The Lou is Two!

Ivy's 2nd birthday was last week. And, officially, my baby is no longer a baby. *sniff*

My sister and her family and my parents all came over for the festivities. We had dinner (yummy Monte Cristo sandwiches), and then Ivy opened her gifts. She had snuck outside for a little bit, and didn't want to come back in. So I picked her up, and she started crying. As soon as she saw the presents out for her, though, she immediately stopped the tears and started squealing happy squeals. A lot of happy squeals.

She got two babies (one that goes potty), Snow White the movie, sunglasses, a fairy costume, a baby stroller, and some clothes. My boys absolutely hate getting clothes. But my girly girl squealed at every item, and took it around to every person in the room to show them, in case they had missed her very cute new outfit.

We brought the cake out to her with the candles lit. We sang to her, then tried to tell her to blow out the candles. And she reached out and grabbed one instead, putting it out with her fingers. I don't think it burned her; she just seemed surprised is all.

For all the testosterone we have in our house, Ivy balances it out with all her estrogen. She is a GIRLY GIRL, all the way. (Although she can say "zombies" and laughs at her own burps.) She's talking more and more, which I love. She's very into shoes and babies. Ivy knows when she has a "stee buh" (stinky bum). (But...ugh, I'm just not quite ready to take the leap. Getting there, but not quite ready. Diapers have been a constant in my life for almost 7 years.) Ivy loves to color, just like her brothers. She also loves to pretend to read. Ivy sucks on the fringe of her fleece blanket, just like Brock did. She checks for gunk in between her toes, just like all her brothers did at that age. (Is that just my kids?) She tries to be the boss of her brothers, and half the time succeeds in getting her way with them. Ivy sleeps with her bum in the air, loves fruit snacks, and has her dad wrapped around her little finger. Ivy is independent-she wants to give herself a bath, like her brothers do. She loves cleaning things-give her a rag, and she'll have whatever surface spotless in no time. She's a sweet sweet thing, and I'm so glad she's mine.

And I pray that the sweetness stays, and that the Terrible Twos avoid our house.

A slide show:

Before and After

My kitchen before:

Monday morning. This is what happens when I neglect my dishes all weekend, because of painting, and attempting feebly to eek out a relaxing Mother's Day for myself. Needless to say, if I'm not the one doing it, it doesn't get done.


My kitchen after:

Monday afternoon. Ooooh, sparkly!

Curtains before:

I've loved having these curtains where they've been for the last 4 1/2 years. But, it was time for a change, and ever since I got blinds for my front bay window, um, windows, I had been wanting blinds on the back.

Curtains after:

And now, I moved the curtains against the sliding glass door. It opens up that area so much! Now I get to fix all the holes in the wall, but at least I have the stuff out because I'll have to fix holes in the walls downstairs when I go to paint there in the near future.

Little boys' hair before:

Brock's hair grows into a ducktail in the back-it kind of goes sideways towards his neck. And Troy's grows very flat. He looks like Julius Caesar.


Boys' hair after:

Nice and buzzed! What handsome little fake smilers.


Ivy's room before:

Winnie the Pooh themed. Which I loved having for my babies. I made a couple of cross stitches, I got some Winnie the Pooh gifts, and because we were super extra poor when we had Jakob and Brock, I got a coloring book, and colored some pictures and put them on paper. When we moved here (when Brock was still little), I painted two walls solid green, and two walls green, but spongy. And I loved it. But again, time for a change.


Ivy's room after:

VERY purple. Pete calls it lavender. It matches the purple on Ivy's princess bedspread. I don't have anything on the walls yet. I was going to do a stencil of pink butterflies and flowers, but the paint bled underneath the stencil, and it got all smeary. So I'm thinking I'll go vinyl or something. Or get some princess posters. We'll have to see.

"Gay" Aerobics and Other Random Life Events

Random 1:
Yesterday I:
-washed 6 loads of laundry and folded 9 loads
-unmade, then made 4 twin beds and a king bed
-patched a hole on my jacket, and darned some socks
-went to part of mutual
-vacuumed my whole house
-loaded and unloaded my dishwasher, twice
-did a little sudoku
-took out two huge bags of garbage
-cleaned up two dead mice in my garage
-along with the usual (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dirty diapers, fixing hair, fixing lunches, helping with homework, etc.)

I just wanted to document how I pretty much rocked yesterday, so I know that I actually can have the energy and time to get a whole lot done.

However, I did not exercise, because my back was killing me. I think from making the beds. Oh, and from P90X.

Random 2:
One day, Pete came home from work and said, "We should start doing some gay aerobics", and did a little disco-esque move. And I thought, Richard Simmons? But he meant just some sort of aerobic exercise. So we got a copy of P90X, and have been working out ever since. It's a lot of yoga, with some weights, and a whole lot of push ups. Each day of the week is a different workout, and it gets jumbled up after three weeks. I could barely do parts of the ab ripper one, we only did about half of the 90-minute yoga night, and my "weights" for the arm day were little tomato sauce cans. (Hey, when you haven't worked out in who knows how long, you gotta start out slow.) And even though my back was killing me last night, it's been good. It's only been a week, and I feel like I'm sleeping better, and I have a bit more energy, which is probably why I could do so much yesterday (though today, not so much).

Random 3:
The other day I decided that I need to take more pictures of my kids. The spur of the moment ones are the ones that seem to really capture my kids' personalities.

I love this picture of Brock and Jakob. My kids were all taking turns telling "secrets" (mostly just whispered nonsense words) at dinnertime, into each other's ears, and into mine.


I also love this picture of Ivy and Troy. Taken the same "secrets" night. Blue eye heaven.


Random 4:
I'm getting the urge to paint rooms again. I don't know why I get motivated to do inside improvements when I should be feeling the need to work on outside stuff. Though it's still been too nasty and cold and freaking windy to do anything outside, anyway, so maybe it's just fine that I want to do inside stuff.

Anyway, I'm hoping to paint Ivy's room, this weekend. Stay tuned for that! (And I promise I'll be faster at posting. I've been sucking it up lately.)

I also want to paint my downstairs family room, though that's going to be quite the undertaking. I'm hoping for maybe next weekend...ish. (Hey, if anyone out there reading this likes to paint, and you aren't a crazy stalker, feel free to come help me.) And other future projects: making new bedspreads for my three boys, and painting their rooms, too.

Random 5:
I checked out community classes for learning guitar. Turns out they don't teach beginner guitar in the summer. Grrr. So hopefully this fall...

Random 6:
Just spent oodles of money on our minivan on Monday. One of the break pads was totally worn away. And we needed new tires. I really hate spending money on things like that, even though it's inevitable.

Random 7:
I'm starting Brock and Troy on chores-cleaning up toys (which they already do) and helping me dust and windex. They were REALLY gung-ho about it. And Important Kid #2 (Ivy) had to help as well. She cried and cried until she got a rag, and absolutely fell apart when we were all done dusting. Yesterday she was pointing and kept saying "bill! bill!", and I thought she was looking at something outside. Finally she got down from the chair, pulled out a washcloth from the drawer, went back to the table, and starting wiping up the spill that was there that I hadn't seen. Such a little cleaner. Are all girls like that? Because my boys sure as heck wouldn't have cleaned up a spill-they would have spread it around and made the mess bigger.

Random 8:
Memo is getting declawed tomorrow morning. The stinking cat sunk her claws into our new couch. She'll probably hate us for a while, but I'd rather have that than clawed up furniture. (We've tried the claw stand thingies. She doesn't care about those a smidge.)

Well, I'm off to do some more "gay" aerobics with my hubby. I think it's legs and back tonight. Hoo, boy.

Old and New

Old: Here is part of one of our old couches, the Aztec couch. It was a hand-me-down from my parents. We had it for 8 years; my parents had it for at least 8 years before that. The footrest on one section wouldn't kick in any more-it leaned to the left. You'd try to move it and the back would come completely off. Oh, and it used to be a 5-piece sectional, down to three, then down to two. It fell apart, section by section. And no, it didn't come frayed like that.


Old: Downstairs couch #2. The plaid couch. The best nap you'll ever get in your life couch. The cushions can make an ideal house/fort couch.

The plaid couch is also a hand-me-down from my parents; they bought it when I was 6. So it's the almost 25-year-old couch. The can't sit on it, because you'll sink so far in couch. The springs are popping through the padding couch. The toothpaste mushed into the arm couch. The lumpy, bumpy, hanging on by the skin of its teeth couch.

Old: My boys thinking that butts-and butt pictures-are so awesome.


Old: My dad. (KIDDING!!) It's just old news that it was his birthday the day before Easter, and I just haven't blogged about it for some reason. In summary: my dad rocks, his birthday was fun, and I wish I could be more like him.


Old: More furniture. This chair is featured in pictures at my parents' house when I was, mmm, 1, I think. Of course, it didn't have that huge crack on the seat back then, but 30 years and jumping little boys will do that to vinyl. It lays back really really fast, and has put more dings in my wall than I care to count.


Old: But not in super bad shape-the upstairs couches. We've had them for nearly 5 years, but again, they were hand-me-downs from my parents, and I swear they got these when they got the Aztec couch. So, maybe 15 years old?


New: Jake's pajama pants. I sewed 2 pairs for my growth-spurt boy in about a half hour. I love fleece-it's so forgiving. I gave them a huge hem, too, so that when he shoots up another 2 inches in two months, I'll be able to just let them out and they'll still fit.

New: Upstairs couches. Sage green. And microfiber! (Translation: perfect for kids.) My kids love that they can rub the fabric one way, and it gets all dark, and then rub it the other way, and it's light. Hours of entertainment.

New: My zeal for finding old people on New Family Search. Both frustrating and fun.

New: Downstairs couches. No more holes! No more sinking in! No more crazy footrest! Dark brown, man-made leather, and very comfy.

New: Upstairs chair, that actually goes with the downstairs set. It still reclines but slower, and with a button!

New: Rules and regulations for my kids about couch kindness. No jumping, no climbing, no cushions off, no markers/crayons/writing utensils, no food. Of course, these rules are actually all old rules, but now we need to enforce them.
So now I guess I need something borrowed and something blue. (I've actually been thinking I want to paint my downstairs family room a light blue. Hmmm.)

Thanks A Lot

So. I'm trying to be a better person. Once again, I've been working on personal progress, and one of the goals is to be more grateful; another is to be a peacemaker.

Last Thursday, I was the total opposite of both of those in a very bad, very very opposite way.

Let's just say my kids are lucky that they are still alive.

I decided I needed to repent. So, here's a list of things for which I am thankful. YAY!

1. I'm grateful for sunny days. LOVE the sun.
2. I'm grateful for rainy days. LOVE the rain.
3. I'm grateful for Babe's Bakery, and their yummy Veggie Sandwich. Mmmm.
4. I'm grateful for my church.
5. I'm grateful for my memory-the ability to remember some things.
6. I'm grateful for chocolate.
7. I'm grateful for my sight.
8. I'm grateful that Pete has a job with a steady income.
9. I'm grateful for my house.
10. I'm grateful that I don't have to pluck chickens in order to eat them.
11. I'm grateful for good songs, with good messages.
12. I'm grateful for the ability to hear.
13. I'm grateful for amazing teachers.
14. I'm grateful for a good night's sleep.
15. I'm grateful for tulips.
16. I'm grateful for good books.
17. I'm grateful for the temple.
18. I'm grateful for prayer.
19. I'm grateful for my cuddle bug Troy.



20. I'm grateful for laughter.
21. I'm grateful for hugs.
22. I'm grateful for kisses.
23. I'm grateful for modern technology.
24. I'm grateful for my hands.
25. I'm grateful for lazy Sundays.
26. I'm grateful for my creative Jakob.


27. I'm grateful for Coke.
28. I'm thankful for my heated blanket.
29. I'm grateful that Pete will cuddle with me.
30. I'm grateful for my many, many clothes. (Even though I have to wash all of them. But hey, we're not naked.)
31. I'm grateful for my health.
32. I'm grateful for my calm Brock.


33. I'm thankful for vacuums.
34. I'm thankful for my children's health.
35. I'm grateful for my amazing parents and sisters.
36. I'm grateful for my talents.
37. I'm thankful that I feel the urge to become a better person.
38. I'm thankful that I know so many amazing women that I can attempt to emulate.
39. I'm grateful for my happy Ivy.

40. I'm thankful for dancing.
41. I'm thankful for cookies.
42. I'm grateful for beautiful pictures that my kids draw for me.
43. I'm grateful for learning in every aspect of my life.
44. I'm grateful for clean sheets.
45. I'm thankful for cool movies I can watch with my kids.
46. I'm grateful for easy dinners.
47. I'm thankful that I can stay at home with my kids.
48. I'm grateful for good customer service.
49. I'm grateful for ancestors and their sacrifices.
50. I'm grateful for the ability to walk.

...and so much more.

What are you grateful for?

Epiphany

Last night I was doing the dishes.

I realized that a lot of what a mother does is very repetitive. Sometimes it seems that, as soon as we do it, and YAY! it's done!, we have to do it all over again. Dishes. Meals. Changing diapers. Grocery shopping. Laundry. More laundry. (Did I mention laundry?)

Even what I say to my kids is the same old thing. Day in, day out. ("Time to clean up", "brush your teeth", "sit down and eat please", etc.)

A hamster wheel. Around and around.

Groundhog Day.

Have you seen that movie? Basically, the main character, Phil, is stuck in the same day, repeating the same actions. Eventually he learns that he should take advantage of the time he is given: to help others, to improve their lives, and to improve and perfect his own life.

So, back to my dishes. I realized that, I can do the same dishes the same way, over and over, and have a crappy attitude about it, or I can see it as an opportunity to perfect myself. I can do my dishes (among other duties) and become a better person, a better mom, because I get to repeat my daily actions so much.

Another movie analogy: Karate Kid.

Mr. Miyagi has Daniel do chores, over and over, that don't seem to relate to karate at all. But one night Daniel realizes that, even though it seemed pointless, he was actually learning the right moves and building his muscles the right way so that he could be great at karate.

My "pointless" tasks of keeping house? It just means I'll be fit for the kingdom. When I'm doing dishes, I'm not just doing dishes, but I'm teaching my children that cleanliness is next to godliness, that we need to take care of what has been given to us, and that we're blessed with work, not cursed with it.

And here is a scripture I memorized not too long ago, that I think are the characteristics of a great mom. I hope I can polish them up in this life: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. -Galatians 5:22-23

Spring Break Projects

You know how I said I don't have any hobbies? Well, I can think of one. A big one. I like to organize. Okay, so it's not a really cool hobby, per se, but...it's totally me. And I own it.

I'm a nerdy organizer!!

Oh, and I'm also a minimalist. Big time.

Toss that crap out!

Anyway.

I don't know if it's the nasty weather. Or the extra time that I've had this week with not running kids around to activities, or teaching piano lessons, or helping with homework. Or the fact that it's just Spring Break, and my brain thought, "Hey! Spring! Spring = Cleaning!" But something has got me going on projects.

I wiped down my stair well, and both of my halls. I organized my pantry today. I cleaned out both of my hall closets. I made a run to the dump and to D.I.

So refreshing!

But part of my downstairs hall closet held a bunch of disorganized pictures. Seriously, it could keep me up at night. I think I've mentioned about 5,000 times how much I've been wanting to digitally scrapbook. This isn't just one project, though. It's scanning stuff from the last two years to add to the digital pictures. It's scanning my baby pictures, and my kids' "professional" yearly pictures. It's...just so much.

Here's a picture. Tip of the iceberg, my friends.


But, I figure I have a good 8 hours coming my way this weekend. If I just sit and listen to conference, I fall asleep (it's those soothing apostle voices!). If I sit and listen and scan pictures, I'll get double the awesomeness in the same amount of time. And then hopefully I can keep the momentum going until the dang thing is done. (Another thing about me: I hate having partial projects laying around. I like to focus on one thing at a time, and get 'er done.)

To my pictures and my scanner, I have one thing to say. And I will say it using a quote from "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs": See this contact? This represents you. See my eye? My eye represents my eye. As in, I've got my eye (sticks in contact) on you.

Bring it on, mountain of pictures.

Bring it on!