What Goes Around Comes Around

While Zoey was really sick late last week, Ian was his super chipper self running wildly all over the house. I could tell that he recognized that Zoey was not feeling well and slow moving and boy he really picked on her. He knew he could get away from her wrath. She cried a lot.

I warned that boy, I said he better quit picking on her because what goes around comes around.

And then a couple days ago, he got hit hard. That cold Zoey had hit him full force with the coughing and the fever, and for payment of all his ornament nabbing: an ear infection. Poor kid has been knocked on his butt sleeping almost all day and hardly eating or drinking a thing. I thought surely that was enough karma at work, but Zoey didn't think so. While we were giving Ian a dose of medicine before bed, she took the liberty of pouring the rest of it into the garbage can. More likely it was out of jealousy than spite that she did that. She can't stand when Ian gets something she doesn't also get.

I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or bad that Brandon has been home on vacation all week taking care of the kids so I can work during the day. I'm going to go with relieved. That's a lot of crying from two sick babies.

Christmas is Coming!

I really really really tried to hold back on getting our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving this year because usually the tree starts to stink (to me) by Christmas day, even though I'm exceptionally diligent about watering it. When I saw that we were going to be having a rainy day on Saturday, I couldn't resist and we headed out to Houston Garden Centers to pick a tree. In the past we've always gotten a Noble Fir tree, but hoping that another type wouldn't stink as fast or as badly, we decided on a Frasier Fir this year. It's a little more expensive, but looks very similar to the Noble. I was actually hoping for a different look all together but the lot we went to only had Noble and Frasier this early. The Frasier is a bit more filled out and the branches a bit more delicate.

Poor Zoey had been coughing most of the night, she was feeling pretty sick but she was really really insistent on going get a Christmas Tree. Last year she had a decent understanding of what Christmas was all about, but this year she is really gung ho and excited about everything revolving around Christmas. The tree, lights, decorations, everything. She insisted she felt ok and so we loaded up in the van and went get the tree. Once we got there, he-who-cannot-be-contained aka Ian had a blast running around amongst the trees and very vehemently did not want to leave once we got there. Zoey decided after being there maybe 10 minutes that she really was sick and was ready to go home. I did manage to get one shot on my camera before the battery gave out.

Clearly, not a very good shot. Yes we are shopping for a tree on Black Friday in shorts and sandals. I think it was about 74ish outside. Nice. I love Houston.

The chosen tree, decorated mostly by Zoey. She was so excited even though she was so sick. She would hang some ornaments, go rest for a while and then come back and do some more. I guess I should probably trim the top a bit. My vintage star is pretty far away way up there. The lights are pretty sweet. They are LED and you can choose to have multi-color or just white or fade back and forth between them. The kids pretty much fight all day long over the ornaments. It typically goes something like this:

Ian takes ornament from tree.

Zoey freaks out and starts screaming and crying

Ian runs around the house with the ornament

Zoey catches Ian and tears the ornament from his hands

Ian screams and cries because Zoey took the ornament

Zoey hangs the ornament back on the tree.

Rinse and Repeat. I think I'll be happy as long as they don't end up pulling the tree down on themselves a midst the fighting.

Zoey also helped me put up some decorations around the house. The stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

My favorite new outdoor decoration this year. I've been really wanting a Nativity scene but just hadn't found the right one. When I saw this one on Amazon I had to have it. I bought it in October! As a mom, looking at all the traditional Nativity scenes, Jesus is always just sitting in the manger while everyone looks at him from afar. I can tell you that is not the truth, a new mom wants to hold and snuggle the kid she just incubated for the last nine months. Add on top of that that he is the son of God, well, this scene made so much more sense to me and really invoked feelings of love and tenderness. The set was a little pricey but my artistic skills are nil. I never could have hoped to put together a set this beautiful. It was so easy to assemble and is quite durable and from a small family business. Worth it 100%. Once all the rain dries in a couple days, we'll add more lights and decorations to the house. Brandon envisions our home being visible from space, but the fact that he is afraid of heights, that won't happen, I do all the outdoor decorating.

Thankful Thanksgiving

My family has never really had a traditional Thanksgiving. We don't have anything that we do every year for sure. Most years I remember going camping or out to eat Hibachi. When we did have a meal at home, it was never green bean casserole and stuffing. It was usually a Cajun feast with white beans and dirty rice dressing. The last couple of Thanksgivings as it comes close we all just kind of look back and forth to each other and say:

Us: "What are ya'll doing?" 

Them: "I dunno what are you doing"

Us: "I don't know we didn't plan anything" 

Them: "Oh well we might do this or that" 

Us: "Ok well I think we're just stay home, maybe make a turkey and some potatoes, I don't know." 

Them: "Ok so if our plans don't work out can we come over?" 

Us: "Sure"

And so the Masten home has become: If you don't have plans, come over to our house for Thanksgiving. This year wound up inadvertently being out biggest yet. We had 10 adults and 8 kids over, which included my parents, my brother and his family, my sister-in-law's family, and our good friends and their family. With everyone wanting to bring something as is the case, our menu got bigger and bigger. It was quite the mix of traditional and just good food. We had:

• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Turnip Greens (from the garden, we're celebrating the harvest after all right?)
• Au Gratin Potatoes
• Home made dinner rolls
• Pumpkin Pie
• Pecan Pie
• White Beans and Rice
• Pork Roast
• Dirty Rice
• Cranberry Sauce (whole and jelly)
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Green Bean Casserole
• Mashed Potatoes
• Black Olives
• Pink Fluff (whipped cream with fruit)
• Ham
• Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos
• Deviled Eggs
• Induction Fried Turkey
• Gravy
• Sodas and Juice

Just getting a small spoon full of everything made our plates overflow. So much delicious food. I'm still eating on the leftovers and they're still amazing!

The day before Thanksgiving, while I was baking up the bread and pies, I took out an array of craft stuff and helped the kids make some turkeys from pine cones and other assorted items. They turned out super cute, see?

I think a new glue gun is on my wish list this year since as I was gluing on the last sequin for Ian, my dollar store gun popped loudly, tripped the circuit breaker, and started smoking. It lasted pretty good for 5 years of use.

I know that I am truly blessed in my life. I am so thankful for a loving family, for a patient husband who deals with my craziness. I'm thankful for sweet kids, that while they drive me bonkers, my life would be empty without them. I'm grateful for awesome in-laws and the best parents ever who love and support my family and spoil my kids. I'm also thankful for an awesome job that lets me be mom and enjoy using my skills and education, for my husband's job that has great security and benefits, that challenges him and presents countless opportunities for learning. Above all I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, that knows me. Who sent his son to provide a way for us to return and live with Him. What a wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving to reflect and count our blessing. I have so many, I'm still counting!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

He's Such a Boy

The phrase "Boys will be Boys" is totally the truth. I used to think it was just kids will be kids, but there are definitely distinct differences between Boys and Girls. Their drives, personalities, and preferences are just so opposite sometimes. That isn't to say they aren't the same also. Ian is a very boy boy, the most boy they get. He loves cars and building things, dirt, playing outside, being loud, running, but most of all this kid loves to climb and investigate. If he wants to get to something he is going to figure out how to get there. This kid is seriously fearless. He loves to climb on the back of the furniture and try to take things off the walls, shelves, or reach switches which he then relentlessly turns on and off. He likes to hang on the side of the counter top, use his feet to walk up the side of the wall and then flip around backwards through his arms. Yes, he's only 21 months old. Just this morning he figured out how to climb on the tub, stand on the faucet and get into the window sill in our master bathroom He also likes to open the pedestal drawers under the washer and dryer and sit and play in them. He has recently discovered that he can use those drawers as steps to push all the buttons and knobs on the washer, and most recently to climb into the washer and/or dryer when the doors are open.

He's pretty mad because the barrel would rotate every time he tried to get out.

Boy LOVES to eat, here he's enjoying some whoppers candy

I may not survive the raising of this child. Miraculously, he has not yet been to the Emergency Room.

Moms in IT

I have a degree in Information Technology from BYU. There are certain things I knew I would use, like the programming and networking for my own hobby use or home network stuff. I didn't think so much that it would actually be useful to my life as a mom. In IT101, Introduction to IT we made these little circuit board Ys that have an LED that blinks and it plays a couple songs. That one lab taught me the basics of circuitry and electronics and how to solder it all together.

Last year my dear MIL bought the kids this awesome MP3 player for the kids, it looks like a little boom box and has easy to use buttons and functions for the kids to use. I really like it since i was able to put 15 cds worth of songs on it for the kids to play whenever they like. Well Zoey decided one day it would be fun to throw it over the railing upstairs. Lucky thing ended up smashing on the tiny tiled area in front of the fireplace. It rattled but it was still working, amazingly.

The MP3 Player boom box the kids broke and I fixed.

Then one day a week or so ago, it quit working. I figured it was only a matter of time, but I decided, hey I know a thing or two about electronics, I'm gonna fix this thing. First problem, one of the screws holding the halves of the casing together won't unscrew and I end up stripping the head trying to get it out. I left it abandoned on the counter for a week or so. With Thanksgiving coming up I knew I was going to need to clear it off the counter so I finally decided to either fix it or trash it. I took a drill and drilled out the screw so I could get it apart. On first look I can't see any issues with the electronics. As I'm doodling with it checking from the battery to the switch to the circuit board I finally notice one of the ribbon cables from the switch to the circuit board is partially broken away. I immediately think back to my IT 101 class and I'm sure I can fix this.

I rummaged around for the soldering iron, some desoldering braid and wire strippers. I spent the next hour and a half messing with the stupid thing. I talk about Brandon getting fixated with things, but I was not going to give up on this because I knew I could do it! I was having a heck of a time pulling up all the old solder so I could remove the broken wires because the manufacturer put some kind of hot glue over it and it was just making the contacts difficult to get to. Eventually I cleaned out 3 of the 4 holes for the ribbon wire. The last being the ground I couldn't clean out but the contacts were exposed enough that I figured I could just solder over top the existing wire bits. I soldered the ribbon wire back into place and tried to turn the box on and it wouldn't boot up. I knew I should have double checked the markings on the switch and board. I wound up soldering the ribbon on backwards. DOH! So I unsoldered it all again, soldered it back on properly and it fired up perfectly. I put it all back together and strut out of the office buffing my fingernails and jammin' to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

With all the electronic toys these days, it's pays to be a mom with IT experience.

Massaging the Code

Lately I've had a project at work pick up and I've been working nearly every night. The majority of the project involved configuration of an application I already built some years ago. That part was easy. The rest of the work revolves around incorporating some mini programs that were written into my program and installing the whole thing at the client. The mini programs were written in .NET 1.0 by someone with limited coding experience. What that means is the code is 1. outdated 2. inefficient. I liken it to massaging the code. First I copy it all over as is and do the minimum needed to resolve any compilation errors. Then I rewrite obvious ugly code.

For Example:

Dim strSqlquery as String =""
Dim cmd as new SqlCommand()

strSqlquery = "SELECT somecolumn FROM sometable "
strSqlquery = strSqlquery & "WHERE somecolumn=1 "
strSqlquery = strSqlquery & "AND someothercolumn =' " & someVar & "'"

cmd.CommandText = strSqlquery

Becomes

Dim cmd as new SqlCommand("SELECT somecolumn FROM sometable WHERE somecolumn=1 AND someothercolumn = @aVar")

cmd.Parameters.Add("@aVar", varchar).Value = someVar

Technically they both do the same thing, but the second is better for a couple reasons. 1. Less variable declarations means less memory used and less processing. 2. Using parameters eliminates possible errors from building a dynamic query since that variable could be user entered and we don't know if they'll add special characters that need processing. using a parameter will process the content of the variable based on the type of parameter it is to eliminate those problems.

It seems as though we lose some readability by not breaking up the query but that can be remedied by using the & _ between breaks in the string, but that brings me to my third run through massage. 3. I remove all queries and put them into stored procedures. Using stored procedures organizes all your queries into a convenient location, faster execution of the query, and they can be changed if necessary in a live environment without having to cause interruptions with recompiling code.

If the first three massages don't get everything, the 4th step is to re-write objects into classes to group like functions and subroutines for readability. When all the massaging is done, the code is typically reduced in line by half and I can step back and say I'm proud to have had my hands on this code. I love programming!

Turkey Trot Trot to Humble

This morning I woke up in the perfect coocoon of comfort. You know, when the temperature under the blankets is perfect and the temperature outside the blankets is perfect and you're so cozy you just wanna stay in bed all day long and sleep. I ever so reluctantly get out of bed to my oddly perky children. Just as I settle in on the couch to watch the morning news I get a text from my dear SIL which reminds me of my niece's Turkey Trot I said I would go to. I bolt out off the couch and scramble to get the kids ready and in the van to go.

I have one niece in 4th grade and one in 5th. Each grade is doing their trots separately. Each kid gets one point for each lap, every adult gets two points for each lap. Babies counted as 2 points for the 5th graders and 1 point for the 4th graders. I guess they were just trying to figure out how many points they should get. So for every lap me and the kids did for the 5th graders, Chase's class got 6 points, and Linzee's 4th grade class got 4 points. 30 minutes for each grade to complete as many laps as you can.

Aunt Pennie and the kids

Zoey and Ian were very cooperative for the 5th grade trot which took place first. We had a small break in between and they started showing signs of weariness, well Ian anyway. He doesn't like to be confined too much. He'll tolerate it for a while but then that wild boy just needs to get out and do his own thing. By the time the 4th grade trot started, Ian only lasted two laps before I had to carry him because he was wriggling out of the stroller. I carried him one lap and then we had to miss a lap or two to let him run around and get some water. I forced him to let me do one more lap and then we just had to stop, he was being a fish. When I say that I mean flopping around like crazy when I would hold him, the second I put him down, he would fall to the ground and start flopping around there, even more so if I tried to get him to stand up and walk.

At the end of each grade they announced the winners and both Chase and Linzee's classes won ice cream parties and a turkey dinner for their teachers! It was great to be supportive, I know I'm gonna be sore tomorrow! My arms hurt more than my legs do from wrestling with Ian. Getting him in his car seat in the van was another huge feat.

The Purple Princess

One upon a time there was a little girl named Zoey. All her life she had been pretty indifferent to the colors of the rainbow. In fact she really couldn't even distinguish and name them. Her mom would ask her every now and then what her favorite color was and either the answer was always different or just the last color name she could remember. Then one day, the little girl Zoey asked to use the purple sippy cup for her milk. Then she asked to use the purple bowl for her cereal. When it was time to get dressed, she dug through all of her clothes until she found the most purple of them all. At lunch time she demanded the purple plate for her food. By the day's end, only the purple blanket would do to watch TV with. And so, the little girl Zoey turned into the Purple  Princess. Every morning her majesty asks for the purple sippy cup and will complain if she doesn't also get the purple lid. Her insistence on all plates and bowls to be purple can only be satiated by said dishes or "They're dirty, Daddy didn't do the dishes last night." The Purple Princess also has to say the word "Purple" 6,750,502,312 times a day. One must also agree that everything is purple or could be purple or would be better if it were purple or incur the wrath of the princess.

There she is, the Purple Princess in all her glory. Come to think of it, I may have created this monster since I convinced her to choose some very purple bed sheets for her new big girl bed. Maybe she's been absorbing the purple obsession via osmosis at night.

Toddler Workout

There are so many types of workouts and videos, mostly targeting getting super buff for 5 minutes a day 3 days a week or something ridiculous. There was a time when I was trying to do Pilates every day. I love Pilates. I quit that because the kids would crawl all over me while trying to do the Pilates 100 and well it just wasn't working out. Later I got into Just Dance for the Wii, getting my heart rate up while dancing and thinking I looked as cool as the dancer on the TV. The kids would dance with me too. That was great until they got bored and would instead attach themselves to my legs and I couldn't dance or one of them got bashed in the face and I had to stop for all the crying.

I guess the only way I'd get any daily exercise is to have a babysitter. This morning I was sitting on the arm of the couch waiting for Zoey to put her shoes on so we could go Visiting Teaching. Ian attaches himself to my legs, like he pretty much always does and for the fun of it I was doing leg lifts. After about 10 I was feeling a pretty good burn in my thighs. He was giggling and laughing like it was the greatest thing ever. Then I thought, someone really needs to make a "Workout with your Toddlers" video, instead of them being a hindrance, they can be your training resistance to increase effort and results. Of course this would rely on your ability to lift, push and pull around 20-30 lbs and their willingness to participate. It would be nice if the exercise could be performed alone or with a child or two, but it would have to be fun for the kid too. Sounds like I'm asking for too much now that I think about it. If there's one thing I've learned is that you can't count on the predictability of children.

More Than Just Snot

Friday evening I was working in the office and Brandon typically puts the kids to bed by himself when I am working so I don't have to break out of my programming zone. Shortly after he finishes getting Zoey down I hear crying coming from upstairs. Her room is just above the office and I can tell the difference between my kids' cries so I was sure it was Zoey. I run upstairs to check on her and she is bawling her eyes out and spouting what sounds like gibberish to me. My ears were still a bit stopped up because of my cold. Brandon comes in and translates she says she has a bead in her nose. We turn on the light and  take a look and sure enough wedged up in her nostril is a red barrel bead. She's still weeping and wailing quite a bit and she's freaked out so she won't blow her nose. Not that even if she did it would unwedge it since she's not even very good at blowing snot out into a kleenex.

I tell Brandon to get some tweezers since it seems like I could pick it out myself. He returns with the pointest pair we have. I thought he would get the blunt scissor like ones we have. I try my best to pin her down to the bed and go in to the extract it and she jerks her head and I stab her in the nose with the tweezers. So now her nose is bleeding and the bead turned out to be bigger than I expected, the tweezers weren't going to get around it easily anyway. I then just told Brandon to take her to the Emergency Care center down the street. I gotta get back to work and Ian is sleeping anyway. Zoey is still freaking out about not being able to get this bead out of her nose. I'm pretty much laughing at this point. I know she isn't in any real danger but she can't seem to understand that, but I don't want to laugh at her out loud because it'll just make her more upset.

About 30 minutes and $100 later Zoey and Brandon come back sans bead plus two stickers and a lollipop. He said once she calmed down she was fine. They wrapped her up really tight but as soon as the doctor touched her she freaked out again. They inserted a catheter that makes a bubble on the end behind the bead, inflated it and it popped the bead right out. When she got home I asked her if she was going to stick anything else in her nose and she told me yes. hahaha. The next day she did say no though, maybe she just needed to sleep on it.

I was sure this day was going to come where one of my kids stuck something up their nose, but I kind of figured at this point it would have been Ian, not Zoey. Just goes to show, you never know what to expect with kids. For future reference, the ER doctor said we could plug the other nostril and blow hard into her mouth and it would produce enough airflow force to dislodge most things.

Daylight Savings Time

As I kid I didn't like the Spring forward very much, losing an hour of sleep and all. I loved Fall back, obviously every kid loves an extra hour of sleep, especially a teenager. This still rang true as I got older, had a kid. Now, two toddlers later, I'm absolutely certain that whoever decided that daylight savings time was a good idea, was definitely NOT a parent. While I'm supposed to feel like I have gained an extra hour of sleep for one day I find that I have lost 4 hours of sleep so far since moving my clock back an hour Sunday morning. It's a great theory that putting the kids to bed an hour later would mean they wake up an hour later, but apparently their internal clocks didn't get the memo. There they are at my bedside all bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for the day at 6 am. Ugh. Just when I had finally gotten them to sleep until 7-7:30. Unfortunately because they are also getting an hour less of sleep, they are grumpier faster in the evening. It seems to usually take them a week to adjust, but they are just not budging on this time's change. I might have actually gone vote on Tuesday if there was a proposition to discontinue observance of daylight savings time. I'm sure every parent would have been at the polls. The news talks about voter apathy, it's because we're all zombies from losing sleep over stupid daylight savings!

Making Life Difficult

In general I appreciate when Brandon steps in and helps out with the kids. This Saturday I needed to work most of the day so he took care of the kids. I came out for a break and I found the living room in shambles, strewn with books and puzzles and game pieces. I noticed there wasn't anyone around and then I walk outside and found this:

Apparently the kids got into the hall closet and dragged the tent out and opened the bag. Wherein the father that pretty much never says no, pitched the tent in the back yard so they all could play. So what's the problem? Dad doesn't say no, but mom does! I've figured it out that they reason I typically say no to something is not that it is a danger or something the kids shouldn't do but that it will typically result in some kind of mess that I will have to clean up.

So when dad says yes, I still usually have to clean up some or all of the resulting mess. In this case I didn't have to but now every day the kids get into the hall closet they will expect me to pitch the tent for them. It's just like every time we go to Walmart, we can't ever leave without a melt down from wanting to play the claw machine games because Brandon always stops and plays. Zoey always thinks she can get out of going to bed if she asks to watch football with Daddy because Brandon let her do it one time. I guess toddlers just don't get the idea of an occasional treat. They do know if they flash their sparkly eyes at daddy enough, they'll get whatever they want. That doesn't work on mom, but it makes her life more difficult.

Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween, we did what we do every year, carve pumpkins and go Trick or Treating.

Zoey: "It's Yucky Mom"

Ian attempts to help Daddy

See the look of disgust on his face. He didn't like the insides either.

Ian and Zoey helped me draw a face on my pumpkin.

Zoey and Hannah so ready to go Trick or Treating!

Pumpkin, Strawberry Shortcake, and Stink Bug!

An hour later the kids examine the loot and pick a few choice pieces to consume before bed.

Brandon's pumpkin "Trick or Troot"

Our decorations. Two real jack-o-lanterns, 1 plastic, 3 hanging ghosts, two strings of lighted bats, some orange lights, a giant spider, cobwebs and our Enchanted Tree face who says "Hey! Hey you! Yeah you. Come over here. Haven't you ever seen a talking tree before? Welcome to my branch office, hehehe. Now! Make like a tree and leave! HA HA HA!! I know that exactly because it was hanging on the wall in the play room all month and would go off any time the kids screamed or made a loud noise.

The kids and my jack-o-lantern.

The giant spider watches you as you come to the door.

We had a lot of fun this year, we left the bowl of candy on a table outside the door with our animated grim reaper to hand out the candy, it was cleaned out by the time we got back at 7:45. Refilled it and it was emptied again before we went to bed. And yet, I still went to Walmart today and bought more candy! haha, I couldn't resist it at half price. The Almond Joys were screaming at me to eat them! And eat them I will.