Elder Einfeldt

Hey kids,  Blair's little brother Joel is serving a mission in Tokyo, Japan. So if you happen to have any extra prayers about you, please send them his way, along with the other missionaries (and, well, everyone) in Japan at this time.

Also did you know that the minimum donation for the Red Cross is only $10? I'm pretty sure I can spare a Hamilton or two for Blair's baby brother. It's be pretty great if you could as well.  :)

So far all we know is that Joel is accounted for and that he is safe. We're anxiously awaiting more information.


UPDATE 03/12/11 - We received a short e-mail from Joel letting us know that he is doing well, and is using the yellow work gloves Maureen sent him.:)

Thank you all for your kind support and prayers!

Serendipity

Lately my house has had a very distinct odor about it. Let me give you a hint. This odor is usually accompanied with one or more of the following: taken away toys, an "i'm sorry", tears, lies, laundry, laundry, laundry, mad dad, frustrated mom, and always a pair of pants with a big wet spot on the front. And no, we are not potty training Astoria. It's the other one. The already potty trained one that's causing us grief.

Of course like any rational mother, I start blaming myself, assuming that i'm doing something to make her rebel. I assume that there is something 'wrong' with us and that i'm a bad mother because I can't keep my four-year old dry. The saddest part about it? She lost Lego Harry Potter because of it (because a good percentage of her accidents were while playing said game) This is almost just as sad for me as it is for her. We just unlocked the Accio spell! Come ON! Oh well. She asked if we could watch the first Harry Potter movie together last night, which was so very magical. She kept comparing it to the game. "Hey, what?! I thought that Draco Maff-loy threw cake at Her-my-mee!"

but back to the point...

In the midst of beating myself up over all this, the universe takes a hand. teamBoo, out of the blue, posts a little something that reminds me, Hey, i'm not alone in this. I'm not a terrible mother, or a terrible human being just because my four-year old has bladder control issues. 

 Here is little excerpt from teamBoo:

I peed my pants well into my 20's. As a kid, my sisters would hold me down and make me laugh until i peed (it didn't take much). Once, when i was pregnant with Elyott, I had to change my pants 7 times during one particularly hilarious game night. SEVEN times. I was 19. I thought it's what every little giggly girl did, until I grew up and very few of my friends could relate to my pants wetting confession. It isn't my most proud feature, but there it is (for the record i haven't in like 5 years ;)

My daughter Elyott can relate to this. like 100%. 


And it is ultra disgusting when i go to check if her clothes are clean or dirty and i (without fail) take WAY too big of a whiff (when just a little sniff would've sufficed)...and then my face melts off. And then i think, "uhhh! when is she gonna grow out of this!?" and then the little cricket that lives in my clock reminds me of my first sentence of this blog post (damn.)

Then sometimes I stress about Elyott seeming "so big" already at the ripe age old age of 8. Like how most of her conversations have a varied but certain degree of precociousness (i'm sure every mother kinds feels this way about their kid) but more specifically lacking that awesome preschool aged janky vocabulary set. Most of the time she is usually pretty spot on when she is figuring something out, and I start to long for the days when she said and did really awesome and ridiculous things like: pulled her halter top shirts down below her nipples cause she thought it looked "fancy" or sang the lyrics "popcorn popping on the 'rake-a-dot' tree!" (instead of "apricot") or when she was a baby and we'd say "i love you" and she'd say a very efficient "too"...OR when she laid her clothes out for school to look like this.

I'm glad I can always rely on the Boo-ster for reminders that we are not alone in this crazy motherhood business.

In this totally secluded little world I've created for myself (remember?) I frequently forget how common things like wet pants, trips to the hospital for strange things put in the ears/nose/whatever, and being totally overwhelmed on a daily basis, really is.

And please, if you've had similar issues? Please please let me know. Especially if you have any little golden nuggets of wisdom to share.

Getting Outta Dodge

I realize that I'm not the world's most frequent blogger, and the fact that I'm alerting you to a short, weekend absence seems pretty ridiculous when I usually cap out around 5 posts a month.

But anyway. We are going to escape for a few minutes.

Till then, here are five things for your face. Sorry it's not ten. I'm really only functioning at 45% capacity today.

1. The PHS Rams finished their season with a 19-6 record.(going 10-0 in region). They lost in the second round of the state tournament (bummer) but went on to win the consolation tournament, taking 5th overall. Not too shabby for a second-year head coach, don't you think?

Some of my most favoritest pictures from the season

 

  

  

 

Gary has the prettiest 3-pt shot. He should have been a dancer. 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Dave Mineer

2. I have been sick since Valentine's day. Lamest thing ever. I keep waking up at 3 a.m. with horrible coughing fits. Guh. If this cold had a crotch I would kick it.

3. You know what's loads of fun? Letting your topless one-year old push your four-year old around in a toy stroller.

4. I read more books during the month of February than any other month last year. Does this have anything to do with basketball season? Probably.

5. In case you were curious, the peas are safely out of Elliot's ears. Silly head Elliot.

Don't Try This at Home

Elliot had a pretty rough day yesterday. Threw a tantrum at school, threw a fit as we were leaving the gym, and just to top it all off, she decided to shove frozen peas in her ears before bed last night. She asked for a cup of frozen peas as a bedtime snack. Your four-year old asks you for healthy food as a snack. That should have been a huge red flag right there. I sent her to go watch a movie, and she comes out 20 minutes later crying.

Because she stuck one pea in each ear. And can't get them out.

Took her to the ER last night... they couldn't get them out either.

So I'm stuck here at work, while the amazing Blair-face takes my little Princess Pea to an ear, nose, and throat specialist in St. George.

Kids. Seriously...


Update: She's going to have a little surgery tomorrow morning to get them out.

Oh Elliot.

What we do on Saturdays

When I was a little kid, I would ride my bike to the library. Which, when I think back on it is rather impressive considering it was about a mile from my house through the busiest part of town. Then again, back then it was a pretty small town.

I lived in the library like my husband lived in basketball gyms. I was a true library rat.

Upon moving to Southern Utah in 2003, One of my first orders of business was to get a library card. I was terribly disappointed when I walked in. It was not the clean, well lit place I was used to back home. Most books on the shelf looked like they had been donated as rejects from the goodwill in 1960.

Last year I decided to give it a second try. By this time a new library had been built near the park. Also by this time I had three impressionable young ones to wrestle with. The new library is spacious, full of windows, and the perfect place to chase around this little nutter.

Elliot's favorites are ones that get read in British accents

Rou pushed this stool around for a good 20 minutes

Wow. Astoria doing an ABC puzzle. How totally uncharacteristic.

We have been back nearly every week since then.

Tell your Mom, Tell your Dad. We were Super Rad.

Remember these guys?

Ahhhhh. the memories.

Ten things for today:

1. I have this little sister Laura. She is small, and very funny. Okay so actually she is taller than me, which I totally resent.But she is very funny, and awesome, and clever, and beautiful, and needs to come hang out with me post-haste.

(sorry it's a tiny picture)

2. You know what would be just stellar? If i could somehow put my smallest one to sleep without the use of boobs. Dear Rousseau, you are cute and I'm totes in love with the teeth in your happy little smile. This does not make it okay, however, for you to use said teethies to use your mamma as a chew-toy.

3. I know my dad reads this blog... He would probably be fine if he skipped this next one. I realize that no one cares/wants to hear this info. but it's a somewhat big deal to me and worth noting. 

I'm officially not pregnant. Why is this even a big deal, and why am I acting like a 12 year old? Probably because when the thing that reminds you you are not pregnant is absent for over 2 years, you kind of look forward to its return. There. Enough said.

4. I have never been good at Christmas cards. Which is why in the future, yearly mail correspondence from Team Einfeldt will be conducted on Valentine's day. Because let's face it, by Valentine's day I'm sick of this lousy winter confinement and ready to communicate with the outside world again. I'm on my way to the post office just after this post, in fact. So some of you may have something in ye olde mailbox soonish.

5. Everyone should have a friend named Katie. Especially friends name Katie who talk them OUT of spending 80 dollars on fabric, and encourage them to shop around a bit more. Guess what, Katie? I got what I needed for less than 20. Boo-freaking-yah.

6. By the way, I would post a link to Katie's blog so you can win her awesome scarf. But I want to win. So, you know, Fat Chance.


7. I found out that on of my absolute FAVORITE authors from my childhood passed away last week. Brian Jacques, the author of the Redwall series was incredibly creative and one of the greatest storytellers i've ever read. In his memory i'm going to read the first three books (maybe more) of the Redwall series this summer. Won't you join me?

8. My friend Chow has been talking about grammar pet peeves on her blog. I have one. I'm not nearly as hilarious or creative as Hyperbole and a Half, so if you want to read funny go there and read about the Alot. But anyway. Do people realize the difference between passed and past? Like someone writing something about waltzing passed a box of pencil shavings? No my friends. Just no. And Dear Utah girls - Just because you do not know how to pronounce the word "Sale" does not make it okay to tell me that you have some really cute bows "For Sell" just sayin'.

9. If you have tips on how to grow a blueberry bush (preferably indoors...) pass the info to me, would ya?

10. Last of all, May I present to you the UNDEFEATED REGION CHAMPION PAROWAN RAMS!!!!

Check out that handsome devil, He's-a mine!

And Elliot is in L O V E with Zack. 

Speaking of love, I am completely aware that it is now Valentine's day. So Yay Love!!! Now go eat some chocolate!

Two out of Three Ain't Bad

Elliot: Ike likes Doctor Who. He's really cool.
Mom: I like Doctor Who, so does that mean I'm cool too?
Elliot: Mom, you're smart, and beautiful... but you're not cool.