Recipe for Quiet

1. A few chairs

2. A few blankets

3. Some "fish and those" (aka fish crackers and dried cranberries)

4. A LONG movie, such as Mary Poppins

What do you get?

Happy kids. And what do you get from that? A happy Mom.

It seems like with Joe working such crappy hours, no time off this past week, being pregnant (i.e. hormones galore, fatigue, more hormones, etc. etc.), our lives are just so jumbled. Things just feed off of each other. I've been having headaches which makes me grouchy, which makes my kids naughty, which makes me yell, which gives me headaches. Do you see how it's a never ending cycle?

Today, all of a sudden, I had a genius idea! Actually, we've done it before, but never has it sounded so appealing! We set up this little "tent" in the living room, put on Mary Poppins (which is a good 2 hours or more long, which means by the time it's done, it'll be lunch time and then nap time :), threw in some blankets and pillows and now I am sitting here in peace and quiet, feeling VERY headache free. :)

Necessities

Last night, I went in to check on Haylie before we went to bed, and I found her in our bed, sound asleep, with a naked Barbie and Joe's knife, clutched in her little hands. I mean, a girl's gotta have her stuff, right? Good thing we caught her before she rolled over or something... after looking closer, we noticed that the knife was out of it's sheath. :/

::Headaches::

When I was pregnant with Connor, I think about halfway through, I started getting headaches. Not like a little pain; severe pain where I wasn't able to function at all! I remember just laying on the couch trying to ease the pain with warm and cold washcloths, tons of acetaminophen, hot baths, etc. etc. You name it, I probably tried it. After about a week and a half of a constant headache, we met with my doctor. He had me go in for a CAT scan, which scared the living daylights out of me, but I went. Of course, everything was clear. Back to the Dr's. office I went! This time he prescribed me something (that I can't remember the name of). It worked TOO well. It definitely kicked the headache. It also made me feel like I was drunk. I know Joe thought it was pretty funny... I remember one night we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean at the dollar theater, and I fell asleep about 20 minutes into the movie. That stuff just knocked me out every time I took it! And of course, because of the effects, he only gave me like 10 pills. However, as soon as I would wake up in the morning, the headache would be back, 100%! I kept asking my doctor if he would prescribe me a massage to see if that would help, and he wouldn't do it. SO, I went by myself. My good friend had her license, so she gave me a massage on the base of my skull and all over my neck. I didn't have a headache for almost a month after that!!
SO, when I got pregnant with this one, I wondered if I would get them again. Yep. I've had one for about the last 4 days now. Today I called my nurse and told her the history, and she said, "Why don't you come in tomorrow?" So here I go! Hopefully they will prescribe me like a weekly massage or something. If it gets rid of my headaches, GREAT!!! Plus, it's always nice to get pampered...

Fresh Air

On Joe's day off last week, we took our dog Rusty to the river for a little walk and some retrieving practice. The kids were very excited for a day out with Daddy, especially Haylie, as she is our "outside child." Connor was having fun too, but he doesn't really like to get cold, especially his hands. He had also been a little under the weather last week, so we contemplated taking him. BUT, being cooped up in the house kind of got to me, so we bundled up and headed out. Once we got outside, we realized it was a pretty nice day. :)

This is at the Yakima River, just about a mile down the road from our house. I'm pretty sure Connor is in mid-blink here... kind of a funny picture. :D
Rusty, waiting for Joe to throw the dummy.
Haylie walking down the trail. We are always leaving Connor behind. Every time we go somewhere, inside or out, he has to stop and inspect every little speck of dirt or blade of grass. So, since we were out all by ourselves and I knew he couldn't get hurt, we just kept walking. I tried all sorts of, "Bye, Connor,"'s and "Let's go Connor!"'s but nothing worked. When we finally got back to the car, he was still standing in the same spot, so I sent Haylie after him and this is them running back.

::Our Halloween::

Joe had to work until 7 on Halloween, so the kids and I headed into Prosser to do some trick-or-treating with Kortnie and Alison. :) Then as soon as he got home, we headed back and did some trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. We have a great neighborhood... minus the fact that because we didn't hand out candy this year, someone egged our car. REAL NICE!

:: Cowboy Connor ::

:: Princess Haylie ::

(Which actually turned into a princess fairy when she insisted on wearing the wings)
I took this picture first, and Haylie wasn't being a good sport because of an upset tummy (before trick-or-treating...????) but she cheered up quickly after I told her, "Haylie. Don't smile." ;) What a trooper. She walked in those heels the entire night! Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!!! :D

Kids Say (and do) The Darndest Things!

Sooo.... I just am loving my kids these days. Connor has such a sweet personality (about 75% of the time) and Haylie is at an age where she "knows it all" and she is NOT afraid to tell anyone the way it's supposed to be! It seems like when it rains, it pours, with the crazy things they have been saying and doing the last few days. So, I have been writing them down because I just can't quit giggling when I think about them.

********

Let's start with Connor on the toilet.

Connor: Mom, can you come wipe me.
Me: (Enter bathroom) Phew Connor. That's stinky.
Connor: Yeah, it's a snake one. It will BITE you!
Me: (Pretend to be scared) OH NO!
Connor: There. I tootied on it. It won't bite you now. :)

How sweet, looking out for his momma. :)

********

Today, Connor wore a button up shirt with a sweater over it, to church. Right before sacrament, he got hot and wanted to take his sweater off. So, Joe took it off for him. Apparently he was still a little warm, because he started to unbutton his shirt.

Joe: Connor, what are you doing?
Connor: I'm hot. I want to take off my shirt.
Joe: Bud, you can't take off your shirt. Then you will be naked!
(Church goes dead silent as the sacrament is about to be blessed)
Connor: But, I don't have a weenie on my tummy!

Now, how smart is that? Of course it's ok to take off your shirt. He's not naked because no one can see his privates. Duh!?! Strip away, my son!

********

This evening, we were on our way home from a family dinner at my grandma's and Haylie decided Connor needed a lesson in table etiquette.

Haylie: Connor, we don't chew with our mouth open. It's very bad manners. Jesus Christ doesn't like it and Heavenly Father doesn't like it. And the Gospel will be so so so sad.
Connor: Yeah.
Haylie: Yeah, Jesus Christ will be so sad and Heavenly Father will just kick us out of town!
Connor: Yeah.

*SIGH*

Please tell me I am not the only one.

~STIR CRAZY~

Joe has worked the last 7 days straight, and it has SUCKED! Big time!! SO, finally, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and the kids and I drove down the road and went on a little hike with our new lab Rusty/Danner (we can't stop calling him Danner, so we're going to try and see if he'll start responding to that instead). It was great! Haylie got in trouble about what I would have called halfway through our hike, so it got cut short, but it was still so nice to get out and breathe! The weather is next to perfect right now for taking a walk, and I'm thinking that we need to start making this an every day thing. :) Miss Haylie showing off. :)
Showin' some brotherly/sisterly love!

Haylie showing me her impression of "running fast."

I guess we forgot to tuck those ears in his hood. :/