Busy Weekend

Our weekend started on Friday since Caleb was finally out of school. I spent most of the day trying to keep them occupied. I bought some play-do the other day and decided to break it out. It was a big hit. In the afternoon, we needed an outing. Once Eva woke up from her nap, we went to the Children's Museum. I usually avoid going there by myself because Caleb and Eva like to run in different directions and I'm only one person. But, they actually did really well and it was promising that I'll be able to do this more often.

Caleb and Eva love the water tables. Caleb played with most of the toys appropriately. Eva, is more concerned with eating and drinking at this stage in her life.

They also had a really good time at the piano. They really could have just done this at home, but we don't have the cool sunglasses to put on.
After the museum, we met Carl at Chipotle for dinner. Most of you know how Caleb loves lemons. He can eat them down to the rind without even a pucker. Eva tries.
After Chipotle, we walked over to the Lied Center for their Free at 6pm series. It was a steel drum band. It didn't hold their interest so we left after 3 songs.

The next day we went to the 150th anniversary of the handcart trek in Kearney, NE (about 2 hours away). It was quite boring. Carl sang in a choir (they sounded great). I was glad to come home.

I hope I can make it through this next week. Should be exciting. We're getting rid of Caleb's diapers today. No more! In PFA news, I lost all of my Breckenridge weight so now I'm back to pre-girl's weekend form. This week should be better. I think that's about it for today (I did have a longer post written and just before I uploaded the pictures, Eva pushed the power button---the auto recovery had only saved half--bummer!).

Busy Weekend

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/06/busy-weekend.html

LMNOP

We're watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee tonight. In my family, I was the speller (aka the biggest nerd in the Charlton family). I remember my grandma calling me once to spell something for her. I wasn't very old and I'm pretty sure she wasn't doing that just to make me feel good. Most of you know that Carl is pretty smart (and not just because he married me). He's a freakin' genius. It's been really fun watching the spelling bee with him. He gets so proud of himself when he can spell the words correctly. I've been teasing him a little bit by reminding him that middle schoolers are spelling these words and he has a little bit of an advantage by having a PhD and being more than twice their age. I remind him of the same things when he is incorrect and they get them right. Just a little family fun...Nelson style.

Giocoso. Just one of the words I got right and Carl missed. Ha ha sucker. Who's the genius now, Dr. Nelson????

LMNOP

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/06/lmnop.html

Last Day of School

Is it already June? Holy moly. Caleb went to his last day of preschool (for this school year, at least) today. Last night they had a little picnic at the park and gave certificates to the kids that were moving on to kindergarten. Caleb has two more years to go at this preschool and I can only imagine what kind of progress he is going to make. It was only 7 weeks ago that he started at this school and I can already see a big difference.

Caleb had a hard time sitting still during the graduation portion of the picnic. Eva just wanted to be a part of it all and kept walking right into the middle of everything. She's such a cutie that I think everyone was okay with it. It was a pretty low-key event.
The teachers told me how Caleb has a best friend at school. It's Spencer. He wasn't at the party. But, that's okay because Spencer goes to our church. They don't see each other much at church (Spencer is already out of Nursery) but I had a good idea they hit it off. I can see a bunch of playdates in my future for this summer. He lives about 5 blocks away from us and I like his mom (so that's a plus).

I've got another sample conversation from Caleb using his ever expanding preschool skills.

Caleb: Juice?
Me: Can you ask me nicely?
Caleb: Can I have some juice please?
Me: Yes!
Caleb: Thank you for asking so nicely. Thank you for asking so nicely. Thank you for asking so nicely. (repeat until he gets his juice) Thank you Mommy. Say, "You're welcome, Mommy".
Me: You're welcome.

He is also very much into: 1-2-3 Pass It! He'll take a toy and say "1-2-3 Pass it" and then give it to either myself, Carl, or Eva. Then, he'll quickly say it again as many times as he needs to get it back to himself. Then, he's done playing 1-2-3 pass it.

Caleb also sings a bunch of songs from school. After they're done playing they sing a song to talk about what everyone did during play time. They sing, "_____,_____ Where'd you play?"
Caleb sings that for every single kid in his class and then adds all of us at home. Mommy, mommy, where'd you play?

They also sing a song about what kids are wearing that day. Example: Spencer wore his Spiderman shoes, his spiderman shoes, his spiderman shoes, Spencer wore his spiderman shoes to school today.

Now that we don't have school to keep us occupied in the morning...I see a lot of this in our future. The kids not dressed, Caleb and Eva rocking themselves in the recliner, and me wondering how the heck I'm going to entertain these two wild ones all summer. Any suggestions?

Last Day of School

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/06/last-day-of-school.html

The Historian

I recently finished the book The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It is about Vlad Tepes (aka Dracula) and some historians that are drawn into his life by researching him. They find that Dracula is alive and well (not a spoiler---you find this out in the first couple of pages) and then you go on a fantastic journey throughout Europe to find him.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction. It always makes me want to learn more about subjects that I had never really thought of before. I've never been interested in Dracula but I thought this book would be a good read. Plus, it's long and I enjoy books that are a bit meaty. I learned a lot about history and now I'm keenly interested in finding out more about the man behind the myth.

This book is rated PG for a lot of death and vampire attacks (although they are not described in gruesome detail). There is very little cussing (if any) and sex (come to think of it...I don't think there is any).

I give this book an A- only because it did get a little slow in some parts. However, it did not cause me to lose my interest in the book.

The Historian

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/historian.html

1st Annual Girl's Weekend

The girl's weekend was a huge success. We left Thursday morning to drive 8 1/2 hours to Breckenridge, CO. This was the view from our room.Kellie and Shelley came up from Colorado later so they didn't have a chance to eat with us that first night at Bubba Gump's. In this picture is Megan (Mary's sister), Hollie, and Mary. The food was pretty darn good and was a good way to start our weekend.The next day, most of us went to a salon to get pampered. I got a haircut and highlights. Here is my before picture. You'll have to see the after shot later in the post at the crepe stand (however...I must tell you that the "after" picture was taken the next day and I didn't have any product there to style my hair with).
I didn't get ANY knitting done on this trip like I had planned. I had an unexpected sports injury. All that competitive knitting and computer game playing has put a strain on my arm. I have it in a brace right now and it's been hurting like a bugger. Hollie massaged it for me (she's a professional) a couple of times but I don't know if it's going to get better anytime soon.

Megan and Mary left a night before the rest of us and missed out on our crepe extravaganza. I did manage to get some pictures of them before they left. So, back to the crepes. Yummy! Here's the stand where they make them. The guys there were really funny.
Hollie, Shelley, and I were chowing down. Kellie took the pictures because she finished hers in two bites. Kellie took some time out to smile in front of the sign. Here are some of the other highlights of girl's weekend: Go Goddess, Upwords, Laguna Beach marathon, Megan's lasagna, hot tub. Am I missing anything else?

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were ready to get back to our families. I think they were glad to see us back, too.

1st Annual Girl's Weekend

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/1st-annual-girls-weekend.html

Last Minute Idol Post

I decided to post this morning before I leave because I can't help but blog about the American Idol finale. It was by far the BEST one ever!

I think it helps that I absolutely love Taylor. He's been my favorite Idol since Clay Aiken. Wait...Clay didn't win. Oops. Speaking of Clay...how about that guest appearance with his freaky little look a like? I didn't delete this episode just so I can watch Clay again (among other things...).

Other things? Like this surprise performance by PRINCE! What the heck? How did they get Prince to do AI? Probably because they let him just come out and sing and didn't make him talk to Ryan Seacrest or do a duet w/ an Idol.
Those were my favorite parts of the show. Let's just gloss over the lowlights (Meatloaf, Katherine trying to dance all goofy in a gown, Rhonetta---don't give that girl MORE airtime!).

Well folks, I'm outta here. I'll be back on Monday for more blogging! Have a great weekend because you know I will!

Last Minute Idol Post

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/last-minute-idol-post.html

Hasta la vista

Tomorrow I leave for my girl's weekend in Colorado. I've been looking forward to this for months and I can't believe it is finally here! I'm a little nervous for my family. I'm pretty sure they will survive without me for four days. I will try not to think about that too much so I can enjoy my time "alone".

I've been busy getting things ready around here so I haven't been able to blog as much as usual. I've done loads of laundry, made a double batch of mac & cheese, started packing, and did a lot of things for my Relief Society calling that needed to be done by the end of the month. I'm also trying to get a couple of knitting projects ready for the road.

So, it's hasta la vista from here. I'll post pics and a travel report when I get home.

Hasta la vista

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/hasta-la-vista.html

PFA Update

It's time for the ever popular weekly installment of Project Fat Arse. Folks, not my finest hour. One day was so bad that I shared a pizza with my kids (Eva eats the crust and Caleb can eat as much as I can). I also decided that one day I would try to make Haystacks. These are refrigerator cookies made from Fiber One, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. One cookie=one point. Eating twelve cookies in one day...not smart. Can't make those again! I got myself back on the wagon in time to lose 2 lbs. this week (a miracle, in my opinion). So, I'm back to the 4 lbs. down total since starting. I have a feeling I'm going to gain back those two lbs. this week. Here's what I have coming up:
1. Tonight I am going out w/ Carl for a business dinner. He's got some big presentation today to some railroad people so they'll give him research money and tonight they are going to Misty's (a steak house that I LOVE!).
2. Wednesday night I am going visiting teaching. That means only one thing. Ice Cream!
3. Thursday I leave (FINALLY) for my girls weekend in Breckenridge, CO. I have been looking forward to this for months and it is finally here! Don't expect me to be counting points while I'm there (although, Hollie and Mary can "try" to keep me in line a little bit). I think there is a refrigerator in our room so I might not do too horribly there.
Let's just say that you all shouldn't expect to see a lot of progress from me next Monday.

*coming soon* I've been unpacking my "craft heaven" and I'm going to be showing it off in my blog in the next couple of days. Just something to look forward to, Eric. :)

PFA Update

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/pfa-update_22.html

Daily Adventures

Yesterday was a really fun day around here. Nothing too exciting happened, but for the most part we were happy. We were all downstairs and I was working on this new sock. It's Trekking XXL yarn (my Wiggle yarn---bought right before the Wiggle's concert) in colorway 107. It's absolutely gorgeous and I know I'll be buying more of this yarn in the future. Gradually the kids started to head upstairs. When this happens, I can guarantee that Caleb heads for the computer and Eva goes straight for the telephone. I can usually tell when they start to get into things that they're not supposed to so I'd give them a few minutes before I went up there to "police" them. I finished a couple of more rows on my sock (3X1 ribbing, btw) and then I started to hear the speakerphone. Yep, that's Eva. So predictable. Or so I thought. Here's what I found.
If Caleb is on the phone, where is Eva?

Those crazy kids. Caleb is starting to really like the camera. He starts posing whenever I bring it out. Here are a few of his closeups. The last one is especially for Uncle Eric.

Daily Adventures

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/daily-adventures.html

The Line Up

Caleb has been really good lately. Preschool is helping him out immensely and I've been getting some good skills (bo staff and numchuk, mainly). To reward his good behaviors, Caleb gets to play on the computer. His favorite sites are nickjr.com and pbskids.org. He can navigate those sites like a pro and find his favorite things to do on there (counting w/ the count, shapes w/ Zoe, Lazy Town songs). The other day, Caleb was done with the computer and came downstairs to play with me. The next time I came to use the computer, this is what I found. He had lined up all of the desktop icons. You will find all sorts of lines around this house. Teletubbies lying all in a row (he turns them over when they are taking naps), blocks, pretzels, etc... His therapist said that we should try and disrupt his line making sometimes to make him understand that things can be in different places and he doesn't have control over everything. She said that it's probably a good thing he has Eva to help him with that as long as she can handle what Caleb will do once she messes with his lines. (Note to self: get Eva bo staff lessons)

The Line Up

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/line-up.html

Survivor Socks

My May socks are done for the Sock-A-Month knit along. They were made with a toe-up pattern (that I wasn't good at...need to practice) and Lorna's Laces yarn in the colorway Flames. The yarn is really nice to work with and it feels great on my feet. I named these my Survivor Socks (and I'll probably wear them for every Survivor episode from now on---unfortunately I have to wait a while for that!). I was working on them during this season's finale and it just seemed so appropriate with them being Flames.

I don't have a lot of time to blog today. I've been busy baking like Martha. I got her baking cookbook and I've wanted to try a lot of the recipes. But, I didn't want to do them unless I had other people to share them with. I can't be eating 6 point cookies all day! Anyway, book group is at my house tonight so those of you that are coming...you better be hungry! Sugar Cookies, Cheesecake Thumbprints, homemade cinnamon chips and Apple Berry Salsa (Pampered Chef recipes) await you! Oh yeah, raspberry lemonade to drink.

Survivor Socks

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/survivor-socks.html

Post #400

Can you all believe it? It's my 400th post. I'd like to celebrate by posting more pictures of the kids and telling you all how much I LOVE my new digital camera. It's the Canon PowerShot A620. I love how it works, sounds, looks, etc... I'm pretty excited about it.

So, for what most of you really want...pics of Caleb and Eva.

Caleb was taking a nap (I know, I can't believe it either!) yesterday and Eva and I started making dinner. We had the sister missionaries over and I was making the kids' favorite food...spaghetti. Eva likes to "help" around the kitchen. By help, I mean get in my way in as many ways as possible. I finally decided to empty out a cabinet and let her play in there. She loved it! Once Carl got home (he found her in the cabinet), he took Eva upstairs to get her out of my way. This girl has so many hobbies already! But, on to her most favorite thing to do of all... eat!When Caleb woke up, he decided he wanted to help out too. He likes to put on my oven mitts and give people hi-fives. What great kids!

Post #400

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/post-400.html

Happy Mother's Day (belated)

I got my first "real" Mother's Day present this year. Caleb made it for me at preschool. I absolutely love it!


Eva had a good time yesterday eating some dang quesadillas (Mary you should get this, now that you've seen Napolean Dynamite). They are her new favorite food.



PFA Update: kind of lame. I had a horrible week. Let's just say Fuddruckers+Skeeter Barnes+Tostitos+Ice cream. I didn't gain back all that I lost last week so that's good. But, I definitely have to kick it up a notch this week.

Happy Mother's Day (belated)

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/happy-mothers-day-belated.html

Knitting Projects Galore

I've been playing with my camera and knitting a lot. Carl's been busy tinkering with computers (so much so that he stayed home from work again today...my computer is about to die and the new one isn't ready yet so we'll see how much blogging I can get in the next few days).

I got the book, Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis. Cables are one of my favorite things to do with knitting and the sweaters in this book are absolutely gorgeous. This picture was taken on the deck off of our master bedroom. It gives you a good view of our swing set. The sweater I immediately cast on for is called "Gathering Intentions".

I absolutely love how those i-cords are used to gather up the sides. The cables are interesting enough and not boring to knit. That's a plus. I'd like to have this done in time to enter it into the Lancaster County Fair (along with my Snowdrop Shawl).

This is my progress on the right hand sleeve (since Monday). I threw caution to the wind and used this as my swatch. I'm using my recycled Plymouth Encore yarn from a hoodie that I knit last year and never really liked. I had to go down 2 needle sizes to get my gauge right. Depending on how my days go, I can usually knit 10-20 rows a day on this. It's not really something I can knit on when the kids are up and around. For that, I'm knitting on the scarf for Hollie.

The color is really off in this picture. It's a light lime green. I took this one inside and used the flash so I think it must have flashed out all of the color! I'm almost done with the second skein and have one more to use. It's almost as tall as I am (not very...5'1") but the recipient is really tall so I want it to be at least as tall as her. I'm also working on my Lorna's Laces Flames socks (toe up) but I didn't get around to taking a picture of those. I'll probably be working on those a lot this weekend while Carl and Caleb are at the Father/Son campout (they leave tonight and come back tomorrow around lunch time).

Knitting Projects Galore

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/knitting-projects-galore.html

Sick Day

Carl stayed home from work today. He hasn't been feeling well this week and he doesn't have too much to do at work right now since the semester just ended. So, we've had a good day here at the house. We got a new motor for our furnace, closed some old bank accounts, got new car insurance, and tonight we are going to go out to eat. Good times.

Our digital camera arrived this afternoon and I should be getting a "new" computer (one that Carl built--he assures me it will be awesome) tonight so expect an excellent post w/ pictures tomorrow (or days of silence because of computer problems).

Sick Day

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/sick-day.html

Lights, Camera, Action, WIGGLES!

The better part of yesterday was spent going to the Wiggles concert. We left Lincoln around 2pm (after having to go back to the house to get the tickets...I didn't get far before I remembered) and drove to Omaha to pick up Carl from work. We had some time to spare so I drove them all to a yarn shop. I bought some sock yarn (Trekking XXL). After the yarn store, it seemed like everyone was hungry. We went to Fuddruckers (Carl's favorite). I used up 28 weight watchers points there (not really worth it, but oh well). After eating, we drove around Council Bluffs, Iowa trying to find a good place to buy roses for Dorothy the Dinosaur. No luck. It ended up being okay because it was just a Wiggly Dancer that came to our section to pick up the roses (no luck on it being Murray---my favorite!). We got to the Mid America Center and we were one of the first people there. We had to wait about 10 minutes before they opened the doors. The kids played on the grass and Caleb had a good time playing with another boy's Wiggle dolls. He didn't have such a great time when it was time to give them back. Once inside, we kept the kids semi-contained. We ran right past the merchandise table. There were all sorts of things for sale but all very pricey. Sorry Caleb, but mommy and daddy are too cheap to buy you a $15 hat.

Our seats were really close to the stage (8 rows up on the side). But, we did realize that there were really no bad seats in that place. It's not that big. We were the first row in the "cheap" section so we had a little fence between our seats and the row in front of us. This turned out to be a great blessing. It kept Caleb and Eva from jumping into the rows in front of us (most of the time). They had 2 big screens playing a video (Wiggle Sailing Around the World--the theme of this tour). That helped keep them a little occupied.

At 6:30pm sharp the show started. Caleb was having a hard time with the noise and the lights. I had to cover his ears for most of the show, but he was watching. He was so excited when he saw the Wiggles drive out in their big red car. He said, "LOOK! It's the WIGGLES! Hi Greg! Hi Murray! Hi Anthony! Hi Jeff!". It was pretty awesome to see them come in. They were so close. Right away Murray and Jeff jumped off the stage and started running around the arena. We were sitting right by the aisle but Murray was just one aisle away from us. Bummer. So close.

I was worried that most of the songs were going to be from their Sailing Around the World dvd (which I don't like very much). But, I was wrong. As Carl said, "they know their bread and butter". They sang all of the favorites like "Fruit Salad", "Do the Monkey", "Quack Quack Cock-a-doodle doo", "Rock-a-bye Your Bear", and "Hot Potato". Caleb lightened up towards the end and started singing and dancing. I still had to cover his ears a lot and the last song had some wacky lighting so he kind of freaked out for that, but I think he had a great time! Eva danced, too, but I think she was most interested in trying to eat the food that the people behind us had. Tiffany is going to see the Wiggles with some of her kids next week so here are some tips:
Bring a camera. I didn't because I was thinking they wouldn't be allowed. They are.
If you're sitting in the floor section, bring a sign and/or something for the Wiggles. All of the kids that brought stuff took it to the stage and they Wiggles took it and said their names. N would love that! Jeff was the only Wiggle to collect roses so unless you have some sitting around, I wouldn't bother. On one of the songs they turn down all the lights and ask for you to turn on your cell phones or other lights. So, bring some kind of light. You're going to have a blast!

Lights, Camera, Action, WIGGLES!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/lights-camera-action-wiggles.html

Belated Birthday Wishes

Enrique Iglesias turned 31 yesterday. When I was a Spanish teacher, I used to make a huge deal out of his birthday. This year it kind of snuck by. My students loved to tease me about him. I would pretend to be madly in love with him. I even had a framed picture of him on my desk. Good times.

I've loved Enrique since he first came on the scene in the 90's. A couple of years ago, I was even able to see him in concert in Chicago. Do I think he is the greatest artist ever? No way José. That would have to be Neil Diamond. But, Enrique definitely has some good music for working out and driving. Miente is also an excellent song to teach kids commands. Props to my man, Enrique for that one. Feliz cumpleaños.

Belated Birthday Wishes

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/belated-birthday-wishes.html

PFA Update

My new and improved PFA update *Now with Weight Watchers!* is here! I lost 4 lbs. last week. I'm pretty happy with the results. It's even better because I didn't feel deprived in the slightest. I ate whatever I wanted at my Cinco de mayo party (not entirely true...I did skip the ice cream) and I feel confident that I'll do well at whatever restaurant we go to tomorrow night. I don't care when I make it to my target weight...my main goal right now is to not have to wear Lane Bryant clothes anymore. I don't want to be able to shop there. I'm almost to their smallest size and it is getting better because they don't even carry a lot of their clothes in those "small" sizes.

I only got to the Y once or twice (I'm thinking once because I can't exactly remember what I did if I went twice) last week. We spent most of the time preparing the house for the fiesta (which was a blast and I'll post the only pics we took later this week). This week I anticipate going to the Y more. There is a water aerobics class that I want to take on Tue/Thur mornings while Caleb is in school. I think this is why I thought I might have gone twice last week...I packed my bag for Tuesday's class and then couldn't go because Eva didn't wake up in time (she didn't sleep well during the night and now she has 2 molars to show for it). Anyway, I'm looking forward to kicking it up a notch this week and seeing how I do. I'd like to be down another size before I go on my spa retreat to Breckenridge (May 25-28).

In other news, we bought a digital camera. It was time to upgrade. Ours only had 1.3 megapixels and we couldn't leave the batteries in it for any extended amount of time. This one has 7.1 megapixels and a 4X zoom (and probably cost the same amount as our 1.3 did when we bought it). I'm looking forward to getting it in the mail and then I'll be a picture posting fool!

PFA Update

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/pfa-update.html

I'm a Good Mom

All of the Relief Society presidencies in the stake were invited to a special temple session this morning. I was able to attend. I haven't been to the temple in a while and it was a great excuse to go. I had a ride. They fed us lunch afterwards (Brown Baggers---YUMMY!). It was also going to give me a chance to work through some things that have been weighing heavily on my mind. While I know this blog (or any forum) isn't the place to share intimate spiritual details of my life, there were a few things that I thought I would share.

Let me start off by saying I feel a tremendous amount of guilt as a mother. For as long as I can remember that's all I ever wanted to do with my life. Now, as I am living my dream...it is feeling to me more like a crazy dream with too many ups and downs and I want to throw up. I don't want to say that I think my life is horrible. Are you kidding me? I know I have a great life. My husband is the best (you might think yours is, but I assure you, he's not). I have two gorgeous kids. One is the funniest kid you'll ever meet and the other is the most beautiful (believe it). We just bought the perfect house for us. We are leading a pretty charmed life. So, why am I so depressed?

There are some challenges. While Caleb hasn't been officially diagnosed with anything beyond language delays, we are pretty sure he falls somewhere under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder. I have a really hard time coping with this. Not so much the diagnosis...but there is a steep learning curve on how to deal with his behaviors and help him with his communication.

But, here's the bottom line. This morning I started crying like a baby because in my head all I could hear was "You're a good mom" over and over. People have said this to me before. Today I believed it for probably the first time.

I'm over myself. While I was wasting time feeling sorry about how much work it is for me to take care of Caleb and Eva and our family, I should have been focused on how grateful I am to have them and of all of the things I am doing right.

Some of my finer moments:

1. Getting Caleb the early intervention he needs.
2. Being just selfish enough to know that I need some "me" time every once in a while.
3. Using the time that Caleb is in pre-school to really bond and play with Eva.
4. I'm getting much more patient in dealing with Caleb's outbursts.
5. Praising the kids comes easily to me...so much so that Caleb mimics me by saying, "GOOD JOB, CALEB!!" whenever he does something he knows is good.

I'm a good mom. I'm not perfect. But, I'm good. I'm doing the best that I can---I finally realized that today. That's really all I could ever ask.

I'm a Good Mom

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/im-good-mom.html

Funny Story

This is a conversation I had with Carl last night.

Carl: So, aren't we going to see the Wiggles sometime soon?

Me: This Tuesday!

Carl: Have you arranged a babysitter?

Me: Uh, it's the Wiggles. We're taking the kids.

Carl: Oh, yeah.

Me: I'm SO going to blog about this.

Funny Story

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/funny-story.html

I Love Jell-O

After weeks of not seeing any progress on the scale, I joined Weight Watchers online. I'm still in my free trial week but I know I've been dropping some pounds. I'm doing the points system--which I've had success with in the past. There are some notable changes that are making me believe that I'll actually be able to stick with this program for the long haul. You get 35 extra points to spread out over the week however you see fit. Before you had a range to hit (say 24-27 points a day) and now you just have a set number (24). In the previous system you could "bank" those points you didn't use and use them when you needed them during the week. The way they do it now makes more sense to me. If I'm good during the week, it won't matter that one day I spend 19 out of my 24 points on one Chipotle burrito or 24 points on a Cold Stone ice cream. In fact, those things aren't really so tempting right now when I know that they would deprive me of using my points other ways (like on bread!). This also makes it easy for me to eat my awesome tacos at my Cinco de mayo fiesta tomorrow (only 3-5 points each, FYI).

The first couple of days are always a struggle for me to eat enough points. You would probably think the opposite. But, here is what happens. If I eat the crap I want to, I could burn through all my points in one meal. So, I have to think about my day and plan it out. What I find is that the food I normally like is either really high in points or really low. I can eat two cups of jello and it's only 1/2 point. Yogurt (3-4). My favorite Smart Ones meal has only 2 points (Grilled Chicken Santa Fe). Arby's Chicken, Bacon & Swiss (11). I'll miss you Arby's.

Project Fat Arse is back and being kicked into high gear. You can expect regular progress reports on Mondays. I know...you can't wait!

I Love Jell-O

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-love-jell-o.html

Freecycle

I'm still finding things around the house that we don't really want. Lucky for me, I joined Freecycle. They have groups all over the nation so I'm sure if you're interested, you can find one in your neighborhood. Here's how it works (at least our Lincoln group):
1. You post an email with the things you want to give away.
2. In minutes (depending on how good your stuff is), people start responding with offers to come and pick it up.
3. You choose which person you want to receive your items and arrange for them to pick it up.
4. Your stuff is miraculously GONE!

In the past few days I have gifted a computer desk, a dresser, a box of old books, and a laundry hamper. All were spoken for within minutes of posting. It's awesome.

I told Carl about the site but I'm not going to let him join because I have great fears that he will go and pick up almost anything that is offered, whether we need it or not. He is finally admitting he has a problem but he's just not quite ready to do anything about it yet. We did have some minor victories--I was able to throw out old tithing settlement sheets from 1999 and a lease to a house we lived in a couple of years ago.

Freecycle

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/freecycle.html

Every Day is Laundry Day

Our laundry room is in our bathroom on the top floor. This bathroom is connected to our walk in closet. Our closet is big enough to fit all of Carl's t-shirts, musical instruments, all our clothes, shoes, and even our dresser. I can put my clothes directly into the hamper, jump into the shower, get out and walk a few steps to where I have all of my clothes. I can't tell you how much joy this is bringing me. Not only that, I'm able to do laundry all of the time! Before, I had the washer/dryer downstairs in the basement. I rarely went down there unless I had to. I have lots of reasons to go into our bathroom and while I'm there I try and do a little laundry. I'm able to do so much laundry that I'm even tempted to get rid of MORE clothes because I just wear the same things over and over again anyway. It's also great because I can put our clothes away right as they come out of the dryer. The kids clothes still have to go downstairs, but I have to go down there all of the time anyway so it isn't any big deal.

I love this house.

Every Day is Laundry Day

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/every-day-is-laundry-day.html

Happy Birthday, Melessa!

Melessa's birthday is today. I've known Melessa for many years now. How many? Tweleve (read her blog, you'll get the joke)?** Actually, I think it's more like 14 isn't it?

One of the benefits of moving has been finding little treasures around the house. I found a drawer full of old pictures just waiting to be organized. Here are some of the memories I uncovered.

1. Remember when I came over to your apartment on Lindsey street not long after you came home from your mission? We ate ice cream from the container and you let me "play" with your name tag since I was getting ready to leave myself. Fun times.

2. We were dressed alike at Erin Blamire's baby shower...that had to be documented, of course! Know what we were wearing? It was the 90's OU staple of jean shirt, white t-shirt, and khaki pants.

3. You were there with me the first time I went to the temple. You felt like you hadn't been enough but you had to tell my mom and her friend what to do next.

Melessa, you've always been a great friend and even though we don't live near each other anymore, I still feel like I get to talk to you everyday through your blog.

**You are an awesome writer and don't forget that even best selling novels have typos. Your pearl necklace story has stayed with me as well as the O. Henry short stories I love.

Happy Birthday, Melessa!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/happy-birthday-melessa.html

All Night Long

We got to bed at a reasonable hour last night but for some reason the kids decided it would be "fun" to wake up at 3:30am. Not only did they wake up, they were WIDE AWAKE for 2 hours. Not fun. Especially since we get up at 6:30am around here so we can get Caleb off to pre-school. I had no guilt waking him up this morning. I told him that I'm the boss around here that decides when people go to sleep and wake up. That showed him! :) I'm so going to be paying the price for his crankiness this afternoon. Eva's still asleep and Carl is taking a little nap right now. Luckily, his classes are over for the semester so he doesn't have to be there right at 8am this morning. If I could go back to sleep, I would. Instead I'm busy browsing the internet and trying to forget that I still have A LOT of unpacking to do around here. At least we are done done done with the other house!

Speaking of the other house...I love my Hoover Agility SteamVac. It was so awesome! The carpets looked great. It was nice to sit on them and have them not feel crunchy (the joy of toddlers). We'll be able to keep the carpet in our new house looking nice!

Another aside...I've been knitting! It hasn't been a lot so I didn't think it was really worth mentioning. But, I'm making a scarf of my own design for Hollie. We bought the yarn at the end of last year so she could learn to knit. She did a great garter stitch scarf for a while and then she decided knitting wasn't for her. Too bad because that garter stitch looked SWEET for a beginner (and I'm not just saying that because she reads this blog). At the garage sale last weekend she gave me the yarn and I decided it still needed to be a scarf for her. Anyway, the yarn is this great wool/cotton blend from JoAnn in a light green. As soon as I find my camera, I'll post a picture.

All Night Long

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/05/all-night-long.html

FIESTA!

When? Cinco de mayo at 6pm.
Where? Mi casa nueva.
Why? Because I want to properly thank all of the people that helped us move...and eat tacos...and break a piñata.

You all must know that in Mexico, at least where I lived, Cinco de mayo is just any other day. I think in Puebla it's a big deal since that's where the whole kicking France's butt took place. I think the restaurant business took over Cinco de mayo to promote their mexican food. That must be it. Cinco de mayo is a much bigger deal in the States than I ever saw in Mexico. Having said that, I don't care! We're having a party! Mark your calendars now.

FIESTA!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/fiesta.html

Sitcoms

I think we're a sitcom waiting to happen. I've mentioned that we have an awesome back yard. The kids love it. Did I tell you that there is a hole in the fence to the neighbors on our west? It's their fence, not ours so I'm going to have to come up with a nice way to tell them to fix it. Anyway, they have 4 kids. The oldest is 19. The rest are six. Triplets. Girl triplets. The day we moved in they kept coming through the fence to ask if our kids could play. The kids were being watched by some friends that day so they weren't around. I told them to come back at 3pm. They came back. They played. It was fun. I told them it was time for them to go home. I also told them that our kids don't play on Sunday so they shouldn't come over the next day (plus, it was Easter). My sister was watching the kids in the morning so we could go to Stake Conference and actually pay attention. When we got home, I saw one of the triplets at the sliding glass door. My sister also said that they had come over earlier and wanted to play. I had to nip this in the bud. I went to see their mom.

Their mom is great. She apologized and told me that they aren't supposed to go through that hole in the fence at all! They weren't allowed when the other people lived here and they aren't now. They haven't done it since. Now they come to the front door and ask me nicely if they can play in the backyard with my kids and I'm allowed to tell them to buzz off if I want. I also found out that they aren't supposed to play on Saturday (they're Jewish...speaking of which, I told them that we're Mormons and think of the jokes that could be made about our street!).

There is another kid that lives a couple of houses down. He's about 12. He keeps coming over asking for jobs to do so he can earn money. I wouldn't mind if he came once a day. Nope. He knocks on the door about 4-5 times a day. It's majorly annoying and I told him to cut it out. Caleb tries to run out into the street any time I open the door and Eva tries to tumble down the stairs anytime I leave her to her own devices. I hope he stops soon. I don't feel like paying him to sweep my driveway although I am tempted to give him 25 cents a day to not knock on my door!

The good news? Caleb and Eva love playing with these kids. It really has been a blessing having some other kids around. They love running outside and messing around with them. It's exactly what I envisioned having kids would be like---them playing with the neighbor kids in the backyard eating popsicles. Now if only I could keep them from teaching Caleb how to wrestle even better than he does now...

Sitcoms

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/sitcoms.html

Pack Ratitis

We're still in "discussions" over the many things that need to be thrown out or given away. Things haven't turned hostile and I don't think they will as long as Carl agrees with me that we don't need to keep coffee mugs he got from recruiters and/or conferences just because of the memories. These mugs can't even go in the microwave!!! Oh my.

In other news...we're almost done moving all the stuff from our other house. I told Carl that if we've lived without it for this long, we can live without it forever. Just when I get the boxes down to a reasonable number, he brings home more! I'm running out of places to put things so he's going to have to face the fact that something's gotta give!

Excuse the lame post of more complaining from me but I think that's all you're going to get today. Caleb is about to be home and I spent the whole morning in a Relief Society meeting. It's a rainy day so I'm going to have to come up with some way to keep the kiddos occupied without playing outside. Fun times.

Pack Ratitis

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/pack-ratitis.html

Moving Tales

Guess what? The other members of my family have names and I'm going to use them. Sugar Daddy will now be referred to as Carl, the part of Frog will be played by Caleb and Big Apple will now be known as Eva (the Spanish pronounciation---Ava). I realize that the vast majority of people that read my blog are family members and close friends. So, I'm simplifying. Okay, now on to my tale.

This is a true story. Carl is a major pack rat. He does come by it honestly, though. He comes from a long line of hoarders. He has a hard time throwing things away. I'm starting to fear for this house. We've been married for almost 8 years and in that time we've moved 6 times. This has been good for me because it forces Carl to throw out some things out of sheer necessity. Now that we are finally in our own house, I worry that not having the every other year purge is going to make this house feel overrun. I shared my fears with him this morning and he blew me off saying he couldn't talk about it at the moment because he was feeling backed into a corner. Backed into a corner??? I merely suggested that we can throw out a travel coffee mug (hello? We're Mormons. We don't even drink coffee!) that we got from the little cafe where we ate after we got married. We've had that thing 8 years and haven't used it once.

Another example...Carl has more clothes than I do yet he wears the same thing every week. He does admit that he can get rid of some t-shirts now that he's a working man (like those free bank t-shirts that we got when we were undergrads over 10 years ago?) but most of his t-shirts need to be SAVED because of the memories. WHAT? He wants to pack away t-shirts in a box in the basement because they have sentimental value? Did they save his life? Are they magic? They're just t-shirts! I suggested cutting them up and making him a quilt if he wants to keep the "memories" alive so badly. I think he actually wants me to do that. Maybe I can get away with taking pictures of him in the shirts and making wallets and he can carry them around in his pocket everyday! I'm getting a good idea on how those Clean Sweep organizers feel when they have a particularly hard person to convince that they don't need to keep every little thing that they've ever owned.

Well, I have a long day of unpacking ahead of me but I'm not allowed to throw anything else out until Carl has an "inspection". I know at least half of the things he would never notice are gone but I'm not quite willing to push my luck on that yet.

Moving Tales

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/moving-tales.html

Here It Is!

Here's the new and improved crafty conservative. I was totally going to change the name but in the end decided that I didn't really need to. Here were some of the contenders...

1. Loco en el coco. This translates literally to crazy in the coconut. It's just a slang way to say crazy in the head.

2. Pies Descalzos. Translated to bare feet. I really liked this one. So deep. Think about all the bare feet in this house and how I want to knit them socks! It all came down to the fact that I figured people would think I was crazy for having pies (the food) in the title of my blog even though I really meant the spanish word for feet.

3. What's this? Christy's Blog? CHRISTY'S BLOG!!!! MMmmmHmmm. This title was inspired by the Frog and conceived of by Sugar Daddy. At first I was like, uh...no way. Then it kind of grew on me. In the end I realized that I didn't want my blog to be named after something that Frog says all of the time and a lot of people wouldn't get it.

I'm just glad to have this up and running now. I'll be adding my links and other goodies to the sidebar in the next day or two. I'll probably blog again later today. I've been saving up all of my good stuff!

Here It Is!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/here-it-is.html

New Homes

Now that we've been in our new home for a few days, it has inspired me to create a new blog home. New name, new look...I hope it turns out as cool as I envision it.

New Homes

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/new-homes.html

OOPS!

I just messed up my blog. I wanted to try out a new template but it messed up all my sidebar stuff. I didn't pay attention to the pop-up when it said...do you REALLY want to do this????? Because, I know I really didn't want to do it! Oh well. Hopefully I'll get it back in better condition in a few days. Does anyone know if there is a quick fix to this?

OOPS!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/oops.html

I'm BACK!

We're finally in our new house. It was a really long weekend. We still have a lot to do and I'm really stressed out because Sugar Daddy is leaving to go out of town for a couple of days. We don't quite have the house kid proofed yet. Big Apple is having way too much fun on the stairs and Frog likes to open the front door and go to play outside. I'm going tomorrow to buy a gate (or two) and a deadbolt or something for the front door.

In other news, Elder Bednar was at our Stake Conference this weekend. I went to a meeting with him this morning for new members and those that are investigating the church. I'm neither, but SD is the Ward Mission Leader and was playing the piano at the meeting so I tagged along. I sat in the front row (it was in the Primary room) so I was super close to E. Bednar. I'm writing down my spiritual experiences in a not so public place but I thought I'd share some of the funnier aspects of this morning.

1. Both of the General Authorities wore two rings. I'm wondering if this is a pre-requisite for the job or, if once you have the calling, you feel pressure to live up to the two ring standard.

2. I was close enough to see that E. Bednar's ring was from BYU and he graduated in 1980.

3. He was very well groomed and had no visible nose hair. *I can't believe I just wrote this*

Blogging may be sparse in the next couple of days as we're trying to dig ourselves out from under the boxes. I already have a couple of funny stories about our first few days here but I'm too tired to write about them at the moment. Just wanted to check in!

I'm BACK!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/im-back.html

Lost Cause

Sugar Daddy and I have declared that we will do no more packing. Yep, that's right. We're done. Are we really? Nope. We're just going to deal with it. We're going to be able to start putting stuff in the house tomorrow night and we're just going to do multiple trips until we're tired. Then, we'll get the house we're in now ready for the people to help us move the big stuff on Saturday. We can leave all sorts of trash and all the garage sale stuff behind to go through later since we'll have our rental through the end of the month. I am trying to get all the laundry done before we go but I just used the last bit of detergent and I don't know whether I want to open the new box or not. I'll consult with SD tonight about that one.

I have a feeling this "no more packing" is going to bite us in the butts big time. So, I'm trying to use as little energy as possible during these next few days so I'm ready for all heck to rain down upon me. Time to go and have a quick lie down on the couch!

Lost Cause

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/lost-cause.html

Blogger Stinks

I had a really awesome birthday post yesterday that you all missed out on because blogger stinks. Oh well. Let me just tell you that it included this picture.

Darling Meshach and I share the same birthday.

I had a great day...thanks for all the birthday wishes! My birthday is my favorite holiday of the year (it even beats out Christmas--probably because it's all about ME!). I'm selfish, I know.

Today has been a pretty big day so far. We spent a fair chunk of change on a house. Yep, that's right. It's finally ours. The previous owners are paying us rent for a couple of days while they wait for their house to close and so they can move. We'll be loading up the truck Saturday morning. We did our last walk through last night and I'm SO excited to be moving there. It's gonna be awesome!

Well, Frog is going to be home soon so I better wrap this up and wait for the bus to get here!

Blogger Stinks

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/blogger-stinks.html

Frog's First Day

No tears were shed (by me, at least---Sugar Daddy let go of a few). I think I got it out of my system last week just thinking about him getting on the bus by himself. Today I was just excited that it was finally here. Frog looked so cute with his backpack!
We all waited outside for the bus to show up. It arrived at 7:20am. I can't believe we were all up and ready that early. I did work on getting him to bed at a decent hour last night. It should be easier tonight since he's been up since 6:30am.
I think he had a good time. He came home in a good mood and it took him a good 2-3 hours before he started getting naughty. I didn't get any sort of message from the teacher so I'm taking that as a good sign. No news is good news, eh?

Tomorrow, Big Apple and I have a breakfast date to celebrate my birthday. It'll be weird going out with just one kid in tow. We're meeting Hollie at the IHOP (by the Walmart at 9am--anyone else care to join us?). Check out the pics of her little girl on her blog. In one of them she's wearing the hat I made for her 1st birthday. Cute as can be!

Frog's First Day

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/frogs-first-day.html

Testing 1,2,3

I found a little bit of work! It's not steady, nor will it make me rich. However, it's knitting! I'm going to test knitting for Chrissy at Knittin' Mom. She's got two little kids like I do and has been doing a lot of designing. She doesn't have time to all of the test knitting so she's having some people do it for her (and that includes me). Unfortunately, I have to keep any knitting I do for her hush hush until the patterns are available but that will leave more time for blogging about the kids (which my family will love!). I'm pretty excited about the opportunity to do it. It also helps that I have no big projects going on right now and none really "in the works". She can decide for me!

Testing 1,2,3

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/testing-123.html

You Spin Me Right Around, Baby, Right Around

Imagine Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her all-time greatest roles in the movie Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Helen Hunt and Satan are in it, too. I guess non-LDS people wouldn't know that Satan is in it, but believe us when we say that he's there!*** Okay, back to Sarah Jessica Parker. Do you see her? Catholic school uniform? Standing in front of her class for the first time? She says, "I love to dance". If Big Apple could say more than a few semi-unintelligible words, this is what she would say.

Most of you know that the Frog can dance. I mean, he can DANCE. He loves it. Big Apple is the great imitator of all time (heaven help me!) and she has started to pick up on some of his moves. She's not a total copycat, though. She's got some good ones of her own. Her favorites are militant marching (she gets her knees up so high that I think she's going to fall over), and spinning. This kids spins and spins, usually until she can't walk and just has to fall to the floor. When this happens she will just stay there and giggle until she's good enough to stand up and do it again. It's super cute and I hope just she doesn't injure herself.

***There's just one of the dancers in the movie that plays the role of Satan in a video that a lot of us have seen. It's not REALLY Satan...or is it? ah ha ha ha ha

You Spin Me Right Around, Baby, Right Around

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-spin-me-right-around-baby-right.html

New Job?

I'm thinking about working again. Not full time teaching or anything crazy like that. Not only can we not afford the day care on a teacher's salary, but I still really want to stay home with the kids. I may complain (sometimes with good reason) but it really is what I want to do. Being a stay at home mom isn't easy but working outside the home AND taking care of a family is worse. But, I can't shake this "I gotta make some money" mantra in my head. I like to make money. I like to make it almost as much as I like to spend it. Actually, I like to spend it more when I know I'm contributing.

I've been looking into a couple of different options and I'm not quite ready to discuss them here. I still need to get more information. I would like to see if any of you have any good work at home ideas? No Pampered Chef (been there, done that), Mary Kay (I'm clueless about skin care and makeup---despite my recent eye shadow success), Avon, Tupperware, or Creative Memories (done it). It doesn't need to be a "party" business but those seem to have the most appeal to me because I don't need to do a lot of the leg work involved with getting something started. Any ideas for me?

New Job?

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/new-job.html

Cleaning House

Things are starting to get crazy around here. First, Sugar Daddy is in Wichita learning how to write grants so he can bring in lots of moolah to the university and more importantly, get tenure. I'm really not doing too badly being a single mom for a couple of days. Big Apple rewarded me last night by sleeping the full 12 hours without waking up once! She usually squacks at least once during the night. Frog slept with me and he stayed asleep for 10 hours. Not bad. At least I woke up in a good mood today.

I've been trying to get things organized for the move. I've gone through my clothes and threw out a ton of things. Most are now too big or just plain ugly (polyester capris? What the heck?). I realize now that I have precious few spring/summer clothes. Too bad I can't remedy that right away. I can last another month or two.

I tackled the craft room the other night. I got some good organization going on now so it shouldn't be so bad to unpack. I've got a filing crate with most of my paper, die cuts, etc... and most of them are even labeled correctly. I have about 8 stamp sets I'm ready to part with but I'm not going to do that until after the move. They're too good to put into the garage sale.

Speaking of the garage sale...we are going to have a lot of things in there! We've got a bed, dresser, chairs, treadmill, toys, baby clothes, crafty goodness, and junk out the wazoo. I'll be surprised if we don't make a couple hundred dollars. The good news? What's left will not be coming into our new house. Straight off to charity. Yippee.

Frog is demanding my attention now so I'm guess I'm done blogging for today. Sorry it's not more exciting. But, that's my life these days.

Cleaning House

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/cleaning-house.html

Motherin' in the Hood

Big Apple has proven to be quite the challenge today. She kept bringing me thumbtacks. Where the heck is she finding all the thumbtacks and why does she insist on bringing them to me in her mouth???? The second time she brought them to me, I followed her. She went into her closet, opened a drawer (the top one), reached in and pulled out more! Great. She must have broken the box earlier when she brought out her first one because they were all loose in the drawer. I have since put them back in the box, placed the box in a ziploc, placed the ziploc up high where I KNOW she can't reach, and have kept a close eye on her ever since. I wonder what else she'll dig up today.

Frog went to preschool today to check it out. It was awesome. The teacher is great, they sing a lot, and there are 3 adults to about 9-10 kids. We go back on Friday to update his IFSP and then he'll start riding the bus on Monday. I'll admit that I teared up a little thinking that my little guy is going to be riding a bus to school already! Then I started thinking about how much that should help our family and then they were tears of joy. This is going to be good. But, I can't guarantee there won't be more sad tears on Monday when he actually goes for real.

They had to take his picture for some of the things they do at the school. I don't think I have to remind you how Frog smiles. Well, I will anyway.

The paraprofessional that was taking the picture had to tell the one that was telling Frog to smile to stop it. It was quite hilarious. I think they finally came away with one that worked.

Next week is a big week. Monday: first day of preschool; Tuesday: MY BIRTHDAY (send money, yarn, or best wishes please!); Wednesday: we close on our house; Thursday: we go broke because we spent all of our money on the house; Friday: we freak out because we move in one day; Saturday: we MOVE..and my sister is coming!; Sunday: Elder Bednar is in town for our church's Stake Conference; Monday: Sugar Daddy leaves for 2 days for some conference and leaves me and my sister alone to unpack the house. Fun fun fun!

Motherin' in the Hood

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/motherin-in-hood.html

April Socks

I've finished my mom's birthday socks. They turned out nicely. I think I might like to make a pair for myself someday. I think I have enough leftover Koigu to do it. Well, they might have to have a shorter cuff.

Pattern: Fancy Silk Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks

Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino dye code P814. I used just under 2 skeins.

Here they are ready to be shipped off to Oklahoma!

They should get there sometime this week, Mom.

April Socks

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/april-socks.html

A Little Peace

Frog has learned how to use the computer. It started out innocently enough. He had me do all the mouse work and would scream if I didn't do what he wanted. Finally, I got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore and had him do it himself. I'm amazed at how quickly he picked it up. He can now come into the office (I get him started on pbskids.org) and play quietly for about 30 minutes. He did manage to figure out how to turn the computer on and off. This annoys him but he still continues to do it. When he comes out and tells me the computer is taking a nap, I know what he did. We'd come back in and he's say, "Wake up, computer!". We'd turn it back on and I'd hope that he wouldn't turn it off again in the next five minutes. Well, he would. I like to think that I'm smarter than he is. Behold, my computer childproofing.

You can't really see all of the clear tape but it is covering the whole front of the computer. The ruler is taped over the on/off button so they can't push it down. Even Sugar Daddy marveled at my crafty genius. Luckily, I only have to endure this for 2 more weeks. When we move, I get a better computer in my own room. Frog can keep this one.

Tomorrow I'll show you my mom's socks that I finished. I'm really proud of them. They turned out nicely. I've also started a new pair of socks with the yarn I got in Long Beach. I really have to get a project other than socks. Maybe after the move...

A Little Peace

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/little-peace.html

YMCA

We might get to go to the Y today. We're all dressed and ready to go. My bag is packed. The kids are changed and fed. They even have their shoes on. But, last night I made a costly mistake. I let Frog play with my car keys. Where are they today? I have no idea. I did manage to find a shirt and a skirt that were missing (in the couch cushions), a comb (in a basket w/ the umbrellas), a DVD case (behind the couch), and lots of stray pretzels. No keys yet. I may just be stranded here today. AARGH!

YMCA

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/03/ymca.html

The New Teens

I was doing laundry (it has to happen sometimes...) and Frog went down there with me. He likes to help me load the washer and dryer. It takes three times as long to do it that way, but he likes it. Anyway, I have a couple of magnets on the washer. They are remnants of some that actually got put through a cycle or two by accident. Frog was playing with them. It used to be a rectangular frame. What's left are two pieces...one shaped like an L and the other shaped like a 1. He put them together on the washer and came up with a new number 1L. Lteen. Of course. Why hadn't I thought of that?

The New Teens

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-teens.html

Something Quite Atrocious*

Frog had his first real session today with the professional (Miss C) from Lincoln Public Schools. We worked on getting him to communicate some and she gave me some strategies on how to help him speak more and echo less. She was really impressed with his singing ability. Frog serenaded her with "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "The Sound of Music", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", and "Follow the Prophet". She asked me how many songs he knows. Hmmm. More than I do? It's a lot.

We set up a plan to get him into the preschool. They have some openings in the morning session and there is already a kid that we know from church that goes at that time. He's a child with high functioning autism that is just a few months older than Frog. We're going to visit the classroom next week and probably get him started either right before or right after we move (APR 15!). It will be 5 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day. They provide transportation and everything. My tax dollars at work. I'm sure that he'll thrive in this kind of environment. I'm really grateful that we were able to get him some help.

I'm also looking forward to some one and one time with Big Apple. She rarely gets me all to herself. I feel bad for her sometimes because Frog can really drain my energy and take my attention away from her. Just this morning I had to decide which kid was going to be happy. BA was playing with an empty juice jug that Frog wanted to throw away. BA would cry if I let him trash it and Frog would not only cry but become abusive if I let her play with it. It was BA's turn to be happy. I offered Frog something else to throw away. No luck. Kicking and screaming. We put him in the "jail" (our foyer shut off by a gate). Everytime BA walked by w/ the jug he would flip out. She started playing with it out of his sight and he calmed down enough that when I let him out, I got him started on something else and he was fine. Let me just say that BA and I could really use some time to ourselves.

Miss C noticed that I knit. She mentioned that it must be relaxing for me to be able to do that after a long day with the kids. How perceptive! It's so true. It made me realize that I didn't start knitting until Frog got to the age where he was really starting to get rowdy (about 18 months). I had tried knitting when he was a baby and it didn't really keep my interest. But, when I picked it up again at that time, I couldn't stop. I can't stop. It's my sanity. I'm so glad I have that outlet to turn to. It's a bonus that there is an actual product that comes from it! Blogging is another way that I'm able to reduce some stress. So, thanks everyone! I think I would still blog if nobody read it, but seeing all the comments really make my day!

It's BA's bedtime so I'm getting kicked out of here for now. More later.

*The title for this post comes from a line in the song, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". It's how the Frog asks me to sing this song with him. He'll come up to me and say, "something quite atrocious?". How can I say no to that?

Something Quite Atrocious*

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/03/something-quite-atrocious.html