i love 8:30 bed times!

So everyone seems to be updating their blogs this week. Yeay for having things to keep me distracted from the obvious amount of housework I had to do today. I finally reached that -- I'VE HAD IT-- point tonight at dinner. Thankfully, Ava wore herself out at the Mcdonalds playground--I know...one of these days we'll get some nasty disease from it, but until then...horrah for indoor playgrounds--and Madison was here until about 8pm. They ended their 5 hour play date with smiles, hugs, and Ava attempting to pick up Madison. that girl kills me. I think all play dates should end that way. I told Ava that after I put Simon to bed, we could play the 'Elmo goes to the doctor' game on the 'compEter' She sat on her bed to wait, and in the whole--oh 15 minutes it took me to put Simon to bed, she was OUT COLD! sitting up totally snoring. I put a blanket on her and set to work. I started folding the laundry that's been piling up since our return from MT. and beginning new loads. An embarrassing amount of laundry later, I headed downstairs to gather all the toys that insist on cluttering my life and put them out of sight. I swear my house gained 200 sq ft. I was able to get done with the dishes before I hit the wall. I am quite proud, although there's still a long list of things to finish before this place is great, it's more than I've done in a week. I ventured downstairs to watch 'ONCE UPON A MATTRESS.' 2005 version. Carol Burnett...I hate your plastic surgery but I love everything else. It was just what I needed. Some music, some dancing, hilarious costumes...a great way to end a stressful day! I miss theatre, and performing. These days I choke every chance I have to perform. I either forget my words, or the notes...and on the best occasions, BOTH! *meh* I'll leave the curtain calls to Nat and Seana. Well it's nearly midnight, and there's a 100% chance one or both of my kids will be up before 8am since they were down at 8:30.

Families make it happen

Good golly what day is it anyway? Let's see if I can get my barings and see if I can blog this correctly. Tuesday night, I got a call from my sister in law, hilary, that my gma was taking a turn for the worst. The docs were saying that she may not make it and so my dad was arranging to fly back to salt lake to meet my mom and catch another plane to Montana. Hil was calling to let me know they were packing up the car to head up as well, and she wouldn't be able to take my kids for me on Thursday. I was at Matt's house watching the kids-and he and Chris were getting ready to head to a movie. Everything halted. The idea of my grandma dying was too much for me to comprehend. Chris came over to find out what happened, because I broke down on the steps. We decided to cancel all plans, pack up the car and start the 8 hour journey to Missoula. We headed off about 9:30pm and ended up stopping in Dillon MT because the weather was so bad. We got a killer price on the Hotel. Wed afternoon, Hilary and I went in to see grandma in the ICU. She looked like death for sure. She was diagonal on the bed. her eyes weren't open, nor were they shut. And her mouth was dropped open . The only sign she wasn't dead was the beeping of the monitor. She was completely drugged out of her senses. Hilary and I got to talking to her and we brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, painted her nails. She didn't seem to realize where she was or quite who we were. Although it's now Friday, it seems like the same day. Between Chris and I, my uncles, parents, and Russ and Hil we take shifts so that she's never alone. She's made HUGE strides. The doctors went from saying she was hours from death to now saying she's close to coming home. She's been in and out of reality. She'll be totally aware and then a few moments later she has no idea where she is or anything. She has spent our entire time here thinking that chris is my brother Steve. She also goes from very pleasant to hating everyone. She's constantly trying to scheme an escape plan from the hospital. she HATES hospitals. She's pretty irritated that none of us are 'on her side.' I'm ok with her being angry with me for 5 more years, because that means I can have 5 more years with her. hopefully more than that. I have the 2am-4am shift this time around. I'd better get down and try to sleep. Ava is terribly homesick and has spent the last 24 hours crying for home and her friends. Chris is wanting to go home tomorrow as he's far behind in school, and the docs are talking about Grandma coming home next week. My grandfather is truly convinced that we have all saved her life. Showing up to see her, reminding her there is a lot to fight for, and that we are all loving her still has given her strength. Even though he's had 6 kids under 8 screaming and wrestling and spreading crumbs EVERYWHERE the past week....I'm sure he's ready for 'normal' to settle back in. I hope they find a good lawyer. I'm not a big fan of suing, but the way they screwed up my grandma....and the bills that are sure to come from a week in ICU and the long term care she's sure to need ....I say bring on the case! Never underestimate the power of family.

that's gonna leave a mark!

I slipped on the stupid ice this morning outside of my office. My whole body is now having 'after shock' effects and sore in places that don't make sense. Seriously, I need a camera crew following me. With how often I fall, I should be a millionaire from funniest home videos. It's never a graceful fall when I stumble either; it's always a crazy-limbs flying-body twisting, painfully funny fall.
The air outside is so gross, that i haven't been able to see Angie's house for 2 days. She lives across the street from me. That's beyond ridiculous. Ava's lungs are trashed from the pollution, along with just about everyone in the Wasatch Front. I love my neighbors, so we all need to pick up and move to clean air central. Or install some massive windmills along the valley to blow out the bad air. Something. This is crazy.
Simon loves technology. If I'm on the phone or my laptop, he has to be RIGHT.THERE. holding it, pounding it, excitingly yelling, and attempting to slam it open and shut. Fake phones and lappyies are no distraction. He knows the real deal. It's kind of crazy how smart my 10 month old baby is about some things. Things I don't think he should catch onto yet, he totally does. Between him and Ava...I'm TOAST!
Yesterday was beyond crazy. I'm going to post about my reality tv worthy morning on my workout blog, because that's where the drama of the day began.
Just as a side note, the last week has been HELL! That being said, however, I'm finally coming to understand what it means in the BOM about....opposition. It seems the crappier my day is ...the more I appreciate my husband. I mean, yesterday was an all out horrid day and yet at the end of it all, I found myself more in love with Chris than the day before. I am grateful for my trying times, because it makes me realize that I could not do this alone, and that I'm truly blessed to have him at my side. And most days, holding me up, so that I don't drown in the craziness of my days. It's a good thing he is so strong, because at times I feel so horribly weak. He's genuinely a good man.

Plan B

No, this post isn't about some form of birth control--although, YEAY for birth control products. Can I get an AMEN! Anyway, this is about our new life path or direction we're taking life or whatnot. We have taken our home off the market and are here to stay for a while longer. We had 2 homes sell in the neighborhood WAY undervalue, and decided that waiting for a warmer market, and a warmer climate...wasn't something we wanted to do with a for sale sign in the front yard. Our realtor, the amazing Stacey(roo) Bowman, of course sided with us on our decision, because she loves me and didn't want me to have a nervous breakdown, and was gracious about our taking the home off the market. I love that she isn't pushy and always supports us.
So now what does life have in store for us? Well, this semester Chris has 9 credits. Last semester he had 3. HOLD ON FOLKS....BUMPY ROAD AHEAD. One class is online, and one is at Weber State Campus. This means...Deb's workout gets bumped to 6am Mondays and Thursdays...and Chris gets to be gone from 8am-8pm M-F (theoretically) He uses about 5:30-7:30 for study time in the evening and comes home to play with the kids about 45 minutes and then help me get them into bed. What other changes? Well, we have felt very strongly that we need to get a food storage system going. Up until this week, our storage consisted of about 100 lbs of oatmeal and 2 cases of beets. Don't you hope you're our neighbor when things get tough. I know. Well, we received a very generous amount of cash as a Christmas gift from Chris's parents. We usually split the cash and have fun with it or put it to debt. This year, we dedicated it to building up a 6 month non-perishable food supply. I may have gone a *bit* overboard...but we'll see. Caselots usually begin in the spring, but this year...they started in the bitter cold of January. With the guidance of my sister-in-law Hilary, Angie, Katherine and Mary I set out to 3 different stores to stock up. Tonight--I am proud to report that we are good to go on beans, corn, cream of chicken, flour, sugar, rice, tomato soup (a favorite of ava), mac-n-cheese, kidney and pinto beans. And can I interject here for a moment and say WHY ARE PINTO BEANS SO FREAKIN EXPENSIVE? I'd like an answer if anyone has one. They aren't tasty. I mean...as far as beans go I guess they'd be my 1st choice, but really? I also scored some quality toilet paper and a really great price. I don't mind doing generic on a lot of things in life...but somethings I won't comprimise on, and the quality of the TP is one. Just sayin. I am wishing I had more freezer space to store Orange Juice, because Macy's has it for 88 cents a can. We got through a can a day here when we are feelin the need for OJ. We have a passionate love/hate with the OJ. Right now, we're LOVING it.
Another part of plan B is for home cookin. Subway, Mcdonalds, etc you're on the alone train to ALONEVILLE boarding at WEST BWEAKIN UP WIF YOU! (homestar love!) Don't be surprised if you get phone calls from me asking for ideas of what's for dinner tonight or if this weeks' price of chicken is a good deal. I have limited cooking experience. My 'cooking' skills are about a 6 or 7, whereas my baking ......is at a like 3 or 4. Let's just say I was almost 17 before I made my first batch of edible cookies...and I'd been attempting from the age of 11. I can kind of make chocolate chip cookies, and that's where the success with baking ends. Chris got me a lovely bread maker last year for Christmas after I begged for one and promised daily homemade loaves of bread. I made probably 5 loaves of french bread, and quit. LAME! So I plan to put the 50lbs of Flour and Sugar I just bought to good use this year. Pray for my family's health through this new phase of our lives.
Since we were planning for Chris to take a leave of absense, the Health Insurance is now coming out of my paycheck. We also decided that my check will now go to an entirely different bank and bank account and every 4 months, we will throw a chunk of money at a debt. First stop? May 7th (my b-day!) paying off our Saturn Vue. Let us pray that May 7 does not also become the day the car dies. It's ok if she dies on my birthday....as long as it's my 30th or later. This will be the first time we'll ever have lived soley on Chris's income. STUPID that we haven't done that all along, but hey...we're stepping off the stupid bus, and boarding ...the smart bus. clearly it's late and my brain is done processing for the time being. It's 11:23pm and I have an 8am workout. 8am. January. I must really loathe myself to go outside in temperatures below freezing.

Ava Jayne is 3

Yesterday, Ava turned the big 3. I can't believe she is already 3~the time has literally blurred by. She was so tiny when she was born, but she's always been a character, ready to be part of the action. She has an imaginary friend-Angiewho-a little boy, that she will tell you is a "good boy" and takes many naps and occasionally will call her on her play cell phone to let her know he's driving to pick up his mom. She once pointed out Edward Cullen as Angiewho, but I'm hoping that was a fluke. She loves Dora and Barbie movies--cannot get enough of the dancing barbie movies that have music. She can count to 20, and her favorite number is eleven-teen. If you are counting with her, be sure not to skip it...or she'll quickly and firmly correct your counting. She knows several songs, ABC-twinkle twinkle-itsy bitsy-frosty the snowman-child of God-Stories of Jesus-yeah too many to name, and will sing them to Simon when he gets sad. She is a great big sister, and has to really fight not to squeeze her little brother several times a day. She has SO much of Chris in her looks and demeanor. She also got my sass and stubbornness...what a combo eh? She absolutely cannot resist cutting her hair if she comes across scissors, and if she could, she would paint, cut and glue all day. She's been potty training for 6-7 months now, and is really making great progress. If you are sad, she will tell you to be happy and that everything will be Ok, and immediately start being goofy to make you smile, or offer you some chocolate milk. She loves cocoa, but not hot. She loves to make up stories, and every event she will tell you about has occurred, will occur, or is occurring "yesterday." She can recite several Dr. Suess books--thankfully we've recently broadened our bedtime book collection. She is also learning the ABC in sign language, and loving it!
Aves has been the greatest most amazing blessing of my life. I knew about her long before she joined our family. Heavenly Father knew I'd need a few years preparation for her. She teaches me patience, kindness, and love in a new way. I hope to raise her and shape her to be as lovely a person inside, as she is physically. Here come the 3s....Heaven Help Us ALL! :) Hand me one of those...would ya?

so far behind on bloggin

I have a TON to blog, but I'll continue to procrastinate. Mostly, I just wanted to put out there, that we're pulling our house off the market. The last 2 homes that sold in our neighborhood went for $10-20,000 less than we were listed, killing our comps, so we're here to stay for a bit longer. Sorry folks, no Hilary Streaking in protest this year.

It's been more than 3 weeks since someone has come to look at our house. I have found it increasingly more difficult to keep things perfect around here, with the kids getting sick, and the weather so bitterly cold that they have no choice, but to play indoors. The last week or so has been a struggle to stay positive. sane. I hadnt' had my boot camp either, as a distraction and a way to get away from it all--which is a big factor in my recent depression. I went last night and got my booty kicked for 90 minutes. it hurts to type right now, that's how awesome of a workout she gave us. I love that it's just Lissa, me and the trainers. I know we're making great progress too. I came home to my home...and helped Chris get the kids to bed. I don't even remember falling asleep. Avas been sleeping better since she contracted pnemonia. She gets about 12 hours a night, and I'm hoping we are dilligent enough to stay in this pattern. She really needs the sleep--she's growing so quickly. Simon's first year is FLYING by....and soon Ava will be 3. Where is our life going?
We are reevaluating the sell of the house. We figure we'll give it a couple more months, and if it doesn't go for what we want it to, then we'll create a new game plan. Trying to figure out the Lords plan is like trying to understand your 10 month old's gabber. You can make out bits and pieces, but it's usually a couple of years before you really have comprehention of what is being communicated.
Sandi was kind enough to bring over the decorations she used to use on her kids tree. We're going to hopefully set ours up tonight. Finals are over. It's time to deck the halls.