Pete Pages

Thursday, February 25, 2010

For our seven month anniversary

We moved into our house seven months ago today. Not really a noteworthy fact on its own, but it has taken me until today to FINALLY get my laundry/utility room cleaned up and cleared out of the boxes, frames, etc. that I had stacked on the counters in there.

At the risk of sounding braggy (and I hate to sound braggy), I have to say that I LOVE our laundry room. It was really the kicker that made us want to buy this house. Rob and I walked through at least 40 homes, yet we kept talking about this fabulous room. It doesn't have the cabinets I would have picked, or the counter tops I would have picked. It certainly doesn't have the wallpaper I would have picked (I would not have picked wallpaper at all, although the little palm trees have grown on me...), but it is seriously our favorite and one of the best (and useful) rooms in our house!

And the good news is that the counters are finally BOX-FREE. Hooray for me! And hooray for Liv for taking a long afternoon nap today!

Looking in from the hallway:
From the door of our 2-car garage (those french doors open to a HUGE walk-in pantry):

From the door of our 1-car garage:

And finally, the tiny palm trees that might remind you of your
Grandma...or her house at least:

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Posting to post

I really feel the desire to post something, but don't know what to say. Or maybe it's that I really have a lot to say, but don't have the time to post it all. Things are just busy and I keep waiting for life to slow down, but I'm afraid it's really just the beginning of the "busy" if that makes any sense. I'm moving from Mom of Young Children, to having kids that are a bit older and involved in multiple activities and am trying to manage it all. This "four kid" thing can feel like a lot some days... one day at a time, right?

Contributing to my busy, is the fact that the baby suddenly doesn't seem so baby-ish anymore. That is both sad and fun/exciting at the same time. She is napping less, getting teeth, babbling more, and has learned to get herself (almost) wherever she wants to go. She loves her new freedom!

So, I've finally set some personal goals for the year (now that we're almost done with February) and am feeling really good about my progress. I usually share my fitness goals with my husband (and everything else that's on my mind, poor guy), but I got the strange idea that if I kept these particular goals to myself, then that could work as a motivator of sorts. Does that sound odd? Probably. Is it working, YES! There must be some power in the secret.

Rob and I were asked to direct a "Play in a Day" for an upcoming youth conference. I feel so far removed from the "performing world" that I used to be part of, and wonder how I spent the first 22 years of my life seeking the spotlight, and why I really try to avoid it now. I just started going to ward choir again, and told the director (after she asked) that although I'm willing to do a solo, I'd rather let someone else do it (you know that there is always someone that wants the solo). I'm not deliberately trying to bury my talents or anything, but it just feels like a different life, or a different me or something. I really feel fulfilled keeping up with the little creations I gave birth to right now. I wonder if (when my kids are a little older and independent, or at least potty-trained!) I will have the desire to be on stage again someday. Only time will tell.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Update

My Dad ended up having a triple bypass.
Everything went very well and he is now recovering in the ICU.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Skinny jeans and white sneakers

with black socks? I must be married to an old man.

(Love you babe. Had to be documented.)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

My get well card

I got a phone call from my mom yesterday. She called from the hospital to let me know that my dad will be having double bypass heart surgery this week. This was a bit of a shock! My parents have been in Houston serving an LDS mission since June, and they will be staying there for the surgery and plan to continue on their mission...

This is an old photo of me and my dad "tearing it up." For the record, my dad SMOKES me on the dance floor. I have never been able to keep up with him.

Dad,
My love and thoughts are with you (and Mom). I am praying for a speedy recovery and that you'll be back on the dance floor in no time.

I love you so much,
Tamsen

Thursday, January 28, 2010

In one hour

In theory, you can do a lot in an hour. Sometimes an hour whizzes by. How many times have you thought, "Has it been an hour already?!" Other times it feels more like an eternity... My mind just recalled the fact that in less than one hour after pulling into the hospital parking lot to give birth to our second child, he was all swaddled up and sleeping peacefully in my arms.

I put Liv down for a nap this afternoon and had grand plans for what I wanted to accomplish in an hour. I had laundry to put away, bathrooms to clean, (not to mention two kids to entertain), etc., etc. I got an unexpected call from my folks and I launched into a familiar monologue about how there was too much to do, and how I was feeling overwhelmed by this, that, and the other. Tosh had been standing next to me (playing with our measuring tape) and a couple of minutes after he left the room, I heard a noise downstairs. It was one of those "uh-oh" noises so I ran down to see what had happened. I found that Tosh had broken his brother's magnifying glass and was gleefully examining some of the glass pieces in his hands! Thank heaven he was not hurt. I grabbed him and put him in the family room (we were both barefoot, of course). The glass had broken into just a few pieces and I was very careful to sweep and clean our tile to make sure I had gotten it all. Just as I finished, I grabbed an empty baby food jar to rinse out and I dropped it! Seriously? Unlike the magnifying glass, the jar shattered into tiny little pieces (still barefoot here), and so I spent the next however long cleaning this up while trying to keep my shadow (Tosh) out of the room.

As soon as I was finished I discovered that Tosh had grabbed my camera and was carrying it over to me saying, "I broke it!" Somehow he managed to jam the lens so it would not zoom or close. I set him at our bar and gave him some Play-Doh to play with so I could examine the camera. I wasn't really all that happy at this point, but was able to "fix" the lens although the back is all scratched up and I'm guessing he dropped it while he was taking photos because I found some evidence...

Relief swept over me that my camera still works, and then I looked up to find Tosh spreading tiny little pieces of green Play-Doh all over the kitchen floor and laughing (a devilish) "Wwwaaahaha" all the while. Okay, so maybe I didn't capture his laugh exactly right, but he was pretty happy with his naughty-ness. I spent the remainder of "My Hour" supervising a two-year-old in "time-out," and then we counted every little piece of Play-Doh that he was required to pick up. We counted 96 pieces (some of them hardly visible), in case you were wondering.

And that my friends, filled ONE hour of my day today.

In church on Sunday, a wise woman said that, "Feeling overwhelmed occurs when we don't believe we have the skills to handle a situation..." or something to that effect. I started the beginning of this particular hour by describing myself as "overwhelmed" to my parents. Although I finished the hour nowhere close to what I was hoping to accomplish, I did NOT feel as overwhelmed when I realized the following: I know how to sweep, I know how to push hard on a camera lens, I know how to set a timer, and I know how to count to 96.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The three brothers

Wearing their new souvenir t-shirts...

Pete said...

Hewitt was just telling me about a new game he created where you can't touch the ball with your hands or feet. He said, "You can only hit the ball with your leg or foot-wrist." And so I clarified, "You mean your ankle?"
(10/8/09)

Me to Hewitt: Whatcha doin?
Hewitt: Arting. It's making art.
(10/2/09; Hewitt's 5th b-day)

Two jokes by Burke:
What does a storm wear?
Thunderwear!

What do you call King Kong's feet?
Big Foot!
(9/26/09)

I had the following conversation with Tosh:
Me: Are you a boy or a girl?
T: Boy
Me: Is Livvy a boy or a girl?
T: Baby
Me: Yes, but is Baby Liv a boy or a girl?
T: Girl
Me: Is Daddy a boy or a girl?
T: Big boy
Me: Is Mommy a boy or a girl?
T: Mommy a babe!
(Not prompted, I promise! 9/3/09)

Hewitt had set up a bunch of toy figures and Tosh was trying to play with them... Hewitt was telling Tosh not to touch them and I asked him to share the toys or to go and get some more figures for Tosh to play with. Hewitt said, "These are not toys! They are art!" (9/3/09)

We were driving along a road near our house (a rather quiet highway, really) and Hewitt suddenly exclaimed, "Mom! I just found the road to our old house! Keep driving straight!" I looked up and realized there were some big mountains in the FAR distance. Hewitt clearly thought he was staring at Utah. (8/28/09)

Hewitt brought home a little "Groundhog's Day" craft that he had made at preschool and kept calling the groundhog a bear. When I tried to tell him it was really a groundhog he looked at me like I was very silly and said, "It's a BEAR Mom, not a CORNDOG!" (2/2/09)

I explained to Burke about the recent airplane crash into the Hudson River and knowing that he would be very concerned, I quickly told him that all of the passengers were just fine. He looked at me with a worried look and said, "What about the birds? Are they okay?" (1/15/09)

I have a trunk full of old performing costumes from when I was a kid. Hewitt saw the trunk in the basement and told Rob that he wanted to open up the "treasure chest." Rob asked him if he knew what was in the trunk/chest and Hewitt replied that it was full of clothes. When Rob told Hewitt that he didn't want him to make a big mess Hewitt said, "I won't make a mess, I will just get out one clo." I guess that "clo" would be the singular form of clothes... (1/13/09)

Burke is always mentioning how he wants us to have lots more babies because he wants "hundreds" of brothers and sisters. I was explaining to him this morning about how it gets harder and more dangerous to have babies as a woman gets older...he looked at me and said, "Well, you look young Mom, like 19!" Then he leaned in closer and said, "Well, I do see some indents in your skin around your eyes (those would be wrinkles--thanks for noticing)." (12/26/08)

Hewitt blew his nose and must have accidentally gotten some snot or tissue in his mouth because he said, "Yuck! That tastes like cow dung!" (12/24/08)

Tosh got to Hewitt's cup of water at the table today and dumped it all over Hewitt's lap and onto the floor. Rob asked Hewitt, "Are you a little wet?" and he said, "I'm a BIG wet!" (12/24/08)

Rob was playing "Memory" with the boys and when Burke got a few matches in a row Hewitt said, "Wow Burkie, you're on fire!" (11/08)

We just bought some sod for our park strip and while Burke and I were looking at the pallet, I mentioned that some of the pieces looked like crabgrass and that we needed to find the best pieces of grass to buy. Burke looked at the sod for a little while and said, "None of it looks like crap grass to me!"

While I was flossing Burke's teeth he said, "Wait--I need to tell you something." I paused flossing and he said, "You sure know how to be a good mom!" (now there's a treasured compliment!)

Hewitt watched Rob kill a fly in our kitchen and then asked, "Did he cry? Did he want his mommy fly?"

I told Hewitt that I was going to get Tosh a snack and asked if he would like one. He paused and then said, "I'll take a milkshake." What am I, a drive-up window?

Hewitt was asking for toast today and when I pulled out the bread he said, "No, the 'letter O' toast!" I finally figured out that he wanted a toasted english muffin.

Burke came down for breakfast and said, "Mom, it might not look like my bed is made and you might not like it, but it's really stripes that I did as a design on my bed."

Hewitt has really liked eating plain tortillas lately. When I asked him if he wanted one he said, "Oh. Sure. I'll have a mamma mia."

Hewitt understands things very literally. When Rob told him that he "needed to fly" this morning (go to work), Hewitt asked, "Where is the fly? In the house?" When Rob asked him if he had a runny nose he said, "No. It's just boogers."

When Rob was leaving for work he hugged the boys and told them to "be good for Mommy and do exactly what she says." Burke said, "OK bye Dad, you be good at work and do exactly what your boss says."

We were discussing prophets in the scriptures for Family Home Evening and when Rob asked Burke which prophet(s) wrote the Book of Mormon Burke said, "Nephi, Jacob, Enos..." and continued to name the books in order. Rob and I were pretty surprised and couldn't help laughing.

I was just eavesdropping on Hewitt while he was playing with his toys and heard him say, "Ladies and jumpingmen..."

Burke was heading off to a neighbor's house to play and stuck his head back in the door and called, "I'll be traveling by bike."

When the garage door opens for us to drive in, Hewitt will pretend to be scared and say, "Oh no, it's the garage mouth! He's going to eat us!"

Hewitt got distracted and starting playing with his toys during lunch and when I reminded him to please keep eating he said, "But Mommy, I'm working."