Unexpected Surprise

Yesterday I dressed Adam in his summer reading shirt. It turned out to be oddly appropriate. Later in the day, as I was getting ready to go shopping I grabbed the mail and there was a letter there for me from the library. I assumed that it was a notice that I needed to pay my fines, or an invitation to the next book sale they were having. Imagine my surprise when I read,

"Dear Tara,

It's spring and time for the annual Provo City Library Academy Awards. You have been selected as the Provo City Library Patron of the Year..."

It goes on to say that me and a guest are invited to an awards luncheon.

So what did I do to win this honor you might ask? John would probably say that they picked the person who paid the most fines over the last year (I average about $5 a month). Kate said that it was because I always go there. And she's probably right. It might also be that I know the director of the children's library (I used to babysit for her kids when I was a teenager). Or it could be that Kate is one of their unofficial spokes people (she was in a library video advertisement when she was 4 that they still show all of the time). They said in the letter it was because I support lots of their programs.

I do love the library. There's few places I'd rather go. I probably go there about 3-4 times a week just because it is nice to get out of the house at night after I put the kids to bed, it is free and I love reading and books. And I was really excited that my summer vacation would start after the summer reading program starts and end before it ends.

But I have to say that when I first opened the letter and read it, I couldn't stop laughing. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even tell John what the letter said. I just gave it to him to read.

And since this is probably the only Academy Award I will ever get, here's my acceptance speech:

Here's to all the people who made me what I am. Mostly my kids who drive me crazy so I need to get out of the house. Thanks, Provo City Library. You're the best!!

Here Comes the Sun and other happy songs

When I was a kid, I had a paper route every day after school. It was kind of a pain but I really loved listening to the music, riding my bike around and having some time to think about my day. When my brother went on his mission, he left almost all of his music in my care. He had quite a collection and it included almost all of the Beatles' albums and a lot of Led Zeppelin and other early 80's and late 70's bands. (My brother was way into music). Anyway, one of my favorite albums turned out to be George Harrison's Greatest Hits (I can't remember the real name). And my favorite song on that album was "Here Comes the Sun". I turned it into my own personal happy song. (I saved Led Zeppelin for gardening.) Whenever I would wake up with a nightmare, or I just was feeling grumpy, I would think of the lyrics and tune of "Here Comes the Sun".

Well lately I have been kind of grumpy. Just ask my kids. So, in an effort to snap myself out of it, I have started taking afternoon walks. It has been fairly nice outside (although two of the days it was snowing. I still went because the exercise feels good too), and it feels nice to get outside of my house and my world for a little while (no screaming kids is a huge bonus too). So I have been walking down to John's work and then we drive home together. It also gives me the extra bonus of a few uninterrupted minutes with John (I take Adam with me, but Kate watches the other girls at home). I'm only gone for about 30 minutes but it is a good rejuvenating time for me. So it has made me realize how much I missed the sun, shut up in my house all day. And then I thought of that song and riding around on my bike when I was a kid. I think it's always good to get out in the sun and away from everyone for a little while. It makes me happy.

My other happy song was "Good Day, Sunshine" also by the Beatles. I guess I really do like sunshine.

Girl's Night Out Ruth-style

Last week was my week to take Ruth out for library and ice cream. Ruth is very funny to be around because she has a theory about everything. Did you know that you can't see rainbows at night because the dark covers them up? Makes sense to me. When I mentioned that in order to go to BYU preschool next year, she had to wear "real" underwear (as opposed to pull-ups) she agreed because she said, "Big girls don't wear pretend underwear!" I could see the logic. I wish I could remember more of what she said because the whole night was like that. That kid has a head on her shoulders. Oh yeah, I took her to a Scholastic Book Sale that the library was sponsoring after we went in and checked out books. It was in a different section of the building that the library is in. Ruth immediately classified the sale as the "new library". After I let her choose a book to buy (they had a buy one get one free sale and I was rewarding myself for making it to 25 books on the year), she said, "I like our new library the best." Anyway, taking the girls out one at a time is turning out to be very enlightening and fun. And they universally love the ice cream so that's good.

Daily Schedule

I had a friend ask me to give her my schedule and it was interesting to think about what I really do every day. So I copied it and here it is.

First of all, at some point I had to let go of the notion that I was going to get everything done every day. But if I write out all the things I would like to do, then when I have downtime, I have something to do (since I'm prone to be really lazy if I don't have anything in mind, I can never think of the things I need to do in the moment.) And I change my schedule all the time (the things I can change).

7:30-8:00 Wake up and get E, K, M off to school.(They eat breakfast at school. $.30 Reduced price lunch is awesome!)

8:00-8:30 Take girls to school, read scriptures in the car before I come back in for a few minutes if John is home to watch the other kids. It's nice and quiet out there.

8:30-8:55 Get R, L, and A changed, dressed, and ready for the day. Help them get breakfast.

8:55 Take Ruth to preschool on days she has it, or send her with John on his way to work.

9:00-10:45 The girls watch their morning shows. I feed A and eat my own breakfast. I also do odd cleaning things like empty the dishwasher or put in laundry. I also do indexing on the computer or read L books if she wants.

10:45-11:10 (or 11:00 if it is R's preschool day) I do my second round of changing and bottles and get everyone ready to go pick up E from kindergarten.

11:15 Pick up E(and R if applicable). I take a book or puzzle book so if I have to wait for her I don't get impatient. We also listen to the kids music on the ipod in the car and it's like taking a breath from the day. All the kids are buckled and quiet. It's nice.

11:30-1:00 We go back home and do various things. If A falls asleep in the car then he usually sleeps for awhile and I get a reprieve. Then sometimes the girls and I play DDR for a while. Then I fix lunch while E gets one show in. We eat lunch and then they go down for naps. If A is awake when we get home, then I feed him while E gets her show, then fix lunch.

1:00-3:00 This is naptime in our house. The girls all do something quietly (they don't have to sleep). I take a nap if I need to, or do cleaning chores like kitchen and laundry. I usually have to feed A for at least part of this time, so we cuddle and rest. If I'm really ambitious, I exercise or work on projects.

3:15 Pick up K and M from school. I always go a little late and take a book because they are slowpokes coming out of school. It's another breathing time for me.

3:30-6:00 The girls work on cleaning one room in our house. I take care of A or do other cleaning chores. If necessary, I think about dinner and start on it.(John usually takes care of dinner when he comes home if he's going to be home that night). Usually one day a week we go during this time up to my parents to visit. K also has Activity Days and choir during this time. If the girls get their chores done quickly, I let them play outside or do something fun. I also use this time to work on homework with individual girls if need be.

6:00-7:00 We eat dinner, read scriptures and do bedtime stuff.

7:00-10:00 The girls go to bed at 7. The older girls do their homework. The younger girls humor me by usually staying in their rooms and sometimes going to sleep. Usually by about 9:00 they are all asleep. I feed A and read or watch shows. A few nights a week I go to meetings, clubs, or out for some breathing time, like grocery shopping or to the library, just out of the house.

9:00-12:00 John and I watch TV together or play games or eat a late night snack. A goes to bed about 10:00, and I usually relax or work on projects until 12:00.

12:00 John and I go to bed and read scriptures. We are night owls. We joke that we need a day in between when the kids go to bed and when we have to go to sleep. We need more sleep but it is hard to give up that alone time at night. Saturdays we sleep in.

Goal Update 4

Read 100 books this year --I'm up to 24 so I'm doing well on this one. I have even read the books for my book club like 3 months in a row which is a miracle, because I usually go without finishing the book.
Index 10,000 names--I've done 865 so I'm plugging along.
Finish my 200 projects by August 15--I'm still working on my big one. I've been saying this for a while but this week I actually did some significant work on it and got one of the embroideries done for it (there are 10 small ones on the quilt).
Complete the $200 DMBA health challenge--I finished the first portion of the challenge which was doing 12 strength training sessions in Jan/Feb (about 2/week). Mine were only 10 min long usually but I really liked doing something to tone my muscles. And finishing is worth $25 so that's good. The next challenge is about eating fruits and vegetable every day. That will be fun. I could really work on my diet. It doesn't start until March though so I have a little break.
Post on my blog once a week--Here it is.
Write in my journal at least 5 days a week--I need to get going on that a little. I just need to find a time when I can that's the same time every day. Most of the things I get done in my life are like that. I'll have to think about it.
Finish reading the Book of Mormon by February--I am almost to the end of 3 Nephi so it is feasible that I could finish it this week. I've really enjoyed reading it quickly this time (more like a novel). I get a feel for the people a little better I think.
Get A's on all the beginning level songs on DDR--I've really slacked off on this. My girls miss it though. I've caught both Emma and Ruth practicing their DDR moves. And a couple of times they've asked me to play. I'll have to get back to it.
Make bags and organize toys--I'm postponing this indefinitely. I'll come back to it when I have more time and think it's important again. (Somehow, I've lost the vision.)
Try to be nice to my kids and have fun with them--This week it was Emma's turn to go to the library with me. She was super excited and made sure that all her jobs were done so that we could go. We had a good time. Emma's very meticulous about some things. She picks out some pretty different books at the library and it takes her a long time to choose. She wants just the right book and she can't be talked into anything. And she also always has to have at least one nonfiction book. She wants to know about real things. This week she decided on penguins. I think that's great. We went and got ice cream at Maceys and I got it in a cup so she could actually eat it before it melted. Macey's ice creams are HUGE (even the smalls)!! I also took a deep breath and let the girls have some of their friends over one afternoon. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but I have a hard time even thinking about more kids at my house. It went well. They played outside for awhile and had lots of fun. It's all good.

Valentine's Day

I had a pretty good Valentine's Day weekend. I talked my mom and sister into watching our kids on Friday night and John and I were able to go out to dinner and shopping. My mom watched all the kids except Adam overnight and my sister Michelle watched Adam just for a few hours (we weren't sure how he'd do overnight somewhere else). It was fun. Our dinner was Ok and we couldn't find what we were looking for shopping, but we got to talk and listen to music so it was good. The only thing I would change is that next time we go out to eat, I'm going to bring a card game so we can play while we're waiting. I think that would be fun.

I got John a nice letter (L for love, J/K, I watch too much Sesame Street), a superhero t-shirt, and Super Mario Galaxy. John made me a super cool quilt rack. I was very surprised and excited. It will fit a lot quilts and I can't wait to start filling it. After I saw how nice it was, I put in a future order for a quilt frame. He put it up on the wall right behind where I do all my sewing. That wall has always been pretty empty, so now I'll be able to display some nice quilts there. It looks so classy and John made it in just one night while I was out shopping and in taking care of Adam. He is an awesome, talented boy and I love him.

Mellow Yellow

The decision has been made. I'm staying with yellow because John asked me too. He counts more than everyone else. He feeds me and keeps me warm, etc. etc. But to appease those who miss the black, I'm keeping my book list blog in black. Thanks for the input. I like black sometimes too.

Reading

I've had several people ask me lately how I can read so many books? So here's my answer. First, I spend a good part of my day, sitting in a chair feeding my baby Adam. I'm not even nursing, just bottle-feeding, but you still have to sit there, and watching my girls' kids' shows was threatening to turn my brain to mush, so I started reading.

Second, I also listen to a lot of books when I'm working around the house, driving around town, even doing indexing at the computer. I love to listen to books and John bought me an MP3 player that is awesome. It is tiny and has a belt clip and I can easily take it anywhere.

Third, I love reading and do it probably more than I should. It's kind of an obsession and I've always been that way. So that's how I get in so much reading. Now don't ask me how I get in so much housecleaning, because my answer would be a lot different, more like, "Housecleaning, what's that?"

"Sweater!"

Some people have blankies, some people have teddys, Lily has a sweater (or 8 of them depending on how you look at it.)

(The sweaters and vests in their original contexts)

Twice in the last few years John's mom has knitted the older 4 girls matching outfits, once sweaters and once vests. Both sets are made out of the same colors of yarn. They're super cute as you can see above. For a long time I kept them all in the top drawer of Ruth and Emma's dresser. This dresser is right next to Lily's crib and every morning when I would be picking out clothes, she would see these sweater and vests. Apparently she latched on.

Now if she sees one, she must wear it. "Sweater, sweater, sweater" she'll repeat until I pick it up for her to wear. Fortunately we have 4 sweaters and 4 vests because she'd wear them everyday if she could. I think it's like a comfort thing. One day when she was sick a few weeks ago, she could barely talk and she was crying but she saw one of the sweaters and cried until she got it. She wore it all that day and made us put it on top of her jammies that night.

Fortunately they wash really well, because Lily's really not at a "delicate wash only" age. And one day all 4 sweaters were dirty and she saw one of the vests. She thought it was a sweater until I put it on her (at her insistence) and she saw that it didn't have any arms. "Not sweater!" She said accusingly. "I know," I replied, "but all your sweaters are dirty. It's the same." She looked at me for a long time, then pointed at her chest and said, "Sweater." She smiled and went on her way. Anyway, thanks Pam, you've made Lily's year.

Goals Update 3

Read 100 books this year --I've read 20 so far!
Index 10,000 names--I've done 531
Finish my 200 projects by August 15--I'm still working on my big one. I figure it will count as 13 projects by the time I get it done and I may get close this week. It is a big quilt with a bunch of embroideries. I really need to step it up because time is passing.
Complete the $200 DMBA health challenge--So far I've done 8/12 of the current challenge which is strength training. I got a new pilate workout video that does little mini 10 minute focused workouts. The girls love doing them with me and they're short and don't require any weights or props. That's always good. I like them.
Post on my blog once a week--Missed a few weeks but I'm doing 3 today so I think that counts.
Write in my journal at least 5 days a week--I'm still averaging about twice a week. I'll have to work on that.
Finish reading the Book of Mormon by February--Finally finished Alma and am most of the way through Helaman. I think I'll make it by the end of February.
Get A's on all the beginning level songs on DDR--I haven't done this for about 2 weeks because we were all sick for about a week and now I'm just out of energy. I'll have to try back up this week because the girls really miss it.
Make bags and organize our toys--Still nothing.
Try to be nice to my kids and have fun with them--Like I said we have been doing workout videos together. That's some power girl bonding if I ever saw it. I also have decided to try to get in a little more one-on-one time with the girls. I hired a regular Tuesday night babysitter and am going to take a different girl to the library by themselves each week. Kate already goes with me the first Tuesday of the month for a mother-daughter book club so I thought maybe the other girls might enjoy it as well. This week I'm taking Mary. Hopefully we'll have fun. It was pretty hard to be nice when people were throwing up everywhere and making messes. I just hate cleaning up yucky stuff but we made it through and we're all still alive so that's something.