I Even Left Some Stuff Out

So, I was going to just type a few sentences about our week, but Gary keeps playing hymns and not going to bed, so I kept typing, and things just spiraled . . .

Preschool, Lissy's birthday, Josh's show, last science club, Katie came, preschool party, Halloween costumes, Josh's flu shot, last soccer games, Andrew's birthday.

Okay, that was last week. I felt a little nutty at the beginning of the week just thinking about how we'd get through it . . . BUT, we are yet alive. And Gary is listening to many relaxing songs in preparation for his calling, so it's all good. On Monday we had lots of kids over. The usual classroom volunteering switch, and then in the afternoon some other little girls. It was so adorable to watch all of the kids play in the back yard. My boys have been a little obsessed with sports and capture the flag lately, so it was good to see things changed to leaf-gathering and snail hunting. The kids painstakingly picked up leaves and put them into their shovels so they could dump them in their small pile. It was too small to get a good jump in, but my they were proud. Also, while the kids were running back and forth from the garage getting various implements to gather leaves, Andrew decided to run down the street about 10 houses down and ask to play. I didn't know until I got a phone call. I guess he was proud of that, too. I was not.

It's all the neighborhood boys in the fall! Of course Josh and Ben are hiding, but aren't they so cute? These boys can play and play and play ALL day. They were having a pretty great time in these leaves across the street, so my neighbor snapped a picture. Pretty great, huh?

Did I mention before that I'm taking another online class for teacher certification? Well, I am. It's called financial literacy in the classroom, and it's pretty good. Unfortunately, it keeps me up late . . . or in the middle of the night when I fall asleep with Andrew then realize I still have to do the class at 1 a.m. So awesome.

So, I take pictures, but just can't post them. Yet. When I do, I may take this post apart. But until then . . . Tuesday dear little Elisabeth turned 1! She is really too cute. I can't believe how quickly she went from just sitting on the floor babbling and sucking on toys to being EVERYWHERE! And update: I posted the pictures so removed two paragraphs from this post and put them with the pics. Hooray!

On Wednesday Josh was a hit as the fifth pumpkin in the Five Little Pumpkins number in his class Halloween show. I also thought he was adorable dancing around to their witches brew song. There was a little drama making sure he had the right orange shirt to feel the part of fifth pumpkin, but we borrowed one, and things went great. I was worried about bringing little kids to the show, but I think it was like watching PBS kids for them, so phew. We also had the last science club day, and since lots of kids didn't come Noah and Andrew got to do the experiments. Noah felt very big. I mean, he was very big. Then, that night I got to pick up Katie and Lily at the airport! They are so adorable! Katie and Gary grilled each other late into the night while I stared into space and drooled. (The night before mas my middle of the night assignment stint.)

The big preschool Halloween party I was in charge of was on Thursday, which I had told Katie about, but I guess I didn't tell her there would be around 20 kids and it would be at the church. Oops. So, it was a big old bash, and the kids had fun, so that's good, right? Lily was exhausted, and disappointed that her dream of running like a horse with Andrew was not being fulfilled, so Katie fixed that by taking both of them to the nursery to play. Dreams came true! Later Dylan came to pick Katie and Lily up, and he got to meet Noah and Andrew. Noah was completely enthralled. He felt very special getting to hold him. Josh, however, was very dismayed when he came home from school and everyone was gone. Sad.

Speaking of Josh, he had two super-embarrassing moments in school this week. The first was when he got his flu shot. He was the only one to not get flu mist, and then they gave him a pink bandaid. The pinkness was the problem, not the shot. Then on Friday I was in a super rush to get him to school, and I forgot to put his sandwich in a bag before I put it in his lunch box. He says the kids made fun of him for that, and he was very ticked at me. Also, I wrote, "See you, soon, honey child," on his napkin, and all the kids read it. I am awful, I guess.

On Thursday night the weather was awful, so nobody showed up for soccer practice but Gary and Noah. So, Gary just played some one-on-one with Noah. I guess Noah was laughing the entire time, he was so pleased with his chance to get to play alone with his dad.

Noah decided he'd like to be a Ninja Turtle again for Halloween this year, so that's easy. But the others . . . yikes. Luckily I decided to try to sell our bed rail thing to a kids' used clothing store, and in the process found a coat for Andrew and a little ladybug costume for Lissy. Andrew tried on tons of costumes there, but didn't want to be any of them. I don't think most kids like stuff with heads on top of their head. Too bad, he'd be a good giraffe. I found an amazing orangutan suit that is Josh's size, but Noah insisted Josh would not want it. Turns out he was right, good thing I didn't buy it. On Friday night we went to Pizza Hut to get Josh's book-it pizza, and a little pizza for the rest of us, as well. It always reminds me of when Cindy used to sing Land Before Time songs and Sarah wanted Eternal Flame on the juke box. Anyway, fun. Then we went to the D.I. to look for a football player costume for Josh, which is what he decided he wanted. Turns out there were a million jr. Jazz jerseys there, and even a pair of Jazz shorts, so Josh decided he'd like to be a Jazz player. The outfit is waaay too big for him, and it's pretty cold outside, but he has been wearing that thing and playing basketball ever since Friday night. Slept in it, and only took it off for soccer and church. I had worried about costumes, but for $4 Josh is over the moon excited. Sweet. Oh, and Gary also got Josh a plastic sandwich holder at the D.I. so the bag incident would not occur again. He thinks this is fabulous.

Then last but totally not least was Mr. Andrew's birthday!  Hooray for the fact that 6 months later I cut the text here and put it in a post WITH the pictures. Boo-yeah.

So then it's Sunday and church is always great. I will not be teaching gospel doctrine for a month, because I'm doing a special teacher-teaching class for the Jr. Primary teachers. It will be held while the kids are in Sharing Time. I'm actually pretty excited about this, because I love Primary, and I think it really helps to have a little toolbox of ideas of how to make Primary great when you are teaching. Also, it is late, and I need to be asleep. Also, Lissy has been way ornery for a few days so I wonder if whole milk isn't happy in her tummy? My kids and their tummies . . . 

Andrew Turns Three

This one I feel really guilty for never getting to until now. I mean, it's Andrew's birthday, and I really like Andrew. I'm sure the original problem was technology-related, though, as my blogging problems continue to be, so I hereby grant myself forgiveness. Look how adorable he is, ack! Here's what I wrote about it at the time:

If you wanted to see cute, you should have seen Andrew on his birthday. EVERYTHING made him really excited. He put on clothes then said, "So, these are my birthday clothes?" I made him eggs for breakfast, as per his choice, then ran off to get Josh's face painted like a storm shark for his last soccer game. Then there was Noah and Andrew's game, which was a good one to go out on. Andrew wouldn't play much, so Noah played most of the time, and didn't get sick of it. He had a big smile on his face as he kicked the ball in the goal many a time. He still trips a lot, but no worries, he's having fun. (This time. Other times he has cried, but this is a good note to end on.) Then Josh's last game - I swear that kid thinks he's in a huge video game. He's getting pretty good at defense, and at one point said out-loud, "That ball is all mine!" Goony kid. So cute, though.

Noah came with me to Wal-Mart to pick out some action figures for the top of Andrew's cake. I thought one thing, but Noah thought some Knights with animals would be awesome. Noah is always right, is the theme here, I guess. The eagle was Andrew's fave. We also brought Andrew home some balloons, and he kept exclaiming, "These are my birthday balloons!" At one point on Saturday I made a cake, some noodles for chicken noodle soup, and took a shower and got dressed in just over an hour. Then, soup-eating with the ward for Halloween, and home again to take a plow to the wreckage we call home in preparation for Andrew's cake. A cute family with 3 little boys moved in across the street, so I thought they would be fun to have over to make it feel like a little party for Andrew. Josh and Noah "decorated" the cake by putting the toys on top, and shoved the animals nearly to the bottom of the pan. Too funny. Andrew opened a few gifts and went nuts over them all, so I guess it was a good day.

And as an update, 6 months later, he still loves that eagle. Just holding it and flapping it around is the best. I love Andrew and his grin as he goes about his life. I know I've shared struggles he's had, but it's crazy because those things are in such opposition to his nature when he's "himself." This boy is the best to snuggle, and if you had his little arms around your neck you would never wish to be anything else but his mom. That's what happens to me, anyway. So, yep, Andrew, that one time when you turned 3 was a pretty cute day.

Josh and friend Ephraim bringing in the cake for the big reveal.

Friends brought a present even though they didn't have to.  He loved it.

The beginning of his love of the eagle.

He loves it, Grandma!

Busting open the playdough tools from mom and dad.

This glow in the dark shirt from Grandma has become his favorite at night.

Fall Soccer

So many firsts - Gary's coaching debut, Andrew's playing debut, and Josh "on the big field with goalies." Andrew started out into things, but after a while didn't really want to play anymore, but since it was free, I didn't mind. I just didn't want him to be left out. Noah showed some skills out there, and Josh had a smiley-great attitude. I did snap some pictures . . .

Noah, going for the goal.

Noah is in the middle of that mix.

Noah's dribbling the ball, but look at Andrew running his heart out!

Andrew's going for it!

It's the team - Gary, Freddy, Perry, Andrew, Brody, Cooper, and Noah

Josh, about to throw the ball in. He got his face painted for his last game, like a dragon, since that was his team name.

Highlights From a Brain Cloud

I have had a hard time wanting to update lately. My computer broke, so I'm out of business as far as pictures go, and I kind of got run into the ground. Lots of late nights and then a wacky medicine just made things worse and worse. But, I guess here I am forcing myself to do it now, so . . .

I gave a talk in church today on strengthening families. I love how studying the gospel and bearing testimony can really make me feel like my life is completely changed. I found lots of amazing stuff on the topic (from conference and the training that came out a few years ago), but was having a hard time thinking of personal experiences that would be good to share. Mostly because I had a brain cloud, but the brain cloud cleared up yesterday, and I remembered a time when Josh was my baby named Baby Josh. I was holding my tiny baby and was thinking about how I loved him so fiercely I would do anything for him, and would never let anyone hurt him. In that moment, the Spirit asked me, "Do you love him enough to read the Book of Mormon every day?" Ever since I remembered that experience and then shared it in church, I have thought of it a lot. It's not just reading the scriptures, it's doing anything I need to do to fortify myself and my family spiritually. If I love them enough to take a bullet, I should love them enough to bring the Spirit in and keep the bad stuff out. Anyway, so I gave a talk, and it was probably mostly for my benefit, as these things usually are.

Also, I have a new calling - gospel doctrine teacher. I am excited, but feel like I need to try more with family history. Gary got released from primary after two and a half years, and is now the ward choir director. He said, "Good thing I took advantage of not going to choir when I had the chance." He was kidding, and he is excited. He is listening to music for the Christmas program now - I think he'll do a great job. (And he liked going to choir, but stuff keeps happening in our lives that kept him away, so that was a huge joke.)

Mom came to our house this week, and it was fantastic to see her. My kids were soooo pumped, you should have seen them laughing and giggling when she got here. It's always good to be with mom, and she even made me a killer chocolate sheet cake for my birthday. She also fed the kids their dream hot dog lunch while I volunteered for Josh's science club at school. (It's not his exactly, there are 100 kids in it.) On my birthday night we all went to Red Iguana in Salt Lake, which I love, so it was a great day. 

Gary built new shelves in our closet under the stairs. I have been absolutely desperate to feel like I have place to put things, and it's crazy how awesome it is. It's like there's a new room in our house. An extremely small one, but I'll take it. We also put hooks for the shovels, etc. in our garage, and that helps, too. Chipping away . . . 

After we dropped off mom at the airport on Thursday, and visited Gary, of course, I decided to take my kids to the UEA expo, which advertised having an area for kids. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out awesome. It wasn't crowded, and we found lots to do. Lots of art and science projects kept them busy for a while. One booth had a Harry Potter theme, and let the kids eat jelly beans, plant a plant in herbology class, and start raising their own flobberworm (meal worm) in Care of Magical Creatures class. We saw Word Girl for a brief moment, and also the Cat in the Hat. Andrew was IN AWE of that. My kids got a picture with him, and Andrew kept asking me where Nick and Sally were. He also commented later on how Word Girl and the the Cat in the Hat didn't talk . . . mysterious. My kids' favorite part of the day (well, next to getting a free highlighter from the Utah Educational Savings Plan booth) was the Book a Basket game. The kids got to shoot a Utah Jazz basketball, and when they made a basket, got to choose a free book. They all got the chance to get a basket, and then spent the next day making a library in my room out of their new books. Josh got a Ninjago chapter book, and read it all the way home and didn't want to put it down at night. As I mentioned, I hadn't been feeling well, so it was very awesome to get dressed complete with washed hair, and get out and have a fun day with my kids. We were all beaming, all day.

Okay, well, it's late, so that's all folks. Some day I'll get my picture-life back in action. In previous weeks we got to see the Cougars in action, which was very fun even at the loss, and also chat with the T-fam, so THANK YOU dad for making our BYU life possible!

Meeting Baby Dylan

Obviously the best part of my week was meeting baby Dylan! He is so tiny, and smells just like a newborn baby. I like him. Lissy was very interested in him, too, and tried to help him out by taking off his hat, but we disagreed with that move. Way to go breaking the family September barrier, Dylan! I had a feeling it would break soon, just didn't know how . . .

Yea for baby Dylan! He was actually due on Lissy's birthday, but a full month earlier his mommy - my sister, Kristen - was having troubles. Blood pressure through the roof that wouldn't go down for anything, and tons of swelling. Try as the doctor might to get Dylan to wait for his birthday, he had to come out to save his mama. Two hours south of where they were, I was anxious to help, but didn't know how. As soon as I got the word he was coming for real, I threw some stuff in a bag for Lissy and myself, and headed north. Gary was more than happy to change all the plans and stay with the boys. We stopped to watch the Relief Society broadcast in Brigham City, and then to grab a gift for Dylan - hello lame Walmart didn't have my fave burp cloths in small quantities, so I think we gave him 20 or something. It's for the best.

When we got to Preston, there was Kristen and her teensy baby! Poor Kristen went through quite the ordeal. She was sick enough the labor and delivery nurses were starting to get a little freaked out, and she didn't remember much of what was said that first night, but it was so great to see her safe and happy by the time we got there. The next morning Lissy and I got to visit again and have fun conversation, and Lissy did some face-pawing as previously mentioned. She also weirded Kristen and Shane out a bit by walking around the end of the hospital bed. Cute new walker. I felt really bad I wasn't able to be of more help to Kristen, but we loved seeing her . . . and we got back home for church. 

A few weeks later, Kristen came to our house to pick up Kayla, and Noah got to meet Dylan for the first time. LOVED him, could have held him all day.

Had to check out his little toes . . .