'Tis the Season

I just found this post. I was going to post it on Dec. 13. It was left in draft stage. Maybe I was going to add more. These events took place the first week of December.

When we got back the girls were begging us to put up our Christmas tree. So 2 nights later the tree was going up.

The step stool was so everything didn't end up on the bottom. It didn't solve this problem entirely and it just created another area for ornaments to congregate.

I don't know how well you can see the balls, but all of Kelsey's handy work was on the very bottom row of branches and only on 2 or 3 limbs.


The day after our tree trimming Brian and I had a Ward Council Christmas Party to attend. It was a white elephant party and I think it had the best white elephants I have ever seen. We took home this little, annoying guy. Yes, Brian took this from somebody. Actually it was being passed around because it came with a movie ticket. Well Macy loves this thing. She played with it none stop for 2 days. Her favorite part was using it to scare a friend (sorry Elodie I am trying to work on her manners).

The next night it was our turn to watch kids (we are doing this date night swap with some friends). I love to gingerbread houses so I thought it would be great to do it with the kids. Here is Macy and Kelsey's house. Actually Macy did most of it and loaded it up with candy. She is my daughter.


The very next day after church she asked if she could eat the house. Her and Kelsey ate all the candy in one swoop. Then it was on to the gingerbread. Macy didn't like that too much and Kelsey lost interest because the candy was gone. Then Macy saw the frosting. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her licking the roof. That wasn't getting enough frosting so she grabbed a spoon and tried to scoop it off.


After a little bit of this I gave her left over frosting on her spoon (she really is my daughter except for the fact that she doesn't like egg-nog like her dad). That way I could save the gingerbread from salivia so I could dip it in my milk later on in the week. In the end the house lasted less than a day and walls came crumbling down before the week was out.

Fun things to Remember from December

An update on Macy. So she is still a little under the weather, but the majority of groaning has stopped. She is happier and not so cranky. Thursday night did turn out to be long night. She got up once at 10:30 PM and then let me sleep until 3 AM. From 3 on it was not the best sleep. She likes to cry out for me and each time I am afraid she will wake Kelsey. At 5:30 AM she managed to wake up her sister. By this time she too was wide awake. She didn't need the bucket but made it into the toilet. Hallelujah! I am still not sure if the throwing up was because she was ill or if all the flem in her lungs and the way she will and won't cough caused some of the problem. She has been known to cough herself into throwing up. Enough of the gory details. The rest of us seem to be okay and may avoid it. (Knock on wood.)

I wanted to write a little more of our doings. The beginning of the week made me think we lived in Seattle. We were drizzly Monday, Tuesday, and I think Wednesday. I am not sure if the yard will dry out until spring comes. The rain had to be due to the fact that Brian washed the cars on Saturday. He hand-washed his and ran out of time so took mine through the car wash. I had to laugh because it is December and he went out in his swimsuit. Only in Arizona. I still wanted to laugh a little when it started raining on Monday and his car came home with spots. I refrained because I felt a little bad for his hard labor and was happy to have clean cars.

Today the girls went shopping for gifts for each other (We waited until today because they can't keep a secret). They got to go out with dad. The original plan was for Brian and I to take one of the girls and go at the same time, but both girls wanted nothing to do with me. They wanted to go shopping with dad. I don't mind. I like when they need and want me, but sometimes it is fun to see them be daddy's girls.

This month the girls have been busy with fun projects. (Some of the photos pulled in sideways and I am not sure why. Maybe tomorrow I will try to fix them.)

This is the gift Macy made for us at pre-school. I thought this was a great idea and keepsake. It is on a tile.

She also made a reindeer hat, a reindeer, and a pine cone Christmas tree complete with ornaments.

Kelsey made this cute little bag at a friend's house.

I have been busy too. One of my projects was making 16 ornaments for an ornament exchange party.

Here is what I made. I took a white writing pen and wrote "I Believe" all over the red ornament. Then I used a big, long ribbon to hang it on the tree (the ribbon idea was courtesy of Tai Pan in Utah). Mine was a fairly simple project. There were other ornaments that were more involved. I am posting pictures of some just in case I ever need ornament ideas or someone else goes to party like this.

This one is made out of a light bulb.

This one (above) was very intricate and I hear time consuming. It has about 200 straight pins in it.

This ornament was stamped and embossed.

In the picture above there are 3 homemade ornaments. The pine cone and star are mine. The black and white one you just saw. In the upper left there is a gold one and it has bead garland glued around a cork ball (my friend that made these also used Styrofoam balls depending on the garland color). The other ornament didn't turn out well in the picture but is really pretty. It is light blue. Glue was drizzled down the top and then dipped in tiny white and clear beads. It looks like snow or icicles.

This one has stickers on the outside of a snowflake and the word "peace". Inside was shoved big snowflake. I am not sure if this was also a sticker.

Of course there are more beautiful ornaments (I came home with 15 new ones), but I don't have time to display them all on my blog and group shots didn't work so well.

I Need Chocolate, Lots of Dark Chocolate

Today didn't start off so well. Macy woke up in her drama state. I wasn't sure if she was sick or in a bad mood. It took me an hour to get just her dressed and ready for school, but she went so I figured that she wasn't sick. From a comment of hers I thought the melodrama was because she wanted the middle seat and today was Elodie's turn (her friend we carpool with). But that was not the only reason for the drama. She came home and climbed into bed. I thought great, I am a terrible mother because I sent my child to school sick. Well Kelsey had a little friend over and they made sure she wasn't asleep. So Macy sat on the couch and watched movies for an hour. She finally used some words and said her head hurt (the biggest problem to getting to the root of things is that she doesn't use words to tell me what is wrong) . I pulled out the ibuprofen and whalla! She was normal.

Right before dinner the moaning was back. Macy ate something, so I am still not sure how sick she is. The good thing, no throwing up. So our plans for the evening remained the same. The family went to the lights at the temple. (I am getting spoiled. I don't think I can go to Temple Square in the winter again.) Of course I took the camera but no pictures were taken because we had the 2 happiest children there. They were not crying or bad, just not extremely warm and pleasant. The reasons: Macy was under the weather (but still wanted to see the lights) and neither of them napped. Kelsey took a 10 minute one on the way to the temple, but I don't think that counts.

Well now it is 8 PM and I have one crying in bed about her fingernail hurting (Kelsey) and the other that just spoke up to complain her tummy really hurts (I believe she is asleep now). I gave Macy a bucket and wished her luck (I did pat her head and tuck her in, all that I really could do) and told Kelsey I see nothing wrong with her nail. Honestly there is nothing on Kelsey's finger to indicate a problem except that she didn't want to go to bed.

As I finish this they have both fallen into a peaceful sleep, for now. So it is hot chocolate for me to gear up for a long night.

Caramel

Last night I made caramel, partly to add to make gifts and also because I had whipping cream that needed to be used before it expired. I made it a little more chewy than normal (a new candy thermometer). It is still edible, but cutting it today was a hard. I pushed so hard with my first finger's knuckle, palm side. (I don't know how to describe it. Something happened to my education. Must be having kids that have hurt my memory.) Anyways, I must have compressed a nerve or something because the tip of that finger is tingling and has been for the last 20 or so minutes. I slightly recall doing this before and the feeling did pass at some point.

Funny Quotes of the Trip

In the bathroom on our way to Thanksgiving, Macy looks at my stomach as I pull my pants up. She says, "Do you hit the baby?"
I tell her "No because it isn't very nice."
Then she starts to tap my belly and starts laughing because she is hitting the baby.

Kelsey has been into the nose picking and eating phase. After she had her sleep over with her cousin Jensen she tells that her buggers do taste like bubblegum (She has tried to convince Brian and I of this fact). The she tells the following story.
Kelsey: "Well last night in bed, Jensen took my bugger and ate it. And I wanted it, but she ate it."

Our Return Home from Thanksgiving

So I bet you are all dying to know what happened on our flight home. I wanted to keep you in suspense (really I have been doing Christmas stuff like Christmas letters, making cinnamon rolls, making ornaments, putting up a Christmas tree, making gingerbread houses, etc.).

Anyways it all began when we left my parents house at 6 PM. Because of traffic I was five minutes later than I wanted to be to pick up my in-laws (we were borrowing their truck). We get on our way at 6:30 ready to catch our 8:05 PM flight. Five minutes after we leave their house Kelsey starts whining that she needs to go potty and that she is going to wet her pants. I think we can push on so I tell her to hold it. Needless to say Kelsey keeps complaining that she is going to wet her pants. So we stop at a gas station five minutes from the airport and I run her in. Of course Macy claims she needs to go, but being the sweet mother that I am I tell her she has to wait because we have I flight to catch. I also let her know that I potty trained her and I know very well that she can hold it for 3 hours.

We make it to the airport, get to our gate and then I let Macy go to the bathroom. Of course I have to haul our 4 carry on bags into the bathroom and maneuver those around so I can use the restroom too (I have this thing about placing my bags on public bathroom floors). We get to board the plane when we come out of the bathroom. Almost all of the passengers are on the plane and we are settled. Then Macy says "I have to go to the bathroom." Kelsey says "me too". What!? We just went five minutes ago and the plane is getting ready to take off. After trying to talk them out of this I realize I am losing this battle so it was off for a 2 minute, very cramped potty break so we can be in our seat before the plane leaves.

The flight itself was uneventful. No potty breaks. I was not as fortunate during the descent. Macy starts complaining that she is going to throw up. Again being the kind mother I tell her to suck it up and she is not going to puke. She does not give up. So I tell her there is nothing I can do but give her this little white bag to throw up in (I didn't think she really would so I was mad about the drama right before we land, again.) She puts her face in it and starts coughing and heaving. I tell her to stop trying to make herself throw up. Then she throws up. Luckily in my meanness I gave her the bag and she was okay to put her face in it. I call for the flight attendant because there are no more bags on our row (we only had one) and I need some napkins. He comes but was unsure if her could get napkins because we are about to land. The guy was quick and did bring a bottle of water and napkins and a new bag. We landed. Macy was a little pail but okay. I am not sure if she is starting to develop motion sickness or if pigging out on gummy worms before the plane left Salt Lake had anything to do with it. Brian has been known to eat so many cinnamon bears that he has thrown up. I think he has done this to himself twice. The amazing thing is he still like those bears.

Anyways, we head to the baggage claim. Brian is a little behind because we got in a little early. I tell him not to come in because we can just grab our bags and walk out. Well then Kelsey says "I have to go potty. I am going to wet my pants." She was dancing around pretty bad and the bags were not there yet, so it is off to another restroom. By this time I am done. Brian is such a wonderful guy and so in touch (I hadn't told him of our adventures yet) that he came into the airport right after we finished in the bathroom. I think that saved my sanity because I knew if there was anything more to come before we got to the car I would have help.

Don't Can Your Butter

Scratch my earlier post on canning butter. Luckily a friend of a friend (who I have met) saw my post gave me some warning about such processes. She did her studies and BYU some of her professors there warned about ways which are called canning but in reality are not canning because they don't use the boiling water method or pressure canning. I did some of my own research and this is what I found about why this is not safe. Hopefully I haven't caused too many problems and no one will die from the information I passed around. The following reference came from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Should I use directions for canning butter at home that I see on the Internet?

Indeed, there are some directions for 'canning' butter in circulation on the
Internet. Most of what we have seen are not really canning, as they do not have
Boiling Water or Pressure Canning processes applied to the filled jar. Jars are
preheated, the butter is melted down and poured into the jars, and the lids are
put on the jars. Some directions say to put the jars in the refrigerator as they
re-harden, but to keep shaking them at regular intervals to keep the separating
butter better mixed as it hardens. This is merely storing butter in canning
jars, not ‘canning’. True home canning is when the food is heated enough to
destroy or sufficiently acid enough to prevent growth of all spores of
Clostridium botulinum (that causes botulism) and other pathogens during room
temperature storage on the shelf.

Additionally, when you consider the economics of the process (energy costs involved with heating, cost of jars and lids, etc.), even if the butter is bought on sale, it may not be economically viable to prepare butter to store for years in this manner. Good quality butter is readily available at all times, if butter is needed for fresh use. If the
concern is about emergency food supplies, there are dry forms of butter that can
be purchased and stored, oils that can be used in an emergency, or commercially
canned butter in tins (although we have only seen this for sale from other
countries). Melted and re-hardened butter may not function the same as original
butter in many types of baking anyway.

There are a few issues with the common directions circulating on the Internet at this time (Spring 2006):

1. Physical safety and food quality: In the provided directions, the jars are preheated in an oven (dry-heat), which is not recommended for canning jars. Manufacturers of canning jars do not recommend baking or oven canning in the jars. It is very risky with regard to causing jar breakage. There is no guarantee that the jars heated in this dry manner are sufficiently heated to sterilize them, as we do not have data on sterilizing jar surfaces by this dry-heating method.
2. The butter is not really being 'canned'; it is simply being melted and put in canning jars, and covered with lids. Due to some heat
   present from the hot melted butters and preheated jars, some degree of vacuum is pulled on the lids to develop a seal. It rarely is as strong a vacuum as you obtain in jars sealed through heat processing. The practice in these 'canned' butter directions is referred to as 'open-kettle' canning in our terminology,
   which is really no canning at all, since the jar (with product in it) is not
   being heat processed before storage.
3. Although mostly fat, butter is a low-acid food. Meat, vegetables, butter, cream, etc. are low-acid products that will support the outgrowth of C. botulinum and toxin formation in a sealed jar at room temperature. Low-acid products have to be pressure-canned by tested processes to be kept in a sealed jar at room temperature. It is not clear what the botulism risk is from such a high-fat product, but to store a low-acid moist food in a sealed jar at room temperature requires processing to destroy spores. A normal salted butter has about 16-17% water, some salt, protein, vitamins and minerals. Some butter-like spreads have varying amounts of water in them. We have no kind of database in the home canning/food processing arena to know what the microbiological concerns would be in a butter stored at room temperature in a sealed jar. In the absence of that, given that it is low-acid and that fats can protect spores from heat if they are in the product during a canning process, we cannot recommend storing butter produced by these methods under vacuum sealed conditions at room temperature.
4. Some other directions do call for 'canning' the filled jars of butter in a dry oven. This also is not 'canning'. There is not sufficient, research-based documentation to support that 'canning' any food in a dry oven as described on this web page or any page that proposes oven canning is even sufficient heating to destroy bacteria of concern, let alone enough to produce a proper seal with today's home canning lids.

In conclusion, with no testing having been conducted to validate these methods, we would NOT recommend or endorse them as a safe home-canning process, let alone
for storing butter at room temperature for an extended period. We do know that the methods given for preheating empty jars, or even filled jars, in a dry oven are not recommended by the jar manufacturers or by us for any food. Aside from the physical safety and quality issues, and the fact that it is not canning at all, if there happened to be spores of certain bacteria in there, these procedures will not destroy those spores for safe room temperature storage.

Why do I always do this?

I don't know why there are times when I let so much time lapse between posts. Whenever this happens I dread playing the catch up game, but I know that I will need help remembering the past some day (Today I might even need help remembering yesterday).

Saturday, November 22 Go Utes! We had friends over and watched the game. Luckily this game did not give me the ulcers I have become accustomed to in other games. Since Oregon St. lost over Thanksgiving weekend, we have our fingers crossed for Fiesta Bowl dreams. However, if this occurs I don't know where we will put everyone who has asked to stay with us. Anyone want to rent out some rooms?

Tuesday, November 25 - The girls and I flew up to visit family for Thanksgiving. We arrived really early so I dragged the laptop to airport so the girls could watch movie while we waited. I didn't really need it because by the time I got the entourage to Wendy's, then to the bathroom before we ordered, then back to the Wendy's line, ate dinner and got to our gate we were getting ready to board. I guess that is what happens when one adult and 2 kids have 1 purse, 1 laptop bag, 1 small carry-on suitcase, and 2 backpacks try to get through the aiprosrt. Brian says I made the backpacks too heavy. I claim I didn't put very much in them. It was cute to watch Kelsey struggle into the airport with the backpack that was bigger than her and her little suitcase.

Wednesday, November 26 - Brian flew in after work.

Thanksgiving - I ate too much delicious food. First stop was my parents for the traditional pull apart breakfast (okay we stayed at my parents but it was good eating). The next stop was my Uncle Dale's and then on to Brian's parents. My contribution to the meals was homemade rolls at my uncle's.

During the rest of the stay I continued to eat too much junk food. The girls did there part in the festivities by baking some cookies with Grandma Wendy.

They also helped put up the ornaments on her tree. JT had to help make sure all the ornaments didn't end up on the bottom. With him the girls don't need a ladder.

They also went to Grandma Lue's with my mom and I to help put up her Christmas decorations.

I did some Christmas shopping, but did not join in the door buster madness. Some years I will do this, but this year there was nothing I desperately needed to buy. We played some Ticket to Ride and did a little Wii fit (My brother wanted to weigh me again claiming I hadn't done this since July. I said not while I am pregnant.). I saw 3 movies. My family went to see Madagascar 2 (the kids are still singing "I like to move it, move it."). Brian and I went to see James Bond. My mom, sisters, brother, brother-in-law and my sister's boyfriend went to see Twilight. In my opinion James Bond was great. I liked it and it was worth my money. Twilight was okay. It could have waited for the dollar rental for me and then I wouldn't have cried to miss it. It wasn't bad. In fact as I watched it I realized some things I felt the author could have done to make the book more exciting. Edward's red lipstick was too much. I guess the movie just goes back to my theory that action/suspense movies are for the theater and all else can be seen at home.

Macy and Kelsey also got to have a sleep over with all the girl cousins at Brian's parent's home. We also made it out to visit our friend's the Hodlmairs.

Of course the girls had to love/torture my sister's dogs. My sisters live with my parents so of course Macy and Kelsey had full access to the dogs. The dogs actually would go into their kennel to try to escape.

Here they are taking the dogs for a walk so I guess it wasn't all torture.
Sunday, November 30 - Brian flew home.

Tuesday, December 2 - My adventure home with the girls. This one requires a post of it's own.

So Happy be-lated Thanksgiving!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

I couldn't help it. I put up half of my Christmas decorations yesterday. One of the reasons for this was because every year I try to do it all in one day. Half way through I lose steam and the fun starts to slowly wear off. By the end of the day I am through and usually everything is up but the house isn't clean. I thought maybe if I broke it up it wouldn't be so bad and the days I decorated I could still do other things. So far I think this was a great plan.

Disclaimer: I did find the Christmas CDs, but I have not started to play them yet.

Book Suggestions

I need something good to read over the Thanksgiving holiday. I am placing myself on vacation that week and I love to read on vacation. Any suggestions?

Appalling Events

Yesterday at the gym I was watching a little of the morning talk shows, the ones after the shows like the Today Show and Good Morning America. Anyways, I was in shock at a comment made. They were talking about a survey done of 2800 Shape magazine readers (too small a group for any serious scientific finding). They found out that 42% of the men have cheated on a significant other and that 41% of the women admit to cheating. Now this did not shock me as much as the comment that was made after sharing this news with us. One of the comments of made by the people on TV was along the lines of "I am glad that women are finally starting to stand up for themselves and not remain faithful since men don't." What? What is this person thinking? Dishonesty and infidelity are okay just because the opposite sex does it a lot more. That is such backward thinking. I don't think this person even equates cheating with dishonesty.

Then today I went and got my flu shot. I decided since I was getting on an airplane, I had better help my chances of not getting sick for the holidays. So I did my research I found a place to go. I went to my favorite urgent care (which is quickly dropping on the list because today it took me 50 minutes for the vaccine and there was only one person in front of me). They were $5 less than my co-pay would be if I went to my doctors and they are in the same shopping area as my gym. So I get there and of course the family that is in front of me is in because 2 of the kids are throwing up. There goes my plan to stay healthy. Kelsey is with me and in my mind I am praying that she doesn't try to play with the kids. Well the mom pulls out suckers for her kids and then trying to be nice she asks if Kelsey can have one. What do I say? She is trying to be nice but all I can think about is the germs that are all over her hand that is holding the sucker and then Kelsey putting it close to her mouth and touching the stick. I am sure she didn't even think through what she was doing. So I did what any mother would do (okay what I would do). I replied, "She is okay she just had a sucker." Which was completely true. It was the last piece of Halloween candy and I was glad it was gone. But the lady just looked at me. I am not sure if she didn't hear me (I was kind of quiet) or if she couldn't believe I was saying no. So I accepted the sucker. Kelsey better not get sick.

Starving, Do You Know What that Means?

Macy is so proud of her new word. She uses it all the time and I mean all of the time. She really starts to use it around 4 PM.

It usually starts out like this: "Mom, I'm starrrving. Do you know what that means?"

Me: "What does it mean?"

Macy: "It means really hungry so I am starrrving."

She will continue to tell me she is starving until dinner.

One day I changed up my answer. When she got finished with the "I'm starving" I said "I know you are hungry and I will get dinner in a minute." In a shocked expression she replied "You do know what it means." I am one smart mom.

The Top 3 Worst Items to Shop For

I have been doing a little shopping lately and have realized there are 3 things I usually hate to buy. In no particular order (because they all tie for first in my book) they are: swim suit shopping, bra shopping, and maternity shopping.

For most women spring brings the dreaded start of swimsuit shopping season. It seems that no matter what the scale says or the tape measure reads, many feel inadequate. Maybe it is because there is less and less cloth to the swimsuit each year.

And bra shopping. Every time I have to go shopping for this item I end up trying on millions of these. I have a general idea of my size, so I start with that. Each one fits a little different so besides my standard size, I usually have to try on the same style but one band size up and one cup size larger or go the opposite direction. I end up trying on more bras to get to the final purchase than I try on shirts to get to one I like. And a bra is worn underneath the clothes so no one sees it anyways. The last complaint about this is what if I don't like it any more after I have worn it for 12 straight hours, then I am back to the drawing board. I did get around this for a time by buying the same exact bra for a year or two until it was discontinued.

I hate maternity shopping. It reminds me that I am getting larger around the middle (and yes I know it is for a good purpose, but still no one enjoys extra poundage). It is hard to find affordable, good looking clothes. Right now everything feels like a tent, but wearing normal clothes produces bulges that make it look like my clothes are too tight in the mid-section. It is also a difficult purchase because you wear them for such a short time. I would rather spend my money on clothes I can wear when I am back to my normal size and get good use out of them. Just the other day I went out for the purpose of finding clothes and I spent the majority of the time gazing in store windows and longing to buy the cute normal clothes. Such is the dilemma. I think I will go with some plain long sleeve t-shirts and a couple of sweaters/jackets that can be thrown over the top when I step out of my house. And if you notice me wearing something out of style or over and over again, just know it is because I am saving up for an after party shopping spree.

Now some may say jeans could be another difficult category, but on my list it makes the number 2 spot.

The Kind of Mother I am

Yesterday afternoon as I was walking into the gym I noticed these are the outfits my girls are wearing. They picked out their own attire. Macy's is fine except for the fact that she wore that same shirt the day before and we had visited the gym the day before too. Kelsey started out the day with a pair of jeans, but an hour after dressing she found her favorite skirt and changed. I was a little embarrassed as I walked through the doors but quickly got over it and just chuckled because that is the type of mother I am.

This picture also shows you a little about my kids. Macy is goofy for pictures and Kelsey won't smile. She will say cheese but no grin.

*Warning the next part is not funny and is only for those who want to know me as a mom. You might even find it appalling and not worth reading. So you can make a choice to stop reading here or continue on. It won't hurt my feelings one bit. Just remember this is for my posterity so don't judge too harshly.*

It is often that my kids pick out their own clothes and I try to persuade them to be a little more fashionable, but really it doesn't matter to me (most of the time). I have also been known to take my kids places with food all over their mouth. I usually notice this after we are get somewhere and I don't carry wipes anymore so that is how it has to be. (I don't use my own spit to clean their faces. If I use spit it is their own.) Their hair isn't ever really fancy, but then take a look at mine not always the latest and greatest. And who has time for bows, besides my girls don't ever leave them in. To be honest I know their have been a couple of times that we ended up at the gym and I had forgotten to at least comb their hair. Since I am being so honest, I am grateful that Macy hardly ever wants her hair done all cutsy. Baths are every other day and sometimes every 2 days so we hit bath time on a Saturday because that is the day to get ready for Sunday. My kids will sometimes strip down after dinner and be in a shirt and underwear or pants and underwear. I am just happy they are not getting another article of clothing dirty. My kids also don't have a set bedtime. It is a general time frame and depends on several factors including my mood and how they are acting. I didn't work with Macy on knowing her alphabet or writing her name before going to preschool. She has learned that all at school. I also don't do regular play dates or take them to the park on a regular basis. I get too busy worrying about all that I have to do to schedule that stuff in (which is not a good trait, but I am working on it because I understand that time goes by too fast). I don't mind leaving my kids for vacations or to go on a date night, I never have. But I am always happy to come back to them. All these things add up to the type of mother that I am.

There are some things I feel that I am good at. They brush their teeth morning and night. They get stories and scriptures every night. I try to feed them whole grains on most days, throw in fruits at breakfast and lunch, and serve vegetables for lunch and dinner (this has been slipping lately but I try). I am not opposed to treats, anyone who has seen my sweet tooth can attest to that, but I try to limit their treats, including fruit snacks, during the day (Halloween has thrown this out the window). It doesn't really bother me when someone else gives them treats. My main reasons for not serving treats are: 1. I hope they don't become addicted like me. 2. They get plenty of sugar in their diet. 3. I don't like to spend my grocery budget on them. They can get expensive because Brian loves treats and helps reduce supplies. 4. I am the biggest culprit at reducing treat supplies. There is very little that I won't eat and I am so bad that when I buy candy I hide it and eat it all without their knowledge. I am a bad example of limiting sugar. I also try to be careful of sodium and fast food restaurants. I try to limit their TV/movie watching. But again I am not real picky about things such as this. I may seem a little healthy extreme, but really I am pretty laid back about everything and it doesn't bother me if things are not done the same way I do them. So I have no problem having other people watch my kids and never get upset if they do things differently with my kids. I would call myself more laid back than strict. These different attitudes also make up who I am.

There are times when I look at other moms and wish that I dressed my kids as cute or knew how to do hair like that. Sometimes I wish that I would take more time to spend with my kids (remember I am working on that) and do the regular park thing. But I am also coming to the reality that every woman is different and has her own ideas and attitudes about things and that doesn't make me wrong or right. In my mind I may not seem like the perfect mom, but I am doing my best and so is everyone else. Every mom needs to pick and choose the things that are needful, what are wantful, and what is worth the time. Hopefully I will choose wisely and make adjustments where necessary and laugh off anything that doesn't fit the idea of perfect.

PS I mainly wrote this so one day my kids will have an idea of the kind of mother I was at this time in my life.

PPS I also wrote it so that I would feel better when people saw my kids in crazy outfits and dirty faces.

The Placebo Effect

Well Macy was sick for a bit this weekend. After the temple we came home and Macy started to complain slightly that she didn't feel good. Of course I took it with a grain of salt and payed little attention. She was still playing for heaven's sake. I took off for the afternoon and got home just before I had to pick up the babysitter. Macy was worse, but still was not so bad that I didn't get the babysitter. Luckily our date was an early night. Macy wasn't the best for the babysitter and did some crying. The kids told me that the babysitter even gave her a bath to help her feel better.

Brian and I arrived home and put the kids to bed and started to watch a movie. Macy then started really moaning. She was even moaning in her sleep. Then she started waking up every ten minutes. We couldn't watch a movie like this and I didn't know what to do. It was her stomach and as far as I know there is no kid medication for upset stomach. She did have a slight fever so I thought ibuprofen (thinking this might help with the aches too). Five seconds after she drank it, Macy responds "I feel better now. My tummy doesn't hurt." She lays down and is out and we were able to finish our movie.

Brian had a bet that she would throw up before midnight. He lost. It was 2 AM. Luckily she is old enough that we had placed a bucket by her. She hit it several times. I felt bad because most of it was dry heaving. One time she didn't grab the bucket in time, but that is okay because I only had to change the sheets once. She was also so much better than how she used to be when she would wake up sick in the middle of the night. Some of the drama has gone away and she is a little more pleasant and understands a bit more.

The stomach sickness lasted until 5 AM. Church was out of the question so the girls and I slept in. When Macy woke up, she was completely better. She even wanted to go to church. You would never have guessed she had been sick that night. I was very grateful.

Tree Planting at the Temple

Saturday morning we took our kids to the temple grounds. It was our stakes turn to help out on the grounds. As part of this project the all the kids in the primary earned and donated money to help buy 10 trees (one for each ward) to plant on the Mesa temple grounds. Saturday was the day of the tree planting. It seemed that almost every family in the stake were there (I felt bad for the bride and groom that were trying to take pictures because I don't know if there was any place without people). The kids each got to take a turn in digging the hole for the tree. It was funny to watch the 8 and 9 year olds try to break through the ground on the first few shovel loads. They tried to do what they had seen their dads do. They would jump on the shovel but did not have the body weight to have any impact. Eventually they got it going. Each of the kids took a turn at digging, some took a couple. Of course Macy wouldn't help out. She is shy when there are too many people around. After awhile they turned the digging over to the fathers or it could have been another hour.

The hope for this experience is that as the kids grow older and they visit the temple they will be able to remember the tree they helped buy and plant and have a desire to see it often.

Sorry there are no pictures but I am not a good photography mom and again didn't even think to bring my camera. If anyone has any pictures of my family, I would love a copy so we can remember this event.

Its a ...

So the polling is over with and the verdict is in. The majority wins. There is no doubt about it. We are having a boy. I thought for sure it would be a girl. This just proves you should listen when your little ones speak. Macy has said it was a boy the entire time, lately it has been two boys so she was wrong there. I told Brian this means that we have to paint the play room. Brian said "or he can get in touch with his feminine side early on." By the way the original owners painted the room pink and yellow.

Funny Things Said

Kelsey has been making some pretty funny statements lately. Some of the best were when we had visitors.

The night of the trunk-or-treat and after Macy told her about the gifts Emily brought Kelsey said the evening prayer and here are two things she asked for.

"Bless that Emily and poppy can give me candy."
"Bless that I can have more presents."

On another night she had a mint from restaurant. She accidentally swallowed it too soon and was a little upset. She said "My mint swallowed me."

On Halloween night Macy was unbuckling Kelsey from her car seat. Kelsey was so happy with the nights festivities. She looked up and Macy and said, "I love you Macy. I love you." It was the sweetest thing ever. At that moment in her life there was nothing wrong and she was completely happy.

Happy Birthday Kelsey

Another big event of the past couple of weeks was Kelsey's third birthday. Like Halloween it was celebrated over a bunch of days and she enjoyed every minute of it. Aunt Emily brought presents with her from all her aunts and uncle. Of course Macy found them and couldn't keep quiet about the presents, so Kelsey opened them a week early because she couldn't wait. Then Grandma Wendy and Poppy DeVon's present arrived by UPS. It arrived too late in the evening to open, so it was opened as soon as she woke up the next morning. They sent her a box of dress up clothes and she was in heaven. From that day on she kept talking about presents she was going to get.

Grandma Carol came to visit right after that and she took Kelsey out shopping for clothes and her Sleeping Beauty dress (her other Halloween costume). Kelsey is in love with her new shirt and pants and of course is happy about a new dress up dress.

Sunday we celebrated her birthday and she couldn't wait for more presents. We had told her that she could open them after church, so the minute we walked in the door she was ready. We had to make her wait because dad had to attend some meetings. Within this time Macy pretty much gave away every present. Macy is terrible at keeping secrets. Earlier in the week she told Kelsey that I was giving her a Fancy Nancy dress. Knowing this weakness of Macy I waited until Saturday to take Macy shopping for her gift to Kelsey. My one slip up was letting her help wrap. She knew every gift. So Sunday at lunch Macy mentioned every gift. As they were eating an apple Macy took a bite and said "This is kind of like Gezel on the Enchan... (covering her mouth) oh, we can't say that." Then Kelsey repeated her saying "This is just like Enchanted." Macy looked at me with wide eyes and shock and said "we can't say that". Then Macy walked over to the pile of gifts and picked up the movie and shook it and said "This looks like a princess movie." I can't remember how she mentioned the puzzle, but I know she did. All I can say is that it is a good thing Kelsey is only 3 and didn't really get it when Macy gave away each surprise.

Later that night we had cake and ice cream. She wanted a purple Ariel cake. I am not much a a decorator so I made a white cake and made if purple with food coloring. Since I was making it and she was too little to care, I chose chocolate frosting and wrote with purple frosting. I was going to put her new Ariel figurines on the cake, but of course I couldn't find them. She was just happy is was purple and was even happier when I agreed to put sprinkles all over the cake.

This is her in her Fancy Nancy skirt.

This video clip is of Kelsey sharing her new toys. I guess now that she is three the skill of sharing is a thing of the past. I swear the fighting over items as increased and it mainly stems from Kelsey and then Macy seeking revenge.

I am not the mom that throws birthday parties every year, but when Macy turned 3 I called some of her friends to come play that day. I let them sing Happy Birthday to her and eat left over cake and ice cream. This worked out well because it was very casual which is what a 3 year old needs. I decided to do the same for Kelsey except she has a regular play group on Wednesdays and it happened to be my turn. So for play group Kelsey and her two friends colored princess crowns, played dress up, played with balloons, sang Happy Birthday and of course had ice cream and cake.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Halloween

I figured I better get to this because grandparents are waiting to see these pictures.

The first Halloween celebration was our ward Fall Festival and trunk-or-treat. And lucky for Emily she was here for the event too. The night couldn't have been better. It was cool enough to wear long pants and a jacket. So it actually felt a little like fall. Dinner was served outside in the parking lot and it was homemade chili and apples with caramel dip. They had a few little carnival games for the kids. What amazed me the most was a lot of people actually decorated their trunks. The best one had to be a couple that dressed up in flashy 70s attire so for their trunk decoration they set up a disco floor. They brought the frame to an awning and had a disco ball hanging from it. Then they had laid out a large square sheet of vinyl flooring for the dance floor. From their car radio they had music playing so the kids could come and dance (and even some adults). Besides decorating trunks, someone made a little spook alley with a strobe light and people hiding. Macy and Kelsey were brave enough to ask to go through it a second time (as long as they were holding our hands). I was amazed because it wasn't a dorky spook alley.Above is a picture of our little Ariel at the trunk-or-treat. She looked so cute in this costume.

Here is Macy in here Abby-Cadabby costume. The character is from Sesame Street if you are wondering. She saw this costume in September and had to have it. I waited until October to buy it thinking I was good, but alas she only wore this costume that night. I wasted $30 on it. I doubt if Kelsey will ever have any desire to wear it.

Here is Macy with her vampire teeth she won at one of the carnival games. She loved these teeth and wore them all the next day. She also won a set of ugly buck teeth, but that picture wasn't as cute. She didn't mind putting those teeth in either.

At the festival Macy noticed that she only had one box of Dots and Kelsey had two. So she asked Kelsey if she could have a box because she only had one. Of course Kelsey understood her reasoning. After they went to bed Brian did his candy tax and took one of Macy's boxes. She was so upset the next morning. Brian was already at the church for meetings so she wanted to call him on the phone. I told her she would have to leave a message. Well Brian thought the call might be important so he stepped out of his meeting only to get an ear full from Macy. She completely yelled at him for a couple of minutes. This was not what Brian was expecting. I was definitely laughing on the inside and I am sure it showed through to the outside.

Macy's second celebration was her school party. So above is her in a new costume. It actually came from Kelsey's birthday present my parents had sent. Kelsey opened the present the day before Macy's party and from then on Macy was not going to wear the Abby costume. It was a little small for her (bare mid-riff) so I told her she couldn't wear it on Halloween and that is how we got the third costume.

Halloween night I made the traditional chili. When it came time to getting dressed there was another costume change. Macy had to wear her Snow White costume from last year. I figured Halloween was for the kids and it was an easy change so we went with Snow White without arguments. Kelsey had a costume change herself. She had asked her Grandma Carol for a Sleeping Beauty dress for her birthday. The gift was purchased the day before Halloween and she wore it non-stop. So of course this was her costume of choice. Again an easy change and a cute costume.

The girls had a great time trick-or-treating. By the end their buckets were too heavy to carry and they couldn't wait to get home to eat their treasure. The minute they got home Macy was trading Kelsey candy she didn't want for the candy she did want. I have to watch her because after the trunk-or-treat Macy managed to snag some of Kelsey's candy for herself and quickly Kelsey's bucket was empty while Macy had several pieces left. She is no dummy and never stole it. She always asked Kelsey for this piece or that and Kelsey would always say yes. So I have monitored and I Macy has been pretty good about eating her own and at least swapping for better pieces instead of just taking.

Oh yes, Macy had to wear flip-flops to go trick-or-treating. No cute church shoes to match the costume. That would be unheard of.

Why

There are three things I am ask myself "why?" Why is it that my children always decide to do the number 2 business when I am in the middle of a meal or in the shower? They may be finished but usually I am just beginning (they eat as I dish the food). These are the times I wish their arms were long enough to take care of themselves, the coordination was there, and the understanding of what they are doing was complete. Alas I have to put my fork down and be the mom. In my mind I sit and wish this upon them when they have children of their own. Brian says that is not very nice but I am sure almost every mother has wished certain things to come around to their grown child.

Why do my kids suddenly have to go to the bathroom once we have been in a store for about 15 minutes or when they see a store restroom?

My other why is "why do I have all my energy in the morning, start losing steam around lunch, get cranky late in the afternoon, and am exhausted the minute bedtime rolls around?" I don't get this, especially when I have done very little in regards to manual labor. There was a point before children that my ambitions to accomplish something after dinner were possible. Those days are gone. After dinner all I want to do is put my feet up. So I will add my ambitious task of finding room for my food storage and putting it away for tomorrow. If it doesn't get done in the morning, it might not happen until Saturday.

Grandma and Grandpa Came Next

The fun didn't stop when Emily flew home out because grandma and grandpa flew in the same night she left. The kids were in heaven. They absolutely love having family around.

With grandma and grandpa we got to go birthday shopping for Kelsey which of course led to a little gift for each of the girls. I figure this is a grandparents prerogative. I just wish Macy wouldn't whine to get what she wants (I wasn't buying her anything so she started the whining). Then it was off to find some pumpkins to carve, but it was getting late and no naps. The first place we stopped I thought was a particular pumpkin patch. It wasn't the right place and the only pumpkins they had left were the large ones. Of course the girls found the tiny "baby" pumpkins so those were purchased. Then it was off to Walmart and then dinner. Well Walmart was completely sold out of carving pumpkins. So grandma bought a painted one and we called it good on the pumpkin carving this year.

Other fun things with grandma and grandpa included lunch at Dairy Queen, a trip to Arizona Mills (along with throngs of other people on a Saturday), enjoying dinner on the patio in the nice weather, trick-or-treating, celebrating Kelsey's birthday and playing several games of hearts. I didn't win any of them but came close the last time. If I had won that would have been history in the making, but of course Brian managed to beat me. We also tried a new breakfast and lunch place called the Farmhouse Grill. It was delicious. I had some of the best restaurant eggs ever and Brian can't stop thinking about the grilled potatoes. We highly recommend this place.

Auntie Em

For the past 2 weeks you could find a lot of excitement and fun at our house. The first big round of excitement came when Aunt Emily flew in for a visit. She had a conference to attend for work. She arranged to fly in a couple of days before so she could hang out with us a bit more. When she arrived she had even more excitement for Macy. Her flight was a little late because a plane in front of hers sucked a bird into its engine on the runway. Macy thought that was a neat story and wants to hear about it the next time it happens.

The first stop for us was the zoo. There was supposed to be a lot of fun Halloween things going on like feeding the animals a special treat in jack-o-lanterns. Well none of us could follow a schedule nor find the exhibits we wanted (we are not regular zoo goers yet, however we did win a free year membership so I think we will try to use it more than this one time). So we only saw left over jack-o-lanterns that the animals didn't play with any more. We still had a good time because we bought a purple and a red snow cone and the girls got to ride the merry-go-round and the girls didn't have to walk (we dusted off the strollers).
We made sure Emily tried our favorite restaurant, Joe's Real BBQ. She also had to go to our ward trunk-or-treat. Macy and Kelsey were so excited that she got to take them around to each trunk. The girls got to see her hotel room and thought it was the best playroom. Vacationing in a hotel with them will be scary. We might have to prolong this experience. We also made sure she saw a lot of downtowns. Our adventures took us to downtown Tempe, Old town Gilbert, Downtown Mesa and the temple, Old town Scottsdale and the Great and Spacious Building (aka Scottsdale Fashion Mall), and also downtown Phoenix. Most of these were driving adventures but adventures nonetheless. On the way out of downtown Phoenix we even saw Play World. This was an adult store or club (not sure because we didn't stop this time) that welcomed couples. I thought that was a little out of the ordinary. Maybe Brian and my next date night :)

Don't Forget to Vote

Today is election day. Make your voice be heard. Do your research, ponder the topics and candidates, and then make the selection you feel is the best choice for you and your family. This is your right and responsibility as a US citizen.



While you are at it, take a minute and vote on whether you think we are having a boy or a girl. We find out on Friday so you only have a few short days.

Tagged

I was tagged and am finally getting around to doing this. I asked Macy these questions and here are her answers. I am not sure she understood what I asked her.

1. What is something mom always says to you? "To not do stuff"
2. What makes mom happy? “By not hitting my sister and not eating candy unless you say I can."
3. What makes mom sad? “By not doing stuff that is not right. You do not get into candy until mom says you can."
4. How does your mom make you laugh? “Mmm. I don't know. By making us happy."
5. What was your mom like as a child? “You used to get into stuff."
6. How old is your mom? counting on her fingers, "9"
7. How tall is your mom? “I don't know.”
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "I don't know"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "clean up the house"
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "I don't know."
11. What is your mom really good at? "I don't know. I can't answer these questions. I don't know how"
12. What is your mom not very good at? “basketball"
13. What does your mom do for her job? “to do chores”
14. What is your mom's favorite food? "macaroni and cheese"
15. What makes you proud of your mom? "By being happy"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "care bear"
17. What do you and your mom do together? "watch a movie as a family"
18. How are you and your mom the same? "I don't know."
19. How are you and your mom different? "By different names"
20. How do you know your mom loves you? "The Macy"

What a Compliment

Tonight was a stake Laurel & Priest activity (16 to 18 years old girls and boys in my church). As the laurel advisor I went mainly so I could drive girls to the activity because we discourage them from driving to activities for safety reasons. Well I only had one girl in my car, Vanessa, and when we got to the park she saw some of her male friends. Not wanting to be in the way I slipped on over to the rest of the leaders across the field and let her make her way with her friends. Later on when I drove Vanessa home she told me that after I left, her male friends wanted to know who her friend was. She kind of laughed and said "you mean my advisor?" They thought I looked too young to be a leader.

I was so excited to come home and tell Brian that his pregnant wife received a compliment like that.

Oh the things they say and do

Kelsey has been getting in trouble for using potty words. She would say them to make her sister laugh and she would say them as a way of name calling. On Saturday night Kelsey got mad at me and shouts "You potty word, mom". At least she has stopped using them.

On Sunday Macy showed her very discreet nature. During Sacrament Meeting, she sat on Brian's lap. All of the sudden she gets this disgusted look on her face and she starts pushing away from Brian saying "Eww, gross. Your breath really stinks." She tries to sit back but immediately does the same thing saying "Your breath stinks bad" and pushes herself off Brian and gets as far away as she can from him. Now mind you Macy's whisper is really her regular voice down, maybe, just a notch. I believe this took place during the Sacrament hymn, so a time when everyone is being really reverent and quiet. Brian was just waiting for her to shout it out because that is what follows at home. She must have gotten away quick enough. Note: Brian did snag himself a piece of gum afterwards. I didn't have any mints or gum in my own purse, but I think I might start carrying them to avoid my child embarrassing me.

Sometimes People Say it Better Than Me

My friend, Ashley, from California wrote a wonderful post about why she is voting for the marriage proposition in her state. I think it is applicable to Arizona and it follows my same sentiment. She gives all the same reasons that I am voting yes to proposition 102 here in Arizona.

Laundry Tip #1 & 2

If you leave the clean laundry in the baskets for a week, you will have less to fold. Of course you may spend more time digging in the morning. Besides does it really matter if socks and under garments are wrinkled. And another thing do socks and undergarments really wrinkle.

If you leave clean sheets in the hamper, you never have to fold them. Just swap the old for the new and start the process all over again. No one better be seeing if your sheets are wrinkled besides you and your spouse. And after sleeping in them once, no more wrinkles.

These tips seem to be followed more easily on busy weeks.

News Flash

I just saw a gas station with prices below $3. Of course it was $2.99 and 9/10ths so pretty much 3, but I saw a 2. What is with the 9/10ths? Is it so that it is easier to calculate the gallons more precisely or is it someone mind trick for the little folk? In no other industry could you get away with charging a percentage. Can you imagine going to the counter of a clothing store and the total is $31.07 and 1/2. Would you round up or down? What do you do when you go to the gas station and somehow magically hit exactly 1 gal? Do you ask for a 1/10th credit? Weird!

Silly Kids

Kelsey has found a new phrase she likes to use. "Well... Dad said so." She will ask for something and I will say no and that is what she replies. He will have been at work all day and she still gives me that excuse. I just say "Well... Dad isn't around." Sometimes I throw in there "you haven't even asked your dad."

Melodrama. Macy is a little melodramatic. Yesterday a bug bit her and so of course it itched this morning. I used some anti-itch stuff but that doesn't always work. So for 5-10 minutes she is rolling on the ground, rubbing her leg on the carpet, and crying and moaning about how it still itches. She gets this way when she is sick too. It is so very pleasant for a mom who is supposed to be compassionate. Sometimes I want to say buck up. Okay, I think I have before but it doesn't work.

Last night she decided to play with a knife while I was on the phone. She got a minuscule cut and came in here crying. The problem was I had just used the last band aid on a real cut. She was crying ouch, ouch, ouch. I am sure the YM president, who I was on the phone with, thought I was a heartless mom when he overheard me tell her to be quiet and she shouldn't have been playing with a knife and that it wasn't that bad. After the phone call I informed her that we had no more band aids because bleeding sore can have band aids and that makes everything wonderful again. Wrong choice. More melodrama came from her vocal chords. Well I looked at her hands and realized that most of the pain was due to the fact that her hands were filthy. So I sent her into the bathroom to wash. This time she came back in fake crying and screaming because she couldn't find the cut anymore. I tried to tell her this was a good thing because it meant it was gone. She just cried some more and kept looking over both her hands trying to find it because it was awful for that the cut disappeared.

Another melodramatic moment came several months ago when she asked what the hard part was on her elbow. The answer was a bone. She got mad and wanted me to take the bone out. She didn't want any bones. I tried to explain that we needed our bones and that I couldn't take it out. She didn't believe me and then the drama came. Over the course of a days she asked me about leg bones, arm bones and back bones getting upset each time that I couldn't get rid of them. She didn't want bones and would cry and moan each time. Finally she has accepted the fact that she has bones and there is nothing we can do about it. Occasionally she will ask about a bone but there is no more drama.

Last Week

Three important events took place last week. The first was we cooled off into the high 70s over the weekend. At night the low was around 54 degrees. It was great to awake wrapped up in blankets and not have our air conditioner turn on for two whole days.

This weather made one of the other events blissful. On Saturday we put in our winter lawn. For those of you who don't know but the perennial grass that grows here can't take cold or frosts so it goes dormant in the winter. I don't mind this because this perennial is called Bermuda and it is such an awful grass. It isn't soft and comfortable to sit on and it is the worst weed I have ever seen. You should see the strangling runners it sends out. Anyways, so we can have green lawn in the winter we scalp the lawn and put rye seed down. This rye grass is so green and is the softest grass. I love to just go outside and lay on this blanket of nature. I can't wait for it to start growing. We did do it a little differently this year so we hope it grows. To save time and money we did not cover it with a compost or mulch. Some people have said that it is not necessary so we tried it. Besides golf courses don't do this step. The problem is I think it give the birds easier access to the seed and we have flocks on it every time I turn around. It is the girls job to chase the birds away.

The other event was a fun murder mystery party my friend Carri and I hosted. I let everything in my life go to pot to work on my costume and do things for the party, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Because of this lack of chores I am playing catch up this week. (I guess that is not entirely true. The weather was so nice on Monday and Tuesday that I took the kids to the park all day on Monday and for a couple of hours on Tuesday and that threw things off too.)

Carri did such a great job of writing about our party that I will just link you to her post if you want to read more and check out all the wonderful costumes. It was really fun and I would recommend this type of party to anyone. The only problem is that you are limited to the number of guests you can invite which is dependent upon the package you buy. As a side note, we have always purchased a clean version of a murder mystery. We don't really want to find out what the normal version entails because the clean ones still involve some affairs, obviously a murder, blackmail, and bribery. Just nothing graphic. For instance, at the party my husband was not Brian but at least I was interested in Brian.

Of course I forgot to get a picture of my whole costume, so a sideways shot will have to do. Poor Brian was made fun of all night for his small guns. We borrowed some kid ones from a friend. Everyone else seemed to find larger ones.

Confessions

A couple of weeks ago I lied in church to a friend and this was no white lie. Does it count that I had a good excuse? During Sunday School I had to get up and leave in the middle of the lesson because of a bad stomach pain. I went and used the restroom and one the way back I saw a friend in the hall. I mentioned to her that I was debating about returning because I didn't want to have to walk in front of all those people again. She asked if I was pregnant because that is why women usually have to use the bathroom so often and would have to leave in the middle of class instead of waiting until the end. I laughed and said no it was because I forgot to go before class when my kids went and I really had go. That was my lie (I was able to come up with that on the spot, how bad is that?). I am pregnant, but I hadn't told any family yet and felt bad for letting it leak before I told my mom. I also worry about miscarriage. I don't want to have to tell everyone the sad news. Brian thinks I am funny for waiting so long before sharing the news.

Who knows why I had a bad stomach pain that day. I might have been sick with a little virus (Brian was sick for a week) or it could have been the slowing of my digestive system because of the pregnancy and it being my third. The body starts to remember more quickly with each child.

To some this third child just proves that Macy is the boss of our home. Ever since July she has been commenting about how small our family is and that she needs another brother or sister. In Utah she comes up to me and says "we need a boy baby" right in front of everyone. Sometimes she counts each member (which totals 4) and says we need more kids, sometimes she is specific and says we need 2 boys because we only have one boy and three girls. These moments have not been rare. To calm any fears out there, we are in control of the family. I think she is just a little more in touch with the pre-mortal and knew someone would be coming soon. I think she also was the answer to tell us that we had made the correct decision. Of course I might have to put my foot down if she says something about 12 kids.

When asked what the girls want, a boy or a girl, Kelsey says "a princess baby" and Macy says a boy because of the logistics of everything being even. We will see how in tune she really is.

For those wanting to know the details: I am 13 1/2 weeks along, so just starting the second trimester. The due date is April 10th, right before Macy's birthday. She won't let us forget that. Because of this she thinks her birthday is almost here.

Our Week in a Nutshell

Well it has been over week again, but it has been a great week. It even cooled off for us this weekend. Below is a picture of the pumpkin Macy made and painted at school this week. She was so excited to bring it home and show us.

Last Sunday at church our Primary (children ages 3-12) put on a program about what they have learned this year. Macy loves to sing and has been practicing the songs for weeks. During family home evening she has to lead the music(because she is the boss and divides out the assignments) and when she does she imitates the primary chorister. She tries to do all the actions to remind us of the words. It is really cute. She uses a plant stand as the music stand and finds the right song in the Primary song book by looking at the pictures that accompany some of the songs. Obviously she is not always on the right page but she doesn't know that. Anyways, she had her part memorized and we tried to build up her confidence so she would go up in front of the congregation. Up until this point she has not sung with the other kids when they sang on mother's day or father's day. She is so nervous about being in front of large groups. I have also given a talk, a scripture, and a prayer in primary this year. Macy has hidden behind my legs each time. Maybe next year. So Sacrament meeting came and I asked an older friend of hers to help her go up front. That didn't work. She wouldn't go with Shea. I was so sad because I didn't think she would go and I as a mother had been waiting for this day. Finally she agreed to go up if I walked her to the front. Of course most of the kids were in place by this time and I was afraid I would have to sit on the stand or there might be a melt down. Luckily her courage kicked in and half way there she ran to her place. She sang every song and did not embarrass her parents. She didn't smile either, but neither did any of the other kids her age. I was so proud of her. Maybe next year I won't have to give a talk in primary.

This week my friend Carri and I got together to plan a Halloween party. Last year she did it all and she did a murder mystery. We had so much fun that we wanted to do it again this year. Because of the date we could do it we had to rush some things, so we put together and confirmed a guest list and then I assigned the characters (a fun task at times and not so fun at others, in fact my husband for the night is not Brian). After that I had to rush to get the invitations out so people could have some time to put together their costume. Monday Carri and I are getting together to hammer out the details. We are so excited.

This week the girls and I went to lunch with a bunch of friends. I always have a great time because I get some adult conversation time.

Friday night Brian and I went out on a date and Macy and Kelsey went to a friend's house. We are doing a babysitting swap with some friends. I think the kids really enjoy it. I know Brian and I enjoyed it and we are hoping our wallet enjoys it. We like to go out once a week just the two of us and that can get a little pricey.

Yesterday was a big day. I spent all day canning peaches. My friend Lara and I decided we could do this if we did it together. We are both trying real hard to get our food storage in order. We ordered 3 boxes of peaches from Utah (they are soooo good) and washed out our jars and met at 9 AM. We finished 46 quart jars at 4:40 PM. Not too bad for a full days work.

Brian kindly took care of the kids all day and what a dad he was. He painted the girls fingernails and their toenails. He got the lunch and dinner. I think the best part for Macy was when he gave them their new power wheels. He has been dying to give them one for I don't know how long. We didn't want to give it to them on a particular birthday because joint ownership would never happen. So this week I happened to do some looking on Craigslist and found the perfect used one. We picked it up as part of our date night.

Macy loves it. Kelsey not so much. Her dislike or fear may come from the fact that Macy ran her down two times. I don't know how long Macy was on it with dad, but during the priesthood session of General Conference she made us go out again and she rode it for another hour until I said we had to stop and run an errand. Kelsey during this time picked flowers and played with some magnet dolls (the new paper doll). Macy likes to go fast, skid the tires and drive it off the curb (Brian had to tell her to stop doing this). Do we see some more differences in personality?

I Deserve a Break

I felt like giving myself a pat on the back so I am writing this post. I had set aside this day to clean. It had a rough start. I felt like it took forever before I could get myself ready for the day. I think this happened by about 9:30 AM. I made the difficult decision to skip my workout and institute because it was such a slow going morning. I also told myself that I will workout tonight and/or the amount of work I did equaled my workout. There was no reasoning for institute besides I will go next week.

Even though it was a rough start this morning I was able to finish up at 1:30 PM and I do have to say the house looks wonderful. I did have to take a lunch break. I can't believe kids have to eat throughout the day.

The best part about cleaning is Brian showed me the 80s XM radio station through our Direct TV. I openly admit I love 80s music. I know the words to many of them, but don't ask me the titles or artist. There are exceptions to this. The same goes with music from the 90s. Brian knew as soon as he found it that I would be hooked and I am. It made the chores so much more enjoyable. It is amazing what music can do for you. This music is another reason I don't need to workout because I did do a little dancing while cleaning and eating lunch.

The other reason I deserve a break is because yesterday I played the good mom and took my kids to the park for lunch day. There is a group that usually takes their kids to some eatery on Wednesday afternoons, but yesterday was an early release day at the schools so the park was a perfect option. The problem was it was 98+ degrees outside. I don't want to complain too much because I really enjoy chatting with all my friends and yesterday was no exception. The kids also had a great time because there were some many other friends to play with. I just had to take another shower when I got home. Thanks for planning this Emily and Karen.

So tonight the kids are going to bed early and I am going to watch some of my TV shows. Brian has some things going on so I don't think I will make it to Relief Society, but if I do that will be a break too.