Outside and More

 

 We have had some wonderful sunny days, mixed in with some cold and snowy ones.  Such is Utah in the spring time.  On the days when it is warm enough to be outside, I can't get enough of the sun.  I love how it feels on my skin and I love being able to open my windows and smell the fresh air.  I love the color my kids get on their faces and arms.  I LOVE spring. 

Annabelle is such a great helper.  She helped me plant lots of peas in the garden and pull weeds, too!

 

Callie is so sweet at saying prayers.  She is getting so old and loving all things that her siblings love.  It amazes me that she is almost 2!

 Greg made these tasty orange jello thingys.  He scooped out orange halves and then put jello in them.  They were pretty tasty and I always like to see him do quirky things in the kitchen.

  

We had some bad colds go through our house with lots of late night coughing and lots of tissue boxes getting emptied.  Our family loves to be happy and healthy and I love this picture of all of us doing something we love, reading.

 

Next week is spring break for the kids, and then a four day get away for me.  I am looking forward to both!

Hair

 It is that time again where I am feeling like my hair needs a change.  A big change.  I like being able to put my hair up and curl it and do things to it.  But when I don't, I hate it.  That is a harsh word, but I really don't like it.  I love short hair and how quick it is to get ready.  I have a hair appointment next Tuesday and I am thinking it is time for a change, again.  Here are some pictures of me both ways and then some ideas.  I will probably keep it dark becasue I love not having roots.  But I don't know... What do you think?  Greg never gives me any feed back so I'd appreciate anything!

Busy Bags

I have such a unique neighborhood.  Maybe not to the people around me, but compared to where I grew up, it is unique.  I know pretty much everyone within a half mile of my home.  I am serious.  I know their kids, I know their cars, and I know what days they go to the library (jk).  I am not going to lie, it has been an adjustment for the last eight years that I have lived here.  I grew up in California on a cul-de-sac.  There are 10 houses on it (I think) and growing up I knew who lived in most of them, but not all of them.  We saw everyone every once in awhile and I think I can remember having a block party twice in the 20+ years my family has lived there.  Things are just different here.  For the first few years I thought it so weird that people knew me more than I knew them.  They knew what was going on at my house, like if I had my carpets cleaned or family over.  But, I have gotten used to it and I really do love it now.  One of the best parts of my neighborhood is that there are SO many women in the same stage of life as me.  So many women that I can talk to and get ideas from.  It is really wonderful.  A lady a few streets away invited me to do this "Busy Bag" project she found out about on Pinterest.  I love projects so I jumped on the bandwagon.  Here is what we did:
Each person picked a small project and made multiple copies of them and then we all got together and swapped the projects.  It ended up being that there were 26 people involved (I am sure a lot more people would have done it, but I wasn't the one inviting).  So I ended up making 26 versions of my project and then just last night I was able to swap and now I have 26 different projects.  So what kind of projects were they?  They were little bags of games geared toward toddlers and preschoolers.  Being that Callie is our last I was a little hesitant to do it, but figured I could pass them on to siblings and friends when my kids were done.   

 

 

 This morning I was so excited to show Callie, and the other kids, some of the neat "busy bags" that I had gotten.  The most wonderful thing happened.  Callie sat at the little table and played with these new toys in a completely calm and peaceful manner.  Granted she has been sick, so anything calm was amazing and appreciated, but this was amazing.  She was SO focused and SO into the activities.  Needless to say we had a great day exploring all 26 activities and even Annabelle had a blast doing them.  Ryan and Nathan loved to help Callie (though she didn't always want the help) and it was cute to see them playing together, calmly. 
Here are some of the websites we used to make this happen.  It took a little time, a little money, and some tedious cutting, but after having a day like today where my toddler is calm and focused, it was definitely worth it.
http://secondstorywindow.typepad.com/home/2011/10/toddler-time-busy-bag-series-part-2.html

http://therigneys.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/toddler-busy-bag-swap/

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/Tools4Tots.html

 

Update

After I got off the computer last night I was lamenting to Greg about Callie's sickness not going away.  He informed me that while I was at pack meeting with the rest of the kids he had a "talk" with Callie and basically told her she couldn't be sick anymore.  Well, it worked.  She only had one other coughing fit last night and all I had to do was give her some water and she went back to sleep.  Today wasn't perfect but it was 100% better than the past few days.  She hardly coughed, she didn't have a fever, and we actually got out of the house and got some things done.  She took another really long nap and is now in such good spirits still that she doesn't want to go to sleep.  I am tempted to use the Benadryl again but won't because I know she doesn't really need it.  I am so thankful that my kids are not sick forever.  I am so grateful to medicine and my family for putting up with Callie (and me) these last few days.  I am so grateful that we are through with this round of sickness and only hope we can last a month or 2 (or forever-I can hope!) before it comes to our home again.

Sickness

I try to keep my blog mostly upbeat, but motherhood isn't mostly upbeat so bear with me while I vent.  We have had some sickness in our home the last few weeks and I am done!  First Nathan had a bad cold, then me, then Annabelle and now Callie.  Ryan and Greg have had some days of sniffles but nothing  compared to the rest of us.  I hate sickness.  I am cranky and ornery and not a fun person to be around--whether it is me who is sick or one of my kids.  I apologize to anyone who has had to talk to me or be around me at these times (mostly that apology is for my Greg and the kids). 
The worst is when a baby is sick.  They can't tell you exactly what is wrong.  They can't blow their nose.  They can't tell you what sounds good and they can't decipher hunger versus a stomach ache.  It is REALLY hard to help a young little one.  Don't get me wrong, I try to stay as upbeat as I can.  But sometimes, inside, I am screaming.  Okay, it comes out sometimes also.  Here is a picture from St. Patricks Day:

Callie coughed and cried and said, "Owie" all weekend long.  She couldn't tell us where the owie was, and I even put a few random band-aids on her body to help her out.  We have had the humidifier going, tylenol and advil have become her drink of choice, and her eating has been sparse.  I finally took her to the doctor on Monday because I couldn't' take it anymore.  FYI: I hate the doctor's office.  I especially hate taking my kids there and them telling me that nothing can be done.  I feel like I wasted my time and money after trips like those.  My older kids all had ear issues so usually when I took them in they had an ear infection or strep or pneumonia.  Callie on the other hand like to stick with viruses, the ones that nothing can be done about.  Once she had strep and I think a long time ago she had an ear infection but that is it.  This time was no different.  She was coughing and whining the whole time and the doc said things looked okay, nothing looked "bad enough."  He did say, "Call if things get worse."  I hate that phrase.  To me, waking up multiple times at night, holding a baby while I postpone going to the grocery store for a week and neglecting my other kids because I am holding said baby, is worse enough. 
We grabbed some benadryl from the store (something I have never used but the doc recommended) and drove home.  Along the way she fell asleep. 

I sat in the car for a bit and pondered what to do.  Would she take a nap if I let her sleep?  Would she stay asleep if I carried her inside?  After about 10  minutes I decided to bring her in...and she woke up.  Oh well, both yesterday and today she took 3+ hour naps and I was able to get some things done and give some attention to my other kids.  We have given her blessings, tried the benadryl (she was so drugged, it was really weird), and spent lots of time in the bath or bathroom with the hot water creating a sauna.  Some day things will be better.  Some day she will be healthy again.  She seemed a lot happier at bed time tonight, she even protested, loudly.  But I just heard her have a huge cough attack so no, tonight won't be the night. 
I recently read something that really stuck out to me.

Wikipedia defines patience as “the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties.”

I have been praying for more patience, praying that I can have that quality I so admire in others.  And now I understand.  I have to be in the midst of crazy and be calm to understand patience.  This definition has helped me a little.  When things have gotten a little crazy, I am sometimes able to take a second and think, "OK, I am in a crazy moment, how am I going to react?"  It isn't easy, but acknowledging it helps a lot. 
I could go on but her coughing isn't stopping so I will end my rant.  Here's to better days!!