Gotta Have Faith da Faith da Faith

You know all those jokes about the wife always being right and the husband being too stupid to figure it out till after the fact? Well, it's the opposite in our house. Steve is always right. And I'm not saying that with a hint of sarcasm either. Really! I can't tell you how many times I've ended up calling him in the middle of the day to say out loud those 3 words nobody likes to say: You were right! However, even after 11 years of marriage, I still always have to come up with reasons to doubt him. I don't know why, it's like some kind of sick reflex, a lesson I cannot learn, which is to just have some faith in my husband!
Lately, I think I might finally be making strides in this area though. We've had a lot of stuff break around the house lately. I don't consider us the Do-It-Yourself types, but Steve does fix computers and printers for a living so he's been transferring that knowledge to appliances lately. Our washer broke twice earlier this year and both times Steve was able to figure out the problem and fix it. I was impressed. So, when, in the last 2 weeks our basement tv, the washer (yes, again!) and our microwave broke and Steve wanted to try and fix them, I swallowed my doubt and said, yeah, go ahead and let's see what you can do. He was able to figure out the problem with the tv, order the needed part and fix it. He then figured out what was wrong with the washer and is in the process of ordering the part for that as well. The microwave, alas, could not be saved (we knew what the problem was but it proved to be unfixable). But 2 out of 3 is not bad at all! I'm getting really proud of him by this point. I'm seriously impressed at his fixing abilities. I don't know if I'm ready for him to rip up our flooring and install some laminate like he's been wanting to do for the past few years himself, but I'm pretty much ready to hand him anything appliance related over to him to give it a try. He's got a real talent and has even inspired me to maybe overcome my fear of decorating the house myself for fear of doing a bad job because having a little faith in him means I might have a little in myself as well.

Distracted Mom Syndrome

My family swears I'm going deaf. Seriously. The hubs has even gone so far as to subtly suggest that a hearing test isn't out of the question. It' s because half the time anyone talks to me I answer with "What?" or "What was that? Can you repeat that?" However, I am here today to defend my hearing, so don't worry people, it's not deafness, it's DMS--Distracted Mom Syndrome. Never heard of it? Well, I bet you can guess what it's referring to. It's what happens when you have 4 different voices constantly coming at you from all sides when you are trying to do ________________(fill in the blank). Yep, from doing the dishes, to getting dressed, to making meals, it's not enough to have to concentrate on these tasks without answering a hundred questions and/or needs at once as well. So it's a problem of concentration I say, not hearing. I'm not much of a multi-tasker. In fact, once upon a time my preferred method of doing things was one at a time. I have a great ability to focus on one thing at a time and then move on to the next thing. However, my acute ability to focus, while serving me in the past, is a pure hindrance as a mom. Having my focus constantly broken is what has led to my "hearing loss" dear family. If only they could form a line and ask me something one at a time once I was done with something. Only, I've noticed, I'm never done with my "somethings" and so am I just trying to avoid my family? Maybe... And I was joking about the forming a line thing too...
Anyways, what is a mom to do? If you, like me, are afflicted with DMS are we to just drop everything and serve those little needs that are constantly bombarding us? Like anything else, I'm sure there's some kind of balance that can be reached, but till then, I'll stick with the prescription of hiding in a corner with a book for awhile till the voices die down...ok, or maybe I'll work harder to teach my kids to wait or do more things for themselves or maybe I will just go get those hearing aids and then proceed to turn them off between the hours of 10-2 so mommy can have a hearing break :)

In the Sun He Melted

It only took me 6 1/2 years and 3 kids to finally build a snowman with my children (ok, only one of my children...) but it sure was fun! Too bad, the snowy guy's life was so short lived, but I guess that's what happens when you are "born" in March. Here's to many more snowmen building....next winter :)
here's Justin making some snowball soup and above that, a pic of my little helpers, Spencer and Justin :)

Sacrament Chat

I love how conversations with small children can take unexpected turns. For example, last Sunday during the passing of the bread and water during sacrament, I had a talk with my 3 year old that went something like this:

Justin: Mom! This is some yummy bread!
Me: Yes, we eat the bread in order to think about Jesus
Justin: (sounding really excited) Jesus likes to eat yummy bread too!?
Me: um, sure sweetie...(not quite the connection I was trying to make, but ok...)
(a minute later)
Justin: Mom, draw Jesus!
Me: ok
(I draw Jesus on a piece of paper for him)
Justin: Look! Jesus is exploding! (as he scribbles all over the picture I had just drawn)
Now you can't see Jesus because he is all exploded! (as he points proudly to a now big black scribbled blob)

Hmm, so does this count as thinking about Jesus during the sacrament? I'd say we're moving in the right direction :) Maybe....

Some of My Favorite Things

After being sick and having sick kids for over a week, being back to normal has never felt so good. I've really been enjoying normal this week. In fact, I haven't been stressing about exercise, eating, cleaning, cooking dinner or being dressed before noon very much at all this week. I know, highly unusual for me! I'm just enjoying me and my family being healthy. And so far, I haven't missed the stress all that much, go figure!
On that positive note, I wanted to go a step further and share with you things that make me happy. And yes, I will be giving them to you in list form :)

1. My friend Carrie's blog: Carrie and Company Carrie and I first met each other about 5 years ago when we both lived in Salinas, CA. We became fast friends and now that I don't get to see her any more (she lives in Vegas, me in Utah), I follow her through her blog. To me, her blog has the perfect mix of craft projects, menu ideas, and life stories. I love how she writes and her blog is really what I wish mine was more like Anyways, Carrie is one amazing and funny gal. As sweet as could be, she's the kind of girl you wished lived across the street from you cause she'd babysit your kids in a heartbeat, redecorate your bathroom creatively and cheaply if you asked her to, and wouldn't hesitate to let you borrow a cup of sugar or two. Carrie and her blog make me happy :)

2. Masterpiece Theatre adaptations of classic novels. Don't get me wrong, Masterpiece Theatre isn't perfect, they've had their share of mistakes, but when they get it right, they get it right. I love their recent remakes of Jane Eyre, Little Dorritt, Emma and Sense and Sensibility to name a few. There is nothing better after a long day than to pop one of those DVDs in and lose myself in some 19th century literary fantasticness.

3. My husband's cooking. And it's just not the fact that it's not me cooking, Steve really makes awesome food. Who else thinks to sprinkle cocoa on peppermint ice cream or figures out how to make the perfect grilled cheese in a cast iron skillet? He's a food genius!

4. In & Out Burgers, Chick-Fil-A, Zupas Soup and Salad and Cafe Rio Pork Salad. I think I could eat at one of these 4 places every day and be very happy. Yum (not eating for a week makes you think of your favorite foods :)

5. Talking on the phone with friends. I know, when you have small children at home, the person calling you never knows what they are going to get. But when the fates align and I can get a good half hour in chatting with a friend, it's like heaven on earth. Not only do I get adult contact, I get to catch up with some of my favorite people. I just love talking on the phone!

6. Another thing that makes me happy, that I had forgot made me happy, but was able to rediscover how happy it makes me is when Steve helps with the housework. Let me just say, my only qualifications I really had when looking for a husband was one, he could deal with me and my craziness and still love me (he had to get me, ya know?), and that he could cook and clean. I did not worry about anything else (really). Steve met these qualifications, but sometimes I forget that he's a cleaner, I let him get by with just folding some laundry now and again. But when we were all sick Steve shouldered the household tasks beautifully and it was such a relief! I really need to remind him not to hide that talent under a bushel anymore :)

Ok, that's all for now. Sorry my list wasn't more materialistic, I mean, maybe you were expecting me to name my favorite vegetable peeler or something like that. Plus, I'm not Oprah, so after reading this list you aren't going to get a copy of every Masterpiece Theatre movie on DVD or anything. But thanks for reading anyways. What are some of your favorite things? Or just things that make you happy?

Virus Attacks!

This is not your average cold or stomach flu, oh no, this Virus means business! It means to infect at least half your family and stay for a week and cause as much pain and misery as possible. Yes, meet my houseguest for the last week, the Virus. Beware, this post contains graphic stories of pain and puking...
A week ago today, last Friday, I woke up not feeling so good, but then I felt a little better and managed to get through my day, at least until the evening when I went to IKEA. That trip was pure excruciating torture. Even once we got home, I was still thinking all this back and stomach pain was caused by something I did! I thought I had hurt my back and it was giving me a stomach ache too. I took some medicine, pain just kept getting worse. I didn't get to sleep that night till 4am I was in so much pain and I just wanted to puke and get it over with. No dice.
To make a long story short, I didn't finally put two and two together that I had the Virus until Sunday. By then, Evan was sick too with the same stomach pain that had been plaguing me. Finally, by Tuesday, I could get around and Steve was relieved of some of his Mr. Mom duties. I didn't dare eat anything but yogurt, the only thing that didn't give me lots of stomach pain. Good thing I felt a little better Tuesday because that evening Owen came down with the Virus. Only, this time, the puke showed up. Poor baby, he puked and puked and puked.
Now, this Virus was sneaky. You'd pass a miserable night in pain to wake up feeling like you might be better, go through your day reasonably well, only to be attacked by awful pain and/or puking by the evening thus leading to another night of awful, miserable pain. So by Wednesday night, I have a miserable puking baby, Evan with a stomach ache and me with my horrible back/stomach pain praying Steve would cut short his Young Men's activity and come rescue me (he did).
Thursday Owen had it the worst, more puking and misery for him :( My normally busy baby was reduced to lethargy, just laying on my lap till the next puking session began, it was soooo sad!!
Seven days people, seven days! Before I had a day without pain. I thought I would pass out from not eating, or just give up from the pain that eating seemed to cause. Evan is on day 6 now, he finally went back to school today. Owen is on day 4, I expect more puking from him for the next day or two. Then, I hope the Virus is satisfied to leave us alone for a couple of months!!