Small successes...

I've been wondering these last 2 weeks if I am ever going to be able to jump off this treadmill of life and sit down for a moment. I have felt like there has been a lot going on lately. I must be losing my spunk or something. Some days I feel like I'm on autopilot and just making it through the day. Others I'm more engaged, but by 4 o'clock, I'm ready to call it a day. Unfortunately  that's the time of day I need to be on my best game. The Witching Hour I call it.

I am happy to report that we are victorious and triumphed over our family picture session on Friday afternoon. Friday was the last day of decent weather we are going to get for a while, so I feel like we really eeked by this time. The weather was overcast, which made for great lighting. I just feel the biggest relief that it's over with! Family pictures are stressful---  the outfits, making sure the kids are presentable, making sure I'm presentable, timing the naps right etc. etc. It's funny how the day of everything falls apart all day long and then finally comes together at the very end. I know I do most of it to myself. I mean really, if I just didn't care I could just let us wear whatever and look whatever or, shoot, not even take family photos none of this stress would be part of my world. And that's really no big deal. But I've not been good in the past at making sure we get good family pictures taken, and a good family photo is so precious. I've discovered that a good family photo means a lot to me, so I'm willing to endure through all the blood sweat and tears to get them. In hindsight anyway. In the thick of it, I really question my sanity.

Savvy had been up all Thursday night/ early Friday morning with an ear ache, so I took her to the doctor that morning.  Well, I took her after going to the party store to get some balloons to deliver to Cade's teacher who just returned from Maternity Leave. Savvy was given her own balloon, which promptly got popped by the van door closing on it when she was buckling herself in to the car seat on our way to the school. It was devastating to her, poor thing. Then for icing on the cake, the doctor confirmed that Sav had two really bad ear infections, poor thing, so she needed to take it easy the rest of the day, after getting her scrip filled of course. She had been under the weather for a good part of the week, which in some ways, I was grateful for. It caused us to be able to slow down. Because we had to. But it was sad that our Sav was still not doing well.

After the doctor visit we set out to replace our iron. Ours had broken a few days earlier and I needed a replacement BAD. Clothes needed to be pressed for the pictures (unfortunately these were clothes that could not be revived by one of those emergency spins through the dryer-- they were very wrinkled-- totally my fault. Some of the clothes had been sitting in the laundry basket for at least 5 days) I loved my old iron. Fortunately Bed Bath and Beyond carried the one I like (or the newer version of my 6+ year-old iron that I had grown very fond of). After replacing the iron I also felt the need (don't laugh, please!) to find a shirt for Cade because he had worn the shirt I wanted him to wear in family pictures the day before at school and gotten it pretty dirty. I knew the way things were going there wouldn't be time to treat the stains, let it sit, then wash it and dry it all before the pictures. And why couldn't he wear something else in his closet? Well, he hasn't grown the way I expected him to over the summer, so he does not fit into very many of the fall or winter stuff he has in his closet and has grown out of the ones last year. I bought some things for him on clearance last year in preparation for this winter, but I think we'll be lucky if he fits into them next winter.  So I "needed" (I'm using that term very loosely) to get him something that fit. Old Navy came through for me-- yay! (FYI-- Old Navy and Target are the only stores that carry size 6/7 clothes. Everyone else sells 5/6 or 7/8. Neither of which fit Cade. Only the 6/7 do) But I forgot to use my friends and family 30% off coupon, which I even had in the car! Oops. I went back later that evening and got it all sorted out. Thank you Andrew at the Old Navy next to Bed Bath and Beyond for letting me apply my coupon after my purchase.

That was just part of the day, but suffice it to say, the day continued like that. Ruby didn't take her afternoon nap, so to say she was grumpy during the photo shoot is an understatement. And poor Savannah was feeling under the weather and miserable. Fortunately her meds seemed to kick in just as we started taking pictures and we made it through the session with hopefully ONE SINGLE good photo of the 5 of us.

After it was done I felt like I had run a marathon.

Speaking of marathons, I've signed up to do the Ogden Marathon in May. It's time to get rid of this thing on my bucket list once and for all!  I decided I needed a deadline. My 30th birthday was as good as any, so as long as it gets done before July 17th, I can appropriately celebrate. I really want to do just one. I love half marathons. They are the best distance. Full marathons? Well, I've yet to accomplish one so we'll see what I'll be saying about the distance when it comes. I've been running some mornings with my girlfriend Liz and it has made all the difference on so many levels. Getting up and getting my runs done early in the morning leaves me feeling very accomplished come 7am when I get home. I feel more energized during the day, and not to mention running with Liz is so great because she is the kind of person you want to start your day with. She's uplifting, genuine, and runs at the perfect pace. And her dog Harvey is a great body guard.

I'll leave you with some pics of Savvy dancing in the rain I took a couple of weeks ago when the grass was still green....

All done...

Bye!

Bye bye chocolate walls, hello windy skies!

Hello!!!  We are alive and well and up to the usual this and that.  Highlight of the week thus far? I finished scouring my bathroom today. Scrubbing the bathroom is something that has been on my list of things to do for quite some time, but it kept falling down the list. Bathrooms are easy to fall down my list. Finally I came to the realization that I would rather die than my little sis who is coming to stay here overnight see my bathroom in its current state. While I was scrubbing the floor I decided the next time Kyle goes out of town I'll probably paint it. The brown walls in there and the dirty trim were really bugging me. I have no idea what color, so I'll probably consult my friend Jessica again and have her whip something grand up.

Remember the room she designed for me?  Well I'm finally finished!! (ummmm...mostly, still need to hang my Nauvoo plate, but other than that, it's officially finished) Back in March she consulted with me on my ideas for this room. I gave her some ideas I had, along with my taste (or what I perceived my taste to be) and how I wanted the room to function. Then I snapped some pictures, took some measurements and e-mailed them to her and in a matter of days she had a plan for me!

It was so awesome and helpful having "someone to answer to" so to speak. Had I not had her help, I'd probably still be humming and hah-ing over paint colors. It was also great to work with her because she has opinions and ideas whereas Kyle is really indifferent. I found a shelf at a yard sale and she told me what color to paint it. Had I asked the same question to Kyle, this is more likely the response I'd get: "Why did you buy that thing and where is it going?" I consulted with her about my ideas for a couch and she helped me take the plunge and get something I loved, even if it was lighter in color. 

When I was painting the room in the middle of the night I could send her a picture text of my progress and she could get all excited over it with me. That was really nice.  Every girl needs a cheerleader in her corner when she's making big changes to her home and Jessica was wonderful! 

So you would have thought that Jess was like my next door neighbor or at least in the same town as me.

Nope. She's all the way in Virginia. We did all our communication via email and texting. While that may seem terrible, it was actually great and super convenient. I moved at the pace that worked with my lifestyle. (ie painting the room in the middle of the night while the kids were sleeping) And even though it took me 6 months to finish it, I never felt any pressure to "hurry up already." 

So, here are the "before" and "after" pics

BEFORE: Brown, Brown and more BROWN. It was EVERYWHERE!!!

After: As you can see, I not only had this room painted, but also did the entryway (yellow) and toy room (green). This room created the domino effect in my entire house and got me moving on my plans to lighten things up.

Originally Jess planned for me to have drapes, but I did like these plantation shutters. So I thought I'd see what it looked like with some paint and furniture...

Sure enough, they looked great and didn't need any drapes (in my humble opinion)

Really this room got started when I bought the bookshelf. I saw this in a store about 5 years ago and fell in love. In fact, I remember walking through the store with my friend Alicia and just loving it.  6 moves later I was thrilled to first, live in the state where I first saw this book shelf, and second, finally live in a home in which a piece of furniture like this could be properly housed.  

The chairs came soon after. After sitting in several, I finally picked out the style that were the most comfortable for reading in, then I picked this bee print, thinking it was cute and whimsical, and  fitting, seeing as how insects provide our bread and butter, and we live in the beehive state.

Next came the couch. Couches are expensive. Let me rephrase that. Good couches can be expensive.  I thought about using the couch that came with the house (it matches the existing love seat pictured in the "befores") since we had it...then I toyed with the idea of getting this Ikea couch. Jessica continued holding my hand the entire way through the couch selection, offering her advice and opinions.

Finally I made my way into Ethan Allen just to see what they had to offer. I was really impressed with their selection and customer service. Both of their sales people were really great at helping me define my style.  I initially started with the "design your own" couch line and then came back and was able to find an existing couch that matched what I had designed pretty closely for half the cost.  

I wanted to keep that airy, fresh, look so I went with a light but durable fabric. While I was at it, I decided to design an ottoman too. It was really fun, surprisingly painless, and the kids sat in the store patiently watching a Christmas movie the entire time. They got snowcones afterwards for their good behavior.

Jess stretched me and gave me links for some modern prints to try out for pillow covers. When it comes to home decor, I typically lean towards traditional over modern, but I decided to take the plunge with the navy and white modern pillows. The red ones I found at TJ Maxx-- they don't have a modern red print, but the fabric was a canvas-like material that gave it the casual feel I was going for. The blue ones I found on etsy (of course!) and they are Kyle's very favorite part of the room I think. He calls them the "Greek Pillows."  I switch back and forth depending on my mood from the pillows in the above picture to the modern pillows.  I keep whichever pillows I'm not using in the ottoman, which, might I add, was a brilliant selection on my part. If you ever have a choice between a storage ottoman and a coffee table, always go with an ottoman. Not only can you store things in it or on it, you can also use it as extra seating. Yes, I heart storage.

Once the room was painted and the furniture moved back into place, I moved ALL the books into this room (minus many of the children's books which are in the toy room). I organized many of them by color, and then others by genre (parenting, marriage, self-helf, novels, books I wouldn't mind loaning out, etc). 

Funny story about these pictures of Savvy and one of her favorite books--- Savvy loved them so much she begged me to take them off the wall and put them in her room. I relented when I found an adorable painting of a cute little girl with a book by a French artist. I also have some French antique keys hanging in the adjacent corner to the new painting, so I call it "my French corner"

I love these frames to hold the kids' art.  Not only does it put one on display, but it holds many more pieces of artwork inside the frame. You can get them at Target.

I saw the silver pot/vase on an end cap at, you guess it, Target. I liked it and started dreaming up some sort of floral-ness to go inside of it. I decided upon Forsytha. It's a funky, long-stemmed thing that can hold it's own when you stick a few branches in it. I found the perfect forsythia stems at Campus Craft and Floral. this shot doesn't really do the pot 'o forsythia justice, but that's okay. We like it! I love how forsythia reminds me of Kyle and I's first home in Provo with the big forsythia bush in front of our bedroom window. It makes me think of my floral design class I took my last semester of college. It also conjures up fond memories of driving down the streets of Seattle to visit my brother and his family and hearing Savannah say, "Look, Mom! Forsythia!!!" and being so tickled that my little 3 year-old knew such a big word.

I found these storage boxes at TJ Maxx. The colors tied into the room nicely while providing me with some more storage space. The big box keeps all the dust jackets of the books and the little one keeps the kids' journals and journaling supplies (crayons, scissors, scrap paper, adhesives, etc).

I think this is the most clever piece in the room and makes this room and official library. I laugh to think that I not only was alive during the time the card catalogue system was being used, but I remember my librarian, Mrs. Davis teaching us about the Dewey Decimal system and actually using the card catalogue! I suppose that makes me an official antique!

This holds CDs and other randomness. Can you tell I am all about STORAGE? 

My happy place.... :) Another great thing about getting this room done was the fact that it forced me to get my children's pictures taken. You can't have a gallery wall without pictures of your kids, can you? Really, it's amazing the trickle effect committing to finishing a room has in the rest of your world. It was great!

This is hands down my favorite room in the house.  I love snuggling up to a good book in here. This is where I read to Savvy her Little House books (we finished the first one and just started the 2nd!), and where we read the scriptures as a family. 

Am I crazy for picking out such light-colored fabric? We'll see. I just love the look of lighter furniture (in fact, I am ready to take a can of spray paint to the card catalogue and lighten it up for kicks!)   When the furniture got delivered I called the children into the room for a special meeting.  I made a really big deal out of it, explaining that when I was picking out the couch, the people in the store kept telling me I couldn't because I had kids. I continued with the story: "'I told those store clerks that I had special kids. Kids that are REEEEALLY good listeners who know how to treat things with respect.  I have the best kids in the world. Most people couldn't have white furniture, but since I've got such great kids, I knew it wouldn't be a big deal and they would be just fine."  Cade and Savvy ate this up and I got the reaction I was looking for. We sat down and discussed some house rules for the room and at the end Savvy said enthusiastically, "we should make a sign for these rules  and hang them up in here!" 

There is no sign, much to Savvy's dismay, but they do a great job without it.   I won't tell them I did get the special warranty. White couches I feel it would be served well to have a warranty on. :)

Thanks, Jess!!!!  

Now it's time to dream up something nice and pleasant for my bathroom. I bet I'd clean it much more often if the walls were a different color. Ha! Excuse, excuses....

Mmmmmm... fall!

Ruby turned one,

Savvy started preschool,

and Cade started 2nd Grade...

Practically 2 months ago! 

But I can't write about those things until I feel like it's fall.

Because where I come from 

school starts in the fall.

Here it's still summertime in my book when school starts.

So even though the kids are schoolin' it

I still think it's summer.

Now that we've roasted marshmallows

in the mountains a few times 

and I had to wear a jacket while doing it,

I suppose it's fall.

So it's kosher for me to talk about

Cade in school,

my baby turning one (okay, maybe that one's more of a summer event...),

and Savvy being all savvy in class.

On second thought I think I'll save that for tomorrow.

Tonight I had stroke of brilliance.

(those seem to be occurring less often than I'd really prefer)

The children practiced their primary program parts--

in the hot tub!

It was the most effective practice we've ever had.

Cade even came up with this idea

that each time you practiced your part

you got to dive into the hot tub for a water-proof puzzle piece

until the puzzle was complete!

Worked like a charm.

Their parts are memorized 

so my job is done!

P.S.  A happy birthday shout out to my little Sis, Rebecca! 

Today she turns 25 24

(we actually couldn't remember when we went out the other night)

I know that she's five years younger than me.

But I can't even remember my own age,

So that makes it trickier. 

Ya know?

Ah, to be 24 again...

She's the oldest, most mature 24 year- old I know.

She's so sweet.

Thoughtful.

I call her for parenting advice,

(remember, I started my family almost 8 years ago. She did 2 years ago)

and to remind me what I have ahead of me with my baby girl.

She's a fanatical budgeter.

Secretly competitive.

She hates shopping

for herself.

She's got gorgeous blonde hair

and no longer has bunions!

(wahoo!)

She snorts when she laughs.

Loves Pizza

almost as much as saving money.

Her dream car is a minivan

and she's married to her dream man.

Happy Birthday Gooser!!!

one of my favorite shots of goose. circa 2008 i think?

Summer Wheatley and Lafawndah

Trish (& Bailey!) and Summer

Love those golden locks!

xxoxoxoo

out of the mouths of babes

"Mom, doesn't it seem like in Little House in the Big Woods that Ma does all the work and Pa just brings it?"


-- says savvy in the van on the way home.

Facing Fears: Cash Registers

In June of 2000 I graduated from high school and began working three jobs to continue stock-piling my money for college. The first was a full-time day job at Trolley Square in downtown Richmond as a glorified receptionist for the high rise apartment building. That was my 8 to 5. Then, I was able to snag a 6p-11p  part time job at Hollywood Video. The store manager was in my ward and put in a good word with the regional manager so I could get the job (really-- who needs a good word to work at a video store?  Apparently I did.) On Saturdays I leased apartments on the west side of Richmond in the suburbs, filling in for the full-time leasing agents who would much rather do something else with their weekends. It was a busy life.

One evening as I was putting away videos while working job #2, my store manager Ryan called me to the back office. I sat down, curious and a little nervous about what he was going to say. Bosses don't usually take you to their office for a good reason, this much I knew.  "Michelle, your till was off $20 last night." I was shocked, and apologized profusely for my error. "I had no idea," I stumbled, "I will do better to make correct change. I really thought that I've been really careful.... I'm so, so sorry."  A few nights later, I was called to the back office again. My till had been off again. And the amount was again $20 exactly. This time the manager told me I  suspended from the register until further notice, it was company policy. I was mortified. I felt awful. I had reached a new low. I was so inept I couldn't even stand behind the register. After all, I really didn't have any prior retail or register experience beyond working at the snack bar at my pool at the ripe age of 13. When I was told of the registers being off, I assumed without question I must have been the one in the wrong...both times.... two random evenings. $20 exactly both times.

It wasn't until a few days later I thought of something worse: what if my boss suspected I stole the money, and not just mishandled it and gave out wrong change? I was too inexperienced and loathed confrontation much too much to ever address these thoughts with him. But I suspected I must be thought of as a thief. Except I was never fired. Just wasn't allowed at the registers anymore with the exception of an occasional busy night when they really needed me. So I spent my evenings restocking the candy and putting movies back on the shelves. The evenings were some long nights in the movie store.

Looking back on it at the end of the summer it was easy to connect the dots. I soon fell to the likely assumption that one of the assistant managers who closed and counted the register at the end of the night had stolen the money. It made sense as I was an easy target being the new girl. The assistant manager I suspected was a thirty-something single woman who continuously shared her plans of grandeur to move to Alaska with her long-distance boyfriend.  She was the one who had closed the store, 1 hour after I left both evenings my till was off.  But before the summer's end,  I spent my nights there with my self-confidence in the gutter. Registers and handling money in any form terrified me. I was relieved beyond description when the end of the summer came and I was off to college. That meant I no longer had to work in a place where I felt inept and feared others thought I was a thief.  When I  began looking for a job on campus my second semester, I specifically avoided any money handling jobs. I was hired to work at the campus pastry and ice cream shoppe, Sugar n Spice, and never once had to work at the register. I scooped ice cream, made milk shakes, loaded donuts on trays, and handed out brownies. Since then I have never gone near the front side of a cash register and have been completely content with it.

When my little sister told me she was applying for a job at the bank while she was in college, I warned her of the scariness of registers. I didn't want to scare her, but just to let her know apparently it's either really easy for your register to be off... or there are droves of dishonest people around when it came to money....or that I was just as incompetent as they come.  I thought she was the bravest person in the world desiring to work around all that money. I knew that if you were even a cent off the registers at banks you were put on probation.  She passed the register tests with flying colors thought, and never had a problem. She was my hero then, and she continues to be my hero today.

Fast forward 11 years---  The school Book Fair was coming up and needed volunteers. I kept putting off signing up (don't laugh) to help because it meant I'd likely have to work at a register.  Seriously. Those things still caused me great anxiety. As the fair drew closer, the woman in charge of the fair was desperate for help so I relented, hoping I could be the person who "worked the floor" rather than the registers.

The night before I laid in bed awake and finally said aloud, "I hope they don't put me on the registers tomorrow at the book fair,"  Kyle was confused, so I told him my story. When I finished he chuckled and kissed my forehead. Of course I knew how childish it sounded, but it still didn't deny the fact that I'd rather fold 73 loads of laundry than complete a few transactions at a cash register.  And I hate folding laundry.

I showed up at the library while the librarian was explaining to another volunteer how to work the register.  I thought to myself--  maybe they just want one person on the registers and two women on the floor. Nope. Two volunteers were needed at the registers. And I became one of those two people. My heart started pounding and my palms got sweaty. I prayed that no one would come in and buy books. I know that wouldn't benefit the school, but that's how terrified I was.

I sat behind the counter and waited. For about 5 minutes it was blissfully quiet and slow. I decided to get up and straighten some books.  I was beginning to think how lovely it would be if I just got to do that. And then they came. By the dozens. Back to the register I went and took several deep breaths. I was painfully slow for the first 3 transactions and then it got to be a bit more smooth. I did enter one item incorrectly and wasn't sure how to void the transaction. So I  took a pen and wrote next to it on the register tape, "This transaction is wrong" then drew an arrow and wrote " this transaction is correct."  At the end of my shift I learned that the register tape could just be trashed. Oh. All that worry for nothing!

At the end of the day I breathed a sigh of relief and called my big sister to tell her I had faced my fears. Confused, I told her about the Hollywood Video drama, and then told her today I used a register, handled money and everything!

I know it was silly of me to have avoided registers for so long, but you can't deny the power of a life-experience to shape how you feel about something, no matter how long ago it happened or how childish or unfounded the reasons may seem.  To be completely honest, even though I faced this fear,  the only kind of register I'd truly feel comfortable working with is still this one:

Long live the Fisher Price Model. I loved this thing growing up. I think Ruby just may need one, too.

                                               

Lately

-- Cade's piano lessons are going well. So far the practicing hasn't scared him away, likely because his teacher doesn't enforce a "timed" practice session each day-- just simply to practice each song assigned 5 times each day. He genuinely enjoys his lessons. I am loving how close his teacher lives to us. We can walk there faster than driving. BTW-- Hannah, I loved your idea to have him learn a certain number of hymns. That's a great idea. There's a goal, a purpose, and it's up to him.

-- Cade lost his second upper front tooth. His grin is precious.

-- While we are talking about Cade's physical attributes, might I add Kyle gave him a hair cut between conference sessions on Sunday and accidentally used the wrong attachment. He's buzzed now. Still cute, but definitely not the look I was going for especially being that today was picture day. Whoops.
-- One night around 1am I heard a loud noise downstairs. I nudged Kyle awake to go check it out. He obediently went and came back to bed with nothing. Later at 3am the kids woke us up very concerned that their glow stick had spilled all over them. What were they doing up at 3am? Turns out Cade woke Savvy up at 1am and were excited for Saturday morning's brunch before watching General Conference on TV so they set the table (hence the loud noise I heard) and hung a sign. And then they played around the house for a while until the glow stick broke and we sent them to bed. Silly kids!

"Surprise! Cade and Savannah and Ruby love you mom and you dad. Savannah and Cade saved the Day! Horay! Thank us thank you." -- hilarious. We did thank them. Thank you very much. :)

-- I had some spray painting fun on Friday which proved to be perfect weather for spray painting. It was one of our last warm, sunny days for a while. I love the transformation a can of spray paint can offer, but I don't love that my pointer finger is numb and my hand is sore.

(should have taken some after pics... I'll get on it!)

-- Cade's soccer season is over. Bitter sweet. He loved it and had a great season. He got to the point where if he didn't score more than 3 times he thought he played poorly. My oh my. Wait until next year when he has a bigger field, goalies playing, and refs staffing the games. It's going to be a whole new ball game and he'll likely to be lucky to score 3 times in an entire season. My highlight? Getting a goal recorded on the camera. And the chest bump he did with his teammate afterwards. Priceless.

-- Ruby is walking! Two Sundays ago Kyle spent some time with her in the hallways at church and she started taking to the idea of walking long distances. Sure enough, when we got home she decided she wanted to try out our own hallways. After a few days of it, she made it her preferred method of transportation. It's so cute to see this little baby walking around the house like King Kong. Cade and Savvy are especially excited to have a new partner to play chase and hide and seek with.

-- I took a time machine back to 1986 and bought Savvy some foam curlers for her hair. She's starting to lose her natural curl (Sadddd!) and her hair is still quite thin. I though I'd give the curlers a shot and it just tickles me to see my 4 year-old in the same style of curlers I wore at her age. Tonight when she laid on her pillow she said, "Mom, this isn't real comfortable." I told her I usually slept on my tummy (perhaps that's why I am still a tummy sleeper to this day?) and after much thought on the subject she decided she'd stay on her back. We'll see how the curls look in the morning. With her hair so short, I'm anticipating something like orphan Annie. We'll see!

-- My dad when to our school's "Grand Lunch" today-- a sneaky way for the school to get grandparents to come to lunch with the grand kids and then take them to the book fair and spend money on them. Now that Tyler is in kindergarten at the same school Cade is he was able to buy for two grandkids! He brought them McDonald's which was a highlight and then got them each a book. It's great living close enough to family where this can happen.

-- Dad stopped by after the grand lunch and after reading Savvy Curious George (which he adeptly remarked that the book must have been an original because George was smoking a pipe in it and books would never do that now!), he took her for a spin on Kyle's motorcycle. SHE

LOVED IT.

-- Kyle and the kids have taken up geocaching and seem to go any spare moment they have. Savannah's favorite was a cache titled "What the heck is a Palisade?" and she's been going around saying the phrase ever since.

-- Cade hasn't done much in the way of creating lately (minus the rocket ship he and Savannah are coloring out of a cardboard box), but I'm hoping he gets super inspired soon and creates a masterpiece for this year's Reflections Contest. The last two years it's been like pulling teeth to get him to submit an entry and then like a week after the submission deadline, he gets hung up on some art project at home and spends every waking moment working on it. Like this solar system for example:

We'll see!

He's very proud when he wins awards and such, so much so that they earn a spot on his bedroom wall. You'd think that would motivate him. It's like the motivation seems to happen AFTER the fact. Hmmm. I'm going to do my best to not be a helicopter mom and trying to inspire him from afar. We'll see how that method works.

-- Kyle has been enjoying playing softball and soccer on some old men's athletic teams. We enjoy having him come home to share his war wounds and stories... red cards, scratches, sprained thumbs, bruised egos feet, etc. etc.

(Kyle with his then broken phone.)

What we did this Summer and Cha-cha changes!

These last few months I've been feeling for many of my dear friends who have endured an all-too-familiar dose of CHANGE. Big changes-- like the kind that involve selling a house, moving to a new house, having a baby, getting married, changing jobs...the list goes on. Each time I read a new announcement revealing another life-altering event, I've been thrilled for my friends, though have breathed a sigh of relief that it isn't me dealing with all the change.

I  had high hopes for this summer involving my own changes.  This was my first summer in a very long time that the children and I have stayed home. We didn't vacation anywhere further north than Latyon, Utah (to pick up a very special surprise for Savannah) nor further south than... Probably downtown Provo I'd say.  I've been healthy, the kids have been healthy and therefore we have been HAPPY! I have loved it!

So if we weren't traveling, there wasn't ababy on the way, I didn't chop several inches off my hair (though that's starting to appeal to me more each day) Kyle was still pest controlling it like he has always done - then what big changes could there have possibly been?   Well,  to the rest of the world, the list isn't exciting, but for me, accomplishing what I have so far has really been gratifying.

I'm finally making this home mine, and I feel like I'm finally "coming into myself." I know, that usually happens to girls in high school or college at the latest. I must be a late bloomer. In any case, it's nice to have arrived. This summer was time for great self-discovery, quality and quantity time with my children, and really making my home flow the way I want it to, and to reflect my personality and the needs of our household. In the mean time, Kyle popped in here and there and spent most of the summer getting his branch in Northern Virginia humming.

For my birthday, I treated myself to something called "Transform Your Life"-- it was a 6 week course on how to create a life of joy, order and influence.  I had a "coach" who lead a discussion each week for an hour and focused on different areas of our lives. First she started with helping us sort out our values and then align our priorities with those values. This took a great deal of introspection. Often times I have found myself believing I value something, but then my behavior could completely disregard that value. We then went into other areas of our lives. She discussed mental, physical, spiritual wellness as well as how our environment can affect our world. In a nutshell-- I LOVED IT!  It was convenient (I didn't have to leave my home! they were conference calls the same time each week for 1 hour), and I got out of it as much as I was willing to put into it. The timing was really great so I was able to do my homework and re-listen to her "lectures" during the week to really solidify what she was saying.  Now that it has been a few months, I am looking forward to revisiting and re-listening to those calls. I feel like I've really gotten a handle on certain things, and have let other things slide. I like the feeling of progressing and revisiting those things I learned will help me continue towards progression.

What I appreciated the most about the course was how realistic the coach was. She told me not to expect to be the person I want to be once the 6 weeks were over. Life was still going to happen, I'd have set backs, but I would at least be headed in the right direction and that's what I needed to focus on. I feel like I now have to tools and can apply them when I'm ready to take on mastering another goal I've set. Anyway, I highly recommend it! It wasn't ridiculously priced like many other coaching programs are out there. I feel like Valene's value set was similar to mine, and that makes a difference. It gave me confidence and validity in what she was teaching.  It was well worth it. Valene's web site is here .

While  I was supposedly "transformed" -- what visible things took place?  Lucky for you I'm a list person... while I often get wordy, there's also great joy in making lists and checking things off lists. Sometimes I write things on lists so I can cross them off. Here's a handful of some of those things...

• Painted our library (formerly the living room-- a library is much more fun and used much more!) blue
• Painted the toy room green
• Painted Savannah's room green
• Hired some very nice guys to paint the rest of the main level in a lovely shade of yellow called "Cottage Cream"
• Took my sewing machine in to get repaired. That was one of those things at the bottom of my to-do list but I decided to just do it. It feels good to do something at the bottom of the lists sometimes.
• Found Cade and Savvy bikes on KSL and picked them up!
• Went on a 10 mile bike ride with my parents and sisters and their families-- I pulled the girls in a trailer and Cade rode the ENTIRE 10 miles! It was awesome and we plan on making this a family tradition.
• I finally retrieved my childhood ten-speed from my parent's garage and have actually taken it on bike rides with Savvy
• Attended the temple each week 
• Cleaned out my closet
• Got Cade's picture taken
• Had the siblings take pictures together, too!
• Took up Zumba
• Started Running again
• Went to Education Week (highlight!!)
• And lastly --but certainly not least: 

Hosted a pool party with The Bookettes

I've mentioned my friends, the Bookettes before. I've known them since I was a young newlywed. I'm still young, right? These gals have been there for me through all my moves and babies (because really, what were the first 6 1/2 years of my marriage but moves and pregnancies and babies?! I'm sure there was other stuff, but it's all a blur.). They are amazing, fiercely loyal, and genuine. I once read a book about a book club....the ladies, most of them mothers with young kids, once got together at one of the gals house's in her backyard pool. It was just them in their pool floats sipping cool drinks and talking about their hopes and struggles.  It's always been a dream of mine to recreate that scene in the book with my own friends. And, after all, if you have a pool in your back yard, what good is it if you can't spend some quiet time with the ladies laying out and enjoying each other's company? (Actually it's still nice to have, but to enjoy it like this is priceless!)  Despite the unusual hour (we typically have book club in the evening) a handful of them were able to steal away for a few hours in the middle of the afternoon sans children and soak up the sun, eat some good food, laugh, sigh, and offer encouragement. After all, isn't that what friends are for?

Laurel really made the vision a reality by bringing her entire pantry to the poolside bar. She mixed us up the most amazing shaved ice creations.

SHAVED ICE+CREAM+CHOCOLATE+ ALMOND ROCA FLAVORING= HEAVEN.

The lovelies enjoying their food and being kid-less (mostly. Karen was a super star and made it for a bit in between dropping off and picking up her older kids. She has the cutest kids!

See? I told you Karen's kids were cute. Doesn't this little guy's smile melt you?

Sweet Sadie!

Ah, looking at these pictures make me happy. I sorely missed my other Bookettes who weren't able to make it. It would be great to have had everyone there. 

The time went by too, too quickly, but I think we all felt recharged and energized and ready to face the whatever the world decided to dish us after this heavenly afternoon. This will definitely be a repeat event. In fact, I think we should do it twice next summer.

"I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Runny noses, piano lessons and cancer...

-- Ruby seems to be coming down with something...again. She had a cold/runny nose/ear ache for  3 weeks. She was healthy for a mere 9 days, and now her nose is running again, she's running a fever and not sleeping well. Poor thing. And if we are going to be honest here, I'm kind of feeling sorry for myself here, too. When she doesn't sleep, I don't sleep. And I don't really like that.

--- Today I went to Helaman Halls to bring a printer to one of my Chicago Mia Maids who is now a freshman at BYU. Walking the Halls was nostalgic for me, and it was also hard to believe this little 15 year-old girl of mine was now an official adult.  It was fun to see her in her new element and the best part was when her roommate thought I was her 20 year-old friend stopping by. It was awesome. I hope I still look 20 in 10 years.

--- Today Cade wasn't nearly as happy to do chores and homework when he got home as he was the other day. I left to go to the temple a little while after he got home. Our babysitter reported that he happily did it all when I was gone. So this must mean he needed space from his mom. Are we really already there? That makes me sad. At least it's good to know he's a self-starter. Just sad to take in that he seems to be happier when I'm not around. I'm deciding to take this personally.

--- Cade starts piano lessons tomorrow. This is very unfamiliar territory for me. I haven't yet decided what my attitude about this will be -- there's a number of different philosophies. There's a. the "you must take lessons until you are 18 years old and I don't care what you feel about it!" philosophy. Or, b. try it out for a few years and see how you like it.  Then c. you don't have to pick the piano, but you MUST choose one instrument to play d. uhhhh?  I had been feeling lately that I should expose him to it and then see where it goes. It has amazed me how hard it has been to fill callings for primary pianists and I suppose this is my way of doing my part to help insure there are pianists in future wards.  I heard about this fabulous teacher who lives quite close who charges hardly anything. She's talented and also amazing with the children.  I told Cade about it when Savannah was at the dinner table and said it like this:  "Now Savannah, please don't get too jealous, but I've signed Cade up for piano lessons. When you are 7, you can sign up for piano lessons, too, okay?"  It worked like a charm. Savvy was visibly bummed that she got left out of this "special" treatment, so Cade decided he wasn't going to throw a fit about it or mope. So I guess we need to get a keyboard or something until I can make a commitment to a piano.

--- Savvy finally got to go to her dance class today. The car battery (thanks to my dear, sweet neighbor) was fully charged and the car was able to get us out of the garage for the first time in 2 days. She loved the class, reported that her teacher was super nice and told me next time she wants the class to last longer.

--- A dear friend of mine told me yesterday she has breast cancer. It has really brought perspective back into my narrow-minded little world. I'm devastated for her, but she is young, optimistic, prayerful, giving and a very healthy woman otherwise. She will beat it. I just wish she didn't have to go through with this. It is a tough journey; one that hits so close to home.

Tuesday Evening Musings

--- Today I got to spend the day with my little sister and niece. I had to chuckle watching my little sis hobble around. Rebecca took the bunion plunge and had a double bunion-ectomy this past Thursday.  She swore she wouldn't go through with that for another 10 years. Her feet started really bugging her again so she went to the doctor and was told her recovery would be less extensive than mine, but she'd have to do it soon because her foot was on the verge of being as bad as mine. So she quickly made the decision to go through with it. We've had very different experiences thus far. Her doctor allowed her to have 2 done at once. My doctor absolutely would not because I needed one strong leg to get around because my left foot wouldn't be able to have any pressure on it at all for 7 weeks.  I loved the anesthesia, Rebecca doesn't care much for it. I felt no pain, Rebecca has felt both pain and nausea from the pain meds. I cried when I saw my new foot unwrapped for the first time. Rebecca was thrilled and her foot didn't look weird really at all to her. I started out with a cast,  and used crutches and a wheel chair. Rebecca was able to walk on them the same day, but has used a walker (the idea of seeing her with a walker puts me into hysterics) and a wheel chair and crutches, but prefers now to walk. There's more but it just goes to show even if you've experienced something, it's likely to not be experienced the same by someone else.

--- You know that dance class Savvy was so excited about? Well, it started today. And just as I had the girls all loaded up to go, the van didn't start. A passenger door had been left open from the night before and ran the battery dead. Try telling a 4 year-old dancing queen wannabe that she can't go to dance class. Fortunately having cousin Bailey to play with quickly distracted her from her overwhelmingly painful devastation.  With the help from my brother-in-law Jake and neighbor, I was able to charge the battery.  Hopefully tomorrow we can get around!

--- I'm REALLY excited to pick up my paintings I had gallery wrapped at BYU.  I ordered them from a dear friend and fabulous artist and dropped them off over a month ago to get done. This has been a long time coming. I love art that speaks to me! Betcha can't guess which one is going in my kitchen:  http://lesliegraff.com/ {Click on Portfolio, then Domestic and check out her series}. In fact, I think it's high time I start hanging up all sorts of art on my wall. I'm done enjoying the new color of the walls and am ready to take the plunge in putting holes in them in order to personalize my home. For some reason I can go weeks and weeks without hanging my stuff back up after painting, and then in a matter of hours have all my wall-hangings up and I'm scratching my head wondering why in the world I waited so long to do it.

-- Speaking of wall-hangings, on my organization blog I expressed very openly my feelings of disdain about a certain wall-hanging in our home that takes me far, far away from my happy place. Kyle recruited several people to back him up on this wall-hanging. It's pretty one-sided at the moment. I think I may need to rebut soon. My girlfriend Jessica made a hilarious post on her design blog here regarding the matter as well. Entertaining if nothing else. I refuse to accept that antlers are in though. ugh. However, i would consider it a victory if I were able to only display the antlers and not the animal.

-- Sunday evening the kids and I returned home from the Hunter Family Reunion in Downata. Kyle headed further north with his brothers and father and uncle and cousin ( I think I got everyone) for their annual backpacking trip. My sister-in-law Kristen joined me on the ride down, and the drive zoomed by!  Right before we left on our trip I made a last-minute stop at the library to check out some books on CD. I got a couple Ramona books and Harriet the Spy. They were hits. If fact, last night after scripture and prayers I asked if they wanted to take a field trip to the car to listen to another chapter. They were thrilled. Why haven't I taken more advantage of Books on CDs for my kids before?

--- Downata was a great place to reunionize (Blogger is telling me that is not a word, but I am choosing for it to be a word). There were accommodations for everyone.  I've learned by this point that you don't really sleep well when you take trips with kids and sleep in the same room as them, so I didn't go into it expecting to get much sleep. But even with that expectation, I was highly let down the first night. Ruby wasn't happy about not being in her little dark cave at home. The next night went slightly better, but what made the difference is Kyle slept on the "outside" of the bed which meant he took care of her, and I got a little more sleep that way. Though we were leaving the reunion early, I was ready to get some sleep. I must be getting old. Or just wise. I so cherish a good night's sleep. It seems so rare these days and I'm willing to do anything to attempt to get it!

--- I really enjoyed going to the pool on Friday in the early evening at Downata Hot Springs-- it was quiet and Cade and Savvy swam to their hearts content while my heart stayed calm because I could see where they were the entire time. No hunting for my chillins in a sea of faces and bodies.  And, the water was nice and warm. Saturday we had a blast on the slides. Cade went down one called Black Hole and decided it was creepy, so he just went down the friendlier one after that. I had to try out the creepy slide for myself. It was pretty thrilling and I was honestly pretty impressed  Cade went through with it. Savvy unfortunately didn't have great luck going down the slides for the latter part of Saturday. Kyle and I had taken turns watching Ruby at the campsite/cabin and being with the kids at the pool. When I was with the kids, they turned Savvy down on the tall pool slide for being too short, even though she had already gone down at least a dozen times with Kyle in charge earlier. It was a new life guard who didn't believe she could swim.  I couldn't blame her though. Savvy is so small it's hard to believe she's capable of getting to the wall on her own.  What was heartbreaking was Savannah coming down the steps of the slide after the life guard told her she couldn't go down. She was heartbroken and in tears.

-- While in Downata, Ruby was trained inadvertently to take naps in an un-darkened room.  As a result: the dear child is sleeping in her room upstairs in her crib!  She has been sleeping downstairs in the guest bedroom in her port-a-crib for the last few months due to her need for darkness, and my desire for her to sleep well. It was perfect timing because we were able to get my niece to take a nap in the guest room this afternoon.

-- My rock star big sister Melody qualified for the Boston Marathon again! She ran her marathon in Pocatello this past weekend in 3 hours and 11 minutes. She placed 3rd in her age group, 6th among the women and 21st among the men-folk and the lady-folk. And she woke up twice to feed her 6 month old baby the night of her race. She's definitely earned her title this past weekend of being "My Crazy Running Sister."  She's starting to get me thinking about signing up for a half marathon in November. I like Half Marathons. They are the perfect distance.  No pain. Able to enjoy the entire way. Long enough to help me commit to running on a regular basis.

-- I'm SO excited for our friends the Spencer's who recently delivered their sweet little Abby. YAAAAAY!

-- Cade came home from school today and did his homework and reading completely independent of me. How wonderful would it be if this were the beginning to how the after-school routine will go with him from now until he's 18?  Glorious I tell ya. Glorious.

-- I need to get my hair trimmed when Kyle comes back. Don't let me forget, okay?

We're Back!

Heyyyyy! 

So glad you could stop by! We're home from a Family Reunion up North. 

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!