It really is a bit of a crash after Christmas isn't it? My kids are in sugar induced hyperactivity on Christmas day and there is usually still a bunch of candy for them to stay on the sugar induced high the day after Christmas. Today though it's a whole different world. The candy is gone, dad is back at work and all of a sudden four kids all need mom at the same time. Of course I am looking around trying to figure out what project I want to tackle first- the laundry that's piled up from the weekend, the tree that is dieing in the corner and needs to be undecorated, the rooms that are a mess and need to be cleaned up and toys sorted so there is room for the new toys...
Nothing on my list will get accomplished today and I was getting upset about it. I was starting to stress over why oh why I can't ever get anything done around here. But this Blog is theraputic. Now all of a sudden it doesn't really matter. I'll take another day and sit and play with the kids, watch some movies and tv, play some games and the other stuff will keep. I think we've got another 2-3 days worth of clothes to wear. If they don't match the greatest that's okay because we aren't planning on going anywhere... lol! The toys can be sorted next week just as easily as this week and we'll just have to make sure we clear a path in the rooms till then. The tree is a bit of a fire hazard in the making so we'll have to get to that sooner than later, but I think we'll be fine for another day or two.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Christmas
Well we had a fun Christmas at our house this year. The kids were up bright and early Christmas morning. Santa left some Christmas Captain Crunch cereal for the kids to have for a special Christmas breakfast treat (Captain crunch is loved in this house, but mommy never buys it so it is really a treat in two ways... sugarry and sweet, and they only get it on very rare occasions). Rich and I laid in bed listening to them talking and being so excited about all the presents... Rich got up a few times when we could hear them moving boxes around. By 6:50 am we decided to go ahead and get up and start the fun. 
I hope all of you had a fun and enjoyable Christmas.
We make the kids sit down and we open presents one at a time starting with the youngest person. Then we go around the family opening one present at a time until people don't have anymore presents and then we start giving the kids family presents to open. This was the first year that Angela was really able to get into unwrapping the presents, and the first year that Alyssa really got into the Santa fun. We got a lot of games this year so we are excited to have so many new games to put in our game closet for us to play with. The kids were happy with the presents that they got and we had an enjoyable day without any real arguments at all.
In the past I've had some years that I've felt I've gone overboard on buying stuff for the kids, and some years that I really felt like I should have gotten something better or more- I don't know I just didn't feel like the kids got the right gifts... this year seemed to be a happy level. We got the kids about 3-4 gifts and then they each got a gift from each set of grandparents. It seemed to be just about right so I'm very content about what we did for Christmas this year. Here are a few more pictures... Alyssa was very into helping us clean up the mess.
I hope all of you had a fun and enjoyable Christmas.
Christmas Eve
I LOVED having Christmas Eve on a Sunday this year. I'm sure it has fallen on a Sunday in the past, but it didn't really register with me like it did this year that it was so wonderful. In the past Christmas Eve would be filled with stressfull stuff of making sure I had everything we needed and running out to the store to get the last minute stuff, then stressing about getting the meal done on time, having time to get in the Christmas Story and putting out the cookies and milk for Santa before bedtime. At least the kids always would go to sleep very willingly on Christmas Eve, but it always felt stressfull and not calm and quiet.
This year it was so much more peaceful and calm. A huge part of it was because Rich did so much for Christmas. I just have an aversion to going out and shopping and spending money and stuff. I don't enjoy it at all and get stressed out and overwhelmed when I go to the stores. Last year and this year Rich has done almost all of the christmas shopping for the kids. We would sit and look at toys online and talk about the different ideas that we had for the kids and then he would go to the toy store and buy it all and make the decisions from what was there. He has taken over the stressful part of Christmas for me and left me to deal with the part I like. I like the baking and cooking and decorating. That part really didn't have anything to do with Christmas Eve being on a Sunday, but I do have to acknowledge that it was a major part of it being less stressfull for me this year.
The part I loved about it being on a Sunday, was that we spent Christmas Eve at church in the morning, and just relaxing as a family in the afternoon. I did some cooking in the kitchen, but the kids and Rich played games and just spent the afternoon doing quiet and peaceful activities that seemed to complement the spirit that we want for Christmas instead of us being so busy and stressed over things that we are fighting to have a peaceful evening before the kids go to bed. We still had to wrap presents after the kids went to sleep, but that is always fun to sit and wrap presents with Rich and fill the stockings. Angela was still awake, but she's young enough not to be able to tell the other kids what she saw. :)
This year it was so much more peaceful and calm. A huge part of it was because Rich did so much for Christmas. I just have an aversion to going out and shopping and spending money and stuff. I don't enjoy it at all and get stressed out and overwhelmed when I go to the stores. Last year and this year Rich has done almost all of the christmas shopping for the kids. We would sit and look at toys online and talk about the different ideas that we had for the kids and then he would go to the toy store and buy it all and make the decisions from what was there. He has taken over the stressful part of Christmas for me and left me to deal with the part I like. I like the baking and cooking and decorating. That part really didn't have anything to do with Christmas Eve being on a Sunday, but I do have to acknowledge that it was a major part of it being less stressfull for me this year.
The part I loved about it being on a Sunday, was that we spent Christmas Eve at church in the morning, and just relaxing as a family in the afternoon. I did some cooking in the kitchen, but the kids and Rich played games and just spent the afternoon doing quiet and peaceful activities that seemed to complement the spirit that we want for Christmas instead of us being so busy and stressed over things that we are fighting to have a peaceful evening before the kids go to bed. We still had to wrap presents after the kids went to sleep, but that is always fun to sit and wrap presents with Rich and fill the stockings. Angela was still awake, but she's young enough not to be able to tell the other kids what she saw. :)
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
I should be making dinner right now... but I decided to do breakfast for dinner tonight so it should be fast and easy to make. The kids are all home from school now for the holiday and the next two weeks should hopefully be full of fun. I'll admit it is a bit apprehensive for me to think of all four of them home all day long to keep them busy without just letting them sit and vegitate in front of the tv or computer all day long. Next week should be a little easier because there will be new toys from Christmas presents to keep them playing happily without fighting as much.
We made gingerbread houses last night... below are a couple of pictures. Not the most fancy houses, but it was fun decorating them. :)
We've been having problems with our washing machine. It keeps stopping in the drain cycle. So
after two months of dealing with this I finally called the appliance repair guy and had them come out and look at it. Turns out there were about 6 fabric softener sheets that were down in the pump. They had somehow squeezed through the little drain holes and were clogging the pump so the water wasn't draining as fast as it should and the washer was "timing out" basically because the water was taking too long to drain. The repair guy was really nice about it and didn't even charge us anything for the service call! I was so grateful about that.
I've been working on christmas cards all day long and I think I'll be able to get them out tomorrow. I read somewhere that if you get it in the mail by the 20th it can still get there by saturday, so we'll put that to the test... :)
ok... off to make some hashbrowns and eggs- uh oh... I forgot I'm out of ketchup... hmm... change of plans- I need to figure out something else...
We made gingerbread houses last night... below are a couple of pictures. Not the most fancy houses, but it was fun decorating them. :)
We've been having problems with our washing machine. It keeps stopping in the drain cycle. So
after two months of dealing with this I finally called the appliance repair guy and had them come out and look at it. Turns out there were about 6 fabric softener sheets that were down in the pump. They had somehow squeezed through the little drain holes and were clogging the pump so the water wasn't draining as fast as it should and the washer was "timing out" basically because the water was taking too long to drain. The repair guy was really nice about it and didn't even charge us anything for the service call! I was so grateful about that.
I've been working on christmas cards all day long and I think I'll be able to get them out tomorrow. I read somewhere that if you get it in the mail by the 20th it can still get there by saturday, so we'll put that to the test... :)
ok... off to make some hashbrowns and eggs- uh oh... I forgot I'm out of ketchup... hmm... change of plans- I need to figure out something else...
Monday, December 18, 2006
As much as I hate Rich being out of town, it does give me a greater appreciation for all that he does around the house. I am so fortunate that he does so much that I feel I can't complain about the little things he does that occasionally bug me. :) Rich got home on Saturday and it was wonderful to not feel like a single parent again. Yesterday we had the Christmas programs at church and the fireside last night too. It was nice and I was able to sit and listen to a portion of each of the programs before I felt I needed to take Alyssa out because she was being too loud. She is such a tiny little girl, but her voice just carries and is very loud. I think I need to start doing some whisper games more at home to help her learn the difference between whispering and talking loudly.
Speaking of Alyssa... she is finally really wearing underwear and keeping it dryall day long! She's gone three days without any accidents at all and before that was averaging only one accident a day for about a week. I'm so looking forward to one less diaper size to buy on a regular basis. I'm sure we'll still use pullups at night for a while, but it's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel that I'll have more kids in underwear than diapers. :)
Tonight we are going to make gingerbread houses for FHE. In the past I've made the gingerbread and baked it and everything, but this year we are taking the short cut method and just "glueing" graham crackers to milk cartons. We'll then let all of the kids decorate a carton and have a little "village" to put out for the next week... I'm sure by christmas half the candy will be picked off of it, but it's fun to make.
Speaking of Alyssa... she is finally really wearing underwear and keeping it dryall day long! She's gone three days without any accidents at all and before that was averaging only one accident a day for about a week. I'm so looking forward to one less diaper size to buy on a regular basis. I'm sure we'll still use pullups at night for a while, but it's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel that I'll have more kids in underwear than diapers. :)
Tonight we are going to make gingerbread houses for FHE. In the past I've made the gingerbread and baked it and everything, but this year we are taking the short cut method and just "glueing" graham crackers to milk cartons. We'll then let all of the kids decorate a carton and have a little "village" to put out for the next week... I'm sure by christmas half the candy will be picked off of it, but it's fun to make.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
A chance to talk is rather nice...
We had a Relief Society progressive dinner tonight. It was really neat and fun. We started with appetizers at one house and I fell in love with some little won ton like things- turns out it even had shrimp in it! What a coincidence I had just been talking with another person about my aversion to seafood and at the same time was eating these yummy cripy things with a cream cheese filling and they had shrimp in them... lol! Then we headed over to another house and we had yummy yummy ham with an incredible glaze on it, and funeral potato's and some green bean stuff- I'll admit, I didn't even try the green bean casserole- I was enjoying myself and I just didn't want to waste stomach space on green beans- not my favorite vegetable... After that we headed to another house for the dessert course and by then I was just about completely full, but I was able to make room for a chocolate cake with gnosh in between the layers and poured over the top- yum yum yum!!
Of course the whole thing was fun, but I really really appreciated the opportunity to get out and talk to the other women from church and the fact that it was an activity that was designed for us to socialize and just talk. We see each other on Sunday's and at other activities, but when we are trying to take care of kids and busy fulfilling our callings on Sundays there is just not much time to sit and talk and really socialize and get to know each other better. It was good for my psychi just to get the opportunity to talk with the others. Also with Rich being gone this week it was wonderful for me to get out of the house without the kids and just talk to other adults and enjoy myself for a few hours.
I got home and Alyssa had fallen asleep on the couch so instead of trying to put her in the car and load up all the kids to take the babysitter home, I felt it would be okay to just put her in her bed and allow Alex to stay home for the 10 minutes it would take to take the babysitter home. I thought he was responsible enough to sit on the couch and be there just in case she woke up- and I think that it helps him feel more responsible by knowing that I trusted him to do that (even if it was only 10 minutes).
Of course the whole thing was fun, but I really really appreciated the opportunity to get out and talk to the other women from church and the fact that it was an activity that was designed for us to socialize and just talk. We see each other on Sunday's and at other activities, but when we are trying to take care of kids and busy fulfilling our callings on Sundays there is just not much time to sit and talk and really socialize and get to know each other better. It was good for my psychi just to get the opportunity to talk with the others. Also with Rich being gone this week it was wonderful for me to get out of the house without the kids and just talk to other adults and enjoy myself for a few hours.
I got home and Alyssa had fallen asleep on the couch so instead of trying to put her in the car and load up all the kids to take the babysitter home, I felt it would be okay to just put her in her bed and allow Alex to stay home for the 10 minutes it would take to take the babysitter home. I thought he was responsible enough to sit on the couch and be there just in case she woke up- and I think that it helps him feel more responsible by knowing that I trusted him to do that (even if it was only 10 minutes).
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
My sleep last night, or lack thereof...
So I was up till 2:30 am working on this thing that I wanted to make for both Rich and my inlaws... It's a wooden photo puzzle thing… it isn’t going to work. It involves decoupaging pieces of a picture on pieces of wood and the photo paper is curling up and not staying flat on the wood and the ink of the photo is smearing from the moisture in the glue… :( So discouraged at not being able to fix it and get it to work I got ready for bed and was just turning off all the lights at 2:30 when Angela woke up.
I thought I would just go in there and get her and lay down with her in our bed and we’d both go to sleep fast. Not so… she was WIDE AWAKE and insisting on holding two blankets, a baby doll and her stuffed kitten before I could even get her out of the crib. Then she wanted to play and would have no part of laying down to go to sleep… screaming and tugging and pulling at me until I got up out of bed and came out to the living room. So after about 45 minutes of her being wide awake she finally was ready to lay down with me and we went to bed at 3:15 where she went to sleep after about another 10 minutes of squirming around.
I fell asleep and was woken up at 5:30 to Alyssa standing there and methodically hitting me on the shoulder to wake me up. She wanted me to lay down with her in her bed. So I go and lay down with her and half an hour later get back up. I go to the bathroom and discover that my (TMI) pad has leaked all over and through to my pj’s and I have to change my clothes. By the time I lay back down it’s 6:30 and I’m hoping that I can get another hour of sleep before I have to get up to get the kids off to school. Of course at 7am I wake up again to Angela scratching my face and pulling my hair. She’s awake and hungry and doesn’t want to snuggle and stay in bed any longer…
Hopefully I can catch a little nap today, but I've filled it up with things to do because the week goes by so much quicker when Rich is out of town when I'm very busy- than when I don't have as much to do.
I thought I would just go in there and get her and lay down with her in our bed and we’d both go to sleep fast. Not so… she was WIDE AWAKE and insisting on holding two blankets, a baby doll and her stuffed kitten before I could even get her out of the crib. Then she wanted to play and would have no part of laying down to go to sleep… screaming and tugging and pulling at me until I got up out of bed and came out to the living room. So after about 45 minutes of her being wide awake she finally was ready to lay down with me and we went to bed at 3:15 where she went to sleep after about another 10 minutes of squirming around.
I fell asleep and was woken up at 5:30 to Alyssa standing there and methodically hitting me on the shoulder to wake me up. She wanted me to lay down with her in her bed. So I go and lay down with her and half an hour later get back up. I go to the bathroom and discover that my (TMI) pad has leaked all over and through to my pj’s and I have to change my clothes. By the time I lay back down it’s 6:30 and I’m hoping that I can get another hour of sleep before I have to get up to get the kids off to school. Of course at 7am I wake up again to Angela scratching my face and pulling my hair. She’s awake and hungry and doesn’t want to snuggle and stay in bed any longer…
Hopefully I can catch a little nap today, but I've filled it up with things to do because the week goes by so much quicker when Rich is out of town when I'm very busy- than when I don't have as much to do.
Monday, December 11, 2006
So we are almost done with shopping for the kids for christmas and I've started to look around the house and am asking myself- "where am I going to put this stuff???" what were we thinking when we bought x,y and z? So now I'm on a mission to get my house in order with some "holes" in places that the christmas presents will fit in. The thing is we just donated a ton of stuff that we had sitting in the garage for about 3-6 months and now here I am getting ready to go through things and donate more- we just have tooo much stuff! I'm trying to also organize what we can't/don't want to get rid of so it just works better because it is just not working right now...
Rich is out of town this week so while I don't sleep as well, it does give me the opportunity to work on some projects like this because I'll just stay up late and get things done.
Rich has done all of our christmas shopping for the kids though so that's done with. I just need to get one more item for Ashley that he wasn't sure what size she needed and the stocking stuff and send out the gifts to family members that we are mailing and I'm done...
Rich is out of town this week so while I don't sleep as well, it does give me the opportunity to work on some projects like this because I'll just stay up late and get things done.
Rich has done all of our christmas shopping for the kids though so that's done with. I just need to get one more item for Ashley that he wasn't sure what size she needed and the stocking stuff and send out the gifts to family members that we are mailing and I'm done...
Thursday, December 07, 2006
I'm having another one of those moments where I don't know what to write, but need to just get on here and type something because I always feel better after I do.
Yesterday we went to the cub scout Regatta. It was fun watching all the boys blowing their boats in the raingutter and great to hear them all cheering each other on. Alex won his first race and then lost the next two races.
I've been working on our family christmas letter yesterday and today. I think I've got the letter ready and now I need to get all the addresses compiled and on the envelopes. Then I think we'll take a picture of the kids with Santa on Saturday and we'll put that in with the cards and get them sent off early next week.
I'm also trying to plan what things I'm purchasing for Christmas and get those sent off to the right people. As much as I feel overwhelmed at times with what I have to get, I'm grateful that Rich and my extended families just switch names and give family gifts to one other family unit in our extended family. It would just be too difficult and stressfull and expensive to try and buy presents for every single member of our extended family.
Rich is going out of town on Sunday for a week so I'm also trying to get myself prepared for him to be gone. I'll have a few nights that week that if I can find a babysitter I can get out and go to a little party and Relief Society so those should be welcome breaks for me. Saturday I'm going to take the day and let him stay home and play with the kids while I go and do something for myself. I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but just something relaxing and fun for me.
Yesterday we went to the cub scout Regatta. It was fun watching all the boys blowing their boats in the raingutter and great to hear them all cheering each other on. Alex won his first race and then lost the next two races.
I've been working on our family christmas letter yesterday and today. I think I've got the letter ready and now I need to get all the addresses compiled and on the envelopes. Then I think we'll take a picture of the kids with Santa on Saturday and we'll put that in with the cards and get them sent off early next week.
I'm also trying to plan what things I'm purchasing for Christmas and get those sent off to the right people. As much as I feel overwhelmed at times with what I have to get, I'm grateful that Rich and my extended families just switch names and give family gifts to one other family unit in our extended family. It would just be too difficult and stressfull and expensive to try and buy presents for every single member of our extended family.
Rich is going out of town on Sunday for a week so I'm also trying to get myself prepared for him to be gone. I'll have a few nights that week that if I can find a babysitter I can get out and go to a little party and Relief Society so those should be welcome breaks for me. Saturday I'm going to take the day and let him stay home and play with the kids while I go and do something for myself. I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but just something relaxing and fun for me.
Monday, December 04, 2006
School today!
After having the kids home for a four day weekend for thanksgiving, and then having two snow days making last weekend a four day weekend, I'll admit I was very excited for the kids to go to school today. We are going through a rough time where Alex and Ashley are fighting a lot and are just very loud and while I love them dearly, I was ready for a little quieter time today with just the little girls.
Yesterday I woke up feeling sick, but thought I could take some meds and go to church and still be fine. After the first half hour at church I knew there was no way I physically could go and take care of the nursery kids so I had to let people know I was going to leave and make sure someone was there to take care of the kids in the nursery.
A sweet friend stopped me on my way out and told me she had something for me and came back with some beautiful cards. My head was pounding and I can't even remember if I thanked her for them- so if you read this... you know who you are- Thank you! They are beautiful and I'm so happy that I feel a connection with you. I hope we can find more ways to get to know each other better.
I brought the little girls home with me and Rich stayed for the remainder of church with Alex and Ashley. We got home and Angela fell asleep and stayed asleep for two hours!! :) Alyssa was content to play quietly and I was able to rest for a while- not sleeping since she was still awake, but closing my eyes and just resting.
After Rich and the older kids got home we decorated the christmas tree- my headache had diminished so I didn't feel paralyzed by the pain and we were able to have a fun time remembering when we got the different ornaments and decorating. Angela is going to be a handful keeping her from undecorating the tree, but I've already noticed her walking over there a little less today than she did yesterday.
Now that we have the decorations up I feel like I need to get busy getting christmas presents bought for the kids. We don't get them a lot, but I haven't bought anything at all this year. In the past I've felt stressed at this time, but for some reason don't feel stressed- just know I need to go and do it.
Yesterday I woke up feeling sick, but thought I could take some meds and go to church and still be fine. After the first half hour at church I knew there was no way I physically could go and take care of the nursery kids so I had to let people know I was going to leave and make sure someone was there to take care of the kids in the nursery.
A sweet friend stopped me on my way out and told me she had something for me and came back with some beautiful cards. My head was pounding and I can't even remember if I thanked her for them- so if you read this... you know who you are- Thank you! They are beautiful and I'm so happy that I feel a connection with you. I hope we can find more ways to get to know each other better.
I brought the little girls home with me and Rich stayed for the remainder of church with Alex and Ashley. We got home and Angela fell asleep and stayed asleep for two hours!! :) Alyssa was content to play quietly and I was able to rest for a while- not sleeping since she was still awake, but closing my eyes and just resting.
After Rich and the older kids got home we decorated the christmas tree- my headache had diminished so I didn't feel paralyzed by the pain and we were able to have a fun time remembering when we got the different ornaments and decorating. Angela is going to be a handful keeping her from undecorating the tree, but I've already noticed her walking over there a little less today than she did yesterday.
Now that we have the decorations up I feel like I need to get busy getting christmas presents bought for the kids. We don't get them a lot, but I haven't bought anything at all this year. In the past I've felt stressed at this time, but for some reason don't feel stressed- just know I need to go and do it.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Snow
We got snow!! :)
Being from Utah I always miss the snow that we got out there and rarely get here in Oklahoma. It was so neat to have a real honest to goodness snow storm with enough snow to really get out and play in it. Too bad I'm not really prepared with good snow clothes for the kids, but we managed to bundle them up and have fun regardless. The past six years I've always had newborns or been pregnant through the winters that we have had snow so this was the first time that I was able to get out and enjoy the snow with the kids instead of sending them out with Daddy and watching from inside.
Ashley's snowman
Snow Angel Alyssa:
Angela:
Alex:
Being from Utah I always miss the snow that we got out there and rarely get here in Oklahoma. It was so neat to have a real honest to goodness snow storm with enough snow to really get out and play in it. Too bad I'm not really prepared with good snow clothes for the kids, but we managed to bundle them up and have fun regardless. The past six years I've always had newborns or been pregnant through the winters that we have had snow so this was the first time that I was able to get out and enjoy the snow with the kids instead of sending them out with Daddy and watching from inside.
Ashley's snowman
Snow Angel Alyssa:
Angela:
Alex:
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