now, and I'm breathing better this week. I got to go clothes shopping and out to lunch with a good friend and then we went on a movie date in the evening. Our husbands saw Star Trek and we saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It was a really nice day. Then the Gibbs came over this afternoon and we watched Benjamin Button (liked the movie, but not the ending) and we had dinner together. All in all it was a very nice weekend! To make it even better, Mother Nature cooperated too. We were supposed to have a heat wave and be in the mid 90's all weekend. Didn't quite make it, and the evenings have been great! When I watched the news tonight it said that Fresno was 106 today--ouch! And I'm having to close windows because it's getting too chilly!

Have I mentioned how much I love living here? :-)

Next week is a busy one. Lots of things going on, and I'm putting the kids on another routine. Doing homework after free time just isn't working. I'm changing it up again, and I'm NOT going to be popular around here. Oh well. It's not my job to be popular. I hope the kids appreciate that when they're older and have kids of their own!

Hannah--antics of the past (I hope!)

A blog buddy FB'd about her daughter cutting her hair. I saw the pictures, and it's sad, but not HORRIBLE. I can beat it.

Our beautiful Hannah has cut her hair, not once, but TWICE! The first time she had help--in the form of an older brother. They did an amazing job, but it was drastic. Look at the photos:

Before:

After:





Then, last year, Hannah did it AGAIN! They say lightening doesn't strike twice in the same spot, but "they" don't know our Hannah. It was the day before her tonsils were coming out, and she was watching a movie on the computer. Toph was home from school, really sick, and I was SO tired from being up all night with him that I was napping on the couch. Toph got up and announced that Hannah had cut her hair. I was TOTALLY unprepared for the sight that greeted me:





There's not much you can do to "fix" that. Here's how we "fixed" it:





Here's what she looked like just 2 months before, as she was pigging out on her birthday cupcakes:



Now, Hair grows back. It's one of the things we can count on. This is Hannah about a year after the devastation:

But this was traumatic for my baby, because a LOT of people asked her if she was a boy--or just referred to her as a boy. She started school and kids in her class asked her if she was a boy. She DID have a boy hair cut, in their defense. I'm REALLY hoping that the trauma of that will help Hannah to decide to leave the hair cutting to the professionals! I don't know if I can live through lightening striking the same place THREE times!

Runaway Train......

Sometimes I feel like I'm on a runaway train. Time goes so quickly and there's so much going on. That's what this week has been like.

Toph had a performance Monday night with his class. Monday I spent the day working on a banner for Teacher Appreciation week (hopefully I'll have the photo to share soon). By the time we got home at 8, sent the kids to bed, and Robert and I finally had dinner, I was DONE! And let's not even go into the fact that I'd had 2 1/2 hours of sleep (maybe).

Tuesday I devoted to finishing my cards for card swap. In the past we've met on Thursday, so I thought I was doing good on time. Not so much since we were meeting on Tuesday. I finished with 30 minutes to spare, and I had a good time swapping cards. Although I had fun, my asthma started to trigger at card swap. I thought it was because the host has pets that I might be allergic to, but after getting home and a rocky night, I decided it might be more.

Wednesday I started running a fever--GREAT! Because I don't have enough going on. Our van had brakes that REALLY needed servicing, so I spent a great deal of time in the car. Robert and I took it in to the shop, I dropped Robert off at work, the kids and I went to the shop to pay the bill and get the key, and then we picked Robert up at work and collected the van. WHEW! I skipped cub scouts, and I'm glad I did. As the day wore on, I kept feeling worse and worse. As long as I was doing NOTHING, life was manageable. But I was short of breath if I was exerting any energy. NOT good! With piggy flu going around, and with this asthma episode accompanied with a fever, I decided that seeing the doctor might be a good idea. The good news: last night I actually SLEPT! Didn't have consecutive hours, but I slept for about 7!!!

Today I called the doctor early, and got probably the last available appointment, "could you be here in 15 minutes?" Luckily, Robert was still home. I left him to pack the kids up for school and prayed for green lights. The doctor I saw wasn't concerned about piggy flu, and diagnosed a simple upper respiratory infection with asthma. I learned that I'd lost 8 lbs! And then he prescribed Prednisone. Oh well, you can't have it all! I'm disappointed because I HATE Prednisone, but breathing IS important. I don't know what set me off, but this round of asthma feels "different" than before, and that got me to the doctor's office faster than I might have gone otherwise. I've also got an antibiotic, so I should be feeling better very soon.

Tomorrow is a BUSY day! It's teacher appreciation week this week, and my contribution to Toph's class is to bring in lunch to the teacher. I previously purchased my tableware and decorations, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fulfill my promise, but I will! I'm excited to be doing that. I also get to attend the Q and U Wedding in Kindergarten. It's for Mother's day. The girls are the Q's and the boys are the U's and the program is super secret, but supposed to be just adorable. I can't wait!

Then we'll be very ready for the weekend and a little down time. Hopefully my honey and I will go on a DATE on Saturday, to celebrate Mother's Day.

But really, the runaway train needs to SLOW DOWN!!!

Time FLIES!

Last week was literally a blur. There was SO much packed in.

Monday was hotter than.... well, you know what I'm thinking. We left after school and had FHE at the beach! It was SO nice! It was hot there too, but the FRIGID water helped cool things off. Heaven on Earth, if you ask me!

Tuesday was spent frantically trying to tie up loose ends before the kids' birthday party on Wednesday. Yes, I know my kids are born in December and January. We were moving then, and then we were sick. I'd promised them that for their birthdays they could have a special friend over for a playdate, and that friend could go with us to dinner. I further promised that we'd have a (together) party at Pump It Up! after we'd moved. I think I will always have them celebrate their birthdays in April! It was great! All I had to provide was the cupcakes, drinks, and goodie bags. We had 25 kids jumping and playing in a warehouse full of inflatable play stuff (obstacle course, slide, bounce house, etc.) and then 30 minutes in a party room. And about a million presents! It was so crazy that I didn't get to write down a lot of who got what from whom, so that's making thank you cards a bit dicey. I guess generic will have to do.

Thursday was Hannah's teacher's birthday, so we had our room celebration. The other mothers wanted to do a Tea, and I was in charge of cookies for the munchkins. It was amazing. The Moms really pulled together to create a very nice time for Ms. C. We had PB&J finger sandwiches, fruit, apple juice, and cookies for the kids. The grown-up's had chicken salad and another kind of finger sandwiches, Caesar salad tarts, fruit, and cheesecake. And, of course, there was tea--hot and cold--and served in a pretty tea service. I had apple juice though. Ms. C. got to wear a feather boa and a crown to help her remember that she was the Queen for the day. The class gave her the sparkly crown--AND an engraved box to keep it in! We also gave her a pretty bracelet. I *think* she was feeling the love! In 2 weeks it's teacher appreciation time and she'll be feeling the love ALL week. Gotta LOVE the parent participation here! I've never seen anything like it!

Friday I ran around. I needed to get decorations for the Blue and Gold dinner the cub scouts were having on Saturday. Blue and Gold dinner is like the birthday party for the cub scouts. For us it's a potluck dinner, pack meeting, and cake decorating contest all in one. Robert had a campout with the boy scouts, so I was hangin' with the kids too. Hannah had a playdate after school, and then we all hung out and watched movies. I rented Bedtime Stories and The Tale of Desperaux. Both were very cute, although I enjoyed Bedtime Stories more. Topher said it perfectly, "I can't believe you RENTED this; it's a KEEPER!"

Saturday I was just plain out of energy. I'd started some new meds on Friday, and they weren't happy in me. Most of the day I just dragged about, and then we had the Blue and Gold dinner. I got through that and went to bed early. I didn't even make the cupcakes I said I'd bring--I bought them at the grocery store.

Today I haven't even gotten dressed--and now it's time for bed again. Toph was up 5 times last night (he's having trouble staying asleep) and Hannah was begging for more sleep when I woke her up to go to Church. I'd been up since 3:00 am, and so I was already planning on staying home (and sleeping). Shortly after Robert left for Church, both kids were UP. I made them breakfast and then sent Toph back to try to sleep and sent Hannah to play quietly in her room--yeah, like that was going to happen! I rested in my bed for awhile, but I don't think I ever made it back to sleep. Neither did Toph. We had a lazy, hang out day, and nobody but Robert managed to get dressed. I'm hoping that the kids and I sleep better tonight! I'm not feeling quite as gross today, so that's a good thing. Maybe it won't take too long to adjust to the new meds.

Tomorrow I start preparations for card swap and teacher appreciation, both next week. It's going to be a busy week, that's for sure! At least the weather is cooperating! After 3 blistery hot days (HOT for us), temps went back to "normal" and are currently slightly below normal. I can hang with that! I was afraid that a year-round temperature that was almost the same would get really boring for me. I'll let you know when that ever happens--if it ever happens. I will confess, there are a few times a year when I'm glad I GET to wear long sleeves, but I've adapted to this temperate climate very nicely!

San Diego Swelter

Last week we had some cold days--low 60's. Yes, that's "cold" for us. It was windy and we got to wear long sleeves.

Today is almost our polar opposite. It's 85 IN MY HOUSE! It's not windy/breezy really, and I'm too stubborn to turn on the a/c. I'm also cheap. It's ONLY APRIL! I don't want to start the a/c cycle yet! I'm waiting until after the sun goes down, but if the house doesn't cool off, the a/c will HAVE to come on!

Fortunately, I know this will be short-lived. It will be "cold" again soon, because this is the season of flip flop weather. And then May and June will be more "cold" than hot.

THEN, in July, when it's hot, it will be okay, because it's supposed to be hot in summer--and Fresno is always hotter!



But today I'm dying! I closed my bedroom door to take a nap this afternoon and turned my bedroom into an oven. You don't feel so rested after THAT kind of nap.

I'm thinking cooler thoughts. Please join me, or we might melt! I'm thinking that dinner tonight needs to be ice cream. And ICE water. Heavy on the ICE.

New Treat

I'm not a HUGE fan of Peeps. I can eat one or sometimes two if they're stale. But yesterday I was introduced to a new way of eating them, and it's worth a try....

Microwave that sucker! Put it on a paper plate and nuke for close to 30 seconds (3 Peeps). They will puff up--and explode if you don't take them out in time. They aren't exactly hot when you eat them, but they're melty. And the texture is like taffy. Worth a try! Next time: I'm going to make them into a s'more.

Oh, and thanks Carmen for introducing me to this!

"I don't want to be a Mom when I grow up" (Hannah)

For about a year now, Hannah has been returning to the theme that she does not want to be a Mom when she grows up. Why? We discussed that again today. We were on the way to the Post Office when she made her announcement again, so I asked (again) why not? She told me that she didn't want to get her tummy cut open and didn't want a shot. That led us to the discussion (again) about how Mommy didn't get her tummy cut open and the shot didn't hurt that much.

So how DID the babies get out of Mommy then? Ugh, I knew we'd eventually get to THIS discussion! There's been a long-standing joke between Robert and me when I ask him to do something that goes like this:
R: What have you done for ME lately?
M: Pooped out 2 kids.
R: No, I mean LATELY?
M: Covers me for life....

I had to change my answer when the kids were old enough to pay attention and wonder what I meant by "pooped out 2 kids." But that's kind of the truth, right?

So I had to have the discussion about how babies come out of tummies if you don't get your tummy cut up. We talked about how it happens, complete with real anatomical words. And they wanted to know HOW it comes out..... Well, it's kind of like pushing out a poop, but not the same. You use different muscles. Toph, ever the expert, added that it was like going potty (because he has lots of experience....).

Ahh, you've gotta love them! I'm not sure if Hannah is more terrorized now or not. She asked if it hurt..... She's already FREAKED about getting a shot--should I tell her about the 9-foot long needle I had in my spine (thank goodness!) and how I felt like my body was being ripped in half? Nah, she's not ready for that yet! So I told her that it does hurt when you're pushing the baby out, but it doesn't last THAT long. After all, Hannah was out in THREE pushes!

I can 'fess up to today's sin of omission later, when she's ready for the truth. Have you had this experience with your youngsters yet? How did you handle it?

Easter, continued

I'm a little bit "off" lately. Can't exactly put my finger on it, but I think it might have something to do with the lack of "happy pills" in my medicine cupboard. Don't worry, I sent the Rx off in the mail today.....

Being a bit "off" and moving have totally destroyed my sense of holiday--no matter the holiday. Truth be told, I wasn't that "into" Halloween either (and that was before I knew we were moving). Consequently, because we were moving, there were no Christmas decorations this year. (Come on people! We were out of town for the week of Christmas and moving 2 weeks after that!) Somehow, illness perhaps, I missed Valentine's day. I got a nice table cloth and some window clings, but they never made it in time. I looked in the Easter boxes at 10 pm the night before, and so we did not have Easter decorations either. Might as well be fair to all of the holidays, right?

Sunday, after Church, I was just pooped. I didn't really have the energy to make the traditional Easter dinner, and the rest of the family had gorged on so much sugar they wouldn't have appreciated it anyway. So we postponed our Easter feast until tonight.

And you know you're going to do something good or maybe even *significant* if you have a LOT of trouble "getting there." Seems the kids had no interest in doing anything today except: tattling, whining, complaining, being disobedient, being distracted, and NOT doing what they were told. Need I say more? I had this really nice dinner planned, even with a meaningful discussion, and by the time Robert got home, I was ready to implode. Luckily, he was able to help me calm down enough that I think we had a good discussion around the table.

I borrowed an idea from a friend of mine, and we ate our nice Easter dinner in a completely dark home, save the light from 1 candle. Ok, it wasn't dark outside yet, but it was getting there. And we never eat by candle light, so the kids were wondering what was going on. This led us to a discussion about what happened after the crucifixion--the 3 days of darkness. We talked about how scary that must have been--and how long it must have seemed. We followed it up with our scripture reading tonight when we read a scriptural account of the 3 days of darkness. I think it went well. Now I just need to get my hind end in gear and do it ON TIME next year. I can't say that I feel TOO bad about dragging Easter out a little longer--it IS a great holiday!

Good Friday and Happy Easter

I read a post from someone I "blurk" and she wrote a REALLY nice piece on Good Friday. She gave an excerpt from a talk from one of our Apostles, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. It was an AMAZING talk, and if you have the time, I'd encourage you to read it. It's a very eloquent talk about the resurrection--and Good Friday.

I have to admit that I don't give Good Friday much thought. It just has no real place in my worship. That's not to discount what happened--THAT'S significant. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I celebrate Easter with the rest of the Christian world--but we don't celebrate Good Friday. Our focus is more on the glory of the Resurrection of our Savior. I'm so glad that, unlike Christmas, Easter ALWAYS takes place on a Sunday. It just seems appropriate to go worship our Savior on such an important day. We concentrate on our resurrected Savior, which is one of the reasons most of us do not wear the symbol of the cross.

My daughter gets to give a talk in Primary tomorrow. The theme this month is: "Jesus Christ made it possible for me to live with my Heavenly Father again." It is so nice to be able to teach our children about the miracle of the Atonement. It's very disturbing for our kiddos to think about Jesus suffering, bleeding, and being killed. But that is tempered with WHY He allowed that to happen. Sure, as the Son of God, he could have stopped that at any point. But He loves us enough that he didn't. THAT is the first Easter gift, and the reason why our family gives a small Easter gift. We remember the gift that our Savior has given us in the ability to repent when we sin. What a marvelous gift!

"In all the history of the world there have been many great and wise souls, many of whom claimed special knowledge of God. But when the Savior rose from the tomb, He did something no one had ever done. He did something no one else could do. He broke the bonds of death, not only for Himself but for all who have ever lived—the just and the unjust. When Christ rose from the grave, becoming the firstfruits of the Resurrection, He made that gift available to all. And with that sublime act, He softened the devastating, consuming sorrow that gnaws at the souls of those who have lost precious loved ones.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Sunday Will Come,” Ensign, Nov 2006, 28-30)

This time of year helps me reflect upon the people I love who have passed beyond this life. While I miss them, I like to think about the fact that they are enjoying being reunited. I imagine that they are probably waiting to be reunited with us, and that they're building "Heavenly Mansions" for us to enjoy when we're all together again.

So, no Good Friday here. The Crucifixion was a necessary part of God's plan, but the glory of the Resurrection is where I'm going to focus my thoughts. It fills me with hope and helps reassure me of my Savior's love for us all. It helps me look forward to enjoying the gift of resurrection one day and being able to live with my Heavenly Father and the rest of my family again.

Happy Easter!

ELEVEN years ago today we became a family forever.

They have been the greatest 11 years. Knowing we have ETERNITY makes them even better.

I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Here's a picture of the Celestial Room. It's one of the highest places within the Temple and where you wait before you are sealed together forever. This picture really doesn't do justice to the beauty and peace found within this room.