g is for greta

What a great book! I stayed up until after midnight last night reading it. I would have stayed up until I finished it, but I got ordered to sleep by Tony. I had to squeeze in bits here and there today until I finally finished it. I took it with me to read while I waited for Corinne’s class to come out to the bus/vans. I was so into the book that I didn’t see them. Her teacher had to knock on the window to get my attention. Embarrassing! Now they know why she is reading at age 4! I recommend this book to old and young. Now on to the ‘Twilight’ series. I’ve heard it’s addicting, too.

I love to read!

-g.

My well-intentioned, wonderful husband bought me a book last Christmas entitled ‘Getting Things Done.’ I (who show signs of OCD) was a bit taken aback by this and, therefore, boycotted the book. This Christmas, he read it and asked me to do the same. He said that he wanted to incorporate some of the tactics into organizing our home and wanted me to be onboard. Sigh. I read it. It was good. Don’t get me wrong. I just already do alot of the things in there. I have gotten out of my warm bed to run downstairs and jot some ideas on my to do list. I’m just weird like that. Anyways, I have a literal stack of books that i have been ITCHING to read but used them as bait to complete the self-help book. I finished it yesterday! Yipee for me! I started ‘The Goose Girl’ by Shannon Hale today. So far, so wonderfully different from a self-help book…Aaaaahhhhhh.

-g.

Tony asked for a Wii for Christmas, and Santa delivered! He was pretty stoked. Come to find out that he can’t get any play time because the kiddos are hogging it for themselves. We were worried the first few times that they weren’t going to be able to get the hang of it, but they have mastered the Wii-mote. Here’s a picture of Mason in action:

Bowling is their favorite game. They score higher than I can both in real life and on the Wii. They also love to create Miis (characters) for all our family members. It is pretty fun. This coming from a girl who usually LOATHES video games. I think Tony got robbed this year. Maybe the birthday fairy will make it up to him.

-g.

Okay. I have a question. Anybody out there that reads this have a cake pan for the cake that is shaped like a doll’s dress? You know the one I mean. If you have it, email me! Corinne has decided (for the time being) that this is the cake she wants for her birthday this year. However, she may change her mind. If she does actually follow through, I know I’ll only use it once so I have a hard time buying it. Anywho…let me know. Thanks!

-g.

I just have to vent. If you aren’t wanting to listen to me whine and be extremely negative, just skip reading this post.

What do the words “Customer Service” bring to mind? Maybe somebody who gets PAID to be of SERVICE to a CUSTOMER. Someone who has your best interests in mind and will do what they can to help you. Those of you that follow my site know that I am really excited to be redecorating the living room. I searched all over the internet to find lamps that i liked, waited for them to become available (they were sold out–I watched the site for WEEKS), ordered them with some of my hard-earned Christmas money, and waited for them to arrive. Well, one lamp came yesterday. I assumed the other was on it’s way. Today I find out that they are out of stock and will be refunding my money. Ugh! I am so sad! The people were extremely rude. Even the manager that I requested (after having one of the people on the bottom of the todum pole tell me that it “wasn’t their problem there won’t be two lamps”) was out of line. Finally I got someone that had a heart and went to bat for me. Why can’t people just be a little nicer? Now I’m not sure what I’ll do. I COULD wait until they restock and order another one, but I don’t want those crazy loons to have any more of my moolah! I guess it would have been too matchy-matchy to have the same lamp. Maybe now I’ll get an end table to hold the remotes and put a cool table lamp on it. I need to remember that at least I got the last one. Too bad I ordered TWO. Anyway…

Thanks for listening.

-g.

Why isn’t this a saying that we are brought up learning? Haven’t we all seen on television what happens when you add too much soap to a laundry machine? Well my kids dumped (I’m NOT exaggerating) an entire bottle of bubble bath into the tub. I think they know that when Ethan cries, and I leave to take care of him, they have a small window of opportunity for trouble. They are too smart for anyone’s good. I tried to tell them that now all the bubbles were gone. They said they have other bottles. I explained that too many bubbles can irritate their skin. They said they have lotion. I told them that they would have to stay in the tub until long after they were pruny to make the most of those blessed bubbles. “No problem!” they said and proceeded to take a record 2.5 hour bath. They were really having some fun. I had to take pictures although they don’t do the situation justice. When I turned to walk out of the bathroom, Corinne said, “You took pictures because the bath is cute, huh, Mom?” She’s onto me.

-g.

My parents took the older kids home after coming to visit at Christmas. Mom sent me a CD with some pictures. Here’s a few that I really liked:

Mason loves this clock. It strikes at the top of every hour and each 15 minutes. He loves to count the number of strikes.

Corinne loves playing Cinderella. Apparently she was earning her keep. I have a feeling it helped that the vacuum was pink.

Mason LOVES being outside. My dad got this little tractor for him, but it doesn’t move very well without a little help from Papa Bill.

Always time for a ride on the 4-wheeler!

Another load of wood for the woodburner!

Grandma Ann got Corinne a set of magnetic dolls to dress.

Merry Christmas from Hartford!

-g.

On Saturday night, Corinne had a dream that Grandma Ann died (sorry, mom), and Corinne got to be the one to hold her hand as her spirit floated to heaven. She woke up in a panic that Grandma Ann was indeed dead. Tony comforted her. Corinne said a prayer and went back to sleep. Next comes Sunday morning. We have switched to the 9 o’clock slot which makes for a chaotic morning. Tony has to go in early for meetings and isn’t home to help get the troops out the door on time. I was trying to hurry the kids through breakfast (which is IMPOSSIBLE) when Corinne started asking me questions of the universe. How do you explain the plan of salvation to a 4 year old? I had to figure it out because she wouldn’t take a bite until all of her curiousities were answered. Sharing time was the elders having kids act out the plan of salvation. It helped drive home the point. Boy. She had me thinking on my toes!

-g.

I have taken all accessories out of the living room. I decided it looks better empty than with the items I was trying to pass off as stylish. Man, what was I thinking on some of this stuff! After painting, it’s always painful to put a nail hole in the wall anyway so I’m taking time to find things I really like before I start going crazy trying to fill wall space for the sake of not looking like an apartment.

These are the lamps Tony and I got when we were married. I wasn’t used to the lack of overhead lighting and bought these in a pinch. Should have looked around a little more. I have decided it is time to retire them. I ordered some new ones that will arrive in the next two weeks.

The drapes that we have are original to our house. I had to hang them back up for the sake of privacy, but they are painful to look at. Most friends have said they don’t even remember what they look like so they must not be too bad. Let me refresh your memory:

In case the picture is lacking in clarity, they are a butter yellow with a stitching pattern throughout. While they are good for privacy and blocking the sun, they are not good for much else. I’m looking for something modern looking maybe in black and white pattern but haven’t found them yet. Isn’t it the worst when you have the image in your head but can’t find it in real life? Ugh!

Then there is The Great Wall:

What do you do with that kind of vertical space?! I’m thinking maybe a big iron scroll thingy (not really up to speed on home decorating terms) or oversized black frames with white matting that have pictures of the munchkins. Gotta see what strikes me. Anyway, the possibilities are endless. I’m just excited to finally be doing something about it instead of just complaining about it.

I have even sacrificed the entryway decor to the Bad Home decorating Gods. I’m hoping to find a unique looking mirror to hang above the table or some type of wall hanging. Not really sure yet. The rug doesn’t really match the look I’m going for either, but it is going to have to do for awhile. It’s pretty low on my list of things to replace. I’ve definitely got the decorating bug.

Suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!

-g.

So everyone is posting their resolutions. I guess I’ve never really gotten into doing this much in the past. When I got to thinking about it, I thought of a few things I would like to work on:

1. More patience with the kids. Sometimes I get upset too quickly.

2. Play with the kids more. I’m always too busy trying to squeeze in a load of laundry or do some other errand so I can cross it off of my list.

3. Exercise. Right now, all my extra calories that I’m consuming get erased by nursing, but it won’t be that way for long. I need to get my eating in check and try to exercise so I can look like this:

Wish me luck!

-g.