Big Fat Copy Cat

                    

                

CANNON VS. THE WORLD

Not too long ago I walked outside to find spunky little Cannon staring up at the sky looking a little bewildered. 

 "Mom, watch this!" 

Then  loudly enough to make the neighbors come running, he looked to the sky and yelled "Hey!  Stop that!" 

Then we both heard his little echo.  With an incredulous look, a shrug, and a giggle, he said "The world is copy-catting me!". 

 How cute is that?

On a lighter note.....

If you have been the recipient of this picture attached to any e-mails, let me publicly apologize.  Jody takes pictures of everyone he can that has a number saved on his phone so that when they call, their picture shows up.  It's really the lazy form of caller ID.  This is the photo that shows up when I call.  Apparently when Jody hooks up his i-phone to our Mac for updates, etc. the efficient Mac correlates as much info as possible between the two.  I was trying to find an e-mail I had sent to somebody tonight and when I located it, I noticed this picture in the top right corner.  Mortification!  Humiliation!  How could this have happened?  Was it a one time thing? I frantically began opening other "sent" e-mails.  And there it was.  On every single one.  The one to the realtor.  The scout master.  The HOA property manger.  Our payroll company.  What must they think of me?  And let's be honest, if I was egotistical enough to attach my picture to all of my e-mails, would I have chosen this one?  When Jody got home from ward missionary stuff I showed him the horrifying discovery.  He laughed his head off.  Some consolation.  I'll be spending a lot of time with the Mac tomorrow learning how to keep this from ever, ever happening again! Or at least how to get a better picture on there!

The Mother Load

***Readers discretion is advised.  These are the musings of an over-tired, slightly emotional (okay, that could possibly be an understatement), end of the day exhaustion filled mother.  Mostly I'm writing this so that I can purge my mind of the thoughts that are hogging all of the space in my brain, not leaving any room for sanity and  peace.  

Things on my mind:

Have any of my kids practiced their piano even once since their last lesson--because lesson day is upon us.

Is it my job to prepare my son for the school wide spelling bee (because I haven't), or is that just enabling him?

How did I not know that child was getting a D in math?  What can I threaten him with?

Can you send in make up homework that was due more than a week ago?  And at what point does the teacher start thinking not nice things about that child's mother?

When was the last time I made a really, honest to goodness, nutritious meal?

Where, oh where, has my patience gone???  

Is putting my son on medication for ADHD going to help him?

How is his self esteem?  I'm worried about him.

I'm worried about all of them.

Are they developing their testimonies?

When will I get all the christmas shopping done.

For that matter, when will I get the grocery shopping done.  I mean, Christmas is 23 days away, and breakfast is a mere 9 hours away.

Can I cancel guitar lessons tomorrow? because I haven't heard that instrument practiced all week either.  Of course, that probably sends the wrong message.   Or should the boy be expected to practice without a reminder?  But that seems kind of mean, and expecting a lot. Back and forth I go.  

What happened to our schedule?  and will it keep itself hidden until January when holidays are over?  Part of me wants to scream "Hide!  Hide!"  The other is begging for it's return.  

Is my baby getting enough attention?

Is my other baby getting enough attention?

When will I decorate for Christmas, and how deep will I have to dig to find the desire?

Are they learning to work hard, and love it?  (Wait, I know the answer to the last half.)

Have I told my husband how great he is?  Or do I just hope that he absorbs the feelings of gratitude that constantly flow from my thoughts. 

Does 7 quickly read verses count as family scripture study?  

Will I ever not dread bedtime?  Have I always dreaded bedtime?  Specifically, the getting everybody dressed, brushing those many rows of teeth,  family prayer said without wanting to run and hide in my closet (the desire to hide usually occurs while waiting for ten people to kneel down and all be quiet AT THE SAME TIME), patiently listening to every child's "there's one more thing I want to tell you", coaching personal prayers, and of course, the many short distance sprints between the couch and bedroom (can that count as exercise?) responding to calls of "I'm still thirsty"  "He's touching me" "He won't stop talking" "I have to go to the bathroom again...(why do beds seem to aggravate this need?)" "He's hiding toys under his pillow" etc....  All of this seems to suck any remaining energy out of all the secret places I've been tucking it away in hopes of having a coherent conversation with my husband after everyone's down. 

And yet, now that they are asleep I have the unbelievable urge to kiss each of their beautiful faces, climb under their blankets and snuggle in, feel their heart beats close to mine, and let the awareness of my blessings gently restore my absolute, awe filled devotion to them, to being their mother.

The mother load can be a heavy one, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I Don't Need You to be in Charge

So basically my four year old is amazing.  Last week I walked into the family room to find Cannon restraining Colton's kicking legs mid-air.  Cannon casually glanced over his shoulder and in his best "will you be my helper" voice said, "Hey Mom, can you grab me the wipes? Colton's poopy". 

A few weeks before that I had appeared in the family room to find Cannon had folded the entire basket of laundry that was sitting in there.  "Look Mom, I folded all the clothes!  Then I put them in piles. (Pointing)  Braelyn, Conner, Cooper, Caden, Crew, Me, Brooklyn, and Colton!  I like folding laundry Mom."  I'd like to add that every piece of clothing was in the right pile, and folded pretty darn nicely, too.  I'm pretty sure that he is the only one in the house besides myself that could accomplish that feat, Jody included.  Of course, had it been a basket of whites and he'd identified which socks went to whom, I probably would have passed out.  (Jody once watched me folding socks and told me that I could never die because there is no way he'd ever remember who's socks were who's.  Apparently a great deal of my value lies in my sock sorting skills.)

Today I was getting ready to change Brookie's diaper and Cannon quickly discerned that Colton needed changing too.  When I went to grab Brooke's new diaper he yelled, "Mom, can you get me a diaper for Colton?  They're size 3."  It's probable that that little nugget of information is known only to Cannon, myself, and possibly Braelyn (again, Jody included!).

A little while later I had gotten the spaghetti out of the fridge to heat up for lunch.  I ran to answer the door and when I came back Cannon was sitting on the counter with the spaghetti all dished out for Brooklyn and himself.  He had one plate in the microwave and was trying to figure out how long he should heat up spaghetti!  He proceeded to get Brooklyn situated at the table and happily devouring her lunch.  When they were done he ran to the kitchen, grabbed a paper towel, got it wet, and offhandedly explained to me that Brooklyn was done and needed to be "washed up".   Then he CLEARED both of their places.

So when he matter of factly explained to me that "I don't need you to be in charge.  I can do everything",  how could I argue with him?  

I think I will go and teach him how to sort laundry and start the washing machine.

Beautiful Things

It's just after ten in the morning and here I sit, still in my pajamas.  Jody came back to pick up something he forgot just as I was getting home from the bus stop earlier this morning and my secret was out.  I actually drive to the bus stop IN MY PAJAMAS.  This morning it wasn't even a t-shirt and yoga pants.  They were flowery, pastel covered, matching pants and button down top.  But I digress.  I could feel frustrated that I haven't showered or dressed, started the laundry, done Brooklyn's hair, dressed Colton,......

But I am choosing to be happy.  Happy in the moment.  Grateful.  Grateful for beautiful things.

Like...

• a husband/best friend who quickly cleaned up breakfast and swept the kitchen when he ran back home for his forgotten item.  
• Brooklyn and Cannon enjoying applesauce for their morning snack- the applesauce that reminds me of a night spent with my beautiful children and amazing husband cooking apples and making memories.
• Fat baby feet to kiss.
• Kids that tell me they love me every morning when they get out of the car.  
• Pouty lipped little girls in pigtails and mommy's red high heels
• Yummy red head babies that wake up from naps smiling so big that their happiness is irresistibly contagious
• Teenage daughters that are as gorgeous on the inside as they are on the out

It is now the next day and I never did complete my list of beautiful things to be grateful for, but it makes a decided difference in experiences, moments, and days to choose to be happy and grateful.  I choose to be happy today!

iPhone Woes

I never seem to have my camera in hand (it doesn't work well either)and Jody always has his phone, so I have been relying on him to capture our kids cute and important moments.  Of course I rarely, if ever, get around to actually printing my pictures, so I didn't realize until I started this blog that the iPhone doesn't have enough mega pixels (is that the right terminology?) to enlarge well.  AAHHH!!!  I guess that means Jody needs to buy me a new camera.  

p.s.  I would like a really nice one, babe!

Braelyn's Choir Concert

 

Braelyn had her first choir concert of the year.  This year she is in two choirs, Chamber Choir and Jazz choir.  The Jazz choir only has eight girls, so this was a fun accomplishment.  Braelyn loves to sing and absolutely loves choir.  Audrey is in seventh grade girls choir, so although they don't have class together, they get to do concerts together.  Jody couldn't get over how beautiful Braelyn looked.  The last picture is a candid shot that he captured, and I can't believe how grown up my little girl is.  

Princess? Whatever do you mean???

Brooklyn decides to drive

 Cannon's jeep.

Cannon decides to join her.

Brooklyn tries pushing...

scratching...

pinching...

until Mom has to intervene.

Brooklyn finally concedes and happily gives Cannon a ride(in his jeep).

Princess?  Whatever do you mean???  

Peaches Anyone?

We decided to can peaches this year.  It became a family project and we had a blast.  Even Jody got really into it.  He was in charge of the actual canning process, which we did outside on a two burner camping stove.  We did 50+ jars, so it was nice to have two canners going.  We had so much fun that we decided to do applesauce and apple filling as well.  Pictures of that coming soon...

          

                             

The kids think of this as "fun work".  I wish I knew how to make cleaning bedrooms, scrubbing toilets, mowing the lawn, etc... seem like "fun work"!  If I ever discover that secret, I'm sure I'll be rich...or at least a little happier!

Finally

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I am finally getting to it.  I've had the page for quite awhile and I could list my many excuses, but that list would be unbelievably long, and probably quite boring.  (Well, except for the whole rollover car accident/emergency c-section/months recuperating/eight children part of the excuse!)  I am mostly looking forward to keeping something of a journal for my family.  I am much more likely to sit and jot something down on the computer than I am to get out pen and paper and actually journal the old fashioned way!  So here goes.....