Golden

I was supposed to work today. Since Clara had a fever yesterday (that didn't come back today, thank goodness), we had a change of plans. That was only the beginning of our lovely day.

I had to go pick something up from the girls I've been working with.

While Hazel napped and Clara rested with a movie, I worked, budgeted, cleaned and relaxed.

We played in the yard and blew bubbles in this practically perfect weather.

I made dinner and Jason was even home to eat with us.

For FHE we went to Bass Pro Shop, Home Depot and finished with treats from Chick-fil-A.

All day I was wishing I had a camera crew to follow us around. I take a lot of pictures but it is impossible to capture it all. All the things that make me laugh and smile and love my life. Things I think I'll never forget but know I will if it's not documented. Things like Hazel climbing onto the plastic kid's picnic table and being SO proud of herself. Clara pretending she's a squirrel and "sweeping" the floor with her tail. Hazel elephant walking in the rocks. Clara spot mopping the floor for me. Hazel crawling into the cubby by herself in about 1.2 seconds. Clara telling me she's sorry that the dinner is disgusting and she'll still eat it anyway. Hazel eating all her cucumbers, broccoli and carrots but wanting nothing to do with her pizza. Clara getting so excited that a hummingbird drank water from the bowl she left outside with a straw (I asked her how she knew and she told me because there wasn't as much water as before - ha!). Hazel bopping her head to music. Clara telling Jason treats are more fun than playing with him. Hazel kicking her legs with excitement, especially in the car. Clara asking me, "Are ducks predators to frogs?" Hazel waiting patiently for spoonfuls of whipped cream from my milkshake. Clara thinking her ice cream was the most delicious thing ever. Hazel saying, "Yeah, yeah" while shaking her head yes with her big blue eyes if someone asks her a question. Clara loving Hazel and always helping with her. Hazel taking her very first step to me without encouragement from me.

We walked into Bass Pro Shop tonight all linked together. Clara held my right hand, my left arm hung onto Jason's right arm and Hazel was in his left. It made me smile, so happy with my little family. I love them. I love spending time with them. I thought, If only I could get a picture of this and remember this happy day forever. Later I hoped for theaters in Heaven where we can watch replays of our life. Even later, it dawned on me that perhaps there will be no need for movies. Perhaps our minds will be able to recall all of the great memories we experience here on earth. Perhaps our perfected minds will allow us to remember the good times forever. So even though babies have to grow up, we'll always be able to go back a revisit these perfectly precious days.

Hazel's sweet, chubby face makes me want to cry. Just look at her. Ahhhhhhh!

Good Thing

Clara started t-ball games this week.

Good thing I didn't have to work 4 days as a result of two prior commitments coinciding.

Good thing I am super organized and planned all our meals out.

Good thing I actually went to the grocery store within the last two weeks.

Good thing Jason wasn't busy and didn't have to go three days without seeing the girls and was able to help me around the house.

Good thing I didn't have Enrichment and our Friday softball games were early.

Good thing. Ha ha!

I'm glad last week is over. I'm not glad next week will be similar. I'm starting to get a bit worn out.

Thankfully, we have weekends. Our weekend was the good kind of busy. Saturday brought Costco, BBQ with extended Melzer family and snuggling on the couch with just Jason (I refused the urge to bring my computer along), for two movies. Sunday meant family dinner at our house and a few minutes tonight to post an update.

I dress to impress. I don't think Angela thought I was serious when I told her my outfit would make her day. Can you look at this without smiling?

I need new clothes, for sure. But new clothes wouldn't have changed the fact that a.) my feet can't handle standing on tile all day and needed shoes and b.) we don't believe in folding laundry in this house anymore so a clean, matched colored pair of socks from my drawer was way quicker than hunting a clean pair of white socks hiding in the laundry basket (aka weeks worth of laundry piled in the guest room).

Hazel took one (ONE!) more step today, dances/marches to music (while holding onto something, of course), gives the sweetest hugs, "feeds" us the food from books, climbs into everything and moved out of her infant seat and got turned around in the car all out once.

The first time she rode like this was on the way to our softball game. I was so glad Jason was driving so I could watch her enjoy her new set up immensely. She squealed, laughed and smiled the entire 30 minutes we were in the car.

Clara amazes me. Out of the blue, she decided she would write. She spelled bows and rtist (artist) all by herself. She has bows, artist books and books all for sale. You should really come check them out.

She also wanted to help me clean the kitchen instead of have a book read to her the other night. She is sweet and loves to help me. I often just stare at her beautiful face when she's sleeping or trying to fall asleep. While I'm staring I think that she'll be a young woman before I know it. I catch glimpses of her future beginning to edge in to her face. Her sweet, precious childhood features will melt slowly away into a beautiful, graceful young lady.

The Engineer - who's that? Jason has been slammed at work. Originally we tried to see it as a good learning opportunity. However, it's turned out to be a very strained way of life. At work he's overworked, underpaid and under appreciated. Too bad he's not home more where he's under worked, over paid and appreciated dearly. :)

Just the leaves are in focus. Everything else is a blur. It's a pretty good reflection of life these days. We all need a vacation. Any suggestions on where we should go?

I Spy

I finally cleaned out my purse Saturday, giving me a false sense that my life is now in order.

Can you find these things?

14 pens

Sharpie

highlighter

gum

garbage/receipts

kleenex

Costco list

snack container (not pictured)

cough drops

jewelry (some play, some real)

concealer

lotion

chapstick

3 lip glosses

toy car

toy quarter

hair rubber band

key

gift cards

wallet

camera

external hard drive

17 quarters

6 nickels

5 dimes

6 pennies

Unfortunately, the pen count was not unusual. There were a few extras, but I usually have close to 10 pens in my purse. Someone needs to learn how to simplify.

Because It's Spring

Last Monday was not much different than any other Monday, yet it felt different since it was the beginning of Spring Break. We tried to make the week extra fun. To kick off our break, we had donuts for breakfast.
That afternoon Clara begged to play in the irrigation "because it's Spring." I am pretty sure she thinks this week is spring since it's Spring Break. Ha. Anyway, I obliged. I tried to put Hazel's feet in, but it was clear she just wanted to get all the way in.We had a birth day (like the birth day, not just a birthday),
art day, eating out day,
park day,
mom goes to work day, Ikea day and mommy-daughter date day.

Tired, Busy - My Usual

I have lots of blogging to do. Life is good and busy and not slowing down. I have laundry to fold, a house to clean, work to do and plenty of other things that need my attention. (Have you noticed the trend yet?). Instead, I'm going to e-mail the following picture to someone for a game we're going to play at church and then I'm going to bed. I'm super sleepy because holding a brand new baby niece just couldn't wait.
I love seeing pictures of my childhood. I was so cute and so happy. I want to be more like that. I had these three thoughts about this particular picture:

1. When I tell people I didn't really have hair until I was three, I worry I'm exaggerating. I'm three in this picture. Clearly, it's not an exaggeration.

2. Everyone is going to guess who I am because Hazel looks like me.

3. My goodness I was cute - no wonder my mother had 5 more children after me. :)

Sunday Musings

Baths: That bath I took Friday night was probably one of less than 5 baths I've taken in the last 10 years. They feel great, but I can't think about them too much. They are borderline gross to me and the amount of water I use can stress me out if I'm not careful.

Word Verification: If I type the word verification incorrectly and it makes me try again, I worry it was because my comment was dumb or was grammatically incorrect so I will often re-read my comment and change it.

Smart Phone: It's hard going back to a menu-driven operating system (do I even know what that is?). I also wish I had a better camera on my phone. My last one was pretty decent for a non-Smart Phone phone. Which is why I almost decided to get a Smart Phone. And then they laid off 5 people at Jason's company. You see why I'm struggling here?

Operating Systems: Quote from Clara to Jason - "Can you go to the other operating system so I can play that one game?" Yeah, I wish Mr. Cell Phone Man had heard that. Not only do I know what an OS is but so does my 5 year old.

Church: No matter how put together I feel at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting, I feel like a wreck 65 minutes later when it ends. I have crumbs and other food all over me, toys strewn everywhere, snot wiped up and down my clothing, the contents of my purse seems to have multiplied when it's no longer contained in my purse and I feel worn out trying to keep Hazel quiet for the entire hour+ meeting. (For the record, we didn't have to take her out once today).

Visiting Teachers: In our church, all of the women 18 and older are paired up and assigned to visit other women. We call it visiting teaching. We do this to make sure everyone is being watched out for and so people can form relationships and have friends to rely on in times of need. The two ladies I visit are both pretty neat, but also both very different. Case in point, I took both of them something this afternoon just for fun. Lady #1: a plate of fresh (and delicious) homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Lady #2: a bag of turnips fresh from my garden. Both of them loved what they got and would not have traded for the other.

Cleaning: Hazel makes messes about 4 times faster than I can clean. As far as I'm concerned, this leaves me with two options: a.) clean while Hazel is making a mess and have a messy house or b.) play with Hazel when she's awake and have a messy house. I think I'll play. (Obviously, have you seen my house lately?)

Seasons: Now that it's warming up and our orange trees are blossoming, it smells absolutely lovely all around. Lately I've been thinking how much I love this time of year. I love the smells, the weather, the juicing and the nearing of summer. I realized I kind of feel like that every time we enter a new season. I love spring for so many reasons. And then when I've enjoyed those things for a season, I enjoy summer for all the reasons there is to enjoy summer. That continues, all year, from season to season. I feel that way about life too. I loved dating. I loved being newly married. I loved having a baby. And now I love having a 5 year old and a 1 year old. It's even like that with my kids. I love that Clara is reading. I love that she is helpful and can go play at friend's by herself. I love that she helps me clean and can cook. I love that she is independent but loves me and always wants to be near me. I love that Hazel is exploring her independence and throws fits when she doesn't get her way. I love that she just crawls every where and sees no reason to walk. I love that she examines so many things and makes a mess everywhere she goes. I love that she isn't afraid when other people hold her but I am the one she wants when she's sad or hurt. There are reasons to love and enjoy every season, both in nature and in life.

See Me Crash - Blah, Blah, Blah

I wrote this last night (Thursday):

I've been over-committing myself and losing sleep for too long and it finally caught up to me today. Grating approx. 16 cups of yellow squash, making dinner (see below), waking up early, working during nap time and taking care of my sickly little Hazel today apparently pushed my body right over the edge. My sore, achey body is begging me to sit in bed all night and not move or think. My hips hurt so bad and my neck feels like a wet noodle trying to hold up a giant, steel ball. I don't really have time for this sick business. I wish it would check with me next time before it came uninvited and unannounced. Rude. I have things to do - lots of things to do. And tonight. Maybe no one will notice if I don't do them?

Hazel is sick and really grumpy. I think she cried more today than she has the last year. I'm not kidding. See?

And see? It was melt down city around here.
But I also think I rocked her, held her and sang to her more than I have in the last month, so that made up for it. It wasn't hard since I seemed to be at least one of those things almost all day and usually she won't let me rock her or hold her for more than a minute or two. My favorite was when she came up behind me in the kitchen, pulled herself up with my pants and hugged my legs and laid her face on them.

Regardless, I have many reasons to smile:

:: I got 60 pounds of green beans, squash, tomatoes, green peppers and corn on the cob for $10

:: We had an orange dinner (sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, carrots & orange rolls {I used oat flour for my whole grain flour and would definitely make these again, but I think I under-cooked them, sorry guys})

:: Clara jumping

:: Helping Grandpa fertilize
:: Peas fresh from the garden (sadly, not mine, but next year!)
:: Squash that saves itself from falling to its death
:: Little Miss Blinker
:: Family fun Sunday evening (so I love Butterfingers, but I decided they are disgusting if you have to eat them fast - I only ate about 3/4 of mine and wanted to throw up)
:: Purely coincidental, everything I bought at Wal Mart was green
:: Friends helped juice oranges (it may or may not have been voluntary - at least it was awesome for Jason and I!)
:: On Tuesday the network went completely down at my client, allowing me to come home unexpectedly at 9:00am. It felt like the day I went to high school and because someone had cut the main electric line, they cancelled school.

:: Free yogurt
:: Seeing what Clara creates when she can get whatever she wants
:: The orange blossoms (these were picked, brought inside and laid out by Clara to "make our house smell good")
:: Tonight dinner was delicious. After trying a friend's veggie shepherd's pie last night, I decided I'd make one myself. Beans, diced tomatoes, corn (I shucked and boiled 10 ears and was going to use that but tasted it first, only to discover it was the most disgusting corn I've ever had in my life), fresh green beans, carrots, Worchestesire, salt and pepper on the bottom, cheese in the middle and mashed potatoes (I cooked the potatoes in the crock pot - so easy, why have I never done this?) on top. Bonus: we ate outside.
:: Clara climbed into Jason's shirt

************************************************************

After I wrote the above, I sent an e-mail to my client saying I couldn't get his stuff done and within about 30 seconds, I fell asleep. I felt bad while making dinner, but I had no idea how my sickness would progress so much so fast. My body hurt SO bad and I could hardly keep my eyes open. I fell asleep at like 8:30pm and usually don't get to bed before 11pm. I woke up when Jason and Clara got home from his basketball game and had Clara come snuggle with me and we fell asleep together. I woke up again because Hazel woke up screaming. I snuggled her in bed until I almost fell asleep and Jason took her and put her back to sleep.

Compared to last night, I feel better (after all, it's 10pm and I haven't fallen asleep). After another good night's rest, I imagine I'll feel peachy. I rarely get sick and when I do, it comes and goes very quickly. I'm thankful for that. Every time I do get sick I feel so grateful for how capable my body is of getting so much done when it's healthy. Hazel is still sick, but she's been asleep since 7pm and hasn't woken up so I think the ear drops and Motrin are letting her get the sleep her little body needs.

Reasons to smile today:

:: My mom cleaned my kitchen (it was a disaster - just ask my mom)

:: After the kids were in bed, I soaked in the bath tub for an hour

:: My Martha Stewart Living magazine, a check and my new checks all came in the mail (I love getting the mail, even if it's bills, I love mail, so things I like? double bonus)

Thoughts

My Style: When it comes to clothes, for the longest time I was searching for a style that was "my style". I kept trying to find a certain style that I liked completely. Well into my adult life, I realized my style doesn't have to be one thing. I don't have to dress trendy every day, or classy every day or wear skinny jeans every day. I could find outfits I liked and wear them, even if it wasn't the same "style" as what I wore the day before. So my style is a conglomeration of styles, I just wear what I like. Hmmm, this makes me sound dumb. But hey, sometimes I'm slow.

God is in the details: I've had a lot of tender mercies lately. They are small and simple, but regardless, I can't help but say a silent prayer of thanks. Some might think it merely a coincidence, but I don't doubt that God will be in every detail of our life, if only we let Him. Thursday was particularly merciful to me. Hazel's morning nap lasted longer than it has in a long time and Clara's friend invited her over after school, allowing me the time I needed to wrap up some year-end stuff. The wrap up went much quicker than I planned, especially since I was able to miraculously sync QuickBooks to the bank, which previously wouldn't work. Later that afternoon, Hazel took her first step. Yaaaay! One day later, and I would have been at work.

I love nerds!: I spent a few hours figuring out how to recover my my pictures from my old cell phone. I used free software and read a lot of online forums to be able to do exactly what I needed to. When I saw all my pictures I thought were lost, I was so happy that some nice techy took the time to write software that can do this. It's neat.

My Purse: I might have mentioned this before, but my purse is a reflection of the extent to how organized my life is. Currently, it's full of crumbs, loose receipts and random stow aways (mardi gras beads, Clara's hair clip, etc.). It's pretty much a disaster.

Unhealthy choices: I can only make so many healthy decisions before I snap. I snapped this morning and ate brownies and potato chips for breakfast. No worries, I made up for it by eating lots and lots of raw vegetables during the rest of the day. :)

Simple Blessings: Last week I was thinking about following inspiration and how it can affect our lives in such simple ways. And how not acting on inspiration doesn't necessarily give us life-altering consequences, but we miss out on the simple blessings. The simple blessing add up to make life that much happier. If we don't act on those promptings, the consequences are unnoticed. But if we do act on them, the blessings are sweet.

Softball: Jason and I play coed softball together. This is our third season with our team. We played one other time just a year or two after we were married. It was not good for our marriage. I missed one ball and Jason yelled at me (he swears he didn't) and made me switch positions with someone else. Anyway, I'm happy to report that things our much better. The first season we played, we also played on another team. We had a few less than happy moments, but nothing since. I actually look forward to it.

The Engineer: It's finally official. Hallelujah. The thought makes me smile.

Mammoth Posts: I was wondering why I have to do a giant post on the weekend. Why not just do a few small ones during the week? Well, it's because I don't have hardly any time for that during the week and lots of time for that on the weekends.

Assumptions: I am amused with the assumptions people make about me. Lately, I've had a handful of people ask me if I was a cheerleader in high school. What about me makes them think that? I also have had several people surprised to find out I'm an accountant. Do I look too dumb to do that or is it just that I have a personality? A few nights ago I was talking to the cell phone guys in Costco about a phone and the guy mentioned something about one of the operating systems and said, "Do you even know what that means?" I just didn't even answer him. I think next time I will respond and say, "No, I don't. Obviously. I'm a girl, I have two kids, I'm a stay at home mom (well, usually) so obviously I'm dumb and clueless. Right?" Then maybe I'll say, "I need to go change my baby's diaper. Do you even know how to do that?" Just kidding.

The To Do List

I think this week is going to be slower. I might have said that same thing the last few weeks, but I really think it's true this time. I've been crossing off some of the more time-consuming, significant To Do's and I finally feel like I'm gaining momentum on life. Meanwhile, we found plenty of things to pack into our week attempting to ignore The To Do List.

Fly a kite

Make a mess at Angela's
Make really loud noises at Angela's
Take family pictures (remember last year?)
Wonder if Jason is trying to look like Steve Erkel
Juice oranges

Bake cookies

Take a walk

Playdates

Dance party
Hang out with beautiful weather
Climb into things
Not poop in the toilet
Temple*

Softball games
Sleep in on Saturday (8:51am!!)

Found out how to rescue pictures from my old phone (I love nerds!), here's a few:

Jason jammed his finger and his wedding ring doesn't fit over his knuckle so I drew a ring on for him
Hazel's first intro to stairs, she climbed straight up without hesitating or looking back
The picture from Olive Garden - she's saying cheese (and is about to shove that broccoli into her mouth)
Jason patched his own shorts - awesome, right?
Celebrated a very special occasion with some very special friends.
After which, Hazel threw a fit when we ripped her from Dan's arms, poor, poor Hazel

Additionally, I was pretty good at cooking dinner this week. I will say, towards the end of the month, our meals tend to get creative. I try to still prepare healthy meals without fresh fruits and vegetables since I hold off until the next month to try to salvage an already over-budget grocery budget. This month was no exception - both the creative meals and the over-budget parts.

M: Steamed asparagus, mashed potatoes, chicken (leftover from our lunch at the park - HA!)

T: Frozen pizza, green smoothies (I feel better about myself when our less than healthy main dish is offset with a spinach laden fruit smoothie)

W: Egg rolls, miso soup, steamed vegetables
R: Cheese Enchiladas**

*My goodness, I saw this Carl Bloch picture again and the coveting started all over. For someone who's not very artistic, I've always loved beautiful and grand art and this piece just speaks to me.

** This was a new experiment. Absolutely no recipe and it turned out pretty good. Criteria: use things I had on hand, mostly healthy, quick and enjoyable for the entire family. The tortillas were a little tough for Hazel, but I would rather that than soggy. Besides, what good are mother birds if we don't follow their example and chew up some food and then pass it along to our young?

Combine in a sauce pan over medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally:

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can beans (I used cannellini), drained

dried onion (I would have used fresh if I had one!)

1 small can diced green chilis

1 T. chili powder

salt and pepper

1/4 C. teff***

18 corn tortillas - I almost fried these but decided to save the oil and time and just cook them, 6 at a time, on my griddle, until they were crunchy

3-4 cups of grated sharp cheddar (if you're concerned about calories, you could cut this back, for sure)

Then I sprayed a 9x12 glass pan, layered tortilla, bean/tomato mixture, cheese, tortilla, bean/tomato mixture, cheese, tortilla, cheese and baked it for 15 minutes or so.

Jason liked it, I liked it and both my kids loved it.

*** This does not affect the taste at all, I added it for extra nutrition, but it would taste just as good without it.

Wow, this ended up being way longer than I anticipated.