Bowling!

Yesterday was the 5th Wednesday of the month. Normally, Aaron has academics on Wednesdays - they discuss journal articles, review dissections, etc. But on 5th Wednesdays, the residents and interns are given an assignment - to enjoy themselves. The activity for the day was bowling, and they were required to be there - if they didn't want to participate, they were asked to take call at the hospital for those who were assigned to call for the day to go and play.

So this is my kids bowling! I wasn't sure that they would enjoy it, but they had a blast! Ben noted that bowling in real life is different than bowling on the Wii. :) Alex played with Luke and hi-fived the other residents. She's very popular. We all had fun.

Memories and First Impressions

I saw this on a friend's blog, and wanted to give it a try.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory and your first impression that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember--it can be funny, weird, awkward, random, etc.!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. This could be fun! I look forward to your comments!

Deep thoughts...

So I was reading my friend's blog last night before I dragged myself upstairs, and got in the shower. She had written something that really made me think.

"I will say that I am going to be an honest blogger. That is one of my peeves about blogs: all the sugar-coated sweetness out there. (especially in the LDS world) How many perfect homes, children, and people really exist?"

She's got a point. Seriously, there are some people out there who write about the gooey goodness of their families and their cutsy crafty projects and it gets a little ridiculous. But then, do we really want to hear about how much their lives suck? I know there are sometimes when a blog is a good venting zone, but it also needs to be a place to celebrate life's little victories.

Then I started to think about how often we are actually honest. Honesty has several definitions, but in my shower last night, I was thinking about all the times when nice Mormon women aren't honest in what they are really thinking... My mental thought processes went to dialogues (I was a drama teacher in a past life), and I thought about being honest in some situations. (*Note* I am not thinking of any one person in particular...I mean no one offense.)

Sister 1: Can you believe it? I'm having a baby!
Nice Mormon Woman reaction: Wow! Congratulations! (Smile
and nod)
Honest reaction: Seriously? Again? But you don't take
care of the kids you DO have...

Sister 2: Oh, I can't do that, I just have too much going on with
this, or that...
NMW reaction: I see. What can I do to help you?
Honest reaction: Like I'm just sitting around. Gee, but you
manage to have plenty of time for (insert non-descript meaningless hobby here). And you sure expected help when you needed it last month...

Sister 3: I just don't have enough money to pay my bills right now; I
sure am glad that the church can help.
NMW reaction: We're here to help in anyway we can. Don't
hesitate to ask.
Honest reaction: That sure is a nice (manicure/pedicure/new
outfit) you have. Didn't anyone teach you about money
management? Isn't self-reliance a key principle of the church?
Slacker.

Now I fully understand that situations come up, children will be born, and it's not my place to judge. However, it's frustrating to have to search for NMW words when those honest reactions come up. That was my shower last night. Deep for one o'clock in the morning.

P.S. Today, Audrey was back to her normal self. Thank goodness.

Done.

I don't know if it's because she's teething, or because her legs hurt from immunizations yesterday, or because she just wanted to see how insane she could make me today, but it worked. I'm done.

Seriously, today is a day that I wish I was back to dealing with 120 teenagers in class as opposed to being a stay-at-home mom. Today is the day that I'm almost ready to tell Aaron that a vasectomy might be a good idea. Thank goodness that today is almost over.

I love my children. I love spending time with them, and taking care of them. I love all the stupid stuff - like watching Aud scoot across the floor, fixing Al's hair, or watching Ben play with his action figures and create a full plot line.

But there are some days - like today -
Al decided that all of her toys, and shoes, and baking stuff needed to be on the floor today.
I think Audrey's longest nap was about 20 minutes. The rest of the time - she was fussing and squealing. All day.
Ben threw up in the movies with Nana and Papa this morning.
It's been about 10 days since I have mopped the floor.
I have no more clean bras. None.
Ben wore jeans today. With his sandals. It was hot.
We had rice with dinner. It's all over the floor.

I'm going to sweep the floor and go to bed.
After all, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Ugg.

New Stuff

We been doing a bit of shopping lately! Check out how we made our new house home.
New furniture and rug for the family room. Our last set was sliced up by vandals last year, and we hadn't replaced it because we wanted to wait for the new house. Very comfy!

New recessed can for the hallway light - we kept bumping the other one with the door.

New place for the laundry room light - novel concept: move it out of the way of the cabinet!

New Master toilet - chair height, elongated bowl, it says it can flush a bucket of golf balls - I haven't tried that part out yet!

Old sink - no garbage disposal, only 4" deep. Oh, and really flimsy.

Audrey in the new sink - it's 8" deep!

SO EXCITED!!!

Aaron's parents are here! This is super great, because Aaron and Pawpaw are going to make some improvements to our house! Yeah! We went shopping at Lowe's and Home Depot on Saturday and this week we are fixing the following:
1. We are getting a new sink - with a garbage disposal. I can't believe that the people we bought the house from lived without one! And the old sink is pretty flimsy.
2. All the toilets in our house are very short, round bowls. We would love to replace all of them, but really - they work. However, the master bath is getting a super flushing, chair height toilet. It will be a throne fit for a king! (heehee)
3. The light in the laundry room that gets hit by the cabinet every time you open the cabinet - it's moving.
4. Several of the air registers are stuck closed. We got new ones!
5. The kitchen is getting GFCI outlets. Safety first. :)
6. We are putting in some sliding drawers to make some food storage within the bottom shelves. It's the closest thing to a pantry I'm going to have until we decide to make some major renovations.
7. STORAGE!!! Dad is building a linen closet. Hallelujah!

We have our work cut out for us. I'll post the before and after pictures in a couple of days. I can't wait!

Audrey's rebellion

I forgot about this with everyone visiting...

So Friday night, I had a babysitter! This is mondo-exciting because our last ward had no babysitters, and this one has a bunch! Anyways, I had mopped the whole downstairs - definitly needed to be done - and worked my butt off trying to make sure all my ducks were in a row to have a nice night away from my children and with my husband. I planned enough time to take a shower and blow dry my hair - which I never get to do - this was a big deal. Alone time for the first time in like 5 weeks.
We picked up McD's for the kids, and I fed Audrey. I picked up Amanda and we were set. Aaron and I went to this Mexican place that we've been wanting to try for a while. It was a nice dinner. We got done in an hour, and were headed out to go shopping for a little while - when the phone rang. Before she could even speak, I could hear Audrey hysterical in the background.
"Umm, Sister See, this is Amanda, I'm sorry to call you but umm... your daughter has been screaming for the last half hour. She won't take a bottle, or her pacifier..."

Seriously, I was mortified on many levels. We went home, and as soon as I took her, my dear, darling Audrey calmed down. I handed her off to Aaron, just so I could go to the bathrooom, and she screamed. Maybe I should feel flattered that she loves her mom so much. But that doesn't outweigh the fact that she totally ruined my evening. I don't ask for much alone time. I don't ignore her. I don't let her just sit there and cry. I have gotten fairly adept at doing just about everything during they day with Audrey in my arms, or at the very least, in my sightline.

Ugg. Sometimes being a mom sucks. When she can talk, I am going to demand an apology.

It's always fun when Grandpa (and Grandma!) comes...

Two weeks in the house and we have already had lots of visitors. The first week, Auntie Bekah brought our Jeannie-dog back to us. She also brought Auntie Katee, Uncle Richard, Rich-Rich, and Abby. We had fun and did fireworks, but the camera's batteries were dead. :(

This weekend, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. They just got a Wii, so they brought a controller to transfer all the cool Mii's I made for people on our Wii. Ben was the first to realize that since they brought an extra controller, we could play 3 player on Mario Kart. VERY EXCITING!!! We didn't do too much, but it was a fun weekend. We love it when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit!!! Now, if only they could bring their air-conditioning & their pool!

On a sad, and ironic note, my brother and my sisters will remember dad's old big screen tv. Several years ago, it had been retired to being the game tv, and was moved to the big room upstairs. My parents gave it to us, before we moved to become our game tv for the Wii. We had a couple of brethern from the ward help gingerly move it downstairs and over to our house for the moving men to transport to El Paso. It arrived here unscathed and was placed in it's new home - our loft. My parents were here, and played Wii on it with the kids on Saturday. After church on Sunday, we went to go play, and the tv would not turn on. Dad took the back off, and he and Aaron fiddled with it - to no avail. I'm trying to find someone who knows tvs a little - I think it's just a power cord problem - but in the meantime...

RIP

Dad's old TV

You saw years of public broadcasting, and in your advanced years, more gaming than most. From Dr. Mario to Grand Theft Auto, Lego Star Wars to Tetris, you were loved.

We apologize for the threatening language, the cursing, and even more cursing.

You will be missed.

(A moment of silence, please.)

Audrey can move

It's been a busy time, and I haven't blogged half of the things I wanted to. But I have video today, and Grandma is keeping the kids happy on a slow Sunday afternoon. :) It's nice to live far away, and have a mom who works for a crappy business in order to make visiting easy.

Grandma was being mean, but man, can Audrey move!

The LAST of the complaining - promise!

I am so fed up with everything right now. I just want to sit on my butt in front of the tv, or read a magazine, or play a game with the kids. But for the last few weeks, so much of that hasn't been possible because I have had to deal with so much CRAP!!! So, starting today, I am done complaining about the following:

1. Anything having to do with a mortgage, particularly with sickeningly sweet people who apologize for doing everything wrong but can't manage to fix it. As Riss would say, "Chodes."
2. Moving and unpacking. It sucks. I have boxes everywhere STILL. And each day they sit there - I feel guilty for not putting more stuff away.
3. Aaron being on call more often than about once a week.
4. Trying to make a space for stuff that I really don't have a space for.
5. What the heck I am going to do with our Phoenix house? We were all ready to rent, and Heidi sold her house in a week with a mortgage broker that her parents knew. So who knows?
6. The unusual weather that El Paso has been receiving. This much rain is a blessing - really. A very wet blessing.

I'll do my best, and try and talk about ANYTHING else. Trust me, I am as tired of all those things as you are!

Let Freedom Ring!

Reconnected

Okay, we're in, but the house is not ours. We are still waiting to close. The mortgage brokerage that we've been working with SINCE MAY is taking forever, and we are a week late closing. Hopefully, it will be ready for tomorrow. Seriously, I think that Aaron and I are in agreement that we are never going with a "small-time" lender again. UGG. The whole thing has been a nightmare.
So being in the house now has led to some interesting revelations.

• Ben is more able to ignore me with a two-story house.
• Alex likes to climb too much. We had some old cheap bookcases that were damaged in the move. We had them up in the loft, until we were able to take them out of the house. Alex thought it would be fun to climb on them. It was fun, until the bookcase fell on her. She's fine, but she has a swollen, bruised hand. Thank goodness for a doctor daddy, mommy kisses, and Dora bandaids.
• El Paso had only about 4 English language channels on standard, antenna TV. So we had cable installed today. The kids didn't move from the couch for an hour and a half.
• Audrey can sit up! This is great, except that it's a new skill, and she still falls. And we have ceramic tile floors.
• For some reason, the builder didn't think that storage was important. We have no linen closet, no garbage disposal, and no pantry. I have no idea where I am going to put my sheets.
• I need furniture. We went from one living area to three. Maybe I'll take a cue from Heidi and keep my front room empty (after all the boxes are out, of course!) for a preschool classroom. But I have my eye on a sage green loveseat and two chairs with ottomans from Sam's...
• It sucks to not have internet! I was disconnected for 5 days. It was a little painful.

It's good to be back. Time to go fold laundry and go to bed. Aaron's on call tonight, so I think I'll sleep in the middle of the bed. :)