Crazy busy

Lately my life has been crazy busy! I feel like I am just barley surviving, doing the minimum requirements in life. And sometimes not even that. I can't tell you how many days in the last month we have either had leftovers, or even better, "I don't know what's for dinner, I guess whatever you want to make for dinner, Jeff". I'm sure Jeff could tell you how many nights were a "quality free" dinner night. I can't tell you how many times I have heard from different people "gee you have not made cookies in a while". This. Is. Not. Normal. I usually have yummy cookies made. I can tell you though, that I have not done a deep cleaning on my house for at least a month. Again. Not. Normal. And I can't tell you the last time I played with my boys, I mean really played with my boys. Not. Normal. Not. OK.

If asked what life has been crazy busy with, I probably couldn't give you any specifics, just life. You know, family, watching my nephews a couple days a week, trying to keep up on the clutter that somehow accumulates ALL THE TIME, church, grocery shopping, serving in the YW (anyone who has served in that organization knows how time consuming that is and how much preparation goes in), making sure my boys don't starve, running errands, blah blah blah. I could go on, but I know all you moms know what I am talking about.

Then to make it even crazier, two Sundays ago, my Bishop asked me to teach at a "Teaching Conference" that was held this morning. Myself and one other person were to cover about 100 pages in the "Teaching, No Greater Call" manual, in 45 minutes. Yeah sure Bishop, no problem, I have nothing else to do over the next 13 days. Gulp.

THEN as if things couldn't get any crazier, I got a cold last weekend and have been dealing with that all week.

This week I decided I would just do my best, but above all, I WAS going to play with my boys.

A few weeks ago, I told Jeff that the domestic diva in me was lost. "Yeah, I've noticed" is all he said, he's so kind. I promised I was going to try to find her. This week I made dinner every night AND even got 3 extra meals made and in the freezer, to be used in the next few months. Even though I had lots of other things I needed to do, I figured, I'm making this meal anyway, I mine as well double the recipe and freeze the other half. Just doing that little extra and getting a few meals in the freezer made me feel like I wasn't drowning.

Oh and just to show what a wonderful husband I have...After complaining to him one day that I just have not been able to keep up on the house work and telling him all the things that had not been cleaned in a LONG time. IE: microwave, fridge, floors. He said," well then Saturday morning, I'll clean the fridge". I argued with him for a minute that he didn't need to do it and that I would get around to it...some day. He insisted. I pretty much thought he would forget. That next Saturday morning I came down stairs to my husband hard at work with more than half the fridge clean! What a guy! That's (one reason) why I love him.

In my "spare" time, when I didn't feel like my head was going to explode, I read through the manual and tried to get my lesson all ready for today. I didn't get much spare time, thanks to a little boy *cough* Mason *cough*, who doesn't think he needs to nap anymore or leave me alone and not talk to me for, oh lets say, FIVE minutes. But somehow, even with the lack of spare time, and a clear head, I was prepared this morning. What a miracle. And oh let me tell you, I think the lesson went well, what a relief. What's an even bigger relief? It's over and done with. No more reading like mad. Please don't ask me to teach for a while. Thanks.

Here is the most important thing I did all week. I played lots with my kids every day. Most days we played outside on the swing set, my personal favorite thing to do as a kid. We even played on the swing set on Wednesday when it snowed. The slide was WAY fun that day, with it being wet, the boys flew down it. We also got some good quality play-doh time in too. After a day or two of play-doh I think Cooper decided he'd rather have Daddy do the play-doh thing. I don't make a good train like Daddy. Cooper said so. I guess I'll just stick to what I do best, under doggies and twisting. (You'll see what I mean in the video.)

One more thing. Mason and Cooper both brought their best friends outside to play with them. See if you can spot them. You might not be able to see Cooper's until you play the video.

The worst...and the best.

Some of you may know this already, Jeff has written a book and has a goal getting it published this year. He gave the book to one of his co-workers who edited the book for him. He has received the book back full of corrections to be made.

Jeff wrote the book using a laptop that is at least nine years old. I know this because the first Valentines Day that Jeff and I were together (9 years ago), Jeff had to work late, so I snuck over to his house (with his Mom's permission) and spread Hershey Kisses ALL OVER his bedroom floor. I left a card that said, "I kiss the ground you walk on". Well, that was the first time I met his Dad, who was so engrossed in whatever he was looking at on his laptop, THE laptop Jeff has been using to write his book, that he didn't even look up at me, rude huh? Oh well, he's a typical guy, and I'm glad I didn't judge Jeff's Dad on this first encounter, because he is a great guy!

Anyway, back to the story about Jeff's book and the laptop. The laptop has been having problems not turning on and turning itself off randomly while Jeff is trying to edit the book. I knew this must be very frustrating and something that probably couldn't be fixed with such an old laptop.

So I decided to surprise Jeff with a new laptop. All day I have been busy consulting some computer savvy guys, including that rude one I now call my father-in-law. Each savvy guy I talked to was very helpful and lead me closer to making a decision on which laptop to get.

I finally decided on a HP that was on sale at Staples. Jeff has drill with the fire department on Monday nights and is usually gone for about two hours, so I figured tonight would be the best night to get the surprise done.

Once Jeff left for drill I scrambled around the house getting the boys and myself ready to go. Soon we were off and running. We got down to Staples and all was well, or so I thought. I asked for help in the computers. So the "computer dude" as I will call him, was called over to the computers. While I was waiting for the "c d", Cooper thought it would be funny to run away from me in the store. Not once, not twice, maybe not even three times. Yeah, not so funny Cooper. As I'm dragging Cooper back the last time to the computer section, the "c d" comes over to help. At this point I am ready to just walk out, but decide not to trow the days research out the window. I ask for the computer I want and the "c d" starts asking me tons of questions about other software I might want to also purchase. To each question I say, "I don't know, my husband will be taking care of all that himself". After a few times of repeating myself, I was really frustrated and feeling like a total idiot not knowing all the computer lingo. So in an effort to get the "c d" to stop asking me all these insane questions I finally said, "OK you can stop trying to sell me on other products, I don't know what my husband will want to put on the thing, he doesn't even know I'm buying this for him, so if he wants any of the extras, he'll just have to come back himself". The "c d" told me he was just doing his job, and went to get the laptop, while (I'm sure) calling me a few choice words to himself. While I waited for the "c d" to come back, I continue to struggle with Cooper to keep him with me.

Finally the "c d" comes back to tell me that the laptop is at the register waiting for me. At this point Cooper has noticed a Thomas the Train computer game, which I let him hold to keep him from running, but then I had to pry it out of his hands. Hum was giving his the game worth it now?, I ask myself. Yes, it kept me from having to run after him.

We then make our way to the register, where of course the "c d" helps me. I put Cooper down from one second to sign a "return policy" form and off he goes. I look at Mason and ask him to go catch his brother, but to be nice and not hurt him. Off goes my trusty helper to the rescue. I try to pay attention to what the "c d" is telling me about tech support and all that boring stuff, while keeping an eye on the boys. Mason quickly catches up to Cooper, but can't get him to do what he wants. At one point Mason was pulling on Cooper's hood, probably choking him, so I told him to try to grab Cooper's hand. Cooper dropped to the ground, so Mason starting dragging him. Then Cooper got away and ran out of sight. The whole time I hear him screaming and crying, and Mason screaming at him trying to get him to "listen". Once I was done with the transaction (which took probably less than a minute, but felt like ten). I went to find the boys. When I did, Mason had Cooper tackled to the ground, with Mason laying on Cooper. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

As I walked out of the store, all embarrassed, I think to myself, this was the worst shopping trip ever! Jeff better think this is the best surprise ever!

As I write this, Jeff is still not back from drill. This is what he will see when he opens the door:

Here is what Jeff's new laptop looks like:

Told you he was the golden boy!

Remember me saying that Jeff is the golden boy to all his employers? I know what you were all thinking while reading that. Jeff the golden boy? Yeah right! Well, I have proof now!

Jeff has been working for his current employer for six months now and was just promoted to Branch Manager over their Kennewick branch last week. This has come as a complete shock to both Jeff and me. Definitely not what we were expecting so soon in his career with this employer.

Jeff is totally excited about this promotion and the new challenges it will bring. I know you are all wondering, will we have to move? No, we are not having to move with this promotion, he will work from Spokane and commute to Kennewick as needed.

Field trips

Yesterday morning Mason, Cooper, and I went on another preschool field trip. This time we went to two different places. We started off at Tomato Street. Two servers told us about the restaurant, the different areas of the restaurant, and the different job duties each employee has. They showed us how they cook pizza in this brick oven. Can you see the fire in there?
Then we got to eat pizza!

After Tomato Street, it was off to Hero dental. Mason learned about the importance of brushing and flossing his teeth and the different rooms in a dental office.

Brushing some dinosaur size teeth.

Going for a ride in the chair.

Mason with his preschool class.

The 7 year itch

Today is our 7th anniversary. I have heard people call the 7th year of marriage the 7 year itch. I'm not sure why it is called that, but I'm guessing it's because you are suppose to get really annoyed with each other. So on that note, here are a few things that annoy me about Jeff.

-He is the golden boy to all his employers, past and present.

-He is not compassionate.

-He has not made me $1,000,000.00 yet.

-He is an evil hate mongering Conservative.

-He is selfish.

-He is mean.

Then to commemorate/commiserate our 7th anniversary, we bought a bedroom set. I used to say that I hated how big our bedroom was, but now with this in there I am really glad it is the size it is. One beastly bed.

One beastly night stand.

Then just to show me that he had not gotten me enough for our anniversary, he brought these home for me.

*Disclaimer: I really don't think those things about Jeff, actual it's the opposite (except the one about him being the "golden boy", he really is). He just always has people saying some of these things to him, so it's a joke between us.

The Pirate Movie

Here is the latest from the Borders Production Studio! Enjoy!

Potty talk

Last night after Cooper pooped in his diaper, I had a conversation with him about the rewards he would get for going potty in the toilet. This is how the conversation went.


Me: Cooper when you go poop in the potty, you'll get a cookie.
Cooper: I went poop, can I have a cookie?
Me: Yes you did go poop, but you went poop in your diaper, not in the toilet. You'll need to go poop in the potty if you want a cookie.
Cooper: (disappointed look)
Me: And when you go pee in the potty you can have 2 M&M's because you are 2.
Cooper: No I'm 4.

Cooper's even BIGGER news!

So I already know I'm going to get A LOT of flack for posting this, but frankly, I don't really care! I am SO totally excited! Today has been a great day for Cooper in the potty training arena. This morning he peed in the potty for the first time (see earlier post), then after dinner he did this for the first time in the potty!

GO COOPER!

P.S. The morning after, Cooper saw this picture on the blog and said: "That's my big huge poop" and wanted to look at the picture for a while. I think he's pretty proud of himself.

Cooper's big news!

According to the professionals, one of the signs to look for to see if your child is ready to potty train is if they pull at, or pull off their diaper all the time. Cooper does both of these things ALL THE TIME! So for a few weeks we've been letting him sit on his potty, with on results.

I've even bribed him.

He ALWAYS wants to watch his Thomas the Train movie, so when he asks to watch it, I tell him he can IF he sits on his potty while watching it.

This morning he wanted to watch his movie, so out came the potty. I decided to load him up with fluids and have him sit on the potty periodically until he went.

On his second try, he went!

You can't see the pee in this one, so here's another, just to prove he did go.

Now if he would just do it consistently and start pooping it the toilet too, then we'd be on a roll!

Ribbit

So today during nap, I was checking email, blogs, face book... you know the online world. Jeff was in the other room refining a part in the book he wrote. I heard a little noise that I thought was maybe coming from Jeff's dying laptop. But when Jeff said, "hey do you hear that?" I thought well, maybe not, and asked Jeff what it was. He said he didn't know, but that the noise was coming from near our outside wall.

Jeff went over to the wall and started listening. Listening to the walls. Listening to the heat ducts. Opened the front door.

Nothing happened.

I came in the living room to check it out too.

Jeff sat down and the noise began again.

Soon we realized it was a frog croaking.

After more listening in the croaking area. Jeff came up with a theory that the frog was in one of our heat ducts.

Jeff got out the vacuum and put the hose down inside the duct and turned on the vacuum. While I was sitting on the couch wondering why he's doing this. This is the conversation that ensues.

Me: "So you think you'll be able to suck up the frog with the vacuum, assuming the frog is in the duct."

Jeff: "yup that's what I'm thinking"

Me: "and you know it will probably kill the frog"

Jeff: "Yup"

Me: "Frog killer!"

Jeff turned on the vacuum and sucked around in the duct for a while. After no results he gave up and put the vacuum away.

Jeff returned to the couch, and more importantly, writing.

A few minutes later the croaking returns.

After more investigative work, trying to pin point the location of the frog, Jeff is positive the frog is in the duct.

Jeff got the vacuum out again, and the same conversation as before was repeated between us.

Jeff turned on the vacuum again and soon he felt a little something a bit heavier go into the vacuum than just dirt and dust.

Jeff took the "dirt tank" (or whatever the technical term is) to the garbage and emptied it. He came back and reported that there didn't appear to be a frog in the "tank".

But the croaking did not return.

From now on Jeff's nickname will be FROG KILLER!

Rest In Peace my frog friend.

My Birthday

I wasn't going to post anything about my birthday, but last night after getting a few posts done, Jeff asked if I posted anything about my birthday. So here it is for anyone who wants to know.

My birthday was on Sunday so Friday night Jeff took me out to dinner tp Applebee's. If you've never had their Veggie Patch Pizza you are missing out! It used to be on the menu as an appetizer, it is no longer on the menu, but they will still make it if you order it.

Then Saturday night we had some friends over for cake and ice cream. I made my own cake. I used a recipe from my friend Corrine called "Dang Good Chocolate Cake", and yeah, it was dang good!

My actual birthday was quite relaxing. We went to church, and that's about it! I did use the excuse that it was my birthday when it came time to make dinner, deal with a crying child, or put the boys to bed. I'm sure Jeff was real tired of me saying, "It's my birthday, so you get to do it."

My birthday present has not arrived yet. I ordered a grain mill attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer.The Grain Mill will grind wheat, rye, oats, rice, barley, buckwheat, millet, and any other low-moisture, non-oily grains.

Now it just needs to hurry up and get here so I can use it!

Pretty in Pink

This is just too cute not to post, not to mention, some good black mail later on.

Yesterday Mason wanted to wear some of my clothes that I had laying on the bedroom floor. He put on my pants and used my belt as suspenders to hold up the pants. You can't see that very well, but the belt is through one belt loop in the front and each end of the belt went over his shoulders and looped together behind his back.

Then he put my shirt on too.

CTR

With the beginning of a new year, Mason moved up to a new class in Primary. He is now a CTR-4, with that he got a CTR ring from his teacher. For those of you who may not know what a CTR ring is, it is kinda like the WWJD bracelets that other Christian churches have. The CTR stands for Choose The Right. I like to think of it as, instead of just asking the question, What Would Jesus Do? This answers the question, he would Choose The Right.

Anyway, since Mason got the ring on Sunday we have had several discussions with him about what it means to Choose The Right. And that by wearing the CTR ring it can help us remember to Choose The Right.

One day earlier this week at dinner, Mason was saying the prayer. Well he of course had his eyes open while saying the prayer and saw that Cooper had begun eating. As Mason asked Heavenly Father to bless the food, he shouted bless the FOOD!!! as a way to yell at Cooper for eating before the prayer was said. While we ate we had a conversation with Mason about Choosing The Right and if yelling at Cooper was Choosing The Right.

The next day (or maybe the day after that, I can't remember), Cooper was in the bathroom washing his hands, Mason and I were doing something at the table. I asked Mason to go ask Cooper to turn off the water and to also remember to Choose The Right while asking Cooper. So Mason hopped down from the table, saw his CTR ring sitting on our buffet table, put it on his right index finger, and made his way to the bathroom. Once he got to the bathroom, he paused, held up his right hand, and put his left hand under his right as if to support the right hand. He then looked at his ring, with a methodical look on his face, then looked up at Cooper and as sweet as pie asked Cooper to please turn the water off. It was just so cute.

It is these moments that I wish I had a camera hard wired in my brain that would take a picture simply by me thinking about wanting to.

Play-doh fun

Mason and Cooper got some play-doh and play-doh toys for Christmas. The other day while playing with the play-doh I decided to write Cooper's name with the doh. Then Mason decided he was also going to writhe Cooper's name with it. Didn't Mason do such a great job?!

Oh and we were going to write Mason name too, but the boys wanted to go do something else before we go to it. So don't even think I was playing favorites.

Percy

We've all heard of kids having their "security blanket" right? Well Cooper has his "security Percy". He takes Percy EVERYWHERE...to bed, to the grocery store, to grandparents houses, you name it, Percy is with Cooper. When Percy is not with Cooper, it is like the worst thing in the world to him. All we hear is Cooper whining, "Percy, Percy, Percy, I want Percy".

On Sunday, Percy accompanied us to church, but during nursery he has to stay in the "quiet bag" so Percy is not left at church. Once we got home from church Cooper got Percy out of the quiet bag and took Percy to bed with him, but after nap Percy was no where to be found.

I was told that the bed, and under the bed was searched, but that Percy was not found. So the rest of Sunday, all of Monday, and part of Tuesday went by with no sign of Percy, but lots of whining occurred.

Tuesday morning I heard Cooper in his room yelling, Percy....can....you....hear....me....? It was so sad, it was like he was searching for his long lost love.

I finally decided to really put a good effort into searching for Percy. I found Percy under Cooper's bed.....

but hey, I thought that area was already searched....hummmm sounds like SOMEONE, not mentioning any names or anything, *cough* Jeff *cough* didn't search very well.