Recovering nicely

Matt's surgery went really well. I think he might have set a record for how fast he got out of there post op. He was highly motivated. Now we are just kicken' it around the house. Matt is a good patient, he's staying on top of his pain meds and doing more than he probably should (moving around, not doing more drugs... just wanted to clear that up). It's making him a little crazy having to stay down so much. I have noticed a little extra naughtiness with the kids, maybe they think dad doesn't have what it takes to lower the boom. (He's still got it, they found out the hard way.)

OUCH

Last night while Matt was playing basketball at the church he ruptured his Achilles tendon. Darnit. It hurt really bad. He is having surgery tomorrow to have it repaired. I am at work right now. He took care of the kids tonight with a bum leg and crutches. I am actually looking forward to taking care of him for a change.

P.S. Tell your husbands that stretching was important when they were 16 and it's just as (way more) important now.

Happy Valentine's Day

Will you be my Valentine?

Grace (for the moment)

Grace is such a contradiction. On the one hand she is so helpful, kind to others (especially those younger than her); smart; obedient. She takes care of Bella and other babies. She comes up with fun activities for the kids to do; she eats what I give her; she sits reverently in church for the full sacrament meeting.. Other times her moodiness makes me want to scream. Yeah, she is really helping me clean, not just posing for this picture.

Other things about Gracie Loo- She is saving up for a Nintendo DS; she has decided she wants to collect Pet Shops (they are so darn cute.); Has been waking up early so she can watch T.V. before school (I know, bad huh?); loves to do projects with me and go to Enrichment meetings with me; loves rice with her favorite dressing on it ("You did put a little too much dressing on this mom, but that's ok, I love this stuff so much I could drink it."); Wants to grow her hair to her bum and then cut it for Locks of Love.

She is my favorite seven year old in the entire world.

Bella- this month

Kids change so much from week to week, day to day; their obsessions, their greatness, their naughtiness... Just yesterday I was reading some notes I had written about Grace at this age for her scrapbook. I use to write a newsletter that forced me at least once a month to record the kid's quirks. I am going to attempt to keep doing it on my blog. So here is Bella- for now anyway.

She is talking and is so much easier to understand now, but occasionally we still have those words that I have no idea what she is saying ( I love her voice so much I wish there was a way to keep it fresh in my brain forever). She is such a cuddler especially with with grown-ups (sometimes when the kids try to give her hugs she pushes them away with a mean face) (it makes me mad.); her blanket; string cheese; her "ooh ahh" jammies (they have monkeys on them, she calls them that because that is what a monkey says); sitting on the vacuum while I am pushing it; playing with "Tay Tay" (Taylor); dressing up in a leotard and dancing; wrestling with Matt; she loves juice and tells me all the time "My tummy hurts" because I drink Gatorade when I have tummy problems and she thinks will get juice. She still has to sit in the "happy girl" a lot. She hates it when anyone tells her no (she crosses her arms and "humphs")and when people (McCade or me) tell her she is "grumpin".

She had to get a couple shots and started to cry when she saw the nurse who gives them. When we were done her leg hurt so she wanted me to carry her everywhere for the next few hours. ( I obliged of course) After her nap she came walking out of her room and said (very excitedly) "I can walk!"

While she was on the phone with my sister, Wynn, last week I told her to say "love you, bye." She said, "I love you, Uncle Val!" (It sounded like, "Wa you, unco Bow." She does love her Uncle Val a lot.)

She is my favorite 2 1/2 year old on the planet.

Where do they learn this stuff?

It's a mystery.

McCade- currently

Direct quote (I couldn't make this stuff up...even if I wanted to.) " I'm a pancake chef, I can make anything in the whole world...even Satan, even Jesus, even Heavenly father, even eyeballs, mouthes (pronounces mouth-es), even teethes, everything in the whole entire world!" Seriously, where does he come up with this stuff?

Has a full set of jammies under these clothes.

McCade-for now... is such a fun, happy, helpful boy. He rarely whines; gets himself dressed in the morning and makes his bed; says the cutest things; is tough; worships his dad; loves to dress up in "boyish" costumes (Power Rangers & dragon suits); is sad almost every night that he has to sleep alone without a baby brother; loves his friends Luke and Dallin; is noisy and wild at preschool when he gets around other little boys; points out what a good boy he is being when the girls are "grumpin"; came up with the term, "grumpin"; wants to know what is real and what isn't i.e. "Mom, are bad guys in real life?" "Are dragons in real life?" "Are_______ in real life?" Just fill in the blank, I'm sure he has asked it.

After a walk with Matt at night he told me, "We could see the planes were shooting stars and we could see the plane's breath." (The jet stream.)

He is my favorite boy in the whole wide world.

The dryer is making a thunking soud

I wonder why? Could it be there is a Bella in there.

*No actual Bella's were harmed during the making of these photos.

Organizing Toys

When I am feeling very sluggish (January, February, March, April) and I need a pick-me-up, I organize. When you think about it. This is the perfect time of year to organize your house top to bottom... 1. The holidays are over, nothing to do 2. You are stuck inside 3. The walls are starting to creep in on you. 4. Better to do it now so once those warm months hit you will be ready to play outside!
So, in light of these observations I have decided to go through step by step organizing. Most of my closest friends are already very organized and therefore not in the need of my services. So...do you want to be my friend? Do you need me to organize something for you? Please.

Lets start with toys. If you are at all like me the toys have exponentially grown over the holidays and are threatening to take over you life and your sanity. I have a plan.

First: gather all the toys in your entire house to one central place for the sort. (It is optional for your kids to be there. I find it helpful if they are NOT. After all, I know best what they play with and what they just scatter around for someone (me) to pick up.) Dump them all out and start sorting into piles: blocks, legos, dolls, tea party, dress ups, trucks, Pet shops, etc. *Don't forget another important category: Garbage/ Donate.

Some categories will be obvious and some will be "to unique to classify" (Like the Micky mouse ears that light up) or if you only have a few of something then they can be clumped together.
Sorting is great because it puts things together the way they use them. For example: My kids love to play with their dogs, they put them on leashes, they play vet, etc. So instead of keeping the dogs in with the stuffed animals I put them all together in their own tote. *Don't be stingy about getting rid of things. If your kids don't play with it anywmore or it's broken, or it came from McDonalds or the dollar store, etc.

A repectable pile of garbage

One of the most important things I do with our toys is store half of them... This serves two purposes; it cuts down what is in circulation by half and it gives the kids a chance to see what they have and play with them, when they are tired of what is out, we switch them around. You would think it was Christmas morning when we open the toy bin up. (I guess that was 3 things.) They could be stored high in the kids closets, in the garage, in a spare room...

Our toy space is in our main living space so I like it to be neat and tidy. I took pictures of each of the groups of toys while I had them out (before putting 1/2 in storage) to go in the front of the canvas totes. Since Grace is the only one that can read, this works well so all the kids can help with the cleanup.

There are lots of different ways to store toys; in big plastic drawers, on shelves, even in bags for each category if everything gets thrown in a big toy box. The reason it is good for each thing to have a 'home" is that it gives a defining space where it should be and makes it easier for the kids to play with and pick up when they are done.

Pretty neat huh?

Any questions?

I love Bags

I love bags, I collect them the way some people collect shoes and . . . well, the way I collect scrapbook paper (but that is another post for another day.) I love them so much that I thought of a little poem, my own "Ode to bags." Bags, Bags! Of every kind

the more I love,

the more I find.

Big bags, small bags,

sizes galore

I sew them, I buy them-

it's bags I adore!

What could I possibly do with them all?

Why, one for Winter, Spring,

Summer and Fall.

Church bags and book bags,

beach bags and more.

Who cares - if they're cute bags

I can always use more!

Cousins = Fun

Last weekend Matt's cousin, Darin and family (Jessica, Dallin, Owen and Kora) stayed overnight with us (They live in Carey.) The adults went out Friday night to Cowboy Cocina, my favorite but they were out of sweet potato fries (gasp) and we had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated (very unusual) Still it was fun and I was glad they were so busy because that means they will stay open which means I will be able to continue my addiction to SPFs. When we got home we played cards.

The funnest thing about Darin and Matt is that they have been friends for so long they have so many hilarious stories from growing up. I have heard most of them but every once in a while there will still be a new one. Darin was still single when Matt and I started at ISU. He used to come over to our (cold, dark, depressing) basement appartment and sit on the floor (the only furniture we had was a little rocking loveseat). And we would get to laughing so hard. Sometimes when Darin would side with me on an issue Matt would say, "Darin, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." It became a joke. Darin would usually side with me for the sheer fact that it bugged Matt so bad. I, of course, didn't mind. I remember one time it got so bad that Darin said, "I think I'm going to have to ask myself to leave." Good times.

Matt drove his snowmachine around the backyard pulling the kids on the tube.
McCade and Dallin

Grace is facing backward while the boys faced forward. I love is how tight she was holding on to both of them. She is so protective.