A Mother in Zion

My Busy, Busy World

2011-12-10T22:54:00.000-06:00

Today was busy. Crazy busy. The kind of busy that makes it hard to find time to shower and make dinner, let alone get all the housework done that needs doing.

Here is an outline of what our day entailed:
1. Christmas parade downtown. It is too hot here for Fourth of July parades so our town has a Christmas parade. I loved it. My favorite parts were the live camel, the unicyclists (tons of kids from a unicycle club at a local elementary school), the marching band (singular) and all the parade entrants waving and yelling "Merry Christmas!"
2. A walk with David and Freeno. Had to be doneThe most leisurely part of the day by far.
3. Errands. Picked up Christmas gifts for the grandparents, bought a new bike light for David's bike (so he can ride to and from work the next week while the buses aren't running because school is out for the semester), got groceries and gas, made a drop at the local thrift store, dropped David off at work.

4. Getting ready for the band concert. Seth is in the Jr. High Honors band. His fall band concert was this evening. I nearly forgot about it in all the bustle of the day. I spent the time from when I got home until it was time to leave ironing, blowing dry Seth's cummerbund that had somehow gotten soaking wet, bathing the little boys since Danny had colored all over his face with blue marker, showering and getting ready myself and generally rushing around in a panic. We settled on fried eggs for dinner and David got home from work and fried them so that I could get ready.
5. Going to the band concert. It was fantastic. All the stress from the rushing around and craziness just melted away as I sat and listened to the band play. We had the fun experience of getting to hear the premier performance of a commissioned band piece and even had an opportunity to speak with the composer for a few minutes after the concert.

Seth's school tuba is quite a bit bigger than the one he has at home to practice on. It is almost as tall as Danny.

6. Getting little boys ready for bed. David had to go back to work so it was up to me. Daniel had a little nap this afternoon and I let him sleep because I needed him to stay out of trouble even though I knew there would probably be consequences (like him still being awake even though it is almost 11:00 pm). That kid has the most messed up sleeping schedule.

I'm glad that tomorrow is a day of rest.

Seth is 13

2011-11-29T21:34:00.001-06:00

My brother-in-law, Sam said it well: "Holy cow. Seth is a teenager."

My first born turned 13 today. I don't know what I would do without this kid. He is pretty amazing. He helps me so much every day from unloading the dishwasher to babysitting to helping his brothers with homework and everything in between. He even cooks occasionally. The only things he can really make are mac and cheese and toast, but hey, that's better than nothing, right?

He loves playing his tuba and is pretty good at it. He runs and enjoys sports--especially backyard games of football with the neighborhood kids. He is one of the most die-hard BYU fans I know. He is mostly kind and patient although the oldest child in him comes out sometimes and he can be a bit bossy too. He is pretty quiet around people he doesn't know really well, but he has a fun personality around friends and family. I love his sense of humor. Mostly he is just really good and wants to do the right thing. He has strong values and loves God, his family and friends and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love him and am so grateful that he joined our family 13 years ago. He is one of the lights of our lives and the joys of our hearts.

Happy birthday dear Seth!

Thanksgiving Week Update

2011-11-24T23:02:00.000-06:00

Nate with his buddy Marshall. These two little boys are apparently thick as thieves at school.

Tuesday was Nate's Thanksgiving feast at school. I have been suffering from a serious lack of organization lately so I had the time wrong and went early, but I was able to eat lunch with Nate which I think worked out better anyway. I went while Danny was at preschool so I was able to give Nate my undivided attention. I was able to have face time with him and I think that would have been harder to accomplish at the feast (which I'm sure was chaotic because all the families were invited).

We also found some leaves to play in this week. Usually the lawn care people that do the landscape maintenance for our town homes have the leaves all taken care of before we get a chance to enjoy them. I think the recent tornado has them a little behind schedule. We didn't mind. The little boys had a great time, crunching, throwing leaves in the air and making "leaf angels" while we waited for Seth's bus on Monday.

Danny's steri-strips and super glue finally came off his chin on Tuesday. The gash appears to be healing nicely. Life is good.

More on our Thanksgiving festivities HERE.

Colonial Week

2011-11-20T22:31:00.000-06:00

Colonial Week. It's a big deal for the fifth graders at our elementary school. They spend the week learning about colonial times, playing colonial games and making colonial crafts. The big huzzah at the end of the week is a colonial feast and when the entire fifth grade dances the Virginia Reel.

It was so fun to see. I actually got to dance a little bit of it with Joel so that was fun too.

Joel's fifth grade class


Joel and some of his buddies.


Most of the fifth grade. They wouldn't quite all fit in even with my camera on the wide angle setting.

More about my part in Colonial Week HERE.

Recipe for Disaster

2011-11-18T17:35:00.001-06:00

First let me say that I love my dear brother-in-law. He is as good a man as you'll ever meet. He is kind and fun to be around and hard working. But tonight we had a laugh at his expense. (Shhhhh. Don't tell, I would never want to hurt his feelings.)

Today my sister called me. She told me about a recent meal he made: Alligator, mushroom and peanut butter chili. Yes, you read that right.

Mr. T (my brother-in-law) and David went to the fish market when we were in Florida a couple of months ago. Mr. T bought alligator meat which they brought back home with them and have been keeping in their freezer. When my sister found it the other day she told him he needed to make something out of it before it went bad and the chili is what he decided sounded good. I think she was thinking along the lines of gumbo or something. When she told me about this chili, I couldn't help laughing. Alligator, mushrooms and peanut butter together has "epic fail" written all over it.

In his defense, Mr. T has made some awesome meals in the past. His gumbo is some of the silkiest, most delicious gumbo I've ever had. This is also the man who made us kimchi stuffing for Thanksgiving a few years ago. It wasn't my favorite but it wasn't awful either. He likes trying new things and sometimes it works out and sometimes. . . It. Doesn't. That happens to the best of us.

So, I was telling my boys about this chili (over our bowls of cold cereal that we had for dinner--at least he cooks, right?) and their comments had me spewing milk out my nose.

Me: Uncle P made alligator, mushroom and peanut butter chili.
Joel: (deadpan) Did he have his glasses on?
[This is where I spewed the milk]
Much laughter.
Danny: Mom are you laughing or crying.
Me: Both.
Seth: Did he make it up?
Me: No, I guess he found a recipe for it.
Seth: That's even worse.

Those were my sentiments as well. Who on earth thought such a thing would be a good idea and how were they brave enough to post such a recipe on the internet? (Now I must Google it to find out.)
In all fairness, I haven't actually tasted said chili so maybe it isn't all I'm imagining it to be.

Not sure I ever want to find out though.

P.S. I just looked and a Google search turned up this recipe. I'm willing to bet this it, so if you are a lot braver than I am and want to try it out, you can.

Bedhead

2011-11-14T15:43:00.001-06:00

I love this kid and his crazy, crazy hair.

Toothless

2011-11-14T15:36:00.001-06:00

Thursday evening after Daniel's chin incident, Nate lost his first top tooth. It was very wiggly and he wanted it out. Now. I tried to pull it for him but it was too slippery and I couldn't get a good grip. In the end, he pulled his own tooth using the old tie-your-tooth-to-the-door and slam it method. He was fearless. I tied the dental floss around his tooth and to the doorknob and he slammed the door himself. He was very happy to have that tooth out after weeks of it being wiggly. He's been all gappy-smiles ever since.

Busted

2011-11-10T20:26:00.001-06:00

This is the most graphic picture. Not bad at all. I wasn't able to stomach looking at the chin much when it was just busted open like it was.

This evening, Danny and Nate sat quietly looking at books at the kitchen table. One of them accidentally scooted the bench back and Danny lost his balance and fell forward and hit his chin on the table.
He immediately started crying and I was afraid to look. It didn't start bleeding right away, but I knew that it would so I ran to the hall closet, got a clean wash cloth to hold on it and called David and then my neighbor. By the time I had gotten the washcloth it had started to bleed. I was afraid to look, but when I did, I just knew.

When David called me back we talked briefly (I was still holding the cloth on Danny's chin) and decided to take him to the after-hours clinic at the pediatricians office. I was thinking we were going to have to take him to the ER but then we remembered the after-hours clinic. Hallelujah!

My neighbor was at my house within two minutes of me calling her. She is seriously amazing. She came to stay with Joel and Nate and fixed them some soup and canned fruit since I hadn't made dinner yet. I took Seth with me to hold the washcloth on Danny's chin while I drove and we picked up David from work and brought him along for moral support.

Waiting for the doctor to come in.

View from the front. The underneath view was not so pretty.

The doctor was able to glue his chin with Dermabond (surgical superglue) rather than giving him stitches. He was an amazing little patient. No tears, no complaints, no wiggling. Afterwards he had to get a tetanus shot, which he actually laughed through since David was distracting him. David and I just looked at each other in amazement. What kid laughs while they are getting a shot? The doctor gave him a Thomas the Tank Engine sticker and the nurse gave him two more. Three stickers. He was that good.

We ended up being there for about an hour and a half or so. SO much better than if we'd had to go to the ER. I know this from having to make two trips to the ER this year. :\

On the way home he was very happy, chattering away and laughing. David asked him why he was so happy and he said, "Because I want to be. And I am holding my stickers." Well, that explains it. Sounds like a good reason to be happy to me.

Two things:
1.) Now Danny will have probably have a scar on his chin to match his Aunt Anne's scar on her chin from when she was doing push-ups in high school and fell and had to get stitches in her chin.

2.) I find it ironic that with all the rough-housing that goes on around here, the time my kid ends up having to go to the doctor to have his chin glued together is when he was sitting quietly reading a book.

Digraph

2011-10-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

     This evening Danny was reciting The Three Little Kittens. We have the Paul Galdone version and it is one of his favorites.

     "Oh, mudder dear..."
     "Say 'mother', not 'mudder'", I interupt.
     "Mudder"
     "No--bite your tongue like this: /th/", (for any linguists out there, /ð/).

     Danny places his tongue between his teeth and makes a perfect /th/ sound.
     I get excited, "Very good! Now say "moTHer"
     "Thh-mudder"

     We'll get it one of these days.
      In the meanwhile, I am very pleased with Daniel's progress in speech therapy on his /p/ sound and Nate's progress with /s/ just recently.

Oh, and as a random aside, today was crazy hair day at school for red ribbon week. We are kind of tame around here. Joel opted for a hat and Nate wanted a fauxhawk--nothing too wacky, but we still had to take his picture. He's a cutie.

Jr. High Cross Country Championships

2011-10-22T22:35:00.000-05:00

Seth's last cross country race of the season was this morning. It was a crisp, clear morning like the ones I loved best for running wasy back when I was on the cross country team. We had to be at the meet by 7:15am. Yes, it was early for a Saturday but I didn't even mind because I was feeling all nostalgic.

The three younger boys and our little friend.

One of Daniel's favorite things to say these days is "take my picture, Mom." Happy to oblige, buddy.

The meet was held at a local park that we like to visit occasionally. We wandered around checking out the scenery until it was time for the race to start. I think I embarrass Seth, especially my picture taking but as I looked around at all the parents with their fancy-schmancy-professional-sports-photographer-type-lenses for their cameras, I thought he should be glad that I just have a little point and shoot camera. It's way less obvious than those gargantuan beasts of camera lenses.

Here's the team. Seth is the one standing with his head turned completely away from me. :P

And they're off. I think Seth was purposely hiding in the crowd from my camera. He's in there but you can't see him.

After the race.

After his race, he was supposed to stick around for the other races and awards ceremony. Since we had our other three boys and another little boy with us (whose mom had a baby today) and they were getting restless we decided to leave Seth and go to Syrup Sopping Day in a nearby town and then come back and get him. It worked out perfectly.

I'm proud of Seth for a good season. He improved his time by quite a bit today and I think he still has nowhere to go but up. It will be fun to see how his running develops over the next couple of years.

What To Do In Winter

2011-10-10T15:12:00.000-05:00

I found this drawing in my boys' room this morning. My ten year old recently made friends with Bill Watterson ("Calvin and Hobbes") and Gary Larson ("The Far Side").

Egad. We may need to find this kid a psychologist.

Family Pictures

2011-10-04T23:52:00.000-05:00

This post is just some of my favorite pictures from our recent family photo session. My friend Nicole took them. I think she did a great job. I'm very happy with them.

Grandparents if you are reading, if you have preferences of which ones you want for Christmas let me know. (There are a few others as well that I can email you if you want to see all the options--there were just my preferences). I know it won't be much of a surprise, but this way you can have exactly what you want.

Friends, if you are in the Auburn area, Nicole's prices are very reasonable. She was engaging and professional and the whole experience was really pleasant and fun for our family.

(You can click any of the pictures to see them larger)

General Conference

2011-10-04T23:42:00.000-05:00

General Conference was this past weekend. We started a new tradition of building a fort so that the boys could pitch their tent toward the prophets while they were listening to the talks like the people in the Book of Mormon did when they came to hear King Benjamin speak.

Today, Daniel asked me if we could watch General Conference again. I told him it was over and asked if he wanted to watch a movie instead. He got all sad and said no, he wanted to watch General Conference. Maybe the tent had something to do with his enthusiasm.

That and the m&ms.

Campus

2011-10-04T23:34:00.000-05:00

I think Auburn has a gorgeous campus with its brick and stone buildings and its verdant grass and flowering trees and bushes. We thoroughly enjoyed having our family pictures taken there this past weekend by my talented friend, Nicole and walking across campus in that magical time of early evening.

Apparently the little boys were worn out by all the picture taking.

The back of Samford Hall

Fish pond with lily pads (which I never knew existed before Friday)

Wilmore Laboratories where David's office and the lab are located.


Another closer up shot of Wilmore Laboratories (the chemical engineering building)

I'm looking forward to being able to go back to campus again soon and just wander around. There's something so appealing about college campuses in the fall.

Ad-Libbing

2011-09-25T20:02:00.000-05:00

Today was the annual children's program at church. The children work hard all year learning songs to sing about the theme for the year. Each child also has a speaking part. The message always centers around Jesus Christ and His gospel.

I look forward to this Sunday each year--and not just because it is the one Sunday where my children are under someone else's supervision--but because it is such a sweet, spiritual (and often funny) experience. This year's program did not disappoint.

I waited excitedly for each of my boys to have their turn saying their part. We had practiced at home so I felt confident that they would do well.

Nate said his line with only a minor glitch of being in the wrong spot and saying his line before he was supposed to.

When it came time for Daniel to say his part, he was supposed to fill in the blank. The teacher said "I can follow the prophet by. . ." Daniel had practiced saying "being a good brother" but at the last minute he thought of something he wanted to say more:
He leaned into the microphone and clearly said, "Uhhh, my mom is awesome!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. So did a lot of other people.

He didn't get his line right, but it kinda made my day. I got lots of comments from friends after the meeting. I reassured everyone that no, I did not bribe him to say that. I really am just an awesome mom.

At least he thinks so.

Mrs. Potato Head

2011-09-23T19:24:00.001-05:00

"Look, Mom. It's you."

I am feeling under the weather today. I have a nasty cold. It has kind of affected my ability to function/think normally.

For example, this morning I went to the grocery store to pick up donuts and cider for our Autumnal Equinox celebration. I also picked up chicken noodle soup, orange juice and Emergen-C. When I went to check out my card was denied. What? How is that possible? I pulled out my card to swipe it again and noticed that it was not my debit card. It was my Sam's Club card. Yup, I guess those don't work as payment at Kroger. So, I swiped the right card and made a comment to the cashier about how I must be hung over from the Nyquil I took last night. I was met by blank looks from the cashier and bagger and the sound of crickets chirping. "Okay" I said "Thanks. I'm just going to go home and eat my chicken noodle soup and drink my orange juice."
Sheesh people, lighten up.

When I got home I got out the Dayquil to take some. I couldn't get the little foil packet open so I set it down and was going to get some scissors but somehow I got distracted. An hour and a half later I was wondering why I still felt so awful. I picked up a tissue to blow my nose for the 100th time and noticed the medicine that I never took earlier.

A little bit later I was propped with a bunch of pillows in my bed ~~wasting time~~ on the interwebs when Daniel brought in Mr. Potato head to show me. "Look Mom. It's you." Sadly, Mr. Potato head makes a pretty good likeness with his red nose, bushy eyebrows in need of plucking, squinty, puffy eyes and lumpy potato shaped body.
Thank you, son, for keeping me humble.

Oh, and I should mention that the donuts we ate were delicious even though having a cold dulls my sense of taste.

Happy fall!


Powdered Sugar Lips

At the End of the Day

2011-09-19T19:46:00.000-05:00

Blue otter pop melted on my recently cleaned bathroom counter. It left a big stain. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

Sometimes I go into my boys' rooms after they have fallen asleep just to look at them and remember how sweet life can be during the good times. I especially like to do this on days when I am feeling frustrated, exasperated, worn-out or impatient; Days like today for example. It really hasn't been a bad day except that I have had a sore throat and I feel a little worn out. (This is what happens to me when I don't get enough sleep. I get a sore throat).

Things were going fine until I started cleaning up the table after dinner. Nate decided it would be a good idea to pick up a piece of chicken out of the casserole dish with his fork and hold it over the dish until it fell into the barbecue sauce with a splat and splashed sauce all over my new white pants (which I have only worn twice, by the way). I went to change out of my pants so I could throw them in the washer right away when I heard Seth start yelling at Daniel. Apparently Danny decided that that would be an opportune time for him to pee-pee on the carpet in his bedroom.

I grabbed a towel and threw it on the mess then went to throw my pants in the washer which I discovered was full of clean but wet clothes. I threw those in the dryer and tried to start it up but the dryer has just recently started acting up and wouldn't work (yes, this is the new dryer we got when ours died back at the end of May). *Sigh*.

Then Daniel puked.

Anyway, it all turned out okay. The pants are in the wash. The dryer is running (with about 1/3 of its original load) and the mess has been cleaned. I think Daniel will be okay too. Now all the boys are playing quietly in their rooms and I am about to tuck them all into bed.

And then, when they are asleep I will go in and look at them and remember how sweet life can be. Sometimes.

Daniel fell asleep playing with pirates after lunch today. I do love nap time.

Predilections

2011-09-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

Did you know I started a new blog and an Etsy shop? It's true. I'll still be hanging out here quite a bit but my new place for non-family related stuff (and the occasional family related post as well) will be at "Predilections" (mypredilections.com).

As I was pondering how to simplify my life as it pertains to blogging I got the distinct impression that I needed to consolidate and start fresh with a new blog. I had too many pans in the fire and they were all getting neglected. "Predilections" was born. It is going to take the place of my other blogs Inkgenious, I Read a Book and Jillustrated. My vision is for Predilections to be all that those blogs have been and more. But I'm also going to take a little more laid back approach than I have in the past: no set schedules of when I will post and no stressing if I don't post every day. It is pretty much just a place for me to share all of my favorite things with the world.

I really hope you'll check it out. And while you are at it check out my Etsy shop too. I need all the support I can get. If you see something you like send me a message and I'll see what I can do for a friends and family discount. I'll do custom orders too--quotes for your walls (not vinyl--think more like a large frame-able card), scrapbook mini-albums, card sets, whatever. (Christmas is only a few short months away. Hint. Hint). If you have an idea, send me a message and we'll work something out.

Three Things

2011-09-15T00:36:00.002-05:00

This is what happens when I let my children have free reign over what they wear. Yes, my son is 10 years old. Yes, he dresses himself. And yes, maybe he still needs a little help.

Who knew bubble wrap was so dangerous? I certainly didn't.

This little note came in a package I ordered from ebay. "This item was shipped from Hong Kong so it may took longer. But we also want you could try to help us to leave 5 stars".

I think I've probably mentioned Engrish on this blog before. I don't know why I find it so entertaining. Perhaps it is because I know how bad my own grammar is when I am trying to speak in another language. It's kind of nice to know I'm not alone.

Ordinary Saturday

2011-09-11T00:54:00.001-05:00

The weather has been a little cooler lately which has been terrific but it warmed up again today. We'll probably have quite a few more warm days, but who knows how many times we'll be able to make it to the pool before it closes until next spring. So we went today. Carpe Diem and all that good stuff.

Daniel is such a funny little man. I guess my children don't really get the concept of "laying out" to get a tan. That's what comes from having such fair skinned parents.And just in case you are wondering, the weird lumpiness by his head under the towel is his life vest/water wings thingy.

Nate commented on Daniel's "cute little feet" sticking out. He liked the idea so much he had to try it too. It did help them keep the sun out of their eyes and helped them both to warm up after swimming in, what Seth called, the "polar bear water". I hoped they would fall asleep and take a nap but no such luck.

I tried to get some epic action shots of the boys jumping into the pool. What I ended up with were maybe not exactly epic, but still, they made me smile.

We stayed for quite a while and had the pool all to ourselves. Apparently no one else was ~~crazy~~ brave enough to go swimming in the not-so-warm water. Then we came home and had a lunch of tuna fish sandwiches on buttered white bread with chopped up bread-and-butter pickles and crisp iceberg lettuce-- just the way my mom used to make them and just the way I love them. It was extremely satisfying, if humble, fare.

I keep a list in my head of foods which I might request for my last meal if I ever find myself in a position to request a last meal. One never knows when such a need may arise. A tuna fish sandwich like Mom used to make has now joined the ranks of other possible last meal requests such as fresh raspberries and cream or a lightly salted poached egg on buttered toast .

Going to the pool always wears us out. Considering the grumpy streak my boys have been on lately I was really hoping for naps this afternoon, but David was the only one that fell asleep before 8:00 (although he woke up shortly after this snooze). Yes, in this picture he is sitting at the computer (with his hand on the keyboard even), but he is asleep. There's something about the Dunn men being able to sleep just about anywhere and in the most uncomfortable-looking positions. This is further proof.

The rest of our Saturday was occupied with football games, baking, some church-y assignments that I needed to work on and a drive around the neighborhood with the windows down looking at homes and feeling happy and wistful at the same time. I get kind of weird that way sometimes.

I hope your Saturday was filled with all the ordinary things that make life wonderful. Like leisurely drives with the windows down and tuna sandwiches.

Living with Boybarians

2011-09-10T01:54:00.001-05:00

Found this in my drafts and decided it needed to be published. I love my life, but it is not perfect and sometimes remembering the tough days helps you realize how really awesome the good days are. (11-13-11)

Do you ever go in and look at your children when they are sleeping just to remind yourself how precious they are and how lovely life can be when it is peaceful? I do.

I am not the first to use the term "boybarian" but it is was so fitting yesterday. I had one of those afternoons where I seriously questioned my ability to raise these wild little boys into kind, polite and charming gentlemen.

The low points involved Daniel peeing in the yard in full view of our very proper Korean neighbors (who were walking by with their little girl) and Joel calling his brothers to dinner by yelling "Come and eat right now or you don't get any food at all!" in his loudest, nastiest voice so that I'm pretty sure everyone in the neighborhood heard him.

There was lots of yelling, climbing on cars, running away down the street and general whining and being unpleasant going on as well.

I should have known from the rough way that the day started that it wasn't going to be all kittens and sunshine today (despite the gorgeous weather). I was awakened from my peaceful night's sleep by the sound of doors slamming and boys yelling at each other. If we hadn't been rushing to get ready for school I might have made someone go back to bed and get up on the other side.

After the older boys left for school, I did a little housework and ran to the grocery store then got ready for our preschool at 10:00. My neighbor and I are doing a preschool trade this year. It has been going great until today. Daniel decided to pout and be obstinate almost the whole two hours. At one point he ended up in time out for a few minutes. Eventually we made it through that but it was not the fun experience it has been in the past.

This afternoon I was seriously tired. It was the kind of tired where you literally have a hard time standing up and keeping your eyes open. I decided I would stick a movie in for Daniel and lay by him on the couch to see if he would take a nap (I was out of the running for mother-of-the-year a long time ago, so this wasn't a difficult decision). He didn't nap but I did, unfortunately. When I woke up he had used up an entire red crayon on the inside of our front door and the hallway wall. He had also gotten into the jar of "incentive" candy and eaten more than half of the formerly full jar.

He spent the rest of the day crying, throwing temper tantrums, repeating "I want to watch Ratatouille" about a million times, (and doing his business in the yard) until he finally zonked out at about 8:00.

He has been fighting off a cold and really needed a nap today. I really needed him to have a nap but he did not cooperate.

The other boys were not without fault either. I threatened them all with being grounded at one point but I can't even remember why now so I probably will do another horrible-mother thing and won't follow through. This may be part of our problem. I stink at following through.

Anyway, how did I handle all of this mayhem (since my husband didn't get home from work until around 7:30 and I was left to try to tame the barbarian hoard all alone)? Well, first I fed them. That seemed to help a little.

Then I made sure they were settled down enough that I wasn't worried for their safety. I finally let Daniel watch Ratatouille with Seth and Joel went in the other room to watch a different movie. Then, I ran away.

I left Seth in charge and I went to the drugstore and Target.

When I got home a little over an hour later the house was quiet. David was home and all of the children but Joel were asleep.

Asleep, looking innocent and beautiful and not at all wild or unruly. Until the morning when they wake up and it starts all over again.

Minutia

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to another random sampler from our lives.

Last week we made a stop at the local cupcake shop to pick up a cupcake for my friend for her birthday. Naturally we had to pick up a couple for ourselves as well. Daniel chose chocolate. It was almost as big as he is.

Last week I found this feather as I was walking to our mailbox. I thought it was so pretty, despite it's ruffled appearance, that I had to snap a picture of it.

Speaking of finding things, David found a penny. While this doesn't sound like very exciting news, it gets better. It wasn't just any penny, it was a wheat penny. Still not all that impressed? Well, have you ever seen a wheat penny from 1958 that was this shiny? Me neither! It looked like new. I have seen 2011 pennies that look more tarnished than this one. We were pretty excited. Yeah, I guess it doesn't take much.

We recently went on a day hike with the Webelos. Of course I brought my camera and took lots of pictures. I can't help it, okay? I know some people think I'm silly but it's how I operate. One of the dads made some snide remark about my taking pictures of weeds. Apparently he doesn't appreciate nature the way I do. I like my pictures of weeds. Even if David says this photo looks like it belongs on the album cover of Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits.

Pshaw.

Well, maybe. What do you think?

The Latest on Seth

2011-09-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

Seth is the busiest of my boys these days. Here are some updates from his life lately:

This is after he finished the race. He hardly even looks winded.

Not sure what he is doing here but he looks happy.

At the starting line

About a mile into the race

This is David wearing Seth's shoes. Yes, they wear the same size know. Crazy, eh?

Seth had a court of honor for scouts last Wednesday. He got his Star rank and several merit badges.

Here Seth is showing off his merit badges: First Aid, Emergency Preparedness, Swimming and Indian Lore. He has a couple others that he is close to earning as well. Now I need to find him a sash so I can sew them on.

So, that's the latest on Seth. He's also keeping busy with Honor's band but I don't have any pictures for that yet. This kid is such a good boy, loving brother and a wonderful help to me. I don't know what I would do without him.

Florida Caverns

2011-09-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

On our way home from the beach we stopped at Florida Caverns and took a cave tour. I love this sort of thing. Our nearly hour long tour sped by. There was so much to see and it was so interesting. Even the little boys didn't seem to tire of it until right at the end after we exited the cave, at which point Daniel refused to move anymore (for about five minutes) and Nate had a major meltdown since I wouldn't buy him a stuffed dog at the gift shop. It's so hard to be a kid sometimes.

Here are Daniel and Seth descending the steps to the cave entrance.

Cool tiered formation in the first chamber of the cave.

Cave bacon. Mmmm. Bacon.

"Wedding Cake" formation in the Bridal Chamber or Wedding Room of the Caverns.

Not sure what the name of this formation was but we thought it looked like the Tower of Babel.

"Rock of Many Names", so called because of all the different names people who have tripped over it have christened it with. I hit my head on the stalactite above it as I was avoiding tripping over it. Ouch.

Pretty castle-like formation.

View of the chamber we had just exited through a window in the rock.

Cave ceiling near the exit of the cave.

Another shot of the cave ceiling in a different spot near the exit.

There were all kinds of interesting formations--stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flow stone, cave curtains (another name for the cave bacon) and others that I don't remember. We also learned a lot about the Civilian Conservation Corp which worked to preserve the cave and make it accessible to the public in the 1930s.

Taking a breather while the tour guide talked about some of the work that the CCC did on the cave.

Family Portrait inside the cave.

Moss covered boulders at the cave's exit.

Bracket fungus.

Path back to civilization.

Nate before his meltdown.

A leaf that Daniel found and stuck in a hole in a rock.

After our tour we walked back to the parking lot and had a picnic lunch before giving hugs goodbye to my sister, brother-in-law and nieces and heading back to Auburn. The weather was a little bit fall-like which made the ride home in our un-air-conditioned car tolerable.
It was a lovely and fitting way to celebrate Labor Day, especially with all that we learned about the CCC.

Boys posing with a statue of a CCC worker.

Labor Day Weekend at the Beach

2011-09-06T17:19:00.000-05:00


"Three Pines"--our deluxe accommodations; around 100-200 yards from the beach.

For labor day weekend we made a trip to the beach. We were there during Tropical Storm Lee so it wasn't the greatest weather while we were there but we still had a great time.

We played in the surf (despite the double red flags). Really, I wouldn't let my kids go out in the water. It made me nervous. We mostly stuck to standing on the shore (and letting the waves crash into us) as well as a minimal amount of wake boarding.

Joel wasn't too shabby at skim-boarding given his lack of experience.

We played in the sand and hunted for treasures.

This is right before he landed with a thud. "Ugh"

Sand dollar.

Trying to catch a crab

Daniel footprint

Nate's sand castle

Pine cones don't belong on the beach. I found this one the morning after the big storm.

Sandy.

At first look we thought this was drift wood but upon closer examination we are pretty sure it is a tar ball. Or at least part of one. It was thick and slightly sticky and a bit rubbery. Yuck.

We found big and little shells, bits of sand dollars and parts of tar balls. We even found a pine cone and a washed up man of war. We dug for crabs and chased them around. We made sand castles and sand angels. We watched coquinas burrow down in the sand and chased seagulls. We buried little boys up to their necks and wrote our names with a stick.

The waves were the biggest we have ever seen them at this beach. They are not Hawaii-big but then again, this isn't Hawaii, now is it?

Joel said he saw an octopus. I'm pretty sure it was just seaweed.

Best picture of me ever. HA!

Wind.

Carolyn was brave. She went out waist deep and went body surfing. Here she is pointing out how large the waves were. I wouldn't let my kids go in past their ankles. Even so, the waves got them plenty wet.

We marveled at how big the waves were and got pounded by the wind. A lot.

Another not so flattering shot of me with my beautiful sister and niece.

We enjoyed all the sights:

I just liked the weathered wood and the candy colors.

These people were sitting outside but totally hiding behind their towels. It made us laugh so I made Carolyn take a picture of them because I was too chicken.

Oleander. I never knew what it looked like until this trip.

And the times we weren't on the beach we spent hanging out with family and eating. This weekend I ate three things I had never had before: fresh grouper, prickly pears (picked by my nieces off of a prickly pear cactus) and rock shrimp. We also had all kinds of other delicious things like roast chicken, bakery bread and homemade cherry chocolate chip ice cream.

At night we listened to the rain and the wind and the waves.

It was a lovely weekend.

Shenanigans

2011-08-25T22:31:00.000-05:00

This morning I had to take Daniel with me to the chiropractor's office. David has a class that he is attending on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I didn't know about it when I scheduled my appointment. I was a little nervous but he sat there quietly and played with his cars and looked at his book. It was amazing.

He made up for it by running around like a crazy man the rest of the day. His shenanigans included pulling all the shoes out of the master bedroom closet, running away from home (at one time three of us were looking for him), dumping out a large bin of crafting supplies, pulling all the couch cushions off the couch multiple times, hitting his brother with a baseball bat (it was a plastic one, but still!), sneaking food out of the fridge, scattering Nate's school papers, stealing Joel's dinner and generally just being wild. I tried to diffuse some of the naughtiness by letting him run around outside for awhile. He played with the wagon and his car. He played in the sandbox. He especially liked using the bin we keep the dog food in as his stage and dancing around. He made up a funny little song about fire ants. I can't really understand everything he says but there is something about if "you get bitten by those fire ants then you die or get fired" and "See that ball? I'm going to get it when I'm done dancing" and a lot of "uh uh uh"s.

I love this kid, but this was one of those days when I was glad for bedtime.

Light Behind the Clouds and Other Scenes from Life Lately

2011-08-24T09:04:00.000-05:00

My mums are blooming again. They are ready for autumn to arrive too!

I found this picture on camera after I took it away from Daniel. I like it. I think there is something quite artistic about it. I like trying to see the world through the eyes of a four year old. It is a different world for them.

I promised the boys a family banana split party last Friday night to celebrate the successful end of the first full week of school. My favorite part was the homemade caramel sauce. I have to restrain myself from eating it by the spoonful from the jar.

I watched my friend's baby and little girl for her last week. She was completely exhausted and needed a break to recuperate. It was fun to have him here, to marvel over his blue eyes (something none of my children have) and the tiny fingers and toes. He is a sweet and darling baby. It also made me realize that I am out of practice and that I am in no way baby hungry. I love my (somewhat independent) children. I loved having babies too, but they are a lot of work. Still, look at those precious chubby fingers! Totally worth the work. Just not for me right now.

Two bound copies of David's doctoral dissertation arrived in the mail this week. In case you can't read the ruler in the second picture, this baby is 2.5 inches thick. It is 523 pages. This book represents the last seven years of blood, sweat and tears on the part of my husband and our whole family. I love this book.

Does anyone else have children fight over who is going to get the mail? I remember I used to love to get the mail. Now I am only too happy to let my children get it since more often than not it is just bills or credit card offers. They are always looking forward to the Boys' Life and the LEGO magazines' arrival. Lately we've been getting lots of free samples too which is also fun.

There is something about blue, blue skies and puffy white clouds that makes me feel peaceful. I especially love seeing sun rays bursting out from behind clouds. I have been reading "Little Women" for the first time in my life (and loving it). In the part where Beth has Scarlet Fever and is near death, Marmee is standing by the window when she sees the moon break from behind the clouds like a "benignant" face saying "Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds."

I love that. Sometimes when I see clouds like this I feel like my Father in Heaven is telling me the same thing: "Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds."

Butterfly Chasing

2011-08-19T23:03:00.000-05:00

A few days ago the weather was cooler. It almost felt like autumn, so we decided to take advantage of it and hang out outside for awhile. Joel ran to get me and tell me there was a butterfly. I had him go get my camera and then we chased it around for awhile. It was one of those simple moments that despite their quiet, unremarkable passing still somehow manage to be magical.
Being with my children + enjoying the beauty of the world + temperatures in the mid to high 70s=pure joy.

Stop! Grammar-time.

2011-08-17T18:35:00.000-05:00

I tried a new recipe tonight for dinner. Well, not new exactly, but new as in we haven't had it in at least three years. It wasn't all that I remembered it to be.

Me: This chicken isn't bad. . .
Nate: It isn't good either.
(Pause followed by me laughing.)
Me: I guess Nate doesn't like the chicken.
Nate: It's neutral. It isn't bad or evil.
Me: Is it chaotic? (showing my boys that I am not completely clueless when it comes to gaming)
Joel: It's "chaos", Mom.
Mom: Chaos is a noun. Chaotic is an adjective. I was describing the chicken.
Seth (to Joel): Ooooh. You just got grammared.

For those who don't know, getting grammared is like getting Jimmered but by your Mom when she corrects your grammar.

Word.

Indisposed

2011-08-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

Saturday evening, as I was cleaning up from the day, my kitchen sink became clogged. I had put some orange peels in the disposal thinking to freshen it but instead of going down easily like they normally do when I do this, the sink started backing up. And it didn't smell like orange peels.

This is not the first time this type of thing has happened. I actually bought a plunger specifically for the kitchen sink awhile back and I have always been able to clear the clogs myself in the past. I spent an hour plunging, scooping tiny bits of chopped orange peel out of the sink with my hands and feeling around for obstructions (ick!), peering down into the drain with a flashlight and trying my husband's tried-and-true boiling water method. Nothing. Well, nothing much. I was able to get the sink to a point where it was draining, albeit very slowly. Finally I gave up and went to bed. Sunday morning I briefly tried again before church. Still nothing. After church I emailed the main office for our townhouses and put in a work order.

Yesterday morning we got up, got the kids off to school, I went for a brisk bike ride and then Daniel and I got ready and went to the day old bread store and to pick up a few groceries.When we got back the maintenance man had been here. I could tell because the sink was draining nicely again. And then I noticed something.

Sitting by my sink was the work order I had submitted, along with this:

Poor Mr. Turtle! Apparently he had a rough couple of days. He lost two legs--nearly three--and his head and shell got pretty banged up, but somehow he managed to survive.

The disposal, on the other hand, may not make it.

Happy Life

2011-08-13T21:35:00.003-05:00

Here are a few random snapshots from the last week. Be warned. I have yet to figure out how to write a short/succinct blog post. Working on that.

click to view larger

First up: The doctor's office. Heh heh. We had to run some errands and one of them took us to David's office. Daniel liked looking around and trying to get into things. I liked reading the titles of the books in Dr. Dunn, PhD's office. My favorites: "What's Wrong With My Mouse?", "Ending Aging", "Essential Cardiology", "GENES VI", "Statistical Analysis of Medical Data Using SAS" and "Gene and Cell Therapy". They sound like riveting reads to me (and I'm actually only being partly sarcastic).

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Silly face.


Impromptu nap on the couch.

Next up: Dan the man. This little guy has been missing his brothers this week. And getting into a little bit of trouble as a result (such as when he broke the cookie jar). There were tears but thankfully no injuries. "I was just trying to get a cookie mom!"

He has also been taking better naps this week. No brothers to keep bothering him. No excitement to miss out on. I have been loving it.

The other big news this week is that I think we have made a potty training breakthrough. We are on day four with zero accidents. Daniel has been by far the toughest boy to train but he has it all figured out now and is doing fantastic. I credit his success to three major causes: 1) No TV for him to zone in on so he's more aware, 2) Keeping a jar of "magic beans" (Jelly Bellies) in the medicine cabinet for after he washes his hands post-potty and 3) The arrival of a free potty training DVD in the mail.

Which brings me to my next thing: free samples.

I realize this isn't super exciting for everyone but I have to say that once free stuff started arriving in my mailbox I was hooked. A few months ago I started following a couple of deal blogs. These are only some of the samples we've received as we've used many others not pictured (a full sized SoyJoy bar, sample sized boxes of cereal, pull-ups, cereal bars, a Shout Color Catcher, Shout wipes and lots of other things; plus coupons for other free products like eggs, yogurt, fruit juice, etc.) My favorite freebies in this batch were the aforementioned Potty Training Success DVD, the full sized bottle of shampoo and the full sized coffee creamer. I don't drink coffee but it is good in Postum and hot chocolate. We have more samples on the way and lots of coupons for free products too. Hooray for free stuff.

And finally, the next best thing to free is cheap. Read: IKEA. Today we went to Atlanta to attend the temple there. On the way home we decided to stop at Ikea for lunch and to look around a bit. We each got a plate of delicious Swedish meatballs with lingonberries, real mashed potatoes and cream sauce for $2.99 a piece! w00t! That's cheaper than a fast food burger and so much more filling (and dare I say healthier? Probably not a whole lot but we can pretend). Then we had a fun time making our way through the maze. Dave and I are patting ourselves on the backs because we beat the odds: According to the WSJ "60% of the things people buy there were not on their original shopping list." We left with nothing but our full stomachs from our meatballs and a golf pencil that David pilfered.

Oh, and this piece of wisdom:

I think this will be my new mantra. I have complained about living in this tiny townhouse too many times.So today, I am feeling very grateful and very happy.

The Last Day of Summer Vacation

2011-08-12T22:01:00.001-05:00

Three boys in the brook.

For our last hurrah before school started back up, I packed a picnic on Tuesday and took the boys to Monkey Park. (I don't know why it's called Monkey Park. There are no monkeys. I tried to find the history of the name but with no luck. Anyway, that's where we went). There is a smallish creek called Rocky Brook where the boys could wade and sometimes there is a little train that gives free rides around the park, but not on Tuesdays at lunchtime. It's a fun time-warp kind of park with funky cement structures and old-school metal slides and whatnot (using "whatnot" makes me sound like my grandpa).

Daniel was on the move the whole time we were there. He didn't want to go in the water which surprised me a little but he definitely did his share of running.

Running

And a good bit of climbing.

Climbing.

But his favorite hang-out was the blue elephant.

See what I mean about "funky cement structures"?

Nate and Danny rode on the concrete elephants and pretended they were elves on oliphants (Yes, my children have watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Many times). Nate was Legolas.

We saw all sorts of wildlife like this tiny frog that Seth caught:

Tiny little frog.

And the salamander and fish that Joel didn't catch.

Joel trying to catch fish.

We also saw, dragonflies, squirrels, birds and a couple of butterflies.

Butterfly

There wasn't too much sitting around, but it was really hot. So there was a need for a little bit of cool down time.

Seth and Nate take a breather.

And of course the little creek was very much appreciated by sweaty little boys.

Joel liked running in the water and getting all splashy.

Then it was time to go home. So we went.

Going, going, gone.

It was a good day.

They are growing up too fast.
They aren't so little anymore.
I need to enjoy these days while I can.

Tiniest acorn I have ever seen.

Back to School

2011-08-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of school. It was kind of bittersweet. I love my kids. I like being around them. I like having them near me and I like not having to worry about getting up at 6:00am. But it was time. They were getting tired of summer whether they'll admit it or not.

The Second Grader

The Fifth Grader

The Eighth Grader

Nate has the same teacher for second grade that Seth had for fourth.

Joel has the same teacher for fifth grade that Seth had for fifth grade.

So yesterday, I helped the boys get off to school and embarrassed them by being the mom who follows them into their classrooms to take pictures and then we had a nice relaxing day. Until they got home.

Daniel and I went to the library. We checked out books and dvds for me to watch while I ironed. I had called and canceled our TV provider on Monday. It was a leap of faith considering how much we have been watching it lately but I never wanted to be that type of family so now it is gone. Don't get me wrong. I like TV. It was just on too much and I felt like it was tempting me into staying up too late and my kids had it on too often. It was a pretty personal decision but I felt strongly like it was what I needed to do. People told me I wouldn't miss it and for the most part they are right. I am kind of enjoying the peace and quiet and not having to fight with my boys to turn the TV off and do their homework or chores. Anyway, after the library we ran some errands and then came home and did a bunch of housework then I made chocolate chip cookies.

In the afternoon we went to pick up the elementary school boys from school and waited for half an hour in the sweltering heat in the car line (someday I will own a car with reliable air conditioning and I will be grateful for it every day and never take it for granted). When I picked them up I asked them how their day was and Nate immediately got pouty. According to him he was the only kid in his whole class to get in trouble the whole day. Typical Nate. I hope we are not in for another very long year like last year. Joel had a great day and was happy.

When we got home I got a phone call from Seth saying he had missed his bus so I had to head over to the Jr. High to pick him up. By the time we got home I was nauseated from the extreme heat and super grumpy but happy to be back in my air-conditioned home. The boys started on homework and I started on dinner and then it was time to go to scouts. I dropped them off, came home put the little boys to bed, did more ironing and made sure everything was ready for a quick send-off in the morning again. I signed a million papers to be returned to school (only a million more to go!) and went to bed at 11:00 completely exhausted

So, there was pretty much no downtime at all yesterday. I made up for it today by falling asleep on the couch after I picked the boys up for school and sleeping until 7:00pm.

I need to find balance.

Scenes from the Past Week

2011-08-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

The past week was long. I am worn out. Last night I had a sore throat and a killer headache and felt a stuffy nose coming on. Since I am slightly afraid of being sick for when school starts, I stayed home today and rested. A lot. We are all looking forward to getting back into a routine once the boys start school on Wednesday.

Aside from the laundry pile of Himalayan proportions which I attacked and conquered this week, here are a few glimpses into our week.

Monday I made my first real banana pudding, complete with meringue. I was starting to feel like I was neglecting my duty as a Southerner (albeit a transplanted one) by never having made a true banana pudding, so I rectified the situation.

My first real banana pudding. The photo doesn't do it justice--it was gorgeous.

I loved it when it was warm. The texture of the bananas left something to be desired once it cooled though. Despite that, it all got eaten.

We have been atrocious about maintaining bedtimes over the summer. I'm afraid I will pay for it when school starts. My children have weird sleeping habits anyway, especially Joel (who, from the time he was a tiny baby, has always been afraid he's going to miss something) and Danny (who, for some reason unknown to me, would rather sleep on the floor in the hallway than in his bed). One night when David was particularly late getting home and I was particularly tired of fighting it, I let Danny join me in the front room while I watched TV. He fell asleep on the couch and eventually slid down into this position. He must be related to his Uncle Sammy.

Yesterday, after a long week and a long day, we decided to go on a little date and peruse the antique store for awhile. We walked around and I found a couple of old mason jars to begin my collection. For anyone who doesn't know, blue mason jars are all the rage these days. I think they are quite lovely and I got a pretty good deal. One has a zinc lid and the other a glass lid. I think they'll look pretty in my china cabinet or with flowers in them. Right now they are hanging out on my mantle till I decide what to do with them.

Although you can't tell in this photo, one of my favorite things about these jars is the bubbles in the glass.

I had David drive me to a place where I knew there were some hydrangea bushes so I could cut a few. They actually grow wild around here sometimes. Hydrangeas are one of my favorites. These are the same ones that were blue a month or so ago. I think they are fascinating the way they change. They actually look quite pretty dried as well. Right now they are brightening the space atop my piano.

Tonight we had lasagna roll-ups, spinach salad, green peas and cantaloupe for dinner. I was in a hurry to get everything on the table and didn't both washing the cantaloupe innards down the disposal. During dinner, Nate got up to refill his water glass and said, "Ew! There are aliens in our sink!"

I can totally see how he would think that.

Other things that made me happy this week: listening to my husband practice Erik Satie (Gymnopedie No. 1) on the piano; the smell of honeysuckle; donuts and pizza; being able to help our dear friends with their move; Burt's Bees Naturally Ageless Skin Firming Night Creme.

Freckled

2011-07-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

Freckles are a badge of summertime around here. Daniel has gotten freckles for the first time this year. There aren't very many but I think they are darling.

Next comes Nate. Goofy Nate with his typical-seven-year-old goofy smile. He has a few more freckles than Danny but they are still just a sweet sprinkling across his nose and cheeks.

Joel has a few more than Nate. He loves playing outside, maybe the most of all my boys, so I guess it's only natural that he should get more sun than they do.

Seth, however, is the clear winner in the freckle category. I think the fact that he spent an entire week outside at Boy Scout camp last week might have contributed to the abundance of "clusters of concentrated melanin" this year. He is covered!

Aren't freckles the cutest? I love my freckled boys. As John Greenleaf Whittier would say, "Outward sunshine, inward joy."
(from "The Barefoot Boy". Read it. If you have little boys like me, you will love it!)

Got Milk?: A Dinner Conversation

2011-07-22T19:16:00.000-05:00

Source: humblebumble.tumblr.com via Jill on Pinterest

I made coconut chicken for dinner. It was tasty. Joel made the comment that it was a great meal. We had frozen peas and fruit from a can too in my pitiful attempt to make the meal more rounded. Not very glamorous, but Joel was quick to point out that we were having protein, fruits and vegetables and dairy. Nope, no dairy. The chicken was dredged in coconut milk, not regular milk. This was the conversation that followed. I've left out names so that my children won't be traumatized at some future date by having this conversation immortalized on the interwebs.

Child 1: "Regular milk comes from cows, right?"
Child 2: " And sometimes penguins"

I couldn't help it. I cracked up. I told Child 2 that typically mammals produce milk and birds do not (although a quick Google search showed otherwise, technically speaking). The conversation went on with him continuing to be confused and saying cow's milk came out of its "butt" (a word that I typically discourage, just to make that clear). Ew. Um, no. I don't think milk would be such a popular beverage if that were the case. I explained that no, cow's milk comes from its udders which he then began calling "butters." At that point I decided to change the subject before conversation went down hill any further.

I think maybe we need to have some simple biology lessons to straighten things out. David and I have obviously dropped the ball in this department.

Mission Accomplished!

2011-07-21T19:30:00.000-05:00

Among the "keepers" I found in the attic were four vintage cameras: two Brownies, a Polaroid and an Argoflex. They aren't worth a lot but they are cool. All have been gently cleaned up and added to my home decor.

I'm checking in to let you know that I did it! I finished cleaning out my attic. One week ago I told you that I was going to do it and I was going to be accountable to you, dear reader, for getting it done. That worked as motivation for me. I went through every box and bin. It about killed me but I stuck to the one week time-line that I set for myself. Last Saturday it rained most of the day so I took advantage of the cooler weather and worked from the morning until nearly 11:00 that night with only a few short breaks. Yesterday evening I finished up the last of it. It was so darn hot up there I thought I was going to melt. Sweat was dripping off the end of my nose and into my eyes. But now it is done. Everything is neatly boxed and labeled and I know where things are. I can actually move around up there as well. I should have taken before and after pictures, but believe me, the difference is remarkable.

I took so many boxes and bags of stuff to the thrift store to donate that I lost track. I found some baby clothes and other things to pass along to friends. I found some cool treasures, but I found more stuff that made me think, "Why the heck have I been holding onto this for the last 25 years?" I kept thinking of my friends' advice--"be ruthless" and "if [I am] holding onto it, someone else can't be putting it to good use." I feel good about what I accomplished--lighter, freer, more organized and prepared. As we prepare for the inevitable move that is coming sometime in the next month to two years, I will probably come across more things to weed out, but for now I am patting myself on the back.

I also think my boys did a great job of helping me--all three of the older boys and David all did a share of the work by hauling boxes up and down attic stairs and out to the car. They brought me glasses of ice water, garbage bags, tape and sharpies for labeling boxes. Nate brought me an ice pack on one particularly hot day and held it on my back as I taped boxes. They helped me decide what could go and what they couldn't live without. I am thankful for their cooperation and help. It was hard work but I am so relieved that it is done. Hip hip hooray!

Bizarre, Random and Puzzling

2011-07-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

In my recent efforts to dejunk our lives I have come across some pretty interesting things. Well, interesting to me anyway. This is partially a product of having sons, but it is also just a product of life in general (and the fact that I have been cleaning my attic out). Of course, as is my custom, I must document these things for posterity.

This appears to be an old shovel handle with some old-fashioned square head nails pounded into it to form some sort of weapon? Or coat rack? Joel found this on the curb the day before garbage day and brought it home. He wanted to put it in the fort that he and his brothers have in the woods for use as a mace, but I did my parental duty and confiscated it. It does look like it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. I know they aren't worth much, but the nails are cool, so I'm contemplating pulling them out with my hammer before putting the wood back on the curb.

Second up we have this grocery list. It was discovered in a shopping cart (or "buggy" as people around here call them) by a friend of the family and then passed along for our amusement. I love it. We decided that the list must have been written by a little girl shopping with her mother (the "Brats mermad girl" and "lady items" clued us in). My favorite items on the list are "wolful's", "bred", and "torylet paper". The list immediately made me think of grocerylists.org. which I discovered recently when I was looking for a printable grocery list. I think it would make a nice addition to their collection.

I don't know the exact history of this drawing, but I know it was in the papers that my husband saved from while he was on a mission for our church in Chile. I believe it was drawn by his brother (who would have been about seven at the time) and mailed to him in a package from home. (Family, if I am wrong, please let me know because I'd love to know the origins of this drawing that David has held onto for so long!) This picture makes me laugh but it does raise some questions. Why is the person nude? Why are its hips so prominent and it's belly button so cavernous? Perhaps most importantly, where can I get a rainbow crown like that? Or is that hair?

My friend, Jen made this awesome pig-of-clay for my birthday my senior year of high school. He is one of a kind and one of the few pigs that I have held onto from the pig collection I started back in junior high. Jen has always been a very talented artist. I love having an original art piece made by her. I also love that that she immortalized a silly high school inside joke that I don't even remember the origins of inside the pig.

Here is a bird's eye view of the toy cars that my boys were playing with in their room yesterday. The two lines on the left are the cars that Danny was playing with. The pile on the right is Nate's collection. I think this says something about their personalities. Actually, I think it says a lot of things about their personalities but it has been too long since I took Psychology, so I'm not really sure exactly what is being said.

That does it for this week's installment of "Bizarre, Random and Puzzling". I'm sure it won't be the last. Care to enlighten me on any of the preceding topics? Feel free to share any insights or information with me. Some of these things still have me scratching my head.

Little Brothers

2011-07-16T00:07:00.000-05:00

Morning, Mommy.

Looks like they are plotting something.

Nate still looks sleepy with the bags under his eyes. Or maybe it is not still sleepy but sleepy again. Sometimes the boys get up pretty darn early.

These little boys make my days, even though they don't always get along perfectly. In fact this week has been a tough one for fighting among my kids. The heat and humidity have felt suffocating lately. The pool in our neighborhood has been closed because the pool house is being re-roofed and my boys are a little bored and restless. It is too miserable to just play outside. We are in pretty close quarters here, so consequently there has been more bickering than usual and I am finding myself with a shorter fuse these days too. I am hearing a lot of "get out of my room"s from the older boys and a lot of "he won't let me. . ."s from the younger ones. I know little brothers can be pesky. I had a couple myself (though I love them both dearly now. Besides, I'm sure they would be more than happy to tell you what a rotten older sister I was).

So, yes, they can be pesky, but they can also be sweet and darling. I was working in my attic today (see yesterday's post) and Nate really wanted to help. I didn't want him up there. It was sweltering and he would just be in the way, but he was persistent. He found a way to make himself welcome. He went to the kitchen and filled a ziploc bag with ice cubes and brought it up to me and told me that we could share it. He also ventured back down to bring me a glass of ice water. I have to say that that ice pack made working in the heat much more bearable. At one point he held it on my back for me while I boxed up books. I even stayed up there longer than I had planned and got a lot done. Clever Nate.

Fortune-ate

2011-07-14T17:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my friend Kitty's birthday and she had a little get-together. It was just the reprieve that I needed. I had a delightful time with a few amazing women, we ate delicious food (and way too much cake!), we posed for pictures, and made wishes and sang "Happy Birthday!" It was lovely. Kitty even had little party favors for us--wishing wands, sparkly nail polish, magic fish and fortune cookies--I do love fortune cookies. I had to eat mine as soon as I got home (before my kids found them and ate them).

These were my fortunes:

This is good news considering the fact that my husband only has funding for his post-doctoral fellowship through September this year. He has been applying for jobs wherever he finds a potential position that is a good fit for his skills.

I have felt for some time now that I need to be trying to get ready and organized because I know that an opportunity could come up rather quickly. My latest project has been trying to clean out our attic. For the last five years I have just been throwing all the stuff I didn't want to deal with up there. Now it is "time to be practical". We have to weed stuff out. I don't want to haul all that junk with us when/if we have to move again soon.

It this hard for anyone else? I don't want my life filled with a lot of stuff but when it comes time to weed out, it is always harder than I think it's going to be. What is practical to keep and what just needs to get tossed? Do I keep the chicken pot holders even though they aren't my style and I don't really need them? No? What if I told you that my grandma crocheted them? Would that change your opinion? See what I mean? It's tricky.

This is where the second fortune from my cookies comes in. See, I'm hoping David will get a great job and make lots of money so I can hire a professional organizer to help me. ;) I kid. At this point I'm just hoping he can get a job that will enable him to stay on the career path he has envisioned for himself and that will provide for our family.

I know I am very blessed to have so much and I shouldn't complain but honestly I am just overwhelmed at the moment. David has been invited to interview for a job that starts at the beginning of August. That is less than a month away. I'm not trying to jump the gun--I realize he hasn't been offered the job yet. He hasn't even had the interview yet, but what if? That is less than a month away. Even if that doesn't work out I don't see us being here long term (meaning another year or more). Change is coming and we need to be ready.

So this is what I'm going to do. I'm giving myself one week from today to finish cleaning out the attic and then I'm going to hold myself accountable and report back to you. I guess I'd better go get busy.

Life As I Know It

2011-07-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

I decided to do a little photo documentary of some of the recent scenes that I have encountered around my house thanks to my boys. Welcome to my life:

This plastic horse has gotten himself into a precarious position by hanging from one of the towel rings in our dressing room.

"What is this?" you ask. It an empty shelf in the boys' closet (which is doubling as our pantry/food storage room at the moment). "So," you say, "what's so remarkable about an empty shelf?" Let me tell you. This is remarkable because just 72 hours earlier this shelf was home to five--yes, five--boxes of Cheez-Its. *Sigh* I really wish my kids wouldn't eat us out of house and home, but at least I got a good deal on the crackers.

Nothing too exciting here--just a Lego booby-trap on the door mat by the front door. Bare feet: BEWARE!

One of the boys decided to add the boar tusk Joel found in the woods to the fossil/rock collection I have housed in this old printer's tray. Can you spot it? It doesn't exactly fit size-wise, but I guess it fits in with the other teeth and bone fossils.

So that's where the missing kitchen chair went.

Apparently this is one boy's idea of "putting away" his clean laundry. I'm working on teaching my boys to hang up their clothes or put them in the drawers, but it is a slow process.

This WWII army action figure is practicing his rappelling on the pull cord for the attic stairs.

Mohawks in the bathtub. No further explanation needed.

I saved the best for last. I had created this cute little woodland themed terrarium in a jar with the fawn and the little mushrooms, then a couple of days ago as I was walking by I noticed that a wolf had happened upon the poor unsuspecting baby deer. When I questioned my boys about it they insisted that they were just making it more realistic. Wolves have to eat too, you know.

That brings us to the end of this documentary journey. I hope you've enjoyed this small glimpse into my world with four sons. As you can see, it is a world often fraught with peril, excitement and drama. Even so, it's a pretty great place to live.

Epic ER Visit #2

2011-07-09T16:16:00.001-05:00

Yellowjacket--predatory wasp=bad

Yellowjacket--Mascot of my husband's Alma mater, The University of Rochester=good

I thought I'd go ahead and clarify that point for you.

Yesterday, I was busy assembling six cow costumes--one for each member of the family--for Chic-Fil-A's "Cow Appreciation Day" (come dressed as a cow and get an entirely free meal--Booyah!), when Nate came inside from playing with his brothers crying that he had been stung by a Yellowjacket. I looked at his foot and I could see where it was already starting to swell. I sat him on the side of my tub and turned the cold water on it (well, lukewarm water--water doesn't get cold here in the summer) while I went and got a dish of baking soda to make a little baking soda poultice for the sting. (It's one of those folk medicine remedies that I figured it wouldn't hurt to try).We got the baking soda on the sting and I called David because I could tell that the swelling was progressing pretty rapidly. He suggested I give Nate some Benedryl, so I did. By that time I was feeling more calm and I thought we'd try some ice for the swelling. I scooped Nate up and put him on my bed and put the ice on his foot. He was crying because his foot hurt but I noticed something that made me more concerned: he was starting to get some little hives on his stomach, chest, face and arms. I called the pediatrician's office. It was after hours but they said they'd have a nurse call me back. When the nurse called back she said to go ahead and bring Nate in to the after-hours clinic. I carried him out to the car (remember the sting was on his foot so it hurt to walk), and told Seth he was in charge until Dad got home; I knew David was on his way, but he wasn't there yet. As I was pulling out, Seth ran outside with the cordless phone. It was the nurse again. She said the doctor had advised that we take Nate straight to the emergency room, so that is where we headed.

On the short drive to the hospital I could tell that Nate was getting worse. His hives were becoming larger welts and his nose and mouth area began to swell. He said his nose felt funny and it was kind of hard to breathe. I carried him into the ER and checked in and we only had to wait a few minutes until they got us right back in a room and the doctor was there. They started an IV and gave him more Benedryl, a steroid called Solu-medrol and some Epinephrine. He was so good! He didn't even make a peep when they started the IV and he didn't try to scratch. I know how hard it is for me to not scratch when I am itchy so I was impressed with his restraint. The doctor explained a little bit about the allergy to me and told me we would be there for four to five hours for continued observation. He told me to go ahead and call David and tell him what was going on.

Of course in all the excitement I hadn't thought to bring a book with me. I called David and told him what was happening and that I didn't have anything to do for the next four to five hours. Nate said he was hungry and I was too. The last thing we had eaten was a bologna sandwich for lunch. We only have one functioning car right now and I had it with me at the hospital so we decided to ask our neighbors if we could borrow their car for a little while. By the time we got this all worked out though I had been there for more than three hours. David had to feed the other boys (obviously the Chic-Fil-A thing didn't work out for us) and wasn't able to get hold of the neighbors immediately. Meanwhile, Nate had fallen asleep and I was left twiddling my thumbs. I was just about to try to call David again when he walked into the room with a bag from McDonald's and a strawberry milkshake. I was SO happy to see him. And the food.

Nate was looking much better and sleeping soundly so we ate our smuggled-in food and I brought David up to speed on everything that had happened. Shortly after David arrived, Nate started to get worse again. The doctor had warned that the symptoms of a reaction like Nate's sometimes come back in a second wave so it wasn't unexpected. The RN, doctor and paramedic all came back in and Nate was given more Benedryl via the IV and another shot of Epinephrine. They put an oxygen tube in his nose as a precaution to aid in breathing since his system was so depressed from the Benedryl. Nate did not like that at all. I don't think he was really very aware of what was going on--he been roused from his drugged sleep to be warned about the shot but he wasn't really awake and on top of that he was having the adrenaline rush from the Epi. He kept trying to tear off the tube in his nose and even tried to pull at his IV. I had to hold his hands down for a few minutes but eventually he settled back into sleep.

When things calmed down, David and I decided that I would go home and return the neighbor's car. When he asked if I'd rather stay or go I told him the control freak part of me wanted to stay and make sure everything was okay, but the part of me that was my back and behind sitting in a hard chair for the last few hours wanted to go so he told me to get out of there.

I headed home and two hours later, sometime after midnight, Nate and David made it home. Nate looked TONS better. His face was completely cleared up and he was tired but seemed in good spirits. He was also armed with two Epi-Pens and a prescription for Prednisone which he has to take for the next few days. He still looked pretty good this morning although the swelling around his mouth was returning a little bit.Today's dose of prednisone seemed to knock that out.

The doctor at the ER told us that bees belong to the order "hymenoptera" and all insects in the order share certain proteins so we should assume that Nate is allergic to all the insects that fall into this category: bees (honeybees, wasps, yellow jackets and hornets) and fire ants. Fire ants? They are everywhere around here!

David and I have decided that we are going to have to enforce a "shoes and socks outside" rule with the boys which is maybe not an issue for most people but we tend to be a shoeless family--especially in the summer. It is just not worth the risk with all the fire ants we have around here. *Sigh*

Anyway, I realize that this is a really long post but I have to get down the details so I remember them for posterity. This makes our second ER trip of the year. You may remember that back in February we paid a visit to the ER when Seth ate part of a solid heating tablet from an MRE thinking it was a cracker. All these years without a trip to the emergency room and now we have two in one year. Boys howdy! I'd better hold onto my hat if things continue this way. Let's hope that they don't.

On a lighter note, in the future should you find yourself in the emergency room for hours on end "for observation" without any reading material handy, I have composed a list of things to occupy you (aside from twiddling your thumbs). These helped, in a small way, to make the time pass ever so slightly more quickly for me:

Mentally arrange the blood collection tubes in rainbow order according to cap color.
Wonder what font the “X-RAY IN USE” sign uses.
Count the stack of pink kidney dishes on the bedside table.
Read informational posters on the door about "How to Use Dermabond in the Treatment of Various Lacerations" and "Emergency Treatment of Burn Patients".
Listen to the symptoms of the guy who fell off the ladder and the guy who just had heart surgery in the beds next to yours. Wish you had not overhead some of the symptoms of the guy who just had heart surgery. Believe me, you don't really want to know which body parts are swollen.
Wonder if the doctor always writes with pen on the bed sheets and how the people in the laundry get pen out of the sheets. Wonder if they still make erasable pens.
Count how many drips of saline per minute are being administered from the IV.
Read all labels, warnings and instructions on nearby medical equipment.
Actually read the hospital's privacy policy.
Stare at your toes and ponder pedicures (I've never had one). Count how many toes have chipping nail polish.
Call your husband/wife multiple times.
Text your sister.
Watch the minutes tick slowly by.
Debate with yourself about whether to ask for a blanket or not. Be really grateful when the paramedic offers you one and you don't have to ask.
Count your blessings and be glad that your child (spouse/loved one/friend) is okay.

Popsicles

2011-07-05T18:26:00.001-05:00

Popsicles taste like summer.

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

I love the Fourth of July. We had a nearly perfect day celebrating with our own little family and some great friends. So, what makes a nearly perfect Fourth of July you ask? Well, let me tell you.

We started the day by flying our flag and having a brunch of red, white and blue pancakes (pancakes topped with strawberries, blueberries and bananas) and bacon. The bacon is a must if you want the day to be nearly perfect.

I made the boys pose for pictures wearing their red, white and blue.

After the obligatory posing for pictures we headed on over to our friends' house for dinner, swimming and games. We ate watermelon and my Grandma Carter's potato salad and drank lemonade. We had white hots (that we brought home from our trip to Rochester in May and stuck in the freezer for just such and occasion) cooked on the grill and too many desserts. We had jell-o shaped like the United States. I ate New Mexico.

Before dinner there was swimming. After dinner there was an epic game of wiffle ball--parents versus kids. I think we played something like fifteen innings. The parents won by one in the end but the kids had some pretty amazing plays.

After the game, we packed up our stuff and headed home for a quick break before the city fireworks show.

My sweet friend gifted me some sparklers after I mentioned to her that I wasn't able to find any anywhere, so we lit those and had a ball. We tried to write words and take pictures but I am not a skilled enough photographer to make it work.That's okay. It was still a blast.

Danny was prepared for the fireworks. He covered his ears the minute we got into the car and didn't uncover them until the show was entirely over.

After the sparklers we piled into the car and headed to the same spot we watched the fireworks last year. If we are still in Auburn next year we will have to do it again and make it our tradition. The fireworks didn't disappoint. Nate and Danny both fell asleep before the end of the show. Three of the four boys were asleep in the car by the time we got home around 9:30.

We played hard today. We got sunburns and bug bites. We came home exhausted and happy and content and grateful. I love America. I love the freedoms we are blessed to enjoy. I love the men and women who have sacrificed for me and my family. I love our founding fathers and how inspired they were when they established this nation. I love that we are all entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I love that I can celebrate all these things with my family.

Happy birthday, America! God bless you!

Volcanoes and Ninjas

2011-07-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

Saturday evening we went to a cook-out at our friend Matt's house. He is moving soon and we are sad to see him go but we enjoyed a nice evening visiting with friends and eating some dang good burgers. The little boys enjoyed charming the girls that were there. Danny made friends with two cute girls and entertained them by making a gravel "volcano."

The volcano. I think it is quite artistic.


Danny gives Nate a warning look: Do not touch my volcano; Do not get in the picture mom is taking of my volcano.

The boys played hard and got sweaty and bug bitten but had a great time. When we got home, everyone took turns showering--Joel says he fell asleep during his shower--and got ready for bed. I went back to cleaning the big boys' room (see previous post). When I walked into the little boys' room to put some things away, this is how I found Danny:

He had made himself a little trundle bed out of the under-the-bed storage box that I use for blankets in their room. I couldn't find Nate though. David said he had put him to bed, but he wasn't in his bed, he wasn't in bed with any of his brothers and he wasn't on any of the couches. Just when I was really beginning to wonder where he could be, David called me. "Jill, come look at this." Iwalked back into the little boys' room but I didn't see anything. "Come and stand right here", said David. That is when I finally saw him.

Ha! Nate has exhibited almost ninja-like invisibility/stealth skills on more than one occasion but this instance was remarkable.

I love these little volcano-building, creative and innovative ninja boys of mine.

Is There a Problem, Officer?

2011-07-02T23:36:00.000-05:00

We worked hard this morning cleaning the boys' room. Yes, I've been watching episodes of "Hoarders" again. It is my motivation. I have a deep and abiding (though not very rational) fear that my life could spiral out of control and before I know if I will have stacks of fifteen year old National Geographics and Styrofoam meat trays creating mazes through my home that I will have to navigate as I shuffle around wondering where I left my teeth. Actually it would more likely be mountains of Legos and stacks of little boys jeans with holey knees. But I digress. Anyway, we worked long and hard and made major cleaning-out progress. This afternoon we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the movies to see "Cars 2".

When we got the the theater we still had several minutes until the movie started so David decided to run to K-Mart and pick up some candy to smuggle in. We do that occasionally. We just can't stomach paying $4.00+ for a box of Junior Mints. While he was gone we went in and took our seats. The previews were just starting when he got back.

He had literally run to K-Mart. It is only maybe 300 yards or so from the theater. He bought some Sugar Babies and JuJubes and started walking back to the theater. As he was crossing the parking lot of an empty appliance store he noticed a police car. It pulled out and slowly started following him. Sure enough, the officer wanted to talk to him. The conversation went something like this.
      Officer: Sir, I noticed that you ran across this parking lot a few minutes ago. You aren't wearing running clothes and I just wondered what you were doing.
      David: I'm going to the movies with my family and I was just buying some candy to bring in.
     Officer: Oh Okay. I do that too sometimes. But would you mind showing me some ID?
(At this point she had called in another officer for back-up so another officer arrived on the scene. Yes, really.)
     David: No, I don't mind (he starts to take out his wallet), but I know you. I am actually your next door neighbor.
(Pause. Recognition dons on the face of the officer. She looks slightly embarrassed.)
     Officer: Oh! You're the guy with the greyhound. Don't worry about it. Put your wallet away. Uh, sorry. Enjoy your movie.

At this point David left (chuckling to himself, I'm sure) and made his way back to the theater to join us. I realize she was just doing her job and being a good police officer. Apparently the movie theater tends to be a place where trouble makers congregate in our town. I guess maybe David looked a little suspicious in his hat and sunglasses (in his defense he was wearing a cross country t-shirt and cross trainers so it wasn't like he was running across the parking lot in wingtips or anything though). At any rate, it makes a good story.

Did I ever mention that we live next to not one, but two police officers? The man is a k-9 officer and his grown daughter lives with him and she is the officer that David had the "run-in" with this afternoon. It actually makes me feel pretty safe while we are at home. I guess I need to watch out for weirdos by the movie theater though.

He's Strong to the Finich

2011-07-02T00:13:00.000-05:00

"'Cause he eats his spinach. . ."

The birthday boy.

Spinach on the birthday cake.

Today we celebrated Nate's 7th birthday. He requested spinach, spinach and more spinach for his birthday dinner. It is his favorite. He even asked that his birthday cake be decorated with some spinach leaves just for him. The other boys were glad that they wouldn't be expected to eat spinach with their cake.

Birthday dinner. Yum.

We had Creamy Lasagna Roll-Ups Florentine (Thanks, Heather!), Strawberry Spinach Salad (Thanks, Danielle!), breadsticks and the cake. It was all delicious. I'm with Nate. No wonder he loves spinach--it is so good!

Making a wish.

Taking a breath and getting ready to blow!

Blowing out the candles after I had to relight them because Danny blew them out the first time.

After dinner we did our traditional family party with cake and presents. Nate waited patiently all day long to open presents so he could do it when David was home. I remember how hard it was to wait when I was that age, but he was a trooper. We sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew out his candles but he wanted to open presents before eating cake so we acquiesced.

Opening his new Lego watch from Grandma and Grandpa.

The first of the Legos.

Opening presents is serious business, apparently.

Holding up the Legos he just opened. That was about as excited as he got tonight.

We wrapped up the evening by joining several friends to watch the fireworks in our neighboring town. They put on a great show. We told Nate that not everyone gets fireworks on their birthday. I've never had them on my birthday. Have you?

Nate has always been a firecracker. He entered the world with a bang--my beautiful 9 pound 12 ounce baby.

The Sampson of the NICU.

He scared us a few times early on but he has been a healthy, vivacious, bright child. We love him so much and are so glad he is part of our family.

First birthday--six years ago.

Seventh birthday.

I have to include this short clip of the fireworks tonight. Seeing my husband laugh, having my children around me--it was a perfect end to the day.

Conflicted

2011-06-29T17:11:00.002-05:00

I’m feeling something today. I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t really happy and it isn’t really sad. It’s bordering on melancholy but that’s not really the right word for it either. I think I have determined the source of these weird emotions as being linked to four things.
1. I feel overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done around my house but excited by the possibility that there is a need to do all these things. I know. It doesn’t really make sense.
2. I feel bummed out that I had to have four (yikes!) cavities filled today. I think I eat too many Storck chocolate Riesin and then don’t floss good enough. Boo. It makes me feel like a loser, but whatevs. I should probably feel like more of a loser because I just typed “whatevs”, which is definitely not a real word and sounds a little bit like something a thirteen year old would say, but again, whatevs.
3. My nephew went into the MTC today. I am so excited for him. I know he will be a great missionary and that this experience is going to be amazing for him. I am, however, sad that I didn’t get a chance to talk with him before he left and now I won’t get to talk to him for two years. I am also feeling a little weirded out by the fact that I have a nephew old enough to go on a mission and that my own son will be old enough to go on a mission in seven short years. And I do mean short. Do you realize that we have lived here for five years now? Five. They have flown by. I wonder where we will be in five years from now. I sincerely hope it won’t still be in these town houses.
4. I was super excited to get a free $2.00 credit for MP3s at Amazon but I have no idea what to use them on and they expire tomorrow. Help!
So there you have it. I think the anesthesia the dentist used is affecting my brain. Is that possible?Maybe if I took a nap I wouldn’t be numb anymore when I woke up and I would be able to think and chew gum at the same time again. Naps seem to help with a lot of things.

Fourteen Years

2011-06-26T22:15:00.001-05:00

Daniel tells me I am a princess when he looks at this picture. I felt like a princess that day.

Yesterday we celebrated our fourteenth anniversary. I remember how happy I was the day we got married. And how young. I had no idea what life had in store. I still don’t, but I’m glad that my best friend and I are facing the unknown together.

We celebrated by going out to dinner and then going to our favorite hangout—the bookstore. We laughed. We reflected about our lives together. We talked about the funny and sweet things our kids do. We talked about how we have been through some really hard things in our marriage but how we have been blessed through it all. We talked about where we might be in six months and the possibility of being “expats” and about the possibility of living in Kansas or New Mexico or Maine or Texas or California or staying right here. . . (Of course it’s all speculation at this point, but I am starting to try to get ready in case an opportunity comes up quickly). We held hands.

Fourteen years from now I imagine we will be more settled than we are now. I’m sure adventures and wonderful blessings await us. I’m sure we will have lots of things to worry about and our share of trials to face. And I’m sure we will still be holding hands.

Father's Day

2011-06-19T22:47:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Father’s Day by going to church, then taking a short bike ride and a long nap. We gave David a few token gifts—a couple of DVDs (Chariots of Fire and Bullitt), framed pictures of the boys to keep in his office, a bag of caramels.

My personal favorite part of the day was when the three youngest boys sang some songs to their dads with the rest of the children at church. Danny stood up there not actually singing but making faces and declaring loud enough for many people to hear “I see you, Mom!” That kid! A close second was reading some little fill-in-the-blank worksheets the boys had filled out about their dad accompanied by illustrations.

Joel: “My Dad has brown colored eyes, and brown colored hair. My dad is 37 years old. My dad loves to be nice. My dad doesn’t like to be mean. The best thing about my Dad is: he is my Dad. I know my Dad loves me because: he’s my dad.” Joel’s drawing shows a very tall and skinny David standing by the kitchen table. Typical Joel.

Nate: “My Dad has brown colored eyes, and blakishgray (blackish-gray) colored hair. My dad is 37 years old. My dad loves to run. My dad doesn’t like to poll wede (pull weeds). The best thing about my Dad is: I tinck has a bownaro (I think he has a bow and arrow). I know my Dad loves me because: he hugs me evre day (he hugs me every day).” Nate’s drawing depicts David wielding a katana.

Danny: “My Dad has blue colored eyes, and yellow colored hair. My dad is 4 years old. My dad loves to eat. My dad doesn’t like bad animals. The best thing about my Dad is: he loves bowties. I know my Dad loves me because: he plays with me.” Danny’s drawing is turquoise, yellow and fuchsia scribbles and it is quite lovely.

My Dad
My daddy is my fav’rite pal,
And I help him ev’ry day.
It’s plain to see I want to be
Like him in ev’ry way.
He teaches me that honesty
Is best in all I do.
I’m very glad that he’s my dad,
And I know he loves me too.

Words and music: Carol Graff Gunn, b. 1929. © 1957

Happy Father’s Day to the father of my children (and to my own amazing dad and wonderful father-in-law as well. I love you all).

Four!

2011-06-19T00:43:00.001-05:00

My baby is four. I guess that means he’s not a baby anymore. We had a great time celebrating his birthday Saturday.

He was excited about his new sandbox,

And about his dinosaur cake,

But he was most excited about his new baseball bat and ball.

Happy birthday little buddy. We sure do love you.

Band Camp

2011-06-18T23:41:00.000-05:00


Section leaders stand up to be recognized

The first chair section leaders

This past week Seth had an opportunity to attend band camp at Auburn University on a scholarship. One of the perks of playing an instrument like the tuba is that the band "market" isn't over-saturated with them. No tubas or baritones had signed up for the camp so Seth was recruited. He was excited for the opportunity.

The camp began Wednesday and ran all day Thursday and Friday (7am to 10:30pm) and ended today with a concert for the families. We really enjoyed it. Seth also had the opportunity to be "first chair" by default, so he was given a cd of Auburn Marching Band numbers which was kind of a fun perk.The band sounded great for only having practiced two and a half days total. Our family's favorite number was the last one: "Pirates of the Caribbean." We couldn't see Seth from where we were sitting but I recorded this anyway. I figured the grandparents might enjoy hearing it even if no one else really cares.

Super Danny

2011-06-15T23:32:00.001-05:00

This little boy loves to dress up. He is particularly fond of being Harry Potter (I think it’s the glasses) and of being a super hero. I’ve been trying to discourage round-the-clock pajama wearing so the Superman pajamas were put away, but Super Danny used his powers of creativity and assembled a new crime-fighting uniform. I love it.

Annual Blueberry Picking Trip

2011-06-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

Every year for the last several years we have gone blueberry picking as a family. The last couple of years we picked three gallons and they lasted us a whole year. I just used the final bit from last year's crop on Friday when I was making jam. Great timing, right? This year we decided to pick four gallons.

Our kids are getting bigger and eating more so I think the extra gallon will help us stretch the harvest until next year, plus we got a great deal through Groupon so it only cost us half of what it normally would.

It was really hot but I was proud of my boys for working so hard. Even Danny wanted to help. He was a fantastic bucket holder.

Today David made a delicious blueberry buckle that we enjoyed this afternoon. I'm looking forward to making homemade blueberry ice cream soon--maybe for the Fourth of July.

I love this summer tradition that my family enjoys together. It is hard work, but we all contribute and we definitely enjoy the fruits of our labors.

*See the complete album of our adventure here:

Blueberry Havens Annual Trip

Jam Tomorrow, Jam Yesterday, But Never Ever Jam Today.

2011-06-11T06:05:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I made freezer jam. Two batches. It’s been a few years since I made it and I've missed it. Strawberry freezer jam is absolutely my favorite jam. I was tempted to make a couple loaves of my mom’s homemade bread to eat with it but the thought of having the oven on for so long when it is nearly 100 degrees outside deterred me. Maybe we'll do crepes or biscuits instead.

Making the jam made me reflect on my childhood. My mom baked nearly every day: cookies, desserts, homemade bread, banana bread, muffins. She provided delicious food for our family on a frugal budget because she was willing to put in the extra time and effort to do so. I remember bottles of home canned peaches and pears in our pantry and jars of strawberry jam in our freezer. I try to do the same sorts of things for my family but I often feel like I am not measuring up. The natural (wo)man takes over and it is a constant struggle to not be lazy. I struggle with fatigue and lack of motivation. I know I cannot afford to be lazy. I am a mom of four boys! But still I find myself wasting time, procrastinating and trying to rationalize. Anyway, I didn't mean this to turn into a confession of my weaknesses (they are entirely too evident without me drawing additional attention to them). I just really admire my mom and what she did for our family. I know my mother-in-law did the same things for her family too. They are both amazing women!

On a little lighter note, speaking of jam, have you seen this Carol Channing number from an Alice in Wonderland musical that was on TV when I was a kid? I don't remember much else about the movie, but this song is one that has stuck with me all these years. It's still pretty entertaining but a little weirder than I remembered. Enjoy!

P.S. For more sweet strawberry memories from my childhood check out my photo blog, Jillustrated. You might see some friends that you recognize from your own youth. :)

Green Thumb

2011-06-10T12:52:00.001-05:00

My patio garden is pretty pitiful this year. I have a chrysanthemum that survived the winter, a lavender plant, two pots with mint, some wilting chives, wheat grass and now a basil plant. Danny is a great helper. He loves to water the plants. He especially loves it if I squirt his toes off with the hose afterward. Maybe he will be a fantastic gardener like his Grandpa Dunn or his great (and great, great) grandpas.

To Market, To Market. . .

2011-06-10T01:06:00.000-05:00

Dunking.

Monkey bars.

Three of my boys standing on the states they were born in.

Three boys standing on their home state.

Yesterday afternoon, after we dropped Joel off at Cub Scout camp, we ran several errands then I took the other three boys to the elementary school playground. They had a great time in spite of the horrible heat. On the way home Seth said that it would have been even more fun if Joel had been there. I promised him we’d go back another time when Joel can go too. I’m so glad that my boys love each other. They do their fair share of fighting but when it comes right down to it, they are best friends. That makes me so happy.

Know what else makes me happy?

Farmer’s markets. It’s slightly ridiculous how happy they make me. I love buying direct from the farmers. I love supporting the local economy. I love the reasonable prices. I love the samples of jam and apple butter and homemade peach ginger ice cream, but mostly I love picking out the freshest, most wholesome, highest quality produce to feed to my family. They love it too. I think they are all pretty stoked about this watermelon.

The strawberries are the sweetest we’ve had this season. I’m really looking forward to enjoying some good home grown tomatoes as well. I’m contemplating making a tomato pie. I’ve heard good things about them.

Of course now that I have some fresh basil maybe I can try some of those yummy-looking recipes I’ve been pinning to my menu board on Pinterest as well.

I’m giddy, I tell you!

A Three Cake Day

2011-06-08T23:53:00.001-05:00

I baked and frosted three cakes today—a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a spice cake with cream cheese frosting and a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream. I have friends that could do this with their eyes closed but I am not an expert cake maker. I am not very neat or efficient. I make very tasty frosting, but my cakes definitely look homemade. Well, I got lots of practice today even though it wasn’t really by choice.

My friend’s mother passed away Monday. I committed to bringing a cake for the family luncheon after the funeral tomorrow. My plan was to bake the cake this morning so that I could bring it to the church tonight when I went to pick Seth up from Scouts. Isn’t there a saying—something about “the best laid plans” going awry? Yeah. That pretty much sums it up.

Cake 1: I baked the cake, took it out of the pans to cool and left Seth in charge while I ran Joel over to Cub Scout camp. I was gone twenty minutes. When I got home a chair was pulled up to the kitchen counter and a couple of large handfuls of cake were missing from one of the layers. Daniel. I was frustrated but not really all that surprised. I had hoped for better but I guess I kind of asked for it by leaving the cake layers in plain sight. Daniel got a stern talking to and a time out. He had to apologize to me for eating the cake. I told him the cake was not for us and now I would have to make another. He seemed repentant.

Cake 2: I baked the cake, let it cool and mixed up some cream cheese frosting for it. I frosted the cake and stuck it in the fridge and used the rest of the frosting to frost the Danny-mangled cake. I left cake number one on the counter (a decoy!) and let all the boys have a piece of it after dinner. At about 6:30 David arrived home and I left to go to the viewing for my friend’s mother. I was gone thirty minutes. When I got home and opened the fridge to put away the food that my family had left on the table after dinner I was not happy. Evidently, Daniel had decided that cake number one was not good enough and wanted to try cake number two. He was handed over to dad for disciplining and sent to bed immediately. I dragged myself back into the kitchen to start on cake number three.

Cake 3: I baked the cake, cooled it, made the frosting and frosted it—again. I washed all the dishes—again. I covered the cake with foil and put it in a box for transportation. I was tempted to put it out in the car tonight but it is so hot still and I don’t want the milk in the frosting to spoil. I will bring it to the church and drop it off as soon as I get up in the morning. If it survives until then.

I hope my friend knows I love her. I wouldn’t bake three cakes for just anyone.

What Are the Odds?

2011-06-08T15:50:00.001-05:00

Am I the only one that thinks it’s a little weird that I have not one, but two Facebook friends who are female body builders?

Today. . .

2011-06-06T23:02:00.001-05:00

I took two little boys to the dentist (zero cavities!). I took one sick boy to the pediatrician (it’s not strep). I went to the post office. I went to the drug store to pick up more Motrin. I dropped off snacks and picked up a t-shirt at the sick boy’s cub scout day camp that he wasn’t able to go to today because of his dang fever this morning. I did all this in 98 degree heat in my stupid car that has a broken air conditioner. I spent most of the rest of the day lying on the couch in my air conditioned home reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown—probably read around 300 pages today. Not the most productive day, but I’ve had worse days too I suppose.

My New Bike

2011-06-05T12:49:00.001-05:00

Well, actually it's used, but it’s new to me. I love it. It is exactly what I wanted. It’s in great shape. We had to pump up the tires but other than that it is just about perfect. I want to get a basket to go on the front. I have visions of one day being in good enough shape to ride it to the library and I would definitely need a basket for my library books. I think we may start with just riding to the boys’ elementary school next year. I love the color, the retro lines, the white wall tires. I think she needs a name. What should I call her? Betty? Lulu? Rowena? Myrna? Monica? Ethel? I’m open to suggestions.

Surprise!

2011-06-03T06:00:00.001-05:00


I love the banner I made using a Lego font I found for free on the internet.

We did surprise him too. There were times when I was a little doubtful that we’d be able to pull Joel’s Lego-themed affair off--he is just way too smart and nosy for his own good sometimes--but the whole thing was a smash hit. I have a few small things that I wish I had done differently or planned better, (Like why do I always think about videoing things after the fact? Instead I have a couple of kind of blurry pictures that don’t adequately capture the moment) but overall I was really pleased with how everything worked out. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my friends Stacy and Wayland who saved the day by going out and getting another cake, more plates and more forks after we had a few additional guests show up. They also took Joel out to lunch to get him out of the house for the surprise and Stacy made Joel a special Lego-themed birthday cake that I thought was darling.

Lego cake!

I know she felt rushed for time, but I thought she did a fabulous job decorating the cake with real Legos including this cute little Mini-fig artist. Look! Even the tip of his paintbrush is green as if he had just finished painting the number ten. So cute!


Kids all getting ready for the big surprise.

SURPRISE!

One of my favorite things was when Joel pulled up. All the kids were so excited they were all running around looking for places to hide (which we have very few of in our little town home). Most of them ended up just laying on the floor and jumping up when he came in the house.

Joel taking it all in and looking pretty pleased surrounded by friends and family.

Joel trying to decide on a name for the Lego creation that everyone built together.

My favorite thing about this picture is Danny off to the right. He dressed himself again.

Once Joel was at the party we played a few games. We had one where the first person took a Lego and then passed it and the next person added another Lego and so on until every kid had a chance to add a Lego to the creation (kind of like that game where everyone has to make up one sentence of a story). We also did a Lego-drop where they had to try to hold a Lego on their nose and drop it into a mason jar; a guess-how-many-Legos-in-the-jar contest; a tallest tower contest to see who could build the tallest Lego tower in one minute and a Lego scavenger hunt. That was my favorite. I had a big long list of stuff to look for and we just dumped out all our Legos on the floor and everyone had a certain amount of time to try to find the item--a purple Lego, a Lego helmet, a Lego based on a movie character, a Lego window or door, etc. The person with the most items at the end won.

Opening presents

Tasting the frosting


Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Blowing out candles

After the games we opened presents then had cake and ice cream. The kids ate outside since there weren't enough seats at the table with our extra guests. It was good though because there was the inevitable spilled Kool-aid and dumped over cake and I didn't have to clean it up.

One of my least favorite things was when one of the kids told me I needed to make more Kool-aid and add more powder this time because the last batch was watery. :-/ Despite the watery Kool-aid, we all had a lot of fun. I was especially grateful for the help of the adults who came and stuck around. I don't know how I would have done it without the extra hands.

I had little boys in and out of my house all day--not just at the party. Last night I counted them all up before I went to bed and there had been a total of nineteen little boys (and one little girl) in my house at some point during the day. I was really happy today to be able to just laze around and not do much. Danny's birthday is next up and Nate's is just a week and a half after that. Then I'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief since birthday season will be over until the end of November.

We have not done a lot of birthday parties in my kids' lives. I feel like I'm still learning some things about how to do it but I felt that overall it was successful. And because I had fun with the little details I have to share pictures of those things as well:


Favor bags: the front was a Lego brick and the tag was a Lego guy head.

This is the loot that was inside each bag.


These little color-able notes were in each bag as well.

The candy bricks were my favorite part of the goody bags. They were very cool.


I had veggie cups with ranch dip available but didn't have any takers. My kids love vegetables but apparently they are the only ones who do. We ended up eating these with our dinner.

I stuck with simple decorations--primary colors, some balloons, and of course, LEGOS!


A close up of the "Surprise" banner. It makes me happy.

This was the invitation I made using my mad photo-shop skillz.

More balloons. The Party City people lied. They said the extremes in temperature from the store to the outside wouldn't affect the balloons. They looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them if it would. However you'll notice this bunch of balloons doesn't have a green one. It did, but it shrunk down to nearly nothing and lost it's floatability before the party ever started. Meh.

My boys and some of the neighbors stuck around after the party to play. Legos are almost like magic. I hear very little fighting when my kids are playing with them. They generally are just using their brains to create and have a good time.

I don't know if I'm just a little insecure or what but I was afraid that no one would come; that everyone would forget or something. Maybe it's because I've forgotten plenty of parties myself through the years. Maybe it's because I know how busy people are. Or maybe it's just because I personally don't even like birthday parties that much. Whatever it is, it makes me feel loved to know that people remember, take time out of their busy schedules to help us celebrate, to haul their kids to my house and then come back again to pick them up and to just generally make the occasion special for my kid. Thanks for coming, friends. Thanks for making it a great day! I promise we'll get a real thank you note in the mail soon! ;)

Piles of Paper

2011-05-30T22:27:00.001-05:00

School has been out for one week now. I wrote this post last week but for one reason or another I didn’t get it posted so I’m doing it now.

Yesterday was the last day of school. Since I am mildly determined not to let my life fall into chaos for at least a week, I immediately sat down with the mountain of papers, half used notebooks, broken binders and other accoutrements that my children had brought home with them from school yesterday afternoon. With a garbage bag on one side of me and a box for the keepers on the other, I began the sorting process. Math journal—garbage; mostly empty graph paper notebook—box; broken, eraser-less pencil pieces—garbage; plastic folder in near perfect condition—box. You get the idea. Amidst the debris I found a few gems: Joel’s poetry folder (I learned that “epic” is pretty much his favorite adjective); awesome green tissue paper art by Nate; an assignment of Seth’s on which his teacher had written “Seth, you are a very talented artist! Well done!”; a certificate of achievement that Joel had earned for his map-reading skills in the Science Olympiad and so on. I saved the report cards too.

These are a few of my favorite things that I excavated from the heap of debris:

A piece of parchment with a fancy, hand-drawn capital “J” for Joel. On this he wrote about the things he likes. In part, it says “I like school alot. My favorite subject is P.E. than recess than lunch. When I get home I ask my mom if I can ask my best freind Jason if he can play he is filth rich with video games and legos and other things like that. . . my favorite sport is rugby America chaged the name to football and added downs, pads, you can’t throu is forward.” (Spelling, grammar and punctuation are all Joel’s).
This poem. It’s very formulaic, but I still like what Joel had to say about himself. I learned something new about his aspirations at the end as well.

Joel

Loving, friendly, funny

Sibling of Seth, Nate, Danny

Who loves family, God, friends

Who feels happy, strong, funny

Who needs love, education, family

Who gives food, love, clothes

Who fears criminals, needles, sharks

Who would like to see London, Bill Gates, Australia

Dunn

A paper that has a drawing of a cabinet on one side and a really fancy red and yellow car on the other with a line drawn down the center. The label across the top says “Need vs Want”. The pictures are labeled “need—medsen” (medicine), “want—car”. I’m glad Nate has his priorities straight.
A large poster sized piece of paper that reads “Nate is 6 and he likes horses. He likes chicken and to walk on ropes! When he turns 8 he wants to drive a car.” I’m noticing a theme here with the car thing. What I like most about this is that I saw the other posters in the classroom and it is very evident that Nate marches to his own drum. Every other child’s said stuff like “Madison is 7 and she likes the color pink. Her favorite food is pizza. She wants to be a ballet dancer when she grows up!” and “Alex is 7 and he likes dinosaurs. He likes Chuck E. Cheese’s. He plays on a t-ball team.” There is nothing wrong with those things at all, but personally I think walking on ropes and driving a car sounds much more exciting.
Perhaps my favorite find was a fill-in-the-blank worksheet of Nate’s entitled “’Dino-Mite’ Memories from First Grade!” There are boxes for the child to draw picture snapshots of their year: “Here I am with my teacher.” with a place to draw a picture, etc. My favorite part is where he filled in the blank “This is me when I _________”. Out of all the things from the whole year, my child chose to write and draw “This is me when I throed up .” (throwed up as Nate would say). The accompanying illustration is quite nice too.

Yep, that sums up our school year nicely. David and I laughed about that last one for awhile. I know one thing for sure: summer will not be boring with my kids around.

Happy Birthday, Dear Joel!

2011-05-30T00:10:00.001-05:00

My second born son is 10 years old today. It’s been a whole decade since he was born. How did that happen? Where does the time go? Anyway, it was a great day. Joel opened his presents after church. He got some goggles for the pool, a book and a couple pairs of pants from us and the Legos that he wanted from his grandparents.

As my boys sat on the family room floor building the Lego castle, I just kept thinking this is what happiness is—contented little boys, playing together, sharing, using their brains and having fun. It was a peaceful and happy way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I made a birthday dinner of steamed shrimp (birthday boy’s request), S imple Orzo Pilaf, a green salad and a homemade dark chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.

After dinner I sent David out to the outside freezer to get the ice cream (I was really sending him to get Joel’s new bike from our neighbor’s shed where we had hidden it). He came back and gave me the signal that he had the bike (“I can’t find any ice cream out here”). I went out under the pretense of looking for the ice cream and then we called Joel outside to choose what kind of ice cream he wanted (i.e. to discover his new bike.)

He didn’t act very surprised—maybe we were not as sneaky as we thought we were—but he did act super happy.

The evening ended on a high note as the boys had a great time with their new favorite toy—our old dryer’s drum. The dryer bit the dust last week. After David tried unsuccessfully to repair it for the better part of the week, he ended up taking it apart and taking the drum out. The boys have been having a blast with it. It is the best toy in years. They fill it with pillows and push each other down the hallway. Joel wanted to sleep in it but I told him he’d wake up with a crick in his neck so that was a no-go.

Poor little Daniel fell asleep early and missed out on all the festivities, but his birthday’s up next so I guess it isn’t too much of a tragedy.

In Joel’s words it was “the best birthday ever.” He doesn’t know that I also have a surprise party planned for him for Wednesday. This birthday is going to be hard to top. I’ll let you in on the party details after it’s all over. It should be lots of fun!

Summertime

2011-05-26T10:45:00.001-05:00

I realize that summer does not officially arrive in the northern hemisphere until June 21 this year, but for all intents and purposes summer is already in full swing here in Alabama. Here's how I know:

The hydrangeas, magnolias and crepe myrtles are all in bloom.
Tuesday it was 89 degrees by 8:00 in the morning. Temperatures have been in the high eighties or low nineties every day for the last week. Thunderstorms are in the forecast.
I saw my first lightning bug of the season!
Four boys are all at home on a Thursday morning. There has been a fair amount of arguing and video game playing. I haven't heard too many "I'm bored"s yet though.
An entire package of Popsicles disappeared from my freezer in less than 24 hours.
When I mention that our neighborhood has a swimming pool, suddenly everyone wants to be my best friend. ;)
We had our first watermelon of the year and it was delicious. Corn on the cob is on my shopping list.
After being outside for about five minutes, Nate came in and asked for bug spray.
I have one boy very sick right now--presumably from eating unwashed cherries.
Seth has a sunburn on top of his sunburn.

Are you sliding your way into summer in your neighborhood or are you still enjoying spring?

Fun!

2011-05-24T21:16:00.000-05:00


My bestie and me.

Besides all of the pomp and circumstance and the spiritual enlightenment we were able to enjoy on the trip, there were a few moments that were just pure delight. One of the highlights for me was being able to see my best friend whom I have not seen in the five years since we moved away. We have been pretty good about keeping in touch via email, facebook and telephone, but there is just nothing quite like a good face to face chat. It made me so happy to spend some time with this beautiful and amazing woman.

And I realize that a poetry phone booth is no match for a visit with one's bosom friend, but you have to admit it is pretty cool. I don't know how I never saw this in the whole time I lived in Rochester, but somehow I missed it. It makes me wonder what else I missed (and what I will have missed when we eventually move from here). The phone booth is outside an establishment called "Writers & Books" which is a non-profit literary center. They offer classes in all types of writing from memoirs and fiction right on down to poetry. How fun would it be to take a poetry class? If life ever takes us back to Rochester, I'll be signing up.

Gettysburg

2011-05-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

Cannons through a rainy driver's side window.

I loved the red barn against the green of the grass and the slightly stormy blue of the sky.


Another rainy car window shot of York Street in Gettysburg.

On our drive home from New York we decided to go a little out of our way and stop in Gettysburg. It was raining. Again. It rained every single day of our trip, but we didn't let that stop us. As we drove into town we followed the signs up to the Lutheran Seminary on Seminary Ridge. We saw signs for an auto tour so we decided that was the way to go with the rain and all.

We drove all over the battlefield for probably about an hour. Despite the rain, there were a couple of times when I had to get out of the car. One of them was to see Little Round Top from the top. It was raining pretty steadily, but Nate and I ran up to the top to have a look. It was incredible. The view was nice, even obscured by the weather as it was, but more than that, the feeling of being there was amazing. You can't really tell from the bottom how steep a climb it is, but the vantage point from the top offered another perspective. I could imagine the Confederate army climbing that hill, wave after wave and the Union army defending their position from the top. If you are not familiar with this engagement it is remarkable. The Union soldiers were out of ammunition but they had been told to hold the line no matter what. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain instructed his men to fix bayonets and as another wave of Confederate soldiers mounted their offense, the Union soldiers charged down hill with this bayonets. The rebel army turned and fled. Several surrendered. This was a turning point at Gettysburg. I cannot read the account as depicted in Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels without getting chills. History is so cool!

After seeing Little Round Top, we continued to drive for awhile looking at the monuments and the scenery. We needed to get back on the road so we could make it to Roanoke, VA where we were going to be staying that night but we really enjoyed the small amount of time we were able to spend in Gettysburg. We decided that we would love to go back when we have three or four days to spend there sometime in the future.

The Lilac Festival--Sort Of

2011-05-24T20:46:00.000-05:00

Okay everyone, smile pretty.

Now make goofy faces.

Some of the cousins underneath some of the colossal trees.

Danny, making a totally goofy face, poses with cousin, Jack.

All the girls surrounded by lilac bushes.

I love lilacs!

Every year in the spring, Rochester holds The Lilac Festival at Highland Park. This gorgeous park (designed by the same guy who designed Central Park in New York City) is filled with every kind of lilac bush you can imagine. There are plenty of azaleas and rhododendrons too as well as some amazing trees, plants, and other flowers. The Lilac Festival was rained out on the day we went, but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying the flowers. It was so good to smell lilacs again! That is one of the things we really miss about living in New York and Utah. You just can't grow lilacs in the South. We had a great time taking lots of pictures of all the pretty flowers and smelling them to our hearts' content. We also got pretty soggy, but it was totally worth it!

Palmyra, Cumorah, Fayette

2011-05-24T20:36:00.000-05:00


Top: Our family at the Grandin Building; Bottom: The cousins reading their signature pages.

Our family at the Peter Whitmer home--site of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Top, middle and bottom: Family pictures in the Sacred Grove.

Top: Me, Seth and Joel on top of the Hill Cumorah; Middle: Nate with his cousin's umbrella; Bottom: Danny.

We were really fortunate to spend a good deal of our trip visiting church historical sites and feeling The Spirit in those places. As I have had opportunities to visit these places both on this trip and in the past, I have felt my testimony of Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Redeemer strengthen. I know that He lives!

Ohio--Kirtland and John Johnson Farm

2011-05-24T10:02:00.001-05:00

The family in the upper room of the Newel K. Whitney Store. This was the School of the Prophets and the place where the revelation on the Word of Wisdom was received.

Seth and me outside the Kirtland Ashery. He'll be caught up to me in just a couple of inches.

Me and David outside of the John Johnson home, overlooking an apple orchard

Some of the dads and all of the kids--John Johnson farm

I love this action shot.

After driving fourteen hours the first day, we arrived in Kirtland, Ohio. We stayed in Roach Motel II and met the rest of the Dunn family the next morning for a tour of LDS church history sites in Kirtland and Hiram, Ohio. In Kirtland we saw the Kirtland Temple, The Newel K. Whitney store, the Whitney home, the saw mill and the ashery. We then drove out to the historic John Johnson home. It was a beautiful experience to be in that home. This is one of my favorite church history sites that I've been able to visit. Such amazing things happened there including Joseph Smith's revelation of this scripture which I love:

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24)

This was also the site where Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were tarred and feathered by an angry mob and where Joseph preached to a crowd (including members of the mob) the following morning.

There is such a beautiful feeling at these places and I was really happy to be able to see them again and for my children to be able to experience them as well.

*More photos from our trip can be viewed at http://www.jillustrated.blogspot.com .