Reality Check

(Has it really been almost a week since I last posted? What's up with that?)

Can I just say....

You know you're the world's worst housekeeper when your 3-year-old refuses to pee on a toilet because it's "too dirty". And when you try to convince him that it's okay- it won't hurt him- he whimpers and cries and insists on using the other toilet.

That same child can make me go between proud as a mother hen to horrified as all get-out in 2 seconds flat: While grocery shopping in a busy store, he simply switches from singing "The First Noel" beautifully and angelically, to yelling "NIPPLES, NIPPLES, NIPPLES!!" with a mischievous giggle and smirk.

***

Jesse always says that car problems always come in threes. 1) Van's windshield wipers going berserk, check. 2) Nissan's CV joints about to break any minute, check (Jesse's got the new parts now, just has to find time and good weather to change them). Hmmm... #3.....

I had forgotten Jesse's car rule. Didn't ever cross my mind to expect another thing going wrong. But it crossed Jesse's mind. He wondered to himself Monday morning, "I wonder what's going to go wrong next??" Well, when I drove the van that same day, I saw the answer. Our windshield is broken. Well, not broken. But majorly cracked. And it sure wasn't cracked or even dinged on Sunday. It's cracked on the inside, too, not the outside. Jesse the engineer says that it's from being hit on the outside, something to do with tension of concave vs. convex surfaces. His guess is someone hit it with a football. We didn't notice anyone playing around on Sunday, but the weather was definitely nice enough, and we've seen people playing with footballs in the parking areas before. The nice people in us want to believe that whoever did it didn't even realize it. The cynics in us are grumpy that someone ruined our windshield and maybe just ran away knowing they'd never be caught. And now we have to replace it out of our own pocket, because we sure don't carry insurance to cover this kind of thing, with cars that are so old.

The good news is that we'll be able to afford it, and truth be told, that windshield was pretty crappy anyway. It had grooves in the shape of the windshield wiping pattern, and driving at night made annoying streaks of light on the passenger side, from headlights especially.

We can afford it because of taxes. Why do car problems always happen around tax time, and not summertime, Jesse and I wonder? Probably because winter is hard on cars, we guess, but it's still odd. Almost every time our cars start breaking, it's in the middle of winter. Late December or January. Truly odd.

But anyway, Taxes!!! I had wanted to get our taxes filed this past Saturday, but I was still waiting on the form from our bank. I finally got it on Monday, and well, I decided to try and do it myself, since I had time, instead of waiting for Jesse. We use the TurboTax program, which I really like. They pull most of our information straight from the previous year's forms, so I don't have to fill out much anything new. It's not a cheap program, but since we have a rental property back in Colorado (the money sink that it often is), we really need the extra help. Otherwise, I'd probably just file with a free method online. Anyway, so I went and input everything into TurboTax in less than an hour, and I felt like I did everything right (especially since I always participate in the taxes with Jesse, I'm familiar with the process by now). I was amazed by the amount it was saying we'd get back, though! Over $5,000 for federal, and over $1,000 for state. WOW! $6k tax refund? THANK YOU!! I suppose that it's mostly because of adding a third child to our tax returns, and I don't think Jesse ever changed his W-4 at work, either, to adjust for the addition to our family.

So, good news is that we have plenty of money to cover the random car things going crazy. And enough to make a nice little extra cushion in savings. Maybe eventually we'll even be able to use that savings for a down payment on a house, or something. Hopefully we won't ever have to use it as an actual cushion because of lack of employment or anything.

***

Alex can be so much fun these days. He loves clapping anytime he hears anyone else clap (TV included). He loves pat-a-cake and often "says" it to himself. He's learning the song "Popcorn Popping" from Primary, which is just so cute. He's pointing at things like a madman, which I find just incredibly adorable, the way his whole body gets into it. And the way he babbles nonsense at 50mph while he's pointing to various things. I just wish I knew what sort of things he was talking about... I'm sure it's fascinating!! He's mimicking sounds a lot lately, too (ahhh... especially some of the goofier sounds found on Webkinz games). And my new favorite: Honking noses. We poke his nose gently and say "honk honk!". Then he pokes our nose and goes "hah hah!" It's all so much fun.

But teething is not fun. Still. Ever. He's got his 7th tooth (3rd on the bottom), and is now working on his 8th, also on the bottom. It's loads of fun. Or not.

***

We joined a little preschool co-op with some ladies in our ward. It's once a week, basically for Melinda only (though if I want to hang out and try and let Jacob participate, too, it's okay). Aside from Melinda, it's also all boys. But she's enjoying herself so far! We've done two weeks, and this week it will be our turn to host. We work on a letter from the alphabet, do a little reading, some basic math skills, and otherwise just have some free play time, snacks, that sort of thing. It's pretty casual. But it's nice to have something organized to do. I'm excited for my turn with teaching, too, though I hope it won't take me long to get a feel for a decent schedule!

While Melinda's at "preschool", Jacob and Alex and I have been enjoying some time to ourselves. The first week, that included shopping at Trader Joe's and then coming home to eat and check on the status of the installation of the new dishwasher (which has been SO NICE!!). Last week, we hung out at the playplace at the mall, did some mall browsing, and then went to Trader Joe's again. I was honestly quite surprised at how easily Jacob took to this Melinda-free time during the day, and how much better he behaved without her around. Maybe surprised doesn't cover it.... I was shocked, I guess. I always assumed that the minute Melinda wasn't around to offer a constant playmate, Jacob would be off-the-wall crazy. I was so wrong, and it's a happy thing.

***

I was quizzing the kids on their favorite things last night to keep them occupied while we waited for food to be ready. When I asked Jacob who his best friend is, he said, "Alex!!!" Aww, how cute. :)

***

I don't know why I didn't start reading chapter books to the kids earlier in their lives. It takes a little extra time on my part, but ohmygoodness, they've been going to sleep so much better! Almost every single night I never hear another peep from them. Big difference from the typical past routine of them bouncing off the walls for an hour or two, with mommy and daddy constantly going back to tell them to stay in bed, before finally falling asleep. This way is so much nicer, and I'm enjoying the reading, myself! (Reminder: My sidebar has a widget from Goodreads with my currently-reading books as well as my recently read books, if you're interested in following along.) And you know, they even stay pretty quiet while I read, too? I didn't expect that when I started it. And the other big bonus is that Melinda is always so full of questions after I'm finished reading, ranging from concepts from the story, to vocabulary, to rather deep spiritual questions that had nothing to do with the story, but must have crossed her mind somehow during some part of the day. It's been nice to have little discussions with her during a time of day when she's so willing to be quiet and really listen to the answer, and respond back with her own thoughts.