Crazy Kids

My boys are sure busy, and they're a little stir crazy right now so they can be pretty nuts.  I remember about a year ago I was talking to my sister about kids being crazy and she basically said, "If you can't beat them, join them."  I'm happy to admit that I have gone crazy.  We made halloween jello jigglers last week, made cookies (taste testing after adding each ingredient), built tents out of tables and blankets, made pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse, gone to Pet Smart to see the animals, laid under the Christmas tree just to see what it's like, read the same library books three times a day, and had cookies for breakfast...twice.  We'll see how it goes in the long run but loosing my mind so far has been a good thing.

 These are pictures we took one day when we were playing with the web camera on the computer.

Who's that cubby baby?

How To Fall Off A Roof

Our house has a slightly sloped roof and our two very large fur trees next to it.  We usually have several wind and rain storms in the late fall that blow the needles onto the roof.  About every three or four months the roof requires cleaning.  We finally gave in a bought a shop vacuum that converts into a leaf blower (an excellent contraption if I ever saw one).  I didn't understand why my husband bought this as we don't have many leaves to clear from the yard but it is probably the most used item stored in our garage.  We use the blower to clear fur tree needles off the sidewalks and porch which keeps them from getting tracked into the house.

Anyway, back to the roof story.  We use the blower to pile up the needles and then shovel them into leaf bags and drop the bags off the roof.  I'm sure our neighbors enjoyed watching my husband and I out  walking all over the roof for a couple hours.  While dropping the fourth bag full of needles from the roof I lost my balance and down I went.  My back is killing me today.

Okay, I'm just kidding I didn't really fall off the roof but if I had I'd atleast have a good reason for feeling as bad as I do today.  When I got down we moved the bags into the garage to keep them from getting rained on and falling apart.  I lifted wrong on one of the last bags and strained my back.  I've spent the last 24 hours wishing I didn't feel so old (and I'm really too young to be thinking that).  The worst part is I'm sure I didn't learn anything from the experience as I'll be out there in a few more months doing the same thing again, and maybe next time I really will fall off the roof and have quite a story to tell. :)

Dream

You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'

George Bernard Shaw

When I red this I thought of my husband.  I am always the one to say, "Why?" and he is always saying, "why not?"  Being a mother there are many situations where the "Why not" rarely ends well but I'm more refering to a way of thinking here.

I tend to be very pessamistic when I think of what is possible.  My husband, who happens to be a mechanical engineer, sees the world so differently.  To him everything can be broken down, simplified and understood (and many times explained).  As such, he never seems to be overwhelmed by a situation or a problem because it can be reduced to it's components and worked out.  He is also very solution driven.  He's spends little time agonizing about the problem and sets straight to work on a solution. (This used to drive me crazy when we were first married and I would complain to him about work, only looking for a sympathetic ear and instead I got 100 ideas of how to fix it.) 

I've always admired how his way of thinking seems so uncluttered by emotional bias and emotionally charged logic (which is NOT logical).  As I look forward I want to be more open to all the possibilities life has to offer and not be overwhelmed by the problems.  Oh, and dream big!

Ladies Night

Not so long ago I thought it was absolutely rediculous that women got together to go out for dinner or have ladies night.  I just didn't get it.  I remember telling my husband that if I was going to go out I would rather go out with him.  About a year ago I played volleyball on a church team and really enjoyed spending time with other moms.  They decided we should all go out for a combined birthday dinner as we'd had several birthdays (including mine) during our volleyball season.  I still had mixed emotions but liked that I had the excuse of a birthday to go anyway.  Little did I know what affect that would have.

Here are several reasons to organize a ladies' night:
1.  It's amazing how much better the conversation is when not inturrupted by children.
2.  You have an opportunity to gain some great wisdom from others' life expereinces.
3.  Sharing experiences of motherhood, family and life in general can be therapudic.
4.  Everyone needs to laugh and getting together with friends is a great way to unwind.
5.  Sharing conversations with friends on a good day leads to having someone to call on a bad day.

I went from being a sceptic to being an instigator!  I'm amazed at the strength I gain from having good friends and am always surprised when I have a conversation with someone and end up finding a solution to a persistant problem through their experiences.  A get together can be very simple or very elaborate.  Here are some ideas for planning a gathering:  Meet up at a restaurant, host an evening in your home and have everyone bring snacks to share, start a book club, plan a service related activity (making cards, sewing blankets), organize a sports team for a city league, host a game night, or even go second-hand shopping (thanks Melanie for this one).

I love my husband and my boys.  They are the world to me.  There are times when I need to socialize with women who understand what I'm experiencing as a wife and mother, it's in my blood.  I just got back from one tonight.  My husband is out of town so I got a babysitter, one mother had come from urgent care where her 3-year-old got staples in his head, another had been there earlier today to get stiches out of one of her kid's heads and we could all appreciate how crazy each other's lives are and laugh about it for a few minutes before returning to work at it some more.  So, don't feel like you're neglecting your family just plan a night and do some socializing.  You never know what will come of it.

Mohawk

My little one just turned two-years old.  He is a very busy boy.  I've made it a habit to give him a mohawk before cutting his hair each time and as a bonus you get to see me in my PJs.

One of this boy's favorite pasttimes is playing with the microwave.  My simple solution is unplugging it.  The other day I had plugged it in to warm something up in the morning and forgotten to unplug it.  About an hour later I heard a strange buzzing noise.  I ran in and unplugged it.  As soon as it was turned off I saw smoke coming out of the vent and looked to see a large nano bug on fire.  I grabbed the baking soda and threw half the box on the fire. 

This whole time my little one watched.  He looked very fascinated by what was happening and didn't react until after the fire was out at which point he started to cry.  I think he was only upset because he wanted to blow it out.  Here is the fried bug.

Batman Is In Charge

Apparently wearing a cape makes you "in-charge."  Atleast that's what my four-year old tells me.  I must admit it is a very powerful piece of suiting material sewn with black thread and attached with industrial strength velcro but I'm not sure if it is strong enough to shift the balance of power in this house.  If so, it's MY TURN TO WEAR THE CAPE!

My four-year-old just informed me that, "Batman is in charge."  We also had an indepth discussion about how super heros were pretend.  This was after he asked what the green stuff was in the spinach stuffed shells and I told him all superheros need to eat spinach to keep them strong and healthy.  (This was during lunch.)  Shouldn't I have been the one explaining superheros were just pretend?  He also just informed his younger brother that they are supposed to live together in the bat cave.  They are now riding tricycles around the house talking into blocks they have used to make phones to call their "super friends" and "the bad guys."  The most interesting part of all of this is my kids have never seen Batman.  I guess they did see one espisode of the Justice Legue when we visited my sister and played with their bat cave.  I guess that's all it took.  They were born to be super heros.  Oh yeah, I forgot, I am a Superhero (see previous post entitled "I Am A Superhero") so they must get it from me. :)

Five Little Monkeys On A Swing

Having friends is a great thing, you get together and enjoy each other and it is really great.



Until someone realizes it's getting crowded...and someone wants you to all look at the same person and smile all at the same time and then it is no longer fun.

What is it about kids that they all want the same toy at the same time?  I guess it's human nature to desire something that someone else wants but as an adult that can be dangerous and expensive. I guess that's were learning to be content comes in.  I've so grateful to have friends who are such a good influence on me and who teach me so much about life, motherhood, and friendship.  I hope I always have too many friends to fill my swing. :)

Stingrays?

My children love to sing and they do so often and it's generally as loud as they can.  The other day I had Pandora radio on a Kid's station when Beyonce's "Single Ladies" came on.  It was a version done by the girl chipmunks (which apparently made it appropriate for children???).  It was a busy morning and I didn't think anything of it until later in the morning when it came on again.  The tune is horribly catchy, the kind of song that really gets stuck in your head so naturally I was concerned. 

Later that day, and agian today, I heard the boys singing (to the tune of "Single Ladies") "Oh, the stingray, oh, the stingray."  This is only one of the many songs that I've heard an alternate rendition from my kids.  Another of my favorites is "Nephi's Courage."  "Laman and Lemuel said he should not apply, Nephi was courageous and he did not apply."

I've found that I too have a talent for making up songs and it's been fun to use it.  For example there was a Rebecca Black song entitled, "Friday,"  our version is, "Sunday, Sunday, go to church on Sunday.  Primary, primary Yea, Nursery, nursery, Yea!"  I think that's my favorite so far as it gets everyone moving on Sunday morning.

It is a blessing to have music be such a part of our lives and I never tire of hearing my children sing.  Even our almost two-year old gets involved.  He's still working on forming words but will belt it out like he knows every word.

Bowling

For several months I've wanted to take the boys bowling as I anticipated it to be thoroughly amusing. We went to visit the Kings in Perry and got our chance. The little one was very unhappy and cried the first hour we were there. I was NOT amused. Then he peed all over me and enjoyed the remaining time. He really liked the ball return and always wanted to get his own ball all by himself.

The larger one I tried to have use the ramp to help him but he soon figured out that no one else was bowling like that and tried that instead. Each time he crept a little farther down the lane before letting the ball go. A few times he dropped the ball before he got there. It was really fun to see him get the hang of it.


So, as it goes with little ones the first hour was quite frustrating and the remainder of the evening was pleasant.  I'm so glad I didn't give up and just take my kids out or we would have missed out on the good ending.  Thanks to Grandma, Grandpa and Cherise for their help and their patience.