Been A While

So - I haven't had much down time to sit and write a thoughtful entry . . . and haven't had the energy to write a mindless one either. But right now - there are (7) 10 year old boys, one 8 year old girl, one 4 year old boy, and one 2 year old boy upstairs - playing in harmony - in celebration of Harrison's birthday - we're a few weeks late - remember I said I hadn't had much time lately - well . . . we kept forgetting to plan a party - so we finally nailed it down and here they all are. Surprising to this mom - it seems boys don't want planned party games or structured activities - they just wanna hang out and play. Also surprisingly - they are all doing well together. This doesn't happen very often. Even if you get the sweetest, best behaved group of 10 year olds together - this never happens. I'm waiting for the blow . . . and thought I'd throw in a blog update while I wait . . .

Here goes -

Harrison's now 10 - and a blogger - check out the link to his creativity - sometimes he totally amazes me!!!

Emery's as sweet as ever. Only thing is - I find traces of nail polish in odd places. Like on the underside of my bath rug - pretty sure it was on the other side during the covered up incident - and besides notes that she talks to much - she's doing great in school.

Jack and Aidan got horrible hair cuts today. I know I need practice, but man oh man - I let it get so shaggy until I break down and pull up the courage to do something about it. I need to do some trimming tonight.

Dan's fabulous. He cleaned our bathroom today. I have a mixture of feelings - first - I'm totally grateful and in awe and relieved . . . then I'm totally offended. Yep - wondering if he's just fed up with the layers of kid toys, soap scum and hair spray residue so that he can't stand it anymore. I try to suppress the latter feelings with the joy of a clean, non-sticky surface. I don't deserve this guy.

I saw New Moon last night and although I was much more impressed than the "after school special-esque" first installment, I was still totally not into Edward. He's just not the guy. Oh well - the effects were cool and the fight scenes were great.

So now that the party boys are playing "WARS" - I fear for my breakables and smaller children. I better go make sure all are in tact.

Coolest - Night - Ever!!!

Whoa - it's late, but I had to get on and share . . . tonight we went to the Lion King - took Harrison, Eme and Jack. It was amazing - beautiful - spectacular. After the show, we got to go back stage and see costumes, props, etc . . . a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jackson was in awe all night. On the way to the car he said he wanted to stay there. Had to explain that even the actors went to a hotel for the night - no one stays there to sleep. I'm sure he would have loved sleeping next to Pride Rock. In his words, "Mom, Pride Rock is awesome!" I'm sure standing next to it made an even bigger impression.

Very cool night!

Favorites Right Now

Aidan's "I wub you. too. mommy"
Edamame
Regarding Annie
Finished Projects - both for the store and home
My Calvin Klein Jeans - in an acceptable size even!
Taylor Swift - what a cutie!
New Moon Trailers - I'm giddy w/ excitement
TMZ - total guilty pleasure!!!

Potty Trained (at over 4 yrs old!)

Remember how frustrated I've been off and on for over a year and a half - with failure after failure of good-intentioned, patient beginnings to potty training Jack???

Well - he's done - potty trained - dry through the night - no messes done! I love it!

You know what it was? Just his own desire - that's it - something that cannot be coaxed out no matter how shiny the prize! The deal was . . . he'd get a BIG Lego set when he was potty trained - then a date w/ mom was added - then other incentives along the way - but all those things spurred nothing until he'd turned 4, decided he was a big boy, and his 2 yr old brother was asking to go potty consistently - and pooped in the potty w/ a HUGE celebratory mom dance! So Jack decided it was time. We put the incentives into place . . . he got a, um, ehem . . . pee ball every time he went pee and one taken away when he had an accident - colorful ping-pong balls - and when he filled up the jar, he'd get the Lego set and a date w/ mom. THEN - completely separate, when he went poops, he got to choose a little something out of the prize box. Worked well - but only AFTER he'd decided it was time to work on things. The jar was filling up for an entire week before any pooping occurred - but he finally was forced to face the fears - he'd been showering and when he emerged sans clothing - he needed to go - and since he didn't have anything to catch it . . . well, he got on the potty and realized it wasn't scary after all. No problems after that! So - after filling the jar - we went out and he got a HUGE Lego set and graciously allowed Aidan to join us for our date to Red Robin - we were then supposed to go to the Zoo to finish off our date, but he opted to get straight home and have me help him assemble instead of waste all that time at the zoo. So I'm a very happy mommy - I'm wagering that Aidan will be trained within 6 months - if not sooner. We're not doing anything to push it or refine it . . . just letting him go if he asks. The Lord knew I'd need an easy time of it after Jack - thank heaven!

Here we are at Red Robin!

Facebook Fears Confirmed!

As you can see . . . It's been QUITE a while since posting . . . my life's been busy, hectic, crazy, full and downright frenetic . . . so there were plenty of reasons I steered clear of those "you gotta join FB" comments coming from all sides of real life and cyberlife. So - all my fears have come to fruition - the far too many email notifications, the time commitment to learning the ropes and the pure OCD behaviors I exhibit when I want to do something well. So . . . jumping in has been hard for me - and still - not so sure about it - but I do LOVE seeing people I haven't seen for ages - decades even. Am I really THAT old? Yes . . . I am.

So - as I try to commit to my blog - and FB - and not forget my husband, kids and oh yeah, my business . . . don't laugh at me when I'm not thrilled about it.

It's a love/hate thing -

On a positive note . . . check out THIS site . . . I had my Blog published into a hard-bound book - a "journal" if you will - justifiable as following the Prophet's council, right . . . anyway - I love it - THIS will be my first entry in my next published Blog book - no wonder I took a Blog break - it was my subconscious saying I was done - complete - finished - after all, it was being published with a back cover . . . wasn't my intention, though . . . so I hope to get back to good blogging, I mean, journal writing!

Also - been working on getting all my negatives to disc and organizing my photos - thought these were cute!!!

1998 & 2008 - I'm still trying to convince him that I can be fun!

Anti-Tatoo at three!

So - I'll get to explaining the title in a minute . . . but (not surprisingly,) I have an entry totally dedicated to my little Jack Jack. First - he now has a new little bike . . . a girly bike Dan found at a garage sale . . . but Dan says, "It's not a girly bike, I took the tassels off!" Hee hee hee!!!

Here are some words of wisdom that have come out of that cute little mouth lately . . .

* The other day we were driving along and he says, "There are so many tatoos on all the cars. I don't like it!" I asked if he meant all the stickers and he answered in the affirmative. He may be taking after me . . . simple and clean, that's how I like things.

* Not too long ago, Harrison and Emery were talking about something like H2Oasis or day camp or something . . . and Emery thoughtfully put her hands over Jack's ears so he wouldn't hear and feel bad that he wasn't involved. When they were finished and she took her hands off, Harrison asked if he knew what they had said . . . he replied, in an awe-struck voice . . . "I don't know . . . something amazing I guess!" Oddly enough he didn't even ask to find out what it was.

* Also - the other day we were in the car and I asked him about a new little girl he met at church. He said, "She's pretty. (pause) But not like you." "What do you mean, Jack?" I inquired. "Not pretty as you." (Aaaaaaawwwww - I love him!)

* He's been volunteering to pray every meal and bedtime . . . and one of his favorite things to ask for - is "bless us with help to cross the street." ????? Since we live in a culdesac and don't really need to cross streets to get anywhere we go - I don't know why he needs assistance, but it's so darn cute nonetheless!

* And the kicker . . . our primary does a spotlight or two every week and one week when they spotlighted one of the kids - the spotlight child says, "I was born in such and such place." Jack declares loud and clear, "I was born in the water!" tee hee hee . . . can't argue with that!

Another bike wreck

The other day the kids went for a bike excursion with Jack and without permission - so Jack goes down this horribly long and steep hill on a plastic trike with no brakes - scrapes galore and plenty of screams - out of the blue - just to let us know he's hurt. So in the aftermath, the girls (Em and her friend) and Jack are watching a Barbie movie and under my breath as Harrison's leaving the livingroom I mention that I should punish him by making him watch a Barbie movie. To which he answers, "No - but you can tie me to a wall." Hmmmmmm . . . is Barbie that much torture?