Dinner

Today M had the day off, and my brother is still here, so we all went into the District today after B-man got home from school. We first went to Arlington National Cemetery, then the World War II memorial, and then a quick stop off at the Vietnam War memorial. After all that we got back in the car and figured out dinner.

We decided to take our brother to a fun place right across the street from the White House called Old Ebbitt Grill. It is a pretty nice place, but you don't feel out of place in shorts. At least not if you go early enough in the day. Skate and I were sitting at the table waiting for the rest of the family to join us. We had so many adventures. Here they are slightly in order. All of this was happening very fast.

1. B-man noticed the HUGE mural with three women painted in "the buff." This is a nice establishment. He sits down and says, "Mom, look." And points right at the mural. He was sitting next to my brother, and he had been sitting there for ten minutes without noticing it. I had to try and explain why it was okay to show people without clothes on in art to a five year old. Slightly impossible.

2. The table has a table cloth on. J quickly tries the trick where you pull the table cloth off the table without breaking anything. Luckily we averted that crisis.

3. B-man first decides he wants shrimp. Plain shrimp. Then for a brief moment he wanted crab. Then he decided on a hamburger. This was his order "I want a hamburger, no cheese please. But pickles and ketchup." He got extra pickles but was slightly disturbed that they were spears. He wanted them "in the hamburger." I cut them up and slid them in. Another crisis averted.

4. B-man after a few reminders of manners started telling everyone "Thank-you Sir!" He even asked for more water when his glass was full just so that he could thank the server.

5. While all of this was going on we were basically giving J anything he wanted off of our plates or the food that we brought for him. B-man was being especially helpful with J and kept handing him fries off his plate. Is it bad for a baby to eat fries? We didn't really stop him since it meant we could finish our own food.

6. As we were walking to our car I realized that every time I looked back at B-man and he keeps trying to hide a mint he had in his hand. It was one of those mints you get on your way out of the door of a restaurant. I could tell that he thought he wasn't supposed to have the candy. That he had stolen it. Which was hilarious because of course they were free. So that was another fun conversation we had about being sneaky etc.

The dinner was great, and exhausting. We were working so hard to keep the kids quiet that it wasn't like we had amazing stimulating conversation. But hopefully we helped B-man learn a little more manners, and we all got to eat in a great DC haunt.

May 2, 2010

May 2, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday was a pretty quiet day.  Most days have been pretty quiet.  M has been trying to get his back feeling better and I haven't felt great myself.  So we haven't been moving that quickly.  I did some shopping for food during the day, and that night for FHE we went to our friends' house.  They did a great lesson on stories from the life of Jesus.  It was a cute little lesson.  We then came home and got the kids in bed.

Tuesday was a slow day, not much going on.  Wednesday was a pretty slow day for most of the day.  That night we had a camp certification for the girls.  I didn't realize that I didn't really need to be there.  It was all put on by the Stake camp leaders, but it was still nice to be there and visit with some of the other leaders from other wards.  That night M and I listened in on a conference call while my brother opened up his mission call.  It was so fun to be able to listen to him reading it. We are so excited for him.

Thursday we were so excited to have my brother Skate coming into town.  I sent B-man off to school, and then I tried to finish up the last details that needed to be done.  Sadly we realized that my poor brother had some long delays, and so he wouldn't be coming until much later in the day.  B-man was so sad that he wasn't there.  We had a lot to do while we were waiting.  I went to a friend's house for some information on essential oils, and then met another leader at a fabric store to get some things for a project.  From the fabric store we then went home for a quick snack and then headed to the airport.  We did a lot of laps while we waited for my brother to get his lost baggage problem squared away, and then we headed back home.  My poor brother had had an exceptionally long night and day.  As soon as we got home I started dinner.  After dinner and getting everyone ready for bed both M and I left for different church meetings.  We were so grateful to have my brother there so that we could get to our meetings.  After my meeting I then went late to our book club.  We discussed "Blink" and had a great time.  I was up way too late.  I came home just completely exhausted.  Everyone was long in bed when I got home.

Friday was a recovery day.  We all were pretty tired after such a busy day.  We had a nice quiet day.  B-man was so excited to have Skate around.  We did a trip to Costco, so that he could get his passport pictures.  That night for our family party we went to a local restaurant that was having a big promotion.  After dinner and the boys were in bed we watched "Sherlock Holmes."  It was a fun movie. 

Saturday was a fun day.  I spent the morning hunting at garage sales.  I found some fun things and then headed home.  When we got home we had lunch and got organized and then headed out to Harper's Ferry with my brother.  It was a hot, hot day, but we managed to still have fun.  I didn't realize that my brother knew all about the history at Harper's Ferry.  We should have had him giving us the tour!  We walked down by the river at one point, and B-man decided that he needed to either fish or go swimming.  (Even though he had told us there were alligators in the water.)  Once we found a suitable spot he stripped off his shirt and shoes and jumped in the water.  He swam around for a while, and probably would have liked to keep swimming, but we were tired of all the bugs.  We then headed off to finish exploring the town.  On our way to the car we bought some ice cream.  It was our way of "paying" for parking since M parked in the employee parking for the ice cream store.  It was delicious and a great way to cool us off for the ride home.  Luckily our car was still there for us to drive home in.  The rest of the day was a rush to get people fed and to bed before settling down and watching a basketball game. 

Today has been a normal Sunday for us...  No meetings for M before church, which was nice.  We were able to get things ready for dinner and I worked on my lesson.  Church went well, and I taught a combined lesson to all the young women on journals.  After church we went home while M met with the Bishop.  We had dinner and read books before getting the boys in bed.

We're so happy Skate is here.  We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

Exterminator

A week ago I was finally heading upstairs to bed. I saw a dark shape on the carpet, and after a quick examination determined that it was a HUGE spider. It was too big for me to kill. I have a severe aversion to squishing big things, but it was also too big to leave there. For a moment I was paralyzed and didn't know what to do. M had been in bed for over an hour. I didn't think he would like to be woken up, but I just could not walk away from this spider, and I could not squish it myself. Finally I came up with a solution...

Luckily all these supplies just happened to be close at hand.  I put the container on, and then nervous that the spider would be tricky and pull a fast one on me I looked for something to weigh it down a little so there could be no escape from underneath.  If you look really closely you can see the dark shadow of the creature.  Only downside to this arrangement was that it mean I had to wait quite a while for M to save the day.  This set up was around for twenty hours until M came home and took care of the beast.  I was very careful that B-man and J stayed far away from it.  And although I probably could have come up with something that didn’t take twenty hours to finish, at least I knew it was dead.  Because spiders get killed in my house when they dare to show their little creepy bodies.

April 18, 2010

April 18, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

We are back to normal here in the East. Monday we did shopping etc. That night after dinner we had FHE and discussed a story from “The Friend” on talents. We are slowly trying to expand our FHEs because (at least in theory) B-man should be able to pay attention for longer than five minutes.

Tuesday was a quiet day. That night was mutual and we took all of the Young Women for a scavenger hunt at the mall. For the most part it was a very fun activity and the girls were great. I really love my girls right now. They are so wonderful.

Wednesday was a busy day. After B-man got home from school, and after his friend left that comes over for about an hour three days a week, we drove about forty-five minutes to a doctor’s office. We had been told by a friend about a study that was being done for children, and if you participated you were VERY well compensated. I stopped and got McDonald’s for lunch as part of the bribery for B-man. When we got to the office we waited for a few minutes. Then they took us back to a room and explained the study, had me sign some papers, and then they took one vial of blood, and gave him the Flu Mist vaccine. We were done in about fifteen minutes. B-man was so brave about the blood being drawn. He didn’t cry or complain at all and all the doctors and nurses were complimenting him on how brave he was. He was so brave, and they were super fast which helped things. After we got home we played for a while outside, and then got ready for dinner. That night I went to a baby shower for two of my friends that are going to be having babies very soon. It was a fun night and a great chance to chat and catch up with each other.

Thursday was a slow day. Not a lot going on. That night M went out with the missionaries for about an hour. They didn’t get a chance to see many families, but the missionaries did have a lot of good information to share.

Friday was a fun day. B-man had no school because it was a teacher work day. It was so great to not have to rush off to school. After J’s nap we packed a picnic lunch and headed off to a fun park. We met up with a bunch of other moms from our old ward. B-man had a blast running around. Every so often he would come back and ask for some food and then run off again. J and I tried to find a little shade to eat our lunch in. The day was very hot, but we survived. After we got home we all had popsicles to cool off, and then we all felt revived for the rest of the day. That night we had our family party, and we ate pizza and watched “Star Wars.” It’s what B-man wants to do most of the time…

J with one of his lizards. He loves to crawl around with them in his mouth.

Saturday was a fun day. I went out garage sale hunting in the morning. I found most of my things at the first three houses, and then the very last house of the day. But at the last house I B-man a ton of clothes for the next size up. I love it when I find a house with a ton of good clothes for super cheap. When we got home we had a few lazy hours. We ate lunch, played; M ran some errands, etc. Then after J woke up from his nap we drove out to the farm. The farm was sunny, but very windy and cold. The boys were all good sports about the cold. We played for about an hour before catching the hay ride to the field to pick. I realized quickly that J was done with the cold, so we went and sat in the car so I could feed him where it was warm. B-man and M picked spinach and kale and then came back to the car and we went home. At home we fixed a super quick dinner because we were all starving. That night M ran a few errands, and I worked on some things for dinner on Sunday and my lesson.

B-man's "I'm watching Star Wars" face...

Today has been a good day. M had meetings early, and while he was gone B-man and I watched “Joy to the World,” and “The Testaments.” B-man’s reactions to the movies were really cute and opened up some discussions about testimony and Jesus. The rest of the time we spent finalizing getting ready for church and eating enough so that we wouldn’t be hungry during church. Church went well. I taught in Young Women’s and was pleased with how the lesson turned out. I really do love the girls in my class. We have some great girls. After church we rushed home to make the final preparations for dinner. We had two families over for dinner, one was a family we know very well, and one was a family that we don’t know at all. It was a crazy couple of hours, but I think it was fun too. We did ham and cheesy potatoes. That is pretty hard to mess up. Just as the families were leaving our sweet neighbors dropped off a huge strawberry shortcake for us. We have such great neighbors. We then immediately put the boys to bed, and finished cleaning up.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

Kids

Yesterday before church B-man and I watched a few church videos before church. It was kind of nice because I could tell that he was feeling something and we were able to talk about what the Holy Ghost feels like and testimonies etc. It was such a sweet little moment.

Of course kids have a way of keeping you humble. So approximately two minutes later we were eating yogurt in the kitchen. When I asked him what his favorite flavor of yogurt is he responded...

"Vanilla because it tastes like coffee!"

And there you go. Keeping us nice and humble.

April 11, 2010

April 11, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday morning by the time we were in bed from our flight it was about two in the morning. So we decided to let everyone sleep in a little. We got B-man to school late, but he was still there for part of the day. Most of the day was about recovering, unpacking, etc. I did take J to the doctor, I was sure he had an ear infection. Turns out his ears are fine, and he just has a mystery virus. For FHE we went to dinner as a family. The lack of sleep did help people to go to bed at the right time that evening.

Tuesday morning I had a presidency meeting. M stayed home all day because we were getting a new phone/internet/cable and he wanted to be there if any problems arose. I was so happy that I didn’t have to do it by myself. I made it to the grocery store and did more unpacking. That night was mutual. We did a little matching game where we matched the General Authority to the topic of their talk. It was a little harder than I thought it would be. It didn’t help that I forgot to bring an answer key.

Wednesday there was not much else to report for the day. That night was book club. I hosted it and we discussed Jane Eyre. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t read it before now in my life, but I really enjoyed it. It felt good to “flex” my reading muscles, and I really do think that it is an amazing book. Now I get to reward myself by seeing the movie.

Thursday and Friday were both slow days. Nothing very exciting to report.

Saturday morning I hit a few garage sales, and while I was gone the boys were busy cleaning the house. Kind of a great arrangement for me… The rest of the day we enjoyed the perfect weather by working and playing outside. B-man loved playing with the neighborhood kids and didn’t want to come in at the end of the day.

Sunday morning was back to business as usual. M had meetings, and then was able to come home for lunch before church. Church went well, and then we came home for a tasty dinner. After dinner I drove to the temple Visitor’s Center to hear a concert that included a solo by my cousin that is a very talented violinist. She did an amazing job, and to sweeten the deal I got to see my aunt that was in town for the occasion. I was just sad that M had to miss the performance.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

April 4, 2010

 

April, 4, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

I am finally getting to write the letter for the last two weeks.  The good news is that it will be much shorter because of my lack of a memory.  At the beginning of the week that we left, I spent most of the time trying to clean the house and pack to leave.  Wednesday morning I went to help in B-man’s class.  They were having a big day learning of Kenya.  I helped the students make a shield and a mask in Kenyan style.  Later that day we finished the last minute preparations to leave.  Just as we were getting ready to go we did spend a bunch of time trying to find some lost gift cards.  After giving up hope, M checked again in a spot we thought had been checked and found them sitting there in plain site.  We were so happy to find them!  Everything went very smoothly at the airport.  We made it through security, but then had to wait a little for a delay.  I thought the flight would be easy.  It left just after their bedtimes, and so I assumed the boys would fall asleep and that would be the end of it.  I was sorely mistaken.  The main problem was that there was no seat for J.  So I had to hold him the entire flight.  J likes to be held, but NOT while he is sleeping.  I spent as much time standing holding him in various states of sleep/wakefulness as I did in my seat.  I got to know the flight attendants pretty well, and also every single person on that plane knew me.  It was exhausting.  It also meant that B-man had free reign while I was gone.  He was happy to watch TV. at his seat (thanks Jet Blue) and he even got comfortable enough to start ordering his own drinks.  Because he was so into the TV, and I couldn’t really move when sitting down for fear of waking up J B-man never went to sleep.  It was slightly a nightmare.  I was exhausted and ready to go to bed by the time we got to M’ house.  Luckily everyone slept in at least a little.  I think I found any excuse to be in bed the next day.

Thursday was a recovery day.  We also made an excursion to look at fabrics for a quilt that M’ parents are going to make for us.

Friday afternoon M came flew and made the drive to his house.  We spent the afternoon working on various yard projects and B-man loved the sunshine and some of the neighbor children.  That afternoon we made two more runs to the fabric store to finalize the decisions for the quilt.  The boys (M included) were very patient with the long decision making.  That night after the boys were in bed we played personal preference.

Saturday the grandparents were at the temple all day, so our little family went on a little excursion.  We drove to the Point Bonita lighthouse and the “Batteries” that were nearby.  We first walked to the Batteries.  B-man loved them, and the view of the ocean off of them was incredible.  To make it even more perfect there was a family of boys there with light sabers.  After several blissful moments we then walked to the lighthouse.  It was a pleasant easy walk, and we were so happy to have absolutely perfect weather.  You never know what the weather will be near San Francisco.  We had to wait for our turn to cross the little swinging bridge, but then we walked across and explored the lighthouse.  B-man kept trying to look for sharks.  We did see some Harbor seals, but no sharks.  After leaving the lighthouse we went to check out the Golden Gate Bridge.  The boys actually put a foot on it before we went to the car and headed back.  We made a stop on the way before finally making it home.  That night we had a fun pizza dinner and then played more Personal Preference.

Sunday was a pretty quiet normal day.  M sang in the choir, and after church we came home to have dinner and spend time together.

Monday morning we got up and got organized to go to Sacramento for the day.  We first went to the train museum that was downtown. It is in a fun little old town section of the downtown.  At first we were a little worried that B-man would be done with the museum after ten minutes, but then he settled into the museum and we were able to explore and enjoy the trains that they had on display.  After leaving the museum we treated B-man to some candy from a little store nearby.  We bought a few pieces of candy, very hopeful that they would be delicious, but they were gross!!  We were so disappointed.  We then headed to Deseret Industries to pick up M’ brother Samuel and spend some time with him.  We had a great couple of hours with Samuel.  He was very patient with the crying baby and general craziness that comes with our family.  The only complaint was how quickly the time went.  Too soon we had to head back home and get everything ready.  After a lot of effort at finding the ingredients, that night we had a tasty fondue dinner.  We also had a small FHE where we sang some favorite Primary Songs.

M was at the conference for the next few days in San Jose.  Back at his parents house we had a few very lazy and relaxing days.  We worked on the quilt.  Played with Legos and blocks, and watched a lot of Star Wars. 

With M back, we decided to go to the Jelly Belly Factory while Grandma was at a meeting.  Our only problem was that we forgot that it was the Friday before Easter and Spring Break.  There was a line more than an hour long to go on the factory tour.  B-man really wanted to go on the tour, and kept pointing out how patiently he was waiting.  We kept trying to “buy” him off so that we wouldn’t have to stand in line.  Finally we found the winning combination.  We had to buy him lunch and let him watch Star Wars.  It was totally worth it.  That night after the boys were in bed we were introduced to “Foyle’s War” a series done by the BBC.  We are excited to get the rest of the episodes from our library.

Saturday we got up and had a relaxing morning.  But then we also watched the morning session of Conference.  After the morning session we dyed Easter eggs.  B-man had a lot of fun with the eggs.  Then he ran with Grandma to the Jelly Belly factory to see if the lines were any better.  They were much shorter and they had just enough time to go through the tour before coming back home for the afternoon session.  That night we had dinner and then M went to Priesthood while Grandma went to another meeting. When M got home we packed watched more of “Foyle’s War” before going to bed.

Sunday was a busy day, and not our typical Easter.  We got up and way too soon M had to be off to the airport.  I was able to watch the morning session of Conference, and then in the time before we had to leave we did about a million things.  A mini egg hunt, finish packing, pack a lunch, pack the car, etc…  Then M’ mom drove us to the airport.  I was SO nervous for the flight, especially after our previous nightmare of a flight.  But I knew I would get there, and I said a lot of prayers.  Let me tell you, prayer works.  We made it through.  J had been sick the last several days, but somehow he was okay on the flight.  Things did get a little dicey in Chicago when we had a two hour delay, and then just as we were landing he lost it again.  But it was so much better in so many ways.  B-man put together a few little Lego sets I had bought and played with them really the whole time.  It was so wonderful. There still were never seats for J, but we made it.  We got home very late again, way past midnight, and were grateful for M picking us up, and a bed to collapse into.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J