Branching out

Who said you could only put ornaments on a tree?

Someone knew...

First, read this.
Now read this.

Now you know why, when I opened up one of my Christmas decor boxes, I was surprised to see this:

Notice the extra little snowman on the right without a name? I don't remember making this, although I'm sure I did.  (It had to have been two years ago...) But why? Was it around the time of the first post I had you read? Was it just for fun? My memory fails to recall why I was prompted to make an extra one...

BUT - the point is, somewhere in my brain, I knew I'd need another tiny snowman.  Go figure.  Whatever the case, my set is complete.  :)

It's not a "kid" tree, it's a Christmas tree

In years past, it has been my nature to be picky about where the ornaments were placed on our Christmas tree.  I was always grumpy and quite the party-pooper on that day that's supposed to be special and fun.

I've heard of people having a "kid" tree for the odd placement of ornaments and having another for all matching junk.  To me, that's a bit extreme, but to each their own.  My tree growing up had everything from almost broken to hand-made and we all helped.  I've even heard of people who let the kids have at it but then go back and fix everything.  Not me.

This year, I took it upon myself to tell my sweet littlest one all about putting up our very own Christmas tree and how he'll get to help us decorate it.  This kid LOVES him a Christmas tree - we can't walk through Walmart without doing our usual rounds through the garden section where they're set up.  

My husband asked me if I was going to freak out about uneven placement of ornaments.  I told him I had made my peace with it.  And I had.  It was so much fun to see how my kids were having so much fun! Who cares where the dumb ornaments go?  

Even if they're all on one branch... ;)

(He was in the process of getting up for more ammo.)

Isn't this just cute? I just sat back and enjoyed it this year.  :)

Just to name a few...

Family.  My sense of smell.  The wisdom to bake the pies first.  My laptop getting fixed for free.  Tylenol PM.  Cozy pants that actually fit and stay up.  Funky socks.  IZZE drinks.  Vege trays.  Walmart.  January 24th.  Christmas music.  The internet.  Folded laundry.  Ultra sounds.  Public school.  Clearance sales.  Books.  Libraries.  The Gospel.  My life.  Paid bills.  Road trips.  Holidays.  Music.  Dictionaries.  Memories.  Movie nights.  My pillow.  Baby formula.  Disposable diapers.  CAT.  Overtime.  Windows.  Trees.  Flowers.  Sunshine.  Rain.  Forgiveness.  Tax refunds.  Friends.

i.e.  Things I'm thankful for.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dreams favor the Delusional

I'm facing my first illness in what seems like forever.  It's just a cold, but it's been enough to kick my behind a little.  So, last night, I got as drugged up as I could (i.e. two Tylenol), slathered on some Vicks, and attempted to sleep.

Dream #1 - Spent half the night doing interviews with football coaches... you know, because so many had offered me a full scholarship for my skills.  (Watched "The Blind Side" before bed, can you tell?)

Dream #2 - Every time I coughed, I was reminded, subconsciously, that my other self (who looked much like Jack Sparrow) had worse symptoms than I.  Poor sap.

Dream #3 - I was eating at a restaurant that I've frequented many times in my dreams, though why, I don't know- the service is terrible.  I had a huge clump of hair embedded in the meat portion of my meal.  No waiters in sight to complain to.  It was maddening.

Dream #4 - I was apparently supposed to be dead, but was found by my child - one I've never seen - in a closet in some sort of compound.  My supposed husband, the one who did away with me in the first place, was after me.  I hid behind a fence surrounding the compound, because, obviously, no one would find me there.  And they didn't.  That's when my blessed alarm went off.

Needless to say, I'm postponing my bi-weekly grocery trip till my sweet and helpful husband can either watch all the kids or come with me to make sure I don't fall asleep in the bread aisle and so I don't have to talk to anyone, as I do not have much of a voice, today.

Sweet and Salty

My two year old was showing signs of a skipped nap, today... in that, he was not going to take one.  Two good things came from this: 

1) He actually stayed in his bed until he called me in their to get him with, "It's morning time, Mommy!", even though I know he hadn't slept (a combination of the fact that it had only been 15 minutes since I laid him down and the rather loud rendition of "Twinkle Little Star" sorta gave that away...).

2) I was babysitting a friend's 9 month old during his nappy time, so I went in with the little surprise in my arms to "get him up".  I said, "Guess who's here?" His face just lit right up and he says, "OWEN!!" (the mystery child making my belly fat).  I had to correct him and say, "No, this is Ben."  He knows Ben from church, so it sort of clicked right away.  He ran downstairs because he wanted to hold him.  He handed him many toys, his bottle, his blanky... and kept having to correct himself when he'd call him "Owen".  Needless to say, the child gets that there's a baby coming.  At one point, he must've forgotten because he looked at Ben and then my tummy and said, sort of bewildered, "Who's in your tummy?" Whenever Ben would make a sound, he'd say, "What's a matter, boy?" I was actually glad he missed his nap.  He's so sweet!

After the baby went home, I let Quin have a small amount of water in a cup.  I knew he'd spill (the spoon he grabbed to stir it with was my first clue), so I set him at the table with it, thinking it's just water - let him play.

Note to self:  It's never just water with a two year old.

The water:

Add a little salt: 

And a little more:

Plus some more to that:

All stirred up in the cup:

*sigh*

I must've swept up at least 1/4 cup of salt.  No joke.  That's not including the salt I kept finding as I mopped up the water.  Or the salt on the table.  Or the salt covering my child.  Or the salt he put in our toy car bucket.  Or the salt I had to rinse off a toy truck... and his hands.  He was about to be sad when I found him, but I simply said, "We don't play with the salt."  He replied, "But it's yummy."  That's when I saw the salt on his face. 

Never.  Leave.  A two year old.  Alone. 

Ever.

Today...

...it snowed.  A lot.  :)

...I had the urge to bake cookies.  So, I did.  (This only happens once a year.) (If that...)

...I decided my bathroom mirror was clean enough to take my picture in. 

...I also decided the camera really does make me look fatter.  I would see myself in the mirror vs. how I looked on my camera screen and the camera screen was definitely being slightly vicious.

...my husband is working overtime and we're lonely for him.  :(

...I might just get another bathroom clean. 

...but, then again, I might not.  (It's not like it's going anywhere.)

...I only have 66 days (at the most) left of harboring my fourth child within.

Children Learn What They Live - Dorothy Law Nolte

If children live with conditional love, they learn to distrust.
If children live with deceit, they learn to be false.
If children live with criticism, they learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.
If children live with neglect, they learn to abandon themselves.

If children live with inconsistency, they learn to be furtive.
If children live with violence, they learn to be numb or scared.
If children live with shaming, they learn to feel incompetent.
If children live with perfectionism, they learn to feel inadequate.
If children live with excess worry, they learn to feel anxious.

If children live with unconditional love, they learn to love back.
If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith.
If children live with genuine approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance and friendship, they learn to give and receive closeness, care, and love.

Awesome Holiday Give-Away!!

Not on MY blog... but on this one. 

If you have kids (toddlers, mostly) and need activity ideas or ways to teach certain things, this is a great reference site.  :)

Val's button is to the RIGHT of my blog and she can even be found on Facebook, now!

Woohoo! She's giving away great things so don't bother entering... you know, to up my chances of winning it for myself! :)

Bread heels

Usually, my family throws away the heels left over in the bread bag. 

I hate doing this. 

I'm so grateful for those heels, and the bread in between, and the car that gets me to the store that's only 10 minutes away, and the money that buys that bread, and the job that gets us that money, and the husband that does that job, and the car we've had for 10 years that still miraculously works that gets him to that job, and the home he gets to come home to every night, and that I get to stay in that home and raise my kids, and for those very same kids, and that our newest kid is developing as he should, and that my body functions as such to grow a healthy baby, that I can see, hear, walk, talk and do the things I need to do to take care of this body, and for the parents that took care of it for me when I wasn't big enough to and then taught me how to take care of myself, and for their parents, and for the temple we were able to be sealed in for time and all eternity, and for my Heavenly Father who's given me all these little yet huge things in my life.

And I'm thankful for drumsticks.  You know, the kind of ice cream cone that's been dipped in chocolate and peanuts with vanilla ice cream in a chocolate-coated cone? Mmmmm.  Yep, and those.

That's my girl!

I love that she couldn't wait long enough to take her coat and backpack off before she got back to reading... she's so my daughter!

Halloween 2011

This whole Halloween season, I only took one picture.  ONE.  I didn't get our carved pumpkins (we got eleven in our garden, this year!!), or any trick-or-treating fun, just one picture of the before the spoils.  Oh, well.  It turned out mostly ok, so it'll do.  :)