Why Murphy, Why?

The nesting continues. Today was quite productive with a full cleanout of the basement, including massive organizing and cleanout of the two kids' bedrooms downstairs, and the playroom. Then on to the storage room and the garage to attack the storage tubs and the clothing and shoes therein. I *almost* got it all done. I filled a big black plastic bag full to bursting for the Clothing exchange. (yay!) More importantly, I got all of each of the boy's warm winter clothing (except what didn't get washed today), sorted, folded and stashed away until fall rolls around and the temps start dropping. I didn't get the the girls' things yet, but I will tomorrow!!

So here's my question to the great and powerful Murphy: Why, on the 30th of April, the day before May, just one month before summer vacation officially begins, and this crazy pregnant woman finally goes to the effort of getting out all of the summer clothing, WHY is it SNOWING?? Yes, a peek out the door around 9 tonight revealed bright little white flakes floating oh so sweetly down from the sky. No more sweetly floating! Go back to where you came from! Rain if you must, but please, no more snow! If I don't get some sun soon I'm going to start looking like a leper again..... We DO live in a desert you know! Could someone please remind the weather of that?

My friends far away

For those who don't live here in my glorious happy valley, or anywhere else in the state, I'm requesting a favor. Let's call it a Gargantuan favor of mammoth proportion. Just so you know what you're in for.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, and let me just say PLEASE, if you happen to discuss this whole FLDS/Polygamist stuff with people, PLEASE clarify to them that these people are in no way shape or form part of, related to, or associating with the Mormons!!! PLEASE!!! Seriously, I cannot believe how many news outlets that consider themselves reputable are failing miserably to distinguish the difference between the LDS church and the *F*LDS church. That's kind of like saying that since originally the Protestants broke from the Catholic Church, that all Protestant Churches should be called Catholic Protestant Churches. Sounds pretty silly, no? Yah. If people are wondering what the difference is, visit lds.org and get REAL information on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, don't take some media hack word for what we believe. I have seen some of the most outrageous stuff out there lately, and it makes me nuts! The thing that kills me is that some of the meanest things I have read in papers, magazines, and online is condemning Mormons to Hell "in the name of Christianity"....well, gee, if that doesn't make a whole load of sense! lol Kind of like good old preacher Percival who insists on bringing his minions to SLC every six months to desecrate things that are sacred within the LDS church and scream and yell because he thinks he's a Christian and thinks that none of us are. That's one bright star. *sigh* I guarantee you will not find one member of the LDS church who supports in any way shape or form one bit of the lifestyle being led in Hilldale/Colorado City, or Eldorado.

And just to prove the point, go to www.mcmillermoments.blogspot.com and read the post titled "A Very Funny Email". I got this email a few weeks ago, but never even thought to put it here for the whole world to see, so I'm sending you to a friend that posted it. It kind of nails the point home.

stuff

The adventure continues. Lincoln also learned at the end of last week to open door knobs. He is SO proud of himself. Every time he gets one open you hear a little giggle from the impish grin on his face. It is extremely entertaining and yet very irritating at the same time. Of course he figured it out just days before the anticipated move from the crib to a bed. Just in time to escape at bedtime! (let's hope he's tired enough each night to not try it.....)



I'm out of control. I remade my glider chair pads (the old ones were cheap-o and too thin) and then reupholstered them on Saturday. I got the blessing gown down minus the embellishments (but that's the fun part anyway). I do need to clip the threads that are hanging off it still, and the collar is sewn, the pins are just to keep the shape until I iron it. And I have some more fabric earmarked for two more outfits. Can't decide if I want to make her another dress, or a little bubble suit or what. hmmm.....


I think I scare Aaron when he leaves town. He never knows what project he is coming home to. Don't get me wrong, I do the projects, I don't make them for him to do, but I wouldn't be surprised if the thought of having to leave town for a week next month (for work) scares him b/c he is leaving his nesting wife home. What will he come home to?

Also got some knee socks to make baby legs. Who knew they'd be so easy? I'd much rather spend 58 cents and 15min or so putting them together than drop $12 or more a pair. Yes, I really am that cheap. Someone asked me the other day if I have certain crafts that I choose ahead of time to do, or if there is one area that I spend most of my time working in. The actual answer was "I'm too cheap to buy the things that I like, so if I see it and I like it, I figure out a way to make it."

It's 9:30. I have sent 3 kids to school, done a load of laundry, one of dishes, and all of the dishes that needed to be done by hand. Oh yah, did I mention I got the joy of helping put together the rest of a book report this morning? Seriously, someone just hit me now. (Does anyone know if Sister Whitten still wants to smack me? lol) I am SOOOOOO ready for school to be out. Only 5 more weeks. Only 3 more Mondays since today's send off is officially done and Memorial day takes up one of the remaining days.

I bought an exercise bike on Saturday. I love my elliptical, but you know, that whole pregnancy pressure thing...hips splitting apart and all that good stuff. Every once in a while it is uncomfortable to use my beloved elliptical, so I wanted another option. I like the bike. I hope Aaron is not mad at me for buying it. (and yes, keeping in line with myself, it is used and was cheap!) I like the burn it gives me. It's nice to work different muscles and not have to feel the jiggle in my backside like I'm starting to feel on the elliptical.

But hey, I can work twice as long on the elliptical at a higher speed than I could when I first bought it when Lincoln was about a month old. And not get winded. And not get my heart rate up. (what a good pregnant woman I am) It's nice to know that at 6 mo pregnant I am in better shape than I was a year and a half ago not pregnant. Hopefully the next three months won't do me in and jumping back into things postpartum this time will be easier. Faster recovery, faster return to clothes. Hey. One can hope.

I am up 17 pounds. Yes, I just put that out there for the world to see. 24-28wks is the month when usually when I put on 8-10lbs. If I keep at the rate I'm at, then at my official weigh in next Tues I will only have gained about 4 1/2-5lbs during that time. That will make me REALLY happy. And even better, I am only 2 lbs more now than when I started my pregnancy with Jacob. THAT makes me happy! Apparently that whole exercising thing actually does help. Who'd have thought?

My feet have gotten a bigger since I started having kids. THankfully I haven't gained a half a size with each baby, otherwise I would be walking around wearing canoes on my feet. But I have gone up nearly a full size over the past 10yrs. The good news: I can still very much see my feet. If I had cute little petite feet, my toes would be eclipsed by my belly by now, or in the very near future. I like to still be able to see my toes.



Speaking of toes, I am one of those freaks who must have painted toe nails. At all times. Yes, I paint my toes through the end of my pregnancy. It was a joke in the maternity ward last time I delivered. The woman just popped out her 6th kid, but her toes look great! With little flower embellishments and everything. Who knew those years in gymnastics would pay off in such a practical way all these years later. I didn't know until a few years ago that it was a privilege to be able to paint your toenails, tie your shoes and shave your legs all by yourself at the end of pregnancy. Considering how stubborn I am, it's a good thing I can still do those things at the end of the pregnancy journey.

I really love my calling in church. We had a fireside last night. It was wonderful. There is a repeat of it in three weeks. Half of the stake was supposed to be there last night. For those not near here, that would be 6 wards. 6 is half, not all of them. So the other six are supposed to join us in three weeks. There were 25 people there last night. P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. That averages 4 people per ward. The next fireside is now for EVERYONE in the stake. The turnout had better be better. If not, oh well, their loss, but really, what am I going to do with 200 pairs of glasses with noses and moustaches on them if the turnout stinks again?

I got the most movie line answers right on my husband's blog. Wow-I can't believe I beat Chris. I can't decide if that's exciting or scary. But I got M&Ms out of it so it can't be too bad.

I had a handful of those m&ms with breakfast this morning. A bowl of oatmeal and a handful of peanut butter m&ms. Hey-it's protein.

Not only did Aaron buy me pb m&ms on Sat night, he also brought me home some Ben and Jerry's. Because he missed me on Friday night. Awwwwww.....what a good man!

Oh! Listen! can you hear it? The m&ms are calling me. I must be in need of more protein.

Oh wait. That was Jacob. He got egg on his thumb. Because he cracked an egg into the bowl of muffin mix. I guess since he has now mixed it all including the milk, I should put them in the muffin pan and in the oven. Nothing like a 5yr old who can barely read, but can decipher a recipe on the back of a box of muffin mix-use the right measurements-and just does it on his own, only calling you to turn on the oven because he doesn't know how to do that yet. I guess we're having blueberry muffins for a snack today. With peanut butter m&ms.

What do you do all day?

The forever question to stay at home moms....."WHAT do you do all day?" or more appropriately some days "What did you do all day today?" Uttered either out loud by a very brave (or maybe just naive) husband when he wanders in from work in the evening, or just under his breath if he's learned! ; )

Thankfully I've been blessed with a very gracious husband who has not uttered these words in quite some time. Sure, there was some questioning in those first days-which is understandable-but I don't think I've heard them for years. Smart man.

After being ridiculously sick for a week (strep sucks), and not doing much of anything for a few days, the house was certainly showing how I felt. You know how it goes...laundry piles up, the dishes don't get washed, floors aren't vacuumed, all that good stuff. Thankfully I have older children who did help out with some of it, but they while they are helpful, they can't exactly keep with the full daily grind of 8 people. And lest you think I am discounting my dear husband, he was wonderful as well, and was kind enough to make sure I was taken care of and do what he could around the house when he wasn't at work or church.

Well, thankfully I am feeling human again now! What a difference it makes! So I am finally feeling back up to par, and the lovely nesting instinct is peeking in occasionally. I'm waiting for it to hit me full on so I can REALLY be productive!

So to answer the question "what did you do today?", here it is: Made two crib sheets (pink, of course!), made a little dress and bloomers for unnamed baby girl (not all pink-lol), started her blessing gown, cut fabric for duvets for Jacob and Lincoln for when they make the move downstairs. Vacuumed three times (and I'm sure it'll be more), cleaned the bathroom. REALLY cleaned. like you could eat in there and not worry about it! lol And cleaned out all the cupboards and drawers as well. Exercised this morning (it's nice to feel good enough again-believe it or not I missed it last week!), cleaned out the office, did 3 loads of laundry so far, 2 of dishes, and drum roll please....cleaned out the storage room! Hallelujah! (unless you've seen it over the past two weeks, you just don't understand that) Oh, and I baked muffins, some of them from scratch! Not to mention I finally blogged again. : ) Ok, so truthfully the sewing was yesterday, but hey, sometimes the days all blend together!

And now, the living room awaits. I can't believe how dusty it gets out here. oh well, at least it isn't quite as bad as it was two years ago. Next week-the garage and the basement, and with any luck, the storage tubs and the seasonal clothing changeout. Can I tell you how much I love freecycle and the number of trips to the DI it has saved me?? Sometimes it just feels so good to cleanout.....thank goodness I have a baby every year and a half or so and nest for a few months of each pregnancy! ; )

All sorts of fun new things

One of the sweet joys of parenthood is watching your kids hit new milestones. There is nothing quite so fun as watching your baby learn to roll over, crawl, take those first shaky steps....then all of the fun talking things, words, phrases, jokes...so fun.
Like Lincoln's new words yesterday. "Cheese" and "poop". Nice. Add to it the fact that a 19mo old saying "poop" over and over is nothing short of hilarious to the older siblings, and he's really learning that one well. Then their are the few that are bittersweet...watching your child learn to ride a bike, then take off and not look back, learning to read and wanting to do their own reading instead of listening to your bedtime stories, you parents know how it goes. And those who don't yet, will all too soon.

Where is this going? good question. The kids are always picking up something new, even if it isn't something exciting. It seems like there are some weeks when they go through sudden spurts of getting older and more independent. Where one day your "baby" doesn't look so much like a baby anymore, and suddenly acts like a rambunctious little boy. Where your 5yr old decides that he wants to go outside and ride his bike with the big kids, not with mom watching. I'm sure it's due to the fact that soon an actual baby will be here, but Lincoln just seems so much older lately. Suddenly he wants to be doing his own thing his own way. And he'd much rather be one of the big kids 90% of the time.

In his efforts to keep up, one of the tricks he is trying to master is walking up and down the stairs. He scares me on the stairs anyway, just because he is way too confident in himself! He took a nice tumble down a friends stairs a few months ago, but thankfully theirs were carpeted, padded, and there is carpet at the bottom. The fact that ours are unfinished and there is concrete at the bottom is a bit unnerving to me. Well, apparently he is tougher than I thought. He was following instructions (that had been yelled at him multiple times from me at the bottom of the stairs) and coming down the stairs backwards on his tummy. phew. Disaster averted....or so I thought. Apparently as soon as I was out of sight, he turned around. I my eagerness to get back to what I was doing, I was buried in the storage room when I heard the infamous Thud, thud, bonk, crash, gasp, shriek, THUD. Then silence before the cry. *sigh* I hate that silence. Since I am not exactly the picture of coordination at this point, it took me a few seconds to hurdle my way out of the storage room and get to him. Thankfully he looked MUCH better than I expected, and the fact that he was crying was obviously a sign that he was breathing. No blood, no broken bones, just a big long tumble down some hard steps with one heck of a landing. The head's a bit purple and red, but it matches nicely where he biffed it the other day and got a nice bonk and a scratch.

(good times with stairs in the neighborhood lately....all at my house.....is this a sign?)

And of course, after being cuddled for just a minute or so, and settling down, he wanted to go play with the boys. At least I got that cuddle in there before he went back to being rambunctious again.

Gonna have to see this one

I happened to catch this little snippet on a Ben Stein movie that is new. Ben Stein cracks me up, so when I saw the tag line, I decided to read the article. Definitely worth 3 minutes to read, it sounds like the movie is worth the time too! (links never work for me so you'll probably have to copy and paste)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080418/cm_uc_crbbox/op_235852;_ylt=AiHFT4Za6lFRgiFy0KQ0ruYE1vAI

And after you see this one, go find The Great Global Warming Swindle. (although you should see An Inconvenient Truth first. I know, I know, but trust me on this one...it will make sense if you actually do it)

And while we're on it...there's a great book sitting on my shelf if you need a good read too! : ) I adore the fact that people are willing to make these things now! What a refreshing little piece of change!

Just killing time....

While Aaron is gone for a well-deserved guy's night out, I'm just hanging out playing on line taking a break from my knitting. Yes, I said taking a break from knitting! lol apparently I am aging faster than I realized! ; ) Besides, typing keeps my hands busy and thus away from eating the ginormous bag of M&M's that my sweet husband brought me today....along with a dozen roses and the movie Enchanted. (b/c he is enchanted with me. *awwwwww* I know-are we too corny for words or what?!)

So there you go...the kitchen is beautified with flowers, the kids were entertained with a movie (and are now sleeping peacefully!), Aaron is getting a chance to just go play w/out babysitting young men, discussing church things, having to get back to work or having a curfew (ha!), and the wife is placated with chocolate and working on little projects.

It doesn't get much better than this, does it?

Oh wait! It does! I get a really long foot massage tonight when he gets back! : )

This is the life!

And now, back to scouring the online world for names.....

What Good Fortune!

I can't believe it. Really. Not often does fortune smile upon us in an overwhelming way. Imagine twice in one day! Lucky, lucky me! Not only am I being offered 30% of 25 million dollars for helping transfer it for Lt. Doug McGivens with the US Military, due to be postedfrom Denmark to Venezuela any time from now, but I am also being offered 20% of 5 million dollars for helping Mr. David Olds from Thailand invest his money here since he can't there due to Thai regulations. (it's his late father's fortune just in case you were wondering)

Don't you wish you were as lucky as I am? ;)

Seriously-HOW do these things end up in my in box??

Having too much fun!

Well, despite the stomach flu garbage that is. Blech. Thankfully that has passed on it's way (and had better not rear it's ugly head again!). It should just be one of those natural laws that you aren't allowed to get the stomach flu when you are pregnant. Especially once you are big enough that your muscles are stretching out.

Anyway, back to the point. I have decided to launch full on into girly things for this little nameless child residing in my belly. (seriously-suggestions welcome-we're still clueless and Seven is just mean with out last name!) Maybe it was spurred by my dream last night that I actually gave birth to a boy instead of a girl! Whatever it is, I spent the afternoon today putting together some fun little accessories for this little female addition. Thanks to some inspiration from a couple of very talented individuals, and the fact that I am too cheap to buy everything cute that was at the baby expo, I decided to be girly. I can't wait to get started on the bracelets!

And yes-that is Lincoln in the third picture. I needed a head to give me an idea-my girls were too big, my little stuffed prop was too little, and I was looking awful enough that I didn't dare venture down the street to use our cute little toddler neighbor as a model! ( I need to come and borrow Olivia to get some pics of some of these though....if she's up for it!) The good news is that he REALLY didn't like having anything on his head! (phew!)

I miss my chickens

Ok-technically they weren't *mine*, they were given to the kids, but dang it! I miss them!

3yrs ago for Easter my dad decided to be really funny and give the kids chicks. He bought ten figuring that at least a couple would die, especially with all of our kids! Wouldn't you know it, all 10 lived! Only one turned out to be a rooster, and he was relocated as soon as he found his lungs. : ) Funny that our neighbor across the street started hearing him crow a couple of days before we did. Oops! They really were fun to have around, not to mention a great learning experience for the kids (and Aaron and myself as well). I did more reading about chickens in one month than I ever thought I would do in my whole life!

Unfortunately when we moved out here, the chickens couldn't join us. Thankfully we have some wonderful cousins who are also chicken crazy, so they let our chickens go and live with theirs. As far as I know, as least some of them are still around! lol Minus the snotty chickens that started causing problems. Really, what is this world coming to when the chickens cause problems! ; ) But hey, the benefit there is that even as they meet their demise, they're still useful! (my sister will dry heave at that statement, if not actually throw up)

I hooked up to another blog through a friend today, and wouldn't you know it...pictures of chickens! Barred rock hens too...which were my favorite, despite the fact that I never got my little barred rock banty!

After grocery shopping yesterday (gasp! shock and dismay at the rapidly rising prices!!!), I REALLY missed them. It used to cost around $10/month to feed our 9 hens, and they'd usually each lay one egg a day. So, you figure 9 x 30...270....270/12....22 1/2 dozen eggs a month. For less than $2 more than I paid last night for 5 dozen eggs! Really. If I had the option (drawback to HOA, which, what do they do again???), I would have driven my little self to IFA out in good old Cedar Fort this very morning and bought me some chicks. I'm sure it costs more than that for feed now, and we'd have to figure in the cost of building a coop and all that good stuff, but I really do miss them. And not just for the eggs. Believe it or not, they really do make great pets!

And despite what Aaron says-he loved those birds, especially miss Squirly! : )



Hmmm.....maybe if I bribe Heidi with some chicken feed, she'll trade me for some fresh eggs??