Overwhelmed

I am not sure if it is the arrival of spring (even though it has gone back to winter!) or just life in general that has made me a feel a bit overwhelmed lately.  The other day (as you can see from the picture) I had so much laundry to fold I didn't even know where to start.  I finally dragged it all up to my room and started sorting.  Then I got distracted by the kids and had to leave it for a while.  When I walked back into my bedroom, it was like it hit me right in the face again.  It seemed like such a giant mess I just wanted to walk back out and never return.  I finally tackled it but now it seems like it is piling up again.  How dare it!!  I remember my mom having piles of cloths in the laundry room.  With eight kids those piles were HUGE!  We used to run and jump in them for hours.  When she was done and saw us wearing something she had just washed she would tease us and say, "You can't wear that, I just washed it!"  I know now that there had to have been truth behind that teasing!  I don't know how she did it!

I don't know if any of you saw Oprah the other day with the lady that was a hoarder.  Her house was so full of things she had mold growing way down deep in the piles and never even knew it.  She had over 3,000 purses and 2,000 pairs of shoes plus countless other things.  At least I just have a few loads of laundry to fold right?  If you are ever getting down on yourself for your messy house, just watch this episode.

Ok so back to the fact that I cannot focus on anything.  I just can't bring myself to dig in and get anything done.  (That's why I had so much laundry piled up!)  All I want to do is sit around and read blogs while I eat Easter candy.  But now all the good chocolate is gone so I am left with just the blogs.  (So update often please!)  For some reason I have this mental block that if I have a project to do and can't get it done in one setting I don't want to start it.  Sometimes this can be debilitating for me.  I just keep thinking, I'll do it later.  Any ideas??  Maybe just being sick put me in a rut and after sitting around the house for so many days I just want to play.  Listen to me rationalizing this all!  

I guess I better go clean the bathrooms.  That is after I read any new updates on your blogs......

The girls all wanted to be pink princesses yesterday. They looked so cute I just had to take pictures. We also went shopping on Saturday and ended up shopping for swimming suits for the girls. (Don't you just love Walmart. Again, I got distracted from my duties!) It was so fun shopping. It brought back fun memories of shopping with my mom and sisters as a kid. They both got new swim suits so if anyone wants to go with us to try them out, I would love another distraction!

Golda's Poetry

My niece Golda wrote this poem. I found it very profound and beautiful, especially coming from a tween. Golda, you really are an artist in many ways. You can play the flute, draw, sing, act and now write poetry very beautifully! Thanks for giving me a little pick me up on this snowy day!

Snow Storm

It sounded like slow skating over a fresh pond.
It tasted like the softest icicles.
It felt like angels nudging me ever so softly.
Looked like silver beads falling lightly.
I feel cold and calm.

This and That!

Yesterday was such a pretty spring day so we decided to go to the park. We called Nikki and Cade and they met us there. We have this really cute tricycle that has a seat in back where Kayla can ride in it too. Neeley peddled the heavy load of the two of them all the way to the park. After having a great time playing, I told Neeley she could ride by herself so it wouldn't be so hard. Right as she started out the weld that holds the front wheel on broke. Neeley was so disappointed that it couldn't be fixed and we had to leave it at the park because I couldn't carry it and push the stroller at the same time. Besides, what good is a broken trike? Neeley cried all the way home. I was heartbroken because they both looked so cute riding in this little red bike with their red shirts on. I had planned on taking their picture in it when we got home. Bummer, I guess my $5.00 yard sale item lasted long enough to get my moneys worth! When we got home Kayla was so tired she was crying in the hall. Then all of the sudden it got really quiet. I sent Neeley to check on her and she returned to say that Kayla was asleep. This is a rare occasion for Kayla to just fall asleep anywhere! It was so cute we had to take her picture. Jer said to just leave her there but the mom in me thought she needed jammies on and to be in bed. Needless to say, she woke up so it was more of a struggle but she was finally asleep in her bed by 5:30.

Both Neeley and Kayla wore this outfit as babies. We originally bought it as the outfit to bring Neeley home from the hospital in. We felt so silly when she was born and we realized how huge it was for her. It is so fun to see yet another girl wearing it!

I sent the girls up to get their jammies on. Usually they come down with some pretty silly combos. Kayla often has multiple shirts or everything on backwards. Tonight they were so excited to show me their jammies that are just like Lilah's!! We bought these in Barstow on our way to disneyland and I had forgotten about them. I thought they looked so adorable we had them do the jammie dance! We decided Kayla was a frog and Neeley is a bunny!

The girls found a bag of baby toys on the shelf the other day and asked me to get it down.  I told them that it would be a good idea because Lilah was starting to get old enough to play with toys.  The next time I looked over at Lilah this is what I found.  Do you think the girls gave her enough toys to play with??  Then we went to paint Nells and LaLa's nails and they decided we should paint Lilah's too.  We chose Easter egg purple for her!

Easter Morning Fun!

   

Easter, Easter, Easter

Today was an eventful day for our family.  It started out when we left the house at 8:45 a.m. and headed for Circe and Scott's annual Easter egg hunt.  The girls got tons of eggs and loved every minute of it.  Then we all had breakfast together at Annies.  From there we headed over to mom and dad's for a family party.  There was tons of food, a new trampoline that mom and dad bought, food, cousins, food, another Easter hunt, food and did I say food??  We stayed until well after bed time. It was fun to visit with all of Jeremy's cousins and aunts and uncles there too!  The girls disappeared the entire day which gave us a chance to visit!  Last night while tucking Kayla into bed we were talking about how the Easter bunny was coming to our house.  She got a little scared and told me she didn't want the EB to get her.  I assured her that the EB was just coming into the living room to hide the eggs and leave some candy.  That seemed to settle well with her for a minute, then I could see the wheels turning again.  She told me that she didn't want the EB to play on her jungle gym either!

This morning they were so excited to go see what the EB had brought.  We hurried downstairs to find the loot!  Of course Kayla dug right into the candy and  before we knew it had eaten an entire big pack of gum.  (wonder what that will do??) Neeley wanted to play her new card games.  so we all played Old Maid together.  Right towards the end of  the game Neeley got the old maid card and rushed out of the room crying.  It brought me back to my childhood. Oh the joys of learning sportmanship!  Jeremy then informed the girls that the EB had left a note about something that was too heavy to bring inside.  So we all rushed out to the cold garage with bare feet to see what was there.  The girls started jumping around when they found their new blow up water slide.  After breakfast we all rushed to get ready so we could go out to play on it.  It is such a warm sunny day.  We stayed out for a few hours while the girls played.  Jeremy and I wished we could keep this moment forever.  The joys of childhood are so fun to relive.  Just watching the girls giggle and have so much fun made a little imprint on our hearts!

Happy Easter everyone!

Gigantic

One day Kayla discovered the baby spoons in the drawer and she has been using them ever since.  Some how they are much more fun than the big kid spoons.  Well today she looked in the drawer and came runner over to me with much excitement.  She said, "Mommy this fork is gigantic!!"  I first stopped and thought "Wow, she's two and she knows the word gigantic!"  Then I looked and saw that it was one of those really big serving forks.  My first gut reaction was to say no.  But then I thought of something my mom has always said.  Save getting mad and NO's for big things!  Really, why would it matter if she used the big spoon?  I find myself doing this some times and I have to stop and think.  A big spoon is just as easy to wash as the little ones.  So for today I am watching out for those "does it really matter" moments  so I can practice saying yes and keep my NO's for the big stuff and let her get away with the gigantic thing for today.  Just like my mommy taught me!

FYI:  She really did do a great job of eating with the gigantic fork and it was pretty cute too!

Easter Chicks Recipe

I had a few requests for the recipe so here it is:

The original recipe called for a chocolate rice crispy type  nest but we prefer the no bake cookies instead.

No Bake Cookies (the nest)

1 cube (1/2 cup) butter

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cocoa

Heat in sauce pan. Once it boils, cook for 1 and 1/2 minutes

Then stir in:

3 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Drop spoonfuls onto wax paper and try to make them nest shaped.

Then take twinkies and cut them in half.

Poke sprinkles in for the eyes.  Cut the orange slice candies in half and attach them with a tooth pick.  Then pipe on a little beak with orange frosting.  (I cheat and use the little tube of frosting you buy premade at the store!)  Then stick your chick in the nest and you are done.

One tip is to have the chicks all ready to go before you start making the nests.  Then you can put the chicks in the nest before they set up and they will probably stay perched better!

One recipe makes 12-14 good sized nests and one box of twinkies makes 20 chicks.

Easter Chicks!

Neeley has to take a treat for preschool tomorrow so we decided to make our Easter chicks again.  We got the recipe for them from our friend Sarah Granata a few years ago and have made them ever since.  We think they are adorable and the kids can help.  Neeley and Kayla have been staying at my sister Shauna's house since Sunday.  She dropped them off today and was headed up to my parents to help my Mom out so she left her two girls here to play with Neeley and Kayla.  Cassidy and Linzie have been a great help and have entertained the girls very well.  They helped make the treats too!

Last Thursday I went in to have surgery to have my gallbladder out.  I started out at the surgery center, went through the whole admittance process, cried as they wheeled my bed into surgery.  I was really scared and I am sure it didn't help Jeremy much to see me being wheeled away crying!  When I woke up they were rushing me to feel less pain so I could get dressed up to go over to the hospital for a second operation.  The first one went well but they found that I had several stones stuck in my bile ducts.  So I had to get dressed and go over to the hospital.  Jer pulled up to the ER doors and got the wheel chair to wheel me in.  Then I had to go through the whole admittance process again while I was sitting there in agony.  Then they had me get back into the lovely gown and wait.  This time when they wheeled my bed away I was in too much pain to cry.  When we got into the operating room they told me to roll over on to the operating table onto my stomach.  I thought they had to be joking after having been cut into in 4 different places on my stomach, but no!  Then they put this weird cup thing in my mouth and I was put out again.  They stuck a tube down my throat, into my stomach and up the bile duct past the stones that were lodged in it.  Then they blow up a balloon and drag it back out so it drags the stones out with it.  Jeremy says that I was really weird when I woke up this time.  I kept asking the same questions over and over again.  I also kept telling the nurses, "Thank you for taking care of me" over and over again.  At that point, I really was thankful!  After a bit of recovering they got me dressed again and Jeremy brought me home.  Thanks to Grandma Dopp we didn't have to worry about the kids until bed time that night and Lilah was even taking a bottle!

We are so thankful for all of the help we had during all of this.  We had dinner from Nikki and Richelle and from a few people in our ward.  My family fasted for us.  My sister Karen came and helped me on Saturday while Jer and the girls got out of the house, and my sister Shauna took the girls for a few days.  We have also had countless calls from friends and family to check on us.  You really start to see how loved you are when times get tough.  It is so nice to have an army of people around you who care.  Jeremy has also been so supportive.  He has taken over everything and given me time to recover.  Finally today I am starting to feel better.  I am still not up to speed.  In fact it is 5 pm right now and I am ready for bed.  But each day I have been feeling a little better.  I am sure it will take a few weeks before I am back to feeling "normal" (if there is such a thing) but we have a start.

Jeremy's Funny Friend

One of Jeremy's best friends ever since grade school works for Callaway in California.  He wrote this rap and the company took him to a recording studio and recorded it, then filmed the video.  It is sooo funny even if you don't know him.  He is trying to get over one million hits and is almost there in just a few days.  Currently it is 13# on U-tube!  Take a look by clicking on the link below.

Nate Randall's video

Disneyland!!

Super Dad!

This has been a rough week for our family and without Jeremy we wouldn't have been able to hold it all together!  He really has been a super Dad. I spent two days of our vacation in the hotel room sick and Jeremy took the girls to Disneyland by himself.  Since getting home I have had two more gallstone attacks and he has taken over the household.  He has done everything from getting the girls dressed and fed, playing ref between them, keeping up on the house and dishes, waiting on me hand and foot, messaging my back, keeping the girls out of my hair, grocery shopping and anything else you can think of.  Now he is doing the frustrating task of trying to get Lilah to have a bottle so that I can have surgery.  Never once have I heard him complain.  He has kept it all positive.  He has been going around the house teasing the girls, singing to the baby and talking me out of a lot of stress!  I feel remiss that his birthday came and went without a lot of fuss from us.  This is the first time in 10 years that he hasn't had some sort of surprise from me!  At least we managed to get him one of his favorite birthday treats, a Parsons cake!

Happy birthday baby!  I will make it up to you soon!  Thanks for taking superb care of us all!  Without you we would be lost!  You are my ray of sunshine on a cloudy day!