A Tribute to JMHT

So I wanted to do a shout-out for Mama Jean, because in the vernacular (tee hee), she rocks! A few favorite stories:

One time, Mom and Dad were trying to remember someone's name. Dad, frustrated, said: Jean, help me out here! Mom, equally frustrated responds: Blaine, I've always been ahead of you--and now I'm ahead of you forgetting things as well. Classic!

Mom telling me that she had already done fourth/eighth/eleventh grade (and done them well, let's never forget that) so she didn't need to do my work.

Playing the piano, singing with tears in her voice: Help Me, Dear Father to freely forgive. . .

The stories of all the sick kids--5 kids under six, all with chicken pox. Mom survived (and thrived) in the most difficult situations I can imagine. I remember the first time I realized that Mom actually saw (in her rear view window) Jim and Rachel getting hit by the taxi. Incredible that she didn't completely lose it and was able to function.

A tender story: soon after we moved to Spain, Mom was getting ready to go out to some reception with Dad. She must have had a hard day, I think particularly concerning Grandpa's death and the struggles with Myrtle's kids, and I have a vivid visual memory of Mom putting on her makeup with shaking hands as she cried. I remember telling her she looked really pretty. I can only imagine how tough it must have been to keep on going--but she did, she always did. Thanks for being vulnerable in front of me then--that memory sustains me, because it shows me that being a mother doesn't mean you have to be 100% tough, impervious to struggles and pain.

I'm reading a book about the brain right now (Daniel Amen I think is the guys name) and it amazes me how much seems so obvious because I learned it from Mom. Tuna is brain food. Get enough sleep. Eat all the colors of the rainbow (what a pretty plate!). Practice, practice. Music makes you smarter. Simplify. Eliminate stress. Look to serve others to get your mind off your own problems.

Thanks for the super mothering.

Thanks for a great visit!

Tyler hamming it up. The rolled up piece of paper is his light saber.
All four kids. They are pretty wonderful, if I do say so myself.

Look at these cute boys! We were on a walk on the trail because a little after Joanne arrived we got a call and a real estate agent wanted to bring some clients for a showing. The story of our lives.

Ryan saw this picture and said: "I look like a chicken!" Tee hee, what a crack up.

And this picture just melts my heart!

Joanne came and it was so fun to see her again. Thanks for the great pictures!

Nobody Listens

This past weekend was Paige's musical theater debut. She played the role of Sam, the wedding planner's daughter in a retelling of The Emperor's New Clothes (quite a cute play, really). Sam is the "kid who knows the answers but. . .nobody listens to me," according to the words of her solo. Quite frankly, Paige knocked it out of the park. She was darling, confident, sang amazingly well and really stole the show. I lost track of how many people commented to me or Paul about how great she was.

We were so touched by our friends' support in coming to the show and being a part of this with us. We have the greatest friends! We were also so glad that Uncle Bryan came, even though his whooping and hollering was super loud (and embarassing to me and Katie!).

Thanks to those who sent her well wishes! Yeah for a fun experience!

Pictures coming soon, I promise.

Better things to do

I probably do have better things to do, but instead I'll blog about a few random things.
First, Ryan's birthday--great success, loads of fun. He is the easiest child to shop for, because if it is Star Wars related it is a hit. Highlights: golfing, lunch, and a trip to Game Stop (where he got to buy the Kung Fun Panda game and learn the valuable lesson of buying it second hand so you only spend $20 rather than the $50 at Target!). We've spent the weekend putting together Lego sets.
I love Legos, and I absolutely love putting the sets together. Simple, clear instructions, a reliable end result--nothing better. However--the little pieces make me anxious; not that we have kids that will choke on them anymore, just the idea of losing them! I hate losing things (major, major pet peeve of mine!) and it even bugs me to just lose one small part of a large lego set. We are already missing a shovel from the Indiana Jones set and it has caused me a disproportionate amount of stress. Get a grip Jeanne!
Conference was nice, but I have to honestly say that I look forward to sometime watching conference without feeling a lot of guilt. Not only do I end up feeling guilty about all the things I am not doing, or the things I am doing wrong, I end up feeling guilty for being distracted by legos, kids' quarrels, laundry. And the guilt of drifting off to sleep once I force myself to sit down and listen. Please don't bother giving me advice about this, because I guarantee I have probably already thought about it, it just doesn't work. (Grouchy, grouchy. . . )
One of the questions I asked myself during conference (it was 24 minutes into the Saturday morning session when the "living beyond your means" phrase came up): are we wrong to want to sell this house? Am I being materialistic, consumeristic? Am I trying to keep up with the Joneses? It is hard to answer, because I want to say that no, it isn't unreasonable to want a house with more than one bathroom for a family of 6; my husband works hard for the money he makes, and we can now afford a bigger, more expensive home, so shouldn't we do that? But then I remember the homes I visited in Russia--really, one ROOM apartments. And do you know how many really good people can say "Oh, I grew up in a small home with one bathroom and ## of siblings." My kids aren't being deprived, really, are they? Are my expectations, wants a little skewed?
Major highlight of the conference weekend: our good friends the Tanners came and had lunch with us in between conference sessions. It was good to visit with them, play games, eat a yummy lunch and then they went back to the stake center, and we turned the computer back on. I get such a kick out of how much both Tyler and Ryan adore President Tanner. And then we had yet another house showing.
So, time to gird up my loins, have a stiff upper lip, put my shoulder to the wheel and get ready for the regular school schedule to resume. Spring Break has been wonderful--best part: sleeping in. Am I ever going to feel like I get enough sleep? (And I say feel, because I do get enough sleep, it just never feels like it!) Don't answer that, because I know the answer, but a girl wants to dream.

An Update

Disclaimer: I just re-read this and it reads like one of those Christmas letters that people write bragging about their incredible lives or one of those Mormon mommy blogs ("seriously so blessed"). This is why I don't blog. I just can't get the tone right. Oh well, I'm going to publish it anyway. . .

I had fully intended to be better at blogging this year, but well, that didn't happen, obviously. So, I will just follow Marci's lead and blog about a few things and do it with a list. Now that I think about it, I will write one thing about each member of the family.

1. Tyler's third birthday. My friend Amy took this great picture. He just got a haircut yesterday and he looks even cuter if that is possible. He is really starting to talk and it is super fun. I'm thinking we might reach the point where I wonder why I ever had any concerns about his speech and I begin to wish he would stop talking. Tyler loves his pajamas (Batman and Cars ones being his favortie), rain boots, Star Wars, Batman, and french fries (is it just me or does that sound like some crazy personal ad?)

2. Ryan is our video-game playing machine. I never really intended to have a son who played video games, but it just happened and it makes him so very happy. We do exercise restraints and time control, so I'm not terribly worried about it. Lego Batman and Lego Star Wars are the preferred games. But Ryan is also doing a great job reading and enjoys the Biscuit books which he reads on his own, and pretty much any picture book I will read to him. The Water Hole is this week's pick. He likes to find the hidden animals.

3. If you haven't yet, you need to hear Katie play the piano. Man, she's getting good. She also thoroughly enjoyed playing basketball and has mad b-ball skills. Paul says she is a rebounding machine. I think what I liked seeing the most was that even though she clearly dominated on the court, she was incredibly concerned and aware of her team-mates and made sure to pass to them and really focused on the team's progress rather than just her own.

4. Paige's dream of being on the stage is about to come true. She has the part of "Sam," in her school musical, "The Emperor's New Clothes." Sam is basically the character who tells the Emperor that he has no clothes on. She will have a solo (song and reprise) and it is a fairly large role. She has already memorized all her lines and is ready to dive in. The play is April 17 & 18.

Wow, I really didn't mean to turn this blog entry into one of those brag-fest about my amazing children.

5. Paul's been playing racquetball 3 mornings a week and has been loving it. I get a kick out of listening to his play-by-play recap when he gets home in the morning. Did I say that it is at 5:30 A.M.!! How does he do it?

6. I'm still swimming and walking and something not everyone knows is that I finally geared myself up and joined WeightWatchers. Turns out I should have done it years ago, as after just 9 weeks, I am down 2 sizes in jeans. Wahoo. I fully intend to get pictures someday. . . .maybe when we finally sell our house.

Little Boys

So, as most of you know, Tyler has some speech delays, and we have things we work on with him. Specifically, we are trying to help him say the ending sound of words (i.e, "t" with cut). The other day as we were driving home, I took a shortcut, and said I was doing it. Tyler is now (finally!) starting to repeat what I say, so he said his version of "cut," to which I repeated it, emphasizing the "T" sound. Then Ryan pipes up from next to Tyler, "CUT--like chop off your head. Whack" (Making a machete swing in the air). Tyler immediately yells, "No--YOUR head!" And fires back with a light saber sound.

Ahh, the halcyon days of raising little boys--machetes and light sabers. Should I be worried about too much violence?

Fifty Words for Marie on Her 50th B-day

Beso, Besito, Besoto (3)

Charlotte's Web (5)

Silverado, the little Mazda (9)

A good parking spot --"it was meant to be." (18)

The Messiah Sing Along, Kennedy Center (24)

BYU Admissions Office visits (28)

"They better not ask if I'm your mother!" (36)

The Blue Bird of Happiness (41)

Late night call after that date (47)

Kids, phones, chatting (50)