Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Denver Day 2

Today was my chillaxing day. I watched TLC and HGTV for who knows how long and ate half a bag of peanut butter M&Ms and Dove chocolates. I painted my toes a lovely hue of "Burgundy Frost," gave myself a facial masque which I'd forgotten how much I love and NEED those, took a long shower (I hate baths), watched 27 Dresses, straightened my hair and applied makeup just like I'd just watched hours earlier on an episode of TLC. However, my makeup and hair never turns out as flawless as they show on tv. Ugh, what a reality check.

Denver Day 1

We left home about 9:00am to hit the road. I don't know what it is about cars but if I'm riding longer than 10 minutes, I'm dead to the world and (probably) drooling all over my neck pillow. My goal was to make it to Burley (45 minutes out) and still remain awake. I made it, but zonked out 5 minutes later. Matter of fact I took a nap three separate times during the 11 hour drive and let me tell you, it was bliss! Oh it felt so good!!

I've always known this since moving cross country a few times, and no offense to all those in blog world who live there but Wyoming is the absolute worst state/region/province I think there is in the world. Seriously, just 6 hours of pure barren nothingness. As the joke goes, behind every tree in Wyoming is a beautiful woman.

We made it to our hotel around 8:30pm. Lance was exhausted from driving all day and after a quick trip to the grocery store, we both crashed. Even though I took three naps throughout the day I still slept like a baby all night.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Babysitting Weekend

My oldest brother had his 30th birthday last week and his wife who is my best friend, Trish, really wanted to make it a big celebration for him. She decided to find UT Jazz tickets and make a weekend getaway together. She booked a really nice hotel for the following weekend and had everything perfectly planned as a surprise. I kept trying to persuade her that she needs to give it to him in a really cool way instead of wrapped up in a lame box, so she came up with The Amazing Birthday Race where she made four clues with different stops at their friends' homes. House #1 Joseph had to beat one of his friends at Horse, house #2 he had to play Rock Band and win, and house #3 he had to play tennis Wii and win. The following weekend I babysat the kids while Joseph and Trish left for the much needed birthday weekend getaway. This little Peytin went with them because he's still too little and darn cute at 4 months!I had so much fun with the three kids. They were begging me to paint and I had no idea what they were talking about so I followed directions and got the craft box down which was filled with kids' activities. Devin and Charity painted their canvases and I was quite proud of what a good job they did. Devin painted the entire thing and you had no idea it was a picture of dinosaurs. Charity chose a princess canvas and she painted it exactly like the picture. If there were no tubes of paint that had the color she was looking for, she learned how to mix two colors together to get the desired color. I think that was her favorite part, watching herself mix colors together. I definitely wasn't going to let Quentin get near the paints at 18 months so he colored in his book.

He's such a little ham!After naps we went outside for snacks and enjoyed the spring weather.Then we made door hangers which the kids decorated with markers and stickers.Sunday was interesting.....I didn't get much sleep so I was tired but I managed to get myself and THREE kids to church not only on time but ten minutes early! They were SO good during sacrament meeting, I was proud of them! For lunch we enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes followed by a much needed nap. I loved waking them up for my next activity. They knew easter was coming up soon so I made the kids stay in the bedroom while I stuffed and hid easter eggs around the house for a hunt. They loved it! Here they are with their baskets ready for the hunt! (I was trying to find whatever container I could throughout the house so I emptied Trish's craft supply baskets.....sorry Trish but I promise they were very gentle with them).Enjoying their finds!
I love being an aunt, it's the best thing in the world! I was so sad to leave the kids but we had a fantastic time together. Luckily I only live a few blocks from them so I get my dose of their smiles, hugs, and kisses often. Love these kids!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Oh the Constant Reminders

My house is a mess. I don't mean a small mess with shoes in the living room and a few dishes in the sink.....I mean our whole wardrobe is strewn about the living room, books on the floor and coffee table, purses and coats on the couch, mail strung everywhere, dishes all over the counters and sink and stove, and the list goes on and on. Don't ask me the last time I dusted or vacuumed. Don't ask me the last time I cleaned the bathrooms. Don't ask me the last time I mopped and really deep-cleaned the kitchen. It's filthy, it's gross, and it's utterly embarrassing. Ugh, how can I live like this?! It's disgusting!

Last month when my visiting teacher came over she expressed her feelings on this particular matter and it has stuck with me ever since: "You know I went over to such and such house and they have all these kids but yet I've never seen a more perfectly, immaculate house. There's no dust, no stray dirt in the corners, the carpet is always freshly vacuumed, the bathroom smells like a tropical paradise, you could eat off the kitchen counters and see your reflection on the floor, etc. etc. But while I was thinking and trying to resolve my will to that kind of dedication I thought to myself, you know I really want to spend time with my last baby and rock her and play with her and watch her grow up. I want to play soccer and baseball outside with my oldest and help my other two with their reading and numbers. If I spend all this time cleaning and making sure my house is perfect as well, I'll never get to watch my kids grow up. I'll never get to see when ______ starts crawling or when ______ starts to read. So I decided I can live with a somewhat messy house because it's worth it and I'll never regret that decision."

Last night my mom and sister in-law came over to my despicably dirty house. I was mortified! Since I work full time and run around like crazy with other projects, the only time I have to clean is on the weekends. Well, my brother and sister were out of town so I watched their kids over the weekend, thus I had no time to clean. I was planning on tackling the work before Lance and I had FHE on Monday but then Lance's sister came to town for FHE and dinner. The cleaning keeps getting put off further and further down the road. Last night after my mom and sister in-law left, I was really embarrassed but then I thought about the things I would have sacrificed to have a cleaner home: I wouldn't have babysat the kids and heard Devin excitedly say when he woke up,"Look Becky it's getting light outside! That means the earth is moving and the sun is coming up." I wouldn't have had dinner with Lance's family and seen little Sydnee shove pees in her mouth at a record rate nor heard Sage tell me how excited she is that she's starting to read. I wouldn't have had my mom and sister over to make jewelry, etc. The trade off is worth it to me. Call me lazy with mixed up priorities but I'm not Wonder Woman nor Mr. Clean.

Monday, March 15, 2010

It's So On!

The count down is on ..... Lance and I have two weeks left until we go to Denver! Technically we're going to Littleton, CO which is a little south of Denver where Lance is going to school. His mortuary science program is online and once a semester he has to go down there for labs. This time, I'm coming with him and it is going to be a superb vacation! At least for me, because after all, I have a week off of work and I don't have to go to school or the mortuary for labs. I've already started my packing list: nail polish, facial masque, bubble bath, chick flicks (at least 10), junk food (chocolate), and comfy pajamas. That's as far as I've gotten but I'm sure I'll add more grooming/girly/relaxing items to my packing list...

Oops

My sister is law has been going in and out of labor for the past week and a half, yep she's miserable and deepyl exhausted to say the least. My parents were out of town and I was the next person on the list to watch the other three kids just in case she goes into labor in the middle of the night. Monday night the contractions were hard and close together so I got the call at 12:30. I quickly drove to the house not far away, received the few instructions in case the kids wake up, and slept on the couch as my brother and his wife sped to the hospital.

Soon enough I heard the two youngest ones, Tyson 2 and Valarie 1, out of bed and running for mom and dad's room. I quickly grabbed the youngest and the pacifier which soothed her back to sleep in her own bed. Assuming Tyson went to find and sleep with mom and dad, I went in their room toward the bed and called for Tyson to come sleep in his own bed. Out of nowhere I heard my brother, "Becky, what are you doing?" It startled me and my face became beet red and thank goodness I was still half asleep because I felt like an idiot! Why are they back from the hospital so soon??? I just turned around and went back to the couch glancing at the clock and noticed it was 6:30am. Great, that made me feel like a bigger dork because that's about the time the kids wake up anyway!

When I got up I just had to ask all the details which turns out the labor stopped and they were sent home around 3am. I didn't hear a single peep out of them, not the garage door or their shoes or them talking or anything which means I must have really been out of it. I apologized for interrupting their sleep during the night trying to get Tyson, but they were so exhausted they didn't care. Thank goodness because I felt so dumb!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

New Responsibilities

A few weeks ago I was put in as the young women's secretary at church, I'm a little nervous and a little hesitant because there are about 21 girls. In Charleston when I was in young women there were on average 3 girls, at most 8. So a little different. I'm so excited to work with the rest of the presidency, they are fantastic and wise women that I'm eager to learn from. I'm so excited to be around the girls, to play and teach and talk and laugh and learn together. I love these girls I am going to have so much fun!!

Last week we had New Beginnings and the girls put on a great press conference explaining to the parents the changes with the personal progress program. We ran through the program a few times before it started and dang Gina! These girls are hilarious and tons of fun to be around! I wasn't assuming it would be otherwise, but I had such a blast!! My jaw was aching from smiling so much and my stomach hurt from laughing so much. This one night has fueled me all week long, I'm loving it!