Our Family Project

Picture courtesy of Eliza from the backseat On our way home from the homeschool convention last weekend, we were warned of a major dust storm.  I've seen the dust storms from the windows in our house, but never really walked in them, or drove in them.  When we walked out of the convention center, I was so grateful for my sunglasses ... dust was flying everywhere! But, that was the least of my worries.  We got in my car and started to drive out of the city, hoping to stay a little bit ahead of the storm.  It was traveling west, the same direction we were going.  I kept looking out the window and thinking that we would make it.  That is, until we exited the major highway onto a state highway that was under construction. After driving for about three miles, our visibility was a few yards in front of the car.  We continued to creep along at about 25-30 mph.  Sometimes the dust cloud would dissipate for a short time and I would speed up in the h...

Apparently, my last post may have offended some of my friends and family.  That was not my intent.  I may not have explained myself very well. It is not that I have anything against women working.  (There are many jobs and professions that I think are extremely well suited for women.  There are others, though, that I think are best for men.  And there are many of those "male" jobs that I think a "specific" women can perform just fine, and vice versa.) I do not ever hang up on anyone, regardless of their gender, or their annoyingly way of making sure they get their three rebuttals.  I merely have had many experiences which have made me want to hang up and call back to get a different customer service person (and, this is not exclusively for women customer service reps; I've had plenty of experiences with men as well).  I just happen to have an affinity for talking to male reps as opposed to female.  Having said that, if I do end up talking to...

My little Maryanne loves to talk.  She can talk and talk and talk until the sun goes down.  We just got back from Andrew's reader's theater performance at the school.  Thankfully, his group performed first.  Maryanne talked through the entire thing. "Look, I found a star!" "Pink!" "There's a doggy." "He's looking at me.  He's looking at me!  Look, he's gone!" "Hey, that's mine.  Oh." "Blue!" "I'm the Mommy and you're the baby." On and on, she talked.  I had to leave early because she was so loud we had a hard time hearing the students read their lines.  Of which, Andrew was the best!  I don't say that because I'm biased.  Well, okay, maybe I'm a little biased, but every parent has a right to be biased, right?  Anyway, he was the best because he was so into his character.  The play was "Spiderella."  Andrew was the Cicada Prince.  And, when he read ...

Within the last month I threw out my back, causing a string of visits to the chiropractor.  Now, in Minnesota, the same thing happened and I went to a chiropractor who didn't have regular massage therapy sessions scheduled for his clients before their adjustments.  The most I got was a few minutes lying on a heated massage table with rollers going up and down my backside. My chiropractor here firmly believes that his clients get better adjustments if they first get a massage ... from a massage therapist.  In fact, the receptionist tries to schedule each patient with the same massage therapist. I have been into the chiropractor a total of 12 times.  I saw one massage therapist ... the one with seniority ... on my second visit because for one reason or another I didn't get one on my first visit.  Then, I was switched to the newer massage therapist because of scheduling conflicts; and I've been seeing that massage therapist since. Until today. Today I w...

I know this is the second post of the day ... but my two little ones have been so funny ... and it's only 10 a.m. I'm sure today is going to shape up to be quite a hilarious day.  So, without further ado, here's what my little comedians have been saying today: MARYANNE I over heard her singing: " Nephites , we love you!  We love you, Nephites !" So, yeah.  I guess she really is listening while we read scriptures as a family ... even though she is usually running around and playing with toys. ADAM I asked him to try on part of Eliza's costume for her musical at school.  After I took it off he said: "That wasn't too bad.  I thought it would be a dress." It was a vest.  I clearly stated before he put it on that I needed him to try on her vest for me to make sure it wasn't too small (because the first one I made actually fit Maryanne, not Eliza). Note to self: Get a new dress/skirt model. Just thought I'd share my little chuc...

Saturday I had the opportunity to spend my morning at the church with several other women.  There were 6-8 different projects we could work on ... and each project was going to a different charity.  There was a table all set up for assembling hygiene kits, one section of the room was filled with two quilting frames and women were tying quilts, at another table women were making hair flowers and headbands, and on another table some women (and young women) were putting together art kits.  I brought my sewing machine to help sew together drawstring bags for children in foster care.   I lugged in my machine and set it up, then walked over to the table to get some fabric.  I quickly found out that the women who were in charge of this activity were well prepared.  There were stacks of pillowcases, a bag filled with canvas cords, and another pile of old t-shirts.  The woman in charge of the bag area explained to me that we were cutting off the sleeves and ...

 Today we went outside to play for a while.  It probably wasn't the best time of day ... for us.  For all of our friends and family who are still in winter, it would have been the perfect time for you to go outside: right after lunch when the sun is high, and everything is nice and warm.  Here, in Arizona, it is not the worst  time of the day to go outside (especially not yet), but let's just say that even though it is only the beginning of April, it still isn't the best  time of day to outside. Regardless of how hot it quickly became, we had fun running around, throwing the ball at the cinderblock wall, spinning the tires on Andrew's bike as fast as we could, and just playing pretend.  After twenty minutes, we were definitely feeling the sun on our backs, warming us up just a little bit too much for comfort. Thank goodness popsicles are perfect in Arizona during the entire year!  There's nothing quite like a popsicle to cool you down on a ...

I was sitting in the kitchen, doing a little blog hopping on my phone when I heard, "Come on, Ming Ming!" and "It's stuck, Lenny!" Maryanne has really been into watching "The Wonder Pets!" recently.  So, hearing those two sentences normally wouldn't be out of place.  Except that it was my little Adam (who is not so little anymore), and my princess Maryanne (who, most definitely is a princess) who were yelling those words to each other. As I heard those cute little voices, all I could think was that they aren't going to be in this stage for very much longer.  Eliza and Kate still play like this, but only with Maryanne, not with each other.  They have already grown on and talk about boys and friends, clothes, makeup, and fingernail polish.  And, they aren't even allowed to participate is most of those things!   My children are growing up so quickly.  And, I realize now that I've missed most of it. Yesterday, Andrew had a reall...

It is amazing to me that I never noticed the hardships my parents dealt with while I was younger.  Perhaps they weren't as frequent as the hardships I see today.  Perhaps it is a sign of the times.  I have a theory that life is not going to get any easier.  I feel like we've had times in the last decade during which everything was mild, and hardships were few and far between.  Not so much now.  It seems like there are heartaches and pains, rough times and confusion so much more now, and simultaneously.  I don't think it will ever go back to the way it was before ... at least, not while I am here on earth. I have friends or family who are struggling with debt, job loss, divorce, deaths, children so sick they need surgery, cancer, limited finances/work, etc.  It really puts things into perspective for me.  How many times do I complain during the day about the things I think are "hard?" Yes, the things that I have to deal with are "hard" f...

This is very lengthy .. but I wanted to be thorough. Our housing situation has been in limbo for almost exactly a year.  One year ago on December 22 (give or take) Jon got the job that brought us to Arizona.  So, we knew then that the house we were living in wasn't really ours anymore.  (At least, that's what I started to tell myself to "detach" from the house so we could sell it.) This housing story has so many twists and turns, learning experiences, and heartbreak that it would be a shame to not document it very well.  We received an offer on our house in Minnesota after it had been on the market for 22 days.  Another month went by and we moved to Arizona and someone else moved into our old house.  When we got to Arizona, we moved into corporate, or temporary, housing.  It was a three-bedroom apartment in Scottsdale only ten minutes away from Jon's office.  It seemed perfect. Except that it was on the top floor. Anyone who has rambu...

On Monday morning my computer crashed.  Grrrr.  I haven't recovered anything yet ... just been waiting to contact someone we know who we think may be able to help us out.  I'm kicking myself because months ago I'd thought about buying some external memory to backup all my files and photos, but I didn't.  Now, I've lost just about everything ... unless it can be recovered.  Thankfully, we have our laptops, but I'm not uploading any photos to those ... I'm waiting until I actually do get my external memory before I upload any more photos.  Anyway, there won't be any new posts until then; at least that's the plan for now.  Just a small hiatus.

During the first week of school, Kate had math homework for which she needed help.  She brought me her worksheet and I proceeded to outline and use examples to show her the method that I thought was the easiest way to figure out her difficult math problem.  Several minutes of this went by and then Kate said, "Mom, I already figured that out.  Here, it's on the back."  She turned her paper over and showed me how she figured it out.  It wasn't the most efficient way (at least to me) of figuring out the problem, and I don't think the way she figured it out will make it hard for her to understand more advanced mathematics.  In fact, I think the way she did it actually shows that she understands the why she gets the answer, not the how. It just made me remember that we are all different and have our own ways to figure out and fix our problems and assignments.  Just because I believe all the plates need to be loaded in the dishwasher facing the middle, does...

We were able to spend time with Jon's brother and sister and their families this last weekend.  It was so much fun to watch our children play with their cousins and remember what it was like to play with my cousins. Ever since I can remember, my family was invited to my grandparent's house (on my mom's side) just about every month to celebrate all the birthdays that would occur in that month.  This is one of the things that I've always cherished about my childhood: the fact that we lived near our extended family.  This is also one of the things that I hated about living so far away for those seven years we were in Minnesota. Now that we are around more family, it has been so delightful to get together with them and watch our children's relationships with their cousins blossom.  One of the benefits we have is that our children are pretty much younger than Jon's sister's children ... her youngest is Kate's age.  So, Jon was able to say, "Watch...

I am completely amazed at how creative my children have become once I cut out any form of "lazy entertainment."  They have spent hours playing together (and actually laughing and getting along!), inventing new games, and fun new things to do together. Most recently, they pretended to be princes and princesses learning how to walk with heads held high.  Each of them placed a book (or more) on their head and proceeded to walk around in a circle in the small space we have, until the book fell off.  Even Maryanne joined in on the fun.  And, she was absolutely adorable.  Why is it that whenever a young child tries to emulate their older brothers or sisters, that they are so cute?  Even when they are doing something they shouldn't (like spitting, or fighting back)? At any rate, I think I now have a handful of princes and princesses ... one for each digit.  And, boy, is my hand full!

Last week I imposed a "NO-TV-AND-COMPUTERS-WEEK!"  I got severly frustrated with the tv and the computer being on all the time.  It was as though my children had forgotten how to play with each other!  One day, Eliza and Kate were found in their room dressing up their dolls.  They started out adjusting and altering their own clothing to make it fit their dolls and taking pictures of them.  When I realized what they were doing, I suggested they use some of my fabric scraps.  Instantly, there were tons and tons of outfits for Kit and Nikki.  I told them I'd make them some clothing for their dolls, but it would be modest clothing.  They were both so excited about it.  I'm just glad I have another idea of a Christmas present for the girls that won't cost me any extra money because I can use my fabric scraps!  Yay!

Have you ever had a day when you just want to tell everyone that they are fasting?  These are the dishes left over from breakfast this morning.  Yes, my children barely ate anything!  And, it's so frustrating!  They barely ate anything last night at dinner time as well.  So, today, I have imposed a lunch fast for the children (excepting Maryanne).  Maybe they will eat their dinner tonight no matter what it is because they are so hungry.

Tomorrow night the women from church are meeting to go see a display at the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center. I want to see the display. I don't want to go with those women. Not because they are rude. Because I don't have any friends yet, and I kind of don't want to try to make any friends with these women whom I will probably see very, very, very rarely once we move. I already feel a lot of obligation to the people in this congregation, and know it will be hard enough to say good-bye in a few short weeks/months when we end up closing on a house. The only thing that stops me from feeling too badly about my attitude is the fact that very, very few people have tried to reach out to me. Jon and I have talked about this before and we've decided that I am probably one of those people that has a bubble around them stamped with the word: UNAPPROACHABLE. We think this because there have been times when it seems I have intimidated others, completely unbeknownst to me. Why is...

This is how most things get done around here.  My Maryanne is a Mama's Girl.  She is my little shadow, lost puppy, fifth appendage ... you name it.  And, when we are reunited after being apart, even for the short two hours at church when she goes to nursery, she wants nothing to do with anyone else ... she comes to me with her arms wide open, just wanting to be held.  And, despite the fact that sometimes her desire for me can make it hard to get some things done, and although I feel badly that she isn't this way with Jon, I LOVE it. Most days, when I am cooking, I place Maryanne up on the counter next to the bowl, or pot (she's learned what "hot" means, and I love to hear her say "hot, hot" over and over again) and she gets to pour in ingredients or simply watch.  There are days when she helps me to unload the dishwasher, or knock over the folded laundry piles, or walk with me holding onto the vacuum while I vacuum the floor. There was a particula...

In our house the top bunk is a very coveted spot.  So much so, that our littlest little girl has decided she needs to be up on the top bunk.  I guess she liked it so much when her brother took her up to his top bunk . A few weeks ago I heard some screeching and Maryanne-sounding noises coming from Eliza's and Kate's room.  When I got in there, I saw Maryanne up on Eliza's top bunk bed playing with Eliza's stuffed animals and doll. At first I thought maybe one of the girls had taken Maryanne up there with them; hey, it's happened before, why not again?  That's when I grabbed Maryanne and set her back down on the floor. A few days later I heard screeching again and ran into the girls' room to find Maryanne stuck on the end of the bed.  She was climbing the end of the bed (this bunk doesn't have a ladder) and her little muscles couldn't lift herself anymore. That's when I pieced it all together: Maryanne had watched her oldest sister climb up th...

We've been pretty busy the last two months. Here's a short recap of what we've done "other" than stuff concerned with moving. Andrew had his sixth birthday the day that we arrived in Phoenix. We had a small dinner and Jon went to the store and bought a cake. We did our own little family celebration that night, then we did another one on Saturday with my mom, and another one a week later with Jon's brother and his family, and Jon's sister and her family. It was so nice to see all of our family here within a week or two! The above cake is one of the two that I made for the get together with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. The second cake was only a single layer, but was decorated the same. During the next few weeks we looked for a house. And, in case you missed that drama, click here . Near the end of March we made the 12 hour trek to Utah for my older sister's wedding dinner. She was married the week before, and then had a small dinner for her imme...