Daddy Trip Highlights (nearly Wordless Wednesday)

Lots of people asked me where my husband went on his Daddy trip. It might have been easier to say where he DIDN'T go. He loves to pack in as many destinations as possible. In ten days, they stayed in six different "homes."

I guess all that made our home a bit forgettable. As I was walking Sarah down to see the changes I'd made in her room, she gasped, "Hey! I remember these stairs!"

Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

Visiting the Devil's Post Pile near Bishop, California:


Beautiful Scenery near the campground:
Camping out in the tent trailer and eating breakfast:

Rockhunting near Obsidian Dome:
Visiting Scenic Mono lake:


h

Driving through beautiful country and hiking to some falls:



Visiting the oldest trees in the world in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest:
a young bristlecone pine is quite lovely:

the older ones are shaped by the wind into twisting works of art:

Visiting Yosemite:
catching bugs everywhere (each child brought their own bug cage):

hiking Vernal Falls, where Eliza almost fell to her death:


Enjoying more scenic views of half dome and other formations:

Allison (it's ALWAYS Allison) found this frog near the pool at the KOA:


Visiting my husband's hometown of Modesto, California and the nearby Micke Grove Zoo:



Enjoying lots of campfires and roasting marshmallows (love how this picture turned out!):
Seeing the largest trees -- and largest living organisms -- in the world in Sequoia National Park:
My husband got home Saturday night, and by Sunday night, he was already mapping out a route for NEXT year's trip. He said the kids were wonderfully well-behaved and they had a great time.

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All good things must come to an end

including Daddy Trips. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of my family tomorrow. It has been a great experience. My only concern is that I don't think I've fully enjoyed it because I've been rushing around trying to get stuff done! The scriptures tell us we should be "anxiously engaged in a good cause," (D&C 58:27), but sometimes I'm just anxious.

While DH has been gone, I:

* Got our intercom fixed

* Got our vacuum repaired

* Tracked down warranty repairs on our oven

* Tracked down and scheduled a warranty check on a bed 

(Sometimes I think everything in this "brand new" house is breaking, but I guess that's what happens after nearly 4 years)

* Replaced the hardware on five chests of drawers

* Spent hours cleaning and organizing our storage area

* Rearranged and cleaned out everything in the little girl's room

* Purchased and arranged a new chest of drawers, some shelves, and some hooks for the little girls room

* Put together two sets of shelves

* Ran a 5K while pushing two kids in a stroller 
(REALLY!  Well, all but the 8 minutes I spent walking)

* Shot & edited one photoshoot (with a borrowed camera since DH took mine -- thanks Desiree!)

* Ran dozens of errands

* Took Harmony & Katie walking and to the park five or six times

* Spent lots of quiet time with my two littlest, including reading dozens of books to Harmony

* Taught a Relief Society lesson on the Atonement 
(what a heavy topic!)

* Prepared a lesson on the Priesthood for Relief Society (I guess I'm becoming the designated substitute, which is fine with me; I love teaching)
* Made cards to help organize Church cleaning (this is my real Church assignment right now)

* Went to my new doctor for the first time for my regular bloodwork (I have hypothyroidism and my old doctor is no longer practicing)

* Went to the library

* Cleaned out my closet & bathroom

* Mopped the floors and vacuumed

* Did Laundry twice, including bedsheets

* ALMOST finished my 200-page 2009 Book, entitled "Are We There Yet?"

It has been wonderful to fill my days full with the kind of work I don't usually get to, but that 2009 book weighed me down all week -- it took 80 scrapbook pages to finish up the best of the photos from the year, and what would have been enjoyable in small pieces felt like a chore as a huge chunk.  I finally finished most of it last night after midnight and printed it to read and edit. I still need to create a cover and order it, but a few more hours and it will be done.

I was annoyed by all that it required to put together, but as I read it carefully looking for typos and mistakes, I am reminded again of why I do this. There are so many gems I've found among the weekly descriptions, from a record of prayers answered to notes on how I'm doing schedules or chores to hilarious things the kids have done and said.  As I'm reading through it, I'm finding all sorts of things I had forgotten about.  I'm glad I'll have this record of my life.

For your enjoyment, here are some of my favorite scrapbook pages, followed by some short blurbs from the book:

From January:
"Sarah -- She's been pouty and over-tired a lot lately.  This morning, she was hiding a cup full of Cherrios in the mud room and eating them while we were trying to get everyone off to Church.  I made her put them in the kitchen, and we were off to Church.  Just as the closing song got over, Sarah took off her shoes and said sweetly, "there's something in my shoe."  She reached in, pulled out a small handful of Cheerios, and ate them!"

**

Eliza's Favorite Person

Today as I picked up Eliza from nursery (she still screams every time we leave her), the nursery worker was asking her if she liked all her brothers and sisters.  "Yes!" she said, and I asked her who was her favorite.  "Jesus Christ!"  She said.  We laughed, and I clarified, "Who is your favorite brother or sister?  Lillian, Joey, Michael, Sarah, Allison, or Harmony?"  She immediately exclaimed, "Harmony!"  She is so sweet.

**

 From February:

Joey earned a book this week at school because he’s improved a level in his reading.  He chose Calvin and Hobbes and has been reading it constantly this week and taken to drawing his own comics.  Some of them are a little weird, others are off-the-wall, and some are funny.  He stapled together his own book of comics this week and read them all to me and his siblings.  He even put in a dedication page:  “To Mommy, Lillian and Michael who always laf (sic) at my comics.” 

**

Bedtime Stories

Usually I read to the kids at night, but this week, I got a box of books out of storage and DH found “My Side of the Mountain” among them and is reading it to the kids, touting is as “a little kid being Man vs. Wild.”  Even the twins are interested, and it’s been fun to see five kids lying down by the fire listening to their dad read.

**

Gymnastics Showcase

Joey and Michael did their routine next.  At one point, they had a hanging contest to see who could hold onto the bar for the longest.  Michael was among the first to drop to the floor, and one by one the other kids dropped down, leaving just Joey and one other boy.  They held on and held on for quite a long time, then finally Joey dropped down.  The other boy dropped down a few seconds later, and Joey went right over to him and shook his hand, congratulating him.  Both DH and I were really impressed with his sportsmanship.   

**

Foundational Habits

I’ve been evaluating our family a lot lately.  I tend to feel discouraged when things aren’t going the way I want them to.  I feel personally responsible for all the problems in our house, even though I know that we have 9 people in our family who have their own agency.  I feel like a failure during the daily battle to get Joey to do his chores (today I asked him to pick up ten things in the entryway and came back to find nothing changed.  When I confronted him about it, with a self-satisfied smile, he told me he had “picked up” ten things.  Picked them up, then dropped them back on the ground!).  I feel like a failure when I raise my voice or respond more sharply to discipline issues than I want to.  I feel bad that Michael’s not improving on his reading fast enough.  If I started to list all the small things that aren’t going well in our family, it’s easy to feel like I’m not doing enough.

And yet, as I have pondered and prayed about the way I feel, I don’t feel any censure from Heavenly Father.  Instead, I feel the Spirit direct me to see the things that we are doing well.  When I worry about the future and wonder about how my children will turn out, I have felt that the habits we are consistent in are the foundation for all the blessings we desire, and that He is pleased with those efforts.  We have family home evening each week and the Spirit is present when we teach our lessons.  We read the scriptures together daily.  We pray as a family.  We genuinely love our children and express it often.  We read together as a family.  Ultimately, those simple habits will lay the foundation for good things to come.  Parenting can be messy.  There are days and moments when I’m completely at a loss, but in the overall scheme of things, the foundation is in place, and that is something I can feel good about.

**

From March:  

Parent Teacher Conferences

Lillian's teacher, Mrs. W (fourth grade), loves her and says she's doing wonderfully.  We teased her about her nearly perfect scores, and laughed about the self-evaluation she'd done.  She was supposed to rate herself on a scale of 1 to 5 in various areas.  She'd sprinkled 4's liberally throughout, so we asked her about it -- "Lillian, why did you give yourself a 4 in 'Coming to School on time'?  You're always here on time."  "Well, there was that one time I had a dentist appointment and I was late."  The other fours were for similar reasons.  DH told her she shouldn't mark herself down, but I told him she didn't want to seem stuck-up by choosing fives for everything.  Her reading is now testing at the 8th grade level.

**

"Jo Jo --  Loves --  Me!"

Joseph has a real generous nature.  Earlier this year, he used some of his tickets saved from doing chores to buy Lillian a Nancy Drew book from the prize bin.  This week, he continued that trend by using all his tickets to buy Eliza a Care Bear video he knew she wanted.  She has been watching it every day since.  She's a little obsessed with the sticky-sweet fuzzy things, sleeping with five or six of them (and a dozen other animals) around her at night, carrying them around with her, and singing all the songs from the DVDs.  So of course, she was thrilled and asks daily, with the little pause in her voice between words, to "watch -- Care -- Bears -- Joey -- gave -- me -- Christmas!"  We pointed out that Joey didn't give it to her for Christmas but that he did it because he loves her and taught her to say, "JoJo -- Loves -- Me," which of course makes both of them smile from ear to ear.

**

*  I went walking last night and found a cell phone on the sidewalk.  I tracked down the owner, a teenage boy, by calling the number labeled "Mom."  He came and picked up the phone but didn’t say thank you.  He was kind of a punk.  But I rather expected that, because his parents, who answered the "mom" number, didn't say thank you either.

**

From April:

Lillian and DH in Chicago

I did well without DH, but it was exhausting to be the only parent.  And much as I missed DH, it was Lillian I missed the most!  She has a way of jumping in to help that I just take for granted.  Ask her to set a table and you can count on it being done.  I asked some of the other kids several times to help with simple things like that and let’s just say it would have been easier to do it myself!  And I kept forgetting about the chores she usually does.  I’d walk by the kitchen garbage and wonder why it smelled, then I realized I hadn’t taken it out yet.  I’d forget the cats until they mewed pathetically at the back door.  She takes such responsibility that I hardly even think about the jobs she does.  Her cheerful kindness to her siblings was also missing.  Everyone is so excited to have her come home.  During the morning session of conference, Joey made a welcome home sign in the entryway and made her bed and put away her clothes.  The other kids made notes to both Lillian and DH, Michael spelling out phonetically:  “To Lileyn and Daddy:  I luve you!  Fom Michael.” 

**

And that's all for now -- I've still got hours of work to do and my family's going to be here tomorrow!  Wish me luck!

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My favorite time of year!

It's Daddy Trip time! That means my husband and six of our kids -- yep, SIX this year -- are off gallivanting all over the country while I stay home with the littlest ones and get caught up on projects.

They'll be gone for ten days. It's been wonderful so far. I cleaned my kitchen right after they left. It's stayed clean. I've started organization projects and left them out without completing them. No one's messed them up. I've taken naps. No one's woken me up.

No one's talked back to me, had to be reminded to do their chores or clean their room, whined, or demanded anything of me. There have been no sibling battles, no large meals to prep and clean up after, no sticky floors, and lots of peace and quiet. It's been heavenly.

There's just one little hitch.  Harmony.  She'll be two next month and up until this week, I didn't know that she doesn't know how to entertain herself.  I've never noticed that she's not interested in toys.  Nope, this week all she's been doing is following me around, mimicking everything I do.  She bangs on the computer keys, smears peanut butter on the counter, pushes herself on my lap when I'm feeding Katie, runs to Katie when she cries and tries to shove her pacifier in her mouth, and refuses to play with toys.  I've seen her play with them before, and I've gotten plenty out, but I guess they're only fun when she's playing with siblings.

And here's the thing:  I don't remember how to entertain a toddler!  Oh, sure, I've read her a few books and we've gone for walks and to the library, and I've talked to her and handed her crayons and such, but there are sure a lot of hours in the day.  So, here's your chance, all you young moms -- remind me how to entertain this little gal so I can actually get some of those projects completed?

One of my projects is to make our 2009 book.  Every year I pull together my weekly newsletter emails, blog posts, and pictures and throw them together in a book using Blurb.  I do some scrapbooking of the pictures along the way.  This year, I've switched to 12 x 12 size and I'm really enjoying the way I can fit so many pictures on the page.  I'm currently working on May of 2009, with the goal of doing two months a day.  In the last three days, I've done 18 pages!  I'm not a perfectionist with pages; throw them on, balance it out, add a cute background and a few elements and I'm done.  But still, I think they look great; don't you agree?

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So much to tell . . .(not really Wordless Wednesday)

. . . but so little time to tell it with. I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head, but life has been even busier than usual lately, so I'll be short with words and long on pictures.

We've had tons of family in town, including my brother and his family from Texas. I've only met two of his six kids before, so it was a wonderful blessing to meet the other four and get reacquainted with his family. I took these pictures of his family last week (want some for yourself? Check out my photoblog and email me to schedule a shoot!).

my parents were here

and my husbands' parents came

WHY?

To celebrate with us several wonderful blessings.

#1 These two girls turned SIX on Friday

#2 Michael was baptized on Saturday. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that baptism is essential for salvation, and that it is a covenant between us and God. When a child reaches the age of eight, he is old enough to be accountable for his actions and to covenant with God to remember Jesus Christ and to follow Him always. After his baptism, Michael had hands laid on his head and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, to guide him in his life. I have never attended a baptism without feeling God's Spirit there, and Michael's baptism was especially meaningful to me.

(with our adopted Hawaiian ohana)

#3 Katherine Alice was blessed on Sunday.

Her dad gave her a beautiful blessing, telling her that the gifts and talents she'd brought with her to this earth would help bring peace to a troubled world and that she would learn of God's plan for her life and never doubt her Heavenly Father's love. The words of a priesthood blessing are not chosen beforehand, but inspired by God in the very moment they are given, and I always feel a special connection to God as He reveals His will in these special moments.

Heaven felt very close on Sunday as I contemplated the beautiful blessing it was to receive Katherine into our family. On the first Sunday of every month, after partaking of the sacrament in Church, the time is left open for members to bear testimony of Christ as they feel inspired to do so. I bore my testimony of God's abundant blessings in my life. Among other things, I said, "I've been thinking lately of all the things I do for my children that they don't even recognize, appreciate or remember. It made me realize that there is so much that Christ has done for me that I don't recognize, appreciate or remember. I am grateful for His atonement and His love."

I also spoke of my heritage and the sacrifices made by many generations. My parents and grandparents put so much love and work into their efforts of raising their children, and I realize that I am the next link in that great chain of generations. I sometimes feel alone as I deal with the overwhelming task of raising these children, but I know that I am following a path that many have tread before me.

(This is the the blanket Katie was blessed in. It was made by my grandmother, Velda Olson, for her children's blessing days. My mother was blessed in it. I was blessed in it, and each one of my children have been blessed in it.)


Katie's dress will soon join her sibling's blessing outfits on the wall of the nursery:



It is an amazing thing to feel the presence of God in your life. I feel full to overflowing and I am grateful.

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