Through My Eyes: 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!