if you don't have anything nice to say...

It's been much too long since my last blog post. The reason for my blogging absence - just like your mom used to say "if you dn't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Last week was the pits - full of anxiety, stress, with a touch of insomnia (something I had not experience before and thankful I don't have it on a regular basis!). I am happy to report that the stress has for the most part passed, the anxiety has left, and I am sleeping again at night. This makes everyone in my house pleased.

In other news, yesterday was the Primary program. Grace was one of 7 kids in the program, and if you were unable to see it you missed a great show. She not only belted out each song, she did hand motions and directed the younger kids on how to sing properly (mind you the song-leader was there doing just the same thing). The best was during one song that contains the word "grace." She kind of rolled her eyes up in some sort of weird serious face and pointed right at herself. Really hilarious. When it was her turn to give her lines, she just skipped right up to the pulpit. Then it was time for her to give a talk. Yes, the 6 year old gave a 2-3 minute talk discussing the prophets' propheices of Jesus' birth. Here are a few exceprts:

In the Book of Mormon Samuel the Lamanite said
"Yea Christ will come to the Earth and he will be our Savior."
And it came to pass the people that didn't like his teachings shot bows and arrows at him and rocks.
He told them:
"When Jesus will be born there will be a new star and there will be a day and a night and a night and a day and a night and a day and another night it won't get dark."

And another:

And Jesus came to the Earth and He taught the women and children to share and be happy and be nice to each other. Oh and the men to take care of their children and wives. And he taught them how to be reverent and about the Sacrament. And he blessed all the children.
And all these things came to pass.

Another highlight was Jimmy. He of course was not in the program, but squirmmed around in the pew between Nate and I and my parents. But he'd stop for every song and everyone of Gracie's lines and her talk. After each one he'd say, "Yeah, Gracie!!!"

So yes, I'm a gushing mom. But I loved it.

loyalties

 

I made this pie for my Grandma, one of the staunchiest Cubs fans you'll ever meet.

stay right where you are

For those of you just dying to know why on earth I still have my braces on (because in your mind you were thinking they should have been off a year ago), I have news for you. Today was the day my ortho said I can be rubber band free for the next three weeks! Whoooo hoooo! There is of course a condition placed on this great news - my teeth cannot move. He took measurements and pictures, that way of course we can compare and contrast (how exciting, huh?) at my next visit. Then if all is well "we will discuss taking the braces off."

So to my teeth - Stay Right Where You Are!!!!!

pitcher a wacie

 

We pass this billboard everyday on the way to Gracie's school. Think you recognize anyone in it?

"free" time

 

Yesterday I convinced Kara to ignore her impending ironing and I chose to post-pone my laund-ra-fying for yet another day. Why would we chose to do such things? Well, its because the first breezes of Fall were blowing into the area (after incredible rainfall the day before thanks to the remnants of Ike) and we thought what better way to celebrate than by making some serious homemade apple pie.

Sadly the pastry chef of the house was needed more in the O.R.; however, I managed to get his flaky pie crust recipe out of him in between cases. Using his recipe (which up until that moment could "only be found in [his]head") Kara and I each made an apple pie. We made the crusts by hand (not even a food processor in sight), we peeled the apples by hand, we contemplated the best way to spice the pies, we filled the pies, and then baked them letting the apple-pie-ness fill the house. They weren't perfect looking, but they were a lot of fun to make and certainly much more fulfilling than laundry ever is. Even the Pie Doctor was impressed when he stumbled home late last night. He perked up long enough to have a significant piece and then almost immediately fell asleep on the couch (see picture in the post below).

greenbeard

 

In honor of the Green service (and all of its "joys"), Nate has decided to grow a beard. I'm afraid by the end of the 10 week period I'll be calling him Grey Beard instead!

I fine

One night last week the kids were in the tub, I was folding laundry in my room, and Nate was downstairs. There had been much giggling, splashing, and general bathtub fun when suddenly Jimmy calls, "I fine Mama, I fine. I fine Mama, I fine!" I run in to find his little nudie self greeting me at the door handing me something and continuing to say, "I fine." Looking for blood or any other indication as to why he might feel it necessary to assure me he's fine, I neglect to notice what he just placed in my hand. Then I realize - its poop! Grody. Yucky. Ack! It was one of those moments that clearly illustrates my lack of coolness. When hearing whatever sounds came from my mouth, Nate dashed upstairs and had a very good laugh with the children. I'm so glad they found it all entertaining.



Yesterday Nate began his Green rotation. Some of the ENT services have color names such as Green and Gold. Gold is a pretty nice service to be on. Lots of surgery, but most of the patients are generally healthy and the surgeries tend to be outpatient. Green is not so nice. There are tons of surgical cases, most of which involve removing large nasty tumors from people's heads or necks all-the-while avoiding their facial nerves or important arteries and things like that. Its intense and the hours are awful. The good news is that this is his last time to be on the service. The bad news is that he's the cheif, so the buck stops with him. The good news is that (taking into account his scheduled week of vacation) there are only 8 more Mondays left. The bad news is that we're in for it for the next two months.

 

Saturday I thought I'd take advantage of the fact that Nate was home and I did something I'd been wanting to do for years - I went to the Botanical Gardens all by myself. I've been to the Gardens countless times, but never alone. I went down paths that aren't stroller-friendly, toured an old Victorian home, stopped and read whatever signs I wanted, enjoyed the peace and quiet, and had a fabulous time. So now I'm geared up and ready for the next 8 Modays. I fine.

ZZzzzzzzzz

....That was then

This is now......


The past few weeks have not been easy on any one's sleep schedule - Jimmy has seen to that. After much debate (which is difficult to do when running on minimal sleep), I came to the conclusion that perhaps he just would be more comfortable in his crib (than say a big pile of books on the floor). The first night the crib was back he not only slept through the night there wasn't any mischief right after he went to bed (which had been going on towards two hours a night) nor was there any early waking. He also is taking naps again. All in all we're feeling a bit marvelous.

I decided to include a slideshow of pictures of the kids sleeping taken over the past 2 1/2 weeks. Hope you enjoy. You'll note towards the end of his crib-less stint, Jimmy got very creative with his positions and props. One of my favorites was the night we found him with his brace propped up on an upside-down blue box, his leg supported by Duck, all while laying on his blanket. Priceless.

tasty testing & research

This weekend we went to a fabulous swanky wedding. To convince a newly married couple to watch J and G while we attended this very fabulous and swanky event, I promised to make them dinner. Their request: lasagna. I haven't made any in a long time and decided to try this one. I must admit it was pretty good, but it makes me want to find the best lasagna out there. So here's my request (I'm hoping you guys will play along), will you please send me your favorite lasagna recipe, or lasagna tricks, or lasagna dos and/or don'ts? I'll do some testing and research (well, Nate will do a lot of the tasting part of it I'm sure - when I told him about this idea he got extremely excited!) and then I'll post the results. So if you're game, it could be a tasty September!

is your kid red or blue?

Conversation with Grace while driving home after school:
G: "Mom, hey, ummm oh what's that guy's name?"
M: "Which guy?"
G: "Y'know, the first black president of our country?"
M: "Do you mean the guy Barack Obama?"
G: "Yeah!!! That's the guy! Tell me all about him."
M: "Uh, okay. Who told you about him? How do you know about him?"
G: "My teacher told us about him! And if I learn more and can talk about him on Tuesday I can get some tokens!" (Tokens are part of the reward system of this particular classroom)
M: "Well, he is not the president of our country but he's running to be one. That means that in a couple of months when the grown-ups in our country vote they can choose between him and another guy, John McCain, to be the president."
G: "Oh, I know who I'd vote for (and now clenches her hands into fists and 'raises the roof' and chants):
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Obama!!!!!

wild nights

These pictures were taken over the last few nights. Its no wonder the kids have been a bit cranky...

who knew blackberries could be so fun?

Last week we went across The River to pick blackberries with a good friend. I was surprised at how much fun it was for everyone. Jimmy really got into the picking and did a pretty good job at only picking the black ones. Grace was thrilled she could carry her Very Own Bucket. And Nate and I couldn't resist bringing home far more than we planned on. Our friend Ann had a great time too and made some tasty cobbler the next day. As for us we did two blackberry fold-overs (kind of like a half pie/turnover situation) and blackberry ice cream. To quote Jimmy, "so nummy."

what really happened

You may have noticed the last two posts consisted only of pictures and really not much story behind them. That is because it has been a crazy transition time for me. With Jimmy out of the crib (by the way he actually took a nap today, first time all week, I think it was in the crib but I didn't dare check) somewhere in my mind that means he is certainly no baby anymore. And with Grace going back to school that means she's gone all day long (yes, I know this is a good thing, but I've never been one to adapt to change really well).

It was a mad-house when we got to school on Monday (picture the day before Thanksgiving at the grocery store or the day after Christmas at the mall). The kids were wild, most of the parents were in a rush so they left, and the teachers didn't have a clue what was going on. What should have taken 10-15 minutes at most took us almost an hour. We finally got Grace to her classroom, found her seat, and then it was time for J and I to go. We said the normal stuff (love you, have a great day, see you after school, etc) and she said, "Mom, please don't leave me.... here". Uggghhhhh!

However, I calmly told her that she'd have a great day and that we'd be right there when school was over. Then we quickly left her room and found our way back to the car just in time for me to cry. And since I'm letting it all out today, I did cry once more and it certainly wasn't just a tear or two. At one point I thought to myself, "Well, I could always pull her and home-school." HA!

Luckily my sanity arrived and thoughts like that don't exist any more. Of course she had a great day, of course it is a great school, of course I'm not going to pull her. But its still a long day to have her gone. Today the reality of it set in on Jimmy and it was his turn to cry (no, he didn't see me cry the first day thank-you-very-much as he was very involved in his board book while buckled into his car seat and I had on my sunglasses and looked straight ahead). We left her running around with the kids (yes, they were adequately supervised, just in case you were wondering) just before the bell rang, and Jimmy just cried and said "Gwaacie". It really was sad. And several times during the day he'd say, "Go get Gwaacie?"

I should probably read that book, Who Moved my Cheese?.

first grade here we come!

 
 
 
Watch out world, here she comes!

no strangers in the night

Last night was Jimmy's first night to have his very own Big Boy Bed. As you can see he enjoys sleeping in it.

 

back to normal

Jimmy is much better, thank you very much. I know this for lots of reasons: he constantly throws the couch cushions all over the room, he insists on doing everything himself, he seems to try Gracie's patience, greets our pet fish every time he enters the room, and causes general mayhem and destruction all day long. On Friday when I went to get him after his nap this is what I discovered:

 

 

He somehow opened the closet door and got this box inside his bed. He was very proud of himself and I must admit, I'm pretty proud of him too.

mr. cranky-pants

 

Our poor Buv is one sick little guy. He's got a serious sore throat (all red and blistery, yuck!). Its just a virus that happens to be going around, but it is miserable. We've had a hard time convincing him to eat anything. And when any of my children (and myself for that matter) don't eat on a regular basis they tend to be a bit irrational. Combine that with a fever and you've got yourself an unpleasant afternoon (or evening, or morning, or late night, you get the picture). Grace has been pretty nice about his situation. Apparently the first night he was sick she sat by his bed and prayed that he would get better. I thought that was really sweet, but of course sweetness doesn't last forever and during the day it was back to the usual bickering about possesions. Thankfully she's off to play at a friend's house this morning and Jimmy has succumbed to a morning nap. I'm hoping we're on the mend.

lincoln-ites

Saturday brought a 24 hour shift for Dr. Nathan at the hospital. So the kids and I crossed The River and met my parents for an outing in Springfield. We met them at the Lincoln Memorial Garden. It was very nature-y. Jimmy even walked into a giant spider web. Grace screamed (in a nice damsel-in-distress sort of way) and Jimmy just pulled on the web and began to unravel it. It was a great moment to illustrate the difference between these two.

From there it was on to other Lincoln sites - the tomb (Grace was totally disappointed she couldn't see "his dead body") and New Salem (this is a frontier town where Lincoln used to live). Our verdict on New Salem - never go when it is over 90 degrees with matching humidity (none of the homes have electricity, they are very 'authentic', this makes many of the workers there 'cranky.'). Really we couldn't help but compare it to Nauvoo and though one is 'politically-historical' and the other is 'spiritually-historical', they both are from the same time period and Nauvoo is a much more pleasant experience. However, New Salem has a gift shop (great for trying on hats and taking pictures and an ice cream shop, mmmmmm).

musical animal identification

camping, revisited

Its been over a week and I have sufficiently recovered from the ill-fated camping trip to post pictures. You will see the crowded contents of our car, a very wet tent, a frustrated camper trying to light a fire that would just smoke and smoke until it faded out with a gleeful camper at his side, some more wet parts of the tent, visiting wildlife (someone's dog kept coming back to our site, I think he smelled our s'mores), kids playing in the river, a captured tadpole (sadly the funeral for this particular tadpole was held later that evening), and excited Naturalist with her new tadpole, an eager river-explorer trying to drink the river water, etc. I guess most people had fun on the adventure. Maybe next time I'll have fun too.