Dear Anonymous

Dear Inconsiderate person who keeps letting their dog do its business on my lawn each night:

I highly dislike you.

The End.

Hirschi Cuisine

On Tuesday night I went to a fabulous Relief Society meeting on freezer meals. I'll admit, I was a skeptic, but the great thing was that all the ingredients were combined raw (even the meat) and then frozen, and either stuck in a crock pot, or casserole dish for a few hours to cook. It was great.

It inspired me. I CAN DO THAT! I should do that! So I started searched the web (did you know google is my best friend?), but here is my problem..... I prefer cooking from fresh ingredients, like from the vine/bush/tree/whatever. So how do I make that easier? I could probably take a lot of recipes and alter them for freezer meals, but the prep work for it, if you don't work from a can, a box, or a jar, increases exponentially. Do any of you have this problem? Cooking from fresh takes a lot of work, particularly fresh produce. Any reccomendations? Please Help.

Mud Pit Monday

There has been some "construction" going on in our back yard lately, clearing the brush, prepping for new sprinkler lines and more grass. I thought it would be fun to turn the hoses on full blast and let the kids play in the mud before we loose the dirt AND the hot weather.

The kids were really excited about the idea. I dressed them in junky clothes, and I was prepared for mud in their hair, smeared on their faces, in places the sun doesn't shine. But when they got into the mud they crouched down, making sure not to actually sit in it, but play only. They brough out all their diggers, match-box cars and the big road machines that our little neighboor Tyrus got for his birthday. They were much cleaner than I expected them to be.

Leah, however, had some trouble keeping her balance in the mud. She fell down, started crying and got back up to get out of there, then fell down again, and again, and again as she tried to escape the mud-pit. I couldn't help but laugh... hard.
But she liked it. Off went the pants and she ran around in a 12 month onesie.... as you can see its a little large on her. But for the record, I think it was just a huge onesie.We turned on the sprinkler in the grass for the kids to wash off, or just play in. Or drink, in Leah's case.When we finished up, Tyrus had a hard time accepting the end of a fabulously fun activity:
And Jonas and Jeremiah we chillin' in our camp chairs, eating some bananna bread (we were embracing our inner-white trash), I hosed them down pretty good, but Jeremiah was so muddy I just took off his pants. He didn't want anyone to see his underwear so he quickly grabbed a towel. All in all, SUPER FUN day, I would recommend it for any mom who can handle the mud. All the kids loved it, and we had fun watching them.

Growth Charts

3rd percentile.

Thats what Leah measures on the growth charts. She is finally over 20 lbs, and yes, she can wear her 3 month old sisters clothes.

Those are bloomers, which Leah calls "unders" (underwear), and a 3 month dress. And yes, she wore this for most of the day, adding a 3 month jean jacket later on. Because Layering is very in right now. :)

Exhaustion

This is how I look today
I haven't showered, I slipped on some jeans and an old shirt to take the garbage out this morning and haven't changed since. And yes, I feel as exhausted and terrible as I look. :)

Post Script -My sister in law said I don't look too terrible, I'm not sure this picture clearly depicted my appearance. Without a very important undergarment, hair falling in my face, I'm pretty sure I smelled, dirty feet from walking around outside and in my dusty basement, glasses around the tip of my nose... this picture is actually quite flattering compared to what I actually looked like this morning. I'll have you know that around lunch time I jumped in the shower real fast and had time to put on deoderant (Melissa, you can thank me later), and my usual array of nursing undergarment attire, normal clothing, I EVEN blow dryed my hair (which is kind of a big deal for me these days). I'll be honest, the above photo is the NORM these days. Oh well, theres a time and a season right?

Fashion Show

Sorry, no pictures, the babe is now wrapped in her blanket and sleeping soundly in her crib BUT - today I had a little too much fun playing dress-up with Colette with all the hand-me-down clothes from Leah. It's like going shopping, only free! I had some really cute clothes for Leah when she was 3-6 months old. I love it.

Also, Leah has been binky-free since Friday morning, and took her first binky-free nap today... which means she hasn't napped since thursday afternoon. We're getting there. I think she's doing really well, she doesn't ask for it anymore. I hid them in the depths of the linen closet, never to be found by a certain little girl. Anyway, we're on our way to being a big girl. The next mountain to climb is potty training. I think I might wait a while on that one. She did just turn two after all. Maybe after Christmas. We'll see.

Also, did I mention that Colette rolled over last week? Please, my children, stop growing, stay little forever. I really mean that. I love them at their current ages. I'm enjoying (almost) every minute of it.

What a week

I have a double ear infection. It hurts. BAD. I have much more empathy for my children now.

It's also the start of Binky Week at our house. You know, the week where we wean the 2 year old from pacifiers. She just turned two this week, I wouldn't mind waiting a while longer, but when your child can request which color of pacifier she wants at bed time, and does the fake cry if you tuck her in before giving it to her... you know it's time. So, all my kids are in bed for naps right now... but only Colette is sleeping, she's been sleeping for the past hour while Leah has cried and screamed and yelled, and Jeremiah is crying in his bed because he doesn't want to take a nap. If he had his way he would watch The Backyardigans all day long.

On the docket this week: Halloween Costumes, and house cleaning, binky weaning, and finally organizing my sewing room (ie- The Basement)

2nd 1st day of school

Today was Jeremiah first day of preschool this year. Last night we had our back to school night at Grandma and Grandpa's house, since Greg "needed" to watch a football game. It wasn't even his team?! Oh well, I've never claimed to understand football, or it's fans. For back to school night Jeremiah ordered up his favorite meal: Chocolate milk, "Real" chicken nuggets, potato wedges, grapes, and salad. Jeremiah didn't request that, I added it for nutritional value, and because I was in the mood for a nice salad. I made everything from scratch, chicken nuggets included, although I did not milk the cow for the milk. Hmmm, I wonder if I could find a dairy cow to milk for next year.

So today was the big day, and Leah was just as excited as Jeremiah, even though she didn't get to do anything fun. And yes, this is the best picture I could get of him. Awesome awkward smile buddy. :)

And this is what my 3 hours looked like. I watched my friends little girl, while she taught preschool to the boys. When I teach, she will watch my littler kids. Less distraction that way. But for 3 hours, I had a 2 year old, a 1 year old, and a 3 month old. Whew!

Older and Wiser

Today I went to the Shade store because, as you know, they are going out of business and are having a mega sale.

I'm not sure what I was thinking, I went to the fabric store and the Shade store (to try on swimsuits no less) all in one day WITH THREE CHILDREN. Oh right, I do know what I was thinking. I was thinking..... I never get the chance to go shopping without the kids, so no time better than the present.

The Fabric store went ok.... No running laps around the isles, pulling off bolts of fabrics... our trip was pretty mild. Then we went to the Shade store. OH DEAR. There were all of these lovely Utah Ladies (you know what I mean by that) walking around without children, with their pretty clothes, high heeled shoes and freshly glossed lips, browsing the racks for items they might want. And there I was, no shower yet today, no make-up, two kids who had just had pizza at Daddy's office for lunch (i love their chef, by the way), and they had it all over their clothes. The kids were running, hiding, fighting, pushing, pulling, selecting their own items of clothing off the racks..... onto the floor. They were barely paying any attention to me.

We made it out alive, thank goodness.

Have you ever had those moments when the kids are SO crazy. Like yesterday when Leah and Colette and Jeremiah were all crying at the same time for about an hour and I could only do two things at a time (one thing at a time died after kid #2).

But after those moments are gone I think.... "Ahhhhh.... peace and quiet. That was crazy; I love it." And I go on with my day not even thinking about the insanity that had passed.

If I had had one of those moments before I had kids they would have served as at least 10 years of birth control. I would have thought "Ahhhh, I can't do this, I can never have children."

I know I am not the most laid back person, but I am so glad that time has given me this small bit of wisdom, and the ability to not absolutely lose it when I have those moments of pure chaos.

The moments of pure bliss make it all worth it.

I love my chaotic, blissful life.

Colette's Blessing