Experience #1

Annie is coloring a picture of Santa Claus for homework.  She is being tested on her colors and she notices he is holding an ornament.  On a side note: Annie has just finished learning the 4th article of faith.

Annie  Oh Mom, he is holding an ornament…we have ornaments…hey, ornaments of the gospel.  I wish I had some ornaments of the gospel.  I would put them in my backpack.

Me They are actually ordinances of the gospel, but an ornament of the gospel would be nice too.

Experience #2

Hudson is bringing my bathroom garbage down the stairs.

Hudson  Mom!!  Why did you throw your old boobs away?!  You just got new boobs.  Don’t you need your old boobs?

Me (Standing dumbstruck)  Umm…well, that is called a bra and I don’t need it anymore.

And for the record, I have not had any plastic surgery…I’m just pregnant.

Our summer has been filled with lots of fun and excitement, and a plethora of meltdowns to boot.  Being pregnant and according to Will, quite crabby has only added fuel to the fire.  I confess I feel the crab snapping at my children. I’m not sure who started what – if it was my crabbiness  instigating the meltdowns or vise-versa, but we are stuck in a spiral and I am sooooo done with it all.  The solution for me was more structure and scheduling.  I enjoy being low-key, letting my kids play and chose the things they want to do, but that me has been suspended for the sake of the household until the end of the summer, in which time the situation will be reevaluated.  I don’t enjoy being the Nazi mom cracking the whip, but sometimes it needs to happen.  Most of the next little while gets to be scheduled.  Yes, we have it down to the minute with piano practice, math, reading, spelling, snack time, chores, games, etc.  So far it has worked like a dream and we have had no fighting.  I can feel the teacher in me sneaking to the surface.  I have repressed her for so long.  Let’s see if it lasts…

We finally had a weekend where we didn’t have to be anywhere or see anyone.  We spent it at home as a family.  Will and Hudson spent time in the garage making a bird house and Annie and I spent time in the other half of the garage making her a play skirt.  My mom gave me a bunch of early 90s material to practice on once I got my sewing machine so I went to town.  I still haven’t learned to embrace(that’s code for use) patterns yet so the skirt is beyond less than perfect and I just kind of decided on design as we went.  Annie and I had fun though.  It sounded like Will and Hudson enjoyed themselves as well.

I was lazy about taking picture over the 4th so Amy was nice enough to email me these.  Our 4th of July continued into day 2 where we did a little BBQ, kicked back and relaxed.  The kids made a tree swing and did a few crafts.  It’s nice having them old enough to sit for any sort of extended time to do an activity.

We sat around and chatted as the kids did their thing…just another sunny, San Diego day.  The shade we could find brought welcome release from the heat of the day.

Okay we have been moved in for several months and I totally forgot to blog about the house.  Admittedly I have had other things on my mind lately, but better late than never, right?  People keep asking me about the house.  I think I will probably do it in two parts to reduce the number of pictures in the blog.  Even then I got a little carried away.

So far we have been lucky that the kids haven’t tried to climb over the rail onto the ledges.  Hudson does love sliding down the rail though and Annie has only tried to jump off the balcony part once.  I think my scream has deterred any further attempts.

We love, love, love the house.  With so much moving in my life we unpacked everything in about 72 hours and I haven’t unpacked anything since.  Most things have a home, but there are still the 2 token boxes in the garage full of junk I just dumped extras into on the last day of the move.  Those are always the last ones unpacked.  I supposed if I have lived without them this long and they aren’t Christmas decorations I should really just chuck the box.  I haven’t missed anything so far…

I know I still have Annie’s purple chair in my room, but it doesn’t fit in her’s without causing problems.  It just becomes another stepping stone for disaster.

Once again I love that the vanity area offers separate areas for Will and I to keep our OWN stuff.  What can I say…it keeps the marriage much happier.

Annie’s room is a little pinkified this time around, but she will only be a little girl for so long so we went with it…

It’s amazing the things one notices after taking pictures of the different rooms in a house.  I usually walk into Hudson’s room and notice the mess on the train table or the floor.  It wasn’t until just now I noticed one of the clocks slightly off.  I can’t help offering a second thought  to the huge booms and crashes I heard last week.  I was assured everything was fine and under control…yeah, fine….

Caution: Heavy, early morning thoughts…

The human experience seems a trite phrase for describing the culmination of experiences we endure and enjoy on our sojourn on earth.  I have reflected extensively this last little while on my childhood and the experiences I had that have formed the person I am today…for better or for worse.  My childhood emotions were typical of most others.  I laughed with my friends, fought with my friends, cried when I got hurt and was filled with excitement with the simplest of things.  Jealousy, hate, embarrassment, joy, kindness, humility, comfort…the list goes on and I have felt them all-unfortunately with some of them, more times than I would like to admit.

As I watch my own children begin to experience the world with a larger pallet of emotions, I find that I naturally try to protect them from the emotions that are not so fun-for the lack of a better word.  I’m starting to think I’m doing my children a disservice.  Children are strong and very resilient.  Those difficult emotions are often time when we learn the most.  For example, embarrassment tends to create humility(I am aware this is not always the case).  Really, I know I need to be more humble and it scares the begeebees out of me to pray for it.  With it can come so much hardship, hurt and trial(Again, I am aware this is not always the case).  Honestly, I’m a pansy.  I hate being humbled, but I know it’s good for me and so I usually pray for the desire and ability to humble myself.  I digress, this is not about me.  As a result, I naturally want to shield them from experiences necessary for humility or other, “hard to come by” traits.  The process is no walk in the park.  I don’t want them to have to struggle I just want them to be perfect.  And yes, I am laughing at the sound of it as I’m writing the words, but it’s the honest truth.  It sounds like Satan’s plan almost got me there for a moment.  It is tempting… just do what your told, be perfect so we can be an eternal family…dang it!

So this thought hurricane has me thinking that I need to back off my children’s experience just a bit.  I shouldn’t be shielding them from emotions(I’m referring to the simple, day to day instances here, not the deeper, scarier ones-that is a whole different can of worms that I get all sorts of momma bear about).  If my kids get teased, I can’t step in and I know that.  Even if I tried, I won’t always be there.  I think my role has become that as a coping coach.  I know, lame name!  You’ll be teased/hurt/embarrassed again and again through your whole life…get used to it. It’s my job to make sure they handle the ups and downs with grace and dignity; that they learn how to be better friends; that they remember Will and I love them and Heavenly Father is always there for comfort and guidance.  I’m am here to provide tools, not shelter my children from the world.  Our experience here is one of learning, enduring and joy.  I will always be there to wipe away tears and administer hugs, but I have to remind myself I’m not hear to rob my children of their human experience.  For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.

Annie:  Mommy, I see the movie fee-ater.

Me:  Good job, Annie.

Hudson:  I see Edward’s Enema too!

Me: It’s cinema… definitely cinema, cinema means movie theater.

Since the 4th of July is on a Sunday this year I have been struggling over appropriate activities.  This has resulted in a 3 day long celebration.  We commenced the celebrating with a Padres games.  Really, what’s more American that baseball…the 4th of July and Uncle Sam?

The kids got to go to their first baseball game.  We had some fun seats down on the field up the 1st base line so they could watch the action.  I felt a little guilty for bringing them in the beginning since they completely ignored the game and were coloring.  Once the Padres started scoring I couldn’t peel them away.  They were loving the crowd, the cheering, the music.  Of course the firework show at the end was the icing on the cake.

In our on going quest for summer entertainment, the kids and I painted, sewed and assembled a make-shift puppet theatre.  That’s right, how many uses can we get out of our dishwasher box before it goes to be with the recycling…permanently?  It already served as a playhouse for about a week and a half.  During this time it under went a washing of sorts, courtesy of the sprinklers.  I know it’s ugly…but it serves it’s purpose and I got to practice a little bit of sewing on something I get to throw away so there is no stressed involved.  I figure one needs to be in the making since Annie is using her doll house as a theatre.  I am not willing to invest in a permanent one unless the kids show interest in this one.  So here is puppet theatre…Take 1.

Yes, Will took these pictures.  Yes, those are my feet…I’m well aware they look like Vienna Sausages.

We took the kids beach camping for the first time this weekend.  We headed up to Camp Pendleton with some friends.  Roasting marshmallows and making dough boys were just the beginning of it all.  Besides, time is always better spent in the company of family and good friends.  And for the record I constructed and deconstructed the tent all by myself.  I just had to make sure I can still be organized and efficient if needs be.

The kids went crazy in the water…both ocean and shower.   The tide did come up around the fire pit at one point and gave us all a nice feet washing.  Some of the little kids got more of a foamy bath.