Hot Hot Hot

Really, I'm not trying to rub it in. But it was 72 degrees today!! Yesterday we went swimming. Today we went to Kemah, where the kids got to ride their amusement rides. Kemah is located along Galveston Bay, so we enjoyed watching the ocean waves as the kids rode the Ferris wheel and little train. We picked oranges FROM A TREE yesterday (never done that before). Sunday, I took the kids on a lovely long walk around the bayou (we did not see an alligator this time, but that was okay, because our brave Dad wasn't with us... being stuck back at home in the cold). After standing outside for hours in freezing weather back home helping Rob fix our car, I am LOVING this. White Christmas... highly overrated.

I love Houston. Well, at least in the winter. Summer... not so much.

CHRISTmas

So many people complain of a letdown that accompanies this season. I believe that whenever we skip out that essential part... the CHRIST of Christmas, the emptiness is inevitable.

This year is perfect. With a 5 year old and 3 year old, everything is magical. But more than just the excitement of Santa, I am really enjoying the tenderness of talking about the Christ child. We have a treasure box, a little box from DI that the kids decorated with stick on gems. Each night, we write down what we have done for Jesus. Whether it was "Cleaning up my bedroom" or "not hitting this morning" or "being patient this afternoon", each one of us writes how we tried a little harder to be a little better. Our gift to Jesus.

I love snuggling with my family around our Christmas tree. Singing Christmas songs in the darkness together. These are my favorite memories.

When it rains, it pours

Two days ago: TV... started getting that line going through it that means it's about to die. Yesterday: Muffin pan/baking sheet... smelled weird so was dumped; the windshield wiper fluid stopped working in my car (kind of essential in December). Today: the kids broke the heads off several of the nativity figures they JUST got; my can opener stopped working; oh, and Rob's car won't even start.

Blessings: we don't have a dishwasher or a dryer in our apartment. They would all surely be broken by now.

the High Life

Don't get alarmed, we are still true blue BYU fans. But it is difficult to pass up free tickets to a college football game, especially since Rob has been working at the U for 5 years now. And since they came from some bigwig donor at the School of Engineering, we knew they were going to be good tickets. But just how good, we had no idea. Well, the tickets were great... 16th row, 50 yard line. But the parking... WOAH! Do you see that picture! We had a reserved parking space, about 12 cars away from the entrance!!!! We even got there after the game started. And there was our space, just waiting for us. I enjoyed it about as much as a turned down bed and chocolates on my pillow.
It was a great date. We got to watch the half time show facing US! So cool. We didn't feel bad leaving at half-time (that's what you get with small kids... even when the tickets are free), because the Utes were up 35 to 0. And, because now Rob has a job (he started officially Nov. 1), we even splurged and split a hot dog. Oh, we are livin' it up!

Phew

We did it! We have actually packed up and moved. After looking at many houses, both Rob and I felt like we needed to just move into an apartment for a few months. Some little miracles happened, and here we are in a tiny two bedroom apartment in University of Utah family housing. It's two minutes from Rob's work, which he loves. Now I get to commute, with my work, the kids preschool, and Bekah's dance class back in Davis county. It makes me appreciate what Rob's been doing for 5 years.

The move had potential for major disaster: It started Wed. night when we moved our furniture over to the apartment. Rob's uncle was super nice in volunteering to bring his truck and trailer and help us out. They got pretty much everything up to the new apartment. Almost everything. Somewhere on I-15, there are some construction workers, sippin' their cupa joe, relaxing on a comfy green couch. Or at least parts of a couch that disintegrated when it fell off of the trailer.
We were all really relieved when the police let us know that nobody got hurt. Saturday, we had friends come over with their trucks and help load up everything else to our little storage shed. Despite the forecast, the storms held off while they loaded and unloaded everything. I even saw blue sky. As if right on cue, the sky darkened with the last load and the blizzard hit as they left the storage unit.
When you don't have much stuff, it doesn't take long to unpack. Within 24 hours, we had a clean living room, pictures on the wall, and the tv working (I'll let you guess who did what). Yes, we are enjoying eggshell cinder block walls. I am thankful for those cinder blocks because we don't hear our neighbors... who are actually really nice.

Amid the moving, Bekah turned 5!! Whoohoo. We had a fun family birthday party at my parents, and then on her big day, after packing and running errands with Grandma Franklin's help, we headed over to Chuck E Cheese. Well, it was a success. The kids loved it. I survived. Barely. Bekah is definitely growing up. She has since informed me that she doesn't believe in Chuck E. He's just a costume.
What? It's only a matter of time.

Our primary program went super well. Phew. I explained to the kids at our practice (which happened to be the same time our stuff was being moved into storage) that they might see someone cry, not only because they sounded good or because they were growing up, but because they were speaking words of truth, and the Spirit testifies of truth. Well, as they sang so beautifully about the importance of families, I got a little teary. So much truth, and I love the kids so much. Anyway, one of these angelic little kids was so excited to point out later to everyone that I cried. Gosh, I'm going to miss them.

Well, our whirl wind has worked out, and we will let you all know the next step. Thank you to everyone who helped. We love and appreciate you.

Back from the Dead

Happy Halloween! With 2 little ones praying each day that "mama will get better by Halloween", how could I not recover! Halloween was low-key for us... this is probably the first year that we are not having a Murder Mystery Party, but it was fun.
Bekah was a "Halloween Fairy" (fairy with a Halloween cape and some spiders), and Kyle was a cowboy. Thursday, I managed to crawl out of bed to see their preschool performance of Halloween songs. Unfortunately, half-way thru, Bekah got upset that Kyle was sitting on her dress, to which Kyle responded by making a point to sit on her dress. Definitely not our finest moment. But considering that they had a Dad out of town for 2 weeks and a Mom out of it for just as long, not to mention moving back and forth between the Grandparents and our house, I figure the friction was bound to happen eventually. Just a shame it had to happen in front of the whole preschool. Bekah actually came home from the program and took a nap for 3 hours.

Halloween day turned out beautiful. With Rob home (YEAH!), we got our backyard cleaned out, did some decorating (okay, the kids did that at a neighbor's while I took a nap), and then we went to the ward chili-cook-off. The kids had fun trunk-or-treating, and then on the way home, Dad took them to a couple of houses with mazes and then trick-or-treated. I rested until they got home, and then we hung out at our wonderful neighbor's, the Smiths... letting the kids kind of de-sugar while the adults talked for a little while. A really lovely Halloween. Of course the battery of our camera died after we all got dressed up - so I have no pictures, but I think that kind of summed up life right now. We may not have everything quite picture perfect... a house half-packed, a mother half-dead, but the show goes on and we still had fun.

Good times.
Oh, today was the first day that I made it through the whole day without a nap. Whoohoo! Only 2 and 1/2 weeks since I got sick.

Day 9

Still sick. I went to the Instacare today and came away with some prescriptions, which I hope will help.

Feeling miserable... but hoping that soon it will be just a memory.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think

Did I really write "So help me if we pick up the flu before the vaccine kicks in..."?

Those little nasty viruses must have just giggled as they silently prepared their invasion, drawn to the challenge.

Luckily, nobody in the family has had it so far but me, but I have been sick as a dog. In fact, it started probably right as I was writing those fateful words. Monday I thought I was starting to get better when BAM! No Way Jose! Tuesday morning, a whimpering, beaten mess, I called my parents for help. There is something about family! I have wonderful friends who brought dinner, offered to watch kids (which I have refused... the kids have been playing super well and I don't want to be responsible for passing this bugger along). But family will not only feed you, but bring you into their home, with all your germs and everything. Thank you Mom and Dad. You seriously saved me. I stayed with them until Rob got home from his conferences today, and then we will return tomorrow as he heads out for New Zealand.

So while I was sick at home, Rob was also dealing with his share of difficulties. He was busy all Sun & Monday at a huge neuroscience conference. Then when he rushed to the airport to head over to Michigan, he found that they had accidently booked his flight for next week! The only thing to do was to rent a car, leaving at midnight, and drive 5 hours to Ann Arbor. There, he slept 2 hours and headed out to a big conference in Ann Arbor. Then, on the flight home, he sat on the runway for almost an hour in Denver because the gate was unavailable due to mechanical delays. So that meant that he missed his flight home by 4 minutes! He was able to get a hotel, and 6 hours later, he was up again in the cold air trying to catch a flight standby. Bless him.

This also meant that our closing on our home was delayed AGAIN (that was the 3rd time... the other 2 times were the seller's fault). All's well that ends well. And I hope that this is going to end well. At least Rob made it home and the closing happened and we are no longer home owners. So here we go on to the next adventure.

Oh, and isn't it great that I'm not going to New Zealand tomorrow?

Committed

After about half an hour standing in a long line, you can't leave. You are committed. Walking away would mean that you just wasted half an hour. Never mind that there is another 2 hours of waiting in front of you. You just can't do it.

Well, we are now immunized for the H1N1. After standing in a line that wrapped around the Bountiful Event's Center 1 and 1/2 times for 2 and 1/2 hours, we got it. So help me if we pick up the flu before the vaccine kicks in.

Tonight I got to go to the Witches Night Out at Gardiner Village with my mom, Celeste, and her friend. Always fun... chalk full of hundreds of women, all dressed up like witches. Shopping, dancing, eating, talking. All the stuff we do so well. It was so much fun. So we couldn't figure out why some women would get dressed all skanky to go to an almost all women event (there is the occaisional guy, but you know that he is TOO attached if he is following his girl around here), which is outside in October. The weather ended up being lovely... but I was still wearing a jacket and long-sleeve shirt.

Rob left today for Chicago. Bless his heart, he got home last night at 3am, which I guess isn't really abnormal, but can I mention once more how excited we are to graduate? He was happy that he did get this big paper submitted in time. Now he is off to a conference in Chicago, and then goes straight to Ann Arbor, for another big conference. Then he is home for 1 and 1/2 days before heading out for another conference in New Zealand. I think that he will start working full-time after he gets back. Oh, our closing on the house got pushed back to next week. Which reminds me, Friday, when we were supposed to be closing on our home (but some of the buyer's paperwork didn't get done in time), we had a great time at Chuckey Cheese, or "Chunky Cheese" as my kids call it. It was fun celebrating Alex's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Franklin, and the cousins love playing together. This is why I live in Utah, so we can do stuff like this.

Anyway, a bunch of random events and thoughts. So after you started reading this email, and then it became a long-winded calendar, did you feel compelled to keep reading, even though you were bored? Just to finish? Okay, I need to go to bed now.

Eat it up

My mother-in-law loves tomatoes. So much, that there is family folklore of a time when she ran out of apples, and decided to put tomatoes in her husband's lunch instead. After that, he refused to eat tomatoes.

One thing that we have really tried to do is raise our children to eat healthy foods. I try to always have lots of fresh fruit. When they wouldn't eat spinach, Rob showed them Popeye movies, and now they will eat their spinach salads (with my son growling, "Look how strong I am!"). Last night I made sliced tomatoes sprinkled with mozarella cheese and balsamic vinegar. They had to at least try it, but I figured my husband and I would enjoy the rest. Well, they not only tried it, they LOVED it! I had to cut up another tomato just for Rob and I. For lunch, they wanted tomatoes with the cheese and "spicy sauce" again. Whoohoo! I am seriously so excited about this.

So here is my trick: I usually don't let them snack within 2 hours of dinner. Hungry kids are a lot more willing to try new things. That, and they have gone to bed hungry before when they chose not to eat.

Being led

I feel like I need to go back and say something about the General Conference that happened a few weeks ago. Of course it was fabulous, it always is. I always feel this strong yearning to be nourished and filled on conference weekend. A real hunger for spirituality. One benefit of having such a smart husband is that, thanks to the TIVO that he built, I can watch different talks again.

It started with a bang. Elder Richard Scott struck such a chord with me. As Rob and I have been trying to figure out what we are going to do about jobs and homes, we have really sought for Heaven's guidance. When Elder Scott started by saying, "What can you do to enhance your capacity to be led to correct decisions in your life?" I felt like it was a talk prepared for me. We have felt very guided many times this year. I really need to write about Rob's job some time, but that would take too long for now. We wouldn't have even considered selling our house this summer if we hadn't received divine guidance. We have been so guided up to this point, but we have also felt like now we are standing in the dark... taking steps that we are not quite sure where. Elder Scott told an important story... after receiving personal guidance, he made sure to thank God and ask if there was anything else. Then more inspiration came. That really struck me. I have appreciated the Heavenly direction so much. Peace has come as I have followed it. But I needed to tell my Heavenly Father how thankful I was for his guidance.

That is something that I love the most about my religion. The most central difference of the LDS church between any other religion is our belief in modern day revelation. It began with Joseph Smith's vision of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. But it did not end there... in fact, the point of the church is that each individual receives their own revelation, or "testimony", from God of what is true. This is not usually a vision, though I do know people who have had visions. I personally usually have a certain feeling... a feeling of peaceful conviction, that guides me to know what is right and true. Whenever I have followed that feeling: from deciding to be a nurse, choosing to be baptised, getting married, even deciding to sell my house, etc. etc. I have NEVER regretted it. Even when it didn't seem like the best choice logically, it has always turned out for the best when I followed the Lord's guidance.

Last Sunday, Rob and I fasted and prayed to know what we should do about a house. From having no idea on Sunday, 3 days later, I feel excited and guided. So this is our plan: We close on our house tomorrow. We can stay in our home until Nov. 15. Rob has found a small 2 bedroom apartment on the ground floor of family housing up at the U of U, and we should be starting to move in there on Nov. 9 and may stay there a few months with our stuff in storage. Today we put an offer on a house. It is actually not even on the market right now, so we will see if the bank accepts our offer. The house is one we looked at over a month ago. We had looked at a lot of houses and were driving around. There is a home across the street that is for sale, and so we stopped to look at a flyer. Glancing across the street, we noticed a house that had the little sign in the front window that indicated that is was empty. I found a door out back that was unlocked and we toured the home (a neighbor walking by joined us). The house had been gutted, probably by the owner before foreclosure. No carpet. No sinks. No toilets, tubs, cabinets. No doors. The kitchen was actually just floor and walls. Everything had been taken out. But we loved the floor plan. We loved it so much, we couldn't sleep for 2 days. Like I said, that was over a month ago. We figured the house needed over $100K of work, we didn't think we could afford it, and we didn't even know who owned the house, so we kept looking at other houses. Since then, we found out what bank owns it, got in contact with an affiliated realtor, talked with neighbors about the neighborhood, and yesterday put together a contract. We won't even find out about it for several weeks. But that's okay. We are following where we feel lead, but I feel really good that even if it doesn't work out with this house, it will be okay. I hope it does work out, though.

Anyway, that's our story. So far. I am so thankful for revelation that continues to lead me and my family on this wild ride we call life.

change of heart

I had a little breakdown this morning. My husband got home at 5:30 this morning from work (that's 5:30 AM), the night before was 11:30, the night before 2:30 am. Then he is up early and off to work again. This is our every day.

I am so sick of this. GRRRR!!!!! We are on year 8. That's 8 years of this PhD thing. Did I mention how ready I am to move on? It seems that to keep my mental health, I need to have a small breakdown about this every so often.

I worked tonight, and one interesting thing is that as a nurse, you are allowed to see into other's greatest trials without actually being a part of their inner life. I had one of those patients tonight. I got to hear what the family is going through right now. And I'll take the 8th year of grad school. Thank you very much.

There goes my 72 hour kit

I had a nice supply in my car... food, jackets, kids toys, even extra shoes. All gone.

But no worries, by the end of the week, it will all be back and you will not even be able to tell I cleaned my car.

even better than a Pajama Party

There are some moments when being a parent is just FUN! Tonight my kids wanted a pajama party, which I think meant playing with toys in their pajamas. But since I wanted the toys cleaned up, I told them we could have a Pajama Science Class. Doesn't that sound cool!

The three of us ended up putting ice cubes in the microwave, in a pan on the stove, and in a bowl in the oven, and seeing which melted the first. We spent over half an hour watching the ice cubes melt and then become water vapor as it boiled. It was so fun talking about how water changes and why. And... it was a science experiment with no mess to clean up. I love doing science experiments that are easy and have no mess!

Yes, today was a pretty good day. The kind of day when I just love being a stay-at-home mom. We did some cleaning and playing this morning, the kids rode bikes with neighbors this afternoon and then played with neighbors at our house and then theirs until dinner. Dinner, clean-up, and Pajama Science Class. We talked with Grandma on the phone and then read scriptures before bed. Does it get much better? At 3 and almost 5, my kids are just at such great ages! They are getting independent, but still love to cuddle with me. My in-demand-position as mom has not yet been replaced by friends. It's great. I'm just feeling the love tonight.

Traditions

I am really looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I love church on Sunday, I do. I love those moments when you just feel the tingles well, that calming peace from above that just says, "I am here".

But it will be really nice not to have to take a child out twice during Sacrament meeting (GRR!). It will be really nice not to find out that 6 teachers are not here today, or that my counselors are gone. It will be nice not to hear about another crises that someone else is going through and silently grieve with them.

I am looking forward to having a big pancake breakfast together, complete with raspberry jam and bacon. Then, as we are finishing, we will turn on the tv and just savor the MoTab as we put away dishes. The kids will quietly play with their toys, the fall air will blow gently through the open windows. I will snuggle with my husband on the couch to enjoy listening to the word of God, straight out of the prophet's mouth. Aahh.

If that doesn't work, Saturday afternoon, we may just go for a long drive up in the mountains and hope the kids fall asleep while we listen on the radio. Even so, I love Conference weekend.

One shouldn't watch Fiddler on the Roof when one is moving

Yesterday I was listening to 4 children laughing and playing together, all about princesses and the dog and the trucks who were saving them. Two little boys and two little girls. Hovered around my coffee table, totally engrossed with the trains and princesses, discussing back and forth without argument.

I am going to miss this. I'm going to miss the kids running over to play with Berlynn and Paris, miss sitting on the back porch and talking with neighbors, miss Zoe peaking in my backdoor at 9 am to see if Bekah and Kyle can play, miss Kyle staring out the window to see if Asher is home. I am going to miss opening my door and letting the kids run to the park or having other little kids come running in. I am going to miss looking out my back door and knowing who is home, or the safety of knowing that even with Rob gone, I can always get help. I am going to miss that my kids believe that we have a dog named Chico, because "Aunt Chris" (my neighbor whom we have adopted) has one.

If I didn't know this was right, I wouldn't be doing this. I know things will change here. This moment will move on. But for this moment, I am thankful I am here. And I can't tell how much I am just praying that we will all find friends in our new home. Oh I hate moving. And I really shouldn't watch movies of people forced out of their homes.

I love September!

Who doesn't? And there is no better way to enjoy September than on a bike. Okay, I am no biker-chick. The LOTOJA race is definitely NOT in my forseeable future, but I love to try to bike where I want to go as much as possible. We even bike to church (and in case you were wondering... it's very easy in a skirt).

With so much going on in June and July, it really wasn't until August that I started biking again. And although I don't do anything really impressive (to Bekah's dance class and back is only about 8 miles), it gets me out exercising... especially when you consider I am pulling over 100 pounds in a trailer behind me. The kids are usually great and my favorite is when I hear them chanting, "Go Mama, GO!" (okay, I admit that sometimes, when it is hard, I tell them that they need to cheer for me).

Today after a bike ride, I even did 10 boys push-ups without any problem! And while I can hear my cousin Aaron kindly suppressing a chuckle (the one who probably runs straight up mountains just to warm up)... I am still pretty proud.

Labor day

I forgot to mention what a great time we had on Labor Day. Rob took most of the day off (whoohoo), and we went hiking with my parents. It was so much fun! I love hiking.



Okay, it wasn't this steep... this was just handing the kids down after they climbed up a big rock.

And the saga continues

So here is the latest on our house: It is again under contract. And this was even better than the first contract. For one thing, instead of having to be out in 2 weeks, we have 2 months. What a relief. So that gives us a little longer to figure out what in the world we are going to do.

This was a hard week for me. Tuesday, my 2 not-quite-so-little-ones both went to preschool. As happy as I am to see them growing up, it is still painful. It looks like they will both love preschool. It is also interesting to see the difference between the two, and to remember where Bekah was last year when she began preschool. She has learned so much! You know how I commented about how peaceful I felt all August. Well, for three days this week, I kind of slackened a bit... didn't really read my scriptures so well. By the end of the 3 days, I was stressed out and in tears over the uncertainty of our future. It reminded me (once again), that you stay close to God not to avoid the difficulties and trials - they happen to everybody - but to get through those trials peacefully.

Other little things in our lives: Rob and I went to the Greek Festival Friday night with some friends. That was really fun. Rob is working on his dissertation. Yeah! Rebekah had a barium swallow done at Primary Children's, which looked good. I canned peaches. We had a primary activity that went well.

What did I do today?

I went to a political rally. This was a first for me, but will not be the last. After watching congress spend more and more (at a time when people can pay less and less), I have become so sick of the lies, the corruption, and especially the waste. A couple of nights ago, I watched an undercover video of Acorn (a government funded program) actually counseling how to start and fund a prostitute ring and then how to launder money from it into a campaign account. Are you kidding me?

So I have joined in the 9-12 movement. Wow, things are changing. For one thing, I actually figured out how to download pictures from my phone.

New developments

Saturday morning we woke up to find out that the guy who was buying our home just lost his job, and so could no longer qualify for the loan. Hmm... 5 hours later, we have two potential buyers. Just waiting to hear offers from them. Crazy crazy, but I'm still reading my scriptures and so am as calm as a cucumber (I should say as cool as a cucumber, but I think I left the "cool" stage somewhere near the end of my 20's. No wait... I'm cool! Heck, yes!)

You know you've got a climber when

Climber vs. non-climber. Non-climber would be happily playing in the sandbox right now, not using the sandbox to climb up the 6 foot fence and scale it around the yard.

A definite plus side is that I never worry at playgrounds. My kids have climbed about everything they can. I'm pretty sure that they can handle something that has been designed to climb.

Moving on... just don't know where

We just sold our home. Back in June, when we put our house on the market, I told Rob that I really felt like we wouldn't sell our house until September. Well, actually it was September 1.

So the packing begins. Now we need to find a house, well first the job offer so we can qualify for a loan. Sigh. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. We may need to pack up things and put it in storage for a while. Only God knows. Again, I should be nauseous with worry, but I just feel so peaceful. So much to do, and only 28 days to do it.

So what did we do today? Spent all afternoon at the doctors office with a kid. Such is life.

Happiness

I have been so happy this month. You know, that deep-inside-contentment. So much so that I even had a friend comment about it.

Hmm. Let's see, my house is one the market... good times. It's always fun to keep the house spotless and plan outtings for my kids when we have showings. My husband is gone almost always, working on his PhD. We are selling our house and actually don't even know where we will go after it is sold, and while Rob is working part-time at a company, they have postponed his full-time start date twice. So, although we are pretty sure that he has a job, you really can't be sure nowadays. And there have been several fires to put out as Primary President. Sounds like I should be stressed out, huh.

I am amazed that I am not. Not at all. I just feel so much peace. My happiness has even pushed me to start exercising regularly again. That makes me even happier.

Why? Maybe it is because my house is clean. Or possibly the exercise. Mmm-no. Really, it followed a wonderful vacation that pushed me to become closer to God. Since then, I have been reading scriptures every day and praying more. This goodness has pushed me, forced me really, to try and be even better so I keep feeling this way. I have been making better decisions about what I watch on tv. And in my downtime... you know those mindless moments as you drive or wash dishes, I have even spent that time pondering or praying.

Gosh, I know this sounds so preachy and please don't take this as self-righteous. I am still as impatient as ever, and my neighbors can probably attest that I still yell. There are times I wonder how long I can keep it up. I have been wanting to write about this for weeks, write about my change of heart, but I have been afraid to sound holier-than-thou.

Yet I can't deny that I have been feeling so much peace, especially at a time when I could be feeling the opposite, and this is why. So take it or leave it, that's fine. I just hope you feel the happiness, too.

Always a party apparently

So after our camping trip, Jons and Celeste came over to play games and talk late Saturday night. Let's see... Sunday, we decided to rest (seeing as it is that kind of day). Then Monday, the party began again. Literally. The kids had a friend's party at the park and that night we had cousins Bobby and Ashleigh over for dinner (Rob was home for that:). Then Tuesday we attended a big fiesta downtown hosted by Radio Disney. Free again... gosh, all this FREE is seriously awesome! My kids got to do crafts, dance, bounce in the bounce house (definitely their favorite), and even get free popsicles. They loved it... although it is hard to tell just how much by their joyful expressions. I thought the milk thing was hilarious. Apparently, I was the only one.

And am I done? Oh, no! The kids came home from that (on Trax, mind you... does that sound like a kid's dream, or what?), took naps, and then they were off again. This time, to Cherry Hill for their special date with Gamma and Gamps. I got to run to the temple while they were gone. What a day!

Then the rest of the week, there was Bekah's dance class, playing outside with neighbor kids, another afternoon at Gamma and Gamps while I taught our mutual friend (also our hairdresser) some computer stuff (it is amazing... I am actually considered to be computer savvy by some... not many, but some). Then my niece came over Friday until I went to work, and then Saturday we had a really fun ward party. We shot off homemade bottle rockets, participated in the pie-eating contest (which I will NEVER do again), and won a bunch of prizes. Out of the 6 or 7 candy jars, our family guessed 2 of them right and won the candy!

Then Sunday, we enjoyed the temple dedication and had Blaine and Kristi Bassett come over for dinner with their family. Okay, really, doesn't it sound like we have just been partying up a storm?

Side note: As we were talking about the temple with our kids, we explained that someday, if they listen and obey Jesus, they can get married to someone in the temple. I told Kyle that he will marry a wonderful girl there someday. He very vehemently told me that, no, he was going to marry Bekah. I explained that Bekah was his sister and would always be his sister because Mom and Dad got married in the temple. "And someday, you can also marry someone wonderful in the temple!" At this point, my sweet little boy started crying. He only wanted to marry Bekah. I thought how wonderful that he loves his sister so much!

Anyway, it just reminded me of my younger brother, who grew up my best friend. Josh, if you are reading this (and I don't blame you if you aren't!), thank you. I sure love you!

Events

What a party this August has turned out to be! The worst is the fact that it takes me almost a month to download my camera. I've seen friends post about these events weeks ago. How do you do it?

Anyway, the first week of August, we had the International Festival here in Bountiful. Groups came from South Korea, Spain, Poland, Hungary, and China and did dances. One night there was a big street dance, where we even got to join the dancers, all dancing together in the street. Fun fun. Another day, me and the kids went and watched the dancers for a couple hours. Then Friday night, Rob and I biked up there with the kids (who remained in the trailer/jogger the whole time... mostly because one of them had a fever and we are only sometimes good parents). Needless to say, I LOVE that kind of stuff! International, music, dancing, and free. Really!

So more free activities that we did... well, I met my parents one night for a concert in the park by temple square. That was great. I also went to the good ol' Davis County Fair. Now this is why I love Davis County. It still has community fairs with contests like "fastest crawler" and "cutest baby." Such a small town feel so close to the city. Plus there were free pony rides, a petting zoo, and the kids could do little carnival rides for a buck. My kids love the county fair. The night before, they stayed up and talked about what color pony they were going to ride... Bekah wanted the "girl" white pony, and Kyle the "boy" brown one. Then at 6:30 am, they were in my bedroom, announcing that they were ready to all ready to go. Mother was not. Well, good things happen to them that wait. They were each able to ride on the horse they wanted, we had lots of fun with our friends there, and they kids had fun spending their own money on the bounce house and train.

So after being wiped out the fair, the kids slept while I quickly packed for a family camping trip. It was kind of a big event, seeing as it is the first time the Dodenbier family (my mom's side) has ever done something like this. It was a great spot, and we had lots of fun. Not much sleep, especially being right in the middle of a HUGE lightning/thunder storm. It all worked out, though. Especially since the next morning, we drove back to my parents for a nice breakfast (where it was warm and dry). Then we headed BACK to the camping site for a little bit more family fun. I think the best part was hanging out with my brother and his wife. Oh, and it was great to bump into an old mission companion, too. What are the chances?


Oh, a couple other events: we had dinner with Aunt Dee, which was great to see her. We went swimming one night with Grandma & Grandpa Franklin, and Richie and Carolyn & fam. I swear, Grandma Franklin can get any kid to start swimming. Kyle hated getting his face wet, even after swimming lessons. Yet, after an hour with Grandma Franklin, he was going several feet under the water. And Bekah can now swim all over the pool. It was awesome! I think it helped having baby Jack going under and loving it. With that kind of competition, Alex and Kyle had to prove themselves.

Anyway, I better stop here. We had a lot more stuff last week, but I'll get to that in another blog. Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all this fun, my kids were sick with fevers on and off for about 6 days. It was actually quite nice... Bekah just wanted to snuggle and read books with me. How nice is that?

Well, we have been living it up. Poor Rob continues to be gone most of the time... I did most of these events with just me and the kids. Gosh, it will be so nice when he's done with his PhD!!!!!!!!

Question

I'm thinking of changing my blog to eliminate my kids names. Does anyone know why or why not I should do this?

It's Christmas!

We are pulling out some old toys and packing away our current ones. How exciting. Also gives me a chance to sneakily throw away those dearly beloveds that have been dearly loved. Like Bekah's one-armed-anatomically correct doll. Hurrah, Katie's gone!

Perfect moments

#1 As you know, for the past year, Rob works almost every weeknight until around midnight. Only, last night Rob called to see if I could get a sitter last minute when the kids were asleep. I was :) and so Rob took a little time off to join me at an outdoor concert of Peter Brienholt by the institute. It was so fun to be surrounded by so many college kids... even more fun to bump into Christina (my brother's sister-in-law). If there is any stage of life I could relive, it would be my college years. I remember walking home from class feeling like I could just burst with happiness. Anyway, I digress... back to my perfect moment. As we lay on a quilt in the night air, listening to good music, I leaned back onto Rob's legs and he quietly just stroked my hair. That was a perfect moment.

#2 My kids have been sick since Saturday, and Bekah can't seem to shake it. So we have been laying low and hanging out today. This afternoon, I lay on the floor, with Bekah snuggled up against me, giggling because I was tickling her. Feeling her soft hair against my face, her warm body snuggled against me, and hearing her giggle with joy was beautiful. Peter Brienholt's "Heartland" was playing in the background, and I suddenly realized what I was hearing... "This heartland is where I belong"... Yes, my home is my heartland, and I am exactly where I belong. Another perfect moment.

It's not about making everything in life right. Life can still be stressful, chaotic, or frustrating. This is about feeling the pleasure of the moment. The moment when everything sings. I call them a "perfect moment" and when they happen, like a butterfly's touch, they always remind me to thank the Heavens that I really do have it so good.

my ode to patience

The other day, a grandma cut me off (practically raced to get in front of me) at the local grocery store. I smiled sweetly and let her go ahead (My kids were playing at the playland. Yes, the grocery store has a playland for kids! Really, who cares how cheap the food is... they have a playland!). As we spent the next 10 min. waiting in line, we ended up talking, and she went on to talk about how she has so much more patience now that she is older.

I hear that all the time from old people... that they have so much more patience now than they did when they had little kids. Yadeeyadaayadda.

Really? Of course you are so patient: you are dealing with kids (that are not yours) for maybe 3 hours! You don't really care so much what they do, because you know that they will be gone and will take all of those bad behaviors they are learning back home with them. Even I am SOO patient with other people's kids.

It's true that I am not the most patient person. And I'm working on that with everything that is in me (and so are my kids). I guess I just wanted to point out that mothers, even those of us counting to 3 (expecting our children to be RUNNING by 3), are still pretty patient people, mostly because our patience is being challenged more than anyone else. It's like a marathon runner who is passed by a sprinter. Come on... you're running a marathon!

So I just wanted to shout out to all those mothers like myself, riddled with the guilt of not being patient enough with our children. I figure that we are facing the Mount Everest of patience. Potty training, temper tantrums, no sleep, bickering, sickness, breaking curfews, etc. When we get to the top and our kids have grown up and left home, it will be all downhill. And then we will feel soo patient.

Hot Date

It's been awhile since we were able to get out on our date alone, so we were looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter movie. After leaving kids with our sitter, we headed to the theater. Unfortunately, the fates were against us. About 3 blocks from the theater (by the homeless shelter... nice), our car completely died. Couldn't even turn on the hazard lights. Long story short, we spent the next hour driving around (thanks to a sweet neighbor who came and picked us up!) getting the car fixed. My favorite memories of the date: the homeless guy who yelled at us to pay him to watch our car. 2nd favorite: sitting in the backseat while my husband and my neighbor, Chris, were in the front together. Hmm... Chris, you can be the second wife. Gosh, I shouldn't even joke about that seeing as I just had to explain to my neighbor that NO, Mormons are not allowed to have more than one wife.

Anyway, it was great to spend the next hour talking with my neighbor while Rob got things worked out. We don't get a whole lot of time to just chat and I sure love her.

So tonight, we are dating at home, watching a movie while our sick kids sleep. Rob is in front of the tv and I'm back on the couch. Hmm.. maybe I'll do something steamy to get his attention... just keeping it real.

the third quarter

So the reunion finished. You would think that the vacation was over. Oh no. Rob had to go to Rhode Island for work. Thursday after the reunion, we drove to Providence, and the next day, while Rob worked at Brown University, I got to take the kids to the Cliff walks, where we enjoyed the ocean views as well as the humongous mansions.

After that, we spent several days with friends in Boston. First we stayed with the Allisons, good friends from Ann Arbor. We enjoyed going to the beach, the Boston Children's Museum, and canoing at a lake near their home. They have a daughter Bekah's age and sons (triplets, actually) Kyle's age, so it was perfect. There was a sand-building competition at the beach, so we built our very own hammer-head shark.

After a great visit with them, we stayed with the Styler's in Belcher Town (nice). We knew them back in Provo, and then when we lived in MI, they lived in Ohio, so we would still get together. It was a blast. The only day it rained on our trip was the day that we decided to walk all over Boston. Of course. It poured the whole time, but with great company, who minds being a little wet? We also figured that with the rain, we were able to see much more of Boston. If it had been nice, chances are we would have spent several hours playing at parks in the Boston commons. As it was, that was not a temptation, so the kids stuck it out on the walking tour along the freedom trail. The rain actually came in handy later, when our friend Bryan, began looking for a bathroom for his daughter. Mmm... too late. We also enjoyed talks, the farming game, and hiking on one of the trails (not the Appalacian, but close).

After a wonderful trip, we got in the car, drove 6 hours to Buffalo, flew to Chicago and then SLC, finally arriving home at 1 am. But, oh, it was fun!

Now for the 4th quarter laundry and groceries!

AMAZING

Oh, and I also love that we actually got a family picture where we all look good. That is truly a miracle... BOTH my kids are looking the same way smiling. Thanks Kacey.

Bassett reunion

Ahh... the Bassett reunion. Can you believe that over 60 people actually come from around the US (and England) to spend a whole week with their extended family. And what is the most amazing part about it is that we all love it! I mean, we LOVE getting together with cousins, in-laws, aunts, uncles, babies of cousins, grandma. Although it is my husband's family, even my family always wants to hear what we did at the Bassett reunion.

This year we went to upstate NY, where we went to Palmyra, saw the Hill Cumorah pageant, toured Niagra Falls, played tons of games, laughed, ate, talked, and of course, took pictures. Here's what I loved about the Bassett reunion: I loved walking around at the Sacred Grove in Palmyra on Sunday. I loved feeling the spirit of everyone's faith in God. I loved playing 3-legged soccer. And the Ninja game. And volleyball. I loved doing the crossword puzzle competition (but only because Manny was on our team). I loved going on Maid of the Mist in Niagra Falls and getting soaked with about 30 other Bassett friends. I loved that Elise rubbed my back for at least 1/2 hour. I loved playing a super-hero for the Bassett movie. I loved watching the kids run around with their other cousins and second-cousins. I loved that everyone was always included... whether it be including a 3 year old in a game with the other adults, or the older adults playing volleyball (and whomping... thanks to an older judge) against a much younger team. I loved watching Rosey play with my kids... and how much they love her for it. I loved picking and eating blackberries. I loved watching Grandma sing and dance to "I like to move it move it." I loved how perfect the 70 degree weather was the whole week. I loved the award ceremony at the end. I loved the beautiful location.

But it is best said by my 4 year old, when she first arrived. "Mom, there are MY FRIENDS!"

So what have I missed?

It's been almost 1 month since I wrote last. Hmm... where to begin. Let's start at the very beginning. Do-re-mi...
- Summer literacy program (which I direct) running smoothly. Have the most AMAZING committee this year. Thank goodness.

- Decided to sell our house. You know what that means. LOTS of work. Retiled bathroom. Restained deck. Cleaned. Packed. De-cluttered. (Remember that Rob is still working over 70 hour weeks, bless his heart, and Kyle did not sleep through the night for 10 nights. Still, on a scale of 1-10, my productivity was at a 14! I'm not going to rate my parenting or patience.)

- My aunt died suddenly in her sleep at the age of 47. What?!? We drove to Vernal for her funeral. I don't even know what to say about it. It still seems sort of unreal. I'll probably start processing it in August when things have slowed down.

- Last week of June, my brothers and their families flew in for my sister's wedding, so we had a lot of fun together. It was like a dream come true watching my kids run around my parents' backyard, playing with their little cousins.

- July 3rd, the actual wedding. Perfect. The wedding was absolutely beautiful in the Salt Lake temple. Then the reception, in typical Miller fashion, was a PARTY! We danced up a storm. Now that all of us siblings are married, we need to come up with another reason to dance like this. Maybe Mom and Dad can have a big fiesta to celebrate their 34th anniversary.

-July 4th. Kaysville parade. Free candy. Water fight. Perfect weather. Doesn't get any better. I seriously get choked up every year at this parade. It just epitomizes all that I love about America. The marching bands, the families, the little kids dancing, the grandparents shoving the little kids out of the way to get the salt-water taffy. Love it.
Later that night, we did our fireworks show complete with patriotic music. Ooo Aah.

-July 5th, Sunday all together (except the honeymooners). I think heaven will be like a Sunday summer afternoon, sitting in my parent's backyard, eating cherries picked from the tree and watching the naked children (covered in cherry juice) running around laughing.

-July 6th, the Miller's Cherry Hill fiesta. My kids actually call the water park "Charity Hill"... I think because we went there with my neighbor Charity 2 years ago. I really think it was amazing that my kids lasted through all of this without major meltdowns. We played hard. It wasn't until we got home late that night that I began to pack for our 2 and 1/2 week trip.

-July 7th, flew to upstate NY, where my old roomie, Cindy Goodwill, picked me & the kids up. We spent 4 days with her family and had tons of fun. Seriously, who can not have a great time with her. She is one of those amazing people who is not only hilarious, but laughs easily. There is nothing like a friend who makes you feel funny. Seriously, I LOVE people who think I'm funny. And, she even put up pictures of me and her in her house, which she swore were already there before I arrived. Rriiighhtt. So I really loved visiting her and her husband and 4 kids. Tim was awesome to let us sit up and talk until 3am. It was almost like college times... except our kids woke up WAY before even our early morning classes.

The only downside of hanging out with nearly perfect people is that afterwards, it reminds you of how little patience you actually have, how poorly you actually eat, and how I seriously need to start working on those new year resolutions. Anyhoo... next episode: the Bassett reunion.

Now you see it, now you don't

It look like she'll be a toothless wonder for a few years.

Shocking

Putting away my kids laundry, I just had a shocking revelation.

I just put away 4 of Bekah's pants. What?!? As of the last time I did laundry (and I don't remember exactly when that was), I have not needed to wash Bekah's pants. She did not wear pants unless after strong persuasion and tears. I just ran downstairs to check on her, and sure enough, she is wearing pants. This is the girl that has frequented our park wearing poofy princess dresses, that went through TONS of tights over the winter, and has one side of the closet designated for church dresses and another for play dresses.

Last year, she had a drawer full of cute pants that were untouched. This year, I prepared myself. I bought a bunch of clearanced out tights for the winter, dresses for the summer, and found cute skirts at yard sales.

Great, now she decided to change. It's a good thing I don't pay full price on anything.

If only

If only my son would like cold things... He doesn't like popsicles? He won't even eat ice cream. Who doesn't like ice cream? We all scream for ice cream!

"Not even the fastest horse can catch a whining word"...Chinese proverb

Last night, as I was up AGAIN with a crying boy, wearing the same PJs I have worn for 2 days (going on the 3rd this morning), I almost complained to my husband. "You don't know how hard this is!" Almost. As soon as the thought was on the tip of my tongue, I remembered that this is the man who was working last night until 2am... and that "getting home early" is when he comes home before 6:30, which happens about once a week. And here he is volunteering to help with Kyle in the middle of the night, just trying to be helpful.

Phew, for once in my life, I'm glad I thought Before I spoke. There is nothing to do but laugh... and a shower would be good.

Oh well, this too shall pass.

Kyle's update

The Lord is good to me,
and so I thank the Lord
for giving me the things I need,
the sun and the rain and the apple seed,
the Lord is good to me"

I think the song is about Johny Appleseed. If the song had been written today, it would have probably been a complaint about lack of apples. Instead, written back in the days when there were no handouts, the gifts from God included allowing us to work.

Well, the Lord has certainly been good to me. Last time I wrote, I was feeling overwhelmed and scared. I needn't have bothered worrying, because the next day while praying about Kyle, I felt such peace. I didn't worry again.

Kyle's surgery went very well. He was happy and excited all morning... thrilled to eat his "surgery breakfast" of jello. We went to the hospital around 10:30 and left by 3:30. The Dr. said that his adenoids were about 15% larger than a normal kid, and although his tonsils only looked a little large from the top, they were actually 2-3 times the normal size! No wonder the kid couldn't breathe.

So how are we doing now?
Well, The Lord is good to me.
He's given me the things I need, friends and family, a sense of humor, and Lortab.
The Lord is good to me.

Kyle is... to be expected. He stopped crying yesterday when Dad, Grandma & Grandpa Franklin, & Bekah came home (after I finally got him to drink something, sleep a little, and gave him more Lortab).

Bekah LOVED spending a couple of nights with her grandparents... as did I. I don't think she wanted to come home. Someone to dote on her, take her out to eat, and she even got to stay up late watching movies. I swear I'm raising a party girl. She had been home about 20 min. when she declared that she wanted to go play at a friend's house. Never mind it was 7pm. My dear neighbor already came over this morning and invited Bekah to go help clean her bathrooms. Bekah couldn't get her shoes on fast enough... sure beat hanging out with a brother who was screaming because he had buggars in his nose (which he had because he was screaming). Thanks Aunt Chris (and we really do need to make your adoption into our family official).

Adding it up

This morning at breakfast, I told Bekah that she had 7 points (we use points for our rewards system). She beamed and turned to her dad, "3 more points and I get to go on a date!"

What? Rob and I both did a double take. We quizzed her some more, and within a few minutes, she was adding AND subtracting!

So, at the risk of being one of those annoying parents who are always bragging about their kids... I'm going to do it any way. I admit that my talents do not include sitting and teaching my children all the time. When I actually sit and try to teach Bekah, I usually end up having to take deep breaths to stay calm. We just have such different learning styles. Hers does not include actually focusing on what I'm trying to teach her. My talent is to take my kids places where other people can teach them.

So, while she hasn't mastered her letters yet, I think it is super cool that she is already working out mathematics.

And this morning, Rob absolutely beamed, "Bekah, you're going to be an engineer!"

6 more days

The last couple days I have been feeling stressed. Outside I feel calm, but inside I feel like I have this pit. Consciously I blamed it on all of the things I had to do: the literacy program, writing a primary program, refinishing my deck, etc. etc. Wrong.

A couple months ago, I was talking with my neighbor about how frustrated I was with Kyle. He was sometimes so hyper-stimulated, like he couldn't even control himself. She commented that her son had been just like that, but then they found out he had sleep apnea. Well, the lights just went off in my head when she said that. I made an apt. with the ENT and sure enough, Kyle had most of the symptoms: bad breathe, waking up suddenly (often crying), large tonsils, snoring (sometimes so loud that we can hear him in our room with both doors closed)... The ENT recommended surgery if we actually witnessed sleep apnea. If we didn't, then we would do a sleep study. As mentioned earlier, on our anniversary night, Rob and I spent a romantic night watching Kyle sleep. I was stunned at how much he sat up in bed or stopped breathing over and over again! We've even found him asleep, sitting straight up in bed.

In 6 days Kyle will have his adenoids and tonsils removed. Yesterday, he went to the pre-op. class where they take the kids around the hospital and show them what to expect. It went well. As a nurse, I have seen other kids with this surgery. It's not a big deal and most of the time, they don't even stay the night. No problem. Recovery is hard, but hey, I can deal with that. We've prayed about it and feel like he needs it done. Rob and I are even counting the days, anxious for when we can have a well-rested little boy. So it's a really good thing.

I thought I was totally fine with it until I started talking with my mom today, and then suddenly I found myself crying. Underneath, I am scared to death. At the pre-op class, Kyle looked so little, walking around the hospital with the bigger kids. It kills me inside to send him off to something that is going to hurt him so much, even when I know it will make him better. I thought being a nurse would make me feel less of this... knowledge is power, right? But I'm a mom, and knowing the "what ifs..." can be worse. So everyone, please pray for our little boy.

A big shout out

And I mean BIG... to my brother and his wife. Congratulations! Us Millers may be scrappy, but we have some big genes behind us. I worked in the NICU before Bekah was born and I joked around that if I had a 7 pound baby, I would feel like it was a 3 month old. Then I delivered a 3 month old. Jokes was definitely on me. Come to find out that both my dad and husband were over 10 pound babies (although I had the record at 10 lb 13 oz.). "Had the record." Us Millers can also be over-achievers, too, and apparently Jared and Tonya went over and beyond. As in, beyond 11 pounds. Samuel Andrew Miller was born last Sunday at 11 pounds, 2 ounces. So I pass the trophy to you, Jared and Tony. Congratulations. And may you always keep the family record for the biggest baby! I doubt anybody else wants it, but I may be wrong... I have been wrong before :) (Celeste?)p.s. My favorite comment was Tonya's doctor. He said that normally, he tells his C-section patients not to lift anything over 10 pounds... but in her case, he would make an exception.
p.p.s. Rob's mom's comment about it was that I can no longer blame the Franklin genes.

Big date with a Little girl

Fun day and free day too. Does it get any better? We spent about 4 hours at the Rec center swimming during Woods Cross free day:) Bekah was so proud to practice her swimming over and over. She is really getting good. It is so cute. Uncle Richie, Aunt Caroline and their kids also came, and so the three kids had tons of fun running around. I had a chance to swim laps, too, which was great. I love swimming. You feel so long and lean, stretching out, reaching for each stroke. Sorry. random.

Tonight, Bekah and I went on a date. Kyle wasn't up to staying out late (we weren't up to it, either) so he stayed home and played hot wheels with Dad. He is such a daddy's boy. Bekah and I went to see a play at a local high school (another freebie). It was a city drama group presenting High School Musical. Bekah LOVED it! She was completely captivated the whole time. It does crack me up what she notices, though. I have no idea if she even got the plot line, for when Dad asked about it when we got home, she told him about how they gave people flowers at the end and something about putting something white on a girl's head? She sang some of the songs on the way home, though. Anyway, it was so much fun doing something special with just my daughter. We needed some bonding time.

barely too late

15 seconds. Actually, probably 10. That's all it would have taken. I looked at my watch, then stood up and said, "it's time to go to the class..." But alas, too late.

And in those 10 seconds, it was just enough time for Bekah to fall off of a stand and bang her head. Well, her teeth actually. So now, at age 4, she has 2 loose tooth, and we will find out in the next 6-8 weeks weather or not she will actually lose her front teeth.

Thank goodness, I had a good friend at the Discovery Gateway with me, who took Kyle so that I could run Bekah to the dentist. Here is what floors me... Bekah had a mouthful of blood, yet she did not get any on her dress. It happened that another woman was right there with tissue, and Bekah kept it in her mouth. This is the girl who can stain her clothes with one bite, and yet bleeding a ton, she just happened to not get one drop on herself. Woah! Also, for the last week, she has been way too whiney. Maybe it's because Rob's out of town this week and we were gone last week. I don't know, but it's been driving me crazy. Yet since a couple minutes after her injury, my sweet little girl has not whined or cried. Not on the ride to the dentist, while holding a wet tissue in her mouth. Not in the dentist office. Not even at home with her fat swollen lip and swollen teeth. Oh bless my sweet girl!

I'm hoping that she won't lose her teeth. One of the teeth was already turning brown from a previous chip 2 years ago. Oh goodness. Bless her heart.

my favorite mother's day moment

9:20 am. I have been awake for over 2 hours listening to the kids playing in the other room. But here come the patter of feet in a mad dash up the stairs. This is my favorite part of Mother's Day.

With a bang, the door bursts open, and 2 gleeful children (and a very cute man) spill into the room and onto my bed, singing and shouting, "Happy Mother's Day!" The very cute guy (getting cuter by the minute) is holding breakfast while at the same time helping my son carry in orange juice without spilling. Breakfast in bed. :)

It's not the breakfast that I love so much, although I admit that bacon is one of my 4 favorite food groups. It's the perfection of it all. Snuggling in bed all alone, just resting. And then, when the moment is just right, having all the love and happiness of a 3 and 4 year old poured all over me. Feeling true joy for the little box my daughter made out of popsicle sticks and the coupon books I helped my kids make. All for me. Isn't being a mother glorious?

The ending of an era

My little errand buddy. This week is the last real week of Bekah's preschool for the school year. We still have the zoo trip and graduation, but that's it. And today, as I was running errands with Kyle, holding hands as we crossed parking lots and listening to his chatter, I realized that this is it... our last errand day just together. Next year he and Bekah will both be in preschool together, and after that, more kids hopefully.

So this is it. There may be a day here or there, but my regular date with Kyle is ending. He is growing up.

Am I seriously sitting here crying? He is only going to start preschool for goodness sake! But it's preschool now and before I know it, he'll be leaving for college. Man, I'm really going to be a wreck then.

I love to see my children getting older. I love to see them learning, growing, and doing things on their own. They have such wonderful, big spirits inside of them. But it kills me a little, too. Rebekah and Kyle, if you ever read this years down the road, know that this night in May, I am going to fall asleep thinking about how much I love you.

Just a couple musings

So I just did analytics.google.com (or something like that), and I found at that some people actually do read my blog. Hmm... now I need to say something worthwhile. Almost anything worthwhile to say, I end up saying to everyone I know (I'm that quiet, reserved type), so by the time I get to sit down at night and type, I'm done. Dang it. I write really great, witty, and super enlightening blogs in my head, though. Really.

A couple thoughts. I drove down to visit my grandmother last week. Both nights I was there, we spent the evening after kids were in bed just sitting and talking. As she told story after story, it was like I saw my grandmother become a girl, teenager, and young mother. Like I was getting to see her real soul... not just the grandmother role. I wonder if 50 years from now, I will get a chance to share my soul with my own grand-daughter... let her see that even though there are 50 years difference in age, we are so very the same.

My son is going to have surgery again. This will be his second surgery, and he just turned 3. He is having his adenoids and tonsils out because of sleep apnea... which sounds like a common enough procedure, but there is like a 2 week recovery from it. So here is one of my concerns: am I somehow to blame? I have hyperemesis when pregnant and end up taking a lot of meds and getting IVs for 9 months. And although all of those medications are approved for pregnancy, it makes me wonder. None of the cousins, and only 1 of all of the second cousins has had any health problems. Yet both of my kids had funky problems as babies. Not horribly funky, like aplastic heart or microcephaly, but funky enough to require hospitalization. Before you jump in defending, realize that no, I am not trying to point fingers or give myself a guilt trip. It is what it is.
As Rob and I are starting to think about having another baby, I am just thinking, wondering if there is something I can do better for this next one. Probably not... pregnancy for me has been about survival... but if there is something. Hmm.

Although, for the record, I'll take what the Lord gives me with a smile. HE has been so good to me.

Celebrate good times

Yesterday was our anniversary...eight years! So how did we celebrate? Well, since Rob was up early for work and I worked late, we were your typical married-with-kids couple. Not a lot of time or money, but the love is still there. I vacuumed and cleaned his car. He took both kids to the grocery store (wow) and then made a 7-layer dip and smoothies. More wow.

What makes this amazing is that at 10:30pm, when I called to say I was coming home from work (hungry without eating dinner), I asked him to maybe make a smoothie... and wouldn't it be good to have some chips and salsa. He replied that he already had a surprise.

That is bonding. So there was no romantic dinner, no elaborate getaway, no flowers or balloons. But despite busy schedules, we managed to reach out and show our love. I remember when I was growing up, once my parents celebrated by meeting at McDonalds to share fries. That's love.

Oh yeah, we did do some more bonding at about 2 am, while we sat in the kids room, listening to Kyle breathe at night (listening to the sleep apnea... more about that later), both feeling a little lumpy after indulging in too much dip. Good times.

I love you, Rob

a toast

Before I had kids, I remember hearing about kids that climb onto counters and fridges... and thinking that the parents just needed to teach them better. Then I had Kyle. And then I stopped ever judging other parents. Kyle figured out how to move a chair and climb onto the counters before he could walk.

But having crazy active kids is awesome! First, they learn how to fall. This is great because super active kids don't walk anywhere. They run everywhere, and usually faster than they can actually run. I am amazed that my kids have had no broken bones or stitches, and I believe that a large part of that was because they learned how to fall at such an early age. The other part is pure luck.

Anyway, your kids sound wonderful. Wonderfully normal. When people always say, "enjoy them while they are young..." I always think to myself, "I do!" Isn't it great to be a mom... singing raffi and primary songs, going to the store in princess dressups (the child, not me), the tantrums, the knock-knock jokes over and over, watching your kids run around the playground laughing, kisses and snuggles, finding joy in Thomas the Train underwear, putting your children to bed after a long day, and having someone laugh anytime I do... even when my jokes aren't funny.

And while my kids no longer climb up onto my counters (mostly), I must confess, I do feel proud watching them make their way up the climbing wall at the rec. center. So here's to active kids!

Kids say the darnedest things

Heard during my 4 yr. old's temper tantrum, amid the crying and sniffling. Cough cough "I think I'm having an allergic reaction!" Cough cough. Nice try.

Ahah!

I am an organizer. I always carry a planner and write in it regularly. I love a to-do list that I can check off. I love things organized. In my dream house, there is a mud room lined with cabinets and shelves, everything in it's place. So in a juxtaposition of contrasting natures, next to my organizer/productive-self, and just as strongly inherent in my nature, is my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants self. Although I love to plan out my week, I hate having things overly planned, or even worse, planned too far in advance. What if it is a beautiful day? What if a friend unexpectedly calls?

Why bring this up? I have been trying to plan a trip to a family reunion this summer. I have avoided it for months, and now as I sit and try to figure out dates and times, I am getting so anxious. Even after finding a flight that I want, it will be days, maybe weeks before I actually book it.

For years, I always thought that I was a planner. Because I thrive on organization in my home, I assumed that I must also like organization of my time. Not to mention that I always use my planner. It was only this morning, as I was sitting in the park, watching kids play (another spur-of-the-moment decision), that I had this self-realization. I am not a planner! Woah! I realized that I carry the planner because I want to be productive while I'm being spontaneous.

As a typical woman, a huge part of my life is just understanding myself... my authentic self. I know nobody cares about this but me, but it is my blog. So you can just stop reading (which you probably already have). I'd like to think my husband cares, but in reality, he has given up figuring me out years ago. Bless him.

So that's it. Just one little ahah moment that I wanted to share with you. I hope you all take a moment of meditation to ahah yourself. Now maybe I can get my husband to book those flights.

Eggs

Decorating Easter eggs with the kids. So much fun! They are finally at the age that they could do it. Kyle kept moving one egg between colors over and over. Bekah could color the eggs and coordinate the colors. Look closely, and you can tell half of the eggs are already cracked with all the lovin.

Rob, Rob, Rob, He's our Man!

Here's the kids bonding with their dad. For over 30 min., they laughed and giggled as he changed backgrounds and goofed around on a video chat. With him working about 60-70 hours a week, he is gone a lot. But I am amazed at how much he devotes to our family when he is here. He is so good at caring for all of us! When for a talk, Bekah had to say what each member of our family does for her, she said that her Daddy plays with her (she said that Mom gives her food... that was it... even after I tried prompting her for something cooler).

Anyway, here I am sitting at the computer late on a Friday night. Sigh. I am so thankful for a man who works so hard. And I will be SO thankful when he graduates and we can move on. Someday, a regular job where he can come home without having to work for a couple more hours every night. I am thankful that there is an end in sight. A glimmer at the end of this 7+ yr. tunnel. One can do anything when you know that it is not forever. Anyway, I hope this doesn't sound like whining, because I really have it good, and I know it. The best.

And besides, we all know that once this is over, there will be something else.