"Is it hard being a mom?"

I was at Time Out for Women a month ago and a speaker shared a hilarious experience. Her child came up and asked her if it was hard to be a mom. As she paused for a moment, contemplating how to answer ("maybe an 8 out of 10 in hardness"), her child answered. "Like, is it so hard that sometimes you wish you were a dad?"

Babies are consuming. Seriously. So while I have been consumed with feeding, soothing, changing, (and trying to find a few minutes to sleep), Rob has stepped up as Mr. Mom. Bless his heart, he is doing a great job! But there have been some funny moments. Like Rob's first day on the job when he dropped off my son to preschool with no coat. Or shoes. Or hair done (okay, that was a gimme). (Thank goodness my kids dress themselves!)

But truth be told, my Mr. Mom has been wonderful. Trying to figure out how to do housework to meet my standards. Becoming much stricter (while still being his loving, fun self) with the kids. Going to work when he was sick because he figured it was better to be sick away from the baby. Trying to still juggle big deadlines and pressure at work over conference calls and late-night emails. Handling my occasional breakdown with compassion and forgiveness. Even baking Christmas cookies with the kids tonight (I don't even do that!).

So he may not be able to remember to move the laundry to the dryer while trying to help a child do homework and cooking dinner. Most importantly, he is full of love, and is more gentle with me than I am with myself.

I am very blessed.

Welcome

12-11-10, welcome little Stephen!

He is beautiful! The birth went great, and Rob was there! Rob flew in from Minneapolis (just missing the Big storm by a day that delayed flights and left a huge hole in the roof of the Metrodome) late Friday night, and Saturday afternoon, our baby was born. My labor was only 1.5 hours, and I actually went to the hospital not because I was in labor, but because I caught my son's stomache bug and couldn't keep anything down.

Although delirious from fatigue, I just wanted to write a few thoughts.

How can I love a little being so much who can't even make eye contact with me yet? Sappy, but true.

Yesterday he started waking up and spending time looking around. The first several days, it is just eat, sleep, or cry, but last evening he started spending a half an hour here and there looking up at the world. It is amazing. Everything is new. Lights, faces, feelings, touch. Yet when I talk to him, he responds just a little... perhaps that is one thing that he remembers.

And I forgot what it actually means when you say that babies have their days and nights mixed up. How can he sleep so much during the day, and then be up so much at night! Rob's been sleeping in the living room so he can get up with the kids and get them ready for school. We figured at least one of us can get some sleep. But after having a small meltdown at dinner, I am realizing that someone needs to be me tonight. :) Thankfully I have a good husband who wants to help.

Happy Thanksgiving

My kids and I had fun making our Thanksgiving tree. We keep adding leaves each day with things that we are thankful for. It's been good to focus on what we HAVE rather than what we WANT as Christmas gets nearer.

In case you were interested

Just found out that my hubby's on a U of U promotional video out on youtube. So for anyone that wants to know what he does, here it is. He's the hot one with a beard. He didn't even know about it until someone at work commented that they had seen it. Pretty cool.

Anxiety

As this baby's due date approaches, my anxiety level has increased about it. First off, it's been almost 5 years since I've done this baby-thing. Second, because it is so close to Christmas, I feel like I need to have Christmas all done and ready... which is anxiety producing for every mother. Third, it's a new baby... and while I believe this will be a healthy baby, I've had a sick, very difficult baby before and know what that's like.

Yesterday, I was telling Rob about how I'm getting nervous as we now have about 5 weeks before induction. I asked Rob if he was getting nervous at all. You know what he was nervous about? Getting a new car.

Seriously. Such a man.
This commercial proves that it's not just my man either:

In response

... okay, okay, confession: I am addicted to homemade salsa. Especially with this pregnancy. I can down 1/3 a pint of salsa in one day. Easy. If there is no salsa, I'm not even tempted by chips. But if I run out of chips, I have eaten just a spoonful of salsa (seriously? That's as bad as drinking pickle juice... which I did once). I don't know how I can throw up so much, but keep down salsa. I must be growing a Texan inside of me.

She's up on her box again

Other than when we travel, we rarely go fast food. Probably once every 2 months. I confess though, the temptation is greater, now that I'm pregnant & drive past 2 fast food places & see about 4 more just to get on the freeway.

Tonight I finally saw Super Size Me. It has got me thinking! Not that anything new was presented in the movie. The guy ate like 5000 calories a day... high sugar & fat no less. But it has gotten me thinking about what kind of memories and habits I am establishing for my children. I grew up in a home that did not have much candy or junk food around. When we were hungry, I still remember my mom saying, "Go eat an apple!" My parents have a letter I wrote them in elementary school that includes complaints that I did not get to eat all the junk food my friends did. They now have the letter framed. Look at how all of my siblings eat. None of us really like candy or junk food (except maybe Jonathan and his BBQ chips:).

So, even though my determination was wavering before watching the show tonight, I guess I will continue to pack my kids lunches with fruit and whole wheat PBJ's and can fresh fruits and jam all summer. And try and figure out the eternal dilemma of what I am going to cook for dinner.

I see the horrible effects of obesity on kids. It breaks my heart to see some kids come into the Instacare where I work. I can see their parents would do almost anything for their kids, but what the kids REALLY need is to learn healthy eating habits. Not only for their health, but also for self-esteem. I am committed to not let that happen to my kids if I can help it! Really, I don't care if they are thin - I don't want them to focus on being skinny... that is equally unhealthy and dangerous! I just want them to have healthy bodies and make healthy choices (at least most of the time). We Mormons talk about the Word of Wisdom a lot. One of the things is to not drink alcohol, but another equally important part of it is to eat meat sparingly and increase whole grains and vegetables. Think of how many people are addicted to food!

So one other thing that I began over a year ago (thanks to hearing about some big studies from my friend Cindy in NY) is reducing our meat and eating vegetarian about 1-2 times a week. I figure that's at least trying to eat meat sparingly. While none of us will eat veggie-burgers, there are so many great recipes on line that it has been easy to find good meat-free-meals. The other day we had delicious butternut sqaush and apple soup that left our guests asking for the recipe. Easy, too. One interesting blog is Meatlessmealsformeateaters.blogspot.com. Turns out that the writer is a friend of Rob's from Houston.

Sorry I'm standing on my soapbox tonight! I guess it's from post-halloween toxicity. Lately, my son has been asking for candy about 1 hour after breakfast. What? NO!

Party planning

At my son's soccer game (4 yr. old's playing soccer... hilarious!), my 5 yr old daughter leaned over and said, "Mom, I think it's time we plan where we are going for my birthday."
(?? ...birthday is 2 months away)"Okay, what are you thinking?"
"Well, I was thinking we could go to Hawaii for my birthday."
My husband leaned over and, without batting an eye, reassured her, "If you pay for us to fly to Hawaii, we'll go to Hawaii for your birthday."
"How much will it cost?"
"About $3,000. But I'll make a deal. If you pay for our family to fly there, I will pay for the food and hotel."
"Okay. I think that I will need another party here, though, because I don't think all my friends can go to Hawaii. I'll check my piggy bank when we get home."
"Okay, you do that."

Well, she went and counted all $1.52 in her piggy bank and informed us that she wanted to buy a toy in Hawaii, too, so she didn't have money for the toy AND flying us all out. She asked us what she could do.
"Well, I guess you better start saving for next year. Or you could try asking Grandma and Grandpa."

Grandma and Grandpa?

One more dream

While I'm talking about dreams, I thought that I would write another crazy dream I had last month.

I had been wanting to start exercising, but had been feeling too lousy and tired. One day, I started to get frustrated with myself, because even when I finally wasn't dehydrated, I was still so tired and out of breath, I could hardly do anything. I wondered if it was just in my mind, or maybe lack of will power.

That night I dreamed that I was working on my thesis, and several different professors I was working with me informed me that my blood work showed that I had cytopenia. Umm... okay. I had no idea what that meant. But it was so vivid that when I awoke, I looked it up. And sure enough, it was a word. It meant low blood count. Now, in nursing, we talk about subsets of cytopenia, like anemia or neutropenia, but I seriously don't remember ever using the word cytopenia, and neither did some other nurses I talked to. But as soon as I read the definition, it hit me, "of course! I'm just anemic! That's totally normal in pregnancy... especially because I had been too sick to keep down any prenatal vitamins.

So thanks to my dream, I made sure to take my prenatal vitamins and eat more iron, and have since started feeling better. Kind of cool, huh.

Dreams come true

I loved college. I loved going to classes. I loved learning. I loved BYU's campus. I loved the social life. If I could relive one part of my life, that would be it. So when I had 2 dreams in a row that I was back on campus, walking around, taking classes, I awoke both mornings feeling alive and excited to start my day. Which is saying something, since getting up means throwing up.

So after day 2, it suddenly hit me, "I CAN do that! I can go to BYU's education week!" When I realized that, I cried for 30 minutes (okay, I blame the tears on pregnancy hormones). Rob had mentioned going to Education Week earlier, but I didn't really take it seriously, because that would entail finding sitters. One of the last times I needed that for a work meeting, it took rotating my kids to 4 different homes, every 2 hours, and even then one person called me while I was at my work meeting to inform me that her kids were just diagnosed with strep. STRESSFUL! And that was only one day! So the chance of me finding sitters for several days sounded impossible. But after these dreams... the impossible was going to somehow be possible.

Well, miracle of miracles, here I am... 3 days into Education Week and loving it! I've been staying with my brother and his wife in Pleasant Grove so I don't have to commute very much. I have been going to classes 10-12 hours a day... basically until I am too exhausted to keep going. I've been to classes on parenting, several on spiritual topics, the middle east, organization, music, a charity organization in India, etc. It has been fantastic. I've also loved hanging out with my brother and his wife, and I'm going to visit my other brother and his fam. who just moved here from Chicago 2 days ago.

I'm living my week up. Already I have felt more love and faith and healing. Ideas to help me go back home and be a better parent and enjoy my life more. Ooh... God knew that I needed this!

me being a good mom

When describing my family, I always use one word. Artists And although only one of my siblings actually gets paid being an artist, every one of them is extremely artistic, whether with music, paint, or rooms. And while I feel like the least artistic of my fam, I still live on the time I spend dabbling with paint or music. Years ago, when I visualized myself in the far future, I could see myself painting in the back of my (clean) home, with kids arriving home from school. It was seriously like a vision to me.

So you'd think as a stay-at-home mom, I would be up to my elbows in art projects with my kids. You'd think. Here's the problem: I'm a little too OCD. Before I even start the projects, all I can see is the mess of paper, paint in the hair, damage to who-knows-what, and clean-up time. I love taking them to places where they can do art projects. I'm not one of those moms who fix my kid's projects to make them look right.grrrrrf I don't care how many eyes or ears my kids' puppets have. They can be as creative as they want. As long as I don't have to have the mess in my kitchen.

Here is my shameless pat-on-the back. Despite the fact that my house was a disaster (last night I was too sick to clean and I was gone all morning), I decided to be a mother and went outside in the garage and helped paint a box with my kids. Paint it into a little house. I did have to hold my breath so I didn't waste this good will getting upset about the paint on shirts, hair, etc. But -pat-pat- I did it and got a picture to prove it.

Rays shining through

There are those moments that make motherhood SO worth it. Today was one.

I awoke with the kids playing quietly in the other room (thanks to my husband), when Kyle came in to check on me. I offered to help him make his bed, but after a couple minutes, he got excited. "Let's do secret service!" he said, so we both went in to Bekah's room to make her bed. Bekah must have heard us, because she promptly informed us that we couldn't come out of the bedrooms because SHE was doing secret service in the kitchen. So 20 min. later, I found myself enjoying breakfast on our new patio furniture with 2 happy kids, all the bedrooms cleaned, and the dishwasher emptied. And I hadn't even asked for this goodness.

The rest of the day has been a delight. Lunch with "Aunt Chris" ... my old neighbor who is an adopted family member. Reading books with the kids. Now they are at a baseball game with Rob (and there was NO sigh of relief when they left with their dad). Nothing grand, just simple goodness. The sun is definitely breaking through my clouds.

When it rains it pours

We are doing well, although it seems to be one crisis after another. Three months ago, I remember saying out loud how we didn't really have any problems in our lives. I am so glad that I recognized and enjoyed it then. That calm before the storm. Between house, health, and family crises, we are perservering. No one has died and Rob still has a job that he loves, so that is great. I mean GREAT!

Speaking of one drop in the deluge, I am now 4 months pregnant, and still sick... which is actually getting worse rather than better. Once I throw up over a hundred times, I confess my attitude becomes more cynical. I just can't get on top of it, and walk around feeling so dehydrated, even when I keep things down. Yet I know this is better than last pregnancy. Rob has been absolutely FANTASTIC... and that does deserve capitals. From fixing broken appliances, cooking when I can't, handling plumbers and flooding, a shoulder to cry on, giving good council, etc. etc. Some trials are worth going through just to appreciate and grow closer to those around you. And I am not just talking about my husband right now, I am talking to the rest of my family, too.

So I am grateful. Under this layer of cynicism and hurt, I am grateful. Or if I am not at this exact moment, I know I will be. I truly believe that we will come out better in the end by clinging to each other and God.

Guess who is riding a bike?

I took off the training wheels for good Monday night and let him have a little go. He did pretty well. Then today, he decided he wanted to master it by himself. Just turned 4 and he's riding a 2-wheel bike! Whoohoo! Best of all, I only had to run behind him, holding on to the bike like 10 min. Monday night. That's it!

The boy was meant to ride.

Updates

It's been almost a month since I wrote, and while some people are so great at keeping updated, it seems like the more I have to write about, the less I have time to write. So here are a few events.

First off, preschool graduation. When asked what Bekah wanted to be when she grew up, she responded, "something on the stage!" Kyle, with no surprise to anyone, wanted to be a train engineer.

Because the boy is in love with trains, his birthday gift from Grandma was an outing ON Thomas the Train. Fantastic! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! He loved it. We all loved it and had lots of fun.

On our way back from Thomas the Train, we stopped for a nice hike at Bridal Veil Falls. So beautiful! Then it was off to shop for furniture. Not so fun.

Last Tuesday, Bekah hit the stage for her dance recital. Adorable. She did both ballet and tap, and was a "purple people eater" for tap. Thanks for all the family who came and watched. Really, it is love that brings out Mary, my parents, Grandma Bassett, and even Grandma Franklin to drive up and watch little girls walk on their tip toes in tutus.

Summer Lit program has started again, and it went great. I have such a great committee. When the main speaker didn't show, we didn't blink, but just brain stormed and came up with other fun ideas.

We also had Aunt Lorie up here from Houston, and we had a baby shower. Unfortunately, although I was in charge with Carolyn, I got really sick right before and had to leave a lot of the work up to her and mom. All's well that ends well.

Last event was a picture perfect (which I have no pictures of) evening at Bruce and Jeannies. The kids got to ride horses, we roasted marshmellows, sang songs, and had a barbecue on a perfect evening. All the while, cotton floated magically through the air.

Well, I can't figure out how to change the order of these pictures, so I will have to update about the house on the next blog. More to come.

Living the American Dream!

We have spent the day cleaning, lawn work, and now Rob's out mowin the lawn. We have gotten tons done, and the kids have actually been very helpful (it's amazing what an incentive an ice pop is!) How sweet it is.

This is it! A nice house, a nice garage, a nice yard, nice neighbors, nice kids, and a very nice husband. I'm living the dream!

There is so much to talk about. Our outing with Thomas the Train. This is the Place Monument. Preschool Graduation. Memorial Day Fun Run. Hiking. Pregnant. Oh, and we finally moved. But I still have a list of more stuff I needed to do. I was just overcome with the moment of watching my husband mow my lawn (and having my own garage) and wanted to share my joy.

More to come...

Cheap thrill

Joy= small vanilla frosty = $1.07

God Bless America!

Seriously?

Rob and I found a good deal, a sitter, and time to head to the ritzy Benihana to celebrate our anniversary Saturday night. We shared a table with a couple and their 9 year old son.

It was soon obvious that while we were both stay at home moms, our lives were very different. They had their son in about 10 different sports, so she had a full-time driving job, including driving him to Park City several times a week for race skiing. "It's a good thing that we started him at 3, because if we had waited until 4 or 5, he just wouldn't be able to compete." And I thought I take my kids to a lot of places because I take them to a museum a few times a month.

When the couple found out that we had two kids, they both looked at us and asked, "Don't you miss them?" I paused a moment trying to figure out what she was talking about... like on an extended vacation? Sure, after about a week. Miss them to go out to dinner? Rob and I both looked at each other and in unison, said, "No!"

"That's so great." They replied, "We should really do that. Our kid is at the age where he would love us to leave him alone."

Seriously? Your child is 9 and you have never left him with a sitter? 2 hours ago, my husband and I both sighed in relief when we left our very hyper children with the sitter. I love my children, I really do. But miss them while I go out or dinner?

Seriously?

Just cuz I forgot to post these pics last week

FYI

Did you know that roly polys have 14 legs, their eyes are right by their antennas, and they enjoy eating strawberries along with other dead plants?

That's what our lesson was about for FHE tonight. My kids, especially Kyle, are ENTHRALLED with bugs. He finds them and makes them our family pets, which is great with me because I don't have to clean up any poop or buy pet food. Although I do feel guilty everytime they find a new "pet". It's only a matter of time before they are killed with love.

This week

Still carpe-dieming it. This week was busy getting loan stuff and things moving to buy the house. I took the kids to have lunch with Oma one afternoon. Friday we had a birthday party at my parent's home, and it was so great because Jared was visiting from Chicago. I seriously love my family.

Saturday morning, we left early for a home show at the expo center. My daughter completely warmed my heart in the morning by choosing to eat oatmeal instead of captain crunch. Woah! My son is the opposite. At the expo show, he was a sugar-master, going up to each booth and sweetly asking for a piece of candy, and then either stuffing it in his mouth or in a bag, like he was trick-or-treating. Working the system.

We then headed to my Aunt and Uncles for a barbecue and then to the Tulip Festival for Dutch days. It was so fun to hang out with the Dodenbiers and enjoy the beautiful flowers. My Oma brought a little Dutch dress, and Bekah dressed up like a dress girl. She even won a box of cookies in a Dutch dressup contest.

After that, we stopped at IKEA to have dinner, put the kids in the playland, and look at some of the stuff. Then we stopped at Grandma Bassett's to visit her another hour. Then Rob and I snuggled at home to watch NCIS before bed.

Best of all, thanks to free tickets (thanks Aunt Wendy) & sales, the whole day cost us $10. Doesn't get better than that, does it?

Last week

"Daddy, what day is it?" The kids asked yesterday.
"Saturday."
"Then why aren't you at work?" They asked all confused.

Yes, we have a Dad back. Whoohoo! And we have been carpe-dieming it every weekend.

Last weekend, my kids slept over at Gamma and Gamps for the night and we went to dinner with the Franklins. Fantastic.

Then Saturday morning, while the kids went to a museum with my parents, Rob and I went house hunting (and found a house we liked... miracle of miracles!), Then we picked the kids up and went to the Gateway to check out the new iPad and let the kids play in the fountains. So perfect!

The next morning, we headed to temple square to enjoy the beautiful flowers before church. Stunning.

Oh, and did I mention that we have a house under contract? An hour after seeing a house we loved, we found out that they had received an offer. We put in ours, and won. So in about a month, we will finally have a house. And a garage (actually, a 3-car). We are thrilled. We saw the house on the same day that we got a letter from Rob's advisor that all of his edits on his dissertation were good, and he is done writing!

How do you know when they love you?

Yesterday, my dad gave each of the kids a few teddy grahams and then asked them if he should have a few teddy grahams, too.

Kyle had been so hungry that he had immediately snarfed down his crackers. But when his Gamps asked about eating teddy grahams, Kyle misunderstood the question. Without saying a word, the hungry boy stopped, spit out the last partially chewed teddy graham and longingly handed it to my dad.

That's love.

Best moment of the day:

laying in my daughter's bed with both kids snuggled up on either side, reading a book.

Bekah is actually starting to read! It is so fun! For the past 6 months, she has been part of a study where we get to use a free computer program as a learning program. She plays games and does activities on the computer each day. She loves it and it has been so perfect for her! It fits her learning style and it is so educational, even I feel comfortable with her playing computer games. She has even learned things that I would never have thought to teach, like syllables, nursery rhymes, and stories about different scientists. Which is really good, because I know I mentioned earlier how hard it is sometimes for me to sit down and teach her. She is a smart girl... we just have very different learning styles. It's been perfect for us. Too bad it costs about $500 to buy the program so she can continue to use it next year. Kyle enjoys doing it, too, but is not so interested as Bekah. What a blessing!

Isn't it completely amazing to hear a child learn to read... sound out letters and then excitedly put them together to make sounds! Even Kyle is writing letters, and asks me constantly what khhhhht or mmhlllbbbbx spells. What an amazing stage we are at!

What can this little eraser not clean?

I found yet another reason why the magic eraser is truly magical. It is absolutely a WONDER scrubbing the scum off of tubs. I've tried all sorts of stuff, and this just wipes it off! What can't this little thing do?

I could almost hear an audible gasp of past generations of women watching from heaven saying, "What I would have given for one of those Magic Erasers during my life time!"

Which brings me to my Perfect Moment today.
"Why are you bothering cleaning that?" my husband asked as I scrubbed the soap scum off the tub. "It'll only come back."

"Because it's gross."

"It'll end up looking the same in 2 weeks. It hasn't gotten worse since we moved here."

"That's because I clean it." Gosh it made me laugh, bless his heart.

my blessing

My Perfect moment on Sunday: watching my husband join together with other men to bless a baby. We were invited to Charity and Jeremy Smith's blessing of London. Watching my husband join in and feeling his faith and goodness... I respect him so much. We have had an interesting couple days, and what I love about him is that even when things are difficult, he is full of faith to accept the will of God. That and he always has a joke on hands. He can be teary and still come up with a silly joke. I absolutely love it.

Skiing

Rob and I took the kids skiing yesterday. It was SO FUN!

We did the rope tow a couple times and then headed in for hot chocolate.

A perfect moment! I always hesitate doing winter sports because it is cold, but this was perfect.

Look at these happy faces. And just for the record, Kyle and I did not fall... we just sat down to rest.

Playing at the park

I was recently reminded of my own human frailty. Today, as in answer to that, I attended a women's conference that discussed "the Key to Happiness is to celebrate the day - serving with love and a grateful heart."

In my effort to live in the moment, I decided to try and find a perfect moment each day. This afternoon, we went to the park as a family and did some geocaching. My son found a box elder bug, which he promptly adopted as a pet, and soon found other bugs for a mama and daddy. My daughter can now do the monkey bars all by herself. My son tried the climbing wall even though he was pretty nervous. One thing I love about my husband is that he always has fun. No sitting on the sidelines watching kids. So we all played chase, we all climbed the climbing wall, swung on swings, laughed, and enjoyed the beautiful day. Carpe Diem!

Illumination

"The ability to qualify for, receive and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."
---Sister Beck

I've been so thankful for personal revelation lately. We seem to have needed a lot of direction, and I've been grateful that it is always there. I have been thinking of Abraham... how he sought light and knowledge to know the nature of God. Not just guidance over the trials he was facing. But stretching beyond his own circle of concern to want to know God himself. That is powerful.

Easter Marathon

Since I have half-given up on my idea of running a half-marathon this summer (seeing as I haven't run in almost 2 weeks), I compensated by making Easter weekend a marathon.

Friday afternoon we were going to go skiing with the kids (last minute there was a power outage at Alta) but ended up going home for a couple hours, then my mission reunion. Saturday was an Easter carnival, then up to the Franklin's to watch conference. Then I went to dinner with my mom and sisters while Rob and his dad went to Priesthood. We spent the night at the Franklins, had an Easter breakfast and egg hunt Sunday morning, watched conference, ran home to pick up our second car, drove up to my mom's for lunch and conference, then I ran to work afterwards while Rob took the kids home. Phew. Busy, but you know what, it was wonderful! I am so thankful to be able to be with family, even if that means running a bit.

Just braggin'

If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others. ~Haim Ginott

Bear with me as I brag a moment. We were in the children's museum (on a 5.5 hour marathon since our pass expired the next day) leaving one of their classes when the instructor came up to me and told me how well behaved my kids were and how impressed she was by us.

WHOOHOO! I just wanted to write this to remember it always. Especially like tonight when my kids were wound up after 3 icecream cones (where was their mother? :) ... hey, it let me talk another hour with my mom and sisters.

Fiestas galore!

My husband is a champion. For his birthday, while we had tickets to a play, he had to stay at home writing his thesis. Every free moment, he has been spending writing this thing. I read itWhen he finally finished, I couldn't help but cry. Well, a couple weeks ago, he traveled to Michigan to defend his dissertation. After giving his presentation and answering any questions, he waited while the professors discussed his dissertation. "Congratulations, Dr. Franklin!"

Since then it has been super busy. We seem to have things going on all of the time. Yesterday, for example, we had a birthday party for my son. I took 5 (it was 4, but last minute, another boy came along) boys to Discovery Gateway Museum and then for ice cream. Unfortunately, we happened to go on a super busy day, so I spent the whole time making sure the boys played in the same area and counting them over and over. Well, nobody got hurt, they all left accounted for (easier said then done with 5 boys, 2 of them wanderers), and they all had lots of fun.
So I wanted to do something special for Rob. I planned a surprise party, calling people at Rob's work, at school, where we used to live, friends here, and family. And miracle of miracle... we surprised him! We got together at a nickel arcade and ate, talked, played. It was fun and thanks to everyone who came and helped us over the last 8 years. Thank you all!
Some of the friends and family who came

Enough with the whine

I have been reading in the Bible about the Israelites the last couple of days. It seems all they ever did was whine. Moses lead them out of slavery, they whined because they saw Pharoah coming. They were saved from Pharoah and they began to complain how hungry they were. They received Manna and began to moan about the lack of variety.

This theme of traveling through the wilderness has struck a chord with me, as we are living in the 5th month of a temporary move. I felt the Lord's direction to sell our house when we did, and we have definitely received guidance on what NOT to buy so far. We just haven't made it to the promised land. But I think of how the Israelites traveled in the wilderness for 40 years. For that generation, the wilderness WAS their promised land because they were unable to be content or even hope for more.

This has gotten me thinking in 2 directions. First, I don't want to be a whiner. I know I do it sometimes, but I really have got to eliminate it. (The second direction will have to be another blog).

So I think that I will list a 4 things I am really grateful for in my wilderness.

1. I am overwhelmingly grateful for prayer. I cherish the thought that I am heard and someone who knows the future and has my best interest at heart can hear and respond to me.

2. I am grateful that Rob has been busy doing something that he enjoys. He could have been gone all the time working 2 dead-end jobs. Instead he has been able to do research and work in an area where he can potentially make people's lives better (he is currently designing sensors that can help amputees move prosthetic arms easier and better).

3. I am thankful that I have developed the ability to operate and run the household on my own. With Rob gone a lot, I have found out that I am stronger than I thought I was. I have been able to teach myself things like putting up light fixtures, staining my deck or furniture, and using the new imovie... stuff I would have probably just delegated to him. I think that I have also become more sensitive to the amazing women who do everything alone because there isn't someone else to do it with. Before, I never thought about doing things alone like easter egg hunts or carving pumpkins... but now I know what it's like to be, and hopefully I can be sensitive to others who may be struggling. I shouldn't say alone. I mean one-parent. My kids are really fantastic and I have had a ton of fun with them going a TON of places with them. We've even vacationed just the 3 of us a bunch.

4. I am thankful to live in family housing. It is funny to move backwards in life when you know it isn't permanent. A lot of things are funny when you know that they aren't permanent. I think only 1 bathroom per family is funny. If we had more then 1 bathroom, I would never have had to explain to my children that they should not go the bathroom on 1 toilet at the same time even if they could do it.

GOLD!

Tonight, I am sitting down and watching the Olympic races for the first time. Olympics cause the world's top athletes to push themselves to the extreme, and the rest of the world to push handfuls of chips and candy in our mouths as we gasp in awe. Hold on, I'm getting salsa on my keyboard. Last night I went to the Banff Film Festival World Tour, and enjoyed another evening of watching films with world class athletes doing amazing things.

All of this excellence has gotten me thinking. That could be me. I could be out there, pushing the extremes. Except I'm afraid of crashing, falling, or high speed. Dang it, maybe I'm not gold-medal materia... wait a minute, isn't there an event with brooms, sweeping the ice? I could totally do that! And the stress of the Olympics wouldn't be an issue. I always have to clean my floors when I get stressed.

Maybe I should start training. Well, our apartment only has about 7 square feet of ancient linoleum, so maybe I will have to start practicing in our new home. Pass the chips.

dearest trilobites

Some women would love a to get flowers or new clothes. Me? My thrill came today in 3 rocks and dead bugs. But not just any dead bugs. We now have a fossil collection! Is that the coolest!! They are really great specimens, too. Bekah has already named one "Spider" and one "Calerpitter." I should take pictures...oh wait, I think I will.

As Rob and I talk about what we want in a home, he knows I would absolutely love a wall or big panel in our study to be made of tiles with fossils. I saw this in one of the buildings in the U and seriously fell in love. Since that is probably out of our budget, my sweet husband was totally supportive to shell out to buy these babies. I want to frame them in 3 black shadow boxes.

Am I totally insane? They cost more than some of the furniture we need! I know. I'm so weird. But it's so dang cool!

I always wanted that!

We were looking at houses yesterday (again). When we walked into the garage, my cute kids looked excitedly, "Look mama, a garage! I always wanted a garage! We needed dat!" I was laughing so hard. So apparently that's all it takes... a garage.

Advice from Elder Busche

I have listened to this several times. Perhaps it is because his voice reminds me of my own ever-positive grandfather. Perhaps because the message is so uplifting and true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

Love is in the air

The princesses were so sweet. Just look at his face. He's in love. He was seriously giddy. It still cracks me up just looking at the pictures.

But he's still a boy, and sure loved those jedi knights.

Disneyland

Our Disneyland trip... wow. It was like a disney movie in itself.

Let's see... you have the beginning, the heroine, Princess Christinella, leaving on an adventure with her trusty sidekick chipmunks, Bekah and Kyle. She meets with difficulties as she journeys through the forest, but thanks to the help of the forest animals (especially a very nice fox), she overcomes. She stops to rest at a cute cottage of energetic dwarves, where her chipmunks can run around (another musical number). Ready to embark again after a few days of rest, the beautiful princess (hey, this is my story), finally comes to her land of dreams where she meets a handsome prince and his sidekicks: a kind owl and energetic muskrat, Kyle and Jill. They fall in love and dance through a magical wonderland, where the resident creatures literally come out and sing to them. Big musical number, performed flawlessly! Even a singin' in the rain scene. Handsome Prince then takes Princess Christinella on his trusty steed to ride off into the sunset. But as they do so, out jumps the Big Bad Blizzard (da-da-da-dum), which maims and nearly kills their horse. Big fight scene where Prince's sword skills saves the horse and then Princess grabs the chipmunks and Prince and stears the horse past the Big Bad Blizzard (chase scene). They finally set off into the sunset... well, except by now the sun has long since set. Closing love song as the prince and princess kiss (chipmunk sidekicks are sleeping sweetly in their tree).
And that is our trip. It was wonderful.

(I left w/ kids, lost my keys and needed a tire replaced in St. George, stayed in Las Vegas with a cousin and her family, whom we love, went to Anaheim. Rob flew in as well as his parents, and we had a wonderful time. Short lines, lots of magic, and one day of rain. It was SO FUN! Headed back to Las Vegas, then on the way home, while driving in a blizzard, had car problems but Rob worked it out and we made it home safe and sound at 2 am. It was a great trip!)

Out of the mouth of babes

"What the heck!" This frequently comes out of my 3 yr. old's mouth. Hmm... wonder where he got that?

Actually, it is way better than, "for-goodness-sakers" which is what the lady next to me at the zoo said with that annoying-cutesy-voice and a big hair poof on the back of her head. But really, who am I to judge... I think perhaps I was just a little bothered by the excessive cuteness as I was dragging a screaming child from the park (must they have a melt-down at the farthest point from the exit?).

I've also decided to talk with my children more in spanish, so now every morning, breakfast is in Spanish. I've been pretty consistent, too, like 2 whole days in a row. By day 2, my daughter was sick of it, and informed me that she didn't want to speak spanish, only dutch. Right. Probably because I can say like 6 words and sing one song in dutch.

WHOOHOOO

THE FIRST ROUGH DRAFT IS DONE!!! ONE STEP CLOSER TO GRADUATION!! YEAH!!!

I know the cap thing is annoying, but after 7.5 years, capital letters are much deserved. So here is the plan: Finish soon, prepare for a defence. Defend in the end of Feb. (pray for Rob, people), then do all of the finish up stuff (which is actually a ton), GRADUATE IN MAY!!

I've been going through and doing the bibliography so it is all in the correct format and reading his thesis and editing, and woah. First of all, I was impressed that Rob is such a great writer. I know I'm a little biased, but I was seriously impressed at how professionally, intelligently, and concisely he writes. I was amazed at how much information he has gone through. It has taken me two nights to get half of the bibliography done for 1 chapter. The bibliography alone will be over 10 pages.

In order to keep my sanity, I always take some kind of a winter holiday. Last year I drove down to Vegas with the kids to visit Rob's cousin. This year we are going to Disneyland (another big WHOOHOO!). So much cheaper to do that than therapy. Anyway, while we were at dinner with my parents, telling them about our trip, Kyle loudly states, "Daddy has to finish his thesis first else he can't come to Disneyland." We all laughed, but really, it was true. So it looks like thankfully, Daddy can go!!!

Whoohoo. Things are looking up.

Survival Skills

A few days ago, I discovered Bear Grylls. I am now totally hooked on watching this guy do absolutely crazy stuff to show how you survive in uninhabitable places. Like if you stranded in the desert. So instead of feeling like I am wasting my precious time just watching tv, I can rest easy knowing that I am learning. I mean, what if I got lost in a jungle in Vietnam? Or on a deserted island miles of the coast of Panama? Really... this show could save my life.

Watching this show has definitely got me thinking. And I think would rather just die of starvation than kill myself catching and eating scorpions or riding my homemade raft through crocodile-infested jungle rivers.

Actually, I keep waiting for him to show how you survive downsizing to a tiny apartment with 2 very loud, active ADD preschoolers in the winter. I mean, at least it's quiet on the desert island.

Hanging out

I have a list of things to do, but I need to write what's in my head before it leaves (which could be any minute).

When Rob and I met, we were as mushy and cutesy as couples get. No... we never condescended to sugary nicknames or babytalk. I swear I have never called him anything that ended in -poo, although he would call me starfish or bunny sometimes because he knew I hated it. We loved playing games together, dancing together, doing outdoors stuff together. You get the gist.

Then we got married. I worked nights and weekends. He decided to graduate almost 2 semesters earlier and took a ton of classes. Then it was grad school, where he worked all hours, I worked a lot of evenings and nights, then bishopric took up the weekends, then scouts, and still grad school. Gone an awful lot. This last year, I became the solo-mom, as Rob was gone almost all the time, except Sundays.

Please don't think I'm whining. I'm not complaining about this. On the contrary. My kids are at a really fun (starting to get independent) stage. I have had absolutely WONDERFUL neighbors who have become adopted family. And I have gained that inner-do-it-yourselfness that God gives women who raise families mostly alone. Really, I have to say that it's been pretty easy. I typically am in my groove with my own routine. Rob and I joked that we have gotten along so well during the stress of moving because we weren't around each other much. But you know, after joking, you wonder if that isn't a little true.

Get to the point, Christina! Okay, Rob took off a full week over Christmas... and while he should have spent a lot more time writing his dissertation, he spent most of the time hanging out with us. And it was so fun! It was awesome. I love just hanging out and even doing nothing with this man. There is always so much we need to get done or go over when he is around, I forgot what it is like to just hang out for days on end. It was GREAT!

I understand that Rob and I will probably never get to be one of those couples that get to spend all their time with each other. Dang it! I think God has nixed that one from the start. Plus, Rob loves scouts. But, I am looking forward and hoping for that day (hopefully in a few months) when he can come home and just hang out with the fam every evening and maybe even helping mow the lawn on Saturdays. OK, I'll mow the lawn if he can just hang out with us. And after this past week, I know it will be tons of fun.