I'm a Butterfly with ADHD

Seriously, I keep going from one thing to the other, just like a butterfly. I have a gazillion projects and ideas running around through my head, and it's driving me crazy. I can't even start one thing before I start thinking about another thing.

Here are a few of the projects and other things floating around my head.

• I want to make night gowns for Alyssa, because all the ones in the store are character pajamas and not long enough for her.
• I want to make our "Caught Being Good" trophy. We're going to JoAnns today, and I want to get going on that, but I still haven't decided exactly what it will look like.
• I want to make a going to bed/bedtime routine book for Ethan, and hopefully get him sleeping through the night.
• I want to make nursing shirts to sell in an etsy shop. I've got ten shirts purchased from Downeast Basics just sitting in a bag for me to cut and sew. The white ones are actually almost done, but I haven't gotten a chance to finish them yet.
• I want to have an unbirthday party for Alyssa in April, because we'll be moving for her birthday in August. I've got tons of great ideas for an Alice in Wonderland party. The cake is going to be stupendous!
  
• I want to build a house when we graduate, and Brian and I are starting to look into whether or not that's even a possibility.
• I think I want to have another baby around the time we graduate, so we can be done (if we want to stop at four) with having babies the same time we're done with school.
• I want to go to Disneyland with my parents this spring. Brian and I have saved up our credit card reward points for a few years, and we've got the park tickets covered with that, and we're selling our stuff on craigslist and ebay (which is a great way to clean the garage!) to raise money for the rest of the trip.
  
• I'm in the middle of putting together a story book of fairy tales I wrote for the kids. I had Alyssa dress up like a princess to take pictures for her story, and I need to dress Ethan up and take pictures for his story, and I need to write a story for Marcus. (so far the idea for the title is "The Squibble Squabble Baby." Alyssa's story is "The Wiggle Waggle Princess" - can you guess why? And Ethan's is the "Jibber Jabber Prince.")
• I'm planning my future bedroom. A couple of years ago I painted all our furniture a beautiful black, and I want to make a quilt that's a warm, deep red with very light cream.
  
• And that's not all!
  

See what I mean? I'm totally focused on one idea, then the next morning I wake up totally focused on something else. My brain will not slow down long enough for my body to catch up. I'm sure that every time I call my mom or my sister, they're probably thinking, "What's Carrie going to come up with today?"

I Have So Many Friends!

Today we got a huge packet of "Friend" magazines in our mail box. At first I thought I should give the extras to the Relief Society president to disperse, but then when I opened them I found that they are addressed to various people who live in Forest Grove. We have a "Friend" for the Hansens, the Hulets, the Despains, the Taylors, the Ames, and the Richardsons. Needless to say, we will be making some deliveries tonight.

Insights Into The Male Mind

Last night, as we were driving around Hillsboro listening to the radio, we heard John Tesch mention that men are "terrified when women are driving." I asked Brian if he's terrified when I drive, and he said that it's true. I believe it. Whenever I drive him to school - a three minute drive - he tells me when the light is green, or when I should switch lanes. Usually I'm fine with it, but sometimes I find myself saying, "Brian, I do know how to drive." But I guess, according to the radio, this is all completely normal.

Brian's theory is that he's been driving longer than I have, he's had jobs driving (cars, wheelchair accessible mini-buses, and huge buses) and that he would be able to react correctly in a faster manner than I would in a traffic crisis. My theory, that I devised from reading between the lines of Brian's theory, is that men are protectors. They are the leaders of our families, and they feel helpless - thus, terrified - when they are not in a position to protect their wives and children.

So ladies, the next time you're driving and your husband casually mentions that the light is turning yellow so you should slow down and stop, just remember that even though you saw the light change and were planning to stop anyway, that he loves you and wants to keep you safe.

Roses With Calories

Brian has been asking for rosettes for a few weeks now, so on Saturday he told me, "The Cluny's are coming over tomorrow, and we're making rosettes." Okay, that's fine with me.

The Cluny's did come over and Brian and Trent were in charge of the rosette making whle Hanni and I talked at the table and took care of the kids.


They were both beautiful and delicious.

Fathers

Last night Brian called us on his way home from class to see if we were watching the eclipse. I grabbed the kids and rushed them to the front yard, where we watched the blackness slowly creep over the moon. When Brian pulled in the driveway he came to stand with us, and it was time for me to pack up Marcus to go to Activity Day with the eight year old girls in our ward. I left with Brian standing in the street, holding Ethan in his arms and holding Alyssa's hand, watching the moon.

On my way to the church I saw a few couples out for walks to see the eclipse, but I didn't see any mothers out with their children. Each child I saw was accompanied by their father, and usually a telescope. I even saw Alyssa's friend, Paloma, and her dad.

It got me thinking about how cool fathers are. They're the best people to go camping with, to build forts with, and to watch the moon with. I remember laying out on the trampoline as a family to look at the stars. It was great that we were together as a family, but what made it special was having Dad with us, because we didn't see him as often. When I was a little girl we used to love watching the hydro plane races on the Columbia River. We would sit on our deck and watch the super-fast boats go by, sending water high up in the air behind them. My dad would help us build our own hydro planes each summer, helping us cut pieces out of wood and nail them together. Then we'd tie on some rope and pull our hydro planes around the back yard.

I love my dad so much, and I think that the relationships fathers have with their children are so important. I was noticing yesterday that Marcus will smile and talk to me, but it's Brian that makes him laugh. Alyssa and Ethan think they have a standing invitation to crawl all over Brian each time he lays on the living room floor. I'm so glad that I have such a wonderful father, and that my husband is such an amazing father to our children.

Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster, and Molly Mormon

I don't believe they exist.

After posting about my housekeeping dilemas the other day, I have since read about a couple of other ladies who have had problems keeping up with the demands of running a household. Sometimes I feel like I have to have it all together: the house has to be clean, the kids have to be dressed in cute clothes with their hair neatly done, meal times must be perfect with all four food groups laid out on the table, service must be done outside the home....and the list goes on and on. The truth is: we are supposed to be doing all of these things, but we are not going to be 100% on all of them every day. I like having a clean house. In fact, I go crazy when the house is messy, but with three kids (and Ethan in the two year old "dump out boxes" stage) the house is not going to be clean all of the time. I am all for a home cooked meal, but there are some days when all I can do is stick some chicken nuggets in the oven and get out the ketchup.

But I do believe that we are all doing a great job. Our goal is to raise our children in a loving, Gospel-centered environment. I believe that if the dirty dishes are stacked up on the counter, it's not as important as helping our daughter write the numbers 1 - 100. I believe that pizza and rootbeer can be a wholesome meal when it's eaten on the floor while watching a fun movie as a family. Even though it's hard to keep up with everything all at once, I believe that we are all doing our best to raise a righteous generation and to have a fun time with our children while they are young.

A Song I Learned From Brooke

It is a Tuesday morning, and the morning is bright.
The sun is shining, there's no cloud in sight.
We're gonna work all day - you'll see.
We're gonna have fun, as fun as can be.

Jogging Now

Okay, things are looking a little better this morning. I'm planning on renting a movie tonight and having a "date" with all of the laundry that's piling up. The sun is shining beautifully this morning, and the kids are happily playing in the back yard. The front rooms are clean and swept, and next I'm heading to the bathroom. We've had ant problems for the past month or so, and when the guy came to spray last week he said not to vacuum them up so they could take the poison back to the nest. I know he meant the live ants, but I've been leaving the dead ants too, just to be sure. For a day or two it looked like the ants were having a frat party in our bathroom. Man, they were having a good time....then the hangovers hit. We had ants staggering all over our walls, dropping into little black piles on the floor. I think that's one reason I went crazy last night. I've had enough of the ant battles - I'm so glad they're going away.

So yeah, things are great this morning. The only problem is I am so tired. Emily (originally from the great city of Pasco!) asked her readers what their dream vacations are. Today, I would just love to hole up in a hotel room for a couple of days, all by myself, and sleep.

So Hard to Keep Up

When you were a kid, did you ever go to the mall and run up the down escalator, and you would try and try, but you would never quite make it to the top? That is exactly how I'm feeling at this moment. I'm running - at least it feels like I'm running - and I'm not going anywhere.

I have baskets of dirty laundry. I have baskets of clean laundry. I have a load of clothes in the dryer and a load of towels in the washer. The dishes in the dishwasher are finally clean, but if I want to go to bed with a clean kitchen I've got to clean it out and fill it again. I know, I should be thankful that I have a dishwasher.

It's just that sometimes I feel like I've got everything together. The house is clean, the kids are reasonably clean, and I can take a few moments to enjoy the peace of knowing that my job is "done." Then five minutes later, chaos breaks out. Or I'll be thinking about my life and I'll start to congratulate myself on all the wonderful things that I'm accomplishing each day and I'll think, "Yeah, I've got it all together."

Then I have a night like tonight where I'm behind on everything and the house is a mess when the home teachers come over (the broom is still leaning against the wall, and it will probably still be there tomorrow when you all read this) and Alyssa keeps biting her knuckles until they crack and bleed and there's piles of dirty laundry on the bathroom floor. A little while ago I pulled back the covers on Ethan's bed and I saw this ugly bug running all around the blanket. "What is that?" I asked Brian after he came into the room. "A silverfish," he replied, to which I questioned: "What the heck is it doing in my son's bed?!?" I was close to tears, and Brian calmly said, "Swimming," and left the room. The silverfish is now swimming in a tightly wrapped piece of toilet paper somewhere in the sewer system of Forest Grove.

I think I'm calm now. I'm resigned to the fact that the laundry will never be done, and it should only take a few minutes to get the dishwasher emptied and filled again, then I can go to bed.

My Valentine - The Hottest of the Hot

When I was in high school, I thought these guys were hot:

Freddie Prince Jr.
Okay, the key words here are high school.

David Duchovny
I loved "X-Files." I was even Scully one year for Halloween, and yes, I thought David Duchovny was pretty good lookin'.

And here's a few guys I think are good looking now:

Hugh Jackman
I loved Hugh Jackman in "Flushed Away." Yes, I realize he was an animated rat, but it was a fun movie. I watched "Scoop," which costarred Scarlett Johansson, and I thought it was a really dumb movie, but Hugh Jackman looked mighty fine in it.

Christian Bale
I thought he was cute in "Newsies" when I was a kid, and now I think he's equally fine as Batman. My brother accused me of liking "The Prestige" just because Christian Bale was in it.

Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett's voice is "Shrek 3's" only redeeming quality. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" in college, and I loved his performance of Algernon in the movie. I realize he's not that interested in the ladies, but that doesn't stop the ladies being interested in him.

Patrick Dempsey
I didn't know this until just now, but apparently he's known as Dr. McDreamy on "Grey's Anatomy." I can see why. He's a good lookin' guy. I absolutely loved the movie "Enchanted" when Alyssa and I went to go see it, and he's one of the things that make it such a great movie.

Do you see a pattern developing when you look at these pictures? All these guys are tall white boys with dark hair. So it should be no surprise to hear me say that when I met Brian, I thought that he was quite attractive. He is the perfect example of handsome.

Brian Jacks

You have to know, that when I first met Brian, he had a circle beard. (I looked it up to make sure I was using the correct term. Circle Beard: Facial hair consisting of a chin beard and mustache connected by hair along the sides of one's mouth, thus forming a circle.) Up until this point I wasn't at all interested in guys with facial hair; they were grungy and gross. But Brian in a beard is not like other guys with beards. Brian has these thick, long eyelashes and beautiful blue irises - and when he has facial hair, for some reason it makes his eyes just. look. gorgeous.

So yeah, when I met Brian he was the perfect epitome of my definition of handsome: tall, strong, and incredibly good looking. Although, I happen to be very lucky that he is also very loving, giving, and an incredibly good husband. Especially lately-more so than ever. I really am lucky.

Happy Valentines Day, Handsome!

Brian - Love

I had a great post planned out, but ran out of time to finish it.

Brian's cell phone died, so we headed on over to AT&T and talked with Roberto to get him a new phone. While we were there, we decided to go ahead and get one for me as well. It's my first cell phone! The first number I put in my address book was Brian's, and since I call him "Brian - Love," that's what I labeled him as.

Love Those Lips

A very nice surprise came in the mail today from my sister-in-law/Mary Kay lady: pink shimmer lipstick! For the past few years I have been searching for a good lip color, and I could never find one that was perfect. I always felt that they made my lips too dark or too bright or too glossy. Then Erin and Phil came up to the Tri-Cities for Thanksgiving, and Erin left a bunch of Mary Kay samples at my parents house so we could try them at our own convenience. I've slowly been going through the sample lipsticks I grabbed, and then one day I found the perfect color. Pink Shimmer! It sounds like the name of a My Little Pony, but it is a fabulous color for my lips. I love it!

Just in case you ever wondered about your "kiss personality," kiss a piece of paper and go here. Apparently, I am so you-nique: butterfly shape, with the corners turned upwards and a well-defined upper lip.

•	You are a true individual, a free spirit who makes the rules up as you go.
•	Some may accuse you of being overly optimistic.
•	You just don’t give much credence to obstacles.
•	You are friendly and outgoing.
•	You always look stylish and have an affinity for fabulous shoes.
•	You dream big and play big and love to inspire others to shoot for the stars.
•	You are fiery and enjoy taking a walk on the wild side with a very special someone.

What's your lip personality?

Lovesick

Whatever is going around, we've got it - and then some. Alyssa woke up with pink eye, Ethan and Marcus have been fighting horrible colds for the past week, I went to bed last night with a sore throat and it looks like I might have tonsillitis, and Brian's had a cold for a while too.

This morning we took Alyssa in to the school's clinic to get a prescription for her pinkeye, and to give a third year an experience to get passed off. Brian had a lab at the same time, so he wasn't with us. We thought his lab might get out early, so we stuck around after Alyssa was done so we could take him home with us. Turns out it didn't get out early, and the hour and fifteen minutes of waiting with three sick kids who missed breakfast and me feeling nice and cruddy also, was not at all fun. Once Brian got out, we hurried to the post office to drop off an important letter (that post is probably coming soon), headed to Safeway so Brian could run in for some orange juice and Theraflu, and then went straight home. We got the kids some lunch, put a movie on for them, and Brian left to do dispensing at the vision clinic, and Marcus and I went down for a nap.

So Brian took care of us, even when he wasn't feeling well, just because he loves us. He took care of the things that needed to be taken care of, and he cheered us all up. My favorite thing from today is when I told the kids to pick up the toys in the living room so we could watch a movie, and Brian told Ethan that if the toys were on the floor he (Brian) would trip over them and squash Ethan all the way through the floor. He said we'd have an Ethan-shaped hole right in the middle of our living room.

And the Valentine Posts Begin!

The previous post inspired me to try to post something love related every day this week. Let's see if I can keep it up.

Son of a Preacher Man

Alyssa had a five-minute crush on Bishop Knighton's son today. He was passing the sacrament, and she looked over at him, poked me on the shoulder, and whispered, "Who's that?" I told her his name was Erik, and she insisted that she needed to go and talk to him so that he would "know that we are here." I was able to convince her that during sacrament is not the time to approach cute boys. (No, I didn't use that language - I am not encouraging her!) She sat still for a moment, then sighed, "Hhmmm...Erik." I think she's forgotten him by now. It's probably just as well. I wouldn't want her to get her heart broken by an older man.

A Bathtub Worth Bathing In

Brian's mom sent bath tub tablets that turn the bath water different colors for Ethan's birthday last week. I can not tell you how much we love these. They're so cool! They come in the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue, so you can mix them to make purple, orange, and green. The red turns out to be more of a pink, and Alyssa loves taking pink baths now. We've used the blue and red tablets more than the yellow, so I gave Ethan a yellow bath the other day. You can probably guess what that looked like.

On a side note, the bubbles in Ethan's bath came from the Honeysuckle bubble bath that Katie gave me at my bridal shower seven years ago. It's a huge bottle, and even though I love taking bubble baths, we've never had a nice bath tub (and by nice I don't mean large and luxurious, I mean not old and cruddy), so I don't take baths very often at all. So we've been married almost seven years, and we're just now finally getting to the bottom of the bottle. The honeysuckle makes our bathroom smell great, though!

Modest is the Hottest!

* * * Only honest opinions, please! * * *

I wear an undershirt everyday; I've almost become dependent on them. I wore them throughout my last pregnancy, and then hit a problem in trying to nurse Marcus. Undershirts are more snug, and it's really hard to hike them up in order to nurse, but I didn't want to give up wearing them. I know they have nursing tank tops available, but they aren't long enough, and the neckline certainly isn't high enough. I solved my problem by cutting a horizontal line across the front of a short sleeve crew shirt about five inches below the armpit, then I sewed some elastic across both sides of the front opening. Viola! A nursing undershirt!

It makes it so easy to nurse Marcus without my tummy hanging out, and it makes me feel better to know my garments aren't showing, either. The other day I was telling Brian how much I loved my nursing shirts (I've got white, black, and brown) and just how wonderful they are, and he said that I should consider selling them. So I went ahead and got a new shirt to make a nicer model (elastic encased in satin ribbon, no raw edges, etc.) and I think it turned out pretty nice.

So, if you were to see better pictures of this or other colored nursing shirts in, say, an etsy shop and they were priced at $25 or $30, would you buy them at that price or would you think, "Oh, I could just make that myself for cheaper"? I'm not trying to sell one right now, I'm just getting feedback on the idea.

Here it is with a pink shirt underneath to show the opening. I never thought I'd have a "chest shot" on the internet. Whoo!

And here it is inside-out to show the ribbon casing.

The Winners

Thank you for your ideas, everyone! As I read each one I thought, "That's a great idea! We should do that!" So I haven't decided yet what the trophy will look like.

The drawing was such that we have three lucky winners, instead of two. Alyssa was in charge of drawing the first name, but -oops- she pulled out two, so Brian, who was in charge of pulling the second name, grabbed the paper she was about to put back in the Tupperware. Alyssa opened her paper and read out loud, "Brian!" Brian's name obviously wasn't in the drawing, and there was only one person who's name started with a B, so I checked the paper and our first winner was Brooke! While this was going on, Brian was opening the discarded slip of paper, and I told him that if he opened it, he forfeited his turn to draw. I thought he didn't open it, so when he put it back, I held out the Tupperware for him to pick a name. "What?" he asked, "You don't want Char to win?" And by the time he asked this, he had already pulled another piece of paper. I checked our caramel supply to see if we had enough for another bag. Brian opened the slip of paper and said that it wasn't fair for Kim to win, because she didn't comment. "It's not my sister," I said. "It's Kim Woodbury."

So there you have it. Three lovely ladies. Three lovely bags of caramel. Brooke and Kim, go ahead and email me (carrie_jacks@hotmail.com) your addresses, so I can get your winnings in the mail. Char, I'll bring yours to mutual tonight, okay?

Developments

Marcus is rolling over! Today is his three-month birthday, and last night he rolled over (back to front) twice. The coolest thing is that it was deliberate. He totally knew what he was doing, and tried his darndest to to it. The first time, I laid him down on his butterfly gym thing, and a couple of minutes later, Alyssa said, "Marcus is rolling over!" We asked her over and over if she helped him, but she said he did it on his own. So I flipped him on his back, and sure enough, after a few seconds, he leaned to his side and started pushing with his arm. It took him a minute, but he made it from back to tummy!

Ethan is saying "Uh-oh" and "Ta-da!" He's also saying, "Ribbit." He's got the cutest little frog voice in the whole world.

Alyssa is finally reading! We've started working with her a while ago, and she didn't want to sit still for the lessons, and she would not look at the page, and she guess the letters instead of reading them. (Soon after this we discovered she needed glasses.) Normally when we ask her to read a word, she says, "I can't. I don't know how to read," even though she really does, and she just doesn't want to try. Last night she wanted to stay up and have me read books to her, and I told her that if she was going to stay up, she would be doing the reading. So I got out our reading lesson book, and instead of doing the lessons, just has her read the stories, and she did great!

Keep Your Eye OnThe Prize

Caramels, Caramels, Caramels. I am sick of making caramels. It's a darn good thing that we won't be making them until next Christmas.

Brian and I made two batches of caramels yesterday afternoon, and halfway through wrapping last night, I didn't think they would be enough for the bake sale, so Brian lovingly went to Safeway to pick up more cream and butter for a third batch. (Brian says: "lovingly"?!? Well, I'm not so sure that I'd say "lovingly" - it was more "thoughtfully", or perhaps, "regretfully", but not quite "exasperatedly" or "grumpily.") But it turned out that we did have enough with just the two batches, so we have a full pan sitting on our kitchen counter, and that's the pan that a large bag of caramels will be taken from and given to the winner of the trophy competition. It's also the pan that turned out the best. So keep giving me ideas for a "Caught You Being Good" trophy, and you might get some melt-in-your-mouth caramels. I've decided that we'll be putting the names in a hat and picking one out tomorrow morning, so even if you think your idea is silly or not as good as the ones already suggested, comment anyway. Good luck!

Call for Creativity (A Competition)

With Brooke celebrating her 100th post and giving away a super fabulous box of Valentines decorations, it made me start thinking...I didn't do anything for my 100th post. I don't even think I noticed it. And then I thought, "If I had noticed it, what would I have given away?"

This line of thinking was also accompanied by my worrying over what to make for the PAVA (Pacific Association for Vision Awareness - right?) bake sale this week. The other two times that I had volunteered to make things for the bake sale, my goodies didn't sell, even though I used recipes that my mom got from her friend who owned a catering business and deli. I made the huge yummy sugar cookies (made with powdered sugar) that I absolutely love, and I think two of the cookie sets sold. I can't remember what I made the other times, but I do remember that they didn't do any better.

While going through my mental list of recipes, I remembered Brian's caramels. Everyone - and I mean everyone - loves Brian's caramels. Usually when we make them, I mix the ingredients together and get them simmering on the stove top. And even though it sounds like I'm doing all the work, the caramels never turn out unless Brian is supervising and tells me when they are done, which is why we call them "Brian's Caramels." One time I cooked them too long and they were harder than toffee. Another time I made them too soft and they didn't set right. Even when I used a candy thermometer, they didn't turn out as good as the times when Brian tests the boiling mixture and declares, "they're done."

So tomorrow afternoon Brian and I will be making a huge pan of caramels and bagging them up for the bake sale. I'll be sure to post pictures so you can all tell your husbands to buy some so I don't get my feelings hurt. Again. (Only kidding!) I have to make 10 bags, but I'll be sure to make one extra - and this is where the competition comes in.

For the last couple of weeks we have been having family council on Sunday evenings. One portion of family council is the Caught Being Good Awards. Basically, I watch the kids and Brian throughout the week and make note of good things they do, then they get a special award during family council. (Thanks for the idea, Chris!) The award is just a slip of paper that says, "I was caught being good" and has the good deed written on the back. I told everyone that we would put the slips of paper in a box and in a few weeks we would draw a name for a special prize. Alyssa wants that special prize to be a trophy that we pass back and forth each week. I figure that I could easily spray paint something (or a glued together hodgepodge of something's) gold or silver and make a trophy, or do something else altogether. But the question is:

What should the trophy be made out of?

If you have any ideas of something I could use to make this trophy, submit them to my "notes" section by Tuesday night at midnight and I will either:

1. put all of your names in a hat and draw a winner
2. pick my favorite idea to use, and whoever submitted it will be the winner
   

I haven't quite decided which yet, but I can promise you, by the end of this week, someone, somewhere will be chewing soft, delicious caramels.

Happy February!

Brian started the month of love off right tonight by taking me on a surprise date to Brazil Grill in Portland. He came home from class yesterday and told me he had a surprise for our evening. He then spent about two hours trying to find a babysitter. We ended up getting Skyler Sharp to come watch Alyssa and Ethan, and he did a great job.

When we got to the restaurant Brian said to me, "You'd better eat a lot- this place is expensive." It's funny how things change when you get married. No guy would ever say that to his date before marriage. In fact, there was a couple who came and sat at the table beside us, filled their plates with salad, had a couple small pieces of meat, and left. They were on a real date. They missed out, 'cause the food was delicious. We did eat a lot; we stuffed ourselves silly.

It was fun to go on a date. We haven't been out in so long! And it was especially fun to have it be a surprise. I had no idea where we were going until we pulled into the parking lot. I guess it helped Brian's secret-keeping that I didn't know we had a Churrascaria in the area.