Tuesday Gems

Timmy likes to watch Cinderella because it has lots of animals in it.  Here he is watching it, eating dry "ranen" (ramen), just like he likes it, and holding Michael's smurf.  He loves that smurf so much!  He saw that I was about to take a picture and gave me an even cheesier grin. 

 

Jill has a Band-Aid on her forehead.  It's not because she has a cut.  It's because she bonked her head on the corner of the bathroom counter.  It just got a little red, and she insisted on looking at it in the mirror.  And then she went out and informed Papa that she needed a Band-Aid.  He got her one and Grandpa put it on her.

 

It was a long night last night.  I hadn't been feeling well, and both of the little ones came to our bed crying for some reason.  They kept waking up sad over and over.  At about 4:00 I took Jill to the potty, and when we came back she stole my sleeping spot.  So I curled up at the end of the bed.  Then she missed me, so she came and curled up by me.  Then Timmy missed me, so he came too.  By then Jill was asleep and I was worried that Timmy would roll off the bed, so I grabbed him and went back to my spot.  Then he kept waking up and Jill woke up again.  Jill finally decided it was ok to go lay by Papa, but Timmy clung tightly to me.  When the alarm went off he was mad that I got up to turn it off.  I had to climb back in bed with him for a few minutes to get him to go back to sleep. 

 

And then Jill was all awake when it was time to take the boys to school, crying so hard and begging to go with me to take the boys to the bus stop.  I promised her repeatedly that she could go, but she didn't calm down until I put her coat, shoes, and socks on.  I finally got everybody ready and out the door.  We made it to the bus stop on time, and then I pushed Jill in her stroller back up the hill and home.  When I got there Timmy was awake, crying to be let out of my bedroom.  Darn it!  Well, I got them both breakfast and turned on a "muggie."  (That's how Timmy says movie.)  Then Jill started crying because her leg was hurting again.  It must be growing pains or something.  She cried and cried.  I ended up holding her in he blankie until she fell asleep.  And there she is all bundled up on the ottoman that used to be her bed.  And Timmy is still watching his muggie, which is kind of a miracle because lately all he wants to do is stand on the piano bench and change the movie over and over and over and over.  Our poor DVDs are getting pretty scratched.  Silly boy!  Good thing he's cute. :)

A Scratchy Tale

 

 

For the last few months of 2012 Joshua had one thing on his mind every chance he got: he wanted a rat, and he wanted it right away.  He spent hours talking about how much he wanted one, daydreaming about it, begging for it, and watching countless YouTube videos about rats.  Whenever he was bored he would sit next to me and say in my ear, "I want a rat," so many times I thought I just might explode.  He told me how wonderful it would be to have his rat sit on his shoulder while he did his homework and how much fun it would be to feed it popcorn.  He would probably name it Scratchy.

 

The issue was not that we didn't want to get him one.  We were all agreed that having a rat would be a good thing for Joshua.  The problem was that there are no pet stores in town and we were kind of short on money.  We weren't able to put up the money for a cage, food, and whatever else a rat might need, let alone a rat.  And so he had to wait.

 

Well, there was somebody else who wanted Joshua to have a rat.  There was one particular Sunday when he took Joshua aside and talked to him about rats just so I wouldn't explode from hearing, "I want a rat" countless more times.  And then he gave Joshua a cage complete with a water bottle, a wooden house, a food bowl, and a salt wheel.  Jeremy picked up some food and bedding, and Joshua got the cage all ready.  

 

And then Joshua still had to wait.  He was assigned to make his bed faithfully for two weeks to prove that he could be responsible and able to take care of a rat.  He did that, and then he had to wait still.  Finally, on Saturday, December 22 we all went together to the pet store in Mesa, and Joshua chose his rat - a medium-sized gray male.  We got him an exercise wheel and more food, and Joshua happily carried him out to the car in his little box.  Before we got home, Joshua was sure that his rat's name was Scratchy.  He played with him all the way home and was so happy.

 

Scratchy has spent a lot of time hanging out on Joshua's shoulder.  Scratchy is actually an appropriate name for the little guy because he is always scratching him.  But he loves Joshua!  The day after Scratchy came home, Joshua was sitting on the couch with him, and Joshua would move his finger back, and the Scratchy would grab it gently with his teeth and pull it back to him.  It was so cute! 

 

Scratchy also realized soon that he could squeeze through the bars of his cage.  We were awoken many times because Scratchy would crawl out of his cage on the dresser next to Joshua's bed and into the bed with Joshua.  He was lonely, I guess.  The first time that happened, Papa and Joshua made a wall behind the back of the cage with a cookie sheet and Hyrum's wooden shield.  That worked for that night.  But the next night he was back in Joshua's bed again.  We tried all sorts of things.  We put him in our huge stockpot with some bedding and food, but by morning we found him crawling around the rim and then sitting on the handle.  And after that he could get out easily.  He just jumps!  Then we tried his travel case - a plastic cat carrier.  That worked for a couple of nights, but then once again he made it into Joshua's bed.  Jeremy went and inspected the carrier and found that Scratchy had chewed a hole in it to get out.  Silly little guy!  So nowadays, I carry the whole cage out to the kitchen table every night, and so far that keeps him out of Joshua's bed.  We make sure he has food and water, and he just stays all night.

 

One day last week Timmy gave us a good fright.  We were sitting in the living room after the boys had gone to school, and here came Timmy holding Scratchy by the tail!  He was so pleased with himself.  I still have no idea how he got Scratchy.  He dropped him on the floor.  I ran over and scooped him up, and the poor little scared guy tried to run up my the front of my shirt to perch on my shoulder.  I put him back in his cage and he just looked so scared.  Poor guy.

 

Another day, Elizabeth woke up and checked on Scratchy in the morning and found that he was not in his cage.  What in the world?!  He doesn't get out of his cage if Joshua's not there to be found.  We looked everywhere we could think of.  We looked through and shook out Joshua's blankets.  I had no idea where he might have gone, but I was afraid he'd found a hole in a wall and gotten outside.  (We did used to have mice, but we're still not sure where they came in.)  We looked in and under beds, in the bedroom closet, under piles of laundry.  I cleaned up the laundry room and looked everywhere in there, praying the whole time.  I even called the school to see if he'd gone to school with Joshua.  I was really worried.  It would not be fun to tell Joshua that his beloved pet was just gone.

 

Finally I decided that while Joshua's bed was torn apart I may as well wash the sheets.  I had the blankets piled on the floor, and when I went to put them back on the bed, Scratchy tumbled out of one.  I'd already shaken out those blankets twice!  He scurried under the bed.  Oh, I was so happy to see him!  By that time I had looked at his food bowl and realized that it was empty.  That's probably why he got out.  He was probably hungry.  It's hard to tell if there's anything in his bowl or not because Scratchy puts bedding in it.  I pulled out the bedding and put some food in there, and I held the bowl out to Scratchy under the bed.  He sneaked up and grabbed something and started munching.  Poor hungry fella!  I scooped him up and up him in his cage with plenty of food, and that was that.  So now we have been extra careful to make sure he has food.  And I was very thankful that day that Heavenly Father heard my prayers and helped us find Scratchy.  Yep, He even cares about pet rats. :)

 

It has been fun having Scratchy around.  Joshua loves him so much, and he is a sweet, nice friend for him.  Joshua likes to hold him up to his face and exclaim at how cute he is.  He likes how Scratchy will sit on his soulder and wrap his tail around Joshua's face, giving him a mustache.  It is all so sweet and cute.  I am thankful to have him in our family. :)

 

And in other news, Jill woke up this morning throwing up in Elizabeth's bed.  With Elizabeth's help, most of it ended up in the garbage that was right next to the bed.  And then Jill got a bath and got to cuddle with her Papa.  She kept telling us about how she "coughed in the garbage," and she wanted to do it again.  I took her out to the living room with me to watch Enchanted while I made Jeremy's lunch and breakfast, and she insisted that she needed to cough in the garbage some more.  She thought it would be so fun to do it again.  She had me hold her and she tried to throw up again, but it didn't happen until everyone was out there all ready for prayers.  That time it wasn't as much fun apparently, because she hasn't asked to do it again. ;) Silly girl!  She threw up again right after we got home from taking the boys to the bus stop, and now she's sleeping again.  Poor girly - but I'm glad she can sleep.  I hope she feels better soon and that we don't spread this sickness around!  The boys are on their weekend after today!

 

Also, Timmy really likes Benji's wooden train set, and he's getting pretty good at linking all the pieces of track together.  So cute!

On Timmy and New Beginnings

 

I know I missed the New Year's resolution time by a full 3 weeks, but if my goal for this year were to be write on the ol' blog more than once a month, I'm doing pretty good. :)

Here we see a picture of my sweet, innocent, 2-year-old Timmy.  He really is a sweet guy.  He hugs me quite often throughout the day.  I may have also mentioned a few billion times that he is obsessed with my hair.  So his hugs always include his tugging at my hair a bit followed by his grabbing a few strands with the intent to pull them out so he can eat them.  And he doesn't want to just chew on them.  He wants to actually ingest them.  I know.  It is kind of disturbing.  And it hurts!

Timmy also does not take naps very well.  Even as a newborn he wouldn't.  The only way he'd sleep then was if I was nursing him.  I could not put him down for anything.  He still needs naps, though, but I simply cannot get him to take one until too late (around 2-4).  That means that he wakes up cranky at dinner time, and it also means that I'm up until all hours waiting for him to go to sleep.  He prefers to be cuddled in the rocking chair with his blanket, but his version of cuddling means he's going to climb on my head and eat my hair, scratching my face with the all-to-necessary saftey pin that doesn't let him zip down his fuzzies.  And every now and then I'll have a bout of wishful thinking and just take him to bed with me, but that makes it all about 50 times worse.  In short, it is painful to me to put him to sleep.

And when he finally slips off to dreamland he looks so peaceful and angelic I couldn't possibly be mad.  He is one lucky guy.  He dang well better know that I love him despite all the pain he's put me through during his two short years on earth.  He is definitely the one who has hurt me the most by far, but somehow, it is all worth it anyway.  I love him.  I love all of my family more than I can even think to say.

And switching gears now, I have felt lately that I'm at a crossroads in my life, a stand-still where my life has been turned completely upside down and I'm sitting here scratching my head and wondering what to do next.  But I think I'm coming out of it, and maybe that will mean that I can start blogging and taking pictures regularly again.  I have just been so lost in thought and trying to figure things out.  I guess it is natural, then, that pictures and blogging would kind of drop off.

You all know by now that we are expecting baby #7.  That by itself is enough to turn the world upside down, even if I don't get morning sickness very bad.  And then, a few days after I knew I was pregnant (and a few days before I took a test), we had another addition to our home.  A girl in our ward was just recently baptized.  Her name is Elizabeth, and she has had a really hard time of it, especially since joining the church.  Her dad basically told her to leave, and so she was invited to come and live with us.  She will be 19 in a few days and is taking classes at our local college. 

I can't pretend that it has been all cheery and wonderful.  This has been a rough transition, especially for Elizabeth and me.  I'm still not quite sure what my role should be in her life.  Sometimes things seem to go smoothly, and sometimes things do not go right at all.  Really, it is to be expected with two adult females learning to live together.  But we are trying, and I hope I can get my act together eventually and figure it all out.  Lately I don't like to blame things on pregnancy hormones because it was a definite choice to become pregnant in the first place, so I don't feel like I should complain.  But I can't deny that my dang hormones have played a role in this rocky new beginning.  Hopefully things will simmer down.  And I hope beyond hope that if we give Elizabeth nothing else, we will at least give her a sense of permanence, a sure belief that even if not all good things last, some things will. 

Yes, that does raise the question in your mind: do we plan to adopt her?  For now we don't know and we probably don't have the money for it anyway.  But we will see.  We will fast and pray and go to the Temple.  We will figure it out.

Surprise!

A few signs that you might be pregnant:

You mean to tell the boys, “Get ready for bed!” or “Stop fighting with your brother!”  But instead you say, “Buckle up!”

Brushing your teeth makes you queasy.

You get emotional at odd moments of the day for no reason.

You go change your shirt and then realize hours later that you didn’t take off the first shirt before putting on the second.  Good thing it’s winter!

Yes, I am pregnant!  We are due September 16!  We are excited to meet our new little #7!

Have to Say Something

This weekend has been a full one for me.  It hasn't really been full of activities.  It has simply been full of thoughts.

Obviously, at the top of my list of thoughts has been the horrendous shooting incident in Connecticut.  I know that by reading the news we are promoting sensationalism, which may in turn promote more of these awful events, but I simply couldn't pry my eyes off.  We're all wondering why.  Even the shooter's family is wondering.  Certainly, I was nervous sending my children off to school today.  Thank heavens they all arrived home safely again!  I hope we keep that up.  I also keep thinking, "Well, if we can't go to malls or the movies or even school, where can we go?"  People even get murdered in their own homes. 

I discussed the event with my children.  I tried not to get choked up, but I did anyway.  I wanted them to know, but I don't know why.  They asked me why I had to tell them.  I don't know.  But the thing I wanted to let them know is that there is still good in the world, and that we can be that good.  In this case, one person made such a horrible difference.  I want to raise children who can make a good difference, however big or small their sphere of influence ends up being.  I am thankful to still have my family.  I love them all so much!  And you bet I've been praying for those who lost family and friends that terrible day.

And there's another thing I've been thinking about.  Coming into the weekend I heard about the movement for women to wear pants to church on Sunday.  As I was told, it wasn't really about the right to wear pants.  It wasn't about being comfortable at church.  It was about voicing support for gender equality in our church.  Many have argued (and many will continue to argue) that women in our church are not treated as equal to men.  I know that many have been very hurt by this. 

And here I must interject that I don't agree with this movement.  I have never felt like I was treated as less important than men in the church.  I feel loved and accepted, and I am happy with things as they are.  I could give specifics and go into huge detail, but that is not the point of this here post.  Long story short, while I don't agree, I can still feel empathy for people who have hurt.

So anyway, at first I was shocked at the idea that there would be a push to wear pants to church.  Certainly, we want to welcome those who wear pants as much as we welcome those who don't, but it is extremely rare to find any women wearing pants in congregations I have attended.  And then I started reading more.  In particular, I read this blog post by C. Jane.  I read and thoughtfully considered all she had to say.  By the end I still didn't agree with some of it, but that is not to say I didn't agree with anything.  I realized that a lot of what she and these other women are probably looking for is to feel that they are important in the eyes of the church and in the eyes of God.  But what it all led back to for me was the fact that God loves us and wants us to love ourselves.  He loves us no matter who we are.  We are each important to Him, and He wants us to love ourselves.  That thought hit me hard and I started to cry.  I was surprised to find it in a post on feminism, a topic that has often made me feel uncomfortable.  But I realized that if I were ever to claim to be a feminist even a little it would be because I value myself.  And as I have pondered it further, I have realized that maybe my best version of myself is the one in which I love myself and know surely of God's love for and acceptance of me.  Just think of the good that a person could do, just having two things in place.

And in other news, check out this bad boy.

 



Yes these are the way cute shoes that we bought less than 4 months ago (that I only wore regularly for about half of those 4 months).  I bought them at Payless, thinking that they would last longer than ones I could get from Wal-Mart.  Well, they didn't.  These are also the same shoes that dug holes in the backs of my heels the first day I wore them.  They were so cute, but they are oh, so fired!  I'm sure you can imagine how much fun I had going out in the rain in them this past weekend.  (*squish, squish, squish*)  Thank heavens Christmas is right around the corner.  I have a new (well, at least new-to-me) pair all wrapped up and waiting.  Hooray! :D I wish I could say the same for Jeremy because he got shoes at Payless at the same time that I got these, and the sole already had to be glued back on.

Sweet Little Jill

I think one of the things I like best about Jill is that she is a free spirit.  She is so confindent in herself.  I also love that she loves to dance.  Sometimes she dresses up for it, and sometimes she doesn't.  Sometimes she can convince Michael to wear her tutu, and sometimes she can convince her brothers to dance with her. 

And another thing I like about her desire to dance is that I really haven't had to encourage dancing much.  It's a desire she picked up pretty much on her own, like it's part of her already.  She loves to dance.  She begs everyone to dance with her.  I always said that if I had a daughter I would want her to dance, but I wouldn't want to force it.  She gives me that with so little effort.  I love that girly!

She reminds me of myself growing up with my sisters.  One of our favorite things to do was to dress up, turn on music, and dance around the living room together.  And my favorite way to start a dance was to sit on the floor and spread my skirt in a big circle around me.  It was so dramatic.  I loved it! 

And in other, unrelated news, I think it would be great if I could learn to knit while playing video games.  Wouldn't that be a good use for a cold morning.  Me too!

Hair, Wrestling, and Irony (Scattered Thoughts of the Day)

A few weeks ago Timmy started getting especially mean with my hair.  It only happened when he was overly tired, which means it was just about every night at bedtime.  But he'd grab a smaller group of hairs than usual and pull hard while fussing.  It hurt and it always made me freak out because while it was a smaller group of hairs, it would still make a bald spot if he was successful in pulling the entire thing out.  And bedtime is freak-out hour for me anyway because dinner has worn off and I'm tired.  So I started saying, "OK, I've got to cut my hair."

Really, I needed a haircut anyway.  I hadn't had one in a year and a half, and my hair was horribly unhealthy.  At the same time, I loved my long hair.  I thought it was funny that it was long enough to make my tummy all wet after a shower.  And it was pretty, even if it was full of split ends.  It was time, though, so I asked Susie to cut off my layers (making it all one length) and give me a little trim off the shortest layer.  Well, it came out shorter than I hoped.  That's about par for the course, though.  And the nice thing is that it feels healthy and I like this length on me.  (Just past my shoulders)  I decided a long time ago that I should always keep it that length.  But I didn't do that, did I?  I'm trying not to think about how much I miss my hair, but sometimes it comes bursting out.  And then Jeremy says, "Well, you asked Susie to cut it."  Yes, I did.  And I'm going to grow it back out.  Hopefully I can take better care of it this time.  I thought about posting a picture, but I'm feeling decidedly not pretty today, so I won't even TAKE a picture.  Ha, ha!

And I guess that one reason I'm not feeling pretty is that I'm so tired.  Last night while Jeremy was coaching at a wrestling meet in Holbrook, the rest of us were having a wrestling match of our own at Michael's music program.  Michael did a great job.  I love seeing my children up on stage singing cute litte songs.  That part I really enjoy.  What I don't enjoy is the wrestling of little ones that is involved in watching such programs.  I thanked the heavens above when it was all done and hoped I could get Michael to sing me some of his songs later so I could hear them.  I also can't stop wondering why in the world the people behind us were smoking.  Who in the world smokes in an auditorium.  Isn't that not only dangerous but also illegal?

Anyway, that all sounds like I'm not glad we went.  I'm glad.  It's worth it to me to go to these things, even knowing the workout it's going to give me physically and emotionally.  But I was also glad when it was done.

And then Hyrum had scouts and there was homework to be done.  I wanted the boys in bed at 9:00.  It was 11:00 before the last of my children fell asleep.  Jeremy still wasn't home.  I got in bed and went right to sleep, but I had to get up just after midnight to go get Jeremy.  He actually called just before coming into town and then said he'd call again when he was ready for me to come and get him.  I actually got back in bed with the phone, and it was quite pleasant to just fall back asleep for a few minutes.  When he called, I got dressed and went out the door, praying that Timmy would not wake up and wander around the house looking for me and crying while I was gone.  (He didn't.  Phew!)  I found Jeremy standing on the corner near the bus barn all cold, using his blankie as a scarf.  Poor guy.  I should've just gone the first time he called.

And then we came home, and we finally got to sleep around 1:00.  And then Timmy woke up and got in bed with us.  That's actually still pretty normal.  He went right back to sleep.  And then Jill snuggled in on the other side of me without waking me up.  That's also pretty normal.  I often wake up with a headache because I slept on my back with those two on either side of me.  (My neck needs to be supported just right while I'm sleeping, and sleeping on my back just doesn't give me that.  And when that happens, my sore neck gives me a headache by morning.)  Sometimes I'll wake up after she's back asleep and realize she's there, and then I'll move her to the middle next to Timmy because for some reason that makes me better able to sleep on my side. (I don't know why.  It just does.) 

Well, this time, while I didn't notice her getting in bed next to me, I did notice when she started crying for me, standing next to Jeremy's side of the bed.  I didn't know what she wanted, but I was tired and didn't want to get up.  I rolled over to get cozy for another moment or two, and then I felt something warm and wet on my side.  Yep, she wet my bed and I rolled into her puddle.  I went to her where she was standing there sobbing.  Jeremy had taken off her dress.  She took me by the hand and dragged me down the hall to "her bathroom," where I took off her other wet clothes and got her dressed in clean ones.  I put her back in my bed and changed my clothes.  I put a towel over the puddle because I didn't know what else to do with 3 people already in the bed.  I figured that would do until morning.  And then I went to get in bed, but the only place I could fit in was where the puddle was.  I imagined the wet seeping through the towels and getting my clean clothes wet.  It wasn't appealing.  I went out to the couch.  The next thing I knew Jeremy came out to tell me my alarm had rung twice.  I was very surprised to find I wasn't in the bed.  It was kind of funny.

And then here I am.  I took Jeremy to school and then made sure the boys were dressed and took them to school.  I am still not quite awake.  But I think that is a very funny story, and so did the boys.  I've found that if I tell them a funny story on the way to school they are more likely to get out of the car happily (or at least more willingly) when we get to the school.  This is especially the case with Michael.  He's at that stage where if he's too tired he's grouchy and doesn't want me to leave him, and then I have to practically drag him up to the school door and then hope he stays.

So anyway, I guess the thing is that this silliness in the night made Michael happier about going to school.  Isn't that ironic?