An eventful weekend!

We had a great weekend here at home. Even though I love spending Thanksgiving with my family in Colorado, I'm so glad we didn't have to travel this week. It has been so nice to spend time with family, and also have some time at home for the long weekend.

Our Thanksgiving break started off pretty uneventful. It was wonderful to be able to sleep in a bit on Wednesday, even though I did end up having to work for a couple of hours. We went to Costco in the afternoon to pick up some pumpkin pie and other fixings for our food assignments. So, pretty typical day... but the excitment picked up after 11:00 pm!

Charlie has been a nightmare at bedtime ever since we put him in a regular twin bed. He keeps getting up and playing around upstairs and I hate having to keep going up there to put him back in bed. After I'd given up, I knew he was up and moving around, but didn't do anything about it as long as he stayed out of my way. After a long time of NOT hearing him, Paul went up to check on him and to get ready for bed. Problem #1, he couldn't FIND Charlie! What we DID find, was this... Problem #2:


NOT THE PUMPKIN PIE!!!! It's a good thing we bought TWO!!! I guess this just meant that we'd have to keep the destroyed pie all to ourselves since it was clearly unpresentable... but thankfully, still edible! This is me enjoying the pie for breakfast!

Oh, but getting back to problem #1, where is Charlie!? We seriously looked all over and couldn't find the kid. After checking every possible (and impossible) place he could be upstairs, I was sure I had heard him come downstairs. Finally, I was able to catch a glimpse of his foot under Andy's bed. He'd crawled under there (probably hiding because he knew he'd be in trouble for destroying the pie!) and fallen asleep. Had to get a pic of course:

We could barely see him at first because he was behind a box under Andy's bed... the little booger!

Then the next morning, as we were almost ready to leave for Grandma's house, I found problem #3 (things like this always happen in 3's right?!):

Yep, that's what you think it is... Red permanent marker on EVERY key on my piano. I don't really know if this crime had been committed the previous night or that morning, but in either case, the kid got a good solid spankin'. In our house, we have a rule that if you make a mess too big to clean up yourself, you have to sit in time out until I get it cleaned up for you (sadly, the picture I took of him looking sad in timeout was all blurry). When the first cleaner I tried didn't work, I hoped for the best with the 'Desolve It'. Thankfully, it DID work and all four of us (Paul, me, Andy and Canon) scrubbed and scrubbed each key until it all came off. Ooooh, that kid got lucky. Among the other things I was thinking, I did see the bright side that at least this wasn't GRANDMA'S piano!! I would have DIED, and Rhyll would have too, I suspect! We did keep a little better watch on him that day than we usually do, hoping he'd gotten his fill of mischievous behavior!

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. I brought yams, because thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving without yams. I didn't make very much of it because all the Croshaw kids hate yams (probably because they didn't grow up eating my mom's yams), but I'm proud to say they were well received by the cousins and in-laws and were promptly gobbled up! I also had to bring a fruit salad and I made sure there would be pumpkin pie because of the same reason as the yams! It was great to hang out all day with family, as well as steal some time on my own to make some good progress on "The Hunger Games" book I was reading. By the end of the night, I was almost finished with it.

Friday was nice and lazy to start off with. I got to go to breakfast with Rhyll and all the sisters. We passed on the black friday insanity (mostly because I'm already finished with 90% of my Christmas shopping) but wanted to do something on our own. Later that afternoon, Paul and I got a sitter and ran up to Costco to look at some more TV's (that's what we're getting ourselves for Christmas this year) and to pick up Charlie's last gift. At 3:00, the family met up at Progressive Power Tumbling to play on the trampolines and all the gymnastics mats and activities. It was a ton of fun, but somewhat dampened a little by some drama that I played a part in... long story. Ah well. That night we watched Star Trek on the big screen. That's a great show!

Saturday (today) was a work day. Paul had a vision of things to accomplish, and I ended up going a bit crazy on the decluttering and reorganizing. We first cleaned our room and I ended up tackling our closet. Then we moved down to the storage room and moving the toys out of the family room downstairs. We really weeded through the toys and gave away some of the stuff that's still in one piece. But organizing all the toys required the decluttering of all the toys in 3 locations throughout the house! Then, we got our AWFUL couch out of the basement and TRIED to get the couch from upstairs down there to replace it. Unfortunately, our basement was designed by an idiot and we were unsuccessful at getting the couch into the TV room! Paul got himself ready and took the boys over to the lodge to watch the HOLY WAR of the BYU/UofU game. I'm so glad he let me stay home for most of it! I finished cleaning the storage room. Look how much empty floor space there is in there!

I know it doesn't look that organized, but really, it's a HUGE improvement!

Paul was able to get the couch out of there tonight with the help of our neighbor. And he only had to take off the door and completely remove the door frame in order to do it! I'm really glad that they were able to get the couch into the basement family room, but I'm shaking my head realizing that it will very likely be YEARS before that room gets a door put back on it!

Well, sorry, this post has been insanely long. I guess it fits in with all the rest of my posts since I've been blogging so rarely that I always feel the need to catch up on everything... that and the fact that I'm gifted at sharing too many details that aren't really that interesting! I guess to sum up... it's been a great weekend. I'm so glad tomorrow is Sunday and that we have one more day to rest before rushing into life and December this week! I hope you all had a great weekend too.

letter to a friend

(this is a letter that I just wrote to my good stamping-blogging buddy, Rachelle, who sent me a sweet letter telling me she's missed hearing from me on my blog. She asked me a lot of questions... that's why this letter is long and all kinds of rambly with me going on and on about what's happening over here in my neck of the woods. So just in case you care, this is what we've been up to!)

Hi there friend!
Yeah, things have been pretty crazy around here these last few weeks. I just realized it's been forever since I've posted on my blog and even my facebook updates have been few and far between! Sorry to be so elusive when I'm usually so OUT THERE!!

Work has been great, but busy busy busy. December 1st is a special education head count that determines the money received from the fed gvmt for next year's special education funding. So basically, if you've got students that are going to qualify for services, you gotta make sure you sign them in before December 1st. So, I've had all the new kids that I needed to test, qualify and hold IEPs for, and then all the kids that I need to renew their IEP's after signing them all in LAST year (and the year before that, and the year before that, etc.!) in November! So thank heaven above for my sweet little employee gal. Seriously NONE of my students would have received therapy at all this whole month had it not been for her. Well, they would have if I were willing to work 5+ days a week, but I'm not willing to do that, so it's a REALLY good thing I hired Tia this year! I'm also feeling more secure about how to pay the withholding taxes and stuff each month. It took me a couple run-throughs, and now I don't panic anymore when payroll or tax day comes around again! What a relief!

I have been able to do some fun stamping lately, but only out of necessity. I love having a stamp club because it gives me an excuse to order some fun things each month and keeps me stampin with the new stuff! I must say I've copied some REALLY cute Christmas cards in the last 3 months! I'm also in that card exchange, so that keeps me stamping as well. Remember that cute singing reindeer card at convention that you'll find all over the splitcoast gallery these days? I made the CUTEST cd cover with him on there and burned a music CD of some of my favorite Christmas music. I'll have to send you one! By the way... I LOVED your darling halloween card! So sparkly and classy for a holiday that's usually so dark and uninspiring! I love that dang medallion! I made a cute card stamping it with that platinum shimmer paint... very cool!

Training? Hmmm, not so much! Paul has been doing really well to get his butt to the gym and he keeps trying to schedule his gym appointments at a time when I can go. But because my work schedule has been a little unpredictable with extra testing sessions and IEP meetings scheduled randomly, I've been wussing out a bit. I've backed off "training" for anything and have just been satisfied with lifting weights and doing some cardio whenever I can get over there! Have you gotten back into a swimming routine? I know it's tough. It's important though, and i really need to recommit.

The kids are doing pretty well. We're trying to give Andy the extra support he's needing since he didn't end up qualifying for any extra help through the resource department at school. I guess it's good, but it's also very frustrating. He's low enough to need some extra help, but not low enough to actually get it. What to do, what to do!? But we signed the boys up for wrestling and Paul's been a super sweetie about taking charge of all that... I just don't have it in me to be on top of getting them to practices and managing Charlie at the chaotic meets. I can't say that either Canon or Andy have any natural talent in wrestling, but Andy's getting his head wrapped around some of the concepts and has won a handful of matches! Canon just doesn't have a killer instinct. I guess he's a more of a lover than a fighter! I don't know how Paul and I (who are both competitive down to our toes) produced such sweet natured boys! They're having fun with the wrestling, though, and i think this experience will be really good for both of them.

Our Christmas plans are coming along really well... but only where the boys are concerned! I'm 90% finished shopping for them. But Paul and I are having a harder time figuring out what we're going to do for ourselves. We kind of have the idea of combining our Christmas gifts for each other and getting one big item off our wishlist. Paul's got his eye (and all his spare brain cells) on a 47" flat screen TV... I've got my eye on a new couch since the one we sit on while we watch TV is at best the most uncomfortable couch on the planet and at worst, a total health-hazard! Ideally, we would love to get both, but we also REALLY really REALLY really REALLY need to install a 2nd bathroom downstairs now that we're starting to get more serious about actually potty-training Charlie... that's a whole 'nother blog post right there! When you have 5 people needing to use a potty on a regular basis, it's nice to have more than one!

Hmm, book club suggestions... I'm actually just starting Hunger Games and know that it's been very popular among book club crowds. I've kind of been MIA with my ward's book club because #1, we started reading the John Adams biography over the summer and I still haven't finished it and I'm ticked about that. #2, I've hardly had time to answer "what's on my mind" on facebook let alone get much reading done lately, and #3, the last 3 books haven't jumped out at me. Has your group read "the Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale? It's young adult lit, but oh so good and a quick and easy read. Her 'Princess Academy' is also very very good, but Goose Girl is a little bit more grown up. I've got tons of YA lit that's good... the fablehaven series is full of awesomesauce, Peter and the Star Catchers is also really fun. There's also always "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" which is a fun twist on an old favorite! But really, if you haven't read Goose Girl yet, that one was a big hit, even for the old bitty in our group! I wish I had more for you, but my reading has hit a screeching halt in the last 3 months... hopefully soon (after I've finished my Christmas cards) I'll be able to pick up some more!

I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving! I'm really excited for the long weekend with my boys and the chance to hang out with family all week. What are your plans? Do you host the big meal or do you get to relax and bring a side dish? I've decided it's my plan to never actually have to host Thanksgiving dinner. That's a level of domesticity that just seems way beyond my reach! My grandmothers china is safe for another year!

Love ya and appreciate your letter checking in on me! It's nice to know I've been missed!
Your friend,
Diana

Regrets

I was supposed to participate in another sprint triathlon today. Not because somebody told me I had to, but because 6 months ago when I did my first Telos Spring Triathlon, I decided I wanted to do it again in November to compare my times. But sadly, a couple weeks ago when I was feeling overwhelmed with stuff, I decided I was too busy to get ready for it. I was also convinced it would be too cold and yucky.

NOPE.

The weather today was beautiful. I'm sitting here at noon still in my pajamas irritated with myself that I missed out on something I wanted to accomplish again before the year was through. I'm annoyed that my desire to workout died away after that red rock relay race and that I have not maintained my fitness level to be able to do this triathlon in style. I realized last night that I COULD have started and finished the race, but it would have been with awful results.

So, I do regret that I didn't follow through with what I had originally set out to do. I don't intend to sink into a dark pit about it or anything, but I DO intend to get my butt in gear and get started again on a consistent routine so I CAN be ready for the race again next April. I do NOT want to feel this way again!

Okay, Here's our Halloween Post

I would hate to break the unwritten rule that states in legal jargon the necessity of posting pictures of your kids in their costumes and descriptions of the halloween gatherings attended! So here ya go. We'll start off with a little collage of the few pictures we took on Halloween night (Canon was hot in his spiderman costume, so he'd taken it off by this point!).

Our Halloween was fun and very similar to last year (and the year before that, and the one before that, etc.). Every year the Croshaw siblings like to throw this big Halloween party at the lodge. Okay... it's really Amy. Without her and her killer hostessing and decorating skills, it'd never happen. Anyway, I enjoy this party because it gives us a chance to invite some of our friends that we rarely get to see over for some food and visiting. Unfortunately, Paul and I didn't do a good job getting our friends invited in time this year, so we didn't have a lot of our own "peeps" there at the party. But the few that did come, we had a GREAT time with! As we were driving to the lodge all decked out in our costumes (Paul= a demon thingy, Diana= a witch, Andy= batman, Canon= black spiderman, Charlie= red spiderman), Paul even said, "We HAVE to make sure we get a picture of all of us in our costumes." As you can guess, since this is me we're talking about here... the picture never happened. But we did have a great time eating yummy soup and treats and dancing with our friends!

On halloween night, we did what we always do... went trunk-or-treating at the church parking lot. I've heard a lot of trunk-or-treat bashing going on lately, and I gotta say, "I'M A FAN!!!" It makes the whole process take a LOT less time, you get to see your friends all dressed up (if they so choose to... SHOUT OUT to my friend Tina who was ROCKIN' it as Lt. Aurora with all her boys dressed up as the Star Trek men! She looked so HOT!), and your kids don't end up with 3 boatloads of candy.

It's kind of a blessing and a curse in our ward that we get a lot of people that COME to our trunk-or-treat, but a bunch of these moochers don't usually bring candy to PARTICIPATE in it. Here's my recommendation to those out there that go trunk-or-treat-hopping at halloween and never end up handing out any candy. Trunk-or-treating should be viewed like a candy exchange. You bring your bags of candy and you leave with an equivalent amount distributed between your children's candy bags. I don't mean to be a hater or anything... I'm just saying.

But I really shouldn't be complaining because I'm actually really glad that my kids didn't come home with a ton of candy. I'm the kind of mom that hates the constant fight with my children when there is a lot of junkfood in the house. I'm SO over the constant whining that follows the comment, "you can have another piece after you eat some REAL food for lunch." So I basically just say, "have at it kids!" and let them eat the whole bag as quickly as possible. This way, they're only sick for one or two days, there is less time with all that sugar all over their teeth, and then I'M not tempted to eat it for days on end! See? Win-win for all! Canon even told me on Sunday, "hey, I didn't eat any lunch!" My response was something along the lines of, "I think you had candy for lunch." I'm happy to report that the candy is already gone!

So there ya go... I'm a good mommy for documenting Halloween 2009!