amazing

This is the post for the day. Jon sent me an email with this link. Play the little video at the side bar. Have tissues ready. Feel good story for the day. :-) Austistic Basketball Player Story

American Heroes

I have to admit I have a special place in my heart for our service men and women. I am a history buff and I've learned many a thing about the courage of these men and women and their desire to serve for the better good. My all time favorite books on American History are books written by Jeff Shaara. He has a brilliant way of capturing history in a narrative form. I love the way he is able to capture the essence of the men and women of the certain time periods. It wasn't until I was reading the book "The Glorious Cause" that I fully understood the sacrifices of the the women of the men that fought for our country. I know the armed services have changed but I know that it's not only them that are the heroes. It's the women (spouses) that stay behind to raise their children that are also heroes. These women keep things running. The women inspire the men to keep fighting. These women are amongst the strongest I've ever seen or met. They have to remain strong when they feel like their lives are falling apart. I have a hard time staying away from Kev for a day or two but to imagine these women having to see their men go off and not know if they are coming back, the courage they have to keep going. They are the epitome of the saying courage isn't the absence of fear, only the bravery to push through it. I honor them. I honor their sacrifice. I honor their courage and praise their worthiness of heart and mind. They are truly brave women.

having a bug bugs

So I got the bug. ugh. not fun. At least I now have the soda on hand and know how to hold back vomit. Unfortunately in doing so I gave myself a huge headache. I think I passed out today for about 4 hours. Poor Kevin is studying for exams and just took care of the kids for me. I honestly have the best husband in the entire world.

self sufficiency

So I feel this blog is a great location to place a vent/rant whatever you want to call it. Also to work through some thoughts. I need to do this because it's WAY WAY too early to call my mom and complain.... and I need to let it out. Kevin's in a huge exam right now and mom's on the other coast and friends are all sleeping!!! Sigh. So Megan threw up this morning.... Tracy stop passing along what your kids have!! She woke up complaining of a hurting tummy and upchucked.... all over me I might add. I had just done my new makeup gotten dressed (I even ironed my shirt!) and I was holding Megan and whammo. Unfortunately (or fortunately considering how you look at it) a certain child I watch came early today. So here it is 7:40 in the morning T's been here all of 5 minutes and Megan goes and hurls all over everything. I called T's mom and had her come back and pick him up. When she got here her comment was this "Oh I hope it wasn't what T had." My mouth dropped. "When did T have this?" OVER THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was/am furious! I had to call the other parents of whose children I watch and help them find someone else to watch their kids. In saying that baby S was apparently up all night coughing ... which she hasn't gotten over the last time we were sick.... so much so that her parents were afraid she was going to throw-up and aspirate the vomit (these are not excitable people, dad's a doctor). So here's the dilemma. T's parents are being very inconsiderate in bringing their child ill only to get everyone else sick. Easy I know, say I'm not going to watch their child anymore. Ahhh the clutch. The income from said child makes life tremendously easier (aka no food storage meals unless I choose to do it) I can also save up for things (like makeup, bookshelves, residency interviews, board exams) ugh. Oh well it was a short reprieve from the grind of number crunching. I guess it's back to the grind now. I feel much better now that I've gotten this out. and it's late enough to call my mom! ;-)

studying

So the kids were helping Kevin study last night. I was lucky enough to snap some pictures. It was awesome. I had to post these all my family that likes my pictures.

bad timing....

So I went to take a dinner to a friend of ours the other day. She just had a baby and is beautiful. This is one of those women who is ALWAYS put together, even if she just had a baby. Anyway I decided that I needed to get back to doing myself up everyday for Kevin. I love the new makeup I just got and I think I'll be able to wear it on a daily basis without feeling weird because I'm wearing jeans while wearing makeup. Anyway I needed refills on my blush/eyeliner as well as some new makeup brushes so I went to the store. After getting home Kev came and gave me a big hug. He said "I'll be home soon babe." meaning he's almost done with his exams..... yipee!!!!!. I told him I refilled my makeup (more so he's not shocked when he scans the finances, yes I have been saving for this). I also apologized for "letting myself go" and I said "I want to make myself look pretty for you". Well I was saying that as Kevin was leaving the room and I heard him say "You could shut the fridge once in a while." I was shocked!!!! Then it registered what I had just said and he started laughing and said "that's not what I meant!" I had actually left the fridge open when I put the milk away. Let's just say Bad timing.

shopping

So I posted earlier about needing to find a dress for my sister-in-law's wedding. After yesterday I've decided to take the passive aggressive route about the whole thing. Forget it. Not doing it. Will not be done. Sorry Julie I'm NOT doing it again. For those of you not aware of the situation I am to find a pink cocktail dress. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAA. Oh the awefulness of the situation. First of all finding a modest cocktail dress to begin with is nearly impossible. You see a cocktail dress is dressier than a Sunday dress and yet not quite an evening gown, usually knee length or very nice pants...... If you try to find a cocktail dress at a dept store you are looking at paying $160-$400. I can't take the kids to Ross their stroller won't fit down the aisle and I refuse to leave them in the hallway where I can't see them. Anyway I went into sticker shock yesterday. I found 1 yes one dress that was modest..... not pink but hey it was modest. The price tag $230. So I've been trying to save up for a nice bookshelf/buffet table to go in my dining room. This way I can make it look nice and be able to hide the kids stuff. So I've been saving and was hoping to buy one in the coming month or so. Yep, that's not going to happen because I have to buy a freaking dress that I will only be able to wear once. AND I'M NOT EVEN A PART OF THE BRIDAL PARTY!!!! To say I'm upset about the whole thing is an understatement. PINK? Are you kidding me?? I think IF and only IF I do buy a new dress it will be black, that way I can use it again, and I will dress it up with pink jewlery (chunky beads or somthing). Right now I'm in all out rebellion. NOT DOING IT!!!!! ARGGGGG. I hate shopping for dresses. This is the one type of shopping I actually detest. On a high note I finally bought my MAC Cosmetic makeup. I LOVE IT!!!! I got the liquid to powder instead of the pressed powder Jeanie used on me. LOVE IT!!! The girl at the counter did half of my face so I could see the difference. All of a sudden one half of my face actually had sleep last night. Neither side was wearing makeup... Had I not seen her actually put it on I wouldn't have felt it either. I just looked good all of a sudden. It also earned an approval from Kev. Yipeee...... I can look pretty everyday...not just on Sunday.... Yipee!!

Tomorrow, tomorrow!!!

The sun will come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow There'll be sun. Tomorrow Tomorrow I'll love ya Tomorrow Tomorrow only a day away!!! Just felt like singing and my kids have already told me to shush.

Disciplining Spencer

OK the title is incredibly misleading..... It should read attempting to discipline Spencer. If you haven't met my son he is an easy going, mischievous, bounce back kid. This little one is someone who definitely makes lemonade out of lemons. We've tried time-out on a chair.... He ended up making the chair "jump" and ended up not wanting to get out of time-out because he was having too much fun. Time-out in the play pen ended up with the playpen being used as an obstacle coarse as he figured out how to get out of it and jump back in it. Bedroom ended up in a singing fest "twinkle twinkle! C'mon Megan twinkle twinkle" yelled across the house. This last time was the all time best one. I will openly admit I have laughed my head off every single time I have had to "discipline" him... If that's what you want to call it (not in front of him off course, I'm not that dumb). Anyway, opening the door to our apt is a BIG no no in our house. I tend children and if Spence or Megan open the doors ALL the children are immediately out in the hall where there is a long flight of stairs going down. Yep not good. Well Spencer decided he was going to push the boundaries and keep opening the door. Luckily I wasn't tending at that time. Anywhoo after being in time out several times his dad got really upset and took him to the back room for a talking to. In our house dad is the major, you are in trouble back up. Well Spencer got his talking to by Kevin. Kevin came out of the back bedroom into the living room shaking his head going "that kid". Only for us to hear Spencer say "Silly Daddy" from the back room and laugh. Kevin and I just looked at each other in complete disbelief. This kids is incredible. His glass is always half full. He thought the whole talking to was hysterical! I have laughed continuously for the last few days and going "silly daddy" every time Kev comes near. Yes our little boy could care less that he is told to go to his room, sit in time-out, not given a treat when his sisters does or any number of other forms of discipline. What do you do?! It's pretty funny. At least he usually not deliberately bad, just mischievous.

point of view

So I was thinking I had my living room all cleaned up ready for my little 7 month old that I watch. She started crawling last night. The all time cutest baby in the world. Anyway So here I am all prepared for a crawling baby. She got here, went on the ground and.... open mouth insert hidden crayon that the big giant did not see when she was cleaning. Yes how they can zone in on the one thing on the ground that is smaller than the toys I don' t know but it is inevitble. I shall now spend the 3 day weekend making sure my house is crawler proof. Let the cycle begin again.

pajamas

I've decided clothes are overrated. I had a child coming early today. Luckily it's from a mother who said "If I have to bring him early feel free to be in your pjs because I a so not a morning person and that's what I'd do". I decided to take her up on that offer. I refused to get dressed for "work" today. Yes I was in my pink and yellow pajama bottoms and my pink georgetown t-shirt when she showed up. I decided not to get dressed the rest of the day. I must say it's quite comfortable. Sadly, upon opening the fridge I realized we were out of milk, bread, and anything remotely edible. Into jeans and shirt and off we go to the store. too bad the kids have to eat, I was enjoying my pajama day.

Discipline comes in many forms

So our daughter Megan has a stubborn streak. She will only do things if it's her idea and on her own time. This leads to a great deal of negotiation. A couple of times I've been under the delusion that I'm the mommy and she's the little girl and she needs to do what I say.... Again a complete delusion. Even when dragged to the desired location to do things she will go limp noodle on you and forget her doing anything. This has lead us to use a lot of reverse psychology. A typical power struggle can go like this... Also note this doesn't get old due to the fact that Megan is usually upset during the power struggle so she hasn't picked up on the fact that we usually do this.... Or so we thought.. Mom: Megan you need to (enter desired behavior) go to the potty. Megan: no, it's mommy's turn Mom: Megan, you're dancing around, go to the potty. Megan: NO it's mommy's turn Mom: Megan, if you spill (this is the word she's determined to use for having an accident, she doesn't have accidents, she spills)... Megan: No, I'm not (at this point she's doing the jitterbug and whining, but because mom's the one that mentioned it she is NOT going to go) Mom: Let's go (mommy proceeds to take megan to the potty, with Megan kicking and screaming, when we get to said potty she goes limp noodle and falls off the toilet and again won't go) mommy: Fine Megan it's mommy's turn. Megan: NO IT'S MEGAN'S TURN!! Mom: OK it's Megan's turn Megan: NO IT'S MOMMY'S TURN! (yes caps means she is yelling) Mom: OK it's mommy's turn Megan: NO it's Megan's turn Mom: nope it's mommy's turn (Megan breaks down into sobs saying "megan's turn, Megan's turn" while mommy refuses to let her on the toilet) Mom: Megan, do you want a turn? Megan: ummmhummm Mom: ok Megan goes to the potty. OK, this is not and exaggeration. I'd say 3 out of 5 times this is what happens with the potty experience. We've tried EVERYTHING else, the only thing that works is the reverse psychology. We have to make it seem like going to the potty was her idea or else it just doesn't work. Note: this is usually when we are trying to go somewhere and need her to go or we will be outside without a bathroom available for her to inevitably use unless she goes. Anyway this leads to this morning. Kev and I were still in bed and the kids were goofing off in the living room. We weren't really paying attention to the conversation they were having when all of a sudden something stuck out. Megan said "OK Spencer, no sit down, it's Megan's turn." Spencer then proceeded to say "no it's spencer's turn". In listening to the conversation more Kev and I started laughing. Our 3 year old was using reverse psychology on our 21 month old! It was hysterical.... also frightening realizing we wouldn't be able to use that tactic any longer... she's figured us out.

Sunday activities

I don't remember where the conversation happened or even if it was a comment at church but Kev and I were talking about Sunday activities. There was a church leader (I actually think the conversation happened with Kev and someone) about how some people had criticized him for playing basketball with his son on Sunday. When questioned about it he said he wasn't able to spend a lot of time with his sone and Sundays were his only day. While they would play basketball the man had an opportunity to talk to his son. It was his only time to truely talk about what was going on in his son's life and to spend quality time with him. The man said that it was a decision he had made in order to spend that "talking time" with a son who so desperately needed his time and love. Going along that route, Kev and I decided that even if we go outside and play Sundays were going to be the days... at least for a little while... where we can recharge our family batteries. This happened yesterday. It was so much fun. Church was cancelled due to the snow and well... here is what happened the rest of the day. It's interesting to note that the kids have been calmer, less prone to cry and fuss because we spent the time out of the house with dad.

after-effects

So I tend 3 other children other than my own in my home to earn the money to support our family. I have a 2 year old (E), a 15 month old (T) and a 6 month old (S). My schedule runs like this. M-F 9:30-6:45 I have E T, Th, F 8:15-4:45 I have T M-F 3 hours a day I have S This is on top my 2, Megan who is 3 and Spencer who is 21 months old. Yep I have a houseful of todders. So I started watching T about 4 months ago. Since then I think he has come a total of 4 days without a snotty nose. This kid is perpetually sick. We've (Kev and I) have started to call him peetry dish (sad I know but he is bringing some weird stuff into the house). Anyway none of us ever get sick until T has come at least 2 days with a really bad nose. Then all of a sudden, everyone is sick. Common denomenator, T is bringing the illness into the house. OK so the rules that I've established in the house as far as bringing sick children is, don't, unless everyone already has it. Usually everyone will get sick on the same day. E, Spence, Megan and I usually wake up with some funky virus on the same day. E's mom will call or I'll call her and we confer to see if it's the same thing. Usually S has the exact same thing on the exact same day (usually 2 days after T has come sick). The annoying part is that T's parents won't tell me his's ill. I'll just notice it after they've dropped him off, or after his nap. He usually goes down for a nap an hour to an hour and a half after he gets here. So he wakes up with snot running everywhere, sneezing and coughing. I used to think it was just allergies to something in the bedroom until i remember that everyone continually gets sick right after he does (he is also the only child whose parents take him to the park regardless of freezing or inclement weather). Anywho, S still hasn't kicked the last cough that T brought into the house and S's mom is kind of annoyed at T's mom for bringing him without warning, because by the time I notice if he's ill or not it's already too late, he's contaminated everyone.... we have a small house. Anyway on Thursday I was so completely floored by the following conversation. T's mom: Umm, did T have a runny nose today? Me: Yes, he ran a lot. We need more tissues by the way T's mom: How often do you let E come sick? I've noticed that he's had some pretty gross noses while I've been here. Me: The only time I've let E come sick is when everyone else has been sick and that's usually a couple of days after T. T's mom: Well I'm just wondering because T is constantly sick and he must be getting it from here. Me (with a death look on my face, thinking "don't you dare blame this on E man"): The only time people have been sick in this house is when T has brought it here, We've been sick 3 times this winter, all after T has come with "a little bit of a runny nose" to daycare. (bytheway these illnesses usually last a couple of weeks a piece, yep they are monster bugs) T's mom: Are you sure? Me: um yep I'm pretty sure. S's mom has noticed the same thing I have. We'll all get better from one sickness and 4/5 days later T will come with another runny nose and without fail 2-4 days later EVERYONE is sick again. Needless to say I was more than slightly annoyed at the audacity of it all, until realizing that they are first time parents who are downright oblivious to their child's clues and careless as to what a small illness can do to a baby. Poor S has a really bad cough. I think she was also really embarrased about the whole conversations. I don't want to ban anyone from coming if it is just a runny nose because well hey, it's winter and everyone has the sniffles. Unfortuantly to T's parents a "simple runny nose" has consistantly developed into something bigger. Well true to form T came ill on Thursday and Spencer woke up very early this fine Saturday morning with a very runny nose, sneezing and coughing. Sigh here we go for another round. He kept running so I gave him some cold medicine around 10am. Around 11:45 I was laying down on the couch trying to catch some zzzzz while the kids watched Dora. Spencer came and said "Hold you" and climbed up on me. He was immediately asleep. Now I know he's really sick because he never goes to sleep without a fight. Poor thing. Here's the pict. Kevin took of Spence and me. Yes I am still in my PJs, without a shower.... and yes Spencer is wearing his new tennis shoes over his pjs....

fam update

So Kev had the opportunity to go into surgery today. His professor invited 5 people to go into surgery and observe. Kev signed up and was invited to attend. He was so excited. I think it gives him a light at the end of the tunnel effect. He likes actually seeing the medicine performed. Unfortunately we had to get up with him at an obsene hour in the morning to take him to the hospital. Actually it wasn't so bad. 6am baby. Whew! Sadly though now the kids are cranky, I'm tired and it's only 10:46 in the morning. Actually I was picking up toys and they all short circuited. E's asleep in our room and my kids are attempting not to go to sleep in theirs. S is jumping around in the jumper. She goes down for a nap around 11am. Maybe they'll all be asleep at the same time, just in time for me to catch a few zzzzzzzz too. So I've decided I'm going to make the kids I watch little mini-albums for V-day... albeit late. At first glance I thought to myself. That is a stinkload of work she put into making these albums. Then I went to make one for my kids and well. I discovered in trying to find the coasters to make this, they are already printed cute, so you really don't have to do anything! Ha! my kind of craft. Way cute too. Spence has discovered his name. In doing so we've discovered he has a lisp. It is adorable. He'll put his hands on his chest and say "It's Sthepenthers turn." and "yeths". I love it. He's decided he's going to be chubby. He's seriously gained 5 lbs this past week. He's getting ready to grow again. I'll have to weigh him today because I think he's approaching the 35lb mark.... husky kiddo.

sister

Megan is the cutest little girl. She is soooo into princesses right now. They've totally trumped out Dora. Unfortunately I have to return Aladdin to the library tomorrow. Big trouble when we have a little girl begging for "Jasmine, Mommy I want to watch Jasmine". She is so into it. We've seen Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White, none of them have had this effect on her. Actually Cinderella did for a time but not to this extent. Today, I had a shock though from her. She came up to me and said "I need a sister." Ummm hey, where do you go from there. I looked at her and laughed and said "You need a sister?" I didn't even know she knew what a sister was. Yikes! It was only after a bit that I realized she was singing to a song playing on the radio at the time and grabbed onto the idea in the song. I only just realized what she was saying... no it was not that she needs a sister it's that she is the sister. I'll explain. The song goes like this "Mommy's got a sheep on her head, Mommy's got a sheep on her head, Mommy's got a sheep on her head and it baa's at her all day." When that came on she pointed to me and said "You need a Mommy!" Meaning mommy needed to say baaaaaaa. Then it got to the sister part and I think that's what she was referring to. All the rest of the say she kept saying "Spencer's a brother, Megan's a girl, Megan's a sister". Needless to say it made me laugh and breath a sigh of relief. Not yet.

an ode to veggies

veggies veggies are so great, a great abundance I just ate. They made me quite so full, I love them I do, and that's no bull... Ok that's the end of my ode. However, I must say that steamed veggies are my all time favorite food. I discovered recently... at least I think I discovered I haven't talked about it with the DR., that I do not feel hungry. I noticed this a few years back when I was sitting with Kev (6'1" 210lbs) and I ate more than he did. A lot more than he did. AND I still felt hungry. This was an all the time thing. More than slightly concerning considering I've heard of these people that have the same thing and just eat themselves to death. Anywho, I've been keeping an eye on it and I really try to watch how much I'm eating however usually I'll lose track of how much I've eaten and keep eating.... sigh those thighs (HA! another rhyme). Anywho I digress. Back to veggies and my post. I don't ever feel full. The only way I realize that my stomach is full is that it actually hurts. The OOWWWWW stretchy feeling in the stomach, pressing against the lungs type of hurt. However, I've discovered that when I eat veggies (which is often a complete meal for me) I hurt a lot sooner than if I ate oh, mac and cheese, pork and carrots, or any type of noodle. Which brings me to my present stomach ache. I just ate half a pot of veggies (normandy mix, yummy). I think I hurt myself this time. Oww. At least I've figured out a way to lose those extra inches. I'll just eat veggies so that when I realize that I've way overeaten I'll be able to say "at least it was veggies, without butter, just salt" mmmmm........ owwwwww going now (I had to end on a rhyme however bad it was.)

Pride

So one of the comments on the post I previously linked to had an interesting correlation to Pres. Benson's talk on Pride. I hadn't read the talk and so I was chastised. Bluntly so. I've always thought of pride like he said.

"Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity toward our fellowmen. We are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them. (See Hel. 6:17; D&C 58:41.) The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)"

Then the talk went on... sigh, I have a ton of work to do. He said this.

"Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. (See 2 Ne. 9:42.) There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous."

Reality Check, it's not about me??!!!

"Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. “How everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking."

Oh yeah this is me too.

The proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. (See Prov. 15:10; Amos 5:10.) Defensiveness is used by them to justify and rationalize their frailties and failures. (See Matt. 3:9; John 6:30–59.)

I thought I was doing well in this aspect of my life. I try not to judge people (although I'm not very good at it yet) I do try. However I am easily offended. I need to work on that. I put on an immediate defense when people point out my shortcomings and I immediately attack back pointing out their faults. How humbling this is reading this talk and realizing how full of pride I really am.

Me & my big Mouth: Grrrrrr

MoMommy posted this post. I loved it because it verbalized so completely what I think on the subject. Me & my big Mouth: Grrrrrr

Beautiful

Jeanie came over today. She brought her makeup with her. That was fun. HELLO ALERT!!! If any of you have never used MAC (Makeup Artist something) makeup go and get yourself some today. OH my, is all I can say. Apparently MAC foundation, actually Jeanie put the powder on me, is the all time best. She put it on me and it didn't look like I was wearing makeup BUT my complexion and zits looked a WHOLE lot better. It was amazing. I was shocked because usually when I put on makeup, well it looks like I'm wearing makeup. Not with this stuff. It's $22 for a compact, expensive initially I know but Jeanie, who wears makeup everyday (She came over without makeup on today and it was the first time I realized she had freckles, lots of them, yep she's that good) said she couldn't make it through a compact in a year. Yipee that's the one for me. I'm actually going tomorrow.... or later this week to get me some. These are also her no fail tips. Mascara- Great Lash by Maybeline (pepto bismal pink container) She said it's been around for ages but it's because it's the best one. Won't clump like other ones. Lip color- Revlon color stay, it stays on even when eating food (a perpetual thing with me) and the pigments are awesome, Usually drugstores put it on sale buy one get one free once a month. Buy while on sale and stock up if you find one you like because Revlon is notorious for changing their formulas on color. Foundation- MAC, they have an absurd amount of tones that they can match your skin perfectly (might work Motts, you odd duck you) Eye Liner- Bobbi Brown, goes on smooth and won't wilt throughout the day Everything else get at the drug store, they've improved the pigments so well that it doesn't matter anymore and it's better not to pay absurd amounts of money for something that works the same. Oh yeah to tell a funny and SUPER embarrassing story on myself.... YOU MAY NOT MOCK ME, I bet most of you would have done the same thing. Anywho, Jeanie left her makeup here for me to goof off with while she went to get the emissions test on her hubby's car (her makeup kit consisting of a box 2ft x 1 ft x 1 ft, yep huge with massive amounts of makeup in it). Anywho she said for me to try this certain compact of eye shadows. Well I pick up said eyeshadows and proceed to do my eyes. Well let's just say I looked good until I got to the really dark stuff. It just didn't look right. Anyway when Jeanie got back I asked her to show me how to put on cream eyeshadow (the stuff I had been using). She gave me a super funny look and said "I don't think I have cream eyeshadow". She opened up the compact that she showed me to use and started laughing, looked at me and said "well I've been know to use lipstick for blush, I should have told you that the bottom row are lipstick". Yep in case you haven't guessed I was wearing lipsticks on my eyes. needless to say I laughed, blushed, and was completely embarrassed. Jeanie just giggled at me and said "hey it looks good". She's a good liar.... hee hee actually it did look good just the whole concept was funny. No, I did not take a picture and no, my eyes weren't bright red (I know what you're thinking, it wasn't like that they were taupy in color, jeez, like I was some kind of idiot or something, gosh! *reference to Napoleon Dynamite*) Hee hee. I'm still giggling and will be for a long long time.

retail therapy

So Saturday in a relaxation technique I read about I went to get some retail therapy. Ahhh it was nice. I bought some house slippers for both Megan and I and a trunk to put toys in that is not bright yellow. It was rather nice and so far I have not had one ounce of regret. Since Megan and I have been wearing our slippers Spencer has decided to be inseperable from his as well. It was too cute I had to post it.

Megan decided she needed lollipops on Friday night so we went to get her some while we were out and about. She's been really good lately. Anyway the next morning we were attempting to sleep in when I went to go check on the kids. This is what I found. Sigh. I had to take a picture. I couldn't even lecture him. sigh.

Megan also got her haircut on Saturday. I cut her bangs and trimmed up the back of her hair. Super Cute little girl.

Sufficiently humbled

Yesterday I learned a good lesson. I learned I need to stop thinking of myself, my issues and be grateful. Kevin was so sweet yesterday. He knew I'd been struggling and really made it a point to treat me like a princess. I think my nap was about 3 hours. Kev took care of the kids and I slept. It's funny how life changes in a day. I knew I had been approaching a limit but I wasn't going to take care of it. I didn't know how to cut down and just relax and enjoy life. Of course hitting a period wasn't helping. Last week everything, including I, tanked. I think I cried more last week than I had the entirety of last year. I was struggling with loneliness, exhaustion, hormones and a very self pitying attitude. This weekend really showed me how in tune Heavenly Father is with my needs. Friday I received some blankets from my grandmother (Guelita). The kids loved it and it made me feel that my family loved me so much. Sunday included listening to the testimonies born in church and realizing that my troubles are really small in comparison to others'. I have several people who normally don't talk to me (shy people) just come and say hi and engage me in conversation. That was fun and really what I needed (the whole adult conversation is a good thing). That along with Kevin letting me sleep yesterday, the enjoyable time Kevin and I had together just sitting while the kids slept and we watched the Superbowl (YEA! STEELERS!). I was able to recharge my battery. I was able to reassess what I'd been going through. Yesterday I realized how grateful I am to be where I'm at. I'm grateful to be helping Kevin realize his dream. I'm grateful to have this opportunity to struggle so that after residency thing will be that much sweeter. I am so grateful to be able to provide for the family so that Kevin doesn't have to worry about it while he's in school. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to teach these sweet kids and their funny little characters. I had to laugh when I read Dandelion Mama's post because it really made me laugh while at the same time verbalized what I was thinking.

In the eye of the beholder

Beauty. Some fear it, some gravitate towards it, other repel away from it but regardless of what we deem beauty is it is definitely a personal preference. To be the most beautiful thing in the world is to see my Megan teaching Spencer how to sing a new primary song. She was the one to teach him "I am a Child of God", "Teach me to Walk in the Light" and last night she was teaching him "Nephi's Courage". I just sat there on the couch listening to her teach him this song. She does it at night as they lay in their beds waiting for sleep to come. I hear these two little voices singing away. After a rough day it's exactly what I need to hear so that I can say "I'm ok for another day". Another beautiful/funny/tragic sight I had yesterday was I came into the room because I heard Spencer saying "TADAM!" over and over again. I came to see what he was doing. Good thing too, he was standing on the table dancing. Yep the kitchen table. I quickly got him down said "no no" went into the other room and died laughing. It was soooooo funny to see him do that. Unfortunately if I let him get away with it he'll be jumping off it next. Not good. Man I sure have fun with that kid.

something different

I knew I was bound for something different! I took the quiz for majors. I plan on going back to school asap so I can have some more fun learning interesting things. Here were my results. I even had to have a tie-breaker. thanks calandria for the quiz. It was fun. Although Math?? hmm we'll have to see about that. I'm interested in it as far as my abilities in it is another matter. Anthropology 100% Sociology 100% Psychology 92% Mathematics 83% Linguistics 83% Dance 75% Art 75% Engineering 67% English 58% Theater 50% Biology 50% Philosophy 50% Chemistry 42% Journalism 33%

ahhh the controversial

I read a post today on natural birth. Now honestly I must say that anyone that does it that way on purpose is insane. Literally insane. Why in the world would you subject yourself to pain in that fashion when you don't have to? Will the baby remember it? Probably not. Will you remember it.... um yep and hope not to ever again. So my question is why? I had c- sections both times. The first with Megan was unexpected so don't think that it was a "planned" thing because I didn't want to go into labor or something like that it was a my placenta was starting to break down, she was overdue and huge, my uterus is inverted and my pelvic bone is too shallow thing. So I had c-sections. Anyway, first time was the scariest thing ever (but I can imagine going into labor for the first time is pretty scary too) however once in the OR they gave me valume (sp?), let's just say I was a happy camper, a very happy camper. Megan came out got cleaned up and then spent the rest of the time with me. Not a problem. Other than some pain with recovering I was happy and ready to go. Megan was adorable I had instant bonding with her and it was wonderful. Spencer's c-section was even better. I actually walked into the OR this time. I literally had NO PAIN whatsoever, even during recovery. I was able to hold Spence right after and then after they gave him his bath. Again it was awesome. He was right by me the whole time. I literally had no pain after that. None. No, I just had surgery pain at all. It was great. So I had some wonderful experiences I totally bonded with my kids and I had no pain. I would even venture to say that it was better than anyone else could have had. I really really enjoyed the experience. My question now is WHY in the heck would you want to go through that much pain if you can have the same outcome without it? My thinking is the Lord inspired people to invent pain meds for a reason. Why in the world wouldn't we use them. For my birthing plan that I had to give the hospital before we found out about needing a c-section I said "Give me the drip!" I think pain meds are a good thing, very good thing. So again, why in the world?...