Not happy with the US postal service

The post office is on my list of top three places I hate to take my kids. I probably go twice a year. But Sunday was my sisters birthday and although I had had her present for a few weeks, I had to stay with my time-honored tradition of sending it late. So yesterday I was feeling ambitious and decided to make a trip to the post office. Malia had the day off of school, so I had all four kids with me. I was so excited to get there and find no line. It was my lucky day. So I handed the man my package. Keep in mind this is just a small gift...probably 5 inches long and weighs a couple ounces. He asks how I would like to have it sent, of course I say the cheapest way possible. (sorry Deyce) He then proceeds to tell me that if I want to have it sent I can't have it taped together with scotch tape. Obviously this man does not have four children. If he had four children he would know that tape is a very rare commodity and that having found ANY tape at all was a miracle. I usually find a whole roll of tape covering a beautiful piece of children's artwork. So I used scotch tape, the only thing I could find. But I taped it GOOOOOD! That thing was not coming apart.
So he tells me he can't send it....does not even offer to put a little packaging tape on it for me (which I KNOW they keep behind that little counter!) I don't even see any signs that say "No scotch tape allowed." I mean, is this really a rule? I'm not very happy at this point and i've never been one to be nice and patient when I feel i've been wronged. (I'm working on this) So I tell him "It was hard enough to drag four kids in here, let alone find the right kind of tape!" I took my package, smiled and left. So Deyce...I tried. And this year your package will be even later than usual. But know that I REALLY love you since I will be braving the post office once again, as soon as I find my packaging tape.

Funny story

I thought of the perfect story that goes along with my previous post. We have white stair bannisters. About once a week I have to wipe down the round part that sits on top of the railings (I have no idea what they are called) They collect dust and this little ring of dirt forms around the knob. So before Christmas my parents were visiting. My Mom walked by the staircase and exclaimed, "oh you distressed your bannisters." "No" I replied, "that's dirt". I should have just told her that yes we were testing out the "distressed look". :)

What's normal

I remember watching an Oprah, long ago before I boycotted Oprah. They had some "scientests" on the show, running tests on people's sheets, kitchen sinks, toilets, etc, to see how many cooties they had running around. First of all, sometimes the old saying "ignorance is bliss" is true. I would rather not know how many cooties are running around in my house. Oprah then confessed that she had her sheets changed every other day. (of course SHE didn't have to change them) It just made me think...what is the normal length of time to go before changing your sheets.? Are you brave enough to admit it? I would love to say that I change mine every week...but that would be lying and I don't lie anymore. I can honestly say it's probably once a month. Is that disgusting? Seriously I'm not sure what's "normal" when it comes to sheet changing. I do change the cribs sheets often but, I'm curious to hear what other people have to say?
My other question for all of you busy moms is how do you keep up with the house and kids and still have time to "play" with them? I feel like I spend my whole day cleaning, doing laundry and making meals...and then realized that I haven't really spent any time with the kids? If I put off doing all of the housework, then it just piles up and I have double the amount to do the next day. Do any of you have any strategies, schedules, etc that work for you? Or do I need to hire a cleaning lady? :)

Christmas pictures

Here's a few pictures from our Christmas vacation in Spokane. I'm horrible about remembering to take pictures, but here's a few that I have.

Cole was so happy to get a "big Lightning McQueen." He had been asking for it for a few months and loves it!

Jacob was excited to find a spiderman web blaster in his stocking.



Malia celebrating her birthday at the bounce-n-play place. I can't believe she's already 7!

We took the kids sledding and as you can see we didn't last long. THe kids didn't have any snow clothes, so they were in jeans and tennis shoes. Not the best way to go sledding. But it was fun to actually have a WHITE Christmas. Something we don't see here in Oregon.

Malia and her cousin Tyler. The kids have so much fun playing with their cousins. We had a fabulous time!

I took this picture yesterday. Claire only seems to be happy if she's standing up on something. It's strange to see my little baby pulling herself up on things and moving around so much. She is finally getting some teeth, now that she's almost 10months old. I can see four top teeth coming in...so we've been dealing with that. A lot of restless nights. But she's a cutie, she always has a smile for everyone around her.

Lovin the cookies!

So I finally broke down and joined weight watchers online. I've always felt like I shouldn't have to pay someone to lose weight, when I know what to do already. But it seems to be working so far. So while i'm on weight watchers, Brent and the kids decide to make peanut butter cookies. I'm pretty good, I have one and send the rest to work with Brent. When he gets home from work that day, he sheepishly admits that he didn't set out the cookies for his co-workers, but ate the rest himself. His words "they were just so good!" The kids were disappointed that they only got one...so they decided to make ANOTHER batch. (it's like some sort of test to see exactly how dedicated I am to this thing) So two nights in a row they make these yummy, perfect looking, delicious, aromatic cookies. Again, I limit myself to one and tell him to hide the rest. He does and I don't think about them again, until a few days later. I tell the boys that they can have one cookie if they eat their lunch. So after lunch Jacob shows me where the cookies are hidden (honestly I was not going to eat one!) There are no cookies there. Jacob's face drops and he says something that has never been said in our house before......"Maybe YOU should start hiding the cookies from DADDY!" One of the happiest days of my life.

Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy

Unfortunately I learned this the hard way. Yesterday I received a call from a man asking "is this Ditto Designs?" (This is the name of our craft fair business) I was caught off guard a bit. "Yes" I reply. He continues "I would like to order one of your benches and your website says you have 10 in stock?" "Yes" I reply. Uh-oh. Is is too late to tell him that we actually have NONE in stock? The "yes" just sort of slipped out and i'm not sure how to correct it. So he continues to ask me if he can come pick up a bench TODAY. I tell him today is not a good day, but we could have one ready tommorrow. So after a few calls back and forth, he decides on a black bench ready for pick-up the following day. This means that I have just volunteered Brent to build a bench in 12 hours, and for me to paint it. Seriously, could I add any more stress to my life?? I also had a sign order to complete today. As I spent my afternoon painting, I had a lot of time to reflect on my "mistake." Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy. The good news is that we sold another bench!
On another note: Our Christmas was Fabulous. We went to Spokane for the holidays. I'll post some pics in a few days. After I've had some time to recover from my self-inflicted stressful day. Some of the highlights were: Christmas eve gathering, Christmas morning of course, Chuck-e-cheese, Brent's birthday, bounce-n-play place, Malia's birthday, My birthday, facials and Olive garden with the girls, some service opportunities, and New Year's eve. I'll elaborate more later. Hope you all had a great Holiday.