while having babies and raising kids can sometimes be overlooked as routine and ordinary, i submit that everyday feels anything but the aforementioned.
there are days i long for being the mother of 2. i had it all under control, i knew exactly where the train was taking me, i felt so satisfied, so fulfilled. i loved living away from the mother ship hubble of mormon judgement and experiencing life as a little independent family on our own. it was so good, so right and dang it, so much easier that yesterday was. while we were definitely under stress concerning money (lack of), school, and time constraints, i felt like we were somehow mentally more free from the stress life has on our heaping buffet plates right now. yesterday was the sabbath and anymore it is a day we simply get thru. scott's meetings start before kids are up and my meetings fall somewhere in the middle. then 4 kids must look presentable and well cared for before church begins. there is no time for tantrums, disagreements, or general sleepiness the teasing summer nights bring that call us out of our bed longer than normal. i grit my teeth and get thru sharing time hoping rowan has stopped screaming in nursery and that no one has accidentally fed him anything containing peanuts, eggs, wheat, food colorings, cheese, pistachios, and on and on. i worry that easton is giving me smart alec remarks when i am asking questions about sacred things. grayce is abnormally tired sitting with her class and it seems puberty has taken my sweet girl and put her in the middle of a raging hormone battle. she cries more now than she did as an infant. ella is thriving in primary (finally!!) but it seems there are not enough hours to plan for all of the things that can cause upheaval on a sunday. there are so many needs and yet i can hardly make it thru an "ordinary day" without feeling overwhelmed. three weeks ago i went home midway thru sabbath worship feeling unwell. i was quite sure i was getting a migraine but hadn't had one for so long i couldn't remember. i went home to a dark house, ate a little something and took a nap. when i woke up it felt as though i woke up in a new body. my hands and feet were in pain i had never felt before. my head had this general pounding to it that wouldn't let up. my brain was so foggy. at church i thought it was odd i could not remember names of folks i had known for 12+ years. and not the "where is that in my brain" it was the i don't even know where to pull it from. to make a long and frustrating week short, i ended up going in to be tested for multiple auto immune disorders and other things. it seemed like a classic flare up of some auto immune disorder. suddenly carrying rowan up the stairs became impossible as did walking and using my hands. i noticed that after rowan was born i had joints in my fingers start to swell. it happened to 4 joints in an 18 month time period. after i had ella, i had some miserable arthritis in my back but it was determined it was from the pregnancy that taxed my frame so severely. i really didn't think too much of the joints although i knew it was abnormal.
waiting for the test results was the longest weekend of my life. i wondered what the test results would be and what my new life might be like. i knew that i was experiencing some hormonal issues as my body had such a hard time after i stopped nursing rowan. things were feeling off.
when the doctor called me we were relieved to hear that nothing showing any sign of auto immune problems came back positive, nor did any sign of inflammation with joints or signs of arthritis. my hormone levels were off but because i experience aura migraines, my risk for heart attack, stroke and so on is elevated bringing those levels up with pills. he told me that most likely i was suffering from premenstrual syndrome, severely, and that i was probably experiencing fluctuating calcium levels. i went in and had a nexplanon put in under my arm and have been chomping tums like they are going out of style. the nexplanon is a form of birth control (the only one i can have) that is a small rod that they shoot in your skin under your arm. it basically stops female function for three years. this was done so that my body can stabilize the hormones on its own.
but....
it feels really wimpy when i tell scott that i couldn't even dress and bath the kids because my hands were hurting so bad, you know dear, it's the PMS. (and apparently the severe PMS mimics auto immune disorders) he will come home to mass chaos, all with a smile, while i blame it on what feels to be a made up thing. then i skipped calcium for 2 days because i was able to almost function the whole day! i was subsequently in bed for the next two days trying to get my calcium levels up.
my house has gone to the dogs while i am waiting for things to stabilize. all of those ordinary things that used to seem so routine seem so overwhelming now. and i want to cry - a lot. i only cry at the pulpit, never ever over anything else but death. ever. i am just not programmed to get emotional like that, i go into survival mode not panic mode. i want to cry because the local wingers went out of business and one night i needed 2 wings from the joint. i want to cry because i had a girls night out and just couldn't seem to recover from getting in bed past 10:00. i want to cry because i miss my husband and sometimes wish he would take up alcohol to get out of half of his time commitments. but then the line comes into my head that this life is the time for man to prepare to meet god. somehow, i think when i meet god, it wouldn't mean as much if i didn't know him. it just might not mean as much if my thoughts weren't directed to him thru the happy parts of my day in gratitude and the low points of ordinary chaos. whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we will one day meet god and that is the thought that seems to make my heavy heart a little bit lighter thru the bits of trial that will soon lift. in the mean time, that time of communion with god might often be heard from my lips to be asking for two more legs to go 4 different directions with my kids and 3 more pair of hands to hold their faces all at once.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
spring break, literally.
spring break is always exciting and intoxicating to me. i get to have my kids home for a week and we get every hope up for the summer to come. we feel the laziness of the days and the flowing summer routine starts to shape up. playing until dark, dinner eaten outside, a fun activity here and there and no strict schedule.
it was wonderful but a bit exciting as well. we went on our first venture to the kangaroo zoo. i am not a normal mother. you know this by now. i would be more likely to take my kids to a park all day and let them explore versus taking them to a structured play area. there are so many things i fear at public play places. mostly poop. i have seen what can happen at home from rowdy play and i just can't be responsible for other mothers diapering. it makes me so nervous. i worry about the germs and what not. so, it was with no real shock that ella turned up with a rotten case of the true blue croup. my kids have had coughs that come and go that resemble the croup, but the full blown screaming for air and sounding like a vacuum cleaner for days. right as that happened, easton was holding his hand funny one night and that prompted us to get x-rays within 24 hours. last month grayce complained her foot hurt and after a while we took her in. turns out the bone was chipped on her foot and thank goodness she didn't need surgery. so, over spring break we had croup, a broken hand, a walking boot and sunday night were awoken to a burning fevered ella. she was sent to the hospital for x-rays as she had pneumonia last month and they wanted to make sure she was unlucky in contracting a second virus and not a complication from the wicked croup. throw in some allergies and it was a spring break i am hoping is not indicative of our summer. the doctor was truthful in telling me we should watch ella closely because she has had a very rough year. we need to watch the fevers. of course i turned into a ball of nerves because no one else got croup but it turns out rowan woke up with the fever this morning. i have never ever been so glad to have someone else get the germs! really. he woke up with a scream at 5:45 am and i rejoiced to scott that he had the fever!!!! ella is on her way to recovery and the fever only lasted 24 hours. but it will be a spring break we won't soon forget.
it was wonderful but a bit exciting as well. we went on our first venture to the kangaroo zoo. i am not a normal mother. you know this by now. i would be more likely to take my kids to a park all day and let them explore versus taking them to a structured play area. there are so many things i fear at public play places. mostly poop. i have seen what can happen at home from rowdy play and i just can't be responsible for other mothers diapering. it makes me so nervous. i worry about the germs and what not. so, it was with no real shock that ella turned up with a rotten case of the true blue croup. my kids have had coughs that come and go that resemble the croup, but the full blown screaming for air and sounding like a vacuum cleaner for days. right as that happened, easton was holding his hand funny one night and that prompted us to get x-rays within 24 hours. last month grayce complained her foot hurt and after a while we took her in. turns out the bone was chipped on her foot and thank goodness she didn't need surgery. so, over spring break we had croup, a broken hand, a walking boot and sunday night were awoken to a burning fevered ella. she was sent to the hospital for x-rays as she had pneumonia last month and they wanted to make sure she was unlucky in contracting a second virus and not a complication from the wicked croup. throw in some allergies and it was a spring break i am hoping is not indicative of our summer. the doctor was truthful in telling me we should watch ella closely because she has had a very rough year. we need to watch the fevers. of course i turned into a ball of nerves because no one else got croup but it turns out rowan woke up with the fever this morning. i have never ever been so glad to have someone else get the germs! really. he woke up with a scream at 5:45 am and i rejoiced to scott that he had the fever!!!! ella is on her way to recovery and the fever only lasted 24 hours. but it will be a spring break we won't soon forget.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
it's vulgar, i know. my mother is disappointed in me
but my kids hands smell like butt.
this was disturbing to me on many levels. the smell on their hands, grayce and easton specifically, was reason for me to call a major news corporation to investigate. this could be why they have been the bearers of the vomits so many times this year. i was pouring over the reasons i should feel guilty over their smelly hands and then decided that i would take the approach of the french parents i have been hearing all about. i identify with the french and their methods. my kids are generally well behaved in public. i don't find myself tearing my hair out at home with their behavior, but i have found a look has developed with the birth of my third. it could be that the third one tilts the dynamic of the entire balance of one adult for every child. i have found that generally, two children are the honeymooning phase of parenting. being outnumbered can cause a plethora of problems. mainly, there are not enough hours in the day to gently or patiently discipline. the third one at our house gets parented with the look. i always try to tell myself when a disciplinary situation presents itself that anger is not an option. getting mad at my kids does nothing but deplete my emotional and mental reserves. so, the look has been born. i can get away with the look or raising my hand to count and my kids shape up, usually.
this has come in handy especially as the butt smell has come to light. i can flare my nostrils real large and unnatural looking and the kids head to the bathroom. i hope that by the first sentence of this post you won't think poorly of me. just today grayce tried telling easton that his uncasted arm smelled like butt. she was given the look. do as i say not as i uh,er do-say. my kids can't say butt because i was not allowed to say butt. even when i was telling my mother about the smell i felt guilty telling her it smelled like butt. i fear telling her that the smell of bum bum wouldn't get the same response.
the good news came to me as i was sitting with my 5th grade daughter at her maturation program. that's right. the county stepped in to tell my daughter about her changing body. two summers ago i gave my daughter the american girl body book to read. we read and skimmed together but she mostly took the lead on educating herself with her nose in the book and a large pillow in front to block any nosy siblings from her education. i didn't stop to think about an eight year old reading unfamiliar terms and what kind of pronunciation she would come up with. i discovered my error at the program. i will let you use your imagination but she leaned over to me twice to clarify the names of certain things. one thing she needed clarification on was what she thought was a state named after a female part. she wondered why they would name the female anatomy after the state of virginia. also, she thought the term public hair was what it was called because everyone has it. i thought i would be kicked out by the teachers i was laughing so hard. but, the real reason for this side note is because the school nurse explained to us in great detail that at the age when change starts, it causes the glands all over the body to produce a white thick film that has major odor. i was aware of under arms being a problem, but apparently it can cause a horrific smell anywhere the glands are located. my kids have actually had chaffed hands because of the look i give that ques the washing. it was of great relief to me to know that they were not dipping their hands in a bucket of butt, in fact, their glands were to blame.
and don't worry, scotty is hard at work developing hand odor eliminator that will make us our millions. just think of it, apply hand odor eliminator and then cover with handerpants...........
this was disturbing to me on many levels. the smell on their hands, grayce and easton specifically, was reason for me to call a major news corporation to investigate. this could be why they have been the bearers of the vomits so many times this year. i was pouring over the reasons i should feel guilty over their smelly hands and then decided that i would take the approach of the french parents i have been hearing all about. i identify with the french and their methods. my kids are generally well behaved in public. i don't find myself tearing my hair out at home with their behavior, but i have found a look has developed with the birth of my third. it could be that the third one tilts the dynamic of the entire balance of one adult for every child. i have found that generally, two children are the honeymooning phase of parenting. being outnumbered can cause a plethora of problems. mainly, there are not enough hours in the day to gently or patiently discipline. the third one at our house gets parented with the look. i always try to tell myself when a disciplinary situation presents itself that anger is not an option. getting mad at my kids does nothing but deplete my emotional and mental reserves. so, the look has been born. i can get away with the look or raising my hand to count and my kids shape up, usually.
this has come in handy especially as the butt smell has come to light. i can flare my nostrils real large and unnatural looking and the kids head to the bathroom. i hope that by the first sentence of this post you won't think poorly of me. just today grayce tried telling easton that his uncasted arm smelled like butt. she was given the look. do as i say not as i uh,er do-say. my kids can't say butt because i was not allowed to say butt. even when i was telling my mother about the smell i felt guilty telling her it smelled like butt. i fear telling her that the smell of bum bum wouldn't get the same response.
the good news came to me as i was sitting with my 5th grade daughter at her maturation program. that's right. the county stepped in to tell my daughter about her changing body. two summers ago i gave my daughter the american girl body book to read. we read and skimmed together but she mostly took the lead on educating herself with her nose in the book and a large pillow in front to block any nosy siblings from her education. i didn't stop to think about an eight year old reading unfamiliar terms and what kind of pronunciation she would come up with. i discovered my error at the program. i will let you use your imagination but she leaned over to me twice to clarify the names of certain things. one thing she needed clarification on was what she thought was a state named after a female part. she wondered why they would name the female anatomy after the state of virginia. also, she thought the term public hair was what it was called because everyone has it. i thought i would be kicked out by the teachers i was laughing so hard. but, the real reason for this side note is because the school nurse explained to us in great detail that at the age when change starts, it causes the glands all over the body to produce a white thick film that has major odor. i was aware of under arms being a problem, but apparently it can cause a horrific smell anywhere the glands are located. my kids have actually had chaffed hands because of the look i give that ques the washing. it was of great relief to me to know that they were not dipping their hands in a bucket of butt, in fact, their glands were to blame.
and don't worry, scotty is hard at work developing hand odor eliminator that will make us our millions. just think of it, apply hand odor eliminator and then cover with handerpants...........
i am not pregnant
the last post has left me with quizzical glances from family and friends alike. for that reason i would like to say that although i did take a pregnancy test, it was negative. there was no intent or expectation that it would be positive but i had reason to be suspicious. and i also must mention that i would not be needing prozac if i was pregnant. me, of all people, the girl who was told that i would be lucky to be pregnant once in my lifetime, would rejoice at such a surprise!
on another unrelated note, i have been having the most wonderful sabbath days lately. i, for no logical reason, was called to serve in our primary presidency. i was told by a couple of people that logic did not put me there but a really strong feeling that i needed to be in there. i had the chance to serve as the primary president in new haven and had the most choice experience while doing it. but, i do have to say, it was VASTLY different there. here, we have function. people follow the rules and have real live meetings. there are forms to be filled out, programs to be run off, serious stuff. we have a secretary that makes endless lists of classes and changes and scout lists. oh mercy, scouts. it happens that i have been put over scouts and it is a confirmation to me that i lack humility. right now i would say that i love what scouting does for my sweet little 8 year old. in the same breath i would say that i do not love that the scout program in general feels it necessary to hold a meeting if someone needs to sneeze. it is time consuming madness. i feel like my eyes each have holes poked in the sides of them and i just can't see properly. i don't quite get it.
but, my favorite part of primary is sharing time. oh, i love spending 15 minutes every week with the kids to tell them about the gospel. i am not a flowery person, i don't do games, i don't laminate or coloring. but, how i love to tell. i love to gather those kids around (my own included) and tell them about those wonderful things that pricked my heart at their age. i love that sacred primary room and i tear up thinking about all of the wonderful things that happen in that room. all the tender feelings felt by kids week after week that add that line upon line to their testimonies. a couple of months ago the topic was to teach the kids about our prophet. i prayed all week that i would know what to share with them. i read and skimmed over a few things and after all of that i had the impression that they might enjoy hearing some stories from president monson's book about his life. i loved reading it myself and thought heidi swinton did a remarkable job. i gathered a few stories about his childhood that i thought would be appealing to all of the kids.
i was reading one story in particular about president monson making the primary president cry because he was being so rowdy with his friends. it then talks about how years later he visits her in the hospital and finds her memory gone and mind fading. he is reassured by the other people around her that she wouldn't know who he was. he continued to feed her and gently speak about her kindness to him. with the visit coming to an end, she looked up at him and said, "i know you, you are tommy monson my primary boy. oh how i love you." i of course was teary and let those sweet faces know how much i loved them. one boy, our "lively" spirit of the bunch, really identified with the story and piped up saying "you mean a kid like me could end up being a prophet?". i looked him square in the eye and emphatically replied "YES!". i have thought about that experience many times. maybe sharing that story was just for ethan, but maybe it was more for me. his statement bore testimony to me that it was an ordinary boy that the lord preserved and raised up to be a man of god. tommy monson was a regular boy, filled with ordinary acts and extraordinary choices. he is a prophet of god preserved to do his work.
that is why i love primary. i am quite sure that these opportunities could be given a million of excuses as to why they couldn't perform these callings. i have come to find out that although the task may seem inconvenient, the rewards are for us. my testimony has grown vastly as i meet with these kids every week. it is hard to make it on time with 4 little kids to get ready and a husband at meetings all day long, but i would never ever trade the opportunity. it is such a blessing to see what the lord will let us become when we have faith and follow!
on another unrelated note, i have been having the most wonderful sabbath days lately. i, for no logical reason, was called to serve in our primary presidency. i was told by a couple of people that logic did not put me there but a really strong feeling that i needed to be in there. i had the chance to serve as the primary president in new haven and had the most choice experience while doing it. but, i do have to say, it was VASTLY different there. here, we have function. people follow the rules and have real live meetings. there are forms to be filled out, programs to be run off, serious stuff. we have a secretary that makes endless lists of classes and changes and scout lists. oh mercy, scouts. it happens that i have been put over scouts and it is a confirmation to me that i lack humility. right now i would say that i love what scouting does for my sweet little 8 year old. in the same breath i would say that i do not love that the scout program in general feels it necessary to hold a meeting if someone needs to sneeze. it is time consuming madness. i feel like my eyes each have holes poked in the sides of them and i just can't see properly. i don't quite get it.
but, my favorite part of primary is sharing time. oh, i love spending 15 minutes every week with the kids to tell them about the gospel. i am not a flowery person, i don't do games, i don't laminate or coloring. but, how i love to tell. i love to gather those kids around (my own included) and tell them about those wonderful things that pricked my heart at their age. i love that sacred primary room and i tear up thinking about all of the wonderful things that happen in that room. all the tender feelings felt by kids week after week that add that line upon line to their testimonies. a couple of months ago the topic was to teach the kids about our prophet. i prayed all week that i would know what to share with them. i read and skimmed over a few things and after all of that i had the impression that they might enjoy hearing some stories from president monson's book about his life. i loved reading it myself and thought heidi swinton did a remarkable job. i gathered a few stories about his childhood that i thought would be appealing to all of the kids.
i was reading one story in particular about president monson making the primary president cry because he was being so rowdy with his friends. it then talks about how years later he visits her in the hospital and finds her memory gone and mind fading. he is reassured by the other people around her that she wouldn't know who he was. he continued to feed her and gently speak about her kindness to him. with the visit coming to an end, she looked up at him and said, "i know you, you are tommy monson my primary boy. oh how i love you." i of course was teary and let those sweet faces know how much i loved them. one boy, our "lively" spirit of the bunch, really identified with the story and piped up saying "you mean a kid like me could end up being a prophet?". i looked him square in the eye and emphatically replied "YES!". i have thought about that experience many times. maybe sharing that story was just for ethan, but maybe it was more for me. his statement bore testimony to me that it was an ordinary boy that the lord preserved and raised up to be a man of god. tommy monson was a regular boy, filled with ordinary acts and extraordinary choices. he is a prophet of god preserved to do his work.
that is why i love primary. i am quite sure that these opportunities could be given a million of excuses as to why they couldn't perform these callings. i have come to find out that although the task may seem inconvenient, the rewards are for us. my testimony has grown vastly as i meet with these kids every week. it is hard to make it on time with 4 little kids to get ready and a husband at meetings all day long, but i would never ever trade the opportunity. it is such a blessing to see what the lord will let us become when we have faith and follow!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
while i'm not world's best holiday mom....
...i put on a mean april fool's day this year. i hope heaven is full of laughing because there is nothing better to me that having a good laugh. it compares to a good meal in my book.
this year we invited some guests over for a "sundee dinner" (that was the title of my email invitation). little did they know that my kids and i had been working all weekend on an april fools dinner. first off, the kids greeted our guests in robes while some of the kids were in the background making puking noises. "didn't you get the message, we have the vomits".
for our first course at dinner, we had clear glasses with jello and fruit with a straw for effect when we told them it was fruit punch. we served cupcakes and double layered cake for dinner which was meatloaf with mashed potatoes for frosting. i put globs of blue dough in the rolls so it looked like moldy rolls, and for dessert, well we did what any experienced april fooler would do. we bought loads of sponges, some brown RIT clothing dye and a package of frosting. we dyed the sponges, dried them off and frosted them with the most delicious fudge frosting. they really look legit. the kids had planned out who would be served first for the brownies. after our guests realized there were no brownies, they were confused when we told them we had some baked potatoes for dessert (ice cream rolled in cinnamon and sugar with honey butter atop).
perhaps the funniest moment of the meal came when my mother announced that grandma helen was pregnant (she's embarking on her 94th bday this year)! my mother was quite pleased with her quick whit, as was grandma. we had a wonderful night of laughter.
all in all it was a great foolers holiday. we may or may not have gotten carried away when we thought of the best humored people in our neighborhood to take sponge brownies to. we had sweet ella use that magic voice, go up to the porch and say - "here bishop, we made this brownie just for you". or "here Lorrin, we made a new recipe and thought you would love it". i think my kids might have dribbled a bit they were laughing so hard. then when we got home they were thinking of all the things these people might do to get us back, including and not limited to, scott's name on our weekly church program being listed as Sister Scott McKay as punishment from the bishop. then, feeling guilt, they all resolved that we would make them our infamous s'mores brownies for family night tomorrow night as a peace offering.
i for one appreciate a funny little april fools joke.........but not the one where i had to take a pregnancy test today.
this year we invited some guests over for a "sundee dinner" (that was the title of my email invitation). little did they know that my kids and i had been working all weekend on an april fools dinner. first off, the kids greeted our guests in robes while some of the kids were in the background making puking noises. "didn't you get the message, we have the vomits".
for our first course at dinner, we had clear glasses with jello and fruit with a straw for effect when we told them it was fruit punch. we served cupcakes and double layered cake for dinner which was meatloaf with mashed potatoes for frosting. i put globs of blue dough in the rolls so it looked like moldy rolls, and for dessert, well we did what any experienced april fooler would do. we bought loads of sponges, some brown RIT clothing dye and a package of frosting. we dyed the sponges, dried them off and frosted them with the most delicious fudge frosting. they really look legit. the kids had planned out who would be served first for the brownies. after our guests realized there were no brownies, they were confused when we told them we had some baked potatoes for dessert (ice cream rolled in cinnamon and sugar with honey butter atop).
perhaps the funniest moment of the meal came when my mother announced that grandma helen was pregnant (she's embarking on her 94th bday this year)! my mother was quite pleased with her quick whit, as was grandma. we had a wonderful night of laughter.
all in all it was a great foolers holiday. we may or may not have gotten carried away when we thought of the best humored people in our neighborhood to take sponge brownies to. we had sweet ella use that magic voice, go up to the porch and say - "here bishop, we made this brownie just for you". or "here Lorrin, we made a new recipe and thought you would love it". i think my kids might have dribbled a bit they were laughing so hard. then when we got home they were thinking of all the things these people might do to get us back, including and not limited to, scott's name on our weekly church program being listed as Sister Scott McKay as punishment from the bishop. then, feeling guilt, they all resolved that we would make them our infamous s'mores brownies for family night tomorrow night as a peace offering.
i for one appreciate a funny little april fools joke.........but not the one where i had to take a pregnancy test today.
Friday, March 30, 2012
blogging is dead.
does anyone else feel that way? no, yes?
every time i write something on this blog lately, i am surely blasted away with exactly the opposite of what i was writing about. call it humble pie or maybe a good confirmation that the lord has a sense of humor.
case in point.
a recent post of mine included my ease into the world of vomiting. yes, i proclaimed loud and clear that i don't get quite so upset when vomit flies at my house. i am an experienced mother and it doesn't frazzle me as much as it used to. the next post was regarding the violence with which the stomach bug has hit us this year. all four kids went thru 6, count them, SIX rounds of vomiting bugs this winter.
example number 2.
i took it upon myself to make any mother who does not place priority on getting showered and ready every morning feel awesome when i wrote about how it is my rock. it still is. but my trade off is that i take a walk with the kids in the afternoons instead of going to the gym everyday. i don't need intense workouts or whatever else other mothers do. and, i don't shop. not unless i have to. and, i don't craft. but, i was feeling frustrated with my morning routine of getting ready after the kids left for school, so i switched that up and have it done before they wake up. it has made a HUGE difference. the entire pregnancy with little rowan and the past year and a half i have longed for the day when i could do that. i have been just hoping for that glorious morning when i wasn't exhausted from nights on end with pregnancy woes, or baby screaming all night.
also, i wrote recently about how if you EVER see me in my jammies at dinnertime, you need to call the relief society to bring me dinner because something must be terribly wrong. rowan somehow got hold of that post and instead of calling the relief society at dinner time, he called the police. the number 9 to be exact. this is an offense punishable by having an officer come to your house and lecture the child about not playing with the phone. i was not feeling up to par and decided i needed desperately to try and sneak some naps in during the day to get over whatever bug was ailing me. i had myself all talked into it because i had not taken one sick day during all of the misery this winter has brought. i cancelled appointments, served leftovers from sunday dinner all day and laid down as much as possible. it was totally awesome to have a man in uniform talk to me about the dangers of an infant dialing 9 on the phone. like, awesome. disaster house, kids in pajamas at 5:00pm, and a remodeling project strewn all about my house right there for the officer to see. and don't worry, i have already received multiple calls about receiving the mother of the year this year;)
so, blogging just might be dead around these parts for a while until i am sufficiently humbled into writing decent blog posts.
every time i write something on this blog lately, i am surely blasted away with exactly the opposite of what i was writing about. call it humble pie or maybe a good confirmation that the lord has a sense of humor.
case in point.
a recent post of mine included my ease into the world of vomiting. yes, i proclaimed loud and clear that i don't get quite so upset when vomit flies at my house. i am an experienced mother and it doesn't frazzle me as much as it used to. the next post was regarding the violence with which the stomach bug has hit us this year. all four kids went thru 6, count them, SIX rounds of vomiting bugs this winter.
example number 2.
i took it upon myself to make any mother who does not place priority on getting showered and ready every morning feel awesome when i wrote about how it is my rock. it still is. but my trade off is that i take a walk with the kids in the afternoons instead of going to the gym everyday. i don't need intense workouts or whatever else other mothers do. and, i don't shop. not unless i have to. and, i don't craft. but, i was feeling frustrated with my morning routine of getting ready after the kids left for school, so i switched that up and have it done before they wake up. it has made a HUGE difference. the entire pregnancy with little rowan and the past year and a half i have longed for the day when i could do that. i have been just hoping for that glorious morning when i wasn't exhausted from nights on end with pregnancy woes, or baby screaming all night.
also, i wrote recently about how if you EVER see me in my jammies at dinnertime, you need to call the relief society to bring me dinner because something must be terribly wrong. rowan somehow got hold of that post and instead of calling the relief society at dinner time, he called the police. the number 9 to be exact. this is an offense punishable by having an officer come to your house and lecture the child about not playing with the phone. i was not feeling up to par and decided i needed desperately to try and sneak some naps in during the day to get over whatever bug was ailing me. i had myself all talked into it because i had not taken one sick day during all of the misery this winter has brought. i cancelled appointments, served leftovers from sunday dinner all day and laid down as much as possible. it was totally awesome to have a man in uniform talk to me about the dangers of an infant dialing 9 on the phone. like, awesome. disaster house, kids in pajamas at 5:00pm, and a remodeling project strewn all about my house right there for the officer to see. and don't worry, i have already received multiple calls about receiving the mother of the year this year;)
so, blogging just might be dead around these parts for a while until i am sufficiently humbled into writing decent blog posts.
i try to steer away from trouble, BUT
i could not help myself. this really made me think.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
investment
last month the topic of discussion for the power of mom's learning circle was pertaining to that cute, fun, girl that sometimes gets stifled by the busyness of motherhood.
it was a really interesting discussion. the topic brought out opinions that were so varied from the different stages we were all in with our present mothering situation. the bottom line was that at some point in the journey of motherhood, usually when change comes, something often times is sacrificed. whether it be a routine for getting ready for the day, cleaning, a social life, or the continual desire to educate our minds.
every person sacrifices something for motherhood. there has to be something given up when heaven's windows are opened. it was interesting to me that it is usually something that requires a mother ample opportunity to be humbled.
i have had many situations as a mother that have humbled me right into next year. one thing that has been my anchor for not loosing myself in the insanity motherhood offers is giving myself, husband, and kids a showered, made up self EVERY.DAY.POSSIBLE.
if you come to my house and see me in my pajamas unshowered after 12pm, please call the relief society to bring me dinner. DONT call the relief society if my house is cluttered or my kids don't have the latest fashion trends. DO call the relief society if my kids have eaten processed food for a week straight.
there are things i have to have to function as a mother everyday that differ vastly from another. i do feel blessed that my mother put her best foot forward everyday by never being caught in pajamas at dinner time. she got up everyday and gave herself the gift of putting herself together. that one principle has kept me in tact as a mother. my first task with babies is to figure out how to shower in the morning while they are safely kept. with my first one it meant bringing in the car seat to the bathroom while i could still see baby and had that shower every morning and took the time to get ready. with my fourth it meant putting together a little bathroom basket with things he can pull out and play with while i am showering and can still see him. they become part of the routine and can see it is important to me. all my kids have learned to respect it and follow suite themselves, giving themselves the opportunity to spend some time gaining momentum and confidence for the day by honoring this ritual. there is no sink of dishes too big, or errand so important that it will win over giving myself that time to get made up and get it together. i can enter the rest of my day with confidence and pride in the time i invested in me.
i have had to make some compromises on days when the tasks begin early. in the past two years i have come to be okay with washing my long hair every other day. it drove me to insanity the first few months i did it, but it has slowly become routine and one of the selling points for long hair. also, sometimes, a super early morning might warrant a bath the night before so i have have 30 more minutes to devote to getting 4 kids out the door. as we discussed the article i realized that i have never ever suffered the blahs of motherhood due to the fact that i feel lost as a person. it made me feel glad that the anchor i held onto as a person has been what has kept me together as a mother. it made me feel less guilty for the things i am not great at (such as having a spotless house all the time, or volunteering at every one of my kids endeavors to name a few)..
i love those moments when we discover strength in the thick of thin things! it was such a good feeling!!
it was a really interesting discussion. the topic brought out opinions that were so varied from the different stages we were all in with our present mothering situation. the bottom line was that at some point in the journey of motherhood, usually when change comes, something often times is sacrificed. whether it be a routine for getting ready for the day, cleaning, a social life, or the continual desire to educate our minds.
every person sacrifices something for motherhood. there has to be something given up when heaven's windows are opened. it was interesting to me that it is usually something that requires a mother ample opportunity to be humbled.
i have had many situations as a mother that have humbled me right into next year. one thing that has been my anchor for not loosing myself in the insanity motherhood offers is giving myself, husband, and kids a showered, made up self EVERY.DAY.POSSIBLE.
if you come to my house and see me in my pajamas unshowered after 12pm, please call the relief society to bring me dinner. DONT call the relief society if my house is cluttered or my kids don't have the latest fashion trends. DO call the relief society if my kids have eaten processed food for a week straight.
there are things i have to have to function as a mother everyday that differ vastly from another. i do feel blessed that my mother put her best foot forward everyday by never being caught in pajamas at dinner time. she got up everyday and gave herself the gift of putting herself together. that one principle has kept me in tact as a mother. my first task with babies is to figure out how to shower in the morning while they are safely kept. with my first one it meant bringing in the car seat to the bathroom while i could still see baby and had that shower every morning and took the time to get ready. with my fourth it meant putting together a little bathroom basket with things he can pull out and play with while i am showering and can still see him. they become part of the routine and can see it is important to me. all my kids have learned to respect it and follow suite themselves, giving themselves the opportunity to spend some time gaining momentum and confidence for the day by honoring this ritual. there is no sink of dishes too big, or errand so important that it will win over giving myself that time to get made up and get it together. i can enter the rest of my day with confidence and pride in the time i invested in me.
i have had to make some compromises on days when the tasks begin early. in the past two years i have come to be okay with washing my long hair every other day. it drove me to insanity the first few months i did it, but it has slowly become routine and one of the selling points for long hair. also, sometimes, a super early morning might warrant a bath the night before so i have have 30 more minutes to devote to getting 4 kids out the door. as we discussed the article i realized that i have never ever suffered the blahs of motherhood due to the fact that i feel lost as a person. it made me feel glad that the anchor i held onto as a person has been what has kept me together as a mother. it made me feel less guilty for the things i am not great at (such as having a spotless house all the time, or volunteering at every one of my kids endeavors to name a few)..
i love those moments when we discover strength in the thick of thin things! it was such a good feeling!!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
aging bi-polar style
tomorrow my sweet red head turns 33. tonight i remarked that i feel 40. 4 kids, a house, a good job. that's where most 40 year olds fall into the spectrum of accomplishments and maturity, right? i mean, monday scott is taking the boards to renew his license to practice medicine which means we have been out of school as long as we were in school. six years. yes, the maturity of a 40 year old i tell you.
now, a few things of note have happened around here lately that must be known to the blogging world. first off. i took my children to a bakery for some fresh bagels. because of the aforementioned blessing of being out of school for six years, we can afford a nice bakery fresh bagel. when we got in there, the soup smelled good and the kids talked me into dinner. scott was still in the operating room, so i figured this would be ok, he might be a while. it was around the five o'clock hour which is a wind that blows no good if you're ella. she had a melt down 15 minutes in because i would not let her carry the tray with four bowls of soup. the family next to us was quite taken in with our dramatic unfolding. it was an older couple with an adult child. a few minutes into the tantrum the woman came over to try to console ella. i was appreciative but unfortunately ella is incredibly shy and someone else nosing in her business makes a situation even more unbearable. after being stared at by this family for thirty minutes, the mother finally approached me. she apologetically described their plight. they thought i was the big sister who had just got her license and decided to take her siblings out for dinner. she was shocked to hear the kids call me mom. i was quite taken aback. i told her after carrying four children, i would like to look like it. i earned every wrinkle and fold. easton told me that this mistake was made because i am a little person. i quipped that it was only because grayce is almost as tall as me, it takes me down a bit in the credibility department. i would also like to give this family credit. i would be staring too if a 16 year old took our four little kids to dinner. gold medal.
only a few days later, we were lunching with my kids and mother at the greenery. the waitress was quite shocked to learn i was the mother. this is a compliment to my 50 something year old mother as she must have thought my mom was the mother of all five of us mckay's. my mom pinned it down to the braid in my hair, it takes ten years off she said. this makes me reconsider this whole long hair thing.
on the opposite end, last week a neighbor was quite shocked to hear that we had just entered our thirties. their associations with us entail a religious setting and a professional setting. all ages go out the door in that case. seriously. scott has an app on his phone that tells all the ages of people in our religious congregation and sometimes, not often, we may or may not be known to play, guess their age. and when you know someone in a religious setting, age flies right on out of the reasonable department. you know people by job, service given, visits done, lessons taught. so it is rather entertaining to us when we are off by 20 years with some folks. and an age upgrade in a religious setting is a compliment. if i think you are 60 and you are really only 45, well, it's because i think you're closer to dying because you are so righteous. really. that's how i rate it. so i guess i should be complimented that she thought we were in our 40's, right up there with her and her almost 50 year old husband. whew.
the point of this post is to tell my good husband, that he's 95 in my book. he's good. he makes me better. i feel like most days i am being dragged along on his ride. and it is a good, wonderful ride. cheers scotty.
now, a few things of note have happened around here lately that must be known to the blogging world. first off. i took my children to a bakery for some fresh bagels. because of the aforementioned blessing of being out of school for six years, we can afford a nice bakery fresh bagel. when we got in there, the soup smelled good and the kids talked me into dinner. scott was still in the operating room, so i figured this would be ok, he might be a while. it was around the five o'clock hour which is a wind that blows no good if you're ella. she had a melt down 15 minutes in because i would not let her carry the tray with four bowls of soup. the family next to us was quite taken in with our dramatic unfolding. it was an older couple with an adult child. a few minutes into the tantrum the woman came over to try to console ella. i was appreciative but unfortunately ella is incredibly shy and someone else nosing in her business makes a situation even more unbearable. after being stared at by this family for thirty minutes, the mother finally approached me. she apologetically described their plight. they thought i was the big sister who had just got her license and decided to take her siblings out for dinner. she was shocked to hear the kids call me mom. i was quite taken aback. i told her after carrying four children, i would like to look like it. i earned every wrinkle and fold. easton told me that this mistake was made because i am a little person. i quipped that it was only because grayce is almost as tall as me, it takes me down a bit in the credibility department. i would also like to give this family credit. i would be staring too if a 16 year old took our four little kids to dinner. gold medal.
only a few days later, we were lunching with my kids and mother at the greenery. the waitress was quite shocked to learn i was the mother. this is a compliment to my 50 something year old mother as she must have thought my mom was the mother of all five of us mckay's. my mom pinned it down to the braid in my hair, it takes ten years off she said. this makes me reconsider this whole long hair thing.
on the opposite end, last week a neighbor was quite shocked to hear that we had just entered our thirties. their associations with us entail a religious setting and a professional setting. all ages go out the door in that case. seriously. scott has an app on his phone that tells all the ages of people in our religious congregation and sometimes, not often, we may or may not be known to play, guess their age. and when you know someone in a religious setting, age flies right on out of the reasonable department. you know people by job, service given, visits done, lessons taught. so it is rather entertaining to us when we are off by 20 years with some folks. and an age upgrade in a religious setting is a compliment. if i think you are 60 and you are really only 45, well, it's because i think you're closer to dying because you are so righteous. really. that's how i rate it. so i guess i should be complimented that she thought we were in our 40's, right up there with her and her almost 50 year old husband. whew.
the point of this post is to tell my good husband, that he's 95 in my book. he's good. he makes me better. i feel like most days i am being dragged along on his ride. and it is a good, wonderful ride. cheers scotty.
Monday, February 6, 2012
january.....finally over.
january started ever so lovely. walks to see the animals and bee hives everyday. sunshine. warm weather and spring longing. and then.......
and then my baby got it. i have never cried so hard for a baby. almost admitted twice. he lost three precious pounds. believe it or not, he is under weight. he is barely hanging on the charts, and every ounce lost was one we worked so hard for. he tried to stay happy, but sometimes had to crash where ever he landed.
and of course, the first night he slept for about 4 hours straight, ella woke up with a good old fashioned cold. i made them blow kisses from afar to no avail. he caught her love. that didn't stop a mandatory tea party to try out rowan's gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free (did i get them all?) treats. they thoroughly enjoyed them.
and today, with a fresh new haircut, he was up to his old antics. just in time for a miserable bout of "you're getting a new tooth and can't keep anything in". sigh. please bless the stroller in that box he's playing with makes up for our miserable month. it is the joovy sit n stand to be used in disneyland for a mckay cousin vacation. just the thought of a week away got me thru the gloomy month.oh wait, and that cute face!!!!!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
a few items of note...
i have been reluctant to finish the recap on the trip to NYC because i don't want it to be over. i kind of like having something to hang on to. but then i have a bunch of useless/interesting facts that i need to blog about.
even tho the weather is warm, we have gladly held the sick and afflicted torch high. someone is always down with something. i am pretty sure rowan had chicken pox a few weeks ago, but he also has been covered in molluscum since we went to the magic kingdom last march, so i passed it off as another brutal attack of this wart family virus that lasts up to 18 months. as i talked to the doctor today, he confirmed, it probably was the pox. he has had every little thing the kids have had, plus we have discovered allergies to nuts and dairy. yay for me. we get to make a visit to primary children's at the end of the month. it took us six weeks of crying it out at nights to sleep train him(we go in at 5,10,15, and 20 minute intervals as suggested by our pediatrician). my pediatrician said we both deserved large medals. he also reassured me that although his weight has dipped significantly, there is plenty of fat to keep the worry at bay.
{this is my baby sporting his love of candy canes}
ella marched down the stairs rather sluggishly this morning and announced that she was sick. when i asked what was wrong, she said she felt like an old lady. that would indeed give merit to body aches.
i have a sinus something or other without any runny nose. i am dizzy as can be with pains in my sinuses. i do the netti pot and find some relief. it is so strange.
easton turned the ripe age of eight a few weeks ago. he is going to be baptized saturday and also went to his first boy scout meeting. i have never seen a boy so proud of a bird feeder. he also got sick halfway thru his birthday party. he decided every friend within a 10 mile radius should come cheer for the wildcats with him. after all, they are sporting the number one point guard in college ball in the nation. we feel lucky to have season tickets, go WSU. anyway, halfway thru a piece of pizza he was sure he was going to loose that piece to the dreaded and much circulated stomach bug. good news, it was over after a day of body aches and NO vomit. happy birthday buddy.
also, rowan has thrush and easton fell down the stairs the other day. the all wood stairs that scott fell down last year and i laughed myself into a vomiting fit. i did not laugh at easton. and grayce was home today with an achy something or other that i am sure we will recycle 4 or 5 times before valentines day.
the good part about being a mother now for ten years is that i get to enjoy this refining fire. vomit doesn't put the fear of god into me like it used to. it's part of this stage of life. it's going to happen. ella has needed only one round of oral steroids,breathing treatments, antibiotics this season. compare that to four years ago when it was EVERY SINGLE MONTH and i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. the end of the tunnel has tulips, and sunshine.
there you have it. a post of useless/interesting information about our winter cold/flu season.
even tho the weather is warm, we have gladly held the sick and afflicted torch high. someone is always down with something. i am pretty sure rowan had chicken pox a few weeks ago, but he also has been covered in molluscum since we went to the magic kingdom last march, so i passed it off as another brutal attack of this wart family virus that lasts up to 18 months. as i talked to the doctor today, he confirmed, it probably was the pox. he has had every little thing the kids have had, plus we have discovered allergies to nuts and dairy. yay for me. we get to make a visit to primary children's at the end of the month. it took us six weeks of crying it out at nights to sleep train him(we go in at 5,10,15, and 20 minute intervals as suggested by our pediatrician). my pediatrician said we both deserved large medals. he also reassured me that although his weight has dipped significantly, there is plenty of fat to keep the worry at bay.
{this is my baby sporting his love of candy canes}
ella marched down the stairs rather sluggishly this morning and announced that she was sick. when i asked what was wrong, she said she felt like an old lady. that would indeed give merit to body aches.
i have a sinus something or other without any runny nose. i am dizzy as can be with pains in my sinuses. i do the netti pot and find some relief. it is so strange.
easton turned the ripe age of eight a few weeks ago. he is going to be baptized saturday and also went to his first boy scout meeting. i have never seen a boy so proud of a bird feeder. he also got sick halfway thru his birthday party. he decided every friend within a 10 mile radius should come cheer for the wildcats with him. after all, they are sporting the number one point guard in college ball in the nation. we feel lucky to have season tickets, go WSU. anyway, halfway thru a piece of pizza he was sure he was going to loose that piece to the dreaded and much circulated stomach bug. good news, it was over after a day of body aches and NO vomit. happy birthday buddy.
also, rowan has thrush and easton fell down the stairs the other day. the all wood stairs that scott fell down last year and i laughed myself into a vomiting fit. i did not laugh at easton. and grayce was home today with an achy something or other that i am sure we will recycle 4 or 5 times before valentines day.
the good part about being a mother now for ten years is that i get to enjoy this refining fire. vomit doesn't put the fear of god into me like it used to. it's part of this stage of life. it's going to happen. ella has needed only one round of oral steroids,breathing treatments, antibiotics this season. compare that to four years ago when it was EVERY SINGLE MONTH and i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. the end of the tunnel has tulips, and sunshine.
there you have it. a post of useless/interesting information about our winter cold/flu season.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
day three, just when you thought i forgot...
day three was filled with sleeping as our late night meatballs kept us out for two days technically. i was bound and determined to eat at the clinton street bakery this day and have blueberry pancakes. determined. it started off by some wrong subway stops on my part, and then the lazy afternoon got the better of us. we couldn't hail a cab if our lives depended on it and so, we decided that a cuban sandwich and corn elote was just what we needed. this meal took us thru the most quaint parts of SOHO. it was full of street fairs and beautiful shops. the walk would have been better with full bellies, BUT the first bite was worth it. i have never had corn like that. i don't know what kind of corn they used but it was meaty and had such a deep flavor. the cuban sandwich was other planet fall apart in your mouth. as you can see below, we opted for the walk up window at cafe habana as the wait in the shop was crazy. we found ourselves a small bench and made enough nummy noises to turn your cheeks red. oh.momma. don't miss this place. it was so so amazing. shout out to my friend erin who insisted that we go here.
i never wondered one spec about it until i saw it. where do you get gas in the big apple? everyone goes here apparently. it was the only gas station i saw in the heart of the city.
this was at a lego shop at the rock. every little round pod was filled with a different color of lego. easton would have wet hit pants on upon entry.
right outside of the lego shop we saw this beautiful lettuce. like i took 50 pictures pretty. i instantly thought of emily ballard. maybe sonora grill could have this as a plant stand outside the restaurant in the summer eh?
while riding on the subway uptown, there was an older woman and her niece that kept pointing and whispering. they finally approached me and told me i looked like julianna margulies. being a proud ER viewer for years, i was highly complimented, and then highly humored. she has some nappy curly hair. this further supports my claim of my hair getting bigger and bigger with each passing hour in this humidity hubble. the cute pair pointed us in the direction of the american doll store. after the lettuce watching, we headed over to the doll store and fell in love. it was story upon story of every doll detail you could imagine. angela was in heaven and talked mindy into buying a doll for her daughter. it was so fun.this day was our most mild in the city. the walk thru soho was my favorite and that food. the corn and sandwich top my to do again before i die list.
this iconic figure is so pretty at night!
while riding on the subway uptown, there was an older woman and her niece that kept pointing and whispering. they finally approached me and told me i looked like julianna margulies. being a proud ER viewer for years, i was highly complimented, and then highly humored. she has some nappy curly hair. this further supports my claim of my hair getting bigger and bigger with each passing hour in this humidity hubble. the cute pair pointed us in the direction of the american doll store. after the lettuce watching, we headed over to the doll store and fell in love. it was story upon story of every doll detail you could imagine. angela was in heaven and talked mindy into buying a doll for her daughter. it was so fun.this day was our most mild in the city. the walk thru soho was my favorite and that food. the corn and sandwich top my to do again before i die list.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
day two
after seeing what a few hours in the big city will do to you, we decided to take before and after pictures. this is our before. mindy and i on the left and taleese and angela on the right.
this was on our train ride in, it was a perfect foggy, rainy, humid new york day and it was our longest day in the city. we left around elevenish and didn't roll in until three a.m. shh, don't tell my mutha.
we went to the flat iron district to eat as we felt it was appropriate as that is where the infamy of the shake shack began. it was a good 45 minute wait but completely worth it.
the picture above on the left is where we caught our cab to go see the torch of freedom. we met up with a classy cab driver that was majoring in micro biology hoping to pursue a phd. the cabby's were one of the highlights of the trip. this one told us of his family coming from the middle east to live here and how he has driven cabs for 7 years. he told us how he is working on a book called "crown victoria" that would catalogue all of his adventures in his yellow wheels. at this point taleese developed some questions she liked to ask all of our drivers. have you ever had a gun pulled on you? what is the craziest thing you have ever seen? how long have you been driving cabs? how long have you lived in america.? most cabby's had never heard of utah. they didn't even know if it was in the US.
after that pleasant cab drive we found ourselves at battery park ready to view the statue.
i warned the nyc virgins that lady liberty could be quite disappointing. it wasn't a large towering figure tv makes it out to be. like in this picture below, it kind of proves the point that it could easily be missed.
it gets a wee bit better in the second picture but for whatever reason, we only ended up paying homage for five minutes. we were easily distracted and ventured up to ground zero next. the first time i was at ground zero, they were still cleaning up. it was in 2004 and everything was still quite fresh. because occupy wallstreet was only a few blocks away, ground zero was completely in tarps (streets and all) because protesters were threatening to occupy the park there citing lack of TV coverage. (seriously?) it was another disappointing thing because NOTHING could be seen. we meandered over to the craziness of the protest and were really unimpressed. the gathering was not worth all the attention it garnered to say nothing of the purpose. stupidity.
we then entered the subway with throngs of other people as we were getting a taste of NYC rain. there was a huge line to buy an MTA card, and we were stuffed underground like sardines. the trip was hitting a bit of a prozac moment but once we got on that subway all was well.
from wallstreet we hit canal street and little italy. because of the rain, canal street was a ghost town (can you imagine?) we didn't get snagged by one single asian to buy prada, gucchi, dolce cabana. we DID however make time to take a bite of a cannoli in little italy. it was so fantastic and i can still taste that sweet marscapone and ricotta cheese in that crackling chocolate shell!
we wandered 5th avenue for a while and i introduced the girls to H&M. we strolled around a bit and then felt the panic of a tourist as we realized we hadn't used the bathroom and not every store has a facility. we were directed to bloomingdales, and oh, honey. i have never had a retail experience like that. i can't give it justice to walk in to hundreds of sales people trying to sell you a purse for $10,000, or sunglasses for $5,000. it was wild. we finally accomplished our bathroom mission after 4 flights of stairs and two lovely bathroom attendants who directed us to some beautiful potties. i mean purdy. they had some lovely couches that we rested on. we found ourselves in quite the pickle as we sat down next to a sleeping homeless woman. she was aged with a large brimmed black sun hat, bright red lipstick, and her little cart. we noticed that she had a hospital band on but that was quickly forgotten as she snored so loud it could have brought the four levels down to dust. she would go quite some time in between breaths, and we had to pry nurse taleese from taking her pulse. taleese assured us that we were witnessing death right then and there in bloomingdale's in the fancy bathroom with attendants. i am a little ashamed to say i took a picture of her. it was quite the scene, i won't post it but i won't soon forget it. so so sad.
while we headed out to the gershwin theater, magnolia bakery caught our eye. it was not on our list of treats or bakeries to visit as we had been assured there were much better cupcakes to be had, but there was no line. good thing we caught something because we didn't end up visiting any other bakery. too many choices and not enough belly space.
magnolia bakery was okay. it was a five minute wait cupcake and i wouldn't have waited a second more for it without feeling jipped.
the highlight of our day was going to see WICKED. i opted for some cheap seats labeled "obstructed" and we scored a pretty awesome view by taking that chance. it was on the end of the isle, but on the floor. it was such an amazing production. the music, the people. it made my heart ache for grayce as i know she would have been smitten. one day i will get her there in the theater district and we will view to our hearts content!
after the theater we hit times square and i am amazed how this city never sleeps. at right around eleven o'clock that place was more alive then most towns at noon. we decided that we were hungry and we NEEDED meatballs. off to the meatball shop we headed. well, it was the meatball that almost never happened. it took us a ridiculous amount of time to hail the cab and by the time we did we scored a lovely toyota sienna minivan. this was likely the craziest cab ride we took. i found that the art to calmly arriving to your destination without heart failure was to not look out your window. that wasn't hard as these crazies drive 90 miles and hour and you really can't see a darn thing anyway. but, as taleese and i were both looking out the window at the truck that almost killed us, our heads ended up slamming the seat in front of us. unfortunately mine was plexiglass. the driver stopped and turned around making sure my body was still attached. lucky for me the adrenaline was flowing so freely i could only laugh hysterically about my near death experience. we finally arrived at the meatball shop and found that at midnight the wait was forty five minutes. we did what any other respectable mormon girls would do and bellied up to the bar to drink some water where there was no wait. i am sure that thrilled the bartender to have four temple recommends sitting across from him. we assured him that water drinkers tipped just as well as the drunks next to us and we only needed meatballs.
taleese here is trying to tell you how off the hook her dish was. she made friends with a dishwasher on his break and got a tip about the best dish. all i know is that i couldn't keep my fork off her plate. it was some creamy noodle with a large meatball the size of my bruised head. it was crazy good.
these are our after pictures. at two in the morning i'd say we held up well. mindy was only just beginning for the day. (she thrives at night).
i on the other hand was out of my darn mind and convinced them to take a picture of my steve tyler face. if i ever have my nose done and my face lifted, this is what i will look like.
Monday, October 31, 2011
nyc baby. day one.
i decided after my august learning circle discussion that i was going on a trip to my favorite place at my favorite time of year. i gathered some willing participants and took off. the baby weaned right in time and scott was ecstatic to take a few days off to plug in to our home life (that is not sarcastic). he doesn't get to be fully submerged with all of his obligations and he may have enjoyed his time at home as much as i enjoyed my trip.
it started off with a red eye flight to the big city. my whole goal was to be able to sleep a little on the flight as i was the driver for the trip. with my back injury it was downright miserable and i DONT recommend the red eye. it plays with your body for weeks. and that is why we look so silly by breakfast.
we found a charming cafe in poundridge, CT called blind charlies. it was delicious but i have to say that you should never ask a waitress that weighs eighty pounds if she thinks the a breakfast plate is big enough to share. taleese and i decided the description of the large breakfast plate would fill both our bellies as did the eighty pounder. when it came out we all broke into fits of giggles. mingled with no sleep, we were so delirious that this only added. we each got half of one french toast, a pencil thin parcel of bacon, and 2 potato pancakes that were the size of quarters. somehow that triggered jokes of enormous proportions that lead to us saying things like "meow". to make matters worse, in the restaurant were a older group of ladies wearing pearls having a ladies meeting of some sort. i can't believe we didn't get kicked out. at one point we had to look down and not look at one another to get thru the meal. it was the dry heaving, bodily fluids shooting out laughing. it was only a hint of the laughing we were about to do for the next five days. we had a charming country drive but shackled with the delirium of no sleep we begged for an early check in a slept for a while before we attempted the big city.
 |
| angela taking one for the short people of the world and including a funny face . all of the shots we got of her were hilarious. |
we stayed in stamford and took the train in everyday. the train ride in proved to be one of our favorite parts of the trip. we were able to people watch, eaves drop, and feel like true new yorkers. for selfish purposes i wanted the first view angela and taleese had of the city to be grand central station.
it is so surreal and so magnificent.
(left to right - angela, mindy, taleese)
we got a true new yorker experience to view times square: night time, foggy, humid, and stinky. i love NYC.
we decided to call it a day and took a cab back to grand central. i loved this misty shot of the beautiful building.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
the power
in may i was invited to be a part of a learning circle. i have been meaning to blog about this for a while now because it has been such a positive thing in my life.
my connection to it is: scott was friends with steve in high school. i went to elementary school with steve. steve married emily. emily's sister in law is my good friend and neighbor angela. angela found out that saren, one of the co-founders of the power of moms was moving into emily's neighborhood. saren encouraged emily to start a learning circle and by all of those magnificent connections, somehow i got the opportunity to be involved in this learning circle.
the concept is that a group of women are invited by a circle leader to participate in a monthly discussion pertaining to values that support motherhood. anyone can sign up to be a circle leader if they are inclined to and feel like they have a diverse group of women that would participate. it is an amazing experience.
co founders saren and april have a website here (the power of moms) that write articles daily from different authors supporting the months theme. there is a specific essay for the month that is read by all members of the learning circle and discussed at the monthly meeting. ideally a group will have 6-10 members. this offers a cozy number of people to glean good motherhood bits from.
this has been a life changing opportunity for me to decide how i mother. sometimes the thick of thin things get in the way of deliberate parenting. i will have moments of evaluation and think, when am i going to get to all the fun memories i want to make with my kids. or, when will i teach my kids everything i want to. or, when will my house ever be functional and clean. i can say that every month the topic has spoken to my heart and i have been able to change things i have been doing to be more, period. sometimes life gets hard, and the thick of thin things as a parent are challenging. the more kids that you have, the more monumental getting 6 people in the car can be. sometimes life is felt to be something that needs great accomplishment associated with it and as a mother it can be a little trite when our major goal achieved for the day was a smooth breakfast routine, or all kids getting to bed on time and staying asleep for 6 hours at once. suffice it to say, this group has helped me immensely putting purpose to motherhood.
this is for myself when i reread and remember, but i want to scribe a couple of things that have been monumental for me each month.
may: i read this article and loved the thought: you've made your bed, it's time to lay in it, even though it's often lumpy. honestly, this article pulled my head out of the post partum clouds and helped me own things better, putting more intent into my life. i can honestly say this was the most powerful month for me. i have never looked back and have not had those moments of poor me since. this is MY life, and it all amounts to my choices, own them and be proud.
june: i can defy gravity and accomplish lots of things. if you can do it in two minutes or under, DON'T PUT IT OFF. this one simple rule lead to an entire month brimming with productivity and crossing things off my list. it was so empowering!
july: retirement moments for me are so necessary. it is important for me when the house is bustling and overwhelming to picture what our home will feel like in 25 years when the kids are independent, and making noise somewhere else. it is a two sided appreciation for me. one: my husband will look so good in coveralls trimming bushes and eating lunch with me. two: i will miss this bustle. i have so many opportunities to soak in the stage of life i am in and often those can be missed by the sheer exhaustion parenthood brings. to appreciate my stage more, it often meant going in after the kids were sleeping, grabbing their little hands in mine and thinking of all the good things that are going on RIGHT NOW with them. i appreciated all of their little quirks and joys and often left their bedrooms with tears of gratitude instead of exhaustion at days end.
august: self nourishment is essential. i have lacked severely in this category. do not fill my stores when they are low, rather, keep them brimming. i have been eating three meals a day, sometimes before my kids if i feel lightheaded. also. i decided at this meeting that i was going on a trip to nyc for five days with friends ( i always used to judge women who did this. now i see the necessity of filling one's stores). it was a milestone for me.
september: cleaning with kids is essential. they do not come knowing how to clean. teaching and working along with them makes cleaning about building relationships. what a key concept. i am working on a master cleaning plan for our family that helps nurture relationship building activities. we talked about this for our last family home evening and everyone is on board as soon as we stop puking.
there are things that come along in life that we can look back upon and see as turning points in how we live and why life only gets better. this for me has been monumental and i highly encourage anyone with 6-10 women they look up to to start a learning circle!!! it is rich and wonderful and for me has been that "parenting manual"we all wish we had access to.
in case you missed it, here is the link to the power of moms website. it is free to read the daily articles supporting the months theme and essay, and $20 to join for the year.
(you can email me with any questions)
my connection to it is: scott was friends with steve in high school. i went to elementary school with steve. steve married emily. emily's sister in law is my good friend and neighbor angela. angela found out that saren, one of the co-founders of the power of moms was moving into emily's neighborhood. saren encouraged emily to start a learning circle and by all of those magnificent connections, somehow i got the opportunity to be involved in this learning circle.
the concept is that a group of women are invited by a circle leader to participate in a monthly discussion pertaining to values that support motherhood. anyone can sign up to be a circle leader if they are inclined to and feel like they have a diverse group of women that would participate. it is an amazing experience.
co founders saren and april have a website here (the power of moms) that write articles daily from different authors supporting the months theme. there is a specific essay for the month that is read by all members of the learning circle and discussed at the monthly meeting. ideally a group will have 6-10 members. this offers a cozy number of people to glean good motherhood bits from.
this has been a life changing opportunity for me to decide how i mother. sometimes the thick of thin things get in the way of deliberate parenting. i will have moments of evaluation and think, when am i going to get to all the fun memories i want to make with my kids. or, when will i teach my kids everything i want to. or, when will my house ever be functional and clean. i can say that every month the topic has spoken to my heart and i have been able to change things i have been doing to be more, period. sometimes life gets hard, and the thick of thin things as a parent are challenging. the more kids that you have, the more monumental getting 6 people in the car can be. sometimes life is felt to be something that needs great accomplishment associated with it and as a mother it can be a little trite when our major goal achieved for the day was a smooth breakfast routine, or all kids getting to bed on time and staying asleep for 6 hours at once. suffice it to say, this group has helped me immensely putting purpose to motherhood.
this is for myself when i reread and remember, but i want to scribe a couple of things that have been monumental for me each month.
may: i read this article and loved the thought: you've made your bed, it's time to lay in it, even though it's often lumpy. honestly, this article pulled my head out of the post partum clouds and helped me own things better, putting more intent into my life. i can honestly say this was the most powerful month for me. i have never looked back and have not had those moments of poor me since. this is MY life, and it all amounts to my choices, own them and be proud.
june: i can defy gravity and accomplish lots of things. if you can do it in two minutes or under, DON'T PUT IT OFF. this one simple rule lead to an entire month brimming with productivity and crossing things off my list. it was so empowering!
july: retirement moments for me are so necessary. it is important for me when the house is bustling and overwhelming to picture what our home will feel like in 25 years when the kids are independent, and making noise somewhere else. it is a two sided appreciation for me. one: my husband will look so good in coveralls trimming bushes and eating lunch with me. two: i will miss this bustle. i have so many opportunities to soak in the stage of life i am in and often those can be missed by the sheer exhaustion parenthood brings. to appreciate my stage more, it often meant going in after the kids were sleeping, grabbing their little hands in mine and thinking of all the good things that are going on RIGHT NOW with them. i appreciated all of their little quirks and joys and often left their bedrooms with tears of gratitude instead of exhaustion at days end.
august: self nourishment is essential. i have lacked severely in this category. do not fill my stores when they are low, rather, keep them brimming. i have been eating three meals a day, sometimes before my kids if i feel lightheaded. also. i decided at this meeting that i was going on a trip to nyc for five days with friends ( i always used to judge women who did this. now i see the necessity of filling one's stores). it was a milestone for me.
september: cleaning with kids is essential. they do not come knowing how to clean. teaching and working along with them makes cleaning about building relationships. what a key concept. i am working on a master cleaning plan for our family that helps nurture relationship building activities. we talked about this for our last family home evening and everyone is on board as soon as we stop puking.
there are things that come along in life that we can look back upon and see as turning points in how we live and why life only gets better. this for me has been monumental and i highly encourage anyone with 6-10 women they look up to to start a learning circle!!! it is rich and wonderful and for me has been that "parenting manual"we all wish we had access to.
in case you missed it, here is the link to the power of moms website. it is free to read the daily articles supporting the months theme and essay, and $20 to join for the year.
(you can email me with any questions)
tis the season
last thursday i got a call from easton at school.
"mom, i 'm sick. can you come get me?"
just like that i was in the car off to the school. he looked white as a ghost when i got to the office. i checked him out and asked what happened. he said his teacher asked him if he felt sick and he told her no. he said the butterflies were so tiny. she insisted he go home as he was the color of milk. on his way to the office he made a stop at the bathroom and his lunch was given up. he was fine eating and back to regular that night. so when i received an invite to go on this outing, i was thrilled as the temperature was projected to be in the nineties.
by the next morning he was writhing in pain. scott was out of town and so i called him to get an appendicitis checklist so i could be sure to watch easton closely. he is not a complainer and his pain had me worried. we had to forgo the last day of summer outing regretfully.
the next day was grayce's big day to sing in general conference. she was so excited. she had battled a miserable cold/stomach virus for 3 weeks and had to go to one of the practices with a barf bag. if you missed one practice, you were out. she worked so hard to be a part of the children's choir, including going to practice on her birthday, giving up evening celebrations. so when the notion was suggested to me about the possibility of grayce getting easton's belly ache and having to miss the performance, i started to pray intently that she would not miss this opportunity. easton threw up a couple of times and by saturday night we thought all was well. grayce got to sing, and did a great job! we were off to the greenery to celebrate grayce's singing triumph when easton started again to writhe. he said he was fine to go anyway and halfway thru the meal he and i had to high tail it to the car so he could wail in private. sunday morning about 1 am we were awakened to feet racing to the bathroom. grayce was spared from saturday but not sunday. after throwing up at least 40 times she had the look of death. sunken eyes, pale skin, and misery written all over her face. By tuesday all were feeling well and i thought we had been spared the worst of it. grayce was planning on going to school wednesday and i was ready to be back to normal, vomit free.
tuesday night i started in with the agonizing perils of the flu and by 1 o'clock grayce was back in the bathroom begging for mercy. ella joined in at three and the next 24 hours became a survival game. after one particular episode with some violent vomiting on my part, i noticed that my foot had gone numb. being delirious by 2 a.m. i started thinking i was going to be paralyzed by sunrise. my head was spinning and i was in the clutches of being on the run every 10 minutes completely freaking out. i sobbed for scott to give me a blessing so i didn't end up in a straight jacket from delirium and worry. my foot continued to stay numb and then came the back pain. apparently when i was "so sick" the weak disc in my back most likely herniated. it added to the stress of being sick and also the worry set in as i am headed for a 7 hour plane ride next week. anyone who has had the misfortune of back pain knows that sitting is the hardest part. it feels like someone is constantly pulling on your legs, butt, and the throbbing with hot and cold flashing up your legs is down right pitiful. scott was able to call in sick (bless his surgeons heart, i heart the kind surgeon who employs us. his last surgeon ridiculed him relentlessly when he called in sick once because of 4 barfing family members he wanted to help out with) and take care of the sick and afflicted. my gracious and kind mother in law took rowan the next day so i didn't have to lift him furthering the damage to my disc. my family came to our aid with a giant bucket of soup.
scott went to work thursday (day 8 of affliction) and came home early to take care of ella and i. thursday night we retired to bed early only to be awoken after an hour by a miserable baby throwing up every ten minutes. screaming.bloody.murder. scott joined in an hour later (and yes, he had a flu shot this year) and we are officially the most pitiful family around. 6 for 6. and one of the unfortunate thoughts that came into my pessimistic mind was, you brought all these people into this world, do you really want to bring more into this yearly event. i blame that thought on the devil for surely i am not done bearing babies.
today is saturday and i have been sitting in a chair for almost an hour, this is a major accomplishment for my poor back. i can finally hold down some food so a steroid pack has been ordered to see if the shrinking of the herniation will help with the pain. i can't wait for the MRI in which i declare the reason for a visit: an episode of violent vomiting.
people are so kind when they hear of incapacitating events such as this past week. my kind, sweet, dear next door neighbors played perfectly the loving grandparent role when they heard of our predicament. turkey vegetable soup, rolls, fresh peaches, and an amazing cold gel pack for my back. it is times where you are in humble circumstances that you get to count your blessings. i am really glad that every other year or so we have something like this happen. we bond, we are kinder to one another, and sometimes there is no other choice but to lay and be sick despite a long to do list. i can't recall the last time i was in pajamas for days, took a morning nap, and let others bring me food. sometimes it is good for the soul to realize you don't have to push yourself beyond reasonable limits when others can make up the difference for you. we are better for this insane 10 days. and look, i have time to blog. a good ordeal indeed.
"mom, i 'm sick. can you come get me?"
just like that i was in the car off to the school. he looked white as a ghost when i got to the office. i checked him out and asked what happened. he said his teacher asked him if he felt sick and he told her no. he said the butterflies were so tiny. she insisted he go home as he was the color of milk. on his way to the office he made a stop at the bathroom and his lunch was given up. he was fine eating and back to regular that night. so when i received an invite to go on this outing, i was thrilled as the temperature was projected to be in the nineties.
by the next morning he was writhing in pain. scott was out of town and so i called him to get an appendicitis checklist so i could be sure to watch easton closely. he is not a complainer and his pain had me worried. we had to forgo the last day of summer outing regretfully.
the next day was grayce's big day to sing in general conference. she was so excited. she had battled a miserable cold/stomach virus for 3 weeks and had to go to one of the practices with a barf bag. if you missed one practice, you were out. she worked so hard to be a part of the children's choir, including going to practice on her birthday, giving up evening celebrations. so when the notion was suggested to me about the possibility of grayce getting easton's belly ache and having to miss the performance, i started to pray intently that she would not miss this opportunity. easton threw up a couple of times and by saturday night we thought all was well. grayce got to sing, and did a great job! we were off to the greenery to celebrate grayce's singing triumph when easton started again to writhe. he said he was fine to go anyway and halfway thru the meal he and i had to high tail it to the car so he could wail in private. sunday morning about 1 am we were awakened to feet racing to the bathroom. grayce was spared from saturday but not sunday. after throwing up at least 40 times she had the look of death. sunken eyes, pale skin, and misery written all over her face. By tuesday all were feeling well and i thought we had been spared the worst of it. grayce was planning on going to school wednesday and i was ready to be back to normal, vomit free.
tuesday night i started in with the agonizing perils of the flu and by 1 o'clock grayce was back in the bathroom begging for mercy. ella joined in at three and the next 24 hours became a survival game. after one particular episode with some violent vomiting on my part, i noticed that my foot had gone numb. being delirious by 2 a.m. i started thinking i was going to be paralyzed by sunrise. my head was spinning and i was in the clutches of being on the run every 10 minutes completely freaking out. i sobbed for scott to give me a blessing so i didn't end up in a straight jacket from delirium and worry. my foot continued to stay numb and then came the back pain. apparently when i was "so sick" the weak disc in my back most likely herniated. it added to the stress of being sick and also the worry set in as i am headed for a 7 hour plane ride next week. anyone who has had the misfortune of back pain knows that sitting is the hardest part. it feels like someone is constantly pulling on your legs, butt, and the throbbing with hot and cold flashing up your legs is down right pitiful. scott was able to call in sick (bless his surgeons heart, i heart the kind surgeon who employs us. his last surgeon ridiculed him relentlessly when he called in sick once because of 4 barfing family members he wanted to help out with) and take care of the sick and afflicted. my gracious and kind mother in law took rowan the next day so i didn't have to lift him furthering the damage to my disc. my family came to our aid with a giant bucket of soup.
scott went to work thursday (day 8 of affliction) and came home early to take care of ella and i. thursday night we retired to bed early only to be awoken after an hour by a miserable baby throwing up every ten minutes. screaming.bloody.murder. scott joined in an hour later (and yes, he had a flu shot this year) and we are officially the most pitiful family around. 6 for 6. and one of the unfortunate thoughts that came into my pessimistic mind was, you brought all these people into this world, do you really want to bring more into this yearly event. i blame that thought on the devil for surely i am not done bearing babies.
today is saturday and i have been sitting in a chair for almost an hour, this is a major accomplishment for my poor back. i can finally hold down some food so a steroid pack has been ordered to see if the shrinking of the herniation will help with the pain. i can't wait for the MRI in which i declare the reason for a visit: an episode of violent vomiting.
people are so kind when they hear of incapacitating events such as this past week. my kind, sweet, dear next door neighbors played perfectly the loving grandparent role when they heard of our predicament. turkey vegetable soup, rolls, fresh peaches, and an amazing cold gel pack for my back. it is times where you are in humble circumstances that you get to count your blessings. i am really glad that every other year or so we have something like this happen. we bond, we are kinder to one another, and sometimes there is no other choice but to lay and be sick despite a long to do list. i can't recall the last time i was in pajamas for days, took a morning nap, and let others bring me food. sometimes it is good for the soul to realize you don't have to push yourself beyond reasonable limits when others can make up the difference for you. we are better for this insane 10 days. and look, i have time to blog. a good ordeal indeed.
like oprah's favorite things....
my friend emily is related to some cool cats who produce the most fantastic pillow you have ever slept on. this is real, no joke. i have had two for over a month now, and suffice it to say, there are 10 in my amazon shopping cart. we lay awake at night thinking of who we can give them to for christmas. i love giving away things that i love to people and my red headed husband is not the "everything" gift giver.
as in if there is a gift given, i usually pick it out. if it is supposed to be from "him", why, i run it by him and make sure it's alright. while contemplating who would be christmas receivers of "the pillow" he was acting funny about some of the recipients. i think his mind categorizes presents like a candle for mother, a tie for father, little ben with a red fire truck. kind of a cliche gifter (although he has pulled off some awesome stuff for the kids and i) outside the immediate family circle. i think he almost feared giving pillows for gifts might be akin to giving someone undies as a present. a little personal. but, i think we have our list narrowed down to who wouldn't get offended getting such a personal item as a pillow. he justified it with telling me he would present the gift saying, just think of this like an oprah's favorties gift item.
i hesitate to describe what this pillow is like. you see, i have fallen victim to reading reviews as of late and i think it's been tainting my mind. i stewed for weeks about buying a pair of tom shoes for an upcoming girls trip in the big apple. stewed and stewed. i saw every disney loving mother wearing them in march while we paid homage to the black ears and felt like that spoke for itself. coz yer dogs be hatin after a day of magical kindumb. for reels. then......i suckered into reading amazon reviews and website reviews by loyal toms customers. i was torn. underprivileged children getting shoes if you buy a pair. loyal supporters telling of all the colors and collections they have. i plunged. happy to be a part of this trendy movement and help someone? sure.
turns out that for fifty dollars, i think they are junk. kind of like when you get suckered into those "parties" and for $99.99 this baking stone will do the cooking for you and make your life worth living. directly after she tells you about the bahama's last week because she sold the most baking stones at last years party. i would have felt much better if i had written a check for $50 to an organization based in africa and they bought shoes for the children based on the area, need, and duration of the material. they are $15 dollar shoes. i realize this puts me into a non-trendy category. i remember in the seventh grade going shopping for school clothes. we had $100 dollars to spend on clothes for the year. i was going to have a pair of girbaud jeans. yes. i was. the problem was that they were $78.00 and that was for the color blue. the actual blue jeans were $99. i was dead set on them. got my jeans and a shirt and my budget was blown. i sat with them in the closet for a week thinking that everyday i would have to wear them as i had no other jeans. that did not roll around my brain so well and there was born my non-trendy self. there were plenty of other cute pants for under $78. turns out coolots ended up in my shopping bag and i wore them proudly that year. this further proves the point that i am not fashionable or trendy. but.....that said.
i do know when i love something. when it is a good product and the price is right, i will hop over the moon for it. food, products, clothes as long as i don't know about someones trip to the bahama's because of my purchase. i am happy to report that the malouf pillow, found HERE will satisfy all of your christmas gift recipients. and let that recommendation speak for itself. it's like butta.
as in if there is a gift given, i usually pick it out. if it is supposed to be from "him", why, i run it by him and make sure it's alright. while contemplating who would be christmas receivers of "the pillow" he was acting funny about some of the recipients. i think his mind categorizes presents like a candle for mother, a tie for father, little ben with a red fire truck. kind of a cliche gifter (although he has pulled off some awesome stuff for the kids and i) outside the immediate family circle. i think he almost feared giving pillows for gifts might be akin to giving someone undies as a present. a little personal. but, i think we have our list narrowed down to who wouldn't get offended getting such a personal item as a pillow. he justified it with telling me he would present the gift saying, just think of this like an oprah's favorties gift item.
i hesitate to describe what this pillow is like. you see, i have fallen victim to reading reviews as of late and i think it's been tainting my mind. i stewed for weeks about buying a pair of tom shoes for an upcoming girls trip in the big apple. stewed and stewed. i saw every disney loving mother wearing them in march while we paid homage to the black ears and felt like that spoke for itself. coz yer dogs be hatin after a day of magical kindumb. for reels. then......i suckered into reading amazon reviews and website reviews by loyal toms customers. i was torn. underprivileged children getting shoes if you buy a pair. loyal supporters telling of all the colors and collections they have. i plunged. happy to be a part of this trendy movement and help someone? sure.
turns out that for fifty dollars, i think they are junk. kind of like when you get suckered into those "parties" and for $99.99 this baking stone will do the cooking for you and make your life worth living. directly after she tells you about the bahama's last week because she sold the most baking stones at last years party. i would have felt much better if i had written a check for $50 to an organization based in africa and they bought shoes for the children based on the area, need, and duration of the material. they are $15 dollar shoes. i realize this puts me into a non-trendy category. i remember in the seventh grade going shopping for school clothes. we had $100 dollars to spend on clothes for the year. i was going to have a pair of girbaud jeans. yes. i was. the problem was that they were $78.00 and that was for the color blue. the actual blue jeans were $99. i was dead set on them. got my jeans and a shirt and my budget was blown. i sat with them in the closet for a week thinking that everyday i would have to wear them as i had no other jeans. that did not roll around my brain so well and there was born my non-trendy self. there were plenty of other cute pants for under $78. turns out coolots ended up in my shopping bag and i wore them proudly that year. this further proves the point that i am not fashionable or trendy. but.....that said.
i do know when i love something. when it is a good product and the price is right, i will hop over the moon for it. food, products, clothes as long as i don't know about someones trip to the bahama's because of my purchase. i am happy to report that the malouf pillow, found HERE will satisfy all of your christmas gift recipients. and let that recommendation speak for itself. it's like butta.
Monday, August 8, 2011
because she is the best!
i love being related to such an amazing photographer...
here is the link to see our family photo shoot.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
if you haven't, you should....
tune in HERE to read:
they are hilarious. and not the seriously so blessed funny, but why utah mormons are funny hilarious. my mother found them and was falling off her chair laughing at their funny take about being black and mormon.
i appreciate the concept of every mormon gets to be their own kind of mormon. i feel like i am in the new haven first ward when i read this blog. happy reading.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
threat level: two
it's that real mischievous look she gets to her.her hair has caused us many tears. i have let my standard for hair fall low with girl number two. her scalp poses sensitivity that i can't wrap my head around. i look at the scalp, she cries. i talk about combing her hair, she cries. i lather it with moroccan oil, conditioner, and don't comb until it dries to no avail. yesterday was a pool day and i insist on the girls hair being up out of their faces for this venture. because of disney's tangled, they are both determined to swing from their own hair. so the pool with rapunzel like hair can be ahem, hairy.
while braiding ever so gently, she yells out with a red face and tears pooling in her eyes:
"mom. I KNOW KARATE! STOP BRAIDING THIS INSTANT!!!!!"
well, you better believe i was more scared of this tactic than the whipping threat. threat level red, level red i declared.
a hug and some funny jokes quickly remedied the scalp sensitivity and i was able to finish our pool braid. it might behoove me to go take up some karate myself with thoughts like that brewing in her head........
Thursday, July 21, 2011
choices
i lay awake tonight at a ghastly hour with my stomach churning because of the poor food choices i made at dinner.
i had an idea that no one close to me protected me from. my idea was to invite 20 girls ages 8-11 over to my house for a summer social. two other women would come chaperone, bringing with them games to play for entertainment. now, the idea that needed common sense was the part about how we would roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire. over a fire. over a fire pit in july. it was about fry and egg on the cement hot today. we prolly could have got the job of roasting the weenies done by holding our roasters ore the cement. well. i asked my friend, angela, why? why did you not tell me of the stupidity of making a fire in the dead of summer.
well, it was the hot dog that got me. i love em. summer with some carcinogens and ball park meat + lee's hot dog bakery buns. it over took every sensible thought i ever produced. until i saw the happy faces of the girls red sweaty cheeks with those weenies black as could be i felt much better about my stupidity. they didn't care that they had sweat beads gathered right under their puffy red eyes, or that their bum cheeks were wet with revolt from the heat. and no one likes a sweaty summer bum, but put a charred hot dog in the mix. do you see all the raised hands? everyone wants in.
the other reason for the late post about stupidity and food is because i also set out every fruit the local orchards had. cherries, strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, grapes. then. angela got a moment where she had a light shine down and told her we needed nutella on graham crackers for those little ones. right after their little mallows were hot off the press she would smash them with nutella graham glory. it was a sight to see. i hadn't eaten a smores for 10 years, my belly is telling me they are now called no'mores. oye. it was wonderful while it lasted, the idiotic bbq and myself.
we also played a game where we wrote down some embarrassing moments and then tried to guess whose they were. i laughed at the innocence and beauty of what these girls wrote.
my own beauty wrote: i threw up at the homestead in front of peter breinholt.
mine included having my parents call the cops twice for an intruder only to find me snoring soundly in my bed. thankfully, the snoring is now under control and my husband has no need for intruder checks in the pm hours at this house.
so, this belly ache, totally worth it, it was a summer memory for the books.
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