Play

We found some clearance play-dough at the grocery outlet this morning.

Our old play-dough was just that.  Old.  A little dried up.  And all mixed together.

They barely made it though their lunch before wanting to get it out. 

Eli is doing better at not eating every little bit.  He has fun mashing, smashing and tearing it into tiny bits.

 Avery is the color mixer.  It really bothers Noah.  But she says her color creations are beautiful.  And who's to argue with that?

Besides, I haven't found a good way to let them creatively play and not have the colors mix.  

(got any ideas?)

Noah makes things.  People, places, things. Volcano's and man-eating sharks.   He loves to look at the play-dough sets at the store.  Too bad there are no man-eating shark sets.  The ice cream shoppe is his favorite.

The rule around here is they can play with play-dough as long as they actually "play" with it.  I'll make suggestions, maybe demonstrate how something works, but do minimal help.  Once they start asking me to make everything for them, the play-dough gets put away.  

Where is the creativity if I do all the work?  It's pretty much a free for all.  I can usually read a magazine or two while they play.

So, you can bet my table and floors are dirty today.  

But that's okay with me.

We are busy creating.

Sunday Photo .5

This is NOT how I envisioned our Sunday picture turning out this week. On the way out the door to church I told the kids that I wanted to take our Sunday photo.  I even asked nicely if would make happy faces.  Wade laughed.  He knew better.

I kinda thought we would have less spinning flashlights, pink poodles, Bob blankets and pink carts.  I thought they might hold still, look at me, or smile.

 I'm am exhausted  today.

 And I just want to go on mom-strike.  This afternoon when we were trying to find our table underneath the legos for the millionth time-  while everyone's lunch sat ready on the counter getting cold - I finally muttered what I had been feeling all week.  

"I don't think you appreciate what I do around here."

Noah looked at me and said, "I don't know what appreciate even means Mom"

really?

(But I have insert  - Wade wasn't around when I said that.  He doesn't apply.   I know he totally appreciates me.  He makes it possible for me to stay at home.  He believes in me.  He says I am amazing when I am not.  We both agree, I could never do what he does every day at work, and he could never do what I do here at home)

There are only four of them.  Sometimes I wonder what people say if I told them I wanted more? 

(HA! Wouldn't YOU like to know if I do?!)

I get looks at the store.  I get comments from people all the time.  I know some of my friends probably think that I am crazy.  There is that one mom I avoid at school pick up because she always has some snide comment to make.  And I will never forget the day one of my neighbors made a rude comment to me, I was very pregnant with Eli and Avery was a bitty one year old.  I just smiled back and said something to the effect of that they are great kids, and I love it.

What I wanted to say back was something about her letting her dog poop in my yard and her not picking it up.   But I didn't.  I voiced my opinion on motherhood and let it go. 

I try not to blog when I am tired and had enough.  I try not to voice it on Facebook.  I know being a wife and mother is the most important thing I will ever do in my entire life. And since this is my own blog, I like to think of it as my own little platform to defend the family and my choice to be a mom.  For those strangers and their rude comments. 

So I like to keep it positive.  Who would believe me saying families are important and being a mom is cool if I am always complaining?

 But, oh.  It's not always.

Did I mention the highlight of my day?  Avery balled up her fruit snack wrapper, threw it in in the air today during Sacrament Meeting and hit the man sitting in front of us right on the top of his head.

Seriously, sometimes we are one big train wreck waiting to happen.

Honestly, this mom gig is hard.

And exhausting.  

But that doesn't make it wrong.  

It really only means that this is all worth it.

Really, I know they appreciate me. 

They don't need to know what that word means.  

(Although thanks to that comment, they totally do now.)

Noah jumped up and gave me the biggest bear hug tonight after I helped him find his missing blanket Bob.  Then he whispered, "I love you, Mom"

He never says that.  

and I know.

It's been 8 years since I said goodbye to actual pay checks, those were really nice.  But I know I am spending every single day doing exactly what I want to do - and what I came to earth to do.  

I am raising a family.

And at the end of the day, whether it was a tired, exhausted, happy, sad, good or bad day, there will always be a bag of chocolate chips in the treat jar with my name on it.

Saturday Seven No. 3

This week:

1.  Gage worked hard all day building a temple with his Legos.  When we told him that bad guys don't go to the temple, he said to us, "Okay, those aren't bad guys, they are angel WARRIORS!"

2.  Eli & his pink shopping cart.  Of course, it's actually Avery's, but you can't tell him that.  He pushes it around and around and around some more.  All day long. Every day. No one else can touch it.  He puts his blanket in it, and since he has two sometimes I catch him with a blanket on top and a blanket on the bottom.  Don't tell him it's pink, although honestly, I don't think he would care.

3.  Playtime in the racqetball courts while we drop off Noah at preschool.  Avery was invited a princess party last weekend.  She is now obsessed with wearing her princess dress every day of the week.  Can't wait till her birthday in a few weeks.  I've been hiding/saving some princess dresses I found on clearance after Halloween just for this occasion!

4.  Gage started chess club at school this week.  Our new Thursday schedule.  He was pretty excited he got to join.  Before joining they had to fill out a form explaining their experience and why chess was important to them.  Gage's answer was pretty sweet.  "Chess is important to me because I get to play it with my Dad."

5.  Visited the new branch of our library system.  They don't use the Dewey decimal system.  Kinda strange.  Not that it really matters too much to me, I spend most of my time in the kid section.  Now I don't have to stress about the kids pulling books off the shelves so much.  And honestly, when I want a certain book I usually find it online and put it on hold so I don't have to search for it with all the kids.  They have a new movie machine - similar to a Redbox - 7 movies for 7 days for free!  It's pretty awesome.

6.  Friday was a teacher in-service day at school.  So we had another day off.  My friend and I took our kids to the zoo.  Noah and Eli loved the shark tank.  Eli just danced around squealing and pointing the whole time.  Noah wouldn't stop talking to the zoo volunteer, he had SO many questions.  Then we all came back here and spent the afternoon here playing chess, battleship, legos and with flashlights.  The hubbies joined us and we ate Chinese take out for dinner.  Love a good day with friends.

7.  Up on the to-do list today: visiting the library (different branch) again to get books for Gage's science project.  Then off to the wood shop for Gage and Wade to work on his pinewood derby car.  We are spending the morning watching Beauty and the Beast.  The kids have been requesting brownies for a while, so I think we can manage that too.  Sounds like a perfect Saturday to me.

Afternoons with Noah

Around our house, after lunch Avery and Eli both take naps or have quiet time.  And that means I get some one on one time with Noah.

Last fall Noah became really interested in "reading" his Bob Book.   It's basic decoding.  He was doing really well with our one set, so I decided that this year we would spend a little bit of our afternoons working on reading together.  After some research I also ordered "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons" off Amazon.

It's pretty fool-proof.  It shows exactly what you should say in one color, and what the child should do or say in another.

Noah really likes it. He says it is his "homework" and reminds me if I miss a day.  He really likes the writing portion at the end of each lesson too.  One day Wade was home, and he asked if he could do his lesson with Daddy. He thought that was really great.

Honestly, I am okay with whatever pace he wants to go.  There have been days he just wants to write, or days he just wants to read his Bob book to me.  I am okay with that.  I am not positive we will finish the entire 100 lessons either.  I am okay with that too.  I am just glad he enjoys it.

A lot of his friends are in kindergarten already.  But I am glad I have this extra year with him around.  It's nice to have a quiet afternoon together.

Plus, at the end of each lesson he usually gives me a big hug (and sometimes even a kiss!).  And that makes my afternoon time with Noah totally worth it.

Sunday Photo .4

After church the kids kicked down what was left of their fort. 

My house looks like a tornado came through it, but I can deal.  Because we drove around after church today and most of town does too.  Some people still don't have power.  And they say it could be a week or more.  Our friend's neighborhood was hit pretty hard.  We drove up there and I took some pictures.  My parents came up this morning and with saws and helped them clean up their yard.  My parents then came to church with us, since their church was canceled.  Then they were off to help someone else.  Just like that.  My parents are awesome like that.  Did I mention that they didn't even have power themselves for 2 days?  That didn't even slow them down.

We sang this song today at church.  Exactly how I have been feeling all week.

It's all about perspective.

And today, I can't help but look at this tornado mess of a house and count my many blessings.

Lego System

Since we had so much time at home this week, we spent a few hours organizing our Legos.

First we gathered all our instruction manuals and put them in sheet protectors inside a 3 ring binder.

Then we spent hours - and I really mean hours - sorting the Lego pieces by color.  We put them in different bins by color families.  Greys/Black, Green/Brown/Blue and Red/Yellow/White

I had this old shoe rack in the garage. I had painted it blue when I painted the desk, so it totally matched.  It isn't too big and fits the bins perfectly.

Instead of using the big drawers, the smaller color bins are so much easier to use.  The kids can find what they want and it is easier to clean up.

I was able to use the bottom 4 drawers of our old Lego drawers to put all our craft/coloring books/work books.  The top two drawers are for large Lego pieces that don't fit in the bins and other toys they play along side the Legos. (such as Playmobile and army men).

We went to the store and looked at a bunch of different organization ideas.  Then we decided that this would be best for our little men and their weapons/accessories.  It's a photo case.  They put weapon and accessories in one bin and then all the others are filled with Lego people.

 So far, cleaning up and keeping up with our system has been successful.

But since our table constantly looks like this

we will see how long this system lasts!

Happy Building.

Saturday Seven No. 2

Pretty exciting week. And we barely left the house.

1.  Noah and Gage unload the dishwasher twice a day now.  My cupboards and drawers will never look organized the way I imagine them ever again, but they do it.  And actually kinda enjoy it.  (And sometimes I just sit on the couch and act lazy and watch them do it.)

2.  I picked up a bunch of random toys and kids things from the downstairs and put it in a bin one night this week.  The next morning I told the kids they had to put it away and in the right place.  Noah couldn't find a right place for these postcards.   Then he saw an easel my craft table and came up with this.  (My craft corner is in our bedroom right next to my bed). I've woke up every morning to this.  Pretty sweet.

3.  In a few short weeks Avery will be 3.  In a moment of braveness I told her that we need to throw away all sippy cups.  What was I thinking?  Sippy cups are my crutch for her.  I am not sure I am strong enough to make it through February.

4.  We had a horrific snow ice storm hit our state this week.  About 300,000 people lost power this week and some still don't have it on.  Somehow we were some of the few blessed ones to never lose our power.  Wednesday through just a few minutes ago we had our best friends staying with us.  It's been a great party.  Today we had another family and some extra kids too.  10 kids under 10 to be exact.  I am so grateful for our warm house and that we were able to help.  While I so happy that all our friends have power now, I was sad to see them go.

5.  Power and heat are nice, but electronics are even better.  We had a good laugh when we looked around and saw 4 iphones, an ipad, 2 lap tops, the xbox and tv on.  

6.  Tested Noah's blood sugar again this week.  Just call me paranoid.  We had it tested last summer and it was fine, but I have always wondered because we never knew the score.  Since both of us have sisters with Type 1 diabetes, his frequent (as in 4 or more times an hour) trips to the bathroom kinda worry me.  But his Dr. said everything was fine in the summer, and apparently it is still fine.  Maybe it's just out of habit? Just another something to figure out.

7.  I love scrapbooker/organizer Becky Higgins.  A few years ago I bought her 365 scrapbook kit.  It is now called Project Life.   She recently came out with a Shutterfly version and I am so excited.  I've been working on making a Becky Higgins Project Life album of my Sunday Photos from last year.  Honestly, I can't decide who to print my blog book anymore, Blurb, or Blog2Print.  But this book I adore and am so excited to finish.  Double score, I have a pretty sweet coupon that expires this week so I can order it soon!

Snow Fort

We knew it was coming.  And were ready.

And woke up to SNOW this morning!  

Lots of it!

My parents just a little south of us got a lot more.  They got this much yesterday (when we had none) and then they got at least another 10 overnight.

This is a picture they emailed me of their back fence. (that normally looks like this) We should have drove down and spent the night - we could have had an all day pass to their perfect sledding hill.

Wade was home this morning and helped Gage build one awesome snow fort.

Eli and Avery had fun for the first 20 minutes.  Then he couldn't suck on his fingers because of his gloves and she got cold.  So I took them in.

I became the target for a snowball fight.

Mess with me and you mess with Wade.  He got them from behind when they weren't suspecting it.

Here is the fort halfway done.

Wade would built the blocks and the boys would then come behind and fill in the cracks.

My view from inside.

Still working.

Wade found an old tarp in the garage and they added it to the top for a roof!

They added a few blocks on top to hold it in place.

Filled it all in.

And had the perfect snow fort!

I think it took them an hour to an hour and a half to make.  Then Wade of course got critical of his own work and started thinking of different ways he should have built it.

Gage and I thought it worked great!

They had some hot chocolate and snacks with some neighbor friends.

After everyone warmed up and ate some lunch they were back out side.  This time they helped another neighbor build one and of course, an afternoon isn't an afternoon without Legos.  This time in the snow fort.

Felt Flower Winner

We put all the names into a bowl this morning.

Then I had my trusty assistant help mix them up and pull one out.

Look at that face...those eye brows!

And the winner is Jessica!

(let me know when you are home and we can just walk it over to you!)