Memphis

I saw Memphis last night and I loved it!  It won a Tony for best musical last year, and now I know why... It was fun and upbeat, funny, emotional, had absolutely amazing dancing and singing... everything you could possibly want in a musical.  The main character, Huey Calhoun, is really quirky but lovable.  Apparently the show is loosely based on a true story.  Loved it.  Want to see it again.  Definitely recommend!!

Today...

I've had a rockstar day so far today...

*Went running first thing

*Came home and made my children a hot breakfast

*Stretched and did some dishes

*Folded about 6 loads of laundry (and put it away, thank you very much)

*De-junked/cleaned the boys room and rotated all of their clothes (this may be a bit premature. Oh well, they can wear a sweatshirt :)

*Ate my breakfast... at about 11:30 (better late than never)

*Fed the kids lunch and put Bart and Sayer down

*Straightened up the house and did more dishes

*Took a shower and got dressed

*Had scripture study while Asher watched Madeline (I am so ready for his spring break to be over!) 

*Got organized, made some lists, thought about dinner (gasp!)

*Ate my lunch

*Started reading a new book (my treat for being so awesome today) 

*Did some posting on facebook and my blog (clearly the most important accomplishments of the day)

It may not sound like much, but that's a lot to accomplish {for me} before 2:00 pm, I'd say!  I feel completely justified in posting about my awesome-ness today, because this kind of day never happens for me, seriously.  Sad, huh?  So I'm not bragging really, but rather, just documenting for my own benefit, that days like this are possible, despite what I may think. ;)

And now, it's only 2:45, the kids are all up, and I am completely wasted.  Hmmm... not sure how I will make it to the end of the day, but pretty sure heading out to the park will help... always does :)

Just one more little nugget...

My friend Clare posted this picture...

on facebook, and I think it is pretty much the cutest thing in the world.  This is Addi, one of Asher's very best friends.  They have known each other for almost 3 years, which is practically forever to them.  I love how his arm is around her and her hand is on his chest/side.  They look like a little couple.  Clare and I always talk about how we will get together when they are 16 and they will probable have little crushes on each other. :)  They will actually be moving to Dallas at the end of the summer :( and I know that Asher will miss his little friend a lot!!

Happy Easter!

My boys were terrible in Sacrament meeting today.  But the moment the closing hymn, "I know that my Redeemer lives", started playing, I felt a rush of the spirit, and knew that those words were true.  I felt like that song was just for me today.  Especially the second verse. 

Our Easter wasn't anything spectacular today... baskets, egg hunt, a little talk about Jesus being resurrected... no fancy dinner, no family get together.  It was a little sad.  It was my fault... I just didn't get it together.  But I am grateful to know that our Savior lives, and I am grateful for everything that I have been blessed with.  Especially these guys...

Sayer is looking mighty pleased, wouldn't ya say?  They did love their new umbrellas.  Not to self... never, ever let kids bring them to church again.

Even though this is the only picture of Nate, and it happens to be of his back, he is included as one of the "guys" Love him! :)  Walking home from church.  This is our street.

Mmmmm... malted eggs!  The primary music teacher told us that Asher raised his hand during sharing time and said "I have a nice bow tie!"  Love it.

Yeah, he's a happy guy.

Sayer refused to sit with the other two...

Pretty sweet, handsome little guys, if I do say so myself ;)

Poor Sayer had a rough day today... lack of sleep will do that to a kid.  Such a sweetheart.

I survived!

Can I still count my week with Nate away as a success when the day after he gets home, I am completely losing it every 2 minutes??  Hmmmm....

On a positive note, for the record, Sunday at church was awesome.  The kids were on their best behavior.  We had a little talk that morning about being reverent and what I expected of them, and they delivered!!  Then, as a bonus... on the subway ride home, I had Bart on my back, Sayer in the MacLaren and Asher on the buggy board attached to the stroller.  We got on the subway, and I could feel all eyes on me, I guess I was quite the spectacle all by myself.  A few stops later, a man gets up to get off and says: 

"for the record, you're amazing!" followed by another lady saying "I second that".  I said "thank you!"

Yeah, I felt like a rockstar.  Sometimes I feel like Heavenly Father prompts people to say stuff like that to show his appreciation, and to show me that other people think what I am doing is hard and commendable.  Not that it should matter what other people think, but it helps me feel validated.  Either way, it made my day.

Fall pictures

 I was looking through out pictures and realized that I completely forgot to post the pictures that we had taken this fall by our neighbor.  This red door is the front of a catholic church on the west end of our street.

 Some of my favorite pictures were these candids where we are trying to get our kids to stand still.  Sayer was very un-cooperative at the beginning, and Asher at the end.  Gotta love that.

 Doors of Riverside Church.  It started getting really cold at this point.

 Inside Sakura park, which is just across the street from Riverside church on 122nd, and a block west of our building.  Notice Asher's pouty face.

 I miss these precious curls so much. :(

You can tell by their faces that this is the end of the session. ;)

Spring is here!!

 My friend snapped these pictures on my camera the other day, on our way to one of our favorite playgrounds inside Morningside Park.  I love this picture, because it just gives you a little taste of how beautiful it is all going to be in a couple more weeks.  We are getting plenty of rain this week, so there is really no excuse for the trees and flowers not come to life quickly.  I can't wait!

Friends and daffodils.  Or as Asher likes to call them, Daphnes, in honor of a little friend in our building named Daphne. :)

6 down, 2 to go!

Nate is in London this week presenting at a Music Ed conference {we are pretty proud!}, so it's just me and the kiddos.  It's actually been great, which I knew it would be if I had a good attitude about it.  The kids have been great for the most part, I have been extremely patient {except when Asher ran into the road after his scooter}, and I have had some nice time to myself in the evenings to reflect and figure some things out that have been on my mind.  We have kept busy, with schlepping the kids to and from Asher's preschool, running errands {including a trip to target with friends.  Going to costco and target here is like a special occasion because it's such a trek... all the way on the east side!!}, and enjoying the park when the weather has been nice.

My neighbor and dear friend Clare has been so sweet to do some swaps with me so we could each take time away from the kids, which I used to go running.  I haven't been overly stressed out or anything, but it has been a few days of being with all 3 boys non-stop, so this evening I went running... in the rain, and it was just what I needed.  I don't know why, but there was something about running in the pouring rain and getting soaking wet, that just added to my happiness and rejuvenation.  It was perfect.  Plus I felt great and fast, which is always a bonus! :)

I just put the last kid down for the night, and couldn't help doing a little celebratory dance as soon as the door was closed.  I even put my arms in the air in a show of victory, similar to what Brad Pitt does in The Mexican while saying "I'm the winner".  Then I realized that I only have 2 more nights until Nate comes home.  I've got this in the bag!  Well, I guess I still have to get through Sacrament meeting by myself tomorrow, so maybe I'll wait to celebrate.  And now for some down time, which will most likely include catching up on some conference talks, reading a bit more of Mansfield Park, and probably a Hulu show or two, all while listening to the rain and sipping a nice beverage. 

Cutest picture ever!

Problem solved

"What do you do with all your dirty diapers?",

was a topic of discussion at a recent girls night out.  I replied, un-apologetically, 

"I throw them down my hallway towards the front door, and leave them there until I get a chance to take them to the trash chute"

Gross, I know.  Sometimes I have a bag set out that I put them in over the course of the morning, and then take them all out together.  But honestly, I am not going to take out each diaper individually.  That's just inefficient.  I did find out, though, that I am not the only one who doesn't make it to the trash chute as often as I should.  That is really the purpose of mom's conversing with each other by the way... to realize that we are all totally normal, even if we forget to take the diapers out, or don't do the dishes as often as we should.

I digress.  Back to the diapers.  Thankfully, this is becoming less and less of a problem, all thanks to a small boy named Asher.  He is my hero.  Here is he in all his glory {and mis-matched pajamas}, taking out the diapers to the trash chute...

 What a star!  The best part about it?  He loves doing it!  Who'd have thought?!

Death by Heart Attack

This will be the headline of the article about how a mother of 3 {me} died of a heart attack while her children rode their scooters across the street.

Now that the weather is warming up {a bit}, the kids have been doing a lot more this

That's them.... all the way at the end of the sidewalk... waiting for me on their scooters.

Coming up to Broadway, one of the intersections you will read about below.

 instead of being in the stroller.  Which is good, because honestly, I am not a horse.  It is getting close to physically impossible for me to get up some of the hills pushing a 4 1/2 year old and a 3 year old, with an almost 1 year old strapped to my back {or front}.  And I'm a pretty tough chick.  Part of me is bummed though, because gone are the days where I get to walk at my own pace {fast} and not have to worry about one of my kids getting hit by a car.  For my sanity I have allowed Asher to stay in the stroller as long as he has.  I know people think I'm crazy, but I just haven't been ready.  It's like deciding when to potty train... it's really about when the parent is ready to deal with things.

Well, yesterday was one of those days where I wished I could just strap them into the stroller and go.  But no, I took them on their scooters to the post office and to register Asher for kindergarten.  Both things took a long time, and both times I was constantly telling them "stay there", "don't touch that", "settle down", "come here", "stay close to me",  "hold on to the stroller", etc.  They were actually pretty good, considering that I told them we were going to the park, and instead took an hour plus to run errands, then went to the park.   This is actually not normal for me... I pretty much NEVER run errands with my kids, at least not all 3 of them.  Sayer and Bart are easy, but add in Asher, and things get a little out of control.  Park days with all 3 of them are generally very enjoyable, except for the getting there and back part.

For example...

We're crossing the street to come home from the park.  It's a 4 lane street with 2-way traffic, but it's only a 3-way stop as we were on Riverside drive coming from the park.  There's a little median in the middle.  The light is red for us, so the boys are scootering around behind me.  I tell them to come close to me so that when the light turns green, we can go fast.  You have to go fast, or you might miss the light, because it takes a little longer to cross the street with a stroller and two crazy boys on scooters.  Well, they don't listen {of course} so the light turns and I yell for them to hurry.  Asher comes and I see there are no cars that would be turning into the cross walk, so I let him go on ahead while I am still telling Sayer to hurry up.  He seriously takes for-e-ver to get to me, and by the time he does, we have missed the light.  Asher is already on the other side and scootering away, so I have to YELL for him to stop and wait.  I'm sure at this point, people think I'm crazy and in way over my head with all these kids on scooters.  So Sayer and I wait for the light to change while Asher {thankfully} stays put.  Finally we go, and I'm practically dragging Sayer because he wants me to let go of his scooter so he can "do it by himself" and I refuse to let go.  When we reach the sidewalk, both kids take off at full speed to the next corner, with me YELLING, "STOP AT THE CORNER".  This is a normal thing.  I tell them {read: yell at them} at every corner.  To their credit, they always stop.  But they get a little too close to the edge for my comfort, so I continue yelling, "get back from the edge Sayer, SAYER get BACK from the edge!!!"  When I get up to them, I give them the talk {again} how they can't get too close to the edge, because their scooter might roll into the road {which happened yesterday, by the way. Yeah, I freaked out} or a car might drive by too close, etc etc.  Aaaaahhh.  So. much. anxiety.  I think I lose a year off my life at each intersection.  When we come up to a little one way street, it's no problem, but the big intersections are really scary.  One time last fall I made the mistake of letting Asher go all the way across a 4 lane crosswalk (picture above) with out me holding his scooter, and a car turning left {thus passing through the crosswalk} barely missed running him over.  I about died.  Drivers like that make me so mad.  It's not that they don't see him, because I know they do, it's that they see all the people in the crosswalk and are trying to make it through before we reach where he turns and he has to wait.  But he must not have accounted for the speed of a 4 year old on a scooter, because they pretty much hit the exact same spot at the exact same time.  I don't know how they missed each other, but I do know that Asher was completely oblivious to any problem, which is really scary.  

Anyway, so yeah.  That is a pretty normal trip home from the park for us.  I'm sure you can understand why I usually opt for strapping them down and pushing 80 plus lbs all around town.  To their credit though, they really are getting better, and are generally good at listening to me when I tell them to stop, and they ALWAYS stop at the corner.  So that's good.  It will just take a little more practice, a few more near death experiences, and a few more times with me asking them if they want to die by getting hit by a car.  Hopefully that image will sink in soon for them. :)

I am IN!!!

Thank you guaranteed entry!!

Picture from LongIslandPress

Join me, won't you?  Lottery closes April 18th.

My boys this morning...

Enjoying our new Roku. I just set it up yesterday, and am a huge fan already.

That air mattress is my new bed... we had to move Bart back into our room because he was waking up the boys with his nighttime chatting.  So now he is waking us up, and I am not a fan.  He puts himself right back to sleep, but it is enough that Nate and I are both not getting a solid nights sleep.  Most nights we full on carry our mattress out to the family room, and sleep quite well out there, I might add.  But Nate is in London this week, so it's the air mattress for me.  I guess this is us trying to make our little apartment work for us. :)  Hopefully we will get Barty back in the boys room soon.

Just look at that precious face though... how can you stay mad at that?

Big stander!  On his way to being a big walker.  It's actually making me a little sad.  I love having a baby, and he is not going to be one much longer.  :(