Thankful Turkey

I was at the elementary school and passed the wall where Jacob's class had posted their "Thankful Turkey's." I smiled and started to read the sweet sentiments of being thankful for family, friends and homes. A few even said electricity (not surprising after all the issues we had in our town recently.)

I looked for Jacob's ....

{iPhone photo}

Yep, topping his list of thankfulness -

TV

tows (toys)

food

mune (money)

Perhaps we need to work on helping him realize the blessing the relationships in his life are.

(Little turkey!)

Small Garden

I didn't plant a large garden this year since I knew we would be moving. We planted basil, chives, parsley, cilantro, beans, carrots and tomatoes. The sage, thyme and strawberries came up again because they are perennial. Most will be left for the new owners (I hope they like gardening).

I put tomatoes in pots so we could take them with us to the rental house. I also put some of the strawberry plants in pots when I thinned them out in spring so they can go to the new house for next year. My neighbor Elaine gave them to me when she thinned hers a few years ago, so I have an emotional attachment to our strawberries. The beans are from our "one bean" project (still going strong) and all come from just one bean, so if they aren't ready when we move I'll have to let the new owners know I am coming back for them!

It has been nice to enjoy some fresh food from our garden, even though it's not as much as we usually have. I'm glad I still planted a little, it does my soul good.

Memorial Day

 Go here and watch the video.

My Dad added this video to our family history website a while back and it is particularly on my mind today.

I do not know these men. Other than my Grandfather's and my Dad's Uncle Jim, I haven't heard stories of them or know about their lives. Yet I cannot help but be reduced to tears as I watch this, see their names, how they served and in many cases, the young ages at which their lives were ended.

In the grainy & faded photographs I recognize a smile, dimples, or eyes and the familiarity which tells me they are mine. That who I am, I owe in part to them. I see all of those who bear the name Robert - the same name I gave my son in honor of his Grandfather & Great-Grandfather and hope that he will live up to it. That leads me to think of the sons who didn't come home and the freedom that we all enjoy as a result and the tears start to flow.

On this day especially, I will watch this with my children gathered safely about me and when they ask  "Why are you crying Mom?" I will try to articulate what I feel and probably fail.

 I hope as they grow in age and understanding they will come to appreciate what I now do and also my sweet Dad who made them more than just names on a pedigree chart and helped us  feel a connection to them.

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Malachi 4:6

Hooray!

Our builder sent this to me today.

Under normal circumstances I would be sad to see trees being cleared - but when it is to make way for our new house to finally start being built - I find it quite delightful!

I think he sent me a photo from his phone because I needed to see it to believe it.

TWO MONTHS after we closed on the land & signed the contract with the builder (which was 6 weeks after we were ready & planning on closing on the land), we finally have the permits & are ready to get going. So, we are just beginning and already 3 1/2 months behind schedule ..... looks like this will be on the same schedule as all the renovations we've done to our current house!

Don't worry, there are still tons of trees all around and we'll be planting more after the house is built.

Our "House"

Today we stopped by our land to check out the tree clearing and look at where the house will be.

The girls running up what will eventually be our driveway.

Jacob & the stream.

Jacob after jumping the stream asking if he can go through the woods.

Jane & her BFF Ruth dancing in the meadow.

The very back (the shiny strip in the background is the river.)

This is NOT our ribbon, or the builders. He couldn't get it off when he was there but plans to cut it before they start clearing. I think this oak is almost as big as the one in our backyard - it's off to the side of the property and will be a great shade tree.

We love all our space.

 The road.

The "meadow" a view from the road.

At least we already have a fire hydrant.

Who Has The Sweetest Husband Ever?

I do! I do!

Snuggle Buddies - Part 2.

Jacob & Jane have always been very close. When Jacob left on the bus for the first day of kindergarten this year Jane turned to me and said "Now what?"

I really thought she'd struggle without him around, or that they wouldn't be as close as they had been - but my fears were unfounded, they still ADORE each other (and also frequently fight.)

When I walked into the living room after dinner and saw them like this - I had to grab my camera!

Swim Across America 2010

Emily swam in Swim Across America again this year. 

We kind of decided to make it "our charity." It makes sense - my kids are all swimmers and Rick's Mom lost her battle to cancer a few years ago. We are pleased to be able to raise money for cancer research and to support cancer patients.

We have to get to the pool early. They start at 6:30am.

She likes to mix it up and do freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke ... I did talk her out of doing any butterfly. Seriously, you don't have to make it too hard on yourself Em!

Here she is after a backstroke flip turn.

I love to see her like this, she is such a beautiful swimmer!

I did it!

This is how she looks after swimming a mile?!

I am hauling myself out gasping for breath after a dozen laps!

She was happy to be #14. That's her Dad's number.

The swimmers can all sign a big banner and dedicate their swim to someone. Emily dedicated her swim to her Grandma.

We are so proud of you Emily and we know Grandma is too!

Brrrrrrr

It's Rebekah's birthday today, so we let her sleep in & miss early morning seminary. Since it means a later morning & longer in a warm bed for US, we didn't need that much convincing.

Rick however, still had to get the 6:20am train to work.

Here's the e-mail I sent him after the big girls had gone to school -

OH, I'm so glad I'm not you today. I am very happy to be staying in 
this warm house until I take the kids to pre-school! Thanks for going to work for us!

The reply I received -

I regret to inform you that your husband froze to death on the way to the
train station.  We are currently asking for volunteers
to come forward and brave the cold in order to pry his frozen corps from
the sidewalk.

9/11

Father's

I wanted to post this last week for Father's Day - better late than never.

I am LOVING the Mormon Messages on You Tube & the church website.

When I was 8 years old (Emily's age), my Dad read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to my sisters & I. I dearly loved that time, and have such great memories of it. He read a chapter a night, and did really great different voices for each of the characters, which made the story easy to follow. I can still hear his voice in my head, reading it to us.
He made it come alive, and gave me a love of reading that has lasted all my life.

I just recently found out that he would pre-read each chapter of those books during the day - so he would be familiar enough with the story to use the right character voice at the right time, and have the story flow seamlessly. Finding that out touched my heart so much. My Dad was a very busy man. He had a job with a lot of responsibility, at the time 5 (0r 6 ?) kids, a stake president for most of the years I lived at home... Knowing, even though not until years later, that he had gone to that effort for us brought tears to my eyes.
Thank-you Dad, I love you.

Now I have my own family and am married to a very busy man, who works ridiculously long hours in a stressful and demanding job.

Rick has got up 40 minutes early (4:50am) every day of the school year for the past 2 years in order to drop Rebekah off at Seminary, bring the car home to me & make the 6:20am train. He even got up on many days that Rebekah accidentally slept through her alarm, leaving him ready early for no reason. This also greatly benefits me, leaving the little one's and I free to sleep for 45 extra minutes each day, before we have to go and pick her up. On Sunday's he's frequently up early for his assignments for the High Counsel for church. You would think that would make him desperate to sleep later on Saturday mornings, and I'm sure he is. He doesn't. On Saturday's he gets up with Jane and Jacob and scurries them to the TV in the basement to let me sleep a little longer. A true sacrifice. I am sure I have not thanked him enough, but I am so grateful for his commitment to our family and his compassion towards me, that he would give up the most precious of commodities in our house - sleep.

There's a real man. I adore you babe!

Happy Father's Day.

Jacob's Kisses

(Thanks to Ben Blair who took this picture at Pepsico Gardens in April.)



As I was tucking Jacob into bed he said

"Mom, when you give me kisses, they go straight down into my heart."

love that boy!

Hide & Seek.

These flowers almost cost Jacob his life today.

Here's the story.

When I was pregnant with Jane, we renovated our basement. The very best part was the custom toy and book storage I put in the back. It had been my dream for years. I found baskets I liked and designed the shelves to fit them. I planned drawers at the bottom (one each for soft toys, dress-ups and babies.) There are closets at each end for games and DVD/movie/video game storage. I keep all the kid craft supplies down there too (high out of reach.) All of this, streamlined along the back in white and brushed nickle.
Clean, crisp, uncluttered. Be still my heart.

It's 3 years old now. We spend A LOT of time in our basement, especially in the winter. It's had a few nicks and scuffs - but I still love it. It's my favorite thing in the house.

So today we had play-dates. Twins for Jane and a friend for Jake. Five kids under 4, but I was totally up for it. I went grocery shopping while they were at pre-school, but also stopped to buy more plants for the garden. I had hoped to make it home & put everything away, but ended up going right to school to get them.

When we got home we all ate lunch. Bit by bit I put away the groceries with lots of interruptions for hand washing and potty trips, and disputes over toys. It was a very rainy day, so we were all playing inside, and had out just about every toy we owned. After stopping for a snack (2nd lunch really) of watermelon, I suggested the kids play hide and go seek while I cleaned up in the kitchen. Then I realized the flowers I'd bought while out were still on the counter. I thought I'd better quickly get them in water, it had been about 3 hours since I bought them.

I heard the kids "finding" each other and continue playing downstairs. Jacob's friend came up and calmly said to me "I want to show you something." I asked him if it could wait until I put the flowers in water - or could he maybe bring it to me. He said he couldn't bring it to me, but he'd wait. He did wait, very patiently while I trimmed the stems and outer leaves, filled the vase and arranged the flowers. I could hear Jane and the other kids still playing downstairs.

After finishing the flowers, I went downstairs. I couldn't see Jacob anywhere - but did see a big pile of dress-ups. I figured he was hiding under them, and was going to surprise me - that was what I was supposed to "see." Then Jake's little friend pointed to the (tightly closed) dress-up drawer and said "He's in there." Instantly I made the connection. Instantly my heart froze. Instantly I yanked open the drawer. Poor little Jacob, sobbing and sweaty was curled up inside.

I pulled him out and wiped him off. I checked him, and asked a million times if he was OK. He said "You were taking too long." I tried to think - how long did it take me to do those flowers? 5 minutes or 10 - or (gasp) 15? Surely not 15 - he couldn't have been in there that long. Could he?

He is fine, and saying that he almost died is probably drama - but I've been traumatized with "what if's" all afternoon. His little friend went home not long after that. What if his mother had come early, and he had left without telling me where Jacob was? Jacob is a runner - he leaves the house all the time and I'm always chasing him down or looking for him. I would have searched for him outside and at neighbors houses, I would have never even thought to look in that drawer. Jacob said he was yelling for me. I didn't hear a thing. I couldn't hear him crying when I was standing right next to it - I would have never heard him. It's a small tight space, those drawers close snugly - how long could someone breathe in there?

Jacob and I have had a tough couple of weeks. I've been super busy and extra tired. Rick has been traveling a lot. Jacob has been extra energetic (aka naughty) or maybe he just seems that way because I am so tired. I have joked that I need him to go to foster care for 3 weeks so I can catch up and get a break.

I have been on the verge of tears all evening thinking about the horror I might have found opening that drawer. And that I sent him to go and hide. I am so grateful to have my busy, exhausting son and this reminder that he's just a little boy, and that I need to tell him a million times a day that I love him.

So, the drawers. He was scared, and at bedtime tonight we talked about how I was scared, and how dangerous it can be to get in there (he said he's done it before with friends, but opened the drawer right up.) I think it was scary enough that he won't want to do it again - but should I get rid of the drawers? Make a rule that they can never be all the way shut? At least now I know to look in there if one of the kids are lost or hiding.

And my little guy is snug in his bed, sleeping soundly - just where I want him to be.