Seven's Heaven

A Trip to the Mountains

2011-10-25T10:09:00.007-04:00

It started with the hiking merit badge and a requirement to do a 10 mile hike..... combined with a desire to see the leaves in all their fall glory.....

and ended with some very tired, somewhat dehydrated and completely exhausted family members encouraging each other to "endure to the end"!

I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible this stream felt midway through our hike to my aching feet. I DID NOT want to leave!

I had to laugh because the boys always ran on ahead of us. We came around bend in the trail and saw them sitting under this sign which read "WARNING: Problem bears in this area".....like the bears wouldn't come get them as long as they didn't pass the sign!!!

LOVE this pic of my sweet teenage son piggybacking his little sister. You know, with all the unlovableness that comes with teenagers, this picture reminds me of everything good that is still deep inside of him.

Resting with my sweetie.....

Yes, we are still here....

2011-10-23T19:25:00.003-04:00

Pardon the lack of posts please! We are into the chaos and craziness of school and after-school activities and well, LIFE! Oh, and I have started working at the school as a substitute teacher, so my days are very full! I thought I was being extremely picky and exclusive when I said that I would ONLY work at Savannah's school and ONLY teach up through 2nd or 3rd grade, so I was sure I wouldn't get called much.

I quickly found out how wrong I was! My first week working, I worked four days. The second week, I filled up 3 days and then quickly blocked out the other two so that I wouldn't be called in! I have found that I need at least two days a week at home in order to stay on top of my home responsibilities. So far I have mostly taught in pre-K which is a class of 16 students with a teachers aide. I spent one day in Kindergarten with 22 kids and only ONE teacher (ME!!!) which was a little crazy! I had an opportunity to teach 1st grade last week, but then Samuel got sick, so I had to turn it down. I was looking forward to trying out 1st grade to see if they were a little more manageable than Kindergarten!

I am loving the little kids and find that it is really fun for me to substitute. I love the flexibility and it is obvious that I still need that! I was offerred a full time position as the aide in the pre-K class which I turned down because it is more than I want to work. So instead I am now the designated substitute teacher for that class, which is fine by me! I know the kids and love them and it is fun to get to go back in and see how they are doing on a regular basis.

Cross Country....maybe!

2011-10-01T21:57:00.005-04:00

Joshua tried out for and made his middle school cross country team this year. He was so excited about it! He is a good little runner and when he sets his mind to it, he will do his best. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of practice, he started to have pain in his ankles. He took a few days off and rested and then tried running in the first meet. The poor kid was in so much pain, but he would not give up. He came in near the end, but even through the pain, he was still running at a very slow limping pace. After a visit to the doctor, he has now been given a 1 week rest period to recover. Considering that the season is only six weeks long, he will only have 4 meets left when he returns. We are hopeful that he can get better and try again, because he was so excited about being on the team!

Retro Car

2011-09-25T19:10:00.003-04:00

After years of threatening our children with having to learn to drive in mom's minivan, we finally have another option! We were given an old car from a family member's estate that Caleb seems a little more excited about learning to drive. It will not be HIS car, it will be a family car, but it is definitely a way cooler option than the van!

So as soon as the eagle project (which was mostly finished a year ago) is completed......ah yes, paperwork remains.....Caleb can get his permit and start driving.

I actually love this car. Something about it takes me back to my childhood! The seats are bouncy and it has loads of character. We are having a lot of fun with it!

The best part is now I have an extra car when mine goes in the shop.....as it inevitably does on a regular basis!

A Soggy Back to School

2011-09-07T17:45:00.006-04:00

The first day of school was nothing short of miserable this year. It was pouring down rain for most of the day and I woke up early stressing about everything that needed to be done. This year was different than the previous ones for me....I found myself dreading sending my kids back to school.

This is the year that I wanted to stop time.

After taking two teenagers through summer vacations, I have realized that summer is a form of detox from the world. They face so many trials and bad influences at school that it is difficult for them to withstand them all and in the end, they end up compromising. By the time school gets out I am rallying my troops, making plans for church camps, EFY and family activities in the hope that I can replenish them. That is what summer is about for me....reminding my children that they can live in the world and still hold tight to their family's values. I only wish that summer could be 9 months and school would be 3 months!

So as I hugged Joshua goodbye on his first day of 7th grade, my heart ached. He will enter teenage-hood during the middle of this school year on his birthday. This was my last carefree summer with him. He is so good, and I want to stop time and keep him that way. My heart breaks when I think of the struggles and trials that his older brother and sister have faced. I desperately want to protect him from evil and I feel more and more incompetent in my abilities to do that. My fortifications with the others have not been enough and I am unsure how to best prepare my children to withstand the world. My feelings of inadequacy brought me to tears so many times yesterday.

Savannah and Samuel were excited to meet their teachers but a little nervous since we didn't get a chance to go in beforehand and find their classrooms. Chris and I had to divide and conquer on this one since they are in different schools starting at the same time. I was grateful for the gift of cell phones to keep us connected so Chris would know how Savannah did and I would know how Samuel did.

Caleb did not start school on the first day. A few weeks ago, Chris and I made one of those heart-wrenching parental decisions and chose to remove him from the governor's school where he has been studying the arts and bring him back to his home high school for his junior and senior year. There were a lot of things involved in that decision, more than I want to get into on here, but we both agreed this was the best course of action. Knowing that did not make the decision any easier though, because we knew it would be difficult for Caleb, and our hearts ached for him.

Due to the storms, the transfer between schools did not happen till after school started, so now Caleb will be starting school today, on the third day. I have cried more times than I want to admit over the last two days, empathizing with my children's pain and mourning the intrusions on their innocence. Maybe it is just the fact that I am older and more knowledgable now of the dangers they face; it has torn me up inside.

Today will be another stressful day, one I wish I could stay in bed for and not have to face. It will be Caleb's first day of school at a new school and we will be going with Shelby to deal with some of the aftermath of the choices she made during the summer.

I think I have had enough of the pain and stress of motherhood for now.....it is about time for some of the joy!

Running Away to the Beach!

2011-09-04T14:01:00.004-04:00

I know it was lame of us.....there we were, one of the few houses in our neighborhood with power, and we left and went to the beach! But I promise, it was planned beforehand, and we DID offer our house to several people to stay in till their power came back on....we can't help it if no one took us up on it! Actually, we had not planned a beach vacation this year. The kids begged and pleaded for a trip to Disney World in the fall, so we all agreed that in order to afford it, we would need to skip the beach vacation and skip our annual passes to a local amusement park. Everyone was fine with that, except for me and Chris! The beach is really the perfect vacation for us; it is so relaxing and carefree and when you compare that to a Disney World vacation....well it kind of sounds like a nightmare to us!

So anyway, by the first of August, we were further ahead than we had expected on saving for our trip and Chris desperately still wanted a beach trip. We decided that we could afford a vacation with one caveat: it had to be under $500. That's not an easy price point to hit, but Chris went ahead and took the last week of August off and I kept checking craigslist for last minute specials. Then the hurricane started looking threatening, so we decided to just wait and see what would happen.

On the Sunday after the hurricane I started checking the internet. It looked like we might be able to pull off a 4 night trip to Myrtle Beach within our budget, but Myrtle is just SO much more developed. Not really the lazy relaxing beach that we are used to at Topsail. I started checking some rent by owner sites and found an owner who lived close to his rental at Topsail and called him. I was hoping that with having to actually meet up with him in person, it would be more legit than wiring someone money for a rental that you hope pans out. His property was even in the same condominiums that we usually rent, so it was a good fit! The only downside was that it was a 1 bedroom. There were bunk beds built into the wall in the hallway and then a pull out couch. We knew it would be tighter quarters than we were used to, but it was right in our price range, so we went for it! We drove down Sunday evening and spent the rest of the week relaxing at a relatively deserted beach! It was heaven!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the little part about Caleb having to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.....

We ended up leaving him home and then he went into work Monday and traded his other shifts off. So Chris left Monday night and picked him up, then drove back and got to the condo at about 5:00 am! Not really relaxing, but it was fun to have Caleb at the beach with us.

We found lots of shells and shark teeth and sea glass this time. Way more than we have ever gotten! It helps when there are less people around to take them!

It was a perfect week! Once again, a great way to end the summer!

IRENE

2011-09-04T07:03:00.004-04:00

After clearing out underneath the deck and securing a safe place to park my van (which is only worth about $1000, but we definitely could not replace it with something that would actually run well, thus we could not afford to lose it to a tree!), we endured a full day and into the night of being pummelled by wind and rains. Somewhere around late afternoon, trees started to fall, and our gorgeous tree-filled neighborhood became a living nightmare. We were fortunate to find only a mess to clean up the next morning.

Many people in our neighborhood were not so fortunate....

We had gone out riding around the neighborhood around 6 pm during a little lull in the storm (hurricanes are like that....you have bands of wind and rain and then quiet and then more bands) and found this destruction. I talked to the people in this house the next day and they said they were bailing out water all night long because of the damage the tree did to their dormers.

This road was closed for almost a full week because the power lines were down and entangled in this tree.

This is one of our friend's houses. Sadly, their pop up camper is destroyed.....but at least it was not their home!

We actually saw a tree fall on a home at twilight. It was leaning on another tree and then all of a sudden the other tree gave way. It made an awful eery creaking noise and then smashed through the roof of a rambler. The poor little older lady who lived there by herself had been next door at her neighbors riding out the storm and came running out to see what had happened. She was in shock. Chris and Caleb jumped out of the car and went to help her by moving all of her furniture from her master bedroom and office into the rest of the house so that it wouldn't get destroyed by the rain that was pouring in.

Destruction was everywhere....we came home that night and let the kids sleep downstairs. We figured it would be safer there if a tree were to fall on our home. Fortunately, we did not have to worry about that. We were one of the lucky homes in our neighborhood. As a matter of fact, we never even lost power because of the storm! Most of our neighborhood was out for almost a full week!

Court of Honor

2011-09-04T06:51:00.003-04:00

We had our big "after summer camp" Court of Honor last week to recognize all the rank advancements and merit badges the boys have earned. Joshua was in charge of conducting this one and he took it really seriously and made sure it was all well organized. Good for him! He was troop historian for the last little bit, so he took the time to organize all the pictures into a slide show with music. Chris started to help him thinking that Joshua wouldn't understand how to do it, but Joshua quickly took over and was quite handy with the computer!

He has been a bit embarrassed by the lack of merit badges on his sash....he took care of that, though, by earning more merit badges than any of the other scouts at our Court of Honor! Chris is still serving as scoutmaster, and although Caleb seems to have grown out of enjoying his dad being scoutmaster, Joshua is thrilled to have dad around!

Caleb had to work, but I ran home and got him in time to get him back for his special award. He won the "151 mile award" which is something that Chris created for the boys who complete the 50 mile hike, 50 mile bike ride, 50 mile canoe trip and 1 mile swim. Caleb was the only boy in our troop who has completed all of these! He is going to work with a man in our ward who will be making him a walking stick that is specially designed and numbered just for him!

Swim Team Movie

2011-08-27T07:50:00.002-04:00

We recently found out that the movie our kids participated in as part of the 48 hr. film festival was the overall winner! I debated about posting it here on my blog because my parents were somewhat offended by it. In truth, this film was meant to be a comedic spoof. Our swim team coach was the lead male actor and the lead female actor was involved in a car accident the day before the team received their assignment. They were assigned a "film de femme" which meant that their film had to have a strong female lead. It was the worst possible situation, since they no longer had a female actress who could carry this role. The team was brainstorming and came up with the idea of using the male actor to portray a female role. So, that being said, if that might offend you, then don't watch! Oh, and see if you can find anyone you know in the movie!

Turkey Time!

2011-08-25T16:34:00.003-04:00

This post is beyond explanation.....it just goes to show the lengths I will go to to do fun and exciting things with my kids when we travel ;)

Saying Goodbye.....

2011-08-20T22:48:00.003-04:00

I remember my mom telling me when I was in the midst of crying babies and the chaos that comes when you have little ones around that it was mind boggling how quickly the time passes. I didn't believe her at the time....how could I have known? There I was muddling through never ending days and sleepless nights and time seemed to be moving so slowly.

Surely she was wrong....

This week I realized with shocking clarity how right she was!

It seems like not so very long ago that I brought this sweet baby home from the hospital and fell in love with motherhood for the very first time. And now, here she is, heading off to college!

There has been alot of drama this summer.

Parenthood isn't pretty....

it is not for the faint of heart....

there were days when I didn't want to get out of bed and face it.....

but this week reminded me of all that is good about being a parent.

Saying goodbye to my (big) little girl, helping her set up her dorm room, reminiscing about growing up together.....(yes, I do believe I have grown up too!)

It was all good.

And so rewarding.

Shelby is still deciding who she wants to be. She is growing and learning, re-examining her values, reaching and stretching.

There are days when it is painful....

And there are days when it is oh so sweet....

I saw a quote recently that I would love to post in my house where everyone can see it several times a day. "IN THIS HOME--We do second chances. We do grace. We do real. We do mistakes. We do "I'm sorrys". We do loud really well. We do hugs. We do family. --WE DO LOVE."

So, for now, we are celebrating the oh so sweet, we are acknowledging mistakes and revelling in second chances, we are finding the joy in love....

And amidst it all, we are saying goodbye.

Swim Champs

2011-08-14T16:56:00.002-04:00

We finished off our summer swim team with 3 kids making it to the Championship meet! It was an exciting time for everyone.....except mom.....because Joshua aged up to the older group so we now have Champs TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW!!! Not fun!

Samuel got 3 gold medals in his individual events and then a 4th and 5th place in his relays. Savannah (with her buddy Cole) was so excited to be at champs! It was her first time making it and she couldn't stop smiling! She was scheduled to compete in breastroke and one mixed relay, but by the end of the night when they realized that one of the members of the freestyle relay team had gone home early, they drafted Savannah to take his place. Now, she is not a great freestyler, but Savannah swam her best ever and hopped out of the pool still smiling!

The very next night we returned with Joshua for another fun-filled night of swimming. He swam the freestyle and medley relays and then an individual medley and breastroke. He is a great swimmer and as soon as he gains some weight, we are expecting great things from him!

Teaser

2011-07-26T08:10:00.003-04:00

Yep, this is the promo shot for the movie the kids were in over the weekend. That's Josh on the left in between all the bigger boys. We can't wait to see it! I heard that Savannah's part is still in so she is excited!

10 Seconds of Fame

2011-07-24T14:44:00.002-04:00

Yes, we like swimming, but one of the kid's favorite things about being on swim team is our coach. He is an actor and really has a lot of fun with the kids. On Saturday during practice he was involved with a 48 hr. film festival and they decided to use a storyline about a swim team.....so, our kids got to be part of the film! Oh yeah, and that IS our coach on the side of the pool in the blue suit....dressed as a GIRL because he is supposed to be an East German Swim Coach. The kids got a real kick out of the transformation!

Savannah had a small part with a group of girls where they pretty much say "yes" or "no", but she was excited!

Here the kids are gathered around checking out the clips that have already been taped.

So today the film crew is frantically editing tape and hoping to turn in their finished product by 7:00 pm. All the swim team kids are so excited to see the finished product!

Colonial Fun

2011-07-20T07:59:00.005-04:00

It was another swim meet weekend for us last week as Samuel continues on the Long Course Circuit (50 meter pools). He has done well and has qualified to go to Junior Olympics in nine of the eleven events!

We love taking advantage of the travelling for swim meets to go places and do things we wouldn't normally do. This trip we stopped in Williamsburg VA for some colonial fun! Our first stop was the Yankee Candle Company flagship store. It was so cool! I love Christmas and they had a Christmas town inside where it snowed every 4 minutes!

AND, we even got to visit Santa's Workshop....

Where Samuel and Savannah were able to check out their names in Santa's Naughty and Nice book!

Since Santa was away on vacation, the kids could not resist exploring!

Then we learned how to dip our own candles! At 99 cents each, this was a fun experience and a great souvenier for the kids to bring home!

Then we made our way over to Colonial Williamsburg to wander through colonial times.The kids thoroughly enjoyed this visit and I would love to take them back and make a full day of it.....but maybe when its a bit cooler! Temps in the 90s were no fun!I am thinking this would work for encouraging chores to be done before school..... :)

.....and maybe for discouraging arguing with your siblings!

Savannah was so excited to bring Elizabeth along with her. She begged and pleaded for a colonial costume for her and Elizabeth, but at over $150, mom has now agreed to pull out the sewing machine and make one!

We loved this old tree! I have no idea how they grow like that!

Joshua added a powder horn to his collection on this visit, and next time he goes, he wants the tri-corner hat! He has loved this era ever since 4th grade! We finished off the day with cool drinks and wandering through an air-conditioned store to cool down. I think it was safe to say, this was one of the kids favorite trips!

Little Drivers

2011-07-17T13:35:00.003-04:00

We spent the weekend of my birthday getting in a bit of much needed beach time and some relaxation! Chris stayed home with Shelby and Caleb while I took the three youngest to visit Chris' parents and play. Thanks to Chris' sister, Cathy, who made one of my all-time favorite cakes....lemon pound cake! I don't think she even knew how much I liked it! We were able to spend 4 hrs. playing at the beach and then PawPaw taught the kids how to drive his golf cart. They loved it! And being the family photographer, I love the great pics I got of PawPaw with the kids!

We also stopped by our favorite ice cream place on the way back from the beach and then ventured across the street to see the goat playground. I hate that I didn't bring my camera along! They have a bunch of pygmy goats and chickens and we even got to feed them. I have sadly finally admitted to myself that my kids are city slickers even though I stil consider myself a country girl at heart.

We got home Sunday night and Caleb had baked me a cake and made dinner (albeit mac and cheese). He and Chris had even cleaned up the house. It was a fun ending to a great weekend!

4th of July Fun

2011-07-13T08:12:00.002-04:00

The day started out with our annual bike parade down to the pool. Savannah was the only one who would decorate a bike this year.....I guess the others are just too cool for that! It took much bribery (a free snowcone from the snack bar) to convince Savannah to attempt to ride her bike. After crashing earlier this year and drawing the equivalent of a drop of blood, she has had it parked in the garage collecting spider webs.

After a few hours of swimming in the pool to cool off, the kids entered the hula hoop contest. I think Savannah lasted about a minute before hers fell to the ground.

Samuel was a bit more coordinated and hung in there for quite a long time, but in the end, the hopping on one foot while hula hooping did him in! Here he is going to his happy place! :)

Of course the favorite part of being at the pool is hanging out with friends. Typically the boys spend half of their day playing Redemption at these tables on any given day.

We did our fireworks on July 3rd down by the river. It was a good thing, too, because the 4th ended up in thunderstorms and a torrential downpour, so all firework displays were cancelled. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera along, but the fireworks were incredible!

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!***

BLOBBING!!!

2011-07-05T10:37:00.003-04:00

While we were playing here at home, the boys were having a blast at scout camp! Joshua came home and could not wait to tell me about his experience on "THE BLOB"! If you click on the picture, it will enlarge it. Then look very closely, slightly to the right of the blob and higher up than the tower, there is a small peachish colored ball. THAT would be Joshua! He believes he was "blobbed" higher than any other person at scout camp this week! His assistant scoutmaster who weighs about 4x Joshua's weight jumped off the tower and landed on the blob, sending Joshua sky high into the air! Because I am a mother, my first thought was "you could have died!" Sometimes it is a good thing that moms do not go to scout camp!

Golfing Fun

2011-07-05T09:33:00.002-04:00

While dad and the older boys were gone to scout camp last week, Savannah, Samuel and I had a week-long party! We finished of our week with a trip to the mini-golf course. Samuel, ever the competitor, was the winner. Both kids walked away with injuries....Savannah tripped twice and stubbed two different toes while Samuel tried to leap the stream and ended up falling in and scraping up his elbow! But it was still fun!

Unfortunately, there wasn't much shade to be found at this course, so we paused wherever we could to get out of the sun! We were hot and sweaty but we had a great time and finished off with a trip to get frozen yogurt, which makes everything better!

In Case You Didn't Know.....WE SWIM!!!

2011-06-29T22:17:00.003-04:00

Samuel with his gold and silver medals from the State Games!

Savannah at the first meet of the season proving that she has not forgotten everything she learned last year!

I am so glad our kids do swim team. I don't have to worry about them one bit around water and I am glad that they have found a good form of exercise that they can do for life. Joshua did the swim test at scout camp and was thrilled to pass off at the highest level, which means he can do "the blob" (the big air pillow in the middle of the lake that people can bounce you off of). Chris is always surprised at the scouts who cannot swim. It is so hard to learn to swim as an older beginner, so thankfully, the kids don't have to worry about that!

So, if the truth be told, I really don't get much done around the house in the summer since I am always at the pool! There is no place I would rather spend my summer!

Weekend Fun(....and my incredible shrinking family)

2011-06-28T08:04:00.002-04:00

Samuel participated in the state games this weekend amidst heavy preparations and mass exodus of three members of my family to scout camp. It was held an hour and 45 minutes away, and hotels were pretty pricey, so we decided to just drive there each day. All in all, it was a great meet for Samuel! He ended up with one gold medal, one silver medal, one 4th, two 5th and one 6th place finish in his events. He is now qualified for 6 events at the state junior olympics which will be held in July! Savannah's favorite part of the meet was that instead of heat winner ribbons, they passed out rubber duckies to the top finisher in each heat! Samuel made sure to get her a "princess duck" because he is that kind of a big brother!

Since it was just the three of us, we took our time coming home and stopped at all the overlooks and rest stops along the way. It was fun to watch the kids exploring and having a blast being silly!

When we got back home, we took report cards in to our local bowling alley where they gave us coupons for FIFTY free games! Now I just need to buy bowling shoes and we will be in business all summer long! Anyone know where to get cheap bowling shoes?

Of course Savannah, being the girly girl that she is, was all decked out for this trip to the bowling alley! She bowled for the first game and then turned cheerleader while Samuel bowled another game.....it was too funny!

I love spending time with these kids! They are so sweet and fun and it is neat for me to have this time alone with them!

...And More Awards!

2011-06-26T22:31:00.003-04:00

Joshua was selected for the Citizenship Award and the Health and PE award at the end of this school year.

Of course, he said the PE awards was SOOOO easy to earn: all you had to do was dress down, follow directions, and play sports all day! And I loved that he was chosen for citizenship, because in my mind, that epitomizes Joshua. He is a model citizen; he genuinely cares about other people and he has a way of making the world a better place because he is there.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE THIS BOY?!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T19:23:00.002-04:00

Everyone should be so lucky to have a dad this cool!

My dad is my greatest hero.

When I was 3 or 4 years old, he took me fishing. My brother and sister and I were playing in the reservoir while he fished, and I went out a bit too far and ended up in over my head. I remember dropping to the bottom of the reservoir and sitting down Indian style in the mud. Then I blacked out! Next thing I knew, Dad had me on shore and was frantically calling my name. As the story goes, he asked me what I was doing down there and I told him that I was waiting for him to come get me!

My relationship with my dad is epitomized by that story. He has never given me any reason not to trust that he will always be there for me. During high school we moved alot. I went to 3 different high schools. By the third high school a teacher took pity on me and told me that I needed to get more involved or I would hate living in our small town. She coached the volleyball team, so she asked me and my sister to be managers for the JV and Varsity teams. I knew NOTHING about volleyball, but I quickly learned how to take stats! My dad would come and sit in the stands and I figured he was just coming to see the games because it was a small town and there was nothing to do. One day during a break between games I went over to talk to him and asked him why he came to the games when I knew he had plenty to do at home. He said "I came to watch my daughter take stats!" At the time I found it hilariously stupid, but now I appreciate his desire to be involved in my life.

Adventures were dad's specialty and he could take any old day and turn it into an adventure! Even something as mundane as cutting the lawn involved us because he would lay out a maze and cut it into our grass! All the kids in the neighborhood loved to come play at our backyard! Saturday morning hikes were a fun pasttime when the weather warmed up. We caught frogs and snakes and scorpions, climbed mountains, waded across streams, turned over rocks to look for bugs, hunted for arrowheads, forged trails, camped out, and swam in lakes. When the leaves turned color in the fall, Dad made sure that we got up to the mountains to hike amongst the colors. The love I have for nature today is a gift that my Dad gave to me.

When I went away to college, Dad did not forget me. I remember getting letters in the mail that were written on letterhead from his school or posted in Caliente where he worked. It was neat for me to see that because I knew Dad was writing because he wanted to write me, not because Mom told him that he should. I could just see Dad sitting in his office on lunch break taking the time to write me a letter. I love that he cared enough to always send words of wisdom and advice and confidence in my abilities.

Over the years, I have realized what an incredible thing it is to be a father. More than anything, I believe it is a choice. Thank you Dad, for choosing to be the best father you could be, even in spite of not having a father who set an example for you. I was so blessed to be a part of your family. I love you!

It's OVER!!!

2011-06-18T07:17:00.003-04:00

We have survived yet another whirlwind year of school in our household! One that put all five of the kids in different schools and threatened to destroy their mother! I have never been more happy to say goodbye to a school year in my life!

We now plan to spend the summer sleeping in, lounging by the pool, doing summer swim team, playing together, and using up Samuel's gazillion mini-golf coupons that he got for being a good student!

I LOVE SUMMER!!!!

GRADUATION!!!!

2011-06-11T22:06:00.005-04:00

With much pomp and circumstance, and a healthy dose of drama, Shelby graduated from high school today (along with 457 of her classmates....gotta love big schools)! The processional started with these amazing bagpipes! I love the sound and the mood it creates.

Followed by the color guard......

and a sea of purple......

With such a large class, it took a while to get to her name. Here she is waiting (she's the one adjusting her white sash) for her turn to go up.

CONGRATULATIONS SHELBY!!!

Unfortunately, like I mentioned earlier, there has been more than a little drama. Deciding that she would be better off out on her own, Shelby moved out about 2 weeks ago. Sadly, it has taken away a lot of the joy that parents typically feel at graduation and has cast a bit of a damper on the graduation activities for us. We have still attended all of her events (some that she chose to attend and others that she did not) and taken pictures to document the occassion for her. We have struggled with her decision, but realize that she has agency to make her own choices. It is our hope that she can have all the experiences that she needs to have to learn the things that she needs to learn. We will watch (and worry) anxiously from the sidelines and hope to see her succeed.

Ahhhhh, the joys of parenting.....

BEACH!!!

2011-06-05T22:45:00.004-04:00

I took the three youngest kids to a swim meet in Newport News over the weekend. Since we were already down that way, I thought it would be fun to go to the beach! I searched and found one about 20 minutes away from where we were. It was an inlet beach, so not a lot of big waves, but for our first beach trip of the year, it was perfect!

There was a festival going on at the beach, so it was hard to find a parking spot. We finally found one in front of a row of houses and Savannah was tickled to death with these guard lions! We stopped to play at a park on the beach and met a woman with an iguana on a leash. The kids thought that was the coolest thing EVER and she was gracious enough to let us take a few pictures with it! I think they all want a new pet now....

Savannah found what she calls "mermaid hair" and the kids thought it would be hilarious to take their pictures wearing it.....

I am quite sure Joshua would never let his hair get this long!

My long haired beauties!

This picture totally cracked me up because Josh was trying to pose all cool looking and then right as I snap the picture, a girl comes strolling by in a bikini! Now he looks like a ladies' man!

Serves me right.....I have a little poser! We have a ton of vacation pictures from when I was TWELVE where I was striking a pose in every picture (embarrassing, I KNOW!). Wouldn't you know I would end up with my own little poser! Unfortunately, she has brothers and this is what happens when your brother walks in front of the camera and your well-planned pose!

The water was great and it was a perfect day at the beach. I loved it and we cannot wait to go again! It was especially fun to have the special time with the three younger kids and get to enjoy their enthusiasm and excitement. Definitely a well needed mini vacation!

Graduation Preview

2011-06-05T22:41:00.004-04:00

After Shelby's award ceremony at school the other day, they all got dressed in their caps and gowns to take the graduation picture. It was fun to see her in her graduation attire, so we snapped a few pics!

I know she can hardly wait to graduate! Saturday cannot come soon enough!

Awards, awards and more awards!

2011-06-05T22:31:00.003-04:00

Oh yeah, its that time again....it seems like every week I have another list of awards ceremonies to attend! I'm not complaining though; it is good to see the kids succeed!

Shelby was recognized for earning the Pamplin Scholarship to Virginia Tech and for having a GPA over 4.0. She missed being in the top ten percent of her class by 1 person....that's what a bad case of senioritis will do to you! Joshua was recognized at the Character Ceremony for displaying the trait of Accountability. I am so glad he is accountable at school! At home, I was starting to wonder.... ;)

Caleb was inducted into the National Honor Society at his school. He was one of only 4 Sophomores chosen this year! He has worked really hard in school this year and continues to maintain a very busy and active extracurricular schedule. He has just started working too, on top of everything else! We are so proud of his accomplishments.

More to come.....I think there is still another awards ceremony on the calendar!

Lacrosse Tournament Time

2011-05-25T21:14:00.002-04:00

The school year is winding down and so are alot of the kids extra activities. Joshua participated in a lacrosse tournament over the weekend to finish off a great season. Unfortunately, as he steps up his competetiveness with lacrosse, we are finding that the expense continues to grow, so we are not sure how much longer we will keep this up. I continue to be stunned at the amount of money parents pour into their kids sports....but, well, that's another post! Here's Josh, #14, playing defense. He takes it so seriously and it's fun to watch him whacking at kids twice his size! We ended up playing against some great teams and some not so good teams and finished the tournament with 1 win and 3 losses. Joshua chose not to play the last game since it was held on Sunday. He is such a good kid and always desires to do what is right.

BYU Management Society Scholarship Gala

2011-05-24T19:45:00.002-04:00

Shelby was awarded the Leader's Scholarship at the BYU Management Society's Gala on Friday night. She was one of four winners in our area. They put on a very nice banquet and made it a special evening celebrating these kids. Shelby was awarded $750 in scholarship money which brings her total to about $2300. I am so proud of her efforts and I know it is fun for her to see all the hard work recognized! Shelby has always been very bright, but when she was in 9th and 10th grades, she was worried about being the freaky smart kid, so she stopped trying so hard. She has come full circle though and has really poured it on these last two years of high school; she even took 6 AP classes this last year!

Congratulations Shelby! You deserved to be recognized!

Percussion

2011-05-21T10:16:00.002-04:00

Here is my very own little drummer boy at his spring concert! All day, every day, non stop drumming is happening at my house. Everything seems to have a beat associated with it and Joshua is determined to play out the rhythm of our lives! In the car the other day it was chopsticks being drummed on the center console to the beat of the radio, but he has also used shishkabob sticks, pencils or even just his hands to constantly keep the beat. I have to admit that it DOES drive me CRAZY at times, but just the same, I still love my little drummer boy!

New York Trip

2011-05-19T20:28:00.004-04:00

Earlier this month I was able to chaperone Caleb's orchestra trip to New York. I have never been, so I was excited to check out all the sights! Here is our motley crew in Times Square...This is the New Year's Ball. I don't know what I expected.....I was a bit disappointed! It was so small and somewhat anticlimactic if you ask me!We went to a broadway show one night and then on a dinner cruise the next night. The Statue of Liberty was awe-inspiring to see from the boat and the New York City skyline is gorgeous at night.

Here I am in Times Square.....I have to admit, it was fun for a day, but I did not enjoy the crowds! Too many people crammed together; you can forget about personal space! The funny thing was, I had spent the weekend before revelling in the openness of the Nevada desert, and then to be in a cramped city was crazy!

My favorite stop was Toys R Us in Times Square. What a dream toy store! They even had a life-sized barbie dream house! YES, I totally went in! You have no idea how long I have dreamed about being in the barbie dream house!

This was in the Legoland part of the store. There were lots of cool things made out of legos; I know my boys would have loved it!Then my favorite childhood game, Candyland, had its very own section. Lots of bulk candy and specialty treats....all priced at a premium, of course!There is a full sized ferris wheel right as you enter the store. I had to snap a picture of the My Little Pony car for Savannah. How cool is that?!!

It was a fun trip, but I was glad to come home. I have no desires to ever live in a big city! When we pulled into our neighborhood I was so excited to see wide open streets without cars lining both sides! Oh yeah, and there was an orchestra competition.....they won first place!

Easter

2011-05-19T06:57:00.003-04:00

Remember last year when I didn't take any pictures of our Easter celebrations and I was lamenting being a bad mom and vowed to take pictures this year?

Well, I give you Easter 2011 in all its finery..... I am SUCH a photographer! Sadly this is the only picture I took!

A few days before Easter, Savannah said to me "Mom, I haven't ever gotten to make colored eggs." WHAT??? She had to be wrong! I was the mom who always did colored eggs! So I started thinking back and realized that I haven't done them in the 4 1/2 years that we have lived here, so if she did them, it was when she was 2 and there is no way she would remember that! When did life get so hectic that I didn't have time to color Easter eggs?!!

So I boiled some eggs and gathered all the kids who were interested (only the 3 youngest came) and we got to work coloring. I don't think Joshua colored any; he was too interested in his book! But Savannah and Samuel had a great time!

BYU Women's Conference 2011

2011-05-02T23:31:00.004-04:00

I am not even really sure what happened to these pictures....I left my camera home, so my sister sent these to me, but I think they are posting like thumbnails. Anyway, here's the story...

Four years ago, my husband sent me to Women's Conference as a Christmas gift. It was the most incredible gift I have ever gotten.....to this day, he hasn't topped it! However, I don't think he realized that once I went, I would have to keep going back! (Sorry honey....)

This is the first year we have been able to convince all of our sisters to go. Usually mom would go with us too, but she was serving my youngest sister by babysitting her kids since she just got divorced and her husband couldn't take them.

It was an incredible trip! Spiritually uplifting, emotionally filling and so much FUN! My sisters ROCK!!! I do not know another family that gets along as well as we do. Maybe it helps that we don't live all in the same town to annoy each other with petty differences, or maybe they are just THAT COOL!!!

One night we went to a concert and then stayed late to get pics with all the "celebrities"! Here are Rachel and Krysten with David Osmond We always have fun doing the evening of service projects. Rachel went with me this time and I picked the crown and wand project. Seriously, we were creatively challenged on this project! Rachel and I both made a wand, but it took us about an hour! We didn't even attempt the crown, but something tells me it was probably alot easier! Next year I will let Rachel pick the craft!Here I am with Shannon, Mandy and Krysten at the Marriott Center. It is so cool for me to be back at BYU since it was my old stomping grounds for 5 years. I LOVED being there!

I felt like this year's theme for me was learning all I could learn about the principle of agency. It is funny how we tend to take home the things that we needed most from each conference. I felt like all the classes came together to give me a better understanding and I learned oh so much. Now I just have to figure out how to put it all into practice!

Of course, no sisters trip would be complete without some serious shopping! On the way up to BYU, we saw a billboard for the ModBod Outlet Store and decided to stop in. Unfortunately they were closed (they are currently only open 2 days a week, so call ahead if you want to go to be sure they will be there), so we decided to peek in the windows and see what they had. There we were, all five of us, with our hands up shielding our eyes from the sun and our noses pressed to the window, when all of a sudden we see someone inside waving at us and laughing! We begged her to open especially for us, but she couldn't. After Women's Conference on the way home we decided to drop in. Of course she remembered us....how could she forget! We all had a good laugh about the window incident and then proceeded to shop! Lots of great items and I think we spent enough money between the five of us to make it worth there while. They carry alot of the undershirts that I like to wear and put on the girls to make their clothes a bit more modest and the prices were really cheap. Oh, and I have never laughed so much while shopping! The owners were great and we totally enjoyed hanging out with them....as a matter of fact, if you are reading this, owners (I think I forgot to ask your names, which is terrible since you learned all of ours!), I am now granting you the status of honorary sisters and you can come on our next sister's trip!!!

Random Pictures....

2011-04-19T19:05:00.003-04:00

About a month ago, I fell victim to a loose stick in the road.... It was not that sturdy of a stick; as a matter of fact, it disintegrated in my hands as I tried to pull it out, but it successfully destroyed my rear tire in a matter of seconds! Fortunately for me, Sam's Club honored their warranty and replaced it free of charge......unfortunately for me, I had to replace another perfectly good tire at my cost so that they would be balanced! :(

Savannah's school held the "Vocabulary Parade" where each student had to dress up like a vocabulary word. Savannah's 1st grade class was supposed to pick compound words, so I smartly suggested "fairytale" thinking we could use her fairy costume and add a tail on the back.....unfortunately, on the night of the vocabulary parade as I was looking up the word "fairytale" in the dictionary, I realized it was NOT a compound word; just two separate words! Goes to show what 5 years of college will do for you! Needless to say, she was still a "fairytale"!

General Conference was the first weekend of April so we had a lot of time on our hands listening to the Prophet and Apostles speak. The messages were uplifting, as always, but I find it difficult to occupy fidgety kids who may not get as much out of it as me. Savannah has been wanting "bumpy hair" so I decided to braid her hair during one of the 2 hour sessions. This is what it looked like the next morning!
Chris' parents celebrated their 50th anniversary, so the kids threw a "pig pickin" in their honor. It was an awful day weather-wise with tornadoes touching down all over the state, but we were oblivious to that until later that night. All 6 of their kids along with all the grandchildren made it for their special day.

Blah, Blah, Blah.....

2011-04-15T11:52:00.002-04:00

I do still want to blog, I promise, I really do! There is just nothing quite like the stress of parenting teenagers that can take the wind out of your sails at a moment's notice. Looking at it from the "glass-half-full" side, there is never a dull moment around here. So, while there is lots of picture taking and blog-worthy (aka journal-worthy, since this is my family journal)experiences going on, I just cannot seem to get it together to put up a blog post. I will try to do better....

The school year is whizzing by and we find ourselves at the final quarter of Shelby's high school career. It is strange to think that she will be leaving home for college in just a few short months. Like any mother, I wonder if she is ready. She is still so young (although she would beg to differ, I am sure!) and I worry about how she will do out there in the world. I know there will be inevitable trials and difficulties and learning experiences, and I can only hope that we have instilled in her the tools that she needs to thrive. She is still frantically applying for scholarship applications in the hopes of being able to come up with the $18,000 she needs for this first year. We joined a gym together....me to work out, her to get free tanning....so we are there several nights a week.

Caleb is slowly regaining the use of his wrists. It has been a bit of a struggle for him to not be able to play tennis this year. He is taking advantage of the extra time in his schedule to look for a job, so we are hopeful he will be able to find something before the college kids come home for the summer and take all the jobs!

Joshua is back to playing lacrosse and loving it! He is such a little athlete! Last weekend he went on a 25 mile bike ride with the scouts then off to his lacrosse game. I didn't think he had it in him to do it, but he surprised me!

Samuel is still swimming like crazy! He was awarded "most improved swimmer" for his year round swim team and the coach told him that he missed being "most valuable swimmer" by a few points (it is judged on their total points earned for the team at meets throughout the year). That was surprising because Samuel has chosen not to swim on Sundays because he thinks it is important to keep the sabbath day holy, so he typically swims 5 events less than everyone else at each meet. I thought he would be a little sad about finding that out but it actually made him feel good and he said that he knew he was most valuable swimmer but he wants to keep the sabbath day holy, so that's all that matters. What a great kid!

Savannah is in "friend-mania"! It is so funny! Everyday after school she is planning which friend's house she will go to or who will come to our house. She has four good friends that she switches between and at the dinner table one night when we were sharing our "good" and "bad" about the day, she said her "bad" was that she only got to have one friend over that day! Such a little socialite! She is losing teeth like crazy! She has lost one of her top front teeth and the other is hanging on by a thread. It is all cock-eyed and she looks like a snaggle tooth! There is another on the bottom that is about ready to come out soon too.

Chris is still working and scouting and helping me coordinate the kids schedules. It is crazy! We are getting pretty close to when his allergies knock him out for about a month, so he is enjoying spring while he can. Work is going a bit better, but still lots of travelling and still stressful. I really wish he would be assigned a new boss!

I have been hit by allergies for the first time this year and they have hit me hard. After a full week of thinking I was sick, it finally occurred to me that it was allergies, so I am starting the meds a bit late and desperately trying to get it under control. Basically, I am miserable! I know people don't die of allergies, but I find it akin to morning sickness where you wish you would die!

Okay, so that's about it with us. I will try to get it together next week over spring break and post some fun pics!

Parenting with Compassion

2011-03-30T22:10:00.006-04:00

Have you ever had one of those "a-ha" moments when you read something that strikes you in such a way that it completely changes your outlook on things? One of those moments when you realize that you've been doing it all wrong.....and you hope that you haven't damaged your children irreversibly in the process! (please say I'm not the only one....)

A friend of mine linked to an article on facebook from Meridian Magazine called "Godly Parenting: Compassion for Humanness" by Wallace Goddard. The title intrigued me enough to click over and check out the link, and I was so glad I did. I quickly skimmed through before leaving to pick up a child from school yesterday and I have re-read it three times since then (with a lot of time spent pondering in between).

It is really SO GOOD!

Apparently it is part of a series of articles on Godly Parenting and Compassion, but I feel like I need to absorb and incorporate this one before I start on something new! Otherwise I will get overwhelmed and not make the changes I need to make.

I am in the midst of the battle right now. Parenting teenagers is quite possibly THE HARDEST THING I have ever done! In my zeal to set boundaries and be the tough guy, I am afraid that I have forgotten compassion.

Unfortunately, it is easy to do.

I feel like I am a much more relaxed parent of 7 yr. old Savannah than I was when Shelby was seven. After trial and error, I know there are so many things that just do not matter. This morning Savannah spilled a cup of orange juice all over the counter and down onto the floor. When Shelby was little, I am afraid I would have yelled at her for making a mess. With Savannah, I said "uh-oh, sometimes that happens. Be more careful next time." and then handed her a towel and helped her clean it up.

So what does this say about me as I parent Shelby through the teenage years?

I am sure there will be oh so many things that I will wish I could change by the time I look back on this era through the eyes of a seasoned mother. I wonder if she has spent her whole life under my much too harsh judgement feeling like she can never measure up to my impossible standards and thus, not even trying.

If anyone needed compassion for humanness, it was Shelby.

When I think about the legacy I want to leave her with as she prepares to head off to college, it is simply this...

She is loved.

I can only hope that in my well-meaning, yet blundering efforts, that message has been able to get through.

Age Group Championships

2011-03-14T23:01:00.002-04:00

Samuel had the incredible opportunity to participate in State Championships for swimming on Saturday. It is a chance to swim against the best swimmers in the state and with this being his first year competing in USA swim meets, it was an honor for him to even qualify to go. It was a little frustrating that he only qualified in one event, especially considering he was 2/10th's of a second away from qualifying in two other events.....oh well, sometimes that's what happens!

Since his event wasn't until afternoon, Chris drove him up Saturday morning, watched him compete, and then drove home. I wish I could have gone, but someone had to stay home and shuttle the other 4 kids to and from work, lacrosse practice, friend's houses, scout fundraisers, and the grocery store! It was not a stellar meet for Samuel; he swam the 200 IM and came in 45th out of 49 swimmers and did not get his best time, but it was a great opportunity to see what swimming is like at the elite levels. We are proud of Samuel and his efforts on swim team!

On an interesting side note.....swimming has worked wonders for Samuel's asthma this year. Last year he swam at a pool that was not well ventilated, so I didn't see the benefits, but this year is a different story. I have not had him in the doctor's office once this winter. He hasn't even had to use his inhaler or preventative meds at all. Typically I spend at least a thousand dollars on office visits and meds over the course of the winter trying to keep his asthma under control. Our doctor told me that the swimming is strengthening his lungs and helping him to stay healthy. That is worth its weight in gold to me!

Catching up....Again!

2011-03-05T15:19:00.002-05:00

I know it seems like all we've been doing around here is breaking bones, but believe me, a lot of noteworthy things have been happening that I haven't taken the time to blog yet! For instance, Samuel participated in our family's final Pinewood Derby. (Chris is so thrilled to be done with this rite of passage!) We attempted to "swirl paint" his car and followed the demo's for swirl painting guitars online and it turned out pretty cool. We didn't quite get the look he was aiming for, but it was cool nonetheless. Caleb participated in All-District Band. This was his first year trying out on the clarinet, so he was excited to make it. In the past he has gone on the bass clarinet and there is a lot less competition.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and helped celebrate Caleb's 16th birthday. Unfortunately, this was right after he broke both arms, so it wasn't quite the celebration he had in mind. And he found that turning 16 for a boy is somewhat anti-climatic when all our your friends who are girls who you might consider asking out on a date don't turn 16 till summer! Oh well, there is still time....

We took Grandma and Grandpa on a walk down by the river on President's Day. It was fairly nice weather, so it was fun to get outside after all the cold. Of course I was holding my breath because Caleb was all over those rocks and I was afraid that he would end up falling in the river and ruining his casts!

Chris and I went with Savannah to her "Eight is Great" fireside where she learned all about being baptized. She was so excited to go to the fireside because she has always wanted to go to a fireside, but then found it to be not quite as exciting as she had anticipated because there was no fire and we didn't roast marshmallows. No wonder she has been jealous of her older siblings all these years!

Samuel attended two levels of district championships for swimming. He ended up bringing home a gold medal and a 7th place medal (I don't know what color that is). Sadly, it was not a good measure of what an incredible swimmer he has become because he got sick two weeks before district champs, missed a full week of practice, and lost 7 lbs. and he really wasn't back up to par by champs. He was on the verge of qualifying for State Junior Olympics in 5 events but only ended up qualifying in 1, the 200 IM. He goes next weekend to compete in that, so stay tuned for results!

And then there were two.....

2011-03-01T22:06:00.002-05:00

We are cautiously wrapping our last boy (Samuel) in bubble wrap since he has State Swim Championships in a few weeks and a cast would not be a good thing!

Joshua apparently broke his thumb last Thursday playing basketball. He favored it a bit and we just thought it was jammed. He practiced lacrosse for 2 hours on Saturday, playing goalie with no complaints. But once it was all done, he was miserable. I went out a bought a little splint thinking if we just rested it, it would get better, but no luck. By today it was still causing him so much pain that we decided to get it looked at.

The orthopedist did a double take when he walked by the room and saw me there. He said "weren't you just here?!!" Then he saw Josh and said "oh, it's a different kid!" Fortunately for Joshua, the doctor is a former lacrosse player, so he gave Josh permission to keep playing and practicing!

The Snow Sports Merit Badge

2011-02-15T10:35:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, scouting can be painful.....like when you walk 50 miles and then bike 50 miles and then canoe 50 miles all so you can get the mega-50 miler award....

AND expensive.....like when you have to buy a new bike or backpack or lightweight sleeping bag or ski gear because you don't have the things you need to participate....

But it looks like by far, the most costly, most painful merit badge for Caleb is the Snow Sports Merit Badge!

The phone call from Caleb at ski patrol went something like this....

Caleb: Mom, can you get me Bro. Roberts cell phone number (this would be the merit badge counselor who dragged himself up to the lodge with a fever and chills and curled up on a chair waiting to DIE so that he could be there and support the boys in completing their merit badge! Now that's sacrifice for you!)

Me: Why, did you break something? (totally joking at this point)

Caleb: Um, yeah, I hurt my wrists. (completely nonchalant like its no big deal)

Me: REALLY?!! Are you serious?!!! How bad is it?!! (enter slightly hysterical mom tone of voice)

Caleb: I don't know, their just hurt. MOM, can you just get me his number?

So I give him the number and hang up. We hear nothing for 3 hours, during which time I have assumed that it must be no big deal because no one has called us back. Sometime after midnight, the boys get home from their evening snowboarding session. Caleb has a splint on one arm and nothing on the other. Both are swollen. My assessment is that one is possibly broken and the other is probably sprained. It is in the wee hours of Sunday morning, so I decide the best thing to do is to put a brace on the unprotected arm, give him some ibuprofen and put him to bed.

The next morning we went to church. There have still been no tears from Caleb. He is pretty much solidly stoic about the whole thing. He is able to wiggle fingers on both hands which is encouraging. I go out after church and buy a brace for the other hand so we can take the lousy makeshift splint off (why in the world we have THREE braces in our home and they are all for the LEFT hand, I have no idea!) We decide to wait it out till Monday morning and take him to the orthopedist.

Lest you think I am the bad mother, let me explain. We have been through 4 broken arms up to this point in our family. Two of them happened after hours and two during office hours. Every ER visit ends in an xray, a splint and a referral to the orthopedist the next day.....oh and a bill for about $3000! So, if I have the splints, I just really can't see wasting the time and the money to go in and get the xray (which the orthopedist typically repeats anyway because it is not up to his standards) to know for sure it is broken. So, we waited. Caleb took some more ibuprofen but was not on it around the clock. He even played the piano with his left hand a bit.

Monday morning came and I took him to the orthopedist. It appears that the radius on both arms is broken. His left arm is a straight break which should be easy to heal. He will be out of that cast in about 3 weeks. His right arm has a diagonal break. It is the one that is casted higher in an effort to immobilize the arm and hope that as the swelling goes down the bones don't slip. He goes back in 10 days at which point they will decide whether or not he needs to go into surgery for manipulation. At the very least, it will need to be re-cast because the swelling will have gone down and the cast will be loose.

All I can say is HE BETTER HAVE EARNED THE MERIT BADGE!!!!

Going Back To Work....

2011-02-08T21:26:00.003-05:00

A lot has been going on around our house these last few months. Chris has come up against some challenges at work that he felt threatened his job security and I found myself back in the job market in an effort to provide something to fall back on if he were to lose his job.

It was not a comfortable transition for me from stay at home mom to job seeker. Initially, I was scared to death! It is amazing how difficult it is to step out of your comfort zone and go on an interview when you haven't done something like that in 17 years! There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears poured into the job search.....okay, maybe not blood, but definitely ALOT of prayers!

We are so fortunate in our church to have LDS Employment Services. I cannot say enough good things about the advice and help I received from our ward employment specialist. He walked me through writing a resume, filling out online applications and even did a mock interview with me. It went a long way toward helping me feel at ease throughout the process.

I applied for a part-time job with the health department about 30 minutes from here. It seemed like a good place to start since that was my first (and only) job as a dietitian. I was under no illusions that I would be called to interview.....I figured it was just such a huge step to fill out an online application, so that was one hurdle crossed for me. I was shocked 3 weeks later when they called me to set up an interview. And I guess I was a little excited too.

Then all out panic set in! I had always been so sure of myself as a dietitian. I was at the top of my class in college and got accepted for the best internships. My reviews were always stellar. And yet now I found myself feeling incredibly insecure. What if I didn't remember things? What if my vast volunteer experience wasn't viewed as worthwhile? What if I no longer measured up to workplace standards? And what if I *gasp* made a total fool of myself?!!!

The night before the interview, it started to snow....I mean REALLY snow! I am not the type of person who goes out driving in the snow. For years I have been the one who stays home for 3 days till everything melts, and now I was faced with the prospects of a 30 minute drive on possibly icy roads to make a good impression. Add to that the fact that my children were now all home from school due to the storms and it more than flustered me. The interviewer called and gave me the option of doing a phone interview, but I felt like I would make a better impression in person, so I prayed for safe travels, left my kids home to play Wii and headed out into the cold.

The interview was nerve-wracking! I was given several case studies and had to analyze them and make a dietary plan on the spot. My technical skills were absolutely rusty! There were some things that came back easily (like how to chart using SOAP format) and other things that slipped my mind till the next day....at which point I thought "I am such an idiot! I can't believe I forgot that!" But the good news is, IT CAME BACK! I left feeling rejuvenated and realizing that yes, I still really do love dietetics!

I did not, however, think I would get the job. It was a longshot. It was also not a very good fit for our family. The position was a travelling position and the hours were anytime between 7 am and 8 pm. When you try to fit that in with a husband who is travelling and 5 kids in 5 schools with only 2 of them being picked up and dropped off at home, it does not really work.

Christmas came and went and I did not hear back about the job. I didn't even bother to call and check on it. Things settled down some at Chris' work. My children got sick and I found myself cradling Savannah in the middle of the night and thanking Heavenly Father that I didn't have to worry about going to work the next day. We spent all day together with me revelling in the opportunity to serve her and love her and care for her while she was sick. For two full weeks, I had someone home sick every day. What was I thinking??? There was no way I could have gone back to work!

And then today they called....

The job has not been filled and they wanted to know if I was still interested. I didn't know what to say. Was it an answer to our prayers that we would be able to provide for our family? Or was it a test to see if I would compromise my stay at home motherhood? I struggle because I know that eventually I will need to go back to work, and for most of the world, it looks like the time is right when your kids are all in school.

But somehow I feel like my work is not done here at home....there is mothering yet to come. There is something necessary in the simple act of picking your 17 year old daughter up at the bus stop and shuttling her 5 minutes to work. It is a crossroad, and I want to be there, at least for these last few months before she leaves home forever. There is something to be said for sharing warm brownies with a middle school boy when he opens up and wants to tell you about the people who picked on him today, the two A+ grades he got on tests and the one B that he was a little discouraged about. If I had not been there today, I wouldn't have seen his vulnerability and been able to encourage and build him up. There are the moments spent in carpool, the chances to have friends over, the follow up on chores and homework assignments, the presence of a mother in the home. It is still necessary; and maybe even more so now that they are older.

So, no, I don't think the time is right for me to be going back to work. Not this job, not this time. The professional me is a little sad, but the mother in me is rejoicing in the continued opportunity to be at home.

It has been a worthwhile process. I am looking differently now upon things that I need to be doing to maintain my professional knowledge and skill set, ways to build my resume with relevant volunteer service, chances for continuing education that I might not have been able to take advantage of with babies at home are now more doable. For all the stress these last few months have brought, I am grateful for the things I have learned in the process.

Retraction

2011-01-30T21:51:00.003-05:00

As much as I hate to admit it---

It was NOT the red velvet cake!!!

A full week later, the stomach flu has gone through 4 of the 7 members of our family. I was down in bed with it for two days. It was complete and utter misery! You may think I am a bit melodramatic, but I was convinced I would be better off dead for a good portion of that time! The only ones left unscathed are Shelby, Chris and Joshua. Who knows how long they will hold out?

As for me, I am still not eating red velvet cake......

The Curse of the Red Velvet Cake

2011-01-24T12:25:00.004-05:00

There is a story from when I was about 5 yrs. old that has taken on epic proportions in my mind. It involves a birthday celebration for my little sister Shannon, red velvet cake, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and the entire family throwing up all night long! If you have ever seen red velvet cake on its way back up, you would understand why a five year old would think it looked alot like blood! For years, in my mind, the blame for the miserable night was placed squarely on the red velvet cake/mint chocolate chip ice cream combination. I refused to eat either of them because I was certain they would make me throw up!

As I got older and was studying nutrition in college, I realized that what we probably experienced as a family, was a case of food poisoning that had nothing to do with the cake or the ice cream, but was actually caused by something we ate for dinner. The funny thing is, no one remembers what we ate for dinner! In the past few years, I have finally been able to eat and enjoy mint chocolate chip ice cream again, but red velvet cake continues to turn my stomach.

Now I am grown and have children of my own, including a 17 year old daughter who thinks that red velvet cake sounds absolutely scrumptious! It started somewhere around Christmas....

Shelby: "Mom, have you ever had red velvet cake?"

Me: "Yes, and I would NEVER eat it again!"

Shelby: "Why not, does it taste bad."

Me: "To be honest with you, I cannot even remember what it actually tastes like.....but it looks like blood when you throw it up!"

I shared with her the story, which she laughed off (mostly because she hadn't been there!), but failed to convince her that there was no reason to try red velvet cake. The next day she came home from her job at the grocery store with a red velvet cake mix and a container of cream cheese frosting.

I continued to try to discourage this desire of hers by putting the cake mix in the back of my pantry where it wouldn't be noticed every time she got something out. It worked for a month, but yesterday Shelby decided it was time to make the red velvet cake!

She chose to make it as cupcakes, but I would not be tricked! I glanced over a few times while she was adding the ingredients; the water and oil made it look suspiciously like throw up. I informed her then that I would NOT be trying her cake. When the baking was finished, Chris and I had to leave for a fireside with Caleb. She rounded up the little kids for a taste test. I was glad to be leaving!

When we got back home, I could tell it was not a huge success because there were lots of cupcakes left. I warned Shelby that if anyone started puking during the night I would be blaming it on her!

Somewhere around 2:00 am, Savannah stumbled into my room crying "I just threw up!" I rolled out of bed and went up to her room to find red velvet cake throw up splattered across her bed, blankets, stuffed animals, all over the wall and dripping down along the wall to the carpet. It did, indeed, look suspiciously like blood.

In your rational mind, I am sure you probably see this as an unfortunate coincidence.....I do not.

There will be no more red velvet cake in this household!

My Most Embarrassing Moment

2011-01-21T14:05:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Blue Lily Photography blog, I have been inspired to share the story of my most embarrassing moment in an effort to win a free photo session. I wouldn't do this for just any contest, but these guys are INCREDIBLE photographers and I have admired their work for several years while I have been lurking around on their blog, so the least I can do is relive some embarrassment, right?!!

When I was about 9-10 years old, my mom served as president of our church women's organization. During this time, we spent A LOT of time at the church while she was having meetings or organizing and preparing for different activities. My brother and sisters and I became very familiar with the building and loved to play in it. While we were never allowed to run and play in the chapel, mom didn't mind if we played in the gym, hallways or classrooms. As children, we spent many hours fantasizing about what it would be like to buy the church when they built our new building and turn it into our home. We had big plans for the indoor gym (roller skating rink), stage (platform for the aspiring models and actors/actresses we were to become someday) and even baptismal font (hot tub)! We took turns picking which room would be each of ours and naturally decided that the little kids' rooms would all be in the downstairs portion of classrooms, while ours would be upstairs (because we were so much cooler than them....).

Anyway, it was during one of these long afternoons at the church that our imaginative play gave way to a game of hide and seek. After exhausting all the best hiding places, I decided to go into a classroom and climb up into the windowsill (which was about a foot wide) and pull the curtains shut behind me. That way if anyone looked into the classroom it would just look dark and empty. It was a great hiding place! I heard them come looking for me, but I was NOT getting out! They would have to find me!

I was standing up there on that windowsill feeling pretty darn proud of myself when the light turned on and I heard voices and chairs being opened up. I peeked out through the crack in the curtains as discreetly as I could and realized that the classroom I was hiding in was now the setting for our church youth group meeting! These kids were several years older than me and oh-so-cool.....And I was the dorky little kid hiding in the window!

I was determined not to let them know I was there. I figured I could outlast their meeting if it would spare me the embarrassment of being discovered. It was a very surreal experience standing up there in that window. My heart was beating a million miles a minute and I was up about 4 feet off the ground peeking down through this crack in the curtains willing them with all my might to finish up and go away! The longer I stood as still as I could be, the more I realized that I needed to use the bathroom!

Things were not working in my favor. I could hear my mom and brother and sisters calling for me out in the hallway. I knew I was going to be in A LOT of trouble for making them all wait, but the thought of opening up those curtains and climbing down from the window mortified me! Eventually, the urge to pee outweighed even my fear of embarrassment, so I threw open the curtains, jumped down to the ground and yelled excuse me as I ran out the door! I could hear the room erupting in laughter behind me, but I didn't care.....I went to the bathroom, then I got out of there as fast as I could! I have never played hide and seek at church again!

Fortune Cookies....

2011-01-21T10:00:00.003-05:00

Chris went out to eat with his team from work last night at a Chinese restaurant and got this in his fortune cookie:

You will move to a wonderful new home within the year.

What does it all mean?!!!

Cooking Mama

2011-01-18T17:49:00.002-05:00

Who needs video games and easy bake ovens when you can be the REAL thing?!! For Christmas, Savannah got the cutest apron and several packages of Betty Crocker mixes (muffins, brownies, and cookies). She has absolutely loved cooking and it has been fun for mom to spend time with her!

It was one of her favorite gifts! (Ours too, for that matter, because we all get to sample her creations!)

Joshua's Birthday

2011-01-04T17:01:00.003-05:00

Poor Joshua.....his birthday always gets fit in between Christmas and family celebrations and chaos.....but he is a good sport! Since we were travelling to Granny and PawPaw's and they had a cake for him, he decided to just open presents on the morning of his birthday and wait on the cake until the next day. He was thrilled to get his first Airsoft guns and some ammunition! Finally, a step up from nerf guns! Later that day, he invited his friend, Nate, over and they went and played at LaserQuest for a few hours. Then it was into the car for a long ride to Granny and PawPaw's for the family Christmas celebration. Because Shelby had to work, I stayed behind and brought her down the next day. Joshua wanted us to be there for his birthday party, so he waited to have it the next day when we got there.

Granny and Aunt Cathy had arranged for a friend to make a lacrosse cake for Joshua. He was so excited about his cake!

It was so much fun having cousins around to share in the party! No one else gets to do that! Because Joshua was turning 12, we arranged for his ordination ceremony to be done at the church where we were visiting so that his uncles and grandpa could participate.

It was a very small branch out in the country in North Carolina. I think we about doubled the size of their congregation that day!

Chris was able to ordain Joshua as a deacon before Sacrament Meeting, so they asked Joshua to help pass the sacrament. He was given the section where we were all sitting and it was neat to have him pass to us! Joshua is such a good boy. He is very conscientious about doing what is right and we are so proud of the choices he has made. I appreciated the dignity with which he passed the sacrament.

Years ago, when I was struggling through all the miscarriages, I read the account of Hannah in the scriptures. Like Hannah, I was begging God to send me a child. I vowed to dedicate this child to the Lord, if He would just let me have a baby. I was not surprised when I found out Joshua was a boy. I felt such a kinship with Hannah that it just seemed right that I would have a boy too! We chose the name Joshua because it meant "gift of God", and that is just what he was. I remember holding him in my arms and being overwhelmed with the feeling of peace. As he has grown up, I have tried to teach him the things he needs to know, to hold up my end of the bargain, to dedicate this child to the Lord. Like any mother, there are times when I question if I have done enough. I know there is always more that I could do. Joshua's goodness is evident to everyone who meets him. He continues to bring a feeling of peace into our home and I know that Heavenly Father is so pleased with the young man he has become.

We love you, Joshua! Happy Birthday!

Our Snowy December

2010-12-26T16:05:00.003-05:00

Who would have guessed we could have snow 3 times in one month?!! Snow started falling around 3 pm on Christmas Day. It was so pretty to watch and definitely made my Christmas! I took the kids out for a walk and ended up sledding for the first time in years (I was in a car accident at 18 while riding a motorcycle and when I went sledding later that year, the feeling of being out of control was so scary that I have never been since....UNTIL NOW!!!)

By morning, our yard looked like this....

We couldn't resist the urge to go out and play in it for awhile....we just don't get snow that often and it seemed like such a waste not to enjoy it.

We discovered that poor Caleb has outgrown all his winter clothes, so he is wearing Chris' coat....I can't believe he is finally big enough to fit into it!

Savannah is riding this fun new sled the kids got for Christmas, the Zipfy! It is a mini-luge and a blast to ride on! We were able to take it out when there was only a dusting of snow on the grass and we were cruising! It is not as fast in unpacked snow, so we will need to go back after the hill is well packed and try it again. Apparently you can ride it down sand dunes too...not that we would have any nearby to ride it on....but hey, it's versatile!

The inflatable sled was by far the most fun in the snow. It blazed a path down the hill and could outrun any sled in a race. So much fun! I can't wait to go back out!

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

2010-12-25T18:11:00.003-05:00

By far, the best Christmas ever, due to SNOW that fell on Christmas day turning it into a winter wonderland! Made my Christmas! Shelby would not pose for a picture so I snapped this one of her when she was opening presents....sorry Shelby!

The boys have spent the day playing the Wii (they each got one new game), Savannah has turned into an actual "cooking mama" with her apron and packaged mixes, Shelby has been filling out her scholarship applications online, and the sister missionaries came for lunch. It was a nice quiet Christmas at home and I couldn't ask for anything better! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-25T17:53:00.004-05:00

This is what happens when you get 5 giddy children together to pose for a picture in new jammies.... The homemade present exchange was a success this year, as always. Chris made me a "101 Reasons that I Love You" book.

Joshua metal-stamped a key chain. Sorry for the blurry pic; it says "best dad".

I made Samuel a body pillow and Samuel made Joshua a cup and ball game.

Caleb painted Savannah this cute rocker that we found at the thrift store (it was still drying, so she couldn't put a doll in it yet!)

He also made these adorable little sandals for her American Girl doll. Such a fun idea!

Shelby spent about 10 hrs. on Christmas Eve day making this giant Risk game for Caleb. She sent me running all over town trying to find army men which she then spray painted to be the pieces. It is very cool! However, I have decided that all Christmas presents need to be finished a week before Christmas now because I refuse to go out to Walmart on Christmas Eve ever again!

Savannah colored this little jewelry box for Shelby and also made her a potholder (for her future home....)

Once again, I realized how very important this fun family tradition is and I am so grateful for my parents for starting it when we were young!

Anniversary Celebrations

2010-12-25T17:40:00.002-05:00

Chris and I were able to celebrate our anniversary this year by FINALLY reaching the point where we could leave the kids home alone to watch each other over night! I tagged along on a business trip with him and we stopped in at the Washington D.C. temple to see the lights. It was so enjoyable to be able to stroll through the temple grounds and visitor's center without having to keep up with younger kids (or break up arguments....which my kid's DO....anytime, any place....but that's another story!)

I LOVED the nativity display and took tons of pics, but I will spare you the rest and just show a few of my favorites.

Ukraine

Finland

Eskimo

At the hotel, the front desk clerk upgraded us to a suite since it was our anniversary, which meant I got a giant jacuzzi tub to take unlimited bubble baths in while my husband slaved away at work. I also got to shop to my little heart's content and went to my first IKEA....so cool! We spent two nights totally enjoying ourselves, and the kids actually survived the non-stop Wii-playing, frozen dinner eating, non-sleeping funfest! We just might have to do this again next year! And to all my friends with young kids: HAVE HOPE! Your time will come! One day your kids will actually grow up and be old enough to babysit themselves! :)

A Month's Worth of Posts.....

2010-12-18T23:55:00.004-05:00

I know, the excuse of "I've been so busy" is really lame, but I REALLY HAVE, so here is a very long catch-up post..... The grass is growing and the Eagle project is a success!
Let the Christmas decorating begin....

And what I can't quite depict in pictures is how many times I had to break up fights while we decorated the tree! Please tell me it's like that at your house too or I will really feel like a bad mom!

We had our first snow of the season (followed a few weeks later by our SECOND snow, which was actually 3 inches and sorry, I don't have pics. I had to check to make sure I wasn't in Utah!)

Joshua had his band concert.....have I mentioned he is playing percussion? He was one of the lucky few who got to trade in their instruments and start on percussion!

We took a mini-vacation and went to Samuel's State Swim meet. Naturally, the party at the hotel was more fun than the meet!

It was pretty intense and I couldn't believe the caliber of kids swimming. You had to hit certain time standards to even qualify to go, so it was highly competitive. Samuel's highest placing was 22nd and his lowest was 35th, but he was thrilled to hit personal best times in every event.

I love love LOVE this skirt! Remember the "lazy days skirt"? I've made it twice before, and it is the easiest pattern. This one was my own variation on the original pattern. I found the dark brown material in the remnant bin and bought it planning to make a skirt. When I got home and held it up to Savannah, I realized it was too short, so I went back and bought 1/8 yd. of coordinating fabric, stitched it to the bottom, and covered the seam with ribbon. It turned out so cute and looks like a boutique skirt. I love that I can make it without looking at a pattern now; I just sew it! I *almost* feel like an accomplished seamstress!

Caleb at his Christmas Orchestra Concert....this was the night we learned that school was cancelled for the next day midway through the concert due to a snowstorm that was coming in. We ended up missing our last two days of school before winter break! No complaints here!

These were the cookies Savannah and I made to take to her class on the last day of school....however, we ended up snowed in, so they are happily being eaten by my family!

And last, but not least, a little bit of music from Caleb's orchestra to put you in the Christmas spirit!

What's on TV?

2010-12-07T13:55:00.003-05:00

Today I was at Target and I had a mom approach me asking about a particular toy that her child wanted for Christmas. I didn't recognize the name of the toy, so she proceeded to tell me that it was advertised on all the channels and especially on noggin (?). I didn't admit it to her, but I have never even heard of that station! You see, we are a strange family. We do not watch TV. I don't mean that we are morally opposed to it (well, some of it, we might be, but that's another story!), we just don't choose to watch it.

I never intentionally planned to ban TV in my home (and truthfully, it is not banned). When we were first married and struggling, we couldn't justify paying for cable. It was an unnecessary expense. We lasted through 14 years of marriage without it and never knew we were missing anything. Then we moved to Richmond in the age of bundling all your services and the cost for phone and internet was the same as the introductory cost for phone, internet and cable. Always on the lookout for a good deal, how could I pass this up! My teenagers were so excited! They were certain we were the last people on the planet to get cable tv!

For two years, I watched as our life began to revolve around the tv. When the kids got up in the morning, on went the tv. When they got home from school, the tv was on. Following dinner, everyone gathered around to watch the latest shows. Quite frankly, I just did not like it. TV was having too much influence on my family, and I just couldn't see how our lives were better because we had cable. About this time, the economy was falling apart and my husband had to take a pay cut at work. We looked at all discretionary expenses and started cutting back. The first thing to go was cable tv.

The kids moped around the house for a few weeks, turning on the tv randomly and not finding much that interested them. Grumbles and complaints were the norm! Chris and I, on the other hand, found that we were happier with our family life without cable tv. There was more time spent in conversation rather than vegging out on the couch staring open-mouthed at the tv screen! The kids were playing outside more. It was all good. We still watched network tv and there were the shows that we couldn't miss (American Idol was a family favorite), but it just wasn't on as many hours a day as before.

Within a few months, all broadcasts switched to HDTV and our antiquated televisions did not receive the signal. We bought converter boxes for both of them and continued to watch network tv. Over the course of the year, the converter boxes became more and more of a pain. They would freeze the picture several times during the course of a program. The picture would get scrambled and we would have to unplug it and plug it back in multiple times a day just to get it to work.

Eventually, it became too much work, and the two tv's were never turned on. The kids still used them for movies and playing on the wii, but for the most part they were virtually unused. It has been about six months since the kids even mentioned watching something on tv. Shelby is probably the only one who really misses it, but she goes to friends houses to watch shows she likes. Everyone else has found other things to do with their time and really do not miss it. And I am thrilled that television is not an integral part of our lives.

What I Am Thankful For....by Joshua

2010-11-23T09:21:00.003-05:00

Joshua taught our Family Home Evening lesson last night on gratitude and shared something he had written at school. With his permission, I wanted to post it on my blog, because any time an 11 year old kid can show gratitude, it is absolutely newsworthy!

I am thankful for my dad and mom, so they can provide for me. Also I am thankful for my dad not being laid off in these hard times. I am thankful for my mom because she cleans the house and makes dinner. I am thankful for a house to sleep in and clothes to wear. I am thankfulr for my family as they encourage me to choose the right.

I am thankful for sports, so I can stay fit and have fun at the same time. I am thankful for school and my many teachers as they try to get me to succeed. I am thankful for the armed forces and police officers, so I can live in a free and safe environment. I am thankful for trees, so that I can breathe clean air. I am thankful for beaches, so that I can play and make sand castles and spend time with my family.

I am thankful for rocks, boulders and mountains, so I can climb them and collect them. I am thankful for the sun, so I can stay warm. I am thankful for mashed potatoes and gravy, so I can enjoy a delicious meal. I am thankful for leaves, so I can do service by raking other people's lawns. I am thankful for snow and how beautiful it looks with no footprints in it. I am thankful for who I am.

---by Joshua

Let me just add, we are oh so thankful for Joshua! He is a great young man! I can always count on him when I need something done. Just this last week he has volunteered to rake our leaves, cut the grass and peel 8 lbs. of potatoes for me! It is important to him to be honest and do the right thing. He is a responsible, motivated kid who will grow up to be an incredible missionary one day! :)

What Matters Most

2010-11-21T10:45:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving week! I am so excited! I will be hosting about 35 people (but that number is ever-changing due to sickness and work schedules), so we will see who I end up with! Cooking for that many people could be daunting in and of itself, but I love having a full house at Thanksgiving. And I think I might choose cooking over travelling all day and sleeping on the floor somewhere to celebrate at someone else's house.....but I'll let you know when its all said and done!

I have had chance this week to reflect on my life and some of the things I am thankful for. Not the kind of "taking stock" that happens when you are pondering gratitude and thanksgiving, but the kind that happens when you are faced with situations that challenge your financial security and threaten to change your life. So while I am thankful for everything, let me share with you my short list....the things that do indeed matter most.....the things that would make me happy if I were to lose everything else.

1. I have a Heavenly Father who loves me infinitely and cares about me enough to give me challenges that will help me grow.

2. I have a family and we are sealed together forever. Nothing can change that but our own choices. No matter what circumstance we live in, I will always have these sweet children and my husband.
3. I have a husband who I love and who loves me. He is my best friend, my strength and my support. He has loved me and looked beyond my weaknesses and I cannot express how grateful I am to share this life with him.
4. I have an extended family who can always be counted on to provide a listening ear, cry with me, pray for me, and build me up. I would be nothing without their added support....even if, for now, it has to be across the miles!
5. I have great friends who listen and care and give good advice and a hug when needed. They lend me their strength when I don't think my own is sufficient.

That's it. That's the short list of things that matter most. And it's not things....
It's people.

Samuel's Birthday

2010-11-11T22:33:00.004-05:00

I'm not gonna lie; with two birthdays 6 days apart, it gets a little hectic around here. As a matter of fact, on Samuel's birthday he got downstairs before I had changed the writing on the mirror from Savannah to Samuel! He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he came in to the kitchen to tell me that I forgot to put his name up! So, dishrag in hand, I headed to the mirror and wiped off the Savannah and wrote in Samuel.....a little smeary, but it satisfied him!

Rather than blow out the candles this year, Samuel wanted to "pinch" them out! He licked his fingers and pinched a few flames.....must have gotten too hot because he finally resorted to blowing! As he was leaving for school, he asked me to make him a swimming cake.....so I resorted to my traditional methods of cake-decorating and went looking for some plastic swimmers at the toy store! No luck there, so Savannah and I went to a cake decorating supply store and all they had were molds of a swimmer. So we bought some blue chocolate (white chocolate dyed blue, that is) and melted it down for the mold. It was my very first attempt, but it turned out just fine! Made for an interesting cake if you ask me, but Samuel loved it, so whatever!

Samuel's favorite present by far was this.....

Kinda nice when your sister works for a grocery store!

We had a party with friends over the weekend where we had an all out potato gun war!

If you have never played with a potato gun, I highly recommend you try it! The gun shoots little pellets of potato, and here is some of the potato carnage left over after the war. We pulled out the firepit and the boys had a great time roasting hot dogs for lunch.

Two birthdays down, one left to go and then we can say goodbye to November!

YES! We have GRASS!!!

2010-11-06T23:04:00.002-04:00

After 13 days of watering, we are finally starting to see lots of green! This week we get to move to every other day watering, so it should cramp my style a little less......did I mention that I was at the church watering for 5 hrs. the first day? CRAZY!!! So glad we were able to get more donations of water hoses and sprinklers to cut the watering time down to 1 1/2 hrs. each day.

Birthday Girl

2010-11-06T07:53:00.004-04:00

After waiting all day for dad to get home from work and then mom to get home from a school district meeting, Savannah was SO ready to celebrate her birthday! After begging for three long years, Savannah was thrilled to finally receive an American Girl doll! It was not without drama though.....I ordered her 2 weeks in advance of the birthday and she was delivered by FedEx to our local post office last Friday as part of their parcel post program. The post office was then to deliver it to me. Six days later there was still no package! I was so upset! So the morning of Savannah's birthday I went to the post office and they searched high and low for the package. After about 20 minutes they were able to locate it on the mailman's truck, so they went and got it for me! Who knows how long he had been carrying it around with him.....I am just glad we were able to get her in the nick of time for Savannah's birthday! She was so cute when she opened the present and sat there for about five minutes just like this:

Elizabeth is now a new and very special part of our family! She has accompanied Savannah everywhere! (Although I did have to babysit her while Savannah was at school yesterday!)

When I went up to turn off the lights, I found Savannah had created her own special bedroom for Elizabeth....

The next day after school we celebrated Savannah's birthday with her friends. I needed about 10 more sets of hands to help me out with this one! Thank heavens for Caleb....Chris was gone driving Samuel and his friend to swim practice, and Shelby backed out on me last minute to go to a football game, so I was left with 7 hyper little girls to make homemade pizza's and craft with! I didn't have a free hand to take a picture till it was almost all over! Each girl got to make her own personal pan pizza then we made princess stick puppets. Caleb was such a big help with the crafting station and then the girls recruited him to be the monster chasing the princesses! He is definitely a good big brother!

It was so fun to see how cute and individual they all turned out! The girls absolutely LOVED them!

Happy Birthday Savannah!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-04T22:24:00.002-04:00

With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, we made a family decision not to trick or treat. Our ward was having a trunk or treat, so we counted that as our Halloween festivities! Joshua dressed up as a lacrosse player, but it had gotten so cold that he stole my jacket and covered up his costume.

Caleb was a terrorist/suicide bomber.....whatever gave him that idea???

And Savannah was a go-go girl....or Daphne from Scooby Doo....it just depended on when you asked her.

Samuel is swimming year round and had a meet the night of the trunk or treat. So he went and swam a 500 freestyle and then showed up in time to get candy. And I didn't feel bad at all about him eating it after all that swimming!

On Sunday we had the new missionaries over for a halloween dinner of waffles and ice cream. So, all in all, it was a pretty good holiday, even if it did happen to fall on a Sunday. The kids can't wait for next year now!

C-H-E-E-R!

2010-11-04T22:16:00.003-04:00

Football season is over, so our girls moved on to competition. For Savannah's age group, they don't really compete, they just do an exhibition. She was so excited for a chance to perform in front of everyone, which I thought would be the 5-6 teams that we played during the season. Boy, was I wrong!
Apparently cheerleading is HUGE here! This exhibition was for the northern half of our county and there were over 300 girls there! This is for the K-2 age group.....CRAZY!!!

Our girls did very well and I put a fun video up on facebook, so check it out on my profile. It was too big for me to upload into blogger. Wow, Savannah looks a bit zombie-ish in the picture above! :)

Savannah is sad that it is over, but I am so ready to have a break!

GREEN!!!

2010-11-02T15:50:00.002-04:00

I don't have pictures yet, but there are teeny tiny bits of green poking up in random places all over the area Caleb planted.....keep on praying, though, because there is definitely a lot more mud than grass! I might actually get a full night's sleep tonight! I wish I knew how to stop worrying so much....

The Eagle Project

2010-10-31T22:37:00.003-04:00

Why, oh why, did I have three boys??? Because boys mean scouts and scouts mean eagle projects and eagle projects mean one more thing for parents to stress about! Caleb chose to plant grass in an area at our church where there had previously been trees and mulch. The trees were diseased and had to be removed over a year ago, so now the area is all overgrown with weeds. The scope of Caleb's project involved killing the weeds, removing current landscaping, and planting grass. This was no small undertaking!

As a matter of fact, he currently has over 225 man hours into his project! However, the grass was planted 6 days ago and I have yet to see any green.....which means mom is waking up at night stressing about it! Please join me in praying for Caleb's grass. Because I don't think I could handle it if he went to all that work and nothing grows! In the meantime, if you need me I will be at the church watering--or watching my son water--the dirt.

Homecoming

2010-10-31T22:31:00.003-04:00

I was so excited to be home for Shelby's Homecoming Dance since I missed Prom last year. Her boyfriend, Chris, came home from Virginia Tech to take her and they spent part of the day helping out on Caleb's Eagle project, then she came home and got ready for the dance. I had to leave for about 10 minutes to go pick up Joshua and Shelby was blowdrying her hair when I left, but naturally, she was GONE when I got home. Fortunately for us, Chris' mom was making them come back to the house for pictures after dinner, so I went over a snapped a few myself! Her dress was one that she wore for her talent presentation at Jr. Miss. I altered it by adding a cap sleeve to make it a bit more modest. The color is so pretty, but this picture doesn't even do it justice. Anyway, she had a fun time and enjoyed her first and last homecoming in high school.

All Things Pumpkin

2010-10-21T10:53:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite blogs is celebrating "pumpkin week" by presenting a new recipe each day that has pumpkin in it. I just made a triple batch of pumpkin muffins last week and had a little bit of canned pumpkin left over in the fridge. Naturally, I couldn't resist the allure of the aroma of pumpkin pie permeating my house, so I tried out the Pumpkin French Toast as an after school snack. Everyone loved it! There were even some leftovers for breakfast the next morning!

Then, the caterer I work for occasionally sent me her recipe for Pumpkin Black Bean Soup that we made a few weeks ago, and I HAD to make some of that too! We ate it for dinner last night and I don't think it was as big of a hit with the kids.....they pretty much just dipped their homemade artisan bread in it. Oh well, I now have lots left over for yummy lunches and I am a sucker for a good soup for lunch! (I think I may have inherited that from my dad, aka "the soup man")

I have been dying to make the Pumpkin Porridge for breakfast, but since I can never get it together for breakfast and all we ever eat is cereal (the cold kind....or little packets of oatmeal), I gave up this morning. I just added a few spoonfuls of canned pumpkin to my cinnamon and spice oatmeal, then sprinkled some nutmeg in and added milk and cooked it in the microwave. It was SOOOO yummy! I am totally making the porridge....I just have to wait till the weekend or serve it for dinner!

Up next for me, the old standby--pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! I just have to find a good recipe!

Remembering..... (part 3)

2010-10-14T11:23:00.002-04:00

Mourning the loss of a child during early pregnancy can be difficult. It is an ambiguous loss....no one knew the child and most people didn't even know you were pregnant. Even my husband and I were affected in completely different ways by the loss. He could not understand the depth of my grief. While I was bonding with our baby as soon as I took a pregnancy test, Chris did not feel that same connection. As a result, the loss was far greater for me.

I found myself wanting to, in some way, memorialize our four lost children. Anything to reinforce my feeling that they did exist and to show that I was affected deeply by their loss. That Christmas as I was shopping for the traditional yearly Christmas ornament for Shelby and Caleb, I found myself drawn to a clear crystal angel ornament. I brought it home and placed it on our tree as my way of saying "you were real, and I will always remember".

Birthstone necklaces with little kid shaped charms were all the rage that year. Chris and the kids had given me one for Mother's day with a little girl and a little boy to represent Shelby and Caleb. I went out and bought 3 little angels and one more little girl to represent the babies we had lost. I put them all on the chain, then couldn't wear it. It depressed me.....it was a clear visual that the odds were distinctly against me. I packed the little charms away in my jewelry box because even if I couldn't wear them, there was some comfort in having them nearby.

In early January, Chris changed jobs and we had to move across country. Part of me wanted to move.....I needed a fresh slate, somewhere new that didn't have all the sad memories. Another part of me was scared to death to leave my doctor. I know I was just another patient to him, and really, he had terrible bedside manner, but I was counting on him to help me through this. I wasn't sure if I could be successful without him.

Before we moved, I went in for one last appointment. Dr. Branch had finally gotten the results of the last blood test in and it appeared I had something called Antiphospholipid Syndrome. Basically, my blood was forming very small clots which were only evidenced at the placental level. The treatment was to use heparin shots throughout my pregnancy to thin my blood. I was thrilled to know there was an answer to all these losses, and I could do something about it. I was also even more terrified to move. Dr. Branch recommended that I go to a medical school whenever we got settled in and seek out a perinatologist there to help me on my way. I walked out with my medical records and turned my attention toward moving my small family.

We arrived in North Carolina in late January with our moving van and nowhere to go. We found a hotel for the night with the intention of looking for an apartment the next day. I knew I was a few days late on my cycle, but with all the stress of moving, hadn't really worried about it. However, the next morning curiousity got the best of me and I went out and bought a pregnancy test. I was living in a hotel and I was pregnant.

I called the nearest medical school, which was and hour away, and tried to explain my situation to the appointment scheduler. I desperately needed to be on heparin so this baby would not die. The scheduler did not want to bring me in before 12 weeks, but I finally talked her down to 8 weeks. We found a place to live, and in the hustle and bustle of unloading our moving van and settling in, I started to show signs of miscarriage at 5 1/2 weeks. When I called the medical school, they brought me right in.....but it was too late.

Another still ultrasound, another lost baby. The count was now up to five.

It was a difficult transition. I felt so alone with the kids all day in our new apartment. My parents had been a 4 1/2 hr. drive away from us before and had helped out during many of my previous miscarriages, but now I found myself on the other side of the country. It was rainy season and I was a desert girl.....I craved the sunshine and the continual rain was not helping lift my spirits. I felt myself spiralling into depression.

The one thing I had going for me was that the head perinatologist at the medical school had seen my records and gave me the number of his personal secretary to contact the next time I was pregnant. Apparently he had gone to a conference on recurrent miscarriage where Dr. Branch was a speaker and he was so thrilled to be seeing one of "Dr. Branch's patients". I knew I was very close to quitting, but just having a doctor on my side gave me courage to try one more time.

I could write all day, but let me just say that the next three pregnancies were incredibly high risk, but successful. All of my heartfelt prayers were heard and answered. The time table was not mine, but the Lord's, and He knew what he was doing all along. I was blessed with two more boys and a girl. I have the family that I had always hoped for. I cherish each one of my children and am so greatful for the gift I have been given.

I did try again though, after Savannah was born. It was very reminiscent of my previous miscarriages. Once again, I saw a beating heart on ultrasound at 6 wks. and once again was reassured by my OB that this was a very good sign and everything would be fine. He agreed to do a 7 week ultrasound to reassure me and I took 2 yr. old Savannah with me to hold my hand. The doctor said "I'm sure everything is just fine" right before he started the ultrasound. It was followed very quickly by a "Hmmmmm...." The screen was still.

I held it together beautifully till I got to the car, buckled Savannah in her car seat, then fell apart. I must have cried in that parking lot for half an hour. I mentally said my goodbye's and then called and scheduled a D&C for the next morning.

Part of me acknowledged that day that I was probably done having children. The drive and the will to continue at all costs was no longer there. I was at peace with the family that I had and was not willing to put myself through the pain of recurrent miscarriage again. I was upset with myself for having even tried one last time. I had put that time in my life behind me and had three happy memories to heal the earlier wounds. Now I was ending on a sad note.

It has been said that time heals all wounds, and indeed that is true. It has been fifteen years since I began this journey, and I can now look back and remember with sweetness and peace. It has been so helpful to write down these memories. Once again, it acknowledges to me that these babies are such a part of me. They have formed the person I have become. As I have put the memories into words, I have been surprised at how clear they still are. That, in itself, is a testament to the importance of these little ones.

They are not forgotten.

Remembering..... (part 2)

2010-10-13T15:33:00.002-04:00

Dates began to be obsessively important....in my head I was keeping track of due dates and death dates for each of my lost pregnancies. I was grasping at straws trying to find some way to come to terms with these babies who were not to be. How do you say goodbye to someone you have never met? And why does it hurt so badly to lose something that you never really had?

It took some time, but eventually I was pregnant again. It had been my hope to be pregnant before the due date of my last baby and I was! Somehow, I had thought that would make things easier. I went to early dr. appointments and found a viable pregnancy, saw the heartbeat on ultrasound at 6 wks. and was once again reassured that things were fine. I poured all of my heart and all of my faith into this new pregnancy. I was convinced that if I was good enough, I could control the outcome. When I started to bleed at 8 weeks, I prayed harder and went straight in for another ultrasound.

Once again, the screen was completely still.

I felt like I was trapped in the middle of a never-ending nightmare. Because I was already exhibiting some signs of miscarriage, the doctor felt it was best to let me finish it out at home on my own. I went home, put a movie on for my little ones, and collapsed into bed in tears. I remember feeling that it was so strange how everyone surrounds you and supports you for birth, but in the midst of a miscarriage where your body goes through all the same changes, you sit alone.....and afraid. I should have called someone to sit with me. I think it would have helped to just not have had to endure it alone.

After cramping all day, my temperature started rising indicating infection, and I ended up in the emergency room having yet another D&C. The doctor was insensitive enough to show my husband what he got out while I was under the influence of a drug called twilight. Unfortunately, I have a very vivid memory of his crass and insensitive handling of the remains of my baby that haunts me to this day. I came out of the drug haze with tears streaming down my cheeks as I came to terms with the loss of my third baby. As we drove home from the hospital that night, it hit me that this was the due date of my last baby......so much for being pregnant by that due date.

With the losses piling up, I felt like I needed to do all that was within my power to achieve the miracle that I was so desperately wanting. I did some research and found out that the nation's premier expert on recurrent miscarriage, Dr. Branch, practiced at a clinic 30 minutes from my house. Even though I didn't quite fit the profile for recurrent miscarriage (3 back to back miscarriages....I only had 2 because my tubal pregnancy didn't count as a miscarriage) I was able to get a referral to be seen by him. I finally felt like I had some control over the situation and that was what kept me going.

Dr. Branch ran all sorts of tests. I had to wait six months before I could try to get pregnant again in order for him to monitor my blood levels of different hormones. In the end, he felt like there was nothing wrong with me and recommended I try using natural progesterone to help counteract the tendencies to miscarry. It was the latest in a string of hopeful treatments for recurrent miscarriage and had shown some promise. Basically I had to start taking the progesterone on day 12 of my cycle and take it until day 28 when I would take a pregnancy test. If I was not pregnant, I was to stop taking the progesterone. After my first cycle of progesterone treatments, I ended up spiralling into a massive migraine when I went off it at day 28. After two days of intense headaches, I decided I could only try this one more time.

The next time, I had a positive pregnancy test at day 28. I was so relieved to be able to keep taking the progesterone and was sure this would be the pregnancy that would work. After all, I was doing absolutely everything that I could and was praying with all my might. I knew that God could take all my efforts and then make up the rest. I was at peace.

Dr. Branch scheduled me for a 6 wk. ultrasound, but by the morning of the appointment I had started to bleed. I was still hopeful, but in the end was not surprised to see the screen totally still. I miscarried on my own at home and genetic testing was done on the baby.

I am not really sure how I held things together. I came home and life went on. I was president of our church children's organization at the time and found myself in the front row at church 2 days later as the children put on their sacrament meeting program. A few people knew what I was going through, but most did not. After two people came to me that Sunday with problems in our organization that I needed to solve, I realized that I needed to go home. I couldn't blame others for their insensitivities when I was standing there pretending like nothing had happened. I went home and continued to supress my feelings.

The hurt was so deep and so painful that I found myself not wanting to face it. It would wake me up in the middle of the night and rather than think, I would go scrub my floors or deep clean the kitchen, anything to not have to face the pain.

Six weeks after my miscarriage, I went for a follow up appointment. Dr. Branch walked in and said, "Well, it looks like the baby was a girl." I was stunned. I knew they were doing genetic testing, but it hadn't occurred to me that I would know the gender of my baby. I had already said goodbye to 3 other babies without knowing their gender. I had loved each of them infinitely and felt their loss. Yet here was this little girl who could have been, and she became even more real.

I could not hold it together for the appointment. I really don't even know what happened. My husband was there and he carried on all the conversation with the doctor while I kept my head down and tears silently ran down my cheeks and pooled in my lap.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not stop crying. I mourned the loss of my little girl that night. I grieved for the sister and best friend Shelby would not have. The crying felt like a release that I desperately needed.

The next morning I contacted a local pregnancy and infant loss support group. I realized that I needed to work through my feelings rather than keep them all bottled up inside. I went to the first meeting and cried the entire time. I listened to other people stories and cried with them, then shared my own and cried some more. Surprisingly, it was helpful. I realized there were people who had suffered more than me. I found myself able to delight in the children that I did have. I went home more at peace than I had been in a long time.

I think it gave me the courage to try again.

(to be continued....)

Remembering..... (Part 1)

2010-10-12T14:39:00.003-04:00

In honor of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness day, I wanted to share my story.....and spend a little bit of time remembering.

When I was a mom to two small children born 14 months apart, it was all I could do to make it through each day (and night, for that matter since neither of them slept through the night!) My mothering was all-encompassing. I was exhausted and cranky at times, but happy through it all.

By the time Caleb was six months old, I was pregnant again, but I didn't know it until I was 2 1/2 months along and in extreme pain. I went to my doctor, found out about the pregnancy, and was sent home having been told that I needed to take it easy. Based on my LMP, the doctor thought I was only a few weeks along, so there were no ultrasounds done. I suffered excruciating pain for the next week and a half that would come and go. I bought bottles and planned to transition Caleb to the bottle in order to give this new little baby a chance at life. I bought a double stroller so I would no longer be carrying Caleb on my hip while pushing Shelby in a stroller. I fell cautiously in love with the idea of a new life inside of me....a new sibling to play with the two we already had.....and vowed to do everything I could to help this baby along. But it was not to be. My lab levels of the HCG hormone fell, indicating the baby was not viable, and I found myself in the out-patient surgery unit signing the paperwork for a D&C.

Later that evening, I was admitted to the hospital. The doctor had found my uterus empty when he did the D&C and admitted me for observation. By the next morning, I was doing poorly. An ultrasound showed a tubal pregnancy and lots of internal bleeding. I was rushed back off to surgery and the tiny life was taken in an effort to save my life. I never got to say goodbye....

I spent the next six months recuperating. I had lost so much weight through the ordeal that I was a mere 110 lbs. and needed to focus on healing myself. Finally I found out I was pregnant again! I was so excited after the 6 wk. ultrasound showed a beautifully beating heart in the right place! I blissfully went through the next 5 wks. of pregnancy with the thought of this sweet little baby and how it would fit into our family. We even brainstormed names for the baby at family home evening one night.

Life was good....and then it was not.

I woke up one morning and just did not feel right. I can't explain it any other way....there was no pain, there were no indications that anything was wrong, but I desperately wanted an ultrasound. I called and scheduled an appointment even though my 12 wk. checkup was in 5 days. The doctor tried to hear the heartbeat to no avail. He told me it happens all the time, don't worry, we'll just pick it up on ultrasound, everything's fine.

He was wrong. There on the ultrasound screen was an eerily still image. I knew what the baby's heartbeat should look like, and there was none. Leery of having two back to back D&C's, I went home to wait for my body to miscarry on its own.

Waiting is a difficult thing. In times of disbelief and stress, denial often happens. After 12 days, I was calling my doctor's office begging them to bring me back in. You see I had never felt better. I had been desperately praying and I knew that I had the faith for my baby to live. God can do anything. If he wanted to, he could have made the first ultrasound be a mistake. My body was not progressing toward miscarriage and I was anxious to prove that a miracle had happened. A very kind and compassionate nurse brought me in and showed me once again, a still ultrasound. She held me and comforted me while I sobbed. Then she scheduled me for surgery the next morning.

The miracle was not to be.....and I said goodbye to my second baby.

(to be continued....)

Where to Draw the Line?

2010-10-09T22:27:00.003-04:00

I have often wondered why I continue to struggle with this....where do I draw the line when it comes to activities and my family? It seems like every few months I re-visit this subject and after much pondering, I walk away feeling trapped in my lifestyle and finding myself changing too little and feeling generally dissatisfied with the pace of my life. Last Saturday during General Conference, I heard this talk and was once again inspired to change. There is something to be said for the fact that I have been repeatedly inspired to change and I continue to feel dissatisfied....obviously, I haven't changed enough yet.

You see, as a family we are very involved. We are stretched incredibly thin in regards to time and often energy to do everything that we need to do. When my children were little I agreed with the idea of one activity per child. It went well when 1 and then 2 children were playing soccer. I only had 3 kids and one was being toted along in an infant carrier and things were manageable. Then piano lessons came up and they seemed a worthy pursuit and I knew my children would never give up their beloved soccer and accept music lessons in its place.....so I approved all music lessons and one additional activity. Then the kids aged up to church youth activities when they turned eight and I found myself approving 3 activities per child. Pretty soon I had 3 kids in soccer, 2 in piano lessons, 1 in Activity Days, and 1 in cub scouts, all done with an incredibly rowdy toddler and a newborn baby in tow while my husband worked full time and went to school at night to get his MBA. Add to that serving as Primary President in my ward and attempting to volunteer one day a week at my children's school.

It was too much.

I reached my breaking point! We were moving and I banned sports for the first year we lived in our new home. Piano lessons continued, church youth activities continued, even school activities continued and our willingness to serve in the church continued. Things were better. Saturdays were less rushed and we were able to get work done as a family and added in some great family activities too.

Yet somehow, I am back again....and this time the pace is relentless. I am driving children to and from express bus stops for five different schools, there are 3 in music lessons, 1 in swimming 4 days a week, 1 in cheerleading, 1 with a daily work schedule. There are 2 in scouts, one in cub scouts, 1 in Young Womens and 1 wishing she were old enough! I am serving as Relief Society President and my husband as Scoutmaster along with being a stake representative to the district for scouting. I am working one morning a week for a local caterer. I serve my neighborhood by being on the Pool Board and our school district by being on the Gifted Education Advisory Committee. I volunteer one morning a week in Savannah's first grade classroom. Our time is always in demand. Free weekends never happen.....it is typically an incredible balancing act just to get everyone where they need to be on any given day; so much so that many times, the pieces all come tumbling down.

And that is when I feel disenchanted.

You see, I know these are all good things. I don't attempt to fill my life with bad things. However, they are displacing much better things. Family dinner time rarely includes all of us, family home evening has become condensed into a 30 minute time frame when everyone is cranky and ornery before bed, scripture study is something my children endure....not cherish. Not enough of my time is spent teaching my children life skills like cleaning, cooking, ironing, and sewing. Not enough of my time is spent in nurturing my children's love of God, nor in helping them to feel the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I often go to bed thinking of things I should have said or should have done differently with our children. Our life is lived in crisis mode and we are reacting to it.

So how do I find the elusive peace I am looking for? Where do I draw the lines in the sand and say "We will NOT do this anymore"? I am taking this as my challenge this month. I will pray to know what needs to go and what we can keep. I know it will be a process....one that is ever changing, but I am vowing to be more open to the quiet voice of the Spirit and let it influence my life.

Because we cannot keep this up.

Pom Pom Day

2010-09-27T09:31:00.002-04:00

Savannah was so excited this weekend to finally have Daddy home to watch her cheer at the football game! Between camping with the scouts and driving other kids where they needed to go, he hasn't been able to come to one of her games yet. And she IS a daddy's girl.....if you can't tell!

It also just so happened to be the day they gave the girls pom poms for the first time! If you have never been a 6 year old cheerleader, you have NO idea how incredibly exciting this is! The girls came back from their half-time show and lined up on the track to cheer and the coaches started pulling out pom poms. You would have thought it was Christmas! The girls were squealing with excitement!

We noticed that the pom poms actually hide a world of mistakes! Savannah is not known for her rhythm....or her exactness....but pom poms actually make her look like a better cheerleader! And doesn't she just have that "cheerleader look"?

"Be Your Best Self" Essay by Shelby

2010-09-27T08:24:00.001-04:00

As teenagers, we hear the phrase “Be your best self” more often than we like. To us, it’s pressure. It’s saying that what we are at the moment doesn’t seem good enough, and our first reaction is almost one of anger. It isn’t easy to change, to admit that maybe, just maybe, we aren’t the best we can be. It’s a lot simpler to go through life being average, or adequate, and society tells us that’s how we should be: just like everyone else. There, however, is the hypocrisy of our culture. Our role models, the ones we feel pressured to be just like, only got where they are today by being their best selves.
Until this summer, I was content to follow the crowd and avoid attention. Rising to life’s challenge and being different seemed so foreign and unacceptable to me. Yet starting senior year, preparing to leave and go to college, and participating in Junior Miss helped open my eyes. Now, I’m working daily to be my best self. It’s a goal that, in theory, is unattainable; after all, no one is perfect. To me, however, this motto is so personal. No one knows me better than I do, and therefore, no one knows better what I need to fix, what I must improve on. It’s only with my own motivation and incentive that I can begin this lifelong journey of growing up and maturing. No one else can make me exercise or avoid peer pressure and be the one who stays away from drugs, nor can anyone else force me to be kinder or more responsible. We, as individuals, control how far we go in life and how much we can succeed.
So now, when I hear the words “Be your best self,” it isn’t anger or annoyance that rises within me. Rather it’s pride, knowing now that each and every day, I am reaching my goal and growing emotionally and intellectually to becoming a better person.

Junior Miss

2010-09-26T07:39:00.002-04:00

My very first experience with Junior Miss was at age 9 when our family's babysitter competed and my mom brought me to watch her win the title. I was absolutely entranced! The fancy dresses, the incredible talents, the fun production numbers.....I totally wanted to be a part of it when I grew up! Unfortunately for me, my family lived in a small town that didn't have a Junior Miss program. I did compete in some other teenage pageants, but I always thought of Junior Miss as the very best one to be a part of.

Now, I am not a mom to push my children to do things just because I wished I would have, and especially not my teenage daughter (who will actively push back and often NOT do something that I suggest she do!). So when she came home on her own and said "Mom, I think I want to do Junior Miss. What do you think about it?" I was shocked....and secretly pleased! Shelby is really the last person I would have thought would want to do something like this, but I knew it would be a great experience for her that would make her step out of her comfort zone and really grow. She is a beautiful young lady, but very shy. Being up on stage would be a whole new experience for her! And it really has been! I have seen her become more confident, well-spoken, poised (we used to tease her that she looked like she was a little girl playing dress up in her mom's high heels who might trip and fall at any moment!), and well, just basically brilliant! Boy did she ever shine on stage! I was seriously thinking "Who is this girl?!!!" She performed an incredible piano solo perfectly and kept her cool under pressure with the ease of someone twice her age! She walked away with the Scholastic Award and the Be Your Best Self Award (for an essay that she seriously wrote in 20 minutes!) and $550 in scholarship money! But most importantly, she walked away with confidence that she can do things that at first seem daunting....and do them WELL!!!

Congratulations Shelby! We are so proud of you!

My Thursday....and this is why I am hanging on to my sanity by a thread!

2010-09-24T09:01:00.002-04:00

5:20 am Alarm goes off, get kids up for seminary
5:35 am Drive to seminary
5:45 am Exercise
6:25 am Pick kids up from seminary and take to bus/home
6:45 am Shower and get ready for day; wake up Joshua
7:30 am Wake Savannah and Samuel, eat, help with lunches
7:50 am Take Joshua to school
8:10 am Finish lunches, pack backpacks, lunches, brush teeth, comb hair; start laundry
8:40 am Samuel to bus stop
8:48 am Savannah to bus stop
9:00 am Drive to stake center to pick up knives I left when we did the zone conference luncheon Wednesday, remove food that the missionaries didn't take home; run home to change laundry
9:40 am Volunteer for an hour at Savannah's school
10:50 am Change laundry, get forms for Joshua's physical, pick up a little around the house
11:15 am Go to Target to buy "The Hunger Games" book (I borrowed it from a friend and Joshua wanted to read it so he took it to school and lost it....)
12:00 noon Meet visiting teacher for lunch at Panera
1:00 pm Drive to Joshua's school to pick him up for his physical
1:40 pm Doctor's office
2:15 pm Leave doctors and drive to pick up Shelby at her bus stop
2:35 pm Have Shelby try on dresses for Junior Miss and finish final alterations
3:45 pm Walk to Savannah's bus stop to pick her up...it was LATE!!!
4:10 pm Drive to pick up Caleb from his bus stop
4:25 pm Drop off Caleb and pick up Shelby for Junior Miss dress rehearsal
4:45 pm Stop at Walmart to pick up a sports bra required for the rehearsal (nice of her to tell me now!)
5:05 pm Drop off Shelby for rehearsal
5:12 pm Flip a u-turn and drive back to drop off Shelby's phone that she left in my car
5:40 pm Arrive home and quickly heat up leftovers for dinner
5:50 pm Eat
6:05 pm Get Savannah dressed and drop off at cheer practice
6:30 pm Open House at Joshua's school (Chris was attending open house at Shelby's school)
7:20 pm Leave open house a tad early and head back to pick up Savannah from cheer practice
8:00 pm Arrive home, send kids up for jammies, change laundry and start loading dishwasher
8:30 pm Brush teeth, say prayers, skip scriptures yet again (we have got to get this under control), send them up to read in their rooms
8:45 pm Leave to pick up Shelby from rehearsal
9:55 pm Return with very grumpy and tired Shelby, change laundry and start one last load, start dishwasher, sit on the couch and read papers from Samuel's open house, pack up table cloths to return to church tommorow, get ready for bed
11:00 pm Lights out

IS IT REALLY SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY????

Music in My Life

2010-09-16T12:50:00.003-04:00

Exciting things are happening around here... Joshua got his flute for band this week! Actually he wants to play percussion, but the band director makes all the kids who want to play percussion play trumpet or flute for the first 9 weeks. She wants to see how good of a musician they are and whether or not they practice or cause problems in class. If she didn't do this, there would be 40 percussionists in her band! Joshua is dead set that he will be one of the 4 percussionists....he updates me on how many kids get in trouble each day and secretly adds up his odds!

Caleb is moving on in piano to classical pieces now. He is on his last lesson book of the Faber series and begged me to go take him to the music store to pick out some classical music and this is what we came home with. He was so frustrated that he had tons of homework to do the night that we brought the new book home so he wouldn't be able to play the piano! I had to smile because I have never had a child be upset that they couldn't practice! His piano teacher was telling me the other day that she is so impressed with the artistry and feeling that he is able to put into his pieces. She says that she has more advanced students who cannot do this and she loves to listen to Caleb when he plays for her. It is a talent that he has, that's for sure!

I am so thankful for music in my life. I always heard of people who had children who played all these instruments and the mom and dad were usually very musically talented and I felt sad that we wouldn't have that. I did feel impressed that I wanted all my kids to take piano lessons. It is something that we have struggled to afford through the years, but that I have made a priority. There were years of actively encouraging Shelby to stick with it and I feel like she has really developed her piano skills. She is going to be in the Capitol Region Junior Miss Pageant in a few weeks and we hear her playing her talent piece, Solfeggietto, over and over again. It is so fun! Caleb plays piano, clarinet and bass clarinet, although it is obvious piano is his favorite. He loves to sit for hours at the piano and I am thoroughly enjoying hearing him play the classical stuff now! Joshua and Samuel are following behind and have never complained about practicing. Music fills my home for hours each day and I love it! It speaks to my soul and brings peace into our hearts. Someday when I finish investing in all these kid's lessons, I think I will start over myself because I will miss the music in my home!

Game Day!

2010-09-11T11:25:00.003-04:00

Savannah was up bright and early for her first game today! She could hardly wait to get dressed and packed up for the game....as a matter of fact, she was dragging me along.In spite of being a little bit sick, she was still peppy and cute....Oh, and her team won the football game, but who was watching the game?!!! Well, Samuel was engrossed in the game because Savannah's team was playing Samuel's school team! Yet another problem that arises when you have kids in five schools!

Back to School!

2010-09-08T12:16:00.003-04:00

This is it.....The year that does me in! Five kids in FIVE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS!!!! What was I thinking?!!! It all started out so innocently a few years ago when we got our children started in the gifted program. Our home elementary school doesn't offer gifted services, so when the kids qualify for them starting in 3rd grade, you have the option of being sent out to a special school for center-based gifted classes. They are incredible! Everything you would want in a child's classroom to keep them stimulated and excited about learning! How could we not send our children who were basically keeping a seat warm and reading books all day at their current elementary school while pulling straight A's. It was a no-brainer! Then came high school where we found out that our county offered lots of choice in high schools by way of specialty centers and Governor's Schools. Once again, amazing programs that we couldn't resist. There was a rigorous selection process involving applications, interviews and auditions that in my mind rivaled that college application process and here we are......Savannah in first grade at our home elementary school, Samuel in 4th grade at the center-based gifted elementary school, Joshua in the center-based gifted middle school, Caleb in the Governor's School for the Arts, and Shelby in the honors program at her high school. I feel like I have done the very best thing for each child, but in the process have not done the very best thing for the family as a whole. Needless to say, with 5 different start times for schools, it was a very hectic morning on the first day back and I only ended up with pictures of the youngest two. Samuel couldn't stand still long enough for me to snap his picture because he didn't want to miss the bus, but this headshot reminds me of that little touch of mischief I have always loved in him!

Savannah was more than happy to oblige my need for pictures. First we had to get the backpack and the hair do which she designed herself (notice the doll which she picked out because it was the only modest one in the bunch!)....

Then we had the pose to show off the outfit......

Followed by the close-up on the shoes, which really couldn't be missed.....

And then this morning, on day 2 of school, she wanted to do it all again! I mean really, shouldn't we all have a photo shoot every morning before we leave for school?!! I am just taking time to document this first week when I actually do something besides running a brush through my daughter's hair so when she gets big I can make her think I was the best mom because I always fixed her hair cute!

Labor Day is for LABORING!

2010-09-08T12:04:00.002-04:00

My children were shocked to find out they would actually be LABORING on Labor Day weekend this year..... Chris taught the boys how to powerwash the deck and then I had them out helping us waterproof and stain it.

The birds were not impressed with our efforts and had to add their part.....

We realized how much we hated the railing around our deck when we had to paint them each by hand. It was MISERABLE!!!

But after all was said and done, this is what we ended up with and it was worth all the hard work! I can't wait to see the rain bead up on this baby!

My Attempt at Shelby's Senior Pictures

2010-09-08T11:55:00.002-04:00

Due to some unexpected and very expensive car repairs this summer, we were unable to afford traditional senior pictures. So I told Shelby I would take some pictures of her when we were on vacation to see if we could get some good ones and here are my favorites....

I am sad that we can't get pictures done this year, but was really excited about how these turned out. She is so pretty and I found her incredibly easy to photograph!

End of Summer Beach Vacation

2010-09-02T05:55:00.003-04:00

Ever since the snow in February, we have been looking forward to our beach vacation. We spent countless hours when we were snowed in searching beach houses, but in the end, decided to return to the same condo on Topsail Island where we have been going for several years.

Who could resist this view?!!! Sitting on the balcony made us feel like coming home! The kids were so excited to be back at the beach that as soon as they carried their required bags up from the car, they were right out on the sand! They spent most of their waking moments boogie boarding, searching for seashells or building elaborate sand castles and then watching them be destroyed! (and yes, I KNOW that Joshua looks like we starve him to death in the picture below....he is my pickiest eater, so I let him choose our menu for the week at the beach! I think he ate more than he has ever eaten in his life, but just burned it all off running around in the ocean!)The boys kept reinforcing this castle even when the tides were coming in and it was flooded with water. They wanted to see how long they could make it stand! But at some point, you have to throw in the towel and acknowledge that the waves are mightier than you!
Savannah kept begging me to build a sandcastle with her, but since mom is not the best sandcastle builder, I drew her a picture in the sand (no, I am not the best sand artist either!)....

We invited all Chris' family who live near Topsail to come spend a day at the beach with us. It was fun having cousins to play with and Chris and I enjoyed visiting with the adults. Shelby, Savannah and I went out shopping for food for dinner and ended up coming home with these cute beach cakes! They were a hit, of course, and there was nothing left over!

A favorite stop on our way home has always been the aquarium. The kids love to see the fish up close! I thought this was the coolest picture with the kids sillouhetted against the fish tank! Savannah and Chris were off talking to the shell lady about different kinds of shells that you can find on the beach, so she is missing from the picture, but it is still very cool!

As a side note, when I posted this picture on Facebook, my sister Rachel pointed out to me that Caleb is now taller than Shelby! I hadn't even noticed that! So I made them stand back to back and sure enough, he IS taller! A few days after we got home, I had to take Caleb in to the doctor (he has swimmers ear....yuck!) and they measured him at 5 feet 4 and 3/4 inches. Shelby has topped out at 5 feet 4 inches. We are so glad that Caleb is finally growing! Sadly though, I noticed that the jeans I bought for him in June are now too short!

Anyway, back to the beach trip.....

I cannot say enough good things about Topsail Island. We absolutely LOVE it there! The pace is so unhurried and relaxed and there is not much to do besides go to the beach and that is exactly why we love it! We cannot wait to go back!

Hazy Days at the Craft Shack

2010-08-19T23:30:00.002-04:00

If you came to visit my house, you would never think that I was a crafty person. I am creatively challenged when it comes to decorating my home! You won't walk away with any cutesy ideas or want to bring anyone here to see what I have done, that is for sure! But for one week each year, I morph into THE CRAFT LADY at cub scout day camp! I spend months searching for great craft ideas and filing them away to choose the best ones for use at camp. I can make things you would never imagine out of paper and tape (paper rockets, anyone?) and I even learned how to use a woodburner this year! This was my 5th year working on staff at day camp....the first year I was in charge of the tot lot and the other four have been in crafts. It may be my last and that is a little sad. I did not sign up to be the craft lady next year because I am unsure what life will hold with Shelby graduating and going off to college.

I even get a little misty-eyed when I think of it. I can't imagine a summer without one sweltering week in the heat crafting with a bunch of 7-10 year old boys who think I am the best crafter in the world!

Who knows.....they may not be able to fill my position and I could be persuaded to come back!

Savannah Swims!

2010-08-07T22:16:00.002-04:00

Savannah has really been working on her swimming this summer and I cannot believe how much better she has gotten. Check out this video of her swimming at our last meet of the season!

Road Wins This Round

2010-08-04T23:26:00.003-04:00

In the ongoing battle of a boy and his bike vs. THE ROAD, another victim has been claimed.....(Shelby says this is way too gross to put on my blog, but hey, we document the good, the bad and the ugly here! Besides, this is 2 days later and looks SOOOOO much better than it did.) Anyway, for all the brute strength and coordination Samuel has, he seems to have more than his share of bicycle accidents. He has been flipped over the handlebars twice this year alone! Our neighbor has brought him home scraped up and bleeding from his crashes on the way to the pool. So when the latest crash happened, I wasn't too overly concerned. I was out shopping for day camp supplies (kill me now, but that's another story that I will share next week!) and got the call from the pool that Samuel had crashed and stubbed his toe. I hurried back to the pool and found Samuel happily eating a snow cone with his foot all wrapped up. He didn't want to unwrap it for me, and he wasn't crying, so I wasn't too concerned. However, about 5:00 pm he comes to me and unwraps it and I about threw up! The scraped up part on the knuckle of his toe was incredibly deep, like a big chunk had been taken out of it. There were pieces of black asphalt in it and I wasn't about to dig them out! So off we went to Immediate Care. They soaked it then xrayed it to be sure that all the road grit was out (there was concern that some may have embedded in the bone....gross, I know!) and then debrided it off all the dead skin, packed the wound and wrapped it up. They sent him home on an antibiotic to prevent infection. Then the next day, we went to his regular doctors office where we went through the whole process again (minus the xrays). We will go for one more visit Friday and then hopefully he will be good to go. Apparently the risk of infection is highest the first few days so they like to keep an eye on things. Needless to say, the bike is currently parked in the garage and there will be no more bike riding with flip flops.....at least not this summer!

In Training.....

2010-08-04T16:43:00.002-04:00

Guess who's cheerleading this year?
Yesterday was uniform day and she was SO excited to run home and try hers on!
It was a little late, so the video is kind of dark, but cute nonetheless!

Summer Swim Team

2010-08-01T09:15:00.005-04:00

I know I haven't posted about it at all, but we have been doing LOTS of swimming this summer! Here are some pics of our swimming in reverse order.... Joshua was awarded a trophy for most improved swimmer, which made his night! He has worked really hard this year and as soon as he starts to eat and gets more brute force, who knows what will happen???

Caleb at the swim team banquet making a very funny face! He didn't get to swim much this year between the state tennis tournament, scout camp, EFY, and youth conference. He missed it so much, he has asked me to keep swim team season open next year so he can hopefully qualify for champs.

Savannah in awe of her medal....it had a swimmer on it that "swims" when you move it side to side.

Samuel getting ready to swim at champs. He was the only one of our kids to qualify this year, and he did GREAT! He got 2 gold medals and one silver medal! That boy was born swimming!

Joshua assuming the "coaches position". He was really good at standing alongside the pool and cheering his teammates on. He even gave Savannah a few pointers that have really sped up her swim times! In every sport Joshua has been in, he stands out as a coach!

Samuel (in the bright blue swim cap with goggles on) waiting at clerk of course for his race. He is in the 9-10 yr. old age group and is swimming in the top heats with the best swimmers at age 9.

Not really sure what this look is, but it totally made me crack up when I downloaded it off my camera! Chris must have taken it while I was timing at the meet!

And yet another funny face!

Savannah and Coach Chris giving her a few last minute pointers....it must have worked because between Coach Chris and mini-coach Joshua, she ended up getting 10 seconds faster!

Quick Trip to Palmyra

2010-07-29T09:51:00.003-04:00

After thinking about doing it for 10 years, we finally decided to attempt the trip to Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah Pageant! I have to admit to being the one who held back for so long....I really did not want to make the trip with the kids because I hated travelling with little ones. But we are now well beyond little ones, and our kids are really quite good travelers (well, except for Savannah who seems to need to go to the bathroom anytime she is tired of sitting in the car!) so we took off at 6:30 pm on a Friday night for New York. We got to our hotel about 2:00 am and slept in late the next morning, then spent some time in the pool (because we all know that is the favorite part of the trip!) Then we spent the day sight-seeing in Palmyra before going to the pageant..... Here are the kids with Wicked King Noah

Acting crazy at the Printing Shop where the Book of Mormon was originally typeset and printed LETTER BY LETTER! It really made me appreciate the technology we have nowadays!

Joshua in the Sacred Grove

Savannah walking in the Sacred Grove

Our family at the Sacred Grove (Joshua was the photographer)

Savannah at the large Smith Family home

On the Smith Farm looking back at the Palmyra Temple

The small Smith Family Home where Joseph Smith first saw the Angel Moroni and was told about the gold plates in his upstairs bedroom. I believe they said there were actually 11 people living in this house!

We had a great time and were so glad we went. However, we made one fatal error and that was not lining up a hotel room for Saturday night. (Chris was debating whether or not to go on up to Niagra Falls so the kids could see it, so we hadn't arranged for a room) By the time we started searching for a room at 11:00 pm we were unable to find anything available. We decided to start driving towards home and kept calling hotels along the way only to find that everything was booked! Somewhere around 2:00 am, we realized that we were going to be driving ALL NIGHT! I fell asleep and Chris took over till 5:30 am, then I drove till 7:30 while he slept....it was ALL I could handle! So he took over and brought us the rest of the way home where we promptly crashed into our beds!

Yes, I am 40 and NO, I AM NOT A COW!!!!

2010-07-12T09:18:00.004-04:00

Friday was my 40th birthday!

With Chris and Caleb gone to scout camp, Joshua spending the morning at a friend's house and Shelby gone out to breakfast with a friend, I was left with 2 kids to fix breakfast for. That was when I made my plan to not cook on my birthday. I scrounged around through our coupon drawer and found 3 coupons for free chicken mini's and Chick-fil-A, so off we went! Once we got there, we discovered it was "Dress Like a Cow" day and everyone who came in dressed like a cow got a free meal. I realized we could have Chick-fil-A for breakfast AND lunch FOR FREE and my "no cooking day" was looking better and better! We spent the morning at the pool, then after we got Joshua and Shelby back home, we went to work on our costumes. Shelby initially refused to dress like a cow....even my threats of "well you'll have to cook your own food" wouldn't sway her.....but then Aunt Rachel called to wish me a happy birthday and the bribing began! Needless to say, Shelby can't say no to money!

Here we are in all our bovine glory!

I would have to say it was probably one of my best birthday meals ever!

It All Started With a Piano.....

2010-07-04T10:25:00.003-04:00

A few months ago, my youngest sister, Rachel, surprised us all when she called to say she was moving out of the country. Not that she doesn't move, mind you....she moves enough that her blog's address is actually "didwemoveagain"! But out of the country??? Well, that was different than just across the country (which she HAS done TWICE!). Anyway, she has had a baby grand piano that she has moved with her on all her many moves, but this time it was not going. She called me and offerred to send it to my house if we could pay to move it here. My kids have progressed so far at the piano, that it was time for me to step up from the spinet that we were blessed to get for $200 8 years ago. And the prospect of a baby grand for the cost of moving (which wasn't cheap by any means, but was still cheaper than buying a new piano) was too good to pass up. Soooooo....somehow that got the ball rolling and Chris and I decided to replace the disgustingly nasty white carpet that we have lived with for 3 1/2 years because it would be a lot harder to do once we had a baby grand piano in the living room. And well, then that turned into "perhaps we should repaint the living room" which encouraged "I think the dining room needs a new coat of paint" which then morphed into "wow, the foyer paint has a hideous green hue....we better repaint that too"! So.....

FOUR months, one major remodel, and $4500 later, my husband can tease me that this is the most expensive free piano we were ever given! Oh, and the foyer is still waiting to be repainted....

And I am hearing beautiful music from my living room! I love it! Thank you Rachel, we will take good care of your "baby".

I'm Baaaa-ACK!

2010-06-30T09:22:00.003-04:00

Due to technical difficulties with my camera, I have not been able to upload pictures in forever! Last night I finally took the time to figure out my new uploading program so now I can actually catch up on my blogging!
Caleb's high school tennis team made it to the state A championships. We travelled down to watch them play, but sadly, they got knocked out in the semi-finals. They returned just in time for the Sports Award Ceremony where Caleb received his letter and an award for Most Promising Newcomer to the tennis team.

Joshua graduated from elementary school, which means we now only have 2 kids left to get through elementary school! He had such a great year with *almost* a perfect report card....sadly he got a B in word study for his last quarter. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Scarpinato.

Our big job of putting in hardwood floors in the entry, living and dining rooms turned into something bigger when I decided to repaint the living room, then the bottom half of the dining room, then debated on pulling down the red painted over wallpaper in dining room (NOT going to happen yet....we will live with the red a bit longer!) We have finally started moving furniture back in! But I still have the entryway to paint....

My Life in Chaos

2010-06-04T10:20:00.004-04:00

We have turned our small kitchen into an eat-in kitchen. It's a little tight, but still doable.

We have 3 couches, a loveseat, 2 tables, a piano, a computer desk, a rocker/recliner, 2 bookcases and an entertainment center in the family room.

We have turned the basement into temporary living quarters for five kids.

I know, it looks chaotic, but amidst the mess, there really is living space.....for instance, this is Caleb's "room".All so we can do THIS.....

Believe me when I say it is SO worth all the chaos I am living in!

SHE DID IT!!!!

2010-06-03T09:39:00.002-04:00

After 4 1/2 long years of hard work, Shelby has earned her Young Womanhood Recognition award! I have to admit, there were days when I didn't know if this would ever happen! :) Here she is showcasing a few of her projects that she has worked on--one was learning to play 10 hymns on the piano and then playing them at church and the other was helping to run the Craft Shack at Cub Scout Day Camp.And just because I am one of "those" moms....you know, the ones who won't let their kids drive until they earn their YW Recognition or Eagle....here is Shelby showing off her driving skills on the way to church.

I was feeling a little guilty for manipulating her into earning it, so I did ask her on the way home, though, if the award even meant anything to her or if she just did it so that she could drive. In the end, she said that it was the biggest thing she has ever accomplished and she felt good about it. So I guess a little manipulation isn't so bad after all.....Congratulations Shelby, we are so proud of you!

Field Trip Fun

2010-06-01T11:10:00.002-04:00

I had a chance a few weeks ago to accompany Samuel's class on a field trip to a local park and nature preserve. I went on the same field trip a week later with Savannah's kindergarten class, but suffice it to say, I liked chaperoning 3rd graders better....even if they were active boys! Leave it to Samuel to fall in the Japanese koi pond! At least he was not alone in his follies....both boys were wet up to their thighs!

If I had my pick of destinations with boys, I could think of no better place than a 100 acre park! We had so much fun watching them run wild!

I Can't Believe It's Over

2010-05-19T06:52:00.002-04:00

Our first ever season of lacrosse was a resounding success! Nevermind that we had to travel 45 min. each way to practices or spend $100 on lacrosse gear.....Joshua had a GREAT time! Back in January when Joshua's best friend's dad invited him to be part of his lacrosse team, I initially thought NO WAY! We lived too far away and I didn't want something else taking over my life. It seemed undoable (I don't even know if that's a word, but I like it, so I am using it)! But over the next few days, I felt unsettled with my decision. I started to see Joshua as a child always standing in the background to Samuel's successes. I realized that by always putting these two boys in the same sports to save time and stress for me, I wasn't helping them to each develop individually and gain self-esteem. I felt these undeniable promptings from the Spirit that I needed to let Joshua shine in his own way. No one in our family had ever played lacrosse....quite honestly, I knew nothing about it. I called Joshua's friend's dad back and we talked about how we could make this work. He was so gracious to offer to let Joshua come home with Nate after school on practice days so we would only need to pick him up at the end of practice. He also arranged to get us a helmet to borrow which saved us over $100 on gear. Joshua went to the first practice and immediately fell in love with this new sport! Each week he has improved....he learned and played new positions, he bettered his ball handling skills, he assisted on several goals and even scored quite a few times himself. He was so proud of his accomplishments!

I have to say, I am a minimizer; I pride myself on how I can live life with the least amount of stress while still managing a family of five kids. Lacrosse was one of those times when I stepped out of my comfort zone and took on more than I previously would. Did it complicate my life? Sure. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I am thankful that this time I was able to listen to the inspiration I received about my kids; it doesn't always happen that way, you know? I have so enjoyed watching Joshua's growth and I know this was something that he really needed!

Mother's Day Poetry Reading

2010-05-16T18:36:00.004-04:00

Joshua's 5th grade class held a special Mother's Day Poetry Reading the Friday before Mother's Day. When I arrived at his classroom, Joshua escorted me to my seat and then got a plate of refreshments (a cupcake, cookie and chocolates) and a drink. Then the children each took a turn reading a poem they had written about their mom. They made a card with an embroidered picture on the front (mine was a bird) during part of their study of India and then put the poem inside.

Here is the poem Joshua wrote for me:

Your personality and beauty

Makes people

Want to be with you,

Including me.

Your elegant dark hair

Sparkles in the sunlight,

As the sun's rays

Shine.

The sound of you humming

On a warm summer day,

Makes me think of

Angels singing from above.

As I look

Into your dark brown eyes,

I sense the warmth

That only you provide.

Kindergarten Program

2010-05-16T18:29:00.002-04:00

Chris and I got to go watch Savannah in her kindergarten program a few weeks ago. You can see her in the pink shirt at the very left edge of this picture next to the flag. It was a little strange to sit watching a kindergarten program without having to juggle other fussy kids between us and as Chris and I walked out alone, we agreed that it is a little sad to be passing these stages in our lives.

Savannah is such a sweet little girl and we are so happy to have her in our family. If anyone is hurt or upset, Savannah is the first one to try to comfort them. As a matter of fact, her teacher has put her as a special helper to a little boy in her class who is autistic. She is very good at settling him down and helping him to behave.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!!!

2010-05-16T18:22:00.003-04:00

The kids got free tickets to see the Flying Squirrels for reading 8 books, so we decided to make a Family Home Evening of it!

Savannah, Josh and Samuel all wanted to go the "Meet and Greet" with Nutzy and got a kick out of the notes he wrote with his autograph! This is proof that the whole family went along....although Shelby and Caleb will probably make me take this pic down once they see it! I don't think they were as excited about the game as the little kids were....

My Mom

2010-05-09T09:49:00.005-04:00

My mom, ever-prepared, sitting with all our stuff at the amusement park

while we played with the kids!

My mom is the kindest, most loving person you will ever meet. She lives her life in a way that shows her deep commitment to her beliefs. She is meticulously honest and taught us to be also, to the degree that we were never able to claim "found money" that we saw laying around anywhere without first taking it to a store clerk or other authority to see if anyone had lost it. She feels a responsibility to help others and has always "adopted" older people everywhere we lived and tried to help them with anything that they needed. As a matter of fact, if I had to think of one quality that perfectly summed up my mom, it would be SERVICE. As far back as I can remember, she was always babysitting, cleaning homes, making dinners, giving rides, inviting people to our Thanksgiving dinner, volunteering at church and school, helping friends get ready for garage sales, you name it.....she did it! My mom is a pro at sizing up a situation, seeing what needs to be done, and doing it!

When I was in high school, she used to leave little notes (with candy) on my bed to let me know that she loved me. At the time, I was incredibly annoyed that she was trying to bond with me, but I ate the candy anyway! Now I appreciate her efforts to reach out to me when I just wanted to blend in to the woodwork!

In college I mostly tried to support myself, but I remember mom slipping checks in my coat pocket when I came home for visits. One time I had mentioned on the phone that I wasn't going to Preference because I didn't have the money for a dress, and within 3 days Mom had mailed me a check for $80.....nevermind that I had never seen my mom spend more than $10 on a dress for her in her entire life.

When I was a young married mom with a baby and another on the way, my mom convinced my dad that they needed to buy us a washing machine when we bought our first house so that I wouldn't have to go to the laundromat anymore. We couldn't afford a dryer, but I was so thrilled to have a washing machine that I had my husband string up a clothesline in the basement to hang dry our clothes on (it was the middle of winter in Utah, so outside was not an option!). A month later I lost my balance on a chair I was standing on to hang the clothes up; I was 8 mos. pregnant at the time. I wasn't seriously hurt, so I called my mom laughing about it to commiserate. Within an hour she called back with the offer of $250 to go buy a dryer to add to our laundry room. Until you are a mom yourself, you have no idea how valuable a washer and dryer can be! :)

A few years later when I struggled with multiple miscarriages and spent many months on the verge of despair and depression, my mom rallied again and became my biggest strength. With empathy only a mom can provide, she talked with many friends who had been through similar situations to find the best way to support me in my struggles. I remember being so touched when I found out that she had taken the time to find out how I must be feeling. It didn't matter what she said or did, but it did matter that she had cared enough to try to help me.

Through the years, Mom has been a listening ear and someone to bounce child-raising ideas off of. She has been there for me when I needed to cry and then lifted me back up by voicing her confidence in me and my abilities to handle whatever challenges I was facing. I would be lost without her guidance in my life and I count myself blessed to be one of her children.

I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Courtside with the Tennis Team

2010-04-23T19:21:00.004-04:00

I don't think I ever posted on my blog about Caleb making the varsity tennis team at his high school. He has spent a very busy month and a half practicing or competing every day after school for 2-6 hours, so life has been kind of a blur for him!

He is the number six player which means he gets to compete at all the matches for his team. It has been a fun season and his tennis skills have improved immensely. I finally got to go see a match yesterday and really enjoyed seeing how much he has grown.

Congratulations Caleb! You never cease to amaze me with everything you are able to do!

Prom Preview...aka "Mormon Prom"

2010-04-23T19:14:00.004-04:00

Shelby's off to her first Prom tonight. In our area, they have a Mormon Prom for all the kids in the three stakes that make up our area. So it was kind of like a dress rehearsal for the Prom next weekend. Shelby looked beautiful. Try as we might, we couldn't get her thick hair to stay up, even with lots of hairspray and bobby pins, so she settled for this look and I think its gorgeous! The dress was stunning and I can't wait to see her next weekend when her date has a tux on!

Battle of the Books

2010-04-17T22:27:00.003-04:00

Why, oh why, did they not have this competition when I was in school? As a known bookworm, I would have LOVED it! Imagine absorbing every detail of 25 books and then racing to answer questions about them..... Joshua's team (yellow team) was victorious and barely beat out the blue team for the school championship!

Victory is so sweet!

Another Fun Night on the Lacrosse Field......

2010-04-14T21:06:00.003-04:00

Gators 4----Blackhawks 2

Joshua scored a goal!

Perfect ending to a perfect night.