Jeff is home, hooray!

Monday was a holiday so we took Asia from Young Women's to donuts and hot chocolate. We had a nice talk and the kids did great. Ja had left me a message for my birthday about things they remembered about me from this past year. And the thing that stuck out to him was how grateful he and Laura were that I acted on the inspiration I felt to order everyone in the family the book, "The Child Whisperer." He said it changed their lives and how they look at all people. I thought that was pretty neat and happened to see the child whisperer podcast was being broadcast so I called in to the show. I told her my story of giving the book to people and she loved it. Then she said she'd send me a copy and she was excited to think of the person who would receive it next from me. I thought that was all pretty cool.

Then Jeff came home! We were so excited to see him and the first thing the kids wanted was music in the house. They wanted him to play the guitar and piano while they sang and danced. Having Jeff home really makes our house so much more joyful and full of life.

We have been reading a book called Good Pictures, Bad Pictures and 30 Days of Sex Talks for 3-7 year olds. Today Taryn came over to play and asked me to talk to Ryan about keeping his pants on. When he goes to the bathroom he takes everything off so she was worried about seeing him. After we assured her he could keep the bathroom door closed, Lily said, "Taryn, you did the right thing by telling us. Good job." We had learned in our books about people having boundaries and sharing what makes you uncomfortable and not how we shouldn't show our private parts in public. So Lily was very supportive of Taryn sharing her feelings and for Ryan to keep his private parts private.

Tuesday we had a busy with a 3-hour playdate with Taryn and then after naps we went to a swim meet for Megan and Sierra, left to eat some food and run an errand, then went back to the high school to watch Sam's basketball game and Katie's cheering. Katie is a flyer so it was fun to watch her be daring and have no fear.

Katie is the flyer on the right.

The next day we went to Asia's basketball game at Severance Middle School. I will say that all these events I'm going to are really allowing me to get to the know the schools.

 I went to a kindergarten information meeting at the Charter School for Lily. I was happy to see that she is accomplished in all the things she needs to be in order to be ready for kindergarten. And I think she will be reading before she even starts school. We do her reading lessons every day and she is really catching on and doing great. Interestingly enough though, she has been complaining about not liking school. It's too much work and not enough play. She loves learning, but it made me realize she would probably be a good candidate for part-time kindergarten and not full time.

Jeff came home Wednesday night and gave the kids gifts (his luggage was still in Miami when he arrived on Monday so he didn't have the gifts then). We were all excited to see what he got us and he was so thoughtful. Jeff got an out of the blue referral for a job that would be a perfect fit for him, so he had been spending his nights preparing his resume and prepping for interviews. Even though this is what he of course would desire from doing this MBA program, it is pretty tricky trying to fit job hunting and then preparing for interviews on top of school work and everything else he has going on. But we just keep praying and having faith that the Lord will help him accomplish all he needs and wants to.

Sunday was just a hard day at church. I don't know if it's the time or what, but Ryan was pretty wild and Max started wandering in the aisles, going on other benches, and going up to the stand. Luckily Ryan and Lily sat with the Cormack's in the middle of the meeting, which made it much more relaxing for me, but Jeff had Max duty so he was busy. Jeff was so nice to play games, read, and spend time with Lily and Ryan during nap time, rather than take a nap himself. He also gave us each blessings, which was really neat. He dressed in his church clothes so Lily wanted to change into her dress. Ryan was having a hard time settling down, so Jeff gave Lily the blessing alone in our room. At the end she said, "that was a really long prayer."  When he gave Ryan's his he had a hard time not gigging, but he did eventually sit for the blessing. We had just read about priesthood blessings in the Friend so they were excited to have one of their own.

Max loves walking around like this. He loves his church shirt and sweater vest so much. 

A favorite pasttime, playing with water at the sink. 

Playing the egg slicer like a guitar is a new favorite instrument. 

Jeff and I have both been struggling with having energy and motivation to get going each day. I had a birthday lunch for a friend on Monday and wanted to just be home with Max so I could nap, but not many people could come so I stayed while Max napped at my friend's house. It ended up being a very nice outing, with nice conversation of women who have husbands that are often away as well, and I felt energized after. The evening was very hard for me and I didn't think I could make it through to bedtime. At one point I just locked my bedroom door to have a break and Lily knocked on the door, "mommy, it's me, Lily. Can you hear me? I'm talking through the door." I eventually came out and made it through, which was a miracle. I did let them watch an episode of "Agent Oso." At the end Lily told me that they really learned a lot from it and it's a good thing they watched it. They learned that it's nice getting gifts, but the most important thing is being with family and friends. Another time they watched that show and she again said how good it was to watch so they could learn that they need to believe in themselves. She said this and "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" teach them good lessons.

Tuesday I was hosting book group for "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story." We were going to have it at Kelly Huff's house, but since I would have had to get a sitter, she offered to switch it to my house. It was nice not getting a sitter, but it meant I had to clean up. I'm actually glad for the excuse to go through piles, vacuum, clean the kitchen and bathrooms.

Ryan learning how to clean mirrors with norwex cloths...it's pretty amazing there are no streaks.

And while Max napped and I vacuumed, Lily and Ryan did a wonderful job cleaning up the downstairs. We were having Emily Thomas and her girls over for a playdate so we needed the whole house clean. They really surprised me by working so hard and doing such a thorough job, I was very proud of them. The play date was fine at first, but then Ryan tried to push Max down the stairs (well he did push him, but I was standing right there) among other things. When I talked to Jeff about the Ben Carson book and how a woman in the book had to finally agree to give her husband over to God when she believed he was dying. When she did this, after realizing that he wasn't hers anyways, he was God's, then she felt peace. He ended up living, but the lesson I learned is that all things are God's and we need to be willing to give them back to him when we don't know what to do. I said to Jeff that with this job he wants, he is feeling so anxious about not getting it. But when we pray and tell Heavenly Father our desires and what we want and what seems like a great option for us now, we have to then give it back to Him to do what He knows is best for us, trusting in good things to come. And Jeff suggested that with Ryan, he is really God's son. He loves him and knows all about him. So trust that He will inspire me to be the best parent for him. But I also need to ask for help. Often I just get discouraged or angry, or frustrated and sit in that. I don't always reach out to Heavenly Father for help. But that should be my very first action when I notice myself feeling any of those negative things.

Book group was very nice and the women stayed late talking. I prayed the kids would fall asleep ( I had taken them to Costco after the play date and they ran around a lot, so I was hoping they'd be tired) and they fell asleep 10 minutes before people came...and they never woke up! It was nice to visit and renew friendships.

Enjoying the reclining chairs at Costco. 

Max was pretty thrilled he got to take his ball in the store and that I let him walk around the whole place without putting him in the shopping cart. 

Hanging out on this one so he can be "the tallest."

Making laps around the furniture and having a delightful time. 

Wednesday Ryan had his career dress up day. We borrowed a size 8 astronaut costume from a friend, and it actually seemed to fit okay. He looked pretty cute in it, but in the end he didn't want to wear it. He said he didn't think his friend Corbin would like it. No matter what I said he wasn't convinced, so I just drew the patches on the costume and pinned them to an orange sweatshirt. He then said he didn't want the sweatshirt (even though he was excited at first to wear it). I told him I hoped he would wear it, but in the end he got to choose. He said "yeah, I get to choose!" And he chose to wear it. Perhaps he was feeling a little forced and just wanted to know in the end he got to make the call.

He looks so cute!

Max could be here all day if I let him. He in constantly trying to say "sink" and motioning for Jeff or me to bring the chair over. 

Lily helped Ryan decorate this with Star wars stickers. There's a light side and a dark side.  

Ryan really wanted to show Blake this Star Wars book, but he wasn't as interested as Ryan was.

Max will come to the bathroom, play around for a bit, then drop everything in his hands and run out. After a minute or two he comes back with the black stool. It seems to take him a few minutes to remember his favorite activity in the bathroom, and then he has to rush out to get the stool so that he can run water over the toothbrushes and put them in his mouth.  

Granny Dot Came to Visit!

At the last minute, my mom decided to come visit. She had offered for me to take the kids to California while Jeff was in Chile, but it felt easier to just have her come here. We had a wonderful time and I'm so glad she could spare 6 days!

I dropped the kids off with Nana then picked my mom up from the airport. Our plan was to do a session at the temple after. The weather was so bad and we would miss the session we wanted to do so we debated going. But I felt so uncomfortable with the idea of intending to go to the temple and not that we just decided to do it. The weather completely cleared up on our way and we had a wonderful time doing initiatories. My mom hadn't done those for awhile and we met an older sister who is from Lausanne, Switzerland, which is in my parents mission. They spoke in French together (my mom did great and the woman was impressed) and it was a neat little meeting.

Arriving at the house the kids were all so eager to see Granny Dot. They stood by the door with Nana and were anxious to have her come inside. My mom was so good to do mind body soul time with each child, read lots and lots of Star Wars books, play cars, do magnets, stickers, and just talk to them. We all loved saying our "sweet, sour, and service" at the end of each day and she always had lots of sweet things to say. The sour for the kids was always that Daddy is gone for 12 days.

Lily was sad Ryan wanted to be in the picture (though she did photo bomb his pictures before this).

Lily did this puzzle all by herself.

Loving their puzzle time. Ryan wanted to do all seven Thomas puzzles. 

Organizing cars with Ryan

Playing magnets with him

A selfie.

Ryan and Lily love reading to Max, and he loves it too.

If you don't know where Lily is, she is probably at the table coloring.  She truly cannot get enough, she loves it. 

Friday morning it had snowed so I opened up the garage to see how much I'd need to shovel. I saw our sidewalk was done and was confused and then saw our neighbor Jake shoveling our driveway! I was so grateful for his kindness with Jeff gone and it just made my day. So later I shoveled our driveway again and then theirs, and then both neighbors walks. It is very true that when someone serves you, you want to serve others more.

The trees had a winter wonderland feel.

Once one child wears a Star Wars shirt, they all have to. They love their shirts from Granny Dot. 

Ryan was being very cute putting his arm around Max.

Showing Granny Dot my quilt, and wondering how in the world I made it. 

We went to Chik-fil-a after school because the kids had been begging to go. They had SO much fun! They played for two hours and the reason we stopped was it was getting later but also Ryan wet his pants. My mom said he was laughing so hard and then all of a sudden he stopped. I realized I could just sit there and read a book because even Max was happy to just run up and down. They all made new friends and played Star Wars and Toy Story and were as happy as could be. You would have thought they'd be exhausted, but for some reason they didn't go to bed until 10:45.

Max was so funny because he was wearing his R2-D2 shirt for the first time and would often get off the slide, come over to me to give a hug, show me his shirt, then climb back in the play area. Or he'd stand at the top and point out his shirt to my mom and me.

Surprisingly, the kids ate most of their food. I think we have found our new favorite family restaurant. 

Max went down that slide more times than I can even count in a 2-hour time span.

Max was really intent on trying to talk to this boy. Every time the boy turned away, Max tried to get in front of him to talk more.

Friday night Darlene Tanner from church came over to do family history with us. She spent nearly three hours with us and my mom was able to learn some things too. It was nice to finally get on family search which has seemed a little overwhelming for me to know where to start, but we did some descendency work and I attached sources so I felt like it was a really good practice. This made both my mom and me want to get on in more. The only challenge was since Ryan and Max didn't want to go to bed, my mom and I had to take turns trying to get them to sleep.

Saturday I took the kids sledding while my mom stayed with Max and read books and fed him cereal (he can never seem to have enough cereal).

Sometimes the sleds are Luke and Leia, sometimes X-Wings, and sometimes speeder bikes.

The swimming pool is the Millennium Falcon

I went to Costco, got my haircut, went to the grocery store, and made some food for dinner at Mama Baer's. We all went so my mom could see the Baer's and we had a very nice time talking and especially hearing more of Nick's story. The drive home was very foggy, so I was happy to finally arrive.

The two doting grandmothers. These kids are so lucky to have such wonderful women to love them and to look up to. 

The two best moms a person could ever hope to have.  I feel very blessed. 

Lily is growing up so fast. 

Looking at the Hawaii scrapbook Sarah made. I guess Lily needed glasses to see all those pictures. 

They liked finding pictures of Jeff and me, I think Ryan just spotted one. 

Sunday was a hard day for me with 11 o'clock church and Ryan was in a very playful mood. Max dove head first from the bench in front of us, but seemed okay. After teaching and visiting people I was exhausted for the day. My mom did meet a few people with whom there was a connection (Bryan Tait, Trevor's mission companion, Paulette Schmidt who knows Bev Nelson, and of course she saw Darlene again who was able to answer some more questions about family search). That night we watched "Once I Was a Beehive" since my mom had brought it and the kids and I liked it a lot.

Trevor was Bryan Tait's trainer in Tarbes, France.

Ryan built some cool towers while we watched.

Who needs to pay for a masseuse when you have children?

The boys love their marble run.

It was so nice on Monday to have my mom stay with Max and put him to bed so I could drop Lily and Ryan off then pick them up. After school we went to the library to get Star Wars books and the kids just had my mom read to them most of the evening. Some friends wanted to play, but when given the choice, they chose to spend time with Granny Dot. That night I went to a City Council meeting for Let's Play Music to be on the record as supporting the program. It was interesting to hear how those things work and all the language you have to use and the process of how things take place. Who thought of all of this? I was glad to go and see this process work though and to be supportive of the teachers. When I came home the kids had made me cards and put them on a banner with some other decorations. It was so sweet and my mom said they were very happy to do it.

Max's favorite page from the Star Wars book, the Cantina Band.

Ryan and Lily call Max Wicket, and he sometimes responds to that, so he also likes the Ewok page.

My mom was supposed to leave Tuesday morning, but Max was sick in the night with an ear infection so she changed her flight to later. I thought it was unnecessary, but when she could stay with kids while I took Max to the doctor and stay with Max while I ran some errands and dropped off and picked up Lily and Ryan from play dates, it was very, very nice. He slept on her for a good portion of the morning, but luckily he still went down for a long nap. It is those little things that my mom does to go the extra mile…even though she has already gone above and beyond. She had just arranged the super shuttle and when Max was so bad she just changed her plans again. Which also meant she would not have a direct flight, but a layover in Vegas. She is the epitome of Christ-like service.

We were very sad to see her go, but so grateful she got to come. I loved seeing her spend so much one on one time with the kids and she even got to learn about Star Wars from their books too. I was able to do so many things when the kids had another person to give them attention. All three of us said our sour was Granny Dot leaving, but our sweet was that she came. The kids also said their service was letting her come.

I asked Lily and Ryan if they wanted to go to a swim meet and Lily said in a really drawn out way, "I want to, but I just don't feel like it." I told that to Jeff and he laughed as he said she gets that from me since I have been known to say that. I thought it was pretty funny.

I had been in kind of a funk lately, not sure if it's from doing Whole 30 and my sugar detox or just being so busy and tired, but I was happy to wake up Wednesday morning and get some things done before the kids woke up (and they even woke up late!). I practiced a song for Young Women's with Libby Blauer and Max wanted me, but Lily and Ryan played so well together. They play Captain America and Barbie and Star Wars. They are so creative and fun and sometimes Ryan tells Lily to ask him questions if she wants him to teach her about Star Wars or who is on the light side and who is on the dark side. I heard Ryan say (as Captain America to Barbie), "Do you want to get married?" Lily replied with "Yes, but we should go on a date first." They are so fun and get along so well, what a wonderful blessing.

The chairs are speeder bikes from Star Wars

This was Captain America and Barbie's first date.

I also started reading scriptures during breakfast which I think is the way to do it. They were distracted just enough by eating to listen. I read from the picture book and then from the actual scriptures (which is the hardest for them to listen to), but they did a great job listening.

On Thursday Lily said her tooth was hurting. It was kind of bloody and she had another tooth growing behind it. I called the dentist and while I'm on the phone Lily comes in the room to say she lost a tooth. She was SO excited about it and the tooth fairy coming to visit. She lost the tooth when Taryn came over to play, but then somehow found it again and was thrilled. She was worried about not having it for the fairy. When she put the tooth in a bag to put under her pillow she asked if it was time to say goodbye to her tooth. I told her it was and she could thank it for helping her eat all of the food she has ever eaten. She thanked it and then said, "I hope to see you soon, I'll miss you bud."

I was in my room and Ryan started screaming from the front room. I went out there and he was so upset it seemed like he was really hurt. I asked what was wrong and he couldn't tell me. Then he just went into a kind of shock or daze or something and wasn't responding. I got so scared and put him on the floor to pat his back. Finally he started crying again and snapped out of it. He said he didn't know what was wrong, but after I had him spit out his chewed up roll in his mouth, he said he took too big of a bite. So I'm not sure if he couldn't breathe or what was happening, but it was truly scary. It made me want to do some sort of CPR class or something because it is a helpless feeling if your child has a scary scenario and you don't know how to handle it. I said a very heartfelt prayer of gratitude afterward. While I was holding him Lily brought over a blanket and his friends. He just wanted to lie on the couch and rest after that traumatic ordeal.

On a funnier note, when Lily and Ryan were playing with Captain America and Samantha Flower Sparkle (I finally found out her name), Lily said, "I just want to look in your eyes to see how handsome you are." She had to repeat it several times so I guess Ryan wasn't letting her doll gaze enough into Captain America's eyes. She asked what his real name was and Ryan said, "Merica." I also liked how when she asked Ryan which princesses he liked in her coloring book, she told him the ones she liked best are the ones dressed modestly.

I asked the kids to clean up, but Lily wanted to color. She said she really wanted to help, but just couldn't stop coloring. Ryan told her he thought her body was telling her it wants to color. He then said, "tell your body you're not going to color, you're going to clean up." So Lily did that and said her body still wanted to color. Ryan then gave some suggestions of other times she could color. I wish I had the conversation recorded, it was so funny.

Lily set up the tunnels for the kids and they had a great time. 

Ryan and Lily have made this corner behind the table their playing nook. The turned over chair is someone's home and I'm not sure what the laundry basket is. 

This was the most wonderful sight to me. The kids woke up early and instead of asking me to get up, they just went to work coloring. 

Lily moved the table and chairs all by herself and set up a tea party. Max loves trying out the plastic banana. 

I'm not sure what was funny, and I don't even think they know. 

On Friday I took the kids to Westminster so I get the weekend alone. I went to a basketball game of one of the Young Women and then stayed up late reading and slept in. It was wonderful.

Some friends took me out at night after I had spent most of the day in my pajamas catching up on my blog. We went bowling and then ate some delicious dessert at The Chocolate Cafe. A very fun night!

Emily Thomas, Kelly Huff, me, Cara Munson, Alexis Kelly, Brittany Knight, and Tami Thurgood. 

Such yummy food!