Weekly blah, blah, blah

Sunday January 13, 2013

We made it through the first week back to school.  It went astonishingly well.  Sadly, it was an ugly, overcast week with a lot of drizzly rain, which was quite dreary. I got up early on Monday to run and was quite disgruntled to see that the street lights on the flight line were NOT fixed and now every single one of them is out.  Fortunately, I ran anyway and no MPs stopped me to tell me I couldn't be there.  It was a short run, since it was my first after 10 days off but it felt really good.

I made the mistake of thinking I could schedule my allergy shot before story time and still make it to story time.  I had to wait 30 minutes to get the shot and by the time I waited the 30 minutes after the shot, Rylee was done and it was too late. So we stopped by Walmart instead.  Somehow it wasn't the same.

Tuesday Levi and I ran on the levee and it went really well, but he got muddy enough I decided a bath was in order.  He was not pleased, but he sure looked nice. Wednesday the weather psyched me out and I spent quality time with the elliptical machine at home rather than running.  I also finally got around to converting Rylee's crib into a "big girl" bed.  Rylee was so thrilled.  Sadly, she did not want to actually USE it and did not take a nap,  Neither did she got to bed well in it that night and she didn't sleep well in it.  It did get better and she's back to napping properly and sleeping through the night (most nights!).

Thursday I had a 10am meeting at the school about Marian's 504 and I didn't have time to exercise.  The meeting was quick and painless.  I LOVE her teacher this year.  She really has a good one and I'm so happy about that.  Marian is doing really well and we didn't need to change anything on her plan. I had a massive headache by the time I got home and I was glad Rylee was in preschool so I could lie down.  That was about all I did the rest of the day till kids came home.  The headache finally went away around bedtime.  Ha.  The irony kills me.

Friday I didn't want to get up early and I didn't want to deal with the worry of getting caught running the flight line, so I didn't.  I went running after the kids went to school, which meant running with a stroller and a dog.  Sigh.  Not much fun either.  And it was an awful run.  My friend Jamie came over to hang out and let the girls play for a while and it was marvelous.  I love friends who make me feel like I'm interesting and they want to spend time with me.  I had a grumpy evening.

I got up Saturday to run with my running group.  It was suppose to be a "long run" but I was not going to try for 6 miles!  Fortunately, we have a lot of newbies in the group, so I went with them and we ran and walked 4 miles.  I was secretly glad.  It was a muggy 70 degrees and I know I'd have been down with a migraine if I'd tried to push in that weather.  So I was happy. I got out, I did some running and I stayed headache-free!

Callie and Marian had been invited to an awesome birthday party at the local animal shelter so I went to pick them up and then stopped by the commissary.  I got a little nappy-poo and Dan spent all afternoon and evening at Stake Conference.  The kids were really good and we had a nice evening.  Today was Stake Conference and I was so happy we didn't have to drive the hour to the stake center.  We got to go to our own building, so I was delighted to have an extra hour of sleep and delighted to not have to teach this week.  Did I mention it was 76 degrees today?  Thank goodness cooler weather is on the way!

So, a good week overall.  I think we're back into the routine of things and life is going pretty well.

How to be an Awesome Mom

Perception is reality, right?  People see you as awesome, therefore you are awesome!  Let's look into that some more.  

Here is how I portray this afternoon:

I let the girls make sugar cookies this afternoon. I rolled out the dough and gave them cookie cutters and they had a marvelous time.

I love Delaney's face here.  She chose the hand and foot shaped cookie cutters and was hilarious as she gave a running commentary on the hands and feet she cut out. Marian was methodical and meticulous.

Rylee wanted the little cookie cutters and took the cutting very seriously. 

Yeah, Callie really needs her bangs cut.  She was also not pleased to have a picture taken.  She was really good at rolling out the dough and cutting decent cookies.  After the first batch, I sat back and let them do their own thing and they rolled and cut and nibbled to their heart's content.

Then Rylee got distracted by Levi and went to play with him.

Now that makes me sound like I am an awesome mom.  Again, it is all in how you portray it.  Let's talk about how it really went down:

I found a tub of sugar cookie dough at the commissary for half off.  I thought, Hmmm..... $1.77 is a good price and I bet the girls would have fun with it.  So I got it.  I needed a bribe for good behavior so I could nap in peace today, so I offered cookie-making if they would play nicely.  They must have because I didn't hear them at all while I napped.

When I got up I thought I was an idiot for promising such an activity, but I dutifully cleaned off the table, thawed the cookie dough and turned on the oven.  Then I spent 10 minutes shouting- get out of the way, I can't roll out the dough when you stand there, move your cookie-cutters, no you can't use the Christmas ones, that's your sister's spot, move out of my way, no the dough isn't ready, get your hands out of the flour, stop shoving your sister, don't make me put this all away, get your hands off your sister's dough, I'm going to beat you with my rolling pin, don't stand right in front of me while I'm trying to roll this out, stop putting your hands in the flour bin, don't swat the flour, stop hitting your sister..... and on and on.   And I thought how this wasn't much fun at all.  So I got them set up and walked away.  

Surprisingly, they all got on quite well for the next 30 minutes, rolling and cutting and helping each other.  I popped the pans in the oven and took them out, otherwise I stayed out of it. It degenerated after that and I had to confiscate the last of the dough.  

The moral of the story is that I can make it look like a lovely family activity that was glorious for all.  In reality, it was work and sometimes not much fun at all, and I had grumpy feelings.  When I blog about it though, I can make me sound like I totally rock.  So this is a reminder that when you see all those crafty blogs and happy children, know that reality was probably much different than what is being portrayed!  (Or maybe it is just me!)

Just to prove that to my children I really am awesome, I let them eat all the cookies they wanted.  (It was store bought dough, so they weren't very yummy cookies anyway.)

Best Birthday Party Idea Ever!

The girls were invited to a birthday party for today.  I wanted to mention it so I won't forget this marvelous idea.  It was a Service Party, where the kids all volunteered at the local animal shelter.  The invitation had lots of specific instructions, which was nice.

The kids showed up at the Shelter at 8am this morning and had donuts, fruit, and juice for breakfast.  Then they went into the shelter and cleaned kennels and litter pans and stuff.  They got to "socialize" with the animals as well.  Callie and Marian were in heaven.  I arrived at 11 to pick them up and they were having so much fun holding and playing with kittens.  They LOVED the party, even though there was no cake or goodie bags.  On the way out, they had granola bars, pop tarts and drinks before we left.

Also, in lieu of presents, the birthday girl asked for donations for the shelter and listed all the stuff they needed.  Marian and Callie really enjoyed filling up a cart with pet supplies and I spent more than I would have on a regular gift, but felt so much better about it!

Callie thinks this was the best birthday party ever and wants to do it for her next birthday.  How awesome is that?  Cheap for me, awesome for the kids and useful for the shelter.  Win on all accounts!  I love it!

New Year, New Goals

Okay, I have decided I need to streamline my life a bit.  I have been trying to digitally scrapbook life for the last few years.  I did very well for a while, but sadly, I got bogged down in the vast number of photos taken in 2011 and haven't progressed passed April's pictures. This does not bode well for getting 2012's pictures done either.  I realized that I may be overlapping in some things.  I write a weekly journal/letter, I blog, and I am (theoretically) making a scrapbook of each year's photos.  I am going to try to follow in the footsteps of my esteemed sister in law and make a blog book at the end of the year and eliminate the need for the letter and scrapbooks.

What does this mean for you, you ask?  How will this change your life?!  Fear not! It will change your life very little. As for me, it may make life easier.  It means there will probably be more stuff you don't care about on here, and possibly more pictures.  I'm going to start putting a weekly letter here on Sunday and add whatever else tickles my fancy during the week.  We shall see how it goes and see if it works.  To kick it off, here is this past week's letter!

Sunday Jan 6, 2013

Happy 2013.  This week has not been all I hoped it would be.  I was sick for most of it.  It started out mildly- a little runny nose and sore throat.  I thought it was probably allergies, since I am allergic to Arkansas and that's where we were.  I'm pretty sure it was the allergies that tipped me into being sick.  It didn't occur to me till too late that I am allergic to pretty much every tree in the world, and sitting by the wood burning stove, inhaling the very thing I am allergic to, might be a bad idea.  Or at least I should have been taking my allergy meds.

So I ended up sick and miserable.  It clogged my ears and gave me a massive ear ache and dreadful sore throat and I finally went to the ER at 2am Wednesday morning.  They gave me a Zpak of antibiotics and a rather large number of tylenol with codeine.  I discovered I am not a fan of the codeine.  It didn't seem to do much.  But the antibiotics kicked in and stopped the pain that went from my ear, down my jaw and neck.

Before I felt too horrid, there was some fun stuff happening!  The kids had some cousin time before they all left and it was great to see them together.

Marian had a good time playing fooseball with Isabelle. 

The kids LOVED the bonfires and I was so sad I didn't feel well enough to make s'mores with them.  I only made it out to the fires once and not for long.

Delaney and Camden ran out of enthusiasm for the bonfire before I did and it was beyond adorable to see Delaney walking a teary Camden to the house.

The girls did a bit of "art" and when they got along, it was wonderful.  I love having girls who help and take care of each other.  Sadly, that doesn't seem to last very long before the fighting begins, so I'm glad I caught one sweet moment!

Because I am a good friend, I did make time to see my friends in Arkansas! Wendy came over with her 4 children and my kids were so happy.  They had been asking all week when they'd get to see their friends.

How many kids can fit in Grandma's linen closet?!  Quite a few.  Plus a dog!

My friend Beth came over to visit as well.  I wish I had been feeling better.  I also wish the weather had been more cooperative.  It was cold.  And drizzly a lot.

You can't tell, but it is probably 28 degrees outside right here.  Marian doesn't wear long pants and given the option, doesn't wear shoes.  She took the dog out for a bit and just ran around, but she was chilly when she came in!  

I had promised the kids we could go bowling.  I wasn't feeling well, but with the yucky weather, they REALLY needed to get out.  So off we went to the bowling alley.

The kids had a pretty good time.  I really need to remember that next time, I should not let each kid play one game.  I should set them up for 3 games, and make them share.  Each of the 6 kids (Nephew Aaron was with us), had their own game of 10 frames.  They were not that interested and we could have saved time and money.  Oh well.  They got out and ran around somewhere other than the house!

We headed back home to Louisiana starting on Thursday.  It might have been wiser to have waited a day or two till I was feeling healthier, but I wanted to be home with a day or so to get back to routine and get my refrigerator loaded up.  So Thursday we did the 8 hours to Andy's house where we reunited Aaron with his family.  I have to say, Aaron was a seamless addition to our brood and he was great.  

We stayed the night and I was so tired.  I woke up fever- free and that was good.  We stayed till mid afternoon so the kids could play with their cousins, and then we hopped back into the car and finished the drive home.

Crossing the spillway.  Yep, this is when Delaney pipes up, "I have to go to the bathroom!"  To bad, there is nowhere to stop! 

We made it home by 6:30 and it was lovely to be together as a family again.  Dan secured his position as favorite dad by producing popsicles for dessert and he re-won my heart by taking over scripture reading and herding them all to bed.  I went to bed early and slept in till 9.  It was the best sleep I'd had since leaving home.

I did not even think about putting on my running shoes.  I did go out on some errands and I discovered, to my great delight, that the Exchange had their Christmas stuff at 75% off and they had (gasp!!) the very tree I have been coveting for years, but couldn't make myself pay full price for.  Nor could I ever find it on clearance after Christmas.  Yet, there it was!  So I paid the grand sum of $62.50 for a 7.5' pre lit tree with multi colored lights, and my heart sang all the way home. 

Today I was really happy that I had asked someone else to teach my Sunday School Lesson.  I had somehow thought we'd be gone for 2 Sundays, and had asked for a sub 3 weeks ago.  It sure made my weekend easier to not have to stress about a lesson!  So today was great and I got a lovely nap after church.    It is good to be home, and I think I am ready for life to begin again tomorrow as the kids go back to school.

Life is good!

Hello 2103, now Go Away!

I had such high hopes for this little vacation to see the family.  And it did start off nicely.  Apparently once everyone else left, things just went downhill.  Sigh. It was down to just us and the folks by New Year's evening.  And it was a dismally drizzly day, as most of them have been, yet it has stayed just enough above freezing to give no snow. 

So far this New Year, I have had: cranky kids, a bit of a head cold, weather too yucky to go out and run in, no time or energy or inclination to get out to do what I wanted, and an acute earache, which has resulted in much agony, zero sleep, and a 2 am visit to the ER to make it stop.

Sigh.  I need a do-over.