Motherhood

When we were younger, my sisters and I gave our mom a notepad with a little saying across it.

"Motherhood: it's not just a job. . . it's an ADVENTURE!"

I must have always thought it was clever since I still remember it all these years later. I'm convinced that I just thought it sounded clever, but since we were such great kids, the adventure part probably didn't apply too much to us, unless in a very good "I have the best kids alive and they make my life great" kind of way. Definitely only in a FUN kind of way.

We've had the flu around here for a few days now, and it has been a doozy! Way too many hours of vomiting, cleaning up vomit (and the other nasty stuff that tends to accompany it when the flu hits). Tonight I went to my mom's at about midnight to get some Clorox wipes because the mess was just too much for me to keep using rags that needed washing, after washing. As I left I suspected I'd return home to another nasty smelling pile of something, with a child lying on the bathroom floor, and in my distress noted it aloud. Mom said that someday they would understand what I was going through.

Mom, now I understand. How did I not know that everything about motherhood is an adventure?

There are definitely times that motherhood is an adventure in the not so great kind of way. Our current circumstances (read: the FLU invasion) have been a not so fun reminder of that fact, but I do find it is a lovely ride too. Even in the deepest throes of yuck, Abbey thanked me for cleaning up after her, Olivia let me finish my book before asking me to read to her, and Anne is trying so hard to take care of herself so as to not burden me. Sometimes I don't deserve the great kids I have.

I'm so glad they're mine, and we can wade through this adventure together!

Family Home Evening Nativity

For our Family Home Evening tonight, we acted out the Nativity. Cory was Joseph, Abbey was Mary, Olivia was our angel, Anne and Jane were our shepherds, and Max was Baby Jesus.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Anne and Abbey have been doing a lot of dancing this Fall. They are both taking BYU creative dance and loving it. We were able to visit their classes this last week. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the newly charged batteries is the case and the ones in the camera died at Anne's lesson, so we didn't get many pictures (and I couldn't find them while I was posting this). However, she also is taking a ballroom dance class and we were able to attend their Christmas Party and got some pictures and video of it. Here are a few pictures of Abbey's class and Anne's ballroom party. They both did great!

A few more funny things the kids have said

My kids keep saying things that make me laugh, and since my blog seems to be the only place I really keep track of goings on in my life, I'm making an update to the last post.

Last week while grocery shopping, Jane informed me that she needed to use the bathroom. We were next to an employee of the store so he let me know there was a public restroom on the other side of the store, but if we needed to use it, there was an employee bathroom just through those doors. Since we've had many accidents lately ("I didn't quite make it to the toilet") we opted for the through the doors option. Since it was an employee bathroom, there was a wall of small lockers. As soon as Jane saw them, she squealed with delight, "Kitty cages!" I'm guessing her comment comes from recently having gone to Petsmart and seen the adoption area where there were lots of kitty cages.

Apparently, I haven't been looking my best lately because the few times I have taken time to look nice, I've gotten comments from my kids. On Saturday, we went to the Kramer Family Christmas party which consists of my dad's and his nine siblings and their families. I went downstairs to Anne and Abbey's room to check out myself in the mirror when Abbey said, "I know why you're trying to look cute. It's 'cause Syd's gonna be there."

Kids say the darndest things!

Since Max's birth, Jane has come up with some pretty good excuses for not being able to help. Her two favorites are "I'm too dizzy." and "I can't because my legs are too wiggly." (Now picture her bending in half and shaking her legs.) Sometimes she can't because her tummy hurts.

Olivia really loves Max and she especially loves holding him and playing with him. A few weeks ago, she let me know that she taught Max how to talk and that I should put it on our blog. I can't remember what he "said" but I'm pretty sure it was "a goo." Isn't Liv a great teacher?!

The girls aren't the greatest at going to bed (honestly, they just don't). We've been trying to let them play quietly in their beds, or just look at books. Well tonight, I stayed upstairs a bit longer and overheard/ joined this little conversation.

Thud
Olivia: "You just have to face your fears and do it."
Mom: " Girls, that doesn't sound good. What's going on?"
Jane: "Olivia's just learning me how to do stuff."

Since the girls share bunk beds, Olivia is learning all the different ways to get up and down fro the top bunk without climbing the ladder: Climbing over the rails and hanging before falling, climbing up/down over the headboard or foot board, jumping from the top rung of the ladder. I'm guessing this is whatOlivia was "learning" Jane. So far, no broken bones. Maybe Olivia really is a good teacher!