Running a household takes a lot of patience, love, devotion, determination...





and as it turns out...





a WHOLE lotta toilet paper.



It's hard to get mad when she did actually go potty. If I can just get Ireland to use a little less toilet paper, maybe the rain forests will be safe.

Reading/Narnia

I have to share this video from a couple weeks ago. Just in the past month or two, McKinley has really just "gotten it." She can sound out words. She can read!! I have to say that as a parent, there is not much that equals this kind of pride & joy. Watching her "get it" - watching her read is so fun. This book she is reading is a level 2 BOB book - love them. She still is working on some of her sounds, but for the most part, she is doing really great. Keep in mind, she's never read this before, she is only 4 and a half & still has another year of preschool. We love & are so proud of our McKinley.

Something that I think has helped her get into reading more is that we've been reading the Chronicles of Narnia together for Mommy & McKinley time. I was given this beautiful book 5 years ago & it's sat on the shelf. I decided it was time to share my most favorite-ist books in the entire world (besides the scriptures) with my cute girl. We read it most every day & have gotten through the Magician's Nephew & well into The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. She likes to play with my hair while I read & knows the longer she plays with/fixes/brushes my hair, the more I'll read. I love this particular book because it has a few small illustrations that are well-done and still gives the reader plenty of room to use their own imaginations. I am enjoying reading them once again, noticing & loving all the symbolism again, and sharing with my daughter the beauty of Narnia & the majesty & love of Aslan.

My husband, the chipmunk whisperer

So - yesterday we got a rare treat - a taste of the country right here in suburbia.
We had just gotten done with a showing of our home & were walking back to the house. Jason noticed something on the side of our house. If the people who just walked through our home saw it from across the street, they probably think we have a giant rat problem. Anywho... this is where my mature, adult, MBA-graduate-of-a-husband turned into a 12-year-old boy just wanting to catch this thing.

Oh, what a laugh I got watching Jason trying to catch this chipmunk. I have to admit I had visions of Christmas Vacation, where the squirrel jumps out of the tree and causes mass chaos & he opens the door & it attacks Julia Louis-Dreyfus. (I'm chuckling to myself just thinking about it - makes me want to watch that movie in the middle of April)

Alas, this chipmunk was more lizard than rodent. It was scurrying all around our house (I made sure all the windows were closed) & by now we had a little audience - some of the neighbors were over watching the fiasco. Honestly, I think country folk would have laughed themselves silly watching us making such a big deal over a little chipmunk. The kids sure had fun, though. McKinley was even doing her best Giselle impression, calling the chipmunk - "ahhh, ahhh, ahhh" - unfortunately to no avail.

In the end, they bopped the thing on the head (not too hard), but it got stunned enough to fall & Jason caught it in a bucket and let a kid take it home with him. Let's all hope he drives it up to the mountains & releases it into the wild, where it belongs. Ok. probably not, but I can't do anything but hope that he has a long & happy life somewhere.

The poor fella was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At any rate, cheap entertainment!! :)

God's Playlist

Today was... well, one of THOSE days.

Even my daily mantra was nothing for this Monday:

There will be messes.

Yes, but do they have to be grape juice messes? milk messes? And the sheer quantity! Seems like every time I turned around there was another mess to clean up.

There will be whining.

Yes, but what is the deal with miss Ireland? All of the sudden she doesn't want to be alone & won't take a nap. I tried to get her to take a nap from 12:30 to 3pm today. And then I had had enough. If this is really the end of her naps, there WILL be tears shed.

To top it off, I got a speeding ticket on the way to McKinley's preschool. Yessssssssss.

Ahhh - with Ireland & Kezi both screaming from their bedrooms while they were supposed to be taking a nap, the only thing I thought to do was plug my earphones in & turn on my MP3 player. I don't have a "Mondays" playlist (hmmm - something to consider), so I just put it on all-play. I started cleaning. As I was cleaning, I said a prayer. I kept trying to keep a positive outlook & pretend like it was all OK, but inside I felt ready to explode. I asked Heavenly Father for His help & his peace.

And do you know what happened?

Out of over 3,000 songs on my MP3 player, He created a playlist. Just for me. It seemed that every song I heard was one I needed to hear. Something to give me perspective, to give me gratitude, to calm me, to help lighten my dark mood. A conference talk even popped up in there.

I don't know about you, but I certainly can't deny that this was an obvious answer to prayer.

Just had to share... love notes from heaven :)

Blogger/Survival

So glad that Blogger is now working.
Last night, for Relief Society, I was supposed to give a class on blogging. First, we couldn't get the projector to work with my computer. And next up? Of all things, Blogger was not working. I could show my blog, but when I tried to log in to blogger (I was going to walk through setting up a blog), it would just sit there & not connect. OF ALL TIMES! SERIOUSLY!
OK, enough ranting.

I just want to document that I survived this week without my sweetheart home all day.
Honestly, I was a bit nervous. I've had my husband home for a full year & I have to admit it's been nice. People ask me what I think about having 3 kids & I always say I'm not really sure because Jason's been home & I've been spoiled.
Well, this week I found out what it's really like to have 3 kids at home.
No more hour+ runs when the weather looks nice outside.
No more going to the store by myself.
No more weekday luncheons or shopping trips with my sisters.

It hasn't been as bad as I expected, though. I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be & so is Jason. Every morning before the girls get up, I say this to myself:
There will be messes.
Lord, help me to be calm when they happen & help me to teach them how to clean them up.

There will be contention.
Lord, help me to help them share and be kind and loving to each other.

There will be disobedience.
Lord, help me to teach them in a loving way to obey.

There will be whining.
Lord, help me to have patience with them, reach out to them, and listen.

I find that if I just expect these things to happen & ask for help with them throughout the day, I am not so frazzled when Jason gets home at night.

I do miss him, though. I miss being able to talk with him about anything that's bugging me at any time. I miss having him at all our mealtimes. I miss getting hugs & kisses from him throughout the day. The girls miss him, too. They keep asking where he is. It's going to take some getting used to.

I think he's missing sleeping in till 8am, now that he gets up at 6am.
BUT...we sure aren't missing the stress of not having a job. Even with the stress of selling the house, there is truly a calmer, more lighthearted feel in our home & we pray in gratitude for the blessing of having a job every day.

March Slideshow & kids stuff

Wow! March was sure a busy & change-ful (pretty sure that's not a word, but what the heck)month for the Hamilton family! See our slideshow below & our kids stuff below that.




McKINLEY:
-McKinley calls CDs “CVD’s”
-McKinley went potty one day and hopped off. Ireland was there & flushed the toilet. McKinley was furious & shouted “Ireland! We don’t flash other people’s poo!” (I guess flash is flush to her)
-We were talking one day about McKinley growing up. Mom asked McKinley if she was going to always come see her when she was grown up. McKinley said yes. Mom said what about if she lived far away. McKinley said she’d fly on an airplane. Mom asked what if she didn’t have enough money. McKinley said “Then I’ll BUY some money!”
-McKinley will often tell us something & then say “that’s the truth!!”
-McKinley was always talking about the tricky leprechaun and would even blame him for things that we could not find.
-We’ve been correcting McKinley a lot about when she says “f” at at the beginning of a word instead of “th” – like “I’m going to frow (instead of throw) it to you,” but then she starting getting confused & was saying “thloor” instead of “floor.”
-Mom was tired of the mud-messes when the girls would turn on the water outside, so mom said she was going to take the handle off. McKinley was distraught. She said “Mom, I’m disappointed in you if you take the handle off the water!”
-McKinley left the dog leash outside & the dogs chewed it up. Mom was upset. McKinley said “can’t we just put duct tape on it?” Hmmm – she learns quickly, that girl does.
-McKinley has been looking at the bottom of everything plastic & if she sees the arrows she says “look mom! This can be recycled!”
-McKinley was wanting to help get the house ready to take pictures so we could put it up for sale, so mom gave her a feather duster & asked her to dust. A while later mom came upstairs & McKinley came in from outside. Apparently, she thought maybe the outside needed dusting.
-One day McKinley said that she had children in heaven waiting for her. Mom asked why. She said so she could be their mommy. Mom asked what she would name them. McKinley said she would name her boy “State.”
-McKinley is big into doing mazes lately.
-McKinley can do buttons all by herself now!


IRELAND:
-Mom opened the door to the hall bathroom & immediately smelled hairspray. Ireland had been in the tub, fully clothed & wasted an entire bottle of hairspray. Mom was really frustrated. Ireland sensed this & said over & over “It’s OK, mom. I’m sorry, mom. I love ya!”
-Ireland has SUCH a hard time remembering to close the back door to the deck. Mom was about the get after her when she walked in the living room, but wanted to laugh instead when she saw Ireland in nothing but a diaper & boots, staring up at the night sky & singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
-Ireland’s new trick is snapping! One day she just did it by accident & now she is a snapping queen!
-Ireland kept getting into the sanitizer while mom was trying to get ready for the day. Mom kept saying no. Finally Ireland said “I say YES!”
-Lately when people are laughing, Ireland will get a grumpy face & say “It’s not funny!!”
-Ireland also has been saying “but honey…”
-When Ireland is being naughty (which has been a LOT lately), we will often say “Ireland Anita!” One day when Ireland was upset at mommy for taking something away, she said “Mommy ‘Nita!”
-Ireland is big into wearing “princesses” (skirts). She wants to wear them almost every day – even over her pants.
-Ireland got a pack of lip gloss for Christmas. We find them all over. One day mom walked into the girls’ bedroom to see Ireland with a fist full of lip gloss in her hand, trying to put them all on her lips at the same time.
-Ireland & McKinley were both “trying out” mom’s nursing pump. It was pretty funny.
-While mom was feeding Kezia & Jason was talking to the carpet guy, Ireland got a hold of the touch-up paint downstairs that dad was using & decided to paint the white bathroom door with it. Boy was she one IN-TROUBLE little girl when mom found her. We had to end up re-painting the whole door.
-Tiarra was over for the sleepover & mom let her hold Kezia. Ireland kept coming over to her & saying “Be careful with Kezia! Ok, Tiarra?”

KEZIA:
-What a beautiful, fun, adorable 5-month-old our Kezi-boo is! We love her SO much!
-Kezia is starting to get mobile. On her tummy, she can turn in a circle, work to grab toys, and rolls over with more control.
-On March 7th, we followed through with our decision to take the binki away. She was just over 4 months, so it was a hard decision, but she was abusing the binki – waking up at night to put it back in. After just a few rough days, she was sleeping better, and after a week, things were MUCH better. She now naps and sleeps better & we are ALL thankful!
-Kezi had rice cereal for the first time on the 10th. She took to it pretty well, but she doesn’t have it all the time.
-Kezia loves to reach up, grab her toes & put them in her mouth.
-She also is a grabber. We put her in the Bumbo while we eat & she has knocked over some cups of water and will basically grab anything that comes near her.
-Kezia is a super-slobber girl! We can feel that tooth wanting to come through, but it will probably still be a while. In the mean time, she wants to put anything & everything in her mouth.
-We LOVE Kezia’s smile & laugh. She is such a sweetheart.
-She’s “talking” more & likes to say “oooooh” a lot.