C. Ellingson and Co.

Moving on...

2012-01-24T00:53:00.001-07:00

So, life changes, no?
After almost 5 years of living in Windsor and loving our life here with our family, life's circumstances have necessitated that we pick up our family happenings and move...

....to a new blog!! *ha ha...gotcha*
C.Ellingson and Co. will be deleted in the near future (as soon as I get the last years printed in hard copy) and all new posts about our family and our life will be at our new location:

Up with the Ellingsons

I hope you will all change the address on your blog rolls and follow us over there, I don't want to lose contact with any of you! I'd miss you too much. Yes. You.
Peace, Love, and Happiness.

I Resolve

2012-01-04T14:25:00.003-07:00

Ah, Christmas. This year I pulled out all the stops and just enjoyed every minute of it that I could. I even started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving (unofficially, mind you. Don't tell Craig). I used to think it was corny, the whole Christmas season. Meant for consumers and people who liked to put really tacky decorations all over their house. I never wore the colors red and green together in public during the season. And I bundled up all that Christmas spirit and saved it for Christmas day, the only day it was meant for. What a bah-humbug way to live Christmas. Now that I have kids, I soak up as much as I can out of the season. Every day. And next year will be even better, starting the countdown now. :-)
We enjoyed almost all of the Ellingson family home for Christmas this season. It was marvelous. My darling sister-in-law wed the love of her life on the 17th and I got to take lots of pictures of them smooching all day long. :-) Now, there are 11 Ellingson children, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, and 10 of them, with their families, were split between our house and Grandma and Grandpa's house. Miraculously everyone had a bed to sleep on (except all the cousins, who played all day together and then crashed asleep on the floor after giggling and talking for hours in the same room), and aside from adults for the most part, everyone who needed a nap got one everyday. :-) We made dinner and cleanup calendars, we ate Ellingson chocolates until we were sick, we played games until we were so tired and delirious that our guts hurt from laughing and we were giving points away just to make someone win and end the game, we opened LOTS of presents, we had a nativity with all of the grandkids and some of the kids still at home staring in the lead roles, we talked and watched movies until all hours of the morning, and most importantly, strengthened our family ties with those who were there and in spirit with those who were not. We also got to sneak away to have Christmas with my family the night before Christmas Eve, where my Mom turned the area below her stairs into an apartment for the kids, complete with a couch (a foam kiddie couch), table (crate with cloth over it for table settings), and colored pictures and pass-along cards with paintings of Jesus on them for wall decorations. Chloe adored it, Linus much preferred my step-dad's marble conveyer belt set and trucks from when he was a kid. It was a marvelous season. My favorite gift for Christmas was a beautifully carved bread box that my husband and kids picked out for me. I have made the decision in our household to make bread for the family instead of buying it. Yes, it's cheaper, but it also builds a home environment, I believe, that I want for my family. My children help me pour flour into the Bosch and watch in awe every time I turn it on as the bread hooks knead the dough much better then my hands can. The smell of baking bread in the house is comforting. Yes, I admit that sometimes it's a chore to remember to stay on top of it, but I love it. Now to some, getting a bread box might be insulting. I grew up in a land *coughBOULDERcough* where keeping a woman in the house is not highly regarded. I can hear their complaints at a gift like this, they're dragging chains...
They are keeping you in the kitchen, they think you belong there, don't let them tie you down to the house, don't let them stifle your true womanly potential...
And my stomach sinks in disgust. My heart warmed over when I saw the writing on the box and saw the excitement in my family's eyes as I opened it. I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up just a little. What I see in a gift like this is the love and respect my husband has for me and my role as a mother and a wife, roles that I cherish above all others. What I see is his careful attention to my needs, when I made a comment ONCE a couple months ago in complaint when I declared that I needed a bread box to clean up our counter space. What I see is my children growing up in a family with traditions, order, and comfort. It means much more to me than a clean counter, and engenders a sense of gratitude that is genuine and heart changing. It's a beautiful bread box and it's all mine. :-)
As I fell asleep last night I finally started thinking about a few things that I resolve to do better this year and they are as follows:
I resolve to lose weight. Cliche, I know, but it has to happen and I resolve to do it before we try for our next child, whenever that may be. Okay, I'm going to say this on my blog, completely embarrassing, but perhaps it will help me to stick to my plan: I could afford to lose at least 35 lbs to get to a healthy weight, and probably another 10 or 15 more to get to my ideal weight. I'm sure there will be more progress on that in the future, because I'm sure you all want to hear about it, but there, I got it off my chest.
I resolve to listen to my children more and play with them more. Every day.
I resolve to be a better wife and a better lover. It's easy to let the activities of the day consume that vital role, but I am at the core a romantic and I resolve to pass that along to the person who needs it most.
I resolve to keep the house a little cleaner, aside from just picking up toys and making it look "neat", I resolve to keep the deep cleaned parts of our house more consistently deep cleaned. As long as it doesn't interfere with the above two resolutions.
I resolve to go outside more before Spring time. I don't care if it's cold, if it's 40 or above, we all could use the fresh air and exercise.
I resolve to do more crafts with Chloe and explore her preschool life to the fullest before I send her off to school in the fall, bleary eyed and proud, not bleary eyed and regretful of time lost.
I resolve to read more books and educate myself on more things valuable to me in life.
I resolve to be a better person. More scripture study, more prayer, more service, closer to Christ. And really that should be number one, because not much else will happen effectively until this one does.

...and with the help of almost everyone who's come to visit, guess who finally figured out how to walk over Christmas break? Guess she got jealous when all her younger cousins were out racing her around the house. :-)

Happy New Year and hope you all had as good of a Christmas season as I did. Leaving the lights up until this weekend, just because. Maybe I'll even wear red and green before we do too...

Recap 2011

2011-12-13T21:15:00.003-07:00

Hello Friends and Family!

Wow, 2011 has almost come and gone already. I debated and debated...and debated, on how we should send our letter this year and finally came to the conclusion that although I do enjoy getting cards in the mail and would hate to deprive others from that pleasure, it's plain and simply easier (and cheaper) to put together an electronic version of our Christmas card this year, and I would rather do that than nothing at all! So to reach as many people as possible I am sending this through email and also posting it on our family blog where you can read and look at our fun picture to your heart's content. PS- incase any of you were wondering, putting these silly faces together was MUCH easier than trying to get us all posed for a nice picture to send to you all. I hope you find as much enjoyment in it as I do, as this is far closer to our natural personalities around here than a nice, smiling, perfectly well behaved picture would be.

This year has been busy to say the least, but I would like to know who looks back at the previous year and DOESN'T think that. :-) Odell, our little cherub, has continued to grow and sprout and learn new things every day. She is currently 16 months old and still not walking! Not really interested in it. My parents tell me that I was close to 18 months old before I started walking, and I used to scoff and think that they just don't remember, but I don't think that anymore. She communicates to us in a variety of grunts and clicking noises and hand signs and unfortunately we understand her, so her verbal vocabulary consists of "Heh-whoa" (Hello)"Momma," "Dadda", "Gawah" (Grandma) and "Gaba" (Grandpa), although Linus swears that she can say his name verbatim. She also makes a loud growling sound to imitate anyone who has belched in the near vicinity (very lady like). She loves to give Momma hugs, loves to get tickled, gets mauled by her siblings on a daily basis and puts up with it, is VERY jealous of her parent's laps and gets very upset when Chloe or Linus grab one before she can get there, loves bananas, cheese, oatmeal, and milk, and is as close to walking as you can get without actually doing it. We love her to pieces and are so glad to have her fun-loving, curious, and sweet spirit in our home.

Linus is a busy body. And very loud. Typical three year old boy, yes? He starts his days off much earlier than his parents, plays nicely with his toys and yells through the house until everyone is awake. He bugs his older sister to no end, but is also her best friend. They keep asking me if they are going to marry each other someday and if that wasn't so weird I would think it was cute. He's still working his way through the melting-down-over-anything-that-doesn't-go-my-way phase of life, but he's come miles from where he was a year ago and his mother and father are grateful for that. He is very helpful to his mother around the house, and as most three year old boys are, sometimes a little too helpful. He loves macaroni and cheese, oranges, and fruit snacks. He loves to be the "bad guy". "Oh MOM, this shirt is SO COOL, I look like a bad guy!!!", "Mom! Can you put this belt on me? Then I'll look like a bad guy!" "Mom, look, this underwear has SPIDERMAN on it, I'll be a really really BAD GUY!" He's very particular about clothing, things have to go on the right way, socks have to be in just the right spot, he must have his shoes on him at all times, he tries to sneak his favorite shirts out of the dirty laundry so he can wear them every day. He also loves to sing the alphabet song, even when Chloe stops him to correct him when he sings it wrong. He knows all his shapes and colors and recognizes some letters and numbers too. Other than that, he's a ball of fun and energy, keeps us on our toes, and makes us laugh every day.

Chloe is five and boy does she know it. Everything is about how old and mature she is, what things she knows she can do now that she's five, what things she believes she has privilege over her siblings because she is five...and while she does act leaps and bounds more mature than her younger brother, I'm not sure I'm ready for her to know that yet. :-) She is very helpful around the house. She loves helping Mommy do anything, from cooking to cleaning to folding laundry to making her bed, she'll do whatever I ask her to and some days that's what makes the difference between a good day and a bad day for me. I am doing preschool with her myself this year and that is some of my most cherished time with her. She learns things very quickly when I spend time with her on it and I'm confident that we'll have given her a good head start when she starts Kindergarten next year. She loves pink and purple, loves to color and write her name and any other words she knows how to spell in her coloring books over and over, loves her princess and baby dolls, loves Odell like she was her own, loves to play the damsel in distress when the boys I watch during the week come over, and is generally a happy, smart, five year old girl.

Craig is busy plugging his way through...well everything! Last spring, due to a combination of circumstances, we made the decision to have me stay home this year, which meant that Craig would take on a fully-loaded schedule split between work and full-time school to get him done as soon as possible. We thought his schedule was just about maxed out, and then our church boundaries split and Craig was assigned to be the new Young Men's President in our ward. Despite it all, he is thriving and successfully pulled off straight A's this semester. I have to brag about him because I am proud of him and consider myself lucky to be married to such an attractive, hard working, and brilliant man. But mostly attractive. He's still playing in line hockey once a week and finds a good release in that and is looking forward to graduating in the Spring of 2013, a mere 2 semesters of classes and an internship away, in recreation management.

I am thoroughly enjoying my new position as a stay at home mom! I never thought it would be easy, and it's not, but our schedule is balanced and things feel right. It's great. I've also been working on my photography and selling crocheted items of joy on my etsy shop here and there, which fully fulfills my high-need creative outlet. I recently performed as the alto soloist in our church's performance of Part 1 of the Messiah. I haven't sung like that for a while and it felt good to get back into it, if only for one performance- it was filled with the spirit of Christ and I was grateful that I chose to participate in it.

This Christmas, we hope you have time to ponder the meaning of this holiday; the birth of Christ. In our home we strive each year to add something else to our "traditions" that help reinforce teaching this to our children, and as our children grow, it's a pleasure to see them grow their own testimonies of their Savior. It's a great time to be with family and friends, it's a great time to get and to give, but it is also a great time to reflect on how we can do better and how we can use the tender story of a baby boy that was born to a virgin mother to come closer to Christ.

Merry Christmas from the Ellingsons!

The world and me in it

2011-12-02T16:19:00.002-07:00

So, I have been around this world 26 years. Sometimes I look at that time and I think how old I am, how much I've accomplished in my time here on earth, how far I've come. Other times I am humbled and realize how young I am, how little I know, how much I have to grow.
Today feels more like the latter. In a very good way. Did you know that we live here on planet earth...and we orbit the sun, at the exact distance from the sun that allows life to happen on this earth...and the sun, our star, sits in the milky way galaxy, which sits in a cluster of other galaxies, which sits in a super cluster of other galaxies...and did you know that the only thing holding this galaxy...and really everything...together is a mysterious substance called Dark Matter and without it we would just fall apart? Really. We've figured that out, it's not science fiction, look it up. We've also made telescopes that hopefully in the future, will align together to make a virtual super-telescope that will hopefully allow us to see the event-horizon on the super-massive black-hole that the milky way orbits around and prove it's existence? Did you know that we have robots that you can have conversations with? Did you know that we have a bicycle, that when you put on a special helmet with a device attached to it, it will read your mind and change gears when you tell it to? Did you know we have discovered particles that have defied all our known laws of physics by traveling faster than the speed of light?
We live on this little ol' planet and we've been around so long that these things just keep popping out of our brains. It's really just incredible to me that these marvelous, magnificent minds exist in this world. They are beautiful! The capacity for humanity to put into creation anything that we imagine is profound. We have been given tools to make the most imaginative dreams into reality.
Which gets me thinking to what is really real in this life. Here I am, on my computer, I can learn about the laws of physics from a TV show open to the public eye that created this universe. Anyone can watch it. And I look down and see this little scrap of fabric I've woven together with my crochet hook and yarn. Yes, I created that. Well, I organized it into something better. It was yarn and a hook, and I organized it into something else with more use, beauty, and structure than was there previously. I find pleasure in it, actually.
Then I pick up my five year old daughter while she's sleeping and carry her to her bed from where she fell asleep in our room, her gangly legs draping over my sides, her head resting it's weight on my shoulder, and I think, she used to fit in the crook of my arm. She used to hiccup while she was inside of me. I helped bring her body into existence. I helped will her body into this world.
BUT. I did not beget her soul. There is no doubt in my mind when I look into her eyes that she came to me as a friend, as a sister, and not as my creation, but a creation that I am to take charge of and care for. Just as I look at my scrap of crocheted fabric, I did not create the yarn. I did not weld the hook. I did not come up with the idea of crocheting in the first place. Yet I have a part in it's future now, just as I have a part in my children's future, my husband's future, and my own future.
Yet those feelings and yearnings to create are still there. I create a home out of a house everyday by the way I organize it. I create memories when I snap my camera and capture a laugh or a shared moment of love. I create warm hats to put on baby's heads to protect them from the elements. I feel inside of me that these are small pinwheels to a larger vehicle, that I have the capacity to create something unimaginable. I feel that I am very much in a training ground to teach me something more than what is here.
I look at the universe and not only am I humbled, but I am grateful. Anyone can feel that gratitude, when you think about all the things that had to happen in order for this world to exist, you are in a sense of awe, and that awe was given to us to reciprocate back to our Creator. It was meant as a blessing, and I often stand baffled to think that there was any way I could imagine all this being here without a purpose. Mother Nature could not have created this just by accident. There is always a WHY- why would I be here to experience what I experience just by accident? Why would I love if it were useless, or just some biological urge to keep me alive and keep me procreating? Anyone who has loved or felt love cannot deny that it goes beyond the physical- love is not something my body feels or experiences, it is something my soul feels and experiences. Why would I want to help other people if it didn't serve a higher purpose? Why would I feel pain if it weren't there to teach me something? Why would I even want to help someone else if the soul reason I was here was just to survive and exist because I happened to be living on a planet that just happened to be in the right place in the right time so that life could just happen to exist? No, we were created for a higher purpose by a higher being. It is undeniable. Of course we have a creator. Of course we love and feel loved. Of course we want to help other people, it comes from our divine heritage. Of course there is life after death, there is no way this would be all that there is. There is no way that hope could ever survive with all it's frailties in a world so coarse unless there was a real reason to hope. A real reason for life. To be something more. To progress. To grow. To learn. And it is undeniable to me that all the things we learn in this life will be put to good use in the next.
And I for one am grateful for it. I am nowhere near perfect, but I have a path. I know God lives. I know because of the very fact that I am capable of love. It could not come from anywhere but from a divine source, man is not capable of such divinity, and just as it would pain me to see my "creations" wasted, just as it would pain me to see my children throw their lives away, so it must pain our Heavenly Father to see His children not turn to Him for help, not see this beautiful world we've been given as a gift, not understand the true happiness and peace that gratitude, repentance, and forgiveness can bring to our lives.
Let us gather ourselves to Him who knows us best, especially this Christmas season. Let us show him we are grateful. Let us use this divine gift of love to give to those who are in need, to use this year to open a door, to make a phone call, to let go of a grudge, to rid ourselves of unnecessary painful baggage and give it to Him who carries all burdens, who takes upon Him our yokes, and carries us through. And be grateful.

No-Denberr 17th

2011-11-17T22:35:00.003-07:00

Chloe is so funny. She's had a really hard time pronouncing the word "November". Wouldn't be a big deal except for her strong desire to tell the world it was her BIRTHDAY today. :-)
M: No-VEMMMM-berr
C: No-DENN-
M:-no no, VVVEMMM-ber,
C: DDDDDVVVVEEEM-ber
M: No-VEEMMM-ber
C: No-DVEN-ger...
M: NO
C: NO
M: VEM
C: VEM
M: BER
C: BER
M: NO-VEM-BER
C: NO...Deh...Veh..no wait, NOVENGABER
M: ...good enough...actually, just say eleven seventeen.
C: eleben-
M: -NEVERMIND, Happy Birthday, Chloe, you were born TODAY.

And she was. Five very short years ago I was very uncomfortable and in pain, got in the car, threw up on the way to the hospital, got checked in (at 6cm, woohooo, over halfway there), got fluids and felt like I was on top of the world...after that incredibly low dip every five minutes..., played triominoes with Craig, got lectured by the nurse about how I was supposed to be uncomfortable enough not to play games, was told to go walk the hallways, endured contractions while walking, labored for about 14 more hours, tried to ask for an epidural, but then felt a very strong urge to push when I got up to use the bathroom, cried my eyes out and told the nurse nevermind, confirmed that I was dilated to a 10 and completely effaced, pushed for less than an hour, had the doctor explain to me that my baby was having a hard time coming out, oops, nevermind, she was stuck, showed me a couple of instruments (one looked like an oversized set of salad tongs and the other a small machine with a tube hooked to a suction cup, called a vacuum...you can guess where this is going), was told that the salad tongs hurt a lot when you don't have an epidural, opted for vacuum, pushed some more, listened as my doctor started yelling and all the nurses started bouncing around me frantically, then a male nurse recording the event was called into action and performed what my husband described as a pro-wrestling elbow stunt on my stomach, and then...release. And a baby on my chest. A girl.
9 lbs, 2 oz. No wonder she got stuck! Narrowly missed a C-section by that much. And I was a mother.
Didn't really feel much different, but if you ask me, I was a mother all along. And if you ask me, all women are, whether they have kids or not.
Thank you, Chloe, for making it official.

Here is her slideshow! I finally configured a format that isn't so big that it takes 3 days to download, and youtube seems to download it faster than blogger.
We love you, Chloe, thanks for all you do and all you are. Thanks for being the "guinea pig" oldest child, and doing it with flying colors. We promise to cherish every moment of the last year we have you at home!

H-Dub

2011-11-05T21:53:00.004-06:00

Happy Halloween! Just a couple of pictures of the kids' costumes. I have a confession: this was actually the day after Halloween because I ran out of time to actually do pictures on Halloween. The kids loved their costumes. Chloe and Linus's were sort of a last minute put together. Chloe wanted to be the same thing she was last year (a purple fairy), Linus wanted to be something that I'm not sure existed:
"MOM, for Halloween I'm going to weare a BONE shirt and spiderman shoes and a CAPE!" He told anyone who asked him what he was going to be for Halloween this, and was met with a polite, "Oh...that sounds nice!" And I had gotten Odell a ladybug costume that I found at a thrift store, but while we were in Utah, on the drive out there the kids watched a certain movie, and after a little discussion, our outfit plans changed. See if you can guess what they were! Chloe's costume sort of gives it away...if you've seen the movie. I made the skirt and accessories out of felt, and used the extra material for Linus's vest. And Odell is wearing Linus's costume from last year. Which is supposed to be a dragon, not a dinosaur.
Bonus points to the person who knows what movie it is and who they are!
Gotta love those bonus points...

Hope you all had a nice trick or treat-filled night!

The rest of Utah

2011-10-20T15:05:00.006-06:00

WHOOSH! Nothing gives you a "best mother in the world" boost like driving 12oo miles over 5 days with three kids 4 and under BY yourself. Although I could also say nothing makes you feel like "worst mother in the world" doing the same activity.
A week before we left I decided to go. Crazy, right? I had a lot of things to reschedule and organize to make it work, but the stars aligned and my busy schedule last weekend parted like the Red Sea so we could go. Couldn't pass up the opportunity. My lovely, darling sister in law just got engaged (seriously love her to pieces, last Ellingson woman, men, she's taken!!). Like, JUST. I had a dream a while ago that my brother in law got married and we went to his wedding and the brides family was nutso and wouldn't let me near the couple with my camera. I woke up all stressed out, so I posted on his facebook wall to tell him how irritated I was that his future bride's family was ruining my sleep (he's not engaged, don't worry ladies...). I wistfully mused that maybe the next night I would have better luck with Amber's future spouse's family. Har har, right? Well Amber called me the next week, and here's me, not even knowing that she was dating anyone. And she's all "Ha ha- that was funny what you posted on Michael's facebook wall," to which I replied, "Oh yeah, make sure that you tell your fiance's family to move out of the way when I do your wedding, ha ha." "Okay, so you'll do my wedding pictures for me when I get married, right?" she laughs. "Of course!" I answer.
"How about on December 16th?"
"Oh yeah, ha ha, sure Amber, okay!"
*silence*
"WAIT. Are you trying to TELL ME SOMETHING???"
Yes, indeed she was trying to tell me something. DECEMBER 16th people!!
So I remembered that Craig's parents were driving out to Utah for the weekend to pick up apples, and I thought, what the heck. I need to meet this guy and I need to see my family and the kids need to see their cousins. It totally worked out! We stayed with my aunt and uncle in Park City for a few nights, then met up with all the Utah Ellingsons at Craig's oldest brother's family's house in Springville. I met the fiance. I approve. I saw Amber's wedding dress (by picture). I approve. I've got my wedding assignments so far (as both bride and brides mother are Relief Society Presidents this semester, yikes, talk about BUSY! But I'm THRILLED to be able to help, I love weddings :-)). I piled the kids in the Pilot and followed Craig's parents out there. I brought lots of snacks, pillows, blankets, and of course, the portable DVD player. The kids did great! I successfully changed DVD's on the mounted DVD player with one hand without unmounting it. It was fantastic. Aside from trying to drive to Vernal instead of Springville while getting from Park City to Provo, I didn't get lost once (I made it to this lovely reservoir along the Strawberry River before I thought to myself "...this road is not wind-ey enough to be Provo Canyon, I think I went the wrong way"- although I did get my "drive in the mountains to see the fall colors" trip taken care of in the meantime, it was a beautiful road to get lost on, if I do say so myself).
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures of the trip. My motivation to take pictures of everyone gets lost when I'm visiting with family. Here's a couple of the kids on various parts of the trip I fully enjoy sleeping back in my own bed in SEPARATE rooms from my kids. Linus wakes up a lot during the night, holy cow. Maybe that accounts for his bad attitude when he wakes up some mornings!

A bad day and Horse Chestnuts

2011-10-20T13:50:00.006-06:00

So this last weekend I took the kids with me to Utah. By myself. Crazy? Yes. Worth it? Definitely. I have other pictures to post, but I'll have to get to them later otherwise this post will be super duper long.
Below is the story of another motherhood lesson learned. Enjoy.

So the day after we got to Park City, I really wanted to take the kids to see Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I thought it would be this perfect, spiritually uplifting event: the kids could touch the temple, we could tour the conference center, we could visit the Christus (a white, beautifully serene replica of the Ressurected Saviour, it's just glorious, I always love visiting it). Well I didn't much take into account the fact that the kids did not sleep at all the trip up there and then didn't fall asleep until sometime after midnight after we did get there, then woke up with Linus's internal alarm at 6:30. When we got to Temple Square, as pictured below, they were nice walking up to the temple to touch it. Then we went to tour the Conference Center. Chloe thought it was amazing. Odell didn't much care either way. Linus thought it was a ginormous concrete jungle gym. In fact, he thought that's what most of Temple Square was after that. These poor older sister missionaries gave us the tour and were so kind as to push the stroller for me while I ran after Linus and pulled him out of fountains and rope barriers in front of paintings and flower beds on the roof...the last half of the tour he spent riding on my shoulders. My scalp was sore afterwards from all the hair pulling and thrashing he did. We got back over to the temple grounds after that and I got them calmed down with a snack and juice box while we watched the fifty million brides and their families and their photographers going through. Then we prepared to visit the Christus. They were so quiet and still going up the ramp to the room where it's located, I thought for a moment we may actually have a beneficial spiritual encounter here. They quickly identified Christ, and as I was thinking about preparing my speech for mother of the year award, suddenly they both thought that climbing on the statue would be a good idea. I tried to take a picture of them next to it, but quickly realized that was not going to happen as more people started coming up and Linus began darting around the room finding other things to destroy. He successfully located a spot up about 6 or 7 stairs away from me where I couldn't take the stroller where he threatened to run away from me. Needless to say I ended that excursion dragging both of my screaming children back down the ramp where we all had to immediately find a potty because suddenly no one could hold it anymore. While in the bathroom I was ready to shed a few tears of my own. I got them out of there alive and made it back to the car in the parking garage in one piece. As I was driving out every exit I came to required $10 in cash to leave. My heart sunk as I realized that I didn't have any cash on me. I was planning on using my credit card to leave, but that was not going to work here. My heart raced as thoughts of getting out of the car and begging strangers for $10 to leave the garage crossed my frantic mind. Thinking back on it, I should have just parked the car, got the kids back out and found an ATM downtown somewhere to get some cash, but at the time that just didn't occur to me as an option, I was tired from lack of sleep and desperate to get the kids and myself back up the canyon for lunch and a nap. I timidly approached the main exit where there was a guard manning the exit. I stared at the money machine next to me, then prayed that somehow I would open my purse again and $10 in cash would magically appear there. No such luck. Eventually the guard came over and I explained to him my desperate situation as politely as I could. He paused, then asked, "Where did you go?" I told him I was just on Temple Square with the kids, we didn't go anywhere else. The kids started fighting at that point, and I was trying to shush them while figure out what it was I needed to do to get out of there. Would I have to work my wages out? Could I convince the man to let me take his post for a couple of hours so I could pay my way out of the garage? He sat there looking irritated, then hesitantly pulled out his badge, swiped it over a reader on the machine, and snapped, "I could get fired for this," and the barrier lifted and I could pass. I blubbered out my thanks and apology, but his concern was now focused on the line of cars that had piled up behind me and didn't so much as say "You're welcome," as I left the garage. Well, the straw broke and I am ashamed to say I cried almost the whole drive back to Park City. The kids sat in silence the whole way back, occasionally muttering "It's okay, Mom, you can go to the bank and get some more money!" and "We're so sorry we didn't listen to you, Mom, we love you, don't cry!"
We got back to Park City and I pulled into McDonalds where I sniffled my last sniffle, put on a pair of large sunglasses, and bought the kids happy meals for lunch to apologize for a Mommy meltdown. After a sugary soda and a fattening burger, I felt much better.
SO, not to leave you on a down and out note, because I did learn a spiritual lesson from this. When we had family home evening at Brent and Karen's house the following Monday night, we talked about Amber getting married in the temple and both the kids talked some about going to the temple the previous Friday and touching the walls and connected to that readily. As I was cleaning out the car after we got back, I pulled out the stroller and these little brown, smooth nuts fell out of the bottom of the stroller. I had forgotten, while we were walking around on temple square, the kids found some horse chestnuts. It was strange, I often think about this tree: when I was kid, in the apartment complex we used to live in growing up, they had these giant horse chestnut trees and I LOVED to collect the horse chestnuts. Something about finding these pokey, prickly green outsides, but then opening them up to find a perfectly formed smooth nut on the inside, a little present just for me, was thrilling. I even had a children's book about them, they were special to me. The kids had never seen them before and wanted to take some home with us. I showed them the prickly coverings that they came from up in the tree, and let them each pick out one to put in the stroller. Another one of those lightning bolt- message from God moments came upon me. Right now, my kids sometimes seem like these prickly pokey horse chestnuts. They don't seem to have any smooth edges sometimes, it is a struggle to feel like I've accomplished anything at times with them, or like they'll be anything but a green, pokey, prickly ball. But they just need to ripen. And one day I will open them up and find a perfect, smooth, brown nut as formed on the inside and I'll be proud of what they have become. A mother's work is never done. But it takes time to see the fruits sometimes. Even when we want immediate results, they just need that time, like any fruit or plant, you can't make them bloom before they are ready.
On that note, does anyone know why they planted this particular tree on the temple grounds in Salt Lake? Just wondering.
And hang tight for the rest of the Utah adventures, they will be soon up-a-comin'.

Yada yada...

2011-10-06T09:12:00.010-06:00

It's been a little while!
In my effort to keep an upper hand on my photography/crocheting blog, I've shamefully neglected this one.
So here's one of those updates that everyone glances at the pictures of, but no one has the time to read (I'll admit I've done that a few times...). I'll keep on her
e so it can go in our printed book at the end of the year and I'll have something for the month of October. :-)
...although I'll likely have a few more posts for this month since it'll be Halloween and all. Can't neglect an opportunity to take pictures of kids dressed up.
Starting at the bottom and working our way up, Odell is a whopping 14 months old this month and still not walking! :-) She gets her way around, though. She's learned how to crawl up and down stairs, but hasn't figured out how to turn herself around at the top of the stairs, so I still have to keep the gates up, unfortunately (no one in our house is a fan of the gates and may have actually caused more injuries to the older kids climbing over them than they would have prevented with the younger one...). She can say "Mama" and "Dada" and "Gama", but only when prompted and is not real interested in speaking much more than that. She can sign "drink" and "please" and folds her arms lightning quick when we are ready to say a prayer. She also hugs. All the time. She lays her head on my shoulder every time I pick her up and she hugs her stuffed animals whenever she runs across them. Her favorite things to do are: climb stairs, climb the kids rocking chair, stand up and rock it, then laugh when I run over to prevent her eminent death from knocking the chair over, eat food (any food, she's never rejected anything I've given her, even the raw broccoli I once ground up for her with a little water when she was littler, she ate the whole thing and had a bright green diaper the next day), grab the clean diaper from me when I'm changing her and try to put it on herself, hand toys or spoons or my cell phone or anything to me, then take it back, then hand it to me, then take it back again, and so on and so forth, open cabinet or dresser drawers within reach and empty out contents, play with metal bowls and spoons on the kitchen floor while I'm making dinner, play pikaboo on the kids' couch, climb up on the fireplace, stand up and laugh when I run over to again prevent her eminent death from falling onto the brick below her, get really mad and cry while waving hands around hysterically anytime Chloe or Linus climbs into my lap (she's got some serious lap envy) and grab my glasses off my face every time my attention is diverted from her for a millisecond. Every time. And Chloe's too, it's a regular pass-time. Cannot get enough of this girl. Follow this link to see some cute pictures I took of her for a belated smash cake photo shoot.

Linus is getting taller and thinner every time I look at him. He's still a brute, don't get me wrong, but he's starting to even out a little bit. He's been learning how to help me more around the house and has been more and more sweet and giving every day. We still have our challenging days, but the more patient I am with him and the more hugs and kisses I give him, the better it is for both of us. The other day he was playing with my fantasia flower plant, and there were some buds that were open and some that were closed. He kept wanting to squeeze and pop the buds open and pry the petals apart to open them up. He thought he was helping me, but I had to quickly stop him from killing all the buds on my plant. He asked innocently why they wouldn't open, and I said that only the sun opens them, and explained that the warmth of the sun helps those petals open up little by little until they are in full bloom. He seemed to understand that, then said sweetly, "I'm sorry I popped your flowers, Mom." Immediately this divine impression popped into my head: Linus is one of those buds. Sometimes I'm so eager and impatient for him to change and settle down and "be good" that I try to force his petals open before they're ready to bloom. But what he needs is the sun: all the love he can get from me. The more hugs and kisses and giggles and tickles I can get out of him, the more he opens up naturally. I've gotta remember to do that. He also mixes up his words all the time, and it's so gosh darn cute I don't have the heart to correct him sometimes.
"Mom, are we having hangabers for dinner?" *hamburgers*
"Mom!!! I got-for my gun in the car!!!" *forgot*
"Mom! Are we going to the fixing-car today?" *T&T tire, where we get our oil changed and they "fix" our car*
The other day he was playing with one of the neighbor kids, whose name was Liam, and he kept calling him "Woman" because he couldn't say it right. Right now he likes to play with his gun (he puts this black and white sweat-band around his middle, which serves as his gun holster, and walks around protecting the innocent ladies here in the house), he plays "Da Mommy/Daddy and da sweetie" with Chloe a lot (sweetie being the kid), he likes to draw ovals (not circles, ovals), is starting to recognize some letters and numbers, takes 45 minutes to eat any meal, loves playing soccer outside with his Daddy or uncles, and genuinely feels bad when he does something to make me sad or mad. That's a really big accomplishment for him. He also still takes a 2 hour nap every day, which keeps me sane.
I wuv my Winus.

Chloe is turning into an actual little girl. Like, no more toddler whatsoever! That makes me excited and super sad at the same time. Her hair is getting so long, which I love, but also makes her look older too. She's mastered all the letters and their sounds, finally, and is starting to sound out some words a little. Yesterday she sounded out the word "OFF" on the thermostat in the car by herself and was very excited about it. She writes letters to her cousins, with my help (that...ah, yet to have been sent, but don't tell her that...) She's also learned how to swing by herself- she loves to swing now. The other day we were in a parking lot and there was a splatter of white paint on the asphalt by my side of the car- Chloe stopped, gasped and exclaimed, "MOM, watch out!! There's a REALLY big bird poop right there!!! That bird must have been HUGE!!!" I don't know why I thought that was so funny, but I stopped and laughed for like five minutes. She loves her little sister with all of her heart and will go and play with her whenever I ask her to. She's just about the only person that can really make Odell giggle without the help of tickling. I'm starting to realize the benefits of having kids so close in age- she and Linus play so well together, and will even include Odell in sometimes, when Odell is in the right mood. She loves to play house with her toys when the little ones are down for a nap, read lots of books, have her "lessons" everyday, give hugs whenever I'm frustrated, which makes it hard for me to get mad at her ever, loves to look at Spiderman, Batman, and Star Wars books in the library (oh dear...), but also loves to play "save the princess" whenever I'm watching kids and the kids I'm watching happen to be boys (which means no competition for the lead role, she can be the damsel in distress without a fight...), asks me to go swimming every day, asks me to go camping every day (I'm thinking this is going to be a long winter for her), and is one of my best friends.

I am doing great. Really. It's the first time in my life I've actually enjoyed housework (doesn't mean I do it everyday, but I enjoy it when I do do it!). I LOVE waking up everyday to an "unplanned" day, which means we can go and do whatever we want. Lunch at the park today? Sure! Stay in while I make bread and clean the bathrooms? Why not. Run errands with Mommy and stop for a treat on the way home? Perfect. Make a fort in the living room? Sign me up. I have a general idea of what I want to get done each week and I have the freedom to do it when it fits our schedule, instead of fitting it in our schedule somewhere. Ahh...and I've been busy with my creative outlets. Super Ahhh....if you haven't already checked out my blog, Chelsea's Attic, please do and look around! Even if no one looks at it, though, I really have fun with it. And if you have any suggestions or are confused about a tutorial, or see an editing mistake, please tell me. It's a work in progress. But one that frees my soul. In short, life is good for me. Which means I should watch out because something crazier will be around the corner I'm sure.
(Like maybe a wedding for a certain family member??? *coughAMBERcough*)

Craig is...less "super ahhh..." than I am, but thriving nonetheless. He is in full throttle mode right now, but somehow it seems like this was the final push in the puzzle pieces of our lives that made everything click together- having me stay home means that he has the freedom to do whatever he needs and not worry about stressing me out anymore by piling anything else on our agenda. So we thought his schedule was pretty much maxed out when we started the semester with full time school/work, then our wards split and he got called as the new Young Men's president in our ward (which means he is in charge of the male youth at church, basically), and then his computer crashed at work and now he's spending every waking minute at work (literally, he leaves in the morning before we even have a chance to rub our sleepy eyes) going through bills and records for the last two years. So needless to say, he's busy. But we do get to see him now and again and yes, it's hard, but yes it's worth it. At least I still get to have pillow talk with him most nights, that fills my "missing hubs" cup when I need it. :-)

We love our lives. Yes we do. We love our lives, how 'bout you?
Whooot.

Hats and kids, shake and mix well

2011-09-19T21:11:00.006-06:00

This is Linus and Chloe and their new friend, our next door neighbor.

They moved in about 2 years after we did, and had this darling baby girl. I didn't see her all that often and I somehow had it in my head that she was still a baby, even though she wasn't that much younger than Linus. Well suddenly at the end of this summer the kids discovered each other and there's been no separating them when we are outside playing in the backyard (our yards connect, kinda). Linus would go run to the front of their house and watch them whenever they were getting ready to leave. One day I heard him waving at them and yelling "BYE!!! SEE YOU LATER!! I LOVE YOU!!!" Anyway, the first time they started playing with each other, they all held hands and ran back and forth across a little hill between our yards over and over, laughing and shrieking with delight. It was like they were long lost friends getting together again.
Anyway, we were all playing out back while I was taking pictures of a new hat I made for my blog/shop and they all wanted pictures of themselves in the hat. I obliged. They were so eager, how could I say no?

That's a stink face if I've ever seen one.

Chloe and Linus were being so weird and she just kept giving me these sweet smiles. Such a treasure, I love having her over. Hopefully my kids won't teach her all their bad habbits...
Oh so posh, Chloe. Always the drama mama...
PS- I'm opening up my TV Time discussion on facebook, join me there to give me your input! :-)

TV time

2011-09-18T01:14:00.002-06:00

From all you experienced mothers I draw so much from: I need your input.
Studies say no more than an hour of TV a day for kids.

My questions: is NO TV better than that or does it matter?
Currently my kids watch a 25 minute show or two a day in the morning on Netflix, usually so I can shower and/or finish dishes or get some other chore done before our day is completely started. There are others in this house *coughCRAIGcough* who think this is too much. That really, any TV is too much. Now, I am in no way defending my position here- I'm at a point now where it may be beneficial for us to let go of the TV and move on with life. I don't want my kids attached to it, and I know for certain there have been times where they've had too much TV when I was pregnant and/or at low points in my "working mommy" routine (it was really a crutch, I was weak, I admit it).
Now, we've rotated through shows that I feel are more educational. I'm not saying that a TV can replace education, however, media can be a powerful tool as well, if used in the right way. Currently they've watched Pinky-Dinky Doo, Word World, Sid the Science Kid, and for fun sometimes Backyardigans or Busytown Mysteries. A lot of times I talk to them when the show is over what the episode was about and try to connect that at times to what is going on in our day. I don't always sit with them through the whole episode (like when I'm showering, obviously, it's a babysitting tool in that case- I know that's a no-no, but it is what it is right now).
So, what do you think? Tell me your honest opinion. Is there anything that says no TV makes a big difference from a little TV? Obviously I need to do a little more research on my own as well, but sometimes the "mom-to-mom" gems I receive from you all are more beneficial to me than that.
Cheerio

I could complain...

2011-09-15T21:44:00.002-06:00

But I won't.
Let's just say the last week or so with the kids has been a little rough. Not on my part, I must say I've held together magnificently under the pressure, but with nuts-o sleeping schedules the kids have suddenly adopted (bedtime routine was just...not good, I'll leave it at that), it's been challenging.
However, under it all there has been this constant river of "feel-goodness". I am blessed, let me just say that, and I am grateful for it. Being at home is no picnic, but it is wonderful. I've had a couple kids I've watched at home here and there for other families and I have loved it- even when once a lamp got knocked over by a weeping, wailing, and gnashing child who was having a hard time being consoled, and the glass shattered all over my carpet, and then every child in my house was weeping, wailing, and gnashing and I felt like joining them, I didn't. I was grateful. I was laughing. I was at home. I am at home. I hesitate saying that, because I know when I read blogs of other Moms who were able to do this, I envied them when they gushed about it while I was working, and here I am gushing, but I decided that was my problem, not theirs, this really is the best job in the world and I am blessed to have it.
Things I have been thankful for:

Telling my children the stories of Jesus, which they now ask me to tell them almost everyday. It really really warms my heart that they genuinely want to know about him, they ask me why he had to die almost everyday, and rejoice when we talk about his resurrection over and over again like I'm telling it for the first time each time. Lovely lovely lovely.
We all went to Craig's hockey game last week. Before we left, I was talking to Craig's dad about the next day's schedule since Grandma Ellingson is out helping the newest addition to the family in Yuma and I was helping fill in some gaps here and there, and when I told him I was going to the hockey game he asked, "Do you need us to watch the kids tonight so you can go?" and I said "Nope, we're all going, thanks!" When I was working, I was not readily excited to handle all three kids in public situations easily, so the fact that that wasn't even a concern to me filled me with pride. And the kids melted down at the rink and I was able to reign them back in and it was great!
When I now ask Linus to "do me a quick favor" and he replies, "Yep, I can!"
When I see Chloe actually learning things I've been teaching her in our preschool lessons every day. Those lessons are some of my most cherished moments with her.
When Odell lays her head on my should every time I pick her up for a hug, and she says "Mmmmm!" like she's getting a really good squeeze out of it. None of my other kids cuddled at her age, it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever experienced.
My kids dancing. I don't upload videos all that often, but I felt like this one was worth preserving. By the way, we've listened to this song a lot lately.

I especially love it when Linus takes off his sunglasses so he can really get into it. This probably isn't as funny to everyone else as it is to me, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it any less. :-)

Friday night in DENBERRR!!!!

2011-09-04T19:58:00.009-06:00

Our kids have no distance perception whatsoever. Or time for that matter. Events that were yesterday happened "last year". Things that happened a few days ago were "just a minute ago". And when we're going to DenBER (Denver) to see Grandma and Grandpa John, it's almost impossible for them to understand the "they live in Denver, no they're house is not Denver, see those big buildings? That's Denver, but they don't live in the buildings...the buildings are in Denver and so is Grandma and Grandpa's house, Denver is a place just like Windsor, etc, etc." Linus got so confused that yesterday while at Grandma's house he started calling from downstairs, "Den-ber? Den-ber!! Den-ber where are you??? Grandma Den-ber, come downstairs wiss us!"
If we all just lived on the same cul-desac that would make life so much easier.
Oh wait...

Here are a couple of pictures from our adventures. After long deliberation and going back and forth, I finally decided that Linus would probably be just fine if we went to the Denver Art Museum with he and Chloe. Chloe, I knew wouldn't be an issue, but Linus's attention span just doesn't last that long if a lot of tactile and moving, interesting things aren't going on...and it helps if food is involved, most of which don't happen at an Art Museum. So I debated and debated and debated, and I really don't know why I worried so much about it because....
I was wrong and he was sort of a terror after the first half hour (we didn't stay much longer than that). Although we did get these really neat backpacks that you can check out that bring you to a certain spot in the museum and have you do an activity based on what is going on in that particular exhibit. He held on till we got to the craft at the end when we had to color, and then his attention went out the door and suddenly landed on all these cool looking things in reachable distance. I managed to catch him before he touched most of the things we looked at (he had a problem staying behind "the line"). It's just a good thing that the security people weren't always looking our direction. Also, thank you Grandma for taking pictures, I left my camera in the car by accident.

But I'm glad I took him, because he needs to be exposed to cultural things like museums, I can't lock him up forever, and it wasn't completely awful, he did seem to have fun. (PS- every first Saturday of the month is free admission at the Denver Art Museum, if you have children than longer attention spans than Linus, I totally recommend going, they have lots of fun things for kids to do there!) The rest of the day was filled with good food and pool time (weeks of awfully hot record setting weather in Colorado and then the day we go to Grandma's pool and it's barely 70 out. Story of our life...the kids and Daddy swam anyway, I opted out. Although Craig made sure to soak me a couple of times anyway). We also celebrated Odell's birthday the night before with a really yummy chocolate cake and a few gifts, plus looking at the neat things Grandma brought home from Israel.

She was chomping on a piece of corn all evening and wouldn't let it go, not even while swinging. Note to self- corn on the cob is a safe, occupying piece of wonderfullness that will be used for nutrition and entertainment in the future...
We love Aunt Rose. ("aunt", not "ant")
Chloe, being a great older sister and pushing baby Odell. Odell still chomping on the corn. Hopefully that's not bad for her teeth...
Beautiful Grandma and Beautiful Baby. :-)
Chomp Chomp.

Lookout, the shark is going to get you!

Here it comes!!

Here is Linus flying in the pool. I won't show you the picture of Chloe doing the same. I was behind her when her bathing suit bottom started falling off during the toss. That's one to show her first date I'm sure, though. :-)

Tomorrow is Labor Day. Look for parade pictures and other outdoor fun in the future. :-)

Bloggers Alert

2011-08-31T23:32:00.006-06:00

If you haven't checked out my "other" blog, Chelsea's Attic, yet, here's your golden opportunity!
If you're anything like I was, you may be sick of getting your blog header just right. With our first blog (that I eventually gave up since it centered around Chloe...and then came Linus, and it didn't make sense to have a blog that didn't involve him somehow in our family...), I was a dunce. Click HERE to see it. I still kind of giggle when I think about how frustrated I was getting this stupid picture to not jump out of my computer and try to inhale me with it's size...really, it was a simple thing, but I just didn't want to bother with it. I was embarrassed to send our blog to family or friends over it. How shameful. Anyway, I finally got over my technical incompetence when I started my photography (because I had to) and now have evolved to making this lovely tutorial just for you.

http://www.chelseasattic.com/2011/08/designing-blog-banner-in-photoshop-for.html

I would love input on any of you bloggers out there who have done anything like this (or actually, especially those of you who've never done anything like this). My main concern is, does it make sense?? And if it doesn't, where are you hung up? Any feedback would be grand.

Chloe and Linus got into Chloe's Pretty Pretty Princess game this morning. I hope Linus kills me when he's older for posting this. I'm sure Craig will.
I think the blue jewelery matches his eyes, don't you?

Such a goofball.
And yes, that is a brace you see on Chloe's arm. Here she is giving her best poutey face.
On Saturday Daddy was playing with the kids on the tramp and somehow Chloe fell on her arm, although Craig didn't see exactly how it happened. Oh the drama. Our little princess was quick to blame Craig for the incident and didn't let up crying over it for a good hour. I wish I could say that was not typical, otherwise I might have brought her in on Saturday instead of waiting until Monday. She got to have her first X-ray and see her bones, which showed a very slight buckle fracture. The brace is just to protect her from fracturing it all the way, they will see if she needs a hard cast or if the brace is working on Tuesday after Labor Day. We're glad for the brace, though, and with the okay from her doctor, it means that we can take it off so she can go swimming at Grandma's house in Denver this weekend. The hard cast would have meant no swimming on that one.
Check back later for Labor Day fun (Denver, hectic day at church with our first Sunday after boundary changes, then Labor Day Parade and fireworks on Monday- hooray!).

Just make up your mind!

2011-08-23T15:28:00.009-06:00

Yeah I know, I changed things around again. It's like keeping the furniture in your living room in the same arrangement for too long. Sometimes you just need to move it around. Or in my case, completely remodel...(if only remodeling your living room were as inexpensive as remodeling your blog...)

Wanted to share with you this magical tool I've used for two kids now and still use it all the time. Sometimes even for quick sauce mix-ups when I don't need a lot (like when I'm making pesto, like tonight- great recipe HERE). Odell has eaten everything off the table because of this beauty, I only bought baby food when we went camping and I couldn't bring this guy along. Now she's old enough that she can ingest most things without gagging or choking on them, so I don't need it as much, but my heart would warm when I could mix her up some of our healthy home cooked meals in a baby edible form. And I wish I knew the name of this because I would share it with you, but I'm pretty sure if you looked up "baby food mixer" at Babies R Us you might find it, because I think it came from there.

Also army men from the roof make for loads of evening entertainment. That is until one particular participant decided to rip the parachute off of the man (like we all didn't know that was coming...).

Dreamlife

2011-08-17T15:59:00.004-06:00

A man in a business suit and hat sits at his table at the local diner, sipping his water and reading the paper. Busy sounds of the restaurant are all around him, but he is enveloped in the paper, and does not add to the noise around him except the ruffling of the paper as he turns the pages and the sipping of his water.
Finally, a waitress, young, blonde, wearing a white apron around her blue uniform dress and red lipstick, comes up. She refills the man's water without asking, then patiently waits for the man to order. She does not need to get his attention, he's a regular at the diner. She taps her pen on her pad until he turns to her with a mock look of surprise on his face.
"Hi there," he says happily.
"What can I get for you today?" asks the waitress.
"Hmm...well I like food," he begins. "How about...waffles, french fries, hot chocolate, a cucumber, and...grapes."
The waitress does not flinch at his unusual requests as she scribbles his order onto her pad. "Anything else?"
"Yes," he continues. "Um.....uh......waffles...."
"You said that."
"....and.....french fries...."
"Um...we're all out of french fries. Do you want ah....skeedasoh?"
"Yes. I want that."
The buss and hubbub in the small diner continues, unmoved by the strange interaction occurring between the man in his business suit and the blonde waitress in the blue dress. A few minutes pass as they continue to their conversation, the man continuing to ask for more obscene things or request items he's already asked for, the waitress changing what they are offering, making up food items that are not on the menu. Or actual food items at all, for that matter.
"....So," continues the waitress. "You can have the hot chocolate if you want it. And the skeedasoh. Is that okay?"
"But!" the man protests, starting suddenly to get irritated. His brow furrows over his once serene face. "GAH!.....OKAY! Just...just BRING ME MY FOOD!"
"Okay," the waitress says. "That will be ninety nine dollars please."
The man pulls out his wallet, pays for his food without question, and the waitress brings back a plate full of items he did not order. He pays no attention and begins to eat his food.
"Hey!" the waitress exclaims after he bites into a mouth-full of a full, ripe tomato. "Want to see my dance?!"
"Um...okay," says the man.
The waitress immediately drops her pen and pad on the floor and starts hopping manically in a circle in front of the man's table. She can't help herself and begins to giggle hysterically as she dances, clearly embarrassed that she would dance like that in front of a person, let alone a whole restaurant full of people, but unable to stop herself all the same. She makes an unexpected jerk in the wrong direction when she looses footing and accidentally steps on the man's foot, who until that point seemed to have lost interest in the dancing waitress in front of his table, munching on a bunch of bananas with the peels on.
Suddenly he leaps to his feet and yells angrily at the waitress, "OOWWWWW!!!!! YOU STEPPED ON MY FOOT!!!!" Without warning, he throws his arms up and shoves the waitress as hard as he can onto the floor. The waitress screeches in return as she hits the floor, then jumps to her feet again and shoves the man in back onto his table. His food flies into the air as his plate gets knocked over and his ice water empties onto the linoleum floor beneath them. The man's head smacks into the wall behind him, not enough to cause a bump, but enough to make an audible thump.
"OW OW OW OW!!!!" the man wails, grasping his injured head, and he suddenly bursts into sobbing tears.

"MMOOOOOMMMMMMMY!!! CHLOE PUSHED ME OVER!!!!!"

And then a large woman twice their size crashes into the restaurant, soothes the crying man, makes he and the waitress apologize to each other, and helps them clean up their mess.

Yeah, my life could totally be like a graphic novel or something. Right?

We went to Kid's day at Centerra yesterday, which resulted in 40 minutes of sort of enjoyment and 40 minutes of wailing and gnashing of teeth. We tried to wait in line for face paint, but it was too long, so I agreed to paint Chloe's face for her when we got home. And it was the cheapo stuff that rubbed off on everything it touched. At least she enjoyed it long enough for me to take a picture of her with it. :-)

Odell turns one!

2011-08-15T15:01:00.007-06:00

She was pretty excited to eat that cake.
Current stats: 21.5 lbs (59%), 28.5 in. (32%), and 20 in. head (99%). Except they cap it at 99% even if you are way over that. This is what her chart looks like for head size:Yeah, I'm pretty sure if there was a 120% she would be there. Still cute as a button, though! She can crawl and is starting to pull herself up on small things like kid chairs and stairs (not really close to walking yet, but my kids have always taken their time with that). She makes a VERY loud clicking noise with her tongue when she's bored or likes to get a reaction out of people (and I mean very loud, I can't even do it as loud as her). She can give high fives and head bonks and immitate a lot of sounds. She can say "momma" and "dadda" and "dee-doo" (thank you) and "'Laow" (hello). She even uses her tongue for the "L" sound, it's cute. She loves to clap her hands, make loud noises with toys, and does not like it when you walk away from her (but other than that generally very content).

I was thinking the night before her birthday about everything we went through during her pregnancy. It was rough. That night as I was tucking her into bed, I got her dressed, sang her some songs, rocked her in my arms in the rocking chair a bit, and then I said her nighttime prayer with her as she watched me eagerly with her arms neatly folded from her crib (yes, she's figured out how to fold her arms! SO cute). I came back in later as I was getting ready for bed and just watched her sleep and shed a few motherly tears, thanking Heavenly Father for letting us keep her in our family. There was a while there where I wondered if that would happen. I can't get enough of her smiles and giggles and beautiful eyes, I would sit and watch her all day if I could. She has such a calm and inquisitive spirit and we are lucky- blessed- to have her in our family here with us. We love you Odell!!

Just a little promo...

2011-08-11T02:24:00.006-06:00

LAUNCHED.
It's, no joke, 2 in the morning and I am finally winding down from all of this! I really need to not stay up so late on the computer. My kids don't appreciate grumpy-up-all-night Mom in the morning...
SO: I've been meaning to do this for a while and finally sat down and did it tonight. I redesigned my crocheting/photography blogs into one super blog, where it will incorporate all the creative things I mesh into my life. All my photography and what little I've done (and hope to do much more of) with my crocheting will be on here, as well as some other fun digital creations and so on and so forth.
To celebrate, I'm doing a fun little giveaway to help promote the blog!
Check out the blog here at chelseasattic.com. I really contemplated combining this blog as well, but in the end finally decided that this blog is a family blog and the other is more of a business blog and I thought I ought to keep them separate.
So if you have a minute and would like to check it out, follow me, like me, tweet me, whatever it is that you do, that would make my day. And enter to win a custom made crocheted hat and custom made personal blog banner created by yours truly.
Love

Most Important Project

2011-08-08T00:24:00.004-06:00

So, it being the week of a birthday in this family, Mommy is on the hunt for slideshow music.
It is 12:30 in the a.m., I'm lying on my carpet (which really stinks, never been up close and personal with this one, but it looks like I'm going to have to do some deep cleaning here soon, it reeks...) with a MAJOR slideshow block.
That's right, I said SLIDESHOW BLOCK!! *cue awful horror show music*
Really, it is quite terrifying. I have TONS of good slideshow songs. Really, I have a lot of them. My problem is that I've already used a lot of them for my other two kids on their slideshows and I'm stumped.
And it being Odell's FIRST birthday and all, I need something different than what I would do for a 4 or 3 year old's slideshow. Most of her pictures are cute, soft, beautiful, sometimes silly, but she's the first child I've had my camera for since birth, so I have a lot of pictures of her from the hospital on. Which is great, but all my songs feel like they need to be more meaningful and they just aren't coming out that way and...and...*sniffle* it's late and I'm tired and I'm just not finding what I'm looking for. Phooey.
There. Tantrum thrown.
If you can't tell, these slideshows mean a lot to me and I take a lot of time making them exactly how I want them to be because my scrapbooking has sort of fallen into the back closet and I'm not very good at printing pictures and putting them into albums or anything like that, so making a slideshow for each of my kids of their previous year for them is something that I like to do and I like to do well.
SO- that being said, I'm now open to suggestions. Most of the slideshows in the past have used songs like these:
Till Kingdom Come/Strawberry Swing/Life in Technicolor- Coldplay
Upside Down/ My Little Girl/ People Watching- Jack Johnson
Make You Feel My Love- Adele
Don't Be Shy- Cat Stevens
Stolen- Dashboard Confessional
Kings and Queens- 30 Seconds to Mars
Hot Air Balloon/ The Bird and the Worm- Owl City
Darling I do- Landon Pigg and Lucy Schwartz (LOVE this song)
...the list goes on, but these are just a few. I did decide that the "end" song (the MOST IMPORTANT song in the whole show) for Odell will be "So You Are To Me" by Peter Bradley Adams. I was just looking up singer/songwriters in the same genre as a few artists I like and found this one. It's beautiful.
Anyway, got a second? Tell me your favorite songs. I want to hear them. :-)

By the way. I love this girl to pieces! And am really sad that she's growing up. Those teeny tiny baby years just go by WAY to quick...