Borrowing Others' Words

After watching this video, I've been thinking about how much I completely AGREE with it. I hope you watch it and enjoy it too.

Verbalizing

The boys are doing SO much better at verbalizing what they want. They're also accomplished at yelling and screaming at one another. I love them dearly....but the high pitched wailing MUST stop, along with the shouts of "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Jake took my ------ (fill in the blank)"

I guess this is my pay back for treating my own siblings so poorly growing up.

Jake has gotten better at his words as well. He also finds it hilarious to blame Cameron for something, and then watching Cameron get in trouble. Yeah, we're talking about a 20 month old child. He's WAY too smart for his own good.
The sad thing is how he is constantly reminding me through out the day, "Mama, Tameron on bus." "Mama, Tameron bye-bye." He loves his brother, and even dances when the bus drops Cam off at home, but after that first giddy minute, we have fighting and screaming.

I know this is typical sibling behavior, but there are days, and lately they're more and more, when I would just love the boys to sit quietly next to each other and share politely.

Yeah, it's a dream, don't squash it.

Wordless Wednesday

Positive Thoughts from a Prophet

For anyone feeling overwhelmed or frustrated with life, a few words:

"My dear sisters, do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks. Then the performance of your tasks will not be a miracle, but YOU will be the miracle."

~Thomas S. Monson

BE the miracle!!

Tea Towel Apron Tutorial

I've had people interested in making the tea towel aprons, so I figured I'd share. :) Step 1:

Take your open tea towel,upside-down, and put the two top corners together. (I tack them together, so they don't flop around.)

Step 2:

Find the middle of the towel, and measure down four fingers and pin the apron. (If you want the top smaller, that's fine too, but this makes a good average sized top.)

Step 3:
Depending on the size of ribbon you have for your tea towel, you will need to make two pockets down the sides of the pinned towel. Back-stitch at the beginning and the end.

Step 4:

Thread ribbon, enough to go around your neck and to tie in the back, through the newly-sewn pockets. (A good average length for the ribbon is 9 feet.)

Optional:

I have sewn the ribbon at the top, enough room for my neck, so that it doesn't slip too much.

Simple and easy. If I can do it, you can too! :)

Hooked on Relief Society Worked For Me

Last night we had a Relief Society meeting that focused on simple sewing. I'm all over anything that touts "simple"!

I signed up to make tea-towel aprons. I was SO happy to see how easy and CUTE they were. I ended up making FIVE of them. (And I'm going to go to the craft store again and get MORE!)

I love feeling crafty!

Learning About the Birds and the Bees

Please don't throw tomatoes, but I haven't educated Cameron (who is 9, but mentally is about 5) about sex. He knows that everyone has private parts that shouldn't be touched or looked at, but he's never had any interest in knowing where babies come from, not even when I was pregnant with Jake.

On Sunday I came home from my parents' house, and turned on my favorite channel, TLC. They were showing a program called "Strange Sex." If I had KNOWN what it was called before I started watching it, I would have stopped watching it while my boys were sitting there with me.

They were showing a woman who was talking about how she was allergic to her husband's sperm, and how they REALLY wanted to have a baby, but it was difficult. Cameron, being the sensitive kid that he is, asked me, "Mom, why can't that lady have a baby?"

This seemed like a good opportunity to share with him the truth about where babies come from, and let him know that I realize that he's growing up and that he deserves to know the truth. So I told him that she was allergic to her husband's sperm, and that when babies are made a daddy gives sperm and mommies have eggs.

He stopped for a second and then he said, "MOM! Chickens make eggs....mommies don't!"

I told him that even though it sounds funny, it's true. Then he said, "Eggs are BIG and HARD!"

Yeah, I probably should have been informing this child a little earlier! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Just a few random pictures because I want to blog, but don't know what to say. Enjoy! :)

I'm NO Maid...

For a VERY long time, I've wanted my house to be cleaner, but I am NOT, in any way, shape or form, a good housekeeper. My house has always been a little dirtier than I would like, and dishes and bathrooms were the BANE of my existence. I had just resigned myself to always having a messy house.

Then I heard about FlyLady, and I decided to give it a go, especially after one of my friends told me that after a week of trying this method she had a BUNCH of kids over to play and wasn't worried about cleaning or how her house looked. I WANTED that. I figured that if it didn't work, then I'd have at least tried.

So I went to the website and signed up. I have been trying this for about a month now, and even though my house isn't EXACTLY how I wanted, it is SO much cleaner than I had ever hoped.

Not only that, but I'm happier. I get up every day and get dressed (to the shoes, or slippers...I guess I'm not QUITE flying yet...) and I'm ready. Who knew that just a few simple things would make me happier.

My sink is shiny (a BIG thing for me) my counters in my kitchen are clutter and even DISH free. It feels GREAT to go in there and make dinner (which I have always dreaded...) or to do dishes. My bed is made and makes my room look WAY cleaner than it really is. I've even felt inspired to beautify my surroundings, even though I'm only renting. I've hung curtains on EVERY window in our apartment, and it feels more homey. I still have a long way to go until I'm completely flying, but for now, I'm doing VERY well, and I'm happy. Baby steps work! And I can DO anything!

Boys' Valentines' Bouquet

I ordered a balloon bouquet for the boys earlier this week. I asked that they be delivered after 3:00 on Friday, so Cam would be home, but I guess they decided to deliver them early. (In fact, Jake was napping, and Cam was at school, so I was the only one who enjoyed the delivery part of the balloons anyway.) So I quickly woke Jake up (he DID need a bath anyway...) and kept playing up the fact that Mommy and Daddy had a gift for him downstairs. The poor boy's been SO miserable, he just wanted to nap, but I convinced him to get cleaned up.I raced him down the stairs, and grabbed the camera....All he could say when he saw them was, "Boons!" Then I pulled them down for him to enjoy, he brought them to me, and said, "Fix it!" Meaning, he wants me to pull a balloon off so he can play. When Cam got home, I told him to wait in the hallway while I grabbed the camera. He was intrigued, but did as he was told. Then he came around the corner and just stared. Then I told him to check out the card on the balloons. After he opened it, and *tried* to get Jake to see it too, he asked, "Can I play the Wii now?"

Nice! :P

Magic Words

Tonight, while driving home, we heard some obnoxious boy noises from the backseat. (A.K.A. Someone burped.) Steve tried to tease the boys and said, "I heard that!"

Of course, living in a house of boys, there was much snickering heard from the backseat.

Then Steve said, "What do you say?"

A small voice in the back called out, "PLEASE!"

My Baby's Getting SO Big!

During lunch the other day, when I was half-way through my sandwich, and Jake was nearly done eating his "o-gut" he stopped and looked at me and said, "MAMA!! Prayer!"

I said, "Oh, you want to say a prayer?" He bobbed his head and instantly folded his arms.

So I quickly said a little prayer, then began eating the rest of my lunch.

A few seconds later, "MAMA!! Prayer!"

"Again? Do you want to say it this time?" He said a quick "YEAH!" and then he proceeded to bless things (I believe "Tameron" was blessed multiple times.)

After he was done, I began to eat again. Not long after that, "MAMA!! PRAYER!" (This was said with a HUGE grin.)

After a few more rounds of prayers, he gave up.

How cute is he though? Reminding ME to pray?

I Could NEVER Be Miss America

Well, aside from the OBVIOUS reasons (I'm not a "Miss" anymore, I don't have the beauty pageant looks, I'm WAY too old....) I realized that I could NEVER be Miss America.

Over the weekend, while watching the show (LOVE the show...it's just so fun to watch...) I was getting caught up in the excitement. Rooting for the one I felt most represented me. During the question and answer portion (which is a WHOPPING 30% of the total score, the announcers remind us...) I was fascinated with how the girls changed around any uncomfortable questions, and turned them back to, "If you make me Miss America, then I would...." I believe world peace was up for grabs....

One of the questions was SO odd to me, that it was THEN that I truly realized I could NOT be Miss America, who is full of grace and tact....

This year's questions came from the public. No doctored questions from high falutin' judges, the PEOPLE on the street, or the strip, as they were in Vegas asked the questions...

The question that got me? "The United States of America is the fore-runner among the countries of the world for donating money and resources to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Do you think it's a good thing to be doing in this economy?"

*waiting for the stunned silence*

The contestant who had that question again, did the Miss America thing. She kept the answer "status quo" and didn't make waves.

My immediate thought, "ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!? Why WOULDN'T our country give to those who are suffering and IN need. Just because you live in one of the richest countries in the world, you have a home and food, boo hoo, you have to use welfare, but hey, you HAVE welfare available to you....why CAN'T we help? You know, if you think they're ROLLING in the money and donations so much, why don't you go live there?!"

Yeah, see, I'd lose.

Pillow Talk

Steve's been working late nights this weekend. I've been sick all weekend. It was kind of a rough weekend for my poor little boys. I decided on Saturday, after a miserable day, that I wasn't going to go to church. Cameron, once he heard the news said, "MOM!! That's two days in a ROW!!"

I giggled and said, "No, actually that's two weeks in a row. Good try though."

Can I just say that I'm VERY happy that Cam wants to go to church. I find that a HUGE accomplishment.

Anyway, Steve came to bed at 5:00 Sunday morning. I wasn't expecting him home until 6:30 or 7:00...he was working graveyard, so I knew that he was home early. I asked him why he was home. (I know, nice, right?) He told me that someone came in early so that he could get a little bit of sleep so that he could go to church. I was excited for Cameron to go to church.

We fell asleep.

My internal alarm clock woke me up around 7:00 am. I asked Steve what time it was and he got a little miffed and said, "White milk!"

Um, try that again...

"Steve, look at your alarm clock. What time does it say?"

After rolling back from his alarm clock, he said "White milk oh four!"

After that sweet conversation, I KNEW that man needed more sleep, so I didn't push the fact that I wanted him to take Cameron to church.