Interruption and 3 stories

I interrupt my ruminations to share a little story. A sad story. And a sweet story. And then maybe, to make my sister laugh, a funny story.

SAD STORY:

My sister and her husband have a dog. Mocha. She is a large, (I mean large) chocolate lab with the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen. I remember meeting her for the first time when she was a puppy. She could make a dog lover out of anyone.

Last night Mocha was outside jumping and barking at some of the neighbor dogs. All of a sudden the barking stopped and the yelping started. And their sweet dog dragged herself back into the house…because her back legs wouldn’t move.

They (Mocha’s parents) immediately called the emergency vet and took her in. They think that Mocha was jumping up in the backyard by the fence. By the fence where she has worn a compacted trail of snow. And that snow has been freezing and melting and freezing again. And it is now ice. So they think she was jumping up and when she was trying to land, slipped, and landed on her back.

The x-rays showed no broken bones. But they think the trauma has caused swelling and compression on her spinal cord. Ibuprofen and steroids might take the swelling down and give Mocha the use of her legs back. it might not. And if THAT is the case, (as in, the medicines don’t help) well……

So right now it’s a “wait and see”. So we’ll see. Poor Mocha. (and poor Ed and Rachel.)

Hang in there.

SWEET STORY:

I was talking with my sister and Miles overheard me talking about Mocha and picked up that she was hurt. After I hung up the phone he asked me.

“Mommy…Mocha okay?”

“No, Mocha has an owie.”

“Why?”

“She slipped on the ice and hurt her back, and now she can’t run and jump and play.”

“Oh…Mommy…I know…Mocha needs a go a doctor.”

“Yes, they took her to a doctor. But sometimes doctors can’t fix all of the owies.”

“Oh…Mommy…I know! I haf a say a pwayer! yeah…I say a pwayer, then Mocha be happy.”

Oh my…he is just the sweetest little thing.

I love you Ed and Rachel and Mocha…

STORY TO MAKE MY SISTER LAUGH:

He is a sweet little bugger. (emphasis on the bugger.)

Yesterday we were playing in the living room and he knocked over our guitar hero guitar, and it landed sharply on the top of my foot. It HURT!! but I only cried a little. I “played it up” and pretended to be hurt.

Miles: “uh-oh…sorry mom. I kiss it better.”

Mom: Thanks, I feel better.

Miles: No mom, you need a doctor. I know!!! I a doctor! I go get my tools!

And this is how he returned…

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words

P.S.

…I exclaimed “ a saw??!! you’re going to saw my foot?!”

He thought about it. very mischievously. for about one whole minute. then said “Ok mom, but just for pretend.”

Gee. Thanks.

P.P.S. I almost peed my pants. It was THAT funny.

Ruminations on Christmas

So, lets talk about Christmas shall we?

*Yes, it’s almost February.* *Yes, I am just getting around to writing about Christmas*

But let’s just roll with it.

So here’s the deal. When I said I was apprehensive about spending Christmas “alone” this year…that was an understatement. It kind of freaked me out. But certainly not because I didn’t want to spend alone time with my darling little family. (obviously!) Just imagine for a minute my first 30 Christmases. They were spent in a little Wyoming town, surrounded by both sides of my entire extended family. Christmases were a big deal. On Christmas eve we went to Aunt’s and Uncles houses, and sometimes everyone came to our house. On Christmas morning after presents, Grandma and Grandpa Barnard would stop by to see our loot. THEN…we would all head down to Grandma Hirst’s house with the entire Atkinson clan for our Christmas brunch/lunch/dinner. If that wasn’t enough family time, on the 26th, the entire Barnard clan would arrive on our doorstep to celebrate my Grandpa’s Birthday. We’re talking days and days full of fun, food, and family.

For 30 years. So to even consider the possibility that Christmas would feel like Christmas with only THREE PEOPLE…well, that’s just crazy talk.

So I kind of freaked. And when that happens, there is only one thing to do.

To prevent myself from becoming completely unhinged, I go into hyper drive. Planning and planning and planning until every.single.last.detail. is in place. Because if there is something I can’t control…I spend an exorbitant amount of energy trying to control everything else. (Thank you college Psychology.)

But I did it. And now it’s over.

Now then…let’s all breathe a sigh of relief. Ahhhhhhhhhh……

Mike was a good sport. He helped put up the Christmas tree, and lasted through about the first 4 boxes of tree ornaments. My general rule for decorating my Christmas tree is to keep throwing up ornaments until Mike says “WOAHHHHH…you are going way overboard here.” And then I hang about 200 more.

But oh….in’t it purty???

But a purty tree…you KNOW I couldn’t stop there. Because, I secretly consider myself a Martha Stewart wannabe. And so I asked myself, Martha? ummm, I mean Sarah, what would Martha do?

Set the table. Definitely set the table.

So I headed to my favorite stores, Home Goods and Target (TarJAY…if you are Oprah) and picked up a few chargers, napkins, napkin rings, and a table runner. And at my least favorite store (Wal-Mart, blech.) I bought some salad plates. But they WERE adorable. And they DID match with everything I had already bought. And they were only 2 dollars. 2 DOLLARS!!! An essential investment I say. (At least that is how I justified it to the hubs.)

So I set the table. Nearly a week before Christmas.

You might be thinking “Oh no she din’t”…

And to you I say “OH YES I DID!”

The fact that we ate on TV trays on the couch in front of the TV for a week didn’t bother me at all when I looked across the room into my dining area and saw this.

It was enough to make me feel all warm and happy and Christmasey inside.

And Confuscious says: “If mama ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy.”

at least that’s what I’ve heard.

You can’t have a set table and not think about food. No you can not. So my next endeavor was the menu. Something festive, something special, something we could build a tradition out of. And most importantly, something that wouldn’t force me to be in the kitchen the entire Christmas eve day cooking, and the entire Christmas eve cleaning up.

Thank goodness for the Sister’s Cafe.

so I “borrowed” their Chicken a la King (Chicken for the King). It was wonderful, and I love what it represents for a Christmas meal.

Photo from www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com

I combined that with my own recipe for Spinach and pomegranate salad with raspberry vinagrette dressing, and some fresh pineapple spears.

And for desert, Mud Pie.

(photo from www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com)

*Sidebar: Just in case you have been living under a rock, I love the Sisters Cafe. And feel it necessary to thank them for minimizing my holiday unhingement. So thanks.*

end sidebar

Christmas dinner is important, but my favorite meal is Christmas breakfast. So I combined my most favorite things.

Eggs Benedict, oven crisped bacon, freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit, and scones…glorious scones. Not those fancy schmancy English cakey variety scones. No way. I’m talking about all American, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, deep fried to perfection scones. With raspberry honey butter. NOT good for me…but OHHH so good. And besides, Christmas only comes once a year. (That’s how I justified it to my thighs, and derriere.)

A few more Christmas essentials…

And back to the food.

Every year I plan elaborate neighbor gifts. And ever year after I have washed my mixer for the eleventh time, I swear I will never do it again.

And the vicious cycle begins again. So this year I made my (secret recipe) chocolate chip cookies, Oreo truffles, homemade turtles, and caramels. All wrapped up in festive little tins.

*Note to self – next year, when you get the urge to spend forever in the kitchen baking treats…JUST SAY NO!*

Now HERE is where I would show you all the pictures I took of Christmas morning. But there are none. I didn’t take a single one. (GASP!)

But lest you despair, I’ll tell you we recorded the whole thing. Because I knew I would much rather watch Miles’ excitement opening his presents again and again. So I decided not to bust out the camera and just enjoy the morning.

I could go on and on.

In my defense, I told you I had a lot to say.

But frankly…I’m spent.

(don’t deny it. you are too.)

I’ll spare you any more. (tonight.) But rest assured, our Christmas morning video is currently being edited to share with the world wide web a la “Ruminations on Christmas part deux” (woohoo!) (rhyming intentional.)

Get excited. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Ruminations

I've just nestled myself down into my favorite corner of my comfy sofa with a cup of steamy hot chocolate (extra marshmallows, please!)and my trusty old laptop. It's a little after 1 am, which for me, means I am just getting my second wind. This is my favorite time of the day. When I can sit. Quietly. And just think. Usually I let those thoughts swirl around in my brain until they have formulated themselves into something I wouldn't be completely embarrassed to share on this blog. Usually.

Maybe you noticed I have been relatively absent from blog land as of late. True,there WAS my shameful plug for free Christmas cards and an Elf Yourself video. But other than those two gems, my musings have been completely void of any real substance.

Yes, It's been awhile. Perhaps you considered the possibility that I haven't been writing because I simply had nothing to say. Or maybe you figured it was because I had no thoughts to share. But ACTUALLY...it's the opposite that is true. There have been so many ruminations going on inside this head of mine, that I had no idea where to start.

And if I am being completely honest, I have to admit that the last several weeks have been really difficult. Really. Honestly. Sometimes life is hard. But sometimes life is pretty darn great too. And I want to write about it all.

So the dilemma. Where to start?

Do I tell you about my Christmas? Maybe about how I was really apprehensive about spending our very first Christmas alone...as in with absolutely no family within 1000 miles. But that ACTUALLY...it turned out to be my most favorite, and very.best.Christmas.ever. EVER!!! (Sorry all you other Christmases) And I'll be had pressed to ever be swayed to go "home" for Christmas again.

Or should I tell you about my job. My job that I Hated (with a capital H, no less). The job I only got because I made a deal...and that deal wasn't exactly providing the desired results. And I could tell you that I was miserable and completely out of whack, and felt everyday like I was failing at everything I tried to do. Oh yes...those days were some real doosies.

ORRRRRR...I could write about motherhood. I could tell you that the same miserable job solidified for me what I already knew...that my calling as a mother is divine. That there is no greater work I will ever do than the work I do in my own home with my family. And that despite my occasional grumblings...I really do LOVE it.

And oh...there's so much more. But what to share.....

That is the million dollar question.

And then it dawned on me...I can write about it all. It is my blog, after all.

So that's what I intend to do. hold on to your seats folks...now that I've started typing...I'm not sure I'll be able to stop.

Carded

It always seems that December just creeps up on me! I have great intentions of sending out Holiday cards every year, and most years I find myself rushing to the mailbox the day before Christmas to get them mailed, in hopes they will reach their destinations before the start of the New Year.

And it’s like this EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. (Despite my good intentions)

But not this year! Oh no sirree. I was prepared. I spent just a little time online and armed myself with every necessity I needed to get those cards out in a timely fashion.

If you need a little help in this department (like I did) I’ll share my secret with you.

SHUTTERFLY!!!

I love Shutterfly. I use them for all kinds of snazzy things. Their Calendars make perfect Christmas presents. I’m using these Christmas Tags to top my gifts this year, and have I mentioned their Christmas photo cards? OHHHHHHH…those Christmas cards.

I print my cards with them evvvvvery year. Even the years my family and friends don’t get them until February.

Some of my Faves this year:

And this one:

Oh…I DIE over that card. Seriously?? I bet you don’t have to guess which category Miles would fall under. (Hint: it rhymes with Potty)

There’s a style for everyone!

And you know what else totally rocks? You don’t even have to use one of their designs to have a card printed. If you are really ambitious and want to design your own card (or if you use my favorite design site www.digitalgreetings.etsy.com) you can still have your cards printed at great prices. Just upload your design, order the number you want, and badda bing badda boom…they will arrive at your doorstep beautifully printed and ready to send out. It is seriously that simple.

So this year I opted to design my own card. (ahem…I mean have my talented sister design one for me). If you want a sneak peek, click on over to www.digitalgreetings.etsy.com. You just might find it there. I will upload my design, order 50 cards, and have them shipped right to my doorstep.

Do you want to know how much my 50 cards will cost me?

…

…

…

(pausing for dramatic effect)

…

…

NOTHING!! I know…it doesn’t really get better than that. I just pay the shipping, and 50 free cards are headed my way.

And because Christmas is the giving season, I’ll let you in on a little secret.

YOU CAN GET 50 FREE CARDS TOO!!

SQUEEL!

It’s as simple as this: If you are willing to write a blog post about Shutterfly, just click on this link: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/, fill out the form, and Shutterfly will e-mail you with the requirements. Do those, and your golden. I mean it. GOLDEN!!!

I know….this may sound like a shameless plug in order for me to get 50 free cards. And I can’t lie. It is.

But I can’t lie.

I really DO love Shutterfly. With or without the FREE-ness.

And I promise, you will too!

Happy Shopping!!

‘Tis the season

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Great food, great company…an all around A+ affair!

We spent our post Thanksgiving day trimming our Christmas tree, listening to Christmas Carols, hanging up Christmas lights (it was FREEZING!!!), making a 7-eleven run for hot chocolate, and spontaneously deciding to take Miles to see “Tangled”.

We are ready for the Christmas season to begin.

Well……ALMOST.

There was just one little thing missing. I just couldn’t imagine starting my holiday season off without one of these. And because it’s better to give…I thought I would kick your Christmas off right and share this with you. (Enjoy!)

www.elfyourself.com

Check it out. You seriously won’t regret it.

Cowboy Butts

Drive Me Nuts!

Especially when it belongs to my little skinny-bummed 3 year old.

Just a smattering of what my little cowboy is saying these days:

Mom: Miles…who’s your best friend?

Miles: Um…DADDY!!!

Mom: What about Mom? Is she your best friend too?

Miles: Nooooooo mom. You a GIRL!!

Driving in the car yesterday, I had to turn down the music, because I heard this coming from the back seat.

Miles: twees(trees), fwowers, pumpkins, more twees, wabbits, mommy, daddy, pwe-school, my tweats (treats), my cowboy shoes, elephants, monkeys, gorillas, my undies dwy (dry), I wuv seals, I wuv giraffes, I wuv polar bears…..

and on and on and on he went. So I finally asked him why he was saying all those words. And he replied with the OBVIOUS…

“MOM! I’m FANKFUL!!!!!!!”

(Oh…Of course that’s what he meant. How could I not have known???!!!)

Turns out they talked about Thanksgiving at Pre-school, and those are all of the things he is Thankful for. I am also especially grateful for his dry undies. :)

Mom: Miles, eat your dinner so you’ll be big and strong like Daddy.

Miles: No…not wike Daddy…big wike Josh and Joey! (some of his buddies from our ward)

And the classic:

Mom: Miles…what do you want for lunch?

Miles: Not Poop! That’s Yucky! No…that’s GWOSS!!!

Who knew the boy loved cows?

Several weeks ago I started doing a little preschool for Miles everyday at home. Our first unit was all about the short "a" sound, as in apple. So we learned about Allie the Alligator, Johnny Appleseed, did some fun apple stamping crafts, and read all kinds of fun books. One of my favorite books from that unit was called "How To Make an Apple Pie and See the World," by Marjorie Priceman. The premise of the book is that a little girl heads to the market to buy the ingredients for an apple pie...only the market is closed. So she sets out on an adventure around the world gathering the ingredients she needs. And Miles' favorite part of the story was when she headed to Vermont to milk a cow. (The milk is then churned into butter...in case you were wondering.)

So tonight, I was starting our bed time routine. Story was read, prayer was said, and he asked for a drink of milk before bed. I obliged and brought him his little cup. And then Oh MY OH MY!!! I never expected such a meltdown. Over something as silly as a glass of milk.

After some serious time spent calming the little guy down, he was finally able to articulate why he was so upset.

"No mom...I wanted to milk my own cow!!!"

Oh, he is just the cutest little thing. But there's just one problem.....

I found myself promising I would actually take him to milk a cow. Seriously. I think I am in BIG trouble. BIG BIG trouble. Where in the world am I going to get a cow?

Halloweeeeeeeeen

Happy Halloween!

From Woody, (who REA LLY wanted to be Buzz Lightyear), and the rest of the Romer clan.
We hit up the ward Trunk or Treat last night. Our conversation on the way home went something like this:

Mom: Hey Miles, are you going to share some of your candy with Mom?

Miles: No.

Mom: Please??

Miles: No. Not EVER! NEVER,NEVER,NEVER,NEVER!

The kid is wise beyond his years. He knew if he only said “never, never” I would still try to swipe some chocolatey goodness out of his basket. but FOUR "never"s.....and I knew he meant business.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, go ahead and swing on by. We'll be giving out some ALL of these:

This just happens to be my most favorite score from Rite-Aid of ALL TIME!!! My husband doubted me. He said it was impossible. But then I showed him this….

You see that? You see all those zeros? Well, that’s because I paid ZERO dollars and ZERO cents for 60 KING SIZE CANDY BARS!! WOWZERS!

I’m sure the parents on my street will just be thrilled!!

Just now I told Miles we could go to the neighbors house to show off his costume, and they would probably give him some more candy.

Then I said… “Are you spoiled or WHAT!???”

Miles responded with a resounding “WHAT!!!!”

Silly boy.

Happy Halloween!!!

CORRECTION:

*****It was pointed out to me by my loving husband that, in fact, not ALL 60 candybars were completely free. I DID, afterall, spend $0.95 cents on a slew of coupons to buy my candy. So, it was more like I bought one candy bar for 95 cents, and then got 59 for free. My apologies!

Also...my astute cousin pointed out to me that there were in fact, NOT 60 candy bars pictured. And I admit, Mike did take several to work with him for the other residents on-call tonight. As for the other missing candy, I can neither confirm or deny their disappearance into my fridge, freezer, belly, and other various hiding spots around my home. :)*****

Secrets

Miles and I have a little bed time routine. After the bathing and the teeth brushing, the pajama wearing and the story telling, the song singing (Rocky Mountain High, and Country Road are his current faves) and the praying, and finally the hugging and the kissing, I usually lean over and tell Miles I have a “secret”.

Then he whispers back “Mom..what’s your secret?” But it sounds more like “Mom wat you secet?”

And I whisper “I LOVE YOU!!!”

He thinks its great. Our bedtime routine pretty much goes like that every night. So you can imagine my surprise tonight when he beat me to the punch. After hugs and kisses, he grabbed my cheeks with his little hands, brushed my hair back from my ear and whispered:

“Mom…I haf a secet”

So I whispered “You do? What is it?” (already starting to get choked up. Hearing my little guy tell me he loves me in his soft whisper voice gets me every time.)

And then he sweetly whispered back “Mom……I want to go to Chucky Cheeses.”

Oh, he kills me.

And because every post needs a picture (or 7), I thought I would share why it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me to update my Etsy shop. Miles, just channeling his inner Mr. T.

View Full Album

For those of you who have been waiting…(all 3 of you!), I have a SLEW of new products to list. Soon. I’m getting there. I promise.

I’m Twee!

Oh, this boy of mine. I could just eat him up. I can’t hold him enough. I can’t hug him enough. I can’t kiss him enough. There are just not enough hours in the day.

It’s a pretty big day for my little man. But I’ll let him tell you himself.

That’s right. My little munchkin is Three. And he’s pretty darn excited about it.

I am astounded at how much he has learned and progressed this year. Some days I wish I could stop the hands of the clock from tick tocking the time away. But mostly, I am trying to enjoy every single second of my time with this sweet as can be little boy. Because he won’t be little much longer.

I want to remember his silly knock knock jokes

I want to remember his “mean” face, when he exclaims “Mommy, we Pirates! ARGH!”

I never want to forget the way he exclaims “HI FWIEND!!”, to everyone we pass.

Sometimes I wish I could stop that clock. But mostly I feel so blessed to be sharing that time with this child of mine. I never dreamed he would teach me so much about life and love. I never dreamed it would be from him the Lord would teach me patience, charity, and selflessness.

If I could keep him here, just like this, forever, I don’t think I would. I love this stage of life we are enjoying together, but I am excited about the new experiences the future holds for him and for me. Because every year…It just keeps getting better.

Love you little man

Happy Birthday!