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We just got back from a lovely week in Arizona visiting Chuck's parents and oldest brother and his family. And when I say lovely, boy do I mean it. Weather-wise, it was perfect. Mornings in the upper-40s, afternoons in the upper-70s, skies of blue. Activity-wise, it was fun! We did lots of things with just enough downtime. Family-wise, it was so good. It was really good for the boys to see their grandparents and cousins, and all the adults enjoyed seeing each other. Just good times all around. Our only plan was to go to the Grand Canyon, but then we nixed it. Really, my only goal was to be outside as much as possible. And that we did. And now for the travelogue:
Saturday. We left Maryland on a direct (but not non-stop) flight. We stopped in snowy Columbus and felt sooooo lucky to get out of the airport and on to Phoenix.
Sunday. We started with a walk around the neighborhood, then to sacrament meeting, and finally enjoyed family. Lucky me got to have lunch with a dear friend who now lives in AZ.
Monday. The whole family met up with our friends, Nikki and Collin. We played, ate, and visited. It was so great seeing them, even if Ollie and Freddie are frenemies. That evening was more family time.
Tuesday. As we all needed a down day, we spent the morning at some botanical gardens, and then went home to rest and have a regular bedtime. Everyone benefited!
Last night at dinner I asked Rhett, "If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?" And as we were having white chicken chili (which, if gauged by the boys' reaction, was the worst dinner ever), he wanted to find someone who liked that dinner. Nice. So then Chuck asked him, "Oooookay, if you could have ice cream with anyone in the world, who would it be?" Still thinking along the same line, Rhett replied, "Someone who doesn't like ice cream." You know, so he could eat theirs. So then we amended the question further to, "If you could spend 30 minutes with anyone in the world, who would it be?" While Rhett was thinking, Ollie was quietly whispering to him, "Pick me. Pick me." If only that moment could have lasted longer.
But no. Soon it was return of the dinner battle. Sigh. Some day they'll eat what I cook, right?
I guess I took some pictures, finally. Rhett was sick on Tuesday. I guess older sick kids do puzzles.
And I lied when I said I wasn't making anything. Every week I'm doing something for Ollie's little preschool (of class size 1). Wednesday was X. X is the worst. But mixing colors until you have five jars of root beer is the best.
Truly, nothing is going on. I'm not sewing. I'm not doing any other fun crafts. I'm not taking fun pictures of my kids (January 2015 had the record lowest number). I'm just cold. And boring. To make it worse (and I kid you not that this just happened), look what I posted almost exactly one year ago?! I tell you. My life is just on repeat.
I'm still buttering toast, but not freshly-baked bread. And as our butter dish was broken Saturday night, it might be put on hold for a couple of days until its replacement can be found. And let it be noted, I will never, ever toast banana bread and then put butter on it. WHO DOES THIS?!
Hot water heater is going strong, as is the heated mattress pad (best. anniversary. gift. ever).
Sad to say diet root beer has made a reappearance. When it's on sale for buy two, get three free, I just can't resist. I have resisted the vanilla ice cream, sadly.
I just want it to be warm. But not too warm. At least it's February!
This is one of the nine pictures I took.
Me: What are you doing?
Ollie: You know, I'm doing something all kids love to do.
Me: What is that?
Ollie: Tie theirselves up!
Ollie: Hey Everett...I have a present for you in my pants! [(It was, thankfully, a car.)]
Ollie: I know a game! Pull out your penis! [Potty training sure brings interesting conversations.]
While putting on church clothes...
Ollie: I'm about to be handsome. I don't want to be handsome.
Ollie: When I'm a grown up, I'm supposed to go running, but I'll choose not to go running.
Ollie: Pizza, you're so good that you earned a present. And that present is me eating you.
His latest phase is that he wants to trick us...constantly. No fewer than 20 times a day we have to pretend that he didn't do what we asked. Then we have to get pretend mad. Then we have to be pretend elated at the surprise of him really doing this thing. These are things like pretending he didn't feed Bruno (but he really did), pretending he didn't put his dishes away (but he really did), pretending he didn't get dressed (but he really did)...It's always something with kids.
Oh, a late-breaking entry. This from last night:
Ollie: What do I look like?
Me: I don't know. What?
Ollie: A dead fish out of water.
If only you could this see in action. It was a LOT funnier.
And just another cute pic.
Walking kids to school in the rain.
Forgetting to restart my running watch so it says I only did 2.33 miles.
People putting dirty utensils in dirty pots that are full of dirty water.
Your three year old putting your dinner into your drink.
Getting your hopes up for Ikea's smaland to give you some alone time, just to be crushed as they could only take one of your children.
Sunday morning I had the best breakfast ever: a pancake taco. Take a pancake, layer on some vanilla yogurt and sliced strawberries, fold up like a taco. Eat. Melt into the floor because it tastes so doggone good. Don't share any with your kids. Repeat Tuesday morning.
Huh. Looks like there are versions already out there on this. Can't wait to try them. One and Two. Although I think my version crushes both of them.
Last week I made some banana bread for someone. When I heard how it was eaten, I was shocked. WHO DOES THAT?! So of course my question is: How do you eat your banana bread? (I don't want to bias the results, so I won't tell you until later how I eat it or how the blasphemer eats it.)
Also, at what time of day do you put on pajamas?
P.S. Know what I missed from Friday's list? The blow dryer! Ah, drying under my clothes.
It's been pretty cold here. I know, I know. It could be worse; I could live in Wisconsin or Illinois or Michigan. But for here, it's cold. And remember, it's a wet cold.
Anyway, I've been surprised by the warmth you can find in unexpected places. Here they are:
The vents. Duh.
The oven. Just bake something and then leave the door open. Ahhhh....
The sink when doing dishes.
The shower when you turn on the weird heater switch. (Don't have one? Sorry.)
The toaster. I feel like it's a little fire and I love warming my hands over it.
Also, vacuuming warms me up.
The best: my bed. That new heated mattress pad has been heavenly.
Lately Ollie has been changing into pajamas as soon as he can. On Monday this meant 11:00 a.m. If I know we're not going out, I'm not sure I should even bother asking him to change into "day clothes," right? He's always loved being in "soft pants" but he's finally learned that ALL pajamas are soft pants.
And then there's his brother. Rhett has never been afraid of wearing nice, or even dressy, clothes. However, he has NEVER been the type to do a pajama day at school. (I fear for Ollie that everyday will be pajama day.) But whadda know? Yesterday his class took a field trip to an 1800s replica working farm (or something). This explains why Monday night Rhett asked what boys wore in the olden times. "Did they wear suits? Tuxedos?" Um no. They wore jeans and plaid shirts (or something...like I know). Also, they wore suspenders.
So wouldn't you know this is how he left the house Tuesday morning:
I thought the bare feet really added to the effect.
Chuck and I recently celebrated our 10th anniversary. The day itself was okay. We sent the boys to the babysitter, saw a horribly depressing movie (Unbroken, and yes, I read the book, but no, I was not prepared for the visual impression it would make), ate an okay lunch (they got Chuck's meat wrong and charged me for a bottled water), went shopping for new floors for the kitchen, picked up the boys from the babysitter, and then went to dinner at a friend's house. Fine.
But as we already had two adult-only trips to mark the occasion, it was totally fine that it wasn't a hugely amazing day. It was also fine that neither of us got each other a gift, because you know, enough money had already been spent.
However, winter has finally arrived. And even though our bed is now sheeted in flannel (last year's attempt at warming our bed in the winter), it's just not cutting it. So I bought us a heated mattress pad. And there you have it: the extra-long version of the story, "Why I Don't Want To Get Out of Bed."
This may be the best thing I've ever found at the thrift store:
Well, that and this:
(I may be kidding about the latter, but I am definitely not kidding about the former.)
Here's our 2014 Christmas card (which may have gone out after Christmas). The idea and the card came together in 24 hours, I'm proud to say. If you didn't get one, it's probably because you live close enough for me to see you often, or you didn't send me one. Sorry. I'm rude like that.
P.S. You know what I loved most about this? I didn't have to do my hair or coordinate outfits. Genius. Should you like to steal the idea for next year's card (or even this year's late card), let me know. I kept the props.
Don't let the pictures fool you: it was NOT an easy holiday season. Let's start with Ollie. Here's pretty much every conversation we have with him these days:
Me: Ollie what do you want for lunch?
Ollie: Meat, cheese, cracker!
I deliver it.
Ollie: NOOOOOO! Not like this!
He completely melts down. After calming down, I try to get the lunch as he wants it. He has another fit and redoes it himself...just like the way I initially served him. Sigh.
As you can imagine, dealing with this multiple times a day has been kinda rough. So December has been kind of rough. I didn't do all the things I'd like to have done with the boys because I was just too tired. Oh well. They'll get over it. And next year, if I can pull it together, they'll be that much happier.
More on Ollie, the kid was nearly impossible on Christmas day. He didn't want any of his presents and almost tried ripping apart this tent I made. I mean, really.
I'm learning that something that I need daily is a break from my kids. And when school is out and it's a holiday, I just don't get those breaks. We didn't nap Ollie hardly at all last week, and bedtimes were later and later. So by the time the boys went down and all our tasks were completed, there was almost no downtime. (With early-rising children, early adult bedtimes must be kept.) Turns out I don't do well with this. Let's just say I was a teeny bit happy to go back to work on Monday.
Anyway, my brain is fried, hence the scattered post. Sorry. I have hopes of sanity in the new year.
P.S. I really loved eating tacos, beans, and rice on Christmas Day. New tradition, maybe?! Feliz Navidad, maybe?
P.P.S. Nothing like the word "refinance" to make you feel like an adult. Blech.
P.P.P.S. And no, that's not a skinny Bruno with a dye job. We're dog sitting.
Christmas Day was so much better than its predecessor. It wasn't nasty and raining, I didn't spend all day in the kitchen, I got a nice run in, the boys played (mostly happily), we had family over for an easy dinner of tacos with rice and beans. It was just easy. Only regret was that I failed to get a picture of the whole family. Oh well.
The Christmas gifts that we spent lots of time and energy thinking about, saving for, shopping for, and in some cases, making for our kids:
Nutcrackers
Books
Play tent
Game
Indoor play sand
The Christmas gifts that we should have scrounged around late on Christmas Eve for our kids:
Bubble wrap
Funnels
Straws
Cupcake liners
Glue sticks
And then we should have put those gifts in the grand finale of all kids' Christmas gifts: A CARDBOARD BOX.
A couple weeks ago Chuck convinced me to buy a smartphone. (So yes, unlike this very sexist article, Chuck is the one encouraging us to live outside our means. Take that!) It's an Amazon phone, it was on sale, and it gives us free Amazon Prime for a year. AND I'm choosing a plan that is only about twice as much as my super cheap pay-as-you-go plan I was using with my dumbphone. So the cost really isn't terrible. We got the new SIM card on Saturday, and I haven't seen my family since. Gee, I love these things.
Why, yes, that IS a live worm in that green squash.
Oh, and if you are the kind person who left a bunch of apples on our doorstep, thanks! I mean, it's not a bag of steaks (look for Carol Watts' article), but if we're not going to eat vegetables, fruit will do. Insert smiley emoticon.
That's it. We no longer will be buying diapers, something we've done for over six years. Whoa.
How did it happen? Chuck and I have been talking to Ollie about it for months. He knew it was coming and on the day before Thanksgiving, we started. Why Thanksgiving? We knew we'd be home the entire weekend and thought it would be a nice early Christmas present to ourselves. I mean, why ruin Christmas?!
I begin with a parenting fail number 1: In order to get Ollie to recognize when he needed to go to the bathroom, we filled him with Gatorade. This led to about a zillion accidents. Whoops. It got better once we dehydrated him. (Not really.) But the first day went okay.
Parenting fail number 2: We put diapers on him for nighttime, because, duh. When he woke up and we tried to get underwear on him, it did not go well. Poor buddy had a massive tantrum. Finally underwear won, and we decided never to put diapers on him again for fear we'd never get them off. Thursday (Thanksgiving) was really hard. Chuck and I were both preoccupied with the holiday duties and didn't want much to do with potty training. And come Friday morning I was ready to quit and wait until Christmas.
Parenting success number 1: Chuck convinces me to keep at it and we do. And Friday was so much better! We learned that Ollie was not the kind of kid who takes well to bathroom trips every time a timer goes off. So once we accepted that and let him take the lead, he did. He did really well and we were feeling much better about the whole thing. And since then, every day has gotten better. He usually waits until the last minute, but tells us when he has to go and then runs off to take care of it himself. There was the time when I had to run two errands. I had him go to the bathroom right before we left (and he went), but at the first store he had to go again (a lot), and then again at our second stop. Oh the joy.
So overall, things are going well. Except with poo. Why is it kids don't want to do this on a toilet? Last Wednesday was particularly bad and I was so frustrated. Unlike his brother, Ollie has no problem doing it in his underwear. But while in Cleveland, Ollie had a great experience, and it's been better since then. Phew.
So, in the end, of course it's totally worth it. Plus, I still kinda like little boy bums in underwear. Sorry; it had to be said.
