The Young and the Restless

While The Kids Are Away...

I feel like I'm a bad mom when I say that I enjoy having my kids in school. It's not that I don't enjoy having them around, because of course they mean the world to me. It's just that I feel like I'm a more patient and loving mom when I have that time to just rejuvinate. I feel like I can get everything done that I need to while they're gone so that I can really enjoy being with them when they're home. Besides, they really enjoy school so I think it's sort of a win-win situation. It's just been nice filling my time getting projects done, going out to lunch with friends, going to the temple (thanks Chelsea!), leisurely shopping trips and uninterrupted cleaning days. Some of my projects include finally making the drapes for my loft. They're nothing fancy but I've just been putting it off for like a year. I was also excited to bottle homemade spaghetti sauce for the first time with my friend Mandy (thankyou!). Yes, it is cheaper and less time consuming just to buy it, but there is something about doing it that makes me feel so domesticated and you can't even compare the taste of this 100% natural, no preservative sauce--so yummy! Besides, it's nice just having an excuse to spend all day hanging out with her :). Speaking of domesticated, I just learned how to make homemade bread for the first time (not counting my bread maker) and this isn't just any bread, this is THE sacrament bread. We're talking seriously good. Each Sunday I battle with Jayden as he tries to grab as many handfuls to shove into his face before I can stop him. I even catch Jason eyeing out the biggest piece sometimes. It's in the oven now so I really hope it turns out (thanks Trish)! A couple of us also started a little craft club in our ward. It's not ward sponsored, so it's just a word of mouth thing (this is an invitation to anyone in the ward reading this, so let me know if you want to come!) and it has been so fun getting together once a month to make different crafts. So far we've done these canvas art, hooded towels and holiday decor signs. There are so many cute things planned, I can't wait to make them all. We've got some seriously creative and talented people in our ward, thanks girls for sharing!

We've also been doing some house projects like replacing this entry way light. My neighbor moved (sniff, sniff) and told us we could have her chandelier if we could find a way to get it down. When there's a will, there's a way. We rented this huge 14 ft ladder from Home Depot and then just try to imagine pregnant Jamie up there 2 stories high trying to balance this huge light fixture while Jason did the wiring, not once but 3 different times as we went between houses switching them out. It was pretty scary (and probably not the smartest thing), but Kylie was nice enough to offer to catch me if I fell. She also gave us another light fixture for our kitchen and this electronic basketball thing for the toy room that attaches to the wall (don't even get me started on hanging that thing!) She was such a great neighbor, I'm going to miss her!

So it's been nice feeling productive lately, especially since pretty soon my days will be spent changing diapers and having a baby permanantly attached to my boob.