MY MAN

What is his name? Jason, Honey

How long have you been married? 8 years

Who long did you date? 9 months

How old is he? 32

Who eats more sweets? Me, hands down.

Who said I love you first? Me. Surprise, surprise.

Who is taller? He is, by 2 inches.

Who can sing better? Do, Re, Me, Me, Me, ME!

Who is smarter? Depends on the subject.  Booksmart...me.  Common sense and handiness...Jason.

Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but he does his work clothes and will throw in a load now and then.

Who pays the bills?  Me. Unfortunately.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?  He does.  

Who mows the lawn?   We both do.  We fight over it.  I like mowing the lawn.

Who cooks dinner? Me. That's why he's so skinny.

Who drives? Me usually, except on long trips.

Who is more stubborn? Me for sure.

Who kissed who first? Me.  Are we noticing a pattern here?

Who asked who out first? Guess.

Who proposed? He did, sort of.

Who has more siblings? Him.

Who wears the pants? Moi!

I tag Aubrey, Sherelle and Pioneer Woman.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Dr.Pepper

genealogy

lily of the valley

watkins double strength vanilla

children of the promise series

converse high tops

air wick fresh mate

gone with the wind

gap jeans

gain original scent laundry detergent

mr.clean magic eraser

clorox toilet wand

whoever invented this should be sainted

are you serious?

really?  is this what my life is supposed to be?  i am so exhausted!  i literally have thrown the same bottle away three times today!  and this is what every day is like.  i know that motherhood is hard and most of it is completely unflattering and thankless, but seriously?

i have spent my entire morning cleaning and trying to locate some horizontal surfaces.  it's days like this i want to just throw everything away and sit in an empty room.  too much stuff, not nearly enough room, time or patience.  

maybe i should try this tactic

i have surrendered the fantasy of a perfectly clean house.  it's not happening and i'm ok with that, but this is unacceptable.  and i absolutley cannot keep up with it.  am i the only one who notices or just the only one who cares?  

i've been reading alot of blogs from other mothers.  lds and non.  and i feel like i am failing.  am i honestly supposed to want this for eternity?  and i feel horrible for saying it and thinking it.  but i'm being honest.  all of this "stuff" just doesn't come easily and naturally to me.  does that make me a bad mother?

a dear friend of mine says that all of these unpleasantries of motherhood, ie. dishes, laundry, poop, barf, soggy bread, boogers, black eyes, etc. etc. is all about teaching us humility.  ok.  let's think about that....

humility.

i don't get it.  and if i am supposed to be learning humility, what are all the men supposed to be learning?  i am really struggling.

i am trying my best to be the best wife and mother that i can be, but that doesn't mean i like it or that i'm good at it.  and if this is my sole purpose in life...i want to cry!

seriously

Objects

this week flew by and i've already written two papers for english and read a ton.  it's good though, my brain feels full.  i finally decided on a major that i'll hopefully stick with....social science/history teaching grades 5-12.  i am really excited to begin more specific courses.  here's my funny essay for english.  we were asked to write about an object that is important to us.

Object of my affection?  To be perfectly honest I am surprised by the amount of difficulty I have had trying to decide on an object to write about.  Initially, my plan was to write about something I could never give up.  This plan was thwarted when I realized that you probably weren’t referring to human beings as being one of these objects.  With that plan changed I began trying to come up with some object from my childhood.  It was upon this thought that I realized that objects themselves really are not that important to me.  This seems strange given my entire house is filled to the brim with objects.  That is when it struck me…Dr. Pepper.  This is the one object that I wish I could give up.

            After giving this subject a fair amount of thought, it has come to my realization that it is the feelings and sensations associated with objects or are a direct result of some object that get my attention.  Let’s take for instance, my personal favorite, Dr.Pepper.  For one who has trouble with decision in the first place, I am realizing as of late, Dr. Pepper is the perfect solution.  This particular soda combines 23 different flavors resulting in a completely unique taste.  A little bit cola, a little bit cherry, it quickly satisfies my indecision.  As for sensations, it is the crispness, almost biting, which is beyond refreshing. So now that my advertising is over, let us move on to the nitty-gritty.

            For the last several years, we will use two for sanity’s sake; I have purchased at least one Dr. Pepper per day.  I always by the plastic bottles, because they are closable and cans inevitably get spilled when you have four children around.  At $1.25 per bottle that averages out to $8.75 per week.  Taking that a step further, that soon becomes $455 per year.  Yikes!  I should be purchasing stocks in the Pepsi~Cola bottling company at that rate.

            Of course it would make more sense to purchase my sodas in bulk or at least 12 at a time from the local supermarket.  Oh how simple that seems.  But I, always choosing the more difficult road, as well as being extremely stubborn will continue to buy my Dr. Pepper from the machine.  It is always there, always cold, never forgotten on the kitchen table.

            However, I did mention wanting to give it up, didn’t I?  I do.  Honestly, I do.  The sheer numbers should be enough to convince me to at least cut back.  And I have not even mentioned the “other” numbers yet.  You know those numbers.  That’s right brothers and sisters, we are talking about calories.  Do I even need to go there?  I’m afraid what the calculations of those numbers might do to my mental well being.

            So you can have my car, my t.v. or even my computer.  Just leave me in my own private Idaho with my Dr.Pepper.

Hold Onto Your Hats...

it's gonna be a bumpy ride!  well, the new semester started yesterday.  i'm afraid i may be in over my head.  yikes!  13 credits is alot on it's own, but then add four kids, a husband, and a house.  but i shall overcome! (i hope).

we had the scrapper's haven christmas party on saturday night.  it was a murder mystery and was a total hoot!  i was a french spy who uses her wyles to seduce men and then kills them with her hatpin.  i had so much fun with this part.  i remembered how much i love acting.  here's some pics..

malachi's been having fun pushing josie around in his dumptruck

Carried Away

i may be guilty of getting carried away with this whole thing, but they are just too darn cute!  here's what i made today...

these could be used on cards or on scrapbook pages.  aren't they fun?!  then i made this wedding card, not using the cricut.

Paper Dolls

i played with paper dolls all day today.  how wonderful.  paper dolls is a new cartridge i got for my cricut.  it was my christmas present to myself  (since my loving husband didn't get me anything).  what's a cricut?  an electronic cutting machine used for scrapbooking...

if you are a scrapbooker, you need one of these!  right janet?  

my children are driving my crazy!  they are all fighting and crying and whining.  i wish i had more patience.  i certainly have more that i used to, but still, not nearly enough!

saturday i had to work and i asked jason to bathe the kids...i guess he was trying to save time by trying this new method..

not exactly what i had in mind, but it works.  so much for my sanctuary.

TGIM

thank goodness it's monday!  believe it or not...i actually like mondays.  i don't know why.  i look forward to getting out of the house after a long weekend, i guess.  

josie was helping me vacuum this afternoon.  she just loves to be a "big girl"

Grumpy Old Bird

my five year old son called me a, "grumpy old bird" tonight.  oh my.  i wonder where he heard that.  i guess if that's the worst thing he calls me, that's not too bad.  he also informed me that he drank "too much eggnog and that's why his foot fell asleep"  if only life were that simple.

i went to the bookstore and bought my books for the new semester, which starts on the 14th.  $379!!  good grief.  i better learn a lot.  i'm taking english, political science, history of the u.s. and natural disasters.  it should be interesting.  i'm anxious to get back at it.  wish me luck.

i really hope mitt romney wins the election.  he probably won't i realize, but he would be a great president.  not to mention that he has nice teeth.  i also like thompson.  not to keen on the old lady or huckabee.  it should be an interesting road.

jason is going to start building my scrap room in the basement.  i want it to look like this...

and this...

hey...a girl can dream!

A Late Christmas Post

i know christmas has been over for days, but i finally got my pictures pulled off my camera. so without furthur adieu...

my lame attmept at trying to get a decent picture of all four munchkins.

martha stewart

pure joy.  what every man wants...a dumptruck!

clearly this is impossible

third time's the charm

Happy New Year

well it's over. the frenzy of the holidays is over. i have already packed away the christmas tree and stockings. now it's on and into the thick of winter in minnesota. it's -2 right now.

after a quiet drive home from the twin cities tonight, we returned to a smoke filled house.

why would your house be smokey you might ask?

well, because in our quest to be ecologically responsible, we purchased a corn burning furnace. what a stupid/brilliant idea that was! when the dumb thing actually decides to work...it smokes us all out. no wonder i've had a headache for a year.

so i had an epiphany on the way home. i want to start doing genealogy for people. i love family history and want to get others excited about it as well.

this has been a pretty random post, but that's me...random.