Some Fall Pictures
Here’s a link to some current pictures of the kids. Enjoy! Fall Pictures
Here’s a link to some current pictures of the kids. Enjoy! Fall Pictures
Zach has been working hard on getting the last of his Eagle required merit badges done. The boys from his troop began the cycling MB last year, so the last couple of weeks he has been working to get his done as well. Cycling is an alternative to swimming, which he says he isn’t fond of. None of my kids are natural swimmers. I think I need to get a pool next summer because I hate that they love to fish and canoe, but hate to swim! Anyway, at the end of the month the troop is doing a 50 mile bike ride, and Zach needed to do 2-10, 2-15, and 2-25-mile bike rides. Mark has been a good sport about it. Unfortunately, Zach realized yesterday that the 50 miler was the same day as he Hunter Gun Safety practicum, and so he had to make a hard choice. He chose the hunting, so Mark will be taking him on a 50 miler some Saturday in October. He also finished off Citizenship in the World, and has 2 more requirements for Communications. That will leave him with Citizenship in the Nation and Personal Fitness (which he just has 12 weeks of logging his fitness regime to finish). He will have his Board of Review for Life Scout on the last Sunday of this month, at which point he can concentrate on his Eagle project and the last two MB’s. Early in April he should be ready for Eagle Scout. The statistics for Eagle Scouts are incredible. Something like 4% of scouters actually get Eagle, but 75% of presidents, astronauts, business CEO’s, etc. are Eagle Scouts. He has worked his butt off for this, as we are proud of him. He as a cousin (Preston) that should be finishing up at the same time too, so we are proud of him as well!
Reese has been so cute and funny lately. She is speaking so well. Her “No’s” (That previously sounded like Na or Ni) now are a definite “No!” One morning I heard her saying “Uh Oh” over and over for about 5 minutes on the baby monitor. She went back to sleep though. Now she likes to throw things on the floor and say it, or “Oh Dear!” She can mimic any word you give her (not perfectly, sometimes not even close, just the beginning sound) and she loves to climb and eat and play and be outside. She loves Zachary so much, and runs to Mark when he comes home from work. She likes to share my morning cereal with me, but I’d had enough when she picked up a hair elastic (with hair on it) and threw it into my cereal (saying “Uh oh!” of course) so now she has her own bowl. Her sleeping is a little better, but off because we all go to bed earlier, and so she wakes up at 6, but I can’t break my habit of reading a book by flashlight until 1 in the morning, so I am a veritable zombie.
The kids are doing great in school so far. Alisa, who “could” read, but slowly and never with any passion or joy, has REALLY picked up on, in just one week. It’s something she likes to do now, and we are so proud of her. Yesterday we had “THE” talk with Ethan. We’ve always been fairly open about s-e-x, and answered questions as they came, used proper body part names, etc. But reproduction is coming up in his curriculum and I like to be the one to explain it. With the help of a few books (from a gospel perspective, and one that is fun” we had a nice chat. Oh how I can remember the look on each of the kid’s faces as we cover the actual “ACT”, LOL. Ethan’s eyes got huge, and I thought he was going to cry. The funniest reaction was the one I heard about my nephew Kyle, I think. We also explain about a certain man in a little red suit and tell him that said person is actually an anonymous kindness that anyone can do, without expecting thanks, just because you know it brings joy to others, and that he was now invited to join us and the older kids in helping perform that kindness on Christmas Eve. with us. It helps them feel so grown up, and the kids actually are really good about doing random acts of kindness all year long. We then took him out for dinner. It’s never awkward, never embarrassing, and always open and gentle. 3 children down! (And a 4 year break!)
A friend had her baby yesterday. I admit to a little baby hunger. I’m used to being practically the only person in a small congregation of women who had babies, and now in our new church ward there are about 5-10 women pregnant at any given time. I’m often asked if I am “Done”. I used to answer that question. I don’t anymore, because I’ve looked like a liar for the last 3 kids! Am I open to more children? I guess so. Some days I feel so old and tired. Other days people are incredulous when I tell them I have 6 children. (My ego likes that, even if they are just being kind!) I’ve never had to endure the comments that so many moms with big families have to like “Do you know what causes that?” (Even though we have the “Yeah, and we like it” at the ready) or “When God Said multiply and replenish the Earth, He didn’t mean you alone” (so again, my “I’m not overpopulating the world, just outnumbering the idiots” reply never gets used either.) I actually only get compliments. Our family cruise was full of such kind words, about our “delightful children”. (And we typically cruise when school is in session, because as much as I like my kids, I’m not that great with other people’s kids. So these cruises are generally full of people who are cruising at a time that they hope there aren’t too many kids.) In Walmart a nice old man asked me if all the kids were mine and I tentatively said “Yes” just waiting to use one of my replies (Boy, do I feel like Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice who prepared the things he said to people in advance) but he told me “That is fantastic! Honey, come here, look at all these wonderful children. Bless you for doing something so wonderful!” I was in shock and awe. How sweet is that? Anyway, so I don’t say I’m done having kids because while I’m tired, there is only one way to KNOW for SURE that you are done, and that isn’t an option. Even with some medical procedures that leave you with a 99.99999999% chance you are done, I’d be the one proven wrong!
And this is long. Too long to edit, I fear! Sorry for the ramble. I should post more often so I don’t have to catch up so much.
Today we began our first day of school, at home. All last week we took the opportunity to get used to Zachary in seminary and driving the kids back and forth to the middle school for band and choir, and clean the house one room at a time. It seems so busy without our own schooling! Once Zach gets home, we have about 3 hours until he goes to band. Once he is home from that, we have about 3 hours until Gabby goes to choir. Once she gets home we have 3 hours until Mark gets home from work. This year we are calling Alisa a Kindergartner. Unlike the other children, she was not ready a year early, even though she read early (but with no joy!) She has a literature, science, history, music and art curriculum through the Core Knowledge Series, and math through Saxon Math. Ethan has a similar curriculum, but we add more history with the Story of the World series, and more science through science textbooks I got at a garage sale. Gabby is in 7th grade, and has Saxon Algebra I, which we are taking very slowly, making sure she understands everything before moving on, as she doesn’t think as abstractly as math sometimes requires. She has a general science curriculum through Abeka. She also does Story of the World. Zach has Algebra II through Saxon (next year is Advanced Math and then Calculus!) Biology through Abeka, Literature, Composition and Grammar through Abeka, and Geography and Health through Abeka. He also does Story of the World with us. I also read to them from a book each day. We rotate who chooses the book. Ethan picked this time, so it’s Stuart Little for now. I don’t know what Gabby is going to pick, but Zach has said he will pick The Hobbit when it’s his turn.
Dylan and Reese stay busy by playing, coloring, “doing school work” etc.
Reese has not been sleeping as well, and has been a little out of sorts. I checked her gums, and she has 1 molar through, 1 where you can feel bumps through the gum tissue, and 2 that are swollen and white with pressure.
Dylan and Alisa had a fabulous time at Grandmas house, but we missed them so much were so glad when they walked through the door. Gabby complained of her throat and tongue hurting, and I looked at it and sure enough she had a red throat and swollen taste buds. I couldn’t even Google an explanation for that! And Alisa said “My throat hurts too!” so when I checked her out I saw white patches on her tonsils. She wasn’t in much pain, so I said I’d give it 2 days to see what happened, and sure enough this morning they are feeling much better and the white patches are gone. Does Strep go away on its own? And ooh, don’t Google image “Tonsil Stones” or read discussions about them.
And of course, saving ourselves from a trip to the clinic on that one, Dylan is complaining of his arm hurting. Now, this is the child that will on occasion wake up and say his foot hurts. We are guessing growing pains or cramping, because most of the time it doesn’t bother him. He does his typical running, walking, jumping, leaping, stomping, kicking, etc. with it. Now his arm hurts, and he won’t bend his elbow! He is very protective of the inner elbow. A quick internet search brings up dislocation, breaks, tennis elbow. But the problem is, he’ll hand from monkey bars, he’ll use it normally, waves it around, pulls ropes with it. He just won’t bend it or straighten it. I talked with an RN friend who said if it was any of the aforementioned things, he wouldn’t use it like that. She thinks it’s probably a strain. And if it it doesn’t improve within a week, then to take him in. Fortunately it is slowing improving. Cross your fingers and say a prayer!
Every night we have a family prayer, where we gather in a circle and one of us prays. We teach the kids to close their eyes and fold their arms and be reverent. Even little Reese has gotten the hang of this. We merely need to say “Time to pray Reese” and she plops down, folds her hands daintily, and waits patiently like a little lady. That is waits for us to close our eyes and begin the prayer. She then stands up and charges full force at someone right into their laps and giggles. No one knows who it will be that night, and she is an equal opportunity kind of girl! Mark or I will open our eyes and look at her and say “No no, Reese!” and she shakes her head and says “No no no no!” But of course to the little kids it sounds more like “Na na na na” (as in “na na na na boo boo, you can’t catch me!”) which makes them in turn giggle, so being the mature adults that we are, we “Shhhhh” them and go back to praying (Reese is happy at this point to walk up to someone, put her finger to her lips and say “Shhh” too. What a helper! (More giggles from whichever kid got the shhh-ing.) Of course then Reese decides that since she already rammed someone, this time she will walk backwards and plop onto someone’s lap, but she doesn’t walk normal, nope she has to stoop over until her torso is parallel to the ground and then PLOP into the lap. Again we say “Reese, no no!” and she shakes her head and says “No no no no!” but this time it sounds more like “The Knights Who Say Ni” from The Holy Grail and so it’s the adults and older kids who are laughing. And then whoever is praying will say “In Jesus’ name, Amen” and by this time Reese has stealthily slipped back into her original position with her hands folded daintily, and gives a hearty grin and says “AMEN”.
Dylan has also had a religious experience. At church recently, as we were partaking of the sacrament (similar to the Eucharist, etc.) we was being a little loud, and I leaned over and whispered “Dylan, be reverent. Think about Jesus.” to which he said (very loudly in a very quiet room) “Think about Jesus doing what? Getting married? Did Jesus get married?” The lady in front of me and her daughter started laughing so hard. I whispered back “Dylan, think about Jesus getting baptized. Or blessing people” He quieted down, so great!
Then the closing song started. It has lyrics that say “Today, today, work with a will!” Within the song, the words “Today” are repeated quite often. By verse two Dylan decided that it would be a good idea to sing very loudly, in an operatic voice, the word “Today” each time it was said. I thought the lady in front of us and her daughter were going to choke this time. Mark has to sit up front, and he said he saw them laughing and turning red, and wondered what Dylan was doing this time. 
I don’t generally write about politics. Other than my picture of the 494&HWY 77 billboard, I’ve stayed away. But I have to admit that I am semi-enjoying the political banter that is happening around the nation. I say semi, because while at times it does bring a smile to my face, mostly it’s annoying and ridiculous. Two of the websites I frequent are freerepublic.com and democraticunderground.com, where wanna-be pundits can respond to blogs and message board posts. I find these things hilarious! Imagine: “Oh those liberal, socialist Dems, they think this hurricane is a sign against our party! How dare they write that kind of stuff! Only ‘Democraps’ act like that!” when only last week one could also find “Oh those ‘Republicraps’, they think the tornado in Denver is a sign against our party! Only the Repukes would think like that!”
Consider our newest potential Veep. She really doesn’t have that much experience in politics. (We’ll leave out the word ‘executive’) Other than being on a city council and mayor of a tiny town, and governor of Alaska with an 80% approval rating (allegedly up against one of the worst governors Alaska has ever seen!) So the blogs went into frenzy on both sides “That Obama he has no experience (unless you count Harvard Law Review, HA HA HA!” “That Palin, she has no experience!” “Yeah, well she’s ONLY going to be VEEP, how much experience will she need (forgetting that her running mate is an old, angry man with past health conditions.) “Palin smoked weed!” “Well, Obama used Cocaine!” “She is the mother of a 4 month infant who has down syndrome, and went back to work 3 days after the birth” “Well, I was a Relief Society President and did too (there’s an equal comparison!) or “Better than what Obama would have done to a baby with down syndrome!” (Really? We actually know what Obama would have done if he had a baby with DS? People can actually be Pro-life for themselves AND Pro-Choice for others. Check the LDS Church Handbook of Instructions to see their stance.) “Well, Palin’s 17-year old daughter is pregnant” “Well, what she does in her private life is no one’s business (Eh hem, *cough cough* unless your name is Bill Clinton…) I haven’t checked to see how Palin’s ethic’s investigation is being spun on both sides, so I won’t go.
So you can see why I smile and why I get frustrated. And TV ad season hasn’t started yet (at least I don’t think so, we don’t have TV thank goodness!) Both sides blogging that the other side is “X,Y,Z”, usage of words such as ‘always and only’ about the other side (when really they both do it.) The backbiting, the mudslinging, and digging. Hey guys, you’re both MEAN and UGLY sometimes, OK? You both are full of hypocrisy at times. Let’s look at platforms. Let’s look at voting records. Wild idea, I know!
I’ll admit right now. I don’t like McCain. I won’t vote for him. He is very much Bush V. 2, except that he more way more liberal, and who trusts someone that is RINO? I’m not thrilled with Obama. I’ve voted third party before. I’ll do it again. I firmly believe that more important than ‘throwing away a vote’ is the INTEGRITY that my vote determines as I personally cast it. Will I be held accountable someday at the Judgment Seat for who is in office, no I don’t think so. But perhaps for who I personally voted for.
There are Mormons who believe you can’t be LDS and Democrat. When we first moved to our ward, the 12-14yo boys were sitting around stating that “ALL good Mormon’s are Republican” (yes, probably getting the idea from their parents) to which Zach said “My Mom and Dad aren’t Republicans.” And they apparently had some comments to say about Democrats (can’t remember them, not worth my brain’s RAM space, really.) Try a Google search for “mormon democrat” and see what happens. It’s scary what some people believe. Oh, and I asked Zach if he mentioned that his Mom and Dad aren’t Democrats either, but no, that didn’t happen.
Beside our beloved Pres. Hinckley saying a person can be a good LDS while being a member or whatever party they choose, let’s remember the words of Pres. Faust, 1st counselor in the presidency up until his death a year ago, and an active Democrat (GASP): “Both locally and nationally, the interests of the church and its members are best served when we have two good men or women running on each ticket, and then no matter who is elected, we win.”
PS, Dylan and Alisa are spending 3 days at Grandma’s house, and I miss them desperately! And sorry about the typos, I am nursing here and will edit another time.
Oh and I forgot to upload the siggy I made, so here it is!
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