Need ideas

So, here's the deal. After a very extra hormonal week for me, I came to the conclusion that I don't do as many "fun" things with my "me time" as I'd like. I need cheap or free pampering ideas that I can do to boost my spirits.

Smart Boy

Andrew had been eyeing the dvds, wanting to watch something while it's raining today.

Me: "Let's watch Andrew stop whining."
Drew: "We don't have it."

At least he's honest.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

We went to the Wild Animal Park on October 24th. We spent 4 hours there, and 2 hours travel each way. Andrew, amazingly, was the only one of the kids who walked the whole time there. We walked about half the park. We saw a lot of birds, elephants, they moved the tigers or we would've seen them :( , the California condors, gorillas and some flamingos. We were excited this time we were able to get the kids to a little petting area, and found out they have a kids' play area! That was perfect for the end of our trip. There were over 200 pictures we took(a lot of duplicates) and I narrowed it down to 48. I was really pleased the Nikon camera did so well with the zoom.

We had a little adventure coming home. We stopped at a Fresh n' Easy a few miles from the park to pick up more drinks for the car ride home, and the battery died in the parking lot. Luckily, after a couple people, Tom was able to find someone willing to pull their car over by ours for the 30 second jumpstart.

just started up(a few weeks ago) volunteering in collin's class. just half an hour, once a week. it's been pretty cool so far, mostly just cutting out & laminating things. the cool part is there's only 8-9 kids total in collin's special ed class, so i get to see how collin is in the class with interacting & when they do their little group work. best of all, it's helping collin's mommy separation issues!

his teachers made him a little book before i started coming, all with some pictures they took. 1st page says something like "sometimes mommy comes to my class, and i can say hi mom". the 2nd page says "she sits at a table & works." the 3rd page says "i keep working." the 4th page says "then mom leaves & i say bye mommy." the last page is "i stay at school. i will see mommy at home."

anyway, it's a pretty cute book. they sent an extra copy home just for us. he almost has the whole thing memorized and has no problem saying bye to me, though the last couple times he left to lunch before i left the class.

andrew comes too. he seems to enjoy himself there. last week, i told him early that we were going to collin's class & he cried the whole way home after dropping off ivy to school(collin's bus comes first before i take ivy to school) because we had 2 more hours before it was time to help at collin's class. i think it has to do with they have some thomas train stuff in the class that we don't have at home.

Coming June 2010

Wow. Been almost a month since I last blogged. For those of you not on facebook, we are expecting #4 next year. Only Andrew got to come along with me to the doctor's today. He thinks the screen on the ultrasound machine is a tv where he gets to see the baby. We got to see the heartbeat on the ultrasound. That was pretty cool. Really hoping for Ivy's sake it's a girl.

I'm okay, a little nauseous and super tired! Also trying to slow down "muscle memory"--after each kid, the next pregnancy my body looks like I'm further along than I really am.

Operation Game anyone?

it's been a crazy month and a half. so, after having an mri 2 days after i saw the dr, the next week i was told that i had/have water on the knee. i was prescribed light walking and/or biking(to keep my knee in line with my toes more), loads of anti-inflammatory, and heat. interestingly enough, during this time, i also learned the same thing happened to my mom when she was my age. i was finally starting to feel like myself again the past couple weeks, and then i apparently pushed myself too hard on the treadmill(i wasn't really going that fast, 3.5 mph doing inclines). so, this week i've been dealing with that.

other than that, and our car drama this past week(got it fixed for the same problem--check engine light--4x's in 1 week), life is busy and going mostly well. still have our daily challenges with each of the kids, in their own way.

school

yay! school has started back up this week. both ivy & collin go to the same school now. collin starts 10 minutes before ivy but gets out 2 hours earlier. collin seems to be adjusting well to the new school, schedule, 2 bus drivers(different for morning & afternoon), and having 2 teachers.

ivy also has 2 teachers this year. i'm not exactly sure how that works. she said one of them is only there 3 days a week. wish i could say she, andrew, and i all enjoy our just over 1/2 mile walk in the mornings to the school.

i think right now, it's just andrew who enjoys it. ivy doesn't have the luxury of riding part-way in the double stroller like she did last year(she's too tall & at the upper weight limit). this year, i'm just using a single stroller. as for me, i sort of like it. ivy whines a lot on the walk, and right now my knee is in a lot of pain to walk at a slow ivy pace of just over 2.5 mph. it hurts when i stop walking for her to catch up to me. i saw the doctor yesterday, and tomorrow night i'm going in for an mri. thankfully, just in los alamitos. sooo glad they aren't sending me up to l.a. the commute would drive me crazy.

Where has the summer gone?

Good question. We had originally planned to do all sorts of fun stuff once Tom got back. However, life doesn't always go as planned. Tom got stuck on medical hold for most of the month he was supposed to have off. They did some post-deployment physical and decided he needed to see a cardiologist because his resting heart rate is so low, 44 beats per minute. He's fine, and yes, still alive despite such a low heart rate. I think it's a combination of his running for so many years(at least 15!) and genetics(his dad, though not a runner or athlete by any stretch of the imagination, also has a low heart rate).

So, we've done a lot(8 weeks) of swimming lessons for Ivy. Andrew got 5(out of 6) Saturdays of Mommy & Me type swim class. He now LOVES being in pools--except when there are stairs, at which point, that would be the only place he'd want to be. Collin got 2(out of 3) Saturdays of the same swim class. During those classes, Tom was with Andrew, and we were lucky to get Ivy watched.

Ivy & Collin have also learned how to bike without training wheels. We only taught Ivy. Collin hasn't figured out brakes yet, so for now, he drags his feet going down the driveway or puts his feet down when he wants to stop. Anyway, that's been most of our summer.

Another talent

Ivy was frustrated at me moving slowly the other day. I twisted my knee hopping into the car after grocery shopping by myself Thursday night. Anyway, she was thirsty and ended up getting her own cup. "This must be my talent Mommy: pouring apple juice in a cup without spilling."

Happy 5th Birthday Collin!

This is a video I took of Collin opening presents. Thought it'd be faster/more convenient than multiple pictures.



Collin, what can I say? It's been an amazing day today! We're so proud of you for choosing all by yourself to go to primary instead of nursery at church today. And to top it off, you stayed in there most of the whole time. That hasn't happened for nearly 2 years! Mommy & Daddy were getting quite concerned but had no idea what to do. We're so thankful you're choosing to show your independence too.

Little by little thru the Spirit and trial & error thru different experiences, I am finally understanding your world. What I thought was a sensory issue turned out to be merely your frustration at wanting to do something yourself instead of Mommy "helping" you.

My birthday wish for you is to never stop being the sweet, sensitive little guy you are. More progress in certain things would be nice, but I'll wait for you to do things in your own time.

A Newly Discovered Talent

Talents come in all shapes and forms. Thank goodness for kids who can think of creative ones that I never would've thought up on my own.

Ivy, "See? This is my talent. I can hold grapes in between my fingers"

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!

Tom flew in late tonight from Kuwait--he's still collecting his things before coming home. We are so grateful to have him back & many thanks to all who've helped us in any way, big or small. It means a lot, even if it wasn't a big deal to you. We're looking forward to having family time this week/weekend & celebrating our anniversary next week.

I love this song. So appropriate for the final days of the deployment.

Update on Collin

Collin is starting to show genuine interest in engaging in more social interaction with me, siblings, and now the neighbor boy--whom I will address in a later post(can of worms). Anyway, I'm really excited to see this. I have spent many hours at the temple, and home (or wherever I am) wondering what's in store for Collin's future. It sounds bad, but for the most part, I did exactly what was described in a book "Special Children, Challenged Parents" about how the author basically let go of any dreams/expectations for his son's future so he could enjoy his son more instead of just focusing on things like "he'll never blah, blah, blah", etc. It does make things more bareable, in my opinion. And then when milestones are met there's more excitement for them. Even if they are years off compared to neuro-typical children.

A New Tradition

I am taking this idea off a downloaded epsiode of Tim Gunn's Guide to Style(downloaded, as we have local stations & pbs only on our tv--we both think that cable isn't worth it to us yet, as it'd be more channels and not that much more on we'd like to see).

As a little background, in this particular episode, a mom with 2 kids, a teaching job, and soon a new part-time job is getting the makeover. They sent her to a life-coach(?) type person to teach her an important object lesson involving a weighted vest being compared to the weight of guilt of doing things for & spending time on ourselves as mothers. The things she liked doing and felt guilty about spending time doing were written down on tags and then tied to the weights in the vest. She walked around a little to feel how the guilt was weighing her down. Towards the end of this scene, the tags were cut off the weights, and the vest removed. The tags were then placed in a clear jar and she was to pull one thing out a week, month, however often to "indulge" herself in.

Anyway, I will be starting up a similar thing in our home very soon. I frequently don't have that much time to myself. When I do, most of what I'd rather be doing gets put on the back-burner, and I've been feeling a little burned out lately(pun intended). Tom & I have both agreed it'll definitely be a good thing for me to get more "me" time.

Getting ready for Tom

Elder's Quorum came over today to help with last minute home-improvement type stuff that needed to be done before Tom's return.

Master Bath: touched up walls, baseboards, painted ceiling,

and patched small hole behind door with the mirror

Front yard: Put up nails & hung our Welcome Home banner

(though it'll still be a little while until Tom is back home)

Kitchen: What can I say??? We painted the dining room this green color about 2 years ago, and everything below the shelves in the picture about a year ago. EQ painted the wall above the shelves and fixed our broken microwave handle w/superglue.


Backyard: They pulled ivy vines growing in the corner about a week ago, and today de-weeded the back & trimmed everything along the bottom of the walls. (The kids love it as now the lizards who crawl on the wall have no where to hide)

Ivy has named the new plants. The bigger one is appropriately named "Fluffy" and the smaller one is "Mr. Plant"

Nothing Says Sorry Like...

We're really sorry about Mr. Plant, Daddy (he had Mr. Plant for 15 years). Hopefully Mr. Plants' siblings will last longer than 15 years and *hopefully* they won't have to go thru a deployment like Mr. Plant did.

The current situation of Mr. Plant, before today's burial.

We will have to pick names for the new ones when Tom gets back.

Random photos by Ivy

Ivy learned how to take some pictures w/the Nikon. Here are the ones she's taken so far.

Andrew w/paper towels

She did several screen shots of Littlest Pet Shop

A screen shot of when Tom video called us on Skype

One of me talking to Tom via video

Collin & Andrew

Not sure why she took this of Andrew. Maybe he was about to turn off a dvd?

Her Littlest Pet Shop Collection: Panda

Mouse. She also has a purple peacock. I'm surprised she didn't take a photo of it.

Collin sitting on my lap today

Andrew picking a book from the shelf.

feeling crafty again

This morning, I found an online tutorial for a crayon roll. I thought it looked like a fast project and would be helpful for long car rides, at church, and keeping Andrew busy when Ivy starts swimming lessons in a few weeks. This one is Andrew's, sans crayons. He picked out the fabric. Ivy has already requested me to make one for her out of fairy fabric. Oh, before I forget, this is where I found the tutorial:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/

We have thoroughly enjoyed my sister & her husband staying with us on their short trip. Andrew really warmed up to both, which was awesome, considering a little over a year ago he didn't want my sister(then a sister missionary) to hold him. It has been really nice to have someone to talk to. I'm going to miss that soo bad.

A very short update

Ivy finishes kindergarten the end of next week, with 2 weeks off till swimming starts. Our peach tree is now empty. Tom told Ivy he'd be home soon after the last of the peaches fall off the tree. We have a pretty good idea when he will be coming back, but no "official" date till 10 days before. Not much time left till our estimated return date. I've made it this far, but doubt my ability to make it this last stretch. I told Tom as soon as he's adjusted back to this time zone and he's done w/his demobilization process, I may just take a long nap.

On the bright side, one of my younger sisters will be in the area for a short trip this week--I think for a wedding in her old mission area. Hopefully, we'll get some time with her & my brother-in-law. Oh, and we have our missing camera back. It was gone for a month & a half @ the in-laws(who didn't know it was there). It figures, after we got a replacement. I figured it was lost forever in one of many black holes at my in-laws. Have to say though, I like the way the Fujifilm takes pictures better than the Nikon I just got.

Picture of the new faucet

Here's a picture of the faucet I that I installed--the one that didn't give us any problems afterwards. The blue is the color I chose for the bathroom walls when I painted. It's almost done.

Perfect timing? (Ivy's homework)

So, as many of you may already know we had an earthquake here last night. It was originally labeled as a 5.0, but downgraded to a 4.7. Shook the house pretty hard. A few things rattled around, but nothing breakable fell or broke.

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/ci10410337.htm

So what's this got to do with Ivy's homework? Well, Tom's internet has been down for awhile now, so he's been calling home to talk after the kids go to bed. Ivy missed most of school last week(she and 5 other kids got sick, in a class of 20 kids), so I had her finishing up her homework to turn in today. The page she was working on, she had to come up with a fire safety rule, and write it on a pre-drawn firefighter hat. I was busting up laughing(so hard that I was crying) while trying to tell Tom her rule, when the earthquake started. Her rule? "Put out the fire."

The end is in sight

Who'd have thought we made it this far through our journey? We certainly couldn't have made it this far without the help of friends & family. Thanks everyone, whether it was physically helping out in some way or just being a listening ear.

Time has passed relatively quickly, thanks to keeping busy with Ivy & Collin in school & therapy for Collin.

It reminds me of a quote I found several years ago by Albert Einstein: "When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."

We've been pretty fortunate to not have so many of the "hot stove" type of moments these past several months. Not to say we haven't had our challenges: neighbor issues(a couple different neighbors, I won't go into either), behaviors from the kids, my running on less than 6 hours of sleep for about a week & a half and crying at everything because I was so drained, and Ivy throwing up several times this evening while the boys wanted me to play with them.

The end is in sight, and each day has suddenly started getting longer. I'm happy to report though that there have been some positive developments in recent days. Collin is getting more interactive, especially trying to say silly things(that he knows sound ridiculous) to see how I will react. For example "I want frosting"--we have none in the house over 98% of the time. He says this with a big smile, expecting tickles.

Collin has also learned to help with the washer & dryer, and will now ask me if he can "help laundry." Actually, all three kids like to help with that. Now, if there were only some way to get them to fold/hang up & put away their own laundry so it's not all left to me.

Another recent development is that I have been "fixing up" the master bathroom, with paint, new faucet, and a new shelf. My inspiration for the paint colors was the calm of an empty beach. I need more calmness in my life and treasure the moments when I can truly relax.

New haircut

I went yesterday to get it done. I kept a lot of the length, but added some layers. Now my waves/curls can be curly again on their own. It was getting weighed now and not looking great. (I know my pic is getting taken on Friday, when my in-laws will celebrate my birthday). Sorry this picture isn't so great, we tried using the webcam to take it. And please excuse the mess in the background. The kids were in the middle of playing.

Birthday Plans

my birthday is coming this week. i have some fun stuff coming in the mail(some dvds), and a 2nd b-day card from tom. he said he mailed one, and he did at the beginning of the month, but it didn't get here till this afternoon. i had told him earlier i would take care of my birthday if he would send me a card.

so, my plans include: getting my hair trimmed--layers need fixing. i learned to trim my own bangs this week, so those are where they should be; cross-training shoes--my running ones give me no side-to-side support for my non-running cardio days; and getting my wedding ring cleaned. i also have andrew being watched for the better part of tomorrow & all the kids watched on saturday for a couple hours--with a backup babysitter, just in case.

this month...

it's almost the end of the month, and i haven't posted much. a couple weeks ago the computer decided it wanted to pay me back for us going out mid-way thru the 2nd session of conference. we had an open house at collin's therapy group & they had bounce houses for the kids. the computer was gone for almost 5 full days(early monday when the repair place opened till friday evening--they didn't start working on it till wednesday afternoon). i still managed to get ward bulletin done on time thanks to borrowing a friend's computer for 20/30 minutes.

the first day or two, i felt what i imagine is similar to a drug addict going thru withdrawl. i use the computer for sooo much. less than 2 days later, the computer stopped working again(after i had started putting programs back on) & i ended up reformatting the whole hard-drive & start from scratch. i didn't want to have another week of it gone for a 3 hour(max) job. luckily, we had the repair place backup all our data for us on an external hard-drive so nothing important was lost.

the computer has behaved itself quite well since the re-format. i just had to put it in its place that i am in charge, not it...LOL

hmm, what else? andrew is becoming quite the little parrot. his favorites he has picked up from ivy are "watch me" and "no collin." he has also learned how to kick a ball in the direction he wants it to go in. he also loves peeling stickers from sticker books and sticking them on my arms, legs & face.

spring break is over! yay! we had so much therapy that we enjoyed our time when we were by ourselves.

ivy is becoming obsessed with littlest pet shop & isn't thrilled about delayed gratification. i make her earn stuff. apparently she thinks 1 day=enough to by a ridiculously priced stuffed animal.

April Fools' Dinner

I normally don't care for April Fools' Day, but I thought Ivy might enjoy it. We made cornbread cupcakes/muffins with chocolate frosting and meatloaf cupcakes topped with mashed potatoes. I let the kids pick out the food coloring colors for the potatoes. The cornbread was a big hit. Ivy helped frost it and was fooled till she tasted a bite of corn in it. If I had not added the corn, maybe she wouldn't have known. The meatloaf was only a hit with Andrew. Ivy told me "it's not nice to trick [her]," even though she tried to pull an April Fools' joke on me after I picked her up from school. Everything is soo one-sided with her.

Yes, she is wearing her swimsuit while frosting.

The meatloaf in cupcake wrappers and the colored potatoes. Ivy chose pink, Andrew picked blue & Collin picked green.

sign of aging?

my birthday's in a few weeks. i must be getting old or something. i cannot think of anything i really, really want this year. maybe see a movie and eat a favorite meal? or take a nap? nothing's really jumping out at me yet. perhaps i'll get an idea in the next few weeks, just as the law of attraction stipulates.

in other news, i have an idea of when tom will be back. i'm not allowed to say yet and i'm hoping they don't change it. we have made the halfway mark!!

All I want for Christmas....

Well, Collin won't be getting it for Christmas this year or probably not even next year. He had his major dental work done while being sedated, and had to have a front top tooth pulled. Poor kid, he is a trooper though. He is almost back to his normal self, just a little less than 24 hours later.

The funniest part was that Ivy's jealous Collin lost a front top tooth before her. She has had both top front teeth loose for awhile, but still intact. Luckily, we don't have to do the Tooth Fairy bit with Collin--we don't have the tooth, and he doesn't understand what money is. He probably wouldn't understand the whole Tooth Fairy concept either. :)

Update on Action Hero Babe

In the past 7 weeks, I've lost 8 lbs and 11"!!

Action Hero Babe exercise

Official results coming on Monday. Missed some & swapped for some shorter workouts for a couple weeks--me & the kids taking turns being sick and at one point sleep was a higher priority so I could function the next day, but i stuck to the clean eating the whole time. My goal pants are fitting me! I just wanted to drop that last pant size I was holding onto, and now I'm there.

What I've been up to this week

Made for my girlfriend, Roxanna, who's due in a couple weeks.

Close up of fabric on front of blanket: Front of blanket, folded in half width-wise:
Back of blanket, still folded:
Front of babycarrier:
Back of babycarrer:

Happy Birthday Andrew

Photos courtesy of our friend Dina this morning.

Andrew again

I found out last week from his speech therapist, that there was the possibility that Andrew's language has improved so much within the past 2 months that he may not qualify for services from Regional Center. Honestly, the thought had never entered my mind.

As of yesterday, it looks like Andrew has gone from 37% delay to 12-25% delay. Regional Center won't give services unless there is a 33%+ delay. So, we have at least next week, but I'm not sure past that. The speech therapist still recommended another month or two of therapy because Andrew still needs it, but at this point it seems highly doubtful as there is no state budget in place. No budget=no services. Not sure what I'm going to do. The school district won't pick him up for services for 9 months.

Also, regarding Andrew, anybody know how I can get him to stop biting other children? It doesn't happen very often, but I'd say 99.9% of the time, somebody else is the instigator(taking a toy away that he's playing with, getting in his personal space, etc.). A lot of this stems from he can't tell others to back up, leave him alone, or give him his toy/turn. In any case, he's broken skin twice, and bit someone on the cheek a couple days ago. It really bugs me that I find out at the end of church, instead of right after it happens. Another thing that really bugs me is hearing about how somebody's kids didn't start talking until after they were 2 or 3 years old. That is just not normal!! I do have aspirations & goals for both boys.

1st attempt at sewing a blanket

these are both sides to a blanket i made today. i'm making a matching one tomorrow, so the boys won't have to fight over it. they both LOVE the cars movie.

Random thoughts

• Why is it that I'm more motivated to clean up when I know someone is coming over to help clean up? This happens a LOT here. Like tonight, for example. Someone's coming over tomorrow to help with laundry(taking it to their house, and bringing it back), but I'm doing multiple loads tonight(which, yes, sadly will still leave stuff for them to wash).
• If I watch my favorite movie while doing my least favorite chore, will it be more tolerable over time, that I won't need a movie anymore?

Anyway, food for thought. Here's a quick update. Ivy's memorized our home phone #! They do a show & tell every week at school(I think they call it Sharing Time though). Anyway, we didn't have much practice time before her sharing day, Friday. So, I drilled & quizzed her on the way to school. Guess that was enough for her to get it. Ivy doesn't like pants with horizontal stripes(found that out this week), so we called around to friends who are about the same height & clothes size as Ivy. Her friend loved them!

In other news, I feel like my world came crashing down this week. I got informed(by an autism group I'm part of) that Regional Center, who coordinates services for the boys & reimburses respite for me(as well as services for 1000's who have developmental delays & disabilities), will be closing in March if the state doesn't pass a budget(they are state funded) by Valentines' Day. Services would be terminated/postponed until the state has a budget. I've been trying to collect signatures like crazy for petitions provided by the Regional Center. I also have to make some phone calls up to Sacramento this week. I also may be going to a rally--not 100% sure on that one yet. Also, had my fast today about this. So wrong the state would just cut off funding like that to the most vulnerable group of people, most of whom can't advocate for themselves. Speaking of how wrong/messed up the state is, they're going to be giving away IOU's as tax rebates for state taxes until a budget is in place.

Of trains and trash cans

I had a crazy Tuesday night last week. After the kids went to bed, I decided to put together a train table the boys got for Christmas. That (and our crazy heatwave)fueled me to do some early spring cleaning. I stayed up a little past 3 am, showered went to bed at 4:00, and was up at 6:20 with Collin. I don't get energy like that very much, but once I get started, it's hard to slow down/stop. I had to get rid of a couch for the train table to fit (and nearly filled a whole trash can with several trash bags from my purging), but the kids don't seem to mind. They're more concerned with "how fast can Mommy fix the train tracks if I knock them down?" and "I want to monopolize the trains."

Action Hero Babe

I just started a new 6 week exercise program today, called Red Carpet Ready. I've done the program on my own before but this time I have access to ask Valerie Waters(Jennifer Garner's trainer, and the lady who came up with the program) questions as I go along--I jumped at the chance since this is the only time she's offering it this year. I also have access to a special workout she used to help Rachel Nichols get in shape for GI Joe(the name of the workout is Action Hero Babe). I'm not allowed to talk about specifics of the workout(signed a non-disclosure) since it won't be available to the general public until the summer, when the movie comes out. Basically, it's supposed to build muscle & add muscle definition.

Anyway, I'll be adding progress reports here.

I went to Target to fill a prescription yesterday. While we were waiting, we found one of those Sit & Spin toys for under $6. Anyway, I put batteries in it, and one of the songs is William Tell Overture.

Every time I hear that song, I think of this(you'll have to push pause on the playlist on the right so you can hear the song):



Just looked it up on YouTube and they have a Dads version too:

Stake Conference

Today, we actually got to conference ahead of time. That in and of itself was amazing. As we were sitting, with 15 or so minutes before it started, one of the counselors in the Stake Presidency introduced us to Elder Rasband(see photo) of the Presidency of the 70, who was visiting. He told a little of our situation(w/Tom away) to Elder Rasband, and Elder Rasband took a few minutes to talk to us. I don't remember much of what he said, as it was rather brief. They asked how it was going and without thinking too much I said that I was so thankful to be "adopted" into 2 families in the stake to sit with us. I do remember that he had such a strong spirit about him and was impressed that he wanted to meet w/people before the conference started. Anyway, I missed a bit of the talks, Collin was having a really hard time w/so many people there. Elder Rasband spoke at the end. At the end of his talk he was talking about President Monson always being concerned about the widows, poor & needy. And that we should do the same. Then he talked about single parenting and the need to buoy those up in the stake(single parents, widows, poor, needy), and not to assume someone else is helping out. I was almost in tears--I am fairly certain he was referencing us.

Another crazy week

Monday we got the house cleaned up by my visiting teacher & 2 members of the RS Presidency. They volunteered, and I wasn't going to turn away free help.

Tuesday, Andrew was "borrowed" away by a friend from 9:00-1:00! So much free time, I didn't know what to do first. I ended up going to the farmer's market for bananas & veggies, to Kohl's for a couple shirts I can wear to church, came home, ate lunch, and watched The Devil Wears Prada (while doing 20 minutes of exercise). I had fun. From what it sounds like, this may become a regular occurence.

Wednesday, I got a stomach bug. Wasn't completely over it till late Thursday night. Sent all the kids off w/an awesome friend Wednesday afternoon(for what I thought would be a couple hours). It ended up being 4 so I could rest.

Thursday, went to a meeting about Ivy's school temporarily moving campus(for 1 school year, while they do construction/modernization at her school) & consolidating w/another small elementary school(both have the lowest enrollment #'s in the district). Sounds like, if I can have my way, Collin & Ivy will be able to go to the same elementary school.

Yesterday, got a babysitter for adult session of stake conf. You'd think it wouldn't be such a hard thing, but I had to make a lot of calls.

Head Over Feet(Another Tag)

I. Put your iTunes or other music player on shuffle.
II. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
III. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
IV. Put your own comment after song.
V. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing this (including me!).

1. If someone says "Is this okay?" you say: Will You Remember

2.What would best describe your personality: Mary Jane (I do think of myself when I hear certain parts of this song)

3. What do you like in a girl/guy: Dreams

4.How do you feel today: A New Day Has Come

5. What is your life's purpose: Linger

6. What is your backup plan?: Lullabye/Goodnight, My Angel

7. What do your friends think of you: Sweetest Thing

8. What do you think of your parents: Someone to Watch Over Me (wasn’t expecting this song to pop up, but appropriate)

9. What do you think about very often: Pretty

10. What is 2 + 2: Walk On The Ocean

11. What do you think of your best friend? She’s Always A Woman (haha...this does remind me of what one of my girlfriends has told me)

12. What is your favorite color?: All The Way

13. What are your thoughts on LOVE?: If You Asked Me To (I do have moral standards though)

14. What is one true thing about you?: Castle On A Cloud

15. What do your parents think of you?: Waltzing Back (lol)

16. What will you dance to at your Wedding? She’s Got A Way

17. What will they play at your funeral?: Iris

18. What is your hobby/interest?: I Will Always

19. What is your biggest secret?: This Is The Time

20. What do you think of your friends?: I Still Do

21. What's the worst thing that could happen?: You’re Still The One

22. How will you die?: Wanted

23. Does anyone like you? Sunday

24. If you could go back in time, what would you change?: Just The Way You Are (haha)

25. What hurts right now?: I Want to Hold Your Hand

26. What rule do you always follow?: Eight Days A Week

27. What have teachers always thought of you?: Kiss From A Rose (um, no)

28. What's something you do everyday?: From This Moment On

29. What will you post this as?: Head Over Feet

30. How will you say goodbye?: Is It For Me (haha)

I tag: anyone who wants to try this. It's pretty fun. I had to learn how to shuffle songs on my mp3 player, so there you go. Learned something new today.

"Honest Scrap tag"

Looks like I've been tagged again.

"A) First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!

B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap"

Hmm...not that much interesting(in my opinion), but I'll try. You'll find that these are pretty random things. And yes Lam, I did have to dig deep on some of these.

1. With Collin getting his at-home therapy the past year and a half, I've learned to not beat around the bush(as much) when talking w/others about anything. One of the parent trainers I had said about 90% of conversation is fluff and for kids like Collin, you have to be clear & concise. I was reminded about this a couple weeks ago when I stayed up late to watch "Must Love Dogs" by myself (if you've seen the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about)

2. When I was much, much younger(pre-teen)..I thought it'd be cool to have twins someday(a girl & boy). After having Ivy, I quickly changed my mind..LOL

3. Speaking of Ivy, when we first found out we were expecting, Tom frequently teased me we'd have septuplets(I had been on fertility drugs).

4. I've always had a keen eye for aesthetics. I can tell what colors/objects look good together pretty quickly(hence the change in the blog background)

5. Along those lines, I'm pretty artistic..pencil & charcoals are my favorite mediums. Haven't used them much since Ivy's been born(paranoid the kids will make a mess of it), but have branched out into other mediums/skills since then(basic sewing, cross-stitch, painting jungle animals on the boys' bedroom wall, recently jewelry making).

6. I get really paranoid at the night sounds of the house. No kidding, when we first moved into our house, the water heater sounded like footsteps. Still does.

7. I like lots of blankets on me when I sleep (all year long, even summer!) Good thing Tom is the opposite, he says I'm a cover hog. (I am)

8. When I was a kid, all I wanted when I grew up was to not be forgotten. This is for 2 reasons. First, I got left behind once at church when I was really little(my parents had 2 cars at the time & thought the other parent had me..nope, didn't know I was gone till someone brought me home). And second, just with so many siblings(6 sisters, 4 brothers) there's no way to give attention to everyone equally--part of why I didn't/don't want a lot of kids.

9. When I was 7 or so we lived up by the Big Bear mountains, and my mom had me & one of my brothers(1 1/2 yr younger) go to summer school at the elementary school--now that I think about it, probably to keep her sanity & keep us busy. Anyway, I just remember one day the bus was REALLY late for coming after the day was done. I told my brother, if the bus doesn't come in 5 more minutes, we'll walk home. 5 minutes came and went. No bus. We started walking. On our way out of the long driveway to the school, we saw the school bus but kept walking anyway. It was at least a couple miles to our house(didn't know that at the time or even how far a mile was). Somebody saw us walking on the side of the road & took us home. My mom freaked out, since one of my sisters was supposed to pick us up at the bus stop & we weren't there. After that, we never went to summer school again.

10. Not any new revelation to most people, but I have a hard time opening up to people. You may not, however know the reason(s) why. I second guess myself all the time, especially in social situations...I never finished past 1 1/2 yrs of college so I don't feel educated enough to be on par with others or like I have anything interesting to say. I think myself to be quite boring. I also have major trust issues, after being abused when I was younger. I think my being so quiet is a defense mechanism.

I tag: Sabrina, Natalie, Jenn(after she's done moving & settling in), Melody, Autumn, Bylle, Anita, and Tom(if you want to do this, just go to New Post in the upper corner).