Where Have You Been!?

WARNING: Tidy mom's with a weak constitution should NOT enlarge this photo!!

My Sister asked me why I haven't put up many posts lately. Well, here are some photos to help you understand what I am dealing with. In a mad rush to get things tidy for the day, I swept up the kitchen floor. Then the phone rang. While chit chatting with Amy Jo and exchanging dinner recipes, I got my own dinner started in the crock pot. Then (still chatting about our mutual friend with a possible boyfriend) I switched over the laundry, started the dishwasher, and had to fetch a screaming baby Sam because he took a SHORT morning nap.

While deftly putting random papers into stacks of "to deal with later so I can wipe off the counter NOW", Sam found the swept-but-not-swept-UP pile I had abandoned to grab the phone. He crawled through it to pull out some OREO lids, and started munching away.

SORRY EVERYONE - I KNOW ITS GROSS, BUT IT'S THE TRUTH. Sam then crawled through everything - cheerio dust puree really sticks to those diapers. So now instead of one clean floor I now have another dirty floor AND a dirty baby.

It's just stuff like this. In theory, I'm accomplishing a lot - bills are getting paid, the laundry has been in detergent and clean water, but it's like the Caucus Race in Alice in Wonderland. The folded laundry, though clean, is threatening to implode into undefinable family member piles - which means I'll have to fold it TWICE! ARG! It is my failing as a mother - I secretly wish for someone to take over and make it all their problem.

On the bright side, my kids were out of school for President's Day and they got to see horses (including a new baby), turkeys, a pig, goats, a parrot, llamas, chickens, dogs, possibly cats. I got this one pic of family bliss which I am pasting in their baby book as proof that there were good times.

Create it Forward - A Get-it-Give-it-Away

So my friend Meredith is doing a cute give away on her blog, but the catch is -- you in turn have to have a give away. Like I needed to add more to my "to do" list but I love love love the creative challenge!

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
I did not make up the rules -- I SWEAR! These are the REAL rules.

I'm not sayin' that I'll make you one of these eyeball pincushions, but I'm not NOT saying that I'll do it either...

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!
Let the games begin!!

Some of My More Brilliant Ideas....

My mom used to say, "Yeah, that's one of my more brilliant ideas..." when it came to something that she did well. I have been thinking about some of my own, and thought I'd share.

Baby Binder: This has been extremely helpful with Benjamin, who was premature, and the fact that we move all over the place. I think his exit instructions have been copied about nine times. It is also useful when they ask questions that no one would have the capacity to remember, "And when was the last time your child was seen for a Hepatitis A vaccination booster?" Well, let me look in my handy dandy NOTEBOOK, because I don't tend to keep that information in my Randam Access Memory!

Each of my kids has a clear front sleeve 3-ring binder. It's full of clear plastic page protectors, a pencil zipper case (for binders), and a folder for binders. I print off an 8x10 of my kids pictures (or use their school pic), and start filling this binder up with:
- pediatrician notes/mile stones
- SS card, or at least a copy
- foot prints
- Card of Congratulations from the White House
- business cards
- if I see a set of cute or memorable stamps, I buy a full sheet and stick it in the folder. It's my lame way of stamp collecting. The 50 states suckers me in every time.

While at the pediatrician, or dentist, or any specialist my kid has to visit, I grab at least 3 business cards. I tape one to the picture on the cover (I bring my binder to the counter and ask the receptionist for a piece of tape and just do it right there...), and put two in my wallet. One is to give out and the other is for my reference. This is GREAT for when you need to call and tell them you are running late, can't remember EXACTLY where the office is or if you just need to make an appointment between sleep deprivation and laundry.

Christmas rotation: This is an idea I borrow from Nicole Peterson-now-Davis (It's how I remember her name in my rolodex mind...). Simply, you rotate who you have each year. Start with the next sibling down, then rotate the next year to the next sibling down. If everyone does this, you not only have fair rotation of siblings for Christmas, but you also have an entire year to shop for your special relative. It helps to avoid Christmas crunch, and lets you think about that special family for the whole year. This is extremely helpful for kids from large families!


Biz: This one is from Miriam and John Hatten. For biological stains (blood and poo and food), this is THE BEST. You get a cheapie $1.50 walmart mop bucket, and soak stained clothes for about 2-3 days. It comes out. The clothes look fantastic, and you can buy white for children again. Fantastic stuff. Amazing stuff. I buy it so that I have at least 2 boxes on hand. I fear for a time when I can't find it.

Color coding books: This took about an hour, and has saved my sanity. I love books, I want my kids to enjoy books, but I hate PICKING UP books! I bought a 5 color assortment of electrical tape, and organized the kids library so that all of the books fit. Big tall ones on the big and tall shelf, and little ones on the short shelf. Then, just like the library, we cut a couple of inches of tape, and put them on the lower binder of each book. BAM. Now the kids can put their books away by themselves. I even put a piece of tape in the middle of each shelf so the kids know "Oh, that's the blue shelf." Genius.

Cleaning Supplies: It was either Matthew, or the Clean Team who said to have a full bucket on each level of your house, so you're not running around getting supplies from all over. Two floors, two windex, two cleanser, and one day, two vacuums. YES - yes, I hope to be that rich/lazy some day. Let's not make this hard, right?

Crap in = Crap out: I've moved too many times to gather much stuff, but I can tell you that it is a marvelous feeling to be able to handle the backlog of stuff. Let it go. If you don't use it, let it go on to bless the life of somebody else. My mom had been saving huge soda cups for about a decade(refills are cheaper!), but when we took them all out - along with the "very nice" baskets from gifts, plants and sales, it made a mini-village on the kitchen table. We bagged them up, and took them to DI. Now she has a shelf for stuff she had a hard time storing, like her crock pot. Let it go... let it go.

Visiting Teaching: Hold a breakfast with all your ladies. Have everyone bring their calendar, and plan 4-6 months in advance when you'll meet. It saves about 14 hours of phone calls, and lets you get everyone on the same day, mostly right after each other.

Learning to Lose

Tonight was Pinewood Derby night for the scouts. I had the general gist before we even started: dad's make the cars, kids race 'em. Best Dad wins.

What I didn't expect was the lesson in losing. How do you tell your kid how to lose? I'm just a Den Leader, so that removes a lot of the emotional tension. I got to watch how things unfolded, and when it came to losing, I was most impressed with Ben. He made a car that was supposed to look like a Lamborghini. He added thin nails under the carriage to look like exhaust pipes and hand drew (badly) all of the lines on his car. When you turned it over there were weights and quarters taped along the bottom. Other cars had weights drilled and melted in for optimum balance and speed. Ben's looked awful - especially compared to the kid who is the 5th son of a sucessful businessman.

That kid is a tremendous scout, and has more Boy Scout Bling per square inch than most of South Harlem. His car was professional, aero-dynamic, and had already had a paint job redo when the first one bubbled a little.

I thought about why these dad's didn't want their kids to lose. If you win, of course, you don't have to feel bad the whole night. You just get more and more accolades as your car keeps placing in the top. You don't have to be gracious and turn to a victor, shaking his hand, to tell him "Good job." But, there was only one kid won the derby, everyone else got to learn in their youth how to be a gracious loser. "Go on, go shake his hand, tell him he did a good job!" said one dad.

After it was over, I asked Ben about his car; "It looks like a Lamborghini..."
"IT IS!" he said.
His eyes lit up, and I could tell that, outside of this competition, he knew he'd done a good job on his own, to make one fantastic car. Good job Ben. You taught me something tonight that makes you, in my book, the Grand Winner. You know how to lose with dignity, and not let it ruin your day, or change how you feel about your work. The other kid took home a ribbon and a shiney car, you took home a lesson that will serve you your whole life through.

100th Post

It's a year to the month that I started this blog - thanks to my sister, Reagan. Things do change over the course of a year. I started this blog when I was 35, I lived in Arizona and had two kids. I was starting to think about how the coast seemed clear to spend an unprecedented THREE Christmases in the same home. Abigail was in a great school, and Benjamin was making steady progress towards potty training and learning to speak at his level. We had a horrible church schedule ahead of us of 1 - 4pm, and we thought about moving to get away from it.

One year later, we are STILL looking at another year of church from 1 -4pm, but now I live in Utah, with three kids. I spent Christmas in Alpine, and have stopped trying to guess where Christmas 2009 will be. New year, new president, new state, new school, new job, and new child to potty train. ;D I am hopelessly addicted to your comments and hover over Matthew after I post; pestering him with questions like, "Was that funny? Did you like it? What part was were you laughing at? Ohhhh, was that too much there? Should I take that out?" Poor guy. He knows before most of you when I have put up a post because he has often been my reluctant editor.

It has been a year, and as per the title, we have been trying to catch the window; stay on top of this madness, and take it as it comes. Sometimes gracefully, much of the time not. SO, to you - my readers - thanks for stopping by, and cheers! Here's to another 100 in the next year. I hope I've kept you entertained enough to not be considered a waste of your time.

Happy Birthday Dad

To my awesome dad, or better put, my dad on Matthew's side of the family, who is turning the big 60 today. Many congratulations and loves comin' your way from a true and loving fan.

Animal Crossing City Folk

Since the aftermath of Christmas I have been rather busy.

I have:

Paid off two mortgages

Been to the Alpine Museum about 45 times - donating at least 25 specimens that they did not own, to put into the private collection for display

Caught the rare and exotic stringfish TWICE -15,000 bells for each one, but I donated the first, as a good citizen ought....

Decorated my house
Sent notes to neighbors and friends
Gone shell collecting
Gone peach collecting
Satisfied a neighbors need for a freshwater Goby
Fished in the Ocean
Fished in a stream
Fished over a waterfall
Gone into the city to deal with a shady character
Gotten a shoe shine
Gotten my hair done.

These are all things that go with the game that LISA got for us for a family Christmas gift. I watched Abigail play it, and it seemed like a kiddie kinda thing. Hey, she seemed to like it, and it's nice to see her out recreationally fishing... even if it is with the Wii. Then I tried it.
OH. MY. GOSH. First, it was just watching Abigail, and noticing what she was doing as she wandered about the town.

"Abigail, you're supposed to pay off your mortgage! It's only 18,900 bells. I'd do that first. After you do that it says here in the book that you can buy a bigger house!"

And then I got a little bit more involved: "You need to stop buying wallpaper, and pay that off first. Look there's an animal that will trade turnips to you, and if you sell them to Tom Nook, he'll give you more money! And if you put some in your savings account, you'll get more bells (the local currency) just for having left it there!"

Then I thought, TO HECK WITH IT! And got my own character, and my own house! And then Matthew got his. And then Benjamin got his.

We are now swapping items. I gave Abigail a set of stair drawers, and she's mailing me a violin as a gift. I know, I'm INSANE! I'm INSANE! Who DOES this?!

Well, LISA does now! She got the game after asking how it was going, and we are feverishly trying to figure out how to get our two towns to connect so that I can go and swap some of my peaches for her pears. She called me all flustered: "We're all playing it now! It's like an obsession, it's like... HEROIN!" Ya gotta love it, they named their town "Squallor". Its so funny to see the comments throughout your visit there, "Welcome to the Squallor Museum!"

Indeed. SO, if any of all y'all are hooked as well, let me know, and I'll give you my friend code and swap ya some awesome Luxurious Oriental Carpeting....