The Trials of a Busy Mom

Month: May 2006 (Page 1 of 3)

What I did today

Today I planted our garden. Yes, I know it’s probably a bit late to be planting things, and we should have gotten it done a couple of weeks ago, but we didn’t manage to get it done before we went on vacation, and subsequently, I got it done today. There are 4 healthy tomato plants (curtesy of Costco), two healthy rhubarb plants that we’ve had for a couple of years (from Ryan’s dad), and today I planted: corn, yellow squash, watermellon, pumpkins, lettuce and carrots. I’m actually excited about the garden, and I hope I can keep up on the watering, weeding and all the other work that goes along with that. I figure if I get one watermellon, that will pay for my packet of seeds. I’ll need one pumpkin, one bag’s worth of lettuce, and one bag of carrots to make the cost of my seeds worth it. I don’t know how many ears of corn we’ll need to break even, but I sure hope we get some corn out of this. John saw the seed packet on the counter said, “Corn on cob? We having corn on cob?” So I need to hide the seed packet or go and get some corn on the cob for dinner.

Ryan is still allergetic (nice made-up word, don’t you think?), and the Russion Olive trees out in the back yard are especially bloomy right now, so I also mowed the lawn. I didn’t do the greatest job of it, and there are some missed spots, but at least I did it, and Ryan didn’t have to go out sneezing and snuffing to do it. But since I hadn’t really planned on mowing the lawn when I went out there this morning (and we have a big lawn and it takes a couple of hours to do it) I ended up with a a tiny sunburn. But I could use a little color on my skin, and it’s not hurting, so I’m ok. Luckily I wasn’t wearing a v-neck, or my neck would be red and flaming.

So, it was a nice day of yardwork. Now I’ve got to get to work on the inside of the house.

Can’t stop the voices, can’t stop the voices

Maybe 5 kids is too many. Maybe the house isn’t big enough for all of us. Maybe some of “us” just need to go OUTSIDE! And stop asking for snacks, drinks, shows, help, etc. It’s not even summer and already I’m tired of it. I will SO enjoy this last short fleeting week of sending the kids to the bus, waving goodbye and then not seeing them until the bus brings them home.

I’m just grumpy. It’s PMS, itchy allergy eyes, a messy house, a sick husband and all that stuff combined to make me grumpy. I just need to get the kids busy playing with friends or taking a nap, and then we can all relax a bit.

Happy Memorial Day to you, too.

School’s Out (almost)

So, school get’s out next week, but for the most part, summer is already starting. We’ve got parties, barbeques, vacation last week–we’re pretty much already into summer. Let’s face it, the kids aren’t going to be doing any work at school in the next 3 1/2 days of school, are they?

I’d like to be organized this summer. Like, have set days to go to the library, jobs done in the mornings, play dates on certain days, field trips on other days, etc.. But who does that? Melinda? So, I’d like some advice, tips, hints on how to get your kids to do jobs, help keep the house clean, and have fun. Because if they don’t help out, we will never go and do anything fun because I will only worry about the state of the house. And if it’s too cluttered and dirty, Mommy starts to go crazy.

So, Please–give me your best hints of things that have worked for you in the summer to keep kid occupied, happy and not whining (it would be nice if Mommy were happy, occupied and not whining, too, but that may be too much to hope for.)

Today we have a big barbeque for about 70 people planned (Bell Choir and families), and we’re just trying to figure out what to do. Do we cancel and try to reschedule ? Do we carry on and pretend that it will be warm? Ugh. Darn weather.

Dream on

I had a dream I was back in primary, and when asked for the opening song, I just sat there for a long time. I looked through the book and couldn’t find a single song I knew. The primary president finally grabbed a book and said, “We’ll be singing #49,” which was something about Nephi. So, I turned to that page and I didn’t know that song AT ALL! It was a weird feeling.

Sometime later in the dream( or maybe in a different dream, I don’t know) I was going downtown to the summer Olympics, which what do you know, were being hosted in Salt Lake City! Wow! How cool is that? We get two Olympics in less than 10 years! How exciting! I”m going to go to all kinds of stuff, and the opening ceremonies, and closing ceremonies, and, … and… Oh. I guess it’s just a dream. Darn.

And on another note. I don’t know how much more of Lost I can take. Too weird! It just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Here’s Michael taking off in the little boat (like he’s really going to get away–right!), Lock is blowing up the hatch by not pushing the button, Jack and Kate and Sawyer are drugged with little darts, and Henry captures them and away they go? WHATEVER!

There’s no such thing as a free vacation

There’s no such thing as a free vacation. Unless you’re a kid, that is, and your parents are paying for the whole thing. But since I won this trip, or at least part of it, we were curious to know how much we were spending on our “free vacation.” We were careful to write down every purchase, keep every reciept; from the tiniest $2.50 churro to the most expensive hotel costs, we kept track (actually Ryan did, in his PDA). Would you like to know the grand total?

Well, it cost us $1266.21 to take the family (7 of us, mind you) to Disneyland. Not free by any means, but pretty good for 5 days.

Here’s the breakdown:

$267.33 Gas
$317.79 Food
$575.68 Hotel (one night in St. George on the way down, two nights in Aneheim)/ Disney Passes
$105.41 Misc (Valet / Parking / Souveniers)

Things we didn’t pay for would be: 4 adult 3 day passes to the park, and two nights in the Disney’s Grand California Hotel.

And why do we do it, my friends? Why do we drive for 11 hours with 5 kids in the car, turning my clean car into nothing more than a large garbage can for wrappers and empty water bottles? Why do we haul our kids around the parks through the drizzling rain, trying to catch as many rides as we possibly can?

To see their excitement when a Disney Character stops to talk to them when they have a free moment. To see their faces light up when they get to talk to Crush the turtle. To hear them say, “This was so much fun. Thanks for bringing me, Mom.”

happy

We made it back

Why must we ruin a great vacation by coming home? Not that home is bad, but the drive was oh-so-long (did it in one day), and now I’ve got a whole bunch of bags to haul in, a whole bunch of laundry to do, email to read, phone messages to return, blogs to read, blogs to post (such a trial, I know!), groceries to buy, and a house to clean up. But, that’s what real life (not vacation) consists of, right?

We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed Disneyland! The Grand Californian is indeed Grand, and even though I felt kind of like an imposter staying there ($350 a night to start?! –eek!) or some kind of white Utah trash, we loved the hotel and had a fun time.

I’ll leave you with a few photos, with more to come!


Here’s the whole lot of us, and here we are again with Winnie the Pooh.

pooh

and here are the kids–they were “tired” after a long day of riding rides. ha!
tires

SO WORTH IT!

Upon checking into the Comfort Inn here in Anaheim, she asked if I’d like to upgrade to a kid-suite for an extra $20 a night. UH-HUH! I’ve just spent about a million hours in the car with the yahoos driving from St. Geoge to Anaheim today, with at least an extra hour for some kind of unexplained traffic jam. I think a kid suite sounds like a Fantastic Idea! So, now I’m sitting on MY queen bed, and Ryan is sitting on HIS queen bed, and all the kids are in their own little room with bunkbeds watching their own TV. Cool! The kids may not all sleep in there, but for the moment, it’s nice and quiet.

bunk bed

Yesterday we drove to St. George after the kids got home from school, and arrived at the hotel about 8:00, with enough time to swim in the outdoor pool for a bit, then we had the kids shower, eat some sandwiches, and get ready for bed. We tried to put three kids in a bed, but they kept kicking, pushing and complaining, so Cole ended up spending the night on the floor — he didn’t mind so much.

We plan to get up early and hit the parks tomorrow, so if I’m not too exhausted I’ll blog it then.

Things on my list not to forget to take on our trip to Disneyland

-earplugs (all those kids breathing keep me awake!)
-pillow and blanket for the small boy (so hopefully he’ll go to sleep in the strange hotel rooms)
-sunscreen! (“It’s gonna be hot in my big silver pot..” Can you name the Disney reference?)
-autograph books for the kids to meet and greet the Disney characters
-the unofficial guide to Disneyland (see if we can hit all the attractions like the book says)
-good walking shoes
-back-up good walking shoes
-bandaids for blisters and skinned knees
-a headband for those bad hair days
-possibly a hat for those even badder hair days
-cough syrup (why are all my children coughing this morning? AAAGG!
-tylenol (for the headaches)
-movies for the car
-benadryl (for those coughs and runny noses–and sleeping)
-massive amounts of snacks
-the CAMERA
-the phone
-the cooler full of drinks, water bottles, etc.
-the credit card and large amounts of cash (for our cough-cough “free trip!”)

anything else? I hope not, but let me know if I’ve forgotten some vital something.

I’ve packed 6 people’s bags so far, and I’ll probably pack the 7th, too. Then we need to make sure everything fits in the car, which shouldn’t be a problem since we are taking the large gas guzzler of a vehicle.

So, if there are no blogs from Disneyland (who are we kidding? Ryan will of course be taking his laptop, and I’ll probably post about 100 pictures), wish us luck and fun, and have yourselves a great weekend!

p.s. 0h, and Bells on Temple Square (minus me) will be on Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday in case you want to see a small blurb of bells.

End of the season

Well, we made it through another soccer season–Hooray! Last night was Megan’s last game, and as it severely complicated our life to have a gave, I made dinner to take with us, planned it all out, and when we got there, we didn’t see anyone from her team. We waited, then tried the other school where the game was once on a weeknight, and went back home to check the schedule. Oh, the game’s at 6:30, not 5:30. Ugh! I hate it when I do that.

But the game went well, and the coach gave out awards. Megan was so pleased to be given the “Energizer Bunny” Award, because she keeps going and going and going. She’s a good player, that Megan. Her coach convinced us to put her on a competetive team next year. I know I’m going to regret it, but who am I to stand in her way if this is the thing that she’s going to excell at.

Today we’re doing the organizing and packing. Tomorrow we head out to the great land of California, to the place called Disney. It should be fun!

A Threesome of things

(1) Mother’s Day
by Natalie Erickson

M others are great.
Only one mother.
Today is Mother’s Day.
Her hair is beautiful.
Everyone loves her.
Really cool.
She makes me dinner.
Does the laundry.
And we love…
You!

Sweet, isn’t it?

(2) Yesterday we spent almost 3 hours in the dentist’s office. That’s the last time I schedule everyone’s appointments all on the same afternoon.

(3) Grey’s Anatomy (not Accademy, like our local newscaster said on Sunday) is over. Now I’m sad that it’s over for the whole season. I guess I’ll have to go out and get a life. But for today I’ll probably be thinking about it all day. What will Merideth do? Choose cute Finn, or keep ruining her life by loving Derrick? And is Izzie really leaving the program forever? Will Burke get use of his hand back? And what about George and that very masculine Callie? Are they a permanent thing? Oh the questions……

(And Ryan will be quick to point out to you that we’ve had three barbeques in three days!)

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