For Mother's Day...

Kate tried to give me a heart attack... again. We had my family all over for a BBQ at our house, which was so fun and relaxing. The men were enjoying a game of dunk ball while we were watching and the kids were playing in the yard. I realized I hadn't seen Kate in the madness. She frequently disappears so I roamed the house and found the swimsuit she was wearing and had obviously changed out of. I looked in the cars (she likes to get in unsuspecting peoples cars to eat all of their gum) and no Kate. Checked with my sweet neighbor. No Kate. At this point, I'd been looking for 10-15 minutes and was starting to feel my heart in my throat. All 40 of my family members were looking down canal banks, inside neighbors shops, etc. and no Kate. Mark thought he'd call his Mom real quick. BY HERSELF, she walked down the side of the road, and down over a 1/2 mile ditch bank (with a huge canal on the side of it) and mosied into my in-laws house, where she told them with a giggle and a smile on her face that she had sneaked away from her Mom. All by herself. She is a whopping three years old. Mark was trying to call them as they were calling him. The worst part, you can't even punish her. She is 100% oblivious. I've tried multiple times to have serious conversations about it. She can't focus for more than 30 seconds before she's onto another subject. Two months ago, we were discussing the before mentioned canal and how soon there was going to be water in it,and what she should do when there's water in the canal. She told me, "um.... swim!" We talked about strangers telling her if she'll get in the car she can have candy. What should you say? Her response, "Yay!! Candy!" So we have Kate with not an ounce of caution in her bones (I blame Mark. He pulled similar shenanigans). Then, there's Launa. She told me the duties for morning recess have been showing up late and did I know that since they weren't there when they were supposed to be someone could just pull up and steal her?! She is EXTRA cautious! I'm looking forward to summer when she can be an extra set of eyes and ears for her sisters!! Besides that little incident, however, mother's day was lovely. Launa gave me a sweet gift and kind words (the best gift from her really), Mark spoke in church and I taught our relief society lesson on "Becoming Joyful". It was good for me to prepare that lesson because it made me think about the joy that I really do experience in my life. My children do bring me so many spurts of absolute joy every single day. Our take home handout said "choose joy", and I felt like the first step to doing that was gratitude. There will always be struggles and frustrations, but even in the midst of those, I still have so many reasons to be joyful.

Kids are Messy!!!

Kids are messy. It's just the way it is. I don't know why I'm STILL surprised when they make huge messes. Meg has turned into a tyrant. Mark had to dig a bar of soap out of the toilet that Meg had flushed (Kate didn't know it wasn't working and pooped in it. SO glad I was gone for that one -- yuck!!). I dug my missing shoes out of the garbage can where Meg threw them. I've washed a couple shoes and other miscellaneous items she threw in the washer when I was gathering items to start it. She for some reason, likes to try to eat markers (an improvement from Kate's dirt eating fetish I think). She can now get up the swing set ladder no problem and tries to go face first down the slide, which is quite steep. Still... after all this, not even close to the worst mess of the week. Launa got ahold of food coloring, yes, food coloring!! She for some reason packed it up in her craft bag to take to play with her cousins at Mark's parents. At one point, she wanted something and was lassoing the bag around her head. The food coloring evidently leaked and a half hour later we were trying to figure out what the "specks" on the floor were. While trying to clean them the "specks" turned into multi colored spots all over my mother-in-laws new $40/yard light beige carpet (not like two spots, like 30). An investigation turned up the food coloring and Launa hid outside in their shed for two hours and snuck into the car to go home. Roughly four hours of scrubbing and 18 products later, the spots are still there. It's very 80s. I am working on replacing it so at least it can be fixed. I realize there are much worse problems, but it wasn't a highlight of the week. Kate also thinks she's "Kitty Kate" and paints whiskers and a cat nose on her face every chance she gets. I just leave it. She'll only be three for a little while I suppose. Yesterday, she put the same face on Meg. She was her "sister kitty". I'm sure one day I'll be glad I record this stuff, right?

She's a Wild One!!

Sweet Meg is quickly turning into Wild Meg, but she sure is irresistible. Every time she sees her cousin Boone, she wants to wrestle him to the ground. She literally knocks him down, get on his back and mauls him for whatever item he has in his hands. I hope he learns how to defend himself soon, poor kid! She has recently discovered the great outdoors. I'm too afraid to let her roam the grass since our last episode where we had to chase 3000 sheep off. They left lamb poop all over and I'm too worried she'll try to eat it. So since she is resigned to the concrete she is already starting to work the scooter and is loving every opportunity to play with Dad. I love the picture of him holding her up to the basket. It is lowered (he's tall but not THAT tall)!!

Bikes & More Bikes

Two weekends ago we were all going to Tony and Alli's and I was going to walk with the kids and Mark was going to drive to pick us up there. Mark gets in his truck, backs up, and crunch, runs over a scooter. A few swear words, he pulls forward and to the other side of the driveway, backs up and crunch, runs over Kate's bike. More swear words. Incidently, Kate has really never gotten a bike of her own and the hand-me-down that was a mess was ready to be retired. Mark took her to Walmart with just her to get her her very own bike. She was one happy little girl!! Launa's comments: "I am leaving my bike behind Dad's truck so he can run mine over next!" I informed her that would only get her no bike for the entire summer.

Launa's 6 Year Old Stats

Launa Virtue is growing up. Today she weighed in at 43 pounds and was 44.5" tall. She is approximately in the 35th percentile so kind of little. I think I was even smaller than she was. She has come so far this year in her learning. She writes the cutest notes where she sounds out the letters (my highlights include one telling me I was the best mom ever and another one telling me she wasn't going to church because I was mean). She counts all the time and is an absolute nazi about her homework and schoolwork. It has to all be done on Monday when it's assigned. She has also mastered jumping rope (which was quite a feat), hula hooping, she's a pro at bike riding and is now mastering her electric scooter. She has so much energy and actually likes to work. She continues to amaze me with her logic for such a young age. There is nothing better than when Launa decides to be sweet. She gives eskimo kisses, writes sweet notes, does little favors and wraps little gifts. I hope she continues to develop that really sweet side to her personality. She definitely always keeps me on my toes.

More Launa Schenanigans

Launas latest craze has been figuring out my iphone. Her older cousins show her how to do things that I don't ever spend the time to learn. One Sunday, she got irritated at me and so she changed my password, and I was locked out of my phone. I don't have a home phone so I had to go into her elementary school, get her out of class and ask her what the password to my phone was. The secretaries watched in disbelief as she (with a smug little look on her face) told me the password. Sure enough, it worked!! Then I watched her through the window go back to class and she was laughing the entire way. What a piece of work. Fast forward two days. I told her to ride the bus and she told me she didn't want to. I told her she was riding the bus. She decided not to get on the bus and the office had to call Mark. Mark decided to teach her a lesson and not go get her (and then I found out and told him the secretaries have to leave!!) so I called his Mom to see if she could grab her (I was babysitting a bunch of kids and had no way to transport us all in). You would think she'd be scared and crying. Oh no, she was having the time of her life, giggling with Kyla at the stunt they'd pulled. And, she has since tried it again since. She is gutsy, I will give her that. Once again, pray for me to have patience!!!

Kate & Meg Stats

I took the girls in for a group "well-child check", which never exactly turns out that way. This is where they were at: Meg: Weight: 21 lbs Height: 29 " Pretty impressive considering she was like 12 pounds at six months. She is actually my only baby to be over 20 pounds at a year I think. At 1, she is the sweetest little thing ever still. She sleeps from 7 to 7 almost every night, can say "mama, dada, and baba" although Launa insists she can say her name too. Her favorite thing to do is to get pushed around in her car she got for Christmas (and she likes it high speed screeching around the corners - we chase the other girls and she laughs so hard she can't catch her breath. It's awesome). She is extremely independent and into everything. She loves to go in rooms and shut the doors so she can get into stuff. When I come in to get her she scampers off and laughs. Her favorite food is meat, pretty much any kind. She always prefers that over anything else. The first year of her life she has been such a joy that it makes me sad it's already over!! Kate: Weight: 37 pounds Height: 41 inches She was actually a champion at the doctor considering she was screaming when she heard me schedule the appointment. I'm pretty sure she is going to be taller than me by the time she is in the 4th grade, but she sure is a sweetheart. Last night, she had a bad fever after getting her flu shot. At 3:30 in the morning when she was delirious and coughing and miserable, she came and got me and said "do you know I love you mama." She is so affectionate and just really, the sweetest little thing.

Allergies, Asthma, Eczema...

Poor Katie Bug has an assortment of ailments. Truthfully, I am amazed that she can be so happy most of the time considering everything she has going on. I know no sleep, constant itching and not being able to breath would make me a GROUCH!! I took her to the Doctor yesterday and he told me that she definitely has asthma. Maybe I am uniformed, but I assumed asthma was usually brought up by sports or exercise, but he informed me that was not the case, and there are multiple reasons people have asthma. I got three different prescriptions and some over the counter cream for all of her problems and $235 later I am supposed to be giving her a minimum of three breathing treatments a day plus a new prescription allergy medicine. Did I also mention that she has pretty severe eczema that she scratches non stop while she sleeps. He enlightened me on the eczema issue and I was baffled I had not heard this information sooner since I have mild eczema myself, so for those suffereing, here is what I found out-- the major culprit for eczema is water and soap. I am never supposed to allow her to be in the tub for longer than five minutes and to only use soap when absolutely necessary. Lotion evidently makes it much worse and cream is always the way to go. I was pretty much 0 for 3 as she baths sometimes twice a day because she is always so dirty and I have been lathering her up with lotion her entire life!! I am really hoping all of this makes some improvements. The child sleeps miserable! She is constantly snorting, rubbing her nose, scratching her eczema, thrashing and pretty much just not sleeping! For those with experience with asthma (especially the allergy induced variety), I would love tips and information. Her allergies don't appear to be food related, but outdoor related. Unfortunately, we live on a farm in the middle of all sorts of fields so it's going to be pretty hard to find relief from that. They can't do more extensive tests and treatments until she is like 7 or 8. I am really praying she grows out of it. Thanks for your advice and experiences!!

Family Pictures -- 2012

For those of you receiving my Christmas card, you will probably see a few of these twice. Sorry!! Woo hoo for Jen for doing these for me!! I have learned some lessons regarding doing family pictures when they include adult men and children. There can be only one outfit and it must be done in an hour or less, otherwise everyone is far too grumpy (especially the grown men)! Jen and her sister, Allie are now doing pictures for others if anyone is interested. They specialize in the outdoor photos. It's $150 for now and that includes 8 photo edits and the CD so you can print whatever pictures you are interested in. My pictures would be typical for the pricing. Alli is also working on a photography studio so that they can do indoor photos in those as well. They also do fantastic newborn photos. They are working on a blog to display ideas but if you show up with poses or props you like, they are always willing to spice it up with new options. Their contact information is as follows: Jen (208) 313-3876 Alli (208) 313-3921

One Tough Little Cookie

Launa had her first day of school on the 27th. She was nervous, but really excited. We went to the school and met her teacher and Launa thought she was great. She is 7 months pregnantly currently. She must be patient because if I had to deal with 25 5-year olds while being seven months pregnant I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty. In the car Launa asked me "so... is she having a baby or is she just fat." I told her she was having a baby and that it was rude to say things like that and she responded "I know, that's why I didn't say it to her, I said it to you." Oh well, I try. Mark and I have been having a power struggle over her riding the bus. Our bus was supposed to come at around 7:15, but came that day at 6:58 AM. Luckily, we were ready, but I didn't want to put her on the bus by herself without Kyla to help her out. Mark was adamant that she was tougher than I thought and he put her on the bus. I went to the school to wait for her to get off the bus, and waited, and waited, and waited. I was told all the buses should be there by 7:35 but there were still lots of buses coming. I ran back to her classroom to see if she got there before me and still couldn't find her. ALL the buses came and went and NO Launa. At this point, I was having a little anxiety. I called the bus garage and they had to find her. They are all supposed to transfer buses at the high school. Evidently, she didn't know what to do (why would she for pete's sake, this is Kindergarten and she's 5) so she just stayed in her seat and didn't move. I'm not really sure if the bus driver realized there was someone still on there or not when I called the bus garage. Anywho, she was all by herself on the bus when the driver brought her back to Wahitis. I thought she would be crying and a mess, but she is and always has been so tough. Not one tear. She was shaking when I got her off, but I walked her to her classroom, got her settled and left 10 minutes later. I went back after school to see if she wanted me to drive her home, and she said no, she wanted to try to ride the bus with Kyla (I did go make sure she transferred at the right place -- it was pandemonium, the whole thing makes me nervous) and they made it home just fine. Rough start to the start of school. That night she asked me why Daddy and I put her on the wrong bus. It about broke my heart. Since then, she says school is okay, but that she doesn't even have time to play any more, and recesses are just NOT long enough!! It's kind-of true, it's all day kindergarten. Her favorite subject is P.E. and she says she hasn't decided what she wants to be when she grows up.

Gearhart Family Reunion

For the semi-annual Quinton family reunion (my Mom's side) we went to Gearhart, which is just a couple minutes from Seaside. This was my kids' first trip to the beach and they thoroughly enjoyed digging in the sand and playing in the water. It was so beautiful and fun -- I definitely could have stayed for a few more days. I anticipated 85 degree weather (yes, I know now that this was unrealistic) and it was more like 65 degrees so I had to swing into Carter's to buy poor Meg some warmer clothes. The kids loved playing with their cousins!! Mark was unable to attend so my parents helped me and were fantastic as usual. My mother-in-law let me take her Denali because it had a DVD player in it. I wish I could say they sat and watched peacefully, but it wasn't the case. Kate screamed so hard she threw up and then peed in her car seat. The other two did a little better. But THANK YOU to my parents for helping me. Without them it would have been miserable, so the help was much appreciated. Here are a few pictures of the trip -- notice my Dad actually giving a big smile in one picture, Meg and I doing the "two-headed monster" (she's in my Baby Bjorn with my jacket zipped up around us) and how you can tell it's slightly windy on the beach. :)

San Poil 2012

We spent the last week at Mark's annual family reunion in San Poil up near Keller. It was actually my best year yet as I actually made it the entire week and we really only had one rough night with Meg. I have had some serious war stories in the past with sick kids, grouchy kids, kids who won't sleep, etc. :) This year the weather was perfect and we had such a great time. The kids loved spending time with their cousins, Meg got spoiled with me holding her the entire time, we thoroughly enjoyed the jet skis and boats, the marble tournament, and lots of snacking and chit chatting with family. Mark's Mom always does matching sweaters for the girls and they turned out adorable. I guess that's one perk to having all those girls!! Before we left I took the girls to my Dad's orchard and picked cherries. They got to ride in the back of the pickup to get the full experience. Can you tell it was a tad bit windy. :)

Odds and Ends

I finally emailed myself all the pictures from iPhone. Since I have the phone available, I am trying to make an attempt of recording and updating my blog better. Here are a fun few pictures of the activities we have been up to. The first is of my Mom, with a goat. I walked into her house and saw a goat on the kitchen counter and her blowdrying it with her hair dryer. I thought the apocalypse was here!! :) She is helping Kameron nurse some of them back to health. One of them, "Bitsy" thinks it's a dog and is running back to her house, drinking out of the fountaain, getting on two legs so it can bang on the door and peek through the windows and snuggling up with her cats on the deck. It's really funny!!

We also attended Tyson's allstate football game. It's the final Mollotte so this was kindof a momentous occasion. Mark is sure sad at the thought of him going off to college. He will be missed!!

And, one of my favorite pictures of Launa and Kate.

Kate -- Need I Say More?

Kate is up to her same tricks. Her latest thing is switching her outfits a bazillion (I'm sure it's a legitimate word:) times a day. As exhibited below, she doesn't actually like to swim in the water, however she does like to get geared up like she's going to... I found a large chair, stacked on top with a small chair leading to the top of the bookshelf. She is still ALWAYS climbing!! She fell off a chair and banged up her lip a little this week as well. Who needs botox when you can just injure your lips and have plump scars? She is obsessed with popcicles and is always on the move, but she sure is irresistible. When we left for Seattle she got potty trained (Yay for Kate!!), and she must be completely naked from the waist down in order for her to go. But she yells "yay!! I go tinkle tinkle!! and then comes out wanting high fives. She has done great and I am so relieved she appears to be over that hump. This last picture is of a gargantuous snake at a lizard show they did at the local library. When it was over no one (including me) was interested in getting near the snake. No one that is, except for Kate. She was insistent and touched this bad boy like it was no big deal. I was holding her hand flinching and looking away.

Meg's Summer Activities

I can't believe Meg aka "the Megster" aka "Meggy Megs" is now over 5 months. How does it go by so much faster when they are out of your body than when you are pregnant? Mark had meetings in Seattle so Meg and I went with him, so this was her first real "trip" anywhere. She hung out in the Baby Bjorn and did great. The photo is taken by Mark. We decided to take a "pedi-cab" (basically they pull you behind a bicyle). You know that poor guy saw Mark and was thinking, "oh no, don't pick me, please don't pick me..." He was impressive and biked us all around downtown.

Meg was loving her little exersaucer (as exhibited in the picture below:) but as of late, she's kind-of over it. She's up on her hands and knees rocking now and is really itching to get moving. I am still hoping it takes a couple more months.

She also has started eating. She pretty much chases the spoon around and is pretty aggressive about it. So far, she is NOT fan of baby rice or oatmeal, and her favorite is the sweet potatoes. Below is her first eating experience. By the end it was a lot more messy!

Her first swim. As a general rule of thumb, I don't take any pictures of myself in a swimsuit, much less post it on a blog. This was however the only one, so you know, just focus on Meg. Launa was the photographer as I wasn't comfortable letting her hang on to Meg in the water. Ah well.

Meg gets carted around A LOT!! Even though I am a stay-at-home Mom we are kind-of still running to and from all the time. She spends a lot of time trying to sleep like this...

And this...

My highlights are when I open my eyes and see her on her tummy right in my face with twinkly eyes and a big smile. How can you not wake up happy when you see that? I love to snuggle in bed with her and nurser her. She really is such a joy!! I just love her to pieces.

Launa Swim & Preschool

Launa had her preschool graduation party and it was a blast!!! There was a gigantic slip and slide that I was itching to go down myself (I restrained, don't worry). She loved it!! We really loved her teacher, Colleen. I have known her my whole life and she handled Launa perfectly. At five, Launa can pretty much write and list all the letters and their sounds and can count to about 40. I feel like she is very prepared for kindergarten and will really enjoy it. She just completed her swim lessons today. She also liked those. It was a little chilly but she was a pretty good sport. She can now swim from the shallow end to the deep end all by herself. It's just a doggy paddle, but she is relentlessly practicing and knowing her, will have it mastered by the end of the summer. Her teacher, Piper, was a girl in our ward so that definitely helped her feel a little more comfortable. She is always shy in new situations. Below are a few pictures of all of the above!! Way to go Launa!!

Living on the Wild Side

So it is now 11:24 AM. The day is only half over and I just caught Kate riding the garage door up and down. She talked Jande's little boy, Hunter, into being the operator while she was the rider. When I yelled at her to stop, she dropped from almost the top and took off running, laughing her little head off the entire way. You'd think the fall would have took something out of her, but nope, she could have cared less. Two hours ago, I had to get out to run something into Launa's preschool. In the 15 seconds that I was gone, she had unbuckled herself, shimmied to the front (there are three car seats in the back of my Camry) and locked my door. Good thing I didn't stay to chit chat because she was moving on to the other doors when I came back and ran around the other side of the car to open the passengers side door before I was locked out with her and the baby in the car! Oh yeah, and she broke a glass cup about oh, an hour ago. All this and it's not even noon!! Did I mention she also peed (not in her bed, but in MY bed) and I am washing all the sheets for about the fifth time this week. Last week, she got into Launa's room, dumped out the entire craft kit and then pooped in Launa's room. Launa hysterically came downstairs screaming that Kate had left a "terd" in her room and everything reeked!!! I went up with the wipes and the sterilant to clean up. We then attempted to clean up the craft kit mess when Launa stepped in an actual terd and had it stuck to her foot. At this point, she was on the brink of lunacy and Kate was hiding (probably laughing knowing her). Truthfully, I was glad it was her and not me. If I had stepped in that, I would have had to have gone to my room and counted to a million for the safety of everyone in the house. Kate has an abundance of nicknames but due to her wild personality and lion's mane head of hair, she has now been referred to most often as "Tarzan". Ironically, that was what they called Mark as a child. Hmmmm.... I wonder where she gets it. :)

A Big Week for "Firsts"

Little Miss Meg (her latest nickname) has started rolling over. When enraged she can really roll over. When she's not, she doesn't see much of a point. I got a decent giggle out of her this week, but I'm still looking forward to her first real "belly laugh". She is sweet as ever, although she really enjoys hanging out in my Baby Bjorn pretty much all day. Launa just learned how to tie her shoe like 35 seconds ago and was so proud of herself. It's amazing how when they finally are interested in learning, everything just starts to click. Her job this summer is caring for our little garden. She is working toward a new bike. We'll see how it goes. Kate continues her thievery. My Mom had just got new Nordstrom shoes for mother's day (seriously, it couldn't have been the $8 flip flops!!:). She called after I had left and asked if I had seen them because she couldn't find them. I asked the girls and no one fessed up (I should preface this with a small story -- Launa once got mad at my Dad and stole his glasses and hid them. They found them like two months later after he already got replacements). Kate did however mention something about the garbage. My Mom spent a couple hours searching high and low, my Dad rifled through every garbage and the dumpster, I looked everywhere-- and, no shoes. I finally bribed Kate by telling her she could have a brownie if she would find Grandma's shoes. She marched outside and into one of my Mom's planting beds and pulled them out of the shrubs. Why this is fun for her baffles me? I think she is notorious at church for being a real "ball of fire". I also had a couple funny conversations with Launa this week as well. She wanted something and when I told her no, she did her usual "Why not?!!" The first two times I explained it to her and about the third and fourth round I finally said "Because I said so!!!!" She looked at me and said "That doesn't even make any sense!!" Then she also got mad and told me "You are NOT a stay-at-home Mommy." I said, "Okay, why not?" She replied with "You are a WORKING Mommy. All you want to do is work. Make the beds. Plant the plants. Pull the weeds... You are a working Mommy". Maybe her perception was a little off. I don't know too many (okay, none) stay-at-home Mommies who are not working Mommies.

Life at the Mollotte House

My friends I grew up with were in town and we had a little BBQ. It was fantastic to see them all and they told me I should really be recording all these little "classics" about my children/animals. These are the happenings for the last week and a half or so.

Jande had her hometeachers over. Prior to the home teachers coming over, Kyla had to run out and get Brayden's shoes back as he had left them on the back porch and Kate came over to run off with them. Fast forward a couple hours. Chad says to their home teacher "um... did you lock your doors?" He said no (this is the country after all), and they looked out the window just in time to see Kate running back toward my house with some loot in her hand. She was then going through the other two cars of the company that we had at our house. She had rummaged through the poor home teacher's wallet and run off with his keys and cell phone. Should I be worried? Needless to say, I had to leave my car in Moses Lake after MY keys went missing while I was digging up flowers at Jodi's. I have a pretty sneaky suspicion who the culprit was. Nothing like a two year clepto! A couple weeks ago, I found her in my father-in-law's car eating the M&Ms he left and standing where she had just peed on the seat. Thank goodness they were leather!!

The commentary between Launa and I:

Launa: "Mom, you remember last night when Kate colored all over the carpet with your lip stick?"

Me: Yes, I remember that very well.

Launa: "You sounded like Mother Gothal from Tangled".

Me: Did I?

Launa: "Yeah. You know that one part, when she yells at Tangled "You are never leaving this tower -- NEVER!! That's what it reminded of when you were telling Kate 'You are never getting in here again -- NEVER!!'

We welcomed three new additions to our household. Two orange kittens and one black one. I was devastated because I knew the cat had had them and thought she had abandoned them. I heard meowing two days later in my dumpster and ran to grab Jande (she is better under high pressure situations :) She rescued the kittens while I ran around like a lunatic. The kitties are in our garage (much to Mark's chagrin) and doing fantastic. The kids and I are loving them. Mark, not so much. He's more of a dog person.

Launa also learned how to ride her two-wheeler. I so appreciate her intensity. When she wants to do something she WILL do it.

Kate riding the scooter is kind-of awesome!! She doesn't like the baby version and can barely see over the big one, but she's a maniac on that thing and flies around the corners like it's nothing, giggling the entire time. I love it.

Jande and I have started getting back into shape. Picture us both attempting yoga, Brayden climbing on her, Launa pulling my pants down (repeatedly), 4 kids trying to do jumping jacks, 2 babies screaming... You know, just a nice relaxing workout. :)

Experiencing Joy

The past couple of weeks have been... exciting. Kate is giving me a run for them money. I have cleaned poop off the front steps, the foyer floor, the table, the tub, multiple diapers, etc. Bleach is my best friend for peace of mind. You get the picture. It's been a little crazy, and therefore, I have been a little crazy. But, amidst all the insanity, I have had quite a few moments of what I would consider absolute joy. A small list is below:

* Meg's first smiles and coos -- one of my all-time favorite "firsts". She has deep, blue eyes and when she smiles I feel my heart flutter with joy. I am so lucky.

* Launa started soccer this year. She loves it, and seeing her love it and be so happy and energetic brings me joy. She has come so far in her behavior and is actually very responsible and helpful (most of the time). She also learned how to ride the mini four-wheeler. I saw her driving Kate around and both of them having the time of their lives. That's what having siblings is all about. It made me happy.

* I had strep throat last week and told the kids "I've had it. Get out of my room and give me some space for 5 minutes (not the best version of myself, but the reality). After my being unkind (to say the least), Kate came to my room, climbed up by me on the bed, took my face in her hand and sincerely said to me "you feel better, Mommy?" So sweet. It amazes me how forgiving and kind children can be, even when I don't deserve it. She also said "Grandma has baby goats? That's awesome!!" I love her sweet voice and the quirky little things she says.

* It's spring which means I don't see a lot of Mark these days, but when he does come home, and he gathers up our little girls and coos and plays with them, it makes me realize again what a good decision I made. Watching him want to be with them even though I know how exhausted he is brings me joy. Kate saw our wedding picture and said "Mommy, that's my Daddy!!!" I said "Yep, that's when we got married." Launa and Kate both told me that I did a good job choosing a Daddy. :)

And that's what my life is about these days -- being somewhere in between crazy and incredibly happy at the life I have and the people who are in it. :)