Young Matt Damon...I Figured Out Why I Love You :)

So I have a major Matt Damon crush, undeniable, over the top.  I like to tease my husband there is only one man on the planet I would ever leave him for and that man is Matt Damon. Three or four years ago Matt Damon came to a film festival we had in town.  It took pretty much all the self control I have to not stalk the man.  Celebrity crush, embarrassing, I KNOW!  A couple of nights ago while Dr. J was reading I started watching Good Will Hunting, which was the first movie I ever saw Matt Damon in.  I hadn't seen the movie in years, in fact the last time I watched it, I only half watched because I was distracted by snuggling with my new boyfriend, Dr. J, a detail that might seem totally irrelevant except this time I realized as I was watching that young Matt Damon looks a heck of a lot like young Dr. J.  Below I present a few examples for your viewing pleasure.  (Don't worry Dr. J, though it pained me to do so I left the topless pictures out :)  It gave me a good laugh and it made me realize probably my love for Matt Damon has a lot less to do with his abilities as an actor and a whole lot more to do with the fact that he reminds me of my husband, a man I've been crazy over the top in love/lust with for the last eleven years.  Today is the anniversary of the first time Dr. J and I ever kissed.  It was his birthday and when he asked me if he was going to get a birthday kiss, I laid one on him that pretty much sealed the deal for both of us.  He likes to tease me he was only asking for a birthday peck but I say if you're going to do something, do it right!  Plus who gives birthday pecks?  Pecks are for friends or sometimes just brief acquaintances from foreign countries, grandpas with scratchy cheeks, grandmas with soft squish cheeks, and babies.  Pecks are not for hot boys who make your chest burn with a smile, your heart rate jump at a glance, and who even eleven years later can make your cheeks burn with a phrase.  I don't know when I knew I wanted him to be mine, maybe the first time we ever talked, but I knew pretty early on, and sometimes you only get one shot at these things, so when he asked for a kiss I wanted to give him one that let him know that casual flirtation on the way to class wasn't all I was interested in :)  I love you Doctor J.  Happy Birthday.  You are the best gift I ever received in my whole life.  I hope I have been the same for you.  As for young Matt Damon, you are still my favorite movie star.  

One Thing In My Life Is Utterly Exhausting...

That thing is cleaning.  It isn't just the physical act, there is this whole mental and emotional demoralization going on.  Cleaning is constantly necessary, and is the one thing I can never get a complete handle on.  The house is constantly in a state of decay, and I feel like I'm just barely holding back the tide.  When I make dinner, I am creating a mess that will need to be cleaned.  While my kids are eating they are dropping little bits here and there that will need to be picked up.  While I'm washing my clothes there are six people wearing outfits that will need to be washed.  That's almost a full load of laundry there.  When my daughter is looking for a "lost" shoe, she is throwing four pairs onto the floor.  While I'm putting groceries away the kids are dumping crackers on the floor.  While I'm reading to the kids, the baby is pulling all the books on the shelf.  And even if the whole house is picked up (which is never) somewhere in a corner somewhere a child is pulling socks off and shoving them into a toy bin.  The kids actually are amazingly helpful.  They will pick up toys.  They love to vacuum, dust, and clean windows.  They will reluctantly clean toilets, and for the most part they remember to clear the table after themselves.  Their hearts are definitely in the right spot, but they are children, and their hands are often up mischief, and their mere existence is slightly messy.  Don't believe me, you should see what they do with hand soap, or for that matter the state of the bathroom after they bathe themselves :)  So for now I'm just tired, and when I'm not tired from doing the cleaning, I'm tired from thinking about it.  Getting up to get started is usually the biggest part of my battle. Here are some cleaning tidbits from today:

 

Gigi covered the floor with five slices of bread broken up into tidbits so that Cheetah could get a "snack" when she wanted one, because nothing says delicious like bread crumbs laced with dirt and toothpicks :)

I constantly have a collection of clothes at the foot of my stairs that I find and throw there throughout the day as my children strip off pieces of clothing and leave them where they fell.  Socks are the worst.  I find them hidden in the toy box, stuffed in shoes, under the couch, behind the TV, in kitchen cabinets, under the table, behind the garbage can in the bathroom, in the backyard.  Captain E will say, "Mom I don't have any clean socks."  "How is this possible," I'll ask, "You have 36 pairs?"  Well I'll tell you how it is possible, they are all hiding in various corners of my house!

I guess I could just give up on cleaning all together but that makes me tired to think about as well.  So I guess I'll just keep slogging through, so I'd better cut this short, because last time I checked I still had a pile of dishes that needed washing!

Chocolate After School

There are some things about being the parent that are lame: Paying bills, folding endless stacks of laundry, fighting with kids about homework, and cleaning up bodily fluids, there is just nothing enjoyable about wiping buns or washing throw up off carpet.  There are other things about being the parent that are marvelous: teaching a child to read, the feel of a sleeping baby on your chest, baby milk breath, when your kids spontaneously tell you that they love you, hearing them sing in their little voices, watching them open a present or get a surprise, bedtime :).  Another great thing about being a parent is you get to chose to eat whatever you like and force it on the rest of the family, and you also get to choose to eat it whenever you want.  If I want stuffed mushrooms at dinner, we are eating stuffed mushrooms.  If I want oatmeal for lunch, it will be oatmeal for lunch.  Sure sometimes they try to complain but what mom says when it comes to food it what goes.  If you don't like it, feel free to be hungry.  Today when the kids got home from school I was making tuxedo strawberries for Young Woman In Excellence.  I finished up the job and still had a bowl full of chocolate, and so I said to the kids, "Bring me stuff from the cabinet you want chocolate on."  So they ended up with chocolate covered pretzels, graham crackers, marshmallows, bananas, and oranges, and I got to sit around and eat chocolate out of a bowl while they danced around in glee.  This is one of the perks of being the mom, if I say we can have chocolate for our after school snack then no one is going to stop me, and chocolate is what we shall have!

Christmas as a Parent

I was sitting with two friends today and we were talking about what "Santa" or in our case "mom and dad" (yes I'm married to one of those I don't want to teach my kids about Santa people, well guess what they just made up their own mythology about the whole thing) was bringing to the kids.  So the moms still had some things they were unsure of but for the most part we were all fairly confident in our choices for our children.  When the conversation turned to spouses I found that everyone kind of had their own way of doing things.  My friend Andrea and her husband make a list of things they needed.  Then they pick something off the list, wrapped it up, and put it under the tree.  This year both of their items happen to be kitchen items that the whole family will enjoy.  My friend Erin and her husband get money from their parents and then just use it to buy stuff for themselves that they want and call it good.  She was wearing a really cute pair of jeans and sweater that she got herself for "Christmas".  She also had a new pair of running shoes she planned to wrap up and put under the tree.  Her husband Matt would be buying himself gifts after he decided what he wanted.  And then there was me.  Yesterday while doing my cyber Monday shopping I bought Dr. J something.  It wasn't big or necessarily so special but it was something he'd mentioned several times wanting.  I know it will be here in a few days but now I'm left with a dilemma.  Do I save it for Christmas or do I give it to him for his birthday?  If I give it to him for his birthday do I get him something else for Christmas?  I've noticed as I've gotten older that Christmas has become much more special but less because of what I get, and I think looking at how my friends and I plan our Christmas shopping for our spouses and ourselves is proof of that.  I'm an adult with my own money and if I need new socks or pajamas or a new toy (my iphone definitely counts as a toy), I usually just buy it for myself.  I don't need Christmas to get those items.  But I do now have the joy of experiencing Christmas through the eyes of my children, and that is far greater then anything I could ever feel on my own.  We'll both have some Christmas money and maybe I'll use mine to get a new pair of running shoes, and maybe he'll use his to buy a new pair of pants, but when we sit down Christmas morning to open gifts it will all be about watching the kids.

PS.  On the off chance my husband is reading this, my slippers have a hole in them :)

Sugar Cookies and a Prayer Request

Bridget Palmer I'm starting to hate this challenge.  I think maybe if I'd written a couple of blog post ahead of time I'd probably be happier...but I didn't.  Instead I'm stuck every night scrambling for what I want to talk about.    The truth is people I've really started to lose it when it comes to basic conversational skills.  The majority of my day is spent talking in high pitched mommy voice, with some interruptions of yelling "GET THAT CUSHION OFF YOU SISTER NOW!". Then when I do get around normal people (aka, people who are not three) I just start blurting out all kinds of tidbits, like I'm never going to have the opportunity to speak again.  Then I come home and think, "Why the heck did I share that, it didn't even pertain to the conversation being had.  People must think I'm nuts."  So excuse me, but I guess this blog post, and frankly the whole blog sort of resemble my true voice.  Watch out I don't start yelling about wearing socks outside.  Some random things I want to talk about.

Captain E's report card.  He came home with his second term report card.  Straight A's except one subject. Spelling.  My son is getting an F in spelling.  Now frankly we are sort of at a loss on what to do with this subject.  It isn't to say I don't see the value in spelling, but he is putting more time into studying this subject then any other and we are just not seeing any progress.  His teacher has tried several different things on how she is testing him but nothing has seen improvements yet.  I want the school to test him to see if has some type of learning struggle that is yet diagnosed but they seem resistant, maybe because he is doing so well in everything else.  I'm proud of the rest of his grades.  He works hard and is a sharp little thing.  He just can't spell.  Bring on spell check and laptops is all I have to say!

I yelled at Peach today.  Got right up in her face and was just mean.  It made me really sad, even while I was doing it, but I was also so frustrated about the fact that she insist on me putting her on the potty and if I can't for some reason, like maybe I'm nursing a baby or going to the bathroom or eating or whatever, then she'll just go stand in the bathroom and pee her pants.  It drives me crazy!  So I yelled at her.  And it made my head hurt and I felt like a horrible person, because for the most part today I'd kept my cool with her and her crazy, stubborn three year old ways.  But then I lost it on her.  So I put myself in a timeout but I still felt like crap, but then I was also still mad.  I'm always a little bit shocked at how hard this parenting thing is.  I wish I could be laid back, or not evil, or just more patient.  I worry I'm setting my kids up to be like me, not teaching them right.  It is a nerve wracking job being a parent.

I found this sugar cookie recipe in my e-mail again today.  My sister sent it to me years ago and it is by far the best sugar cookies I've ever had.  I actually like these and I hate sugar cookies, so that is saying a lot.  With Christmas just around the corner a good sugar cookie recipe is a must have.

2 C. Sugar
4 Cubes margarine or butter
6 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla
7 C. Flour
6 tsp. baking powder

Cream sugar, margarine and eggs.   Add vanilla.  Sift flour and baking powder together and add to creamed mixture.  Makes a sticky dough.  Roll out 1/4 in thick in lots of flour.  Cut out and place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 4-6 minutes.  Bake on 2nd shelf.  If cookies are brown on they bottom they are overdone.

Finally and most importantly prayers for my Mops friend Cari and her family.  Her husband went in for surgery today to remove a returning brain tumor.  The prognosis is not good.  She is an amazing woman with an amazing story.  You can read more about her on her blog www.andyandcari.blogspot.com.  I get really frustrated with life sometimes.  I get overwhelmed and wrapped up in the piles on every surface, on the laundry that doesn't get done, on the husband who is late home from work, or the children who are stubborn.  Sometimes it can be easy to forget how sweet life is, what a blessing each moment with our loves ones really is.  Cari's young family has had some crazy struggles and her positive attitude and faith are an inspiration to me.  If you have a moment please say a prayer for her and her family.

"Do You Remember When The Whole Family Took a Bath Together?"

Captain E asked Gigi at the table today.  "No" she said, "When was that?"  "Um, that never happened," I piped in, "We are a family of six, how would we all fit in a tub together?"  It wasn't when we had all the kids." He says, "It was back when we were just me, you, Gigi, and dad."  "That never happened," I told him.  But the thing is my face was getting a little red because actually I did have this nagging little memory of sitting in a bath tub with all four of us, Captain E would have been about three, Gigi would have been a few months old.  In fact the more I pull at the thread of this memory, the more starts to percolate into my mind, and I can actually see the ordering in which we were in the tub.  "No!" I say more firmly, shaking my head for emphasis and to force the memory out, "That did not happen.  Even if there were just four of us, how could four people fit into a tub?"  "Well," he says, giving me a once over with his eyes, "We all use to be a lot smaller."

Good Jobs Come At the Price of Time

What do you think of this eye.  Seriously how many times am I going to have pink eye?  I've decided I have a chronic staph infection that just keeps rearing it's ugly head.  My husband says I'm just having recurrent eye infections.  No one else gets them though and while they are exceptionally painful I guess I should be glad they don't last too long.  I asked the doctor if they have anything to do with the cornea scratch Peach gave me over a year ago.  He says no, but the truth is I don't believe him.  I put this picture here because when you are the wife of a doctor the world doesn't stop for you just because you are sick or in a little pain.  Good jobs don't come cheap, and my part of the bargain in this good job is that I am it when dad is working all his crazy hours.  I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

 I recently read a blog post of a friend where she said that her husband was going to school so that they could make a lot of money and have more free time and I just sort of chuckled to myself.  I know a lot of people who think that going to school will lead to good paying jobs and more free time, but my experience has been that very rarely do good paying jobs come with lots of free time. Now the opposite is definitely true, you can bust your buns for a job that doesn't pay so well, but there is no guarantees that more school (and student debt) is going to give you more free time.  If you want to make good money, you are going to pay somehow.  In medicine that cost comes in money and in time.  And so since dad spends most of his time at work mom spends most of her time being THE PARENT.  I have a dream job.  At least I have one that I enter when I'm doing my security check online.  Sometimes I think about that job.  There are many things I would like in it, and quite frankly many things I would hate.  The one thing it definitely would not guarantee me though would be more free time, because the thing is, work is work and if you want to make good money you are going to have to work hard :)

With a four day holiday weekend mom has been scrambling for things to do on cold fall days that will keep older children from fighting with each other.  Yesterday we amused ourselves making star crayons out of the nubs we have laying around.  My friend Nancy had seen this on pinterest and decided to give it a try.  Unfortunately she started her microwave on fire when she put metallic silver crayons in the mix.

 Pealing the crayons took a good amount of time.  We learned that Roseart crayon wrappers come off easy but Crayolas are a major pain!

 We then cut the crayons into smaller pieces using a pair of scissors and the kids put them in the silicon pan, mixing the colors they wanted.

 We started them out in the microwave but after three minutes nothing had happened.  I went online and read that it took half an hour which I guess makes sense since they wouldn't exactly have a high water content in them.  That was just too long so I stuck them in the oven at 200 degrees for five minutes.  Hurrah, they were melted!

 We took a break to eat pie for lunch.  After all this is a holiday.  

 Then we popped the crayons out.  The kids love them and it was much less eventful then Nancy's crazy kitchen fire.  

We then had plenty of more time to spare so we set up the Christmas Tree.  

 Cheetah found it and adores it.  I find myself constantly picking ornaments up and putting them back on and she has already broken one of the bottom branch.  It will be a long December.

Today we went to swim lessons, did a little Christmas shopping, and then we put lights on the house.  My life makes me laugh sometimes.  I have a huge fear of heights so this was not my ideal job but if not me, then who.  So I got up on that silly ladder and got them up.  The kids ran around the base of me yelling out suggestions and telling me there were cold.  Now I'm letting them watch too many movies.  So I need to finish this post and get back to my job.  After all, Dr. J is on call tonight so it is up to this parent to fix dinner, do the night routine alone, finishing the laundry, get my Young Woman's lesson done, get a backdrop for young woman in excellence finished, clean up the house, take the kids to church alone, do all the meals, and craziness together and then hopefully tomorrow night dad will be able to be with us when we eat dinner.  It's not called a job because it's easy :)

I Laughed So Hard I Cried

Every Friday my friend Bridget post links to the best things she's seen on the internet all week.  Some weeks there are a lot of good things and people make tons of comments and argue in her comment link (can you tell I come from a big family arguing with a bunch of people = a good time) some weeks they only get a few comments.  This week was a particularly good one, and while there were lots of things I loved, colorized photos of iconic black and whites that have convinced me that President Lincoln probably was a Vampire Hunter or a vampire, Stephen Colbert's General Hospital explanation of the Petraeus affair, and this lovely video of William Shatner singing about the dangers of fried turkey, this little post took the cake; 31 Kids Who Are Too Clever For Their Own Good.  I was laughing so hard I was in tears by the end.  Also while we are talking about things I think are totally hilarious, Colbert's Report on Sonia Sotomayor and I want a career as a princess cracked me up...sort of in a sad way, but still made me laugh.

Our Thanksgiving in 16 Pictures