can't put you down

Sometimes I like to tell my son stories of how he tortured me when he was a wee little babe.

Not the stories about how he was squishing my ribs for the last month of his stay inside me and it hurt to sit and breathe and how I pushed for an hour on his birth day to get him out and how I'm pretty sure I felt every last bit of it and how then I almost bled to death when he was just minutes old. I'll save that for later so that I don't have to answer any "how do babies get out of your tummy?" questions. Because we all know that the "how do babies get out of your tummy?" questions are soon followed by the "hey, how do the babies get IN your tummy?" questions and I'm not interested in answering any of those right now.

I was holding him a few days ago (because I wanted him to get off my bed and he wasn't listening so I picked him up and removed him) and I reminded him of how I used to hold him all the time when he was a new baby.

I reminded him that I used to vacuum, wash the dishes, fold laundry and sweep the floor with only one hand because all he did when I put him down was cry.

Cry cry cry cry cry.

For 3 months I held that kid. Through all his naps. Through all my household cleaning duties. Through all the Lifetime movies and reruns of Martha. All day long. I really think he would have loved to be worn in one of those baby wrap thingamabobs but I didn't have one and honestly, I didn't even know people did that.

He smiles at me now when I tell him this stuff.

I wasn't smiling back then.

I asked him if he remembers how I held him so much.

He said no.

Then I asked him why he made me hold him so much.

You know what he said?

"Because I just loved you too much!"

Oh. Now you tell me.

Here I was all these years thinking it was because he liked to torture his poor mother.

Glad I was wrong.

beauty and the beast

{wearing my 3D glasses}

Cate and I went on a little date this afternoon.

A little 3D movie date.

I tried to not sing any of the songs out loud. If I'd wanted to, I could've sung almost every single word to every single song. I'm not even kidding.

Instead I hummed quietly and sang the words extra loudly in my head. Not nearly as much fun as singing along. I tried to respect the other movie goers though.




I loved the movie...even though I've seen it too many times to count.

I used to have the soundtrack on cassette. I wore that thing out.

I was thinking the movie first came out when I was a young teenager, maybe a freshman in high school. I did a little internet search just now. Supposedly it came out in November of 1991. I was a freshman in college! How is that possible? I think it must be wrong. No college freshman should watch Beauty and the Beast as many times as I did. What a weirdo.

{wearing her kid size 3D glasses}

Cate did great for the whole movie, unless you count the fact that we made 5 trips to the bathroom. FIVE! One of them was for me. One of them was for her and was a false alarm. The other three were very much warranted (seems like she's in the midst of some kind of lovely stomach bug).

My favorite part of the movie was the scene near the end where we first see Belle in the yellow gown. She and Beast meet at the top of the stairs. When they took each others hands Cate said,

"Oh! They're best friends!"

It was adorable. I wish I had it on tape so I could rewind and hear her say it again. So cute.

{the curse of the wrinkles and double chin}

We had fun eating the bucket of popcorn that was bigger than both our heads combined. It helped that I spilled about a third of it on the floor the first time we got up to use the ladies' room.

Oh, well. It was a fun day with my favorite girl.

finally

It wasn't much but it was enough for Cate to scoop into a big bite and shove into her mouth without getting a pile of dirt and dead leaves in it too.

That was all I was hoping for anyway.

It's mostly melted now.

I'll just sit here and look at that picture of my stinkin' adorable kids while I patiently await the next storm.

Do you love their rain boots in the snow as much as I do?

Good.

jack and the beanstalk and the ponies

I dragged the kids to story time at The Farm yesterday morning.

It was our first time. Not sure why we haven't gone before. It's a free way to fill up a chunk of morning. Please tell me I'm not the only mom who tries to fill up chunks of the morning with free stuff. It beats watching kids running around the house making messes right?

I figured Danny and Ray Ray wouldn't pay attention to the story. Cate probably would.

That's exactly what happened.

The lady read Jack and the Beanstalk (which I figured my kids would like since we took them to see Puss in Boots last weekend and there's a giant beanstalk in that movie).

Then the kids (which really ended up being me all by myself) planted beans in gloves.



The gloves are hanging in the front room window (which could really use a good cleaning) for all the south going traffic on our street to see.

After the story and bean planting, we headed outside (since it was sunny and only slightly chilly). Cate rode the ponies twice. Ray Ray kept shaking his head and saying Uh-uh when I asked him if he wanted to ride. Then when I helped Cate onto her pony he ran over to me screaming in fear. I was a little worried he'd spook the ponies but they remained calm.

Danny had no interest in riding either.



We took a little wagon ride around the block and then off to Ray Ray's house for his nap.

I wonder sometimes when I go on little outings with these adorable little people if they realize that I'm doing this all for them.

Do they know that?

Am I happy enough?

Do I look like I'm trying to enjoy myself so that they can enjoy themselves?

Or does it even matter to them?

I don't know.

We'll just keep on doing stuff until all the chunks of time are filled up.

Or until I don't care about kids running around my house making messes.


p.s. That picture at the top on the end. Danny looking like he's crying. He's not. He was in the middle of a laugh.

p.p.s. And the one at the end with the sun rays. Danny looking like he's sleeping. He's not. He was in the middle of a blink.

national peanut butter day

I like peanut butter.

I like that it gets its own little day.

It's today.

National Peanut Butter Day.

Based on my research, it's also National Eskimo Pie Patent Day, Lobster Thermidor Day, Belly Laugh Day and National Compliment Day.

Allow me to introduce you to my latest favorite peanut buttery treat.


Peanut butter pretzel bites


Red, white and pink sprinkles for neighbor Valentine's treats (if they make it out of my kitchen)



Red, white and blue sprinkles for President's Day (if you're into bringing around treats to the neighbors on that day).

Or wait until July. That works too.

Or Memorial Day if you can't wait until July.


I halved the recipe. It made 20.

Those missing two were camera shy (and quite tasty).




For the chocolate, I mixed a little peanut butter in with the chocolate chips (got the idea from Marisa's chocolate graham cookies). Made it creamier and less cracky when you bite in. Not that I mind cracky chocolate when it's covering my peanut butter and pretzels.

Wouldn't you know it. On National Peanut Butter Day I'm all out of peanut butter.

Poor planning on my part.

I'll be buying a jar this morning and stuffing my face with these little yummies by nightfall.

Yum.

not funny

A certain someone is still not asleep. His mother would like to go to sleep.

I sat in the bathroom with him as he washed his hands after emptying his bladder for the 3rd time since putting him to bed tonight.

I asked him why he still wasn't asleep. He said it was because of the funny day.

Apparently today was a funny day and the lingering after effects are just keeping him awake. All that funny residue is just floating around in his body and he can't find the time to just go to sleep.

I asked him what was so funny about today, mostly because I was with him for almost the whole thing and I don't remember a lot of funny stuff. Speech class, picking up Cate at Judy's house, the dinosaur museum, playing with Jarrett, picking up pizza for dinner, iPad games with Daddy, bed. Am I missing something? Some fun stuff but funny? Maybe he's just confused.

According to him, it was Jarrett, Ray Ray, Cate, and Daddy that made today so funny. Oh, all those people who spent so much time with him today. Hey, um, I think you forgot someone.

So I said, "Hey, what about me? I'm funny right?"

He told me no. I'm crushed. I'm not funny.

"I'm not funny? What am I then?"

"You're Mommy!"

"But I'm a funny mommy, right?"

"No! You're just Mommy!" He says this with a smile on his face and a little giggle at the end.

Ouch.

And then one last thing as I walked him back to his room.

"Don't forget the 5-year-old. Me! I'm totally 5!"

I guess he's totally funny too.

Then he blahblahblahed about some game he played with Jarrett today and I put the blankets on him again and walked out of the room, not quite sure who I am anymore.

I always knew I wasn't the fun mom. I'm no dummy. It's painfully clear.

Now I'm not the funny mom either.

ha. ha ha.

meeting a movie star

That's me.

With my arm around a movie star.

And lookee there.

He's got his arm around me too. (I'm never going to wash that shoulder again.)

I apologize for the cruddy cell phone picture. I don't have an iPhone.

His name (in case you don't recognize him) is Jasen Wade.

I got his autograph too.




He plays Levi Savage in the movie 17 Miracles.

The movie is very touching. It's about the Willie Handcart Company of Mormon pioneers and their journey to the Salt Lake Valley.

My grandma was a card carrying member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. I guess that makes me one too (although I don't have a membership card).

I've always been interested in hearing and reading stories of the pioneers. I'm grateful that they made the sacrifices they did so that I can have what I do today.

(And they make yummy cookies and candy too. I've already got my Pioneer Day recipe picked out for this summer. It's a good one.)

If you haven't seen the movie yet, you should.

And try not to be too jealous that I got to meet a movie star.

kids at play

* tea party *

No actual tea involved.
This one's a tea party picnic.
The conversation goes a little something like this:

her: What would you like?
me: tacos
her: We don't have tacos.
How about watermelon meat berry cake?
me: Ok. Watermelon meat berry cake.
her: What would you like?
me: Corn on the cob.
her: We don't have corn on the cob.
How about pepperoni cookie pie?
me: Ok. Pepperoni cookie pie.
her: What would you like?

Get the idea?
It goes on and on and on.

* babies in a line *

This one's easy:

Spread them all out.
Count them.
Don't clean up.

* ride the horsey *

Getting some good use out of that Halloween costume.

* Chutes and Ladders *

He'll play this one all night if you let him.
He's learning to not be utterly disappointed if he has to go down the chute.
It's a good lesson to learn.
Also learning that all he needs is a 1 on the first spin to take a big lead.

* movie time *

That turned over table is the movie screen.
Enjoying tea and popcorn with Big Baby during the show.

* the little people *

Stick the people in.
Spin it.
Laugh when they fall out.
Repeat.

cloud dough

Ladies and gentlemen (probably mostly ladies though),

I proudly present part 3 in the series How We're Going to Survive Being Cooped up Inside All Winter.

(Part 1 and Part 2 for your review)

Funny thing though. We haven't had snow yet. It's the middle of January and no snow. We went to the park a week after Christmas and didn't freeze our bippies off so who knows? Maybe we'll just have to save all these and do them again next year when we really are cooped up all winter.

Whatever.

Cloud Dough



Here's what you need:


8 cups of plain flour

1 cup of baby oil

Lots of patience and a disregard for messes


I had plenty of the first 2 ingredients so I doubled the recipe. Turns out I had a bottle of baby oil under the bathroom sink. I think it was my grandma's. I never used baby oil on my babies so the bottle was full. I sure love the way that stuff smells.

I for sure had way less than enough of that last ingredient. I try. I honestly do. I don't want to be the mom whose kids go into therapy later in life and find out that the root of all their problems is a mother who didn't let them make messes. So here I am exposing them to potentially messy situations.



I spread out the spare shower curtain and let them have at it.

Cate donated some bowls and spoons from her kitchen for scooping and molding.



It's pretty cool stuff. You can shape it and then crumble it. And it smells good.

I guess you should be careful if your kid is small enough to possibly eat the stuff. Not sure baby oil is good for your innards.



You can even mix it up. It makes an excellent cake batter. Or cookie dough.



It vacuums up quite nicely should any huge amount make it off the spare shower curtain and all over the floor.



Did I mention that it smells good?

Our tub of cloud dough is currently in the back garage. It's been a few months. I think I'm ready to tackle it again.

The kids haven't asked to play with it again so maybe it's not as awesome as I thought it would be.

Or maybe they're just good at forgetting things.

Looks like there's actual snow in the forecast for this week so maybe we'll give it another try.

Wish me luck.


p.s. If you're concerned that baby oil is made from a non-renewable resource (as was somebody in the comments in that link above), looks like you can use olive oil. Sure, it won't smell as good but looks like we've only got one planet and we don't want to destroy it, one batch of cloud dough at a time.

thankful for cousins

Barring some unforeseen miracle, Danny's not going to have a brother.

I'm glad he's got cousins who love him.

They are his best friends.

And this picture makes me cry.

Look at my bald baby.

Just as sweet today as he was then.

Except now he's a way better sleeper.

six

1. Yesterday was pajama day at preschool. I could get used to that kind of arrangement. All I had to do to get ready for school was brush Cate's hair. Piece of cake.



The kids had to bring a sleeping bag and pillow to class. That means there's still a mountain of blankets in my front room because Cate's sleeping bag was at the bottom of the closet. They're having fun jumping on Blanket Mountain so maybe it'll stay there all weekend.

I hate to be the one to spoil their fun.



2. I had this great idea to hang my measuring cups to the inside of the cupboard. I figured that would free up some space and make them feel more organized. (See that strip of wood colored wood down the outside edge? That's because we took the cupboard doors off 11 years ago to paint them. We bought new hinges. Then the doors didn't fit anymore. Uncle Tony cut off a tiny bit from every single cupboard door so they'd close. We never got around to doing the touch-up painting. Maybe in anther 11 years when we paint them again.)

The problem with the measuring cups hanging on the cupboard door is that as soon as I close the door, I forget that they are there...until the next time I open the door and they clang around wildly and a few fall off. I had no idea I opened cupboard doors so forcefully.

3. I took the kids to Costco this afternoon. No way I'm going on Saturday and we needed stuff so I took my chances. They were pretty good. When we got home I was pooped so I told the kids I was going to rest. Cate closed my bedroom door. When I opened it a few minutes later, this is what I saw:



Serves me right for resting. That's the neatest little mess I've seen in a long time though.

4. My morning exercise grade for the week: F+

Monday: 6:00 am
Tuesday: Alarm didn't go off. Went during preschool. Wasted precious quiet time.
Wednesday: Didn't even bother to set the alarm.
Thursday: Nothing.
Friday: Remains to be seen.

This week Dan has been going to swim class at 9:00 each night. I've been sleeping in and not exercising. So he's turning into Michael Phelps and I'm turning into Jabba the Hutt. I think I'm getting the better end of the deal. Clearly.

5. Cate fell asleep at 8:00 last night. Then she woke up at 9:00. For the next three hours she was thirsty and hungry and not sleeping. She even asked me at one point if she could turn on her light and dance. And this is why I can't get up early to exercise every morning. Just because I need a better excuse than laziness.

6. I ate lunch with a new friend yesterday. Kind of like internet dating except we're both ladies and it wasn't a date. We paid for ourselves. I've been reading Evonne's blog for a while. She's funny and nice and not cheesy. I don't like cheesy. Fun fact about her: she used to work with Dan's sister. Small world. I had fun but was really nervous due to the fact that I'm a social weirdo. Go on over to her blog to see a picture of the three of us (Evonne, me and my extra chin).

* * *

Have a nice weekend! I'm sure I will. Cleaning toilets, vacuuming, folding laundry and making these. Guess which one I'm looking forward to the most.

the greatest snow on earth

It's January and I'm still waiting for our first snow storm of winter.

What's the hold up?

I hate driving in the stuff but I love to shovel it. It's a good workout, especially if the snow is wet.

Danny and Cate love to eat it. Especially if it's been on the ground. These kids are hungry.

Just the other day, Danny was singing a song about eating icicles. Something about how the best ones are hanging off the house.

These kids are anxious for some snow.

* * *

That's my favorite picture of Grandma's house.

The house we live in.

I'm wishing things looked like this outside right now. Or soon at least.

* * *

And just for fun, here's the picture of the same house now. Well, the tree has lost its leaves but everything else is pretty much where it belongs.




Candis painted this picture for me.

I love it.

Home sweet home.

I just wish there were 3 inches of snow on the roof right now.

And about the same amount covering up all the dead leaves of fall that I didn't rake up.

* * *

p.s. Click on Candis up there. It's a link to her free printable LOVE banner for Valentine's Day! Cute stuff!

p.p.s. Happy birthday to Uncle Tim! Danny was shocked to find out yesterday that Uncle Tim is Dan's big brother. Totally shocked. I promise I've told him before.

sleep tight

A few months ago I came across these sleeping bags for the three little bears and I knew I just had to have some. Mostly because just a few nights earlier Danny had asked me for a tiny sleeping bag for Hard Puppy. Talk about perfect timing.

I can't sew. Well, I can sew buttons onto shirts and back in the day I could do a mean cross stitch. I could probably stitch up the holes in our socks if I really tried. But the sewing machine and I are not besties. One day we will be.



I posted the link to those cute little sleeping bags on facebook along with something like, "Hey, these are cute. Somebody make some for me." And what do you know? Somebody made some for me!

It's nice to be nice to the nice. This proves it.

It's not Debra's first time to whip up something for me on her sewing machine. Remember the baby diapers she made for Cate? And the light saber popsicle holders last summer? Maybe I don't need to learn how to sew after all. Debra's taking care of us.

She made three little sleeping bags for Danny's stuffed friends and three for Cate's (which are used mainly for babies, not stuffed friends).

I love them.

Cate did too.

And Danny?

He was thrilled. More excited than I expected him to be about a sleeping bag for Hard Puppy.


And Deeda (or is it Didda? I can't keep track) has been nice and cozy too.




p.s. In case any of my sewing friends want to make other stuff for me, I've got plenty of projects saved under When I Learn How to Sew on my pinterest page.

nine on the ninth

I don't have 9 pictures for today.
Monday is not my finest day.
I've got 9 thoughts instead.
Those are hard to come by sometimes.
Consider yourself lucky.

one
I tended the nephews today.
I got Cate and Ray Ray settled to watch a movie.
Charlie Brown Christmas.
I walked away to get a drink.
I came back to peek on them.
That's how they looked.
Adorable.
It lasted a whole 30 seconds at least.
Ray Ray can't sit still.
And Cate can't seem to be quiet.
They are a lovely combination.
I'm tired.

two
Dan starts swimming lessons tonight.
I usually go to the gym at night.
Not tonight.
I'm going in the morning this week instead.
Early in the morning.
I haven't gone anywhere in the cold,
dark morning for a very long time.
I'm not the only person with the bright idea
to go to the gym in the cold, dark morning.
The parking lot was full.
My StairMaster was taken.
So were almost all the elliptical machines.
All except my favorite one.
Yes, I have a favorite.

three
I was thinking about my grandma today.
It's been 10 years since the Olympics came to Utah.
10 years.
It seems like a long time.
Grandma passed away a year and a half earlier.
I remember laying on the front room floor
watching the opening ceremonies and crying
because of how much I knew Grandma would have
loved it that the Olympics were in Utah.
She would have sat in her special chair
in the kitchen watching every single event
on the little t.v.
She might even have moved into the front room
in the evenings to watch the ice skating.
That was her favorite.
I remember just wishing she could have been
there to watch with us.

four
I think about chocolate every day.
If I don't have some, I want some.
If I do have some, I want some more.
That's why I go to the gym.
See, I'm thinking about chocolate again.

five
We played chutes and ladders after dinner tonight.
And candy land.
Danny is very competitive.
Cate is observant and quiet.
I think we need to play more games with her.
It's the quietest she's been all day.
Either that or get a puppy.
Those seem to make her quiet too.

six
I made breakfast for dinner tonight.
Pancakes.
Scrambled eggs.
Bacon.
Pears.
I call it pretend dinner.
That's what my mom used to call dinner
that she didn't put much thought into.
Not that we cared.
Pretend dinner tasted just as good as the real stuff.
Other pretend dinners that are my specialties:
grilled cheese sandwiches and soup
any other variation of breakfast for dinner
dinner involving meat that I didn't have to remember to thaw
(because it probably didn't involve meat at all)

seven
It's cold today.
I let the two little ones play outside this afternoon.
They didn't seem to mind.
I sat bundled up in a blanket on the front bench to watch them.
I wondered if all the cars that drove by
thought I was a horrible mom for letting
the kids play outside in the cold.
At least they had coats on.

eight
It's Kaycee's birthday today.
She's one of the young women at church.
She's 17.
And she has a blog.
I wish I had a blog when I was 17.
Wouldn't that be fun to look back and read 20 years later?
Sure, I had journals and I took pictures.
That's like a blog.
But not quite the same.
I didn't even have a computer when I was 17.
I know Kaycee looks at this blog sometimes so
Happy birthday, Kaycee!
I hope you made yourself a cute little
balloon bouquet at work.

nine
Today in my perusing the internet time
(while Ray Ray was napping and Cate was
confined to the downstairs bedroom for quiet time)
I learned
how to avoid ruining hard boiled eggs.
That's a good one for me.
I usually end up with that gray stuff around the yolk.
Yuck.
(The trick is heat slowly, cool quickly! Who knew?)


That is all.
Good night.

stating the obvious

A few weeks ago in church Cate was talking quite loudly to herself. She likes to "read" stories while flipping through the pages in the hymn book.

On this particular Sabbath day, the hymn story was about a monster and ogre berry pie.

I did my motherly duty and leaned over to tell her to quiet down.

"You have to whisper," I said. It would have been better to just tell her to stop talking all together but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Her reply (which made me softly giggle), in a not very quiet voice:

"Then I can't hear my voice!"

Well, duh.

Sometimes she must think I'm such a dingbat.


p.s. I really miss my Christmas tree. Really.

for comparison

You know how sometimes moms take pictures of their babies laying next to some kind of stuffed animal once a month for the first year of their lives?

Just to get a good visual of how much their baby changes and grows whilst the stuffed animal just stays the same.

I never did that.

But now we've got Big Baby (or Idda, Kicka, Poopa, Megdula, Doola...her name changes a lot) sitting around all day wearing the preemie outfit Cate wore when she came home from her 3 week hospital stay as a newborn.

It makes me stop and think every time she comes over to me to ask me to help get Big Baby dressed. She was tiny. And I'm glad she made it home with us. I just sometimes wish she had figured out how to eat, regulate her body temperature and keep her oxygen levels high enough a little sooner, but I forgive her.

I tell Cate that those are the jammies she wore when she was a tiny baby. Then I ask her if she remembers when she was a tiny baby in the hospital. Every time she says yes. I obviously don't think she really remembers that but I think it's funny that she says she does.




It's kind of like I've got my own little reminder of how sweet and tiny my big girl used to be.

not nothing

Dan comes home from work lots of days and asks Cate what we did all day.

"So, Cate, tell me what you did today."

Lots of days her reply is, "Nuh-fing." Nothing! Nothing? Where has that kid been all day when we were busy doing everything except for nuh-fing?

So here's all the nothing we did today. Just so that some day (when my kids are big and all I want is for us to sit around at home together and do nothing instead of running all over town to basketball practice and dance lessons and who knows what else) I can look back at all this and remember that we did stuff together. And they can remember that they liked me and actually wanted to be around me. Not that I'm expecting my kids to grow up and not want to be around me, but I've heard it could happen.

☀ heart cookies (from one of those bag mixes, not scratch mind you) because I've got Valentine's on the brain. Cate only wanted to eat the dough, not the end result. I let her even though there was a warning on the package to not eat the raw dough. Livin' on the edge.

☀ kids helped themselves to a little peanut butter for breakfast (I need to remember to put the lid on tighter)

☀ making decorations for the party (my birthday party because it's been my birthday for the past 3 days, according to her)

☀ finally opened his last Christmas present (from Aunt Nancy). Darth!

☀ making messes

☀ finally using the sprinkles Grama Bama gave me last year (I think she bought them on clearance at Target). I like sprinkles.

☀ helping. Pinch and sprinkle! Pinch and sprinkle! No dumping! Pinch and sprinkle! (I just about had a heart attack.)

☀ taught Danny that X means kisses and O means hugs.

☀ sitting down in front of the boob tube. Say what you will about it. I love Peppa Pig. She taught Cate about toe-mah-toes and biscuits. And muddy puddles.

☀ watching the end of Peppa together (since I had to get up to answer the phone). Sitting together nicely!

☀ watching Psych and auditioning a treat for the neighbors for Valentine's Day. It's a winner (with peanut butter, pretzels and chocolate how could it not be?). When Danny tasted them he said, "Mmmmmm! Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmmmmmmm!" That's my boy.

☀ working on the tractor from the Lego set Grandma gave Danny for Christmas (and remembering why I make Dan help Danny with Lego construction)

☀ Danny playing with pink Legos! Never thought I'd see the day.

☀ another mess

☀ reading dinosaur books (after she asked me at least 5 times to read to her...the tractor took longer than I thought)

☀ took a trip to Target because it was 4:30 and I was dying to get out of the house and just go somewhere. Anywhere. I chose Target because my grays are poking through and something's got to be done about that.

☀ salad for dinner. Blah.

☀ Danny came over to sit on my lap while I was eating my blah dinner just because he wanted to snuggle. I especially want to remember this one when he's 16. And I want him to remember it too.

And then Dan came home. And he said, "So, Cate. Tell me what you did today." And I punched my time card (since I'd been with these awake kids for 12 hours today). Danny wanted to wrestle and Cate sat at the table cutting her glue stick with the kid scissors.

☀ I went to my room and made freaky neck pictures.

☀ And saw what I'd look like with freaky hair and droopy boobs.


Not pictured but slightly worth mentioning:

☀ the fact that I had showered, gotten dressed and applied make-up all before 9:00.

☀ finally realizing what I'm going to do with those big old windows in the garage (and hoping that maybe I'll get it done at some point this year...I'm dreaming big)

☀ listening to Danny tell me that this is a "no fun day" several times this morning when I told him he couldn't go play video games at Aunt Judy's house

☀ attempting to enforce a little quiet time this afternoon (lasted 45 minutes because for some reason, Cate thought she had to use the bathroom twice and I finally just gave up)

☀ washing, drying, folding and putting away 3 loads of laundry (boring)

☀ watching Despicable Me after non-existent quiet time (Danny's favorite part: when the geeky guy on the moon says, "Oh, poop.")

☀ attempting to escape to my room for a few moments of quiet after the Target trip and Cate asked where I was going. I told her I was going to go sit by myself for a few minutes. Her reply, "I'll go where you go." Yep. You sure will. Every time.



And just for funzies...

Cate.

One year ago today.



Her first attempt at stuffing socks down her shirt.

Given her genetics, it probably won't be her last.

countdown to kisses

I like Valentine's Day.

Any holiday that celebrates and encourages love, chocolate and kisses is a holiday I support 100%.

My kids like countdowns.

I made this paper chain for them today while they were at preschool (their first day back since being off for 3 weeks and let me tell you it was heaven!).

Best part about me pretending to be crafty: it's free. I just used the paper I already had in my stash. Can't beat that.



Pick your paper and cut strips for the links.

Cut out hearts (I just did this freestyle because I'm crazy like that). Make a slit on either side. I used my scissors because I'm not a craft pro. They probably use exacto knives.

Slide the strips through the heart. Repeat until you have as many as you need (or until it's time to pick up the kidlets from preschool).

I used a smallish pink loop in between the big loops so that my hearts wouldn't be all wonky.




After everything was stapled in place, I wrote the names of our loved ones on the hearts. I kept families together. That's how they're supposed to be right? (Plus, if everyone got their own heart we would've had to start this before Christmas.)



The kiddies and Dan each get their own heart.

And I saved the best for last.



I'm quite proud of myself. It turned out exactly how I planned (while I was laying in bed at 3:00 this morning not being able to go back to sleep after being rudely awakened by a certain 3-year-old).




I've got 32 links up there. We won't be starting the countdown just yet but it doesn't hurt to have your family stuck on the wall now does it?

Here's my plan.

When we tear off the second link of each heart, we'll write a little letter (or card or cheesy Valentine) to that person and send it in the mail. So family (if any of you read this blog anymore), when you get some random piece of love mail from us, that's why.

And just so you know, it might be a countdown to kisses but I'm not promising kisses to everyone on the hearts.

That would just be weird.