Archive for November, 2007

Parker’s Room, Hot Chocolate, Folded Laundry

November 29, 2007 at 1:39 pm · Filed under 3 Beautiful Things, Family, house

I haven’t given any Three Beautiful Things lately, and I need a little pick-me-up, so I thought I’d share some with you all right now.

1.  Parker is in his own bedroom!!  He slept in his crib all the way until 2 am last night.  Then he spent the rest of the night with Ches and me.  It’s an improvement!  I think the ceilings turned out well (for those that have asked… I don’t remember what the technique is called.  It looks kind of like stucco, but less severe.  Our walls are all orange peel, and the ceilings are not.  BTW, what is this California ceiling some of you have mentioned??) and I’m proud of myself for doing everything except 2/3 of the scraping of the popcorn.  I even moved the furniture and stuff all by myself.  Now that the living room is cleared up… I’m ready for the Christmas tree! :)   It’s amazing all the things in our lives that have become affected by the ceiling in one little room.

2.  Boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate was on sale the other day at Albertson’s for $1 a box.  I only bought 2 boxes (I had a limited budget and a few things I had to buy), but I love what I have.  I got one box of dark chocolate delight and one regular milk chocolate.  At this very moment I am drinking some of the dark chocolate.  Whenever I need chocolate but we don’t have any around the house, I drink hot chocolate.  Mmmmmm.  I’m more addicted to hot chocolate than I am to Scrabbulous.

3.  I got three loads of laundry folded so far today!  Yay!  I have a load in the dryer that needs to be folded, then a load of towels that is about to go into the dryer.  I swear that laundry is the never-ending battle.  I dream of actually having two washers and two dryers some day.  Seems silly, I’m sure, but maybe then I could stay a bit more caught up.  Then again, I need others to fold and iron for me so I don’t get behind in that, but we’ll figure that out if/when we get the two washers and two dryers.  Anyway, actually folding the laundry… that’s a big deal for me.  Now I just have to get it all put away before some little monsters climb onto my bed and decide nothing else can be on the bed with them.  It’s been known to happen.

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Catching Up

November 26, 2007 at 3:40 pm · Filed under Family, Living in Phoenix, holiday, house

How was your Thanksgiving weekend, everyone? Our was good.  Uneventful (which is a good thing in this household of active monsters, I mean boys).  We were invited to Thanksgiving dinner at some friends’ house.  We went there last year, too.  It was really fun to hang out with their big family.  Their kids all played with my kids, and Ches and I got to play games with the grownups.  There were two turkeys:  one regular roasted (or “original”, as Aiden called it) and one smoked.  Mmmmm.  I made sweet potato casserole… the Southern way.  None of this marshmallow on top business.  At first everyone was asking me what exactly the dish was and I had to convince them to try it.  But one they took a bite, they were hooked.  There was none left to take home. :)   We ate dinner outside.  It was so nice out.  Ahh, the beauty of living in Phoenix!  In fact, I even got hot in the sun, but once the sun started to go down a breeze picked up and I was glad I had put long sleeves on the boys.  Once it was dark, the family lit up the firepit and we roasted marshmallows and had s’mores.  It was a good day.

We did NOT get up to go shopping on Black Friday.  No way, no how.  And since when is it okay for stores to open at 4 am???  People used to get up at 4 to get in line for these stores that opened at 6.  I’m not willing to wait in line all night just to save a few bucks on DVDs (which is what some people were doing!!  Crazy) and I’m not shopping for cameras, flat screen TVs, or a Wii, so I just didn’t need to be there.  I was happily sleeping in my comfy and warm bed at 4 am, 6 am, and even 8 am.  Oh, and if I was going to shop on Black Friday, I would have gone to Ikea.  They opened at 8 am and gave out free breakfast in addition to having the great sales.

Friday was spent clearing out the back room (the office/music room/craft room/ storage room) and I started scraping the popcorn ceilings.  I only got about a third of it done before it was too dark to see, and I was tired.  My wrist hurt (dang tendonitis from college strikes again!!) and my elbow hurt, so I figured I’d just pick it up in the morning.  Unfortunately, I was in so much pain I could hardly sleep.  When I did wake up Saturday morning, I found Ches in the back room, finishing all the scraping.  Is he not the most awesome husband??  Later I started the retexturing of the ceiling.  I got it finished in time for dinner.  I was going to prime and paint it yesterday (Sunday), but that never happened.  So here it is, Monday morning, and I already have it all primed!!  Only another hour before I should be able to paint it, then I can start moving Parker’s stuff in there and my craft table back in there.  Clear the living room of the junk we had to move out of the back room, and tonight we can put up our Christmas tree for Family Home Evening!  YAY!!!

I’m feeling so handy, so HGTV!!! :)

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Back In the Kitchen…

November 23, 2007 at 2:47 pm · Filed under Other Cool Sites

Thanks, Alyson, for telling us about this.  Apron A Day is having a giveaway (ends today!!) of a really, really cute apron.  Click here for that link.  These aprons make me wish I lived in the 50’s and my name was June Cleaver or something. :)   And I always need to wear an apron anyway because I was blessed to get my mother’s clutzy genes.  If there is any kind of food, sauce, whatever, it always ends up on my shirt.  Always.

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Parker Walking

November 20, 2007 at 9:18 pm · Filed under Family, Younglings

Okay, so it’s a little long, but Parker is just so dang cute!! Oh, and it’s really dark.  My hallway is, apparantly, too dark for shooting videos.  So I will get another one put up tomorrow and replace it.  You can still see and hear the important parts for now.  He says “Aiden” and “bye bye” in there, so listen closely!

My baby is walking!! AAHHH!!! :) Enjoy.

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Dearest Offspring,

November 20, 2007 at 11:55 am · Filed under Family, Younglings

I know that you love me.  I know that you love to play with me.  I know that you love to hang around my legs as I try to cook our meals.  I know that you love to jump on my stomach as I lay on the couch or lay down on the floor for a quick break.  I know that you love to have me hug you and hold you and kiss you, just not wipe your runny nose.  I know that you love to eat my cereal from my bowl because it obviously tastes better than your own cereal in your own bowl.  I know that you love to explore the drawers and cabinets that down’t have child-locks on them.  I know that you love to play in the water that I’m trying to use in the dishwasher, the clothes washer, the sink of dishes, and my shower.  I know that you love to play with my delicate figurines more than your toys because obviously my delicate figurines are more special.

Now, dearest offspring, I can handle all of this.  Really I can.  But only if you let me take a freakin’ shower so I can wash my hair!!  PLEASE!!

Thank you.  I love all three of you very much.  I’ll be in the bathroom, with the door locked, so don’t set anything on fire, okay?

Love, Your Mommy

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The Phone Call

November 19, 2007 at 12:20 pm · Filed under Family, Younglings

Last Sunday, I was sitting here on the computer when I heard Aiden’s voice in my bedroom.

“Hi.  It’s Aiden.  I just wanted to talk to Grandpa.” 

My ears perked up a bit.  Grandpa??  Who is Aiden talking to?  So I went into my room and saw Aiden standing there, talking into the phone.  “Aiden!!  Who are you talking to?” I asked.

Aiden looked at me, kind of annoyed, and replied, “Grandpa.”

“Which one??” I asked.  See, he has several.  Three to be exact.  My father, my stepfather, and Ches’ father.  But Ches’ father isn’t called Grandpa.  He’s Opa.

“Grandpa S—”  Aiden was getting really annoyed at me now.  He turned away.  I said to him, ‘Well, then, you mean Opa.”

“Oh yeah.  I forgot.”

I now walked into the living room and said to Ches, “I think your son called Canada.”  Ches had me bring him the other phone.  He turned it on speaker, then on mute.  Sure enough, Aiden was talking to Ches’ dad.  It was a very random conversation (is there any other kind with a 5 year old?), and the he abruptly said, ‘Bye, Opa.  I love you!” and hung up the phone.  So Ches, laughing, talked to his dad for a few minutes.

We had to talk to Aiden about how he has to ask permission to call people.  We have unlimited long distance to any calls within the States, but calls to Canada are 57 cents a minute!  That’s ridiculous!  Especially when there is a kindergartener in the house that “just wants to talk to Grandpa”.  What a nut.

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Trading Spaces

November 16, 2007 at 2:02 pm · Filed under TV

Remember when everyone who was anyone who knew anything watched “Trading Spaces”?  It was such a great show.  Cute host Paige Davis introduced us to the neighbors who were going to take over each others’ homes for a few days, fun, innovative, and sometime psychotic designers (*cough*Hildi*cough*) were in charge, they had the help of one great carpenter, and it was all with a very limited budget and in a very limited time.  What great TV.

Anybody still watch that show anymore?  Yeah, me neither.  Paige is gone.  Ty and Carter each have their own shows now.  The only designers they seem to use anymore are Frank, Dough, and Hildi.  Blah, blah, blah.  The only thing worth watching on TLC these days is “What Not to Wear” (which, by the way, I would LOVE to go on that show so anyone reading this is more than welcome to secretly videotape my horrible sense of style and send it in.  I love Stacy and Clinton and will listen to every single word they say and I won’t fight with them unless they try to take away my t-shirts with really funny sayings on them like “Anything your guard can do, mine can do better” or with cute pictures, like the one with the monster from Where The Wild Things Are).

I read online some good news about “Trading Spaces”, however.  Paige is coming back!!  They want her back!  Yay!  They are bringing back some of the old designers and they are completely revamping the show (to get the ratings back up, of course).  Anybody else as excited as I?  Seriously, I love Paige!  Did you know her real first name is actually Mindy?  But Paige seemed a better fit for the show.  Oh, and then did you know that she married a guy who’s last name is Page?  So she didn’t take his name because then she’d be Paige Page.  Ha!!  It’s all true!  And of course everyone knows that she is a successful Broadway star.  This chick is cool.  The show is going to get good again.

Too bad we’re cutting our cable to save a few bucks.

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Aiden in Bed

November 13, 2007 at 8:02 am · Filed under Family, Younglings

Look what Ches and I found last night once Aiden had finally gone to sleep:
Nighttime
Aiden told me this morning that he was being a Rebel Trooper. And his pillow was his blanket and Dallin’s elephant was his pillow.

What a wierd, funny kid I have.

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Down Came The Rain

November 10, 2007 at 4:44 pm · Filed under Family, My Crazy Mind

I think I am losing my freakin’ mind.  Seriously.  Stupid, lazy person that I am, I forgot to call my doctor’s office yesterday to have a new prescription written for my anti-depressants.  So now it’s the weekend and I don’t know that the office will be open on Monday because of Veteran’s Day (although I still have to take Parker in to his doctor for another round of shots on Monday.  Oh, fun.).

I find myself screaming in my head.  Just screaming and screaming and grasping at nothing and gasping for air.

I find myself concentrating on not yelling at my kids.  Seriously willing myself “talk nicely to the boys!  They are just boys!”, but it’s not really working.  One little annoying thing and I scream out “STOP DOING THAT BEFORE I STAB MYSELF IN THE EYE!!!”  Then my kids all look at me with the tiniest bit of fear in their eyes and a lot of defiance.  I can see them thinking, “Mom’s losing it again.  I wonder what time Dad gets home.  He’s so much more calm.  I’ll just ignore Mom until she breaks down crying.”

When I do break down crying, all the boys pat me on the back and say, “I love you, Mom.  Are you okay?  I’ll be better Mom.  It’s okay.  We love you, Mom.”

I manage to stop crying, but I’m still sobbing in my head because my kids have to have a mother who loves her kids more than life itself, but will snap in a heartbeat and feels like the World’s Worst Mother.

Thank goodness marching band season is officially over.  We need at least one calm, rational adult in this house.

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Our Own Linus

November 9, 2007 at 12:37 pm · Filed under Family

linus2 I’m pretty sure I’ve told all of you this, but humor me anyway. Dallin is our own little Linus. If I wasn’t so against having my children’s first names end in an “s” sound (it blends in too well with our last name), I think we would have legally changed his name from Dallin to Linus.

By the time Dallin was a year old, he was fond of anything knit or crocheted. He would hoard the baby blankets and cuddle up with them, sucking his thumb contently. If he couldn’t find a blanket, that was okay. There were always scarves and hot pads. That’s right. He made hot pads a lovey. It was pretty funny.

Gradually, Dallin singled out a blanket. It was made for Aiden when he was born by my good friend, Camille. Cami made Dallin a blanket, too, but Dallin prefered Aiden’s. Aiden never really got attached to any kind of lovies (although he had to have half his Star Wars toys lined up on his bed before he could go to sleep at night for a while there. Thank goodness that’s over. I hated searching the house for Luke or Leia everynight.), so it didn’t bother him that Dallin took over this particular blanket.

As Dallin grew, he named his blanket a really original name: Blanket. Only when he says it, it comes out more like, “Gway-gwet”. True story! Dallin often refers to Blanket as “he”. He loves Blanket and can’t go to sleep without Blanket. He actually can’t do much of anything without Blanket. It’s tought to get Blanket away from Dallin to get clean. For a while there I was stealing Blanket after Dallin had fallen asleep, washed him, dried him, and put him back in bed with Dallin. But one night, Dallin woke up shortly after I started the washing machine. “Where Blanket go?” he asked sleepily. Dallin waited up until Blanket came out of the dryer. I think it was getting close to 2 am by that time. As soon as we pulled Blanket out, Dallin climbed in bed and fell right to sleep.

I think my son is adorable, dragging Blanket around, thumb stuck in his mouth. I know this won’t last forever, so I’m going to enjoy this now. Maybe Dallin will continue to take after Linus. I love the part in “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!” when Linus quotes the Christmas Story from the book of Luke, “And Lo,…” I would pay to see Dallin stand on a stage, holding Blanket, then use it as a shepherd’s headpiece. How cute is that?

Okay, I better go check the dryer. Dallin is quite upset that Blanket isn’t watching Cars with him. I think Blanket must be relieved. He was covered in dirt and grime, chocolate and caramel (don’t ask), leaves, weeds, and twigs. I can’t wait to pull him out of the dryer and see the joy on Dallin’s face!!

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