I've really enjoyed catching up on everyone's Easter Sunday. While I do enjoy seeing cute little spring-like outfits, it's been an unpleasant reminder that we've have non-spring-like weather here, making it hard to believe the Easter season was already upon us. I didn't get a single snapshot of our day, but I'm counting on my Dad to post a few of our annual easter egg hunt so I can at least have one to share. Last year I started a tradition of painting Easter eggs the night before so we did that again. The kids really enjoyed being little artists. The other part of the tradition is I make deviled eggs with the easter eggs the following morning and bring them to Easter Dinner. Didn't happen this year, but maybe next? We closed our Saturday evening with a brief video about the atonement and read the book Mary gave the children for Christmas on death. It's a sweet, well-written book entitled, "What Happens When We Die." She had a sweet message written in the book for them and it made me cry. The kids loved her letter so much they had me read it again. By the end of the night mascara was all over my face.
We enjoyed a lovely Easter Sunday dinner at my parents' house after an intense Easter egg hunt in their yard. Cade made out like a bandit and Savvy was pretty happy with her finds. My mom was kind and had Ruby duty which was crucial in my hunt and glorious find of the Golden Egg. I was really excited, but I don't feel like I won it fair in square because 1. Melody wasn't trying her hardest (she had a newborn baby on her hip) and 2. Jon wasn't much for competition for some reason so even though he claims he knew where it was after my dad offered the clue, he didn't fight me for it. I'm hoping next year it will be more cutthroat.
Kyle left a week ago yesterday to work back East, so it was a little sad celebrating Easter without him. I also really would have enjoyed finding the egg against him. I'm jealous that he's living in my old stomping grounds, and just minutes away from my very dear friend Carrie and her brood of 6 darling children. I'm not so jealous of his long hours and that he doesn't have the pleasure of tucking our sweet little ones in bed every night. I could go back and forth in my mind debating who "has it worse." Some days I think he has it better than I, and then others, I think of how lucky I am that I have my babies to kiss and read to and play with and firmly believe I have it easier. The reality is, it doesn't even matter. It's just hard to be apart.
The longest we have been apart since married life was last year's 39 days (During our engagement we were apart some 90-something days. Hard for some to imagine considering there are folks out there who weren't even engaged 90 days!). They were long days. So far we are on Day 8 and we're not sure how many days there will be. We acquired a pest control company in Northern Virginia recently so Kyle's partner will run Chicago and Kyle will run the NoVa office. Since he doesn't have a partner to switch off with, he'll be in Virginia "until further notice." I just have to tell myself mentally that I won't see him until August, so if it's sooner, it will be a lovely pleasant surprise.
For now I feel like it has been easier being on my own this year in comparison to last year. It has only been 8 days, so that could easily change. Housewise, I'm considerably more settled this year, which makes a huge difference. While I do have an extra child to care for which makes it a bit more stressful, it also makes it better. Not only do I have another child to keep me feeling fulfilled and occupied, that also means I'm not with child. I have a lot more energy, I'm physically more capable, and not puking my guts out, wishing the days away. I have also been much better about scheduling a sitter so I can go to the temple, volunteer in Cade's classroom, or have an evening out. That has made all the difference.
But like I said... it has only been 8 days. :)
Savannah is really cute to talk to if you are away from home. She tells you over and over how much she misses you. She's really adorable talking to Kyle. Last Sunday she said, "I wish you could fly here through the phone," Precious. When we Skype, Ruby is fascinated with the computer screen when she sees Kyle and hears his voice. Savvy just uses it as an opportunity to make silly faces and see herself doing it. Cade so far acts pretty indifferent. So long as everything is going swell in his world, he's pretty unrattled about it. I'm trying to make an earnest effort to make up for the fun that has left the house since Kyle's departure, but I know I'm no Kyle.
Ruby is starting to discover the scoot/army crawl and her lungs. She is expressing herself through squeals and growls in the same breath. We can't seem to smooch her enough. Savannah has herself convinced she can read. She's very good at memorizing stories and making up her own with the pictures. Each time she does it she says, "Mom, I"m learning how to read!!" Cade is eating up soccer this season. He's starting to get the concept of defense and offense and is on top of the world every time he scores.
I spend my evenings catching up on house work and reading if it's not too late. I've actually done quite well (with the exception of last night) at going to bed earlier. It has been a struggle of mine all my life to go to bed at a decent hour. After all these years at the ripe age of 28, I have discovered I have some self-discipline in me after all! It's a silly thing to be proud of, but I really feel like it is one of my greatest accomplishments. That has also made a great impact on my parenting. Getting enough sleep is vital to good parenting. I guess that goes for not only the grown-ups, but the kids, too.
I don't mind the quiet nights too much. I did get to go out with my ever-faithful friends, The Bookettes last night. Our book was Half-broke Horses. It was a very thought-provoking, inspirational read. In planning the night, we came up with a restaurant that went with the book without having actually read the book yet. Guess where we went? Chuck-a-rama. Hilarious, aren't we? Actually, I don't think any of us went home disappointed. Our bellies full, our hearts lifted through laughter and the sharing of the ups and downs in our lives. Oh, and Kiki brought each of us our very own hand-knitted pot scrubber and Laurel brought us adorable little birdie book marks. And of course the scones with honey butter made us all even happier. It was a lovely evening.
For your further reading pleasure, below is a picture (which he took-- I swear I'm not snooping) of Kyle's journal entry rating our first few dates the first summer we met in Virginia. If you look closely you'll see that that he gave our first date a C+. Fireworks in Washington DC on the Fourth of July. I tell ya, this guy was hard to impress.
Back in Early March we had a fun FHE activity. Savvy had been dying to go roller skating, so we obliged!
Ruby, content.
We had the Classic Skate dinner deal-- pizza and a drink or Nachos and a Drink for like 2 bucks or something. Talk about the dinner of champions.
We had a great time, but it we are not crowd people. We don't like crowds... like at all. We prefer to play during the week and stay home on the weekends because crowds are so un-wonderful. Of course we picked to go skating on a local elementary school's skate night. Gah! The place was swarming with children. Sav is used to having the floor pretty much to herself when we've gone skating in the past. This time she was pretty terrified of all the people so we stayed close together and she wasn't the least bit disappointed when we decided we were skated out.
It was pretty awkward being on skates with my newly healed feet, so I quickly changed up my wheel of choice and borrowed Sav's extra scooter and scootered around with her instead. Kyle looked like a champ pushing Ruby in her stroller on skates. My favorite was when he brought our dinner on skates. For a moment there I thought I was at a 50s drive in.
We polished off our evening with some Magelby's chocolate cake, thanks to my parents, Jake and Rebecca giving us their BYU game tickets from the previous Saturday's game. (if BYU scores more than 80 points, Magelbys gives you a free slice of cake with your ticket!) With all that healthy goodness we fed our children for dinner, Savannah rushed to use the ladies room while at Magelby's--- she wasn't sure if she had to use the potty or puke. Bless her heart. Fortunately the puke-scare was just that. A scare. We rolled the kids back to the car and tucked them in bed, all tuckered out from a fun night with the family. I hope they remember these times....
I have been my entire life. Sometimes I gaze out my kitchen window at the beautiful mountains I fell in love with as a teenager and wonder in disbelief how this girl from Richmond, Virginia ended up living practically a stone's throw away from Brigham Young University, the now proud home of Jimmerville and Jimmer Mania.
Growing up I was envious of my cousins who lived in Utah and Idaho. After summer vacations out West, I begged and pleaded with my parents to move there. Specifically Kaysville, Utah. After all, that's where my cousins and my grandparents lived. (okay, my crush Ryan lived there too. He was my cousin's friend who hardly knew I existed-- but I was convinced that could all be fixed if my parents moved!). Year after year they'd say, "Not yet." They knew at some point in the future they would move out there, I just never understood why it wasn't time to move now. I took such things like stable employment or home-selling into minor consideration. I just wanted a life like my friends and cousins out West had. A life where they didn't have to wake up early to go to seminary because it was an elective they could take in school. They could walk to the stake center, see the prophet at the 24th of July Parade, watch conference on TV because the local news channel would broadcast it. There was a huge dating pool for them, what with all those people who shared their same values, and they could have best friends who shared their beliefs on the same street. From my limited tween perspective, life seemed easier in Utah. I wanted that "easy" life.
But we stayed in Virginia. So I embraced life. I made good friends. I took an active role in student government and participated in clubs and sports. I woke up early for seminary. I drove 45 minutes to go to "Mormon Friendly" parties. We went to the stake center to watch conference. I asked Mormon boys from different schools, even different school districts to be my date for school dances. I searched long and hard and paid a pretty penny to have sleeves on my dresses to those dances. I never drank alcohol, and never smoked a cigarette or tried drugs. And honestly? It wasn't that hard. That's not to say those who drink and smoke are bad people and they can't do hard things. I proved to myself that I didn't need to be in Utah to live my religion. I didn't need to be in a sea of Mormons to swim with them. Although often surrounded by people who partook in a lifestyle that wasn't in harmony with what I believed, I could choose differently. That doesn't mean I was perfect. I made mistakes and if given the luxury of going back in time, I would change some of the choices I made and the things I did and even some of the things I didn't do, but should have. Those choices and actions were not a result of my not living in a place surrounded by my religion, though. Some were made out of poor judgement, some out of slothfulness, and others out of my own sheer stupidity. However, I was able to steer clear of those temptations that many teens find themselves wrapped up in that can ruin lives. It was empowering.
While in Virginia, I made fantastic friends of all walks of life. Fellow classmates respected me for who I was. I was never ridiculed, although I was a little different from most of my classmates. But that was okay. I was able to stand more firm in my convictions. I understood why I believed what I did. And I didn't question it. I was blessed with a really great support group: friends in my ward, my stake, and the next stake over. I was blessed with amazing girlfriends on my athletic teams who upheld high morals as well. And as an added bonus, a cute boy from Utah moved to Richmond. Ryan who? ;)
While I enjoyed high school and felt like I made the most of those years, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thrilled to be leaving for BYU. To go to a school filled with people who believed what I did sounded wonderful. I admit, as freeing and exhilarating as it was to FINALLY be at BYU, 3,000 miles away from home, I went through a brief period when I felt like a nobody. The last day of Freshman orientation I found myself overwhelmed at how many amazing and talented people I was surrounded by. I questioned if I had anything to offer. So many smart minds. So many people who excelled in so many things. And there I was, this little person from Virginia who had set out to make her mark on the world, but instead realized she was mediocre at best. It was humbling to say the very, very least. Frankly put (you have to say this with a Texan accent to really make it sing), I thought I was a somebody before I went to BYU. Then I realized I weren't nothin' special.
Fortunately I had a great friend snap me out of it. Tim was one of those amazing, talented people who I could have been intimidated by. Among many other things, he was athletic, smart, handsome, humble, spiritual, and good-natured. He listened to my woes and surprisingly, he expressed having the same feelings. I decided if a guy like Tim-- a guy talented enough to be on the swim team {anyone good enough to be on a BYU athletic team was considered amazing in my book} felt like I did, then I was completely validated. I don't remember exactly what else he said, but afterwards I realized it didn't do me any good to compare myself to others. And my self-pity melted away. Just like that. I should probably tell Tim thank you. Timothy Pickett, wherever you are, thanks for listening, understanding and making me realize that I wasn't a loser. What a rotten first year that would have been if I had allowed myself to wallow in self-pity. Instead I realized that I could get out of BYU whatever I wanted to. It wasn't about where I ranked with everyone else. It's where I ranked with me and my goals for my future. Yes, there were 29,000+ other awesomely brilliant students, but what a place to be to realize all of my goals and aspirations! It turned out to be a fabulous year. Of course full of highs and lows, but that's what college is. A roller coaster. A really, really fun roller coaster:)
So with all those cute, Mormon boys at BYU certainly that's where I was going to meet my husband, right? Wellll, the summer after my freshman year I came home to work for the summer. I'd sworn off boys (the kind that were more than friends anyway) and was working at the Virginia State Bar in the MCLE department. Don't let that fancy title fool you. I was filing papers and answering phones. But it paid well and I had a weekend job leasing apartments, thanks my friend's Dad. I kept very busy, working lots of hours, and my mom must have noticed that my social life was struggling. She begged and pleaded with my sister and I to go to the singles ward. (Lingo for a Mormon congregation made up of young single adults. Not mental institution for un-marrieds.)
On Mother's Day we relented and as her gift from us, we went to the singles ward. I've never, ever since or before skipped out on church meetings, but we went to sacrament, endured Sunday school, and then snuck out and left before Relief Society. We both swore we'd never go back. It was quite a culture shock coming from a BYU student ward and going to a small singles branch in Virginia.
A few weeks later my good friend Nelson was back from college at SVC (now SVU) and asked if I'd go to the singles ward with him. Going with a friend didn't sound so bad. So I gave it another shot. And it was actually good. I think going with a guy helped. I still preferred my home ward, though. A few more weeks later, a girl in the singles ward who taught school with my mom told her that the next Sunday there was a Linger Longer (Mormon lingo for pot-luck meal after fast sunday) at the Metro Richmond Zoo. The bishop owned the zoo, it was closed on Sundays and lived next door to it, hence the locale. My mom pleaded with me to go. I admit, the food part is really what enticed me. I liked food. {not much has changed}So I made my go-to pot-luck offering of choice, loaded it into the car and headed to the zoo alone, since Sister was holding true to her promise of not returning.
The zoo was about an hour drive from my house. My car didn't have air conditioning and I was getting drenched in sweat. Not exactly the look I was going for. I was on the road in the middle of nowhere so I took off my cardigan, exposing my bare arms in a spaghetti strapped dress (GASP!) Just then a little red station wagon passed me. I noticed two clean-cut looking young men riding in it. The wagon had Idaho plates. GREAT. Idaho boys inVirginia? They had to be Mormon. I quickly tried to put my cardigan back on, afraid I surely made a bad impression on these boys. You know, like I was a girl that talked the talk but didn't walk the walk? As I was pulling into the zoo parking lot, the red station wagon was turning a 360 in the gravel and I heard hooting and hollering from the driver in the front seat. I decided I didn't need to worry about my bad impression any more.
I got my pie-- Grasshopper pie---out of the car and it was pretty much a melted mush, even though I kept it in a cooler. That is how hot it was in my car. My frozen ice cream pie sitting on a pile of ice in a closed cooler in the trunk had melted, so shirking my cardigan in what I thought would be the privacy of the lone, country roads seemed like the reasonable thing to do. I tried to be sneaky and put the melted mush on the table before anyone could see that I was to blame for it. I dished up a very generous plate of food {Like I said, some things haven't changed} and sat down by some of my friends who had just come back from Ricks and began catching up. Then I noticed there was a cute blonde boy sitting across from me at the picnic table. The same one riding in the red station wagon. Turned out he was here for the summer selling pest control. And we lived about 10 minutes away from each other, a bizarre coincidence seeing as how far and wide the singles branch boundaries stretched. I immediately decided he was going to be my friend. He had a shy smile, which was an attractive trait to me. I had experienced my fair share of over-confident boys very aware of their smarts and attractiveness in the last 6 months. Shy? Quiet? Yes, I could handle that in a friend.
There's more to the story* that makes our story fantastic. But I'll have to save that for another day and cut to the chase here. In a nutshell I decided the singles ward was the place for me after all and went back the following Sunday. As the months progressed it turned out that Kyle was neither very shy nor quiet. One year and ten months later that cute, blonde boy and I got married. And two months later, my parents moved to Utah.
Kaysville, Utah to be exact.**
I realized why all those years it wasn't time for them to move. That same summer I met Kyle, my sister met Jon, her hubby. {Melody decided that the singles ward wasn't so bad after all, too!} Had my parents moved to Utah we wouldn't have met our darling husbands. I wouldn't have made the friends I did, nor had the experiences I had. I wouldn't be the Mormon I am today.
There isn't one particular face that defines the Mormons. We are of nearly every country, culture, and tongue. We are a people slowly coming out of obscurity, being recognized as normal, everyday people. Often we are mistaken for those eccentric polygamists donning long, old-fashioned skirts and styling our never-cut hair into a bun, forcing our young daughters into unwanted marriages and blindly following sinister leaders like Warren Jeffs. I remember back in fifth grade playing at a friend's house. She asked what religion I was. I said, "I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." She answered with a "Huh?" "I'm a Mormon," I clarified. "Being a Mormon... that means you're like part of a cult, doesn't it?" I can laugh now, but at the time I was shocked, and truth be told a little offended that was what came to her mind. I did my best to dispel her preconceived notions about my religion without being combative or defensive, though.
We are considered by scripture, "a peculiar people," of which we take seriously. In a world where values are ever-diminishing, we are holding strong to them. In a world where the family is constantly under attack, we are tightening our grip, doing our best to keep our families whole and unscathed by Satan's powerful influences. We are finding the good in the every-day things of life, contributing our time and talents to improve the future for our children all over the world, even when there seems to be much to despair over and many distraction to waste our time and resources on.
Nearly ten years after I saw that shy grin across the picnic table in rural Virginia, Kyle and I find ourselves living in Utah, surrounded by Mormons. People like us in belief, but unique in their cultures and life experiences. While I never pictured myself living here after college, I'm so happy to be here. I do wonder if we'll still be here when Cade's older. Part of me wonders if he or any of our other children will take our religion for granted. Part of me fears they won't appreciate the conveniences there are that come with living here. But it doesn't do any good to fear. What's that saying? Come what may, and love it. I do love it. I really, really do. And I'll do my best to teach our children to hold true to their beliefs and standards wherever they are, Utah or Uruguay.
__________
Allow me to introduce you to some Mormons that I've had the pleasure of knowing personally. The first is Sheryl, my childhood friend from Richmond. She's famous now!!
And Kyle and I met Vance when we were living in Alexandria. To me, he was and still is the epitome of optimism.
These next two are Mormons I've had the pleasure of meeting.
I've seen Alex in concert. He's hilarious, genuine, and I love his voice. I mean his singing voice is amazing. But I could listen to him talk all the live-long day. Those European accents....
I was at BYU with my sister for Ed Week a few years back and Jane was in the book store signing her new book. I walked up to her and got all choked up trying to tell her thank you for writing such a marvelous tribute to Mothers. Kind of embarrassing, but fortunately my sister Melody wasn't phased. I was just being Michelle, the girl who cries during Kodak commercials.
I think they each have a touching message to share. I hope you enjoy them!
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*{Kyle would have gone to the Singles Ward on Mother's Day, too and perhaps we would have met THEN, but the night before he was in the gym working out when one of the pieces of equipment broke and landed on his mouth, breaking his teeth. He was not about to go to a church full of single girls his age with broken teeth. So he went to a family ward where the speaker happened to be a Dentist. So he got them fixed and when we met a month later, he had a nice set of pearly whites to grin his shy cute smile at me with.
**That crush from Kaysville, UT-- the boy I swooned over as a 13 year-old girl? The boy I cried over at 16 when I finally came to the painful realization that his interest in me would never amount to more than a friendly pen pal? {I mean that's all life was about then, wasn't it? Boys!} Well, Ryan came home from his mission and looked me up on the BYU student directory. He noticed I had a Kaysville, UT address listed for my permanent address (It was my parents' addy). He sent me an e-mail and said we should go out, thinking we were in the same town. I wrote back, catching him up on like the last 5 years of my life finishing the email off with being married and pregnant, living in South Carolina. I thought about teasing him with something like "The early bird catches the worm" but thought maybe he wouldn't have gotten the joke. Anyway, now he's a world traveler, musician slash professional tongue maker. Which makes me think he definitely would have laughed at my joke. I mean, to be serious about a tongue costume, you can't take yourself too seriously.
Here's one of his finest works of art:
Kyle is a huge fan of Morgan the Orabrush Tongue/Dave Ackerman. So, perhaps my "painful" past with Ryan will prove fruitful one day. He and Dave are bffs. :)
{I think after writing this post the subtitle should be something like : Hey look at all the people I know on YouTUBE!}
Back in October we put our "Subie" up for sale. With winter approaching this AWD vehicle would be a quicker, more lucrative sale than our Honda Accord would be. Also, the Honda seated the kids better on the back row because it doesn't have a "hump" like the Subaru has. {Three carseats in a row--- is that even possible? Yes. With Sunshine Kids Car Seats, it is possible. They are so narrow an infant carrier car seat fits between them in the back seat just fine}
We received a great deal of interest immediately and it was a bittersweet day parting with our baby when we had a committed buyer. We have had this particular Subie since 2006, right before we moved to Chicago. It looked just like the one we had before then, which we bought in 2003. For 7 years we were a Subie Family. Both were great and served me so well. Growing up in Virginia, I never learned how to drive adeptly in the snow. Living in Utah and Chicago was certainly a baptism by fire in a way because of all the snow, but Subie was always there for me and taught me how to safely maneuver slushy, slick roads while toting precious cargo. Subie was fantastically reliable and the trunk was spaciously hatch-backed and at thigh level, so loading and unloading it was a cinch.
{I just remembered something a little comical. For a short period of time we had two Subarus and two Hondas parked along the street in front of the home we were renting. I wonder if our neighbors wondered about our priorities: We owned four cars but lived in a teeny little 2 bedroom basement apartment. Ha! Really what was happening was we were selling a Subaru and buying one a few years newer at the same time so there were a few days when we had both, and we had also just bought a more family friendly Honda Accord that was to replace Kyle's two door Honda civic that we hadn't sold yet either (two-door cars and car seats are not a lot of fun in case you were wondering. Doable, yes. Fun? No siree.)}
While I was sad to say goodbye to Subie, I knew this meant we were one step closer to finding our van. Buying a vehicle for us is quite a slow-moving methodical process. Kyle is great at researching and finding the best vehicle for the best price. I don't dare try and rush the process, but at the same time I have to be ready to pounce on something when it pops up. I knew it was a matter of time before the right deal came along.
I admit, there were days I grumbled because I thought it just wasn't fair that we purchased the truck before our van and our third child had entered the family, but I had to trust that was just the timing when the deals were found. We hired a babysitter to watch the kids while we test drove some vehicles the day before I had my foot surgery. Test driving the vehicles was to help us determine if we were going the Toyota or Honda route and help us narrow which model we liked best. Our plan was to then continue our search on eBay, various websites and locally.
So we drove a used Honda....and then a brand new Toyota. Have you ever driven a brand new car? This was my very first time. It's nice. I mean reeeeeeeallly nice. Full of all sorts of wonderful bells and whistles. They are so shiny, have fancy knobs and doo-dads....so clean and they smell soooooo good. So good that they smell like nothing. (Do not mistake me for liking the "new car smell" car fresheners. Ew.) New cars do not reek of stinky diapers or spilled milk or sweaty kids. They smell of absolutely nothing. Smell is a big deal to me. I don't like bad smells. New cars are wonderfully odor free.
But new cars are not smart investments. Vehicles aren't investments at all. They are just necessary expenses that depreciate in value each year. So while we would have been thrilled if a dealership decided to GIVE us a brand new car, we could never purchase one. So we waited some more and continued our search.
And waited some more.
I continued to grumble any time I had to load my three kids in and out of the car. I often accidentally woke Ruby from a nap because hoisting her car seat in and out of the middle spot was not exactly a smooth transition.
Then we heard about a Honda Touring at a car auction Kyle's cousin had access to. Auctioned cars are tricky--- kind of sight-unseen in a way. But you still have access to most of the information regarding the functioning of the car as well as multiple pictures of the outside of the vehicle, and you can ask questions. With the price it was going for we figured worst case scenario, even if we had to replace the entire leather interior and flooring, it would still be cheaper than if we were to buy one the same year and model on e-bay or locally.
When we got it, we were pleasantly surprised! Not only was everything under the hood in great shape as we had been told, but the interior was just fine as well. No rips tears or cracked pieces.
And then I smelled it.
EWWWWW. It was a horrible combination of rotten milk and a Frebrezish fabric softener something-or-other. It was like someone tried really hard to cover up the smell, when really, it just made it WORSE. It was TERRIBLE. I complained about it for weeks and weeks. Kyle did all sorts of things from letting the van air out for several days to getting it detailed, to putting in odor absorbing containers....but the dryer sheet smell would not go away, even after the mildewy slash rotten milk smell was gone. I was convinced someone sprayed or put something in the vents because whenever the air or heat was blowing through the vents, I got an overwhelming cloud of dryer sheet smell shot in my face. I'm sure Kyle thought I was overreacting or being hypersensitive. Trust me though, it was awful.
Kyle checked out the vents. Sure enough, dryer sheets were stuffed in each one. Do I know my smells or WHAT?! 'Twas one of the greatest day of my life when he got rid of those things. I still shake my head in disgust thinking who would do that? Why on earth?!
I do admit, despite the awful smell, the van was a dream come true and I still drove it and loved it even when it smelled bad. It was well worth the wait. I wanted a van six years ago when I just had 1 child, but I know had we purchased one then, we wouldn't have bought this one now and would not be enjoying the perks "newer" vans have been sporting in the last few years. I'll not waste my time or my breath on trying to convert any van-haters non-lovers out there. I realize a van is not for everyone. They may not look as swanky as some of those SUVs in the car lot, but for me the van has been a perfect solution for crazy road trips with young kids, carpooling, and hauling large, bulky items. It's so nice now to be able to volunteer myself to pick up or drop off playdates, even with all 3 of my children in the car. This glorious hunk of metal on wheels seats 8, has plenty of trunk space, and even has a rear camera. Though Kyle claims the camera doesn't work. Either that, or the trash can fell over by itself and Ruby's stroller threw itself under the van when he wasn't looking. :) I think there's just a smart balance between looking in your rear view mirrors, checking behind you, and looking at the screen for the rear camera.
Each time I push the remote buttons for the doors to get groceries in and out of the trunk and the kids in and out of the car, I say a little prayer of gratitude to the wonderful genius who invented such a brilliant contraption. It really is Mom-friendly. Going out and about with my children is much less overwhelming now. Still haven't come up with a name for my new baby. Suggestions welcome!
Now for our final addition.
See the shot behind our van where there is nothing, just some trees at the end of our cul-de-sac?
That was then, and this is at the end of our culdesac now:
This house has gone up SO fast. It has been fun for the kids to see a home built from the ground up. We used to have a quiet little street and with our home being the last one, no one drove into it, minus when we had company or when random people were lost and turned around. Our quiet, car-free cul-de-sac has changed drastically with all the trucks coming in and out now for building this house. I'd venture to say we now live in the most popular spot in the entire ward boundary. And no, it's not to look at our awesome garden we don't keep or check out Savvy's latest scooter tricks. It's safe to assume about half the ward drives by this house at least once a week to check it out. ;) Really though, it's been fun, and we are excited to see who moves in. I really do like my new view.
It's a spec home that will be in the Parade of Homes (We joke to the builder that during the Parade of Homes we're going to park our cars in the yard and dump garbage all over the sidewalk...hehe). Can't wait to see the inside when it's finished!
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times in the Woodbury household. Remember January? Yes, January. We had a party way back then for Savannah. I am verrrrry loosely using the term party, because, well when you see how it all came together you will know what I'm talking about:
Monday night at FHE we are calendaring and it occurs to me I should probably do something about celebrating Savvy's birthday that is the next day. She had been saying for some time that she wanted to have a princess party. So I do what any house-bound mother hobbling around on two medical boots would do--- I told her she could invite TWO whole friends to her party. Darling Savvy, she was thrilled. So I phoned the moms that night and asked if their daughters could come over the next afternoon for a princess tea party, wearing their favorite princess attire. Both friends were available.
{HUGE sigh of relief at that moment. You can't have a party without princesses.}
The next morning when I awoke Ruby was still sleeping soundly in the carrier next to my bed. My medical boots are right next to her, but I don't want to wake her up with all the velcro noises, so I hobble on bare feet. While getting Cade off to school, he accidentally tripped over one of my unprotected feet. OH MY GOSH. It hurt. SO BAD. I was speechless for about 20 seconds and poor Cade thought he had killed me. After reassuring him I was very much alive and there was no possible chance I'd be dead when he came home from school, he was off to the bus stop and I was speed dialing my foot doctor. He told me to come in, which was very imperfect timing since I was supposed to be spending my morning preparing for the birthday party. Instead, Kyle chauffered me in the car {part of the worst of times for me-- not being able to drive} while we dropped Sav off at preschool and then went to the doc to get X-rays on my foot. Fortunately all was well, but unfortunately I didn't have any time to really have anything together. I came home about 15 minutes before the party was to start. But 4 year-old girls are easily entertained and we just had a ball!
Birthday girl holding her birthday balloon and wearing her crown given to her at preschool. They do a great job of making them feel very special. Sav wore her special princess dress. So cute!
The friends arrived and we played a princess game, provided by one of our guests, Ariel.
Then we sang happy birthday and had a little lunch tea party in the play room...
Then the princesses played with Play-do
...and made necklaces out of wooden beads (we had those on hand thanks to a brilliant Christmas gift from Santa...) No pictures to show, but that's what we did....
And then they huddled in the little princess castle while I read to them sweet little princess stories until the mommies came.
Later, Sav opened her presents from Grandma and Grandpa S.....
....Shopping Cart!!!
some cute clothes, and this darling lunch bag....she LOVES it. :)
Big brother loves his birthday sis.
So, no cute cupcake tower with princess cupcakes (I did manage to have my chauffeur stop by a cupcake shoppe on the way home from the Drs so I could buy 6 cupcakes.), no cute princess party favors, and I didn't have a house full of princesses running around, but Savannah loved it and thought her special party was just perfect.
TWO MONTHS LATER....
In so many ways I feel like the real me is FINALLY back. It's been a while. I'm not hobbling around on crutches or medical boots, I'm not pregnant, and I'm not sleep deprived from a new baby (if I'm sleep deprived, it's my own fault!). Cade's birthday was coming up, and he wanted to have a Super Mario Party. I made up invitations (shocker!) and we delivered them about a week before the big day. In preparation, I was perusing the net, looking for ideas, when I came across one particular blogger who just had her child's Super Mario party (and her daughter recently had a princess party. Cosmic, no?). She had a lot of great ideas I incorporated into the party.
I made these little cupcakes to look like Toad Stools and Bowser spikes and picked up gold coins at the local party store.
Using some felt from the dollar store and raffia I had on hand, I made these little coin pouches. We handed these out to each of the children when they arrived.
Notice the one that's not like the other? Savvy was devastated I didn't make her one, so I quickly threw one together and realized, rather than using felt, I should have printed a picture of the toad stools. MUCH faster! Perhaps the felt toad stools are cuter, but the boys would not have cared.
Then we had them color their own Mario mustache for a game later on...
We set these up on the porch and each child took a turn trying to knock these down with a fire ball, star power, or ice (we have some great nerf balls that are blue, yellow and orange. They were perfect!) Each one was worth a certain number of coins and after their turn each boy collected their winnings.
Next, we split the boys up into two teams and sent them downstairs to stomp on balloons. White ghosts and black chomp chomps. I'll have to post the video of the kids going nuts. I spent a lot of time blowing up the balloons and drawing faces on them. I'm no artist, but it was pretty easy.
The team with the most balloons got some more coins.
Next up? Ping pong toss.
Depending on which cup the ping-pong landed in decided how many coins each boy got, or had to give up...
The Gang!
The next game was my own little creation. "Rescue the Princess from the Hot Lava!"
We have a hot tub in our back yard, and I really wanted to come up with a fun game using it. I found two nets at the Dollar Tree- a green and a red one. Then I borrowed Savvy's princess doll. The boys were split into two teams and then each one had a chance to face off with a member of the opposing team. To start, Kyle told them they had to race to the mailbox and back to the hot tub. Once at the hot tub they could use their net to try and get the princess out. It was a blast!
Next, we did pin the mustache on Mario. Caleb was our winner! He also had collected the greatest number of coins by the end of the last game, so he got a T-shirt with Mario on it (thank you Target clearance!). I saw him at school 2 days later and he was wearing it proudly. So cute. Speaking of shirts, I failed to mention that I myself was sporting a Super Mario T-shirt for the party that matched Cade's. (He is still young enough that he thought it was cool rather than weird I did that). While at Target I found an XL shirt in the boys section and thought I might be able to squeeze into it. Sure enough I did! :)
Then we sang happy birthday!
It was a great day. It was really a blast playing with all the boys and I think they had a good time. It felt so good to have my energy back.
Later, Grandpa Woodbury stopped by and taught Cade how to throw a football.
Darn those aspen roots though. Cade tripped on one...
(Cade's showing off his wound while chatting on the phone with Grandma Sheppard to tell her about his birthday party)
We cleaned it up.... waited....then thanks to my sister and brother in law's advice, I took him to the urgent care to get it sewn up. {After dropping the girls off at their house bc Kyle wasn't home. Reason #342 that living close to your sister is the greatest.}
This was Cade's first time getting stitches! Cade was really nervous. While getting the shots of anesthesia around the wound he was quietly crying, asking the doctor if he was going to die. What a brave, sweet boy. The doctor told him he was a really great patient and it was nice to have a little boy who was still while he did it. When tucking him in bed Cade said, "Mom. I think I know what's going to happen at school. I'm going to tell my class that I got stitches and everyone is going to care about me." So precious. :)
Here's a shot of his war wound....
Kyle asked him to do a "tough" face. Yeah, about as tough as a care bear.
So, two parties. If I take into account how much planning and preparation was spent on each, they'd be at opposite ends of the spectrum. But they were both successes and both enjoyed. I really do like the "new me" ---or rather the old me that has returned.
This past St. Patrick's Day -- Cade spent a great deal of time on this Leprechaun trap...
Cade put some gold in various nooks in the trap to try and lure him in....he snagged the gold but escaped and left us this note:
and a few other green treasures, too! Sav was insistent we leave our shoes by the fireplace because she heard if we did, we may get a few things!
Cade hard at work on his Lego set from Grandma and Grandpa S.
Sav chillin with the Dubes. Notice the green on her face. Lucky left her some green bubbles to blow.... in fact, there's still a bit of a green mess on our porch. Good thing it's washable.
