A Child's Prayer

Alan got to say the prayer in primary (the children's Sunday School) today. We didn't get to hear it but we were told that he put a lot of thought into it.

"Heavenly Father,

Please help me to do better.
Please get me more toys for Christmas.
Please get me more stuff.
Please help me to get more toys.
Please help me get more treats."

I am told that it went on for quite a while.

At least he is putting thought into his prayers.

Christmas Presents

Early in our marriage John and I went to see Lord of the Rings and got a "souvenir" movie cup. Because we have no desire to drink from the giant cup it became our pencil holder. Well, it just became part of the background and we never really thought about it, until a few weeks ago when my brother and his family were over for dinner and they confessed that it was rather disturbing to look over at dinner and see Gollum staring at you.

Really? You mean that doesn't make you want to take second helpings? That's odd. So for Christmas I helped the boys make Dad some new pencil jars. I remembered doing something similar to this when I was in elementary school. I think they did a really good job with out too much help from me. John says we now display "Modern Art" in our home. Aren't we hip.

So long Gollum!

Tis the Season

Last summer when Alan was complaining about being hungry (If you know Alan you know he's always hungry), he said to me "Mom, remember that season when everyone kept coming by bringing us treats? I really like that season."

You know what Alan? I like that season too.

May your days be chocolaty and delicious! And let's all pretend that it's fat free!

Pretend fake bowling

Today I found my kids pretending to fake bowl. They weren't pretending to bowl for real. They were pretending to play the Wii that we do not own. They were even fighting over who's turn it was, not being satisfied when I told them they could both play at the same time.

No John. This doesn't mean we need to go buy a Wii.

That's a strike for sure!

Santa and the Boys

No funny story or anything to go along with this picture. It's just the kids sitting on Santa's lap. I'm thinking about framing this one though. Look at those smiles. Those are genuine smiles. Every once in a while you catch a picture where the kids smiles hold a thousand memories of genuine smiles given to you in happy moments. This one does that for me. I love these smiles. Thanks Jason for taking the picture.

Flowers

I love getting flowers. OK, so these aren't really flowers, but I love receiving them all the same. Every time Hyrum and I are out on a walk he has to get "flowers" for me. Actually you'll notice in this picture that there are four flowers. One for me, one for John, one for Alan, and one for Hyrum. I love real flowers, even though I only get them about once a year (hint, hint), but these "flowers" make me smile. I'll happily display them on my kitchen table any day.

I'm Just not Sold on Facebook

I know I am probably the last person in the world who is not on Facebook, but really, I'm not sure I want to be. I'm all about reconnecting with friends. There are a lot of people that I would love to find out how they are doing. I want to find out that they got married, that they got their phd., that their making eight bucks and hour working at the quickie mart. That’s great! I'd love to know how they are doing, but I thought that was what blogstalking was for (Come on, everybody does it. Don't worry I'm not offended that your reading my blog but you haven't left a comment to say hi, I might cry a little, but I'll get over it).

Really, there are different levels of friendship. There are the old friends that I want to keep in touch with, the ones that I'd like to know how they are doing but don't expect a Christmas card (actually that probably goes for all of you. I don't think I'm going to send out Christmas cards until I can get a decent picture of my family, so don't be surprised if you don't get your cards until March). And then there are the people that I can vaguely remember who they are. I know John’s gotten multiple friend requests on Facebook that all he really knows about the person is that they went to the same High School. Is it rude to turn down a friend request? I mean, I tell my kids they need to be friends to everyone, but do I have to live by the same rule? (Here I am fretting about too many people wanting to be my friend in my imaginary Facebook world. HA!)

When I look to see what’s on John’s Facebook page 80% of it is "Jo Mama is now friends with Suzie Q" Or "Suzie Q just changed her profile picture" The rest of it is mostly comments like "Jo Mama is tired from staying out all night" Occasionally you get great nuggets of information on what is going on in someone's life but you really have to weed out all the other stuff. Maybe you have to be on Facebook to really get it. So enlighten me. What is so great about Facebook? Who knows, maybe you’ll find me on there; I mean I didn’t ever think I would start a blog, but here I am.

Cousins!

John's sister Rebecca and her family were in town for the day on Monday. How fun! It was great to see them and spend some time together. Hyrum was so upset with them for leaving that he refused to say goodbye or even wave. We just love our cousins!

On top of Shaw Butte

So embarassed

Yesterday I couldn't find our cell phone. Of course the best way to find it is to call it. I call but can't hear it going off. Great, it's probably on silent. I get the house quiet and call again hoping to hear the vibrating sound. Still can't find it. Oh well, maybe it fell out in the car. I'll have to remember to ask John about it when he gets home. Later that afternoon I get a phone call. It's Alan's teacher "are you missing a cell phone?" Oh dear. I then remember that it was put in Alan's backpack when we went hiking on Monday and apparently we forgot to take it out. It then fell out of Alan's backpack in the classroom and I caused quite the disruption when I called. Oops! Do I get a detention for that?

Crazy Wednesday

It was time to pick up Alan from school. Buckle Hyrum in and get going. I'm almost there. I make a left turn at the only light that stands between me and the school. The light's yellow but the car is stopping. Aaaahh wait! The car that was in the other lane way behind the stopped car thought that yellow means step on the gas. Figures. Later I find out he didn't actually have a licence. --Funny side story. When I was doing my drivers training, I was heading home at the end of a driving session and I see a yellow light. Of course I slow down only to hear my driving instructor yell at me, "Speed up! Speed up! Drivers test you slow down, now you speed up."

I digress. So I hit the brakes, but luckily instead of being T-boned he just scrapes off the bumper of my van. Unluckily, the driver behind me then rear ends me. Luckily, we were only going like 10 miles an hour so the damage could have been a lot worse. I pull to the side of the road and check to see if the people behind me are hurt. They're not so I run across the street to see if everyone else is ok. Turns out he took off the bumper of another car as well. They are ok as well as the the car that hit us. I turn around and the car that rear ended me is gone. Grrr. No I didn't get any of their information. Grrrr. . . .

Well it could have been a lot worse. We are all ok, and really, the van is 15 years old. Alan was wondering why we didn't pick him up, but luckily our good neighbors were driving by, saw the van and stopped. I didn't have my cell phone with me (that's another post), so the neighbors were able to go to the school and take care of Alan. John met up with them at the school and brought the kids to meet me. Alan had tears streaming down his face when he got out of the car. I ran to him, picked him up and assured him that Hyrum and I were OK. Unfortunately, that didn't comfort him too much because it turns out he wasn't worried about us, only the van. I love you too kid.

There is a silver lining. When the firemen showed up Hyrum got a sticker, hat, and a bear.

Six years today

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I remember what I was doing 6 years ago right now. I was asleep. I was exhausted. I was a mom. I was excited, and I was scared too. The night before I had stayed up until I was at the point of exhaustion. John was working nights and I had a hard time falling asleep by myself so I would wait until I could hardly keep my eyes open until would go to bed. I was just at that point when I coughed, and my water broke. I was in denial. Alan was supposed to be a New Years baby, so I tried to convince myself that I had just peed my pants (you know there is a problem when you are hoping that you peed your pants). I called John and he came home and took me to the hospital. I honestly was clueless until the nurse asked me if I was in any pain. I said "I feel fine now but I was really hurting a minute ago" She just looked at me and said "those are contractions honey."

Of course I was only 33 weeks along and I wasn't supposed to be having a baby yet, so they put my on some wonderful drugs that made my heart race out of control and when that didn't stop things they gave more drugs that made me loose everything in my stomach. Of course they wouldn't give me the epidural because they were hopeful that Alan would be able to wait at least 48 hours before being born (the steroid shot takes 48 hours to take effect). Well he didn't wait and about 5 or 6 the next evening they gave up and gave me the epidural (yea!). A few hours later we were blessed with Alan. I was so worried that he would be small for his age (gestation), I kept praying that he would be at least 4 lbs. I gave a big sigh of relief when the doctor said that he was 5 lb 1 oz. He was huge!

I'll be honest. I was so exhausted, and so scared, I couldn't believe that he was real. It seemed more like a dream to me. A few hours later I went to visit my son for the first time in the NICU. I couldn't hold him but I sat there watching him. Was this really my son? It just didn't seem real. I didn't know him, he could be anyone. But then he twitched and kicked out his leg. THAT, I knew. I knew that kick. I would recognize that anywhere. That was my son! I had been feeling that kick for a few months and when I saw that kick, I realized that I was a mom. He was mine, and love overflowed from my heart.

Five weeks later he came home. Five days before Christmas we got our Christmas present. Oh how blessed we were to have this boy with us. He has been a blessing ever since. Alan, you are six years old today and I wouldn't trade those six years for anything. Happy Birthday!

Support your favorite Charity

My Brother in law Paul let me know about this great charity fundraising orgazination, Uplej. How it works basically is you choose a charity and become either a free "advocate" or a $4.79 a month paid donnor. For everyone that you tell about Uplej and signs up money will be donated to your chosen chairity as well as theirs. Basically it's like a pyramid scheme execpt that it is not a scheme and that the money goes to chairity. Don't worry, no Amway involved. I'm just trying to get the word out. If you're quick my brother in law is giving out
free Jazz/suns tickets for Saturdays game to the person that get's the most people signed up.

Please join my uPlej network here. By joining my network, you can help raise money and awareness for YOUR charitable cause and mine.

The songs they sing

These days if you spend a couple of hours with Alan or Hyrum you might hear them bust out a snippet of a song. "I am the smallest giant ever, I am the smallest giant ever". Or "Nobody can save us but Kim the waitress". A little Too Much Joy and Material Issue. Is there a problem with that?

Allison doesn't think it is a problem that they know these songs (I don't think). She thinks it might be a problem that they know the words to these songs but don't always get all the words to I Am a Child of God.

Their two songs of choice for their good-night song are still I Am a Child of God and Teach Me to Walk. So I figure we're still good right?

Cake

I made this for a baby shower last weekend. There actually wasn't a lot of decorating involved but I am pleased with how it turned out.

You know you live in Arizona . . .

You know you live in Arizona when it's November before you realise that your son's only long pants are his "Sunday" pants. Guess I should get this kid some jeans before December.

You wouldn't guess from all the safety gear but he was just going for a ride on his tricycle.

What do you think?

I think we look pretty good!

Uh, Oh

Today was Alan's kindergarten class Halloween party. I, along with a few other mom's, was there to help out. While the kids were introducing their mom's to the class, one mom who was dressed like a witch (a friend fortunately), jokingly said "you can call me Witchy." Alan then decided he wanted to rhyme and shouts out "Witchy &#%*" (uh, I"ll let you guess what he chose to say that rhymed with witchy).

I was mortified.

I noticed a few other mom's raise their eyebrows but no one said anything. I guess if there is a low turn out at Alan's birthday party we will know why. I swear we are not that kind of family. Umm . . . well, maybe swear is not the right word.

Today I feel like a Mom

I'll be honest, I've been a mom for almost 6 years but I don't always feel like one. Sometimes just a babysitter, and sometimes a drill Sargent. But today Hyrum and I made bread together. That feels like a mom. And being a mom . . . feels great.

Is this a red flag?

Should I be worried that when my kids play "Cars", they don't argue over who gets to be Lightning McQueen? No, they both want to be Chick Hicks, because he gets to push the other cars off the track.

I didn't think I would be so sad

This last week was fall break. It was a lot of fun. The bathrooms did not get cleaned, the floors were not mopped, and only a minimal amount of laundry was done. But we did make multiple trips to the park, we went to the zoo, the natural history museum, and plenty of reading books tickling, and cuddling. I really had a lot of fun this week, and I think my boys did too.

Now I'm feeling sad. School starts up again tomorrow. Back to rushing in the morning, and leaving my 5 year old in the care of someone else for six and a half hours. Alan has a wonderful teacher, but really, 6 1/2 hours? Why couldn't it be a little shorter? I feel like I am saying goodbye until Thanksgiving. It's funny how I was so ready for school to start but now I wish I had a little bit longer.

At least I have plenty of things to keep me busy. You know, the bathrooms, mopping, and of course laundry.

The kids got pretty worn out after all we did this week.

Whatever it Takes

Well, at least he's eating dinner.

I know my family is all laughing at this one because I was certainly the worst eater in my house and it is only fitting that I got one of my own.

I Know it's Not Halloween

But who can resist playing dress up?

You'd think I would have learned by now

This summer we had some crayons go through the dryer. Yes we had melted crayon over everything. I wanted to cry. Actually I may have cried, I don't remember. I did my research on the Internet to try and find a solution to getting crayon out of clothing, and there are about a million ideas out there including using gasoline (no thank you). So I decided to just use my favorite stand by stain solution and it worked! Only one shirt out of the whole load ended up having to be thrown away.

You think I would have learned my lesson but even though the kids are absolutely forbidden to put crayons in their pockets (like that makes a difference) I did laundry last week and sure enough we had a crayon go through the dryer again. I don't like doing laundry as is but having to check all the pockets adds like half an hour. So I came up with two lessons I learned from this experience.

1. Check the pockets before I do laundry
2. NEVER buy cargo shorts/pants for my kids (way to many pockets to check and my kids will always use the most obscure one to hide things in).

If you want to know my fantastic stain removal recipe it comes from the Tightwad Gazette

Add one cup each of powdered Cascade and Clorox II to 5 gallons of the hottest water to come out of your faucet. Soak overnight (or a couple days in my case), and launder as usual. This has worked great for me with the crayons as well as a myriad of other stains.

A First for Everything

There are a lot of firsts in Kindergarten. The first day of school, first loose tooth, and of course a first love letter.

I'm curious to see if the letter actually gets delivered. He has a tendency to be in love one minute and forget about it the next. I'm glad I got to archive this though.

Fresh and Easy

Do you have a Fresh and Easy near you? It’s my new favorite store. One was built near us last spring, but sounded kind of expensive to me so I didn’t go for a while. I finally went a few months later because someone had said that they had awesome flowers and I needed to buy flowers for someone. I was just going to buy flowers and check out the store but ended up filling my cart. You see they have theses fantastic 50% off deals. If food hasn’t sold by the “sell by” date it goes on 50% off. And it just so happened that I went a few days after Memorial Day, so all of the meat that they packaged on Memorial Day needed to sell. I bought about 15 lbs of meat and came home and froze it.


This last time I went there were a lot of breads at 50% off, french bread, wheat bread, tortillas, naan (they have great naan), and pita bread. And all that stuff freezes great! And if you need to pick up something else at the store, their normal prices are . . . well, normal. $1.59 for a dozen eggs (unfortunately that’s normal now), $1.15 for a cake mix. They are really decent prices. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Fresh and Easy has coupons for $5 off $20 or more. I get them frequently in the mail and you can always get some at the store food for the next week. Last time I went I forgot my coupon (curses!). At the check out they asked me if I had a coupon (even though 90% of what was in my cart was already 50% off), I said I didn’t, so he gave one to me! Did I mention that they have great customer service? I have at least 3 people ask me if they can help me every time I am in the store.

They even do 50% off with flowers. These only cost me $2.00!

FYI the best time to go is around 10 am. They have normally finished marking products down but they haven’t all sold yet. Don’t worry if they aren’t done yet. If you see something that isn’t marked down but should be, just ask. OK I’m done advertising, just check out the store if you get the chance.

How to ensure laughter to the point of tears

Have your 5 year old teach the lesson for Family Home Evening.

Don't you just love school pictures? They are never really great shots but they always bring great memories.

We let Alan teach FHE once before (when neither John nor I had really planned anything) and it consisted of Alan rambling on about dogs. Well Alan has been asking again to teach and we told him that he could but he needs to prepare with one of us before. He remembered yesterday and worked to prepare a lesson (from the nursery manual) about feelings.

When it was time for Alan to teach he stood up on the step stool and did really well. He held up pictures that he drew of different feelings and asked as when we have felt this way.

Alan: This is scared. When do you feel scared? Dad?

Dad: I feel scared when I see my kids doing something dangerous.

Alan: Very good Dad. Mom?

Mom: I feel scared when my little boys run off and I don’t know where they are.

Alan: I already knew that Mom, you’re going to have to think of something else.

Hyrum: I feel scared when my bad guys . . . yadda yadda yadda.

Well it sure is more entertaining when he teaches.

Caught Red Handed

I remember sneaking treats when I was a kid. I also remember getting caught. If my Mom walked in the room and I had food in my mouth I would just stand there with my mouth shut but my jaws slightly apart to allow room for the food in my mouth. I’m sure I must have looked silly but I was always surprised that somehow my Mom always knew that I had been getting into something. Well I’m a mom now and I caught someone doing the exact same thing. He was sneaking some food right before dinner and trying to hide it with that silly slack jaw look. I won’t say who it was, but it wasn’t Alan or Hyrum!

Little Bundles of Joy

We have a lizard. And that lizard had babies. The bad news, is that this lizard, is not our pet. This is a lizard that must have snuck into our house and laid eggs here, because we are finding those babies everywhere! Their scrawny little bodies barely an inch long and an opaque pinkish color. They pop out of the clothes while folding laundry, or you might catch one learning to fly, as if falls off the ceiling and hits the blade of the ceiling fan which sends it flying across the room. We have caught 4 in the last week. I know blogs are more interesting when they have pictures on them, and I thought of taking a picture, but those things move too darn quick. When John catches them (I squeal too much so that’s John’s job) he doesn’t dare open his hand for a picture or they will escape. However, if you have ever wanted a baby lizard for yourself, come on over. If you can catch it, you can keep it.

By the way, I went to the store yesterday and I remembered to bring my bags. Yea! That’s the second time in six months! Today I went to the store again. Guess what I forgot.

I WANT to go green.

I really do. I got my CFL’s, I recycle, and long before gas hit $4.00 a gallon I wrote car companies asking them to build more fuel efficient vehicles. I even think we should go the way of China and outlaw plastic grocery bags altogether. So why is it that I keep getting plastic bags at the grocery store? I have a plethora of reusable bags. Having bags isn’t the problem. It’s remembering to bring them in the store with me. I even started keeping the bags in the car so I wouldn’t have to remember as I leave my house. But they still sit there in the car. Not until I am in the grocery line does it even cross my mind. So they sit in my car while the cabinet under my sink is being overrun by plastic grocery bags. Do you use reusable grocery bags? If so, how on earth do you remember them?

Bad Guys

When talking to little boys what would you expect “Bad Guys” to be? Maybe the boogie man, or kidnappers, or perhaps a bank robber. Well, talk to my little boys and you’ll find out that the “bad guys” are actually their best friends. They might be imaginary friends, but still best friends. It started about a year ago, Alan kept talking about his bad guys. John and I tried to discourage it because we thought he was blaming bad things he did on “his bad guys”. Well as it turns out, the bad guys, do good things. Alan wouldn’t admit that they do good things because well, they are bad guys, but actually they are fathers, they have little boys, and they do homework. Hyrum picked up on it and now he has bad guys too. Just today Hyrum’s bad guys helped him win at bowling. So if you hear my kids talking about their bad guys, don’t worry, they aren’t plotting against you, they’re just probably making plans to play this afternoon.

Today

John and I were married on August 11, 2001. I remember waking up one month later excited to celebrate our one month anniversary but we didn't do any celebrating that day. I heard John coming home from work and he stopped in the hallway outside our apartment talking to one of our neighbors. I couldn’t hear the exact words that were spoken but I could tell that something had happened. Something big.

John told me what little he knew and we turned on the radio (we didn’t have a TV at the time), and we tried to piece together what happened. The reporters didn’t know exactly what had happened yet. I don’t think it was until the end of the day that I really figured out what happened. It was devastating. I didn’t know anyone personally involved, but the knowledge that people would willfully do this shook me.

September 12 was different. The day started out feeling terrible, but as I drove to class that day things changed. One of the radio stations switched to only playing partiatoic songs, and as I drove through neighborhoods listening to songs about our country I saw every house with a flag flying in front. There were blood drives going on everywhere, competing businesses were working together to raise money for the relief effort. Instead of our country being torn down, it felt like we were being built up. We are United as a country.

A few months later I went to hear a lecture that was given by a social worker who went to New York to help in the aftermath. She was at Ground Zero when a flag was pulled out of the wreckage. As she watched, words from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow came to her mind.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.

So I fly my flag today. Proud of our country and knowing that God does not sleep, but that he can build us up after any calamity.

The Quiet Game

A few weeks ago as I was trying to read a book the kids were bugging me to play a game with them. Since I am a parent now I get to do the same mean things that my parents did, so I suggested “the quiet game”. Oh how I hated it when my parents suggested we play that game. I knew it wouldn’t really work; I was just being annoying like my kids were annoying me. Well the kids had never played the quiet game before so they quickly agreed to play it this time.

“Whoever can stay quiet the longest wins! Ready . . . Go!” I said. I then turned my head back to my book and started reading again. A few pages later I realized that it was really quiet in my house. The kids were sitting there smiling and . . . being quiet. Why did I not think of this when we were on our road trips this summer? In fact this “game” was such a big hit that when it is Alan’s turn to pick the game for family home evening he picks . . . the quiet game. What kind of crazy kid chooses to play the quiet game? Now I just need to teach the kids about the blanket show.

I feel a little bit naked

Hyrum started preschool last week. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to put him in preschool, but with Alan in school all day Hyrum get’s a little bored at home. So that means I have some alone time 3 days a week.


It’s kind of weird to not have any kids with me. I thought at first that this would be a great time to get my shopping done. Well, I learned something new. Shopping with kids saves me money. Everyone else talks about how they spend more when they have kids with them, but I always spend less. I went to Target last week while Hyrum was in preschool and as I was walking past the clothing section I saw a dress and thought “that’s really cute”. I kept walking a few feet and then stopped dead in my tracks as another thought occurred to me “I could go try that on”. I would NEVER take kids with me to try on clothes; it’s like a suicide mission. That’s why I normally only go clothes shopping twice a year. But without kids I can try on everything in the store if I want to. I also have time to browse isles that I would normally zip right on by because I would be to afraid that my kids would break something.


When I had kids with me, my goal was always to spend as little time in the store as possible. But now that I have the time, I find myself buying things that I never had time to get before that I would instead just “do without”. So to be on the safe side I didn’t go to the store today. Unfortunately I am not spending my “alone time” cleaning my house. Instead I am sitting on my bum blogging. Oh well, I guess there is always room for improvement.

Just say NO

We were at a party last weekend and Alan had asked one of the adults for a drink. "Sure" she said "what would you like? Water, soda, . . . " To this Alan replied "Well, you should know, I don't drink beer."

A fantastic waste of time

What a good looking couple!

This is what I did instead of making dinner tonight.

If you have some time (or not so much) check out this website. http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

And please share how cool you look through the decades.

You know John has always wanted a mullet (and an afro).

I'm glad I never got a perm.

Wow I never expected that.

I've actually had all of these hairstyles (or something close).

I didn't even cry

Alan after his first day of school.

My little boy started kindergarten today. I was afraid I would be weeping at the school, but Alan is so relaxed about these things, it was like any other day to him. He ran off to the playground with the other kids as soon as we got there. We had to track him down to get our hug and kiss. That’s our Alan.

oh. . . . Alan was most excited to tell us that the cafeteria has a stage AND a disco ball.

Kids Books

We have done a bit of driving this summer and the portable DVD player has been a life saver. But sometimes we need a little break from movies so we also listened to a lot of books on tape (or CD but I still call it books on tape). It is difficult finding chapter books that will keep 2 active 3 and 5 year old attention but we did find some. The first chapter books I read when I was a kid were the Betsy Books by Carolyn Haywood. They were written in the 1940's and they the epitome of innocence. The books kept both the kids attention and the adults. Simple innocent stories about going to school and making friends. If you have kids that are just starting to read chapter books these are great ones to start on. I plan on reading the rest of the books to Alan this year.

The other books that we listened to were not quite as innocent. In fact if you worry about you kids picking up not so great ideas, theses might not be the books for you. So why did we let Alan listen to them, you ask? Well, truthfully, John and I couldn't stop listening to them. They were way too funny! They are the Clementine Books by Sara Pennypacker. It is about a third grader named Clementine who is perhaps very innocent but is constantly getting in trouble. They are meant for a slightly older age group than the Betsy books so they didn't quite hold Hyrum's attention, but Alan enjoyed them and John and I couldn't wait to put the next one in. So if you are looking for some good books these are some great ones to get.