The Bubble Monster!

Tori loves to take baths and showers. Every day -- several times a day -- she sniffs her arm and tells me that she had better take a bath/shower because she smells like dirt. Sometimes I give in, other times I don't. Today, I had no problem with it so she got in the tub. I gave her a little bubble bath and decided to fold some laundry while she was in the tub. I heard her turn on the jets in the bath and thought that she might be surprised at how many bubbles she would end up with. It turns out, I was the one who was surprised! She thought it was great fun. I thought it was time for some pictures.
In these pictures, we had already let out the water and she was playing in just straight bubbles.

2 loose teeth + 2 pieces of floss = I need $2 tonight

Tyler and Nicole both have teeth loose. Multiple. Nicole has three loose and Tyler has 2 loose. I hate pulling out teeth! That is a job I happily reserve for my husband. Unfortunately, he's not home tonight and the kids wanted these teeth out NOW. It has gotten to the point where they don't want to eat because it hurts to bite on those teeth. So, I tied some string around the tooth, counted one... two... PULL! and out it came. Nicole went first (to show Tyler how to be brave) and then Tyler followed only a couple of minutes later.

Phone pictures

I just realized that I have over 400 pictures on my phone from the last few months. Instead of blogging about each one and noting the significance, I'm just going to put them on here. The thought of doing dozens of blog posts is overwhelming and I probably won't do it. So, here's some fun pictures of my family from the last few months.

Christmas Program

Tori had her Christmas program at preschool today. She was the loudest one! In years past, I have never been able to pick out my kids' voices when they sing with their class. This was not the case with Tori's class! Watch the video and you'll see what I mean:

She looked so pretty!

 This picture was going to be so cute, until she decided to fall over backward and throw her feet in the air.

The Gratitude Challenge

I was reading in The Ensign just now and found a "Gratitude Challenge" that was directed to the youth of the church. I decided that I should do it myself.

10 physical abilities I am grateful for:
1. I can see, hear, smells, touch, and taste without troubles.
2. I had free surgery on my foot so now I can walk with less discomfort.
3. I am tall enough to reach the highest cupboards in my kitchen.
4. My body is healthy enough to keep me free from medications most of the time.
5. I have steady hands.
6. I can breathe without the use of an oxygen tank or inhaler.
7. I have a healthy back which enables me to lift and carry my children.
8. I have 10 fingers and 10 toes which help me to run farther and type faster.
9. I have strong fingernails to scratch my itches.
10. I can do 10 cartwheels in a row down a hill before I fall over.

10 material possessions I am grateful for:
1. My 1999 Midnight Blue Jeep Cherokee that always gets me where I need to go.
2. A home where I can raise my children.
3. My laptop and iPhone that help me stay in touch.
4. My refrigerator and freezers that keep my food from spoiling.
5. My camera that helps me capture memories.
6. My bed. It is so unbelievably comfortable. I want to be in it all the time.
7. My dog. He loves me for me.
8. The Calvin and Hobbes artwork my brother-in-law made. It makes me smile every day.
9. My clothes that keep me warm, modest, and cute.
10. All of my hair products that help me control this curly head of hair.

10 living people I am grateful for:
1. My husband. He's the best. :)
2. My family. (if we share blood or I'm married to someone who shares your blood, you are included in this.)
3. My beach girls. They build me up, make me laugh, and help me stay sane.
4. My Young Women that taught me so much about who I want to be.
5. The teachers I had in school and church.
6. My ex-boyfriends that taught me how to stand up for myself.
7. The doctors that help me when someone I love is sick or hurt.
8. The wonderful men and women that teach my children.
9. The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
10. The people who are mean to me. They help me learn patience, tolerance, and humility.

10 deceased people I am thankful for:
1. My Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Loe for being some of the most loving people I ever met.
2. Joseph Smith for being brave enough to do what he was told.
3. The countless men and women that have died defending our country.
4. My Grandma Lenz for singing me funny Australian songs.
5. My Great Grandma Lenz who taught me that eating raw pork sausage off the floor won't really hurt you.
6. The Founding Fathers of our nation.
7. Robert Jordan, for writing some of the greatest books I've ever read.
8. My childhood pet, Sam. I know he's not a person, but he was the greatest dog ever and I still miss him.
9. Adam and Eve, for their understanding of the plan God had in store for them.
10. Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for my sins so that I can be saved.

10 things about nature that I am grateful for:
1. Sunsets and sunrises.
2. Warm summer wind and cloudless, icy, winter days.
3. Green grass that lasts all year long.
4. Flowers of all shapes, sizes, colors, and scents.
5. The beautiful colors of autumn.
6. Fog.
7. The ocean and it's beaches.
8. Water in all forms: oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, rain, snow, ice, waterfalls, etc.
9. The beautiful and diverse animals in this world.
10. Rainbows.

10 things about today that I'm grateful for:
1. I got to go to church and feel the Spirit.
2. My husband helped me with a birthday present for my dad.
3. My kids all hugged and kissed and and wanted to spend time with me.
4. I got to see my friends at church.
5. Baxter let me brush his hair without trying to eat the brush.
6. I made super yummy chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles.
7. I beat Tyler at air hockey.
8. I painted a sweet picture of the "snowman house of horrors" from Calvin and Hobbes.
9. I had a pretty good hair day.
10. Everyone is asleep and I have a few quiet minutes to myself.

10 places on earth I am grateful for:
1. Multnomah Falls.
2. BYU's Provo Campus
3. The beaches of Oahu.
4. Lincoln City, Oregon.
5. Vancouver, Washington.
6. Portland, Oregon.
7. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
8. The Caribbean.
9. Disneyland.
10. IKEA.

10 modern inventions that I'm grateful for:
1. Cars.
2. Digital cameras.
3. Microwaves.
4. Running water.
5. Computers.
6. Cell phones.
7. Christmas lights.
8. Hair dryers.
9. The Slap-Chopper.
10. Treadmills. Because I'd hate to have to walk outside and get fresh air.

10 foods I am thankful for (I LOVE food):
1. Pasta.
2. Meatballs. BBQ, swedish, sweet and sour, spaghetti and m. I love them all.
3. Soup.
4. Fruit salad.
5. Roasted vegetables.
6. Chicken curry.
7. Breakfast burritos with eggs, hashbrowns, ham, salsa, and cheese.
8. Nachos with olives, guacamole, sour cream, refried beans, lots of cheese, salsa, and lettuce.
9. Ketchup.
10. Mashed potatoes and gravy.

10 things about the gospel that I am grateful for:
1. The atonement of Jesus Christ.
2. The resurrection.
3. The Bible and Book of Mormon.
4. The law of Tithing.
5. The Relief Society program.
6. The Priesthood.
7. Our sweet prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.
8. Temple ordinances.
9. Baptism.
10. My testimony.

Well, I made it. It took me an hour, but I had a wonderful time thinking of all of these amazing things that are part of my life. I am truly grateful for so many things in my life and I could never write them all down. It is my hope that I will be able to keep these things in my heart and try to be more diligent about counting my blessings so that I can keep a positive attitude and outlook with me always.

What do 3 kids do with a big pile of leaves?

I'm Disappointed In You

When I was a kid, my brothers and I were pigs. We were worse than pigs, we were lazy, selfish, thoughtless slobs. My mother is a saint. She always managed to know the right way to deal with the crap that we put her through. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember one time when she sat us all down and started to cry. She told us that we hurt her feelings and she felt like we didn't appreciate all of the hard work that she did for us. I remember feeling like scum. I wanted the earth to open up under my feet and swallow me whole rather than see my mom crying because of me. It was awful. But you know what? It made me want to be better. I never wanted my mom to cry because of something I did. It was a turning point for me. Did I keep my room clean forever after that? Nope. Still struggling with that. But it changed the way I thought about it. I tried to do better and I think I succeeded a little.

Fast forward many years into the future and here we are in 2011 and I have three little pigs of my own. They are little kids. They make messes. They make the same messes every single day. I spend most of my time in my house cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and taking care of my children. I do the same things day in and day out. I make meals and clean them up, I brush teeth and comb hair, I make beds, pick up toys, read annoying children's books, vacuum, sweep, dust, mop, wash marker off of walls, play barbies and legos, ooh and aah over schoolwork that comes home, help with homework, fold laundry, keep up with the yard work, flush the toilet a thousand times a day (because my children NEVER remember), say "NO" a thousand times a day, and about a zillion other things. Going to work and dealing with grown ups all day sounds heavenly sometimes. I have to remind myself that I chose this life and really, I do love it. It's just a thankless job and sometimes I get in a rut. (when i really feel like i'm in a rut, i do crazy things like paint rooms turquoise or dye my hair red!) 

Today was one of those days. I spent all morning running all over town and spent the afternoon trying to have a nice afternoon with my kids. I let them have friends over. I let them eat Halloween candy. I let them play the Wii (after homework of course) and even let them get out ALL of the stuff in the costume box and play dress up. The only thing I asked them to do was to put their toys away when they were done. That's all.

I told them this at 4:00 pm. At 7:35 pm, I looked around and there were toys everywhere. I had reminded them several times about needed to put things away, but I tried to keep it nice and calm and not yell -- which is obviously what I felt like doing. I was staring, dumbfounded at the mess and all three kids looked at me. I could see the gears turning in their heads. They were all thinking about what was going to happen. They knew that they had blown it. They knew that they were supposed to be picking up and they completely ignored it. Instead of quickly trying to pick up a few things or even apologizing, they just shrugged their collective shoulders and went on playing. I walked quietly into the girls' bedroom and sat on the bed. The kids followed me and saw that I was crying. Now they were worried.  Moms don't cry.

My mom cried, and now I was crying. I gave the kids a speech that was very similar to the one I received as a teenager. I dumbed it down a little since they are only little kids, but it's the same basic points. I told them that they hurt my feelings. I felt like they didn't appreciate the hard work that I do for them day in and day out. I felt like I didn't matter to them. I felt like if they don't care about what our house looks like, then neither should I. I'll just stop cooking and cleaning and I'll play all day long just like they do. At this point, they are all crying. Tyler is trying to be brave, but he's quickly wiping away tears before they fall and his lower lip is trembling. Nicole is curled up in a ball next to me crying silently. Tori is on my lap sobbing like a baby. Now it was time for the big guns.

"I'm disappointed in you."

I could see all of them shrink. They all felt like scum. I could see it on their sweet little tear-stained faces. They all tackled me and hugged me and apologized. They made promises of clean rooms and toys that never touched the floor. They wanted to do nice things for me that cost a lot of money (which I would need to front, of course). I told them that really, all I want is for them to put their things away when they are done with them. Well, this sounds like the easiest thing in the world when you're ready to offer to make dinner for the next month, do all of your own laundry, and mow the lawn until you move out. All three of them quickly worked together and went from room to room cleaning. They cleaned both bedrooms, the bathroom, hallway, kitchen, family room, and toy room... in 15 minutes. It was amazing. I have never seen them work together like this. When they were done. They felt good. They hugged each other and then they hugged me. They said that it was so much more fun to work together and they were shocked at how fast it went! They said they loved looking at our house when it was all clean. 

I looked at them and wanted to dance a jig. I was so happy! They had finally done what I wanted them to do! I didn't have to yell or get mad at anyone. I don't know if this will be a turning point for them. I don't know if they will remember this a week or a month from now. But now, I'm going to bed in a clean house with children who will try harder tomorrow.

What do you think they would think if they knew that I had to REALLY work to force myself to start crying in the first place?

Return of the Red Hair

I put red in my hair again! I get bored with my hair and this keeps me from cutting it all off and regretting it. Even permanent color isn't that permanent. I thought I'd share some pictures with y'all. Turns out, it sort of strange and awkward trying to take pictures of your own hair. It was kinda fun once I got into it. The last picture is my favorite.

I sort of love it. It's fun to have something different. I definitely get some strange looks and I bet there are a bunch of people out there who think I'm too old to do stuff like this. The thing is... I don't care what they think. I like it.

The process of getting my hair done wasn't terribly difficult or complicated, but my hair took longer to process than expected. Of course, I didn't have a ton of time because I had to pick up Tori from preschool, pick up Nicole from the bus stop (Tyler was sick) and then take Nicole to Karate. Unfortunately, my hair didn't feel like cooperating, so I had to do all of that looking like this:

Aren't you jealous? Do you wish that YOU could have run all over town looking like this? Ugh. It was not cool. I guess it was worth it because I like how it turned out. Next time, I'll build in an extra hour to my hair time.

Family Home Evening

For FHE tonight, we talked about being thankful. I got out a big roll of paper and gave everyone a marker. I let them draw or write things that they are thankful for. They loved it! This is what we ended up with:

 

Then for our treats, we had "Pookies". One of our awesome made up desserts. A Pookie is pudding and a cookie. Tonight we had peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pudding, and cool whip. It was delicious.

Tori didn't get one. Not because we are mean. She didn't eat her dinner. We warned her that if she didn't eat her dinner she wouldn't get a Pookie. She said that was okay, she didn't like them anyway. Ben told her that she would probably be sad when everyone else was eating treats but she wasn't. She said, "That's okay, I like to be sad."

Self- Image is Important

I always wonder how people see themselves. As someone who has struggled with self-esteem and self-image issues my whole life, I hate the thought of my children struggling with that. Nicole seems to think that she's the most beautiful, talented, funny, elegant, brilliant, wonderful person that has ever walked the Earth. No self-esteem problems there! Tori is only 3 so I don't know how much she really thinks about that stuff, but I'm not terribly worried about her either. Tyler is definitely trying to figure out who he is and where he fits in. I think he's figuring it out pretty well. He has a few good friends and a lot of "school friends" that make him feel good about who he is.
I love to see how children draw themselves. I think it reveals a lot about how they see themselves. I didn't think Tori knew how to draw a picture of herself, but she does! Here is her first self-portrait:

It looks just like her, don't you think?

Puke is Gross

Puke is gross.
Seriously, it's really disgusting.
Tyler wasn't feeling well. Poor little guy. Ben and I were talking on his bed and he said the words every parent dreads...
"I think I'm going to throw up."
I ran to get a bowl, but two of them were stuck together. It only cost me a second-and-a-half, but that was exactly how late I was. Tyler kept his mouth closed as long as he could, but the pressure built and built and he shot Ben -- machine gun style -- with his sickness. When Tyler was done and feeling a little better, I started laughing. I laughed all night long. Before you judge me, you should know that it's a genetic defect. This horrible character trait has been passed down through the generations of women in my family. When something bad happens or someone gets hurt, we laugh. A lot. Once I knew everyone was okay, that's when the laughter hit. Thank goodness, Ben was a good sport and didn't throw me out of the house for my callousness.

Halloween

This year we had 2 Pirate Princesses and a Skull Lord Ninja. The kids had tons of fun and got tons of candy. And it didn't even rain! Unfortunately, I didn't know my pictures were blurry until it was too late. Oh well, blurry is better than nothing.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and the kids had lots of fun. We did a hay ride, a maze (Tori got left out and she was NOT happy), picked pumpkins, ate cookies and apples, played in piles of hay and the kids loved it. I know it looks like Tori is my favorite because I take so many pictures of her. The truth is, she just gets left out of stuff more then the other two so I have to take pictures to keep her busy. Plus, I love her funny faces. Here's some of my favorite pictures from the day.