FLYbaby

I'm dressed to the shoes and I have make up on and I fixed my hair- for the second day in a row! My sinks are clean to the bottom and so shiny, I can practically see my reflection in them. I have to write this down in hopes that I'll be able to keep it up.

My house and it's cleanliness seem to reflect me. When it is extrememely messy, as it has wont to be lately, that's how it makes me feel- messed up. ;) Lately, I have been crashing into bed barely taking care of myself and staying up way too late which leaves me feling exhausted the next morning which leaves me with a feeling of uncaring which leads to an even messier house. It's a vicious cycle that I swore I would never repeat when my hubby bought me this nice, new house.

What I really needed was housecleaning therapy. It isn't as if I don't know HOW to do it, I have a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences (Home Ec.) for crying out loud! It's not like I have an evil facsination with watching the tub get slimy, it just happens and I need help. Enter a website. Can a website scrub a toilet? No, but it gives me the confidence to do so. Can a website wash dishes? No, but it encourages me to get to the bottom of the sink every night so the next morning my shiny sinks are the first thing I see. Can a website make me look more beautiful to myself? No, but it can help me make rules for myself about getting all the way dressed (no sweats allowed!), fixing my hair and applying make up.

The last two days, I have walked out of my bedroom taller (those that know me are asking, can she get any taller than 6 feet?) and feeling much better about myself. When I walk through the messy living room to the kitchen with shiny sinks, I think, hey, that's clean, maybe I'll clean something else to go with it!

So, what is this miracle website? It's flylady.net, of course! And the best part about it is that FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself and I so am! :) I can do this. I can make it a habit. I can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes at a time! :) :)

Learning how to FLY in Tooele! :)

Christmas Day

"Good morning, Emily! Merry Christmas! Did Santa come last night?"

"I don't know, I'll go check!" She runs out of the room and instead of running into the living room where we left the stockings sitting with care on the couch and a paper plate of clumsily frosted coookies, she runs to her room to look out the window. "I don't see him, Mommy!" she says looking straight up.

"Let's go see if he ate your cookies and milk."

Emily runs right past all of Santa's gifts to the cookies and jumps up and down. "He did! He ate the cookies and the milk!!" Not until it is pointed out to her does she noticed the bow-topped presents sitting in front of the stockings. "Wow!"

Using an advantage we will probably never have again, we tell her that Santa wrapped them so that they would stay a surprise until after going to Church and surprisingly this works! She gets to eat the mini box of Lucky Charms Santa left in her stocking. Well, actually he left it in Becca's stocking, but she didn't mind trading for Trix since she would only be able to eat them crushed and mixed with yogurt anyway. :)

One hour of church was harder to get through than 3, I thought. There was no promising "you get to go to class with your friends in 10 more minutes," or threats "you won't get to go to class with your friends if you don't settle down!" There was mostly pleading, "please sit still and be quiet so Mommy can hear the beautiful music." I didn't mind making it a priority however, He is after all, the reason for this season.

After Church, we were thrilled to find that even though Santa didn't bring us an attic or a princess bedroom, that he brought exactly all the right things. His helpers even brought magic to the grown up kids in our family and we are so thankful for thoughtful friends who blessed us with their generous spirits and giving hearts. Thank you! You made 3 little princesses and two grown ups a very nice Christmas when there wasn't much of one before. Thank Heaven for friends like you-- all of you!

We all took turns opening gifts even though it was hard to wait sometimes. It didn't take long to realize, though, how much fun it is to give gifts to others and see how happy it makes them, too. Over all, we shared really well and didn't have any major melt downs or fights. Yay! :)

Now Emily and I sit on this relaxing Sunday while Gracie and Becca nap having a conversation about which to do first, play doh or puzzles while we eat our lunch. :) Most, if not all, of the presents that didn't come from our Secret Santa Helpers came from the dollar store, but you know what? She loves them, too! And I really don't think they realize how tight things get and they're happy all the same.

So, whether your Christmas came from Dillards or the Dollar Store, I hope you had a glorious time with your loved ones and are feeling happy and content. I am. :)

So much love!!!
Diana, Geoff, Rebecca, Emily and Gracie
Merry Christmas!

Constipation Consternation

Okay, we usually have such smooth sailing that I don't usually get the chance to rant and rave. Thank goodness! :) But today I almost ended up in the ER and I'm feeling the need to vent.

Becca has another UTI and is on antibiotics. Well, if you know anything about UTIs, you know you're supposed to drink a lot! Well, try telling that to a little girl who drinks when she's thirsty and is done when she is done. We've been doing pretty good as long as I have a variety of liquids to give her. Anyway, we ended up with constipation, which is not really a big surprise, it's something we deal with all the time, but today her abdomen was swollen and every time I pressed there, she winced like it hurt really bad. (Don't worry, I stopped once I saw that it hurt!) So, I do what I normally do to get it out and nothing was working and she was in pain. So, I try calling the doctor and or nurse and of course they're at lunch, so I call my SIL and make a plan to leave the little girls with her and run to the ER. Then I called DH to tell him what's going on and he doesn't want me to go to the ER first because we're still paying on our last visit there, but this time she's on Medicaid. Money's not a good enough reason for me and he's like, they're just going to put on a glove and do what you could do at home, so just do it. My first reaction was to freak out, naturally, so I'm crying that there's something really wrong and I need to DO something and that just didn't seem like the thing to do and I was just a basket case. So, I decided I needed to calm down above all else, so I went in my room and hit my knees. As I'm praying, I can feel the anxiety drain right out of me and pretty soon I'm taking deep breaths instead of short, nervous ones and I feel much more ready to face the situation. So, I get out a glove, new diaper, wipes, everything and lo and behold! she was already done!

Now she's laying on the floor watching Care Bears with Emily and you wouldn't know a crazy lady lives here! :)

Dirty Nasty Dishes

I hate doing dishes more than anything else in the world. My sinks are both full, we're out of bowls and down to one or two of everything else. I'm sitting her wishing that my 3 year old could do them, how awful is that? I hate how they stink. I hate, hate, hate how they feel. There is no feeling worse to me in all the world than slimy silverware. I hate how they look all gross and not clean. UG! So, what is my solution? I don't know, I don't have one.

I do really well in spurts. Even just before Thanksgiving, which was at my house this year, and for a while afterwards I did really well! Then I got a really bad cold and lost my voice and didn't feel like doing them. I have a lot of reasons (i.e. excuses) for not getting them done, but mostly they come down to the fact that I would MUCH rather be doing something else! The thing that works the best with me is a reward system. I love to sew almost as much as breathing, so I don't let myself go down to sew unless there is at least a load of dishes in the dishwasher. (I know, you're shocked that I'm still complaining even though I don't even have to wash them by hand!) I also love to play the Sims which is also a good reward to me, plus, my computer is now in the kitchen, so I can actually catch the dishes right as they get done and theoretically put them away and put in some more. However, one of my other favorite excuses is that they need time to air dry. I'm a pro at making excuses!

Well, as writing this has turned into my excuse this time, I shall excuse myself to go and do the dishes now that my tantrum is over. :)