Embarrassing Eliza

I just have to say that I hate being embarrassed. I mean really hate it, avoid it at all costs kind of hate it. Also, I don't think I get embarrassed too easily so situations that others may find embarrassing I really don't. Like my sister Tara's story about the ObGyn I don't think would really embarrass me too much because I just tell myself those guys see that kind of stuff all day every day and it's no big deal. So, I don't have too many stories that I can recall because I think I must block most of them from my memory. My husband says it's because I'm guarded and I definitely think that's true.

I've walked into a tree because I was looking the other way, forgotten the steps to dance routines at the recitals, and backed into somebody's car in the parking lot. But nowadays most of my embarrassing moments revolve around the things my children say and do. I think these ones embarrass me the most right now because I feel like people think that everything your kids do is a reflection of you and your parenting. But whatever, I really do try and not worry about that kind of stuff too much. Anywho, here's a few of my most memorable (wish I could wipe them from my memory) embarrassing moments.

Dead Weight
When I was a teenager one Sunday I was at church and I had to get up and leave before the meeting was over. But my foot was seriously asleep and when I stood up to leave I could hardly move. I wanted to just slip out quickly and quietly but I couldn't. I kept trying to take a step but my leg was dead weight, like flopping, dragging, bending at the ankle, dead weight and I had heels on making it virtually impossible to walk. I felt trapped, I couldn't go back and sit down and I just wanted to get out of there, but short of crawling on my hands and knees I didn't know what to do. I just had to hobble and hop with my foot bending and dragging slowly out of there with a bunch of people sitting there thinking "what is wrong with that girl?"

Noisy Newlyweds
Just sharing this story is embarrassing to me. But whatever, when we were first married we lived on the second floor of our apartment complex. Right below us lived an adorable little 6 year old girl and her single mother. One day in passing we stopped and were chatting with them and the daughter asked us what all the noise was above her bedroom. She said it was really loud and squeaky. Um, how do you answer that? Gee sorry, I guess we better stop jumping on the bed! I'm pretty sure her mom was more embarrassed than I was, but I was pretty mortified!

Have a Seat
One Sunday about 3 years ago, when I was pregnant with my youngest son we walked into church late and there were no seats available. We were relegated to the very back on the noisy wood floor and we had to set up our own chairs so pretty much the whole congregation was aware of the fact that we were late. When a few chairs were set up I went to sit down on one and just as I was bending down to sit my husband scooted the chair over and I fell loud and hard. The clamoring type of fall that causes everyone to turn and look. My poor husband felt so bad, he didn't realize I was going to sit down and I was horrified. Just the feeling of falling when you aren't expecting it and then having everyone staring at you to see what happened, not good and super embarrassing.

I hope you've enjoyed me reliving my humiliation!

Aliece's Embarrassing Turn

I think that most of my embarrassing moments start with my mouth and my naivete.   From making stupid comments about foreigners in front of Emilie, (she must think I'm an idiot) to not knowing enough about a topic and totally getting laughed at in the conversation.  (Thankfully, that usually happens with family.)  Honestly, I mean well.  I spend way too much time thinking about how wrong something sounded and how I wish I could have a do-over.  I would've just kept my mouth shut!

I had a good moment in high school.  My girlfriends and I were invited to eat lunch at a guy's house, a guy I obviously did not know.  We were jumping on his trampoline, showing off a bit and I did a toe touch and completely ripped the crotch of my jeans.  Well, they were Jill Jarvis Badger's jeans, Calvin Klein's to be exact.  She was there and laughed her head off!  (Which actually made me feel better, I was worried about her jeans.)  Thankfully, the guy had a little sister and let me borrow some of her shorts which I returned at school a couple days later.  And Mom was able to repair Jill's CK's.  Thanks Mom!

Oh, and there was our first childbirth class.  We were so excited for our first baby, but we had crazy schedules so I signed up for the class at the last minute.  I asked the lady on the phone if we needed to bring anything to class. (Before everything was online, obviously.)  She told me no and reassured me I would receive a packet in the mail with all of the info.  Well, Keith and I both rushed to the class after work, not having checked the mail that day.  (He actually had to get off work early to make it.)  We were the last ones to arrive, but we got there in time for introductions.  At the end of the class, our instructor had us grab two pillows and lay down.  There were pillows stacked on tables behind everyone, so we did.  When we got up to leave we realized that everyone else had brought their own pillows and we totally grabbed the pillows of the people sitting next to us!  I felt so D-U-M-B!  We apologized.  It was not that big a deal, but we did have to finish the next 3 weeks of classes with them.  And we brought our own pillows!  Ugh!  That felt pretty stupid for a while!

Miche's Most Embarassing

For some reason, most of my embarrassing moments happened when I was a child. Maybe back then I was more vulnerable to feeling embarrassed, I don't know. I do know one thing, my sister Tara's moments trump all of ours. I have had the usual accidentally farting in ballet class, riding my bike into a trash can while waving at someone, and falling flat on my stomach on stage at a ballet performance. But, to get things started I am going to tell you about one that happened just last night.

My in-laws invited Mia and me, and some of their neighbors over for a weenie roast last night. My father-in-law has a four wheeler that he uses for all sorts of tasks. It was outside by the fire and I asked him if I could give Mia a ride on it. I have never driven a four wheeler before. So he showed me what to do. Pretty much Mia screamed the whole time. I wanted her to be safe so I kept one arm around her. I kept doing the whole stop and go, stop and go. I felt like an idiot. I thought I might run into their horse pasture but fortunately I turned the four wheeler just in time. As I was finishing our little ride, I started to get worried about where and how I should stop. I kind of freaked out and before I knew it I was running into one of their plastic chairs. I heard Dan's dad yell, "Stop, stop." Yeah, I totally broke the chair. Their neighbor was standing there watching the whole time, looking at me like I was the dumbest girl in the world. I think I gave my in-laws heart attacks, and I don't think I will be riding the four wheeler again anytime soon.

I am not a fan of going to the dentist. I have had to get some serious dental work done lately. I always try to look really nice and dressed up when I go so that they don't judge me on my teeth. I also feel like I get better service from people when I look the part. One time after a long appointment, I got in the car and took a deep breath and glanced in the rear view mirror to fix my bed head hair. Then I saw them. Two visible boogers right in my nose. I. wanted. to. die. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I still can't laugh about it yet.

One time, when I was in the fourth grade everyone was out at recess playing soccer. That's what all the cool kids did. Whether it was football, soccer, or kick ball. Lots of us girls would try to join in even though the ball never got passed to us. I remember this so clearly, one day the soccer ball was headed straight for me. I couldn't even believe it. Much to my dismay the ball smacked straight into my stomach. It came with such force that the ball forced me to let out a ginormous fart! Ah ha ha! It was so loud and EVERYONE heard and was laughing. I yelled, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" But everyone knew that it was. I wanted to die at the time and crawl into a hole. But now I think it is hilarious.

Confession: Most Embarrassing Moment(s)

Warning: I am about to disclose way too much personal information. I hope you can handle it. (I know my sisters can.) Definitely going to be tmi, but we gotta keep it real here.

Where do I start? Embarrassing moments happen to me all too often. I've locked my baby in the car while it was running, I've driven away with the gas pump nozzle still in my car; I've been in a car accident, didn't see the damage to the car and let the lady leave scott free; I've been peeing on a plane to have my 2 year old open the door; and I stutter when I speak in public. There's more, but the point is I can be so socially awkward. I get the 'Is she OK stares?' all too often. Here are a few of my more memorable embarrassing moments:

Gettin' Down and Dirty

All growing up my parents had an office cleaning business. All the kids willingly, happily took part in the family business, especially me. ;) *sarcasm* Although, now I am more than grateful for all the many, many lessons it taught us.

Anyway, one day when I was at the fragile age of 17, I was cleaning the dentist's office in my ever so attractive head gear. Honestly, I personally do not know of anyone who's had to wear head gear since the 80's, but whatevs I did. Isn't that fact alone embarrassing enough? Back to the cleaning, I was just finishing vacuuming with my disc man; rocking out to some legit tunes and maybe doing some seriously sweet dance moves. I was twirling around as I pulled the cord out of the socket, and just as I looked up I saw the Dentist mouthing the word "hello." I pulled off my head phones and whipped off my head gear, as fast as I could. Turning many shades of scarlet I said "hello," not only to the dentist, but to his whole entire family too. He laughed and said, "Hey, we love to see people enjoy their work." Which actually, was the most endearing, perfect thing to say. It did make me feel better, and still does after all these years.

It was embarrassing. Period.
Before I got married I made an appointment with the ObGyn to get on birth control. I hadn't had my period for four months, and was a little anxious about all of it. It was my first time meeting this male doctor and he seemed ok, asked me the usual question, etc. Then he proceeded to give me my first pap smear. (Is there an uglier word?) As he was downtown he looks up at me, kind of chuckles then announces, "Annnnd you've just started your period!" What do I even say? I was mortified....Then he has his nurse hand him a tampon, and he inserts it for me. OMG! I think I stopped breathing right there on that table, and I surely wanted to just die. Then, as they step out of the exam room to let me get dressed I can hear the nurse announce just outside the door, "Well, that one's going to have to come back for the rest of her exam, she started her period on the table!" Talk about professional. I was totally shamed!

Hope you've enjoyed some of my humiliation! Looking forward to hearing some of my sisters' stories.

The Happiness Project

For the past couple of weeks I have been reading, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Intellectual and informative books always take me longer to get through. But anyway, My book club at church read it. I have always wanted to be part of a book club and now I finally am! I have really enjoyed reading this. Gretchen maps out a 1 year happiness project doing different things to help enhance her overall well being and feeling of happiness. She wasn't depressed or anything she just wanted to be happier. I love this book because she takes charge of her own happiness. She doesn't let the world or whatever happens to her determine it. She doesn't tell you specifically what to do to be happy, but you can learn from her project. Besides, we all have different things we need to do to make ourselves happy.

There are some negative reviews on the book. Some people thought she sounded arrogant because she talks about her great life. But, I didn't feel that way. Possibly because I read reviews before hand, and I decided I didn't want to judge her (or judge her book by it's cover ba ha ha). It's not incredible writing, but I didn't need it to be. I have simply enjoyed learning from her everyday stories. It also helped me to realize that I am personally doing a lot of things to instigate my own happiness. However, I have so much to work on.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book (It's kinda long sorry), "To be happy, I need to think about feeling good, feeling bad and feeling right...To be happy I need to generate more positive emotions, so that I increase the amount of joy, pleasure, enthusiasm, gratitude, intimacy and friendship in my life. This wasn't hard to understand. I also needed to remove sources of bad feelings, so that I suffered less guilt, remorse, shame, anger envy, boredom and irritation. Also easy to understand. And apart from feeling more "good" and feeling less "bad", I saw that I also needed to consider feeling "right."

I just loved that quote when I read it, and I wrote it down in my journal so I would always have it handy. The author goes on to develop her, "First Splendid Truth" which is, "To be happy, I need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth."

So I have been working on having more positive thoughts this week. Like when I am feeling stressed out at my job I say, "I love my job, I love my job, I am grateful for the money, It's so convenient." It actually helps. I notice that when I am positive, I work faster. Another time I was craving a candy bar really bad and I said, "It might make you feel good right now, but the long term effects will make you feel worse." And I resisted. I am pretty proud of that one, but I can't always resist the sweets. Not now that we have a Neilsen's Frozen Custard in Rexburg now! Yay!
I hope you enjoyed the review. Peace out sistas.

I'm At That Point In Pregnancy When...

my hips hurt in the morning when I wake up...

I waddle when I walk...

I can't make it through a whole night's sleep without getting up to go to the bathroom...

I need help to get off the couch...

I worry every time I haven't felt the baby move for a few hours...

I can't bend over without feeling like my guts are getting squished out...

tying shoes and painting my own toenails are definitely out of the question...

shaving my legs is a bit challenging...

I feel like a beached whale trying to roll over in my sleep...

and heartburn is my constant companion!

I'm longing for the days when I can...

lay on my stomach...

touch my toes...

run after my two-year old...

wear normal clothes...

lift heavy objects...

do some Turbo Jam...

hold my other children on my lap comfortably...

hug my husband close...

and breathe!

But...

I'm loving every minute of it!

I am happy every time I feel the baby move...

I feel blessed to have such healthy, easy pregnancies...

I love not having to worry about my waistline...

I love shopping for baby clothes (girl's this time!)...

I freaking love not having a period for a good 1 and 1/2 years...

and I seriously can't wait to hold this little one in my arms!

Wright Brothers write!! I'm takin over!!!

    This letter is almost in protest to the long standing Wright sisters Write blog that Me and Vaughn (the two boys stuck in the middle of five girls) have been excluded from. I hope no one is going to get offended, I'm mostly doing this to be funny, and I really don't fell bad at all. Just wanted to write a little note to let you guys inside my head. The other day I was talking with Tara about some random stuff, and she commented that because of some of the stuff I had said she felt like she didn't know me. I thought that was extremely lame on my part, because I take responsibility for not communicating enough with you guys, being the sibling living the farthest from home.
     This little post is about cherishing what you have while you've got it close. These past six months have been so rough being apart from the family. (Not really looking forward to deploying, don't worry still not going anywhere) The weekend I spent in Arizona was so much fun, being around all the family, but mostly being with my awesome wife, and two amazing kids. It's crazy what you miss out on even with things like skype. Max was soooo fun. I feel like he and I are starting to bond in that awesome father son way. I can't wait for this weekend when they get to Georgia. P.s. Georgia is rad if anyone wants to plan a visit.
     I also want to mention how much I miss the craziness of Sunday dinners and all the little get togethers. Em never understands why I love arguing with the family so much, and I can't really explain it either, but I love our deep "discussions". I hope everyone is good, I miss you all. A side note, Emilie will be posting a blog relatively soon about Georgia and our house and what not. Later, Neils

Lesson Learned

I'm not sure who really reads this blog, but I think most people who do know that we have a gay sister, Britny. She is the youngest of all the kids. She is also probably the most outgoing, energetic, charismatic, and fun. And, yes she is gay. And, yes this can cause conflict, because of our faith. It is an issue I have given a lot of tears, prayers, and thought.

I can't imagine the internal struggles she has had to deal with growing up Mormon and having feelings of same sex attraction. I have watched my sister be tormented by others about her sexuality. I have seen her be judged; and at times I admit, I have judged her too. However, nothing makes me more infuriated than when I hear someone ignorantly talk about gay people. (Here comes Mama Bear) I could make a list of so many assholes people at Mountain View High School that inflicted extra pain upon people like my sister. It makes me feel sick to my stomach. That's a lecture for a different day. (But, honestly can people mind their own business? And if they are going to judge, can't they just keep it to themselves?)

What I really want to share is a lesson my sister recently taught me. We were having a conversation about how Britny hasn't felt loved by our family (hurts my heart so bad). And she said, "Tara, even if you committed murder I'd still love you." I responded with, "Yes, I'd still love you too, Brit, but you know I couldn't agree with your choice to murder, unless it was self defense." Then she replied, "Of course, I wouldn't agree with murder, but I'd fight like hell to make sure you never felt alone."

Lesson learned, Brit. We all go through times in our life of loneliness, and it is a horribly agonizing feeling. I'm sorry Brit has had to deal with more than her fair share of loneliness. Sister, I love you, we all do. Now go conquer the world, like I know you can.

 

Britny & my little Ivy hamming it up for the camera. April '11

A couple things I need on a hard day

We have those days that suck balls sometimes. You know those ones where at the end of the day you are quite winded and ready for bed. So here are a few things I need on those days. My favorite daytime talk show is most definitely, The Talk. I love all the ladies, they always make me laugh, they talk about subjects I find interesting, and they are all moms. What more could I ask for in a tv show?
I recently took up journaling. I have done it 50 days in a row now and I find it so therapeutic. It's nice when you don't really want to burden someone else with every single detail of your thoughts. It feels so good to get all my thoughts out on paper. It helps me feel validated too.

I know this may sound dumb but since taking on journaling, I have an obsession with Zebra pens. I just love they way they write. Just thought I would throw that out there. I don't really need a Zebra pen on a hard day, mostly just the journaling. :)


I have very vivid memories growing up of my mom drinking herbal tea. I can see her squeezing out the tea bag now. It's so relaxing, it also makes me feel proper and British. For some reason I feel more sophisticated. Ha Ha. Lately I have been drinking St. Johns Wort herbal tea, because if I'm gonna drink it, why not something that might make my mood better?
I think I will go make myself some right now.

Wait, What Day is it Again?

I think it would be nearly impossible not to know what day it is, well maybe for me because of church and facebeook. Or maybe it's just because I'm a mom.This blog is about being a woman, and everything that goes along with it, especially motherhood. I had a different post originally in my mind, however with it being Mother's Day weekend it feels very wrong to not talk about mothers here on this blog today.

It does seem everything to be said about mothers has already been said, so I decided to make a list of some of my favorite quotes:

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.
-Jill Churchill

The phrase "working mother" is redundant.
-Jane Sellma

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.
-Tenneva Jordan

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?
-Milton Berle

Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.
-The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Motherhood is the keystone of the arch of matrimonial happiness.
-Thomas Jefferson

It is not until you become a mother that your judgement slowly turns to compassion and understanding.
-Erma Bombeck

One cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one.
-Thomas S. Monson

I just love being a woman and mother! I learned from the best, I love you so much Mom! After reading these quotes I feel even more empowered and inspired. I hope all you woman and mothers out there had a wonderful day, and take pride in your femininity. I am so blessed to have such amazing women in my life. Sisters and mother oh how I love you so! You are all such great examples to me, in such different, unique ways. Thank you for everyone's contribution to this blog, it helps me feel connected when I live so far away, and it makes me want to be a better mom! XO!

Feeling Old

I think she looked pretty awesome rockin' that sweet 80s hairdo! And I totally burned her forehead with the curling iron.

Today was 80s day at school. Hmmm, I went to elementary school for like almost the whole decade of the 80s. Nothing like that to make you realize you ain't no spring chicken anymore. That's when you know you're gettin' old- when your kids are memorializing your decade in dress up days at school! Unfortunately, I'm already getting to the point where I am lamenting the fact that my children are growing up in this "day and age" and I wish they could have grown up in "simpler times". Because the 80s were such a nice long ago decade in which I grew up in.
I've already regaled them with tales of having to actually get up and change the channel on the TV (honestly!) And of telephones that were attached to the wall (gasp!) And of life without the Internet (the horror!) And when you actually had to use pencil and paper to pass notes to your friend (what?!) It's true. Hard to believe, I know, even for my younger sisters.
I'm not really the kind of person who worries much about my age. In fact, sometimes lately I don't even remember how old I am. (Hmm, maybe that's a bad sign.) I have always felt young, sort of ageless, getting older doesn't bother me. I don't dwell on wrinkles or dread my birthdays. I don't get depressed about getting closer to 40 (other things yes, but we won't go there right now...) But today for some reason I started to feel old. The older I get the younger 60 looks, maybe that's a sign of aging. The older I get the stranger my children's generation seems to me. Maybe this is a wake up call for me. I need to get back in touch with my inner child. You are only as old as you feel, right? Or something like that.

I plan on living until at least 100 so I need to keep on feeling young for a long time still, since I'm only 1/3 of the way there! Whenever you see a person who lives to be 100 aren't they just the cutest little old person ever! They seem to just really embrace life and live it to the fullest, as much as you can at that age anyway! This is my life's goal, to be one of those cute little old people! Living with my 70 year old kids, I can't wait! :) Only one condition, all my kids need to outlive me!

And the best thing to come from the 80s was the Goonies, of course!

Goonies Never Say Die!!!

Feelin' Like A Mother

I put Mia to bed at 7:30. When 9 o'clock rolled around and I could still hear her talking, I decided to march up to her room. I was all ready to give her the, "MIA IT IS TIME FOR NIGHT NIGHT" speech. But instead all I could do was laugh because I found her naked (with her diaper on fortunately). I laid her down in her crib to put her jammas on and she was reaching up to me saying, "Hug, hug, hug" I smiled and I felt like I wanted to cry happy tears. What a special moment for me. So I gave her the biggest hug ever and rocked her for a minute. I am pretty good at cherishing the moments when I get to rock her. It makes me feel like a Mother.

Mia has a bee pillow pet. She is very attached to it, among other things like her blanky. Anyway, her pillow pet got a hole in it and she has been taking the stuffing out. I have put the stuffing back in a couple of times, with a mental note to stitch up the bee. It's hard because she is so attached that I never really get the chance to take it from her. It's the same reason her blankies are so nasty and dirty. So when I laid her down for the second time, I decided that I had had enough because she had pulled about half of the stuffing out this time. So with a sobbing Mia I told her, "I'm sorry honey, but I need to fix him." Downstairs, I added some stuffing and stitched her bee up. I sat there thinking, "I wonder how many times I will have to stitch this dang bee up?" But then I decided that I didn't care one bit because, it made me feel like a Mother.

As soon as I finished, I took the bee up to her, buttoned up her pajamas one more time. And what do you know, she finally fell asleep.

My thoughts turned to infertility (as they often do) and I couldn't help but long for the chance to be a mother again. I know it will happen someday but it's so hard not knowing when. It's so heartbreaking when everywhere I go I see pregnant moms or newborn babies. It makes me feel sad knowing that I haven't gotten another chance at it yet. All I can do right now is be grateful that I have a little girl who gives me hugs, and pillow pets to stitch up, because feeling like a Mother is the most amazing thing.

Some Things Never Change

Today was one of those veg out days. Days I crave all too often. You know the kind, where you don't get out of your PJ's, go braless, and don't brush your teeth 'til noon? I figure I better soak up days like these while I can, because before I know it my girls will be in school, and then it's go go go time...Anyway, today we got to have one of those precious days.This doesn't mean we just sit in front of the television all day long. I try to do some sort of project or activity that requires a little imagination. And today I found myself reminiscing about our amazing childhood. Wasn't growing up on Delta Avenue just the best? I find the older I get the more nostalga I long for, or perhaps it is just having kids?

So, today for the first time I made homemade playdough. Mom used to make it at least once a week. I can still smell the salt cooking like yesterday. I can see her slightly bent over, squinting over the measuring cups like she still does. I remember it taking hours, and we had to wait in agony while it cooled. She always let us pick out the food coloring color, if she had it on hand, but lots of times we just played with it uncolored.

Here's the recipe: Homemade Playdough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 TBS cream of tartar
1 TBS oil
food coloring

Directions:
Heat all ingredients in a saucepan, slow to medium heat. Stir continuously. Once dough is at the consistency you want, remove from heat. Cool before using.

And then the princess and I got cooking:

She picked out blue and then we added some glitter. Princess style, you know.

Scarlet was pretty happy, for seriously a couple of hours, as long as I was creating with her. I made this Dori inspired fish:

Man, I always wanted to be a sculptor. And a painter. And a fashion designer. And a teacher. And a school nurse. And a writer. And a photographer. Hey, at least I get to be those things to my children. :)

Ivy, happy to be in the center of it all, and Scarlet after a quick costume change, showing off her 'birthday cake for Care Bear':

And it was almost better than I remembered.

And P.S. Please remind me to never buy playdough again.

Oh My Hoard!

I have a tween daughter. Well, she's only nine so I'm not sure if she even really qualifies for that since I don't know what the technical ages are for "tweens". Is it double digits only (10-12) prior to becoming a full-fledged teenager? Who knows? So whatever, she's tall enough, emotional enough and mature enough in my eyes to be labeled a tween. Heaven only knows what we are in for when she really does become a teenager.

She's a very imaginitive girl and she likes to be artistic. Probably one of her favorite art forms is "found art". Don't know what that is? Well, basically it's when people take garbage and turn it into something artistic, you know the type, right? I think it takes a special kind of person to create this kind of art, no really, I do. I am definitely not one of them. It has taken me a while to learn to not get frustrated with my daughter for her dumpster diving. Ok, so she has yet to actually jump into a dumpster, but she is not above digging through our house garbage cans. I cannot tell you how many times I have found something in her room that I recently tossed in the trash.

So all of this leads me to my point, which is... I'm worried my daughter may turn into a hoarder. A few weeks ago while shopping at Goodwill 50% off day she approached me and her dad with some trinket that she wanted to buy. I sighed and asked her if she really needed it. Of course, she always thinks she needs something so I shouldn't even bother to ask. Then I make the mistake of telling her that I think she may be turning into a hoarder. She has watched the shows with me on A&E and she is just as fascinated by them as I am and for me to say this to her was extremely upsetting. She immediately got mad at me. So I said "well, you're probably just a pre-hoarder, but I can kinda see you heading down that path." This did not help. It only made her madder. Then her father pipes up, "yeah, you're a 'twoarder' that's a tween hoarder." He and I chuckled and had great fun at her expense.

Needless to say she did not get whatever junk it was that she wanted at the store that day. And just to show you what I'm talking about as far as the hoarding goes I thought I would post some pics of her room. I cleaned it out the other day because I could not stand looking at it anymore and sometimes no matter how many times you ask your kids to clean their room it's never going to get done quite to your expectations. Granted, I will cut her a little slack because of the living situation (we have been living with my parents for a little while and she has been sharing a room with her brothers) but really she was pretty much like this before we moved back to AZ.

Is this normal? All of this trash, junk, ahem, stuff was found under the bed. And let me just say that this was not all of it.

What girl doesn't have an American Girl catalog under her bed?

This was an interesting treasure I found under there. A lego treasure chest filled with lego hands, how morbid!
And really, any spelling bee champ should have one of these under her bed.
This one made me smile. Especially the misspelling of the word "excel" (rule 1).
A pillbox turned into doggie bed. #1 made me laugh, #4 made me cry (although I certainly don't miss a snowy winter I do feel bad that my kids do).
Doll socks and shoes inside a Sucrets box inside a Valentine's treat box.

I know it could be worse, but honestly that's what I'm afraid of, it could be worse!!!