The Count Down

It's finally time to take the bar. Travis woke up this morning (I'm amazed he could even sleep last night) and intended to study. I think when push comes to shove you take a step back and refocus a bit on what is really important. I am thankful for a husband who has been working his booty off preparing to take this horrific test for the past six weeks but decided to spend his last six hours doing nothing "bar related" just to be with us. I know he will just do that much better because of it. Thank you Travis, I needed that more than you know. We love you, we'll miss you, and we'll be here when you get back.

Are You Fulfilling Your Wifely Duties?

My dad sent this to me in an e-mail. Boy am I lucky times have changed or I think I'd be inclined to die an old maid. And to think a woman probably wrote this. (I had to type the rest in to get it all to fit, but I promise I copied it word for word)
An Actual 1955 Good Housekeeping article.
• Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables.

• Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he
has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

• Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

• Be happy to see him.

• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

• Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

• Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.

• Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

• A good wife always knows her place.

Sanity In The PM

Every now and then we go through a period of time when Dillon feels the need to get out of bed over and over and over again after we have put him down for the night. I have tried sitting outside of his door until I know he is sleeping, but I get tired and uncomfortable and it just doesn't work for me. We have tried closing his door, which by the way has no door knob due to this same problem two years ago, but then he bangs on it so loud it wakes the girls up and I have even bigger problems. I have tried negotiating, bribing, threatening, really just about everything. Well, a little while back Dillon came down stairs early one morning and opened the back door before we had the chance to disarm the security system. Needless to say the alarm sounded and it scared the kid to death, he certainly will not be making that mistake again. So last night when I was struggling, once again, to get him to stay in bed I realized that we had an old, inactive, keypad from an old security system the previous owners had installed conveniently right outside Dillon's door. So now I just tell him that I have to set the alarm so that he sill stay in his bed and I will turn it off when I come up and see that he is sleeping. Works like a charm.
I know in some of your books this might make me a "bad mom",
at least it makes me a sane bad mom.

Summer Camp/ First Love

Molly has been attending Hiram House Camp for the last week and a half and loving it. She went last year and really enjoyed it so we are hoping to make it a yearly tradition. Its a very traditional camp with archery, nature hikes, horseback riding, river walks, etc... It really has been weird not having her around the last little while, I didn't realize just how much I depended on her to keep the others entertained. She likes her counselor, but loves the camp director, a guy named Dan that she just thinks is the funniest, coolest, goofiest boy in the world. Poor girl takes after her mom, boy crazy from birth.

The 4th on the 13th

Better Late than never. We always go down to the Shaker firework display for the 4th and we always have a great time. We make a day out of it getting there early, packing a dinner, and taking some music and games. Towards the end we always run into some other people we know and the kids always have a good time together.




I had to put this bottom picture in because even though we ran into most of these people by chance at the last minute I thought it was kind of cute that they all happened to be holding their furry little friends.

Date Night?

Two great movies. I was expecting "Handcock" not to get as serious as it did, but I still really enjoyed it. I am not an action movie lover at all, in fact I would not have considered seeing this movie even for a second had it not been starring Will Smith. I guess my point is that I would see any movie featuring this actor. I might have even watched "Star Trek" had will Smith played the roll of "Spock". The man is amazing is all ways. This movie was highly entertaining, a must see.

If your looking for a good rental I also really enjoyed "The Great Debaters", a movie that would typically be a little more up my alley anyhow. This movie was sad and disturbing at times, but also interesting and very inspiring. Definitely very different from the first movie, but still a must see in my opinion.

So go to the theater or curl up on the couch and enjoy a good movie this weekend.

Mixed Emotions

One morning while I was otherwise occupied, blogging to be more specific, my 21 month old got a fresh sippy cup out of the drawer, pushed a chair up to the kitchen counter where my 33 year old had left the juice out, and attempted to pour herself a cup of juice. This brings on many emotions. . .
Frustration, mainly at myself for not paying attention to my 21 month old. Frustration at my 21 month old for doing something she really does know is a "no no". Frustration at my 33 year old for leaving the juice on the counter instead of in the refrigerator with the refrigerator lock securely in place.
Exhaustion, it's early in the morning and as I'm down on my knees scrubbing the floors I can tell it's already going to be one of "those" days.
And a little bit of pride. You know she is a pretty smart and independent little girl to go at it alone without harassing me even once about wanting a cup of juice. Maybe I should just see this as a sign of a future CEO or at least someone who can support me in my widowing old age.

Creepy

Last night Molly had a dream that we had a huge spider web in our house and it was covered in tarantulas. Creepy. I promise I keep my house cleaner than that.

The kid can EAT

Dillon's Lunch (ravioli, applesauce, corn on the cob)

Dillon's Dinner (fish, shrimp, brown rice, peas)

Just so you know that I'm not messing around when I say that the kid can eat. This was only a small portion of the shrimp Dillon ate the other night ,and yes, he did come back to suck off the remaining meat left on these tails.

Sleep

Molly has been having bad dreams lately. She visited Kirtland recently and saw the video with Joseph smith being tared and feathered and was pretty concerned. Then Travis was telling them about the legend of the headless horseman the other night. She has seen the video before and heard the legend previously. She child lives for Scooby Doo, these things just don't usually get to her. I'm not sure what it is but lately she has just had a very vivid imagination and been very worried about "bad guys". She's been having a hard time getting to sleep and staying in bed. Last night she had a dream that our neighborhood pool got a new pet shark and forgot one day to take it out of the pool while the kids were swimming and it ate her friend Sophie. That would certainly be a pretty traumatic thing to experience. Tonight when I was tucking her in she was telling me that daddy said the thing about legends is that we just aren't really sure if they are true or not. I assured her that we ARE SURE that they ARE NOT true and daddy would be up shorty to confirm that. Man, I just want to sleep through the night. Isn't that what being done with having kids is all about?

Dear Santa

Today was a great day. We got to have a "real family day". Those are few and far between these days with Travis studying for the bar. Anyhow, I think he was in desperate need of a break so he took one and we used some free passes we had and went to the Botanical Gardens. We haven't been since we moved here and I had forgotten just how much I love it there. So if anyone is looking for a future gift idea for our family, let me just tell you now, before I forget, that I would love a membership to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens!