Blogger's Block.

You know, it's not that things aren't happening. They are always happening around here. In fact, I think it would defy all law's of physics for a house full of six people to have NOTHING happening. I mean, take item number one, lip gloss rings arriving in the mail, from our amazing aunt Ana. Just imagine what that meant for one entire afternoon of my life. It required an immediate outfit change, into princess PJs which would better match the princess image on the ring. It required a whole lot of talking. And I mean, A WHOLE LOT of talking, because I guess that's just what princesses do when they are so very excited. But still, somehow, I felt like that day, I didn't have anything to say.

Or imagine my shock and delight, when on Saturday morning I awoke to find Darin in the mood to take all the animals out of the zoo on an excursion to Denver. It's not usual that Darin has on his top five ways to spend a Saturday, "Take all the animals out of the zoo and go somewhere with them." But something happened, and this Saturday he did. So we went to the Natural Science museum for a bit of culture. We went Downtown Denver for gelato and a ride on public transportation. We did a bit of shopping, and ended up having a lovely day. The kids were so excited it was as though we had never taken them abroad before. Success all around. But still, I had nothing to say.

And then when I saw this booty shot that Darin capture of his whole family and their back sides while visiting the museum, I giggled and smiled with such delight, that I thought surely now I have something to say, this is funny. But still nothing. So more days passed by.

So then Sunday came and went. We were on-time to church (that alone is worth recording in the family record). Darin let the children cut his tie off in Primary. Someone threw up in primary. Gourmet meals were prepared with love and care. But still, I came up empty in the brain.

Monday rolled around. A snow day was decided upon. That was okay at first because I didn't want to get out of bed (we've been over this before). I excelled as a mother in many ways this day. Except for the moment when I yelled so loud at my sweet off-spring, that my voice was hoarse for the rest of the afternoon. That was not how I excelled that day. But I repented to them later and redeemed the day as a whole. But still, at the end of it, I had nothing to say.

Which brings me to today and the Pinewood Derby. And truthfully, perhaps this has been part of my problem. It's been out of focus and overwhelming from the very beginning. I didn't really want any part of it. Except that in my efforts to excel as a mother, I neither want to disappoint my children, so I've been hoping that Darin would come through big for us in this department. Since he wouldn't classify himself as an expert craftsman, it's been somewhat nerve wracking for him too. In our attempt to not fail, he in particular probably over-compensated by reading every possible piece of information on the internet about how to build a pinewood derby car. And as a result:

Henry won it! (Or did Darin?)

But still somehow, I felt like I didn't have anything to say. "We won the Pinewood Derby." Life's just not that simple. It was so much more complicated than that. So as I was walking around my house tonight with blogger's block, doing the dishes, making cookies for George to take to school tomorrow, and cleaning up, I spotted this:

A misplaced shell behind the shoe basket. And I remember a huge chunk of my afternoon. It flashed back to me as though I had slept through it the first time.

I have these jars full of decorative items on the top of a hutch. I spent WAY too much time this afternoon talking/fighting with Ruby about why she couldn't play with one. She looses them. She's lost many already, and I just didn't feel like letting her loose one today. But it wasn't really about the shell. It's just that I feel like I have these kinds of battles with my kids EVERYDAY, where I say something, and they don't listen. And after a while, don't you just get tired of people not listening to you? So since I was feeling so fiesty, I kept standing my ground. She cried and cried and cried. She followed me around crying. She shifted to crying about chocolate chips for a little while. And finally she wore me down. I broke open the jar and handed out one shell to each girl. And sure enough tonight, as I was cleaning up/re-ordering the house, one sea shell was forgotten behind the shoe basket, and the other one is no where to be found. Long forgotten by Ruby as a careless by product of her afternoon. So I think that's why for a few days I had blogger's block. It's not that I don't have things to say, but maybe for a few days I was feeling sorry for myself that nobody listens to me anyway. But the pity party is over. I will keep trying to tell my children things. And then one day, one of them will come back to me and say, "Mom, remember how you said...", and it will all be worth it in the end.

P.S. I should have listened to my mother more often. Mom, I'm sorry.