right now

*Right now, Ana is doing the dishes. She insisted that I sit down. She brought me the computer and she said, "Mom, don't worry, I will take care of everything."

She also said, "I'm just giving you a break from all that work."

*Right now, Katie is practically crawling. Not in the traditional sense, but she is definitely moving around by pushing off her feet. Nothing is safe.

*Right now, Jack is playing babies. But his baby flies around and jumps off stuff and rescues things.

ordinary days

"normal day, let me be aware of the treasure that you are." - mary jean iron

I heard this quote a few months ago and it keeps popping into my mind.

It has been a week of very normal days.

Somehow, each evening when I'm making dinner with a baby on my hip, listening to Ana plunk out her piano practicing, with Jack at my feet telling me something over and over and getting louder and louder, it occurs to me how wonderful my life is.

These normal days make me so happy.

Watching the snow fall outside:

Playing puppy in the "doghouse":

Katie's first solids:

Ana's sick day:

The day Jack wanted Katie in this box and she actually loved it:

I really do treasure these ordinary days.

first things first

I had some thoughts over on our happiness project blog. Read them HERE.

Today our water is going to be turned off at noon to fix a broken fire hydrant down the road. My mind is swirling of things to do in case it is off all afternoon (like wash Ana's sheets).

Have a happy day!

new year snapshot #4: me

Quite frankly, I am a mess.

I realized it a few weeks ago and mostly have been noticing things that support it. I can't keep up on housework (though that is nothing new). I rarely fix my hair. I am usually running late. I drop things, spend too much time on the computer, and am super forgetful. In a culminating moment of my mess-ness, I found myself at church with a baby who exploded out her diaper, and me without any clean diapers or extra clothes for her. (Luckily, there were extra diapers in the mother's lounge and then I ran home to get her clothes.)

Surprisingly, this reality has not depressed me. Actually, the opposite is true. It was liberating. For the first time in a long time I really saw myself, and I was okay with it.

But if I am going to be a mess, I want to be a happy mess. Too often I find myself annoyed, frustrated, and short-tempered. This just will not do. I'd rather be known as a happy person than a got-it-all-together person.

As part of my New Year's resolutions this year, I want to spend my energy being happier. Which is why my sisters and I have started our own happiness project, based on this book. I do have a few other resolutions as well. (Because quite frankly, I'd like to be slightly less of a mess by 2013.)

So far, I feel like I'm off to a good start. This last week I have felt a lot happier. So though my house is still a mess, and I was still late for church this morning, I think 2012 will be a good year.

new year snapshot #3: ana marie

I don't know what to say about this girl. If I were to describe Ana in one word it would be "dichotomous."

She is compassionate and careless.

She loves to help and doesn't like to work.

She adores her baby sister, and is annoyed by her brother.

She is enthusiastic and dramatic.

She is full of big ideas and unrealistic expectations.

As always, she is a super problem-solver. (Sometimes solving problems that don't exist.)

She still has not grown out of her "why" phase that she started 3 years ago.

She is always full of new challenges and new joys. But having a school-kid is fun!

Ana loves kindergarten! She is motivated by friends and art projects - both of which are in ample supply at school.

She wants to wear skirts + leggings every day to school. She has put holes in - count them - 7 pairs of leggings since school started.

I love that Ana wants to draw pictures and write letters for her friends. I spell no less than 3,842 words aloud for her each day.

I love that she wants to learn to play the piano.

I love that she and her friends are starting to put on little shows. I remember doing that.

Every once in a while, she tells us she wants to be called "Marie."

On Monday I told her I would miss her while she was at school and she said, "Mom, we've been together for a few weeks, I think we need to spend some time apart."

She says "like" in her sentences. which makes her sound like a teenager.

She has grown up so much in the last year. I loved having her home last week. She brings life and spirit into our home.

new year snapshot #2: katie-koo

I should have posted this yesterday. Because yesterday Katie was 5 months old. What?!? 5 months old? That flew by in a hurry.

The days are long, but the years (also the months) are so, so short.

Katie is a dream. We are all smitten with her. Ana loves to tote her around. (Katie doesn't mind.) Jack loves to make her smile and laugh and every time he announces, "Katie smiled at me!" Dave loves to snuggle and hold her. I love it when she falls asleep in the sling on my hip. Her little face melts my worries and eases my grumpies.

At 5 months old Katie:

*is big for her age. I keep thinking she's a little bitty thing but she's not.

*rolls over all the time. She loves to roll onto her tummy and reach and grab for stuff.

*cat naps most days. Every once in a while, she'll have a good 2 hour nap, but usually they are under 1 hour.

*usually sleeps a good 7 hour stretch at night. Except last week, when she woke up every 3 hours. But last night she was back to her 7 hour stretch.

*will probably crawl in the next month. She already pushes up to her hands, pushes herself backward, and tries to get her legs up under her. She often uses her face for traction when she's pushing off with her feet. It is quite comical.

*doesn't like to be left alone. She is a social baby and wants to be played with, held, and talked to all her waking hours.

*is the squirmiest baby in the world. I should have known because she never stopped moving in my tummy either. She squirms the entire time I feed her. She squirms and wiggles while I'm carrying her around. She squirms sitting in the bumbo. She never. stops. squirming.

*decided she was ready for solids before Mommy was ready. Now she's eating oatmeal and applesauce - and loving it! - and I am lamenting the mess and the days when I could take 10 minutes to nurse instead of 30 minutes to spoon feed. (I keep telling myself I'll be happy when I can just give her a graham cracker and let her go to town, but until then, I am lamenting.)

*smiles and giggles so easily. Especially when her siblings jump around or do silly things or when she is tickled.

Life is good with 3. It's like she's always been here.

new year snapshot #1: jackers

I have a list of "new years" posts I want to publish, but I first want to take some time to snapshot my kids. First we'll start with Jacky-Boy.

He is 3. He is adorable. He is all-boy.

I keep having this feeling that even though I think he is so BIG now, in a few short years he really will be big, and I'll realize that at 3 he was little and adorable. I'm trying to enjoy his little-ness.

He gets dressed by himself first thing every morning. Even before eating "brefkrist." He wants to wear Lightning McQueen undies every day, even though he only as 4 pair. He has specific outfits that go together and won't budge about it.

He still loves to play cars. Mostly he names them what they look like: "yellow-red" and "silver window" or my personal favorite, an orange Reeses brand hot-wheel that he named "drive candy car."

He likes to hide behind my leg and frown when adults talk to him. But when he's in his element (a.k.a. home) he doesn't stop talking. Unless he's singing.

He takes his role as annoying-little-brother seriously. He loves to tease Ana and her friends.

He takes his role as big brother seriously. He still will get me diapers. He smiles and coos at Katie and loves to make her laugh by jumping around the room.

He says "thanks for the yummy food, Mom" after dinner. He prays for everyone in the family during his prayers. He randomly gives hugs and says "I love you, Mom."

He started Primary yesterday. He loved it, even though it took him most of the 30 minute singing time for him to start singing.

I can tell him to clean his room or get pjs on and he does it right away.

Whenever he doesn't like something - whether a friend who doesn't share or going to time-out for hitting - he reacts the same way: screaming. It isn't a temper tantrum, but he cries and does so very loudly.

Every week at the library he wants to check out "space books": non-fiction books about the planets, stars and space. His favorite is Saturn. Right now he calls himself "Jack Saturn J.A.C.K. Larsen." He will sit while I read the whole thing (about 15 or 20 minutes) and he knows quite a few facts about Space. Like that stars are born in a nebula. And that Saturn's rings are chunks of ice and dust. The other day I was reading a space book and we came to a page about Supernovas and he said, "Supernovas are really bright. If we ever went by a supernova, the light would touch my eye and I would need to wear supernova glasses."

I am still wrapped around his finger.

a year in review

2011

3 firsts

1. first garden

2. first ER trip

3. first hurricane

3 favorites adventures

1. Niagara falls/Palmyra

2. 4th of July in Boston

3. Sister's weekend in Oklahoma City


3 new things

1. a new baby!

2. a new car!

3. a new kindergartener!


3 things mommy said all the time:

1. What time is it?

2. I spent all day cleaning and the house is already a mess!

3. Look at the beautiful world Heavenly Father created!



Bring in the new year! I'm sure 2012 will be just as good.

my boys will be boys (& my girls will be girls)

About the time Jack turned 3, maybe sooner, but I started noticing it then, I realized that he was a boy. Of course, I had always known he was. But suddenly, he didn't quite so easily give in to Ana's whims of what to play or watch on TV and his play became more ... "boy-ish." Suddenly his cars were zooming in the air and everything became a sword. He wanted to get Spiderman things. Which I found especially weird because we have never introduced him to Spiderman.

Suddenly I can see the difference in boys and girls. Despite Ana's love of pink and princesses and arts and crafts, Jack's not interested. They are different. Jack checks books out from the library about space and science and Ana wants books about fairies and unicorns. Jack paints blue and green blobs and Ana paints rainbows. Ana wants to watch Barbie princess movies and Jack prefers Thomas and Cars.

Recently there seems to be all this hoopla about gender roles. People are raising their children to be "genderless." Disney states that princesses teach outdated ideals. People freak out over gender specific toys or games or sports.

But men and women are different. Physiologically, emotionally, spiritually. What is the sense in telling girls to be more like boys or boys to be more like girls. Isn't that sending the signal that they should ignore who they are and conform to society's standard of sameness?

I am a woman. I have the physiological parts and hormones and emotional inclinations ideal for motherhood. Motherhood is a noble calling. I have no issues teaching my daughters to be feminine, to want to be a mother, and to find joy in keeping hearth and home.

I will also teach her to get an education, to be kind and to stand up for what is right.

Dave is a man. He has the physicological parts and hormones and emotional inclinations for fatherhood and manhood. He takes pride in his ability to provide for his family. I have no issues teaching my sons to "be a man" by working hard and wanting and providing for his family.

I will also teach him to treat women with respect, to be kind and to stand up for what is right.

In a world with increasingly blurry lines of gender roles, I stand by the traditional ones. Men and women are different. And we need each other.

christmas week

I was surprisingly non-stressed last week. We made gingerbread houses with our friends, I finished up a few projects, made Christmas goodies for our friends, and cleaned my entire house. And though the gingerbread house was a much bigger project than I anticipated, a few projects were left unfinished, my goodies were not nearly as ambitious as I had previously wanted, and my house was clean for a whole 10 minutes before Ana and Jack crumbled zucchini bread all over the floor, I kept my cool, and we ended up with a wonderful Christmas. We got together with friends for a Christmas Eve program. Opened our traditional Christmas jammies and then tucked the children into bed.

Christmas was nice. Dave got me THIS watch. I got him THIS rain jacket (in red). Ana got a "sewing set" and a pillow pet and Jack got a basketball hoop and an umbrella. And a few other things. Then we went to Church. I liked that. We had a delicious Christmas dinner at our friends house. It was such a great Christmas. Simple.


Yesterday we took our dead Christmas Tree down and we are now enjoying a nice relaxing week with nothing on our schedule. Now if we could just get some snow.