April 30, 2007

Hello Everyone,
Wow, April really flew by. How can it be the last day already?? And tomorrow is May, which means school is almost out!
First of all CONGRATULATIONS ABRAHAM!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy and proud of you! You are so deserving and I'm so glad all your hard work has paid off for you.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, my little brother Abe was awarded the Hinckley scholarship to BYU. This is BYU's highest scholarship and is for tuition and half, right? He was also awarded a National Merit Scholarship to BYU, $750/semester. WOW, I have a smart brother! I know how anxious you have been about scholarships, Abe, and I'm so happy the anxiety ended so happily!
Christian and Eva, I don't envy you your position... Us "older kids" have talked a lot about how it must be, being one of the younger kids in our family. On one hand, you guys have tons of advantages that we didn't have-- way cool vacations, MUCH less babysitting duties (LOL), more one-on-one attention from mama and daddy (YES, that is an advantage, even if you don't think so right now), and of course your super-cool older sisters and brothers who are always there to impart wisdom and advice (YES, that is another advantage!). On the other hand, I'm sure it must feel like you have a lot to live up to. When I was growing up, I had Rosalynde to live up to, and that was daunting enough, but at least I didn't feel the weight of this enormous family "legacy" that I had to some how contribute to. I hope that this legacy serves only to motivate you, not intimidate you. And I hope you know that our love for each of you is in no way dependent on your academic acheivements. I'm extremely proud of Abraham, of course, but I don't love him any *more* because he got this scholarship, does that make sense? And there are lots of ways to make your sister proud of you. Anyway, not to take away any of Abe's glory, I just wanted you guys to know that I understand how his acheivement might result in mixed feelings for you.
The house I was talking about on Friday ended up already being under contract, the SAME morning it was listed! Wow. I was glad, actually, now we don't have to worry any more about another house popping up! We are definitely buying the Loring Dr. house. We had the inspection last week and everything checks out. We've asked the owners to do a couple of things like finish the sprinkler system in the front yard, and clean the chimney. Brigham asked us the other day how we knew the owners would sell us the house and we had an interesting discussion about contracts. 5 year olds get really silly, though, and pretty soon Brigham and Joseph were both asking us what would happen if the owners didn't want to move out, if they still wouldn't move out after the judge said they had to, etc., etc. They like to take things to extremes!
On Friday night Ben and I went to a ward game night, which was really fun. We had 2 girls come babysit-- a 13 year old and her 11 year old sister, and they did a really good job. So two babysitting nights in one week! The boys did great, too, so maybe that means Ben and I can actually go out together on a more regular basis. Ben was in the final two of the balloon-popping game (you have to tie a balloon to each ankle, and when the game starts, you have to try to pop as many balloons on other people's ankles as you can while trying to keep your balloons unpopped. Once your balloons are popped, you have to sit down). And then Ben and I as a couple won the "Are you as smart as a 5th grader?" game. We had a few "issues" as to how this game was conducted, but it was still really fun. There were some incredibly hard questions, though. For instance, just off the top of your head, does anyone know the name of the explorer who first explored the St. Lawrence river? And how many stars does the Australian flag have? Who is the civil war nurse who began the red cross? Ben and I missed the following questions: Listed alphabetically, Rudolph is the last of Santa's reindeer, true or false? Yeah, we got that one wrong. Sorry, I don't have the names of Santa's reindeer memorized. I guess that is one of the drawbacks of not doing Santa at our house. Also, what is the name of the structure in which a flowering plant's egg cells are produced? I knew it was either the stamen or pistil, but forgot which one and guessed wrong! So anyway, we won a gift certficate to Rudy's which was nice.
On Saturday we took the boys to a Tae Kwon Do workshop where the boys "earned" their white belts. They had to learn the ABC's of success (aim, backup, confidence), and then do a side-kick to break a board in half. I was pretty nervous because a couple of the kids before Brigham and Joseph were not able to break the board, and I knew that at least for Joseph, that would totally discourage him. But both were able to break it just fine, and were SO proud of themselves. So we signed them up for Tae Kwon Do at this place, and their first class is this afternoon. It is twice a week, 1/2 hour lessons. I would have preferred only once a week, but this place gives a really good family discount, and Ben wants to do it too! So he'll have two evenings a week where he can go and kick off some of his aggression, and not have to do the bed-time routine.
After Tae Kwon Do, the boys were so excited about their new uniforms, that they insisted on wearing them to the park later. I should have known better, and sure enough, both of them ended up with grass stains all over their brand-new white outfits! Oh well, they're broken in now.
Yesterday was a crash-day for me. I guess too many late nights last week caught up with me. Mosey woke up throwing up, and had thrown up 4 times before church, so I stayed home with him, and he and I slept the entire time. After church I tried to wake myself up, but only managed to stay awake for a couple of hours before I had to lay down again. And I pretty much slept straight through till this morning. So hopefully I've caught up on my sleep deficit and I'll be good to go for the rest of the week.
Ben was amazing. He got the older boys up and off to church, fed them when they got home, and then after he got back from home teaching, he and the boys cleaned the house!! I got up around 10 PM to let the dog out and to show the cat where her food was (she is seriously senile-- we've had her food the same spot since we moved into this house, and she still meows and whines at us until we show her where it is again!), and the house was all clean!! Ben, you are my hero.
So that was our weekend!
Rosalynde, I'm glad you are back safe from your trip. I hope that means we can actually hear from you again!
Naomi, how is the job-search going? Have you started looking for housing yet? Only about a month left of school for you, too, right?
Brigham I hope your thumb is doing better. Is it still in a cast? When are your finals? Has the weather improved at all up there? Post some more pictures of Lucy when you get the chance!
Rachel, congrats on making it through finals, and hurray for 4 months of no school! Are you SURE you want to do that bike-ride thing?
Elder Frandsen, I love you and I am hoping things are going well with your investigator and that he can be baptized on May 10. I'm praying for him.
Abe, I already said congrats, but again, CONGRATS! I hope you are able to concentrate on studying for AP exams.
Christian, when is your play? How is it coming? Are you able to get your schoolwork done amidst rehearsals? How are you feeling about your first AP exam?
Eva, I have been meaning to write back to you about what you wrote in the sweet note I got in the mail several weeks ago. I promise I'll get to it today.
Mama, I hope your ribs and knee are healing. My knee is still extremely tender to the touch, although I'm walking on it without a problem.
Daddy, Rachel *didn't* write to us about the conversation you guys had, so you better report! Also, I side with you and Abe on the whole technology issue. I love technology!


Oops, caught the instructor mid-word-- he's not that goofy looking IRL!


Yeah... this one isn't much better of poor Mr. Instructor...



Joseph wanted me to take a picture of the mohawk he made in the tub.



And Brigham couldn't be left out either!

April 27, 2007

Just a couple more photos from last week in the field. I wish I had some of Brigham, it would be fun to have a series of these to hang on my wall. Ah well, the travails of having kids with "Photographer's Kid Syndrome..."

Last night was so nice. Ben came home from work and told me I had the night off! So I finished the laundry I was working on, got dinner on the table for the boys, and off I went! I went to Barnes and Noble, and intended on staying only 45 minutes or so, and then going to the grocery store. But before I knew it, 4 hours had passed! Can you believe it? I walked out with "only" 4 books, but actually I'm proud of myself because at one point I had a stack of at least 20 books I was perusing. I made a long list of books I want to check out or buy used or something.

So our 10 days to retract our offer ends today, and wouldn't you know it, a house pops up this morning that is 4 bedrooms, one story, in-ground pool, in our elementary school, in the hills (which Ben likes), a decent-sized yard, and in our price range. So we'll probably go see it tonight, and I'm hoping we hate it, because I just want this decision made and over with. It is also directly across the street from someone in our ward with a son Mosey's age. It is somewhat smaller than the house we are buying, so that is a downside. Also the backyard, while it has an in-ground pool, does not have the option for a sports court or a big grass area for playing soccer, etc. I'm still thinking 85% chance we stick with the house we have the contract on, and honestly I'd be fine not even going to see this other house, but Ben wants to, and we may as well, I guess, because if it is awesome, I guess we wouldn't want to pass it up, and if it isn't, then we'll feel good knowing we made the best choice of all the options available to us.

I have a book recommendation for all of you. I just finished listening to "Long Way Gone: the story of a boy soldier." It is the memoirs of a young boy in Sierra Leone who loses his family to the war in the mid-90's and was forced into the army. It is really good. Extremely wrenching, but so important for us to realize the unbelievable blessing we have been granted living in this country. It is funny because at the same time I'm reading the memoirs of Richard Cohen, a former TV executive, married to Meredith Veiria (host of the Today Show), who has M.S. I don't necessarily think Richard Cohen is a big whiner or anything, really I don't, but I guess the contrast between reading the memoirs of this boy in Sierra Leone who was faced with the absolute worst of what this world has to offer, and the memoirs of an extremely privileged guy in the U.S. who has had to deal with a chronic illness, was very striking. Gosh, it is so very easy to lose perspective in this world.

Ok, I gotta get up off this computer chair. Mosey is sitting here climbing all over me like a monkey. He can't help but climb all over me. I try to go in the back and lay on the hammock I bought, thinking it would be so nice and relaxing, and inevitably when I do I have Mosey, and then generally one or two other boys climbing all over me and needing to get up and down, or needing ME to get up and down to look at something or solve a fight or get something or whatever. Whew! Sometimes it's just not worth trying to relax with little kids around! LOL, but really I wouldnt' have it any other way and I'll be sad when the day comes when none of my kiddos want to snuggle or wrestle with mommy anymore.

I hope you all have a great Friday. It's arbor day! Go plant a tree.

April 24, 2007

Today is Ben's and my 10 year wedding anniversary. Wow, time flies. In another ten years I'll be 40 and have 3 teenagers!! Now *that* is scary.

Ben arranged for a babysitter this evening so I guess we are going out somewhere, although I don't know where. I just spent all morning finishing my house cleaning, so I think after I get the boys from school we'll spend the afternoon at the library so they don't mess it up all in the first afternoon. :-)

I have been meaning to post pictures of this beautiful afgan my mom and her sisters and her mother made for me a few weeks ago, right after I got out of the hospital. Each sister crocheted a few squares, and then my aunt Kathy crocheted them all together and made the edging. It is beautiful and is such a treasure to me. Every time I look at it I feel their love for me. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family.

I hope everyone is happy and doing well!

April 22, 2007

Hello Everyone,
And...
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear
Jane, Kate, and Zach,
Happy Birthday to you!!

Whenever Earth day comes around, I think about Jill's triplets. This is a special birthday for them-- three kids turning three!! I hope you had a great day.

Our weekend was pretty good. On Friday afternoon I took the boys on some errands after school (Walmart, bank, etc.), and as we were driving around, I spotted this cool field in a vacant lot between a tire store and a bank. The light was so pretty out there, even though the sun was pretty high, that I just had to stop and get some pictures. Mosey was the most cooperative, Joseph was only a teensy bit cooperative, and Brigham didnt' want to get out of the car... Oh well, I take what I can get. I was very allergic to something out there, though, because my eyes swelled almost shut on the way home!
Ben took the boys camping on Friday night-- it was the ward's father-son campout. Mosey has been battling a fever off and on the last couple of days, and just before they were about to leave, he got pretty hot again. But he really wanted to go camping, so I forced some ibuprofen down him (Mosey HATES medicine), and he actually did just fine. They came back Saturday mid-morning very dirty and tired! I did a big fat nothing on Friday night, and it was wonderful. I watched a little TV, read a while, took a long bubble bath, and then went to sleep.
Saturday Brigham had a birthday party in the afternoon, and I was pretty proud of the present we got. I just hate the cheap toys and stuff that kids mostly give and receive at birthday parties. I try (not always successfully) to be a little different. So this party was for a little girl and after I convinced Brigham that she probably didn't want a Scooby Doo fishing pole, I came up with the bright idea of a summer theme. So we picked out a cute polka-dot mesh beach-bag, a green and white striped beach towel, some sun glasses (again, had to convince Brigham she probably didn't want Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles glasses), a tube of sunscreen, and an adorable denim sunhat. Was that a good present? I thought so anyway.
After Brigham's party we went to the Bradfords for dinner. It was beautiful that afternoon with the temperature hovering just between warm and cool, and the sun setting behind the house. The boys had fun running around and swinging and climbing trees and playing catch. And, best of all, they fell asleep on the way home!
Today was church, and I was *supposed* to get to church early so I could help the young women practice their songs before Sacrament meeting. But it is just almost impossible to get out of this house on time before church. I even left separately so that I could get there early, but still in between getting my stuff together, getting the boys clothes out, finding lost shoes, etc., etc., I was there only like 7 minutes before 9:00 and we could only go through one of our songs, and the easiest one at that. Oh well. And we only had 10 copies of the music, and as luck would have it, practically ALL (if not all) the young women showed up, so we were all sharing copies like 1 to 4 people. I could barely, barely see the music from where I was. But I think it was probably just fine. I just have a hard time not excoriating myself for not getting there on time, not figuring out how to order more copies of the music, not having the girls just a bit more prepared. But really, I do think it was just fine. I made banana crumb muffins and cranberry apple muffins the night before to give to the girls during Young Women, but right after Sacrament Meeting, Joseph said he wasn't feeling good, and sure enough, he had a fever, and then Brigham started saying he was hungry and we realized that Ben and I both thought the other had fed the boys, and so they hadn't eaten anything! So I just left the muffins with another sister and took the boys home. Sort of a bust for church, I guess.
Anyway, I'm feeling sort of blah today and I'm glad tomorrow is the start to a new week. I'm going to get this house clean and get some energy back!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the field on Friday.


Joseph let me take quite a few pictures of him, but about 95% of them were him making silly faces...



Spring is here. You can click on the picture to see it larger. Dark blue isn't the ideal color for a springtime photoshoot outside, but this was spur-of-the-moment!

Mosey hiding in the grass.

Running through the grass.

My beautiful boy.

April 20, 2007

Hello Everyone,
Here are a few funny quotes from my boys in the past couple of days.
This is from Joseph. We went to Krispy Kreme a couple days ago, and I got a donut for each boy, and one for myself. The girl at the window got our order wrong and gave us 2 extra donuts, so I saved one for Ben, and, I'm ashamed to say, couldn't resist eating the extra one myself on the way home. Joseph, my little eagle eye, noticed that I had eaten two donuts, while he had only gotten one. Now, the phrase "It's not fair" is a bad word at our house. Not that this necessarily stops my boys from using this phrase constantly, but I guess Joseph was thinking about it at the time because he said, "It's not f..., I mean, it's not symmetrical that you got 2 donuts and I only got 1 donut!" How clever is that? He was right, it wasn't symmetrical! I told him he was very smart and that I'd get him another donut the next day, since I knew we'd be going down there again anyway. Which I did.

Ok, this is from Mosey. Yesterday the boys and I were doing errands, and Joseph was being silly and talking nonsense to me, so I was being silly back. Joseph asked me, "How do you catch a Fresca mom?" And I replied, "How should I know? I'm only mom, I only know everything!" Mosey was listening in, and he immediately said, "No, mom, you don't know everything, *I* know everything!" LOL... He certainly thinks he does!

Something else from Joseph. I've been trying to explain the concept of infinity to the boys, since Brigham and Joseph are always asking me what is the biggest number. I've tried explaining that there isn't a highest number, because no matter how big the number, you can always just add one more, and one more, and one more after that, on to forever. So Joseph has come up with his own "highest number." He calls it "Krypto." So now, when he's trying to say that there is a LOT of something, he will say, "Wow, there must be Krypto _____" whatever it is. So Brigham, skeptical of this concept, said to Joseph while we were in the car, "When we get home I want you to write the number krypto." Joseph then says, "I think it will probably take me all day and all night to write the number." So I said, "If Krypto is really the biggest number ever, then it will probably take you forever to write it, and you will never finish!" I still don't think they're quite getting the concept of infinity...

Brigham brought home one of his school papers, like he does every day, and I was looking at it last night as I was organizing papers. It was a math word problem, like they get every day. But this one I thought was particularly good. The question was this: "Alexander's mom gave him 1 n ickel and 3 pennies. How many cents did he have?" So first, Brigham writes, "3 + 5 = 8." But what makes it cool was that he went on to solve the same problem 12 other different ways!! He went on to write, "5 + 3 = 8," then both addition equations vertically, and then "8 - 5 = 3," "8 - 3 = 5," then he writes both of those subtraction equations vertically, then he draws 8 dots (each presumably representing a cent) and then "= 8," and then he writes 5 ¢ + 1¢+ 1¢ + 1¢ = 8¢ and then he writes 1P + 1P + 1P +1N = 8!
Ok, so maybe this doesn't exactly qualify him as a mathematical savant, but I still thought it was pretty cool.

All right, I'm leaving you with 3 pictures. One of the house we are buying (not a great picture but I didn't want to be too conspicuous standing out there in the road taking pictures of someone else's house!), and the other two are Brigham and Joseph sleeping this morning. They both ended up in our bed this morning. That's a little annoying, but they sure are cute!


Our new house.


Sleepy Brigham.

Sleepy Joseph.

April 18, 2007

On Monday as I was doing taxes, I pretty much let Mosey watch Blues Clues ALL DAY. He is such a monkey, he cannot sit normally on the couch. He spent a good deal of the time watching Blues Clues in this position. Silly Boy!! When he wasn't watching Blues Clues, he was wreaking havoc on the house. It took me most of the day Tuesday to clean up the various messes...

April 18, 2007

Hello Everyone,
We're buying a house!
I thought about putting in my subject line "Big News!!" But then I thought that a "Big News" subject line would imply either that I had gotten engaged, or that I was pregnant. I haven't just gotten engaged (already married, thank you!), and I'm not pregnant, so I decided just to be boring and actually write the big news in my subject.
The market is heating up here, I guess because it is springtime. I hope it is heating up equally in South Florida... So we've been thinking about buying a house soon because our lease is up in June, and I want to go to California/Utah in July, so we needed to do something soon so we'd have time to close and then actually move before going on vacation. So we've been looking at houses online for a while and on Saturday we went with our realtor to look at several houses in person. The first one I really liked, but it was quite expensive, Ben thought it was too small, and the yard was just sort of so-so. Then we saw 3 or 4 that I didn't like at all. Then the last one I had sort of written off before we saw it, because it is 2 story. But I ended up liking it a lot once we went inside, and the yard is great, and best of all it was the least expensive of all the houses we had seen (about $90,000 less than the house I really liked but we missed out on a couple weeks ago). We will actually be able to fairly painlessly be able to do a 10-year mortgage, which would be SO great.
So, here's what the house is like. 2 story, 4 bedrooms (3 upstairs, master downstairs, so if we keep toys and clothes downstairs, which I plan to do, I shouldn't have to be climbing up and down stairs too much), 2700 sq ft, more or less, 2.5 bathrooms, a third of an acre, an above-ground pool in the back (but a huge one-- 24 feet, and a really nice large deck built around it), a hot tub (this is the boys' favorite feature of the house-- they call it a "hot bath"), a covered patio that stretches across the back of the house, and close walking distance to school. So, if we dont' change our mind in the next 8 days (Texas has this weird law saying that buyers can retract offers for any reason within 10 days), we will close on May 18, lease back the house to the current owners until June 1, and then have the month of June to paint/move/etc. before our lease is up. I think that's pretty doable. I was/am a little nervous about making a decision like this so fast, but we always seem to be trying to buy a house in very fast-moving markets, and as it was there were 3 other offers in on this house the same day we put in our offer, so I guess that's just the way it goes.
So, what else to report? Here's a couple of funny things. Mosey is getting to be quite a talker, as I've said. Every day he says things I want to remember and write down, and then of course I forget. On Sunday we were going on a walk around the block and Mosey saw a house with the door left open. He said to me, "A cockroach is going to crawl in that house and then they'll have to get the thing that dies the cockroaches and then it will die the cockroach!" I guess you can tell he's spent his formative years in South Florida. Although I hear Austin has roaches, too, I just haven't seen any yet. Probably when summer comes around.
On Tuesday I took the boys to Inflatable Wonderland again for their "reward" for good school and church behavior for the month of March. On the way out, Brigham was talking about the "Lonesome Trail," which I gathered was from a song they're singing in school. He asked me what "lonesome trail" meant, and I told him it was probably a trail that people walked on alone, so they felt lonely on the trail. Brigham then said to me, "But mom, the Holy Ghost is with you even when you're alone, so you don't need to feel lonely." Awwww, sweet kid, huh? And then Joseph said, "Yeah, and also there's lots of germs that live on your body, so that makes you never really alone too!" LOLOLOLOL!!! That is so classically Joseph, I totally cracked up.
The only other news is that I got our taxes done. It actually didn't take as long as I thought, and I got done Monday afternoon, a whole 30-something hours before the deadline! And the other good news is that we are getting a nice refund. I know, I know, ideally we should either not get a refund, or actually have to pay some taxes so that the IRS doesn't get the benefit of interest on all the tax we've been paying over the year, but psychologically it is really nice to get a refund. Especially when we'll be having to put a down payment on a house and closing costs, etc. over the next few weeks.
I will close this letter with a small prayer request. I've been a part of an online support group for women going through infertility for several years now. I've known many women from the infertility/IVF bulletin boards, through pregnancy bulletin boards, and on to parenting bulletin boards. One woman from this group has a daughter the same age as Brigham and Joseph, and boy/girl twins the same age as Mosey. Almost 2 years ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer (she was only 36 at the time). She went through several months of chemo and a double mastectomy, and was declared in remission 6 months ago. Well, over the past couple of months her tumor activity levels (I think that's what it is anyway) in her blood have been going up a bit, so she went in for a PET scan last week, and discovered that her cancer has returned, this time all throughout her bones and a suspicious spot on her lung. Two days ago she had a bone biopsy to confirm it was cancer, and what type. She got the results today that it is cancer, but the pathology report on exactly what kind of cancer is not yet in. I guess 2 types are treatable, and one is not. She will not recover from this cancer, a relapse this close to being done with treatment pretty much guarantees that she will someday die of this disease. But she wants so much to live as long as possible to be able to raise her kids and see them grow. So anyway, would each of you please say a quick prayer for Natalie and Tom Trottier, and their kids Gabrielle (great name, huh?), Spencer, and Marissa? Pray that she will get good news about the cancer type (if there can be "good" news about what kind of cancer you have), that her husband and kids will be strong through all of this, that Natalie and her husband can have some peace, and that Natalie can live many more years with her family. Thanks, it means a lot to me, and I do believe in the power of prayer.
Enjoy your Thursdays everyone!

April 13, 2007

Hello Everyone,
Well, my vacation is over. It really was a vacation to have my family here-- my mom did all the cleaning up and put the big boys to bed every night. It was fabulous. I'll briefly run down what we did for the week, just for history's sake.

On Tuesday (I think that's where I left off?), the big boys went to school, and then later on I took Mama, Abe, Christian, and Eva to the Inner Space Caves (stopping at the Candle factory before our cave tour). We had a much better tour guide this time than last, and that made it more enjoyable for me. He was quite knowledgable and explained a lot better how soda straws form, why formations stop growing if you touch them, how the animals died in the sink holes, etc. Christian was feeling pretty yucky that day, but he was a trouper and made it through the tour.

On Wednesday it was finally sunny and after taking the boys to school I got ready for my doctor's appointment. The scoop on that is that I'm doing great! My reflexes are soooo much better, my gait is better, the blind spot in my eye has cleared up, so the doctor is really pleased at how well I responded to the treatment. He says I can do that treatment up to two times per year if I need it, which is really nice. I don't have to worry as much if I get another bad flareup, because I do respond well to the treatment. I guess the jury's still out on the recurring-remitting vs. primary-progressive, but either way my course of treatment would be the same at this point, and the doctor seems optimistic.

After my doctor's appointment I took the family (sans my dad, he had to go back to CA on Tuesday morning) down to the Capitol building, since only Abe had seen it, and then on a little driving tour of Austin. We drove through some of the downtown (including down 6th St.), then down MoPac to the Capital of TX Hwy, and then north all the way to where it meets 183. Then we backtracked and went back to 2222 and went up the hill and then over to the Oasis for lunch. It was a gorgeous day and the food was good, if a little pricey. The view over Lake Travis was beautiful. All the rain has raised the level of the lake quite a bit, and only the very tops of a couple of islands are visible anymore. After getting the boys from school, my mom took them to the park and I stayed home and rested. Paradise!

Thursday I took the family to Mt. Bonnell and we did the little hike along the cliff, admiring the views. Mosey has learned the joys of being swung by two people holding his hands on either side of him, and he pretty much required that he be swung continuously. :-) Thanks a lot Christian and Eva!! j/k. Abe did some amazing tricks sliding down the railings and scaring mama and me and setting a BAD example for Mosey!

Then we went down to Barton Springs and wandered around there for a while (Mosey and I played at the park while Mama and the others walked along the river). There were tons of school kids there on a field trip and it was pretty fun to watch Mosey interact with them. He is not shy in the least, and not at all intimidated by the much bigger, older kids. He got right in there and played amidst the other children. He wasn't too happy about getting back in the car, but I really wanted to take my family to Rudy's before they had to go. Rudy's was great, as usual, and I discovered that their Banana Pudding is TO DIE FOR. Seriously, it's that good.

Then it was back to pick up the boys from school, and then down to the airport. I hate goodbyes. But it was a wonderful visit and I can look forward to going out to CA in just a couple of months or so.

So, that is the travelogue.

Today was a bit of a let-down, just because I was having such a good time having my family here. But it was alright.

Mosey has been practicing being three recently. A couple of days ago he was sitting on the breakfast bar as he loves to do, and eating straight out of the cinnamon sugar bowl. I told him to stop eating the sugar and he said, "What should I do then, Mom?" As if there was NOTHING at all to do in the house EXCEPT eat sugar, and if I didn't let him do that, then what WOULD he be able to do?? LOL...

Then last night I was trying to get Brigham and Joseph to sleep, reading them stories, etc., and Mosey was supposed to be reading stories with Ben. But he decided he wanted me to read him stories instead. So he came into the boys' room and started jumping around and messing up Joseph's "underground city" (have I told you about this? He has a bunch of stuff arranged under his bed-- his treasure box, books, stuffed animals, boxes, etc., and it is his "underground city." He has tucked blankets between his mattresses so they hang down just so, and he loves to look down there and work on it, and gets VERY mad when anyone touches it or messes it up), so Ben came in and carried him away and I locked the door. Mosey of course marched right back down the hall and proceeded to pound on the door and cry LOUDLY for probably about 25 minutes or so until I finished up reading with Brigham and Joseph. Ugh. Then he was perfectly happy and I read him his stories and he went to sleep finally after talking to himself and to me for about 20 minutes. Mosey is a talker, talker, talker. I'm trying to even remember what he was talking about last night, but it was pretty much incessant for 20 minutes. Oh yeah, he was talking about our old house vs. new house. He's still trying to get his mind around the idea that we have an old house, that we are moved and in a new house. He talks about the old house a lot. Yesterday I was practicing subtraction with Joseph so I made up a story problem-- say our old house had 14 windows and a bad boy comes and breaks 6 of them. How many windows will be left? Well, I guess Mosey didn't understand that this was a made up story, so he was talking a lot about the broken windows and the bad boy, and I tried to explain that I was just telling a story, but I'm not quite sure he got it. :-)

Oh yeah, one other really funny thing about Mosey. He loves the Geico gecko, and whenever we see a billboard or a commercial with the gecko, he is sure to point it out. So last night I was reading him a book about Chameleons, and I guess he got thinking about Geckos (somewhat similar I suppose), and he asked me, "Mom, do geckos talk?" So I told him, no geckos do not talk, Mosey. And then he says, "But the gecko on the TV can talk," so I tried to explain to him that the gecko on TV was just pretend but that real geckos don't talk. We discussed this point for a while and finally he says, "Pretend geckos can talk, mom, and real geckos cannot talk." Yes! We'll see if that sticks. I don't think three year olds are that good at distinguishing TV from reality, somehow!

So anyway, back to Mosey being three. We went to Target today, and while there, he saw a movie that we actually have at home, and REALLLLY wanted to buy it. So at first I tried the distraction strategy. I let him hold the movie and put it in the cart, and then when he wasn't looking, I put it back on the shelf. But several minutes later, in a different part of the store, he asks, "Where is my animal movie?" I try to say, maybe it's underneath our other things, but Mosey is too wise for that ruse, and he quickly looked through everything in the cart (he was riding in the back of the cart) and informed me it wasn't there. We had gone to the restroom so Mosey decided that it must have been left in the restroom. Well, I could tell he wasn't going to be distracted again, so we went back to the movie aisle, and I tried to get him to be interested in a different movie, one we don't already have! Well, not even the promise of a Blues Clues DVD, or Clifford, or the Letter Factory could tempt him. Finally I decided just to tell the truth and I explained to him we already have that movie, and it would be silly to have two of the same movie at home. We went back and forth on this matter for a while, but he was not being persuaded. Finally I took the movie from him and told him we were not going to buy that movie today because we already have it at hom. Tears erupted. I tried to soothe him, telling him that it's ok to feel bad, I know he is disappointed to not get the movie, but that he would be happy when we get home because he would see we already have the movie. I didn't succeed in soothing him. He cried throughout the rest of our Target trip, out to the car, all the way home, and once we were home I unbuckled him but he refused to get out of the car and screamed "I wanna go back to Target!!" for at least 25 more minutes. Finally I got him out of the car and sat with him kicking and screaming on the couch, with the movie he wanted actually playing, and he struggled out of my arms and ran back to the garage to get in the car again. I carried him back in, closed the car and garage doors, and finally after a few more minutes he settled down.

Then I thought I'd make him feel happier by cutting up the cantelope we've had on our counter for a couple of days. Mosey LOVES fruit of all sorts, and especially cantelope. So I cut it up, put the pieces in a big bowl, and put the bowl on the table. Then I told Mosey there was a bowl of cantelope for him on the kitchen table. He immediately got up and went into the kitchen where I assumed he was eating the cantelope. Never assume with a 3 year old. When I went back in the kitchen, I discovered he had very quietly and efficiently emptied the entire bowl of cantelope pieces into the trash can. Ugh! Three year olds!!

He had another battle of wills later in the afternoon with Brigham and Joseph. He finally accepted the fact that we did indeed have his movie at home (it was a Baby Einstein video, by the way, Neighborhood Animals), and wanted to watch it again. Brigham and Joseph wanted to watch Princess Bride. Mosey insisted that they could watch his movie first and THEN watch Princess Bride, but the big boys weren't interested in that plan. Joseph started telling Mosey that his movie was for babies, but I quickly told him to stop saying that. So then Mosey goes on and on about how Joseph thinks his movie is for babies, but it's not, "It's just a good movie, mom! Not a baby movie. A good movie." I agreed that it *was* a good movie, and *not* just for babies (remember how Eva and Christian loved Baby Einstein when we lived in La Canada the summer before the twins turned one?), but that it was still Brigham and Joseph's turn to choose a movie.

When Ben got home, I was in dire need of a break (all of this was interspersed with various fights between the big boys-- we had a long talk out on the hammock about not fighting, about how if there is fighting going on, I'm not going to care who started it, both boys will get time outs, etc..., a big fire ant incident where the boys all decided it would be a good idea to poke and throw things at this big fire ant pile in our backyard, and subsequently Mosey got bit a bunch of times again and I got really mad and yelled at them and sent the big boys inside where they started fighting again...). So I left him with the boys and went out for some retail therapy!! It did me some good, too. I went to Pier 1 and bought some baskets (huge clearance on baskets at Pier 1), then to TJ Maxx where I got some clothes and books.

So here I am! This weekend I have to get the taxes done. Why do I procrastinate to the last weekend every year? Probably because it always works and I always manage to get it done in time. We're going out to look at a few houses tomorrow, one of which actually looks pretty promising, so we'll see. Brigham has a birthday party in the afternoon, and then Brigham and Joseph have to give the talk and scripture respectively in primary on Sunday, so we'll need to prepare for that. Not as busy as some of you out there, but still pretty busy for me!

Oh yeah, and happy Friday the 13th to everyone!



*****WARNING***** Lots of Mosey pictures below!! I've been camera-happy lately I guess!

Beautiful view of the Colorado River from Mt. Bonnell.

I told Mosey to smile, and this is what I got.

I love this little guy, he is the sweetest ever! When he's not being three, that is.

One of many faces Mosey can pull.

And another...

And another!

Resting in the sun at the bottom of the steps. Actually, I made him sit there on his way up the steps to try and copy Abe who was doing daredevil tricks down the railing.

Good lookin' family overlooking the river.

That's downtown Austin in the distance. You could just barely see the top of the dome of the state capitol.

Abe and his daredevil tricks. Ok, I admit I did a little photoshop magic to make this look a little more precarious than it actually was. :-)

This actually was a little dangerous, and we made Abe stop after a few runs down, since I think a broken bone was pretty much just waiting to happen around there.

Eva philosophizing on the Philosopher's Rock at Barton Springs.

Mosey philosophizing.

Mosey engrossed in conversation with the statue. Like I said, he's a talker!




Mosey on the cool fire truck at the Barton Springs park.

Silly Mosey.

Did I mention Mosey is silly?

Ahh, but who can resist those big blue eyes?

Mama, Abe, Eva, and Christian at Rudy's. I like this mural. Very Texan. So Rachel, I guess this about sums up my opinion about the merits of being vegetarian!! LOL

April 10, continued

Oh yeah, have to show off the bunny cake I made for Easter. Took these pictures just before the poor thing was decapitated.

April 10, 2007

Hello Everyone,
Quick update while waiting for Christian to finish getting ready. My family came on Saturday-- Mama, Daddy, Abe, Christian, and Eva. Of course Saturday was the day that a nasty awful cold front came sweeping across Austin. It was really cold and rainy ALL day. I had wanted to get the yard cleaned up before they got here, but that didn't happen! The boys were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and their aunt and uncles. Grandma sat in the back seat with Mosey and Joseph (had to leave Brigham home or else there wouldn't be room in our van!) and talked with them all about everything all the way home.
Sunday morning was church as usual, and it was great, as usual. My mom commented on what a great ward we have, and she's right. We have fabulous gospel doctrine teachers and although I wasn't in Relief Society, my mom said it was just as good. After church I got Easter dinner going (turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, carrots), and my mom set up a really nice spiritual easter egg hunt. Each egg (ok, so actually zip lock bags) had something in it relating to the atonement-- 3 dimes for the 30 pieces of silver, a toothpick cross, red material, white material, sweet spices, a stone, etc. And quotes or scriptures relating to that item included. It was a great, tangible way to explain the story of Easter. Later in the afternoon (after a very nice nap), we had a regular easter egg hunt which my boys also enjoyed (no surprise there), and they had about 5 minutes to eat candy before they had to put their baskets away for dinner. My dinner wasn't nearly as fancy as what Christine made (and probably not as tasty either!), but it was still good. And it was fun to be cooking with my mom and sister, and to be cooking for more people than my own little family! After dinner we went on a little hike through a green belt near our house. My dad and Abe had fun horsing around and climbing this tree that was about 30 feet high! Eek!
Monday (yesterday), I took my dad and Abe and my boys to the Texas State History Museum where we watched the "Texas: the Big Story" IMAX movie, which I enjoyed just as much the second time, and then went through the museum. This was the 3rd time my boys have been through the museum, so we mostly spent time in the gift shop reading some books in there, and letting the boys peruse items and decide how they would spend their chore money. Joseph bought a spinning charm necklace that looks vaguely like the time changing necklace the Hermione wears in Harry Potter, Brigham bought an envelope with some Texas Republic currency (not real), and Mosey bought a spinning, light-up thingamajig. Which got broken before we even made it home. But it is ok, I was able to fix it acceptably with a piece of packing tape. Then we ate a picnic lunch (leftover turkey sandwiches-- yum-- my favorite part of a turkey dinner) outside the capitol building. My boys were in quite the silly mood. Joseph and Brigham decided there was a "Purkey" under the window well grate, and were dropping small bits of food to it. Mosey got really into this game, too, and wanted to drop animal cookies, and large portions of his lunch to the "purkey," and got a little upset when the "purkey" wouldn't come out! Brigham and Joseph then gave a pretty good tour of the capitol to Daddy and Abe. Brigham remembered about the murals of the battle of the Alamo and San Jacinto that were in the Senate. Abe and Daddy both concluded that Texas as a state has the biggest ego (probably by several orders of magnitude) of any state in the nation. I think my dad enjoyed reading about the history of Texas and some of the important historical characters in state history. In the afternoon we went home and picked up Christian, and my mom (my mom and Eva were both not feeling well-- my mom particularly, which is why they didn't come with us to the capitol, etc.), and went to Lake Travis and went on a little walk up one of the tributary creeks. It is beautiful down there, although Mosey was very tired and had really had it and was quite unhappy most of the way back. And fell asleep within about 2 minutes of getting back in the van.
Last night Ben took my dad and brothers to eat at County Line to enjoy some Texas barbecue. The rest of us went back home (Mosey was asleep, and I needed to get the boys to bed at a decent hour), and did our usual monday night routine of dinner and FHE.
So that brings us to today! My dad had to leave this morning, and the big boys are in school (I kept them home yesterday to go to the museum and capitol), and it is still drizzly and awful outside, although supposedly it should clear up by this afternoon. I think we may go to the Inner Space Caverns.
I hope everyone is doing well!



My boys in their darling easter bunny hats Grandma made for them. Mosey has had his on pretty much continuously since then. Yes, even at church.



I tried to stop Joseph in the middle of the easter egg hunt for this picture, and as you can see he was NOT happy to be interrupted from the hunt!



Mosey can't wait till after the hunt to check out what's inside!



Happy Brigham. He had fun even though it was cooooold outside.



Hey, Joseph found the Easter Kitty!

Brigham with his Easter loot. Also note the cool shark tooth necklace he is wearing. He did a bunch of chores for that one.

Abe in the reeeaaally high tree. I was using my 90mm lens, so you can't see how high up it really was, but it was making my heart pound just watching him!

And my dad had to also prove his manliness by climbing up the same tree after Abe.

Eva and my mom at the end of our hike. It was so pretty!

Grandpa and Grandma with Mosey and Brigham. Joseph ran off to follow dad back down the trail before I could get this picture.

Brigham and one of his block masterpieces. He really is very good at making block creations. He is very meticulous and everything must be symmetrical. Futere civil engineer perhaps?

Joseph and one of the cannons used in the Texas revolution.

Interior of the Texas state capitol dome.

The "men" at the capitol.

Abe jumping from post to post. Pretty coordinated!

I *just* missed the shot I was trying to get-- Abe bouncing himself off the wall of this tunnel.

Christian doing a 360 in the air.