Halloween 2012

Better late than never, right?

Let’s start off with the fact that I FINALLY HAVE A MANTLE to decorate!

Sorry the first picture is so blurry. I’m a pretty craptastic photographer.

Countdown blocks I made last year. Hayden loved flipping them around every day!

I got this idea from Pinterest and I am very pleased with how it turned out!

Found this guy in the Target Dollar Spot (for $2.50 – weird) and decided to saw him in half and throw him between 75 yards of fluffy orange tulle!

Now let’s get to the real reason you came to the blog {hi mom!}

Dallin as a ghost…I’m getting away with the cheap costumes while I can

Hayden, the mad scientist.
He told me he wanted to be an evil scientist so he could go “MUAHAHAHAHAHA”

Mike, the bank robber and Kaylee as the loot!

And where am I, you ask? I’m a broke tired mom who did darn good to just get her family there.

On music, autism and things that matter

I get that this election coming up is important and effects the state of our nation, but there are things that matter so much more. They impact the world and all of humanity. They are what REALLY matters.

October is autism awareness month. I have several friends who’s lives are touched by autism, so it touches me in ways I never thought possible. I am always inspired by these little spirits who were given challenges in this life that I don’t understand.

I’m going to make a general disclaimer here that I am in no way an expert on autism or music, but it’s my blog and I can ramble about whatever the heck I want to!

Do you think there could be healing properties in music? I know it’s sometimes the only thing that will sooth an upset toddler, or relieve me from the stresses of my day.

Two seasons ago on American Idol, James Durbin stole the hearts of many, including my husband and myself. He has Asperger's and Tourette's syndrome. He has dealt with the frustrations that come with both syndromes for his entire life, and never even graduated from high school.

He has a wife and child and, by all appearances, is quite the family man, doing his best to provide for those he loves. He is not letting the challenges he has been given stop him and he is not making excuses.

Watching him perform on stage,  you would never know. The effects of his “disabilities” seem to disappear and he shows nothing but confidence and grace while he sings his heart out. His plea “give metal a chance” almost makes me really enjoy that genre of music. He is a true hero in my eyes. He was given obstacles to deal with and he has dealt with them with dignity.

photo courtesy of fox

This morning I took a few minutes to watch a short video of Katy Perry and a sweet young girl, Jodi DiPiazza, who has autism.

This little girl was diagnosed at two years old and her parents were told “not to expect much”.

Cut to nine years later and she is brilliant on the piano, which seems to be an outlet for her as well.

Watch this absolutely inspiring video here:

Tell me that doesn’t put things into perspective for you. Tell me your heart doesn’t just swell. Tell me you don’t want to just leap out of your seat and hug little Jodi!

Music. One thing I used to be very passionate about. One thing I’ve let take a back burner now that I’m a wife and mother. One thing that I hope will fill my home again very soon. Music is important. Music is powerful.

The Mom Stays in the Picture

You’re a mom.

The camera comes out and you quietly look away, or step aside, or move an object in front of you so that you aren’t caught in “all your glory”.

You’re hanging onto a few extra pounds, your hair is in a ponytail and you’re using the same tube of mascara as you did two birthdays ago. Your teeth may or not have been brushed that morning.

“It’s all about the kids now”, you reassure yourself. They’re they ones people really want to see.

But what about thirty years from now? The kids are going to want to see pictures of them with you.

To be honest, I never really considered the concept until I read “The Mom Stays in the Picture” last week.

So here goes…no makeup (unless you count yesterday’s makeup that I never washed off). A good 40 pounds overweight in my cutoff sweats after a tiring day.

I am getting in the picture.

Not Sweeping

I thought for sure once I was short one kid I’d be able to get a handle on the house, but alas, I was mistaken.

Since Hayden has gone back to school…Dallin has been in need of another buddy. He can only handle so much of Kaylee before he gets bored.

Today I am not sweeping. I am not scrubbing toilets. I am not even going to bust the vacuum out of the closet.

Today I am building forts and playing hide and seek and cuddling and reading books.

I’d love to say how much I love it and I’m having so much fun and all the wonderful things some of those crazy mom bloggers spout off, but to be honest, it’s hard.

I know dishes need to be done.

I am dwelling on the fact that the groceries {from yesterday} still need to be put away.

I am well aware that the laundry needs to be folded.

The floors are so dirty I can almost hear them begging to be mopped.

…and it’s driving me crazy.

I am, however, determined not to let this precious amount of time slip away from me.

The days when my boys will still hold my hand, kiss my face and jump in my arms are fleeting, so I am going to try my darndest not to let them slip away.

Mr. Mischief

If you know Dallin but at all you know that he is into EVERYTHING.ALL.THE.TIME. If I don’t reign that in a little bit and channel it toward something halfway productive, I would be chasing after him 24/7 cleaning up more disasters than FEMA.

His favorite thing to help me with is laundry, so every day {several times a day, amiright?} we head out to the garage and he helps me put clothes in the wash, transfer them to the dryer and then take them out of the dryer and put them in a basket. It’s painfully slow and takes me about ten times longer to complete the task, but it keeps him occupied with something productive for a few minutes.

 

Mischief. Pure mischief.

 

Another favorite is hanging out in the kitchen with me and I’ll be darned if I don’t trip over the boy a dozen times a day while prepping meals or doing dishes so he’s allowed to help himself to my spice drawer and be creative!

 

If that’s not pride, I don’t know what is! He was especially excited about the fact that he incorporated his light saber!

 

First Day of School

Hayden’s First Date

A couple of weeks ago Hayden asked me when he would be able to go on a date.

The mama bear in me started growling at the thought of another girl more important to him than me!

I calmly explained that when he turned 16 years old then he can go on a date in a group of friends.

He looked disappointed but accepted my answer.

Not being able to keep my curiosity in check, I asked him who he wanted to take on a date, thinking he’d reveal a secret crush.

He sheepishly looked up and said, “You”.

Heart = Melted.

I asked him what he wanted to do on our date and he said he wanted to eat Chinese food and go to Yobe, so that’s what we did.

While I was getting ready, Hayden took it upon himself to get dressed in his church clothes and even though he donned his navy socks with his khaki pants, he looked more handsome than ever!

I walked out of my bedroom, ready to get going, where I see him making me a snack, because he thought it would be nice.

He even used a fancy parfait glass because he knows I appreciate the fancy.

He took $3 of his own money and went to a local florist to pick out a rose for me. He held my hand, opened doors and even chewed with his mouth closed. What a little gentleman!

We started out at Wasabi, a Japanese Hibachi Grill, where were dazzled by fire and flying food. Hayden even caught the rice in his mouth!

After a delightful dinner we skipped (literally) on over to YoBe, our favorite frozen yogurt joint, and had dessert.

And made silly faces

On the way out to the car, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow. It was the perfect way to end a perfect first date!

Why do I bother??

Sundays are hard.

We get up and get breakfast going and we always take our time because church doesn’t start until 11:00.

Then suddenly it’s 10:42 and somebody’s gotten ketchup on their white shirt, a sock is missing, a diaper blows out and I can’t find my keys.

Mike’s at work so it’s me, flying solo.

I pull everybody together, say a quick family prayer pleading for Heavenly Father to “bless us to be reverent” and off we go.

And the bickering starts. I’m driving through the drizzle singing happy Primary Songs hoping it’ll have some sort of calming effect on the boys.

We quietly (ha) enter the chapel and find a seat in the back and since we’re there before the sacrament has been blessed, I call it on time.

The boys fight over who gets to sit next to Kaylee so I pry them apart and sit myself down between them.

We make it through the passing of the sacrament without any major catastrophe. Maybe…just maybe we will be successful today!

Kaylee is fussier than normal so I pick her up out of her car seat and the smell.is.foul.

I instruct Hayden and Dallin to STAY PUT until I get back.

I’m gone no more than 3 minutes. I get back into the chapel and my row is empty. *facepalm*

Hayden is on his way back down from the stand grinning ear to ear because he bore his testimony. Sweet, sure…but I needed him to sit in the pew with Dallin because, well…Dallin is a red-headed handful!

Thankfully our sweet nursery leader has corralled Dallin and she’s got him on her lap.

Okay. One minor slip-up, no big deal. We’re in the back so nobody saw, right?

Kaylee is still abnormally fussy.

I try to comfort her in my arms and she gets louder and louder, so I take her out.

Next thing I know boys are giggling, crayons are flying and I’m ready to book it the heck out of there.

Finally sacrament meeting is over and the boys head to Primary and Nursery. I head to the Mother’s room to feed Kaylee so I miss most of Sunday School.

Baby’s been fed and changed so I brave Relief Society where not five minutes into the lesson she spits up ALL.OVER.ME. I’m covered from my shoulder all the way down my dress, so I head back out to the ever familiar foyer where I clean myself up.

I stay there because by that time I’ve hit my limit and I don’t want to be another distraction.

So why do I bother? I end up embarrassed during Sacrament meeting, missing Sunday School and soaked in sour breast milk in Relief Society.

I’m driving home and I’m asking myself why on earth I even made the effort. Why do I get everybody dressed up only to end up frazzled and tired?

Then Hayden pipes up. “Mom, did you know angels write down everything you say, even the bad things?”

“What?” I say to myself. “Could he actually be absorbing anything into that little head that is constantly spinning?”

“The angels write down what we say and show Jesus so we have to say nice things.”

Color me humbled.

Later that evening, Mike gets home from work and gathers us for Family Home Evening.

We start by singing “The Rainbow Song” all the while Dallin is running around with a “gun” fashioned out of some sort of pipe singing in between the “bam bam bam” sounds he is making.

Being that it was Fast and Testimony Meeting and Mike missed it, he wanted everybody to share their testimonies.

We just asked Dallin what made him happy and his reply was a sweet “God” and then pointed to Kaylee and said “Her.” Dallin knows that his Father in Heaven and his family make him happy.

That’s why I bother.

And I’ll be doing it again next Sunday.

Friday Confession

Without my Pampered Chef steamer and a tablespoon of butter, my family may never eat vegetables with dinner…

Before the End of the Year {Bucket List}

There are a few things that have been weighing on my mind recently and I figure here is as good a place as any to organize my thoughts!

I’ve needed to trim my budget for awhile now and I’d like to decrease my ecological footprint a little bit so here are the things I plan to do by the end of the year:

* Find five more freezer meals my family will enjoy

* Start cloth diapering (including cloth wipes) (Approx $40/month savings)

* Get rid of paper towels (Approx $10/month savings)

* Get rid of ziploc bags for sandwiches and snacks (Approx $5/month savings)

* Make my own laundry detergent (recipe via: The Duggars) (Approx $15/month savings)

*Make my own dishwasher detergent (trying this recipe) (Approx $12/month savings)

I promise I’m not turning into a crunchy hippie…just trying to save money!!!

Catching Some Waves

I grew up going to the Pacific Ocean when visiting California, so when people in Florida refer to “waves” I kinda giggle to myself. You never see anything over a couple of feet unless we’re in the middle of a hurricane.

That wasn’t going to stop Hayden from trying out his boogie board!

It took Dallin a little longer to get used to the water, but he finally warmed up to it!

This is how Kaylee rolls

Make Your Own Brown Sugar

So here’s the story…about 1:30 this afternoon I took advantage of a napping baby and decided to make chocolate chip cookies. They are the BEST chocolate chip cookies in the world. I know what you’re thinking…your grandma’s are better, but sadly, you are wrong. These cookies use twice the amount of salt as most cookies combined with milk chocolate chips, as apposed to semi-sweet, which makes for an irresistible balance of salty and sweet.

Anyway…I opened my trusty Tupperware that houses my brown sugar and, much to my dismay, there was only about 2 tablespoons left! I always have brown sugar!

So, if you were paying attention…you know that I have a napping baby so there’s not a chance I’m going to the store!

I learned in home ec that brown sugar is simply granulated sugar and molasses, so I set to work.

This is quite a complicated and tedious process, requiring TWO whole ingredients and a fork.

For light brown sugar all you need is:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp molasses

Mix with a fork until combined. It’ll be all kinds of annoying and crumbly for a bit but just keep at it and you’ll end up with soft, fluffy light brown sugar!

If you want dark brown sugar then simply add another tbsp molasses!

I’d say it worked just fine!

My little chunker!

Little miss thing here has been growing growing growing!!!

Kaylee’s Blessing Day

Yesterday was Kaylee’s blessing day! I ordered an amazing dress for her back in November…and it was too small for her so I had to quickly order her another dress from etsy! I love it even more than the dress I got her originally.

Joey, Papa, Daddy and Scott
Our bishop was also in the circle, but he gets a little busy after the meeting

I think this might actually be our first family picture…kinda sad!

Safest place in the world – Daddy’s arms.