Nothing to Brag About, Part Two

I just posted "nothing to brag about" and was thinking about how I wrote that I need to be a better Mommy. I just realized that instead of doing 3 billion other things, I should have been paying attention to my children. Maybe their "murals" were a cry for my attention, a plea for me to reasuure them that despite all the upcoming changes, we are a family and life is wonderful! Maybe they were trying to tell me something with their acting out. Or...maybe they're just a little naughty. Anyway, I still love them :) and despite my very loud reaction to what they did, I think they still love me.

So, share. What has made you want to "run away and eat a dozen donuts" (or whatever your equivalent not-so-healthy stress-buster is) lately?

This is Nothing to Brag About

I know this is nothing to brag about, but my kids have reached an out-of-control point.

They have rarely been kids to color on the walls. I remember one of them did a few years ago but this generally has not been an issue for us. After all, they are 3 and 4 (we’re not counting baby Alex in this little scenario. He’s still too angelic for me to call him “out-of-control”. They know we only color on paper. Crayons and markers never need to be kept out of their reach. Well, today, all of that changed.

A little background. We are in the midst of packing up and moving to the other side of the world. This will be our ELEVENTH move in six years of marriage. Again, nothing to brag about but this is what we’ve done, and what we’re doing. I am using this upcoming move as my excuse for why the kids haven’t been as obedient lately. I am also using this as my excuse for why they decided to color murals---not scribbles, mind you---but huge, wall-covering “designs” on their bedroom walls for no particular reason.

The worst, well okay not the worst, part of it was that Annabelle came and told me about it. However, I had no idea what I was in store for. Her exact words and mine:

Annabelle: “Mom, I colored a really scary fish.”
Me: That’s nice. Wait…where did you color a fish?
Annabelle: on my wall (with a smile, no less!!!!)


So, we found the “fish” and I made her (try to) clean it up with the magic eraser thingy. Okay, fast forward a little while. I’m on the phone with my friend, Shaunna and I walked back to their bedroom. The pictures document what I found (though you can’t see it very clearly). Not only had they colored ALL over their WALLS, but they had taken their mattresses off their beds and colored on THEM.

I know this is nothing to brag about.

There is more background do this day. Other reasons why I really want to run away and eat a dozen donuts right now:

*This morning I “proactively” posted several ads on craigslist for furniture we are planning to sell. I then corresponded with people and made payment arrangements, etc. I then discovered I had posted all of these ads in MOBILE, ALABAMA!!!! Ya…so then I had to cancel all my interested buyers, delete the ads and re-post them in the bay area.

*I am on a diet. I am hungry. Enough said.

*Baby Alex did not want to take a nap.

*The house is a mess.

*A buyer came to buy my bookshelves. After looking at them, she didn’t want them. This was after I had emptied all the books off of them. These books are now sitting in my dining room waiting to be sorted.

Sigh. So, all our plans for today just sort of faded into oblivion. I’ve spent a couple of hours cleaning (not the walls, mind you, those we’ll just have to paint) and thinking about how , how, how to be a better Mommy.

So that’s my day…and it’s only 2:46 in the afternoon. The baby is finally sleeping and rather than continuing to clean, I’m telling you because I need to vent.

Again, I know this was nothing to brag about :)

Abraham and Annabelle say Goodbye to Preschool!

This is me with my absolute favorite princess in the world, Mei Mei!



And this was just too cute to pass up. I love watching baby Alex sleep. I wonder what he's thinking so hard about!

And now, enjoy some pics from the last days of Preschool! Can you find Abraham during circle time?

Mommy hanging out in Annabelle's class


Annabelle playing outside

Sitting right by Ms. Devan for story time

Mrs. Olds and Ms. Devan were Abraham's teachers last year (for a semester) and taught Annabelle this year. They are great teachers.

Here we are visiting Abraham's class. He really loved Ms. Z

Here he's working on a project with Ms. Z

Annabelle loves, loves, loves to paint!

And cut playdough...

The kids have attended Sonshine Preschool this year and they've both grown so much. They spent 2 afternoons a week learning wonderful things from caring teachers and making good friends. I couldn't be happier with their first school experience. Now, they will be moving on to kindergarten, since in China, kindergarten begins at age 3. Annabelle will attend K-1, while Abraham will attend k-2. As we drove away from the preschool parking lot Thursday Abraham yelled, "Bye Sonshine, I have to go to Clifford School now!". Needless to say, we've been prepping them about how much they're going to love it, while silently hoping and praying that they really do!

Just In Case You Hadn't Heard...

THE QIANS ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!

That's right. We've got two more months to enjoy beautiful northern California. Two more months to hang out with the wonderful friends we've made here. Two more months to welcome any "old" friends who would like to pay us a visit (hint hint). Two more months to sell a lot of furniture, decide what to take and what to store. Two more months to get visas, tickets, and make arrangmentments for about two million things. A lot to do, yes, but we are very excited. It's one of those things that is just right, and it feels like the right time. So, we're going! Yeah!

BYU Women's Conference 2008

The Place we met in 2004

Chrissy and I

Steven, Janelle, and Tori--our friends from Pleasanton who are now at BYU.

Ryan, Kiersta, Hendrix, Faryn, and Errson

Errson snuggled right up to me as if he sees me every day of his life!

Shaunna (who made this trip possible) and me

Kiersta, me, Wendy

Randalyn, me, Wendy, Kiersta, Shaunna, Christine

Hannah & me

The whole crew

It was phenomenal. I left Wednesday night and have just returned on Sunday. My darling husband took two vacation days and cared for our three children for four days so that I could attend this wonderful event. I had never been away from our children for more than one night (the only time I’ve ever been away was when I was in the hospital having another child) and I took some much needed “Mommy time”. It was wonderful! I missed my sweet family but a few days away, learning all of the amazing things I did, gives me renewed strength and optimism, from which we will all surely benefit.

I saw our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, and heard him speak on kindness, service, and love. I heard intelligent, amazing women speak to us about our profound, special, and significant role as women, wives, mothers, and daughters of God. We heard one of our favorite speakers, John Byetheway, speak with his Mom. I attended sessions on several great and inspiring topics, but overall it was the spirit of the conference and my renewed faith and clarity of purpose that were the greatest gifts.

Of course, hanging out with my wonderful, fun, exceptional friends was also a key highlight! (Thanks to John and Shaunna for arranging the buddy pass!) Spending some awesome “sister time” with my sweet little sister, Chrissy, was much needed and really great too. It was also just fun to be back in Provo, a place of very tender memories for William and I.

And now, I am home. The house is quiet and amazingly, not a mess. William and the kids are at church and should be home soon. I can’t wait to see them! I love my family, I love my friends, and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am incredibly grateful to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Not only do I simply believe in its doctrinal truth, but its teachings make me a better person, or at least someone who is truly trying to be.

Wishing you all a great day!