Birthday, "Bugs" and BYU-I

BIRTHDAY PICNIC IN THE PARK:

Being silly on the teeter totter (Eden realizes that if she hooks her feet under the tire, I can't get down :)

Abe trying to even out the weight distribution

Trying to make their mother fly

The infamous "twirly slide" in Middleton

Monkeying around

Boundless energy

A race

Mikayla coming down with flu like symptoms in the Park

40 years old and still full of hot air

Gifts from my children

KINDERGARTEN ROAD RALLY:

Lily and Sophie showing off their "bugs".

Learning traffic rules

A classmates very cool semi

BRIEFS FROM BYU-I:

--Jordan finishes the Book of Mormon in two weeks (a lot of time in the library; a lot of time on his computer; some long walks back and forth to the temple (to stay awake) with an MP3 in the wee hours of the morning.

--Helps with the Special Olympics on campus--LOVES IT!

--Goes on a date to a personality impressionist show on campus with one of his Middleton friendgirls, who is going to school at U of I (1-1/2 hours away in Pocatello) and drives down just for the occasion. 

--So excited about the fun, relatively inexpensive entertainment on campus every week (Jim Brickman coming next week for $10 and he's an "expensive" show).

--He explores some huge sandunes with his roomate. 

--Get's called as the Elders Quorum secretary (his stake President is Pres. Eyring's son) which is a quick track to learn to know people in his ward.

--Is being very responsible on a student budget.

--He and his roomates find out that they can donate plasma for $50 a week and are so excited--his mother is not!

--Homework is getting intense--sooo much reading and he's never been a "reader"--minor difficulty that.

--Has a very enlightening "Personal Achievment" class that he fills us in on each week (part of his homework).  One of the quotes they discussed this week was about our perception of the world not being a reflection of what it truly is, but a reflection of who we truly are.  Deeply profound.  When I read Mom's letter this morning and her, "What a lot of flowers.  What a lot of sunshine" quote from Mr. Chips, I couldn't help but be moved by the impact and correlation between Jordan's quote and hers.  I certainly need to be looking out with  different eyes much of the time, which means I need to be working on me, not the world.

--He says he is looking so forward to General Conference.  Me too!

Homecoming Heaven?

I've been missing having a dating age boy in my household this past week.  The unfolding and bustle of these big dance date weeks are always so much fun to watch as a mother of boys.  The table planning sessions where they come up with the itinerary and try to budget is endearing.  I would have thought that things on the girls end would be more intense, but the dress shopping was such a breeze, that we were ready two days after Ajay asked Mikayla--well we thought we were.  As a mother of a girl there is a lot of waiting....waiting for the boys to tell you what you will be doing.....then waiting for them to tell you when you will be doing it.....then laughing when they tell you the interval time they have allowed between bringing you home from the morning date to get ready for the dance date ;)  However, Saturday proved to be the scale balancer of helping a teenage daughter versus a teenage son.

SATURDAY ITINERARY:

The boys have talked one of their Bishops into taking them boating at Black Canyon Resevoir. 

Ajay picks Mikayla up at 10:00 a.m.  I'm out mowing the lawn, so I bring him inside and Mikayla is immediatley at the front door, ready to go; I make them wait.  I find Fred and introduce him to a very polite, respectful and "so serious" Ajay (he's nervous, so of course I give him a hard time and a mother lecture on everyone wearing life jackets, then grill him on his plans).  He's all business and has all the right answers, so I have to let him go ;)  He says they will be back at 3:00 and then he will pick her back up at 4:45.  I just smile.

Mikayla and Ajay come walking back in the door at 4:00, tired, sore (Mikayla) and sunburned (Ajay--I lathered Mikayla with suncreen before she left ;) I laughingly ask if he is still planning on picking Mikayla back up at 4:45.  He says that the other girls told him they can't get ready that fast (mother smile) and so he's told Mikayla to just call him when she's ready (mother smile turns to laughter) and I inform him that he should never give a girl that leeway--just give her a time and Eden and I will both help her to try and get ready by that time, so he says to plan on 5:00 unless he calls back.  He leaves and Mikayla, who was planning on barrell rolling her hair, panics.  She rushes into the shower and Eden and I start gathering "supplies".

Mikayla is out and dressed by 4:15 and I start blow drying her hair, while she is putting on her makeup and Eden is painting her toenails.  At 4:20 Ajay calls and says that one of the girls said there is no way she can be ready by 5:00 ;) so he gives her until 5:45.  We all breathe a huge sigh of relief.  By 4:30 I am barrel rolling Mikayla's hair and Eden has moved on to her fingernails. 

At 5:00 I am still barrel rolling her hair and Eden is misting body sprays through the air.  At 5:30 I am still curling (and realizing that Mikayla has A LOT of hair) but now I am committed and there is no going back.  Eden has run out of things to do, so she is being my gopher and Mikayla's moral support.  By 5:38 Mikayla and I are both slightly panicking and Eden is being our minute by minute stopwatch, since my bathroom clock isn't working, and finding comedy in giving us false time readings.  At 5:45 Ajay calls and says he's running late (he's doubling with his younger sister and she's not ready yet--she has more hair than Mikayla) and he'll be here in another 10 minutes.  We are all grateful for his sister!  At 5:55 I still have about 6 more  curls to go and Mikayla is waiting to hear the car pull up any second.  At 6:00, as I'm lifting up the last peice of hair, to wrap around the curling iron, the doorbell rings and Mikayla screams!  She scares me to death (I'm wondering how Ajay feels--standing out there on the doorstep) and it's a miracle that I don't burn her.  We hear Fred go to the door and invite Ajay in.  Now their is very heightened whispering in the upstairs bathroom.  Fred is calling Mikayla down and I am trying to put in her beaded bobbypins.  We had planned on lightly dusting her hair with prisma glitter, but in all of the rush I accidentally dump it on her head and down her face.  The heightened whispering escalates and Fred is calling again.  I try my best to blow it off, but she is very sparkly ;)  I'm finished so I leave her to finish buckling her shoes and start to head downstairs but now she's nervous to make the long walk because all of a sudden she feels very conspicuous.  I assure her it will be okay.

I go talk to Ajay and get directions to the "picture site" and Mikayla gatheres the courage to come down.  It's fun to watch Ajay acknowledge her.  Mikayla fumbles with the corsage (Ajay isn't wearing a jacket, which makes it difficult not the stick him).

They finally get out the door and I panic because Fred and I are supposed to be at Stake Conference by 7:00 and I haven't gotten ready for anything beside Saturday work.  I throw on a dress,  try to tuck some hair and feeling a bit unclean and underprepared, hoping that Heavenly Father will understand my heart, I fly out the door telling Fred I will meet him at the Stake Center; it's 6:20.  I find the kids, who have now hooked up with more peers, so everyone will have a "double" and by 6:40 we are shooting pictures.  All of the kids are waiting to be "placed"; Ajay doesn't know what to do with his hands.

At 6:50 I wish them well and make it, sheepishly, into conference as Pres. Evans is standing to start the meeting.  As the first counselor begins his talk, he mentions that his wife is still with a group of teenagers, who were later than ours, and says that where he would usually hope that the Spirit be in our meeting, this time he's hoping that the Spirit will be with all the youth that are dating tonight (two of which are his sons) and we'll just have to do the best we can.;)

It was an incredible meeting and no one wanted to leave.  We stayed and visited and basked in the sociality of the saints, so many of who had children at Homecoming.  We were able to say goodbye to Pres. and Sis. Walker who were leaving for their mission (Ohio) on Sunday, and see Bishop Waltman who was back for the weekend from Virginia.  We got to talk with one of our Trek sons who's working to make money for his mission and one of Jordan's roomates from Spokane, back from BYU-I for the weekend, to be ordained as an Elder.  It was so rewarding to hear of his experiences with college and what he is realizing about himself and how much he is growing.  We hear the same things in Jordan's conversations.  When everyone had finally trickled out, we finally left and I stopped at Ridley's for some Monday lunch groceries and found the "second session" of conference in progress there ;)  The store was full of couples in their Sunday best, buying ice cream and groceries to get them through Sunday.  I love Middleton!

Fred (there's the real prince charming) helping Mikayla buckle her "Cinderella shoes" on Sunday morning (the curls stayed in ;)

Homecoming Week--Full Speed Ahead

Mikayla got asked to Homecoming on Thursday. All of the children and I were "debriefing" and having snacks at the bar after school and in true Mikayla fashion she just casually mentions, "Oh, Mom, I got asked to Homecoming today." This is her first date, her first formal dance and she's just mentioning it as a sideline. She's not prone to dramatically expressive communication (she used that all up as a baby I guess), unless she's coughing, sneezing or scared ;), so I'm used to those flat affect kinds of announcements, but this is a big one that she's really looked forward to, so I'm bracing myself thinking maybe she's disappointed with who asked her. Come to find out it is a young man that I worked with last year on the stake YM/YW committee and was very impressed with. He's spiritually mature, kind, respectful, cute and fun...and a senior. He's a mother's dream for a daughters first date............ Mikayla is pretty excited as well :), you just have to pry to find that out. In two years, when it's Eden's turn, there will be no prying, but lot's of screaming I'm sure;) Aren't the different personalities of our children so intriguing.

We had fun answering him Friday afternoon and then Fred and I did some preliminary dress scoping for our date that night, seeing if we could find anything with potential at the thrift stores. We did find a few possibilities at Goodwill. Saturday morning Mikayla and I headed to town. I showed her what we had found the night before and she thought there was some potential but nothing that seemed quite perfect, so we decided to see if we could find anything at Ross and we did--for only $25! Of course it was strapless, so we went to JoAnn's to find a shrug pattern and some cloth and found something we both thought was cute. We also found some Cinderella (glass looking) shoes at Savers for $6.99. They are Mikayla's first real heels and are 4" high. Watching her walk through the store on them was quite comedic (she just thinks I'm rude), but she fell in love with them and so will be 'practicing' all week in she can steal them back from Lily and Sophie who are bound to break their ankles before the week is up; so far, so good.

We were able to talk with Jordan today after his first week at BYU-I and got to meet his roommates on the web cam. They seem like very fun, nice young men and Jordan is really happy with them, which is a great start. He has only had classes for two days, but already has an assignment in his Mission Prep. class to read the entire Book of Mormon in 2 weeks. Welcome to college! He and Zoey auditioned for the campus talent show with 40 other applicants to perform their "Spamalot" duet and made it in with only 9other acts. They performed in the Hart Auditorium which seats over 3000, and though he said it wasn't filled to capacity, there was a huge number in attendance. He said performing that night to that huge crowd, which was very receptive, was one of the most exciting things he has ever done. What a fun opportunity--I wish we could have been there to see it! He has already had dinner at some girl's apartments and reciprocated the invitation the next day. What a fantastically fun, stressful, learning time of life. I would love to go back and 'revisit' brief moments of it but I most definitely want to 'live' in my time of life. I guess that is one of the great blessings of children and grandchildren--they provide all of the joy of those "visiting" moments without leaving the comfort of experience.

Because Abe won't be playing soccer this year, and because we are continually looking for that outlet that will help pull out his talent potential, I asked if he would be willing to audition for Young Artists. His immediate response to almost anything is that it will take away from his "free time". I promised him that I would not pressure him to actually join the choir, I just wanted to know what his singing potential is, because he is exuberant about it in Family Home Evening and during daily devotionals, and because choir was such a great instigation in giving Jordan the confidence he needed to take advantage of the musical opportunities that which give him so much joy now. With that promise he agreed, unenthusiastically, to go. Choir doesn't normally start until age 6, but because the 4th child + are tuition free, Aunt Linda said I might as well bring the twins along to auditions, if they were interested, and she would be willing to test them as well. It was fun to watch Abe's demeanor change as he went through auditions with Aunt Linda. He did very well and she is very good about making children feel great about themselves when they do things correctly. So the more she praised, the more he became engaged, and when he had done everything she had asked, she told him she was going to try and mess him up, which then became a challenge, and when he succeeded at overcoming that, he was beaming and she had gotten consent from him to join the choir before he even knew what hit him. She's very good at that too;) However, because I had made a promise to him, I told her we couldn't decide right then, I had to give him time to think and talk it over outside of that environment, which I did and he decided he would like to give it a try this semester. Lily and Sophie needed a bit more support to perform the skills tests, but they did well, while Aunt Linda was singing with them and she felt like they were mature enough so we enrolled them as well. Last week was their first week and they all seemed to enjoy it. My older children originally dubbed that day "Terrible Tuesday" because of the crazy rush from school and packing dinner for the car and the 3 hour stretch, but they have all loved the actual choir experience, so I hope that continues.

Forty is looming awfully close and "I feel great."

Long Walks Home

Tuesday was the first day of school for our children.  Lily and Sophie were so excited.  I walked them to school and promised I would stay with them until they were ready for me to go.  When their teacher came out to get them in their line on the playground, I could tell that she preferred for parents to leave at that time.  She made a big deal about the kids saying goodbye to their parents, but Lily wasn't ready and a promise is a promise, so three parents ended up going inside with the children.  Two of us stayed in the back of the room, so we would be out of the way, but one little girl was clinging to her mother and wouldn't look at or listen to the teacher or come out from behind her mother.  Sophie and Lily are lucky and have each other to hold onto (which they did).  After about 10 minutes with this little girl causing quite a bit of disturbance, the teacher kindly told the mother that it would be much easier for her if the mother would leave.  The mother seemed fine about that but the little girl went into a tirade, screaming and writhing in the teacher's arms and then I felt guilty for staying.  I got a reluctant thumbs up from both of the girls for me to go and I was feeling so proud of myself for being such a big girl and not getting emotional.  But, as I started walking across that empty schoolyard, the realization that I was walking toward an empty house and past a new milestone started to sink in and then the emotions kicked in with full force.  It was a long walk across that feild, and then Olive met me halfway home.  Olive, who has stayed in the yard all summer since the new fence, knew that it was the first day of school and that meant hundreds of kids on the playground and met me on her way there, so pleased with herself.  So, I redirected her path, picked up a leash on the way past the empty house and Olive and I went on a walk to sort things out.  And we did.  I came home and cleaned like crazy and accomplished much but was surprised to find how much I still had left to do when my time was through.  I stayed busy and the time went so quickly.  I set out a bar full of fresh fruit and vegetables out of our yard and was so excited to walk out my door in anticipation of seeing my children.  It was one of those time where you just feel the intense conviction of your worth as a mother seared into your souls.  It was a good first day, and I have had a week now to gear up for the true change, because Lily and Sophie only went to school one day last week.  This week they will go 3 days and then will alternate with 2 days every other week.  I was kicking against this Kindergarden change, but I think it will actually be a good chance to acclimate for all three of us.

Jordan came home a few days early and surprised us on Thursday morning.  We weren't expecting him until Saturday or Sunday night, but the boys were "done" and drove all night on Wednesday.  Fred was down doing some research on the computer and I was upstairs making the bed, when he walked in.  I didn't hear him, but Fred came flying upstairs and said, "come here, you've got to see this!"  Sometimes he gets excited about things that he discoveres and likes to share, but he was awfully animated, and because I was still in my exercize clothes and hairdo I became a little apprehensive about where he was taking me halfway down the stairs, but he assured me I would be excited.  When I came around the corner, the morning light from our picture window was backlighting two people.  The first person I saw was a large man with dark sunglasses and a marine haircut that I didn't recognize, so I looked next to him and when my eyes registered Braden, Jordan's roomate, standing there I realized who the big man must be.  I screamed and ran into his arms and just stayed there for awhile.  It is so good to have him back home for another week

Of course, Jordan brought Maunzy home with him and we have all fallen in love with him.  He is really the most charming little creature.  Mikayla and Eden have taken complete ownership and moved him, bag and baggage into their room.  Because he is nocturnal, he sleeps all day while we are all busy with work and school and becomes very active in the evening and remains active through the early morning, which has worked out quite nicely, since Mikayla usually gets up at 5:00 to study her scriptures.  He doesn't love being held because that would require him holding still but if you sit in the room he will run over and around you constantly.  He is very friendly, but makes a much better teenage pet.  The twins are constantly disappointed that they can't cuddle him like a baby and they would never be able to catch him.  I'm grateful that my older children are responsible enough to be attentive to his needs so I haven't had that guilt that usually accompanies owning a pet.  I'm sure my turn will come since the average chinchilla lifespan is 15-20 years.

We went to the most interesting fireside last Sunday.  Joseph's Smith's great great grandaughter, a convert of 10 years, spoke to us.  Her conversion story and her experiences growing up with that history (most of which she was not aware of until she did a lot of researching later in her life) were absolutely fascinating.  She is a member of the organization that was instrumental in making the Emma movie a few years ago and is proactive about trying to help "heal" the deep wounds of the "family".  She had such interesting insight in seeing the Lord's hand in Emma staying behind when the Saints moved out west.  It was heartbreaking to learn of the feelings and thoughts that have been passed down through the generations toward Brigham Young but enlightening to have your eyes opened to feelings you didn't know existed or why.  I know I often take too much for granted about the blessings and knowledge that I have in my daily life. 

Congradulations Marg and Rob!  We'll be excited to hear when you pick out a name for your little guy.  I can't wait to see him as soon as we get over these blasted colds.  I'll post a welcome entry as soon as I can get a photo.