The glamour

The other day...
Me: G you need to pick up your shoes and put them away.
G: Why?
Me: Because you are going to forget where you put them and then when it is time to go somewhere you won't be able to find them.
G: Where are we going?
Me: We aren't going anywhere right now, that's not the point. The point is that whenever we do go somewhere you'll be running around going (me acting hysterical), "WHERE ARE MY SHOES? I CAN'T FIND MY SHOES. AHHH, WHERE ARE MY SHOES??"
E running in, takes a look at me and proclaims: Mom, they are on your feet! Take a breath!

And as a side note, Hubs always gives me a hard time when I say that the kids bother me incessantly when I use the bathroom and how frustrating it is. His response is always, "Just lock the door," as if that solves everything. Today, though, I had a sweet little taste of revenge.
As usual while I was making dinner the kids began their constant pestering. I finally banned them from me completely, telling them that their dad was home for once so to take all matters to him. As a side note--what is the deal with this? Why do they always come to me, even when he is home?
Anyway, at one point Hubs went to use the bathroom. Just as he sat down, E started frantically pounding on the door.
E: I have to use the bathroom, Dad.
Hubs: Ok, go use the other one.
E: I have the use the bathroom. Are you done?
Hubs: I just got in here, you need to go to the other one.
E (now frantic): Are you done? I need to go!!
Hubs (increasingly angry): GO USE THE OTHER BATHROOM. DO NOT PEE YOUR PANTS.
E: I have to go. Are you done?
As this interaction continues, G starts yelling from downstairs.
G: Dad
Daaaaad
DAAAAAAAD
DAD DAD DAD DAD
(Hubs in the bathroom) I AM GOING TO THE BATHROOM. GIVE ME A MINUTE!!
When a harried Hubs had finally finished and marched out from dealing with E (who had eventually used the other bathroom) and going to see G. He came into the kitchen annoyed and shaking his head.
"You should have just locked the door," I said.
Hee hee hee.

By the way, this is how E was sleeping during his nap today. Awesome indeed. 

Miracles

I have so many things that I need to post. Ahhh! However, as the year is coming to a close I have done a lot of thinking lately (I know this is shocking to those who know me well).
Sometimes I feel like I am not sure whether my prayers are being answered. Sometimes I lay in bed at night and experience such overwhelming fear for the future that I sink into despair. It is easy to feel so overwhelmed with everything in life. There have been many times this year that I have sunk into tears feeling like I am barely holding everything and everyone together and I am just so tired and worn down. I know that I can't make everyone be good or do what is right. I know that I can't fix all of our problems or keep us all safe, but somewhere I have this sense that if I just work hard enough at it I can keep everything afloat just through sheer force of will. (Does this remind you of anyone else in our family?) Today, though, as I was thinking through some of the events of the year I realized that we have experienced a lot of miracles--large and small. I feel like I should list some of the ones that I can remember, just for journaling purposes.

1. Hubs passed his exams and got a job immediately following graduation that he loves. Technically this happened at the end of last year but it is worth mentioning. This was truly a miracle for us. Hubs went from a HORRIBLE work situation that was finally getting to a point where it was torturous for our family, and within 2 weeks was in a situation that he loves with a wonderful boss and staff. I felt like God just plucked us up out of a lake of lava and gently deposited us in an oasis. This has been an amazing blessing for us and was literally like flipping a switch in our lives from sad to happy.

2. E jumped in our neighbors pool unnoticed and a neighbor boy fished him out almost immediately. This one still chokes me up especially as I found out that a man I grew up with had his young son die recently from a similar swimming pool scenario. What would we have done without our wonderful E? I can not imagine the heartache that could have resulted from this situation. I thank heaven for that neighbor boy and for the angels that were watching over our family that day.

3. My mom is a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-off and is going to Orlando to compete for the grand prize. Tens of thousands of people submit recipes to this contest every year. I just read something on Pillsbury where one woman said she submitted 5 recipes. My mother is not a professional chef. She just felt inspired and entered one recipe and now she is one of one hundred people to be in this competition. This is amazing.

4. We were able to get the lot we wanted in the neighborhood we wanted even though it wasn't for sale. If you know our whole story regarding where we are moving, it is sort of a miraculous turn of events. I won't go into detail but for all intents and purposes, we should have never been able to acquire the location that we are building our house. In fact we were told "no" probably a half dozen times until one day we were called back and told, "The man who has it under contract changed his mind, he just signed the papers and it's yours." Everything changed in an instant and I know there was a message in it for me. Though this is still a long way from being completed and still causes me a lot of stress (please someone buy our house!!) I know that this all came together in such a miraculous way that it was meant to happen.

5. My dad fell down the stairs and though he broke his collar bone, managed to avoid any more serious injury. Though this might seem like a strange thing to think of as a miracle, I do think that it was a tender mercy that he didn't have any neurological damage or break his neck or back etc. It was a scary phone call to receive as we were driving home for Thanksgiving but it made me realize how much we take every day health for granted.

6. This is also sort of a weird one, but we decided to go to Orlando to support my mom and have a fun family vacation. We delayed booking to trip only to find that airline tickets raised. Frustrated and discouraged I booked the tickets at the higher rate. When we went to book our hotel, however, we found a deal that was actually a couple of hundred dollars less than what we had originally planned (with all of the same benefits) and it actually compensated for the cost of the increase in airfare. I know that this may seem silly, but I felt like it was a tender mercy.

7. Finally, our computer screen has not been working correctly for the last year. It flickered on an off and you had to jiggle the screen to get it to work. It had gotten so bad that when I saw people using laptops normally I would find myself baffled for a second as to why they weren't jiggling their screens only to realize that my screen was the problem, not theirs. Two days before Christmas our screen quit working completely. We trekked up to one of the two Apple stores in the entire state to see if we could get it repaired and how much it would cost. They quoted us $300 which we agreed to since buying a new one would have been closer to $1200. We were discouraged but unsurprised. We also figured it would be over a week before we could drive the hour back to the store and pick up the computer as a family since I didn't really want to make my trip on my own with three small children. Yesterday (on Hub's day off) we received a call that the repair was done and that it had only cost $50. We quickly made the drive to find that not only had they repaired the computer for $50 but that they had replaced the keyboard and all of the plastic facings for free since they were still all under warranty. Now our screen works perfectly plus it feels like we have a brand new computer. I was so happy I could have cried.


These are just a few of the miracles that I can remember recently. I am sure that we have had many more over the past year or so. I am so grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives. I know that I don't have to do everything on my own through sheer force of will and that often even if I don't realize it, my Heavenly Father is lifting me up and pushing me along. As I think about this I see myself as one of my children in those carts at the grocery store that are shaped like cars. They spin the wheel and strain to steer the car, while all the while I am the one directing our path through the store. I wonder if he ever laughs and shakes his head at my frantic wheel turning and horn honking and thinks, "Just calm down, I've got it." I'm grateful that he does.

Penitence

This evening after G and E were yelled at and sent to bed early for their incessant fighting, we received this letter:

Dear Dad,
I am going to cancel Christmas if I get in trouble and E bothers me.
Love G

(By the way, I'm not sure of the exact punctuation here. I'm not sure if he is going to cancel Christmas if he gets in trouble and, oh by the way, E bothers him. Or alternately, if he is going to cancel Christmas if he gets in trouble or E bothers him. Let's be honest, he is better off getting Christmas if he chooses the former. I digress.)

Ahh. Isn't it nice to see that our lessons regarding taking responsibility and acting correctly are really being absorbed by our children?

If you can't tell, that tone is sarcasm.

Maybe someone does deserve a lump of coal.

Today...

E: Don't go to school. 

Me: I have to. But you can play with Grandma and then Dad will come home and you can play with him. 

E: I don't want to play with Dad. 

Me: Why not?

E: Because he is UGLY!

And we can't forget the moment today when I heard E in the bathroom...

Me: E do you need me to help you wipe your bum?

E: No

I walk in to find him bent over, with Miss H holding the smallest piece of toilet paper in the world, about to wipe his bum for him. 

E: H will do it.

I took over. Then we washed everyone's hands. Twice.  

Thanksgiving Part 2

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to visit my parents. We haven't been out there for a while and especially in the winter. It was fun to go, even though it was a shorter trip than we intended. I didn't get many pictures taken, but here are a few.

After a long drive and being completely off their schedules the kids were a little tired. Can you tell?

 We went to the local science and industry museum. Hubs remarked that he has been to more museums there than anywhere near where we live. Isn't it always the way?

 At that museum they had a Body Worlds exhibit going on. For anyone who doesn't know, Body Worlds is an exhibit of real bodies that have been preserved and dissected in different ways in order to show the intricacies and function of the body. It was amazing and a bit awe inspiring. I thought it would be disgusting, but if anything it made me feel a little bit reverent and grateful for the design of the human body.

 Afterwards we took a trip to a well known local doughnut shop called Voodoo Doughnuts. It is a kitzchy little shop that sells all sorts of weird "gourmet" doughnuts (doughnuts with bacon, cereal, cookies, cotton candy, etc.). Their signature is a jelly filled doughnut in the shape of a voodoo doll. There was a couple getting married there when we went! Crazy.

 This is my only picture of Thanksgiving. Do you like how Miss H is ready to rumble? Shirts off and no prisoners.

 My sister made all the girls cute aprons, even Miss H.

 Hubs thought it would be super funny to take a picture when we weren't looking. Apparently, this is how we normally look when we aren't posing. Hahahaha.  

It was really fun to go visit and always feels too short. We are so thankful for so many things but most especially for family. 

Thanksgiving Part 1

Two significant things happened over Thanksgiving. We went to visit my parents, and Hub's maternal grandmother died. I want to talk about both, but feel like they should have separate posts so I will start with Grandma L.

Grandma was 95 years old. She was about 4 feet tall and the feistiest lady you've ever met. She was funny, and honest, and it will be strange to have family dinners without her there. She had 7 children, 45 grandchildren, and currently has 98 great grandchildren (though I'm sure more will come). I looked around an almost full chapel to realize that most people there were relatives. It has been easy to love Hub's family on that side. Everywhere I looked there were amazing people who I admire and genuinely enjoy being around. No one is perfect, and no one claims to be. They are just good loving people that anyone would be happy to know. Grandma left a wonderful legacy in that way.

After the funeral a few people got up to share stories about Grandma. I didn't feel comfortable saying anything but I do have a story that is dear to me.

When Hubs and I were dating, it started out sort of rocky. I thought that he was a big geek and he didn't do much to dispel those impressions. As I got to know him over time, he came to impress me more and more, though I still wasn't entirely sure about him. I just kept wondering, "Could I really see myself having a serious future with this guy?"

One night, Hubs came over to my apartment to hang out and informed me that we could do whatever we wanted but first he needed to run over to his grandma's house and help her take her newspapers out to be recycled. I thought this was pretty sweet, and agreed to go with him to meet his grandma. We drove over to her condo and he quickly took care of her papers. Then he proceeded to walk through her condo with her and listen as she pointed out other quick fixes he could do for her. I stood and talked with Grandma as he crawled under her sink and fixed a pipe, worked with lights in her bathroom, and any other little projects that needed to be done.

Then she sat down on her bed and told me about Grandpa (who had passed away when Hubs was in high school). She told me how wonderful he had been and how he had been forgiven his debt at her family's general store in a small Montana town when he wrote on a piece of brown wrapping paper that he would either pay his bill or take their daughter off their hands. She showed me the paper framed on her wall by a small picture of them when they were younger. I looked at Hubs and told him I saw him in his grandpa. Both of their eyes lit up and Hub's eyes crinkled when he broke into a huge grin. As I looked at him talking with his grandma and smiling at the thought of being like his grandpa I had the thought, "I could love this man, and maybe I already do." It was the first time I had had that thought and I still remember it clearly.

So in a way, I credit Grandma L for Hubs and my falling in love. Maybe it would have happened anyway, but seeing him there and his love for his grandmother certainly helped.

We will miss Grandma, but we know she has been missing her husband for a long time and are happy that they are together again. I am excited to know them better someday and get to hear all of the stories and join in the laughter. They certainly raised a family that loves God and loves life and I am glad to have had the chance to know them.

Sorry if you were offended by the last post. Hubs was worried that the content was a bit much. We'll try to keep it rated G.

One more gem

A couple of days ago G and I were talking about what you should call your teacher...

G: But your students have to call you doctor because you are a doctor. 

Me: Yes, that's right. 

G: Yeah, but you're not a doctor that helps people. 

Quotes and stuff

A few things...


G seems to have received his self esteem from his father's side of the family, as is evidenced by this recent conversation.
G: All of the girls in my class have a crush on me.
Me: Really? How do you know.
G: They tell me.
Me: Oh. What do you say?
G: I don't say anything because I don't want to hurt their feelings.
Me: Oh, ok. Is there anyone in your class that you have a crush on?
G: No. Just Kallie** (a good friend of his in his church class). We like each other a lot.
Me: Well it is good to be friends with girls but you are too young to go on dates or anything with them. (Then, in reference to an earlier conversation) Does that one girl in your class still try to kiss you all the time?
G: No she's pretty much stopped.
Me: That's good. Did the teacher ever see her and tell her to stop.
G: Well she saw her once but she didn't tell her to stop.
Me: What???
G: But now we have a new rule, No kissing.
Me: Oh, ok. You know you are too young to kiss, right? You tell those girls that your mom says you can't kiss.
G: Yeah, I have to be like in college to kiss or go on dates with girls.

**Little does he know that the girl he has a crush on changes her mind about him monthly. I see a very heartbreaking future for him if he retains such loyalty. You can't help but love him for it, though.

A couple of days ago I was downstairs doing laundry when G comes running in...
G: E and Miss H are working together to get candy out of the cabinet!!
Me: Oh those little stinkers. Alright give me a minute.
G: (running off) Ok. I'll go karate chop them.

The other night E stayed up late and hung out with me
E: Mom do you want to play a game?
Me: Ok. What do we do?
E: (grabs my arms and starts swinging them at me) Don't hit yourself, stop hitting yourself!
Me: Where did you learn this game?
E: Nursery
Me: Who taught it to you?
E: Chris. (Our neighbor/friend)
The first answer was a bit of a surprise, the second was less so. :-) 


Today after dinner E started walking around with his stomach pushed out in a weird way. Then he started doing some hand flourishes and twirling in circles. He finally ended with his arm in the air.
Me: What are you doing, E?
E: I'm latin Buzz Lightyear. (from Toy Story 3)
I'll video tape it. It was HILARIOUS. 


To our dismay, E's trend of staying up late every night is continuing. He watched part of a movie with us wherein I had seen someone eating tacos and made a joke that we should go buy some. Later when Hubs finally went and laid down with him in bed...
E: But Dad, I don't want to go to bed! I want to stay up late with you and mom and eat tacos.

Me: E stop eating CAT FOOD.
E: BUT I'M HUNGRY
Me: You are a boy. Eat human food.
E: NO I am a KITTY.
Me: YOU ARE A BOY.
E: Ughhh. Fine mom.
(Sorry if I've written this one before. He does it a lot.)

Finally, Miss H isn't super articulate yet. She does maintain, however, the illustrious honor of being our first child to call 911. For the first time in his life, Hubs was home and had to deal with the aftermath. Please excuse my evil laugh, Wha Ha Ha HA!

Would you like to see some pictures of the awful things our children have done recently? Yes? Ok good.

That would be an entire 25 lb bag of cat food. It made it so he couldn't open the door and was locked in the room. I debated leaving him there forever. 

This would be an entire tupperware of rice leftover from our dinner the previous night. Would you like to guess who was behind this one too? I'll give you one good one...

If you plan on telling me what a crappy mom I am, don't worry, a lady at the mall made sure I knew today when she turned to her friend and said, "at least our kids aren't doing that!" and pointed at my kids. 

And now a letter

Dear Children, 

I will accept your apology letters at any time. Just know that they will be that much sweeter when I come over to your house and find you cleaning up rice one grain at a time. Then I will smile and hand your children Mountain Dew mixed with Red Kool-Aide. 

All my love,

Mom

Halloween

We had an excellent Halloween. We ate a gross looking dinner, wore store bought costumes, and collected way to much candy which we allowed our children to gorge on. We didn't carve pumpkins and I have to say that I am not the least bit sorry. Look, judge me all you want but this is just how I roll. For all who are interested, here are some pictures of the blessed event. 

 G wore his costume all day, including dinner. 

Miss H the Peacock

 E's best pirate face

 G's best Batman stance

 Cutest baby ever

Miss H collected about 10 candies, then sat and chewed through the wrappers on all of them until she could eat them. By the end of the night she was in a sugar coma. It was pretty funny. 

G Turns Six!

You know it's the end of the year when we start celebrating birthdays left and right. 

G just celebrated his six birthday. 

 We started out the day with the doughnut game. Notice how it is dark outside? When I say started, it was as early as possible. Not by parental choice.

We played with G's baloons...(As a side note, one time a kid in the ward saw Miss H wearing these pajamas and refused to believe that she was a girl. Look, when you have two older brothers you get some boy hand-me-downs mixed in.)

  Then we opened presents. My parents always made us wait until after dinner, so I'm sure I'm ruining my children's ability to delay gratification. Oh well, just put it on my therapy tab. 

 G got real walkie talkies from my mom and dad. (He has already had Hubs take one to work and talk to him the whole way there.)

 

He also got a batman costume, which E promptly put on. 

 And then Miss H decided she wanted to be Batman

 Finally G got his turn. Even Batman enjoys a glass of milk once in a while, mmmkay?

 This year, G said he wanted his cake to be a giant doughnut. 

 And for dinner he said he wanted "Dead Man's Meatloaf." Notice the blood and the knife sticking out of our meatloaf man. Awesome. 

 We had some friends over and Hub's mom and we had cake and ice cream and a few more presents. 

Overall it was a lot of fun and G had a great day. 

It's weird to think that we are old enough to have such a grown up kid. Six years ago G made me a mom. Most days I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right, but I know that Heavenly Father sent us G for a reason. He probably knew that if we had any other kid first, we never would have had a second! 

G is smart, and funny, and tender hearted. He tries to be responsible, and wants to do what is right. He thinks deeply about things, and stores knowledge until he can integrate it into other problems or situations. It's amazing to see how his mind works. He isn't perfect, but he is perfect for our family.

We love you G!