24 questions answered

This tag came from Missy. I pass the tag on to...Tina, Amber, and Bonster.

1.Typically, what time do you wake up?
I'm so-o NOT a morning person, have always been a night-owl so...I LOVE to sleep in! Summer wake-up calls usually come in around 8am. School year wake-up calls are between 6:30 and 7am. The only exception--Sundays. With our ward beginning at 8am, Sundays I try to be up by 6am.

2. On a good night, what time are your kids in bed?
School year: 7:30/8:00pm
Summertime: 9:00/9:30 pm

3. How long have you been a mommy?
7 1/2 years

4. How old were you when you became a mom?
25 years old

5. What is your favorite kids T.V. show?
When M was little we'd watch PBS kids, now with Li'l J it's been the Disney Channel. I get my enjoyment from watching my kids watch, it's fun to listen to what makes them laugh their BIG belly laughs.

6. What is your least favorite kids T.V. show?
Sponge Bob Square Pants, Rug Rats, or anything obnoxious like that.

7. What is your favorite chore?
I would have to say making the beds and doing laundry.

8. What is your favorite meal to cook?
Those who know me well, know that I don't enjoy cooking. So my answer would have to be: meals made by someone other than myself. However since cooking for my family and eating for myself is a necessary evil...I do have a couple favorite recipes: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and Enchiladas.

9. What meal do you cook most often?
I make all lunch (usually sandwiches) and dinner meals around here (dinners usually involve in one form or another: chicken or beef, pasta or rice, salad, a green veggie, or a generous serving of fruit). I'm not a big breakfast person, that's J-rod's area of expertise.

10. What is your kids favorite meal?
Li'l J's is Macaroni and Cheese with hot dogs--I know, not the most nutritious, but I know you have those days too! M loves drumsticks and frozen peas.

11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids?
There are lots of favorites here:
I LOVE that J-rod is giving M piano lessons! It's also nice when he reads bedtime stories to the boys. It's fun to watch him get down on the floor with the boys and rough house with them or give them "horsey-rides." Li'l J loves to tackle his dad. M really likes it when J-rod will play a board game with him.

12. What are 5 things that make you smile about being a mom?
In no particular order--

A. Listening to my boys play happily together.

B. Hearing my boys laughter.

C. Getting unsolicited hugs and kisses from my boys.

D. The days when the boys have gone to bed without a fight, fallen asleep quickly, and I can look back on the day without any regrets as to the job I've done as their mother...it's not too often that this happens. : )

E. Watching my boys when they are in that angelic state of...sleep!

13. If you could take your kids anywhere, where would it be?
I know many will say that I'm CRAZY, as some already have, but my most recent wish has been to take them on a Disney Cruise and then to Disney World.

14. When was the last time you went out without your kids?
"Went out" as in left the house for any given purpose without my kids? Last week when I had an appointment with my OB. "Went out" as on a date with my husband? That would have been during our S Family Reunion in Tahoe when Gpa & Gma S took all the grandkids so all the married kids could go out for a date night together on a dinner cruise.

15. What is your favorite pastime/activity to do with your kids?
Swim with them; play board games with them; read to them.

16. Name one thing you said you would never say as a mother?
"When you're the [dad] you can be in charge and make the rules!"

17. Name something you do, that your own mom did?
Get frustrated when it's past bedtime and the boys, who've already gone to bed, get up for one reason or another...multiple times!

18. What is your favorite quality your mom has?
She is an amazing cook!

19. What is your favorite kids book?
Oooo, I just LOVE kids books so it's hard to narrow it down to just one! As a kid my favorite was Goodnight Moon...it was a favorite for each of my boys too so I liked sharing that with them. As a young adult it was I'll Love You Forever. As an adult I've enjoyed books I can read to my kids where they ask me to "do the voices Mom"--character voices that just crack the boys up! Just to name a few: The Flea's Sneeze; Bed Hogs; Bark, George!; and Hooray for Wodney Wat!

20. What is your favorite advice for new moms?
Sleep when your baby sleeps...let all the other stuff go, it will get done eventually!

21. What is your most heartbreaking moment as a mom?
A tough one. My first would have to have been when I delivered M, saw that he was blue from head to toe, realized he wasn't crying, and was told that all he had was a heartbeat. Those first three minutes, until they were able to bring him to, were the longest, most excruciating of my life! In the craziness of those first three minutes, I truly thought he wasn't going to make it! Next would have to be three years later when, after years of struggling to figure out what made M tick the way he did, we were told that there was an official diagnosis--Asperger's Syndrome. At first I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...I cried shortly after and soon realized that I would have to come up with a new picture of what our "ideal" family would be like. Once I was able to wrap my head and heart around what this diagnosis meant, I felt relief that at least now we had a name for what we were dealing with and a plan for how to deal with it.

22. What is your most joyful moment about being a mom?
Watching my kids accomplish--on their own--something that was a challenge to them.

23. When was the last time you told one of your kids, “I Love You”?
About half an hour ago.

24. When was the last time you were told, “I love you” by one of your kids?
About half an hour ago when J-rod called to give me the update (he and M are out together running all sorts of errands) and M asked to talk to me...just to say hi and tell me he loved me--aww!