But, the results were well worth-it! The past couple of days have been packed full of a lot of this:
Yay for summer!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Pool's open!!
Over the weekend, Ben and the boys worked hard to get the pool ready for the summer. The pump for our filter broke during the freeze we had over the winter, and repairing that as well as combating the algae that's been accumulating over the last few weeks of hot weather, took pretty much all day.
But, the results were well worth-it! The past couple of days have been packed full of a lot of this:
Yay for summer!
But, the results were well worth-it! The past couple of days have been packed full of a lot of this:
Yay for summer!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Happy 14th anniversary to us!
Ben and I have been married 14 years!! That is amazing. 14 years before THAT, I was 6 years old. (I know I do this every year. I will keep doing it 6 more years at which point it will not make any sense to say "And 21 years before THAT I was -1 year old!")
This last year has been a great one.
Here's to growing another year older together, Benny!
Ben carried me like this for TWO MILES on a hike in St. George, UT last week. What a guy!
This last year has been a great one.
Here's to growing another year older together, Benny!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
relief
My 3 year transplant followup is coming up in July. It will be the usual gamut of blood tests, MRIs, reflex tests, memory tests, eyesight tests, and the dreaded walking test. July may not seem so close to some, but for me it is around the corner.
Every time I get past a followup appointment, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. Then 2-3 months before the next evaluation, the anxiety starts to build again. I really have no control over whether or not the transplant will be a lasting cure, and ultimately the MRI scans will have the final say as to whether or not I am blessed with another year of reprieve. And I really don't have any control over the blood tests, eye tests, reflex tests, or the MRI. But, the walking test still feels like something I can practice for, study up on, and perhaps increase my chances for another year of remission. I know it doesn't work that way, but it does feel that way.
So, anyway, maybe because I am lazy, or maybe because I like to forget about MS and doctors' appointments and MRIs and everything, as soon as I finish one evaluation, I try to forget about it and ignore everything else until the next evaluation starts looming on the horizon.
The good thing about this strategy is that I can live in blissful, lazy ignorance most of the time. The bad thing about it is that when the next evaluation inevitably comes around, I start getting really nervous, second-guessing whether or not I am weaker than I was last year, more spastic, less balanced, etc., etc. I know I should start practicing for the walking test, but I put it off day after day because I'm afraid that when I try, I'll find that I'm a lot weaker than I was, and can't pull off the same distance I did the year before.
Anyway, I bit the bullet tonight and decided I better face the music and see where I am.
Guess what? I made 100 meters! Yahoo!! It wasn't pretty, but it felt about the same as last year.
So, I can continue practicing, and maybe I'll make it farther than 100 meters. But at least my baseline hasn't changed.
Big sigh of relief here in Austin. :-)
Every time I get past a followup appointment, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. Then 2-3 months before the next evaluation, the anxiety starts to build again. I really have no control over whether or not the transplant will be a lasting cure, and ultimately the MRI scans will have the final say as to whether or not I am blessed with another year of reprieve. And I really don't have any control over the blood tests, eye tests, reflex tests, or the MRI. But, the walking test still feels like something I can practice for, study up on, and perhaps increase my chances for another year of remission. I know it doesn't work that way, but it does feel that way.
So, anyway, maybe because I am lazy, or maybe because I like to forget about MS and doctors' appointments and MRIs and everything, as soon as I finish one evaluation, I try to forget about it and ignore everything else until the next evaluation starts looming on the horizon.
The good thing about this strategy is that I can live in blissful, lazy ignorance most of the time. The bad thing about it is that when the next evaluation inevitably comes around, I start getting really nervous, second-guessing whether or not I am weaker than I was last year, more spastic, less balanced, etc., etc. I know I should start practicing for the walking test, but I put it off day after day because I'm afraid that when I try, I'll find that I'm a lot weaker than I was, and can't pull off the same distance I did the year before.
Anyway, I bit the bullet tonight and decided I better face the music and see where I am.
Guess what? I made 100 meters! Yahoo!! It wasn't pretty, but it felt about the same as last year.
So, I can continue practicing, and maybe I'll make it farther than 100 meters. But at least my baseline hasn't changed.
Big sigh of relief here in Austin. :-)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
home again, home again
We are back from our family reunion in St. George. It was a great time. I have too many pictures to finish editing before I can give a decent summary.
Here are a few pictures, just for fun.
This is my nephew. I love him. I really wanted to take him home. His mom wouldn't let me. :-)
Here are a few pictures, just for fun.
Monday, April 11, 2011
semi-random pictures
I still have not systematically gone through all the pictures I took on our California vacation last summer. It's starting to bug me, though, so tonight I went through and edited a few that I liked. I found these three candids of each of the boys as they were unaware of the camera. I like them!
Today was a pretty decent Monday. Everyone slept in because of the boys' two very late nights in a row, Friday and Saturday. I figured I was better off letting them sleep in, than dealing with the grumpies all day. As it was, I had to get after them quite a bit this morning about bickering and arguing and bugging each other. I could do without that aspect of parenting. :-) Practicing went well, and lessons were OK. I wish we could get more done during the day. Tonight for FHE we went to Cavenders Boot City to get the boys new cowboy boots since theirs are either falling apart, or they can't squeeze their feet into them anymore! Joseph really, really, really wanted a cowboy hat, and I almost got him one because he looked so cute in it. But it was $30, which is just a bit too much for an impulse buy. He wants to take it with him to Utah for our reunion this week so he can make a real impression as the cousins from Texas. :-)
Brigham at Lake Tahoe
Mosey at the beach in San Diego
Joseph flying with his towel
Today was a pretty decent Monday. Everyone slept in because of the boys' two very late nights in a row, Friday and Saturday. I figured I was better off letting them sleep in, than dealing with the grumpies all day. As it was, I had to get after them quite a bit this morning about bickering and arguing and bugging each other. I could do without that aspect of parenting. :-) Practicing went well, and lessons were OK. I wish we could get more done during the day. Tonight for FHE we went to Cavenders Boot City to get the boys new cowboy boots since theirs are either falling apart, or they can't squeeze their feet into them anymore! Joseph really, really, really wanted a cowboy hat, and I almost got him one because he looked so cute in it. But it was $30, which is just a bit too much for an impulse buy. He wants to take it with him to Utah for our reunion this week so he can make a real impression as the cousins from Texas. :-)
I am trying to get ready for our trip to Utah on Wednesday. I am amazed at how fast this trip has come around! My laundry isn't done! I didn't lose that 4 lbs I was hoping to lose! (Vanity never faileth, right?) I haven't quite filed my taxes! We'll see how much I get done in the next 24 hours because I desperately hope I'm asleep 24 hours from now considering how early we'll have to be up Wednesday morning...
Week of the naughty dog
I'm really behind, so I'm going to post my weekly letter to my family, and call it good for last week. :-)
Hi everyone,
Disclaimer: This is a long and kind of boring email. It's OK if you just skim it. Or skip it. :-)
It is already 10:30, and I need to be in bed. Ben and I have been working really hard on getting the boys to bed earlier, and we're trying to set the example, but I'm failing tonight. The post-weekend cleanup gets me every time.
Anyway, it was a fairly good week. Let me see if I can remember what happened.
Monday: Woke up to dark clouds and thunder. But mother nature was playing a trick on us, and we only got maybe 10 minutes of rain before it all blew away. We really, really need rain around here. Lessons during the day and flute for Joseph in the afternoon. Joseph has been really diligent with his flute practicing. I haven't had to nag him about it once. I was hoping to drop him off and then stay in the car and wait for him, but he's still nervous about going into the UT music building by himself, so I went in with him (which involves circling around until I can find a parking space, then going to get the parking ticket from the machine, then wheeling myself a block to the music building). I like that he wants me with him, though, and the walk to and from the music building gives us a chance to talk. For FHE we had a lesson on respect and talking to authority, which Ben did masterfully, using the scriptures, and managing to get across his points without making the boys, especially Mosey, feel defensive.
Tuesday: This might have been the morning when I got a call from Ben telling me that Mister escaped and was at some person's house waiting to be picked up (Ben's phone number is on Mister's tag). He got all the way to the Presbyterian Church across the street from the school, and then followed a woman and her daughter home several blocks further from our house. Grrr... It had been really windy, and I think one of our gates blew open.
Wednesday: Can't think of anything unusual about Wednesday. Lessons during the day, art in the afternoon. The boys are doing a music unit right now, taught by the mother of our one intrepid girl in our group. She was a vocal performance major at UT and has an incredible singing voice. She has been teaching about various classes of instruments each week, and this week was on percussion. The kids made tambourines with paper plates and bells. This mother is also blind, which makes me admire her so much and also identify with her quite a bit. We are the two "disabled" people in our ward, and we've talked a lot about being different, and raising kids with a disabled parent, etc.
Thursday: Typical busy Thursday. Piano lessons in the afternoon, violin lessons in the evening, Relief Society presidency meeting at night, which meant I didn't get home until 10:15 PM, after being gone since 2:45 in the afternoon. Brigham is coming along really nicely on his violin. Mosey does well, too, when he feels like it! His main difficulty is mastering proper form. Violin is so hard for beginners, because there are so many really important things to remember about form-- posture, violin arm position, finger position, bow hand position, bowing technique, and it all has to come together in order to make a good sound, and not get into bad habits that are hard to break later on. Mosey's not super excited about violin, and it is a hassle to make him practice. I'm still thinking about switching him to cello, which he seems more excited about, but I want to wait until after our academic year is finished before I try to add yet another lesson to our schedule.
Friday: I took the boys to get passports on Friday!! When we go to Seattle, we want to go into Canada for a day or so, and visit Vancouver Island. Which means we all need passports. My passport was issued in 1994 and was long expired, so I had to get one, too. It was quite the ordeal! And really, really expensive. I am amazed at how much it costs to get a passport. Doesn't help when you have to pay extra to get the paperwork expedited because you keep forgetting about it until the trip is only a little over 4 weeks away... So that was our morning activity, and we didn't get any lessons done that day, OR practicing, since we had to go to horseback riding in the afternoon. Slackers. The boys all went to spend the night at a friend's house Friday night, which meant I had the evening free to go through the pile of mail that has been accumulating on my desk for a really, really long time, and to finally get going on taxes. Yes, I am a procrastinator.
I got home from taking the boys to their friend's house only to find that Mister had somehow managed to get an unopened 18 ounce bag of Cadbury mini chocolate eggs, open it, and eat the entire thing except for 2 eggs. Aaarrrggghhh!!! It wasn't enough chocolate to make him sick, which I guess is good, but I was kind of hoping he'd at least have to suffer some consequences. It probably would have only meant more messes to clean up, though.
Saturday: Did chores and worked on taxes some more in the morning. I'm all done now, except for one missing form. Ben is on the board of directors for a company he worked for previously, and they're pretty casual about things. They send Ben hand-written checks for example, and emailed Ben last week to tell him that oops, they forgot about the 1099-MISC form, but it's coming! Good thing I procrastinate my taxes. :-) The boys didn't get home from their sleepover until 1:00 PM. They had stayed up really, REALLY late the night before, eating pizza and watching movies, and then went on a hike in the morning. They were all pretty tired. Ben and I had made plans to eat lunch with a couple who is here from New Mexico for the weekend. The husband is one of the other transplant patients from the Houston location, and he's in town for his 1 year followup. We had communicated quite a bit by phone and email before his transplant, and it was nice to meet him in person. Anyway, I let Brigham and Mosey stay home since they were not excited about going, and Joseph came along. It was really interesting meeting Dave and his wife. I wonder what the other people at the restaurant thought, seeing the two of us with our forearm crutches. He's doing really well, and has seen a drop in his EDSS score since the transplant. He told me it was a bit of smoke-and-mirrors, though, since his sister is a physical therapist and has worked a LOT with him on his walking, and he works out 1 1/2 to 2 hours every day! Maybe I could see a decrease in my EDSS score if I did that, too. He can walk 500 meters now, which seems unbelievable to me! He told me it is not a pretty 500 meters, and he would never casually walk unaided without his crutches or rolling walker. That made me feel better, because I sometimes feel like I'm cheating the system, struggling with everything I have to make it those 100 meters, when I would NEVER do this on a daily basis, and as a matter of fact I NEVER walk 100 meters unaided unless I'm being tested. Which kind of seems to be defeating the point of the EDSS rating system. But if everyone is doing this, then maybe my 5.5 EDSS score really is reflective of everyone at 5.5, since everyone who takes this test is pushing themselves far beyond what they would normally do under everyday conditions. Dave also has a nearly identical disease history as I do, so to see him doing well in this study makes me feel good, since if he does well, maybe I'm doing well, too. Maybe I'd be at an EDSS score of 4 if I worked out 2 hours every day. :-)
When we drove home, we turned the corner onto our street to see a police car parked outside our house. Not a good sight, especially since 2 of our boys were home alone (there is no law in Texas regarding what age you can leave kids home alone, so I wasn't worried about that, at least). Turns out Mister got out again. Two boys on their bikes with a cell phone called the police. And the police, who apparently had nothing else of importance came out to the house. Mister was hanging out right outside of our house, so when the cop checked his collar, he didn't have to go far. :-) Anyway, the cop was nice, Mister was let back in the house, and the incident was over. Mister is not winning any points with me. We figured out where he was escaping from, and piled some big heavy cinder-block bricks in front of it.
In the evening I took all three boys to a concert by the Austin Chamber Ensemble who was doing a program of PDQ Bach and Claude Bolling (jazz composer) pieces. The PDQ Bach pieces were actually fairly serious pieces, but still fun to listen to. And one of the Claude Bolling pieces was a suite for flute, which Joseph really liked. All the boys liked watching the percussionist and the string bass player. Afterward we stopped at McDonalds for ice cream cones, and didn't get home until after 11:00, which meant two very late nights for my boys...
Sunday: We were awakened by a phone call at 6:45 AM from someone who had Mister. This time he broke through a board on our gate, which is going to be a big pain to fix, and managed to make his way really, really, really far away. He was way over by the 183 access road and Lake Creek Parkway, which is a couple of miles at least. Ben went and got him. I'm starting to feel like he is that cat that came back. Except opposite. He is the dog that keeps going away, and we keep going to get him back. I'm beginning to question WHY we keep going to get him. Does anyone want a 12-year old escape-artist dog who will eat any and all treats he can possibly get to in your house? No? Really? Anyway, later in the morning I gave the boys haircuts, much to Joseph's dismay. I did keep it long on the top, though, and he told me this afternoon that it was the best haircut I ever gave him, so I guess it wasn't that bad. :-) Went to church. Brigham, Ben, and I all spoke during testimony meeting, something I haven't done for at least a year or two. Went home, took a nap, woke up, made dinner, went on a walk, sent the boys to bed, cleaned up the house, and spent the next hour writing this email which is way too long. But I don't have time to go back and make it shorter and more interesting, so sorry, that's how it goes.
And, I only have one boring picture of Joseph and Brigham reading on the couch for the week. Sorry!
Love,
Gabrielle
Hi everyone,
Disclaimer: This is a long and kind of boring email. It's OK if you just skim it. Or skip it. :-)
It is already 10:30, and I need to be in bed. Ben and I have been working really hard on getting the boys to bed earlier, and we're trying to set the example, but I'm failing tonight. The post-weekend cleanup gets me every time.
Anyway, it was a fairly good week. Let me see if I can remember what happened.
Monday: Woke up to dark clouds and thunder. But mother nature was playing a trick on us, and we only got maybe 10 minutes of rain before it all blew away. We really, really need rain around here. Lessons during the day and flute for Joseph in the afternoon. Joseph has been really diligent with his flute practicing. I haven't had to nag him about it once. I was hoping to drop him off and then stay in the car and wait for him, but he's still nervous about going into the UT music building by himself, so I went in with him (which involves circling around until I can find a parking space, then going to get the parking ticket from the machine, then wheeling myself a block to the music building). I like that he wants me with him, though, and the walk to and from the music building gives us a chance to talk. For FHE we had a lesson on respect and talking to authority, which Ben did masterfully, using the scriptures, and managing to get across his points without making the boys, especially Mosey, feel defensive.
Tuesday: This might have been the morning when I got a call from Ben telling me that Mister escaped and was at some person's house waiting to be picked up (Ben's phone number is on Mister's tag). He got all the way to the Presbyterian Church across the street from the school, and then followed a woman and her daughter home several blocks further from our house. Grrr... It had been really windy, and I think one of our gates blew open.
Wednesday: Can't think of anything unusual about Wednesday. Lessons during the day, art in the afternoon. The boys are doing a music unit right now, taught by the mother of our one intrepid girl in our group. She was a vocal performance major at UT and has an incredible singing voice. She has been teaching about various classes of instruments each week, and this week was on percussion. The kids made tambourines with paper plates and bells. This mother is also blind, which makes me admire her so much and also identify with her quite a bit. We are the two "disabled" people in our ward, and we've talked a lot about being different, and raising kids with a disabled parent, etc.
Thursday: Typical busy Thursday. Piano lessons in the afternoon, violin lessons in the evening, Relief Society presidency meeting at night, which meant I didn't get home until 10:15 PM, after being gone since 2:45 in the afternoon. Brigham is coming along really nicely on his violin. Mosey does well, too, when he feels like it! His main difficulty is mastering proper form. Violin is so hard for beginners, because there are so many really important things to remember about form-- posture, violin arm position, finger position, bow hand position, bowing technique, and it all has to come together in order to make a good sound, and not get into bad habits that are hard to break later on. Mosey's not super excited about violin, and it is a hassle to make him practice. I'm still thinking about switching him to cello, which he seems more excited about, but I want to wait until after our academic year is finished before I try to add yet another lesson to our schedule.
Friday: I took the boys to get passports on Friday!! When we go to Seattle, we want to go into Canada for a day or so, and visit Vancouver Island. Which means we all need passports. My passport was issued in 1994 and was long expired, so I had to get one, too. It was quite the ordeal! And really, really expensive. I am amazed at how much it costs to get a passport. Doesn't help when you have to pay extra to get the paperwork expedited because you keep forgetting about it until the trip is only a little over 4 weeks away... So that was our morning activity, and we didn't get any lessons done that day, OR practicing, since we had to go to horseback riding in the afternoon. Slackers. The boys all went to spend the night at a friend's house Friday night, which meant I had the evening free to go through the pile of mail that has been accumulating on my desk for a really, really long time, and to finally get going on taxes. Yes, I am a procrastinator.
I got home from taking the boys to their friend's house only to find that Mister had somehow managed to get an unopened 18 ounce bag of Cadbury mini chocolate eggs, open it, and eat the entire thing except for 2 eggs. Aaarrrggghhh!!! It wasn't enough chocolate to make him sick, which I guess is good, but I was kind of hoping he'd at least have to suffer some consequences. It probably would have only meant more messes to clean up, though.
Saturday: Did chores and worked on taxes some more in the morning. I'm all done now, except for one missing form. Ben is on the board of directors for a company he worked for previously, and they're pretty casual about things. They send Ben hand-written checks for example, and emailed Ben last week to tell him that oops, they forgot about the 1099-MISC form, but it's coming! Good thing I procrastinate my taxes. :-) The boys didn't get home from their sleepover until 1:00 PM. They had stayed up really, REALLY late the night before, eating pizza and watching movies, and then went on a hike in the morning. They were all pretty tired. Ben and I had made plans to eat lunch with a couple who is here from New Mexico for the weekend. The husband is one of the other transplant patients from the Houston location, and he's in town for his 1 year followup. We had communicated quite a bit by phone and email before his transplant, and it was nice to meet him in person. Anyway, I let Brigham and Mosey stay home since they were not excited about going, and Joseph came along. It was really interesting meeting Dave and his wife. I wonder what the other people at the restaurant thought, seeing the two of us with our forearm crutches. He's doing really well, and has seen a drop in his EDSS score since the transplant. He told me it was a bit of smoke-and-mirrors, though, since his sister is a physical therapist and has worked a LOT with him on his walking, and he works out 1 1/2 to 2 hours every day! Maybe I could see a decrease in my EDSS score if I did that, too. He can walk 500 meters now, which seems unbelievable to me! He told me it is not a pretty 500 meters, and he would never casually walk unaided without his crutches or rolling walker. That made me feel better, because I sometimes feel like I'm cheating the system, struggling with everything I have to make it those 100 meters, when I would NEVER do this on a daily basis, and as a matter of fact I NEVER walk 100 meters unaided unless I'm being tested. Which kind of seems to be defeating the point of the EDSS rating system. But if everyone is doing this, then maybe my 5.5 EDSS score really is reflective of everyone at 5.5, since everyone who takes this test is pushing themselves far beyond what they would normally do under everyday conditions. Dave also has a nearly identical disease history as I do, so to see him doing well in this study makes me feel good, since if he does well, maybe I'm doing well, too. Maybe I'd be at an EDSS score of 4 if I worked out 2 hours every day. :-)
When we drove home, we turned the corner onto our street to see a police car parked outside our house. Not a good sight, especially since 2 of our boys were home alone (there is no law in Texas regarding what age you can leave kids home alone, so I wasn't worried about that, at least). Turns out Mister got out again. Two boys on their bikes with a cell phone called the police. And the police, who apparently had nothing else of importance came out to the house. Mister was hanging out right outside of our house, so when the cop checked his collar, he didn't have to go far. :-) Anyway, the cop was nice, Mister was let back in the house, and the incident was over. Mister is not winning any points with me. We figured out where he was escaping from, and piled some big heavy cinder-block bricks in front of it.
In the evening I took all three boys to a concert by the Austin Chamber Ensemble who was doing a program of PDQ Bach and Claude Bolling (jazz composer) pieces. The PDQ Bach pieces were actually fairly serious pieces, but still fun to listen to. And one of the Claude Bolling pieces was a suite for flute, which Joseph really liked. All the boys liked watching the percussionist and the string bass player. Afterward we stopped at McDonalds for ice cream cones, and didn't get home until after 11:00, which meant two very late nights for my boys...
Sunday: We were awakened by a phone call at 6:45 AM from someone who had Mister. This time he broke through a board on our gate, which is going to be a big pain to fix, and managed to make his way really, really, really far away. He was way over by the 183 access road and Lake Creek Parkway, which is a couple of miles at least. Ben went and got him. I'm starting to feel like he is that cat that came back. Except opposite. He is the dog that keeps going away, and we keep going to get him back. I'm beginning to question WHY we keep going to get him. Does anyone want a 12-year old escape-artist dog who will eat any and all treats he can possibly get to in your house? No? Really? Anyway, later in the morning I gave the boys haircuts, much to Joseph's dismay. I did keep it long on the top, though, and he told me this afternoon that it was the best haircut I ever gave him, so I guess it wasn't that bad. :-) Went to church. Brigham, Ben, and I all spoke during testimony meeting, something I haven't done for at least a year or two. Went home, took a nap, woke up, made dinner, went on a walk, sent the boys to bed, cleaned up the house, and spent the next hour writing this email which is way too long. But I don't have time to go back and make it shorter and more interesting, so sorry, that's how it goes.
And, I only have one boring picture of Joseph and Brigham reading on the couch for the week. Sorry!
Love,
Gabrielle
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Recent pictures
I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures that have been accumulating in my cameras.
It's bluebonnet season again! Not quite as fabulous as last year (Austin is again in a drought-- why they call it a drought since this seems to be the norm rather than the exception, I don't understand), but still my favorite time of year in Texas. I want to take the boys to take pictures with the bluebonnets, but they're getting a little old for the "cute little kids in a field of flowers" kind of pictures, so I'm trying to get inspired. These might have to do for this season, I don't know.
This is Brigham in the tree in our backyard. He rigged up this system-- he climbs up to the top of the steps to our pool, and then pulls himself up the old pool ladder which he has hanging over a branch, and then he climbs up as far as I'll let him go. He also has a flag and pulley system up there, made of rope and a blue towel. In this picture he is up there doing his math assignment. You can't do that in public school. :-) (Of course, there probably haven't been any kids who have broken their arms during math class in public school, either. :-))
This is the normal state of our play/music room. I pretty much can't get in their most of the time-- wheelchair wheels do not like blocks and legos and plastic soldiers. But my boys sure do.
A few days ago the boys came downstairs for breakfast. Joseph lay down on the couch (on the dog bed, for some reason), and then Mosey came down and snuggled right on top of him. So sweet.
Here is Joseph hard at work in the front yard on Saturday, pulling weeds and planting new plants.
And here is Mosey being weird. I think he wants to beat me up?
On Sunday afternoon/evening, we went on a family walk. Ben pushed me in the wheelchair, and we went quite a long way-- more than 2 miles I believe. Oh, it made me miss running so, so much. But, it was wonderful being out in the fresh air and enjoying the beautiful neighborhood we live in. I tried to take pictures while Ben was pushing me which pretty much guaranteed that none of them would be in focus. Oh, well.
Here's Brigham who took the first shift with the dog. We were just a couple hundred yards from our house which is why our old, lazy dog is still running. :-)
Here's Mosey taking his turn. Who is walking whom?
And Joseph. Who needs a haircut. But he really likes it long! I need to learn how to cut boys' hair in a long style so that it looks like it is that way on purpose, and not just because I've been too lazy to cut hair for more than 3 months. :-)
Mosey found this great big pile of oak catkins. Pollen grows on these and they drop during the spring, spreading pollen EVERYWHERE. Our back deck looks green because of all the pollen (it's actually red). Mosey's feet got stained greenish-yellow on this walk (he refused to wear shoes). Happily, I don't think any of us are allergic to oak pollen because it is positively everywhere-- covering the ground, coating any cars parked outside, even blowing into the house if you leave the doors or windows open. I sure do love the giant oak trees around here, though. They stay green all year round until early spring when they suddenly drop all their leaves, and then immediately grow them back again. That's my kind of deciduous tree!
He's also clutching his newest Webkinz-- Graypelt, which arrived on Saturday much to his gleeful delight (he had been waiting for it and checking about 10 times a day to see if it had arrived yet). I took him to Walmart after conference on Saturday to make a collar tag for Graypelt. I don't think he's left Mosey's arms since Saturday!
It was a lovely walk, and I want to go every Sunday afternoon until it starts getting too hot.
It's bluebonnet season again! Not quite as fabulous as last year (Austin is again in a drought-- why they call it a drought since this seems to be the norm rather than the exception, I don't understand), but still my favorite time of year in Texas. I want to take the boys to take pictures with the bluebonnets, but they're getting a little old for the "cute little kids in a field of flowers" kind of pictures, so I'm trying to get inspired. These might have to do for this season, I don't know.
This is Brigham in the tree in our backyard. He rigged up this system-- he climbs up to the top of the steps to our pool, and then pulls himself up the old pool ladder which he has hanging over a branch, and then he climbs up as far as I'll let him go. He also has a flag and pulley system up there, made of rope and a blue towel. In this picture he is up there doing his math assignment. You can't do that in public school. :-) (Of course, there probably haven't been any kids who have broken their arms during math class in public school, either. :-))
This is the normal state of our play/music room. I pretty much can't get in their most of the time-- wheelchair wheels do not like blocks and legos and plastic soldiers. But my boys sure do.
A few days ago the boys came downstairs for breakfast. Joseph lay down on the couch (on the dog bed, for some reason), and then Mosey came down and snuggled right on top of him. So sweet.
Here is Joseph hard at work in the front yard on Saturday, pulling weeds and planting new plants.
And here is Mosey being weird. I think he wants to beat me up?
On Sunday afternoon/evening, we went on a family walk. Ben pushed me in the wheelchair, and we went quite a long way-- more than 2 miles I believe. Oh, it made me miss running so, so much. But, it was wonderful being out in the fresh air and enjoying the beautiful neighborhood we live in. I tried to take pictures while Ben was pushing me which pretty much guaranteed that none of them would be in focus. Oh, well.
Here's Brigham who took the first shift with the dog. We were just a couple hundred yards from our house which is why our old, lazy dog is still running. :-)
Here's Mosey taking his turn. Who is walking whom?
And Joseph. Who needs a haircut. But he really likes it long! I need to learn how to cut boys' hair in a long style so that it looks like it is that way on purpose, and not just because I've been too lazy to cut hair for more than 3 months. :-)
Mosey found this great big pile of oak catkins. Pollen grows on these and they drop during the spring, spreading pollen EVERYWHERE. Our back deck looks green because of all the pollen (it's actually red). Mosey's feet got stained greenish-yellow on this walk (he refused to wear shoes). Happily, I don't think any of us are allergic to oak pollen because it is positively everywhere-- covering the ground, coating any cars parked outside, even blowing into the house if you leave the doors or windows open. I sure do love the giant oak trees around here, though. They stay green all year round until early spring when they suddenly drop all their leaves, and then immediately grow them back again. That's my kind of deciduous tree!
He's also clutching his newest Webkinz-- Graypelt, which arrived on Saturday much to his gleeful delight (he had been waiting for it and checking about 10 times a day to see if it had arrived yet). I took him to Walmart after conference on Saturday to make a collar tag for Graypelt. I don't think he's left Mosey's arms since Saturday!
Monday, April 04, 2011
April fools day!
I totally forgot to write about April Fool's Day!
I have an amazing cousin who always does the funnest April Fool's Day tricks for her kids. Really, really fun, cute tricks. She is an inspiration. However, I never start thinking about the next month until it actually *is* the next month, and since April Fool's Day is April 1, I usually forget until the day of when it's too late to do anything really fun.
But, the boys did not forget. They played some pretty funny tricks (mostly on me).
They taped the water-sprayer attachment into the on position at the sink so that when I turned on the water, it sprayed everywhere. Luckily, in my wheelchair, I was not directly in the line of fire. However water did get everywhere, and much hilarity was enjoyed by the boys.
The next one was really creative. They got the buzzer from our Taboo game, and while I was sitting on the piano bench practicing with Brigham, Joseph sneaked behind me and slipped the buzzer underneath the cushion of my wheelchair. So when I sat down, the buzzer started going off. Very loudly. And I couldn't figure out where it was coming from! I yelled at Joseph to turn the buzzer off, but he didn't have it! Finally one of the boys, I think Mosey, clued me in, and I reached around and pulled the buzzer out. I went from annoyed to very amused at their creativity.
They taped the handles of the exercise bike together (it's the kind that has levers you push with your arms as well as pedals).
They asked me where the food coloring was, I'm sure for another trick, but we were all out. Darn it! :-)
Finally, late that night when I was finally going to bed, I lay down and as soon as my head hit the pillow, that darned buzzer went off again and scared the heck out of me! One last trick of the boys.
I want to do better next year since I think the years that my boys will think silly jokes are really funny are limited. Somebody remind me when it is March 30!
I have an amazing cousin who always does the funnest April Fool's Day tricks for her kids. Really, really fun, cute tricks. She is an inspiration. However, I never start thinking about the next month until it actually *is* the next month, and since April Fool's Day is April 1, I usually forget until the day of when it's too late to do anything really fun.
But, the boys did not forget. They played some pretty funny tricks (mostly on me).
They taped the water-sprayer attachment into the on position at the sink so that when I turned on the water, it sprayed everywhere. Luckily, in my wheelchair, I was not directly in the line of fire. However water did get everywhere, and much hilarity was enjoyed by the boys.
The next one was really creative. They got the buzzer from our Taboo game, and while I was sitting on the piano bench practicing with Brigham, Joseph sneaked behind me and slipped the buzzer underneath the cushion of my wheelchair. So when I sat down, the buzzer started going off. Very loudly. And I couldn't figure out where it was coming from! I yelled at Joseph to turn the buzzer off, but he didn't have it! Finally one of the boys, I think Mosey, clued me in, and I reached around and pulled the buzzer out. I went from annoyed to very amused at their creativity.
They taped the handles of the exercise bike together (it's the kind that has levers you push with your arms as well as pedals).
They asked me where the food coloring was, I'm sure for another trick, but we were all out. Darn it! :-)
Finally, late that night when I was finally going to bed, I lay down and as soon as my head hit the pillow, that darned buzzer went off again and scared the heck out of me! One last trick of the boys.
I want to do better next year since I think the years that my boys will think silly jokes are really funny are limited. Somebody remind me when it is March 30!
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Weekly letter again
Too much living and too little blogging has been going on the past couple of weeks. My weekly letter to my family will have to suffice.
This has been a fast week! Probably because it started out in West Virginia. My visit to Naomi was wonderful. Her baby is so beautiful and Polly is so cute and Naomi is such a good mother. I hate it that we all live so far apart from each other! Dave was amazing and got up at 4:30 in the morning on Tuesday to take me to the airport in Pittsburgh-- an hour and a half drive-- just to turn around and drive another hour and a half and then go to a full day of work at his lab. Thank you, Dave!!
My return home was uneventful. A funny thing happened on the way to see Naomi, though. In the Pittsburgh airport as I was wheeling myself along toward the train to go to the baggage claim, a pretty 20-something year old stopped me and offered me her magazine. "I finished reading it, and I hate to have it go to waste. It's a really good magazine!" I accepted it saying, "I can always use reading material in an airport," and then looked down to see it was Maxim magazine. Wikipedia describes Maxim magazine as such: "Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude." Gulp.
Anyway, I spent the next few minutes puzzling over what about my physical bearing or aura or whatever made this girl think I was the Maxim magazine-reading-type? :-) (She was really nice-- after she gave me the magazine she said, "By the way, you're really pretty." Which is nice, but hard to know how to respond. I said, "Thanks, so are you!" And she was. And I don't *think* either of us was hitting on the other. :-)) Sadly, I think the magazine found its way into Naomi's kitchen garbage can before I was able to fully peruse the contents. :-)
Anyway, once back in Austin, my friend Stephanie came and picked me up and brought me back home. I couldn't figure out very good arrangements for the boys on Monday and Tuesday (I probably could have, but I didn't try all that hard), so I left them home by themselves! Ben was home by then, of course, and the boys were left with instructions on how to spend their time while he was at work. They did just fine. The house wasn't even that big of a mess when I got home!
We jumped right back into the swing of things with piano practicing and flute lessons. There was just a bit of a panic when, a few minutes before I needed to leave to take Joseph to flute, I realized that my van wasn't here. Ben took it to work, not knowing if he might have to come and get me from the airport, since I hadn't called him with specific arrangements, I just told him I'd get a ride. Anyway, I can't drive his car, of course, because it has no hand-controls. So I called him in a panic and he raced home in time for me to jump in the van and take Joseph to flute, just a few minutes late.
Wednesday was a pretty normal day. Lessons, and then art. Joseph wasn't feeling well, and had a low-grade fever all day. I left him home while the other boys went to art, and I took Joseph's flute downtown for some adjustments (turns out an inexperienced 9-year-old really shouldn't try to clean all the pads and wires and intricacies of a flute...).
Thursday we had lessons in the morning, and then piano and violin lessons in the afternoon, and then a Cub Scout pack meeting in the evening, and a baby shower after that! It was a long day.
Friday was a full day of lessons, since Monday and Tuesday we didn't have any. The boys were actually very good, after some initial resistance from one of them. He started out outright refusing to do his work, and my heart sank with the prospect of another conflict with this child. I'm trying so, so hard to keep from losing it with him. I told him, as I have before, that he either does school here, or he goes to public school. Then I told him he could choose not to do his work, but the next day he would still have to do it, AND he would get an extra big chore to do (I always have to defer my big consequences for a time when Ben is here and can enforce them). Anyway, he ran outside and I thought he was hiding on the roof. Did I ever write about how the boys learned how to climb up on the roof and now that is a favorite hang-out for them? Also the one place in our house and yard that I really, *really* can't get to. :-).
Anyway, I spent the next few minutes puzzling over what about my physical bearing or aura or whatever made this girl think I was the Maxim magazine-reading-type? :-) (She was really nice-- after she gave me the magazine she said, "By the way, you're really pretty." Which is nice, but hard to know how to respond. I said, "Thanks, so are you!" And she was. And I don't *think* either of us was hitting on the other. :-)) Sadly, I think the magazine found its way into Naomi's kitchen garbage can before I was able to fully peruse the contents. :-)
Anyway, once back in Austin, my friend Stephanie came and picked me up and brought me back home. I couldn't figure out very good arrangements for the boys on Monday and Tuesday (I probably could have, but I didn't try all that hard), so I left them home by themselves! Ben was home by then, of course, and the boys were left with instructions on how to spend their time while he was at work. They did just fine. The house wasn't even that big of a mess when I got home!
We jumped right back into the swing of things with piano practicing and flute lessons. There was just a bit of a panic when, a few minutes before I needed to leave to take Joseph to flute, I realized that my van wasn't here. Ben took it to work, not knowing if he might have to come and get me from the airport, since I hadn't called him with specific arrangements, I just told him I'd get a ride. Anyway, I can't drive his car, of course, because it has no hand-controls. So I called him in a panic and he raced home in time for me to jump in the van and take Joseph to flute, just a few minutes late.
Wednesday was a pretty normal day. Lessons, and then art. Joseph wasn't feeling well, and had a low-grade fever all day. I left him home while the other boys went to art, and I took Joseph's flute downtown for some adjustments (turns out an inexperienced 9-year-old really shouldn't try to clean all the pads and wires and intricacies of a flute...).
Thursday we had lessons in the morning, and then piano and violin lessons in the afternoon, and then a Cub Scout pack meeting in the evening, and a baby shower after that! It was a long day.
Friday was a full day of lessons, since Monday and Tuesday we didn't have any. The boys were actually very good, after some initial resistance from one of them. He started out outright refusing to do his work, and my heart sank with the prospect of another conflict with this child. I'm trying so, so hard to keep from losing it with him. I told him, as I have before, that he either does school here, or he goes to public school. Then I told him he could choose not to do his work, but the next day he would still have to do it, AND he would get an extra big chore to do (I always have to defer my big consequences for a time when Ben is here and can enforce them). Anyway, he ran outside and I thought he was hiding on the roof. Did I ever write about how the boys learned how to climb up on the roof and now that is a favorite hang-out for them? Also the one place in our house and yard that I really, *really* can't get to. :-).
Anyway, I was really happy to see him a few minute later actually doing his work. And I didn't even have to lose my temper.
Friday afternoon was horseback riding. Mosey had a tough day. It's so hard for me to know how to help him. I like their teacher, but I have noticed that at times the horse won't be doing what it's supposed to do, and the teacher will ask, "Were you (insert standard instruction here)?" And sometimes the boys actually WERE doing that thing, but the horse still didn't behave. Well, I think this happened on Friday. The horse started going in the wrong direction and the teacher asked Mosey, "Were you looking toward where you want the horse to go?" And Mosey said, "YES, I WAS!" In a not-very-polite voice. I knew he was frustrated with the horse, and frustrated by the implication that he hadn't been doing what he was supposed to have been doing, but still, it's not OK to talk like that to an authority figure. The teacher stopped him and said, "Do you want to try that response again?" (By the way, I like this in a teacher-- I like that she insists on politeness from her students.) Well, Mosey is more than a little bit stubborn. He did NOT want to try that response again, and after a while of going back and forth and the teacher giving him chances to be polite, he got off the horse and his lesson was over.
Ugh. The trouble with Mosey is that he is supremely self-confident. He really sees himself as just as competent as anyone else, including adults. And I feed into this by giving him a lot of responsibility. I send him into a store with money to get something, and he marches right in, as confident as he could possibly be, and I don't think he even realizes that adults look at him a little strangely. It's not that normal for a 7-year-old to be as confident and self-assertive as Mosey is. So he doesn't have a lot of natural deference to adults just because they are adults. This is clearly an area in which I need to work with him. Learning how to appropriately respond to authority figures is extremely important. We did talk on the way home about what happened. I told him that next time he should say, "I thought I was looking where I was going, but maybe I wasn't." That way he can express that he was trying to do what he was supposed to, and thought he was, while not being outright defiant toward the teacher.
I think we need to have some Family Home Evening lessons on this topic...
Saturday of course was General Conference. My boys are big enough now that they actually sat and listened to almost all of it. My favorite parts were listening to Mosey sing loudly during the intermediate hymns. Like I said, he is not at all self-conscious. :-) I was able to get a bunch of work done on a project I'm trying to finish. Between sessions the boys cleaned up the backyard, albeit only after a LOT of moaning and groaning on the part of 1 or 2 of my boys... It's still not perfect, but much better than it was. After the 2nd session, we all went into the front yard and worked on pulling weeds and cutting back dead branches and old growth from the plants along our front walkway. Ben planted a bunch of new plants, and our yard is not quite as embarrassing as it was... It was really nice to work together as a family. The only downside was the reappearance of the stupid, horrible, awful, despicable mosquitoes that are now back in force. I HATE MOSQUITOES!! In the evening, Ben went to priesthood session and the boys and I ate pizza and watched a movie.
Today was more conference, and after the 2nd session we went on a long family walk. It was so nice. I don't get outside much, and it was SO nice to be out there in the fresh air, feeling the breeze on my face, and seeing beautiful parts of our neighborhood where I typically don't go. It made me really miss running, though. :-(
The boys are all upstairs now, presumably asleep. The house is in good shape, and I'm looking forward to the coming week!
Friday afternoon was horseback riding. Mosey had a tough day. It's so hard for me to know how to help him. I like their teacher, but I have noticed that at times the horse won't be doing what it's supposed to do, and the teacher will ask, "Were you (insert standard instruction here)?" And sometimes the boys actually WERE doing that thing, but the horse still didn't behave. Well, I think this happened on Friday. The horse started going in the wrong direction and the teacher asked Mosey, "Were you looking toward where you want the horse to go?" And Mosey said, "YES, I WAS!" In a not-very-polite voice. I knew he was frustrated with the horse, and frustrated by the implication that he hadn't been doing what he was supposed to have been doing, but still, it's not OK to talk like that to an authority figure. The teacher stopped him and said, "Do you want to try that response again?" (By the way, I like this in a teacher-- I like that she insists on politeness from her students.) Well, Mosey is more than a little bit stubborn. He did NOT want to try that response again, and after a while of going back and forth and the teacher giving him chances to be polite, he got off the horse and his lesson was over.
Ugh. The trouble with Mosey is that he is supremely self-confident. He really sees himself as just as competent as anyone else, including adults. And I feed into this by giving him a lot of responsibility. I send him into a store with money to get something, and he marches right in, as confident as he could possibly be, and I don't think he even realizes that adults look at him a little strangely. It's not that normal for a 7-year-old to be as confident and self-assertive as Mosey is. So he doesn't have a lot of natural deference to adults just because they are adults. This is clearly an area in which I need to work with him. Learning how to appropriately respond to authority figures is extremely important. We did talk on the way home about what happened. I told him that next time he should say, "I thought I was looking where I was going, but maybe I wasn't." That way he can express that he was trying to do what he was supposed to, and thought he was, while not being outright defiant toward the teacher.
I think we need to have some Family Home Evening lessons on this topic...
Saturday of course was General Conference. My boys are big enough now that they actually sat and listened to almost all of it. My favorite parts were listening to Mosey sing loudly during the intermediate hymns. Like I said, he is not at all self-conscious. :-) I was able to get a bunch of work done on a project I'm trying to finish. Between sessions the boys cleaned up the backyard, albeit only after a LOT of moaning and groaning on the part of 1 or 2 of my boys... It's still not perfect, but much better than it was. After the 2nd session, we all went into the front yard and worked on pulling weeds and cutting back dead branches and old growth from the plants along our front walkway. Ben planted a bunch of new plants, and our yard is not quite as embarrassing as it was... It was really nice to work together as a family. The only downside was the reappearance of the stupid, horrible, awful, despicable mosquitoes that are now back in force. I HATE MOSQUITOES!! In the evening, Ben went to priesthood session and the boys and I ate pizza and watched a movie.
Today was more conference, and after the 2nd session we went on a long family walk. It was so nice. I don't get outside much, and it was SO nice to be out there in the fresh air, feeling the breeze on my face, and seeing beautiful parts of our neighborhood where I typically don't go. It made me really miss running, though. :-(
The boys are all upstairs now, presumably asleep. The house is in good shape, and I'm looking forward to the coming week!
Where have I been?
In West Virginia!
Seeing this beautiful mommy (who happens to be my baby sister):
And this beautiful baby:
And this adorable two-year old:
I got to do a lot of this:
And this:
I LOVED seeing this daddy come home, and the absolute joy of his little girl as he walked in the door:
I sure do love this family:
Seeing this beautiful mommy (who happens to be my baby sister):
And this beautiful baby:
And this adorable two-year old:
I got to do a lot of this:
And this:
I LOVED seeing this daddy come home, and the absolute joy of his little girl as he walked in the door:
I sure do love this family:
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