a blended life

We had a pretty good Christmas. I promise to post pics in the next day or two. I gave myself a mild concussion that has left me nearly brain-dead for a week now. Your next question is, How did that happen? Drum roll please.......I whacked it on the washing machine. Anyway, I've been having a hard time putting two thoughts together and I'm in a fuzz for most of the day. Thus, the late post on Christmas and other exciting December happenings. The real tragedy is that I've wasted my entire break from school by flipping channels because I lack the energy and thought process to do anything productive. I had so many plans.

I'm having an incredibly hard time with Leah. It's hard to describe what's wrong, but the best description I have is that she's out of control of herself. She has anxiety over everything, and usually over something irrational like getting a shot in 5 years or tractors. If she doesn't get her way, she blows up and starts yelling, screaming, and attacking me--hitting, flailing, pushing, etc. She doesn't just throw a fit, she pushes and pushes until she gets a reaction out me (she doesn't do this to anyone else). She has become extremely disrespectful and sassy. For example, I said "Leah, you need to put your clothes away." And she answered, "You put them away. You're the one who did it." Typical kinds of child discipline have never worked with her. She has an almost complete refusal to take responsibility for herself. The other day she blamed me for her hair being snarly because I was the one the let her sleep too long. Normally that wo...

I read a lot of blog posts and this one has to be my favorite and most inspiring for this year. Read it if you: *need a reason to be grateful for your kids *had a baby in the NICU *are in the mood to get weepy *need some perspective on your life Grab some tissue.

Remember that song? It should say "The mom is getting fat."  My dad has a camera club and they invited some professional Santas to come and get shot (?). Thanks to a wonderful Grandma, the girls had some cute new dresses to wear for the event.  Leah is telling Santa that all she wants is a Lego airplane.  We don't know what Hannah was whispering about.  In other news, I sold the tortoise today. It has been almost one year to the day that I took her in. I found a good home, some teenage boy that has dreamt about turtles his whole life. I hope he isn't disappointed--Shelly always was a bit moody. In more other news, here is an exact conversation I had at church: Concerned friend: How ARE you? Me: Oh, pretty good. I finished finals this week and... Concerned friend: ( interrupts ) But are you dating anyone? Me: No. ( refrains from eye rolling )

The biggest news of the week: I survived finals. I almost drowned in the process. I had three comprehensive tests. They went mostly good. I had a strange experience during the last final--in the middle of the test, I realized I would be done with the semester. I started panicking. What was I going to do with all my free time? How would I be able to decide what to do? Keep in mind that I haven't had enough time to even sit through a t.v. show in many months. For a while, I wanted the test to keep going. I didn't want to be stuck with so much unscheduled time. That's what it felt like when I ended my mission and probably what it feels like (to a very small degree) when someone gets out of jail. I had planned to go home after the final, eat something delicious and watch a movie on HBO. I got home and was so overcome with fatigue that I couldn't look at the t.v. screen. My stomach and my friend, the ulcer, had taken a beating this week so I cramped up on the couch until it...

A random, unflattering picture unrelated to the post content: This is a brief post to answer a question that nearly all of you are absolutely dying to ask but don't have the nerve. I didn't know everyone cared so much until I was talking with a certain friend on Tuesday night. She is possibly more blunt and forward than I am (I won't mention any names, but if you see Lynette, tell her hi for me). She asked the same question that everyone asks me, "So, how ARE you?" And I thought that meant, "Now that you're divorced, are you able to sleep through the night and shower regularly?" So I answered with my usual, "Great! And by the way, I hate Statistics." This conservation has been happening consistently with many different people over the past year. When I had this habitual conversation with said friend, she stopped the routine and said bluntly, "What I'm really asking is, Are you dating anyone?" OH. Why didn't s...

My niece took some pictures of us at Thanksgiving. I'm turning into a fairly bad picture shooter these days--my pics of Thanksgiving were abominable at best and I can't find any of my birthday. Probably because I let Leah have the camera, so we have a lot of the floor, her Build A Bears, and the t.v.  This is the most stressful time of year for me--finals are next week. I have three of them and all are comprehensive. I've decided to make a public announcement:  I make a terrible student (that's not a surprise to most of you). I get good grades and all, but sitting through class is so boring I want to poke my eyes out. In fact, I bring a large bag of diversionary (?) activities to help me get through the 6 hours of class I have every Wednesday. It includes computer games, treats, different colored pens, and more treats. Sometimes I forget to be discreet and whip out a novel. I might really get rebellious tomorrow and bring Kettle Corn. I will never understand the point ...

Her biggest fear is that with the new glasses, someone will call her four eyes. I think they look pretty cute. Hannah had to be in on the action, so that's why her head is sideways.  Braces might be next!

I need to make a disclaimer here--we had a huge birthday party for my mom last weekend that I haven't posted about. I don't have any pictures and I've been extremely busy, but when I get some photos I'll do a thing about it. Just not tonight. Probably tomorrow either. We had a big house load this week--my brother and his girlfriend came form Seattle, My sister and her family (which now includes a puppy) came from Logan and Jacob and Karina came. From Orem. (I felt like I had to add that last part even though it was anticlimactic.) Here is sort of a shot of our food. Personally, I thought it was delicious. I couldn't get a very good picture of it because of the commotion happening around me. Not that I minded, I just didn't end up with a good view of the whole spread. Hannah came up with some brilliant idea to have a pie eating contest. I think what she really wanted was for us to go outside and throws pies at each other, but this is what she got instead...

The list of things I cannot do is pretty long. I have to refer to this list from time to time or else I get my head in the clouds and take on too many activities. I'm not having a pity party, I just think it's healthy to admit my limitations and then move on. Here is a brief list of the not-so obvious ones: 1. Being a morning person 2. Making macaroni and cheese from a box 3. Saying something tactfully 4. Having good breath Here is another that I just discovered: 5. Making tissue paper flowers (did I just hear you gasp? I know, who can't make tissue paper flowers, right?) First, take a look at what a tissue paper flower is supposed to look like: Now here's mine: Decorating for school dances is not in my future. *crosses that one off the bucket list*

I tried to doll up my blog and made a mess of things. It looks awful right now and I don't have time to fix it. Sorry!

I'm running a marathon right now with school and work, and since October came and went so quickly, here are a few pics of what we did: Hannah 'helped' me carve a pumpkin. I taught her about scooping out the seeds to roast. She did it for a bit and then said, "Mom, is this supposed to be fun?"  Leah is our resident sports fan, so the girls watched the World Series with Grandpa. Leah decided to vote for the 'red' team (go Cards!)--I think because red is in the same color family as purple and pink. Just my guess.  Someone (okay, it was me) brought home 4 flats of strawberries at 8.99 a flat. In case you were wondering, that make 40 jars of freezer jam.  Ramona Quimby, age 4: My pretty girl: Semi-homemade Halloween costumes: --One previously owned black tutu --Several pieces from Crazy 8's 40% off rack --One antenna headband from stuff lying around the house. Halloween parade at the school: Do you ever read those housewife blogs and they do cr...

There are many things I need to post about--Halloween, other October events, etc. I'm a bit overwhelmed right now with school and work and kids, but I will be putting some pics up in the next few days.

Tonight we had a little birthday dinner/pie for Jacob who will be super old starting tomorrow.  I love the expression on his face back there: Mom is a genius--she put 29 candles on a day-old poppyseed muffin and put the muffin on the pie. It looked like an anemone-the candles kept moving around and the muffin was unrecognizable. It was pretty funny! The pie didn't catch fire or anything!  I love the smoke coming from it in this one: A few random shots taken by Karina, who has a much better eye for photography than I do and should really start taking pictures again. Anyone else think it might be bedtime? Happy birthday, little bro! We love you!

A few months ago, I came across this blog . It's done by a girl who got a degree in fashion but was unable to find a job, so she started a blog that featured outfits she put together from Walmart stuff. I don't particularly love Walmart for a variety of reasons, but I was impressed at the whole concept of trying to be frugal and still dress yourself well, even on a budget.  The sister of a friend of mine (don't think about that too hard) owns a consignment shop in the next town over. That means that I can take my unwanted clothes and all the clothes girls grow out of, they sell it for me and give me half of whatever it makes. I can either spend the money there or take the cash. Seriously, it's the best setup. Last year I made over $100.  I love the idea of reusing clothes, shoes, or whatever, if it's possible. We generate so much waste that it feels good to buy someone else's clothes and make use out of them--as long as they fit well. I enjoy looking around a ...

Paul Simon-So Beautiful or So What Tour or The fact that he is one of the most influential songwriters of the past century overrides the fact that he can't dance. Most of you already know that I went to a Paul Simon concert on Monday--which might have been my highlight of the year. Here are quite a few pictures from a little road trip to Phoenix I took with Jacob and Karina. We left on Sunday and came back Tuesday, or in other words, not long enough to enjoy the 100 degree saguaro-ish weather. But first, here's a random box of delicious chocolates to look at: Back to the trip: This scenery was surprisingly interesting. Southern Utah has a lot of offer as far as unique landscape. Exploring some of the national parks (Utah has 5) is high on my list of things I want to do to enjoy living in this state.  Jacob taking a picture of this canyon:  What the canyon looks like without Jacob and a fence in the way: A sign that I thought was really funny. Actually, it's n...