Supermom can't even open the mac n cheese box

This week I thought about the expectations I, and moms in general, set for themselves. I had trained for months to run a race that happened last week, but I got sick and, although I had hopes of kicking it in time, I couldn't race. I learned some things about myself. 1) I don't always listen to my body. 2) My body will shut down if I don't listen to it. 3) Optimism helps healing much better than wallowing about being sick.

And with the lessons comes some changes, hopefully. I hope to 1) Listen to my body and know when to take it easy (like running 5 miles before going to the doctor should have triggered that something was wrong with me). 2) Face unexpected trials with a more positive attitude, and 3)There will always be another race.

I thought about the unexpected trials others have gone through and feel embarrassed to say that this qualified as a trial for me--maybe it's better labeled a disappointment. I suppose I'm used to my kids causing changes to my plans all the time. I expect that. This was different. This time it was all me and I didn't like that. I thought I could will myself to overcome my weakness. But the flesh is weak, and believe it or not, that's all us moms are (although we must have an extra tough gene somewhere--just not a superhuman gene).

On a lighter note, how about those mac and cheese boxes? I have never successfully opened a box of mac and cheese by pushing in that half circle on the corner. It just hurts my thumb and dents the cardboard. Sometimes it rips a little hole in it, but it's so small it would take you all day to shake the noodles out. I usually just rip the whole top off the box. Please share any techniques that work for you. Maybe I'll make that Sam's first science experiment--inventing an easy to open mac and cheese box. I guess I've had more time to ponder these mysteries of the universe since I haven't been running the last few weeks.

So I admit my failures in this post. Failure to meet a trial with greater optimism. Failure to patiently open the noodles. Not failures altogether, but learning experiences. Chances to grow and be humbled. They are all around us.

Merry New Year!

What a whirlwind of a Christmas! This year, we had the luck of scoring Mom and Dad and Courtney for the holiday. They came out of the snow of Colorado and into the cold cold rain! What was that all about anyway? We had our coldest week since we've lived here the week they were here. I think the weather gods followed them out because within hours after they left, the sun shone again like the beautiful SoCal I know and love! My kids didn't know what to think wearing all of those different clothes (what are these called mom? Oh yeah, socks!).

We tried to keep it real and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We had our cousins over to do the nativity scene on Christmas day, and of all the activities of the week, that lined up at the top! The kids requested singing "Picture a Christmas" (a great primary song about Jesus' birth) at the end. My Dad didn't want Lucy to feel lonely as the only barn animal, so he joined her as a cow and doubled as the narrator, adding only minimal commentary to the Bible verses that guided our story.

Otherwise, we spent most of time swinging, dancing

and eating--three of my very favorite pastimes.

And for all of you who might not have received our Christmas card yet (oh wait, no one got a card from us!), I'll just say we love our dear friends and family. We wish we were better at keeping in touch, but we appreciate how everyone enriches our lives in different ways. I love this special time of year and hope to keep the spirit of Christmas, or the spirit of Christ, with me in to this new year.

note on picture to your left: Sam was in an angry picture mood. He was happy and jolly otherwise, but thought it was cool to mad-dog the camera anytime he had the chance.

Underappreciated Crayons

I don't have any cool pictures, so I guess this post will be a monologue. You'll have to close your eyes and visualize with me what I'm about to share.....

Doodle di doo, doodle di doo (picture Wayne's world with the wavy lines going right now)

Ever since we were young, Amy and I have had this problem of cracking each other up in the worst possible places. Church, for instance, or Mr. Andrjewski's freshman chem class. I even remember having to walk out of Spanish 101 at BYU because something set us off and there was no stopping us. We don't do it on purpose. It's just some weird twin phenomenon where we both see something or hear something and we know exactly what the other is thinking and all of a sudden we're rolling on the floor. We turn into 10 year olds all over again!

Last week Amy and I are sitting in sacrament and Lucy is absorbed in her coloring book. We're absorbed in the testimonies. Lucy pulls out a crayon and starts coloring. All of a sudden she stands straight up, raises her crayon and says (in her not-so-primary-voice) "Hey, this not working!" I looked down and saw her holding the white crayon. That's all it took! We are better at controlling ourselves and didn't actually have to leave the meeting, but we couldn't look at each other for a few minutes. It's not even that funny, is it? Lucy moved on and still thinks they put a faulty crayon in the box. I couldn't chance explaining it to her for fear I would start laughing.

Keeping up with the Kiddos

Aah, the challenges and joys of motherhood. In reference to trying to clean up after toddlers, I heard someone say it's like shoveling snow during a blizard. Do I hear any amens out there? I'm a bit frazzled as I try to get my work done, enjoy time with the kids, teach them all that stuff they're supposed to know so that kindergarten is obsolete, and the list continues. But such is life. And the simple joys bring me back to a moment of clarity enough that I don't self-destruct in a whirlwind of Glass-plus and crayon bits. Here are a few simple joys recently:

I swear I didn't do this to them. They were only quiet a few minutes. At first, I didn't notice and continued doing dishes. Then I remembered the truth that all mothers learn early on: although intuition would dictate screaming or crying as a bad thing, silence is really far worse! The result of this silent spell didn't require much clean up. In fact, I didn't "clean up" this mess for a little while.

Ben crawls and climbs all over everything. Sam can't wait for Ben to actually play with him. I found them like this with Ben laughing like crazy! Anytime he gets attention from the big kids, he loves it. I love it, too.

And a little early for Thanksgiving, but always something we love to hear, a little video with some words of grattitude from Sam, Lucy, and cousin Luke. And yes, it's November, but it's still swimsuit weather (kind of).

Who cares about B.O. and J.M., what's happening with the Barney's?

You know those days when life is so busy that you feel certain that things must slow down soon or something will explode? And then you realize that they'll never really ever slow down? Well, I've had a lot of those lately, so I'm putting other seemingly pressing responsibilities aside (you know, like mopping the floor and organizing my shoe closet) to do something even more important: BLOG! I hardly know where to begin so I just chose some of my favorite recent pictures to elaborate on...

Headline #1: Sam and Lucy get a bunk bed!

Lucy graduates from the crib and Sam can touch the ceiling with his toes! And best of all...

they can keep each other company when the bed bugs bite. Lucy snuck up to Sam's bed after we put them down one night. I went to tuck her in only to find her missing! Luckily, she was just a few feet higher than usual, fast asleep. I cringe at the thought of her dragging blankies and Ariel up the ladder in the dark, but she made it unscathed!

Headline #2: My son is smarter than I am!

We got a new bookcase. I asked Sam to help me put it together expecting less help than hindrance. To my dismay, as I sat trying to absorb the directions and figure out what hardware fit in what hole, Sam picked up the pieces and told me exactly what to do! And he was right! Once the directions actually made sense (several minutes later), I could see that what he was telling me was correct. You're probably saying to yourself "Come on, Amber. Any four-year-old should be able to put together a bookcase!" In my defense, I've never claimed to be tool-savvy and I've never really assembled anything out of a box. I leave that stuff to Chris for the most part. I feel capable, but I just know he could do it in half the time. Well, now I know that Sam could also do it in half the time. I think he takes after his tool-belt wearin', drill-gun lovin' Daddy.

Headline #3: Benjamin skips months 4-8 in development in an attempt to keep up with the sibs and stay on top of Dad.

The other kids were content following the normal trend of growth, enjoying each milestone for awhile before attempting the next developmental leap. Ben, impatient and precocious as he is, thinks he can have his rice cereal and eat it too. In the last week he started marine crawling (in honor of Uncle Danny), pulling himself up on sturdy objects (like Dad), and jabbering in real baby language (which Lucy frequently interprets in really broken toddler language). He eats his weight in mushed up gerber nastiness every two days or so and just can't seem to get enough of the world in general. I was hoping for more of a lump on a log with the third child. A little inanimacy (I think I made that word up) would have made my life a lot easier. All the time, though, he laughs and smiles at every accomplishment. I just don't want him to grow up too fast! He's 7 months and 11 days going on 18 months!Other Barney snippets: Chris is busy with a stake assignment helping for Yes on Prop 8. Anyone with ideas on how to prevent people from stealing our Yes on 8 signs, please share. Otherwise, the mew house(that's what Lucy calls it) is sucking up all of our free time with painting, wall-paper removal, yard work, and tile laying. We love it. It's ours.

The Blessing of our Toddler and Spoilage at its Best

You know your kid is a little older than the average blessed baby when you're saying "Suck it in, Ben--you've got to fit into this thing!" He did fit into his blessing outfit with only a slightly strained seam and two snaps left undone (covered by a vest that made me want to sing "Fat guy in a little coat"). I forgot to take pictures that day and I'm afraid in just a week he made it impossible to humanely fit it on him. But the blessing day was wonderful! Not only is it awesome to feel that special spirit of blessing a newborn, but to have so much family around made it even better. I felt really blessed to see the circle of priesthood holders holding Ben including Chris, my Dad, two uncles, Jason (bro in law), Josh Ontko (a friend), and my cousin. My Dad said they almost got a chair for Ben he weighed so much. Here are some pics of the weekend with family including such highlights as 1)going to see Wicked with my parents, sister, and aunt and uncle and it was way cooler than I could have imagined, 2)Balboa Beach with family and 3)dinner at Aunt Shara's who is a good cook AND cooks good stuff.

Did I mention that my parents officially spoiled my kids rotten? I mean it. My Dad gave Sam licorice and chocolate as soon as he woke up the first day they were there. That combined with 2 cups of juice and a strawberry jam crepe equals a big hurl all over the carpet. Everyone loves being the kids' favorites, but who gets to clean up the puke? Yeah, yours truly. My dad said that Carter (my nephew) wouldn't have even batted an eyelash at that much junk in the morning. I'll give him that, but I think they both learned a lesson.

Me and the rents at Wicked.

Chris LOVES digging holes at the beach. Even more than the kids.

My dad love soaking up the sun at the beach.

Me and Amy at Aunt Shara's.

Here's my Aunt Kathi. She's awesome.

Our new backyard!!!

We got a backyard...and there's even a house attached to it (pics soon to come)! Could we possibly ask for more? We are so excited to be moving into our new house this weekend. But we're more excited about being able to go outside and play whenever we want! And I can even send the kids without me sometimes! I don't think they'll know what to do with themselves, but there's a lot of dirt digging and bug catching to be done out there, I think.