Jason's First Plane Ride

The kids have been ecstatic about flying to Hawaii for weeks. If they didn’t have Christmas to look forward to in the meantime, I might have gone crazy with the anticipation in our household. Jason had never been on a plane and Ryan hasn't flown since he was a year old.

I spent the early part of last week thinking of every last thing to pack. I tend to dread packing and my mom finally told me that it was because I always forgot something when I packed myself for summer camp every. single. year. And now I have anxiety about forgetting something obvious.

But not this trip! I had a backpack full of electronics (iPad, iPods, iPhones, my laptop for movies), DVDs, healthy snacks, unhealthy treats, baby wipes, and napkins. I even packed an empty grocery sack for trash on the plane...I seriously thought of everything! I had another backpack full of books, games, workbooks and Rainbow Loom materials for the big kids. I had a third backpack full of gift-wrapped trinkety toys and activities to keep Jason occupied. (my international world traveler friend swears by wrapping one Dollar Store item per hour of travel to keep kids entertained and to eliminate drama when something is dropped and rolls to the back of the plane or is left behind at the terminal.)

Yes, I totally used up my "Wedding Wishes" wrapping paper for our airplane gifts!

We were up and loading the car at 4:15am and standing in line to check our bags within the hour. I got up to the counter to be told that our 6:45am connection flight through L.A. has been cancelled. No. NOOOO!!!! We got in another long line (along with the gazillion other passengers who wanted to get to L.A. or Hawaii that morning) and somehow got on a direct flight that would only get us in 3 hours later than originally expected. The problem was that there were only three seats together and two of us would have to sit randomly in other parts of the plane. 

We decided to deal with that later, grabbed breakfast and settled in to our gate with just four hours to spare before our new flight departed.

At 10:45am, the attendants finally arrived at our gate. Mind you, we arrived at the airport 5.5 hours earlier...keeping the excited kids occupied while Mike and I were walking zombies was a joke. I explained to the staff person that we were told they could shuffle some single passengers since children can’t sit alone on a 6-7 hour flight. The man seemed uninterested in helping me, but somehow, by the grace of God, after I'd given up completely, it all worked out. Originally, he reassigned Mike and Ryan so they were sitting together only a few rows away from the rest of us, but when I shouted a “Thank you!” as I boarded the plane, he grabbed Mike and Ryan out of line and placed them in the row directly across from us. It pays to NOT be the squeaky wheel sometimes!

None of this has to do with my story except for the fact that Jason was asking every 15 minutes all morning, “Mo-om, can we get on the plane now?” I put him in the window seat. 

Jason: “Are we in the air yet?”

Me: "Do you see the sky below us?”

Jason: “No.”

Me: “Then no.”

(1 minute later...)

Jason: “Are we in the air yet?”

Me: Do you see the sky below us?”

Jason: “No.”

Me: “Then no.”

(imagine this conversation repeating 3-4 times...)

Jason: “When are we going to fly in the air?”

Me: “In about 8 minutes.”

(1 minute later...)

Jason: “Has it been 8 minutes yet?” 

Me: “No. It’s been 1 minute.”

Jason: “So there’s 7 minutes left?”

Me: (sigh) “Yup.”

(imagine this conversation repeating every minute for the next 7 minutes...)

Jason: “Why aren’t we in the air, Mom?”

Me: (veins are officially pulsing at my temples) “We’re probably in line with some other planes, waiting. Please be patient and stop asking.”

Jason: "Mom?"

Me: "Please. Stop. Asking. For real."

At some point in the next 10 minutes, we finally take off.

Jason: “Mom, I have to go potty.” 

Me: “You can't go potty, buddy. The seat belt light is still on and it’s pretty bumpy. I put you in a Pull Up just in case this happened...just pee in the Pull Up. I have another one for you to put on.”

(I’m not kidding when I say, I feel like I thought of everything!!!)

Jason: “No...I have to go POO.”

Me: “Oh.” (grabbing a nearby flight attendant) “Miss? When will the fasten seat belt light be turning off? My son has to go to the bathroom.”

Her: “Probably soon.”

Me: “Can we sneak in there real quick?”

Her: “Nope. You really must stay seated.”

Jason: (tearing up) “Mo-om! I really need to go NOW!”

Me: “I’m sorry, honey. You’re going to have to hold it.”

Jason: (screaming now...at least it felt like it) “MOM!!! I have to go. NOW!!!”

Me: “You’re wearing a Pull Up, so if you need to go in your pants, we’ll just clean it up. It’s fine...just go.”

Jason: (sobbing now) “I CAN’T!!!”

After 5 minutes of him wailing, I grab a different flight attendant. 

Me: “Excuse me? My son is freaking out. He has to go to the bathroom immediately.” 

Her: (looking past me, at Jason, who is suddenly perfectly calm and playing on the iPad) “Sure - that’s fine,” like it’s not a big deal at all and a little suspicious of the drama I’m creating.

Mike jumps in at this point: “I need to go, too. I’ll take him.”

A few minutes later, I peek toward the restrooms and see Mike flagging me over.

Me: “What’s going on?” 

Mike: “He’s crying in the bathroom, asking for you. He won’t let me help him.”

I go into the bathroom to find Jason stark naked from the waste down. The toilet has poop both in and ON it, but it’s also down his leg and on the floor.

Jason: (sobbing) “Mommy! I pooped on my LEGS!”

Me: (somehow, still perfectly calm...probably because Jason is freaking out enough for the both of us) “It’s fine, sweetie! Let’s get you cleaned up.”

300 tissues, 225 paper towels and 3 flushes later, I peeked out of the bathroom and asked Mike to get me the package of baby wipes from one of the backpacks.

While he searched through every zipper pocket of every backpack, I bent over to see if the Pull Up was able to be saved. Not only was there poo on the edge of the Pull Up, there was poo all over the inside of Jason’s right pant leg. 

(It was at this point that I realized I had NOT thought of everything. Extra pants would have come in pretty handy about now.)

I used AT LEAST half of the brand new package of baby wipes trying to get the pants clean enough to put back on him. At this point, they’re soaked, but we have no other option.

When we get back to our seats, Jason asked if he could sit by Daddy. 

I thought that was a lovely idea! 

#6 - Take Mike and the kids to Hawaii with my Tastefully Simple commission

Wondering where I've been lately? Of course you haven't, because I've been posting all of the organizational projects that I completed from my 101 in 1001 list while the kids were on Christmas break.

It looks like I've been super motivated, right? In actuality, this has been my view for the past 7 days. Details and photos to come from our trip to Maui…soon.

#68 - Go through books in bookshelf and donate what we'll never read

BEFORE in October, 2010
I used that space on the floor as a dumping ground for garage sale items.

Long, long ago, I went through my horribly-cluttered bookcases and made them pretty. Looking at them made me happy. Not many things in my house were worthy of an "after" picture at that time, but my bookcases were functional, organized, and definitely easy on the eyes.

Here we are again, nearly six years (and a whole 'nother kid in our family) later, and I knew it was time to comb through the bookcase contents once again. We have so many books that have been, and will continue to be, ignored. I had to solicit Mike's help with this task, since many of the books belonged to him. He was in anti-hoarder mode and had the "donate, donate, donate" mantra!

While going through the lower cabinets, Mike found the original plans for our house. (Um, why are we keeping those, again…?) Along with a huge stack of binders and paperwork that we recycled (that's the pile in front of his knees)

The final donation pile

AFTER

#68 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days is done!

#52 - Get a small pet for the kids

When I added this item to my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list last year, I fully intended for the "small pet" to be a gerbil or hamster or guinea pig. But Mike doesn't seem to want to add a small rodent to our household just yet. 

Instead, Ryan bought himself a Beta fish. We'd had it for a month or two, then suddenly, Bluebell the fish died. Ryan was devastated, to say the least. He sobbed! I'm not sure if he was mad that he wasted his money or if he was actually attached to this fish.

Mike promised to buy him a new one so he didn't have to spend his money again. For some reason, Ryan decided to use more of his money to buy the new fish a friend: Freddie the Frog. Then Kaylin used her money to buy her own Beta fish to keep in her room. 

Unfortunately, Ryan's frog died after just a couple of weeks, so he bought another Beta and a split tank so he could keep two of them "together" in his room. It occurred to me that I hadn't posted about this when Ryan was changing the water in Kaylin's fish the other day. 

This is Kaylin's fish, Bubbles. One of  Ryan's fish is named Fisher and the other one still doesn't have a name. After two weeks, he still just calls him "the other fish". Boys!

#36 - Build a Fire Pit in the Backyard

My white-collar husband is feeling like such a stud right now. He's not a stranger to handy projects around the house, but this task was a doozy. He finished it last month, but I'm just now getting around to posting about it. We've been very busy enjoying it on cool nights!!!

After seeing our friend's resort-quality backyard fire pit in California this summer, Mike was motivated to recreate it on our patio. We had always assumed we should build a fire pit somewhere in the grass, but having a gas fire pit under the covered patio had never occurred to us!

In progress…the first time Mike hooked up the gas line, before he adhered the stone venire. 

After…that's cut glass in the middle. How cool is that fire and ice look!??!

#36 is officially crossed off my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list. THANKS, HONEY!!!

#66 - Hang the glass flower vase thingy somewhere where I'll appreciate it

My mom bought me this suspended vase thingy years ago. An embarrassing number of years ago…like six. I never knew where to put it, but now it's finally up! Right next to my kitchen sink, where it won't be bumped but it's visible where I'll see it appreciate it often.

#66 on my 101 in 1001 list is done! It only took six years to spend 3 minutes hanging it. Nice.

#96 - Buy all new towels for the bathroom

I have never bought myself towels. My mom bought me towels when I left for college, then we received some that we registered for at our wedding…14 years ago. Clearly, they were good quality towels, but their shelf life was only 13 years because, one by one, they have been ripping to shreds lately. I complained every single time I took a shower.

So for Christmas, Mike bought me 12 spankin' new towels! In six different colors. I was thrilled, but felt compelled to explain that the reason that we had so many color options in our bathroom was because our collection was a hodge podge of my college towels, his bachelor towels and our wedding towels. Towels are supposed to match. Ours did not.

But now they do! 

We picked two of the colors and Mike exchanged the others. Well, we have mostly blue (because they ran out of the brown) but at least we have two colors instead of six. And I finally got to hang the wine-rack above my tub to display our extra towels and free up the bathroom cabinet! #96 on my list of 101 in 1001 is complete!

#87 - Clean out Mike's bedroom closet

While I was on a roll with my closet clean out, and while Mike was working on his 7th straight hour of New Year's Day bowl games, I decided to keep my momentum going. Hence, completing #87 on my 101 in 1001 list. 

This was the "before" picture I took back in March when I originally intended to tackle this project. Mike's closet is the same size as mine, but he hardly has any clothes, so I tend to use the extra space…for everything. In the back of his closet is my wedding dress, our winter coats and snow gear, all of Ryan's clothes that will someday be Jason's, the items that I'd like to try to sell before donating. 

Before #1: in March

So between March and this weekend, I'd made a dent in most of the hanging clothes and piles of junk. It was still a huge mess, just less of it. This is the before picture I took this morning…

Before #2: Today

After: you can see the floor!!!

Before: all of Ryan's old clothes are sorted into bins on the top shelf. When I find something that needs to be added,  I throw it up there and hope it doesn't fall down. Lazy, right? 

Before: the main side of the closet that Mike uses. Just enough space for him to stand…barely.

After: so much more room!!!

#86 - Clean out my bedroom closet

I'm not going to lie people. I am freaking out (*FREAKING OUT*) right now! What I just accomplished is nothing short of a miracle.

The before pictures I am about to show you were taken in March 2013. I planned to tackle #86 on my 101 Goals in 1001 Days months ago. I even took the before pictures to motivate myself! But the task was too overwhelming. Then I broke my wrist. Then life got in the way. Then we started school. Then I just didn't feel like doing it. Excuses, excuses.

Over the past nine months, I've worked on bits and pieces of this huge feat. 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, but it was like the never-ending story. It was just. never. done.

I kept thinking, "If only someone would take my kids for a week…I could get so much accomplished!" Then, it happened: Christmas break. My doorbell has been ringing constantly and my kids have been outside playing football, riding bikes, playing with friends, starting a detective business...this beautiful Arizona weather (along with all of the kids being out of school) has been the perfect babysitter.

Before: the floor was a dumping ground for everything from unused bags to outgrown shoes.

Before: the left side of the closet

After: the shelves on the left side of the closet

I keep most of my throw-on-quick shoes in the coat closet downstairs, but all of my shoes don't fit down there, so I keep boots and clunkier shoes upstairs.

Have I shared the pool-noodle-in-the-boots-to-keep-them-upright trick? It's the perfect solution to floppy, tall boots overtaking the closet floor…all for $.89! One noodle can be cut to fit in a pair of tall boots and a pair of short boots.

This top shelf used to be wasted space. There was a pillow thrown up here and a box of crystal glasses that are unopened from my wedding. (?!?!?) But when I revamped the schoolroom closet, I decided to relocate my old photo albums out of there and this was the only available space. Do they belong in a  bedroom closet? Not necessarily, but sometimes you gotta work with what you have.

This is my little section of Tastefully Simple totes and t-shirts. Clearly, I still need to go through and pass some of these off to others on my team. We get a tote at every free trip and conference, and I've already accumulated a ton in just a few short years.

I combined my excessive cami collection with my tank tops and workout shirts. Underneath is my basket of gym socks. It just seems to make sense there and the camis are short enough that they fit on the shelf.

This is the shelf above the tank top section. The bins hold extra photo stuff, empty frames, and a small gift stash for last minute birthday party invitations.

Moving on to the other side of my enormous closet...

These are keepsake boxes that I've had every intention of sorting through…for the past five years. Instead, it's up so high that all I can do is jump and throw my children's finest treasures and Hallmark moments up in the general direction of these boxes.

Before: the right side of the closet

After: right side of the closet.

Here's another great trick: buy shower curtain hangers and dangle your purses so they're out and accessible. My suitcase also fits perfectly back there with the smaller suitcases nested inside.

The last thing I need to do is weed through my shirts. When I was nearly done, I just wanted to be DONE, and pulling shirts to donate is not an overwhelming idea for me. So I'll do it later and I'm officially calling this project complete. FINALLY!!! Happy New Year's Day to ME!!!