Real Life Make Believe

28 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Natalie in What's a mom to do?

I have a hard time lying to my kids. Therefore I cringe every time they ask me if something is “real.”  IMG379

I know that children and adults have very different concepts of “real,” and so my young boys might not be mature enough to realize that something they “see” is pretend. So normally when they ask me if something is “real” I reply with something diplomatic like, “What do you think?”

It works well with questions like: “Is Hogwarts real?” and “Are Megaladon’s real?”

Deep down I don’t think it’s lying if I go along with their make-beliefs. I certainly don’t want to be the one that stomps out their imaginations and crushes their creativity. But lately they are killing me with their fantastical realities.

Here are a few examples of how “real” our life has been lately:

Gingerbread Revenge

A couple of months ago I wrote about our Gingerbread tragedy. You can read about that here. It was highly traumatic.

I thought we had put the gingerbread cookie fiasco long behind us. I even vowed never to make the mischievous men again. Then my 6-year-old came down with a stomachache. He was positive that the one gingerbread cookie he ate was taking its revenge on his belly. He went so far to tell me that he saw a YouTube video of a gingerbread man attacking someone’s insides. Seriously? Is it revenge?  (Or just indigestion?)

We spotted evidence of those pesky men again last week. They stomped all over our driveway during a snowstorm. There were “gingerbread” prints scattered all along our pathway to our detached garage. (That or they were just melted circles where I had tossed rock salt onto the cement the day before.)

Cupid spotting

My four-year-old came home from preschool one day with Valentine’s Day stickers. He and his older brother asked me about the bow-and-arrow holding naked angel sticker. I told them it was cupid – a baby angel who flies around on Valentine’s Day in his birthday suit shooting people with heart-tipped arrows, making them fall in love.

All day Feb. 14 we “saw” cupid flying around our hometown. We went to a basketball game as a family that evening and spotted cupid dozens of times zooming through the night sky.

On our way into the stadium we saw a long white, pencil-thin pole in the parking lot. They were certain that it was the back to one of cupid’s arrows. (That or just a piece of trash that had been run over multiple times.)

After they were jumping around, thrilled that they found some cupid evidence, I didn’t have the heart to tell them I thought it was garbage. Instead I said something like, “Don’t touch it, it might still have a love spell on it.”

Power to the Rangers

My boys have been training for weeks now to be Samurai Power Rangers. They have been doing their own form of sit-ups and push-ups as well as punching, kicking and sword whacking nearly every pillow in my home. They have masks, spin swords and morphers to assist in their training.

One day while practicing their ninja skills I heard loud, happy screaming from the living room. Their spin swords were shooting off light! (That or the sun was just reflecting off of the silver base of the sword, flashing a burst of light onto our living room walls.) But they were convinced it was a sign that they were true ninjas!

Spy Signal

A while ago my boys were playing with real walkie talkies. They were running around the house shouting things like, “over and out,” and “please repeat that.”

Suddenly someone else jumped onto the same frequency and they picked up another message.

Of course it was a nearby spy. (That or a local hunter or someone simply using a walkie talkie for work.) They tried for hours to communicate with the other person. They carried those black walkie talkies around the house for days trying to send signals to the “spies.” But they never heard them again.

Fossil Find

Last week my boys were paleontologists – brushing off stones and studying them with magnifying glasses. They were certain they had unearthed authentic dinosaur fossils that were buried in my front flowerbed. My oldest began making a fossil discovery checklist. It included things like: it smells like dirt, it has scratches on it, etc.

We have found “fossils” in our yard before. It’s been all I could do a couple of times to talk my 6-year-old down from driving our discoveries straight to the Natural History Museum.

I have a very active imagination. I still believe there are monsters lurking in the corners of my basement. But I am 99.9 percent certain that these “fossils” are just ordinary rocks. I’m not about to embarrass myself in public by claiming there are dinosaur bones beneath my humble home.

So to appease my 6-year-old son, I decided we would write a letter to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden – a place we frequently visit – asking them how to determine if a fossil is really a fossil. We mailed the letter and less than a week later we got a reply. My boys were thrilled that someone wrote back!

The education coordinator at the park didn’t know the exact scientific method for authenticating fossils, but she forwarded our letter on to the man who runs the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake. Hopefully he’ll be able to clear the air on our “fossils.”

I’m sure that if we find out our bits of rock aren’t from ancient creatures, it won’t stop my boys from digging around the yard looking for other dinosaur pieces. Because, the one thing I have learned from my creative kids is you can’t stop their imaginations from rolling.

So while I admit that I don’t like “lying” to my children, I’ve decided it’s more fun to live in the world of pretend. It’s more magical, more adventurous. And there really isn’t any harm in it.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to live in a world where rocks are bones, cookies come alive and a chubby naked baby shoots people on Valentine’s Day?

Thawing

21 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Natalie in Dealing with Death

It has been the coldest winter that I can ever remember yet somehow I feel warmer than I have in a really long time. ice-cube-md

Don’t get me wrong, I still wear my moon boots with my pajama pants to take the kids to school and I sit under an electric heated lap quilt most of the day. I’m not talking about being warmer physically.

I’m talking about warming up emotionally.

Somehow the giant piece of ice that froze around my heart when Luca died has slowly been melting.

Bit by bit it gets easier for me to deal with his loss. My heart is thawing and so is my anger and bitterness.

I’m not saying that I am forgetting my son who would turn 3 this April. Coping with the grief that has come with his loss is still an uphill battle I will continue to fight. But I’m slowly starting to realize that my life can be warm and happy even though he can’t be in it.

I was horrified when someone told me that time heals all wounds. Now, I am wondering if that’s partially true. Although I will forever carry the scar, I think my wound is slowly healing.

How can I tell that I’m thawing? I finally feel like living again.

For a long time I didn’t want to do anything. My life was all about making it through the day, the hour, the minute.

Now I want to run, chase and tickle my kids. I want to learn how to cook apple pies and warm, fluffy rolls. I want to imparare italiano. And I want to stay up late reading, learning and growing.

Every once in a while an ice piece will chip off and I’ll feel a chill again. Like when I start sewing tiny baby gowns to donate to other families who will experience a loss. Or when I hear on the news that Utah might ban wish lanterns. Or I visit a tiny rectangular headstone with my baby’s picture in the top right corner.

It’s then that I remember how cold my loss has made me. How lonely I am to see my baby again, if only for a moment.

But in a strange, unexplainable way, I am grateful for those ice chips. They remind me that Luca was real. They remind me that I am real.

Sometimes I get so busy wrapped up in my daily life that I stop and question if delivering my baby stillborn was all just a horrific nightmare.

Those sudden chills remind me that I am human and that I lost something I wanted deeply.

But those chips, while they chill me to the core, come and go. And while his loss was once all consuming, it is much less so now.

Much of my sorrow has transformed into curiosity. I think of my baby often and wonder what he would be like.

Would he love sharks like my oldest son? Would he dress as Peter Pan and challenge his 4-year-old Hook-loving brother?

Would we be fighting him to wear underwear and grow out of his pacifier? Would he cuddle to me during naptime?

Sometimes I sit back and day dream that he would do all of those things. And though thoughts of what Luca would have been like remind me of his absence, they also make me smile.

Lanterns May Still Soar

14 Feb 2013 8 Comments

by Natalie in Dealing with Death, My Angel Baby, What's a mom to do? Tags: ,

Author’s Note: This is an update to my previous post regarding HB217 that is working its was through the Utah State Legislature.

luca lantern

For those of you who didn’t see my special edition of Boogers on the Wall on Sunday, I wrote an open letter to the Utah State Fire Marshal regarding the proposed amendment to the Utah State Fire Code that would outlaw sky lanterns.

We have sent sky lanterns to Luca each year on his birthday. It is such a peaceful, beautiful way to remember my little angel baby on the anniversary of the day I delivered him.

But a proposed amendment to the Utah State Fire Code would classify the lanterns as unattended fires, therefore rendering them illegal.

I have anxiously been watching and waiting for news from the House of Representatives about the proposed amendment – HB217. I signed up to receive email notifications when anything changes.

Yesterday news came.

I received an email stating that the bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Dunnigan R- Taylorsville, modified the amendment. Instead of completely banning the lanterns, Dunnigan proposed that the amendment include an exception: “Use of a sky lantern is permitted beginning on January 1 through May 31 and beginning on November 1 through December 31 of each year.”

I didn’t know if I should cry or jump up and down with joy! It’s amazing what little things make a grieving mother’s day.

The House of Representatives standing committee on Business and Labor gave the bill a favorable recommendation yesterday. I’ll keep watching and waiting for updates.

I know the bill isn’t finalized and things can still change, but the possibility of being able to continue a sentimental tradition on the day my baby flew to heaven has me overjoyed!

Extinguishing Sky Lanters: My Opinion on the Proposed State Fire Code Amendment

09 Feb 2013 1 Comment

by Natalie in My Angel Baby, What's a mom to do? Tags: , ,

Author’s note: This is a special edition of Boogers on the Wall. Normally I’d wait to post this on Thursday, but with the legislative session in full swing  I don’t want to wait another moment before declaring how I feel about a proposed amendment to the state fire code.

lantern

Dear Utah State Fire Marshal Coy Porter,

Before you ban one of my favorite simple, significant traditions I’d like to let you know what I really think of the one-word “Sky Lantern” amendment to the state fire code that will force me to end the only thing I look forward to on the anniversary of my son’s death.

First of all, I’d like to know how a biodegradable piece of floating tissue paper is a big enough issue to warrant so much of your attention.

It seems like figuring out how to better control shrapnel sparks from bullets on mountain gun ranges and people who shoot illegal flame-showering firework rockets into the sky would be more effective in curbing Utah’s annual summer fire frenzy.

The new legislation, proposed by Rep. James Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, would identify sky lanterns as “unattended fires,” therefore rendering the beautiful floating lanterns illegal.

Have you ever lit one? Have you seen how long the unattended fire burns? Two. Minutes. Max. I have video documentation of several of them rising, floating, extinguishing and falling.

A recent news article quoted you saying, “… we just want to make sure that they don’t have an incident that would cause a lot of damage to property.”

Well, you better ban little toy magnifying glasses and boxes of strike anywhere matches while you’re at it. And how about those throw down snappy things that kids chuck at the sidewalk, even they might pose some sort of fire threat.

Then there’s rubbing alcohol and gasoline. You can’t tell me that they wouldn’t be able to create an “incident that would cause a lot of damage to property.”

In 2011, 355 fires in Utah were classified as “cooking fires, confined to a container.” Does this mean you are going to force Utahns to stop grilling? Should I cancel my plans for my annual Memorial Day barbecue too?

That same year 575 fires were described as “Passenger vehicle fires.” Am I going to be able to continue to ride in a car?

Accidents happen. I understand that there is a small possibility that a stray lantern could malfunction and light another object on fire. I’ll even acknowledge that a neighbor’s tree caught fire after Jimmer Fredette lit hundreds of lanterns last May at his wedding rehearsal in Denver, and that last summer a St. George-wildland fire was started by a sky lantern.

But just because accidents happened and something could be a threat, doesn’t mean that the government should intervene upon my freedoms and tell me that they are going to start controlling yet another small, harmless part of my life.

To propose an amendment that forces me to stop memorializing my son in a simple, elegant way, is yet another unnecessary government control.

If the state of Utah banned everything that Utahns do that might damage property, we’d all end up sitting on couches all day staring at our televisions.

Maybe specific condition-based restrictions are a better idea for the lanterns. Like banning them in the scorching summer months when the dry, brittle grass is more likely to ignite, or not allowing them when it’s windy.

Maybe then I wouldn’t feel like I was once again being told what I couldn’t do with my life.

We have sent lanterns into the sky each year on my son’s birthday. He was born stillborn April 22, 2010.

As my family and I watch mesmerized by the lights raising in the sky it fills me with hope. Hope that my little baby can somehow see the same lights I see. Hope that he may be able to reach his little hand out to touch the top of one of the lanterns. Hope that someday I’ll see him again.

It may sound cheesy, but those lanterns have peacefully connected me to my son the past two years. I like to think they are his floating birthday candles that he blows out before sending back down to me on earth.

The proposed amended fire code will extinguish that sense of hope. Luckily, if passed it would not be implemented until this summer. That means I’m going to light up the sky with them this spring.

Sincerely,

Natalie Clemens

Electrical Breakdown

07 Feb 2013 2 Comments

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do?

Two weeks ago I was an inch away from setting fire to my Kindle Fire.

After several days indoors with my kids during a three-day weekend I was at my wits end. I couldn’t take the whining, fighting and lying around doing nothing but staring at the black rectangular magic box any longer.

It was turning my boys’ brains to mush and there was a constant “When is it my turn?” hum coming from my living room.

No matter how much I begged they wouldn’t stop.

The Kindle must have known I was plotting against it and decided to give out on it’s own.  The jack where you plug it in to an electrical outlet came too loose and the device wouldn’t charge anymore.

We’ve been waiting for Amazon to send us a new one ever since and I have loved the break. I am amazed at how well my boys have played together without it.

They have lived as paleontologists scratching at rocks, desperately digging for dinosaur bones.

They have started secret workout routines in their bedroom as they prepare to be a new breed of ninja Power Rangers.

They have slid down our mini backyard hill and dug out an igloo-style snow fort in our front yard.

They have transformed my tiny kitchen into the Energy Solutions Arena while practicing bounce passes.

They have unrooted themselves from my living room couch and played more on their own in the past two weeks than they have in a long time. And although I have had to help them clean up a lot more messes – I nearly lost it one afternoon when they dumped every one of their toy tubs out in their room – I have been thoroughly enjoying our Kindle-free life.

I don’t know how other mothers feel, but I feel like my children lazily reach for an electronic device for entertainment. It’s easier for them to zone in to Netflix or tap at an Angry Bird than it is to run around the house finding each other in hide and seek.

I know there are amazing things that my children can learn from the Internet, and it’s fun for them to sit down and try out a new app, but this mom is going to draw up some electronic limitations.

I don’t want to cripple my kids in this electonics-based society. I realize that they will use sophisticated electronic tools throughout their lives.

But I’ve got to find a healthy balance that suits our family.

I am sure that once our new Kindle gets here my children will continue to get plenty of hands-on playing time, but I’m still going to make them unplug, power down the device and play for real.

Sick?

31 Jan 2013 9 Comments

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do?

I hate going to the doctor. Not because I hate modern-day medicine. But I am a tight wad who hates paying an unnecessary co-pay. And I am really bad at predicting whether an illness is doctor-visit worthy or not.

My youngest son was really sick this week. He was up all night a couple of nights with a really bad fever. Nothing I did could soothe my poor, miserable baby.

After a couple of sleepless nights and I-can’t-stay-awake-for-the-life-of-me-afternoons, I broke down and called the doctor.

And what happened? Absolutely nothing.

I took him in and he was fine. No ear infection. No sore throat. No croup.

Although that is extremely great news, it frustrated the crap out of me.

I can’t tell you how many times my children have been extremely sick during the night and early morning hours, only to make a miraculous recovery right before I take them in to the pediatrician.

I half wonder if my cell phone is magical. It seems like whenever I call to make a doctor’s appointment my children immediately start feeling better.

Then I go back and forth thinking should I cancel the appointment or take them in? It’s like playing physician roulette. .

Normally my guilty conscience talks me into taking them in. That’s what happened on Tuesday. I kept thinking, “What if he really does have an ear infection? What if his ear is burning with pain? What if his eardrum ruptures all because I want to save a buck and keep him home?”

It’s too bad my 6-month-old can’t tell me how he really feels or what really is hurting.

Someone needs to invent a Should-I-Take-Them-To-The-Doctor? kit for moms. It should come with one of those magnified stick-up-the-nose-or-in-the-ear-and-shine-a-light-inside tools. That way I could scan my son’s ears before assuming his new grabbing-at-the-lobe trait is an infection.

It’d also be nice to have a tongue depressor/flashlight combo. Then I could force open his mouth and see how red it really is way back where.

I don’t know how they could do it, but I also would need an is-it-appendicitis? type tummy scanner.

I could use the kit before paying someone else to spend 5 minutes glancing at my child and diagnosing them with a common cold.

I love my kids and I want them to be healthy but I hate feeling like I just gave a doctor $20 for them to tell me to give my child more Tylenol. I am starting to form an opinion that if the doctor can’t fix it, I shouldn’t have to pay.

Especially because usually before I take my kids in, I have already given them Tylenol for two days straight to no avail.

I know that isn’t realistic and deep down I am extremely grateful for my pediatrician. I just get frustrated when one of my babies is really sick yet there is nothing “wrong” with them.

Luckily we are a healthy family who doesn’t visit the doctor very often.

Binky Blues

24 Jan 2013 2 Comments

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do? Tags: , ,

We are down to one binky at our house. Which means I’m always franticly looking in every nook and cranny for the soothing mouth-sucking device. soothie

I’m constantly on the search for the green hospital-style Soothie that keeps my 6-month-old pacified.

And we all know how well I do when I lose things.

I need to invent a special microchip to plant inside the plastic lining of all binkies. Something that is activated when a baby starts to fuss, sounding off a major alarm and bright flashing beacon, honing all mothers in to the exact location of the life-saving tool.

Of course I’d have to make a different silent-locating system for nighttime. Because although the binky has got to be within a 6-inch radius of my baby’s head, it’s nearly impossible to find in the dark – especially through zombie-style, bloodshot middle-of-the-night vision.

No matter how many times I sweep the crib for the little sucker, I never find it easily. Half the time it’s tucked under my baby’s double chin.

The most frustrating part? Hearing my baby cry while I search for the stupid thing. Because I’m never looking for it while he’s happily playing on his own. I seem to always notice it’s lost when he’s screaming.

And for some reason, it’s virtually impossible for me to crawl beneath furniture and rapidly scan secret corners of my house while I’m carrying around a 20-pound screaming bundle.

It’s a double edge sword. I can put him down and hopefully find the thing much quicker, knowing he will scream at the top of his lungs the whole time I’m searching, or I can run around stressed out with him on my hip while I try to soothe him and search at the same time.

In my defense, the rounded style of the outer part of his binky makes it roll very easily. I could drop it on a flat surface and find it 30 feet away. I do have to admit that 90 percent of the time we find it in one of three places – my pocket, my diaper bag or shoved down in one of the couch cushions.

Why don’t I buy some more? Honestly I don’t know. But deep down I have a sneaking suspicion that no matter how many binkies I would buy, I’d still always be searching for one.

And for some reason my son only likes one particular brand.

I have four perfectly clean, nice, brand new other binkies. But he doesn’t want anything to do with them. They are too short and stubby for him.

A couple of weeks ago I got him to gag on one for an afternoon. I lost his favorite green one in the morning and refused to run to the store for a new one. I thought for sure the green guy would turn up.

I had high hopes that he was starting to adapt to the new style of pacifier. But he was just teasing me.

Once bedtime rolled around, he wanted his favorite one back. He wouldn’t take the new type at all during the night.

It was horrible. I survived the night by acting like his human binky, letting him nurse whenever he made a peep.

Luckily my husband found the old favorite in a toy box the next morning – undoubtedly put there by my four-year-old who helps me lose everything.

I don’t know what to do. I probably should break down and buy a 20 pack of his favorite Soothie kind and stash them in every pocket, bag, bed, blanket, etc.

Although I complain about constantly losing the binky, I wouldn’t want to live without it. That’s why I search like mad when it’s lost.  He doesn’t take it all the time, but when he’s really tired it helps calm him enough so he can sleep. And I definitely want him to sleep.

Deep down, part of me wishes that he were a thumb sucker. I definitely would have a hard time losing that.

How do you spell what?

17 Jan 2013 1 Comment

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do? Tags: , , , , ,

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I am living in a never-ending spelling bee.

My four year-old son’s new obsession with letters, their sounds and word creation has catapulted all of us into an eternal how-do-you-spell _____________? game.

Sadly, I am slowly going insane.

The questions never cease. I can’t go an hour without him asking me how to spell something at least three times.

It wouldn’t be so bad if I were spelling three-letter, one-syllable words for him.

But it’s not just simple words. It’s not even just one word. Sometimes he asks me to spell complex sentences like, “I like playing with my Furby,” or “Luca is my favorite brother.”

It doesn’t stop at wanting to spell. He’s eager to read too. What does __ __ __ __ say? Is quickly becoming his second favorite phrase.

He’s noticing writing on everything – street signs, cereal boxes, clothing tags, you name it. He wants to know what the whole world is saying.

And deep down I am thrilled.

Luckily the spelling/reading is not falling on deaf ears. He’s soaking it all in like a sponge. He’s also regurgitating 90 percent of it back in verbal or written form.

He’s always toting a notebook and pen, ready and anxious to jot something down.
From hate notes to bad guys, to sentences about Spider-Man, he’s on a writing spree.

And although I am thrilled, sometimes I lose my patience. My brain is tired from spelling the title of every piece of furniture in our home, every type of food in our refrigerator and every character on my son’s favorite television shows. Twice.

But I have devised a plan. Now that he recognizes the alphabet, all 26 letter sounds and how to write each letter, I am going to teach him to spell. Then I’m going to teach him to read.

He can already write, “I love you,” as well as all of our family member’s first names. At Christmas time he learned that S-A-N-T-A spelled Santa and every paper I owned was tagged with the jolly man’s name.

He’s interested, he’s excited and he’s ready.

I figure teaching him is the only way I am going to end this real-life endless spelling bee.

Wish me L-U-C-K.

Bridal Shower Boogers Style

10 Jan 2013 2 Comments

by Natalie in Parties/Showers Tags: , , , , ,

Author’s note: If you are looking to read about a major mishap, check back next week. I am sure something crazy will happen in the next 6 days and I’ll blog about a failed adventure. But last week I actually did something right. Since that doesn’t happen very often, I’m dying to share.

Thank heavens people invent crafting helpers for the homemaking impaired. Otherwise I would not have been able to help with my future sister-in-law’s bridal shower last weekend.

Luckily Internet search engines and my mom’s new cake-pop maker saved the day.

My mother-in-law held a bridal shower last Saturday for my brother-in-law’s fiancé, Aubrey. I was in charge of putting together a treat and some games.

My mom got a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker for Christmas and I had been dying to try it out. So the day before the shower I busted the thing open and dove right in.

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Can I just say, piece of cake?

I had heard horror stories of people baking cakes, crumbling them up only to roll the mess back together with a slab of frosting or cream cheese.

Not in this kitchen.

The Babycakes waffle-iron styled machine helped me whip up some cake balls in no time. The maker came with an instruction brochure that included simple recipes. I tried out the vanilla one – mainly because I had all of the ingredients on hand in my kitchen.

It was easy! With only a handful of ingredients and my 4-year-old’s expert stirring skills, we were good to go.

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I tried to pour a tablespoon full of batter into the non-stick rounded out wells, but that made a mess. So I did what I had read online and filled a Ziploc bag with batter, cut a small tip off the end of the bag and squeezed the remainder of the batter into the maker.

It took about four minutes for a dozen cake balls to golden up. I thought they were beautiful!
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I doubled the recipe and less than an hour later I ended up with just shy of 100 cake balls.

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I frosted the pops later that night after my kids were in bed.

I stuck the lollipop sticks up to about an inch in candy melt then put one pop on each. Then I took them outside in my van and let them sit in the freezing cold weather for 15 minutes.

I brought them back in and dipped them into more candy melt until they were covered. This was the hardest part for me. I lost a couple of the pops as they plopped off of the stick into the frosting. That was fun.

I topped some of the pops with ice cream sprinkles and left some of them plain. Not because I wanted to, but I ran out of frosting. And although I didn’t think they looked very good, my husband said those were his favorite.

I printed and cut out some pennant-style tags to glue to the sticks to make them more festive. They read: Be Marry, Together Forever and Love Me

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It took a little longer to frost the pops than I thought it would. I was planning on running and picking up a bridal shower gift after the pops were done, but by the time I was done I didn’t feel like going out. Not to mention the fact that most of the stores would have been closed anyway.

So, I came up with a “honeymoon fund” jar with a couple of things I had around the house. I saw a couple of these jars on Pinterest and thought they were really cute.

My neighbor gave me a few 2-quart mason jars a couple of years ago. Since I don’t can with jars that big they were collecting dust in my basement. I took one of the jars, cleaned it out and created a tag to tie on the outside. I used some tule, that I also had in my basement, to tie the tag near the top.

On my way to the shower I stopped at the bank and got some change to put in the bottom.

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Now on to the games….

I got this first idea from a friend. You can check out her baby-shower version here.

I cut out white wedding dresses onto cardstock with my Silhouette machine. Then hung them with tiny clothespins onto a ribbon.

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The dresses had the bride and groom’s names with their wedding dates on top. On the bottom I left space for people to write advice for the bride-to-be. I typed up four different prompts to get them started.

The dresses read:
I hope you’re not afraid of …
I hope you laugh at …
Make sure to never …
Make sure to always …

While people were mingling and eating they were able to write their thoughts then pin the dresses back up. At the end of the shower Aubrey read them aloud.

We also played the purse game found here. I was quite shocked when my husband’s aunt single-handedly scored 196 points, blasting out the competition. She impressed all of us by having earplugs in her bag. She won “100 Grand” to put in her purse.

Next we played a fill-in-the blank, mad libs-type game found here. It was really fun to see what fruits and vegetables people would come up with to fill in the letter.

Lastly we played a bridal-shower version of a dice game. I wrapped 20 dollar store kitchen gadgets and placed them in a pile in the middle of the floor. We sat in a circle, taking turns rolling the dice. If someone rolled doubles, they chose a present from the middle.

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After everyone had a present we each unwrapped what we had before starting the next round.

During the next round we rolled the dice for five minutes and if people got doubles they could trade their gadget with someone else’s. It was fun to watch people switch the small trinkets back and forth. Who knew measuring spoons and metal can strainers would be so popular?

Anyway, the shower was a huge success. It was fun to get to know my future sister-in-law better and it gave me a chance to practice my mad crafting skills. Even if I used the help of a cake-pop maker and the Internet to made it all happen!

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Aubrey and me!

What Boogers Taught Me This Year

03 Jan 2013 1 Comment

by Natalie in From My Heart, Uncategorized

It’s been a fun year writing Boogers on the Wall.

Frankly, there have been several times this year that I have wondered what I was going to write about. But it never failed. By the time Thursday rolled around something – my crazy children, a homemaking failure, a motherly stress – would magically occur, inspiring me to write about my adventures in momhood.

Hopefully that continues.

I have learned a lot writing my blog. Here are a few favorite posts/thoughts from 2012.

– I have learned that I don’t need to settle for crappy diapers. After writing about our never-ending blowout situation, I have switched my bum covering tactics. Since changing from the off-brand, store-named diapers, I have tried Costco and Pampers. They both rule! And although they cost a lot more, my coupon and bulk shopping will help offset the cost and we all know that the better diapers will offset my stress.

– I learned that my kids would much rather trap their treats than eat them – especially when it comes to gingerbread men. And although I think I know my children very well, sometimes they truly surprise me.

– I have learned that kids say the darndest things, especially when it comes to politics. And no matter who won, most people I know were energized that young children took interest in this year’s presidential election.

– I learned that I actually don’t like a vast majority of Halloween decorations.  You can keep the creepy crawly, silly skeleton zombie doom and gloom, stuff away from me.

– I learned that the worst part about going on vacation is packing. No matter how well I think I have done I still spend the first 10 minutes of each vacation repacking in my head, going over a mental checklist and deciding if what I forgot is worth turning around for. I have also learned that I am not the only wife/mother out there who has to pack 95 percent of all of our family’s vacation needs.

– I have learned that I can love and honor all four of my baby boys even though right now they don’t all live with me. I have learned that there is hope in dealing with my grief.

– I have learned that even though they sometimes stress me to tears, I love my children more than words can express. They are worth more than anything. Which is why I started my second retirement this past spring. It is also why I chisel away at derby cars and melt beads onto wands. It’s why I rarely sleep more than 3 hours in a row at a time and I regularly wrack my brain for ideas on where they may have misplaced their favorite toys. It’s why I do anything, really.  My family is my life.

– And last, but definitely not least, I learned that sometimes light does come after darkness. After 9 months filled with anxiety, stress and fear, I got to look into the eyes of my fourth beautiful baby boy. He brings me more happiness than I ever thought possible. And as you can see from the picture below, the 6-month, 18-pound bundle of joy is doing quite well.DSC_8230

Here’s to another year filled with kitchen failures and crafting mistakes. Here’s to catching more fish I don’t want to touch and setting up booby traps for more cookies. Here’s to lighting more wish lanterns and placing more headstone decorations.

Here’s to living it up and doing the best I can.

Here’s to wiping more boogers off my walls.

 

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