Monday, Monday

Today was your average Monday, the kind everyone dreads the arrival of. I did laundry and scrubbed toilets and washed walls and pick up toys and many other chores. It was my day to play catch up and clean up. Nothing much else happened all day.
Well, I guess that's not entirely true. Carley tried to pull herself to standing on a bar stool and it fell over and she got a terrible bruise on the side of her forehead. I got the PlayDoh out with Billy and Ian during Carley's 2nd nap of the day. We played for quite awhile. I could tell the boys had a great time. Ian loved cutting his lump with a plastic knife and Billy was using cookie cutters and molds and potato-head like pieces.
All in all it was a good day. I got a lot accomplished. Tomorrow is storytime for Ian and I at the library. I also have a dinner at church to attend. Hopefully, there will be a nursery.

General Conference Sunday

Today I listened to the two remaining sessions of General Conference and once again all of the questions I wrote prior to the conference sessions were answered. They are personal, so I have journaled them at home. But I testify to the revelation I received and that I know the prophet and apostles are God's mouthpieces here on the Earth. They have answered my questions many times since I was a teenager. Even if my questions have seemed relatively unimportant or even silly I have always had an answer provided for me. My two favorite talks today were Eyring's and Beck's. Elder Eyring spoke about writing down our experiences where the Hand of God was seen in the lives of our immediate family so our children can have that written record. And Sister Beck spoke of righteous mothers and their important role. She also said that the best thing we can do, as mothers, is to cultivate a house of order to encourage spiritual growth. A house of order- oh how I wish I could say I live in one. I do try though, and it has gotten better this year. Also, a talk I enjoyed was Douglas Callister's. He said that the only witness of Christ that was important was our own. When we realize our testimony, our belief in Christ becomes more than belief, it is knowledge. And Dallin H. Oaks counseled that there are good things we can do in this life, but there is also the better and best. He spoke mainly about managing our time and efforts. General Conference is such a wonderful opportunity (2x/year) to assess where I am spiritually and make new goals.
My new goals for the next 6 months are to hold regular and meaningful family home evenings (FHE), where Carl and I teach the children Gospel truths. I also want to add personal scripture study to the family study we already conduct daily. And I want to focus on serving more. There are always opportunities for service and I often let them pass because I am too busy. I vow to give small acts of service more frequently to those in my family, church, neighborhood and community. So, here are my goals written on paper, because I know it is the only way I will take them seriously. 1. Hold FHE 2. Personal scripture study 3. Serve daily
As for the children, they enjoyed delivering tomatoes to the neighbors with me, they were grateful to get out of the house. We had 12- too many for our use and too few to bother canning. Ian's eyebrow looks disgusting, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. Carley is cruising around the dining room chairs and coffee table better. And Billy just wants to go to school. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are a nuisance to him. He misses school on those days. Although last night when Ian was at the doctor, Billy missed Ian terribly. He drew him his heart on paper and wrote Ian's name at the top. He instructed me to give it to Ian when he came home. I love it when my children love each other.
No plans tomorrow. I hope to get some laundry done and work on making my house a house of order. At least the toyroom has stayed picked up and organized through the weekend. It's a start.

Friday & Saturday, 10/5 & 10/6

Wow, it seems like many more than 2 days since I've written. Tonight was scary. After dinner we were cleaning up toys while sleepy Carley screamed at the top of her lungs protesting for an early bedtime. Then, Ian started running towards me in the kitchen crying and looking frantic. I figured he was protesting cleaning up- again. But the blood quickly alerted me otherwise. I scooped him up and saw that it was a pretty deep cut in his eyebrow, so I set him on the kitchen island and made an ice bag, wrapped it in a towel and called Carl. I told him it looked pretty bad and that Ian needed to go to the hospital. In less than 5 minutes Carl was home to take him. In less than 10 since the incident, Ian was in the car and off to the E.R. The doctor did not think it was deep enough for stitches but used some kind of glue to close to wound. He said it would flake off within a week or two. He'll probably have a scar. So, that was my crazy evening.

The day started off slow. We went to 2 garage sales- one at Billy's school (a church) and another on the way home. I spent all my money. I got Carley two cute dresses and a me a tabletop ironing board for my sewing. The boys found lots of books. Just odds and ends outside of those.

We came home, had lunch, I put Carley down and I tuned in for conference. General Conference happens twice a year (Apr. and Oct.). It is when the general authorities (prophet, apostles and other leaders) address the members of the church with timely messages. There are four general sessions- 2 hours each. There were 2 today. I love that I can watch it from home now. My old computer or internet or something wasn't quite fast enough to watch it live. But the new computer is great for audio and visual. It is always uplifting to hear the words of conference. It seemed to be pointed a little more towards non-members and new members today. But, hey, it never hurts to hear basic counsel again. We'll have two more sessions tomorrow.

As for Friday it was a lot of fun. We decorated the front of the house and yard for Halloween. We hung skeletons on the porch and stuffed a large spider with leaves and ghosts for the bushes and pumpkins for the walk. The kids really had a good time. Then we spent the rest of the day cleaning. That night we babysat for some friends of ours for date night. It's our turn next Friday. I'm really excited about this arrangement. It means we'll get to have two dates every month without babysitting charges. We also had the missionaries over for dinner along with the 2 and 4 year olds of our friends'. It was crazy, but fun. The boys (all 4) really seemed to enjoy themselves- as they always do when they're together. Well, I'll report on the rest of general conference tomorrow. It airs at 11-1 and 3-5 tomorrow on lds.org. I use the tv station's link from that webpage.

Thursday 10-4- good buddies

Another trip to the grocery store- everything's going up in price. We have to shop at 3 stores just to get the best deals and be able to buy a month's worth of food at a time. We didn't do much else today. As a family we played Hungry Hungry Hippos. That was fun. We missed a homecoming parade just a few blocks from our house. That would have been nice to catch. The dog's been throwing up tonight. If he's still sick tomorrow it'll be another trip to the vet for us. I'm starting to become discouraged in being a dog owner. There's always something wrong. He always needs a bath or a brush. He still isn't really great at going outside to potty. And while he is trying to like us- he still isn't coming to us or being really friendly. Maybe I'm just feeling negative tonight and taking it out on him- since I keep having to clean up his puke. Can't say this is a day to hold onto.
Tomorrow Billy has a follow up asthma appointment (meaning full-price because he's well). We're also feeding the missionaries and watching our friends boys for date night. We'll get our chance next Friday. So, we'll probably spend the day cleaning up and running errands, as usual.
Sometimes I just wish we could do something fun and unexpected. I wish I could be so together in things like daily cleaning and cooking that I didn't feel guilty pulling out all of the stops and having a fun and messy activity that wasn't planned. It seems like when I do that, everything else falls apart- but the kids are happy. I just want to be great at it all- cleaning the house, keeping the kids engaged in fun activities and being a heartfelt and sincere wife. I usually feel like I'm doing well in one or two of those areas, but never all three at the same time.
Well, better luck tomorrow.

Wednesday yada yada yada

Not much going on today. We worked on the clown shirts for the boys. I'm almost done really. My friend Jane has taught me sooo much about sewing. I'm a little more fanatical about cutting things just so and sewing them exactly right, but her knowledge has really made the difference. Not much happened today. Pretty boring day actually. Just cleaning, brushing the dog, reading, sewing, sidewalk chalk, cooking, etc. Tomorrow Carl has off so I am hoping our day is really great! It's always more fun when he's around. Later.

Toddler Storytime & Book Club

These are older pictures of Billy with his friends at the park. Eden is the only girl. The boy in blue is Hayden, Gabe has a yellow shirt and the boy in red was a one-time visitor at playgroup. The pictures are just to give you a visual in to Billy's secret involving Eden.


Tuesdays are always a pleaser and this one was no different. This morning after dropping off Billy, we went to the library for Ian's toddler storytime session. It was about bears. My friend Meghan (Eden's mom) pushed Carley in her stroller while she cried during most of our 25 minute session. Ian did okay. He was reluctant to join in, but eventually did well. After he got his bear stamp on his hand and I relieved Meghan from Carley, we went to Walgreens and picked up some perscriptions we filled for our storage. Then with Ian's help we cleaned out the van. After picking up Billy and having lunch we made a paper chain to count down to Halloween. Billy's really excited about it. And I had them count the 30 links. Billy did pretty well. We lost Ian after 12.
We finished our day off and got in our jammies and the kids went with me to Book Club. Carl couldn't get the time off and I couldn't find a sitter. Billy and Ian went down to the toyroom in our friend's basement with Eden (Megan's daughter). I tried to lay Carley down in a pack n play, but she wasn't havin' it. So, she joined us for chocolate fondue and book discussion about Mark Twain's Puddin' Head Wilson. It was such a fun time. On the drive home I was asking the boys about their playtime and it was obvious they had a blast. Ian didn't leave the toyroom for the whole hour. Billy came up twice.
I asked Billy if he had fun with Eden. He said that he wanted her to play bad guys, but she didn't want to. They played kitchen and then pirates. Then he told me the cutest thing. He said mommy I put my hands on her face. And I said did you put your hands on her cheeks. He said yes. I asked if he put them there softly or if he squished them. He said he squished them (it's something we do with Carley and mommy does to all babies). I asked him if he liked Eden and he said yes, she's really nice. Then he said I like to kiss girls mommy, but just you. Then I asked if I could tell Grandma Darlene about him touching her cheeks and he said, no, that it was a secret and we couldn't tell anybody. He said we have to keep it in our hearts. We can only tell if someone kisses our hand. YIKES! Isn't that just too cute.
It was a fun day. Although, book club and storytime always make for a marvelous day for me. Tomorrow is Wednesday and nothing much happens on Wednesdays for us. I sometimes walk with a friend with the little ones in a stroller, but after the rain we've been having all day and night, it might be to soggy. We'll see. I might get close to finishing the costumes tomorrow night because my friend Jane's coming over. That might mean more pictures. 'Til then.

10/1

What a crappy day. I usually have a much better mood than this, but I can't fix it today. I have cleaned up dog messes and kid messes all day. And to be honest, the house doesn't even look very clean, even though I deep cleaned on Saturday. I've done laundry all day also, but still didn't manage to wash my daughter's crib set. I finished sewing Ian's bowtie, complete with elastic and snaps and he won't wear it. But on the lighter side, the kids are in bed and the dog is outside. So, at least me and my headache- which is already feeling better- get to be alone for awhile.
After I dropped Billy off at Preschool I went to the mall because JCPenny is having another sale. Unfortunately, they don't open until 9, so I went across the street to Target. I found a shirt for me, underwear for Billy and a pajama outfit for Carley, all clearance ($10.10 for everything). Ian and Carley were very well behaved in Target. Then, we went across the street again and while Penny's was open, I had a stinky boy and a tired girl by then, so I missed out on the sales there today.
Tomorrow the plan is to take Ian to Storytime at the Library and hope someone will be there to push Carley around in the stroller. I asked my friend Jane to be available for this weekly and the only two times we've had Storytime she hasn't been able to help. The first time I took her in and the second I asked another friend. I also don't have anyone to watch the kids tomorrow for Book Club. Carl was supposed to have the day off- he usually requests the first Tuesday of each month off (or at least the 2nd half of that day) so I can go to Book Club. My friend Jodi is leading it and she said to bring the kids. I hope I don't have to, what a nightmare. But I'd hate to skip it. Oh well, I need to make a few phone calls to see if I can make my tomorrow any easier than today has been. Then, I am taking a shower and getting to bed early.
I think that's part of my problem today. Lack of sleep always makes me a terrible mother. I found myself yelling at Billy today and getting mad at Ian when he accidently spilled his milk. I also was getting very annoyed at Carley's whining. Must be me, because they were pretty normal today. I usually just take a deep breath and take it in stride. They're only kids and they're doing the best they can. So, tomorrow will be a better day.