i am thankful...

I am a day late and my camera ran out of battery after only a few pictures, but our Thanksgiving was great! We spent it at my sister's amazing new house in Boise along with my mom and dad, and 3 additional sisters plus one friend. Good company + good food = great time. We especially enjoyed watching football and star trek on very comfy couches in front of a large screen TV. Nice...

This afternoon before we left, Jack walked up to Dave saying "bee ball" (meaning football) and pointing downstairs. So Dave took Jack and they went down and watched football together. (captured by camera phone)



I'm pretty sure that was Dave's favorite part of the trip. Watching football with his boy.

Stuff I'm thankful for:
*My family. My brothers and sisters (from both sides of the family), awesome parents and in-laws.
*that Dave got into med school this year. We are so excited for a new adventure in our lives.
*Dave's job.
*Church, specifically - temples and that my family is going to be together forever. That is cool!
*My health.

But mostly,
*the wonderful daddy to my kids. Seriously, this guy is so patient and tender with our kids. It is the best thing a wife could ask for.
*and my kids. They make being worn out by 8 pm worth it.

Now its time to kick it into gear for Christmas. I'll be spending a lot of time at my sewing machine. I love this time of year!

finding what works

When Ana was about Jack's age, she used to pull all of the books off of the bookshelf.



Now, its Jack's turn. I think I put those books back on the shelf 3 or 4 times a day. Today, while engaged in just such an activity, I was remembering that Ana did the same thing. Although, when Ana did it, I used to leave the books on the floor for days. I just figured they would end up there again anyway.

I have been told at times that I am little "too laid back" in my parenting style. Maybe that's right. Like how my children run around without pants on most afternoons. (Pants = more laundry. We're not going anywhere.) And how they like to jump on the couch and/or pull the cushions off. And how I don't fix Ana's hair everyday.

But its mostly just a matter of finding what works. I have been known to be "intense." I decided that "if I cared about anything I would have to care about everything. And I'd go stark raving mad." (name that movie). So I choose not to care. There are things that have eternal consequences and that is what I care about.

Slowly I'm learning that more and more things are worth caring about. I used to not make my bed because Dave is so tall that he would pull the sheets out of the bottom every night and it wasn't worth it. Then I realized that I didn't have to tuck the sheets in at all. If I just straighten it up a bit, it makes my whole room look a lot cleaner.

And I do the dishes every night. And vacuum almost every day. And I usually fold my laundry right out of the dryer. I've realized that if I keep the entertainment center cleared off, it makes the living room look more put together.

And I clean up those darn books all day long. But I'm not quite ready to make him stop pulling them off. Its just not worth caring about.

here goes nothin'

After my rather embarrassing experience last Sunday, I was quite surprised when I was asked to meet with the Bishop on Tuesday evening. I was so sure he was calling me in to make sure I was still sane - And that Dave hadn't decided not to come to church anymore. I was freaking out all day worrying over how I was going to calming and coolly tell him that really everything was just fine I was just overly emotional from having Dave gone and the kids acting up and... PMS ... can you say that to the bishop? But that really we were fine and Dave was home and we were all happy. I had practically prepared a speech about it.

That isn't what he was concerned about. Instead I was called to be in the Relief Society Presidency.

I have gone through many emotions such as: "but I'm not even that great of a visiting teacher" and "I'm way too young for this" and "it'll be fun to get to know everyone in the ward" and "at least its only for 8 months."

Mostly, I'm excited now. It'll be something new.

But man, I'll miss my primary kids.

stop it

Sometimes I would like to do things like this guy when I am at work.

home sweet home

Our house is old. Not only do we have a carpeted kitchen and "retro" wall paper and wood paneling, but we have some crazy quirks about it too.

Like how there is only 1 outlet in each room. In the case of the bathroom, that happens to be directly above the mirror, which makes trying to curl my hair an interesting challenge. So I don't. But that's a whole other story.

It also means that at night, the children can't have music playing, a night light and a heater all at the same time. So, we opted for the heater and night light.

Most of the house is on the same circuit. It didn't really matter much until the winter. But since it started getting cold, I noticed that the circuit breaks almost daily. When I use any appliance in the kitchen (toaster, vacuum, etc.) it trips the circuit and our power goes out. So, I have to turn the heater off in the kid's room first.

Its happened enough that if I happen to forget and the power goes out, Ana knows to run into her room and flip the heater off so I can finish vacuuming.

I think its cute that she does that for me.

We like our old house.

in praise of single moms - and my husband - and relief society

Dave right now is getting on a plane to fly back from Philedelphia. Tomorrow he has an interview at U of U and then he's coming back to me after 5 L.O.N.G days.

I went to church by myself for the first time. It started out just fine. I got there 5 minutes early, and the kids were sitting there mostly reverent, except for Ana's loud call to her friend in the middle of the sacrament. But just about the time that the fruit snacks were all gone and Jack's stickers ran out, I lost control. Ana was rolling around on the bench and kneeling up and talking really loudly to the girls behind her. Jack started crying and I had to take him out. But Ana didn't follow me like I thought she would. So I went back in. Then they both went crazy and I picked Ana up to carry her out, but Jack didn't follow me, so I had to half drag him out. Then I thought the meeting should have been over so I went back into the chapel, but it was still the closing song. Jack was screaming and I was trying to collect several books, colored pencils and cereal from off the floor. Then the lady behind me told me that she'd keep an eye on Ana if I took Jack out. So I did.

And I cried.

Everyone was really nice about it. I got several hugs, even more "we've all been there, you're still a good mom"s and even a few "you are braver than me, I would have stayed home." One lady took Jack for the rest of church and kept him happy. Another took my primary class into hers and taught the class for me.

I went in the mother's lounge and cried some more. Eventually I calmed down enough to go to sharing time. Now we are home.

When we lived in Rexburg I used to sit by a friend of mine during church because her husband was in a bishopric up on campus. When we left she told me she was so grateful for that. I told her it was no big deal. After today, I realized that it was a big deal.

Often when we talk about Relief Society we talk about relief to the poor and needy. I'm so grateful for those who provided me with relief today at church.

And I'm grateful for my husband who does so much for me! I really should be more appreciative when he's around.

And I'm in awe at mothers who do this every week - whether they are single or if they're husbands are not with them for one reason or another. My hat's off to you.

Philadelphia Update

The interview went well yesterday - I interviewed on the 18th floor of a hospital downtown. It was pretty cool.

Today we (Dave and Kendall) were in the city all day long. We are tired.

Anyway, here is a picture someone took of us in front of Independence Hall.



More pictures will probably be posted after we get back Monday night.

am I the only one?

Sometimes I feel like the mommy version of the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

If Mommy walks into the kitchen to put away the clean dishes, she'll probably notice the washer machine and remember to change the laundry. As she's unloading the dryer, she'll probably decide she needs to pick up all of the stuff the kids pulled out of the cupboard. While she's doing that, chances are she'll remember the pair of pants that she needed to wash that was in the other room. On the way, she sees a bag of new clothes that need to be put away in the kids' bedroom. Much to her dismay, her daughters pony-tail holders are strewn all around the bedroom so she'll stop to pick those up right away. Then she'll see the pair of jeans she needs to wash and she'll head back to the laundry room. And chances are as she walks through the kitchen to get to the laundry room, she'll probably notice the dishes in the drainer that need to be put away...

True story.

i've been grumpy lately

I'm not sure why, but my "bad mommy" self has come out the last few days.

Maybe its because my house was perfectly clean on Thursday night when I hosted book club and by Friday afternoon it was trashed again.

Maybe its because we have some serious disobedience issues lately. Ana just ignores me no matter what I say or how I say it.

Maybe its because the weather is changing and I'm feeling cooped up.

Whatever the reason, I'm grumpy.

I cannot get over this video. Enjoy.

quick thought: we've been caught

Monday night we had Halloween candy for FHE treats. After the kids went to bed, Dave and I continued snacking. This morning Ana said to me:

"Mama, were you and daddy eating my candy last night?"

"Why would you think that, Ana?" I asked.

"Because there are wrappers on the computer desk..."

Is she old enough to catch us snitching her candy already?

my favorite thing about fall

this is happiness!

i'm so domesticated

Wow! This week has been busy busy with domestic-like stuff. And not the "house-cleaning" type, so I guess that's what I'll be catching up on tomorrow.

I was really excited with the kids Halloween costumes. Ana's dress took a lot of work, but I really liked it. Jack's took almost no work at all so they evened out. He didn't want to keep his hat on, though. We went to a Trunk or Treat, which was fun. Jack totally didn't understand the whole "trick or treat" thing. He just thought, "man I just got a sucker and I'm going to stop right here and eat it." I think Ana's favorite thing was going over to Grandma's and helping her pass out candy to all the kids that came to the door.





I also felt extra motivated this year so I made the kids Halloween treat bags. I like how they turned out.



Also today was a family get together with my siblings. I told my sister over a year ago that I would make her some throw pillows. I committed to give them to her at the family party today so I've been working on those this week too. I love them so much, I wish they matched my couch. I also made a fresh-pumpkin pie and a salad for the party.



Whew! Its been a busy week and it was a lot of fun! I'm all in the sewing groove now so I'm ready to start on a few handmade Christmas presents for the kids. Yay!