Hannah

Swim team is eating our lunch ... or more accurately, all of Hannah's time, and some of ours, too.  This is from the NHS's win last week.  They had fun.

Accomplishments

It's awfully quiet around here.  I wonder where my children are.  In an hour I get to go the high priest social.  Be jealous.

Seriously, I've done my work today.  I cut all four of my boys' hair.  Funny when the youngest one is the stillest, lol!

Again and Again

I so need to get my act together.  Per usual, I suppose.

We are getting ready to spend 9 grand days together for the Thanksgiving holiday.  In years past, that thought was very v.e.r.y. daunting.  But this year, I'm really looking forward to not having to go to very many activities, and the weather is still nice enough here to allow the kids to play for hours on end outside with their friends.

We have invited a couple of families over to spend Turkey Day with us.  I'm really looking forward to that as well.

In the mean time, I am cleaning off my desk.  Again.  Always.  Whatever.

Favorites

Hung out yesterday at Callaway Gardens--still one of my favorite places in Georgia. The butterflies were gorgeous and they were everywhere, both in the butterfly center and outside. Best of all: I was with 2 great ladies (Bob's aunt and his mama), and one of my favoritest boys, Mr. Sam.

Daisy Scout ... cont'd

Bah!  My email post didn't work the way it was supposed to.

I also said:

Check out Sariah's way cool outfit.  She refused to wear the requested white shirt and khaki bottoms because she "can't wear a plain shirt."  Not even after we arrived and saw all the other girls in their uniforms.  Gotta admire a girl with guts enough to wear what she wants to wear.  Period.

And:

This last picture is Sariah's buds from pre-K last year.  I'm so glad we have found a way for them to hang out this year even though Sariah switched schools.

Modern technology.  Bah!

Daisy Investiture

Sariah's big thing this school year is getting to be a Daisy Girl Scout. She loves it! My older girls didn't do scouts because I was unimpressed with the options available at the time. But I am so thrilled that this little girl gets to do what her mommy did, and her mommy's mommy before that, and that she is happy about it so far!

Exciting Friday Night

Blah.

Not enough time in the day.  So much I want to do.  So little time.  So little energy.  Blah.  Blah.  BLAHH!!

Just Another Few Days in the Life

I've been getting a ton of things done lately; it just doesn't feel like it.  But I keep reminding myself that my basement is a bit more organized, and my "craft" closet is neater, and Rex's room is immaculately clean (although I think I must attribute that to Caleb moving out of his room, because strangely, the mess has migrated to Caleb's new room), and my living room floor has been vacuumed this week ... twice, even.  Really bizarre.

Bob has been a painting fiend this week.  Our hall bathroom is now a pretty shade of green.  Going on, and against the blue painter's tape, I was a little concerned, but it's not nearly so bad as I initially thought it was going to be.

Sariah has been sick for two days with a fever and a sticky cough.  Trying to decide to take her to the doctor.  It's probably just a cold, but the school system gets all in a snit when you don't have official reasons for absence.

Sam went pee pee on the potty yesterday.  Woohoo!  Not that he's been back since then, but hey, progress is progress.

We are preparing for Bob's mom to move into our home.  It will require a little shifting, but the kids are excited, and I think overall it will be a good thing (though there are sure to be hiccups along the way).

Rescue Me

I'm still trying to figure out my life these days.  There's so much I want to do, and not matter how hard I try, I just can't get it all into one day, between the kids' activities and the things I want to do around the house and the things I'd like to do "for myself."  For example, today I should get up and go to the Y.  But it winds up taking 2.5 hours to drive over there and put Sam in the nursery and do the workout I want to and then return again.  But I am one laundry basket away from completing the Great Laundry Basket Rescue (all of my laundry baskets were filled with things that were NOT laundry), and I need to move on to the Great Master Suite Rescue (seems fairly self-explanatory), and I realized last week that there is a set of blankets that we haven't found since our move and there are only a few more boxes to look in that haven't been unpacked, and, and, and, and....  But missing the Y hardly meets my goal to get healthier.  But there's so much to do!

So I'll just keep plugging along, doing the best I can.  Only like 10 more weeks of football.  And then my schedule will be crystal clear again.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

Yesterday was a little bit of a bust.  Everything I did took longer than I thought it was going to, and at the very end of the day (we're talking like 10:30 pm), I had to run to the store unexpectedly.  Awesomeness right there.

But rather than completely focus on how things did not work as planned, I thought I would list out what I got done that I didn't expect to: I tried a new exercise class at the Y (my coordination skills have not surprisingly not improved over the last 15 years, so I probably won't be going back, lol), and I got to offer some service to a friend, and I ate some fresh vegetables (this may not sound like an accomplishment to some of you, but on some days this is a real accomplishment in my life), and I got the littles bathed before church activities so Bob wouldn't have to do it after he got back from football with Caleb, and I found Caleb's scout books (right where they belonged--really????).

Sometimes it is so easy for me to get caught up in everything that I wanted to get done or was "supposed" to get done but didn't actually get done.  Then I feel like a failure or like I lack self-discipline, or I feel overwhelmingly overwhelmed.  Or any combination thereof.  Plus some.

It's good to take the time to remind myself that I am taking care of seven other people.  And a dog.  And a house (not that I do this part terribly well).  And it's good to take the time to remind myself of all the other things that I got done.  It's really hard for me to stick to a plan when I have these other 7 variables, but I just keep working on it one day at a time.  And as long as I keep on trying, I'm doing good.

MOTY Nominations

Hmmm.

So today. Today was a whopper.

I worked out the Y. Burned almost 600 calories and did 4.5 miles on a cross trainer. Yay me!!  When I picked Sam up from nursery, he was happily telling the workers about his truck. Which he doesn't pronounce that way. You should have seen the look she gave me.  Oh yeah, Mother-of-the-Year right here. And it seems like the more we try to teach him to say ttttttttt-rrrrrrrrrr-uck, the better he gets that initial F. I think we should give up and ignore it for a while.  But my mother pride keeps getting itself up.

For more MOTY (mother-of-the-year) merriment ... I completely wrecked the day for one of my teenage daughters. Awesome. Sooooo, tonight while we were supposed to be at football, swim team, and Daisy Girl Scouts all at the same time, I was doing damage control. Fortunately, this involved a strawberry shake (good thing I burned all those calories, right?).  And clothes shopping, which was still fun even if the purchases weren't for me.

Good thing tomorrow is another day.

I still have 4 kids to warp in some way. Just kidding. Sort of.

Gospel Sod (It IS the Sabbath after all)

The hymns we sang at church today were ... fun.

The first one was fun because nobody sings it very often, therefore nobody really knew it very well, therefore, it sounded ... fun.

Two of the other hymns were some of my all-time favorites, and were some of the first hymns I learned as a member of the church: I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and I Believe in Christ.

It took some time, but I Believe in Christ really hit me hard today.  I got through the first few verses without really paying attention, but when we got to, "My feet He plants on gospel sod," I remembered how, well ... grounded that phrase always makes me feel.  I guess it's because I grew up with a mom who was and is happy to garden, happy to nourish little or big things in the soil and watch them strengthen and grow.  She's so good at it.  And though it's not something I often make time for, I like to have my hands in soil and watch green things unfurl and blossom.  But you have to take good care of their roots, make sure they have all the things they need.  Plants and growing, blooming things and dark, rich soil seem so fertile and full of potential.  I guess I like to think of my feet firmly planted in the sod of the gospel--me, full of potential and hope and strength with roots grasping mightily to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am including the words of this hymn here.  Some hymns you really have to sort through to figure out what is being said, but this one is a simple and straightforward testimony (the apostle Bruce R. McConkie's testimony, actually) that needs no interpretation.

31243, Hymns, I Believe in Christ, no. 134

1. I believe in Christ; he is my King!
With all my heart to him I’ll sing;
I’ll raise my voice in praise and joy,
In grand amens my tongue employ.
I believe in Christ; he is God’s Son.
On earth to dwell his soul did come.
He healed the sick; the dead he raised.
Good works were his; his name be praised.

2. I believe in Christ; oh blessed name!
As Mary’s Son he came to reign
’Mid mortal men, his earthly kin,
To save them from the woes of sin.
I believe in Christ, who marked the path,
Who did gain all his Father hath,
Who said to men: “Come, follow me,
That ye, my friends, with God may be.”

3. I believe in Christ—my Lord, my God!
My feet he plants on gospel sod.
I’ll worship him with all my might;
He is the source of truth and light.
I believe in Christ; he ransoms me.
From Satan’s grasp he sets me free,
And I shall live with joy and love
In his eternal courts above.

4. I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!
From him I’ll gain my fondest dream;
And while I strive through grief and pain,
His voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”
I believe in Christ; so come what may,
With him I’ll stand in that great day
When on this earth he comes again
To rule among the sons of men.

Text: Bruce R. McConkie, 1915–1985. © 1972 IRI

Music: John Longhurst, b. 1940. © 1985 IRI

Waaaaaaait a Minute...

Sadly, we were recently the victims of a joke.

My friend texted me on Thursday night to tell us that OU was playing BYU.  Bob stepped up the "trash talk" by informing her that BYU wasn't a real school. But we didn't even turn on the TV cuz it couldn't possibly be football.

On Friday, our Y-loving friend brought us these cupcakes to celebrate BYU's football victory over OU.  We kept wondering how we missed that OU had a football game (on a Thursday night??) ... but then this IS some serious SEC country so we don't see many OU games these days. :(

The game was from 3 years ago.  Darn that BYU-TV.

No wonder no one had posted anything on Facebook....

But it's nice to have friends that take the time to pick on you a little.  :)   Especially when their teasing involves sweet treats. Even if they do have little Ys all over them.

Technology Is NOT Foolproof

I had a whole new post for today.  I composed it on my phone, complete with a picture, and sent it off in cyberspace to land on my blog.  Presumably, it is still out there somewhere, because as of now, it hasn't really landed.  Alas, I will recreate it later this afternoon.

Hope on the Horizon

This little man went to the doctor today.  He's been sick with a cold for over a week, and his cough at night just kept getting worse.  He didn't run a fever so I debated taking him to the doc, because who wants to spend $30 for someone to tell you it's a cold?  But I felt like I should take him, so take him I did.

He has bronchitis. This afternoon we loaded him up on antibiotics and a better cough medicine. We are supposed to give him steroids, too, but there was no way on earth I was giving him that at 4 pm.

Good thing I didn't. He was feeling so much better that he laid in bed crashing his cars into each other for like 2 hours tonight.  Without the assistance of steroids.

But now that he's asleep, he's already breathing better. So thankful my little guy is on the mend.

It's Gonna Be a Good Day

The foot isn't broken.  The wrists are healing.  The tummy survived the day.  The boy ate his breakfast at home, and the girl got on the bus (amazing what a good night's sleep will do for you).

Sam and Junie and I have already been on our walk for the day--man, both Junie and I are out of shape.  We sounded like two old ladies climbing those hills.  I should be potty-training Sam.  But.  He's such a crank.  Don't know if I have the nerves to approach it yet.  But he's sleeping in a big boy bed.  One transition at a time, right?

Now ... for some book reading and some laundry and some dishes and some filing.  Yeah, we live a highly exciting life.

Just a Little Rant

(I will promise I will return to my regularly scheduled cheerfulness tomorrow.)

I am supposed to be potty training the little man this week.

But.

Caleb has a stomach ache.  Lizzi's foot needs x-rays (she kicked a wall).  Hannah's wrists are pretty bruised up (she fell on the deck at swim practice).  Sariah is refusing to go to school without a fight.  Rex skipped breakfast in an attempt to eat school breakfast.  My kitchen needs a massive cleaning.  As does the rest of my house.  I have all this free time now that the kids are at school.

But.

And Sam.  Well, I don't think he approves of this idea.  We are going to have to find some serious motivation for this.

On Husbands and BFFs

This shall be an insight into why my husband doesn't buy me flowers (very often) and why my BFF does buy me flowers (on occasion).

Today, the FedEx guy delivered a beautiful birthday bouquet to my doorstep (I feel like I should add for a bouncing baby boy to that just to keep up that alliteration).  They had probably sat there for a certain amount of time since that punk FE guy didn't knock the door, so they were a little wilty looking (although the packaging assured me--correctly--that the flowers would perk up with water).

Bob:  Who is sending you flowers?

Me (with a shrug): I don't know.  It must be my secret admirer.

Bob:  Well, I hope they put my name on it.

And then, Bob: Oh, it's Tiffany.  [For some reason, he really likes to pick on her....]  Why would someone send you dead-looking flowers?

And more Bob:  Oh wait, they were already dead when they bought them, like as soon as they cut the stems.  Why would you buy someone dead flowers?

When we were first married, this really disturbed me, because I like to receive flowers.  Even if they are (technically) dead.  Fortunately, I have a BFF (best friend forever) who will buy me (technically) dead flowers on a special occasion, and I can appreciate my husband's logical appreciation for the symbolics of gift giving.

And no, you did not just hear me snort or snicker.  I appreciate my husband's thoughtfulness, especially since he did bring me all sorts of chocolate & peanut butter (together) for my birthday.  What more can a husband do, right?

Sam's Favorite Store

Sam's favorite store is Publix, obviously because he gets to drive a truck around while we are shopping. He also wants you to note his awesome stickers from the doctor's office and the checkout lady.  He's so cute!

5 Years Ago

Today is the birthday of our sweet youngest daughter, Sariah.  As I have been looking back through our photos, I am suddenly struck with how she's just not a baby anymore.  She's turned into a little girl.  And she knows it now, too.  In the past when I've told her she's my baby, she has been highly offended that I would call her that when she's such a big girl.  When I picked her up from school yesterday, I said, "What happened to my baby?!  She's all grown up and ready to be a kindergartner now!!"  And instead of getting upset and saying she's never been my baby, Sariah said, "Mooo-ooooom!  I'm still your baby.  You call Hannah your baby, too."  Oh my heavens, she really is growing up.

Anniversary Musings

So today, Bob and I have been married for 16 years.  When we were engaged and first married, I thought 16 years was an incredibly loooooooong time.  If you stayed married for 16 years, it was a sure thing, right?  I mean, you were assured your golden anniversary and time and all eternity.  For sure.

But I wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, and I can't believe it's been 16 years.  It went by in the blink of an eye.  Wasn't it just yesterday we were walking hand in hand into the temple to be married with no kids and hearts full of dreams and heads full of plans?  Blink of an eye, I tell you.

When I was in college, there were a couple of guys I could have married, a few that I thought I would marry.  I think I would have been happy with any of them.  They are successful, good family men who honor their covenants, provide for their families, and love their wives and the Lord.

I believe that the Lord lets you choose whom you will marry.  And I believe that He led me to mine.  We aren't perfect--we both have faults and flaws.  But our strengths tend to complement each other's and make up for the other's weaknesses.  Things have happened in my life that I think only Bob could have pulled me through.  I love how we laugh together, and how tender he is when I'm acting like a girl.  I love how hard he works at everything he does, and I love how he loves the Lord.  And though I think the Lord would have let me make any choice in husband, and done His best to bless that union, He was really super smart when He took the time to convince me to marry Bob.

In honor of our anniversary, I give you 16 things our marriage has taught me:

1.  Bob is perfect.  He told me this before we got married.  But I didn't understand.  I do now.
2.  When neither one of you can sleep at night, you should wonder why.  It's probably because the garage door is wide open.  But if it's not, you know you have a problem
3.  Kids are expensive.  But worth it.  You just have to ignore the dollar signs that sprout up all. over. the place.
4.  "Yes, dear" has multiple meanings, depending upon who is saying it, who is hearing it, and who it is being said to.  Oh yeah, and what it's being said about.
5.  If it can break, it will.  When you can least afford it.  And when it's most inconvenient.  Every. Time.
6.  Laughter is the best medicine.
7.  Some people are big babies when they are sick.  And he still loves me anyway.
8.  Men are from Mars, and women are from Venus.  I know saying this will be provocative, and I don't believe Bob and I are boxed into specific gender roles ... but marriage should cure you of thinking that there is no difference between men and women.
9.  Dirty dishes and dirty laundry and grass grow fast.  But not as fast as your kids.  Sometimes it's worth it to give up a chore for your family.  Course, you probably shouldn't give up ALL your chores.  Just sayin'.  If your kids smell too badly, someone might investigate.
10.  I've kept our plant alive for 16 years (yes, I was a cheesy 20 year old, and bought us a plant in symbolism).  Ok, Bob may have watered the plant a few times.  If I can keep the plant alive, this marriage thing should be a piece of cake, right?
11.  Whenever you judge someone as marriage partners or parents, you are about 50 times more likely to end up with that problem yourself.  ASAP.
12.  When you don't keep up with the budget, everyone is stressed.  Life is not pleasant.  As long as you know for sure that you have no money and/or how much money you don't have, it's all good.
13.  Pregnant women are loving, rational, kind human beings crazy.
14.  Crumbs in the bed will be a source of marital strife.  In the marriage relationship, one of you will always be the princess.  And it isn't me, I swear.  But at least I know he's worthy of me, right?
15.  Prayer changes things.  It usually doesn't change the other person, but it changes your perspective, your attitude, and your ability to be more Christlike.  It's an important detail, I guess.
16.  The best cure for heartache is the arms of the man you love around you.  Especially when he smells like your favorite deodorant.

I love this man.  I love being married to this man.  Even when I'm mad at him.  And especially when he's busy being the great guy that he is.

Spring Has Sprung

And I'm a mess.  But what else is new?

Seriously, though.  I feel like I'm a walking catastrophe these days.  After giving a very inspirational soapbox sermon to a friend about how "you are not a number on a scale" and "you can't evaluate your entire success at motherhood entirely on the way your kids (with their pesky free will ... grrrrr) turn out," I find that I am judging myself by the number on the scale, the piles of laundry (clean AND dirty) stacked around my house, and the amount of smack-talk I observe in my children to me, each other and all the innocent bystanders.  Among other assessment criteria too numerous (and depressing) to list here.

And I'm in a traitorous dead-in-the-water phase where I feel like I can't do it, if I do it it will be a ginormous failure, so why even try?

Not good.  Not good at all.

So what did I do good today?  It may seem small to you, but I gotta take my successes where I can.

I did a load of dishes, even though it was one of the children's jobs, so hey! I did a remarkable act of service, right?

And I stood up to the-child-who-tends-to-intimidate-me-with-his/her-it's-an-unfair-life propaganda.  Don't get judgy-judgy on me here.  I know I should not be manipulated by my children, but you know what?  There is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on this scene, and I weary of it.  Why do I need my child to do this for me when I'm plenty good at doing it all by my lonesome?

I went to an awards ceremony for my daughter.  And I was glad I went.  Especially after she tried to convince me that I didn't really need to come.  She's right, it was not a major award, but it was her, and she's amazing, and it was totally worth it.

I continued to express gratitude for the traffic court judge who dropped my speeding-in-a-construction-zone-ticket by about 200 bucks.  And--bonus--I didn't speed in that construction zone today.  My, my, my I am just full of good works today.

I took my girls to swim team tonight even though I really didn't want to because I just wanted to climb into bed and hibernate.  And while I was at the Y, I exercised, even though I really, really didn't want to.  And I stopped just to watch Sam through the window of the nursery, and I laughed because he was so, so cute driving his little cars off of his fabulously contrived train tracks.  I don't stop to enjoy my kids often enough.  Just thinking about Sam being so cute makes me smile and take a deep breath of air.  That's therapeutic.  The Lord knows what He's doing, doesn't he?

So, speaking of integrity...

Whilst pursuing my Studies in Integrity, a few things have popped out at me that I really need to change in my life.  Ok, really Heavenly Father made one thing in particular crystal clear.  I am supposed to be working on it.

Then for another part of my Studies in Integrity, I read the following quote from M. Russell Ballard, one of the Twelve Apostles of my church.  It's an awesome talk about mothers and daughters, and you can read it here.  He says,

Now, mothers, I understand that it sometimes appears that our children aren’t paying attention to the lessons we’re trying to teach them. Believe me—I’ve seen that glazed-over look that comes to the eyes of teenagers just when you’re coming to what you think is the best part of your instruction. Let me assure you that even when you think your daughter is not listening to a thing you say, she is still learning from you as she watches you to see if your actions match your words. As Ralph Waldo Emerson is believed to have said, “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say” (see Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier [2006],56).

 Yeah, so I'm driving along last night in the car with my older daughters, and they start to do the very thing I'm supposed to be working at not doing.  Not that I recognized it that way at the time.  It went on for a little while, and finally I intervened.

That's when my smart mouthed child said to me (in a very casual, offhand voice) something along the lines of, "You do it all the time, mom.  What's the big deal?"

Oh.

Just stab a knife right through my heart, will ya?

And suddenly Elder Ballard's words came ringing back to me.  Crystal clear.  Again.  As if I had just read them off the page that very second.  With a bite.

Not only do my daughters know my worst flaws, but I have no credibility with them when trying to teach them better.  It's gonna take awhile to mend that.

It's funny how you think you know something.  I know that as a mother one of my best tools is to set a good example.  And yet.  The actuality of it turns out to be something entirely out of the range of what you were thinking.  And when you become aware of it, it seems so obvious.  But it wasn't.

It is now.