06 February 2011
Poll
A New Low
In my defense, I haven't been to the grocery store in over a week. (I was waiting until after our upcoming move so we wouldn't have to transport so much food.) And I didn't know they were coming until 30 minutes before. Our friends desperately called three times in a row (that's how long it took me to find my phone) to say they had forgotten their assignment and were out of town, could we possibly fill in for them? The chili mac was already made for our dinner, so I kept it warm on the stove and then busted out the bread, knowing three boxes of macaroni and cheese wouldn't be enough for two fasting missionaries.
The elders were very gracious about the whole thing, eating off of mismatched plates (who has the dishes done when company isn't expected?) and stepping around already packed boxes piling up all over the room. But I felt terrible, the way they scarfed down four helpings, even scraping the last bits out of the pan (that's right, I served them out of the pan I cooked it in. Don't tell my mother) because I knew they could've eaten more if I'd had it.
All in all, it might have been my lowest moment. Good thing we're moving right?
03 January 2011
AWK-WARD
We can't be friends anymore. I am tired of being embarrassed and uncomfortable in social situations. Go find someone else to bother okay? I would appreciate it tremendously. Thanks!
Amanda
A little background on the above letter. In September I got pregnant. Over Thanksgiving we announced the news to family and a few friends and ward members. Three days later I hit the twelve week mark, went to the doctor for a routine check-up and found out that the baby no longer had a heart beat. A couple of days after that, I had a D&C.The awkwardness comes from the fact that I was far enough along to be showing, that horrible stage where people aren't sure if you're just gaining weight or are actually pregnant. I was squeezing into a few of my normal pairs of pants and beginning the transition to maternity clothes. Only now it feels like that stage is going on and on and on forever. I'm not getting any bigger because I'm no longer pregnant, yet I still have this kind of post pregnancy pooch without a baby to show for it.
So when all of the "Oh, are you expecting?" and the "Are you having another baby?" and the "When are you due?" questions come my way I'm not sure what to say. If I reply with an explanation along the lines of, "Well, I was, but then I had a miscarriage," people feel terrible and trip all over themselves to apologize for my loss. But then if I just answer, "No," they are so mortified they trip all over themselves trying to cover up or excuse their blunder. It's embarrassing for everyone no matter what my response. Maybe if I could come up with something witty like, "Just a few too many treats over the holidays," it wouldn't be so bad. I dunno. What would you say?
PS- I am not looking for pity in this post. I've had plenty of that. I'm just venting about a discomfiting situation and perhaps looking for some helpful suggestions. Thank you for your consideration.
02 January 2011
Resolution to Read
The one goal I did get close to accomplishing was the reading of 100 books. I decided to do this when a friend mentioned how she had to read 100 books in a semester for a Children's Literature class. I believe about twenty of them had to be what the education world calls "chapter books," and the rest could be picture books or non-fiction titles. I thought, "Huh! I bet I could read 100 books, but all of them chapter books. Remember that one time I read 10 books in a week?" Arrogant, wasn't I? It came to bite me in the end, don't worry. I somehow forgot to account for the fact that I now have three kids to raise and a house to clean and clean and clean again. And perhaps I didn't realize how much time I waste on TV and internet usage. By November I was scrambling to read one or two books a day and neglecting most of my other responsibilities. So all in all, I only read 97 books and a few dozen I am embarrassed to have counted because they were so short, but oh well.
Here they are in chronological order:
1- Viking Ships at Sunrise by Mary Pope Osborne
2- Vacation under a Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne
3- Lions at Lunchtime by Mary Pope Osborne
4- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
5- Good Morning, Gorillas by Mary Pope Osborne
6- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
7- Day of the Dragon King by Mary Pope Osborne
8- Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
9- Tigers at Twilight by Mary Pope Osborne
10- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
11- The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
12- Papa Married a Mormon by John D Fitzgerald
13- Mamma’s Boarding House by John D Fitzgerald
14- On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
15- Civil War on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne
16- A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
17- Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
18- Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
19- Best Shorts: favorite short stories for sharing selected by Avi
20- Shopaholic takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
21- The Book of Mormon
22- Born Standing Up (Audio CD) by Steve Martin
23- The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
24- The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
25- Night of the New Magicians by Mary Pope Osborne
26- Night of the Ninjas by Mary Pope Osborne
27- The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
28- The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
29- Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne
30- Dark Day in the Deep Sea by Mary Pope Osborne
31- A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
32- Dolphins at Daybreak by Mary Pope Osborne
33- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
34- The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
35- The Seeing Stone by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
36- Lucinda’s Secret by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
37- The Ironwood Tree by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
38- The Wrath of Mulgarath by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
39- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
40- Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo
41- Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
42- Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo
43- Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo
44- Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne
45- Charlie Bone and the Hidden King by Jenny Nimmo
46- Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo
47- Charlie Bone and the Shadow by Jenny Nimmo
48- Charlie Bone and the Red Knight by Jenny Nimmo
49- Season of the Sandstorms by Mary Pope Osborne
50- Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff
51- Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
52- Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt
53- A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
54- Twister on Tuesday by Mary Pope Osborne
55- The Nixie’s Song by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
56- A Giant Problem by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
57- The Wyrm King by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
58- Heartbeat by Sharon Creech
59- Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
60- Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson
61 – The Wednesday Letters by Jason F Wright
62- The Robe by Lloyd C Douglas
63- The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
64- Mummies in the Morning by Mary Pope Osborne
65- Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
66- Tonight on the Titanic by Mary Pope Osborne
67- Buffalo Before Breakfast by Mary Pope Osborne
68- Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer
69- The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer
70- The Time Quake by Linda Buckley-Archer
71- Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey
72- The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
73- Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
74- River Secrets by Shannon Hale
75- Forest Born by Shannon Hale
76- Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
77- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
78- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
79- Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent
80- The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup
81- Knights of the Kitchen Table by Jon Scieszka
82- Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
83- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
84- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
85- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
86- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
87- The Not-So-Jolly Roger by Jon Scieszka
88- The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
89- The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
90- The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
91- A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
92- The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
93- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
94- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
95- The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney
96- Oh Say, I Can’t See by Jon Scieszka
97- Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne
I'm afraid if I add commentary or recommendations this post will be a mile long so perhaps if you are interested in any additional info you could comment and I will write more as necessary.
Happy Reading!
23 December 2010
01 November 2010
Into the Woods
But Keith has lost his festive spirit and didn't want to dress up at all. So I tried to come up with something low key for the grown ups but still fun for the kids. After I saw a homemade tub of popcorn costume in a magazine I came up with "Date Night." Child one is pizza, child two is popcorn and child three is a DVD or a movie ticket. Mom and Dad just have to dress up like we're going out and viola! It was perfect. Too bad children also have opinions and Addison hated the idea.
He really wanted to be a shark. I toyed with the idea of an ocean theme, having seen a cute mermaid costume made out of foil cupcake tins, as well as an easy octopus costume in the past, but couldn't find a shark costume that suited Addison's fancy.
So we looked at all the online photos we could find and through a couple of magazines and finally decided that he wanted to be a turtle.
Then came the tricky part of trying to find a theme for the rest of the family. The tortoise and the hare was the immediate answer. But then do we add another fable and make Keith Aesop? And if so, what fable? The fox and the grapes.... No, a fake fur tale is expensive! The country mouse and the city mouse? Maybe...
My sister suggested a petting zoo: Addison as a turtle, Charlotte as a bunny, and Jocelyn as a sheep (like last year) and Keith and I are the zookeepers. Decent, but that meant taking back the sheep costume that she was borrowing from me. And that's just mean.
Maybe we could be an amphibian and reptile exhibit? Turtle, frog and lizard? But Charlotte wasn't crazy about being a frog. Until after we came up with another idea and then she insisted that frog is what she wanted all along.
Anywho...the battle went on and on. Our final decision = Into the Woods. Keith as a lumberjack, Amanda as a wood nymph (or something), Addison as a turtle, Charlotte as a bee, and Jocelyn as a bunny. All things you find in the woods right? The kids couldn't stand still long enough for a decent picture and we never did get one of the whole family but you get the idea, hopefully.
Maybe we will give up on family themes in the future. This is getting way too difficult.
14 October 2010
Scariest Moment of My Life
We had put the kids to bed and been in and out of their room several times already, answering multiple requests for chapstick (it is dry here, but I think Charlotte is addicted), when we heard Addison start to yell, "MOM! MOM!" And not just in his whiny, "the girls are crying and keeping me awake," voice, but the full on panic stricken scream that he usually reserves for being left all alone in the house and not knowing where I am. So I knew it was a serious situation (at least in his eyes) and started running to his room. I was thinking we probably shut the door all the way instead of leaving it open a crack, or he got his finger smashed or something like that.
It wasn't until I was actually pushing open his door that he screamed, "Mommy! I fell out my window!" And I looked at his bed and only saw his feet poking through the blinds.
When I got to the window, he was, no joke, hanging by his toes out of our second floor apartment window. I grabbed his ankles to keep him from falling and with herculean strength, Keith yanked him back inside and threw him onto the bed. At which point Addison and I both hugged each other and started sobbing hysterically.
After fixing the screen, bolting the window shut and vowing never again to put a bed next to a window, we offered a very tearful prayer of gratitude to our Heavenly Father that our little boy was safe. We pleaded with Heavenly Father that He would always watch out for Addison and not just protect him physically, but spiritually as well. And that we, as parents, would always be in tune to the Spirit that we might assist him in, or better yet, keep him from, any future trouble.
As I laid next to Addison until he was finally able to sleep, all of the dozens of possible outcomes to this scenario ran through my mind. Not a single one of them was good. I can't even imagine the agony of losing my child and I am so grateful that by some miracle his feet caught on the window ledge and that he had the strength to hold on until we arrived. I am so grateful that Keith and I ran as fast as we could and didn't let him "cry it out" like we do so many other times when we are tired of answering millions of bedtime requests. And mostly I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father that loves me and my children and watches over and protects us.
