Not so deep thoughts

I'm bummed that more of you don't read. . . or that you didn't leave me a comment telling me what you are reading. Oh well. I just started reading Laura Hillenbrand's new book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemtion. It is really good, but then I love learning about WW II. Even my mom says she has a hard time believing that, but it's true. I am especially interested in the Home Front aspects of that war, but that is another discussion for another day.

Besides reading, I have been spending a lot of time on my new bike!! Do you know why I haven't ridden a bike in almost 20 years? Because my mom and dad bought me a bike when I turned 12 or 13. .  . and then they made this rule that I had to wear a helmet. I said no thanks and chose not to ride my new bike ever again.

These days helmets are pretty cool. Too bad Ammon doesn't really think so. Oh, he looks happy enough in this picture, I know. I think at first he thought it was cool to be a big kid with a helmet like big brothers' and sister's. But when it comes down to wearing that big heavy thing for an hour while mom pulls you around--not so much. 

 This is a pretty sweet ride, if I do say so myself. The older kids were lamenting the unfairness that they never got to ride in a bike trailer. Oh well, me neither.

I just have to take a minute to tell you about why I got a bike. With our REI dividend and 20% off coupon we had to buy something by April 15. And my birthday is May 11 (hint hint), so I subtly suggested that maybe I needed a bike for my birthday. We got it for almost half the price, so it was a great deal. I dream about going on day-long bike rides with my one true love. But we all know that with little kids it will not happen enough to make the bike worth it, so we saw this trailer on super sail at Target and grabbed it. I just remembered that I forgot to mention that Madi can now ride her bike sans training-wheels! With the help of this trailer we were able to take a short family bike ride on Saturday. So FUN!

The trailer is surprisingly easy to pull, although I can definitely feel the weight going up the smallest of hills. When I get back from our 3 mile loop my legs feel like jelly. I figure I have another week or two before it is just too hot. Boo.

Ah yes, here you see what Ammon really thinks of the helmet. Yesterday he cried for about 20 minutes before falling asleep. Today it was 5 minutes.


















And here are some random pics. Madison asked Joe to hold her like a baby. Of course we pull out the camera (I've been using the one on my phone, sorry for the poor resolution) and Madi wants a turn to take a picture. So this is what we look like at 6:45ish on a school morning. Joe in his suit and tie, Madi ready for school, and Mom would never go out like this in public.

Changes

After serving in the Young Women's presidency for over two years in two different wards, I have been released. I am sad and relieved all rolled into one headachy ball. Figure that out.

I am now serving as the second counselor in the Primary presidency. I think it is going to be a nice change.

Maybe I will have more time to do something I love. . . READ! I'd love to hear what you are reading right now. Put it in the comment box!

PS. Week one without facebook, and it hasn't really been that hard. I did have to briefly activate my account so that I could get some information on there, but I wasn't even tempted to try and catch up. On and off within 10 minutes. My plan right now is to get through April, and then possibly reactivate in May, but only check it once a week. :/

Divide and Conquer

I don't know how it works at your house, but at our house, the ideal evening routine goes something like this:

Mom gets kids bathed and in jammies before dinner.
Dad gets home.
Dinner.

Divide and Conquer: One parent cleans up dinner while the other parent helps with bedtime routines and upstairs pick-up.

Kids are in bed by 8:00 and house is returned to a somewhat less-chaotic state.

Tonight Joe chose clean-up. I hollered throughout the house that it was time for family prayer. (Sometimes it takes a few hollers.) Ammon, Grant, and Mom and Dad were waiting on the two stragglers, and Dad rubbed his tired eyes and said, "My eyeballs are falling out." Grant looked up with a mixture of wonder and concern and said, "Can I see?"


******************

More celebrating:

*I got this bike!!

*I can ride it!! (It's been at least 17 years.)

Things to Celebrate this Week:

*The taxes are done.
*After days of searching, the internet remote for the t.v. was found in the Lego box. At 6 a.m.
*Pinewood car has met the weight requirement and we can no longer work on it.
*The Pinewood Derby will be over with tomorrow.
*Moments of silence.

picture of the day

*the diaper box is my lost sock box. ignore it.

**yes, he is wearing the same shorts that he wore yesterday. clean clothes

are overrated.

Grouchy

I'm grouchy today.

Grouchy that the house is a mess.
Grouchy because I am going to be the one who has to clean it.
Grouchy that no matter how much time she has, Madison will not get ready for school on time.
Grouchy Grouchy because I'm extremely unhappy about what will be happening in the month of May. (Ask me in person and I'll explain)
Grouchy because of hormones.
Grouchy.

At least I have this: 

(*and yes, I let him go like this when we went to take a late Madison to school)

And this:

"Once upon a time a cowgirl had a fast horse. She livd whith her mom and dad and her crazy dog in the whest. One day a stranger followde a path to her house. He askted her to go with him. She rilly dident want to go bot he said if she dident he wod shoot her. Her mom and dad herd him so thay ran out and got thare guns in thare hands. He was about to shoot her but her dad got in front of her and said do not shoot my doter. The next day it was her birthay he came back and ges what she said she said she wants to marry him they livd happy ever after. The Eend."  (Madison)

awkward family photos

The other day I was in the kitchen and I heard Joe laughing hysterically. I kept asking what was so funny, and finally I went to find out what the hilarity was all about.

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

They were funny, but not that funny.

Anyway, I was looking through our pictures while waiting for Joe to finish up some work, and decided we had some of our own awkward photos.

(from the girls' camp fundraiser)

"Where's the real one?" you ask.

They all look like this. :)

Which one would you vote for?

Scary Stories

1. A few weeks ago I was getting in my car at the Walmart parking lot when I noticed the car parked in front of me had two men sitting in the front seat. When I saw one of the men pointing out at me I hurried to get in my car and locked the doors. One of the guys came and knocked on my window. I asked him what he wanted through the glass. He asked me to open my door, I said, "What do you need?" He told me that their car was dead and they needed a jump. I explained (through the glass) that I didn't have jumper cables. He said they did and asked me to get out. I have heard too many bad stories that started this way, so I said, "no" and told him I needed to leave to pick up my son. Who knows, maybe I turned down an opportunity to help someone, but I didn't feel safe.

2. Today I left the elementary school and a silver car with a sun-roof pulled out behind me. I didn't think anything of it until it made the same 3 turns I did. I turned onto a road that turns back onto the road I was already on, the car followed. I thought that was strange, and the car continued to follow me very closely as I continued to turn on roads leading back to my house. I started to think maybe the car was following me, so I drove past my road and turned onto a different road. He followed. My body started to literally shake as I realized that this man was following me. For probably 5-10 minutes I was turning onto every road, speeding, trying to follow the advice given on "Burn Notice" (kind of funny now) for how to lose someone. I went 45 mi/hr on 30/hr neighborhood roads, turning as often as I could. Finally, I could not see the car behind me, so I drove out to a main road, and the guy drove past me and looked right at me and smiled. Then he turned at the next opportunity and got behind me. I finally went to a public parking spot, and I didn't see him anymore. The boys and I went into a small restaurant for lunch and I kept looking out the window, hoping not to see this silver car. I called Joe and he asked my why I didn't call the police; I explained that I felt like a paranoid girl calling the police to say someone was following me--but I KNOW without a doubt that he was. I did finally call the police so that they could make a note of it in case I see the guy or his car again. I hurried in the house and locked all the doors, shut and locked all the windows. I'm nervous to let the kids play outside today. I never drove by the house, but that guy followed me all over the neighborhoods around here--what if he comes back to look for our van? We haven't been parking in the garage because there are too many bikes/scooters/ toys. . . but maybe we will have to figure out a way to park in there. 

Who knows--maybe the guy saw our BYU license plate and wanted to ask me about being a Mormon. . . but I tell you what, I am still shaking, and it's been almost 2 hours.

On the way home from the police station a silver car with a sunroof was behind me, and I started worrying that somehow he was still following me--even from the police station. 

Someone knocked on the door after we got home--probably some salesperson--but I took the boys in our upstairs closet and shut all the doors in-between, hoping the people outside couldn't hear our noise. 

This is no way to live. 

I need to invest in some Mace or self-defense classes. 

On a Break

Dear Facebook,

It's not you, it's me. I like you too much, and it's time to step back and reevaluate. You are great, really. I love hearing from friends and seeing pictures of their babies. I enjoy talking with the women in the Quad 4 group--we support and help each other. I like the convenience of sending messages to groups of people--you can't have group conversations with email. At least not so easily. You even support my religion by letting me share (and find) clips and talks I find inspiring.  It is fun to celebrate successes with friends, and sometimes I learn about friends who are hurting and in need of support.

But it's time for me to let go. I need to actually celebrate and help people. I should be helping kids with homework instead of straining my eyes on the phone while sitting next to them. One day I spent hours with you arguing, defending mothers who work at home instead of actually getting my work done. If I had to define a breaking point, that was it. I have also been thinking of me. I need time to be me, to figure out me, to do the things I've always wanted to do.

I still want to be friends, but give me a while.

Thanks for understanding.

Love,
Jenn

*You can always find me here. Leave a comment, send me an email, call me on the phone.

Quarterly Review

Can you believe that we're already 1/4 of the way through 2012? No way! It's getting hot in Dallas, and while I don't want to wish my time away, I am not so excited about the next 3 months' weather.

I recently read a book by Linda Eyre called "A Joyful Mother of Children." I think I must have needed some lifting up, because I went on a search for books about motherhood and women in general. I love being a mom, but it can be very demanding and wearing with few breaks. Another book I got (same author) is called "I Didn't Plan to Be a Witch." Can you tell what I think I need to work on? LOL. Anyway, one concept I really appreciated was that she talks about how hard it is to cut wood with a dull saw--instead of spending so much time ineffectively cutting we should take a few minutes to sharpen it so that the work is better and more efficient--now relate to being a mom (or to anything you do). So I've been pondering my New Year's goals, how I've been doing, and thinking about the things I would like to start doing or doing differently.

• I got  Logan and Madison signed up for soccer (Check)
• Still working on the preschool for Grant (hopefully will know by the end of the week)
• Pretty consistent at giving Joe a kissaroo when he gets home from work.
• Piano lessons. . . definitely more consistent than previously, but could do better. My goal is once a week, it's been more like twice a month. 

I had some other goals written down(optimism, gratitude, and serviceable) but those are less check-offable, and traits that I am constantly striving to achieve. I still have a long ways to go. :)

Some things to sharpen my saw:

• Exercise for 40 min 4 days a week. (My goals is to do this during nap-time. Some weeks I keep up, some weeks not so good.)
• Be in a book club. (I actually started one this month and we have it scheduled through Dec. Yay!)
• Write an old-fashioned letter each week. (Molly--you are first on my list.) 
• Go to bed earlier. (I am pretty sure the best thing I can do for my family and for myself, but SO hard to do!)
• Learn to play Claire de Lune. 

Yeah, there are many more areas of improvement, but this will be enough to work on for now. :) 

Object Lessons

I was talking to a friend about Easter, and she mentioned that it was strange that we spend a whole month decorating, talking about, and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ--yet Easter comes and goes without all of the pomp and circumstance. If you think about it though, we would not celebrate the birth of Christ if it had not been for the Atonement and His death.

So this week our family decided to really focus on the mission and Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

During our Family Home Evening, we talked about Jesus, the last supper, the Garden of Gethesemene, the cross on Calvary, and the empty tomb. It was a lot to cover for short attention spans, and towards the end it got a little rushed. I had an object lesson that was supposed to demonstrate how the Atonement was like a carnation (Jesus Christ)  absorbing the food coloring (sins) in the water (our spirits). I didn't know if the kids understood any of it--and there was no instant gratification, of course. I also didn't know how long it would take for the flowers to absorb the dye.

The next morning the older kids had gone to school, and Grant was sitting at the table while I was cleaning up breakfast. He kept asking me a question, but I couldn't understand his words, "Mom, why won't Jesus take the colors?" What? I repeated it, trying to figure out if that is what he really said. It was. It took me a minute to figure out that he was asking why the flowers had not yet absorbed the food coloring. (Operatic singing in the background) He got something from our lesson! He understood that the white carnations represented Jesus, and I had promised him that the carnation would take the color, and he was asking why it hadn't happened yet! What a wonderful teaching moment to sit down with my four year old and talk about Jesus taking away our colors (sins). 

The goal was to have a little devotional each morning in place of our regular scripture study, and for each person in our family to take a moment and share stories and testimonies about Jesus. We missed it this morning, but maybe tonight?  

On Sunday morning we are going to get up early and go somewhere beautiful (Joe's job to find the location) to watch the sunrise and have a more in-depth Easter devotional. If you are interested and want ideas for your own family, I plan to base it on the FHE manual lesson titled "He is Risen" (<--- click on it). 

I know that Christ has indeed risen, and that He lives. I know that because of His sacrifice we can be forgiven of our sins, perfected, and someday reunited as families. He knows what we are going through, and He can help us to get through it all.

One Year Older

A year ago today I was an emotional, sleep-deprived wreck with four kids, one of which was less than a week old and another with head lice. We were talking about it this morning over breakfast, and I made the statement that there have been 3 really HUGE trials in my life: my brother's death, Joe losing his job, and what we will call the head-lice incident. Knock on wood, but I (we) are in a much better place in life right now!!

Grant's birthday: we woke up early and he opened his presents before breakfast, which was Captain Crunch cereal (Grant's choice). We had a daytime party, and Grant invited 4 four-year-old boys over for a pirate party. We read "How I Became a Pirate," walked the plank, looked for treasure, and beat the pirate pinata. For lunch we ate traditional pirate food. . . fish sticks, gold fish, chocolate milk, apple slices, and chocolate cupcakes. We continued the partying when dad got home with some pizza, salad, apple juice, and more chocolate cake. 

I bet you don't remember what a milestone "4" is. According to Grant, when you are four you become a superhero, you can kill bad guys, break out of jail, and make your own sandwiches. Grant was very sad, though, when he realized that being four does not mean you get to go to preschool the next day. We are working on getting him into preschool in the fall--but that sounds forever away for him.

It was stormy on his birthday, and the picture below is a friend's mom showing her bravery while holding the pinata (and talking pirate) for all those 4-year olds with a wooden bat. 

oops, I guess this picture didn't get turned the right way.

I'm pretty sure Grant took this picture. 

Ammon turned one on Thursday, but we took advantage of his innocence and didn't do a thing to celebrate until Saturday. OK, we sang him "happy birthday" at least a dozen times. He smiled. 

On Saturday we had cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and chili for supper. Chili, believe it or not, is Ammon's favorite food. He growls at us if we don't feed it to him fast enough. The other kids whine and complain that it is too spicy or too tomatoey. But Ammon loves it. 

Joe's family came on Saturday to help us to celebrate. This picture had the most people in it, so that's why I put it on. 

I love this picture because the three big kids were so thoughtful and helpful (lol) while Ammon attempted to open presents. PAHAHA! I just looked at the pictures and realized that is me sitting by Grant. . . I thought it was Madison. Madi is on the left in the fluorescent yellow uniform. 

I actually think he got the hang of it faster than the other kids on their first birthdays. He started ripping that paper off! 

Here he is with his stash! 

I did not feel like making him his very own cake like I did with the other kids on their first birthdays. We just ate cupcakes and cake a week ago for Grant's birthday, so I felt caked-out. Instead I made a berry-poke cake with whipping cream and berries on top. I know it's still not healthy, but it seems a little lighter somehow than chocolate and frosting. He got the biggest piece, though. 

As you can see, we stripped him down to his diaper and let him go. He ate about 1/3 of it, then he threw the cake on the ground and started licking his plate. I think Joe got a picture of that on his phone, but I don't have it right now. I'm not sure if a few silly pictures are worth the huge mess (which, actually, I didn't have to clean up because Joe's mom cleaned the kitchen while I bathed the boy. Thank You!). 

Here he is enjoying his second bath of the day. 

Happy Birthday Boys! 

S