Movie Traps

One of the benefits of living in Wymount is that we have a fridge door AND a metal front door which we can clutter with magnetic stuff. I try to keep the fridge relatively clutter-free, so the door is generally reserved for toys and recent displays of creativity. For this reason, the "Word Whammer" calls our front door home.

Kallie has a lot of fun with this toy--not only does it provide letter names, sounds, and the alphabet song, the letters lend themselves quite well to sorting and organizing. It was in the middle of a sorting event that Kallie decided to line the letters up in a row, spanning the tiny crevice where door meets doorframe. With the row of letters lined up for a couple of feet, we explained that it looked like she was trying to booby trap the door. Now, any time she wants to feel sneaky, she lines the letters up across the crevice and says, "Look! I made a movie trap!" I think we'll let that mispronunciation slide for now.

My Day Off

Today, Ryan took the girls ALL day so I could have the day off to accomplish a few things before he starts his last semester. It was wonderful and I got so much done!

I planned and gathered all the supplies for sharing time tomorrow. It will just be me and my secretary tomorrow, since one counselor moved and the other is out of town. I hope it won't be too crazy with everyone gone!

And, I started putting together my "Home Management Binder." I finally nailed down the sections I want to include, put together calendars for my binder through the end of the year, planned a 6 week cycle menu (which took MOST of the time), typed up the recipes for my menu, and purchased papers to use on my dividers.

While I was doing all of this, Ryan fed and got the girls dressed, got them down for naps/quiet time, took them grocery shopping, and "fixed" dinner. I say fixed, but really, he picked up dinner from Cafe Rio. Perhaps I should have him cook more often! :) He is such a great dad and an amazing husband. I was so grateful to have a day when I could just get things done without interruptions every 10 minutes. I have to admit, I felt a little guilty turning my responsibilities over to him for the day. But, I'm grateful I was able to sit down and finally put together things I've been thinking about for weeks now!

Fireworks

Tonight, as I was walking out of Wal-Mart, I looked up to see fireworks from the nearby Utah Valley University baseball stadium. I absolutely LOVE fireworks, so seeing them made me happy. And, they brought back a memory that also made me happy.

When I was serving in Vilnius, Lithuania, we lived in the heart of the city so we were literally in the middle of it all during celebrations. Turns out those Lithuanians love to celebrate! It seemed that at least once a week, there were flags hanging from every building in honor of something. One night, as my companion and I were climbing into bed, we heard fireworks booming overhead. We ran out to our balcony in our pajamas to see what was going on. Unfortunately, the fireworks were on the other side of our building, so we couldn't see them although we lived on the top floor. Eventually we got used to this happening and stopped running out to see the colors reflecting on the buildings across from us.

Another night, as we were once again climbing into bed, we heard Baltic techo-funk music growing louder and louder. Finally, when it sounded like it was right outside our apartment, we had to check it out. When we stepped out onto the balcony, we saw a flat-bed tractor trailer someone had turned into a "discotech," complete with a DJ, flashing lights, and dancers. Behind the truck, snaking through the streets of downtown Vilnius, there were cars with all sorts of teenage kids hanging out the windows shouting, dancing, laughing, etc. It was crazy! My companion and I joked that since we couldn't go to the discotech, they brought the discotech to us. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen in my life!

Random Journal Entry

Tonight, I was reading through a gratitude journal I kept back in 1999. There are many things about my 2 close guy friends who were on missions at the time, as well as one particular boyfriend I had during college. Then I came across my March 1 entry. The last thing I was grateful for that day was "Having fun @ FHE! (Polish hookers and gay cows)." I'm certain I knew what it meant at the time--but now it's only good for a laugh because I can't remember anything about it! Who knew BYU Family Home Evening groups could introduce such interesting topics?

The Death of a Nap

I'm sitting here listening to my girls singing and chattering to each other in their bedroom. As of this moment, we're about an hour and a half into nap time and the constant noise has been going on for about the past 45 minutes. I think we're finally entering the phase I have dreaded since Kallie was an infant--the loss of her one and only remaining nap. It's such a challenge when you KNOW your child needs a nap, but all of the lullabies and bedtime stories in the world can't convince her of this. It gets even worse when your not-quite-2-year-old is woken from her much needed nap in the process.

As a mother, you know that you have to give everything you've got, 24 hours a day, no vacations. I don't think this happens all at once, though. I have still been clinging to nap time--the precious 2 hours of quiet when I could actually accomplish something in real time--as "my" time. But, when I get down to the truth of it all, losing that quiet, calm time is just the next step in the never-ending process of immersing myself even more into motherhood.

The Ending of an Era

For as long as I can remember, the brown and blue Deseret Towers dorms have stood on the corner of 9th East and 1430 North. They weren't much to look at, but every time I drove south past them, I would glance up at the 7th floor of U Hall, third room in, and feel a wave of memories wash over me.

I remember moving in as a 17-year old freshman. So many girls were completely boy crazy and I refused to be part of them. So, instead of posting, "Will cook for love," in our window, (which I DID see posted in a dorm window my freshman year), my roommate and I hung up the word "BOYS" with a huge X through it. I'm not sure too many people could see it from ground level, but the statement itself was more important than the visibility at the time.

In spite of the sign, I remember talking to one particular boy on the phone for six hours! He was truly just a friend, (we never went on a date), and had we been actually talking face-to-face, I'm sure our conversation would have died after the first hour or so. We talked for so long that I had to move the phone into the hall so my roommate could go to bed.

Speaking of phones, I remember the old campus phone system that would let you send messages without calling the person. After studying for a while, we'd turn around and see that the little red "message" light on the phone was blinking. It was always fun to know that someone was thinking of you, (even if it was only long enough to forward a phone message)!

I remember waking up at 4:30 a.m. to walk to the Provo Temple and participate in baptisms for the dead. Since my first class wasn't until 10 a.m., I went home and went back to sleep when we finished. The same 6-hour-phone-call boy called me every morning to provide me with a weather report and let me know whether I should carry an umbrella, wear a sweater, or put on my snow boots. (I didn't realize back then that he liked me. Duh.)

I remember one girl who came in late every night and always announced her presence when she got off the elevator. Later that same year, this cute girl went to the hospital and was admitted to an eating disorder program. Who know that the attention-grabbing techniques were really just a cry for acceptance and help?

I remember sitting in the utility room talking with my next door neighbor. Hours upon hours of conversations filled with hundreds of tangents. I've kept loosely in touch with her over the years and she's done some wonderful things with her life.

I remember one of the lonliest times of my life. I had just come back from spending a great Christmas vacation with a friend who I had reconnected with the night before I came to BYU back in September. My parents were unreachable on a trip, (this was before the days of cell phones), and I didn't want to be back at school when the connections I felt were still tied so closely to people at home. Although it was tough, it was a time of learning to trust in the Lord, learning to extend myself a little more, and learning to enjoy the opportunities presented to me.

Now, I live just a block from the remains of those memories. Deseret Towers was torn down a few months ago and a dirt patch has taken its place. I won't be able to show my kids where I lived during my first year of college--but at least the memories I gained will be readily available for the rest of my life.

Progress, Part II

This has GOT to be the second fluke in a row! Seriously, people! Today, while getting ready to leave my parents' house, I saw Whitney toddle into the bathroom and heard her lift up the lid. This usually means there's already a hand and/or foot in the potty. I stumbled over children and shoes strewn across the kitchen floor, (there were five kids, age 5 and younger, running around all day today there...), and made it to the bathroom door in time to see Whitney clambering onto the potty. I scooped her up and put her back on the floor, when suddenly an idea popped into my head, "Maybe she needs to go potty..." When I asked her, she said yes--so I put her on the potty. She grinned and said, "Potty! Pee-pee!" I was in the midst of reassuring her that yes, that's what we do on the potty, when the unexpected actually happened. She PEED in the potty! I was, once again, shocked. I seriously can't believe that my not-even-2-yet child is already scoring big on the potty. Although I don't see this really going anywhere in the next few months, I suppose stranger things HAVE happened...

Progress

A few weeks ago, I posted about Whitney confusing the bathtub for the potty and now I have an update. (Since you were all waiting on the edge of your seat for the next installment.) Knowing Whitney's lovely little habit, I'm much more attentive and tuned in to what she's doing when playing in the bathtub. Last night during their bath time, Whitney looked at me, pointed to her bum, and said something that sounded like potty. I figured maybe she was trying to tell me something, so I whisked her out of the tub and sat her on the potty. Sure enough--she pooped in the potty!! I was so shocked. I figured it's never too early to start rewarding appropriate behavior, so she got 3 m&m's for her communication and the result.

Now, lest you think she'll be potty trained next month--she's really not ready for that yet. While she can SAY potty, she can't undress herself, nor does she ever have dry diapers when she wakes up. I figure we've got about another year before we get to that point. BUT--if we can at least make a change where the bathtub is concerned for now, I will be one happy camper!

Kallie's Cafe

If Kallie were to ever open her own cafe, the menu would be VERY short. Each week when I plan our family menu, I ask Kallie what she would like for dinner that week and she ALWAYS says mac n' cheese and chocolate milk. If I press a little further for some originality, she'll probably come up with chicken "maggots", (her pronunciation of nuggets), which she only gets when we take her out to eat--and that doesn't happen often.

Now that I think about it, there would probably also be an entire list of vegetables on her menu: broccoli, peas, corn, brussels sprouts, carrots, etc. In our home, we usually have to bribe her with vegetables to get her to eat the rest of her dinner. (i.e. "Kallie, you need to eat 3 bites of chicken before you may have any more brussels sprouts.") Whitney is the same way, though. Hmmm...I must have strange kids!

Two Pillows

Since Monday, there has been one pillow on my bed. It looked quite lonely there all by itself. And, although it did a decent job at holding up the decorative pillows from the middle of the headboard, it all looked just a little lopsided and slumpy. I decided it that's just the way it was going to be until Friday.

Usually, there are TWO pillows on my bed, but Ryan remembered to take his with him when he left on the annual Father/Son campout his family holds every year. Like that single pillow, I do a decent job without him here, but I feel a little lopsided and slumpy when he's gone. And, I'm not the only one. This year was the first year that Kallie really knew what was going on. She missed her daddy terribly! When we pulled away from dropping him off on Monday morning, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw her beautiful big eyes filling with tears and her little chin quivering in her quest for bravery. She kept telling me in a trembling voice that she was really going to miss her dad. I told her I was going to miss him, too. From that point on, we were counting sleeps until daddy came home--there were 4, (not counting naps).

Then, last night, after Kallie had gone to bed, Ryan called to say they had done everything they had wanted to do and they were coming home a day early! Wah-hoo! I didn't tell Kallie until AFTER her nap today because I knew she wouldn't be able sleep from the excitement of it all. When she found out, though, she couldn't wait to see him! Tonight, as we reviewed her day before she said her prayers, she said, "We went to Rick and Brenda's house to pick up daddy. And he was stinky. And he was wearing a hat." And, that's exactly what she said in her prayers, too!

As for the pillows, my pillow is no longer lonely in the middle of the headboard. There are two of them standing side by side once more. The decorative pillows are standing tall and everything seems balanced again--just as it should be.