Bomb

I had a big project I wanted to be finished by tomorrow, but it's turning out to be an epic failure.

Todd is in the process of starting his own business.  It's slow going and I felt like he needed a boost and what better way to feel boosted than to walk into your very own office!  Right?  You know, I had major visions of a grand unveiling, like when Candice Olson welcomes a client into their home after she has spent just a day or two working on a particular room.  It always looks soooooo incredible and complete down to the most minute detail.

Tomorrow, when Todd walks into his office I am going to have to say things like, (imagine me spreading my arms out in a gesture similar to the girls on the Price is Right) "Now, this is where all of your diplomas and certificates will hang, but they are still two weeks out from the framer."  "Here is where your blinds will be, but I got them one inch too small and ran out of time to return them to Lowe's."  Then of course there is, "I have a custom sign that has been made to match your totally amazing business cards, but the standoffs for installation are somewhere in Connecticut right now."

All of the painting was done yesterday.  A beautiful gray.  Not a brown gray, or a purply gray, a man's gray.  It looks perfect!  Today was to be spent putting the room together, accessorizing (cuz ya know how every man's office needs that) and building the two pieces of furniture needed from Ikea.

I turned on the TV to babysit the kids and put up every type of barricade I could to prohibit the entrance of little munchkins to ruin the space I had spent so long painting.  Whilst they were happily singing along with Super Why, I plugged in the vacuum to get rid of all the spackling I had sanded onto the carpet.  The vacuum was plugged.  I ran up the stairs to grab the snake and began the quarterly process of unclogging our central vacuum.  30 minutes later, the floor was free of debris and ready for me to make it all dirty again!  This time, the mess would come from the Ikea purchases (little did I know just how big that mess would be).

The excess cardboard and packing elements were placed near the stairs to be taken up to recycling on my next trip.  I heard Abi laughing and joyfully telling me how much fun she was having with the snowball fight.  At first I just said, "Oh, that's great."  Then a few minutes later I stepped out of my construction mindset and realized it isn't winter and there most definitely isn't snow inside our house!

Carly had pulverized the strips of styrofoam and had encouraged the other 4 kids (it was a tending day for me..I know, worst babysitter EVER) to join in her merry-mess-making.  My basement was covered in "snow."  I took a deep breath and figured, ah, what the heck, the room needs to be vacuumed anyway.

Not five minutes later, Abi yelled out to me, "Mom, Carly pooped on the train table."  I had recently changed her diaper, so I knew that it couldn't possibly be true.  She didn't poop on the table, she wiped her poop on the train table.  I LOST it!  Made Carly come in and help me scrub the whole thing down.  The whole time she kept telling me how sorry she was and crying.  I believed her, but I was still fuming and she knew it.  Once the wiping was done, she went to her room and cried herself to sleep.  Being a mean mom makes me sad.

Back to the Ikea stuff.  There are no words in those instructions.  Pictures.  Normally, I like pictures.  They just weren't working for me today and I had to redo things a couple of times on the "bench" I was trying to put together.  Got to the final part, putting in the drawers, and it didn't work.

I threw a tantrum like my kids taught me, said some naughty words.  Kicked a drawer.  Broke a piece off of the drawer.  Told the kids I needed to cool off.  Leave me alone.  Took a shower to cool down and clear my head.

My dad called, I gave him my sob story and he promised to come to my aid once he was through with work.  Still frustrated, I called an adorable neighbor girl to come over and watch the kids for a while so I could escape somewhere beyond the confines of my own home....Lowe's sounded good to me!

I was only there for a few minutes and had accomplished all I came to do.  So then I did some more browsing at some other favorite shops like Home Again and Tai Pan Imports before I headed home with renewed energy to be a better mom and finish this office for my Toddy.

Shortly after my little get away, my dad came and repaired the damage I had done to the "bench."  He is always there for me.  So glad to be living within the same zip code as my parents.

The kids and I went into the backyard and played for a while.  Dakota fell off of the porch.  Carly fell off of the porch.  I was pulling weeds in the garden and unknowingly stood on a pile of ants who were not happy with me there, so they bit me.  A lot.  Charlotte came over for a playdate that her "mom told her to come to."  Her mom wasn't even home.  I know, I had just visited with her mom.  20 minutes later her sister came over grateful to have found the missing child.  I am just grateful that Charlotte comes to our place and not some strangers.

I do like being outdoors with the kids.  We should get out more often.

We did the whole bedtime regime and I went back downstairs to focus wholeheartedly on the few things that I could complete on the project, but as stated earlier, the blinds I was installing are 1 1/2" too short.  BLAH!!!!  I just threw down the screwdriver, shut off the lights, closed the door and gave up.

The unveiling tomorrow when Todd comes home is going to be rather uneventful.  Perhaps I won't even tell him that I did anything to his office, and maybe he won't use it for 2 weeks, and maybe then I can have the whole room put together and wave my arms all showcasey and razzle-dazzle him then.

Or maybe, he will go downstairs to use his office, walk in, laugh at what he sees, give me a big hug and laugh while saying, "Ahhh, I love you Mel."  Cuz, in all reality, whenever I start a project, bombs like this explode and they never turn out like Candice Olsen's.

Todd has accepted it.  Why haven't I?

So, I Was Wrong

I was visiting with a friend of mine this afternoon about all the plans I have while Todd is away for Youth Conference and she asked me if I find it hard to get along when Todd is gone, to which I quickly replied, "No!  It's great."

Here it is, 1am, and I can't sleep.  My children are all sleeping soundly and have been for a few hours, but I just can't sleep.  It could possibly be one of two things.  1) I feel safer when Todd is around or 2) I drank well over 60 ounces of Diet Soda today and the caffeine has yet to wear off.

Anyway!  I took in so much caffeine willingly, thinking that I would be up all night painting, but by 10pm my final coat was on and I was free to sleep.  But I can't.

There are maybe one or two occasions annually when Todd is away from home for more than 10 hours, so of course I think I can get along well without him.  I never have to!  Albeit, if he is actually at home on a Sunday morning, it does throw a major kink in the cogs of my weekly rush to get 4 kids and myself dressed and out the door in less than 2 hours.

However, tonight, I set aside our regular routine of having the kids in jammies, teeth brushed and prayers said by 8:00pm.  The kids didn't seem mind the break from their normal regime, only tomorrow will tell what their moods will be like.

Do you remember, as a kid, going to sleepovers or being allowed to stay up late and the following day your parents would swear that a different child had possessed the body now dragging their feet around the house.  I think both the kids and I will be like that tomorrow.

Todd aids in providing our home with structure and consistency.  I love change (hence the reason I painted a room tonight and another one last week) and have a hard time remaining consistent at anything.

I tried to quit drinking soda.  I went 4 days.

It's only been 15 hours since Todd has been gone and I am ready for him to return.  Someone needs to be an adult in this household, and it obviously isn't me!

On that note, here are a few pictures of the kids during one of our play-dates last week.  Consider it your reward for reading this!

Memorial Day Weekend

What a fabulous holiday weekend we had!  Friday morning started out with a few very special visitors.

Miranda flew in from Honolulu to spend some time with her family, but (thank you Kunz family) I got to steal her away first for just a few short hours.  Then Rachael and baby Mason showed up from Idaho Falls to spread the love.  These amazing women are so special to me.  For that matter, the time Todd and I had in Hawaii was so special to me.  I was not prepared for the stretching and growth that would come during that time of my life, and these two were there for the a good portion of that journey.  They have been there to dry my tears, laugh with me and help me appreciate the beauty in my surroundings (I mean REALLY appreciate it, if you live near a beach, you should go to it...often).

 I am sure you have heard the quote before:

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. 

Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts

and we are never the same."

After a super yummy Arctic Circle lunch they had to go on their own way, and so did we.  I had failed to tell Todd about our visitors (I wanted it to be a surprise) and we weren't ready to head out of town on our little families adventure until 4.  Todd came home from work early so we could leave at 1, but we both agreed that it was well worth the delay.

The kids were very excited to get to drive in the truck for this trip.

Hey?  What's wrong with a mini-van?  Even kids at this age have a thing against them!  We had heard that there were going to be delays up to 2 hours on I-15, so we took a road less traveled and followed the back side of Utah Lake.  Sooooo peaceful and beautiful along that stretch of road.  I have never taken it before and the kids loved seeing all of the animals.

 We played the "I Spy" game and there is nothing to get you laughing quite like a round with a 3 year old who doesn't quite get the rules.  Carly would say something like this, "I Spy with my little eye something that is blue and white and it's the sky."

 When the animals faded from sight all we were left to guess were weeds and water.  So on to the family songs to sing.  Suffocation, Old MacDonald, The Final Countdown.  You know, the norm.

 I must admit, I enjoyed riding in truck-o too. Baby Boone got to sit right in between Todd and I for the whole ride and we would just kiss him and squish his cheeks and listen to him talk and laugh.  That is the way to travel.  Kids close by and happy.

 The following morning the kids were thrilled to discover that Bruiser was out and they quickly got dressed so they could play with this dog-horse.

 I have never been around such a gentle giant.  I would imagine that if we were to get a dog, a Great Dane would be my personal choice.

 We spent the weekend doing yardwork, riding the 4 wheeler, golfing (Yes, I golf.  Not well.  But I do love it), swimming and visiting the graves of the White side of Todd's family.

 Grandma White got to cuddle with Dakota for a while.

 Here we are in front of Grandma White's Farm House.  This has always been one of Todd's favorite places to vacation.  Upon arrival you can physically feel all of the stresses of life slip off of your shoulders and there is something in that air that makes you breath better and feel happier about life.

This is how Carly slept on the drive home.  How do kids do it??????

Introducing Abi, the Model

Have you been to this place lately?

Leatherby's needed some kids to come for a faux party when they were updating their web page and we were available to party!

Under the tab that says "stuff" you will see our little Abi girl.  Under Birthday Parties are more of the kids and the main page is of the little girl I tend (the most photogenic little girl I have ever met).  I have a photo too, under catering.

I have been catering for Leatherby's for almost one year now.  It has been a very pleasant experience (I LOVE weddings) and it helps us to pay off Todd's education that is supposed to be paying off (sorry, I had to add the sarcasm).  Todd is able to be home in the evenings with the kids, and I don't have to worry about finding a sitter.  Id' call that a win-win situation (the occasional free ice cream helps too!).