Winter Break

This week the kids have been out of school for Winter Break.  Winter still hasn’t shown up but we like the break nonetheless.

Like always, we are doing a “Stay”cation.  

I LOVE being at home with no where to go!!!

I’m taking a break from all my duties around here too.  Our days have been filled with NOTHING!

Ahhhhh.....

it feels so good!

Jarom goes to basketball camp every morning.  He is turning into an awesome baller.

(He's also a Trend Setter.)

Jennica makes breakfast ALL by herself for the whole family!  (I’m loving this skill she’s developing)

YUm!

Jace has listened to his favorite audio books 

The Witches

and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

and then watched both the movies.

I’ve been reliving the past as I’ve backed up journals and photos on the hard drive.

I backed up 15,000 pictures (Not kidding) from my computer and then condensed it to 3,000.

My computer is YOUNG again now that I freed up space.

Just to make it feel like a vacation, we've let 3 older kids sleep together at night.

They are so bad a sleepovers!

Monday night they decided they wanted to sleep in the basement...

They all ended up in their own beds by morning.

Tuesday night they decided to sleep in the living room on the pull out couch...

They fought forever (over spots) before falling asleep.

Wednesday night they tried the basement again...

all 3 were upstairs by 4am.

Tonight they are, once again, on the couch...

I can still hear them giggling, farting, and fighting. 

It's just one big party all night long!

Sam is in Canada for business today.  His flight just landed.  

I bet he'll walk into a house of rowdy kids and a 

wife snoozing upstairs.

(dishes and laundry NOT even close to being done, of course!!)

Having all 4 kids home doing nothing take a lot out of me. :)

BAD hair days

I’ve been known to have a bad hair day.

Jennica is the first to let me know.

 Sadly, today trumphs them all.

I called up my hair stylist begging for her help.

One day I woke up and my hair was all wrong!

My right side seemed way longer than the left.

Just to be sure I wasn’t loosing my mind I checked with Sam.

Sure enough, it was way longer!

I don’t remember it being that way the last time I had my hair done. (3 months ago)

How does something like this just happen?

My stylist took one look at my hair and told me I fried it with my hair dryer!

Humm...

Really?

  I never saw a GLOP of hair fall to the floor or smelled it burning.  I just looked at my hair one day and it was GONE!

So, my LONG locks were chopped off today!  I lost about 4 inches to even it up.  

What a bummer.  

The good news is she covered up my GREY that sneaks out around my temples.

Last week I had a different bad hair day caught on camera

 I stopped into a local Rite Aide to have my Visa Pictures taken.

It wasn't planned,

 I just happened to see the sign on the window while I was buying piano books from the store next door.

My kids need Visa pictures too (along with Passport pictures that I took) so I figured RIGHT THEN was the best time to get it done. 

 Jace and Jennica were with me so we ran inside.

I realized this was a bad idea when the camera was pointing in my face.

AHHH!  My hair!

"DON'T smile" the woman warned me.  "You can't smile in these pictures!"

That comment alone gets you thinking about being a criminal.

I stood there staring blankly at her totally unaware that my hair was doing the

funkadelly...

I have guilty written ALL over me, don't I? 

(or is that brown guck? why is my face that color?)

I'm not sure a smile would make this picture any better.

All I need is my inmate number.

It only gets better...

These are my kids with their WORST hair day ever!

 someone call Family Services!

This is sad.  

I'll take a better look at all of us the next time we go out in public.

I promise we don't always look this way.

These are the pictures that will be attached to our Indian Visas.

We just might not get accepted...

On a LOVING note:

Grandma and Grandpa Christiansen send us these every Valentines Day

I LOVE these! 

I helped eat them.

It made me feel better about my hair.

THANK YOU Wes and Kathy!!

"MY" Toy Story...

~I wrote this in 2010 but I still feel the same~

We have too many toys!

The delimia:  My kids don’t play with toys, they play with THINGS.

Hangers are bow and arrows, belts are dog leashes, boxes are trains.etc.

They create things to play with.  

They use their brains to entertain themselves.

I am THINKING about getting rid of them.(the toys not the kids)

I have been thinking about this for a while but the truth is I DON’T DARE!

Going through a move is helpful in getting rid of junk.  You realize you have been keeping stuff for no reason at all.

It’s easier to toss it than pack and unpack it.

Well. unfortunately most the toys made the first cut during the move.

Our new basement proved to be a wonderful home to the unjustly amount of toys unloaded there.

I was excited to have a room dedicated to the kids enjoyment.  We have never had that!

Previously, our toys were stored in the attic and came down into their rooms on a rotation process when I felt like a swap was needed.

So to have a space where everything could fit at once I was really excited!

After the move It took me several weeks to gear up the desire and energy to go down there and organize the chaos.

The kids didn’t play down there because it was a mess.  Nothing had a place.

Finally the chore was done and I was please with the result.

The first time Sam walked into the room his comment was,

“We have too many toys!”

That made me MAD!

You see, I didn’t see all the toys, I saw memories of my little ones.

I saw the phases they went through with the castle, the doll house the horses and cars.

 I was excited that they could all be played with in the same room!  This was exciting to ME!

For him to suggest we needed to get rid of toys I felt sad!

A few months passed and every so often I peeked into the Playroom on my way to the laundry room.

I always saw one of two things.

1. it was still clean
2. it was still messy

Nothing changed much in there.  Most the time the toys stayed picked up, which tells me they aren’t being played with.

The times it was still a mess was from the ONE time the drawer was dumped out for whatever reason and the mess just stayed there.

Again, nothing being played with.

 I’m itching to simplify my life.  I figure if I have less stuff I’ll have less to keep clean.

It’s sort of like plucking eyebrows.  It’s torture to get started but once you get going you wonder how you’ve managed to get so out of control.

I went through my closet and drawers.  The only things left are things I DO use.  No more of the “I think I might ...”

It was liberating.  My closet is bare but what I wear is hanging-nothing more.

So, this desire has carried over to the playroom.

I think I am ready to give away the childhood memories.

Not MINE, mind you, but my kids.

I don’t want to give these toys away because they represent the childhood years of my three little kids.  They remind me of life we lived day after day stumbling over them, stuffing them away, or searching desperately for them when misplaced.

They were my life just as much as they were my kids.

Getting rid of them is accepting that those days are over.  That’s what makes me so sad.

As I sat through Toy Story 3 it came to me.  I was like Andy.   Emotionally tied to a box full of toys. (basement in my case) 

My kids are still kids but books, sports, and piano fill their spare time.  I need to pack up the toys and keep the memories.

I instructed them all to go in the playroom and pick out their favorite toys to keep and then help me pack up the rest to give away.

I expected a little push back but got NOTHING.

They didn’t even care!

I think they each came away with 1 toy to keep!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I cleared off all the shelves dumped all drawers and emptied all bins of toys with their help.

They don’t even care!

Don’t get me started on stuffed animals.....

Distractions

Recently I had a long conversation over the phone with my Mom.  

When we talk I hang up a better person.  Our conversations start out superficial; she asks me what I’m doing.  My response is always: “Cleaning the kitchen.”

Then somehow brilliance hits me and I find myself yapping away over all the thoughts that have been shut up in my head.

I’m basically spewing at the mouth while she patiently listens or eggs me on.

Our conversations are rarely short.  

I love them.  

They are like the hug you didn’t know you needed until you are wrapped up in caring arms.

It’s so refreshing.

During our last chat I realized what my new 30 day challenge is going to be.

I do a lot of work on the computer for Rising Star Outreach during the day and I always end my days journal writing/Blogging.

What my kids see is mom sitting at the computer.  Not mom working on the Lifting Leprosy campaign in India.

I could (and would) spend hours at the computer.  I LOVE what I do, but I can only avoid my mothering/housekeeping duties for so long.

I would rather send emails to reporters to publish stories about Rising Star than unload my dishwasher.

I would rather update my blogs than go to the grocery store.

I feel so much of my life is choosing BETTER or BEST.

I can talk myself right into justifying my time is well spent at the computer.  It’s for a noble cause, right?

Unfortunately, it’s sending the wrong message to my family.  I don’t want them to remember me as always being on the computer.  I would rather have them remember me as always being in the kitchen!  

I realized, while talking to mom, that I can be distracted by so many things when what I should be doing isn’t as ”FUN“ as what I want to be doing.

I know there is a healthy balance to both my passions of motherhood and Rising Star.  I just have to be smart about it.

So, my 30 day challenge is to be MOM when the kids are home.  

Not "mom on the computer."

Abi is still a great sleeper.  She takes 3-4 hour naps each day, so while she sleeps I can sneak some time during the day.

I feel so lucky to be conflicted between BETTER or BEST.  To me I have the best 2 jobs on earth, but there is a flaw that will destroy both.

Distraction.

Starting each day on my knees and in the BOM is good armor. 

Groundhog...whatever!

I heard today that the silly Groundhog, we named a national holiday after, is right only 39% of the time!

That seems a bit odd to me.  Why on earth do we give that varmint a spot on the calendar?

39% doesn't fly in this house.

  

39% on homework means NO FOOTBALL

39% on meals means we are starving!

39% dressed means you're more than half NAKED!

39% isn't good!!

Jace wondered why they had school on Groundhog day.

I wonder why we have groundhog day!

And that movie Groundhog Day...(I won't go into it)  BUT

if I had to re-live today over and over my favorite part would be swimming with Jennica.  She is a hoot!

I love that she feels like a friend when we hang out.

So, Phil says another 6 weeks of winter?

I'm alright with that.  This winter is awesome!

Lessons

Life lessons never come at a convenient time for me.  

I learn that I need to exercise self control when I am really hungry.

I learn that my true self is NOT kind when I am uncomfortable.  

And I find I want to cry when I am over whelmed.

It’s in the Heat of these moments that I have a choice to make, and most the time during those moments I’m feeling sorry for myself.

Today Jarom had one of these "Life Lessons" also.  He didn't want to participate in something I committed to having him attend.  He did a great job expressing his feelings.  He explained to me why he didn't want to be there and what he was feeling inside and begged me to let him stay home.

I totally understood what he was feeling.  I remember feeling the same when I was a kid

.

As he was squirming in the seat next to me I wanted to take away his uncomfortable feelings.  I wanted to tell him he didn't have to go but I knew this was "One of those Life Lessons" that can only be learned by experiencing it.

I knew what he was feeling in the car, on the way, was a lot worse than the actual event.  

It was HIS OWN MISCONCEPTION that was causing the fear.  I knew once he got there everything would be fine.

And it was. 

He lacked confidence in himself, but had to move forward.

Those moments are scary and hard.  But those moments make you into something.

Spreading the love in the HobiHome:

She's wondering why I am standing on a chair.

Trying it on for size

This weekend I had a lot on my mind.  I've been mentally busy.. That's what India does to me.

So, in order to get motivated and focused on my housework I tried something new.  I put on HUGE (but very nice) headphones.  I washed windows, dusted, vacuumed and many other tedious chores while enjoying my favorite music.  I like the headphones over just playing music throughout the house because I coudn't hear ANYTHING going on around me.  I blocked out all distractions.  It was fun!

For hours (like 3) I busied myself about the house in my own world.

During this "productive escape" I came across some things that made me laugh.

I am one of those people who don't take tags off things- just in case I decide I want to take it back.

Sam, on the other hand, rips the tag off the second he gets home.  

I want to be sure it's the right thing for me.  It's sorta like I have a trial period.

This doesn't pertain to clothing only.  

For instance:

                                  
                   

These items are still sitting in my house with tags on them.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep them, I just haven't established a process of WHEN to take the tag off.

While I was cleaning Sam took the boys to buy new shoes.  He surprised me with a few things!  

I LOVE "comfy" clothes in the winter.  

So much that I wear Sam's football sweats from College more than he does.  They are oversized and so warm!

So, he bought me my own! (even though he admits he loves seeing me in his)

I love them too!  Right after I put them on I took off the obvious tags then made a quick errand to a friends house. While I was there I realized a tag was still attached to my bottom!  I had to laugh...this isn't the first time thats happened!

Then, today as I was dressing for church I pulled on a skirt I have worn many, many times and found the tag still attached inside! ha!  

What does this say about me?  I have issues!

I'm not the only one...

I just found this pic.  It made me laugh.  My kids think its funny to play with the photo booth on my Mac.

This one makes me want to cry.  She is so fun!

BIG abi

Kids really do grow up over night!  I’ve heard it said before and knew someday I would say it too but I assumed it would be when they were all grown.  

I was all about my kids growing up when I had 3 seat belts to buckle, 3 cups to fill with milk and 3 bums to wipe!  I was ready for some milestones and frankly some of them didn’t come soon enough.

I remember the days when I would go to the library to waste time.  Sit outside and color the patio with chalk, and watch the clock Tick-Tock ever so slowly.  My days seemed SO long.  I had a routine at night which included a 45 minuet bath! (for the kids not me)

Today things are very different.  My clock doesn’t Tick or Tock anymore.  It ZOOMS!  I’m in full throttle the moment my feet are out of bed.

I don’t answer Super Hero questions anymore.  Instead I pin posters of Michael Jordan and Jimmer Ferdett on walls.

I don’t pick up princesses, I drop off movies.  

I loved the little kid stage, but I’m enjoying the bigger kids phase too.

I like to think I have the best of both worlds right now.  While my older 3 are off to school all day I stay at home with Little Abi in the “Little” stage.  I love listening to Dora and Boots while I am cleaning.  I love nap time and sippy cups.  But today, Abi went and messed everything up!

I’m not kidding when I say she woke up a different child!  She did!  As of today she started talking in sentences.  Her little belly was poking out of her shirt and she walked like a KID not a toddler.  It was like a whole new world opened up today for her.  She walked me to my closet when I told her I needed to get dressed and pointed to my side and said: “There it is!”

After I was dressed and pulled my hair up she called me a “Princess.” 

I fell in love with a different girl today.  She is a Big girl. 

She took my snack and ate it all.  I sat on the floor and watched her grow up in front of me.  I love her so much.

Lion King on Broadway

The last time I took the kids to Broadway I swore I’d never do it again.  Well, I gave it another shot.  This time Sam went with us.  It turned out much better.  

Today was a family fun day.  We surprised the kids and picked them up from school at 1pm and drove into New York for the day.

It was hard to believe it is January.  No snow on the ground and beautiful, but chilly, day.

We hung around Time Square, had dinner at the Shake Shack then went to the Lion King.  

Sam purchased the tickets in December  and got great seats.  We were the 3rd row from the stage.  It was a great show.  I love watching people use their talents.  I especially love watching singers perform.  I defiantly didn’t get that gift so I marvel at others ability to do it so well.

We left Abi with a baby sitter.  The kids were so excited to pick her up.  They love her so much.

I love living so close to New York.  The best part is spending the entire day in New York but getting to sleep in my own bed!

It’s way past our bedtime!

100%

I realized today that I am a pretty darn good sleeper!  I don’t do anything better than how I sleep.

When I am sleeping I am 100% committed!  

I took a nap with Abi today and she gave me some competition!  We went down at noon and I had a very hard time getting out of bed at 4pm!!  Yes, I said 4 in the afternoon!  I had to go wake Abi too.  She has always been a great sleeper.

Unlike her, I wake up wishing I had more time to sleep.  I could always use more sleep.  Abi wakes up laughing.  She is bouncing in her crib ready to love everyone around her.

I need time to wake up.  I don’t like people asking me questions that need a response.  Things like:

“Mom, what’s for breakfast” or

“What are we going to do today?” don’t fly well with me.

I feel suffocated with having to use my brain right as I wake up.

I was thinking today how sleep gets 100% of me.  NOTHING gets 100% of me!  No wonder we are such good companions. 

Kids, we're going to India...

Today we made the announcement to the kids.  Ideally, we wouldn’t have told them till the day before we left but since it’s in the local Newspapers I figured it’s best they hear it from me rather than someone else.

I pulled up the Newspaper article on the Computer and had Jarom read it out loud.  It mentions the ages and names of my kids going to India with me.  They didn’t respond like I thought they would.  I was expecting more excitement.  It took them a few hundred questions to understand what it meant.

As expected the first thing Jarom said was:  “What about Abi?”

I explained that she would not be going and it broke their hearts.  They are so worried that she is going to be so sad without them.  I reassured them that she would be in good hands.

As the day wore on sudden bursts of excitement would come from one of them as they hammered me with more questions about what it would be like.

Jace asked if we will drive the RV there.  He LOVED our Road Trip to Nauvoo last year.

Jennica wanted to know what clothes she would pack.

Jarom asked if he could watch Sports on the airplane.

We booked our flights today.  That was a scary moment.  Just before clicking the “Purchase Tickets“ button I got really scared.  

”What if this is a crappy airline?  What if one of us gets sick?  This is a lot of MONEY!”

After the “CLICK” I felt better.  It was official!  No turning back.  

Then I got excited.

This is going to be so much fun!!

30 Day Challenge (sort of)

I like to listen to K-LOVE radio.  In fact, that’s the only music I listen to.  I really like it because there are NO commercials.  NONE!

Some of the songs are lame, but for the most part I really enjoy the music.  

Jarom and I were listening on the way to basketball one day and he mentioned he liked it when the DJ’s are on the air.  He said they always have interesting things to talk about.  I agree with him.  

Positive, Encouraging, K-Love is their motto.  That’s the way we like it.

I don’t have worry about my kids being exposed to language, lyrics, or news I find offensive.  I actually get the exact opposite.  

My kids get to hear other adults, they find funny, talk about Christ making a difference in a life.  They hear songs that encourage faith and love and they hear scriptures being applied to REAL LIFE!  

At the onset of New Year’s K-LOVE began a 30 day challenge of only listening to Christian music for 30 days.  Then after 30 days evaluate any difference you feel in your life.

I didn’t find it necessary to accept the 30 day Challenge because I already did that- and I LOVE the difference!  I mostly listen to the radio only in the car.  But I noticed the difference right away.  I loved the feelings and thoughts I had while driving.  

I’m sold on it.

I like this concept of a 30 day Challenge.  They explained that giving yourself 30 days to try something new fosters better habits and confidence in goal planning.  Instead of saying your going to be a vegetarian from now on- they suggest you give yourself 30 days.  If you enjoy the change after 30 days go on with it.  If it didn’t turn out to be what you expected AFTER 30 days you stop.  

I want to try a 30 day challenge of keeping my fridge clean!  I really wonder if I can so it!  How often does one clean out the fridge?  It usually sneaks up on me and I’m so disgusted by it I call in an emergency cleaning squad (that would be ME) and do a major clean up.

This happened to me yesterday.  I dove in and worked a number on the fridge!

Now, how hard is it to keep it clean and organized for 30 days?

We shall see...

Oh wait!  I’m a fresh start girl.  I have to start something like this at the beginning of the month.  Turning the page on a calendar does wonders to me!  I LOVE a fresh start!  

I will do this fridge thing for 11 days!  That’s all I have left in Jan.  I guess we’ll call this a pre-run.  Then Feb. 1st I’ll start a NEW challenge!!! 

In the News

I’ve had many sleepless nights this week.  Not because of too much chocolate, this time.  Yes, I still have a little one that wanders into my room almost nightly but he’s not the cause either.

This is why I can’t sleep: Read it here

Dani, from Rising Star called and asked me to Coordinate the Spring Session in India.  How can I refuse that?  I get to recruit people and then introduce them to the Rising Star Life!

Let me be clear, I’m losing sleep because I am so excited to bring my family!  I can’t believe I am returning already.  

I remember the day I left Rising Star last July. As I hugged Pam, the Director, she whispered in my ear;

 "I think we'll be seeing you again."  

I thought of her comments on the long ride to the airport and wondered why she said that.  My time in India was a once in a life time experience...or so I thought.

Now I climb in bed and my mind takes off to India.

Won’t you come with me?