Wednesday, October 22, 2008

And Then There Are Days Like These

The last two days have been absolutely wonderful. The kids (amid the minor daily melt-downs) have been fun and for the most part agreeable. Even the babysitting gig yesterday went really well.

Todd and I both got paid yesterday, I then paid the bills and we still have money in our bank account! It's the end of the month...how cool is that? Now to tuck the rest into savings.

I took the kids to the Aquarium today, solo. Despite the stroller falling backwards due to the heavyweights seated in the back (Connor & Carly) it was a perfect little get-away. It was followed by lunch with my sistah-suzy and on the way home all of the kids fell asleep, the best part is that through the transfer from car to bed....they all stayed asleep!

3 Kids, taking a nap in the afternoon at the same time. Whatever shall I do with myself? I guess I should go and fold the two baskets of laundry calling my name before Todd gets home from his hunting trip needing some empty baskets to throw all of his stinky duds into.

Man, today (and yesterday), life is good. You really do have to have the bad days to help you realize that even a simple day or two can count as good ones. Nothing eventful, just happiness.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Hunting Season

Todd has not had the privilege of hunting for many years and this year, the opportunity arose for him to go with his brothers and dad. He totally took the chance stating "the meat will save us a lot of money in groceries." Of course, I encouraged him to go knowing that I would have the time to do lots of fun girly stuff with my family. He left on Friday and won't return until Wednesday.

I guess he could have hunted on Hawaii. Heaven knows there is nothing like Kalua Pig, but with his studies and the beach...why go?

But I have gained a much greater appreciation for quite a few people in just these few short days that I have been without Todd. Let me list them and the reasons why:

Angie. This girl's husband goes out of town on a weekly basis and she plays the single mom role and then has to re-adjust back to dual-parenthood on the weekends. Not an easy adjustment. You get the kids on this incredible schedule and then BAM you want them to spend so much time with their daddy that all routine flies out the window. Not to mention the rules and boundaries that you try to maintain. Craziness. Hopefully this one ends for you guys quickly.

Kimi. What the???? You do this EVERY Sunday? The whole sitting alone trying to wrangle all the kids onto one bench for a solid hour? What do you give the kids before you go so that you aren't completely delusional by Sunday School? Do you duck tape them to the bench?

Armadillo. You are wonderful to be willing to sacrifice the time with your kids so that you can hopefully (and quickly) create a better future for them. I know it isn't easy for you. You are one of the most loving mothers on the earth. Every time you pick these kids up, you can see that you have truly missed them. You have such an admirable relationship with your kids. Why can't I miss my kids more (to be honest, the more I leave them the harder it is getting...is it that way for you too or have you gotten used to it?).

Tonya. My mother-in-law. AKA Super Woman. I feel like when I tell her my silly woes, they are nothing. She has survived them...she had 4 little BOYS (AUGH) under the age of 5 to tend to. BOYS! 4 of them. She is still alive, functioning, looking hot and loving her grandkids. Everything I have been through, she's been through. It's always nice to hear her laugh and tell me a story of a similar experience she went through. This woman whom I think Todd wishes I could be more like is more like me than I know. I don't think I will ever make it to the whole eight kids mark...who knows if I will ever get a degree either. I will lack in some areas.

All Single Moms that don't want to be. You are amazing and doing something for your family that only you can do. Having to find someone to take your kids and care for them every hour you work is exhausting. Arranging times to drop them off and pick them up and packing the bags for food, diapers, clothes, games. It is all so time consuming. Never knowing if it will come to an end.

Let me just say, it is much easier being a working woman knowing that my children are in their own home with their dad. He helped to bring them into this world, he is obligated to take care of them while I am working to pay off the student loans incurred while he was going to school. He is incredible with them and they love their daddy (mostly because he lets them watch movies that I won't).

Finding a sitter for them each and every night has been the easy part. Everyone I have asked to watch the kids has been so kind and willing to take them for the whole 5 hour block of time. 3 kids under 3...it ain't easy. But the weirdest part for me has been leaving them at someone else's home. I know they are in loving and capable hands, but a part of me is torn.

Can you guess why? "They are such sweet kids". I don't think so (okay, sometimes they can be pretty sweet)".

"I will miss them so much..." Nope. I love a good break (yeah, I am being totally honest, my evening job is like therapy).

The truth is, I hate to burden other people with my kids. They (the babysitters) all have lives to live. Who wants to watch three little munchkins in the evening, when it is time for them to eat dinner and go to bed? Everyone who has ever had a child knows that evenings are the roughest times.

So this is an apology to all of you (Suzy, Braby's, Armadillo) who have so kindly taken my children into your homes and watched them during this last week. I love you all so much and trust my kids in your care. THANK YOU!!!

Okay, enough with the mushy stuff. Let's get into some of the more entertaining moments in my life.

You never realize what kind of mother you are until the things you say come out of the mouths of one of your children. Let's relive a moment that happened just this last Sunday morning.

Sunday mornings are ever so hectic around our house as Todd is usually in meetings at the church starting around 7am and I get to prepare the 3 wee-ones on my own. It isn't such a big deal. I have it all worked out perfectly. I corral all three kids in the tub at the same time and they play and splash happily while I do my hair and make-up at the bathroom vanity. Then one-by-one I get them pulled out, dressed and ready and out the door.

Here is a note of PERFECTION I have to boast about. We are always at church 10 minutes before the meeting begins. Yes! This is one of the few areas in my life that I feel I have mastered. I think there are a total of 5 areas in my life I have mastered. You wanna hear where I fail? Soft Spoken Discipline. The nice soft, kind, patient voice just DOESN'T WORK!!!

Here comes the story that I tried to start 3 paragraphs ago:

Carly was positioned in her high chair as to not ruin her perfectly curled hair and super cute green dress with brown and white polka-dots (kudos to Miranda). Connor was pretending to be Batman and Abigail was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of milk (not in a sippy cup..mistake #1). I came into the kitchen with all of the bags (one for kids, one for relief society, one for the trash full of poopy diapers). I took the diapers outside and when I came back in, beautiful Abigail in her super cute pink dress (another kudos to Miranda), all while looking straight at me, dumped her milk on the kitchen table and I blurted out:

"Stop please. Stop. Stop. You're going to make a mess. STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!!!!!!!"

She kept looking at me as though she didn't hear me YELLING and started playing in the milk.

I then slapped her hand and said, "When mommy says STOP it means that I don't want you to do what you are doing."

Connor then yells at me, "Mommy, don't talk to her that way. Do you understand? I want you to never ever talk to her like that again."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry because a three year old was putting me in my place 3 minutes before I was supposed to be heading out the door to a place where I was supposed to feel the spirit (yeah right...more on that to come).

We made it out the door and got to church on time. The three kids did so well without my right-hand-dad for the first half of the meeting, but then it was like a switch flipped after the sacrament was passed and they flew off the handle. Needless to say, I marched us all to the nursery room where the kids played until the nursery leader actually came. While we were marching, Connor folded his arms and walked so quietly and turned to me and said, "Look mom. I'm being reverent." AUGH!!! Why couldn't he be reverent in the chapel?

I am loving Connor and this stage he is in right now (regardless of the above paragraph). He wants to do everything right and just the way his parents do it. Hooray for whatever developmental stage this is. Who and how much do I have to pay to keep it this way? This also means putting me in my place...and did I mention doing everything just the way I do it? Let me give you another example of what an imperfect person I am.

I must apologize now to The Reading Armadillo for the story I am about to tell. You may never want to leave your kids with me again..oh wait, I already told her and I still get to watch her kids tomorrow. Nevermind...no one else will ever want to leave their kids with me again. Oh well...here it is:

Last Tuesday was a rough day for me. I have spent the last week having some kind of cold/allergies/guck and haven't felt like myself. Nothing I am taking is making me feel better. This particular day the kids were stir crazy and whiny and frustrating me. I was trying to get lunch on the table (feeding five mouths when they are all hungry aint' fun) and the three oldest were in the living room (no-no zone) running around and playing, Carly was waking up from a nap and starting to fuss because she could hear the fun in the other room that she wasn't a part of and Emily was sitting in her chair STARVING (honestly, I have never seen such a small girl eat so much) and making sure that I knew it. The noise was too much and I put my head in my hands and in near tears mumbled (or maybe it wasn't so mumbly..it's been a week so now it's kind of vague) "shut-up, shut-up, shut-up" When little happy voices started yelling from the other room "Shut-up, shut-up, shut-up" All sing-songy and happy.

I popped my head into the living room as quick as possible and said, "I am so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I will try harder not to say that ever again and you guys have to promise me that you won't say that again." They all agreed as cutely as they do.

It reminds me of a time that my mother apologized for a few years ago. I never remembered this experience, but obviously it scarred her more than me. I was probably 2 or three and doing something annoying (shocker) and my mom called me an "ugly ugly child." I laugh so hard about it now knowing that there are days where I want to say the same thing to Abi (although it would be entirely untrue...the only thing that has kept that girl alive this far is her good looks and her ability to cuddle). What made me feel even better about my moms admitance were the following:

1) The stupid things I say now most likely won't determine what my child ends up like...as long as I don't repeatedly say them.

2) I think my mom is amazing and did a great job of raising me. If she said those things to me and I still love her, maybe twenty some-odd years later down the road, my kids will still love me too.

3) Even the coolest moms lose their cool at times.

How about a picture to break up the monotony of this post?


Blah, this was long enough. Time to go to bed and start the life routine all over again.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Pajama Party Pt.2

Last night we at the Village Quilt Shop had our monthly meeting (one hour turned into two....but that meant that when I arrived home at 10pm, the kids were all asleep soundly in their OWN beds). At this meeting we were given the secrets as to what kind of steep discounts we are giving and we got to pick out our pajamas.

I picked out a pink pair of pajamas with blue and dark pink flowers. I must admit to you all, that for the price that the average person has to pay, I am a lot disappointed...for YOU, the average person (I am not average and I got my pair for free, but I work there...those are the perks!) I am not a seasoned seamstress, but I could make these simple cotton pajamas. However, on Saturday only, you can get a pair of these pajamas for 1/2 off when you purchase a quilt! The pajamas I got (long sleeved top and bottoms) would run $60 regularly, so they're just $30 if you buy a quilt.

Here are a few of the other great deals taking place this Saturday (these also apply to the store out in Draper on 123rd South):

Just for walking in the store, you will get a coupon good for $10 off your purchase of $50 or more.

All furniture is an extra 5% off (I know, not too cool, but it's something)

All of our quilt racks are 1/2 off.

Super cute throw blankets for $20 (solids and quilted patterns...you know that Robins Egg Blue that is so popular right now...we've got 'em)

Harmonious Mist Solid Quilts (certain colors) Queen $60 and King $70

Valencia Quilts Queen $50, King $60, Shams $10, Throw Pillow $10


And all of our Halloween Decorations are marked down 20%

Maybe I will see some of you there!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Pajama Party

I just had to write a small plug for a fun event that will be taking place at my place-of-employment...The Village Quilt Shop at Gardner Village.

Besides the witches being out (so fun for the kids...if you go to the website and print out a Scavenger Hunt sheet, you can turn it into the bakery and get a cookie for only 25 cents) on Saturday we will be having a Pajama Party with tons of huge sales (Halloween Decor marked down way low) and we are now going to be selling very high-end pajamas at the store.

I could never afford a pair, but one of the perks of working there is that I will be inheriting the same pair that I HAVE to wear to work on Saturday! Woo-hoo!!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Fall Foliage

We were invited to head up Big Cottonwood Canyon to a friends cabin last night and we were there just in time to see all the awesome colors!!! I must say, out of all the places we have lived, Utah is the most diverse-ever-changing-beautiful in the world!

The kids had a fabulous time climbing on the rocks and just being kids. How often I forget that just twenty minutes away we have such a great place to explore, we gotta get out more often.

Enjoy the little photo-roll of the pics we got while up in the canyon.






The only downside of the whole night was on the drive home. I kept asking Todd to slow down...I hate driving at night (or riding for that matter) and those curves make me extra nervous. He loved the ride and was searching for dear in the dark. Abi started whining and I couldn't get her to tell me what was wrong...but then she let us know exactly what was wrong by throwing up everywhere. She had motion sickness! So I begged Todd to go slower, but he said that he had to go fast to get us out of the canyon sooner. Poor little girl.

Thanks for the invite Angie! The food was wonderful and the company was the best. We can't wait to do it again.

Yum!

Each night that I have to work, I try to have dinner on the table so that when Todd gets home he doesn't have to worry about that aspect of the evening.

Well, on Tuesdays, Todd has his EQP meeting here at the house...BEFORE I get home. So I walk in the door that night and on the kitchen table I find one of the kids plates looking like this:
During his meeting, one of the kids must have gotten a hold of the pepper and dumped the entire contents onto their plate.

Dirty Job


Who knew that babysitting would be such a dirty job? I have to keep a close eye on the older three...if I let them into the backyard they gravitate to these planters in the back yard filled with dirt (they are supposed do be overflowing with squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and the sort but I don't have time or the know-how).
Sidenote: Andrea (another sister-in-law) gave me some rosebushes a month ago. They were beautiful and green. Now they are totally brown and dead...no green thumb here.

The next thing I know the dirt is in their hair, down their pants and covering their faces. Once they are out there, I figure the damage has been done and I don't rush them back in. A good brushing gets 'em clean enough to come back in the house for lunch time...then Scooter gets to go home and his mom has to bathe him (sorry!).

It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. What am I going to do for entertainment during the winter for this group?

Abigail Turned Two

The Flabs turned two on the 19th of September and I am just now getting around to posting about it. Todd and I are not the coolest parents and have always kept the kids (and our own) birthdays rather quiet and mellow. My sister-in-law Jeanette thought it was crazy that we weren't doing anything, so she encouraged me to throw together and impromptu lunch at McDonald's with the Spencer Cousins that afternoon.

Duh! What place is better than McDonald's. It was a great idea and Abi had a great time going down the slide and she got some fun little gifts from her cousins.

That evening, Todd and I took the kids to the Mayan for dinner. I have heard good and bad about this place, so I was skeptical at first. However, not only were we impressed...but the kids were too! They couldn't keep their eyes off of the cliff divers and the thunder and rain made them so excited.


I loved it because the "ambiance" noise was so loud you couldn't hear the kids squealing or being annoying. We also got there early enough that we didn't have to wait at all. The food was great and it was just perfect for Abi's birthday.

Something about being two...Abi totally got it this year and it was hilarious watching her opening her presents. My favorite was when she opened a shirt from Grant and Jeanette and she squealed as she opened it, then held it against her chest and proclaimed "it's so pretty!"