So blessed

I am often in awe of how blessed I am. Aaron has been so busy and yet he finds time to take car of my need. Here's a sampling from the last week. On Saturday while I was cleaning the kitchen, he cleaned the bathroom (including the tub - which he knows is my least favorite chore). Then while I was at the Primary activity with David he found a garage sale down the street. He took Timothy to the bank to get cash for the garage sale, and while he was there deposited the check that's been sitting here for a week and got quarters for laundry. They walked to the sale which was at the local elementary school, and found some great deals on sports equipment. For $20 he got a soccer ball, a set of cleats and shin guards for David, two baseball mitts- David and Timothy's size, and a floater swimsuit for Timothy.

Score!

Then he later took David to the park while Timothy napped, so I could get some things done. Ok, so I talked to my sister instead, but it was nice to not have an interrupted conversation. Then on Tuesday, after a long day Aaron headed over to the church for the blood drive. I was going to go, but timothy hadn't napped, and I just wanted them to go to bed. They were in the bath and I was ignoring them when Aaron left. I should have been more grateful to Aaron. He had already played and read books to them for at least 30 minutes so I could check email etc. and I was already irritated with them! He asked if he should stay home, and I told him to just go. He went, and I felt bad for treating him so poorly and being ungrateful. Instead of coming home upset and angry with me he stopped by the store and brought home some flowers, and chocolate raspberry sticks. We shared a few and watched House together.


And to top it off, tonight I get to go a fabulous dress up dinner - one of the perks of being in the medical field that I get to experience. Aaron is so good to me. Often I wonder how I got so lucky. Thanks Aaron for a wonderful week.

getting better

David is getting better. He no longer says he doesn't want to go to school. But he still wants me to walk him to his line and wait for him to leave. Rooms 3 & 4 go down the stairs at the same time now, so I have an excuse to wait at the top of the stairs ("There isn't room"). I also get to talk to some of the other moms as they wait for the bell to ring. David really enjoys eating lunch at school. Mrs. L* told him he could stay for recess. When I arrived for lunch he gave me a face and said, "Why are you here? I want to stay for recess." so we ate lunch and waited for his recess to finish and took him home. So now he stays for lunch and recess and I don't have to pick him up until 12:15!!! That may actually give me time to do preschool with Timothy.

We had a kindergarten pizza party last night. It was fun to see all the moms I've been talking to and see how David interacts with his friends from school. Aaron came home early enough to come, and I was glad. I mentioned that there is only one other girl (Natalia) that goes half-day with David. I've been talking with her mom a little as we wait for the kids to come in from recess. She has a 4 year old boy (Andrew) too. We talked last night at the pizza party. She's from Columbia, and speaks English well, but with a thick accent. I mentioned that Aaron spoke Spanish.
"How did he learn Spanish?"
"He spent 2 years in Argentina"
"You're Mormon?"
"Yes"
"So am I!"
Ha, small world! So Rahysol and I, and Aaron talked all evening. She doesn't live too far from us, but is in the ward just north of us. So David went over there to play today. And Natalia and Andrew will probably come over some time soon. I was planning on setting up playdates anyway since they both leave early. But I hadn't we hadn't talked more than about 2 minutes for the last couple of days.

Timothy threw a fit when he could go to Natalia's too. He was invited, and I would have let him, but he needed a nap, and Aaron needed the car, so Rahysol had to bring David back home, and doesn't have room for 4 kids. He hates being left out. He fell asleep very upset, and started crying soon after he woke and realized David was home and he had missed out.
Timothy's newest favorite phrase is "yeah, but...." He started it two weeks ago on our trip to LL. The funniest part is how smashes the two together "yabut" We'll ask him something like, "Do you want a snack?"
"Yabut I'm gonna play a game."
"Can you stop kicking the chair?"
"Yabut I don't want to."
"Can you pick up your clothes please?"
"Yabut I want to make a mess."

Gotta love it!

baby steps

David still didn't want to go to school. I promised him a game of UNO if he got dressed. And another if he got his backpack ready etc. Until it was time to go. We got to the playground as the first bell rang. So we got in line. "Come with me" he pleaded. I told him I'd walk down the steps, but not to the door. He nodded. The whole way down he talked:
"Don't go too fast. Stay with me. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
At the bottom of the steps I waved goodbye. He walked with his class, and turned around every 5 seconds or so. I waved at him each time. I didn't leave until he was inside the door and around the corner.
It's progress. He didn't need anyone to hold his hand, and I could stop at the bottom of the the steps. Maybe tomorrow I can say good bye at the top of the steps.

A few more random things. David's new favorite game is Set.I though it would be too hard for him. But when I played with the easy rules (only one shading) he did very well. He obviously takes longer than I do, but he gets them right just about every time. He also likes backgammon

Oh, and Aaron is finally wearing his white coat. He just has too much to carry and needs all the pockets. And this is the first service where other residents seem to be wearing them as well.

More random thoughts

It seems I will be posting every 4 days. That's because Aaron is on Q4 call now. I used to have time in the afternoon, but that time is now spent doing enrichment activities with David. I still try to read blogs everyday, but I can't comment as much and don't post very often. I'll give a quick run down of everyone.

Aaron just started his medicine service and by sheer luck is working with the endocrine patients. He also has GI and other random things. I have some to realize that he had it really easy the first few month of residency. I am beginning to understand why people say, "You'll never see your husband." He started Wednesday being on call. Other calls he's been able to get some sleep - 15 minutes up to 3 hours. He at least had some down time where he could call. There was no down time. He got away for about 5 minutes to talk to me, but never even got to try to lay down. He discovered that a 15 minute shower does help he wake up. Until he comes home and sits down. Then he can't keep his eyes open. Friday he didn't get home until 6:45. That's the latest day so far. Saturday he had off and spent time alone with Timothy in the morning and David in the afternoon. He is admitting more patients than he has for other services, but they typically don't stay very long, so he has to do a lot more dictations. So he spend a while doing that Friday night and Saturday. He was on call again today. This is only the second time he's missed church since residency started, not bad!

David is still having a hard time going to school. Mrs. L* insists that he is doing fine in class. We talk everyday now. As we got ready for school on Thursday he whined that he didn't want to go to school. I told him I would stay after school and eat lunch with him He was so excited I thought we had solved the problem. But no. I tried to drop him off but he ran back to the car again. So he hopped back in and we drove around and parked. We walked to the playground but he wouldn't play or get in line. I waited for Mrs. L*, she took his hand and I waved goodbye and although he looked sad, he went. He loved eating lunch in the cafeteria. with me and Timothy. I talked a little more with Mrs. L* and we are working on a plan. After lunch we went home. Friday same story. He didn't want to go. I convinced him I would walk him to the playground and I would be there for lunch. We got to the playground and he saw "George" with his mom. So we had a little talk. Apparently "George" isn't the only one who was being mean. David supposedly spat at him and on the slide. I believe it because it is one of the bad habits we have been trying to break him of. Of course he has no idea how offensive spitting is. He just knows we don't like it and that it is rude. To him that means, you do it when you are mad! Uh oh! So as Mrs. L* takes her class down David won't let go of my hand. He won't go with her, or Mr. M* who has to lock the door after the kids go in. Finally have to walk to the door and shoo him in with an "I love you, see you at lunch."

He comes home everyday saying how much fun it is, and what he's learned and later, he tells e he doesn't want to go. I don't get it. It was heart breaking at first, but now it's rather annoying. I pray for him constantly, and I'm trying to work out a plan of phasing out eating lunch with him everyday. Mrs. L* said he could stay and eat lunch and have one more recess before he goes home and I can pick him up at 12:15. But if recess is the problem I don't want him to hate it even more. The other issue is a medical one. Just before school started he started coughing. It was mostly at night and when he wakes up so I didn't worry about it. But it's been 3 weeks now and he still coughs, especially after running outside (insert red flag). Aaron and I have talked about it especially with his allergy/immunology interest. We hate to think it could be asthma, but as Aaron was running around with David on Saturday David starting coughing. Aaron became pediatrician dad. "Do you cough while you play at recess?"
"Yes."
"Do the other kids cough at recess."
"No, it's not fair."
*sigh* That's no fun. I fell bad for him.

This week we have a kindergarten get-together. Free Pizza party for students and family. I told them 4 people will be coming, but then I realized it starts at 5:30. I doubt Aaron will be off in time.

For the positive side of David he has been learning a ton. He's practicing writing his lower case letters. I still have to teach him how to tie his shoelaces. He doesn't want to learn and insists on wearing his velcro shoes. He has read another book all by himself. I know he was reading it, because it was one I have never read to him. He didn't get every word perfect, but he sounded them all out and spent a dedicated 15 minutes to reading it! I was impressed. And whether or not they are teaching him math in school I think he will be fine. We got a Spiderman Math book at the $1 store and he loves it! I forgot it was in the church bag and he spent a good 20 minutes doing math problems "for fun" during sacrament meeting. I wasn't about to stop him since I was husband-less today. Although he did keep checking with me to make sure they were right, and that was distracting. He has also memorized the 1st Article of Faith. Elder Hales talked about doing the Articles of Faith for FHE last week at Stake Conference so we started with #1 last Monday. David is so excited that he'll say it over and over. I hope he continues that enthusiasm for all 13!

Timothy constantly amazes me. I neglected to mention that a few weeks ago we were reading Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Eric Carle and he had caught on to the pattern and would read the first page "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see?" and I would answer "I see a ..... " then he would start the next page "......., What do you see?" And we read the whole book like that. The cutest is the "Macaroni Penguin" It's a lot of syllables!

Timothy has started to draw now too. Although I can't get him to hold the pencil right. Last week cousin Elise was drawing pictures of President Hinckley as he spoke. She was using one of the notebooks we had brought. Timothy found one of her sketches that was just his head and he drew a body on it! So cute.

I'm posting these pictures for my dad. He always teases me about how I used to fall asleep with a book on my head (usually the encyclopedia). Well, Timothy has carried on the tradition. This is how he fell asleep for his nap the other day.

Me. We just had a very successful Primary activity yesterday. We only had a few kids come, but it worked out great. This month we have been talking about service, so we cooked up a few service projects. The first thing we thought of was a canned food drive. But that wouldn't give the kids anything to do. So we built on that idea and I called several places asking if we could do a service project. After leaving messages, and getting no response I was getting discouraged. Finally I called an assisted living center and asked if we could come and sing and do a craft with the residents. They loved and we set it up. The only problem was that we had told the parents to drop kids off at the church and now we were driving to a different location. I was worried about the transportation. But somehow it all worked out. The same day I called the rest home (it's easier to type) I got a call back from the Medical Center. Originally they didn't have anything for us because their volunteers need to be 14 or older. I had asked if there was anything they needed that could be done at the church and then brought to the hospital later. The supervisor was thrilled with the idea and suggested that the kids make generic greeting cards for the patients. So now instead of one service project we had 3!!! So we sang to the residents and then made leaf rubbings for cards (it is officially fall now). The kids gave one to the residents and made the rest for the hospital. It was a success. The residents loved it and the kids had fun too.

I think all of my remaining time energy has been exhausted by the boys, oh and reading The Work and the Glory (Book4).

Now more random things

Unexpected guest

My parents had an unexpected guest last week. Two Elders had an appointment a few blocks away and stopped by. Elder G* recognized the neighborhood and my parents house from 8 years ago. The last time he was there was for his brother's wedding reception! That's right Aaron's brother is serving in my parents stake. There are Sister missionaries in their ward, but Elder G* was on splits and had an appointment with someone the Sisters had referred to them. They had a nice chat with my parents for a few minutes. They think Anthon looks a lot like. And Anthon says he's gained 15 pounds eating good food. What a fun surprise

New/old friend

Now another surprise for my family. Sister Jenne A* gave a talk today on missionary work. She looked really familiar, but I figured she had been in the ward, I just hadn't met her yet. She told a little of her conversion story. She joined the church in 2001, and then went to BYU. She talked about working with the missionaries in the Sacramento Mission "where I grew up". Instantly my ears perked up and listened more intently. Then I realized I knew her from my parents ward. Whenever I was there on vacation she was there. But I didn't know her because I was already married by the time she started coming to church. After church we had a"linger longer" so I set my kids up with a load of rice krispy treats and sought her out. She did recognize me immediately she said, "You're a R*!!!" She has been in the ward for about year, but was gone all summer for her husband's internship! So I hadn't seen her before now. She was in a dance group with my sister Becca and Eva chaperoned her group when they went to Hawaii, and she went to the singles ward with Sara for a while. She even met our good family friends, George and LeAnn H* while in the Provo temple! Man it is a small world! We'll have to get to know each other better.

Fall

Today (Sunday) is the official start of Fall. David asked me if it was fall when we were out picking leaves off the ground yesterday. He is very observant. I told him I wasn't sure, but I knew it was soon. We looked on his calendar when we got home and was so excited that today was fall! We actually had to turn on our heaters here. I thought we could last longer, but it's been getting into the 40s at night and not reaching 70 during the day. I can always add layers, but the kids don't keep their blankets on very well at night, so we turned on the heater last night.

BYU beat Air Force yesterday.
That's all.

Thanks Nathan and Amy for coming over and playing with the kids and talking to me. It gave me a much needed break!

OK, not very quick and I'm sure there's more to say. But it's late and I'm getting a head ache.

Weekend getaway recap

I know this is my third post today, but Aaron is on call and I haven't blogged in about a week. So let's start with our trip to LL. After we dropped of David at school we packed up and got things ready. I picked him up and we headed home for lunch. After a quick lunch we were on the road. It was a smooth trip. I drove so Aaron could read. We stopped by the outlets stores on the way, but didn't find what we wanted. Timothy fell asleep rather quickly after that. We stopped a Petrified Forest tourist attraction that overlooked the Columbia river.

Ancient writings on some rocks or something.

David was convinced he saw a frog in the pertrified wood.

It's little sunny, can you tell?

As we started up again Aaron set up the DVD player and the kids watched Cinderella. We stopped to fuel up before we arrived at Greg and Daralee's. (I love that our car gets great gas mileage on the highway) They were finishing up Kyle's (just turned 10) birthday party. It was supposed to be over at 6:00 (we got there around 6:05) and there were still 5 kids there. One parent called at 5:30 to send her son home. Two kids' parents talked to each other until almost 7:00. (They weren't even talking to the hostess - just each other). So even though it was past dinner time the kids found the backyard and had a ball.

Eventually we roasted some hot dogs and put the kids to bed. After a few fits of course. Then we stayed up with Greg and Daralee and played Swap - the card game Kyle had gotten for his birthday. We stayed up late playing and talking.
Saturday morning David was awake at 2:30 and thought it was time to wake up!!! He was awake enough to go to the bath room (which is saying a lot), and then I convinced him he still needed to sleep. He awoke again at 5:30 still wanting to get up. I told him to wait until 6:00. He woke me again at 5:45 and finally at 6:00 I took him downstairs to the playroom. It's an unfinished basement with insulation, and scraps of padding and carpet on the floor. I would love to have a playroom where the kids can just leave their toys out and I don't have to worry about making them clean it every night! So he played while I read until about 7:00 when I heard little feet running around. I went to investigate and it was Timothy "Ah, ha. There you are!" He declared. After breakfast we all got ready to go to Elise's (almost 8) soccer game. The kids mostly played on the playground while we cheered her on. Then we stopped by the Dollar store (since we can't seem to find one anywhere in S*). We also went to the farmer's market down the street from their house.

We then spent the rest of the morning and after lunch playing outside and in the garden. David LOVED the garden.
It was the first year they had done a garden, so they had too much of a lot of things. With their permission we picked about 10 pounds of tomatoes - roma, salad and cherry, some zucchini, cucumbers - two varieties, carrots and a few beans. David loved digging out the carrots. He and Andrew dug in the garden for a while. I've never seen David eat carrots so voraciously. And without ranch to dip it in! Just wash it off and chomp away! Here's pictures to prove the plethora we gleaned.

carrots, cucumbers and zucchini, oh my!

We had two of these but gave one to Nathan and Amy.
I think it's supposed to be an English cucumber, but it isn't straight.

Tomatoes, yum! Check out what I did with these here.

These got their own bags, because they are delicate;)

Check out this carrot Aaron dug up!!!

At 2:00 Andrew (5 years old - three months younger than David) had a soccer game, so we all went and cheered him on. There was no playground nearby his game, so we kicked around a ball and threw a football and chased the kids around on an empty field. Then it was back to their home with a quick trip to the store. David also was in the van with the B* family so it's easier to take just Timothy.

We were able to watch some football (don't ask about the BYU game. We had to check the score by phone and it wasn't pretty.) And the kids just played and played! little Jason (almost 3) didn't even nap! Daralee made some amazing pizza for dinner. We convinced her to make one half Margherita, fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden!!! After that we roasted some marshmallows from s'mores, and the kids enjoyed the sunset and moonrise. It was really hazy and made for some awesome red colors! And then the kids headed to bed. After some fits of course! We talked and played games some more and went to bed late again!

Sunday was a great relaxing day. The kids slept in and we all got ready for church. It was Stake Conference (the same Salt Lake broadcast as in S*). We chose to sit in another room with padded chairs and carpet. The kids could sit on the ground and move in between our two rows, without interrupting anyone. They were fairly well behaved. We only had to chase Timothy once - success I'd say, especially since one dad had to leap after his son before his hand got too close to the fire alarm on the wall. I really enjoyed the talks given by some one from the YM General Presidency(I can't believe I forgot his name), Elaine S. Dalton - The YW General President. Keith B. McMullin (Presiding Bishopric) and Elder Hales. President Hinckley was the last speaker. He struggled to get to the pulpit and looked so frail and tired. He only spoke for 10 minutes even though there was 40 minutes left. He told us that we would be going home early. I am really looking forward to what he has to say at General Conference in 2 weeks. He is still so busy and involved. I know he spoke at BYU on Tuesday. He must be exhausted. We pray for him daily.

After church we had some lunch and the kids played together one last time. David had fun with Andrew, but really got a kick out of playing with Elise. She was so sweet to let us sleep in her room. I'm not sure she had much of a choice, but I know the B*s have had plenty of visitors this summer, and we appreciate having a room to corral the kids into both nights.

Playing Sorry

David and Andrew

Fun with a tarp, chairs and a mini trampoline.

Elise is so happy

Cousins!

After some final pictures we headed out hoping the 67 in town miles wouldn't kill our gas mileage too much. We did pretty well and just hoped we wouldn't hit weekend traffic coming home. We didn't, but we did run into a brush fire. We first noticed the helicopter and then saw it was carrying water from the river. The fire was in between the freeway and the smoke was really bad. We were blessed that the freeway wasn't closed, or we would not have made it home without refueling. It was closed coming the other direction, and we saw dozens of cars and trucks that were sitting on the side of the road waiting. It looked as though they had to move out of the way for the emergency vehicles. The only fire I saw was from one post holding up the guardrail on our side of the freeway. Everything else was just smoke. I was glad I wasn't driving this time.
We made it home in time for the kids to go to bed only a little late.

So that's our trip to LL. Thanks so much to Daralee, Greg and their family. We had a really fun time. I hope we get to do it again soon. I'll have to catch up on other stuff later.

Before I recap....

Before I recap our weekend- a little update. When I went to pick him up Diane told he that eventually he went to class, but it took a while. His teacher, Mrs. L* talked with me a little before we left. She said he stayed in the office for about 30 minutes before he came down, but once he was there he was fine. She said that David is really good in class. He is attentive, participates, and is a great artist. But he has just had a hard time getting into the classroom the last few days. So tomorrow I am going to have to park and walk him to the playground at 9:05 (instead of 8:50) and wait for his teacher to take his hand and walk him down to the classroom with the rest of the class. She also said that I can let him stay and eat lunch if he wants, or I can eat lunch with him and then take him home. We'll see how it goes.

I am beginning to think that it really is recess that he is having problems with. I can't get any other explanation out of him. Today David told me that "George" hit him. All he wants to do is play tag, and David doesn't want to. I'm trying to get him to solve the problem, by suggesting other things they can play, but I don't know if he'll go through with it.

The problem isn't completely solved, but at least we all survived. He even said he had fun today. I hope I can convince him to go tomorrow. Having "George" and David at the same school seems to have created a problem. I hope we get this resolved.

change of plans

I was planning on blogging today all about the fabulous weekend we had. (I will but not right now) I need an outlet. Yesterday when I dropped off David he ran back when the gate was locked, andI showed him how he could get through the parking lot. Another mom said, "I'll make sure he gets there". I was grateful.

All morning he told me he didn't want to go to school. I finally convinced him that I would play a game of UNO before we left if he would get ready to go. Then we had to wait for Timothy who had to go to the bathroom 1 minute before it was time to leave. So we rushed out the door. I explained to David he wouldn't be late, but that he wouldn't have a lot of time to play at the playground. the gate wasn't locked, but he ran back like yesterday. So I stopped and waved to him. And drove off, I could see him running after me, so I pulled over and stopped where the buses park. He was starting to cry and saying he didn't want to go to school. I had to move the car so I told him to get in and we'd drive around again. As we drove I couldn't get out of him WHY he didn't want to go to school. The only excuses he gave were 1)"I don't think I'll have fun" and 2) "I don't want to play with George" (* name has been changed). George isn't in his class, he only plays with George at recess. I tried to give him other suggestions, and he still didn't want to go.

The second time around I dropped him off and said good-bye and he still ran back. He said he didn't want to play on the playground but wanted to go straight to class. So we waited one minute until the kids started coming down the steps to the classrooms. Several times he started to go and came back, until finally the final bell rang and they locked the doors. Now I had to drive around to the front of the school and walk him in.

He was still protesting. When I got to the front I told the lady at the office (Diane) he's having a hard time today. She said "is this David?" I was surprised, "Yes" I answered. He tried to run after you yesterday and someone brought him back. WHAT?!!! Why didn't he tell me about that? Apparently he went to class and was fine because it wasn't a big deal. Diane offered to walk him to class, but David wouldn't go. They said I could walk him to class, but I could picture him crying everyday just so I would walk him to class. Then the principal (Mrs. G*) came out. She offered to walk him to class. I have to say the entire time I am acting happy, and staying positive and trying to find encouraging words. No threats, no bribes, just encouragement. Mrs. G* suggested that he sit in the office until he was ready to go to class. He didn't want to do that either. So Mrs. G* said, "Well you can stay with me and your mom is going to go now." She gave me an encouraging smile. I said good bye and I love you to David and walked out with Timothy.

As soon as I left the front doors and turned the corner I lost it. I cried the entire way home. Timothy was in the back sad that he didn't get to stay at school and asking , "Are you crying Mommy?" I keep waiting for the phone to ring telling me to come pick him up. I hope he'll go to class and be just fine. I'm sure they've dealt with this before. But this is new to me. I don't know what to do. How do I fix this??? My plans for today are shot. I can't leave the house now. I'm in no shape to go any where. Once I calm down I'll be able to play with Timothy but for now he's watching DragonTales.

I know I'm not the first mom to deal with this, but I don't know who to help David. It could be fixed this morning, because I couldn't get out of him why he really didn't want to go to school.

Random Thoughts

Cute pics

I had to include these too cute pictures of my two cute nieces.

Elizabeth C* and Hali B*

Cousins hanging out!

They will miss each other now that Becca and Aaron B* are back in ID. I hope we can all get together soon!

Homework

Tuesday David came home with his first class work returned with a star and smiley face on it. Remember those days!!! No red marks or numbers or minus points, just a star or a smiley face because you tried!!! Although David is tired of writing A's. He keeps asking when he can move on the B's. I hope she knows that he already knows how to write. He does need to practice his lower case letters though! I love his "homework". He has a list of activities that we can do together that we have to sign off 3-5 a week (there are 25). He's already done 10 - the easy ones that you don't have to write down, or draw etc. Just the ones you can do out loud. Yesterday he came home with a cutting assignment, to make a little "A" book. I hope he doesn't get bored. That's when he starts getting into trouble.

Babies

I've got babies on my mind, no I am not expecting. But this week I found out two of my friends are. Happy days!!! I also got a baby shower invite for my best friend in CA. She is having a shower, for her little girl due in December and I want to go out there so bad, but I think I'll have to settle for sending her a cute gift. I went to Target today.... Now I just have to wrap and send it. I don't know if I mentioned that my SIL Kimberly is expecting. Another little niece or nephew yippee!

Birthday celebration

Aaron's birthday was pretty low key. Aaron works half days on Tuesdays so he was home by about 2:00. He was going to it a bucket of balls with Nathan, but the driving range is temporarily closed for a few months. Oh well. So we opening presents after a haircut and Timothy woke up from his nap. Later we had dinner, cake and ice cream with Nathan and Amy. Then they stayed later and played a game. I was so busy talking and listening after dinner, that I started serving the cake and ice cream without lighting the candles or singing happy birthday. So we ended up putting a candle in Aaron's piece and singing to him before I served everyone else. Where is my brain???

2 more days of biking

Aaron has really enjoyed working in the clinic this past month. He just got business cards and they are putting him on the prescription pad. He will continue to work with Dr. John S* once a week throughout residency. It is a very different atmosphere than he experienced in H* and different than other clinics that his fellow residents are working in. Yesterday he spoke of treating people for sprains and sending them to physical therapy. In his experience other clinics don't get people with minor wrist sprains. Most of the clients wouldn't go to a dr. for that, they can't afford it, and just deal with it themselves. Aaron's clinic, has patients who are mostly well off, and have expensive medical insurance that covers a lot. He only has two more days where he has to bike to work. So far the weather has held up. He's only had to ride in rain once. We might get rain Monday. It is getting easier to make the ride and he's getting a little faster, but he is so exhausted and will be happy when it's over. Tuesday is his last day at the clinic, Wednesday he starts Medicine.

Weekend plans

Tomorrow we are taking our first big road trip. We are heading to the other side of WA to visit Aaron's sister Daralee and her family. It is Stake Conference this weekend, so I won't be missing any Primary obligations, and since it's a regional broadcast we won't be missing it, we'll just be in L*L* in stead of S*. We'll take off after David is done with school and hopefully make it by dinner time.

David's insights

David is more perceptive than we give him credit for sometimes. Tuesday while Timothy was napping Aaron asked me to give him a haircut. To keep David occupied I told him he could play on starfall.com even though he'd already had his computer time after lunch. "But I already played on the computer. Oh, I see. It's so I'm not in the way." Yep, there's no fooling him.

Preschool hiatus

I really wanted to do a preschool co-op this year with Timothy, but it doesn't look like it is going to work. The problem is scheduling around David. Kindergarten starts at 9:05 am. He can play on the playground before school starting at 8:50 am. So by the time I get back home it's about 9:00. The problem is not having Timothy at other's homes, but having them at mine. I can't guarantee I'll be home by 9:00 , so I would have to start it at 9:10 or 9:15. Other moms are also dropping off their kids at school, so they may not want to start until 9:30. But I have to pick up David at 11:35. I need to leave the house by 11:25, so I would have to have kids picked up by 11:15. That's not even 2 hours. I just don't think it would be fair to the other moms. I could easily pick up Timothy after I pick up David, but I can't take four 3 year olds to pick up David. I don't have a big enough car, the liability is not good even if I did, etc. I can't make my weeks shorter, just to accommodate my schedule. So I think I'll just do I preschool by myself this year, and next year, when David is gone longer I can do a co-op. I think maybe I'll just do playdates for Timothy when I need some time to myself or get a chance to help out in David's class.

Well I have more to say, but I am going to watch a little girl while her mom is at the orthodontists, so it will have to wait for a later post.

Happy Birthday Brittany

Today is my SIL Brittany's birthday. She is 9 today. She is the youngest of Aaron's siblings. She was born a month before Aaron returned from his mission. (If Aaron hadn't extended one month his mom would have missed his return!)
She is a bundle of energy and lots of fun. She loves to play with her friends especially her nieces and nephews (who are her age;). When I first met her she was 7 months old! It's been fun to watch her grow up. She is a sweetheart and a good friend. She is smart and generous. I think she enjoys being the baby of the family, and sometimes prefers to be a grandchild. When we took family pictures in May of 2006 we took one of just the grandkids, we had to remind her that she wasn't a grandchild. She did get some solo shots done but she was a little self conscious about the swollen mosquito bite on her forehead, so I didn't include that picture here. (Maybe mom can send me a better picture, now that they have a brand new computer!!!)

Here's one of her and Bryan at BYU graduation in April of 2007

So I wanted to wish her a happy birthday and hope she has a wonderful day!

Where were you....?

I like the song that memorializes the attacks on 9-11-01. I remember that I was at work. I was supposed to call Aaron on my break since it was his birthday. I listened to the radio at work, and when I first heard the news it didn't sink in. The djs had read the AP wire and then went to commercial. When they returned they read that the second tower had been hit. I started looking around at everyone else. All those that were listening to various radio stations stopped sewing and started talking. It was very hard to concentrate. I continued to work slowly as I listened the news unfold. Our supervisors called and meeting at break time and told us what they knew. Then it hit me. My uncle works at the Pentagon. All I could think of was my family. At lunch I was able to call my mom, she gave me my cousin's phone number (who was at Utah State at the time). I got to talk to her, and she had talked to her mom and sister, but no calls were going in or out of the Pentagon. No one had heard from Uncle Don.

The church (as my employer) closed the shop early and I was home by about 2:00. Aaron and I didn't have big plans for his birthday. It was a very somber atmosphere. I was planning to let him pick out some CD's at Media Play so we headed out. We had about 15 minutes because it (along with many other stores) was closing at 4:00. I'm glad we hadn't planned to go out to eat.

I remember getting a call from my dad later that evening. Uncle Don was finally able to call at about 10:00 pm and let his family know he was safe and as a security officer heavily involved in the rescue and recovery effort at the Pentagon. I was relieved to hear that he was safe. The next few days were such a blur as many of you can remember. I watched way too much news, and the radio station wasn't playing music either but had a broadcast from a news radio station.

I was newly expecting and had a lot on my mind. Not even my parents knew yet. Now that I look back on it I lot of my friends had babies the following July and August. Hmmm.....

We as a nation have come a long way. Everyone has a story. I just want to say that I am glad to live here in United States, even with all of it's faults and uncertainties. 9-11 has a special meaning for more than one reason. I seem to be rambling now. I'm not great with words, but I wanted to express my feelings of love, gratitude and sorrow, for those who lost their lives 6 years ago.

Happy Birthday Aaron

In his white coat, that he never wears!

Today Aaron turns the big 3-0! In honor of him I will finally post my The twos of Aaron. As so many others have.

2 things you compliment him on while in his presence:
- how much he does for our family
- how happy he makes me

2 compliments you make about him to your friends:
- how hard he works
- how helpful he is to me and others

2 traits you married him for:
- cooking skills
- work ethic

2 days you cherish being together:
- Too many to count, but I'd have to include the day we got married (duh) and the days after our children were born.

2 material things you could give him if you just inherited a fortune:
- A house with a fabulous kitchen
- no debt! pay off student loans and buy a car with cash!

2 things you would miss the most if he left for two weeks:
- My time off
- our conversations

2 thoughts that crossed your mind when you first met/saw him:
- "Do I know him?"
- "I swear I've seen him before"

2 favorite dates:
- Alumni Reunion Gala
- dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant

2 funny/odd things you love about him:
- He likes shopping more than I do. That's not saying much, since I don't like shopping, but he LOVES a good deal and will spend time researching and finding just the right thing for just the right price.
- Having said that he doesn't like buying cheap stuff that breaks (who can blame him?). I just think it's funny that even though he is frugal, I think we spend more on him than anyone else because his occupation and education is a little pricey!!!

2 two places you have lived together:
- Utah
- Texas

2 favorite vacations:
-honeymoon - does that count?
-Alaskan Inn

2 favorite future vacations you look forward to:
- Italy
- Argentina

2 things you look forward to doing together later in life:
- traveling
- serving a mission together

I love you so much Aaron. I hope you have a wonderful day. Happy Birthday!

New season

I know it's not quite fall yet, but I can feel the change coming. Especially now that David is in school. Aaron asked me to look up the sunrise and sunset last night and I was surprised to see the drastic change already. I had noticed the sun setting earlier because I have to turn on a light to read the boys a story at bedtime, But I didn't realize it was setting at 7:30 already. We've already caught up to my friends in H*. It still rises earlier than in H* though.

With this new season more than the weather is changing. I am delighted that with David starting school his morning time TV has been eliminated. I thought it would be hard, but he's so excited for school, that he doesn't think to ask until it's too late. And I have also been able to convince him that I'd rather play a quick game. He's all about games lately. It used to be Skip-Bo and then it was checkers, and now he's making the rounds of Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and go fish.

I also need to find a new exercise routine. Since Aaron has to leave early to bike to work I don't get in my morning walk. I was trying to convince myself that I would do it when I got home with Timothy. It hasn't happened yet. I have to make myself get up early and do something. Maybe the Pilates video my SIL gave me....

Aaron is going to have a long week. Since he started his Clinic service this is the first time he has to bike all four days. He's going to be exhausted! Thank-you to Arlynda who told us about the "slicks" (street tires for mountain bikes) that helped a lot.

It has been fun to hang out with just Timothy. He loves to play with me. After dropping off David this morning he wanted to play "I spy". He doesn't quite get board games yet. But he' figured out matching games and he loves the ABC game from starfall.com but he often right clicks and I have to fix it before he starts messing with the computer. He is getting better at navigating with the mouse. David usually dominates computer time, so it's nice to let Timothy pick the game and do the game with out "help" from David.

Oh, and a plug for my BIL Dave. He just got a photography blog started, and he is really good!!! You can check it out here. Here's a few more examples:

my sister Becca and her 4 month old Hali

Hali's Elvis impersonation

My other adorable niece Elizabeth
I actually don't know who took the picture, but I had to include it.

One kid at home....

My generous father decided that I couldn't live without Stephanie Meyer's Eclipse and sent it to me as a surprise! Thanks Dad!!! I have 150 pages to go. I'm trying to pay more attention to my kids, so it's taking me longer to finish than I expected.


David really wants to play with me when he's home and Timothy misses his brother. He is constantly asking, "Are we getting David now?" I could take him anywhere, the park, zoo, Disneyland (J/K) and he would run to the car if I told him we were going to get David. I am reminded of how much easier it is to take just one to Target or the grocery store. Timothy is less likely to get into trouble without David to chase him and be silly with. It's also easier to track down one, because he really doesn't like sitting in the cart, unless it has a steering wheel. I love Fred Meyer!

(OK, this is more like the ones at Safeway.
Fred Meyer has the ones like Kroger in H*)

Kinder update

Thursday after school David greeted me with, "I didn't cry today. But it still wasn't fun." But he brought home his first picture that he drew at school, and told me he enjoyed drawing, and he got to pick a book and read it all by himself. He picked the one Aaron pointed out to him when we checked out the classroom on Tues about Bees. We have a similar one from the public library right now.

Last night was curriculum night. Aaron stayed home with the kids and I went to the school and got to hear more from the teacher. She seems really on top of things. She knows that kids are learning so much more than academics, and need fun, interaction and free play. Yeah!!! She's been teaching for 16 years, Kinder and 1st (so she knows what they should know by then) and has 3 grown children of her own. This is her first year teaching at this school, and she was still getting used to the classroom, and schedule. My first concern was the schedule. I was told by the principals office and the district office that the kindergarten curriculum would be taught in the morning to accommodate those that choose half-day kindergarten. Mrs. L* scheduled Math for after lunch, after I pick up David. We had very little time to ask questions because there was a meeting after that, so I was relieved when another parent asked the same question. I didn't like the answer. I hope she just misunderstood the question. She went on about how the child might not want to stay at school, but eventually they will probably want to not miss out. I was irritated, and as those of you who know me know I don't like to rock the boat. I don't like confrontation and I really like to please others. But this is my child's education!!!
After the next meeting (about Spectrum - like Vanguard) I waited my turn to talk to the principal - I really like her. I told her my concern and she nodded and said, "I don't think Mrs. L* realized that we have to have curriculum in the morning, it's her first year here. I'll have that fixed by Monday." I was so relieved. I didn't want to be the complaining parent, but if he was going to miss Math, I might as well take him to a different school, or keep him home.

I still plan to volunteer in his class, and I hope I can be of help to the PTA, I just hope I didn't get off on the wrong foot by making Mrs. L* change her schedule. At least I caught it before the kids got too used to the schedule!

Today I waited at the front office for David (the doors down by his class are now locked) and he had forgotten to bring up his backpack. So we had to go back and get it and Mrs. L* was friendly, so either she didn't mind changing her schedule, or didn't know I was the one who complained. David declared as we left, "I LOVE kindergarten. Do I get to come back tomorrow?" Yipee!!! I knew he just had to get into it. He was disappointed when I told him tomorrow was Saturday and there was no school, "but you get to go again on Monday." He was excited again and told me all about how they colored and suggested we count the lines as we crossed on the crosswalk. So maybe she already changed her schedule!

David's First Day of Kindergarten

Let me start with yesterday. We had a Back to school BBQ where we were able to meet David's teacher, check out the classroom, and meet other kids in his class and their parents.

He sits at the back in the middle. Click on the picture to see his name.

The play area in the back corner

Then they played on the playground and ate hot dogs, chips, carrots, and Oreos.

Edward and his mom on the playground

Timothy on the big kids' playground

All went pretty well except for the 10 minutes Aaron and I couldn't find Timothy.

After we got home we had FHE (we were at Nathan and Amy's Monday night and thought this would work better on the day before school started) on Father's blessings. And then we continued the tradition from both our families to give Father's blessings to the school age kids before the school year started. I always loved that and that my mom got one too.

David has been so excited to go to school. He got his backpack ready and set out his new clothes for school.

All ready to go in his new school clothes

He talked about it for days. I asked Amy watch Timothy for me while I took David. I didn't want to deal with chasing him around, and keeping him out of the toys and off the playground, and trying to entertain him while listening to the principal, Mrs. G*, during the "coffee hour".

David next to his locker (Yes a locker in Kindergarten,

I guess he will be bringing a coat in the future)

Outside of his classroom (did I take too many pictures???)

Mrs. L* had a container of play-do for each of them so they could play until class started. I was very impressed.

David and his new friend Andy.

After I tried to introduce him to the kids at his table - Matthew, Andy and Eliana- he let me take a picture and said, "Bye Mom." So I said, "I'll pick you up at lunch time" and left the room.

One last picture

The coffee hour was short and simple. And they did have water and mini muffins and donut holes, as well as coffee and tea. I got conflicting information on where to pick him up at 11:40 (Mrs. L* said the classroom Mrs. G* said the front office). But I figured the teacher would be the one to send him, so I'd go to the classroom first. I had fun with Timothy and jumped when the phone rang, sure it was the school calling about some problem with David, but it wasn't. Timothy and I went to his class at 11:35 and he was there, crying. Sitting in his seat obediently, but crying nonetheless.

The kids were already eating lunch and he was upset, because he thought I had forgotten him. "I just want to go home. I don't like school." My heart ached, and I tried not to cry. Mrs. L* seemed to think it was only the last few minutes that he was upset. She was searching for his lunch, since she forgot I was picking him up early. He's not the only one going home early. There are about 2-3 students in each class going half-day, I was glad he wasn't the only one. But there are a few things that the teachers have to get used to, I understand that. I just hated that David was upset and no longer liked school. I am sooooo glad he is only going half-day. On the way home I tried to find something positive about school. He was upset that he left everything at school (his supplies stay in his desk, and he wanted to take them home). He didn't like lining up. "We didn't do anything fun, Mom. I was waiting and waiting for activity time, but we didn't have activity time!" He did mention that he liked recess and he got to play with Edward (since there are 4 Kinder classes they get the playground to themselves - I am happy about that!).

After we got home I fixed lunch and tried to find something else he could look forward to. He told me, "Am I done with school." I tried not to react and answered, "You don't have to go back today. (He smiled) And tomorrow you can come home for lunch again."
"OK," (smiling)
Phew!!! Crisis averted. I'm glad I didn't read too much into that. I think it will get fun for him, but the first few days are going to be lots of learning rules, and routines. Which are kind of boring for him. I just hope he likes it tomorrow.



P.S. As I was trying to upload pictures (with much difficulty---dang blogger) David got all excited about the pictures and told me he wanted to go to school. Thank goodness!!!! Now I'm glad I took those pictures!

Labor Day wrap up

I always thought it was ironic that we got the day off for "Labor Day". Of course I never complain, just think it's funny. We had a good weekend. I enjoyed listening to the BYU game and wished I could have been there. Aaron was on call Friday because he had filled in for someone going to a wedding. (She took a weekend shift for him last month). He wasn't busy all day until about 9:00 where he got 3 admissions. He also got to work with a local celebrity of sorts. There's a little girl with cancer that the local paper has been following and he became her doctor for the weekend. He also worked an ER shift from 4-10 (well, he wasn't home until after 11) on Sunday (also a shift he had traded for a Sunday off last month- that he would have missed church for). It was pretty busy, but he got to see a rare case, that he diagnosed.

I never told you how David's dr. appointment went! He was a perfect angel! He did everything he was asked and passed with flying colors! We saw the nurse practitioner since I was so late in getting the appointment, but she was great. The nurse who assisted her was great with David and Timothy. Timothy really wanted to do everything David did. He (the nurse) let Timothy get on the scale too and even did a little eye exam for him. David's a lot bigger than I thought he was. 48 lbs and 44 3/4 inches. That puts him at 90th% for weight and 85th % for height. Maybe it's because she didn't account that his birthday was 4 months ago. I didn't think to check at the time. He asked if he was going to get shots, and I was honest and said he would, but I didn't know how many. Of course no one wants to get shots but I asked him if he thought he could be brave and he said he would. When the nurse came in I asked David if he wanted me to hold his hand of if he was okay with just the nurse. He told me he could be brave all by himself. And he was!!! He didn't cry, flinch, wince or anything. He said it hurt, but he was fine. Afterward he got to pick a Larry Boy sticker on our way out. Oh and w/ our insurance well-child check ups are covered 100% - no co-pay! Yipee.

Later that day we went by David's school to see which class he was in. We found out he's in Mrs. L*'s class, Room 3. There are 23 other kids in his class. Average size as far as I can tell. His friend Edward is not is his class. I think that might be a good thing. When they get together they can be pretty wild. But then again, David will probably find another friend just like him!

David has drawn some amazing pictures lately and Timothy is starting to follow suit. They go through so much paper. I'm glad I get it cheap, and use it more than once and then recycle it!!! And Timothy fell asleep on the floor again last night (that's pretty normal), but I couldn't find him at first to put him back in his bed. Guess where I found him?

That's right hiding among the stuffed animals.

I had to take another shot to make sure he could breathe! Then I put him in his bed.

Today we are enjoying a lazy day, of park playing and BBQing with family.

green thumb?

Well, I wouldn't say I have a green thumb, but I am excited about the herbs I've been able to keep alive and use in my cooking almost everyday! I am really not a great gardener yet, and my basil is going to seed, and I have no idea what I am supposed to do about that. Do I let it, or do I cut off the blossoms? I suppose I should Google it!!! This is what they look like right now.

The smaller herbs in the pot are oregano. I planted them a lot later, so they aren't ready to harvest quite yet. I'm excited for when they will be ready though.