His backpack and the shoes match!

No's most frequent request is to 'do' (go) and he follows up his frequent requests with less-subtle hints like: getting out my shoes, purse and keys, or getting his coat on, or his favorite--getting shoes on. He is an equal-opportunity shoe thief and he loves all colors, sizes and styles equally. The disgusted expression on his face is a result of me telling him that we're not going anywhere today. Mean momma.

These are the themes of our lives

Lately we’ve been having theme weekends. Not the fun kind of themes you might find on a cruise or at a party, but themes nonetheless. Last weekend the theme was ‘laundry’, and while I’m sure we could have filled it with piles of stuff to be folded, instead we took apart the washer and dryer. The washer hoses were clogged with gross slime, so we washed them out and emptied the filter. This is the first time we’ve emptied the filter (since until last weekend, we didn’t know it existed) and it was full of gross detritus, Polly Pocket shoes, an old sock and more hair than Ben has on his entire head. Now that we’ve done all that the washer runs quite nicely and no longer makes a weird gurgling noise when it drains. It’s amazing what improves when you maintain stuff! The dryer was full of lint in every crevice, so we vacuumed out all the excess junk and now it only takes one cycle to dry a load of laundry.

That makes the theme of this weekend ‘garage’. And despite the great need to clean out all the junk in there, we (if by ‘we’ I mean ‘Ben’) instead fixed the garage door opener. It quit working this week, so I waited for Ben to return from Texas to fix it. He diagnosed the problem quite quickly, but our dilemma was whether to fix the current known problem (and possibly find out there are unknown problems) or replace the whole thing. We usually lean towards replacing the whole thing, but knowing that we’re moving soon and will probably need every spare penny to fix up this place had us going for the cheaper option.

While these themes are less fun than ‘Surf’s up!’ or other such party themes, I’m glad that we have the blessing of being able to take care of our problems without too much drama. Even the virus our computers caught last weekend was taken care of in a few hours, and it made me very thankful that we have a mac, which was used to look up solutions to fix the other two. I think this means that we are officially in the ‘fixit’ season of our life. Thanks goodness for a shed full of tools to do it with!

Preachy

I don't like being preached at. Do you? Let's face it, I know what I'm supposed to be doing and for whatever reason I'm being a neglectful steward. Hearing people tell me that I'm not a good enough _______ because I'm not ________ just gets my dander up and I put the preachy person in my mental 'to be aggressively ignored' box.

The realization has dawned on me that this is exactly the kids' response when I nag them.

I do believe that it is time to take another stab at speaking with more kindness and charity. We'll call it a January resolution.

Lone Woman

You would think that by now I would be able to competently manage being a single mom while Ben is TDY. After all, I survived him being in the U.A.E. for five months--why am I having such a hard time this week? (One week, really? It's only been a week?) The house is in it's usual state of disarray, we've had at least one hot meal and usually two per day, and J is packed and ready for youth conference tonight. I'm even caught up with laundry (washed, not yet folded) and yet I'd have to categorize this week as a dismal failure all because of my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad attitude.

It's totally normal for kids to make messes, neglect to do jobs and homework and on a normal week I simply remind them to do said jobs and responsibilities and it eventually gets done. However, I have been short-tempered and yelled more than once this week with the end result of sullen kids being sent to bed early.

One day the logical part of me will remember that being calm results in more getting done. One day. . . Today!

Since Isaac is the only one who got what he wanted

I overheard the kids this morning, rating each other on whether or not Santa brought them what they wanted for Christmas. According to this rubric, Isaac is the only one who is truly good, since he is the only one who got everything he asked for. It's making him a little cocky.

100 things

From a friend--copy the list and bold the things you've actually done!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
7. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept over night on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23.Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors--Does Utah count?
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone Deep Sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100 Blogged while lying sick in bed in afghanistan.

My photography skillz, they haven't improved

I have at least four very blurry pictures of our group at the Dino museum. And, while I am grateful that there was a picture in focus, I am wondering why in the only good picture NOBODY is looking at the camera. At least the kids had a great time at the museum. They have had a ton of fun with their Bankhead cousins.