Topic Dearth

Look at this, another cheating post. I need to be careful that these don't become commonplace.

I didn't post yesterday because we were traveling. We were traveling all week in fact, which is why I had to post from my phone. I'm usually very careful to not mention the fact that we're not in town, but by Friday I was all out of non-traveling ideas. I even skipped talking about my birthday on Thursday (happy birthday to me!) because we spent the whole day in the car and I couldn't figure out how to talk about that day without giving away that we weren't home.

So, last night while I was wracking my brain for something to write about, I fell asleep. I know, it sounds like I'm becoming narcoleptic with all this sleeping-instead-of-blogging that I've been doing. Really, I was just exhausted from travelling and trying to get the kids to sleep. And going from the cool of the Pacific Northwest to the heat (or rather, HEAT) of the desert probably added to my state.

The good news? We have a place to live for next year. Perhaps I'll write more about the trip next week, as long as I can stay awake.

Fashion Experts

Phoebe was lucky enough to recently inherit some dress up clothes from a friend. Our Miss now spends large portions of most days in at least one of her princess dresses. On this particular day, the boys wanted to help, so they did her hair and gathered accessories for her.

Isn't it swell to have such attentive brothers?

Bryan's Not-So-Big Day

Bryan recently had his birthday, which means that we entered into that brief time that happens every year when it appears that he is two years older than me rather than one. I think I've mentioned before how Bryan and I are birthday opposites: I like a big fuss while he prefers little to no fuss.

In years past I've agonized over how to celebrate his birthday without really "CELEBRATING!" his birthday. This year, I think I hit a happy medium. The kids and I picked out gifts for him (candy from the kids, BYU paraphernalia and Legos from me), we each wrapped what we picked out (or had the happy people at the BYU bookstore do it), and we delivered them to him on his big day. We also ate pizza, drank soda, and (except for me) partook of a cake so sweet I'm surprised any of them could sleep that night. Bryan also hooked up the Wii (which had been sitting in it's box for a year) and played MarioKart with the kids.

And that's it. We didn't go out, we just kind of chilled at home. We did sing Happy Birthday, which is required, but we didn't do much else.

It's only taken twelve years to figure out his birthday...

Smart Phone

At about 11:20 last night I realized my internet wasn't working. I probably would have discovered this sooner if I hadn't fallen asleep doing bedtime with the kids and had a nice three-hour nap. Once I saw I didn't have the connection I needed to post, I went to work to fix the problem.

I couldn't solve it.

Then Bryan tried. Surprisingly, he came up empty handed as well. It was now 11:50 and I was feeling a little panicked over not having posted. Then I remembered the Blogger app I had downloaded while we were at Disneyland. I grabbed my phone and typed up the quickest story I could think of. And that's how yesterday's post, and today's, came to be written on my phone.

What You Talkin' 'Bout Willis?

Phoebe: Mommy, do you know what you're talking about?

Me: I usually do. Do you know what you're talking about?

Phoebe: No.

I dig her honesty.

I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

Tonight we were driving home from something when Cooper announced, "Mom, I really wanted to go to bell pepper for dinner."

I looked out the window and there was Chili's.

Perhaps I should buy a larger variety of peppers?

In Stature Little, In Number Three

What's that? You'd like another thought-provoking YouTube clip? Okay.

This will make your brain work in a different way than yesterday's did. I think my dad and my brother Jordan might especially enjoy this piece. Oh, he does employ a prop at the end that I don't care for, so be warned. Otherwise, pay attention to the words and enjoy.

Reveal Your Dignity

Have you seen this?



You should. It's worth nine and a half minutes of your time.

Angry Bird

Phoebe decided to be grumpy today. She found several reasons to be in a bad mood. She humphed around making angry noises and scowling. She even made up an angry dance. It included her galloping up and down the hallway and pumping her fists toward the ground.

After she'd been doing this for a while I told her I'd rather be happy than grumpy. She said she'd rather be grumpy. She finally did change her mind and she made up a happy dance to balance out the grumpy dance.

I thought we'd have a few more years before the moodiness set in.

Fish

We went swimming today. I don't usually take the kids swimming because I'm outnumbered. And they don't always listen so well. And they run a lot. But Bryan was available to join us. That meant that we had a great time swimming while Bryan had a somewhat uncomfortable time as the only guy at a play date. Such is the life of a fellow waiting for a job to start.

The kids were thrilled when I informed them we would be swimming, until Phoebe came and told me that she didn't "know how to swim, only how to splash." I assured her that she would hang out with me and be just fine.

This morning before we left I made sure that we were all slathered up with sunscreen. Peter, with pale skin like mine, was a good sport. Cooper was exceedingly wiggly. I honestly had no idea how ticklish he is until today. Still, we were covered. Bryan missed out, but he mostly stayed in the shade and acted as lifeguard from the deck.

We swam for about two hours. Peter did a pretty good job of faux swimming. Cooper borrowed an inner tube and paddled his way around the pool. I spent the whole time holding onto Phoebe and pulling her around the pool. She loved it; I'm feeling aftermath of the workout in my legs and arms now.

Speaking of feeling things later, it wasn't until we were getting the kids into pajamas at bedtime that we discovered the real damage. Despite that sunscreen, they were all burnt, even Cooper who tans like Bryan. Phoebe had the lightest sunkiss on her shoulders, the boys arms and shoulders were a darker shade. They didn't appear to be in pain, but I still felt bad that they were burnt. I should have applied a second layer, but I didn't.

Oh, and I'm a little burnt too. But we all expected that, didn't we?

Ever Wonder?

Replace some of these attributes with studying the scriptures, discussing literature, and always being ready and willing to give a blessing. Add to that reading aloud to us, telling silly jokes, and listening, even when what we're talking about might not be the most interesting topic. That gives you a better idea of my dad.



Happy Father's Day.

Can't Write Now, I'm Asleep

This is a cheating post. It's Friday, but I'm scheduling this as Thursday. Why? Because last night instead of writing a blog post, I fell asleep. And then I slept for ten hours.

And it was awesome.

Days of Summer

With Bryan and Peter both out of school we're having a bit of trouble keeping a regular schedule. And telling what day it is. We're still pretty faithful to bedtime, and the kids always wake up early, but everything in-between is a bit harder to nail down.

I think part of the reason we haven't hit on a good summer routine is that this is our first real summer. Last summer was spent in Wisconsin living in a hotel, which means it can't be considered normal. The summer before that Peter hadn't started school yet, so summer was just a continuation of all the days that came before.

Another reason for our lack of agenda is that I love summer. I don't just love the warmth and the sunshine. I love the laziness. I love sitting around reading and eating watermelon and not having to be anywhere in particular. So while I am usually good at setting up play dates and hauling kids to museums and parks, in the summer I just want to move more slowly.

Now add the fact that Bryan is home everyday. That means that it always feels like Saturday. Or Memorial Day. Or some other bank holiday that means he doesn't have to work. I missed at least two YW weeknight activities because I had no idea it was Wednesday. We have a summer full of Saturdays and little motivation.

Perhaps this will be known as the lazy summer...

Boom!

Have you seen Wreck It Ralph? We think it's delightful and at least one member of our family gets ALL of the gaming references (for the record, that person is not me). The kids have taken to quoting parts of it. Saying the word hobo sends them into fits of giggles, after which they respond with, "I'm not a hobo!"

Cooper and Phoebe's favorite line to quote comes from the character Fix-It Felix Jr. For a time I would overhear Cooper saying it to Phoebe. Now, multiple times a day, Phoebe says it me.

Want to know what it is?

"You're one dynamite gal." Except Phoebe can't quite say that, so it comes out, "You're one dy-ma-nite gal."

Why thank you Phoebe, you're one dynamite gal too.

No Business Like Show Business

I've spent time today watching highlights from last night's Tony Awards. The opening number made me laugh and cry, though I won't embed it here because of a few words that I don't want on my blog. I will include the performance from the revival of Cinderella (ignore the lame intro by the Rock of Ages characters), which contains the coolest costume change I've seen.



It's good to be reminded every so often that part of my heart belongs to the theatre.

Play Nice

We left the house today! Twice! And I only almost passed out once! Oh wait, maybe that shouldn't have an exclamation point...

On a completely unrelated note, Cooper and Phoebe spent some time building with blocks yesterday. They were so proud of their structures that they asked me to take pictures. Cooper said that he built his tower for me.

Phoebe said her tower was for Bryan. I didn't point out that it was more of a wall. Why spoil the fun?

The best part of the playing? They're mostly nice to each other. Very few blocks were thrown. And if any towers were demolished, apologies were made and offers to let the other knock down their own building were delivered. This is quite a turning point for these two.

Good News, Bad News

Bad news: I got what everyone else had

Good news: I have a mild version

Bad news: Due to a lack of food, I now have a migraine too

Good news: I took medicine and now only have pain, but not the other symptoms.

Now I have to decide it if I should eat regular food and risk throwing up, or not eat and risk another migraine.

Decisions, decisions...

Washer Woman

This has been a day of cleaning. Today I have cleaned the bathroom, scrubbed walls, washed dishes, mopped floors, laundered nine loads of clothes, folded about half of that laundry, and put clean sheets on three beds.

Why on earth was I so possessed to clean like a madwoman?

We seem to have picked up a stomach bug. Cooper spent many of the wee hours of Saturday morning returning his previously eaten food. He and Phoebe and I missed a baptism on Saturday and stayed home from church on Sunday because he was recovering.

Instead of assuming that we would all be taken out one at a time by this fearsome illness, we thought it was an isolated incident. Cooper has had a few times recently where he has thrown up, just once, then been fine. We suspect he may have an un-diagnosed food allergy, but that's pure speculation at this point. I was only slightly suspicious that he had thrown up multiples times, because that didn't fit the previous pattern of only throwing up once.

Still, from Saturday morning to Tuesday afternoon nobody else was sick. Then it got Bryan, then Phoebe, then Peter. Phoebe didn't actually throw up, but she complained of the same awful stomach ache and painful leg cramps (which is a weird combination) that the others had.

Bryan was up all night last night, first with his own sickness, then with Peter's. I was awake for some of those hours, but Bryan knew I would probably be taking care of everyone when the sun came up, so I needed sleep the most. He was right.

So I have spent the day dispensing crackers and soda (although Bryan helped with the soda too), feeding Cooper and Phoebe regular food (since their stomachs seem to be the strongest) and ridding our house of germs. We washed all of Cooper's bedding on Saturday; everyone else's was washed today.

Did you catch one important detail to all of this? I am the only one currently unscathed. For whatever reason I haven't gotten it. Yet. I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. When will I get sick? I have book club tomorrow night, so I'm guessing it will hit close to when I need to leave for that.

Maybe I'll be lucky and I won't get it at all. I don't really believe that. At least when I do get sick, my house will be nice and clean.

Spreading Out

I'm thankful that Bryan's job doesn't start until August so we have the summer to recover from the last two years, but it has been sad watching our friends leave. Some of the families that we've grown close to are scattering across the country, some even going to other parts of the world. We figure we'll be some of the last to leave.

Last week some of our good friends left. They were our neighbors as well, so we got to play with them a lot during the past year. Phoebe was a little heartbroken to say goodbye to one of her favorite friends.

I guess the upside is that we now have friends all over.

The French Way?

A few weeks ago a friend posted this article to Facebook. The gist is that French doctors view ADHD differently than doctors in the US do, thus leading to fewer diagnoses. Additionally, parents in France are stricter than they are here, and giving kids more structure helps them "learn self-control" at an early age.

This might not make me popular with all of my readers, but I liked some of what I read in the article. I'm uncomfortable that the ADHD net covers so much ground and so many things that I view as normal behaviors. I finished reading the article and promptly went to tell Bryan about it.

Even as I spoke to him, a thought was nagging at the back of my mind. It wasn't until I was done relaying what I'd read that I realized what it was.

When we were in Paris last year we attended a devotional hosted by some members of the ex pat LDS ward there. They spoke to us about living outside of the United States, specifically in Paris. They talked about pay, workload, family life. One thing that was said really stuck with me.

The Bishop of that ward told us that the French love to hire Americans because we think differently than the French. They're good at following instructions and recalling information learned through rote memorization. We have a reputation with French employers for being creative and innovative, thinking in unconventional ways to solve problems.

So according to the article American parents are too lax (which I don't completely disagree with), but we also produce sought after leaders and thinkers. While I'm a big fan of following instructions (and wish my kids were bigger fans themselves), I'm not sure that I would be willing to sacrifice those creative qualities so that my children won't whine and talk out of turn. Sometimes that all-over-the-place-brain that is labeled ADHD is the one comes up with the best solutions to problems. Are we producing them? Or just labeling them more than the French?

Of course, this is coming from someone with a degree in theatre, so it's probably not a big shock that I value creativity over conformity, eh?