Second Week Of No Church For Me

Here I am, still in my pajamas at 2:30pm.  Elise is sick so I am home with her.  It is actually quite nice to have a quiet house for 3+ hours although I do miss taking the Sacrament.  Yesterday was a busy day filled with Zumba, grocery shopping, delivering things to people, buying sewing patterns (and looking through the books to find them), talking to people at the places I went, dealing with a tantrum of the century (which is likely due to the oncoming illness), and so forth.  I was gone from 1:00pm-9:30pm with a short hour at home somewhere in the middle.  I'm a homebody and not used to being gone in the car so much.  When I got home I ate dinner, ironed clothes for another 1.5 hours, then tried cutting out laminated pictures for some quiet church activities I've been making.  I shouldn't have stayed up so late.  I was exhausted!  So, today during church I took a two hour nap.

Actually, this morning was rather exciting.  I was getting ready to juice some oranges (the kids think they are too sour so I was trying to get rid of them faster) when I looked out the window and saw Pippy, my dainty little hen, on the top of the six foot fence.  So I ran out with some grains as an enticement to come down but instead of fluttering down on our side of the fence, she went down on the wrong side of the fence!  There was also a cat watching over there so Abe and I both grabbed shoes and coats and ran outside to scale a fence.  Abe is much more agile than I and was actually able to climb on top of the fence.  He hopped down and grabbed her, handing her back to me.  She is our friendliest hen and, I think, was relieved to have us rescue her, so it was easy to catch her.  Then I had to go grab a ladder so Abe could come back over (his shoes were too slippery and I am too weak to pull him up and over with just my arms as leverage).  Then I had to get an already used and bent-out-of-shape coat hanger out of the chicken coop, which meant climbing on the coop roof and trying to pull it out of a narrow space, with little success.  I finally had the brilliant idea of pushing it INTO the coop first then retrieving it that way.  Yeah, I'm that smart.  Anyway, I made this the long story.  We pulled up the ladder with the hanger and that was the end of it.  I need to go clip that girl's wings.  

I was thinking though, that we really had an ox-in-the-mire situation today.  I realized that those situations really are ones that you have no control over and must fix immediately.  Lack of preparation the day before does not constitute an ox in the mire.  I have been feeling a need lately to be more prepared for the Sabbath, which means planning well in advance of the day of.  We are always late to church because I am not prepared.  So, practical things that everyone else may already be doing, like ironing and laying out clothes, bathing, planning dinner, packing church bags, etc can all be done the day before.  The morning of needs to be focused and early enough to make sure everyone is ready on time.  I can definitely improve in those areas.

Since it is the Sabbath and in keeping with the spirit of the Sabbath, I will now turn to the deepest part of my heart.  I know the Church is true.  I love the scriptures; I feel the Holy Ghost every time I sincerely read and study.  Even on the days I'm not so diligent and just putting a check in the "Done" box, I still feel the peace and a relief of being there with the words of God.  I am grateful for the Atonement; for the sacrifice the Savior made for us so that we could return to our Heavenly Father.  I know God loves me because of the Plan of Salvation and because He blesses me with His Spirit and a multitude of other blessings, even though I am not always deserving.  I also know He loves me because of the love I feel for my own family.  I am so grateful and humbled to get a glimpse of what Our Father experiences through my own experiences as a parent.  I'm trying to parent more as He does but it is a struggle sometimes when my own self interests get in the way.  I love my family so much!  Both my little family that I have helped create, and the family I came from, as well as my in-laws.  It really is such a blessing to have so much support and love and good example from my family.  I wish we could all live in a compound together and live a self sustaining life together.  Haha! No, I'm not serious, but I must admit, it is seriously appealing.  Those same sentiments also apply to my friends.  It is amazing to me that I am surrounded by so many good, wonderful people who enrich my life in so many ways.  I can't get enough of each friend! Anyway, I love this gospel. I love my Savior, I love my Heavenly Father, and I love my family and my dear, dear friends!

An Interesting Week

Grace was sick yesterday and recovering today. We went to the temple yesterday and 30 minutes after we left home we got a call from Elise that Grace had thrown up. She had been lethargic before we left but Joe thought it would be fine, warning the babysitter of the possibilities before we left. Max (he's almost 16) did an excellent job with the kids. He gave Grace a bath and put her to bed, cleaned up the throw up, got the kids dinner, played with them, and gave them ice cream. We definitely paid him extra last night. Seriously, I will write a letter of recommendation to any girl he wants to marry.

Elise apparently helped quite a bit with Grace yesterday. Today she was also singing praises about Noah and how awesome he was doing making a game. I love how thoughtful and genuinely kind she is. She looks for the good in others. She is constantly making cards and notes and little presents for others. I need to treat her more the way she treats me.

Noah is a mystery to me. The kid is so stinkin' cute but I have no idea how to relate to him or find what motivates him. We are rarely on the same page.

I had a delightful kidney stone on Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't want to go to the doctor though, hoping I could ride it out since doctors can't really do anything for you except give you pain meds. Anyway,right about the time (9pm) I decided to go to the ER for drugs, the pain started subsiding so I stayed home. The next morning though I had a backache that was starting to get worse so I made an appointment with the doctor. After filling the three prescriptions, one of which was Vicodin, I went home and realized I felt fine. So, now I have a medicine cabinet full of drugs and no reason to use them. Fun times. The nice thing about kidney stones is that when it is gone, it's gone. There is no recovery or trace that you ever had a kidney stone. It's weird but nice at the same time. The last time I had a kidney stone it was a big one and as soon as I passed it I suddenly felt like laughing and skipping and as good as ever.

I finished coloring a bunch of pages of folder file quiet games for church. That was such a pain in the neck! It was so time intensive. For date night Friday night, Joe helped me color. It took us both at least two hours to finish our four pages each for two file folder games. Now I have to cut them out, laminate a bunch of little pieces, mount them in the file folders and then I'm done! So fun. My kids had better like them. Chances are though, they will go the way all of my church activities have gone; fun for one or two Sundays and then a constant mess of little pieces that the kids don't even play with all over the floor in our pew the rest of the Sundays. Le sigh.

It's 9:15pm and Abe just came out asking for a pen. Seriously? He's been so grouch lately because he stays up too late reading in his bed! So I called him on it and he returns that he is reading his scriptures. Arrrggghhhh! What am I supposed to say to that? Yes, good job for reading your scriptures! It is too late to read your scriptures! Fine, go get a pen, mark it, then stop reading your scriptures! What is the point of reading scriptures if you're just grouchy the next day for staying up to do it? Ah, the dilemma. What would you do?

Pinkies Up!

My big event for the week was a tea party for my friends. I was a co-host with another friend of mine in the ward. I had an opportunity to pull out my fancy tea cups that I have been collecting over the years. I ordered my favorite tea (thanks to Heather who introduced it) from Montana and we had French Hot Chocolate. There were sugar cubes or honey for the tea and crushed peppermint candies or marshmallows for the hot cocoa. We offered cucumbers sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, mint chocolate cake balls, mixed nuts, buttermints, lemon-blueberry cake, and mini fruit skewers on toothpicks. Ultimately, it was an excuse to pull out the fine china, eat good food, and talk to friends. We had the party in the morning and an after-party in the evening for those who couldn't make the earlier one. I enjoyed the time with friends a lot!

It seems I have some friends who need help right now. One is struggling enough that her marriage seems, to her, on the edge of hopeless right now. Another one is having post-partum blues and feels completely overwhelmed by being a new mother. Another one is having a hard time with her husband is out of town, six kids, and a new house. She needs physical help in getting settled. I'm feeling a bit helpless because while I understand to a certain degree what each of them are going through, I can't fix anything for them. So, I listen when I can, advise when it seems appropriate, watch kids when necessary, and pray a lot for them. Life is hard and we all have to find our own way to muddle through the tough times. It's hard to watch others struggle though. I guess we just do the best we can to help. At the same time, I think of so many of my other friends who would appreciate a call or with whom I would like to catch up or develop better friendships but I don't because I feel a bit overwhelmed with how many wonderful ladies there are in my life. I need to stop liking people.

So, I've been menu planning that covers an entire month. I'm liking it a lot and it makes for clear grocery lists and I feel more kindly toward cooking because I avoid the lack of response for the dreaded question, "What's for dinner?" Organization and planning; who knew? I've also realized that I have 36+ dinners that I more or less regularly make and am therefore comfortable with making.

Friday, Joe and I went to watch a round dance at a local square dance society. I would like to learn, hoping that we could find an activity to do together that we both enjoy. Round dancing is ballroom dancing with country terms. Instead of learning all the steps and memorizing dances, there is a caller (like for square dancing) to tell you what to do next. Everyone was SOOOO excited to see us when we walked in. They said they need more young people and so I am on a kick to recruit our friends and see if we can bring fresh blood into the square dance world. I loved watching my grandparents square dancing together at family reunion a couple years ago. I want to be like them in 50 years, dancing away together!

Abe and Noah are in basketball right now. It's fun to watch the cute five year old kids play. You know, running around with the ball with the coaches yelling to dribble. Noah plays on the outskirts of the court, watching what is going on as we yell encouragingly to "get in there!" and "go get the ball!" Our league has decided that up through Abe's age, the teams don't keep score during games. I really appreciate that so that the focus is on learning how to play instead of winning.

Noah is not getting stimulated enough in school. I've addressed it with the teacher before but I think he just gets lost in the shuffle of 20+ kids, lumped in with everyone else. He comes home with a "yay" on his paper for writing the letter "U" correctly. Seriously? He's reading and has been writing for a long time now! Mastering how to write letters is surely boring for him! I feel like he needs more: more friends, more attention at home, more exercise, more stimulation at school, more wrestling with Dad, more education at home. I love that kid and I get the feeling he's not as happy as he could be. He is pretty quiet in respect to his needs, it is my perception of his overall mood that makes me think all of that. I just worry about him. It's hard to be a little brother, I think. Anyway, he's fine. I think I need to be more physically proactive with him though as far as arranging play dates and doing activities with him.

Joe brought home a video game last week as an activity to keep the kids busy during the snow storm. Abe was more than thrilled because all his friends are into Skylanders too. It involves little toy characters that are placed on a portal of power to indicate what character you are playing with in the game. It requires frequent character changes so they have to get up off the couch regularly. Joe has sort of gone nuts. The $70 game comes with 3 guys but you can individually buy more for $8 each. Um, we now have 11 guys a week and a half after buying the game. The boys are obsessed and when they are not actually playing the videogame (we're still trying to keep it down to once a week), they are acting it out and talking nonstop about it. I had to stop Noah from listing all 32 of the guys to Mom and Dad on the phone today. Fun times. When it's not Skylanders, Grace is dictator of the TV, punishing us all with Dora the Explorer. And, like her brothers with Skylanders, when she is not watching Dora, she is eating, drinking, playing, singing, and sleeping Dora. "Skwiper no skwiping! Skwiper no skwiping! Skwiper NOOOO skwiping!" (Side note: she also says "skocks" for socks. It is very cute!)

Joe and I took Noah and Grace to an indoor play place on Friday. They had a blast! Noah was so cute riding around in the Little Tikes Police car, dressed up in police uniform or running around with the fire fighter uniform on. Grace got into a scuffle with an older child who was twice her size. Grace dressed up in a princess dress just added to the magic of the scene. I think initially the kid was trying to engage her in play and she didn't want it. He kept persisting though, turning it into teasing so she started pushing while screaming at him to go away. Finally, in ultimate frustration, she grabbed him and started shaking him, screaming in a tone that suggested that had she known any obscenities she would have been including them in her tirade. Joe and I were laughing behind our hands as mothers looked at us like we should be doing something about it. Well, she then burst into tears so we rescued her. At least we know she won't lie down for bullying from anyone, big or small.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I'm abandoning my code names because I'm tired and Joe rolls his eyes about them. Have a great week!

A Fairy In Our Midst

Eugenia wanted a toy fairy and, if possible, a real fairy for Christmas.  Santa wanted to honor this request but the Disney plastic toys seemed too trite.  This is the best he could do.

 Tell me she's cute.  I spent way too long trying to get the perfect picture to show her off for you not to tell me she's cute.

No Apologies

For the first time, I have had no urge to apologize for a quilt that I have made.  Yes, there are imperfections in it and things I would do differently next time but I am so pleased with the overall result that I was thrilled to gift it to a dear friend! Of course, I have been working on it off and on for a year and a half.  I guess I needed time to create?

This turned out to be a lap size blanket.  Originally, I was going to pair the colored fabric with white but last summer when I saw the pile of denim squares sitting next to the colored ones, I knew they were a perfect match!

I wish I had talked to Karen first about how she did her bows.  If I had, I might not have had to hand stitch 98 bows in place.  Needless to say, my fingers were very raw afterward.

I have always wanted an excuse to buy minky fabric.  I was so excited to find my reason!  

I love the varieties of texture in this quilt.  And, between the denim and the minky and the batting, this makes a VERY warm blanket. 

I am positive that this is my favorite quilt that I have made so far!

A Fly On The Wall Still Has To Buzz Every Which Way To Get There

So, I'm not going to lie; this has been a rough week for me.  Don't ask me why.  Mostly just motivational issues. I hope it doesn't turn into post-holiday blues.  You know, like post-partum blues?  The anticipation, parties, and work are over and now I'm left with getting back into a regular (read: boring) routine with a hormone (or sugar) hangover and a bigger tummy than before all this started.

That aside, I did get to spend lots of money this week, seeing how it is the first of the month and another budgeted month begins.  Okay, so most of that went to a big grocery run at Costco, but it counts for something, right?  

We were eating dinner tonight when we heard a horrible racket of dogs and what sounded like chickens in serious distress.  JDawg even thought I should go check.  Oh, my goodness!  In a panic I ran outside, afraid that the next door neighbor dogs had dug under the fence or something and were attacking my poor girls.  As soon as I got outside I realized it was merely the guests of the neighbors next door and the dogs barking excitedly.  I went back in and JDawg tied it all together by realizing that the Broncos had just won their game.

Alder and Nelumbo seem to be playing together better lately.  It's nice, even when it is way past bedtime, to hear them chatting away.  I remember my sister and I bonding over our nighttime games.  Well, it was bonding for me anyway; I can't speak for her.  We used to see who could call each other the most clever names.  She always won though because she knew the names of microorganisms (I guess "microorganism" itself is impressive for a kid) and I was still stuck on vegetables and potty talk.  We would also take turns identifying by sound (since this was after lights out) what body part the other person was scratching.  Ah, fun times.

Eugenia is starting to talk smack which sometimes makes me want to smack her.  Well, not really.  Maybe just shake her a little.  She argues in the filibuster style where I can't get a word in edgewise and she means it to be that way because she knows she won't like what she hears when I do get that word in.  Oh well.  She is still sweet and wonderful most of the time.

Ginger, for the third week in a row now, threw a fit about sitting in the pew at church.  Thankfully, our lovely neighbor was sitting behind us and had Smarties a-plenty to pass out.  I had also prepared in advance with snacks since church is from 11a-2p now.  I'd like to congratulate myself on my forethought but it really was the candy that saved me.

I finished a queen size quilt for a Relief Society humanitarian project.  I had to tell myself not to be a perfectionist about it and consequently, the binding is horrible.  Seriously, I cringe at the memory.  I really don't want my name attached to that quilt.  But it is solidly constructed and cozy.  Maybe they can give it to a blind person.

I really like Ninjas.  Like cute fuzzy ninjas with big heads and small bodies.  Is that weird?  I don't know why I am drawn to them but I am.  

So, I have nothing much to talk about.  Not even spiritually enriching deep and meaningful stuff.  I live so much on the surface these days or most days as I think about blog posts and family emails past that didn't say much by way of profundity either.  Oh, guess what?  David Archuleta is going on a mission.  Isn't that exciting?  I knew I loved that cute face and awesome voice for a reason.  He is a righteous pop star!  A stripling warrior on the stage!  (Swoon)

Alright, alright.  I'm signing off now.  Hopefully next week will be better!

Truly Sad

This is what Truly Scrumptious is SUPPOSED to look like (although I've never seen her look this fluffy even on a good day).

http://paraguinparadise.netfirms.com

This is what she looks like when it rains.

The one advantage to this mess is. . .

Now she can actually see.