Cleaning and Playing and Cleaning and ...........

With a small house and two little ones, I feel like I am constantly trying to clean up, pick up, wash up - and still I get behind on the housework. Plus the girls always want me to play with them. I often feel torn between having a clean house and giving the kids the attention they need.
I set a goal for 2012 to get more organized and find ways to spend more quality time with my family. I found a great idea online at http://fun4mommies.blogspot.com/. One mommy sets a timer for 12 minutes and sits down to play with her kiddos, then she resets the timer for 12 minutes and gets some housework done, and repeats the cycle throughout the day - taking breaks for lunch and other big activities.
Maybe my mommy friends already do something like this and I am late to figure it out, but this is an answer to my prayers! I tried it yesterday with great results. I am excited to try this new cycle schedule and hopefully it will help me stay on top of things while still allowing lots of play time with the girls.
Anyone else have good ideas for taking care of little ones while still trying to keep house?

Sunday Shenanigans 12/18/11

We had a lesson on Christmas for Family Home Evening this week. Lily really liked reading the book about the birth of Jesus.

And Mommy found a fun idea online to make snowflakes out of flour tortillas. Lily and Mommy cut the tortillas - just like you would make a snowflake with paper. Then we brushed the tortillas with melted butter and sprinkled them with sugar. Bake in a hot oven for about 5 minutes and you have a sparkly snowflake good enough to eat!

Daddy REALLY liked them!

We got a little bit of snow this week, but not much. We are thankful for the dry roads since we'll be driving a lot next week.

Lily snapped this shot of Mommy and Annie making cards for Grammy and Grampy.

On Saturday Mommy won a free bag of groceries from a new local store. Inside the bag was a box of fudge covered graham crackers. Annie was happy to discover those.

The girls wanted to eat the candy off their gingerbread house. We decided to let them try. They managed to break off a few things, but quickly lost interest.

It was a pretty busy week getting ready for the holidays. Mommy was in charge of a hot chocolate bar at our ward Christmas party. Mommy and the girls went to a fun cookie exchange. Mommy has been baking bread for Christmas gifts to our local friends. Daddy got a cold and shared it with the family. We have done a lot of shopping and playing. We are so excited to see our family next week. Happy Holidays!

The Ultimate Shenanigan

This is Jeremy's version of what happened Tuesday night while I was at a church youth activity:

My Wife Owes Me One

Christine and I made a deal when we first got married. I would do the dishes and she would take care of the poopy diapers. Now, sometimes I get home from work and the dishes from breakfast and lunch have been taken care of, so I’m off the hook until after dinner. But other times there are stacks of dishes. And even though it took us 8 ½ years of dishes before the first poopy diaper came around, I don’t complain.

So the other night my wife is out with the young women at church. That’s my wife’s calling in the church. She gets to go do fun things with the girls while I stay home with our little girls.

Well, before she left I put on a good movie. It was Nacho Libre. You know, the movie where Jack Black is the Friar in a Mexican Orphanage and dreams of becoming a Luchador, or famous wrestler. I had just watched the part where the old priest is giving a sermon…..El hombre, nacido de mujer, tiene una corta vida, llena de problemas.

My girls and I were comfortable and I had the one year old on my lap. I could tell she was tired. In fact, the thought crossed my mind that I should just put her to bed instead of the nightly routine of a bath, warm milk, scriptures and prayer. But being the dutiful Father I am, I left and began to fill the tub.

Once the three-year old and one-year old were in the tub I thought it might be a good time to step into the kitchen and practice my latest speech for Toastmasters. I had just gotten to the part of the story I told the other day where Santa shows up at Hans’ doorstep. When all of a sudden I hear … “Dadddddyyyyyy!”

So I go running into the bathroom and I see my three-year old holding herself out of the water of the tub with her feet on one side and her hands on the other and making an arch with her body. I look down in the water and see a trail of Whoppers leading to the one-year old. The one year old has a smile on her face and is playing with play-dough. Only I’ve never seen play-dough in such a dark color. And how did it get in the tub?

“Daddy, Annie pooped in the tub!”

Then I realize what I’m really seeing. The one-year old, nice and relaxed in the water, has finally done her business for the day.

So I have to act quickly. I know I need to separate the kids from the offending material. So my first step is to reach into the water and pull the plug on the drain. As I do so I realize I’ll need to burn my hand after this.

Then I grab the tainted three-year old and rush her through our bedroom to our shower. After the shower is somewhat warm and the three-year old has a squeegee to play with I leave her there.

Back in the tub the fun factory has a grin on her face that only a mother could love. Yes, only a mother, not a father. Especially not at this time.

Since the water is almost done leaving the tub the Cadbury eggs have rolled a little bit closer to the drain. And I know I don’t want to pick the things up so I look around to see what my options might be. I notice there’s a showerhead with a hose and decide I can address the issue that way. So I turn on the shower and grab the showerhead.

Normally, those laser thin beams of water will go through anything, even your skin. But tonight all they’re doing is rolling the turds towards the drain. I had hoped they would cut through the crap….literally… and wash it all down. Well, after what must have been five minutes and my trying to remember when was the last time we ate corn, the crud was finally gone. Now I just had to wash off the baby and get her dry.

I think I used half of the soap bottle on her. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was still some soap residue on her from that night. I had to lather up her hands about ten times before I felt confident that all the shtuff was gone.

First Gingerbread House

Grammy Hall gave Lily a book called The Gingerbread Baby. Lily loves to read about how the gingerbread baby escapes from the oven and runs away only to be caught inside a gingerbread house at the end of the story. She has been wanting to make a gingerbread house for a long time. I found a kit at the grocery store and decided we should build the houses for Family Home Evening.

Annie was more interested in playing on the floor and eating the candies Lily dropped. You can see her below waiting for more candy to fall.

This is Daddy and Mommy's house. Do you like the rock work Daddy did on the front?

This is Lily's house. We thought she would cover the house in candy, but she liked the simple look.

What she really wanted to do was eat the gingerbread.

Annie was more interested in the chocolate.



It was a fun night. Lily is so proud of her house. We are going to make this a tradition. Next year I think I will try and bake the houses myself.

Sunday Shenanigans 12/11/11

Little Cutie in her striped hat and leggings. She was really digging the hat and wore it all afternoon on Friday.

Lily helped make pizza for dinner on Saturday night. She wanted to add all the toppings herself. She did a really good job.

Annie has been putting her food in her hair a lot lately. It is not fun to clean up, but makes for funny pictures.

Lily warming up for gymnastics. She loves this class and asks me every morning if it is gymnastics day. I am so glad I finally got her enrolled this fall.

My project of the week was putting together these candlesticks for our Young Womens' Christmas party. I did 20 and my 1st counselor did 20. It was a headache, but the girls were so appreciative and the activity was a total success!

Even though it is cold outside we try to get some sunshine every day. Annie likes to "talk" to our nativity set. I think she likes that the figures are the same size as she is.

Lily and Daddy singing "I am a Child of God" before bed last Sunday night.

Daddy teaching Lily how to write Jesus Loves Lily on the ornament she made in Sunday School.

More fun on a winter day.

Sisters in their matching dresses. I wish I had the striped leggings pictured. They make the whole outfit.

Annie being her silly self. Always wants to be dressed up and accessorized - even first thing in the morning.

Sunday Shenanigans 12/04/11

Aren't these cupcakes pretty? I made them for teaching my first Young Women's lesson. The topic was "Adapting to Change" and featured an object lesson about butterflies, so I decided to make cupcakes with a rosette and chocolate butterfly on top. They were a hit. It was fun to try a new technique with chocolate.

We decorate the tree this week. And the girls redecorate it every day. They love to rearrange the ornaments and play under the tree.

We are attempting potty training again. Lily has no interest and no desire so I am bribing her like crazy. I don't even know if she is able to do it because she hasn't had a successful "try" in the two weeks we've been making timed potty stops. Someone please tell me she will get this before she turns 18.

Annie had some blueberries and peanut butter for a snack and decided to smear the peanut butter in her hair. When I tried to wash it out, her hair took on a life of its own. It stayed up like this most of the day.


Lily and Daddy love to play the flying game. Daddy swings her by her feet and throws her up in the air. Then she lands with a thump on the couch. Bad for the furniture....good for their relationship. I just try to enjoy that they are having fun together and forget what it is doing to our couch.

The girls were wrestling with Daddy on our bed last night. They looked so cute with their messy hair that Daddy wanted to snap a picture. We could never get both of them looking at the camera.

Here is Mommy with some of the Priests and Laurels from our ward at our ice skating activity. Mommy is just thankful she didn't fall down and humiliate herself at her first combined activity. Young Women's is going to be a lot of work but the girls have already claimed a piece of my heart.

Haul Out the Holly!

I am starting to get really annoyed with Blogger! All of my post pictures are getting rearranged every time I do a post. Is anyone else having this problem?

Anyway, on Monday night for Family Home Evening we decorated our tree and watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". We let the girls do everything on the tree. I pulled out all the shatterproof ornaments and soft ornaments I could find. This is the first year Lily could actually do the decorating all by herself. She liked hanging her ornaments in pairs. Annie was more interested in decorating her outfit.

All week long the girls have been rearranging the ornaments and playing with the lights. There are even some non-ornament items hanging on the tree. I find shoes, socks, dress up jewelry, and toys stuck in there every night. I am glad the girls love the tree. We didn't do a tree last year since I had just had Annie and we knew we'd be moving the day after Christmas. It feels good to have one in our home again - and it is so fun to watch the girls get creative with it.

Happy decorating to all of you!

Our Thanksgiving

Jeremy's brother Jake and his three kids drove up to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with us. Lily loved having Jasmine here to play. The boys enjoyed all the snacks and food. Before we started dinner, Drake read us a book about Thanksgiving he made at school.

Lily and Annie loved all the attention from Puna, Papa, and Brady. I just love Lily's hair bows. They make her look like a present.

Annie's favorite thing at dinner was the stuffing. She ate all of it. Her second favorite was the rainbow Jell-o.


After dinner, Lily drew pictures with Puna. Here is the one they did of Papa. Lily was excited about the mustache. Looking back I realized I didn't get a family picture of everyone who was here with us - or even one of me and Jeremy with the kids. Oh well, I will try to remember next year.