What a Week

It's been yet another week since I've written. My goodness!

Well, it's been quite a fun (and busy) week.

School is now officially out! and if my kids keep fighting like they have today I'm checking myself into a nut house on Monday. Everyone's boundaries have been crossed about a million times already. YIKES!

Before school was out, Marisa had an end of school party, which was super fun, but of course I didn't have a camera with me. There was a little pool party, a picnic and then the funnest magic show ever.

After that was over we all headed over to Roman's school for Field Day. I was helping with one of the activities so even though I did have my camera this time, I didn't get a single picture. Roman had a blast though, and got sopping wet.  Ezra and Marisa survived 2 hours without my undivided attention. And I got sunburned again. (tell me this, if the sun has only been out 2 days since September, how have I had two big sunburns since then too?)  Yes, I've heard of sunblock. I even used it.

I did manage to snag a picture of Roman with his teacher. He's sure sad that school is out. 

Of course it couldn't stay sunny two days in a row and Thursday was my date with Ezra to go see Thomas. Luckily, despite the clouds, it didn't rain (miracle).

I think his love of Thomas has faded a little. Or he's just a little reserved. Probably both. If he was thrilled to go ride on Thomas it was news to me.  He didn't complain, but there wasn't any excitement either. He wanted nothing to do with the Thomas Tattoos, getting his picture taken in front of Thomas, or getting a balloon animal.

I kept having to tease him into smiling.

He liked playing with all the wooden trains.

Once we finally got on Thomas he acted as though he could have fallen asleep at any moment. But he liked it.

He seemed more excited to eat at McDonalds afterward.

I asked him if he wanted to do it again and he said no. What is with my kids? Oh well, riding on Thomas ain't cheep so I won't complain if he actually doesn't want to go again next year.

Today we had to go to Salt Lake for an appointment so I took the kids to Ikea before hand, and they loved it! Seriously, sometimes the best things in life are free.  (well, the babysitting was free anyway, the treasures I came home with and our lunch wasn't, but still)

MIRACLE!!!

Yes my friends, we have experienced a miracle at our house this week.  I thought it might never happen.

OK, so this might only be exciting to me. But I'm just thrilled and so proud!

Roman, learned how to ride his bike this week!!!!!

I decided that I was going to take him around the block every day till he got it. Even if it was going to take all summer. Oh, the first few times were absolute misery! We would both come back so blasted frustrated that the thought of doing it the next day was just too much.

But... on Tuesday I took him out and I just had him practice pushing off and trying to get his feet on the peddles before falling. (getting started is the hardest part after all)

By the time we were 3/4 of the way home he was making it one or two pumps before he lost his balance. So, on the stretch home I put him out on the road where he would have more room and he just took off. Just like that.

The next day was filled with frustration and tears as he tried to balance AND turn but by today, he's doing even better. Take a look.



Just in case you weren't quite sure, this was the "good news" I was talking about.

Funny thing is... I'm not sure he really cares... still. Weird kid. 

Sure, he's got a way to go before he's a pro, but he's one MAJOR step closer. YEAH!

Take a Picture, It Will Last Longer

I had to go to the school this morning... Twice. Fine on it's own, but it also involves getting the little kids jackets (stupid weather), and shoes on... twice. And getting them buckled in (and out of) the car... a billion times.  And did I mention the freezing cold rain?

Needless to say, by 10 a.m. I needed a reason to NOT go climb in my bed and tell Marisa and Ezra to fend for themselves and stay away from the knife drawer.

But, I fought the urge. I grabbed my camera and put on my galoshes (just kidding, I don't own any galoshes, I just needed some) and headed outdoors to see what I could capture.

The results:

I guess the rain isn't so bad. But it's May 18th and only 46 degrees outside for crying out loud!

Which reminds me, school is out next week. HOLY COW!

and... some good news... is on it's way.... I bet you can't wait.

A week

I can't believe it's been a week and I really have very little to say. Can you believe it? Maybe my whole love story was what was driving me to write this whole time and now that it's out... I'm done. :).... Not likely.

I guess it's just been a busy week doing less than interesting things. The outdoors has started to flourish and along with that comes more weeds than I could possibly keep up with. I'm trying though.

I just went through my kids closets and plucked all the clothes that no longer fit them from the hangers and drawers. Strange, when I pack up all the too-small clothes from my boys closet I almost rejoice. When I go through Marisa's clothes I want to cry.

I wish a magic fairy would just come and make all my boy's old clothes disappear while I have bins and bins of Marisa's old clothes that I never want to part with. **SIGH** they are just so cute!  The boys clothes have gone through two kids (at least) and if they once were cute (not likely) they are mostly rags now.

Marisa's preschool went on another field trip to the Discovery Park in American Fork. Been there?

I know a few friends that have and while its absolutely fascinating to look at, and kind of magical and fun to climb around, I HATED it! It is not a playground for independent two-year-olds with over protective parents while HUNDREDS of larger kids run and climb and make so much noise you can't even hear your own kids when you are standing next to them. What a nightmare! I lost Ezra for a few minutes and since you can't see your kids very well (or at all) I was panicking. All sorts of horrors filled my head and I frantically dragged Marisa all around the playground looking for him. Really, anyone could have taken him and he probably wouldn't have even cried. And even if he had, I wouldn't have been able to hear him. It was SO loud.

Turned out he was just sitting at the top of the slide letting all the pushy big kids go in front of him and climb UP the slide (a big pet peeve of mine) but I couldn't see him because the playground is mostly solid wood. We will not be going back unless A. there aren't over 100 1st and 2nd graders at the same playground B. My kids are bigger. C. I forget how much I hated it.

I asked Marisa what her favorite part was. She said  "nothing." Amen sista!

Anyway, when I was trying to thing of something I could write about this morning, I saw this:

 This make me laugh in a couple ways.

1. My pantry is a MESS!!! And the shoes are EVERYWHERE. Sadly, much of my house looks exactly like this. And that makes me laugh out of pure frustration.

2. Look at those legs. The picture doesn't even do them justice. The kid got my twig legs and it's just so funny to see them after this long winter we've had. It's hard to believe that when he was little he had the shortest, fattest little legs.

A Hairy Subject

This is my husband. Sometime last fall Shane decided to quit having his hair cut. Then mid winter he decided to quit shaving too.

He seems to think it's pretty awesome. And I guess, seeing as how not every man, and hopefully not any women, can match the hair growing power of this guy, I guess it is pretty.... um.... neat. He did get an offer to go be in a biblical movie.

But, it's not my favorite look for him. But that's just me.

Heaven help us.

His goal was to make it to his birthday.

He passed. And sad day as it was, he shaved most of his beard off. If you ask me...major improvement. I even liked his hair on this day. But maybe it was just the lack of facial hair.

But it just doesn't have the volume necessary to pull it off without continued growth, so the hair had to go too.

Voila! Now there's someone I once knew.

2.5

Ezra is getting closer and closer to three years old. Then we can't use that as an excuse for his crazy behavior. Better watch out kid!

Actually, he is improving in the behavior department. I even think we haven't had any unexplainable tantrums in sacrament meeting the last few weeks. GO US!

He's talking up a storm, and we can even understand him. GO HIM!

He has backed off of liking Thomas so much. He still likes his Thomas trains and books quite a bit, but he won't really watch the show (fine by me). I think he gets really scared when the trains crash and such. Funny, that was Roman's favorite part.

He only wakes up at 5:30 am sometimes now....YEA! I enjoy sometimes much more than I enjoyed every. single. night.

He is such a picky eater. Like, I'm running out of foods that he will eat, picky. But... he likes most fruit.

He claims that he is 6 years old. Then you mention potty training and he says "I'm just a big baby, when I'm six I'll use the potty." (hate to break it to you kid, but when you're three, that's when it's happening, like it or not(I really hope he doesn't get the last laugh on that one))

I can't believe how big he's getting. He still seems like a little pipsqueak because he's just so skinny, but to look at these pictures, he's really loosing that baby face of his, darn it!

He hates to clean up. His perfect world is filled with mess and chaos. He is getting really good at doing puzzles but he never EVER leaves them done, he disassembles them and walks away.

He still screams with the best of them.

He loves to go on walks, get donuts at Reams and play on slides.

I guess he's just your regular old funny 2.5 year old.

We sure like him.

Another Birthday

Shane took his turn this week. We didn't do anything special really. He never said anything that he wanted for his birthday and I couldn't think of anything I wanted him to have for his birthday so he got a few little favors really. But, that's what happens when you get old I guess.

So, I mowed the lawn for him. Because of all the rain (and snow) we've had lately, the grass was extra long and I knew he wasn't looking forward to mowing it.  And I guess you could say I killed the snake that he wasn't so fond of too. Happy birthday honey! I bought him some Orange Crush that's just for him and I bought him some new pajama shorts because all of his old ones have bit the dust recently. Woo Hoo...So exciting!

So, we went to dinner on Saturday at a new Mexican place called Milagros. It was OK.  I loved that I had other choices for sides other than rice and beans. The meat was tasty, but their salsas were very strange. With the fact that it's kind of far away and just a little weird and a little expensive, we probably won't go back soon.

Then on his actual birthday my parents took us to Texas Road House. It was pretty good. We had never been before and other than the kids fishy tasting chicken strips, we came out pretty happy.  Notice a little less hair? More on that later.

Then we came home and had the cousins over for trifle dessert. We were too full from dinner to eat it.

 

Good times. Happy Birthday Pally! We sure love you.

Snakes

Yesterday was Shane's birthday. And, to me anyway, it seemed like a decent day. I'll share a little bit more about this tomorrow.

But, I decided to mow the lawn for him, so he wouldn't have to (good present right? I thought so anyway).  As I mowed the kids played in the yard and everything was fine. Until I ran over a garter snake.

I didn't see it until I backed up to change directions and there he was, still squirming but definitely injured.

Instantly I felt sad. I don't like killing non-nuisance wildlife for no reason.  Then I felt happy, because he was just a little too close to where my kids were playing for comfort. Sure, he would probably leave them alone, but if Marisa had spotted him she would have renounced her new appreciation for the outdoors for another 4 years. I was happy that there was one less snake in our yard to worry about.

Then I wondered if this was the same snake we had spotted a few weeks ago. And, if we are seeing, and accidentally running over this snake so much, how many are there that we aren't seeing. Then I want to renounce my appreciation for the outdoors and stay inside for 4 years.

Then, I stopped feeling anything but squirmy, and I got a stick and picked up the snake and took him to the garbage before the kids saw him.

Then I thought back to Sunday. How I felt very much the same way when we got the news that Bin Laden was killed.

Sunday night, I was bored, the kids were FINALLY quiet and I decided to pop in a feel good movie, Return to Me (Seen it? The story line is quite predictable and just OK but the writing is hillarious!)

Anyway, Shane whispered down the hallway at me... "Get in here!"

It seemed serious enough that I wondered which child had thrown up.

I entered the living room to see that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.

My first reaction? I did a Loyd Christmas and said, "YES!" But, just as quick as that reaction came, it left, leaving a little sadness a fear in it's place. Just like with the snake I was happy, sad, and afraid all at once.

I like the way this woman put her feelings into words:
http://www.blogher.com/frame.php?url=http://native-born.com/2011/05/02/on-osama-obl/

I'm happy because justice was served. If only he could re-live that moment for each person who died because of him. It almost doesn't seem fair.

I'm sad because like the woman in that link said, he was once an innocent little boy.

I'm afraid because even though this snake (while poisonous and not nearly as harmless as a garter snake) was killed, there are so many more that we can't see.

I'm discouraged because I know that not much has really changed.

And, I'm determined to teach my kids to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Simple, yet oh so complicated.

As for the snakes....well, as long as they leave me and my children alone, I will leave them alone.

Quatorze = FINALE

Oh my! looking at all these wedding pictures makes me want to cry. There are pictures of a handful of people who have passed away since then, a couple divorces a few weddings and we all look older :( Not to mention the kids who were tiny then, are almost as tall as me now. But then, there are so many more kids who have joined the family since then too. I guess that's life. I just can't believe how much it can change in 10 years.

In case you need to catch up:

It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Neuf
Dix 
Onze 
Douze
Treize

Luckily, no one made eye contact and no one talked to me. My nose stopped bleeding and I made it back into the lobby to continue waiting and wondering. Hundreds of horrific scenarios played in my head as I waited by myself in that little lobby that morning.
 
I didn't wait long after that though. Shane and his family showed up and my mom and dad showed up shortly after that. "Where have you been?" I asked my mom.

My sister had been sick and was only getting worse. She decided she had to go to the doctor where they diagnosed her with kidney stones. She was SICK. I think that I knew all this. I mean, I must have. But none of it really registered in my brain. My brain probably wouldn't really accept the fact that I might not have my sister or any flowers at my wedding.  My parents decided to go up and see what they could do to help get her and the flowers into the right state along with her husband and their two small children.

I think they drove to Utah in the early hours of the morning or late at night while my sister, bless her heart, arranged flowers in the back of the car while trying not to die.

We entered the temple and the world blurred around me. For some reason or another the most memorable part of the the whole temple scene was sitting in a little office where they made sure we had the license, etc.. After the paperwork was taken care of, my mom helped get me dressed, sent me off to wait for Shane, then disappeared. Shane and I found each other and were sent to wait with the other couples that were going to be married that day. We sat and talked and admired the unique and intricate architecture of that amazing building.

Then it was time. This was really happening. We walked into the sealing room and my mother was nowhere to be found. The man who would be performing the ceremony wanted to get started but we had to "stall the wedding" so she wouldn't miss it.

For a moment I thought I was going to have to release the wrath of my soon-to-be husband on a nice old man because he was insisting that we get started. Luckily I didn't have to because in tromps my mom with my brother...all the way from Japan. He had flown in and made it in the nick of time. Literally. All but one of my six siblings was there... which is... well, a miracle frankly. Considering that one sibling lived in Japan, one lived in Massachusetts, one lived in Idaho and was in a huge amount of pain and one was, well...Alan...'nuff said.

All of Shane's family was there from Ohio too, including all three of his living grandparents. We were surrounded by the people who love us and it was a miracle and one of the perks of being the youngest in an LDS family. I sat outside of every single one of their sealings, tending the children, BLAH!!

The only real closeup I could find of my dress

The ceremony was a blur. Aren't they all? But, lovely and perfect as all temple sealings are. And before we knew it we were making our grand entrance into the world as a married couple.  As soon as we were out of the temple I wanted to go right back in. It was HOT outside. BLISTERING! It wasn't even 11 A.M by the time we were outside to take pictures and it was nearly 100 degrees out there.

We started to take the traditional pictures outside the temple. And everyone was baking. All the family members were gathering around situating themselves so that every last little face could be seen and I was starting to feel sick.  My head started to spin and my ears started to ring. The all too familiar pre-cursors to fainting were coming at me at lighting speed. "Not Now!" I thought to myself as I tried to will my way out of passing out. Then the cold sweats hit and I knew I had to do something or it was going to get ugly. "At least I'm surrounded by a whole bunch of people who can catch me," I thought. Everyone was trying to take pictures and I wanted to hop the fence and jump in the pond but suddenly I couldn't see the pond.

"I gotta sit down" I said as I let my knees go limp. My rear hit the steps like a bag of bricks. I wanted to lay down completely but I didn't want to get my dress dirty so I put my head in between my legs and motioned with my hands while I whimpered, "Don't look at me. I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."  I sat there shaking ferociously and trying not to look ridiculous, but I wasn't getting better. Every time I put my head up I felt like tossing my cookies. That is, if I had even eaten any cookies or anything for that matter. In all the rush of the morning I hadn't even thought to eat. WHAT WAS I THINKING? If you know me at all... you know I don't skip meals.... EVER. Even when I stuff myself silly at Golden Corral, you will probably find me in the kitchen three hours later looking for a snack. That's the way I roll baby.

I was sweating and wanted to die and WOULD EVERYONE JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME!! Finally someone asked if my dress was too tight. Ahh... maybe. Luckily the bodice of my dress was a lace up kind and it just needed to be adjusted. As my mother loosened my dress, and Shane's friend returned with some cold water, I could feel the blood rushing back to my head and I was back in business....only beet red and sweaty. Lovely!

We suffered through a few family pictures. Everyone who could scattered to find somewhere... anywhere with air conditioning.

Shane and I found a bench in the shade while we waited for our turn on the other side of the temple.

More pictures and we were finally free. Sort of.

We had a luncheon at the Olive Garden.. Have I ever mentioned that I love that place? Normally I stuff myself like a turkey at the Thanksgiving when I eat there (or anywhere really) but I had a big night ahead of me ;) and I didn't want to be poochy so I only nibbled and chatted. But it was so good to eat.

After lunch was over Shane and I escaped back to Provo to our new apartment. I showered and tried to get some sleep. Shane ran off to get the key to our room at a local bed and breakfast and before we knew it we were back on our feet to finish what we started. Really? I like the idea of having the reception after the honeymoon now because it was starting to be a ridiculously exhausting day. And the heat! OH THE HEAT!!! It was relentless. The temperature had to have reached 100+ degrees and I had planned a beautiful outdoor reception. WHAT WAS I THINKING!? The guests were going to melt! Not to mention the ice cream we were serving. Stupid Utah weather!

We arrived to find my aunt and oh so pregnant sister in law working feverishly to get the food ready. Somehow, someone had found tables and chairs. I don't remember the details but I think the last I had heard, we didn't know if we were going to be allowed to use the tables and chairs from the church next door. The chocolate dipped strawberries were sweating and weren't so pretty. Drat! My sister was still sick as ever, my cousins were also sick and dropping like flies and my mother was all over the place. One of my brothers didn't show up... at all, the turd. All of my plans were falling to pieces and guests were starting to show up.

It was right about now that I decided I should have hired a wedding planner, or at least found a non-relative to be in charge. I needed a bridesmaid, STAT! Actually, I did try a little. I tried to recruit my best friends from high school but one had a family wedding the very next day and it was the other friend's birthday. They were out. Why I didn't recruit my roommates? I don't know. I guess I had just been a bridesmaid one too many times and I didn't want to give anyone that rotten title, or ugly dress. It had also been months since we had really spent any time together. It happens.

I don't think I really allowed myself to internalize the chaos around me because I just threw on my still slightly damp dress, grabbed my handsome new husband, found a shady spot, and started talking to everyone who was nice enough to brave the outdoor oven to come celebrate with us.

The heat did calm down a little and we were able to enjoy the beautiful back yard garden while a cute little girl from BYU played the harp in the background. The kids were having fun eating cookies and ice cream and taking turns on the trampoline. Despite the individual turbulences, it was relaxed and I didn't care about any of it really. We were married and I couldn't have been happier about it.

Sometime during the evening we heard the daughter of Shane's lifelong friend crying...quite loud. We were too busy visiting to really notice but we did notice that they didn't come say good bye and they were suddenly gone. It turned out she was jumping on the trampoline and got hurt. BAD. She broke her leg! I felt so bad when I found out, but I'm glad that we didn't find out until after the honeymoon. Just another log on the fire of chaos that was my wedding day.

Soon everyone was exhausted and the small crowd got even smaller. The grandparents had been thoroughly baked. The children were over sugared and over tired. It had been a long day for everyone. It was time to cut the cake and toss the bouquet. Kristy caught it, the cutie. Being tall has it's advantages.

The sun was setting, things wrapped up. I peeled my now sweat soaked dress from my body, changed into some jeans and a blouse and Shane and I snuck off in the Dodge Dynasty to go do what newly married kids do. We didn't get a big send off, but I could have cared less. In fact, it's the way I prefer it.

We spent the next week honeymooning in the small tourist town of Ouray, Colorado and it was so much fun! If you are ever in the area, rent a jeep for a day... AMAZING!

And that... my friends. Is the story of how I met, and became married to my very best friend. And I still, nearly 10 years later now, am just as happy as I ever was.

THE END

Now to go through and add a few random details and get this baby printed. I think if I include it in my regular blog books, it's going to be too big.

I hope you enjoyed it. It seemed that way, but you might have just been humoring me.. Don't tell me, I don't want to know. Unless you want to humor me some more than have at it.