Yippee!

Yahoo! My walls and baseboards are getting cleaned today! Thanks Nathan and Claire for not minding and getting in trouble. :-)

"New Bibs"

Yesterday morning Claire was laying on my bed while I was getting dressed. She looked at me standing there and touched my bra. She says "Mom, are these your new bibs?" I laughed and said "These are called boobs. And no, they are not new, but the bra is." I want new "bibs", but daddy hasn't bought me any yet! :-)

Wishes

Star light, Star bright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Get the wish I wish tonight.

Me: What do you guys wish for tonight?

Logan: I wish I was in the army in a helicopter.

Claire: I wish Jasmine is happy at her new home with her new doggy.

What in the World....

is wrong with teenagers these days?? I was in Walmart earlier and was in the deodorant aisle. At the end of the aisle I noticed 2 couples- teenagers. They were looking at the pregnancy tests and deciding which one to buy. They were looking at the prices, etc. And they were all so happy and excited about it! I'm assuming it was probably just for one of the girls. (course you never know- could've been for both of them.) I just shook my head and thought "What is wrong with this picture?!" They couldn't have been out of high school. Do kids really understand what it means to be pregnant and have a baby? Do they think about the long term affects on their life? It's not just a cute little game of house. I guess it hits home to me more because I have been through it- only I was 21 when I had Nathan and was finishing my associate's degree. So I had a little bit of education that would get me somewhat of a decent job to support myself and my baby. I just want to tell these kids out there having babies how difficult it is. There are so many consequences to your decisions and your decision affects so many lives.

Have any of you seen the movie "Juno?" I loved it- it was so good. It's about this 16 year old girl who gets pregnant and considers abortion. She decides against it and decides on adoption. It takes you through her trials and how at high school- everyone can see her belly and know what she did. She gets mad at the dad because he doesn't have to be responsible- nobody can see what he did. Anyhow, the movie really hit home to me because.....(here it goes, I am totally opening up to my blog readers and friends) I gave a son up for adoption too. I have been down both roads- keeping a baby and adopting out a baby. (in that order.) Both were the hardest choices I've ever had to make. But, they have shaped me into the person that I am today. I have worked hard to overcome those trials and to better my life and to "Come Unto Christ" more. Giving my son up for adoption was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But I had to have faith that I was doing the right thing. It made me stronger in knowing that I had to trust in Christ that I would be able to get through it. And I did! Anyhow, I know this is long so I will end it for now. I hesitated in sharing this because I know a lot of people can be judgmental and I hope that no one will judge me. I will share my adoption story on another posting if anyone is interested in it. My dream is to be able to help other young women who may be in the same situation that I was in. Someday I would love to go into social work in the adoption field. I feel I can help since I have been down both roads. Anyhow- I'll stop rambling!

My Four Beautiful Children - August 2007

I Give Up

I talked to a few friends last night to get ideas on parenting strategies and how to get my kids to do what I ask them to do- and on my time schedule instead of theirs. One of my friends said with her kids she starts at 5 and counts backwards to 1. Then there's no where else to go- instead of counting up where there's a billion numbers you could count to. Then if she gets to 1 and if they're not doing what she asks then they get 30 minutes of cleaning the mopboards or floor, etc. So I thought I would try that. Well, Logan was giving me a hard time about staying in bed. So I told him what we were going to start doing. He asked what "mopboards" were. So I pointed out the trim along the floor. He goes "Oh, I love cleaning that!" UGH! I give up- it's hopeless!

First thing he said when he got up this morning- "I have to clean the walls don't I mom?" I got out the bucket and PineSol and let him clean away. I'll have an undisciplined kid- but at least I'll have clean mopboards! :-)

Easter

So this year for Easter I called the Easter Bunny to see if he could come on Saturday morning instead of Sunday. He was more than glad to accomodate my needs. We dyed eggs on Friday night and did egg and basket hunt on Saturday morning. I wanted Sunday's focus to be on Jesus, and not the easter bunny. I am so glad that I did that. It made Sunday so much better.
Spence, Claire and I got up early and went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing for their "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast. They had the symphony playing with them also. It was soooooo beautiful! And Claire did such a good job being quiet while they filmed for the live TV broadcast. I wish I could start every Sunday watching the choir in person. Senator Orrin Hatch was there, so Claire and I got our picture taken with him. Just an added bonus I guess. :-)



After church we went over to Spence's parents' house in Murray for honey baked ham (yum!) and the kids had an egg hunt their with some of their cousins. They had fun. So it was a good Easter weekend for the McDonald Family!

The Question of the Day

How can someone use an entire hot water heater full of water to clean a 3-gallon fish tank??? My husband decided to clean out the fish tank today. As he was finishing I got into the shower. Freezing cold! Not even one drop of hot water. I know, you're asking yourself "Why didn't she just get out and wait for the water to heat back up?" Well, after already being undressed and wet, who wants to get back out. So as I was in there, slightly cussing as I was jumping in and out of the cold water in between cleaning and rinsing, I thought "Okay. I'm going to turn this around. I should be thankful that I even have indoor plumbing with water to shower in." It helped a little, but I still let Spence know that it was utterly ridiculous that he used up all of the hot water. As he was putting his fish into the tank, he was worried about them because the water was cold. He put them in and goes "Yep, I think they are in shock from the cold water." I smiled and replied "I know how they feel!"

Sleeping Beauty

Claire fell asleep like this while watching a video. It made me smile.

The other night at 10:00pm, Spence's brother Sean called. Claire was still awake and answered the phone. She loves her Uncle Sean. He was teasing her and asked her why she wasn't in bed. She smiled and said "Because I'm spoiled." She knows it at such a young age.

Cereal Aholic

So I have a confession to make....I am addicted to cold cereals. I LOVE them. I could eat a bowl of cereal at any time of the day. Before I go to bed every night- I eat a bowl of cereal. I like any kind there is- except with raisins. I especially like Apple Jacks, Captain Crunch Berries, and Honey Chex. My favorite thing to add to cereal is strawberries and peaches. (not together.) Anyhow, glad I got that off my chest. :-)

Nathan

This post is for Nathan...

Nathan holds a special place in my heart. As most of you know I was a single parent for 5 years until I married Spence. Nate was my little buddy- my best friend. He has always been smart. He loved to put together puzzles at a very young age. I always had to buy new puzzles to challenge him. He was taught at a young age to do many things- such as cooking his own instant oatmeal in the microwave when he was only 3 years old. I think it was because I was working two, sometimes three jobs, and was so tired in the mornings that I taught him how to manage on his own until I got out of bed! Thus- becoming an expert video game player at such a young age too. I remember him playing Tetris at only 3 years old also. He learned to put on videos and work the TV very young also...
I remember one comment he made when he was little and I was fixing macaroni and cheese for dinner. I was always trying to add different things to it to mix it up a little since we had it so often. This particular night he saw me fixing it and says "Mom, can we just have plain mac and cheese tonight?"

I know that Nathan feels really picked on lately since he's the oldest. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it! His bed was moved upstairs into Logan's room because he brought home a "C" on his report card. Totally unacceptable in my house. He was spending too much time on the computer and falling asleep with the TV on. I know he hates it, but I already have seen a change in his and Logan's relationship. Logan loves having him in there.

Thanks for being such a great kid Nathan and for your sweet spirit! I know that you will accomplish many great things in your life. Love, Mom

The Neverending Story

Things that are neverending at my house:

1- the laundry pile. Every time I turn around the hampers are completely full again. I especially hate putting the clothes away.

2- the dust. I HATE to dust. What was I thinking buying so much black furniture??

3- unloading the dishwasher. Is no one else capable of it?

4- trying to keep the kitchen floor clean. I hate the tile. It is always dirty it seems. And how many times can Cherry Red Slurpee be cleaned up off the kitchen floor in one day? Answer: Three.

5- the clutter. It seems to be creeping up in every corner lately. Maybe it's telling me that spring cleaning is around the corner.

6- the cars that are constantly in the vicinity of my house. (I won't say anything more about that one.)

7- fixing dinners. I swear I do it at least 5 times a night. Do I look like a short order cook?

"A Lucky Family"

So, the warm weather today (and the beginning of Spring Break) has brought out all of the neighborhood kids. Along with the kids comes the snacking on the treats. (which I totally DON'T mind.) Maddie came over to play with Claire and they were on their way to the garage to get the ever so popular Fruit Roll-Ups. (Macy's most favorite!) I helped them get some out and Maddie says "You are so nice to give us treats. You guys are a really lucky family. My mom never buys treats." LOL That made me smile. It doesn't take much to make kids like you does it? :-)

And speaking of treats- shame on you Emily for sending down the box of Thin Mints with Claire! They are half gone already! (and my butt has doubled in size.) Thank you though. It was very thoughtful of you.

St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Don't forget to wear GREEN! I wouldn't want any of my friends to get pinched!

Saturday we went to the primary activity at Temple Square. Thank you primary for taking the time to plan this activity! My family had fun. We enjoyed spending time together as a family. Afterwards we went to breakfast/lunch with friends at Denny's. It was wild, but lots of fun. Claire and I were laying in bed that night and I asked her what her favorite part of temple square was. She said "Sitting in the stroller with Paige." Then the next day at church Spence asked her the same thing. She gave him the same answer. So thank you Greg for pushing Claire in the stroller with Paige! Claire loves her!


Every time I see the Salt Lake Temple I am truly amazed at the pioneers and how they could build such a beautiful building. And to keep at it for 40 years! They truly must have had a testimony of temple work. I watched the video "Legacy" last week with Logan. I am so thankful that I wasn't born in those times because I know that I wouldn't have been able to have the faith to keep going like they did and keep starting over. Some of them had such trials in their lives. So many heartaches. It got me to thinking about the trials in my life. They seem so small compared to trials of others. I've never had any major sickness or disease in myself or children, never had infertility problems, never had to leave my home for or been persecuted because of my religion, etc. I am grateful for the trials that I have had to make me a stronger person, but I am thankful that they haven't been trials like the ones I mentioned. Sorry, guess I kind of rambled about all different things!

Jasmine

Happy Birthday Jasmine! So our dog just turned one yesterday. As most of you know, we sold her last week. We can't even keep a dog for a year. As much as we loved her, she was doing too much damage to our backyard. Not to mention the hair she was leaving in my kitchen. Yuck! Disgusting! Gross! I made Spence put off selling her because I didn't think I could deal with the kids being upset about it. But, after I swept the floor one day I had had enough. I put an ad on KSL Classifieds, and within one hour we had sold her. She went to a great family outside of Brigham City. They have acres of farmland, another dog, chickens, goats, etc. Jasmine is adjusting just fine and is having fun. It is strange to not have her in the backyard anymore though. And I apologize to my children that they will grow up without a family pet.

Change

The polka dots weren't doing it for me...so had to change the template. I get bored easily so like to change things. My house is too small to change furniture around. Now I've found something that I can rearrange easily! LOL

CTR

When Nathan was baptized, the primary in Kansas City gave him this white CTR bath towel. This towel has been the root of much contention between Logan and Claire at bath time. They literally fight and wrestle on the ground over who gets to dry off with this towel. (Picture two wet naked kids on the floor trying to get this towel away from one another- and me trying to stop them yelling "Choose the Right!") I have tried having them take turns, drawing names out of a hat, etc. to see who gets the towel each night. I love it when it's in the laundry and neither of them get to use it. So does anyone out there know where I can get another one so that my family can rid of this fighting???

First Try...

I guess I will give blogging a try. Jen keeps asking me if I have a blog yet because she wanted to know what goes on "behind the scenes" of my house. Thus, the title of the blog. I don't think I want anyone to know what goes on in my house! I guess I will next need to invest in a good camera so my pictures will compete with Jen's and Emily's!

More to come later. Need to get Logan ready for school!