Why I was so stinkin' busy and couldn't blog - in pictures

The 5th grade project

The 6th grade projectThe 7th/8th grade project

Our auction donation

Any questions?

What my kids say...

7/16/08
Lincoln to Caden: You having a big attitude!

Caden to Dad while wrestling: You big lump of dirt!

Mom to Caden: What are you doing?
Caden: Getting a new pencil.
Mom: Why?
Caden: My other one is making a lot of mistakes

7/19/08
Caden: What's that smell? It smells like Cheerios or cardboard.

Mom: What did the goose look like when he came out of the egg?
Lincoln: He cried.

7/20/08
Lincoln: I scared Aile. With my face.

Caden (after bringing me the notebook to write down previous comment): Here you can write it down.
Mom: *giggles*
Caden: Write that down too.

7/21/08
Mom to Lincoln after Lincoln went potty: Wow, that's a lot of pee!
Lincoln: Yeah, it's a monster. See, there's his eyes and his face and his arms.

Lincoln (after snack): That was delicious!

Lincoln (got finger squished in the door): I got a bite from the door! Can we punch it?

7/22/08
Caden: I'm a guy who collects Trixars and Lucky Charms poppers.

Lincoln to Mom (while tying his shoes): You have crazy hands!

7/28/08
Lincoln (with hand motions/fingers): The cows have thingys and they squirt out milk.

8/4/08
Lincoln: There's a bug in my eye!
Mom: What's it doing in there?
Lincoln: Playing!

8/6/08
Lincoln: I broke the gate. It was a askident.

8/13/08
Explanation: Lincoln calls the Swiffer duster handle Mrs. Darling. I don't know why, but he always has. So today he was helping dust and kept saying (in a really high voice), "I'm Mrs. Darling. I'm a peacock!"

8/15/08
Caden during prayer: We're thankful for everything we have. Well, almost everything.

8/17/08
Lincoln to Dad while wrestling: You want a piece of me? Like pie?

8/30/08
Lincoln (while using screwdriver with dad): I like screwin' with dad.

8/31/08
Mom to Dad: I found this box of baby oatmeal from when Lincoln was a baby. Should I just toss it?
Dad: Yeah.
Lincoln: Hmm, I don't know, I'm a big boy now.

9/1/08
Caden (wearing Wiggles t-shirt): This is the only t-shirt I could find. Tell dad. I do NOT look like a goof!

Mom to Dad:.....or you could just play dumb, we never did get a notice....
Lincoln: Play dumb?
Caden: Can I play too?

9/3/08
Caden to Lincoln: This isn't a hammer, it's a rubber-band gun. Grandpa gave it to me. He spent years on this, and now he's got to fix it. I don't know if he can...

Lincoln: I like Caden. He's my hero.

Lincoln: I hide my money with ketchup and mustard.

10/7/08
Mom (playing charades):...think about what's at the back end of a dog.
Lincoln: That's poop!

If you scroll past the pictures I wrote something, too

I'm so very overwhelmed by everything I should be doing this week that I'm blogging instead. Apparently a common phenomenon, because my overstressed friend found herself doing the very same thing earlier today. And then we got on the phone and talked about doing it, thus further proving the hypothesis. Caden came home with a science experiment, so I'm all about the verbiage (it's a word).

We went and got pumpkins over a week ago. And since I'm so a techno-weenie I am just now posting the pictures because Ryan finally downloaded them. Sad, I know. But let's face it, left to my own devices I may not even remember to take the pictures let alone download and then post about them.

I have the cutest baby girl in the whole wide world.

If I survive this week I'll tell you all about my inability to say "NO" and the tight spot it can get you in when everything happens simultaneously. Oh wait, I just did.

I did not purposefully post everything running altogether, but I can't fix it, so just go with it.

Here we go again!

We had our Primary Program on Sunday. Caden did great on his part, had it all memorized and everything (which, since it was two whole lines wasn't that difficult for him). I was struck by the blatant amount of preferential treatment given to the primary presiden'ts kids. Which, okay, was probably only preferential in the eyes of parents and not as far as the kids were concerned. They just had the hugest and hardest parts even though one of them can't read (because she's six, not because she's dumb) and the other one no one can understand (Which sounds harsh, but it's the truth).

Anyhow, overall, it went well. But this was not my favorite Primary Program. No, that would be last year when my then Sunbeam Caden sang Latter-Day Prophets. The whole primary stood and sang, but Caden counted them out for you. Was he told to do this? No, he just took the initiative all on his own. Imagine if you will Caden in the very front with both fists raised high up in the air. Each time they sang a prophet's name he stuck one finger from both hands up at the same time - so both index fingers together, both middle fingers together, etc.

So: Latter-day prophets are number one (index fingers up) Joseph Smith, then Brigham Young (middle fingers up), John Taylor came third (ring fingers up) we know, then Wilford Woodruff (pinkies up), Lorenzo Snow (thumbs up - he now looks like he's giving you a high-ten with his fingers splayed. Quickly he makes fists again) Joseph F. Smith (index fingers up) remember the F., Heber J. Grant (middle fingers up), and George Albert Smith (ring fingers up), David O. McKay (pinkies up), was followed by Joseph Fielding Smith (thumbs up in the same high-ten-fingers splayed. Now my favorite part; he pulls his fingers back into fists and shouts loud enough for the entire congregation to hear, "HERE WE GO AGAIN!"). Then Harold B. Lee (index fingers up), Spencer W. Kimball (middle fingers up), Ezra Taft Benson (ring fingers up), Howard W. Hunter (pinkies up), Gordon B. Hinckley (thumbs up) leads the way, we hear and follow his words today.

So muck funnier in person than to type it all out, but you should have heard the laughter after the HERE WE GO AGAIN. I tell ya, it's going to take something huge to top that as my favorite Primary Program of all time.

Looking for a laugh? You can't go wrong here.

In gratitude...

My visiting teacher brought me flowers tonight. I can only say that this act of kindness speaks all the more because she is a wonderful woman who is frugal to a fault.

I am so grateful for the women in my life. For their generous natures, for their intuition, for their good hearts, and just plain being in tune with the spirit to know when someone needs them. I have always strived to be among this group and it is humbling to suddenly find myself among the group that stands in need of them.

So to all these women I say, 'Thank you.'

It's like trying to teach an old dog new tricks...

At what point do you become the 'old' dog, no longer capable of learning new tricks? Or rather, no longer interested in learning new tricks? Can I really change my life enough to actually change my lifestyle? Or is it so ingrained by now at my ripe old age of 30 that there is no hope left?

Say I want to eat healthier. I do. I really do. But in my life I have already had doughnuts and chili dogs and meat and COKE, and I like all those things. They taste good. I mentally understand that they are NOT good for me. And with enough self-discipline I can avoid them forever (or some semblance of forever - like say, a month so far). But will I ever stop WANTING them?

This would probably be easier if I was one of those people that read labels and got turned off by things that they can't pronounce because it's 'not healthy'. So not that girl. If you can't pronounce it that just means it's gonna last longer, thereby giving you ample time to eat it.

Lest you become deathly afraid for my poor body and the improper nutrition you fear is being inflicted upon it let me say this: I'm exercising tremendous self-discipline currently, and have been for a month now. I'm also exercising tremendously. My water intake is up, and blah, blah, blah, I'm trying to turn this Wide-Load Semi into a Mini-Cooper. So far so good (down 12 lbs so far, I weigh in again tomorrow).

Yeah, I have a weight-loss blog, and I'm posting all about this over there too, but it's become sort of all-consuming that it's literally what I'm thinking about all day long, and so if I don't post about THIS, then I won't have anything else to post about either. One track minded, apparently. (And so not the track that I'd PREFER to be on.)

Post #100

In the great tradition of bloggers everywhere, here's a list of 100 things you may or may not know about me.

1. I think seven layer bean dip tastes wrong when it's missing 2 of the layers.
2. I don't get PMS before my period, I get it during.
3. I used to eat ketchup sandwiches when I was young and lived at home.
4. I have 3 kids.
5. I have an Etsy store with nothing in it.
6. Overall, I would prefer to laugh than to cry.
7. I get uncomfortable when things get too serious.
8. But when push comes to shove, I am capable of holding my own.
9. Valerie means 'Strong' or 'Strength' - and I am.
10. I share a birthday with one of my sisters, just 2 years apart.
11. I have a lot of hobbies.
12. Reading is my most often practiced.
13. I am the 2nd of 4 children.
14. I married an introvert.
15. I am an extrovert.
16. I love my kids and get very mama-bearish when I feel someone's attacking them.
17. My secret ambition is to be a photographer.
18. But not until my kids are all in school and I can do it on my own terms.
19. I'm a big believer in being a SAHM.
20. I love family traditions.
21. I think anything done for one child should be done for all of them.
22. For each of my kids I do a cross-stitch birth announcement.
23. And a twin-sized quilt.
24. And I write a letter to them on their birthday. They'll get them all when they're older.
25. I am not a salesperson.
26. I am witty, some of the time.
27. I once won a trip to the '96 Atlanta Summer Olympics and gave it away.
28. My dad missed my HS graduation because he was in Nicaragua.
29. I found a puppy in the parking lot at the mall and brought it home.
30. My parents still have her.
31. I don't watch the news because it makes me upset.
32. Of course, I never know what's going on.
33. Mexican food is the best in the world.
34. Red Robin is probably my favorite non-Mexican restaurant.
35. I cook better than a lot of people.
36. But I have a hard time coming up with dinner ideas.
37. I love asparagus.
38. I am not as up on current music and artists as I once was.
39. I don't have a cell phone.
40. I have another blog about weight loss.
41. I have lost 12 lbs in 2 weeks.
42. I like cake decorating.
43. Sometimes I come up with really cool craft project ideas.
44. I had my last baby without any anesthetic.
45. It hurt, but in retrospect it was kind of cool.
46. We're done having children, but if I lose all the weight I want, I would consider being a surrogate (just my oven).
47. My feet grew 1/2 size since I've had my kids.
48. I like to play games: boardgames, cardgames, dice games.
49. I am one year shy of completing my bachelors degree.
50. I am more than one year shy of completing it in something I'm interested in.
51. I'm a Republican.
52. I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
53. My patriarchal blessing makes me sound awesome to myself.
54. I love to go to the temple.
55. I don't go as often as I would like.
56. I have really cool friends.
57. You can tell who your best friends are by those that can tell something is wrong when you don't say anything about it, and they let you know they are there for you if you ever need them.
58. I clean out my closet a couple of times a year.
59. I like to can things, but I don't always remember to feed my family what I've canned.
60. We have our year's supply.
61. I like poetry.
62. I got an A in college in Exposition and Argumentation. That's 'Debate'.
63. I would like to travel to lots of different places in the world.
64. I had a miscarriage between my 2nd and 3rd children.
65. At 30 I finally gave someone a Book of Mormon.
66. I'm mellowing as I grow older, and my husband is not.
67. My favorite calling I have had so far was Activities Committee Chair.
68. My calling right now is teaching 3rd Sunday in RS.
69. I have been in the nursery in every ward we've ever lived in.
70. I am punctual.
71. I like cookies. But I can no longer eat them.
72. I've never ridden in a limo.
73. I went to 2 Senior Proms in one weekend when I was a senior in HS.
74. I like to stop at the Duty Free Shop. I like to stop at the Duty Free Shop. I like to stop at the Duty Free Shop.
75. And I like Seinfeld.
76. I prefer a long bath to a long shower to relax. You can't read in the shower.
77. I like to watch football and hockey but not baseball or basketball.
78. I want to learn to be a crack shot.
79. I think my kids are hilarious.
80. I love my children, and I tolerate everyone else's.
81. I frequently identify people with what animal they look like, and then tend to refer to them as that animal in conversation.
82. I lose all tact when I'm pregnant.
83. I try to avoid conflict, to avoid offending others, but sometimes it happens anyway.
84. I'm a big believer in slow to anger, quick to apologize.
85. The longer I live without pets the less I would like to have one in the future.
86. I like nursery rhymes and take great pleasure in memorizing them and being able to recite them to my kids.
87. Same with children's songs and the nonsense songs my dad taught us.
88. And tongue twisters.
89. I got married at 20.
90. I have great inlaws - mom, dad, brothers & sisters, nieces & nephews. All of them.
91. I tend to romanticize things.
92. I suck at estimating.
93. I love dating my husband.
94. There are certain books that I re-read every so often. Like Little Women and all of Jane Austen.
95. I make awesome cookies.
96. I love nursing Aile. Not so much at 2 am.
97. I was extremely gullible as a child and teenager. I'm hopeful that I've outgrown it a little.
98. I still know the theme song to The Safety Kids.
99. I'm a fair-weather camper.
100. I'm trying to become more adventurous in my old age.

Watch Out - political, consider yourself warned

We're poor people - we're students, we benefit from a couple of state programs, we live off students loans. Ryan has a part-time job within his field that pays minimum wage. I don't carry cash because I tend to give it to panhandlers, and we don't actually have anything extra to give away right now. And I'm a Republican.

*Gasp* Did she just post that out loud on her blog where like 28 people may read it?!

Yup, I did.

I am a firm believer that everyone has a right to their political ideals, and I'm tired of feeling like I'm wrong because I lean to the right. Republicans believe in more of a hand-up than a hand-out - so yeah, be on a program while you further your education and need the help, but then GET OFF. When Ryan is done with school and has a job we will pay far more into the system than what we have taken out of it.

And someday, when Ryan's working that job and making an income, I, selfishly, want as much as that for our family as possible. Because HE earned it. HE went to school, HE did the work, HE got a job to make money for OUR family. If I wanted to pay 50% in taxes and wait 3 months for my turn for a doctors appointment I'd move to Canada.

Oh, no she di-int!

Oh, yes I did.

So all you democrats out there in bloggerville, hate me if you want to for speaking my mind. But I do believe that's what you all do, all the time. Just because Republicans are the silent MAJORITY doesn't mean that we don't have opinions, most of us just tend to keep them to ourselves. And oh my gosh, I'm posting my opinion on my blog.

I'd prefer Romney, but since he's not an option,
Go McCain!

Anything but a democrat.

As a general rule I hate conflict, and avoid it all costs. But I'm PMS'ing right now, so this is what you get.

Used To Be The Appalling Part Was That I Didn't Drink Coffee...

My very first PTSA auction meeting for our school we were talking about procuring items at different establishments and one of the women that co-chairs the committee pointed to me and asked, "Where do you buy your coffee on your way to work every morning?"

I looked at her and said, "I don't drink coffee and I don't go to work." She looked at me like she was appalled.

"So what do you do all day?"

"I'm a stay at home mom with a 6 year old, 3 year old, and 7 month old."

"So you have a lot of time on your hands."

Statement. Not a question. Just assumed that because I'm not working outside the home that I'm also not working INSIDE it either.

EXCUSE ME?! I work just as hard as a "working" mother only I don't get paid. I am the very best wife and mother that I know how to be. What I am doing now IS what I wanted to do when I grew up. And I do it really, really well. (That may sound like bragging, but it's not.) That does not make me uninteresting or boring. I have interests outside of what I "do" all day. And when I have free time (which doesn't happen all that often) I pursue those interests. I work hard at all the things that come last for "working" mothers; keeping my home, yard, laundry, dishes, children, spouse, and myself ready for what life throws at us.

And I'm busy. SO FETCHIN' BUSY. So busy that you may have noticed that blogging has begun to take a back seat. Even though I love blogging.

And I have stress. I don't need a "job" to have that.

And I'm a little bit annoyed.

Can you tell?

Could this post have any more "quotation marks"?

So, Bloggerville, what do YOU think? Am I overreacting? It's been known to happen. Or are you with me?