This, That, & Miscellaneous Merriment

Seriously. What is going on with me and blogging? Every day I think "I should blog this." But then life gets in the way and all of a sudden it's 10pm and I'm exhausted and the last thing I want to do is blog. Blergh. It's not that things aren't as important to me anymore; I just honestly have been so busy lately! I feel like I'm running from one thing to the next, chores, projects, kid stuff... phew.

It's just been a lot. And it's so much easier to put a quick post on Instagram and Facebook.

Each of the following could probably make their own post. In my head I wax poetic while thinking about what I should blog while cleaning bathrooms/running errands/driving children hither & thither/wait in line to vote. Oh well. This'll just have to do.

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I think I mentioned this in my last post, but for preschool Tess had to make a paper doll that showed what she wanted to be when she grew up. (They sent home the cut out doll, we just had to decorate it.) Tess declared she wanted to be "A mommy with long hair and a baby." So that's what we made.

Does that not just make your heart melt?

I needed this. I've been feeling quite inadequate in the mother department lately. Very inadequate. But I must be doing something right if Tess wants to be like me when she grows up. Right? *sigh* I love that girl.

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Indiana is going crazy over their role in the presidential circus primary. In the nearly 13 years we have lived here I have NEVER received political phone calls or canvassers. Especially not for the primaries - ours are always so late in the process. But this year has been just nuts.

A Ted Cruz guy came to my door the other day. We chatted for a few minutes because he seemed like a nice guy and I had a few questions. You should've seen the look of relief on his face when I explained that he didn't have to turn me off of that misogynistic narcissist psychopath other candidate, Trump - he just had to sell me on Cruz. He found my political history surprising (registered Republican, voted for Obama in the last 2 elections, feeling quite disenfranchised with the part), but happily spent a good 5 minutes singing Cruz's praises. I don't know that I'm sold, but he is the lesser of two evils...

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I got to go to the temple on Friday afternoon, and it was exactly what I needed. I was able to really think about life, the universe, and everything, and even learned a few new things. This was on the 12th anniversary of my mom's death, and I thought it very fitting to be in the temple. I'm so grateful for the blessings we receive when we keep our temple covenants. I know that families can be together forever.

On a much more secular note, I also honored my mother's memory by going to Costco and coming out with a loaded cart. Actually, this cart is nothing compared to some of the carts I helped my mom load in and out of the car. The woman was a master shopper. I still have much to learn.

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We are in the thick of baseball season. I am still not sold, but Josh sure is. The boy LOVES it. Saturday morning was spent getting his pictures taken. I told myself up and down that I was not gonna spend any money on the overpriced crap picture stuff that was being sold. I spent $20. I also ran all the way back to the van (quite a hike - it was busy and the parking lot was full) in pouring rain to get the bat that Josh so adamantly refused earlier. Motherhood is glamorous.

Josh likes the old-timey looking socks. I'm not sure why, I think he looks kinda funny. But I also think he looks kinda cute!

He is SO EXCITED to be #1 on his team!

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The rest of Saturday was spent doing chores around the house, the worst of which was cleaning out the grill. Oh my gosh, I hate that chore. That's why I usually have Lance do it. But for some reason I tackled it this year and it took FOREVER. And it was so messy, it took almost as long cleaning up from it as cleaning the actual grill.

And Lance and I ran kids all over town to and from Scout activities, to and from birthday parties, etc. It was a long day.

So we went out to eat for dinner. But Tess was a PILL. So I took this picture so she could color on it and hopefully not melt down (again). Lovely.

I don't know who took this picture of Cole, but it pretty much summarizes how we all felt. And then my food was cold! Growl. But it was so busy I just let it go, because some things just aren't worth it, right? We should've just ordered pizza at home.

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So last night Spencer got into this box. Which was pretty funny.

And then he started dancing, which was HILARIOUS TO ME.

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The other day Cole and I had this little conversation:

Me: You have to be 18 to vote.
Cole: What?! 18 years old? But you're LONG AWAY FROM THAT.
Me: No, not exactly 18, older than... oh never mind... *sigh*
Cole: You are NOT 18.

Thank you, child, for reminding me that you are closer to 18 than I am.

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We had our first tornado warning of the season on Sunday night. Since it was bedtime we decided to just do family prayer and scripture study in the storage room. It was quite the storm.

The kids were pretty nervous at first. But we eventually moved the party out to the basement TV to watch the news. Then it was all fun and games, because hey, how often do we let them stay up an extra hour? (Answer: Only when our lives are in danger.)