WORTH a million

100% Intelligible

2012-02-16T06:37:00.002-05:00

That's what Isaiah's speech therapist said he is now: 100% intelligible. All the speech errors he makes now are "age appropriate". He still has a "frontal lisp" which makes "things" become "fings", and he still drops the end sound sometimes which makes that "fings" become "feens", but apparently that's OK. I asked the therapist if that meant she thought he didn't really need to be in speech (because, frankly, my life would be a whole lot easier without speech therapy twice a week) and she said, "Oh, no! Now that I've got him in the system I wouldn't dream of kicking him out! You worked hard to get him in and I'm gonna keep working with him and helping him. We'll talk again soon at his next IEP about next year, but for now we'll just keep working." And I like that answer, crazy schedule or not.
There was a point in the past when I went to sleep dreaming about Isaiah on his mission stuttering out a few words at a time and really struggling with each word. I dreamed of mocking classmates and isolation and a hard life for him. Because "they" said he might never speak or that if he did it would be a struggle. I'm so grateful that they seem to be very, very wrong.
So this might not be the end of our speech therapy days, but it is the end of my bad dreams - at least about this one thing.

Grandma's House

2012-02-11T20:47:00.006-05:00

Here is my mother, Liz, at the center of a pack of my children. She's reading them a bedtime story - just like she does every night when we're at her house.

Needless to say, we all love to visit Grandma and Grandpa's house. This trip we only get to stay for 8 days, but this past summer we were here for a full month - and we felt welcome and at home that whole time.

Part of the reason we feel so at home at Grandma's house is the accomodations. Years ago my parents expanded their house to make a little extra room for my mother's mother to move in with them. That left a large attic space above the add-on that was soon turned into a kids playroom. The roof is angled multiple directions, the floor bumps up and down here and there, there are nooks and crannies everywhere - in short, a perfect kids room. My Dad did much of the work himself. And my Mom did all the decorating.

The main feature of the room is a "family tree" painted by my talented sister-in-law, Kelly. My parents names are on the trunk (as if carved into the wood) and my siblings and I's names, along with our spouses and children's names, are in the leaves in family groups using vinyl. That way whenever a new baby or spouse joins the family, their name can easily be added.

My talented mother decorated this room perfectly. The walls are sky blue, the carpet is grass green, and all along the walls there is white picket fencing. For storage, they use plastic flower pots! Genius! The lights are clouds and the sun and stars (from Ikea). It is just such a sweet little space.

Here's a little nook with a bookcase. The bookcase is filled with vintage toys and books mixed with new star wars guys and Disney princesses.

After the first open area with the tree and the bookcase, there this narrow passage to the back area. Here is the first toddler-sized bed. Oh, and Franz, the larger-than-life nutcracker. He stands guard over the children while they sleep.

The back area has another toddler-sized bed, a little dormer window, a dresser, a shelf-lined storage area, dress-ups, and a black board wall.

Here's the little storage area. We use these shelves for the toys that shouldn't be down all the time like play-doh and kinex and such. There's also hooks for towels, swim-suits, etc. (Are you noticing something similar in all these photos? My little Sammy followed us wherever we went as we staged these photos and sweetly said "cheese" whenever asked.)

Here's the blackboard wall. This seems to be a hit with younger and older kids. Who doesn't love writing on the wall? And there's the dress-up basket in the corner.

Not only does Grandma have this wonderful room where two of my children can sleep, she also has a nursery, a guest room, and a sewing room with another bed. So we actually have more room when we come to Grandma's than we do at our house!

Below is my favorite part of the nursery. The little shelves have vintage baby booties and other small keepsakes from our family's past and those dresses are the real-deal, too. I love the cross stitch of the mother with children. We all really do love babies around here.

Also brag-worthy at my mother's house is her brag wall. She acquired a huge, elaborate frame and turned it into a pinboard. She keeps current photos of all her grandchildren, children and other family on it. It's right in the dining room, adjacent to the kitchen so we see it often.

Grandma loves it because she sees her grandchildren and can think about them. I love it because my children can see their cousins and remember the fun times they had with them. Our family is close, and we want to stay that way.

And since I'm bragging about my Mom so much, how about a shout-out to my super talented woodworker of a father. This week while we've been here he has spent hours out in his woodshop (use to be garage) making the most amazing cradle for my brother and his family who are about to have baby number 4.

This cradle is not only stunning, it rocks, and it easily dis-assembles to lay flat for storage! The pattern came from Wood Magazine (Sept, 2007). I have a few things that my father has made from wood in my own house, so I know from experience what a treasure this cradle will be to it's new owners.

What talented and fabulous parents I have! We've had a great week at their house and will be sad to go home tomorrow.

Dish

2012-02-02T17:51:00.001-05:00

Look at all these lovely white dishes lined up in my cupboards! After extensive negotiations between Richard and I about dish patterns and shapes, I gave up and bought all white. I think I like it. I certainly like having anything different than the set we've been using for the last 10 years!

Sammy's Words

2012-02-01T21:45:00.007-05:00

*I hope you appreciate the pictures in this post because, I am not exaggerating, it took me two hours to get them on here. I am having serious computer issues. If only there were someone in my family who knew a lot about computers...*

Sammy is growing like a weed and learning like a sponge.

His favorite place to hang out, or at least to get my attention, is the top of the kitchen table. Part of the problem is that he knows how to get up there, but has no idea how to get down. We're working on that down part.
Sammy loves Winnie the Pooh. My favorite word that he says right now is "Wi Pooh!" It is just so sweet. The "Wi" part is more like a wistful little puff of air and then "Pooh" is strong and emotional.
He's a happy, energetic boy. He keeps up with his siblings no matter what they're doing. I really don't think it ever occurs to him that he might not be able to do whatever they're doing.

His words so far are: Mom, Dad, Wi Pooh, ball, bus, dog, woof, meow, go, up, vroom, eye, me, cracker (well, ca-ca), cookie (well, ke-ke), yeah (as in "yes"), yay (as in "hooray!"), wow, all done (well, ah-dan"), I want that (well, ah-on-da!), shoe, xuxa (the portuguese word for pacifier)
(I'm sure there's more of these that I'll remember over the next day or two and add here)
Below is he playing Wii with Asher and their cousin Ethan. Well, Asher is the only one actually playing Wii - but don't tell Sammy and Ethan!
Gosh, it still chokes me up when I think of the drama and risk that this boy entered the world with. What on Earth would we do without him? What a blessing he is to us. I'm thankful for him every single day.

Snack Basket System

2012-01-26T09:30:00.003-05:00

I used to feel like the Snack Time Warden. "Yes, you can have that. No, you can't have that. Yes, you can have this, but then you can't have that, too. No, that's too much." I'm sure you know how this goes. So I created a snack basket. It was a combination of several ideas I'd seen on other people's blogs. Mine works like this:

Each child gets 3 points for each snack. Snacks can only be had a certain Mom-approved times of the day. When we first started the snack basket, I would label each item with a number that was it's point value. Since we've been using this system for about a year now, I don't really have to label with point values anymore. The kids just know. Fruit snacks are 1 point. Applesauce cups are 2. Granola bars are 2. Raisins are 1. Goldfish baggies are 2. Sometimes when there's something special like homemade cookies, the kids will have to ask how many points. Sometimes when I'm feeling very generous I'll surprise the kids by putting a bag of treats in the basket labeled, "0 points!!" They love that. It's like Christmas morning.

The things in the basket change a bit, but are for the most part pretty standard. Some of the things are pre-individually packaged. Some of the things (like Goldfish) I put into my own little baggies. I just set up an assembly line of baggies, the snack, and a measuring cup and measure out an appropriate amount of the snack into each baggie.
The basket itself is a men's shoe bin from The Container Store. One of the organization blogs I read recommended them as the perfect storage bins for everything from snacks to toys. (I'm pretty sure this idea came from The Pretty Neat Company blog, but the blog seems to be down so I can't be sure.) And I have to say, I totally agree with her. I bought like 10 of them and they are now in use all around the house. They're just the right size, they're see-through so that you know what's inside even when it's up on a shelf, and they're sturdy enough to take some abuse.

The basket sits on a low shelf in the pantry. Low enough that every child can reach it. And now when I say, "Snack time!", the children can help themselves. No game of 20 questions.
This system makes me happy. Because it works so well for us.

Accidental Scheduling

2012-01-18T17:08:00.002-05:00

I'm not quite sure how this snuck up on me, but somehow I've gotten myself and my home pretty thickly scheduled for the next two days.

Richard is out of town right now, so when the Young Women's president started emailing around about a Presidency meeting on Thursday morning, I asked that it be at my house so that Samuel could nap. Earlier in the week I'd been chatting with a friend about how I didn't schedule a book club for this month even though that is my "job". She suggested that we should just have a meeting anyway, even without a chosen book, since we really just like an excuse to get together. I said, sure, but it would have to be at my house since my husband is out of town. I also happen to have been planning on planning a casual breakfast/get-together for the parents of Isaiah's preschool class. We all jam into this tight hallway, inches away from each other, for about 2 minutes twice a day for the 3 days of each week that our children are in school. But we never get the conversation past "Hi, how are you, it's cold outside" type of thing. So I invited them all over for breakfast on Friday morning right after we drop off our Preschoolers.

And not until today did it occur to me that I am now hosting some group of people in my home Thursday morning, Thursday night, and Friday morning. The Thursday meetings are really not much pressure. They're both small groups and both filled with people who've seen my house messy and have, in fact, probably folded my underwear and scrubbed my toilets while I was on bed rest. But the Friday group is people who've never been to my house, don't really know me, and are making first impressions of me. That's pressure. But I made the choice to invite them knowing that it would be pressure. Sometimes pressure is good. Sometimes I don't mind pressure.

So basically, the next few days are kinda crazy, but I'm OK with it!

...Just sayin'.

The Word is...

2012-01-09T12:48:00.001-05:00

I try to have a focus for each year. And I try to put that focus into one word. Last year was HOPE. I read about hope in the scriptures, paid attention to it in songs and passing references, and was amazed by how much most people take it for granted and/or don't really understand it.
This year I think my word will be JOY. I want to find it, remember it, seek it out, and recognize it. So I just ordered my new vinyl. You'll see in the picture, last years vinyl. I love these reminders.
What's your word?

Together

2012-01-07T15:07:00.001-05:00

Cute kids after a family lunch at Famous Daves. Ahhhh, the love!

Happiness is

2012-01-04T12:12:00.001-05:00

Chocolate chip cookies still ooey-gooey from the oven.

New Year

2012-01-01T19:47:00.002-05:00

Today, as a New Year's celebratory event, the kids and I looked through the blog posts from the entire past year. It was fun to think back to a year ago when Sammy was still a wiggly worm, Naomi was still learning to write, Isaiah was just breaking through in speech, and Asher was, well, still pretty Ashery. And it made me realize that I do have one New Year's Resolution for this year. To not stop blogging.

I haven't been blogging much lately and that makes me sad. I like to blog. It's good therapy, connects me with so many friends and family, helps me remember the important things in life, and is good family journaling. Often what stops me is wanting some great picture to include. So I'll try to remember to blog whether I've got a great picture or not. And I'll try to remember to take pictures so that more often I DO have a great picture to include! Another thing that holds me up is a bad attitude. I don't like to have too many whiney blog posts. I don't want my kids to read through this in 10 years and think that I was unhappy being their mother. Certainly I have some moments of unhappiness - everybody does - but I don't want that to become the theme of this blog. I want the theme to be the exact opposite of that in fact - the happiness of our family.

Richard asked me last night what I was hoping for in this new year. "A new baby?" he asked. Well, no. Probably not. Not yet. And I'm not sure what else I hope for. Happiness, I guess. A little more control and a little less crazy. And a little less control and a little more just going with it. Good times. Happy memories. It'll be hard to beat our 2011 spring break in Baltimore or our summer in Texas and Idaho. But we'll try!

Christmas Embriodery

2011-12-30T09:29:00.001-05:00

I can now reveal the result of my secret project that I blogged about before. I kept it a secret because I was hoping some of you, my readers, would be recipients of them as Christmas gifts. But, as it turned out, I only managed to do enough of them for teacher gifts.
I'm very happy with how they turned out. I rolled each one up then tied them with a big bow in bundles of two for the teachers. I've never done something so time consuming for teacher gifts before, and likely never will, but I enjoyed this project. ...Now maybe I should just go do a couple more for ME!

Naomi's Baptism

2011-12-05T16:11:00.005-05:00

Saturday was Naomi's big day. Her baptism day! She has been really looking forward to her 8th birthday and her baptism for at least a year. Her Sunday School class has been talking about it, some of her friends have already done it, we've had Family Home Evening lessons about it, and now she was ready! Just one last thing: the dress! Grandma Ashurst happily volunteered to make the stunning dress that you see above. It was the perfect mix of little-girl and big-girl.

Richard used the power of the Priesthood, which he holds, to baptize Naomi. It was a perfect Daddy/Daughter moment. I remember getting a big bear hug from my Dad on my baptism day, and now Naomi has that memory, too.
Grandma Ashurst was in attendance. Grandpa Ashurst was scheduled to be there, too, but unfortunately he got sick at the last minute. We missed him very much.
Grandma Worth was there. Grandpa Worth was scheduled to be there, too, but got sick at the last minute. We missed him very much. ...Are you sensing a trend here? Grandfathers beware! They're dropping like flies around here!
Aunt Ruth was there. She sang a beautiful solo of Naomi's favorite children's song, "When He Comes Again".
Asher and Isaiah sang also. They did a beautiful job of singing a capella "I Am a Child of God". It was really touching.
Uncle Kevin, Aunt Kelly and cousin Ethan were there also. Naomi's Kindergarten teacher (who happens to also currently be Asher's Kindergarten teacher) was there. Also in attendance were several families from the ward and a non-member friend of Ruth's.
It was such a beautiful morning. Naomi beamed with her own kind of quiet joy. We love Naomi so much and are so proud of her for making such a good decision to be baptized and then handling the whole thing with such grace.

At the End of Last Christmas

2011-11-26T16:43:00.004-05:00

Today as I unpacked the Christmas decorations, I found two things that really brought me back to last year.

The first thing is this nutcracker. He came to us from my Grandma Helen's house. I am so proud to add him to my Christmas collection. He is a little worse for wear and needs some repairs, but I am so glad he's mine. I'll treasure him as the heirloom that he now is.

The second thing is a note that I found on the top of one of the Christmas decoration boxes. It was written by me as I packed up the Christmas decorations last year. It says:

Dear Nancy 2011,
Please go ahead and get the Christmas dishes out.
You know you'll be glad you did. It's been years!
And the kids will love it.
PS Don't you look fabulous today!
Love,
Nancy 2010

Sammy Says:

2011-11-17T16:30:00.004-05:00

Go! (usually while standing at the gate and shaking it)
unk (milk)
woah! (like woah, horsey! except he usually says it in amazement of something)
uff uff uff (the sound a dog makes)
Dad
Ma
Bah (bye)
Ahhhhhhh! (loudly and high pitched to get attention or something he wants)

And many other words that definitely mean something. We just haven't figured them out yet. He'll make eye contact with us and tell us something. Or ask a question. He's quite sure he's talking. Some day soon it will be English!

Spaz

2011-11-16T22:03:00.002-05:00

I can do hard things. I'm pretty tough.

But sometimes I'm such a total spaz!

This evening I ruined a batch of frosting. By swapping lemon juice with lime juice. Just in case you were wondering, lime flavored frosting is not very good. That failure makes me feel like I'm 10 years old again. When my Mom use to tease that I could mess up boiling hot dogs. This evening I'm that girl again.

Admittedly, being over-tired not only makes me more spazy, but also makes me more emotional about my spazyness. I feel like I can't do hard things. Like I'm weak.

But I'll go to sleep now and wake up tomorrow strong and ready. I'll make a new batch of frosting (after going to the store to buy more powdered sugar). I'll do what needs to be done. I'll throw a fabulous little family birthday party for my baby who is turning 8. We'll have fun. And the only reason anybody will remember that I ruined the frosting is because I just blogged about it.

Good night, all.

Let It Begin

2011-11-05T12:16:00.001-04:00

Today I begin a month long Christmas project. I can't tell you anything else about it since I don't want to give any surprises away. But I'm excited about it, so I'm sharing this sneak peek.

Post Halloween

2011-11-01T15:20:00.001-04:00

I think the picture says it all.

Halloween

2011-10-31T13:33:00.001-04:00

First off, you must know that our family is completely obsessed with the show "Phineas and Ferb". Even Mom and Dad have been known to sit down and watch it, or at the very least snicker at a joke as we walk through the room. And since it's about two brothers who make huge contraptions in their backyard and their big sister who is always trying to bust them for their genius schemes, plus the family pet who happens to also be a secret agent trying to bust the bad guys- well, how could we NOT be them for Halloween?
But alas, the kids told us that Richard had to be the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, instead of the Dad in the show.
So now that you have the backstory - here we are! Isaiah as Phineas, Asher as Ferb, Naomi as Candace, Sammy as Perry the Platypus, me as the Mom, and Richard as Dr. Doofenshmirtz:
These heads were not easy to make! Asher's Ferb-head is a fruit snacks box, spray painted. With green yarn hair, styrofoam ball eyes, and folded paper nose. It stayed on thanks to a ski hat that is stapled to the inside. Isaiah's Phineas-head is a file folder (already the right color!) carefully folded and cut kind of like a party hat. It stayed on thanks to a length of elastic under his chin - just like a party hat.
Asher really, really loved his costume this year. And that is a BIG triumph!
Naomi's Candace costume was pretty simple. I made the white skirt, with belt loops for her red belt, bought the red shirt and red socks, and we sprayed her hair with two bottles of temporary orange coloring (it was easier to wash out than I expected it to be).
Dr. Doofenshmirtz was a cinch since it's really just a black tee with a lab coat over. We added the "Hi my name is..." tag just for people who hadn't seen the show. And my "Mom" costume was easy too. I did ruin the white shirt I wore with the orange hair coloring, but that's OK.
And I'll tell you more about Perry the Platypus in a minute.
Here's everybody (except me who was taking the picture) up on the stage at church during the Halloween parade. We got a lot of compliments on our clever costumes from fans of the show. And we got a lot of questions about who the heck we were from people who aren't.
All those pictures above were from our Friday night church Trunk or Treat. Here's some more Halloween activities from this year:
Isaiah marched in the Preschool Halloween parade. He wanted to wear last years dalmation costume, so out it came - which was fine since his Phineas costume doesn't make as much of a splash without the rest of us.
We carved pumpkins on Saturday. Here are the boys posing with theirs. And, yes, that's a "HTML 5" carving on the back pumpkin. Can you guess who carved that one?
We had a really great Halloween. I didn't take a single picture on the actual Halloween. Richard was out of town by then and I was way more focused on trick or treating than on cutesy pictures. But we had a great time! Naomi and Asher really got into the going door to door this year for the first time. They ran! Isaiah got pretty tired and started asking at every door, "Is this OUR house yet?" And Sammy politely sat in the stroller. There was a real sense of community in the air as we walked past our neighbors and the kids shouted greetings to their school friends. It was lovely.
Now, on to more Perry the Platypus. Because he's cute enough to warrant more attention!
Look! There's a platypus in our yard! They're the only Mammals who lay eggs, you know.
I think the tail was super cute. It's just a sheet of foam cut to the right shape, lines drawn on with Sharpie, and safety pinned to his shirt.
His costume is just little blue tights, a blue shirt (I really tried to find a body suit in the right color but never could), the tail and the hat.
The hat was made by Chris from Chris's Creations on Etsy. She made it to just my size specs and she did it fast! I just love it! I see no reason why Sammy shouldn't wear this hat all winter long.
Isn't he such a cute little platypus? They don't do much you know.

Asher Catches Up

2011-10-28T16:04:00.002-04:00

Kindergarten is such a fun spectator sport. Asher is just loving it and really doing great. Of course, I didn't know about the "doing good" part until his parent/teacher conference this week since he's not exactly chatty.
Below is a "story" that he wrote. It says, "IAmjobeuuyloef". Translation: "I am jumping in a pile of leaves." That's quite a bit of progress from a little boy who couldn't write his name two months ago!

And look at that cute pile of carefully crafted leaves!

Next!

2011-10-24T21:09:00.002-04:00

That's it. I've had it. Can it please just be next year already? Next SCHOOL year, that is.

Ergh!

My schedule this year is just seriously awful. I never have more than an hour to run any errands. And honestly, most of my errands individually don't take more than an hour. But if you only have one hour between absolute deadlines, you've got to be very on the ball. One hour turns into 45 minutes which becomes half an hour very quickly. And half an hour isn't enough time to run almost any errand.

Asher and Naomi leave for school at 7:30. Then Isaiah has to be at school at 9 (Monday, Wednesday Friday). And Sammy naps until 10. And Asher gets home from Kindergarten at 11. And I pick up Isaiah from school at 12. And nap time is 1 to 3. And Naomi gets home at 3 but then there's homework and playing. And we try to eat dinner at 5:30. And bedtime is 7.

I think I'm rambling. Possibly incoherently.

Today, for example, I really needed to go to the fabric store. Just for one yard of fabric. But the fabric store is one of those terrible places where you never know how long it's going to take you to walk in, buy one simple thing, and walk out. It could take 10 minutes - or it could take 45. So I kept scheduling it in, and then it kept getting bumped because I wasn't sure I had quite enough time. Finally I fit it in after both boys got home - which means it was a time when I had all 3 boys with me. And they were awful. And it took 35 minutes. And the whole reason for wanting to go to the fabric store this morning was so that I could sew Naomi's Halloween costume during nap time, but after that crazy run to the store I really needed (OK, fine, "needed" is a bit strong of a word) to relax during naptime.

Ergh.

So, like I said, is it next year yet?

Pumpkinville

2011-10-21T17:42:00.000-04:00

This is Year 4 for me of a Preschool trip to Pumpkinville. I actually feel pretty sad that next year I won't have a Preschooler to take me on this trip.
Isaiah started off the morning totally ramped up. He was chomping at the bit to get in there!
The first place we hit, as usual, was the petting zoo portion. Isaiah loved this silly camel. And the feelings seemed to be reciprocated! The camel kept walking away from other people to come over to where Isaiah was. (Maybe it was the hat!)
Isaiah also bravely fed a big fat pig, sheep, cows, and chickens. His favorite were the chickens. He loved chasing them.
Then the playing began.

Last year Isaiah needed help making it up this rock climbing wall. This year he was totally sure that he could handle it all by himself. And he did it! He only had trouble at the very top figuring out how to swing one leg over the ledge and climb into the spook house above.
Here he is making his scary face - just like the Jack-o-lantern.
And in the corn maze:
Admiring the tractors huge wheels:
Driving a haunted school bus. I actually learned a lot about Isaiah at this point in the trip. Isaiah is not use to fighting his own battles! It took two adults full intervention to get him his turn sitting at the wheel of this bus. He was just standing there waiting for his turn, but there were so many kids that they just kept brushing by him. Even when I coaxed him that his turn was next, he hesitated long enough that the kid behind him pushed in front of him. He must be use to Asher taking charge in situations like this. See that kid in the gray and red sweatshirt and how he's looking at me a little warily? That's because I basically had to yell at everybody on the bus to back off in order to get Isaiah his turn.
But he was happy.
Sliding down the huge slides:
On the hay ride with Mommy:
And lastly, but most importantly, with his very own pumpkin:
We'll just have to go to Pumpkinville as a family next year - but it just won't be the same as our special Mommy/Preschooler trips.

The Cruise Pictures

2011-10-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

You know how I was bragging about what a genius I was to think to bring disposable waterproof cameras with us on our trip? Well, I was humbled when I went to develop the film and they told me that one entire camera never started working right and not a single picture from that camera came out. All dark and mostly black. Luckily, it was the second camera so we have the pics of when we were in the Bahamas but lost the pics from the next day on the boat. Oh well.

Here I am at the back of the boat as we chug our way out of Miami harbor.

And Richard looking excited and slightly amorous.
As soon as we were done admiring the view, we sat right down and ordered our first (of many) Pina Coladas. Yum!
That first night we saw the comedian and did karaoke. We enjoyed our first fancy meal and explored the boat. When we woke up the next morning, we were docked in the Bahamas!
Here we are on the pier with our boat in the background.
The Carnival Imagination! And then we were on our way to Atlantis to their waterpark.See? Those disposable, waterproof cameras did come in handy this day!
This waterpark was amazing. Millions of pools, awseome water slides, the not-so-lazy river, waterfalls...
And the water slide that goes through the shark tank. I know this next picture is a little abstract if you don't know what you're looking at - but that's the underside of a shark right above us. And the picture isn't zoomed at all - that's how close the shark was to us!
After a trip around the mile-long lazy river, we walked out of the official water park and onto the real beach. See that big gray cloud coming up behind me? Well, we didn't. It had been kinda gray and had even rained once before for about 10 minutes so we just ignored it.

And we went and rented a jet ski for Richard. Notice how he's riding right into that big black cloud? Well, again, we didn't.
About four minutes later I noticed everyone on the beach running around like crazy. When I looked out to sea I could see a huge wall of rain coming right at us really quickly. For a minute I stood there on the beach, alone, thinking I'd make sure Richard was OK. But then I gave up and ran for it. I made it back into the water park and into a covered locker area just before it really started pouring. Luckily, Richard found me there just about 10 minutes later.

We waited out that rainstorm for about 10 minutes and then it let up. But unfortunately, lightning came with that storm and they closed all the water areas. Since we were exhausted and just about done anyway we decided not to wait until they re-opened. We headed back to the ship. And that was our Bahamas adventure.

Our time on the ship was fun, too. It was slow and easy. It was naps and hot tub soaks. It was time together.

Man, that was a fabulous trip.

The Cruise

2011-10-18T15:51:00.002-04:00

Pictures are still developing (we took disposable waterproof cameras), but the highlights of our cruise to the Bahamas are:

Seeing Adam Hunter, the comedian, and having him refer to Richard as "Jared From Subway".
Singing "Love Shack" as a duet for karaoke. Badly.
Going down a water slide that was seriously a story-high vertical drop that ended in a shark tank. With sharks. REAL sharks.
Going down a much slower water slide into the same shark tank and getting to actually look at the sharks.
Riding a mile long "lazy river" with rapids and huge waves and the option to veer right and go down a slide that drops you right back into the lazy river.
Naps.
Multiple naps in the same day.
Sipping Pina Coladas in a hot tub on the back of the boat in an "adults only" area.
Mocking the ridiculously bad "show" the cruise put on. Seriously, it was worse than most high school productions I've seen.
Ordering a fresh plate of cookies each night delivered to our room.
Beating Richard at air hockey. (OK, it was a draw - he won one, I won one.)
Freedom to do what we want when we want. Or NOT do.
Dressing up just for fun.
Chatting with total strangers like we're old friends.
Spending 3 days together without being apart one bit.
Remembering that we really do enjoy each other very, very much.

...Can't Talk Now

2011-10-13T15:15:00.004-04:00

...I'm busy packing for my cruise. You know, the one to the Bahamas. With just my hubby. For our 10th anniversary.

Pina Colada anyone?

Planetary Orbiting and Sore Abs

2011-10-06T17:18:00.005-04:00

When I am standing in the kitchen at the counter making lunch or dinner or whatever, Samuel feels that he needs to be close to me. Not that unusual, right? Except that how he wants to be close to me is by circling around my legs like a planet orbiting. He puts one arm on my legs and just walks in circles. If I am standing too close to the counter to allow such rotations, he screeches and pushes until I step back. Sometimes he prefers to sit between me and the cupbaord, on my toes. This often leads to me stirring or scrubbing or measuring at arms length. Which is a bit of an ab workout. Like when you're pregnant and can't seem to get close enough to anything.
But who could be mad at this sweet face?
Who could scold an angel?
Not me.

Conference Weekend

2011-10-03T10:47:00.003-04:00

Richard was out of town this past weekend. And it was General Conference weekend. Not really a great combination. I figured that I had to really work on getting the kids wiggles out on Saturday so that they wouldn't go crazy or drive me crazy when we were home together all day on Sunday. The weather was terrible so we went to the mall Saturday morning. We rode the carousel AND the train (usually I make the kids choose) and played at the play-place. During nap time I watched some Conference. That afternoon Ruth came over to play (and to tell us about her trip to Europe!). When the kids went to bed, she and I watched more General Conference. Sunday morning I finished up the two sessions of Conference that I'd already started. Then I had to wait until noon when more Conference was on. And I watched more. And the kids napped. And we watched more.

And this is the part where suddenly it felt like I was in a never-ending cycle of Conference, grip at kids, feed them, Conference, grip at kids, feed them, Conference, grip at kids, feed them. I think I did that for a week straight. Oh, wait, it was only 6 very long hours. Anyway, the afternoon seemed long and lonely. I don't think I actually got much out of any of the Conference that I watched that afternoon. I'll have to re-watch/read it all.

Anyway, it was a long day. But it's over now. And it really could have been worse. In so many ways.

If you see my husband, could you send him home? Soon?

Miss Naomi Goes To Washington

2011-09-16T10:17:00.003-04:00

I have an Aunt with "connections". She generously offered to let us accompany her of a special tour of the White House along with the White House Press Core. Who would say no to that? Naomi even got a library book about the White House and it's history so that we'd be all ready. It was a school day, but I managed to sneak Naomi out (actually I totally told the truth, because what school would make one of their students miss an opportunity like this?) and she and I headed "downtown".
Here's Naomi in the Metro station. Can you see the calm exterior masking the oh-so-excited interior? This was a big adventure for her! She was really hoping to meet Michelle Obama.
When we got into DC we stopped and ate our lunch by the Old Post Office. Then we still had some time so we went to the White House visitors center. They had a display of what the inside of the White House had looked like under different President's. Naomi enjoyed seeing how the women were dressed in each painting and seeing the First Family's pets.
Then we toured. Naomi was a perfect lady (of course) and even came up with a few great questions. It was cool to have my Aunt with us because she had the inside scoop on how the big parties and functions work at the White House. Naomi decided she'd like to live there one day. When I told her she'd have to either be the president or marry a president, she decided she'd settle for attending a fancy party there. She also decided that the blue room had the prettiest curtains.
Here she is outside behind the White House. I cropped a group of protestors out of this shot just beyond the fountain. I thought it was pretty cool to be on this side of the fence.
And here is Naomi and I with our backs to the White House. See? It's WHITE.

Oh, and one last thing to brag about: Here's Naomi sitting at the President's desk in the oval office!
Just kidding. This was a prop at a gift shop we stopped at. If you bought something you could take your picture at their fake desk. So we bought a pen.

Me

2011-09-13T14:12:00.002-04:00

I know it's been a while since there was much ME in this blog. It's just been events for a while now. So, just so you know, I'm still here. The first week of school, I felt like my schedule was awesome. The second week of school, I felt like the schedule was beating me down. And this week I think I've found the balance. I've been working in exercise whenever I can because we just bought tickets for a cruise to the Bahamas for our anniversary. Wa-hooo! That's next month!

...And that's really all I can think to say about myself. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, my life is way more about the family than anything else. If the family is good, I'm good. So, I'm good!

And if you must see a picture of me to feel connected, go check out the adorable pictures my sister-in-law took of Sammy and I at our Worth reunion (which I haven't blogged yet at all, but I will soon). They're on Facebook. (I think you'll be able to see them even if you don't "friend" Jolie since they're on her business page.)

Isaiah's 1st Day of School

2011-09-08T09:41:00.003-04:00

Isaiah started school a week after the other kids since the Preschool he goes to follows the neighboring county's schedule. He had been feeling left out the previous week, so he was totally ready to go. He has one of the same teachers he had last year, so he really wasn't nervous at all. When I dropped him off in his class, he hardly even glanced over his shoulder to say goodbye. I think he just felt right at home. (Sorry for the terrible picture - the camera battery was dead so this was taken on my phone)
He also started speech therapy back up that same morning. I was very excited to have speech on the same mornings as school because that would leave Tuesday's and Thursday's commitment-free. But, alas, the teacher has since changed the schedule and we're now on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 8 am! So much for my perfectly laid out, exercising every day, getting chores done early, schedule. ...Oh well.

Sammy's First Birthday Party

2011-09-07T15:54:00.005-04:00

We postponed Sammy's first birthday party a bit because we wanted to be able to celebrate with Aunt Ruth. So on a lovely Saturday afternoon, the party began. We started with the cake - because we figured that's what the kids would want, then presents, then just plain playing. The official "theme" was NOISE. Because after careful consideration, I decided that noise is Sammy's favorite thing.
Doesn't the cake look "noisy"? No? Well, I did my best to interpret what noise might look like. (I'm kidding, I just thought this would be a cute cake.)
The cake was banana flavored cake with cream cheese frosting.
Unfortunately, Sammy seemed to like the texture of the cake more than the flavor.

But he really liked the texture. (See that puckered face he's making in the pic below? That's his "I'm exploring and this is cool!" face.)
In keeping with the theme, the post-cake-playing got pretty crazy loud. Sammy loved the balloons.
So did Aunt Ruth. Did I mention this was also a birthday party for her? She was very gracious about sharing the spot light with Sammy.
Sammy got some fun presents, but I think his favorite was this ball spinny-popper thingy. It just so happens that it's only a hand-me-down that had previously been in the basement "out of rotation" - but who cares? See the exploring face? He loves it!
We all had fun celebrating our baby. What a good little boy he is!

Sammy's Birthday

2011-09-01T16:37:00.006-04:00

{These pictures were all taken a couple of weeks back when we were in Idaho at Rigby Lake}

Today is Sammy's first birthday. I know everybody says the first year goes fast, but really - it does! He is, according to What To Expect The First Year, way ahead on most fronts. He already walks, babbles and imitates our sounds, rolls a ball back to you, and picks up things with his two little fingers. And on top of that, he does it all while being the cutest little guy EVER.

I was told that the video the other day of him walking was too short, so here's a little more for you. I think just yesterday is the day that he decided he'd rather walk than crawl to get somewhere. And he's been walking every since. He has, just today, mastered the art of putting his arms straight up and going stiff as a board so that you have no choice but to set him down. His days of happily hanging out in my arms are over.

My miracle just keeps on getting bigger!

First Day of School

2011-08-30T14:14:00.003-04:00

This year Naomi ran off to second grade and Asher schlepped off to Kindergarten. Naomi couldn't have been more excited. I think she lost sleep for at least two nights prior in anticipation. Asher, however, was really totally nonchalant about the whole thing. He didn't have questions, he wasn't excited, he didn't really want to talk about it. I guess part of that is a boy thing and part of that is an Asher thing.
But, whatever the attitude, the first day of school came!
And Asher did get a little excited as he headed for the bus stop with Naomi.
I felt so good about sending Asher off with Naomi to take care of him. What good kids they are.
I was honestly a little nervous about what Asher would think of his first day. He pretty much hated his first days of Preschool. But he came back from Kindergarten happy. He has a neighborhood/church friend in his class and a couple of kids that he knows from Preschool. His only complaint was that they were so busy playing outside that they didn't have time for a snack. He hasn't said a word about actually learning anything, but I suppose he hasn't really learned much other than rules and schedule so far. His teacher is the same one Naomi had - Mrs. Butler. And Naomi has a young, cute woman named Ms. Kovacic who seems very involved in her teaching career. I think she'll be great. Naomi came back from her day with stories about all the times that she saw her best friend in the hall and the one time she saw Asher while he was at recess. I think she's thrilled to have the social aspects of school back.

So it was all a success. And my day went great, too. Our morning routine is shaping up nicely. I think this will be a great year!

New Year's Resolutions

2011-08-26T11:52:00.002-04:00

Now is the time for New Year's Resolutions. January 1st is just a date. This is the time when our "year" really begins. Now is when we set our schedule - try to include exercise and scripture study and family prayer and night time teeth brushing and homework. Now is when new systems can be implemented and improved on. This is really the start of everything.

That's what I've been thinking about this past week. School starts on Monday and I want to have our schedule down smoothly from the first morning. Asher and Naomi will wake up, get dressed, do hair. Then everybody else will join us for family prayer, then we're going to try scripture study during breakfast - we'll see how that works out. Then it's collecting lunches and homework and brushing teeth and putting on shoes. Then it's off to the bus stop for the two elementary school kids. Then if it's a Preschool day, we'll have one hour to get Isaiah (and Mommy) ready. If it's not a Preschool day it'll be exercise THEN getting ready.

I resolve to be sweet in the mornings.
I resolve to exercise at least 3 times per week.
I resolve to have daily family prayer and scripture study.
I resolve to do more of my to-do list in the mornings than in the afternoon.

I resolve to make this year great!

Sammy Steps

2011-08-23T16:08:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning for a while now to blog about all the "baby steps" Sammy has been taking. When we arrived in Texas, he had 1 1/2 teeth. When we left he had 4. When we arrived, he sometimes took a step on accident. When we left, he sometimes walked 5 or 7 steps. He went from mostly all bottles for meals, to only 3 bottles a day. His hair grew in. He grew tons. His face changed from "baby" to "toddler". He now claps, sways to music, points, babbles, and says something that almost sounds like "mama". Here's a little video clip of his cute walk. It's really more of a run! He wants to go fast, and his hands are always up in the air like they are in the video. He's, in Isaiah's words, supedy dupedy cute.

Grandma and Grandpa

2011-07-25T20:42:00.003-04:00

Grandma and Grandpa are like super hero's. They swoop in and give children exactly what their little hearts desire. They say things like, "Oh, the kids don't really need to go to bed yet." or "How about another bedtime story?" Naomi flies off to get manicures with Grandma, Asher has endless questions answered by Grandpa, Isaiah gets never-ending cuddles from both, Sammy was never lacking somebody to hold him.

Making cookies with Grandpa!
Having Grandma and Grandpa around was definitely the best part of staying in Texas. Hands down!

Splash Pad

2011-07-21T17:44:00.000-04:00

I don't want to sound like I'm hating on Virginia by loving on Texas so much, but there are some very cool things around Dallas that they just don't have in good ol' VA. For example, splash pads. It's a playground with water squirting all over. It's genius! It's also free - just like a playground. Grandma took us one morning and everybody had a great time (except Isaiah who is still a bit of a party pooper when it comes to water). Even Sammy loved crawling around in the puddles. As you will see from the pictures, my camera just couldn't get enough of that cute baby crawling around.

I really, really, love this picture:

The kids were so close to Grandma and Grandpa by the end of this trip. That's definitely one of the perks of staying so long.

Big Adventure -Dallas Science Museum

2011-07-18T17:28:00.001-04:00

The Dallas Science Museum is quite a remarkable place! I wish there was something like it near us here - we would certainly be there regularly. It is so fabulously geared toward children. We dug for dinosaur bones, saw replicas of dinos dug up in China, learned about tornadoes, blew huge bubbles, explored a farm, learned about the human body, had a picnic, and splashed in water. It was a great day.

Big Adventure - Dallas Arboretum

2011-07-11T18:01:00.002-04:00

Once Angela's family left, we resumed our Summer schedule, including Big Adventure Monday's. Our first Texas Big Adventure (not counting the whole 10 days of 10 kids in 1 house or Great Wolf Lodge...come to think of it, we had plenty of Texas Big Adventures! Monday or not!) was the Dallas Arboretum. I love the Dallas Arboretum and had visions of beautiful flowers and grassy meadows before we went. Well, let's just say that any previous Dallas Arboretum experiences that I had must not have been in July. It was hot! And there weren't a ton of flowers. Plants, yes. Flowers, well, not so much. But there were two different fun exhibits going on: Beatrix Potter (of Peter Rabbit fame) houses and Princess castles. Plus, Grandpa was able to come along for added fun.
It just so happens, that we went during "family day" so there was a little petting zoo, too!

Here are the big kids sitting on King Triton's throne outside of The Little Mermaid's castle.
Here they are exploring Squirrel Nutkins cute little house.
And since it was really, truly, stinkin' hot, here they are splashing in a fountain.
Here we are having a little spot of tea with Peter Rabbit.
Sammy was a real sport about being driven around in a stroller in the crazy heat.
But he was much happier once I discovered that I could pour water into the tray of his stroller and he could splash in it and keep himself cool.

Here are the kids hanging out the windows of Beauty and the Beast's castle.
And here we are heading back to the car after just one hour of exploring the beauty's of the Arboretum. Can you see the drooping shoulders, red faces, and sweaty hair? It was really too hot to be walking around outside. But we had a good time anyway!

Texas With Angela

2011-07-10T15:16:00.000-04:00

I love my sister Angela. We talk on the phone almost daily. We tell each other details of our lives that nobody else wants to hear (you know, the parts that involve children's bodily functions and fluids or total failures on our parts, etc.). So getting to be in Texas at the same time as her was a great perk. But it was also great because Angela's younger children correspond in age to my children. My Asher and her Jesse are, in fact, less than 10 days apart from each other age-wise. My Naomi and her Haley are less than a month apart from each other, age-wise. And now my Sammy and her Betsy are less than six months apart from each other age-wise. It's great. Haley and Naomi are the only ones who have really bonded, so far. But the strength of their bond makes up for the fact that so far all Jesse and Asher do is antagonize each other. I think that in the 10 days Haley and Naomi were together, they were only apart when forced.

Here they are swimming in my Uncle Bill's pool:
And here they are showing off their professional manicures that Grandma took them to get:
Really, this group of "little's" got along very, very well. Here they are out in front getting ready for a bike riding party (despite the near-100-degree temperature).
And here is Angela with her sweet Betsy.
One day we took the kids to an indoor "amusement park". The rides were insanely small, but they managed to have fun anyway. But really, would you call this a "roller coaster"?
(Above: Naomi and Haley in the first car, Isaiah, Jesse and Asher in the second, and Levi in the back with his hands up)
Here's my mother and Angela enjoying some chit-chat as the kids ride bikes and run around in the front yard. The thing about my family is, we really enjoy being together.
My Dad always says that his favorite place to sit is anywhere with his grandkids on his lap. So here he is being happily (or maybe slightly begrudgingly) sat upon by three gandkids.
The stars of the show were Itsy Bitsy Betsy and Sweet Sammy:
Everybody wanted a turn holding these two.
The time was a blur, in a good way. 10 kids in the house made for some definitely intense moments. The best parts were the craziest moments and the calmest. Angela and I didn't get nearly enough time to just be together. But some day we'll have that time to just sit around, and all we'll do is reminisce about the times like this and wish we had babies to cuddle and teenagers to coax and big dinners to fix.

Great Wolf Lodge / 4th of July

2011-07-04T17:00:00.003-04:00

I got home from Girl's Camp on July 2, expecting that we would be driving to Texas on July 6 or 7. What actually happened is that while I was taking my post-Girl's Camp nap on July 2, Richard bought us plane tickets to fly to Texas on July 4. It was a great deal and I'm thankful that we didn't have to drive, but the change was a bit sudden and really threw me for a loop. Those were a couple of crazy days. Another side effect of this change in plans was that my parents weren't actually going to be at their house when we got there. So Richard booked us a night at Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. The kids have seen the commercials for the one near our house, so they were super excited. And it really lived up to the hype! The water park was awesome, the food was decent, our room was big enough - it was really great. Naomi, Asher and Sammy really got into the water park and enjoyed it. Naomi and Asher rode their first big water slides, rode their first lazy river, and bobbed in their first wave pool. Isaiah is still a smidge chicken in the water, but we like to think he's loosening up every time. He doesn't NOT enjoy himself, he just doesn't relax and go with it. We also watched fireworks from the front parking lot of the Lodge. It was seriously underwhelming. The fireworks were so far away that we couldn't even hear them. Isaiah slept through the whole thing, laying on the concrete. Sammy never really saw them at all. I think we all were kinda just wishing it was over and we were in our beds.
So we stayed there one night, playing in the water park the evening we checked in, and the morning before we checked out. Then it was off to my parents house!

A month!

2011-06-27T22:45:00.000-04:00

***This post was actually written July 23, but to keep the flow of the blog right I'm back-dating it.***

Holy moley! I don't think I've ever gone nearly an entire month without blogging before since I started! A whole lot has gone on in that month, and I don't really want to leave anything out, but catch up is a hard game to play. Let's start with a basic re-cap and then I'll go back and fill in blanks as I can.

Girl's Camp - I spent 5 days camping with the young women from our ward. It was crazy hot, we slept in cabins with mice and wasps and the occasional snake, my feet nearly fell off from all the walking on gravel - but the girls are so great, their faith and testimonies renewed my faith and testimony, and I'll always be glad I went.

Plan Change - The plan was that July 6 or so Richard, the kids and I would drive to Texas taking 3 days to get there. Then the very day that I got back from Girl's Camp (July 2), Richard bought crazy-cheap plane tickets for us to fly to Texas instead on July 4. Which was great, but a little crazy too. Suddenly I had 2 days to get us all ready to go.

Texas with Angela - The same day that we got to Texas, so did my sister Angela and her six kids. My parents house is pretty spacious, but 10 kids in pretty much any house is pretty intense. Angela and I figure we actually talk more over the phone across the country than we did some days while we inhabited the same house. But it was great anyway.

Texas without Angela - Their family stayed 10 days or so but now they've gone back home and it's just been the kids and I here. Richard has gone back home to work and travel. But we're certainly not lonely here since my Dad is home most days. We're keeping up our "Big Adventure Mondays" with a visit to the arboretum last week and a science museum this coming week.

The Future - We're here until the second week of August, then we're all heading off to a Worth family reunion in Idaho. Then we'll finally make it home mid-August. Then school starts!

So that's the very basics of an update. I'll work on filling in the blanks soon.

Kids Day 2011

2011-06-26T17:37:00.001-04:00

This year's Kids Day we didn't take any pictures. We were too busy having fun! We went to the pool in the morning, had mac n cheese for lunch, had naptime where the kids were allowed to take their computers in their rooms, saw Cars 2, had mac n cheese for dinner, and then crashed into our beds hours after the usual bedtime. It was a great day. We didn't fit a carousel ride in, which we love to do to honor Gary, but we certainly thought of him and told the kids stories about him.

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Errand Friday's

2011-06-24T10:01:00.002-04:00

This many to-do lists can only mean one thing: busy, busy, busy. Kids Day then Girls Camp then 4th of July then trip to TX. And I feel like I need to get ready for all of them today because after that Ill be busy DOING them. So errands, here we come.

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Cleaning Wednesday's

2011-06-22T14:52:00.002-04:00

Big Adventure Monday's, Daddy Tuesday's, and Cleaning Wednesday's. So this morning I started cleaning. And the kids did their chores and helped me out, too. And by 10:30 the house was looking pretty dang good! So we headed over to a neighbor's house who has two big bounce houses set up in her yard for the day. One wet, one dry. The big kids played crazily and deliriously happily on the bounce houses with all their neighborhood friends while Sammy and I lounged on a blanket under a big shady tree nearby. Sammy was trapped on the blanket by the grass. He loves to pull the grass up with his little fists, but he won't let his bare knees or feet touch it - so he might as well have been in a cage. After about 35 minutes Sammy got super cuddly. He must have been hot and kinda tired because he just kept flopping his head into my lap or rolling over right next to my belly. If I held him, he'd just lay still and gaze at me. So the big kids played and Sammy and I had a little make-out session under a tree. It was heaven.

Big Adventue Mondays

2011-06-20T15:18:00.001-04:00

This summer we've declared Mondays "Big Adventure Mondays". These are the days that we do things that are usually a little too far away or difficult or whatever. We had hoped to kick off this tradition with a trip to the zoo in DC, but there was too much of a chance of rain so we downgraded to painting pottery. Richard sweetly offered to keep Sammy so that made it a lot simpler. Everybody had a good time. Naomi's flower pot turned out beautifully. Ashers cupcake turned out mostly grey. And Isaiah's french fries turned out so glopped with paint that I'll be amazed if they actually fire it instead of just trashing it. But we all had a great morning! Next week we'll shoot for the zoo again and after that our adventures will all be in Texas! Splash pads, the arboretum, that famous statue of the longhorns or something... what else should we do?

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An Inheritance

2011-06-19T11:02:00.004-04:00

#1) Richard has a sister named Nancy. The original Nancy Worth, as I always say. So when it came time for me to pick a worths email address, I chose nancy.sabina. Sabina is my Great Grandmother's name and my middle name. In my youth I thought Sabina was a terrible middle name because it was different. I wondered why there wasn't the R to make it SabRina like everybody else. In my "old" age, I think it's beautiful and I love it for it's uniqueness and it's connection to my family. Sabina was by all accounts a strong, witty, intelligent woman - all things I hope to be. When I am with the Worth family, I am now known as Nancy Sabina. They refer to me that way amongst themselves and when they are addressing me. It always catches me off guard the first couple of times, but I love it. I love the reminder of who I am.

#2) My mother has recently been reading through all the letters that my Grandfather wrote to my Grandmother while he was serving in World War II. She found intriguing things like that they had a code where the first letter of the first word in each letter told her where he was stationed without getting the attention of the censors. She also read some lovely, poetry like, love letters. This quote is especially beautiful and foretelling: Our love will be our strength though the years and far beyond our life spans. Our children will inherit from us the spirit of true love and happiness and carry it on long after we have departed.... A love like ours will always be regardless of time. I have been captivated by the thought of a love that is regardless of time. My Grandpa and Grandma have always been my example of true love. Visible true love. I am so thankful for the inheritance that I have received from them of true love and happiness that I can carry with me until, and beyond when, I am reunited with my Grandparents.

********************************
Whether it be a name or an example of love, I am who I am because of the things that my ancestors gave me. And I love who I am!

An army of goldfish

2011-06-15T10:14:00.001-04:00

Asher says, "I created an army of goldfish. And I'm gonna eat them and then they'll march into my tummy and push my heart and it's gonna hurt. And then when they're done they'll still have more strength and they're gonna come poke you!"

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Thriving, Flourishing Life

2011-06-14T07:32:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I clipped a little snippet from a magazine (Experience Life magazine, which we get as a part of our Lifetime Fitness gym membership) about "The Good-Life Ratio". Basically, it says that you have to have three positive experiences for every negative one in order to create a "thriving, flourishing life - as opposed to a negative, downward spiral."

What that makes me think about is Asher. He is such a fun boy, but he often asks me for things that I just can't (or won't) deliver on. For example, he'll ask me for a cookie first thing in the morning. Or he'll ask me if he can play Wii, right after we've just watched a movie. I swear he asks me things just to hear me say no sometimes. ...Because he's got to know that's the answer that's coming. So when I think about Asher and this 3:1 ratio, I have to force myself to find "good interactions" to have with Asher. When he's just sitting still watching TV, I go up behind him and hug him. When he's sitting at the table having a snack, I give him a kiss on the head and tell him I love him. It's not really hard to find ways to praise Asher, but I do have to remind myself to do it sometimes. Naomi and Isaiah, and of course sweet Sammy, just give me more opportunities that are easily spotted.

I'm going to work on this 3:1 ratio with Richard, too, I think. We don't often have "negative" interactions, but we do often have pretty neutral ones where neither of us really engages in any emotion whatsoever. So I'm going to work on putting a positive spin on those - even if it just means ending the conversation with a hug.

If you want to read more about this and even take a quiz to test your positivity, you can check out www.positivityratio.com/single.php. Or to hear Dr. Fredrickson herself talk about how positivity can help you, go to //j.mp/PosEmote

Giggles

2011-06-10T14:20:00.003-04:00

I'm having one of those lovely days where every once in a while, when I think about where I'll be in a few hours, I giggle to myself.

Because in a few hours I'll be in a car, with one or more of my good friends (and a pack of teenagers) heading to a lake house for the weekend. There will be cookouts, water tubing, late night chatting, and down-time galore. There won't be any children under the age of 12.

I know that not everybody would happily trade 4 small children for 24 teenagers - but in this case, I will! I know that there will be still be bickering and squabbles to break up and messes to clean and feelings to mend - but they won't be the same squabbles and messes and feelings that I've been dealing with non-stop already, so they seem more manageable.

My bags are packed, my toenails are painted, my sis-in-law Kelly will be here soon to watch the kids, and Ruth will be over later this evening to take over. Thanks Kelly and Ruth!

...My mind is already floating off into a lake...

Goodbye 1st Grade

2011-06-09T07:36:00.002-04:00

We have 1 week left of school here. The boys have been done with preschool for two weeks, so it seems like we're in a weird inbetween place where its kind of summer and kind of not. I am anxious for summer to really begin.
Just look at my big girl! She's got style, she's got an awesome sense of humor, she's gracious, she's a mini-mother. She's a BIG girl! (For a comparison of how much she's grown this year, check out her first-day-of-school photo in which she is wearing the same skirt but it goes well below her knees.)

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The Kids Pics

2011-06-04T12:11:00.004-04:00

I took the kids to The Picture People yesterday for a portrait session. Our pics of them were way out of date.

This one is the best in my opinion:
I splurged and bought the CD so that I could share these with you - so enjoy!

Today I am...

2011-06-02T16:41:00.003-04:00

Today I am remembering why we started calling Isaiah "Poochy". Samuel is crawling around, biting ankles (or at least crawling up them), drooling, eating food off the floor, waiting to have his tummy rubbed or head patted. He really is like a cute little puppy.

Today I am proud of Naomi for speaking clearly and loudly and right on queue in her 1st grade play, How Does Your Garden Grow. She had what I would consider to be the lead - the gardener.

Today I am wishing my husband was here to take out the garbage, but I guess I'd better break down and do it myself since it's getting pretty nasty.

Today I am happy to have three such adorable boys who I get to spend all day with all summer. But I am also missing having alone-shopping time.

Today I am plotting a secret Father's Day gift for Richard.

Today I am blogging because my mother made a semi-snarky comment about my lack of blogging.

Take A Stand

2011-06-01T07:05:00.001-04:00

Oh boy. My life is changed forever. Sammy just pulled himself up to standing for the first time. Of course, now that he's there, he has no idea what to do with himself. But I'm sure he'll figure that out soon enough!

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A Moving Target

2011-05-24T14:46:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking about why I've been so non-bloggy lately. It's not really that I'm so busy doing this or that. I mean, I am busy - but not much more than usual. And it's not that nothing is happening - Sammy is practically changing every day, the kids have lots of end of year stuff happening. What I think it really comes down to is this: I'm having to work harder than usual to keep my head above water. After my recent...shall we say, emotional meltdown... I've been working very hard to be positive and happy and hopeful and faithful and loving. And I think at other times in my life those things have just come naturally to me and not taken so much work. And I'm not really even sure what exactly I'm doing that I would call "working" on those things. I just know it's taking more effort than usual. My mantra lately has been, "Faith, Hope and Love". And I've really tried to focus on each one of those.
I don't mean this to sound at all negative. Yes, I've been having to work harder at happiness, but the end result is still happiness. It really is a moving target.

Purple

2011-05-23T16:56:00.001-04:00

This is some of the loot that Richard brought back with him today from Brazil. He also brought back some fabulous Portuguese picture books that will help us all learn some basic Portuguese. He had a great time visiting people and places from his mission, eating foods he has missed, speaking at a conference - in Portuguese, and teaching a class.
But my question for you is, do you think my husband knows my favorite color?

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Smile!

2011-05-20T17:14:00.001-04:00

Guess who has one tiny tooth poking through today? Coincidentally, the same fellow has been rather grumpy all day.

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An Anniversary To Forget

2011-05-15T17:43:00.003-04:00

I am terribly behind on my blogging - I still need to do Mother's Day and Isaiah's birthday - but I have to jump in to post this today.

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of me going on bed rest. A year ago I did Mother's Day and then Isaiah's birthday and the next weekend on Friday night Richard and I went to a gym and joined. It was in the gym's bathroom that I first noticed a little blood. Late that night is when Ruth came over and we went to the hospital. And they sent us home. And Saturday morning I woke up, started blogging and then passed out. So back to the hospital I went. And there I stayed for five days. Up-side-down. Today, Sunday, is when my whole family was fasting for me and "baby" - and Richard and I decided on the name Samuel. We didn't know then if we would ever gaze into our baby's face and call him that, or if it would just be the name we engraved on his tiny headstone.

And thus began the hardest four months of my life.

Of course, these awful memories that come flooding back every time I let them also have a happy side. Because right now, beside me, sits the most fabulously perfect little blessing ever - my Sammy. I will never be able to put into words how thankful I am that Heavenly Father listened to my oft-repeated pleas (and the pleas of my family and friends) and let me "keep" Samuel to raise here on Earth.

I am very much looking forward to spending this Summer outside and running around with my kids. I want to do all the things that we had planned for last Summer but couldn't do - and more! But, given the choice again, I'd lay down on that couch again and stay there for four months again if that's what I had to do to keep my baby. That's what a mother's love is.

Isaiah Turns 4

2011-05-11T14:11:00.004-04:00

Isaiah had a "Bouncy Birthday". New bouncy balls made appearances throughout the day but the big event was "the bounce house place" (also known, to the rest of the world, as Loudoun Bounce).
Even Sammy got in on the action!

We went to "the bounce house place" in the afternoon, so we came straight home for presents, dinner, and cake. The big "hit" present was Grandma Ashurst's floor puzzles.
The cake was, of course, a bouncy ball.
But the most important part of the day was that Isaiah had a great time and felt very special and loved.

Dresses

2011-05-03T14:02:00.002-04:00

Today I'm getting ready for a fun activity for our Young Women. We're having the activity at my house so I'm cleaning, baking, putting away and fetching. I'm also answering the door to receive delivery after delivery of fancy ball gowns.

It's Prom season around here and a few weeks back one our Young Women asked me if I knew of anyone she could borrow a dress from for Prom. It just so happens that I did have several ideas for her and she did find a dress to borrow from a member of the ward. But that got me thinking that there should be a better way to borrow modest dresses. Modest Prom dresses are hard to find in stores, but most of us have one or two in our closet. I thought of creating some kind of swap website, but I don't actually know how to create a website. But you know what I do know how to do? Blog! So I set up a blog for our Young Women. Each blog post will be of one dress with details and pictures and size and who they can borrow that dress from. That way, when our girls need a dress they can just go to the blog, decide which one they'd like to borrow, then call the member who it belongs to and arrange from there. Isn't that genius? I mean, I hate to toot my own horn (kinda) but I really wish there had been something like this when I was growing up! (If you're interested, you can see the blog for yourself here.)

So anyway, tonight is our kick-off for this website. We've borrowed several of the dresses that will be on the blog and we're going to basically play dress-up with the girls while we talk about how to make modest choices. It should be really fun.

...Sometimes I wonder if I get more excited about these activities than the girls do...

Everything he needs

2011-04-30T14:14:00.001-04:00

Isaiah handed me this little zipper pouch like it was some sacred object. So I whispered to him, "What's inside?" And he whispered back, "Everything!"

Upon further inspection, this is what I found: a rock, Naomi's chapstick, Silly Putty, a round magnet, and a hair do-dad. Hey, at least he's easy to please.

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Easter

2011-04-28T16:30:00.005-04:00

We rushed home from our Baltimore trip to throw ourselves into Easter. We died eggs Saturday night, and found them Sunday morning.
Even Sammy joined in the hunt. And then he ate a plastic egg.
After church we went over to Richard's brother Kevin's house for dinner. Ruth and her roomie joined us. Ruth did this photo shoot for us while we were there. Too bad the camera was *still* on the crazy, washed-out setting that we put it on for the aquarium photos days before. But, in the end, the camera setting didn't really matter since the kids were not cooperating.

Oh well. If you can't beat um, join um!

(Now, go back and look at all those family photos again. With the exception of the last one, there is one person who is perfectly posed in each shot. Naomi, of course. Always a perfect lady.)

Spring Break 2011: Baltimore

2011-04-26T14:48:00.006-04:00

It all started with me telling Richard that I wanted him to take a few days completely off of work for Spring Break and just spend time with us doing fun things. And Richard honestly replied that he couldn't NOT work when he was at home - since home is also his office. "Fine", I replied, "Then we'll leave!" So, we did. Off we went to Baltimore where we scored a two bedroom suite hotel room, including kitchen and dining table, for the price of other one bedroom hotel rooms in the area. Below is a great picture of the view outside our window ... Or maybe not. But, it's there. Baltimore was just outside our window.

The first place we went was back to the National Aquarium (where we went with Ruth a few weeks ago) to let the kids take their time looking at the things we had rushed them through before.
This time we even checked out their Rain Forest exhibit.
Later in the day we walked around Baltimore's Inner Harbor to enjoy the ships and sights there.
The next day we headed to Port Discovery Children's Museum. Another "don't miss" Baltimore attraction.

The boys enjoyed running around from exhibit to exhibit, working in a pretend diner, building domino trails to see cause and effect, and blowing the train whistle. Naomi and Daddy climbed, crawled, and bounced their way to the top of a three story jungle gym thingy. Here is Naomi, triumphantly at the very tippy top.

Richard and I also escaped for a night on our own. We were supposed to see a Yankees/Orioles baseball game, but unfortunately it was rained out. But we enjoyed our seafood dinner and silly movie anyway.

The highlight of the vacation, by far, was on our last morning there. We went on an hour long "Pirate Cruise". We stepped onto the great ship "Fearless" where we were first dressed up as pirates. Even the littlest pirate, Sammy.
The kids were given pirate names (Nice Naomi and Pirate Poochy - Asher was cowering on Richard's lap at that point because of the hanging skeletons) and pirate tattoos.
It was a little chilly that morning, so Pirate Sammy stayed bundled up most of the time.

But the Pirate Parents took care of him.

This cruise was very elaborately choreographed. We learned to talk like pirates (Aaargh!), dance like pirates, and play pirate games (like limbo and pass the coconut head). Then we discovered that Mad Dog Mike had stolen our treasure! And we spotted him in his red dingy! So we shot water cannons at him.

Then we negotiated a trade with Mad Dog Mike - the treasure for a skeleton we had that he apparently admired. But in the end we tricked him (because, after all, we're pirates!) and didn't give him the skeleton.

Then we passed out the treasure! Naomi had the same ring as one of the main pirates!

And Asher even perked up a bit about the time we were shooting water cannons and joined in the fun.

It was seriously the coolest thing I've even done with my children. It was a total blast! One last photo (I think this is how pirates flip the bird).

The entire week was a complete success. We enjoyed being together so much, we bonded, we played, we laughed. It just was seriously fabulous.

No Spring Break will ever live up to this fabulous adventure. ...At least for a year...

Swingers

2011-04-20T10:12:00.002-04:00

The new swing set (courtesy of this year's tax return) is finally up in the backyard! Just in time for a sweltering, soon-to-be-stormy Spring day. Next step - bark on the ground.

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Asher and Sammy

2011-04-19T17:59:00.002-04:00

Asher and Sammy have a special bond. Isn't that the way it always is? Every-other sibling has a good relationship? You never get along with the sibling(s) that are right next to you in the line up, do you? At least not as children. Too much competition maybe. I don't know. And, yes, that's a huge generalization, but it seems to me that it often works that way.

Anyway, Asher and Sammy have a special bond. Something to do with silly faces made by Asher I think. Sammy loves each of his siblings very much and they all make his smile. But all Asher has to do is walk toward Sammy to make him laugh out loud. It's adorable.

Hope

2011-04-17T07:42:00.002-04:00

Last week was seriously rough for me. I don't want to list off all my complaints so let's just leave it at... it was bad. I was overly emotional and felt very mentally weak. I snapped at my children and mostly just shushed them whenever they were near me instead of enjoying all the adorable, unexpected things that come out of their mouths. I fulfilled my outside-the-home responsibilities for the kids schools and church and other things like that, but I just walked through the motions. I did NOT clean the house. At all. It got pretty gross. And I used fatty foods to make me feel better (but it didn't even work!).

Anyway, I was finally able to start conquering these Blues on Friday. I started praying for strength. And that helped me react more sweetly to my children, and clean my house, and eat better foods. And doing those things helped me feel emotionally better and mentally stronger.

On Saturday I was able to enjoy time playing with my children on a rainy Saturday at home. We made Easter decorations together. And then in the afternoon my sister Ruth came over to play. We took the kids to Target and had to run back to the car in a drenching downpour. We were all totally soaked to our undies by the time we made it to the car. And we loved it. While we were at Target, Ruth bought this snow globe for me. The base says, "Never lose hope".

I admit, I lost it for a while there. But I've got it back, and it sure does feel good.

Angry Birds Birthday Party

2011-04-11T20:52:00.009-04:00

This is Asher. He is turning 5. And he is an Angry Birds addict.
I tried to think of as many ways as possible that we could play Angry Birds for real. The first thing I came up with was to build our own little Piggy-castles using marshmallows and toothpicks. (Note the Angry Bird balloons -free printables courtesy of Tip Junkie)

When we were done building our Piggy-castles, we pretended Pretzel M&Ms were the Angry Birds and threw them at the castles to knock them down.

Then we went on a Golden Egg hunt. I lucked out that this party was around Easter and gold eggs were easy to find (at Target, of course) - but if it hadn't been Easter I would have spray painted last years multi-colored plastic eggs. Inside the eggs were candies and bouncy balls.

After the egg hunt we went outside. I had opened up a trash bag and drawn some Piggys and boulders and then hung my fabulous art-work on the back fence.
And we let the kids take aim at those naughty Piggys with water balloons and balls and mashmallows.
I even bought real sling-shots for them to use. They were actually way too hard for the kids to use by themselves, but I think they liked it anyway even with help. The water balloons didn't work in the sling-shots like I thought they would, but luckily I had some balls that worked great.

Then we went inside for cake and ice cream. The cake top is edible printing from this Etsy shop and was actually personalized with "Happy Birthday Asher" at the top. I made the cake and frosted it then all I had to do was lay this sheet of stuff on top and decorate around it a bit. Easiest birthday cake ever.

Next we watched a few YouTube clips/trailers of Angry Birds because Asher loves them. (Note more of those fabulous Angry Bird balloons. I really had wanted helium balloons, but the party store doesn't open until 9:30 and the party was at 10, so it just wasn't in the cards.)

The last thing we did was open presents. Asher got some fabulous toys, and this Angry Birds pillow which I made for him from an adult T-shirt that we found at Hot Topic in the mall.
The party was a blast for the children and adults alike. But most importantly, all of Asher's little 5-year-old dreams came true!

(I'm linking this to Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today's Creative Blog and

The List

2011-04-08T08:49:00.004-04:00

All in preparation for Asher's 5th Angry Birds Birthday party tomorrow. Or, as Uncle Kevin insists we call it, his Angry Birdsday. I'm a busy, busy Mama today!

Awareness

2011-03-31T15:34:00.002-04:00

Last night I left my sleeping big kids and my awake baby with a friend while I went to a baby shower. I assured my friend that Sammy would be a delight for about 45 minutes and then he would fall asleep. Apparently I was very wrong. Apparently he screamed pretty much the entire time I was gone. I felt just awful for my friend. Apparently Samuel has entered the "Stranger Awareness" phase of his babyhood.

This phase is a hard one. It makes leaving him with friends, or even Grandma, difficult. It makes going to the gym more like a timed sprint then a relaxing exercise session (how much cardio can I get in before the child care people page me over the intercom system?). But this phase also has it's up side.

Samuel looks at me like I am the source of all joy. And, most of the time, for him, I am! His sweet little eyes lock onto me like ... something locked - with a really big lock. His adorable smile reels me in like I'm a fish on a hook. Sometimes the whole world stops and it's just him in my arms with the camera doing a little circle around us in slow motion. Sometimes he looks at me and he has so much joy that all his appendages start moving simultaneously. Sometimes I look at him and I have so much joy that I cannot not stop and kiss him.

Sometimes even the phases that are difficult, are wonderful.

Some Days

2011-03-29T15:50:00.003-04:00

You know how in life there are times when you can remember every day? Sometimes even every moment of every day? Pivotal times in your life or super fun times or super bad times even. I can remember several specific days of my mission. Certain moments of my wedding day are that way. And certain moments of my children's birth. The first moments that I saw each of my children. I can practically still feel the emotions of one very, very painful doctors visit and crying as I drove home. Some times are just like that.

My life lately is the exact opposite of those moments.

Time is just passing. Nothing is memorable. Nothing is special. So there's not really much to say about time as it just passes. My own voice is turning into the adults on Peanuts. "Wah wah wah wah wah wah."

*Ammended Later In The Day To Add:
Upon receipt of the first two responses to this blog post, it has occurred to me that this came off a little too "woe is me". I just really meant that nothing is going on. And, as I said two blog posts ago, that's OK. I admit, I am feeling a little melancholy today since I'm not really feeling well and Richard is out of town. I responded to this melancholy as I often do - by doing some service. It perked up my morning. But now I'm here in the afternoon with a crying baby, impatient kids, no plans for dinner, and a stuffy head, so the melancholy is back. I'll respond to this afternoon melancholy as I often do - with chocolate chip cookies after the kids go to bed.
I'm OK folks. Just living life.

What A Crock

2011-03-24T12:55:00.002-04:00

I finally broke down and got a crock pot. I am not a big fan of foods that are all mixed up together like in casseroles and stews, so I've never seen much of a reason to have a crock pot before. But Richard wanted to do some special recipe in one so I "let" him buy one.

So now, hit me with your favorite crock pot recipe. What ya got? Maybe I'll be glad I bought this huge (storage problem) thing.

Mundane Greatness

2011-03-23T21:33:00.003-04:00

I don't feel like I've had much to say these days. And I feel like that's a good thing. We're just living life. Enjoying the backyard if we can, planning for a backyard update (the astro-turf plan has been canceled due to it costing in the neighborhood of $6000!!!!), cleaning house, teaching table manners, fitting in dentist appointments for my broken tooth, gearing up for Richard to be gone for another week, reading The Forgotten Garden (which I highly recommend), watching Sammy roll and roll, helping Isaiah learn to say "snack", teaching Asher to write his name, reading Little House on the Prairie with Naomi, watching the daffodils bloom in the yard, hoping my little lilac bush will show signs of having made it through the winter. A million great little mundane things.

Learning Portuguese

2011-03-21T21:18:00.004-04:00

Richard gets to go to Brazil next month. For work -so it's all paid for. Maybe for like 3 weeks. And he keeps trying to convince me to go too. And I do want to go. But I want to go when I can stay and enjoy it for a while and not stress about money as much as I would if I went next month. So, I'm not going. This time. But I figured it was time to kick things up a notch as far as learning Portuguese. Because I at least have to know how to ask where the bathroom is, right?

So Richard made up these index cards that we have now stuck up all around the house. First there's the English word, then the Portuguese word, then a semi-phonetic garble of letters to help me remember how to pronounce it.

And Naomi drew this lovely picture to help us learn the family words.
Ya gotta start somewhere, right?

Tchau! (Or, for you non-Portuguese speakers, thats chow - or goodbye)

Don't Blink

2011-03-16T15:37:00.003-04:00

Because you might miss Sammy growing up too quickly. Today I put away a few baby things and thought, "How can I put away these baby things? He's still a baby!"
But now he's a baby who rolls around on the floor. When I pick him up, he's not in the same place as he was when I lay him down. Yesterday I saw him get up onto his hands a knees for a second! We've officially reached the phase where no small thing can be left on the floor or he'll eat it. (Also known as the vacuum-every-day phase) He won't sleep in the portacrib downstairs anymore - he's aware of us and wants to be up with us if he can hear us. When he sits on my lap while I eat dinner, he tries to grab my food - that means he's ready to eat real food. But I don't think that I'm ready for that! (Not to mention that I gave away my high chair and can't seem to find the small one that I want.)
Why are they so small for so short a time? I know not everybody does, but I love the little-bitty-baby phases. I want more of it!
(But don't worry, I don't want it bad enough to have another baby yet.)

Meet Eleanor

2011-03-11T11:43:00.002-05:00

Eleanor Roosevelt that is. Naomi had to dress up as Mrs. Roosevelt as part of her first book report.

Playdate With Sammy

2011-03-09T12:25:00.003-05:00

Come play with Sammy! He loves to lay on his tummy and look at you. He'll make faces and blow bubbles. His favorite toy is the yellow disk you see in these pictures. On the other side of the disk is a giraffe head with a rattle in it. I have no idea why that is his favorite, but it's been his clear favorite for at least a couple months now.

Blowing bubbles:

Epic Flu

2011-03-08T12:32:00.002-05:00

A long, long time ago (more than two weeks ago) it all began in a place just like this (this exact place, in fact). It began with Asher. And there was much washing of bed linens and pillows and carpet. And there was yelling. Top-of-the-lungs, only-heard-in-horror-films yelling. And it continued with Samuel. And there was much diaper changing and bathing and clothes changing and clothes washing and cuddling. And then it took a small break (thank goodness!) for Kelly and Roko's visit and my big baby shower. But then it was back with Naomi. And there was more washing of bed linens and pillows and carpets. And more lost sleep for the whole house. And much crying and whining. And then it moved on to Isaiah. And there was more washing and laundry and lost sleep - but there was also silence. Eerie silence. I debated sleeping on his bedroom floor because he never made a peep even when ... (you don't want to know).

And then we thought maybe it was done.

But it wasn't. Isn't. Mom got it. And 4 days later, I still feel like crud! And now Dad's got it, too. And I feel terrible for having sent my kids back to school just two days after they were so sick, because if they still felt like I feel today, it's not good.

This flu really is epic. Certainly nothing like a 24 hour bug. Will it ever end? It feels like maybe it's been so long since this all began that we're in risk of starting the whole cycle over again. We've gone through an entire box of Saltines in those few weeks. And gallons of Pedialyte and Kool-Aid. And loaves of toast. ...But on the upside, we're saving on milk!

More Roko and Kelly

2011-03-06T20:00:00.003-05:00

I know it was a week ago that they left, but I am just now getting around to blogging the last of the Kelly and Roko visit. It was just such a blast! Kelly and I realized that we have a ton in common. We enjoy similar craftyness, we have similar parenting styles, and we're both way cool. I just really enjoyed having Kelly around. And Roko was just killing me with how much he reminded me of my brother. It was like having a little tiny Mark running around my house! And run around my house he did. It didn't take him long at all to start following the pack.

Roko wore this pirate patch for an entire day - including our trip to Costco and a few other errands.
The day of the baby shower Kelly, Ruth and I took the kids to the mall to kill some time without messing up the house. We rode the carousel.
Here's everybody walking through the mall parking lot. Aren't they the picture of extended family togetherness?

Kami's Baby Shower

2011-02-28T17:48:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, I threw a baby shower for my dear friend Kami. I am always happy to throw a party, but this one was especially fun because I love Kami and because I got to do it with my friend Stephanie and Kelly helped, too. Everything was pink and black and white.
Kelly helped with the cake a lot. She's a pro! (Really, it was more like I helped Kelly with the cake a little.) And Stephanie made the chocolate dipped pretzel sticks, which if you look closely you can see have "BABY" stamped on them. So cute!,
I used my Cricut to make a pink and black banner.

We had a onesie decorating station where people freehanded or stamped on onesies of varying sizes using fabric paint pens.
Kami works in a veterinary clinic, so one guest got super creative and made an adorable onesie with a stethoscope. I love it!
I made a diaper cake which you can see in this next picture. And that's Kami opening presents.
It was a great party. And most importantly, Kami felt loved. And little Madelynn will come into the world with plenty of adorable clothes.

I really do love throwing a party.

Kelly and Roko

2011-02-24T16:13:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged in nearly a week! Since that sunny, bloggy day, we've had a snow day. Yep. I told you Mother Nature was a tease. Also since I last blogged, Kelly and Roko arrived! (My kids have two Aunt Kelly's so I always feel like I need to clarify that I am talking about Kelly from Cali.) Roko is 2. We've just been hanging out and playing with the kids. Kelly is also helping me get ready for the baby shower that I'm throwing this weekend. I've never had a real chance to spend some good amount of time with Kelly, so it's been extra fun for me. Plus, she's been a big help. This morning the boys were a little restless so we took them to the bounce house place and let them literally bounce off the walls for an hour. Tomorrow's big plans are hitting a yarn shop (Kelly is an avid knitter) and then Ruth is coming to play in the evening. Saturday afternoon is the baby shower. Ruth and Kelly will take the kids to the Air and Space Museum during the shower.

Here, Aunt Kelly teaches Naomi how to knit.

I always miss Richard, but there's a special feeling in the house when it's just full of kids and Mama's. A special womanly feeling. I am quite positive that I am not putting it into words adequately. But take my words for it, it's cool.

Sunshine

2011-02-18T15:21:00.003-05:00

It has been unseasonably warm here the last few days. Today it is a whopping 74 degrees! If only the warm weather was here to stay. But, alas, I am positive that this is just a cruel tease by Mother Nature. I'm sure she has several more weeks of frigid temps in the planning before the real onset of Spring. ...But I'm off topic. Today! Today we will enjoy it!

So look who made his first trip out to the backyard and onto the swing set?
Sweet Sammy seemed totally overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all at first. But he quickly warmed up to it.
And before we knew it he was squealing in delight.
Unfortunately, we are now a swing short. It may be time to get rid of the clunker, Craiglist swing set and invest in a nicer and bigger one. Too bad our stinkin' HOA gets a say in just HOW big... It may also be time to attempt some grass or else give up on grass entirely and go for rocks or something.

Isaiah's Speech Update

2011-02-17T11:33:00.003-05:00

I was browsing through my old blog posts recently from a year ago and I came across this video of Isaiah talking. I started thinking about how much he's learned in the past year. He can make almost any sound now - although some combinations still elude him. But now he's learned to just drop the sounds that are hard for him to say. So in last years video you'll hear him saying some thing incorrectly (no-bibby instead of nobody), where in this year's video you'll hear him just drop the middle and/or end of the word (no-by instead of nobody). Also in this years video, you'll notice a dramatic uptick in attitude. That boy is straight up sassy!

Sorry for the messy faces, this was filmed in the middle of lunch.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T15:21:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful, fun, but low-key Valentine's Day. The kids and I made their Valentine's to take to school the week before. Asher went for dinosaurs, Isaiah space ships, and Naomi had little notepads with various designs. Naomi was great and did all of hers all by herself. The boys, however, helped for about 3 seconds and then bailed. Oh well.
That morning we had pink milk to get the fun started, then the kids headed off to school for parties there. Here they are after school, examining their piles of loot. This lasted at least an hour.
I made a dinner just for Richard - lasagna and pistachio salad, then we just played together for the rest of the evening. The kids were pretty hoped up on sugar, so we mostly just let them be crazy. Here they are all piled on top of each other. See that bit of hair by Naomi's hand? That's Isaiah!
It was exactly the kind of day it was supposed to be - a day to celebrate our love for each other.

Swing!

2011-02-13T07:41:00.002-05:00

Richard and I went to a church swing dance last night. We danced for hours - until we literally limped to the car with sore feet. We have never had such a great chance to just dance and dance and dance together before. It was such a blast! We both really love to swing. Neither of us is technically great, we just enjoy it. Richard loves to twirl me around until I'm ready to fall over. Plus, it was fun to have a reason to dress up and go out together. We felt a little like we did in our youth, heading to a Stake dance on Saturday night.

This little video is Daddy teaching Naomi how to swing. She actually picked it up pretty well, in my opinion!

World: Three

2011-02-09T16:33:00.003-05:00

Today it feels like I'm loosing. The score is World: three, Nancy: zero.

I went pants shopping. That was my first mistake. And I tried on pants that never had any chance of fitting because I had totally blocked out the real number that is on the tag of the pants I am currently wearing. I left the store nearly in tears. World: one

Then I went shoe shopping. How can you go wrong there? I had seen the perfect shoes online and they were even on sale, but I wanted them right away so I went to the store. And they were NOT ON SALE in the store. So I went home to buy them online, and their website has been down all day. World: two

Then I took a nap during nap time, because clearly I needed it. And as I slept blissfully, Asher snuck into my room, where Isaiah has his nap time, and the two of them painted their nails and put on makeup. Ruining the carpet, my vanity stool, and their clothes in the process. I am so mad that I can hardly punish the boys - I'm afraid I'd go too far. World: three

Sad and mad are a bad combo. I need a re-do. This day just needs to end and never come back. So I have turned on a movie for the kids - and when it ends I just might turn on another one. And while they watch, I mope. That's right. I'm moping. I am allowing myself this one day of moping.

****************
Ha! Take that, World! I finally ordered my shoes. And a sweet, sweet friend dropped by tonight and stayed to chat for a few minutes. The score is now World: two, Nancy: two. ...But somehow it still doesn't seem quite even.

Foiled

2011-02-05T18:22:00.001-05:00

We had big plans today to go to the huge aquarium in Baltimore. We bought the tickets last night so that we'd be sure to be able to get in at the time we wanted.
And then Isaiah started puking.
And then I started feeling sick, too.
And the next morning the poor kids' hearts were broken when we told them that nobody was going to the aquarium.

Now we're just really hoping that this all ends with Isaiah and I. Richard is out of town next week so it would be bad if he got sick. And since he'll be out of town, it would be bad if I was still sick. Or if several kids were sick simultaneously. Or if little Sammy got this and ended up in the hospital.

We've been lucky so far this winter as far as being pretty healthy. I guess all I'm saying is, couldn't that luck last another week?

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Snow Day Olympics

2011-02-02T18:06:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was another snow day. (Don't ask me why since there was no more snow than the day before when there had been school, and the expected ice storm never arrived!) So in desperation, I decided to embrace the chaos. I called a neighbor and invited her and her five children over for Snow Day Olympics. Then the kids and I spent an hour preparing games.

We made a score card (which they used to check off each activity after they did it - no winning and loosing)
We got out Twister and this awesome Tic Tac Toe floor game that my sister-in-law, Chelsea, made for us:
We set up the dining room for a ball bounce game and a boat blowing race:

And then we let the fun/chaos begin!
Oh, and we made this bean bag toss game: (Which this little slugger promptly broke to bits with his softball pitches)
It was a fun way to kill 3 hours. The kids just ran around from activity to activity - sometimes in packs and sometimes solo. We also did a limbo competition, hula hooped and played Bingo.

And the kids were tired and ready for naps - which is quite a feat on a snow day.

Today

2011-01-31T20:51:00.004-05:00

Today I woke up to a house in which every single little thing was in the wrong place ... or at least it felt that way. Last week was so crazy with the kids home all week - the house was just a disaster. And since we were planning on having the missionaries and a new friend over for dinner, it was definitely time to clean up. I spent at least two hours just doing laps around the house picking things up, carrying them into the next room, and putting them away.

Then I grocery shopped because we needed a few things for the dinner. And the boys refused to go into the babysitting even though I had driven past three other grocery stores just to get to the one that has babysitting.

Then I cleaned some more. And Sammy spent way too much time in his swing. So much, in fact, that he slept in it. And he got himself into this crazy position:
That kid is sound asleep with his face buried in the side of the swing, his little fist tightly holding the liner. I mean, hasn't he ever heard of SIDS? But he likes to sleep that way! I always find him cuddled up against the side of his crib. He loves to nap on the couch with his face buried in the couch. It's crazy.

Then I made roast and potatoes for dinner and had a grand time with our new friend and the missionaries. It made me thankful that in my adulthood, I can make new friends so much easier than in my awkward youth.

Then I finished off this project.

My Mom got these silk pieces (samples really) from one of her tenants who sells fabrics. I chose these ones for a pillow to go on our bed.

I never knew how easy sewing pillows is! I mean, it's just a square - I can handle that! The key (for me) is to stuff the pillow with loose stuffing instead of buying a pillow form. That way I don't have to worry about needing to make it any certain size. Whatever size it turns out, is fine!

And that's my day.

Reading

2011-01-30T21:53:00.004-05:00

I'm re-reading Harry Potter book 7. And I'm just as into it this time around as I was the first time! I remember how the story concludes, but I don't really remember how she gets us there. So that's what I did today in every moment of my spare time. I know some people might not think that reading something like Harry Potter is a good choice for a Sabbath, but I feel that it's a personal decision based on how reading that particular book makes you feel. As far as resting goes, sitting around reading a book is the next step down from sleep for me. I'm actually relieved that I am enjoying reading again since I kinda over-did it on bed rest and didn't miss it for a while there. Anyway, I had to blog and that's what's on my mind. One more day of mandatory NaBloPoMo blogging after this. I'll miss it and be relieved at the same time.

Tummy Time

2011-01-29T12:23:00.001-05:00

Look who made it onto his tummy all by himself today! Note the surprised look on his face. I think he was pretty confused about what had just happened.

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Snow Baby

2011-01-28T16:54:00.003-05:00

Oh yeah, and my other kids are cute, too.
(I promise that the photo shoot with Sammy lasted less than a minute. No babies were frozen to death in the taking of these pictures.)

What?

2011-01-28T15:02:00.001-05:00

What the heck made me think that going to the gym would make my back feel better after yesterday's snow shoveling?

...Somebody hand me the Advil...

Anticlimactic

2011-01-27T20:51:00.003-05:00

There was no school Tuesday for a teacher work day. There was no school Wednesday for a snow storm that didn't arrive until 4pm. And that is where our story begins. It snowed. And snowed. And the power started flickering around 8pm. But it stuck with us. Until midnight. Then we lost it for good. And there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth from children who wanted night lights. All. Night. Long. And in the morning, it was still dark. And cold. And electricity-less. Poor little Sammy had cold hands and ears. And, admittedly, I was freaking out a little. It seemed like a huge burden for me to decide how best to take care of this brood of Littles all by myself. I decided that we should head to my in-laws about 30 minutes away. But first I had to un-bury the van from a mountain of snow. Which took me more than an hour of serious cardio! (On a somewhat snarky side-note, four of my chivalrous neighbors stood in our culdesac watching me work my toosh off for at least half of that hour. What gentlemen.) I packed up a change of clothes, some PJs and fresh undies for everybody so that we would be prepared to spend the night if necessary. And I prayed. Hard. That I could get my kiddies there safely. And we got in the van and drove. And the roads were pretty nasty, but we made it safely into the welcoming arms of Grandma and Grandpa Worth. Who took very good care of us. And two hours later our power was back on. Another hour after that we headed home. On pretty much clear roads.

How's that for a whole lotta build-up with the most boring ending ever?

But we'll take that boring ending and be thankful for it. Because now we're all snug and cozy in our own warm house and beds. Which is exactly where we want to be.

PS - There's no school tomorrow either. Send help! And chocolate!

Finishing Touches

2011-01-26T16:24:00.003-05:00

Sammy's room has really been a labor of love. ...Just mostly not MY labor. Sammy is sharing with Naomi, whose room was all purple (clearly not the right color for a manly man like Sammy). So the first time my Mom came to visit, while I was on bed rest, she and my sister Ruth painted two of the four walls green. Then my Mom made the fabulous curtains that tie together the purple and green. And I bought the vinyl froggies and embroidered the scripture about Sammy's name.
I think the frogs are the perfect compliment for Naomi's Princess room. You know, the princess and the frog? But I didn't want cheesy crown-wearing frogs. Just groovy frogs! Manly frogs.
Cute, huh? My Mom also made the great quilt that is hanging over the side of the bed.

And here's my finished scripture, which you may remember I started way back when I was flat on my back.
My sister-in-law, Kelly in Cali, hand knit this rockin' frog for Sammy. Isn't it just the best frog you've ever seen? He has such character!

And since I was on a role with putting finishing touches on things, I also added the picture of Sammy to our wall in the family room. Here's the before shot:
And here's the new addition:
The picture of Sammy was taken by my sister-in-law, Jessica, while we were in Mexico over Christmas. Isn't it adorable? Oh, wait...I think I've already bragged about that shot on the blog... oh well - it's brag-worthy.

That Sums It Up

2011-01-25T17:58:00.002-05:00

As the kids were getting themselves ready for bed, I said to Naomi, "You just worry about you, Honey. Let Isaiah worry about Isaiah."

And then Asher continued for me, "And Asher worry about Asher. And Daddy worry about Daddy. And Sammy worry about Sammy. And you worry about every single little thing."

Yep. Ain't that the truth.

Going and Coming and Going

2011-01-24T18:28:00.003-05:00

I don't think I've mentioned before the full extent of Richard and I's plan for the year. Basically, he's going to be traveling every other week all year. Which is kinda crazy. Sometimes it feels like he's gone more than he's here (which isn't true, but it feels like it). But it's worth it (financially, anyway). Most of his trips are just 3 or 4 days, but some of them are longer. The longer ones come with a special "deal". For each long trip that Richard takes, I get two plane tickets to give to whomever I choose so that they can come visit me. When we made this plan the visits were more because I needed help. Now, I admit, it's more just for fun - although whoever comes to visit ends up helping tons too.

Richard is leaving again tomorrow, but just for a quick trip. He'll be back Friday. But he's got a long trip planned for the end of February. And this time my fabulous sister-in-law Kelly, from Cali, is coming! I can't wait to get to know her better, hang out with her, learn from her, and hopefully gain some coolness just by association.

These visits from far-flung family and friends are fun. But truthfully, I'd rather have my husband with me than anyone else on Earth.

Silly Stories

2011-01-24T07:26:00.002-05:00

Did you know that Isaiah has a whole other family and house and life? He lives at Pumpkinville with his mom and dad and brothers and sisters and goats and doggies and monsters (and whatever else he can think of at that moment). Wonderful things happen at Pumpkinville. Isaiah gets to play outside during naptime, he rides on the horses, he plays games like tag, etc.

Here are a couple of stories that feature Isaiah's fantastical life at Pumpkinville:

"Last night while I was sleeping, monsters came into my room and put my mommy in time out. And they jumped on the bed and made scary noises. Then they put my mommy in the garbage can."

"I have five doggies at Pumpkinville. Their names are Weehoo, Teewho, and Seenaw." (yes, I know that's not five names - but apparently he doesn't!)

"I ate my mommy." (When asked why I was still here, he replied, "No, my other mommy at Punpkinville!")

Silly guy.

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Aunt Ruth

2011-01-22T15:57:00.001-05:00

Its always a treat when Aunt Ruth comes to visit. A treat for the kids because they love to play with her. And a treat for Richard and I because the kids are so happily occupied - and because we love Ruth.

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I Ferb*rized That Baby!

2011-01-21T15:00:00.002-05:00

(I don't want this blog post to come up when you search for the Dr's real name, so I'm putting the * instead of another e.)

So, as you know, Sammy wasn't sleeping through the night. And worse than that, his nights were getting worse and worse. He was going 6 or 7 hours at night for a while, but then it started going down to only 4 or 5 and before I knew it he was awake more often at night than he was during the day! So something had to be done. I was so sleep deprived that I didn't even remember how I have solved this problem in the past. Let the kid cry! I am a believer in Dr. Ferb*r's theory that children need to learn how to soothe themselves at night. All it takes is a couple of miserable nights where the baby cries a ton. For further info on Dr Ferb*r's theory, have a look here.

Anyway, I geared up for starting this. I knew I wasn't going to sleep at all for about 3 days, but that after that I'd be OK. I put Sammy's port-a-crib in the basement so that all his screaming wouldn't keep the other kids awake. I went to sleep in my own bed upstairs, but planned on staying on the couch downstairs once Sammy woke up the first time.

Night One: Sammy woke up after just 3 hours. But I didn't hear him soon enough and by the time I got to him he was turning blue and practically hyperventilating. So I caved in and fed him to calm him down. Dr. Ferb*r would not be proud. Failure.

That day I worked on Ferb*rizing him at naptime, too - putting him in his crib awake and making him put himself to sleep.

Night Two: Sammy slept all night.

Night Three: Sammy slept all night.

What?!?!? How did this happen? It's too good to be true! I never stayed up all night with a screaming baby! He just started sleeping. Seriously... what? I did move him to the crib instead of the bassinet - maybe he likes that better. And I did stop putting socks on his hands so that he could suck on his fingers - maybe that helps him soothe himself. Or maybe the poor kid just really wanted to sleep through the night, he just needed a tiny push to know how. I don't know. It's weird.

But WHO CARES! The kid is sleeping through the night! I'll take it!

day 20

2011-01-20T21:22:00.002-05:00

Theres really not anything to blog today and Im not in a bloggy mood. So Im literally phoning it in.

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Instead

2011-01-20T07:06:00.004-05:00

I didn't blog yesterday, so I'm supposed to blog this morning to make up for that and again this afternoon for today. But Sammy just slept through the night for the first time and all I can think is, "He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept!He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept! He slept!