Entertain ME

Gordon has to be constantly entertained. He rarely plays by himself for longer than 5 minutes. Since I am always trying to come up with fun things to do I thought I would share what I've come up with if you promise to share your ideas too!The other day Gordon and I made some vanilla pudding and I found this great idea to put the pudding in a muffin tin and add different colors to the tins and do some finger painting. It really was fun, fast, and easy to clean up.Then when they were done painting, I gave them graham cracker sticks to eat it all up with. If you think this is gross you should see what else they put in their mouths.Another easy way to entertain kids, especially boys, get some flour or oats and pour it onto a large cookie sheet and let them dig around in it with their little cars. Gordon loves this. The first time we did this he would play for the whole time I made dinner every day for a week. It was great. Now he only plays for about 15 minutes to a half hour depending.In this picture he is telling me to stop taking pictures so he can just play. Hence the angry look. So what are some fun things you do to keep your kids entertained?

How Emily Got Her Groove Back

Finally, I feel like I am myself again. Yes, it took awhile. For the past month I have been ornery, lazy, tired, nagging, blaming everything on everyone but myself, and being just plain, old grouchy. But now I have energy (well, at least more than I had before. These boys still wear me out) and I actually do things with my kids and I am happy when my husband comes home from work instead of complaining that he is late. What has caused this wonderful change in my behavior? Well, a few things: 1)Chris and I got to go to Boise for a business trip. Just a nice overnight vacation to rejuvenate and spend a little time with my husband who hasn't had a day off since we moved here (excluding Sunday) 2)and yeah! he has this Saturday off! We are going to clean this house from top to bottom! 3)I think I just realized that I've got to get with it. No one can make my circumstances better but myself.
But there is one thing I cannot do for myself. Get commenters!!!! I think I left half of my four readers in Logan. Now lets see how many people can comment on this here post. Who's with me?!

Its a good thing I didn't go into child psychology

Could someone please tell me WHY-

• it is so much fun to throw food on the floor
  
• my eighteen month old drools so much he needs a new shirt by midday
• Gordon likes to stick things in the back of his underpants and keep them there. (It tickles his bum, he says.)
  
• my almost-four year old has to tell me he needs to go to the bathroom EVERY time before he goes (he doesn't want my assistance just the knowledge that he needs to go.)
  
• but he cannot ask my permission before he gets any food out of the fridge
• kissing an owie makes everything better (not complaining about this one)
• it is fun to throw toys down the stairs or dump all toys on the floor- not to play with them, just to have them all over
  
• and what is so enticing about screaming in the car? Happy or sad. Edison loves to scream in the car
  

Name them one by one

I am having a hard time here but instead of listing the many things that are keeping me down I am going to try the opposite. As my friend recently reminded me, "It's count your blessings not your trials." So here goes:

1. We live close to family- Brett and Maren, Josh and Katie, My Parents, Chris' Parents, Justin and Ellen
2. I love our kitchen, it is so big!
3. We have linoleum flooring in the dining room- no more carpet!
4. Gordon is so grateful we live on the bottom floor and can go outside all day
   
5. I am thankful that a hose with a sprinkler head can entertain my kids when I am too worn out
6. We live about two minutes drive from Chris' work
7. Chris enjoys his work
8. Chris has a job
9. For the most part I really do have wonderful kids
10. We live one block from the park
11. There is absolutely no temptation to spend more than our budget because there is nothing to do here or no where to shop other than Wal-Mart
12. Our circumstances are forcing me to be more creative in entertaining our children
13. We have what really matters- each other, our health, happiness, and a loving Heavenly Father who knows what is best even when I don't
    

And...We're Back Online

Finally we have the internet again! Life here in Heyburn is slow but we get to see a lot more of Chris so I'm not complaining. Gordon and I have had some great conversations. Here is one we had yesterday.
(We could here our neighbor girl screaming and so Gordon said she was throwing a fit and got locked in the tower FOREVER. After discussing the many ways she could escape, Gordon told me a dragon knocked down her door and saved her.)

G: And then the dragon will come and eat you.
M: I thought he was a nice dragon?
G: He is. He only eats fat people.
M: I'm not fat.
G: Yes you are.
M: Gordon, do you even know what fat means?
G: Yes, it means you are like an elephant. And you are like an elephant and you have an elephant nose.
I stopped the conversation after that before he could come up with even more insults!