Our latest Sunday Adventure

I told this story to my dad, and he said I needed to make sure to tell other people about this so, here goes: It was Sunday morning and my husband was gone with the youth in our ward to serve at the Utah State Developmental Center to help push wheelchairs. I was left at home with my three darling kids to try to get them ready and out the door for church. I was left without a car and we needed to walk to church, which gave me a little less them to get ready then normal. We were doing pretty good, but I was bouncing from one place to another trying to get kids ready. The boys were getting dressed on their own and my two year old daughter, Addi, insisted on getting ready on her own as well. She picked out her pink dress to wear so I pulled that down and gave her a pair of underwear to put on. I left her with her clothes and went to check on the boys. Addi came out dressed and I was proud of her for doing it on her own. We finished getting ready and headed out the door. Amazingly, we were actually on time as well. I was feeling pretty good about things. We'd been in the meeting for a few minutes and, after the sacrament (about 15-20 minutes into the meeting), Addi said she needed to go to the bathroom. I took her into the bathroom and, in the process, found out that she wasn't wearing any underwear. Totally commando! Not a big deal for boys, but a pretty big necessity for girls wearing a dress. My jaw dropped. I didn't even think to check to make sure she had put the underwear on! Since I didn't have a car, I'd have to walk home to get my daughter underwear since it was a necessity. Thankfully, I have a "Mary Poppin's purse", where I have all sorts of odds and ends in it (lesson learned from 8 years of parenthood). I had a slip on diaper which is underwear-ish that we were able to use. My new lesson learned is to always check to make sure my daughter had underwear on when wearing a dress.

Boring

The other day I overhead my five year old tell my two year old "Mom's a boring person, ya know". Apparently I need to liven things up. My husband thought it was awesome.

I love my neighbors

On the one day I'm at office, Jeff will usually text or instant message me small things that the kids say or do. today, this is the story I got:

"so... Ethan just knocked on the door looking for Nate (who is at Jakes)
as I opened the door, I see Warren accross the street with a football.
I look a little closer, and I see Blake next to him,
then I wonder "where is Zach, he went over to play with Blake..."
Then I see a little tuft of red/brown hair poking up over the top of a car in the street, and notice that Zach is wrapped around Warrens legs trying to tackle him...
then I see Warren tumble to the ground..."

I have some seriously awesome neighbors. Once again, I'm so grateful for the awesome neighborhood we live in. Hopefully our neighbors think we're ok too. Granted, my son just took our neighbor down so who knows...

life skills

I've been at work for the last 11 1/2 hours and my brain is fried, so I'm going to take a couple of minutes to give me some sanity. I was talking to some friends and we talked briefly about some "life skills" that just good skills in general. This all started when I was talking to another friend and she had said that, as she watched her kids grow up, she felt bad for the neighbor kids, like cub scouts, who didn't know how to swim or play basketball. She thought both of those were good life skills to have. Not critical (well, maybe swimming can be critical in certain situations), but very helpful to have. My husband added being able to play golf as another life skill in the business world, which I have come to appreciate since he has been golfing in a business situation many times in the last ten years. I also think being able to drive a stick, or manual transmission on a car, is also a life skill. We've had a couple of cars that were manual transmission over the last few years and I've had my younger brothers who were going to drive them a short distance, like around the block, and couldn't because it was a stick. So, there's another designated life skill.
I've become good friends with my boss, who is an attorney, and think the world of him. We have a really good relationship and have talked about many many topics. He has told me, flat out, not to spoil my kids. He has said that's one of the worst things you can do as a parent. Growing up, my parents made me do chores around the house, help watch my younger brothers, mow the lawn, and all sorts of jobs. I was told that if I wanted to be able to drive a car when I turned 16, that I needed to get a job and pay for my own car insurance. With the exception of a couple of months, I have had a job since about a month after I turned 16. My parents helped me develop a good work ethic and it has greatly influenced my life. I'd be in a much different position without a good work ethic. I didn't necessarily want for anything growing up, but I certainly didn't get everything I wanted either. And I realize that was one of the best things my parents could have done for me. My poor kids. They get told "no" all the time. I've also tried to explain to them that it's not because I'm trying to be mean, but because if we get everything we want, then we become spoiled brats and no one wants to be around that. They don't have the coolest toys. They don't have iphones or ipads, and won't be getting them any time soon. I hope I can strike the balance between giving my kids what they need, and never spoiling them. I have watched adults my age, or around my age, who have been spoiled as kids and he has been a great detriment to them. HUGE detriment in fact. So, here's hoping to be a good parent who can take care of her kids, love them to death, and yet give them the life skills they need to become the best people they can be. Wish me luck.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Missing Pack Meeting

I have about 400 blog posts I should do to write down everything, but I'm writing this quick note so I remember it while I can. Tuesdays are usually my marathon days at work and I didn't have a conflict until recently. Zach now has soccer practice from 6:00-6:45 p.m. in Highland. We have a carpool set up, but I should be doing it every third week. We also have pack meeting for Nathan for Cub scouts every 3rd Tuesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m.. So, I've been a slacker and I haven't done any carpool for spring season yet and owed my kind neighbors. I've also tried to make it to every pack meeting on time, although traffic is not always kind to me.
Anyhow, I was home today and talked to the boys about options. We had it worked out that I would have a friend take Nathan to pack meeting, I would do Zach's carpool, and would show up for the last half of pack meeting. We ran as fast as we could and I got to the church at 7:05 p.m.. Unfortunately they ended pack meeting early and I basically missed all of it. However, I was there and Nathan forgave me. I was told by a couple of people that then the Cub Master asked if anyone had any announcements, Nathan told everyone "My mom isn't here. She's going to be late, but she's coming", or something along that line. So EVERYONE in the meeting knew I was gone. The very kind Cub Master said, "We will be so glad when she gets here". I can pretty much guarantee that I will be there for all of pack meeting next time.

Seeds and Spring

My quick thought for the day. I started my garden recently and I'm attempting to be on top of my yard this year. I actually have a ton of seeds and have started planting my garden. I've got some seeds outside that I'm hoping will grow, and then I've got some starts inside as well. I planted my starts inside last week and have been watching every day, hoping that something will pop up. I was so excited this morning when I saw seven little plants (out of like 30 or more, I hope), pop up. I was so excited that Jeff had to remind me that, really, it's not the first start I've ever had.
It simply amazes me each Spring when I see plants start to grow. I am amazed that such a small little seed can produce so much. That, in and of itself, is a testament to me that I have a Heavenly Father. The world is such a magnificent place with so many amazing things. The entire ecosystem is just amazing to me. To have a little seed that can produce so much is almost unbelievable. I am go grateful to have a Father in Heaven who loves me so much to give me such a beautiful and amazing world to live in. Maybe it sounds silly to others, but to me, it's simply amazing. I've had the song "Faith is Like a Little Seed" running through me head the last couple of days. Anyhow, I love Spring!!! Now hopefully I can get in gear so I can have a very bountiful harvest in the fall!

I think I hate Tuesdays

I think I may hate Tuesdays. It's the day I go into the office, which is a necessity, and I actually enjoy being in the office at times. However, I'm trying to do the mom thing to so I have chosen to work from home four days and just go in one day. Technology is amazing and lets me work from home. However, some things have to be done in the office with the actual paper files. So, by my own choosing I go into the office one day a week and have it be a very long day. Sometimes it's not as bad, but lately I've had some pretty big cases that have kept me pretty busy. For example, yesterday I woke up at 5:00 a.m., left my house at 5:30 a.m., had a slight detour, but arrived by the office at 6:45 a.m.. I worked basically all day with the exception of carpool issues and kid issues and the like. I usually eat lunch at my desk. I left the office (for the first time that day), at 10:45 p.m., and then got home at about 11:45 p.m.. So, with the commute, an 18 hour day. There were a couple of moments where I got overwhelmed with life and I read an article about a little 4 year old boy who told his mom, "you can do it! Mommy's can do anything". That kept me going. Sometimes I wonder why I do all of this. But then, this morning, my little girl climbed into bed, snuggled with me, and gave me a great big hug. And that is exactly why I do this. I've come to realize over the last couple of years that it's amazing what you can do when you have to. And, after all, "Mommy's can do anything".

little things

A couple little things. I'm trying my very hardest to keep up with everything, but it's not easy right now. I'm working full time and trying to do the mom thing full time as well. It's a huge juggling act. Especially since my hubby is working 50-60 hours a week as he's essentially trying to start his own business. I may be home six days a week, but its still a huge juggling act. Anyhow, I hadn't been able to go shopping and we were out of things that I could make for my son to take to lunch. I was trying to find cash for Nate for lunch and he said he could use his own money to pay for lunch. I told him that I didn't really want to do that since it's my responsibility to feed him and he said, "But Mom, it's my lunch". he's such a sweet kid, always willing to help out.
I help out in Zach's class on Mondays for a little bit and it's fun to watch the kindergarteners in there. It's such a fun age and it cracks me up. I help them out while they do their journals or other papers. Today I helped while their did their math papers. Afterwards they go to P.E. and I usually leave, but Zach asked me to stay to watch P.E. His sweet teacher said I could and I got to run laps with the kids, do jumping jacks, and stretching. I, sadly, am not flexible enough to touch my toes. the kids noticed and were telling me that it's easy to do and watch me do it. Apparently I need to work on my flexibility. I might as well tell you about how I just need to get into shape. We played at the part for a little bit Saturday evening and I challenged Nate to a race around the track. I was thinking in my head "it's just 400 meters. that's simple. I used to race 1600 meters with my best time as 6;23 for a mile. I can beat my eight year old". Well, he beat me. he's faster than I thought, and apparently I need to run more.
Addi was in a pretty good mood today. As part of lunch, we had leftover jello from a dinner last night (which I will hopefully write about this week). When I gave her some of the jello for her lunch, she said, "you the best mommy ever". Glad it doesn't take much to please her.