When I Grow Up

Everyone,

Butterfly asked me today what I was going to do when I had no more kids. I thought about it for a second and figured I'd probably miss these days with the kids always with me. (But not yesterday!) I told her that I would probably be a grandma.

"No, you'd be a Nana," she replied.

"Yes, I will be a Nana."

"You can be the Nana in Maryland!"

"We may not live in Maryland by then honey," I answered.

"Well, I am going to marry Vinny (her best friend) and we are going to go live near Nana (my mom) because I love Nana and she loves me. We will live in Utah! You can't have two Nana's that live in Utah. So you will be the Maryland Nana and Nana will be Utah Nana."

"Okay then."

Seriously, what do you say to that? Besides, I think it's cute that she is planning her future. It will be fun to see how it turns out.

I guess it's made me think on what I will do when the kids are all out of the house. There will be no toys all over. Books will stay in bookcases. Buttons will not be pushed. Food will stay on plates. Shoes will always be put away. Boxes will not be played with. Book castles will not be built. Trains will not be formed on the slide. Hand mixers will not turn into cars and then into puppy dogs to be walked around the house by their cords.

Wait...they are growing up too fast!

Safire

It's Before 7pm

Everyone,

And ALL the kids are in bed.  Why so early you ask?  We just couldn't take it anymore.  There was crying.  There was whining.  There was yelling.  There was a broom.  It was not pretty.

It all started earlier today when I was trying to shower.  Normally the boys are very good when I shower and just kind of play in my room and pound on the door.  Not today.  By the time I came downstairs all clean and refreshed, they had scattered the dog food and the dog water across the kitchen.  Professor was stuffing as much into his mouth as he could get and Pirate was splashing in the puddles. 

This has been an on going battle for us the past week or so.  I kind of flipped out on them and snatched up Professor and took him to the sink.  I rinsed his mouth out with water and dug at least 5 pieces of kibble out of his cheeks.  He was NOT happy.  Then I stripped off his wet clothes and child gated him out of the kitchen.  I turned on Pirate.  I stripped off his wet clothes and put him crying next to his brother on the other side of the gate. 

Then I swept up soggy kibble from the far reaches of the kitchen and dining room area.  I also did some dishes, laundry, and put dinner in the crock pot.  The whole time the boys are screaming on the other side of the gate.  By now Butterfly is yelling at me because she can't hear her movie.  Mommy needed a time out.  Since I'm almost 30, does that mean I can hang out in my room for half and hour?  Please?!

Lunch time and nap time came early today because I just couldn't take it.  I did some internet research on Christmas presents and then it was all too soon to go to dance class.  Butterfly burst into tears when I came into my room (where she naps because they are all sharing a room right now) and yelled at me because she hasn't had time to sleep!  She had 2 hours of time to sleep.  She just chose to play instead.  So now she's sobbing while getting her dance clothes on.  And the boys are sobbing because they are stuck in their cribs. 

On the way out to the car (we did eventually get outside), I met up with a neighbor.  This neirghbor is old and nice but she talks.  A lot.  And very slowly.  And not all in English.  Any other time and I would have taken some time to say hello but not today.  We were late and I was flustered.  I shoved screaming kids into their car seats while she stood next to the car.  I said goodbye (nicely) and got in and pulled away.  We made it to class on time.  Whew.

I took the boys to the library where we got a ton of M books (it's M week here!) and a book for me to read as well.  By the time dance class was over, the boys had had it.  They wanted out of the their stroller, they wanted to walk.  But when I let them out, they ran in two different directions.  I had now had it.  Back into the stroller they go, screaming.  Butterfly came right out of class and asked for a milkshake.  Uh, no.

Pirate screamed all the way home because he ripped a library book and Butterfly took it away from him.  No one but Juice and I ate dinner tonight because it was "yucky".  If they don't eat, they go right to bed.  I can not deal with tired AND hungry kids.  It is an unspoken rule in our house.  Well, not anymore I guess.

Anyway, I think I'm off to bed myself.  What a long and arduous day.

Safire

Sunday Themed Videos

Everyone,

Two Sunday themed videos for you. First off: the boys folding their arms. I find this utterly adorable and just can't get enough of them doing it. Plus, I love Professor's laugh at the end. I think he got a kick out of the camera. Or it could be that he did not nap today (joy) and is a bit slap happy.



Next up is Butterfly and her Daddy giving her talk for church. Every year, my church does a program for all the little kids to talk about what they learned that year and sing the songs they learned as well. The primary presidency thought Butterfly's talk was so cute that they asked if she would mind talking in front of the whole congregation. I am nervous for her. But she's very excited about it! Yay for not having any stage fright! She has most of it memorized (as you can see in the video) and Juice will help her with the rest.



Apparently they had a practice in church today and she was helped by one of the leaders. Everyone in the room kept coming up to me and saying how cute she was with this talk. Hopefully she will do just as good next week! (Mom wish you were here to see this!)

My kids are so cute lately.

Safire

PS- Week two in nursery went okay. Professor leaned out of my arms into the nursery leader's arms and I turned and ran. Pirate was home with Juice (after a major diaper accident and no extra clothes in the diaper bag). Professor was just fine with nursery until Juice came to drop off Pirate. Juice ended up staying most of the time in there with them and I taught my class and went to the women's meeting by myself. It was awesome.

PPS- What kind of accident are you wondering? Juice took him to change his diaper. He took off the dirty diaper and then decided it was a good idea to rummage through the bag for some diaper cream. By the time he turned back to Pirate (with no diaper cream, my bag apparently needs to be restocked), Pirate had peed all over himself and ALL of his clothes. Great. He also came back to church in pants that looked like Capri's. Daddies are so great! ;) (Love you Juice.)

Three Things

Everyone,

Here is a list of three things I loved about today.

1- Being able to be a good friend and do some serious listening on the phone without screaming kids around. Juice took them outside to play in their pjs and they LOVED it. Butterfly most of all.

2- Looking at the bottom of my receipt from that bulls eye place and seeing, "You've saved $58.97!" on it. Sweet!!

3- Finding Cheddar and Sour Cream ruffles at the '200 dollar store'. I rarely see these in the normal grocery store and I was happy to pick up a bag today! Yum yum!

What things have you loved about today?

Safire

Busy But Not...

Everyone,

Today was a crazy day at home for me. I don't know why but staying home seems easier and harder at the same time. I typically don't schedule things on Fridays because Juice often has the afternoons off and I like to spend time with him. So today we had nothing going on and enjoyed our lazy morning at home.

I didn't get going with my exercising until almost 10:30am today. I didn't get dressed until after 11:30. And by the time I was ready and all the kids were dressed and ready, it was time for lunch and naps!

Lunch was crazy. Lots of crying from the boys. Butterfly has started repeating anything you say to her and I have to say that is SO annoying. She also repeats what the boys say and when they cry. So both boys cried at lunch (it was taking to long to make!) and Butterfly was fake crying along with them. I had to step outside. I felt like my head was going to explode and everyone was going to get a spanking if I didn't take a few minutes.

Luckily they had stopped by the time I came back in and everyone was able to eat well and went right down for naps no fussing. Juice walked in as I was just settling into my computer time and Halloween candy to make me feel just a little bit better.

He polished the numbers on our house (they matched the side of the house and no one could see them) and I talked to my cousin L for a long time. I also called our insurance and got referrals for Pirate's appointment next week to look at his hernia. I'm hoping we can have this done by the end of the year before Juice's insurance changes.

I also got two new cook books I've been excited about. I've been reading this blog and this one for a long time now. Both put out cookbooks this year and I used my birthday money plus some extra from swagbucks (yay free money!) and got them both. I am SO excited to start using them. I guess I was a little over excited about them because before I knew it, I planned out a month of meals and a grocery list a mile long. I was feeling in a cooking rut and frustrated with dinner. I guess all I needed was a few more cookbooks to get me motivated!

Now I'm making apple sauce and getting ready for my movie date with Juice. Hope everyone's had a great Friday!

Safire

Wow They Really Do See!

Everyone,

The other day we had both boys in their high chairs getting ready for dinner. Butterfly had set out the plates and given the boys their forks (her chore) and we were just bringing the food to the table. Butterfly called out, "Let's pray!" Both the boys folded their arms with big happy grins on their faces.

It was so adorable.

Butterfly said the prayer with Professor muttering along with her. She mentioned in her prayer that he was saying it with her and how happy she was that he learned to pray.

That was also so adorable!

Once she said "amen" both boys yelled out, "men!"

The fun thing about this is that we haven't taught them prayers. With Butterfly we folded her arms for her and taught her how to do this. We didn't do it with the boys. Mostly because they out number us now and mostly because we are too tired/hungry/frustrated to make them fold their arms.

Apparently we're doing something right because now any time anyone says, "Prayer time!" they fold their arms.

Seriously it's so stinking cute I'm going to have to record it.

Safire

Road Trip!

Everyone,

Alternate title: I have enough Billy Joel on my ipod to last me from Ohio to the Maryland border.

A week ago yesterday I talked to my good friend and cousin in law who lives in Ohio. Her family came to see us in August and we had the best time! Her girls are 5 and 3 and got along smashingly with Butterfly.

Since then, life has changed drastically for them. No details here but my cousin and cousin in law are getting a divorce and she is moving to Colorado. I'm sad for them because it's a rough time. I'm also sad that I will be loosing my closest family! Ohio is 6 hours away from here.

So, during my talk with L, my cousin in law, she mentioned that she was feeling overwhelmed and not prepared for her move, etc. She didn't think she had enough time to get everything done before the truck came to pick up her stuff. I heard, "You need to go help her." clear as a bell in my head. Once I was off the phone with her, I turned to Juice (who was still home from work) and talked it all over. The next afternoon I was headed to Ohio without the kids and Juice. Let me tell you, I was ecstatic about having 6 whole hours in the car by myself. Juice was awesome and stayed home with the kids.

So, off I go in the car through Maryland and into West Virginia. By now it is getting dark and raining. I started climbing the little hills that they call mountains here and it got foggy. And dark. Wow is West Virginia ever dark at night! Around 7pm I got hungry and decided I wanted a salad and a sit down restaurant. I haven't been to one of those by myself in awhile! The signs on the side of the road lied though. I took the exit headed for some Cracker Barrel thinking of my last road trip to Utah. This exit was the University of West Virginia exit. I drove around for about 20 minutes looking for that stupid restaurant and couldn't find it at all. I found a lot of pizza joints and the stadium but nothing else. I went back to the freeway and kept an eye out for something to eat.

West Virginia is a lot like Wyoming with nothing much going on in the state. Plus it was super dark and I didn't feel like stopping in any old tiny town. I entered Pennsylvania. It got lighter for some reason and I kept going. By this time I was tired of the candy I had brought to munch on and I wanted actual food. Anything would do but there was nothing besides McD's. Yuck.

Then it got darker and I was back in West Virginia. Wow. This time in West Virginia I found a Cracker Barrel and had my salad.

Straight on to Ohio and my cousin's house from there. They did close the freeway right in front of me. Thank goodness for my GPS and it's little "recalculating" voice. Otherwise I'd still be driving around Columbus trying to figure out where to go.

I got in around 11pm and went right to bed. Someone stole a car in the middle of the night (car alarm driving off in the distance) and I wondered if it was mine but not enough to get out of bed and check.

In the morning I was able to help get two cute girls ready for school and talk to L about what she wanted to do that day. She had to take her older girl to the dentist for a filling so I spent the morning sorting through her papers on her kitchen table and boxing up the rest of her china. Only a few minutes back from the dentist and the school called. Apparently the Novocain hadn't worn off and she bit through her tongue big time. Off to the hospital for L and back to boxes for me. I moved furniture around, cleaned under and around things and kind of ran out of things to do.

No stitches needed for the little girl but she did stay home from school the rest of the day and we boxed up the toys and the craft stuff. I guess Columbus does trick or treating a few days before Halloween so we spent the evening doing that. It was so much fun to be with these girls and their mom! They all had a great time and I practiced my french braiding skills on their beautiful hair.

After a fun filled night of candy, we took the girls home and packed a few things up. We told ourselves we would go to be early but ended up talking until midnight or so. Good thing too because her youngest daughter threw up about that time. I helped get the dirty stuff off the bed while she washed her off. I know how stressful it can be to deal with this as the only parent and I wanted to be as helpful as I could.

We didn't get up as early as we wanted to on Friday but up in time to get her youngest daughter off to preschool. Her oldest one was staying home because of her tongue and she watched tv while we packed up everything else and moved some furniture down from upstairs. I had to leave by 11am that day to make it home for our trunk or treat but I think what L had left to do was manageable.

I'm excited for if and when we end up in Colorado to be close to this family again. I'm sad that they are having such a hard time and I wish only the best for them.

On the way home, I put on my road trip music of Billy Joel and listened to it from Columbus to the Maryland border. Who knew I had so much?! Also, I had fun taking some random pictures in the car while driving (bad driver, I know, but I just turned the camera on and pointed it in the general direction of what I wanted to see) and enjoyed being by myself for another 6 hours.

I missed my family but it was such a great break from them for me. I'm not sure who was happier to see me, the kids or Juice when I walked in. They survived with a lot of screaming and crying and mac and cheese to eat. But they did it!

I hope the move goes well L and love you guys!

Safire