How Did My Life Get so Busy?

I feel like such a slacker not updating this blog; but in my defense I really do this mostly for the grandparents and since the kids (at least the big kids) have been in with their grandparents for the last month I felt less pressure to do so. 

Christmas has come and gone, and like the rest of the year was very different from years past.  We had to plan the entire Christmas morning experience around what would fit in our suitcases for the trip home and what would have to be packed away when we move in a couple of months it put things in a whole different view.  So Santa brought the kids Nintendo DSs for Christmas.  They were/are excited and I think it should make traveling especially to South America less hair pulling for me.

The best gift however came on Christmas Eve when my sister gave us a beautifully personalized frame announcing the coming arrival of their twins.  We are so excited!  Funny how it took me 10 years to deliver 3 grandchildren and in one swoop she will nearly double the count.  My kids are so excited about the additions to our family and let me assure you tears were shed (I won't say by who) when we realized we will be in Paraguay when they arrive.  Travel plans in the works, we will pray it works out.

The kids have loved their time with their grandparents.  I'm so glad they got this time before we leave.  Although both kids got the flu while I was away and then managed to pass it to my mother.  I'm sure this was a Christmas they will never forget. 

I would like to take a minute to share what I am grateful for:

I am grateful for a husband that takes care of me even when I whine.
I am grateful for parents who are willing to take care of my sick kids without complaint.
I am grateful for children who think of others and are honest.
I am grateful for a baby that makes me smile everyday.
I am grateful for a gospel that I can feel the spirit even in a language I don't understand.
I am thankful for the opportunity to learn Spanish even though it makes me want to scream.
I am grateful for a family that is selfless.
And last but not least, I am so very grateful for my Savior and Redeemer and the time given to us each year to remember his tender birth. 

I hope you all had a wounderful holiday.  I'll try to get Christmas pictures up soon.

Isaac's Logic

I know this is 2 in one day but my kids are so smart.  I can't believe the depth of their minds.  Tonight after being asked 3 times to go read Isaac got a swat to the butt.  This was pretty traumatic for him since it almost never happens, but after several weeks of blatant disregarding of direction it was deserved. 

When I went into talk to him about the decision he made and the consequence to follow he was looking at a picture he had drawn at church.  He explained it all to me earlier in the day.  The picture is of Nephi in his armor and a sword, blocking arrows in war. 

He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I wish I had looked at my picture before I made that choice." 

"Why?"

"Because I want to be like Nephi.  In my picture he is fighting with his armor on, blocking the arrows that want to hurt him.  It is like he is using his sword to protect him from things that tempt him.  And even when he is done fighting he has to be careful about when he takes off his armor because something might sneak up on him and kill him when he is not even looking."

"So what do you think you should have done?"

"I should have used my sword and followed directions.... (long pause) but I do have to say... it was Emma's idea."

Well at least he understands the concept of the Armor of God.  But I wish he wasn't so willing to throw his sister under the bus.

HUH?!?

So Shawn and I finally started Spanish a couple of weeks ago.  This would be the reason for my lack of blogging, I come home exhausted from trying to translate things I don't understand all day long.  I have decided after completing 18 credit hours on how to teach students that don't speak English, that teachers should be subjected to a week of this training and their tolerance and understanding for that child's frustration would greatly increase.  I do hope that the teachers that will be teaching my children in Paraguay will have a similar understanding.

In order to sum up how my week(s) have gone I'll share my embarrassing story with you.  We had to describe the country we are going in Spanish.  So I shared the capital, the weather and even what our housing SHOULD be like.  I told the class that my family and I would be going and we were very excited.  Now, I didn't know that word for excited to so I decided to google translate it.  It offered many words to choose from but I chose the one that sound the most like excited because I thought it would be easier to remember.  Well when I shared my paragraph with the class my teacher began to laugh.  She quickly explained that the word I used for excited was a sexual reference and might not be nice to use in a public setting.  YES, this is my life! 

On other fronts, we also tackled parent/teacher conference this week.  All I have to say after getting Isaac's report card is that the teachers here have it easy, compared to what CA teacher have to fill out.  Of course my kids are super smart with all A's (or exceeding expectation's in Isaac's case).

I would like to end my little note today mentioning that life is short!  This has really come to the forefront of my thoughts over the last few months.  Recently a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, another friend has a very ill child and most recently a brother in our ward laid down to take a nap and didn't get up.  He was 2 years younger than I am.  I hope to be a better wife and mother, and that as I make decisions in my life that the course I choose to take will be one that will improve the life and welfare of my family.

Have a wonderful week! 

Before I Buy More Clothes

So a couple of years ago, we went through a period where Isaac never had any socks.  NEVER!  I must have bought about 10-15 packages of socks for his that school year.  I was so frustrated.  I was sure either the washer or dryer must be eating them all because I could not image where they would go. 

After the school year was out and I had some spare time on my hands (and my parents were coming) I decided that the Playroom/guestroom needed to be cleaned out.  About 2 hours into my cleaning I got to the toy box.  Guess what I found... yep, about 60 individual dirty socks.  Apparently "Clean the Playroom" means pick up all the stuff you don't want to put away and shove it in the toy box.

That brings me to yesterday morning.  Isaac and I have a deal that when he is on the last of something he needs to tell me so I can wash them.  (I can't tell you how many mornings he has been out of underwear.)  So he tells me he is on his last pair of pants.  When I go to start laundry there are no pants belonging to Isaac to be found.  But wait I remember the prior experience and check under the bed. 

When Isaac gets home from school I tell him, "The weirdest thing happened.  I went to do laundry and couldn't find any of your pants.  Do you know where they might be." 

"Well I know where one pair is.  I put it under my bed."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to clean my room."

So we move his bed and find 6 pair of pants under there.  His eyes got so big.  I explain that I have already done laundry for the day so he will have to go to school tomorrow in his pajama bottoms.  He thinks for a minute and decides he can just wear a pair of dirty pants.  So he inspects each of the pants and decides on the least dirty pair of pants.  I had to go along because he is using his problem solving skills, and didn't argue with me just solved the problem for himself.  So today... he is wearing dirty pants. 

I can pray he will remember this experience the next time he goes to shove dirty clothing under his bed, but I doubt it.

Did I mention "Life is a Zoo"???

On Monday we said goodbye to the wonderful family that came to visit us.  We were so excited for their visit and the goodbyes come far too quickly.  But while they were here we created some wonderful memories. 

My family flew in super late on Tuesday night and like all bad mothers do I decided to take my kids out of school on Wednesday afternoon for some of this memory making.  We picked them up at 11:30 and headed to the zoo.  I love the zoo and I love it even more with my kids.  

My groundhog children

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We are stunning, aren't we???

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My littlest man, loving the time outdoors.

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I can't remember why we decided to lay down here but it was funny.

At the farm animals.  We LOVE Sweetie Pie.

Fun with the Fam at Mt. Vernon

Without a doubt one of my favorite places to visit here in the DC area is Mt. Vernon.   I don't know why but I love learning about George Washington.  I feel everytime I go there I learn something new (or learned the last time I was there but had forgotten.)

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The kids jumping of the Ha-Ha Wall. 

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Looking over the Potomac.  (Not the Mississippi as suggested by someone in out tour group.)

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Group HUG!

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We went on the "National Treasure 2" tour.  They showed us all the places they filmed in the movie.

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One of the places they took us was the basment of the house. This was very interesting.  Here you see the cornerstone of the house laid by Lawrence Washington (General Washington's half brother.)

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We went to story hour and this was there for pictures.  What you don't see is the note on the back instructing parents not to let their children put their heads all the way through the holes as they might get "stuck."  I can only imagine the scene that cause that note to be posted back there. 

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The kids dressed up in old fashioned clothing.

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The Fam.  I am so glad we had the opportunity to build these memories together.  These are moments none of us will forget. 

Emma Finds Her Voice

So recently we took a trip.  If you have ever traveled with our family even just to the grocery store you will know that the way my sweet husband drives make me want to scream.  So we are driving down the road and my husband's "job" (offensive get where I want to go; when I want to go) driving skills kick in.  As we are having a few loud disagreeing words I hear my daughter sigh in the back and say, "Gee, I can't wait to be married."

I have found that although my adorable daughters humor has taken some time to develop she does follow after her mother.  Sarcasm will often get us in trouble, but it is almost always funny. 

Gotta love kids!

My Birthday Wish

     I know it has been a couple of months since my birthday but my mother is so dang funny I thought I would share her humor with you.

     So admittedly I know I am terribly difficult to shop for.  There are very few things I want that I don't need.  (Things that I need I just go buy and don't wait for my birthday to come around.)  But this year after just having a baby I am struggling to get the baby weight off.  So when asked what I would like for my birthday I told my mother I would like to lose 40 lbs.  "Do you think you can arrange that for me?"

     So when my birthday came I got this very sweet letter explaining just how much my parents love me and how they would go to the ends of the earth to get me what I wanted for my birthday.  I open the gift and this is what I find.

Yes!  I believe she does stay up nights just thinking of ways to crack herself up!

Secret Service

Since moving to this tiny apartment life has become easier and more complicated.  We have a lot less stuff here so the messes we make are pretty small.  However because the space we occupy is also small the mess seems really big.  I decided we needed a chore list to keep the apartment tidy.  The kids could earn stickers (or points for those to big for stickers) for the chores they do around the house. 

We have started with a really easy list.  Each kid is required to keep their room clean, pick up their clothes off the bathroom floor (I believe this must be the hardest one because it is never done), homework, reading, dishes or living room and then I asked them each to do a "secret service."  I didn't really know where that would go because nothing can be secret in this tiny little place but it has been a fun little thing.  Isaac will sneak into Emma's room and do something for her and then he is so excited to see how she will react when she sees the good deed.  Emma will get started on something and then spend an hour or more working on it because she realizes how appreciated it will be.  I have also noticed a little less snapping at each other.  The other day Emma was in the kitchen and noticed Isaac in her room.  She was about to yell at him for breaking the cardinal rule and then realized he was doing something nice for her. 

I have really enjoyed watching my kids do service for on another and every once in a while Shawn and I are blessed by their good deeds.

MY MOM!

So on this day a long, long, loooong time ago the world was given the gift of my mother.  I know many of you may of missed it or been unaware of her influence on the world but let me assure you she has changed the lives of many. 

My Mom is one of those people who they make movies about.  She was born into a home that had many trials, yet she found a way to prevail.  Not only did she make her life better but she managed to make every moment of my life (and that of my sister) memorable.   I have often noted that it was not until I was an adult that I realized that not every mom was like she is.  She never missed an event in my life.  She attended every performance of the school play, every band concert (even when the most exciting song was hot cross buns), and never failed to chauffeur from place to place when I needed it. 

She taught us how to give even when we didn't have a lot.  And she taught us to find joy in serving others. 

And now, just when you would think she would rest she has become the nearly perfect grandmother.  Never failing to think about my kids and the many exciting events in their lives.  She attends every event she can make it to and makes the most out of those visits (seeing Emma's school play 5 times even though her part was only 5 minutes).  She sends letters and "just because" gifts so the kids will get something in the mail.   And there is no doubt in my kids' minds how much they are loved by their Sweetie Pie. 

So to My Dearest Mother:  I love you!  I miss you!  I can't wait to see you!  I hope you have a wonderful birthday and can feel our love all the way from here!  We love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond and no matter what, where ever we are, you will always be in our hearts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The First Official Sleepover

Last night was another first for both the big kids.  Emma has never had a sleepover with the exception of having a cousin over from time to time.  But the stake decided to have a father son camp out (Isaac's first) and so we decided to invite Emma's closest friend (for the time being) over for a sleep over.  They had so much fun. 

The Agenda:

1- Dinner at a local burger joint.  Good but greasy.

2- Tuck Everlasting and popcorn

3- painting of the finger nails and nail art

4- pillow/tickle fight

5- roll hair in curlers

6- sleep

Was seemed funny to me was this is the kind of sleepover you would see on a movie.  But they did it all.  There was also much giggling and playing Wii.  They told me their goal was to stay up past 1am.  However I believe they were in bed around 10:30 and by the time I got to them at 11:30 they were fast asleep. 

Isaac and Daddy had a great time too.  They got new sleeping bags and ate s'mores, even though I warned Isaac they may not have them.  He assured me you can't have a campfire without s'mores.  They stayed up late and hung out with the boys and when the stake ran out of food for breakfast this morning they went to IHOP.  Who could ask for anything more?

More Signs that My Baby is Growing Up

Emma came home the other day with a smile on her face.  She handed me this paper and let me know it was the first "real" grade she has gotten.  Yes it is an A and we are so proud of how hard she is working in school.  Of course her statement followed with, "Yes I know I could do better; Lindsay got all 5's."  I assured her that she could not get 100%, 100% of the time and that her dad and I are thrilled with 98%.  I wish I could show you her art work instead of the grading sheet but the teacher kept it at school to decorate the classroom.  I hope to see it when we go to back to school night.

Are my kids going to turn out alright?

So over the last few months Shawn and I have really been talking about what kind of people we want our children to be.  Some of this is spawned by wanting to help our children overcome some of our short comings and some is based on experiences we have had with people in our lives. 

I feel this need to create flexible yet strong, respectful, contributing members of society.  I did get a small glimps of Isaac's ability to do this the other day.  He went to play with a friend and at that friends house they are not allowed to use the word kill.  Now, we are not allowed to use that word toward other people but if it is one action figure saying it to another we over look that rule.  But once he was informed of this rule at his friend's house he and his little friend decided to use the term "knocked out."  He got home that night and insisted on going back over to tell his little friend that he had thought of a new word they could use... "defeated."  Yes, I know this seem small but I was so proud of my son for adjusting to the cards he was dealt and making the best of it. 

Another lesson I want to teach my children to be respectful of and value other people's time. I hope that by teaching them to find value in their own time that they can learn to appreciate the time others dedicate to helping them in all aspects of life. I do not want my children to be those people who take advantage of others with no thought of it. A person that thinks the world revolves around them, their life and their schedule and it can be changed on whim with no notice.


I want my children to be good decision makers.  I think all parents want this for their children but I think many are more successful at acheiving this than others.  If you are one of those parents that have children that are great decission makers please let me know.  I have watched those that I love make decissions that move them in a direction that I know they don't want to be going and wonder, can they not see the path in front of them?  How do I help my children open their eyes and see past the moment and into tomorrow?  How do I get them to focus beyond the inconvienience and see the reward.  Have you ever taken a picture and the point your camera chooses to focus on what is in the foreground but it blurs out the beauty of the background, the bigger picture, the reason you decided to take the picture in the first place?  I want my children to see the whole picture the beauty behind the blur. 

In sacrament meeting on Sunday a story was told relating the war in heaven to the raising children.  We need to let our children make choices and experience the consequences.  They should experience both failures and successes.  I hope that I will have the strength as I continue to raise my children to allow them to make their own decissions, so that their successes will be theirs and their failures will be their lesson to learn. 

I need my children to know that they get to write their own life story.  They can make their life look exactly like they dream.  Often times that dream requires more work than people are willing to put into it, but it can be done.  I need to find a way to teach them that the harder they work the "luckier" they will be.  Decide what you want in your life and make it a priority.

So I am begging you, if you have tips on how to do this please let me know.  I know I have really great kids and I don't want to fail them.  I hope to be able to teach them to take control and be who they want to be.

Mother of the Year --- Maybe Next Year

It is official I am out of the running for Mother of the Year.  Isaac had a short day today.  I (or someone designated) is required to pick him up at the bus stop.  I headed down in plenty of time; I was worried that I would be bored waiting for him at the bus stop so took a second to find my book to read while I waited.  I arrived at the bus stop to see a mother yelling, "Stop! stop! she is here, she is here."  Yes, the bus was already there and they were about to take my sweet son back to the school to wait for me to come pick him up. (Good thing I decided not to go back for a water.)

I guess we will see tomorrow if I learned my lesson.

Our trip to PA

We began out trip to PA with a little bit of a rough start.  I woke up with a migraine and decided to sleep a couple of hours to try to get rid of it.  We had tickets to see Independence Hall at 1:00.  We pulled out at 9:30 and arrived in Philadelphia at 12:30.  We were told to pick up our tickets AT LEAST 1 hour before the tour time to give ourselves time to get through security and other stuff.  I ran and got our tickets (due to the line I didn't have them in hand until 12:45) took the 3 kids with me and my honey went to park the car. Will you believe that I got 3 kids through security, changed a diaper and we all still made it to the 1:00 tour time.  I couldn't believe that it worked out, but I was so grateful it did.  The tour was worth the hurry, all be it short.   

One of the highlights in the beginning of the trip was looking for National Treasure spots. As you can see in the picture this is the place where Nicholas Cage found Ben Franklin's glasses.

One of the things Shawn really wanted to do on this trip was to eat a Philly Cheese steak.  So we stopped by a little bistro to have lunch.  The food was great, the service sucked!  But he got his Philly cheese steak sandwich. 

When we got to the Liberty Bell one of the Rangers had silly bands.  As you can imagine Emma was all over that.  We of course got our own patriotic silly bands too. 

Day 2 we went to Valley Forge.  We had so much fun there.  It was a near spiritual experience.  It was absolutely beautiful; which is ironic because it was cold, wet, muddy and treeless back when the Continental Army was settling for the winter but I would say it is now a small piece of American Heaven. 

Here the kids are in one of the huts (replica) built for 13 soldiers to share.

 
 
 
 

Isaac was thrilled with the cannons.  He was "aiming" this one at the British. 

We eventually joined the Continental Army to help fight for our independence.

We finished our day at the headquarters of George Washington.  The coolest thing about this place was that 75-85% of the building is original to when General Washington was there. It was cool as we walked up and down the stairs to know that our hands were holding onto the same railing that George and Martha Washington had used to climb those same stairs. 

I have done many of the Washington things around D.C. and I have always had a great deal of respect for the part George Washington played in the creation of our country but after walking through Valley Forge I have to say my respect has grown to admiration and love. 

Day 3 back to Philadelphia.

We started our last day at the Constitution Museum. As you can see Eli LOVED it. I do hope when the day comes that he learns about the Constitution that it is intact and being upheld by the people.

We all signed the Constitution signifying that we supported the document in its original form and seek to uphold it. 

 

One of the things the kids liked best about the experience was the "Once Upon a Nation."  They had these story tellers both in Phili and Valley Forge.  After almost every story Emma said, "This is how they should teach us at school.  We should just get to go from bench to bench and hear stories."  I have to agree with her it was a great way to learn.

So that was our trip.  Of course there were many other things we saw and learned, but I guess if you want to see them you will just have to go yourself.  We loved the trip and are actually hoping to fit in one more trip up that way before we leave here. 

1st Day of School

After returning from a long weekend in PA we finally got to bed and in my fatigued state I set my alarm clock to go off at 6pm.  So when I rolled over and peeked at the time this morning I was jolted out of bed when I realized it was 25 after 6.  Emma had to catch the bus at 7:00 and it was the first day of school so hair and clothes must be perfect.  It was a race against the clock but as you can see we made it in plenty of time to get her out the door. 

One of my favorite things about the school year this year is that Isaac catches the bus exactly one hour after Emma does.  So we do not have the early morning fighting, teasing, bossing and lolly gagging with each other.  I came in the house after walking Emma to the bus stop and got Isaac going.  He was a little more nervous and woke up with a really bad headache.  I'm sure I seemed like the most high maintenance mother as I took him in and introduced myself to the teacher.  I explained that Isaac wears glasses but doesn't have them today, and then went onto tell him the my kid had a headache and I made him come to school because it was the first day.  Isaac was feeling much better by the time we got to school but I miss having a teacher I can go into and talk to like a friend about my kids.  Yes, it is true although I never doubted it I miss VV very much.  Before I sent Isaac off to school I found him thumbing through a photo album of a CA friend and he told me he hope he can make as good a friend here as he had in CA. 

Surprisingly enough I had planned to do the dance of joy when my kids finally made it out the door for a new school year, but I did shed a few tears as I walked back to my car after dropping Isaac off. 

You will be happy to know that when Isaac got home he had informed me he made a new friend... Daniel.  Daniel plays Star Wars with him and after they learn about the Revolutionary War next week they are going to play that too.  (Daniel will be General Washington and Isaac will be one of his Life Guards...his BEST Life Guard.) 

The best thing about their day:

Emma- "I got my own locker."

Isaac- "I got to ride the bus home."

The Beginning of the End

Yesterday we went to Emma's new school to get her locker and meet her home room teacher.  I have to say I can not believe my baby is going to be in middle school.  I really do feel like it is the beginning of the end of her being our "little girl."   Before we know it she will be talking back, rolling her eyes and want to spend more time with friend than with us.  --- Oh wait!!!  We are already there.

Nonetheless, she is not our baby anymore.  I can't believe how fast time flies.  As we plan our life from here in the DC area to South America it hit us that when we are bidding on our next post Emma will be entering 8th grade.  How did that happen?  But for here and now we will be just focusing on the wonderful moments we have with our 10 year old, 6 year old and little one.

Restoring Honor

Yesterday we headed downtown to attend the Glenn Beck rally for "Restoring Honor."  I have to admit I was wishy-washy on if I wanted to take the kids downtown into the craziness that I knew it would be.  But Shawn was determined to teach our kids that when the government is not working the way you want them to you need to take a stand.  So we went. 

We made it to the Metro a little after 8 (the Rally started at 10).  The train arrived and there was no room on it.  Train number two arrived we moved up to the front of the platform hoping the cars at the beginning of the train would have more room.  Yet still no room.  I told Shawn I would take him downtown drop him, Emma and Isaac off at the rally and Eli and I would just come home.  But we decided to wait for just one more train to see if we could not make a family day of it.  We were able to fit onto train number 4 and arrived down town just before 10.  The Metro station was so crowded it took us 20 minutes to get out.  We walked the 5 blocks to the Linclon Memorial and then another 5 or so to find a place to stand and listen. 

After about an  hour and a half we decided to head up the hill to take a look at the sight from the Washington Monument.  It was a sight to see.  There were so many people there.  We talked to "friends" in each place that we stopped.  On the Metro, in the wings of the mall and at the Washington Monument.  It was so wonderful to meet people from all walks of life that are feeling the same way about the world and our government that we do.  It was amazing to me that with all that we had in common just how little we talked about it.  It was almost like an understanding of oneness (if that is a word) that we all shared and we could relax and talk about the exciting things in life.

I think it will be something to remember for years to come.

Let's see about this.

Well, I spend the morning reading about the exciting adventures of my friends overseas and although I love facebook I thought it would be much more benificial for my close friends and family to read my blog (if they so wish) to see the comings and goings of our family. 


Yes, I am aware that this is going to be a fight with my husband but after a year and a half I have won the facebook fight and I think I can win this one too. 


So this last week has been spent getting ready for school.  Every year I am shocked at what it takes to get the kids ready.  We have finished most of it with the exception of some stuff for Isaac.  He is required to have a change of clothes at school.  To me this is a waste.  That is just an outfit that will sit in a baggie until February that he will probably grow out of before he can wear it out.  But it is fine.  We do what we are asked because it makes life easier. 


Emma is super excited for Middle School.  I am still worried about sending my 10 year old to middle school but I think they have a really good program here.  We have bought her some stuff to organize and decorate her locker.  Who knows, I might be more excited for this than she is.


Eli is, well Eli.  He is rolling over every time we put him down now.  He refuses to sleep on his back.  If we put him in the crib awake he will roll over within 60 seconds, put his hands in his mouth and close his eyes.  He is great about sleeping through the night.  If he does wake up it is usually between 3 and 4, he eats and goes right back to bed.  I would say about 50% of the time I have to get him up before he wakes up because I am ready to feed him. 


My sweet husband has been working some really long hours for the last couple of weeks.  I don't know if he likes the class or not.  He gets to spend the day shooting a gun (which I would think he would love) but there is a lot of frustration that goes with this class.  So I will be glad when it is over and look forward to days with normal hours.  


I have really been enjoying our time here.  I love (I can't believe I'm saying this) but love living in an apartment with so many people who are in the same boat we are in.  It is like belonging to a club.  There are a ton of members here and Emma is loving having so many friends that share our same address.  She is rarely looking for something to do.  


Well I will see how this goes and hope to post again soon.