October 17, 2010

October 17, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

We made it through another week. That is reason for celebration in my book. Our week has been pretty slow because we’ve been sick fighting off colds. Monday morning we had a fun breakfast that included my aunt and uncle. We were all excited to have some company in our house. B-man and J both loved the little surprises that they brought for them. All too soon they had to leave for the airport. It was sad to see them go. The rest of the day we had off for Columbus Day. We went to the park, and tried to have a fun day. For FHE that night we talked about another “Fundamental of Following the Prophet.”

Tuesday I started to lose the battle with a cold that I had been fighting off. That afternoon I took J to the doctor for a last follow up from the pneumonia/ear infection. He passed with flying colors. He and B-man also got their flu vaccine. That evening dinner was super chaotic. J was a basket case. It wasn’t until we were at soccer practice that I realized he might have been sore from the shot. Oops.

Wednesday I was really miserable. My cold was making me miserable, and poor J was also not feeling that well. He seemed to be handling it better than me though. I spent as much time as possible sleeping or sitting. I also did a little bit of complaining to M. I had a very thoughtful friend bring me some hot soup. It was a life saver!

Thursday I felt a little bit better. I was so happy. Still far from 100% but so much better than the previous day. It was rainy, and so it was easy to take it easy and not do very much. I was grateful that soccer practice was cancelled so that we could be very relaxed.

Friday was another relaxed day. After school we put B-man’s bike in the car and drove to a friend’s house. The boys all played and rode bikes outside until they got too cold, and then we headed indoors for a while too. After we left we stopped at Costco for dinner and then headed home. We ate our pizza dinner and then everyone went to bed.

Saturday morning we skipped garage sales. Instead we went to a training meeting for the Young Women leaders put on by the Stake Leaders. I was grateful for the children’s class they had for B-man and J. We came home from the meeting and J took a nap while B-man got ready for his soccer game. I had to wake up J from his nap for the game; I always hate doing that. B-man’s game was at a new field, and so when we got there I was a little confused. I ended up parking in the wrong area, and then we had to walk a long ways to his field. When we got to his field there was parking six feet from the field. That was a little frustrating. The game went well. They boys were down by two for the first half and then came back in the second half to win 4-2. After the game we came home and tried to chat with M. Eventually we were able to connect. Later in the afternoon we went to a friend’s house for dinner and to play for a while. It was a great way to spend the rest of the day. We came home and had just enough time for baths and bed.

Today started out slow. I had no meetings and no lessons to prepare for so I spent the morning working on some dinner stuff and playing with the boys. Church is always crazy even with M. Without him the craziness just escalates. Somehow by the third hour J has calmed down and doesn’t mind being on my lap as much as he does the first hour. After church all our leaders had a meeting with the Stake Young Women presidency. I had a friend that volunteered to take my boys so that I wouldn’t’ have to worry about them during the meeting. It was very kind. After the meeting I went home and got some side dishes and then headed off to the home where the boys were. It was a great dinner. We then came home and quickly got the boys in bed.

M is doing well. He is working very long hours without any days off. We sure miss him!

Love,

R, M, B-man, and J

October 10, 2010

October 10, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

The week has come to a close. I am happy to see another week go by. Monday I ran errands. For FHE that night we talked about one of the “Fourteen Fundamentals of Following the Prophet” that was mentioned in Conference. I think I will just do those for the next several weeks to keep it easy for me.

Tuesday there wasn’t much going on. I planted three of the four new boxwoods that we bought for our front yard. The first bush was the hardest to get in because it was where the dead bush had been, but the next two went more quickly. I had to stop though so that I could get cleaned up before J woke up. We had soccer in the afternoon. I forgot a sweatshirt for B-man and he was pretty cold at the beginning. Fall is lovely, but I am never quite sure how to dress my kids for the weather.

Wednesday was supposed to be rainy so I skipped going to the farm. In the end the weather was fine and I could have gone. Oh well. I did have a doctor’s appointment. A friend watched J for me, and he took a long nap so I got to run and get some extra errands done. It was really nice! I also started having issued with either a cold or allergies. I’m still not quite sure which one it is. Right before bed we had a fun web chat with Grandma Elna, and then the boys went to bed.

Thursday was a very busy day. Too busy. I should have eliminated something so that I wouldn’t have felt so crazed at the end of the day. In the morning I planted the last of the boxwoods. It was only one so it went pretty quickly. Right when B-man came home from school we picked up a friend’s boy, and then went to the farm. We went to pick our pumpkins for Halloween. B-man took a long time finding his pumpkin. I found the most perfect one and tried to convince him, but he was really looking for the biggest one he could find. He tells everyone that he got the biggest. After picking the pumpkins we headed home so that B-man could get to soccer. I planned poorly though and misjudged how long it would take at the farm. By the time we got home and dropped off the other boy we didn’t really have enough time for dinner. Luckily it was leftovers so we just heated up enough so that people wouldn’t be starving and were a few minutes late to soccer. J loves soccer practice too. He is always dribbling one of the balls onto the field. After soccer we came home and fed everyone more. By this time I was pretty tired and frazzled. I just wanted everyone in bed, and it is still a lot of work to get that to happen. Especially since they needed baths too. We made it through the night somehow…

Friday was a slower day. I got some pansies in the morning and then ripped out the petunias and replaced them with pansies while J was sleeping. After school we had a good time chatting with M on the web cam, and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Saturday morning we went to garage sales. It was a pretty slow day, but at the last house I found a couch. I almost didn’t get it because I didn’t want to have to figure out how to get it into my house, but it was such a steal that I couldn’t pass it up. I begged some help from some friends’ husbands and they were very kind to help. At first they couldn’t fit it through the door and spent a lot of time trying to take off the feet. Eventually that was taking too long and in a last ditch effort they tried a different angle and harder pushing… It worked. I was so happy to have it in and to be able to let them get home. Now I just need someone to come take the old couch. I have it listed on Craigslist for free, but people are very annoying and keep standing me up to pick it up. I have only had this problem with free stuff, not the things I sell. In the meantime I have seating for twenty in my tiny basement. (That is a little exaggeration, but seriously three couches in a very small area.) After lunch we went and vacuumed the car at a car wash. We then braved traffic and headed to Costco before going to a friend’s house for dinner. Dinner was fun, I was so thankful for some adult conversation.

Today has been a good day. I am waiting for my aunt and uncle to arrive. I love having visitors! The morning was pretty relaxed. I worked on my lesson, and tried to find someone to get this couch. (No luck.) Then we went to church. J was crazy in Sacrament meeting, but calmed down during the other two meetings. While I taught he played in the back while one of the other leaders watched him. After church we hurried home so that we could be there when someone came to get the couch, sadly they didn’t ever come, or call, or email. We ate a tasty dinner while waiting and then went on a walk after.

M is doing well too. He is working crazy long hours and staying out of trouble. His room is tiny, but the food is great, so he is keeping happy.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

Sea World

We have been saving up to go to Sea World for quite a while. We waited until M was in San Diego before going, and with all of our sickies that week I was worried that we wouldn’t make it at all. But we made it, and it was a great day!

We were thrilled that my brother Skate could come with us. It made the day even better.

Sea World is all about time management. You have to plan your day around the shows and when they are happening, and when you can get in to see them. The shows were all great. B-man loved the seal and sea lion show. It was pretty hilarious.

This is how we looked during the shows…

We also had to visit the sharks. That is always a fun adventure. B-man really didn’t want to be in this picture.

We also spent a lot of time at the dolphins. We kept trying to get them to come over and play with us, but with no luck. B-man also LOVED the stingrays and spent probably an hour petting them. That was also the point in the day when J took a nap.

At the very end of the day the big boys went on the roller coaster. J and I were waiting at the bottom to take pictures. Just as they were starting the ride, it stopped. They were stuck at the top of this hill for quite a while before some workers finally came and helped them get down. B-man had a good attitude about his failed attempt at a roller coaster.

After the roller coaster we headed over to see the cold water animals. The walrus decided to put on quite a show for us. I promise I am not the one making all the annoying noises.

We then decided we had to head home. We were all pretty hungry and Grandma D had a delicious dinner waiting for us when we got home. We did stop for a quick picture before leaving the park.

October 3, 2010

October 3, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Here’s our week in review… Monday was a rainy day. We did a few errands, and stayed fairly close to home. That night for FHE we decided to do a little family fun and took B-man and J to Chuck E. Cheese’s. It was a fun night. Later that night when the boys were in bed I went shopping at “Home Goods” with a friend. I didn’t get anything, but I got a lot of ideas…

Tuesday started out rainy and then got better. I love the cooler weather we’ve been having! That afternoon B-man had soccer. At the very last minute I decided to go. Then we came home and got the boys to bed. I then went to our book club. We discussed “Mockingjay,” the last book in the hunger games. It was a good discussion, but I left pretty early to be home with M before he left. I feel like I need to soak up all the time I can with him. I know when he gets back our lives are going to be so different and crazy!

Wednesday M took the van to the shop to get a few things replaced. We love our mechanic! They are cheap and honest. It was exciting to have the problems fixed on the van. It was all very weird random things that didn’t affect how the car ran. Like I had no dashboard lights and we couldn’t figure out why. But now I do, and it is wonderful! While the car was being worked on J and I went to the farm. We picked cherry tomatoes and edamame. That night we had mutual. We did a little event with all the young women and their mothers. We played some fun games around the theme of “Family Ties” and had a great time. I left a little early so that I could go visit teach one of my women. We ended up visiting on her porch because she had no carpeting (it was ripped out) and she didn’t want us to see. It worked out better than I thought it would.

Thursday was a very rainy day. Seriously rainy. We stayed fairly close to home. B-man’s soccer practice was cancelled because of all the rain.

Friday was a frantic, but fun day. In the morning a guy came to look at our windows and give us an estimate of what it would cost to fix them. They currently have issues with opening and closing. After he left I waited for a babysitter to come to our house. I was going to go meet M and his office for lunch. I started to get really nervous because she was very late. I didn’t want to pay for a babysitter when I would miss the lunch! Thankfully they were able to push the lunch back enough so that I still felt like it was worth it. It’s always nice to see people from M’ work so that I can put a face to the names that I hear. When M got home we did a few random things. One was that we bought some plants for our front yard. The plants were way overdue, but they weren’t on sale like I thought. I got pizza for dinner for the kids, and then we had a picnic on the front grass while M took out a bush that didn’t survive the snow and heat. It was hard work for a guy that has been fighting a cold all week, but he got the root ball out just as I took the boys in for a bath. After the kids were in bed M packed for his trip. He got everything packed quickly and then we had a few hours before he had to leave. He got a taxi to the airport and was off and away. I was very sad to see him go.

Saturday was a busy day. The boys were both up early and so I took them to garage sales with me. I found some great things, and was sad that I had to cut it short for B-man’s soccer game. The soccer game went really well. Their team was winning by so many that during the third quarter B-man played on the other team as an extra player. (Five on four instead of four on four.) After the game we had the snacks and passed them all out and then tried to get to the car. It was seriously tricky. I don’t know why it was so much easier getting to the field then getting back to the car. But carrying J, the cooler, and my purse just about did me in. I was very sweaty by the time I got people buckled and the car packed up. We then rushed home to watch General Conference.

Once we were home we set up a picnic downstairs and ate sandwiches while trying to get Conference on. It was a little hectic for a minute because the sound wasn’t working, J was freaking out, and I wasn’t sure how to get it all fixed. But we made it through. I watched Conference on the internet while the boys played around me. It was a good system. In between sessions we went to park to enjoy the perfect weather and to get out some wiggles. We then headed back at just the right time to watch the next session. We had another picnic downstairs for dinner.

Today has been a little more relaxing. We had a fun breakfast and spent the morning playing and enjoying not having to go anywhere. This time I fed everyone before the session started so that there would be less crumbs to clean up… After the first session we went on a long walk around the neighborhood. I then got dinner ready to cook the next session started. All I had to do for dinner was turn on the stove and let everything cook. So we could have dinner right after the last session. We also got to video chat with M and some of my family, which made the day extra exciting. Video chat is so great!

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

September 26, 2010

September 26, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been back to reality here. The beach was a fantastic little break, but we had to come back to life eventually. Monday my first thing to do was get J an appointment with the doctor. At the doctor’s office they found a pretty good ear infection, but also wanted to have a lung x-ray taken to rule out pneumonia. The doctor said his lungs sounded clear, but he was breathing pretty fast. We walked over to the radiology place and I was so thankful that we didn’t have to wait long. They hooked J into this little torture contraption that held his arms straight up against him, then wrapped around him so he couldn’t move. All while he was sitting on a sort of bicycle seat. I had to leave the room, but I could hear him screaming the whole time. He was not happy. I left and went home to wait the results. I was pretty skeptical that it would be anything. I figured it would be just another ear infection and he was breathing fast from the fever. (That has happened to him before…) Turns out I was wrong! He did have a little pneumonia in one of his lungs. The doctor called in a prescription for him, and so we did a family trip to Costco before dinner and FHE. I felt like a pretty bad mom. He was way sicker than any of us realized, and he really was being such a good sport. Poor guy. After the boys were in bed I went to a little get together for a friend that was leaving town for a while.

Tuesday was the regular school, etc. I’m trying to get things organized at home before this baby comes too. That afternoon we had a friend and her kids over for dinner. Her husband was gone for a few days. After dinner B-man had soccer. M took him while my friend and I finished chatting and letting our kids play.

Wednesday not much was happening. I did have mutual that night. We had a fantastic lesson on the basics of drawing and water color. The woman that taught the class is an amazing artist and I learned so much even though I was in and out most of the evening helping to watch her kids.

Thursday was a day full of appointments. I went to the doctor for a check-up, (things look fine) and then that afternoon I picked up B-man from school and then we went straight to the doctor’s for J. They checked him out and said he was doing much better. And truly he has been a much better baby since getting on medicine. The doctor and I had a conversation about how hard it was to tell how sick he was from how he was acting. Don’t get me wrong, he had many fussy moments, but he would also have moments where he seemed totally normal except for a fever. Not at all lethargic, etc. We ran a few errands before dinner and then B-man went to soccer again. I went for a few minutes with J, and then came home to get J to bed.

Friday I have very little memory of. All I can remember is the afternoon. I had to pick up B-man from school again and took him straight to the dentist for more cavities to be filled. We still aren’t done with that fun project… B-man did really great, but he had a complete melt down as we were leaving. He was hungry, and his mouth was numb, and he was not happy. He thought I called the dentist to make him go, not that he had to have cavities filled. He also did not want any of the soft food I was offering as a snack for him. It was an epic melt down, and I was so happy when M got home and he had someone else to try and distract him. We got some good news about M’ job, and celebrated with Thai food. B-man was in a much happier mood when he got some real food in him, and didn’t even mind the spicy food. J just wanted the rice. After dinner I ran to a baby shower for a friend. I only planned to stay a few minutes, but got caught and stayed longer. M and I finished off the evening with some treats and “Lost.”

Saturday morning the boys were up early. I have had to wake up B-man every single day this week for school, but on Saturday he was up before he needs to be even for school. It is such a mystery. I went to garage sales with a friend, and then ended early so that we could get to B-man’s game. His soccer game was great. He improved a lot from the first game. It also helped that his team scored and won… J was making lots of friends during the game and asking people for their snacks. M and I were mostly cheering and roasting. It has been a HOT, HOT couple of days. After the game we spent the rest of the day working on various projects around the house. Organizing, cleaning, yard things, etc. Later after dinner I went to the broadcast for Relief Society. It was a great meeting. I skipped a get together after so that I could get home and spend some time with M.

B-man showing us his suit I found at a garage sale. The second picture shows his true feelings about the photo shoot.

Today has been a good day. First of all we woke up to rain! It is so nice to have a break from the heat. M and I took turns with the meetings. He had one first, and then I drove to the church with the boys, and then he drove them home and then the Young Women’s Presidency met with the Bishopric. When I got home we had lunch, finished getting the boys dressed, and then headed off to church. Church went well, but we are certainly excited for J to go to nursery. After church we eventually made it home and had dinner. We went on a quick walk after we had finished cleaning up, and then got the boys ready for bed. M is at a Stake Priesthood meeting.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

September 12, 2010

September 12, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Here is a quick recap of our week. Monday was Labor Day. We spent some of the day at the pool, and also worked around the house on various projects. I woke up feeling pretty miserable with a case of pink eye. Later that day we all went to the ward Labor Day picnic held at a local park. The party was very relaxed and low key. We all had a good time. We then came home and got everything ready for B-man’s first day of school. We were all excited for his new grand adventure.

Tuesday morning we were up early and going. I had to wake up B-man, but he was a good sport and didn’t complain. In the mornings we try to get all of this accomplished, feed the boys, dress B-man (maybe J) make bed, brush teeth, make B-man’s lunch, morning prayers, and a family prayer. All of those things are super quick, but for some reason we need an hour to get it all done. I then walked B-man to the bus stop, and sent him off to school. He was so excited! All day it was a little strange to have him gone! But it was nice to run some errands with one less person. When I picked him up from school he reported that the day went great and he had a good time. He said his favorite thing that he did was P.E. He’s been really excited to go to the P.E. class this year. We had a snack and then got to work on his homework. That night was also a big night because he had soccer practice. It was blazing hot, but he didn’t complain and just ran and ran. He had such a great time. After practice he came home and got cleaned up before heading to bed.

Wednesday was more of the same. I had a doctor’s appointment, and ended up taking J. Thankfully it went well and he was a good sport. After the appointment I ran a bunch of errands that were near the doctor’s office. It was extra far away so I was happy to get it done in one trip. Later that night I also had mutual. I wasn’t feeling great. In fact I was feeling pretty crummy with a combo of pink eye/cold, but the Beehives were in charge so I really needed to go. We had a farewell to summer combined activity and took the kids to an indoor pool and rock climbing wall. They had a great time, and we want to do it again sometime when we aren’t so limited by the time.

Thursday I had another doctor’s appointment. Everything looks good with the baby. Now we just wish we had a crystal ball so that we could know when he will come. M will be out of town up to pretty close when this little guy is supposed to come, and I asked a few questions to see if the doctor could give me any advice about when to expect going into labor, but sadly I got none. Just advice to avoid overdoing it, and staying hydrated. After school that day we took B-man back to practice. He had another great time, and is excited for his first game.

Friday was B-man’s birthday! To make it even more fun M had the day off from work. He took charge of the breakfast and went and got some delicious breakfast burritos that we all enjoyed before school. Then while B-man was at school we had a good time working on some projects and watching “Lost.” We did take a break to take lunch to B-man. Our entire school district has banned any food being brought in for birthdays, but we are allowed to bring in lunch and eat lunch with him. We got brought him a “Happy Meal” and he was so excited. I had visions of us eating at a little table with just our family, but instead we had to sit with the rest of the class, and there was even someone sitting in-between us. Oh well. I think he still had fun. He really wanted us to see where he plays after lunch and so we stuck around until the teacher came and got the class to take them to recess. Later that afternoon I also went to get my haircut. It feels great to have some fresh ends on my hair!

That night for his birthday we had pizza, his favorite meal. We also ate on the deck. He always wants to eat on the deck, but we rarely plan ahead and so we end up inside since the table is cleaner. He was so excited to eat outside, and the weather was very cooperative. After dinner I hurried upstairs and wrapped his presents. He opened them up and was appropriately excited for all of them. After the boys were in bed I ran to Costco with a few other women to plan our breakfasts for an upcoming trip. Then when I got home later M and I watched some more “Lost.”

Saturday morning I got up and went to garage sales with a friend. We hit a community garage sale in a really nice new section of town. It was in an area I don’t normally go, but it was worth it. There were a log of sales, and not a lot of people. I got a few very fun things for J and B-man. I also found a mattress for the bunk bed. That means that we can finally get the bed set up on top and let B-man sleep there. We haven’t had time yet, but he is very excited. After I got home we rushed to get ready for B-man’s first soccer game. There were only four players that came, and one ended up running off the field and getting sick. That meant zero subs for our team. B-man didn’t complain though and he worked hard all through the game. They got creamed, but B-man did come close to scoring a goal. It also made it obvious to the coach what they needed to work on… The rest of the day we spent getting ready for our trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It is a narrow stretch of land that extends up the North Carolina coast. We organized food, M made and froze our dinner and we tried to get as ready as possible that evening.

Sunday morning we were up and going early. We finished most of the packing and got ourselves ready for church. M went to his meetings, and then I drove the boys to an earlier church time so that we could get on the road a little earlier. M met us at the chapel for the Sacrament, before leaving for the rest of his meetings. After church we went home and started packing all of the cold food into the coolers. We then met up with one other family and drove about thirty minutes were we picked up another family. We then split their stuff and them into the two cars that were caravanning and hit the road. The drive took less than six hours, and really the kids did very well. We did make a stop to stretch in Norfolk, VA and decided that we didn’t ever want to live there. The weather was just slightly cool and rainy making it easy to avoid going to the beach. We made it to the beach house in the early evening and quickly unloaded the car, organized our food, assigned bedrooms to families, and then worked on dinner for the boys. We rented an eight bedroom house that was only two blocks from the beach. It was clean and comfortable, and because we were doing it after Labor Day it was also super inexpensive. We were all really excited. B-man was thrilled that the house had a pool and a hot tub too. He was pretty much in heaven. We got the kids in bed, and waited up until the rest of the families arrived in the night.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

I Love This Stage

What can I say?  I love this stage that J is in.  Here is an example of why  he is so fun these days… (Please ignore the random clutter.)

And here he is again from another angle…