Starting Off the New Year on the Right Foot

I had well over 1400 emails in my inbox.  Approximately 1333 were junk/sales emails, 62 were emails to myself of various reminders (kinda like on the Friends episode where Ross calls his apartment and leaves himself a reminder message...but way cooler than that), and there were maybe 5 or 6 "real" emails mixed in there.  I moved them all to a new mail folder I created called, "crap i need to sort through."

It's kinda like scooping up a bunch of junk around your house and throwing it into a closet right before company comes over to visit.  You are no more organized, but you have deceived yourself and your guests into thinking you have an orderly home.

Not that I would ever do such a thing.

Happy New Year, my friends!

Chugga Chugga...Choo Choo!

Happy LOVES himself some trains.


Aunt D and Uncle T had some passes to a nearby park that has, among many attractions, a train you can ride.  That was the main attraction for us.  So we took Happy there today.

He was beside himself with excitement.  I'll just let the pics tell the rest of the story.

After the ride was over, the engineer came out and greeted us. He lifted Happy up on the locomotive. I think that was Happy's most favorite part.

It is such a treasure to see your child enjoying himself so thoroughly over something as simple as a train.  What a wonderful blessing. My heart is full.

Thanks Aunt D and Uncle T!  What a fantastic day! 

Fess Up Friday

Fessin' up on the wrong day of the week.  It's a gift.

I know it is not Friday, but consider this an early entry to next Friday's Fess Up and not a late entry to yesterday's.



I have lamented about Hub's plaid blanket in the past.  I hate it.  However, I may have to change my tune towards it.  A couple of weeks ago, during a frigid week, I had taken "my" blanket (since Hubs and I are unable to share blankets) from our bed to our couch downstairs to watch some cartoons with Happy one morning.  When I went upstairs to bed that night, I had forgotten my blanket.  It was a sad realization.  I didn't want to go back downstairs to get it.  Neither did Hubs.  So, gasp, I stole the plaid blanket from Hubs that night.  Even gaspier? He let me.  What a sweet man.

On some days when I am getting a little stir crazy (read: everyday), I take the kids driving in search of trains (after our requisite trip to Sonic, of course).  Following the roads near the train tracks lends itself to some interesting, um, scenery in the housing department.

One of my favorite sites was an abandoned trailer park with a bubba gump shrimp boat type trailer/mobile home thingy.  It was awesome.  Basically, it was like a large boat that had been converted into a home.  It was overgrown with vines and mildew.  I kept wanting to take a picture of it, but I couldn't get the nerve up to stop the car to take the picture.

As you can imagine, I was devastated two weeks ago when I looked over at the trailer park on our drive and the boat was gone!  I keep looking for it to magically reappear since it so magically disappeared. Sadly, it has not.  I am starting to think it was just a vision.

I even tried to google pics of something similar to it and apparently it was truly one of a kind because there are no pics on google (you know, in my extensive 5 minute google search) that accurately depicts its loveliness. Or even comes close.

Sad day.

All I Want for Christmas...

is for my blog feeder to work. 

Update: It works. Finally.

Update #2: What I REALLY want for Christmas is 10 minutes to take a shower without an interruption from my sweet blessings.  Can I get an Amen?

Amen.

Gettin' Crafty with the Kiddos

This week, Maranimal and I got our broods together to do a somewhat organized, intentional activity.

Neither Maranimal or I are particularly organized.  Or intentional.  (Except maybe when it comes to Sonic.) But we persevered and had ourselves a little activity for the kids. 

Here is the original idea:

http://www.aokcorral.com/projects/how2nov2007.htm

Please go look at it.  Because the picture won't load on my blog.  And it is making me nutty.  Well, nuttier than usual.

Did you look?  I'm not messing around here, people. 

Ok, good.  Glad you listened.

Moving on.  Now we are realists, if not possibly pessimists, and knew our versions would be nothing like that.  But it's nice to reach for the stars, isn't it?

Chili happily listening to the story of the birth of Jesus.

Child (Maranimal's sister) kindly helping us with our adventure.

Jensky loved the eating portion of the craft.

Lil Miss swiped Sassy's blue candycane.  You can't tell, can you?

She was thrilled about her score and the fact that I didn't take it away from her.

Sassy's proud of her project.  Sassy's quote of the day?  Mary looks delicious, but I won't eat her.

Jenksy's Stable and Manger.  He ate it all, save the walls of the stable.  See the two marshmallows and gum drop? That's Baby Jesus.  And that was Jenksy's third or fourth Baby Jesus we had to make for him.  Because he kept eating them.

What a great day with friends!

Fess Up Friday

Texting and driving is against the law here in these parts. However, I am unclear as to whether online shopping and driving is.  I ordered a book for Happy through Amazon mobile while driving.  Not by best moment.  Not even close.

I've mentioned my Sonic love before and how my carhop knows my order.  I don't bother to order, I just say, "Hey, it's me" and he gets my order ready.  Because of this, I actually haven't hardly said my order for months (except maybe when my carhop isn't there, which is always a tragic day).  However, every time we pull into Sonic, Happy says, "die-die-pur".  I used to think he was saying diaper.  I now realize he is placing my order.  Diet Dr Pepper.  He hasn't gotten the "with vanilla" part down yet, but that's ok.

His beautiful hair pre-hair cut insanity.

Happy was in desperate need of a haircut.  I usually cut his hair myself but then after a few haircuts, take him to my hair lady for her to do a more thorough job. I took him to her this past week.  It was disastrous.  She couldn't even touch him.

His mullet was getting out of control, so I attempted to cut it on my own this afternoon before Hubs got home.  It was even more disastrous.  There was foaming at the mouth, wailing and gnashing.  He was like a rabid dog. I was unable to finish the haircut.  It looked worse than when I started because I basically just cut wherever I could whenever I could during this insanity. 

Plus, I had given him a piece of chocolate cake to try to distract him while cutting it.  As he was flipping out, he would maniacally rub his chocolate-y, gooey hands all over his head.

What made it even more comical (comincal and stressful) was that Lil Miss thought he was being silly since he was acting so crazy, so she was hysterically laughing at him.  Belly laughing, like couldn't hold herself up laughing so hard.

Once Hubs got home a few hours later, we double-teamed Happy.  It was horrible.  I held him tightly and had him pinned down between my legs while Hubs buzzed his head since trimming it with scissors was impossible.  He totally flipped out when any loose hairs got on his face.  It seemed to make his skin crawl or something.   He reminded me of the Tasmanian devil cartoon character a bit with all of his craze.

Oh, the massacre.

He eventually recovered with the comforts of a lollipop.  I can almost see him in the counseling for this one.

Poor sweet Happy.

Notice Lil Miss in the background on the jumpy thing, trying to get in the photo.

I haven't quite recovered myself.  Plus, I am sad to see his luscious locks buzzed off.

Do you think he looks grown up or younger with his new 'do?  I can't decide.

I am still in mourning over the hair, though. 

Motivation By Humiliation Works for Me, Part 2

It's been a few weeks since I mentioned my shame.

But, I finally did finish this last quilt!

The coloring isn't stellar on the phone pics, but you get the idea.  I'm happy to have that accomplished.

I am now working on two dresses for Lil Miss.

Here is one I did a few months ago.  It's fun making stuff for those you love, even if it takes some extra time.  I am excited to see how the new dresses will look on her.

Happy Thursday! 

Staff Decorating Day

I used to work on staff at my church.  I loved my job; it fit my skill sets and interests quite well.  I enjoyed working with my boss and the fellow employees assigned to the same projects as me.  They are wonderful people.  There were certain challenges and job tasks I didn't love, as there is with any job, but it was still a wonderful job.  I had a lot of personal job satisfaction.

When I found out I was pregnant with Happy (surprise!), it was quite a laborious (pun, yes) decision for me to figure out if I would keep working.

In my heart, I knew I wanted to be home with any kids we had.  My husband also felt that way.  We agreed on this before even marrying. But it was quite the emotional process for me to relinquish both the monetary incentive and personal/professional satisfaction found in working at a paying job.

After having Happy, my boss allowed me to work part time from home.  It was an incredible blessing to be able to do so.  Eventually, a few months before Lil Miss was due, I officially left that job.  It was bittersweet.  I was afraid I would regret it.

Though I missed the job, I was very happy with the change, as was Hubs.  I was happy to discover that I didn't regret the decision even though I did miss the job.

One of my most favorite things while being on staff was decorating the church for Christmas.  It was kind of like field day in elementary school-a break from the normal day to day that got you out of class.  Plus, I loved the decorations and just doing something more active than sitting at a desk.  I enjoyed interacting with people I normally didn't see or work with (the staff is large, so there are many people you don't see often).  I always looked forward to that day. 

On Tuesday, I had something to do at the church.  As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed more cars than usual in the parking lot.  I didn't think much of it, but as I was walking into the church, I realized it was staff decorating day. 

A flood of nostalgic emotions came over me.  I was happy to see previous coworkers that I don't often see at church.  I have sweet memories of past staff decorating days.  It was on one staff decorating day that I first "met" my friend Nicole who is especially dear to me.

But, the extra sweet thing within all of these feelings was knowing where I am in life (without a paying job, but staying home with the kids) was right where I needed to be. 

It was a blessed feeling amidst the missing of things past.

Glad I Got That One Marked Off My To-Do List

Unfortunately, it really is an every second of every day goal frequent item on my to do list. 

It just rarely happens.

And, yes, I need to write it down to even hope to make it happen.

Because I am cool like that. 

The Bible Reading Time That Went Awry

I've been trying to read the Bible to the kids daily.  Happy and Lil Miss both seem to really enjoy the time when we read it.

However, one particular day this past week, Happy was a little extra spunky and aggressive. (Read: Unhappy about one thing or another.  Greatly displeased.)

So he took it out on me and the Bible.

I could tell that he (eventually) felt remorseful because he helped me tape the pages back together.

I love my little ones more than words can express, even on the most trying of days.

And we've had some doozies lately, folks.

Humdingers.

I find it ironic that the page that was torn was the page detailing Jesus' crucifixion.  You know, the whole Jesus died on the cross for our sins thing.  We do so desperately need him, don't we?  Especially when we are angry at our mom or frustrated at our precious son.  What a sweet reminder within a  frustrating moment with Happy.

Thankful for grace and mercy,
'licious

Yep, Motivation By Humiliation Works for Me

One quilt binding done, one to go. 

The other one is MUCH larger, so it is more work.  But, I am glad I posted my slacker shame because it gave me some accountability.  :)

Yay!

Ignore the loose thread on the blue part...I just haven't gotten the loose threads off yet.

This one is probably one of my more favorite quilts that I have done (not that I am a prolific quilter or anything.  Which is obvious, I am sure, by my quilting procrastination mentioned on this blog.) 

I would say that I "earned" an episode of Sister Wives or Toddler and Tiaras on Netflix, no?

Fess Up-Late Entry

Because I need some shame to motivate me (or encouraging words), I am posting a pic of two quilts that I am 97% done with, but just can't seem to finish the binding.  I have no idea why. 

I've done the hard parts.  This is the supposed easy part.

The one on the left?  Yeah, I started that before I was even pregnant with Lil Miss.  (Hanging my head in shame.)  The one on the right is only from July. 

So, here's to motivation by humiliation.

Fess Up Friday

Be sure to check out Kira's blog.  It sounds like she may be taking a temporary blogging hiatus, but there is still fessin' up to do.  (Kira, I am with you on the 8000 time outs and potty training insanity making little to no margin in life.  Also?  Happy went from a solid daily 3 hour nap to a solid daily fight/struggle to nap.  I'm worn out.)

The first fess up of the day is courtesy of our neighbors.  I feigned taking a picture of Lil Miss to get a pic of what was in their front yard.

 
Just a recliner with no seat cushion.
Everyday, it is entertaining to see what is in their yard.  Most recently I have spotted a vacuum cleaner, a basketball goal (like mangled and crushed-like....not usuable),  and an antique plow.  Fortunately, most stuff gets moved.  Eventually.

They are nice folks.  Just not particularly tidy. 
---

We went out to eat recently.  I packed Lil Miss's baby food, but forgot the baby spoon.  We were at a mexican restaurant (one of those build your own burrito places) and they didn't have any spoons.  And Lil Miss was h.u.n.g.r.y. 

So, naturally, I fed Lil Miss with the handle of a plastic knife.

She was ok with it.

On a similar note, Lil Miss is starting to show some sass and personality.  And agenda, as Hubs put it.  Here she is earlier today grabbing Happy's feet and trying to put them in her mouth.  I cannot confirm or deny whether any feet went into her mouth.  Except they did.  Happy just let her do it while he happily watched a show about "err-pwanes".

On said "err-pwane" show, there is a segment about rockets (?? because they are clearly airplanes ??).  Anywho, maybe it is the potty training stuff, but I felt compelled to google how exactly it is that astranauts pee in space.  It seemed like it would be a messy endeavor without that handy gravity thing working for you.  Doesn't sound easy.  It definitely gave me the willies.  Something about suction cups.  I stopped reading.  I just wanted to make sure they didn't have to use catheters.  I couldn't handle much more info than the basics. 

Hubs said now google will forever have me recorded as having searched for such things.  And that's ok with me.  Because I cleary needed to know.

Happy Friday!

Sister Wives

Sister Wives is now on The Netflix.

Let's discuss, shall we?

First off, Happy must have known of my new found purpose of watching all of the episodes as soon as possible.

Why, you ask, did I decide Happy knew of said ambitious goal?

Because the child, bless his sweet heart, has not truly napped but twice in the last four weeks.  And during that (formerly) blessed naptime, I would occasionally watch a show while folding laundry or cleaning. 

I had been a bit ambivalent with my current netflix queue.  However, once I discovered Sister Wives on the instant queue, there was new found joy and purpose to the queue.

But back to the very important issue at hand, discussing Sister Wives (Season 2, to be more specific).

(Also, please know these are rhetorical in nature.  Tongue in cheek, my friends.)

Why are the Sister Wives and Cody so shocked that there is an investigation going on once they officially "went public" with their lifestyle?  Obviously they know it is illegal.  Did they think being on a tv show would help protect them somewhat?

On a similar note, when no apparent child abuse or underage marriage is going on, why does the government even care?  How is their situation much different from live-in partners?  Affairs? {Yes, I know that this isn't an affair, but there is in fact one legal marriage involved (with first wife, Meri) with the other sister wives not being recognized as a legal partner.  Therefore, it would be similar in that way to an affair.}

Why are the Sister Wives and Cody so surprised that no house exists in Las Vegas similar to theirs in Utah?!?!  They seem very aware that their polygamist lifestyle is very much in the minority.  So why, pray tell, do they think they can find a house with multiple kitchens, entryways, and countless bedrooms?

Does Cody seem a little bit like a gnarly surfer dude to anyone else?  Isn't that a bit strange for a man married for so long to so many women and who has so many kids?  Or, is that why he is so gnarly?

The questions running through my mind are countless.  I am absolutely fascinated and intrigued, yet somehow still in disbelief that people do, in fact, live that way.

Regardless, I give them props for their honesty and boldness.  And I do love Christine's sassiness.

What do you guys think of the show? 

Road Kill Casserole Confirmed (Sorta)

Remember this from yesterday?

Well, the deer was gone today.

That guy must have had some agenda with the deer.  Road Kill Casserole, perhaps?

I know our highly efficient government officials will at times pick up road kill.  But I also have observed that they have been a bit behind on said duty.

Thusly, I am concluding (on solid and indisputable evidence, nonetheless) that the man picked up the deer and fed it to his fam.

I Can't Help But Wonder...

I am not sure if it is the time of year or a coincidence, but I am noticing a lot of dead deer on the side of the road lately. 

As in hit by a car.  Missing legs. Decapitated. Blood. Lots of blood.

Well, today, as I was merging onto the expressway to hit up my local Sonic (and do other, more productive errands, thank.you.very.much), I see a dead deer that had been there for several days.  There were skid marks on the road, blood and nastiness everywhere.

It wasn't pretty, folks.

Right as I am completing my merge next to the deer, a car suddenly swerves over to the emergency lane (where the deer is) and starts backing up towards the deer.  It appears that he is going to inspect the deer.

I have no idea what he was planning on doing.  To give him the benefit of the doubt, he could very well be an animal lover seeing if he could help the deer (the deer was clearly dead, but maybe he didn't realize it?).  But, I couldn't help but wonder if he had another agenda.

I read this yesterday and just wondered.  Could he be wanting some road kill casserole?

Surely not.

Right?

Anyone have any normal ideas of what he may have been doing?

We Belong in the Zoo

Happy, my mom, and I went to the zoo a few weeks ago. 

Happy and "Gree" (Grammy)

Lil Miss stayed with my in-laws.  

Don't feel too bad for her.  I am confident that she got more than her fair share of love and attention.  

And spoiling.

I even managed to score some free passes from our county library system, so I was a bit tickled with myself that we got in free of charge.  Without the passes, it would have cost us about $45 for general admission.

Holla!

Happy kept trying to sit in the Gorilla statue's lap.  He just couldn't get quite comfortable.

Running during our lunch "break"

Petting Zoo Area

They had a little train to ride.  A clear highlight of his day. He is not wanting to leave the train in this pic.

 

The carousel.  My mom always loves the carousel rides whenever we see them. I am glad she got to take Happy on one.

 

 

 

Playground area.

"Boo Bus" at playground.  Good times.

Funny side story: I have mentioned Happy's love for "boo buses" in previous blog posts.  As we were driving to meet my mom to head to the zoo, we see this massive caravan of like 10 "boo buses" on the expressway.  Happy was screaming in delight.  I admit that I first thought, "I kinda hope they aren't going to the zoo."  But then I realized the likelihood of them going to the zoo as being miniscule considering we were headed towards the downtown part of our city and that there were countless places that they could legitimately be going.

For whatever reason, I noticed one of the bus's numbers. I thought it would be an easy bus number for kids to remember.  Once we arrived at the zoo and were getting out of our car, there were many school buses in the parking lot (which I assumed there would be). Happy kept announcing their presence with great delight and squeals. I mentioned to my mom how we had seen so many buses on the expressway before we picked her up and joked that I kind of worried they were going to the zoo.  I told her of the bus number that I noticed.  Right at that moment, mom looked up and the very school bus I mentioned drove by. 

Isn't that kinda nuts?!  We were about 35 minutes away from the zoo when I saw those buses.  There were probably 25-50 other places they very well could have been going.  And right as I told my mom that story, that very bus drove by.  Craziness.

And yes, there were lots of wound up school kids running around like animals.  Appropriate being that we were at the zoo.

Anyways, it was a great day! 

Happy zonked out as soon as we were in the car.

Cruciferous Love

I am hungry.

I have brussels sprouts roasting in the oven. (Good news!  They had brussels sprouts at Costco!  I ask you, can it get much better than bulk brussels sprouts roasting in your oven? I think not.)

I bought 2 bags, which is 4 pounds.  I wanted more, but I had to exhibit some measure of self control.

(Why are they brussels sprouts? In the plural?)

I can hardly wait for their tasty goodness to finish roasting, so I am blogging to distract myself.

So hold onto your hats for some utter randomness.

- - - - - - -

My gauge for how I am handling life's stresses is storage containers.  If I feel compelled to buy them and buy many of them, I know that I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Lately, I have had to fight the urge lately to buy containers. 

But, I had victory!

There is nary a new storage container in this house.

At least this week.

Don't ask about last.

- - - - - - -

Look at these cuties, aren't they precious? 

We are waiting for our requisite free kiddie cookie.

I bit the bullet a few weeks ago and got this beast, the racing car shopping cart.  I needed to get more items than usual, so I was hoping it would hold more.  Can you believe it actually held less?  I didn't realize it until they were loaded in, but it was lacking the bascart thingy.  You know, the thing under the cart.  That is where I put most things.  It was too late to go back and get a regular cart because Happy was LOVING the car aspect.

It was quite difficult to steer.  I ran into several things.

Just a few end caps.  No biggie.

By the end of the trip, Lil Miss was positively buried under all the groceries.

- - - - - - - 

(For the readers without kids, Potty Training Alert!)

We've had some great pooping in the potty success with Happy lately.  Bribery works, my friends.

Anywho, Happy has been getting up in the morning and going to the potty, then coming to knock on our door.  Hubs is already up at that point, doing work (He's in IT, so he has to check network viability each morning.  Do I sound like I know what I am talking about?  Not a clue.).  He listens out for Happy, but some mornings Happy is extra quiet and Hubs doesn't realize that Happy is up.

The other morning, Hubs heard Happy up.  Hubs hurried to go check on him (to make sure no potty shenanigans were happening).

Right as Hubs opened the door, he sees Happy coming to our door with a filled potty seat in hand.  Right at that moment, Happy's kryptonite, a boo bus (school bus) drove by.  Happy was looking out the window at it in utter excitement as the contents of the potty spilled out on the floor.  Poor Hubs.

- - - - - - -  

I'll leave you on a less gross note, more sweet kiddie cuteness.

A boy and mud.  A wonderful thing.

My sweet owl.

Blessed beyond measure,
'licious.