Going Crazy and Having Fun

I know that my kids have the best intentions when they make me breakfast in bed, but let’s face it, breakfast in bed is a meal that most parents would rather do without. Today I lucked out and was served cold waffles and warm milk, and best of all, my waffles we smothered with peanut butter and syrup, a combination I have never once put together for myself. Now, while the food isn’t great, I can bear to eat it because I know how much love it was made with. And if I didn’t eat it I know I would crush the great pride that my kids took in trying to make my life easier because they knew I was up a lot last night. Let’s forget the fact that they could have just let me sleep instead of waking me up with their non-existent cooking skills. But the one pondering question that this morning’s breakfast in bed has left me with is why can’t my kids do the same thing for me when I make something new for dinner—like mashed sweet potatoes? What a double standard! Oh well, I guess I can at least be thrilled that they haven’t ever brought me cold cereal, because I don’t know if I could force down soggy Cheerios.

Andrew has hit a point in his life where he thinks that he is too old, big and cool for “little kid” activities. This includes anything from playing a game to the clothes he wears (I am under no circumstances allowed to buy him anything without a collar.) But perhaps the “kid activity” that he is the most vocal not wanting to participate in is watching any TV show that he deems to young for himself. Since he has mastered his remote control skills, it is especially frustrating to him to have to relinquish control and let one of his younger siblings select a show and it is especially frustrating when it is someone like Ben who chooses such childish shows as Dora, Diego and Blues Clues. Yesterday Andrew was mortified when I let Ben select the show. He moaned and groaned and was quite upset as he promised not to watch such a dumb kids show. This is how I found him a few minutes later. He was just about as far away from the TV as you could get while still watching (which made for quite an interesting photo shoot) and when he realize what I was up to he informed me: “I am just watching this show because it’s so weird and I just can’t believe anyone would like something that weird.”

We had Madeline’s birthday party on Saturday and it was great! I entered a drawing and won a party at Michaels Crafts and it was a blast. We had so much fun making birds out of Model Magic clay and Madeline felt like a little princess for the day. I can’t believe baby girl is turning six this week! I am also grateful that she has so many great friends that are so good to her--she really is a lucky girl and we are so lucky to have her!

Despite the tremendous amount of work and guilt that motherhood creates, kids are always good for a laugh. In fact, I think there are at least three times on any given day when I have to turn my back to keep from laughing at my kids who are supposed to be in trouble. (After all, what kind of authority figure would I be if I laughed at all their hilarious, I mean bad, behaviors. They might stop taking me seriously and realize that I am not so uptight which is a role I have carefully crafted for myself.) I don't know how they do it, but they make me smile when I hear them giggle. I seem to snicker when I overhear conversations that detail their elaborate plans and schemes. I can't help but chuckle when they try to explain their perspective on life to me, but more entertainingly to each other. If I just sit and watch them for any period of time, or even just walk in on them doing whatever they are doing at the moment, at least one of them is sure to bring a grin to my face and a sparkle to my eye that will usually end up in a quiet yet deeply satisfying laugh. And their have even been times when I have been know to fall to the ground and end up snorting because of the crazy things they do and say. I guess I'm lucky because I have always said that I would rather laugh than cry and I think that on many occasions, I laugh so that I won't cry. But most of all I think that I am lucky because I have four fun and wonderful kids who even at their very worst are always good for a laugh!
Here is my belly laugh from today. This morning during the hustle and bustle of getting ready for school, Ben was the first one to hear Sarah wake up. He begged me to be able to go in while I finished Madeline's hair, a privilege I usually reserve for myself because of the great smile that is always waiting for me. But after his unrelenting requests, I finally succumbed and let him go say hi to Sarah. When I finally made my way in there, this is what I found waiting for me:


wouldn't it make you laugh too?

That's how many miles I ran today--and yes, I am proud of myself--it means I'm on my way back!

So I know everyone out there has at least one friend, and hopefully more, that are too great and wonderful to be called just friends. You know what kind of friends they are--the ones you can go to for anything. The ones you can trust with a secret. The ones who love your children just because. The ones you can always be yourself around. The ones whose children you love--just because. The ones who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts. The ones who value your advice and opinion. The ones who are always going to be there for you (and you for them) no matter the time or distance that separates you. The ones you can laugh at nothing with. The ones who share your sorrows with you. The ones who care about the stupid little details of life that husbands just don't seem to understand. The ones who you can go without seeing for years and pick up right where you left off. The ones that would do anything for you and you in turn for them. I think that my list of what kind of friends they are could go on and on, but suffice it to say, they need a better term that just friends. That is why I have coined the term term--FRAMILY. (Which is new to me, but which I have heard may have been plagiarized from someone else. However since I am typing it, and putting it out there for the world to see, I thing that the credit should go to me.) The term is pretty self explanatory, it's a mix of friends and family. One of my framily members has a quote in her home that says "Friends are the family you choose for yourself." And I feel pretty lucky that I have chosen a great framily and that they have chosen me too! I hope each one of you out there knows how much I not only love you, but also need you in my life. So a special thanks to all of you for being so much more than a friend--I don't think I could travel my path without you.

I have two questions: First, when did life get so busy? And second, does it ever stop? (Sadly, I think I know the answer to the second one but if anyone out there reading this would like to lie just to indulge me, that would not only be OK, but also greatly appreciated). Today I made the horrible mistake of taking a minute to step back and inventory all the things that I am responsible for or that are on my to do list. YIKES, I think I had better stop doing that.
I won't bore you with my list, but I will tell you it is long and I'm not quite sure that I can do it all, or at least do it all the way I like to do things. I am feeling pretty bogged down with my responsibilities and the sad thing is that I I have brought most of them on myself. I know I need to learn not only how to say no, but also how to not find new things to volunteer for. Or maybe I just need one more brain and another set (or two) of hands to help me out. Really, what I need to do is just not step back anymore. I seem to do better when I just do and don't think. So here is my advice to the rest of you--don't step back! Stay put. Do what you are doing and then do whatever else you want to get around to. Under no circumstances should you ever actually think about everything you have to do--it's like a big black hole that will suck you in and take you away. So now my little rant is over, after all, I have a big black hole to climb out of. Wish me luck!

Having little kids isn't always all it's cracked up to be. For example, they need your help wiping things for a long time--noses, bottoms, faces, hands, take your pick--the list goes on and on. Eventually most kids grow out of this phase of life and parents, rightfully take the time to celebrate the fact that they have reclaimed a measure of cleanliness once thought to have disappeared. Gone are the days of using your shirt, or even worse your fingers (don't cringe; any mother out there will have to admit to doing this on multiple occasions) to wipe a nose. Left behind are the times when you actually "spit-shine" your child's face. Your pants are no longer used as a dish towel, and even the tedium of wiping someone else's posterior eventually become a distant memory.
Sadly, I am not one of those lucky mothers who gets to celebrate these milestones. Now this is nothing that I expect seeing as I have ten month old baby, who coincidentally threw up into my hand just moments ago. In fact I won't even let myself think about having the luxury of not being her personal tissue/barf bag for a few more years. But I do have to take a moment and protest, the inability of one of my children to take care of certain hygiene issues on his own. Ben is now 3 1/2 and is completely paralyzed by the thought of wiping his own bum. Before I go on, let me mention that he is actually a very clean and capable child in most areas. He can wipe his own nose because he hates it dripping on his face; if his hands are sticky, he heads to the bathroom and immediately washes them--without being asked. He rarely seems to have a problem being dirty or sticky in any way--heck he doesn't even gets dirty when he eats an ice cream cone. Part of this stems from an excessive clean gene that he picked up somewhere along the line (I'm sure it is a Mathis thing, because I know it didn't come from me). And maybe his inability to wipe comes from this clean gene--at least that's my best theory. If I had to guess (and I'm usually right about these kind of things) I would say he actually won't wipe himself because he knows that he can't do as good of a job as I can--I think that skid marks might be the death of him. I really believe that this is all a cleanliness issue on his part and so I guess that I can oblige for who knows how much longer and continue to heed his call to come wipe him.
Which brings me to the last part of this little rant--his call. A day never passes in our house without the cry of "I'm du-uhn" (extra syllable added) echoing from a bathroom. That is Ben's calling card, his plea for help and once he has sent it out, he anxiously waits for someone to come wipe him. Sometimes his waits are much longer than others, such as in the below picture. We were in Newport Beach with my entire family this summer and Craig and I were both gone at the moment. Since we are the only two who really know about Ben's quirky bathroom behavior, the rest of my family just chalked his desperate pleas up to the chaos that 11 small children create. It wasn't until one of my sisters actually needed to use the bathroom that Ben was discovered, sitting on the toilet with tears in his eyes and a very weak call of "I'm du-uhn" escaping his lips. We're guessing that his total toilet time was about twenty minutes. Of course they had to take a picture, you don't leave that kind of trauma undocumented. So now my poor sanitary son will have his toilet troubles immortalized so that we can laugh with, because that sounds nicer than at, him forever.

I found a link to this test on a friends blog, so I took it and here are the fascinating results.

Compared to other ice creams, coffee ice cream has a strong flavor, and it's packed with caffeinated sweetness. You're like that, too! You're always busy, and determined to stay focused as you move from one task to the next. You get frustrated when other people slow you down or hold you back, but when you're in control, you can find ways around any obstacle.


I'll leave the final judgment on this matter up to those of you who know me well, am I coffee or should I try again and see if I can be something really exciting like banana berry burst?

*One more thing, can you imagine me on coffee? (Even I don't think it sounds like a good idea!)

I've just returned from my regular trip to Costco and as always, I came away spending too much money, but finding some great stuff. Food, clothes, and best of all Eclipse. Gotta go read--maybe you'll hear from me soon, but if not, you'll know why.

OK, I'm going to have to admit it. I am totally obsessed with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I have only read the first two books, but I am ready to race to the store to get the third in the series because she has totally captivated me. When my sister Kristy thrust the books at me and ordered me to read them, I actually didn't think I would get that into them--I was so wrong. (Though I will admit that it took me a while to get into the first book--the beginning just seemed to drag on.) Once I did get into it, I couldn't stop reading and now since I don't have a copy of Eclipse in my hands, I have wasted more time than I care to admit visiting www.stepheniemeyer.com and filling my head with total useless information to tide me over until I can get to the bookstore and buy Eclipse (or until I can find someone to borrow it from.) I will say that I am slightly embarrassed to like a silly story so much, but I do and I can't stop thinking about it. I also have to hand out my compliments to Stephenie Meyer for such an amazing accomplishment--she really is a great writer who knows how to captivate her audience and leave them wanting more--A LOT more!

There are definite benefits to having cool parents and I totally luck out because mine are so cool! They provide us with so many experiences and opportunities that I wouldn't have any other way. One of the many things, is their cabin that they are so willing to share. We got to spend a significant portion of labor day weekend there; first with friends and then with my family. We went up with some friends right after church on Sunday and had a blast, despite a few minor glitches in our plans. Right after we got there, they locked their keys in their car which wouldn't have been such a bad thing if they didn't have half of our planned dinner in there. We had to track down a police officer to come and rescue us and we didn't end up having dinner until after 9:00. Just imagine having seven kids waiting that long for dinner. Luckily we didn't lock our keys in our car, so we had plenty of snacks to hold us over until we could actually cook dinner--a bag of carrots has never been so appealing to little kids! While we waited, we took the kids to walk around Silver Lake and we saw a moose that was no more than 15 feet away from us. It was pretty cool and the kids made up a poem about Maroose the Moose:
Maroose the moose
Is on the loose
He is chasing a wild goose,
And his tooth is loose.

Lovely isn't it. Of course the rest of the night was a blast and the kids stayed up way too late, but it was so fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat. They had to leave pretty early on Monday morning so my family came up for the rest of the day. We explored a waterfall, hauled six kids on a two mile hike and laughed a lot. My favorite part of the day was wading through the stream below the waterfall to find my sister Heather's sunglasses that had fallen off the water. Andrew and my sister Kristy both fell in the stream and got totally soaked, but Heather and I stayed dry and best of all, I found her glasses. Oh yeah, my dad almost fell in the stream too but instead he just got covered in mud trying t5o jump across. It was hilarious. Too bad my camera batteries had died the night before because I would have had some awesome pictures of our fun labor day adventures.

I can't believe that I have a son who is old enough to be baptized; but I do and he has been, and we are so proud of him and the little man he is growing up to be. Andrew is such an amazing little boy who has been ready for this day for so long. He has such a strong desire to do what is right and to be a good example and he was so happy to have the chance to take a such a big step that let others know that about him. We were so blessed to have so many friends and family there for Andrew's big day. I need to
thank everyone who came to his baptism, not just for coming, but also for making a difference in his life and helping him grow up to be the boy his is right now. He has had so many good influences on his life and Craig and I appreciate every one of them. I know that Andrew is amazing, but I also know that we don't deserve much of the credit for that, so once again, thank you to everyone out there who helped make him who he is. I also know without a doubt that his Heavenly Father is proud of him and the decision he has made. I just can't wait to be there for all of the next big steps he takes, because I know that he will never cease to amaze me.

Ben finally started preschool and I'm pleased to announce that it didn't make me sad. Thankfully, that means you don't have to read about my worries and concerns as I send my child out into the world. I love preschool for that very reason--no worries, no concerns, just plain fun! I get to pick when we go, where we go and who the teacher is--it's great. I feel super lucky this year with our preschool plan. Ben's school is right down the street, and his teachers are our friends-- we already love them and know that they already love Ben. I don't even have to drive to get him there (which is such a relief after my 30 min round trip drive for Madeline last year). Ben couldn't be happier that he is going to school; he has been so jealous of Andrew and Madeline and couldn't wait for it to be his turn. The night before school started he made sure that he put his backpack by the door next to Andrew's and Madeline's--it was so cute! I know that he will love school and that he will have so much fun there this year. He is such a funny guy and I'm sure that he will keep his teachers on their toes. I think that I really like this phase of life--it's fun seeing him grow up just a little bit and he's doing it on my terms which makes it even better.

Birthday's just wear you out! Andrew was so excited for his birthday that he could hardly sleep last night. This is what he looked like driving home from dinner tonight--it cracked us up! He really did have a great day and I think that once the anticipation of opening presents wore off, he was finally able to relax. Usually I don't like carrying him in from the car because he's getting so big, but tonight I thought it was a great way to end the day and to remind me that even thought he's getting older, he still is a little kid who needs me!