Swensen Sentral

Quote of the day by Amelie:    "The earth needs moms." We were having a conversation while I was changing Lele's diaper for bed and she started talking about how much Lele loves her mom and how kids love their moms and need their moms.  And then she finally just summed it all up with this quote.  Well said. I am totally stressed .  Yes I confirmed that today.  I have all the symptoms: extreme fatigue, memory loss, irregular sleep pattern, tension in neck and shoulders, headaches.  Now the question is, what to do about it?  I was reading in a textbook today about "sleep and wellness" and it was describing different ways to deal with stress, one of which is getting the right amount of sleep.  It looks like I have been doing everything wrong.  So today is the day I'm going to make a change.  Here's what I need to do: 1) Establish a regular sleep pattern : go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. ...

This little stinker refuses to eat solids.  I tried vegetables at first of course, then rice cereal, then resorted to the sweetest stuff I could think of, and she just plain doesn't want anything to do with it.  If I sneak a bite in her mouth, she instantly displays a disgusted reflex and just holds her mouth open...for a long time...until it eventually all drools out.  I don't understand it.  She did find a bit of pleasure in sucking on this pretzel after she got past the horrid taste.   You really want me to try this?   Ok, here it goes.     Wow, that's disgusting.

My cousin Lindsey tagged me to do the following, so here I go. The Rules 1. You must post the rules. 2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post. 3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 5 new questions for the people you tagged. 4. Tag 5 people and link them on your post. 5. Let them know you've tagged them! 12 Fun Facts About Me 1. I shop for my kids clothes almost exclusively online.  In fact, I shop for a lot of things online now.  Amazon is my new favorite friend, love prime shipping.  Just don't have the time with 4 kids to go to the store.  And almost every time I take them with me we meet disaster. 2. I love pre-19th century movies: Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Lark Rise to Candleford, etc....my new favorite is North & South.  It is SOOOO good! 3. I really love making things, and I have a burning desire to sew all the time.  I don't get to do it very often and I'm ...

I know this is kind of obscene, but I couldn't pass it up. Too cute! (ok maybe not cute to you but it was to me, and it is my blog :)

Things on my mind.  Amelie is becoming such a sweet and loving sister and caretaker to Estelle.  She endearingly calls her "sweetie pie" and "Lele" (a nickname we came up with from Soleil-le) which I love to hear.  She feeds her, burps her, responds to her cries, carries her around, and plays games to appease her.  She is the best big sister.  Estelle is so lucky to have her.  Sawyer also has become quite entertained by his little sis.  He entertains himself by making her giggle and jump wildly in her exersaucer by saying "ah-tchoo! ah-tchoo!" (his form of peek-a-boo).  He is thrilled by his achievements in making her laugh and it only eggs him on to do it more.  As for Chase , the other morning I woke up to hearing Estelle whimpering to get out of her crib.  I pulled myself out of bed, dragged my feet down the hall, only to find her crib empty.  Puzzled, I started down the stairs and quickly saw her snug in her swing, rocking f...

Sawyer cracks me up.  Today after lunch I told him it was nap time (like I do every day), so of course as soon as he could he runs out the back door hoping to escape his nap.  I follow him out with Estelle on my hip to get him.  After asking several times he doesn't come inside so I tell him he'll get a spanking if he doesn't mind by 3.  1.....2......3! (he holds his ground, giggling).  Trying to remain serious and with limited ability, I grab him with one arm and pull him off the helicopter toy, and give him a spanking.  What does he do?  He just runs away from me laughing, taunting me to keep spanking him.  He runs in the house and stops at the bottom of the stairs.  "Go up" I say, he waits, "go up" I insist.  He says "spank me mama", so I swat his bum playfully and he says "thank you mama" and proceeds to go up the stairs.  Hahahahaha, life is just a game to this silly boy.  It's hard to be mad at him.  Ever since he wa...

This morning I woke up and thought, I want to do something fun today.  I've been meaning to take the kids to the library ever since moving here, but have just never gotten around to it.  So I decided today would be the day.  I got them all ready, packed up in the car, and away we went.  The Castaic Library was way smaller than I was expecting, I'm use to Provo/Orem's library and Boston, but it was still sufficient to find some great books and new movies for the kids to feast upon.  We all left with something fun (Potty Training for Little Boys was my thrill read ;) to bring home.  So I guess this is my plug for libraries.  They are so great!  It is a great way to get out of the house, surround your kids with something good, make reading and spending time together a habit, and engage kids in being excited about learning and imagining.  And the best part is...it's FREE!  (which is wonderful when you're on a tight budget :)  I love li...