odds and ends

It snowed all day Friday- big fluffy flakes, and tiny threads of sleet, and most of it melted in the sun we got on Saturday. Sunday it snowed again, for a while, but didn't stick to the pavement. Today when I woke up it was snowing- sprinkling really, at first. It kept coming down, thicker and thicker, until I almost couldn't see our backyard fence through all the flakes. Now it's sunny again, and people's roofs are beginning to drip. In the late morning, after the kids were off to school and my neighbors had driven to work, the snow had filled in all the footprints. I loved the silence of it.

Today I didn't finish a book. I tried to finish the last 2 books I borrowed from the library, since we always go to the library on Tuesday, and I like to return everything at once. Otherwise I forget, and get charged outrageous late fees. Anyway, my point was that, for the second time in my memory, I chose *not* to finish a book. I've returned books without reading them before; I get home and they don't appeal to me like they did at the library. But reading this collection of short stories, I could feel depression setting in. And the author was quite talented, and it made me mad that because of her skill, I was drawn into this hopelessness that spreads through her stories. Ick. I finished almost half of them, and it felt like she [the author] didn't believe in God, or in goodness; not that her stories were depraved or perverted, but *nothing changed* in them. People didn't save things, or become stronger or better, and it was like a weird universe where nothing has meaning at all. The people in her stories didn't learn *anything.* How utterly bleak, to be so completely self-centered that NOTHING can break through! I feel like I just swam through oil- not the light olive oil I cook with, but the nasty sludge we drain from the oilpan of the car. So I'm off to read something that will clean off that sticky, slippery, gritty feeling.

This month...

This month, Jared has gone to:

• Alaska, for cold-weather scenarios. It was the same temp [low 50's] as it was in Utah. So all that cold-weather gear he packed? yep. Didn't need it. But hey, they got lots of happy hours in at the local bars...
• Las Vegas, to help another unit prepare for certification. Jared got to play "mad scientist" and come up with a training scenario, to test their preparedness. *evil laughter* I suggested he take the little dead mouse bodies from the freezer, but he's apparently saving those for a more appropriate time.
• Tennessee, to learn all about radiation. Now he has a t-shirt, and I have a mug, that says "Where you learn to handle the hot stuff." That's actually one of the better slogans I've seen as far as classes go. Some of them are just lame. And no, I'm not digging through my pile of free hats/tshirts/mugs/keychains/etc to share the lame ones w/y'all. Mostly because I *gasp* threw them away. [hope Jared didn't read that...]
• Chicago, and I have no idea what he's learning there. That's this week, though, so I'll be hearing about it shortly!

*sigh* I love the military. No, really. At least he gets to come home, sort of! He flies in Saturday, does his laundry, repacks, and leaves Sunday for the next class. Oh, except for the one week he was home this month. He did buy me flowers, though... xoxo
So, while Jared was away, Myles has learned how to roll over, and is chewing on everything to prepare for his teeth. Hyrum has learned how to scrape the top off every batch of brownies [3 so far] I have made. And this last time I found him behind the couch with a gallon of milk and a cup he'd filled with that milk to drink with the brownie shavings. The gulping milk noise gave him away. Morgen got to have "BUG" [being unusually good] lunch with her principal, and she also got "Student of the Week." Walker went on a 10-mile hike, and is excited about doing a 50-miler this summer with the boys' youth group of our church, and his dad.
And, I found out my library offers e-books, which I can check out and download over the internet. Cool.

babies

Last weekend we had a wedding [Jared's sister] and a baby christening [Jared's nephew]. Melinda and Jon right after the ceremony- we were all on our way outside [brrrr!] for pictures.

Since his family was all together for these events, we got all five of the baby boys together for some pictures. They range in age from 5 months to 1 month. We laid them down in order of age- Saxon, Myles, Carson, Zachary, and Sloan-left to right.

Myles was sleeping until Saxon punched him LOL. But he kind of got it from both sides, since Carson was waving his hands around too. I have to say, though, if Myles had been awake, he would have been waving his hands around and hitting his cousins too.

Once he lost his thumb, he got a bit upset. LOL, he's used to lots of touching and "loving" from his siblings, and normally he handles that fine, but he started teething this weekend [I know, I am SO lucky!].

Found this at Target- it's a cool little seat for babies. He's old enough that he likes to look around, and coo a lot, which means I spend a lot of time holding him. The view from the floor is a bit limited, after all. Anyway, I can put Myles in this, and talk to him while I scrapbook, and he drools all over my papers. He can't get out of it, but he wiggles around until he can chew on the arm rests. And he can coo at me, and I'll talk back, and I get some creative time in while he's happy.

And this is the latest trick Myles has learned: he rolls! front to back and back to front, now he can move all over the floor when we set him down. Usually he'll spit up somewhere, then roll to a new and cleaner spot before spitting up again ;)

Oh, and my younger brother just got engaged- they're getting married in May. Wow!!

family ties

I look at this photo and see happiness, cooperation and playing together as siblings should. I want desperately for them to continue to play together, to be closer than friends, through their growing up years and into adulthood.

I know a lady who is dying, and her children are bickering [already] and fighting with each other, making these last few days of hers painful and chaotic. And it tears my heart, to witness the hate and cruelty they harbor, when they should be supporting and loving each other. I know that death brings out many emotions, but jealousy and greed are so ugly to see. *sigh*

Okay, so in the spirit of togetherness, we played a game together for family night last night. Over Christmas, we ended up playing a lot of games with family members, and I've realized how much fun I have doing this. So I've made a goal [may be silly, but if it works...] to play a game with my kids at least once a week. LOL, and we got a few family games as presents, so there we go!

Time to be together with Myles- he's demanding food again, LOL.

spiders and glee

Just found this- my sister gets the best wrapping paper! She worked at a college publication and graphics dept, which means she scored big with funky tags, paper, etc. Don't you love these reindeer?!?

Have to put in a plug for Charlotte's Web. Awesome movie, loved it. And all the kids loved it, too.

**went last night- poor planning on my part so we got home about 10:30pm, but even Myles stayed awake and watched it.

Haven't been all that interested in taking them to 'kid' movies lately, as so many of them have potty humor, or double entendres, trying to 'spice it up' for teen and adult audiences. But I totally loved this movie. LOVED the illustrated feel of the beginning and end of it. The cinematography was so clear and crisp; Dakota Fanning was a great Fern; and Charlotte [voiced by Julia Roberts] was funny and frank and dear. Definitely a movie I'll buy; may even go see it again in the theater, it was that good!

okay, must clean off the desk again. Order in my house is often achieved, and easily destroyed LOL.

late pics

Had a few issues with the google/blogger thing, and I really meant to fix it the day of, but... well, Jared's TDY 'till tonight, and the furnace was leaking gas, and I had kids to corrall, so it took me a bit over a week. But I have many pictures to atone for my recent absence! Here's a few recent ones since Christmas-

So do you see any resemblance between these two? Pretty sure they got it from Jared, but there are rumors that I had a pretty effective pout as a kid. And you can see that nobody loves them- instead of rushing in to comfort them, their mom is taking pictures. And mocking them in their pain LOL. Wish I could post a video, though, as the pout is much more heartwrenching when you can see the little quiver of the chin that goes with it!

I finally captured a giggle- had to change the settings on my camera so the flash would stay off. I took a bunch of startled photos, too- Myles blinking as the flash went off in his eyes. He's chattering a lot now, mostly when he's happy. When he's grumpy he whinges- not quite crying, but close. LOL, he'll start his fussing, usually with me sitting next to him, and H will announce that Myles is hungry, and am I going to feed him? Silly boy, of course not. We only feed the animals on Saturdays.

This is my leg with the spit-up on it. And this is the cute little culprit who decorated me. He's always so happy after he spits up, and I'm always so messy...

These big fluffy flakes of snow are my favorite. This was last Friday- it snowed like this all day, the flakes dropping slowly and steadily, until we had about 4 inches of snow. Horrible to drive in, but lovely and peaceful from inside a nice warm house! And this past week we have enjoyed the snow. Of course, I haven't been driving in it much- we had to rebuild the transmission on the dodge [that was the anniversary gift we gave each other LOL].

But we did go out for dinner- 11 years we've been married now! I cannot believe he's put up with me for that long. And I tease him that he joined the guard so he could get away, but he's always more tense about his TDYs than I am, I think. Probably because things happen when he leaves. Like we find a gas leak, and have to turn off the furnace until a pipe is replaced [which I took care of, thank you very much]! It's all good though. It took a prayer to loosen it, and another visit from the gas guy, but it's all fixed. Just in time for him to be home today LOL.

Favorite things

One of the bloggers I read often suggested taking a photo [or 10] of the things that make me happy today. Well, some of my kids are in school, so I'm posting a pic from a few weeks ago instead.

Maybe it's because I am consciously choosing to smile instead of snap when they're being hooligans. Maybe it's because I am focusing on their good behavior rather than their naughty tricks. But, lately, I have felt *joy* when I think of them. And I love my children dearly, but I'd be the first to acknowlege that they are less than perfect. They're full of energy, quite creative, loud, mischevious, and altogether annoying sometimes. LOL, but they're also helpful, motivated, charming, full of love, and each one of them holds a piece of my heart.

For so long, I've felt like a spring, coiled too tightly, about to snap from the pressure of parenthood. Lately that feeling has eased, the tense coil has loosened. I've found a peaceful place- a happy place- and I never want to lose this.

j

resoved

So many resolutions, so little willpower...
This year, I'm resolving on a few things:

1. to exercise [if I don't make it a resolution, I find excuses.] Because I like fitting into my jeans ;)
2. daily meditations- reading the scriptures. Somehow this brings peace into my chaotic life.
3. develop patience- has been a resolution ever since I discovered mine was missing... And Jared mentioned the other day he's noticed that I'm better at this. ;) he got major brownie points for saying something, too.
4. budget- we've had one for awhile, I just need to focus on sticking to it. Hard to do when there are things I *want* and the money's there. ...must save it, must save it...
5. scrapbook- well, mostly this is to keep me motivated and recording our family's history. I'm resolving to DO the project ideas I have saved in my idea folder. One a week, that's all I'm asking of myself.
6. DO- this is to remind me that along with making lists of things to do, I need to take action on them.

Saturday, we [meaning all the kids and myself- Jared had drill] drove down to St George to attend a christening. Our nice roomy SUV is currently getting its transmission rebuilt, so we took the teeny little Ford Focus. It fit everybody, but was a bit cramped. Anyway, M rode up front with me for a lot of the drive, and she loves to talk. She told me all sorts of things, but one was quite funny and solemn all at the same time. Apparently, her teacher was talking about New Year's Resolutions, and everyone in the class wrote down something they wanted to do differently this year, complete with a colored picture of said thing. M's resolutions: to listen to my teacher, to listen to my parents. [she brought home the paper with the picture on it yesterday, which showed her sitting and large people with balloon sayings standing next to her] And I almost laughed at her- she's six and already making resolutions? Then I thought for a moment, and was rather humbled. She's six, and already she wants to become more like Jesus. And I'm supposed to parent this child! wow.

**totally random thing I love today: portable paper towels. They're enclosed in a nickel-sized plastic pill that you pop open when you need something to wipe up a spill. Have NO idea how well they work, but I'm totally in love with the compactness of this idea.
[they're available at www.compactimpact.com]

no pics yet...

but I'm sure I'll inundate this site w/them once I have that little USB cable back...

Still at the in-laws. Have spent a bunch of time just hanging out and playing games with everybody. Melinda's boyfriend Jon is great w/my kids- he's always up for playing with them, and teasing them, and he has such patience with them. They watch for him every day. "Is Jon coming over with Melinda? When will he be done with work?" I think he's trying out for favorite uncle status, to go along with Melinda's title of favorite aunt ;).

Got word a few days ago that #5 boy is here- hooray for Sloan! Josh and Brooks' baby was the #5 grandson born *this year* to my in-laws. That brings their grandchildren up to 10, 8 of which are boys! LOL, we're going to have some wild family reunions in about 3 years.

And I have to write a 'hooray for M' at this point. She's a wonderful girl, so full of energy and creativity. She has to be tough, to get on with all her brothers, but she's still so sweet and kind to Myles. Every time she's near him, she's asking to hold him. And he'll look up at her and grin for a few minutes. She'd hold him forever, I think, but he fusses because he likes to be able to move and kick now. I'm so proud of her.

j

Christmas toys

Okay, so Christmas was laid back and fun this year. I love that part the best- the relaxing after it's over part LOL. Jared made pull-apart bread Christmas Eve, then got up Christmas morning and put it in to bake. We eat breakfast before we open presents [tradition we borrowed from Jared's family], so the kids are full of something healthy. They'll be snacking on candy, and fudge, and wassail, and cookies, -- all the lovely holiday treats that are mandatory for celebrating this season-- for the rest of the day. While it was baking, he took a nap under the tree, and that's where the kids found him when they snuck up the stairs. Thank goodness they slept in 'till 7:30am! That was my favorite present this year...

Opened presents- Frosty the Reindeer brought 7-up for the kids [tradition we borrowed from my family ;)]. Frosty is our 'white-elephant' gift giver. My grandpa always got presents from Cousin R, who supposedly lived out in the Uintah Mountains somewhere. One year Cousin R sent him a tiger suit; another year he got a box full of cans with the labels removed. And when we were little, Frosty the Reindeer came to our house with funny presents for us kids. Since we've grown up, there are a lot of funny present-givers: the tricky gnome came one year, Frosty the Reindeer shows up at my house every year, and some of the other reindeer got into the game this year [with some help from Alyson]: Comet, Dancer, Blitzen, and Dasher were all givers of fun presents. Dasher gave me some partially used sticker sheets. ;) This is another favorite tradition [although in my mind, only the favorite activities get repeated and become traditions, so technically *all* our traditions are my favorites LOL]. I love how creative people are, and how there isn't a rule about how many presents we can give/get this way, and also how much fun it is to open these and see what inexpensive little jokes we can come up with. Many times they're things already on hand, like those sticker sheets, or something that already belongs to that person that was 'borrowed' without asking LOL, or an item found at the Salvation Army. Never anything that costs a lot of money, and always funny in a nice way.

So after lunch, we headed over to my parents' house. Joy and my dad were sick, and stayed in their rooms the whole time we were there :(, but we got to visit with my mom, and Burke's family, Kyle, and Alyson. H and my nephew Tyler are the same age, and both are tough little boys. They wrestled and fought [mostly play-fighting], and behaved a lot like little puppies do. And W & M played with Alyson and Kyle, and for a little while, with the grown-ups. Burke has a game called "Settlers of Catan" which requires strategy- these kinds of games are always big in my family. And I fed Myles about 800 times yesterday. Didn't have a place I could lay him down, and the kids kept waking him up when he did fall asleep, so he ate and ate and ate... But he slept all night last night, and took a great nap this morning, too. It's all good!

M lost one of her Christmas presents this morning- she got nail polish from Santa, with my caveat: only use it in the bathroom. Yeah. Already on her walls, and so I confiscated it. And she was pouting and yelling how awful and not fair her life is [which is funny now, but wasn't then]. I finally sat down with her and asked her this: "If your friend came over and painted fingernail polish on the bedroom walls, would you EVER ask your friend to come over again?" she answered "NO." "So," says I, "when you do this to our house, you lose your nail polish. And you get to stay in your room. " arrrrgh. Definitely a blessing to find enough calm to discuss this without yelling or losing my temper.

Gametime- we scored a few games this year. Burke's family got ours to give presents to, and they gave us Clue jr and Scrabble jr. I think that the clue jr is more complicated than the regular Clue, but it's different, and kind of fun. Scrabble jr we're playing tonight [H has to take his nap, and wanted us to wait for him]. Oh, then W got Mousetrap from Santa. It's fun, but long, so we may end up tweaking the rules so it moves faster. ;)

and I'm hiding in the craft room with small and hungry baby for a bit of quiet time
j