It's been so long. Where do I even start?

How about I work backwards. The last week was spent getting Parly and Clayre's room, that they have to share now to make room for the preschool, painted. Here's how it went:

• Saturday: Move everything out of the room.
• Monday: Wipe walls, tape, and apply first coat of paint (turquoise). Clayre paint primer on the dresser.
• Tuesday: Second and final coat of paint on the walls. 3 coats of paint on the dresser (red).
• Wednesday: Last coat of paint on the dresser. 3 coats of paint on the bookcase and shelves (yellow). Start putting room together. Bed and bunk bed (from Ikea). LOOOONG Day!
• Thursday: Put up shelves. Fill the room with girls STUFF. Shayne get a mattress for the bunk bed. All finished! So happy. It turned out better than we expected.
  

Want to read a book BETTER than Twilight?

Okay, that probably isn't hard. Some of you might say. (And don't get me wrong---still a fan and loved the series). BUT.....So let me rephrase that. Want to read a book better than Twilight (in my opinion) that you won't be able to put down, that you will be depressed when you realize that it is over and the next book doesn't come out until September of this year, that you will finish and just want to talk and talk about? Yes? Okay, so go get: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. You will thank me or actually not thank me because your children will be left to fend for themselves, your laundry and dishes will pile up, and your husband will wonder why a book has gotten more of your attention than he has for months. The good thing is: ALL that will only last a day or two because you won't be able to put it down.... until you do and it is over and then you are stuck waiting 6 more months like me for book 2. So call me when you are there.

Check. Check. And Check.

A couple of weeks ago my parents, my brother Isaac and his wife Elise, my sister Sadie and her husband Christian and baby CJ came for a whirl wind of a weekend. They got here Friday night and left Sunday morning. It actually isn't that different than all the other times they come. Their trips are always short. I hope it is just because they are busy people and can only make these quick trips and not because they can't stand us another minute. But we are always happy to have them come no matter how long they stay.

Well this trip Isaac came along so we thought we should work on a few projects. He can do anything! I love to make a list of things for him to do and start checking them off. We decided to have him do something the man of the house (me) can't do, so.... he built a small wall in our shower so the water would stop hitting the baseboard and warping it. Yeah! And while he was doing that the ladies banded together to make new cushions for my kitchen benches. So nice. When we took off the old ones the cushions were so disgusting I don't even want to think of all the milk, soda, and other things that had soaked in and were stained there for years. We even put on a plastic cover so the new ones could be easily wiped off. And thank you Christian for taking over and putting them on so they actually looked good (no wrinkles or creases).

My mother bought me enough fabric to make matching cushions for my bar stools, but we didn't have enough time to make them while everyone was here. Sad. I was afraid they would never get made. But I did it and after a few calls to my other sister in California (who is the sewing queen) they turned out great! So here are a few pictures:


If you are wondering how the cushions on the stools fit so perfectly, it's because I made a pattern from the actual chair. I pulled out the tape measure and my math skills and went to town. I didn't think just eye balling it this time would work out as well, and I'm glad I went the extra step (again not like me).

Cupid shoot me please!

For some reason I like to have my girls make their valentines. Which is weird because I am usually all about taking the easy way... lazy way. Well this year I saw a cute valentine necklace made with saran wrap, candy, and ribbon. Simple. Not complicated. Should be easy. WHY? WHY? WHY? Sure these beauties were easy......but when you have to make over 60! Seriously we started around 5:00 and finished at 9:00pm. My back is so sore. Sorer than it was after I ran the marathon. Come to think of it I was sitting longer than I was running.

Anyway, you really missed a good show. I was talking to Shayne later and asked if I had gotten too mean, yelling and such. He said I was good. That we were all ornery and tired but kind of laughing at the same time, so it was okay. Pretty much we were on the verge of going CRAZY.
Here's a little peak of what was said:

"Mom, seriously my head feels like it is going to explode." -Parly

"Where's your family spirit? I have family spirit. See I'm still working." -Clayre

"This is actually hard. Do I really have to tie all of these?" -Shayne (Yes, we even got Shayne to join in on a few.)

"I would be so much faster if I only had to tie it once." -Parly

"Ready with another one mom." -Kate (Kate cannot tie, so she was pretty much just placing 10 hearts in a row and waiting for me.)

"I am sooooo going to lose it! AGAIN!" -Me

"Parly, if you don't keep working I'm going to tear your limbs off one by one." -Me

"What are limbs?" -Parly

"Mom, pleeeeeease can I stop and get a drink of water? I am so thirsty." -Parly

"After you finish 2 more." -Me (It seriously took her 10 minutes to do one. Parly works like her dad.)

"Can't we just stop and give our friends cards?" -Parly

"Are you kidding? Get working. If I have to tell you to keep working one more time. OHHHH!"- Me

"Maggie! Stop walking through here! And stop eating the hearts and spitting them out." -Me

"Is there any way you can sing another song?" -Me

"Why?" -Parly

"Because you have been singing that song over and over for an hour. And I'm going to really lose it this time." -Me

Song list: Barney's dead (Christmas tune), Beach Boy songs Parly is learning in Choir, Mercy, You're hot and you're cold...you're yes and you're no.....

"Hugs. Be mine. I want U. Parly do you really want these on a boys necklace?" -Clayre

"Are you seriously reading all of those hearts. CLAYRE WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THAT! Just put them on and keep tieing." -Me

When I start to get really tired I start to say things in song. So after a while it sounded like this: ME singing in some made up tune: "I'm so tired. I want to die. This was a really stupid idea. Who's idea was it?" THE GIRLS also in song: "YOURS!!!!"

We laughed and giggle and shouted and probably even cried, but we got done. And we will NEVER make those cute necklaces again, but we will remember that night FOREVER!!!!

Maggie is growing up...well at least getting older.

As you know my last child is turning 3 this summer and will soon be attending preschool. This fact makes me a little sad. I can't believe I am actually at that point.... already. Well I decided it would be fun to savor it by having Maggie come to MY preschool. You know... the one I am starting this fall. Anyone that lives in Santa Clara or wants to drive here can enroll. I will just be accepting 3 year olds (those 2 years before Kindergarten)...... Okay, just read the flyer below and if you have any questions or want to register: call, email, or leave a comment!


If you do not have a 3 year old but know someone who does, let them know or let me know and I can send them an email or a flyer.

FOUR reasons why today is a GREAT day already!

#1. I helped at Clayre's school and so I thought I would check out the Lost & Found (Clayre has been missing her new -just bought a month ago- coat). She said she checked the L & F, but I thought "Why not?" Yeah me! It was there. I love finding something that was missing. Such a great feeling.

#2. Also about Clayre. She couldn't find her lunch bag/box (it's been missing for about a week now) and I wasn't happy about this either. No luck in the Lost & Found but.... when I got to her class she told me she found it in her backpack. Yep, backpack. It was in the front pocket she never uses. Even I didn't check there. Another horray!

#3. Anyone that lives in our neighborhood or actually a 2 mile radius can probably hear our garage door when it open and closes. It is SOOOOO LOUD! So I went and borrowed some garage door spray* from a friend (thank you Rachel). It worked! Our neighbors are going to be so happy. It is so quiet now. *Just in case you wanted to know it was : GDL Garage Door Lubricant - in a spray can).

#4. This is a big one. We love our Kia Sedona. I mean it has served our family well. It has taught our girls friends that all doors don't open automatically, but lately it has also taught them that some van doors get stuck when opening and closing, that some doors are extremely loud, and sometimes they don't open all the way or open at all. That has not been fun! It's been very annoying. So I thought I might try a little of the GDL spray on the van doors, just to see. YES! YES! YES! They totally open now...all the way. This makes me very very happy!

Sad? No. Sometimes it's these small things that make life so great! And today is one of those days. At least for a few moments. It is lunch time.

Thank heaven for cold air.

The other night Maggie woke up with a croupy cough. You all know that horrid barking. Whenever Parly got the croup she always had to be rushed to the hospital. Not fun in the middle of the night. I have always found the running- the- shower- and- letting- the- hot steam- in- the room- relieve- the- croupiness method not so effective. Plus no hot water for my shower the next morning. Ugh. I HAVE found that taking the child out into cold air is the best and fastest method in relieving a croupy attack. Living here in St. George doesn't always guarantee cold air even at night, but I got lucky a couple of nights ago when Maggie got sick.

I went into her room and opened her window that is right by her bed. I bundled her up and we sat by the window breathing in the cold air. It worked great and soon Maggie was ready to go back to sleep. A few hours later she was barking again so I went in to repeat. She wasn't as excited to get up and over by the window. I told her she had to come over by the window so she could stop coughing and then she could go back to sleep. I told her to come and look at the air. I told her how great and cool it was and that the air would stop her coughing. So she came and we spent a few minutes commenting about the air and the stars and no moon. A couple more times like this and we made it through the night. No hospital visit. Not even a need to leave the room or really even get out of bed. Nice!

A couple of nights later Maggie woke up coughing. Not barking this time. So I went in to give her some cough medicine. She didn't want it. And kept spitting it out. Frustrating! I told her she HAD to take it so her coughing would stop so I ...I mean she could go back to sleep. She kept saying, "I wanna look at the air mommy." Sure. Sure. Now drink this and go back to sleep. I didn't get it until after I went back to bed. Look at the air. Oh, like we did for her croup. Funny. And smart.

24 days of Christmas -cliff notes style.

So I have been feeling like a little bit of a scrooge when it comes to holidays. I will blame it on my love for laziness. But since I want my children to have fond memories and traditions that they remember repeating, I thought I need to DO something. I saw a bunch of cute ideas for advent calendars on Mindi's blog (she has links to quite a few- check them out). I know I am starting a few days late but I thought this could be easy enough even for me to pull together. It was. I just got 24 green envelopes and glued 24 already cut red mittens on them and labeled 1 -24, representing the days in December (for those of you that don't know what an advent calendar is). I filled the envelopes with pieces of paper. On each paper are activities to do to celebrate the holidays together. Examples: Watch a Christmas movie, drive around and look at Christmas lights then come home and have hot chocolate, read a Christmas story, make paper snowflakes.....etc. For more of these ideas see Jordan's blog here. The best part about this is that I can switch the activities around however I want so if I don't feel like: making cookies and taking them to someone I can switch it with the: sit by the Christmas tree and stare at the lights together in silence. Nice. It all depends on how energetic I am feeling at that moment. This I can totally do. And if your kids are like my kids, anything that you get to open, read, and then do is the most exciting thing ever, even if it says: kiss your dad under the mistletoe.

Need a Hopeless Romance?

Have you ever finished reading a good book and thought, "I wish I wasn't done reading"? I do. You know, when you read through it too fast that it's over too soon. Yep? Anyway, here's a solution. I found this blog- My Super Hopeless Romance. It's about a girl who is in love with her best friend and he doesn't know it. It is cute, a definite chick-flick: all about loving, hoping and wishing for that love to be returned. It's written kind of like a book, but you can only read one post at a time (or at least until you catch up to today's post). She updates daily (usually). Go read. And remember what it felt like to really want that one perfect guy to like you, because you like him.

Daylight Savings= 1 extra hour of.....

So Daylight Savings, loved it before I had kids. Now, not so much..... until this year. On Sunday the kids slept in, so I got to too. Nice. Then today they woke up at 6:40 a.m. Not so nice. I finally decided to drag myself out of bed and noticed that the kids were : dressed, with beds made, and breakfast already eaten all before 7:30. With no need to head off to school until 8:30. What to do with the extra hour? Chores. Yep. My house was cleaned; picked up by Clayre, vacuumed by Parly, laundry sorted by Kate, and mopped by me all before 9. How great is that? Daylight Savings has a whole new meaning for me now.

Here are a few pictures of Halloween 2008:

Maggie Moo Cow

Clayre as a bride (yes, same costume Parly wore last year),
Maggie as a cow (great action shot),
Parly as a boy (that shirt was Shayne's when he was littler),
and Kate as a Fairy.