*

South Beach

2012-02-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

Del and I spent a nice long weekend alone in South Beach, Miami.

Del uses a software product called Brightree to help run Patient's Choice. They had a conference for their customers, and we were able to attend it. It was fun to get more of the big picture on how things Del tells me about, are implemented with the software programs. They also had classes for Del on competitive bidding, which is coming up. And any information on being prepared for that is welcome.

It was also interesting to meet other DME company owners. It is almost weird when you can have a conversation with a couple whose lives rotate around kids, and a medical supplies company, and being compliant with Medicare. You could say we spoke each others language.

So while Del attended his classes I napped, and read by the pool, then we would meet back up. Brightree did a really nice job with their conference. Somehow I always managed to miss the ice cream or smoothies they gave out for a snack between classes though! Bummer!

South Beach reminds me of Las Vegas.

Take away the gambling, and add a beach. Same thing. The main strip out in front of the hotel was crazyville. So you can decide if that is your scene or not based on that description.

We stayed at Loews South Beach. Our hotel was very nice, and had a great pool and direct access to the beach. Which is beautiful, but lined with Las Vegas like hotels, and the crowd that atmosphere draws.

Let's just say that I became very adept at finding an escape route from convention bound men, traveling alone, or with a pack of other convention bound men, while Del was in his meetings. And then at night, when everyone was drunk, finding an escape route from those men, with Del sitting right in front of me!

I will spare you the details of those stories, but let me just say...uncomfortable, and annoying!!

We had some bumps in the road with the flight for our babysitters from Utah, so we actually arrived a day late for our getaway, but it ended up running completely smoothly from there out.

The only other minor hiccup was that the weather was actually pretty chilly. But we lived it up for the three hours that the sun was shining strong, the wind was calm, and the pool and beach were hip hoppin'!

I will tell you about the book I read while we were away, because it appears that I am modeling it in this picture.
It is "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly. And I loved it. I am a big history lover, so it was so captivating to me. I actually finished it on the trip, which just goes to show that I had a lot of time to read.
Perfect! So perfect!
I read, then slept, then read, then slept. And then wondered how it was possible that I was still tired. So nice.

Oh, and for some reason I was able to get away with reading on the plane, which often makes me air sick. But I was fine this time.

Anyway. The book chronicles the last weeks of the Civil War, and how that led into the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I have read several books about Lincoln and his cabinet, and I liked how I could recall details from other accounts and plug them in to the date-by-date timeline this book lays out. I recommend it!

We had events pretty much back to back, so we stuck around the hotel. But one night we did venture out to a really yummy, very authentic mexican restaurant. We sat in completely compatible, enjoyable silence for much of the meal, stuffing ourselves with the freshest, most delicious guacamole dip and hand squeezed in front of us, lemonade, ever, and watching all the crazy people that walked by the open air restaurant. I love my husband so much! I love being with him, and just being myself.
Oh, and after watching the characters in South Beach, I am so glad I am with a sane person!

I had such a restful weekend, it felt good to get back to the normal routine. Sounds like a success to me!

A Major Breakthrough!

2012-02-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, the chair has made a temporary home in Walker's room. He finds it to be a good spot to drink a bottle. But that is not saying much, because this guy will drink a bottle anywhere. The flip side of never being a pacifier baby. He is majorly addicted to the bottle! I have a lot of work ahead of me getting him off of that. Soon.

Oh so exciting!

The boys have basketball games on Saturday mornings. It has been so much fun to watch their progress as they catch on to the concept of just what exactly it is they are supposed to be doing out there.

Last week, Del was at Wally's game. Wally got the ball and made a shot! It was like a lightbulb suddenly went on! Now he counts down the days to his next game. He was so proud to tell everyone he made a basket!

Will has been another story all together. He is hilarious! He runs down the court like the whole team is just out there for a nice slow, skipping jog. He is known for dribbling the wrong direction down the court. His coach is always telling him to find his man, or stay with his guy.

Last week, Will ended up standing right next to me near the sideline when they blew the whistle for a time out. So I said to him, "Hey Will, your coach keeps telling you to stay with your guy."

So, Will obediently turns around and runs after the guy he is guarding, right back to the other team's bench for the time out! His coach called him over to the correct huddle. It was so funny!

But Will is always out there with a big smile, and a happy little skip to his step.

But then on Saturday, he had a breakthrough! He was all over the ball! He guarded his guy, did his best to dribble around the other team's defense, and even took a couple of shots! He got to shoot two free throw shots. So many parents of the other kids on Will's team have told me how excited they were for Will. It is fun to see all the boys on both teams have their moments.

He made them both! This guy was on cloud nine! It has been so much fun to see the confidence boost this can be for these little boys! It just takes some time to get the hang of it at first!

Here is the video of Will's free throws. I so wish I had Wally's shot.

We are getting geared up for the move! We have managed to collect lot of boxes, and I have actually gone through a few closets in an attempt to par down what we will be moving. Del and I are going to enjoy a nice long weekend of sun in South Beach, Florida, and then life will turn to "Mission Move!"

I must say that it does not help knowing that I am doing most of it alone because Del HAS to get some very important things done for work this month. He can't delegate them, and they have a deadline that is crucial to the growth of the company.

So that means it all comes down to Moi!!

I still need to buy a new washer and dryer, a mattress, order the furniture that will take a while to get here, get the painters scheduled to hopefully start right after closing, have the carpenter come take a look at a couple of projects I want to do, get a handy man in our house to do fix it jobs, and contact all our utilities providers. Oh, and pack, and actually move.

So, yeah, pretty much everything! Ha!

But first... a good book, poolside! Thank you very much!

Wasting No Time

2012-01-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

That's right. I have wasted no time in planning what furniture will go where in the new house. It is too consuming! Always in the back of my mind. Along with when will I pack, where will I start, how will I move THAT???, lists of things to be done, at this house, and that, and crunching numbers, numbers, numbers, to stay on budget. Not to mention that normal life has not stopped even one little bit. If anything, things are busier. We have also had at least one sick kid every day since Christmas. And to think some people move all the time! Over and over! How do they do it?

I have not, by the way, even begun to pack. What a mess. We use every square inch of our current home every day. So if I get too vigorous in my packing too early, we will end up needing to dig through the boxes I have ready to go. We are also going out of town two weeks before we move, so I don't want our babysitters to have to move around a storage unit while watching our kids. We also live so close to the new house, that most of the decorative things that I would pack early, I will just put in my car and drive over to ensure they arrive safely. So... as of now, it looks like a lot of planning, and only a little action.

That is okay, because at this point we have not even attempted to find a renter, so we can take our time getting out.

I made the first purchase for the new house, and learned a hard lesson. Always measure!! Twice! I ordered a mirror from an online furniture retailer, and when I opened the door for the delivery guy and saw him staying there with this beast, I had a little heart attack!!

Much bigger than I had anticipated! We can barley fit our family and what we already own into our current home, let a lone a mirror and it's packaging that practically need their own room! Oh, and not only is it big, but it weighs about twice what I do! Holy cow!

When Del came home I greeted him with, "Ummm, I got myself into a bit of a mess." And then led him into the front room where with new mirror resides. He thinks we will be able to hang it. Finding a spot on a really big wall is probably better than paying to ship it back. Me and my big ideas! Literally! It is pretty though.

I have loved the look of this velvet chair I found on Pintrest. I love dark velvet, and the feel of this room.

Then, I walked into Home Goods, and look what greeted me at the front door! It is prettier in person than this picture. I texted Del and asked, "How interested would you be in a black velvet wingback chair for your office?"

He responded with " What the heck is that??"
I think he would be more into the deer head hanging on the wall.

I got the chair, so he can test it out in person. I love the idea, but I will let you know if it is a keeper. I also found a swivel arm Ralph Lauren lamp at Home Goods, and four gold frames for $3 at the thrift store!

Fun, fun!! We are excited, and so are the kids! Very excited. And when we are at the kid's activities we often have someone come up and tell us they will be our neighbors. So they see us coming! Will especially loves that he will live really close to some kids in his class.

Well, I am off to do some laundry, and vacuum around my new mirror! Sheesh!

On The Move

2012-01-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

Yes,
Indeed. The secret is, we are moving. Aaaaa!!!

I can hardly believe I am saying it myself, but we purchased, and are moving into this home at the beginning of March. It is located about... one and a half miles from our current home. And this is why I have decided I like dental molding. The front and dining rooms have it.

The sequence of events leading up to this are hard to believe for me.

And if you would like to hear a long, probably not very interesting story about how this house found us, read on!

(I had hoped for a better picture, but the snow, and a tired and hungry Walker were not working in my favor.)

I went to Will's basketball practice about three weeks ago, and a man that I know from the community came in and sat down next to me. Our kids are in the same school classes, so we started chatting about that, and then our conversation made it's way around to real estate. After we had talked for a minute about where we both live, us in our current home, and him over in the neighborhood built on the golf course, we realized that we both know a lady in town that is a real estate agent. Then he said to me,

"You know... if you are looking for a nice home around here, and you want it for a great price, my business partner is building a new home and his old one is not even on the market yet, but I know he would want you to buy it."

I laughed and told him that right now we are not house hunting. We had decided that we had tried our best, but nothing we had attempted to purchase ever worked out, so we would sit tight until we hopefully could move our kids closer to family.

He went out and talked to the home owner in the hall on his cell.

By the time I left basketball practice he was telling me the owner REALLY wanted us to come look at the house. They are building on the two lots combined next door to this existing home, and want people with kids to be their neighbors.
He kept telling me I had to go look at it. I came home and told Del that I had two car salesmen (they actually own car dealerships) trying to get me to buy a house. We laughed it off. Then, the next thing I knew, the real estate agent that we knew mutually, (who also lives in the golf club neighborhood) emailed me and Del. She said she had been contacted by the seller and the guy I talked to at basketball. She thought it would be a REALLY good idea to at least take a look, even though she knew our ultimate goal of living closer to family. She wanted us to have a shot at an amazing deal.

So, we agreed to take a look at it. It had a huge kitchen and an alarm system that tells you what door or window just opened! We liked it, loved the neighborhood, but we did have some concerns.
I shared the concerns with our realtor, and she emailed the sellers. And within five minutes they had offered a solution to almost every hesitation we had, and then some! We could not believe the perks they were willing to throw into the sale. One being continuing the fencing of their new yard next door to our home so that we would have a barrier between us and the golf course pond the home backs up to.

So, after much analyzing, we made an offer. And they countered.

We decided to think about it.

Then, the next day, the seller came back and told us they would accept our original offer, and BAM! We have a new house! We were in shock.

(I want to wait to share too many photos of the home, until after I feel like
it is mine. But one thing I am pretty excited about is the workout room in
the basement. And the beautiful view of the First Green on the golf course!)

We felt like we were led to this decision by Heavenly Father. He knows what is right for us. Much more than we know. We are nervous. We have lived in our home for almost eight years.We did not imagine that our next home would be one that we did not build. We certainly did not think it would be in the same town we live in now. Getting to know a new neighborhood is intimidating, to say the least. But from what I have seen and heard, the people that will be living around us are pretty amazing. Not to mention the sellers, who are right next door. (You should see the new house they are building. Spectacular!!)

Our kids will not have to change one thing about their lives and routine except where they sleep, and the bus number they take. We will be in the same ward for church, and go to all the same schools.
We are going to rent out our current home, and it will be nice to be so close in case anything comes up.

We don't quit know where this life is going to take us. We just hope that we will be happy in our new home, and pray for the continued guidance of our Heavenly Father. I know he answers prayers. And I know that he is a loving forgiving Father, when at times that I am angry, or frustrated with my lack of understanding in his will. I have faith that living in this home with be a blessing to our family, and that the doors to the future desires of our hearts will open wide one day, and I will look back on my life with gratitude that I was able to experience what I did. I feel blessed to live in such a well cared for and beautiful home and neighborhood. And I am grateful for Del. Sometimes when I am being led down a path in life that I don't understand, I can be emotional and difficult. And I am glad that we can become closer and more understanding of each other through these thresholds of life.

So there you have it! That is how a house that was not even listed found a family that was not even planning to move. This will be our new home base! If you want to come and visit our doors are open to all! We can't have a home at this point and time that is near our family, so all our loved ones, including friends, will have to come and see us!

A Long Weekend

2012-01-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

We had a nice long weekend to take in many basketball games and a little dinner at Portillos. The kids BEG us to be able to get a shake when we go there. This time we obliged. They were very happy.

It got COLD here! How about where you are? We were so spoiled with our 50 degree weather. It definitely weakened my Chicago Winter Resolve. So now I have to rebuild my stamina for a long Winter. Groundhog Day is right around the corner, and that is a big deal around here. The movie was filmed in our picturesque little town square, so we really whoop it up. Let's hope that little bugger decides the cold will leave early this year.

The basketball boys. So cute! Del and I have to tag team it to get to games because they overlap at different locations.

Will in action. Or... not. We are still grasping the concept a bit.

Basketball shorts and snow boots. Good combo!

Will was our photographer for most of lunch.

Sharing.

Don't you love Portillos? When I first moved to the Chicago area (almost 9 years ago! Yikes!) I did not get the appeal. Boy do we love it now! Oh, and notice how many napkins it takes for us to get through a meal. Save a tree anyone? Oops.

Runnin', Runnin', and Runnin', Runnin', And...!!

2012-01-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

Did the title of this post get that Black Eyed Peas song stuck in your head? Sorry. Super annoying, I know.

I have been meaning to blog lately. But then I find myself in the car headed to basketball practices, or games, or gymnastics, or dance, or swimming lessons, or cub scouts, or pre-school, and then I realize that because this is all that I do, there are not a lot of interesting events to blog about. I guess I could post of couple of philosophies on life, according to me. But that is not going to be a draw for any reader that may be out there. So I will pull it together, and get something up soon. Maybe after I sit down and figure out how to simplify in the kid activities schedule! Sheesh! How did this craziness happen!??

In the meantime, I will leave you with an image I am loving lately. Because nothing makes me happier than looking at beautiful interior images. I think I may be a little too emotionally effected by a well designed room.

Pretty right? I am loving the mix of more modern lines in the furniture, mixed with the much more formal and traditional dental crown molding. I might tell ya more specifically WHY I like that in a few days. But for now, it is a secret!
We will talk soon.

Christmas-ness 2011

2012-01-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Eve dinner table.

We had a nice Christmas at home this year.
Georgia and I were sick on Christmas Day. That was kind of sad for Georgie Girl. But kids manage to have a nice time, sick or not, when they are opening presents. Del took the boys to church and Georgia and I laid low. It was kind of nice not to have any obligations because we did not feel so hot. We ended up just eating left overs from our Christmas Eve get together, and we were all content to play with toys, watch new church movies from our families, and Skype our parents and siblings back in Utah.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Del and I attended a party thrown by a company that uses him for chairs. It was fun to get dressed up and hit the town with my date!

Our Christmas card door. Or as our babysitter put it. "Holy Christmas cards!" We LOVE it! Thank you for sending them!

I took the kids to the mall to see Santa. The mall is a drive for us. We got there, and the wait to see Santa was over two hours long. So... we took pictures with Santa in the back ground from the balcony as we walked back to the car. My kids officially laid eyes on Santa this season. So sad. They were very good sports about it. Georgia is holding up the list to give to Santa that she had Will help her write out.

We had our good friends, the Laws family over on Christmas Eve. We read through the Nativity program that we do every year with Del's family when we go home. His dad wrote it a few decades ago, so it has staying power! It goes through the Bible story, and includes Christmas Carols, so I played the piano, with the occasional help from Walker. Not so helpful really.

The theme from for our very simple table decor was inspired by the paper projects made by Buddy the Elf in the movie "Elf."

Opening a few presents with friends on Christmas Eve.

Ellie wearing the earmuffs Georgia picked out for her.

Yearly gift of pajamas from Grandma! We always love them!

Gifts under the tree after Santa visited. Our little front room can barley hold presents for four kids!

Oh yeah! Easy Bake Oven. (biggest waste of money on Earth.)

Playing with the light saber before it is even out of the box.

Some of my resolutions for the year are to be more on top of the assignments my kids need to do so that we are not rushed last minute. That includes school, church, cub scouts and on and on. I also want to get at least a few of the years of my blog made into hardback books, and get the annoying little home maintenance stuff around the house taken care of so that when we are ready to rent it out we are not doing quit as much paint touch up and such. I want to complete my more in-depth study of the Book of Mormon that I started in 2011, and then start over with a new study guide to add to what I have learned, and then add a detailed study of the Bible.

I told Del I should add a big health goal, like run a marathon.

But I don't want to. Ha!

Church on New Year's Day. Will was not happy, hence the splochy sad face.

Del and I went out on New Year's Eve, so we had a little ice cream party with the kids on Monday to celebrate the new year.

Pretty exciting.

And that is what we have been up to this December! Tomorrow is back to school for everyone, and that is a good thing. We are all ready to get on with the new year! Happy 2012!

2011 Review

2012-01-01T11:33:00.001-08:00

I thought I would do a post on some of the moments that stood out in 2011. We had a blessed and happy year, with lots of growth and learning.

As far as Patient's Choice goes, we spent 2010 bracing ourselves for the changes that Medicare was going to be implementing starting in 2011 in their payment schedule to businesses like Del's. We did what we could to be prepared, and then moved forward with faith that it would all fall into place. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the company adapted to the new payment plan. We spent a few months breathing easy, and then Medicare decided in the past couple of months, to suddenly throw another payment stipulation at the DME industry.

Once again, Del went into high gear to adjust and prepare his employees, and make sure he had everything in place to continue to keep his infrastructure secure. We are so full of gratitude for the mercies of the Lord! We just heard yesterday that Medicare has suspended this stipulation until further notice!

It has been a year of bounty. Good health, warm home, loyal employees, strong business, loving and supportive family, amazing friends, little adventures, new experiences, and most of all, the light and guidance of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know all blessings, in years of bounty or scarcity, come from our loving Heavenly Father. We know that he knows each one of his children by name, and is aware of our needs and the desires of our hearts. We are grateful for the Atoning sacrifice made by our elder brother Jesus Christ, that makes salvation and Eternal life with God possible. We love him, and desire to serve him as he calls us in 2012.

And now... our year at a glance!

I included some pictures, but you can click on the links for the full posts with details about our year.

-Walker and I were co-stars in a tiny local commercial production.

-We had the snow storm of the century hit our house, and spent days digging out.

-Del decided that he was off carbonation! For the month of February. The shortest month. It didn't last! Ha!

-Walker was released from physical therapy for his Torticollis with a clean bill of health!

-Wally turned eight and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Del. Both sets of grandparents were able to travel to Chicago to be here for the big event.

-Del took our good friend Jared to the Bulls vs. Jazz game, thanks to the generous Christmas gift of excellent seats from his employees

-Del and I went on a trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica with seven of his employees and their guests for the first Patient's Choice President's Club trip! It was beyond amazing! I am ready to go back any time now! My very patient sister Lauren, and her husband Christopher came to our house to watch our kids.

-The local farmer's market became my best friend. Our city market was voted the best in the state by the way! Del laughs at me because I come home with small gifts from the vendors at Holiday times. He says they must know me pretty well. I would say yes, considering the lady I buy eggs, chicken and pork from is now making personal deliveries to my street for the Winter! Loooove it!! Oh, and I gave up carbonation. Nine months and counting!

-Walker started going to the Nursery at church for kids 18 months to age three. That means Mom and Dad are kid free for the last two hours of church! No more chasing a little terror around the church!

-Well I was kids free for a few months, until I got called to lead the music in the children's primary. Now I am with 30 plus kids for two hours. Just as exhausting, but still a lot of fun!

-We attended the Clark Family Reunion, here and here with my Mom's side of the family right here in good ol' Illinois! It was completely surreal to have so much of my family on our local stomping grounds. We toured both Chicago and Illinois, and it was a treasured experience!

-Our power went out after a thunder storm. For AN ENTIRE WEEK! Now we are not unaccustomed to the power outages in the area. Over the past seven years we have been dealing with their annoying frequency on a regular basis. But this was beyond anything I expected! It was SO stinkin hot!!! Taking humidity and heat into consideration, Chicago was reading the same temperatures as the Amazon Rainforest! Our house was boiling, we had electrical cords running all over the main level of our house from the generator to whatever appliance we were using at the moment. We made toast on the kitchen floor, ate mostly fruit for a week, slept in the guest room/Del's office in the basement, and listened to the hum of generators up and down our street day in and day out. Del had to shut down his office for a few days because they did not have power there either.The power went out on laundry day, so we finally had to make the big trip to the laundry mat, because we were leaving for Utah the next week. I ran into several friends while there, doing the same thing, and we all stood around and talked about the misery that was a Chicago Summer with no power, while we folded clothes and our kids ran around the laundry mat like wild things. I got more than a few stares and several comments about the amount of laundry I was cramming into my car while I loaded the clean clothes up in the parking lot. Several of the people we go to church with can't flush their toilets without power because they are on a well system, so it was getting pretty desperate! I am a baby, I know many are out of power for weeks after hurricanes and such.We left town grateful for the relief and returned only to have the power go off again for two days when we returned! I guess I can take that as a sign that I have not yet perfected my patience with the power situation. So I better make sure the generator is ready to go in 2012, while I repent of my bitter ways.

-We made our Summer trek West to Utah, here, here, and here, for a visit with family. We always have fun with cousins and Grandparents! Our kids live for this trip!

-We stopped in Denver to visit our friends Bryce and Christy, and to give Del time to do some work.

-We learned the hard way that I ave a major fear of mice.

-Del went to Texas to work. While he was there he went to the BYU vs. Texas game at Texas Stadium. Oh, and he met Ty Detmer.

-Del ran in his first Warrior Dash with one of his reps in Missouri. They had a lot of fun, and got VERY

muddy!

-We spent the year chasing Walker, cleaning up mess after mess that Walker made, listening to Walker scream, laughing at Walker's silly antics, flushing our pet fish we had for two years after Walker dumped the entire bottle of fish food in the bowel and killed the fish, and just plain being worn out, entertained, and falling even more in love with our crazy, wild, mischievous and sweet two year old.

-Our friend Jared took Del and the kids out on Lake Michigan for some fishing. The trip did not disappoint! They came away with a massive king salmon. Georgia and Ella were not fans.

-We went on a family vacation to Disney World where we stayed at the beautiful Grand Floridian Hotel, and wore ourselves, and our kids out, visiting the parks for five days of fun.

-The kids looked positively Medieval for Halloween

-2012 birthdays brought new ages for our kids that can be recited with a cheer..."2, 4, 6, 8, what do we appreciate? Sleep, sleep, SLEEP!!" Hopefully we will see more of it in 2012!

-We kept busy with the kid's activities. Georgia started gymnastics at a new gym, and took a ballet class, all three older kids started swimming lessons, and the boys both started in a basketball league. In addition to the therapy Wally and Walker were receiving at the beginning of the year it has been a feat of master scheduling to keep it all straight! I think this is a common story for most families like ours!

-We spent the Holiday season close to home this year. We enjoyed time with friends, and enjoyed reflecting on the life of the Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas events post coming soon!

We are excited about the prospects of 2012! Happy New Year!

Georgia And The Pre-School Christmas Program

2011-12-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

My opinion is biased. I believe that my daughter has such a sweet prettiness. I love her hair, her eyes, her little lips, and the way that she has two small dimples that show up when she gives a certain smile. I am grateful for that innocent beauty in my life.

Today was Georgia's pre school program. It is always an eventful full of the unexpected. Today there was lots of yelling out by the children to their parents. You learn a lot from those little outbursts. I believe one family's new pregnancy was outed today. Oops! So cute.

Georgia was once again, not trying to steal the spotlight. It is just not her nature. That is okay. That is good for her. She did a good job, and you could tell when she really liked a song because you could actually hear her a bit. It is fun to watch her with her friends. That is where her true personality comes through. Not in the performing, but in the interacting with the people around her.

She came home from school the other day with some of the reindeer food that children are given every year. Oatmeal with glitter mixed in. She told me that when you spread it around Santa's reindeer will come and eat it.
She opened the bag in the family room, dumped the shimmery mixture out, glanced around, looked up at me and said, "It didn't work!" She had a lot of vacuuming to do after that.

There was no hesitation when it was Georgia's turn to tell everyone what she wants for Christmas. And Easy Bake Oven!!! Oh boy, it sounds like such a mess maker!

Walker was a good little audience member. He did not even scream when I wouldn't give him the video camera.

Georgia vacuuming up some glitter oatmeal that made it's way under the table. Walker is always close at hand when it comes to anything to do with the vacuum. He is keeper of the vacuum at our house. Pretty funny. The thing zonked out on me a few weeks back. It needed a new internal belt. And our house, with no vacuum in sight for over a week, NOT a pretty sight!!! I thought I was going to lose my mind. Yay for vacuums!

All Smiles!

2011-12-14T19:02:00.000-08:00

We got our shot for the family Christmas Card! It is always a relief when you get to the END of the photo shoot, and everyone has behaved reasonably well, and maybe even given a little smile here and there!

While we are the subject of smiles... have you ever whitened your teeth with those Crest Whitening strips, and left them on too long?

Well I recently did that, and let me tell you... Eeowww! My teeth hurt so bad I could barley breathe because the air made pain shoot through my mouth, and I finally had to take a pain pill and go to bed! Lips pursed. Pretty pathetic wouldn't you say? When they say that beauty hurts, they aren't kidding!

And I did not even feel like my teeth were glowing white for all the pain involved.
I would love to have that perfectly straight, white gleaming smile.

So my next question is... what are your thoughts about braces? I have felt that as I have gotten older, my teeth have shifted a bit. Especially on the bottom, and I have never had braces, so there is definitely room for improvement all around. I went and spoke to an orthodontist about it, and he talked about the pros and cons of Invisalign.
I think it is an amazing product, but I almost wonder if it is worth it to just go ahead and get the traditional braces because you don't have to wear them as long, and as miserable as they look, you can just get it over with and move on with your life. I don't know.

Thoughts, opinions, words of wisdom from those who have had braces as an adult?

Okay back to the pictures! Photography by Ingrid Karolewski.

Oh, and our Christmas card was designed by the very talented Aarean from La Ditta Design.

The kiddos.

Baby It's Cold Outside

2011-12-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

(Our Christmas tree, which is redecorated about four times a day.)
It is most definitely Winter around here. It is completely dark by 4:30. That makes for some long days for the kids. They are already missing their time to run around outside after school. I hear the door open and close repeatedly every day as they decided to try to brave the cold and play out in the yard for a while. But it opens again not long after when they realize it is cold, gray, and none of their friends are out to play. We need to come up with some good inside activity.
I find the hours of 3:00 to 6:00 to be a challenge. Everyone is home from school. Now it is dark and cold. Walker is up from his nap, ready to terrorize the house, the boys have after school activities and homework, Georgia is always tired by that time because getting her to take a nap has become a battle. I need to make dinner, and I like to attempt to get the house straightened up for when Del gets home. And if there is a trip to the church for activities it is just one more thing. I also like to be able to take a couple of minutes to ask Del about his day if he manages to get home some time within this hour block. This usually gets moved to much later at night, when we can finally have a conversation.
Not to mention I am usually pretty worn out by this point in the day because I have been going for twelve hours straight by 6:00.

So... it is a jungle in here! It is a busy time of day, when everyone needs my attention.

I must say however, that my evenings are full of people and rituals that I do love in my heart of hearts. What would my home be without all of this frantic activity? And oh how grateful I am to have a warm, snug house to spend these cold days in with my family!

We make do. And I will admit that making do sometimes involves the Wii and a nice round of "Big Game Hunter" played by the one and only, Wally.

Georgia BEGS Wally to play this game.

All the kids, but Georgia especially, are fascinated watching Wally in action on the hunt for big game. They don't even request a turn to play themselves. They are totally content just watching.
Wally told my parents that Georgia loves it when he takes the deer out with a bullet right to the heart!

Georgia chimed in with a big, "YUP!"

No diamonds for this girl, just a big buck with a shot to the heart. That is sure to draw a fine fellow.

(Georgia, on her new bike back during warmer months.)
We have manage to find a few things to entertain ourselves through the dark Winter, and then head to bed early. Kind of depressing.

Will is up to some shenanigan or another quit often. Tonight he requested I take his picture with an orange slice in his mouth. He was very proud.

Then it was Walkers turn with his most favorite thing to put in his mouth. His "Mowl" Walker cannot make the "b" sound unless he is saying "boo!" Everything else comes out with an "m" sound. So "bye, bye," is "My, My," and so on. It is pretty cute.

We had a whirlwind of activity getting out the door for church this morning. We had to be there an hour early for Del to have a meeting, and so I could practice singing in church. As Del tried to get the kids to gather up tithing money Georgia had a breakdown. She did not want to give her money away.

Del tried explaining the giving the Lord ten percent concept, but it was not going over well with this girl. I guess she does not have a testimony of tithing yet at age four. It is a process, right?

I was a little surprised she was so attached to the money. But she is funny when it comes to cash. When Wally got upset because someone had raided his stash of money, he tracked the culprit down, and of course it was Georgia. He informed her she had better stick to her own piggy bank, and not disrupt his.

She came back with " Well, I don't have any money because I don't like to do my jobs. So I have to steal yours."
Great! At this rate, it looks like Georgia will be serving twenty to life, or hanging out in a park with a sign protesting the greedy fat cats!

(Wally and the last backyard campfire of the year, this past Fall.)

So anyway... we made it out the door on time, but not before Wally told me while putting his church clothes on,
"Mom, the thing I want the most is to not wear a tie. But you always want me to look SHARP!"

Wow! Mom's are mean! But I must say, Wally does look sharp in a tie!

Christmas Season Opening Weekend

2011-12-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Del held the Patient's Choice Chicago area party this weekend. Ginny from the office put everything together for the party. We all went to Dave and Busters. Del and I are not the biggest video game fans, but I am always up for a little skee ball. And you can't pull Del away from the free throw basketball games. It is always nice to see people that work for Del, and meet the new comers. I don't get down to the office very much.
Okay, I pretty much NEVER get down to the office. So it is nice to put a face to a name. Del has some very nice, very generous employees, and associates. They always come up with a great gift for Del. He told everyone that he does not have a party so that he can get a present from them, so next year, they don't need to do so much!
We are overwhelmed with the kindness, and thoughtfulness of the employees, and those that Del works with! Thank you!

A serious race was underway. I was awful at this game! If you could have earned extra points for driving your car off the highway and into the ocean, I would have been golden!

Okay. Now an explanation. The reason the party pictures are lacking is because most of them are just one big blur. I decided to leave my camera at home and just use my.....

Brand new iPhone! Yay!

Apparently, I have joined the land of the living! I finally got a smart phone!

Del surprised me big time on my birthday with a new iPhone, and a MacBook Pro! And I always tell him I hate surprises!

I guess it all depends on what it is!

So anyway, I am must have a very shaky hand, because most the photos I have taken with this thing are blurry. I hope I can improve my iPhone photo skills. Texting however, is oh so much easier!

I went downstairs to check on the kids while they were watching a movie this weekend, and found Georgia wearing this arch support cast that Del is supposed to wear at night.
She told me that her leg was broken, and she limped around the house in this thing for a couple of hours. It is almost as big as she is!
Every little scratch this girl gets is devastating! Let the drama begin!

Oh, and she has taken to calling me, and everyone else "dude." Lovely. When I give her an instruction, I get a grouchy two syllable "DU-ude!"
Four and a half is certainly bringing out the sass is this gal!

We filled in our extra time with attending a baptism, taking care of achey tummies, and enjoying the Christmas Devotional broadcast from our church leaders on Sunday night.

It was so nice. If you would like to listen to it, and see the video they showed portraying the early life of Christ. Please visit

www.lds.org, here

It is at the top of the home page with a link to watch or listen to both the devotional, and the Bible story video shown during the broadcast.

It is worth the time, I promise!

Dance

2011-11-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

Georgia's dance class had a parent's day a couple of weeks ago. We went and observed her class time and all the things that these ballerinas are learning.

We mainly observed that when we are present, Georgia is very timid about putting on a show. You would think she would be completely comfortable showing us her new skills.

Instead, she does a lot of pretending she desperately needs to itch an imaginary misquito bite, or tug on an irritating sock, while all of the other girls do the performance.

Oh well, maybe she has not grown into her showmanship just yet.

Or maybe it is that she is a lot like her mom, and her talent does not lie in the acting that is required for a good dance performance. She does love to go to class though!

Either way... she looked adorable!

Walker's Birthday Party! A Real Hoot!

2011-11-22T18:18:00.000-08:00

We had an owl themed birthday party for Walker.

Even when you are trying to keep things pretty simple with planning a party, it seems to get overwhelming, so I went with the cliche hanging poofs, and threw a quick banner together. Our house seems to be shrinking by the minute these days, so we kept the guest list to the little ones Walker attends nursery with at church, and their families.
The older kids were on pins and needles all week with excitement over the upcoming party. We always have a nice time with our dear friends!

The invite. I used a pre designed Christmas card I found online, and switched out all the Holiday greetings.

The birthday boy!

The cake. My friend Jane from church did the cake for us. She is so talented. I loved the tree with the little owl sitting in the branches. So sweet!

It was a typical dreary Chicago day. So the light was hit and miss.

I gathered ideas I had seen on other blogs. I thought the veggie cup idea from this blog was go cute. We also had cut up apples and oranges, popcorn, and drinks to snack on while we waited for our pizza from a tiny local pizzeria to arrive. All Walker's favorites.

We sent guests home with a home ground whole wheat, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Another Walker favorite.

We set up a little age appropriate sensory activity table, geared toward toddlers. They could sift through beans, color an owl sheet, and make bead necklaces on pipe cleaner. Love pipe cleaner. The beads stay put after they get them strung on, rather than spilling onto the floor.

Yes, I was worried someone would put a bean up their nose. But we lucked out, and that did not happen!

Owl shaped crayons. So cute. And they last forever!

The pinata was a hit. Literally! It held up pretty well, until Georgia took over! We only got a couple of swings in after that.

I really didn't want there to be too much candy involved. But it ended up being more than I thought it would! I used mostly toys in our pinata.

You can clearly see on Walker's face that he has already enjoyed a Tootsie Roll.

We had a hoot of a time! We love you Walker. You are suddenly such a big boy!

Thanks to all that came to celebrate with us!!

Look Who Is 2!!

2011-11-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Our Walker boy is a officially a two year old today. Amazing how life is flying by! Two years ago, I spent the day miserable, and Walker finally decided to stop teasing us, and really be born late that night.

We all love this little guy so much. It is so much fun to watch the older kids enjoy every minute of his silly antics. They tell anyone who will listen the latest trick Walker has done.

Walker is full of life and energy. He has always known what he wanted, and what he didn't want. He has a strong will, and a funny personality. He is our little jokester. Walker has always hated the car, and even now we spend the majority of any car ride with him listening to him scream.

Walker loves to keep up with the big kids, and does a pretty good job at it. He has always been very attentive. He does not miss a thing. I can never sneak eating anything around him. He calls me on it, and wants me to share. He is especially in love with chocolate lately. Before Halloween the only chocolate he had eaten was chocolate chips. Now he knows what the good stuff is, and he is not going to let anyone get away with not sharing.

Walker was born with the cord wrapped around his neck a few times. It was kind of scary during labor, but he perked right up and wanted to eat. The most amazing thing was that Del said something when the room was completely quiet right after he was born, and Walker immediately opened his eyes and lifted his head to see where the voice was coming from. We should have known we were in for a wild ride right then!

Happy Birthday Walkie!!

Mouse Mobile

2011-11-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Nature,

Take a HIKE!!!

There are days when I have had it with Mother Nature. Sure, I am apperceive of all of God's beautiful creations. But the wonder ends when the not so beautiful starts to get personal.

And having a mouse

IN MY CAR,

is about as personal as it gets.

I noticed the tell-tale signs that I had an issue. And they were none too pretty. One of Walker's bottles had the nipple chewed off. There were droppings on the floor. I noticed a smell.

And I went crazy.

I ripped the car apart. I searched for that little idiot high and low. I washed or threw away everything that had been in the car. I scrubbed the carpet, polished the leather, turned the thing inside out.

All of this done in total disgust, and... no mouse!

I thought wow, maybe he left!

But just to be safe, we set a trap in the car. And sure enough, we caught him. Apparently, he didn't leave, but I have no idea where he was hiding. Del took care of him, I did all that cleaning once more, and all was well. I thought.

Then I went ahead and scheduled to have the car taken in for a tune-up, because it was due, and I thought it couldn't hurt to have someone check around all the nooks and crannies in the engine for a left behind mouse nest.

Clean bill of health for the car. They did find some more droppings under a seat, but that was all.

Next up, a car detail. We drove it straight from the mechanic shop to the car wash. The SUV spa day was under way! They shampooed, wiped, cleaned with Q-tips, and made the thing shine! We set a few more traps while it was at the car wash, just in case, and then had them set off a chlorine bomb inside the car to kill any smells, or anything else still alive inside. (Nightmares!)

I was a bit at the end of my rope by now. I had been without my car for several days, had spent way too much time cleaning it, and just the thought of something crawling around in there was keeping me on edge.

I got my car back with the strong scent of a chlorine bomb, which I was told would fade, and carried on with life.

Then one fateful Friday, about four days later, I ran out the door to go pick Georgia up from school.

I opened the door to put Walker in his seat,

and a mouse jumped up out of it toward me!

Now you may insert any imagery you have in your head of a person going ballistic.

I screamed, slammed the door, cried, shuddered, shook, screamed again, and again, and ran into the house.

I called Del and told him that I was going to set it on fire, drive it off a cliff, (if I ever dared get back in,) drive it to a bad Chicago neighborhood and walk away with the keys inserted in the ignition and car running...

Please, go for a really good, long, joy ride bad guy!!

Anything! I was desperate, and tired of being disgusted. We had spent a lot of time and hundreds of dollars to get rid of this mouse and it's friends, and now, it was sitting in plain sight.

I was really worried because I had to be at Georgia's school NOW!

I told Del (while crying) that I was going to be brave, and just have to bear it, and drive to get her, mouse and all. So I went back to the car and opened the door, and the mouse jumped up at me AGAIN!! And just sat there starring at my like,

"Don't you get it lady, this is my car now."

And now I officially know what it is to have a panic attack. I could not breathe. My heart was pounding, I was absolutely terrified to get within three feet of that car. I wanted to hide underneath something.

I called all the friends that I could think of that live nearby. And no kidding, every one of them was in a doctors appointment. They probably thought I needed to see one too, because I was less than calm on the phone. Next, I ran around my neighborhood knocking on doors to see if anyone could drive me. No one was home!

I called Georgia's school and then stood on the side walk in front of my house and sobbed.

Then one of my neighbors pulled up. He is retired, and he is very kind.

He looked at me like I was acting strange. Ya think?

I walked over and between sobs, asked him to drive me to pick up Georgia. So Walker, Earl, Earl's massive black lab, and I loaded up in his car and started off.

I put Walker in a booster seat I had in the garage. When Earl asked me if he was big enough for that, I kind of melted down again, telling him I could not, would not, open that door again, or put Walker in that seat! That ended that line of questioning.

Walker rode in the back with the snout of a black lab one inch from his face.

Halfway there, one of my friends called back and said she was now pulling into the parking lot at Georgia's school, so just go back home, and she would bring her to me.

When we got back, I ashamedly asked Earl to back my car out of the garage. I could not go anywhere near it. But I did not feel as dumb when Earl, who is Mr. Outdoors himself, did a thorough search before getting in, to make sure the mouse would not jump on him.

I called an exterminator to see if he could help me. But he was the opposite of helpful when he told me that he could not do anything, but I better find a solution, because each mouse could have five pups, and they could have five pups, and the cycle goes on.

I did pretty well not losing it on the phone.

I worked up my courage about an hour later, slathered some peanut butter on a trap and tossed it in. By the time Del got home, the mouse was on the trap. Del and the kids took care of it. Wally even recorded the mouse's last few minutes on the drive to get rid of him on the flip video, and it is pretty hilarious. I would post it, but I don't want PETA after me for not relocating the mouse with a fully furnished pad waiting for him.

Del took the car and cleaned it all over again for me. We bought new car seats and mats. I was drained from acting like such a wimp. I did not know that I have such a fear of mice.

This is after a year of fun however. Grubs in the grass, a box elder bug infestation that came to it's peak while we were in Costa Rica and my sister and Aunt were here, a fruit fly swarm that had me up late at night using a fly swatter, and every home remedy known to man, salamanders in the window wells, a dead mouse in the window well, hornet's nests galore... it goes on and on.

I am happy to report that my poor car has been mouse free for quit awhile now. But I am still cautious, I triple check to make sure there is nothing waiting for me when I open the door. The chlorine smell finally faded.

My mom did suggest that I get one of those family character decals for the back of my car with our family of six, and five little mice next to us. Or I guess we could just go with the "Babies On Board" bumper sticker.

I think I will hold off for a bit before I make the decal purchase, because if another mouse takes a liking to my car, I don't know that I will drive it again in this lifetime.

Nature and I just need to come to an understanding.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

We are getting Medieval around here this Halloween. We have a princess, and two nights in shining armor to protect her from the wild little dragon!

The kids have had a count down to Halloween this year. The excitement level is off the charts! We had our Trunk or Treat at church on Saturday night, and with all the candy that has been consumed since, I cannot believe we still have the actual Trick or Treat event still to go! The boys have a plan all cooked up to make the most of it. We will see what they have in store for Del as he takes them around the neighborhood!

That is one fearsome dragon!

Del and I did not join in on the theme our kids had going. We instead decided to embrace our true personalities. A witch and a clown. Del even won an award for his costume at the Trunk or Treat.

Walker did not understand the purpose of the bucket. He wanted to hold each piece of candy he got in his hands.

Walker and Grace. They are friends.

Georgia at the donut eating contest. Donut on a rope.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Eater

2011-10-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

We made the must do trip to the Pumpkin stand this Fall. I was not sure it was going to happen, but I am glad to say we made it work.

I like to stop at this stand in the Summer and buy fruit and veggies. It is nice that it is so close to our house, and they had everything for a Fall farm fest out back. Corn maze, spook house, hay stack, petting zoo, you name it. All The kids were in love. I think they have fun activities at Christmas too, so we will have to check that out this year.
If you have not seen enough pumpkin patch pictures on blogs this year... this will kill you off.
Here they are. For posterity.

Getting started!

You just haven't gotten the whole farm experience, unless you leave with a dirty bum bum.

Will is losing teeth left and right. He looks like a different person! In a desperate attempt to add money to his bank, he had me yanking on a tooth that was not quit ready to come out. I now do a wiggle screening before I starting pulling.

All Del has to say is, "Georgia, do the laugh." And she giggles hysterically!

Now let's see if I manage to follow through on letting the kids carve them?

Talent Show

2011-10-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Our kids participated in the Primary Talent Show at church a couple of weeks back.
Will and Georgia showed off some of their gymnastics warm-ups, and Wally demonstrated his animal calls.
It was pretty funny. Georgia and Will both had stage fright so bad, they could hardly remember anything in their little routine. The froze.

And their music was a little off cue when it started, so I think they were a little thrown. I love Georgia's "deer in the headlights look" as she wanders around on stage before her handstand.

I finally just signaled to cut the music. They did a good job though. And it was cute.

Will told me afterward that when I helped him do his handstand I made him show his "private parts" because his shirt came up! Ha!

Wally came up with the animal call idea all by himself, and even listened to the calls he was not sure of online that week to give himself a refresher course. A very individual and unique talent. Very fitting for my one of a kind Wally boy!

You can hear Walker screaming in the background as one of the young women helped me with him because Del was out of town. He is just showing off what he does best too! Just kidding! I love these kiddos!

Excuse the church lighting that makes us all look like we have jaundice. Not good.

Let's hope these videos work! It find frustrating to upload to blogger!

Disney World 2011

2011-10-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

We took a family vacation to Disney World this month. We spent five exhausting days exploring four different parks with four kids, two strollers, and at times... eight ponchos. Yup. It rained. Especially the last day we were there. And I mean, rained with no let-up. Not even for a minute. But... we still managed to fit in everything we wanted to do, and have fun!

We started out by taking a late flight to Orlando, having a potential emergency at the airport when Georgia and her backpack got sucked up an escalator, (so scary,) riding a shuttle bus to Disney's Grand Floridian, and not getting our kids in bed until 1:30 in the morning. We managed to head out for the parks a little after 10:00 the next morning.

First, the hotel. It was very pretty. We were glad that we were able to stay there. The kids had fun swimming in the pool, sitting in the hot tub in the rain, dancing to the live band and piano music, and watching Disney cartoons in the areas they were set up in the lobby.

The kids loved walking along the boat dock that was just outside our room, and because the Grand Floridian is just across the lake from the Magic Kingdom, we had an excellent view of the fireworks at night.

It was also very nice that the monorail runs right through the Grand Floridian. We were able to hop right on without even folding up our strollers to get to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

The hotel from the monorail car.

Epcot.

We were all pretty tired the day we did Epcot. We did love the rides that we went on, all the kids LOVED Sorin', and Wally loves anything big, fast, and with a good drop off, but the kids were not big fans of World Showcase. It is actually really neat. But, we heard, and saw more than just our kids whining about walking through it. So, I was glad we did Epcot the first day. Just to see it, and move on. Epcot also inspired us to use two strollers, as much as that sounds like a nightmare. But when three of the four of our kids were requesting rides at the same time, it was worth the hassle.

Look, we are in Paris!

And in the U.K. we saw Mary Popcorn (Georgia's interpretation of Mary Popins.)

Magic Kingdom

We hit the Magic Kingdom bright and early the next day.

I kind of tricked Will into going on Big Thunder Mountain. He tends to be cautious, and most of the time, that means he misses out. So I told Wally, Will, and Georgia we were going on a train ride. By the time the lap bar was pulled down, Will had figured out that this was going to be more than just a leisurely train ride. He turned around in his seat to face me with a worried expression, and said, "Mom?!!"

I told him not to worry about it, and when he is scared to just scream, meaning when we were going fast, or downhill. Will promptly turned back around in his seat, and began screaming before we had even finished pulling out of the station. So funny!

Georgia on the other hand. Could not get enough. The bigger, badder, faster, and scarier the ride, the more she loved it! She was a huge fan of Splash Mountain!

Even Will went on this ride again when Del and I did the baby swap pass, so I guess my trick was worth it.

Oh, how I love Wally's face in this picture!

I really tried not to be too big of a meanie, and we bought our kids treats. Here you can see the lovely. white flour, whip cream topped, Mickey shaped waffles with strawberries we bought.

And here, you can see that my kids ate every single strawberry off of the top of that waffle, and would not touch the rest. Even though I cut it up for them. But, they moved on to the strawberries on the next one. I think we were all more than sick of the food by the end.

Walker was an unpredictable mess basically the whole time. One minute he loved it, the next, he hated it all. That was to be expected, because he is kind of like that all the time. He is just a handful. But he was a huge fan of all the rides he could go on.

Just not the line you had to wait in to get to them!! So much fun for mom and dad! He would scream "Wide, Wide!!!" (Ride) REALLY loud and angrily, and try to run between people's legs to get to them.

Del is good at coming up with games for the kids in long lines. Like this one, when Small World broke down about five times after advertising a three minute line.

"How Many Seconds Can You Hold Yourself Up On A Railing?" was a hit!

The line was worth it, because Georgia loved Small World so much, she could have eaten it up!

Magic Kingdom is my favorite park, but it felt the most crowded by far. The crowds feel thicker at Disney World, than at Disney Land. We were able to get on everything we wanted to however, so maybe it is just a space issue.

Animal Kingdom

The rain started at Animal Kingdom, but luckily, we were in the Nemo show for a lot of the storm that passed over. Unfortunately, our jackets, hats, and blankets were not, and we lugged around a big wet mess of clothes the rest of the day. But Nemo was very cute.

We went on a safari!

Walker, yelling "dog!" at every animal we saw.

The kids said, "Take a picture of the bamboo, Mom." So here ya go!

We practiced our drumming skills.

Wally could not get enough of Expedition Everest, and rode it three times in a row. It was cute. Look out for the yeti! And yes, I did a lot of screaming.

Georgia cried because she was not tall enough, and Will ran the other way!

Everyone love Dinoland. Especially when dad started winning stuffed animals!

After the dinosaur ride, Georgia and Will had to play dinosaur for a while. Notice the fingers... those are dinosaur hands. That is the give away as to what they are pretending.

We got pretty wet at Animal Kingdom, but little did we know that it was NOTHING compared to the rain we would have at Hollywood Studios the next day.

Hollywood Studios

At first Walker refused to wear a poncho. Then, I think he realized just how wet he was getting. Then, it didn't matter, because we had been in the pouring rain for so long, there was no chance of escaping being drenched. We were glad we at least got a few days of good weather in. And, we did manage to see pretty much everything we wanted to, even in the rain.

Georgia and I were terrified of The Tower of Terror. But that did not stop her from going on it...twice!

There are a lot of shows to see at Hollywood Studios. A nice break from the rain.

We woke up at about 3:30 the next morning to catch our early flight home. So we said goodbye to Mickey for now.

I am so glad we were able to take our kids to Disney World and make those memories together. Thank you Del, for the trip, for your help, and your hard work!

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ah, swimming lessons. My kids live for them. They love playing in the water. We switched to private lessons this year with a new instructor, Nancy. She is amazing.

REALLY amazing!

Wally is actually willing to turn his head in the water to take a breath. (Ear sensory issues. Getting that guy to do anything that triggers a sensory sensitivity is not easy.)

Will is happily diving to the bottom of the pool and swimming to the side with his head under water. Before lessons he would not even let go of the wall.

And Georgia is willing to jump in, be completely submerged to reach for rings, and float on her back.

We love it. So worth it!
I don't have any pictures of the boys. I got in trouble for taking this one. Apparently there are people in the witness protection program that swim at the health club, so they don't allow photography.

Just kidding. I don't know exactly why they don't allow it, but I am sure it is something along those lines.

Sisters

2011-09-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have three really amazing sisters. Beautiful too, as you can see.

Emily, just to my right in the photo, always seems to somehow be aware of what other people need. She has so many people in her life that love her. Because to know her, is to love her. She is a fabulous mom, and wife. She works hard. Very hard. She has always been a great achiever. She defines what is means to be charitable. She is loyal, and a great example to me.

Shelley, next to Em, is sensitive, and kind. If you ever need someone to stick up for you, or for what is right, Shelley is your gal. She is patient, and a hard worker. She is willing to do what it takes for her family. She is a loving, and attentive mom. She thinks of others, and serves them. She is talented, and...always looks cute!

Lauren, the last one in the picture, and in birth order. Lauren is fun. She is always willing to drop everything and help. She is kind, and finds the best in tough situations. She is a good at balancing all that is thrown at her in life. She is a wonderful mom. Lauren is understanding, and forgiving. She is also a very hard worker. We have a theme here. Pretty sure my sisters got that trait from my mom and dad. Who set the bar in hard work.
And she is brave. She does hard things.

But so do all of my sisters. They all make hard things work out. They do what it takes to be happy, and try to help others be happy. I love them. When I got this picture from our family photo session this past Summer, it hit me that when it comes to sisters, I could not have been any more blessed. Three built in friends. I love you all!

How I Spent My Summer Vaction

2011-09-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

The weather has taken a cold turn here. So we have pulled out the long pajamas. I love Walker in these jammies. They remind me of his layette days. I love to keep my babies in layette clothing for as long as I can. They just fit into my arms so much more comfortably that way. And they are just so sweet.

A few months back I wrote a couple of posts that prompted some helpful comments from my friends out there.

I thought I would give you a little update about the complaint file I had going. I will say that I hesitate to write anything that seems like advice, because I don't claim to be an expert on anything. But I will say a few things about what I have learned.

Being a mom takes a lot of mental and physical work. We all know this. It is sometimes draining. I felt myself becoming a little too drained. I could not keep up with my house, my kids, my exercise routine, my church assignments, my meal preparation, my spiritual growth, and my need for a good attitude.

So I did a bit of a self evaluation. And there were some hard cold facts that needed to be faced. I was tired, so I needed to do what I could to change that. I was neglecting my scripture study. And when I really looked hard, I had to admit that I was giving in to an entitled attitude toward life. And entitlement is a dangerous place to be.

Why should it be easy?

That does not help me challenge myself and become a better person. There is no one that should be doing this work for me. It is my job. And in truth, it is my privilege. And my Heavenly Father's plan for me.

So I used this Summer to straighten a few things out. I will never claim that I have all the answers, or that I have any kind of routine down perfectly.

I am not the type to do anything to an extreme.

But if I do everything a little more than I used to, and some things a lot more, I know it will eventually all even out.

Soda Pop:
So now I will tell you about a bad habit I had fallen into. I did not grow up in a home where there was soda pop available to me on any kind of regular basis. So for the most part I have lived my life indifferent to it. I do enjoy it however. I love the taste of a nice cold Coke. The real stuff, no nasty Diet for me. Especially after what I have learned about Aspartame.
But I had started drinking soda pop more than I had at any point before. Not even every day. But enough that I actually took notice of the habit.
And, as I mentioned in one of my complaining posts previously, I was having dizzy spells. A lot. It was interfering with my ability to keep up with the demands in my life. I was forgetful and having what felt like shortness of breath.
So when a friend from church mentioned that he had not had any carbonation for six months, and he was shooting for a year, I decided to take up the same challenge. I am happy to report that I have not had any carbonation for five months now.
And it is looking like an indefinite time line is attached to this lifestyle choice, because my dizzy spells are gone!
I don't want to say that was the only thing that has helped, but I know that it certainly has not hurt.
Some can drink pop, and not have the side effects I was. But my body can't handle it.
I now don't even miss lemonade. Which is what I went to after I dropped the Coke, when I wanted a treat. I am good with water, or my green smoothies. Which I admit, some days I love, and some days I choke down. But the energy boost is amazing from a little banana, spinach, celery, or cabbage!

Housekeeping:
I also wanted to touch on the housekeeping aspects of my complaint file. The comments from friends were so helpful. First, because I backed off of myself a little. My kids are ALL over the place. My brood requires quit a bit of constant supervision.So, naturally our home is going to take a bit of a beating. And I am blessed to have energetic, imaginative, healthy, children.

I have tried to view all of this a little differently. What would my house be without the family that lives in it? Really empty. Really unimportant.

So I am working on viewing the messes with the attitude that it is all getting us to a point. A destination, as a close family. As a family that is learning, and spending time together. And some days, the mess is part of the journey.
I read a hilarious quote somewhere that I loved,
"We can't both look good at the same time. It is either me or the house."

So true!
But, guess what? I still want my house to be clean!
So we started a little rewards program. A certain number of jobs completed means a trip to the dollar store. Add some more points to the list, and it is a trip to the movie theater. This was a great motivator for my kids, and they now know how to clean a toilet lid and seat, and the bathroom counter like nobody's business. That really lifted a burden from me.
I started making my own cleaner, with essential oils, vinegar, and water.
So I know they are not inhaling a gallon of blue cleaning detergent while they scrub.

Our basement has stayed tidier. If only slightly, but I will take what I can get. And my kids seem to be a little more in tune with the consequences of making a mess.
School started and threw a wrench in my plan a bit. But at least when I call out that certain jobs need to be done, everyone know HOW to complete the task. So now we need to get that train back on track. I do go to bed with a shiny sink however!
I actually did cancel my home cleaning service for the Summer. But I will confess now... this will not last!
Del has gotten even more tied up running Patient's Choice lately, and whenever his work load increases, it seems to put a little more strain on me to keep up at home. So I am planning to make the phone call to get my helpers back any day now. And I have also decided that I refuse to feel any kind of guilt, or inadequacy for using the help available to me. To each his own!

And for some "his own" is to call in reinforcements!

Spirituality:
Now my favorite part. My scripture study. Thank you so much to everyone you had tips for me on study guides!
I ordered a used institute manual off of Amazon, and dug in.
I also pulled out my notes from a Young Women leadership training I attended at the start of the year, given by Sister Gibb. She talked about being 100% in your day. Read your scriptures. It does not matter for how long. Say your prayers, and Smile!
I decided to do it. I have felt my love for the scriptures increase beyond measure. I understand so much more who these people are, and have found the ability to liken what they wrote to my life, and the world I live in now. I have seen how taking time to really see those around me and what they struggle with has lifted my burdens. I have read about how the men in the scriptures prayed for their neighbor, served their God, gave their lives, and did things that are much more difficult than anything I will ever do.
I have had an increase in my understanding. I have felt the love of the Lord more fully in my life. I have a long way to go. The scriptorian goal feels a little out of reach most days, but I can read a chapter. That is in my power.
I have experienced the truth that I have heard that the scriptures will make room in my mind for even more knowledge. Some of it Gospel related, and some of it secular.
Now I need to be better at the smiling thing. Baby steps.

Real Food:
And this leads me to my last area of concentration for the Summer.
Food.
Pretty simple?

While thinking about the needs of my kids, and myself, I stumbled upon a blog that completely changed my view on what we are eating. Then a friend lent me a book about the same subject and the ball started rolling.
To put it simply. My family can do better.

Thankfully, we have been eating only whole wheat bread and pastas, and brown rice for a few years now.

But now it is wheat I grind, rice I have soaked, veggies I know are organic, and pasta that is from organic grains. Whole foods.
Yes, I have turned into a real food lovin', farmers market shoppin' coconut oil usin', organic label buyin' grass fed beef eatin, Omega 3 egg crackin'---- freak!
No more margarine, 1% milk, soy products, or high fructose corn syrup in my house! If I can help it.
I am overwhelmed with how much there is to take in and change in my life. But we are making it baby step, by baby step. And I love it!

My kids have never been so regular! Ha!
Yes, I spend WAY more time in my kitchen. But, I am trying to be patient with it because there is a learning curve with everything. Luckily, I have been making dinner for my family all along, so it is just a matter of switching things out for healthier options. But there is still time involved. I have gone through and rid my pantry of our unhealthy past staples, and we have not eaten a box of cold cereal in months, except while traveling. I have not even attempted to do this when we are not at home.
I have become quit imaginative with school lunches. So if you want any ideas, or have any ideas to give me, let me know. He, he!

And yes, we do mess up. We eat out every so often, on weekends, (while we travel... forget about it.) my kids get snacks that I don't necessarily love, and I might enjoy them too.
I am still struggling with my addiction to sugar, and Del is trying not to roll his eyes at my enthusiasm about eating whole foods.
I still let my kids have the candy from the birthday party, and I still have a piece of Portillos eclair cake here and there. Life is about balance, but we needed to swing that scale back to the wholesome side of things a lot more. Overall, we have made some big changes.
But we are making changes that matter. And overall, those changes are making a difference. I love it! I love knowing we just might be getting the vitamins, enzymes, proteins, and pro-biotics we need, from our food.
I think I will update what I learn as I go here on my blog.
Though I am timid about doing it.
There are a lot of resources for information, and I have only scraped the surface. It is actually exciting, as nerdy as that may sound.

I am finally getting the tune-up I have desperately been in need of.
Many days I am still tired. Many days I still have a floor strewn with toys and laundry. Many days, I forget about important things. And many days I pass over the carrot for the cookie.
I am just so grateful to have friends, family and good examples around me to point me in the right direction. And hopefully stop my entitled attitude in it's tracks.

Makes me grateful for the time I have on this Earth. Learning little by little, and being corrected when I slip. Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Please understand, no soap box here, I just wanted to let everyone know it made a difference!

They Say It's Your Birthday

2011-09-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you!
Love ya, Del!
You have accomplished a lot in your 33 years.
I am so glad you are mine!

Aaannnd, She's Off!

2011-09-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

Off to school! Georgia finally started school! She has been dying to get back since her brothers have been heading out to the school bus every morning. She loves that Kid's Unlimited is her old stomping ground this year. She is no longer the new kid on the block, and she knows her way around the classroom like nobody's business. Because it was the first day, Walker and I got to go with her, and Georgia hit every single corner of the room. She has been dying for that much learning/play stimulation. She will be adding one hour to her preschool day this year. I am sure she will come home exhausted. It will be great for her!

I have a picture of Will, and Georgia at this water table on the first day of preschool. It is fun to see how much bigger they get year to year as they stand with their hands in the suds! Walker loved it so much, that he was stressing one of the teachers out a little with his enthusiasm. I felt bad that he was such a handful while everyone was getting familiar with their new school year surroundings. We spent some time in the hall crying. Walker, not me. This time.

As you can see, watching the water table drain during clean up time, was a major attraction.

Circle time.

Walker joined in circle time. The Metra commuter train into Chicago runs right next to Georgia's school. She saw it go by. Very exciting for everyone. Every day. Over and over. Every half hour during peak commuter time.
"A train! A train!" The teachers just say nicely, "Yes, there it goes again."

We are happy to see a new school year!

Why?

2011-09-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

This is about how my day with Walker goes.

Me: "Good morning Walker.
Walker: "No!"
Me: "Let's go get you some breakfast."
Walker: "Why?"

Me: "Walker! Get out of the road!"
Walker: "No!"
Me: "Right now!"
Walker: "WHY?!!"

Me: "Walker, stop digging through the garbage can."
Walker: "No!"
Me: " That is yucky."
Walker: "Why?"

When Del gets home, there is even more of this.
Del: "No! We don't hit people in the face!"
Walker: "Why?"

Me: "Ooooo, Walkie! I love you!
Walker: "Why?"
(Do you like Georgia's "Hello Kitty" bell on the Loony Toons tricycle?)

We also hear a lot of "What?" at our house. Usually said in a very impatient tone by Walker after we call his name. He really does add about two words every day, on average to his vocabulary. Del comes home every night and asks what Walker can say now. He loves to yell for different members of the family and ask, "Aarrrre yooouuuu?"

I heard him earlier this week pointing at the bathroom door and asking Georgia,
"Da-Ja! (Georgia) Momma indare (in there)?"

That is one of those moments when you can't help but grin from ear to ear.

We were close to accurate when we named him. We should have considered, Runner, Climber, Yeller, or Stinker (kidding).

As much as he keeps us on the go, we LOVE him so!

A Little Of This...

2011-08-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

A little of that.

Georgia loves to lick the bowl! In this case the from scratch corn bread batter.

I am minues two kids these days from 7 in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon. But when one of the two kids that are still with me on my day to day errands is Walker, there is bound to be a story.

This time we spred the crazy around during a shopping trip to Trader Joe's. I had big plans. I needed to double up on several iteams that we go through quickly during the week. So we got in line to have it all rung up, and hit the road before Walker reached his shopping limit.
Wouldn't you know that this would be the day I would forget my wallett!

I was embarrassed, and frazzled, and digging through my purse for any cash I may have had floating around in there. I of course I nowhere near the total amount due, but enough to make dent. So the cashier, and a manager started taking items off the bill. And while all of this was going on, Walker broke!

If you have never heard the mighty (and to be honest, mighty annoying) scream that this little boy can produce, then just imagine the loudest, most ear ringing scratch on a giant chalkboard you can, and you are getting close.

So there are Walker and Georgia having a brawl on the floor over one of the kid size shopping carts they have, with Walker doing his best version on his famous screaming, jumping up and down, tatrum.

And the manager of the store could not get the total figured out. He was frustrated, and could not think straight. And who could blame him? I tell Del all the time that Walker has a scream that could make a genious lose their smarts. It is true. The minute he starts, I completely lose my capacity to concentrate. And I am no genius, so it is pretty bad.

This moment of desperation called for setting aside my reservations about popping candy in my kid's mouths when they are naughty. I happily accepted the sucker the store offered me, and enjoyed the moment of silence while the manager still punched away at the register keys. Then Georgia started whining. Why didn't she get a sucker? Oh my!

And that is when we apparently reached the manager's limit to cope. Next thing I knew he was throwing all of the food into shopping bags, and saying,
"I can't figure it out. I made a mess of it. Just go!"

Me, " No! Wait! What? How much do I still owe you? No. Can I pay you back next time? Are you sure?"

He kept saying, yes, yes, he was sure, just GO!!

I mummled over and over about how embarrassed I was, and thank you so much, and I am so sorry, and quickly pushed my crying crew out the door. Much to the relief of the Trader Joe's employees.

And as I loaded my bags of free food in the car, a cloud of shame hung over me. I realized this was a payoff just to get me the heck out of there, to save someone's sanity. And that is a very humbling place to be.

But I am determined to come out of this raising kids thing with my dignity in tact. I will be heading back to Trader Joe's this week with plenty of cash, and a credit card, ready to pay them back. Weather they like it, (or me,) or not!

1 To 3

2011-08-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was back to school around here at the end of last week. This Summer flew by!

Will is in the 1st grade, and Wally is off to 3rd grade.

Georgia is lost without her older brothers. She will start school in a couple of weeks, and then Walker will REALLY be lost.

We have the brand new, not a scuff mark shoes, the crisp, clean, new backpacks, and the $6000.00 dollars worth of school supplies we are given a list of instructions on buying!

Seriously, it was out of control this year. Four boxes of 24 count crayons, seven folders, four spiral notebooks, three boxes of four count glue sticks, three boxes of large tissues, and on and on, and that was just for Wally!

We are ready!

It has been nice to get back into a routine. Even if that means waking up at 6:00 again, making a nice big breakfast, packing lunches, and doing the never ending hunt for the boys' shoes. Every morning.

The boys love that they ride on the same bus this year, and Mom is a fan too. It has been nice to go to the health club with only two kids, and get caught up on some of the areas of the house that were neglected this Summer. And it has only been three days! Hopefully it will be a productive Fall! The boys teachers seem really put together and experienced, and we are excited!

Lake Ohatchee

2011-08-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

We hit the lake with the Tyson family this week.

You know you are in Wisconsin when you are boating on a lake called Ohatchee, or anything that sounds like it. Leslie is a trooper, she was out on a rocking boat full of little kids, and taking over the wheel half the time, and she is going in to have a her fourth baby on Monday, if not sooner. More of a woman than I am, I must say.

We had so much fun, and our kids defiantly have a love for boating. I grew up with a love for being dragged, pulled and flipped behind my parents boat, so I guess it is just in the genes.

And it just comes naturally to Wally apparently. Watch how this sequence went down.

Wally's first time in water skis.

A little pep talk.

HIT IT!!

Pull through!

He's cruising! Look at that form! He, he!

That's better. His facial expressions were cracking us up!

There is the confidence we know and love. One handed!

Over the wake!

And he is down! What a run!

We did not get home until late that night, and when we pulled Wally out of the car he woke up and said while half asleep,

" I didn't know that skiing was so fun!" I told him Grandpa will be so proud of him, and so are mom and dad!

Wally learned everything he know from the little this little pro... Sam.

The rest of the kids also had a blast. Del and I keep laughing at how this smile did not leave Georgia's face the entire time she was out on the tube.

Dad with the kiddos.

Walker didn't last long.

Jared and his kiddos. Oh, plus Georgia, because we couldn't get her off the tube.

Our boat host and hostess.

Gotta love those curls.

Start them young.

Surfing

Ella

The Tyson family

We love you guys!

Denver, Colorado

2011-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Rocky Mountain High!

We made a stop in Denver for a few days on our way home from Utah, again this year. Del had hired a new rep there, and wanted to do some interviews, and that is always good news because it means I will get to see my forever friend, Christy.

Bryce and Christy are so great, and open their cute home to our crew so warmly. It was fun to get to know their baby girl, Ivy this year, and I must admit that I am a fan of Denver, so it is nice to spend some time there. It is so beautiful... and the air is crisp.. the landscape is stunning, and the drive through the mountains is breathtaking every single time!

Christy and I like to just take care of the kids, catch up, and hang out. It is low key, and that is nice sometimes.

I recruited Wally to take a picture of me and Christy on a little shopping trip to the Castlerock Outlet Mall.

We got a good laugh out of it. Wally kept pointing the camera lens off to his right. So Christy and I would hunch down, and shuffle to our left, and when we would get centered, Wally would veer off to the side again. But we did manage to both make it into the picture.

A big time treat. A stop at the candy store.

Georiga and Walker loved Bryce and Christy's dog, Ruby. Maybe a little too much.
Briggs playing in the background.

We had a nice visit, and then we hit the road again for the long drive home. We were almost convinced by everyone we talked to on this trip that we need to move to Denver. I guess you never know!

We decided to follow my parents lead and stop at the Hilton in Omaha for the night. It was good to stay in a decent hotel, instead of the last minute roadside motels that you usually end up in on an I-80 road trip.
Especially when the hotel gives you a free upgrade. Yay!

Omaha at midnight from the car.

After many a windmill, and cornfield in Iowa, and an almost accident that spun the car in front of us off the road, we made it home safely! Back to the heat, humidity, and power outages! Real life, here we come! But it is good to be home.

Heber Valley

2011-08-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends, the Tyson's have a family cabin up in the mountains surrounding Heber Valley in Utah. They were kind enough to let us use it for a couple of nights while we were in town.

Our children were in love with the concept of being in the mountains. It makes Del and I kind of sad that something that we took for granted as always just being there in our childhood is such an anomaly to the kids.
We invited my family to come up one evening, and we went dinner at the Dairy Keen in Heber, and Del's family come up to stay for one night.

My favorite part of the whole trip was when Del and I took a group of the cousins, and all of our kids out for a walk right at dusk, to look for deer. They were so abundant in the trees, they could not help but run across the road right in front of us. That was a pretty, and peaceful walk. The moment of peace at sunset felt good.

Unfortunately, my camera died the first day we were there, and I had packed the wrong charger in the camera bag. So I did not get any pictures of Del's family's visit.

I spy with my little eye! Do you see what the kids see? A deer in the upper right hand side of the picture. Unafraid of the ruckus being made on the trampoline.

The Dairy Keen train. We really like the Heber Valley. So beautiful!

We took the kids out in the morning for a little hike. You would have thought we had taken them on a death march with all the complaints we got on the way back. They had been wild and crazy, climbing on everything, and running ahead, and on the way back, it was all uphill, and nothing seemed as wonderful. But, we made it, and it was nothing a little lunch didn't cure.

Thank you Tyson family! You have an amazing cabin, in an spot in the world!

Salt Lake City

2011-08-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

We are blessed that we are able to go back to Utah in the Summer and see all of our relatives. Our kids look forward to this trip all year, and there is always so much to do and many loved ones to see. We go until our energy runs out, then start again the next day. It makes great memories for our kids, and that is worth all the travel hours, and stresses, and fact that we always seem to get sick.

We decided to try to save ourselves some grief this trip back to visit family by having me fly with Walker, instead of make the long drive.
It did not quit work out that way, because as soon as we were strapped into our seat belts, Walker went bananas on the airplane. He screamed, he kicked, he growled at people with a glassy eyed glare, until finally, he collapsed in defeat, and slept. And the entire plane let out a sigh of relief. That was just setting the stage for the rest of the trip.
Chasing Walker, almost taking Walker in for stitches three times, and weeks of rocking Walker turning into wrestling matches. But we did survive, and Walker and I made the drive back home with the rest of the family.

Some of the fun included arts and crafts in grandma's backyard.

Good ol' Copperton Park with grandma, grandpa, and the cousins while dad backpacks in the mountains.

Going to the temple with Del's family to do sealings for family names. It was such a neat experience.

The Eccles Dinosaur park in Ogden.

Play time in the backyard.

Dog piles with the cousins.

Visits with Grandma and Grandpa Clark.

Lots of pestering cousin Owen to play ring around the rosies.

Breakfast with the family.

Complete with tickles from Uncle Randy.

I love Walker's look of interest in the tickle fest in the background of this picture. And sorry Dallin, you are kind of front and center in this picture.

After a week and a half spent in the Valley, we headed up to Heber to enjoy some cabin time in the mountains.

Park City

2011-08-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah for our Summer trip, Del and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary. We were lucky to have plenty of family around to farm our kids out to, so that we could do a one night getaway.

We stayed at the simply put.... AMAZING, Waldorf Astoria, Park City. I loved it. I loved the lobby, the cozy, but elegant ski feel, the decor, and of course the company of my husband. Who doesn't love Park City?
This is also where Del and I spent our Honeymoon.
It was a short and sweet Honeymoon. Fitting, as our time away from school, and the balance in our checkbook, were also short and sweet.

On this night away, we took it easy, going to dinner, renting a movie, and the next morning, after a breakfast of soft, steamy, buttery croissants, and house jam, we hit the Alpine Slide and Coaster. I had never had a chance to ride before, and it was fun! It was the perfect getaway. Almost too perfect, because I wanted to stay longer!

A few not very well thought out shots of Downtown Park City, and the surrounding area.

Let Vacuuming Babies Clean

2011-08-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Walker has a major obsession with the vacuum and the lawn mower.

He loves to investigate where all the vacuum tubes lead, push it around, and scream with delight as he runs right in front of it while I use it.

But he took things to a new level yesterday. He actually led me to the closet where the vacuum is kept, and jabbered and pointed until I pulled it out. I thought I may as well use it, and I unwound the cord. Then I got distracted. When I came back, Walker had it plugged in, but was upset that he could not get it to release, and recline, so he could push it around. So I did that for him.
The next thing I knew, he had it up and running, and vacuumed the entire main level of the house.

He was dead serious about this task. I could tell by the way his little tongue was sticking out in concentration. He barley noticed me taking pictures, he was so absorbed in the job.

Make sure you get under the furniture.

I have seen Walker push the vacuum around before, but what he did next had me doing a double take.
He gathered up the cord, and wound it up in his hand. A perfect coil. Now that is hand/eye coordination!

Then, he did what he has seen me do when I am being too lazy to wind the cord the right way, he tried to put the coil over the top of the handle.
It was hard work, and his coil fell apart.

Maybe if I get it even closer to the ground. Maybe not.

Then it was time to put the vacuum away.

Tongue still out.

Success! Just pretend the cord is not still dragging. It was a valiant effort. My goodness! I do hope this enthusiasm lasts! I could use a clean freak around here! What a good boy!

Artistic Eye

2011-07-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Once again, Wally has made quit the costume. This time he is some sort of sharp toothed creature. You give this guy a stack of paper, a box, a few sticks, or a roll of tape, and you never know what he will turn it into. Note the wing flaps on his back. And you can tell we went to the health club that day, because he still has his name tag on.

I love it!

The Taste

2011-07-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

Del had a couple of meetings with all of his Chicago reps last week, and his manager out of Georgia, Rullie, also flew in to be in the office to talk shop.

Noelle, Rullie's wife came in for a fun weekend in the city, and so Del and I got a room downtown to hang out, and go to the Taste of Chicago with them.

Everything worked out so smoothly because for one, we had some great sitters to leave our kids with. There is a newly married couple in our ward living with her parents for the Summer. So we have taken advantage. As have all my friends in the ward. Janice and Jonathan are great with the kids.

The second thing that went in our favor was that we got to stay at a cool hotel, with a view of Grant park and Michigan Ave because Noelle has the hook-ups.

We stayed at the historic Blackstone hotel, built in 1910 by the same architects that built The Drake hotel.
It is on the Chicago Historical Building Registry.

The one with the green roof.
I do have to say however, that although the rest of the hotel was aesthetically pleasing to me, I hated, with a capital H the furniture and rugs in the lobby. So sad, the building and rooms were great. And I noticed on the web site, they have all of those particular rugs and furniture cropped out of the photos. Hmmmm. Poor Del had to listen to me get on my soap box on how I would design that space. I know, I am such a snob.

Our view. Very cool.

We walked over to the Taste from our hotel. It was so fun that it was just down the street.
We met up with an old friend from high school that we have not seen in almost a decade. He was passing through town, and was there for the day on a stop over.
We caught up with Ben, and ate. Mostly Del and Rullie, as Ben and I both have our issues with food. Yeah, every party has a pooper, that's why the Taste invited us.

This is Ben. He looks just like I remember him. He said the same of us, but he was probably just being nice.

The eating.

Us in front of the Taste entrance.

Rullie and Noel.

Noelle and I were tired of the carni atmosphere after not too long. So we took a little break at the hotel before we headed to a late dinner, and met up with one of the wheelchair manufacturer reps and his date. We ate Tapas, (not topless) for dinner, at the noisiest restaurant I have ever been to. But I found a lovely chicken salad that I could eat after sweating it out that the waiter didn't understand how severe my allergy to nuts is.
Story of my life. And a story that I am sure Noelle and Rullie are sick of since we eat together a lot, and they have to listen to me explain it to the waiters every. where. we. go. I am sure they want to scream when they have to go out with me.

The next day we hit the street for some walking, shopping, eating, and as it turned out, frying. It was beyond hot, scorching. Even Noelle, who is used to the heat and humidity in Atlanta couldn't believe it.

A picture of us in the street in front of the hotel. It was a wind tunnel between the tall buildings, so my hair is a little unappealing.

We walked past the Bean, so we stopped for pictures. There are girls in the background of this pic with signs that said "Free Hugs." In that heat, the LAST thing in the world that sounded fun was hugging a sweaty stranger. Ew. Okay that is the last thing that sounds fun most of the time, even when it is not hot.

Then we were done with the heat, so we grabbed a taxi. We shopped and ate.

Rullie took these next two shots.

It was fun to get away, and fun to see our Hotlanta friends. It was also nice to get home from the city. I love the busy streets, interesting people, cool vibe... but sometimes I am happy with the slow, steady pace of the suburban corn fields I live in.
I heart Chicago.

Farmer's Market

2011-07-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

I must admit that we have not taken sufficient advantage of our local Farmer's Market. We have most certainly gone before, but not enough. I decided that we need to take advantage while the sun shines. Literally! We also need to be a little more conscious of what we are putting in our bodies. The Market is a good place to start.

We need to stock up on, and enjoy all of the wonderful things that the Earth provides. I am gone so much of our Summer every year, that I have not planted a garden. But I need to, I know.

In the meantime, I will enjoy living in the unique dynamic that I do.

A small town, in a big suburb, of a big city. We are surrounded by farms, and fields, yet a short drive takes us to the heart of things.

So we have a beautiful Farmer's Market, right in town.

If you want to know what colors REALLY exist in nature, take a look below.

We are loving our local honey sandwiches, homemade pico, grass fed beef, off the vine berries,and backyard chicken eggs!

Check out your Farmer's Market today!

Is your mouth watering yet?

Clark Family Reunion 2011/ Nauvoo

2011-07-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

Nauvoo, Illinois temple

Nauvoo is the sight of a once strong city, set on the Mississippi River. It was a spot of rest from religious persecution for those of the Mormon faith back in the 1800's, for only a few years. The persecution then became so bad, that the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred at Carthage jail, and the Saints were forced to leave behind their homes, a beautiful, newly built temple, and their way of life, and head West into the wilderness.

The members of the church in Nauvoo, rushed to finish a beautiful temple, and dedicate it to the Lord, before the violence got so great that they would have to leave. The temple sat abandoned, and then was burned by arsons, and knocked down by a tornado in the years after the Saints left the city.

The temple is now re-build, and open to do the work of the Lord. It is an amazing sight, sitting on a buff above the Mississippi River, facing West.

The Saints eventually made it to the Salt Lake Valley. It was a desolate, desert land when they arrived. They worked, and just like every other place they had inhabited previously, it bloomed, and became a beautiful, thriving city.

I have ancestors that walked from their abandoned homes in Nauvoo to Salt Lake City. It is a place that has a sacred feel. To have sacrificed what they did puts into perspective how I should use my time on this Earth.

I repeatedly felt an affirmation on this Nauvoo visit, that these people worked to establish a church that will roll forth throughout the Earth, and bring many souls back to their Father in Heaven. I was reassured, once again, what I already know to be true. That the priesthood of God is restored upon this Earth, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is guided through a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, who receives latter day revelation from the Lord, concerning his church, and us, his children.

Nauvoo, and Carthage Illinois are such a great stop to make if you are ever out this way. Member of our church, or not, it is a place that captures history, and tells a story that is often misunderstood, or unknown.

First, a picture of all the kids eating ice cream the night before our Nauvoo drive.

Yes, the grass really is THAT green!

Our first stop in Nauvoo was a family service project. We spread mulch under all the trees we could in two hours. We got quit a bit of it spread before our time was up. It was fun, and everyone pitched in. Even Walker!

It was fun!

The front of the John Taylor home.

The Sarah Granger Kimball home. One of my favorites.

Joseph and Emma Smith's Mansion House.

There is a cute little pioneer game area set up for children called "Pioneer Pastimes." Wally passed off one of his Cub Scout badges by trying the game using these walking sticks.

We had the chance for most of us to attend a temple session, we ate at the Hotel Nauvoo buffet, hit the bakery for some yummy bread and cookies, went on both the wagon and carriage rides, enjoyed the shows put on in the evenings, held a family talent show and Home Evening, and just had a really nice time seeing all that Nauvoo holds. Again, my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Scott were amazing in finding us comfortable accommodations.
Nauvoo has such a peaceful atmosphere.

Burial sight of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith.

Carthage Jail was the last stop of the Reunion.
This is a very special place. The sight of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. After spending two days in the jail, they were moved to the upper floor of the jail, into the jailer's own bedroom, because of mob violence brewing outside.
Those who had come to stay with Joseph during his unjust imprisonment, had dwindled down to just two men in addition to Hyrum, Joseph's brother. The rest of the men had gone away on errands.

The angry mob burst through the front door of the jail, and stormed up the stairs. The men, who were leaning against the door to keep it closed, were shot at through the wood. The bullet hole that killed Hyrum Smith still remains. Joseph Smith was shot, and fell through the window of the room to the ground below, landing next to the well in the picture below.

The men with him, John Taylor and Williard Richards did escape with their lives, after John Taylor was severely wounded.
Joseph's brother Samuel was also a victim of the violence that day. As he rode hard to escape the mobs, he was critically wounded, and died within the month.

The finality of Joseph's life is very stark when you consider all the he left behind. A pregnant wife, his children, the Church he had helped restore, and the many people who had accepted him, and the story of the Restoration.
But the work was not finalized on this spot. It has grown to cover the Earth. A strong testimony of his Gospel lies in the hearts of millions of people, and the sacrifice of these men is remembered and appreciated today, because of the change it has had on so many in this mortal life, and in the eternal realm.
While we do not worship Joseph Smith as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we do worship our Savior Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith was vital in restoring the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the Earth.

John Taylor said of Joseph Smith;

"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!"

D&C 135:3.

My immediate family.

Our extended family group

It was time to say goodbye to all the family, and make the drive back to the Chicago suburbs for us, and West, all the way to Utah for them. This was an experience we will not forget, and I am sure we will always wish we could duplicate! We loved it, and we love our family, and the excellent examples of all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, and parents in this photo. When it comes to great family, our cup runneth over!

Clark Family Reunion 2011/ Chicago

2011-06-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

We spent the entire past week with my mom's side of the family for our family reunion. And it was held, get this...

Here in Illinois!!

A once in a lifetime event to have so much of my family to come to the place I live!

I have one aunt and uncle that live outside of Utah on my Mom's side. And they just so happen to live about an hour and a half away. They are amazing, and they were our hosts. What a fantastic job they did!

My parents, and sister Emily and her family all drove out. They were able to come to our house first, and go to church with us. It was so much fun, and kind of surreal to have them all at my home! We did miss my sister's Shelley and Lauren and their families.

We spent the first couple of days here in the Chicago area, and then the whole group traveled to Nauvoo, Il.

We did the Chicago sights first. It was a packed couple of days, and for the most part our kids were troopers! I will have to split our Chicago and Nauvoo events into two posts. I as usual, went a little crazy with the photos.

After many a bathroom trip. (We did have 18 children ages 10 and under with us.) We hit the Chicago Bean.

Us. With my parents, Aunt, Uncle, cousins, neice and sister in the background.

We are blurry, but this is most of our group with the city skyline in the background.

Our kids were not happy with us because we would not let them go in the fountain. My children don't do well once wet. So, that was a no-go at the start of our day. The looks of dismay!

We went to Navy Pier for just a bit, then headed to Lincoln Park zoo. I really like this zoo. It is free, small enough to see the whole thing and not be too overwhelmed, and right in the heart of the city. Oh, and they have a carousel. Here is Georgia riding her panda.

And Walker on his, prairie dog? I am not sure. Not sure what Del is doing either.

Our kids loved the tigers. In fact, they loved them so much, that every so often, one of them would disappear while we rested on a bench. We would find them back at the tiger window. Really safe, I know!

There is a really pretty garden the zoo opens up into. We used this location for some of our professional family photos last year. We stopped again for pictures with the skyline. It ended up looking further away than in person. The kids used the opportunity to do some cartwheels and get a swing around by the ankles from the dads.

My Mom and Dad.

My sister Emily, her husband, Mike, and the kiddos, Hailey, Mallorey, Annie, and Jack.

My uncle was so great the entire day, and acted as our taxi cab. We would just call him up, and he would come to our location with a big 15 passenger van he had rented, and haul us to the next sight. He said he might just "give up lawyering" as he put it, and drive a rig! Yeah, I am betting not, but we shall see! Thanks Uncle Scott!

We ate deep dish pizza for dinner at Gino's East, and then went on a Wendella architectural river tour. It was VERY cool! I must admit that when I drive into a city, I don't look at the buildings and wonder what the story behind their being built is. But I will now! It was really interesting to learn the history of the buildings in Chicago. And there is no shortage of good architecture here! Just bring a jacket. Our tour went out onto Lake Michigan for about a half and hour, and it was windy. Great thing to do on your visit to Chicago!

My Dad, concentrating on the architecture.

It was in this building that Abraham Lincoln announced his candidacy for President of the United States. Cool, huh?

Any good tips for growing out bangs on a little girl who won't wear a clip in her hair?

My extended family, enjoying the views.

The next day, we took the kids to the American Girl store, and the Lego store. The lucky ducks, they all got to pick a toy. Georgia got her first American Girl doll. One of the mini dolls. She chose Kit.

Very exciting. The boys did not let their Bionicles out of their sights for the rest of the week.

After our American Girl stop, we decided to walk to the Chicago classic, Ed Debevic's for lunch. It had been so difficult finding parking that was tall enough to fit our cars, that we did not want to have to pull them out of the only garage that we found over 7 feet.

We all worked for our lunch by walking many blocks in the heat and humidity.

The kids had so much fun at Ed Debevic's. And we were all good sports about wearing our hats. Even though our waitress kept calling us all "weirdos," and poor Mike "princess."

(if you don't know Ed Debevic's, you don't know what I am talking about.)

We all enjoyed a "Worlds Smallest Sundae," and the kids were thrilled to keep their glass as a souvenir.

That night, at my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Scott's house, mother nature treated those unaccustomed to the midwest storms to a lovely tornado warning. We all went to hang out in the basement together. All forty of us. But one, by one, everyone was drawn back upstairs to watch the sky, and the weather reports. And for my Mom and my Aunt Jean, it was the thrill they wanted! To hear the sirens, and watch the sky turn green. So glad they were satisfied. Without being blown away that is.

We loaded up, and headed to Nauvoo the next morning. More fun to come!

Houndstooth

2011-06-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

It is a classic.

I have always gravitated toward the houndstooth pattern. So I don't know why it did not occur to me sooner to use it in my home decor. I have a jacket in a brown houndstooth that I love, and I have seen shoes that are very cute.
When I saw these pillows on Etsy, I decided they would look nice in my boy's rooms. I initially went out and purchased some really big (too big) pillows, and eyed, some fabric to have some made. But when I crossed paths with these I decided they fit better size wise, and with a lower stress level, and went for it.

I keep thinking they just look "zippy" in the boy's rooms. I know, that is a cheesy word, but it describes the feel they give pretty accurately. A shot of life. I am liking it.

Especially for our very "overworked" bunk beds. These things have taken quit the beating from the older boys. I have decided that I will let them be for a while, before I get ambitious with paint. I am sure that would be one quickly destroyed refinishing job. Or better yet, we find an alternative bedding situation.

For now we are going with that "masculine rustic" look. That is code for: -little boys who like to draw on, saw on, jump on, and stick things on, every piece of furniture they can get their hands on.-

And in Walker's room. Just so that when he has a big boy bed it can blend in a bit with the other brother's.

A little sweet, a little jazzy.

Oh, and there was a miscommunication with my Etsy order. I have yet to figure out how this happened, but, I apparently purchased six, of these pillows, instead of the intended three I thought I had. So if anyone is interested in buying a houndstooth pillow from me, let me know. Oopsy.

Speaking of a classic. Suuuuuch a great chair!

image Caitlin Creer Design

200,000 Miles!

2011-06-14T09:30:00.001-07:00

Del is very proud. He had a great moment this past week. This beauty, his green Honda Accord hit the 200,000 mile mark. I say "beauty" with a smile in my voice, because my husband is very hard on two things. Cars, and clothes.

He is known to cram up to three motorized wheelchairs in his car at a time. Hence, the rip in the leather on the back seat. He is also prone to putting sticky notes all over the dash board, and not really taking note of his muddy shoes on the carpet. He is also driving constantly. To all kinds of doctor's offices, and health care facilities, and back and forth from his office to our home in the Sticks. But luckily this is just in his car, not the family car.

As far as being hard on his clothes, let's just say there is a lot of dry cleaning going on here.

I guess it could be worse. There is a man at my health club that I see at least twice a week. And I am not kidding, he is working out in a dress shirt and slacks every time! I mean full on, sweating it out on the eliptical machine! I always find myself stopping to stare for just a second. It is so odd.

Wake up, take shower, dress in work clothes, slick back hair, spritz on some cologn, hit the gym. Huh?

Okay back on subject.

I remember when we went to look at this car. The lady he bought it from pulled up in front of us in it, and Del said something like, "Yup, I think I'll buy it."

And buy it he did, The only way Del likes to buy anything. With cash.

On the flip side of the muddy shoes and such, Del is very kind to the engine. He is always making sure it is up on it's mantainance. And it is still purring along! Del came in after it hit the big 200,000 with a smile on his face and said, "I think it is going to go to 300,000!"

One of the moments that sticks out to me is when an autobody shop guy lifted the Honda's hood, and told Del, "Look at that engine! That is a great engine!"

It was like someone had just complimented Del on his first born.

And nothing could please my thrifty minded husband more than this mile marker. Del is also a bit competitive, so this whole, "How far can the car go?" game is a lot of fun to him. Nothing to motivate this man like making money, and lack of needing to spend money on a new car.

I am sure that one day, just as he had with past cars, he will have driven his car into the ground. And I will get a phone call from the side of the road to come pick him up. And we will start this all over again.

But don't tell Del I said his car might see the end of it's days.

He would be very sad.

A Study Guide

2011-06-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have a friend that lives in my ward from church. We have attended meetings together for eight years now. When we first moved to the Chicago area, we lived in an apartment closer to the city, and Tanja, that is my friend's name, lived in the building right next to us. Through a great twist of fate, they ended up moving from another spot in a nearby city, into our complex, just weeks after us. Then, while our house was being built, Tanja and her husband began looking for a home. Coincidentally, they ended up in a city that is in our ward, yet again!
We have similar last names. I should say, we have last names that start with the same letter. And this has been enough to throw all of the people around us into confusion. We are them, and they are us, half of the time. Both families have learned to answer to both last names. The mix-ups just make us smile. We don't bother to correct people anymore.
It is actually a privilege on my part to be confused with Tanja on any level.

She is one of the most devout women I know. She is mindful of every principal of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she lives them. I am sure that sometimes she wishes she could get a little more credit than being constantly mixed up with the likes of me.

When I first met Tanja, she was giving a small lesson at a Relief Society function. Relief Society is the organization run by, and founded for, women of the Church.
In her little talk, Tanja mentioned how at a young age, she set a goal for herself, that by the end of her life she would be a great Scriptiorian. She wanted to know the Bible, Book of Mormon, and other works, as well as she possibly could.

I found this to be a fascinating goal. Not just to say I have read this, or that. But to KNOW...where to look, who did what, and when it happened, and the meaning behind all of it. It stuck with me. And I am positive Tanja is well on her way.

I have a bit further to go. Okay... a lot further. But I want to get there too. As I have read The Book of Mormon this year, I have often thought, "Oh, I need to remember to look up what the symbolism, or meaning of that is." about one topic or another.
I have seen on other's blogs, that they have found guides to read as a companion to their scriptures, to help them decipher things that are difficult to grasp. But at the moment, who had what posted is slipping my mind.

So I wonder if you know of a good guide to follow along with scripture study, would you mind sharing?
It would greatly help me on my path to being a Scriptorian, in my own way.

"The mind can’t work in a vacuum. If you want to come to an understanding about something, you’ve got to [have] facts to work with, information. And sometimes as you’re pondering a problem you realize you don’t have all the data, you don’t have the facts. You need to go back and get more. Or some of the facts may not have been accurate. . . . Be sure that the data you’re working with is accurate.”

Elder Richard G. Scott

Planting, Eating, And Enjoying Summer

2011-06-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Our poor little Walker has been sick this past week. The "coming out both ends" kind of sick. It is so sad to watch a little eighteen month old lean over his "throw-up bucket."

You know those little pink tupperware they bath the newborns in at the hospital, and then you can take home? They go from our children's newborn bathtubs, to their all grown up, throw-up buckets at our house.
I do have four kids, and only three pink tupperware however. So one of them must have disappeared somewhere along the way.

So I am home from church with Walker, and I thought after I had finished scrubbing the carpet from the last sickness incident, I would blog a bit. Yay for the fact that I have a carpet cleaning for the entire house scheduled for later this week!

We have had a week of nothing very pressing this past week. So the being sick thing kind of fit in. But we did have a few fun things go on.

I finally got my flowers in the pots. I needed new pots pretty badly this year. I found these ceramic pots for a really good price, and on sale! So I spray painted them with a textured black. Just give this pot a week and half, and the flowers will be big, happy, and spilling over the sides! Can't wait!

I generally keep things pretty simple with my flowers, because we are gone so much of the hot Summer, and watering becomes an issue. This year I took it one step further, and for the first time, I put mulch in my beds, instead of planting flowers. I love beds brimming over with blooms. But, I must admit the simplicity of the mulch has been nice. I also do like the clean look of it.

What do you do? Mulch, or flowers?

I love the tree line on this spot we drive past frequently. So I asked the kids if they wanted to get the camera set up and take a picture with the big trees. We got what we could. The boys look like burglars with their dark hood pulled over their heads.
Me saying "Look, it is about to take the picture!" Nobody else cared. So we packed up and went to Culvers.

We had our first S'mores night of the year. Our kids love firepit nights. As pathetic as our firepit may be.

Some yard work, and some tired, dirty kids, wearing whatever random clothing they have changed into throughout the day, and an ooy, gooy, s'more!

More starchy carbs! This plate is an example of the eyes being bigger than the stomach. But what did fit in the stomach was good!

I think for the most part, I have cleared the pictures I had sitting around. I am loving that I have my iMac back, refreshed and ready to roll! I guess I better go get something ready for dinner for after church, and do some scripture study, so my soul does not go unfed this week. Unlike my stomach!

Just My PC, and Me

2011-06-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the latest at our house is that my poor iMac had a horrible stroke and had to go to the iMac hospital. I have found that without it, I cannot charge up my iPod to listen to music while I work out, I cannot download all of my videos and pictures, and I can't figure out Pintrest because it says to click and drag everything, and my Dell is just not doing that. So all of that must wait. Other new events include, Wally discovering that he wants to document every minute of his life this week with the point and shoot and the Flip video. It is pretty cute. We are getitng ready for the boys to be off to Summer school for a few hours a day next week. I am now headed out the door to take all four of them to the health club with me for the first time. This should be interesting.
We had a nice weekend with lots of yard work, lots of good food, and time with Del. We had a BBQ with good friends at our house on Monday. And I was having such a good, stress free time (rare when hosting a party) that I did not pull out my camera, as I had intended.
This week, I am doing some more de-junking, waiting for my garage storage system to be installed.... searching for paint color inspiration for my powder room, wich is in need of some love, and keeping up with Walker, who has become even more of a handful, if that is possible. But we always have several stories to rehash, and smile about at night after he goes to bed.
In my inspiration search, I did come across a kitchen that I am luuuuuvvving right now. So crip and pretty. So until I get my own picture situation figured out, take a gander at this! What do you think, just right, or too white?
Nothing is ever too white for me.

Found at Cote de Texas. Kitchen in a home in Chicagoland.

Appreciation

2011-05-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have been so grateful for the teachers my children have had this year. All three of them have been lucky enough to come away from this year with more knowledge of academics, the world, and most of all, that there are people who care about them.

In a world of constant bad news from the education system, we have really had a positive experience overall. But this year we really were at peace with the classes our children were in. We do feel that particularly in Wally's case, we were led through answers to our prayers to the spot he spent second grade. I start praying that my kids will be placed in classes that will help them thrive, in about November. I am thinking ahead to the next school year, even then.

We had some big decisions to make when it came to Wally's education this time last year.

We prayed, and then still not feeling completely at ease, moved forward with what we thought was right for him, keeping in mind that Heavenly Father would let us know through the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, if what we were doing was in fact not right.

And boy, did I learn a lesson. We were halted in our plan, two days before the school year started. I felt sick, ill. We knew that the decision we had thought may work, was not the best thing for Wally at all.

We had an understanding principal on our side, and Wally ended up in Mrs. Pawelko's class. She welcomed him, even at the eleventh hour, with open arms. And in her classroom he has thrived. She saw him for who he is. I will admit, that when it comes to academics, she even saw him more clearly than I did. I don't know if she will ever see this post, but... Thank you so much Mrs. Pawelko!

I understand that this life will never be perfect. And some school years, that may mean teachers, classes, or circumstances beyond our control, will make school less than ideal. But I was able to breath a sigh of relief so often this past school year, in not only Wally's case, but Will and Georgia's too, that I want to celebrate that. And be grateful.

Thank you Ms. Tillman, Mrs. Holme, and Mrs. Vepely, for all you have done!

So we sent a token of our appreciation to our teachers. I mixed it up all over the place this year, and sent different things to almost all the teachers. We did lotions, notebooks, cookies, stationary, and jams.

I want to start planning now for next year's teacher gifting occasions.

So I want to know, what have you done in the past, or this year, to show your teachers love? What are your ABC's and 123's of gifting?

All That Jazz

2011-05-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

When it gets close to the end of the school year, it becomes school concert season. Will and Georiga both had school programs. They danced, they sang, they wowed the crowd!!! You can check it all out on my very amateur video below. Please ignore the wobbly recording, I had Walker in my lap, and the back of the balding gentleman's head, and the lack of zoom. Our flip video is not very high tech. I should have pulled out Del's iphone.

Georgia doing her marching dance, instead of looking at the camera.

Georiga and Walker could not be bothered for a picture during snack. But we did our best.

Dad and the kiddos.

Here is Will on the stage with his class. He is in the second row back, short sleeved white shirt, with the orange apron on.

Doin' The Mama Thing

2011-05-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have been busy doing what moms do. The busy stuff that is hard to define. It does not make for fascinating blog reading. But it is what makes my life full, and sometimes dull, but mostly fulfilling.

I have noticed that this Spring has brought the wildlife in our area out in full force. In the past six weeks I have hit a cat, a bird, and stopped my car for a turtle and a huge wild turkey to cross the street. I little animal craziness.

Who rocks the yard sale like we rock the yard sale?
My friend Jessica and I pulled our junk together and put on my very first ever yard sale!

It was actually a lot of fun! And a lot of work.
And I made a surprising chunk of change, considering how far off the beaten path my house is situated! Everything we did not sell is now headed to Jessica's so she can participate in her neighborhood garage sale. So we just might even make more money!

While Jessica and I supervised the sale, our husbands supervised the children. Eight in all. They also grilled us up and great BBQ lunch!

Later that evening Del and I attended a wedding reception for a girl in our ward. In our church the time and location you go to church are determined by boundaries lines drawn through your area. You see, and work with the same people every week. It provides unity and a sense of family, and gives structure to the worship, and learning of the Gospel.
It was SO much fun! The reception included dinner and dancing. A rarity among Mormon weddings where I come from. We danced the night away. With the Relief Society President, Young Womens President, the Bishop's wife, and all the other amazing women in my ward. (okay I danced the night away until 9:15, but that is pushing my bedtime.)
I had a blast digging out my old "Thriller" and "YMCA" moves with the women in my ward while our husbands supportively watched, and dutifully showed up for the slow songs. Yes, many men had fun dancing too, but not so much Del. My moves are not what they used to be, and I have no desire to do it every weekend anymore. But it was a good thing to dust off every decade or so! I have a picture around here somewhere, but not readily available at the moment. We all kind of kept looking around at each other wondering, "Are we still fun, or what?"
When is the last time you pulled out your dancing shoes?

THIS little monster turned eighteen months on Sunday. That is a big stinkin' deal in the land of the Latter Day Saint, as eighteen months marks a baby's entrance into the church Nursery class. This means that Mom and Dad no longer have to spend the last two hours of church chasing an adventurous toddler through the hallway. Mom and Dad go to class, and baby goes to Nursery to play with toys, have a snack, and enjoy an age appropriate lesson centered on Jesus Christ, and other Gospel topics.

Speaking of adventurous toddlers. I can't turn my back for one second without this boy plugging something dangerous in to an outlet. I need to get serious about my baby proofing.

Proof of that?
When I found a hot iron, face down on my kitchen floor. Yup, Walker went into my bathroom, pulled it off the shelf. YIKES!! carried it downstairs, and plugged it in, without, (wonder of wonders,) having it hit him on the head, or getting burned! And that is just the beginning of his mischief!

But his cuteness and spunk make up for the naughtys. Love, love him and his individuality! He did pretty well joining in the play in Nursery. I only had to sit in there with him for about 20 minutes. Can't complain for the first time attending.
What are the mile-stone ages that you look forward to?

Give Me A Sign

2011-05-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

A sign of Spring, please!

I have been given a couple over the past week. The first was when we found a little nest with four beautiful blue robbin's eggs in a tree in our backyard. This spot is a favorite with the birds, and we can count on them almost every year. The tree is right next to the gate of our backyard fence. So we come and go, past the nest constantly. Every year, the mother bird has a panic attack after every passing. Flying and flapping, and chirping her heart out. But then after a week or so, she gets a little more used to us, and last year the mother bird didn't even fly around when we lifted the kids up for peeks at the nest. She just stood on the fence next to the tree, and waited. Del told me last night as I drove home late from a church youth activity, that the eggs had hatched! Pretty exciting around here!

Another sign is that a small plant like specimen is sent home to mom with love, from each of my children's school and recreational classes. I have gathered quit the "glass dish garden" in my window sill. It is a lovely sight.

I am loving the smell of Spring. It comes and goes daily here. Not quit able to put down roots just yet, as Winter keeps sticking it's foot back in the door. But the warm days are getting warmer, and the birds are singing. And all I know is that I have waited seven long months for this. So I am not complaining!

I am also in love with my new kitchen faucet! Thanks to my dad, she is up and running. After giving him some fits that is. And forcing him to rebuild the sprayer with parts from a cheaper hardware store version. Eye, yai, yai! Thanks dad! The new faucet is right at home here!

And, Del is having a fancy new storage system built in our garage for me! Yay! Organization here we come!
Spring is good.
Has it found you yet? Give it my address if it has!

I love Costco flowers!

I will keep you updated on the new born baby birds as soon as I figure out a way to deal with the nervous mama during pictures.

Girly

2011-05-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Girl, Girly, Lady, Sissy, Sis, Miss, and sometimes, Sassy. That is what we call her, and that is what she is. Georgia is four years old today. And we use the nickname "Girl" with all the love, and joy, and sometimes, disbelief, that through all the boyish events and things that take over our home and lives, we have a baby girl in the middle of it.
And we got one strong little lady. Georgie does not mind the "boy" aspects of life. She is right in there digging for worms, climbling trees, bossing, even using a cuss word at times, and then some more bossing. She will stand up for herself, but shrink with shyness at a new experience or person. She is armed with a plastic gun in the backyard battle, but wants to watch the Royal Wedding over, and over. She is best friend to the boys, but Daddy's little girl.
She does not seek the lime light. On Sunday the Primary at church had her come to the front, and sang Happy Birthday to her. Georgia stood with her hands over her ears the entire time.
Having Georgia in my life has taught me so much about myself. And the mom I want to be. I realize that with her in my home, I need to show her what to try to become. But better. Because in so many ways, Georgia is so much better than me. It is also a great happiness for me to see Del with our little girl. I don't think he could love anything more than his spunky, but loving red-head. I could go on and on. Because that is what it would take to cover all the aspects of who Georgia is. And she is only four. She has many sides, and levels to her personality. We are blessed to be able to watch them develop, because she is our daughter.

And we love her so!!! Happy Birthday, Girl!

Scout's Honor

2011-04-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how many times I have gotten teary eyed during the past couple of months over this guy. My first baby has had all kinds of firsts. Seeing him run into the room in his baptismal clothing, then sewing his patches on his scout shirt, and dressing him in it are all such big boy events! Del and I have had lots of moments where we catch each other's eye, and know we are thinking the same thing.
Where is time going?

Wally has officially become a scout. He has earned his Bobcat, his Duty To God, and completed some of the other requirements. This week he earned his first badge. I unfortunately could not be there to see him get it because I work with the young women at church, and we had another activity outside the church building planned. We do all of our weeknight activities on Wednesday here, because we all live so far from our church building. So, things overlap all of the time.
But Del and all the kids were there to support him. And Del promised pictures, but when he took the camera out to snap them, it had a dead battery. He could not get his phone passed to someone else in time, and so, we don't have pictures. But a nice friend from the ward did send me one of Wally after he got the badge. As soon as I figure out how to get it downloaded, without the grainy quality I am getting now, I will come back and add it to this post.
On the way home from the church that night Wally said to Del, "I guess this scouting thing isn't so bad!"
I am glad he is already finding a niche here. We sure love this eight year old boy.

On another note.
Walker felt so bad about me complaining I can't keep things clean, he stepped up and Swifered the driveway for me. He is such a nice boy. How could I not be happy.

Something to blog about... something to blog about...

2011-04-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

I was a total failure this year on Easter when it comes to pictures of darling outfits. It did not happen. I stuck ties and white shirts on the boys, as usual, and Georgia wore an already-worn-once dress. As did I.
I left church early with a bad case of Vertigo. Not fun. I have been having these dizzy spells lately. One day Del walked into the kitchen just as I keeled over onto the floor. So the mystery diagnosis continues. But I am fine, promise.

I did however snap some heartwarming pictures after I had my kids tucked into bed that night.

After my kids get to sleep, I usually seriously contemplate removing the family, and burning the whole house down.
I have two or more hours of cleaning in front of me after the mini snoring has begun. No fail, even if I spent a good portion of my time during the day cleaning. Which I try hard to be somewhat diligent about. I have to get dinner put away, and then there is laundry, and the constant need to wipe bathrooms down after a day full of use by my boys. But the most fun is the complete chaos that seems to creep into these four walls between the hours of 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. The house is clean when the kids get home, we do jobs and homework, run to whatever activity we have, or make dinner, and then... it takes on a life of it's own. I will also throw in here, that my wonderful husband has given me his blessing, and since becoming pregnant with Georgia I have had outside help in cleaning my home. I am now down to a once monthly deep clean by a company. And I could not be more grateful.

I took these pictures on a Sunday night. I will say that on weekends things get particularly hideous. We are never home on Saturdays anymore, and Sunday is a church, Sunday dinner, family time, whirlwind. Not to mention, Mom is trying to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, and not be a cleaning maniac the whole day. And with my husband leaving early on Sunday for church meetings, my kids have free reign while I shower and get ready for church myself. We come home to a MESS!
I will be honest there are some nights when I am just not feeling the never ending job of maid. I sit down and pretend I am not lounging in the remnants of the tornados that are my eight, six, three and 11/2 year olds. I am in a constant state of bending over to pick something up, and you would never know it from the pictures below.

So I am looking for some motherly advice. From my own mother, of course, but also from those of you out there who feel my pain. Women with tidy children need not apply. What store do you buy tidy children from anyway?

I am seeking a balance in all of this. I am sure this is something I am facing because:
A. I chose to be a mother, and have four children in six years.
B. I HATE clutter, and if my house is unclean, my mental state is not good.
C. My husband does not notice clutter. Unless it is pretty obvious. ARGG!
D. My husband does try to help me. But he is indescribably busy running his company, and being everything else he is. I have taken on the role of homemaker, in it's entirety. So no picking on him.
E. I am supposed to learn patience. Double Arggg! Who wants to learn patience?
F. Okay. F? I'll cut to the chase.

I am on this Earth to learn to be a better person, and sometimes that means not being selfish and letting my family enjoy their home environment without me breathing down their necks. "Pick that up. Put that back. Where do we put our shoes? Dishes in the sink! I am going to put these toys in time out! Aim for the water in the bowel. FLUSH!"
But it is a very high priority to me that our home be very clean, and that my children know how to get it to that point. I want to enjoy our family time, and stop calculating out the time it will take me to clean it all up after we are done. I realize that requires me teaching them how to clean. I know there are days that I need to be better at letting them do it with imperfection, and not swoop in to finish it "correctly."
This is not all there is to it however. I love my children with every ounce of my being. But they are still very dependent. That is okay, they are little yet.
So what do you do? How do you keep the train running on a smooth, and clean track? How do you, or have you, inspired your children to shoulder the housework as they grew up? And what am I missing? Am I just a tired mom of four kidlings? I think I will jump if all of you out there never have this problem.
Help a mama out! Any kind advice is welcome.

Oh, and P.S. I won't open my door for you if the house looks like this, in most cases. So I don't know what is possessing me in the posting of them on my blog!

And this picture is making me hate all of my furniture.

The dress on the chair is my fault. I was lucky it hit a piece of furniture with how dizzy I was.

Last but not least, the basement. The place that takes the brunt of it. I will admit this was damage that began in the middle of the week, Right around the time I threw up my hands when it came to the basement that week. Now, I should post the "clean" shots to prove I am not a slob. But that is not the point of this post. Thoughts, advice, recipe's for some kind of coping serum?

Our First Dance Recital

2011-04-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Georgia had her very first dance recital last night. She was Oh, So excited! I was so glad to see it. She is not one to do anything, anyone else's way. So I was not sure she would want to put on a show.

It was a good experience for the boys in our family, big and little. They may as well learn now to sit nicely through dance recitals. And it was fun to see Georgia look so thrilled to be doing her thing.

Georgia's class was full of some shy little three year old girls. And when that curtain opened, they all looked like deer in the headlights. But they pulled it together and managed to move their feet and arms a bit. Not at the same time, or in the same motions, but they moved. That is what matters. As you can see in the picture, there was a lot of covering of the eyes, and sucking on fingers. At the end, they got a big roar of applause, and Georgia covered her ears in surprise, until the curtain closed.

It was so fun to watch our Girl on stage. And Will informed many times that next year, HE is going to go up and dance like the boys that preformed. I think that Georgia had a good experience, and actually might go back up with him! Way to go Girlie! You did good job!

It's Will's Birthday

2011-04-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

And he is very excited!

I love this six year old boy, and all that he adds to our lives and home.
Will is a character. And he does not try to be. He is the one that I find strumming a guitar first thing in the morning singing " We gon' light it up, like it's dynamite!"

He is our sensitive boy. And he remembers everything!
"Hey Mom, remember that time we went to the mall, and you got us this toy?"
He holds up something that he probably got at the mall when he was only 20 months old.
Will is our slow and steady guy. He loves people, and he knows everything about every friend.
Will is Georgia's best friend, and Walker's favorite cuddle buddy. He tries to keep up with Wally, and actually does a pretty good job of it.
Del wrote "Will is a good boy." under the top bunk, so that when Will lays down at night, he can see it. So almost every night Will says to either me or Del, "Did you know? Will is a good boy?"

Mom and Dad love you Will! Happy Birthday! You are a good boy.

Wally's Baptism

2011-04-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wally was baptized a member of our Church on Saturday. It was such a nice day. We had both sets of Grandparents in town for the baptism. We are so grateful, and felt very loved, to have them make the effort to come so far to be with us. Thanks so much Mom's and Dad's!

My Aunt Sandy and Uncle Scott also drove up, and many members of our ward were there to support Wally. And we had amazing weather to top it off!

It was a crazy, and emotional weekend. Lots going on in our personal, and business life, and it all combined to be overwhelming at times. But I must say that during times like those, it is nice to know there is always love from family, and strength in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was nice to sit and take in the Spirit as I listened to Del's Dad, and my Dad give talks on the Holy Ghost, and Baptism. Our family sang "I Am Trying To Be Like Jesus," and our kids did such a good job. Georgia did get stage fright, and huddle in a chair on the front row, but we are making strides. My Mom gave a nice prayer, and Del's Mom played the piano for us.

I can now always remember Del and our little Wally in the Baptismal font together as the prayer was said, and Wally was baptized by immersion. I was so glad we were there. I am so glad Wally decided he knows right from wrong, and he wanted to be baptized, and follow in the example of our Savior.

I was rushed, and wish I had given myself more time at the church before the baptism to get all set up, and take pictures. Instead we came away with nothing but poorly lit, unflattering photos of both us, and the food. But at least it tasted good. And some amazing women from our church stepped in and made sure everything was ready to go right after the baptism was over. It is hard to make it look to great with the pink Cultural Hall wall as a backdrop. Jane, the amazing cake lady, from church, made the CTR (Choose The Right) cookies. They were Yum!

Oh, well. You do what you can.

Del and Wally all dressed in white.

Our family. None of us looked good at the same time.

I am posting this so that you can see Georgia looking sweet. Ignore the rest of us.

Grandma and Grandpa

My parents.

Del's parents.

Aunt Sandy, Uncle Scott, my Mom, Del's Dad, and Walkie in the background.

A bad picture of the cookies.

I quickly snapped this picture and then hurried to get out of the way of around fifty hungry people!

Wally's book. Made by Del's mom. It is full of pictures of Wally's life, and the history of the family. Thank you, Thank you!

A couple of days later, we had another RSV scare with Walker, and I hit a cat on the way to pre-school, giving Georgia a conversation piece for her class. "My mom runned into a tat."
More like he ran into me! I am NOT an animal person, but I can't stand to see anything suffer. Thankfully a "cat lady" stopped and took the poor thing off my hands! Whew! It has been busy. But sometimes that is just what makes it fun!

I Belong To The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

2011-04-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

"Baptism is the first step in becoming a member of Jesus Christ's Church. We can be baptized when we are eight years old. At age eight, we are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.
The gift of the Holy Ghost is given to us by a priesthood holder after we are baptized.
The Holy Ghost prompts us to choose the right, comforts us, and helps us understnad eternal truths. The Holy Ghost is like a still, small voice that we feel in our minds and hearts."

- Excerpt from the April issue of "The Friend." A magazine geared for children put out by the Church monthly.