Read-a-thon
December 20, 2007 
I remember when I was in elementary school, occasionally we would have read-a-thons. Days when we did nothing but read. We got to sit on the anywhere–the floor, at our desk or wherever. We got to bring books to read and we got to read books from the school library. Sometimes we would get treats. I always loved these days and looked forward to them with great excitement.
Today, Oldest is having a read-all-day day. He is in first grade, and today is the last day before the Christmas break. They were encouraged to take slippers and blankets, and a mug. They need the mug because they are going to have hot cocoa (how fun!!). The teachers asked for volunteers to go in a read stories to the class. I went in this morning and read the book that Oldest was begging me to read. I caved and read the book I didn’t want to read. I read The Polar Express. It is a cute book, but in a big class, it is not a good book. And, another mother had read the book all ready. Oh, well. He was excited. And Youngest ran around the room making the kids laugh (and probably embarrassed Oldest.)
The whole thing has me thinking…. When was the last time that I took a day to just read? It has been years. Far too long. How about for you? Usually, when I have a chance to sit down and read it is right before bed and I am so tired that I just have a few minutes to devote before my eyelids droop too far. I know that it is good for kids to see their parents read too.
So, my goal now is to take a day this Christmas break and have a read-a-thon with my kids. We can spend the day silent-reading, reading aloud, and acting out stories. We can stay in jammies and have fun snacks. I’m going to challenge you to a read-a-thon with your kids too. What fun memories it will make!
Weight, Favorites and Other Stuff
December 17, 2007 
Weight Update: I continue to act like a yo-yo. Up and down, I go. Last week I was down 1.5 pounds, and this week I am back up. BUT, I popped a hole through the knee of my last jeans so I went to my favorite store to buy my favorite jeans and…guess what….I was able to get a size smaller! I have always been somewhere around 14-16 but I bought size 12! They probably added stretch or adjusted the size or something, but it still feels good.
Other Stuff: Bryan got a new calling at church yesterday. It is a doozy. Stake Young Mens Presidency – 1st Counselor. We aren’t really sure what all this entails (if you know, please enlighten me) or when he starts. I think that he is a little excited though. He is ready for a new challenge, I think. Finally got my Christmas out. I sent some of them last week and the rest today. Oh, what a wonderful feeling.
My parents arrive Saturday so there is much house cleaning and grocery shopping to be done this week. Also, going into Oldest’s classroom to read a story for their read-a-thon. Trying to decide between two books: Bear Stays Up For Christmas and The Polar Express. Any thoughts?
I am revamping my chore charts and house rules. I am condensing the 9 rules into 5, and adding chores. They are doing so good at it, so I thought, hey! Why not make them do more of my stuff?
We will be celebrating my parents arrival by watching the BYU football bowl game. Go cougars. (Anyone know who they are playing? Hmm. Probably ought to find out.)
And finally…..
Favorite Moments from the week:
*Taking Daughter and Youngest to the mall and having Daughter act perfectly.
*While I was building the Thomas the train track that Youngest was demanding that I build, he decided that I should stop immediately and hook the trains together. I told him: “Hold your little pants on!” and he threw down the train and grabbed as much of his little Gap sweat pants in his little fists as possible.
*Lunch out at Olive Garden with Bryan. And no kids.
*Finished Christmas shopping, and it is a wonderful feeling (just waiting for Amazon to send those last two gifts…).
*I knew the library had one book that I put on hold there, but when I got to the library, there was four books waiting for me!
*The young men and Bishopric came to our house caroling and brought us a box of Christmas treats (chocolates, oranges, nuts, etc…)
Tradition, Tradition
My good friend, Behka, who is new to the blogging world, asked this question on her blog and here are my answers. What are your favorite Christmas traditions? What do you make sure you do each year? What do you love about the holiday season?
*A favorite tradition for me has always been cutting down the Christmas tree. It was always so much fun growing up and it is so much to go out with my own kids and see the excitement in their faces too.
*I love sending out and receiving Christmas cards, too. I almost always make them (for the last 6-7 years anyway) and normally I have them made, addressed and stamped by Nov. 15. And there they wait until after Thanksgiving when I mail them out, but it was Dec. 7 before I had my cards out this year. And I still have a stack I need to finish. Augh!
*I love making the goodies for Christmas. My mom always made homemade chocolates, just like her mom, and now I do too. I love to make sugar cookies and decorate them with the kids and last year I started making caramels as well. And the caramel recipe is super easy.
*Christmas Eve was always the best at my parents house. We would start the festivities with an odd assortment of food for dinner – cheese fondue, li’l smokies, veggies, cheese ball and crackers, chips and dip, turkey and rolls for sandwiches, etc. There was always a Christmas puzzle up to work on during spare time. We play our home-made Christmas bingo until everyone had won a prize or two. We use M&M’s as place markers and try not to eat them all before the game is done. We read the story out of the bible, although now we read it from this book. It is a beautiful book, and it quotes the King James version of the bible. And we always get to open a gift on Christmas Eve. It is always pajamas. Growing up, my mom made the pajamas for everyone. As a married woman, my mother-in-law does it for the grandkids but she didn’t this year, so they will open the pajamas that I got at Wal-mart for $5 on “black Friday.” After that we put out chocolate milk and home made chocolates for Santa and try to go to sleep.
*Each year my mother-in-law buys an advent calendar for the kids that has a chocolate for each day leading up to Christmas, and my kids look forward to this every year. When Oldest commented that his cousin was lucky (being the only child) because he didn’t have to share his chocolates with a brother and a sister, we talked about how he doesn’t have to share but he also doesn’t have a someone always there to play with.
*Christmas music. Growing up my mom always played a lot of great music at the Christmas time and I do as well. I have probably 12 cds that I just love to listen to so we listen to Christmas music non-stop from the day after Thanksgiving until New Years.
*A few years ago our Bishopric gave all the families in the ward these beautiful little white felt stockings, with a poem inside. Each year we put a personal goal, and family goals in the stocking as our “gifts” to Christ. The following Christmas Eve we pull out last years “gifts” and start again. My kids are getting old enough to do this now too and I can’t wait.
Your turn. Tell me about your favorite Christmas traditions in the comments or on your own blog.
Help!
It seems like I am always asking for advice…but I get such good advice that I keep coming back. And now, I need some more. My two-year-old has picked up the words “stupid” and “idiot.” He gets upset and uses this low, evil sounding voice and says, “You are stooopid” or “You are iii-dioot.” I really don’t think that he knows what “stupid” and “idiot” mean…he just knows that it makes his brother and sister mad/sad and that he gets a reaction from Mom and Dad (“Don’t talk like that! Stop it!”), but I need to figure out a way to put an end to it. I am dreading sending him to nursery Sunday because when he gets mad at someone and starts spewing in his evil voice, I know that they will think I am te worst mother in the world, because what kind of mother teaches their two-year-old the words “stupid” and “idiot”…. Selfish, I know. But. It’s the truth. I worry about what people think of me. Sigh. I swear, though, that I didn’t teach him these words. Oldest tends to say that things are stupid (even though not long ago he got after us if we ever said anything was stupid) but I really don’t know where he got idiot. Help!
Our holiday
Last week we played games: Skip-bo; Yahtzee; Blurt!; Imaginiff (so much fun!); Speed; Oh, Heck; Carolina Rummy (a personal favorite); Boom-O; and Freeze Tag
Watched movies: The Santa Claus 3, Hairspray (soo good) and Enchanted (very cute)
Assembled Puzzles: Eric Dowdle’s Portland puzzle (1000 pieces…took forever!) and a Christmas Santa one
Went shopping: Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and black Friday shopping at Wal-Mart and Target (up at 4 for this!- it was worth it though!) We stopped at K-Mart but ended up not going in.
Visited with DH’s mother, brother and sister and their families. Visited with friends. Played with my old volleyball team for a night (oh, how I miss it!)
Did haircuts – 11 of them!, plus I had my own hair cut and colored – love it!
Prepared food: I did the rolls, veggie tray, pumpkin pies, dip.
Enjoyed food: rolls, mashed potatoes, turkey, pie (way to much of this), veggies, eggs and more
Went on walks: to lunch one day and along the river by my folk’s house
Visited restaurants: Cracker Barrel, Panda Express, and Subway.
No wonder I am so tired! Although, I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I had a hard time saying goodbye and coming home. I loved being with my family and seeing some of my old friends. I could hardly stay awake on the way home, and now I can see why! It was busy, busy, but it was oh so good. We drove the 13+ hour drive in one day both ways. My kids did so good and I am so glad for this (thanks goodness for the dollar aisle at Target and portable DVD players.) We will spend the next few days getting back on a normal schedule, getting the house decorated for Christmas and cleaning out the car. It is covered in trash (despite my cleaning it out along the way), slinkies, books on tape, cds, movies, jackets, blankets, pillows and everything else that kids bring into the car, but don’t take it out.
Or maybe instead of doing any of this stuff, I will spend my time catching up on blogs.
Hey, I know what is important right?
Darling Daughter
Remember this?
Well, yesterday I walked into daughter’s room and she was wearing her apron, and pretending to do youngest’s hair. In the pocket of her apron? Her etch-a-sketch that she was tracking her appointments in. Soooo cute!
Changes
We have had a rough couple of weeks. There has been lots of yelling, threatening and tears (on my part and the kids). And I am tired of it. I don’t know if the kids are still adjusting to the move or what. I think they are lonely (no kids in the neighborhood), bored (fall + rain +cooler = less outdoor play) and testing us. The problem is that I feel like we are on the losing end of the struggles.
This brings us to changes. I have “brought the hammer down.” Before we were waking oldest (and hoping just he would wake up) at 6:45, and rushing out the door to get to the bus. Now everyone is getting up at 6:30 and getting dressed. After lunch is made and the kids have their breakfast, I am reading the Book of Mormon to them. Then, we are kneeling together for family prayer and calmly (hopefully) heading out to the bus stop.
I have also made job charts. I have tried this before and haven’t been able to get them to work but I think this will. I am a list person. So, I made lists. The kids each have one thing to do every day (we breaking this in slowly) and four things they must do each day. I put the lists in sheet protectors and taped them to the fridge so we can dry erase them and wipe later. After school, the kids can have a snack and then it is chore time and no playing or tv until the chore is done.
Last week, I considered letting my kids stay up later than our usual 7:30, but have since decided to stick to that bedtime. This way DH and I have some time together to relax, watch tv, play a game or whatever. So come 7:00 it is pajamas and teeth brushing.
Another thing that I have done: Posting the rules on the fridge. I find that I am threatening a lot. A lot. “Stop whining or you will….”, “Put that away or…”, etc. It is old. So, at FHE last week we made a list of rules and posted it on the fridge. If the kids break a rule posted on the fridge they get time out with no warning. 4 minutes for daughter, and 6 minutes for oldest.
This week, I am working on our Christmas cards. I have made them for the last several years, so I am working on ideas this week. Looking forward to turning on the Christmas music, lighting the fire and sipping hot chocolate. (Stealing this idea from Gab…if you want to be on my mailing list email me – sahmof3qts@aol.com) We are headed to Utah for Thanksgiving! Can’t wait for that. Praying for good weather. That means that the next couple weeks are getting things ready for Christmas so that I don’t have to ship stuff for later.
Better Late Than Never
Okay, so I can’t find the before picture of the boys room. BUT, it was blue. Bright blue that had faded and had marks where they had stuck pictures up with that gummy stuff that was popular a few years ago, and it had a lot of holes. And the ceiling was white. And there was this awful valance hanging over the window, and blue blinds. The blue blinds are still there but not for long, I hope. And my boys had Thomas the Train bedspreads, which didn’t look good. So here are my after shots: 
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The paint is Pepper Grass and Crayon Cloud from Behr. The cute rug and comforter covers came from Ikea, as did the matching green throw pillows. I love Ikea. They don’t have a dresser so the just have baskets under their beds to hold pants, t-shirts, socks and underwear. I am having problems with the bookcase…they don’t just pull down one book to look at, they pull all of them down and it drives me crazy. But, I love that they look at books when they wake up. So, if anyone has any good ideas for me. The magnet boards came from a relief society enrichment last year. At first, the green was so bright and scared me, but I have grown to love it. The Ikea stuff helps. =)
Thoughts from last week
October 29, 2007
Filed under Chatter, Children, Food, LDS Church, Motherhood, Movies to see
Don’t doubt that thought to not get the “cool” cart at Safeway. When you fall for your children’s pleas and get the car cart you will end up with the loudest, most off balance cart ever. Your elbows will be sore when you are done shopping.
Going into the store for milk, and milk alone, is impossible. You will come out with tortillas, rice-a-roni, chips and raisins. And wheat thins. (And $60 later)
Don’t put son’s comforter and comforter cover back on his bed after you wash it. You will have to re-wash it the next day and try to get the cover back on. Again.
Don’t think that you will never say: “Don’t jump on the couch. Especially with a hammer in your mouth.” You will.
Don’t think that all the laundry will be done in one day. With the dryer needing to run everything for two 70 minute cycles (why is it doing this?!), it will take at least 3 days to get the laundry done. And then there will 3 more days worth of clothes to wash, dry, fold, and put away.
Don’t be surprised when, after watching N put on pink from head to toe, and you tell her that she is a ‘pink girl’, she yells, “I am black! My skin is black!”
Don’t stand on one foot with other foot twisted around while you give your talk in sacrament meeting. You will wonder through out the talk if you are going to faint.
Don’t freak out when you realize the stake president is on the stand. And. You. Are. Speaking.
Don’t get too excited about the Bourne Ultimatum DVD release, just because the Bourne Supremacy is on tv. That doesn’t mean that it comes out soon. Internet searches will not tell you the date. Who knows when it comes out? (I can’t wait!) Continue waiting patiently for Ocean’s 13 and Hairspray to come out on DVD. Both in November.
Pray when you feel most unworthy.
Smile when A starts taking Lighting and Mater to bed with him. Along with Doggy, Pupper and his beloved Froggy blanket. Before long there wont be room for him in that bed.
Don’t send son to his room for timeout. He will think it is fun to play Legos. Instead make him sit on daughters bed. He will not enjoy sitting on the purple bedspread.
Resist the temptation to run out to the mailbox at 9:00 on Friday morning. Just because People comes on Friday here (I had to wait until Monday to get it in Utah) does not mean that the mail will arrive before 2:00pm. I wonder if the mailman could make this his first stop on Fridays?
Try not to laugh when, during your primary class, you ask what the kids have had to sacrifice for being a church member and 9 year old girl responds (very seriously) that she tore a piece of paper in half. Huh? I was thinking maybe you couldn’t play in a sports game or go to a birthday party or something.
Thank you, thank you, thank you
I got so much good advice and I am so grateful for it! As it turned out, T came home from school with a headache and fell asleep on the chair. And, J’s sister got an ear infection so the play date was cancelled. We are trying for today, but now a cough has descended on our house, so we will see. I think that I will have him go on this next play date and see what he is feeling then. After that I will invite a few kids from his class over and see how that goes. Thanks so much for all the helpful advice! You guys are great.
DH and I have to speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday so the rest of this day will be spent getting my talk finalized (I am speaking on humility and DH is speaking on repentance) and getting the finishing touches on my primary lesson. I am planning on making some cookies for the kids to decorate tomorrow and we will probably carve the pumpkins at some point this weekend too. I would really like to rent some movies too. That is a lot for one weekend though.
I went with N to her preschool field trip yesterday. They went to the pumpkin patch. I was able to take A, which was great. He has been so excited about all the pumpkins that we see and points them out everywhere we go. The kids got to do the dark hay maze (flashlights required!) and play in the corn box (like a sand box minus the sand) and ride a carousel. They had a few animals and a couple tractors on display as well. They each chose a pumpkin and back at the school we had soy and dairy free cupcakes (surprisingly delicious) and hot chocolate/apple cider. It was fun to see N interact with her preschool friends, and visit with some of the other moms.
I was so surprised to see frost on the ground and windows this morning. It is a cold morning, but promises to be a beautiful fall day!
