Grateful

I'm not sure if it was because the kids got along so well.
Or because I was able to allow myself to be present without constantly worrying about what needed to be done.
But today was good.
Actually, today was great.
I feel incredibly grateful for days like today.
For being able to be at home with my kids.
To be able to interact with them.
To listen.
And talk.
And watch.
And play.
And just be.

With them.

I'm so grateful for that.
I wouldn't wanna be anybody else.

The messiest craft project ever.

For some reason I remember crayon shaving/wax paper pictures being so much LESS messy.

Geez.

After soaking the crayons in water to help the paper come off easier, we tried to grate the crayons- which was the biggest mess ever. Little pieces of crayon ended up all over the table, floor and our clothes. Annoying. Then we decided to put the crayons into a freezer bag and smash them with a mallet. That seemed to work better.

When we melted them, though, the wax seeped through the wax paper and the 4 or 5 pieces of regular paper I was using for a barrier and onto my iron. Very annoying.

The kids were impressed with how the colors melted together, but were frustrated that they broke so easily once they cooled off.

They hung in there with me for about 45 minutes, but I don't think any of us are anxious to try that craft  project again.

If you have any tips for making melted crayon pictures, please share!

Playing in the snow

I think it would be safe to say that yesterday was the first real snow day that we’ve had this year. Every other time it’s snowed, it hasn’t been enough to stick for long and the snow has been really wet. The snow that we woke up to this morning was fluffy and perfect.

After a late breakfast, the kids (minus Bre who went snowboarding with a friend) went out back to play. After a bit I suggested that we go to the park so that they could sled. Last time I took them sledding, I was right out there with them the whole time, watching, cheering, taking pictures.

This time I decided to stay in the car since I wasn’t dressed to be outside. I felt a little guilty at first. I thought that I should be out there with them. Cheering. Encouraging. Letting them know that I cared. 

At one point Brook came to the car and said “Mom! You’re not watching! I looked over a few times and you weren’t watching!” 

I responded by asking her if she was having a good time. She said she was. I said “That’s why I brought you to the park. So that you could play with Mason and Mia and have a good time. You don’t need me to watch every move you make in order to have a good time.” She said “Yeah. You’re right.” then turned around and ran back to the hill.

They have been happily playing now for nearly 30 minutes. They’re currently having a snowball fight. I wish I could record the entire experience. The smiles and the laughter. The sharing (since there are only two sleds). It’s lovely.

Singing, Tangled and the Splits

I feel like I have a lot to say, but I can't seem to put the words together in a coherent group of sentences.

So this may be a bit jumbly. Is that a word? Jumbly? (haha. Juanito. If you haven't seen it, you must.)

Anyway.

Bre auditioned for the Upper Valley Idol singing competition here in town and made it in. The first performance was Friday and she did great. I am forever amazed at how comfortable she is on stage. Sometimes I forget she's only 12. I think I was more nervous than she was. Here's a recording of part of her song. Please excuse the poor videography.

And here's a video of a conversation I had with Mason this morning about why Pennsylvania is called Pennsylvania. I wish I could record all of the conversations with him.


In other news, check out this mess.

Mia was combing her hair this morning and thought she could twirl the comb without it getting stuck.
It took us 30 minutes and a half a bottle of detangling spray to untangle it. I was beginning to think we were going to have to cut it out.

Lastly, here's Masons newest trick.

Yeah.

Ouch.

What I'm Loving & Not So Much

Loving:
-Went to a Zumba in the dark class that rocked. my. socks. off.
-Valentines Day cards.

-Getting kids to school on time.
-Remote start when it's freezing outside like this morning.
-Home made face magnets.

Not loving:
-Found out that my little sister is moving 5 hours away.
-Got into a rather heated discussion with Bre this morning before school and now am feeling bad about it. I hate sending her to school after an argument.
-Made eggs, toast, sausage and hashbrowns for breakfast yesterday, burnt the sausage black and forgot about the hashbrowns until 2pm. Yup. That's how I roll.

Green Drinks, Vitamins and Roses

We've been making a lot of green drinks lately. A lot. And my very favorite ingredient is lime.

Yum. 

My current favorite recipe:

3 tbsp white grape juice concentrate

1/2 cup water 

1/2 cup organic yogurt

1/2 orange

1/2 apple

3-5 frozen strawberries

1 banana

1/4 lime WITH peel

1/4 cup fresh or canned pineapple

1/8 cup pineapple juice

1/4-1/2 scoop Green Superfood drink powder (too much of this stuff will ruin the flavor)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

2-3 tbsp creamer

2 cups spinach

2 cups ice

VitaMix or similar blender is a must.

Hello love. The limes & peel are key.

There's this whole food grocery store in Jackson where they let you sample the kids vitamins. SO brilliant. I can't tell you how many times I've spent money on kids vitamins only to find out that they're completely gross and my kids won't eat them. So my friend and I tasted every single kids vitamin the store sold. Yes. We did. Most of them left us searching for a sick to spit them out in. Gag. 

But I found these that were great! My kids love them. They're sort of like a sour patch candy. Finally a vitamin that my kids are happy to take.

I spent the majority of the day yesterday cleaning the house and dealing with drama. I had intended to do some fun Valentines day activities with the kids, but things didn't go as planned. The flowers that Ryan sent were definitely a welcome addition to my day.

It was nice to wake up to a clean house today. So nice. I love when my house is clean. It calms my nerves for sure.

Mason and I have been playing a lot of baseball this week (in the house with a soft bat and ball). He tells me that he wants to practice a lot so that he can be good and play ball with his dad this summer. I see a T-ball team in our future. Yesterday he kept throwing his bat up in the air and catching it like a baton until it came down and hit him right in the nose, making it bleed. He was pretty miserable for a while after that. This morning while we were playing, he hit the ball super hard and hit me right in the eye. It may have been a soft ball- but it got me pretty good. Maybe we should take our game outside.

Oh- and an update on the Magic Jack. It only works with cell phones, not land lines. Sort of a pain- but for $35 I won't complain too much. Still worth it.

Rock Collection

Brooklynn's principal (who shall remain nameless) told her that he thought that this lovely rock of hers could probably sell for $30. It's about the size of a lens cap and is slightly discolored because she soaked it in water. She was insistent that we immediately list it on Craigslist (among multiple other treasures) so that she could earn some cash. She's hopeful that it will sell quickly and asks daily if it has sold yet.

Bre's band concert was last week.  My battery was almost dead so the recording turned out really choppy- but I didn't manage to get one whole picture.

This morning I had my phone in the pocket of my sweatshirt and I leaned against the fridge to reach something from the cupboard above it. I inadvertently pushed the water dispenser button and  filled my sweatshirt pocket with water.

Thus ended the life of my phone.

It was bound to happen.

Thankfully, I have a backup this time. I'm bummed that I didn't back up my phone numbers like I thought I should. Wish I would have acted on that thought. :(

I also hooked up the MagicJack that I bought a while back. I've been a bit hesitant to try it, thinking it wouldn't work, but just made and received my first call so I'm happy to report that it works. Home phone, one year, $35. Fantastic.

Carpe Diem blog post

How is it that I had never read this blog post before?! It is SO fantastic and completely spells out how I feel- only with words that I couldn't have put together quite so nicely. Apparently it's been shared like a zillion times on facebook. I've just never seen it.

Check it out if you haven't already.

On being mature.

Wanna know what I love?

I love it when, after an issue, things get resolved.

I love it when someone can say "Hey- I'm ticked about this" and I can say "Well I'm ticked about this" and even though we both think we're right, we can still listen to the other person, see where they're coming from, validate their feelings and then move on.

I love it when even if I don't handle something as well as I could have, the other person involved loves me still.

I love it when, after a disagreement, we can say "sorry about that" and then just move on. Without fear of bad feelings.

I love that.
A lot.

A late start

It's almost 4pm and I have yet to get ready for the day.
I've been doing laundry.
And dishes.
And playing cars with Mason.
And making Fruit Loop necklaces.
And helping kids with homework.
A fairly typical day.
Except that I'm usually dressed by now.
Usually.

Check out the silverware drawer after I unloaded the dishes. Zero normal spoons, two butter knives and fifty zillion forks. How do we have no spoons? Strange.

Here's our town that we made out of poster board. A work of art for sure. Mason thought we needed to have lots of stop signs.

Last night was the last night of the ski program and it was SO much fun. Everything went smoothly. The weather was good. The snow was great. The kids were happy. I kept waiting for something to go wrong, but nothing did. At one point I found myself watching my kids ski down the mountain, laughing together and having such a good time, and I just stood there and tried to absorb the moment. It was a fantastic night.

And of course, after not having new snow for what seems like weeks, the day after the ski program ended, it snowed.

Are you sure you want to use that?

Mason and I were playing cars and he saw that one of his cars had a bunch of glue on it (who knows why) so he went to the bathroom to wash it off. I heard a familiar noise and thought I should check on him.

Me: "What are you doing, Mason?"
Mason: "Just washing my car."
Me: "With what?"
Mason: "With soap."
Me: "And what else?"
Mason: "Water."
Me: "And what else?"
Mason: "A toothbrush."
Me: "Who's toothbrush?"
Mason: "Brooklynn's."
Me: "Do you think it's a good idea to use someones toothbrush to wash your car with soap?"
Mason: "Um, yeah mom. I  don't want to use my toothbrush. It'll get dirty."

Band Concert

Tonight was Bre's band concert. She had to be there early (thus so did we) so we got there around 6:45 and didn't leave until 9:30 when the concert ended.

Goodness.

That was a long concert.

While the band was warming up (you know- when they all play random notes and scales at the same time) Mason looked very confused and said "Mom! They are so bad!" I started laughing and he said "It's not funny, mom! They really do suck!"

One last laugh escaped from my lips before I turned my smile upside down and told him (in my trying to be stern voice) not to use that word.

I blame myself Juanito Bandito.

Moving on.

A friend and I are in the process of organizing a children's class to teach the basics of music (me) and spanish (her). At first I was pretty stoked about the whole thing. Now I'm nervous. It's a bit overwhelming and I'm not sure how we're going to make it all come together. I don't doubt our ability or knowledge... just our ability to organize it all. It's a little scary to me.

And again, eyes are closing.

Night.

Skiing and Candy Land

We drove to Utah on Thursday night to spend the weekend with my dad since the kids didn't have school on Friday. My mom and step-dad had a couple of free ski passes to Sundance that they let us use, so we went skiing today. I haven't been to Sundance since I was like 13 so it was fun to go back again.

The weather was fantastic, almost too warm, during the day. We were all complaining about being too hot. As soon as the sun went down, however, we were freezing.

The kids did really well- especially considering that the snow was quite icy. There may have been a bit of whining about the ice and I may or may not have thrown a mini hissy fit about said whining.

I'm certainly not above throwing a fit every once in a while.  For the most part, though, attitudes were positive and everyone had a great time.

Friday night we went tubing with my brother and his girlfriend at a place called Soldier Hollow. It was pretty packed, but so much fun. The kids have already asked to go again.

Tonight after dinner we played a few games of Candy Land (Mason and Mia's very most favorite game right now) and then my brother got out his old race car track and let the kids play with it. That was fun.

And now my eyes keep closing- so I'm off to bed.

Mason's Overnight Stuff

We slept at my moms last night so that I could work out this morning. Mason packed all his stuff and when I told him he couldn't bring all of it, he looked so sad. He was so proud of his packing job. So I told him he could bring only as much as he could carry. He's got his backpack full of clothes and his bat tucked into it. He also packed our cooler full of stuff and carried the rest in his hands. He couldn't understand why we were so entertained watching him haul it all around.

Better late?

Jenny, this was recorded on your birthday, but I didn't get it put together until today. Sorry for the delay. Hope your day was fantastic!

Today was so opposite of yesterday. Maybe it was just letting go of all of those emotions I've been holding on to so tightly. Maybe it was because of guidance I received after a sincere prayer this morning.

For whatever reason, today I felt happy. Calm. Content.

After getting the kids to school, I did dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. I did laundry and put things away around the house. I finished a project that's been on the back burner, I washed and vacuumed my car and I worked out. There are still plenty of things that I didn't get done, but I did enough that I feel good about my day. When I focus on everything that there is to do, I get overwhelmed, and then I shut down. That's where I was yesterday.

Today, well.....today was good.

Fair-Weather Friends- skip this one.

I was just thinking that when we're depressed after having a baby and we're asked how we're doing, we can say "Well....I've got postpartum depression..." and people know just what we're talking about. I'd like to have a blanket description like that for the way I feel lately. Sometimes I just pray that no one will ask me how I'm doing because I'm afraid that all of the pent up frustration in my head will come spewing out of my mouth mixed together with tears and snot. A lovely visual.

Today at church (which I would have stayed home from had it not been that Mason was giving a scripture and I was playing the piano) every other sentence spoken during the lessons made me want to cry. For no good reason. I just felt like bawling.

And when this nice girl from my ward came up to me after church and asked me how things were going, I just smiled and said "Things are great!" Puh-lease. Such a liar. What I wanted to say was "Today I feel like a complete and total failure of a person. My kids fight, my dishes are always piled high, the only reason my kids' hair got washed this week was because we went swimming yesterday, I'm a pathetic looser when it comes to weight loss, my car hasn't been vacuumed in months, no matter how many times I clean my garage it always looks like I'm getting ready for a yard sale, my oldest daughter hates me, my testimony isn't as strong as I'd like it to be, I stay up way too late at night, I don't read my scriptures, I haven't done my visiting teaching this month, I forgot to call my mother-in-law on her birthday, I still haven't sent my step-mom's Christmas present, I'm feeling quite sorry for myself and all I feel like doing is climbing into bed and watching Intervention on A&E which I probably watch because it makes me feel better about myself."

And who wants to hear that?

Which is why I say I'm fine. They don't want to hear it and I certainly don't want to say it.

Thankfully my mom sees right through "I'm fine." What I'd do without her, I'll never know.

I'm not looking for sympathy here. Just venting a bit. I have good days and bad days just like everyone does. Keeping it real.

Moving on.

Yesterday a friend and I took the kids to Jackson Hole to swim at the rec. center. It was so much fun (minus the car ride). I'm glad we have a place like that where we can go on occasion to build some good memories.

Tonight Mason said "Hale-u-lah. Wait, what's that word?" and "Mom, remember when we watched Pirates of the Carodina with grandpa Greg?" He also said in reference to a birthday party "Mia got to go once and Brooklynn got go once and I got to go nonce!"

He is so funny.

Oh- and did I mention that Bre made it into Upper Valley Idol? Her first performance is on the 17th so she's singing like crazy to prepare.

Puzzle

Mason was insistent that we start putting together the Manhattan puzzle today. So we did. He helped for a few minutes and then I was on my own.  I got all the colors sorted...

...and I got the border put together. It took me forever.

Ryan, if you're reading this, I sure wish you weren't quite so far away. I could use some help.

Did you see this today?

My brother and I were having a conversation about Chicken Nuggets a while back.  I saw this today on Yahoo and found it disturbing. You may have seen it, but just in case... 

What’s so bad about nuggets?

They would be bad enough if they were merely chunks of chicken that had been breaded and deep-fried in oil. One documentary describes McDonald's nuggets as chickens “stripped down to the bone, and then 'ground up’ into a chicken mash, then combined with a variety of stabilizers and preservatives, pressed into familiar shapes, breaded and deep fried, freeze dried, and then shipped to a McDonald’s near you.”

Aside from chicken and oil, those “stabilizers and preservatives” are said to includedimethylpolysiloxane, a form of silicone also used in cosmetics. Another additive is tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a form of butane. According to one report, chicken is only about 50 percent of a McNugget; the remainder is a mixture of corn-derived ingredients, sugars and synthetic substances.

If a four-piece serving of Chicken McNuggets carried a nutrition label, at first glance it wouldn’t seem too scary: 190 calories, 12 grams of carbs and 12 grams of fat. But consider that more than half of those calories (56 percent) are from fat—and protein accounts for a mere four percent. Add a whopping 360 mg sodium, and its image as “the more nutritious fast-food snack” fades.

Before and After: Boat Picture

Rachelle asked where I got the art display frame- and I realized that I never posted before and after pictures of the fabulous (super ugly) boat picture transformation.

Here's the before:

And the after:

I painted the frame black, added these clips and that was it. I think it cost me like $12 total.

Project Paint with Circles

 I saved some lids from different bottles- Gatorade bottles, spice bottles, water bottles, milk cartons- and then hot glued a wooden thread spool to each one. Then Mason and I (and Brook and Mia when they got home from school) dipped the circle shapes into regular acrylic paint and went to town. Super easy. Super fun. Super cheap.

Zumba and Bad Taffy

I finally bought new Zumba shoes. Of course, I didn't bother to ask what shoes would be best for Zumba. I just found some that seemed to be good and that were on sale. My friend asked me if I'd bake cookies in a bread pan just because it was a good bread pan. Point received.

Tonight I tried the shoes out at a class and they were terrible. Like, my feet were aching so I took them off and finished the class in my socks terrible. The socks weren't much better. Or much worse for that matter.

I'll be taking the shoes back tomorrow.

It finally snowed here in Eastern Idaho so I took the kids sledding for the first time this season. They had so much fun at first. The hill was the perfect size. Not to big to walk up, but big enough to sled down. Then my friend brought her dog (who my kids adore) and it was pretty much over for Brooklynn. Mason kept sledding. Mia did off and on. But Brook was determined to hold that silly dog- who, I might add, is the most hyper dog I have ever seen (and who is for sale if you're looking).

Look at all that snow we have. If I didn't know better I'd think it was April.

Here's what happened as soon as the dog came into the picture. Reason #47 why we don't have a dog.
 .

Mason hasn't been feeling well for the past few days. Sore throat. Cough. Stomach ache. Today he was feeling a bit better, but I noticed what looked like the beginning of an eye infection so I asked if he wanted eye drops. He's never had them before, but what a trouper. I remember trying to get eye drops in one of the other kids' eyes....Brooklynn or Mia....and man alive. It was always a miserable experience. It took forever. And there were tears. Lots of tears.

Mason wasn't happy about the drops tonight, but after 5 minutes he was fine. He did cry after they were in because he was sure he'd never be able to open his eyes again and he'd be blind.

After the kids were in bed I wanted toast, but the pantry was locked and I couldn't find the key. Annoying. Yes. We have a lock on the pantry because we have kids who climb the pantry shelves and have broken them so I finally changed the knob so I could lock the door and now I am forever loosing the key.

So instead of toast, I'm having tortilla chips and Christmas taffy.

Geez.

What a waste of a perfectly good Zumba class. At least if it was the taffy that my mother-in-law sends every year I might be enjoying it (because that stuff is awesome), but the taffy I have is junk.

Strange...

I just stumbled upon this over here. So very strange.

Did you know that moms use to hide under a blanket or a rug

 while their child was being photographed? Ha!

And check this out over there too. I thought it was so cool.

Art students remade famous paintings using photography.

She's got more fun stuff on her blog. Check it out.

"Meet me at the Face lift"

Tonight was the second night of the community ski program. I almost had the person in charge of the whole thing (my mom) convinced to cancel the trip today because of the weather. It was raining and there was absolutely no snow on the ground. It is miserable to ski in the rain.

Fortunately she decided not to cancel because the snow was great on the mountain. The kids had such a good time and did so well! I had a good time too until the last run of the night when Mason and I fell off the chair lift. We weren't ready when the chair came around and I couldn't get Mason scooted back quick enough before his skis got wedged beneath the chair and the snow. His skis got tangled in my skis and then my skis got wedged in the snow and when the chair left the little covered area we both sort of launched into the air and came down onto our chests in the snow on the hill below. We didn't fall far enough to do any major damage- it just knocked the wind out of us, gave us each a headache and got us a trip to ski patrol. It was the same lift that Mia fell off of last year.

Geez.

Moving on.

I can't quit thinking about a conversation I had tonight where I completely got my facts mixed up and didn't realize it until the person I was talking to had left. I feel so silly now.

Bre has been wanting to snowboard and I haven't wanted to let her because I thought it was a waste of time (and money to rent a board). I was sure she wouldn't like it just like when she tried it a couple of winters ago.

But my mom had a free board rental and thought I should let her try it and so I agreed. Bre loved it! And she did so great.

I'm so glad my mom is around to give me her opinion. Sometimes I agree with her. Sometimes I don't. But it's always nice to hear what she thinks.

Boy, my head still hurts bad. I think I should sleep now.

Tuesday Night

While I got Mason to bed...

Bre read to the girls. Love that they have each other. I hope they become best friends.

Wiggle my what?

The wind blew hard today. It pushed our trampoline across the yard and into our little retaining wall. Maybe it's time to take it down for the season. 

We made Play Dough. And cookies. Pumpkin ones- and they are dang good. I'm sending a big plate of them to Ryan tomorrow. It has nothing to do with the fact that he is 4 pounds ahead of me in our little weight loss challenge. I'm not bitter.

Speaking of weight loss, I went to Zumba again tonight and man do I love it but I feel oh so silly doing those dances. I've definitely improved since I started but oh my. Glad there are no mirrors in there. Every week I tell myself that I need to practice at home and every week I don't. Maybe this week.

And Sara- if you're reading this- the wiggle song is not my favorite. Ha!