Letter to Santa

This evening I (Joe) walked into what I thought was the scene in a post-apocalyptic movie. Upon further review, it was actually the boys' room. Realizing that Madison spent the week in that room due to being displaced by her visiting great-grandmother, I issued the following: "If you guys can't keep your room clean, Christmas will be cancelled. Santa Claus will skip our house."

It should be noted that I woke at 2:45 this morning (and worked especially late) to deliver my good in-laws to the airport (who, being rather late to the airport, became visibly frustrated as they watched my car sail right past the proper exit . . . and past the proper parking garage . . . and then past the proper terminal--altogether not a great day for impressing said in-laws). Thus, I was in the mood to proclaim over-reactionary orders.

In response to my decree, Madison's tear ducts spouted forth like someone just turned on a sprinkler system. Then, she hurriedly grabbed a quill and parchment to penn Santa a quick report on my dictatorship. It read:

(Translation:)
My Dad is mean. You should put him on the naughty list. He even said that you will have to skip our house. He does not believe in you.

My work here is done.

Getting Ready

I just put the kids in bed and am getting ready to finish the cleaning before Joe picks up my parents and grandma from the airport. I'm listening to Christmas music and thinking. I don't get a lot of time to do that. 

So for memory's sake, here are some of those thoughts:

I can't wait for everyone to get here and to start celebrating. Fun fun fun!

We are SO blessed. Sometimes I complain, and sometimes I can only see the green grass on the other side.

But: I have a good husband. I have four beautiful, healthy, smart, good children. I grew up in a good house with wonderful parents and I got a good education. I am able to stay home and play with the kids. Joe's work is going well. We live in a great house with modern conveniences that could not have even been dreamed about 100 years ago. I have the gospel and know and understand my purpose in life. We are about to celebrate our Savior's birth and life, and I am SO grateful for His atonement. 

Life is really great. 

While the Family Sleeps

I woke up this morning--well actually Ammon woke me up this morning--at 4:30 a.m. Joe brought him in for me to nurse, and instead of falling back to sleep it was a total "Oh my heck it's almost Thanksgiving, which means it's almost Christmas which means that it's almost the New Year and I have not done everything I wanted to get done!

So I sent off some emails and wrote some lists and I'm starting to feel tired again. I don't know if I will be able to sleep with this racing mind, though. Which means that today I might be tired and less able to actually cross thing off of those lists. 

The house is incredibly quiet. And dark. If I had gone to bed a little earlier last night then 5 a.m. might be a really nice time to get up and get things done and have some alone time. Also if it wasn't Saturday. 

Wonderful Wednesday

You know things are going well if you are excited for Thanksgiving Vacation and a week of kids off of school. 

I surprise myself that I am really excited for next week!! 

It could be that I have some fun activities planned. It could be that my family is coming to visit. It could be that I am getting enough sleep and I feel like we have a little more control over our lives. 

I'm thinking that might make a difference.

Logan is in boy scouts now. It makes for an interesting Wednesday evening as I am trying to get him to scouts, get everyone fed and showered, and get myself ready for and to Young Women's before Joe gets home. I am sure Joe feels overwhelmed when he gets home and there is so much left undone (on most days dinner is ready, kids are ready for bed, and the house is pretty picked up by the time he is home--but Wednesdays have been a little hectic lately).  

Anyway, what I started out saying is that Logan made a super-cool tee-pee for scouts, and his awesome dad set it up in the play area. So Logan got everyone dressed in brown clothes (the most "Indianish outfit he could come up with) and made everyone these cute Indian headbands. Ammon wore his around for a good while (and then he ate it). 

Joe's practice is going soooo much better than it was a year ago. We even decided that is was probably safe to start giving the kids a small allowance so they can practice paying tithing and saving money. My parents did allowance $1 per year per month, and we decided that that was a good system and decided to copy the idea. As you can see, Ammon really appreciated his dollar. The kids are excited about paying tithing and saving 40% of their money. They also enjoyed going to Half-Priced Books over the weekend and spending their money. :)

Can you see Grant's nose? We have no idea what happened. One day he took a nap in my room. I went up to change into shorts right before getting the kids off of the school bus and Grant was starting to wake up. Usually, if he is not awake, I just go outside and greet the kids when they step off the bus, but this time I asked him if he wanted to go out with me. He said a sleepy "ya" but didn't get up. As I was standing by the curb I heard a wail and saw Grant by the front door crying. I waved for him to come out, but had to hurry and cross the road to get the kids. When we came inside he was laying on the floor and throwing an I-just-woke-up tantrum. His nose was red the rest of the day, and I'm guessing it was a rug-burn (which he just picked and made bleed while I wrote this down). 

I put up a pretty big framed white board and bulletin board in the kitchen a few weeks ago. They are practical and fun and they even look ok, too. Anyway, last night during dinner Grant did something that riled Madison up. She got up and wrote this very insulting phrase on the white board. In case you can't read it, it says, "Grant scribbles." We thought that was pretty hilarious. Grant got upset and started yelling that he does NOT scribble. Logan started saying helpful things like, "Madi, you used to scribble when you were 3." and "Grant actually colors better than you did when you were 3." and "Madi, why don't you help him to learn how to color better instead of making fun of him?" The truth is that Grant is a very good colorer for being 3 years old (probably because he sees big brother and sister). He stays in the lines and colors very nicely. I think maybe she was talking about how he draws. . . ?

So yeah, I'm excited for Thanksgiving. I am thankful for these four babies that Heavenly Father trusted me with, and I can't wait to spend hours and hours with them next week. I'm serious!!

A Package and some Thank You's

The kids got a package in the mail from their Great-Grandma Evie. She emailed me a few days ago and told me that she was sending us some old art supplies that she had in one of her closets. I was expecting dried-out markers, but knew that the kids wouldn't care. . . they LOVE mail--especially packages. It was a kid's dream come true! There were books, paper, crayons, markers (not dried out!), more crayons and markers, paint, googly eyes, and Christmas-themed toys--just to name a few. The kids looked at the huge box of crayons in amazement, "Mom! Look how long and sharp they are!!!" (Ours are all broken in little pieces with the wrappers pulled off. And markers that actually write? Nonexistent at our house.)

I got up too many times to count last night with a sick Grantee and a mad-to-be-woken-up Ammon, so I was kind of disappointed surprised when everyone got up even earlier than they usually do (today it was before 6:00). So I told everyone to get ready for school and trudged downstairs to make banana muffins for breakfast. When I called everyone down to eat, this is what I was greeted with:

Written exactly the same except for backwards letters, it reads:

The Best one ever.

Thanckyou for the 

prezents Grat gradmu they 

are very fun i like them a lot 

you brot lots uv them.

I will give you sum prezents 

sumtim or on chrismis eavy.

I Just cant wate for ckrismis it 

is cuming fast

i cant wate to put the

deckrashons.

oring porpol red

thancks.

I Love You.

(Mady)

Dear Grandma Evy,

thank you for

the presents.

My favorite one

was markers

and stickers

and cards.

(from Logan)

As soon as the kids left for school, Grant eagerly pulled out the paint and came up with this. Not bad, huh?

I was a pretty happy mama that the kiddos showed so much gratitude for their surprise package--I will definitely be sending these thank you letters to my grandma tomorrow. If you are wondering about the names in parenthesis. . . that is what we have been doing on our turkey feathers each morning so we know who wrote what. I guess they think that is how we sign our names on things, lol!

Little Moments Like That

Can't say this is the best picture of Grant, but the story behind it is pretty good. On Sunday morning he spent over half an hour insisting that he did not need help with his buttons. He finally, and proudly, walked into our bedroom and said, "Well that was easy." 

Dad helped him get the buttons right and then Grant tucked in his shirt. . . all the way into his underwear. 

Joe made me this Turkey four years ago when I was the Primary chorister, and we've been using it every November since then. Everyone gets a feather to write on during breakfast. It has been fun, funny, and sweet to see what everyone is thankful for. Today, for instance, Logan wrote "awsomness" (sic)--probably the one we laughed hardest at, Grant's was "Sheeps, cows, and animals." Madison wrote "Little Elm," Joe wrote "digital scripture tools" (new seminary teacher talking),  and mine was "sleep!"Some other favorites include "hot chocolate on rainy days" (Grant), "healing from sick" (Logan), "good friends" (Madi), and "Mommy" (Joe). I find myself thinking throughout the day about all the blessings we have. I love this time of year, and we truly have been greatly blessed by our Heavenly Father.

The Symptoms

On Friday (Joe's birthday, no less), I got out of the shower at 8:30 a.m. (yah, I 'm lazy) and noticed I had 7--SEVEN--missed calls. My showers aren't that long, so I knew someone was really trying to get hold of me. I had two messages--one from the school nurse telling me that Madison was sick, and one from Joe telling me that Madison threw up at school.

I felt kind of bad, because that morning she had been whining about being tired and not wanting to go to school, but I brushed it off and told her she'd have fun once she got there. She normally loves school, so I should have listened and thought to myself, "Something must be wrong. She doesn't normally act this way."

I loaded the kids up in the van and went to pick her up at school. When we got home I told her to get her jammies on and to lay down and watch a movie in the play room. Her words: "Yay! Being sick is kind of fun." She watched a few movies (and Grant got to profit form her sickness, too). I made macaroni and cheese for lunch, and Madison begged to eat it. "Girl, you just threw up! You can't eat mac and cheese!" The rest of the day I gave her the BRAT diet--applesauce, dry toast, apple juice. She was running around and playing and laughing. Definitely not sick symptoms.

The next morning she was lethargic and begged to eat some cold cereal. I think she was just weak from not eating much the day before. She gobbled up 3 bowls of cereal, an apple, apple juice, and toast. 

Yesterday Logan started saying he didn't feel well, so we kept him in and let him watch movies and read books all day. This morning we figured he had somehow skipped the throwing up part and told him to start getting ready for church. All of a sudden, he said, "I'm gonna' throw up!" We grabbed the bowl and let him do his thing, and then told him to go watch some church movies. I stayed home with him and Ammon (who now has his first fever, poor baby). That was about 11:00. I started warming up leftover (homemade) mac and cheese for lunch and Logan begged me to let him eat some. 

Logan has been feeling fine the rest of the day. For dinner I made some chili. I asked Logan what sounded good to him, and he said cold cereal. The other kids were wildly jealous and wishing they had been sick today while they ate chili and salivated over Logan's rice crispies. 

Apparently this illness includes 1 throwing up incident, and cravings for mac and cheese and cold cereal. Very interesting. I'm not complaining, though.

As I mentioned, Ammon woke up from his afternoon nap with a 102. 5 fever--his first illness. We gave him some infant tylenol and he is now happily crawling around. He is still eating fine (I gave him a freeze-pop--another first, and he loved it). It is so hard to hold your little baby and feel him burning up. As a parent, I would happily feel sick for him (except that then it would be hard to take care of him, so I am glad I'm not sick). The other kids did not have a fever, so I don't know if he has it because his body is smaller or if it is a different sick germ. 

I am sure Grant will be feeling sick soon. That's the way it goes when you have kids. 

In honor of Thanksgiving, we've been making feathers with blessings to put on Mr. Tom Turkey (I'll include a pic someday). Today I am thankful for good health, and for living in this time period; I know that not too long ago a sick child with a high fever or vomiting could be something very dangerous and uncertain. While I definitely wish we could avoid the sick germs, I am grateful for good doctors and medicine. 

Joe's Birthday

Did I tell you about the time in May or June that I found Joe's facebook left open and decided to get even with him for all the times he'd left funny things on my status? I changed his birthday for the next day and everyone started wishing him happy birthday. I thought I was pretty hilarious; him, not so much. He then broke into my account and changed my relationship from married to single and people started commenting on my changed status. That didn't make me too happy. He claimed he was just playing a similar joke; I stand firm in my belief that the two jokes were not equally funny. 

Anyway. Today really is his birthday. And I am about to play a little joke on him (he's on his way home in the car, surely he won't read this before I get my chance?!). I'll tell you about it later. But instead of me writing some gloopy corny post about how wonderful he is, I thought it might be fun if you left some kind of memory you had of something he said or did. Because he's getting pretty old, and pretty soon he will be forgetting everything, so help me give him the best gift of all: written memories. 

hehehehe. please play! leave a comment!

Let the season begin!

First, Happy Halloween and Hello Thanksgiving! 

 I love holiday time. Mostly, anyway. I love the celebration, the family time, the fun activities.

 Oh, and here is Ammon shortly before going out to trick or treat. hehe.

This year we decided to do a Star Wars theme. In case you can't tell: Logan is Luke Skywalker, Madi is Princess Leia, Grant is Clone Trooper Rex, and Ammon was Yoda. My mom helped me to make the Skywalker cape and Leia gown out of old sheets she had at home. I bought Logan's shirt and pants at a Salvation Army in Jamestown, NY. We were going to make a cape and headband Yoda ears for Ammon, but found them on-line for $5, so I just ordered Grant's costume at the same time. We had fun!

Now for the forgetting part. I can remember being at different stages in my life and thinking to myself, very specifically: I'm not going to forget! I swore I would not be a no-fun adult.

And yet, I am finding, that is exactly what I am becoming.

I am feeling a lot this way lately, whether it is in working with the boy-crazy Young Women in our ward or with my kids who love to have fun (fun=mess).

I wanted to have a special Halloween menu yesterday. For breakfast we had pumpkin pancakes with chocolate chip jack-o-lantern faces and apple-cider syrup. That was yummy and fun. For dinner I thought I would make a delicious pumpkin soup (it ended up being butternut squash because the pie pumpkins were sold out), steak, and home made rolls. Well, the rolls were a hit. I loved the soup (so smooth, rich, creamy), but the kids. . . well, they kept reminding each other to eat so we could go trick-or-treating. I'm kicking myself for putting so much effort (mess) into making something that wasn't even a success. Next year I WILL remember to make something more kiddish for dinner.

The biggest forgetful moment was the moment we got home and the kids dumped out all their candy all over the living room floor. I started panicking. . . "Why'd you do that? Hurry, put it back in your bag! Ammon is going to get it!" I viewed dumped candy like dumped legos. Then I started seeing pictures on facebook of kids with their loot, and I remembered those days (which means I forgot if I had to remember) when we dumped out the candy so we could revel in the enormity of junk food and put it in groups of "good" and "gross," chocolate and non-chocolate, chewy and cruchy. Joe says it is a silly thing to feel so badly about, but I really feel awful. This morning I let them dump it out on the kitchen floor and when they get home from school I will probably encourage them to do it again.

So next year: fun food, fun mom. Hopefully I won't forget.