I am the Official Party Pooper

The kids were playing so nicely upstairs while I made dinner the other night. I couldn't imagine what was keeping them all busy with no fighting. I should have guessed it was something they weren't supposed to be doing, but sometimes you take what you can get.

In this case, they weren't even making a mess...can you believe it?? No, instead they had tied a jump rope between the two bed posts and were using it to perform circus tricks. They would sit on it and swing upside down and shimmy across like a tight rope. It was really frightening for me to watch and I was amazed someone hadn't come to me crying yet.



They were having the best time though. They showed off all their tricks and I watched as the edges of the bed rose off the ground when June did hers (I can't believe she can lift both beds with her weight, but she can). I was such a good mom; I watched for a while and then called it off. Normally I would freak out, but I remember being a kid and finding something so cool to do. Tyler even told me stories of when he and his brothers would throw the vacuum cord over the stairs in the split entry and then climb up it like a rope in gym class. These ideas seem so great to kids, but we adults have apparently forgotten how to have fun. We are too into safety now...how boring.

So I sat there for a minute and just enjoyed watching children play. And then I had to be mom again and ruin all their fun.

I've Never Used an IPOD Either

Remember that monkey on Friends who got ahold of the remote and reprogrammed the TV so it only spoke in Spanish? This is so true. I can't tell you how many times a child has pushed a button or the baby has crawled across the remote and it has taken me decades to figure out how to fix the problem.

And now they have taken it to new levels. We have an old radio up in our bedroom. We don't use it often, but I am sure it was very high-tech in its time; it came with its own remote and everything. We turn it on sometimes to listen to Prairie Home Companion, or a CD (who listens to CDs anymore? We always listen to the computer). Well, I guess this old radio was also an alarm clock at some point, because the past week or so, it has been turning itself on every night at 9:20 exactly. Some monkey of my own must have managed to push a button and program the darn thing, and I can't figure out how to UNprogram it. I've pushed a different button each evening to turn it off, but nothing seems to work since the next evening at 9:20, it comes on again. It is more of an annoyance than a problem. If it were coming on at three in the morning...then it would be a problem.

This is just more proof to me that I am getting old and technology is one step ahead of me. Someone told me to text them today, and I was slightly embarrassed to tell them that I don't even own a cell phone, let alone a texting plan. It's a good thing I have children, because they will have to drag me through the technology age. At least I beat them to a blog...barely.

Officially Uninspired

My creative juices must be directly linked to the amount of oxygen that enters my nose and since I am all stuffed up, it is affecting my blogging.

Really, I just feel miserable. I was hoping I was sick at first, because that would mean I would get over it; whereas allergies will last through July. Now, however, I am thinking that wasn't the best desire...

See, because allergies bring all this extra mucus and inflammation with them, it often leads to being sick anyway. So now I think I have a bit of both. Allergies + sickness = a whole bunch of yuck and lots of used tissues.

Tyler calls them my snot rags (gotta save that for posterity). He need only look at a wastebasket and assess the number of snot rags therein to tell what kind of day I have had. Today wasn't good; it was a full wastebasket day.

I should buy stock in Kleenex.

So instead of blogging about the beautiful pink sunset outside my window, the latest Nienie Dialogues that were incredible, or even my poor baby with her ear infections... I am lost in a little bit of self-misery. Truly people, I do know there are worse things than allergies and trouble breathing, but sometimes it is hard to see past the tip of my own stuffed nose.

She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain When She Comes

We thought it would be fun to take the girls hiking for Memorial Day. I told them about Timpanogos Caves last year and we never got there, so we went today. I knew it would be busy with the holiday, but we decided to chance it anyway.

We arrived just before noon and we got the sweet spot of visiting the caves at 5:20 pm. And since I didn't feel like sitting around all day, we went right back home and took a nap. Well, Tyler and I slept and I think the girls played. I set the alarm and it was a good thing too, because I was OUT, dreaming the sweet dreams. I don't think I fully woke up until we got back there and started hiking (which is a little scary since I drove).

It is about a mile and a half up the mountain and it is a fairly steep hike. The girls were troopers the whole way. Ivory even walked most of it herself. We stopped to take some pictures and my girls are such posers.



You can especially tell in the family picture (it feels a bit Charlie's Angels to me).



We made it to the top eventually—I think Ivory only made it because she wanted fruit snacks at the end.

Somewhere along the way June asked me if I was going to use my pictures and blog about the day. "Of course," I said. She really wanted to help out and add her two cents, so here is the day according to June:

We saw the cutest squirrel chipmunk ever. She couldn't remember the word chipmunk and kept calling it a squirrel. It came so close to us we could have reached out and grabbed it.



We went inside cool glittering caves. We saw a frog, a camel (and his broken leg), and a crocodile about to eat the camel. Yikes! Then we saw the caramel sundae. These are all rock formations that looked like different objects.

We had lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of fun when we went to the Timpanogos Caves. We ate fruit snacks and trail mix. We saw in the dark with a candle. We saw pretty leaves and rocks. We met Ranger Josh. I saw a lot of pretty flowers and some that hadn’t bloomed yet.



We had an awesome time! The End.

Everyone was a bit exhausted by the time we reached the bottom of the hill. We stopped and grabbed a pizza, but that wasn't enough to keep Ivory awake. She fell asleep with the crust in her hand.



Sadly, we couldn't get her into the house without waking her up and now she thinks she's ready for round two; all the other girls are asleep and Ivory is busy reading a book to herself in bed. Talk about your power nap.

My personal favorite moment from the trip was listening to the dialogue coming from the bathroom at the top of the mountain. Since it is at the top, there is no plumbing; just the hole in the ground. Robyn finished up, looked down and asked, "Where's my pee?" I explained the situation and moments later when June used the rest room, I heard, "Where's my pee?"

My least favorite moment was my perpetual fight with Mother Nature. My allergies were off the map. I took my staple—a whole roll of tissue. I knew that going hiking was nasal suicide, but my kids are worth it.

Perennial?

I thought Pansies were an annual plant, meaning you buy them, they look pretty for a while and then they die and the cycle begins again the next year when you buy more.

Not so.

Last year, we got some free pansies at the Vineyard Garden Center when we were buying something else. Nice, I thought, and I planted them in the front garden. Well, not enough water and too much sun spelled disaster for these sad plants. They learned the hard way about my black thumb. One hardy plant was more in the shade than the others and it lasted the whole summer.

Come winter it wilted and stayed that way as the snow came and went. Then this spring, I look down one day and see a little pansy head smiling up at me, as if to say, I'm back. And back is right. It now has over seven flowers on the one plant. It is still a lonely plant because I don't feel like killing any more flowers this year, but I commend it for it's resilience, truly. Plus, I now know that Pansies can be perennials.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Daisy is ten months now. Before I know it, she will be one and we'll be celebrating her birthday. Don't tell her, but I don't do much for the first birthday considering they don't remember it (more evidence of what a good mom I am).

Daiz is a precocious little bugger now. She is starting to climb; perhaps my least favorite milestone. See, we have these STAIRS (DUN dun duh), about thirteen of them. And they are steep. And all babies learn how to crawl up, before they learn how to crawl down. Infuriating. I thought about the gate thing, but it doesn't work so well. If you put one at the top of the stairs, you are constantly shuttling kids across it, and it doesn't stop her from climbing up. Really, you need one at the top AND the bottom, but who is going to buy TWO gates to use for a short time...not me, that's who.

Instead, I play vigilant stair police and drop everything in my hands eighteen times a day to go rushing to pluck a baby off the stairs. Annoying. I am a good police man, but I know stair criminals get by me sometimes. I distinctly remember turning the corner and looking up to see Ivory (at this same stage) climb up over the last stair onto the landing. *sigh* You can't catch them all.

In other news, we had the carpets cleaned today. Well, just the one carpeted room in the downstairs. Why? Well, it was time and you have heard me talk about all the fun colors it was turning, due to Daisy's intestinal anarchy. In fact, just this afternoon, she was blessing the carpet with this fun color.



Note to self: NO CHEESE CRACKERS FOR DAISY. EVER. (Yes, I did just post a picture of vomit, because I'm awesome like that).

It was great to have a big open room to play in for a while.



Daisy was cute crawling around. I like this next picture especially because if you look closely, you can see the pinkish star June colored into the carpet for us a while back (and NO, the carpet cleaners could not get that out).



Good thing it is right in the middle of the room so I can't put furniture over it to hide it. It is one of the good reminders to me to never buy anything that is so expensive that I might try to value it over my children. That is a recipe for disaster. Having a house is bad enough, because you know they aren't cheap and your kids work a number on them. But they are made to be lived in, and if I didn't have some evidence of my children's passing, I would be a sorry mom. I just wish it could be pictures of them on the wall, instead of stars colored into the carpet.

Pomp and Circumstance

My five-year old graduated from Pre-school yesterday morning. She has done such an excellent job learning, growing, making friends, and branching out. They do such a cute job at the school with little caps and gowns and a final scrapbook to take home. Look how adorable they are on stage.



Miss Makenzie, Robyn's buddy, did such a great job putting Robyn's scrapbook together. She even gave me about twenty extra photos that wouldn't fit in the book. Oh, and Robyn LOVED her by the way. She talked about her all the time and asked her to come home with her often. At the beginning of school, Robyn would come out by herself when it was her turn, but by the end, Miss Makenzie was always with her carrying her bag. I think Miss Makenzie was fond of her too, but how could you not be?



Robyn made a lot of friends, but there was one girl in particular who was always giving things to Robyn. If I found extra things in her bag, I always heard, "Oh, that's from Abby." Thanks Abby, you probably made Pre-school a lot more fun for Robyn.



I'm so proud of Robyn, and a little jealous. As I looked through her scrapbook I saw so many fun activities that I was not a part of; memories I didn't share. I wish I could be there for everything, but that is not how it works. I will just have to content myself with what I have and feel blessed that I get her as a daughter. I sure love you Robyn.

The Little Gym

I told my girls that they could try something this summer—anything they wanted. Robyn immediately chose gymnastics since June got to do it eons ago (read: when she was 3) and Robyn has not forgotten. Ivory thought gymnastics sounded good to her too, and then June was eventually convinced that she needed to be doing what her sisters were doing. So I looked around and found The Little Gym. It is close, it is affordable, and it has combined classes, so now the girls get to do gymnastics along with dance (tap and ballet). I think this will be a fun summer. I will just have to endure a thousand requests to 'watch me dance mom', or 'look what I can do.'

I can't wait.

If you want to check them out they have a website thelittegym.com, or they have a blog.

You Know Tyler Would Want to Ride in There

So, I'm thinking that this is one of the coolest bike ideas I have ever seen. And if you could win one for free, why not try? Plus, they are giving one away on the day my baby turns one. That could be a sign. Check them out here MADSEN Cargo Bikes

As if This House Needed More Girly Stuff

Yesterday was Super. This is not describing my mood, which has been in a funk recently, but more the activities involved. See, it was Super Saturday. As always, I signed up for too much, but I couldn't resist; there was so much good stuff.

I made flower clips for the girls.



Now I have a few more things to make my ribbon wall look complete. When my mother in law bought these ribbon hangars to hold bows and such, I had two things to put on them (and she bought me those two things with the ribbon hangars). I have girls and yet I don't always have particular items you expect with girls. I have a drawer full of ribbon, but no clips. Well, now I have remedied that, a bit. There are more to come (some felt ones) but I ran out of time to make them yesterday.

I also made a tutusie for Daisy (she can't really benefit from the clips yet—grow hair, grow). This was the most work intensive project there, but I think it turned out really well. And I like that it has a little overlap so you can tuck a flower in it (ooh, maybe she can benefit after all).



I put it on her for church today and she promptly spit up all over it. For the record, the no-dairy thing didn't work; neither did the acid reflux medication. So, we are trying the wait-it-out system and hope that Dad doesn't get too frustrated and sell her on Ebay (you would get annoyed too if someone vomited on you every day).

Tyler took care of the kids while I crafted, then I came home and let him go off shooting (pretty good swap I think). The kids played in the sprinkler, I made jam. My hands smelled like fresh squeezed lemons for hours. Then I noticed that I used the wrong pectin (the box says that pectin brands are NOT interchangeable with recipes). I'm not really worried though. It is freezer jam, and even if it stayed liquid, it would still taste sweet and strawberryish.

Here are some pictures of the girls. I don't know if it was really warm enough to be playing in cold water, but they seemed to enjoy themselves.




Later in the evening, Tyler and I went over to the Neilsen's to roast Marshmallows over their new fire pit. The weather and company were perfect and Tyler devised a new (genius) way to do S'mores. He stuck a piece of chocolate inside the marshmallow and as the marshmallow cooked, the chocolate melted and became a liquid treat inside. So yummy.

A Few Lessons Learned

Don't leave open containers of ANYTHING in your fridge. There is no doubt you will manage to spill them and if you are really lucky, it will be all over yourself.

If your child uses her head to bash you in the cheek, she will win hands down and you will get a black eye. But then you can make jokes about your husband beating you (which shouldn't be funny because women are abused everyday, but if you use humor to deal with awkward situations...then it might be okay).

If you have been avoiding putting a plethora of girls into gymnastics/dance because it would be extremely expensive, don't be surprised when it is, IN FACT, even more expensive than that. Just take lots of pictures this year so when they are older and not allowed to be in any extracurricular activities because you have no money, at least you still have pictures to show that you did let them join something at one point (back before the bankruptcy).

If you give someone a movie and tell them to watch it, you might mention if the ending is the worst ending known to man that doesn't tie up any of the show or details that go with it. If I were speaking to anyone in particular, it would be YOU, Dad.

Clowns too, but that is a whole other post

Baby dolls...you would think they would be cute, but they really just freak me out a little. None of my kids have been too interested in them, until Ivory. She had one baby and now she is starting to collect them. I am a bit disgusted as I gather naked, bald dolls in my arms to heap on her bed before she goes to sleep. But it makes her happy. And when I see them like this, I can smile and look past the freakishness for a moment.

Hello Molly, Meet Maleen

So I haven't had the chance to brag about my fabulous new acquisitions. I wanted to try them out first and see if I will use them, and you better believe that if I don't use them, I will be beat to death. In the kitchen. By my husband. With the checkbook.

Yep, my latest toys are not cheap and they have probably pushed me over the edge of Molly Mormonism. Not that Molly would buy expensive things; she seems more of a thrifty lady. But she would definitely make her own graham crackers. ME TOO! Check it out.



This here is a Bosch mixer that certifies me as a woman who loves to cook enough that she would buy this instead of taking her kids to Disneyland this summer (I am such a good mom).



This here is a bonus gift.



A Nutrimill which allows me to make this;



my own ground flour (you can almost smell the extra nutrients, can't you?)

And it helps that I just found this site that talks all about using your food storage (meaning all that wheat that I can now grind). Actually, I think this is Molly's site. I never pictured her as being very technologically savvy, but it turns out she makes how-to videos and she wrote her own book.

Now I just have to master bread (that was the initial goal, but I don't have all the key ingredients, i.e. gluten). Hopefully, I will find an easy recipe that my family enjoys and then all you people who live too close will have to put up with bread as gifts until I get tired of it.

The graham crackers were just on a whim, but I was very proud of them. They are a bit crunchier (but hello, they are a cracker) and I like that, and I like the rustic look of the different sized pieces. June said she likes 'homemade.' This bodes well. And Daisy's verdict was...delicious.

You Might Have Mentioned

Dear Orem Rec Center Employee,

I would appreciate that next time when you tell me that swim registration opens at midnight on the 11th, that you also mention that you can't actually register until 5am. This would allow me more than five hours of sleep, as I would probably not stay up until midnight and then curse you aloud as I set my alarm for five in the morning.

Sincerest Regards,

Maleen

I Might Have Cried When They Sang at Church Today

Daisy, I love when you are sucking your thumb and you smile, because you have to smile around your thumb and it is just cute.



Robyn, you find all the cool games on the computer and I love when June has to ask you how to get there, because it reminds me that we second-borns know what's up too.



June, you are just a little me walking around. This is especially obvious when I hear you say things like, "Will you two knock it off!" when Ivory and Robyn are fighting. I hope you pick up my good traits along with my bad ones.



Ivory, someone told me tonight that you look just like me, and it made my day.

My Mom

Roses are Red
Violets are blue
If I had your talent
Then this would rhyme

This Mother's Day, I would like to highlight something about my mother that I LOVE. She is incredibly blessed with the ability to write anything and everything. It could be a story, song, or poem; it all sounds great. When they talk about God-given talents, I know that the Lord gave her this one and she has NOT disappointed him by hiding it away. My whole life she was quick to think up fun little rhymes. Then as I got older, she made songs and longer poems. Now she has even written her own play and short stories. Why she hasn't written a novel is beyond me. I admire her ability beyond words (ha ha). I told her I want a copy of all the stuff she has written to show my children someday (I still want that Mom...you are not off the hook yet).

You are a great mom, but I just wanted you to know that one of my favorite things about you is your gift with words.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
No one gives life
To words like you

Unconditional Love

What would the world be like if we all loved like children do? They seem to look past faults and forgive quickly.

Ivory was lying on my lap the other morning and we were watching cartoons. Her head was across my legs, pillowed on my fluffy bathrobe. She paused a moment and I could tell something wasn't right. She pushed aside my plush bathrobe and put her head on my dry, scaly, hairy legs and let out a sigh of contentment. Then during the show, she paused every now and then to run her finger over my callused toes. She sat there and loved me without ever passing a judgment.

In tens years I can hear my girls more likely say things like:

"Mom, don't you ever shave your legs anymore, ew!"

"Looks like it's time for another pedicure."

or

"I know we live in a desert, but there is lotion for that alligator skin."

But for now, I will accept the sweet love of a child and try to remember to model my own love after hers.

My Date Last Night

My friend Tricia bought us tickets to see Thoroughly Modern Millie and then she got sick. Well, I guess she remained sick, since she was sick before. Either way...huge bummer. So, she told me to take someone else. I was going to take Tyler, but that involved calling a babysitter, so instead, I took Robyn.

It was a bit long for a five year old, but she loved parts of it; especially the part where I bought her candy at intermission. She was really good and sat still through the whole thing and only asked about nine times if it was over. Afterward she claimed to LOVE it, but I think part of that was just the smugness of me taking her instead of June.

She makes me laugh though. She is at that age where she repeats random things she hears and sometimes they fit in the scenario and sometimes not. Last night as were leaving the house , we had this moment.

Me: Are you all ready to go see the play?

Robyn: Duty calls.

_____________

Then as we were crossing the parking lot to go inside, she was doing her usual.

Robyn: Step on a crack, and you'll fall and break your back.

Step on a line and you'll fall and break your spine.

Step on a rock and you'll fall and break your Spock (She must feel that I am ready to see the new movie).

Step on the grass and you'll fall and break...

Me: Uh...Robyn...

Robyn: ...your mass.

Me: Phew.

Good Old Fashioned Picnic

Saturday it rained all morning and I was thinking that perhaps it wasn't the best day to schedule a ward picnic. However, by 5:30, it was chipper outside and ended up being perfect weather for the gathering. The previous weather brought the numbers down a bit, but our family had a blast regardless.

June picked me every weed flower she could find, as usual.



I think she single handedly could clean a yard of dandylions (I will rent her out for $10 an hour—sorry, she doesn't get them at the roots).

There was a three-legged race. This brought back great memories from my childhood. I was the three-legged race champion with Jamie Johnson (I finally remembered her name...it took me a while). The girls had fun.



Tyler and I were taken out by another couple (read: knocked over on purpose). This wouldn't have mattered except that our legs were taped together and we ripped right through it. We were naturally the couple to beat so the others resorted to drastic measures. I'm kidding, of course. Not about our competitive nature...that is fine and healthy, but I don't think anyone feels threatened by us.

The weather did catch us off guard at one point. Turns out it was raining babies.



Tyler took care of it though.

While I was off taking pictures, Robyn won the ball toss. I didn't realize until later that I caught her win on film (can I say film when it is all digital?)



It was a pleasant evening overall. Too bad they never played football. We could have sent in our star quarterback.

Can't You Hear Me S.O.S?

I need HELP!

Rynell and Cindy tagged me on Facebook with a note, "15 books." I liked reading their picks but I realized that I hadn't read many of them. I profess to be a reader and yet there is MUCH out there that I have yet to read (okay, I am taking into account the fact that there are billions of books out there and I can never read them all—I just mean there are more I could be reading than I am right now).

Add to that, that I am reading Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. It is a book about real (meaning they each have character development) women who get together each month in a book club.

I love it!

I need a book club.

I need women like you, Rynell and Cindy, who choose great inspiring books for me to read. And I need the motivation to get them done by a certain time because with kids, cooking, Wii, crosstitching, sleeping, cleaning, blogging, etc., I sometimes don't pick up a book for a while.

I need to read.

I love to read.

So here is my S.O.S. going out. I want intelligent women (meaning you all), but women who love to read as well. It doesn't have to be once a month, but it could be. We could get together once every two months; I know schedules are busy. But I realize how much I miss reading a good book and then discussing it with multiple opinions. You know you need this too (some of you). So let's do something about it.

Promises

The promise of apples



The promise of growing up



The promise of walking



The promise of friendships



The promise of continued trials



The promise of art and creativity



The promise of seeing life through different eyes