July 27, 2012

  

1  Sam is such a sweetheart..  He has a chart with boxes that get colored in for potty training. When his boxes are filled in he gets to go to the store to pick out a prize.  So far he has picked out an action figure, and then a spiderman clock.  It usually takes him one or two weeks to fill up the chart.  Today at dinner he was saying he wanted to buy Marianne  a baby with a crib to sleep in for a toy for her birthday.  How did he plan to buy it for her?  With his boxes.  He planned to go to the store when his boxes where filled up for his prize and instead of picking out a prize for potty training- buy her a birthday gift.  I explained to him that I would happily take him to the store and buy with my money a gift from him to his sister for her birthday, and that he could use his boxes to get a prize for himself.  Only after my heart literally exploded with love.

2.  The kids are pretending it is my birthday again.  They have dressed up, and I am getting Raisin Bran as my cake.  They love birthdays.

3.  Kate looks through the Target ad picking out school supplies.  She is getting so old.  She talks about being a teenager all the time "when I am a teenager  I'm going to learn how to drive a car." "When I am a teenager, I'm going to cut my hair short"  "When I am a teenager my favorite color will be green"  She is unaware that I have forbidden her to ever be a teenager.

4. My sad Maize.  She has had a rough week.  She is trying to be her happy self through it, but it has likely been her crankiest week aside from when she had a double ear infection and strep throat at 6 weeks old.  She has been running a fever for the last two days, a bit of lost appetite and sleeplessness from it too.  I assumed she was finally getting her teeth.  I think I can feel them poking through, one on top and one on bottom.  But I can't see them yet.  Then she woke up from her morning nap and it all made sense.  The lacy rash of fifth disease on her forehead and by her ears. Then later on her neck, back, tummy and arms.   I thought it might rear its head as it seems to be going around.  To top of her crummy day she was getting some food out of the pantry, slipped and landed her cheek right on the shelf instantly getting a giant horizontal bruise. My poor sweet girl..  I had a different picture here before, but Jake saw it and said "she doesn't look as bad as that, that looks like she is going to die"  I took it off and put this one instead.

July 26, 2012

Remember this picnic.
It was in the mountains last time we were in Utah.

We were talking about something at dinner last night.  I can't even remember what.
When Kate said "like when we tried to go to heaven but the gate was locked"
We pressed her for more information.
"When we had a picnic in the mountains, when we were in Utah, and you said it was heaven but then the gate was shut"

CLICK

My children take me way to literally.  I mean, I can't blame them.  They are small children and their mastery of the English language and adult communication is clearly still coming.
When we were on this picnic I am very certain I exclaimed numerous times "is this not heaven?"
Meaning, "what a wonderful morning with the people I love.  The mountains are beautiful, the weather is beautiful, my children are frolicking in a freaking meadow of wild flowers and butterflies.  everyone is behaved, and I'm not wiping up somebody's poop."
And it was heavenly.
Apparently Kate believed we were going to heaven. Like actually.  We went on a little hike, when we came to a road that was gated we turned around.  Kate asked why we couldn't keep going.  We told her the gate was locked.
What did she really think was going on?
Perhaps I should explain things a bit better to my kids.
 Or not use abstract language any more,
 lest my daughter think our family is locked out of heaven.

SMIRK

July 25, 2012

Nine years today I married Jake.  I'd say he was the man of my dreams.
But even in my dreams, life was not as good as him.
Just shy of a decade, we have only a handful of minor arguments and three swell children to show for it.


We are celebrating by getting the tires aligned, potty training Sam, eating an allergy friendly dinner and going to scouts.
Sounds about right.
Celebrating is never our strong suit.

July 23, 2012

my beauty in beads.
I thought my baby looked beautiful when she got into her older sister's dress-ups.
I think the images are beautiful too.

July 22, 2012

Usually getting his church clothes on is a 35 minute crying fight.  But not today.  He had a new shirt to wear and he was cooperative as can be.  I've given up on ties, suits, oh and that adorable sports coat I spent way to much money on. Doesn't he know he is my only little boy to dress?  If I can get him into long pants and a polo, I'm calling it good.

July 20, 2012

1. This is our jungle baby.

She is commonly found with this giraffe and this lion with her.  One in her mouth and carrying the other.  The giraffe she got for Easter. The lion is from when Kate was a baby.   They are her favorite.  The seems dear to her.  She hugs them and attempts to carry them both wherever she goes.   The problem with that is she is still crawling with both hands.  So she has learned to do some strange scooting and rolling and half standing up like the picture above to get around without having to drop her beloved creatures.  Not wanting to force her to part with them, I let her take them to bed last night.

2. Maize gets stuff now.  Like what hats are for, and brushes and cell phones.  It is so fun watching her learn.  

July 19, 2012

A post about urine and flies.
.... and no, this is not written by a 8 year old boy.

I believe the door that goes out to the garage got left ajar today.
I was hurrying three kids into the car to deliver urine to the lab.
Because it is difficult for a five year old to pee in a cup.  And when she finally does you hurry it in, knowing that it won't be valid if you don't get it there within 30 minutes, and that it might be another week before you manage to get her to pee in that cup.
So the door gets left open because you left that job up to a three year old boy.

When we returned home there were twenty or more flies buzzing around the kitchen.
I won't lie.  There are usually one or two it seems.
Twenty was a lot.
Twenty was disgusting.

Perhaps they smelled the french dip roast I had in the crock pot and it lured them in.

I went to work killing them.
There are several methods for this.  The old fashion magazine swat.  The vaccum.  And the windex disabling spray.
I'm pretty bad at the swat.
Sometimes I like to vaccum them up, with the hose and extenter. But sometimes the noise scares them off.
Windex disabling spray is ideal. I actually don't use windex.  It is just the only generic word I can think off to say "all natural home made cleaner in a spray bottle." But I know that is what is inside.  So when it gets all over the house as I spray the flies down, I don't feel so badly about leaving cleaner residue all over the place.

I find the flies.  I spray them.  I spray them again.  And when they are unable to fly and partially drown I pick them up with a paper towel and throw them in the trash.

I'm not for animal cruelty.  But you know.... germs.
Me and germs don't get along.
You'd think I'd be over germs seeing as how I'm always doing things like collecting children's pee into cups.
But I'm not.

July 15, 2012

I turned 30.  I mentioned in the post before how I am not so thrilled about it.
Though not for the reasons you might think.
Most people are sad they are 30 because they may feel old.
I am sad because I realize I've been acting like a 30 year old for way to long.

huh?

I'm aware that when I make statements that start with "most people..." I am being way to general and likely seeing only what I want to see.  But sadly comparison is where these feelings come from so..
.
As a teenager I had a job.  I worked 3 days a week every week.  I even did not go on family vacations and other fun things because I didn't want to take off work.  Why?  I'm not sure.  Because I wanted to be responsible?  Because I wanted to earn money to pay for my college?  Because I didn't want to let my boss down? Because I put being responsible, reasonable and mature above most all else.


As a single college girl and in our newly married life I made similar super responsible decisions.  Always having a job. Working 30 or more hours a week while taking 18 credits at BYU semester after semester.  Even taking classes in the Spring and Summer every year.  Working a full time and part time job and going to school our first year of marriage so that we could support ourselves and I could finish school. Again I had fun sometimes.  But mostly my choices were guided by what I thought was responsible, reasonable, and mature.


Really in the last few years until we moved to California- mostly since Jake went to work for himself, we have in fact made choices based on something other than being responsible.  There have been, although still occasional, splurges and last minute trips.  Maybe in my 28th and 29th year.
A brief two year period of time where I didn't make responsible hard working mostly right decisions.
Unlike "most people" or some people, some young adults and young married people, Jake & I work hard, show up, and save.  And really I like that about us. And the people I generally like and am friends with are this way too.  I think it is part of who we are individually and who we are as a family.  We think it is responsible to buy reasonable cars with cash instead of what we want on a loan.  We think it is responsible to go to church and fulfill your calling and give whatever it takes.  We think it is responsible to not go on vacation unless you have 6months to a year of salary saved.  And so on and so forth.

Over the years as I've seen people choosing to quit jobs because they want to go on vacation, leaving their kids for days and weeks to go on vacation together, buy homes and cars that are certainly a stretch to afford, or generally just doing things for fun.  Small things and big things.
I've thought to myself.
-That is irresponsible, or unreasonable, or immature.

But guess what.  I think I was wrong.  I think they were right.  Right to do something just because they wanted to. To make a choice based on what they want rather than what might be smartest.
And now I'm a bit jealous.
Jealous that I spent my teens and twenties, being responsible, reasonable and mature.
I've been acting like a 30 year old all along.
And now I wish I hadn't.
Because it is going to seem ...well, irresponsible, unreasonable and immature as I act more like a 20 year old.
In fact that is my goal for my 30th year.
To act more like a 20 year old.
To make a decision or two based on only what I want and not what is reasonable.

It is a mini mid life crisis you could say.
Not really.
But really.

My advice to siblings and friends younger than I is always this.  And now I'm going to take my own advice.
Have more fun.  Do what you want.  There is always later to be an adult.
I can't wait to see the extend of my rebellion.
And how attempting to be a kid in some way will conflict with my innate nature to be mature and responsible.
Especially when I have three kids.  Especially when we can't even eat somewhere with much spontaneousness.  Especially when we are saving our money for the kids health needs.
But there will be some moment of irresponsibility.
Watch and wait for it.
It is certainly to make for some good reading if nothing else.

July 14, 2012

.

Yesterday was my birthday.
Thirty.
I'm sure I'll have more to say on the matter specifically soon.
But yesterday we had a memorable day.

I knew he had something up his sleeve as a couple days ago Jake asked me "where do you buy gluten free granola bars for the kids"
I got inquisitive.  Why?  We have all kinds of snacks for them? what do you need them for?
I got him to tell me that we were going out for the day on my birthday with the kids and he needed to get them snacks.

When I woke up in the morning (of course I got to be the last one awake) I found a french toast breakfast and a decorated kitchen table.  The kids were thrilled.

There were presents and cake.  The children picked out chapstick and cups for me.  And there was also some GRE prep materials and most notably a new lens for my camera.   The kids told me all about their birthday preperations for me. They got to go to the store and pick out balloons and wrapping paper and their small gifts. Jake and I agree that the best part of birthdays is helping the kids get ready for it.  They are so thrilled and excited for the birthday person.

Then we packed a backpack and headed to Yosemite for the day.
It is only a few hours away and we have wanted to go.   Neither of us had been since we were kids.
The kids were terrific troopers with great attitudes.
The trip was interesting and we are glad we went, but it was not without glitches.
Mostly that every other person in the whole world wanted to go to Yosemite yesterday too and we literally couldn't find a place to park for almost an hour.
But once we did we enjoyed a short hike to one of the falls.
I don't know how true our Yosemite experience was as we went on one short hike.  Me pushing Marianne in a stroller.  Jake pushing Sam in a stroller and carrying Kate on his shoulders.
We had a picnic lunch.
Then went on a bus tour.
It really is a beautiful park.  I'm glad I don't have to travel far to see it.  It really is the most international vacation spot I've been too. I've been all over the world and never have I heard so many different languages being spoken within a few miles. Some how it is on everyone's to see list.
And it is worth seeing.
Though it is not so different from the much less crowded Utah mountains I am so familiar with.
After our bus tour we headed home and stopped at a mountain diner for dinner.
We were gone all day.  And the kids all to sleep on the drive home.  Only to wake up once home asking to watch you-tube videos about all the things they learned that day.

Highlights of the trip include.
-Kate calling Yosemite "Yo-symphany"  and not understanding what it has to do with music
-Sam navigating with his map, telling us about bridges and rivers and "two mooses".  Every tree and stump was a potential moose or bear to them.
- The way that at least 40 people in a dozen different languages told me my baby was adorable.  Turns out fat happy babies are the best way to make friends with people of any culture.  It makes a mother proud that people from all over the world found my baby delightful.
- Jake's planning and plotting to make my day special.
- That both Kate and Sam are very interested in both dinosaur extinction and bears and moose from yesterday's trip (dinosaurs because we talked to them about the glacier cutting the mountains back when the dinosaurs went extinct.)

I really am having a bit of a hard time turning 30.  Silly I know.
Being in one of the most beautiful places in the world with the four people I love most made for a good day.

July 13, 2012

M and her 4th of July suit.
This may be one of my favorite pictures ever.  I just took it of her today while she was playing on the grass at night. She was chasing Cola around the lawn.
It is so her.  Giving me a smile with her tongue half out and her nose squished up.
Sometimes I am sad when I get an adorable picture of M.  Only because I remember that my other kids as babies have like 3 pictures a month  and they are blury and unedited.  Someday they will look through all our pictures and feel a little less loved I'm sure of it.  I guess we will just blame their Dad for not buying me my fancy camera before they were born.

July 11, 2012

It is always reassuring to know that if something terrible happened to me,
My baby would not starve..
She seems to have figured out this week where the food is kept, and how to get her hands on it.
She has been shopping in the pantry all week for snacks.
She opens the doors, sometimes climbs inside and selects a few boxes with a bit of shaking to determine their contents I suppose. 
She usually comes away with cereal or chips or pretzels and somehow not ziplock bags, salt, gluten free bread mixes and uncooked oatmeal so I'd say she knows what she is doing.
I have a love/ hate relationship with this stage.  I love watching her explore and how proud of herself she is.  I hate the mess this exploring makes.  Watching her makes me laugh so much, but cry a bit over how she is not a baby any more.  
Mischief never looked so beautiful.

July 10, 2012

I love my boy.
And all his quirks.
He is a bit obsessive... err determined?
Like how he refuses to wear shirts with buttons, pants with buttons, or sleep on a bed.  Only the floor will do.
I try to pick my battles.  It usually choose to fight him not wear pajamas to church and let him sleep on the floor all he wants.
This week it seems his thing is to wear something on his eyes.
Sunglasses, pirate patches, goggles.
That boy and his darling heavy eyes.

July 8, 2012

This next week.

This post is different from most blog posts.

It is not about what we have done.  But what we intend to do.

And when I say we. 

 I mean me. 

 Like always.

Jake is, as I type these very words, packing his bags for, you guessed it.  Scout Camp.

And although he intends to come back Thursday instead of staying the entire week like usual.

It is still daunting facing four days by myself with three kids.

That sounds like a cake walk to most of you I'm sure.

But it is hard for me. 

 Especially as we are still on a vacation hangover/ learning how to handle kids tummy troubles.

In past years I've only had two kids.  And a grandma up the street.  And lots of friends for play dates. And could feed the kids cold cereal and pizza.

This year I've got to bring my A game.

I intend to keep us busy and distracted.

With what you say?

I knew you would be on the edge of your seat.

1.  Monday Target Kids Clothes Clearance Shopping. (Have I told you how we have been scoring target clothes for kids for $1-$3 bucks.  Our school shopping is almost complete.  (we went-  and crazy enough Jake showed up.  He had forgotten something that was in my car and appeared in the middle of Target grocery.  It was surreal when I expected him to be camping.  We didn't come away with any clothes but did get some $4 sneakers for Kate)

2.  Doctor's visits.  Not ideal but  We have some scheduled and my M-I-L has so kindly agreed to watch the little two while Kate goes in for her echo cardiogram.  Sitting for hours at the hospital with Kate ain't fun, but at least it is a few hours I won't be watching all the children this week, so as long as the testing goes well, I'm a-okay with it. (It did not go well.  I mean it was quick, and my children were well cared for of course.  But the echocardiogram  showed that her heart has a premature beat, meaning she is not getting enough blood pumped through- not a murmur.  We have to go back because although we were hooked up to the machine and everything- our doc had not ordered the test for that so the cadiologist couldn't look at that.  Really, I mean really?).

3. McDonald's Happy Meals.  It is totally not with the kids diet, but we let Sam eat a hamburger with nothing on it while on vacation and it didn't kill him.  So I bet we'll repeat it on a night I'm feeling especially done. (It actually ended up being Sonic.  And it didn't kill him.  We also ate at the Whole Foods deli cafe.)

4. Wasting water with the hose on.  My kids will happily play in the yard for hours with the hose. Watering things, filling things. I'm usually a green gal, but I'll be all for it this week, especially when the forecast says Wed will be 108. (It was actually too hot to play outside most the week.  Crazy hot.  But in the evening there was lots of playing outside in the shade past bedtime)

5.  Along with that.  Using the air conditioner.  Normally we spend a lot of energy opening windows and closing curtains and running swamp coolers and such to try to avoid running the air conditioner.  I like that it saves us tons of money- but this week.  I'm going to just turn it on. (It is still running.  The swamp cooler finally wasn't cutting it.  I'm happy about the money we saved all spring by not using it at all, I'm a bit nervous about the energy bill this month.  I think is was 110 yesterday)

6. Hair tutorials on you-tube.  I recently have discovered I like them.  And likewise my hair is officially the longest it has been I think in 5 years.  Some fancy hunger games braid may distract those I see on Thursday from realizing I haven't showered in four days. (Although our internet coverage was having issues most the week I did manage to learn how to do a lace braid)

7.  Cleaning recipes off pinterest.  When Jake leaves for extended amounts of time I have more of a desire to clean.  Perhaps because my work may actually be noticed when he returns.  Maybe because I get bored after the kids are asleep.  Dabbling in home chemical mixing and cleaning my grout sounds like productive entertainment. (I have a bit of an addiction in making natural cleaners.  My countertops have never looked whiter.  A bit of a pin-tastrophy however with the so magic grout cleaner.  It left a residue I am still trying to get up)

8. Going to Costco.  It happens to be the only other store besides Target I will take all the children to.  They are the only stores with big enough carts to fit three kids.  Plus they have samples.  And $5 rotisere chickens. (We didn't make it to Costco.  We went to Whole Foods instead.  They don't have big cars, but they DO have kids carts.  I let the kids each push their own cart behind me, we made a scence but the kids thought it was awesome)

9. Watching Diego.  The kids like it. And I find that if M is sleeping, I can get in a 20 minute nap while the kids learn about how puffins can actually fly. (Yes lots of Diego, and also computer games.  I did sneak in a nap)

10. Eating that box of cookies I bought just for me and hid in the pantry. (Done and done.  The entire box was gone by Wednesday morning and they were delicious.) 

I'll let you know how it goes. (updated in green)

I joke a lot about surviving this week alone each week.  I am really joking.  Though we miss our Dad and husband things don't change too much.  I do miss my extra hour of sleep in the morning.  I use to enjoy not cooking real food and letting the kids eat sandwiches, but I don't cook for Jake anymore anyways with the kids special foods.
 Jake did come home at almost midnight on Tuesday to do a bit of work since camp is less than an hour away.  He literally scared me to the floor as I was in bed and jumped out  as I heard somebody come in, and I rounded the corner to his face 9 inches from mine.  I went back to bed, he was gone when I woke up in the morning.

June 28- July 3 2012

We went on vacation to Utah.  Again.
For the 2nd time this summer.
Weddings and family reunions warrant this type of thing.
This time we decided to drive through the night.
We left when Jake got home from scouts, it was almost 9:00pm.
I was worried about all the fires in Utah making it difficult for us to get through.
But we had a seamless drive there.
Jake and I talked, the kids slept until Fillmore- just three or four hours left on the trip.
There were not a million potty breaks and stops to eat.  Just gas and go.
Jake and I traded off driving and sleeping.  But mostly he drove.  And mostly neither of us slept.
It worked out.  Because just as we suspected, when we arrived -my parents took our children and we both took a nap.

There was a lot of rocking out while at my parents.  A lot.

Sam loves Rock Band so much.  So very much.  He drums and hits the sticks together and says "and 1,2,3" then starts playing.  He has his rock and roll guitar stance down.  He loved it so much that grandma and grandpa sent it home with him.  He just happened to be wearing a shirt that said "born to rock" in these pictures.  I mean come on.  He is my little rock star.  He currently has the temperament for it too.

 There was several days of relaxing and playing.  The children loved the extra attention.  Playing outside, and exploring their large yard.  I loved not having to cook.  Most every meal my Mom made- even according to Sam's specific diet.

There were dates.  Two and a half.  When we stay at my parents there is little need for Jake and I anyway.  The kids want less to do with us and want to hang out with their grandparents, and my parents like us to come visit, but really only because we bring our kids.  So we just leave  and it works out very nicely.
This night we went to the new City Creek in Salt Lake.  
Shopping and then a walk around temple square and ice cream. 

There were play dates with lots of the kids friends.

Johnny, Ethan and Mallory Pearson.

Emilee Page. Kate literally hid in their house when she was told I was at the door.  Her look in this picture says it all.  She adores this friend and was so pleased.

 Anders Lind and Miles and Noah Terry.

Then there was a scenic drive through my mountains complete with a picnic lunch, wild flower picking, dandelion blowing, walking stick collecting, and butterfly watching.

This is a huge reason I love to visit Utah.
Letting my kids play in the mountains seems to me some essential part of being a kid.
Kate and Sam literally frolicked in the meadow we just happened upon. There were hundreds of butterflies  that would fly away as we walked through the grass, wild flowers and dandelions.  The kids all got a kick out of blowing the dandelions, and Kate picked handfuls of flowers just for me.
It was picturesque.
It was perfect.
I wish it was how we spent every Sunday afternoon.
It got surprisingly warm.  We headed back down the mountain.  We discovered our air conditioning was out.  At least we were able to get it fixed before heading to St. George later in the week.

There was also a day with Amy, Kaylie and Audrey.

We had a water party at Grandma's.

Blew bubbles, flew kites, and worked on their tan... I guess... I don't know why they were laying out like this but it was hilarious.

Then there was my fat baby chasing after a kite.
It resulted in my sister (8 months pregnant) rolling on the grass laughing at my fat naked baby chasing a kite.
It is a great memory.

After six way to quick days of being in Heber, we headed to St. George to Jake's Family Reunion.
It was really the reason we went to Utah, but it seemed silly to come 8 hours to St. George without making it four more to see so many family and friends we miss so much, along with enjoy some cool summer nights in the mountains.

Side note.
I know we are a little late to the party.
But I love the i-phone.
Because of it I have way more picture of our trip then I would have had otherwise.  And I have dozens of video clips.  And I played games while we drove through Nevada.  It was way better than when I couldn't get Jake's other smart phone to work and would always accidentally call people in the middle of the night drive trying to get on the Internet.


Until this last six months I had never had the experience of going home to my parents house really.  I mean they just lived at most 45 minutes away since I married Jake, so we'd go visit for the afternoon, but not a week.  I love it.  I love coming home and having my parents all to myself.  It is a new experience for me. They clean and cook for us, watch children, buy our children presents, give us stuff that is awesome they have in their house and don't want anymore, stay up all night talking with us, let us go on dates. I'm making it sound really awesome.  That is because it is.
It was an amazing trip.  Some how things seem a little smoother when we are there.  Our children seem healthier, and our business does better.  We enjoy having Jake around as he will only work about 6 hours a day when we are on vacation instead of his normal 10.  While we were there too we got some lab work back for Sam that basically said his intestines are starting to heal and are not bleeding any more and he is absorbing the fat out of his food again.
I let myself worry less when we are on vacation.


I hear Post Vacation Depression is a real thing.
I believe it.
Especially when you come home and are facing a week in single parentdom while your better half goes to Scout Camp.  And you say to yourself.  I should have just stayed in Utah for the week.