Pacifiers and Excuses

Brooklyn still has a pacifier.  She loves her pacifier.  We love that she loves her pacifier.  She turned 2 in Feb., which means she is already overdue to be off the pacifier. But you see, I have such good excuses.  The thing of it is, they make really cute girl pacifiers.  You know, they match the outfit and are shiny and pretty.  The mam website itself says "Over 50 different colors and prints to choose from make it fun to coordinate MAM pacifiers with babies’ outfits, wardrobe or daily mood. (Daily mood,seriously?) And it makes it so easy to put her to sleep, quiet her in church, or stop a fit instantly.  If you had eight kids and two babies 15 months apart, would you be anxious to take away the one thing that can accomplish all of that?   I was actually getting ready to take her off of the pacifier as soon as I was done teaching my class last summer, and before the new baby was born. But then the accident happened, and she needed it. She really did. My poor little girl got a new baby brother and a broken mommy at the same time, and my angel needed something to comfort her. Well, the new baby brother came with a pacifier too. And so it came to pass that Brooklyn realized she had access to pacifiers any time she darn well pleased. We have actually watched her walk in to Colton's room and pluck it out of his peaceful, pouty, sleeping mouth.  (She also steals his blanket in the same manner.) We realized that taking her off a pacifier would mean taking it away from the baby, and he was just little.  But now she talks.  And he is almost one.  And it is a little annoying to listen to a toddler talk through a pacifier.  And she wants it allthe time.  She will pitifully cry out "Pa--ci--fi--er" in the middle of a tantrum.  The kicker was when I was at my moms on Sunday night.  I mentioned something about taking the pacifier away from her and my sister in law asked if it was pushing her teeth out.  I of course said "No".  I mean really, what kind of mother would let her baby have a pacifier to the point of deforming her teeth?  "Her teeth came in with a really wide arch" I hear myself saying.  It is true, but I know I sounded pretty lame.  Amy looked in her mouth and said, "Oh, they are out a little".  And then in an even more feeble attempt I say, "They've always been like that".  Even as the words come out of my mouth I realize I have a problem.  I am in denial.  And to Amy's credit, she didn't utter a single word, didn't even smirk.  So Monday morning I looked in her mouth, and sure enough, her two front teeth are being pushed forward a little. And so it begins.  Taking her off the pacifier.  Right now we only use paci's for nighttime.  So far so good.  I'll let you know how STAKE CONFERENCE (read as two whole hours) goes without a paci.  We'll bring a lot of fruit snacks and hope for the best!!  

5 Things

My friend Sara tagged me about 3 weeks ago, and I am just now getting to this.  It seemed like the easiest way to ease back into blogging, because the content and format were already laid out for me, and that's about the level of energy and creativity I can muster right now.  If you've talked to me recently I'm sorry for sounding like a broken record, but I am SO tired.  I'm afraid I might be tired for the next twenty years.  Oh well.  My dad promises me I will miss all of this someday, and I choose to believe him.  It makes it a lot easier to get through the day, the week, the project, whatever, if you enjoy it while you're doing it!

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago:

1. Turning 30

2. Delivering my 6th baby, Cannon James-and little did I know how he would change my life:)

3. Happily watching my sister Amy fall in love and get married to her incredible husband Don

4. Putting my trust in the Lord and my husband Jody as I watched him drive down the street headed for Florida to try and launch a new business-leaving me with six children 9 and under, serving as primary president, teaching 2 children's performing groups and doing pest control scheduling from my home.  Happy to say, it all paid off!

5. Welcoming Jody back home two days before Christmas after two very long months, happy to have my family back under one roof!  

5 Things on my to do list for today:

1. Laundry, what else?

2. Drive for what seems like an eternity-(schools are a lot further away now that we've moved, I've used almost 3/4 a tank of gas since Tuesday morning)

3. Make a really nice dinner

4. Be patient

5. Make sure my kids know they're loved (p.s.- I cleaned the house yesterday, don't think I'm a slacker!)

5 things I would do with a million dollars:

1. Pay off my house

2. Put away enough money for six missions and eight weddings

3. Take all of my kids to go and see Amy and Don in Europe

4. Buy some land in the mountains

5. Help other people ( I know it sounds like the pageant answer, but really, what else would I need?)

5 places I have lived:

1. Provo, Utah

2. Walpole, Massachusetts 

3. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

4. Katy, Texas

5. Laie, Hawaii

5 jobs I have held:

1. Dishroom worker at BYU

2. Phone operator at BYU-Hawaii (best job on campus)

3. Orthodontic Assistant

4. Piano Teacher

5.Teaching childrens Musical Theater groups

5 things I want to be doing in five years:

1. Watching Conner graduate from high school

2. Having my girl back home for the summer after her first year of college and loving every minute of it

3. Be a positive, happy person- despite the demands of teenagers, tweens, young children, and probably a few toddlers to boot!

4. Spend more time with my best friend (Jody), although that's probably a little optimistic. (See #3)

5. Maybe, possibly, working on a degree

5 people I tag:

1. Amy

2. Amy

3. Heidi

4. Jessica

5. Bobbi

Missing my Blog

I have so many things I want to blog about- Brooklyn's birthday, Cooper's birthday, Crew losing his first teeth, the family party with the magician, the new house.....  The problem is the last item. Not really a problem, but a reason.  My days have been filled with packing, packing, more packing, picking paint colors, deciding what little construction projects to do first, buying a new fridge, picking a new table, packing, and CLEANING.  Yikes.  I am bone tired.  Today I was 35 minutes late to pick up Braelyn from school.  I had been at the new house deciding on paint colors.  When I picked her up I told her I was sorry, but it had to be done so that the painters could start tomorrow.  Cooper was in the front seat and with a confused look asked, "So when someone's a painter and they're a girl, they're called a paintress?"  It was a needed laugh.  He had misheard me when I said "painters" (actually I probably had slurred speech brought on by tiredness) and thought he heard paintress.  It probably wasn't that funny, but I was a little punch happy I guess!  I came home and needed to just do something that wasn't packing, so I decided to add my family pictures to the blog.  Way more fun than packing.  Missing my blog...will be back soon.

Stacks of Laundry

Last Friday after school I decided that we should do our Saturday work early because we had family pictures first thing the next morning, and it would just be easier all around.  We all had our different jobs, and as I was in the kitchen Crew and Cannon came in bubbling with excitement.  They wanted to show me a "surprise".  I closed my eyes and they led me by the hand into my bathroom, where they proudly showed off their hard work.  They had decided to clean my bathroom for me!  I shouted my joy and smothered them with hugs and kisses. Then we all went on with our work.  It wasn't until later that night that we realized that we had overlooked this:Apparently when they were trying to clean the shower they realized they couldn't reach the top.  So they found every piece of clothing they could-clean, dirty, whatever-and stacked it up in the shower.  It made for some extra laundry the next day, but it was worth the laugh!

Valentines Day Preparations

Ooh...those legs!   More delicious than the cookies she's making!

Don't worry, they used proper hand washing techniques prior to holding, rolling, and squishing the dough -- and I only gave away the ones that I made, so if you ate one of these- no worries!

The all important valentine signing.  I fully remember the social pressure of this day in elementary school.  Do you?

The finished product.  We had fun together & the cookies turned out.  See, not everything in my life turns into a saga!

Fun Friday Night

Last friday night Cooper got his Arrow of Light.  

He also got his 20's Patch, which is pretty awesome.  There are 20 different activity badges possible in Webelos, but only half of those are required to get your Arrow of light. Cooper went above and beyond.  I am so proud of him.

Caden got his Religious Knot.  As part of this he had to write down his testimony, and when I read it I felt all goose bumpy.  There is something about a nine year old testifying in their own words about the Savior and the scriptures.  I love being a mom.  

It all sound so nice, which it was, but it was also all a little crazy.  Jody had been gone out of town all week.  (enough said)  Then Colton got sick.  I decided to leave Braelyn home with Colton while we went to the Blue and Gold.  Then Brookie got sick.  And Conner had an ear infection and possibly strep throat.  So he and Brooke stayed home as well.  I was responsible for bringing potato salad and a pie.  There was a pie contest for all homemade pies.  At one time in my life I would have loved the challenge and spent all day striving for pie perfection.  Oh how life teaches us.  I don't even feel the slightest bit guilty that my contribution was going to be a Marie Calendars Turtle Pie.  And let's just admit it, it was way probably yummier than anything I would have concocted.  I also had to go to the scout store that morning to buy Cooper his neckerchief and slide which he lost, and would never wear again, but needed for the ceremony.  Add that in to an already crazy day and I was feeling a little overwhelmed.  Then of course, because I am so fabulous at procrastinating, I had to sew the last six months worth of badges onto Coop and Cade's shirts.  Amazingly enough, the four boys and I loaded ourselves and the potato salad into the car and set off down the road on time!  No sooner had I rounded the corner than I realized we had a stowaway.  Brooklyn was hiding in the way back of the car, determined not to be left behind.  I quickly turned around and pulled back into the driveway.  By this time Braelyn was outside searching for Brooklyn.  Caden yanked open the car door to deposit her into Braelyn's waiting arms and SPLAT went the potato salad.  All over the driveway. This started the blaming, exclaiming, ranting and raving.  I jumped out of the car and looked over to see a realtor trying to talk to a man who was looking at the house next door.  I'm pretty sure it only took him ten seconds to realize that we would NOT be ideal neighbors!  I ran in the house with what was left of the potato salad to transfer it to another container, then screeched out of the driveway, arriving just after the opening prayer.  Not too bad, right?  About ten minutes into the program I realize that I had forgotten to pin back on Cooper's Webelos activity badge thing, which I had taken off to wash the shirt.  With my life lessons in learning not too sweat the small stuff, I would have brushed it off...except... they make a big deal in the Arrow of Light ceremony of removing it.  So I left the four boys (with a few good threats thrown in just to be sure they behaved) and ran home for the pin.   I arrived back at Blue and Gold, only to realize I had left the pie in the fridge.  At this point I decided who the heck cared.  It was actually going to work out pretty good, because once I got home, got everyone to bed, rocked a sick baby, and picked up Jody from the airport, a turtle pie was going to be just the ticket.  And I was right.  It was delicious...every bite.

What Do You Get When....

...the ingredients are a pair of high heels, a purse, multiple hair clips,an ipod and Brooklyn

answer: one dadgum cute little girl

... your twelve year old son plays "rolling the ball" with his baby sister

answer:  heartwarming feelings and really great pictures


...you leave breakfast on the table for too long, and you have an almost two year old "helper"

answer: oatmeal added to the milk, instead of the other  way around.

...you share a room with an almost two year old and leave  your makeup where she can reach it

answer: "pretty girl" (her words, not mine!)

...the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl.. and it gets close

answer: intense men.

...you have six sons

answer: the opportunity to make a lot of pinewood derby cars.