Super Prepared or Super Crazy?

The other day I went to Target to shop the sales. I saved over $165. I bought for all but 3 nephews. And got a few birthdays covered. I will still need a few Christmas gifts for my kids too. I wrapped all the gifts and put them in the attic. That's not all. I got Violet's Christmas dress for next year half price. I wrote all of my Christmas cards. I plan on addressing them when David brings the computer home (it's at the LAN party). Right now I'm making next years ornaments for my friend Lisa's ornament exchange. So why the head start? I want to save money. I want less stress next year. I'm hoping I either have a new baby or am pregnant so I'll need all the help I can get. And next year I can do it again, shop the after Christmas sales etc. It's fun.

Adventures at the Grocery Store

Ugh I feel physically and mentally exhausted from dealing with the worst tantrum Violet has thrown yet. She is now kicking the wall in her room but at least she is not screaming or scratching and hitting my face. All over some stupid freakin' stickers.

My mood all began in the check-out line. Not bad considering I got that far and all was well. I had picked up a boneless spiral cut ham in the MEAT department and when the cashier tried to ring it up it had no price on it...and bar code did nothing. Okay. The cashier says "You must have picked this up in the Deli department" I say "No no I got it in a large bin along the meat department". She has the sacker go check the price. The lady moved like a snail. I don't really care that she was slow (even though when I was a checker I would RUN to find price checks...but if it's a department item you can call the department it came from...whatever) but like I was saying, it's not that I mind she went slowly to check... I don't like that the lady in the smart cart next in line is giving me the stink eye while I hold up the line (I may be exaggerating a bit here).

She FINALLY returns but she is coming from the deli department. The cashier says "It must have been from the deli department". THIS ANNOYS ME. I don't like the insinuation that either I'm lying or I'm forgetful. So I say "NO, I'm not crazy, first of all I didn't even go over to the deli department AND there is a whole bin of boneless hams next to the bone-in hams in the MEAT DEPARTMENT". She says "Oh someone must have set it there"... UGHHHHH! "NO, there are a lot of them". The sacker comes back with a random deli meat sticker with the price of $30.56. This sounds correct for a ham but I am already annoyed at these stupid insinuations... I mean why is the stupid checker insisting that someone other than the STORE did something wrong??? Why is she saying anything about it at all? So when the checker says "It's $30, do you still want it?" I suddenly DON'T want to buy a $30 ham from these people. SO I say "NO I DON'T" I pay for my other groceries and start to leave. A manager or someone comes by and the stupid checker says "I think these hams are in the wrong place" and the 'manager' says "no Deli has some hams in the meat department next to the bone-in hams" so the checker says "well they must be priced wrong", did I complain about the price??? NOPE. I didn't. And the manager says in this smug voice "well ham is expensive". OOOHH my gosh. NO kidding ham is expensive! AND she says "It must have a been a boars head". I should have said "it's not the price it's the way ya'll are dealing with it". BUT no I say "NO it's not a boars head". So the checker tells her what brand it is. I say "I don't care, I don't care, I don't want it". Whatever. I might call and complain to someone who doesn't care but has to listen.

THEN Violet starts flipping out because they put the groceries in a different cart and not the car cart we were using. She wasn't even sitting in it anymore. I didn't warn her this was happening so she starts crying that we need the other cart. So, still annoyed about the ham and not wanting to deal with the impending tantrum... I pick Violet up and push the cart out. She flips out. And somewhere along the way she drops the stickers the checker gave to her. I hate these stickers. Some cashier gave them to her a few times and now she expects them every time we go to the store. She does ask nicely for them though. Well she drops them. And I don't realize it until it's too late we are at the car. Now Violet is screaming "MY STICKERS I NEED MY STICKERS" while hitting and scratching at my face. She REFUSES to get in her seat. She needs her stickers. But I am not about to give in to her because of her behavior. That's when you especially can't give in. Got to send out the Tantrums don't let you have your way message. But Oh my. My stomach hurts now from all the kicking and hitting. I even started to cry on the way home.

I don't think I'm going back to that particular store ever again. Good thing it's not a regular one I use.

Answered :)

I could write pages and pages about how God answers prayers. But I'll just stick with a simple story that happened yesterday and today. Yesterday I was getting the kids in the car to take Liam to school. The car was in the garage. The garage door would not open. It would start to lift up then stop and go back down. I didn't know what to do. I remember my brother mentioned last year that the cold air causes the automatic garage door opener to fail. I tried lifting the door open manually but it just wouldn't budge.

I found this a good opportunity to show the kids with prayer and faith God will answer our prayers. So I had Liam and Violet fold their arms and bow their heads while I prayed for a way to get the garage door open so Liam could get to school.

After I prayed I felt inspired to pull this rope thingy hanging from the automatic door opener chain that pulls the garage open. I've never taken notice of this rope, I know I wouldn't have thought to pull it on my own. When I pulled it, the rope detached the garage door from the automatic chain thing and I could then lift the door open manually. After we solved the problem we prayed again giving Heavenly Father our thanks for answering our prayer.

I wasn't sure the kids would fully remember...and Violet might not... and Liam might not in the years to come. But I do hope that they learn that God answers prayers.

Today we put together a large 500 piece puzzle (okay I did most of the work) when I finished I couldn't find one piece. Liam chimes in "I know mom, let's pray to Heavenly Father that Jesus finds the piece for us". He immediately bowed his head and said a prayer to find the missing piece. I thought it was cute. I wasn't sure the piece would be found. I didn't let myself have faith... I don't know why... but Liam sure did. About 15 minutes later I walk by the puzzle and I see that it is whole. I exclaimed "LIAM! Who found the missing piece???" he said "I did" I say "LIAM, you prayed and Heavenly Father answered your prayer and helped you find the piece" He smiled and nodded and gave me a big hug. I love that he taught me about faith while I was busy trying to teach him.

You might not think God has time to answer such little, seemingly insignificant, prayers. But I know He does. I don't know everything but I think He bothers answering such small prayers because it helps us build our faith in Him, and it can remind us that He loves us beyond measure. I know I love my children so much and I help them with seemingly insignificant tasks daily, why wouldn't God, who sent His only begotten Son to die for us, help us daily as well if we ask Him? If we take the time to let the Lord into our lives and thank Him daily, when we need Him, He will be there for us because we will have the required Faith in Jesus Christ to let His hand into our lives. This is what I hope to instill in my children.

Thanksgiving 2010

The Menu:
Turkey (my mom made)
Ham (David's mom made)
Green Bean Casserole (Connor made)
Squash (Amber/Ryan made)
Mashed Potatoes (by me)
Sweet Potatoes (by me)
Stuffing (my mom made)
Rolls (I heated the brown and serve kind)
Veggie tray (I put together...wanted to make it look like a turkey but didn't have the right kind of round platter to put it on)
Banana bread (by me)
Gravy (my mom made)
Cranberry sauce (David's mom made)
Punch (me and David made... it was made with pineapple juice, pomegranate juice, then we cooked a sugar/fresh peeled ginger/water to a syrup and added that, then we added ginger ale)
Also served Coke (no one drank) Sparkling cider (Connor brought, no one drank)Water with Lemon (I think David's brother had some... is it creepy I kept track of what everyone drank and didn't?)Pink Lemonade, Root beer, canned fruit punch, Ginger ale.

Most people had the punch or a ginger ale. Kids had pink lemonade.

Pies/Desserts:
2 Pumpkin (by me, they turned out good... oh and the pies I made, I cheated and bought a crust... crust isn't too hard to make, and usually turns out nice and flaky, but it makes a big mess which creates more work than it's worth).
2 Pecan (one of them by me, the other Sue brought. Mine came out delicious, I didn't try the other one)
1 Apple (by me. My mom makes the best apple pie you've ever eaten, but this one came out quite tasty if I do say so myself)
1 Cheesecake with fresh fruit on top (Ryan and Amber brought)
1 Apple crisp (Sue also brought that)

This is the second Thanksgiving we've hosted. I started what I hope to make a new tradition. I had everyone write down what they are thankful for. One thing or many, anonymous or not. Then David's dad read them out loud to us. Liam's said he is thankful for: Healthy food, treats, presents, no snakes, banana bread, bricks of our house. Most people were thankful for living in the U.S.A. and family. Mine said: Thankful for my Father in Heaven, and my Savior Jesus Christ. For all the blessing and trials meant for me. So Grateful for family, friends, our home, food and life.

And because it wasn't cold outside yet (it is today but wasn't yesterday...at all) I bought a bunch of large candles to put inside the fireplace...to get the atmosphere without the heat of a fire.

I think Last years went very well. But this year I didn't stress out at all! You may not realize what a miracle that is, but trust me, it is. I had everything under control. Food was ready by the time people arrived. Of course it helps that everyone pitches in with the food...and the main courses! But they did last year too. Growing up when my mom did Thanksgiving she prepared ALL of the food, and everything was made from scratch... including the rolls. I tried making rolls once. Some people played racquetball with them.

I guess this year I was more prepared on when I could start making the food I served... mashed potatoes, pies and banana bread I made the day before. The other difference was the house stayed clean all week. Liam has learned how to clean and helps me all of the time now. I give him a dollar now and then in return, so he can earn money for Christmas. I would like him to buy Violet a gift so he can experience what it feels like to earn money and buy/give a gift to someone else.

So the house was pretty clean. I even kept the kitchen clean while I cooked! Really people, miracles left and right. After the meal David's parents did a load of dishes for me. This year I decided to use our good plates instead of the plastic plates I usually opt for. It was nice to find a load of dishes done by the time everyone left. THEN while I got the kids to bed, David put most of the food away and threw out trash. This inspired me to finish up cleaning and putting dishes away. The house is clean! USUALLY after a party, including Thanksgiving last year... I "soak" the dishes, the pots and pans, the serving bowls etc. Embarrassing to admit but they will stay that way for weeks. Yes, weeks. It just gets worse everyday and I don't want to go near the kitchen. What would have been an hours worth of clean up turns into an entire day worth of clean up. And scrubbing the "soaked" pans. But if you clean a dish right away, not a lot of scrubbing is required, it's easy! Who knew?

I feel so calm today :) NOW to decorate for Christmas! Last year I was decorating the place about two weeks before Thanksgiving. This year I wanted to make sure the holidays felt distinct. We are going to see the new Harry Potter movie today.

Figuring it Out

BESIDES losing 30 lbs before having another baby (as two of my doctors strongly recommended)... I think when Violet is potty trained AND cleaning up around here, we will definitely be ready for the next baby.

Conversation with David

Last night right before I drift off to sleep:
Me: By the way, I don't have mutual tomorrow so you don't need to come home.
... brief silence...
David: You mean early, I don't have to come home early... you still want me to come home right?
Me cracking up because of course that is what I meant. It's what I meant to say too but was so tired didn't complete the sentence. David didn't find it so funny.

Anniversary: Year 6.

I've mentioned many a time that David and I don't do gifts very often. I don't expect them and he doesn't expect them. So when it comes to celebrating something... say our wedding anniversary, I like to do something special to celebrate. This is a fairly recent decision. Last year we went (sans children) to Disneyworld. The years before were filled with a movie and a dinner together. Which are nice and if that's all we do to celebrate now and then, that's fine with me too.

This year, sort of last minute, I decided to surprise David with plans. And as I mentioned in the camping excursion, I don't normally plan things. I let other people plan things. Even when we got married, David planned the whole thing... well we 'eloped' to Vegas... but he booked the flight, hotel, rides everywhere, what time we would get there, what time we had to get the marriage license, place to rent a tux, how long we would have to get ready, booked the chapel and minister and limo (they were a group package), planned/bought tickets to the cirque du soleil show we would see etc. He did a really great job. I don't think I ever gave him enough credit for doing all of that.

I rediscovered on the camping trip that David has always wanted to go horseback riding. It's one of those tid bits that he told me about on one of our first few dates that I had forgotten. So I found a place to go horseback riding at. I also decided, because if I had asked he would have probably said 'nah', to book a hotel room. I guess this was more for me. I love hotel rooms because you don't have to clean up after yourself and something about getting out of the house for a special occasion feels special to me. I got a great rate, price of a cheap hotel room, at Hotel Derek...which is a nicer hotel... but really it's like a cheap hotel with modern furniture. Meaning it's the same size and height, same layout, same amenities. I'm glad I didn't pay more for the room.

I did tell David the day before our anniversary. 1)Because I can't keep anything from him... and I don't think that's a bad thing. 2)Because I needed to check his schedule as I was planning all of this for Friday the 1st. I wasn't sure he would be able to get off work in time to go and so I needed to get that arranged and after we arranged it I had him call the horse place to make the reservation because I hate talking on the phone with people, I get nervous and I mumble.

The horseback riding took about an hour to get to. My horse's name was Stormy and David's horse's name was Pepper. Mine was a she, his was a he. Mine was a big strong girl. No doubt to support my weight. They told me to make sure I didn't squeeze her sides because she hates that... even though that's usually how you get a horse to go. I was a little nervous when they laughed about how stubborn she is. I kept thinking, "they know I don't know how to ride a horse, right?" haha. They told me I would have to pull very hard on the reins to get her to obey me... yeah... I was just hoping I could remember what the commands were. We had a guide take us through and it was a lot of fun and gorgeous. The weather has been nice down here and we walked in a wooded shady area next to Cypresswood creek. The horses knew the trail pretty well so there wasn't a whole lot to it. But my horse liked to stop and eat. She would just stop and start eating. David was behind me, he said his horse was very obedient and he just had to barely tug the reins to get him to stop. I would say "come on" make the 'knick' sound and pull the reins in the stopping command...which got the horse to go again lol. Well they told me not to touch her with my feet... what else could I do?

David kept telling me we were leaving little road hazards in his way. lol.

At the end Stormy started to gallop when she saw she was home. Haha, and no matter how hard I tugged she wasn't stopping. I laughed but asked "what do I do?" they said "pull harder!". But she stopped when she wanted to. David said he wishes he could have galloped a bit.

David had such a great time he wants to make that a regular anniversary thing. So on Year 26 we can say "we've been doing this for 20 years now". We don't do gifts, but we do like traditions. Both of us. Thank goodness. We match quite well in that way.

We then headed to the restaurant. We ate at the Grotto. They serve very delicious Italian food. David got the chicken parmigiana and a ceaser salad. Very typical David. I got a small lobster bisque and the fish special...which was salmon, lump crab meat, sesame crusted crab claws all on top of steamed spinach. On the side were 3 freshly made ravioli's stuffed with shrimp, crab and cheese in a lemon sauce. Very typical Diana. We know what we like. The lobster bisque was so good that I was sucking the spoon after each bite. I always forget that I would be happy with just the soup. Because I could not finish the fish, which was also delicious but not nearly as delicious as the bisque.

We then headed to the hotel... which is located directly across the street from the restaurant.

Had a great night.

In the morning we woke up at 8:30 p.m. It felt like it was 10 or so. It was nice to get a full night sleep, that's rare for me. We ordered room service so we could have breakfast in bed. It was ridiciously over-priced, it cost more then our beautiful delicious dinner. All we ordered was one orange juice, huevos rancheros for me, sausage and french toast for David. And once again, it cost more than our dinner. And no it wasn't very good. Mine didn't have much flavor. David's french toast was a bit soggy. But I still love room service.

We checked out at noon. Discovered our window on our fairly new car no longer rolls down correctly. Appears someone tried to hijack it. Great. I am still hoping David contacts the Hotel about this.

Went to the Galleria. Walked around, talked. Ate at La Madeleine. Then we went to see a movie. That was it. We were going to go to the Menil (another one of our first few dates). But they just had the regular collection (which I've seen too many times) and no special exhibits so we passed and saw a movie instead.

I love David. It doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together. Sorry I couldn't resist saying it, because it's true.

Adventures in Camping! Part VI

The next day I had a freak out after about 3 or 3 1/2 hours in. I had to pee. Had warned David 1 hour beforehand that I had to pee. We were caravanning with his family... I don't know why we had to caravan, perhaps David was worried we would end up in Oklahoma again.

I don't like having to ask everyone to pull over when I have to pee. We would catch up. I didn't see the big deal about pulling off, we have a GPS... it was already clear we wouldn't end up in Oklahoma as we had passed that point. I did however, mind having to get everyone to pull over.

Well we miss a town we could have stopped at. I didn't see anything in sight. Liam announces he has to pee and poo and can't hold it in much longer. I start crying because my bladder is going to burst or I am going to pee my pants because my, typically loving caring husband, isn't listening to me. No, he's too worried about the caravan. I start crying a lot. He says he is sorry. He calls his brother to tell them we have people who need to use the restroom. They say they need gas anyway. I won't pee at a gas station. I start crying harder. I see a McDonalds and calm down a bit. Okay I can pee at the McDonalds. And we can just grab lunch (though I don't like McDonalds it is convinient with the playgroud) so the kids can burn off some energy. And we can stop caravaning.

David pulls up next to his brother at the gas station to tell them we are going to the McDonalds to use the bathroom. David's sister says in a questioning tone "You are going to use the bathroom at the McDonalds?" I don't know if she was questioning it because she didn't want to eat there, I don't know if she thought I could just go at the gas station. I don't know. I just flip out because I can't believe we have to check in when I made it very clear that I have to use the bathroom right now. So once again, not proud of myself, I start yelling "YES, YES WE ARE USING THE BATHROOM AT MCDONALDS BECAUSE I HAVE TO PEE AND THAT'S WHERE WE ARE GOING TO PEE AT" David just drives away. Finally.

After the potty break David apologizes to me. He says he is sorry he didn't listen to me. I forgive him. Easy to do when your bladder isn't bursting anymore. I ask David for his wallet. He looks worried, he needs to check in with his family. I don't care anymore, I am going to order food for me and the kids, he can eat if he wants. We are going on our own after this because I am not asking for permission to pee again. My mind is set. He kind of reluctantly gives me the wallet and says Okay and tells me what he wants. His family comes in while I am ordering, his sister gives me a kiss on the cheek. They are so forgiving with my outbursts... I guess they know me well. I mumble I'm sorry for yelling like that.

We part ways. They leave first and we go to fill up on gas. But we arrive home about an hour before they do. David's brother drives about 5 miles under the speed limit, David goes about 5 over.

So glad to be home. The kids were so great...thanks to the DVD player. And if nothing else we appreciate home more and we got to enjoy some beautiful scenery. I told David I think we fight too much on vacations, it's actually bad for our marriage. He said no, that the trips to Florida (both the Disney trip and when we went to see my sister) we didn't fight. I was happy he remembered that when I didn't. I think it's just when we have to drive for hours on end.

We did spend too much money... buying all that gear we hardly used. It was supposed to be an investment for future camping trips, but I think it will be hard to get David to ever go camping again. I joked with David that in our older years we'll think we had evacuated a hurricane when we remember this "vacation". Luckily I think he is okay with my plan of retiring to colder Mountains someday. He said he thinks he would love that, as long as it had internet... haha, he didn't even have to say that, it was a given.

Adventures in Camping! Part V

When we got back from our hike we, which was a fairly short hike of about a mile and a half. It was so hot though that it felt longer... at least for most of us. David's sister is miss outdoors and not long after we recovered she was ready for another hike! She had already woken up before all of us and took her boys on a morning hike. Now she wanted to go up to this cave.



It took the rest of us some time to recover and when we did David's brother Ken was mentioning that we should probably leave tonight. He wanted to leave because he had to work on Monday. If we left the next day (Sunday) with such a long drive back, he wasn't sure he wouldn't get enough sleep for work. For SOME REASON we have to leave with them? At first (because I was so hot) when David was wanting to leave with them I was just "go with the flow" girl. When I realized we had one more day, that David didn't have to go back to work until Wednesday. I wanted to stay. David didn't. I didn't fight it. I didn't want to fight it. The kids were having fun. I thought it would be kind of sweet if it was just us there, but it had been a pretty rough trip for us to that point, so maybe going home would be for the best (is what I had reasoned).

David's sister didn't want to go home yet. But she and her kids had driven up with Ken so she had no choice. So her mom wanted her to go on that hike to the cave while we packed up. His sister had worked really hard at the campsite, so nobody minded her taking a break on this one.

Packing up in the heat got me kind of grumpy again... I worked the whole time. Got a little splinter in my pinky finger, but kept going. David worked really hard to get us all packed up. Ken and my mom in law worked really hard as well. Violet was napping in the car, car running so a/c going. Liam wanted to sit in the car too. So for hours they sat/slept in the car while we packed up. Eileen came back, had an incredible hike, helped finish pack up.

We left around 6 p.m. drove for a few hours stopped at a Best Western. It was way nicer than the Holiday Inn Express...even though it doesn't look nicer in the picture lol... it was. It was. The bed wasn't lumpy and uncomfortable, the bathroom was clean, the free breakfast was better too.

To be concluded next episode...

Adventures in Camping! Part IV

It's a beautiful place, no? If it wasn't sooo hot! I don't know if I mentioned this is the last post, but at night it was nice and cool, not stuffy at all. Supposed to have gotten to 50 degrees, but I think it was more in the 60's. Funny I heard last night that up in Amarillo the cold front hit first and it's now about 63 degrees during the day! Oh well.

In the morning I made a big breakfast. It was a mess. I wish I took a picture. My eggs were burnt...sort of, little burnt pieces because the heat was too high and I used a cast iron skillet. The pancakes, well, I didn't have a measuring cup so they were watery... crepe like... Violet loved them. Bacon came out perfectly. I rolled some "burnt" eggs into my crepe like pancake with a piece of bacon and a little smear of blackberry jam. It was pretty good actually. Topped off with hot cocoa. Very healthy indeed.

After breakfast we planned to go on a family hike. It was beautiful. Here are some (a ton) of the pictures to tell the tale of the hike. (backwards because blogger photo uploading sucks and I don't feel like sorting it all out...just know it's telling the story from end to start).



























To Be Continued...

Adventures in Camping! Part III

We find a Holiday Inn Express. The kids ran around like crazy. They were so hyper from being stuck in a car for about 12 hours that they couldn't sleep. We had put them both in the same bed but they just giggled and yelped and giggled and climbed out of bed over and over. David and I were exhausted and decided to split them up. Violet slept with mommy, Liam slept with Daddy. Violet only kicked me once. David said it must have felt nice, but it's not nice to be woken up with a kick to the back when you are exhausted...no matter how small the foot. It was sweet that one time she reached over to stroke my hair a few times, to make sure I was there. And I felt her wiggle in bed for a few hours before I decided to wake up. When I did she looked at me and had a big grin on her little face. It was pretty sweet. The look said "hi mom, heh, yeah I'm here too, I slept in the bed with you" lol.

It turns out David's brother, sister, mom and nephews also stayed at a Holiday Inn because the camp had closed at 8 and they had arrived at 8:10 and it didn't matter anyway because the roads were closed too.

We left our hotel at 10:30 and arrived around noon to the campsite. The lady at the front desk was very rude... First she said she couldn't find our reservation. She asked if we made the reservation. David said no a friend of mine did named Mike. She said he should have said that in the first place and to next time be more specific. I wasn't there, I was outside with the kids, but I want to know why they didn't have better records because his name was also on the reservation. David pointed out that he was told he only needed to give his name (we really were told that).

THEN she said, since we didn't arrive last night (even though the roads were closed anyway) we lost our reservation. David pointed out that the reservation was for several days so it didn't make sense not to honor it. She begrudgingly gave in.

It turns out she gave the same attitude and speach to David's brother when they arrived just an hour before... so this wasn't new information, in fact it sounded like a script to try to bully more money out of people.

When we got to our site I was in an extremely bad mood. I can't really say why, I just was. I'm sure it had to do with the long car ride... arriving a day late... it was very hot outside... camping when I was younger always had lots of lush trees and water, this site was beautiful but had small bushes for trees and a large canyon surrounding us, it kind of felt like a desert... I was hungry... I had to pee.

Right away I'm yelling and snapping at the kids to stay near us. David goes right to work setting up camp... though we had to wait a few hours to set up our tent because the ground where the tent would go was wet...though everything else was dry. I pick up the "bathroom backpack" to hike to the bathroom which is about a mile or so away. Mike stops me and says the road is flooded to the bathroom and the best way to cross it is by car, that it was a river basically. So I had to wait for David. Who kept getting side tracked into helping in other areas of the camp. Also David's family had cooked a ton of eggs for lunch as some had cracked during the trip. Now it was very very very nice of them to offer us some. But please remember that A) I'm in a bad mood B) I worked very very very hard on preparing all the meals we would eat for the trip and I was already two meals behind because of the delay. ALSO I'm a middle child and I realized during this trip that I usually go with the flow and just do whatever someone else has planned (which turns out to be a middle child trait) BUT, and I mean BUT, IF I do ANY sort of planning and my planning gets thrown off, it stresses me out to no end. Which leads us to C)Don't Ignore My Wishes when expressed. Thank you.

We were lovingly offered lunch. I politely said "no thank you, we have lunch as soon as David gets the cooler out". But oh we have these made already, come eat them. No really, thank you though. Someone says "David come eat some eggs", ME: No, we have food thank you!. 'How about the kids, they must be hungry'. OMGoodness. No, thank you! But they are hungry. ME, now kind of snapping: Liam won't eat eggs, and Violet hasn't liked them lately, plus won't eat them at all without ketchup. Oh, okay... but we have ketchup... ARRRGGGHHHH.

David still unloading, I start putting sunblock on the kids, then myself. Liam says "mom, may I have something to drink please?", I answer "Yes Liam, just give me a minute to finish putting on sunblock". My mother-in-law says "oh we have juice boxes he can have". I know she was being helpful and I'm overreacting at everything at this point but I was planning on the kids only having water during the day, juice at night, the day because of the heat... and sugar takes more water to break down and therefore is not good to drink in this kind of weather and when going to be outside all day. Juice later as a 'reward' for drinking water all day. I don't say I have water for them, because I don't want to come off that I know better... because I don't... this is just my feeling on the subject is all.

My mom-in-law, who is usually VERY respectful of my wishes for the kids, hands Liam a juice box. I can't believe nobody is listening to me and can't imagine this is how the entire trip is going to be because I just can't take it after all the careful thoughtful planning I did concerning my children. I hate to admit this but I snapped at her. This makes me very sad. I said "I wanted them to have water" but you have to imagine me saying it fast and with an impatient attitude. She says "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize... I thought you were just going to give him a juice". I say "it's okay, it's okay" but again, with an attitude. Now I feel bad. Really bad because I know I probably hurt her feelings. After about 10 minutes I apologize to her, say that I just hate not being listened to but she's a grandma and can give them a juice box if she wants. Also that I was in a bad mood but praying that I can change my attitude. She said she was just upset that she didn't listen to me in the first place, but she really didn't know I was just giving them water.

Okay so with new resolve I scream at David that I need to pee and to please hurry. After I pee all is well. My attitude improves. Even more so after I make lunch of hotdogs, chips and broccoli. And even more so when we finally get our tent up. By the evening I'm in a really good mood. But now David has a headache from all that sunshine and is in a really bad mood.

He's now snapping at me over nothing... I suppose it's a taste of my own medicine, but I just tell him "don't be so rude to me, I haven't done anything to you" lol... at least not right then... nearly the entire day, but not for the past few hours. Haha, we are so off track.

After a dinner of slider burgers and corn we learn that our 'host' Mike and his family are leaving that night. He feels sick, like he has heat exhaustion and one of his little girls isn't feeling well either. First he helps David set up a telescope we borrowed and we roast marshmallows. The moon was so beautiful, we saw all sorts of details of the moon. No stars as it was still a bit cloudy. Mike and his family leave. We go on a very little night 'hike', exploring the camp. Liam and Violet and the nephews already went on one during the afternoon with their Tia (David's sister).

We leave the rain fly off the tent and enjoy the stars that start to shine as we fall asleep.

1 a.m. I wake up. I have to pee. I pee about 3 (at least) times a night. I can't hold it in very long either, I've had two kids and they broke me, I just can't. I can't fall back asleep feeling uncomfortable anyway. So I get up and drive to the bathroom. Apparently that worried David to the point of pissing him off. And it worried his mom when she saw it was me coming back into the tent. Sorry guys, I just can't help it.

At 5:30 I wake up again. I toss and turn for an hour. Now the stars are sooo bright you can see all the constellations so clearly. It was gorgeous. I got up at 6:30. I peed off in the tall grass rather than drive to the bathroom again. Gross I know, but oh well. I had t.p. in our car which I grabbed beforehand. I then tried to take a picture of the constellations but my camera wouldn't focus... I don't know manual well enough and it was too dark to figure it out. SO no pictures of that beautiful sky.

To be continued...

Adventures in Camping! Part II

As you can see, the car was full. I didn't even have room for my legs. (pictures taken with my phone, please excuse the quality).

My brother Connor lent us a DVD player for the car, with two screens. BUT forgot to get us the power cord. He was at work and the cord was in his car. We decided it would be well worth it to go pick up the power cord as Violet was already screaming her head off. And yes it was.

Before we leave Connor's place of work, we enter the address into the GPS. It says the trip will take (about) 14.5 hours... but when we checked on google maps it had said (about) 11.5 hours. I question this and David just assumes the car GPS is more accurate. It doesn't occur to either of us to check the overall route.

After about 6 hours of driving we make a pit stop. This is actually our 2nd stop, but nothing happened at the first stop. I don't like to pee at gas stations and I won't unless given no other option. And, if I can help it, I don't like to pee at fast food restaurants either...but I will. So where does that leave me? Home Depots, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Grocery Stores etc. I just find they are used less, and therefore less gross.

We stop at Academy Sports and Outdoors. And what a blessing we did! The ropes we used to tie down the tent and gear on the top had just become unraveled. The stuff was still held down with bungee cords, but I don't think they would outlast the speed + weight of the bag ratio. We find these awesome luggage rack straps. We fill up on gas and I take over driving.

As I'm driving we pass by Oklahoma City. I say to David: I didn't realize Texas had an Oklahoma City... David says: Uh it doesn't... Oklahoma does. He checks the GPS route. CRAP. It detoured us through Oklahoma. 3 hours off route...add in the extra stop, that's another hour at least... so about 4 hours off course. 4 HOURS, with a two year old and a 3 year old... who were being very patient, but only because they got to watch Toy Story and Toy Story II over and over again. (we have other movies but those were the favorites of both kids, they only tolerated the other movies).

We are now figuring it will be midnight when we get there. We didn't KNOW that the park closed at 8. We did find out, when we were still 5 hours away, that several of the roads in the canyon were closed due to flooding... making it impossible to get to our campsite anyway. David and I decide to drive three more hours and find a hotel for the night. Thank goodness for the flooding, as we would not have been able to get in the park anyway!

To be continued...

Adventures in Camping! Part I

David took Wednesday off so we could spend the day packing. Except, first we had to get Liam ready for school. Drop him off. Then I followed David to the dealership to have the oil changed and tires rotated. We packed here and there, mostly pulled stuff out to pack, not sure how it would fit in the car.

Then we picked up Liam from School. Then we picked up the car. Then we went to Academy to buy a cooler. Bought a bunch of other stuff as well. Home. Kids nap. David goes to the grocery store. I cook food for the camp out... that way I wouldn't have to store any raw meat and I would have all our meals ready to go with just a tiny bit of heat up at the camp site.

We were camping with David's brother, sister, mom, two nephews, a friend (who's idea this was) his wife and two kids and his mom and step-dad. His friend said we should just bring food for our own families. I should have realized to count David's brother, sister, mom and nephew as our family... they brought their own food, BUT... well, I'll talk about that more later.

Meanwhile David is STILL at the store. He had to stop at Academy again to pick up a cooler cap (that was missing on our brand new cooler) and some shorts and shirts. At the grocery store he called me every 5 to 10 minutes. He was gone for nearly 4 hours. I was about to lose my mind. We had wanted to get some sleep and leave really early in the morning... but we weren't even close to being finished.

By 1 a.m. we have chairs, clothes and the tent on top of the car. We have food and ice in the cooler (supposed to last 7 days...it's a "7" day cooler) and it's packed in the car. We also have stuff all over the house. We realized several things were NOT going to fit. So we had to rethink some of our packing. We decide to go to bed and get up at 4 a.m. to finish the rest.

5:30 a.m. we wake up. It takes us until 8:30 a.m. to finally head out... to be continued... I know it's been fascinating so far.

I'm Probably the Only Person Who Thinks This is Funny

David, while admiring a thermos he bought for the camping trip but didn't use: I really like this thermos, I'm glad I bought it, it will come in handy if I want to bring soup to work...

Me: Silence... thinking... realizing David doesn't eat soup, EVER. Cracking up laughing, can't breathe I think this is so funny, he said it so sincerely too... more laughter. David makes a sad face but is trying not to laugh too... I say: Yeah that will be great, you know, if one day you like soup!

Violet's First Week of Mommy Time

I have enjoyed this week with Violet so much. It's also caused her to become more attached than ever.

I noticed that she says so many words, is always pointing to things and naming them. Somethings surprise me, even simple things... like today she pointed to my jeans and said "pockets, 1 2 3 4 pockets" as she pointed to each pocket and counted them. I have found that she knows her whole alphabet by recognition and loves to tell me letters. She also knows her shapes and colors...though sometimes just calls everything purple... but she gives me this look, with a little twinkle in her eye and slight turn of the mouth and I know she is being silly, or wacky as Liam would say.

She does really well with puzzles. She follows directions exactly. If I ask her to find something and I describe where it is she goes right to it and brings it to me with a little triumph in her step. Liam to this day has a hard time with that... he's exactly like his daddy in this area because David to this day has that same problem.

She has quite an imagination. She loves pretending to cook and have me taste her cooking. She plays monster and growls or chases me with a monster puppet threatening to eat me up in a low monstery voice. Or says "OH NO A SNAKE! RUN!" while chasing me with a rubber snake. She also loves to play with her baby doll, push her in a stroller around the house then put her down for mimi (nap). She loves trains and cars and rolling them around the house saying "vroom vroom" or "choo Choo". She loves to play house with little dolls I buy her. She loves to sing. She loves to 'play the piano' AND drum on it, she'll climb by the window and drum on the top of the piano while singing a song. She loves to read books with me. And girl after my own heart loves loves loves to draw.

If I ever stop to do the dishes or do a load of laundry she'll go into my room, locate the colored pencils and paper and happily draw little pictures. She can hold a pencil perfectly... except when she's watching her brother, then she'll grab it the way he does which is wrong, I've seen her eye him and switch the way she's holding her pencil. She is sooo observant, it's no doubt how she's learned all these things. I only had to stop and play with her to see how much she already knows.

Liam's First Week of School

First week of school he's ever had ~ with many more to come.

After the first day I was a little unsure we made the right decision. Liam was fine but I wasn't used to starting my day so soon and having to worry so much. Plus more driving than I am used to. Sure the school is literally one minute away... that doesn't change how many times I have buckle buckle, unbuckle unbuckle, buckle, unbuckle, buckle, unbuckle, buckle buckle, unbuckle unbuckle kids in all day (that probably doesn't sound as annoying as it is)... and thursdays it's buckle buckle buckle, unbuckle unbuckle unbuckle, buckle buckle, unbuckle unbuckle, buckle buckle, unbuckle unbuckle, buckle buckle buckle, unbuckle unbuckle unbuckle... and if I go somewhere with Violet or Violet and Bria add a few more to the list...

The first day Liam excitedly told me about the book they read, the music class, that Mrs. S yelled at him "Sit down on your FROG!" and when I asked which teacher he liked best he dreamily replied "Mrs. P" when I asked why he replied "because she's the best teacher in the whole world".

Second day Liam told me that fruit is good for our bodies, he said they got to eat blueberries. Surprised I asked "Wow, did you eat some?" (he never eats fruit unless it's in a smoothie or a fruit strip). He said "NO". haha. He also told me he got in the yellow and if he gets a red he has to go to time out. Uh-oh I said. He then told me this: That's okay, If I get a red I told my teacher "NO I don't want a time out" and then I push her.
I didn't realize he was plotting what he would do if he got a time out, I thought this actually happened... I even asked him three times if he pushed his teacher and he said Yes. So he got sent to his room... where he ended up taking a long nap. I told him when he woke up that he would have to apologize to his teacher the next day.

Third day right away Liam apologizes to one of his teachers. I tell the teacher he has informed me that he pushed one of the teachers yesterday. She looks surprised and says "No, he didn't do that, he's well behaved". I say "well he also told me he got yellow" and she says "well yes, we are trying to establish the rules and the consequences of obeying the rules and disobeying them, he gets up from his spot a lot. When they stay in their seat without being told they get to put a marble in the jar. If we have to tell them several times to sit down their color goes from green to yellow to red, red means a five minute time out". I see. She adds "But we see that he's outgoing and very smart, you probably know that of course" I can't help but say "yeah, He's reading already" and she says "yes, we have frogs with words on them and he read them to the class yesterday, we also noticed that he's very good with patterns. We'll figure a way out to challenge him". Awww that last part made me feel sooo relieved! It was exactly what I was hoping for.

At the end of the day Liam mentions a new friend at school and that he got yellow again, but that he was a good boy after that and it went to green again! The teachers also told me at pick up that he was very good that day.

Today, Thursday, is the last day of the week for him. I promised him a doughnut every Thursday if he was good in school all week. He also had show and tell... We have to bring something that begins with the letter of the week. The letter of the week was M, so we brought a Monkey toy. I'm pretty happy I've remembered his lunch all week and to bring something for show and tell. Let's see if I can keep that up... He also stayed in the green all day. At pick up one of the teachers told me that he read a book to the class, without any help! I think it's great they let him do that.

That boy sure loves school. I haven't had any trouble getting him to get ready and he barely turns around to say goodbye, today I made him come back and kiss me goodbye. And always at pick up he's all smiles and shouts "Mommy!" and hugs me.

Adventures with Poison Control

I never talk on the phone. If you call and I don't answer, there is a good reason. My kids are that reason... either they climb and talk and cry in my ear while I'm on the phone or they sneak off and get into trouble.

Yesterday I was returning a call... even I forget my rule sometimes... they lure me into a sense of security, those kids, being all sweet and playing nicely together. I was on the phone about 5 maybe 10 minutes when I hear Violet scream at the top of her lungs... like from old horror film. I ZOom to Liam's room where the door has been suspiciously shut closed and quickly open the door to a still shrieking Violet.

She is shaking as she looks up at me through squinty, pain filled eyes, her hair wet and matted down. It doesn't take me long to realize something has been poured on her head and that it's burning her. I lean in to smell but I didn't need to lean in I just needed to breathe in because it smells very strongly and my first thought is nail polish remover.

I pick her up, realizing the phone is still in my hand I shout "I got to go" click. I start panicking and crying quite hystercially "Violet! Are you okay! Oh my baby!! Are you okay!" while I rinse of her hair and eyes. She was having trouble taking in breathes amid the fumes but finally she calms down and the stinging lessens and the smell subsides. I jet back to Liam's room to see if I can find the substance. I see a half empty (guess that means I'm a pessimist?) bottle of hand sanitizer on the ground and Liam hiding under his blankets. I give him a quick lecture that what he did was wrong and a swat on the butt and tell him he's in his room for the rest of the night (it was 5 o'clock).

I go back in the bathroom where I left Violet and start a bath for her so I can rinse her more properly. I call David with panic still in my voice. I had seen a news story a few years ago about a toddler who died from alcohol poisoning because her mother put too much hand sanitizer (true story). I keep it in my purse for especially gross/germy situations like after the grocery store or chuck-e-cheese's...and only use a tiny bit. Liam saw my purse and got it out... and thinking it was shampoo, dumped in on Violet's head.

I asked David to call poison control for me and do some research online if I need to take her to the doctors. I get Violet in the bath and rinse off her hair more throughly. I decide David will never call poison control and I have the number on my phone so I just call.

Do you notice with all these Poison Control stories they start with me panicking, then Poison Control acting all calm and collective like it's no big deal... It almost makes me think everytime I have a situation "oh I don't need to call them, they'll tell me it's okay" but then I think "No, I don't want to be that parent, it's so easy to call and know what to do".

The lady told me in this case I do have to rinse her eyes for ten to fifteen minutes. She said to wrap her tightly in a towel to keep her hands down and lay her back and pour water at the bridge of her nose so it falls into her eyes... do it for at least ten minutes. Then read her a book and let her sleep so her eyes can rest.

OKAY. Yeah. Sounds like something Violet will go for... I tried people, I tried. I would have succeeded if David was there to help me hold her while I poured the water. Finally I just grabbed her tight, and dumped water over her face *with breaks in between so she could breathe of course* she screamed and cried and hit and kicked and I got soaking wet from head to toe. I told her I was sooo sorry but that we HAD to rinse out her eyes. I said that over and over. I think I made it to 8 minutes. I could see her eyes were no longer red and she no longer had to rub them. I asked if she was okay, she said "I'm okay mommy".

I went to get another dry towel, and I popped in to see Liam...he was sound asleep.

Now time to get Violet to sleep. Nope, no way. She got super hyper... a side effect perhaps? And we played with her little house, then she grabbed Liam's snake and chased me with it. Finally David came home and he was able to put her to bed. Phew. What a day. BY THE WAY: I didn't properly hang up the phone, so my poor friend heard me freaking out and panicking. ALSO David did NOT call poison control, but he did do research, he wants me to throw out the hand sanitizer because as little as three squirts ingested can cause fatal alcohol poisoning in toddlers.

Adventures in Running Errands.

Ran into Staples for a two-minute trip with both kids in tow. All I needed was a large ugly wall calendar to keep track of school events/schedule for Liam. I find the calendar right away and am ready to leave... but then... Violet announces loudly "Uh-Oh Mommy, potty"... I was pretty sure she had begun to pee already. Yes she had a diaper on, but Violet does not keep a wet diaper on. So before she can pull it off I march us all off to the bathroom. My plan was to let her sit on the toilet and put the same diaper back on (hoping it would absorb and dry that quickly). I didn't have a spare diaper on me. It was in the car. It was a two-minute trip after all... I am happy it wasn't number 2 of course... She absolutly will not put it back on. Yucky super wet diaper. no way. She had on a dress... I risked it and kept her naked. I didn't think she would pee again so soon... but you never know. I was more worried about her pulling her dress up.

She did. I thought we were going to make it... but the second I turn around to call Liam to come over to me, I turn back and Violet has her dress to her face. I gasp loudly, which received more attention. Now I'm embarrassed... I don't normally care what people think, but I'm a bit more sensitive when it involves my kids. Violet does it again. I pick her up. Liam, meanwhile, is sticking highlighters in his mouth because he thinks they might be candy... Violet starts SCREAMMMMING because she wants back down. Dress keeps flying up. Every single person is staring at me. But especially the people in front off me checking out as slowly as possible. First the mom HAD to sign up for a Staples reward card. Then she HAD to complain about the cost of bottled water there (she was buying a whole case of it) Here's a clue for you. Don't buy a case of bottled water at Staples... you probably won't get a good price for it. I didn't even realize they sold cases of water there...

More annoying than that were her kids just staring at us and smirking. I was too annoyed at this point. I stare back frowning. They don't stare directly at us again. Very loving of me, I know, I know. Nobody's perfect. Then the MANAGER who is checking them out goes as SLOWLY as possible. When it's our turn, he finishes tearing off a portion of the card form, but has 2 minutes of trouble tearing it off. He says "I'll just be a moment, this is harder than it looks" I'm screaming in my head: JUST SET IT DOWN, TEAR IT WHEN YOU HAVE SOME FREE TIME, AND CHECK US OUT!!! I very nearly flashed him Violet's naked rear end... just as a friendly warning... I didn't, I wouldn't disrespect Violet like that. That trip took about 20 minutes, not 2.

This was just the last stop in the day. Last bit of patience gone. Had some moments with a grumpy worker at Hobby Lobby earlier. When we left Hobby Lobby Violet ran a bit ahead and I yelled "VIOLET! Come hold Liam's hand!" she stopped and held his hand. If she would have gone near the street I would have been there first. WELL a helpful lady says to me "You know they sell cute monkey leashes for kids at Walmart"... I just look at her. NOOOO KIDDING... she doesn't know my kid. That would be something getting Violet to wear a leash without her having a convulsion before I just give up. There is a reason she's not in a cart or stroller. Then a crazy lady in the parking lot starts shouting at me "Hey that's a beautiful color on..." I didn't hear the rest I just got in the car and drove away.

I know my day has to do with my own attitude. I hope to look back on this and chuckle.

New Hobby

Liam is loving reading and spelling... he's always reading things he sees to me and writing out lists... a checklist of what to do 'today' and when we go grocery shopping he writes a shopping list for me. Now he loves to make letters and create words with Lego Duplo blocks. He's so excited to start preschool. Everytime we go to run an errand he tells me he needs his backpack.

He is also going through a tattle-tail stage. It's my fault, instead of grabbing things out of Violets hands and making her scream, I told him to tell me and I'll take care of it... I also pointed out ways he could try asking her for it... he does, but she doesn't listen to him.

I was talking to my mom about gifts I was thinking of getting Liam for his birthday in October. Liam loves taking pictures with the camera, he also loves watches, he also loves legos... haha he also loves money and counting it. I asked him which of these he wants and he wants a Spongebob Lego set. But it's for ages 7-12 and my mom says "well he's in the transitioning age, it would be okay to get him that"... than after a moment she says "oh wait, he's turning 4! I always think he's older, I was thinking he is turning 6!". I do the same thing.

A Secret About Me

Cleaning places like my laundry room, closets, garage, attic... make me feel like I'm a clean and organized person despite the chaos in the rest of the house.

Changed My Mind... Again!

I'm back to wanting 4 kids, even if that means 4 pregnancies (rather than twins, though I would love twins). Shhhh, don't tell David ;)

Shorter Please!

I have had long hair forever. For EVER. I don't like having long hair. It's a pain and with having two lovely, drive me insane sometimes, children It usually looks like a mess of tangles. But David LOVES long hair. So for years I've been torn, wanting to cut it and not wanting to make him sad or think I don't look pretty anymore.

I believe it began back when I was younger. I would hear stories of how my mom had gorgeous long red hair and after the birth of my oldest sister (their first) my mom cut it all off, boy hair short, and my dad had been sad about that ever since... even if it did grow back eventually... Later on I saw other examples of disappointed husbands after their wives cut their gnarly, dulling hair shorter.

After I had Liam I begged David to say he'd still love me if I cut it. LOL of course he would, but he would just smile at me and say 'please don't cut your hair short'. I said 'but will you divorce me if I do?'... as if I'd want to stay with someone who would divorce me over that... just want you to understand I was being dramatic, not trying to make it out that David is a total jerk. But he would just smile. When I was pregnant with Violet, once again I longed for short hair...

Okay now I sound like I'm pregnant. I'm not. We aren't trying until sometime NEXT year, or whenever I lose 30 lbs... so if I lose it sooner than a year, than we will try sooner... but that's not likely.

Just saying I've been wanting my hair shorter. I hate seeing pictures of it all tangled up in the back. I also don't like going places to get it cut. EVERY TIME the hair stylist wants me to keep it long, it better suites my face. OKAY I can take a hint, apparently I will look HORRIBLE with short hair. But I just don't care anymore. I'm overweight as it is, long hair doesn't hide that fact, it just makes me look frumpier.

SOOOO last week I pulled out some scissors and cut an inch and a half off. A few days later I cut another inch and a half. Yesterday I got really brave and cut about three inches off. And today I took another inch. I just can't stop, it feels so good. My hair is at my shoulders now and I LOVE it. I added lots of short layers so it has body and it's just so much easier to wash, brush and style.

David's reaction? Yesterday he told me I looked really pretty... but you could tell he couldn't figure out why. Today he once again told me I look pretty (this is not a compliment he hands out very often). Hahaha. I couldn't help it. I said "So you like my hair shorter?" and he said "OH, is it shorter?" and I said "Yes it used to be down to here" indicating my elbow. He raised his eyebrows "OH, you aren't going to cut any more off are you?" and I smiled and said "I want to! I think it looks really cute" and he said "Well it does look really cute, but please don't cut anymore off!" and I replied "a woman just gets to a certain age where her hair shouldn't be long anymore, it just looks dull and terrible... maybe not really gorgeous women who fix their hair everyday and go to a salon regularly... but for me I need to start wearing it shorter". He said "well your hair is beautiful and never looks dull or ugly and it never will". Hahahahahaha, so sweet. So untrue. But he seems to believe it.

My decision? I am going to try to cut another half inch off soon... and just keep it this length for a while... Also it's time to grow the bangs out.

PS. I did a waaaay better job than any hair salon could have done. Saving us $120 or so.

Scalding

This morning I was making breakfast for the family. Nobody was that hungry so breakfast was going to be toast, turkey bacon and hot chocolate. Liam talked non-stop about how he wanted hot chocolate with four marshmallows. He brought me his thermos to put it in. This is his super special thermos that he will be taking to school, which starts in about 3 weeks!!!

This thermos is awesome, the outside doesn't get hot or cold but ice will last all day, or the heat if you put soup or hot coco inside... It also doesn't leak, has a straw and (most importantly) is VERY easy to clean... even the straw (you know what I'm talking about if you've owned several different versions of sippy cups).

I pour boiling hot water into the thermos. I considered adding milk right away to cool it down, but thought the chocolate might mix better if it was super hot. so I fill it about halfway with the boiling hot water and add the mix, close the lid and shake. Without thinking I pop open the lid (it has a little button). Streaming hot chocolate comes shooting out of the straw, fast and hard right at me. Right at my right breast to be precise. I just stand there. I should have moved but it paralyzed me. I finally turn the thing or jump out of the way, I don't know what happened. I guess I screamed and than (sorry to be so graphic) but I pulled my breast out of my shirt and had cold water running over it. I was startled to see David by my side. He was laughing, or trying not to, as I manage to say "I burned my breast". He says "how?" I don't answer. Liam meanwhile is saying "I want hot chocolate with four marshmallows" I say "AHHHHH, Liam, not now I just burned myself!" than realizing that wasn't his fault, I say "That's not your fault I just need a minute before I finish your hot chocolate, so please stop asking me".

David says "So were you cooking the bacon and you leaned too far in and burned it that way?". I just look at him. He says "Judging by the look I am guessing that's what happened" and he starts laughing again. Very annoyed I say "NO, that is NOT what happened! and stop laughing, it really hurts". Though I was between laughing and crying myself. If he had seen it happen he'd probably be rolling on the floor laughing.

All I have to say is these breasts have been through a lot. Pregnancy, breastfeeding pains, David and now scalding hot coco.

Adventures in Dating

David and I haven't been on a date together in quite a while... I don't even remember when. I'm pretty sure it was dinner and a movie, lol. That's okay, I like that kind of date. So last night we decided to go see Inception. David hadn't eaten since breakfast... that's HIS fault... I offered him lunch but he wasn't hungry, said he'd wait til dinner... I said I didn't know when Connor would get home, it could be late, he should eat now. He insisted he would wait. Whatever. He was working from home and it's a particularly stressful time at work right now, he doesn't eat much when he's stressed out. I am the opposite :(

We were going to just go to Chili's and than Star Cinema Grill... only because it had the soonest show time for the movie, and just get some lemonade maybe desert there. I don't really like their food that much. We had 40 minutes before the movie started, BUT David said he would rather wait in the car 20 minutes rather than rush through eating and just eat at Start Cinema Grill. Okay, I said, that's fine. It gave us 20 minutes in the car to argue over something about Peter and the Wolf... and something else about Fantasia vs Fantasia 2000, he was right about one part and I was right about one part we discovered as I looked it up on my phone.

Inside the movie waiting for our order, David sees a big freaking rat. YUCK! I shivered. I didn't see it. He was laughing so I almost thought he was kidding... until we saw another man get up and start looking around. David says "Did you see it too?" and the man says "YOU saw it too? That big rat? I thought I was seeing things!". Double yuck because that confirmed it. I wanted to leave. The waiter said the manager knew and was working on the 'situation' okaaay. And he said it came in because of all the 'nearby' construction. uhhh. I asked the waiter if he would eat there if he had seen a rat. He said he eats there all the time. Probably wrong person to ask. David wanted to stay. I ordered the veggie pizza because I knew it was shipped there and frozen... so less likely the rats could get to it. I barely ate it. Movie was good.

On the way home we were talking about the movie. I see something in the road, but figured it was a dead animal. David didn't see it until our headlights were on it, it slowly turned to look at us, it's eyes reflected in the light and seemed to say "dang it". It was a very large, largest I've ever seen, armadillo. It was too late to stop or slow down and David didn't want to swerve because there were cars next to us. He didn't hit it with his tire, he ran right down the center of our car, but I heard a loud bump that I THINK sounded like a POP, but David said it wasn't a pop. When I heard it I threw up my hands around my head and SCREAMED. I had a terrible feeling... as if I would burst just like the armadillo. Thank goodness I wasn't driving because we would have wrecked for sure.

David was sad. He said that's the only live armadillo he's ever seen. I think he teared up a little, because I saw him wipe his eyes a little later. We talked about the armadillo the rest of the way home, trying to decide if it could have possibly survived.

It's good to know that we haven't been desensitized by movies and television. Killing an armadillo broke our hearts a little.

Adventure with a Cicada

Cicada, yuck. Those huge, loud, ugly bugs. I dislike them greatly.

I went out the door and something screeched loudly and flew around. I quickly shut the door, I honestly thought it was a bat. I waited a minute and saw through the half-circle window above the door that it was a cicada. I waited to see if it would move again... I shuddered, inhaled and ran out of the door covering my head (I had a roach fly at me once and it got tangled in my hair)...

I had a bill to mail. When I came back he had moved his position. I thought "what is that bug up to?" I safely got inside.

About an hour later I hear him knocking on the door. Not kidding. He was flying into the door over and over again letting out a screech here and there. I thought, whatever bug, I'm safely inside. Or so I thought...

My brother Connor decides he needs something out of his car. He steps out, you hear a screech from the bug. Connor JUMPS back in the house with a yelp. He looks at his socked foot and the thing flys out from under it. I thought I saw it go in the living room but Connor, laughing and shuddering at the same time looks at me... I tell him it's in the living room, go get it. He says no it flew in here. I say no. He says yes. I move my chair to go look, I hear a screech. EeeeeeeeekkkkkK! I scream about five times while running and jumping to my bedroom (you have to imagine I just ran from the front of the house to the other side of the house). Connor laughs. He says "okay I got it"... then "well it's under a box but I don't want to go near it". Now I'm cracking up laughing... I would NOT be laughing it had gotten on me. I would have stripped off my clothes, brother there or not, and ran screaming in the house waking up the kids. But since that didn't happen, I laughed instead.

He finally skewered it on a stick. I ran away again... because when we were younger he... really my other brother Ryan, but possibly Connor has too... would have thrown it at me.

One thing is for sure, that bug wanted inside the house.

A Memory from High School...

I had this huge crush on this guy in my Art History class. I was a senior and he was a junior. He was cute, cool and smart. Girls threw themselves at him daily. One girl in our class... EVERYDAY... would stand in front of him and bend over 'looking for a book' she could never find. It was shameless. In his junior year of High School he had gotten an SAT score high enough to be offered a full scholarship to UCLA. He always got straight A's on tests but would tell people he got a C (I caught him doing that once and asked him about it, he said it was so people didn't classify him as a nerd).

Anyhow, we always got into these meaningless arguments. I thought of this one today while I made myself a sandwich:

Him: I had a really good samwich at lunch.
Me: Ummm, did you just say samwich?
Him: Yeah, so?
Me: Trying to be cute or something?
Him: What? What are you talking about?
Me: Usually when people say samwich it's to be cute...and I've only heard girls do it.
Him: Ummmmm... how do YOU say it?
Me: (wide eyed stare, than slowly) Sandwich...
Him: Hahaha, SANDWICH? As in Sand... like at a beach??? Hahahahahaha!
Me: (giving him an incredulous look)Are you being serious?
Him: Yeah, are you?
Me: (for a split second I second guess my knowledge on this trivial debate. Than realize that he really doesn't know it's Sandwich) Hahahaha! IT IS pronounced SANDwich. Who taught you it was samwich? Hahhahaahahaha!
Him: (narrowing his eyes) What?? It's pronounced samwich!
Me: (laughing harder, I call the teacher over...she was so laid back...) Mrs. (so and so) is it pronounced SANDWICH or SAMWICH?
Teacher: Sandwich...
Me: hahaahahahaha! Told yoU!!!

I was just thinking how sad/funny it is that because he was so cute and smart I second guessed myself for half a second. Oh well, I was right! No wonder we never dated! LOL.

Rain, Rain, I love You.

Too bad too much rain is not good. And I am grateful I don't have to drive in it... and I pray all that do are safe (especially David!).

But when we moved to Texas it was sooo much fun playing in the rain because it wasn't freezing cold. It felt soooo good. We used to go jogging in the rain... keep in mind I was 16 haha, not too cool to jog in the rain. We (brothers and sisters) would run to the neighborhood park that was guaranteed to be empty and slide down extra slippery slides, splash in puddles and swing on the swings.

So naturally I let my kids play in it as well. David is actually okay with it...only because I have them use umbrellas...and sometimes rain boots...hehe... I just need to buy a bigger pair for Liam and pass his on to Violet.

I have them use umbrellas because I remember being fascinated with umbrellas when I was a kid, and always kind of sad when it rained and I didn't have one. NOW, now I can't stand using an umbrella...It is soooo cumbersome to me... especially trying to load in kids and sometimes groceries while attempting to wield an umbrella effectively...not fun... and NEVER effective (for me anyway).

The kids LOVE them, and they love splashing in the rain with their boots. I love how hard Texas rain can come down. You can be standing there with your umbrellas and it's like you are under a waterfall. You can sing and scream and your voice gets muffled by the downpour so it's not loud for anyone else. And the next time it 'safely' floods the streets I think I'm going to take a page from my mom and sister mo's book and get out an air mattress...or pool float... or canoe if you have one...to float down the street on. If you live in Texas, I think, you should attempt it at least once in your life.

Lists

TO DO LIST:
Finish Family Home Evening lesson for exchange! Sheeesssh, it's taking me over 4 months to finish this thing.

Finish Logo for Diann!

Finish at LEAST 5 illustrations for Janice (of 17)... I think she has been waiting a few years for these! Ahhhh!!!

Finish Dining Room paintings (What I want to work on the most but need to put at the bottom of the list).

Garden Pillow.

Quiet Book... going to do a Bible Stories one... my own design of course.

Make a bench cusion for Dining Room bench.

Fix Dining Room curtains.

FINISH PUMPKIN PATCH!!! I only have a few days left before I NEED To plant the seeds.

Okay I'm going to stop before I get so overwhelmed I continue to not finish anything.

Preparation Mondays and other Ramblings.

I mentioned on Facebook that I started cooking all my food for the week each Monday. This is an idea I got from a friend of mine and also from listening to my mother-in-law who had mentioned at least preparing her meat beforehand and than freezing it raw, but ready to be cooked. Also when I read about this other friend who made about a month worth of food that she put in her deep freezer before she had her baby. Both of those blog posts written last November...yeah it's taken me this long to actually try it.

I WAS waiting for a deep freezer...but that might not happen until I prove that I can and will have use for it.

Mojo really helped because she gave LOTS of tips about how she gets it done. Plus keeping the kiddos entertained.

So two weeks ago I tried it, finally. I cut and prepared chicken, enough for four meals, but only used it for two meals. I made tons of rice and put it in the fridge. Had salad stuff ready to go. I cooked hamburger patties. I made enchiladas. I have a ton of ground beef left over from Violet's birthday party. So I cooked enough meat for the next week as well and put it in the freezer. I made turkey Lasagna, which I cooked then froze to save for Sunday. I cooked a pizza another night. We ate leftovers another night.

This Week I cooked a pot roast with potatoes and carrots. I will use the left over meat to make 'brisket' type bb-q sandwiches with bb-q sauce. More enchiladas. More hamburgers (lots of left over meat...I even have enough left for spaghetti and tacos next week). I roasted a chicken, which I split in two parts. Some for chicken with rice. Another night I will make chicken squares. My last meal I will use the chicken I cut up last week... I'll just grill til it's blackened a bit in an iron skillet...got that method from my mother-in-law. David prefers it that way. I'll put mine in a salad. I serve his with rice, wing sauce for dipping and a salad usually.

Both weeks we had plenty of salad...I like using baby spinach. And I buy tons of frozen veggies to heat and serve through the week. Though this week I bought fresh asparagus and artichoke to steam.

I go to the grocery store in the morning, get home around 11. After putting groceries away and cleaning up to cook, I start cooking around noon during the kids naps. Finish up by 5 or 6.

I clean up a bit, soak dishes...but leave most of it for Tuesday. Except this Tuesday I didn't get to it until way late. But really once I get the kitchen clean, it is MUCH easier to maintain during the week. If I get quicker at this I would love to get my laundry done on this day as well... I might have to move grocery shopping day to Friday afternoons when David comes home. Hmmm that's a thought.

And though I have cut t.v. out of my kids lives... I have found that on Mondays, well these last two anyway, by the last stretch of cooking around 4 or 5, I put in a movie and make them popcorn. Ponyo, they love it. I am going to work on making them projects they can work on instead of a movie though.

Cutting out television, btw, has worked out very well for us. Violet is progressing, she doesn't rock herself anymore (except when she is in bed). She is talking way more and her vocabulary has increased a lot. Loves telling me what things are, reading with me, playing with Liam, playing pretend, playing with her toys, playing outside and coloring. She tries to use the potty everyday. Loves to undress herself. Recognizes shapes, some colors, some letters. Can count to 10 and sing her ABC's. Also twinkle twinkle. Her favorite song that I sing is "I Love to See the Temple". She wants up on the counter to see the fish everyday. Gives more hugs and kisses to everyone. Still throws tantrums but is easier to calm down, understands timeouts now...is apologetic when she does something wrong. Looks at us AND smiles when we call her name...she had gotten to a point where if she were playing with her toys by herself, she wouldn't turn and look if you called her name.

So yeah, lots and lots of progress and changes. It wasn't that I let them watch t.v. all day. But it was like before (back in the winter months when they kept getting colds that I started letting them watch more and more television) about 4 hours of it A DAY. And when it wasn't shows for them, it was on for me. DIY shows and cooking shows. But Violet would stop and stare at those shows too. I was becoming a very lazy mother. I'm not saying this to put down other mothers who do let their kids watch t.v... I personally, because of my personality (all or nothing), had to cut it out altogether. T.V...tried cutting back. It didn't work for long. So for my daughters sake I firmly decided to do better by her and just cut it out altogether.

David has been very supportive of no t.v. and has kept it off when he is caring for them as well.

Liam has shown improvement too. I didn't even realize the effect it had on him. I mean he was still learning and progressing. But now I see how much his imagination has blossomed without t.v. He loves joking around even more and being "funny", he loves to play pretend...pretend camping trips, pretend pirates, pretend cooking etc. He loves playing games like go fish or memory, riding his bike, swimming (well that hasn't changed from last year). Counting higher and higher and doing math....simple subtraction and addition. He has been learning to read for a while, but it has improved a lot. Lately he likes to write words out and try to figure out how, insert word, is spelled. He makes me grocery lists each week. He always writes milk, butter and boost on his list. I think he is just happy he figured out butter, that's why it's always on there, not because I buy butter every week.

He used to spell Dad just fine. But since he has been trying to figure words out for himself by sounding them out... he went from spelling it DAD to DEAD. I think we got it straightened out now though lol.

Liam named all four of the goldfish, they are: Seastar, Decorankus, Rocks and Seaweed. Lol. Seastar is the prettiest one. Decorankus is such a random name but the fish he named that has an unusual marking on his head, so it's easy to remember him...and Rocks and Seaweed look like twins...so it doesn't matter who is who.

So yes, you may have noticed, we got some new fish. They are awesome fish. Goldfish from my mother and father's pond. It's like buying organic meat. Just better. They are thriving. They just look healthy. They actually eat when we feed them. Violet even dropped a crasin in the tank. Did it kill them? NO, they picked at it and ate part of it. I think they will last a while, and if they don't? Back to the pond.

This Might Make You Barf.

Today we visited with David's family. David was looking through family videos when he came across our wedding/honeymoon video. It was probably very boring to everyone else but so fun for us to watch. We have never watched the video until today. I love the effect it had on David, he got very sentimental and said very sweet things to me of his memories. David's so quiet about his feelings towards me that it's nice to hear them occasionally. I feel blessed to have a husband who loves me so and someone I love at least as much.