Nurse Nancy

It’s not quite 10 AM. And I know it will be a good day. You know why?

Well, Randy is gone on a campout and I was awaken much too early on a Saturday to clean up the contents of two stomachs.

Emma crawled into my bed, crying that her stomach hurt. I asked her if she was going to be OK, and she answered with more crying. In my half-asleep state, I convinced myself she was fine, and rolled to Randy’s side of the bed. She wasn’t fine.

After taking care of her, I crawled back under the covers, to continue my slumber. A little while later, I heard the bathtub running. It was Hannah. She had gotten sick downstairs where she had been sleeping.  

Then, as I was pouring smoothies, Tyler cut his thumb on a piece of broken glass. I put him at the sink, washing his bleeding wound. I turned around to get a BandAid and heard a loud noise as if someone had tipped over a stool. I turned around expecting to get after someone for messing around again, only to find Tyler face-down the tile floor. You see, Tyler inherited my ability-to-faint gene (I can’t say it has ever come in handy.) The poor kid had fallen straight back and hit his head on Nathan’s stool.  He was pretty shaken up but, after some Tylenol, rest, and TLC, he’s feeling better.

It’s all part of being Mom. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For Hire

Today I was a little out of sorts. I had one thing on my to-do list and couldn’t remember for the life of me what it was.

I spent the majority of the day working on my photography class. I was frustrated that a simple assignment was not turning out the way I knew it should.

Around 6:30 I remembered what I was supposed to do. And I was too late. At dinner time, Hailey pointed out that the task was written plain as day on my calendar.


I need a personal assistant.

Waxing and Waning

In an attempt to redeem myself of my earlier “mother of the year” incident (In case you didn’t hear, I totally missed the second grade butterfly project with Hannah this week,) I accompanied Hailey (I know, wrong kid) as a chaperone stowaway on her field trip to the planetarium today (a fieldtrip with sixth graders is much more enjoyable than one with first graders. (But not necessarily more enjoyable than making butterflies with second graders) Nothing against the first graders- but if a 12 year-old wanders off, it doesn’t send you into a panic.) So, as I was saying…

This morning came way too early after our family’s late-night Iron Man party for Casey’s birthday last night (Randy started the movie at 9:15 ON. A. SCHOOL. NIGHT (I allowed this because, once again, I was trying to redeem myself and not be a party pooper…)) I knew this morning would be hard, so I prepared myself for the worst. Mornings are just like that (and to compound things, Emma typically doesn’t wake up until 9:30 or so…and hour after the bus was scheduled to leave.) So, after dragging myself out of bed around 6:55 AM, I began the dangerous task of waking the offspring.

Much to my surprise, Emma woke up around 7:15. She found me loading the car in the garage, her eyes half closed and her sister’s nightgown reaching to the ground (she owns countless P.J.s but insists on wearing her sisters’ shirts and nightgowns instead.)

I took her inside and ask if she wanted something to eat. She replied, ‘Yeah, because I didn’t brush my teeth.”

Okay, whatever. So I proceeded to make her a nutritious, well-balanced breakfast pour her a bowl of Froot Loops.

I went about my daily morning routine of packing lunches, signing homework, tying shoes and combing hair. As I stood, doing Hailey’s hair, Emma looked up at and asked, with a puzzled expression, “Where are you going, Hailey?”

Hailey told Emma she was going to school. Emma looked even more confused and said, “But it’s night time.”

Now I was confused. She reasoned, “It’s dark outside. It’s time to go to bed.” (why is it then, that she doesn’t go to bed when it is bed time?) I convinced her it was, indeed, morning and I needed her to get ready. She agreed that she would get dressed before she went back to bed (after all, she normally doesn’t crawl out of bed until well past that time. Let me state that it is usually my bed she is exiting in the morning. But then, that’s another story, for another day.)

By some small miracle, we made it to the school with time to spare.

We all had a great time at the planetarium learning all about waxing and waning and why we have seasons. Incidentally, we learned that 10 sixth graders and two moms weighs approximately 26,500 pounds on Jupiter.

Emma fell asleep on the way home and slept for over 3 hours. So now, at 11:30 PM, she’s sitting here on my lap, wide awake, wondering why I keep typing her name.

I Have No Idea for You.

Do I really have a fourteen year-old?! FOURTEEN! I have no idea what I’m doing.

Being the oldest, I have made plenty of mistakes raising him. And with five short years ahead of me until he leaves to serve a mission, I can’t help but wonder if I have time to figure it all out. He certainly caused me his share of headaches, but I look back and wonder what my problem was. He’s just a kid.

But man, oh man, what a gentleman he is turning into! I couldn’t ask for a better son.

Happy Birthday, Case. Thanks for being patient with me.

Love,

Mom

A Slight Addiction

My name is Christie, and I’m a  sugarholic. It’s no secret. But please, don’t confuse me with a chocoholic. That would be a terrible mistake.

As I stated previously, I look forward to seasonal candies. Easter used to be my favorite because of the marshmallow peeps.

And then they started producing them for every holiday, and in every flavor. The novelty is gone, and I don’t buy them much anymore.

Last month, my Valentine candy palate was never quite satisfied. I missed the old candy hearts. {sigh}

But in place of the conversation hearts, I found these:

Pretty much the best candy EVER. Too bad Valentine’s is over.

Then I started craving these:

I haven’t been able to find them in a while. I was beginning to think my candy world had been turned upside down. They were nowhere to be found. Luckily, the Easter candy is out.

Yeah, too bad they are as hard to find.

But in my search, I found these:

Maybe all is not lost in the candy world after all.

PayPal Accepted

Making it through sacrament meeting with six kids is exhausting to say the least. I have resorted to bribery. Yep. If they sit well through the sacrament, they get candy. Our sacrament meeting staple is PEZ. I can load them before church and that makes them a mess-free treat.  On one particular week, however, I failed to make my Saturday night run to the store to purchase the said bribe.

On the way out the door, I grabbed the only treat I had on hand: Sour Patch Kids.
  

For a good portion of the hour, I had kids asking every 10 seconds or so if they could have more. The bag was noisy, my hands were sticky, and my lap was covered in sour sugar. This was NOT the ideal keep-the-kids-quiet-until-the-closing-prayer kind of treat I had in mind.

But Emma made it all worth it as she discovered the golden ticket. She was eating one of her allotted portions when she exclaimed, loud enough for all to hear, “Look! It’s Jesus!”

Not too alarming, given we were in the Lord’s house. Then I turned to see what she was referring to:

Bidding starts at $50.

Hannah's Big Day

Hannah didn’t have to wait long to be baptized. Just two days after turning eight, she entered the waters of baptism. It is hard to believe it has been almost two years since Tyler was baptized.

Hannah had a lot of great support on her special day. Her Aunt Jenn and kids, along with Grandma and Grandpa drove up for the weekend. And of course, my family that lives in town- Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins were in attendance. Her Primary teachers, the Primary Presidency, and our friend, Mindy and her kids came too.

My mom made her a dress to be baptized in. When Tyler was baptized, we had to prep all the younger kids that they would be baptized in the font at church- not in the ocean. But Grandma made her dress from fabric she brought back from Hawaii. A little white muumuu with a white lei. It was as close as we could get to the warm Pacific island in our January snow. It was a little piece of paradise.

Randy spoke about her baptism and confirmation and did such a great job. Hannah could hardly wait. Then, it was the moment she had prepared for all her young life. Both her grandpas were able to stand as witnesses as she was baptized. I got a little choked up but didn’t have time to be sappy as I helped Hannah warm up afterward. She said the water wasn’t as warm as she would have liked. Good thing I had the blow dryer ready!

 Hannah drew the art for her baptism program

Hannah, along with her brothers and sisters sang I Love to See the Temple with her Grandma accompanying. Then, Hannah was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her dad gave her a beautiful blessing. He told her how proud he was of her and what a special spirit she brings in our home. I wish I could remember the rest, but that is when Emma became restless.

The bishop stood up to speak and Emma kept at it stepped it up a notch. She kept saying, “Mom! Mom! Look! Watch this!” as she stuck her finger into the back of her throat. I tried shushing her and telling her to stop. But she persisted. She did it one more time and just like that, she threw up on on the floor. In one motion, I swept her up and took her out into the hallway in case any more vomit was to follow. By then, she was a bit more somber and I was able to take her back in to hear the rest.

Once home, we tried to get a family picture with everyone dressed up, but we weren’t quite fast enough for Emma and Nathan who practically stripped upon entering the house (my Sunday after-church training backfired.) The whole family came over for a nice lunch afterward where we ate soup and dessert and enjoyed each other’s company. What a special day it was and a great time to be together!

We are so glad Hannah made the decision to be baptized!