Have you ever had something that you needed to do but kept putting it off? And because you have been putting it off, you start to avoid it because of the guilt that is building up inside of you?
Well, that's me. Right now. And I'm sorry. I planned on writing last week. I planned on writing on Monday and pretty much ever day after. I feel horribly guilty. Will you forgive me?
To make it up to you, I thought I'd introduce you to another member of our family.
I'm pretty sure our dog is related to Houdini. He has amazing skills when it comes to escaping not only his dog run but our yard that has a 6 foot high wood fence. But that's not all. I think his neck is double jointed because he can take name tags off all by himself. His name tag disposing talent is expensive so he's now the proud new owner of a chip. I'm pretty sure he won't be able to lose it. (I couldn't watch when the doctor put it in. It was one of those big hollow needles.)
Although our dog acts like Houdini, his name is Jamba. Yes, he was named after the smoothie shop, Jamba Juice. Our children were young when he joined our family and couldn't say many words but they all could say Jamba. They love smoothies. So I'm pretty sure that you can guess his nickname. Yup. We ofter refer to him as "the Juice" when we're not talking to him.
Jamba is the friendliest dog you'll ever meet. I don't think he's met an enemy in his life. Everyone is his friend. He won't bite but he may lick you to death. And he loves to cuddle; with me. My husband finds it very frustrating. We'll all be outside and Jamba will refuse to run and play. All he wants to do is cuddle.
Jamba also loves zucchini and carrots. He enjoys long walks. And is currently single. If you know of any cute girl dogs out here in Idaho let me know. We'll set them up on a date.
Ella
© Ella's Place
1. When you watch an old western movie, there's almost always a stand off on the main road that goes through town. As they face off about 50 paces away from each other you usually see a tumble weed blowing across the road somewhere. That tumble weed blowing across the dusty road is iconic for the old Wild West. I'm here to tell you that it still happens. Not the standoff, but the tumble weed blowing across the road. In fact, the other day I had 8 tumble weed blow across the road in front of me in just 10 minutes. Everytime it happens I smile.
2. My baby gained 1 lb. in 2 weeks!!! This might not sound very exciting but it is. He only gained 1/2 lb. from his 4 month doctor visit to his 6 month visit. I was worried.
3. Sweet Cheeks sandwich of the day grosses me out. She made a ketchup sandwich with dill pickles and a slice of ham. Yuck! Ketchup and ham do NOT belong together. And what's up with a ketchup sandwich? I like ketchup but not that much.
4. Can I just say that I really dislike changing insurance companies. It frustrates me!
5. My baby is sitting up all on his own now.
6. Many times I have caught my baby sitting up just checking out everything and then he sees his toes. I'm not sure if he thinks they're extra thumbs but as soon as he spies his toes, he leans down and starts eating them. It's so cute!
7. Have I mentioned that I LOVE coconut? Well, my husband just realized that my favorite candy is the Brach's neapolitan coconut sundaes. I now have a steady supply. This is a bad thing.
8. I needed to run into the library for a few minutes and decided that my kids would be okay just hanging out in the car for such a short time period. I was wrong. I came back to find my 1 year old jumping in the driver's seat, blood splattered all over my daughter and lots of yelling. My oldest son had decided to punch his sister and gave her a bloody nose. Don't feel too bad for her because she gets a bloody nose if you accidentally bump her nose. She has a lot bloody noses. They were yelling not because her nose was bleeding but because they couldn't find a towel to staunch the blood flow. She was holding an empty gum packages underneath her nose to catch everything. And my 1 year old had moved to the front seat in order to avoid the madness that was happening in the backseat. With all of this craziness happening, they woke up the baby. It was quite funny.
9. My 1 year old can walk better in high heels than my 23 year old sister.
10. Sweet Cheeks gets to register for kindergarten this month. She's so excited!!! I asked what kind of back pack she wants and she said...."Striped!" Where do you find striped back packs?
Ella
© Ella's Place
I love my children. I love the fact that I get to stay at home and be there for them. I love laughing and dancing with them. I love watching them turn into amazing little people. But there are times when I get frustrated. Times when I just want space from them.
Last week was one of those times that I just wanted space from my children. There was no specific reason for it either. I was just tired of picking up toys and whatever else they decided needed to decorate the floor that day. I didn't really want children clinging to me every single moment.
So there I was, feeling closed in while serving lunch to my 5 & almost 2 year old. I was putting pretzels on their plates and then my daughter said the most random thing.
Her: Mom, you know you're serving God.
Me: What do you mean?
Her: Well, because you're serving us. You serve God when you serve others.
After establishing what a smart girl she is, I thought about what she said. I started to feel less closed in.
After lunch I sent the two of them to take a bath. After I handed them both their own wash cloth, she looked me straight in the eye and said, "You're still serving God." She then turned away and started splashing her brother, acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
In the days after this I've thought a lot about what she said.
I've come to realize many things. First of all, I have an amazing daughter who most definitely listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost that day. How else could she have known what to say at that moment to uplift me and make me feel better? Not just once but twice.
Secondly, my Father in Heaven is aware of me and the little things going on in my life. Sometimes it's so easy to feel like He has so much to do and so many people to help that your small feeling of frustration won't be noticed. But He does notice. He does care.
I also gained a new way to view taking care of my children. Everytime I helped tie their shoe or washed their face, I was really helping my Father in Heaven. It's not a new concept but the time it was said by the person who said it has had a rather profound effect upon me.
I haven't yet finished wrapping my mind around this new concept. I'm not yet sure how it will change me as a Mom and as a person. I only know that it has changed me.
Ella
© Ella's Place
I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned how wonderful my husband is but can I tell you how amazing he is too? It's true; he is AMAZING. It's not only because he started celebrating Valentine's Day on February 1st; I got my first Valentine's card in the mail then. Or the fact that he took off the whole day yesterday to watch the children so that I could do whatever I wanted; I slept in 'til 11:45 (utter bliss). Nope, it's because he didn't get upset that our son threw up on him as soon as he walked in the door tonight.
My 1 year old must have caught a stomach bug and spent the day being miserable. He was so excited to see his Daddy! Not only does he love his Daddy but Daddy is a good cuddler and all my son wanted to do today was to cuddle. So my son met him at the door. As soon as he was in his arms, it happened.
Now, being covered in foul smelling body fluids is never fun but as soon as you walk in the door is even worse. You're just not prepared for it. I was very impressed that my husband didn't yell or get mad. He just changed his clothes, clean up the mess and cuddled up to my son again.
It just made my heart happy.
I am fully aware how fortunate I was to marry my husband. I must have done something good in my childhood to deserve him.
Ella
© Ella's Place
Like most little boys, my oldest son was enthralled by dinosaurs at a young age. It started when he was one and hasn't really stopped. A few years ago he discovered a dinosaur movie about a SuperCroc; a 40 foot crocodile that ate dinosaurs. He was utterly fascinated! It made dinosaurs real to him.
In 2nd grade, his teacher introduced him to the Internet. He used to rush through his work on a special website so that he could search out more information about SuperCroc. Being the smart kid he is, he discovered lots of stuff about SuperCroc. He even found out that there are life like replicas of the SuperCroc in a traveling exhibition. He decided he must visit them! Unfortunately, the exhibits were disbanded and all the life like replicas were sent to museums outside of the United States. He was heartbroken!
After a little digging, I found an intact fossil at the Oakland California Zoo. Of course he wanted to go right now. Being poor, I advised him that wasn't possible but I made a deal with him; if he could earn/save enough money to pay for his airline ticket then I would pay for everything else.
Well, the time has come to make reservations. I have to say that I'm quite excited! And a little obsessed. I've never been to California or the San Francisco/Oakland area. I don't know anyone there and have a whole bunch of questions about hotels, things to do and what the best way is to get around. I'm sure everything will work out. I just like to plan things out in detail so that there are minimal things that can go wrong. It's just who I am.
The best part is that it will just be my son and myself. Much to the dismay of my other children, they will staying at home for time with Dad. I told them they could come if they had enough money for an airline ticket. They won't be coming.
SuperCroc here we come!!!!!!
Ella
© Ella's Place
It's finally happened. My oldest son has his first official Valentine. Her name is Hannah. She's in his class. Here's how it went down:
He wrote a note asking her, "Will you be my Valentine?" At the bottom he made 2 boxes; one labeled yes and the other no. He then gave this note to her while he pretended to grab his journal.
He was nervous. Why? Because like most girls, she showed the note to her friends. Before he knew it, a quarter of the class had seen the note. How embarrassing! Thank goodness she had already checked the yes box before she showed it to everyone.
My son is all hyped up when she gives him the note and he realizes he has a Valentine! So he shows it to 2 people he trusts (his words, not mine). Well, then she gets mad at him for showing the note to someone else. (I laugh now but I can totally remember what it was like. All the drama and angst. How it was all so important!)
Realizing he did something wrong by her avoidance of looking at him, he sent another note asking if she would forgive him with the yes/no boxes at the bottom. She, being a girl, checks both boxes. So now he's worried and confused.
He continues to find excuses to walk by her desk trying to see what he could possibly do to make things right. He even passes another note asking for her to forgive him but this time she doesn't answer. Then one of her friends advises my son to just stop talking to her.
At this juncture, he realizes he needs help. He sends his friends into the fray to help calm down the situation. The best part is that his friends immediately went to the girls that they had crushes on to find out what was going on.
Let's just say, things continued in this manner for a while.
But don't worry because by the end of the day everything ended well. She forgave him. He still has a Valentine. And his friends had an excuse to talk to the girls they liked.
I will admit that through most of my son's storytelling I was laughing on the inside while trying to be supportive and understanding on the outside. But seriously, how cute can it get. The best part is that this whole boy/girl thing hasn't changed since I was his age. It all happened the EXACT same way.
Let's just say I'm really glad I don't have to go through all of that again.
Ella
© Ella's Place
1. I got to spend this past weekend with my Grandma. I love my Grandma! She has such a capacity for loving. She also has a compulsive need to feed you; it's nice to know where I got that particular trait from.
2. I'm afraid that the muscles in my neck are trying to turn into marble; at least that what my husband says when he tries to give me a neck massage.
3. I finally have an appointment with my favorite massage therapist. She is AMAZING!
4. My one year old is starting to ask to sit on the potty!!!!!! By "asking" I mean he goes into the bathroom, hits his diaper and then points to the toilet. It may not be verbal but I'll take it.
5. My oldest son participated in his first pinewood derby with his Crocodile car. I thought he had the coolest car there.
6. My baby is half scooting- half crawling now. One minute he's sitting next to me and the next he's all the way across the room. Does being mobile mean he's not a baby anymore?
7. My reading urge is slowing down. Thank goodness! I'm only reading 3 books a day now.
8. I've been craving caramel corn for a while now. Why is it so delicious?
9. I'm starting to think about my garden. I've been trying for years to grow a watermelon for years but Idaho just isn't the best climate for it. Should I give up or go for it again?
10. I've officially conceded the Battle of the Thumb to my baby.
Ella
© Ella's Place
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