Is It Naptime Yet

When I was at Old Navy with Lilah I saw these shirts and I had to buy them for the girls. Lilah choose “Daddy’s Pot Of Gold” and Eden got “Mom’s Lucky Charm.” They’re both in 5 T since they didn’t have them in girl sizes, but luckily Lilah can still wear it… kinda.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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Lilah was not wanting to take pictures.
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Eden is looking older as she lets her hair grow out.
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The girls being goofy….Lilah was happy to take this picture.

After modeling the shirts we ate lunch at Subway then went to the Springs Preserve. It was a beautiful day and we mostly stayed in the Origin Area, where they have animals, a sand box, stuff to build with and this giant granite slab that rotates on another rock because of water. The girls spent a lot of time on the rock just hopping on and off and spinning.

Spinning around
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Enjoying the beautiful day.

For dinner we had a green salad, asparagus, and fish. For desert I made a Thin Mint milkshake and added green food coloring for fun.

Um, can you look a little happier please?

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No smiles…I guess this one of you eating the milkshake will have to do.

We had a fun St Patrick’s Day and hope you did too.

Today I’m grumpy so I’m trying to be thankful for things that are annoying me today.

I’m grateful for….

1. Dishes to eat and cook off of.
2. A home to live in.
3. Toys for my children.
4. A husband who has a job to go to.
5. Being a stay at home mom.

The truth….

1. My dirty dishes have been piling up a lot.
2. My house is dirty and chaotic.
3. My children’s toys have not been getting picked up lately.
4. My husband was annoying me by leaving a little late this morning when I had so much to do, when usually it doesn’t bother me what time he leaves. He’s also been working a lot and it’s starting to get to my sanity
5. I’ve been with the girls 24/7 without any time alone lately. Play rehearsals are time alone, but since I’m not accomplishing anything or relaxing, they sometimes don’t count, it depends on my mood.

The up side….I get to leave the house for a couple hours tonight to go pick out fabric and be ALONE! Also, all the things on my truth list are things I can change and have control over how I feel and react to.

It’s been a while since I’ve listed anything I’m thankful for. This posts is about two of my very dear friends. I’ve become close to both of them over the past few years and it’s funny because they’ve never met, but as one gets ready to be a stay-at-home mom I know their paths will soon cross.

1. I’m grateful for a friend who will bring me milk when I am all out and don’t want to leave my house.
2. I’m grateful for a two friends who always have listening ears when I need someone to talk too, or in some cases willing to read since I instant message with one throughout the week.
3. I’m grateful for a friend who loves my girls so much and loves to go to the park with us during her lunch hour.
4. I’m grateful for a friend who lets me hang out at her house for no reason at all.
5. I’m grateful for a friend who comes to me with pregnancy questions, even if it’s been nearly five years since I was pregnant.

Thank you for being my friends, you both enrich my life and help me to be a better mom, woman and I hope a better friend too.

My blogging has been very few and far between lately. There are a lot of different reasons for that.

One reason is Facebook. I spend a lot of time on there, and it’s easier to do quick little updates than to write a long blog. Something I hate that I’ve begun doing. I need to make more time for my blog, since I do see it more as my journal.

Another reason is we’ve been so busy. I don’t have time to sit and type out what’s been happening because we’ve been gone all day doing things, and then I come home to catch up on other blogs and Facebook, and then it’s dinner time and then I don’t want to do anything after dinner. On my days home, like today, I just want to clean, except I don’t want to clean at this moment, and get my house back into a more comfortable place, since it’s just been pretty chaotic lately with all we’ve been doing.

The final reason is I think I was a very grumpy mom for a very long time and since I was so grumpy and snappy, writing a blog about our life was one of the last things I wanted to do. I was unhappy and easily irritable. The girls were doing everything in their power to bother me, at least it felt that way, and I was always upset about something.

It wasn’t fun for anyone around here.

I’ve been more happy and less grumpy lately, but I honestly don’t know when or why I started being a more even tempered person. I don’t remember if it was a conscious choice, or if it was an unconscious choice that I’ve just consciously realized. I partially don’t remember because it was a while ago that I feel I became a more bearable person to live with.

I know my family was on pins and needles, wondering when and what would set me off that day. I know Jon tried to help make it so I was less stressed, and when he saw the chaos was getting to me, he would try to help and encourage the girls to also help. I also know that he never tried to interfere, or contradict me and my very strict parenting ways in front of the girls. We always talked about it later, which was hard since I have a hard time talking about parenting because I feel I am the dominant parent. ( It’s difficult when you’re with the children 24/7 and you might feel like your parenting techniques are better and should take precedent over the other parent who only has to deal with it on a more part time basis. )

I can be pretty stubborn.

So I’m not sure why I changed, or really why I was even so upset, but now things are a little better in the house. We still have our hard moments and I still get really upset, but it’s not as regular or frequent. I’m trying to deal with our disagreements with a more even temperament, but I’m still at a lost plenty of times at what to do to improve a certain behavior with the girls. We try to have more natural consequences, but sometimes their is no natural consequence and I don’t like to punish with chores or other things that I feel are just a part of being in the family.

Being a parent is hard, but I’m happy I have Jon as a companion to help me. As we navigate this road together he tries to support me and help me be better, and when I’m being stubborn and don’t want to change, he waits patiently. When he’s being stubborn I also try to wait patiently, since we both have our bad days.

I love you dear and am happy to be on this road with you.

I’m trying to grow my hair out, but there are a few things I don’t like.

1. Having to do my hair every day. With short hair I could get away more easily with only doing it every other day if I slept on it the right way. Now I have to have a ponytail and I just don’t like how I look in a ponytail.

2. I go through a lot more shampoo. This is because I have more hair and because I have to clean it more often.

3. Spit Ends. I get them and my hair is long enough that I pick at them. Ick.

4. Knots. I get them and they hurt to comb out.

5. Long hair in food. Really my hair doesn’t fall in the food I’m cooking, at least not often or any time recently, but picking a long hair out seems worse than a shorter one.

6. Our shower drain gets clogged more quickly. I’m just happy I have a husband willing to snake it, because I find it utterly revolting.

So those are the cons.

Here are the pros.

1. I have long hair to do something with in the play. Not sure if this is a pro since I’m not good at doing my hair.

2. I look younger with long hair. Since I turn the ripe old age of 27 I need all the help I can get. 😉

3. When people see me with long hair that I knew a long time ago they think I look exactly the same. I think this is a pro, but at the same time I do not want to be known as being exactly like I was in high school, or as if I haven’t changed. I have changed… just not much.

4. Long hair feels nicer when it’s played with, as long as I’ve combed out the knots first.

5. I can tickle my girls with my long hair and Eden loves to play with it, though she loved to play with my short hair too.

6. I’m going to give it to charity, and help someone feel a little more beautiful, or handsome in a couple of years.

I’m enjoying having my hair long, but it’s hard at the same time. I want it to be short and a little less maintenance. It’s the last pro that keeps me from cutting off 4 inches and being Carolyn’s twin again.

The time cannot pass quickly enough for me to cut off my hair, but then again I want time to stop for a whole other reason.

Rehearsals have begun for the play.

And I am so excited.

Instead of being third girl we’ve switched me to second girl, but only because I cannot comfortably hit the notes of third girl.

I really like being second girl, now I just need to learn the notes I sing since I was only vaguely paying attention when the previous girl sang because I was worried about hitting my high notes as third girl.

I’m really happy the director let me switch parts.

I’m assisting Anna on costumes this year. She is our costume designer, and I am really excited and nervous. Nervous, because I wonder what we’ll be sewing. Excited, because I love sewing for the plays, even if it is a lot and tedious at times, and at times frustrating…. but doing it and having people look nice is so wonderful and rewarding.

Hopefully what I make will look nice and contribute to the total look of the play.

I’m also so excited for our director. I’ve only had one other experience with a director, but this year, both the director and assistant director are very involved in even the small parts. They want us to develop who we are and bring it to the play. They want us to have purpose in where we move on stage, not just move because the choreographer told us to.

I’m loving it.

I’m suppose to be overly flirty, as are girl one and three, but I feel I need to work on a little. I feel rather silly since I am a mom of two girls, but I am an attractive woman, so I can be flirty, right? I like that I have more to my character this year, and I really am loving the play.

The dates are June 16th- 26th, except Sunday the 20th.

Be there to hear me sing and watch me be flirty. The girls will be in the opening scene and will no doubt be so cute, though we won’t find out what they’re doing till May.

I’m so excited for what’s to come!

Today in the mail I saw that we had received something from the 2010 Census and I was a little excited.

This would be the first year I’d be the one filling out the information and noting myself and my family on the Census and I thought it was exciting.

We would be a part of those White Caucasian statics, who are married, with children, have a college education, make x amount of money, own a home, are not veterans, are employed, and whatever other information the Census takes note of.

Then I opened the envelope and it was just a letter telling me to look for the upcoming packet.

What a buzz kill.

But we will be one of those White Caucasian statics, who are married, with children, have a college education, make x amount of money, own a home, are not veterans, are employed and whatever other information the Census takes note of.

I feel like I’m a full fledged adult, that is once I fill out my Census, I’ll be a full fledged adult.

I look forward to that packet and the dull uninteresting questions that count me as a person in my city, in my country.

Bring on the 2010 Census!

In January Las Vegas had some weird weather. We had a week where it rained nearly everyday and I’m talking rain, not just sprinkles, and it was heavy rain throughout the whole valley.

My sister Carolyn went hiking at Red Rock right after and during this weird weather with some friends. I think it snowed on them while there and they had to walk in the stream since the rocks were too icy and they’d slip. I’m happy I skipped that week.

We went the following Saturday. It had rained in the valley on Wednesday and snowed at Red Rock and with the cold temperatures the snow was still on the ground.

Our homeschooling group had gone to Mount Charleston on Friday, and even though it had been a weak since the major snow, it was still like it had just happened that morning with how high and powdery the snow was on the Mountain.

Two days with snow was lots of fun for the girls. Unlike the day before, the snow balls they made stayed in balls and they were able to throw a few. But their gloves had gotten all dirty the day before, and my washer was still waiting to be repaired, so they had to throw snow balls with their bare hands.

It didn’t last very long.

We enjoyed a short hike to the waterfall that is usually dry. The girls got into some mischief and Lilah drove me crazy by jumping down rocks and running.

At the Waterfall.
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Eden
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Lilah- Notice the snow in her hand.
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At the end we let the girls take a few pictures and here are some results.

Lilah’s view with the camera:

What are you doing?
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Self-portrait
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Jon and me with the snowy mountain behind us.
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Eden’s view with the camera:

Um..if I could see myself from this view all the time I might actually be motivated to lose weight.
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Let’s try to take a picture of mom and dad. She almost got all our heads.
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So we knelt down for her.
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Lilah’s pretty silly in this one. I’m posting it because if you look closely we have the same facial expression, only it’s not very flattering so I’m not making it any bigger.

Here are just a few pictures of the girls.

First day of Primary 2010.

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Eden in her new dance class outfit.

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Eden being sassy.

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Snow Day with the homeschooling co-op at Mount Charleston. The snow was 3-4 feet high, and then even higher where the snow plow had piled it up.

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Hannah on the cabin’s porch. (See how high that snow was! I would sink nearly to my knees as I walked around.)

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Lilah and all the girl scout cookies. (Boy am I glad to have them out of my house.)

So this post is mostly about Lilah.

She’s growing too fast.

And I’m getting old, well I’m not really that old, but she’s getting older and I feel old as she grows. Almost everyday I ask the girls to stop growing, but they don’t, and their reply is usually that they can’t stop growing.

Sigh….I guess I’ll just have to keep letting them grow and get bigger and become more independent.

Speaking of independence there are certain things I do for my children, even though they’re big enough to do it on their own, but I’m trying to let go and enjoy a little freedom, even if it does mean the girls might take longer doing it themselves. I also find, that if I wait long enough they catch on a lot more quickly, so it saves some frustration by waiting on both our parts.

Case one:

I still bath the girls and wash their hair and bodies for them…well I used to. I’m kinda strange when it comes to bath time. When I was a young I took baths all by myself by the age of 6. I also just washed myself and cleaned my hair by laying in the bath water and running my hands through it.

Now I think that is so gross.

I should mention baths in general are yucky to me now as an adult. I don’t ever dream of soaking in a nice long bubble bath reading a book or relaxing by candle light. It’s just too yucky for me. So I do have the girls wash their own bodies with the wash cloths, but I usually wash their hair and to rinse them clean by turning on the faucet and rinsing them that way. It works for us, but it takes time and I’ve never taught them how to do it themselves, because usually they take the cup and just dump the water behind them. They’ve also hated showers.

Until now.

Now they love showers, and do crazy shower dances. I still have to greatly help Eden, but I’m mostly just instructing Lilah now, just to make sure she gets all the soap rinsed.

I decided to teach Lilah how to shower so it could free up some of my own time. I don’t have time to bath her every other day, and with the summer coming she’s going to need to be bathed or showered every other to every day.

She’s loving it and I’m loving my free time.

I waited a long time to teach her to shower because it was just so much trouble to shower her before. She was scared of the shower, and still is, but she’s also old enough that her fear is quickly vanishing. Now they both want to take a shower everyday, even though they’ve only taken 3, but I’m happy to let go and let them get clean. I think our water bills are going to be a little higher from now on though.

Case two:

I have never bought Lilah shoes with shoe laces, not since she was a small toddler anyways. I’ve always bought shoes with velcro. Mostly it’s because the ones we liked had velcro, but also because I did not want to teach her to tie her shoes, or have to tie them for her if she wasn’t able to learn.

Yesterday I bought Lilah shoes with laces, and today I taught her how to tie them.

I think waiting was best for us and she’s just at that perfect age and fine motor skills to learn how to tie shoes quickly. I actually did not want to teach her because I feared that I might lose my patience, but how could I not teach her when she was wanting to learn and was trying it out this morning?

I taught her the round the rabbit hole method, or is it around the tree? Anyways, she got it and now is able to tie her shoes, though she still needs help getting them on and tightening the laces.

One thing at a time.

And will you please tell her to stop growing.