Back in July, Jared had the "privileged" of going on the high adventure with the Young Men of our ward. He needs to do these type of trips, since he is surrounded by a bunch of ladies. A good dose of testosterone was definitely in order.
He got back from this trip having heard the movie "Nacho Libre" several times while he drove. One of the first things on his agenda was actually watching this movie.
A side note, any who have ever watched a movie with him will know that you will end up laughing. Mostly because he thinks it is funny and he will literally laugh until he turns a light shade of purple and makes this little high pitch wheezing noise (as if it is his last breath of air) You really can not help but laugh yourself. It is very contagious to say the least. I digress
He was in charge of date night the following week after he returned from the trip. He planned for us to watch this movie. He has not stopped quoting it since. At first I found it to be annoying. But then it grew on me, and now I find myself quoting this ridiculous movie.
I get those silly songs stuck in my head and will blurt them out Oh ingnacioooooo doodlooloooloo! and then I laugh so hard I cry. I even attempt to try to make that throaty sound the way Nacho does. I may need some sort of medication for this syndrome.
Well as strange as this post may be it is not as strange as that this movie has brought a whole other level of joy to our lives. This ridiculous movie makes our whole family laugh just a little bit more.
Last night as I was praying (no pleading) for some help with frustrating feelings, this little lady came up to me within seconds of the end of my silent plea, and with her beautiful big brown eyes looked into mine and said "Hey Mom can we play?"
Play we did! All of us! We were wrestling and squealing and laughing so hard we drooled. We didn't stop playing until the lights went out. I am so grateful for answered prayers, especially when they help me be a better Mother. I sure loves these ladies!
Here are the before pictures. Now these pre demo ones were taken back in August of 2005 pre renters.
Here begins the demo project January 2009
Here begins the putting back together phase.
The heavenly choirs are singing because the bathroom remodel is complete as of Wednesday. HALLELUJAH!
I am so happy to have the bathroom done and functioning properly too. Our next project will be the upstairs bathroom. It has had card board boxes around the toilet since January. We will gut this one too. The list is to long to name all that is wrong with it.
I look at our children's plates when they are "done" and often think, "how are they growing, no thriving with such little consumption of food?"
I do not cater to our children when it comes to food. What I make is what there is to eat(.)
If they sit and make scrunched up faces without even trying it and say they do not like it, I simply say to them "I guess you will be hungry!"
There is no science to it.
I suppose, if they get hungry enough they will eat it and if they don't then they will go to bed hungry and in the morning have several bowls of cereal to make up for the lost calories.
It does upset me at times though. I never remember being whiny or complain about the food that was placed in front of me. I wish I knew the secret my Saint of a Mother had.
There is a high probability that one day I will just slop food right there on the table in front of them with no utensils or plates or anything and declare that "The first one to lick their spot clean will get an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert!"
Eliza is giggling now. I love it! Jared helped me last night by recording her. She is so much fun! Eliza will be 2 1/2 months on Tuesday.
People keep on asking me how I am able to do everything with 5 kids. I think I have come to the conclusion that really the more kids you have and the older they get the more fun it is and dare I say easier. I think back when I had just one or two kids and it was a lot more demanding on me. But now, I have some awesome helpers. I would take having 5 kids over one or two any day, well except on those days when I am grumpy and need to be in time out. Our summer has been going great! I have some fun pictures from our trip to Utah back in June that may be posted some day.
One of the fun things I started this summer was having the girls take turns alternating Sundays with helping plan the meal for dinner and then they get to pick who we have over for our guests. 5 years ago I would have thought it impossible to be able to let my children help me prepare food. It was too much work for me and my immature brain to let them get food all over the place(not on purpose mind you). But I just tell myself now "In a few more hours they will be in bed and then you can make the home clean again....they are only this age once and you are teaching them valuable skills." Sometimes I have to scream this to myself when the other voices of wanting my home to stay clean get in the way. Sometime I purposely make a mess right along with them just for the sakes of it. It is fun.
July was filled with Jared being gone a lot, on business trips and church stuff. The girls and I had some adventures. One week I made pioneer week. SO on Monday night they took baths the old fashion way, outside. In fact the whole week they bathed outside(in their bathing suits of course). One night they were whiny. SO I said, "After dinner we are going on a mini pioneer trek!" They all seemed eager and thought that because I was excited about it they should be. Well we started on our journey. After the first 1/4 mile the murmuring began. "I am tired...my feeeet huuuurrrttt......caaaaaaannnnn we reeeessst etc.!" They soon started hearing stories from me about what the pioneers endured and how blessed we are to be living in this time of day when we have so many conveniences, yada yada yada!
We did a little more than a mile, and everyone was exhausted and hot. When we got back to the house, I ordered them all to go out to the back and that we were going to do something super fun. We all got back there where I then proceeded to spray them down with the hose, while they all had their clothes on. At first they were all screaming saying they couldn't get their clothes wet, but I assured them this was fun and in no time we were all laughing and sopping wet. side note: If you ever need to get rid of frustrating feelings, seriously take your kids outside and hose them down, they will think it is fun as long as you do it with a smile on your face. In the winter time I have some really soft like air balls for the inside that the girls and I play dodge ball with. I always win :)
The best part is that playing with your kids is fun and it really is a huge stress reliever. I have learned that when a situation gets frustrating, things get resolved so much quicker when I am willing to get right down there on the ground with them and play, or throw a tantrum with them, or what ever the case may be.
I have days where I feel like all I tell the kids is "leave me alone, I am in time out!" In the moment it is not so funny, but in retrospect I laugh at myself. I am so blessed to be married to a man who makes me laugh at myself and at the frustrating situations that come my way daily.
Take time to giggle this week. It heals the soul and brightens your face. Heaven knows brightened faces are fading quickly in our society. Be a beacon of hope and joy to those around you, it really is a lot of fun!
My children are my greatest joys and my greatest frustrations. There are days where I feel like my brain is going to explode from repeating myself to the wee ones over and over, and then there are days where everything runs so smoothly that I feel like this must be a bit of heaven and it gives me hope. I am convinced that I will be the perfect Mother once the kids have all moved out and are grown up, and then it will be too late. But at least I know I did my best, that's all that counts anyway.
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" Erma Bombeck
