Lost Keys

Yesterday, when I went to check our mail, I realized that I had lost my mailbox and house keys. I was a little panicked because if I lost it at the mailbox then whoever found it would know what house the keys belonged to because our address is on our mailbox. Mario was coming home late that night but I knew that the last thing he would want to do is change out locks when he came home. So I went to Ace Hardware and bought a new deadbolt and installed it almost all by myself. I got stuck on how to put the back plate on so the neighbor helped me finish. I was pretty proud of myself. We had been wanting to change the locks on the house anyway so this gave us a big excuse to do it right away.

I think I watch too many Dateline murder mysteries because I was imagining someone coming in and killing me and the kids before Mario got home. Then he would come home and discover us but then be accused of the crime because there was no forced entry. No one knew I was missing my house keys. I thought about calling my mom and telling her but instead of freaking her out I decided to just change out the locks. Am I the most paranoid person on the earth?

Today Mario had to go to the post office and request them to change out our lock on the mailbox. Fortunately his key didn't work to open it and so they will replace the lock for free.

Spelling Bee

Today, Nathan went up against the other kindergarten spelling bee champs from the 5 other classrooms. I was really nervous for him but he didn't seem phased by the whole thing. I was trying to prep him for losing. I even had Erin talk to him about how she didn't win her school's spelling bee last year. Of course I was hoping for him to win, but I was afraid he would be crushed if he lost. Fortunately the words started pretty easy. His words were "no, go, and, see, today, like, blue, orange, and black." I may have forgotten a couple, but those are the ones I remember. I knew that he wouldn't get blue and orange but fortunately those words came up when he was just up against one other girl and she missed her words as well. So they kept going until one got their word right and the other missed. Nathan seemed very calm while I was completely nervous for him. I can't bite my nails anymore because of my braces, but if I could, I wouldn't have any left.

Nathan finally won with the word black. We will have to celebrate with chocolate cake (especially since Mario is coming home early.) We went to the store after the spelling bee and I told the boys they could get some candy to celebrate. Nathan finished off his candy and then traded his trophy to Zach for the rest of Zach's candy. I had to overrule that. But Nathan offered to share it with Zach.

It has been a good opportunity to have a little talk with Zach about how Heavenly Father has given us each different talents. I think he got the message when he started congratulating Nathan on his win. As a mom it was so nice to witness his kindness to his brother.

Nathan wants to wait until next week to surprise Mario with his trophy. Nathan will get his own surprise tomorrow morning when he wakes up and finds Mario home early. They get to surprise each other. I can't wait!

Finally some good news

Mario gets to fly home a week early from Norway. He told me he gets to fly home tomorrow night. He doesn't need the training that is offered next week.

Mario wanted to surprise me but decided not to because he was afraid I would get worried if I couldn't get a hold of him during all that flying time. He will get to surprise the kids at least.

Life is Good

So far we are having a good week. I made it through the twins birthday on Tuesday and Progressive Dinner last night. Tomorrow Nathan will compete in the school's spelling bee. I have been trying to prep him for that but he hasn't been too interested in practicing. I don't push him since he is only in kindergarten and he will have many opportunities to compete in the future.

We have implemented a few things to make time without dad a little easier on the family. We put karate on hold until at least next summer. That was the huge relief for me. I am a very scheduled person. I like to eat on time and go to bed on time. If I don't do those two things, I lose all patience. So eliminating karate is working out well. Since we gave up karate, the big kids now have time to take up guitar lessons (they are continuing with piano too). The teacher is very reasonable, only $15 an hour and she comes to my house so I just have to be home on Wednesdays between 4 and 5 pm.

The next thing I decided was to give the big kids opportunities to share in the cooking. Erin loves to cook so she would cook almost everyday if she could. My only issue with her cooking is that she likes to make things more tasty than healthy. She recently asked me if I like to modify recipes to make them taste better. I said no, I like to modify recipes to make them healthier. She likes to use spices that I never would think to use. Plus I have been buying a lot more butter since she started cooking. So with Mario being gone, I figured Eric, Erin, and I could each take 2 days a week to cook. Then we would order out or go out for the other dinner. I thought the kids would make simple meals, but Erin has already made turkey pot pie twice and tacos. Eric has plans to make lasagna tonight. I don't think I have even cooked once since Mario's been gone. So I may not even get my two turns this week. I was thinking we would have meals like grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade mac and cheese while Mario was gone, but apparently we will be eating better than ever with the kids cooking. I figure Eric's wife is going to thank me one day for all this cooking experience plus it will help him not starve on his mission.

The other thing I started was doing a 10 minute cleanup after dinner. It is amazing how quickly we can get the house cleaned up with 5 people helping. When the house is clean, pjs on, and teeth brushed, we sit down to read scriptures and watch one episode of a classic tv show. This treat at the end of the night helps the kids calm down and also helps me motivate them to do the 10 minute cleanup and get ready for bed.

Mario and I have been so blessed with such a wonderful marriage and family. Life is good.

Boring Blog

You know your blog is really boring when even your husband only skims them. Mario bought a mini computer with a camera before his trip so that we could Skype everyday. I feel bad for the kids, but with the 8 hour time difference, only I am home when Mario gets back to the hotel. So he and I get to chat for an hour or two in uninterrupted quietness before he goes to bed.

So today I asked Mario if he had read my blog about the boys' birthday yesterday. He hadn't and so he looked it up. He complained that it was too long. So then I started quizzing him on what I wrote. It was obvious he didn't read the whole thing.

So I apologize for writing a long, boring blog. But maybe 40+ years from now when I turn my blog into a book (since it is my journal) maybe he will appreciate my long entries. He complained when Eric and Erin were little that I took too many home videos. Now when he watches them he wishes we had more. So I know he will be thankful in the future.

BTW, I love Skype. It makes being apart so much easier and the best part is that it is free (except for the cost of the mini computer).

6th Birthday

Wow, I can't believe it has only been 6 years since I was lying in that hospital bed. I remember it was the most uncomfortable I have ever been. I wasn't allowed to move because the doctors had put a heart monitor on Zach.

Today started with the smoke detector beeping because of a low battery. So I was up at 4 in the morning researching how to take the thing apart to get the battery out. I figured I may as well stay up and do my exercise and then make the boys some biscuits for their birthday breakfast. While on my treadmill at 5:30, Erin came in the room and asked if she could make the breakfast to surprise the boys. Wow, it must be great to have a big sister like Erin! Plus it is great for me to have a daughter like Erin.

The boys got an early morning call from Norway (dad) to wish them a Happy Birthday. After breakfast, I thought the boys would beg to go to the store to spend their birthday money, but they didn't even ask and I didn't suggest it. We made fruit kabobs for them to bring to their class at school. The school doesn't allow junk food. I am not a fan of junk food, but I did think it would be easier and cheaper if I could just make cupcakes or brownies.

Zach had a hard morning. He thought that because it was his birthday, he was entitled to be a brat. When I threatened to send him to bed early, he told me that I couldn't send him to bed early because it is his birthday. Of course I didn't buy into his logic.

After school, we ordered pizza (which is a huge treat at our house) and watched the movie "Up." Instead of cake, the boys picked out ice cream treats at the store that I normally always say no to when they ask if we can buy them. The movie and pizza went well except I think the twins decided they like my pizza better than Papa Johns.

Zach found out that I was serious when I told him that I would send him to bed early. He started screaming and fighting with his siblings and I had to put him to bed. All the way up he insisted he shouldn't have to go to bed early because it was his birthday.

I went downstairs and read scriptures with the other 3 kids and then we began our annual tradition of counting down to Christmas. We wrap up 24 Christmas books and we open one each night leading up to Christmas. I felt bad that Zach missed out so I read scriptures with him in bed, but I wouldn't read him the Christmas story. Hopefully he will learn his lesson (or just go through life thinking I am the meanest mom ever.) Somehow he always seems to have forgiven me by the next morning (and I have forgiven him too...I am convinced this is why we go to bed at night...so we can like our children again.)

Time for Heat?

Erin has been begging for me to turn on the heat. She even offers me $5 to turn it on. I have resisted so far because we all have heater blankets to use while sleeping. But I became very tempted to turn it on when I looked at the temperature in my bedroom before jumping in the shower...61 degrees. I thought we were moving somewhere warm....burrrr! Fortunately the rest of the house is a little warmer than my room. The downstairs and kids' rooms are at 67 degrees. But it warms up during the day. I talked to Mario briefly this morning and he told me not to complain because it is freezing in Norway. But when I looked up the temperature, we only had 1 degree difference. I reminded him that he has a hotel with heat too.

Maybe I should stop being so darn cheap and turn on the heat. My house is one of the homes in the progressive dinner tomorrow night so maybe I will have to be a nice host and turn it on then.