I'm Thankful Too!

I'm finally getting around to being publicly Thankful. But make no mistake, being late about it (as in a week after the holiday named for it) doesn't make me any less thankful. So here goes. . .

My Family. There isn't anyone on Earth that I love more than Jason and our four kids.

October 2008

Christmas Music! I love this time of year. . .

Spending holidays with extended family. Thank you for having us Zollingers!!

Bonnie with Eli; She's always caring for someone!

Monica, Kate, Sierra

Stirland, Eli, Dimond

Having a baby in the house. . . even if he won't eat chunks. There's something heavenly about babies. Just tonight I couldn't get enough of rubbing gooey lotion all over his chubby legs and tummy.

October 2008

New stylin' spectacles (for the everyday things that look better when not slightly blurred). The doc offered to get me into bifocals but I politely declined. BIFOCALS!! I'm only thirty five for Pete's sake! It's taken me a little while to get used to the wide sides but I really like these beauties.

Kate and I on Temple Square, November 2008

Running. And friends to do it with, if only once a year.

Running Pals at the Women's Celebration in Boise; September 20, 2008

Free produce (grapes and apples were free this year!!) and the knowledge of what to do with it.

Volleyball and friends to play it with. Oh how I miss Wednesdays in Twin Falls!

Reading glasses. Not especially happy about needing them (of course I could have gone for the bifocals. . .), but having them makes it easier for me to sew or read or scrapbook.

The beauty of the Earth.

Little Red Fish Lake at dawn. August 2008

Modern medicine. I am thankful to have enjoyed the benefits of simple surgeries (where things could have turned rather ugly without them), anesthesia for dental procedures, epidurals that kept me sane and in control through 3 hours of second stage labor (the pushing part) with my first baby, Rhogam (the shot I get when I am pregnant to stop my body from annihilating the baby's blood cells) and ibuprofen to name a few.

Last and least on this rather short list. . .

Snickers bites (this one is a double edged sword). Love these things!

anti chunk

Eli enjoying some peas

What kind of baby prefers pasty bottled peas to freshly smashed, perfectly ripened banana?

Mine of course. We are trying to get Eli to eat table food- smashed table food of course. He's not interested in anything that hasn't been pureed. If there are chunks mixed in with his mushy food he won't have anything to do with it- spits it out, turns his head and he's been known to growl.

Stubborn child. And smart (He watches us closely as we prepare his food and he won't even try it if he sees we have sneaked in a little something under the radar). And happy. And cute. But stubborn.

And soon to be hungry as his first birthday approaches and the baby food disappears. He'll eat then won't he?

Shoes vs Snickers bites

A few weeks ago I ran three miles, fast. Fast for me that is (seriously, not really that fast). And I felt great. And I thought, man I love this. And my skinny jeans fit. And that makes me happy. Vain, I know.

Nearly three weeks have passed and I have been telling myself how I don't really have time to run right now. Jason's schedule, all the activities we have going on, a million errands, making stuff for Christmas. . . something has to give! So the running dropped off the list. And my skinny jeans still fit and I am thinking I am getting some bonus days here.

Yesterday Jason nearly kicked me out the front door. So I went for a run on the most perfect fall day. Clear sunny skies with a little nip in the air. I felt like a sea cow. I was dragging terribly. That chocolate is catching up to me. Easy on the snickers bites!! I am pretty sure Ethan could have wasted me. Humility can be a bummer, huh? Today it's a motivator. Fewer snickers and more miles under my feet from now on.

Yesterday I was sore. Today I am sore. Tomorrow I will be sore. (I'd better be over it before Wednesday though because I have a date with a little white ball!) But I went for a run on a beautiful fall day and even though I was slow it felt good to run again.

Kate's Baptism

Kate was baptized on Novmeber 1st. Hooray for Kate! We had hoped to have lots of family here but weather, funerals and sickness held everyone at bay. Kate had a hysterical crying fit when she realized that not one member of her family (besides the boring ones she lives with) would be at the baptism. I am sure she had visions of Ethan's baptism in her head (lots of family and friends. . . the summer is certainly a better time to travel).

But she got over it and all was well. Our family provided a prayer and the Holy Ghost talk. We asked Kate what she wanted and she requested that Ethan say a prayer and that her home teacher give the talk. Our home teacher is the bishop and he happened to be the supporting bishop for this baptism and as such was already giving the bishop's remarks. She was happy to have his companion and 14 year old son, Daniel give the talk. He did a great job! Several families from our ward came to support Kate and it was very sweet.

Before

A friend of mine made a dress for her daughter to be baptized in (instead of a jumpsuit) and offered to let us use it (thanks Gretchen!). It is so darling! She was loving it, thinking it was so pretty. While we were in the bathroom I told her how happy I am that Sis. Child let us borrow it it. Her reply, "Well, I think I want to wear a jumpsuit." That's Kate, expressing the exact opposite of my opinion. Oh her teenage years are going to be fun! Two days later she was glad she got to wear a girly dress and not a boyish (ie-pants) jumpsuit. Go figure.

She went right under without any trouble and froze in the cold bathroom while I helped her dry off and get dressed (Thanks for the towel Mom and Dad!).

After

Loving her Daddy

In sacrament meeting, just before it was time for her confirmation she looked over at Jason with tears brimming and said she had to go to the bathroom! What??? She couldn't wait. We didn't want her to wet her dress so she ran off to go. The bishop didn't see her leave (funny since we were sitting on the second row) and got up and started talking about Kate. He mentioned how nice it was to see her baptized and, "now she will be confirmed. She is sitting right here by her Dad and she is dressed in white and is so spiritual that I think she's transparent because she has disappeared and I can't see her anymore." It was hilarious. So he was like, "Well, I guess I need to filibuster here for a minute. Uh. . ." Then he reviewed a few announcements and she came running back and was confirmed.

She hand picked several men to stand in the confirmation circle. . . her two primary teachers, her friend's dad, the bishopric and her favorite babysitter's (Valentine) dad. Jason did a wonderful job. Valentine's dad bore his testimony and said he was honored to stand in for her. He mentioned how neat it is that she could just pick from so many, how blessed she is to know so many worthy priesthood holders.

At home before church Sunday morning

Happy Belated Halloween

This Halloween is one we won't soon forget. I planned to take the kids downtown where the merchants hand out candy (beginning at 4 pm). Then we were going to eat dinner, go to our ward trunk or treat and then come home to watch a movie (The Goonies- edited version) and roast marshmallows in the back yard.

When Nathanael got home from school at 11:30 I told him that I wanted him to do his chores (would have taken him 10-15 minutes to do his two chores) right after lunch because he wouldn't have time to do them when the bigger kids got home from school (this is when he would normally do them). After lunch I nagged and he goofed off for a good thirty minutes. Long story short, after the nagging I gave him a very clear ultimatum. Do your chores before Ethan and Kate get home. If you don't do them, you won't trick or treat. Do you understand? Yes. You won't go with us if you don't have your chores done. Do you understand? Yes. No candy for you- do you understand? Yes. Ok. Can you do it? Yes. Will you do it? Yes. Awesome. I won't bug you anymore.

So every so often I would randomly call out the time, "It's now 2:15, 1 hour and 15 minutes until the kids get home." He sat in the kitchen and played games on the chairs. "It's now 2:45, 45 minutes until the kids get home" and so on.

Story becoming long again. So he didn't start working until about five minutes before they got home and he didn't make it. AHHHH! Are you kidding? What kid would *not* do two measly chores and give up trick or treating? I don't get it. I felt terrible about it- total backfire. He still had to finish his work, while Kate and Ethan were trick or treating. He was weeping and wailing and carrying on. I was so close to just letting him go, but I didn't and he stayed home.

After getting some candy (not a ton this year for which I am so grateful!) we came back home and had some friends over to watch our movie outside (Nathanael joined in for this). It was so warm we were able to do it and be comfortable (with blankets). We also had a fire to stand by if needed. Later we roasted marshmallows. Once the sugar high wore off we dropped like rocks into our warm beds.

Can you guess what my kids dressed up as?

Blank space where Nathanael should
be shown dressed up as a bat.

Ethan wanted to be an "Australian." Aside from telling him that Australians wear clothes just like we do I didn't argue since I didn't have to do anything for this costume. He wore the hat he made at cub scout day camp this summer (theme was cubs down under), the shirt Grandma and Grandpa sent from Australia for his birthday and a sign on his back saying, "G'day Mate!"

Kate asked to be a polar bear. Yikes. I don't want to go into the hairy details but I ended up throwing some material on the table with the sewing machine and this is what came out. Next year she wants to wear the same thing, without the ears, and be a marshmallow.

Eli was our adorable frog. Jason took this awesome picture with his new SLR "work" camera (that means work pays and he plays). He says it was luck getting such a good shot. Luck or skill, I don't care I LOVE this photo!

Music to my Ears

An unsolicited comment from Kate. . .

"Mom, now my favorite thing to do after my homework and chores is read my book, it's not watch TV anymore!"

Proof that depriving my kids of uninterrupted hours of TV does not make them desire to watch it even more. Awesome.

Get out and Vote!

It's rainy and cold and windy and yucky outside today. The kind of day when I want to stay inside and drink hot chocolate. But not today. Today I voted.

In Washington, voting is done by mail. We get our voters pamphlet and ballot in the mail a few weeks before the election and we can mail it back.

This bugged me when we first moved here. I like to drive to the voting location, have my name marked on the voter registration list, stand in a booth and then put my ballot in the box. The act of going somewhere to do this appeals to me. But the advantage of voting by mail is that we got pour over the voter pamphlet for as long as we want and research this or that online as well when we have a question about a candidate's stand. We make our choice without being in a hurry to mark the ballot and get back to whatever is going on in our lives.

My compromise of these two voting methods was to vote this morning in my house and then drive my ballot (and Jason's) to the drop off box. When I got there I saw many people dropping off their ballots too. It warmed my heart to see all these people coming and going; exercising their right to choose their leaders. I was one of them.

I think this moment was more poignant for me because my kids are paying attention to this election. They are eager to learn about the process. They are watching their parents. I was in second grade when Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter. This is the first election I remember. My classroom had a vote complete with ballots and booths and a winner. I voted for Ronald Reagan, but Jimmy Carter won our classroom vote. Ronald Reagan won the election. It was a big deal to vote and take part in the process. Now my kids are in that situation. They know who John McCain and Barack Obama are. We looked in our voter pamphlet and talked about other candidates and races as well (for president, congress, initiatives, etc). At home we talk about the importance of voting. Their classes talk about the election and how it's important to be sure your voice is heard. It's good to be part of this process. It's even better to know it was inspired by God. We feel fortunate to live in this wonderful country.

One day last week when Ethan got home from school he came to me immediately to talk about something he heard that day. He told me that a kid in his class told him that he would never vote for Barack Obama because "Obama believes that it is okay for a woman, if she is pregnant and doesn't want to be, to go to a doctor and the doctor will put poison inside her to kill the baby and then the baby dies and gets sucked out and she doesn't have to worry about it anymore. Isn't that crazy?" His intent was to tell me this outlandish thing that couldn't possibly be true because it is just unbelievable. I looked him in the eye and said, "That is true. It's called abortion and Barack Obama does support it." He was shocked beyond words. His whole body kind of slumped and after a few minutes he said, "I bet that makes Heavenly Father really sad."

Yes, it makes Heavenly Father really sad.

I believe he had a life changing moment. His perspective has changed. The world isn't as nice a place as he thought. Growing up can be a bummer.

Please vote, if you haven't already.