Bathtime

Halloween

Each year I do a bit more decorating, nothing like Kata, but just something fun and festive. I think Halloween is different when you have kids. Not that we have much planned this year, but we have already talked about future years of fun with Max.





I decided that I wanted our kitchen table to be more than a place to put things. We never eat there, but plan to have family dinners around the kitchen table when Max is a bit older. So I thought I would have fun with it and use it as part of the decorations for the holidays.

Last year we turned off all the lights and hung out in the basement. I don't mind when the little kids I know from the neighborhood come over, but there were so many kids that I had never even seen before, kids that I thought were too old, and selfish little buggers who look disgusted if you only give them one measly piece of candy. And most of them didn't even say Thank You! Anyway...I was wishing that the parents of the kids I knew would call me and say, "My kids are coming over now." Then I could open the door for them, ooh and ahh over their costumes and enjoy the experience. I decided that I liked this idea so much that I called my friends from the ward and told them that although we wouldn't be handing out candy, if they would call me before their kids came that I would be waiting for them. That made it so much fun! I got to chat with them and look at their cute costumes and spoil them with as much candy as I wanted because I didn't have to save it. And they were talkative and appreciative.

James decided that we needed It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, to watch for Halloween. So, we had just a few trick-or-treaters and watched the silly show. James wants it to be our Halloween tradition. The episode came in a set with the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes as well so it looks like Charlie Brown has become part of our holiday traditions.


I hope you all had a great, fun-filled Halloween!

Miserable

Max was sick this last weekend. Croup, cough, not sleeping. He was so miserable and it was so hard to watch. Saturday we went to the pediatrician and they gave him a dose of something or other, which he threw up as we were walking out, and they had to give to him again. Three nights in a row he and I ended up outside on the porch swing, at around 2:00 am, letting the cold air help him breath. He was waking up almost every hour, sometimes just needing to sit up for a few minutes and cough the flem out of his throat. Sometimes the only way he would sleep at all was laying on my chest while I was sitting up. He would hold his breath for so long that I would wait anxiously for him to breath.

He had such a hard time sleeping flat and was waking up so many times in the night that we put him back in the bassinet to sleep. We were able to slant it so that he wasn't laying flat and put it next to the bed so I wasn't having to get up every time he cried out. When the difference in his size caught my attention I took a picture. He was so tiny and now...

...he barely fits in it.

He is doing much better, sleeping through the night again, but still coughing. Now James has it.

A Story of Wind & Peanut Brittle

One of my favorite books when I was young was Stand in the Wind by Jean Little. It is the story of two very different young girls who are stuck together for the summer. The adventurous tom-boy Martha is upset to be stuck with the mousy afraid-of-everything Kit. As Martha drags Kit on adventure after adventure she helps her conquer her fears and stand up for herself.

During a wild wind storm Martha drags Kit outside to face the wind, peanut brittle in hand, and tells her, "You'll never love it if you let it shove you around." As Kit faces the wind, singing and eating peanut brittle she gains confidence and realized that she isn't really afraid.

I have always loved the wind. I love storms, the lighting, thunder, but most of all, the wind. I also love peanut brittle. But I loved this story for its lessons on fear and friendship. I don't remember when I told James about this story; he has know for a long time that I love to stand in the wind and whenever there is wind there is talk of peanut brittle. He found the picture of the little girl in the wind and I loved it. And right now, I need the reminder that I will never love life if I let it shove me around.

Just Me And My Frog

I have meant to post about the "frog" since picking up the book a few weeks ago. Kimber's post, The Tale of Two Frogs, explained a bit about it and she told us what her frogs are. John also wrote about his frog and asked everyone to tell about their frog. So here is my frog story.

While waiting in Kinkos, the silly title of the book, "Eat That Frog," by Brian Tracy caught my eye. The author started out by saying that there never will be enough time to do all the things we have to do. He says, "get over the notion that you somehow can get it all done...you can't." My reaction..."OH CRAP! Really? That can't be true...BUT!?!"

Enter the frog. Based on a quote by Mark Twain..."if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst things that is going to happen to you all day long. And if you have too eat a frog, you shouldn't look at it for too long."

So, your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate. Interestingly enough, it is typically also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life at that moment.

This will sound familiar but here goes...

FROG#1
Exercise, exercise, exercise. Do I really have to say anything else here? Probably not, but I will anyway. It isn't just wanting to change the way my body looks, but also knowing all the bla bla bla about how it will make you feel better and have more energy, etc., etc., etc. Don't mind my sarcasm...it is all pointed right at myself.

FROG#2
Work. The frog can be just getting any of the work done. But a lot of my job is not time sensitive so it not so important when I get it done. I go through spurts of productivity and those things get done when they get done. So the real frog is always that one thing that I really need to accomplish which always seems to coincide with the one thing that I really don't want to do. Last week it was the quarterly taxes. This week it is the insurance audit that I have to prepare for.

I have been in the habit of putting off those big tasks to clear my desks of the simpler, easier tasks thinking, "I can just get this out of the way really quick." The book brought that to my attention but might have faded if I hadn't told Kimber about it. It quickly became a way for us to identify our frogs and tackle them head on.

So, I echo John in saying..."What is your frog?"
And add my own question..."How do you eat it?"

.

A Boy and his Pets

The cat...

Which is only still with us get his Dad won't let me get rid of him.
(sigh)

His stuffed dog. Which he loves!

If his Dad has anything to do with it...he will have a real dog.
(SIGH!)

He loves looking out the window.

Random Things of the Day

* I took all of our coins to the bank and made a deposit. Erika helped me roll a ton of coins while she was here and I was able to use the banks coin counter for all of the pennies (Thank heavens!) Final Tally: $293.76. Ironic...I wouldn't leave $300 just laying around the house, but just didn't realize how the coins can add up.

* I skipped music class because I am totally sick and have very little voice.

* James was Mr. Mom today so I could get caught up on all the "stuff." He took care of Max all day and sat with him in the car while I ran errands. He said women look at him suspiciously when they see a man is in the back of a car with the baby. Wonder what is up with that.

* I did the quarterly taxes. Although never as big a chore as I think, I still have a twinge of dread when tax time rolls around.

* To help me get things organized I went back to my childhood and took a lesson from Kimber. I took everything and put it in the center of the room. Then left it all day. :) I did finally get to it though and what a relief to have things put away. Thanks Kimber!

* A success tip that I am implementing to help keep things organized is to "Never touch a piece of paper twice." Meaning that I deal with things immediately rather than picking up the paper (or email, mail, phone call, fax, invoice, etc.) and then putting it back down to deal with later. Of course there are times when this is impossible, but for the most part it is a good strategy.

* The weather has warmed up enough that we took a nice long walk. Our little Max can be such a wild, squirmy thing and nothing chills him out like a walk.

* Dinner was Kimber's Applebee's Club Sandwich. This is one of James' favorite meals and so easy to make.