Drama and Excitement

Yesterday was one of those days.  You know the ones.  I was running all day.  The house was a disaster, and there was no helping it because Timmy was in no hurry to be put down.  The mess drove me nuts all morning.

I finally got Timmy to calm down, so I cleaned the kitchen and laundry room and made dinner.  All the while I was trying to figure out upcoming school projects and help with homework.  I thought I was going to die before I could get to bed.  I just needed one minute of peace.

We were all feeling a little frantic.  And in the middle of all that madness it was time for Jeremy to go to school.  Jill heard he was leaving, so she hurried to the space where we keep the backpacks and frantically yanked and pulled until she got Hyrum's messenger bag out.  (He decided he wanted one of those instead of a backpack this year.)  Then she put the strap across her chest and shoulder and informed us that she was going too.  She was so set on going and was crying such an insistent cry that it just melted our hearts.  Jeremy decided maybe he could spare a few more minutes to take her somewhere, so they went for a little walk.  When they came back Jill was still dragging the messenger bag behind her, and she also had a sunflower.  She was so pleased.  We thought surely she was appeased.

But no.

(Maybe you need to zoom in for the full effect.)

As soon as Papa walked out the door we were suddenly bowled over with such a wave of dejection that I had no choice but to take a picture.

In the end all was well, though.  We turned on a movie and Benji brought her pillow and blanket downstairs and got her all tucked in on the couch, and she fell right to sleep.  I took her flower and put it in a vase that I thought was thick enough for her to carry all around if she wanted, and when she found it later she was so excited that she did just that.  And as for me, I got a good laugh at a good picture.  That always improves things. :)

And today was Michael's first day of school ever!



This is the kind of forced smile I get when he really is happy but I make him stop his running around for a second to take a picture.  He's so cute. :)  His teacher gave him that apple name tag at his assessment and asked him to wear it the first day.  And since the string bothered his neck she asked that I have him wear a higher collared shirt.  Michael was so pleased when I pulled this shirt out of the back of the closet, and he was excited to wear it.  He'll wear his new school shirt tomorrow when he doesn't have to wear his tag.  Oh and there's another Michael in his class whose last name also starts with a B. Good luck to that teacher!

Here he is at his desk.  And since we've already touched on the subject of dejection, take a gander at that poor kid with the mohawk.  Can't you just read, "I'm so depressed because my parents gave me such a horrible haircut," in his expression?  Me too.

Michael is feeling so big.  He went to school, ate school breakfast (yea that we're poor enough we get free school meals), and rode the bus home.  And then he sat right down and did his homework.  He loved that he got to take his backpack.  And when we got to school in the morning he had no intention of waiting or anybody.  He was ready to blow right in like a hurricane.  When I caught up with him I explained that he may not need me with him, but I needed to be with him.  I don't think it made a dent, but that's ok.  He's 5.

Good luck, Michael!  We love you!

Miss Jill

My little Jilly is learning every day. It's really fascinating to watch. Lately she's been learning about emotions. Today we were watching a movie and it came to a part where the guy was sad. Jill recognized that and looked up at the movie and said, "Sad. Sad." She has also begun to learn about being scared. She'll wake in the night and cry for Mommy or Papa. When we get to her we scoop her up in our arms and she says, "Scared. Scared." And if she's upstairs alone sometimes she'll come down saying that. But she's also learned that it will grab our attention, so she'll often say it just for extra smooches and hugs when we're already holding her. Cute girl. :)

Jill loves to talk about swimming and often uses it as an excuse to not get dressed. I make her at least wear a shirt and something on her bottom. She doesn't seem to like the feel of underwear yet. I figure that because she won't leave it on. But she does like to go potty and have us cheer for her. I've also learned that when she poops I need to know right away or she will take off her diaper and get poop everywhere! Every now and then she'll surprise us, though, and take herself to poop in the potty. Really I need to get her on a potty schedule and get the potty training done. Maybe if I tell you I'll do it on Monday that will get me to do it. But I'm not sure how confident I am in that. I'm busy and easily distracted. I'll just have to keep a timer going. And I need to figure out rewards because I don't want to traumatized her when she doesn't want to go and it's time. I'm all about bribes as long as they help the situation without causing future trouble.

Jill's hair is getting long, but mostly only in the back. She has some sort of mullet thing going on. I don't have the heart to cut it just yet. I still have never cut it. Maybe when the top and sides have grown more I'll give the back a little trim, and then I'll repeat, just a little at a time so I don't die. I am in love with those silky golden curls. It is such a delight to have her for my daughter. I'm thankful that we have a daughter, and I'm thankful that our daughter happens to be little miss Jill.

Life's Little Delights

Despite getting another bill that we thought was bogus and coming to find out it may be real, there is much delight in these little lives. :)

(Just backing up a bit - the bill was from an anesthesiologist for Timmy's birth, but we'd already paid an anesthesiologist and this one spelled my maiden name and last name wrong.  Weirdo!  But we looked it up on our insurance, and it looks like it's real.)

Timmy's been having issues lately.  I don't mean that to sound mean, but he's been fussy and drooly, and the house has been going to pot because before I can get started cleaning he starts fussing and I have to stop.  Certainly, I wouldn't trade a clean house or anything else for my little guy, but it does get frustrating - especially seeing the scrumptious spread of crumbs that has been laying on the kitchen floor for days just waiting for his searching little fingers to pick it up and eat it.

Through this small trying moment, though, I've been reminded time and again how fleeting this time in his life is - how short.  This evening after nursing him for the hundredth time I just held him until he woke up.  He slithered off my lap and sat himself on the floor looking up to see Popeye on the TV.  After a few minutes of craning his neck he simply flopped backwards and laid there on his back watching for a good ten minutes before falling peacefully to sleep.  And there he still lays, though Joshua has added a pillow and his own blanket to the affair and Jill is doting over him like the little mommy she is.

And yes, he does need a dry diaper.  He's about to get one, and I do hope he can stay asleep.  Any time he naps for more than a few minutes I feel thankful beyond words - and not because I'm getting a break.  I feel thankful because I know it will help him.  He just has such a hard time napping.

Another little delight was eating corn on the cob, though it was too late.  We've been eating four meals a day most days since we moved here.  I'm not sure why, but it felt natural.  We always get hungry before bedtime, and bedtime goes so much more smoothly if we're not going to bed hungry.  So we eat an hour or so before we get to bed and it's all good.  (We call our fourth meal supper.)  Tonight for supper I had cooked that corn and it was really good.  Hyrum asked how people get corn off the cob so they can put it in a can, so I showed him, just how my Mama taught me (just like she did it for her babies and how we did it together all those times to put it in bags and freeze).  They were delighted.  It was fun to show them something they didn't know I knew how to do.  I'm full of surprises. :)

Children (*Shakes Head*)

Yesterday was one of those days where I was scrambling to keep my sanity all day.  Just before noon Jill took off her diaper and pooped on the floor.  Then she got poop all over he legs and tried to clean up the floor with toilet paper, making a bigger mess.  Then I suddenly came on the scene and freaked out.  I threw her in the tub along with Timmy because one doesn't take a bath without the other.  That would just be too sad.  I whipped out my Clorox wipes and cleaned up the floor and then I cleaned up my babies.  We hadn't had lunch yet, so we were getting kind of frantic as I pulled them out of the tub.  I lotioned them up and tried to get them dressed.  Jill didn't even want a diaper, let alone a shirt.  (I don't choose to fight about pants with that girl unless we're going somewhere.)  I got Timmy dressed, though, and as I was trying to take care of Jill and both babies were screaming I got a phone call.

Guess what.  Benji got stung by a wasp on the playground.  He'd been given ice and burn cream and wanted to come home.  I had to talk him into staying.  I hate doing that because I feel like a mean mama, and I hate to take him out of school because then he misses stuff and also because I can't be there forever to take him out of his problems.  But I succeeded in bargaining with him.  I told him that if he still wanted to come home by 2:00 he could call me and I'd come and get him.  I hung up the phone and went on with damage control at home.

The only problem with our plan was that Benji's teacher was not on the same page.  She wouldn't let him call.  So 2:00 came and went.  I thought he must just be fine, but apparently he was still waiting.  When it came time to get on the bus there was trouble with a capital T.  Hyrum feels it's his job to make his brothers do what they should.  So when Benji insisted that I was coming to get him and that he wasn't getting on the bus, Hyrum tried to force him.  Benji fell and cut the back of his head.  He screeched out a blood-curdling scream (so Joshua says) and bled all over himself all the way home on the bus.  Jeremy took care of him as soon as he got home and he's fine now, but that's a great ending to the second day of school, don't you think?

Hyrum was really sad about what he'd done.  He is often more aggressive than he means to be.  That's just how it's been since he was tiny.  I think he'd make a great wrestler or football player. :)

Well, it all turned out ok.  Benji is healing.  They're back to fighting over Sorry (the board game), and Hyrum's back to telling his brothers about his "pure pyrite."  (Seriously, that stuff is PURE, he says, but then he asks me how pure it really is.  Who knows?  It's pyrite, for heaven's sake!)

And yesterday evening we had a little surprise visit from a little girl in our ward who is in Benji's class.  She told her mom and sister about Benji's hurt.  They made Benji some brownies and brought them over, all because the little girl felt bad and wanted to make sure he was ok.  After they left I turned to Benji and said, "You have some friends, Benji, huh?"  And he said, "Yeah," and smiled really big. :) That is worth a million bucks.

There really are some hard days around here sometimes.  But in the end there really is always a silver lining in our clouds.  The days do have their endings, and at the end I have a moment to lie peacefully in bed and think about the day and how I wouldn't trade these days for anything.  These sressful days are also filled with my children, and while I'm not always the best at filling my children's lives with love, I'm thankful for them, each and every one.  I'm thankful for every day I have with them.  I am so very blessed to even have them to stress about, don't you think? ;)

Pioneer Bombers

Michael just asked me an interesting question.  First, some backup information: Benji was born on Pearl Harbor Day (December 7).

So just now I was upstairs trying to get the boys in bed, and Michael asked me, "Mommy, what happened when I was born?"  I didn't know the context for his question, so I asked, "What do you mean?"  He said, "Like when Benji was born.  The pioneers bombed something."

Pioneers - Japanese - same thing, right?

School

Well, that magical day has arrived.  The three older boys had their first day of school today.  Michael will start on the 30th.  We got to the school at a great time.  We dropped the boys off in their classrooms and took a picture or two.  But before all that I made the children all pose for this picture.  Mean!  And I made them take turns pushing the strollers.  But overall it went really smoothly.  They were all excited and happy to be there.  And I do admit that I get excited for their first day - just like I used to for my first day.  But I miss them!  It's been really quiet at home.

I took Michael for his kindergarten assessment today and he did great.  I get excited at the thought of him learning to read (just like I did with his brothers).  It opens up a whole new world.  It'll be so great.

Michael has been telling me several times throughout the day, "Mommy, I love you.  And you're pretty."  It's enough to make me want to grab him and give him a big old smooch.  I'm going to miss him those few hours he'll be gone.

And this has nothing to do with school, but I've noticed that I can tell when my beans have started really cooking in the Crock Pot because that's the moment I start checking diapers because I think somebody's smelly.  It fools me just about every time.  But when I realize what it is I'm happy to have our house smell like that.

Thankful

Yesterday Jeremy gave us all blessings for the new school year.  Well, Timmy was too wiggly for it, but his siblings and I got one.  What a neat thing that is.  What an amazing thing that Jeremy can act as the voice of God to give us instruction and comfort.  I am thankful for this amazing blessing our family has.  I truly am a blessed mommy and wife.  I'm thankful that Jeremy can do that for us. 

The blessings were all really good.  Our need to be here in Cedar City at this moment was reaffirmed.  I am really curious to watch our children go to this new school.  They'll surely make new friends, and they will learn new things.  I think that Joshua's teacher is going to be really good.  He needs structure and someone who cares, and I think he's going to get it.  We all have a work to do here.  I hope that Benji will realize what an important person he is.  I think he struggles with that as a middle child.  And Michael has this independent streak that I hope can be turned in the right direction.  His independence surely can be a good thing.  I am sure that Hyum will find good friends and do well in school.  That's just what he does.  As for my little ones, I hope they enjoy this time together and keep building the friendship they had before this life.

Maybe I don't talk a lot about this kind of thing, but it's an important part of our life, and we are thankful for it.  And maybe not everyone understands it, but we believe it to be a correct eternal part of life.  We're thankful to have this closeness with God.

Missin home

Jill is following me around looking for a little extra attention.

I know this isn't the happiest thing to talk about on this happy blog, but I think Sundays make me a little homesick for Globe.

So instead of dwelling on it I looked at my old picture books and wished that I didn't have to turn my head so much to see the pictures we put in sideways and also that somebody would come and look at those pictures with me and remember all those days. But it was nice to remember anyway. I love that all the momories in there are happy ones and that the books are so full of people I love. I also found a newspaper clipping in there that supposedly quoted me and a few other high school students. None of the quotes sounded like me. ;) I wonder if there are pictures of me on my baptism day somewhere. I don't have any. Hmmm...

Today was also a day for remembering my Heavenly Parents. I missed my Heavenly Mother again today and thought about how my relationship with her is probably a really happy one. How neat it will be to see her again, and how lovely to think that she's there. How neat it will be to remember her and renew that sweet relationship that mothers and daughters have. It ought to be something nice like my relationship with my earthly mother. I do love my mothers. :)

Silly kiddos

Yesterday during dinner Benji suddenly asked, "Mommy, where's your minion?". I said, "What? My minion?" He replied, "You know - the lady from church who went with you to visit people." Minion - companion. Same thing, right? ;) I love that boy.

Last night just before scriptures Jill burst into song, and guess what she was singing over and over. "We will, we will wock oo." I guess Hyrum has that song on a CD, and she liked it. It makes me wonder what goes on in her cute little head. That song seems like such an abstract thing for a two-year-old to remember. Cute girl. :)

Little Fella

The little fella has cut through his top front teeth and when I stand him on the floor he can take one step. :)

There's Not Much That's Cuter

There simply is not much that's cuter than Jill sitting on the potty singing.  I love hearing her little voice.

There's also not much that's cuter than the way Timmy crawls over to me as quickly as he can (giggling the whole way) when he sees me lay down in the living room.  If I'm laying down he certainly has to play jungle gym with me, and if he has to, then of course Jill does too. :)

Summer

I love these happy, carefree, summer evenings.  I made too many loaves of bread plus some scones and posse stew, and then I went on and made cobbler.  The house was blazing hot so we opened the windows and doors.  This led to Jill and Timmy wanting to go outside.  So we did.  Jill threw rocks and Timmy ate them until I decided to move us to the grass.  That didn't last long before both Jill and Timmy wanted to play in the water that runs in front of the sidewalk.  Timmy kicked his little feet in it and splashed me all over.  Jill played with a rock in the water and watched how the water moved around her feet.  I made little paper boats like I've been wanting to for a while now.  First I had to ask Joshua how and look it up on the internet.  But we made those little Curious George boats (teeny tiny ones) and floated them down the little stream (don't tell that we littered).  And of course Timmy fell on his back in the stream and then sat in it until his legs were all red from the cold water.  Now Benji is outside piling rocks in the water to make a dam.

I love these cool evenings.  I savor them and wonder what the changing seasons will bring.

Jill

Last night I sat in Joshua, Michael, and Jill's room as they said their prayers.  I held that little Jilly as she cried because she wasn't going to get to play with Michael's little toy laptop.  And then I helped her say her prayers after she calmed down.  Then I sat and held her some more and thought about what a privilege it is to be a mother - and not just any mother.  It is a privilege to be my children's mother and to hold them as they fall asleep (even though Jill didn't fall asleep in that instance). :)

This morning I went out and ran 4 stinkin' miles.  I've run 4 miles before, but not only has it been a while, but I've never run them up the hill facing the wind and the sun.  Sure it was a small hill, but it was still a hill and I was very tempted to give up.  But I didn't.  I ran those 4 miles.  I did my cooldown walk around the townhome complex.  I read my scriptures, drank some water and stretched.  And then I fell asleep in my recliner.

The next thing I knew I heard Jill talking.  She was peeking through the bars of the stair rails saying, "'Leeping.  A 'leeping."  (Mommy's sleeping.)  Then she saw the cup I'd left on the piano bench next to me and said, "Trink a waduh.  Trink a waduh."  (Drink of water.)  Then she came down the stairs and got my cup and brought me some more water, all the while repeating, "Trink a waduh."  She likes to give me water. :)


When she handed me that water this morning I also noticed that she had white stuff all over her chin.  I smelled her.  It was toothpaste!  Jeremy said she went in the bathroom and brushed her teeth and then got a mile-long piece of floss and had him cut it for her, and then she sat there flossing.  Silly girl. :)

It is fun to hear her learning to talk better and better.  She gets so excited about going swimming ("A Shwimming!") and taking a bath ("a bathie!").  (When she wants something or wants to do something, or even when she's just talking about something she usually adds "a" at the beginning.  It's cute.)

In other news, my poor little Timmy has a bonk on his head.  It's a vertical line of a bruise, and neither Jeremy nor I saw him get it.  We think that yesterday while we were both busy he must have climbed the stairs and bonked his head on the railing.  Poor guy.  I do kind of wish he wasn't so fascinated by those stairs.  He loves them.  I have such cute children. :)

Happy Times

I went running this morning and now my hip is really bothering me. It's strange how sometimes different things will make it act up and other times they won't. It's so unpredictable. Still, I conquered that hill again today, and if I can conquer that I can surely conquer the mess downstairs and a few boxes upstairs too. Surely I could even conquer the whole house! :)

I also keep thinking about how far I've run since May. I need to put my little ticker up on this new blog. But I have run either 72 or 74 miles, and that's almost the whole length of the trip I would take to the valley for doctor appointments for my last three babies. Except that I was living in the valley for most of the time I actually went to that particular doctor when I was going to have Michael. But that's a whole 'nother story. :) Anyway, that is incredible to me. It makes me want to keep it up and see how many miles I can rack up. Wouldn't it be cool if I could rack up enough miles to have run all the way back to Globe? That would be neat!

I was reading my scriptures this morning and came to the part in Second Nephi where he talks about people saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry," and "All is well in Zion." another thing they say is that God has done his work and ther will be no more miracles. What an awful thing to believe! I'm thankful to be able to say that I know that God is still a God of miracles! That one fact brings me a lot of happiness. :)

One other thing that makes me happy is how in the morning after I run Hyrum is awake and I can spend a little time chatting with him. And then little Timmy joins the party and he is squishy and fun to smooch. I love my family so much. :)