One of those days

Today is just one of those days, where no matter how hard I work, I am just tired, cranky, and sad. I hate blue days. On a better note, I picked up cans and lids from the cannery and on Thursday or Friday will put 50lbs. of wheat and 50lbs. of oats into #10 cans and can them for our food storage. I am at Grandma Thomason's and I am about to grind all that wheat into flour. Fun! I enjoy doing food storage. It makes me feel that I am doing my part to prepare for the future and take care of my family. I also am a master planner, so it is right up my alley. Not much for today...

My Basket is Bountiful

Today I had my bountiful baskets and I was so happy! I called my parents because I had to share that I received 11 carrots, 2 red bell peppers, 1 large head of romaine lettuce, 7 tomatoes, 1 head of broccoli, 7 bananas, 4 cucumbers, 4 zucchini, 4 onions, 3 avocados, 11 limes, 13 potatoes, 7 oranges, 9 apples, 3 grapefruit, and 2 bunches of cilantro. It is just amazing to me. I had to take a picture because it looked so beautiful to me. With the price of food right now, to pay $15 for all of it makes me happy too. I love bountiful baskets and it made me think about how bountiful my basket of life is. I have a good family, wonderful kids, a nice place to live, fun things to do, and good food to eat. I enjoy all of my many blessings and I am thankful for them!

A Whole lotta Whole Foods

Today I took my class at the gym and I got a little better at krumping. I finished the routine this time, but who knows what it looked like while I was doing it! I keep the mirror behind me. Then, we ran out to Whole Foods since we were half way there. You would think that bribing kids with a treat would have results, but not my kids. I promised them we would eat lunch there if they were really good...you see where this is going? While trying to shop I am simultaneously trying to keep Cat from touching everything and knocking it over, and Sarah from escaping the confines of the cart, read my list and navigate without taking anyone out. It is not as easy as it sounds. We were waiting for our case of cheese to be brought out to us, our cart is full, and Cat decides she needs to go potty. This is not easy! I cannot take the cart into the bathroom and I cannot leave Sarah in the cart to watch it, and the cheese guy is not back yet. I tell Cat to wait, but suddenly with the bathrooms in sight, she develops an over active bladder that needs to empty right then and there! Thankfully, the cheese man appears and I push my cart near the bathroom in the hope that people will leave it alone and I won't have to redo the shopping that already about killed me. Sarah, of course, decides she needs to go potty if Cat is and neither one is to be rushed. Washing our hands is a rule, but I find that in instances like this, I am really close to saying forget it, but my kids? Not so much...They wash and wash and wash and need more soap because they didn't get enough, then the water is too hot...too cold... a little bit...more... okay, right temperature, but not enough water coming out. You get the point. Finally, we can towel off, much to the delight of the lady waiting behind us, she finally gets her turn. She asks me how old they are and when I reply 4 and 2, she says," They act like twins"! Lady, they feel like quadruplets. We get back to our cart and nothing has been touched, whew. Then we are done and pick our lunch. Then the hard part, waiting for said lunch while we check out. It is torture to see the food sitting there waiting while a man from a foreign country slowly rings us up, asking me questions I can't understand anyway! Less talk, more action! Whole Foods people are killing me today. So, I take the kids and the food to the booth across from my line and get them eating. Water and forks are tricky business and inevitably someone spills their water and someone gets stabbed by the other's fork. Luckily for the little foreign cashier man, the bagger speaks English and knows how to ring up a case of cheese and a case of rice milk. Rocket Science! I dropped my weary bones into that booth to eat with my kids and then took on the task of keeping Sarah awake on the drive home. Now, Sarah is asleep and Cat is having rest time, and I am playing catch up. It's true that too much Whole Foods can kill a person!!!

Even I am Sick of Bathrooms!

For those of you who know me well, and even some of you that do not, you know that I love cleaning bathrooms! Not just bathrooms, but toilets specifically. This is not a joke...this is real! Don't ask me why, I don't know, there is just something really satisfying about seeing it rid of all it's nasty bacteria and filth, looking pristine, like the throne of the john it really is. It's sick, I know. Anyway, yesterday Tara and I went over and cleaned our friends bathrooms because she is having a rough time keeping her baby in and she has two more months. I was excited to do it. It was fun to have a friend to clean with and that way I didn't have to do the bathtubs, which are my least favorite part of bathrooms. We finished and were cleaning the kitchen, and I ended up taking Sarah home for naps. Then I look at my cleaning schedule and realize it's Tuesday and I need to clean my girl's bathroom and the powder room. More bathrooms. I finished and had cleaned 5 bathrooms that day. Not to mention that I cleaned Tara's powder room the day before and I get to clean our bathroom today. Friends, I, Berta Thomason, am totally and completely bathroomed OUT!!!!! No more, I beg of you! However, we went swimming yesterday for the second time and it was beautiful. Sarah took a header into the pool and managed to avoid breaking her neck on the steps, narrowly. Then she jumped in while I was holding Cat and I had to let her floaties bring her to the top before I could grab her. We set a strict rule about jumping thereafter and it seemed to work. Cat however is afraid to jump and I have to force her to do it once per swimming session. Children are so different. We start swimming lessons in two weeks and I think Sarah might be swimming before Cat. Sad...

DISNEYLAND OR BUST!

The Matterhorn

My friend Tigger

Princess Aurora

The Best Dog Ever, Pluto!

Princess Jasmine

We went to Ariel's Grotto and the girl's got to see all the princesses. The characters at Disneyland were definitely the favorite! They enjoyed the rides too, but really wanted to see all the people in their costumes. Sarah thinks they are real and Cat was a bit uncertain, we all know how much she loves people in costumes...not so much! Overall, we went, we conquered, and we are pooped! It was such a fun experience for our family. Brady and the girls had never been and I had gone once when I was a lot younger, so it was pretty exciting for all of us. The drive took forever for the kids, but once we got to our hotel and they could see Disneyland across the street they brightened up. We got up and were at the park when it opened and that saved us so much time. We managed to get on several rides right away, that later on had huge lines! I recommend being there early. We watched the Disneyland parade and the California Adventure Park Electrical Parade and then the fireworks. That kept us up until 10pm and our kids were so done. We didn't get up quite so early the next day. Saturday at Disneyland is a nightmare! Next time, we will go on a Monday or Tuesday. Catherine went on the Matterhorn roller coaster twice and wasn't quite big enough for the others yet, but we'll get them next time. Sarah loved Critter Country were Pooh and his friends were, she loved on all of them and didn't want to leave. Her favorites were definitely Tigger and Pluto. She is constantly looking at those two in her autograph book. Cat's favorite part she says, was the roller coaster, but I think that she really liked the Peter Pan ride, she kept asking to go on it. When it was time to leave that was the ride she chose to be her last ride. Sarah chose the Teacups, which made Brady sick every time we went on them. Poor Daddy! We had a great time and we are already looking forward to going again soon!

Hooray!

I am so excited! I have been cleaning all week getting ready to go to Disneyland! Hooray!!! I am packing today and getting everything ready to leave tonight when Brady gets home from work! Hopefully, we can get the girls into bed by midnight. We want to be up bright and early to hit the park! Tara gave us a bunch of places to go, so that we can do all of the fun stuff first! We have a reservation at Ariel's Grotto so the girl's can see all of the princesses and get pictures. I can hardly wait! More to come when we get back!

Day by Day

I don't know about any other Mom's out there, but I am so done with the whining! Everyday, sometimes all day, everything is spoken in whine! Is it really so hard to just speak or ask? Right now for example, I leave for one minute and I hear Sarah screaming, as best she can with no voice, and Cat whining. I tell Cat to bring me the toy they are fighting over, I don't even have to see them fighting anymore to know that is the issue, and she says okay. I still hear screaming and fighting, I say a little louder,"are you bringing it?", no answer. More fighting....no answer. I go down and they are fighting over the yo-yo one of the boy scouts left and it is a death match. I take it away and put them in time out and the crying starts. I let them out and return upstairs to hear the whining start again. What is the deal? I try to teach them coping skills to deal with eachother, I try to teach them right from wrong. I try to teach them to love eachother and be nice and what am I getting in return? That's right, the whine...hmmm! However, right now we are all living day by day in order to cope. Sarah just walked in and told me she was ready to be nice, how kind of her. I love my children so much, it really bothers me when they aren't nice to eachother and me. Welcome to being a parent, I hear some of you scoff. I have a reply which I will keep to myself. I am feeling feisty today.

Sunburned and other complaints

I know, I know! I haven't blogged for like 3-4 days...how could I do that to some of you! It was actually very easy! I have been engaged in activity after activity and to top it all off, I GOT SUNBURNED on Friday! I did the second installment of Pre-School Musical Theatre Friday morning and then packed up the girls and went to our first swimming pool birthday party of the year. In my head I thought, it is still pretty cold out, it shouldn't be a problem. After sitting in the pool for over an hour with my back to the sun and watching the girls, so they didn't become floating babies, I left and went home. I taught an acting lesson that day and then Brady and I ran some errands. That night when we were on our date, I reached back to scratch my back and about peed my pants. It stung so bad! My eyes welled up and my nose itched and I thought I would disgrace myself by saying some choice words, which I didn't by the way. Brady looked and sure enough I was lobster red. I then noticed the heat coming off of my skin, which you would think would have been a dead giveaway to me earlier...not so much. I fretted and moaned about it pretty much all through dinner and ever since. I even got the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric to carry my choir bags to the closet for me this morning. There are benefits. Saturday, Cat had dance like normal. After naps, we went and got the van's oil change and did the car wash in preparation for our big escapade this weekend coming up. We ate at the new Sweet Tomatoes that is 1/2 a mile from our house, which if I may say so, is way too convenient for words! I took on choir practice in the chapel for the first time this morning and it made me nervous. I had been having it at my house in the afternoon, but am trying mornings in the chapel, we'll see how that goes. We sing on May 22nd, so I am starting to sweat already! I cannot master, conducting, using my left hand too, and singing all at the same time. I look retarded! Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it for this week.

The Largest Muscle in My Body

OUCH! Brady always tells me that my bootie is the largest muscle in my body and I believe him! I have been so sore the past couple of days! I up-ed my weights in my class and then did a really active class on Wednesday and I am feeling it! I haven't blogged since Monday (gasp!), I have been a little busy. I have been making some freezer food for a friend of mine which I am hoping to take to her tomorrow. Also, tomorrow is this month's second installment of Pre-School Musical Theatre. I do the same song, so I really don't have that much to prepare, but I also have an acting lesson tomorrow and a birthday party for the girls to go to. I tried to go to a baby shower this evening and found out it is next week. Uggh! That pretty much sums up my week. My sister-in-law Anna had her birthday party tonight and I was excited that I ended up getting to go for a tiny bit! We are having a girl's night tomorrow, so I am also excited about that. Brady bought me the movie, "The Holiday" and I am really sad that I haven't had the chance to watch it yet. Maybe, this weekend! I am not going on the Ward Camp Out which is now a friends campout since they couldn't get the permit, so I will be sitting in my nice comfy, warm bed while all the rest of you saps are braving the desert elements and dirt. Good luck with that!

Monday, Monday...

I usually dread Mondays! I hate the feeling that I have a whole week to get through before I get to see my husband and spend time as a family. (Manda, I can see your face right now and I don't pity your plight, I wouldn't survive my husband being in the military! You are amazing!) However, this morning, I awoke to the most pleasant voice telling me that he was taking the day off to be with us. It was so nice to feel like the weekend was going to last one day longer. I feel so blessed to have a husband who works so hard, but it is hard work for the girls and I too and sometimes, I don't feel very grateful. I do enjoy the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us. All that we do truly can never be enough to repay him, but my favorite part is that we do all that we can and the Savior makes up the difference. I am really working on believing that I don't have to be perfect and do it all myself, it's not as easy as it sounds. I had an appointment today and it was nice that the girls got some "Daddy time". They usually don't get Brady one on one without me, so it was good for them. I got a call from them and then as I turned the corner to our house, I saw them all playing at the playground. It was like a view into the eternities, seeing my family waiting happily for me. Catherine is crying downstairs because she is starving, literally wasting away right now, she can't wait a half and hour for dinner, and her heart is breaking in two. Mommy to the rescue...