Bulimia

Okay, don't freak out anyone, I'm not bulimic. I just sometimes sympathize with this disorder. You'll have to forgive me, this is going to be a bit of a different sort of post than my usual happy posts. I'm having a total insomniac night! I'm sure that tomorrow, well today, I'll really pay for this. I don't do well on not enough sleep.

So, back to bulimia. I've been sitting here doing nothing in particular on-line. Spending money that I really shouldn't at Deseret Book online and pigging out on M&Ms. I feel all yucky in my tummy now. I always do when I eat junk food. I admit that it is tempting, sometimes really tempting to go and barf it up. I'd probably feel better. I have never made myself throw up, and I've promised myself that I never will. I kind of know that if I did it once, I'd have a real problem with it. It would start out once in a blue moon, just to not feel like I'm feeling right now. (Which is YUCKY!) But before I knew it, I'd be doing it more and more often, until it was an everyday thing. I know better than to get started, so PLEASE don't worry about me. I really do have enough sense not to do it. But sometimes I feel really tempted.

Well, the reason for me posting this is that I just had a light bulb moment. I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, and wishing that I hadn't eaten those darned M&Ms, and so wanting to barf! But, I said to myself "That's just not something that I want to start." Then I realized bulimia is a two fold disorder: binging and purging. I had already done the binging. That's the part I don't want to start! That's the part that I need to work on controlling! If I can work on telling myself "That's just not something that I want to start." a little bit earlier, I won't ever have to feel this way again! I'm halfway bulimic already, I do the binging, I just don't purge. Binging is a very unhealthy thing too, that's why I'm feeling so yucky right now! No, I'm not saying that I might as well purge, in case anyone is thinking that's where I'm going with this. It's about not getting to the point where I want to purge. Not nipping the problem in the bud, as I have been doing-- but pulling the roots right out of the ground! Do you follow?

Alright, I need to try to get some sleep. I wonder if this will seem like a really stupid post when I'm not so tired! See you!

A Day At The Zoo...(Finally)

Bruce and I took the kids to the zoo yesterday. My in-laws buy us a zoo membership every year. This gets you free parking, into the children's zoo, onto the train, the carousel and things like that. We used to go pretty often. Last summer my children decided they wanted to get a membership to the magic house, so they pooled their money and saved up until they had enough for a basic membership. Since then, we've been going to the magic house more, and not so much to the zoo. This year's zoo membership expires at the end of April, and if you don't use all of your tickets, they are gone. I wanted to take them on their spring break, but the weather was bad all week, so we went to the magic house again. Anyway, we had 44 tickets to blow in one day. We spent the day at the zoo, and the only animals we saw were goats. That's kind of a shame, but oh well, we had a good time. We rode the train, the carousel and went to the children's zoo. We also had a good time giving away tickets. It was fun to see people's faces when strangers get them in for free. Here's our pictures, I couldn't decide which ones to put up, so I just put up a bunch. (It takes forever to upload a bunch of pictures!)

On the carousel:

Bruce had to prove that he could still pick up his whole family at once. Since our last picture like that was taken at the zoo (without Justice), this seemed an appropriate time to take another one. (It's just too bad Amy wasn't there to take it!)

Lydia being goofy:

Here's us at the water squirter things in the children's zoo. Justice was a bit apprehensive about the water shooting up from the ground, but curious, none the less.

Petting the goats:

Ross trying to be a goat:

At the playground: (I'll have to put my funny story about this hippo in later.)

In the water:

Well, we didn't see many animals, but we did have a good time. Next time we go, we'll have to make sure that we actually see the animals.

Okay, here's the hippo story: We were at this playground a few years ago. I was hiding inside the hippo's mouth. I was all scrunched up in the back, so couldn't see out either side, and I couldn't be seen either. I motioned for Trent to get Ross to walk in front of me so I could jump out and scare him. Well, just as Ross was walking by, I lunged out and yelled "RAARGH" Only, right exactly then, a dad type person walked in between Ross and me, so it just looked like I was jumping out at him. He gave me such a funny look- like "What is wrong with you!"

I'm POOPED!

I've been getting really tired of this whole remodeling thing happening in my living & piano rooms. It's been going on since about early February, and it's still not done. There is still a lot to do. Mostly painting now which isn't hard, except that I can't do it unless Justice is taking a nap. (You saw what happened with the dry-wall mud.) So anyway, I've been killing myself with it lately, trying to get it done. I have managed to get my fans made over. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. I totally copied off of this lady:

http://www.onewomanslife.com/home/2005/12/as-promised-photos-of-my-ceiling-fan.html

I had wondered if you could successfully paint your ceiling fans to change the way they look, and I figured that somewhere out there, there must be someone who had done it, and would have some helpful insights. I turned the blades over and painted the whole thing with Rustoleum's anodized bronze oil based paint. I also bought new glass things for mine, as the old ones were hideous. I did two fans this way. So, here's the before and afters. Well, in reverse order. The paint was about nine dollars, and the glass things were twenty four (I only replaced the glass on one of the fans, the other one wasn't bad.) Total cost for two made over fans: about $33. Not bad! I can't wait until the rest of this whole thing is over! Here's how my day today went: I got up at 6:30, got the Lydia & Ross up and off to school. I then put some tiles up in my entry way. Went for a 5 mile run which is shorter than usual, but I was pushing Mark & Justice in the running stroller, so I think that counts as extra. Shower, feed lunch to the kids, and paint part of the ceiling while the J-Bird was contained in his high-chair. I went to Walmart, made it back just in time for the big kids to get home from school. Painted some more while Justice was napping. Rehung the ceiling fan -which took forever! I don't know why it took so long, but it did. Did last night's dishes & made dinner & helped Lydia with homework & got Ross to take his shower all at once. All the while Justice was climbing into the dishwasher and pulling the dishes out. So, at 8:30, (half an hour past normal bedtime) we finally had dinner, to which Ross totally turned up his nose and wouldn't touch a bite. He made himself a PBJ. Mark sat there with his untouched food and politely asks "Please pass the peanut butter and jelly." Lydia picked at it and then covertly covered her biscuit in jelly and pretty much just ate that. Chloe, our dog, had a feast because Justice threw his all over the room. Why did I bother? And what is wrong with lasagna, it was fine to me. I piled tonight's dishes into the sink. I'm too pooped to care about getting them done tonight. I read stories to the kids and collapsed. I fell asleep in Justices room for a few hours, and here I am. I think I'm getting up at 4:30 tomorrow to run. We'll have to see. I'm not saying all of this to throw a pitty party for myself, I'm just pooped. Well here are those pictures:

After:

Before:

On another note, we took Mark to kindergarten round-up last night. He starts school in the fall. I can't believe he's that old already! He was so cute, and so excited about everything at kindergarten round-up. We got to play on the play ground at school. He thought he was big stuff, because he was already very familiar with the playground & the school's layout, having been there many many times with Ross & Lydia. We got to have cookies and milk in the cafeteria, visit the kindergarten classrooms, and meet the teachers. But the part that he liked the most was getting to go for a ride on the bus! He was sooo excited! He knew from his siblings that the back seat was the best, so to the very back of the bus we went, where the bumps are the bumpiest. Such excitement! I'm really going to miss having him around in the fall! Man, what a great kid! So sweet!

Me & My Lydia

Went on a field trip with the 3rd graders today. After a week of not-so-great-rather-be-inside-kind of weather, today was wonderful! Awesome weather! Had a great time. When we were getting on the bus, Lydia patted the seat next to her and said "Mom, sit here!" I was very happy to know that my daughter still prefered to sit by her mom! Yay! What a sweet girl she is! Can I just say that I am very lucky to have her! Always helpful! Everyone should have a nine year old girl to help out, especially if you also have a one year old. What a great kid! Not spoiled by the world yet. She has been saying "I'm almost a teen!" a lot lately. Hang on kid, not too fast. Let me savor this a while longer! Ahh, I hope I'm doing a passable job of mothering her. Here she is on Easter. I forgot to bring the camera along today. Darn!

What a Beautiful Mess I'm In

Drinking from the dog's water:

On the chair that is up on top of the table, so he can't climb onto the table:

Getting into the mud & tape again:

Eating Cocoa Puffs with the dog:

That's What I Get For Having Boys!

Note to self:
Never leave a one year old alone with a putty knife and a bucket of dry-wall mud -even if you sort of closed the lid, but not all the way. Mud on the windows, the piano, in his mouth, down his legs and arms, on the freshly painted wall in the other room.

And, when I was taking the laudry out of the washing machine, I found a night crawler, still alive inside. That's what I get for having boys!

Pics

Where Do Kids Come Up With These Ideas?

Ross had a dentist apt. immediatly after school, so I asked him if he could bring along a tooth brush & paste and brush either after lunch or just before he came out after school. He says to me: "I think that's just for ... I think that the only kids who do that are retarded."

April Fool's Jokes

My brother Todd pulled a funny one on M&D. He had them going that he and Suzanne (new wife) were expecting. Hook, line and sinker! What a meany!

This of course reminds me of the best April Fools joke that I ever pulled. This was five years ago, when I was three days past my due date with Mark. John & Liz, Bruce & I and Ross & Lydia in the double stroller were out for an evening stroll. I was pushing the two young ones, in hopes of inducing labor. (It didn't work.) We were saying that it was a shame that we hadn't pulled any pranks in honor of the day. Well a plan began to form. We were only about a block from the the apartment of the sister missionaries from John & Liz's ward. (Bruce & I were in a different ward, so they didn't know us at all.) We walked over to their complex and everybody, except the children and I, hid in the stairwell. I pushed the kids up to their door, and knocked. The sisters answered, and I told them that I was lost. I said that I had a friend somewhere in the complex, but I couldn't remember which apt. I told them that I was in labor and needed help. I got them to let me in to use the phone to call someone for help. I faked a phone call. I played it up really well. They were totally falling for it! It was hilarious. Eventually J&L came to the door and rescued me. It was too funny! I slay me!

Anybody else have any good ones? Tell us!