12.02.2010 -- In Review

I've recently wrapped up a big project: scrapbooks. I do it digitally (good t-shirt), so it's a little different, but it took a lot of time. This gave me an opportunity to review our lives from when Lucy was a toddler on. (I had a little catching up to do.)

Like moving, I think this kind of review is something that is so beneficial that everyone should do it every few years. When we have moved in the past, we have gotten rid of a lot of dead weight, much of what we didn't need or use any more ended up at DI (Goodwill) or recycled. That's what I mean by the benefit. When else do regular people have the desire or dedication to sift through the inevitable accumulation of extra stuff that is collected when they put down roots? (Pregnancy, maybe. I'm gearing up for another little purge of my own here in the next few days.)

Well, in reviewing and trying to give a sense of order to the past few years of our family life, I have gotten a renewed sense of optimism, funnily enough. Right now, I am managing to do more than put on shoes to exercise, but putting on my shoes still leaves me short of breath. It has done me good to see pictures that show that things get back to normal after pregnancy, or at least that they can.

Another thing that stood out for me after reviewing thousands of pictures is how many pictures we have that I love and how many of these show our two children being sweet and loving toward each other. They are kind to each other every day, but there is also conflict. While I don't take pictures of them in conflict, there is still enough proof of their loving relationship that it makes me think that it will continue. They are 5 and 2--how's that for extrapolation? Yes, I may be stretching it, but it still leaves me with that impression.

We are sick this week. It started at Gabe's birthday party. He had a lot of fun, but did seem a little cranky. When the dust settled on Sunday, we took his temperature and found him fevered. It's been on and off fevers and general malaise all week. We went to the doctor yesterday for a pre-scheduled well-check visit where the doctor said he was fine, but/and he is down again today.

I was reading a little yesterday before going to bed and I came across Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk, Of Things That Matter Most. In the talk he points out the wisdom and importance of slowing down, especially when our lives face "turbulence." Combined with a podcast I listened to recently about a method to establish bonds between troubled adopted children and their adoptive parents--I want to say attachment parenting, but that may not be right...

Anyway, with the combination of these two bits of informational input, it occurred to me that when our children or other loved ones are laid low by illness or something else, it really is an opportunity for us to serve them more closely and re-forge the bonds that hold us together. I've always maintained that being sick serves us in making us grateful for our health, but now I'm thinking that the appreciation for health is very small change compared to the challenging opportunity we have to really serve our loved ones and re-establish those important connections that hold us together.

Now, I'm going to go hold my sick (baby) boy, who is two years old.

11.27.2010 -- Milestone

From Gabe's birthday

Gabe's birthday tomorrow!

He is so darn cute!

He says he wants a vanilla cake ("nilla.")

I had forgotten how determined and persevering he has proven himself to be. This is something I noticed when he was a baby. When he was working on rolling over, or grabbing his feet. Whatever it was, he went after it whole-heartedly.

Now he is after physical independence. (Da da daaaa.)

Eleven Random Things That You May Not Have Known About Me

1- I have a secret belief that I, personally, know and am surrounded by, the most interesting and praiseworthy people on the planet. These are people in my neighborhood, in my family (near and far) and my far-flung friends. The kicker to this belief is that I ALSO believe that the same thing is true about everyone else. I know. Impossible. But true.
2- I am in love with words. I love to read and to write, to listen and to talk. I spend a decent amount of energy suppressing or delaying my urges to read, write, or talk. Listening is less of a challenge to suppress; I use podcasts and audiobooks as an outlet.
3- My kids are the cutest and the best and the most talented. The kicker is, so are yours.
4- I love Christmas but am lazy and have a bad attitude about Christmas decorations, at least when it comes to me and my own house. That said, I do appreciate the storybook loveliness of a well-done Christmas mantle and tree--even if I'm the one that puts it up and takes it down.
5- My favorite holiday is Thanksiving, because of the people and the stuffing.
6- I secretly love and admire you more than is appropriate to indicate. Sometimes it leaks out, and that's why I act strangely at times.
7- I almost never willingly re-read books or re-watch movies.
8- I love music and (dancing and singing), but only really feel comfortable dancing ad singing in front of my kids. We'll see how long that lasts.
9- In many ways, I have the stereotypical mentality of an elderly person. For example, I really have to work to implement standards for myself as far as self-presentation goes, and to motivate myself, I tell myself that it's for my family's sake that I should not wear shapeless sweats to the grocery store.
10- I love to draw. One of my favorite things to draw is profiles of people. Not portraits, but made-up profiles. I like to see how wide a range of looks I can represent with a simple line drawing. I think I started doing this about 15 - 20 years ago.
11- I have an unnatural affection for games. Not "counting, move-your-piece games" but "deeply involving, move-your-brain games."

11.22.2010 -- Snowy Sunday Recap

How sad. One post per month?

Yesterday was pretty wonderful. We got a lot--A LOT--of snow.

Brian and the kids spent part of the morning downstairs watching television. This is something I'm not opposed to, as it is a true break for me, and something they all seem to enjoy. I made puff-up pancakes, then we all went outside while Brian cleaned the walks and driveway with the snowblower. Lucy used the opportunity to get to know the new guy next door, Tyler. I spent every moment with Gabe, who seemed to think it was a perfect time to ride every bike and "bike" in our growing collection.

We made it to church. Late, but not egregiously so, and Lucy gave a talk in Primary. Such a people person. She is quite composed and effective in front of a crowd when she is assigned a talk in sharing time. I find it amusing that I can use her opportunity to talk as leverage when I negotiate with her. As in, "Lucy, that's fine if you don't want to take a bath, but you may not give a talk without taking a bath." Instant panic/action.

Not everything went smoothly yesterday. We had a lot of drama about hair. Lucy wanted her hair done "in ringlets," which I was happy to do, but she didn't come in from the snow in time. ...And Gabe was pretty upset too, although I can't exactly remember what about.

It's the status quo these days to have someone truly upset. With Gabe it's all related to his desire for and frustration with carrying out his autonomy: getting his own snack, dressing himself, being in charge of what he wears, etc. With Lucy, it's more likely to be related to wanting more hands on time or more attention or help with something she's fully capable of herself, like buckling up. Another common sticking point with Lucy is just plain resistance to things she's asked to do that she's always done, like going to bed, brushing her teeth, bathing, etc.

So yes, we had a fair measure of tears and crying yesterday, but it went fine.

We got home and Lucy, Gabe and I made lunch--open-faced hot turkey and cheese sandwiches--before Brian headed back to church to do his time as the assistant financial clerk. Hours in that position get much longer at the end of the year when tithing settlement rolls around.

The next few hours included a peacefully-entered nap for Gabe, lots of one-on-one time for me and Lucy designing outfits with a fashion stencil kit, and playtime.

When Brian got home around 7 pm, dinner was ready and the house was actually tidy. After dinner, the kids took on Brian in a wrestling match that sounded very happy from where I cleaned up the kitchen.

Brian then took over while I zoned out, and I entered the picture again after the kids had pyjamas on and teeth brushed. I took over reading to Lucy and Brian took Gabe to read in our bedroom. They will soon be able to focus on the same books, but it's still a little struggle to fit Gabe's attention span into what Lucy is interested in at bedtime.

Lucy and I spent about an hour reading. I made her read a lot of small words in some of the stories, which seems to be tiring for her but also very gratifying.

*And cue the bedtime music.* Lovely day.

10.17.2010 -- Hmmmph

Time is running out. I'm not doing anything about it, but I feel it. Less than two weeks and we're at Halloween. After that, Thanksgiving and Gabe's birthday. Then Christmas. Then BT's birthday and then another birth day. Or maybe it will be the birth day then his birthday. Either way, time is running out.

This past week has seemed to take at least a month. Gabe, Lucy and I have had a croupy cold that has laid us low. No school. No gym. I've tried to get us outside at least once a day, which I will be the first to admit is pitiful. Sometimes, though, things just are what they are.

However: we've turned a corner. School tomorrow, and real life.

P.S. Have I included how Gabe says "I love you?"
Just in case, here it is: "Da doo."

09.30.2010 -- Sickening, Really

One day, Facebook as we know it will be in the rear-view mirror. These days, however, it sucks up a lot of time and energy from a lot of good people. For myself, I spend time looking at what people post there and the benefits may just cancel out the detriments. More specifically, I am much more up to date with certain loved-ones than I would be otherwise, and I am also much more current with people who may not be as important.

The point of this post is to say what I don't say every day on Facebook, where it gives a prompt for a status update: "what's on your mind." What's on my mind, Facebook? What's on my mind? Well, it's a little sickening, really: sickeningly sweet. I am so in love with my family that the love songs that run through my mind are more geared to my kids than my sweet, sweet husband. Case in point: the David Gray "My Oh My" song. For some reason, this refrain is the most common muzak in my head when I'm holding Lucy or Gabe. (Please no over-examination of the lyrics. I've checked, and they don't fit very well, only certain parts: "My oh My, you know it just don't stop.")

Status update: I am so so so so so so so in love with my family. (Told you it was bad.)

Yesterday, we went to the rec center for an afternoon of swimming--I was hoping that the outdoor section would still be open, the temperature being in the high eighties yesterday. It wasn't. Still, the kids and I had a blast.

Lucy is now a true swimmer. I must have been around her age when, after swimming in the presence of my Grandmother, she remarked that I "looked like I was drowning." Lucy is a chip off the old block in this respect: she too, looks like she's drowning, but she can actually swim! Gabe is a little water baby. He has NO FEAR, which is a little scary, but entertaining. He loves to be on his own in the water. And when I say on his own, I mean completely on his own. His preference is to jump into water that is about twice his own height and spend a few seconds swimming. He is then content to be fished out--sometimes sputtering, but always grinning.

As Lucy told Brian last night, we "met a classmate" of hers at the rec center--red-headed Will. He was there with his family and Lucy, true to form, ended up tight with his sisters--especially his older sister, Addie. I had to drag her away from the pool and the slide when it was time to go.

Afterward, I "let" Lucy and Gabe play on the climbing wall. Let in "quotation marks" because no one has to try too hard to get me to let my kids spend time doing something like climbing.

Such a good life!

09.14.2010 -- Five, etc. (Or Maybe Etcetera and Five)

These two are great kids--and they are my life right now. Lucy is enjoying kindergarten, especially math, PE and music. After school, because we have very few obligations, it's normal for us to spend an hour or so at the school playground just messing around. Good times.

In this picture, Gabe is sporting a small cut below his lip. This came from a fall at said playground where he bit THROUGH his lower lip. Booo! I was there and caught him before he hit the ground, but not before his chin hit the tower he was climbing.

Gabe is into jumping, standing on unlikely things "surf style," and wearing clothes that he considers "ball" clothes. Last night at a soccer game, his cousin, Gabe (not a typo), let him ride his three-wheeled scooter--he was a natural.

Last night was spent at Lewis Park to watch our nephew, Luis, play soccer. Fun! Lucy, Gabe and I showed up in time to see the game start. Luis did great, by the way, and his team totally spoiled the opposing team's undefeated record. Monica and Scott brought pizza for dinner and I brought popsicles for dessert. I wasn't sure if Brian would eat with us, but I knew he was planning to come right after he hit the gym. When he showed up, I was talking with a friend, standing at the far side of a roofed eating area. He gestured toward the end of the pavillion, to the tables where Monica and Scott had the pizza laid out and asked if we were eating here. I was mostly paying attention to my friend, but heard Brian and answered that "yes, there was food," and that he should go say "hello."

A few minutes later, I glanced around and saw my husband going through a potluck line that belonged to a different party.

This food was in the same general direction that "our food" was in, and we knew quite a few people in the group, but it was definitely not for us, as we had contributed nothing and had no business with their party.

I was a little mortified for Brian. He had no idea that he was crashing a party. What did I do?

I loudly explained the misunderstanding to the group of people that we mostly knew, acknowledging that it was my fault and not his. They were great and invited him back for seconds. (Not that he took them up on their offer.)

This started a short discussion on how easy it would be to crash potluck parties--as no one said a word to Brian about him helping himself.

Fairy Party

Here's a confession: Lucy wanted a water party outside. She never mentioned any fairy party. However, so many of her friend's parties were outside and featured water and princesses, that I made an executive decision and announced that she would be having a fairy party this year. Happily, Lucy liked the idea, so we went with it.

Last year, we tried to include EVERYONE. It worked--but the idea of doing it again exhausted me, so I set my limits this year. We also had some of the older girls in the neighborhood over as helpers: they helped paint faces, make fairy skirts with strips of tulle, and put together fairy houses.

The party went well, but things got a little rowdy there in the middle when the girls made up a tag-chase game called "fairy free." We had an accidental run-in with a very hard, very mean banister that left a black eye. Oops. (Sad!)

Lucy loved the make-up and nail supplies the most, her phrase of the day being, "I can't thank you enough!"