Rescue Mission

Right now I'm sitting with Phoebe as we eat slices of bread and look at pictures of friends on the computer. Yes, it's quite late at night and yes, Phoebe should be asleep. She was until about twenty minutes ago.

Then she woke up, crying and delirious.

Our sweet miss has a raging double ear infection. She's on antibiotics, but is still in pain. I'm happy to report that her spirits have perked up considerably since I rescued her from her room.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go snuggle my sweet girl.

Bakery

Last week our Mia Maid mid-week activity was to brainstorm things that the girls wanted to do throughout the year. They put together quite an impressive list. Among the things they listed was to learn how to make bread. I said I could help with that.

Tonight we met at the home of one of the girls. Instead of demonstrating what to do, I split them into pairs and instructed them as they measured and poured and mixed. Some of them obviously had cooking experience; others... not so much. The funniest moment of the night came when I encouraged them to mix the ingredients together not with a spoon, but with their freshly washed hands. Some of the girls squealed from the grossness of sticking their hands into goo. One girl was beside herself with excitement. She kept saying "I love this! This is so fun!"

Just as they finished mixing and kneading the dough, the two loaves that had I prepared and brought over uncooked, finished baking. So while their dough rose, we all ate bread slathered with margarine and honey. It was heavenly. The girls were appropriately appreciative of how delicious the bread was.

When we finished our treat, the girls got to punch down the dough and separate it into pans they had brought from home. Then, after I drilled them several times on what temperature they should set their ovens for and how long to bake the bread, they each went home with an uncooked loaf, ready to fill their own homes with the comforting aroma of homemade bread.

It was a good night.

The Wonderful Thing About Coopers

In the post on Peter's birthday I included a picture of Cooper jumping. The comment I made about Cooper being in his natural state was meant to be funny, but I wasn't kidding. Cooper literally spends most of his awake-time jumping or bouncing or hopping or skipping or dancing or running. And yes, I'm using the word "literally" correctly.

Most of the time we laugh about Cooper's exuberance and his Tigger-like ways. I sometimes say that he's trying to make up for the fact that he didn't start walking until he was seventeen-months-old by running instead of walking. But there are times when we strongly encourage him to stand still, like when we're giving him instructions, or waiting for cars so we can cross the street.

As Bryan was leaving for school yesterday, Cooper came bounding in for a hug and a kiss. After saying his good-byes, Cooper hopped back to his room to play. Bryan chuckled as he watched our pogo-stick-son go. I asked him what was funny. He said that he was just imagining what it would be like to talk to an adult if they were hopping like Cooper had been.

I stopped and thought about that. Then realization dawned on me. I haven't talked to anyone that was doing that.

I have been the hopper.

I jump up and down when I'm excited. Or when I'm tired and trying to wake up. Or when I want to emphasize a point. I substituted for the Primary music leader a few weeks ago and when the Senior Primary started to get antsy, I had them all hop while we sang through a song we were learning. I hopped with them and realized partway through that I might pass out from the hopping/singing combination.

I guess Cooper might be more like me than I realized.

The Best Policy

Last week Peter brought home a handout announcing a school-wide essay contest. He told me it was optional (that word was emblazoned across the top of the page) and that he had decided he wasn't going to do it. I read through the rules, then told Peter that while it might be optional to his teacher, it was not optional to me. He needed to write the essay.

Cue weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

After refusing, bargaining, and pleading (all on his part), I sweetened the deal just a little. I told him that if he wrote the essay he could type it on my computer. That did it. He worked on it a little on Saturday and little today after school. It has to be under six hundred words, right now it's around sixty. It's not due until the end of February, so he's got time.

The rules are very clear. I may edit the essay for spelling, punctuation, and grammar, not content or organization. And that's what I've done. We did have to talk about what an essay is so he would know how to begin, but I don't think I violated the rules.

This is what he's got so far. I can see that most of his writing experience comes from talks for Primary. The line that says "Everyone wants us to be honest" originally said "Jesus wants us to be honest." So, maybe I did break the rules by telling him I didn't think that should go into an essay for school. They drilled that into our heads while learning to be teachers in college. Maybe it doesn't matter coming from a student?

Oh, and he spent A LOT of time formatting it, so I'll leave his font and size choices in place.

HONESTY IS GOOD

I know honesty is good. Honesty is telling the truth, giving stuff back to its owner, and being obedient. Everyone wants us to be honest. I love being honest. Honesty is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really good. I love honesty so much. I know honesty is true. Everyone should be honest.   

Puttin' On the Ritz

Bryan and I had the opportunity to go to a fun MBA dinner and dance last night. We let the kids know that one of Phoebe's nursery teachers (a sweet woman that I visit teach) would be coming to watch them while we were out. They wanted to know what we would be doing.

When I said we were going to a dance Cooper and Phoebe asked if they could come too. I'm sure Peter would have as well if he hadn't been at school at the time. I told them it was just a "Mommy and Daddy thing" and they were not pleased. Phoebe started crying and saying that she wanted to go to the dance. So we did the next best thing.

We put on our fancy clothes and had a dance in our living room.

Cooper and Phoebe got themselves all gussied up. I pointed out that the living room was kind of messy for dancing, so Cooper ran in and picked everything up. Perhaps dancing is better cleaning motivation than candy?

I grabbed my phone to document the merriment.

Phoebe is modeling her Easter dress. Thanks to the free clothing exchange that MBASA puts on, that dress was free. And look! Cooper is getting taller! Do like that his pants are black and his jacket is blue? He insisted on pinstripes, no matter the color. 

 Oooo, an action shot!

And here's one of the event itself. I had just had a bite of food and rather than risk a photo with food in my teeth, I went for a smile without my pearly whites being visible. Kind of an uncommon look for me.

Bryan and I had fun, but I think Cooper and Phoebe were the cutest dancers I saw all day.

Braid

Good news! Phoebe's super-fine hair has thickened enough that I can put it in braids. I had my hair braided last week (because that's a totally age-appropriate hairstyle for a thirty-two year-old) and she wanted some too. Mostly I'm surprised that she sat still long enough for me to do it.

And one from the front. Her forehead is large (like mine), but not usually this big. It's still a great picture.

It Ain't What You Do, It's the Way That You Do It

I'm sitting at my computer and Bryan is sitting at his. I just looked over to see Bryan eating popcorn out of a large bowl. And he was eating it with a spoon.

Huh.

Apparently he found a package of rice crispy flavored marshmallow creme for popcorn in the pantry and made it. The spoon was so he didn't get his fingers sticky. It makes sense, but still, an interesting image.

PS

One of the tasks in our big sorting-through-everything-we-own project is taking pictures of all the boys' artwork. While I should probably keep everything the boys make, we just don't have the space. So instead I take pictures of everything so I have a record, then I discard the original.

I found this gem in the latest batch of pictures I took:

Can you guess which one is Peter?

Not the Mama

Phoebe tells me everyday that she's the mom and I'm the kid. When she's playing that role she often refers to me as "son." We haven't managed to correct that yet.

Today during sacrament meeting Phoebe turned to me and the following exchange took place:

Phoebe: I'm not the mom.

Me: Okay.

Phoebe: You be the mom. I'll be the Phoebe.

Sounds good to me.

Operation Empty the Storage Unit

We're in the middle of a project. If you look at the title of this post, you'll see what that project is.

A few weeks ago I started having thoughts that we needed to go through our boxes and suitcases that were still packed in the storage unit, seeing what we needed and what we didn't. Bryan came home from campus that very day and told me that he really thought we should sort through the storage unit, maybe even see if we could empty it.

When we independently have the same idea, it means we should listen to it.

So we began the process of emptying the storage unit. We have three reason for doing it. The first is that Bryan's job will move us, but they'll only pickup our stuff from one location, so eventually everything would need to be brought here anyway. This way we can make sure we're only moving the stuff we really want and not just the things we've forgotten about because they've been packed away for so long. The second is that the storage unit costs money that we'd rather spend on things like, you know, rent and food. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we were prompted to do it.

In the last two weeks I've sorted through every box of clothing the kids have outgrown and a few that they haven't grown into yet. I've gone through my own clothes as well. I've thrown out old magazines and reorganized yearbooks and pictures. I've emptied seven twelve-gallon storage bins that we've been hauling from house to house. I kept a lot of those clothes, but I realized we probably don't need to hang on to worn out onesies and duplicate items.

Our little apartment is feeling littler, but not in a bad way. I think once we finish the sorting and find homes for everything we'll be glad we did it. And we've liberated a few items that had been deemed too big and were left in the storage unit, my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and large Crock-Pot among them. We can fit more of our stuff because we hauled over a tall set of industrial-strength shelves and placed them at the end of our kitchen table. My shelf space has increased dramatically.

We still have a ways to go, and there are a few items that we're at a loss as to where we'll stick them. But we'll figure it out. This whole endeavor is kind of exciting, like we're working on a huge puzzle, trying to see what fits where. And I think it's good preparation for the many moves we'll be making in the next three years.

The Pen is Mightier Than the Club

Bryan has a few days off from school this week. It's so the students can go on trips to visit companies and network. Since Bryan has already gone on his share of trips this year, he's staying at home. He put his time off to good use today.

During quiet time Bryan and Cooper went miniature golfing, just the two of them. Bryan said it started well, but quickly devolved. Cooper would swing the club like a hockey stick (Bryan had to explain the difference to me, not between the club and the stick, but between the swings) several times, then give up and say that he was just going to put the ball in the hole. And he would. With his hand. No great golf was played, but great father-son time did happen.

Phoebe found out that Cooper and Daddy were going to do something fun while she was napping. She was not pleased. When Bryan heard he went and picked her up and told her that he would do something fun with her too. What was it? He told her that when he got home he would read five books to her.

A short time later, a grinning Phoebe held up her hand with her fingers spread out and said, "Daddy is going to read five books to me."

Good to know that five books are just as cool as miniature golf.

Movers and Shakers

When I was looking for pictures of Peter's birthday I found this series that Bryan took during Peter's birthday lunch. He took these very quickly, notice how I don't move at all? Now look at how much Cooper and Phoebe DO move.

Seven

We have a seven-year-old at our house! 

Peter's birthday lasted almost a whole week. The day before we went for a birthday lunch to In-N-Out. I think the main reason we did it the day before is that we were out running errands during lunchtime and happened to be near In-N-Out, and we justified going by calling it a birthday lunch. Maybe I shouldn't admit that...

Oh well. He enjoyed it anyway.

In past years I've worked hard to have all the Christmas decorations put away before his birthday arrived, so there would be a clear delineation between Christmas and birthday. When I mentioned this to Peter he told me he actually liked the Christmas decorations. Huh. So this year I compromised. I put away most of the decorations, but left up the tree. I present to you The Birthday Tree!

This picture has two treats (besides The Birthday Tree): you get to see Peter open a present (The Hobbitt, which Bryan got when he turned seven), and you get to see Cooper jumping. I think it's nice that Bryan was able to capture Cooper in his natural state.

Here are a few more of Peter enjoying his birthday treasures. He had been begging for a watch for some time. Bryan found one with Perry the Platypus on it. He spent the next week informing us of the time every few minutes.

I picked out an art set for him, which he put to use almost immediately.

Peter requested a Spider-Man cake complete with tall buildings and The Web-Slinger himself in mid-flight. I actually spent time trying to figure out how to do that until I remembered that I stink at cake decorating. I baked the cake, made the frosting, and applied massive amounts of the sugary red stuff. Then I turned it over to Bryan. He added the cool stuff.

We had planned on going to the dinosaur museum and miniature golfing on his birthday, but Cooper and Phoebe were both feeling lousy, so we postponed. We went to the museum a few days after and had friends that met us there, so that made it extra fun. Then a few days after that Peter and Bryan went miniature golfing, just the two of them. Even though we had to spread out the celebrating, I think he enjoyed the festivities.

I'm going to steal an idea from my friend Beth's blog because I think it's so marvelous (thanks Beth!). She conducts a birthday interview and types up her kids' answers. Here are Peter's favorite things, as of his seventh birthday:

FAVORITE FOOD: Candy (I told him candy didn't count as food.) Fruit. (I asked for a specific fruit.) All fruit. Okay, um... soup.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Elephant

FAVORITE BOOK: Avengers and Spiderwick

FAVORITE COLOR: Red

FAVORITE SHOW: Phineas and Ferb

FAVORITE MOVIE: Cars 2
FAVORITE SONG: Rockabye Baby (my version)
FAVORITE BOARD GAME: Uno
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME: Wild Kratts, Prankster Planet, and Minecraft
FAVORITE THING TO DO: Watch TV and play video games
FAVORITE MEMORY FROM BEING 6: Riding the Zippin' Pippin' (a big wooden roller coaster at Bay Beach Park in Green Bay, WI)
FAVORITE PLACE: School
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Math

FRIENDS: BT, Will, Reed, Luka, Dallin, Cooper, Phoebe, Mommy, Daddy, Brielle, Cat, Kylie, Anna

Happy birthday Peter!

Welcome to the Arctic

Good news folks, it has warmed to 6 degrees outside. That's up from the -5 degrees that greeted me when I woke this morning. I just checked weather.com and the next time we're supposed to see temperatures above freezing is more than a week away.

This is insane.

The Most

Tonight as I snuggled Peter at bedtime, he turned to me and said, "Mom, out of all the things I have, I love you more than all of them." Then he paused and thought, "More than most of them." Another pensive moment, "More than some of them." He took a deep breath, making up his mind, "I really, really love all my stuff. But I love you the most."

I Love to Laugh

Peter and I had a sweet moment that I want to make sure I remember. He finally went back to school today, only to call halfway through saying his cough was getting worse and could he come home. I gathered up Cooper and Phoebe and we retrieved Peter from school.

When he called I asked him to tell his teacher he was leaving (he had left from PE, I think the running they were doing exacerbated his cough) and to get the homework he had missed from the rest of the week. He spent the better part of the afternoon with homework in front of him. I spent the better part of the afternoon telling him to actually DO the work and not just hold it in his hand.

We were still working on it after the others went to sleep for the night. One of his assignments included a job for me. Peter was to write what I consider his first paper, including a topic sentence, and I needed to instruct him on the requirements, then proofread and have him make needed spelling, capitalization, and punctuation corrections. He came home with the first sentence written. It took an hour for him to do it. The first thirty minutes included several reminders from me to stop talking and write, repeated requests from Peter that I just "tell me what to write and I'll write it," which were followed closely by "No"s from me. I'm one of those parents that won't do my child's homework for them, even though it would often make life more pleasant.

I said we had a sweet moment, are you wondering when it will come?

I wanted to set the stage that this writing business was getting tense. We were both frustrated. He finally started writing (though he never did stop talking) and my turn came. I pointed out spelling errors and had him read through the paper again himself until he found each of them. One was the word chocolate, which he had spelled "choclet." I wrote out the word and, because I knew that he had learned a song in Spanish about chocolate in his music class, said it in Spanish so he could hear each sound.

This prompted him to sing the song. I don't know it myself, but what Peter sang went:

Uno, dos, tres, Cho!
Uno, dos, tres, La!
Uno, dos, tres, Co!
Uno, dos, tres, La!
Uno, dos, tres, Te!

I caught the mistake as soon as he sang it, but didn't say anything. He was almost done with the song when he stopped, looked at me, and asked, "What did I just say?" We both busted up laughing. It wasn't that I was laughing at him, or that he was laughing out of embarrassment, we were just laughing because at that moment the thought of "Cholacolate" was hilarious.

Those few minutes of laughter carried me through. Peter finally finished his homework and fell into his bed at 10 PM. That's a whole two and a half hours past his bedtime. I usually would have been stressed out by that point, in need of my own quiet time. But tonight? Tonight, after sharing that laughter with Peter, I was content to sit near him and wait. I was happy to tuck him in, even with the required reminders to "stop talking" and "stop wiggling."

I'm still feeling the sweetness of it.

My Internal Calendar Is Broken

I was at a meeting last night when I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to return a key that I had borrowed. The key was due by 10 AM Monday morning. "I can't believe I forgot that!" I thought. Which was followed closely by "I'll return it tomorrow morning and at least it will only be a day late."

And then I realized it was Tuesday night, not Monday night.

Peter and Phoebe have had croup for the last five days. Prior to my meeting the last time I had left my house was when Cooper and I went to church (while Bryan stayed home and took care of sick children). Wow, I knew the days had run together, but that's a whole new level of mommy brain.

I returned the key this morning. The receptionist was very nice about the whole thing, especially when I mentioned having sick kids and not knowing what day it was.

The kids are feeling well enough that I plan on sending Peter to school tomorrow. Which is Thursday. Right?

Posing

Sometimes I take pictures of the creations the boys make out of blocks. Like this one.

Phoebe has seen me do this, and she likes to see the results on my screen. So it wasn't surprising when I walked in to the boys' room to see what Phoebe was up to and she asked me to take her picture. She showed me her block creation and I pulled out my phone. I'm not sure she actually made this, in fact I'm pretty sure that Cooper made it. But I took the picture anyway.

And I'm adding this one because you can't see her face in the other one, and that face is important.

An End and a Beginning

Today Bryan had his first day of his last semester of classes for the MBA program. This is only the fourth semester, which is much shorter than the time we spent as undergrads, but in some ways it feels like this has lasted so much longer.

I think this semester should be smoother than previous semesters though. Bryan went on six different job-search-related trips last semester. His traveling should go down significantly. The reason? Bryan has been offered, and has accepted, a job. A job! That was one of the scariest things going into this whole MBA adventure. Did it make sense to voluntarily leave a job when so many people were out of work? Would he find another job when it was all over?

Thankfully, he did. The job comes with new forms of excitement. The job is part of a rotational leadership training program and there's a strong possibility that we will move every year for the next three years. I'm focusing on the adventure that will come with the opportunity to live in new-to-us areas of the country. I'm trying not to think about changing schools and wards and homes so much. But you know, after living in Wisconsin for the summer, I think we can live anywhere.

So now we need to get through this last semester and then we can prepare for the next leg of our adventure.

Star Light, Star Bright

I've been working for a few months on Phoebe's name song. It would have fit into the rhythm of Cooper's song, but I wanted them to each have their own ditty for remembering how to spell their names. Then one day I started to sing "I Am Like a Star" to Phoebe and Cooper. I told Phoebe that her name means bright and shining, just like a star. Then I replaced the "I am" in the first line with Phoebe, and lightening struck my brain.

Today during lunch I finalized the words.

Phoebe is a star shining brightly,
Spell it P-H-O-E-B-E.
Phoebe is my friend,
Spell it once again,
Yes spell it P-H-O-E-B-E.

The song is simple and her name isn't spelled as many times as Cooper's or Peter's, but it fits nicely, and I love the reference to the meaning.

Come, Follow Me

A few weeks ago I was called to be the Mia Maid Adviser in my ward and I'm going to teach my first lesson this week. The manual that I used when I taught the Laurels over the summer was the same book that I was taught out of when I was in the Young Women program, which means it was time for new material. While we were in Wisconsin I heard that the Church was prepping new lesson plans for the Youth, and they recently rolled them out.

Have you seen the Church's new curriculum for the Youth? It's fantastic. No more point-by-point lessons full of case studies to be read and discussed. Now the lessons are taken from the scriptures and from talks by General Authorities. The Young Women (and Young Men in their classes) are encouraged to share their insights. The teacher is not a lecturer, but rather a facilitator.

Guess what? This is how I've always approached teaching in the church. I'm thrilled with the new curriculum. I think it's terribly exciting. Even if you don't have any kids between the ages of 12 and 18, or a calling to work with them, I encourage you to go poke around the site and see the lessons. They would make great Family Home Evening and scripture study material as well.

Ladybug Girl

For Christmas Phoebe got a big girl bed. Well, the bed is still in our storage unit, so I guess it's more accurate to say that she got a big girl mattress. We decided to start her out on just the mattress so that she could adjust to a bed without walls while she's close to the ground. The first few nights we found her sprawled out in the middle of her floor, but she's getting progressively better at staying tucked in bed while she slumbers.

Remember the amazing quilt my sister-in-law made for Cooper? Well, you can see part of the quilt she made for Phoebe in the picture below. I was thrilled when I found the (free) pillow pet to match. The quilt is big enough for my bed, put perfect for Phoebe's bed when folded and tucked. I'm glad it's big, that means she can continue to use it as she grows.

Dream Friend

Tonight while we were getting the kids ready for bed, I overheard Phoebe as she chatted away on her play phone. The side of the conversation that I heard went something like this, "Oh Ashley (laughter), I know! her baby sister. Ashley's baby sister. Yeah, I know. Oh, hold on a sec, 'kay? Okay, bye Ashley, I'll talk to you later."

I asked later who she was talking to. Ashley, of course. Except, the only Ashley she knows is her cousin who lives in Iowa, and that Ashley doesn't have a baby sister. Perhaps she is having a pretend conversation with her cousin. Or maybe she has an imaginary friend, a girl that she can giggle with on the phone and probably wouldn't tackle her just for fun (like a few big brothers I can think of).

I probed for details about Ashley and I only got one: she lives at Costco. That sounds like a fantasy indeed.