Missing The Kids

With Summer and the kids out of town for the kids' Spring Break, I find myself thinking about how much I miss them--not only because my bachelor life is so boring, but also because Summer and I are blessed to have such wonderful and good children. So, at the risk of sounding even sappier than I typically do, here are the things I most love about each of my children.

Allyson, I love your confidence, not only because it will serve you well throughout your life, but because of how shy you were not too long ago. I remember talking to your mother after your first day of preschool, when you were so scared to be involved in the learning and games. Since then, you have had some great experiences as you have learned and grown. At your baptism last year, you had become so happy and full of life. You now willingly go out of your comfort zone, as I saw when you performed at your competition a few weeks ago. From this I learn something important about how we can all change, and how I can overcome my own fears and limitations.

Ryan, I love how excited you are about the things that you love. Whether it is space, Legos, baseball, or reading a book like Bud, Not Buddy, your passion for life is infectious. You are able to become so enthralled in the things you love to do, and that is inspiring. It is so easy to glide through life and be dispassionate, and as I watch you eagerly run around the baseball diamond you have imagined in our front yard, I see that I too need to release and run around this beautiful world more often.

Isaac, I love how you enter a new situation, watch for a few minutes to gauge how to act, and then open up to meeting new people and loving them. I see this when you go to work with me You quietly watch people until you are comfortable, and the you engage them in your fun and clever conversation. You ask questions and tell stories because you seem to know that it is through this kind of sharing that we come to know and learn from the world around us. I saw it when we visited the Belen ward and when you entered Sunbeams in January. You were nervous and did not want to go to this new and strange class. But you believed us that you would have a good experience, and once you were comfortable, you jumped in.

Evan, I love how affectionate you are. I can come home from work tired and worn out, and a smile and hug from you can make me smile, make me realize that everything I do is for you children. The joy of watching you share your love, your joy for the simple things in life, blesses my life. Even when you are miserable--tired, hungry, sad--I can hold you in my arms and feel close to you. And while I know that it won't be long before you are too big to hold, and you will be walking and running, just like your brothers and sister, you will always be my little boy.

This Past Week

A few highlights from this past week:

• Allyson's Destination ImagiNation team placed 2nd in the state in their competition (or, as I like to call it, the best they could do without another level of competition).
• Ryan and I played catch outside during the waits Saturday. I bounced the ball off the wall and he would field them. Got pretty good.
• Isaac went to Sunbeams in the Belen ward, which surprised everyone. He had a good time, too.
• Evan perfected the art of blowing raspberries, which he has been doing for a week or so.

I spoke in the Belen ward, which was our first family trip for High Council duties. As per our earlier dilemma regarding transportation, we decided to stay with one car. So far, so good. The bad news, of course, is that I don't get a scooter. Maybe next year...

The Kids This Week

Allyson finished the Harry Potter series for the second time. And her Destination Imagination (formerly Odyssey of the Mind) team performed on Saturday taking second place!

Ryan enjoyed going to Primary in another ward and discovered he knew something his teacher didn't. (Is that much of a shock to anyone?)

Isaac asked for homework everyday after school. He got to do several pages, thoroughly enjoying them, and felt very proud of himself.

Evan took a bath with both of the other boys (although that was more of an adventure for me!) He loved swinging at the park. And he wore shorts for the first time. (Pictures will follow)

Bus Tales

That's the title of my forthcoming book on public transit in a mid-sized American city. I have tales to tell of drunks and prostitutes and transvestites, as well as racing the bus on my old bike and catching 5 transfers in one trip. But today's tale is a simple, Kafka-esque one of the insanity of life.

My story begins with Daylight Saving Time. This morning it was still dark when I left for work, and my body said it was 5:30, though the clock said 6:30. I arrived, after a perilous 5-minute walk in the dark, at the bus stop, and a few moments later, the bus arrived.

Now, this is one of the new buses the city bought recently. They are 99% emissions-free and still have that new-bus smell. But today we saw that they truly don't make 'em like they used to.

After the bus pulled up I waited for the doors to open. And I waited. and I waited. For about 3 minutes, the driver struggled to get the doors open. Finally, with a push from me and a pull from a passenger inside, we got it opened, and I--somewhat nervously--stepped in.

For most of the ride, the doors then worked fine. But once downtown--about 5 stops from where I get off and walk--the same problem surfaced. We sat there for a minute while the driver attempted to get the doors open. After announcing that we would wait at the downtown bus station for maintenance, she closed the doors--the doors that would not open! It was like a horror movie (a pretty lame horror movie, but what do you expect, Stephen King?).

So, the moral of the story is you get what you ask for when you board a bus you know might not let you out. (For the record, I was able to pull the door open and catch another line to work. Apparently, the compressed air that controls the doors was not working properly.)

A Mother's Observations

Well, Roy took my idea before I could post first. But since we see the children in different lights I thought I would post my own insights into the children's doings. Now several years ago I wanted to keep journals for each of the kids about themselves and their doings. I started pretty strong and kept at it for quite a long time, but life hit me full force and I just couldn't keep up with it. So we will keep these insights as meansof communicating their growth and humorous moments, as well as a record to give to the kids in the future. Here are my weeks noticings:

Evan's hair started sticking straight up! Not only does this make him look slightly taller, but he looks older as well, which of course, just makes me long for him to stay a baby longer. Isaac noticed the hair and thought Evan looked a lot like Calvin.

Isaac donned his Superman/Batman cape, his fire fighter helmet and his flashlight and went in search of buried treasure under the dining room table. He found a lot apparently, which, embarassingly, turned out to be bits of stale popcorn, crumbs of cheese crackers and the like. So I got disgusted with the house and we ended up doing a full-scale deep-cleaning of the kitchen.

Ryan made his first phonecall. He called his "best friend" Michael to remind him to watch "Arthur." Michael has called him a few times and apparently this is becoming a tradition. Ryan also stayed home from school on Thursday with a "sore throat."

Allyson declared of her own volition, with no prompting from parents (Roy was gone and I, who was in the other room, just happened to overhear the discussion at the breakfast table) that her mother knows everything! I just hope she remembers this truth when she is 13.

What's Up Here

My posting rate recently has been terrible, and I'm trying to figure out why. It's not that I'm busy writing a dissertation (nope, not that at all), and work is no more demanding than ever. It seems, more than anything, that it's because we're not doing the kind of cool stuff we usually do. No trips, no hikes, no camping. And we've certainly got the bug for the latter, but it's still too cold for a camping trip. We do have an excursion up north coming up soon, but we're not really doing much.


This brings me to a suggestion from Summer. A friend of ours who moved to Los Alamos last year uses his blog to keep a sort of journal of their kids' lives (they have 5 kids under the age of 8, making us look like real slackers in the procreation department). Every week he posts an update listing one new or unique thing each child did that week.


So we're going to try this out. Summer has some observations from her time with the kids that certainly exceed anything I could say, but I have picked up on a few things. To whit:

• Evan has started raising his arms up slightly when he wants to be picked up. He will also lean toward Summer when he sees her and wants her to take him. He almost dismounted from my grasp the other day in his anxiety to get to her.


• Isaac has fought Summer everyday on taking a nap, so the other day she put him down for an evening nap. He's also urinated on the bathroom floor twice this week.


• Ryan ran lines for his drama club performance with Summer. When he focused, he got everything right, and seems to be becoming a bit of a ham. Whudda thunk it?


• Allyson made thank you cards for people who bought Girl Scout cookies (Bby the way, they're here, so if you haven't done so yet, please send us your money. Email me if you need to know what you owe.). People at work bought over 150 boxes, and so far everyone has said that the thank you cards were a great touch. Keep the customers happy!

When I Grow Up...

I have noticed recently that the years keep getting shorter and the kids keep getting older. I am coming to the realization that this grand time of staying at home with my children will not last forever. Eventually I will have the opportunity to work outside our home again. And as it has been so long since I have had a paying job (many of you would laugh if you knew how long) I have really no experience to help me down the road. But I figure I work hard at my job as a mother and I think I am pretty good at it, and I certainly have learned a thing or two (or ten thousand). So I have come to the conclusion that the work I am doing now is giving me on the job experience and will prepare me for several possible careers as listed below.

I could be an…interrogation expert for the CIA. The kids certainly think I have what it takes to torture people, particularly when it comes to rinsing their hair after a good scrubbing. Can you say water boarding?

I could be a…make-up artist at a mortuary. I’ve gotten pretty good at making myself look alive at least.

I could be a…trainer of primates at the zoo. I have done a pretty good job at teaching ours to speak and be somewhat understood by others, to listen once in a while (when they are not busy picking their boogers), and to not throw their feces.

I could be a…HAZMAT worker. You don’t want to know the things I have had to get out of our carpet.

And I am sure that there are a lot of other careers out there that are just waiting for me!