Everything's bigger in the Midwest

Okay, this has been a weird transition period for me. In Utah, we have exactly 2 seasons. Freezing, and construction. Here in Chicagoland, there is an actual Spring. Like with rain, and thunder and lightning, and everything. I certainly don't miss hearing about "the drought" like it is some sort of disease. So along with rain comes several things I'm not familiar with. First is the birds.

They come out in droves. Or would it be flocks? But they descend upon the yards as if they are a moving carpet of worm devourers. It's strangely beautiful.


Which brings me to the worms. Look at these things! I have my foot there for size reference, not because I was going to squish it. Not only are they ginormous, they come out and basically cover the driveway. When the rains subside, the asphalt is plastered with little shriveled worm corpses. When we subsequently draw on the asphalt with chalk, as kids tend to do, their little corpses are peeled up like scabs. It's disgusting.


And here's Maggie looking very concerned about the whole worm/bird/nature situation. She is not a nature lover. Everyday she asks me if there will be bees out. I always say no. I always lie. Sorry.

Convalesce

Patient arrived home at approximately 10:30 AM EDT on Tuesday. He basically walked up the porch steps, up the back staircase, and fell into bed, and has moved nary a muscle for hours now. He ate a blue popsicle at the hospital this morning, and has a residual blue tint on his teeth, which is actually a nice change from the blood stains that were there yesterday. Although it does cause me to envision a Smurf colony has taken up inside the hole where the uvula used to be.

Patient has not needed pain meds, as of yet, which is disturbing considering I waited an hour for them at Wal-Mart. Doesn't he understand? Just take one, honey, it will make us both feel better. But this is actually a good sign that his pain is under control. I expect patient to remain sleepy, or sleeping, for the rest of the day and probably all day tomorrow. I just hope he'll find a time in there to take a shower. Hope hope hope.

We have removal

It's official. The removula was completed today at 10:30 AM EDT. The patient is stable, groggy, but otherwise progressing nicely. It is planned for patient to be discharged Tuesday morning, as early as possible, as his wife hates seeing him in a hospital gown and bed. She is a very demanding woman. Ice pack for his overheating, no tea or coffee on his food tray, please, and keep the popsicles coming. She also doesn't believe the Nurse effectively took his temperature or blood pressure, and is concerned by his lower than normal oxygen saturation. However, all of these issues will be resolved through the night, with careful observation.

And that is all, folks.

Thank you for the many well-wishing emails and phone calls. And a special thanks to my little helper for taking my kid and not complaining about a 6AM intruder. You rock.

Mother's Day Week

To my mom

There are so many things that make you who you are. I couldn't possibly sum it all up in just a few paragraphs, or pages, for that matter. So I enlisted some help. Together we have racked our brains, smiled, laughed, cried, and felt pangs of homesickness, all to pay tribute to you, and your wonderful self.

Remember all those times you had to sit with me in school? Sorry.
I laugh when I think of all the times we had church activities, and you were always in charge. Always.
Making sandwiches on the cooler in the boat, and you only forgot the knife once.
The smell of Gardenia lotion in your bedroom.
The way you have the B. in your name.
Putting your family first, even when it's hard.
Discovering that you might have a bit of a rebel in you. Just a bit.
Au Gratin potatoes and chicken noodle soup. And Nasi. And turkey dinner, and rolls, and roll-ups, and I think we eat too much...
The way you send out cards "just because" to random people.
The way you keep friends for a hundred years.
Trying to find your way out of the ZCMI parking garage.
Keeping your cool when your sweet Cadillac lost the brakes on the way home from the mall.
Flying away at a moments notice when one of us needs you.
Using the "facilities" in a nice new house, when there was no running water.
Always saying "this too shall pass" and other fine words of wisdom.
Staying calm when the motorhome battery exploded, and just blowing out the flame.
Saying "Time to find a beach".
Pokey.
The yellow Blazer.
Your beautiful fingernails.
The way you love every piece of jewelry you've ever owned.
Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shall I go on?
And last but certainly not least, QVC.

Mom, we love you. You are the rock we cling to, the light in our tunnel, and most of all, our friend forever. We couldn't do any of this "life" stuff without you.

Happy Mother's Day

*Thanks to all the sibs who helped out with this. Hopefully we aren't written out the will. Yet.

Mother's Day Week

Things I've learned about being a mother from other mothers.

Being a mother means more than just bearing children.
Being a mother means not always being friends with your kids.
But knowing when you need to be.
Being a mother means watching your kids try, and fail.
Being a mother means waiting for your kids to make the right decisions.
Being a mother means just listening while your kids cry.
Being a mother means not taking anyone's side.
Being a mother means working through the pain.
Being a mother means trying to do it all, but not feeling guilty when you don't.
Being a mother means understanding that your kids could never possibly love you as much as you love them.


Stay tuned for a special post tomorrow.

Mother's Day Week

More of why I love being a mother.


Look at that face. How could I not just want to eat that face? She is so funny. I love being a mother because my kids make me laugh, at least several times a day.


As you can see, we were having fun with the hose yesterday. It was nearly 80 here, and wonderfully summery. The kids were a little hesitant at first, what with the cold hose water and all, but it didn't take long for them to "warm" right up to the idea of spraying themselves, and each other. I love being a mother and seeing my kids forge ahead through their fears.


And this is what happens when Mom and Dad sleep on a Saturday morning. This is how a 4 year old gets her own breakfast. Note the cut open box, and of course the opened bag of marshmallows. And what does a mom say about this mess? "Good job", of course. I love being a mother and teaching my kids independence. I love seeing them learn new skills, and seeing their self-esteem rise due to praise for their good decisions.

There are so many reasons I love being a mother. The more I think about it, the more my joy swells. Mostly I just love that I have this job, with basically no prior skills, and I feel like it is a natural fit. Even though I'm not the most nurturing, huggy touchy feely mother, I feel like teaching my kids to do things on their own, and stand up for themselves is just as important as holding their hands and carrying them around. Don't get me wrong, I do my fair share of hugging and kissing, they certainly aren't neglected in that area, it's just not my strong point. But that's okay. I hope I make up for that in other areas.

Mother's Day Week

Why I love being a mother

• It makes me do things I would otherwise never have courage to do.
  
• It makes me see things from a smaller, more innocent perspective.
• It makes me more confident in my decision making skills.
  
• It makes me rely on faith and promptings in a way I have never known.
  
• It makes me stick to my guns, and stick up for my kids.
  
• It makes me see how lucky I am to have healthy, happy kids.
  
• It makes me appreciate my own mother more than ever.
  

Why do you love being a mother?

Feliz Cinco De Mayo

Mexican food. I love it. Like as in LOVE it.

And today we celebrate by eating Mexican food.

I have no idea why Cinco De Mayo is a holiday, I think it has something to do with freedom from the French or something, but I really don't care. Any excuse to eat Tamales, and Enchiladas, and rice and beans. I'll take it.

So happy day to you. Enjoy your freedom from the French.


And stay tuned this for a week of Mother's Day sweetness.

Friday Fun

If money were no object, (that is one of my favorite sentences, by the way) and you only had a week left to live, what would you do?

Rules
#1 Assume you are in great health. Let's pretend the world ends in a week. Mmmkay?
#2 Um, I guess that's it.

I'll start.

I'd charter a private jet, take my entire family around the world to all the destinations we would like to see. I'm thinking Holland, the Dead Sea, Iceland, Caribbean, Antarctica, and popular US destinations.

Then we'd fly back home, chill at Mom's, and just laugh and laugh with each other, just like we used to every Sunday night. We'd have a turkey dinner, followed by popsicles in the backyard under the shade of the weeping willow.

That would rock.

Now you.

Remove-Ula

Poor, poor Sugar Daddy.

He snores. Bad. Like, as in fog horn bad. Like, as in he wakes me up several times a night with his baritone scales. Good thing he has perfect pitch.

To remedy this situation, we've made an addition to our bedroom. No, not separate beds, although I wouldn't complain, but something much more high tech. He now has to wear a CPAP to bed. He struggled at first with the face mask, and mostly the not being able to pick his nose all night long, but that's a whole nother post, but now he's doing fine with it. Problem is, he still snores. Hmm, what to do?

The doc has come up with a great new plan. Uvula removal. Say that five times fast. No, seriously, try it. You know you're doing it in you head, aren't you? Yeah, I did it to.

The Uvula is that oddly shaped, (and named) hangy ball thingy in the back of your throaty. Apparently it gets all sleepy and relaxed at night, as any good body part should, and falls backwards and partially blocks off the airway causing snoring, and in Sugar Daddy's case, sleep apnea. Sounds as if removal is the way to go.

So he goes under the knife on May 12th. Can you imagine the pain of having stitches in the back of your throat? I sure can't! But if it gets him, and me, a good nights sleep, it's worth the pain. I mean his pain. But we share pain, cause we're just that close.

Giving it another try

Okay, we all remember the first dress fiasco, right? Right. Well, I thought I'd better try again. I think this one turned out much better.

Isn't that lace trim adorable? Yes, I sewed that on all my byself. Thankyouverymuch.


And check out those cute lace straps. Yes, my skills, too. Note that flawless smocking. Yeah, not me. Thanks to Wal-Mart (of course) for pre-smocking for me.


Here's the chicas enjoying the new dress. Gretta wore it all day. She didn't even want to take it off for jammies, and she always wants her jammies on. I guess I have a winner. Now if it would just get warm enough to wear something with no sleeves.



And a closeup of Gretta eating a pencil. Hey, at least she wasn't naked with a diaper on her head as she was yesterday.

Now Emma and Maggie want matching dresses, so I guess I have to indulge them. Really, that dress only took me about 15 minutes to make. My next project will be a pillowcase dress. They are so dang cute, and easy. Wish me luck!

Wisconsin South

We headed out of town on Saturday night. High hopes of unwinterizing the trailer and enjoying the fun that would ensue. We arrived at our campground in West Bend, Wisconsin at a decent hour, and continued on with the trip's excitement. Shopping at the local Wal-Mart (of course, what else would you expect from me), dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, and a jaunt to the one and only gas station that will fill LP tanks. Off we go, back to the trailer to put on our jammies and enjoy a movie and some popcorn.

I should mention here that it's cold, very cold, up here in Wisconsin. The wind is blowing hard, and that makes it feel even colder.

After our return to the trailer, we try to turn on the heat, and nothing happens. Trusty Sugar Daddy starts fiddling around with the switches and gadgets, and who am I kidding, I have no idea what he's really doing. He pops his head in the door and says he's off to the hardware store to find a coupler for the propane hose. Mmmkay. Whatever that is. But I stay put, entertaining the kids with a Yellowstone Matching Game, and my Redbook and US Weekly. Again, what else would you expect from me?

And hour later, he returns, no luck. Only now he is sporting a nifty space heater. I know what that means. Needless to say, we spent a rather chilly night in the trailer, and decided we better not stay another night. So Sunday morning, we loaded back up, and headed home. We did get to stop by and see some friends that live in West Bend. That was a fun detour. But we discovered a nice little campground, right on the lake, with a playground, and a slide, and lots of hiking trails. So that was definitely worth the drive.


All it takes is some sticks, and a tree, and the kids are entertained for hours.


Gretta enjoying Bebe's megafur. That poor dog, she needs a haircut soooo bad.


Emma and Bebe at the lake across the road from the trailer. As you can see from the sign in the background, the lake is a little high. The office lady said they got 4 inches of rain in just over an hour the night before we arrived. That would explain the flooding.


Maggie mid-song with her flute. She was very into her song. But what else would you expect form Maggie?

So that's it. Not too exciting. Sorry. Stay tuned for some cute craft pictures later in the week!

Vacay

Don't mind me. I'm still on vacation.

Sugar Daddy has the day off, which translates into running errands, and going to lunch, and doing all the stuff we don't normally have time to do. Usually when he has a day off, we head out of town. And we actually did, but it's tough to stay the night in Wisconsin when the temperatures hit the 20's and you have no heat. That's right, no heat. So we came back a day early. It's okay, though. I enjoy having a day at home with my sweetie.

I'll return tomorrow with pictures and stories from our "trip".

Enjoy your day. I know I will.


*and on a side note, head over to Jill's blog, and wish her well. Her little one is in the hospital with pneumonia, so I'm sure she would appreciate your kind thoughts.

Friday Fun

Would you rather do an Earthy, hiking in the woods kind of vacation, or a Tropical lay on the beach kind of vacation?

I'll start.

Tropical. Sand, beach, ocean, breeze, tan, flip flops, pina colada. Perfect.

Now you.

Rainy Days and Thursdays

Yeah, I let my kid run around in her diaper in da rain.

You gotta problem with dat?

I thought not.

Mind ya bidness, and watch da movie.

Nothing like it

Ah, yes, an early morning visit from one of the "saved".

Yes, the Jay-Dubs have made the rounds.

I got my daily dose of Bible bashing. What a good way to start off the day.

After explaining that I am in fact, a Mormon, and I believe in the Bible, as well as it's companion book, the Book Of Mormon, I was then asked how I knew it to be true.

I just do.

And then I was told that our church "Now allows girls to be missionaries, too". Wow, who knew?

I can appreciate their hard work and bravery for going door to door and sharing a message, but I'm good in the religion department, thanks for asking.

Is it me?

Sugar Daddy, bless his heart, jetted off to the White Sox-Yankee's game without me. This leaves me in a pickle. Kids. All day, all night. Alone. What to do, what to do?

A movie! Of course. What a _____ idea!

Good? Nope.
Fun? Nope.
Silly? Kinda.
CRAZY? ABSOLUTELY!

Gretta does NOT like to hold still. EVER. But I thought surely "Horton Hears A Who" would keep her attention at least a little. And it did, for approximately 15 seconds. After that, I was standing with her on the sidelines. Lucky for us, there was only a Grandma and her 2 Granddaughters in the audience, so hopefully they understood.

In the meantime, I was caught wondering, "Am I the first person in the world to think this movie is weird?"

I have heard from so many people how cute it is, and don't get me wrong, the animation and the voices are awesome, but the whole "believing in things unseen" was a little, i dunno, preachy to me. I mean, I have faith, of course I do, but I also wondered about past movies that have been ridiculed for their religious undertones. Golden Compass, anyone? Now if that one was so criticized for being of an Atheist view, why was this not singled out for being of a Christian view?

I don't expect you to answer that, but I know some of you are substantially more well versed in pop culture and the ramifications of said undertones.

Okay, also, Dr. Seuss has always kinda given me the creeps. I remember even as a kid, thinking "Why are those staircases just hanging in midair?" And thinking the roundness of the buildings, or sharpness of the flowers seemed alien-like.

And yet I paid good money to see this movie. The kids loved it, of course, as kids would love pretty much anything with an elephant and monkeys, but I was disappointed. Too bad. I had high hopes.

Yo Momma

I heart our Earth. Really, I do. I can't imagine what aliens must deal with on those other planets. We have it pretty easy here, for the most part. And in honor of Earth Day, I give you ways I help our Mother Earth have an easier time dealing with all us humans dissing her.

I recycle. This is one of a set of two matching trash cans. But one is designated Recycle Only, unless you're my mom, then you can throw whatever you want in there, because you're here, and I don't care if you mess up my recycling mojo, as long as you're here.


I heart rainbows. Very nice of Mother Earth and Mother Nature to collaborate on this effort to give us a short glimpse of beauty.


And I have reusable grocery bags. And I use them. I was tempted to take them to the mall with me on Saturday to forgo the department store plastics, but I forgot. What can I say? I'm lucky I make it there with all the children, let alone reusables. But it's the thought that counts, right?

Anyway, thanks again, Mother Earth. Keep up the good work.

My new puppy

Isn't it adorable? It's 15 months old, and still not house trained, but we love it anyway.

Its favorite toys are binkies, dog food, and of course, anything that is outside. It is especially fond of the geese that have taken up residence on our neighbors roof top.

It does tricks, some of which include clapping, waving, washing hands and hair, making monkey and duck sounds, and the latest is folding arms and kneeling down for prayers. What a good little puppy.

It loves to play in the bathtub with Emma and Maggie, and loves to run around naked.

Sometimes it squeals like a Pterodactyl, and nearly makes my ear drums bleed, but for the most part it is a welcome addition to our family.

Friday Fun

I was awakened this morning by Gretta crying in her crib. It was 4:18AM. After a diaper change, a cup of milkie, and some motherly cuddles, I layed her back in her crib and headed to bed myself. 4:35AM. It was then I thought I felt Sean shaking his leg on the bed. And it was then that I heard our bookcase creak very loudly as it settled. Off to dreamland I went. It wasn't until I watched the news this morning that I realized it was an EARTHQUAKE I was feeling! Wow, who knew? Interesting.

So on to todays fun. I'm bored. And I'm curious. About you, my loyal reader(s). Help me out here by playing along.

What is one food item you absolutely will not eat?

-Rule #1- you must have tasted this at least once, and
-Rule #2- it must be an actual food item.

Easy. I'll start.

Tomatoes. Raw. Gross.