I shaved both my legs 2 days ago!

OK, since my last post was 6 months ago, I figure it's time for a little update! My most loyal follower (Krissy!) has been requesting a new post, and while in the shower Saturday night, I thought it would be kind of funny to write a post about how I had shaved my legs, because ...it's just something that nobody really needs or cares to know about, and is one of the most un-interesting things to write about in a blog.

I had gotten Jared to sleep at 8:30 (we had made him skip a nap so he wouldn't be up til 2 a.m.) and was wondering what I was going to do with all of my free time that evening! I decided to start with a shower, which I had been planning on all day! Then, after shaving one leg and thinking how funny it would be to blog about it, I heard crying from the next room. I think Jared had a scary dream...Matthew thought he was in a milk coma...but either way, he started crying hysterically for me... still, I was determined to shave my second leg before getting out of the shower! So, I shaved both legs, and it was quite an accomplishment! After comforting him back to sleep, I sat looking at his little ears which had turned bright red when he was upset, and just thinking of what a sweet boy I have.

His favorite phrases lately are: Happy, Mommy? Happy, Daddy? Happy, 'mily? (He's not content until everyone in the house is happy!)

The other one that I think is so cute is: Me love Nellie. Me love Mommy. Me love Daddy. Me love 'mily. Me love Grandma. Me love Grandpa. Me love Sally. Me love chocolate chips.

I just think it is so cute, and I know he'll grow out of it and say it correctly soon enough. I just don't have the heart to correct him. Somehow, it seems more sincere when he says it his own way.

I just love, love, love this little boy.

My co-leader in the nursery, who kindly reminded me that her friend nursed her son til he was 7 years old, taught Jared a new word today...or yesterday (it's 2:22 a.m. on Monday, so what day was it on Sunday? yesterday, I guess!)

The word was "rambunctious." He learned it pretty quickly, saying "buncus" once, and then "rambuncus" over and over as he ran around the table, while his 2 fellow classmates sat in their chairs and quietly munched on their goldfish crackers and pretzels.

I still love my Jared boy, rambuncus and all.

By the way, my goal for yesterday was to sit down with Matthew, and try to post a picture, and ask him whenever I needed help, and write down the steps so that I'll know how to do it next time. It is really hard for me to learn new skills, for some reason (like sewing...it's torture!) He has tried explaining the steps when we're not at the computer, but that just goes in one ear and out the other for me. He has also written down all of the steps very clearly, which I have carefully filed away...somewhere. I am determined to get the hang of posting pics, so I can add the ones of the kids' lamps (so Mom can see what she got them for Christmas!) and the caricatures (also for Mom), but...I don't know if you're going to see a pic of my hair anytime soon. When we were in the sunlight today, Emily commented about how red my hair was. And the white sideburns are already coming back. I didn't really have that many white hairs on top, where it's all red now. I might just try an at-home coloring kit next time. I didn't enjoy the scraping and scabs when the beautician man scrubbed the dye off my face. I'm still glad I tried it, though! Also, I don't think I'll purposely post any pics of myself til I lose at least 52 pounds, which could be never, or...maybe in 52 weeks??? I thought I looked so nice in my new dress one week, so I had Matthew take some pics of me, and I couldn't believe how large I looked in the pictures! Needless to say, those will probably never be posted. By the way, I went to the gym 2 x last week, and went jogging with Nellie one night! So, it's coming along, more slowly than surely!!!

But at least it would be good to post some pics of the kids.

Like yesterday, Em looked so pretty in her new "bumble bee" outfit. We went shopping, and she picked out this really pretty yellow top and black lacy skirt. (Later, we bought some really cute dressy black sandals.) She looked so pretty at church (and so grown up!) What else can I say about Em? She's getting really into Super Mario Bros. on the wii that she got for Christmas. She still loves jumping and doing flips on the trampoline. She and Gg did a really cool Science Fair project about popcorn. Lately, I have gotten to see her silly side, and we have cried together, and I've felt such joy seeing her and Jared play happily together. She even replaced the battery in his Thomas the Train today. Her Primary lesson was on the Tree of Life yesterday, which is her favorite scripture story. We had a fun morning selling Girl Scout cookies together. We sold 62 (or 64?) boxes! She looks so cute wearing her sash...I still need to add her troop #s and Journey patch.

Friday at school, her teacher gave me a big hug and told me how much she loves Emily. (Her teacher grew up LDS, too, so there's a special bond there.) Emily is so responsible, setting her alarm, getting up and riding her bike to school and home each day. She loves school, and really excels there. She still loves art, drawing in her doodle journal, painting in the garage, making little people and animals out of clay... Matthew and I are planning a pottery day with Emily...making a pot on a real potter's wheel...we had fun on our last day out, painting a ceramic milk carton! I think my greatest wish for Emily is for her to know how very much we love her, and her Heavenly Father and Savior love her. Emily love, love, loves her dog!!! She wants another bunny for her birthday, a ukelele, and for us to finish and paint her tree house. We also looked up a cool tree house that you can sleep in and go zip lining through the woods! (It's in Austin. $300 a night, though...) She still wants to be a marine biologist. I love Emily's sense of adventure.

Emily still lets me read to her at night, though it's not as much of a requirement as it used to be! We just finished Desperaux tonight. We have fun watching The Middle together. We really get each other's sense of humor...I feel like we're really close and get along really well, except for times when she feels jealous of the time and attention we give to Jared, and times when she doesn't want to do what we ask/tell her to do...like stop tidying up the house and go to bed! It's a real struggle for her to stop cleaning up before everything is just the way she likes it...but she'd be up til midnight every night if we'd let her.

I'm actually really glad that we're seeking help, through a parenting class, and a specialist to share some tools with us...it's better than not knowing what to do when we feel like we've tried everything we know, and it's not working...We had an amazing class on Friday night, and I can't wait til the next one! The teacher challenged us to read the Book of Mormon, looking for parenting tips! I have been horrible about studying the Book of Mormon, and I'm looking forward to taking on this challenge!

I've been feeling like all of these things that we worry and struggle with (mainly people...)...we just need to pray about them. The answers will come, but we need to ask!

I love Emily so much, and while our relationship with her is more complex than with Jared, I really love the sweet, funny, kooky, intelligent/cynical, thoughtful, helpful, wonderful girl that is my daughter!

I'd probably better stop myself there for tonight, so I can get a little sleep before the day and week start all over again!! Next time I write, I hope to add a picture...wouldn't that be groovy?!

Good night for now!

Love,
Megs

38 Toe nails

Ha! I beat Emily to the computer! Most mornings when I wake up, she's already on Webkinz, doing her daily KinzCare. I realize my last several posts have been really dreary, but this morning, I thought of a few upbeat things to write about!

I've been thinking of a few new names for my blog. While I still love peanut M&M's, I think my ultimate favorite now is dark chocolate Kit Kats, followed closely by dark chocolate Reese's cups. My chocolate obsession (along with the pounds) has grown steadily over the past few years.

The other name I've been considering for the blog is "38 Toe nails"! There's a blog I really like called 71 Toes, about a family whose little girl was born with an extra toe. Well, I've recently had my 2 big toe nails permanently removed, so our family now officially has 38 Toe nails!

I love seeing how confident Jared is! The other night, he strode over to the dog's water bowl, picked it up and took a big sip, then set it down and walked away, like it was the most natural thing in the world!

I thought it was interesting that the 2 "kid's cereals" that we bought last night were Bran Flakes and Rice Krispies. We've been having a lot of cereal & toast for breakfast, and I asked Em if there was a cereal she'd like me to get for her. She chose Rice Krispies! And Jared has really been enjoying Raisin Bran lately, but I have to pick out every single raisin before he'll eat it. I'll carefully sift the bran flakes through my fingers, and he'll freak out if a raisin falls in the bowl! I just figured Bran Flakes might make things a little easier.

I just set a new goal: (following the missionary commitment pattern) "Will you learn to post pictures on your blog this summer...without any help from Matthew?" Yes, I will! I'd like to post some Before & After shots of the house. Last week, with lots of help (and butting heads) from Emily, we got the whole house semi-clean & semi-organized (with the exception of my room)! Kimberly (and her daughter Leslie) came over to watch the kids so Matthew & I could go to the temple (1st time in forever!) So, knowing they were coming gave us a big push to clean up!!

Our dining room table is currently covered with brown lunch bags. Each one contains 2 crayons, 4 coloring pages, and 2 mini fruit roll-ups. I'm planning to tie them with a cute ribbon, and glue a piece of cardstock on the front with the words "I Will Share." I have the Nursery lesson this Sunday, and many times, I'll tweak the hand-out to make it a little more cute & fun.

One last note... I'm really looking forward to our trip to Brenham tomorrow! We are going to tour the Blue Bell ice cream factory! But the best part is, we're going to meet Jen, her daughter Kadessa, mom Judy, and maybe Victoria? (good friends from Ohio...haven't seen Jen since my wedding reception!!) Judy & Herb live in Round Rock now, so we're going to meet in the middle (sort of...it's a bit longer drive for them...)

I'll write (and hopefully add pictures) soon!

Love,
Megan

not OATy enough

I thought of an acronym for what went wrong when I was teaching (among many other issues):
I wasn't OATy enough!

I wasn't O-organized (couldn't keep up with all of the lesson planning, grading, etc.).
(I still have a really hard time keeping up with paperwork at home!!!)

I didn't
spend
lots of
time
on my A-appearance (you have to look a certain way to be accepted at the school).
(This hasn't changed...I'm still a fun bun gal with no makeup!)
And I
didn't
have
a T-thick skin (wanted everyone to like me, tried too hard to please the wrong people,
couldn't handle mean, scary people, etc.)
( still don't enjoy criticism or dirty looks...)

I did put everything I had into that job, and did everything that was expected, tried to follow all the rules...On top of everything else, I was completely exhausted...and then there were mean people that were impossible to please, & no matter what happened, their kids were perfect & it was "my fault"...Ridiculous!!! I was not mean to those kids, and did not pick on anyone. I was being picked on by the parents, and could not give their kids any consequences-it was a no win situation... (most of the parents were really good, just a couple of raunchy ones...)

Besides all of that, I still feel that I am a good teacher, and still love to teach! I would love to one day teach a few art classes, but first, would like to take some classes & develop my skills (writing & illustrating books would be AMAZING!!!)

maybe one day... :)

to-do list

To Do:
add pictures of Jared's choo choo train cake & Em's Oprah costume,
add "Before" (and "after") pics of the messy house

wonder if I may have a case of adult-onset ADD...you may understand when you see the "before" pics!! need to look into that...

things to work on:
Money (paying off debt, controlling spending)
House (cleaning & organizing)
Jared's sleep
My weight

(this weight loss effort is going to be a long, s l o w process! I hope to lose 30 pounds by Feb. 2012 (about 1 pound a week)
actually, I have lost a total of 3 pounds, and have 31 to go!
trying to be realistic, cuz I'd really like to keep it off once I lose it :)

Swim Meet & lots of random thoughts

Well, tonight was Emily's 1st swim meet of the season. Technically, the 1st one was last Monday, but it got rained out. It's been rescheduled for this Saturday, so...not sure if we will go to the temple in the morning or attend a swim meet...Kimberly was soooooo gracious to offer to do a make-up babysitting day on Sat. since Jared got sick last time we were supposed to go.

I loved seeing what a good friend Emily was to Zoe tonight. Em and Jared probably ate about 1/4 of the huge watermelon that Zoe's dad brought to share with everyone. Jared kept giving the cutest smiles with watermelon juice dripping down his chin. Too bad I didn't get a pic! It's kind of fun not being super competitive about the swim team... Em's 1st ribbon of the night was purple (my favorite color), for participation, meaning someone"DQ'd" (disqualified). Then she got a yellow, and we were thinking of what color would look nice with those, and I suggested green. Before the night was over, Em had a green ribbon, as well as a red (second place)!

Is it possible to feel completely alone in a crowd of hundreds of noisy people? That's kind of how I felt tonight. I arrived at the meet 3 hours after Em, who rode with Zoe. I was there for 4 hours, which was plenty for me. Makes for a long Monday night if you don't have a BFF to talk & laugh with for hours. (Matthew had to work late, and Lisa had to study. I know I have Jared, but it would be nice to talk with someone my own age!) Maybe next time I will be on the look-out for another mom who looks as alone as I feel!

Lately, I've been thinking that I try too hard to impress the wrong people. I care so much about what certain people think of me... I tend to overlook a lot of other people who would probably be happy to talk with me or be a friend. I will try to work on this!!

So happy to get a call from one of my BFFs, Dabber Doo, at the end of the swim meet. I didn't get to find out if she's coming to visit next month, because my phone kept dropping the calls. I didn't get a chance to wish Krissy a happy bday, but she was in my thoughts!!

Cleaning & Organizing Tip #1 from the Old Gray Mare

Quick & Easy (& Fun!) Mopping

With bare feet, stand on wet Swiffer pads (one under each foot) and slide around the floor until it is cleaned to your liking! It's amazing how much dirt you can pick up without having to use your hands or any upper body strength at all! :)

Coming Soon... Tip #2: Organizing Piles of Paperwork by Categories! (especially useful for compulsive list-makers and/or hoarders of paper)

On Time for Church & scattered thoughts from this week

I haven't posted anything for a really long time, mainly because I don't know how to add pictures without Matthew's help! I've also been a bit down lately, for various reasons...my life feels out of control in a lot of ways (messy house, being overweight, the list could go on!!). I have also felt a huge lack of confidence in social situations. Saw a lady at the pool the other night who I'd like to be friends with, but she was chatting with a good friend of hers, and I could not bring myself to go over & talk to them. In addition to my family, I have had a few friends in my lifetime who have been able to see & bring out the good qualities I possess. I guess the trick is to gain some confidence in myself (without getting too prideful), so I'm not so dependent on others' opinions of me.

So for now, I will just write, but would like to add pics of Emily dressed as Oprah, and maybe Jared's "train" BDay... Emily wants to write an email to Oprah. She can be reached personally at oprah@oprah.com. I gained a lot of respect for Oprah as we researched her life for Emily's school project.

Em completed 4th grade on Thursday! She was so good about getting up & ready every morning, and riding to school on her bike! She was only tardy one day the whole school year, and it really was my fault! She missed out on the Perfectly Punctual award, so we are going to reward her somehow, because she really did earn it!

Just having Emily home for 1 day on Friday helped me so much. She's getting really good at helping with Jared. He loves for her to read him his favorite book, Roadwork. She loves to play with his toy cars on his new rug!!! I'm looking forward to this summer...hope it will be fun, relaxing, and productive! Swim team promises to be a big part of Emily's summer, especially the meets on Mondays (approx. 3:45-10 p.m. -- ugh!)

Today, we hit a major milestone for our family! We pulled into the Church parking lot at 12:58, and Church didn't start til 1:00!! It was the best feeling! We really try to get there on time every Sunday, but never quite make it. This morning, instead of everyone going out to the backyard like usual and hanging out til 10 or so, I hid the key to the backyard! I decided to try to do everything we needed to do to get ready for Church FIRST, and then leave by noon if we were all ready. I started getting ready at 8:30, and we all got baths/showers, found/washed the clothes that everyone needed for Church, got breakfast, listened to some Primary songs, got Jared down for a nap, we all got dressed & ready, and then did the last-minute stuff like preparing tithing, Emily's allowance & tooth fairy money; finishing the paper bag puppets for Nursery; wiping out the shoes that the dog slobbered on; getting a small birthday gift together for a lady I visit teach; packing up diapers, snacks, etc. for Church... After all that, we were actually pulling out of our driveway by about 5 til 1. Usually, I would have allowed myself just a few minutes to do all those last-minute things, but they took a full hour! I really tend to under-estimate how long things will take to accomplish.

So...my long-term goals include time management, money management, cleaning & organizing our home, eating healthier, etc... but this was one step in the right direction!!!

Got pretty emotional (lots of tears) at the Weight Watchers meeting Sat. morning. Tried to wipe them away before I made too much of a scene. Losing weight is going to be such a long road... I really hope I can do it! I know it won't solve all of my problems, but it will help me to become a healthier Megan & mom!!

Also, we went on a date last night, which is kind of rare these days! We went to Lomonte's-they have the best lasagna! I brought along 2 pair of scissors and a bunch of papers to cut out for my Nursery lesson. While we were waiting for our meal, Matthew & I were cutting out these figures for puppets, and our waiter asked us what we were working on, and what Church we went to. He was excited to find out that we go to the same Church as the hostess at the restaurant (she goes to a Single's Ward). That was really fun!

Another bonus of being on time for Church: we got to sit by Lisa & her daughter Zoe, some of our friends who recently got baptized! Lisa's husband John has to work on Sundays, but he goes to a ward by U of H during his lunch break! We have loved getting to know their family as we've participated in some of the lessons with the missionaries--2 wonderful Elders.

I love my calling in Nursery, but sometimes, I feel pretty isolated from the other ladies in Relief Society. It was nice to talk with Cecelia for a few minutes today.

I really need to start brushing my teeth at night...I had 3 cavities filled this week (1 was a doozy!) (and it cost us over $200-yikes!)

Doreen made the yummiest homemade french fries and hamburgers for dinner tonight.
Hope I can make it to Zumba tomorrow night!

Sorry my thoughts are so scattered!

So long for now,
Megs