HOPE!!!

Everyone once in a while something happens that gives me hope that Tim and I are doing an okay job in this whole parenting thing. Tonight at Family Home Evening I had one of those moments. As you who have read my blog for a while know - FHE isn't usually a real spiritual feast at our house. It is more of a "sit down," "please keep your hands and feet to yourself," "Listen to the lesson," You can't have a FHE treat if you are not reverent," - kind of adventure on the parental end; and a "are we done yet?" "this is boring," I already know all this," "She put her foot on me me," "he did it first," - is the kids version.

So tonight, after a humorous pre-FHE, where Aaron and Katrina both had to put on their "reverent pajamas, and Aaron got ready with the timer, so he could "time how long I am reverent." We started. It was quite amazing. Aaron and Katrina were really focused and fully participating, with really insightful and good answers, and Bryan had his best FHE ever. (He still kinda started to lose focus at the end, but he still gets major KUDOS for doing as well as he did.)

At one point in the lesson, Aaron got emotional again and said, "mom, I'm feeling the spirit again." That's twice now - he's feeling pretty good about that. it's pretty cute. He said our family prayer tonight and he said, "please bless that Trina and Bryan will someday be able to feel the spirit like me."

There's hope! Maybe I haven't totally ruined him yet!

SNOW SNOW SNOW

** if you are in a hurry, just skip to the end and watch the video of Aaron - I think it is HILARIOUS! **

A couple days ago (I think it was Saturday) we took this picture of our back yard with just a light dusting of snow. (as much as I HATE driving in snow, I think it is beautiful and I love looking at it...)

Monday it started snowing, not hard, just constant, and it's basically been snowing since then. The news tonight said we have received 8 inches over the past 2 days, but according to my very scientific RULER measurements, we are up to more like 10 or 11! Here is a picture taken from the same spot today. (notice the little dwarf pine in the left bottom corner is all but covered in the second picture)


As you can see, the birds are happily eating all around the feeder, which leads to the next photo. It is NOT a great picture, but if you look closely you can see the outline of what we believe is a Coopers Hawk. (looks like a peregrine falcon, but according to Tim's Internet research, peregrines don't often come down and hunt at feeders, but it is common for Coopers Hawks to do that...) At any rate, he likes to come perch in this tree and hunt at our feeder. It is SO awesome to watch. In fact, the first time we saw him, he was perched right on top of that post you see in the first photo, the one the bird feeder is hung on... I almost feel guilty, like I am setting a trap for the poor little birds, but I suppose it's all a part of the "circle of life" eh?



After I got home from doing afternoon carpool, the snow just seemed to call to Aaron, he got out of the van and into the snow. Here he is:

The inner child in me (that has been MIA for about 10+ years) came out of no where and decided to get into the action. I did a running leap/somersault thing in the snow. Amazingly enough, I didn't hurt myself. Aaron (after laughing, being amazed, and wondering what alien spirit had come over me) thought it looked fun and wanted to try it. I ran in and got the camera and took this video:

(I was laughing so hard I about wet my pants, and if you listen closely, you can hear Aaron laughing from under the snow.)

The kids talked me into getting dressed up in my snow clothes and playing outside for them for about an hour and 1/2. It was really fun. I mostly used the time to shovel the sidewalk and driveway AGAIN, and to help the two neighbors shovel theirs as well, but it was intermingled with digging snow tunnels and caves, sledding down the hill, making snow angels, and having a snowball fight with the neighbors.

Dinner was late, my hair was soaked, there is a big pile of wet clothes just inside the front door, and we were 15 minutes late for cub scout pack meeting . . . but we had FUN! (and tonight Aaron told me, "I can tell that you love us mom, because you played in the snow with us for a long time!" You just can't beat that)

piano recital

Let's see if I can figure out how to do this... (posting a video I mean)






I did it!!! I wasn't even that hard.

Aaron and Katrina both did a great job on their pieces. (Although not "perfect" - which they were capable of, they had done them perfectly at home many times, but hey, who doesn't get nervous when playing in front of an audience???) I am very proud of them both!

Here you go Melissa - a new post

My dear friend Melissa has rightly 'chastised' me for not posting for so long. No, Life isn't THAT "disturbing." Right after my last post I got really sick, and I'm still not fully recuperated. I had the whole aches and pains, plus a fever and cough and sore throat and everything. Totally lost my voice for a couple days. Now I am mostly fine, just a lingering cough (mostly at night when I lie down to sleep. The problem now is that Caleb is sick. He was running a 103 temp Saturday - Monday, but now just seem to have a cold. Life is never dull! My house sort of imploded while I was sick, and I still haven't quite got it all back under control.. (Of course, truth be told, it is very rarely under control, sick or not...)

Anyway, my major trial right now is parenting. I went to the library yesterday and checked out some new parenting books that I hope will help me in my quest to be a better parent, particularly in dealing with Aaron. Today I got the 'pleasant' (NOT) surprise of receiving a phone call from the principal at Aaron's school. Apparently, Aaron and 3 other kids used their scissors to drill holes in the desk tops. AARRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! The consensus from the teacher and administrators was that it was just a case of kids not thinking - nothing malicious or purposely destructive.

Then this afternoon I attended his parent teacher conference. (it had already been scheduled, it just happened to fall on the "desk drilling day") His teacher expressed her observations that matched mine, that the past 3 weeks Aaron has been really acting up. It's happening at school and at church. Neither of us can pinpoint what the underlying problem is... I told her that he has asked a couple times in the past few weeks if I could pull him out of school and home school him because he "hates" school. He has also expressed a lot of concern about cursive writing. They've been told that starting in January they need to submit their writing work in cursive, and Aaron feels he can't do it.

I can't help but feel that the behavior problems are directly related to his low self-esteem and low self-confidence issues. I also can't help but think that I am the main reason behind these feelings of inadequacy. While I don't do it on purpose, I fear that I use shame techniques and am too "emotionally unavailable" to him (and to everyone else). The trouble is, I don't know how to fix myself!

Tim did a great job talking to Aaron tonight about choices and consequences. Aaron is going to be grounded for the next few days from all TV and Computer use, and he will be doing some extra jobs around the house to earn money which he will then donate to the school to make some restitution for the damage done. He (and the other kids involved) will be missing a few recesses and they will spend that recess time doing service in the school (like picking up trash, cleaning scuff marks from the gym floor, etc...)

On the drive home, Aaron cried and said I don't love him, and that his teacher yells at him all the time and is always mad at him. (I know she does ask him to be quiet often, since he is always talking out during class and has real trouble staying on task and completing his work) Tonight while Tim and I met with him to discuss the problems, I asked Aaron what Tim and I can do to show him and help him know that we love him. He said that I am always spending my time cleaning the kitchen and I never play with him. He wants me to stop cleaning and play more games and spend more time with him. Tim pointed out to Aaron that one of the reasons I have to clean all the time is because he and the other kids are always making giant messes and not cleaning them up.

I guess the good news is that I have a place to start. I will be focusing on getting my cleaning done earlier in the day and spending more time playing with the kids.

This parenting thing is SO hard. I just feel like I don't have a clue what I'm doing, and I worry that I'm ruining my children. (It doesn't help that Caleb still isn't sleeping well (due to being sick) and I am majorly sleep deprived! Oh well. Nobody said life was going to be easy!


How was that Melissa? Betcha now you wish I had waited to put on a happier post. Oh well. I do actually have a couple fun and happy posts in my head, I just can't ever seem to make the time to get them posted. maybe tomorrow. (you know how it is with sick kids, you just sit and hold them all day long...) love ya bunches - glad ya missed me.

School Days

Yesterday was Aaron's first day back to school. I hope this is a great year for him. I am just praying that his reading skills kick into gear and he takes off in that arena. Just about everything in school in affected by reading ability. It's hard to do the math if you can't read the question.... spelling is a super challenge... etc. Aaron loves music, art, and PE. (does anyone else see the pattern here - not much reading, if any, required for these subjects)

We carpool with another family in our neighborhood. She drives the kids to school and I pick them up. I got there to do pick up, and was hoping that the new "pick up zones" would make the process simpler. No such luck. I expect it to get better once everyone gets it figured out, but yesterday was a nightmare. After I waited in line for 10 minutes to GET to the yellow zone - I find TJ and Alec (the other boys in the carpool) waiting, but no sign of Aaron. TJ informed me that Aaron was in the BACK of the school, in the orange zone! WHAT??? So I drive around the block to the back of the school. NO AARON. I drive back around to the front of the school. FINALLY, I find Aaron, just coming out of the school. I guess some how he got told that he was in the Orange zone so he went there. (he argued about it with me all the way home - insisting that I had to pick up TJ and Alec in the Yellow zone, then drive around back to get him in the Orange zone. Hopefully, I convinced him that I know what I'm talking about and he'll be waiting in the yellow zone after school today:)

I found a preschool for Katrina and signed her up. I think it is going to be way too easy for her, and I wish it was a more academically challenging program, but the price was acceptable, location was closer, a nearby person is signed up for the same session, so we can carpool, and the teacher said she'll send home extra "homework" to challenge Trina a bit more as needed. any which way - Katrina is SO excited about it. She is totally ready for school right now. These September birthdays are a BUMMER!

I really do wish that I was more organized and had better follow through. Home schooling would be a good thing for Aaron - working on his level, studying things that he is interested in, without the peer comparison/influence making him feel "stupid." (his word, not mine) It would also be great for Katrina, because there's no calendar date that would say how and when she could start learning. I am getting better over all, but I'm still not ready for that. I had a hard enough time doing "school time" during the summer. and that was only a hour per day of reading time, math practice, and practicing the piano. I hired a neighborhood girl to come in and be my "helper" for that hour, and in this manner, we did get it done most of the days. But toward the end of the summer, it was a mere shadow of what it started out to be... Oh well - we each have our own talents, and this is NOT one of mine!

It's a lot quieter around here with Aaron gone during the day, and I need to get off the computer and get some work done. (4 loads of laundry are waiting to be folded - I'm being such a laundry slacker lately...)

Later -

Missed me???

Holy smokes! I just saw that it's been 12 days since my last post! Where does the time go????

I feel like I'm so busy, yet it seems to be "busy doing a whole lot of nothing." This post will be a hodge-podge of stuff, just in a quick effort to update and reconnect...

Aaron's baptism - Aaron was baptized on August 2nd. It was very nice. Lots of family and friends were able to be there. Aaron loved being baptized and confirmed a member of the church, and he especially loved being the center of attention.

Olympics - I'M LOVING IT!!! I am really tired because I just have to stay up and see them. Last night I was up until midnight, because I HAD to watch the finals in the mens team gymnastics. (tonight I will be up watching the womens team gymnastics) That men's team... I am SO PROUD of them! They did a great job. All of them are first time Olympians, with two of them being last minute alternates filling in for the team "stars."
and swimming... the men taking the gold in the 400 relay. OH MAN!!! what a race. I still get excited just thinking about it. what a thrill to see them win that race.
For FHE last night - can you guess what the lesson was? It was an Olympic theme of course. Tim talked about how the athletes have to focus and work hard, even when they are tired and frustrated and might feel like it is too hard. They just have to practice and practice and practice. Then he talked about how we have to practice and work hard to accomplish things in our own lives. we each set goals for things we want to "practice."

End of Summer - I can't believe that school starts next Monday. Aaron is totally not ready to go back to school. I finally got Aaron's school clothes ordered. Hope they get here in time. I still haven't decided about Katrina's preschool. (I am the master of procrastination.)

Laura's visit - my sister and her family came down from Montana last week. It was so great to see them again. Katrina was so cute playing with her cousin Adam. She cried every time they had to say good by to each other. We really miss having them closer, but I know they are where they are supposed to be right now, and they are a great influence and needed family in their small branch up there.

Caleb - Where oh where has my baby boy gone??? Did I ever post that Caleb update? I don't think I did. Oh well. Caleb has been scooching around for a long while now, and the past 2- 3 weeks he's got the crawling on hands and knees thing going. His new thing (past 2 weeks, is pulling himself up to standing. Last night I was folding laundry (while watching Olympics, of course) and he stood up, using the laundry basket, then pushed it while walking behind. I am NOT ready for him to grow this fast. He is just so fun and sweet and adorable.

Singing in church - our family sang in church yesterday. The Primary presidency was speaking and the topic was the purpose of primary. We sang "teach me to walk in the light." The kids did a great job. Bryan fell asleep about 5 - 10 minutes before we sang, so he missed the singing, which is too bad since I think he is just adorable, but he's not so adorable when he's been woken up, so we let that sleeping dog lie.

Ward Camp out - Last weekend was the annual ward cook out/camp out. We stayed over night and had a good time. The weather looked pretty overcast, and sure enough, it started raining as we drove up, but we put up the tent anyway - in the rain. Wouldn't you know it, about 10 minutes after we got the tents up, it stopped raining. (guess we should have waited to put them up eh?)

Tim working from home - Tim's work is being painted this week and last, so he got permission to telecommute while they are painting. Tim set up a second computer upstairs for me, but then after 2 days his laptop motherboard died, so I didn't have a computer for a couple of days. It's kind of hard to have Tim home but "not home" if you know what I mean. It has been SUPER great having zero commute time!

Depression - doing better. Still tired and dragging a bit (late nights aren't helping, but I figure the Summer Olympics only come around every 4 years right??) but not feeling sad and so down on myself.

Is that enough hodge-podge to catch you back up on my simple life? I need to jump in the shower(that rank smell you keep getting whiff of??? yup, that's me!) and take a stab at the day's "to do" list. Remember that sister I visit teach who said she probably wouldn't tell us if she needed help? (That last day I posted) Well, I'm scheduled to go visit her again today. I know - good for me huh? It's not even the last week of the month yet!

Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Aaron!!!

How time flies! 8 years ago, right at this very moment, I was in the Labor and Delivery room, being stitched up after what ended up being a very long, painful, traumatizing (for me) delivery of my sweet little baby boy. (I'll spare you the details, but it only took them just over an hour to sew me back together, if that gives you any indication of how things went)

Here we are, leaving the hospital with Aaron.


This is Aaron at 1 week old
(I know it's not the greatest picture. We didn't have a digital camera at the time,
and we just have a few scanned photos for me to chose from.)



Today we celebrated with a party in the park - with friends, games, water balloons, root beer floats, and cake. (in case you can't tell - the cake is a ZOO. (I should have forgone on the colored sprinkle walkway, since it muddies up the overall look, but Aaron loved it, and that's really all that matters! and it really did look a little better in person, but you'll just have to take my word on that one) We then had one of Aaron's favorite meals, Hawaiian Haystacks, for dinner.

This is the group of kids at todays party (minus Bryan and TJ (friend) who somehow missed being in the photo)

It was a good day.

Since Aaron is now 8, I will tell you 8 things I love about Aaron.
1) Aaron is very creative
2) Aaron is a natural leader (not always for the right, but we are working on that)
3) Aaron loves music and has natural talent (spoken like a true mother)
4) Aaron has a fun and adventurous spirit
5) Aaron has the ability to be a wonderful and caring big brother (he may not always choose to use this gift, but he definitely has it)
6) Aaron loves animals, nature, and the world around him
7) Aaron loves to laugh and to make others laugh (not always appropriate during primary or school, but a gift none the less)
8) He is my son.

I love you Aaron and I am proud of you!

And now I leave you with a few other photos of Aaron

12 (or was it 14???) stitches after impaling his armpit while climbing to the top of a flag pole.

What a handsome boy on the first day of school last year



What a goof ball. He and Trina were turning themselves into monsters. I came into the room to find this - and NO, it was not a washable marker, in case you are wondering!

Ya just gotta love this kid! and I do.