Mean Mom of the Year...

Ok. I try to be a good mom. I try to make sure my kids are well taken care of. I also try to make sure they learn good behavior. I have a confession to make: I'm not good at it! I have amazing kids. I love my kids and would do anything for them. That is why it is so. dang. hard. to hold them accountable for their behavior! We have been having a problem lately with Jayden and scissors. We have found mounds of paper bits that used to be books scattered around the house. He has been told on several occasions that he isn't to touch scissors unless Mommy or Daddy gives him permission. We have scolded, grounded, spanked, and hidden the freaking scissors. That hasn't stopped him. He has even gotten in trouble in school for cutting special things without permission. I don't know why the kid is so fascinated with this form of destruction! It had been a few days since we'd had a "cutting" incident (partially because I had taken every pair of scissors I could find and hidden them). Then today happened. He found them. And went to town. On Karah's favorite purse and giant Care Bear. Apparently he had had a difficult behavior day from the get-go, which didn't earn him any favors. I was at work, but I had received several frustrated calls from Dan throughout my day. So when I came home to a heartbroken little girl because two of her favorite toys (not just her words, people, she plays with these things ALL THE TIME) had been attacked mercilessly with scissors, I didn't know what else to do. Nothing we'd tried had worked, and aside from beating the ever living snot out of him, I had run out of ideas. NO I DID NOT BEAT THE EVER LIVING SNOT OUT OF HIM. I said a quick prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would give me an idea that wouldn't involve the "laying on of hands" because I didn't want my anger to control the situation. Whether I actually received inspiration, or whether I just did my own thing (like I'm prone to doing), I don't know, yet, but an idea did pop into my head: If he likes cutting other people's things so much, maybe he would enjoy cutting something of his. The first thing that came into my mind was his most prized and hard earned possession: His Gold Belt. I am such a horrible mom!! I woke him up (so he would get the picture that this was serious stuff), talked to him about what he did and asked him a few questions regarding his motivation, and then told him that since he had so much fun cutting up Karah's special things that he would probably have a lot of fun cutting up something special to him. I handed him my sewing scissors and his Gold Belt. He was horrified. He said, no, he wouldn't have fun cutting it up. It was too special. I told him too bad, that it was only fair. He had destroyed something special to someone else, and now he needed to "pay" for it by destroying something special to him. I MADE HIM CUT HIS GOLD BELT IN HALF!!! Tears were streaming down his little face, and my heart was breaking! I wanted to cry myself because he had worked SO DANG HARD to get it! The whole time I was thinking to myself "Relax, we can just ask for another one at Karate on Monday and Master Boyd will gladly give us a brand new one. That, or we will ask Mom to sew it back together so he will have the "scar" to remember this situation...or both." But if I let on that it wasn't that big of a deal, then he wouldn't learn his lesson. I did tell him that he could earn back a brand new Gold Belt or the chance to ask Grandma to fix the one in pieces through doing chores around the house, and he is grounded from the T.V. until further notice. I did try to let him know that I loved him and wanted the best for him, but I think he still cried himself back to sleep, and I feel AWEFUL. I keep questioning whether or not I made the right choice, or if I should have just threatened him with it. On the other hand, he has a nasty habit of destroying Karah's toys (3 baby dolls with Magic Marker faces, Sharpie Marker to her Dry-Erase Board and Princess magnets, cutting up her books, etc...) and we have told him that the next time he destroys something of Karah's he would have to destroy something of his. I HAD to follow through, I just wish I didn't have to. I hope he understands that I love him. I hope he learns from this. I hope I made the right choice and that I haven't forever scarred my kid into needing thousands of dollars in therapy later on. But above all, I truly, truly hope that one day he will forgive me for being such a mean mom.

Life as we know it! Or do we...?

I am horrible at keeping a blog. It might have something to do with the fact that for the last year and a half I've been working anywhere from 60-90 hours a week in car sales. Thankfully that part of my life is OVER!! The last few months have been filled with wonderful changes. I was moved to a 40 hour/week max position at work that doesn't require me to sell anything. Now, I loved sales, but I MISSED my family! The money was awesome, but I was at work before my kids were awake and home after they'd fallen asleep. It. Wasn't. Worth. It. I love my new position, and I give ALL credit to a loving Heavenly Father who heard His daughter's pleas.

Pretty much the only thing constant in our lives right now is change. I've changed positions at work, Jayden is starting Kindergarten, Dan is working at building his business as we wait to apply for different Pharmacy schools, Karah is just a whirlwind of energy, and our family is growing. First we got a cat, Percy, AKA "Prince Perseus Dastan Richardson". He is a Siamese and the perfect animal. I don't know of many cats who would allow themselves to be thrown into a tub of water without yowling, hissing, scratching, or biting, but he did. We rescued him from Prairie Paws and we haven't regretted it once. He loves to play and he really is one of the family. I've never known a cat like him. About 2 months after we got Percy, we discovered that we were going to have another addition to our family. I am due March 10th. This pregnancy has me all over the place. With the exception of my anger when I was pregnant with Karah, I've always been able to control my emotions. I didn't cry at Dove commercials or sappy love songs, and I began to think that was just urban legend. Let me assure you, it is not. I kid you not, I cried at a radio commercial the other day. And at work when one of the guys went out of his way to bring me some food. The funniest part is I feel completely liberated and completely idiotic at the same time. Hopefully this kid makes up his mind so I can have my sanity back...

Jayden started school today. Kindergarten. I did my best to be strong for him and make this a special day for him even though it was breaking my heart. We got up, got him ready (and during this process I about gave up for life on getting him ready. The kid was driving.me.nuts.), and walked him to school. Grandma Kathi came over and helped us finish getting ready and walked with our family. I am glad she came because she was a pillar of strength. She'd not only done it before, but 5 times, and she managed to survive, so I had hope. It was a bitter-sweet walk. I was so excited for Jayden and the new adventures ahead of him, but I was also so sad and jealous of that Kindergarten teacher that I now have to share him with. He is my. BABY. And he shouldn't be old enough to be walking to school and spending all day there. We got to the school and made it to his classroom. We'd been there before for Meet the Teacher Night a week before, so Jayden knew where to put his backpack and where to sit. No tears from him, no begging me to stay, and I had mixed emotions about that. I was so proud of his bravery and excitement, and offended that he was okay with me just leaving him there. Before I left, I asked him for a hug. He wrapped his arms around my neck, and then, unprovoked, kissed my cheek. I lost it. He is such a sweet and loving child, and I didn't want to let him go. I wanted to scoop him up in my arms and make a break for the front door. Instead I did let him go and we left for home to prepare for Karah's birthday







At first I thought Karah's 4th birthday and Jayden's first day of school falling on the same day, coupled with this highly emotional pregnancy was a cruel, cruel joke of the Man Upstairs. But, He knows better than I. Karah and I had decided that we were going to have a Girl's Day Off (out) and we invited Grandma Kathi to join us. We got home from dropping Jayden off, painted Karah's fingernails and toenails (hot pink and hot purple...absolutely gorgeous), and headed off on our adventure. First, Karah opened 2 birthday cards. One from Granna and Double G, and the second from Geoffery the Giraffe from Toys R Us. She got $10 from Granna and Double G, and a $3 off coupon from Geoffery. We decided that we would go shopping at Toys R Us. I had already planned on taking her jewelry and hair accessory shopping as part of our day, and the mall and Toys R Us are right next to each other. Toys R Us wasn't open when we got there, but we discovered a store called "$1.00 Jewelry" during our wait. I am so glad Toys R Us was closed!!! I had a budget and was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get her more than 2 or 3 pieces. We walked out with 4 necklaces, 2 head bands, a coin purse, and 6 toe rings (that fit her fingers PERFECTLY, I might add) all for less than $12!! And it isn't cheapo plastic jewelry, either! Each necklace actually had a pair of earrings to match and we gave those to Grandma Kathi. Karah was so precious with picking out her jewelry. At one point I think we had half the store in our basket, but she was very good with narrowing everything down. I would hold up 2 things and let her pick which one. No whining, crying, begging, or negotiating took place. She simply chose the one she liked best out of the two and moved on. We made our way over to Toys R Us and Karah was so excited about being able to use her money. She had several ideas (some of them got put back on the shelf immediately when she turned her back....) and finally settled on a hot pink frilly umbrella. With her $3 off card, she got change back! She was very practical in her choice and was an absolute doll when we walked out to the car. For those of you up North: it doesn't have to be raining to use an umbrella. In fact, when it is 112 degrees outside and you are "Code Orange" (the next and highest code being "Code Red") it is very wise to use an umbrella. See, that way you protect yourself from spontaneously combusting due to the heat... After Toys R Us, Grandma Kathi took us to eat at one of the very few places I can stomach at the moment: The Golden Corral. I love buffets! And so does Karah! We made healthy plates first, and then Karah got to choose her dessert(s). After lunch, we made a few more stops and finally headed home for some "Beauty Rest" (WHICH, Karah informed me she didn't need because she was already more beautiful...). *sigh* She did end up taking a nap, thank goodness, because I sure needed one, too! Heavenly Father knew I needed this wonderful day with Karah to help me cope with Jayden growing up. We woke up and picked Jay up from school. This Mommy was sure a happy one at 3:20 pm!!

When I asked Jay how his first day of school was, this was his response: "Boring. I didn't get to practice my reading at. all. She just sat there and read to us!". After more probing, I discovered he really enjoyed himself. I think he was just hoping for more of a challenge. His teacher did tell me that he is already ahead of his class, and that he might be bored for a little while as they catch up. She encouraged us to keep working with him at home and helping him continue to progress. It was "business as usual" when Jay got home, and we had an enjoyable afternoon together.

We had dinner, cake, ice cream, and presents at Grandma Kathi and Grandpa Rick's. Karah got a flashlight (Mommy), Sleeping Bag and hair accessories (Grandma and Grandpa), Jewelry Box (Daddy), and a Baby Doll (Jayden). She had a pretty sweet haul!

All in all, today goes in my Top 10 All Time Best Days Ever category. The kids behaved (for the most part), and we all just had an all-out good day. The only thing that could make it better would be if Karah would settle down and go to bed already.......

Busy Busy Busy!!!

I couldn't sleep tonight, so I thought I'd do a little bit of Facebooking and so on, when I thought to myself, "Ya know, Karlie, you haven't looked at your blog in, like, 2 or 3 months...". So, I looked it up. Turns out my last post was in November. Of LAST year... Yikes! I can't believe that it has been that long ago! This last year as flown by so freakin fast! After Christmas, I got a job selling cars at a Ford dealership not far from Mom and Dad's house. I walked in thinking I was going to apply to be a receptionist and walked out the newest member (and only female) of their sales team. Dan has finished up all but one class (which he's taking now) of his prerequisites. He's applying for grad school at the end of this month when the applications become available. He took the PCAT last month. It seems weird that something we started preparing for a little over a year ago is finally here. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. He and I have worked so hard to pursue this career for him. I am so grateful that he's had this time with the kids and that I've had this time to walk in his shoes. We've learned a lot about each other and grown closer together. We have a better appreciation for what the other does, and I honestly think every couple needs to have this.

The kids are getting so big! Jayden is reading small words and writing as well. We have him in a trial class of Karate to see if he's ready or not. You can tell this is something he really wants because he works hard and, for the most part, pays attention. He loves to come home and show/practice what he learned. I can't believe how big he is getting. It is weird. He is so helpful around the house now. He's always asking what he can do to help, and he actually likes to keep his room as clean as he can now that he has his own place for his things. He is such a sweet little boy, and I love him so very much!!

Karah does her best to keep up with Jay. She's not reading yet, but she loves to try. She also loves to tell stories. She is a little dancing machine. If music is playing, that girl is moving. We are hoping to get her into some dance classes soon. We need to work on her listening skills a little bit before we do that...the child is stubborn.

It is 3:00 am right now, and I've finally hit a wave of sleepiness, so I'll post some pictures sometime soon.

Hogle Zoo, A break from the yard work.

We have been out in Utah replacing half of the roof and putting a yard in the back yard of my rental unit. It has been adventurous: injuries, fatigue, excess rocks, and of course 3 squad cars to calm down the rampant biker dude. The important thing is we are still alive and the zoo was great. The lion drinking fountain has been there forever, I remember using it when I was Jayden's age. My mom remembers using it when she was a kid.

My Beloved Husband...

I just want to publicly say that I love my husband. This man is the sweetest, most patient, and most caring man I know. He puts up with a lot, being married to me. But he's always there for me, ready to show me how much he loves me. Next month we will be celebrating 5 years of marriage. It has gone by so fast! And yet I feel like he's been my best friend since before I can remember. I am soooo grateful that Heavenly Father sent me such a wonderful man. A man who, when I throw a hairbrush at the bed because I'm frustrated that my hair won't do what I want it to and it bounces up and breaks the window, just takes me in his arms and tells me how beautiful I am. Nevermind that we had to pay $350 for the window. We'd been married 3 months when that happened. The next year, not long before Jayden was born, I was home crying on the floor because I couldn't reach my toenails to paint them when he walked in from school. He'd gotten out early, and I wasn't expecting him. He somehow figured out why his crazy pregnant wife was on the floor bawling her eyes out, and without a word knelt down and painted my toenails for me. Nevermind that the man hates feet. The next year, he not only held a full time job, but he'd spend most of his free time working on fixing up our house so that it would be livable before Karah was born. He still found the time to do sweet little things for me, like give me a back massage because he knew Karah was sitting in a way that made me ache. Nevermind that he was working his butt off at work and then some. Karah was a very difficult infant. I tried to be strong and to give my sweet husband a break by letting him sleep the night through when I knew Karah wouldn't. There were several time, though, I would be so exhausted from Karah getting her days and nights mixed up and then having Jayden be awake all day, that I would wake up in the morning to a note explaining that he'd felt I needed a break, so he'd arranged for his mom to take the kids for the day, and for me to get some rest. Nevermind that he would have to wake up close to 2 hours before work to get the kids fed, ready, over to his mom's house, and then to work on time. Last year he gave me a wonderful gift. He took the kids up to the cabin for a whole weekend. I got to read, lounge, clean, shower by myself without little people banging on the door or flushing the toilet (old house...), and SLEEP without interruptions. I missed them all, but how wonderful it was to just have a little "Motherhood Appreciation" weekend! Nevermind that he had to change ALL of the diapers and take care of 2 kids by himself for 3 days...I bring up all of these experiences because throughout the years that we've been married, he's always looked for little things to make me happy and to brighten my day. This latest incident triggered these wonderful memories of my husband's love for me. Yesterday I started the day throwing myself a little pity party. I was extremely frustrated with myself after stepping off the bathroom scale for, pretty much, the first time since Karah was born. I usually don't fret about my weight because, well, I've never had to. I've always been tone, I've always been thin, and I've always felt like I looked cute. I've felt a little frumpy from time to time since having kids, but even after I had Karah, I dropped the baby weight within the first couple of months. I'd jumped onto the scale to feel good about myself, and then got off feeling horrible. Most people would probably get mad at me for being upset with my results, but I have NEVER been that heavy outside of being pregnant. And I am NOT pregnant. My frustration with my weight turned quickly into frustration with my wardrobe (which I HAD noticed getting a little tighter), and then it turned into frustration with my hair. I was close to tears when Dan came into the bathroom to talk to me about our schedule for the day. I guess he recognized the look in my eye (see the hairbrush versus window incident) and he offered to help. With loving patience, he straightened my hair for me. He complimented my clothes. He held me and let me know I was beautiful. And I hadn't said a word about my self loathings other than my frustration with my hair not doing what I wanted it to... I know that I have some work to do in order to get back to where I want to be, but he erased any and all feelings of self loathing I'd had that day with his gentle and loving attitude towards me. I truly, truly love this man, and I am so grateful to have spent the last (almost) 5 years as his companion. And I look forward to spending the rest of forever with him, as well.

Carving Pumpkins 4

Carving Pumpkins 3

Carving Pumpkins 2

Carving Pumpkins 1

Jack O' Lanterns

Daddy Showing the kids how it's done...

Jayden abandoning his phobia of getting dirty and digging into the pumpkin...

Jay's hands are covered in "Pumpkin Guuuuts!"

Jayden posing with the finished products.

Mommy/Karah's Cinderella, Jay's pumkin (which he drew on the pumpkin for Daddy) and Daddy's sculpted pumpkin. Yes, I know that there aren't many pictures of Karah...she spent most of her time playing with the dog and giving commentary on how yucky this was...

Patiently Waiting...

About a week and a half ago, Jayden, Karah, and I all took a nap during the day. Jayden woke up first and went downstairs. While Karah and I were asleep, he and Grandma started making cookies!! Karah and I came down to a very excited Jayden. Grandma was very brave and let him pretty much do everything, even crack the eggs! Jay was enjoying licking the wisk, and Grandma let Karah have a small spoon of dough as they waited for the cookies to go into the oven. She also turned on the oven light so the kids could watch the cookies bake. And they did. They sat there the whole 11 minutes, and made comments about each cookie on the sheet. "Oh, that one is very big and pretty...That one will go to Daddy...That one has LOTS of CHOCOLATE...Let's send that one to Uncle Scott's Birthday!" They were so sweet and they were actually getting along and not trying to one up each other. And they were being patient and not asking "Are they ready yet?" a million times. Sometimes they are just at each other's throats and constantly bickering and driving me up the walls, and then they have moments like this that remind me that they really are good friends and that they really do love each other.

Our Cousin Nolan...

Jayden LOVED having Nolan here. One of Jayden's favorite things to do was feed Baby Nolan. And Nolan seemed to really like Jayden's help and company. Jay would also help us get diapers and wipes, toys, and he would make sure Aggie's dog food was out of reach. In fact, he was so concerned about Nolan getting the dog he would pick her dish up off the floor every time he saw it- even when Nolan was down for a nap or out with Grandma! Some days poor Aggie didn't get to eat until after Jayden went to bed!

Karah loved to share with Nolan. A few times we found grapes, big apple pieces, and I think one time a piece of candy in his mouth. She was so kind and generous with her treats and food. Aunt Karlie quickly became one of Nolan's least favorite people because she was constantly fishing the goods out of his mouth.

Last One...

More...

More Car Wash...

Car Wash!!

Grandpa decided to wash Grandma's Van about 2 weeks ago. He had 2 little volunteers to help him. They were so cute! They really got into the work and were so excited to be helping with a "grown up" job. Jayden had been Grandpa's Little Helper all day that day, and he even earned some money for the work he did! Grandpa told him he would get a dime for every weed he pulled up by the root. He made $.70. They worked in the garden and flower beds, washed cars, built towers in the dirt, and a few other things around the house. Karah had a blast washing the cars. And that child is thorough! We have some little scratches on our bumper and she scrubbed and scrubbed and got frustrated that they weren't washing off! I love these kids and their love for helping.

Tempting to leave them there....

This was one of those days that I was afraid I was going to go bald from pulling my hair out. The kids were at each other's throats, and anything I said went unheard. Running, screaming, hitting, biting, crying...I'd about had it when I heard Jayden giggling and Karah screaming. I walked in to see that she had climbed into the bird cage (that we had out to put on Craigslist) and Jay had closed her in. I couldn't help it. I laughed. It looked so darn funny to me, especially since my kids were acting like little animals at the time. I snapped a few pictures and then let her out. About 10 minutes later, I heard giggles coming from both of them, along with "Mommy! Come look!" So I did, and both of them were in there. I took more pictures and was tempted to leave them in there while I cleaned up their mess of a toy room. I got them out and made them clean it instead. Things were much better after that...probably because I warned them they'd get stuck back in the cage for an undetermined amount of time if they didn't listen...

Fall Fun

Ok, here we go. This was actually a few weeks ago. We went down to see Megan dance. The kids had an absolute blast. They had candy (yay), games, rides, music, food, and booths. One booth for a day care was doing free face painting and hair coloring. Jayden chose black scary spiders and blue hair, and Karah chose red flowers with pink hair. Megan wasn't sure if she wanted to get hers done, but after a while she warmed up to the idea and got purple or pink butterflies, I think, and pink hair, too. She also wanted make-up, so the lady drew beautiful Mimi eyeshadow and eyelashes. Karah thought it was absolutely gorgeous and wanted pretty eyes, too. Word of advice: don't spray your kid's head pink. The blue came out with one wash. There is STILL a hint of hot pink on Karah's head...