Thank You Dad

I bought Colin a fishing pole for his birthday. Chad doesn't know the first thing about fishing, so those duties fall in my lap. We are going camping tomorrow and I decided it was finally time to stock up on some gear and really get into fishing. There is just one problem though. I realized that I know how to bait a hook, cast it out, reel it in, and remove the hook....but the rest? I don't have a clue. No idea how to set up a pole, what kind of fishing line to use, what kind of knot to tie, what kind of bobber or hook to use or anything.

How many summer hours did I spend under a patchy sky, surrounded by aspens at Monticello Lake, catching trout after trout? Countless beautiful hours. I can close my eyes and smell the cheese bait, hear the leaves rustling in the wind, and picture the water snakes.

There were eight of us, and I am telling you, most of us were not independent fishermen.

How many hours did my dad spend setting up fishing poles for his group of ragamuffins?

For that matter, how many hours has he spent driving his kids to Yellowstone or stake dances? This man has been through multiple 15 passenger vans.

How many hours did he spend making breakfast for those kids every morning before school? My youngest sibling Bryce just left on his mission last week, and I would be willing to bet that my dad was sometimes still cooking some extra eggs for him in the morning right up until he left.

How many hours has he spent moving his kids away to college or to a new city with their spouse?

He is not the type to add up the score in his head. I am sure he has never counted.

Just as I am sure he has never counted all the hours he has worked at a relentless job (he has been a high school teacher, and then a principal for the last 30 some years) to support his children.

Thank you Dad, for the hours at Monticello Lake and everything else.

Happy Birthday.

I love you.

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

I cried last night.

Not out of happiness....

Or even sadness.....

Purely out of frustration and mortification.

It was haircut night. It started out with a three year old happily hopping up on the chair for his turn, watching Bolt to keep himself busy. It quickly turned to raspy commands coming from my lips like, "Just hold still, dangit!" which only brought on more wiggles and complaints about an itchy neck from my boy. This is the kid who freaks out when his nose runs or he has chocolate on his hands (he likes Skittles the most for this very reason) - hair all over his neck is a sensory nightmare.

Which means haircuts are a mommy nightmare.

We were almost done with his simple buzz cut. I brought out the shortest attachment to do some clean up work around the edges.

One wrong move, and then there it was - an almost bald spot covering about three inches on the side of his head.

What could I do? I really only had one option.....

Shave the rest of it, with shaking hands, to match the short spot, while crying and yelling, "What have I done?!!!!"

Which explains why, today, my son looks like he is going to either A) a work camp, or B) a skinhead rally.

Chad, who played the part of the calm and collected parent last night, convinced Gabe that his haircut is the best thing that has ever happened. One of the first things Gabe said to me this morning was "Mom, feel my hair! It's cool!"

I noticed some horribly patchy spots this morning, which means the clippers have to come out again tonight. Plus Colin never got his turn last night (I figured I would save his disfiguration for another night, thank you very much)so I have to do him as well. Heaven help us all.

This time

When I was a teenager, my mom would pile a bunch of us in her van and drive us nine hours up to Provo, and we would spend a week at BYU attending Education Week. For four straight days we listened to amazing gospel classes and got to intermingle with other teenagers who shared our values. This trip was truly one of the highlights of the year. On the way back, we would all be utterly exhausted yet completely rejuvenated and full of kindness towards each other. The next week was always the first week of school, and I always went back with a determination to see my fellow students with love and compassion and to work hard to dedicate my life to my Savior.

The aura of Education Week never lasted more than a week in the hot desert sun, surrounded by the realities of high school. My determination to focus only on the most important things in life was soon dampened, and my perspective weakened. I remember always feeling so frustrated with myself, looking back at what I came home with, and seeing how those feelings had actually translated into my life. Sure, some changes were always made, some lasting, some not. But had I ever changed my life as dramatically as I had vowed to? Not even close. I longed to obtain a total conversion - forgoing all else to follow Christ with strict obedience.

I have that aura tonight. As an adult, I now get it from general conference. I sat listening today, with tears in my eyes and gratitude swelling in my heart for this marvelous gift I have been given - a chance to hear a prophet of God speak to me. I have been given a gospel that has brought me every bit of the pure happiness I have felt in my life. I know that even more happiness can come from more obedience.

And I say to myself, "This will be it. This will the time that sticks. This will be the time when I sacrifice even the somewhat good things in my life for those things that are better. I will be a servant of Christ from here on out, moment after moment, day after day."

It isn't like that though, is it? My habits and faults aren't overcome with a single weekend of total immersion in the Spirit. They are still there, locked up inside, to be sweated over and worked on. My pride is still intact and has to be sloughed off slowly and sometimes painfully.

So this is what I pray for - tomorrow please let me begin the day with a prayer. Please let me turn the day over to my Heavenly Father, so that I can learn the lessons that that day holds. Please let me keep some of that aura in the form of the presence of the Holy Ghost, and please let me be worthy of it. Please let the changes that I do make be lasting.

10 Bucks Says...

......"Roomba" will be Oliver's first word.

For those who don't know, Chad buys salvage Roombas, fixes them, and then re-sells them on ebay. Kind of a strange hobby I know, but it keeps him busy at night and brings in a little extra cash.

Candy, anyone?

Well, Chad did not fall for my other April Fool's joke, but he sure did fall for this one! I opened up a pack of Reese's (Chad's favorite candy), took the candy out, and put refried beans in their place. Then I froze them to make them solid, put them back in the pack, and resealed it with super glue. As soon as Chad opened them up I yelled "April Fool's!" and he told me that if I hadn't, he would have taken a bite, because he thought the chocolate had just melted and reformed in the freezer or something. Darnit! That would be have a lovely picture if he had taken a bite.

Just to let you know, I later gave him the real candy - just because I am avoiding sweets right now. Otherwise........

A drawing from the birthday boy

In school lately, Colin's teachers have had them writing short phrases in Chinese and then illustrating them. Tuesday's assignment, as he explained to me, was to write "one person" and "big mouth" and then draw pictures for them. So, he "just made it easy" and drew me.

Have your kids ever made a rather acute observation about your appearence that isn't necessarily flattering?

By the way, he is quite correct -my mouth is rather large, BUT I am not the least bit orange and I unfortunately do not have Angelina lips to go with my mouth.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Gulp.

No, I am not pregnant.

Please forgive me, sweet Shannon and Joanne, for taking advantage of a mom with a newborn and a foreigner ;), who don't know how mean I can be. Thank you for sincere congratulations anyway! I obviously don't deserve them, in more ways than one.

Six years ago today, I was 38 weeks pregnant and yelled from the shower to Chad that my water broke. He rushed off to call work and I had to yell "April Fool's!" before he picked up the phone. Funny thing is, the very next morning, I awoke at 5:30 to my water breaking. If he hadn't had the wet mattress as proof I am sure Chad wouldn't have believed me when I woke him up.

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

I guess the hamburger cravings and morning witchiness should have been clues, but it is still a bit of a shock.

Colin's Star Wars Party

Colin's birthday is this Thursday, so we had his party on Saturday. It was just the cousins, plus his blacked-eyed friend (as pictured), because how could we not invite her? It is going to be really crazy in the future when Colin starts expecting church and school friends too!

We kept the party pretty simple. Each guest got a Star Wars name when they came. Colin was Carja, and Gabe was Galuf. We played "Obi-Wan Says" instead of Simon Says and hunted for asteriods (candy wrapped into foil balls), and had hamburgers, hotdogs, and cake. The kids had a great time and Colin was perfectly satisfied.

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

The Elders were over for dinner tonight, and I was running around getting this and that, carrying a fussy baby who was ready for bed, and trying to calm my hyperactive boys. They get really crazy when the missionaries are over.

I finally got a chance to sit down to eat my own food, and I went to sit Oliver in his high chair next to Chad's chair. I slid him down into it, with the tray snapped firmly in place over his lap, with a wedged piece between his little legs. I kid you not, the thought came clearly into my head, "Strap him in" and I quickly ignored it to go eat.

I am sure you won't be surprised that about ten minutes later there was a quick rattle-rattle of the tray being kicked off by the baby, an "oh shoot!" from Chad as he tried in vain to grab him, and the cry of a baby as he slid down and fell on the wood floor. What a fine example for the Elders about "how NOT to parent your future children."

Oliver had no bumps or bruises and was fine after ten minutes of comfort from mom upstairs, but why oh why would I do such a silly thing as not take the time to strap him in?

I can't even say I forgot, like the few times I have gone to get a baby out of his carseat to find that they were never even strapped in. Have you ever done that? Doesn't your heart just leap into your throat as you picture all the roads you just drove down without your baby secured - all of the potential hazards that you just avoided?

For some reason tonight's highchair incident falls together in my mind with yesterday's bat incident and the two together stress me out. What was the bat incident, you ask? Well, Colin decided to play baseball with his next door neighbor friend yesterday, and "swung really hard" with an aluminum bat, not realizing that she was directly behind him. She came over today with a black eye on her angelic face. She (and her parents) seem to have completely forgiven Colin his accident, but let me tell you that the sight of that black eye made this mommy's heart ache.

Nice follow-up to the videos of Ollie being attacked by the ball, and the picture of Gabe tripping, don't you think?

Did Anyone Else See Oprah Today?

I was very intrigued by the segment about calorie restriction. Dr. Oz introduced us to Joe, who is 5'9", weighs 130, and eats 1950 calories a day. He is 51 years old. He tries to get the most nutrients possible out of each bite he eats. For instance, for breakfast he eats a bowl full of the peels of three apples, with blueberries, raspberries, and 2 ounces of walnuts. A quote from Oprah.com:

When Joe started practicing calorie restriction, he weighed 175 pounds. Since then, he's lost 45 pounds, and he says he hasn't had a cold in seven years. Though he's in his "golden years," researchers studying Joe say he has the body of a 20-year-old athlete. "I saw my blood pressure go down substantially. My heart rate went down substantially," he says. "I had more energy than I'd ever had."

The first time I heard about calorie restriction (probably six months ago) I thought it was some overly-conscious borderline anorexic way of eating. The more I have heard and read about it though, the more it makes sense and actually sounds very in-line with the word of wisdom.

Would I ever be strong enough to actually follow a plan like this? Good question. Through the hormonal ups and downs of pregnancy and nursing(for 6 1/2 straight years now) I always have periods of time where eating right is a priority and periods of time where I just don't feel strong-willed at all.

I know that I personally feel such a difference in every aspect of my health when I am eating natural food that is packed full of nutrients, rather than processed junk food. Not only does my body feel (and look) better, I am always happiest when I am eating right. I also feel like I should be teaching my kids better eating habits and helping them notice the connection between eating well and feeling well.

How about the rest of you? Have you experienced the effects of healthy eating?

Oliver and the ball, Part III

Now afraid of the ball, but can't help laughing.

Oliver and the ball, Part II

The ball betrays Oliver.

Oliver and the ball, Part I

Oliver and the ball are friends.

Take a guess...

..about what happened here.

Answer:

It was Colin's turn to bat, so Gabe sat down on the bench beneath the arbor. I told Gabe to come join me, so he started skipping over. Chad, trying to be funny, rolled a ball at Gabe's feet, which Gabe tripped over. Not funny, Chad. Not funny at all.