23 December 2010
01 November 2010
Into the Woods
We had a hard time deciding what to be for Halloween this year. I have really wanted to be a BLT sandwich ever since I saw this photo:
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.
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
I've had some nerve racking moments in my life. High fever convulsions with Addison and that time I almost crashed the City truck into a gas pump, for example. But hands down, literally, tonight was the 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.
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.
22 August 2010
Apartment Living in Phoenix
I once read a parenting article that suggested giving your kids five compliments for every correction. This way they would grow up with a healthy sense of self-worth and a stronger, more positive relationship with you, the parent. Thankfully, the same rules do not apply to my relationship with apartment living in Phoenix. It has been a pretty rough transition for me. I have cried myself to sleep almost every night this week, overcome with feelings of homesickness and despair. But I'm in a better place now (maybe due to the homemade ice cream shared with Tucson friends also living in our complex?) and I think I can try to be fair and at least come up with a few positive things to say in addition to the negative comments I was prepared to rant about. So without further ado...
How I really feel about THE MOVE:
1- Phoenix is DRY! Even coming from Tucson I feel this way. We are ten times thirstier and to make matters worse, the water here tastes like D-I-R-T! Thus, my poor children are suffering from constipation and regular bloody noses. We just might have to fork out some money and jump on the Crystal Light train.
2- The kitchen is the size of a walnut. Keith says it is really an issue of layout, not size, but either way it is awkward. The refrigerator door can't open all the way, due to a wall, and thus you cannot access the bottom drawer of the fridge. And when the dishwasher is open, it takes up all of the space in front of the sink so that doing the dishes is a rather frustrating exercise. There are tons of cabinets squished into the tiny room, but it doesn't make up for the lack of a pantry and our food is spilling out all over the counter, making dinner prep equally frustrating.
3- The "walk-in closet" is hardly accessible after the addition of clothing and with room for only one of our dressers, we are having to really pare down to the essentials. Which could be a good thing I guess. But I also find it irritating to have half of our stuff in storage. I guess I didn't pack well enough, because some of the boxes that ended up in the apartment have things we don't really need, and stuff I want is now buried in the depths of the storage unit.
4- The lap pool that was one of the selling features for this complex is only one lane and has steps at both ends making flip turns impossible. But it is right behind our apartment and so the kids and I visit it nearly every morning.
5- We are the completely wrong demographic for this place. It seems like everyone here is single, a smoker, and has a small dog. We keep opposite hours, walk through plumes of smoke whenever we leave the house, and scream at the sight of animals. I don't think our neighbors like us, but they haven't started banging on the walls yet.
6- We can hear everybody's business. The second night we were here, the couple upstairs had a knock-down, drag-out super big fight and I could hear every word. Thankfully my kids had fallen into such an exhausted sleep that they didn't hear a thing or they could have picked up a whole new vocabulary. This makes me feel really guilty every time my kids wake up at 5:30 am running and screaming, or whenever I do a load of laundry at 7am, but I guess we'll all get used to each other eventually.
7- Did you catch that we have a washer and dryer in our apartment? That makes me SO happy. Scrounging for quarters and lugging loads laundry down the stairs with three kids would have just about done me in, so I am so thankful for this. It almost makes up for the white wall-to-wall carpet everywhere in the apartment. Almost.
8- Our ward is fantastic. Everyone has been super friendly and I love to go on Sundays. And the best part is that my kids love it too. We didn't hear a single whimper from Addison when we dropped him off the first week and those of you in Central Ward know that is HUGE!
9- We are closer to the temple. We went on Saturday morning and we still had time to do stuff the rest of the day. It was really nice to just go without worrying about all the things we should be doing around the house (I guess it helps that we don't really have "house projects" or yard work anymore either).
10- The preschool is AWESOME! There are only three kids in Addison's class so he gets a lot of attention and has a ton of fun reading, painting, and playing house with the girls. This is probably the most validating part about moving here. Seeing him so excited to go and learn is wonderful. And again, no screaming. I was SO happy to not be the parent of the clinging, panicking kid that first day of school. I was even offering advice and telling the other mom it would be okay and her daughter wouldn't die without her! The best feeling in the world! The afternoon schedule and the fact that the school is a 25 minute drive away is messing with our nap time routine and creating two terribly cranking little girls, but I'm trying to over look that because I love the preschool so much.
But the best part of THE MOVE is that we get to see Keith every single day. Even though he is so busy with work and usually comes home exhausted it is great to get a hug when I need it and to watch him wrestle with the kids while I'm fixing dinner and to have some help with the every day things I was doing myself all summer. I am so grateful not to be a single mom anymore.
All in all, I'm glad the first week is under our belt. Now I believe that we can make this work.
PS- If any of you read the Lundstrom's Blog, this post really makes me look like a whiner because we're in the same apartment complex. But it's how I feel so while I won't change it, I will work on adjusting my attitude :)
How I really feel about THE MOVE:
1- Phoenix is DRY! Even coming from Tucson I feel this way. We are ten times thirstier and to make matters worse, the water here tastes like D-I-R-T! Thus, my poor children are suffering from constipation and regular bloody noses. We just might have to fork out some money and jump on the Crystal Light train.
2- The kitchen is the size of a walnut. Keith says it is really an issue of layout, not size, but either way it is awkward. The refrigerator door can't open all the way, due to a wall, and thus you cannot access the bottom drawer of the fridge. And when the dishwasher is open, it takes up all of the space in front of the sink so that doing the dishes is a rather frustrating exercise. There are tons of cabinets squished into the tiny room, but it doesn't make up for the lack of a pantry and our food is spilling out all over the counter, making dinner prep equally frustrating.
3- The "walk-in closet" is hardly accessible after the addition of clothing and with room for only one of our dressers, we are having to really pare down to the essentials. Which could be a good thing I guess. But I also find it irritating to have half of our stuff in storage. I guess I didn't pack well enough, because some of the boxes that ended up in the apartment have things we don't really need, and stuff I want is now buried in the depths of the storage unit.4- The lap pool that was one of the selling features for this complex is only one lane and has steps at both ends making flip turns impossible. But it is right behind our apartment and so the kids and I visit it nearly every morning.
5- We are the completely wrong demographic for this place. It seems like everyone here is single, a smoker, and has a small dog. We keep opposite hours, walk through plumes of smoke whenever we leave the house, and scream at the sight of animals. I don't think our neighbors like us, but they haven't started banging on the walls yet.
6- We can hear everybody's business. The second night we were here, the couple upstairs had a knock-down, drag-out super big fight and I could hear every word. Thankfully my kids had fallen into such an exhausted sleep that they didn't hear a thing or they could have picked up a whole new vocabulary. This makes me feel really guilty every time my kids wake up at 5:30 am running and screaming, or whenever I do a load of laundry at 7am, but I guess we'll all get used to each other eventually.
7- Did you catch that we have a washer and dryer in our apartment? That makes me SO happy. Scrounging for quarters and lugging loads laundry down the stairs with three kids would have just about done me in, so I am so thankful for this. It almost makes up for the white wall-to-wall carpet everywhere in the apartment. Almost.
8- Our ward is fantastic. Everyone has been super friendly and I love to go on Sundays. And the best part is that my kids love it too. We didn't hear a single whimper from Addison when we dropped him off the first week and those of you in Central Ward know that is HUGE!
9- We are closer to the temple. We went on Saturday morning and we still had time to do stuff the rest of the day. It was really nice to just go without worrying about all the things we should be doing around the house (I guess it helps that we don't really have "house projects" or yard work anymore either).
10- The preschool is AWESOME! There are only three kids in Addison's class so he gets a lot of attention and has a ton of fun reading, painting, and playing house with the girls. This is probably the most validating part about moving here. Seeing him so excited to go and learn is wonderful. And again, no screaming. I was SO happy to not be the parent of the clinging, panicking kid that first day of school. I was even offering advice and telling the other mom it would be okay and her daughter wouldn't die without her! The best feeling in the world! The afternoon schedule and the fact that the school is a 25 minute drive away is messing with our nap time routine and creating two terribly cranking little girls, but I'm trying to over look that because I love the preschool so much.
But the best part of THE MOVE is that we get to see Keith every single day. Even though he is so busy with work and usually comes home exhausted it is great to get a hug when I need it and to watch him wrestle with the kids while I'm fixing dinner and to have some help with the every day things I was doing myself all summer. I am so grateful not to be a single mom anymore.
All in all, I'm glad the first week is under our belt. Now I believe that we can make this work.
PS- If any of you read the Lundstrom's Blog, this post really makes me look like a whiner because we're in the same apartment complex. But it's how I feel so while I won't change it, I will work on adjusting my attitude :)
What I Did This Summer
End of the summer masterpiece with my favorite flower,"The Shaggy Mum."
This was a summer of what I so fondly like to call "self-imposed house arrest." With Keith in Phoenix with our car, the kids and I spent most of our time hanging out at home. We did make it across the street to the public library and pool occasionally, but a lot of the time it was just too hot to make the little red wagon trek and so we drove each other nuts inside.
To break up the monotony and save my sanity, my sisters-in-law invited me to take a cake decorating class during the month of July. It was nice to have a couple of hours kid free and think about something besides dinner and baths. And of course the best part was coming home and sharing my creations with my wonderful babysitter and kids.
Getting the perfect consistency of frosting
Our final cakes(Can you tell we shared frosting by the unanimous color theme?)
"No, Addison. Not shaggy bum, shaggy MUM!""No, no, no, Addison. Not shaggy man, shaggy MUM!"
Who cares what they're called! They were yummy!14 June 2010
Flip-Flop
Question: How do you and your spouse come to agreements on important decisions when you each have polar opposite opinions?
Keith and I are flip-floppers. He will have one opinion, I another. We talk it over, get stubbornly entrenched in our ideas, and end the conversation more frustrated than we started. A few days, weeks, or months later, whenever we happen to discuss it again, he has finally come round to my way of thinking, and I have decided he was right all along. It is an endless cycle.
When our first child was born, we couldn't agree on a name. Keith liked this one best, and I liked that one. The next month Keith liked my name and I liked his better. We finally made a bet to settle it. If the baby was born with a head full of hair like the Perry family, we would choose Keith's name. If the baby was bald like the Carpenter kids, my name would be picked.
Keith won!
But figuring out what to do with our house is a completely different story. We can't just gamble that decision away. When we first accepted the job transfer to Phoenix, Keith was adamant about renting the house out, saying we wouldn't be able to get our money's worth in this economy. After talking to some friends in a similar situation, I thought we should at least try to put the house on the market, just to see what would happen. Best case scenario, we sell the house and don't have to worry about it anymore; worst case scenario, we don't sell the house and then rent it out like Keith wanted.
Fast forward three and a half months. We haven't sold the house, prices are dropping uncomfortably low, Keith has already started his job in Phoenix, crashing at my grandmother's and coming home on weekends, and I am here in Tucson trying to hold down the fort with three kids and no car. Now I am thinking as soon as our real estate contract is up let's get renters in here and Keith wants to keep lowering the price and just get rid of the house already. ARG! Seriously aggravating!
So tell me, how do you and your spouse ever come to any agreements?!
Keith and I are flip-floppers. He will have one opinion, I another. We talk it over, get stubbornly entrenched in our ideas, and end the conversation more frustrated than we started. A few days, weeks, or months later, whenever we happen to discuss it again, he has finally come round to my way of thinking, and I have decided he was right all along. It is an endless cycle.
When our first child was born, we couldn't agree on a name. Keith liked this one best, and I liked that one. The next month Keith liked my name and I liked his better. We finally made a bet to settle it. If the baby was born with a head full of hair like the Perry family, we would choose Keith's name. If the baby was bald like the Carpenter kids, my name would be picked.
Keith won!But figuring out what to do with our house is a completely different story. We can't just gamble that decision away. When we first accepted the job transfer to Phoenix, Keith was adamant about renting the house out, saying we wouldn't be able to get our money's worth in this economy. After talking to some friends in a similar situation, I thought we should at least try to put the house on the market, just to see what would happen. Best case scenario, we sell the house and don't have to worry about it anymore; worst case scenario, we don't sell the house and then rent it out like Keith wanted.
Fast forward three and a half months. We haven't sold the house, prices are dropping uncomfortably low, Keith has already started his job in Phoenix, crashing at my grandmother's and coming home on weekends, and I am here in Tucson trying to hold down the fort with three kids and no car. Now I am thinking as soon as our real estate contract is up let's get renters in here and Keith wants to keep lowering the price and just get rid of the house already. ARG! Seriously aggravating!
So tell me, how do you and your spouse ever come to any agreements?!
09 May 2010
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