Defending the Homefront

So many of you know that Eldon travels quite a bit for a living. He travels to lavish places and is given the high and mighty treatment. This fall has been no exception. We have been bracing ourselves for the amount of time he would be gone. In the past when he has been gone for awhile, something inevitably goes wrong at home. Sometimes are worse than others. I always hope for the best but expect the worst.

This time was no different. I will just say that I believe I have just experienced my pioneer woman moment. I didn't have to fight off a buffalo or a wild Indian, but I did have to defend my home.

Last week, a huge bird flew into our house. It was landing and perching on our drapery rods. It would fly in the circle of the main floor from room to room as I chased it with my broom. I was no match for the bird as it was much faster and I couldn't understand why it wouldn't just fly out of the house. All the main level doors were open and no one outside would be chasing it with a broom. I think it was a very dumb bird. It finally got caught in our light fixture in the hall and I was able to coax it out the front door. Max was laughing his head off, Jackson was crying, and Claire was screaming. This I know will be what the kids remember about the fall of 2010.

This week, Eldon gone again, I am reading the last Harry Potter book to prepare for the upcoming movie and as I'm sitting in my bed, I hear dragging above me in the attic. I think it's the wind, or the rain, or maybe the dryer was still going downstairs, but alas it was not. It continued through the night and into the morning. It was like someone was walking on my roof all night long. So I figured it was a larger animal that had gotten into the attic.

Earlier in the day, I had gone down to the food storage to get some cream of mushroom soup. I noticed that a mouse had gotten into a bag of rice I had left down there. (I know that was stupid). So I was already preparing to trap and kill that mouse when I heard the noises upstairs.

I was near tears as I realized that I was surrounded, alone, and I didn't want to protect my children from animals. I wanted my husband to do it, but I needed to man up and get the job done. So how do I handle things like this??

I called Critter Control. They came and did a full assessment and found a nice large RAT living in the attic. They said it was a field rat and that it was bringing in it's own food and just making a home there. It didn't want our food. That was thoughtful. They set the trap while they were investigating and the dumb thing went right in. I couldn't look at it when they took it out. Knowing what it looked like would be too many nightmares in the future.

Apparently, the entry point where the AC line goes into the house has been a highway for rodents since it's so big. They sealed it, set up bait points in the basement that feeds the mice and then sends them out to die. They covered the attic with some type of bait similar to the basement but in much larger quantities and we are good to go. I am still going to have to trap the mouse in the basement, which I have no desire to do, but I will.

I know it's winter coming and the dry summer that is increasing rodent activity, but guess what neighbors???? They are going to go to your house now!

Bedtime

I just have to ask, Why didn't I catch on to the 6pm bedtime with the boys? Claire stands outside her door at 5:55 begging to go to sleep. This is after two naps during the day. She also wakes up at 8 am. I have been blessed with crazy good sleepers. Jack still naps except for today.
I said, "Jack, it's time to go lay down for your nap."

He said, "hmmmm let me look at my watch, yep it says no nap today!"

But he is known to take a three hour nap and still go to bed at 8 pm on most days. I'm going to push this until he goes to school all day. I know the Lord gives us what we can handle. I have needed sleepers and I sure got them.

The curse of the Phantom of the Opera

So I mentioned in a previous post that we took Max to see Phantom while we were in Las Vegas. He loved it of course, but we didn't realize how much. He has been singing every word of it since he saw it in June. He has decided that when he is older he will be starring in it as the Phantom of course and he believes his voice is already good enough to handle the role now. He believes he is amazing because he can sing the Phantom parts and the high parts sung by Christine. I hated to break his heart by telling him that it would change someday.

If Max's fervor weren't enough, Jackson has caught on to it. They love the movie and act out the scenes where they like the music. They turned our sit and spin into the chandelier and cover it with a blanket just like the opening scene and when the music starts, they pull the blanket off and Max begins to swing it around and then climbing on top of the couch, lifts it to the ceiling. Jackson will row Max in a boat while the Phantom sings. It's reallly all too much.

But, the final nail in the coffin was when Eldon was getting our dear little Claire ready for bed and she started humming the music. Now we understand that is amazing in itself, but it was hard to enjoy because we are so sick of it. The movie has been put away and can only be brought out on very special occasions.

Our new family picture taken by my fabulous photographer cousin, Brittany.

The Kiddos. I love this one.

Max in his pseudo Senior picture but really it's only first grade.

The stud muffin.

Our princess. This was the only happy shot really of the day. The dress is from Grandma and Grandpa. They bought it in Venice, Italy while on their trip.

Our trip

I have finally found some time to update my blog. So sorry for the months of nothing new. We have had a busy summer. Awesome and busy. In June we took a trip out west for about two weeks. It was a wonderful whirlwind. We "DROVE" from Columbus to Utah with the three kids in our van. It wasn't as bad as one might think. With Grandma's well thought out cooler of food and limiting stops to once every six hours, we were good to go. We drove from Columbus to Lincoln Nebraska the first day and then from Lincoln to Salt Lake the second. We stayed with Grandma Pat in Salt Lake and took in some sights.

Here are the boys at Temple Square. I don't think they are ready for this yet. We saw the Christus and an organ recital. I was in the cry room at the Tabernacle and we were outside most of the time. But they did say they liked seeing the temple. I was fascinated by how clean it is there. Very proud! We spent time with our family and loved seeing everybody. It was Cafe Rio with the Horne's and a great backyard barbecue with the Grants. Thank you everyone for making the effort to see us. We love you!

Next it was off to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Four Seasons which is the top few floors of Mandalay Bay. The hotel prides themselves on being kid friendly. The room was equipped with perfectly sized bathrobes and slippers for the boys. All of the furniture was covered with padding so the kids wouldn't hit their head and they had bath amenities for kids based on their age. It was great. They also dropped off a plate for each child with M&M's and Gummi Bears and had written their names in chocolate on the plate. Big points. We took Jack to see "The Lion King" and Max to see "Phantom of the Opera." Little did we know how much Max would love it and how often would be hearing the music. We are a little tired of it now and it's two months later and still going strong.


Next was the Gale Family Reunion in St. George. YEAH!! Our first day we hiked the narrows in Zions National Park. Here is Claire thrilled. She wouldn't wear any other hat and fortunately, cousin Brenna had an extra bandanna that we could tie on her head to keep it on.

Here is the group congregating in our great "Green Shirts" getting ready for the hike. It was so perfect to have them all so we could identify everyone along the trail.

Everyone in the water in the beautiful canyon.

One of the only dry places on the hike. Beautiful waterfalls!

Next day we took it down a notch and went to the St. George Temple Visitor's Center. Here is cousin Dallin and Max listening to the Missionaries there. They were quite the buds this week.

The great condos at Las Palmas. Highly recommend them for any family reunion. They were big, well furnished, and we loved them.

The next day was Sand Hallow Reservoir. With much concern around "Swimmers Itch" we decided to push forward anyway. We were the only people swimming, Hmmmm. But we did great. Here is Claire in her shaded floatie. She loved it.

Our Wave runners. Very fun. We ruined skiing for anyone else, but had a blast. As luck would have it, the wind picked up early and and so we headed out and jumped into the pool at the condo complex. The chlorine killed any bugs we had and we were all set. A few kids threw up the next day but we are not sure how and if they were related to the lake.

One of the fun things we did all week was the Grandma and Grandpa Store. They made up some funny money and cleaned out the St. George Dollar Store. All the adults were armed with bucks and looking for good deeds from the kids. When they did a good deed, they got a buck. Here is Max taking his turn shopping at the store. He was very motivated by this and it was a huge hit. Great Job Grandma and Grandpa.

The last day was a day at leisure with family pictures at the end. Here is a picture Grandpa took while we were having ours done. The red rocks were beautiful and it was a great time. Thank you uncle Jeff for the great photo shoot.

After this, we headed out to Colorado Springs where we stayed at the Broadmoor. I don't have any pictures on this computer, but I think it is the most beautiful resort in America. We rode the train to Pike's Peak and had the most delicious Mac and Cheese I have ever eaten. After that, off we were to St. Louis and then home. 18 days of family time and we were happy to be in our own beds and and back home to the weeds and chores to do. Thank you Eldon for all your hard work and contacts that allowed us to stay in such wonderful places.

Good thing or a bad thing?

Jackson has always had a love for the vaccuum. this morning he begged to vaccuum the whole house. He has been going for an hour now. It looks great. I'm going to take it as a good thing.

ODE to my Husband

So, I neglected in the last post to share the heroic efforts made by my husband. He did mention to me in the morning that he had had the best night sleep in a long time. I was glad he did sleep well. He did pick up the trash with all the worms on it right after it fell over. And when I got home last night after a fun night out with the girls, he had scrubbed the garbage clean. It is sparkling. There is not one scent or oder.

Thank you Eldon for being my true partner in crime. We both have our strengths and luckily they are usually different so we make a great team.

Oh What a Night!

Warning, this post is disgusting. Last night there was a array of things going on that were out of the ordinary. First, Eldon was working late (not out of the ordinary), second serious Thunderstorms were coming and it was the night before garbage day. How do these all come together? Let me share. In order for me to handle Eldon working late, I just have to pretend that he is out of town so I don't get angry or frustrated that he is not home. Then I don't even look at the clock and I'm a much nicer wife. He had a project due so he needed to stay late last night. I fed the kids what we normally eat when Eldon is out of town, whatever they want. We went out and watered all of our hanging baskets. Even though it was going to rain, they are somewhat under a pergola so they don't always get all of the water they need. I had Claire and Jackson outside with me and the temperature was perfect, it was breezy and really ideal. I invited Max out for a popcicle and visit on the deck. We love to do this. Sit out at night, watch the lightening bugs and have a popcicle. While we were all sitting there, I noticed the clouds getting darker and the breeze picking up. Max who is not afraid of any dark character or movie, is terrified of thunder and lightening. He kept running inside as we heard the thunder rumbling around. Finally we wrapped things up and went inside as it started raining. Earlier in the evening I had taken the trash out to the end of the driveway. We had a few friends over on Memorial Day so there was more trash than usual and I was going to have to do my late night walk to the neighbors with the extra, so it stayed in the garage.

The storm started and it was a huge thunderstorm. I love them. Jackson and I put our yard chairs on our front porch and we watched the rain come down and the thunder and lightening. Max was freaking out begging us to come in. Claire just sat on my lap enjoying it all. Finally the wind changed and the water started hitting us so we went inside. We sat by our front windows and watched. I looked over and Max was on his knees begging the Lord to make it stop with tears in his eyes and all the faith I have ever seen. As soon as he said Amen, he looked up and asked why it hadn't stopped. I asked him to give the Lord some time since it was a big storm. As soon as that was done, Eldon called saying he was driving in it and was on his way home. Then the tornado sirens went off. I took the kids to the basement trying to make it fun, but Max was beside himself. He was shaking and holding onto me. I was trying to hold Claire and Jackson was about as hyper as I have seen him be in a long while. I told Max to stay in the basement with the kids while I went up and turned on the TV. Someone had spotted a funnel cloud about a mile from our house so that is why the sirens were going. Eldon finally got home, and we tried to put Claire to bed, but the sirens kept going off so we had to keep pulling her out of bed to go to the basement. Finally around 9pm everything pretty much calmed down. During the storm, our garbage can had blown over full of garbage.

Eldon went and picked up the garbage. We both went out and inspected the yard. While doing so, he pulled me aside and said that while he was picking up the can, it was full of MAGGOTS! I about lost my mind. I was panicked. But I looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow. We told Max to come out on the porch and see the rainbow. Eldon told him that it was a sign from Heavenly Father that everything was going to be ok. Max let out the biggest sigh and said, "Heavenly Father did answer my prayer, FINALLY."

Back to the larger problem, the garbage can. I went out and looked at it and they were crawling all over it. I was about to vomit. I couldn't believe it. This past week, we had tons of garbage and diapers. This all attracts flies. They must have laid their eggs while it was hot and when the garbage can tipped over they came out. Regardless of how it happened, I was mortified. I kept going out to look at them and then if finally hit me that they may start to get out and try to get in the house. After I had put the kids to bed, I still had to drop off the extra garbage. I waited until 10pm and then made the walk. When I came back, I got online and found that you have to kill them as soon as you find them or they get everywhere. The only way to kill them is with salt, bleach or boiling water. So I was outside until midnight trying all three applications. This morning the garbage man came early and I poured bleach into the empty can, used the hose to get any stragglers into the bleach, closed it tight and am now waiting until they drown and die.

There have been a bunch of birds in the driveway eating the dead ones and the can is clean on the outside. I have inspected the garage and there are none. So the moral of the story, don't let the inside garbage get too full so the bag won't close all the way. Use your disposal to get rid of most of your food. Double or even triple bag your diapers so the flies won't like them. Kill the flies before they mate. I have lived here for five years and never had this happen. I have had diapers the entire time we have lived here. Why it happened this time, I am not sure. Online, I learned that they have a hard time with this in England because they only pick up the trash once every two weeks.

The positive of this story, I told Jackson it was his fault we had "worms" in our garbage because he is not wanting to be potty trained. He has begged for underwear today and has sworn to go on the potty. We will see how long that lasts!

Product Endorsements

After my last post about the endorsement for the SHARK steam mop I thought I would make a few more product endorsements. These have really been great purchases and I'm always touting them.



1. The Peg Perego Aria Twin Stroller. This is the 2010 version and mine is much older, but it has been perfect. It is narrow enough to fit through doors, shopping aisles, over grass, on dirt trails, everywhere. It folds up fairly small, holds a ton below, and the trays can come off the front easily when the kids get older and need to get in and out easier. The seats lay back at any angle. The shades on top hold things if you need them to. My only complaint is that it is not built for large beverages that the mom may want to take along. It is made in Italy and the cup holder is pathetic. I've gotten around that by storing my drink in between the two shades.

#2 - The Kingsdown Mattress. This is the most amazing mattress. Eldon has slept in the nicest hotels in the world and he is always happy to return home to our fantastic mattress. The principle is that softer is better because it molds to your body. I have slept on different beds and my back always hurts. It never hurts on this bed. The other benefit is that it costs the same as a regular pillow top mattress and isn't as expensive as the sleep number bed. I highly, highly recommend it.

#3 The Eddie Bauer high chair. It looks nice, it's very stable, and it cleans up well. We took the padding off because it's just a little pillow that gets disgusting quickly. But after three kids, it still looks just like it did when we brought it home (when it's clean). The only negative is that it doesn't fold up so it has to store just as is. But because it doesn't fold up, it's very sturdy.

I saved the best for last. I LOVE this car. It does everything. It has made driving a minivan respectable and even "sexy." It has a fantastic sound system, drives great and I can take 8 people comfortably. I love how the seats go down in the back, how the radio can still play in the front while the kids watch movies in the back, and it is just simply awesome.

I am sure there are other things that I have forgotten to add to this list, but here is a start.

Finally a Product made for me!

Someone understands that I don't have time to get on my hands and knees and scrub my floor. Someone understands that I need to clean my floor daily since I have a baby that crawls around on the floor. Someone understands that the Swiffer leaves a weird residue all over the floor when you use the wet mop. Someone understands that sweeping and the Dry Swiffer are just not enough in a house with little kids. This product has changed the state of my floor and house. I just sweep like I always do and then run this over the floor like a vacuum at the end of the day. It takes five minutes and the floor has been steamed clean. I toss the mop cover in the washer before bed and no drying necessary. It is a beautiful thing. I still think that you need to do the hands and knees job once in awhile, but this is a great way to handle the inbetween times.
This will even clean your bathroom floors which I HATE cleaning. Yeah!!

Thank you Costco for always carrying the coolest things. It was the best $94 I have ever spent.

She is so precious I can't stand it.

The three wacky ones!

Handsome Jackson

3 Happy Boys

Franklin Park, Beautiful Claire age 1

Baby Claire

Claire has been so much fun to take pictures of. Here is an assortment in a few fun dresses and one of all the kids in their Easter outfits.

Happy Easter!

I love my new lens on my camera. So much fun.

10 Things I would like to learn

My sister in law, Becca posted on her blog 10 things she would like to learn and asked others to post too. So here I go.

- Photography - I have a lot of gear and occasionally get a good picture, but I would love to take great pictures all the time.
-Photoshop - I just need to take a good class.
-How to organize. Anyone has "stopped in" to my house knows that this is what I need. I always have great ideas, but no time to implement.
-How to manage stress in a fun way - I have made huge strides at this, but it usually involves me allowing time to pass without worry. I would rather take the stress and do something fun with it instead.
-Musical instrument - I know that all my kids and husband are going to be able to play the piano or even more and I am going to be the one who can't do anything but sing along.
-How to Save money - I wish I could transition my mind to the big picture and move away from the here and now more easily
-Business Ideas - I have a few business ideas that I think would be fabulous. I would love to learn how to take that first step
-Compassion - I wish I could learn how to make the time to show all the compassion I know that I have for people. I have always wanted to be "that" person that everyone could rely on. I don't think you can't rely on me, but I am so busy I am sure people think twice before asking if I can help.
-Hands on IT - I sell IT for a living. I have learned tons about it, but I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to implement anything. I really enjoy learning the concepts and think it is amazing but that is as far as it goes. I would love to actually build a server and deploy applications for my home. I know that is geek to the core, but it is really cool stuff.
-Some handy skills around the house. It would help so much if one of us could fix something. I would love to remodel my bathroom. It is the most disgusting room ever. It just needs to be ripped out. I would love to learn how to do that.

Stonebridge 235 Girls Reunion!!

Ok ladies it's looking like May??? We have three pregnant ladies due in June, July and August. That is three that I know of. So maybe early May? I think it would be so much fun to take a weekend and go to New York or something fun. Obviously not too much walking for the ladies with child. Or hey maybe just a cabin in Tennessee? I'm good with whatever. Let me know what you think and I will totally arrange it. I will also start communicating by email once we get going.

If there is a better time or place please comment!! Also, if there are others we need to invite, and you are in touch with them, please pass it along.

To the Sweet Girls of Stonebridge #235

About three years ago, Eldon took me on a Romantic Birthday get away to Cleveland. I know you are probably saying, "what on earth could be romantic about Cleveland?" Well we stayed at the Ritz Carlton, ate at Hyde Park, and saw my favorite Broadway musical to date, "The Light in the Piazza." When we returned to our hotel room, he had purchased the "romantic package" which included a rose petal turn down service, bubble bath etc. In the background, they had playing my favorite, not his, Pachabel's Canon. The CD is called Pachabel Canon's greatest hits. Now to most musicians, they hate this song. Hate may be a little strong, but usually they don't like the over played and popular classical pieces.

I have spent some time trying to cope with this as I have become so much more exposed to classiscal music since I married Eldon. And here is what I have come up with.

I don't know what it is, but this piece calms my soul. I am not sure if it is the rhythmic four beats that does it, or just the quiet predictability, but I love it. I love my greatest hits album because it is the song over and over again. I think it also has to do with the fact that it was my first real introduction to classical music. It was the first time I connected to a score of music.

So how does this relate to the girls of #235? Well, I remember fondly how our little apartment was always filled with tons of people. Not only did we have 6 people always living there, but we usually had the boyfriends or family of those 6 people. Many times when I had a stressful day, I would go fill up the tub of the back bathroom with bubbles and I would bring in Pachabel's Canon. It would drown out the noise of the commotion outside. As I think back, I can't believe I put a limb into that tub. All I have to say is "EEEW." I guess Pachabel helped me see past the grime and still find a way to relax. It is probably the only way I was able to live there for so many years and survive so many changing room mates.

I know that there are a few of my favorites who follow my blog and to you I say, I love you guys and I am sure I am the only one who had this experience in the tubs of #235!! Somehow we survived the industrial carpet, nasty green couches, and old beds. But more importantly, we made it home and were all able to leave there healthy and happy.

Profound thoughts from the boys

Max - "Mom, in that movie the Book of Mormon, I know its a book too, did they eat grapes?"

Jackson - After I left for work on Monday and he was home with his dad, I saw him jumping up and down in the front window. I stopped pulling out and went back inside quickly to see what was happening. He was sobbing and said, "Mom, you can't leave people without giving them a hug and a kiss!"

I hope we can be like kids and be thinking about the Book of Mormon at odd times in the day and always be giving hugs and kisses!

Moments

For the new year, I have a few resolutions. One of them is what I am going to call my "Moments Journal." I have realized over the last few months that what you miss when you work are the little moments of the day with each of your kids. You get to see them everyday and do planned fun things, but you miss the little smiles, or laughs or heartaches that happen everyday. I feel so blessed to only have to work one day a week and so when I am home with them, I want to record the moments. I am also going to try and make it a point to create a moment with each of them each day. I know that I will forget somedays, maybe even most days. But when I am frustrated at times with the monotany of being home I can read the journal to remember the priceless moments of life that will be gone soon.

Motivations

Max - We made a chart to track his shoe tying progress. He had to tie his shoes perfectly 24 times (that was the amount of stickers in the package) and he could get a Star Wars ship I found very cheap on eBay. Within 6 hours the ship was obtained.

Jack - He has had a potty chart for 3 weeks. He has been promised a trip to McDonalds play place for one milestone, Chuck E Cheese for another milestone, and a Gigantic semi truck toy that he picked out for the final milestone. As of today, there is 1 sticker on the chart.

Hmmmm.... I believe my kids are motivated differently. I still have no idea what motivates Jack. I'm beginning to think nothing. It's a bit worrisome, but everyone tells me that no child goes to Kindergarten not potty trained. I still think it's going to be a feat.

What I DO like about this cold weather

So it has been cold here lately. REALLY COLD. All in all, it's not my favorite but there are a few things that are actually better because of it.

1. My Diet Coke in the garage is so cold it actually becomes a slushy. It is amazing. I love it. I crave it and highly recommend it. It also doesn't take up space in the fridge!

2. It's actually ok to stay in and cuddle up to watch a movie, read a book etc.

3. Our front door has a window pane in it and when you look out, it is so pretty with the white snow everywhere.

4. The kids want to hold my hand as we go places so they won't fall. I love the feeling of those little hands in mine. It's precious.

I could only come up with four things, but they are pretty good things don't you think?