Captain Jack Crunch

I wake up to the sound of Jack crying, and silently beg for him to go back to sleep.  I was up 3 times in the night with him, and I'm exhausted IT'S SPRING BREAK FOR PETE'S SAKE I DON'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE OR DO ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES A 7:35 AM WAKE UP CALL, child.  Let me sleep.

The wailing continues.

That sleep thing just isn't going to happen.

I rescue him from his crib, which we keep in the closet.  It's a closet with a heating vent, two outlets, and a large window, but a closet nonetheless.  What can I say?  I don't have the heart to move him to the Land of Far, Far Away (upstairs, where the terrible parents of this house make the older children sleep), and, yet, I just don't want him right next to me, screaming all night and early in the morning.  I need my space.

The wailing escalates.

I drag my weary body out of my lusciously warm bed, and head to the closet.  Jack's wailing stops immediately and his face lights up with a grin when he sees me.

"Good Morning!" I pull up the blinds and tell him the same thing I do every day, "It's morning now.  Good morning. This is the time to be awake."

I say this because I read a book on how to get your child to sleep through the night, and that is supposed to help.  It obviously isn't working with Jack.  Damn sleep experts. I should have just spent that time napping instead of reading.

What? You'd be cussing, too, if you hadn't had more than 4 consecutive hours of sleep in the last year and a half.

 I change his super soggy diaper, and we head to the kitchen, maneuvering through the gauntlet of Kix and Cheerios on the floor.There are some nights where I'm just too tired to clean the kitchen after dinner, and last night was one of them.

I think about allowing the dog to come inside and clean my floor for me, but decide it's just not an option since she would probably wind up killing the cat, and we need the cat around to kill the mice and keep grandma company.  Still, I think about it some more, and give Jack more Kix to catapult across the room.

Crunch, crunch.

This is sound of walking on my kitchen floor today.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

I heat up some pears and oatmeal for the baby, and London joins us for breakfast.  Cocoa Puffs for her, in our Noah's Ark bowl.  Cocoa Puffs are chocolaty, but actually have less sugar than even most of the 'healthy' cereals on the store shelf. This is how I justify buying them, because feeding your kids chocolate for breakfast somehow needs justification, I know.

Crunch, crunch.

This is the sound of my children eating.

The sound makes me think about letting my dog in again.  I resist the impulse.

I cook two eggs for myself, over easy, and am sure to grease the pan with the canola oil spray in the green can before cracking the shells.

I feed Jack his pears while they cook.  Big bites.  He rips his bib off, and it joins the mess on the ceramic tile.  Feeding an 8 month old becomes a whole new kind of challenge when there is no bib left to shield his clothing from whatever Gerber mush is on the menu; this is why we wait until after breakfast to get dressed. He flashes his charming grin, showing off all his new teeth.  He reaches out a dimpled hand and pinches one of the small golden balls left on his high chair tray between his thumb and pointer finger and brings it carefully to his mouth.

Crunch, crunch, baby.  

Crunch, crunch.

Sunday Snapshot

Enjoying General Conference in the best way possible.

April 2011

Rapunzel Herself

 "If you have an impulse to do something, and it's not totally irresponsible, why not do it?  It might just be the journey you've always needed." -Timothy Hutton

 To celebrate the release of one of Disney's best princess films of all time, we held a Tangled celebration.  The party lasted an entire week, and, honestly, I don't remember most of it .

My friend Stephanie made these fantastic decorations.  I'm so lucky she hooked me up!  These were way better than anything I could have bought at the store.  (Thanks, Stephanie )

 We had great food, awesome company, and a special guest of honor- Rapunzel, herself!  I have a really cute friend (Marcie), who has all sorts of great connections to REAL Disney princesses.  And from time to time, those princesses make stops in our neighborhood.  And mom's can even get them to come to their castle -or tower- to visit, or do "princess tuck-ins" (where they'll read to your little one and then tuck them in bed....soooo magical)

Her custom made costume was incredible; the details so ornate.

I cannot even tell you how impressed I was with Rapunzel.  After meeting her, I am convinced that she is the real life version of the princess!  She looked like Rapunzel, talked like her, moved, and posed like her, and didn't miss a beat while visiting with the crowd of girls that attended.  She knew the answer to every question, took time to make every girl feel special, and even brought along a toy Pascal in her brown leather satchel.  It was awesome!

It's obvious how enthralled the girls were with Rapunzel- look at their starstruck expressions.

Even the boys couldn't pass up this opportunity to mingle with Disney royalty.

 

  "I do not know who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say...hi, how you doin'?"

We took pictures of each girl with Rapunzel.  Notice how she wraps her braid around London...it was such a 'Tangled' thing to do!

 

I could go running and racing and dancing and chasing and leaping and bounding hair flying, heart pounding and splashing and reeling and finally feeling now's when my life begins!

You smell that? It's part man-smell, and the other part is really bad man-smell, but overall it just smells like the color brown.  Your thoughts?

 I could get used to a view like this.  Yep, I'm used to it.  Guys, I want a bounce house.

"Go, live your dream."  "I will."  "Your dream stinks.  I was talking to her."

Look in that mirror.  I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady.  Oh look, you're here too.

All these ladies are gorgeous inside and out! We were a large group, and yet I wanted to invite so many more of our friends.  

 If you live in the Provo/Orem, Salt lake, or Phoenix, Az. areas and are interested in having a princess visit your little ones, just leave me a comment requesting more information. 

  My kids are growing up so fast...way too fast.  Within another year or two, the age of 'magic' will be only a memory. It's such a great thing to get together with people you love, and enjoy the good things in life together.  I'm so glad I did this.

"It's only when we truly know that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up - that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it [were] the only one we had. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross


P.S. While writing this, guess what I found? There is a Disney Wiki... who knew, right?

Sunday Snapshot

 

The kids are overjoyed to be reunited with their cousin Alexander,

and enjoy celebrating his 4th birthday with him.

March 2011

Sunday Snapshot

My little chomper and his little chompers.

In the crib, in our crib.

March 2011, 7 months old.

I love the reflection of the crib bars in his eyes; it gives him sort of a cat-like look.

*Sigh* I love him.

Click here to see some other things I love.... 

(Although none of it really compares to the love I have for my family) 


Link up if you want to...

Friday Confessional

Man, It's been a long time since I've done this, and I miss it!

Link up HERE with Glam and Mama and play along.  It's the right thing to do.


I confess:

• I'm sick and tired of living in a society where everyone is trying to run everyone else's lives.  (See above: me telling you to link up)

• Captain Jack cut 3 more teeth this week, and although it's good to get it all done at once, I feel as though I'm nursing this:

Not that he's a biter; it's just the thought of the damage those sharp little incisors could do that makes me a bit nervous.

•  I'm sick of people who have a false sense of entitlement.  Your problems are your own; I'm sorry you have them, but it's not my job to solve them for you.  (Whew!  I feel better having let that out.)

•  Friday afternoons are awesome!  I get to go read with the students in Nathaniel's class. His teacher asks who would like to read with me, and over half the students raise their hands calling out, "Me, me!"  It makes me feel loved. Of course, Nathaniel always gets to go first, since I'm his Mom.  I like to bring chocolate and Sour Patch Kids, and feed them to him secretly while we're out in the hall.  I want him to remember that- Mom making life fun and sweet when he would otherwise be bored in class. I want him to know he is special.

I read with the children who stand in need of improvement most. A few, you can tell, are lacking confidence in their own literary skills.  I love encouraging them, pointing out everything they are doing right, and telling them they are good readers.  Because they are.

"I love how you pronounce each word so clearly," I tell them, or, "You are so careful to get the word right when you sound it out; that's great!"  And I can see their eyes light up, and they hide a smile, and sit up a little straighter as they finish the book.  Kids are the best.  One can do just about anything if only one believes it.  I wish I would have known that when I was younger.

• I'm happy.  Right here, right now, my life is good.  I know that everything that has happened in my life up to this point was supposed to happen.  The evidence for that? It did happen.  I am right where I'm supposed to be.  The evidence for that?  Here I am.   How can I argue with that?  I confess, I'm grateful for the peace and assurance that comes with that knowledge.  Really, really grateful.

Oh, Japan...

...we are praying for you.  

The devastation you are dealing with is unbelievable.

  Earthquake, fire, tsunami, and nuclear disaster all at once- unheard of.

Our hearts ache for you.

We hope you can recover from this.

Before and after arial pictures show the utter devastation.

  Run your cursor over the image to work it.

(Thanks to my MIL for this link)