owie

The other day Jack fell down in the kitchen. I don't know exactly what happened, but he cried for a few minutes and then went on his way. Later that day, I noticed a goose-egg right above his eye. "Oh, Jack" I said, "Did you get an owie on your eye?"

"No," he replied, "eyebrow."

Well, sorry mister smarty pants.

The next day his eye was black. Our first black eye in the family. (Well, I guess Dave had a couple when he was younger, but whatever.)


Have I mentioned that Jack talks a lot. He doesn't stop. Newest additions:

"I like ... (insert noun, usually food such as peaches)"

"No, thanks."

and

"Dora book." Ana found a Dora book at the library and Jack attached himself to it. He wanted to bring it home (and Ana picked out a tractor book - is that backwards to anyone else?). He's been carrying it around everywhere for the last 3 days, gets mad if Ana touches it, and asks anyone and everyone: "read it."

good mommy

Today I had a "good mommy" day.

You know those days where you just feel like you somehow got it right.

I did laundry, dishes, made gingerbread cookies, cleaned the bathroom (a little), spent minimal time on the computer, went to the library, read stories, played games, cuddled and sang songs all with two little kids at my heels (or maybe one on my hip).

I didn't even raise my voice. And I don't think Ana got 1 time-out.

See, some days its not so hard.

Maybe tomorrow will be a "good wife" day. Dave deserves one of those once in a while.

beating the winter blues

Saturday was the perfect day.

We just hung out. Stayed in our pjs until after noon. Dave was home. Boy, do my kids LOVE their daddy!



I really like him too. We've been watching episodes of Star Trek: the Original Series every night. We pop a bowl of popcorn and play Phase 10 or Five Crowns while we watch. That is (cheap) happiness.

Ana got to go to a "Princess Tea-Party" birthday party yesterday. It was cute. She had fun at the party, but I don't have any pictures. The invitation came with jewelry/accessory stickers. This is what she did with them:



Jack says "look, Mama" about 50 times a day. I love it.

I usually get really depressed in the winter. But besides being bored, I've felt happy. So, at least that's something.

brother, first class

My big brother is cool. He baptized me when I was eight. I slept in his room when he left for college. When Dave and I got married and there was a little drama over the date (we got married on a Tuesday) he called and said that it didn't matter when or where we got married that he would be there. That is cool.

So, my brother is in Iraq. I admire his willingness to serve our country. He left in November and will be gone a year. He has a wife and 5 kids, and I am awed by their strength during this time.

Anyway, while he is over there, he is doing broadcasting stuff. Video filming, editing and narrating. He did this:



I am one proud little sister.

winter

Its winter. We don't do anything around here. The same kinda things everyday. We're in a pretty good routine and Ana has gone to bed surprisingly well the last two nights. (knock on wood).

But we're bored.

I guess that's winter for you. Today I thought it was warm enough to go to the park. So I put the kids' jackets on them and left. While we were there I called for the temperature it was only 36 degrees. We didn't even have coats on.

I got a cold this week. I think a cold is worse than the stomach flu. I feel like such a wuss because all I want to do is sit around and let the kids watch TV all day.

My house is slowly coming together. (Thanks for your tips and tricks, everyone. They were great!)

Ana is big into wrapping "presents" which consists of wrapping any object she has - balls, phones, toys, etc - and hiding them in a blanket or her shirt or a piece of paper and saying, "Mommy, I have a present for you." She also wants to watch TV all day.

Though I get tired of cold weather and being inside, we don't get tired of Jack's little rambling. He says: "Mama, Look!" when he wants to show me something and "how nice" when Ana shares with him. He says everything except words that begin with the "k" sound: car ("vroom, vroom" or "truck", coat ("toat") , corn ("torn").

So, that's our January. Is it spring yet?

balance

I've been working on and thinking a lot about my theme for the year to get my house in order. Maybe it was because I had to teach a class on it for a weekday Relief Society meeting. (When I told my mom I was asked to teach on home organization, she laughed for 30 seconds straight. Really.) The class went pretty well, and I learned a lot from preparing to teach it. I've been slowly organizing stuff around the house a little at a time. A drawer here, a cupboard there. And I've been pretty good at keeping those places organized once I get them there. (With the exception of the kids room. It seems I can never keep that room clean. Sigh...)

Its hard for me to have to consciously think about housework all day. I know that the things that I think about now, if I follow through with them, will become second nature and eventually I won't have to think about them, but it is exhausting to think about housework all day. And right now I do because I want so badly for my house to look nice.

Anyway, I was thinking about this last night. More than anything else, I want everyone who comes into my home to feel welcome and like they are more important than anything else. I think that having a clean house is part of this. But I don't want my house to be so spotless that people are afraid to be themselves, or don't want to bring their kids over, or feel uncomfortable in any other way.

It is tricky to find this balance. I struggle with the "a place for everything" thing because there simply isn't enough room for everything. I have a hard enough time keeping daily things picked up and organized that getting to things like scrubbing the bathroom and cleaning out the fridge are long overdue.

What are some of your tricks? How do other moms keep on top of it all? And how do you do it and not feel like its weighing you down?

on food

I really like onions. They make almost anything taste a million times better. For the first 4 1/2 years of my marriage I only ever used dried minced onions because Dave doesn't really love "onion chunks." But real onions make things so much better I either leave the pieces big enough he can eat around them, or small enough he can't tell. Because man I love onions.

I owe it to Rookie Cookie, who's Soup Guide has opened up a wonderful world of yummy easy dinners that we don't get tired of because there are so many possibilities. Not soup related, we had this for dinner tonight. (minus the broccoli because i didn't have any on hand.) Dave was skeptical, but afterward he said, "I almost don't want to eat a treat because that had such good flavor." (He ate a treat anyway, but still)

I like yummy food.

this girl

I love her. I really do. And last night as I was laying in bed next to her (we had to move her to our room because she was so wired, even though she was exhausted, and then lay down by her for her to go to sleep) I was thinking, "man, I need to be better at loving her." We butt heads a lot. Its probably because we are so much alike. Strong willed, intense, emotional, energetic. She gets frustrated when things aren't exactly how she imagined them. (Like me.)

We've been thinking about what we can do for her. To help her learn to calm herself down. To help her enjoy quiet time. To help her learn to obey and be nice to her brother. I'll think something is working for a while, and then suddenly, its not working anymore.

Right now is one of those rare moments when the kids are entertaining themselves. (Though I just realized its because Jack is sitting in a pile of crackers and Ana was eating a cracker. I was talking to her today and I told her not to put her fingers in her mouth. She replied, "but mom, then I won't have anything to suck on." She's always been one to keep her food in her mouth for a long time. I guess its her comfort.)

Sigh... Motherhood is hard sometimes. Dave is absolutely the best daddy Ana could have asked for. Hopefully it will make up for where I lack.

this week in numbers

360 - miles driven (to Boise for Dave's University of Washington Interview)

1 - yummy Brazilian Restaurants eaten at

7 - hours spent doing Relief Society stuff

2, 1 - Number of temper tantrums Jack and Ana threw, respectively. Ana should score extra for doing it at a friend's house.

3 - days Jack could be seen sporting this:

time capsule - january 2010

I want to remember what I am doing at this time in our life....



I am reading: The Lord of the Rings, and A Joyful Mother of Children

I spend my free time: on the computer, reading, sewing and hanging out with Dave.

I want to change: how messy/disorganized my house is.

Dave and I like to watch: Star Trek: The Original Series, Community, and The Office (though its not as funny as previous seasons)

Dave: can't decide which med school to go to, is reading Elder Nelson's biography, traveled all the way from Seattle to Vermont and Philadelphia in one year, is awesome!


Ana loves: watching shows, (right now a favorite is "Here Comes Science") snuggling and talking, singing and dancing, playing with friends.

Ana doesn't like: quiet time, going to bed, leaving her friends' house, playing by herself.


Jack loves: talking (new words include puzzle "puh-puz" and toothbrush), reading books ("No, David" and "Pinkalicious" are favorites), giving hugs, juice

Jack doesn't like: when Ana takes away his toys (or threatens him in any way), anything when he is tired.

What will we be doing in 2020?

happy new year

Well, its a new year and now is the time for me to get all reflective and thoughtful.

We rang in the new year with food, family and fun. I let the kids stay up, and we all slept in this morning. It was good.

2009 was good and happy, but as usual, we had some surprises.

Unexpected things:
*Dave not getting into med school
*Staying in Rupert
*Relief Society Presidency

Good and Happy things:
*Dave getting into med school.
*Being near family

and of course, the happiest thing of all has been watching our kids grow. Man, I love my family.

2010 will be a good year. I just know it.

I've thought a lot about my theme for the new year. Of course, I should just keep going with last year's theme, because I could always be more loving. But, I think I need a new area to focus on.

A preface: Dave and I have been married for almost 5 years. For the first 3, I worked and went to school, became a mom and finished school and then got pregnant with number 2. Almost two years ago we moved here and I was just mom. And I've realized in the last year that housework has been a low priority since we got married and we (me) have gotten into some bad habits.

So now is the time to fix them. My focus for 2010 is:

Establish a house of order
(see D&C 88:119)

I want to spend the year establishing that house. That means I don't expect it to be perfect tomorrow. Or even next week. I have a plan. I am going to de-junk. Find a place for everything or throw it out. I'm going to get into a routine that includes exercise time and scripture study. I'm want to establish quiet time for Ana. I'm going to get into good habits. It'll be good.

Happy New Year!