You Know it is Spring When...

I don't actually know that it is Spring. Not when I am freezing my keister off because in a moment of weakness I agreed to sign Josh up for Spring baseball. Did you know that they have like, four practices and two games a week for like, eight WEEKS? If you knew that, why didn't you stop me?

So there we were out in about 25 degree weather while our sweet kid learned the fine art of "Swing batta batta batta Swing!" If he didn't have the biggest smile of all time on his face I would have thrown him in the car and headed to Kneaders for hot chocolate.

Hangin' in the outfield
The cheering section - Dave, Kristen, Laurie and Dave C.Jamie the Assistant Coach
There's that smile!Clara was just plain mad that she couldn't play.
Randall giving lessons
Swing low...

What a Difference

Last summer my sweet friend Natalie turned her thermostat up to some ridiculously high number like 78 degrees to save money. I was horrified because I am hot at 70 degrees most days. But bless her, it gave me an idea. I knew this winter I wouldn't have babies in the house so I told Dave and the kids, "If you are cold, put on a sweater. No more of this 72 degree business. We are keeping it at 66."

The result? Josh has had one cold, Clara has had one cold, I have had one cold. Dave really hasn't had one. Last year I think we had colds every few weeks. Plus, I am saving $30 a month on my gas bill. I can't complain about that. That's pizza money!

We can get a good cross wind going during the summer if we open our windows at night. The problem is that we live in a one-story so that isn't really the safest option. I would still rather have it cold in the winter than above 72 in the summer. What are your thoughts?

Yellow Bed

Last night after my song routine with Josh I went to check on Clara. When I walked in she said, "Mom, I'm all wet and dirty." Which really meant that she had thrown up all over herself. She was sad and scared and of course all you want to do is hug them when this happens except...ew, gross. So Dave stripped her bed and threw it in the wash while I wiped her down before putting her in the bathtub.

After she was clean she was much happier. Of course, now she didn't have sheets (mental note - get more sheets for Clara's bed) and we didn't want her to sleep with us in case she threw up again. We set up the air mattress in our bedroom, put on a bright yellow sheet, and she was good to go. This morning she said in her cheerful sweet voice, "Mom, I just love my yellow bed!"

As I type this, she has come into the office in three different outfits. I'm not actually joking about that. I think she is feeling better.

It's The Other Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This morning I am teaching a Square Foot Gardening class as an enrichment activity for my ward.

Let me know when you stop laughing.

And then I will tell you that last year I was quite successful with my SFG. Considering I didn't plant until mid-June, I was able to grow a few things. This year is a different story. This year I have four boxes instead of one, a designed layout, and a calendar that I have developed with what I need to plant each week to have a staggered harvest. Everyone will be green with envy. Pun Intended.

This year I am going to grow: strawberries, raspberries, leaf lettuce (several varieties), spinach, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers, basil, cilantro, and bush beans. I am going to plant both cherry tomatoes and big tomatoes. I just did cherry last year and while I loved them for my salads, I want the bigger ones, too.

I also may try corn again - we'll see if I have room. If not, I may add another box to my garden next year just for corn. I already know I want to add one just for strawberries.

This year in my little greenhouse I have planted leaf lettuce, strawberries, and a few other things to try out. Basically, this is the year of experimentation - to see what grows and what doesn't grow in our conditions. It's so fun! I'm excited to get the kids involved. Josh wants to build his own box and grow a whole mess of stuff. I'm totally on board with that. I envision him learning all of this and going to a third world country on his mission and teaching them how to do it. Lofty, eh? Maybe I should make sure he can read first.

The Interesting Thing

The interesting thing about not working is that I don't spend as much money because I don't have it. I just find myself being more frutal, which is a good thing. I think before I buy, which is another good thing. I'm also saving more. All good things. The sad thing is that now I am not sure I want to go back to it. At least not at the intensity that I was doing it before. I've realized just how much time I was dedicating to it and how stressful it was.

At the same time, I love to work. I love to contribute. I wish I could get paid for doing the things I love (don't we all) and one of these days I will figure out how to do that. But for now, I am spending as much time just looking at my kids and burning their little faces into my brain so that when I am old I can remember how cute they were even when they were monsters.

The other interesting thing is that not constantly thinking about finding candidates frees up my brain for other things. This is both good and bad because once I start thinking, Dave's project list gets bigger. And it is already full to capacity. Like it is almost April and we still haven't primed the shelves downstairs that were supposed to be primed in January. Having said that, I am ok with it. I have realized that life just takes time. You can't get everything done that you need to in the time frame you want.

A funny little conversation that just occurred:

Clara: Mom, I got an owie on my foot. It hurts right here.
Mom: (Leans over and kisses ankle) I'm sorry you got hurt. You will get a lot of different owies in your life. You just gotta suck it up and say, "I'm Clara! I'm strong!"
Clara: (Pause) I don't want to suck it, Mom. It will just feel better.
Mom: (Laughing) Well, maybe you sprained it.
Clara: I don't want to spray it, either.

And that, my friends, is why you can't always get things done in the time frame you want. Because it's more important to stop and kiss the owies and have the funny conversations.

Clara's Birthday Party

On Saturday we finally had Clara's official birthday party. She wanted a pink butterfly princess party. She was very excited for it. I did the best that I could! We waited so that her friend Hailee could be there. You know how these princesses can be about having their princess friends from neighboring kingdoms attend their galas. Or whatever.

The Fairy Godmother

My dear friend, Erin, agreed to be the fairy godmother. She found a pink sparkly dress at D.I., wrote a story incorporating the names of all of the princesses, and led the princess parade. It was wonderful.

Princess Hailee and Princess Clara arrive!

Clara changed her outfit three times during the party. This is nothing unusual. She usually changes 10 times a day. We started off with the girls creating princess pictures on princess plates. The kind where you do the black rubbing and then color it in. Then we blew out the candles and had cake and ice cream. Then came the story and princess parade, and finally the opening of the presents. It was not a long party, but we packed it in!

Princess Hailee, Princess Clara, and Princess Caitlin
Princess Clara, Princess Hailee, and the Fairy Godmother
All of the Princesses! Hailee, Kate, Clara, Lyissa, Gabi, Caitlin, and the Fairy Godmother
Miss Mert made the cake!
The table setting
Making the princess pictures - Caitlin, Kate, Clara, Hailee and Amabuela
Blowing out the candles
Princess Clara and her pink butterfly cake
Reading the Princess Story
Beautiful Girls!
Princess Clara and Mommy
Happy Birthday!

P90X

Tomorrow morning at 6:00am, Dave and I have a hot date to start P90X. That is Keysha's plan of attack for us, so for the next 90 days we will be committed to the program. I'm motivated, scared, and already exhausted. We watched the first dvd that we will do tomorrow so that we would have an idea of what to expect. Our plan is to do that every evening until we have watched them all. We are doing it together in order to motivate each other. This is really a big commitment for me because I generally sleep in until around 7:30. So instead of going to bed at 11pm, I will be going to bed around 9:30.

I will be tracking it day by day on my food and exercise journal so that you don't have to read about it daily here. I know that is annoying. I'm owning all of the numbers and Keysha is coming over to do measurements tonight. I would love some encouragement on that blog if anyone feels motivated to leave nice comments. :)