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.
Journey: n. An experience or process that leaves you changed; trail of experience. From here to there.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
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."
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."
Sunday, May 10, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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.
Monday, April 20, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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.
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