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!