Sunday- the 30th

Well, it's been a week since I began journeling through my blog... and while I know I can do better, I think I've done okay. I do like the way I can share my daily events and the pictures so easily. And if it's not important to the readers, they can just skip it and see cute pictures. It's nice for me to reflect anyway.

Today was Fast Sunday at church. I bore my testimony in the Sacrament meeting as I do from time to time. I know that God loves me and that he has a plan for my life here on the earth. He is always guiding me. I also shared my feelings that even little children can convey the love of Christ and the happiness his Gospel can bring. It is always good for me to partake of the Spirit of those meetings. Carley fell asleep just 10 minutes before church was over. I got her to the car and soon after arriving at the house, she woke up.

Carl and I talked to the kids about the prophet and apostles and their job here. We tried to help Billy and Ian understand that their job is to encourage and counsel the members of the church to be about God's business. We explained that the prophet and his counselors speak to God and He tells them what we need to know and focus on. General Conference is coming up again and this happens twice a year. It is truly our opportunity to hear the words our Heavenly Father has for his people. I look forward to it more and more each year. Before I sit down to hear the talks, I write down questions I feel I need answers to, and I get them answered everytime.

Well, on the homefront, Carley is learning how to crawl up the stairs. She is also getting better and better at pulling herself up to standing. We had to drop her mattress a few more inches so that she can't climb out of her crib. Billy is the leader in school tomorrow and he is supposed to bring snack and (for this week) a baby picture and family picture. So, I packed his bag with the pictures and 48 mini-muffins I baked in Halloween muffin cups. Another check for me. CCarl and I watched our show together- Extreme Homemaker. It, as always, was uplifting. Tomorrow Carl has a truck, so I am on mini-van duty- getting Billy to and from school. Ian and I are going to work on colors tomorrow and do some painting.

As for me, I've almost finished Ian's bow tie for his clown costume. Tomorrow I hope to finish Billy's pants and both boys' suspenders. I finished Puddin' Head Wilson by Mark Twain yesterday. What a great story. It has some very deep moments and thought-provoking situations. I really enjoyed it. Book Club is Tuesday- if I can find a sitter. Well, I'm sure I'll be sharing more later.

I hope you all can feel a little closer to me as I share my thoughts here.

Clown costume pieces

If I would have taken photos yesterday and been less tired last night, these are the pix I would have posted. These are pieces of their clown costumes I've completed. Billy's necktie, Carley's hat and Ian's pants. I've got a long way to go. But it has been a lot of fun so far.

Friday

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Andrew *yesterday* and Mike!
Quickly, because it's late and I'm tired, here's my day.
I've been working on the boys' clown costumes for Halloween. The pieces are all cut out and I've sewn Ian's pants and Billy's necktie. Carl got the ceiling in the closet and installed the light! Slowly, but surely, it will get done. I donated blood this morning. My arm is sore.
Carl and I spent the evening over at Ben & Jodi's. It was nice to spend some times with friends. We've learned that Ben has some unthinkable talents (spoon up his nose-gross). And that he also doesn't believe that the U.S. has ever made it to the moon. We compared hospital stories which were disgusting and appalling. They are such a quirky and fun couple. The kids (all 5, between us) were pretty good and played in the toyroom mostly. Well, I'm exhausted. Tomorrow is house cleaning day. Joy.

Thursday

Today started out pretty normal. Billy went to school, Carl took Ian to the park and Carley and I spent some time alone. Then, after lunch, Carl asked me to come up to the guest room. He asked me if I thought we should take a look at the chimney behind the wall. Sure, why not. Well, 2 hours later, there was no chimney. The worst part was when Carl went up into the roof to sweep the insulation (blow-in) out of the way of the ceiling area we'd be working in. He came out barely breathing and hacking. After that everything went very smoothly. The bricks just pulled right out. No hammering, chiseling, prybarring, nothing. Then, we threw them out the window to the backyard. So, Carley's closet is underway. Ceiling and walls will come next, the floor won't come until after the heating and air guy let's us know what he needs. Carl's days off always seem to be productive.

Billy said the cutest thing tonight-over Domino's pizza. He said he didn't want to go to "garden school" (kindergarten) because he would me miss too much. He told me he wasn't going to go, he would stay home with me. AWE, how cute!

So, that's my Thursday.

Wednesday

The pictures are from early in the week. Two are at the park on Thursday, the 20th and the carrot/potato picking happened on Friday, the 21st.

As for today, Billy got all dressed up for picture day. He wore jeans and a red sweater with a striped dress shirt underneath. Ian and I worked on colors while Carley took a very short nap. Then the kids played while I read from Mark Twain's Puddin'head Wilson. So far it is a very interesting read. I picked Billy up and we had lunch. Then daddy came home early and we ran errands. Nothing exciting or anything. It's been a pretty ho-hum day. The dog discovered we have a front door (he was never brave enough to venture that far). He was running through the living room excitedly after that. He even went upstairs on his own. I can't think of anything really great to share. The kids we're getting rowdy and unruly by 4 p.m. and we had them in bed by 6:30.

We're getting prices on the roof. Hopefully we can get it finished before the winter hits. We're also looking at getting a doggy door, but we can't find one we really like. Also, we're trying to decide how to do Christmas this year. We're going to Carl's mom's, but usually we spend the morning as a family. Unfortunately, neither of us want to spend 3 hours of Christmas Day in the car, so we are trying to figure out if we should spend the night at her place or a hotel or just give it up and drive. Well, I guess that's a discussion for another time.

Hope tomorrow is full of fun things to share.

Tuesday

What a crazy and fun day...
This morning Ian and I enjoyed a special toddler storytime at the library. It's always nice to have time for just us two. He seemed very happy to have me all to himself. A friend of mine met me there and took care of Carley for the 20-30 minutes we were in storytime. Ian really enjoyed the songs, stories and fingerplays. It was wonderful for him to have all the attention for once. And when we came home it was like we had an inside joke with one of the songs we learned- Wally-atcha.
This afternoon our friend Ben brought Billy home from preschool and dropped off his son, Reid to hang out for awhile. Little brothers Ian and Oliver (whom mom dropped off) were thrilled to have their big brothers all here to play. We all had lunch- corn dog, chex mix, apples and apple juice. Then, we made chocolate chip cookies. It was really a blast. It was a dreary, rainy day outside, but inside was totally sunny.
This evening I had a church activity to learn about canning, freezing and dehydrating. My job is to plan the activities and find teachers. I learned a lot, enjoyed the time out, and the kids played pretty quietly in the gym with some others that had to come too. A mentally-handicapped lady, who loves Carley, was there and kept me busy making sure she was being careful with her. But you could see how she adored Carley.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Carl has a half day at work and it's Billy's first picture day ever. So, until then, bye.

Monday

Last night Carley had another difficult night. She has been teething on and off for about a month or so. After getting up with her a few times I was not ready for the day to begin. But it did. I packed up the kids and got Billy off to preschool (truck day for Carl meant he couldn't drop off). When I got home from dropping Billy off, I put Carley back in bed and I frantically washed, blow-dried and combed the dog. Skittles got to go to Billy's school today because a vet was coming to explain his job and Skit was his patient- for show purposes. The kids really enjoyed petting him. While this was going on- I had a friend watch Carley and Ian at home. Carley cried almost the whole time I was gone. I felt rotten for my friend Barbara. That was about it today. I did some shopping with my munchkins- they were really good for our store trip. Then we came home and made homemade pizza.

The mosquitos are taking over our house and it driving me crazy. When I let the dog out... they come in. And they eat my children and feast on me too. It's awful. I need to get some citronella candles or a doggie door-quick. Tonight I have just been planning Billy's picture day outfit for Wednesday and a church activing on canning for tomorrow. I also have storytime with Ian at the library in the morning and my other friend Barb is going to take Carley and push her in the stroller while I'm in having storytime with my little boy. Crazy as always. Well, I'd like to finish my 2nd Harry Potter book tonight, so I'm out for now.

First Blog Entry Ever

Well, I've never had a blog before... but I've been wanting to get back into journeling, so this is my monumental effort. I'll start with a name poem- which I have been chained into through a friend's blog request. It asks for middle name, but I think I'll start with my first.

C Caring, sometimes I care just a little too much

H Happy, most of the time... I have a pretty nice life

A Affable, very easy to talk to- at least I hope I am

R Ready, for a vacation- without children please

I Intelligent, if I want to know more about something, I seek it out

T Teacher, aren't all moms

Y Yielding, I let others make choices for me, sometimes to my detriment

M Mother, truly the most fun job I've ever had

I Involved, with church in planning activities

C Cake Decorator, it's one of my hobbies that sometimes pays

H Harried, no not harry... harried, many annoyed with petty things frequently

E Euphoric, I can't believe- 3 beautiful children, a sweet hubby and great house

L Lively, bustling with activity- okay I'm starting to sound like a dictionary

L Loving, I try to be very loving with my little ones, they crave affection

E Earnest, in mothering, I think it's the most important job out there.

Well, I have a seriously long name.

As for current events...

I got my haircut Friday. My friend Bethany did it. It looks great and is easy to work with. I'm not brave enough to have chosen the style, but she helped me choose it.

Carl has been working nonstop. His assistant is on vacation, meaning no days off. But he's having a great sales week anyway. Although, he's been feeling sick also.

Billy, today at church during his class, showed everyone how he can shake his bum! Great. He's loving preschool and we're working on finding a good maintenance medicene for his asthma.

Ian is being 2. He doesn't want to do anything he is asked by mom and dad, but follows Billy like a puppy dog. His vocabulary is huge now.

Carley is pulling herself to standing. Her latest doctor's appointment is leading us off to an MRI to get a better view of the cartilege in her arm- it was broken and healed wrong.

That's it for us for now. Keep checking for updates.