Shannie Speaks

Potty training

2011-04-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

I remember when Emma was about ready to be potty trained. My mother-in-law knew I had my hands full, with two kids and one on the way. She offered to take Em and train her. She picked her up Monday evening and brought her back on Wednesday. By Friday, Jean was in the psych ward of the hospital. Granted, I had my suspicions that she was crazy when she offered. :)

Fast forward a few years, and it is all happening again. Only this time I am doing it on my own. With a child who is even more strong willed than Emma...if that is possible. I am not fearing that I will end up locked up, I am hoping for it. A little time in a padded cell, where I won"t step in someone else's urine in my bathroom sounds like a good time. "They're coming to take me away, ha ha, hee hee, to the funny farm..."

I have been doing pretty well on the whole, not getting too upset when she has accidents. But I just broke. Between her peeing and whining and Ame's just plain whining... I sent Annye to bed (wearing a pull-up over her panties so I won't have to clean up her bed later) and am hiding in my office. I hope to regain my composure and lose my migraine before the girls finish their homework and chores.

"Cause when they are done, we will have to bring the port-a-potty out to my office (yeck!) and I have to help the girls make skirts.
We are making them for activity days and I need to have the process down pat by... well weeks ago. So i have to do the practice run with the girls. Which means I should get off the computer and get things ready.

All I am going to say is I hope Mark brings me home a shake tonight. Or cleans the kitchen for me. Something. I just need someone to throw me a freakin' bone, here.

Craft insanity

2011-03-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I've done it again. My aunt called me a few weeks back, asking me to tat her a necklace. I made her a black one last summer and this time she wanted a brown one, tweaked a bit. When I made the first one, I had used a pattern as the jumping off point and then made some changes. I wanted to make sure that I had changed it enough and wasn't infringing on copyright. But I couldn't find the original in my binder if patterns. So I spent quite a bit of time on the web, looking for it. And as I searched, I found a few patterns that talked about Bruges crochet or Bruges lace. I thought, hey, I can do that. So I got a few patterns and instructions. And I practiced.

And in my searching for Bruges patterns, I found instructions for hairpin lace. And a pattern for a shawl that I really wanted to do. So I made a makeshift hairpin lace fork and got busy. It isn't difficult, really. But there isn't much instruction around. I even found a loom, much more up to date than the fork. I made a bookmark. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but not bad.

Well, while I was researching these new techniques, I saw a piece of bobbin lace. And I remembered Margie Haire, the mom of my best friend in 6th grade. Sister Haire made beautiful lace. She is the one who got me into card making and rubber stamping, by the way. I never saw her make lace, but I did see her pillow and bolster, bobbins and lace. I think the bobbins she used are called spangles, the ones with the beads attached to the ends. I loved them... Big surprise.

I googled bobbin lace and there weren't many hits. So I got to thinking, maybe this is another "lost art." And you know how I love those lost arts. If it's obscure, then I think it would be fun to do. More than that, I think it is my responsibility to learn how to do it and teach others. I found a book at The Friends of SC Library about bobbin lace making and I bought it.

The problem is... I don't want to spend a lot of time and money on something that I can't do. And one of the patterns I saw was 10 pages long. Am I going to be able to keep things straight in my head to make anything? The patterns all look like Greek to me. And a package of bobbins (not the spangles, just boring plain ones) was like $20. Not too expensive, but I have a lot of hobbies to finance. And, like I said, I hate to waste money on something I won't take to. And I would have to make a pillow. Work and supplies.

But I hate to quit when there is a challenge placed before me. And Easter is coming up. And Mark is going to be gone the whole week before Easter, which means I am doing all the Easter basket shopping. By myself. So I did some more research and I found a beginner's kit. It has all I need to see if I like it. And it is costing me $33, including shipping. So in a few weeks, I will be able to make lace.

I found a website that called bobbin lace making pillow lace making, so I googled that. And I found a website that had tons of hints and instructions. It seems to me that there aren't a lot of patterns available, but a lot of talk about how to make your own patterns. So I guess that is what we do. We, like I am already a lace maker.

Hopefully I will take to it. I have all that tatting thread I bought that is more suitable for doilies than jewelry, but I don't want to tat doilies. Too much chance of messing up with that small thread. And it would take FOREVER! But it may be easier to do on a pillow. Then I could make doilies for my girls for their trousseau.

Anyway, this is my crazy craft life. I think I may have possibly bitten off more than I can chew. But I am pretty excited to try!

2011-03-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Joanie,
So I was talking to my dear friend today about blogs. She is starting a blog so we can all stay in touch. We were talking about how she doesn't have anyone following her blog yet and I said I would. She joked that then she could just start every post like she was writing to me. And I thought, that is a great idea! We talked for hours and still had plenty to say. I know it is a little 'Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail', but I told her I was going to do it, so she would HAVE to read my blog to hold me to it. Of course, I neglected to give her my blog name. Mostly because I forgot it myself. And I forgot hers. Guess I will call her tomorrow.

I have learned a bit about myself in the last few days.
First, I cannot be trusted with pretty cool phones. Sometimes I leave them in my bed, but only on days when I wash the sheets. But now I have a REALLY cool phone, so I should be okay, right?

Secondly, I get right up in the morning when I have a new phone.... Because I am afraid I will hit the snooze and pull my phone into bed... And then it will go into the washing machine. Mark thought it was funny once, I don't think he would again. And I never thought it was funny.

And, on a more serious note, I really HAVE to do crafts. In the last few months, I have been reading a lot. I really love to read. It is such a great thing to do. And my girls and I are reading the same books, so we get to discuss them. I love that they are old enough (or read on a high enough level) that we can enjoy the same books. I think we are reading at an 8-9 grade level. Yep, my girls are in 2nd and 3rd grade. But enough bragging. The reason I bring it up is that the girls read A LOT of books. And I try to read the books before them, to make sure they aren't reading anything over their maturity levels. It seems like if I don't, they end up reading stuff they shouldn't. So I got to the library once a week, sometimes twice. And I get four or so books for them, plus the books for the younger kids. And I read my heart out so the girls will have something to read and we will have something to discuss. And occasionally, the books are over their levels and more on mine. And I thought I was spending some quality me time. But I just realized, when drowning my phone made me want to lay down and cry, that I am way too close to going off the deep end. I was feeling really unhappy with life, but couldn't figure out any reason why. So I forced myself not to sleep (not too hard, my sheets were still in the wash) and I went to do some crafts in my office.
I was just ripping old sheets into strips to do a rug for my girls. This isn't my favorite project. In fact, I am not fond at all of it. And I was doing the tedious part of the project. I started out with my office door locked so the kids couldn't bother me. But after about 10 minutes, I had my door open and the music blaring and I was getting things done. I think I spent six plus hours out there. Part of the time, the kids were out playing in the cul-de-sac while I worked. Then I continued after I put them to bed. I really enjoyed myself.
All along, I have been missing that creative outlet. Mark said I needed time by myself to make something for someone else. And he may have a point. And even if that sounds more altruistic than I really am, maybe it can be a guideline for me.

Agony

2010-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was leaving Sunday School and Brother Taylor asked if he could talk to me. I got a weird look on my face, I guess, and he said it wasn't that bad. Then he proceeded to ask me to speak in sacrament meeting next Sunday. Wasn't that bad? I think I would have preferred to have a second calling than to have to speak. I didn't say that out loud, did I? The topic for the month, or quarter, or whatever... is unity. Bro Taylor said he would email me a talk he wants for me to use. He did, and I have printed it up, but I haven't read it yet. I don't really want to work on it, I feel too anxious. How am I going to do this? I have never done well with public speaking, but I seem to be getting worse in my old age.

If that wasn't bad enough, I got a call from Sister Johnston tonight. She reminded me about a meeting in two Sundays for all the kids who are turning eight this year. She mentioned it as a reminder to a parent, and then asked me to speak for about 5 minutes, get the girls excited about Activity Days. No pressure!

I think that I am cracking up as I get older. 'Aww, I used to be kinda cool!' I was a girl who taught Family History and Gospel Doctrine classes. I used to do fun things, like paintballing. And I knew things. History facts and movie quotes. I feel like I am a different person than I was back then. Maybe I will be a completely different person in a few more years. Weird. Anyway...

I have been working on my afghan. But I am on a square that I cannot do while there is any noise or distraction. I have had to redo it a few times, which doesn't please me. But I will press on. One square done, twenty-three to go. Hopefully I will be able to do it well.

All Fun and Games

2010-02-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

I love certain things about my life.

1. I love that Annye didn't throw a fit about taking a nap today.
2. Also that she has slept through the other kids being so loud during her nap.
3. I am in my skinny jeans.
4. I folded six or seven heaping baskets of laundry today.
5. The dryer is on the fritz, so I can't do much more laundry. It has to cool off for hours between loads. That means break time for me.
6. The dryer isn't mine, so I don't care as much about it quitting.
7. My dresser is fairly junk-free.
8. The kids are playing quietly.
9. I have an hour until I have to start dinner.
10. I have a very cute background for my blog.
11. I am in a grateful mood--that doesn't happen enough.
12. I had a hamburger with two types of cheese, tomato, pickles, and an egg over medium on it for lunch. On gluten-free bread, no less. No bacon, but still pretty good.

Ethan was supposed to be cleaning up the mess he made upstairs before lunch. He said he got it done, but when I went up, NOTHING was cleaned up. So I made him come back up and do it. I stayed up here to help/police. Annye ate more than half of his hamburger while we were upstairs. He went down and started BAWLING. And Annye was so proud of herself. I scolded her, but my heart wasn't really in it. For a few reasons. First, she looked so cute. Second, she ate TONS. That was a big burger. I almost couldn't eat all of mine, and the only difference between them was that I had three more small pickle slices than she did. And she had hers and half of his. WOW! The last, and worst parent reason, is that it served him right. How often have I come down and seen him eating her food? Or sitting by her, forcing her to "share," as she is crying and saying no. "Mom, Annye wants to share with me." It was great to see him get it back. Anyway, he still had plenty to eat.

Emma had a presentation today. It is always a fight to get her to do it. I found that, if I come, she will do the presentation. But last time, I forgot about it. And she did it anyway. In all the practicing, I kept praising her for doing her last one all alone. Did I mention that the book was left at home and so she picked a library book and did it on the fly? Major accomplishment. Well, I knew that I wouldn't be able to come, with sick kids, and not feeling well myself. I prepared her for it for days. She said she thought she could do it alone. I said she had practiced enough, she could do it without being shy. She told me, "I will try. You can't PLAN these things, Mom." Anyway, I have just praised her and told her she could. Today, when I dropped her off, I wished her luck. She told me, "Mom, I am going to be a woman today. I am a woman now." She got all 3s, the highest you can get. I am so proud of my little woman.

Annye's smile is so cute! Her little teeth are so fun, except when she bites someone. We are working on that. She has done it twice. So I think we can nip it in the bud. But, anyway, she makes these funny little faces all the time, she cracks me up. It is so hard not to laugh and encourage her. She spends half of meal time goofing off.

Ame has this awful cough, I worry about her. It doesn't seem to improve any when she isn't active. She was doing better, but we played WAR on Sunday and she laughed so hard it got her coughing. It was funny, before the hacking up a lung. Makes me want to play with her right now. In fact, I think I will.

Sick and Tired

2010-02-01T19:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I kept the kids home from church. They had been coughing quite a bit. Mark went, he was subbing for Ethan's primary teacher. So it was just us. We watched Of Heaven and Home with Grandpa Keller. Then we played WAR. My back was hurting after lunch, so I laid down for a while. And fell asleep. I woke up in perfect time to make dinner and then have family home evening. Cream cheese brownies, yum.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if the girls would be able to go to school today when we went to bed last night. I told them to get up and dressed and then we would see. I figured that getting dressed would get them coughing if they were going to. But when I woke up this morning, late, they were still asleep. Ame woke up when I went in, but she looked half dead. Emma wouldn't wake up. So I went back to bed for almost two hours.

So they have been home all day. And, although they cough a lot, they still have plenty of energy. Especially Emma. Not good energy. She has been a bully to everyone. Making the baby cry, hurting Ame and Ethan. I am going crazy.

She has enough energy to be a beast, she has enough to go back to school. But I worry about her getting other people sick. Or getting worse herself. And Ame is still pretty bad. So do I let them go to school tomorrow? I don't know what to do.

I have had to cancel Activity Days this week. I just don't see the sense in having others come over to get what we have. I am bummed, but it is for the best.

We are running out of medicine and I am running out of patience. And I worry about the kids. I hope this ends soon.

A Magnificent Obsession?

2010-01-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

So, I craft. I card, I scrapbook, I make jewelry, I crochet and tat. But the one thing I DON'T do is knit. I have tried over the years, but haven't been able to get the hang of it. I got my Grandma Keller's needles, at least some of them. But I guess I have just been keeping them for sentimental reasons.

I don't know why, but recently I decided to give it another go. I wasn't going to let two needles and some yarn lick me. I bought a book for preteens and started slow. I think I finally got the idea. I can do a garter stitch. I knit, I purl, I can even increase a knit, both the back and front method and the invisible method. If I can't do something, I search for instructions on how I can. Over the years I have collected a few how-to books, and I am searching them from cover to cover. I think I have eight different ones, plus pages printed off of various websites. Little by little, I am getting it.

My friend has this headband that is so cute. I saw it right after I started knitting. I thought, I can do that! She offered to let me borrow it, but I said, nah, I can do it. I could have, if it was crochet. I did crochet one, but it didn't lay right. So I practiced knitting and I tried it, but I couldn't get it to look right. I researched a lot, but I wasn't finding what I needed. What I needed was a stitch that was half knit, half crochet.

So I checked around. I found something called tunisian crochet, or the afghan stitch. It is also called the half crochet. One of the stitches looked like it would do the trick. So I printed up all the instructions that I could find and began learning something new. After days and days, and tendonitis, I found out that it wasn't going to work out. Completely wrong for what I wanted.

I thought about it and realized the answer WAS knitting, but I just needed to tweak what I have already learned. I am really trying hard... I don't think I will hit too many snags, I hope. I have tried to work on it, but the tendonitis isn't necessarily allowing it yet.

For weeks, I have been spending every waking minute working on this project. The really funny thing is that I tried Courtney's headband on and the style looks awful on me. I mean, really awful. I am not quite sure why I am going to all the trouble. Just to say I can, I guess. I don't know that I could call it a magnificent obsession, but it is sure an obsession. And I am what I am, no matter what.

Whining and Fighting and Tears, OH MY!

2010-01-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

I am currently hiding in my room while all four kids are taking a much needed (and I might add, earned) nap. I am not foolish enough to think they are really napping, but they are in their rooms, and that is good enough for me.

Annye is having major issues lately. Crying over everything. If she doesn't get her way, she cries. And cries. Pretty soon, she is crying and holding her head. I think she cries so much it gives her a headache. I know it gives me one. Still, she is not the main problem.

The girls are SO contentious all the time. I have heard that they are nice to each other at school, but I don't really believe it. Because one can be happy alone, but as soon as the other one comes out of the classroom, the whining and fighting begin. "You never let me get in the van first." "Your bag is in my way." I don't want to hold your left hand, I want to hold your right." That last one is a joke, because neither one of them seems to be able to grasp left and right. But I digress. They fight over who gets which chair during homework time, who gets to read to me first, who placed their shoes closer to where they are supposed to go. You name it, I have heard them argue about it. And whenever then can, they get Ethan involved.

Today we had to go to the store after school, to buy little things like meat and cheese for lunches. I didn't want to, but they whine if they aren't allowed to eat. So we went. As soon as the baby got strapped into the van, she started screaming. She fell asleep when we were almost there. That meant I had to carry her at the store. Which meant that the bigger kids had to hold hands across the parking lot and then help me in the store. Emma was supposed to push the cart, Ethan was supposed to pull, Ame was going to grab what I needed and put it in the cart. I thought it would work just fine. But the boy threw a fit because he wanted to push, Emma pushed him away, they kept running in to me, Ethan decided he would push towards Emma. This whole huge struggle. And I was becoming that mom, I could feel it building up. You know, the one who flips out in the middle of the store and just starts yelling at her kids. Then, after about 15 minutes of just trying to get to the isles I needed to go to without someone dying, Ame started to complain that she hadn't been able to help me get anything. "When can I get something? Why aren't you having me get anything?" That was the straw. We left the store without anything. So I hope we have enough meat and cheese for lunches tomorrow.

I was so frazzled, I went to another store. But this time I went in alone. I figured this was a sort of a Darwin experiment. I half expected that when I got back out to the van, I would have less children because they would kill each other. I figured if they did, at least I wouldn't be there to hear it. GOING CRAZY! I spent a little extra time in the store, enjoying the fact that no one was picking fights there. I was only there for 5-10 minutes, but when I left, I had a spring in my step. Things were looking up.

I got in the van and everyone was sitting in their respective seats. Annye was still asleep. The kids were laughing, quietly. I asked if everyone was nice, they said yes. I got in, happy that I had left them for a moment so they could regroup. By the time I put on my seat belt, they were at it again.

out of the mouth of babes... or the girl of a million words

2010-01-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Annye is at such a wonderful age... if you don't count the tantrums over a myriad of things. I had forgotten, with the boy, how amazing it is when they learn a new word every time you turn around. Or maybe it is because I have dealt with a kid with a speech problem most recently that I am so amazed. Either way...

At church, we were walking the halls (long story) and she saw a picture of kids at a picnic. She pointed at it and said "eating." Not eat, eating. It was cute.

She now says Mama, Daddy, Emma, Ame, Ethan (Eths), Annye, sandwich, bear, car, ... I don't want to bore you. Because I am sure that no one would care as much as I do. And that's okay. I especially love when she hurts me and says, "Torry." Yesterday she kept saying "Hupie" and I was at a loss. Over and over, and I couldn't figure it out. Finally, Ethan went over and helped her get the toys she wanted. Then she said "tan too" and stopped saying "hupie." I don't know if Ethan understood she was saying help please, or if he just got lucky. It still takes me a minute when I hear it... It's like "me-ah." That means come here. It is pretty cute.

I love how good the kids are with her. They are the reason she has such an extensive vocab. Emma and Ame began labelling everything when we were teaching Ethan to speak. And they have kept it up. It drives me a bit batty sometimes, but I'm that proud of them, too. At lunch, Annye picks up a chip, or grape, or piece of cheese. "Mama, mama, mama," and holds it out to me. I won't play, but Ethan does. So she picks up another piece...

They are very good kids, all. They play together pretty well. This morning Emma got Annye out of bed so Ethan could sleep in. Then she brought her into our room to wake us up. I told her I wish she hadn't done that. She said, "You needed to get up, didn't you?" Dang smart kid.

We have started reading the actual scriptures, with me pointing out the corresponding pictures in the Book of Mormon Reader for Ethan and Annye. The girls read so well. Must have gotten it from Grandpa Keller. I hope Ethan will do as well, although he is getting a late start. Back to the scriptures, though. I am having a hard time keeping the boy and baby engaged. Tonight Annye kept saying "bear, bear, bear," until I took the bear away. Then she screamed the rest of the time. She quieted down for prayers, even saying 4 words of her own prayer. When she got the bear back, she was happy again and went right to bed.

I had a friend over to scrapbook. I was so excited to work on my family scrapbook. But when she got here, I just couldn't get into it. I needed to journal, and maybe I just couldn't do that without talking out loud to myself. I don't know. So I decided to card. But I couldn't come up with the creativity. In over two hours, I made one fairly plain card. I played a bit with the embossing powder I bought this past weekend, but that is all. I need to get that book done. I am still at Ethan's birth story. Then Mark making Red5, the move to Utah County, Annye's birth story, and the move to California. If I would just work on it... I think I will do a bit each day. I have written the rest of the boy's, I will type it up tomorrow. And if I can get Red5 done at the same time, I can print them up on the same paper. Maybe even the move. I am going to do it. So excited.

My very first post

2010-01-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

Life in California
I have been here for five months now. Right in the middle of winter and I am complaining about the weather. I think you have to, this time of year, no matter where you are. It was 46 this morning. Utah friends are saying shut up right now, I know. It rained so much last week that I don't think the grass will ever dry out. We walked to the school today for the first time in what feels like forever. But we had to walk home fast to beat the rain.

I really think that I am getting used to life here. I went out with the Utah BlooSky wives last weekend. There was a craft show in Anaheim. What does it say when I feel happier with life after a few hours around craft supplies? But, honestly, I had such a fun time. It is nice to be around people who are in the same situation as I am. Far from home. I am jealous that they live so close together. Mark and I talk often about moving closer to them all when our lease is up.

A friend from our ward is supposed to come over to scrapbook tomorrow. I hope we have fun. It will be nice to have some time in my office. I need to play in there more often. It is hard to, with a million kids. I think I would have a better outlook on life if I worked on my stuff. I have been knitting until my hands are about to fall off, so it would be nice to work on something different for a change.

Speaking of knitting: I think I am getting the hang of it. I can't imagine ever enjoying it as much as I do crochet, but I am going to lick it. I don't know why I don't just work on tatting, but I feel like I have to get it this time. I wish Grandma Keller was here to help me. She could explain it to me. Too little, too late.