Life

September has proven to be so busy I can't hardly believe it.

Soccer had only been tolerated for the most part.  Roman's team has had a rough time.  Such a let down after last year. But, they still love to play (most of them anyway, we've been short a few games lately). He is still playing goalie a lot of the time and doing quite well considering.

Marisa is probably enjoying soccer the most. That's not saying much.

Ezra is only there for the treats.  You can imagine the disappointment when there weren't any the other day.  He did score his first goal on Saturday. Yay!

There have been lots of slurpees just to make the experiences a little more pleasant.

Flag football has been better than last year but still hard to watch.  His team hasn't won a single game. Roman enjoys it anyway and he's learning.

My first real Young Women's activity was tonight, it was an etiquette dinner with the Young Men. It went really well and was pretty easy. It really helped that I had so many people willing to help me. I set the tables, made a short little video and made the dessert with Ezra's help. Everything else was delegated out and there was no stress (except for the worry that no one would come).

Sewing dance costumes is back in full force, with deadlines and sequin all over.

Piano lessons are going well however the adjustment to 30 minutes a day of practice for Roman has been a big pill to swallow. I'm amazed at how much he improves just by spending that amount of time though. His heart isn't in it, so this may just be a one year thing...we'll see. He plays so much like I did. I never wanted to do the work, but when I did I wasn't half bad. Marisa seems to love her class and I think she is learning good things. Ezra...who knows, I think he likes it, but might be a bit irritated with some of it. He really just wants to play the piano and they are spending a lot of time just learning about music. It's really good for building a good musical base, but I've been teaching him songs on the side to keep him interested. 

I've been spending many mornings at my mom's Provo house painting. I'm almost done with that though. Well, it will never be done...but my goal of making the living space and hallway look like a home and not a construction site will be fulfilled. If only that was all that was needed. But it's all I can do at the moment. 

Shane's parents were set to go home on October 1st, but then their car got in a fight with a front end loader up at the camp and they really just wanted to go home rather than wait around here to get it fixed so they went home early. It was so nice to have them around the last two years. It's going to be an unpleasant adjustment getting used to them being on the other side of the country again. 

My calendar scares me and I operate one day (sometimes one hour) at a time, but for the most part it's working. I'm just glad that October is not nearly so crazy. I'm starting to get a little tired.

Spoiled

Roman was spoiled by the bishop of our ward for learning all the Articles of Faith.

He was given two bags of candy, one for himself and one to share with the other kids in primary.

We're really proud of him.

My Life

About a month ago things started getting a bit nuts for me.

I had taken on trying to organize a family reunion for my family. This is no small task as we are all over the country, all different ages/stages in our families, and all have different opinions. Needless to say... it was stressful but we made some big decisions and I'm really excited about it.

Way back in May I agreed to be PTA secretary at our school. I was assured it would be quite easy. HA! Ok, it's not hard, but Ezra has been in school for two weeks now and of that time, I haven't been home for more than a day of it. I learned a valuable lesson; stapling 800 packets takes a VERY LONG TIME. I'm also learning that I simply can not be to or help with all the PTA sponsored activities. I think I'm past the worst of it though.

We signed all the kids up for soccer again. Roman is in flag football again. Marisa is in ballet again. The kids all started REAL piano lessons. This is how last Saturday went and how most weekday afternoons go:

I woke up and showered, the kids all woke up, ate as fast as they could and got ready for soccer. We all went to the church to clean it. (Shane's calling is building cleaning coordinator), I changed from my shorts to a skirt and left a touch early to get to stake baptisms (my old calling was Stake Primary secretary). Shane took Roman to his piano lesson. I played piano at our ward's baptism then left early to pick Roman up from his piano lesson because Shane took Ezra and Marisa to Ezra's soccer game. Roman and I went to Roman's soccer game. After Roman's game, I picked up a pizza and we ate while at Marisa's soccer game.

We came home and crashed. I was completely spent and it was only 12:30.

Today I got my new calling. Young Women's president. If I think about it too hard I start to panic a little.  It will be fun, rewarding, difficult and just plain fun, but I think we will enter a whole new level of busy. I like being busy. I really do.

Right now sewing is slow because swimming suit season is over, but dance outfit season has just begun. I'm going to have to be really disciplined with my time but I really want to continue sewing. Sewing is my outlet, my ME time... not to mention my play money. I can't imagine having time to pull of some of those HUGE projects though... we'll see.

I really do think that we aren't given any more than we can handle though and through all of this business I've felt a calmness that I know comes from somewhere else. And wow... I'm so blessed to have kids who I can make play soccer ;) and money to pay for piano lessons, and a husband who puts up with my business even though I think he prefers it if I'm not so busy, and opportunities to make myself better, stronger and wiser. And maybe all these things will help me to let go of things that aren't important and embrace the things that are.

Here we go!

Two Wheels

It's no secret that there are a few things about being mom that I just can't love. 1. potty training... just no fun. 2. stomach flu.... barf.... literally. And last, Two Wheel Bike training.

Marisa and Ezra both needed to learn. Ezra was really close in the spring, then he broke his leg and while riding his tricycle ended up being really good therapy after his cast came off, he was much more nervous about going back to two wheels.

I decided at the beginning of the summer, come hell or high water, we were all going to ride bikes to swimming lessons. Marisa and Ezra on training wheels just to get them comfortable on bikes again. Only, the bikes we have are old hand me downs from the cousins, and the training wheels don't work very well. The training wheels on Marisa's bike are too big and just weren't working and the training wheels on Ezra's bike work great... until they don't and suddenly one slips and well.... that just doesn't help my cause whatsoever.

Needless to say, the first bike trip to swimming lessons ended in tears and frustration and in less than a block from home. The bikes were left behind in the neighbors yard because we were going to be late. I think all of us were secretly hoping someone would steal them... They were still there when we got back. 

I gave up and just said, "Anyone that wants to earn $20 and a new bike can let me know and we'll go learn how to ride a bike."

No takers... only Roman said, "Hey, I didn't get $20!"

A few months later, I took the kids to the church parking lot, got the bikes out of the back of the car and said "GET ON!"

Marisa wouldn't get out of the car.

Ezra got on for 10 seconds and was doing really well... but 10 seconds was all he had and he wouldn't go any further.

AGHH!

Every now and then I would remind them of the money to be made if they would just try.

Then, the first week of school came. Ezra and I were outside. I was weeding in my garden and Ezra was thinking of ways to get me to pay attention to him and not my totally neglected flower beds. 

He disappeared for a while, then that funny boy came around the corner and said, "I'm ready to learn how to ride a bike."

He went up and down the road once a day for five days and now the kid knows how to ride. I'm hoping that he can get good enough to stay on the sidewalk and go on short runs with me soon. I'm just happy that he was willing to put aside his fear and learn something new.

The funny thing is that he did this so he can get a new bike. The red one at Walmart... The one with the training wheels.

I thought maybe having him learn would spark some interest in Marisa. But she still refuses. Sigh!!

Half Way!

This our first mortgage check in January 2003. We had just bought our house. I was a child.

 

Our first house payment

 

This was a week ago. We just re-financed to a 15 year loan marking a half way point of sorts. I have a child.....three, in fact. And a real kitchen table. And blinds. :)

 

Our first house payment on our new loan

 

 

Fire!

Just after the 24th of July, the mountain above Springville had a wildfire. Set by some fireworks :( I forgot to mention it way back then, but we had some good pictures so I thought I would share.

It was bit scary as it was very close to a couple of my friends' houses. They had to evacuate and it was creeping way too close for comfort. But the firefighters did an excellent job and the weather changed just in time so no structures were burned.

Despite the danger, watching them fight the fire was just so cool! They set up a big swimming pool type thing at the high school, which is just across the river from us.

 

They had a giant helicopter that would come down, hover over this tiny pool and suck up a whole bunch of water without landing and take off again. It was really cool to watch up close.

There was also a couple of bucket choppers going while the big one was taking a break as well as some tankers dropping fire retardant.

They were so efficient and worked so hard all day.

I went hiking with my friend a few days later where it had burned. It was really quite amazing and a little sad.