Not Ready for This!

So, for the third child in a row, I have believed the fallacy that once I was done nursing and the baby can do finger foods, I would suddenly have so much more time. It seems to make sense, right? If I had been spending 20 minutes 4 times a day nursing and another 15 minutes three times a day doing baby food, I should have an extra 125 minutes (over two hours!) for leisure, right? Wrong. Because here's what happens . . .

They enter THIS STAGE:

Here's the area she just left.

AAAHHHHHH!!

Laramie Weekend

This weekend we had a great little family vacation in Laramie, WY. Tony and I both went to school at UW, and we have great memories of Laramie. We wanted to share a little of that with our kids, and the state championship football games were there this weekend, so it seemed like a great time to go. Here are the highlights of the trip:

Staying in a hotel WITH a swimming pool, of course.

However, the window to the pool room was left open all night, so it was FRIGID in there.
We didn't swim for long.

We toured the UW campus and showed the kids where "Mom and Dad" went to school.The kids loved the art display on Prexy's Pasture.

The dinosaur museum was their favorite part of campus.
Playing some pool at the 'tute. This was my #1 hangout in college. It was fun to go back there. I spanked Connor in pool, but then he beat me (legitimately) in air hockey.

We went to the Cowboys game. They stunk it up and lost by about 20. But Connor thought it was GREAT, anyway. Here he is posing with Pistol Pete. (Sorry about the poor pic quality. Forgot the flash!)

Mylie cries whenever she sees a mascot. Kids are supposed to like mascots, right?

Finally, we were able to watch all 5 classes' championship games. As you can tell in this photo, the weather was NOT great. Actually, it was freezing and snowed a ton. But it was great football and a great time for Tony, Frank (Tony's brother), Connor, and me. The girls went to a babysitter during the games. Thanks again, Julie and Michelle!

Just a year away . . .

I've mentioned this before, but my father-in-law, Ron Micheli, is running for Governor of Wyoming in 2010. And it's now only one year until election time! The campaign is really starting to pick up. I've never really been into politics, but it's exciting to learn this process in such a close, personal way. My small contribution to the campaign so far has been helping with the blogging (something I love doing, anyway) on the website. To keep up to date on the Micheli for Governor campaign, go to http://www.micheliforgovernor.com/ If you're from Wyoming, go ahead and read a little so you can be an informed voter. Also, if you'd like to help with the campaign in ANY way, please let me know. Volunteers and monetary contributions are ALWAYS welcome! Also, Tony and I are in charge of organizing 5k runs throughout the state next summer to raise funds as well as campaign. If you're into running or walking, or are just looking for something fun to do, prepare now to run in one (or more if you'd like) of several 5k Fun Run for Ron events.

Inspiration

Last night was rough . . . REALLY rough. Between Mylie and Mariah crying, either Tony or I was up nearly all night long. UGH.
This morning, after Tony and Connor left for school, Mariah was still sleeping and Mylie was sitting at the table eating her breakfast. I walked into the kitchen to start cleaning, and I noticed the Friend magazine sitting on the counter. I'm a very imperfect Mom (one who does NOT read the Friend cover to cover each month with her kiddos), but I suddenly felt like I should read a story or two to Mylie while she ate. I didn't know why exactly, but I grabbed the magazine and went to the table. I opened it up and started flipping through. I soon found a story called "No Bad Dreams." This was Mylie's problem last night, and many other nights as well. In fact, it's becoming a major issue with her. We read the story, and learned that Heavenly Father can help her with the bad dreams if she will pray and ask Him. (Again, this imperfect mom hadn't come up with that solution yet.) She was excited to say her prayers and has faith that this will help her.
As I walked away from the table, I realized that it wasn't just a strange coincidence that I decided to read the Friend this morning (for the first time in months!), or that there was a story about dealing with bad dreams. I knew that my Heavenly Father cares about us, even the seemingly insignificant problems we face day to day. I am grateful for the inspiration I can receive as a mother. This is a hard job--one I certainly can't do alone. I'm just grateful that my Heavenly Father understands that, and uses the Holy Ghost to help me find the answers I need.

Cat Owner--yes. Good Cat Owner--questionable.

Meet "Mr. Sparkles." I was just informed of this title yesterday when I picked "him" up from the vet. I had asked for a "spay" but paid for a "neuter," apparently. Woops! (How embarrassing, but I saved $35.)

My Not-So-Solved Kitty Problem

MOLLY

Two years ago, we got a cat. I see this as one of the biggest mistakes of my life. However, my kids would strongly disagree with this, and so we still have Molly. (Not that I haven't TRIED to get rid of her!) And really, Molly isn't that bad of a cat. But apparently she is one hot item here on the ranch, as she has produced FOUR litters of kittens in these short two years. Last spring, after her third, I vowed to get her spayed so we could end the madness. However, before I got it done, I discovered she was pregnant AGAIN! Also, we had kept one kitten, Sparkles, from the last batch, and we wanted to get her spayed, too, so I decided to just wait until after volleyball season, when Sparkles would be 6months old, and Molly's kittens would be about six weeks old.

SPARKLES

A few weeks ago, I was beginning to wonder if the kittens had survived. Molly was up around the house quite a lot, and I hadn't seen any kittens yet. Then one day, I was in the house and heard a baby kitten's meow outside. I went out to find that Molly had brought one of her kittens up to show me. It was adorable, of course, and I was glad to see only one. Then it was gone again. A few days later, it was back, and to my relief, there was still one.

Tuesday morning, I got on the phone to the vet and made the appointment for both Molly and Sparkles. Phew! One kitten to give away, two surgeries to be done, and then we'd be kitten-free forever! I was so excited!

That excitement was subdued quickly Wednesday morning, when I went outside and discovered THIS....

and THIS....

and THIS!!!!

AAAHHHHHH!!!!! So, this morning, I loaded up Molly and Sparkles and took them to the vet. I pick them up tomorrow morning, but my kitty problems are FAR from over, it seems. So, if any of you are feeling super-duper sorry for me by now, come and get a kitten (and get her spayed ASAP!)

Happy Halloween! (Beat ya to it!)

The first week of November last year, in my opinion, was the second most painful weeks of blog reading, next to the week after Christmas. I know every mom loves to see her kids dressed up, and I don't mind seeing kids dressed up, either. However, looking at every single person's kids dressed up in the course of just a few short days left me really wanting to see anything BUT dressed up kids on somebody's blog. So, next week, I will NOT be posting pics of my kids dressed up for Halloween. No, I will do it now instead, before you're all bored stiff. (Actually, the real reason for the early Halloween pics is that I won't be with my kids on Halloween--State Volleyball--so we dressed up and carved pumpkins last night.)

My adorable little Dorothy, with Toto, too! She actually doesn't like much of anything to do with Halloween, and has been having scary dreams about everything she's seen this past month. I think trick-or-treating is going to be a horrifying experience for poor Mylie.

The Incredible Hulk posing with our jack-o-lanterns. We always do one mean one (Connor's choice) and one nice or silly one (Mylie's choice).

Mariah HATES Connor's mask. It makes her cry every time she sees it. But she does make a cute little pumpkin!