What to Do?

Everyone,

Today Pirate had a rough time napping. I would hear him talking, then crying, then muffled crying (with his fingers in his mouth I'm assuming) and then silence. Then it would start all over again. I chalked it up to the fact that he is missing his blanket. It was in the wash. This is a blanket that his Auntie Lisa made him. I have a great picture of her with the blanket but it's lost in The Great Photo Disaster of 2009.

Both Butterfly and Professor also have blankets made by Auntie Lisa (who actually happens to be MY aunt, so the kids' great aunt) and they love them. Butterfly and Pirate especially. The blankets were hanging around my kitchen tonight to dry and Butterfly said, "That's my favorite blanket. The one I got in Utah. I really like that blanket. *sigh* It needs to be washed." Then she walked away dejected. I have tried for 3 days to wash these blankets. Every time I put them on the floor, I find them back in their beds courtesy of Pirate. Today he was laying on his blanket in the middle of the floor sucking his thumb and crying every time I tried to move him off of it. Then he sat next to the washer once it was in there. Tonight he kept pointing at the drying blanket and trying to take it up to his bed. Then when I put him in the bed, he kept pointing at his mattress and saying "uh-oh! uh-oh!" Poor kid.

Anyway, back to nap time. I chalked up his lack of sleeping to his blanket. But he shoved his hand in my face after nap and said, "uh-oh!" So I looked it over to see what he wanted. Did I mention that he sucks his thumb? A lot?

When I got to looking over his thumb it was all cracked and very tender. Poor kid!

Do you know anything I can do for a chapped thumb on a thumb sucker?

I don't want to put moisturizer on it because he puts it in his mouth. I don't want him to ingest anything bad. I don't want to stop him from sucking. But it looks painful. I don't want it to crack open and bleed. Maybe some oil or something?

Safire

Thrifty Shopping

Everyone,

Where else can I go with my good friend Lolli on a rainy Monday morning and come home with 2 horses, 2 electrical outlet covers, one book and 7 movies (2 of which haven't even been opened yet!) and spend less than 20 dollars?  Our favorite thrift store Unique of course!

Pretty basic day for me.  Seriously, I'm at a loss of what to write about today.  Juice's input is that I should make a list of some kind.  Of how many times I said no.  Okay...

I tried...I just can't get ALL of them down.  It's too many to say.  Butterfly had a rough morning, and Pirate had a rough evening.  Professor has been my sunshine for awhile now.  He's so cute with his big dimple and happy face.  Butterfly this morning didn't want to go to the store and Pirate had a fascination with the dog food this evening.  And the dog water.  And shoes.  Yeah...  He also go a time out for whipping Butterfly with a toy, and then another time out for getting out of the time out spot.  Poor kid.

Anyone have one of those cool meme things that were floating around last year?  Anyone?

Safire

Sunday...Different Plans

Everyone,

Today I had plans to share with you a picture off of my camera for Sunday Pictures.  I got out my camera, started to download the pictures and then started to tear my hair out.  My computer crashed AGAIN.  Seriously, I have crashed this mac twice in 3 ro 4 months.  NOT COOL.

So, no pictures for you today.  Sorry! 

All evening I spent trying to empty my trash, throw away all my downloaded stuff, and get the computer actually doing anything.  After taking 3 hours to get that done, I got the back up disk to start running.  So it's currently backing up over 1 million things on my computer.  That's right...my computer is full.  I now have the lovely task of deleting all my duplicate pictures (yes, still doing that!) and organizing them into months/years and putting them on my external hard drive.  If I have any room left after the over 1 million things.  Once I get them on that hard drive, I'm erasing them from my computer all together.  This makes me nervous because I don't want to loose them but I have to have the computer running!  (Currently I'm using Juice's computer to type this.  I am delaying some online game play with his family BUT he is doing the dishes so I call it a win/win situation.  :) )

So instead of pictures, I give you a question and answer:




The Multiples and More blog asks a question of the week and I thought I'd answer it this week.  The question is:

What do you do with your Thanksgiving leftovers?

It was an easy answer for me: make turkey puffs!  Now what are Turkey Puffs you ask?  They are Juice's favorite dinner.  This is the one we only have this time of year and he looks forward to it starting right after my birthday in September.  Want the recipe?  Okay!

Turkey Puffs
2 cups cooked and cut up turkey
1 block cream cheese
1/4 tsp pepper
2-3 green onions, chopped
2-3 packages of frozen cresent rolls
milk
dry stuffing

Prehead oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together the cream cheese, the turkey, peper, and green onions.  (We leave the green onions out for a few for Butterfly.)  Open the cresent rolls and put a small spoonful on the roll.  Seal it up so it looks like a pillow.  Roll in milk then roll it in the stuffing.  (Again, we leave that part our for Butterfly).  Place on cookie sheet and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with leftover turkey gravy or cranberry sauce.  We prefer the cranberry sauce.

Last year I also made soup out of the turkey carcass in my crock pot.  It didn't turn out as well as I hoped it would.  I found it was bitter.  I may use the first part of the recipe here to make broth and then just use it in place of chicken broth in my regular cooking.

Otherwise the plan is for some turkey sandwiches and mini turkey dinners for Juice's lunch. 

This year, I got smart(er) and I am not making a big turkey for the 5 of us on Thanksgiving.  Juice leaves the Monday after Thanksgiving for a week and I'm always left with a huge pile of leftover food that I just won't eat throughout the week.  So we are saving our big turkey for sometime near Christmas and just making a turkey breast this year.  Besides, then I can make the Turkey Puffs for Juice!

Safire 

On Saturday...

Everyone,

I seem to always be really busy huh? And I don't know why the past few weeks have been really busy but they have. Next week I have nothing but Thanksgiving (more on that later) and it should be a quiet week.

But today was really busy. It started off this morning with my trip to the "share church" where I helped bag over 100 bags of meat and over 100 bags of veggies. This is so much fun for me. I look forward to doing it every month. This month I came home with a turkey, a bag of meat and a bag of veggies, and all the stuff to make a turkey dinner (green beans, stuffing, pies, etc) for only $45. Nice!

Juice and I spent the next half hour or so reorganizing our freezer so we could put all the food in. We are desperate for a big chest freezer I think since I keep jam packing the little one above our fridge. I am on a no freezer items ban until we can see light in our freezer again. Okay.

I spent about half an hour in the attic today looking for blanket sleepers for the boys. I know when Butterfly was little I used to buy her blue and yellow and green sleepers so I could hand them down to the next kid. Butterfly had some pretty cute clothes! I found all her newborn stuff and it's hard to imagine her being that small. I did also find the blanket sleepers and that is what the boys are wearing tonight for bed. Professor looks so cute and cuddly in his bright blue sleeper tonight. However, Pirate looks a little stretched. Could it be that he is TALLER than Butterfly was at this age?! It's late or I'd go look in my archives and find out. Either way, I'm going to have to go get more sleepers in a bigger size so he will actually be able to wear them all winter long. Sigh...I have twins that can't share clothes!!

While I was in the attic I did a quick look over of my Christmas pile and realized I'm going to have to spend time up there organizing it and figuring out exactly what I have. This is the problem of buying all year long...I forget what I buy! During this time the boys were sobbing at the ceiling because I was up there without them. Poor kids.

We also went to the store (no freezer stuff) and I got a free knife and a free juicer for answering questions at one of those sales tables in the $200 store. I am also a sucker and bought what he was selling. I'm excited about it too!

After a nice lunch of hot dogs, we ran to another store to get a few last minute things for Thanksgiving. Mostly I needed dried cherries and this store is the only place I know where to get them in town. I just happened to buy a few more things while I was there. Like sparkling blueberry juice. How tasty does that sound?!

Once everything was put away, naps were needed. Me included. I slept for almost 3 hours. So did the kids. I woke up with a splitting headache and it hasn't gone away all evening. Dinner, bath, bed. Then, silence. Ahhh...sleeping children!

I have just spent the evening going over my Christmas list and buying online the rest of what I know I needed to buy. I am almost all done. My goal is to finish this up coming week and get everything sent to Utah by the 10th of December. That should get it there on time for Christmas. Right Mom and her UPS friends?

Yet another busy and full day!

Safire

What Happened Today

Everyone,

We all had one DRY night. Last night, I told Butterfly that she could get a book at the used book store today if she was dry last night. This morning, she was so put out and grumpy that she declared she did not want to get a new book. EVER. Never ever ever!

Okay then. No book today.

How much do you want to bet that she will remember it in a few days at the most inconvenient time and demand that we go get the promised book that second. And then there will be another fit because I won't be able to.

Good times in my house let me tell you!

On a totally unrelated note, I do feel rather accomplished today. I cleaned my living room and vacuumed with my new vacuum! (Yay for early Christmas presents) I did two loads of dishes. I went to a doctor's appointment with just my book for company. (Thanks Juice! That's an awkward appointment to take kids to.) I even went out and saw a movie with my friend Lolli! I haven't seen a movie in about 6 months, and then we only go to the kid movies. Although this movie may as well have been a kid's movie. It was okay, but not great.

And now, I'm exhausted. Time for an early bed!

Safire

Title Goes Here

Everyone,

I am at a loss of what to say today. It was our normal crazy run around day. My van has been in the shop for minor things and so I spent the morning helping Juice move the car seats from his car back to my van. It's exciting to move those things, let me tell you!

We had a great time at the PRC with friends. The kids did paper hand turkeys (so so cute!) and Butterfly was great in circle time. The teacher even told me it was nice to have her during circle time because she felt like she was reaching one kid and that made her feel good. Butterfly is such a cute girl.

They all had super long naps today (3 hours for the boys and a hour for Butterfly). I also took a nap. I hate being sick.

Butterfly helped me make dinner tonight. We made creps. They were okay. I ran out of regular flour so we had to use my whole wheat flour and they were very dense. But good. She ate a ton.

Tonight, we will see if Butterfly will keep her bed dry in just panties! Wish us luck!

Safire

Christmas is Coming!

Everyone,

I've had a rash of bad luck with the boys lately. Monday, while I was taking my shower, they decided that all of my clothes in my drawers needed to be pulled out. Six big drawers were emptied of everything. When I opened my bathroom door to see what they were doing (after the shower, I am blissfully unaware in the shower) they were rolling in the clothes and laughing. It took me an hour to resort, fold and put away all those clothes.

Tuesday they decided that they were going to turn on all the electronics in my room. My tiny TV that I use to do my exercise videos on, my cd player, etc. They actually got a cd out of the player and have lost it. I've looked everywhere for it in all the normal places; drawers, boxes, bathtub. This prompted me to put the electronics on a power strip out of their sight so if I want to use those things, I just have to flip the switch. Plus, it might also save us a tiny bit on our electricity bill.

This morning they found Butterfly's markers and drew all along the bottom of my bed. My bed is in a big wooden box so they just drew on the wood. I was able to wipe it all off (thank goodness for magic erasers) but still!

To make it even worse, I did try to lock them in our extra room while I was in the shower but they somehow managed to get that door open before I even got into the tub. And then they wouldn't go near it after that. It's like they remember or something.

All of this daily destruction has really got me thinking. Christmas is coming. Christmas = tree. Tree = disaster! My house is tiny. I can't put it in the main room and block it off. There's not enough room TO block it off. And with what would I block it off with?! The couches they climb over, the chairs they get on, they are even starting to scale the toy cube thing I have.

I have ornaments from when I was a baby. We add to our ornament collection every year. You can't replace some of these! I would be heartbroken if my old ones broke. Juice and I and my Mom (who was on the phone at the time for our weekly call) had a good time brainstorming some ideas.

- different rooms to put the gated tree in...not very practical
- not putting up the tree at all this year...sad!
- putting up the tree but putting no ornaments on it...feasible.
- hanging the ornaments/lights from the ceiling
- making a cardboard tree
- putting the tree in another room
- renting a house and putting the tree there so we could visit it daily
- cutting down a tree limb and putting it in a bucket in our living room like poor sad Charlie Brown's tree
- doing an outside tree this year and not hanging up our yearly ornaments...still kind of sad.
- having a table top tree to hang this year's ornaments on and putting it up out of the boys' reach, hmm...best one yet!

I think what we finally decided on was to get a tiny tree to hang this year's ornaments on, and set up our big tree with lights and tinsel and nothing else. Also, I intend to tie it down somewhere. Bolt it to the wall or something. I love our tree. I can't imagine not having it out since it's older than I am. This will be it's 30th year.

I think it might be nice NOT to have to retire the tree this year because of certain someones in our house.

The ornaments will not have changed since last year. They will be the same next year. They are just going to get a year off. I think I'll either get a tiny wire tree or a potted tree for this year's ornaments. I'll probably have to put it on top of the refrigerator to keep it away from curious fingers. At least, hopefully, this will let me keep my sanity!

Safire

Haze is Coming

Everyone,

Today started off as a good day. We had school with AJ and Lolli, I made gingerbread cookies (it's G week around here) and we read a bunch of stories. We had lunch and naps for everyone and then...it hit. A cold. For me. Ugh. I hate being sick. I also hate knowing that soon everyone will be sporting this cold and I will have to deal with it.

I hate runny noses.

I hate how bad my kids feel.

I hate knowing that only time will make them feel better.

I hate the lack of sleep for them and me.

I hate not being able to breathe.

I hate colds. Period.

And since I have one, I'm going to go up to bed early in hopes that I might get some sleep tonight. I'm not feeling that hopeful.

Safire

Today's Conversation

Everyone,

In the car on the way to dance class:

"Mama, I don't like it when you call me that name."

"Uhhh....what name honey?!" I could not figure out what she was talking about. This declaration came after about 2 minutes of silence in the car while she was eating a snack.

"I know I am one but I don't want you or Daddy to call me that anymore."

"What honey? What are we calling you that you don't like."

"I don't like to say it but I will," big dramatic sigh, "a person." She said it in that toddler whisper that's not a whisper but more of a breathy way of saying something.

"You don't want me to call you a person?"

"Yeah, I don't like it. I know I am one, but I don't like it. I don't, I don't! I just don't!"

"Okay okay honey. Don't get so worked up about it. I won't call you that if you don't want me too. What can I call you?"

"Um...honey. Butterfly. Bolt." I thought of Flower and how she had to deal with watching Bolt the movie over and over and over the month she was here. (Miss you Flower! Come back and watch Mulan over and over with us!)

"What about a young lady. Can I call you that?"

"Nope."

"What about a little girl. Can I call you that?"

"Yeah, that's okay. And when I'm me, you can call me a human. But when I'm Bolt you can't call me a human because Bolt is a dog."

"How about Young Sister Maryland (insertlastnamehere)? They called you that at church on Sunday."

"Nah, that's just my Sunday name. But today is not Sunday! It's dance day!"

"What about my sweetheart, can I call you that?"

She got a very pleased smile on her face. "Yeah, that's the best name."

She really is the sweetest girl.

Safire

Super Star!

Everyone,

Today was Butterfly's talk in church.  She did so good!  She got nervous right before and started crying.  A few minutes out in the hall, a promise of an ice cream sandwich at home, and she walked right up there like a champ.  I think she was expecting to say her talk right away.  When she didn't, she kind of broke down again on stage.  Poor thing.  Stage fright is real!  But she calmed down, was able to sing with all the other kids and then did her talk.  Because I've had several people ask me, I'll write it down here.

My Daddy fixes things that break.  Sometimes he uses glue to stick two things together.  After he uses the glue, things stay together.  Going to the temple is like glue for familes.  This temple glue helps keep our families together forever.  The Bible says, "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven (Matthew 16:19).  Being bound means sticking together like glue.  When my parents were married in the temple, they were stuck together by being sealed.  That special sealing means that my brothers and I are sealed to them too.  I am so glad I am sealed to my family.

While the take itself is very basic and easy (she's 4, it had to be!) her inflection was so good.  The primary president told me that she was the crowning jewel in their program and she seriously was.  She had it all memorized and only needed help with the bible verse.  She was clear, easy to understand, and had cute little ups and downs in her voice that really caught everyone's attention.  Seriously, everyone was quiet through her talk.  (Except for the boys...they could care less!  They were only mad that Juice left to go help her and wanted to go up there too!)

Everyone told her she did such a good job and talked about it in the other classes.  We had a visiting leader of our church there and she mentioned how wonderful her talk was and how special the little children are.  And they are.  Of course, it's hard to remember that when she's throwing a tantrum on the way home because she didn't want to go to church in the first place, but still.  She is wonderful.

Since she turned 4 and a half the other day, I thought I'd do a small update on her.  Like last year, it's in letter form.

Dear Butterfly,

You are changing so fast!  I love it and hate it at the same time.  I love that you are becoming a great little kid.  I love that you can climb all over the playground equipment at the park and I never worry about you.  I love that you recognize our street, Vinny's house, and a few other places by sight.  I love that you tell me that I have to go the speed limit in the car "Because it's good for you!"  But I hate leaving that baby behind.  Oh you still ask to be rocked in the rocking chair sometimes and you still are a great crier for every little tiny bump.  I just remember the first time you really smiled and I was so thrilled to see your deep dimples.  I'm so glad they have stayed since they will remind me of that moment every day.

You are so interested in friends these days.  Today at church, you sat in the hall with a friend from church who had an old cell phone to play with.  You sat next to him on the couch as close as you could, and laid your head on his shoulder to get a better look.  The two of you were giggling up a storm.  You turned and looked at me and told me he was your friend.  I'm so glad you have friends and that you want to have friends!

Your imagination has not slowed down.  In fact, I think it's picked up speed.  A few weeks ago, I showed you how I used to make a horse out of my hand to play with.  I remember riding in the car with the window down and my hand out pretending I had a pegasus on my hand.  I see you playing with the hand horse now whenever you are bored.  You play by yourself great but still can't stand to play with your brothers sometimes.  I think it's because they want to be independent right now.

I can't wait for you to start school.  I think you are going to have a ball being with friends all day and learning all sorts of cool stuff.  I'm sad that it is all day kindergarten here and that you will be away from me for 6 whole hours every day.  But I'm excited for you to do it!  You've loved being able to do your "homework" for our little preschool and are starting to get the concept of math.  You are doing great in your dance class and your teacher tells me you are always good to have around.

You love your daddy so so much that sometimes I feel a little left out of your secret circle.  But when I was gone for a few nights last month, you were very happy to see me.  You told me, "I had no one to talk to but Daddy, and he doesn't talk that much."  At least I know that you do love me for somethings!  You like your brothers sometimes but ask me several times a day if it's time for their naps.  It's hard to share all the time with them, I know.  They don't play how you want them to and tend to knock things over that you have made.  But be patient with them and you guys will be great friends in the future I hope.

Today in church, you gave your first talk in scarament meeting, in front of everyone!  I am so proud of you for doing that.  What a brave girl you are.  You even had your talk memorized and wowed everyone.  You looked so sure of yourself up on that stage.  I hope you always remember who you are.  You are a child of God, loved and adored by your family, and have a bright future ahead of you.  You can do anything you want and you will do great at it.

Thanks for being such a great daughter.  I love you tons.

Your Mommy 

Juice's Contributions to the Blog

Everyone,

With writing every day, I've been asking Juice what I should write about. Here are his suggestions:

Rain. This was yesterday's suggestion. It had been raining off and on for 3 days here. It rains a lot here. The grass is still very green and the leaves are soaked. No crunching leaves for us lately! It also means that the leaves will be wet for days. Butterfly slipped and fell in the mud because of all the rain. The rain also brings free scoops of ice cream at our favorite place. We didn't get any this time around but I'm not worried. I'm sure it will rain again. Soon.

Shaun the Sheep. Has anyone seen this? It's hysterical. I won it off of a blog and we've been enjoying it at least once a week. I really like the little lamb with the pacifier. It reminds me of Professor. Too cute. I also get the theme song stuck in my head.

He refrains from saying anything else at the moment. I think I scared him off!

Safire

Pirate Sees a Lot of Doctors

Everyone,

He doesn't see as many as his cousin, cute little girl! But between all the well baby visits and his broken leg, I feel like we see a lot of doctors.

Today's doctor visit was a visit to the urologist at the children's hospital. Our regular pediatrician thought he might have a hernia in his testicles so off to the specialist! Today was the day we got to see what was going on.

First off, a fight with the pediatrician's office and the hospital office. I have a love/hate relationship with paperwork right now. I got it all worked out (after several calls) and into an exam room we go. Butterfly and Professor got to play at a friend's house this morning. Much more fun than the doctor's. PLUS, no one under the age of 12 is allowed into the hospital unless they are a patient. Hello flu!

Anyway, a med student was able to exam Pirate first. No hernia. I was happy about that. But he does have something called a hydrocele.

If you don't want to click the link, a hydrocele is basically fluid from the abdominal cavity that is draining into his testicle area. This is happening because as the testes drop in development, they make a hole in the abdominal wall to get to where they are supposed to be. Most of the time this opening seals up by the age of one and there is no problem. Pirate's did not. His is very slight. I think his doctor called it a "non-communicating hydrocele" which means that there is not a lot of fluid passing back and forth through this opening.

It's not painful. It's not harmful. It may or may not go away at this point. It will only go away for sure with surgery. To do the surgery or not is up to us. The doctor is willing to do it but it probably won't alter his quality of life if he doesn't have it. I'm glad it's not life threatening but being faced with this decision is a little daunting.

Juice and I talked about it a lot. I talked to my parents about it. (Juice's parents are in the MTC for their mission or he probably would have talked to them about it.) I think talking to my dad made my decision though. He had a double hernia when he was a teenager probably due to a hydrocele left untreated.

Pirate is getting the surgery.

It's a fast surgery. The doctor said it would only take an hour or so. He would do it in the surgical suites they have at his office. They would not give him any pain medication after the surgery and he would only have 3 or 4 stitches in two areas. My thought is it's better to fix this now while he is little. Before he ends up with a double hernia. Before he gets teased in the locker room because he looks different (and it does). Before he's old enough to really get the whole surgery aspect. It's a good idea.

The doctor will probably schedule it in March or April.

It was a big morning for Pirate and me. We celebrated with doughnuts. Yum!

Safire

What to Say...

Everyone,

Normal craziness was had by all today. We went to the PRC and Butterfly fell in the mud running to the door. That girl has some serious enthusiasm. It's great! The boys painted for the first time and wiped their paint covered hands on their clothes because they REFUSED to wear smocks. Luckily the paint came out. The mud, not yet.

They all took a 4 hour nap today (I know!) and I took an hour one. I vacuumed, did laundry, finished a library book, earned a few swagbucks. (BTW, I have earned enough for yet another amazon gift card. That makes $20 I've earned this month alone. Sign up, you won't be sorry!)

Juice came home, we had dinner (which I almost burned but saved just in time) and we played. The boys have discovered that Daddy makes a good horse and Mommy also makes one. They went around tonight pushing us over so they could climb on our backs. Man they are cute!

Butterfly almost has her talk memorized for Sunday and I'm really excited to see how she does with it. We also have a visiting young women's leader on Sunday. All the young women will be attending for 2nd and 3rd hours. This means I don't have to teach Sunday school because my class is all girls. I like having weeks off sometimes! And with the boys in nursery now, I might actually be able to sit next to Juice in church and just sit. It's going to be so different but so needed.

Speaking of being needed, my bed is calling me from the other room.

Safire

Date Night!

Everyone,

Butterfly's BFF Vinny's mom and I are pretty good friends. Lala and I were lamenting the fact that we could not get out often enough with little kids. So we put our heads together and decided we should trade babysitting. Last week I watched her kids for an evening and tonight, she watched mine.

Why didn't we start this sooner? I spend a night at their house and get a night alone with my darling. It was fun last week to have a night away from my house, too. I took my computer and talked to my mom for a bit. Easy easy.

Tonight we did a dance thing with the 8-11 year old girls in my church and their dads. It was our "glad you're my dad hoe down" and we had a great time. After the hoe down, we went out to dinner at a cute little Indian place. I went there last week with my moms group and loved it. I couldn't wait to take Juice.

What a fun date. We haven't been out in ages it seems. I'm really looking forward to being able to get out more!

Safire

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