Wimpy Single Mom

Brandon's been out of town for most of the week and doesn't get home until tomorrow. I'm so lucky because he doesn't travel for work except this one training a year, and he goes on his yearly deer hunt. Only TWO times a year is he gone from me. And because he's rarely home in the evenings due to church and work meetings I should be use to not having him around. Come over here and tell that to the half a cheesecake and box of cookies I've eaten. I definitely take comfort in food! Now I still have more time to kill before he comes home and I'm out of baked goods! What will I do? I guess I better get baking! If my buttons are popping off my dress on Sunday, you'll know why. It's a good thing he only is gone twice a year, or I'd be significantly larger than I already am!

I grew up with a dad that travels A LOT, and I watch many other moms with traveling husbands. Then there are single moms that NEVER get a break . . . even on the weekends! I take my hat off to you ladies. I couldn't do it! I'M A WIMP! My patience with the kids runs thin quickly. Their silliness and hyperactivity is just more than I can take! (And I have to say, they've actually been pretty good - no MAJOR trauma - which further proves that I'M A WIMP!) Just knowing there will be no daddy here for even 30 minutes in the evening to break up our day makes living very anti-climatic.

And then there's night time. I lay awake with my super-sensitive hearing turned way up listening to every tiny sound terrified that someone will break into our home while Brandon's away. I'm sure watching murder mystery TV shows before bed doesn't help my imagination much. It's just another example of why I'M A WIMP!

I'm so grateful to Brandon and the good, patient husband that he is. (Now you're getting a glimpse of what he has to deal with!) I don't know what I'd do without him! Hurry home, Daddy! The Boogey Man is breaking down the door trying to take away Mommy's cheesecake while the children run around screaming their heads off!

The Funny Sayings of Children

I find it hilarious some of the things my kids say as they try to attach meaning to the new words they learn. Professionally speaking, they change the words and sounds around so they fit into their existing knowledge. It's through repeated experiences with new information that they understand things correctly. This is called scaffolding. Here are some recent utterances from my children:

Jacob - "I just love the show 'Little House on the Fairy!'" (like on a fairy boat? - now THAT would be a completely different show!)

Jacob loves to write on his "paper holder" (clip board - he came up with the other name himself - it makes sense, as least!)

Jacob - "Where's my 'minder?'" (his BINDER - but if anyone knows where I can get a real MINDER, I sure would love one for each of my kids!)

Sarah - "Let's go to Health E. Cheese's!" (Chuck E. Cheese's - Sarah's version only exists in Opposite World!)

For whatever reason, Jacob add's a /n/ sound to words that start with the letter "u." So, naturally, Sarah does now too. For example, we live in N-utah, and Jacob likes to n-use markers to color with.

Sarah's pretty funny because she's always competing with Jacob for talking time and attention. However, she can't always think of something interesting to say, so she just makes up words.
"That other sock is 'skippy.'"
"I don't want to play with that doll because it's 'plucky.'"
(Okay. Of course I agree . . . whatever, Darling!)

And, this isn't scaffolding, but it's hilarious. On a couple of occasions when Jacob's in a bad mood I'll hear, "I HATE going potty! I'm NEVER going potty again!" (Yeah . . . good luck with that! It's not even worth my time to argue. I just say, "Okay.")

Oh, how I love their endearing little ways about them. One day they'll be obnoxious teenagers and their words won't be quite so cute. I hope they never grow up!

There's Only One Mommy Here!

Of course there are bound to be hectic moments when you have three small children at home with you all day. Today we had one such moment. I was trying to clean up lunch, get kids down for naps, and try and grab a bite to eat myself before passing out as I felt my blood sugar plummet. All the while Jacob's begging me to change the batteries on his remote control car NOW, Sarah's needing a hang nail cut off her finger because apparently the pain is pretty intense and she'll die any minute, and Jonah's crawling around eating shoes and playing in the toilet while crying for his bottle and nap. I finally yelled out in exasperation, "Look! There's only ONE mommy here!" Jacob turns to Sarah and said, "We need 4 mommies!" Not that I'm promoting polygamy or anything, but that sounds about right to me! Then maybe I could catch up on my cleaning, laundry, bills, give each child all the attention they desire, and still have a chance to relax and read my new bookclub book!

Then my heart melted when Jacob, as the eldest sibling and setting the example, said, "It's okay, Mommy. You can change my car batteries during quiet time." And Sarah followed by saying, "Yeah, Mommy, my finger's okay for a minute. You can cut off my owie after Jonah has his bottle." So off they went to play happily together and wait their turn for Mommy's attention while I caught up on the other stuff. Who could ask for better kids?!

Our Christmas

December is such a busy time of year! I don't know that I want to write about everything that we did. (But be forewarned, this is long and for family journaling!) However, I think the kids were sufficiently able to feel of the holiday cheer. We went went to the Kaysville Light Parade with cousins, saw the Willard lights with Nanny, delivered neighbor gifts, made Christmas sugar cookies, went to Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, and several Christmas dinners for Brandon and me (which means lots of fun babysitters for the kids, $$$=AAAHH).

On the Monday before Christmas, the kids, with all their cousins, acted out the nativity. Jacob was a shepherd, Sarah was an angel, and I threw some cow-print fabric over Jonah so he could crawl around pretending to be a cow. It's pretty amusing to watch and quite hectic!

Then Brandon sang "Star of Bethlehem" for his mom, which is her favorite, and he did a beautiful job, of course!

To top off the evening, Nanny read a couple of great Christmas stories while the children sat at her feet spell-bound. It's pretty cute!

This year was our FIRST Christmas in our OWN HOME! Can you believe it? We had such a great time! Christmas Eve we went with Nanny and Papa to Benihana's for dinner. I'm thinking that sounds like a great new tradition! No cooking involved, and the kids were absolutely fascinated with the chef! I have to admit, I was pretty worried the meal would last too long and the kids wouldn't like the food. It could have been a disaster! Instead, they loved watching the chef juggle his knives and spatulas, create an onion volcano, and toss shrimp onto their plates and in his hat. In fact, Jacob now plays restaurant while pretending to be the chef throwing things around! As for the food, well, the hostess fixed up some chopsticks for the kids with a paper in between and rubber band so they could learn to use them. They were so consumed with using the chopsticks, it didn't matter what food we put in front of them, they ate whatever just to use the chopsticks!

After dinner we went home and opened their gifts from me . . . Christmas pajamas! They were so excited and looked pretty cute in their matching jammies. That's definitely something we'll do again next year! Then we got ready for bed, put out treats for Santa and his reindeer, read a few Christmas stories with Nanny and Papa, and off to bed they went! Nanny and Papa stayed a little longer to play games with Brandon and me, then they went home too.

Brandon and I had a great time setting up for Santa . . . until I realized I didn't have the needed batteries for Jacob's remote control car! Panic! Who uses 9 volt batteries, anyway? What store will be open on Christmas Eve at 10:30 p.m.? I'll tell you now, it wasn't Albertson's or Bowman's, but Walgreens . . . where I found other parents there buying forgotten batteries for their own children's toys. Walgreens could have tripled their prices on batteries that night and any parent would have paid the amount just to see their child play with the beloved new toy Christmas morning!Just as we were about to crawl into bed, about 11:30 p.m., Jacob wakes up literally shaking with excitement! It took us another hour to get him to go to bed!

Christmas morning we finally went out about 7:30 a.m., after the kids had patiently been waiting for TWO HOURS (I can't believe it myself) while Brandon and I stalled for more sleep (I know, good luck getting that to happen again). I have to say, it was a pretty perfect Christmas this year! Brandon completely (and well over the budget) spoiled me this year with a new vacuum. I also got a beautiful picture of Christ, snow boots and some clothes. Brandon got a ladder, snow boots and clothes, and Crest Whitestrips (poor Brandon). Jacob got a remote control car, a camera, and a clock for his wall. Sarah got a dollhouse, stroller, and a ballerina music box. Jonah got a Busy Ball Popper, xylophone, and a new laundry hamper (that's what happens when you're too young to know better).

After opening presents we had my family's traditional Christmas breakfast of bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. I have to admit, I shamed my mother by not making the rolls from scratch! I just simply ran out of time! But Rhodes frozen rolls saved the day at our house . . . and they were pretty good too!
We had a wonderful, relaxing day with each other! Nanny and Papa stopped by so the kids could show off their new stuff. Then they got their traditional gift, which I love, from Nanny and Papa! A new book for each child, and a gift certificate for an experience. I have to hand it to them, my in-law's realized long ago that the kids don't need more stuff. And since they live close enough to all their grandchildren to do it, they take each of their 14 grandchildren on an outing sometime during the year. That's quite a scheduling feat! They make it a really special day for the kids giving them Nanny and Papa's undivided attention for that time, and taking them to dinner also. Jonah gets to go to the zoo, Sarah to the circus, and Jacob to his choice of the rodeo, the dinosaur museum, or the fish farm! They can't wait!

I just love Christmas! We feel so blessed to have so much, most of all our health, our safety, and each other!

Our Human Pinball

As a parent, you just gotta love the times when your children outgrow their naps. Not only is it sad to not have that quiet little break anymore during the day, but until the child adjusts to no naps he/she is constantly overtired! When Jacob outgrew all of his naps, he was just moody and tired all the time. Sarah, however, has been totally different. She has literally become a human pinball! She's always been a girl that loves to bounce and jump. That was the first thing she taught herself to do as soon as she could walk, even before running. Jumping! Which was well before children are suppose to be able to jump developmentally. And ya know how doctors and researchers say that many children are misdiagnosed with ADHD simply because of lack of sleep? Well, I can totally see why. Anyone who didn't know Sarah would think she has ADHD right now. I've even wondered myself in my exhausted moments! She is actually bouncing off the walls, and getting the bumps and bruises to prove it! The other morning she came into our bedroom, and Brandon and I watched her bounce from my dresser, to Brandon's dresser, to the bed, off my nightstand and finally land on the floor all within about 3 seconds. Then she rolled over and ran out of the room. We just couldn't keep ourselves from laughing at our little human pinball. Yesterday, as I came to pick her up from her music class, her teacher told all the parents that the kids were a little hyper in class . . . but she was looking DIRECTLY at me smiling. I apologized for Sarah's disruptive bounciness as I watched her continue to bounce off the walls and other children! Oh my, what's a parent to do but wait for the phase to pass. So if any of you see us at church or store and Sarah seems increasingly hyper or obnoxious, please don't think we're bad parents! Feel sorry for us! We're pretty worn out!