Chores

Ok my sweet blogging buddies and friends. I would love to hear how you handle chores in your home.

Do they not have chores during the school year?
Is there set chores for each child?
Do you rotate chores?
Do you help?
Allowance?

Looking forward to hearing how other people handle this.

2-28-2011

It's probably wrong of me to do this but oh what the heck :) This is Preston in the Dentist chair looking like a drunk.

Getting Preston to go to the Dentist is the hardest thing for us to do. He hates hates hates it. But I gave him no choice a couple of weeks ago and found that he had three cavities. They scheduled him two appointments to get the three fillings. Last week we went in and oh boy the world almost came to an end because they tried to give him laughing gas. He was having NOTHING to do with the gas, or the dentist. So we agreed that it was best to have Preston put to sleep to have his dental work done.

So today was the day. Kimball came with me to help hold Preston down when they gave him the shot. It took Kimball and the dentist to hold him down and once it hit his system he was OUT.

I took a video of him coming out of the anesthesia. But I promised not to share it....too embarrassing for him. But our family has laughed all day watching it.

2-27-2011

Cake Tasting!!
On the 4th Sunday of each month our family has dinner with Kimball's Dad, his wife Barbie and all the siblings that live in the area. Today there was only a small group of us but it was still enjoyable.

Our dessert was a "cake" testing. Julie made like 12 cakes for us all to taste and pick which one we liked the best. It was so hard picking our favorite because they all were so close in flavor...all but one. It was horrible...The magic ingredient?? Mayo!! YUCK. Sorry Julie :)

2-26-2011

Strange picture, right? But I'm so excited about this wall patch. There have been two holes above the three pictures in the hallway for almost two years. The holes happened when one of the kids tried to use the rod that went above the pictures as a pull-up bar. Boys :)

Anyhow I've waited for these holes to be patched for much too long. Well my sweet Kimball has been on a two day fix-it spree and it's been so wonderful. So now the holes have been patched and all it needs is for me to paint them. I hope that doesn't take another two years :)

Today I got to spend the afternoon with a good friend. It was wonderful. A much needed girls day out. We went to Rod Works where I found the an item to give me inspiration for my laundry room. I really want that room done. After Rod Works we went for Lunch and then to see the movie "Just Go With It". Sooo funny. Thanks Tracie for a great day.

Before I close for tonight I want to share a picture I lifted off a friends blog.

This is Josh and Cassidy. They are so dang cute!! Josh and Cassidy went out on their first date last night and her mom took this picture for her "Picture of the day" (she was my inspiration for doing this picture of the day thing!!!) I have wished for this day to come for several years....long before they were old enough to even think about dating. I've always thought that she was so cute and just had to date one of my boys :) I think they "match" and "fit", if that makes sense. If not, that's ok, it makes sense to me!!!

2-25-2011

This is Kaylee on a timeout and it was the funniest thing ever.

Kaylee's room is a mess, a bad bad mess. Kimball told her that she needed to pick up at least FIVE things because she is FIVE years old. She said ok. A few minutes later she came upstairs and said to Kimball "I think I'll just take a timeout instead. I'm really not in the mood for cleaning." Kimball told her to go and talk to me about this. She went and got her iPhone and came to me and repeated to me what she had said to Kimball. She was ready for her "Time Out". She was going to sit down and play a game. Ha Ha

I informed her that it would be much easier to just clean up her five items in her room but she insisted on the timeout instead. So I took the iPhone from her hands, turned her around, raised her arms and faced her into the wall. This caused the world to end :)

Here are Kaylee's words (read the words with a dramatic, chocking sound between each word)

I...don't...like...this...kind...of...timeout...This...is...breaking...my...heart...I...just...want...a...normal...timeout...Why...are...you...breaking...my...heart... and...arms?...I'm...dying...here...can't...you...see... Now...my...head...is...going...to...fall...off...because...this...is...giving... me...a...headache.

This went on for much too long. Finally though, she went down to her room and cleaned up MORE than five things. After that she said "All that crying has made me tired, I think I should take a nap" and she got on my bed and fell right to sleep.

I love my Kaylee!!

p.s. Seeing how bad my pictures are, I've decided that I'm not just going to buy a camera, I'm going to actively look for a Photography class to take. Anyone want to join with me?

2-24-2011

This evening I went to a Cooking Demonstration. Soups and Breads. It was so fun and I now have some amazing recipes that I will use and share :)I think I'm going to go to a monthly class. It was so enjoyable.

Longing

I have always longed for a close relationship with my mom. I truly feel jealousy for those that have it. But I'm starting to see that some longings are not healthy and even though it hurts, you have to let those desires go.

I didn't grow up with sisters so I longed to do mother/daughter things with my mom but it never happened. There was a coldness that is hard to explain. We never went and did things together, ever.

I remember telling my dad when I was a pre-teen that I didn't know what I had done wrong to cause my mom to hate me so much. He explained to me that she didn't hate me. He told me that he can't explain why she is distant from me but that it probably had to do with how she was raised and that I should just keep trying.

I couldn't understand why everything was always blamed on how my mom was raised. I thought my mom and grandma had a great relationship. I saw them do things together all the time. My grandma would go out of her way to do little things for my mom. They may have had a strained relationship when my mom was young but I know that it wasn't strained while my mom was an adult. I saw with my own eyes and felt the desire to have the same.

I took to heart what my dad said about how I should just keep trying. I've tried and tried and tried and I'm failing. It isn't working and it is killing me.

I've taken my mom shopping, bought things for her, taken her to the movies, out to lunch, written her little cards and letters to tell her I love her. You name it, I have probably tried it and still nothing. I will be 40 years old this year and my mom still looks at me with complete hate. Her eyes glare at me and she never fails to say hurtful things. I never hear the words "I love you" or "thank you for all you do" I do hear put downs on a daily bases though.

We are told to Honor our Mothers and Fathers and because of this I have had a hard time letting go. I have felt like I had to keep trying. But I really don't think the Lord wants to see me in so much pain. I put so much effort into trying to build a relationship with my mom that I think other things in my life are suffering. So I may have to answer for this on the other side and pay the price for giving up but I must.

My parents are moving out of my house on the 1st of May and this brings me joy.

2-23-2011

Pigtails Bring Me Joy



Pigtails bring me joy for several reasons...Kaylee hasn't cut her hair in a long time so it's growing nice and long...The weather is improving and the pigtails make me think of Spring and Summertime and the number one reason that pigtails bring me joy is that they mean I have a little girl. I love having a daughter. I love you Kaylee!!

2-22-2011

Taco Bowls



While at a Kitchen store yesterday I found a pan that lets you bake these taco bowls. Baked, not Fried!! Love it.

Laundry Room Colors

So I've decided that my laundry room needs a makeover. I'm working on Kaylee's room right now too but it will take a LONG TIME to complete and while I'm in the process of that I'm also going to get my laundry room to become a place I actually like. My thinking is that if I like the laundry room, that I'll actually spend more time in there :) Probably not but we will see!!!

So I need help with picking out the color for the room. I want it to be cheery and bright. Please share your thoughts on these colors.

Pale Yellow

Teal

Pale Blue

Another Blue

Not sure what to call this one

2-21-2011

I was going to try and use Photoshop to create an image out of these two images but that didn't work. I'm horrible at picture and even worse with Photoshop. But with time......you never know :)

Anyhow, I have never put anything out for St. Patrick's day but Kaylee kept telling me that I had to so I did. I took out the glass jars and put green and white candy in them. The pictures do not give them justices, they really are cute. And they were fun putting together.

2-20-2011

The perfect end to my Sunday...A cinnamon roll made with love from my sweet friend Julie. As always, they were soo yummy.

2-19-2011

I love the Kindle app for the iPad. I am slowly building up my library of books and the best part is, I have all my books with me at all times AND I do not have ugly books laying all over my house. Ok, I lied...that isn't the best part...the best part is that with the iPad, I can read books in the dark.

2-18-2011

Pedicures are one of my favorite treats I do for myself. I hadn't had one since before my last cruise which was in Oct 2010. I had the same polish on that the nail gal put on them. They looked horrible. But not anymore! I have freshly painted toes and my heels are soft and nice. So happy!!

I do not take very good pictures and it doesn't help that I only have my phone to take the pictures with. But I'm hoping that as I get better at taking pictures with my phone, that someday I might buy a camera.

Been Too Long

Yesterday I stumbled upon a friends blog and after spending some time on it I started to feel myself get depressed. This friend seems to have it all together. Her house is decorated the way I wish mine was. She is excited about spending time with her family. She sews. She cooks. She has a great relationship with her kids. The list goes on and on...

I finally decided that I can't let her blog depress me, instead I'm going to use it to inspire me. To drive me to do better.

This is going to take me time, I'm sure. But I am committed to trying.

To help me start this process of change I'm going to work on two projects. One is the "Picture a day" project. I'll take one picture a day and post it with my thoughts. I hope this will help me appreciate the world around me a little more. The second project is a year of before and afters. I'm going to take before pictures of things that I want changed around my house and then post the after picture once I've got it the way I want. I hope this will get me to take the risks in decorating. Making my home the way I really want it.