4.15.2012
Sigh.
It's almost 11pm. I stayed up late tonight because maybe, MAYBE if I go to bed now I might stay asleep all night. I so wish I could blow tomorrow off, go play volleyball with friends, take J to the park, go get a pedicure... darn all these things on my to-do list! Instead I will be figuring out swim team/lessons and signing up first thing in the morning, coaxing the girls to practice piano, boxing up a sign a customer ordered, driving kids to the bus, hitting an RPM class at the gym, going to the post office to mail said sign, coming home to finish another vinyl job, starting on invitations to our big activity day "T"ea party in 2 1/2 weeks, figuring out how to e-sign all our refinance docs, inserting meals, laundry and dishes at some point in my day, calling the sunscreen company to get the ball rolling on that project, straightening out an insurance thing with my doctor, getting to the bank at some point, gathering up some cans to pay for all my fines at the library, picking up the girls from the bus, taking them to piano lessons, doing an exchange at the Verizon store, making muffins with J, picking the girls up, convincing one of the girls to do FHE, and putting everybody to bed at a decent time. Wish me luck.
4.10.2012
Holy Cow, March,
where is this year going? The gorgeous weather of spring is fading fast, my air conditioning is on and I'm feeling the laziness accompanied with summer heat coming on as well... ugh.
So March:
Dentist appointments for all three kids showed we were free of cavities AGAIN - woohoo! We must be doing something right around here, at least...
Orthodontist appointments showed that A needs three more teeth pulled, great. Thanks a lot again, Nonnie, for our inheritance of your tiny mouth, and thanks Daddy, for our inheritance of your huge teeth. This will be happening in May.
Spring Break took the girls to gymnastics camp... partly because I've decided I do NOT want to travel on Spring and Fall breaks anymore. Staycations it is! Why would I leave Arizona on the two of the most perfect-weather weeks of the year? The girls went all week and loved it, and Mommy was able to get a lot of vinyl projects done.
Slight car problem during Spring Break as well... thank goodness for good friends who came to rescue me, saving me from a towing bill to the repair shop. Sparky is feeling much better now, but I'm knocking on wood every day that he keeps running okay. I feel like there's some major fix looming on the horizon... 160K miles, he's starting to show his age. Speaking of Sparky, he seriously needs an oil change today.
Spring Break also took J to Grandma's house for two days for his "G&G Inn" time. Our house was EERILY quiet while he was gone, and I found myself distraught and super lonely without my boy/sidekick. We were so glad to welcome him home!
I joined a gym in the middle of March, and have been going almost daily to classes, getting back in the habit. Now that I'm exercising my knee has loosened up and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it was. Go figure.
The kids returned to school the next week, thank goodness. I spent a lot of time creating new vinyl and signs for a boutique... since I was almost out of inventory. Now I'm pretty stocked up again. Small (sometimes VERY small) custom orders keep trickling in, giving me pocket money each week.
Thanks to Grandma watching J I was able to see the Hunger Games movie on opening day with some friends.. Loved it. Getting ready to re-read Catching Fire and MockingJay now.
Spring boutique came and went, and it went about how I thought it would...lol. I sold about what I expected, so I can't complain. I need to put some time and effort into finding just the right boutique shows to get into... haven't found just the right place yet to feature our stuff.
Craigs List has become my new addiction since I scored an awesome sectional couch for our downstairs living room for CHEAP. Now I have hope that I can find deals for the rest of my house, and have been scouring every day for just the right pieces. I've finally sold all of the random things I had laying around here "to sell" and can move on now. Oh, how I love upgrading my furniture! Next on the list: new kitchen table/chairs. Wish me luck.
Activity Days has been going a little better since I've been putting more time and effort into it... we had a whole music lesson with the girls where we learned all about the different elements to a song, different kind of notes, time signatures, etc. Each of the girls took turns leading us to sing a hymn of their choice and we played a music matching game. Pretty good. Last Friday we had an Easter lesson, talked about the last week of Jesus' life, and planted seeds in egg shells. I'm crossing my fingers that the stuff actually grows, lol.
We went to the Easter pageant on one of the first nights it showed when Nonnie and Papa were in town. My kids enjoyed every bit of it. I need to go even earlier next year to try and get better seats, though... A was constantly complaining that she couldn't see everything.
Kids are doing well. J is the happiest kid I know and so fun. He plays with bouncy balls and marbles and sings a lot, though he only knows a few words to a few primary songs. When he hears a slow song come on, whether a church song or not, he does this whole interpretive dance thing and sways around with his arms up, eyes closed, permagrin attached. It's hilarious. He's definitely a jokester lately. Daily he tells us something to be immediately followed by "I'm just kidding!" or "I'm serious. I'm not lying."
M is the most helpful kid around, and generally so pleasant! She is more than willing to dig in and help around the house... on Saturday she helped paint AND got in the pool and scrubbed the sides with the brush. I never never have to ask her to make her bed, or get dressed or ready for school, etc. Her interest in the piano has waned, and we're doing well to get her to play through each of her assigned songs once a day. Because of that, she hasn't improved as quickly as I would have hoped. She is looking forward to swim team this summer, and is still enjoying gymnastics.
I've been struggling with A lately, not only with the eating thing but with her just generally being defiant. She has to get reminded over and over again to do her chores, and she tends to act so burdened. Seems like every time I ask her to do something she hides out somewhere and starts reading a book, or playing on my phone, or something... I'm the nag and this horrible person who doesn't want her to have ice cream every night because she barely eats lunch or dinner, and won't buy her gum, and I hate it. I don't think she's eating much more than pretzels every day for lunch, since she almost always brings home her sandwich from school untouched. She's doing quite well in gymnastics and is moving up to level 3 as of today. She's already saying she doesn't want to do swim team this year, yet she wants me to keep paying for gymnastics, piano, and also wants to do private violin lessons this summer. Grrr.... I'm at a loss as to how to deal with her. She's plowing through 3-5 books a week, doing fine in school, but a lot of times I feel like she only does the minimum of whatever it is to get by... just to be able to do what she wants. Shoves her stuff under her bed and calls it "cleaning her room" etc. She and her sister are NOT getting along at all lately, the screaming has become ridiculous, but I don't know what consequences to apply.
Between work, basketball and scouts, we barely see N. Seems like when he's home he's too tired to do much. I've all but given up cooking dinner because the kids (I take that back, 2 of my kids) won't touch it anyway, and N's not home to eat it. So, I throw kid-food at the kids (or have them make their own) and call it done most days.
House is ... coming along. We're coming up on one year over here in Mesa. We have a LONG way to go, but the difference is night and day from when we moved in. A lot of paint and TLC goes a long way. To-do list includes finishing cutting in the paint upstairs, painting bathrooms, getting quotes on built-ins for downstairs living room, painting a hall tree I bought for the laundry room, SUN SCREENS (tax return??) , living room furniture, and hopefully a pool decking re-do (SRP bonus??) but we'll see how much of that happens this year. Hopefully at least 2-3 things on that list.
Now I've missed my class at the gym today because I don't have any workout clothes clean. Looks like it's a laundry day!
So March:
Dentist appointments for all three kids showed we were free of cavities AGAIN - woohoo! We must be doing something right around here, at least...
Orthodontist appointments showed that A needs three more teeth pulled, great. Thanks a lot again, Nonnie, for our inheritance of your tiny mouth, and thanks Daddy, for our inheritance of your huge teeth. This will be happening in May.
Spring Break took the girls to gymnastics camp... partly because I've decided I do NOT want to travel on Spring and Fall breaks anymore. Staycations it is! Why would I leave Arizona on the two of the most perfect-weather weeks of the year? The girls went all week and loved it, and Mommy was able to get a lot of vinyl projects done.
Slight car problem during Spring Break as well... thank goodness for good friends who came to rescue me, saving me from a towing bill to the repair shop. Sparky is feeling much better now, but I'm knocking on wood every day that he keeps running okay. I feel like there's some major fix looming on the horizon... 160K miles, he's starting to show his age. Speaking of Sparky, he seriously needs an oil change today.
Spring Break also took J to Grandma's house for two days for his "G&G Inn" time. Our house was EERILY quiet while he was gone, and I found myself distraught and super lonely without my boy/sidekick. We were so glad to welcome him home!
I joined a gym in the middle of March, and have been going almost daily to classes, getting back in the habit. Now that I'm exercising my knee has loosened up and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it was. Go figure.
The kids returned to school the next week, thank goodness. I spent a lot of time creating new vinyl and signs for a boutique... since I was almost out of inventory. Now I'm pretty stocked up again. Small (sometimes VERY small) custom orders keep trickling in, giving me pocket money each week.
Thanks to Grandma watching J I was able to see the Hunger Games movie on opening day with some friends.. Loved it. Getting ready to re-read Catching Fire and MockingJay now.
Spring boutique came and went, and it went about how I thought it would...lol. I sold about what I expected, so I can't complain. I need to put some time and effort into finding just the right boutique shows to get into... haven't found just the right place yet to feature our stuff.
Craigs List has become my new addiction since I scored an awesome sectional couch for our downstairs living room for CHEAP. Now I have hope that I can find deals for the rest of my house, and have been scouring every day for just the right pieces. I've finally sold all of the random things I had laying around here "to sell" and can move on now. Oh, how I love upgrading my furniture! Next on the list: new kitchen table/chairs. Wish me luck.
Activity Days has been going a little better since I've been putting more time and effort into it... we had a whole music lesson with the girls where we learned all about the different elements to a song, different kind of notes, time signatures, etc. Each of the girls took turns leading us to sing a hymn of their choice and we played a music matching game. Pretty good. Last Friday we had an Easter lesson, talked about the last week of Jesus' life, and planted seeds in egg shells. I'm crossing my fingers that the stuff actually grows, lol.
We went to the Easter pageant on one of the first nights it showed when Nonnie and Papa were in town. My kids enjoyed every bit of it. I need to go even earlier next year to try and get better seats, though... A was constantly complaining that she couldn't see everything.
Kids are doing well. J is the happiest kid I know and so fun. He plays with bouncy balls and marbles and sings a lot, though he only knows a few words to a few primary songs. When he hears a slow song come on, whether a church song or not, he does this whole interpretive dance thing and sways around with his arms up, eyes closed, permagrin attached. It's hilarious. He's definitely a jokester lately. Daily he tells us something to be immediately followed by "I'm just kidding!" or "I'm serious. I'm not lying."
M is the most helpful kid around, and generally so pleasant! She is more than willing to dig in and help around the house... on Saturday she helped paint AND got in the pool and scrubbed the sides with the brush. I never never have to ask her to make her bed, or get dressed or ready for school, etc. Her interest in the piano has waned, and we're doing well to get her to play through each of her assigned songs once a day. Because of that, she hasn't improved as quickly as I would have hoped. She is looking forward to swim team this summer, and is still enjoying gymnastics.
I've been struggling with A lately, not only with the eating thing but with her just generally being defiant. She has to get reminded over and over again to do her chores, and she tends to act so burdened. Seems like every time I ask her to do something she hides out somewhere and starts reading a book, or playing on my phone, or something... I'm the nag and this horrible person who doesn't want her to have ice cream every night because she barely eats lunch or dinner, and won't buy her gum, and I hate it. I don't think she's eating much more than pretzels every day for lunch, since she almost always brings home her sandwich from school untouched. She's doing quite well in gymnastics and is moving up to level 3 as of today. She's already saying she doesn't want to do swim team this year, yet she wants me to keep paying for gymnastics, piano, and also wants to do private violin lessons this summer. Grrr.... I'm at a loss as to how to deal with her. She's plowing through 3-5 books a week, doing fine in school, but a lot of times I feel like she only does the minimum of whatever it is to get by... just to be able to do what she wants. Shoves her stuff under her bed and calls it "cleaning her room" etc. She and her sister are NOT getting along at all lately, the screaming has become ridiculous, but I don't know what consequences to apply.
Between work, basketball and scouts, we barely see N. Seems like when he's home he's too tired to do much. I've all but given up cooking dinner because the kids (I take that back, 2 of my kids) won't touch it anyway, and N's not home to eat it. So, I throw kid-food at the kids (or have them make their own) and call it done most days.
House is ... coming along. We're coming up on one year over here in Mesa. We have a LONG way to go, but the difference is night and day from when we moved in. A lot of paint and TLC goes a long way. To-do list includes finishing cutting in the paint upstairs, painting bathrooms, getting quotes on built-ins for downstairs living room, painting a hall tree I bought for the laundry room, SUN SCREENS (tax return??) , living room furniture, and hopefully a pool decking re-do (SRP bonus??) but we'll see how much of that happens this year. Hopefully at least 2-3 things on that list.
Now I've missed my class at the gym today because I don't have any workout clothes clean. Looks like it's a laundry day!
3.26.2012
Snakes at a preschool.
We've seen the reptile guy before, and I'll never get over how excited he is about all of his disgusting friends. This fellow here is named "Sunshine" and J is still talking about him. He's like 16 feet long and weighs 150 pounds, and you couldn't have paid me enough money to touch him. The kids loved him, though. 
Nasty.
J also thinks the reptile guy brought a "gorilla" - - - and I keep trying to correct him that it was an "iguana" but I don't think he believes me.
And yes, J is wearing his Finny shirt AGAIN. If he is dressing himself, and it's clean, that is his shirt of choice EVERY single time.
3.22.2012
Spring Boutique in Mesa On Saturday!
Looking for something to do this weekend? Relatives in town that you need to entertain? Need to get away from the kids for a couple of hours (I HEARD THAT!)?? Okay some ideas... Hunger Games movie, hello! I'm seeing it tomorrow and CAN'T HARDLY WAIT. Goodwill I believe is doing a whole-store 50% off sale on Saturday... ! Or plan to go to the temple and come see me around the corner here:
3.14.2012
Idol
Ha ha ha!!! So SO happy Jermaine Jones is off the show and I never have to listen to him or see him again. Man, I knew he was an angry, unstable mess... Should have guessed that he was a dishonest slime ball criminal too.
Okay I digress... Down to business. Judges, will you PLEASE make up your minds whether you want people to "sing it straight" or "make it your own"?? Because I can't figure it out.
Phillip Phillips... I thought it was a great song choice for his voice, but he's just so limited. One-trick pony.
Jessica Sanchez... Her mouth might be Julia-Roberts huge, but her voice is great. But unlike what Will I Am thought, I didn't think she had enough swagger for that song. There's just some Latina vibe/rhythm a la J Lo or Gloria Estefan or Celia Cruz thing that she does NOT have. At least not yet, at sixteen.
By the way, I Love Will I Am. He oozes cool.
Heejun Han... I think he should have been singing Bryan Adams, instead of EVP. Yes, he enunciated the "chance" but he blew it on the "roman" instead of romance. I really want to keep liking his voice, but his accent is making it tough. It's like I'm rooting for him to pronounce everything right, instead of just being able to enjoy his songs.
Elise Testone... Her voice is good, but it seems she has to push each note out with various body parts... Her shoulders, her hands... It's like it's too much work for her when she sings. She lacks confidence and poise.
Colton Dixon... I liked him tonight more than I ever have before, but he still doesn't seem like the hard rocker that he's trying to be. Like, can you see him singing a Guns-n-Roses or Aerosmith song? He's just not BIG enough to be an Axel Rose or even a Chris Daughtry, he's not dramatic enough to be an Adam Lambert. I almost want him to go emo and maybe sing a Cure song?? I don't know.
Shannon Magrane... She's awkward for me. I don't like her angry face when she sings the big notes. Also seems to have to try too hard.
Deandre... I just. Don't care. Hate watching him. Hate listening to him. Can't wait til he goes away.
Skyler Laine... She was better tonight than usual, but it's laughable to put her in the same league as Hollie or Joshua. Go home, I'm tired of country music.
Erika Van Pelt... DidN't love the Bryan Adams choice, but I thought she did okay. I'm glad she covered up her relief society arms this week.
Joshua Ledet... Blow it out the box indeed! He's officially my new favorite guy this year. Ready to record, I think. Why do his eyes always look bloodshot though? Too many crawfish??
Hollie Cavanaugh... I just realized who she reminds me of... She's a grown up version of Abby Risenmay. (one of the choices I've picked out for Josh's future wife) She killed it! Love her. Effortless. She's great.
Okay I digress... Down to business. Judges, will you PLEASE make up your minds whether you want people to "sing it straight" or "make it your own"?? Because I can't figure it out.
Phillip Phillips... I thought it was a great song choice for his voice, but he's just so limited. One-trick pony.
Jessica Sanchez... Her mouth might be Julia-Roberts huge, but her voice is great. But unlike what Will I Am thought, I didn't think she had enough swagger for that song. There's just some Latina vibe/rhythm a la J Lo or Gloria Estefan or Celia Cruz thing that she does NOT have. At least not yet, at sixteen.
By the way, I Love Will I Am. He oozes cool.
Heejun Han... I think he should have been singing Bryan Adams, instead of EVP. Yes, he enunciated the "chance" but he blew it on the "roman" instead of romance. I really want to keep liking his voice, but his accent is making it tough. It's like I'm rooting for him to pronounce everything right, instead of just being able to enjoy his songs.
Elise Testone... Her voice is good, but it seems she has to push each note out with various body parts... Her shoulders, her hands... It's like it's too much work for her when she sings. She lacks confidence and poise.
Colton Dixon... I liked him tonight more than I ever have before, but he still doesn't seem like the hard rocker that he's trying to be. Like, can you see him singing a Guns-n-Roses or Aerosmith song? He's just not BIG enough to be an Axel Rose or even a Chris Daughtry, he's not dramatic enough to be an Adam Lambert. I almost want him to go emo and maybe sing a Cure song?? I don't know.
Shannon Magrane... She's awkward for me. I don't like her angry face when she sings the big notes. Also seems to have to try too hard.
Deandre... I just. Don't care. Hate watching him. Hate listening to him. Can't wait til he goes away.
Skyler Laine... She was better tonight than usual, but it's laughable to put her in the same league as Hollie or Joshua. Go home, I'm tired of country music.
Erika Van Pelt... DidN't love the Bryan Adams choice, but I thought she did okay. I'm glad she covered up her relief society arms this week.
Joshua Ledet... Blow it out the box indeed! He's officially my new favorite guy this year. Ready to record, I think. Why do his eyes always look bloodshot though? Too many crawfish??
Hollie Cavanaugh... I just realized who she reminds me of... She's a grown up version of Abby Risenmay. (one of the choices I've picked out for Josh's future wife) She killed it! Love her. Effortless. She's great.
3.08.2012
Self-sufficient snapshot.
I love my kids. I love that I can sleep in in the mornings if I want, and they get themselves breakfast, get ready for school, make their own lunches... (granted, I think that candy ends up in their lunches more often than not) and most of the time they even get their beds made without me asking. All I have to do when I get up is clean up after them, remind A to take her pill, and motivate J to get dressed and stop TALKING SO LOUDLY, holy cow. (N sometimes asks if he's hard of hearing, lol.) and then we're off to the bus stop.
99% of the time, the girls are done with homework before they get off the bus, so I rarely even look at their folders unless something needs to be signed. Their homework, and their work at school, is truly their own, and I've got nothing to do with whatever grades they get. They do dang well, considering. J and I have gotten into a rhythm with his homework too, and he knows the routine of sitting at the counter and sounding out all the words in his books. Darn those "b"s and "d"s and "g"s... they are confusing, and he has to think hard to recognize the differences. He's almost got the sight word "the" down... sheesh, I didn't realize reading was so hard. He's started to think about being gone from me at kindergarten. Yesterday he asked what my phone number was, in case he got separated from his teacher at school and he needed to call me. We worked on the phone number song a bit, but then he thought a bit more and said, wait, I need a phone too, mom, so I can call you! He's awesome. Funny.
Chores are hit and miss around here, the dishwasher and laundry are daily struggles. Sometimes the dishes are no problem for the girls, but there are a lot of times I don't want to wait for the kitchen to be clean so I end up doing their jobs myself. And I'm never patient enough to wait for J to get motivated to do his chores... but I'm hoping that will change eventually.
It's nice that the girls have been babysitting... they don't mind it at all anymore, and I'd rather pay them any day than pay a babysitter. Last night I needed to return books to the library and no one wanted to go with me, so I left the three of them alone... they actually all took baths and had jammies on by the time I got home 20 minutes later. Pretty good! Except that because they're so independent, sometimes, I miss them.
99% of the time, the girls are done with homework before they get off the bus, so I rarely even look at their folders unless something needs to be signed. Their homework, and their work at school, is truly their own, and I've got nothing to do with whatever grades they get. They do dang well, considering. J and I have gotten into a rhythm with his homework too, and he knows the routine of sitting at the counter and sounding out all the words in his books. Darn those "b"s and "d"s and "g"s... they are confusing, and he has to think hard to recognize the differences. He's almost got the sight word "the" down... sheesh, I didn't realize reading was so hard. He's started to think about being gone from me at kindergarten. Yesterday he asked what my phone number was, in case he got separated from his teacher at school and he needed to call me. We worked on the phone number song a bit, but then he thought a bit more and said, wait, I need a phone too, mom, so I can call you! He's awesome. Funny.
Chores are hit and miss around here, the dishwasher and laundry are daily struggles. Sometimes the dishes are no problem for the girls, but there are a lot of times I don't want to wait for the kitchen to be clean so I end up doing their jobs myself. And I'm never patient enough to wait for J to get motivated to do his chores... but I'm hoping that will change eventually.
It's nice that the girls have been babysitting... they don't mind it at all anymore, and I'd rather pay them any day than pay a babysitter. Last night I needed to return books to the library and no one wanted to go with me, so I left the three of them alone... they actually all took baths and had jammies on by the time I got home 20 minutes later. Pretty good! Except that because they're so independent, sometimes, I miss them.
Idol.
Who I like:
Joshua Ledet.
Heejun Han.
Phillip Phillips and Colton are on the fence for me.
Jessica Sanchez.
Hollie Cavanaugh.
Erika Van Pelt and Shannon Magrane... usually, but not last night.
Elise Testone... starting to be not so much. She always looks/dresses like the drunk, slutty sorority girl.
Who I still seriously dislike:
Jermaine is on the top of that list, followed closely by Deandre and Jeremy Rosado. Also on the hate list is Smurfette, I mean, Skyler.
Joshua Ledet.
Heejun Han.
Phillip Phillips and Colton are on the fence for me.
Jessica Sanchez.
Hollie Cavanaugh.
Erika Van Pelt and Shannon Magrane... usually, but not last night.
Elise Testone... starting to be not so much. She always looks/dresses like the drunk, slutty sorority girl.
Who I still seriously dislike:
Jermaine is on the top of that list, followed closely by Deandre and Jeremy Rosado. Also on the hate list is Smurfette, I mean, Skyler.
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