Sunday with Daddy

The kids woke up around 5:30 this morning . . . which was actually 4:30 with the time change.  Isaac woke up Abby, and downstairs they went to take advantage of their new "freedom/talent": turning on the television and Netflix all by themselves.  It was a while before my tired mind cued into what was happening, and I got downstairs to bring them back up and put them in bed.  But Isaac never went back to sleep . . . Abby didn't sleep for long.  Brianna, who had been asleep in our bed since 3:00 with nightmares or who knows what, also woke up.  And Mommy never got back to sleep.

Two hours later, we realized there had ALSO been a time change.  So I went to church by myself; and Dave stayed home to put all the kids down for a nap.

When I got home, I found that NO ONE had slept yet!  Instead, they'd had a Daddy day:

They ate Daddy's homemade pumpkin/raisin muffins.

They read stories.

They learned to take pictures of each other.

They played Memory Match with the Animal Cards.

And they watched Veggie Tales.

It was a fantastic day!  When I got home, I had eyes peering down from the upstairs window and was greeted with huge hugs and bursts of excitement!  Now I know how Dave feels when he comes home every day.

We continued to play games.
And we had lunch.
And we ALL took a nap . . . all except Brianna.

Then Abby woke me up, asking if she could lay with me.  As we cuddled, she told me, "Mommy, did you know that I LOVE that there's a baby in your tummy?  And did you know that the baby in your tummy has a little egg around it to protect it?  Daddy showed us all the babies of the other Mommies in the book.  And they have an egg around them and are floating in water.  And then, they're going to come out of the egg.  Ummmm . . . I'm not exactly sure how they get out of there.  But the doctor takes them out, right Mommy?  And then we get to have a baby BROTHER!  I'm so excited for our new baby!  It's going to be SO CUTE!"  Dave bought a book on babies at D.I. and showed them all the pictures of what is happening inside my tummy!  And Abby is now ALL-KNOWING on all things baby!  Except how the doctor gets it out of there . . . . I think that one's going to remain a mystery for a while! :-)

After we cuddled and talked, we went down and played the matching game with Brianna.  And Daddy and Isaac sat on the sofa and talked and played games on the Tablet.  Until they watched a Living Scriptures DVD while Mommy and Daddy played Scrabble at the kitchen table.

We finished the night with baked sweet potatoes, steamed veggies, and grilled ham - everyone's favorite!

Before we put them to bed, Isaac started saying that there was a big, SCARY ghost in his room.  So Dave told him that tomorrow, for FHE, we are going to make "special necklaces" that keep ghosts away.

And then he said, "I think we need a story tonight.  Who's ready for a story?" This is a nightly tradition in our house - well, most nights at least.  Daddy reads or tells the kids a story before bed.

So they all gathered around to hear Daddy's bedtime story.  It started out, "Once upon a time, there was a man named Feklehump.  He had a wife - with a HUGE belly with a baby in it - and three kids:  One beautiful, sweet little girl with long, golden hair. One handsome little boy who liked to do things his own way.  And one adorable little toddler who was so much fun every time she got really tired.

One day, Feklehump turned into a ghost . . . . -- Um, Melinda?  Where is this story going?  I need a plot."

"I don't know - but it can't be scary or they'll have nightmares all night long.  Make it kind of funny like Casper."

"Oh - okay.  So Feklehump turned into a ghost.  And everyone knows that ghosts are supposed to scare people.  In fact, it's ghost CODE that they have to scare people, right?  And Feklehump was no different.  But he found out really fast that he had a very. serious. problem.  Every time he opened his mouth to scare people, it came out like this . . . ."

Then he took his hands and started to reach towards the terrified kids before suddenly yelling, 'Hahahahahaha!'" as he started to tickle them!

In seconds, fear turned into surprised delight, and they were ROLLING on the floor, laughing.  Abby was laughing that laugh that only comes to little girls when they are OVERtired and can't keep the laughter from coming out, no matter how hard they try.

And that was just the beginning . . . . .

And the ending of a PERFECT day with Daddy!

Daddy Records a Day with Brianna

Dave is working each week on documenting our year through a weekly journal he is creating in Publisher.  That was one of his goals for the year, and he is always GREAT at accomplishing his goals! And then at the end of the year, we'll have a fantastic journal created by Daddy and some filler stuff from the blog that I always write but never . . . illustrate. :-)  So here is this week's entry.  A day with Brianna - a Sunday at that.  I'll post the last few weeks' pages in separate posts.  Without further adieu . . .

Four YEARS! (Only Four? Four Already?)

This may or may not be a post most will read, but there are things I have to record.  I have been SUCH a slacker!!!

First of all, Dave and I celebrated our FOURTH anniversary on December 15.  We had talked about going to Disneyland because I found tickets for $35 a day, which is UNHEARD OF!  And Christmas time at Disneyland just HAS to be incredibly magical, right?  I mean, it's DISNEYLAND!!!  But we couldn't arrange things with anyone to watch the kids for an entire day!  And so . . . . drumroll, please! . . . . he surprised me with tickets to the Palmdale Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Concert.  That might not seem like much to some.  They weren't even a LARGE orchestra, and the first half of the concert was mostly performed by a bunch of young children/beginning violinists.  But for me -- it was perfect!  I don't remember the last time I went to a concert!  And I truly took for granted having so much at my fingertips in Moscow with the Music Department, Jazz Choir and Bands, community concerts, plays, musicals, you name it!  And most just a 10-minute walk from my front door.  So this orchestra might as well have been . . . well, whatever a really well-known and much larger orchestra is. :-)  See? I don't know the difference.  And I felt spoiled!

And sappy wife moment -- you've been warned -- I remember when I would hear people say that they grew more in love as they got older.  My friend Amanda once told me that what she felt for her husband when they got married was puppy love compared to what she felt a few years later.  These last few years for us have been HARD!  H-A-R-D!  Not that marriage has been hard, but life has been hard, filled with changes, transitions, and challenges I never dreamed of, let alone planned for.  And I felt so many times like I just WISHED I would understand what those people were talking about!!! LOL - no offense, Dave! :-)  Mostly a reflection on ME, really! ;-D

But this year, it hit me so strongly that I was feeling so in love with this man I get to spend every day with.  That the "falling more in love" has happened slowly, almost imperceptibly, as I have watched him as a husband, a father, a friend, a son, a brother, a dreamer; as I have felt his selfless acts of kindness, received his words of encouragement when I most warranted criticism; as I have felt his literal and proverbial steady hand when I wanted to crumble or even disappear.  The falling more in love hasn't happened on weekly date nights -- or even monthly date nights most of the time (Bi-annual, anyone?). :-)  And it hasn't happened over dinner or flowers or chocolates or jewelry (just another way he actually shows me he loves me, because my emotions and our finances couldn't have handled all of those things). 

But it HAS happened over every single day, every single time he respects me, elevates me, tries to understand me (complicated for the best), and looks for opportunities to give me wings to fly and make me happy! It HAS happened as I have listened to him read stories to my children at night to have special moments with them and give me a breather.  It HAS happened as he has created memories and traditions and made life happen when I was busy just trying to get through it.  It HAS happened as he has helped me re-focus on eternity when temporal trials and shortcomings had me so tied in knots I couldn't see straight.

So, yes! I have fallen more in love with the man I had just brushed the surface of understanding and appreciating just four short years ago.  And I know now, more than ever, that I am married to the man of my dreams, living the life I always wanted!

Happy Anniversary, David! The best is yet to be!

Careful the Things You Say

Wowzer - has it been a LONG time since I posted ANYTHING about our family.  Shame. on. me. for getting so far behind.

First a couple of updates:
~ Brianna said her first prayer!  We were kneeling together as a family when suddenly I realized that she had just "hummed" a prayer with a few syllables added in for effect.  But the intonations were right on, right down to the drawn-out, "A-MEN!"  When we tell her to say her prayers, we usually keep it simple - to thank you, I love you, Amen.  So -- that was a FUN night!
~ Isaac has a few new Isaac-isms.  For one, he has started randomly stopping us during the day or night or whatever and saying, "Mom?" "Yes, Isaac?" "You know I love you the whole world?" "I love you, too, Isaac." "Yeah. I know."  He sounds so disinterested at that moment it is almost laughable!  Another favorite is he has started saying, "Don't freak out" or "Just don't freak out" in random conversation, in answer to unrelated questions, or just when he is playing with his sisters.  And it makes me laugh every single time.  I have even been prone to asking him multiple questions just to keep getting his answer in the same disinterested tone of voice he throws out there sometimes.
~ Abby has started really noticing everyone and everything -- and is sure to correct everyone when they do something that is "a bad choice" (including mom and dad).  She is one of those children I can count on to ALWAYS tell me the truth - even if she's in trouble for whatever it is she admits to.  And she has the most tender heart.  The other day while Isaac was sleeping, Brianna woke up and I took her into Abby's room to play quietly with her while Isaac finished his nap.  I said, 'Abby - Brianna wants to play with you!"  She got a really excited look on her face and said, "Mommy - and you want to play with me, too?"  I almost cried!  And absolutely went in to play with her!  Abby is totally and completely potty trained.  She'll even wake up sometimes to go potty and can be in a diaper all day and never go potty in it once!  She's pretty serious about it, actually, and pretty defiant when you even suggest that she went potty in her diaper.

And now for something I have really been thinking about lately.

I love words!  Love words!  Can you tell from reading my blog?  I am overly verbose to a fault, so much so that you might not guess how many times I thoughtfully review anything and everything I write before I post it for public eyes.  Sometimes I just write -- but I am also prone to censoring myself and editing myself to make sure I have not left any room for doubt or even criticism.  Not that that's entirely possible because I'm way more human than I like to admit and as imperfect as they come.  But I DO TRY.  I have been that way for longer than I can remember.

I would like to say that I do that because I don't want to offend.  But I think the bigger truth is that I don't want to be judged - to have something written that I can't take back, that might paint a negative (real) picture of me that I don't want other people to have or something that captures a time and a thought and a process in my life that even I don't want to remember.  Because I am -- totally and completely human and imperfect on even my best days.  On my mission, one of my companions called me on it and told me that I wasn't perfect.  I angrily told her that I KNEW I wasn't perfect, to which she calmly and lovingly replied, "Yes. But you don't accept it.  And therefore it keeps you from fully accepting the atonement of Christ for YOUR imperfections."

That hurt.  But it was a good hurt.

I have had many moments where my children bring this back to my attention -- how imperfect I am, that they are catching and ABSORBING everything I do, everything I say.  This came to me full-force this last weekend when I caught MYSELF saying that the kids were "freaking out" and it was driving me crazy.  I realized that "I" was the source of Isaac's new favorite phrase.  And it made me wonder how many times I had used it.  And what else I had said that he had been picking up on in pieces and would soon have so ingrained in his mind that it would become HIS phrase, HIS action, HIS attitude.  It was a sobering, sobering thought.

In the midst of this thought, I had an experience with a friend who posted a comment in a Facebook group and was completely ripped to shreds for her comment/opinion.  The aftermath was a twist and turn of events that got worse and worse as pieces were added and taken away from it.  But the context of that conversation left me pondering as much as the conversation itself.  A 14-year-old girl took her life this last weekend - and changed a family and community forever.

It took me back to a funeral I attended not long ago of a man I revered and admired in every possible way.  He had also taken his own life.  And the feelings surrounding that were difficult to grasp.  But the wise Stake President (church leader) who spoke at the funeral service shared a quote about how the battles raging in the quiet rooms of mens hearts are the greatest battles raging anywhere.  It was more eloquent than that, so I ask your forgiveness for not knowing or being able to locate the source and actual quote.  But I know that is a very true principle.  We do not, cannot, will not have the capacity to see into the great battles men and women fight inside their minds and hearts every single day.  And some people - myself included so many times in the last few years - are literally fighting every single day for their very souls, for their very lives, for every breath and step they take in a world that may never even know those battles exist or its effect on them.

So let me try and tie a bow on these jumbled and seemingly disconnected thoughts.

A song that has impacted me deeply from the moment I heard it is from the musical "Into the Woods."  There are MANY thought-provoking songs and one-liners in that musical, and it is very worth the time to watch it if you have no idea what I am talking about.  But there is one song that resonated in my soul, moved me to tears, and even gave me nightmares from the first time I heard it.

Careful the things you say, Children will listen.
Careful the things you do, Children will see. And learn.
Children may not obey, But children will listen.
Children will look to you For which way to turn, To learn what to be.
Careful before you say, "Listen to me." Children will listen.

Careful the wish you make, Wishes are children.
Careful the path they take-Wishes come true, Not free.

Careful the spell you cast, Not just on children.
Sometimes the spell may last Past what you see, And turn against you...

Careful the tale you tell. That is the spell.
Children will listen...


Though I would NEVER put another person's choices at the feet of those around them, I do think that every day of life we are given to live can be such a great gift to ourselves, our spouses, our children, our friends, our associates.  LIFE can be such a great gift.  And such a great opportunity. An opportunity to respect, to forgive, to build, to elevate, to encourage, to flood . . . with love. An opportunity to suspend harsh judgments, to suspend criticism and unkind words, to suspend doubt and fear, to suspend an expectation of perfection that no one can EVER live up to, not even those expecting it of themselves and others.  An opportunity to BE REAL about being real and give other people permission to be and do the same without fearing judgments and unrealistic expectations that set them up for failure every. single. time.  Our children are listening . . . and learning . . . and becoming TODAY! And the best news of all -- the very best news of all -- is that we are given a new day every day to be a little bit better than we were the day before. So I commit to you that I will try to use it more wisely -- and make today and every day, with all of my imperfections, a GIFT!

Tender Hearts

A dear friend in our ward passed away on Friday.  She had an aneurism and swelling on the brain.  She woke up Friday morning with a headache and numbness.  Her parents gave her pain medication and told her to lay down.  Her mom went to run errands.  She went to the bathroom.  She had a stroke and went into a coma.  Her dad broke into the bathroom to get her when she didn't answer him.  They called 911, the hospital tried to relieve the swelling and bring her out of the coma, but she never came out of it.  She passed away that night.  It was incredibly unexpected and another heartbreaking death for all who knew her.

I realize after writing all of that how incredibly heartless and factual and empty it sounds.  It doesn't do justice

So in the midst of all of it, I decided I need to do better about documenting the small things, not letting life pass by and having a record of the moments that make us smile and during which our lives are changing in the process of this journey.

The other day, I was making something in the kitchen.  I must have dropped something or something because I suddenly heard Isaac let out a sigh of disgust and say, "My Atlanta! Ugh!" I turned to see him shaking his head in disgust before walking away.  Careful the things you say!  Children will listen. And learn.

The other night before family prayer, we were reading the scriptures and trying to put the stories in context for the kids.  Suddenly Isaac got really serious and climbed on my lap and said, "But, Mommy! Where the scriptures come from?"  I said, "What?"  And he repeated it.  He really wanted to know where the scriptures had come from.  And we had a talk about prophets and how Heavenly Father teaches us.  Is he really two?

We made dinner and cookies for the Mohun family (it's their daughter Chloe who passed away suddenly).  I decided to make peanut blossom cookies because we had some Hershey Kisses from Easter Candy sales in our freezer.  I got the twins to help me by having them unwrap all the chocolates.  But I explained to them that they couldn't eat the chocolate because we were taking it to Chloe's family because they were sad that Chloe had gone to live with Heavenly Father for a while.  Off we went on our cookie-making journey.  Suddenly, I heard Abby say, "No, ISAAC! No eat the chocolate - it for family!" And I glanced over my shoulder to see Isaac popping a chocolate in his mouth and Abby very lovingly unwrapping the one in her hand.  I told him that Abby was right and reminded him that we were making cookies to serve them a little and show them we love them.  Then I told Abby she could go ahead and eat a chocolate, too.  She said, "No thank you, Mommy!  It for Chloe family - I no need it."  Be still my heart!

And last but not least, our nine-month-old Brianna has taken her FIRST steps and throws a fit if I don't give her a sippy cup just like Abby and Isaac have.  She is so big and such a joy in our family every day.  She watches everything they do and imitates it as much as her little body allows her to.  And I am sure in her mind, she is already up and running right along with them, wherever they go.  Already the thinks they are playing tag when she is crawling down the hallway and they come running towards her!  She giggles and turns as fast as she can and starts crawling away from them, them passing her up almost before she even gets turned around and moving again.  And about that time, they've turned around and are heading back her direction -- repeat the giggles of delight and fast turn around to "run" away from them!  It really is so much fun just watching and listening to them as they are starting to learn they can play with her and discovering the joy of making her laugh, without really realizing what they are doing that is causing it! 

The Things You Say . . . are Unforgettable!

Abby and Isaac got started on our long haul to update them on their shots about two weeks ago now.  Isaac had the HARDEST time - I could hear him screaming in the waiting room!  Abby did a lot better.  Dave said she cried, but she handled it in stride and didn't even have to be "wrestled" to the table.  When Isaac and I went back in to get Abby -- first of all, I was VERY impressed that Isaac went back in.  He was actually REALLY concerned about Abby and Brianna.  And then I saw Abby and gave her a hug and she said, "Mommy - that doctor not very nice!  He NOT listen and obey!" Of course we had the talk that the doctor didn't hurt them, the shots did; but the shots are to help them not get sick.  But it was SO cute the way her mind worked!

The other night we were kneeling for prayer.  Isaac wanted his shark!  And of course, we don't have toys during prayer time.  But it really disturbed him that he didn't know where to find it and we wouldn't just jump up and go look for it for him.  Finally he calmed down for prayer.  Daddy prayed, Abby prayed, and when it was Isaac's turn he simply said, "Heavenly Father - I very sad - name of Jesus Kist, amen."  After that, we searched the whole house over to find that shark!

Abby and Isaac were eating dinner last night. We have a rule now that we sit at the table for a half hour with them.  Then, if they don't want to eat - they can get down.  And if they want to keep eating, they can but we can then get up and start cleaning up.  It saves a LOT of contention and just makes the whole mealtime experience feel so much nicer!  As I loaded the dishwasher, Isaac was done and got down and started to play.  Abby was not, however, and WANTED to keep eating.  But Isaac started taunting her with his toys, trying to get her to come and chase him and play with him.  She scolded him for that, "No - Isaac - I still eating, Isaac!"  Then he grabbed her favorite toy -- her horsey!  And she fell apart.  Through her tears, once I got her to settle down a little bit, she told him, "Isaac - you makin' me sad!"

I was having a hard time finding something to wear this morning for church -- yep, still fighting through those fun pregnancy pounds!!!  At one point, I tried on something and yelled when it didn't fit.  Isaac was in the bathroom and said, "Uh-oh.  What happened?"  I told him that I couldn't find anything to wear because nothing was fitting me.  He pointed to a skirt and said, "How 'bout THIS one?"  I said, "This one?" and pointed to it.  He said, "Yep - yes. There you go, Mommy!  It fit you!"  His triumphant smile was unforgettable!!!  He just KNEW he had solved all my problems and was the best son in the world for having done it.  Of course, it also made me smile!

As I got ready for church today, Isaac and Abby came into the closet singing, "Follow the Prophet" as they followed each other in circles around me.  Then Isaac took the blocks he was holding in his hand and put them, one on top of the other, on the counter next to me.  He got really excited and yelled, "Look, Mommy!  Temple!"  I said, "Is that the temple?" half laughing at his creativity.  And he smiled that "I'm so proud of myself" smile and said, "Yep - that's the temple!" and then laughed like he had said the funniest thing in the world - then he left.  A few minutes later he came back in and said, "Mommy, please make-em Isaac hair handsome."  And so we did!

Dave decided we were going to camp in our back yard, since we have been rained out and stormed out and distanced out of every other camping trip we have planned in the last few months.  He took a VERY proud Isaac out back to help him set up the tent.  And that became a fun fort for the rest of the day!  Then, just before dinner, we were going out to grill chicken sausages and noticed the VERY dark, looming clouds!  Another one bites the dust!  But we're determined!  We'll make it one of these times!

Today

Today was better than yesterday.  And yesterday was better than the day before that.  With two "better than" days, I have high hopes for tomorrow!

Today I played with my kids.  I had tickle fights with Isaac and Brianna on my bed.  I swung Abby and Isaac around and around and around in the kitchen.  Then I held them like airplanes and did it again . . . and again! And again!

Today we put Brianna in a swing at the park for the first time -- and she LOVED it!

Today we took the kids to the park.  I got a Diet Dr. Pepper.  The family got a Blackberry Milkshake!  Everyone chose the Dr. Pepper over the Milkshake - which was spilled all over the floor under my feet without me realizing it was in the tipped over bag - still almost half full!

Today we had Chicken Fajitas for dinner.  I opted for a carbless one -- meaning I had a Chicken Fajita salad.  Abby ate 1/3 of my salad and asked for more.  Isaac ate Abby's left-over Peanut Butter sandwich from lunch.

Today Brianna crawled giggling away from me as fast as she could as I tried to catch her to change her diaper and get her into bed.  That's the first time we've played "You can't get me, Mommy!"

Today we read It's Raining, It's Pouring - actually, Dave sung it to the kids for their bedtime story.  He doesn't sing.  But somehow his voice was PERFECT for that story! And I wished he would let me get a recording of it for the kids to hear when they can't remember listening to him sing like that before.

Today Abby and Isaac played dinosaur and horsey.  The dinosaurs are scary - they roar and chase you around the house.  The horsey, however, is really nice.  Abby rode Horsey Isaac to storytime.  Then Isaac rode Horsey Abby to find Mommy for prayer. Dave took a picture.  It was HILARIOUS!!!  We were ALL laughing!

Today the kids read stories to me -- stories about creepy crawlies and farm animals and colors and counting.

Today Abby sang with me as we cleaned up the toys in the office - a song she had never heard before.  But she's getting really good at playing sing-along-with-Mommy!

Today Abby told me as she climbed the ladder on the toys at the park that I was too big.  After laughing for a few seconds I asked her if Daddy - who had already climbed the ladder and was waiting for her at the top - was too big.  She gave me that silly-Mom smile and said in her silly-Mom voice, "Oh, Mo-OM!  Daddy not too big!"

Today we had chocolate milk instead of just plain milk.

Today Brianna took a long nap and played with the big kid Leggo blocks!  She even fell on them and cut her head in the form of the circle on top.  But she didn't notice too much after the initial hit.  She's a tough cookie like that.


Today was a good day.  A very, very good day!

While You Were Sleeping

Abby finally got wrestled to sleep at around 11:30 last night. She was exhausted but wouldn't stop moving to let herself sleep.

Isaac woke up at 12:30, along with Brianna - Mom was still downstairs, so I called her on her cell phone and asked her to bring milk up with her because he said he wanted milk.

2:00 a.m., a crying Isaac climbs in bed with me and says, "Mommy, please have some milk?" I tried to stave him off, ignore him, cuddle with him, but he just cried and cried. Then he started saying that his leg hurt. Every time I tried to cover him with a blanket, he screamed and said "hurt leg, hurt leg" and he would guide my hand to where it hurt, so I would massage it for a while and then try still to get him to sleep. But he kept asking for milk. Mom said he was also tugging on his ear.  Why not?  He's only been on antibiotics for seven of the ten days. I finally gave in, went downstairs to get him milk and ibuprofen for the ear and apparent growing pains and went back upstairs.

To a wide awake and crying Brianna. I fed her again. Then I asked a still-fussy Isaac if he was hungry. He said yes. Mom said not to go downstairs to just give him to her to cuddle and drink his milk. I said, "No- he says he is hungry and I'm going to make him the freakin' sandwich. I'm NOT doing this every two hours for the rest of the night." First time I can remember saying freakin' in my life. I made him a PB sandwich.

When I came back upstairs with it, he was crawling all over the bed, hyper as hyper, playing with Brianna, and Abby was awake. Wow! Awesome.

He devoured the sandwich. Abby said she wanted one. Back downstairs to make Abby a sandwich. Got up with it, she said she didn't want it. Just wanted milk and to cuddle. Grandma ate the sandwich.  I changed Abby's diaper, put them both back in their beds. It took about another half hour to get them from climbing in and out of each other's beds, hitting each other, laughing, tickling each other, etc. Then Abby asked for another sandwich and I told her no to just go to sleep. Oh. the. patience. But I finally got them to go to sleep and held Brianna's hands down and rubbed her tummy to get her to sleep. That was around 4:00 this morning.

I had dreams of rats attacking me and my sister shunning me. Not very restful.

Brianna woke up crying at 5:20.
And at 8:00 this morning, Abby was WIDE.AWAKE. Woke everyone else up, of course, asking for breakfast and milk. I spent ten minutes forcing her to eat the Lucky Charms in her bowl.  NEVER thought I'd be doing THAT! 

Her eyes have black circles under them and when I was changing her diaper last night I noticed a small rash appearing on her stomach - little tiny bumps. I have no idea if those are from the medicine for her double ear infection or what. Something's up, though. You think? ;-D
 
And yesterday Isaac told me he was running away.  Which he repeated to me this morning as I gave him breakfast.  I said, "Who is running away?"  He proudly patted his chest and said, "Isaac run away!"  I said, "Oh, no! Is he running back, too?"  He got excited and his eyes lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July - I mean, it was sounding like I was on board and it involves running afterall.  "Yeah - I run back, too!"  Perfect!  His five-year-old niece who really turned 13 instead of five on her last birthday taught him that.  Fortunately he has no idea what it means.  Safe for now.

I was checking on Brianna and trying to find her lost pacifier when Mom called me on her cell phone and said she needed me downstairs.  What is up?  Oh, Madison and Abby were playing instead of getting dressed and Madi got her foot stuck in between the bed and the wall and it might be broken.  So she's in the chair until her mom gets home from work to take her to the doctor. Looks like a movie day for us - yay!

Grandma took the dogs out for their morning potty break.  She called me from the kitchen to go and see that my kids, Abby dressed only in her diaper and Isaac without shoes or socks, had gone and gotten towels and blankets to sit on the steps and watch grandma with the dogs because, "Mommy, we cold!"

My mother-in-law called while I was trying to finish getting everyone else breakfast and before I could finish my conversation with her, Abby had dumped her yogurt in a nice pile on the table and began finger painting her chest and arms with it. 

I cleaned that up and realized that I had left Brianna upstairs for a minute . . . about an hour before!  I ran up to get her and bring her down. My foot hadn't hit the bottom step on my way back down before I had a huge blow-out on my hands.  Quite literally.  I hit the floor running but was stopped dead in my tracks by an open deepfreeze door and the twins standing in front of it, a box of pretzels on one side of them, the bag of frozen pretzels on the other, both of them saying they wanted one.

After last night, I'm letting them eat almost anything they ask for.

I pick up the pretzels and am quickly reminded of the blowout.  By the time I get it cleaned up and the pretzel cooked, they've totally lost interest.

But Isaac did find a half-full 44 oz cup of water to drink . . . and spill all over Grandma's hard wood floors!  Glad I caught that earlier rather than later.

And all of that between 11:00 last night and 11:00 this morning.

And yes, I edited myself a few times to keep some not-so-choice words from leaving my brain through my mouth.

Stick a fork in me a week ago. This is just burnt to a crisp!

My Fearsome Threesome

Life moves on so quickly!  And it is so easy to get lost in the middle of it all and forget that time is moving forward, you aren't just standing still; you aren't just treading water; you aren't just enduring and waking up at the end where you started.  I look at my family - my children in particular - and am so amazed at how much, how quickly, they change!  Just a few things I want to remember one day because, as I've often been reminded lately -- Childhood doesn't last forever!

Abby's hair is getting SO LONG!  It is so pretty with it's little waves and curls!  She loves to comb her hair with anything - comb, brush, pick, whatever she can find - and say, "That bo-tee-foal! So pitty!"  And it is beautiful! So pretty! Even better is the glow in her eyes and the way her face transforms when she says it!  You have never seen anything so truly BEAUTIFUL!  I hope she always has that confidence and glow! I hope no one ever makes her question it or makes her cry because of it!

Isaac is usually quick to join in, "Yeah, Ab, pretty!" And he gets the cutest smile on his face as well.  Just tender, sweet comments for his sisters. The other day I had Brianna in a dress and Isacc walked in the room and saw her and said, "Brianna! You're so pretty, cute girl! Yeah. Pretty!"  It made me smile!  But not as much as it made me smile when he tried on Abby's very FULL slip one Sunday afternoon - he insisted that he get to try it on, crying when I took it away.  I finally gave in - I didn't really have any reason not to - and he ran down the hall saying, "Cute!  Yeah!  I cute!"  The fact that the slip barely covered his diaper because his legs are SO much longer than Abby's only made the moment that much more KODAK!!!  Wish we had THAT on video for his dating years! :-)

Two days ago, Abby was playing with Isaac's bear.  She grabbed a tissue from the tissue box and had torn it into small pieces.  I looked away for a second and when I looked back, she had draped the tissues on the bear and then looked at me, her face squinting and her mouth open in the cutest little triumphant smile/laugh and said, "Wow - that BO-tee-foal, Mom!"  Isaac quickly grabbed the bear and said, "No! My bear!" and tore the tissue off, and Abby looked like she didn't quite know what to do as she glanced at the torn tissue on the ground. She had been so proud - I really wanted to cry!  But she took it really well, her expression quickly changed from hurt to casual acceptance, she picked up the tissue paper and went on her way, playing with something else.

There are days I am amazed by their love and tenderness with each other; and there are days I see the bully brother and the tender-hearted sister.  And there are days when she will tackle that boy to the ground in .2 seconds flat EVERY.TIME.SHE.TRIES.  Sometimes she is the tender mother, hugging him when he cries or gets disappointed, "Are you okay, Isaac? Uh-oh, what happened?  Come 'ere!"  Sometimes she is the bossy mother, "Isaac - come 'ere right now . . . 1, 2, 3.  Right now, Isaac!"  He has his share of the little boss and the protective brother, too - don't get me wrong.  One of my favorite moments was last week when Dave told Isaac for quite literally the sixth time that he needed to stop or start doing something - I don't remember what.  Abby looked at Dave and said, "Daddy - don't spank Isaac any more!"  How could we help but laugh at that?  I promise he isn't an abused child! ;-D  And in the end I am reminded that they are incredibly special, incredibly bright, incredibly talented, incredibly loving -- but they are still just siblings, just human, and experiencing all of the emotions that come with it.  I'm trying to learn how to encourage the love to grow, how to weed out the bossy moments and nurture the tender ones, but some days that is also hard to know how to handle and what to do - or sometimes to even think about it in the midst of just living.  Cuz in the end, I'm just human, too! :-)

Brianna is so big!  There is nothing that makes my heart smile like seeing her face smile - watching her legs start to kick wildly and her eyes get really big and excited when I walk into the room!  I love to make her laugh!  And she has the cutest little, short, almost gasping giggle!  It's not full-blown laughter very often.  It rarely lasts longer than two seconds at a time.  It's just a quick giggle or shrill of laughter - but always, always, always there is her sweet and tender smile, so easily won, so freely given, such complete and utter heart-melting material!

Her face is so round right now!  She's like a soft, silky little airy marshmallow!  It's so fun to see and to feel her face and snuggle her close as she nestles into me!  Tonight she was fussing and Dave picked her up.  She calmed a bit but not completely.  Then I went in and she looked at me and started to "talk" to me, so I picked her up.  That was it. She nestled close, put her cheek next to mine, and was just as content as could be.  I said, "You're right, Dave, she really is momma's little girl."  He said, "Yes she is - but that's okay cuz I have her whole life to change that!"  PUNK!  He's right, though -- Abby is Daddy's little girl - whether he's wrestling, having a tickle war, pulling her around on his leg, whatever - she cannot get enough of him!  She smothers him with kisses and conquers him with hugs.  She gives the BEST bear hugs you have EVER received!  The other day she took his face between both her hands and got right up close and kissed his lips and said, "I love you, Daddy!"  And every night afternoon for her nap or night after prayer, I tuck her and she calls after me, "I love you, Mamma!  Mom?  I love you!"  I love you, too, Abby!  More than you know!  Tonight she started crying, and I just went in and held her for a minute and covered her face and hair with kisses and rubbed her back and told her it was okay!  I LOVE those moments!

This afternoon I told the twins to choose a book for us to read.  Abby picked a counting book and started to read it to ME.  Isaac got an Arthur book - yes, a young reader version that has very few pictures and too many words/pages.  He sat by me on the sofa and laid his little head on my shoulder and listened.  And then he started to talk like he was in the middle of a very grown-up conversation. Finally, he had HAD it.  He looked up at me and growled right into my face -- and then the little puppy dog was off to find the fire engine and save the world!  He has such an amazing imagination!

The other day I realized he had been quiet for longer than I was comfortable with.  I called as I walked through the house, "Isaac.  I--saac!  Where are you?"  I heard the teasing reply, "I no know!"  I kept the game going.  "What? Where are you?"  "I no kno-oooow!"  I found him under a laundry basket in his bedroom, quietly hiding for who knows how long, waiting for me to come and "seek" him out.  He often plays hide and seek, and often with the laundry basket!  He can play by himself forever, and then when he gets tired of that he will come and find me or Abby or Brianna and play by himself next to us.  Sometimes - often, really - they play together.  But he really is good with either situation.  And when he decides to be cute and tender and soft and loving - he IS cute and tender and soft and loving!

And when Brianna sees Isaac and Abby or hears them playing or they stand around the bouncy seat and play with her and talk to her and push her seat (sometimes a LOT too hard), she is just enthralled.  She's quick to let them know when she has had it - but she is also quick to forgive when they have been too rough.  Her eyes get so big, just in awe of everything they do and all the love they give her.  And I am learning to not protect her too much and make them feel like the bad guys.  They are almost always just as concerned as I am when their play gets too hard or not mindful enough of her as it should be and she starts to cry.  Isaac is almost always first to say sorry or ask her what happened.  And if I pick her up to rescue her, he always asks me to put her back so he can keep playing with her.

He also loves to hold her -- they both do, but he seems to request it more than Abby does, though Abby will stay with it longer when she does "hold" Brianna.  I am learning that I don't give them that opportunity often enough.  And they EAT IT UP every time I do.

And when Brianna boogies on my lap, she's as limber as Michael Jackson -- she has some smooth moves!  And she loves every second of it!  And Abby and Isaac always ask to boogie, too!  But they're not as easy to hold and zip and zoom across the room.  Today I was doing a workout video in my room while the girls slept and Isaac played in the living room.  Pretty soon he came to find me.  After a few seconds of trying to follow the moves and moving my handweights from here to there a few times, he said, "Mommy - I wanna watch exercise movie!  I want watch the music!"  I've got singing, dancing stars on my hands.  I LOVE it!

Mary Poppins Day

No, we didn't watch Mary Poppins or sing "A Spoonful of Sugar" as my kids took medicine or end up on the ceiling because we were laughing our heads off at nothing in particular.  But today was a Mary Poppins Day -- Practically Perfect in EVERY Way. 

We didn't get up early.  The kids actually slept in until after 8:00 this morning. And since Dave and I had sat and watched a movie last night - Citizen Kane, a cultural classic that neither of us was familiar with - it was just wonderful to get to enjoy that moment AND not have to pay for it this morning.

Dave took Isaac and got the oil changed in the car and picked up a shampooer to shampoo Abby and Isaac's carpets from all the "oops" moments Abby has had in her "I'm-determined-to-take-off-my-diaper-every-time-I-go-to-the-bathroom-or-simply-want-to-take-it-off-and-pee-on-the-floor" moments.  They had a marvelous time shopping together. 

Abby and I had a mommy/Abby morning. I fed Brianna just before they left and put her down for a nap and then Abby and I showered (since she got tubes in her ears, she takes showers with me instead of baths - so we try to make it kind of fun for her since she doesn't get to play with toys in the tub any more), drew flowers and squares and houses and cars and buses on the chalkboard, made homemade pizza for everyone for lunch, and cuddled for a few minutes.

I caught up with some friends on the phone, which was VERY fun! Doing so always makes me thankful for my many blessings - paramount of which are GOOD FRIENDS - and determined to do better in so many ways.

Everyone took a nice. long. winter's. nap. (minus the winter because we live in the desert and winter exists for just two weeks of the year here).  It was really nice since we have all been sick for the last three days (I literally spent the last three days in bed and was SO THANKFUL that Dave had hours saved up to take some time off of work and give me some R&R - or as close to R&R as you get when you have allergies on top of two-week flu and are still nursing a baby who also has the allergies and flu). ;-D

We made caramel popcorn and Dave read the lesson outline for the lesson he is teaching in church tomorrow OUT LOUD so we could both hear it and benefit and discuss.  I LOVE those moments with him!

We rented two movies from Redbox - Despicable Me and A Golden Christmas - and got my picnic quilt out and had a caramel popcorn and Sun Chips picnic on the floor with the kids.  It was SO FUN! Especially since I got to hold Brianna through a good part of it and dance with her and watch her face light up as she giggled and squealed with laughter ever time we "boogy-boogy-boogy"-ed to the music on the movie or just from whatever I made up in my head.  I mean, you would make things up during a movie too, if you got to see her smiles and delight every time you did it!

Dave shampooed the floors while I entertained and fed and went back and forth between children.

The kids are having a slumber party in the living room while their carpets dry. We read stories, sang some silly songs, read scriptures, sang "I Love to See the Temple" (STILL their favorite and #1 requested song night after night after night), had prayers, and got them to bed in less than 30 MINUTES!  That's a RECORD, I think, for most nights when they aren't in their own rooms/beds and are out of their routines.

Dave and I reviewed some journal and blog entries/memories from our first year of marriage for the scrapbook/story we are putting together before we get much further behind.

Like I said - it was a Mary Poppins Day!  And now I am going to go plan my week so that I can start tomorrow on a good foot and have a Mary Poppins week!  I have more to write about last week and my trek to Utah for dear Bennett Wilkinson's funeral (the 20-month-old baby boy of one of my oldest and dearest friends), but that will have to wait until tomorrow because my success for the rest of the week is banking on me starting it out RIGHT the FIRST day of it!

Buenas noches, queridos amigos -- Buenas noches!

Cute as a Button . . . or Three!

 Click here to view this photo book larger

I know I have been meaning to post pictures for a while now to update everyone, but I never get around to uploading them all.  So here's the book I made for Grandma for Christmas.  ENJOY!!!

I need . . .

A vacation . . .

"Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer."


- Lion from Wizard of Oz

Since my last post, we found out Dave had mono, found out the twins didn't respond to medicine and had to have heavier antibiotics, found out Abby had scarletina during a quick ER stop in a random town on our way to my mom's, found out Abby was allergic to the second round of antibiotics they gave her, and have been in Boise for about three weeks now (one and a half to go - but who's counting?).  And Dave found out yesterday at lunchtime that he's being discharged from the National Guard (yesterday) and we found out that we no longer have health insurance, effective the day of his discharge. 

So now I'm praying Abby doesn't have another ear infection and that no one gets sick until we can get health insurance through Dave's work figured out and to kick in.  And I'm praying that the new insurance doesn't go from January to December, cuz that means we will have just met our first deductible for the other insurance and have to meet it again between now and December for the new insurance and then start all over yet again in January.  But that's trivial, right?  And I'm hoping that we have dental insurance options we can afford to get through all the dental work that Dave hasn't been able to get done yet because he's been sick and our dental insurance is also . . . over and out.

And after one more day of crying, I officially need a vacation.

And the upside of all of this is that they didn't decide to discharge Dave until AFTER Brianna was born and our last month of health chaos (I'm keeping my word choice g-rated on that one ;-D) and over 12 doctor's visits in a month.  And the other upside is that Dave has a job where we can GET health insurance. 

So we're still VERY blessed and officially have NOT hit rock bottom. 

As I laid in bed last night, feeding Brianna and trying again to not cry and to let myself feel peace about all of this, I was thankful that I have my children, that there hasn't been a death in the family, that they keep me happy and make me crazy and make me laugh and sometimes swear (like when Isaac fed my grandma's hearing aids to the dog last week -- yeah, that was NOT a good day!!!) and give me reasons to be thankful and to try hard to learn who they are and what they need and what they are capable of that they need me to help them tap into.  I'm thankful that we all have life and (for now, for the most part) health and family and income and the atonement and opportunities to rise each time we fall (even in things like this).

And that's all I've got --- unless, of course, you want to give me a vacation for Christmas? :-)

Dark Clouds with Silver Linings

I realize that my blog update a few days ago was a bit negative.  I would apologize, but I'm kind of coming to realize that bad days or bad seasons are what they are.  They are part of this life experience that make it what it is.  And though there are silver linings to dark clouds, the silver wouldn't shine through without the contrast of the darkness of the cloud.  Sometimes you can be depressed without being clinical and you can have a bad day without being cynical. ;-D

That said, throughout all of this, I was constantly reminded to see the positive by my dear husband.  He's amazing at always seeing the positive.  Even as he has been in bed, taking every drug possible, completely exhausted, locked away from the kids, and totally out of the first week of Brianna's life and all the tiny little moments that I am so blessed to experience, he still says, "In all honesty, Melinda, this week hasn't been that bad.  I've been able to keep going to work, we have an extra room where I can go to stay away from the baby and the twins, and your mom is here to help fill in the gaps.  So really, we've been blessed!"

And we have.  So here are some silver linings I've noticed and sought to see along the way (and by silver linings I mean Heavenly Father's hand and tender mercies gifted directly to us in packages of all shapes and sizes):

1) If Dave's fever hadn't broken the first time, he wouldn't have been there for Brianna's birth.  Which might not have been a bad thing, you might say, since it would have kept her from being exposed to whatever he has.  HOWEVER, that's another silver lining because I am sure Heavenly Father surrounded her with angels to protect her from this mystery flu and allow him to at least be there for her birth and the first hours of her life.

2) If the hospital stay had been more pleasant and Abby hadn't broken out from the allergic reactions to her medicine, my husband would not have taken her to Quick Care that night and have put off yet again going to the doctor to get help for his symptoms because -- let's face it -- who wants to go and sit for hours and hours at "Quick Care" after one long day at work and before another?  NO ONE!  So thankfully, I was inspired to get out of there; Abby was broken out and needed someone to take her in; and Dave had no way to avoid getting to the doctor.  Sure, it was inconclusive, but it was also a starting point.

3) If Brianna hadn't been jaundicey, I wouldn't have had a quick follow-up the next day and wouldn't have talked to the doctor who told me there was no way Dave had strep throat while on antibiotics.  And now that doctor is overseeing and ordering all of the other tests to try and find out what Dave DOES have.

4) If Abby hadn't had a SECOND allergic reaction to the benedryl for her FIRST allergic reaction, we wouldn't have been in to see the doctor and wouldn't have found her double ear infection or strep throat.  Then we wouldn't have gotten Isaac in there to be diagnosed either.  AND, to top off those tender mercies, the doctor was good enough to give my mom sample antibiotics to get her through all of this because she has medical conditions that would have made it REALLY bad for her to have gotten the strep throat (like hospitalization bad).  And with Idaho Medicare as her primary insurance, she couldn't see or be treated by a doctor in California.  She can only go in Idaho.  So it was an amazing blessing that she was able to get the medicine she needed to avoid and/or work through all of this crazy sickness stuff that was hitting the kids.  AND . . .

5) My mom having antibiotics made it possible for her to take care of the kids worry-free while I kept my little Brianna away from them until they had been on medicine long enough to not be contagious anymore.  Had she not been "treated" and/or had she gotten the strep infection, I would have had to find a way to keep Brianna at a distance while taking care of FOUR sickleys.

6) Brianna has been the best, best, best baby EVER!!!  Yes, she has the cold.  And no, it's never fun for a newborn to have to deal with all that cruddy flu stuff when they're still trying to figure out this mortal body of theirs and how it feels and works and what not.  HOWEVER, she didn't get all the symptoms.  She's been protected (from breastfeeding or angels or a combination of both) to not get anything else that's flying around in this house.  And she has handled it really, really well.

7) My delivery could not have gone smoother.  Events and circumstances surrounding the delivery definitely could have.  But the delivery itself was everything I had been praying for for the entire pregnancy.  I had very little internal tearing; once she came, she just came; I didn't have to have a c-section or anything else; and even the post-pregnancy pain has been very bearable in comparison to what I experienced last time and could have experienced this time.  The only thing I feel I have to watch is doing too much -- picking up the twins or whatever.  And that is SUCH a HUGE blessing!!!

8) Modern medicine!!!  I mean, they have the initial strep test and the lab where they send the swab away to make sure they diagnosed it correctly.  They can draw your blood and run tests for any number of diseases and have answers within hours or a few days.  Truly a blessing!

9) Abby and Isaac!!!  I was worried about them waking up and not being around.  But I went into the hospital after we put them to bed and we had a baby about an hour before they woke up, so they were able to come and spend the first hour of her life with us in the hospital!!!  The timing could not have been more perfect!!!  And they have love love loved her!  Tonight as we drove back from a small road trip to look at potential places to live, Abby held Brianna's hand for the entire last leg of the trip and sat back there saying, "Shhhhh, baby -- it's okay!"  And Isaac is the first to run and tell me if she's crying and always says, "What wrong Anna?  Why cwying, Anna?  You hungee?  Huh?"  They have had a hard road with a new baby, Mommy being locked up in the bedroom with her so many hours of the day, Daddy being locked up in the office so much they forget he's around, etc.  But they have done really, really well with it all.  They are such a blessing to each other and to this new little baby -- not to mention to me!!!

10) My mom, my mom, my mom!  I can't say enough thanks for all she has done and the way things lined up for her to be here through all of this!  It hasn't been the tranisition time she or I had planned on, but it has been so nice to not be alone through all of it, to be able to rest and to take care of Brianna without worrying about the twins.  It's been nice to not be alone and to have someone to talk to and laugh with and even eat all that junk I'm not supposed to be eating right now with.  She has been an angel, a true Godsend!!! 

11) You know how they say that you don't appreciate something until you've lost it.  I love love love and appreciate David so much!!!  I miss being with him, laughing with him, talking with him, having him hold me while we make dinner and the kids run around or wrestling with the kids to see who gets to sit next to him right after he's come home from work.  I miss holding hands when we pray or laying my head on his shoulder while we read scriptures at night.  I miss him having energy to do things and being able to talk to him without him being so exhausted that it's never a good time.  I miss watching movies with him at night because he's always too tired to stay awake through them, even on the weekends.  Just so many things that have been gone for so long but have REALLY been completely gone this last week. 

12) The sun before the storm.  In the Triage, I was doing "labor lunges" - I got them from one of my workout videos.  He thought it was HILARIOUS and took a picture of his "hard core wife."  And we had so much fun playing Quiddler and talking and laughing and arguing about whether or not I was going to get the epidural.  And I'm thankful for those small moments before everything else hit.  And I'm looking forward to having them again VERY SOON!!!!

13) My sister Monique.  She has held the fort taking care of my 94-year-old grandma, two five-year-old cousins that don't always see eye to eye, a buddingly independent two-year-old, and a 10-month-old baby.  NEED I SAY MORE about what a HUGE blessing it has been for her to take on such a HUGE load to allow my mom to be with me. 

It's late!  That's all I can think of/remember tonight!  But if I think of something else, I'll add it to the list!

And doesn't that gray cloud look so much prettier somehow with all of that beautiful silver surrounding it?  I sure think so! ;-D

Just DANCE -- Cuz EVERYTHING in life is SO GOOD!!!

So we're driving down the freeway on our way to meet Daddy for a picnic lunch under the B-52. (A new Friday tradition in our house that my kids just LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! And how many people can say they have picnics under a B-52? Granted, it's a retired B-52 in an outside museum, but it's still a B-52 with a stone picnic table under it's wing to provide shade from the desert sun, and THAT is just SO COOL -- ask my kids!  They BEG me to take them to see Daddy and the airplanes every time we talk about airplanes or that Daddy's at work! :-D)

Anyway -- redirect to freeway drive, center stage:

We're racing down the freeway, me in my sunglasses and pale yellow shirt, the kids in their favorite shirts and summer-time short shorts.  Our hair was being blown by the air conditioner, but we can pretend there was some windows-down coolness happening in our scenario as well! ;-D  I have one of my favorite CDs in the CD player (thank you, Emily) and come across one of my favorite songs, which is PERFECT for my life/mood lately.


And almost as soon as it comes on, Abby and Isaac BOTH start singing, "Bailar!" I look in the rear-view mirror to see them dancing away. And when it's over, they say, "Again?!?!?!!?" So I comply. Over and over again. Me just as happy as they are each and every time.

Sorry if you don't know Spanish, but here's the gist of the lyrics (my translation): Just DANCE, when everything is falling apart and you want to be somewhere else but just can't get there! Just DANCE, when everything is the same old same old and you're looking for a reason but just can't find one. Just DANCE when everything is looking down and you WANT to be better but just can't make it happen. Just DANCE when nothing really excites you more than anything else, and you just don't like what you see reflecting in the mirror! JUST DANCE . . . . You get the idea, right?

Here's the song's link.(Even if you don't speak Spanish, it's worth listening to -- you'll be up and "dancing" in no time! TRUST me!!!) And I HAVE, HAVE, HAVE to come back here and post the BEST video clip of my kids dancing and laughing and wrestling in the kitchen tonight while they waited for a VERY late dinner to finish cooking!  Kids GET how to DANCE!!!

And in the spirit of Spanish music, we found the coolest grocery store the other day. Walking through the Vallarta was like re-visiting a little piece of Latin America, one of my other true loves!!! We went for a weekly family night activity, going to buy cereal on sale, and we were just so "enamored" by it all that we walked around, and I reminisced about my mission (and all the DIFFERENCES between Chilean culture/food and Mexican culture/food). And Dave reminisced about his month-long trek through Mexico the summer before we got married. And we found their POSTRES!!! Desserts like I have NEVER seen in an American bakery but that were a dime a dozen in bakeries all over Chile. Remember how I feel about frosting on cinnamon rolls? I have, have, have to give theirs a try. I think I may have found a store-made cinnamon roll worth it's calories, with JUST the right amount of icing-on-the-cake frosting. HOWEVER, we're on a budget freeze right now so we just treated ourselves to two $.79 postres -- a bavarian cream empanada and this other thing that was like cake rolled in caramel and dipped in nuts. We were more than impressed. The kids loved it, and it's a definite MUST-DO-Family-Evening again. So simple, so rewarding, so fun!

And in the spirit of Jarabe de Palo and Latin America, I'm putting the music video for the other song on my CD that I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Bonito. Beautiful. Basically, it's about how everything is just "beautiful" -- Everything about life is just so good!

I hope you dance . . . and I hope you smile at all the things that are going GREAT in your life!

Airborne Laser

Since Dave began working for the Air Force in June, he has been sitting in what they call "the cooler" waiting for his security clearance.  Yes, that's right.  He has been sitting for almost three months.  They have filled some of the time with classes on specific areas, which has sometimes been really interesting and great and sometimes just plain boring.

HOWEVER, that is all about to change because his clearance just came, and they just assigned him to a "matrix."  He will be working with the Airborne Laser.  I don't know any more about it than this short video clip (in the post below this one) explains.  But he is excited.  In his exact words, "Yeah - it will be cool, I mean I was worried they were going to have me working on cargo planes, so this is MUCH better than that!"

Yeah -- I guess it wouldn't be that cool to tell people you work on Air Force Cargo planes.  An airborne laser really DOES sound more exciting!

Other than that, he also took the GRE to start applying to grad schools.  As soon as he did, though, his "adviser" asked him what his score was, congratulated him, and told him that if his other interests don't pan out for him, they do have a few programs set up with Georgia Tech and Purdue where their engineers can earn an M.S. while taking classes on-site and save quite a bit of money (like the Air Force pays for a certain percentage of his costs, so it ends up being almost too good to pass up).

So we're still at the drawing board, trying to figure out where our priorities are, where the Lord wants and needs us, where WE want and need us, and what kinds of adventures will be best for our family in the short and long run. (And what sacrifices are worth making in the interim.) 

In the meantime, Dave was called as the First Counselor in our ward's Young Men's Presidency and I was called as the Ward Activities Chairperson.  So far, Dave has had an end-of-summer swimming party, an activity to build a spook alley for the Ward Halloween Party next month, an overnight shooting activity (combine camping and guns and you have some happy leaders -- er, I mean, young men), and they have a temple trip to the L.A. Temple next weekend.  So it has been a busy month, but he is loving every minute of it!

And I can't leave a post about Dave's life without including his 32 birthday!!!!!  And what a life to celebrate adding another year of adventures and accomplishments to!!!

He's had a great month!

And with any luck, September will wrap up with him becoming a daddy again!  This is a month to remember!

Power Walkin'

Today we did the most AMAZING thing: We went for a walk!  It wasn't the most amazing walk I've ever taken in my life.  The scenery wasn't quiet and serene like what you would find on the Chipman Trail on the way out the Troy Highway or up Moscow Mountain or on the way to Elk River Falls.  The weather wasn't cool and refreshing.  The sun wasn't rising or setting (not that we could have seen it through all of the houses, anyway).  But for me, it was heaven!

We walked down all the neighborhood roads, about 12 blocks to the next busy street.  And then we found a park there, tucked away from the road and the chaos.  And the kids slid down the one slide that wasn't too hot to sit on.  And they even braved the heated swings for a few minutes, just for a chance to SWING!!!  Isaac found someone's baseball in the sand, and that was HEAVEN!!!

And when it got too hot to stay there (and Abby needed her diaper changed, which we hadn't planned ahead for . . . sheesh, how long have we been parents again?), we saw a cute little ice cream cart and Dave bought the kids tubes of rainbow sorbet on a . . . whistle instead of a stick.  They LOVED it!!!  Every messy, dripping drop of it!

Top it off with a fantastic deal on some refreshing water -- 2 LARGE bottles for $1!!! -- and the afternoon was complete!

We ran across the majorly busy street (though I reminded Dave as we did that I AM nine months pregnant, after all, and hurrying to beat the oncoming traffic might NOT have been the best idea).

And as we walked down through the other neighborhoods between us and home, we TALKED!  We reminisced about past activities that we DEARLY miss and dreamed about the future -- where we want it to take us, what sacrifices (financial and otherwise) are worth it to get there, how we can create the best future for our kids while still having opportunities to push and excel ourselves.  And there were all those other unimportant topics . . . and the laughter and light-hearted banter that just isn't the same outside of the situation . . . least of all in writing.

And Abby and Isaac were in heaven!!!  Isaac took both whistles and pretended to give Abby medicine after she sneezed.  Abby played along for a while.  And then she was done and he hit her over the head with the new baseball -- and she was REALLY done!  And we "gently invited" (made) him to give her a hug and say he was sorry.  He eagerly complied (as soon as I threatened to take away the ball!).

And we promised to do it again.  Hopefully many, many, many more agains in the not-too-distant future!

A Few Pictures -- Part 1

My family is having a family reunion next weekend -- like the first in I don't even know how long!  Anyway, my cousin Gina volunteered to make a picture CD for everyone of the entire family and requested pics.  Since our computer and external hard drive were stolen in last weekend's San Diego trip Chaffee family crime debut, I had to do a LOT of work (like we're talking two hours last night and at least four hours today) to get her some pics.  And here is what I came up with.  Incidentally, this was a tender mercy BECAUSE there were pictures we had downloaded to Dave's laptop and the FIRST external hard drive for backup that we hadn't downloaded to the SECOND external hard drive.  And when we went to download the San Diego pics, lo and behold there were some pictures from the originals that were still there.  Not all of them, mind you, but enough that we were so glad we hadn't lost the twins' first trip to the zoo and Dave's faux graduation pictures! (We took them after graduation cuz we didn't really do the whole "walk through the line and listen to people talk about the university and your duty as alums" thing.  Is that un-American?  An insult to academia?  Hmmmm . . . .)

Anyway -- ENJOY!!!

Small and Simple Things

Wow - I don't even know where to begin with this post.  I have been thinking today about how small things really do lead to great things . . . how sometimes an inch really is a mile.  Some background:

Shortly after we moved into the condo, we had a huge rainstorm.  Fortunately for us, Dave soon discovered that our laminate flooring around the balcony door was all wet . . . a puddle, actually, of water.  It took us almost two years -- with plastic taped to the glass doors and buckets out at all times -- before the Home Owner Association finally got the problem fixed.  Thank heavens for Home Owner's Associations!!!

Well, as we were preparing to move to California, we wanted to leave the condo in PRISTINE shape because we decided to keep it, refinance it, and rent it out next year.  Well, the night before we left for California, Dave pulled the paint tape off the ceiling in one of the bedrooms . . . and pulled off the ceiling with it.  It had water damage that had completely seeped through the sheetrock.  Impeccable. timing.

Well, we called the after-hours number for the HOA manager, sent her an e-mail about what was going on, and drove away the next morning at 5:30 a.m.

Less than two weeks later, we found out that the water damage was actually severe mold and water damage.  In fact, it now appears that there are at least three beams in ceiling that have to be completely replaced, not to mention the sheetrock and paint and beams between the bedrooms in our condo.  And if they don't get them replaced, well the ceiling will soon collapse, making even more fun trouble to deal with later.  What is the estimated cost of this project so far?  $14,000.  No - I'm NOT kidding!

And do you want to know what caused all of this damage?  The original contractor that built the condos didn't seal off the dryer ducts properly.  That's it.  Such a small thing that led to incredible damage, could have even led to life-threatening damage had the beams collapsed while someone was living there, completely oblivious to the fact that there was any looming danger whatsoever.  And the mold danger/effects?  If we were still living there, we would have to move out because of the mold.  So. fun. 

On the flipside, I wrote in the last post how things were less than stellar here and California had gone to no great lengths to lay out the red carpet of welcome when we arrived.  Even things at church started out a bit rocky (like no one showed up to help us move, even though we had called ahead and made arrangements -- yeah -- not a good first impression). 

Then I decided that this was going to be fantastic! (Dave coaxed me in that direction quite a bit -- so glad I have such a strong spouse to remind me when I just want to cave and go home!)  The next Sunday at church, I started introducing us to everyone I met -- the people sitting outside in the foyer with us during Sacrament Meeting, the people I sat next to in Sunday School, the Relief Society (Dave went to Nursery with the kids to let me go to my meetings -- SUCH a gem!!!!).  Anyway, by the end of the day, I had signed up to take food for the service project to serve a meal at the Homeless Shelter, signed up to take waffle toppings for the ward waffle breakfast/clean the chapel service project, and we had been asked to speak in church the next Sunday.  And you know what?  I'm already feeling attached to the people I've been talking with, serving with, etc.  It's made everything here seem SO MUCH MORE DO-ABLE than it was before.  Someone suggested an OB/GYN for me to go to.  I don't feel quite so alone, and I am really thankful that Dave is home in the evenings and on the weekends to let me participate in some of these things.  I've really missed all of this. Small, simple things.

So back to small and simple things.  No matter which way you spin it -- positive small things that make a huge difference in your attitude about and/or experience with something or negative small things that end up taking so much more time and money to fix later when they should have/could have just been done right to start out with -- small and simple things really DO bring about GREAT THINGS.  Those things might be a mighty change of heart, a much-needed lesson learned, a course correction to put you back where you want/need to be, new beams in the ceilings and walls in the condo, a casual acquaintance that you find is really a kindred spirit and eternal friend you didn't even know you were missing, an opportunity to discover and build a talent, an opportunity to overcome a weakness or get rid of a negative characteristic you've been fighting for years, etc.

And when the twist is less than positive, nip it in the bud at the first sign!  Stop any further damage from hitting, revise your plan, course, job pursuit, etc., and MAKE YOUR OWN HAPPINESS by getting rid of anything that would stand in your way and filling in with the things you can control, you CAN change, you can IMPROVE upon. 

By the way -- six months pregnant, and I am just now FINALLY getting into a steady routine of doing my prenatal workout videos (four days down -- twelve weeks to go).  Once again, a small thing that will -- with persistence, endurance, and consistency -- lead to a great thing!  And, allergies or no allergies, once this baby is born and I can get on some good allergy medication and even use a strong inhaler, I am going to find a way to train for and run AT LEAST a half-marathon! 

One. day. at. a. time. . . .

L.A., Palmdale, Lancaster - Oh, my!

Wow!  I cannot believe, yet again, how much time has flown since my last post!  Christmas was great (more on that later), I had surgery on my foot on Dec. 17 (more on that later). Then we drove down to Boise to take my babies to my mom's house before winter storms blocked our passage because . . . .

We're in California for a week!!!

First of all, this is the first time I have left my babies for more than two days since they were born (and that was only once)!!! Need I really write that I bawled when we put them down for their morning nap before leaving to drive back home?  Abby just stared at me; Isaac whimpered and reached up to me and touched my face!  It was really sweet!  And I cried when we got back New Year's Eve and I saw their socks and shoes laying around and their empty beds!  Yes, it is true!!!  As many times as I have thought how nice it would be to have a break, it is so different and so hard to not have their songs and smiles and words and blabber and laughs and hugs and kisses, etc. It didn't help today when I called my mom after we landed and learned that Abby is back in fever/lethargy mode.  But I realize what a huge blessing it is to have time with Dave and made a decision that if we're going to do this, we're going to do it right and just enjoy ourselves!!! 

We spent some time cleaning and packing and even tried to go to the movie TWICE (the internet times were wrong both times, and by the third time we bagged it - so we still haven't been to a movie since my birthday before the babies were born!!!!), then stayed the night in Spokane at Dave's sister's last night! When we landed in L.A. this afternoon, the temperature was 81 degrees!  We actually had to TURN THE AIR CONDITIONER ON in the car as we drove! In JANUARY!!!  And here we are - ready to scope out the area, decide where we might want to live, make some connections, see how far different locations are from Dave's work, spend some time as tourists in L.A. or wherever else we want to go, (maybe even go see a movie - could it happen?), etc.  And it is going to be GREAT!!!!

I'll keep you posted!  And write about all the other things, New Year's resolutions, last year's follow-ups, etc.  But for now -- Happy New Year, dear friends!!!  May it bring you the best of all your hopes and dreams for years past, present, and future!

Introducing: RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY

We just had a fabulous Halloween!  Since the babies were just over two months old last year, this was our FIRST HALLOWEEN as a family, and I am so thankful we got to spend so much of it together!  Dave had Drill this weekend, which was originally scheduled to be a three-day overnight trip to . . . . somewhere.  So Friday afternoon, Dave finished his homework, came home, got the ADORABLE OUTFITS grandma had sent in the mail, and helped me get the babies ready to go Trick-or-Treating DOWNTOWN MAIN STREET here in Moscow.  At first, they weren't so sure they liked the whole make-up thing, and they're still NEVER sure about the shoes thing.  But once we got downtown and they saw kids running around everywhere and figured out that when the nice lady/man held out the basket full of colorful packages, they got to reach in and PICK ONE OUT and then, even better, PUT IT IN Mom's BAG, they started to have a LOT of fun!  Isaac even reached a point where he decided to switch things up a bit and take the color form Mom's bag and add it to the nice lady/man's basket -- before going back for an even BIGGER fistful to add to Mom's bag again, of COURSE! :-)  It was really a lot of fun.  And Dave was not the only one who said that our babies were the BEST dressed and had the CUTEST costumes of anyone else. :-)

After going downtown, we went to A&W for a quick bite to eat before heading over to our ward party for about 20 minutes and then rushing home to get Daddy dressed and out the door for Drill.  Dave's sister Rebecca arrived just after we got home, and she and her daughter Hailey spent the evening with me while Dave headed off to do men's work at the National Guard.  (I'm still not sure what they did -- don't think Dave is too clear on it, either -- but it was manly and necessary, nonetheless).  Rebecca headed off to the Single's Dance for about an hour before coming back to crash our MUCH MORE INTERESTING Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory party!  Yes, the new version, which is NOTHING compared to the older version and very WEIRD and CREEPY at times, which makes it a PERFECT Halloween selection! ;0)

Saturday morning came all too early for EVERYONE. Dave headed to Drill, Rebecca and Hailey hung out until they were dressed and ready to head to their Spokane parties, and then I crashed on the sofa!  I have been sick all week, and my body is NOT recovering very quickly.  I had just called the hospital to check on my friend Glenda Holder's condition after her weekend surgery when my friend Desi knocked on my door.  Bye, bye nap time -- but it was a really GOOD substitute! ;-D

We chatted, Abby woke up, Desi graciously played with her while I took a much-needed shower and got ready to face the rest of the day, and when Isaac woke up, we all went for a nice long walk.  It was GREAT, minus the bitterly cold winter wind that we couldn't get Isaac to stay bundled up to get through.  So he was pretty much ice by the time we got back to Desi's house.  For the most part, though, he didn't seem to mind.  He just HAD to see everything there was to see - no way we were covering his face or taking away his exploring and pointing hands. NOT A CHANCE! ;-D  Abby, completely bundled, even her face hidden from view, did the smart thing and FELL ASLEEP!

Then . . . . surprise, surprise, Dave called me to see where I was (presumably from Orofino and some gravel pits they were supposed to dig up this weekend to practice using the BIG equipment).  Turned out HE WAS HOME with a FABULOUS chicken salad dinner just waiting for us to return.  Desi and Austin contributed organic soda MADE WITH REAL SUGAR and NO CAFFEIN OR SALT (how they manage that with cola, I have no idea); it was DELICIOUS!  Picturesque, even -- wish I had a picture to prove it.

After dinner, we got the babies dressed up again and headed over to a party with the Ragsdale's.  They had HOMEMADE DOUGHNUTS and ROOT BEER and a party that spanned THREE APARTMENTS: One for food; one for dancing (also with food), and one for Video Games (also, I imagine, with food).  It was a lot of fun!  HOWEVER, Isaac was stone faced and emotionless the entire time (NOT characteristic of my little man when food, dancing, lights, and singing are involved), and Abby finally just broke out into very LOUD tears.  So we headed out to try to find a few friends to say hello to before going to bed.

It was great -- just so much fun!  And I cannot tell you how THANKFUL I am that the National Guard didn't get things pulled together to be out of town all weekend long.  SO. VERY. GLAD!