Today is a good day.

Today I woke up with an extra dose of clarity. My foggy and very narrow view of life had greater perspective and I recognized joy in small and simple things that often take effort to find joy in.  I am always happy with my life, I have a good one--a great one. Today I woke up feeling extra happy with life. Nothing had changed over night, but today was different because it was so easy to see all of the blessings that surround me throughout the course of an ordinary day:

My Reese, beautiful inside and out as she coached Quincy along in their morning routine and invited the Spirit and peace into our home as she reverently said our family prayer.

My Quincy drove Reese nuts and literally danced through the morning routine at her own perfect pace and out of order and laughed so hard at nothing while I did her hair that it shook out of the ponytail.

My Corbin pushed me into a sitting position and climbed into my makeshift lap during prayers with Aaron and tried his hardest to be still, but gave up after 30 seconds and I felt two chubby little hands on my face as they squeezes my cheeks together until my lips puckered and I was delivered a kiss and a whispered "I wubv you".

My precious baby Soren. He slept through the night and woke up smiley and ready for milk this morning.  Unwrapping him from his orange owl blankie and lifting him out of bed each morning is like opening a perfect little present. He is such a gift.  I love the way he presses his wrinkly forehead and reddish fussy hair against my jaw and turns his face until I nibble kiss his cheeks, and then he bashfully buries his face into my neck or shoulders, all with his baby fists full of my hair.

I made Aaron a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and he didn't leave for work until after the girls got on the school bus today. It was really nice to have him home a little longer this morning.

Mid-late morning, I was in my bathroom brushing my teeth while Corbin drove cars all over my bed (a freshly made bed is a magnet for kids. It's irresistible to them and must be climbed upon.) I turned off the sink and still heard water running. It terrified me. Someone was in the kitchen. I grabbed a pen to protect me (seriously. I had both pepper spray and golf clubs within reach and I grabbed a free clicky pen to fend off an intruder and rushed down the hall to my baby who was playing on the living room floor. Aaron appeared behind me and startled me. He had come home to grab something he'd forgotten and I never see him at home at that time of day. He scared me!  I was mad and he laughed because he'd assumed I'd heard the garage door open and knew it was him. Dang noisy toothbrush.  He'd almost been penned to death..whatever that means. Honestly what would I have done to protect myself with a pen?! Written all over him? I have a love hate relationship with those moments where you realize we're all just moments away from losing everything and everyone dear to us.

At nap time, I nursed my baby until he drifted into a heavy sleep. I usually put him to bed while he is still awake, but today I let him nurse and nurse and nurse while I just enjoyed the peace and beauty of being a mother. He granted me with extra joy when I put him in his bed and in his deep sleep he continued to make little sucking motions with his lips on his own tongue. I die over the sweetness of his dream filled milk coma.

Then I found my Corbin with his Angry Birds underwear on backwards and climbed into his bed with him and read Dr Seuss All Aboard The Circus McGurkus! Corbin wanted to know the names of all of the animals...which was of course impossible, since they are not animals at all, but creatures from a Dr Seuss fantasy.  So I made up the names and attempted to pronounce the Seuss-ey names of the ones that were provided, and hoped he won't remember or ask to see one the next time we're at the zoo. Because they don't have Hoodwinks and Grugalugs at the zoo. We'll have to wait until the Circus McGurkus comes to town to see one, I guess.
The thunder boomed and shook the house and Corbin comforted me. "It's ok, mom. It's just the rain. It's not scary." as he pulled his blankets up to his chin and glanced at the rainy window with raised eyebrows and a quivery lip.  I stayed in his bed until he was comfortable letting me go.  When I checked on him 30 minutes later, he was sound asleep with a very large stack of books next to his head on the bed and one tucked under his arm.

When the girls got off the bus, Reese bolted for the mailbox and squealed that she was "soakin' wet" from the rain.  Quincy dragged her backpack through puddles and made "tracks" in the garage with her wet shoes.  They did homework and we sipped Mexican hot chocolate. (hazelnut cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla, lots of heavy cream, and a pinch of cayenne if you're a grown up).

We got under one blanket on the sofa and read 3 chapters of "A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning". Quincy farted 4 times and each time it was so bad we had to get up and air out the blanket.    I fell asleep reading out loud. Just nodded off right there in the middle of a page....and then I woke up to the rank of Quincy's fifth fart, which sounded like a shot gun. We gagged and laughed so hard that Corbin woke up. He helped me make dinner and I sent the girls to take showers and Soren woke up and the next 2 hours became the typical spinning top of a late afternoon in our house.

Except today was a little different. Usually on those afternoons it's like the last 30 seconds of a spinning top, where the rotations become wild and unsteady as the top begins to wobble (and sometimes crash down in an exhausted child meltdown or tantrum). Today the top just kept spinning. Life definitely was not still. Two showered daughters needed hair detangled and two hungry boys needed food right now and dinner wasn't quite ready, etc. All the things that usually pile onto the spinning top and send it off balance seemed to jump on gracefully today and I actually managed to stand in the middle and keep it all going. Today (and maybe today only), I handled all four children needing something from me at the exact same time and actually did it well. I didn't just meet their needs, but I was able to savor and enjoy our dizzy spinning afternoon, rather than just minimize chaos and get things done.

I opened the mail to discover yet another hospital bill from Soren's delivery. This one was for $2200+. I called and haggled for discounts until I got it down to $1800. 20% is a nice discount and I would gladly pay any sum for this little miracle, so I am pleased enough. This bill would have soured my mood on any other day but today I kept thinking that out of all the reasons to have a hospital bill, a baby is probably the ONLY one brings total happiness. Any other bill would just remind you of being sick, or experiencing pain, a loss, or something being broken.

I was reminded to be grateful that MY hospital bill was for a baby when I talked to my friend, this afternoon, who is spending the night at the hospital with her husband, who will have a pacemaker put in tomorrow.  Give me a baby over a health trial any day. I've experienced both and I'll take the baby and be happy to hand over $1800.

The sister missionaries joined us for dinner. Corbin is obsessed with the new missionary and would only let her serve up his dish. All of the children ate dinner without complaint, and even Soren downed half of a banana---the one and only food he actually swallows. The rest go into the smiley mouth, hide in his cheeks for awhile, and then come back out and run down his chin when he happily rejects each bite and laughs at how funny he is.

The missionaries joined us for FHE and scripture time. Corbin was in charge this week, so it was short and sweet and crazy.  He shared the handouts he made in Sunbeams and sharing time on sunday. He is thankful for night and day, and we talked about how to share a testimony and gave the children a minute to share what they know with our family. One of the sisters is being transferred to Oklahoma tomorrow, so we bid us farewell by sharing a favorite scripture.  I noticed tonight that Reese is getting really good at looking up scriptures by reference. Corbin's job every night is to get the scriptures off the bookshelf and hand them out. Quincy's job is to set an example of reverence for Corbin and Soren.  I think everyone is starting to "get" their roles and it is helping enough that we've been able to have some good discussions during scripture time that used to feel rushed and chaotic.

The evening spun on while Aaron helped the children finish getting ready for bed and I fed Soren and cleaned up from dinner.  We make a good team. I love him. I sang Baby Mine to Corbin, listened to Quincy sing me a half remembered song that she learned in Spanish class today, entertained a logical debate with Reese about why she cannot have a pet penguin or a pet dog named Penguin, or move to Antarctica.  Aaron came back in the room because he knows the Spanish song and he sang the rest of it to her.

We finally settled down and finished a redbox movie that we'd rented over the weekend, he fell asleep, and I thanked God for the clarity of today and the good life that has been showered upon me.
Today is a good day.

Team of the Year

This is for long days, for a lot of grey hairs (which are hot, by the way), for working every day of vacation, and for not being able to take a single day of paternity leave.  It's for a lot of things, actually.  You put up with a lot this last year (both at work and at home with a very very sick wife) and not only did you rise above adversity, you excelled and met your numbers. And at the end of each day, you came home and gave another 100% of yourself to your family. 

 

Category Team of the Year. 

I am not surprised at all. 

This award is well deserved. You give only your best to this company and we are happy to see your hard work recognized and appreciated.  Job well done, Aaron. I am so proud of you. 

Where I've been

Remember when I posted a gigantic "to do" list of things that must be done before we list the house?
It's almost done.
Almost.

My goal was to list the house March 1.
Then it was to list it last Monday.
Well, Monday has come and gone, so I'm back to the March 1 plan. I should be able to get a sign up in the yard this coming monday at least, if I finish painting the doors.

The closet doors are up, the bedroom doors are in. All of the door casings and trims have been primed and painted bright white, the kitchen got a fresh coat of paint, a ton of furniture has been donated, sold, or moved to storage, and every room has received a thorough decluttering.  Aside from the gallery wall in my living room, all personal photos and portraits have been taken down and the bookshelves and closets have been thinned down significantly.
That doesn't sound like much, but just painting the door jams and dining room took 15 hours. The first 2 coats on the closet doors took another 5 hours. 20 hours x 2 (sometimes, 3) people = 40+ hours of painting. Mad props to Kasey for sticking most of em out with me. That is true friendship.

Aaron has spent many hours raking and hauling leaves out of the yard and restacking the 3 woodpiles into one neat pile. Winter also decided that it isn't ready to leave us, just yet, so he has kept our little family nice and warm by stoking a beautiful fire round the clock. We may have had snow followed by a small ice storm this week, but it got up to 78* inside this cozy love nest thanks to Aaron's fire tending skillz.  I will miss that wood burning stove.

I won't miss vacuuming wood chips and ashes out of the carpet at. all.

Oh! We celebrated Valentine's Day in there, somewhere, too.
Parties and candy overload for the children.
A family date (we always take the kids out to dinner on Valentine's Day. Yes, it is a lover's holiday, but we freaking love our children, so we date them on Valentine's Day and date each other over the weekend.  We went to Station Cafe with the kids (photos later, when I figure out how to get them off my phone where they are currently being held hostage by technology I am not advanced enough to keep up with.) Aaron bought me the most gorgeous orange tulips (my fave) I've ever seen and we gave each other very small but meaningful sentimental gifts of appreciation. It was nothing grand or fancy, but we don't have to be grand or fancy to love each other. It was a lovely love-day except for the whole fun-dip disaster. We don't talk about that. Fun Dip has been banned until the weather is warm enough to enjoy it outside.

Also, we found a house that we want.  No, it is not a farm on 3 acres like we dream of, but it does meet our family's needs, is in a great location near the girls' school, is for sale by owner, has a great kitchen, and the house does not need a bunch of work. (can I get an AMEN?) I love my home. I am glad that we purchased a modest home, and that I have been blessed with the skills and means to remodel it DIY style, but dang. I'm tired. Most days (not every day, but most days) I feel like I just want to move my little family into a house and never do another DIY project ever again. (she says after being up until midnight hanging tarpaper and cement board at Kasey's house in her soon-to-be custom tiled shower).
I know I'm a project junkie and I should never say never. But after two fixer-upper houses, I'm ready for a low maintenance home that needs cosmetic (aka fun/easy/inexpensive) work only.

So, what's left? 
-more touch up paint (does it ever end? no it does not.) on ceilings and wall touch ups, and one wall in the bathroom must be done.
-3rd coats on the bedroom doors. (2 wasn't quite enough, sadly. Those doors are just sucking up the paint. But with a 3rd coat they'll look fabulous!)
-baseboards. I've started them, but oh boy...painting baseboards is a long, tedious process. The end result is crisp and clean and totally worth it.
-clean out "Aaron's side" (aka the messy, cluttered size) of the garage and get the boat out of there.
-leaves, leaves, and more leaves.
-add live plants
-curb appeal, mulch, flowers, etc. (the bulbs are growing. Yay for tulips!)
-plant garden
-yell, "Driver, move that bus!" and pray that this little nest sells quickly, cuz' these birds are ready to fly.

Candy makers hate my carpet.

Mom, you were right.
Satan invented Fun Dip.
Dear mothers. Why? Of ALL the valentine candies you could have selected, WHY the Fun Dip? It's the worst.
1: It's not chocolate, so it is automatically sub par candy.
2: Packaging.  Ii is impossible for a child to open a Fun Dip without powder exploding all over the place and getting inhaled.
3: The Crazies.  I'm still not sure if kids go crazy after eating a Fun Dip because it is pure sugar dipped in sugar, if it is because it is full of food dye, or because of it's powdered nature.  Know why they call it a "sugar high?" because half of the candy was actually consumed via snorting it like a line of coke when the package was opened (see #2). The kids quite literally, are high.
4: The mess. Now I'm all for letting my kids free-for-all on their hard earned holiday goodies, but the Fun Dip just cannot be trusted. I just sent the children outside to finish their valentine candy so I could have some space while I attempt to clean the gigantic blueish greenish stain out of my carpet.
5: The mess. Oh, did I already say the mess in #4, well it gets two bullets because of the blueish greenish stained teeth and tongues and fingers and clothing. Still waiting for the blue diaper.
6: The mess. Yes again, because I have THREE children that were given Fun Dip today, and the third fun dip has been spilled all over the back patio.  Case in point.

Fun Dip ranks just below cats in my book.

Calzones and Congratulations

Aaron started his new job today as a Sr Buyer for Neighborhood Market today.  He will miss his team and the experiences/opportunities he had in juice, but knows this is a good move for his career path. Bonus: now all of you can stop feeling guilty every time you pass the juice aisle without making a purchase.  But you should definitely start buying meat at Neighborhood Market if you have one nearby and support team Willy.

To celebrate Aaron's new job, I thought it would be fun to get the kids involved to help show our appreciation for the sacrifices Aaron makes for us to live as comfortably as we do.  We're making one of his favorite dinners tonight. Calzones.  It is simple, easy, and wonderful and comes from my friend Tonya, who is not simple or easy ;), but very wonderful. 

Congrats, Aaron!  We are so grateful for all of the hard work you do for our family. Your work ethic exceeds excellence on all counts. We love you.  

Calzones

2 ½ to 3 c. Flour         

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt                     

2 ¼ tsp yeast

3 Tbsp Oil                   

1 c. very warm Water (120 to 130 degrees)

Italian Seasoning to taste

for later use:

Butter

Garlic Salt

Basil

Mix flour, sugar, salt, italian seasoning and yeast in large bowl. Add oil and warm water.  Mix until dough is soft and eaves sides of bowl.  Place dough on lightly floured surface.  Knead 5 to 8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.  

To braid bread (after it is done raising) : Split dough in half.  Take section and roll into a thin rectangle (probably a 1/4 inch or so... pretty thin).  Drip melted butter in center of dough and spread within an inch from all edges (don't want the edges wet!).  Then put toppings down the middle of the rectangle maybe a width of two inches. (I quarter my pepperoni/ham to make them more bites size).  I layer the meat first (pepperoni or ham) then the pineapple, olives... and then the cheese.  From there you will take a butter knife or pizza cutter and slice straight lines from the edge of the toppings, out to the edge of the bread, on both sides-- (make sure you have the same amount of strips)  Then you just start at the top and cross, the left piece goes across the toppings (angled slighly down), right goes over the left (angled slightly down) and repeat.  At the end, you just pinch the bottom shut after the last braid.

After calzones are assembled, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and basil.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes (give or take).  

They think it's funny

This morning I went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready for church and Aaron shouted, "Get back! There's a beaver in our shower!"

Then he died laughing because I had been alarmed and jumped back 2 feet. 

There was no beaver. Obviously.

There WAS something that looked like a dead animal in our shower. 

It was the massive amounts of my hair that had fallen out of my head.

It happens with every baby, right around 4-5 months.

My hair falls out by the hand full. 

I'm not talking about a few extra strays and fly-aways here and there. I'm talking every time I brush my hair, I cannot see the base of my brush, because it is so full of hair. I have to clean out my brush every time I use it, or hallway through styling my hair, because the brush is so clogged with my hair that it can't be used. And when I wipe down the shower after I use it, I could build a kitten with everything I've shed.  It's pretty sad. 

Not to the males in this house, apparently. They think it's funny to watch all of your hair fall out, and they think it's even funnier that it makes me cry.

 Tonight, this little baby guy thought it was REALLY funny to pull my hair out, and would grab a fist full and then laugh so hard we thought he'd pass out. 

He thought it was so funny when I would squeal and he was giggling so much that his face turned red.

Aaron took some video and pictures of the action because we've never heard Soren laugh so hard.

Baby belly laughs are the best.

Good thing I have a lot of hair to spare.  

Gospel Principles

Q has been assigned to give the talk in primary tomorrow.
Her topic: Why the Fall of Adam is an important part of God's Plan.
Oh boy. This should be a good one.

Goal: Help Quincy better understand The Fall and the blessings that came from The Fall, and develop her self confidence in delivering a talk to 50 of her peers.
Reasonable Goal: Help Quincy resist the urge to giggle and say the word "poop" into the microphone.

Accomplishing any of the above will be considered a total parenting success.