We went to a birthday party for one of the girls in Rhayn's class today. First the kids decorated their bikes with streamers and balloons. The kids paraded their bikes around the neighborhood ending at a park with a splash pad. Gwennie tried to ride her tricycle with the group, but she quickly fell to the back of the pack. She and I ended up going back to our car (we were able to fit Rhayn's bike and Gwennie's tricycle in the back of the Mazda) to drop off her trike. Then we walked to the park.
The kids got really wet, and played hard. Gwennie stayed out of the water, she dislikes splash pads, because she can't control the water and it gets in her face. She was concerned from the moment we had her put on her suit that she was going to be swimming. In the below picture you can see the butterfly bandage that is covering her cut. I didn't get a picture of Rhayn on her bike but I did get this picture of her in a tree. It was a good time had by all.
Today I am grateful for good friends and their support.
I had planned to write a gratitude post about the military, soldiers and our freedom. Instead I have a tale to tell.
Last night we had a cook out a our house. Will and I prepped food and bought some delicious carne asada (we didn't know it would be delicious as we were trying a new carneceria, but it was, oh it was.)
Rhayn's two best friends and their families were coming over. We were all very excited. After they arrived we stood around eating tortilla chips and the salsa I had made and the nopaliotos brought by A. The ladies and I were prepping the tortillas, the men were outside (because the grill was on of course) and Gwennie was swinging happily in our tree.
Then time stopped.
D came running in with Gwennie, who was screaming. Will took her and put her on the couch. She was bleeding. D explained what happened. She had been swinging, and one of the ropes loosened. She fell and cracked her head on the concrete barrier for our grass. Both D and Will had heard what Will described as the sound of a cantaloupe hitting concrete. She had a small gash in her head and was really hurting.
I held the gauze on her head, for a while. We had to decide whether she hit her head hard enough to need to go to the hospital. A asked her questions, when Gwennie had finally calmed down, about her headache and whether it was an "inside headache" or an "outside headache".
A and Pam finished preparing all of the food and the guys made sure the kids were fed. I held Gwennie in our chair but she started falling asleep. To keep her awake I gave her a popsicle. The kids sat outside to eat. Gwennie sat out there, too for a little while, but it was so hot and she hurt. She came in and tried to sleep on me. Will and I kept making her stand up. We gave her a second popsicle. At this point she started saying her tummy hurt. A brought her a bowl. Will looked up concussions or TBI on the Mayo clinic's website.
Gwennie wanted to sleep, she was having a hard time keeping her head up. So while I held her, A and Will researched how long we needed to keep her awake. Also Pam texted her mom (who is an LPN) to ask her. Basically, we found out that we could let her sleep, but we needed to keep waking her to see if she was still responsive. She threw up while they were researching keeping her awake.
Eventually she slept, and I was sort of able to get back to my friends. I felt scared and stressed. Partially because this was my baby and I felt terrible for her, but also because I had tied the knot that had come undone and caused all of this.
She woke up later and threw up a little more. Then dozed again on the couch.
Everyone stayed until 10, leaving with promises that if we needed to drop Rhayn off while we took Gwennie to the emergency room, just call. Or one of them would gladly come sit at the house while we were at the emergency room. And again I was filled with a sense of gratitude.
Gwennie woke up around the time every one left. She was acting like herself again. She used the potty, brushed her teeth, gladly put on pajamas, and happily climbed into bed between Will and I so we could keep an eye on her.
And at 5:30 in the morning, she popped up, wide awake and ready for another day. She has a bump on her head and a butterfly bandage holding together a cut that looks almost identical to the one Rhayn got last year (although Gwennie's is on her right temple and Rhayn's was in her hair.) But all seems well.
Saturday Will had an Army obligation and I took the girls to see Shrek the Final Chapter. We enjoyed it. But I wasn't feeling that well and I also had slept fitfully through the previous night. We came home and I took a nap on the couch.
Sunday Rhayn has a birthday party to go to. But first we cleaned up the backyard before she and Will played a little catch. I took her to the party and sat at a coffee shop nearby reading while she was at the party. She loved it because they decorated cakes, then they were able to bring the cake home. We all enjoyed the cake that evening.
Monday morning it was so nice out, and with a forecast high of 81, Gwennie and I went to the zoo. I let her chose what we would go see. Of course we had to see the giraffes and then it was off to the wallabies before finishing up at the petting zoo area. That evening Rhayn's school had their Spring Concert. Rhayn's class performed beautifully. My mom and dad were able to come and that was really nice.
Tuesday... um... I don't remember much. I did laundry and in the evening took Rhayn to ballet.
Wednesday Will stayed home from work with a cold. Since I was watching L, he stayed in our bedroom for the morning and worked.
Thursday Gwennie, L and I went to pick peaches. Will came home early from work because he was still sick.
Friday Will stayed home sick again. I took our new car in to the Mazda dealership to see what was leaking under it. Luckily for us, it was quick and simple for them to fix it. (Cracked motor mount that requires hydraulic fluid.) I was out of there in about an hour which was awesome. After school I took Rhayn out for a milkshake and a quick trip to Old Navy which was having a huge sale. All of the clearance stuff was an addition 50% off. We got two outfits for Rhayn and a t-shirt for both girls for about $30. It was a nice time out, just the two of us.
Today Will is taking Rhayn to play tennis, and Gwennie and I are going to pull weeds. Then we will clean the house before the barbecue we are having tomorrow.
Today Gwennie, L (the little sweetie I watch), my friend Pam, and I went to pick peaches and apricots. It was a long drive, but quite fun once we got there.
First we got boxes and baskets and began searching for peaches. The area is huge, the trees groaned under the weight of semi-ripe peaches. The ground was littered with rotting peaches. Rotting peaches feel disgusting when you step on them, the squish made me shudder a little.
Pam found a huge and perfect peach. Notice her box is quite empty, this was early on in the picking. We both filled a box and could have filled many more.
Gwennie and L were able to reach some of the peaches. They happily used the child sized baskets that were available.
The apricots were hard to get to, the best ones were high up. The ground around the trees was wet and the orchard was filled with mosquitoes. I let one of the mosquitoes binge on my knee for a moment before swatting it away, and the little girls were amazed at that. As you pulled a few apricots off more would fall to the ground. Thud thud thud, you could hear them drop. I bent over to pull something out of my shoe and was hit in the back by a falling apricot.
I really liked the way this looked. This strange viney weed grows in the rosemary in my front yard. It looks like we are headed off, and done. However this was actually on our way to pick apricots.
I ended up with about 25 pounds of peaches and only a few pounds of apricots. I decided to make a peach pie, which involved a lot of peach parboiling. By then I was exhausted and lazy so I bought a store-made pie crust. I love making pie crust, usually. I really want to dry the apricots, but the girls and Will have been eating them. I love dehydrated apricots.
A few weeks ago I wrote this post about simplifying my life. That day I sat down and wrote out all of the things that I want to accomplish every day, as well as the weekly and monthly things I want to do. I also wrote out a chore list for Rhayn so that every day she knows what is expected of her. On her list I included showers every few days, because in the hustle and bustle of the week she was getting into a habit of showering only on Tuesdays (because her feet smelled so bad that I didn't want her to be the stinky kid in her ballet class!)
Here is my daily list-
General- Make bed Feed pets Take vitamins Read to/ with children Kitchen- Clear/ Wipe counter tops and stove top Empty trash Load/ Run/ Empty dishwasher Clean kitchen sink Sweep floor Plan/ Cook dinner
I need to add exercise to this list. I am also not great at sweeping the kitchen floor daily. But I am working on that.
The weekly list-
Sunday- Family Time! Plan meals for the week Make grocery list
Wednesday- Pick up toy room Vacuum upstairs Dust upstairs Clean up computer desk
Thursday- Clean litter boxes Change bedsheets Change hand towels Wash sheets and towels Clean bedrooms
Friday- Wash windows, especially back door Sweep back patio
Saturday- Do a quick tidy up of whole house Outside chores/weeding Use up leftovers
No, I haven't stuck to it exactly. Example would be Saturday morning. We haven't done a quick outside pick up, its been done on Sunday because of issues the last few Saturdays. I am working on staying on top of all of these things, and slowly adding to the list. If I miss a day its not such a big deal because I know what I need to do to catch up. So far its working really well.
This is our last full week of Rhayn's school. She has one full day and 2 half days next week then we are done. After that we are going to add an hour of homeschooling during the day for the summer. I need her to keep working on reading and math so she doesn't lose where she is. She has been doing so well since we started working with her more. I want to keep that going. I also want to work on her penmanship. The class is writing in cursive but she doesn't quite get how the letters flow together. (So if anyone has good handwriting resources, please share!)
This bra from Victoria Secret*. I love this bra. It does wonders for the girls. You know what else? It comes in my size. I am a weird size (30 or 32D if you must know, you try to find that in full coverage). I have a few of them in different colors. Seriously, it supports lifts and does all manner of wondrous things.
Irish Spring Speed Stick. Shush. I know its a man's deodorant/antiperspirant. It smells clean like soap. And best of all... it was on sale at the grocery store today. Yes, I stocked up.
Old Navy maternity capri pants. Also, SHUSH, I know I am not pregnant, and your point is? They are comfortable and I got them for $5 at the consignment store.
Consignment stores and Savers in general for that matter. The girls' red and green dresses were bought at Savers and they love them. Rhayn wore hers over jeans the other day, while Gwennie has worn hers around the past few days and pretended to be a "honeybird" (hummingbird).
*No, I didn't get paid or compensated for this at all. I just really LOVE this bra that much. Same for the Speed Stick.
Long ago I promised a story of my past. This is part of it. I have many little stories that I want to add to it, like my one and only hitchhiking experience. But if I don't post this... its just going to keep getting reworked. Be warned its long, like nearly 1500 words. Its also rough, and doesn't flow well. Any suggestions, critiques are welcome. Thanks.
I quit my job when I was 18 to run away from home with my then-boyfriend, Worm. We planned to go live on the streets. It was early in the summer of 1996 and I had recently graduated from high school. I wasn’t ready to start college and having been fairly sheltered most of my life I wanted what I called “life experiences”. The day I quit (I had been a waitress at Denny’s), I stood in the bathroom of Worm’s mom and step-dad’s house, while he shaved my head for the first time, leaving a fringe of bangs around the front. I felt like this was a new start, a new experience, a new me.
Worm went to Utah without me, it was heartbreaking because I was so fully infatuated with him. I spent the time apart from him living in a trailer with all my friends (who were guys) watching them drink and smoke pot. We stayed up all night and fell asleep curled up in a pile on a futon in the living room right before the sun rose.We talked about everything and nothing at all. Laughter filled that trailer as did camaraderie.
One day Worm returned, he wanted me to go with him back to Salt Lake City (SLC), to meet the street kids he’d met, to see what he had seen. I gladly packed much of my stuff into his van willing to follow him anywhere. We made it to Flagstaff the day we left. We fell asleep listening to Billie Holiday in the cool pines. We hung around Flag for a few days, standing in line at the soup kitchen and finally finding a place that would give us a full tank of gas to start out on. I could have stayed there happily but he was ready to move on. The rest of our trip to SLC was fairly uneventful.
I had been to SLC as a child with my grandma to see the temple. I think of it like a trip to Mecca to those of Islamic faith. SLC, the LDS holy land (well, sort of the real hold land is in Missouri).I had also been to SLC as a teenager to attend General Conference (where I actually met, and shook hands with, Howard W. Hunter who would later become the 14th prophet.That man radiated something holy.)This trip to SLC was different. My hand was hanging out of the passenger window of the van with a Marlboro Light in it. You see I smoked a lot in those days, but soon buying cigarettes would be hard, so I enjoyed each and every puff of the ones we had.
We pulled up to a house party, I only vaguely recall this time. I was exhausted from the journey and really just wanted to sleep in a real bed but this wouldn’t happen until I was home with my family again. Sure there was a makeshift bed in the back of the van, but sleeping in that was only fun for the first few days. I had already grown weary of the situation.
We met and hung out with so many people that I don’t really remember. We sat on the street outside of Crossroads mall, near temple square “spanging” (asking for spare change) something that I never really get did the hang of. But some of these kids were superior at it. So much of our time was spent just talking, trying to find food and attempting to get into shows. We saw the Aquabats and one of my all time favorite bands, Tilt, during this time. We listened to the Misfits reunion tour outside of Bricks nightclub (11 August 1996). Days blurred into each other. One of the houses we stayed at was owned by a man who told great stories. He told us of a haunted house near temple square. He refused to take us there but one of his housemates took us. We had to climb into the building through a window on the second floor. I don’t remember being all that scared when we were in there, but the boiler room was not a place I ever wanted to return to.
We met a girl from California who let us use her shower, she came and hung out with the street kids, always in a pristine, black Crass t-shirt. We referred to her as “Crass girl” even though at the time I had never even heard Crass. I felt like I was “more punk-rock” than she, because I spent most of my nights in a van or crashing on various unsavory mattresses all over the city.
We had a friend named Mitch, he had bright red hair cut into a bi-hawk. He helped me glue Worm’s Mohawk so it was stay up longer.He was from Ogden and took a bus down to hang out in SLC all summer before going home and back to high school.
We met a guy who went by D-O-G (his name was really Josh) and spent time at his house, it was in this weird little basement room of a nice house. He bought me my first (and last) quad shot mocha, and laughed hysterically at me when I couldn’t sit still from all of the caffeine. He took us to see Mystery Science Theater 3000 the movie. He introduced me to cheese fries (these have been one of my favorite things to eat at Denny’s ever since then.) D-O-G wanted to go to Denver, he had friends there, and wanted to see them. He also had money from a tax return. Worm and I had originally wanted to go to Denver, but it was farther from home and therefore would take more gas to reach. He had chosen SLC because it was closer. D-O-G gladly paid for food, cigarettes and gas for us to make it to Denver.
It was nearly September by then. We had left our homes sometime in late July. The house we stayed at was owned by a lady named Bethaney. She had many pets, and no place for us to sleep in her house. We lived in the van in front of her house. We were allowed to shower and use her bathroom. That made life a little more tolerable. During this time I took my first bus ride, a grueling (but exciting for small-town girl, me) hour plus trek from the suburb area we stayed in to 16th Street mall.
While we stayed in her front yard I pierced my lip with a syringe. I shoved a ring through the hole following the needle, then I prayed that I wouldn’t get an infection or any other disease from this. I loved my lip ring.
There was a couple that lived at the house we slept outside of. The girl had long dyed black hair and worked at a dry cleaner. They invited us to go with them downtown Denver to listen to some guy talk. We had nothing going on so we went. Within moments of the beginning of the seminar, Worm and I were wiggling in our seats uncomfortably waiting for it to end. It was a cult, a scary cult, we both agreed and were glad to get out of that building.
One day Worm and I were talking, like we did all of the time, you know, not having a television to suck our time. He told me that he would never marry. That hit me. Not that I wanted to marry him right then nor did I know if I ever really wanted to marry him. I just knew that I did one day want to marry. But to know that he and I had no future made me miserable. It wasn’t long after that when I called my mom, and asked her if she could send me money to come home. I was done with it, done missing my family, done with a man with whom I had no future. No matter how much I loved Denver, no matter how much I had always wanted to live there, I could not make myself stay.
Worm drove me home, saying he was ready to go home as well. We didn’t really part ways either. After our time together, all we had experienced, we were linked. It was a long time before I fully severed myself from him. He was friends with my friends, ran in the same circles as I ran. Even after we stopped seeing each other, we still saw each other regularly.
Though I haven’t seen Worm in probably ten years, he remains a fond memory from my past and someone I occasionally hear about via a cousin who is still in contact with him. I’ve heard that fourteen years later he has changed his mind about marriage and is engaged to his current girlfriend. I wish him well.
With Will's old Army blouses? (I already repurposed or upcycled a pair of the pants to make skirts for my girls. I want to make a skirt for myself, too.)
I think I'll make a backpack! (Gwennie was an unwilling model for it.) This took me about an hour and a half. I would have liked to line it, but this was just a prototype. There are a few things I plan to change if/when I make another. It was quite easy, though. I was able to cut it out in such a way that I didn't have to sew in a zipper or pockets. I only had to attach the pencil pocket from one of the sleeves to the outside. Also, I used one of the sleeve for the straps (which are not adjustable). It only took one blouse to make it and its big enough to hold a few note books. Also- this is what we* built for Rhayn's teacher's end of the year gift. Can't wait for his "ladies" to make themselves comfortable in their new home and start laying eggs. *By we, I do not mean me, I merely helped paint it. Will helped a lot. He is awesome at building things. One of my friends drew up the plans and bought the materials, then we gathered at her house to put it together. We plan on having the children all paint their hand prints on the coop before he is given it.
finding a peaceful moment anytime anywhere. The above picture was taken behind a Circle K whilst Gwennie and I had a beverage and waited for Joann's to open on Friday.
coffee chats with friends
planned playdates with goofy and fun people.
watching my husband help build a chicken coop for Rhayn's teacher's end of the year gift. He is really awesome at this sort of thing. Now I just need him to help me build the playhouse I have been thinking of for a year or so.
fun afternoons out with my cousin, Hairball. Taking pictures of action figures while we're out (picture story will be posted later) as is our grand tradition.
planning and lists. We are starting our rhythm this week. I have written out the things I want to get done each day and printed it out. I'm already doing something different because we have a planned playdate tomorrow and usually Tuesday is my laundry day, so I am doing laundry today.
better outlooks on life. My period finally started on Saturday afternoon. Because my hormones have stabilized everything is looking up. I am over being depressed that once again we were not pregnant, and am looking at a possible February baby due around our 8th anniversary. That would be nice, right? I am also over being upset because someone else in our family is expecting (Congrats! I really hope its a girl!) and am looking forward to the fun all of these little kids will have whilst they are growing up. (My mom also mentioned that this will make my hopeful baby lucky grandchild number 13! How cool is that? 3rd child, when mom turns 33 and number 13. Love numbers.)
Some days it is a struggle to get out of bed. Its a struggle to function, to be a parent. Its a struggle to deal with strange little things like the way my period if behaving, totally abnormally, with day 4 of this weird spotting and the third day of cramps that feel different from cramps I've had before. I know I am not pregnant, and if I was I would be losing the baby. It feels sort of like that but there is more heaviness to it.
The 4 days of spotting concern me, but what can I do about it? Its a Saturday, the pain is tolerable as long as I do a number of things- keep my bladder empty, sit hunched up, and move around every once in a while.
I am on cycle day 31 now, my period should be here in full force. Its not. The PMS stage seems to be lingering and causing me to be a total... well you know. The depression I felt earlier in the week is still there, too. Which is causing me so much grief. I really want to find a hole to crawl into for the rest of the weekend (or until I feel better.) Instead I have to be mom. I have to clean up dog vomit, and pretend that nothing is wrong. When everything is, everything feels like its crashing down on me all at once.
Here is a side view of our new Mazda5. Isn't she pretty? So shiny. (By the way picture is not at our house.) At a friends house today the girls played with bubbles. Rhayn made some fantastically huge ones. Gwennie's weren't as huge, but they were still lovely.Everyone had a good time making bubbles!
I need to know what happens next, because after last year, never knowing what was going on with Will, I want everything to slow down. I want to know what is happening every day, I want to know that on Monday, I will run errands and make a big meal for dinner*. Tuesday is laundry day and maybe I will get the bathrooms cleaned*. Wednesday will be set aside for cleaning the bedrooms*.
I need simplicity.
I am attached to a lot of junk. But I want to detach myself from it. I want our home to be simple and lovely. I need it to be easier to clean. I need to get on top of the cleaning, because right now if I stop and look around at all that really needs to be done, I panic a little. (This goes back to rhythm, too.)
I think if we can manage to work these into our lives fully, we will all be happier. We will be more content. (By the way, Will brought up establishing more rhythm into our lives. I know its something I need, and it helped me so much last year when I couldn't control many aspects of my life.)
*These are just examples, except for Tuesday being laundry day, it is and has been for a few years. Monday would be a good laundry day, but there are usually a lot of other things that need to be done on Mondays.
I am really struggling with finding things I am grateful for today. I shouldn't feel this way, but it feels like a ball of depression has wormed its way into my gut and is slowly growing. I spent my Mother's Day trying not to cry (I succeeded until about 7:30pm, when I totally lost it.)
Here goes, Today I am thankful for-
Our new car, remember back when I wrote this post? We finally found a 2008 Mazda5 in our price range. Its color called Golden Sand Metallic- which is a sort of green/silver color.
That my morning at the MVD wasn't horrible, the woman who helped me was pleasant and cheerful.
Will, he tried to do everything he could to make me feel better yesterday, I wish he could have. I am so thankful for him and everything he does for me and our family.
Rhayn gave me a packet of calendula seeds harvested at school. She is so sweet.
Gwennie is such a snuggle bug. Her hugs often keep me going when I feel as badly as I do today.
Where is the time going? Not really sure. But there is a lot going on at our house, and in our lives (No, I am not pregnant... I wish.) Right now it feels like everything in our lives is up in the air and we are trying are darnedest to not drop any balls. Mostly its Will who is juggling so much and keeping us all aloft.
Some random thoughts-
I wish I had a ton of interesting news and tidbits to share, but I don't. I guess that is a good thing.I really need to get out and take a picture of my tomato plants, they are insanely huge and covered in fruit. I can not wait for it to turn red/yellow/purple! (I decided to go ahead and do this while I was thinking of it!) This morning I planted a pomegranate tree. I dug the hole yesterday, so this morning I purchased a five gallon plant and popped that puppy in the ground. I don't care if it gives me fruit. I am not the hugest pomegranate fan. However they are beautiful trees that grow fairly quickly and have lovely blooms.
It was another beautiful weekend, even with the high winds it was perfect for two days at the zoo.
Our patio cover is DONE! DONE! DONE! (Pictures soon, I promise.) Too bad it will now be too hot to enjoy the outside.
We are all healthy. That is a blessing.
Having a great day at the zoo with my family, I feel like I don't get to see my parents and brother, JVA (and family) and sister Dacheese often enough.
Cousins, they are wonderful things. Growing up my cousins helped me through so many rough patches. I am thankful that my kids have cousins close in age.
Will(Major. McHotty), sexy husband, father, in the Army Reserves
Leaner wife, mother, artist on the inside, writer in training, jane-of-all-trades
Rhayn(Rhayny Day)- daughter #1 born in 2001, best helper ever, artist extraordinaire, Whovian
Gwen (Gwennie Goo, Goo, Goober)- daughter #2 born at home in 2005, never lukewarm on anything, fan of all furry animals NatalieOur 3rd beautiful girl, born at home March 29th, 2011
Abigail the baby. Born June 5, 13.
Lily (Lily Lou Lickington)- the Pooch, fastest tongue in the west, affection hog, exercise junkie, left this world in November 2017
We went to a birthday party for one of the girls in Rhayn's class today. First the kids decorated their bikes with streamers and balloons. The kids paraded their bikes around the neighborhood ending at a park with a splash pad. Gwennie tried to ride her tricycle with the group, but she quickly fell to the back of the pack.
She and I ended up going back to our car (we were able to fit Rhayn's bike and Gwennie's tricycle in the back of the Mazda) to drop off her trike. Then we walked to the park.
I didn't get a picture of Rhayn on her bike but I did get this picture of her in a tree.
It was a good time had by all.
