Our Pioneer Trek

Yesterday it was once again up to me to keep the kids occupied and preferably out of the house so that Ryan could work uninterrupted on his project for school (his LAST class EVER as long as he passes!! :) ) We spent the morning at the pool for swim lessons, but the afternoon loomed long and empty ahead of us. I needed to go to Albertsons to take advantage of a few ads and I figure the kids can never get too much exercise, so I got the great idea that we would go on a walk to Albertsons. It is only 1.7 miles (one way.) Of course I didn't realize until we were halfway there that it is uphill the whole way, which wouldn't be bad if it wasn't very sunny outside and if I hadn't been pushing the double stroller with two kids in it. Anyway, I had to be careful in the way I billed this plan of mine to the kids. Just telling them we were going on a walk wasn't going to cut it, so I told them we were going on a "pioneer adventure." After all, the pioneers walked everywhere they went. The girls were all for doing it barefoot, you know, to keep things historically accurate, but I thought that might be going a bit too far.

It took us two hours to get there, buy our stuff and get home. It was actually pretty fun--the kids asked all kinds of questions about the pioneers and we talked about "being green." I let them each choose an ice cream bar for the trip home and we loaded the back of the stroller with our four cases of Diet Coke, cantalope and London Broil. Just like the pioneers would have, I'm sure!

Thoughts

Wow, it has been a rough week. A week ago today is the day that my friend walked in and found her baby not breathing. Yesterday we went to the funeral. I have really tried in the last week to not let myself think about being in her place. Selfish as it may seem, it was just too painful for me to put myself there. But yesterday as we saw that tiny casket carried into the room with the family following behind, I couldn't help but think about my own children and how I don't even think I would have the strength to walk behind a small casket that held one of them.

The funeral was beautiful. My friend's sister read some words that my friend had written and they were so powerful. She doesn't feel sorry for herself, she just finds blessings in her experiences. They had all the children in attendance get up and sing, "The Family is of God" which is a new primary song this year and they did a wonderful job. The spirit was very strong throughout the whole funeral. The room was just full of love. All day long I felt so full of love for my own family and friends.

Ryan took off work to go with me and we took Isaac. I didn't think the younger kids would make it through with the required level of reverence. The girls have had a hard time grasping the whole situation. Right after she died, they kept praying that Baby Katherine would get better. Then after I repeatedly told them that she was with Heavenly Father now, they started praying that Baby Katherine would come back. Now they are praying that Baby Katherine's family won't be sad anymore.

I was so grateful to have Ryan there at the funeral with me. I didn't realize how hard it would be--even though it was beautiful and spiritual, it was hard. After the funeral, Ryan went back to work and Isaac went home to the babysitter and I went with a friend to the cemetery for the graveside service. Again, the spirit was very strong and I was so impressed by this wonderful family and their faith and strength in adversity.

I am so grateful for my family and although I wish this horrible tragedy had never happened, I am very grateful for the perspective on life it has given me.

Watching the rain fall

A friend of mine was telling me that when she apologizes for a messy house to her husband when he gets home from work, he always says as long as the kids are happy and know that they have a mother who loves them nothing else matters. I have been thinking about that a lot today. Life has just been really, really busy these last few weeks and I feel like I am always running from one thing to the next.

Tonight when I took Lincoln out of the bath we were listening to the rain and I lifted him up on his dresser so that he could see it. He stood there absolutely enthralled for at least 20 minutes. And despite all of the things I had to do (make rolls for the funeral luncheon tomorrow, clean the house, finish the laundry, go buy diapers, make dinner, etc., etc., etc.) I loved every minute of it.
With all that is going on with my friend who lost her daughter, as well as other friends of mine who are facing difficult trials I have really been trying to put life in perspective a bit more. Sometimes it is okay to let things slide in order to spend quality time just watching the rain fall with your baby.
And take some killer blackmail photos!

Now I guess I really should go buy some diapers...

It has been an interesting week and I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. I will get to it all eventually. I spent the first part of the week entertaining some friends from high school that were in town. They had not even been gone an hour on Thursday when I got a phone call telling me that my dear friend's five month old daughter had died a few hours before while taking her morning nap. I immediately called Ryan and he was able to come home from work early so that I could go be with her. It was a heart-wrenching, tragic day. I, along with some other friends, stayed with her until her parents were able to arrive from Las Vegas. We just sat with her--listened to her, cried with her, tried to comfort her, helped her in whatever way we could think to. There is so little you can do in situations like this and you feel so completely helpless but you want so much to help. We took the baby's crib down and put her stuff in a closet so that the physical reminders of the pain would be lessened. It was awful. I can't even imagine what the family is going through. This whole experience puts everything in perspective very quickly. I love my friend so much and I wish she didn't have to go through this. I wish there was more I could do to help. I am grateful for our beliefs and the comfort they bring, but the pain of losing a child is still so harsh--I am just aching for my friend and her family.

Night at the Museum

Okay, so it was daytime at the museum...

We went again on Wednesday to the Museum of Nature and Science. They have an incredible new exhibit that we hit at the end of our visit--I could have spent the whole day in there--it was fascinating! It is called Expedition Health for you locals--HIGHLY recommended. When you went in you got a little card that you entered in your personal information on. Then at each part of the exhibit you scanned the card and it kept a record of all your stats. At the end it gave you a personalized print out of your health status. I'm not explaining it well--but it was really cool. It is new and it was a free day, so it was VERY crowded. We got in line to do an age-progression thing. It took your picture and then aged you up to 70. I thought that would be pretty interesting, but the more I watched other people do it, the more I thought it would just be totally depressing, so we ended up going on to some other things. It was a fun day, and we will definitely go back when we can have more time to really explore that new exhibit.


Here is one of the many cool things we tried--Isaac used his brain waves to move a little ball. He was supposed to relax as much as he could--then the ball would move toward his opponent. He lost the first round to a little girl, but won the second against a mother of a few kids (somehow I'm not surprised she wasn't able to relax!)

Graduation Day

The girls officially graduated from preschool on Monday evening. The ceremony was a lot of fun--they sang many of their favorite songs from throughout the school year and had a little processional. One of the favorite activities of the class during the year had been a dance party after their academic work was done, so we had a dance party at their graduation as well. I was surprised to see the girls cut loose--they are usually so reserved in public but we rocked out to "Flyin' Purple People Eater" and "Shake, Sonora." After they received their diplomas we enjoyed ice cream sandwiches and cookies. It was a bittersweet time--we are all SO excited for them to start Kindergarten (only 27 more days!!!), but we will really miss Miss Jen and the other kids in the class.

Chloe receives her diploma. Miss Jen talked about how sweet Chloe was and how no one is able to get her to smile unless she wants to. She dared everyone to try--but no one was able to crack her!

Miss Jen talked about how Audrey takes her pretend play very seriously--she once played house with Lukie for a long time and apparently he got an earful!
Here we are at the dance party.
Audrey and her little school "boyfriend," Lukie.We love you, Miss Jen!

Damage

So when I emerged in my fragile state from the basement, I fully expected to see our house in shambles due to the amount of noise I had heard during the tornado. I was surprised to see nothing amiss. Too bad I didn't look at the roof...

It's not missing or anything but the strong winds and hail seem to have taken their toll. Apparently we need to get a whole new roof. Lovely.

We went over to the mall yesterday. We actually did have to run some errands, but we wanted to see what we could of the damage. For the most part everything was blocked off, but we did get a few shots of some of it...

So those two gaping holes that look like garages--those used to be walls. Solid brick walls, in fact. The entrance to that restaurant is (was) on the other side--which now looks just like this side. A new drive thru!!

Tornado!

Today I realized yet again how pathetic I am in emergencies. (You think I would have learned that when Isaac's friend broke his arm in our backyard and I immediately burst into tears...)

I stayed home from church today because I wasn't feeling well. Lincoln was upstairs asleep and I was laying on the couch, reading and relishing the quiet. I noticed that the skies began to get darker, but I love thunderstorms so that just made me excited. I moved my flowers out to get the most of the rain and didn't think much more about it. Until I heard the tornado sirens. I still wasn't concerned, because they put those sirens on a lot for drills. I glanced out the back window and noticed some neighbors across the street pointing up. I looked at the sky and saw that the clouds were swirling rapidly and I saw what I thought might be the beginning of a funnel cloud. At that point I was a little concerned, but I'm always afraid that I am overreacting (since I have a tendency to do that) so I checked on weather.com to see what was up. It said, "Tornado Warning in effect, seek shelter immediately." I still wasn't sure exactly what I should do because I really didn't want to wake Lincoln up without a VERY good reason. I went back to the back door to check the sky as I called my mom to ask her advice (I didn't want to call Ryan at church). Right as she picked up the phone I saw the tornado and it was literally RIGHT BEHIND my house. So she couldn't even understand what I said as I burst into tears and started rambling, "Tornado...I see it!...Scared!...Home alone!" She told me to go get Lincoln and get to the basement. I grabbed him and ran down there as fast as I could. Then I literally thought it was ripping the roof off my house. (It really didn't help that my only real "experience" with tornadoes is the movie Twister!) It was SO loud! I could hear metal things crashing and things falling over. I was beyond terrified. That went on for quite a few minutes and then the hail started--golf ball sized hail! My mom stayed on the line with me the whole time and attempted to calm me down. Finally I was able to venture back out and survey the damage which was...non-existent. At least at our house! I guess we weren't hit after all, although it really sounded bad at the time.

However, the mall where I work (not five minutes from our house) is a different story. It sustained MAJOR damage--some stores lost entire walls. There were cars flipped over and benches through cars. I called into work to make sure they were okay and she said it was a war zone over there and there were mannequins in the street. So far there have been no reports of injuries or deaths, so that is certainly a blessing! Last I heard there were all kinds of gas leaks over at the mall so they were evacuating the whole area.

From what Ryan has said, it was a much lower-key event at church. They just all got to go hang out in the gym for a while. He did try to call me, but I didn't answer as I was trembling with fear on the floor of the basement at the time (and not about to go upstairs to answer the phone.) They got to get out of church early though (a nice birthday present for Ryan.) When he came home I dissolved into tears again. I was really scared! But not without good reason. From what they have been saying on the news I wasn't the only one! One man was driving with his family in their Suburban when it started just sliding off the road--pushed by the force of the winds! What a crazy day!! Here are a few pictures...

No, I didn't have the wherewithal to actually take a picture of the tornado out of my window--but my friend did! This looks pretty much like what I saw.
Our trampoline with accumulated hail a few hours after the excitement had ended.

One of the hailstones from our backyard. (Once I calmed down, I realized that Ryan had taken our small, older car to church instead of the new one and I was so glad--these things could have done some serious damage!)

Dance Recital 2009

Another year, another recital. I absolutely LOVED the girls' teacher this year. She was so patient and kind to them--even though most of the time they were so silly I would have thrown them out the window if I was their teacher. Next year we are putting them in two different classes to avoid this problem. Anyway--because of all the silliness they didn't really learn their recital dance as well as they should have, but oh well--they still looked very cute in their costumes. Their dance was called "Tea Time" and they started it off with a pretend tea party. They really did a pretty good job...I just know they could have done better. Next year we are switching studios to give them more variety of dance, but their teacher from this year teaches at the other studio too, so we will do everything we can to get her again.

Here is our photo shoot at home. Last year the professional pictures turned out HORRIBLY and they were on Sunday this year, so we improvised. (They don't even look like twins in this picture!)Lincoln thought the pictures needed a little something extra...him.
Check out the girls in this picture. Probably another good reason we didn't show up for the professional group pictures. Man, if looks could kill...

Here they are having their tea party--they are the two on the far left.

The girls thought Isaac's soccer trophy was the coolest thing ever, so I ordered them some ballet trophies that they are proudly holding in this picture. They were engraved with their names and "Ballerina of the Year."
And...Lincoln stole the show! Right before the recital was about to begin he escaped Ryan, snuck up on stage and got quite a round of applause for his antics. Unfortunately I had the camera with me backstage, so no pictures of his 15 seconds of fame!

Garden of the Gods

We decided to kick off our summer vacation by heading down to Colorado Springs to spend time with family. It was a beautiful day--perfect for hiking at Garden of the Gods! I just love living here where there is so much to do. Anyway, we had a great time hiking, playing and hanging out. After we spent the morning hiking, we had a nice picnic lunch and watched the storm clouds roll in. We left just as it started to sprinkle and went back to Michael and Shelly's house. The kids played all afternoon, but unfortunately the lightening and thunder never let up which foiled our plans to go geo-caching. We will have to do that next time. We still had a nice BBQ dinner and thoroughly enjoyed our day in the Springs!

Here are Shelly and I with all the kids next to the balancing rock. Isaac was doing his best to prop it up.

Me and Lincoln sporting our new hats. My mom got me this cool hat for my birthday--it is SPF 50!! Obviously I feel strongly about hats these days. Check these out at www.wallaroohats.com Eventually I hope to have quite the collection of them.
Audrey on the mountain.

Eli and Chloe
The girls and I in a little green spot--Lincoln decided to hide his head in this picture.
Remind me to never take family pictures sitting down. Here is what you get when someone with an abnormally long torso (me) marries someone with an abnormally short torso (Ryan.) No, I am not six inches taller than my husband...

Last day of school...

Ready or not, summer is here. (I'm not ready, but that is beside the point.)

I picked up the carpool in style to celebrate. The girls even had cookies to hand out to the kids. The other side of the car was decorated too--"School is done-time for fun!" and "School's out for summer!" We washed it as soon as we got home, but the kids enjoyed it for the few minutes it was there! Notice where Lincoln chose to pose for this picture...

Then this afternoon we headed over to a splash park to celebrate the beginning of the summer. (All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for year-round school. The kids--girls too!--start again July 7th!!!)

I got a shot of all four looking at the camera! It's a miracle. They may not be looking good, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
Lincoln thought it was a drinking fountain just his size.Here he is playing with his little friend, Laynie.

Ryan, Chloe, Lincoln and Audrey ready to go home.

Brothers

Sometimes these two just melt my heart. Lincoln worships Isaac. He really doesn't feel the same way about the girls. It must be a brother thing. When Isaac comes home from school Lincoln gets so excited and Isaac is really good about playing with him and engaging him--whether they are digging in the backyard or playing hide and seek.

Lincoln qualified!

Well, Lincoln had his official assessment today and qualified for speech therapy with flying colors! :) I had a feeling it wouldn't be a problem. It was very interesting to talk to the speech therapists about him and hear their observations. They reaffirmed what we thought--he has no trouble hearing, understanding and processing information (i.e. he is very smart)--he just has a hard time getting the words to work. They also said that he is a very good non-verbal communicator (we were also very aware of that.) I'm glad we started this process now. As they were asking me to set some six month goals for them, I asked if it was realistic to expect him to be up to an age-appropriate level of communication after six months of weekly speech therapy and they said NO! Wow! They also said how communication becomes even more important for other types of cognitive development as children grow older, so this is a crucial time for him. I just want him to be able to tell us what he wants and needs! For the most part he does a great job by pointing and grunting, but at this age he should be able to say up to 50 words and he doesn't even say Mama! (He definitely knows who I am though!)

Anyway, I am excited to get started! We will be having a speech therapist come to our house every week to work with us.

I give up

Today it was a triple-berry milkshake spilled all over the brand new carpet.

I AM LOSING IT.

Seriously?!

Today...

Someone pulled up the blinds in their room so high that they are never coming down again. (The same someone broke the blinds in our room a few days ago.)

Someone stuffed the toilet in half-bath entirely full of toilet paper.

Do you want to know the most pathetic part in all of this?! NONE of these incidents can be blamed on the eighteen-month old in the family. No, all of these were caused by those five and older.

HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone is up to no good...

In the past three days...

Someone put a toy train in the treadmill and caused it to go crazy for a few minutes. (Thank goodness that was a fleeting problem!)

Someone lost the satellite remote control, making it impossible for us to utilize vital functions of our t.v. like pause, skip and rewind.

Someone shoved a small stick down into their seatbelt receiver so now we can't use that seatbelt.

It's getting really old.

Springtime

We have been spending a lot of quality time together as a family out in the yard the last few days. Spring planting season is here again! After much debate we decided to rip the rose bushes out of our front planter and start from scratch. I've had a hard time with all of the landscaping at this house because I really hate it, but I also hate the idea of getting rid of it, because I know someone at some time spent a TON of money getting this professionally landscaped. Just wait until we get a chance to rip out the giant evergreen tree in the backyard--I'm not a tree hugger, but that is going to be hard (but it has to go.) Anyway--last night we ripped out the three rose bushes that have given me more injuries in the past eighteen months than I care to admit and replaced them with lilac bushes--so beautiful, so thornless. I also planted some delphinium and this morning put the annuals in. So by the end of the summer it should all look great! We also transplanted an aspen tree, added two more and planted a maple tree in the front and center. Hopefully in a few years our house will look nestled in among a beautiful aspen grove. I love the aspen trees this time of the year--they seem to just sparkle!! And just now I mowed the lawn again--a completely different experience when the grass isn't over grown!! Maybe we don't need a real lawn mower after all! So, here are our before and afters...

Say goodbye to the rose bushes of death...

Out with the old, in with the new...
Not the greatest shot of our new aspen grove--it's over on the right. They will be huge in a matter of years...
On to other random events from our life. I am completely and totally done Christmas shopping for my kids!!!! (minus a few stocking stuffers...) How is this possible you might ask?! Dare I share my secrets? I'm sure you will all sit with mouths open in abject horror if I admit that I got all my kids Christmas presents from garage sales. I know my own siblings find me to be somewhat off my rocker on this issue. But--laugh and mock all you want! I found so many incredible deals on very gently used toys! My kids will never know the difference (they never have in the past!) and my budget certainly does--I spent less than $100! For all four kids! Woo hoo! How do you think I came up with the money to pay for the aspen and maple trees--the Christmas fund! Well, I am obviously pleased as punch with my frugal little self. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Not a good combo

Bald Spot + Comb-over + High-Speed Winds = AAAAACK!!!

Yesterday I was running errands in some seriously windy weather and there wasn't a whole lot I could do. I did have a hair extension in--but the wind blows those too. I think I am definitely going to invest in a lot of cute hats--not only to protect the rest of my scalp from the sun, but so I don't have to worry that my pathetic little comb-over won't live up to its potential!

This experience is definitely teaching me a lot. Like I have had to just get over it. So what if people see the bald spot?! What is the worst they can do--ask me what happened? Laugh at me? So what? Fifteen years ago this would have ruined me for life, but now I'm surprised at how I've been able to deal with it.

Anyway, sorry for all the random head posts lately! This blog is my journal and I have loved having last year's edition printed and bound so we can go back and read about our lives. It's crazy how quickly you forget the little things. Here is a completely unrelated picture, just so you have something to look at. It is my girls on a very sunny day with their little twin friends, Rachel and Julianna.

Hair is overrated.

Life has been crazy lately. (I feel like I start every post like this.) Lincoln and I have both been sick. This morning just after his consultation with the early intervention speech therapist, we all traipsed out to the pediatrician to have him checked out for the cough that won't quit. (How I love taking all my kids to the doctor, let me tell you.) This is all with me going off of three hours of sleep due to my cough that won't quit and killer sore throat.

Then there have been the complications with my head. When they took the stitches out a few weeks ago, I started losing massive chunks of hair every time I touched my head. Then the incision started looking weird (I won't go into too many details...) so yesterday I went back into the doctor to have it looked at. It turns out that the incision has re-opened and become infected, so I am back on antibiotics and wondering if this will ever be over. Oh--and here is the really great news. The hair is not going to grow back. The hair follicles were damaged or removed or whatever, but I have a nice bald spot on the top of my head from now on. Hope everyone loves my hair parted on the left side, because that is the way I'm going to be for the rest of my life. I am getting pretty good at covering it--you probably wouldn't know unless you were over six feet tall and staring directly down on the top of my head, but it is annoying and still very uncomfortable. So, that is my life.

All I can say is HATS, people, HATS!! Don't let this happen to you!!!!!

The Plains Center

This morning the kids and I went over to a nearby place called The Plains Center for some educational fun. When we got there, we loaded up and took a wagon ride out to the place where the animals were. The kids got to pet and feed some chickens, chicks and turkeys. (Chloe didn't much like the chickens--she was scared.) After that we got to feed the cows and calves. The cows were HUGE!!!! I have never seen anything like it--they were literally taller than me!!! We then walked around and looked at their exhibits--tipis, a pioneer sod house, a blacksmith shop and a one room school house. We also had fun observing the hundreds of prairie dogs and listening to their little barking noises. Sorry--no pictures of Lincoln as he was on my back the whole time!!

The wagon ride

Feeding the chickensHere come the cows (they were named Lewis, Clark, Rob and Roy)

The girls got to help move the hay cart.

Chloe in the blacksmith shop
Audrey pretending to teach school
Looking for the Indians!