Back blogging: Pumpkin carving/ Even we're not perfect

While I am generally anti-back blogging because it just sets people up for failure (if I went back and tried to document every thing that I considered posting on this blog, I'd be hundred's of posts behind and would feel so defeated that I'd just give up and you'd never hear from me again), Greg is doing Christmas-y stuff that I'm not allowed to see so I am pretty much stuck with either the computer or a book.  Obviously, I picked computer.  So here I am back blogging.  About carving our pumpkins.  Almost 2 months ago.  Here's how it went down:

Rex, being a 4-year-old, was pretty excited about carving pumpkins.  He talked the WHOLE day about what he was going to carve and who was going to do what.  And if you know Rex, you know that he literally did not stop talking, even while peeing.  

After dinner, we cleared the counter off and got to work.  I forgot (how I don't know after all his talking) that Rex had predetermined that I was to help him carve his, and Greg was to help Alice carve hers.  Greg decided to help Rex.  Which upset Rex.  Because he's four, he didn't verbalize well his predetermined plan, and threw a tantrum instead.   Then Greg, who doesn't deal all day with children, started getting bored of carving pumpkins and began rushing Rex to move faster.  More tantrum by Rex.  Greg gets annoyed and sends Rex to his room. More tantrum.  And I just stood by not sure what to do--really Rex didn't need to throw a tantrum, but then again, neither did Greg.  I wanted to support Greg, as we've decided that at least in front of the children we will be united on the child discipline thing--we can disagree with no children around but we don't want them playing on that weakness.  So I just stood there.  It was horrible.  Horrible.  And I just stood there thinking--how am I supposed to put this mess of a situation on the blog and pretend like we all had a good time?  

While the boys threw their tantrums, Alice and I continued carving, but then she also decided to throw a tantrum because she was a whole two-years and one-month old by this time, and an experienced pumpkin carver and needed no help from her mother while wielding a knife.

This is not to mention the fights between Alice and Rex over whose turn it was to use the special pumpkin carving knife or who got which plastic eyes.

After many tears and lots of frustration, the pumpkins were finished and we managed to get a few decent pictures and then it was bedtime, at which point, I'm sure I got out my annoyed voice and maybe even raised my voice a bit to get the kids to just get in bed already.  I was done for the day.

See, despite my very blatant and obvious attempt to only post happy good things on this blog because you don't need to know all my drama, we aren't perfect either.  But you couldn't tell by these pictures now could?  Who says pictures say a thousand words, because these ones are liar liar pants on fire ones.

Thanksgiving Kentucky Style

 We've lived in Charlotte for over two years now and had yet to make the pilgrimage to Greg's only living grandparent's house in Kentucky--we were this close to getting written out of the will, so we went.  I was not excited.  I've driven with the kids the 5 1/2 hours to DC a few times and it was not fun.  Now I was looking at 10 hours (actually 12 due to traffic and kids needing to stop a lot).  Luckily we got a van with a DVD so we went from one movie to the next and back to the first, but all in all the kids were good.

And Kentucky gets a gold star in my book.

First, it was fairly warm considering it was the end of November. It was in the 50's most of the days we were there--warm enough to play outside.

Second, no trees.  Or at least very few.  Don't get me wrong, trees are nice, but when you grow up in a desert and then a flat treeless valley and then move to another desert nestled in the mountains, you get a little used to being able to see for miles and miles and all the trees of Charlotte have gotten in the way of me seeing the sky.  Oh, lovely, lovely Kentucky sky.

And third, and most importantly, Kentucky-ian parks are hard core.  We went to two--neither one of the which the likes I have seen in years.  Like sense I was a kid.  They were they type of parks where you could actually hurt yourself in a bad way--one had a spider web-like play structure a good 10 or more feet high.  They other had two, two!   merry-go-rounds.  When's the last time you saw one of those and didn't think about your crazy cousin Pete getting stuck under the one by your grandma's house?  Gold star for not being a pansy Kentucky.

I also got to met 3 of Greg's 4 cousin's and they were all pretty cool.  I wished they could've hung out for longer, but they each had like 3 Thanksgivings to go to since they all married people from their same city and had multiple families to visit (I guess that's a very, very slight plus of only living near half of our family--no double Thanksgiving).

Otherwise, the kids just had fun running around Nana's house because she let them do just about whatever they wanted--including watching hours of cable TV.

Here's Rex on Thanksgiving--(he would not let me take a normal picture of him)

 Alice wanted to do her make up so I let her.

 Rex played with Greg's cousin's kids.  Greg's awesome aunt played all sorts of crazy games with the kids--games I would NOT have let them play--such as bed jumping and the like, so they lucked out with her.  At one point she tried to come sit down with the adults when Rex found her, "Lolo, the game isn't over yet."  "Oh, ok.  I'm coming."  Pretty rad aunt--I just had to sit on my butt since Greg's other two cousins went to town on the dishes--and they are both more pregnant than me.  Oh well.

 Rad park #1

 We went to see some Christmas lights.  Nana told me it was just a drive through thing so I wore flats with no socks and a cardigan.  When we got there, turns out Nanna is 80 years old so prefers to drive, but Greg is 4 years old and wanted a closer look.  Luckily, as mentioned, it wasn't too cold and I had a baby heater inside me to keep me warm.

 Rad park #2--throw backs to the park in Upland.

 And then Sunday we went to the Princeton Branch.  We had intended to go to the Baptists church with Nana, but it was at 1 and with a 12 hour drive back... we went to the LDS branch with NO children.  Seriously, there were like 40 people there and Rex and Alice were the ONLY children.  And the building was super small so no matter where Alice was even when we took her out, everyone could still hear her screaming or whatever.  After a very long and stressful hour of trying to keep the children quiet, I found the only other family that had children tucked away in the nursery playing with toys.  Cheaters.  We left after Sacrament for the long drive home.

Anyway, we had a ton of fun and so did the kids.  We plan to return this summer on our epic drive to Yellowstone for the Brian Robins Hannah's-Getting-Home-From-Her-Mission Reunion.

Shopping with Rex

Rex and I went to Hobby Lobby today to pick out fabric for a pillow case Rex is going to make for Alice for Christmas.  As we're standing in line to check out, Rex notices a candy-filled toy that he must have.

I tell him no.

He continues to extol its virtues.

No again.

We get out of the store and he continues to tell me how wonderful this candy-toy thing is, so I sing him my new favorite song that I wrote myself.  It goes to the tune of one of Beethoven's symphonies and goes a little something like this, "No, no.  No, no, no, no no no.  No, no, noO."  

To which Rex responds, "Mom, why is 'no' the only word I hear coming out of your mouth?"

Touche.  (My mom used to say that to us all the time, and now I say it to my kids.)

I laughed.  But he still didn't get the toy.

He fell asleep on the way home.

Why I approve of hunting

1. I have to--ok I don't have to but if I didn't life/marriage would not be so fun.  Greg likes hunting.  He spends a lot of time, energy and money hunting(Greg says he's barely spent any money this year--which is true.  He's now accumulated most of the necessary gear).  If I decided to dislike hunting, I don't even want to think about all the arguments/discussions we'd have to get into over hunting--the time, the killing, the money...  To make life easier, I like hunting because it makes Greg happy.

2. It's manly.  Greg has a great job.  We want for nothing. We sleep on a giant pile of money every night and burn it in our fireplace to keep warm.   But what is more manly, more provider-like than actually killing your own food?  Seriously.  Greg is such a great provider.

3. It makes sense.  I've been trying to simplify my life lately--to focus on the things that really matter.  My kids. My husband.  But also my food.  We've all read food labels and know that most of the stuff in food isn't really food.  But a deer, it's a deer. It's just that simple.

4. It's human.  As I know most of you are from California and have driven through Colinga at least once, you all know that stockyards are not happy places for cows.  But a forest, is a happy place for a deer.  So the deer get to run around and be free and enjoy life, until they get hit by an arrow.

5. It's organic.  Again, picture the cows in Colinga--they live in their own poop.  And then they drag that poop into the slaughter house with them, and then we eat it.  We eat cow poop.  And then there's all the antibiotics and ammonia and blah blah blah.  A deer is just a deer.  They eat acorns and the corn Greg puts out for them to lure them closer.  Nothing crazy in a deer, just deer.

6. It's lean and tastes like cow.  Seriously, deer tastes like a very lean cow and cooks in all the same ways--minus crock pot.  Not enough fat in a deer to make a successful crock pot meal out of...maybe a stew.  I'll try and let you know.

7. It's good for food storage.  I'll be honest and say we have almost no food storage--we could last a few weeks.  Maybe. But a good friend of mine, who shall remain nameless because I don't want anyone getting in on my deal, has like 3 years' worth of wheat.  So we agreed--she'll share her wheat and we'll share our deer when the zombies attack.

And yes, I know hunting is super hick.  We live in the South remember? But just take a look in my freezer full of organic, grain-feed, free-range, super fresh deer meat, then judge.

Greg harvested (hunter code for killed) these Bambis last week--one with a bow and one with a rifle of some sort.  Four more to go to fill up his card and get us through 'til next season.

So yes, I love me some hunting--as long as I don't actually have to do it.  I continue to live in my non-Southern, non-hick fantasy world where I still live in California/Utah, depending on the day.

All growed up

Two weeks ago, Rex was in his very first Primary program.  And he was the best.  The star of the show.  Obviously.  Seriously though, he was.  He was that kid that thinks every song is a solo and just belts it out--off key nonetheless because the poor boy has a tone deaf mother who also likes to sing really loudly in the car.  But he knew most of the words to all the songs.  And he knew his whole 2 sentences he was supposed to say.  He told me, and this was later confirmed by other adults, that he wanted to talk more so during practice he added some to his part.  The Primary president would have none of that and cut him off during the actual program.  If only Rex hadn't hesitated before the last sentence he would've gotten away with it too.  He did end up having a slight melt down half way through the program.   I'm not exactly clear on what happened, but it had something to do with the name tags on the seats and his getting wrinkled and moved.  For a super type A, 4-year-old with minimal coping skills, it was a major disaster.  But he pulled it together for every song and then returned to crying after.  Luckily one of the teachers was kind enough to let Rex sit on her lap.  Still, I am oddly proud of him.  I guess it's called being a parent, because, honestly, I hate Primary programs.  It's a bunch of kids getting up and talking to loudly or too quietly or whatever else they do that makes them almost impossible to understand for over an hour, because you know the program goes over every year.  Yet, I loved this year.  Mostly Rex's part, because, like I said he was the star.

Then last Saturday, Alice got to sleep in bed with me for a few hours because she woke up at 5 and I wasn't about to and Greg was off hunting.  When she woke up the second time at 8, she informed me that she would no longer be sleeping in a crib.  I knew the day was coming and probably a bit overdue (we took Rex's crib apart on his second birthday) since I want her to be used to a big girl bed before she moves into Rex's room in a few months.  So we took it apart.  Though, now, she's going back a bit.  She told me tonight that she wants to sleep in a crib again, but not the pack-n-play, the crib.  As in, put it back together.  For such an opinionated little girl, she sure does change her mind an awful lot--like about being potty trained.

Creepy Kids

Tuesday, around 7 pm, I'm in the kitchen putting dinner away; Rex is playing in the toy room; Greg is outside getting ready for scouts; and Alice is doing her thing in her room.  Alice comes back into the kitchen.

Alice--"There's a ghost in my room."
Me--"There's a ghost in your room?"
Alice--"Ghost.  Scary in my bedroom."

For the record, I believed her.  A two-year-old came to me after sitting in her room by herself and told me she'd seen a ghost.  Where did she even learn about ghosts?  And who knows when the veil really closes?  So I checked it out.  No ghost.  But Alice and Rex spent the next 20 minutes chasing the ghost out of Alice's room and into mine.

Now every time Alice goes to her room, she says, "Oh no.  A ghost. Scary."

Kids are creepy.

Car Fast: Week 1

A few weeks ago I read The Cheapskate Next Door by Jeff Yeager and if you'd talked to me in these last few weeks, you'd know that it changed/ruined my life.  Ruined my life in that I now know how much more money I could be saving by not doing things like buying toilet paper.  Don't worry, while I still refuse to buy paper towels, cloth toilet paper is too far for me.  Though Yeager does focus a lot on different ways to spend less money, his real point, at least for me, is not about money at all.  Being a cheapskate is a way to increase our happiness by focusing more on and appreciating more what we already have rather than constantly shopping for and thinking about what we don't have.   I have decided to become a cheapskate.  I want to be happier (not that I'm unhappy to begin with).  I want to appreciate the things I have; to focus less on what I "want."  As such I am adjusting one of Yeager's suggestions and will be having a weekly car fast--that means one day a week, I will not drive my car anywhere.  Not only will I save the gas money and the money from whatever store I was just going to drop by and pick up one thing and then leave the store $50 later, but I will be forced to enjoy what I already have.  

Today was my first weekly car fast.  And it was perfect.  Seriously so much less stressful than getting the kids ready and in the car and all the yelling and nagging and rushing that that involves.

We started the day off pretty normally: breakfast followed by morning chores.  Except that today instead of me yelling and nagging Rex to get his chores done, I did mine and let him and Alice do what they wanted.  Rex voluntarily got out his writing binder and practiced writing while Alice did her favorite thing--roll around on the floor with her blanket and pacifier.  And I even did the breakfast dishes after breakfast instead of after dinner.

 Eventually, I convinced Rex to get dressed and we headed outside where I raked up a giant leaf pile for the kids.  Alice was not as interested as I thought she should be.  She kept crying to go back inside so I brought out a blanket and books for her to look at while Rex played in the leaves, which satisfied all parties involved.

 We also had a snack outside, more leaf jumping, lunch, then I read Alice some stories and she took a nap.  Then Rex wanted repeat some of his activities he did at Joy School this week, so we did that.  I didn't take any pictures of that because I didn't want to interrupt the moment.  Remember I was enjoying what I have.  Then stories with Rex, shower and nap for me while Rex watched TV.

After TV time, Derick came over and we went back to our leaf pile.

 Then we did a leaf stained art project, which again I did not take pictures of because...well I got a stressful phone call from a potential renter.  I mean, I was enjoying the moment not yelling at my kids to hush.

Next, the kids helped me make pizza before I caught they actually playing together (and overhead Rex repeating the conversation I'd had with the tenet on his broken cell phone).

Last, the kids took a bath, more renter stuff hit the fan, we read some stories, I rocked Alice to sleep then cuddled with Rex for a bit.  All in all, minus the renter stuff, I loved my first car fast.  I actually spent time playing with my children and have a blister on my thumb from all the raking to prove it.  Looking forward to next week--so join me for a weekly car fast and spend a day just enjoying what you already have and not thinking about what you're going to buy next.