Ultimate Blog Party

What a creative way to have a party! No need to find a babysitter, think for days what to wear OR put on a smiley face if you don't want to. Yet you still have all the perks of a perfect party... Meet some wonderful people-get some great ideas-realize you aren't alone-and eat the treats all by yourself!

For you regulars, you know what you'll get here...
As for the first-timers, this is me. A mother of five, navigating my way through motherhood with humor, love and honesty.
And as an added bonus-if you leave a comment, I'll enter you to win a $15 giftcard to one of my favorite stores.
Which store you ask?
It will be a surprise.
But, here are a few clues:
I do have five kids...
I love getting a good deal...
and
I have two kids in diapers....

(Winner will be announced on Saturday, April 17th.)

We're happy...most of the time!
Enjoy...

Rules Disclaimer - One entry per person. Giveaway ends at 2:05am on (EST) 4/17/10. Winner will be announced here and sent an email. Winner has 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be drawn.

Joshua's Synopsis

Riding in the car on the way home from the zoo, a tired, little voice said,

"I grrad the rions didn't eat us."

 "Me too, Joshua. I'm glad the lions didn't eat us either," I replied.

I didn't have the heart to remind him, we didn't see any lions.

Is It Just Me?

We are in the middle of Spring break. 
Saying I am frustrated and a little cranky, would be an understatement.

One child yelled at me as though it is my fault that "This is a dumb Spring break because it is cold and snowy."

One child kindly put Drew in his eating chair without clearing out the bananas from an earlier snack (another child had removed him previously).  Drew sat on soggy bananas throughout dinner, and they were nicely smooshed and scattered all over his chubby little legs when Daddy, wearing dry-clean only pants, removed him from the chair after dinner....

One child decided to walk and balance along some rocks while wearing high heeled sandals.  I am greeted with a dirty wet, muddy, mess of a child.  From head to toe.

Preparing for a Sunday School lesson is hard when there are five kids causing mayhem inside because it is too wet to go outside.

There are shoes and socks everywhere.   Yet, my help is always enlisted when someone needs a pair.  Oh, that's because they are looking in their sock drawers or in their shoe basket.  The shoes and socks aren't there!!

I had to drag a child to three different stores to find the correct ink cartridge so I can print out my taxes and pay the government.

One child thinks the Easter candy should all be consumed in the first couple of days following Easter.  When it isn't allowed, the tantrums aren't pretty.

This is just a glimpse of our week so far.
We are barely half way through Spring Break.

Is it just me, or are there other cranky mothers out there?

Lessons of Love

This weekend I watched as Megan and Drew shared a snack of goldfish crackers. Drew is one.  If he is given something in a bowl, he dumps the contents.  I smiled, as I listened to Megan explain to a one year old, to pick the goldfish out of the bowl to eat, and not dump the contents.  It took me back twenty five years or so...

When my brother Casey was a toddler, and I was about ten years old, I took Casey with me to the 'local shops.'  As was usually the tradition, we made a visit to the 'Sweet Shop' to pick up some candy.  As it was done, when I was a child, one carefully selected the penny candies, placed them in the bag, and then paid for them.

Tiffany and Casey, August 1985

While I was paying for our sweet selection, Casey reached down, picked up a candy and promptly put it in his mouth.  I was devastated; my brother just stole a piece of candy!    I didn't know what to do.  I quickly turned to the shopkeeper, and explained that my brother had eaten a piece of candy we hadn't yet paid for.  The shopkeeper smiled.  It helped we were regulars.  And it probably helped that Casey was just two and a half years old... The friendly shopkeeper smiled at Casey, and waved us on our way.  He didn't charge me the penny.

As we left the store, I was deeply disturbed by my brother's act.  As I grasped Casey's hand, and we began the walk home, I attempted to explain to Casey what a naughty thing he had done.  I can remember distinctly the tears coming down my face as I explained to Casey that people who steal things go to jail and that he must never, ever steal things.  This one-sided conversation continued for the duration of the walk.  It ended at our garden gate with a final, "Casey, you must never steal."

I didn't even tell my parents of Casey's transgression.  I was too upset and worried about him.  I didn't want anyone else to know what might lie ahead for Casey's future.

My brother Casey, never ended up as a criminal in prison as I imagined him that Saturday afternoon.  He is currently a law student at BYU.  He has the desire to defend the law, not break it.

I like to think my ten year old wisdom, had a lasting effect on him.  

I hope the same for Megan's words of wisdom to Drew, last Saturday morning.  I will give her some of the credit when Drew will be able to eat food from a bowl without dumping out the contents.

What a blessing big sisters are.

How It's Done At Our House

Easter for us began on Monday evening.  Our FHE introduced the last week of the Savior's life. Joshua rode into the family room on the toy horse, re-enacting Jesus' entry into the city on Palm Sunday.

Thursday during dinner, Luke taught us about the Savior's introduction of the Sacrament at the Last Supper, and Megan taught us of the events in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Friday during dinner, Ellie told us that Jesus died for us on the cross.

Sunday morning, Megan taught us about the Resurrection.

Though, these conversations and lessons, are important to our little family, our children are very normal. Though they patiently endured and attempted to listen to the weeks lessons, there was no coaxing or encouragement needed to participate in the 'fun side' of Easter.

Our 'fun Easter' traditions are:

Coloring and decorating eggs on Saturday night. This is 'Nana's thing.' I don't enjoy it, I'll happily do the preparation and the clean-up, just not the coloring and decorating.  This year I allowed my kids to color a dozen eggs each.

Sunday morning, at the bottom of the stairs begins a candy trail.  The trail leads in and out of rooms, around tables, and counters, to the spot where the filled Easter baskets have been left.

New shoes from the Easter Bunny




Hunting for the colored hard boiled eggs the 

Easter Bunny hides.  

(A tradition from my childhood that may need to be re-thunked!  Hiding and finding 48 hard boiled eggs?!?)

Happy Easter!

Upside Down and Giggles

So I broke down and did a 'trick' for April Fools Day.

I served everyone's dinner with the plates upside down.  It produced a few smiles.

And when I said I needed to make an effort to laugh more-I didn't mean, get a severe case of the giggles at the 5th grade Maturation Clinic!!!!!!!

Thursday Thoughts

1.  Is it just me or does it seem that more and more businesses have adopted the practice of advertising on the streets?  Pizza, taxes (I've written about this before...), furniture, you name it-there is probably a sign somebody is holding somewhere looking like a fool whilst trying to gain your business?  Do they really work?

2.  I was shocked last week when talking to a mother of a brand new baby, that I wanted to tell her to "Enjoy every second of the newborn stage, it will go all to quickly."  When did I become a newborn lover?  I think it was when I was pregnant with Joshua.  And though I am making every effort to enjoy every second of the other stages, I still look forward to the day when diapers, sippy cups, and car seats aren't part of my day-to-day life.

3.  I have made a greater effort to enforce certain chores with deadlines at our house.  I am tragically aware of the consequences of poor work ethics.  I will do my best to teach a good work ethic to my children. 

4.  One of my favorite novel settings are the Amish community.  I think we can learn much from them.  Though they are far from a perfect people, I think faith, forgiveness, simplicity  (not to mention,good home-cooked meals) could eradicate a lot of problems in our society.  (I would also love wearing a dress everyday...)

5.  I am not very good at mopping my floor regularly.  I have no set day or time frame in which I mop.  Grossly, it usually finally happens when my feet stick in more than one place, too many days in a row. 

6.  I tend to see the glass half empty instead of half full.  Is it a personality flaw to be more pessimistic than optimistic? 

7.  I am consciously making an improved effort to laugh more.  I wish laughter came to me far more naturally.  I am working on it, it makes our home a much 'lighter' place.  Since when did I become so ornery that laughing has to even require a level of consciousness?

8.  I am constantly coming up with fabulous new ideas in an effort to make my kids more obedient, work harder, and get along better.  Many last no longer than the first couple of days.  Why do I keep trying?

9.  I am so tired of paperwork.  Getting my mail used to be a highlight of my day.  Now I avoid going to the mailbox any more than twice a week.  The paper annoys me.  I stand outside at my garbage can, while sorting my mail.  Close to 90% probably never makes it into the house!!  The kids backpacks each day after school, are just as bad... I try to remain guilt free as I throw away carefully written spelling tests, art projects, even report cards...  (Of course, some are keepers.)

10.  My husband works A LOT of hours.  Though I am grateful beyond words that he is gainfully employed, I complain a little too much. I know, I know, I am contradicting number 3.  Come to think of it, I work even more hours of the week than he does... Least he gets to leave his workplace each evening...

11.  Though I am by no stretch of the imagination an environmentalist, I do wish I remembered the re-usable bags I keep stocked in the car. But with the effort it takes to get the baby, the toddler and sometimes the kindergartener into the grocery store, who has the energy to think about saving the planet?

12.  Sometimes I daydream about living in a big city, as a young single girl in her 30's, with a corporate job and a hobby of shopping.  I am about as far removed from that daydream as possible!

13.  I think homework should be banned.

14.  My brother would be very disappointed in me, but I am becoming an uninformed citizen as far as politics go.  I've retreated into a shell and often times know very little about what is politically, going on around me.

15.  Joshua's John Deere at the Farm lift the flap book that we read at least three hundred times a day, is soon to have the same fate as some of the other books...behind the couch.  Isn't that positive parenting?  I am trying to help him broaden his literacy interests.

I wish I could say some of these are jokes, as today is April Fools Day.  But they aren't. This is me.  Besides, I think April Fools Day is dumb.  You won't see any joking from me.  Maybe I should reconsider my feelings about April Fools Day, maybe it would help with number 7...

And those are my thoughts for today, Thursday.
What are yours?