Somebody Pinch Me!

 Life is good.  Life is sweet.  Life is full of those moments that take my breath away.  I knew this year was going to be great.  Anna is taking one nap and we are out and about.  My ankle is better and my other health issues are improving, except that now I have a little limp but I think that may have been causing some of the other pain I'm resolving now.  I am able to DO things.  I have energy and I am accomplishing things and IT FEELS GOOD!

This baby!  Oh my goodness!  If you could hear her sing to me at bedtime "Mommy, mommy, mommy."  You would faint.  You would cry.  You would stay in there for twenty minutes in the rocking chair before the sound of utter chaos in the next room pulled you off of your seat and you reluctantly put the joyous bundle in God's hands for the night.

 Anna is the most easy-going, happy, fun-loving baby.  She dances, she sings, she growls and giggles while her toy dinosaur pummels another toy. 

 

Then these two clowns.  Exasperating and exhilarating.   Double the pleasure, double the fun.  They understand reason, even if they don't always follow it.  They are learning to read and still love snuggling on my lap for over an hour, if I let them, reading books while Anna is asleep.  Sometimes it's Aesop's Fables, sometimes it's fairy tales, sometimes it's "Facts You Didn't Know About the American Revolution", sometimes it's National Geographic about space, the ocean, or dinosaurs, or sometimes it's the Mount Vernon tour guide book!  They are soaking things up and filling up my heart.

 Halloween is about the costumes.  The candy and scary houses I can do without, but look at that smiling baby lamb!  I think mothers invented it just to see their kids look even cuter than usual.

 Josh went to about four doors with us before declaring his dislike of all things Halloween and going home to put Anna to bed.  Anna didn't cooperate and stayed up for a Nestle Crunch bar which gave her reflux the rest of the night.  Lesson learned!

 

At the ward trunk-or-treat.  I wish you could hear her say "Baa-baa."

  

Our new friend.  God sent us a new friend.  He live around the corner and adores Michael and Sam.  He has a little sister Anna's age but he prefers to be playing over here or have my boys, often one at a time, at his house.  It's fun to have one boy to myself and let them have turns being a one-on-one friend.

 Anna like coming to my dance classes with me.  She's not allowed at the first grade class because they fawn over her, but at the middle school class she walks around and twirls, tries to reach the barre, and tries to plie.  I showed her how to bourree  in a circle and she's working on that. 

 My classes are going well.  I told you they're in a garage, so her's a girl doing some turns yesterday at our parent's observation.  We try to read a ballet book halfway through class to give them a rest and to give us some fun ideas.  Last time we were swans.  Next week it's on to the Nutcracker.  I come home seriously high with endorphins and I can't stop dancing!  No better way to get from here to there!  I hope I never get injured again because this is who I am!  An aging, out of shape, gotta' move dancer!

 And preschool is great.  Here's almost all of the group at our place a few weeks ago.  They're having a lot of fun together and learning too!  Oceans, leaves, feelings, evaporation, rhyming, seeds.  It's fun.

 And back to Anna.  She can turn a frown upside down with one flash of that smile. 

 We love you Anna Banana!

I'm so grateful I'm not dreaming! 

Apple Hill

I guess I'm getting old because I am so confused by the changes to the way I post my pictures so that I can't move them into the correct order for my narrative!  Also, I got a hand-me-down iPhone and it's easy to use, but it won't sync with my computer.  Projects for another day . . .


Last month we took a preschool field trip to pick apples and make our own apple pies.  It was following a lesson on seeds and apples.  Here are some pictures, out of order.

Sam with his completed apple pie.

Some of the kids hoping we would finally let them eat their pies.  We had to wait an hour while they cooked.  During that hour we looked at Imus.  I don't know why they have them at the apple farm, but it made for something interesting to look at while we waited!

All tired out in their orange shirts so I could easily spot them in the apple orchard!  Anna wouldn't stay in the stroller but these two were ready for a break!

 

Anna wanted to pick some apples of her own and got herself covered in dust.  She was a good sport to stay busy while the big kids make their pies.

Here's Michael making his own apple pie.  I think it had one apple in it and about 4 cups of sugar and cinnamon.

The apple haul.  They got to pick them off the trees themselves but they were small and unripe Golden Delicious apples.  I guess we should have come back another time to get a  big bushel of ripe ones but it was an hour's drive and the apples were cheaper at my grocery store!  At least the kids got to see where apples come from.   

Here's Sam using the apple peeler before making his pie.  The women working there were sweet and walked them through the whole process.  

I keep forgetting to take pictures of my dance classes.  They are so busy that I can't stop to take a picture.  Maybe next time.  It's a lot of fun, though.  Last week I read them the story of "Swan Lake."  Then we danced to some of the music from that ballet and pretended to be swans.  I was amazed how excited they were to do our regular exercises once I had disguised them as something a swan would do.  Teaching young children seems to hard for me because I'm not a creative thinker but I am learning what they like to do and how to motivate them to cooperate.  They have learned so much in the last seven weeks.  They're incorporating a lot of what I've taught them into their free-time dance at the end of the lessons and it's so fun to see them understand something and enjoy doing it.   We're learning a dance to the theme song from "Tangled" that they're going to show their moms in a couple of weeks.  They can't wait to show off what they've learned to their moms!  It should be a fun day.

Now, on to Halloween!

Back in Business

Life just hit the gas pedal at my house. Instead of playing at home and thinking of reasons to get out of the house we are suddenly out of the house Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I've spent so much of the last year sitting nursing Anna or recovering from some illness or injury that I am in shock - and so are the kids.

This summer I worked out a preschool co-op with five friends from the ward. We are each taking turns teaching in our own homes Tuesdays and Thursdays. I planned the curriculum taking lesson plans from a few different preschool books. A friend who has been homeschooling her kids for a few years added a nice way to teach math concepts using the calendar and we are in business. Michael went to school in his pajamas yesterday. "Hurry" is not in his vocabulary. He doesn't like leaving home for any reason and resents the lost playtime but he does enjoy being at school, a huge improvement over last year's anxiety each time he had to go to school.

Mondays and Fridays I am teaching dance classes in a friend's garage! It actually looks pretty cute. She has a carpet, mirrors and a barre. Mondays' class is ballet for six year olds. It is exhausting but fun. At the end of class I gave the girls a chance to get up and do some "freestyle" ballet one at a time. Half of them did. Then I got up and did a few things I didn't know I could still do! I haven't had that much SPACE to DANCE in since we moved here. Their naive jaws dropped and they thought I was a great dancer. They all stood up and danced and twirled around until their moms came to pick them up. That's what I want them to get out of this - the joy of dance. I have to have dinner going in the crockpot because we get home at 5:30 on Mondays but it went well this week.

Fridays is a ballet/jazz split hour of dance for 10 & 11 year olds. They are easier to teach and I don't have to help them pay attention. They are all trading me free babysitting for their lessons! The trouble is that they're so young it has to be daytime babysitting and I don't really need that. With preschool and dance I am suddenly savoring being at home trying to give equal attention to everyone. I'll have to think about how they can help me. Some of the other mothers are watching Sam, Michael, and Anna in their homes while I teach.

I am also the new ward nursery leader. I have lost all of the other three workers and am begging for substitutes until some get called. We had twenty kids there last Sunday and I came away exhausted. Josh leaves home after breakfast and I get everyone ready for church, keep them all within arms reach during sacrament meeting, then go off to nursery for two hours. When I get home it's dinner time and I'm scrambling. I'm trying to get make ahead meals for Sundays too. Two busy days in a row is hard but we'll see how it goes next week.

All of this leaves Wednesdays. Blessed Wednesdays at home. I want to get my housework done other days so I can spend this one having fun with the kids. It's a big change from sitting on the couch waiting for something to heal and I love it.

I have promised that all dance proceeds will go to food storage so I don't have a pit in my stomach every time someone says "Food Storage" or "Hyper-inflation." I've only committed to teach through mid-December so we'll see whether anyone wants to continue after that.

Wish me luck and all of us good health as I try to become organized and efficient overnight . . .

Pictures to come.

Pretty as a Picture

My Anna is getting so big! She's walking, going down to one nap, saying lots of words including Mama, Mom, and Mommy which she pronounces momMEE! She loves reading books and always does baby sign language for more when I stop reading to her.

She is definitely our little princess.




But she has some sass too. She knows what she wants and what is hers and she doesn't like it when other people try to take it.

She fits in around here as far as dressing up goes.
And loves to hold and pat her baby.

Michael and Sam adore her as demonstrated by the fact that they let her play with Monkey and Moe. They comfort her when she cries and like to make her laugh however they can. Anna is also good at giving hugs when one of the boys is sad.

She likes to play basketball and will no doubt play along with the boys games as soon as she can.

And by the way, I made that Batcave. It took me an hour and every ounce of patience I posess. I may even have created some new patience in the process. I've discovered I hate doing puzzles and this is like a 3D puzzle, with missing pieces.

Summer Vacation

We had the most WONDERFUL vacation to Utah last week. It seems like the kids brains just explode when we're on vacation. Anna learned to walk, drink from a sippie cup with the valve in it, and take straight cow's milk on our vacation. Michael and Sam didn't fight the entire week because they felt so loved and so stimulated by all of our fun family and activities. Alas, it had to end and we're back home, but feeling oh-so-rejuvenated and full of fresh ideas and goals. Nothing like getting out of the rut.

Here you go . . .

Thursday- Pioneer Village with Shawn and Sarah and their pretty girls. My boys loved talking with these fun girls! Here's Michael and Kristina in the train.

We spent four hours there, felt like we just saw the tip of the iceberg and the kids wanted to stay and see more! We'll have to go back there next time.

Michael finally got to ride a pony while Sarah and Josh finally got to sit down and catch up a little bit.


This was the first day Anna had to take a nap on the go. Used to taking two naps a day in her quiet, dark room at home she was a trooper.

Here's Kristina and Kristina. We kept saying each others' names all day. Our hair even matched, totally unplanned too. What a sweetie!

After Pioneer Village we headed up to Park City to swim and have dinner at Shawn and Sarah's hotel. Have you ever sat in a hot tub with a waterfall in it? At the base of a ski lift? While holding your children and giving them kisses while the water mists into your faces? I highly recommend it.We ate dinner in the hotel while the kids all watched The Backyardagains together.

Friday- We spent in Stockton with Josh's grandparents. The boys put on a show with the ukeleles and we had a nice visit. We visited his other grandparents in the afternoon and I didn't take a single picture.

Saturday - We went on a hike to Doughnut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon with Becky and Brent. Besides being the most generous hosts, they spent their entire Saturday morning patiently hiking with us. Michael declared a beautiful pine tree, "The Queen of the Trees" and said he was glad Heavenly Father created such a beautiful place. He was a slow hiker, but very observant and appreciative of the scenery.

Uncle Brent lives large in the boys' memories. The whole drive there they were anticipating playing with him on his Wii in the basement. He took them there the first night and played the jousting tournament that leaves the looser dripping in water and weeping huge tears while the winner is cheered by a wildly enthusiastic crowd. When asked what we did in Utah, Sam tells people he played Wii with Uncle Brent.

Uncle Brent also got the boys these great cowboy boots and hats! Michael has worn them everyday since. He wants to take his hat with him in the van and have it nearby whenever possible. He's been playing Sheriff and defending our home against stuffed animal robbers. Sam gets to be his deputy.
Saturday we also took the kids to the Conference Center where Anna took her first steps. She'd been taking a few here and there but decided to go for something in the auditorium and walked about 10 steps. We were all cheering! Great going Anna!

Here's when I put down my sunglasses and Sam's baseball hat which Josh had to go back for later.
The south visitor's center has a model of the temple, cut away so you can see how the inside looks and is furnished. After spending some time there Sam said he loved being there and that he wants to get married in the temple one day. Michael said he knows Heavenly Father is real when he sees the temple. This is why we go there.

Michael thinks this is how cowboys shoot their guns. Hee, hee!


Sunday- We went to church and spent the afternoon with Debbie and her kids. The boys were dying to see whether they had brought their knights, castles, and legos with them when they moved. They were in heaven playing with their cousins the whole time.

Anna enjoyed her special attention as well. That evening we had John and Linda's birthday cake back at Becky and Brent's.

Monday - We had planned on driving home but decided instead to drive 3 1/2 hours up to Rexburg to see Josh's brother Ben, Kristy, and their kids, including newborn Kohl. Michael spent the last 30 minutes of the drive screaming that he would "never be happy again" because we didn't have any scissors in the van to cut a string off of his new cowboy boots, but Josh saved the day by pulling it off without it unraveling. Neither one of us had been in Idaho and we had so much fun with Ben and Kristy! The boys with their cousin Noah, who is one week younger than they are, didn't stop moving until we put them to bed at 10:45 that night. Rowyn kept right up with them.


Uncle Ben had a huge pack of sparklers and fireworks and the kids were so excited they didn't know what to do with themselves.


I'll leave you with a little glimpse of the fun and the ukelele jam session. Twice, apparently.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I love vacation. It is so RELAXING! I love taking a step back from my life to appreciate it and find ways I'd like to tweek it. Wish me luck following through on some new goals!

Go Guppies!

The thermometer read 58 degrees when I loaded up the kids in the van for the boys' first swimming lessons. It should be in the 90's by 9am this time of year.
They spent 25 minutes of their lesson sitting on the edge of the pool refusing to get in. "No way, Jose" was heard more than once.

Anna ate banana bread and watched from the sidelines.Finally, another instructor finished up her lesson and came over to help. She was very friendly and took charge, just taking Michael into the water with her. Sam soon followed. At least they got in. Tomorrow we'll work on scooping the water with our hands. AND, it is supposed to be about twenty degrees warmer tomorrow!

On the way home Sam said he would like to invite his teacher over to have hot chocolate with us. Michael suggested we might give her some perfume as a gift at the end of the swim lessons. I think they will want to go back tomorrow!