Paycheck

My cousin wrote on her blog about getting the 'paychecks' Mom's get (thanks Jamie). I've thought about that ever since & here's one I was paid recently. The boys have been getting themselves ready for school 100% on their own (paycheck #1). As long as my OCD self stays in bed (I'm serious) they get on the bus [almost always] without a hitch. I put their spelling lists in this recipe holder so they can quiz each other over breakfast & one morning I came out to find this message in place of their words. Oh, how it made me smile all-the-live-long day :) even in my typing, see? :) :) I love my boys.

Good-bye Uncle Devin...do come again

Man, some girl is going to be so lucky to get this brother of mine...later skater!

Other activities with Uncle Devin

Columbus, Ohio temple trip...we were all in the car before I realized we didn't get a picture in front & ALL the boys begged for me to just snap one of it all by its glorious self. I obliged.

Little dude sucking away on that thumb (he liked it for about a month, but doesn't seem to be pursuing the habit--can't say I'm sorry...he's content enough without ANYTHING so I am thrilled)

We brought everyone to the temple, reserved a couple rooms in the stake center that's about 100 feet from the temple & then switched off. This stake center is much-loved so we decided to leave it better than we found it & did some sorely needed cleaning of all the doors & such. Jyson was pretty sicked out--just look at that face :)

Grabill fair...but this is the only picture...one of the pet parade. The reason? Jyson & I were at home because he had a serious crick in his neck...the poor kid couldn't even move without loads of water leaking from his eyes. It was really sad.

This is him with the aforementioned neck--it was permanently stuck that way for almost 3 days.

Jaydon's experiment to see if our acorns would sprout. I am sad to say they did not, but it did lead them to another experiment...of their own volition they poured the nasty who-knows-how-old water into our new Brita to test it out. I am happy (?) to report (& they were ecstatic to see) that the water did indeed come out scintillating & clear. I, however, was still unsure how I felt about drinking that 'reformed' water.

Ari loves to back up her little booty into whoever's lap is available...usually without looking more than once behind her to make sure they're still there when she plops down.

Devin & Tony got to go on a tour of & get a free meal from Steak n' Shake courtesy of the boys' scout leader who is a manager there so here they are w/ their new church/scout pal.

Jumping in the rain...no one fall & break anything, please!

Our own 'Dairy Sweet' cafe...they have this slightly creepy dude dressed up in a different outfit almost every day. The first time I saw him I was sure he was was of those frozen-mime-dudes. And in the back-ground is a giant-sized sundae put in a boat & made from ?insulation stuff?

Making wheat-meat w/ Dev & Ari. They both got an education, but only Ari was in the picture.

August 26, 2011 she turned 2 :)

We celebrated a week or so late, but she didn't seem to notice...

I tried a new recipe for her 'doggy cake'...black bean chocolate sweetened only with stevia (I LOVED it & everyone else enjoyed it too :) with healthier cream cheese frosting, our berry ice-cream and then of course we had presents. She totally got the 'ripping them open' this year & of course wanted to play with all of them as we went. A few of the goodies: fun velcro dress-up dollies, play food & stacking cups from Nana Cobia, an adorable dress from Grandma Laretta, cute kitty shirt from Aunt Sarah, Amazon gift card from Brett, stuffed monkey from Grandma Debby...she's one lucky gal & here's the pics to prove it (though I only got 2 of the presents):

Jaydon is holding an awesome carved turtle from Grandma Debby's travels to Peru...

Here's my attempts to get Ari to pose for a picture in the dress from Grandma Laretta

"Why would I want to look up at you...leaves are way more interesting..."

Spread 'em wide girly...takes after a certain aunt of hers...hee hee

"Running away is so funny, right, Mommy?"

"Buh-bye."

The aftermath

After getting back most of us took a nap & this was Ari for a solid 5 minutes after she woke up...I'm glad Dev got a picture of this incredibly rare moment!

Before I found the bug spray I got bit over one HUNDRED times that first night...I'm glad I was the only one who got it this bad & neither of the babes got even one--blessings!

Then on Monday we got to work, being that it was 'Labor Day' & all...we cleaned out the garage! This is how it looked mid-morning after some work had been done already.

And this was the window...I could barely look at it long enough to snap the pic. The boys' bedroom windows were just as bad...dead, white ladybugs ALL over in them! So nasty.

Isn't she pretty now? One of my favorite things is to see our tools/96 hr kits hanging up all ship-shape-like on that brown-holey stuff that is often in garages...It's not a gorgeous brown, but the organization just makes me purr :)

Quickie, but a goodie: Camping over Labor Day weekend...

A bunch of ward member-friends wanted to go camping together, so we went up Friday, came back Saturday, but managed to get a lot of good ol' fun in...

Ari took some convincing that this was 'fun,' to get in the brown water, but after I showed her the 'pour-the-water' routine she was hooked.

The men-folk + Ari got the big tent borrowed from a friend & lil' guy & I got our pup-tent (given to us by another friend!). He did incredibly well...I daresay we may have even gotten more sleep than the other tent. Poor Dev & Tony, they both declared that camping does NOT equal good sleep, to which I say, "did you really expect to get some?" I'm not the most sympathetic of souls, though I did feel slightly sorry for them big boys...

Lots of kids makes for great 'tag!'

The next morning...notice Jaydon's bloody nose, Jyson's fake 'grump mug' & Tony's 'morning look' tee hee.

And on the way home we were reminded of "Emperor's New Groove" when we passed the neighborhood "Alpaca Llama farm" out in the middle of NOWHERE.

Have you ever...

Ever had a dream where you knew it was a dream?

I had a nightmare a couple of nights ago. We had to move again. I was forced to view an endless number of less-than-ideal, uh, 'homes' by some interesting real-estate guys. One place had bright blue carpet, another had dirt brown (apparently I have an issue with carpet, that's what I remember most). There was one apartment that was connected to another via a non-locking door. Oh, hello handle-bar mustachioed gentleman watching the tube in a recliner....where am I?? And then it hit me all at once & I thus proclaimed loudly to those dudes vying for my 'business'...."I have a house...THIS.IS.A.DREAM!" I wish I could say they all dissolved into mist & I woke up instantly. Instead, they looked at me like I was crazy & tried to convince me otherwise, but I was emphatic & held to it until my eyeballs finally popped open, relieved that my dream self was correct and my comfy bed in our lovely new place was the proof.

-Is ALWAYS either smiling or laughing. He laughs at everything...when he gets his clothes changed, when we kiss him, when we talk to him...yeah, always!

-So close to rolling over it's like he's constantly looking over his shoulder :)

-Is a good little sleeper. In general he'll go down about 8 or 9 (usually) & then wake up around midnight to eat, then again between 4 & 6am & then is up for awhile at 9ish, then will stay awake for an hour or two, then go to sleep again (repeated throughout the day). He sleeps better in a bed now, but still, when he's tired, he'll fuss for less than 5 minutes & put himself to sleep 9 times out of 10! I marvel.

-Is so incredibly patient as Ari continues to love him, sit on him (it's amazing what she can accomplish in 5 seconds), poke his little eyes, etc.

-Is becoming a drool-a-maniac

-I don't know how much he weighs currently because we're solidifying a new doctor currently, but boy, he's a healthy one with adorable chub rolls on his thighs.

-If he's being held he'll be patient practically forever...even when he's hungry.

-He already has his eating down to about 10-15 minutes & will go 2 to 4(!) hours in between. I find I have to watch the clock because he doesn't always let me know when he's hungry!

-He loves his hang-down toys on his little gym & being in the car.

-He is just so lovable!

Wordy warning...

Sarin (my sis) asked me to write about a time I received an answer, but it took time & patience--waiting upon the Lord--for her seminary class (she teaches 40(!!) 14 year-olds). Since I publish my blog entries into a book every year like this:

I decided I wanted this story as part of our history.

When we found out we were moving here to Indiana, as an OCD mother of 2, soon-to-be 3 I was very worried about finding a good house, in a good school district/, not too old/run-down, with a back-yard, but incredibly inexpensive since we didn't know what the new job based on commission was going to be like. I got a specific feeling when I started looking that things would work out & we would be taken care of. That helped immensely. Fast-forward a few months when I flew out there, nearly 8 months pregnant & I am now frantically looking for a house that might fit at least some of those criteria. Tony & I, the 2, 7 year-old boys, the cat & a lizard were living in a one-room hotel-type room with a 'landlady' who was putting pressure on us to find a place ASAP. I combed the newspapers daily, called a bazillion Craigslist ads & finally out of desperation started driving up & down random streets looking for 'for rent' signs. This was with the boys in tow in the non-air conditioned tiny truck in Indiana humidity of 1000%. Not my favorite memory. Finally we found one place I felt would be ok, but still I felt strongly that it wasn't necessarily the house that went along with that feeling I had back in Idaho. Sure enough, school concerns, serious money worries, mold problems, smell issues & lots of 'fix-ups' started emerging, making me feel disgruntled, frustrated & a perfect ulcer candidate. I was constantly, deeply stressed out and had permanent 'worry lines' on my forehead the harder things got. Didn't I get an answer that it would work out? What happened? Did I miss the boat somehow, not find the right place because I wasn't in tune with the Spirit? Was I just being silly, Tony seemed to be okay with it, why couldn't I just learn to be content? A year & a half later I was still wondering when wow, things really started firing up. Both cars exploded within a few days of each other (ok, not literally, but almost) & one was now only worth $200--for parts. Then our landlord told us he unexpectedly needed his house back in 60 days, right after Christmas. I was also pregnant again & in the sicko stage. And on & on...the list was pretty impressive actually (see THIS post for all the awesomeness). So now I'm frantically looking [again] for a house/apt & because of not wanting to change the boys' school & also needing it to be on the cheapo side we moved into government-subsidized housing. It was okay, but again, very cramped for the 6 of us, we had an issue with some serious cigarette smoke next door seeping through to our place, there was no washer-dryer (for a mommy of 4 this was a serious issue!), dishwasher, garage/storage, & to top it off I found out I couldn't teach my music lessons there which was a crucial part of our income--you get the idea. I started wondering anew about feeling things would work out, but I finally started coming around. Instead of moping & being depressed, I started thinking, alright, I obviously am supposed to learn from this. I must need to learn a thing or 10 about being happy no matter what my circumstances are. So, 6 months later of exercising my faith that it would work out eventually, we find we need to move again. By this time I pretty much despise Craigslist, but I'm determined to get a better school situation for our boys. Well, apparently I learned my lesson at least in part because whamo, one day, after all those months/years of searching we found a house. We found a rental house in an amazing school district, it's clean, in the perfect neighborhood/town, we have a backyard, we can have a cat & a garden, I have my washer...I tell you, after the other places it's a perfect dream come true! Craigslist & I are now friends once more. I felt content, peaceful & incredibly grateful. And then, while I was taking some stuff to the new place the Spirit spoke loudly to my mind, "This is the answer from so long ago. This was a test." I felt so overwhelmed. My whole life I've been taught that sometimes answers take awhile in coming, that they may not come in the way you expect them, etc. but I had never once applied it to this situation. I pondered about all I had learned/relearned in the last couple years of waiting. I had learned to expect less, to be patient & content, continue to serve amidst the struggling, ponder my scriptures more deeply & to word my prayers differently. I realized I would not have been nearly so grateful for our current house had we not gone through the others first because while this place does have a few things that are less than ideal it pales in the comparison. Some of you may think, "wow, all that over a house?!" but it just proves how much the Lord cares. He knows how important it is to me. He wanted me to deepen my faith & patience (have I mentioned I am NOT a patient person?). And now, in hindsight I can truly see what a fabulous growing experience it was. Too bad it took me 2 years before I learned enough for Him to be able to bless me :)

That's for us--married for 3 years...the butterfly doesn't really apply for this occasion, but she's cute so I went with her.

Tony & I were talking & it seems like we just got married yesterday, and yet we've definitely lived these last three years so on the other hand it seems like it's been longer! The good news is that it's been some of the best years of my life. He is so wonderful, patient, goofy, adaptable, non-stress-o-maticus (perfect for me), kind, spiritual, funny and just AWESOME! How did I get so very blessed? Devin was here for it so he baby-sat while we went on a date (shopping at JoAnn's for my present--material to make pillows--, dinner at Arby's, talking, & Kung Fu Panda II at the cheap theater. We weren't very creative this year, but Tony has been wanting to see that one ever since it came out & we loved it). I LOVE MY HUSBAND...HERE'S TO FOREVER!!