O Holy Night

Monday night was the best night of my life...since Kiersa was born. Hyrum put her to bed when she fell asleep around 11:30 pm, she fussed at about midnight for a few seconds, then she was peaceful the rest of the night. She slept in until 8:15 am!!! I can't remember her sleeping in past 6 am before (dang it!). Talea had fallen asleep at about 7:30pm from the lack of a nap, so she woke up at 6:45. Horrors! My kids go to sleep just before we do, around 11pm usually. I don't mind because they sleep in longer, and since Kiersa likes to go to sleep around midnight, I don't get the luxury of going to bed early, so sleeping in is a blessing.

My kids normally wake up somewhere between 7:30 and 9:30 am, with 8:30 being the norm. Thank goodness! If Kiersa went to bed at midnight and my kids woke up at 6 like so many of my friends' kids, I would die!!!! I don't handle the lack of sleep very well. I become one of the "Thriller" zombies. Although Kiersa normally wakes up at 6, I can put her in bed with me and feed her while I fall asleep again.

Hyatt woke up right after Talea did (they sleep together so he noticed when she left) and followed her into our bed, so with 2 adults and 2 kids in a queen sized bed, I was praying for Kiersa to stay asleep. I don't think she could have squished in with us if she'd tried. Needless to say, I was very disappointed when I saw that Talea woke up so early, but she managed to fall asleep again and then got up when Hyrum got up for work. In the back of my mind I was scared Kiersa has suffocated since it was so late, but nope, she was fine, and I was thrilled!

Tuesday night Kiersa fell asleep at 8:30, which is unheard of, and woke up around 6, ate for a 1/2 hour, then didn't wake up again until 7:30. I must have been doing something right to get so lucky! And last night she fell asleep around 10:30 and got up around 6, ate and fell asleep again. Since she went to bed so early the last 2 nights, I've gotten up early. Instead of falling asleep after she eats, I got up and did laundry and worked around the yard for an hour before anyone woke up, and then this morning I went on a walk/jog for a while since Hyrum was still home.

I have to say, getting out of the house around 6:30 am is magical! It's completely peaceful here outside, the fog is breaking, the sun is beginning to shine, the light is perfect, and the air is refreshing. I adore getting up early and being outside, if I haven't been up late the night before. I just hate the initial waking up. Once I'm up, I'm fine! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I keep getting to go to bed early so I can continue to wake up early and jog.

What Hyrum does at work

Just in case you foolishly thought that Hyrum slaved away all day long in an office, working on designs until his eyes were bloodshot, here's what he REALLY does. He plays hooky after appointments and runs off to the hills and takes hikes up to waterfalls! Without me!!!! Stinker.

These falls are about an hour from our house...Silver or Gold Falls...he's not sure which one. But I'M sure he's in trouble for going to such a pretty place without having the family tag along!!! Why I oughta...

If I die...

Talea, more often than I'd like, thinks about what's going to happen to her if I die. Sometimes she says she'll need a new mom, and sometimes she doesn't want a new mom. Today we went to WalMart, and right before checking out, Talea and I went to the paint department to pick up some paint they'd mixed us. While I was putting it in my cart, an interesting thing happened. Here's our conversation:

Talea: Mommy, if you die, I want her to be my Mommy. That girl that just walked over there. Because if you die I will need a new Mommy. (She's pointing down the main aisle, but I can't see around a display.)

Me: Really? Where is she?

(The people next to us are cracking up.)

Talea: Over there.

(I can't see her, so we go to find her. We pass some aisles, and Talea spots her.)

Talea: There she is! Right there! I want her to be my new Mommy if you die!

Tiana: This one right here?? (I'm a little confused because it looks like she's pointing at a 50+year-old woman with a serious bed-head part on the back of her head.)

Talea: Yeah, with the shopping cart.

Tiana: Why do you want her for your Mommy?

Talea: Because she's the prettiest Mommy!!

I had to chuckle because she's one of the last people I'd expect her to choose for a Mom, but I must say, I approve of her choice because I know Hyrum would always love me more if he was to marry her (well, if his love was determined by age and all). I guess Talea prefers Mommy's who aren't glamorous, but who are a bit on the frumpy side since I spend so much time looking frumpy with my hair undone and no make-up. I had to go up to the lady and tell her all that Talea had said because it was so cute. She laughed, but I could tell she was flattered by it. What I assume was her husband and daughter (daughter was about 20) were down the aisle a bit and they laughed about it too. I swear Talea says the funniest, cutest things!!!

Talea said later that that lady was such a cute Mommy and that she (the lady) didn't have any kids, so she would be her kid.

Talea's announcement

I never had a choice in how my hair looked as a child, so I've decided that when my kids are old enough to talk and tell me how they want their hair, I'm going to ask them how they want it and then do it that way for them. Talea had hair wispies that looked kind of like bangs a couple of years ago, so I asked her if she wanted bangs, and she did. Now for the past two years I've been kicking myself for mentioning it because I have to keep up with stinking bang trims, and it's hard to get them just right when she moves so much. I've been asking her if she's ready to grow them out, but she wants to keep them because "they protect her forehead from the sun". I told her I'd put sunblock on her forehead, but she still wanted to keep them. Yesterday, she told me she finally wants to grow them out, so now we're in for some interesting hair dos. Her hair is so straight that you can't hide the fact that they're growing out (you also can't hide a botched trim job). Keep an eye out for funny hair in future posts as I try to keep them out of her eyes. She HATES hair in her eyes!

Here's Talea's hair just before I cut bangs for her. Her wispies almost looked like bangs anyway. (She's at the Jellybelly factory with her cousin, Tabitha.)

And here's Tilly with cut bangs playing "Old Maid" with me. This, by the way, is only 1 of 2 times I've had fake nails. I can't stand them, even though they look nice. I had them at my wedding and during some of my Mary Kay days.Here's Tilly, a few days ago, and Hyatt being sneaky and plotting to climb onto the counter to get...I think it was candy. Maybe it was the bubble jug. (The cabinets are natural hickory, in case you were curious.)
Look at the little naughties! They even got their stools out! I thought it was so cute.

Kiersa's a baldy!

Yes, in true Tiana fashion, I shaved yet another of my children's heads. Kiersa is my newest victim. I've shaved each one of my children's heads starting when they're something like 2 months old. I can't stand the bald spot on the back of babies' heads, and my poor kids always have more hair on the sides and back than on the top (yes, they then look like 80-year-old men). I can only tolerate it so long, so I shave their heads, and their hair grows back nice and even, and never has the wispy, my-baby-hair-is-falling-out look. Obviously I'm one of the only mom's it bothers because most people think I'm verging on abuse by shaving my babies' hair, but I think it looks so much better. I don't think their hair grows back thicker, but it definitely makes their hair grow faster than the other babies their age with unshaved heads. I keep shaving it over and over until when it grows back I don't see any sign of a bald spot on the back of their head. I end up shaving it for the better part of their first year, but hey, I see a lot of naturally bald babies, so it's fine. I've had someone tell me they thought it was so mean of me to shave their heads, but I just laugh it off. I don't care what they think, because they're the ones whose babies have the nasty, wispy hair. Kiersa actually had the least hair of all my kids, so her transformation was the least noticeable. No one even realizes I've shaved her head. Talea wasn't a huge transformation either. Hyatt, on the other hand, looked completely different and it was harder to adjust to.

KIERSA

before...barely getting a bald spot

before after

HYATT

before...a receding hairline already? before
before...I hate the bald spot with a mullet!
after...well, it brought out his eyes!

TALEA

before (in her Grandpa Hyrum's arms) before...the dreaded bald spot
before...look at how skinny she was at 6 weeks (barely 6 pounds) compared to my chubby Kiersa! Kiersa was never this skinny, even at birth!
after

I really only shaved Kiersa's hair because I noticed her new hair growing in, and I wanted it all to be even. Her hair was so short already, her bald spot was hardly noticeable.

Have you missed me?

I've been working on a Mother's Day project forever it seems! Well, most of this week anyway. My Cluff family did a special Mother's Day project for my mom and I was in charge of making the video on Windows Movie Maker, since I've done a couple and my mom likes my work. I grounded myself from blogging until I got the project done. At approximately 5:00 pm today, I finally finished it. I tried to total the amount of hours I spent altogether on the project (scanning, designing, editing, saving, working with Edward to get it on the tuffcluff website, etc...), and I figure it's about 2+9+12+8...well, somewhere around 35 or 40 hours on it. I suffer from being a perfectionist and not being satisfied with my own creations, but after my STUPID Windows Movie Maker started freezing every 1 to 2 minutes, forcing me to shut down and restart the program each time, I gave up on making it perfect and settled for pretty good. I couldn't look at it any more or listen to the songs anymore. I will never again make a movie on that program, unless it's an updated version that doesn't freak out. I swear it forces you to work so slowly! It feels like you're using dial-up after a lifetime of high speed. Ammon and Edward have had the same problems, so I know it's not just my computer. Anyway, it's over, and now I can relax and hope my mom enjoys it, and get back to blogging!!! I'm way behind on my journaling! You can view the video on www.tuffcluff.com . It'll be the main page.

By the way, if you're ever on that site, Hyatt's the spotlight right now. When you see the map of my family's house/property, just click on the mailbox, and you'll see that Hyatt is the spotlight and you can click on it and read about him. Also, there's always a newspage that is hilarious to read! It too is in the mailbox, called the Cluff Family Times. It's worth the time to read it! There are editions each season for the last several years, so don't expect to get through them all in one sitting if you're dying for Cluff gossip or a hilarious read.

Violence strikes the Johnson home

Talea, with her headstrong, gotta-have-my-way, almost four-year-old mentality (this was last week), got mad at Hyatt when he didn't want to play with her on the trampoline anymore. Since he was trying to get off and leave her, she sped up his descent by pushing him off, making him knock his head on the bench. I was upstairs talking to Shira about birthday plans when I heard Talea scream for help. I looked out the window and saw Hyatt under the bench by the trampoline with Talea pulling him out from under it. I ran outside, hung up with Shira, and checked Hyatt's condition. He was crying (always a good sign after an injury) and seemed to be aware of his surroundings and just wanted some magic mommy kisses. I asked what happened and Talea confessed to her crime. I was boiling with anger since she could have landed him in the hospital with a fall like that, but since she told me the truth, I leashed my anger and sent her to her room before I could react with physical punishments. Luckily, Hyatt was only scraped up, but Tilly did get one good spank after I'd cooled down to remind her that a stunt like that doesn't go unnoticed. I did appreciate her honesty though, which I felt was pretty brave of her considering she knew she was in deep water (hence the single spanking). So much for having a net around the trampoline to prevent falls!

Tilly kissed Hyatt better, and all was forgiven.
















Gotta love the peanut butter and jelly face. Hyatt was only scratched, not bleeding, but band aids cure tears as well as kisses do.

Party crashers

We live a block away from the fire station, and last week we heard a bunch of squeals and screams, like kids having a great time. We looked out the window and what did we see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! No, apple tree! And beyond that we saw that there was some kind of huge party going on at the fire station. Hyrum had just gotten home from work, and I had been working on the never-ending tiling project in the bathroom all day, but we figured there's no time like the present to go crash a party for the sake of making some memories with the kids. With all the kids that were there, we didn't think they'd mind two more. It must have been a school thing, and even though our kids are too young for school, we figured we'd blend in well enough.

It looked pretty fun to Talea...


but Hyatt wasn't too sure about all the commotion.

Talea loved the little fire engine that would run around and squirt water at the kids and talk to them...

until it plowed her over.

It came over and apologized...

but she wasn't too sure she could trust it anymore.

(If you look in the background, that white house is mine. You're looking at the back of it from the fire station parking lot.)

Hyatt was sure that the little fire truck was out for blood and that he was the next target.

(I love his worried scowl!)

"It hit me right here, Mommy. I need a magic Mommy kiss."

(I love that my kisses have the power to heal instantly just because I call them "magic Mommy kisses". Daddy's kisses won't do because he didn't think to label his kisses as "magical" before I did.)


The kids went for a quick ride on an old fashioned fire truck...


but Hyatt wasn't too sure about this truck either.


I waved them goodbye and waited with Kiersa.

(Did I not tell you that I was tiling and just dropped it and ran over for this fun time? This is the unfortunate way I look when I'm working on the house, which is all the time!)

I'm really a country girl who would rather live on acreage outside of town, but I have to say, it's pretty awesome living in the middle of town and being able to walk everywhere within a matter of minutes. I think I fill up my van maybe once a month or every other month, and that's if we go to Ashland. I walk everywhere in town, and only go shopping in Coos Bay when Hyrum is headed over there for work stuff and I can hitch a ride with him to save on gas. Plus, living in town means we can hear when there's a party to crash and just drop things and be there in seconds! I can go in my trucker grubbies and nobody will care because most of them will be in their grubbies too. No keeping up with the Jones' here. Small town life is splendid!!

Tilly's funny quotes

Yet another hilarious quote from Talea. You can tell she's the daughter of an ex-trucker.

"Daddy, don't fluff on me. Copy me?"

I have to tell on Hyrum because this is too funny. Well, 90% of you may find it repulsive, irreverent, uncalled for, or down right disgustingly distasteful, but we think it's pretty funny. If Hyrum "fluffs" on or near Talea, she feels contaminated, so she quickly runs over, grabs a baby wipe, and wipes whatever body part was fluffed on. (In case you're not familiar with Cluff lingo, fluff means fart.)

Tilly's first slumber party

Probably more exciting for Talea than her birthday parties was the fact that she had her first slumber party! Maelin came over after Party #3 and spent the night at our place. The girls played in the yard (please ignore how trashy it looks...I haven't had a chance to fix the landscaping yet), played in Tilly's room, watched movies and slept on the floor together. Tilly got to use her princess sleeping bag that she got for her birthday. My baby's growing up! I can't believe I just hosted a slumber party for one of my kids!