My WONDERFUL MAN!

I watched the General RS Broadcast tonight and I'm in a fairly good mood (despite the fact that my ear infection and cough do not seem to be leaving.) So I thought I'd post what I'm grateful for tonight.

I'm grateful for a lot of things tonight, Stuart being at the very top of my list. Not that I'm not always grateful for him. However, sometimes I do take him for granted. KatieJo came down with the flu last Sunday (just in case you may have missed my post complaining about that). We took her to the doctors on Monday and sent her to her room to sleep A LOT. On Tuesday I was feeling GREAT! Stuart came home for lunch and I even made porkchops for lunch which I have to say is unheard of since Phillip, Maija and I usually join him at school for lunch. After he went back to work and I had the two little ones down for a nap I sat down and realized I wasn't feeling so hot. My ear hurt a little (which I blew off) and my throat was scratchy and I was coughing a little bit, not to mention having a headache.

By Wednesday I didn't get off the couch and Samuel was home complaining of a headache and a low grade fever and coughing. We decided because KatieJo had the flu we'd better head into the doctor. Both Samuel and I had ear infections and she didn't even bother to check us for the flu, she just prescribed antibiotics and Tamiflu. She also gave me prescriptions for Tamiflu for everyone else (Phillip & Stuart). They don't make it for kids as little as Maija.

Thursday I couldn't stand up on my own so Stuart took off work to help everyone out. Friday was a tad bit better, but I still couldn't stand up without help. So he took Friday off too.

Today he had a football game (which they WON! YAY COLTS! Stuart's team is the only Rawlins Football team to win 2 games...GO STU!) so he was gone until 12:30. At which point he came home to fix our sewage line. It has been backing up if we flush the toilet or do laundry or shower. Raw sewage isn't much fun in the basement! It took him 5 hours...partially because the first snake was too short and partially because there are a lot of 90 degree angles in our plumbing which doesn't lend itself to the snake. Thankfully the basement is plumbed for a bathroom and so he used the plumbing for the toilet down there and it worked!!!

Once he got it fixed he showered (THANK GOODNESS!) and ran to get his school computer because ours was having issues...so that I could watch the RS broadcast. Because we aren't sure I don't have the flu we couldn't risk me going to the chapel to watch it. He got home right at 6 and took me to the bedroom and told the kids to leave me alone, then made dinner and got everyone ready for bed.

WHAT A MAN! Have I mentioned that I'm GRATEFUL for him and that I love him so much?!?!?!?

Just Me

Wordful Wednesday over at Chocolate on my Cranium is about who I am.....WHOOEEE, what a topic. She sure does know how to pick them!
When I was younger I defined myself by the music I played. I have always loved playing the piano, but I hated playing in public. So, my music at home when my parents were in bed at night was me. I don't usually make mistakes when I play just for myself. However, put me in front of people...even in Relief Society where it is my calling to play the piano I make MONUMENTAL mistakes. But, I love playing the piano and over the years I have learned to laugh at myself (yes even in Relief Society) out loud when I make a mistake. I'm sure it drives people nuts, but if I can't laugh at the silly mistakes who's going to?

There was a time I also defined myself by the classes I took or the fact that I was "ahead" of the game when I graduated from high school as a sophomore in college. The plan was to graduate with a bachelors degree by the time I was 20...HA! That sure didn't happen. There were much grander plans for me and truthfully I'm not upset by those plans. Occasionally I wish I had a degree, however I have 4 small children and working outside the home right now it's an option.This picture is from the day my husband graduated with his bachelor's degree.

Most often these days I define myself by the 5 other people in this picture:I am a Best Friend, Wife and Mother. I love who I am right now (for the most part). I love my kids and I love my husband. I don't always have a perfectly clean house, but I don't define myself by that (THANK GOODNESS!). I also LOVE love LOVE to read!!! And I'm grateful that rubbed off on my kids!I have always loved doing crafts, however I have discovered in the past few years that I am pretty good at them. I have taught myself to sew (because I didn't want to learn when my mom wanted to teach me), and I LOVE it! I also love crocheting and painting and doing a myriad of other crafts. OH, and don't forget scrapbooking! I also made my first wedding cake recently. I think it turned out great! I grew up with my mom decorating cakes as a side job. She recently gave up cake decorating except for a few instances and so I inherited all of her supplies. This picture is of my 4 kids and the dresses I made for the girls (and the bows to- they are a little "Whovilleish", but neither was awake when I made them to see how big they would be) and I made the bowties for the boys. Normally I would have made the bowties match the girl's dresses, however the boys just aren't into pink!I guess that's who I am in a nutshell....a craft loving, reading, wife and mom. Guess I'd better go get busy on those things!

It happened

It's official. The illness I dread the most throughout the whole year has hit our home.
KatieJo, Phillip, Maija and I went down to my parents house on Friday night in order to be at Broomfield Days (Broomfield is the town I grew up in and Broomfield Days is their annual festival) on Saturday. Stuart and Samuel stayed in Rawlins on Friday so that they could go to Rock Springs on Saturday for Stuart's football game and then they came down to Broomfield afterwards so we could celebrate Stuart's 30th birthday.

The three kids and I had a wonderful time at Broomfield Days with my friend Melanie and her 3 kids and her family. We got to watch the parade and then the kids got to use the money they "earned" by doing their chores to play on some of the rides. KatieJo chose to do "Mount Rushmore" which is where she had to climb to the top of this huge jumpy thing and then slide down the big slide that went almost straight down. Phillip chose the jumping castle, which was good because the guy kept letting him run on and do it again for free.

Saturday evening when Stuart and Samuel got into town we had ice cream cake from DQ (Stuart has been wanting one for a LOOONNNNGGG time!). And then my mom watched the kids so that we could go out to dinner. We went to Heaven Dragon which is our favorite Chinese restaurant.

Then Sunday rolled around and my mom and I went down to Denver to get my Great-Aunt Ila's clothes as she had 2 strokes a couple weeks ago and has been moved to a nursing home. When we got back to my parent's house I found KatieJo not acting quite right. They had all been down in the park behind my parents house watching the dog diving competition (which was COOL!). As it turns out she had a low grade fever. I'm not sure what prompted me to bring the thermometer on this quick trip, but I did. So, we kept her home from school today and her nose started running like a faucet (literally. I've never seen a nose run like that!) and she's been coughing etc. What prompted us to take her to the urgent care was that her fever went from low grade to 101-102 in a couple hours. Of course she has the flu. It couldn't be strep throat or an ear infection (like Phillip had last week), NOPE. Had. to. be. the. FLU!
We won't know for another week as to whether or not it's the Swine variety, but we got her into the doctors in time for the Tamiflu to work. You have to start it within the first 48 hours of symptoms. Yay me for being paranoid! (I think.)

So, KatieJo can't go back to school until at least Monday and I've e-mailed her teacher and the Principal. Funny enough earlier today the Principal told me if she were her daughter she'd take her in. (Why I was on the phone with her is for another post).

Well, here's to hoping all will be well in the Mobley household soon!

Friday's Fix-up

My sister-in-law Aimee does a weekly Friday's Fix-up. There are a multitude of things in my home that I'd like to fix up and so when she extended an invitation last week to join her I thought I would jump at the chance....until we found out on Monday that the archway we have been waiting to have done and a window in our boys' room that has needed replaced would be done this week. So, we had to clear out the dining room, the living room and most of the kitchen not only because we didn't want to have to clean too much but because our house was built in 1954 we aren't sure that there isn't lead based paint in the house. Since we have small children we didn't want to mess with that! And it's a whole lot easier to clean when there is almost nothing to clean....OH, and we're ripping up carpet to expose the wood floors in the living room this weekend so it had to be empty.

So, rather than doing a Friday's Fix-up (although putting everything back in place may be a fix-up in and of itself.) I found myself trying to fit everything into 3 bedrooms. On top of that I've been down with a severe sinus infection and on Tuesday night my 2 year-old came down with a fever. So, rather than play outside as was planned while our contractor did the demolition....My 2 younger kids and I have been locked in my bedroom. Which, I might add is fine for a sick 2 year-old, but not for a healthy 10 month old!
This is a picture of the "before" from the living room side of the wall. The archway is going to go between the living room and the old garage/dining room. The black thing in the back left corner is our desk and filling cabinet. They are in what was the "other side of the wall". I can't believe how BIG it feels!
This is a picture from 2 days-ago. This coming Monday they will finish mudding it and prime it. We are even getting rounded corners which I'm thrilled about!
This is what 2 of the rooms look like right now. I don't have a picture of the boy's room because most of the furniture that was in there has been moved out so that they could do the window today.

I had thought about cleaning my purse or diaper bag out, but I'm a little over-whelmed with my lack of order that I'm not even sure where they are. I haven't really left the house all week, so I haven't really needed them!
Hopefully normalcy will come back next week and I'll join in then!

Transformations

Transformations....the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the word was Bumblebee from the Transformers. I'm laughing right now, because technically that isn't quite off. Chocolate on my Cranium's Wordfull Wednesday is about "Transformations, more specifically, a transformation that has happened to you."

So I guess the question is...have I transformed since I made my goal in January? My goal for the year is "Choose Wisely". I can't say that I choose wisely at all times (I am human after all), but I sure have tried.

For instance, my oldest son for some odd reason likes to rearrange things. Usually it's in his bedroom and if it doesn't work he moves it back. However, last week he chose to start rearranging my kitchen cabinets. Now, I'm a little OCD and I like my stuff EXACTLY where I've put it. I do have them do chores which involve them putting dishes away, and of course things don't always get back to where they belong. For the most part however everything is where it belongs. He also hid dishes throughout the house because he didn't want to put them away. I was MAD, I was frustrated and boy did I want to yell at him. In the past I probably would have. I am a yeller by nature, which upsets me and I have to work REALLY hard to not yell.

Instead of yelling at him I calmly told him he had kitchen duty this week as well and took away any tv privledges he may have had (we don't get tv reception so really that was limited to movies and since it's nice outside they get a movie few and far between). I think I shocked myself because later that night when I was talking to my husband I told him I was proud of myself.

I don't want my kids to have it be their "nature" to yell when they get upset. It brings contention into our home and it just doesn't feel good. I love my kids and I want them to know that...even when I'm upset.

So, back to Transformations. I kind of feel like I'm being a Transformer right now. The urge to yell is there, but I am trying to transform myself into a softer spoken "Mad Woman".
I guess you could say I have succeded in my goal, although I have a long way to go. I'm not necessarily completely happy with my progress, but it is progress nonetheless, so I think I'll put a stamp of approval on my progress. Maybe even a Smiley Face!

I've also uncovered something I thought I wasn't in the last 6 months. I have never been the type of person to instantly like people. At first glance or conversation I usually have an instant dislike for a person. Call it what you will, but it's been more of a self preservation tactic. I've been hurt in the past by people I considered trustworthy that I didn't know very long and so I usually withdraw into my shell. When my husband was in school I worked so much and was going to school at the same time so I didn't have a whole lot of time for friends and I only have a couple of good ones from Iowa. Then we moved to Washington state and we lived on 70 acres and so I was fairly isolated and didn't have to have many friends because I didn't want to. Then we moved again last year to be closer to family. I am once again back "in town" and close enough to have friends. I have started making friends, and have actually made an effort which is somewhat surprising. It may have to do with the fact that my husband admonished me that I needed to like it here because this is our last planned moved.

I have discovered that I really do like people and that it doesn't do me any favors to not like someone. It shocked me a little bit, but truthfully I have enjoyed getting to know new people and being a little bit more outgoing!

Dishes

We have a chore chart in our home that involves the living room and the kitchen. Both KatieJo & Samuel take turns being in charge of keeping one of them clean, and it rotates weekly. This week Samuel happens to be in charge of the Kitchen. When one is in charge of the Kitchen the chore is that they are responsible for putting clean dishes away and making sure the floor stays clean...i.e. picking up any toys that may have somehow gotten in there or sweeping etc.

Yesterday there were a lot of dishes to put away, and Samuel had just wiped out on his bike and hurt his knee. However, it was chore time so he had to go in and do his chores. I kept hearing moaning and complaining from the Kitchen and didn't really think a lot about it other than it was irritating me a little bit that he was complaining so much about doing his chore. It's not like this isn't something that happens everyday!

After a while he was still putting dishes away...yes there were a lot, but not so many that he should have taken an hour. I needed to get into the kitchen to start dinner and Stuart was about to get home and so unless the person in charge of the Kitchen is helping with dinner I usually kick them out. Yesterday was no exception. So dinner got made, put on the table and consumed. And as the kids were clearing the table I happened to have to use the bathroom.

As I walk into the bathroom I noticed a cake pan on the back of the toilet. Mind you this is the same cake pan Samuel had asked me where it belonged. As it turns out he hid dishes all over the house. I am laughing now, but at the time I was a tad bit irritated. There were baby bottles hidden behind step stools and other places, etc. It took him longer to hide the dishes than it would have if he had put them away. On top of that he started re-arranging my cupboards instead of putting dishes away, and even after I told him no he told me "trust me mom, it'll really be better this way."

I'm proud to say that I didn't yell, I didn't send him to his room, I didn't even get red in the face trying not to do these things. Instead I calmly (albeit a bit smugly) told him he had to do the dishes next week as well. He was less than thrilled (KatieJo did a happy dance though because neither of them like Kitchen duty). He also lost movie privledges-not that we really ever watch anything for the rest of the week.

My mom found it terribly funny, and got a really good laugh out of it. I on the other hand am frustrated. I don't really know any other children who would come up with something like that...and then to re-arrange the cupboards too? I'm going to go gray because of him! Thank goodness I love him!

Scare....I mean Square

Phillip and I were reviewing shapes tonight and he started being silly. When we got to the Square and this is what transpired:
M: What is this shape Phillip?
P: That's a ball
M: No it's not, what is it Phillip?
P: It's a Circle.
M: You know it's not a circle Phillip, what is it?
P: It's a letter. (by now his laughing)
M: Phillip, it's a square.
P: RARRRRRRR....I scared it mom.
M: I said Square Phillip, not scare.
P: RARRRRR....I scare you too mom!

He's been getting "scared" of things lately, like the trash can down the hall from Stuart's classroom. We have tried to make it better by helping him deal with things so he won't be scared. For instance with the trash can (that he said was a monster) we had him "scare" it so that he wouldn't be scared of it. It sort of backfired however, because now he "scares" everything!