If you need me…

I’ll be in the laundry room.  Yes, I’m a little bit behind.  And I wish this was it, but this picture doesn’t even show Hayley’s clothes, or the bedding I need to wash.  Not to mention what I might find on the floor of my kids’ rooms.  And there is currently a load both in the washer and the dryer.  I actually don’t really mind the washing part—it’s the sorting and the folding and the putting away that seem to take forever!  By the time I finish there will be a stack this big waiting for me again. 

Anyone else have this much trouble keeping up?  I used to be on top of things,  and Jillian has noticed the difference because she said to me in frustration a few weeks ago when she couldn’t find her favorite clothes:  “Mom, just because you had Hayley doesn’t mean you have to stop doing the laundry!”

Really???  And she didn’t think I was very funny when I begged for everyone’s help:  “Can all of you give me a break and stop wearing clothes?  Please, just for a few weeks?  It would save me so much time!”  Don’t worry, no one took me seriously.  And if they had, I wouldn’t be posting pictures.

Overheard

Corinne: Dad, where do you put all the money that you make for us?
Dad: It's in the bank.
Corinne: Why do you give it to them? I thought it was for us!!
Dad: The bank just keeps it safe. They give it back to us when we need it.
Corinne: Oh, good, because I need it!
Dad: You do?
Corinne: Yes, so I can go to the mall.

Why Don’t I Post More Often?

Because this is what happens when I try to put Hayley down! But I can handle it because she is a great sleeper at night. Oh, how I love these moments:

And when I really need to get something done, this is what I do:

I wear her around! Thanks, Tracy, for the swing and Brooke for the Bjorn—what would I do without those things?

I can’t believe that Hayley is already 3 months old. We blessed her two weeks ago and she was such an angel.

When I hold Hayley these days I think of my little nephew Dexter and how much his parents want to take him home and cuddle him all day. It keeps things in perspective and reminds me to savor these moments. Monette and Aaron—we love you and pray like Corinne that Dexter “will get out of the hospital soon and stay healthy forever!”

The Saddest Day of the Year

Jillian loves Christmas! She was so excited to decorate the house after Thanksgiving. She made sure that we went caroling, made a gingerbread house, watched Christmas movies, drank hot chocolate, made wrapping paper, decorated cookies, read Christmas stories, went to Temple Square, and much more during the month of December. It's all very important to her and she was so excited for the big day. We had a wonderful Christmas Day as a family but when I tucked her in that night she was in tears because it was all over. I assured her that we still had some fun things to look forward to in the next few days, including a New Year's Eve party at Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Dave's house. She cheered up and we had a good week sledding, swimming, going to the aquarium, and playing with friends. But on New Year's Day when we started un-decking the halls, she was inconsolable. "This is the saddest day of the year!," she sobbed. "The next holiday is a whole month away." "You mean Valentine's Day?" I asked. "No, Groundhog's Day--and it's not even a very fun holiday because we hardly celebrate it at all!" Hmmm, I guess I need to start putting up our groundhog decorations??? And making groundhog cookies???

Santa came to our house today!

We made these for breakfast this morning and they turned out so well.  I did it mainly for Jillian and Corinne, but the big kids liked them just as much.  I just used my own pancake recipe (whole wheat, of course!) and then we decorated them like this.  Simple and cute—this recipe is going into my Christmas recipe binder.  Enjoy!

 

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Santa-Pancakes

Once There Was a Snowman

Tall, tall, tall.  So tall that the kids had to get inventive to stack the huge balls on top of each other.

We didn’t even have a lot of snow—about 6 inches—but it was nice and wet and made great snowballs and forts and igloos.  Evan asked if he could sleep here tonight:

I think he was a little bit glad I said no.   But what a great day!  This kept everyone busy and happy and working together for hours—priceless.  I love these unplanned, spontaneous, free activities when everyone is getting along and having fun.  It wouldn’t have gone nearly as well if I had suggested it and insisted they all go outside together.

No Mess!

“Mom, come look at this snowflake I made!” I hear from the other room.  “Yeah,” the other kids chime in, “you gotta see this!”  I walk toward their voices, pasting a smile on my face and vowing I won’t say anything (yet) about the mounds of little white paper scraps that are bound to be all over the just-vacuumed floor.  Sure enough, Evan made the most amazing snowflake—and with no little white scraps!  Enter technology.  This website kept 5 kids busy for quite awhile, all of them taking a turn at making a snowflake masterpiece.  Try it—it’s addicting!

http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/index.html?taf=sender

It’s telling of my life these days that I evaluate projects based on their mess factor.  I weigh my responses carefully to the “Mom can we make_________?” questions based on the amount of cleanup I’ll face afterwards.