Why Boys Aren't So Bad

I am a believer that every person in a family is meant to be there for a specific purpose.  I didn't get my husband or my kids by accident.  We each have a purpose of being in this family unit.  BUT, there are A LOT of boys in this house.  Still, if I'm not being too obsessed with just surviving the day, I get reminders of what a blessing it is to have my boys:  For example:

Nearly every day I am presented with flowers from all 3 of my boys.  I always feel so sad throwing them away, and so I set them near where I'm working.  Naturally, the next day there are dry flowers and eventually they do go bye-bye, but if I thought about it, they probably feel a little burst of love for me when they think, "Hey, I wanna pick Mom a flower."  Even though also every day I get told how horrible my food is (for the record it is fabulous-2 of them just happen to be the world's most pickiest eaters), they love me as their mom.  That's something at least.

And this:

I should be ashamed of myself because in a way (albeit innocent) it belittles The Husband, but seriously my boys are needy and chatty and, at times, utterly exhausting, so to know that maybe I'm doing okay as a mom, that they are full of sweetness and love, again makes me smile...and laugh a little in this case.

In other news, guess who turned 2! 2! 2?  

The Hulk has managed to outgrow all his siblings for his first 2 years of life when you compare on our birthday growth chart wall (anyway have a catchier name for that?)  This kid can eat and is mostly NOT A PICKY EATER (hint, hint Obi-Wan? Quiet Man?)  This kid has quite the place in our hearts as he actually shows enthusiasm and favoritism for his daddy.  Not sure where we went wrong with 1-3, but this kid hollers when he hears the garage door opening, meaning Daddy is home and he will blow kisses nonstop when Daddy leaves.  He is getting into the Terrible Twos right off the bat by telling us no when we asked him to do something, but, fortunately, I think, his tantrums are still in the cute stage where I think, yep, whatever little buddy.  It'll blow over in a minute.  His smiles and hugs are unforgettable and can make any bad moment turn sweet.  His love of crayon/marker/pen wall and toy and floor and counter and fence art are less desirable, but I can't see him continuing this habit for too many more years.  He and his brothers played with this little train set for hours on his bday and then his other toys from Grandma.  Still having a hard time convincing the boys the present wasn't for all of them, not that they can't play with them all.  Sharing is highly recommended here, but they are indeed Shawn's presents for his birthday.  The Quiet Man even announced, "I don't hate (Hulk's real name) anymore."  He must have really liked to play with the toys if he was willing to express such brotherly love.

Oh, and one last thing, The Quiet Man is very jealous of The Hulk on a daily basis, which makes me sad and frustrated at times, but when I make them hug to make up, as much as The Quiet Man thinks I'm sick and wrong for doing it, The Hulk brightens up no matter what horrible thing his brother has just done to him and runs to initiate the hug and a kiss.  He is rough.  He is tough, but he is full to the brim with love to share all around.

Well, well, well, I will man up and actually download camera pics so you can see some sweet swimming moves from Judy Moody, Obi-Wan and The Quiet Man, plus we have a video (none too thrilling because it is so short) of Judy Moody's second piano recital).  I will get the ol' bum in gear...promise.

And in other, other, really last, last news, I am now our ward's Primary President, meaning I am in charge of making things run smoothly and making sure all the kids ages 18 months to 12 years old feel loved and get taught about Jesus, sort of behave, etc.  There's the simplified explanation of it.  I know to most people it's no big deal, but I am not a natural born leader.  Sure I pulled off some leadership stunts in high school because I was determined to get scholarships, but I am way better at being the counselor or grunt man or go-fer, etc.  It is my comfort spot.  I have some insecurities where I think why would anyone want me to be in charge?  I'm not the best or brightest or most able, BUT I have had several wise leaders tell me since I was asked to do this that for whatever reason the children in our ward need me right now.  I don't have to do my calling the way any other primary president has.  I, Anna Banana, am enough.  I have whatever the Lord wants these kids to get right now, and so, as much as I don't see it, I have faith that if I try my hardest, some good will come of it for the poor, sweet souls entrusted in my care every Sunday.

Summer So Far

Let's cram a month and a half of fun (exhaustion at times for me) into one post.  In mid May, we had the pleasure of having Grandma Dee and Grandpa Terry come visit us for a week.  These 2 could keep me young.  They are very energetic compared to Husband and me.  The kids had so fun showing them all they know and can do, and we had a few outings to show them around town and, of course, SHOPPING WITH DEE...always fun.  The only downside...Husband and I fell off the healthy wagon and enjoyed way too much delicious food while they were here...not their fault, we easily succumb to temptation.

School ended before June (unheard of in this state but these are the times of education cutbacks, and besides I personally think school should ALWAYS end before June).  Since then, it's been swim lessons, fun Friday mornings and trying to keep technology use in check.  These sweet children of mine are technology piranhas, vampires, whatever you want to call it.

Judy Moody has been doing an experiment (which seems to have unfortunately ended yesterday) of being a very kind and agreeable and willing daughter.  It was fabulous!  All the yes mothers and not screaming and crying like certain smaller minions was absolutely lovable and appreciated.  She is still my right hand girl in this heavily pre-testosterone and testosterone laden environment.  She got to do swim lessons this year (we skipped last year) and it was good for her to improve some of the lesser used strokes.  She was so happy she went and kissed the deep bottom of the pool on today, her last day.  Judy has been having a blast since she has a great friend who lives 3 houses over and is in heaven.  They mostly get along great and are so silly/fun to watch and listen to.

Obi Wan apparently only is a fanatical reader when it means he stays up insanely late on school nights because I see a lot less book cracking lately, even though we have a ton (almost) of books checked out from the library.  He is obsessed (always with something) with a game called Nimble Quest right now and has actually used some of his chore money to purchase characters in the app.  Obi also has a friend who is the little brother of Lily's friend, although they seem to end up over here playing on technology which is not my opinion of a play date.  Boys!

The Quiet Man isn't so quiet when he is crying.  He's had a bit of an adjustment this summer having to share things with Judy and Obi as they are home from school.  He will definitely be ready for preschool in the fall.  I think hanging out with kids his age and being necessitated to use his words will be so good for him.  Husband and I worry about him.  He seems to be super smart and can make any sounds when we practice but just won't use those words.  I've heard a few people say they've heard of this situation before, but it sure feels unique to us.  Talk, Quiet Man, Talk!

The Hulk has really upped his artistic aspirations this summer as his siblings have been careless in where they leave art supplies lying around.  He is proficient in wall art and carpet/flooring art and has truly excelled at body art.  This morning he managed to pour a whole box of cereal into a bucket and to drizzle a bottle of Hershey's syrup into the floor.  Enzo thanked him for that one.  All these mishaps could be prevented if older siblings were a bit more responsible.  Each time he sees a pool, he starts trying to strip down and go swimming.  Poor kid.  I will need to take him soon since he's watched all the others swim and swim and swim.

For fun, I have been reading way more than usual and inspecting/weeding my garden often with the kids.  We did go camping at the beginning of June with our church group, such a fun spot, and Judy Moody managed to find a rattlesnake by our tent.  Too bad we didn't believe her but good her friend's dad did.  I will spare you the Lord of the Flies details.  We will just say in an outdoor environment, teen and pre-teen boys really take to nature and survival of the fittest or fastest or smartest.

For future summer plans, a little more swim lesson time, homemade ice cream on The Fourth, and hoping to manage a rendezvous with my mom and Husband's mom/sister/other family hopefully.  I also am pushing for one more slightly longer camping trip.  I've said before to many people, hyper kids just seem still active but so at peace and happy in nature, always finding something to do and so full of good stuff.  I love watching my kids away from "most" of civilization.  I'll try but will make no promises to get some pictures transferred over.  Times like these I need a smart phone, but I do not want to pay for one of them yet.

A Week of Blessings

First off, humbled am I by my photography skills, but thankfully I don't have a great camera to use and I don't have time to really worry about light and angle and stuff, so I can live with they are better than the old overexposed/polaroid pics that were taken when I was little.  My family has evolved, if ever so slightly.  :)

 This is the view (screen and all) out my bedroom window.  There are what is either honeysuckle or columbine to the left of a lilac bush.  I am so thankful as I was going all crazy this spring prepping beds that I didn't hack those down.  Could've sworn they were weeds, but I should have learned by now the former owner took her flowers seriously.  On the side of the house, desperate to make another place for salad stuff to grow, I hacked down an ugly bush (I feel pretty confident it want have some kind of amazing blooms later and besides it is growing back with a vengeance) and then these plants with interesting leaves (which I was sure were weeds but The Husband had said he liked) I only destroyed 1 of.  Turns out the saved one has these beautiful pinkish lavendar flowers that are coned shape.  Woopsie! but at least I didn't take them both out.

I will say this yard is A LOT OF WORK for not being anywhere near an acre...or a half acre.  I have grand visions impossible dreams of the children weeding with me side by side for a few minutes every morning, just so we can make and keep this baby looking stellar.  Oh well, if they fail me, I at least won't fail myself.

In the productive type of gardening, The Husband and I were able to get a ton of free strawberry plants, so I've turned right in front of my bedroom window into a strawberry patch.  Woot!  It's strawberries versus some kind of aggressive perennial flower plants, but with my trusty sidekicks, the strawberries shall prevail.  Judy Moody is growing a cabbage for some Bonnie Plants 3rd grader contest to be entered by September.  Obi Wan insisted on a pumpkin patch, so we have 2 and I hope he will have desires to tend to them and help us take the squash bugs and eggs off to kill them and save the plants.  I planted fabulous tomatoes and peppers and for my dear Judy I saw peppercini plants and had to get those to see if we can raise enough to pickle.  She is a lover of them, if ever I saw one.  Also got cukes, pickling cukes, and zucchini and watermelon.  I shant bore you with all the seeds I planted, but I am SO EXCITED.  From end of May through October, my gardening life is a little piece of heavenly peace and something where I can have physical evidence I'm doing a good job.  You don't get that with much other stuff as a mom/wife, so gardening has become more and more wonderful and important to me with each passing year.  

Going back a ways, in April we got A FENCE!!!  I was worried neighbors would be mad or our yard would feel even smaller, but we've gotten lots of compliments, AND it made our yard feel larger.  I think maybe I had built in a 20 foot zone from the street to my kids so that they didn't get hit, and now that we are fenced safety for mom and freedom for kids in our backyard.

Now, for my miracles of the week:

Keep in mind that we all have our darkest trials and brightest days and that we can't realistically compare our experiences to other peoples' because this week I had the neatest experience over what many might consider a stupid thing.

Last week we had visitors, and it was fabulous but I didn't think about much else.  So this week, Judy Moody had Achievement day for girls, and I had specifically said the Sunday before to her leaders that I would be there early with my key to let them get in and get set up.  Cool, right?  Wrong.  The day of the activity came and I woke up realizing, "I don't have my key!"  I had no idea where it was, assumed I had just laid it some miscellaneous place in the house, so since I had until that evening, I was tearing through everything, thinking of ANY possibilities.  And I am a worrier, so I worried about if they would have to re-key the building, the shame of everyone getting a new key because I COULDN"T be responsible.  Did I mention I have a guilt complex the size of Texas?  I prayed, I pleaded (yes, I realize it was just a key), and I almost got to bargaining.  Have you ever tried to bargain with God?  I have, and the bummer is I let my side of the bargain down 9/10 times, so I try to avoid that now.  Then at least I'm honest.  I texted to ask to borrow a key, so at least the girls would be taken care of.  Well, that night after I unlocked the door, I thought I'd take a peak in the nursery and see if I just laid it there when we set up last time, it fell down, and maybe was miraculously not found by anyone.  I told the leader my plan, and she said she had found a key last time.  Behold!  My faith waxed and waned throughout the day and I thought I would have to walk my personal hall of shame and make the church get re-keyed, but right then, after me the mostly non hugger felt compelled to hug this fine leader who had kept the key and had no idea it was mine, I was filled with giddy joy.  It was rotten spending the day worrying and beating myself up, and though He made me wait ALL DAY, the Lord gave me what I asked for.  It was a righteous desire, silly but righteous, and just because of how earnest and concerned I felt, it helped me know he does care about me, silly, forgetful, basket case, worry wart me.  And I really need to remember that, every day, even if my mind is so full of who knows what that I can't hear Him, he is there waiting to bless me.  I love my Father in Heaven, and that I have a chance to be a good steward and less careless with the key I am entrusted with.

Now, my other "big to me" blessing of the week:

See those little fellers up there?  They don't look like much, but they are 2 of my 8 pepper plants.  Here in TV, once the snow melts off Schafer Butte by the ski resort, it is "safe" to plant your summer flowers and vegetables.  Well, eager Anna Banana, impulsive and irrational (yes we are talking about the same person) at times, was wanting so much to have all the beautiful flowers that the previous had, and so I went and spent $100 bucks in mid April and planted away all day.  It was so unseasonably warm, and then as I covered the last roots with dirt and a neighbor came to compliment me, I realized that NO ONE ELSE had planted and that the me who has been gardening here for 12 years knew that I should not be planting these frost sensitive plants.  Still, I had no inclination to dig them back up, so in our well kept neighborhood, every night after dark, I would tromp out with mason jars, sheets, broom sticks, 1 x 4s, bags of fertilizer and cover up all the plants.  It was so tedious and I had to do it all by myself which was really ridiculously hard on windy nights, BUT I only lost a few of the plants which was a small price to pay for my less than genius choice. 

 Then, it officially warmed up, the snow was melted off Schafer, but with our VIG (very important guests) here, I didn't feel it would be right to disappear as I planted on Mothers' Day weekend, because that is normally when it's okay to plant.  Still, last weekend, only 1 week "late", I spent a blissful few hours playing in the dirt and got all the things in.  I was so bummed because I had to go to work at that point and hadn't planted seeds, but over the next few days, I got EVERYTHING planted that I wanted to.  JUBILATION!  I am so simply pleased.  It is a bummer that my husband doesn't agree.  BUT THEN

THEN

THEN....

this last Tuesday night, a frost warning.  What the?  Not fair.  Again, I couldn't very well dig them all up, and as I am using the already created beds, the plants are spread ALL OVER THE YARD.  No easy task to cover them all, and I was quite sick of it after my early flower planting debacle, so I took my chances.  And my gamble paid off just this once.  I think that God new my heart and that this was really important to me, and that from my silly mistake in April I had paid plenty.  I followed the rules this time, and when I went out to check the plants it A. didn't feel too cold and B. they looked fine.  I figured the frost warning wasn't as severe as they had said it would be.  Then at church today, come to find out that lots of people lost their plants.  I don't know if my backyard is blessed with a heat pocket or what, but not 1 of my plants had any sort of problem.  I am happy to simply consider it a small miracle to me from Heavenly Father.  He truly gives us what we need when we need it and lets us learn lessons along the way from some of our mistakes at least.  So there you have it-dos miracles that made my week great.  NOW my challenge is to live this coming week to actually be worthy of those blessings because I need to pay a little more attention for sure.

I'm THAT Blogger

I think the difference is I don't have regular readers, but I hate it when I am following a blog and they never post and never post and now I am THAT person.  I suppose it is okay if blogging dropped from a great idea at the top of my New Year's goals to bottom of the barrel of my life (it's a deep, deep barrel).  In the name of recording a bit, here goes:

Currently, we have grandparents here (Husband's Dad and Step Mom) and they are in all out grand kid spoiling mode.  Oh, if only grand kids were less greedy and more grateful.  We haven't seen them for 2.5 years, since my SIL's wedding, so it is fun to show them how the kids have grown, especially The Hulk, who they have never seen in person.  He is quite the charmer, in his violent little way.

The Hulk likes to do something really naughty then instantly turn on cute and innocent in hopes of saving his misbehaved little self from discipline.  He is SO cuddly when he isn't violent-that hasn't changed.  He is saying a ton of words and busting out sentences, and deep in my heart I am hoping that he won't have a speech delay...please, just 1 of them.  I am thankful that I have had 4 healthy kids, but 1 of them not needing speech therapy and being able to have meaningful conversation with people besides me as a toddler would be quite a treat.

The Quiet Man gets to go to an inclusion preschool this fall.  He is not picking up his speech quickly enough.  Ironically, he is the first kid who his speech therapist has had who can make every individual sound without any problems, but then resorts to gibberish as soon as you engage him in conversation.  What does that mean?  I don't know.  His therapist says she wouldn't be surprised if he just started talking crystal clear one day, but I doubt that would happen.  I have great faith that preschool where he has 4 teachers/aides interacting with him and working on sounds and no mommylator (mom who translates) to help him out will help him grow and grow.

Obi Wan (is that my smarty pants name, hoopsie) is officially GT (that's what the people in the know call gifted and talented kids), and though everyone gets bored of a bragger, I can't believe that out of my average self came a kid who is super smart.  It cracks me up, and suddenly so many things that he's done and said through the years make sense.  He is just functioning on a different plane than the rest of us.  I feel guilty (mom guilt, bleh) because I want to stimulate his mind enough so that he can grow, but that mind can soak in a lot of information.  I need to learn more and strike a balance between encouraging him to learn and teaching him that he doesn't need to act like a know it all in all situations.  Sometimes, he is just cute about it, and then I don't mind.  He keeps reading and reading, and he informed me yesterday that he didn't like his brand new curtains his grandma made for him so much but that he could live with them but they were boring.  I just had to leave the room.  I already tell myself I'm not good enough.  It stings when the kids join in the beatings.

Judy Moody is still getting that sense of humor.  Explaining the birds and bees to her last fall has brought on a lot of questions, a lot of moments where my innards were squirming uncomfortably on the inside as I tried to calmly and clearly and concisely answer her odd questions.  I am trying to avoid the freaking out and yelling who put you up to this that my mom did.  Another thing I have to have faith on is that we have done the right thing and that being open but age appropriate won't bite me in the butt later on.  I want her to know the "LOVE" is a beautiful, natural but meant for specific times with a specific person.  The questions he comes up with, though!  Who thinks of that stuff when they're 9.  I thought of stuff like that when I was a teenager or already married.  Life is full of YIKES moments.

The Husband and I are training up to first a 5K.  I AM SO HAPPY because he thought he could never run due to a sore knee, but lo and behold with appropriate training he is rocking and has actually increased my speed.  Our hope is a 10K or half marathon in October but that is a serious amount of mileage for my busy, tired, chocolate and ice cream loving soul.  We will see.

I just got a job opportunity in my same field which I would need to do in addition to my current job.  I kind of think it's too crazy and kind of want to try it because what if it led to something that allowed me better hours with my family.  It's one of those things where you ask if it's the Lord making something fall into your lap or a temptation to lure you away from what's important, etc.  IDK, IDK, IDK.

But warm weather is good and fun family in town is great, and I love life.

Except for the screaming SERIOUSLY

This is how I wish our family was all the time


In reality, this week feels like a constant headache as The Quiet Man (ironically not so quiet) and The Hulk have perfected a form of scream fighting that makes my eardrums ache and my blood run cold.  They are healthy, at least.  Judy Moody has her first piano recital next month, and I am so excited ahe will be playing REAL songs w/ both hands!  She has been really self motivated and my heart could burst w/ joy as 2 and 3 are NOT self motivated so much, and The Hulk is self motivated...but to my detriment.  Come what may and love it?  I'll miss these times?  Too many people have said that for me to question that it will happen someday, but each day my heart yearns for more love and less quarreling in this house and for some occasional peace and reflective time.  I can't always go to the temple, but it seems the only way lately.  Remember What About Bob? W/ Bill Murray?  That, my friends is my family.  I WANT, I WANT!  I NEED, I NEED!  I love them (even if Judy Moody and her friend decided 58 degrees is perfect swimsuit weather), but being a mom never ends, let alone trying to be a really good mom.  How does an introvert successfully pull this off?

And in my health news, does 4.5 days of healthy eating and exercise combat a day w/ a big bit of work/kid related stress eating?  I sure hope so.  I will be good for tonight and all,of the new week though...promise.

SPRING!!!

Ah, this week is looking amazing weather wise.  Strongly encouraging (never nagging) my husband to get our fence in.  The children are DESPERATE to be outside lots, and I have a strong desire to preserve them from being road kill.  We had a fun family bike ride last Saturday and a good walk today.  These family outings are fascinating case studies of human behavior.  Judy Moody (so extra moody this week) is speedy and always thinking of what she wants to do next, so she go, go, goes and is hearing challenged.  Obi Wan (on the 7th HP book) is ALWAYS last and that is w/ much encouragement to keep up so the wolves don't catch him.  Tonight, he was contriving plans for his Minecraft world, brows furrowed as he tortoised along behind us.  The Quiet Man (set up for preschool to help w/ his speech development next school year) runs ahead and lags back and visits w/ everybody.  He was determined to push the Hulk's stroller a good ways tonight, but I have the sneaking suspicion if I had let go he would have pushed it straight into the road.  competition is stiff between those 2 .  They will seriously just sit, both holding on to the same object, scream, cry, and slap/hit/pinch each other for long periods of time if I don't intervene.  Wow.  The Hulk, displaying his softer side, has attempted a little sharing and a lot of hanging out w/ Daddy this week.  He may give bite marks and concussions, but beneath it all lies a caring, compassionate person...right?


We are happy and blessed indeed, and w/o FB, I have no idea how so many loved ones are doing.  I hope very well.

Jolly Good

It has been a funky week-much better than last week as we haven't been on the verge of death by infection, but I had a lot on my mind and did take a few too many hours to hide in the world of my anglophilia.  Let me tell you, I LOVE BRITISH TELEVISION.  I especially love the series where there are a million stunning views of the countryside.  My biggest costs a lot of money dream (which I am not a materially lustful person and normally just want the basics, except for a bit more travel perhaps) is to go to the British Isles for a month or more, tour Ireland, Scotland, England, tons of ruins, tons of history, tons of set jetting (I just learned that term this week).

BUT, until I have $10,000 burning a whole in my huge old granny purse that I will have someday, I LOVE BRITISH TELEVISION...and movies.  Heaven, I tell you, heaven.  So clever, so beautifully done, so suspenseful, and, this might sound weird, but they all have "normal looking" people as the actors.  In British television, a chick that looks like me *ME* can be considered eye candy.  And great actors/actresses can be old and fat with swollen legs and they are totally appreciated for their acting skill and not their perfect, surgically altered or extremely diet and exercise sculpted bodies.  Aside from the scenery and humor, that is my favorite part about these shows.

Some of my all-time and recent favorites:

One that has kept me company this week.





Doc Martin is much anticipated.  Oh the awkwardness of the romance and, well, everything about him.

My old friend Monarch of the Glen.  I can just run this for hours.  Love the scenery, love/hate-in-a-good way all of the characters.

Wives and Daughters.  Interestingly, I had seen this 1 advertised at the beginning of my Monarch DVDs for years and was never interested until this week, and I'm glad I got to enjoy it.  Felt a little like a Jane Austen.

Yes, you can't beat British stuff.  I am a little choosy, because often you can get nudity and no-no words in shows from over the sea, but there are so many, like these, that just aren't skanky.

So many shows I love, that make me feel at home and happy.  I haven't mentioned Downton Abbey, but I'm a fan of that club too.  I love the BBC Jane Austens from the 90s, and I could list 30 more shows I like, but it would get to be quite a long blog.

I'm also studying geography and history of the UK too, but that is going to be a pretty big thing.  I made it through 700 years of the monarchy and well...I'm a nerd about all this.  It is kind of my hobby at present.  Escapism at it's finest, but some day I WILL BE THERE, soaking it all in, and until then, I am soaking it in vicariously.

Enough about my personal obsessions.  To catch you up on my fabulous family, The Husband has been doing some crazy pricing changeover stuff at work (still have no clue).  Judy Moody is still making me smile with her piano.  She has her first recital 4/12, so cross your fingers for her.  Obi Wan is on Harry Potter Book 6, and he has yet to ask me what Damn or snogging means, yet I know he gets the plot because he talks and talks and talks about it to anyone who will listen.  He has no problem being a walking spoiler for any plot lines.  The Quiet Man seems to be getting a little more frustrated about having communication challenges.  He is improving but it is slower than he and I would care it to be.  I love him so much.  I am doing an SLP program with him that I need to redouble my efforts on, and I found a great articulation app (if I haven't already mentioned it), that gets him saying all sorts of words correctly.  Love it!  The Hulk has taken over his brother's Hulk action figure, oh-so-appropriately, and he and The Quiet Man fight and fight until I feel quite batty.  BUT, The Hulk has been a sweet little cuddler at times this week, reminding me that he is still my baby, and he feels so perfectly chubby and heavy and sweet in my arms.  I love the kid.  I have grand bike riding schemes for our whole family, if I can get my resident bike expert/repairman on board.  We need a bike seat for The Hulk and some new helmets as the little brains are all growing, and in our old neighborhood, we had a serious goat's head problem, so many bike tubes need to be replaced.  Hopefully it happens soon if I bat my eyelashes enough.  That's plenty of sharing about thing I LOVE for now.  Will write soon.

Often, on Rare Occasions, I Cry

Sometimes, it is just nice to not make sense.  Really quick catch up (which is better than nothing, right?) is that we had the official, terrible, hideous, plague-like flu at our house this week).  Shout out to Judy Moody, presumably, for introducing it into our house.  You know it's bad when on day 5 you are still not 100%, though improved from day 1 when you were thinking of what you should have included in your will.  Obi Wan and The Quiet Man escaped this one...I hope, I hope, I hope.

But about crying, work just made me cry.  Doing medical transcription, I hear all kinds of "stories" about patients' lives as they are treated, and it is ALL CONFIDENTIAL, so I will do no details, but a little baby fighting hard to survive who didn't make it just made me feel so sad.  I can imagine a little how hard it must have been for the mom, and it makes me want to complain less about my glorious little minions as they have all been so healthy.  This also hit home when The Hulk was sick earlier in the week.  Sometimes, watching the house get destroyed every day and constantly having to try to teach the right things to do and fix all the messes gets a little old, but seeing him look and feel so horrible makes me think a messy house with healthy kids is better than a sick smelling house with sad kids.  Less complaining, more gratitude Anna!!!

I don't know that I can think of any exciting stuff since I was just trying to recup most of the week.  The kids enjoyed Valentines.  We got those lovely taxes done--The Husband did it actually while I was gravely ill, so I didn't participate at all.  What a man!!!!  Obi Wan is being tested for a Challenge program at his teacher's request, which got me thinking, after I asked him what he wanted to read after HP, that I need to stimulate the poor kid with some nonfiction reading material.  And now we have a beautiful Saturday.  Got the Christmas lights down; it is over 50 degrees (but I'm working :(  ), and we get to have some stromboli in 2 hours.  Lyfsgud as one of my favoritist people would say.  I hope that each of you loved ones and the liked ones, and most of the not liked so much or unknown ones, have a pleasant rest of your weekend.  Remember to enjoy and treat wonderfully those you love.  You never know and regret bites.  BUT the promise of eternal families makes many of life's unfair and tragic events more doable for sure.

My Precious

I have no idea why, but I love this picture!!!  It totally reminds me of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or something else fantasy/sci fi, and, again, I have no idea why.  Hehehehe!

Today, I learned that The Quiet Man has an DOWN escalator phobia but not an UP escalator phobia.  On that same note, did you know it is really embarrassing to take young ones to the mall who have never been before.  They made several sweet, elderly mall walkers nearly break their hips, running here and there, paying no attention to what was going around them.  The Hulk screamed and arched his back every time I tried to carry him down some stairs (as we couldn't ride the escalators due to above phobia) because he wanted to do it himself.  Keep in mind he is 18 months, so it is a slow and laborious process, but so let it be written, so let it be done...and it was...so slowly.  The Hulk managed to open a package of girls undies and scatter about various other lingerie.  I hate the mall.  All I wanted, all I really wanted, was to just find a dress that would go to or past Judy Moody's knees.  She's tall but not like freakishly tall, so what's the deal.  Does it cost that much more to add 6 inches of skirt to a dress, so a girl can feel a little more comfortable.  RI-DIC-U-LOUS.  It truly was, especially trying to find this dress with a little boy with phobias who also liked to take off his shoes and pretend to sleep on the floor whenever I stopped to measure dress lengths, as well as an even littler boy who was determined to see if mannequins work like dominoes.  As I said, I dislike the mall, loved it as a teen, hate it now, but Hulk and Quiet really upped that disdain for me today.  

To reward myself for the heinous crimes committed against me earlier, I pulled out my NEW sewing machine from Christmas and fixed some tank tops and also made Judy Moody a skirt and belt, so we can make her wardrobe last while I try to figure WHERE IN THE WORLD YOU CAN GET A KNEE LENGTH DRESS??? for a sweet little (actually super tall) 9 year old.  I was SO happy sewing with a machine that gave me no grief.  JM wants me to teach her to sew soon, so, um, that sounds like a good challenge to help me work on that patience thing.  Such a good skill to give the girl, so I better man up, I suppose.  

In other news (oh yes, there is always other news), Obi Wan is now over half way through with Harry Potter Book 5.  I laugh at him inwardly when he cries as his sister calls him a bookworm.  He is, he totally is, and of all the things to be called, a truer name has never been called, maliciously or no, and dude, trust me, Tub of Lard, Fatso, and Gimp are way worse things to be called than Bookworm--not that I would know that personally, but I wear the name bookworm like a badge of honor and so should my little Bookworm. :)

Oh, I love my little brood, but I don't love every little bit about them.  It has been an introspective week for me, trying to figure how I need to change some major behaviors that have been detrimental to my progress, and I'm not even talking about eating, nope, something different, so I suppose always having the distraction of my little nutters can be a good thing, so I don't torture myself with my own problems and can focus instead on the fact that Quiet Man poked Obi Wan in the eye after hitting him with his Thor hammer but before slapping The Hulk.  Still, when they are all older and mostly capable of taking care of themselves, I am off to Scotland/Ireland/England for a month to fulfill the dreams I am building in my head.  Peace Out!

Quick Catchup for the Week

Wow, another post with no pictures-LAME.  I do want to update on what we've been up to.  It's been a week of ups and downs-that's life.  We got good news, as good as we could hope I suppose, from the doctor, so we are all healthy and well.  Judy Moody is practicing being a teenager 3 years too early, but when she sets her mind to being helpful and good, she is a lifesaver!  Obi Wan just finished the fourth Harry Potter book.  I'm positive at age barely 7, I could not read a 700 page book, so bravo!  The Quiet Man turned 4 and has kindly given us some hope that he will be talking more.  He is saying short sentences that the 3 adults in our house can understand, and that feels great!!!  I purchased an SLP therapy course with a ton of handouts and am taking matters into my own hands in teaching him.  His SLP is awesome; however, how much can a kid soak in 30 minutes once a week-not a lot IMO, so we are hitting it hard at home.  For anyone else who has a child who is taking their time or has some speech challenges, iPad has some amazing articulation apps.  TQM loves them and will actually practice on his own, thus making me very proud.  The Hulk (ironically TQM got hulk fists for his bday) continues to do wall artwork whenever one of his siblings kindly leaves any writing instruments around.  He has torn apart only 1 roll of toilet paper this week, has thankfully been prohibited from playing in the toilet for the first time in I don't know how many weeks, and he continues to be obsessed with pulling eggshells out of the garbage and crushing them all over the floor.  Did I mention he is cute and cuddly in the morning before he starts his daily rampage?

The Husband and I have made big (for us) plans to run 3 races this year, 1 of them being a dirty dash which is more about crazy, dirty, messy fun than actually running, as far as I can tell.  Otherwise, we are just thankful to be healthy and have all our needs and some of our wants taken care of.  We are so thankful to have Heavenly Father in our life, so thankful for the power of prayer, and we are ever grateful for the Savior's Atonement.  Boy, it is good to know when a royal mess up has been committed  or when our hearts ache or when we just don't think we can do what we need to do, He is there, A-L-W-A-Y-S.  With the Savior and my family by my side, I can do anything the Lord asks me to.  Now to learn to handle all this chaos with more grace.  I am always striving for more grace, but it is elusive, I tell ya.

The Family That Shreds Together

Disclaimer:  It should be noted that with the shredder turned off and unplugged, I made sure there was no way chubby little fingers could get stuck in the mechanism, and aside from taking the picture, my hands were right next to theirs.

They thought what I was doing was so fun they wanted to join in.  If only I thought shredding 1000 pieces of paper was as fun as they seemed to think.  Silly, silly little boys.

In random news (which I'm so GOOD at), I have Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs stuck in my head:  P-O-S-H-posh, the traveling life for me.

My Manic Martin Luther King, Jr., Monday

Hehe, I have the best pictures, but I have a rotten, kind of violent feeling cold and am too tired to go to my room and get my camera, so I hope to share the pics and the great little story that belongs with them tomorrow.  Today, as it has been single digits and cold for way too many days/nights for way too long, and it is really showing in the kids hyper level, I did what many moms have done before but what i have never been inclined to do.  I took them to an indoor play place called Planet Kid, and it wasn't too bad.  I did find out I am super uptight about other moms not making sure their kids are following the rules.  Like, no I'm not okay with your 8-year-old being in the toddler ball pit and throwing all the balls out so that the worker has to go to  the outside of the enclosure to get them while you chat away with your friends about conspiracy theories.  See, lame pet peeve, but it is mine and I will own it.  My kids had a great time, and were absolutely exhausted afterwards...for about an hour.  Then, they started with the too hyper because it's too cold and we want to eat lots because it's too cold thing again.  That's ok though.  They are alive and healthy and cute and way better at following rules than a lot of kids and adults I know, so I love them lots.  Pics tomorrow as naughty, naughty The Hulk has been at it again....

Tooth Fairy Tales-3

Tooth Fairy Times-2

I've often thought of the Tooth Fairy as a very busy woman.  Actually, my kids did inquire whether the Tooth Fairy was a boy or girl, and I can't recall the answer, but anyway, I think of s/he as a busy person, all night, every night, go, go, go.  Due to this fact, I'm pretty sure s/he dreads coming to our house where usually a very detailed and inquisitive letter awaits.  Our home, the great time waster.  Poor, poor TF.

Wacky Wellness Wednesday

I know many people who are believers that taste testing food as you're preparing it, including that nice spoonful of cookie dough, doesn't count calorie wise but...

Have you ever told yourself that a certain sugar/fat laden cake or bread was healthy because it has fruit in it?

Have you ever told yourself that it is your moral obligation to eat the rest of that bag of chocolates/chips/candy because once they are finally out of this house, via your digestive tract, then you can finally eat healthy?

Have you ever told yourself you would finally eat healthy, go out and buy all the items to do so, and then let them sit neglected as you go about participating merrily in your old habits?

Have you ever let a good number on the scale give you permission to do some celebratory eating, and conversely, have you ever let a bad number on the scale cause you to do some depressed eating?

See what I have had to put up with all these years of living with me?  Oh, the lies, the lies!!!  Make them stop!

My being more healthy plans this year are starting out simple, and my only concrete measure of success will be fitting into this pair of shorts I picked up at Ross last summer.  I can squeeze into them now, but they are meant to be relaxed fit, awesome outdoors' babe style, so that's the goal.

That Kind of Day

Today was that kind of day.  Best laid plans fell apart.  To illustrate, the highlights of my day were Downton Abbey while folding laundry and the fact that our Franz Bread outlet has awesome customer service.  I am thankful for a new beginning every day.  I suppose the day wasn't a total loss in that I learned that my chicken pot pie is delish with curry powder.  Who would have guessed?  Also, when I had to call our HelpDesk after having a software issue when I was supposed to be working, my lovely service representative, Mohamed, and I had a fab conversation about United States snow and other such fascinating topics.  Nobody from India customer service has ever engaged me in conversation before-I am used to awkward conversation while the computer restarts, etc., but, no, today it was more pleasant than usual.  Back tomorrow with a tooth fairy tale.  Hooray for chocolate and bed!

Mom's Manic Monday

Many of you know what it's like to get immersed into the world of Harry Potter.  Well this young man is certainly in that state of mind right now:

Sorry about the faux-mo.  He wanted it and his barber was accommodating.  He is in the fourth Harry Potter book currently.  He asked me this past week if in the spring he could plant a tree.  I am always flattered when the kids appear to take up my interest in plants and gardening.  "What kind of a tree do you want to plant?" I asked him.  "It just has to be big and strong so I can make things out of it, like a broom and a wand."   O-kaaay.

How many of you have had this problem, reckless destruction of your landscaping for the assembly of witchcraft paraphernalia?  Should I be worried?

The other kids:

Judy Moody has a crush, and listening to her about it, I try to just keep calm.  If I freak out or interrogate her, she will never confide in me again.  It all sounds harmless enough-hands accidentally brushing against each other while playing a math game, smiling at each other across the lunch table.  I would be very disturbed with a third grader telling me they quietly gazed into each others' eyes for what felt like minutes, but then I was reminded of my young love.  Ah, Devin from second grade.  I thought he was great to play with at recess.  We had these awesome toy guns we earned in class that we played with at recess (my. how times have changed), and he was THE BEST.  I really knew it was serious on my part at our end of year talent show.  Devin dressed up as Elvis, including dying his blonde hair black, and sang "Heartbreak Hotel".  Something about his skillful use of Elvis pelvis caused my heart to flutter, so as long as it is just a crush I think I can handle JM liking boys...only crushes though, because I will put the kibosh on all that going steady, etc., etc, in a hurry if that comes about.  Incidentally, Devin moved to Colorado after that school year, but I have never forgotten Elvis the Pelvis's third grade comeback.

The Quiet Man-He has managed to say one word very clearly in prayers which is "gateful", which means grateful, so we have to say lots of thankful prayers to encourage his words coming along.  He has a best buddy in church (which he hasn't really paid much attention to any kids besides bros and sis before, so yesterday I was actually a little proud when he was distracted from paying attention because he was goofing with his friend.  I consider it a good sign.  He was so sick last week and really seemed to decide to live life to the fullest after getting over it.  I've never seen him so happy, and hugging and kissing.  What a fun kid!

The Hulk-Is being characteristically hulky.  He can successfully climb the bar stools with ease.  I thought I was being clever, in a desperate attempt to cook in peace, by gating off the kitchen entry, but TH was on the counter in no time and probably ready to jump off the other side, just to prove to me there is no stopping him.  I am becoming a believer.

Toothfairy Times-1

In my cartoons this week, I put before you actual things my kids have said/done/lied about, etc., regarding the tooth fairy.  When I was little, I just collected the goods and was grateful, but my children, yes my little ones, expect SO-MUCH-MORE!!!

In which our resident genius tries to swindle the poor dear:

Simple Truth Saturday

I'll be brief today.  Our work platforms were down all of yesterday which is apparently "unprecedented" so I have to be working all day until dinner time, but I wanted to share a little thought.  I "get" to speak in church tomorrow, and being the anti-public speaking type that I am, I am VERY nervous but at least I get to choose my topic.  I chose what I've been thinking about for a long time, which is being a more christian Christian, being a true follower of Christ.

If I really think about what that means, treating others as Christ would treat them, I have miles to go.  When I am thinking about this, suddenly I want to lower my voice, gently place my kids in their car seats and talking nicely as I buckle them, rather than yelling Hurry! Hurry! as I plunk them in.  I had an experience which I think is amazing about 2 weeks ago:

-Preface:  I'm a cheapo and have no problem with hair experimentation because A:  It grows back and B: I've never had a haircut I was desperately in love with that I had to have reciprocated or I would die.

I went to a beauty college to get my hair cut on a whim and the receptionist had be wait for a guy.  I realized as I was waiting that a man has never cut my hair before, funny.  Anyway, he introduced himself and shook my hand.  Now, this young man had sort of turquoise and blond hair, a bandanna headband tied around making it stand up on end.  He had those rivet-like earrings which look painful to me, and a lip piercing, arms covered in tattoos.  His clothing wasn't exactly professional, but, above all, he was super nice.  He proceeded to be friendly, not too chatty which too chatty makes me nervous so that was perfect.  He was really excited about what he was doing, beauty college.  He said he likes to help people.  He had gone to trade school and learned HVAC, electrical, drywalling, etc., but wanted to try this now instead for more face to face interaction.  He taught me about the proper way to shampoo and condition and was WAY excited about giving me a shampoo and scalp massage (not in a disturbing way BTW).  Now, as he was a student, it took him A LONG TIME to cut my hair, but he worked hard at it and made me feel comfortable and relaxed, so I didn't mind.  As I was chatting with him during the haircut, I thought about my first impression of him:  This dude is messed up, looks a little wild, probably does drugs.  Then I thought about how I was wanting to be more like Christ and that all of that wouldn't matter 1 wit to Him.  Suddenly, I felt these feelings for this young man that had to have been a portion of what the Savior felt for him.  I knew this boy was loved very much by Jesus.  I knew that Christ knew this boy had a good heart and that he had probably been treated crappy by a lot of people for being different.  I knew that a boy like this wasn't a bad person at all and that he needed friendship and love.  Above all, though, I just felt he was very loved.  I didn't mention anything to the guy, because who wants to creep out a nice person, but I can't forget those feelings, and it was an honor to feel a little of what the Savior felt for him.  I wonder how often that would happen and how differently I would think and act if paused, took a breath and remembered to look at people as the Savior would more often.  Just as I've been studying and trying to do it a little bit, I am reminded every so often of what He would be doing versus what I am doing, and I would love for those 2 things to line up a lot more and not be so in congruent.  One day at I time, I have faith if I try I can get there.

Is there something you can do to be more like Christ this week?  As a friend, a neighbor, a mother, a father, a son or daughter, a passerby?

Fine Food Fridays

I made one of my husband's favorite desserts last week, as I said no to having it added on New Year's Eve to our cornucopia of 7-layer dip (actually 6 layers at our house because a couple people have a little avocado hangup), sherbet floats, etc., etc.  Hey, he was angling for Chinese food that night too, and I have to put my foot down somewhere.  So we made what to some people is known as Irish Cheesecake.  Now, my MIL and SIL and husband called it Lizzard Gizzard Pie, so that's typically what I call it.  

Kids like the sound of it. :)

Obligatory most of the ingredients pics

 Adding hot water to the lime jello, thus recreating the innards of a lizard

 This is where you put it when you want the jello to set, in case you don't know what a fridge looks like.

Meanwhile, crush graham crackers.  If you don't have a food processor, do this:

It's totally sanitary!!!

This is the speedy way of making the graham cracker crust-in the 9 x 13. 

Meanwhile, The Hulk started grabbing graham crackers and stomping them on the floor without the ziploc bag around them.  Before he got too far, he sat down for a break...luckily. 

 Next, you get to use the blender.  No fancy Blendtec or Vitamix here yet...or probably ever.  For those of you not familiar with blender usage, safety tip.  Do not add non-food items to the blender.  It's never as cool as they make it look on TV.

BAD IDEA

GOOD IDEA

An aerial view into the eye of the storm.  You can't pay for this kind of excitement!

 Approval from The Quiet Man

 Approval from the husband.

 YUM!!!

Irish Cheesecake (Lizard Gizzard Pie)
1 small pkg lime jello
1 cup hot water
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 pkg + 4 graham crackers crushed
1 stick margarine/butter melted
1 cup + 2 TB sugar
8 oz cream cheese, chunked
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 TB lemon juice

Chill can of evaporated milk in refrigerator.  Thoroughly mix lime jello and hot water and let set in fridge.  Don't let it get to set or you will have green chunks in your final product (which really do look like lizard gizzard).

Prepare crust by mixing crushed graham crackers, 2 TB sugar and butter and pressing into bottom of 9 x 13 pan, leaving enough to sprinkle over the top of cheesecake.

Whip 1 cup canned milk and then add and whip 1 cup sugar, cream cheese chunks, vanilla, lemon juice, and set jello.  Pour over crust and refrigerate until set.

The History of My Chest in 6 Parts

Part 4-The fun taken out of functional

Part 5-In Mourning

Part 6-The last stage of grief is acceptance

Thoroughly Thankful Thursday

I was just thinking last week about my MIL.  She's busy and not a phonaholic.  I'm busy and not a phonaholic...plus I've got that painfully shy factor with my phone-phobia, so we don't get to talk too often.  When I think about her since I've know her, though, I am so thankful for who she is.  She made me feel completely welcomed and as comfortable as she could from the moment I first met her.  This would probable seem like nothing except that she does this with everyone.  When she walks into a room, she will go and introduce herself to people, and if she sees someone looking painfully uncomfortable, she tries her best to make them feel comfortable and included.  I don't think it's easy for her.  Maybe part of her is shy like me.  She is indeed not a naturally super outgoing, chatty person, but she does it because she cares about people, and knows how they might be feeling, and wants them to just be able to relax and enjoy themselves.

Another thing I love about my MIL is her generosity.  She flipping flew me to Missouri to meet a bunch of family before my husband went on his mission.  She takes care of her family!!!  She makes Christmas magical for the kids and fun/silly too.  When we do get to see her in person (which ends up being not often enough) she sings the best songs to the kids, and I will always have the picture in my mind of her holding each of her little grand babies, especially when she would find just the right cellphone ring to make them happy and stop crying.  So sweet and funny and cute and loving all at once.

Inevitably, when I think of my MIL, I think of what a friend she was when we were both missing my husband while he was on his mission.  AND, I think about our wedding.  We were just, um, desperate to get married, full of lots of love and hormones, and not necessarily thinking straight about the details.  When I read about how the average wedding costs $27,000 now, I almost LOL because we would have been happy with overalls and hay bales I'm sure.  We.just.wanted.to.be.married in the right place, and that's about as far as we had gotten.  She explained to the youthful containers of hormones that we would want some special stuff, some decorations, to actually feed people at our reception.  Yes, we I (I can only speak for me, I suppose) was just clueless because I was so focused on the end result and not the journey.  She made us a beautiful wedding cake and freaked out about color coordination and centerpieces and such for me, because I just didn't care-too in love to care.  I thought it all looked great and felt very loved by all she did.  Looking back, I sound pretty flaky (which I'm not generally a flake but love makes me flaky maybe?), but regardless, she loved us and wanted us to have good memories, so she arranged for lots of things.  It was a super simple wedding and reception, but it was so much more than I could have ever hoped, just perfect for us.  We have a ton of pics (free I might add), and we had nice receptions and got to have a romantic first dance all by ourselves under some lovely twinkling lights and the beautiful night sky in Nevada.  I am thankful for my MIL-for her protecting and teaching and keeping my husband alive and relatively disciplined until we got married, for her friendship and support in our whirlwind romance, and for all she has done for us since then.  We don't talk a lot, but I know she is there, and I love who she is and what she has taught me and the fun little memories I have because of knowing her.

The History of My Chest in 6 Parts

Part 3-A weird spring break conversation.

Wacky Wellness Wednesday

Sometimes, people make eating healthy so complicated.  It's not.  Here's a simple lesson that can improve your health dramatically.                            

GOOD

BETTER

BEST

Tipsy Tutorial Tuesday

Today, we will focus on the fine art of bribery.  Many children's psychology experts will tell you that bribery is a horrible way to teach a child correct principles.  I disagree...vehemently.  Bribery is positive reinforcement, if done correctly and applied intermittently so that it is never expected but always appreciated.   Bribery is such a beautiful thing, in the right place, at the right time, with the right person/people.

Step 1-Here we have a boy who desperately wants to play with his brother's Christmas toys while said brother is away at school.  I have so many things to do and he is so sweetly persistent (very, very persistent) that I give in.  Surely he will clean them up or I will help him clean them up when I am done working.  I fall for this scenario or a similar 1 every afternoon, just so you know.

Step 2-The easy part where the boy plays happily for a couple of hours while I get much accomplished.  We are both feeling productive and satisfied at this point, thus how I let this happen every day.  But then...

Step 3-Darkness ensues as more and more toys are added to the mess, and by the time I am done working and see the disaster area, it is time to go get the other kids.  Timing is everything with bribery, so I make sure they are fresh home from school, nice and starving for some food, maybe a little cranky.  Then I say, "Children, I will give you candy if you pick up your little brother's mess."  Luckily, at least this time, they readily agreed.

Step 4-The Hulk (TH) must be temporarily corralled as he is a firm practicing member of the I Only Make Messes, I Don't Clean Them Up Sweetheart Religion.  He is also bribed with candy to keep the screaming at bay during the process.

Step 5-The Dog always tries to help.  He probably thinks food is involved too.  Silly, silly puppy.  It is a good idea not to contain the dog at this point anyway as he will clean up any chunks of candy that fall from the baby's high chair or the eager wee ones' mouths.

Step 6-Here they are with their candy (probably mostly consumed with those voracious appetites).  Bribery only works if you follow through.  Otherwise, you are known as a filthy liar instead of an effective parent, and rumors spread fast around these parts.  Deliver the goods stat and all is well.  The children are satisfied.  You are satisfied.  The house is clean for The Husband's arrival.  Repeat intermittently as deemed necessary.  Easy enough!

The History of My Chest in 6 Parts

Update:  My husband read this and asked if it was my mom sitting next to the me on the swing.  No, it was a guy who actually gave me the time of day in high school, though obviously I probably shouldn't have given him the time of day. :)



Part 2-This Ain't Sweet Valley High

Mom's Manic Monday

Now that we got the awkwardness out of the way for today, I want to introduce you to the cast of characters who plod, prance, somersault, stomp, and light saber fight their way across the stage of my life each and every blessed day.

This wonderful creature is my Judy Moody, and though she is moody at times, JM is worth all my children's weights combined in gold.  In this picture, the tall little lady is cleaning the snow off our sidewalk while in temperatures in the teens.  Yes, money was involved, but she did it in freezing cold weather right after school when she would normally be trying to scarf down massive amounts of food.  She works hard when she feels like and does a lot of  child coordination efforts around here.  She can be bossy but then so am I.

Ah, young Obi Wan.  He is a bookworm, an imagineer (note no capitals), a super smart kid.  He stays up late reading at night.  He has a sensitive side which can be detrimental in a rough and tumble household, but most of the time he holds is own or can scream loud enough to compensate at the least.  Hi was very Star Wars, then very Angry Birds, and now that he is in the thick of the Harry Potter series, he is trying to convince me to let him start using his sheet as an Invisibility Cloak.

This is The Quiet Man.  He has the most lovely blue eyes which I could literally stare at forever.  His Christmas camera has brought him lots of enjoyment and has saved me from jammy fingerprints all over my cellphone which he used to take the most fascinating pics.  Even though his speech is taking awhile to come along, looking at what he takes pics of with his camera is amazing-fine art in some circumstances...if you can call closeups of our vent covers and a series of his cookie being eaten bite by bite art, which I totally can.

And last, but certainly not least, we have The Hulk.  Yes, I realize this picture is blurry, but that is the story of TH's life.  He is constantly "rearranging" the entire house, trying to climb and sit on stools, and striking terror (in smallish doses) in the hearts of his comrades (brothers).  He is a mean little guy, but I think he sees it as his means to survival and living life to the fullest.  He is starting to have timeouts now, so I think his world is about to change.  Meanwhile, there's nothing he loves more than taking something you need, running as fast as he can away from you, and smiling as he hears the unhappy cries.

Ok, one clear picture of him just to demonstrate his other love besides Hulk smash and all that jazz:

There you have it, a complete lover of chocolate and all things candy like and not worried a smidge about devouring it neatly.  Thank goodness for baths because if we were out on the prairie living old school, he would be set out to get licked by coyotes every night right after dinner.






Well, here are the little joys of my life.  I believe that in a woman's life there are many stages and phases, and I will get to do all the important things my heart desires when the time is right.  For now, my heart desires to be leader of this pack!