Winter, winter go away, come again another day (or not!)

These past few years, I have slowly begun to realize a truth about myself.... 

I am a summer-lover.  Give me a warm sunny day of water skiing any day over the white cold stuff!!  Even a great day of snow skiing can't compare.  As I look out the window and see the white stuff covering everything, and having the kids inside bouncing off the walls with cabin fever, and seeing pictures of friends in warmer climates OUTSIDE in their SHORT SLEEVES??!  It's enough to throw me over the edge, people!

    I really think I would be happy as a clam living somewhere perpetually warm, and getting our yearly 'snow fix' as we travel up north for a week or so.  I honestly and truly would not miss the ritual 'suiting up' of the kiddos every time we want to leave the house.   I certainly wouldn't miss the  driving on mucky, slippery roads, seeing my life flash before my eyes each new corner I come to.

It is so ironic that there are THREE mayo sites... one in Florida (can you say WARM??!), one in Arizona, (can you say Warm AND closer to family??!), and one in the tundra land of Minnesota.  Tell me again, why did we pick door #3??!  There's got to be a silver lining here somewhere... right now it's just buried in 2 feet of frozen glacier ice...

... and this concludes my "not quite enjoying the present" post... 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BATMAN BENJAMIN!!

Yep, Benjamin's age is finally starting to catch up with his stature.... (I've had people ask me if he was 5 or 6 for the past year now...).  He turned the big 4 today, and it is safe to say our house if officially batman-ed!  He took batman cupcakes to school, opened batman presents (his favorite?  the batman tiny car 'with wings!' from a McDonald's happy meal!!  -- thanks Karen!), put on a batman costume (Wow - birthday AND halloween covered in one gift - that's my man!!), and is currently playing batman wii, waiting to ice skate and then have batman birthday cake.

... are you sensing a trend here??

... hey, at least we are over the 'superman' era (that was last years era... lasting about 14 months to be exact)...

WE LOVE YOU BEN!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BOY!!  

You make my heart smile!

Out of the mouth of babes...

It's amazing what I can learn from my kiddos...

We are at a time in life where funds are low and debts are high.  We oftentimes do 'creative meal-making' when we are getting to the end of a pay cycle and just trying to hold on to the next deposit time.

Yesterday was one of those 'creative meal' times.  I was walking around trying to find any combination of things to at least cover a majority of the food groups for dinner, (letting go of the fact that they actually had to compliment each other).  Here is what finally got put on the table:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Criss-cut french fries

Green beans

Sliced oranges

1/2 bag of croutons

[...side note: you should know that our rule with croutons (since our kiddos would eat them straight out of the bag, and nothing else on their plate given the chance), is that they can only have croutons over a salad (hey, we gotta get the greens in them somehow... I'm not above wheeling and dealing!!).  ]

So, as I am dishing up all of the randomness that is our dinner, (and dreaming of the day that I can actually go through the grocery checkout line without a pit in my stomach over the bill)  the kids see the croutons get put on their plates (withOUT the salad underneath!), and Sarah asks, "Mommy, are we going to have some celery (her version of salad) also?"  Me, "Nope, these are to put on top of your soup"

Then Seth pops up, in his uber-excited voice, "What?!  We get to put croutons in our SOUP??  Not just on salad??  WOW, this must be a special occasion!!"

... and just like that, my 'wo is me' attitude got a complete overhaul as I saw a fun, exciting "special occasion" meal from the eyes of my sweet six-year old.

What would I do without my kiddos?

Canine control...

... you have all heard the saying that staying with other people's kids before you have any is the perfect form of 'birth-control'... 

... for those of you who don't (yet) have a member of the canine clan, but who are considering the possibility... 

... I present to you...

                      Canine-control:

Exhibit A: the "Rainy Day Welcome"*

* note - this was the 2nd time in one day... right after  a floor cleaning... and right before I got the 'dog foot-wiping' towel

... realizing that this was more than a 'wipe' job, I new he would need a tub... downstairs... and across the "once-white-but-now-more-on-the-brown-side" carpet... and into the bathroom...

... which presents...

Exhibit B:  the tubby tanandrum:

I grabbed Sarah to hold down my position of keeping the dog IN the tubby (who desperately wanted out) while keeping the baby OUT of the tubby (who desperately wanted in)

(... notice the 'mud-drag marks across the floor... now picture those marks across the before-mentioned carpet... )

... which brings us to Exhibit C:  Wishy washy water...

mmmmm, yummy! Doesn't that just make you want to take a little dip?!  Yes, this IS the tubby where I bathe the kiddos.  Joy....

... and yet, if you are still not convinced by any of the above, picture being very tired, ready to head into bead, having visions of snuggling up in your soft, fluffy, down comforter... and you come face to face with...

Exhibit D

... yep Canine control at it's finest... ;)

25 random things...

Okay, Josh - this one's for you :)  Here is my list of 25 things... 

1.  I have an incredibly guilty complex.  I constantly feel guilty over one thing or another... Gotta let it go, gotta let it go!!!

2.  I hate dirty feet.  But I also hate shoes.  Hence, I have been found many times reaching my feet up to the sink to wash them off... before I go back outside barefoot... :)

3.  I absolutely LOVE reading a good book (an am really good at neglecting pretty much everything else in the house while I am reading...), but I HAVE to read the end first to make sure that the good guys win.  Highly infuriating to some, I know... but hey - it's who I am :)

4.  I love that I got a degree in Nutrition - it's the best field ever!!  But I also don't have any desire to return to school.  Been there.  Done that.  Not really wanting to go back - studying would send me over the edge at this point I think!

5.  I have stressed about grades from day one of first grade to graduation day at BYU.  Seriously, I remember being stressed if I didn't get the "smarty cat" staples to my tests in first grade.  In Second grade, the first time I saw a -5 on one of my packets, I went to the bathroom at recess and cried.

6.  I am truly Horrible at Guitar Hero.  My 6 year olds can beat me in this game!!

7.  I have a husband who is the worlds wizard on the aforementioned guitar hero.  Opposites truly do attract!

8.  I was beat by my husband the first time we played DDR.  Seriously!!  Truth be told, I think he was secretly practicing before he gave it to me for Christmas last year, and then 'casually' asked for a 'friendly competition'...

9.  I LOVE to travel.  Anywhere.  Anytime.  For any reason.  I love family road trips - fun times!!

10.  I LOVE being with extended family.  Late night talks.  Reminiscing.  Laughing until our cheeks hurt.  I can't get enough.  I get really down when I haven't seen/talked/visited with family for an extended period of time.

11.  I love my kids more than I can even describe in words.  They are my life.  

12.  I love my husband truly, madly, deeply.  He inspires me to new heights.

13.  I have a secret (okay... not so secret anymore...) dream to speak at education week and/or Time out for women.  Public speaking is such a rush for me.  In primary I used to get so excited when I got assigned a talk... and then I would 'act' like I didn't want to do it, because that's what everyone else did...

14.  I love writing - it's my outlet.  I have a constant dialogue for various books going on inside my head all the time. 

15.  I live much of my life with a narrative voice (picture the tv show "scrubs" with all of the crazy day dreams that JD has... yep - happens all the time in my head - only not quite as crude as some of his... :)  ).

16.  I can get reduced to tears in seconds upon hearing sad stories about kids.  There's something that hits me hard to hear about children suffering - I guess I think that if it can happen to someone else, there is a possibility it could happen to my children.

17.  I agree with people too much.  I don't want to rock the boat, so I'll simply smile and nod as they are saying something that may be completely different to my own thoughts on the subject.

18.  I often get my best inspiration for presentations within the hour before I give them.  In fact, it's really hard for me to prepare things ahead of time.  Sunday lessons - my best work gets done Saturday night.  Monday morning radio show?  My best work gets done as I am driving to the radio station... wierd, I know!

19.  I sometimes wake up in the night with random, non-essential worries.  (The last one was after we had looked at a home with vaulted ceilings.  2:00 am, I suddenly wake up and think, "how in the world am I going to change the light bulbs in that house??!)

20.  I am a 'toppings' girl.  Love the frosting... could pass on the cake.  Love the hot fudge.. could pass on the ice cream... (although I do like a good, gooey ice cream at times!), like the whipped topping better than the pie... I like the 'crumbly topping' better than the actual muffin... I'll eat out the chocolate chips and leave the rest of the cookie... well you get the idea...

21.  I love to snuggle with my kids.  Anytime.  Anywhere.  For any reason.

22.  I have been known to be a bit... ummm.... 'overly excitable'  (aka - drama queen...).  Yes, I get excited.  Yes, I get emotional.  And Yes, I have passed that trait on to a couple of kiddos...

23.  I love snow... until Christmas.  December 26, BRING ON SPRING!!!

24.  Fall is my favorite time of year... the crisp night air, the gorgeous leaves, schools starting, kids excitement, holiday planning.... love it love it love it!

25.  Sometimes I feel like I'm the worst mom in the history of motherhood, and yet so lucky to have such great kids surrounding me.  It's amazing what they can learn in spite of some of my craziness!

There's no use crying over spilled milk...

or even some 'spilled' chocolate...

... or even MORE spilled milk...

...But, I do have to say, when the stuffed animal (that belongs to sister, who goes into hysterics at the thought of Joshy even getting a hold of said stuffed animal... let alone giving it a little 'dip') gets a bath in spilled (or poured, as the case may be!!) sticky, gooey, syrup...
... and syrup gets all over boy, who mere seconds ago was all ready to leave on our crunch to get out the door, kids to school, ben to preschool, and mom to teach class... 

.... well, crying may then become an option... ;)