Celebrations

By far, the most important event being anticipated at the Bloomquist household is the upcoming 5th birthday of Lily and Sophie. They have been anxious for months and now that it is close enough to be visual, they are counting down days on the calendar. I get frequent drawings and explanations of what their cakes are to look like and be made of (not my idea of gourmet or even appealing) and they have daily conversations and compromises with each other about where they will go on there birthday date and what sacrifices they will make for each other on that day (trading beds for example) and verbally worry about what they will wear because all they have is "four year old clothes." I love celebrations; I go out of my way to create traditions that require partying, but this is the second year that I have been intimidated by expectations that aren't really voiced but are ethereally wished and I find it hard to fulfill phantom desires. I have tried to get them to be descriptive with their visions, but I'm not sure it's solidified enough in their minds, they just know it is supposed to be magic. Fairy Godmother I am not, but wish me luck.

Jordan also has a birthday coming soon. How is it possible that he is turning 18!? Fred and I went on a date Friday and ended by purchasing some birthday pants for the twins. The checker, who was probably in her late 50's commented on our buying two pair of the same pants, so I explained that we had twins and every time I tried to get them different things they always ended up wanting what the other one had. She mentioned how it must be nice to get a sitter and have a night out together. I explained that we had older children so the sitter part was easy. She seemed surprised that we had older children, but when I told her we had 6 and the oldest was almost 18, she was speechless. She finished up our purchase and finally said, "Well.....congratulations, you two look great!" I'm not sure what she expected a couple with 6 children to look like, (she mentioned that she only had one grown daughter) but it made me feel young and happy. I turn 40 this year, and unlike 30(which is the only birthday that made me want to cry), I feel empowered! I have some life experience under my belt, and no longer mourn the passing of youth or feel the need to prove anything to anybody but myself, and the next half of life appears brimming with unexplored opportunity and endless learning and .....to be honest, lots of mother tears. But, even that feels heart-wrenchingly fulfilling.

Fred and I are planning a trek family reunion sometime around Spring Break and I am excited to have our "family" back together for a fun evening. I'm trying to write up a small memoir from our experience to give as a gift to my trek children, and will post it here when I finish so that I can have a written history of that life changing week. I wish that I had recorded my feelings at the time, when they were so powerfully tangible, but I have enough pictures and journaling that it comes back vividly when I start pondering those days.

JORDAN'S EAGLE PROJECT IN PROGRESS

Whistle while you work

Building the structure

Almost finished covering the backside.

Gazelle Intense

It's tangible; I can almost breath it in. Spring! It's only mid-February, but I find myself watching for faint signs of emerging crocus under the Aspen trees, and I have that pent up feeling that anytime soon something inside is going to burst wide open. I've been drinking down books all winter; my eyes glued to the pages, and now my eyes are wandering over the paper to windows everywhere. Yesterday teased us with barefoot temptations that my children succumbed to immediately.

Change feels right and natural with the seasons and for the first time in 19 years, Fred and I are on exactly the same financial page. When we married, I would have been "happy" to save every penny (spare or not) and never do anything "fun"--I guess to me, "security and sacrifice at all costs" was my motto. Fred wanted to enjoy life, with money as the gateway. His young mantra was, "It'll be gone soon anyway, and in a year we won't know where it went so we might as well enjoy it while we have it." We have both moved a little closer to the middle, though, as seems constant in our relationship, he seems to do more growing and moving than do I, and just as we were poised to make some dramatic (for us) changes to feel prepared and in control, in these unstable times, Liz loaned me a book called, "The Total Money Makeover" and I have not stopped salivating since (I know... it's disgusting). It has given a detailed face to what the prophets have been telling us our whole lives about getting out of debt and being prepared and in control and you know how I love detailed checklists. And finally, Fred and I have the same vision (though I have always been more prone to fanaticism) because there is a face for security instead of an endless black hole and there is a goal for fun. I just keep pulling hook line and sinker and Fred keeps reeling me in and it is creating it's own momentum, with both of us very much connected. It is invigorating! We are cutting every single expense, which means no more date money, so date planning is unraveling back to "single" mindedness and we find ourselves back in Jordan's shoes, with no money and the pressure to be creative staring us in the face. I watch Fred researching the Internet at night for ideas and see how much it matters to him and I feel courted again; sometimes sacrifice brings its own reward! Most years we would have gone out to dinner on Valentines, but this year we did sealings in the temple, which was much more memorable, and last week we got together with a big group of friends and just talked and laughed. I remember how much fun it was to do dry pack canning with my sister and brother-in-law last year, so that might go on the date calendar. The momentum and blessings, direct and indirect, have started pouring in, just like the author (who is not LDS) said they would, and the future is starting to look very disciplined and rigorous, but oh so bright. We are determined to leap out from under these car payments and student loans which have been monkeys on our back way too long, but our vision seems clear and the efforts seem worth it now. I have never understood the marathon trainer mentality, I have different friends every year who try to convince me to train with them for a 5K or a half marathon, but I can't ever validate the pain. One friend told me this year, that it's not so much about the race as that there has to be a motivator to force the daily workouts, and when the daily workouts prove that you are fit enough to run the race, it just feels so good. I still don't want to run a marathon, maybe I haven't felt the need to be that fit yet, but financially I'm ready to hit that brick wall, "gazelle intense", and push on through. I am convinced that if I want to be completely fulfilled in life, that I have to learn to master every aspect of ME, physically, spiritually, and mentally, but I can handle only one INTENSE focus at a time. C'mon, I am still struggling with 30 sit-ups!

Speaking of physical motivators, Olive has found an escape route, AGAIN! Only, this time she has been smart enough not to ever escape while we are watching and we are completely stumped. We have built barricades where we feel like there is any possibility that she might be getting out, but she continues to bolt, sometimes 3 times a day, and we are meeting new neighbors all over again. This morning, my neighbor across the street called and said Olive had just walked past the front of my house. I grabbed my shoes, which I had just taken off and bolted out the door, but by the time I found her she was clear down at the school yard. I love that dog and I can't help but admire her ingenuity, and I can't blame her for wanting her freedom, but in this one instance, she gives me a pain!

Middleton is sponsoring a community initiative called "March Unplugged". A calendar came out in the city newspaper with encouragement to unplug all electronic media at home for the entire month and "plug" back into our families. Many different organizations and churches have taken a different evening to plan community events on the weekends and suggested ideas are given for individual families all through the week. Our stake is really pushing us to be involved and I'm excited. We will all use the things we need at school and work, but when we come together at home, the movies, computer, cell phones, and personal music devices go off. It will be interesting to see how much of the community becomes involved. Only good can come of it. I'll let you know how it turns out. Life is great!

SUNDAY PICTURES:

JORDAN STARTING HIS EAGLE PROJECT;

A Fun Weekend

What a fun weekend! On Friday we had neices come to stay with us while their parents were in Salt Lake for a relatives funeral. We all went to a Middleton community Special Olympics Welcome Gala that was put together for an Eagle project by a young man in our stake that is deaf and mildly autistic. The first 30 minutes a mother/daughter/ daughter in-law group sang, fiddled and played the guitar, while the athletes and any children who wanted roped hay bale steers and played sponge toss. It was fun to people watch and be entertained. An hour long program followed with various talents performed by groups in Middleton. Jordan sang the national anthem with an a capella quintet that he is in and danced and sang two numbers with his FX show choir. It's so much fun to watch him be involved. He is making the most of this year. The mayor recognized the athletes and then awarded them flags that had been designed in a grade school contest by a 4th grader who was honored. The evening ended with the choreographer of the show choir inviting the athletes and coaches to learn some line dances and then invited the community to participate. Most of the kids were brave enough to go and dance. I have humiliated myself plenty of times at the Saturday night dances when the youth pull me into those line dances and try to teach me the complicated steps, so the rest of us just enjoyed watching the participants have fun. The athletes LOVED it! They were pretty fired up and one of them gave an extended, highly animated tribute and thank-you to the audience in Italian afterwards. Avery was hot and hungry when it finally got over, but the rest of us enjoyed it. Our community was feeling the Olympic spirit last week.

Saturday Fred, Jordan and a few friends spent some good hours attaching rock to the outside of the Middleton sign. It is actually starting to feel hopeful that he will finish this project before his birthday. This has been such an incredibly fantastic thing for him to be involved in. It has certainly made him stretch and it will be something to be proud of.

Mikayla is starting to work on her value experiences in Personal Progress. I have been impressed at how she chooses things that are demanding and which recquire real personal investment. Currently she is taking a Book of Mormon Independent Study course from B.Y.U. and spends hours after school and on Sundays with her nose in the Book of Mormon and a computer on her lap. Today she approved another project for a different value and will start working on her personal history, which will be insightful because she is wired "deep"................ and loud...and quirky....and fairly violent;-)

Saturday evening Fred and I went to a stake adult Sadie Hawkins dance. Because Pres. Walkers (the 2nd couselor in our stake presidency) wife set a precedent of asking her husband out in a creative way and because he gloated about it in our ward's priesthood opening exercises, I had to give into peer pressure and I made an artificial GPS, and put it in Fred's car. The girls helped me with ideas and when I got home that night my bed was covered with heart candies and chocolates and standing atop the pile was Buz Lightyear with an acceptance card in his hands. In your "old age" you get kind of lazy about dating, but it was fun to put forth that extra effort. Some of our friends taught us how to swing dance and we exhausted ourselves twirling around the room and occasionally crashing into things. The music was poorly chosen and much too loud, which was disappointing, but the food and friends and dancing was so much fun. Fred and I are going to get a group of fun couples together and have a date night at the church and re-learn how to dance. It really was a blast!

My concerns at the middle school are being addressed in small, but positive steps and I am encouraged by the cooperation of the principle. There is still more that needs to be done, but at least things are heading in the right direction. Parents will now have to be contacted before two of the 6th grade documentaries are shown. At registration parents will now have all documentaries or unrated films on the parent permission slips that already contains choices for rated films, and all students who are uncomfortable with the curriculum now must be provided with an alternate activity, but each family will have to initiate that at a parental level. It is not the huge change I had hoped for but we are still in a very embryonic stage of diplomacy and things take time. I do feel that I have regained control of at least my own children's education and have been pleased with the responses as I try to get other parents in the community involved. Be aware that this broad curriculum is state driven, so make sure if you have 6th graders that you know what is being taught in your schools. I would specifically ask about the documentaries that they are showing. I think Charter schools will be less likely to have problems of this magnitude, because parents are generally more involved and proactive but better safe than sorry.

I AM READY FOR SPRING! I was ready a month ago. I'm feel like a prisoner to this inversion and cold. Mikayla wants to plant something so bad that she is itchy. Maybe we'll have to grow alfalfa sprouts in the windowsill.

Fred, Mikayla and I are now exercising on weekday mornings at 6:00AM. We are using Fred's old missionary routine, which is just a short 20 minutes, and isn't too much of a strain on my heart, but my muscles are OUT OF SHAPE and the sit-ups are just plain embarrassing. I am not too proud to tell you that I can not do even one traditional sit-up. I can drag myself across the 30 count finish line by using my arms as hoists, but with them clasped under my head--zippo. Since we literally roll out of bed and put on our sweats and start exercising within 5 minutes, Fred does half of the routine with his eyes shut, and without proper equilibrium. For the first week, I whined the entire 20 minutes and was no kind of farm girl. For three days my calves were so sore that just walking up and down the stairs was a calculated effort. Sad, but true, and last year I was running two miles every day without batting an eye. Those who currently workout regularly will not be able to commiserate, but can share an incredulous laugh at my pitiful condition. The rest of you can probably put your hands behind your head in the morning and sit up out of bed and feel very good about yourselves and maybe in 3 months, when I say, in the middle of leg lifts, "I love this!", I won't be lying anymore.

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