Goodnight Moon with a Twist

As a fan of speculative fiction, I absolutely love this review of Goodnight Moon. It's so good, I couldn't keep it to myself.

(Please don't read it if you want to continue to think of Goodnight Moon as a sweet children's book.)

Ummm... I think I forgot to mention...

We've been crazy busy this last week or so. Much, much busier than usual. All because we're making some big changes around here.

It all started when JOHN GOT A JOB!!!

That's right. After almost 9 months of unemployment, my husband will start his new job on tuesday! Can I tell you how relieved and excited I am?

We've been getting the ball rolling on a few major changes during this final week of joblessness. I'll be sure to let you know about them as they happen!

Listening

As we've been particularly focused on pleading with the Lord for John to get a job, I've been thinking a lot about how I listen for an answer. Or really, how He speaks to me.

Usually, it's a gut feeling kind of thing. Something just feels right. We're in Austin right now because of one of those. The more I fight against those feelings, the stronger He makes them, until there is no room for doubt.

I've had physical experiences when He needed me to know right then that something was right. As in, punched in the stomach, knocked the wind out of me experiences. Went to BYU and married John because of those.

I've even had an audible answer. If you don't remember, I got my Edward because of it.

I received the strangest one yet last month. While I was in the shower, BEFORE going to the temple, I received a clear picture in my mind. Literally a picture. A picture that will be a comfort to me for the rest of my life. Couldn't even focus on what we'd planned to pray about at the temple, because this picture was reinforced for me the whole day. It didn't even answer the question I'd had. Simply put it in perspective. With a picture. (No, I'm not going to share. Probably ever.)

Finally, I'm becoming more aware that He's talking all the time. And part of me has been listening. All those little day-to-day inspirations as a mom and a wife that I'd taken for granted. That somehow I hadn't realized I'd been enjoying. I'm sure there's even more that I'm missing because I'm not listening as well as I could.

Gotta love those big answers, but it's the little ones that affect me every day. I need to focus on hearing those better. To work on being a better listener.

It's the next morning and I feel the need to clarify. I don't mean to brag that I've had all these memorable answers to prayers. Not at all. In fact, I'm a little bit embarrassed by how the Lord has to talk to me. Because apparently I miss the little messages. I just don't get it unless he "sends me a sign". So I need to work on being a better listener.

Yummmm

Have you seen Foodzie yet? It's like edible Etsy.

The Pantry and Spices section makes me crave time in my kitchen to try out one or ten. Honey and Jam is making my mouth water. (Raspberry Cocoa Preserves! Macadamia Nut Blossom Honey!!) The Bakery..., well you know me and all things baked just go together. And I could spend my life's savings in Chocolate and Candy.

I'm having to force myself to think long and hard about what my first purchase will be. To keep myself from buying up everything I see. Maybe it'll be that honey...

I must be crazy

Because I've been feeling like I don't have time to do anything for me, I decided to commit myself to something else. I've joined the Daring Bakers.

What does that mean?

Every month, a host (chosen from the membership) challenges us with something they've been wanting to try. The recipe is a secret for everyone but the membership until the end of the month when we all reveal how we did at once. It's a commitment because you have to participate nearly every month to stay a part of the group.

For September, we made puff pastry. Absolutely crazy. I've posted about how I did on my other, sorely neglected blog. So if you're interested in my massive failure, go check it out!

Pictures while cleaning

Our house was an absolute wreck after a few weeks of a mom who was too busy, kids who were sick, and over-full weekends. We spent all day cleaning and have managed to get our house back into livable shape.

After cleaning the playroom, Ethan reminded me that we needed to make room for his preschool artwork on the walls. The picture is documenting the wall of artwork from last year. We took it all down and saved just a few. Ethan is so excited about filling it up again this year!


At the end of a very long, very busy day, John and I sat down for our "date night". Looks like fun, huh? Folding laundry while we watch a movie is becoming a regular thing.

Challenge Update

So....

We've completely blown past the $25 a week. We were doing well until last night when John decided we were having an at home date night and picked up some things for a nice dinner. And then today Ethan and I picked up school lunch items. (Because he would have had some strange lunches otherwise.) And Sunflower market has 5 lbs of potatoes for 99 cents! (Starting tomorrow for you TX folks.) Gonna stock the freezer with some hash browns and french fries. Plus, a trip down to Sunflower means stocking up on a few things I can only find there. I don't make it down very often.

The plan for the next three weeks is to only buy milk and fruit. (Plenty of veggies in the freezer.) Barring great sales on items I need to stock up on, we shouldn't go too far over.

Budget Challenge

We've been living pretty frugally these last several (seven!?!) months. At the beginning we spent nearly nothing and managed to eek by when it came to the bills. Then with both unemployment and my job, we relaxed a little. Still not extravagant, but we aren't being as conscious of our spending as we should.

With the end of unemployment checks looming, we're trying to get ourselves ready. I've decided to attempt Owlhaven's sept grocery challenge. She has a family of 12 and it cutting her budget to $75 a week! (Really only possible because it's harvest time in her garden/farm.) For me, that's going to mean no more than $25 a week. I think I could do it with less, but this challenge is for me, not John. And that wonderful man does the majority of the cooking while I'm working. So I need to stay under budget while not making life too hard on him.

$25 a week isn't to bad for us at the moment. We have a large amount of dry goods in our food storage and a well stocked pantry thanks to food stamps back in the spring. Really, we only need milk, fresh fruit and veggies, and the occasional loaf of bread when I can't fit in making it myself. Plus a few odds and ends each week so that John doesn't have to spend lots of time every evening in the kitchen.

I think it's more than doable. Wish me luck!

Church Growth

Any idea what the growth of our church looks like? I didn't. But now I do!



(For those of you who aren't LDS, a stake is a group of congregations (or wards as we call them), generally about three thousand to five thousand members in five to ten congregations.)

Rice

Gotta love how little it takes to keep them entertained!

(I do wish that I'd thought to put down a sheet or at least pre-sweep so that I could reclaim all the spilled rice. Next time.)

Edited: I wanted to note that they played with this for over an hour! The extra cleanup was totally worth it.

Laughing Through Life

After returning from our big outing today (a ten minute trip to drop off school paperwork for the dr to sign), it occured to me that life has been a little boring.

So I thought I'd share a few glimpses of my boys that made me laugh or smile this last week.

* Edward dumping water on the living room rug and then dancing as he splashed in it. (This was while swearing under my breath that he'd figured out how to make yet another kind of sippy cup leak.)

* Ethan rolling his eyes at me for singing along to a "Word World" song. ("You can never have too many OO's" is a catchy song! And I know mom. It's payback time.)

* Edward singing along to the same song a few minutes later. Doodly-oo is such a fun word to hear from his little mouth.

* Ethan saying all morning that he was tired and should probably take a nap. (I had a yeah-right kind of laugh at this one. He didn't nap, but he did lay on his bed and read books for over an hour.)

* Edward's run. It's hilarious.

* Ethan's excitement when I showed him how to use a Magic Eraser to clean up Edward's wayward coloring.

* Edward's imitation of his brother when I leave for work. Even if I've already said good-bye to him, if Ethan gets a bigger hug or a real kiss, Edward comes over for the same. Gotta love those little arms giving hugs and the slobbery kisses.

Not very exciting. But these boys are constantly reminding me why I'm pushing through. Give me a few of those moments a day and it's all worth it.

Ant Migration

We're watching this out the back door today.



The fire ants that live in our walls are migrating across the patio. They're moving thousands of eggs to a new mound (or several) in the yard. Cool to watch. Scary because I discovered them when letting Edward out in the backyard to play.

How do we feel about having new fire ant mounds in our yard? We're thrilled. These ants have been in our walls since we moved in over a year ago. Once we realized it, we sprayed the interior walls to keep them away from us. As long as they went outside for their food and left us alone, we kept a tense peace with them.

Now, once they've moved out their eggs, we can spray the exterior of the house and keep them from coming back in. And a through walk of the yard will reveal the mounds and we can treat those too.

Maybe, for a few days at least, we can call our house allergen free!

19 months old and Counting

We joke about how smart our kids are, but this is getting ridiculous.

Dental Adventures, Part 2

Somehow, I neglected to mention that in the same week Edward had his big makeover, Ethan's looks underwent a major change. (This post might be long and boring for most of you, so if you just want to see the change, scroll to the video.)

After looking for a new dentist (for a second opinion and in-house anesthesia if necessary) and the interruption of job loss (meaning no dental insurance), we finally had Ethan's teeth evaluated again.

The new dentist spent an hour talking Ethan through the x-rays, but didn't manage a cleaning at his first visit. Looking at the x-rays showed that Ethan did need some of the work recommended by the first dentist. Two crowns in the back instead of multiple fillings (but not the root canals, thank goodness), several small fillings, and a problem with a front tooth that we had two options for. But because he was so resistant, our little Ethan would have to go under general anesthesia.

Because most of the work was on his molars, which he needs for the next ten years or so, we couldn't ignore it. So we scraped together the money and made the appointment.

The day of, before I would sign the final consent, I had two discussions. First with the pediatric anesthesiologist. I asked not only about Ethan's experience (what they'd do while he was still awake, how kids usually come out of this particular type of anesthesia, and how much he would remember) but also some medical questions. I liked this guy and wasn't worried about Ethan at all. It probably helped that his name was Dr. Heaton. (I would still have rather entrusted Spencer with this, but he lives to far away. Next time??)

The second discussion was with the dentist about that front tooth. Ethan had a cavity that ran the length of the tooth. He'd actually had it for several years, but every dentist before would treat it with fluoride and say not to worry about it. We really couldn't ignore this deep channel down his tooth anymore. The problem was that a traditional filling would fall right out. So our options were to cap it with a plastic crown or pull it. Initially we'd planned to go with the crown, but it's also likely to get knocked off multiple times before the tooth falls out on its own. And with Ethan, that would likely mean more anesthesia to replace it. I went with the obvious decision and had them pull it.

Now, even though it made sense (and was cheaper), I still felt bad about it for a few weeks. It was hideous. The tooth next to it stuck way out and there was a gaping hole. I'd go look at him in the middle of the night and cry about what I'd done to him. But now that the hole has healed up and the other tooth has shifted a little, he just looks like an older kid. Good thing too, because his teeth seem to be on a late schedule. He'll have that gap for the next 4 years or so.

Would you like to see it? Not a great video, but be grateful you can't see the hole very well. This was the day he had the work done.

Exciting Week

In the last week we've:

- Visited family in San Antonio
- Played lots with Grandma J
- Started swim lessons for Ethan
- Rearranged the ENTIRE house (The beds and most of the dressers are in the same places. Not much else.)
- Braved a fire-ant attack on Edward's feet that caused a major allergic reaction
- And added our first Epi-pen to the diaper bag for the next time the fire ants are too interesting to stay away from

Plus all the regular stuff. Thanks Grandma J for all the help!

Good Busy

I was just realizing how much I managed to pack into the last couple of days. I always feel like I fit in more when less of it is focused on things at home. Here's my last four days.

We attended the temple with some friends who were taking out their endowments and being sealed. I spent at least an hour each visiting three sisters who just needed someone to spend time with them. I spent a morning grocery shopping for a sister who is living on so much less than we are. And I babysat the adorable kids of a friend whose been sick for a while.

All while washing 8 loads of laundry, cooking dinner during a short morning at home, keeping the mess to a dull roar, making it to the tax office to register the van (finally), playing in the pool with my boys long enough to sunburn, working one of the worst shifts I've ever had (and another that was only marginally better), and getting enough sleep!

Ethan has just reminded me that I promised to play picnic with him before I attack the mountain of laundry that needs to be folded. So I'm off to start another busy day.

No More Curls

John finally decided that Edward was going to get a haircut. He was smart enough to tell me before he did it, or I would have refused to speak to him for a week!

I miss the curls. A lot. They cut off the last of his babyness!

John posted video of before, during, and after on his blog so that you can see my baby turn into a toddler. Check it out!

Talk? On Tape? No Way

These are a few of our attempts to get Edward to talk on tape. None were very successful. I will recommend that you turn up the volume to hear the few words he does say.

Watch how well our son has learned to shoot a "gun"! Sounds and everything! We're so proud.


I don't acknowledge it in the video, but Edward says "You're Welcome" for no apparent reason.


Here's the video where all the animals say "moo". I usually don't have to prompt him like this, but at least it shows his silly personality. If you listen closely after he decides to ignore me, he says "animal goes in there" twice and then gives them an order to "play." And for the grandparents, be sure to watch to the very end!

The Things We Teach Our Boys

First, we seem to be encouraging Edward to do gross things. You can't see it very well on the video, but that boy's finger disappears up past his fingernail...



And second, Ethan has finally gotten his first real bike! Thanks Great-Grandpa! With very little coaching from us, he took off and loved every second of it.



More videos to come! (Thanks to John who uploaded them ;)

Talking Video - Not Happening

I've been trying to get video of Edward talking. He narrates his life for us normally. But try to record it and the words slow to a trickle. Only grandparents, and really bored ones at that, would like the videos we've managed.

The biggest problem is that if you say a word, like "walk" or "swimming", he immediately wants to do it and runs off. I tried sitting him down with his farm animals, but after naming each one, he grinned and insisted that they all "moo". But only until I put the camera down. Then they went back to their usual noises. Prankster.

So we'll keep trying. But the only way I can guarantee you'll hear Edward's cute narration is for you to come visit!