Halloween Preview

Since I pretty much forgot about Halloween last year until almost 3 weeks after the fact, I thought I would provide you with a little costume preview. This way, you will know what the girls looked like in their costumes even before all your candy corn pumpkins are gobbled up.

Happy (early) Halloween, everyone!

What They Don't Teach You in School

I knew, before I became a parent, one of the major prerequisites for mommyhood: being able to find a bathroom, in a reasonable amount of time, in any public place ever visited with children. And I was fine with that.

I was, however, unfamiliar with its implied co-requisite: being willing to abandon comfort, convenience, and the occasional shopping cart filled with not-yet purchased goods in search of said bathroom. This co-requisite then often requires the supernatural dexterity and flexibility needed to hold an infant while wiping a bottom, pick up a three-year-old who can't yet reach the sink, and, with infant still in arms, wash said three-year-old's hands as well as one's own hands in a sink that only works while the handle is being pushed down, all the while trying to keep one's purse from touching anything bathroom-related (i.e. floor, walls, door, sink, etc.)

Man, I wish that class had been offered in junior college.

Second Breakfast

Around here, there's a little girl who likes to eat half my cereal every morning. I frustratingly call it her "second breakfast." Sometimes it's only a few bites, but I know I have to kiss all my food goodbye when she goes and gets her own spoon so that we can "share."

Frustrated with only eating half of a bowl of cereal for breakfast every morning, I devised a plan: I would make her her very own second breakfast so that she would be distracted enough to let me eat my Cocoa Krispies in peace. The other day, on my way downstairs to get a bowl of cereal, I asked Savanna if she wanted some cinnamon toast. "Yes," she said. "And peas."

Really? Peas?? Blech.

Gross as it sounds to a pea hater like me, I knew she was serious. Van is my little pea-eater extraordinaire. She asks for me to open a can of peas for her snack at least once a week. So, second breakfast that day consisted of peas and toast. Yummy.

She's a nut, I know it. But such a lovable little nut. And peas are such a small price to pay for eating my breakfast without any help.

(Now, I know what you may be thinking. "Canned peas are gross." To that I have only one thing to say: all peas are gross.)

P.S. We might be giving peas a break for a little while. For the last two days, the second breakfast request has been toast and marshmallows.

Smitten

This girl. Such a happy little light in our lives. So content, so special, such a wonderful, tiny friend. I can't resist her. Those eyes, that smile...

...those cheeks.


So glad she is part of our family. And what a cute little part she is.

Life as We Know It

Well, our glorious fall break has ended and it’s back to life as usual for the Monsons. One lovely week in California and one very low-key week at home left me wanting just a little bit more, but alas, it’s time to resume the regular routines and be “normal” again. (Normal: Staying up too late, getting up too early, packing lunches, stressing about homework and kids’ bedtimes and clean socks.)

When Craig left with J for school yesterday morning, I had just a tiny twinge of painful remembrance from her first day of school…but life goes on and so must I. Thankfully, my busy morning (i.e. attempting to start the cleaning of a house suffering from two weeks’ worth of general neglect) kept me from dwelling too much on the sad reality that my kids will not be little forever.

I’ll miss the extra help and company of a 5-year old, (car-seat buckler and baby entertainer that she is) and all the usual shenanigans associated with having 3 children ages 5 and under home with me all day. I will not, however, miss the extra fighting and loudness and boredom and vying for attention associated with the same scenario.

So, back to school, back to routines, back to life. I’m choosing to love it all even if I don’t like it sometimes.

My Little Sous Chefs

The girls are usually pretty eager to help me out in the kitchen, so I took advantage and put them to work on Sunday morning. Sometimes, their "help" isn't exactly helpful, but they are getting older and more capable, and I (for once) am reaping all the benefits. They turned out to be quite the garlic peelers and onion cutters and chicken basters, and it ended up being a lot of fun hanging out and being domestic together.

Julia getting started. (I am pretty sure she can

cut onions faster than I can.)

Savanna helping me by putting scissors on her head.

Check out that form.

My happy little baster.

Voila, the finished product...not too shabby!

P.S. Crock pot, I love you. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Time Out for Mommy

I had a Mommy day today. And not a "mommy please do this, Mommy, please do that" day, either. (Those are a little more common than the rare day I experienced, and I am not quite so inclined to celebrate them...although I must interject that I do really love my life despite its seemingly endless demands.) It was a much needed away-from-kids-and-responsibilities day. It was a day to feel rejuvenated, uplifted, inspired, and changed for the better. A spiritual spa day, if you will. For my birthday, my mom took me to something called Time Out For Women, a program of amazing speakers whose job it is to essentially make me feel better. About life, about myself, about all of the things that I am called upon (or put upon myself) to do. And boy howdy, I loved every minute of it.

I wish that I could list, right here, all of the amazing things that I am taking away from this experience, all of the times that I laughed or cried or felt the amazing power of the Lord's love me and for all of His children. Yet, at the risk of sounding trite or overly simplifying something so unspeakably awesome, I must refrain from that laundry list.

But I will say one thing that I have learned that I hope to never unlearn or forget again.

Women are amazing creatures. We are resilient, we are talented, we are giving, we are powerful, we are industrious, we are brilliant, we are strong. And we are too hard on ourselves. If we could spend even 5 seconds seeing ourselves the way the Lord sees us--as the gifted, wonderful beings that we are--our lives would change immeasurably for the better. Now, of course, I am not saying that we should stop doing what we can to become better each day. But I am saying that what we can give is enough, however much or little it may seem, as long as we are in a partnership with the Lord.

So, painful as it may be, I am going to start forgiving myself for not being perfect, for falling short day after day after day. And I am going to start loving myself for what I do have to offer, not cursing myself for what I can't manage to accomplish, or learn, or master.

I think it's time we all do that.

Magic Beans

One bag of pinto beans.
90 minutes of fun.
30 minutes of clean-up.
Was it worth it, you say?
I'm still deciding.
I'll let you know when I get all the beans out of the carpet.

Consider Yourself Warned

Just in case you ever wondered what it looks like when a baby has a love affair with an avocado.

It's not pretty. But it is cute.

Well Hello Again, Zoo...

On Saturday we decided to take advantage of our semi-fallish weather and hit the zoo. (By semi-fallish, I mean less than 105 degrees.) It was pretty toasty by the time we arrived at 12:30, but not miserable, and we ended up having a lot of fun. (Certainly this was in large part because of the exorbitantly-priced kettle corn that we happily consumed.) I don't think we've been to the zoo since Alexa was born so it was a happy reunion for all, especially the elephants...apparently they really missed us.

Fun Aunt Laura was here for the weekend and came along to play.

Lexa wanted to give a little shout out to all her peeps.

Perhaps not the greatest day to be caught in a fake spiderweb.

Laura bought the girls Koala bears after a

conversation that went like this:

Julia: Can we buy some koala bears today?

Daddy: Hmm, maybe next time when Grandma & Grandpa are here.

Julia: But...Laura's here!

Because roaring like a lion while holding on to a newly

acquired koala bear is every girls' fantasy.

Not everyone is a fan of the fake baby elephant, though.

What an end to a swell (but not sweltering) day!

Covering all the Bases

Lately, Miss J has a two-part excuse when she fails to do something that I've asked her to do.

Mommy: "Julia, did you pick up that [insert object here] that I asked you to get?"

Julia: "Oh, I didn't hear you. And I forgot."

So which one is it? We will probably never know. But at least the girl knows how to cover her bases.