A Salute to National Poetry Month

Little wand slim and gray
I wait five minutes to see what you say.

Will you pronounce a big change in our lives?
Will we soon be the parents of five?

I’ve been so tired and gained some weight
And if allowed will sleep in late

I asked Jen what this all meant
She replied, “Could you be pregnant?”

Shocked and surprised by her suggestion
I quickly said, “No, it’s out of the question!”

Jen smiled and asked, “How do you know?”
I replied that I’d had my monthly flow.

“I'd had three,” she said with a grin.
“But I’m on the pill,” I said for the win.

Not convinced, Jen replied, “So was I.”
Surprised again, I gave it one more try.

“Did you take it at the same time everyday?”
“Yes, I followed the directions in every way.”

“There is only one way to know for sure
Without a test from the store.”

Quickly thinking “What does she mean?”
Then blushing with defeat and understanding

I quietly responded “Oh, I see.”
She had finally convinced me of the possibility.

Days go by and I still feel strange
Often thinking of our exchange.

It was true I didn’t know for sure.
So I got a test from the store.

I was mostly hoping for a negative
But part of me wanted a positive.

I love little babies soft and sweet.
I love their tiny hands and feet.

But with no income and a body that ails me
I feel we are not ready and may never be.

Of course, I would not argue with Our Father who knows best
If He decided with another we should be blessed.

Little wand slim and gray
I’ve waited five minutes to see what you say.

With no further ado, I will say
I do not have another baby on the way.

This Sums It Up!

Have you wondered where I've been? This video Rachel sent me pretty much sums it all up. Thanks for the laugh Rachel!



I still plan to post some Christmas pictures soon.

She's Never Gonna Come, Never, Never, Never!

When my brother was little, my mother found him on the potty one day with his face in his hands shaking his sad little head and saying, "She's never gonna come wipe my hiney. Never, never, never." (Do I have the story right mom?)

This is one of those stories that still comes up sometimes at family get-togethers. Not as popular as my Trying to Be Like Jesus Phase, or Christi's Kicking Down My Bedroom Door Incident but it does come up.

Well, today I can honestly say that I now know how my brother felt that day.

Don't you hate it when you realize you are out of toilet paper AFTER it's too late to go get it yourself?

This morning I found myself sitting on the potty next to an empty roll of toilet paper. Just so this story doesn't majorly gross you out, I will add here that I had only gone #1. Still, I am not one of those people who can just say "Oh, well" and pull up their pants and go. I must be clean.

No problem. I call to my children to come to my aid. Hmmm. No sound of running foot steps. I call again. Joshua comes and I show him how to take the roll off of the toilet paper holder and send him to get the roll from the other bathroom. Off he goes. I can hear him through the wall trying and trying to get the roll. No luck. He comes back saying he can't do it.

No big deal. I tell him to go tell Jack that I need his help. Joshua runs off to his bedroom where Jack and Abby are playing. Minutes go by. I hear the sounds of Joshua playing with toys. He's apparently forgotten all about me.

I try to call again. No luck. I wait a few more minutes because my children are usually coming to find me every 2-3 minutes anyway. (I know that I'm not the only mom that can't even find peace in the bathroom!) About 2 minutes later and still no luck.

They're never gonna come. Never, never, never.

What am I going to do? I look around the bathroom. There has to be something. The shower? Hmmm. Well, I haven't had one of those yet today so now is as good a time as any. When I get in, who comes knocking at my door? Jack!

I'm Not a Morning Person

I used to be one of those people that was both a morning and a night person. I would wake up refreshed, keep my energy for the whole day, stay up late and then wake up refreshed again. Now I am neither a morning person or a night person. If I'm going to get something done, it has to be between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

So, this morning I sat down on the couch to start my work at about 9:00 AM. I figured I could get it out of the way and then use my afternoon energy to do some chores. Then I discovered that Daisy had apparently stepped in her own poo this morning and was getting it all over the couch cushion next to me! I tied her up in the kitchen while Joshua (armed with Folex) and I (armed with paper towels) cleaned the poop off of our couch.

Next I started cleaning the poop off of Daisy's back paw which she did not appreciate at all. She didn't like me cleaning between her toes but it needed to be done. As I was doing this, Ethan apparently dropped the syrup bottle on the floor and it broke open. Somehow Ethan got a big pile of syrup on the kitchen floor whether by accident or on purpose, I'll never know. Then he decided this was a good time to have a little snack and I found him sticking his little finger in the syrup pile and licking the syrup off his finger. Yum! Syrup mixed with a little dog hair-- don't knock it until you try it. While cleaning Ethan up I noticed a strong stinky smell that needed to be dealt with right away. One diaper and three wipes later he was smelling fresh again.

So, now I once again sit down on the couch to start my work (and blog a little) at 10:15 AM. My couch is about 20% clean, my kitchen floor is about 3% clean, Daisy is 25% clean, and Ethan's bottom is 100% clean. It's a start!

Dirty Laundry

Yay! All of my laundry is clean, folded and put away! Oh, wait... well, it WAS all caught up... until my children got dressed. Now they are wearing my next load of laundry. Oh wait... there are dirty towels hanging in the bathroom from last night's baths/showers. I guess I am two loads behind. Oh no! I just noticed that Abby has something yucky on her bed sheet that looks like a smashed bug. Ewwww! Make that three loads behind!

Well, I guess I better go get started on the laundry again... AFTER I check my friends' blogs for updates. I have to fill my bucket first, right?

Hide and Seek

I sat down on my bed after picking the children up from school and thought about how tired I was. So, I said to myself, "You should listen to your body and just lay down for a minute."

Those who really know me know that I do not take naps. I wake up from naps feeling absolutely horrible-- tired, grumpy, nauseous and like I have the flu. My children's doctor asked me when Joshua was born if I was taking naps while Joshua slept and was surprised that I never take naps. I told her how I feel when I wake up and she said, "You know what that means don't you?" I didn't. She said, "It means that you are very sleep deprived." Who knew?

I have been sleep deprived for years even when I'm sleeping 8-9 hours a night due to lack of restorative sleep that my doctor is now trying to remedy, but I never knew that's why I can't take naps.

Anyway, Joshua came in my room looking for me a minute or so after I laid down. I couldn't see him because I was laying on my side facing the other way but I heard him go right past me to my bathroom door and then head back out of my room. I thought, "Wow. He's going to let me rest."

Then I hear, "He's (Translation: She's) got to be here somewhere." Enjoying this little game, I of course remained still. Ethan found me about 30 seconds later followed by Joshua and well, so much for my rest but I did have a laugh and for some reason, laughing seems to have restorative powers too!

Go Figure!

Jack on our back hill in 2004

Getting my children up for school is no easy task. When they say, "Just a few more minutes Mom", I feel for them. I too, have trouble dragging myself out of bed. I don't like to nag them, pull off their covers, turn on their lights or get frustrated with them. I don't like to but I sometimes do.

Today is a Professional Development Day for their teachers so my children got to stay home. Hoping to be able to sleep in this morning and planning ahead, I let them all stay up an hour past their normal bedtime last night. In theory, they should sleep in an hour or so more in the morning, right? WRONG!

My children were all up by 6:30 AM! This is a half hour earlier than I normally wake them up for school! How can this be? I don't think they have gotten themselves up for school this entire school year so far!

Now here's the good news:

Jack made me breakfast this morning and came to tell me at about 6:30 AM. I expressed my appreciation for his thoughtfulness and then told him that I would really like to sleep a little longer. Could he feed my bowl of oatmeal to Ethan instead?

Jack willingly agreed. In fact, he took care of Ethan and Joshua until 8:00 AM when Ethan decided he really wanted me and I told Jack it was okay to let him in my room. I put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the only show Ethan watches) on in my room and slept on and off for another hour while Ethan climbed on me, throwed pillows at me and then started asking for a drink.

I finally dragged my lazy bones out of bed and expressed my sincere appreciation to Jack, my nine year old son who let me sleep. What a sweet boy!

When They Grow Up, You'll Miss...

Women are often heard saying, "When they grow up, you'll miss fill in the blank." Some women say this for everything. I'm sorry but there are SOME things I WON'T miss!

Here are some things I won't miss:

1. Having food thrown at me and all over my kitchen floor.

2. Having my glasses pulled off of my face unexpectedly. OUCH!

3. Having to buckle and unbuckle carseats. It will be nice when I can just hop in and go!

4. Washing bottles.

5. Seemingly endless potty-training.

6. Finding spit up and snot on various objects.

7. Having something I love destroyed by a little one's hands.

8. Wearing dirty clothes 90% of the time. The other 10% being time I am away from my children.

Here are some things I will definitely miss:

1. Seeing little ones in pajamas with feet. So cute!

2. Slobbery baby kisses. (I feel that it is important to add here that I DO NOT like slobbery kisses from anyone but John and babies! So, if you were thinking about giving me one-- please don't.)

3. Snuggling with a little one.

4. Seeing the little ones faces light up when they see me come home.

5. Baby talk.

6. Having the occasional overnight guest in my queen sized bed. *Snuggle*

7. Nursing.

8. Being able to spend so much time with my children.

And lastly, here are some things I hope my children will always provide me with no matter their ages:

1. Laughter.

2. Hugs and Kisses.

3. Seeing my children excited about something new they have learned.

4. Hearing my children share gospel truths.

5. Having my children share their creativity with me. (Artwork, stories, songs, etc.)

6. Having fun playing games with my children.

I love being a mother!

Motherhood and Keeping it Real

We all want to be perfect mothers! Of course, we realize that we can't be perfect so we try to hide our weaknesses from others-- lest they find out we are not the perfect mothers we want to be! Because of this, we all think that the other mothers are better than us! This has even lead to depression in some women that I know. I am trying to make sure that my blogging is real and shows my struggles with motherhood and homemaking. I am trying to "Keep it Real."

Today Joshua and Abby begged to help me put the chocolate chips in the pancakes on the griddle. I told them "no" and explained to them that it was hot and I didn't want them to get burned. They continued to beg and I decided that it would probably be okay since they just had to reach over and drop the chocolate chips onto the half cooked pancakes. On Joshua's second pancake, he dropped a chocolate chip that landed on the stovetop. He immediately went to grab it burning his hand on the griddle. He has a very painful burn that he pretty much kept in cool water for 3 hours. He would go off to play and then run back to the bowl saying "ouch" or "my hand is burning." I called the doctor who wants to see him in the morning and told us to put antibiotic cream on it (not ointment which I have in the house but cream which John had to drive 30 minutes into town to pick up). Joshua seems to be doing better now so I'm hoping he'll sleep okay through the night.

Oh, I almost forgot the cute part of this story! As soon as John came home, I asked him to give Joshua a blessing. John told Joshua he was going to say a prayer. Joshua said "okay" and then proceeded to say a prayer asking Heavenly Father to bless his hand. The faith of little ones always puts tears in my eyes!

A Clean House

Try as I might, I can not keep this house clean!

I'm not talking about a dirty house with stuff growing in the refrigerator, 1/4 of an inch of dust on the furniture and carpet that hasn't seen the vacuum in who knows how long.

I'm also not talking about a house that needs to be on Clean Sweep. Although, since I'm keeping it real, my basement could be on Clean Sweep!

I am talking about a house with toys, shoes, books and art/crafting supplies on the floor, couch, beds, tables, etc. They are frequently put away by me, my children, and my husband. No matter how many times we put them away, they somehow manage to find themselves a new home somewhere that is NOT their "spot."

At family councils, we discuss the importance of picking up after ourselves and not putting things down in places where they don't belong. We have tried many strategies to try to fix this problem but nothing has worked so far. We can have this house clean as a whiste at 10:00 am and find it in a "We hope nobody stops unexpectedly" state by 3:00 pm! Seriously-- I am not even exaggerating! I don't need to exaggerate because the truth is already unbelievable.

I wonder if this problem is common in homes with more than two children. I remember being able to keep the house neat, cook homemade meals, do all of my chores and STILL have time to read when I only had two children. I considered myself to be a great mother and a decent homemaker.

A couple of years ago (probably when I was expecting my fourth child), I called my mother to tell her what an awful mother and homemaker I turned out to be. She asked me if I remember my childhood home being messy. I told her that I didn't and that her house was always neat. She told me that when we were little it wasn't always neat and pointed out that I don't even remember the mess.

So, I just have to remind myself that my children are not suffering and won't even remember all of the times this house has been messy. We play a lot of games, make a lot of treats and have a lot of traditions! These are the things they will remember! (I hope.)

Feeling Loved

I love having my school-aged children home for the summer! I eagerly look forward to it every year. I like the relaxed schedule that summer brings-- not worrying if a family outing puts us home after bedtime, being able to sleep in a little extra, more time for family games, no homework, etc.

One thing has been hard though-- NAPTIME! My school-aged children seem to no longer KNOW how to be quiet during this precious time of day. Ethan, who is the only one lucky enough to still take naps, has been having trouble staying asleep with the extra noise in this home.

On Thursday, Ethan was awakened about half way into his nap. I got him up but after only a few minutes it was obvious from his fussiness that he needed to go back to bed. I took him back to his room and rocked him in my arms. He immediately relaxed and looked up at me while we listened to his music play. I thought about how comfortable he seemed in my arms which reminded me about how comfortable I feel in my husband's arms. I feel so loved when he holds me. And even though Ethan might not understand the words "I love you" yet, I know that he feels my love when he is in my arms. I love you Ethan!