Facing the Daily Grind

I know my blog is supposed to be about finding simple pleasures. But, lest someone deludes themselves into thinking that anyone can have an ideal life, I'm going to go ahead and vent. I am so sick of the daily routine. Just the morning routine has me ready to pull out my hair. Every morning I make my bed, read my scriptures, get dressed, say my prayers, go downstairs to feed the kids, have them help me clan up breakfast, go back upstairs and help the kids with beds, clothes, hair, shoes, teeth. If I'm lucky, we'll finish by 9:30. 2 hours, this routine usually takes 2 whole flippin' hours. And yesterday, it was a quarter til 10 before we were done with breakfast. After the wind kept me up all night I slept in, then showered, so wow were we late.

It's made all the worst because it wasn't all that long ago that the routine felt like it was going so well, and I was getting on top of things. When I found out I was pregnant, I rejoiced. I am so happy to have another baby. And while I know four kids is going to be challenging, I looked at the 9 months in front of me as an opportunity to improve in my role as wife and mother so that I would be better prepared for having another little one around. And I was doing it too. I had developed a routine that got most of the daily tasks done, I was vacuuming at least once a week, working up to twice for downstairs, I was even planing on stripping the sheets in one bedroom every week and keeping up on clean beds that way! For some people, this may seem laughable, but I have always been the first one to say that I am a BAD housekeeper. It doesn't come naturally to me, some people rejoice in cleaning their houses, and I am not one of them. But I was trying to be. Then I stumbled.

I don't know if I got sick, stressed, tired, busy, or just in a funk. Probably a nice little combination of all of them, but I dropped the ball on my newly forming habits, and now I am having a hard time picking up the pieces. I'm sick of the mess, but catching up is intimidating. Especially when I'm just sick of trying to keep up with stuff like getting ready in the morning. School is out for summer vacation in less than 3 weeks. It would be nice if not having to worry about school would let me set my own schedule. But not having school looming over us is likely to have the opposite effect. I could do much if I would just get up a little earlier, and that was looking easy until Jeff stopped turning on an alarm clock. Yeah, we just have the one, I'll be moving it back to my side of the bed soon. Argh, we, ok I, do better when a routine is in place and getting stuff done just happens. I need to get back to that place. Where's my motivation? What helps motivate you? Really, I'd appreciate it.

Beautiful Girl II

So the Mommy Models I posted about? Another blog is doing a give-away, this time for a gift certificate good for the whole cost of the session! I really want to win this one, sohttp://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/05/mothers-day-extravaganza-photography.html is the website, and if you win I'll be cheering for you too.

Beautiful Girl

So we all want to be beautiful right? Of course! Reality is that physical beauty is not very top priority with little kids in the house. But there is a fun chance to get your beauty on, and have a wonderful photographer take pictures of you- model style! It's called Mommy Models, and it's a fun contest that runs this summer. For 65$ you get a one-hour shoot and a CD with 10 of the best images on it. Then you are entered into the contest, and get everyone to vote for your shoes, and can win a free family shoot!! Not bad, not bad at all. Except, I don't have 65 extra dollars laying around, bummer. Never fear! A giveaway is here. Sassyscoops is giving away a 25 dollar gift certificate good to that Mommy Models shoot. If I win that certificate, I'll scrape up the remaining 40. Because this looks great. So go ahead, go enter and/or sign up for your shoot!

Community Theater

Last night we got to take the kids to a small-town community theater production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It was my first experience with community theater. I've been to high school productions, plenty at Tuacahn, and a production of Princess and the Pea done by kids. I've enjoyed all of them. And I now have a new love for community theater. The acting was alright, the stars of the show did a good job, but some of the ensemble didn't look to comfortable on stage. The stage was small. Very small. The sets had to be simple. There were very few special effects, certainly none that were dazzling. By no means was it a Broadway production, and it even ran much simpler than the high school plays I've been to.

But that didn't make it a less enjoyable experience. First off, it was affordable. For less than the price of ONE normal ticket to a Shakespearean Festival or Tuacahn production, the whole family got to go. Goodness, it was cheaper than a movie! But more importantly it showed off what people with a desire can do when they put their minds to it. The set was fairly simple yes, a few trees moved on and off stage, one 2-sided building, and a couple different pieces of furniture made up most of it. But the costumes were so fun! Using simple things that are readily available- fabric, plywood, some craft supplies, they created the medley of living objects at the palace. And the character of the humans was magnified by their costumes too, I think Le Fou's was my favorite. The show has been shown to a full house every night, and only ran for a week. Obviously, it was popular. But what I really found impressive, is that the people doing this aren't paid. They do it for the fun of it, the passion. It gives anyone in the community who might be interested a chance to be part of a play. If you aren't super talented yet, no big deal, come participate in this, become more experienced, gain confidence, have fun, improve!

It's a little bit of a drive for us, but this experience was such fun that I'm sure we'll be back. I don't think the larger town I'm living in has a community theater, as they have many theater options on the higher end, and I don't know if we could rouse the volunteers to do it time after time. Such a shame, I could be mistaken of course. We do have a place that it could be done, and if I ever hear of an honest-to-goodness community theater around here, I'll see what I can do to participate. Do you have one near you? Have you ever been directly involved in the production of a play, musical or otherwise? I haven't, but someday I think I will...

A Special Day

This last Wednesday started Spring Break for us. Our first official-have-a-kid-get-out-of-school Spring Break. We started it off on a very special note. I, as Mom, really needed it. I hope the kids benefited too. Abby had two days of school this last week, and they were hectic. Monday was a field trip, she was overwhelmed, and Harvey had to go see the orthopedist about his arm. Tuesday was her class party, and we filled eggs for her to take, then she came home with lots of treats. My mom wanted to know what I was planning for Easter Sunday, and I really hadn't figured it out yet. I did realize that if I wanted to go use my coupons for diapers at Costco I needed to do it Wednesday so we could decorate eggs and get ready for a busy Saturday ahead of time. So Wednesday morning, off we went.

Our errands in St. George did not take the time I had thought they would, and I wasn't ready to go home yet. After visiting Auntie Annie in the care center (in which the kids actually had a good time) I decided a trip to the Temple grounds was our best choice. It really was. The kids fell in love with the beautiful flowers, bending down to smell them, stroking the soft petals of the pansies. Seeing a toddler bend and 'sniff' at a flower could just melt any body's heart. It certainly brought a smile to my face. We walked around outside for a while, then went into the visitor's center. They had a lovely display of art by Del Parson illustrating Christ's life for Easter. And they has video clips that the kids could choose to watch. But their favorite part was the map/replica of Jerusalem during the time of Christ. Abby pushed the buttons and absolutely loved seeing and hearing about where special things happened. I did too. Then we tried to listen to the Christus, but Willie fell off a bench and bumped his head. The sister missionary gave both of the kids a pass-along card with picture of Jesus leaving the tomb. Abby got extra for her cousins, but we forgot to take them to the party.

After leaving the Temple I took the kids to the Washington Cemetery. Maybe that sounds creepy. But all of our dearly departed happen to be there, and the kids never have been. Besides, Abby asked what those rocks were when we drove by the St. George cemetery. We used it as a family history trip. Abby got to identify the names of people she knew, and realized that Willard is indeed named for his Grandpas- it's the very same! We found my Grandpa and Grandma Langford's headstone, and identified my mom's name (mine and Abby's middle name) on the back. Then we found Jeff's dad's stone, and found that Willie was named for him, and Jeff's name on the back. Lastly we found Great-Grandpa Pectol's, and found the name Willard Pectol again! Then it was time to go. We got home in time for dinner and to get ready for bed. It was a busy day, but a very enriching one.

Update on Harvey's Arm

Well we went to see the specialist today. All that anxiety was for nothing? The appointment lasted less than 10 minutes. There is a green fracture of the arm, just below the shoulder. The good thing about that is it is relatively easy. No setting or cast needed, because the break isn't really complete. But the bone can sometimes heal crooked there, so they will monitor it with X-rays. Jeff will take him back next week to get one. No point in me doing it, because they won't let me near the machine. They didn't say anything about the shoulder. Maybe we should have brought it up, but I feel pretty confident that it's fine. We tried letting him out of the Ace-Bandage and use just the sling for a while tonight. Yeah, that won't work, he went right back to using his arm. So he's tied back up again for now. I'm definitely grateful that things are looking so good for now. He's feeling fine, or at least his arm is. He keeps hurting his feet, toes, and head. But the arm, it's fine.

First of Many Incidents Like This... or Mother Guilt

Yesterday I was doing a good thing. Vacuuming the floor. Harvey, monkey that he is (most four year olds are right? was playing on the computer chair. I rolled the computer chair a few feet to vacuum under it. Crash! Harvey fell right off, and landed on his upper arm. Howled gloriously. I hugged him, apologized, and deposited him on the couch so I could finish.

Well, during lunch I kept thinking that it was possible, however unlikely, that a fall like that could break something. So when crawling, a high five, and shaking hands all resulted in exclamations of pain, I took off his shirt. Eww that looked weird. Kind of squishy right at his shoulder, with some swelling just below it Maybe he dislocated his shoulder. And Insta-care visit was certainly in order. I gave him some motrin (because OW) and sent him with Jeff. Because I knew they wouldn't let me stay with him for the x-rays. A few hours later he arrived home with a sling and an ace bandage.

The report? Insta-care Doctor is very disturbed by the x-ray. There is a bulge in the bone just below the shoulder indicating a green-stick fracture, possibly multiple hairline fractures of the shoulder!! She can't properly do anything about it, so we need to immobilize for now. Call the Orthopaedic specialist first thing Monday, and get him checked out. So that's what we've done for now. Fortunately, Harvey seems minimally bothered by his arm. Good sign I hope. Our home teacher came over tonight to assist in a blessing that Harvey will heal completely, and the doctor will be able to help him do that best.

So tomorrow, I will be on pins and needles until we know what we need to know. I do kind of wish we were close to Primary Children's. A pediatric bone specialist would be good. We're supposed to keep Harvey from falling. That is definitely the hardest part right now, he's as bouncy and energetic as ever. Running all over and crashing into plenty of things. Well, we are doing our best. He may need a cast just for extra protection, but a shoulder cast involves most of the upper body. He may need surgery. I really hope not, but I'm sure it will all be fine in the end. I will definitely be posting again when we know more.