Cold Medicine

I'm battling a nasty head cold right and my brain is definietly fuzzy. I wanted so badly to sleep in this morning but of course, that was not in the cards for me. Things were in full swing by 6:30 around here. The boys have come to except something on Sunday mornings...


I got them all set up in the playroom with high hopes of sneaking back up to bed for a few more zzzzz. James used my blanket to construct a "clubhouse".


There's nothing like enjoying a little movie and hot cinnamon rolls in the clubhouse on a Sunday morning, right? (Have I mentioned how much I love 1pm church?)


Here's my secret, I know it's scandalous.....(my mother and certain sisters will be so ashamed)

A Perfect Day Off

Working outside of the home has made me really appreciate the time I do have at home. Some things have seriously gone down the drain, such as the cleanliness and organization in the house, and laundry upkeep. But, the things that really do matter, like spending quality time with the kids have easily been bumped to the top of my to do list. Today was a perfect day off. David was home sick again so I had no real schedule to adhere to. Michelle and I went on a late run with both our double jogger strollers at capacity. We haven't done that in a while. Then I came home and showered, then hung out with Abby and read to her until she wanted to take a nap. Then, I took a nap while David watched tv. I felt kind of guilty about that, but oh well. I'm not going to dwell on that!! It was lucious to nap in the middle of the day. I had the Waldvogel kids over while James went to Cub Scouts. David was thrilled to have Dallin over to play. It was a great afternoon in the backyard. Alec ran soccer training camp for D&D seeing as their first soccer game is tomorrow night. The weather is so nice, I just hung out and watched and did a little weeding.


When I'm around, Abby is so determined to play with me. Today we worked on potty training Dopey. (With Snow White's help, of course.)


We finished out the evening with more reading in Abby's bed. She loves the reading and David even joined in this time.

Parenting 551: The Art of the Bribe (Graduate level class)

It started on a lazy Monday afternoon. We got our ailing David all set up in his couch in the garage to watch the display.



Mark perfects his elaborate "batting garage" set-up.


James is six games into his first little league season and he has yet to make one hit, in practice or at a game. No hits. Period. This is starting to weigh heavy on everyone involved. James offers the excuse that he is afraid of the vibration that the bat makes when the ball hits it so he intentionally swings late. The conversation goes something like this...
Mom: James, what do you want as a reward if you hit the ball?
James: I want a Lego Star Wars NTT Troop Carrier!
Mom: Fine, hit the ball right now and I'll go buy you one."
James: But, it costs one hundred dollars!!
Mom: No problem for me, hit the ball and it's yours. (in hindsight, this is the part where I messed up....learn from me here)
James: Coooooool! Ok, I'll do it!
Mark pitches the ball and on the third try, he finally hits the ball.


Lucky for me, James changed his mind once we got to the store and he went for the Indiana Jones Lego set, even more cool.(and $40 less...)
James proceeded to hit 24 balls that night and then fast forward to Tuesday night's game.....



Struck out three times.
What's the life lesson here?
Keep trying? Persevere? Never never give up?
How about, save the big bribe for game day.
(gotta love that kid though, he spent an hour and a half assembling the 584 piece set and he was so thrilled with it..)

Easter Sunday

There's a special bond between a big brother and his little sister. Who can blame James? She's got us all wrapped around her little finger! She was so thrilled to wear her "Cinderelly" dress today. She loves the way it spins. She would not let me do her hair though. I even tried to convince her she needed her hair fixed like Cinderelly, but she wouldn't have any of it. She did let Maren put some clips in her hair during sacrament meeting, but that didn't last long. She picked a flower for herself during our Easter Egg hunt. James was in charge of this one since he didn't have any of his "big kid" firneds there to keep him entertained. He took on the task of filling and hiding the eggs. He ended up having as great a time as the little ones. We had friends over for dinner and had a nice, relaxing time.



David woke up for the second day in a row with a fever. He has a nasty cough and raspy voice. He still was very interested in what the Easter Bunny had left him. These lightning bug candies were a hit wtih the boys. They have pinchers that light up when you squeeze the candy. Who thinks up these things? The kids all got new swimsuits too, just in time for our upcoming trip to SG for spring break in two weeks.



The weather has been delightful for the past few days. We are so spoiled! We sat outside tonight and enjoyed the warm air while the kids ran around. Of course I got three mosquito bites in about a 10 minute time span. Sweet blood, I guess.

Sending out an S.O.S.

I hate doing laundry. Can I say that again? I hate doing laundry! So I was thinking as I was staring at my intimidating piles of laundry that I'm hoping to get through tonight, maybe if I had a lovely laundry room I would enjoy the chore more. There's got to be something I can do to make this space more inviting. Any brilliant suggestions for my 6x6 corner of the garage otherwise known as the "laundry room"??