Trying to Be Thankful

Seeing as how we just had the Thanksgiving holiday, it feels more appropriate to list things to be thankful for right now, rather than jump right into complaining about how depressingly, frustratingly tiny our apartment is, or how depressingly, frighteningly huge Salt Lake City is. Though I am sorely tempted...


~I'm thankful that, due to traffic issues with the U-Haul center in our town, we were able to rent one from the neighboring town, because to make up for the inconvenience they gave us an extra day and 250 extra miles at no charge. We picked up the truck early, and were able to get everything packed in a timely manner.

~I'm thankful for my sister Janelle, who spent every day this week at our apartment, helping us clean, pack, load the truck, and watch the kids.

~I'm thankful that my whole family came over, in two batches, on Friday to help us finish up getting ready for check-out, and to say goodbye.

~I'm thankful that we had a safe journey. I'm especially thankful that I didn't have a panic attack as we were driving into Salt Lake on that insanely huge highway.

~I'm thankful for the Wendy's value menu, and for all the ketchup that makes Thomas eat anything we put it on.

~I'm thankful that the manager was at our apartment when we got here. Her office is in another building, so she came over hoping to catch us at the right time. She did, and we were able to check in right away.

~I'm thankful that Jeff's sister Joy and her family were able to come and help us unload most of our stuff from the truck.

~I'm thankful that our new apartment has a dishwasher and kitchen sinks that actually drain.

~I'm thankful that we have our very own covered parking space, right next to the door.

~I'm thankful that the heaters in the apartment work well, though we probably won't run them to their full capacity, to save money!

~I'm thankful that we rented a utility dolly along with the truck. Loading and unloading has been so much easier than it would have otherwise been.

~I'm thankful that, even though I'm too scared to actually drive to it by myself, we have a Wal-Mart Super Center very close.

~I'm thankful that we're in an old, historic part of Salt Lake, with lots of beautiful buildings to look at and photograph (once I get brave enough to go outside!).

~I'm thankful that we finally have internet again!

~Lastly, I'm thankful for the fact that even though this move has been hard, physically and emotionally, and even though I feel terrified, lost, and completely out of my element in this big city, I have this opportunity for personal growth and progress. Challenges are given for a reason, and I hope I'm up to the task.

Lest you all think this whole situation is just sunshine and roses, I will say that my "kitchen" is so small that it barely fits two people, and there is practically nothing in the way of drawer or cupboard space. Tell me, how can I be completely happy with a kitchen as tiny as that?

Got a Lot Done Today

Yesterday it hit me that, while we're not moving until Friday, we're planning on loading the truck on Wednesday so we can have a worry-free Thanksgiving. Which means everything needs to be boxed and ready to go by Tuesday evening. Yikes!

So this morning my sister Janelle came over to help me out all day. This help was especially wonderful today because, not only was I packing and cleaning, but I was also watching my friends two adorable little girls, and four little children require a lot more supervision than just two. Anyway, we all had a great time together. C kept calling Janelle cute names because she couldn't quite remember her name. One in particular was too funny, "Vanilla, can you help me with this?" C and L really liked Janelle after they adjusted to her. We watched some movies, and the kids played together a lot, and I packed up a whole bunch of stuff. I took down the space saver in the bathroom, and I packed up almost everything in our kitchen. We did all the dishes, and then thoroughly cleaned all the counters. I even wiped out several cupboards. Janelle is going to come back tomorrow to help me clean some more. I think I actually will be able to have everything ready on Wednesday when we pick up the U-haul - woohoo!

I'm going to miss my friends and my ward here. I feel like we were finally really getting settled into this ward, and getting into our groove with this apartment, and this job, and basically this life. It'll be hard to move on again - I don't make friends very quickly because I'm really shy, so I'm just not sure how long it will take me to really adjust to a new ward and a new neighborhood. I'm nervous about it... okay, I'm just plain scared about it! I don't like things to change, I like things to stay the same. But I know that this will be a good change in many ways, and that I will find a way to adapt and things will settle down and feel normal some day. And by the time that happens life will change again, because it just has that nasty habit of doing that. Sigh. Guess I'm just feeling introspective and thoughtful tonight.

I think I need to go to bed.

Now That's More Like It!

Dear Shoe Monster,

Thank you, shoe monster, for returning two of the missing shoes. I was pleased, though not too surprised, to see my sneaker in the kids' room this morning. I wasn't really expecting you to keep that one - sneakers are notorious for smelling funny and tasting bad. But I must say that I was definitely surprised this afternoon to find that you had returned the little black Sunday shoe of Zaylee's; you know, the one that you took several months ago? That must have required a great sacrifice on your part - it's such a cute little shoe and you've been keeping it for such a long time. I really am impressed that you were able to keep it from me for so long. So thank you so much, shoe monster, for being so cooperative. I look forward to the return of Jeff's black dress shoe and my comfy sandal in the next few days.

Thanks,
Stephanie

p.s. Yes, I understand that I won't be needing or wearing that sandal for many months to come; but with the move coming up it really would be more convenient for you to go ahead and return it now. Unless you want to come all the way to Utah with us. But of course you don't want to do that, do you? It would be a dreadful inconvenience on your part to have to go all that way just so you can return a shoe later that you could so very easily return right now.

Something's Eating the Shoes

There seems to be some sort of shoe-eating monster on the loose, and it has taken up residence in my home. Actually, I think it's been around for quite a while, and has started to get more hungry lately. A few months ago, one of Zaylee's little black Sunday shoes went missing. It has never been recovered. A couple weeks ago, Jeff discovered that one of his Sunday shoes had been eaten as well. For a while one of Zaylee's brown shoes was missing, but I guess the monster decided it didn't like the brown flavor and it gave the shoe back. Many months ago one of my sandals went missing, and hasn't been heard from since. Pity, those were my comfy sandals. Now, just yesterday, my sneaker disappeared. That monster had better cough those shoes up quick, because we're moving soon, and it just won't do to move into a new house with one big black dress shoe, one little black girly shoe, one sandal, and one sneaker. It just won't do!

Conjunctivitis and other woes

You know what is absolutely no fun at all? Well, lots of things, but the one I'm thinking of starts with "pink" and ends with "eye" and makes your eyes pink. Go ahead, take a guess - that's right! Conjunctivitis, also known as "pink eye." Zaylee somehow contracted this horrible infection and started showing symptoms on Wednesday, had it for a couple days, and spread it to me. I think I got it when I let her poke me in the eye repeatedly. What was I thinking?

So I got it in my right eye yesterday, and now it's spread to my left eye. My eyes are goopy, and crusty, and swollen, and irritable, and watery, and irritated, and scratchy, and pink! I'm not supposed to wear my contacts so I have to wear the glasses that I wore in high school, the ones that were already old six years ago when I first got contacts. The ones that have a falling-apart frame and lenses on which the coating is cracked in about a billion places. And the prescription expired years ago - so I can barely see anything. And they make my face look fat and nerdy. And I had to wear them to church and it messed up my piano playing in Primary because I couldn't properly see the notes, the keys, or my hands. And I felt ugly.

On top of all this, I can't sleep at night, my joints ache, and I think I have a cold. My throat hurts, my nose is runny, my head feels like it's going to explode, and I've got aches in my fingers, elbows, back, hips, and knees. Gosh, I sound like an old woman! A cranky old woman who is really tired and sore and just want to get better. Or die.

Life Experiences

Saw this on Melinda's blog and thought it looked fun.

For you to do: copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - just before Jeff and I got engaged - it's a fun story
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain - Jeff and I have decided we need to do this next time it rains
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper - technically it was just my finger. And a very small newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - does a fish count?
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

35 out of 99 - not too bad!

Boxes Everywhere!

Today Mom and Janelle came over to help me pack. We got lots of boxes packed, we're trying to box up everything we won't be needing in the next two weeks. Yup - we're moving in two weeks. This has all happened so fast! It seems like it was only yesterday that Jeff told me he wanted to apply to work at the reference lab. I had no concept of how fast it would all happen - Jeff's application, phone interviews, waiting to hear back from the lab, finding an apartment, getting everything all worked out with our current apartment managers, planning when Jeff would start working and when we would move, and now we're packing boxes.

Anyway, the three of us worked for quite a while, boxing up everything in the closets, pantry, the stuff on the walls; we got a lot done. Then when Jeff got home from work this afternoon, he brought home lots and lots of nice big boxes for us to use. so now the apartment is full of boxes, full and empty. The empty ones, we'll pack up in the next couple weeks. The sooner the better! We plan to fill the U-Haul on the 26th, the day before Thanksgiving. Then we'll spend Thanksgiving with my family, at Mom's parents' house. Then on Friday morning we'll finish loading the last of our things, check out of the apartment, and head off to our new home, and our new life!

And I'm still scared.

UFO Sighting

Now, I'm not normally into the paranormal. Ghost stories, Big Foot, UFO sightings - I find these things amusing, but not believable. But how can I deny what my own eyes have witnessed? Today as I was visiting with my family, I happened to look out the window absently, and that's when I saw it.


Hovering in the air above the distant fields was the unmistakable shape of a UFO. Here's a closer look.


Isn't it amazing! Sure made a believer out of me!



***Disclaimer: I am fully aware that the pictured object is, in fact, not a UFO but a cloud. I just thought that it was way awesome that it was shaped like a UFO, and wrote this post for the purpose of being humorous.***

Boys and Their Owies

Something about little boys, or little kids in general, is that they always seem to be drawn to ways to injure themselves. Even something as supposedly harmless as a big plastic box with no sharp edges or corners becomes a weapon of destruction when a little boy falls on it just right.


I really don't know how he does it. Seriously, the box is all rounded corners! Well, I'm sure he'll grow out of his accident-proneness someday. :-)

Lovely dessert

Today was one of those days where you just need to have a pretty dessert after putting the kids to bed. It was a nice day and all, the kids weren't any more unruly than they usually are. I just wanted to indulge in something sweet and pretty. So we broke out the fancy glass ice cream dishes, raspberry sherbet, and sprinkles.


Doesn't that just make you want to smile?

Our Big News

I can post now that, as of yesterday, Jeff has been officially offered a position as Immunologist at the reference lab in Salt Lake. His first day will be December 1, so we are planning on moving the weekend before, just after Thanksgiving. We're still working on getting an apartment, but have found one that we think will work out. It will cost more than our current apartment, since it's not subsidized. But we were pretty much counting on that anyway; it will be doable.

Jeff is very very excited about this new job. Immunology has always been his favorite, so he's thrilled that he will get to specialize in that. He's also glad that he gets to work in a big reference lab - he prefers that type of atmosphere over that of a small hospital lab. He has been doing really well at his job here, and gets along well with everyone, but he is excited to move on to do what he's been really wanting to do.

As for me, I'm excited for Jeff, and very proud of him. I'm still nervous and scared about the move, and have a ton of packing and de-junking and cleaning and all-around preparation to do. But this is an exciting thing for us, and I support Jeff and his new position 100%.

Haven't Posted In A While ...

... because I really can't think of much to post. Well, I do have one exciting thing to post, but I'll do that later.

We have been living in a mess for quite a while, because I hate washing dishes and Jeff hates washing dishes, and so we just don't do them, etc. but today we were informed that maintenance was going to come by and look at our sinks (they don't drain), so Jeff and I very quickly got to work and were able to clean up the kitchen really well. It looks great. I wonder how long it will stay that way.

Anyway, a promise is a promise - the manager promised that the guy would look at our sinks, and he did just that. He came in and looked, wrote something in his clipboard, asked a few questions, and then said he didn't have the right equipment today and he would come back next week. Well, it's a start. We're hoping that it will get taken care of as soon as possible. And they're going to work on fixing the pantry door sometime in the possibly near future as well.

Yeah, I really can't think of anything interesting enough to post. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

The Most Random Thing I've Said All Week...

..."Just a minute Zaylee, I'm cleaning your pee off of Thomas' head!"




























Just let that sink in a moment...























Zaylee had an accident this evening, and she got it all over the couch. I don't know if she actually peed on Thomas' head, or if he somehow rubbed his head on the couch where the pee was. But the fact stands that I couldn't help Zaylee get her dress off right away because I was, in fact, cleaning her pee off of Thomas' head.

I Voted!

On this cloudy, windy, and blustery day, Jeff and I took turns braving the elements all the way to our designated voting place (the whole block and a half) to vote for the leaders of our district, county, state, and country. Looky, they gave us stickers!


We were lucky, in that we went early and are in a small town - there wasn't even a line and everything went very quickly. I had thought I wouldn't be able to register to vote, because I believed that I had to have some sort of "official" proof of residency - power bill, phone bill, driver's license with our current address, that sort of thing. But I had Jeff ask about it when he registered, and he found that all I needed was something that had been in the mail and had my name and current address; it didn't have to be all that official at all. So I was able to take a letter from Mom, and register and vote. Yay me!


When I looked out the window this morning, here is what I saw:


The leaves have finally abandoned their posts on the trees and decided to take up residence all over the ground. There sure are a lot of them!

A cute video

I've just got cute little video I wanted to share. This is Thomas playing peek-a-boo. He would pull the blanket over his face, then pop out and say "Da!" which is, I guess, his version of "boo." At one point the blanket got caught on his head, so when he tried to pull it off, he ended up pulling himself down. I love his closed-eye laugh!

Halloween stuff

We spent yesterday (Halloween) at Mom's house, helping with William again. We were excited to learn that Nathan was recovering great. He was able to go home yesterday, which was nice. I was glad to get to see Michelle in the afternoon, and hang out with her for a while. She and Mom and I had a little shopping trip at Wal-Mart and had fun, just us girls!

We went to the trunk or treat at my parents' ward last night. Here's the fun costumes:

Marie as a murdered gypsy...

Rheanna and Zaylee as princesses...

Thomas as a guy with a beard and mustache (we ran out of creativity. Anyway, he thought it was great)...

Me as a medieval maiden...

Jeff as "Sleepy Dad" (aka he didn't really dress up but wanted in on the fun)...

Costumes I didn't get a picture of - Samuel as a prince and Janelle as a cowgirl. Marie's costume was the funnest and most time consuming. She looked up online how to make wounds and fake blood, then she and Janelle spent most of the afternoon making it look like Marie had been brutally murdered. It was fun. There was fake blood getting smeared all over the place, because some rubbed off every time Marie brushed against anything (or anyone - I got some on my t-shirt). I think they did a good job of creating the grisly effect.


It looked so realistic that Marie claims her arm really started hurting as they were making it. Wow.

Zaylee had a fun time at the trunk-or-treat. She got really good at saying "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank you!" But she said it so quietly that I had to say it with her so that the people would know she was saying it. We only gave her a small bucket to collect candy, and we left when it was full. We didn't want her to have too much. She had already filled up on pumpkin seeds, eating them all day long! I did let her have more candy than I normally would though. It was Halloween, after all!

Fast forward to today. Zaylee was sick today, because of all those pumpkin seeds. She threw up this morning, and has had diarrhea a few times more than I care to remember. Clean-up for that kind of stuff is no fun at all! Zaylee got to have her first shower ever this evening after a particularly messy episode. She thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy it quite so much as she did.

The Relief Society had Super Saturday today, and I went and had a good time (leaving Jeff to deal with Zaylee, who remained in good spirits despite not feeling well, and Thomas). I signed up to make a Christmas apron, and the quiet book that I drew all those pictures for. I didn't finish either project there, but I will be able to finish on my own in the next few days. I got all the quiet book pages cut out and everything, I just need to get them laminated and bound. And I have a little bit more sewing to do on the apron. I'll post those when I finish them.

Long Day

Today has been very long, but pretty good. With Nathan in surgery, I had agreed to help Michelle by watching William. It didn't really end up working out that way though. We spent the day at Mom's house, doing laundry, and Janelle was assigned care of William. That made it easier on me, I could focus on Zaylee and Thomas, and the laundry, and tracing gospel pictures for an ABC quiet book I'll be making on Saturday, for our RS Super Saturday.

Technically, I was supposed to print out pictures for the quiet book. I knew where on lds.org to find the ones I needed and everything. But when I tried to print, the computer told me that dad's printer has the incorrect black ink cartridge or something. We all tried to figure it out, but long story short is that they need a new cartridge and I couldn't print my pictures.

Mom being the Primary guru that she is, she dug out several books with gospel-related children's pictures and we decided I could trace the pictures I needed from there. They weren't the same pictures I was going to print out, but I basically just needed the same subject matter anyway. You know, instead of the photograph of a child taking the sacrament, I found a small illustration of a child taking the sacrament, traced it out, and colored it in. And I had to do 26 different small pictures, one for each letter of the alphabet. I was digging through these books (illustrations for the children's song book, Primary busy books, coloring books to go with lessons, stuff like that) for pictures to go with these words: Angel, Baptise, Church, Daddy, Eternity, Family, Grandparents, Helamen, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, Kneeling, Love, Mommy, Nephi, Obedience, Prophet, Quiet, Resurrection, Sacrament, Tithing, Unity, Vision, Word of Wisdom, eXaltation, Yoke, Zion. The whole process took me several hours to complete. But I have the pictures I need, and I will have the most unique Quiet book of all the sisters there this Saturday!

Here are all my pictures, in alphabetical order. You can click on the picture to see it up closer. It was a lot of work!


Anyway, doing up those pictures took up a good portion of my day (and hence, a good portion of this post!) and I had fun doing it. Another fun thing I did today was make pizza for lunch. I wish I had taken pictures of that, it was delicious and looked great. But I did post the recipe for the crust on my food blog; it was the easiest yeast pizza crust I've ever made, and I've made lots.

I think I'm going to take the opportunity to apologize for doing kinda pathetic at posting on this blog. I haven't been posting very regularly, and when I do take the time to post, I don't really think through what I'm writing and it ends up coming out in one huge jumbled mess. I don't really have any good excuses, just that I'm not feeling very bloggy or motivated right now. I keep up my food blog because it's super fun, and I always cook so I might as well blog about it. But this blog ends up getting neglected. I'm sorry for that, and I'll try to try harder. :(

Flashback Tag

I was tagged by Nicia to find the sixth picture in my sixth picture file. So here it is:


It was April 26, and I guess Thomas was just being really cute at the time, because I have like ten pictures and two videos of him in that folder. I was playing around with the camera settings too, because they're all black and white or sepia. Cute stuff!

If anyone else wants to do this, you're tagged!

Thomas and the Toddler Bed

Michelle asked if we've moved Thomas into Zaylee's old toddler bed yet. I started to answer in a comment, but realized it was too long of an explanation, so I'll answer in this post.

We haven't yet moved Thomas to the toddler bed. And here's why. I mentioned that we've been restricting Thomas' pacifier use, and giving it to him only at naptime and bedtime. Well, it turns out that Thomas has now associated the pacifier with naptime and bedtime, go figure, and started refusing to take it. Or we would give it to him and put him in his crib, and he'd stand up and throw the pacifier over the side of the crib and cry. Rather than continually coming back into his room to retrieve the paci and give it back, which would be silly, we just let him cry himself to sleep without it.

So now, for the past several days, we haven't even been giving him the paci at all. And it's working alright - he cried in his crib for a few minutes, then puts himself to sleep. This whole thing is actually quite a huge relief. I don't even know where the pacifier is right now, and it's great because I don't care!!!

The only unfortunate thing is that I'm not sure how he'll transition to the toddler bed. I'm nervous to make this big change right at the same time that we're cutting out pacifier use. I'm worried that I'll put him down for bed or naps, and he'll run screaming to the door and stand there crying for who-knows-how-long, and never ending napping. And he won't have the pacifier to calm himself down.

I'm probably making a mountain out of something that will only be a tiny molehill. But I'm sure I'm not the only mother who hesitates to make a change that might adversely affect her child's sleeping. I treasure the hours when the kids are asleep - I need that time! And it always drives me crazy when they just sit in there crying. I'm okay with letting them cry it out, but I hate every minute of it!

So long story short, I'm nervous to move him to the toddler bed. I'm sure we'll do it sooner rather than later, because I don't want him to learn to climb completely out of the crib, and he's close to that. But in addition to the pacifier situation, I also don't want to take the crib down until we figure out what we're going to do with it - we have no space for it here in the apartment. I'll probably call Mom and see if she'll let us keep it in their garage.

Anyway, that's my long-winded answer to the question of whether or not we had moved Thomas to the toddler bed. Whew!

Twilight Character!

I'm totally in love with the Twilight series, so was excited to find this quiz.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

Other Twilight Quizzes

The Primary Program and Zaylee's Bed

Today our Primary had their Sacrament Meeting Primary Program, themed "I Am a Child of God." As primary pianist, that means I got to spend the whole time up at the piano. I wish that piano benches came with backs, because after all that time at the piano, my back was starting to hurt! Oh well. :-)

Last night, the ward organist called and asked if I would play the organ for Sacrament meeting today, since she wasn't feeling well. I went ahead and said yes, so I played the opening and Sacrament hymn on the organ, then worked my way through the rows of children to the piano on the other side of the stand for the Primary Program. What fun! Luckily, the hymns were fairly simple and I was able to practice on Grandma's organ before church so I didn't mess them up.

I have to admit I was nervous about the program. I have of course seen Primary programs plenty of times, but this is the first time (since graduating out of Primary years ago) that I have actually participated in one. The behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on is hectic, mainly practices with all the kids. After two Sundays and one Saturday of program practices, I was sure that the program was going to be a disaster - the kids would be wiggling in their seats and gabbing to their neighbors, and wouldn't know when to stand for the songs, and would all forget their parts. But when I mentioned this to Mom yesterday, she said that it's always like that. The practices are always a little merrily chaotic, with kids just being kids. But they always seem to calm down for the actual program, and everything just runs smoothly. I was pleasantly surprised that she was actually right - everything just went well and the kids did extremely well with the songs and their parts and being calm and reverent.

I was feeling a little squished up there on the stand. Since the bishopric and the ward chorister were displaced, their seats being taken by young children, they were all squeezed in wherever they could find a place. The bishop was sitting on the corner seat in the back of the stand, and the ward chorister was stuck on a little chair (you know those tiny plastic chairs they have for the Nursery and Sunbeams) right up beside the piano bench. The bishop joked that if the kid who sat in the seat he was in showed up, he might have to share the piano bench with me. Luckily, the seat he was in never did get occupied by a child, so the bench was mine.

Anyway, after the program, it was back down to the Primary room for two hours of Primary. For singing time, we played a sort of Hot Potato game, where the kids got to choose their favorite songs to sing. Part of the rules was that they weren't allowed to choose songs we had done for the program - we had been working on those songs for months and everyone was tired of them! The problem was that since those were almost the only songs the kids had been singing for so long, they couldn't think of any other songs! It was fun though, to get to do a bunch of non-program songs. Most of the kids chose fun "wiggle" songs, like Popcorn Popping, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Book of Mormon Stories.

It will be nice to get back to regular Primary next week. We're going to start working on Christmas songs. Yippee!

In other news, Zaylee's bed was delivered yesterday, and Jeff put it together. Zaylee is thrilled with her beautiful new bed! Here's some pictures Jeff took of the process of putting it together.

The bed in the box

All laid out

Hmm, now what do I do?

All put together

Aw, isn't that cute?

The bed is nice and high, so there's plenty of storage space underneath - always a nice bonus! Plus, Thomas can't climb up onto it, so Zaylee will have less reason to beat up on him - hooray! Now, does that mean she'll actually beat up on him less? Well, we'll see...

Zaylee's New Big Girl Bed

In the past few weeks, Thomas has been trying to climb out of his crib. Thus far he hasn't yet succeeded, but he is able to get himself stuck up on the corner edge of the bed, where he hangs and cries until he decides I'm not coming to "save" him, then he'll plop back down in the crib and go to sleep. That's all very well and good, except that it isn't good at all - he's very close to being able to just toss himself right over the edge and fall on the floor. So we've decided that it's time to move him to the toddler bed.

Rather than buy a new toddler bed for Thomas, we thought we'd go ahead and get a twin bed for Zaylee and let Thomas use her toddler bed. We'd have to get a twin anyway sometime down the road, so we figured we might as well do it now. We actually got some incredible deals on this bed. Jeff had several text books he no longer needed, so he sold them online through Amazon.com. When the first three sold for just over $100, we put that toward getting a bed frame on Amazon.com, and only had to pay shipping. Total out of pocket so far: $35.

The bed will be delivered probably tomorrow. So we needed a mattress. Today we shopped around at three different furniture stores. The first was a cluttered little place, full of fun chairs and couches all over the place. Their cheapest twin mattress was $139. The next place we visited was huge and the way everything was displayed was absolutely beautiful. I never thought I would feel this way about a furniture store, but it was the type of place that I could just spend all day there chatting with the sales lady about cute kids and beds, and feel totally happy and relaxed the whole time. It was nice. Their cheapest twin size was a foam mattress for $99. We thought that was a definite maybe, but had one more place we wanted to check out first.

The third place was a relatively new little furniture and appliance store. They had new and used furniture. Their cheapest new twin size was also a foam mattress, and this one was for $89. I was almost sold, then they mentioned that they also had used mattresses. I immediately pressed for prices on those, and we found that the cute little used pink mattress with flowers was ... drum roll please ... $39.50. We had found our mattress! So we bought that right up, dropped the kids off with Janelle at Mom's house, borrowed the van, and took the mattress home then and there. Running total out of pocket so far: $75.

Later today we stopped by Wal-Mart to get twin size bedding. Two flat sheets, four fitted sheets, and a vinyl mattress protector later, our running total was brought up to approximately $105. That's all that we've spent out of pocket for the frame, the mattress, and the bedding. That and a few books. Not bad at all!

Zaylee was so excited about her new bed that, even though the frame hasn't come yet, we went ahead and moved her toddler bed out of the way to set up her mattress. So tonight she is sleeping on her new mattress on the floor, with pink sheets and a smile. When we set up her mattress, she kept bouncing and laying on it, saying over and over, "I like my bed! I like my bed!" It was too cute. Here's some pics of her being way excited about her new Big Girl Bed.




As for the whole moving thing - Jeff had his phone interview today and feels that it went really well. We'll know within this next week or so if he's been hired and what his position, hours, and starting date will be. I think the overall impression was that he pretty much has the job, they just have to figure out which department wants him the most. :-) I am still nervous and anxious about the whole thing, but have been trying to keep myself too distracted to be completely freaked out. I'm mostly concerned about finding a place to live, but am trying to mentally prepare myself for the move, and how we'll take care of things. I'm trying to put my trust in the Lord, and know that he will take care of us, and guide us in what we should do. But it's so much a step in the dark, and it's scary for me. I'll keep working on that.

A Maybe Move

I'm one of those people who needs to know details. If something's going to happen, I want to know how, where, when, why, and what exactly will happen. When we take a road trip, I have everything listed way in advance - what to bring, when we leave, how long it will take, where we'll stay, sleeping arrangements, as many details as possible. I like to know what's going to happen. I like knowing that whether I've had a good day or a bad day, whether the apartment is clean or messy, whether the kids are being angels or demons, when I wake up tomorrow my life will still be very much the same.

So it's really hard for me that there's the possibility of big change coming up. Lately Jeff has been increasingly unsatisfied with his job. There's a lot involved, but basically he has applied at a reference lab in Utah, and has a phone interview this Friday. We may be moving to the Salt Lake area in the next couple of months - maybe by the end of November. And I'm a nervous wreck!

Until recently, I thought that we would be living in our current town for a very long time. We talked about getting a larger apartment. We made a hobby of looking at houses online. We discussed what neighborhoods we liked here in town, and I even have a favorite house that I would love to move into. And then to learn, slowly yet suddenly, that we may not even be in the same state by December, has totally thrown me for a loop. We have no details, big or small. Everything hinges on whether or not Jeff actually gets this job that he's applied for.

Jeff is really excited about this, and has a "the sooner the better" attitude. Meanwhile, I'm freaking out about all sorts of stuff - how we're supposed to find a place to live, how we'll be able to afford a move, what happens if he doesn't get the job, and a thousand other questions that are just cramming themselves into my mind, making me totally unable to function! Mostly I'm worried about living arrangements. Apartments there are more expensive than they are here, and we'll probably be wanting a three bedroom because our family won't stay this size forever. I'm concerned because it took us months and months to find a place to live here, but we had my family to stay with then. We'll have to be able to find something right away if he gets the job, but how do we work that out if we live several hours away? And we have to find someplace close to his job. Here Jeff can just ride his bike. If he has to take the car in Utah, I don't want him to have to drive far, as gas prices, though falling, are still prohibitive. And if he has the car everyday, we will probably have to get another vehicle because I will have things that need done, errands to run etc, during the day while he's at work. So there's that to consider as well.

And if we move, we have to thoroughly clean the apartment, and I have bittersweet feelings about that! ;-) And there's dejunking that has to be done, and major packing, and deciding what to keep and what to throw away. How do I spend my days, if I don't even know what I'm supposed to be preparing for? Do we keep working on food storage, or start eating up what we've worked so hard to store so that we don't have to cart all that food to SLC and can save some money in the meantime? I know I need to be getting rid of stuff, and that's something I can do whether we end up moving or not. But that's the only thing (well, that and cleaning) that I can do to prepare until I know what's going to happen!

It's driving me crazy - I want to curl up in a closet somewhere and just rock back and forth crying because I don't know what's going to happen and that just really upsets me! I mean, we may not even move at all! And I'll have to remain in this state of unknowing limbo until we find out if Jeff gets that job, which won't happen at least until after the phone interview on Friday afternoon, and there will probably be waiting after that as well. So that's at least several days of this torture. Grraaaarrggggghhhhh!!!!

Well, may I keep my head about me and use my time wisely - dejunking and cleaning. Then, even if we don't end up moving and all this freak-festing was for nothing, at least the apartment will look nicer.

Binky Update

Just a quick update on the binky situation with Thomas. I decided to bite the bullet and take the binky away completely - except for naptime and bedtime. When he's not sleeping, I just put it away where he can't see it. How is it working? Apparently it's out of sight, out of mind with Thomas. He isn't really any fussier than usual. As long as I'm not constantly trying to take the pacifier away, he doesn't care. And since he doesn't have it in the first place, I'm not constantly trying to take it away. So it really isn't turning out as difficult as I thought it would be.

I guess I was just depending too much on the pacifier. Thomas wasn't the one who really needed it - I was! And now that I've made the decision to only give it to him for sleeping, the transition has been relatively painless, and we're all happier. Yay!

Date Night at the Hop!

On Friday night, our stake held a Fall Harvest dance for the adults. It was a fifties-themed Night at the Hop! We were encouraged to dress accordingly, so Jeff and I dug through our clothes and came up with cute, though not overstated, outfits that worked really well.

Jeff: Rolled-up jeans, white collar shirt, dark vest, sharp hairstyle!



Me: Capris, nylons, white socks, small penny loafer-like shoes; two cable sweaters, scarf around the neck, scarf around the hair, pearls, makeup!



At the dance, there were some neat-o motorcycles and classic cars set up for pictures, so we took some fun shots. Here's Jeff by the enormous 2-seater Harley Davidson, and the two of us sitting in the classic Pontiac convertible. It was su-weeet!



Jeff and I had such a fun time! This was so much better than youth stake dances - I had a guaranteed dance partner for every song that I wanted to dance to! And we took good advantage of that. I haven't danced that energetically in a long time - everyone was swinging and spinning and jumping around like it was really the fifties - we're talking everyone from young couples to older couples who were young in the fifties! It was so fun! There was even a live band there playing wonderful oldies tunes, everything from Elvis and the Beatles to other great hits, fifties and otherwise. They were really good, especially the vocalists - great singers!

There was a name-that-tune contest, featuring theme songs from oldies TV shows. We won first place - Jeff knew every song! I didn't know most of them. Perry Mason, Captain Kangaroo, Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons? I've never even seen any of those shows! :-) For snacks, there were cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies, root beer floats, and candy corn mixed with peanuts - delish!

Yeah, we had a great date night. And when we won the name-that-tune contest, we were awarded a gift certificate to Subway - so we have next week's date night planned as well: We'll get sandwiches at Subway then go on a picnic - Woo Hoo!

Mom's Door Decorations

We went and did laundry at Mom's house again yesterday. It was pretty much just another laundry day, but I did want to post some pictures. Mom cut down all their dried corn stalks and picked all the pumpkins, and did up some fun decorations by the front door. She does this every year. There's about twenty pumpkins of various sizes and shapes! Zaylee helped by carrying pumpkins and other small things like that. She also spent quite a lot of time out on the trampoline. And Thomas just enjoyed walking around outside!




I love the look on Thomas' face in that last picture!

A Binky Boo-Boo

This has sort of just crept up on me over the past many months. It's not the sort of thing you decide you will do definitively, and it doesn't just happen one day. Buy one day, you just notice that it has been happening slowly over a long period of time, and you don't know how to stop it.

I'm talking about Pacifier Overuse.

In most pictures I take of Thomas (not all are posted on the blog) he has the pacifier in his mouth. When he's fussy, my first reaction is to give him the pacifier. If he's happy and I take it away, and he cries, I give it back. He has the pacifier when I put him down for a nap or bedtime. When he wakes up without it during the night, I go in and give it back. When he wakes up in the morning, or after a nap, he immediately looks for the pacifier, which I find and give to him right away. When we sit down to a meal, I take away the pacifier so he'll eat, and as soon as he's done eating he wants it right back.

And if I don't give the pacifier to him when he wants it, he looks like this:


Where did I go wrong? I know that this dependence on the pacifier has to stop. I'm perfectly alright with him using the pacifier to sleep, or to calm down when he's really upset. But I don't want him to feel like he needs the pacifier in his mouth 24-7. And unfortunately, he seems to think that he does! Just now, I took the pacifier away because Thomas was cheerful and in a happy mood. He immediately turned into the scream monster, and hasn't stopped yelling for the pacifier for over ten minutes. I know that as soon as I give it to him, he'll become happy and calm and my sweet little angel once again.

So do I give in and let the binky dependence continue to rule our lives? Or do I crack down and offer the pacifier only for sleeping, and live with the inevitable crying, screaming, and fit-throwing any time it's not in his mouth?

Another Personality Quiz

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are an Ingrid!

You are an Ingrid -- "I am unique"

Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.


How to Get Along with Me

* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!


What I Like About Being an Ingrid

* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me


What's Hard About Being an Ingrid

* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have


Ingrids as Children Often

* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)


Ingrids as Parents

* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Rewind a few months

Thomas' leg has been healing well. And now we're getting all excited because he's starting to walk again! He still uses crawling as his main mode of transportation (well, that and crying for me to carry him). But he's getting more willing to put weight on his leg, and a couple days ago he decided we would be okay cruising along the furniture. Now he has been walking around more and more in the past couple of days. It just feels a little funny, because a few months ago we were excited for him to start walking the first time, and now I feel like we've rewound to that time because I'm excited about it all over again!

Seven Things Tag

I was tagged by Esther. Oh goody - I love tags!! :-)

7 things I plan to do before I die...
1. Visit Russia, Australia, Japan, and Europe
2. Vacation in Hawaii - without the kids!
3. Write a book
4. Paint a masterpiece
5. Own a house
6. Learn to play the bagpipes
7. Read the Book of Mormon many, many times

7 things I can do...
1. Cook delicious, inexpensive foods
2. Change diapers - I'm really good at that!
3. Play the piano and organ
4. Crochet
5. Draw
6. Make a good pie crust
7. Stay up all night just to finish reading a book

7 things I cannot do...
1. Leave food on my plate - I have to eat it all!
2. Visit my parents without cooking something while I'm there
3. Talk on the phone with my sister for less than an hour
4. Keep my apartment clean
5. Drive stick shift
6. Go an entire day without checking my e-mail and blogs
7. Wake up really early and not be grumpy all day

7 Things that attract me to my spouse...
1. Sense of humor
2. Willing to help with the dishes
3. Good cook
4. Lets me sleep in sometimes while he gets up with the kids
5. Looks good in a suit
6. He's as tightwad as I am!
7. He loves me

7 Things I say most often...
1. What do you think? (to Jeff, when he's trying something I just cooked)
2. You know, we eat really well! (I say this after almost every meal!)
3. Big potty or little potty? (I give Zaylee a choice so she's more motivated to go)
4. Zaylee, let's watch a movie! (I say this one a little too often...)
5. Zaylee, do not hit Thomas! (this one's self-explanatory)
6. Did you have fun at Grandma's house? (I ask this to Zaylee at least once a week)
7. I'm tired. (Yeah, I say this one too often as well)

7 Favorite foods...
1. Cookies
2. Ethnic stuff - like Asian, Mexican, Indian, etc.
3. Homemade bread, fresh from the oven
4. Chocolate
5. Anything from Southern Plate
6. Cheesecake
7. Breakfast foods - bacon, pancakes, coffee cake, sausage, yum!

7 People I think should do this...
1. Michelle
2. LaNita
3. Jeannette
4. Jackie
5. Karen
6. Kathy
7. Nicia

Baby It's Cooold Outside! ... And Inside

Just in the past day or two it has suddenly gotten very chilly around here. When Jeff took the car to work this morning, there was ice on the windshield. Our squash plant has, I think, finally stopped producing (check out what I did with the too-large squash we harvested!) and there is a perpetual cloud cover in the sky. It's around this time of year that I re-realize a key difference between myself and many other people. Normal people would turn up their thermostat enough to remain at least partially comfortable. I have been shivering all day, wrapping up in blankets and making sure the kids are dressed warmly, and we haven't even left the house. All to save a buck or two on the power bill. Yes, eventually I will break down and turn on the heat, but my silly tightwad tendencies are so forceful these days!

I think it's time to start making more soups, chilis, and hearty tummy-warming casseroles!

Healing Well

Thomas had his follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon this morning. Basically, the doctor reviewed the X-ray taken on Monday, asked a bit about what happened and how Thomas was acting when we took him in to the ER, and felt Thomas' leg a bit. He said he thinks Thomas cracked the bone, but that he is healing very well. The bone is probably halfway healed by now, and he said it's okay to leave the splint off and just let Thomas stand and walk as he feels comfortable. It will take him a while to get used to not having the splint - Thomas was doing really well with his little crooked crawl - but he will be able to gradually start putting some weight on it. Since the break is stable, this won't mess anything up - the bones will stay put and keep healing.

Anyway, that's probably a lot of mumbo jumbo - basic gist is that he's healing fine, and doesn't need the splint anymore. Hooray!

A Bit of Excitement

Remember yesterday when I said Thomas had been really fussy and I thought it was because he was overwhelmed and needed some "normal" time? Apparently, that was only part of it.

Yesterday, Thomas was really fussy pretty much all day. He would just lay on the floor crying, unless I was holding him. Even then, he'd tolerate it for a while, then start fussing again. He'd want to be put down, then he would lay down on the floor and cry again. I thought he was just being irritable until I realized that I hadn't seen him walking, or even standing, all day. That's when it hit me that there might actually be something wrong.

I decided to test him a bit. I set him down on his feet, and he would immediately start crying and either hold on to me or the couch, or plop down onto his little bottom. If I held his hand and tried to guide him to walk, he would either stand there or plop down. As I tried these, I noticed that he was favoring his left leg - he would lean heavily to the right when he stood, and he limped heavily if he did manage to take a step or two. Also, when I was holding him, he would play around with his right leg, pulling up on the foot and waving it around, but his left leg would just sit there. That's when it hit me that there might be something really wrong.

I looked carefully at both legs, but couldn't really see or feel anything out of the ordinary. If I moved his left leg just right, he would wince and fuss. I finally decided to call Jeff at work and find out what to do. He suggested taking Thomas in to the ER and having him get looked at there.

It was around 5:00 by this time. I didn't know how long it would take, so I packed a few graham crackers and headed out the door. I dropped Zaylee off at my mom's house, where I knew she would have a much better time. Then I took Thomas to the hospital.

There was a lot of waiting, a lot of nurses and doctors in and out checking things, a couple X-rays, and a lot of fussing on Thomas' part. The crackers helped, but after a couple hours he was really getting hungry! Luckily, Jeff (who works in the lab at the hospital we were at) came down to see how things were doing, and was kind enough to bring us some dinner - smoky barbecued sausage with potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and a roll. Both Thomas and I felt much better after that!

The verdict? The doctor saw what she believed to be a buckle fracture right near his knee. She said the radiologist wasn't sure there was anything there, but since she was pretty sure she had seen it, she was going to go ahead and treat it like a fracture and put him in a splint. So we held him still and she splinted him up, from the hip to the ankle. She said he's going to get good at crawling one-legged!

Fast forward a bit to this morning - I checked the video I posted of the kids on the trampoline. If you look closely, you can see Thomas' leg buckle a bit when he gets bounced, just before he falls. I'm pretty sure that's when the fracture happened.

Okay, back to last night. By the time this was all done, it was almost time for Jeff's shift to end (8:00) so we headed down to the lab to wait for him. We met a couple of Jeff's coworkers, who all oohed and aahed over the handsome little guy and commiserated his poor, hurt little leg. While we waited, Thomas, who was simply too tired of sitting on my lap to stand it anymore, laid down on the floor and just talked to himself for a while. I finally decided to break out the camera that I happened to have in the diaper bag, and snapped several shots of him. I just kept taking picture after picture, actually, because Thomas seemed to like it and would giggle every time he saw the flash. Hey, the poor little guy had had a rough evening, and deserved all the entertainment he could enjoy! Look at how cheerful he is because I'm taking pictures!






Jeff's shift ended at 8, but he had to finish up a couple tests, and didn't get done until about 8:30. Then we were finally able to go back to Mom's house to pick up Zaylee and let everyone there ooh and aah over the handsome little guy and commiserate his poor, hurt little leg. Then we went back home and put the kids to bed. I'm actually pretty proud of both Zaylee and Thomas - Zaylee because she stayed dry the whole time she was at Grandma's house, and because she voluntarily pooped in the potty just before we left for the hospital; Thomas because he held still for the X-rays, didn't cry the entire time we were in the ER, and slept almost through the night, only waking up once.

Now that all the excitement over this is over, I can think through it a bit. Is there anything I could have done differently - not really, but I'll be more careful about allowing him on the trampoline with other kids. Is this in any way my fault - obviously not, but as a mom, I almost feel obligated to feel like it might be until I can think through it completely and decide that it really isn't. You know, guilty until proven innocent! It was just an accident that happened during a bit of harmless fun and play. Thomas is going to be just fine - in fact, this morning he's as chipper as a bird, and smiling a lot. He does have the distinction of being the first of our children to suffer a fracture, but I'm sure he won't be the last. Kids will be kids! :-)

Conference Weekend

It's been a long weekend, but good. Our weekend started on Saturday morning, when Jeff had to get up nice and early to take his registry exam. He had to be there at 8 in the morning, but wanted to get there in time to cram like crazy before taking the exam. I had arranged for Mom to pick up the kids and I so we could watch Conference at Mom and Dad's house. But Jeff's test took less time than we thought, and he was able to get home in time to drive us on over and watch Conference with us. He said that the questions were a lot harder than he expected, but he passed! Yes, it's official - Jeff has passed his Clinical Laboratory Science registry exam, and can now be considered fully qualified as a Medical Technologist. That means he gets to put M.T. after his name. What fun!

Anyway, we went over to Mom and Dad's house, carrying with us a huge bowl of potato salad, a delicious apple cake, the diaper bag, a box of crocheted leaves I made for Michelle, a crocheted pumpkin I wanted to show off, an umbrella, and two kids. In the rain. Yeah, our arms were pretty full as we loaded up the car as quickly as possible, trying not to get all wet.

The sessions of Conference were so good! There were so many talks that were just what I needed to hear. I can't wait for the November Ensign to come out so I can read through them over and over.

Our between-session meals were pretty good too. On Saturday, we ate my potato salad, plus a pot of chili and some focaccia sticks. For dessert we ate that fantastic apple cake. I cannot say enough good stuff about that cake - it was so rich and moist and absolutely delicious! I don't have the recipe up on my food blog yet, but here's the original recipe. Michelle and Mark had driven down on Saturday evening, and spent the night. Saturday was William's birthday, so we ate even more cake! Michelle made an adorable cake with train tracks and a fondant train. So cute! Look at the detail on the train - even down to little bows on the gifts, and the hollow chimney stack!


Our Sunday lunch was also fantastic, with Michelle's delicious 90-minute rolls and a yummy zucchini soup. Oh yeah, we ate really good this weekend!

So good, in fact, that I've decided to start counting calories again, at least for a little while. I've been eating "really good" for quite a while, ever since I stopped my diet. And I've gained back about five pounds. So I'm going to nip that in the bud, before I gain back even more. I didn't work so hard for so long to lose that weight, only to gain it all back just because I wasn't careful about how much I eat!

Anyway. We had a fun adventure on Saturday night. Michelle and Mark decided to spend the night sort of spur-of-the-moment, so they weren't prepared with things like pajamas and clothes for the next day, pull-ups for the boys, etc. Michelle thought it'd be fine for Mark and the boys to just sleep in their clothes and wear them again on Sunday, but she wanted some p.j.s and a new shirt. So at about 10:00 at night, we headed off to Wal-Mart for an excursion! It was a great sister-bonding opportunity - Michelle, Janelle, Marie, and I all went and had a great time. It took a really long time for Michelle to choose pajamas and a shirt that she liked, but it was a lot of fun too. Jeff was really sweet and took the kids home and put them to bed while I went out shopping - what a great husband! We ended up not getting home until midnight! :-0

The kids really enjoyed getting to spend two days at Grandma and Grandpa's house, playing with their cousins and aunts and uncles. But for Thomas is got to be a bit overwhelming. Yesterday he had a hard time going down for a nap (he usually goes right to sleep almost the minute I lay him down). He screamed in the play pen for at least half an hour before finally crying himself to sleep, and that was after I had already tried letting him cry it out a couple different times. It was pretty exhausting - I don't usually have to deal with that! And he had a hard time going to sleep Saturday and Sunday night. And he's been really fussy today. Poor little guy - he should get back to his calm and cheerful self after a day or two of normal life.

Speaking of playing with cousins, here's a little video I took of all the cousins playing on the trampoline yesterday evening. They were all jumping around and having a great time. It was just too cute - all those little sweeties playing together. Thomas did end up getting bounced a bit too much and had to be cuddled for a while, but he was fine.



Sorry this post is a bit disjointed. I'm just not having the easiest time putting my words together in a make-good-sense kind of way today. Oh well. :-)

Crab Apple Jelly

There are several crab apple trees around our apartment. A few months ago, we asked the manager if we could harvest some of the crab apples once they matured. He gave his okay, so we've been waiting patiently for the fruits to mature. Now that it's the fall, they have finally reached their maturity, and on Wednesday Jeff and I picked about 400 crab apples. Hooray!

Now, crab apples by themselves taste pretty awful. They're very small, and quite sour and bitter. But when you juice them, you can turn them into really wonderful jelly. So that's what I did yesterday. We borrowed Grandma Danes' juicer, and I cleaned, sorted (throwing out the wormy ones), chopped, cooked, and juiced all the crab apples; once they were juiced I was able to cook in all the sugar and pectin, and make just over 4 pints of jelly. Sort of meager after all those peaches we did (over 100 quarts!), but this time I did it almost all by myself! Mom helped with processing them, but I pretty much did all the rest of the work on my own. So I was quite proud of myself.

Here's some pictures of the process:

The crab apples cooking before being juiced - I didn't quite have the 4 pounds called for, so I cut up a couple regular apples as well. You can see some of them in here. I liked not having to peel and core the apples - that's a lot of work saved!


Stirring the juice and sugar.


My four pints, ready to be processed!


The finished product - four delicious little pints of crab apple jelly. Sorry for the weird lighting on this one, I took this picture out in the garage.


We also got almost a whole other jar that didn't get processed - I put it in the fridge, and once it's set up, we can start eating it!

I'm really excited about these - doing it all on my own made me feel so homey and self-sufficient. It was nice!

I also feel homey because I finally did some good cleaning last night and today. I swept and mopped last night after the kids went to bed, so the floor stayed clean all night! I've also kept the dishes done all day, and I cleared the living room and vacuumed the carpets in the living room, hall, and kids' room.