power of the hat

Life is full of adventures that revolve around the toilet lately.

Potty Training.

He's got it down, rarely an accident for almost a month but still, it's a national emergency every time.  Between cute bare butts, talking to our poop (bye, bye poop!), insisting the picture on his underwear go in the front, fascination at the ability to stand and get the job done and the shock and pride at how far it can go when peeing in a bush because no bathroom can be found.

Mom don't look!

Mom come hold my hand.

Mom don't smell it!

Mom, get my cowboy hat, it will help me poop!

Finding

It seems like blogging is no longer the thing to do. I miss it. I miss going back and remembering all the things my kids have done and what life was like at that time.

I'm feeling a bit directionless as of late and suddenly found myself back here today.  I need to slow down and take more pictures. Slow down and pay attention to my family. Slow down and enjoy the moment rather than being rushed and annoyed by the everyday things.  I never thought I enjoyed writing but after taking English last semester I have re-discovered how therapeutic putting pen to paper can be.  And Facebook just makes me want to complain about everything. Blogging seems to make me look down deep for the gratitude and joys.  

I'll just try to keep my personal ramblings over here and family related ramblings here.

From a lucky girl

Believe it or not

I am reminded this week, as I put my family back on 'a schedule', why I adore schedules, routines, jobs, rules and expectations.

I have let the kids weekly jobs completely go this summer. Heck, I let my own go. Completely.

In anticipation of School and Football (read completely overwhelming until October) I sat down and forced myself to get back into routine.  I may have mentioned a time or two or six how naughty my kids are lately and how I'm so ready to send them off to school for someone else to deal with.  So I went all Super Nanny on their butts and made up an excel spreadsheet of what was to be done when and where.

They are back to bedtimes and wake up times and morning rituals and chore charts and dinner jobs and well, discipline in general.  You know what has happened? Well first they threw Guiness World Record fits with weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth and then-then-THEN they feel right into it like it was meant to be. And their wailing has been brought down to maybe 1/3 the original. Because who am I kidding, I still complain about doing the dishes so I can't expect them to totally quit.

And as I was on the other side of the room with Ryan and Jena washing the walls and railings they had a little talk that I'm sure they thought I couldn't hear.

Ryan-I like this zone cleaning thing.
Jena- What's zone cleaning?
Ryan- You know, this new thing mom's doing where we clean upstairs on Monday and the kitchen on Tuesday and downstairs on Wednesday.
Jena-Oh, yeah, me too. Then were not like, cleaning ALL day. {insert major Jena dramatics here}
Ryan-Yeah, believe it or not, Moms pretty smart like that.

He'll never admit to saying it, of that I'm sure, but it sure has shown in the attitude change around here. Both theirs and mine.

Mom 1 point and I'm pretty sure the Kids get 1 too!

From a lucky girl

Patting myself on the back

I took the kids to the parade on Monday. All by myself.  Yep.   Barry had worked all night, I didn't feel great but I took them anyway.  I told myself to just chill and let them be kids.  I have a tendency to be bossy, controlling, nit picking their every move.  I know, you can hardly believe it, but it's true.

So I set up my chairs and let the kids play and run and grab candy and in that whole hour I told them to move back off the street maybe 3 times.  Because letting them get run over by parade floats is too laid back, just so you know.  I had blue and green Popsicle stained arms and my shirt was covered in water spills and tootsie roll drool. All proof that Sara and Jake had a great time

It did not go un-noticed that the women sitting behind me was in full Nazi mom mode. Her poor kids couldn't blink right despite their efforts and believe me, they were making valiant efforts.  I don't point this out to be judgy or rude, I do so because I watch these women knowing full well that I do the same thing.  It reminds me of how ridiculous they/me/we are when we expect this perfect behavior from our children.

I sat their listening to her tell her daughter how she couldn't have any candy because she had made them late and now they had to sit in the back and she couldn't go in front with the other kids because that was 'rude'. (I love run on sentences and I hated English class. Can you tell?)  Honestly lady? You bring your 3 children to a parade and tell them they must sit and watch and not get one piece of candy?   I told my kids they needed to make sure all the kids around them got candy too and they did. Ryan was handing it out to this woman's children until finally she let them off their chairs to participate in the parade.

When the parade was over she thank me and the kids for sharing with her children. Then she went on and on about how patient I am with my kids and how well behaved they are.  I laughed at how untrue that must be.  And then I proceeded to pat myself on the back. I had been very patient and calm.  I am a different mother today than I was 9 years ago.  Poor Ryan, he did not have a patient mom. Even by Jena I was so uptight.  Sara had it pretty good and now Jake....that kid walks all over us!

You know what happened the next morning? Crazy, psycho controlling mom.  Yep she showed up yesterday and camped out all morning.  In the midst of blaming all of the children for the crap-tastic morning several things occurred to me.  Little bits of wisdom that I wish I'd known almost 10 years ago and I still forget today.

• If your 4 year old wants to scoop the chocolate milk into the cup, let her. It will take you less time to clean up the mess than it will to get her to stop crying because you told her no.  It will also help her get better at it and she will be happy.
• You know the saying 'When momma ain't happy, no body's happy'? Well, when the 4 year old ain't happy, no body's happy!  Make the 4 year old happy!
• Don't wake up you kids with 'time to wake up...make your bed, get dressed, do this, do that....'  Take 5 whole minutes to love on them, even if you're late already.  Grumpy kids aren't going to move fast.  Happy ones will at least try.
• Some mornings a bag of chocolate chips is a perfectly acceptable breakfast.  It's true.

Somewhere along the road I decided my kids would have rules and respect and never walk all over me. And while that is still true, I have learned that letting them be in charge of the small things is ok. It's good for them and it's good for me.  I have to constantly remind myself to not be such a control freak!  Self sufficient children must be allowed to learn and when they are allowed, they are happy.

This post is more for me than anyone else.  Sometimes I have to write things out in order to remember them.  I'm gonna email this to myself every morning. I forget way to easily.

From a lucky girl

Because He Can!

Living with Jacob is like being in a race.  

Constantly trying to keep up with this one year old is practically impossible! 

The problem is, he is so happy and endearing you can hardly get mad at the little stinker!

Here are a few of his favorite tricks.

Helping load and unload the dishwasher.

He is very efficient at taking the racks completely out should you need him to....or not.

Do not leave food anywhere! He will find it, grab it and refuse to let go!  I don't know how he eats so much but he is eating every half hour and if you are eating, he is eating.

Sara made the mistake of leaving her cinnamon toast crunch unattended.

He's not picky...bowl, chair, floor...it's all edible.

 We discovered recently that Jake can climb chairs no problem.  However, he's a little short getting down and doesn't dare drop the last 4 inches. Therefore he thinks he is stuck once he's up.

This comes in REALLY handy!

When I've had enough I put him on the chair, move it to the middle of the room and he is completely contained!

On this particular day he stayed on that chair while I swept, mopped, mixed and cooked cupcakes and cleaned then entire kitchen! It was about 40 minutes. He was happy for about 35 of those minutes. 

He had drinks and snacks and toys that he threw and Sara brought back to him. Sara danced and sang and entertained him.  Then he was done.  He has started catching onto my chair torture and only puts up with it for 10-15 minutes at a time now. However he still won't get down! :)

This is Jakes FAVORITE place to be!  Seriously if he's missing, you will find him here. (or outside if someone left the door open-that's a new problem.)

He will just climb right up and sit there happy as can be. I think his main goal is food but he's just as happy if he finds nothing too. 

He also loves to climb into his high chair. I'm sure he's going to have some sort of head injury by two years old.  That's his 'Hi Mom!' Wave.

In the words of my own Mother and aunts....

He's a cute little Sh*t!

From a lucky girl

a small moment

It's been a long January.

Trials and tribulations have been unwelcome but abundant. Nothing life altering, just your run of the mill 'what else could possibly go wrong' kind of stuff.  I found myself thinking why!?! And saying things like 'We Pay Our Tithing!' (is that blasphamous? I hope not. I was frustrated. I also had a fever of 103 for 7 days of it so.....)

Then I decided I was being tested. Duh. What was I supposed to be learning from all this! I'm slow y'all. Really. Dumb as rocks? I feel like it sometimes. The lord must have those eye rolling, bang your head against the wall, long deep sigh kind of moments a lot when he is trying to teach me something.  I know because I have them a lot with my own kids and what goes around comes around, right?

It seemed I must need to learn something more about finances. (Which has been our huge trial the last 2 years. I feel like we are just about to rise above and then we get hit again.) But that wasn't it.  Was it to teach me to accept the help, charity and kindness of others? Maybe. And then I figured it out.

It was definetly a trial of faith. Plain and simple. Did I have enough faith to trust in the Lord? After I knew we had done everything we could, did I trust that he would provide for us?

It took me a few days to figure it out. It took me a few days of wavering faith. It took me  a few days to realize that yes, I did trust him. I did have the faith that it would all work out. I didn't know how, but I didn't get that crazy anxiety that sends me spinning into doubt and anger, I just knew it would be ok.

Our Bishop just happened to call Barry about something else and he just knew.  My parents (like they always do because they are saints) just give with no questions asks. Some friends just knew I needed a girls lunch out. Another friend just knew to take my kids for a few afternoons. My sister always knows just what to say to put it all into perspective. My husband is always my rock of faith and never wavers. I read D&C 121:7-9 and felt peace.

So it's been a long January.
In fact, it's been a long 2010.
Long.
Hard.
Frustrating.

It's also been my most faith building year for 10 years or so.
A learning year.
A year of prayer and tears.
A year of anger and peace.
A year of asking why more than any 3 year old could ever compete with.
A testimony building year.

And yet through it all I have learned something amazing. Something I didn't realize until the last few months.

I Am Blessed Beyond Measure!

I'm not a big crier. (emotions are for sissy's you know)  But to think about all the ways in which I am blessed is incredibly overwhelming. In fact I don't believe our human minds can really comprehend it all.  Maybe it's just my mind. Remember how I'm slow? ummm, yeah.

So I never thought I would feel this way, but 2010 was a pretty good year for me.

From a lucky girl

great related article here.

The escape artist

These pictures are all a few months old but this child is killing me! There is pretty much nothing that can keep him contained.

First he could climb right out of the Bumbo at 6 months.

I thought this was great while I tried to do the dishes. That is until we almost had and head first dive to the floor.

Next was the walker. He quickly figured out how to put his foot on those side cross bars and climb right out of it!

He also pulled out Ryan's bottom two dresser drawers and managed to climb into the second drawer. This I did not witness, I just discovered him happily throwing all the underwear on the floor.

I forgot how busy boys are!

Cute little Turds!

From a lucky girl

Playing Catchup

I'm trying to catch up but I've backdated everything so it's in the right order.  I don't think you can tell now that the blog is private and doesn't show new post in google reader so her you go.

July
Kansas and Back
Homestead Weekend
Hair Cuts

Then there is a few other new ones too but they are right after this one in order.

Enjoy!

Crazy Hair Day

Crazy Hair Day at school.

What more can I say?

They thought it was great fun

And of course Sara had to get in on the action!

Brushing out the hair at the end of the day was not so fun.

Hair Cuts

My girls love to go to the Salon and beg anytime we drive by one.

Jena started asking to get her hair cut and if you know Jena's  'cut her own hair' history then you know why I made an appointment for the next day before she did it herself!

I died at how much older it made them both look! And I adore this picture (above) of Sara!

She is my hard to get a natural smile picture child.

Funny or Not So Funny thing is Sara was supposed to have an A-Line cut. Somehow she got the opposite...can you see how it drops in back. Nice. We had to go have that fixed.

And Miss Jenaka Mae...let me just say I'd kill to have her hair!

Ok, maybe kill is a tad over doing it, but the girls got great hair!

From a lucky girl

Hey Mom, Watch This!

on the brain

my kids argued over who got to clean the toilets today. true story. after watching the show 'loosing it with jillian' barry commented how he wished we could go on that show but we aren't fat enough.??? apparently his view has become VERY skewed.  this morning ryan asked me why I wasn't as skinny as aunt teri.   i smacked him and told him to go live with aunt teri. ha! i kid...you hope!  see number 2. teri, ryan's bags are ready for your skinny butt to come pick him up. i have a 5 month old who thinks he needs to eat 4 times a night. what's with that? we are driving 1600 miles round trip to my brother's house in kansas in two weeks. we are very excited. sara peed her pants at our family reunion in a sandbox at a woods cross city park yesterday. {hello run on sentence} makes you think before taking your kids to the park huh? sorry. i need a good, inexpensive treadmill. anybody know where to get one? jena just got out of her bed for the 8th time. i kid you not. grrrr. ryan is counting down the days until he gets to be a big 3rd grader. he might not be the only one. if any of you knew jena at 3 years old, sara is jena times 5. for real. 14. barry just walked in from teaching at the academy, sat down in front of the tv and is now eating a bowl of cookie dough. see number 2.

Mud!

You know those times when you discover your kids doing something you should be a little mad about?

But they are having so much fun you can't help but laugh and grab the camera?

This was one of those times.

And if you got too close...well look at Ryan.

That's when I had to get out the hose and show them who's boss!

Bwaa Haa Haa Haa!

{evil laughter}

Busy, Busy month of May

Jena is participating in the Little Miss Cherry Days Pageant.  They call it a self esteem pageant and I guess every girl gets a title.  We aren't really into pageants but my friend's little girl was doing it and talked us into it. Jena is having fun so that's all that matter's I suppose.

This is Miss North Ogden teaching the girls how to walk and answer questions.

The pageant is in 2 weeks so we'll have some more pictures of that.

This little man got his first haircut with Daddy.  We did the same thing with Ry at 3 months and it all came in blond.   Jake's seems to be doing the same thing.

Barry loves having his picture taken as much as me, can you tell? ;)

He is getting really fun, talking and giggling, sucking his thumb and he loves to eat his bibs.  I can't wait till he stops spitting up so much so I can stop putting those stupid bibs on him!

He also loves to hang out in this jumper.

Hmmm, how am I gonna get that back?

And the other 3 can not resist him when he's in it.

He gets swinging and flying lessons pretty often.

Jena also had her 1st grade program in which she was a lady bug and sang a solo part.

Ziah, Kelbee and Jena

I'm told by Ryan that she got the giggles when they performed for the school but for the parents she did great!  She totally takes after me however and gets terrible stage fright.  We will be starting dance in the fall again so hopefully she can learn to get through that.

This is one of her best friends Emily.

Such cute girls.

Sara was so proud of Jena and was dieing to be up there with her.

Only 5 more days of school! Woo Hoo!