You have to go through hell to get to heaven

Or so you would think judging from our drive yesterday.

OH MY GOODNESS!

Found out there was a Stride Rite outlet in Las Vegas, so I decided to stop and get some shoes for my fat footed Brother Bear.  Then we had to eat and nurse.  Then we dropped Grandpa off at the hotel.  Then we got on the road - destination: CALIFORNIA!! 

Then we come to a complete stop.  And it takes 3 hours to get from Las Vegas to Barstow.

Then the wind is blowing 40-50 mph with gusts up to 80 mph.  Rain begins when we hit Barstow.  We stop to eat and nurse Baby Boy.  On the road again.  In-laws offer to meet me in Victorville.  No, I'm fine.

SLOWLY get to Victorville.  Baby Boy is screaming, I have been reduced to tears as the sun has set, the rain has increased, the wind hasn't stopped and I spot an oasis: Chuck E Cheese.

Call the in-laws and say, I'm stopping here, please come and get me!

Hour and and half later they are there and I was saved!  Grandma jumps in the car, I follow Grandpa and grip the wheel with all my might all the way to their house in the hurricane.  I was advised to change my tires soon before leaving...now that I'm thinking of my intense hydroplaning, some more tread wouldn't have hurt on this drive...

But we arrived safe and sound 9 hours after leaving Las Vegas.  Did you know it's only a 4 hour drive?  :)  Lesson that I learned: DON'T BREAK THE SABBATH AND GO TO STRIDE RITE ON SUNDAY, EVEN ON VACATION.  lol.  Another lesson I learned: I was dumber than a box of rocks to think I could do a road trip with four young children by myself.  I can't believe how stupid I was!!

So basically yesterday was hell.  Pure hell.  I may mention that the kids were AWESOME!  I just couldn't take my hands off the wheel and help Baby or anyone else if they needed something and it was a bit frustrating.

Today?  Pretty close to heaven, especially if you ask my kids.

Grandpa outfitted everyone with galoshes and we went to ride his horse and tromp around in the mud.  The kids even loved cleaning out the stall!  :)  Mud and horses mixed with Grandpa = pure heaven.

I wish...

Cowboy:

I wish I was a baby penguin cub.  Cuz then my mama could puke out a fish for me into my mouth!

Oh my.  :)

Kids are doing great, fantastic, awesome on the road trip.

Vegas is BRIGHT.  Seriously.

I've decided I am more of a country mouse.

Brother Bear face planted at the hotel and got his first bloody nose from sheer contact.  We'll see if it's a black eye in the morning.

Did you get to see the awesomely bright full moon tonight?  GORGEOUS!!!

Delaying the inevitable

I miss my husband.  He was the one who always packed the car for our road trips and took care of all that.  I just packed the bags and put them by the door.

My bag is packed by the door...so where is my packer upper???

MIA!!

:)  Excited for our trip.  Hate packing for it.  It will all be worth it.

California dreaming...and back to getting things in the car.  :)

It's a holiday?

All I can say is at least we wore green.  Which is about the ONLY celebrating of St Patty's day that occurred in our home.  I didn't dye any food, make any Irish food, do any type of green cookies, NOTHING!!

Oh man.  Let's add "doing better holiday celebrations for the kids" to my quest of being a better mom.  What's up next, Easter?  Okay, I've a month to prepare.  I can do this!!

Here's to better holidays!  :)

On a side note, I am in need of getting a car and 5 people packed for a very long road trip that will be occurring very very soon.  And I did get my laundry done.  It's folded...in nice piles on the couch.  :)  LOL!

The not so love affair

It's a fact of life.  Laundry has to be done, clothes have to be put away, and inevitably there will ALWAYS be more dirty laundry lurking in the shadows.

So why oh why is it SO hard for me to do it?  This is not a new thing.  I've been doing laundry for a long time.  You would think after a while it would just become a habit.  But it hasn't.  I still struggle with the folding/putting away/remembering that there is a load in the washer BEFORE it goes rancid (why is it ALWAYS the towels load that I forget???).

So, in my effort to improve myself, I would love to know if any of you have any good ideas on how to fall in love with something you truly, unequivocally loathe?  Because short of a love affair, I don't think mere tolerance will work on something so truly despising in my world.

Oh, and fresh smell won't work either.  I have to use unscented everything due to Brother Bear's sensitivity.  Thoughts?


******Update******

Without reading this blog, or me telling her about it, my mom shared this article with me.  Tell me she is not an inspired woman!

Dramarama

Cowboy is convinced there is a hole in his arm.  Really it is like a scab came off and there is a tiny pot mark on his arm above his elbow (not even red or bloody).  He is treating it as if his entire arm is broken - holding it out from his side like a broken chicken wing, insisted upon a band-aid, and just told me he is going to be hurt *sniff* for miles and miles.

Brother Bear upon seeing the band-aid of his brother looked all over his body and insisted in an oh-so-pathetic voice that he was hurt too.  I asked if he wanted a band-aid.  "Yep!"  Run run run to the bathroom, get a band-aid amid more sniffling and whimpering, put it on an invisible owie (don't forget the kiss!) and he is good to go, until he sees his brother acting as though his arm was broken.  Then Brother Bear's arm couldn't be moved either.

Oh the drama.

I can't imagine where/who they could have gotten it from.  :)

Indeed

Baby Boy finally got a tooth to break through the skin - it's not in all the way by any means, but at least it's up!  Poor boy.  I was playing with him tonight and his balance is getting better.  I was able to let him go and he could stand without support for a couple of seconds before sitting down.  It's amazing how fast these babies grow!

I was watching "Coming Home" tonight and had tears streaming down my face and Brother Bear turned to me with concern and said, "You sad, Mom?" Me- "No, they are happy tears."  They continued to stream down my face and he put his hand on my cheek and said, "Need water?"  So sweet.

Princess and I were trying to decide what date she should have her birthday celebration at school.  I think it would be so fun to do it on April 18 and have Zane surprise her at school by bringing in the cookies.  :)  Can you tell I've been watching a surprise reunion show?  I just think it would be so great if we could time it that way.  She is gearing up for our trip to California to see Zane's parents and is SO excited!

I substituted in Cowboy's class today at church.  It was pretty funny.   I found out about it a couple of hours before church, and then as I was running around trying to get everyone out the door I remembered that Cowboy also had the talk today in Primary.  YIKES!!  I'm such a great example to my kids on how to prepare ahead of time.  :oP  It went alright, Baby Boy was done cooperating by the time Primary was over and Brother Bear had had enough as well.  Needless to say, we left right after the sacrament.  I was all too happy to learn the schedule is going to change in a couple of weeks - we're going to have sacrament first!  HOORAY!!!  After we got home Cowboy made me laugh so hard.  I was commenting on something to him and his reply?  "Yes, Mom.  Yes, indeed."  Indeed.  :)

How's yours?

Emergency plans and kits, that is.

The tragedy in Japan has made me evaluate our emergency plans and supplies.

We are in need of an OVERHAUL.

So here we go - I'm setting a goal: I'm going to have our go bags, and emergency plans COMPLETE by May.  I say May because Zane doesn't get home until mid-April and there are a couple of things he has with him that I want in our supplies. 

I want the walking plan (if we don't have access to our car), the get-in-the-car-and-go plan, and the evacuation plan (if we have warning and can throw a couple more things in the car). 

Life is very unpredictable.  We should plan as much as we can.

My heart is with all those who are suffering in Japan. 

Scheduling conflict

What is your daily schedule?

What kinds of things do you do with your kids each day?

When do you exercise?

When do you clean? laundry? shop?

I am in the process of revamping my schedule.  I got into too much of a habit during sickness and winter of letting the kids watch tv, and to be honest, I really haven't had a great schedule and format for making sure I play with and educate the kids during the day since I was pregnant with Baby Boy and I want to rectify that. 

So I'd like some suggestions and am curious as to what some of your schedules entail?  Please share!

I've said it before

but I'll say it again.  I L O V E Boise.  Truly.  :)

I also love my family.  Love that my grandma is home again for us to go visit.  Bonus that my parents are there now too!

I also love that my kids love their grandma great so much.  Brother Bear marched right in and ran with arms wide open to give her a big hug exclaiming, "Gamma Geat!"  Cowboy wanted to stay the night so he could play with Grandma Great all night long.  :)  She sure is special!

Grandma Great with Baby Boy back in August.

Word of the day

is...are you ready for it?  CRAPTASTIC.  Used to describe things that are FANTASTICALLY CRAPPY.  It's an optimistic word, really.

Craptastic - my van.  I spent a good share of my day dealing with my craptastic van.  I have been getting 12 mpg in a minivan.  Unacceptable.  Still don't have the answer.  Still frustrated.  So I am running away to Boise tomorrow to make my dad deal with it.  :)  I've said it before, but I am not one who takes pleasure in complete independence girls-can-do-anything-boys-can-do-but-better mindset.  Sorry.  I'm all too willing to turn it over to a man...ie - daddy.

Craptastic - my new awesome workout dvds.  My dvd acts like it is on crack.  Like it never had a final edit and wasn't rendered correctly.  So strange.  So A N N O Y I N G.  So my 60 day awesome body is going to have to wait a few more days.

Craptastic - I bought an apple pie because Princess loves it so much.  So who gorged on it today?  ME.  So much for my awesome no sugar diet.  That one is a big craptastic!  I think I gained 5 lbs in apple pie.  But for the record, Costco makes excellent pies.  And it was a very delicious 5 lbs.

Craptastic - are you catching on yet?  You should, it's a word that should be in everyone's vocabulary.  But it only works if said in a sarcastic manner, with a half smile, maybe even a bit of an eye roll and sigh thrown in.  Craptastic.  :)

My boys

Have I mentioned that I love how Brother Bear talks?  Tonight he came to me with his scriptures and said, "How's read this?"  I wish I could video him for hours on end because I just don't think you could ever really capture all of him with small clips caught here and there.  One thing he does lately is come into my room sometime during the night and wake me up, "Mom, sleep you?"  To which I pull him into bed and he snuggles up next to my face and usually strokes my cheek and/or hair for a bit.  Every once in a while I get a kiss on the forehead or nose, and the other night he says, "Love you, Mom," as he is patting my cheek.  :)  I HAVE to record how he talks and put it on here so you can hear his intonations.  There is a slight pause between every word he utters.  It's just sweet.

And what kind of mother convinces her 4 year old he has an alien in his ear?!?  Yes, I did, and that poor boy is truly convinced now.  I feel slightly bad after the laughter dies down every time he says something about it.  How did this come about you ask?  Well, I'm like a gorilla mother.  I like to pick my kids clean.  So...he had waxy ears and he wouldn't let me clean them, so I told him that he needed to let me clean out his ears because, "I need to see if there is an alien in your ear.  You have to be careful because if the alien has too many ear boogers to eat, he'll want to stay in your ear forever and never leave.  That's why you have to let mommy get them out."  So now if anything happens to his head he references the alien living in his ear.  "Mom!  The alien is making my head hurt!"  "Mom! I think the alien is moving around in my head!"  Bwahahaha!  I know, it is terrible that I find such humor in this situation.  I've ruined my child for life.  He's going to be in therapy when he's 30 talking about how his mother ruined his life by convincing him there was an alien living in his head and that's why he thinks he hears voices now.

Terrible?  Oh yes.  Hilarious?  Quite.  I'm terrible.  I know.

I finally have an appointment with an allergist who specializes in children's allergies for Baby Boy.  He's down in Utah and I'm looking forward to meeting with him.  I can understand the arguments for and against testing kids for allergies this young.  But I feel comforted in knowing I am going to be able to talk with someone who really knows and can give me better information and a sturdier framework to go from instead of a seemingly random guessing game I feel I play.  And what if it's something else?  Or not something to worry about?  Answers.  I hope I can get some!  :)  Meanwhile, his favorite food right now is bananas.  He giggles like crazy whenever anyone is spinning something around in circles in front of him.  And he thinks he doesn't need to take any naps anymore.  WHAT?!?  Seriously, I have a 7 month old who refuses to nap.  He'll cry for an hour over taking any naps during the day.  Crazy kid!

In other happenings, there were a lot of people who thought I was crazy for marrying Zane.  We are very different people.  I will admit, there have been times I thought I was crazy too.  But today I needed him to do what he always does: ground me.  He is the ying to my yang.  I needed some perspective and a different opinion (which I know he would have because we usually have differing opinions on a lot of things).  He told me what he thought, I argued back, he argued, got frustrated, I hung up the phone on his rant, and after a while, was grateful for his perspective.  I don't necessarily completely agree with everything he said, but he countered my concerns enough to help me stop wanting to reach for the panic button on this particular situation.  Which I wanted him to do.  Which is why I involved him in the first place.  He's my grounder.  Like I said, my ying to my yang.  We are so far from perfect, but I like the balance we've struck or stumbled upon.

Parental love

knows no bounds. 

My parents drove over from Boise and got here late tonight just so my dad could attend a "Dads and Doughnuts" activity at the school early in the morning with Princess.  Basically dads/grandpas/uncles go with their student to school and eat doughnuts and read books before school for a special time.  Princess acted like it wasn't a big deal for a long time until she found out her grandpa was coming for her.  She called him 3 times today to make sure he knew what time it was and ask when he was coming again?  She melts my heart with her excitement.

So does the love of grandparents.  I am so eternally grateful the Lord blessed my little girl with a circumstance that put my parents in a close enough vicinity that they can step in while her dad is away.  I'm also grateful for their willingness to do so.  They came tonight, and will leave right after her school thing in the morning.  Quick and expensive trip (especially with these astronomical gas prices)!  But it wasn't even a question to my dad whether or not he would come.

I love my children with a fierceness and depth that is indescribable.  How amazing it is that they are also blessed with not just one, but two sets of grandparents who love them "almost" as much as me.  :) 

Winter memories

Love sunny snow filled winter days!

Someday I'll get a real picture of Cowboy
when he's not fast enough to dodge the camera.

I love this picture!

If you look closely, you can see his poor allergy rash on his face

Six weeks

Only six weeks until I get my love back home.  Six weeks until I breathe normally.  Six weeks.  :)

Princess had another accident today.  She fell backwards in a folding chair at church and took off a couple chunks of skin off her fingers when they got caught as the chair folded.  Poor girl - I feel like wrapping her in bubble wrap and keeping her home for a week!

Brother Bear made me laugh SO hard tonight.  He was watching AFV and kept repeating, "wall wihwer awigator get my weg!"  When you read that you have to put a slight pause in between each word and say each word with a bit of force.  Anyway, the translation is: Fall in a river and an alligator will get my leg."  hahaha.  Maybe it's only funny to me, but it sure made me smile.

I've been a crying mess tonight.  I watched the show on Lifetime "Coming Home."  Even if my husband wasn't in the military and gone it would make me cry.  Those two factors make me sob.  Such a good show - I'd recommend it!  :)

Oh Princess!

Poor baby fell last night at the high school and face planted it again (she just did this a week ago in the parking lot).   One thing about mouth/head injuries - there is a LOT of blood!  Her hands were full by the time we found some paper towels.  By the way, I'm all for being environmentally conscious, but for heavens sake - try finding something that stays together better than 1 ply toilet paper to catch gushing blood with no paper towels!  Anyway, her tooth cut her lip - deep enough that I took her in to the er just to make sure she didn't need stitches (and to also get reassured that I didn't need to call the dentist for an emergency visit).  They went back and forth about whether or not to sew it, but in the end decided that it wouldn't be worth the painful process.  Meanwhile, she hit her mouth so hard she has a crack through one of her permanent front teeth and the other is loose and sore.  So a trip to the dentist is in order pronto next week.  I am terrified she may have killed it.  Anyway, here are some pics of the misery.

Nothing like a bit of English

As of late, I am in love with BBC movies and English Austen-type novels.  Seriously love them.  I don't know what it is, but everything sounds better with an English accent and witty banter.

Two new favorites?  BBC's North and South (A-MAZING!) How have I never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell?  In my opinion, it rivals the BBC "Pride and Prejudice."  Seriously.

The other favorite is a book by Sarah M Eden, "Kiss of a Stranger."  It's full of wit and romance without overkill of either.  Amazon has it on Kindle and paperback (you can't find it in a Barnes and Noble).  She has another book that I haven't been able to get my hands on yet, "Courting Miss Lancaster."  Anyway, if you want a very good and hilarious read check it out!  You won't regret it!  I can hardly wait for her to get more of her books out.

The day that lasted forever

and ended on a very sour and screaming note.  :o/

But it's over and there are some silver linings - after years of disappointment and annoyance, American Idol finally has a truly TALENTED group!  This is the first time in years I actually have enjoyed the few minutes of watching that I have indulged in.  I may actually even watch the rest of the season!  :)

The other silver lining is tomorrow is another day.  Here's to a night of sleep and plans for fun times with the kids!  Did I mention sleep?  :)  lol.

Sleep

Commodities like bread and milk are things people generally wait to buy until it is needed.  But head to the South before the threat of a snowstorm and you will find the shelves and fridges empty.  So it is thoroughly disappointing for those unfortunate few who don't pay attention to the weather forecast and go for their regular purchase, only to find the bowl of cold cereal they were so looking forward to the next morning will just have to wait a few more days until the panic subsides.

Sleep is a commodity.  A precious, priceless commodity.  A taken-for-granted kind of commodity you don't appreciate until you can't get any.  And, like that bowl of cereal without milk, you can do without it every once in a while.  But there comes a time when all reason becomes obsolete and the only thing you can do is rush to the next grocery store and run with elbows flying to that last glorious carton of 1% goodness, knocking down everyone else in the process because gosh darnit - YOU JUST WANT A BOWL OF CEREAL!!!!

Okay, I'm done with the analogy.  Baby Boy is teething, or something horrible.  I haven't had a good night's sleep in days and last night was the piece de resistance.  Screaming, crying, more screaming, Mommy pleading, rocking, massaging, giving Tylenol, Orajel, Mylicon, then Mommy covering her ears for TWO hours of constant crying, one in the crib and the other in bed with Mommy, and finally a blessed hour and a half of sleep before the rest of the kids woke up.  Followed by a day of crying, screaming, not wanting to be held, but crying until you hold him, and refusing to take any nap.  OH MY GOODNESS!

I don't think you could put a price tag on something like sleep.  What would you pay?

In a perfect world, or just 100 years ago...

...the majority of people wouldn't/didn't move away from their families.

This would be the perfect world.  My parents are in the process of moving a mere 90 miles from me and stopped by here on the way.  We were sitting down to dinner and I thought, how lovely it would be to do weekly, or even bi-weekly family dinners.  For kids to grow up around grandparents and cousins.  I am SO excited to have them closer - a doable day trip!  My grandma will also be back at home in Boise and this thrills me because I love going there, but without her there, I just didn't feel up to making the trip.  So here's to many weekend trips in the near future!  :)

Heaven.  Families.  Yay!