Mary's Hair
April 29, 2011
Mary cut her hair a few days ago. I found some long chunks laying on the ground that she had cut off on one side, right by her ear. I asked my sister Melissa if she could fix it. Melissa wasn't sure. I thought maybe we could layer it, or do something to not cut it all short. It had taken almost four years to get it long enough to put in a ponytail. Mary's hair has grown very slowly. Anyway, Melissa took Mary to a friend and they determined this was the best way to fix her hair. I do think she looks cute. It was weird to see her looking so different though! (If you want a before picture, you can look at the picture of Nathan and Mary in their Easter clothes which is a few posts down).
Mary cut her hair a few days ago. I found some long chunks laying on the ground that she had cut off on one side, right by her ear. I asked my sister Melissa if she could fix it. Melissa wasn't sure. I thought maybe we could layer it, or do something to not cut it all short. It had taken almost four years to get it long enough to put in a ponytail. Mary's hair has grown very slowly. Anyway, Melissa took Mary to a friend and they determined this was the best way to fix her hair. I do think she looks cute. It was weird to see her looking so different though! (If you want a before picture, you can look at the picture of Nathan and Mary in their Easter clothes which is a few posts down).
April 28, 2011
In an attempt to redeem myself from sounding like I was complaining in my last post, I am not going over my day's events. I actually am quite used to all the commotion and only like to blab. So I apologize if I sounded complainy, it was not meant. But....I was thinking the other day what foods I would take to an island if I had a choice. Like if you could only choose ten food choices total, what would they be? I don't know why I thought of this, but I wanted to explore this thought. So here are my choices. I am writing them out as I think of them.
(Water is a given--but that is the only given)
1. Black Bean mixture
I make this with olive oil, onions, garlic, black beans, herbs, rice, and cheese.
2. Smarties
3. Yogurt
4. Almonds
5. Hamburgers
6. Chocolate Cake
7. Lasagna
8. Cheerios (included is honey-nut cheerios)
9. Green beans, peas, celery, squash, and salad (so that's 5....)
10.Cinnamon Rolls
I'm not sure I am satisfied with my list, but on a desert island, you wouldn't get a second chance to choose. So I can't change it.
If you are bored, you are welcome to make your own list and I would read it. Hopefully you would have a more interesting list than I just made.
(Water is a given--but that is the only given)
1. Black Bean mixture
I make this with olive oil, onions, garlic, black beans, herbs, rice, and cheese.
2. Smarties
3. Yogurt
4. Almonds
5. Hamburgers
6. Chocolate Cake
7. Lasagna
8. Cheerios (included is honey-nut cheerios)
9. Green beans, peas, celery, squash, and salad (so that's 5....)
10.Cinnamon Rolls
I'm not sure I am satisfied with my list, but on a desert island, you wouldn't get a second chance to choose. So I can't change it.
If you are bored, you are welcome to make your own list and I would read it. Hopefully you would have a more interesting list than I just made.
Easter Sunday
Why can't we have normal days, normal holidays at our house?
That is a good question. But it was a great day.
The Easter Bunny came and the kids were overjoyed with the candy and finding eggs.
But--the Easter Bunny made a mistake--the kids got gum. The kids were warned that their gum would disappear if gum was found anywhere in the house besides the trash can.
James, John, and I had colds. John had a fever, his eye was half swollen shut with pus, as it was for a few days. John wasn't feeling good and acted accordingly.
Poor Mary. Mary had somehow sprained her foot/ankle the night before and it was slightly swollen on Saturday night. On Sunday there was no swelling, but she still hurt walking a little bit. (It is better now...we kept checking it and she has been fine) Then after eating Easter candy she broke out in hives over her whole body. They welted up and itched a lot. She had also been coughing a lot the last week from her cold.
Side note: On Monday she cut her hair with scissors. I haven't fixed it yet, and I am not sure how to fix it :)
I stayed home with the sick babies and hive-covered Mary and Matthew and Nathan went to the first two hours of church. I switched with Matthew and went to Sacrament meeting with Nathan. Nathan sang in primary, was super cute, and smiled shyly every time he saw me smiling at him while he was on the stand.
I came home and Matthew went to do tithing. The next forty minutes seemed like hours. The babies had to be fed a solid, and bottles, diapers changed, Nathan kept following me around to get a car out of his other car that was stuck, and Mary wasn't feeling good, and then I stepped in gum on the carpet. Afterwards, we found gum on the floor, table, and in the kid's room. Needless to say, their gum was confiscated. Matthew said they can't have gum for a year, which would be a good thing. We think the main culprit was Mary. When I said: "Kids, why is there gum in the carpet?" Mary said: "Mom, remember that before you went to church you said if I wanted I could stick my gum in the carpet, remember that Mommy?"
I didn't remember that.
Matthew came home to a crazy house at almost 5 pm and we had to figure out dinner. We had planned to go to my sister's house for dinner and so we hadn't planned out the whole meal. We made instant mashed potatoes with cheese sprinkled on top, canned green beans, a salad (which my sister dropped off), ham drippings (we sent up part of the ham to my sisters and realized we had basically sent the whole thing up), and a few dessert pieces. It was a nice dinner, all things considered. The only sad part was when Nathan actually ate all his ham and wanted more and there was none left to give him.
Matthew spent most of the evening googling "gum out of carpet" and working the gum out and then he fell asleep on the bed for an hour that evening.
That evening after the kids went to bed, Matthew and I spent some quality time together cleaning the house for half an hour before resting on the couch and talking.
It was a crazy day, but memorable and I was just grateful to be spending it with family. I loved that I felt well too. I am grateful to the Savior and the blessings we all can have from the first Easter morning, when Christ was resurrected.
I hope you all had a great Easter too, minus gum in your carpet.
That is a good question. But it was a great day.
The Easter Bunny came and the kids were overjoyed with the candy and finding eggs.
But--the Easter Bunny made a mistake--the kids got gum. The kids were warned that their gum would disappear if gum was found anywhere in the house besides the trash can.
James, John, and I had colds. John had a fever, his eye was half swollen shut with pus, as it was for a few days. John wasn't feeling good and acted accordingly.
Poor Mary. Mary had somehow sprained her foot/ankle the night before and it was slightly swollen on Saturday night. On Sunday there was no swelling, but she still hurt walking a little bit. (It is better now...we kept checking it and she has been fine) Then after eating Easter candy she broke out in hives over her whole body. They welted up and itched a lot. She had also been coughing a lot the last week from her cold.
Side note: On Monday she cut her hair with scissors. I haven't fixed it yet, and I am not sure how to fix it :)
I stayed home with the sick babies and hive-covered Mary and Matthew and Nathan went to the first two hours of church. I switched with Matthew and went to Sacrament meeting with Nathan. Nathan sang in primary, was super cute, and smiled shyly every time he saw me smiling at him while he was on the stand.
I came home and Matthew went to do tithing. The next forty minutes seemed like hours. The babies had to be fed a solid, and bottles, diapers changed, Nathan kept following me around to get a car out of his other car that was stuck, and Mary wasn't feeling good, and then I stepped in gum on the carpet. Afterwards, we found gum on the floor, table, and in the kid's room. Needless to say, their gum was confiscated. Matthew said they can't have gum for a year, which would be a good thing. We think the main culprit was Mary. When I said: "Kids, why is there gum in the carpet?" Mary said: "Mom, remember that before you went to church you said if I wanted I could stick my gum in the carpet, remember that Mommy?"
I didn't remember that.
Matthew came home to a crazy house at almost 5 pm and we had to figure out dinner. We had planned to go to my sister's house for dinner and so we hadn't planned out the whole meal. We made instant mashed potatoes with cheese sprinkled on top, canned green beans, a salad (which my sister dropped off), ham drippings (we sent up part of the ham to my sisters and realized we had basically sent the whole thing up), and a few dessert pieces. It was a nice dinner, all things considered. The only sad part was when Nathan actually ate all his ham and wanted more and there was none left to give him.
Matthew spent most of the evening googling "gum out of carpet" and working the gum out and then he fell asleep on the bed for an hour that evening.
That evening after the kids went to bed, Matthew and I spent some quality time together cleaning the house for half an hour before resting on the couch and talking.
It was a crazy day, but memorable and I was just grateful to be spending it with family. I loved that I felt well too. I am grateful to the Savior and the blessings we all can have from the first Easter morning, when Christ was resurrected.
I hope you all had a great Easter too, minus gum in your carpet.
Heather Marie
Heather is my little sister--she's 3 years younger than I am. Here is the order of my family
Laura
Melissa
Matt
Becky (me)
Heather
Although I am arguably the coolest out of the five children my parents produced, Heather is also pretty cool.
I remember playing ping-pong with her (we grew up on ping-pong) and we played ten games in a row left-handed. We were remembering the movie Princess Bride and thought we'd be cool like that. (I did win by the way....)
Heather is really fun and has been one of my very best friends since we were little and fighting over barbies.
I remember playing soccer games out in our yard. It was a good match and it we took turns winning.
We played basketball together--did I mention fouling? I didn't? Good. Don't believe anything Heather tells you about that :)
We jumped on the tramp (also with Matt) a lot and made up cool games.
We explored the cool forts Matt made for us.
We wrote each other a LOT of notes growing up, which I saved many of them. Most of these notes included us apologizing to the other one for being snotty. I laugh and cry at these notes. They are so dear to me.
We could give each other a look across a room and we know exactly what the other one is thinking or feeling.
She has been my dear friend and listener during times when I needed her. She was there and I thanked my Heavenly Father for such a gift as her!
Heather, remember your big sister loves you tons.
P.S. Don't be embarrassed I wrote a blog post about you. You are cool.
April 16, 2011 - A post that I am sharing even if parts of it need to be "ironed out"
Self Worth and Laundry
I have been wondering about my self-worth. Can I find it when I put in another load of pee-infested inside-out pants? Perhaps I can find it when I step on laundry that is in our already-crowded living room, or fold my way to one-hundred percent self worth. Maybe those days where I fold until my fingers are tingling with warmness and lint, I will find it.
Perhaps not though. Maybe laundry isn’t the answer. Maybe it doesn’t matter if all ten loads of laundry that are overdue are done, or if the stains have gotten out. If I judged myself on the effectiveness of my stain-removal talent, I would fill the washer up with self-induced tears. No water needed! Just tears!
No, I think not.
Perhaps laundry isn’t the answer to finding my self-worth. Perhaps all this talk of folding, stains, lint, and piles of laundry waiting to be done, is not the way to find my self-worth.
Oh, I know. It’s not the laundry at all! If my kids are well-behaved then I will have successful self-worth. I’m onto it now, I think.
But…what about the times Nathan and Mary poured liquid Gatorade onto my bed? Or stole my whole pack of gum and chewed all the pieces in twenty minutes and then stuck their gum on the carpet? Or what of the time we found ships and suns drawn on the wall, the floor, the bookcase, and even their play kitchen? What about the time the kids decided to make “food bags” for everyone in the family and took all the plastic bags out of the drawer and stuffed boxes of Mac ‘n Cheese, oatmeal cookies, and cans of tomato sauce into each one? What about the crumbled graham cracker all over the table? Or the water found all over their room, on the floor, the beds, and their “play-kitchen” equipment? I am not sure I am loving that either. Self-worth on how my kids act at five and three years old? Not a good idea either. I would score on the low-scale on days like that.
But what of the good times? There are some, aren’t there? Like when Nathan asks if we take a rocketship to heaven, or when Mary and Nathan make everyone’s beds in the house just to be nice. There’s also the time when Nathan drew a picture for Jesus that said: “I love Jesus” and told me when he sees Jesus next he’s giving it to him, and if that doesn’t work, he’s giving it to an angel to give to Him. Or when Nathan tells me I’m nice because I give him a cookie.
I am still not sure I have found it—how to measure my self-worth. Sigh, this really isn’t easy, is it?
I ask Nathan if he thinks Heavenly Father still loves me. Nathan is 4. I am on the couch sick with the twins pregnancy and wondering if I can get through the next few months. I have been acting….like a cranky pregnant woman. Nathan just kind of brushes my hair and smiles. “Of course,” he says. “How do you know?” I ask my four-year old. “Because He always loves you,” Nathan says. Maybe he has something there.
I think maybe my self-worth is indicative on how cute I am that day. Those other women, their hair looks fantastic! Where do they go to get it done? If I have hair like that, clothes that in style, maybe I will be of more worth. Maybe that is the key. Do more shopping, spend more time buying and looking for clothes to fill up the time. That can’t be how to judge self-worth even if looking nice is good.
I watch Mary jumping on the leaves on her way back home from the mailbox. “Mommy, jump on all the leaves!” I don’t see her face anymore as the back of her strawberry-blond hair flies in the air as she jumps up and down. I find myself smiling and jumping on some leaves too. That wasn’t so hard. And I feel happy. Does that have something to do with any of this? I am not sure at first.
I remember the story about the old frame that was found in the attic of someone’s home. It was covered in dust, chipped in places, and worn. People didn’t recognize anything significant about it. Then someone dusted the worn outerware off of it. Underneath was pure gold. The point of the story was that the frame was always gold—even when it looked chipped and worn. Underneath it was still gold. That couldn’t change.
And you know, when gold goes through heat, it still stays gold, it’s just softer, more pliable again. Maybe the hard things don’t change our worth, maybe they just change us.
We can be shaped all over again, into something better. But the same worth. Hmm.
I start to think that self-worth isn’t dependant on how much we do, how much laundry we do. Maybe that has nothing to do with it at all. I think I am learning. Getting laundry done is good. Learning how to be better at all we do is good. But it doesn’t change our self-worth. When we have bad days with our kids, our self worth is still the same. When we have good days with our kids, our self worth is still the same. When we are happy, our self-worth is still the same. Maybe it’s about learning to be happy. Maybe there is nothing to “gaining” self worth at all. We can’t gain that. We already have it. All we can do is learn how to use it, to help us to become happy. That’s a whole other project to tackle—learning how to be happy in daily life and making life happy. Maybe someday I will attack that one. But not for now. For now, it’s enough to know.
5 Things
April 12, 2011
I am going to write 5 things that either describe how we're doing or things that happen to be on my mind. Just sounds fun.
1. Nathan: Mom, would you still love me if I was a polar bear?
I said I would.
2. James and John had their first "fight" yesterday. It was over a ring chew toy.
3. I coughed hard enough and popped my neck out of place. That has posed some interesting components on the day.
4. I read two books in the last week. Terrific. I love all the Shannon Hale books that I've read. I specifically recently have read "Goose Girl," "Enna Burning," And "River Secrets." The last book had me laughing out loud a lot.
5. Conference was wonderful this last session. The principles taught filled me with joy and peace. I just felt happy as I listened to the talks and knew that what they said was true. (talks available at lds.org)
I am going to write 5 things that either describe how we're doing or things that happen to be on my mind. Just sounds fun.
1. Nathan: Mom, would you still love me if I was a polar bear?
I said I would.
2. James and John had their first "fight" yesterday. It was over a ring chew toy.
3. I coughed hard enough and popped my neck out of place. That has posed some interesting components on the day.
4. I read two books in the last week. Terrific. I love all the Shannon Hale books that I've read. I specifically recently have read "Goose Girl," "Enna Burning," And "River Secrets." The last book had me laughing out loud a lot.
5. Conference was wonderful this last session. The principles taught filled me with joy and peace. I just felt happy as I listened to the talks and knew that what they said was true. (talks available at lds.org)
I see this a lot
This is pretty much how the social interaction goes between the babies--James stealing John's things--in this case John's bottle.
It is possible to love two babies who are very different the same amount. I know, because I can do it, and I'm not that cool.
But they are.
James Robert
Special things about James:
He was our earliest crawler at 6 1/2 months.
He likes to get into everything. He will crawl to the computer especially when they kids put it on the floor.
He is loud.
He really likes social interaction.
He really likes his mom and dad and strangers need to watch out!
He is a light sleeper. John will sleep through someone coming into the room, James is up in 1/2 a second.
James likes toys that look weird, more than toys to chew on.
James likes to eat people's toes.
He is a happy baby.
He loves banana puffs.
We love our Jamesy, Jaimer, and Jamie.
John Lane
John is 7 1/2 months. He just started crawling a few days ago and is learning to get it down!
Special things about John:
He is sweet.
He loves to smile.
He is often content.
He is my only blue-eyed child and so far my blondest child.
John always covers his eye when someone feeds him a bottle (like the picture)
He likes sleep and often sleeps a little longer than James.
He likes to "ba-ba" a lot.
He sounded like a horse neighing when he was little. (for real, it made me laugh amid the recovery process).
Nathan makes him laugh so hard. John sometimes starts to laugh when he sees Nathan. Mary can make him laugh too.
He likes music.
He gets super excited about chew toys (he's not a dog, but that's what they are). His arms fling out to grab the toy so he can gnaw on it. He likes anything that will go in his mouth.
He is the same height as James, only he has a bigger head and weighs about a half pound more.
We love our John, Johnny, Johnny pants, and "dit" as Nathan calls him. No idea.
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