One Year Left

Remember that whole 101 list thing? If not, you can get the low down at dayzeroproject.com. The basic idea is that you make a list of 101 things that you want to accomplish in the next 1001 days.

My starting date for this was January 1, 2010. My ending date will be September 28, 2012.

That means only have ONE YEAR LEFT!

Here's a few things that I have checked off in the past few months:

*Can my own fruits or veggies- Completed 9/16/11*

This was the first year I attempted a garden, and slowly but surely my tomatoes have produced enough for me to bottle them up. It's the most strangely satisfying thing to preserve something home grown.

*Hike R Mountain- Completed 6/4/11*

I blogged about this before. And I can't believe it took so many years to do this. But it was SO worth it.
*Support Davi with Junior Miss- Completed 3/18/11*

Making the drive up to WA to see her compete was totally worth it. She was gorgeous*
*Get my teeth checked and cleaned at the dentist- Completed 4/12/11*

Should I be more embarrassed that this took me years to accomplish? probably.
*Own the School House Rock videos on DVD- Completed 8/27/11*

I scored these sweet babies at Barnes and Noble for a mere $15 bucks. All 40 original songs! LOVE. Hinder is forced to watch them whenever I want my "conjunction, junction..." fix.

*Highlight my hair mostly blonde- Completed 7/13/11*

A total change, but a welcome one. (I can't believe this is the only picture that documents this hair color. I'm blaming the baby. She makes me have an aversion to ground beef, ice cream, and cameras)

I'm currently working on a few list items right now. Like having another child and putting together a preschool program. My most challenging goal at the moment is waking up each morning (6:30 a.m.) for personal scripture study. In the words of Maroon 5, "I never want to leave this bed..."

Total Accomplished on 101 List: 49

Left:51

Wish me luck!

Bathroom Redo

We recently gave our bathroom a much needed face lift.

The pictures don't do justice.

Before

What you don't see= Chipped and discolored paint job

Before

What you don't see= Layer of textured fuzz on the blue wallpaper. Gag.
After

Wallpaper gone.

After

New shower curtain that compliments the new pebble grey paint job.

After

White trim to finish off the look.

Next project is the nursery.

We have serious work to do!

Motherhood

Sometimes being a mom really stinks. A few nights ago, we had one of those times.

Disclaimer: This is not brief.

In the past few months, Hinder has made some major changes. Two of those changes have been being potty trained and moving into a regular twin bed. No more cage. The combination of these two developments have thrown a wrench into our bedtime routine.

Well...a few nights ago was the worst. The kid would NOT stay in bed.

Any mother out there will relate to this kind of night.

I put in him bed at 8:30. He came to say hi at 9. Half past nine, he needs a drink. Then he cried for me to sleep with him at 10. Then he fell asleep. About an hour, I finally fell asleep. An hour later, a little figure opens my door and needs help in the bathroom, and after the bathroom he wants to rock-a-bye, and a snuggle and about fifteen other things.

At this point my patience is wearing thin.

Then about 2 a.m., he needs to go to the bathroom AGAIN. Dragging this pregnant body out of bed is HARD. But Riley needed to be up at 4 a.m. and I didn't have the heart to wake him. So again, we did the potty and the fight back to sleep.

After collapsing back in bed, my sweet husband's alarm went off at 4:10. I'm awake again and annoyed.

Then the clincher. 5:30 a.m. rolls around and again, H needs help in the potty. (the poor dear battled a little digestive troubles this week...as if you can't tell) I beg him to do it himself, but that leads to a mini-meltdown, and I quickly conclude that getting up and helping him will be much faster than encouraging independence at this point. After the potty he wants a cup of milk. In my exhausted state, I don't have energy to argue. If the kid had asked for a Dr. Pepper with a pinch of lemon and a bendy straw, I would have done it. So I get the blasted cup of milk, bring it to him, the end right? Wrong. The second I close the door, he's whining again because the lid is clogged and he can't drink. Next thing I know, he bit on the lid in frustration, causing the entire contents of the cup to fall directly on his face. Milk seeped through all the blankets, sheets, and down to the mattress pad.

And then I came undone. Tears of frustration and tiredness streamed down my cheeks as I tried not to utter curse words too loudly. I pulled him out of bed and stripped his clothes, stripped the bed, and plopped him in the tub. He was crying hysterically that his milk had "bit him in the eyes". ( I guess his eyes were wide open when the flood of milk hit). Twenty minutes later, he was clean, new blankets were found, and we were back in bed.

8:00 a.m. we were up for the day.

That's when I goggled the process of getting your tubes tied.

And if that's all motherhood was, I would be done.

But then, just a few hours later, I find the little guy doing this in the living room.

He's fixin' his bike just like daddy does. Look at that concentration! He informed me that his "telephones" (headphones) are to protect his ears from the power of his tools. And he needs goggles to protect his eyes.

For about an hour, he patiently screwed with the screwdriver and unscrewed with the "pullen wrench" (open ended wrench). This was very serious business.

And I just watched in awe and wonder, because I never taught him any of this.

And these are the moments that make motherhood magical.

I feel like the luckiest person alive to watch another human being unfold from birth through adulthood. To watch discover another persons talents and natural abilities. It's an absolute miracle. And it's precious.

My goodness, I'm just so grateful that I have a Father in Heaven who sends me horrible nights when life is getting to easy and comfortable. And just as readily sends beautiful, sweet moments when life gets too hard. That's why I'll keep doing this birth/raising children thing over and over. Because I'm not doing it by myself.

Giveaway!!

I've never done this, but I want to do it today.

Leave a comment with your address and I'll send you my favorite book for getting through tough parents days/weeks/months/years.

And I'll throw in another tried and true frustration fighter.

Lindor chocolate.

Both will change your life.

(and if you'd rather email your info, that's cool too. destryhurst@gmail.com)

Happy Day

Today, this girl turns 16. Watch out, world!

Happy Birthday, Dalyn!

Dalyn is superb because...

*She takes great pictures and lets me swipe them all the time*

*She's a stellar athlete. Always has been. I remember her scoring 20-25 points in her little dribblers basketball games*

*Gorgeous. And tall. Sheesh*

*Sweetest most gentle personality*

*She's a total go-getter. Nothing gets past this girl*

*Awesome and patient aunt with my rowdy little stinker*

Love you to death, little sister!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend might be the most unrated holiday. At least in my book.

It's a perfect last hurrah for summer and glorious way to welcome autumn.

To recap our weekend...

Friday:

4 p.m.- Riley gets off work and a quickly shoo the boys out the door for a father-son fishing trip. Hinder was so gosh darn excited and I was too! Indulging in some-much needed alone time was awesome.

Unfortunately, the only thing they caught that day was lots of "sea-weeds".

8:00- Boys roll in and we have tin foil dinners and set up the tent in the backyard. This was a first time sleeping in a tent for our little guy. Needless to say, he was bouncing off the walls. The flashlight was his favorite part.

10:45- Hinder finally falls asleep. Best sleep in a tent I've ever had! (thanks to Riley and the twin mattress he hauled in for me)

Saturday:

7:30- H is awake and rearing to go!

9:00- Start work repainting our bathroom. Before and after pictures to come! (when we finally finish it, that is) We way underestimated how long this project would take. In between college football breaks, this took our entire day.

6 p.m.- BSU opening game! Like Christmas Day for Riley. Luckily they won. And luckily someone brought seven layer bean dip to keep me entertained.

Sunday:

8 a.m.- Start of a lazy morning catching up on emails, reading, and lounging in p-jams.

1:00- Church

4:30- Idaho Falls for dinner with the Landeens. The Landeens are our favorite IF fam. They are so gracious and have us over for dinner on occasion. Jenn makes the most amazing meals. Seriously. The grilled zucchini and corn on the cob were DIVINE. And dessert...oh my lands...I could die...

(no pictures, solely because my hands were occupied with a fork for the majority of the evening)

Monday:

Eastern Idaho Fair Day!

2 p.m.- Arrive in Blackfoot and gain 3 pounds just from smelling the greasy, fried food from outside the gate.

First stop is naturally the animals barns. Nothing like the smell of dung to get you in the mood for an elephant ear!

We saw it all. Giant turkey, rabbits the size of a adolescent Labrador, horses of all shapes and sizes, sheep with fuzz, sheep with perms, and of course, cows. Lots of cows.

4:30ish- Hinder rides his first fair ride. Best $2 ever spent.

True hillbilly fun!

5:30ish- Enter the carnival area. Let the people watching begin!
Hinder and Riley took a spin on the Ferris Wheel, my arch nemesis of all fair rides. I watched carnie folk instead and had a blast doing it.

Even though H had the most terrified look on his face the entire time, Riley assured me he was having a ball up there.

6:00- Next we hit up the commercial and fine arts barns. And the vendor booths.

Big surprise of the night- Riley decides to get a spray on tattoo.

So out-of-character and so, so silly.

Tattoo of choice?

A wizard slightly resembling Gandolf .

6:30- Final, but MOST important stop. The food.

Oh glorious fair food. Diabetes on a plate.

After consuming our usuals (me- Macho Nachos and slushie lemonade, Riley-foot long corn dog drenched in mustard, share- elephant ear....are you drooling yet?),

Riley decided to try something new.

A cheeseburger. But not just any burger. This burger has donuts for buns. Yes, glazed donuts.

One bite was enough to satisfy my curiosity.

9 p.m- Get back to the Burg and play a quick game before hitting the sack.

How would we ever top this Labor Day?

More From Our Trip

A few more pictures from our trip that my darling sister Dalyn took and emailed to me. Thank goodness for her skills.
First few are from my Papa Blazzard's 70th birthday party.
H and his cousin (my cousin actually...his first cousin once removed??) messing around at the park.

Just look at this duck?!

"Most-Fabulous-Hair award goes to....."

A few more from the Roylance Pond.

Hinder loved getting into all his aunts and uncle's things.

This Mickey "helmet" was a favorite.

Did I Tell You About the Time When...

...Hinder water color painted?

It was pretty adorable.

He was darn excited about wearing an old, scrubby shirt of mine as a smock. Once I showed him the basic idea (first water, then paint, then more water, then a new color, etc.), he could hardly get enough. His little legs couldn't run fast enough to the printer to get more paper.

I loved watching what colors he chose and listening to his descriptions of his masterpieces. This artistic session was very serious business.

According to Hinder, the picture on the far right was a picture of all his "fwends". I was the pink mark and Riley was the big brown blob. He had a name for each mark. Nana, baby Archer, neighbor friend Jeremy, Ava, baby "Derwing" each were designated as a colorful splotch.

He busted out approximately 25 pictures. Some cute. Some not so cute. Some just a royal waste of good paper.

But this was my favorite.

He said it was the fireworks.

And I can actually tell what he was going for.

When I think about this sweet little two year old, I'm just so grateful to know that our family can be forever. That even though he's growing up, and I'll soon forget all the funny and horrifying things about having H as a toddler, we are a forever family.

We're linked for eternity.

And the temple makes that possible.