I just have to say...

Please stop judging HIM for the decisions WE made.

It is true that my husband leaves the house for work about the same time that the kids do for school. It is true that he isn't ever home for dinner except on his days off. And it is true that he is rarely home before the kids go to bed. BUT that is the life that WE chose when we moved to Milk River. We were both aware of the fact that it would require an hours commute(on an open, well maintained highway not a traffic crammed deerfoot trail in Calgary or something of the like) to and from work and that his store opens at 9am and closes at 6pm, so even if it were possible for him to leave at the moment that the store closed, that still means he isn't home until 7pm. However, anyone that has ever worked in retail knows that leaving the store at what is officially closing time is impossible. First of all, somebody has to actually close the store, secondly, many customers don't seem to notice the time and don't actually leave the store right at closing time. It is also true that my husband works nearly every Saturday, this is the reality of working at a retail store, Saturdays are the busiest day, and everyone works on Saturday. However he also doesn't ever work a Sunday or on any holiday because the store is closed, a rarity in this day and age and Mondays are his regular day off, which means we get to have him home for Family Home Evenings. So yes, it's true, I am on my own a lot of the time. It is true that I put the kids to bed on my own nearly every night. It is true that he rarely graces our dinner table. BUT when he is home, he's home. He can get those girls to clean up in half the time they'll do it for me. He takes the girls out on Daddy daughter dates, simple ones like just running errands, or going Home Teaching, or out to Tim's shop to fix the car or the van, and sometimes even out for lunch. When the girls have school stuff going on, he leaves work early so that he can be there for them. When the kids are misbehaving at home, all I have to do is make a call to his work and he takes the time to talk to them and set them straight(why do they listen to their father better than me? so not fair.). We have great fun on our family outings, whether it's a one day day trip to some random town in Montana, a short and wet camping trip to Whitlash in the spring or a fabulous summer camping trip in the mountains. Oh yes, and did I mention that he stepped out of his comfort zone and figured out how to fix the washer, the dryer and the dishwasher? He also attempted to fix the garage door opener, but that kinda backfired. Best of all, he spoils me with flowers and chocolate and cheesecake for no reason at all. He makes time for him and I time, date nights and little weekend getaways. He often has some kind of surprise up his sleeve of some kind or another, or one brewing for some time down the road. He makes me feel special and loved and needed. And I'm pretty darn certain that the girls would tell you the same thing and there is no wondering how the boy feels about him.

Having said all that, I will also say this, it isn't easy. I'll admit I have days where I wish that he had the typical Mon-Fri, 9-5 job that would allow him to be home for supper and helping put the kids to bed. But those moments are few and fairly far between. The reality is this: We love living in Milk River, we love the community, we love the school and the teachers, and we love our ward. But not only that, we KNOW this is where we are supposed to be. This is where the Lord wants us to be. And knowing that makes everything else fall into place.

So please, stop telling me that my husband should be home at a certain time or work different hours. Or that I deserve more, or that I put up with too much. I'm tired of hearing it and I am tired of defending him over OUR choice.

What I have is a man who loves me and our children and works hard for us. I have a man who is a righteous Priesthood holder. I have a man with a tender heart, and isn't afraid to show it. I have a man who treats me like a queen. No, our life isn't perfect, but like the sign on my living room wall says "life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful". Yeah, I saw that sign in a little shop in Eureka, Montana and mentioned to him how much I loved it. So he went back later and bought for me. What can I say, I'm a lucky gal!

A story of Two fishes

When James asks me to draw a fish it looks like this:

When James asks daddy to draw a fish it looks like this:

Complete with a pirate tat. He just has to out do me every time. Remember this time. Clearly I can't compete.

Potty training....a possible success story.

When I was in Lethbridge on Wednesday I happened to find a steal of a deal at a second hand store. I had gone in to see if I could find a dresser so that I would have something to put baby's clothes in, but they didn't have anything in my price range. But what I did find was a training potty, in amazing condition for $2.50. Since the one we had had gotten broken beyond repair and James has recently been showing some promising signs of being ready to potty train, I couldn't pass on this amazing deal. Thursday we set it out and he was excited to sit on it. I let him run around all morning without a diaper on. He peed on the floor three times. He also dumped out an entire box of cereal on the living room floor, and  tried to wash his hair on his own on three separate occasions....it was quiet and eventful day. At noon I had to go up to the school, so I put a diaper on him and went and did what needed to be done. When we got home, he had a melt down and ended up falling asleep with his diaper on, so I took a nap too. The afternoon was a wash when it came to potty training, but then right before bed we had a break through. I was getting ready to put James to bed, but I really had to go to the bathroom, so I told him to just wait a minute because mom had to go potty. Well he decided that he had to go potty to, so he came into the bathroom with me and he sat on his potty, and then he peed, IN THE POTTY! I was so excited and let him know it. "YOU DID IT! Good job buddy! You peed in the potty!"  The girls heard all the ruckus in the bathroom so they came and stood outside the door and were shouting too. James started jumping up and down "I did it! I peed!". He opened the bathroom door and said "LOOK!, I peed!" the girls all cheered him on and gave him hi fives.  It all just happened. It was like the girls all knew exactly what to do, and James just loved every second of the attention. When it all calmed down, he sat down on the potty again, and tried to pee, and then he said with a frown. "Don't work mom". We all laughed, but he was seriously disappointed that it wasn't working again. I told him it was OK and we would try again in the morning.

Daddy came home from his week long business trip with surprises for all the kids, plus a little extra for the boy, some stylin' new underpants! This morning before school daddy handed out the gifts. We took off James' diaper and put on some Lightning Mcqueen underpants. He stayed dry for quite awhile, but I wanted him to feel the urge to pee so I kept offering him milk and water. And then finally it happened, he peed...in his underpants...on his bedroom floor. He came to tell me right away. so we took off his underpants, and cleaned up the mess. By the time we had that done, he said he had to pee, so this time we got him on his potty, and he peed. Once again I made a big deal about it, dad told him "good job buddy" and he ran out of the bathroom and said "Kym, come here! Look, I peed!". This became a theme for the day. EVERY time he peed in the potty he would call everyone, by name, one by one, to "Come here!" so that he could show them that he peed in the potty. We didn't have another peeing accident that day, but he did poop on the floor...gross...we'll have to work on that.

The problem we have is that he doesn't get the purpose of underpants. Three times today he would ask me to put on his new underpants, and then promptly go and sit on the potty in his underpants and pee. Hmm...I tried to explain to him that we have to take off the underpants first. I even told him not to pee on Lightning Mcqueen. But it just wasn't getting through to him. So I decided that for today, we would focus on the recognizing the need to pee, and tomorrow we'll work on the underpants part of it. All in all, I feel like today was a success. Here's hoping that it just gets better from here. Wouldn't it be great if I only had the baby in diapers...no more almost 3yr old diapers to change!!!! Heaven, that's what that would be.

A question I could not answer.

So this evening I was sitting at the computer crying and reading an article about the terrible tragedy that occurred in Connecticut today. My 10 year old asks me if I am alright. She sits down beside me and I tell her about what happened. She breaths deep. Her first question is "Was this in the United States?" I tell her that it was. Her next question is "Why do these sort of things happen so much in the United States?". All I can say is, "I just don't know." We talk a bit more about it and then she just sits there beside me as I read more of the article. I know she is thinking, I can feel it. She breaks the silence with another question "Mom, what would make a person so mad to do something so awful? I mean, to your own mom? I couldn't imagine being that mad to shoot somebody, especially you, you are the best person in the world." By now she is crying and so am I. I just shake my head and say " I don't know sweetheart, I can't imagine it either." It's her next question that has kept me thinking long after the conversation has ended and she is off in bed sleeping peacefully(I hope). "Mom, if stuff like this happens in real life, why do they make shows about it?" What a good question! I tell her so and then add that I guess some people find watching crime shows entertaining. "But, why would somebody read this and say how awful it is and then go downstairs, or to a movie and watch it in a show for entertainment? That just doesn't make sense!" She's right of course, it doesn't make sense. I tell her that I have no good answers, I wish that I did, but I just don't. At this point, James comes in the room with a terrible stench, and I need to do something about it before we all pass out. And so that is the end of our conversation, but not the end of my thinking.

I used to watch crime shows often, I loved them. I've read my fair share of crime books too. Why? Why did I find them entertaining. The suspense? The terror? What was it about them that kept bringing me back to them? It's been a number of months since the last time I watched any type of crime show, I stopped watching them sometime around the time I wrote this post. I've completely lost my appetite for them. I honestly can't think of any good reason for why I ever felt the need to watch them. Not that I think you are bad if you enjoy that sort of thing, but what is it about them that makes them appealing and entertaining? Seriously, I am asking. What do you think it is? Why do we as a society become appalled and saddened when such things happen in real life, but seem to be unfazed by it when we watch or read it for "entertainment"?

Ick!

Yesterday, my husband was sick. He called in sick to work, for which he still gets paid.  Today I wake up sick. But who do I call in sick too? nobody. I must still get up and feed the kids breakfast, send two of them off to school and then some how entertain the two younger ones. Oh yes, and lets not forget that I am 7 months pregnant and today every kick is one of discomfort, every baby movement causes or increases the nausea.  This afternoon is the town's Christmas craft fair that the kids have been looking forward to and I have promised to take them to it. That should be fun. Oh the life of a mom.

My SIL shared this with me, all moms should go read this post. It made me laugh on this sick icky day.

Take Time to Remember

Today we braved the crazy snow and traveled the two blocks up to the school for the Remembrance day ceremony. In order to get the van out I had to first brush off two feet of snow from the front end, then shovel all of that snow plus the snow that had drifted in around the van just so we could get into the van. But it was all worth it.

As we stood to sing the national anthem, the actions of a soldier caught my eye. It wasn't anything new, I've seen it done before, by this exact soldier in fact. He is one of Milk River's own, a young man in his early 20's who serves in the RCA. Today he was the only one of his kind, and we only had one veteran, the weather wasn't cooperating I guess. Anyways, as we stood to sing, this soldier stood briskly, pivoted to face the flag then stood at attention and saluted the flag. I could see every muscle in his body was taut as he stood frozen in time. Today, this struck a cord and I was too emotional to even attempt to sing. What a gift, to have such young men serving our country today.

Kathryn was asked to recite the famous poem "In Flanders Fields". She came home so excited. We sat down and read through it discussing what each line meant and how she could say it with the feeling. She wrote notes on her copy. I expressed to her that this was a great responsibility that she had been given, that this poem was very important to a lot of people. I encouraged her to try to memorize it. In a matter of a day or two she had it memorized and was practicing trying to say it not too fast and with just the right emotion. I think she did amazing.

Italian Wedding Soup Revisited

So with the cool weather, I decided that soup was in order for dinner tonight. So I looked up the recipe that I had posted a while back on my Sew Me More Blog. Since then however I have seen other recipes floating around, so I took a look at those too and decided that mine needed a little revamping. So I thought I'd share with you the changes I made.


Mandy's Italian wedding soup revised

This picture is from the original recipe, it still looks like this.

8 cups chicken broth
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cups finely shredded spinach
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2tsp ground sage
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup small noodles (like alphabets or orzo)
10 breakfast sausages(because they are faster than making your own, but one day I'll make my own)
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in stock pot. Add onions, thyme and sage and saute until onions are tender, add the carrots, celery and garlic. Let cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan. Remove casing form sausages, break each sausage into about 5 or 6 pieces and shape into meatballs. Fry in stock pot, when almost cooked all the way through, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Bring chicken broth, vegetables and sausages to a boil. Add spinach and noodles. Return to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes or until noodles are at desired doneness. Dish into bowls and top with fresh Parmesan cheese. Enjoy the yumminess!

Keep in mind that they only thing that I actually measured here was the chicken broth, which I started out with 6 cups, but then added about another two after I had added everything else.

I really enjoyed this new version. If you want a simpler soup, you could always go with my original version found here.