You did WHAT?!

Friday night we went on a double date with Jamie & Cameron to the last Hunger Games and out to dinner.  It was a much needed time away from the house and kids.  However, this meant that when we got home, the house that we had left semi-clean was now not so semi.  Instead of worrying about it, we just lazed around and procrastinated together.  Love me a cohort in procrastination crime.

Saturday morning, I woke with a genius idea (it's been known to happen).  To get the kids extra excited about cleaning on a Saturday, we told them that we would do Secret Sibling shopping when the house was all clean.  We started off the morning choosing names, told them to think about gift ideas for their Secret sibling, and got to work.  And work, we did!  It was awesome.  Not one child complained.  Miracle of all miracles, I tell you.  {Let the snowball-effect commence.}

We took Brennon and Tyson first, but separately.  I needed some shampoo and conditioner, so I took Tyson over that way first, giving Brennon a chance in the toy isle.  It worked.  By the time we got back that way, Brennon and Randy were headed to check out.  Tyson chose his gift, we purchased our goods, got in the car, and headed home after just 20 minutes.  Sweet!

Caden and Shelby were next.  This time, I needed some wrapping paper.  Caden and I headed over that way first (this year I am trying the each-kid-gets-their-own-paper idea.  I think I'm going to like it.) and then we headed back to arts and crafts.  I thought that Keilie was going to take the longest, but it turns out that Caden was.  It's simply because he puts the most thought into it.  The other kids started out looking for things that they would like to be given, trying to figure out if their sibling would end up liking it.  Caden was looking for the best of the best for his sibling.  He would come up with an idea and when that one wouldn't work out as well as he thought, he'd choose another.  And another.  He has always been such a great gift giver.  We were back this time within an hour.

We took Keilie last, knowing that she would feel special being the only sibling that got to go alone.  She is one that has a million ideas going in her head and wants to get as much crammed within her $20 as possible.  When I was wrapping hers, I had to be quite creative.  She had purchased some that were big and round, some that were tiny and square, all-in-all getting $.84 change to give to the bell-ringing Salvation Army worker.

Not wanting to procrastinate another night, we decided to start wrapping.  And wrapping.  We had already purchased most of kids' gifts for this year, so we had a bunch to wrap.  In fact, there was so much to do, that when I cam down for dinner, Randy and the kids had surprised me by getting out our Christmas tree.  This is something that we never do, but we were just going with the 'Christmas flow.'  After all of the Christmas shopping and wrapping, it just seemed right to put up the tree and decorate the house.  To justify it in my compartmentalized brain, I keep telling myself that it is fine- we will not be spending Thanksgiving in our Christmase'd house anyway.  We got the tree decorated, the house decorated, and the presents placed under the tree on the 21st of November.  Yowsa.

And just to keep the momentum going, we did our annual Gingerbread houses for FHE last night.  We may have procrastinated on Friday night, but we totally redeemed ourselves the rest of the weekend!

 Let the icing and creativity flow!

 This is Caden's second house.  About four minutes into the craft, he was trying to smear some icing on the roof of his first one and ended up swiping it onto the floor- teeny, tiny candy balls and all.  Awesome!  We procrastinated cleaning that mess up, until the end.  We tend to be messy decorators in this house.

 This was definitely the way we will do it, from now on.  They had free reign of their own house, instead of helping with one big one as we have always done in the past.  It was so much fun.  We have plans to actually make a village board next year, placing our own houses on it to display them.  We'll probably have a mirror as a pond, and cotton for snow, and...  We weren't prepared for those creative ideas this year, mostly because we never do this sort of stuff until well after Thanksgiving.  Looks like it is time to step up our gingerbread house tradition.  We're getting serious!

So that, Peeps, is how we exhausted ourselves for the upcoming holiday season.  Good news, it was all done in one weekend- we now have permission to procrastinate the next month.  Because, like I always say:

Why spread the fun out over a month, when you could cram it all into one weekend?!

Nerds

Shelby always comes home with her exuberant excitement. Every day is the best day ever, to her. Yesterday she blew through the front door, screaming that she could not wait for tomorrow!! 

"Mom, I have to dress up tomorrow. See, they put my exact glasses on this paper!"

And that is how a Nerd is born. 

She actually made a list. Believe me, I wanted to own a pocket protector and suspenders after she half-heartedly told me she looked "just ok."

Since Tyson's class is doing PJ and popcorn day, 

(I signed up to bring popcorn, not realizing they sold Preschool-child size bags) I didn't realize that Brennon was supposed to be a Nerd too, since Shelby was the one with all of the excitement. So I was at a bit of a loss, since Shelby is wearing Brennon's Nerd-like clothing. 

Unlike Shelby, Brennon actually loved his costume. Blur your eyes and the little cutie will morf from Hobo to Nerd in 1.2 seconds. Maybe 1.3, but who's actually counting. 

Eight Inches

We were able to get our 'Team Caleb' wrist bands yesterday.  The house was an excited frenzy of wrapper-ripping and wrist-showing action last night.  We should have put names on the inside of each of the bracelets.  Tyson came down this morning, barely able to speak around the emotions he was fighting.

"Brennon, I think you have my bracelet.  I put my bracelet on the chest of drawers, eight inches from my Legos."

With the ruler placed up against his Legos as evidence, Brennon admitted to taking it by accident.

Eight inches.

Prayer?

We have the perfect number of family members to make Prayer time work like this: Sunday- Randy, Monday- Stephanie, Tuesday- Caden...

Tonight it was Keilie's turn to pray for dinner.  Heads bowed, arms folded, eyes closed-

"We pledge allegiance to the flag...wait, what?!"  Her head snapped up, face got immediately flushed, and she started laughing.  We had already snapped our own heads up, our own look of confusion replaced with laughter.

It reminded me of when I was about her age and answered the phone, "Happy Birthday?"

Love my sweet Keilie-kins!

Play you for it!

We had a Relief Society Super Tuesday activity. It was a blast! Lots of food, paint, string, and talking. My kind of activity. 

We were kind of joking around at my table and said, "Rock, Paper, Scissors for it?!" A woman that I find to be a gorgeous, intelligent, spiritual woman in her glorious Great Grandmother years stopped us and said "What is Rock, Paper, Scissors?" The rest of us looked at each other and just laughed. Who doesn't know Rock, Paper, Scissors?! And at her advanced youth? Yet, her gaze stayed unwavering on me, expectation plain on her face. I held my tongue from actually saying, "Oh, wait! You're serious!!" 

And so began the 34-year old Rock, Paper, Scissors Master (I can call myself that, now) teaching a woman that I would have expected played only that game as a young child. I am stunned. Never judge a person by the games they don't know. That's what I always say. 

Nicknames

"Mom, is 'ua' Josh's last name?"

He was SO confused when I told him Josh's full name is Joshua. It never occurred to him that Josh had another name, a different name.  When I told him that it would be like us always calling him Ty, he said, "You know, maybe we should just call me Ty." That may save us the trouble of Tyson vs. Tysin! He has begun correcting us if he believes it sounds incorrect. Heaven Help Me!!

Hidden treasures.

"Mom, I love this shirt! Look there is a pocket in my sleeve!!"

"Can I have snacks in it and take them to school?"

Guess I'll be making some tater tots tomorrow morning. 

Shelby {GT 500}

Activity Day Girls had their first ever Daddy/Daughter Pinewood Derby last night.  Shelby was mega excited to be able to help Randy with a car.  This was so fun, because it wasn't just showing up for a dance.  They worked many hours on this car, together.  She was in heaven with the very idea of doing something with her dad, just the two of them.

This was the pictures captured after her first win.  As it turns out, she could have had many pictures just like this- she never lost a race!

This is a picture of one of her races.  Shelby's Shelby GT 500 is the turquoise car in the lead.  I purchased pink paint, excited to surprise her when she got home.  What was I thinking?  Her favorite color is turquoise!!  We rectified the situation immediately! 

Someone had software that you would add the names of each racer, and then just call out which car came in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  It was super fast, giving each girl a chance to race against all of the other girls.

Randy said they were just lining up cars, racing faster than he's ever seen.  There was one person calling out the winning lanes, while another was inputting all of the information.  This made it so there didn't need to be semi-finals, and such.  The software did all of the calculating.  At the end, they asked out loud who everyone thought the winner was.  The crowd collectively screamed, "SHELBY!" 

They were correct, Shelby took home First Place!!  

This makes for the third car one of our family members has won First Place.  Caden's first Pinewood Derby car won First just one month before he turned 8.  Keilie's first (and only) won over all others the only year they combined Scouts with Activity Day Girls in Casper, WY.  And now Shelby.  Randy raced all of our three cars last night (of course he's saved them!).  Shelby's won First Place between the three cars, too.  She is still talking about it today, giddy that her car is the best of the best.

The leaders asked Randy why Keilie had a car.  When he told them that they usually did a Daddy/Daughter Pinewood Derby in Casper, they looked a bit crestfallen, thinking they had come up with something unique.  We may have done something similar before, but look at these "medals"!  Adorable!!!  I'd say it was an absolute hit!!  My kids are just like me...

They love doing projects with Randy!

CONGRATULATIONS, SHELBY!!

Slave

Before family prayer tonight, we decided to have an impromptu I Love You Because... session.  Keilie started by going around our family circle, telling each of us one thing that she loved about us.  There were some good things said, enough to make every person feel valued and "seen" in our family.  My favorite one was given to me, from Tyson (Oh, excuse me, Tysin).  It was said in the most serious of tones, no jest in his sentiments or statement delivery.

"Mom, I love that you are the slave of the family."

Also, each of the boys in the family said they loved me because I was pretty.

I am one cherished, beautiful slave.

Proof

This was shoved under our door this morning, first thing. Look closely and you'll see it. Who is it From?

Incentives

Do you know those times when you are so very, very desperate that you practically promise the moon to get what you want? We got that desperate with Shelby and her thumb sucking. We kind of stopped caring during cancer care, knowing that was a comfort for her. Had we known, we would have kept at it- it exploded from occasionally to a near-constant in the aftermath. Honestly, we were embarrassed for her, but our main concern was her teeth. With both Randy and I having horrendous, nappy teeth as kids, braces were in the cards for our kids from the get-go. However, Shelby's teeth were coming in straight, it was her habit that was pulling them forward. So we blindly offered her many, many different incentives to induce her own determination to quit, including...

a brand new bike! {That we may have forgotten we offered, but was kindly reminded by Shelby. And the other kids. And probably the neighbor girl.  And her dog.} As an added bonus- This bike was waiting for her on the day she lost the money for Caleb. She walked in to our garage (after Randy asked her to do something for him) and found a new, turquoise bike with gears (that was exactly what she wrote on her Christmas Wish List) waiting for her. I'm pretty sure it was bathed in light from a softly glowing halo. Angels may have began a heavenly chorus before her squeals of delight were heard from down the street.  It was the perfect thing to take her mind off of her troubles.

It was a well-timed reminder to our other kids that if we offer something for hard work, and they accomplish their goal (and remind us of our incentive), we will pay up. Always.

 It works the other way too:

Tyson: "Mom, I just wanted to remind you that you said Shelby had to go to bed 10 minutes early today for screaming in my ear."

Goodnight!

Team Caleb!

Last week we got some news that has been harder for me to take than I would have thought possible.  It's sad news, but it has brought me pretty low a few times, since.  A little boy in first grade at the kids' elementary was diagnosed with cancer in September.  White Bluffs Elementary is doing a fundraiser to help support them.  I would love to say that the moment I got the news I put together a care package, but the truth is this: I wanted to run.  My hands began to shake, my breathing accelerated, and my head became faint.  I have been doing fairly well with my PTSD stuff for the past few weeks, but this was too much.  It felt too close to home, and too close to our own story. 

Caleb is the same age as Tyson.  While he does not have the same diagnosis as Caden, he does have a Sarcoma- he will see the same doctors that we know and have come to love (isn't it weird that friendships can be formed under such circumstances?!).  A school that Caden never attended, but that all others have and do, is once again stepping up to the plate, giving their all to support one of their own.  And though their child was not flown to Seattle Children's with internal bleeding that needed to be stopped now, I knew the roads they were driving to get that diagnosis.  Oh, how I hate that drive.  And my first emotion was not empathy (like I thought it would be), but anxiety.

Just as our own story, the first few days were super hard.  As time went on, it was a bit easier to cope.  We had to adapt in order to stay sane.  That is how it has been for me, with this.  As time goes on, as it comes to my mind multiple times in a day, I am now ready to reach out and help in any way that I can.  Because I know a little of what they are going through.  I know a little of what is to come.  I know the halls they will travel.  I know too much about something that I wish could stay taboo to all.  I know... and it breaks my heart.

White Bluffs Elementary is selling rubber bracelets as one form of fundraiser for him.  I gave Shelby $10.00 to purchase four bracelets yesterday, eager to wear mine with pride around town.  When Shelby got to our car after school yesterday, it was not excitement I saw, but tears.

"I lost the money!  I lost the money to help him!  He has cancer and I lost the money!!!"

She was beyond bawling by this time.  As I pulled her into my arms, I felt a slight shake in her body.  She was completely overcome.  And I remembered the little girl that had to see her older brother so sick.  I remembered the little girl that would hug me tight, not wanting to let me go.  I remember the little girl that I would catch sucking her thumb in the corner, looking off into space.  I had forgotten.  She has hidden that girl behind intense Taekwondo practice, the determined girl that no longer sucks her thumb, and the sweet little Shelby that has never changed- the one that has the infection giggle and effervescent personality.  I forget that she was affected, too.

We have talked about our plan of action.  Our entire family is going to reach out.  We have a plan in motion, one that will unite us in a common purpose once more.  Only this time, our unity will be to bless the lives of someone we don't know, someone that needs our support, someone that needs our particular brand of love.

Because just like this beautiful plaque Kimberly gave me for my birthday says: Our family is a circle of LOVE.  Our circle is strengthened together.  We are unbreakable! 

We can't cure their sorrows, but we can lend some of our strong love.

Wish Lists

Caden printed off Christmas List papers for each of the kids this morning. We do the four gift ideas: What I want, What I need, What I'll wear, What I'll read. 

Tyson's need includes:

"To lrn how to rEd."

Translation: To learn how to read. 

Cutie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keilie's Stocking Stuffer list includes words I can not comprehend. I need help understanding them. Can you help me?

"Not a lot of chocolate."

Do you understand them? Is she even speaking English?!?! I think not. Surely she is not feeling well. I'm calling the doctor now. She is delirious!! My poor baby!!!!

Flute Funnies

 I was asked to be part of a choir that began just five years ago with 8 women and now has more than 100.  They take part in many different venues around the Tri-Cities throughout the Christmas season, joining many in their praises of The Christ Child's birth.  I was asked to be their flutist, something that I have rarely done in the 17 years since my Junior year of High School- the year I quit the band.  In fact, I believe I have only played five times since.  I was super pumped...until I heard I was going to be playing a duet.  Say what now?

It is so nice to be able to hide behind my flute.  It is quite like riding a bike.  I practice for a few weeks conditioning my lips/cheeks and lungs, working to make my sound match that of the piano, and then play a three minute song while many others sing.  Easy Peasy.  However, this time there will be a harp (instead of a piano) and another flute to match pitch to.  The anxiety is upped a bit.  You mean I have to play with someone that has been playing their flute for years and years?  What if I suck?  What if I suck bad?  What if I bring her sound down?  What if she wishes they never would have asked me?  What if I have to face the friend that asked me, seeing the disappointment on her face?  How will I ever have the guts to play again?  These were the thoughts of my battered, depressed brain after a lifetime of low self esteem.  So, when the other flutist asked to get together this morning, I hesitantly jumped at the chance to compare my skill with hers.  And you know what?... It was awesome!  We compliment each other perfectly.  Our skills are evenly matched.  I look forward to the multiple concerts that I am privileged to be a part of in the coming weeks.

I love seeing my children in situations where they can show their skills.  I love watching them struggle to master something, and then amaze everyone (even themselves) when their performance was better than they imagined it would or could be.  Today, I got to feel that for myself.  I practiced a ton this week, readied myself this morning (remember our bathroom mirror statement: I am Good enough, I am Smart enough, and people really like me), went into the "ring," gave it my all, and came out very pleased with my performance. We are going to rock that song! I'm am excited that my kids will have a chance to see me show my skills.  Outside of my usual laundry/organization/cooking prowess, that is!

Now...if they would only begin a Mother's Marching Band...that, that would be awesome!

Change of Mind

I was just a baby when my Dad was diagnosed with cancer.  35 years and four additional daughters later, he is still cancer free.  I've said it before: My Dad is a miracle.  I have personal, living proof that cancer does not take everyone.  That someone that has had cancer can live a full, meaningful, wonderful life.

And yet...

Why do I feel dread thinking of the next five years of scans?  Why do I have it in my head that someday soon we will be headed back to cancer care?  Why do I hope for milestones in his life, still watching closely to everything he does?  Why do I still have such a pull to keep my kids super close?  I think it has something to do with the 3mm tumor that we found on his lungs.  Unlike my Dad, Caden's cancer has come back. 

How do I change my mind?  How do I change the "Probably" to "Probably not"?   I guess it will be the same answer as it is to many different questions: Time.

I have another personal, living example that brings me hope: My Mom.  Not only did she witness her best friend and Eternal Companion suffer greatly then struggle to recover, she has since buried a child, and mother, and been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 55 (after a heinous year of misdiagnosed Type 2).  And yet, through it all, she is the most generous, grateful person I know.

I have been blessed with wonderful parents, grandparents, in-laws, and children.  With an entire family, really!  I am the luckiest person I know.  But, in all honesty, I wish I could change my mind.  I would never wish to have the trial of Caden's cancer erased, but I would love to stop my mind from the thoughts, emotions, and memories that continue to cause me pain.  I've said it before:

Cancer Sucks.

Marriage Proposal

"Mommy, if Dad dies can it be me that gets to marry you?"

I love that he still loves me like this.  Does it get any better than this?  I think not.  Six, and yet still so, so sweet.

Orange Belt

 October 30, 2015

If you think it looks like a lot of people testing for graduated belts, imagine what it was like trying to cram family and friends to watch.  It was crowded.  And hot.  With far too few seats.

But energy enough to run a power plant for a month and a half.

 Their instructor is the one in front of the American flag, Mr. Eric Roach.

 It was pretty crazy how many were there to test.  We thought he would have realized when all of the paperwork came in, but he was pretty surprised come test time.  I think he will be better prepared this months' testing.

 The paperwork that is required needs to be signed by both family and school teachers, letting the instructor know areas of success and improvement needed.  He likes these to be turned in a couple of days in advance.  One thing that really kind of bother me was that he was accepting paperwork directly before the testing began.  If that is how it is, Caden could have tested in September.  With all of the Eagle preparations, we lost track of time and didn't get them turned in on time.  Oh well, at least I know that we followed the rules.  It's also nice that they all tested together.  However, if Caden is asked to test out of Orange belt before the other kids, he's going to.  He has held back for both White and Yellow.  Not again.  He is ready to advance!

Shelby is still intense.  She is a fierce little fighter.  She will do well.

 Brennon took a few times to break his board.  They had to stand at "guarding stance," twist and look behind them, and then back kick the board in half.  Where Caden and Shelby were able to do it on their first try, Brennon took a few tries.  He just kept getting so excited to twist, that many times he lost his footing and fell over.  And the giggles that came from that boy the first time it happened made the whole room laugh.  And then he put on his determined face and got to work kicking that board in half.  It's so fun seeing him doing well in the sport he introduced to all of our kids.

Tyson was such a rockstar.  I'm not 100% certain that he was the youngest one there, but I know he was one of them.  He needs to continue to review the Yellow Belt kicks, but other than that, did such a great job for his age.  He is getting better at focusing on himself, and not watching the other kids (which would really mess him up a few months ago).  He astounds people by being so small, yet remembering the moves and knowing the Korean words that he needs to know.  His size does not hold him back.

Surprise, surprise: Keilie is ready to start!!  She begins tomorrow with her White Belt.  I would love to see her progress and catch up to her brothers and sister.  It would be a dream to see them all perform in the same class, or at the same belt testing.  For now...

I am the proud mom of these high-kicking, ninja warriors.

Mispronounced and Misspelled

Tyson has been on this kick recently that we spelled his name wrong. 

"Mom, people call me Ty(Sin), not Ty(Son)."

Recently we have seen this on his homework.

TYS O IN or just plain, old TYSIN.

Heaven Help Me!  Maybe we should have stuck with Hyrum.

Pumpkins

Let's face it: there are some things we do for our kids that we absolutely loathe.  Dying Easter eggs is one.  Taking gifts from their boxes (with all of their twisties, hard-plastic, and plastic fasteners) Christmas morning is one.  Taking them all to Walmart around snack time is one.  Carving pumpkins is another. 

I was hoping that our kids would kind of forget about their love of carving.  As with many things, they can't do a majority of it by themselves, we adults have to kind of take over.  And just like most years, they wanted us to do almost every bit of it.  I hate to admit it, but I waited until the last possible second to even buy the pumpkins.  I just really did not want to do it.  But, like every year, it is fun to have the pictures. 

 Look at the monster that Shelby got.  It turned out to be a dud.  No matter how sharp the blade, we could not carve her pumpkin.  It was fun seeing her eyes light up as she told people that the largest pumpkin was hers.

 I did not get a picture of Brennon or Tyson gutting theirs, I was upstairs trying to find the templates that each child wanted.  It wouldn't have mattered, though.  Randy was the one that was volunteered to do it for them.

 Brennon wanted an easy face for his.  We looked through many different templates and found the one that he said was easy and scary.

 Keilie wanted something easy, as well.  She decided on a dolphin- her favorite animal this month.  It turns out that choosing an easy template was a good thing.  Like Shelby's, hers was super hard to carve, too.  Last time I will buy from Queensgate Gardens!

 Shelby wanted a bat. 

 Caden wanted a spider, making sure that I knew that it wasn't to signify Spiderman, but that he just wanted a spider.  He hated the eight spindly legs by the end.  Tough Pumpkins are hard.  {Get it?!}

I didn't get a good picture of Tyson's, because he needed too much help.  With Randy helping the other kids, I was asked to help him.  Hence, no pictures.  Good thing his was the easiest of them all.

 Alternate tools were brought out to make the perfect circles.  Randy's idea, of course.

You can see the mess it made, but look at those circles!!  The Right is larger than the Left, so you know more than one bit was used.  Perfectionism at it's finest, ladies and gentleman.  

Heaven Forbid the eyes be symmetrical!

 Shelby volunteered to clean up all of the guts.  Love that little sweetheart.  Through all of this, I didn't have to dirty my hands one time.  Payback for taking them all to Walmart during snack time, purchasing pumpkins after going to multiple stores, and carving pumpkins at all.

It still generated quite a mess.  I didn't have time to get a picture of the floor before Randy had the broom out.  It was a big-time mess!

 Tyson wanted his to be a Minecraft Creeper- the costume that he chose for this year.

It's no surprise that these two finished first.  They had the most adult help, and their pumpkins were chosen from their field trips to local patches.  Since they are required to be able to carry their own, they are the ones that got the smaller pumpkins this year.

Once we realized that Shelby's pumpkin was too dense, we used The Tone and told her it would be awesome if she made a bunch of holes in hers- making a starry night.  She was super excited to help with the drill.  Goodbye bats- hello drill bits.  She needed multiple sizes, of course

I forgot to take pictures of Caden, Keilie, and Shelby next to theirs!  As soon as they were done, we set them to work.  There was pumpkin mess all.over.the.house!  I also didn't get them at night, all lit up.  It was raining pretty hard yesterday.  Good thing we had orange and black ponchos!

While carving, our neighbor brought over fresh, warm caramel apples.  We may have questioned our choice of this house...until now.  Just kidding- we have never questioned our choice...it just got a whole lot sweeter.  

{Man, I am a dork!  I just can't help myself.}