Happy Thanksgiving from Joe

Background vocals provided by Kathrynn Bossy Pants. :)

Recap: Joe's First Day of School

Joe started Kindergarten this year and was SO excited - he was counting the days for months.

Showing off his super-cool Toy Story shoes. By the way, that is his 'too cool for school' face.. he was talking all morning about how all of the girls were going to fall in love with him. :)



With Kathrynn. Don't you just love how she looks like a little mommy? :)



With Mommy.

Heading out the door.

I have to say, I did very well for sending my oldest child off on his first day of school - didn't cry at all when I dropped him off. I got it all out of my system the night before. :) I felt much better when I saw other parents - even dads - getting choked up in the classroom. Joseph has LOVED school and is doing VERY well. And though not all of the girls in class want to marry him, he does have is very first crush on a very cute girl. :)

Recap: Favorite Picture of the Year

I'm obviously behind on blogging, but rather than going over EVERYTHING that has happened over the last year, I'm going to share a few gems.

This is my favorite picture of the last year. It was taken on a family fishing trip. Such a fun day!

33

I recently celebrated my 33rd birthday. Though I love birthdays, this one was not the most joyous occasion. It was spent in bed, with 103 degree temperature and involved getting a shot in my bum which the nurse described as "pushing peanut butter through a syringe." Oh, and I felt like I had razor blades in my throat. Ah, the joys of strep throat. But that's not the point of this post.

32 was a big year for me. Nothing truly notable happened, but I think I learned more this last year than any year of my life.

When I turned 32 I had a goal to be at a healthy weight before my 33rd birthday and I met that goal somewhere in the middle of the summer. Getting there was pure, well, you know. Would I have done it again? Yes, but in a different way. I successful lost 32 lbs in three months on a very restrictive, very very low calorie diet. Then I got a little sick and realized that what I was doing to my body was not healthy and changed my ways a bit. I gained some of it back but am healthier than I've been since I've been a mom. This leads to lesson #1 that I learned this year:

Our bodies are a gift and we need to respect them.

I look at what I put into my body and how I treat my body so differently that I ever have. We are literally what we eat. If we eat well, we are healthy and strong. If we don't eat enough we don't have enough to give those around us. If we eat junk, well...
It's important to keep our bodies strong - there is so much they are capable of - we need to respect that.

Lesson #2..

Time is a gift.

I don't have a lot of free time these days. I run a daycare in my home, I have 2 active little kids, one who is in school now, and a husband whose schedule could put some of the busiest people to shame.
I do my best not to waste a lot of time these days. Every moment is precious and important. We only have one life. It's best not to waste it away doing meaningless things.

Lesson #3
No Excuses

I learned this year that the easiest and happiest way to live life is to take full accountability. Your difficulties are very rarely another person's fault. Once I was able to embrace this fact, I became a much happier person.

Lesson #4
Love Yourself

When I was in high school I was so in tune with who I was - I knew it and was sure of it and loved the person I was. Adulthood has a way of instilling self-doubt and self-loathing. Through a lot of prayer, scripture study, and just time exploring who I am I've really been able to reacquaint with myself and develop that self-love again. And, let me tell you, once you love who you are, all of your other relationships become AMAZING. You're able to see just how much others love you and return that love a hundred fold.

Lesson #5
Cherish all of the Little Moments

We're busy people. We don't have time for big moments around here. But, I have learned that there is so much joy to be found in those little itty bitty moments. Hugs are wonderful. Little "I love you" moments. Cuddles, snuggles, the list goes on. I used to think that big monumental things were what made life special.. they're not. It's those little tender moments that make my world go 'round.

Lesson #6
Be Grateful

I found myself counting down. Counting down until Steve's done with school. Counting down until we move to Logan. Counting down until... This was big during the summer. I was counting down until the summer was over - I don't like hot weather and there were other things that were just kind of driving me crazy. Then I realized - I am counting down the last days I have Joseph at home before I lose him to school and responsibility forever. That's when I stopped counting down and started counting my blessings. I would write in my journal everyday 3 things I was grateful for, whether it be a hug, a cool morning, or a call from a close friend - I recognized my blessings was grateful for each and every one and stopped waiting for life to be the way I wanted it - I decided to want the life I have right now and cherish every second. Joseph will never be 5 again. Kathrynn may possibly be less obsessively a mommy's girl one day (though that's hard to imagine). These days are precious even if they're not perfect, and I'm grateful for each and every one of them.

Here's to another great year!

So Beautiful.

This amazing woman has been an absolute inspiration to me. I've read her blog for about a year now and she has been able to make a very real change in my heart by sharing her experiences and love for the Savior so freely. Please take the time to watch this video. It's wonderful.

To visit her blog, go to http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/.

Update. Update.

I just got the kids to bed and was on the way back upstairs to do a little bit of clean up and some working out when I realized how much I've missed my blog. So, I'm going to squeeze in a little somethin' here so you can all know that we are all still alive and well.

What we've been up to (again)...

Steve

• Hardest worker in the universe.
• Still working full time and going to school nearly full time and taking on a part time job on top of all of that.
• Has been forcing me to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation during the times when he is home.
• Is the sweetest, most thoughtful, extremely patient man imaginable - I'm so lucky to have him - we'll be celebrating 7 years next week!
• Surprised me with a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Julie

• Has been conditioned to fall asleep during Star Trek, no matter what time of day it's on.
  
• Day Care is up and running - I have 4 kids in my care - all under the age of two.
• Will go gray within the next two years, I'm sure.
• Is exhausted.
• Has tinkered with the above mentioned cookbook a bit and LOVES it!
• Pinched her dang sciatic again a couple of weeks ago and recovery has been frustrating, to say the least.
• Is juggling everything remarkably - I'm not sure how, but everything's getting done.
• Really looking forward to our upcoming anniversary - need that date night!

Drew

• Busy being a4th grader and super cute.

Gandalf

• Absolute lazy bum.
• Is making the dog's life a little more endurable.
• But, still enjoys cornering him and listening to him whine until one of us comes to the rescue.

Joe

• Biggest sweetheart in the universe!
• Just found out he got into The Ogden Preparatory Academy for next year and will be there with a bunch of his little friends.
• Wrote and illustrated a book today. Very cute and pretty creative.
• Runs laps inside the house everyday - I think he's as ready for spring as I am.

Kathrynn

• Growing more and more beautiful each day.
• Is still a professional two year old - she's living it to the fullest.
• Has officially entered the 'best friend' phase.
• Says words like "actually," "extremely," and "absolutely."

Chu Chu

• Is being a good dog, finally.
• We love him.
• Looks good in dog sweaters.
• Quite often doubles as a vacuum cleaner.
  

Until I Have Time for a Real Post...

I've noticed that my comment section for the my last post has been taken over by spammers, and I'm assuming that that's because it's been SO long since I've posted, so I'm filling the space to scare off those dang spammers because they are so not welcome here.
Don't worry, a real post will come soon. I've been impossibly busy. Between the day care which is up and running, and Steve never being home because he works 2 jobs and goes to school, I have very little time for this kind of stuff, but I have lots of good posts brewing in this head of mine and some miraculous day I will actually post some of it. :)

Oooohhhh!!!

So, I have this dream. I want to find a cabin somewhere and lock myself in for an entire weekend and do nothing but make stuff. I have so many ambitions - so many new things I want to try, cute little things I want to make for my kids, quilts to sew, cutesy little kitchen towels to make... the list goes on and on. BUT I have a house that I need to keep clean, 2 kids who starve for my attention even though they are far from being attention-starved by any shape of the imagination, a needy dog, a spoiled cat, and a husband who works harder than any living being should... oh, and that whole daycare thing I'm trying to get up and running.. more on that later. (Need an awesome daycare?! I know of one!!!)
OK, maybe I need to lock myself up for a week.. or a month.. oh, but what would happen to my house? Or I could just stop sleeping. I've actually considered that.
Anyway. I saw these tonight and almost DIED.

CUTEST CLIPPIES EVER!!!!!
Let me just say that having a little girl has forever shifted my ambition to make cute little crafty things. I REALLY want to make these!!! They are SO CUTE!! I got it at this website - Little Birdie Secrets. Awesome awesome awesome blog that walks you through - or at least points you to someone who will - darling projects.
Insomnia for the purpose of making cutesy little things, here I come! :)

My New Food Blog

I love to cook and I really enjoy trying out new recipes regularly, so I decided to start up a new food blog. It can be found here --> www.paulsonpantry.blogspot.com.

Enjoy!

Princess Spunk and Other Stuff

It's another Steve-free night :( - he's out helping a family remodel their bathroom - so I'm taking some time out to blog about what's been going on, post some DARLING pictures, and watch So You Think You Can Dance - so glad that's on this season!!!

So, in the next two weeks, the house will get a fire inspection and a health inspection and after that we're DONE getting ready for the daycare and I'll hopefully have that license in my hand.

There are SO many things I need to blog about.. like the fact that we have a dog. Or our INSANE garden. I think I've picked like a thousand cucumbers and have more peppers than I know what to do with. And, I was totally amazed this year by how many tomatoes a single plant can yield. And, don't get me started on the spaghetti squash. Or my infatuation with fall and how I'm counting the days.. but tonight it's all about Kathrynn, my spunky little princess (don't worry, Joe will get his own post, too). She's been so cute and so sweet lately and has been a total HAM for the camera, so I've got some good stuff to post. Plus, she just had a really bad night tonight. She was sad and uncomfortable and went to bed early.

Anyway, less talk, more action...



Here she says she's a baby. :) This is one of my favorite facial expressions!

Having so much fun!!!

Reading "Go Dog Go," her favorite book - I have to read it EVERY night and several times during the day.


I just love this little girl - she has so much light and is full of love - and she's fun and spunky and just hilarious. Tonight, she was pointing out my eyes and nose and cheeks and chin and then looked up at my hair and said, "Mommy, you're a chocolate head." (She had just asked for chocolate because she was trying to go potty.) She is an absolute mommy's girl and I just love that. She brings so much joy into my life. :)

Because I'm a Nerd Like This...

Thanks, Nie.

I have become consumed by a blog that I somehow tripped upon a few months ago - The Nie Nie Dialogues. There's something so unique and beautiful about it and it seriously touches my heart. It's written by a remarkable mother of four who was in a terrible plane accident a year ago and suffered burns on 80% of her body. I've read the story of the accident and her life since, but have been curious about her life previous to the accident, so about a week ago, I decided to start from the beginning - she's been blogging for about four years. And, I have to say, that just from reading her blog, a change has come in me. I'm about 18 months from her current post, so I haven't read everything yet, but what I have read has truly touched my life for good in so many ways.
She has such an optimism, such a true love and spirit for motherhood and for being a good wife and homemaker. Her focus is on the joy that her family brings her and the simple and beautiful things in life. She has brought out things in me that I've been trying to bring out on my own, and through the inspiration that I've received through her blog and her amazingly sweet spirit and strong faith, I find it effortless to do the things necessary to complete the day to day tasks in my life while maintaining a sweet spirit in my home. My love appreciation for Steve and our children has grown exponentially. I see so much more in them than I have before.
Steve is truly a knight in shining armor - though a humble one. Any problem always seems instantly resolved when he comes into the picture. And he always helps everyone so willingly, and I'm more in love with him than I can say I've ever been. Joe and his amazing spirit and raw talent and pure little testimony of Christ. Kathrynn and her amazing spunk and LOVE for life. You can see it in her eyes all of the time - she loves life and she means to live it to the fullest. And Drew, with her longing for peace and comfort and her gigantic heart.
I just needed to express my gratitude for the things she has shared with the world and for the amazing life she has lived and created for her children. She has also taught me not to take a single moment for granted. I'm able to see now the work I am here to do and don't want to lose a single moment idly standing by.

Other things...
Remodeling our home is nearly complete, though not quite all of the way complete, which is why pictures haven't been posted. I'm getting a lot of grief for not posting said pictures, though, so I may just give in and do before and almost afters.
We are inches away from starting the day care. My fingerprints finally came back (sent the first batch in in March), so now we're just ironing out the last few details and I'll be turning in my paperwork hopefully in the next week or two. And away we go...
Steve has started school this semester, working on his pre-reqs for Nursing school. He is the busiest person in the world right now and every moment I have with him is treasured.
This is totally the beginning of a new phase in our lives. It feel like we're walking into a tunnel and there's a big giant light at the end of it, but it will be a couple of years before we get there. I can say with assurance that this will all be worth it and that Steve is going into the best possible field for himself.
I've felt so many little changes within myself - all for the absolute best. Little ways to take care of my family better, like focusing more on having whole foods in our home and making everything I can from scratch rather than buying processed, ready made foods. This will definitely change things in my coupon adventures, but I think the benefits will be worth it.
And, best of all, I feel fall coming in. The light is different, leaves are starting to hint that they'll be changing color soon and the wind won't stop blowing. It's almost like it's blowing the new season in. I love fall. It is my favorite season, hands down, and it's the time of year that I feel most alive.

We Are an OCD Family

The Culprits:


The Acts:

First, we have all of the yellow toys together...


And then the pink toys...


And this little number - I was just informed that it's a workshop. :)

The Night Joe Duped Me

So, I was putting Joe to bed and he was gathering up all of the animals that he sleeps with when he asked me where his cat was. I told him that I didn't know and maybe he should do without it tonight, but he looked so bummed out that I went looking for it. After a good 10 minute search, I went back into his room and told him that I couldn't find his cat and that we could look for him in the morning. He looked heartbroken. And then, he got this sly little look on his face and pulled the stinking cat out from under his covers and just laughed and laughed and laughed! It was there the whole time!!! He totally got me! He's ONLY FOUR!!!!!! :)

He's just like his daddy. :)

YEA!!

I'm sure this is old news to a lot of you, I'm just SO excited that the New Moon trailer is out!!!

In Case You're Wondering What We're Up To...

Since it's been forever since I've graced the pages of my blog or facebook page.. here's what's happening with the Paulsons...
(I'll go oldest to youngest just for fun)

Steve:

• Is seriously a stud.
• For the last month or so has been going to a night class Monday-Thursday and hasn't gotten home until 9:30 each night.
  
• In his 'free time' has been remodeling our house, including creating a pantry, rewiring and redoing the plumbing in our basement, creating an entire new room and closet which will be the play room for the day care, building a fence, putting sod in our back yard, creating a grape arbor in the back, planting the grapes that will go with the arbor, building an awning in the back so we can have a little shade, etc. More will happen this weekend, including planting honeysuckle, raspberries, and blackberry bushes.
  
• Has LOVED having a grill and takes over dinner most weekend nights, which I have loved.
• Gave me a rose bush for Mother's Day. So sweet. :)
• Gave me another Mother's Day surprise, which landed him in the emergency room - he had severe abdominal pain that came on fast and turned out to be a kidney stone. Not a fun few days for him.

Julie:

• I've finally found that "click" that involves having a consistently clean, together home. Amazing the correlation between lack of time spent on the internet and cleanliness of my house.
  
• Have gotten a little too involved in my calling. I'm an Activity Day Girl leader (8-11 year old girls) and have been SO busy with it. We just did a big mother/daughter dinner/program for mother's day and I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind before it was over. We had another activity last night that I ran - I think I'm done planning activities until summer's over.
• Although, my class has sharing time this Sunday, so I'm not totally off the hook.
• I've been trying to help Steve as much as possible with the house stuff. I even dug a post hole - I have a lot of respect for how hard he works for us.
• I've been painting the playroom during Kathrynn's naps.
• Have been taking names in my quest to get back down to my pre-Joe weight. I've lost 16 lbs since I started trying (like MONTHS ago..) and am lighter than I was pre-Kathrynn. Only about 10 more lbs to go. :)
• Have been loving having the piano - I've been able to sneak a little time in here and there to play and it is just wonderful to have around.
  

Drew:

• Is very excited to summer vacation and spending a couple of months at our house.
• Has mastered the pogo stick.
• Makes Steve consistently nervous as she grows cuter and cuter and more and more comfortable with boys. :)

Gandalf:

• Is loving the warmer weather and spends all night outside hanging out with the "Yowler."
• Which leads to him sleeping all day long.
• Scratched the heck out me the other day when I was teasing him. I had it coming.

Joe:

• Has been betrothed to the cutest little girl in the world. :)
• Is enjoying the idea of irony. Just as I was putting him to bed tonight he told me it would be hilarious to go to sleep with his sunglasses on and did and laughed and laughed and laughed.
  
• Is SUCH a great helper.
• Informed me the other day that I don't get stinky. I appreciated that. :)
• Has been showing some serious talent with music and art. We hope to hook him up with some piano lessons some time in the near future.

Kathrynn:

• Is an obsessive hugger. It's seriously sweet most of the times, but gets to be a little too much at bedtime when she needs like 20 hugs in order to be satisfied or in the middle of the night when she's crying because she wants a hug.
• Is seriously ready to potty train. I'm just not so ready. Scared out of my mind, really. But, she talks about it, is enamored with her new "big girl pants" and even sets up a diaper and wipes in the usual changing spot when she's ready for a new diaper. I need to just bite the bullet and get her going. Maybe next week.
• Is a button pusher. A big one. If there's something that irritates a particular person, namely Joseph, she will do it. Over and over again. And laugh hysterically. We need to find something to channel that energy into.
• Loves to play "Ring around the rosies."
  
• Oh, did I mention that both kids got croupe the day after our little emergency room trip. Fun times.

Picture time.
Kathrynn's favorites napping position...


Steve's home.. More pictures later. :)

Our Beautiful New Addition

No. Not THAT kind! We got a piano!!!



First, I have to say, I love my husband!!! He picked it out all on his own - can you believe that?! It's gorgeous! He found it on KSL (for those of you not in Utah, it's a newspaper website that lists free classifieds, so anything you want to buy is basically on there because everyone lists) for a STEAL and tried to track me down to get me to go look at it with him but I was was out and about on the impossible mission of finding the right shoes for our kids - hard work. I have the pickiest boy in the world and one of those girls who has to try on EVERY shoe in the shoe aisle.
So, he went without me and told me that he knew, without a doubt, that I would love it - and I DO!

It's an antique and is in AMAZING condition. It's an upright grand piano - it was originally a player piano, but that part was removed and the doors for the player part of permanently closed. It still have the original finish and doesn't have a scratch or nick on it - and it's beautiful. It sounds wonderful, too! I haven't had a chance to play it yet. The kids jumped on as soon as I put the bench under it.

I'm so excited! And, you'd better believe they are too. :)

Happy Easter!

Just Let it All Out

So, today's definitely a tantrum day for Katie. She's two and making sure we're ever-aware of it every second of the day. Today's tantrums, so far, have consisted of (this is in the last 3 hours alone..)
1. Waking up
2. Wanting a pillow on the couch
3. Wanting a second pillow on the couch
4. Wanting a third pillow on the couch
5. The frustration of not being able to fit on the couch with so many pillows
6. A pillow falling off
7. Being put back in her bed for the ridiculous tantrums
8. The fact that I went into the bathroom and actually shut the door *gasp*
9. Something that happened downstairs with Joe that I didn't really bother to check on because I'm a little burnt out on the tantrums already this morning
10. Wanting to play with Cootie
11. Wanting eyes on the Cootie
12. Wanting the eyes off of the Cootie
13. Wanting to move the shampoo bottle
14. Being put back in her room for even more ridiculous tantrums
15. Blocking the door when I tried to open it to let her out

And now we're calm.. for now. I give it 15 minutes. Is it a full moon or something? Maybe the psychotic weather changes. Probably no rhyme or reason. She's just 2.
I've been doing what the pediatrician suggested and just let the tantrums take their course and not reinforce bad behavior. It's just getting a bit ridiculous.

Don't Lick Shopping Carts

...especially WalMart ones.

Ugh. Joe. Joe is going through a whole "nonsense is hilarious" stage where he does and says things that make no sense because he thinks it's oh-so-funny. Well, on Tuesday he decided that it would be just hilarious to lick the shopping cart at both WalMart and Costco. First of all, WalMart is the grossest store in the world in my view and secondly, Costco definitely has it's share of little kids gracing its carts. I warned him that he would get sick, that he would throw up, but did he listen? Nope.

Is he listening now? Oh yeah. He's gone all atomic on me again and is throwing up every couple of hours. That'll teach him.

I know, I'm not sounding very sympathy. He's getting more sympathy than he really needs when he does get sick and is getting a big cartoon day on the couch with his trusty bowl, I just wish he wouldn't have gotten sick out of sheer lack of intelligence on his part. He SOOO knows better.