It's Not Easy Being Green

I have an announcement.
I have decided that this is it. This is the year I really try to go green. Not crazy make-our-own-clothes-out-of-hemp green, but trying to think more about what I buy and how we use things green. We have already converted to the CFL light bulbs, with just a little complaining, and I do try to buy things with less packaging that degrades more easily. I am also buying the bags to take to the store and recycle the plastic bags that we do use.
But it isn't always easy being green. Or at least, greener.
Recently, I bought some cleaning products to go with our new earth friendlier life style, and I have a confession to make: I hate them. I am almost ready to go back to my role as "Sarah, Destroyer of the Environment" (sounds like some bad eco cartoon) because of them. Let me tell you why.
I like things to be clean. You may not believe this if you have ever been in my house, but I really like cleanliness. It's a good thing. For the whole 5 - 15 minutes that I can keep anything clean in my house. I also really like the smell of a clean house. Especially when it smells like lemons. It helps me to know that even though there is now a huge greasy hand print or glob of yogurt, that lemony clean smell is still there to remind me that yes, I did clean, even if no one else can see it now.
We have switched our laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, and kitchen and bath cleaners. The "green" products I am now using to clean my house seem to do a decent job cleaning, but heaven help me, they smell terrible.
The first bottle read like a recipe for chicken: lemon, thyme, and rosemary. I was so excited. Then I sprayed. And scrunched up my nose. And made the excuse that maybe the first spray was slightly fermented or something else, and the rest of the bottle would be okay. Not so.
As I cleaned, my throat was feeling a little closed up. And then it clicked: this new cleaner smelled like those nasty throat lozenges my mother gave me when we had sore throats as children. Those huge green horse pill looking things that tasted so bad you couldn't wait for the things to numb your whole mouth and throat just to get rid of the taste. When I was growing up, you never told my mom you had a sore throat, no matter how hard it was to swallow, because you would have to sit there and suck on one of these things, and think about how much better it would be if you had just lost a limb or had the Plague instead.
I think they were Sucrets, and I think they went out of business because parents banned them along with castor oil.
So now my house smells like Sucrets and is giving me nightmares. There is only one thing to do. And that is to say I'm Sorry. I am sorry to all the wetland animals and endangered species that I will be killing (again) when I switch back to my regular cleaner.
At least I won't have to see them every day and will be able to cocoon myself in the house. My nice, lemony clean house. MMMM.

Spring Break. Really.

You have no idea what Spring Break was like for us. Really.
First off, isn't it supposed to be warm? Especially when you head South? Instead, we drove through Snow from Tremonton to Santaquin, and woke up to 4 inches of snow. Really.
Second, what idiot mother forgets to check the weather down there and only packs short sleeves and no heavy clothes? Me. Really.
At least we got to celebrate birthdays with everyone. 5 of them within 4 weeks, 4 of them within 2. Really.
Julia (my mother-in-law) made cakes for 4 of the birthday people, and really went all out for them. They were all from scratch, and included a real strawberry cake and a candy bar cake. Absolute heaven. Really.

We ate cake(s) after almost burning down Beaner and Jenny new house. Really.

Note to everyone: do not light roughly 150 candles and THEN sing the Happy Birthday song. Really.

After getting to Delta, we decided to hurry and do some Easter things before the snow came. We dyed eggs, and while the children finished that up, I lobbed eggs out onto the lawn for the Hunt. I throw like a girl. Really.

We also tried to look at bigger SUV's while down in Utah, because we have discovered that ours is too small with a 4th child, a dog and luggage. Really.

No one had anything that was bigger; we should have come in two weeks ago. Really.

We also watched Conference and ate lots of candy and other bad things for us. There is a slide show underneath this post for all the other pics that didn't make it here. Really.

Spring Break Pics

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Latest Happenings

Last week was busy. I took the 2 older children in to have their cavities "fixed", Clifford had his week full of singing and finishing up the Spring term of Sounds Choir, mud has finally come to the back yard and into the house which signifies Spring (at least I tell myself it's mud), and we are getting all the details ironed out for our Easter Trip down to Utah.
Some things of interest:
Nadia decided she wants bangs again. So Nadia and I had a girls' afternoon and had haircuts. Long story short, I will never complain about my lack of hair cutting abilities again. Her bangs remind me of when Nadia was 5 and decided she needed to cut her hair by herself for Aunt Lauren's wedding. At least they will grow out, and she seems to think they look fine. She decided she wanted bangs again because then I don't have to fix her hair every day. She can brush it out all by herself. How unfair is that? I only get one girl, and she won't do girly hair. Sigh.
Brandon has been having a hard time lately. I wasn't joking when I called him Anti-Change Boy. He suddenly decided that he couldn't go to school or Primary without a Sharp (Mom, Dad, or Nadia) being there with him. His teachers at school noticed, and we had a chat. It was kind of embarrassing, being told that I needed to stay after so the teacher could talk to me. I told her we had a new baby at home, and the routine had changed, which I was sure was causing Brandon's anxiety issues. Brandon now has a chart that he fills every week. Every day that he goes to school without crying, he can put a sticker on the chart. At the end of the month, he gets a prize. I knew he was doing better when he got his first prize, a Club Penguin membership card for 1 month, and asked if he could go to Toys R Us and pick out a $70 remote controlled Red T-Rex instead.
Benjamin now talks like Cookie Monster. I love this stage. A few cute sayings: "Me want pay compooter." "Gainkoo" (Thank you) "Me yike pancakesh a yunch." (I would like pancakes for lunch.) Sunday, he came downstairs to get in the bed after Cliff went to take a shower. He climbed over onto Cliff's side, pulled up the covers, and said, "Ah. Dis is de yife." (Ah. This is the life.)
Caleb is doing wonderfully. Yesterday was his 2 month appt, and he now weighs 12 lbs 2 1/2 oz. and just a little over 24 inches long. He is hitting all his milestones, and the doctor thought it was kind of funny that Caleb only had eyes for me. I'm not surprised at all. He likes his siblings, and will smile and coo to them, but Mama is definitely the favorite. We used to joke that Caleb is a lone twin, because he would only sleep when someone was touching him. He's doing better with that, and sleeps beautifully in his crib now.
Our biggest accomplishment was on Sunday, when the entire family made it to church together. Never mind that we were half an hour late, we were all there. Now let's see if we can make a habit of it. Just not the late part.

Caleb's Faces

My dad believes that babies don't really smile at people for the first 3 months. They simply make faces because of gassiness. Some of the faces they make simply look like they are smiling.

This isn't gas.
Not when he does it every time he sees me or one of the kids or my mother.

This is a smile.

Shell Shocked

We received our tax return not that long ago, and were feeling rather flush. There was money to finish the kitchen, fix the muffler on Cliff's car, and pay off a credit card. I should have known better.
I took the children in for their dental check ups. The actual check ups were fine, but both Nadia and Brandon have a cavity. While making appointments to get these fixed, I had the following conversation with the office lady:
Her: What dental insurance do you have?
Me: None. We have a Flex Pay account.
Her: Okay, so you're paying on your own. Here's the estimate for the work to be done, but be warned that it is just an estimate.
Me: (going pale) You do realize we're just getting two small fillings, not a root canal and crown put in, right?
Her: Oh, I see that the fillings will be done on your first born child as well as your first born son. Since we usually take one of these as payment, I need to know, do you have other children? Can you have more if our estimated work is above and beyond what is outlined here?
Boy, am I bummed. Guess it's a good thing I didn't bring in Ben to discuss his thumb sucking and tongue thrust issues, or I might have to steal some fertility drugs and have triplets.

Revenge of the Tooth Fairy

Welcome to another entertaining and incredibly true post, starring my amazingly energetic children and their sleep deprived parents. You may be wondering what that Sharp family has been up to for the last few weeks. Well, let me tell you.
Benjamin has become a computer genius. He can now start up the internet, navigate on to his favorite sites, and play games or find videos. In other words, he is now more computer savvy than me. He turns 3 in April. Hopefully, he waits to start his own computer company until he can read.

Brandon has had a very interesting couple of weeks. Have you noticed the change in his smile? That blasted tooth caused a bit of drama, unfortunately. It is a common fact that most children will wiggle a tooth that has become loose. What they will not do is yank on it in the hopes that the Tooth Fairy will come sooner.

I have problems with the yanking of teeth. Being a former dental assistant, I have seen the horror stories in action of people not taking care of their teeth, or causing damage by being impatient. I told Brandon not to yank. I explained to him why we don't yank. I even threatened him if he continued to yank. So what happened? After another explanation of broken roots and possible grounding if the yanking continued, Brandon went to his room. He came back shortly with a bloody mouth, hand, and tooth.

That's right, after all the talks and threats, Brandon pulled out his tooth on his own because he needed to feed Piggy (his piggy bank).

Cliff was not amused, and I was furious, especially after examining the root and seeing a little hole and crack in it. That tooth had not been ready to come out, he pulled it out anyway, and worst of all, he disobeyed.

When Brandon told us he was going to put his tooth under his pillow, I said no. I told him that the Tooth Fairy doesn't take teeth that aren't ready to come out. He was very upset, but there was no way I was going to reward that kind of behavior.

By the way, why is it that my kids believe in the Tooth Fairy, and not Santa? Another post for another time, my friends.

Nadia has been enjoying Achievement Day girls. She keeps asking me on Mondays if they are having a meeting the next day, because she doesn't want to miss any. Saturday is the Mommy and Me party, and she is very excited. Nadia is also doing a great job with piano and school, and we have finally solved the problem of finger nail biting by having a manicure day every week. Thanks to my good friend Krista for the wonderful idea!

Cliff has been a wonder. He is silly with the kids and plays with them after work, even though I know he is tired and would love a nap instead. He is very patient with me and my grumpiness, and poor Caleb's colic/indigestion. Who would have thought that the poor thing would have such a hard time whenever I ate chocolate? Of course I had to give it up, but let me tell you, between little to no sleep AND no chocolate, Karma is going to be getting a nasty email from me.