February 28th..

Just what I needed.. thank you.

Today was the official day of rest.

It was nice, I have to admit.

Even with the continued yelling from the two year old, the massages, cries of pain, heat, rest, relax, and repeat, with Mer “the cripple” Bear (love you!),  Lynn deciding to tear off the leaves of my sole surviving house plant, and then Ashley participating in the drowning of aforementioned plant, it was a good day.  Oh, and Peyton decided to poop in the tub, again.  There is just something so relaxing about that clean, warm environment that just gets those bowels a-movin’.

Let me tell you why.

I got to go to church.

Solo.

I was able to enjoy a sacrament meeting without the normal interruptions (which I am thankful to have..) and listen, ponder, and be thankful.  It was a much needed break.

Well, okay, it was only Sacrament meeting, but it is the most important part of that three hour block.

I got myself ready, and no one else, which was a slice of heaven in and of itself.  I got to take my time!  I felt pretty..  (sigh.)

The ward theme for the month was “Trust in the Lord”, and the talks, all three of them, were based on this theme.

Every single one of them aimed directly at me.  I felt like I had a bulls eye on my chest.

Further testimony to me that He knows me and what I need.

I was taught things that aren’t in any way new concept to me, but good reminders.  It was said that, we don’t know our course,  things and events are put in our path to bless us and to enable us to bless the lives of others as well.  I was also reminded that I need to humble myself and pray, ask for help, plead my case.  I can’t do it all myself, and I shouldn’t.  It won’t always make the way necessarily easier or the load lighter, but I will have help and encouragement, I will learn something in the end.  The last thing that touched me was to be grateful.  When negativity arises, think of all that I am thankful for.

Now mind you, there is nothing absolutely awful going on, just the day to day blahs and struggles that are as old as a piece of bread Jackie and I found on top of Grandma’s microwave when she lived on Harrison (remember that one Jacks?  EW!).  Life can do that to us at times, just seem monotonous,  drive us a little crazy.  That’s all.

Something else made me quite happy today.. 

When I was coming home from church, so lifted and feeling happy, I found these on my porch.

Someone else knows me and cares.

Thanks Oreo donor!!

Not more than I can handle..

I am in no way complaining, I promise.

It has just not been the relaxing weekend I envisioned when this crazy week began, and then commenced.

PTA has been keeping me busy daily, and that is good, and was planned for.  Other activities this week were planned for in advance, but Merrill’s back problem was not anywhere on the calendar, nor was Ashley’s little cough, or the lack of sleep to be had by me.

It is really bad, when rolling out of bed late because of hitting that snooze button, that I am already plotting when I can squeeze in a nap.  (Which I never got, by the way..)

I have just gotten too comfortable, I guess.  Too used to Merrill having a job that wasn’t so physically taxing on him anymore..

I blame myself, I was the one who had to open my big mouth and mention the fact that we hadn’t had to give her a breathing treatment in a looong time.  Yup, I screwed that one up big time.  Other than that cough, Ashley just keeps up with her emotional/hormonal ways that we know and love her for.  :)

As for me, who needs sleep?

Peyton hasn’t been her normal, sweet self.  She has taken up yelling at me.

At me!

I wonder if she is getting what ever Ash has..  the joys of being roomies.  She also feasted on Banana-rama-Ding-Dong soap and some of my lotion today.  At least she was balancing it out I guess..

Maybe that was why she was so grouchy.

Lynnie-lou just seems to be frustrated with it all.  She isn’t very happy.  Kind of short-fused.

I wonder where she gets it from…

It is one thing to have dad physically gone, but a whole other thing to have him physically here, but can’t do anything due to terrible pain.  So I do it all day long, and continue on throughout the evening, because my partner in crime is unable to assist me.

It is tiring.

It’s been a rough week on this momma..

I was hoping to have some fun today, to craft with the girls, snuggle-up and watch a movie..  sleep in?  It was the first day I had NOTHING to do.  But the day started with me having to clean the floors all over again after Ashley spilled her peach cup all over the floor and her barstool.  And it wasn’t just a plop, it was a splatter.  That delayed the whole day.

Lynn has been on a “Phantom of the Opera” kick, and today we were on our third day of watching it in a row.  (We did catch a break on Wednesday.)  Ashley had had enough, and barricaded herself in the bathroom, taking every single bath towel, hand towel, and washcloth available in their bathroom, unfolding it, and heaping it on the floor in front of the door to quiet the sound coming from the movie.

Then she locked the door, and shut it behind her, because that way, I would never find out (?).

She earned herself a week without computer privileges.

At least she didn’t interrupt my nap, which was overdue and very much needed at the time of this particular drama.

Lynn also hijacked my stash of Double Stuff oreos during said nap.  I am still trying to decide if that was a good thing or not.

But as I sat today, trying to get work done, with the news as my constant sound track,  I quickly realized that I am better able to deal with my husband being temporarily disabled, my toddler yelling at me, my oldest feeling frustration and jacking my oreos, and my five year old continuing on in her emotional/hormonal ways, than I am to deal with what other people throughout the world deal with every day..  today especially. 

I am so incredibly blessed that Heavenly Father knows me and what is best for me right now in my life.  He knows just what I am capable of dealing with.  He is also there to help me with my struggles and stresses.  I am not alone in them. 

I am thankful for what is upon my plate.

I am thankful for the knowledge I have that I will grow and become stronger because of these little challenges.

They certainly are puny in comparison to what others are going through now.

February 27th..

I will not lie, I was feeling the strain today..

To lighten the mood, I started running around, snapping pics of the girls with my camera..

A moment after the frustration subsided.

Ash wouldn’t pose.  She said, “Because you’ll post it on ‘FaceBlog’ where all your friends will see it and laugh at me!”

Well, I told her the truth when I said it wouldn’t be on “FaceBlog”.. ;)

And this girl was pretty sweet…

Look at those eyes!

Then silly..

Then, kind of scary..

All in all, it was a good way to lighten the mood today.

Organization..

I have been on a kick, an organization kick (when I have the time..) lately.

When it came to my craft room, I wanted it to be better organized so my time there could be better spent.   It was downright frustrating at times in there!  I had stuff that I wanted to do, but just couldn’t get it done without having to move and re-arrange things to get the project done.

My ribbon storage hasn’t ever been what I wanted it to be, and I have been brainstorming ideas for A VERY LONG TIME..

I just couldn’t find anything that I was super happy about.

(And if you’ve been to my house, and have witnessed the amount of ribbon I own, you might understand..)

Then it came to me…

Making Memories embellishment shelf..

(So before you go telling me that I have a ribbon problem, oh, I already know!)

And this isn’t all of it..  there were some spools out being used (or can’t fit, I still haven’t decided what my excuse is..)  and I also have a glass jar that houses all of those tempting mini-spools that the craft stores dare to tempt me with..

I do use every last scrap of ribbon though..  EVERY LAST BIT.

I went to Michael’s armed with my 40% off coupon that I printed from the www only to find that the shelf was already on sale for 40% off..  yay!!  Another ting to use my coupon on. ;)

They also had the perfect color of spray paint there..  the color of teal/turquoise that I was hunting for in the fall and had to settle on a lighter shade of..  it just so happened that I was attracted to some scrapbook paper that fell in the same color family, and when I went to buy all my lovely, new, fun things, the girl ringing me up asked, “You must really like this color, huh?”  Turns out, the shirt I was sporting that day was also the same color.

(Blush.)

It was unintentional, I SWEAR!

The next day, which was lovely for February in Utah, but a little colder than I thought would be outside, I painted my plain white shelf my fun new color.

I opted to not use the dowels that fit in pre-drilled holes in the bottom two nooks because the idea of that just bugs me..  I want to take my ribbon with me to the table to cut or test.

I want to move on to more re-organizing now..

Then comes the fun!

February 26th..

Grey Avenue..

Just a minute..

That’s all I feel I have lately!

Granted, I am doing things that I have agreed before to do, and I am loving every minute of it, I feel like there are so many things that I am neglecting to record in the craziness.

Lynn is being so sweet lately, asking for lots of one-on-one time lately.  She loves to have either Merrill or me to come hang out with her in her room.  Okay, more Merrill than me, but it’s sweet and they have a good time.  Their time together ends with big hugs and whispered “I love you’s”.  Merrill tells me how thoughtful she is and what their conversations usually revolve around.  There are a lot of questions asked, about EVERYTHING.  She is a talker (i.e. like me!  YAY!!  SOMETHING like ME!)  Last night, after my party, they were all cuddled up in the loft on the couch watching some movie..  they way they were, all cuddled up, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder, reminded me of me and my dad…  I am happy that she has that relationship with him.

Ashley is into…  boobs.

Wierdo.

She is also into the phrase: “good gravy”.  She uses it in moments of exasperation.

Examples:

She dropped something the other day that made a mess which she knew she would be expected to clean up and she exclaimed loudly, “GOOD GRAVY!”

Another day (because heaven forbid, two exasperating situations take place in one…) she was doing the potty dance, trying to get there in time.  She got right in front of the toilet, skirt and underwear around her ankles, ready to sit, and there it came…  in a puddle around her feet.

“GOOD GRAVY!”  But this time is was quietly said.

I still had to laugh.

Peyton is in full swing of the “Mommy what’s dis?” phase of life.

It is fun..  I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times I have told her what the toothpaste is..  I am just thankful that it is she who is finding some of the stuff located in my bathroom as opposed to the girls who would be asking follow-up questions as to how you use something and why you would need it….

THAT would be interesting.

February 25th..

How was I supposed to pick just one?

February 23rd..

We had a gorgeous start to the week.  It was almost like spring!

(I do love the winter though..)

The girls enjoyed winging this day, even though it was so muddy..  I can’t wait until that is taken care of.

I loved all the pics..  even Peyton’s kind of blurry one…

February 24th..

Further proof..

Here’s more recent proof that a two year old lives among us:

She painted her own toes Sunday after I had just finished the other girls’ fingers and toes.  I turned from curling Lynn’s hair to find this, and the blogger/scrapper mom that I am, ran for the camera before I grabbed the polish remover. :)

While making the FHE treat last night, she was right there with me, asking what different kitchen items were.  The next thing I hear is, “Uh-oh mom..  mess.”
She found the straws!
But isn’t that smile sweet?
Life is pretty exciting around here to say the least! :)

So what?

One of the phrases from one of Ashley’s favorite songs, and today, it was more than fitting.

I was a bad mom today..

It was career day at pre-school today.  Ashley was supposed to dress up as what she wanted to be when she grows up.

I spaced it.

I didn’t get her teacher’s text message until it was time to go and get her.

It really doesn’t help that my alert tone is a doorbell.  I can’t tell you how many times either the kids or I have run to the door when I am really just getting a text message…

Whoops.

When I arrived to pick her up, I asked, “Did Ashley pull it out for us?  I totally forgot..”

“She told us that she wants to be a rock star when she grows up.”  Her teacher smiled.

That’s my girl!

Apparently another girl in her class, her BF, by the way, came dressed-up as a princess..

We fit right in!

February 22nd..

February 21st..

  Another Sunday of picture taking.. 

The girls loved their new hand-me-down “poofy dresses”.   They were being best of friends during the part of Sacrament meeting we were able to attend.  I wish I had my camera with me then..

Peyton on the other hand, was not feeling too well..

February 20th..

When things just don’t go your way..

No griping here..  just a couple small things that make me scrunch up my head and wonder..

I sent out Scentsy invites..  I had ALL of them sent back to me.

Apparently, if one address is bigger than another on a postcard, the post office thinks that is the address it is to be mailed to?  I did fill them out the way I was taught, the way I have received  post cards in the past…  my address on the right-hand side, the sender’s address on the left..  stamp in the upper right..  hmmmm.

Kinda glad I mentioned it here..  so, COME!!  Bring a friend, have some treats..  see me! :)

I worked on our taxes.  Yeah, I do it every year.  We knew about how much to anticipate in a return, but were hoping to also qualify for the housing credit.

There is a credit for new home buyers of $8000, and one for homeowners who have owned their home for 5+ years, but who purchased a new home.  That credit was $6500.

See, we were kind of hoping.

We missed it by 2 (two!) days.

It’s not like it was our money to begin with, but it sure would have been nice to have it!

Maybe there could have been a new car, or a baby…

Maybe, we’ll never know!

One of these things is not like the other..

Oh..  the fond memories that Sesame Street has added to my life…
Take a look here, see what doesn’t fit in?

It is the shelf in my laundry room..
(Like you couldn’t tell…)
That Coppertone Kids Sunscreen, otherwise known as my newest best friend, is what doesn’t fit in typically, but has found a new home here.
Peyton, my terrific two year old, isn’t the only child who exasperates me.
I have two older girls that do that on a regular basis as well.
They LOVE to color on the dry erase board, but do not love to place the caps securely back on the markers and safely out of the reach of my mini-Monet.
I have hidden them, only to have them found.
I have placed them, in what I thought, were high, unreachable places, only to have Ashley and her go-go-gadget arms (supported by various chairs, stools, and bins) re-claim them.
And how do I discover that they have found or re-claimed them?
Peyton shows up with dry erase marker all over her, and her clothing.  Usually new clothing..
There are two of her shirts that have been categorized as either “stay at home shirts” or “this is a crafting with mom day shirt”.
I was not very happy to discover these shirts when they were first marred by the outlawed markers, and I tried what I knew in the way of removing stains, only to give up.
Then, this last weekend, we had two back-to-back incidents, both involving new shirts,  that sent me on a hunt.
Through Google, I learned that sunscreen can remove dry erase marker!
Really.
It’s like magic!
Place a towel in between the layers of clothing, put sunscreen on the offending spot, rub at the area with another towel.  Move the first towel, the one between the layers, when it is too saturated, and rotate with dry spots on your dabbing towel,  and continue to dab away.  Soon that spot will be gone!!
I used Oxyclean after that process was finished to cut the greasiness of the sunscreen out when I laundered it.
Good as new I tell you..
But after smelling that sunscreen, I am wishing summer were here..  having random flashbacks of days spent swimming and Lake Powell…
*Post Edit:  make sure to use Shout on the after as well.  After the first washing, I found a still greasy ring, Shout helped out!

Terrific Twos..

It is Saturday today, (newsflash, I know) and I was looking forward to sleeping in today.  Every other day in this house, I am the wake-up Nazi.  It is quite difficult most days convincing the young’uns that it is time to get up and get going so we won’t be late.  So you’d think they would relish their Saturday to sleep-in just as well as I do…
Not quite the way it goes.
Peyton and Ashley are up at the time I am normally trying to wake them up every other day.  Peyton is so chipper with her first thing in the morning request of “choc milk mom?”.  Girl after my own heart….
So that’s where the attempt to sleep-in ended and my day began.
I decided to forgo eating breakfast at the table (breakfast was a bowl of Lucky Charms this morning, I needed them!) and eat it while watching the news in bed (where’s the snow?!).  When I had finished my bowl of sugary goodness, slurped the remains of the sweet milk, I got ready to hop in the shower.
Peyton came to me in distress.
“Mess mom!”
I followed her back out to my bedroom only to find her small bowl of the same tasty breakfast spilled on my bed.
ON MY SHEETS THAT HAD JUST BEEN WASHED YESTERDAY.
But amazingly not a drop or morsel on the ground the distance from her seat at the table to the bed.
(By the way, it was on your side honey :)..)
(Sigh.)
Into the washer went the sheets, AGAIN, while I went to wash myself in the shower.
I got out of the shower only to find another surprise courtesy of my little two year old..


It is a priceless original that was mostly removed by Mr. Clean and his magic sponge.
The little puncture marks, however, were not removed.
She has also created other works of art, on objects which we also use to lounge..

Isn’t two terrific?
Thank heavens for microfiber!
Oh, and Mr.Clean. :)

February 19th..

February 18th..

February 16th..

Merrill took a day off..  just like us, how opposite we can be at times, but having so much fun together!

February 17th..

Consider this your e-vite..

I am having a Scentsy Open House the 24th of February at 6:30 pm. my house..  with treats..  wanna come?

Consider this your invite..

If you can’t make it, and want some yummy stuff, let me know!

P.S.  There will also be some other cute things there available for purchase..  and treats..  did I mention treats? ;)

That one made-up holiday..

We all know how someone in this house feels about Valentine’s Day, but that doesn’t stop us from making it special for the girls..

Merrill had to work Sunday, so it was just me and the girls.

(Picture-taking was quite interesting…)

We started the morning off with breakfast:

And got ready for church.

I stayed up until after 2 am finishing the skirts.  Valentine’s Day on a weekend makes for one busy week.  Getting all the Valentine’s for classes, neighbors, friends and family ready, three birthdays (one of those Peyton’s which includes a cake, etc.), and two class parties..  yeah, that’s why I stayed up.

I knew Lynn would prefer to wear her “poofy dress” over my skirt, but I finished it anyway..  I wanted them all to have something special.

Big surprise, she saw it, said it was cute, but that she would rather wear her “yellow fancy dress”.

We went on to have a discussion on what it means to sacrifice..  you know, to give up something good for something better.  Like how I sacrificed my sleep so she would have a nice Valentine’s gift, and perhaps she could sacrifice wearing her preferred dress so my sleep-deprived feelings wouldn’t be hurt… ;)

Our special dinner didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted so there aren’t any special pictures of that…  but there are of the shirts and pajama bottoms I made.

I can only take credit for the idea of the shirt.  I wanted the girls to have a cute one with their nickname to go with the new bottoms..  all other credit goes to one of my BEST friends who happens to have a different craft cutter than I do that can cut heat transfer vinyl..  and the ability to design what she cuts on her computer. 

(Makes me wish I could hook mine up to my computer..  not that I can’t, would 20 or so feet of cable strung across my loft cause problems?)

I LOVE how they turned out!

The American Girl dolls got their own too…

Me and my sweeties…

And what’s Valentine’s day without one of my and my man?

February 14th..

February 15th..

February 13th..

February 12th..