I Need to Vent

Alright, this post is primarily for venting purposes.....  It may be wise to take into consideration that I am pregnant, and therefore, hormonal.  Forgive me if I'm over reacting.  Anyway, it is no secret that my boys love to run (FAST), are great climbers, and are pretty good little escape artists when they want to be.  Fortunately, Darren has FINALLY outgrown the running away stage.  However, Joseph is right at the peak of it (at least I hope it's the peak!).  Anyway, there were a couple times just within this last week that I just wanted to cry and scream at the world/society (okay, I actually did, but within the walls of my own home - and now on here). 

Incident #1:  Earlier this week, we were getting ready to take Darren to school, and I had a bunch of errands to run after.  My arms were VERY full with everything I needed that day.  Before I opened the front door (which I could barely do) I gave the boys VERY CLEAR instructions to go directly to the car, climb in, and start working on their seat belts while I unloaded my arms. Usually, they listen to those instructions, because they both like going places.  However, this morning was different.  Joseph ran around to his side of the car like normal, but instead of opening the door and getting in, he took off running as fast as he could go.  This might be a good time to mention that my neighbor 2 doors down was standing in her driveway talking to a friend, both were facing our direction, and watching our every move.  Also, my next door neighbor was outside smoking - also watching things unfold. 

As soon as I realized that Joseph was not going to get in the truck right away, I akwardly opened the door as fast as I could, and literally just threw everything in.  It's a good thing Darren wasn't in yet, or he would have been hit with something for sure.  Then I took off running after Joseph, who already had a pretty good lead on me.  This whole time, I'm calling (shouting) for him to stop, and come back, which actually just made him run faster.  I couldn't catch up to him 'til he was almost a whole block away.  I caught him in the knick of time, too, as there was a car backing out of their driveway (obviously didn't see him) just a few short feet away with no intention of stopping.  Probably needless to say, I was a bit of a wreck, with my heart POUNDING like crazy.  I was also pretty upset that there were THREE people just 2 steps away from his path, saw the whole thing and NOT ONE even batted an eyelash.  All it would have taken was for ONE of them to bend over a little and grab him, or take 2 little steps sideways to block his path, which would have at least slowed him down.  I should make it clear that I DO NOT expect others to do my parenting responsibilities for me, but come on!  Everyone can use a helping hand once in a while.  If I was an observer to a similar event, I would have TOTALLY tried to stop the kid for the Mom.  Isn't that the decent thing to do... the RIGHT thing to do?  What would you do?

Incident #2:  Today was a GEORGOUS day outside, and of course the boys wanted to play in the backyard.  So, we all put our shoes on, and got ready to go outside.  Before we went out, I reminded them of the backyard rules (stay away from water faucet, try to keep all balls in our yard, no climbing the fence, keep the gate closed, no throwing gravel).  I also reminded them of the consequence of breaking any of those rules (have to go in - no more outside).  So, we were all happy - Darren wanted to do a little soccer scrimmage with me, Joseph wanted to go down the slide.  Perfect!!  After awhile, the boys had migrated to digging in the gravel next to our house, and Darren suddenly had something he wanted to show me. 

In the 10 seconds of attention I gave to Darren, Joseph had silently slipped around the corner of the house, and climbed up and over our chainlink fence.  (I'm tellin' ya, this kid is FAST!!)  By the time I got over to that section of fence, he had already started off in a sprint.  The gate has a lock on it, and would have taken way too much valuable time to unlock it, so I hurdled that fence as fast as I could (not a pretty sight to see a pregnant woman jumping a fence).  My flip flop got caught on the way down, and I totally fell on my face and skinned my knee pretty good.  By this point, Joseph was already out IN THE STREET, so I just jumped up, sore, slightly bloody knee and all, and of course chased after him as fast as I could go.  Once again, he got nearly a block away (opposite direction) before I was able to catch up to him.  Fortunately, there were no cars this time, but once again, all the neighbors were outside, and saw the whole thing.  This time though, Joseph's path made it totally impractical for any of them to intervene.  However, the looks I received from nearly all of them, were anything but kind.  Every face I saw had a harsh, cold, judgemental expression on it.  I felt SOOOO embarrassed and humiliated.  Why do people have to be like that?  I certainly don't want any sort of a pity party (NOooo, THANK YOU!), but just ONE short, simple, understanding smile would have gone a very, very long way!

I should add that on BOTH occasions, Darren remained perfectly obedient, and stayed right where he should have.  That's HUGE for him - a year ago, that would not have been the case. 

Now, lest you think Joseph is this insane, difficult, sneaky child, let me tell you of some of his other qualities.  He is the snuggliest, cuddliest kid I know.  I seriously get about an hour of just snuggle time with him most every day.  He is very observant and sensitive to the feelings of those around him.  If someone he knows gets hurt or is sad, he is the first one there to hug and kiss them until it's all better.  He's also a great little helper.  When he sees people working, cleaning, picking up, he frequently just joins right in without being asked.  He's also great at sharing - even treats like an ice cream cone or sucker.  Joseph is such a loveable kid, and is usually pretty laid back and easy going.  I just love him!! 

Anyway, I feel better now.  I really had to get that off my chest; it's been bugging me all day (probably mostly hormones).  Thank you for "listening."

Homesick

Lately, I've been homesick.  Not for people, but for nature.  I grew up in a city, but in just a few minutes drive, we could be on hilly country roads, headed toward the mountains.  At the time, we lived in Salem, Oregon.  If you've ever been to the Northwest, you know just how green and lush it is.  Paradise (if you can handle the rain).  As a teenager, we moved to Utah, where there are mountains all around, and many opportunities to go hiking.  In fact, the summer Matt and I started dating, I had made a goal to go hiking in the mountains at least once a week, all summer long.  I accomplished that goal!  I even carried it over into the fall a little bit.  Hikes in the mountains when all the leaves are changing colors, it absolutely gorgeous!!  Towards the end of the summer, Matt and I tested our stamina by hiking Mt. Timpanogas.  I'm pleased to say we both made it to the very top, and back down, and loved it.  During that summer, I saw some very beautiful scenery, and gained a great appreciation for nature.

Matt's first official duty station was at McChord AFB, in Washington.  I felt like I had gone home to my childhood.  While we were there, Matt and I would just spontaneously pack up the car and head into the mountains to go camping and of course, hiking.  When the weather was good (summer) we would go at least once a month.  We had our most frequently visited campgrounds, and our favorites.  Unfortunately, our favorite - on Mt. Rainier, was destroyed by a mud slide, and is no longer there.  :(  The everyday drive to our house was lined with luscious green trees, and was just beautiful.

Then, in Alaska, there is so much wide open space, the biggest mountains I have ever seen, and unbelievable scenery - largely untouched by man.  Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 summers we were there, I was in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy, and in no condition to be doing any hiking/camping.  Even though pregnancy made it a bit tougher to keep with our traditions, I still fell in love with all the natural beauty.  I cannot even begin to describe the breathtakingly beautiful scenery we were blessed to enjoy nearly every day.  We had a forest behind our house (kind of), and woke up to looking at a beautiful tree line every day.  We could see the Alaska Mountain Range in the distance, and the drive to get there is simply gorgeous. 

Now, we live in Florida.  It is totally flat here, with palm trees everywhere.  There are no rolling hills to give you a different view of things, I have yet to find a decent hiking trail, and there really isn't anywhere to just go for a drive, escape traffic, people, life, etc.  Florida is pretty in it's own way, it's just totally different from everywhere else I have lived. 

I am homesick for lush greenery, tons of trees that actually provide shade, mountains, little babbling brooks, and just being able to go on a drive to just enjoy nature.  While we have made some really great, close friends here, I long for the day that we can enjoy mountains and hiking again.   Here are some of my favorite pictures of our adventures in nature. 


Fishing Trip

 Same fishing trip, a little different spot

Just out for a drive

This was our back yard

 Hiking

Out on another drive

We took this the first week we were in Alaska - this is on base.

 Our backyard

Spotlight Time!

At church, we have a monthly newsletter for all the women.  In that newsletter, there is usually one person that is spotlighted.  Well, for the month of February, that person is me!  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share what was asked/said about me.  So, if you're interested, here you go!

Birthplace: Provo, Utah

Other places you've lived: Oregon, Utah, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Texas, Washington, Alaska, Florida

Tell us about your family:   I am the middle of 3 kids, and have 2 brothers. At one point in time, I could wrestle my brothers (playing, of course) and have either one of them pinned and begging for mercy in about 3 seconds flat!  Good thing we're still good friends! :)

My family now consists of my amazing and wonderful hubby, Matt, of almost 9 years; Darren, our very energetic, yet loving 4 year old; Joseph, our very independent but snuggly 2 year old; and baby #3 who will make his grand entrance into this world around August 12th!  Yes, you read that right - I am 13 weeks pregnant with another boy!

A favorite childhood memory: Every summer my family would frequently go to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon (about 45 min. from our home in Salem), where we would hike around at least one of the seven waterfalls, have a picnic, play hide 'n' seek, launch my brother's model rockets, go on bike rides, or just enjoy being together as a family in a very beautiful place. I STILL love to go there when we go visit.

Jobs you have/had: The most difficult but also most rewarding job I've had (aside from motherhood) was being a CASA/Guardian ad litem for abused/neglected kids in the foster care system. I would frequently visit the kids on my case load, send in a report to the judge, then fight for what they needed in court.

A favorite t.v. show: Don't watch much TV - Most of it's not appropriate for my kids, and when they're in bed, I usually have too many other things to do.

Hobbies/Sports you enjoy: Back in the day, I was the 2nd fastest female sprinter on the track team. As some of you have observed, that old skill has come in quite handy in parenting my boys (though I'm not nearly as fast as I used to be)! I love hiking and camping in the mountains and trees - so refreshing! However, my true love is singing! I have had classical training, and have my AA degree in music. I love the adrenalin rush that comes from performing well a difficult piece(s) I've worked really hard on.

A favorite flower/plant: I love lillies and tulips

Favorite color: Blue - it's been my favorite color as long as I can remember.

Favorite Church songs: The Lord Is My Shepherd; In Humility, Our Savior; Love Is Spoken Here

Ideal vacation: ALASKA!!!! Oh, wait! That's where I want to live!  Really, I would LOVE to go on a vacation to England.  I've always been fascinated with that country.

Favorite sayings:

Home is where the Air Force sends us.

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. (not sure who said this, but my Mom has this hanging up in her house, and I adopted it.)

Share a scripture: I have 2 favorite scriptures:

Proverbs 3:5-6; Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understaning. In all thy ways acknowlede him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Moroni 7:33; And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.


Well, there you go.  Just a little bit of me in a nutshell.  Maybe you learned a something new....  maybe not!  Hope you enjoyed it either way!

The Sweetest Boys In the World - And They're Mine!!

I think I've mentioned on here before the great love my two little boys have for each other.  Anyway, I have a couple fresh stories that just make me melt. 

At our house, there is a rule that on the occasion that there's a dessert or treat, you have to eat all of your food -especially your vegetables if you want a treat.  So tonight there was a treat.  Darren did a great job of eating his food, including his salad (which he hates), so he got a treat.  Joseph did not finish his dinner, so no treat for him.  When Darren was given his treat (Darren LOVES sugar and usually devours any treat quickly), he broke it in half, gave half to Joseph and said, "Here Joseph, I'll share with you."  Technically, that's still against the rules, but how do you discourage your child from being so thoughtful and selfless?  Daddy let it slide.  Joseph had not asked Darren to share.  It was completely voluntary on Darren's part. 

The name Darren means "Great."  That's a large part of the reason we picked that name.  We knew before he was born that he was going to be a great kid.  He is living up to his name, and we are proud of him! 

In the last week, I have received two totally separate reports about Joseph being the sweetest kid in nursery (at church).  If there is ever a sad kid in there (realized Mom left, bonked head, whatever), apparently Joseph will go over to them, give them a hug, sometimes a kiss, and say "Is that better?"  or "Oh, I'm sorry that happened.  Are you okay?"  And then he'll stay right there until the other kid is happy again.  He is 27 months, and such a loving, affectionate kid.  At home, he frequently crawls up into my lap just because he wants to snuggle.  I call him my little snuggle bug - for good reason!  I love my little guy. 

This last weekend, we started a new tradition.  At least once a Christmas season, the whole family will sleep under the Christmas tree.  This last Friday night was that night.  It was the perfect Christmasy evening.  After dinner we went to a Bethlehem walk put on by the church that does Darren's preschool.  They had Roman soldiers guarding the entrance to "the city,"  a place to sign the census, an open market, basket weaving, wood working, pottery, live animals - the kids got to pet a lamb and a donkey, the inn, and of course the stable with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  It was pretty good.  When we were done, none of us felt like going home yet, so we drove around looking for Christmas lights.  We found several streets that were pretty well lit up, and we all had a good time enjoying them.  Joseph fell asleep in the car, and Darren almost did, so it made getting them to bed really easy (hence the perfect night to sleep under the tree).  ;)  Okay, Matt and I slept on the couch, so we weren't exactly next to the tree, but we were all in the same room as the tree and enjoyed the soft, beautiful light from it all night long.  Here are some pics....... 

 Joseph moves around a lot in his sleep... 

Peaceful and content...

These boys love to sleep next to each other, because they just love to be together.  Sometimes I wonder why they each have their own bed.  Hmmm!  When Darren is at school, Joseph frequently asks where he is, and gets excited when I tell him it's time to go get him.  Every time Darren goes somewhere, he always asks if Joseph gets to come too, and gets excited when the answer is "yes," which is most of the time.  When they say their prayers, they almost always pray for each other.  I love that these two boys are such great friends.  They do have their little squabbles and moments of sibling rivalry, just like everybody else, but they both get over it and forget about it quickly.  My boys (Matt too!) are my world, and I LOVE them so much! 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

After my last post, I need something a bit more light hearted, and not so gross.  This week, Darren has watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas"  a couple times.  He likes it.  A lot.  And apparently, a couple times through is all it takes for parts of it to be memorized.  Today in church, we sang "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and he was singing along really well.  I was impressed and pleased.  I wasn't aware he knew that song well enough to do that.  Anyway, at the end of the first verse (remember I'm still smiling to myself and proud of him), Darren LOUDLY blurted out, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!!" 

Just for the record, lecturing your child about reverence and appropriate behavior in church is NOT effective while attempting to contain your own laughter! 

Oh, how I love my little comedian/performer!  There's seldom a dull moment when he's around. 

A Load of Crap!

Today, the cost of me taking a shower was greater than what the shower was worth....  Usually, the boys just play in their room, and come up with all kinds of imaginary things to do- sometimes they empty their dresser in the process, but they use their minds and get along pretty well so I can't complain TOO much.  Many times, it makes me smile with the things they come up with.  Well, this morning was quite the exception.  The boys must have heard me coming, 'cause as I headed down the hall to their room, trying to anticipate what creativity they had come up with, I hear Darren shout out:  "Mom, Joseph pooped!"  He's been potty training the last couple weeks, so my little bottle of spot cleaner has frequently been seen in my hands.  I just about made a detour to go grab it, but decided to see "just how bad" it was first.  I was NOT prepared for what I saw.......

 

The pictures don't do it justice, but Joseph had pooped alright!  In fact, he was naked, smiling - quite proud of himself, and covered from head to toe.  Seriously.  I'm not exaggurating!  It was in his hair, on his face, between his toes, all over his hands, and everywhere in between.  His room didn't fare much better....  I wanted to throw up!  How can so much poop come from 1 little (adorable?) 2 year old?!   It was so gross.  Poor Darren was hanging out in the closet (fully clothed and clean), because he didn't want any to end up on him - smart boy!  He only came out when I offered to help guide him through the maze of poopy prints all over the floor.  I think he wanted to throw up too, and was actually fairly upset that Joseph had made such a stinky, disgusting mess in his room (the boys share a room).  It probably could go without saying, but Joseph was immediately wisked off to a bath.  While bathing Joseph (still wanting to puke)  Matt came home from PT.  Darren immediately told him all about the mess, so naturally, he came upstairs to investigate.  He was a bit speechless too!  While I finished up with Joseph, Matt called his supervisor to say he wasn't going to be back to work on time, and got busy with the clean up (what a great guy!).  I was not expecting that reaction from Matt, but I was really grateful to not have to clean it up by myself!  We borrowed a carpet steam cleaner (thank you, Jessica), and Matt went to town.   

A couple hours later, their room looked and smelled MUCH better!  I'm really grateful for a sanitary cycle on my washer (did I mention there was feces on their bedding, too?), so I can feel confident that everything got truly cleaned.  The boys now have freshly cleaned sheets, blankets, and pillows, sanitzed furniture, walls, blinds, and windows.  When Matt got home from work tonight, he steamed the carpet again, to be double sure we got all the nastiness out.  I think it's safe to say that the boys now have the cleanest room in the house.  I wonder how long it will stay that way?.....  At least 10 hours - while they're sleeping!  

The First of Many......

This week we received Darren's very first school pictures!   He is in preschool this year, and LOVING it!  He's the youngest kid in his class by about 6 months, but he seems to doing pretty well and keeping up.  His teacher always (well, almost always) has positive things to say about him.  Of course, that makes a Mom proud!  My boy is growing up.  So far, he has learned to identify all of his letters and numbers, and can spell/write his name!  He is much better at following instructions, and using his words to tell what he's feeling.  He is a good friend to those around him, and loves to make other people smile and laugh. 

I peeked into his class one day, and watched for a minute - Darren was oblivious to my presence.  The kids were sitting on the floor in a circle singing a song about the colors each of them were wearing.  When it was a specific child's turn, they got to go to the front and jump, dance, or whatever (most just jumped), while their friends sang about them.  On Darren's turn.... he jumped, flapped his arms like a bird, spun in circles, etc. and REALLY hammed it up!  His friends were pointing and laughing so hard, they could barely sing the song.  His teacher was even cracking up!  Darren was quite pleased with his little "performance" based on the HUGE grin he had on his face!  I should also insert here that when his turn was over, he went right back to his place on the floor and remained on task!  I was pleased with that.  He is obviously developing a love of performing.  For show and tell a couple weeks ago (topic: letter O), HE chose to sing "Once There Was A Snowman" in front of his whole class.  There is one other little girl in his class that we know from church, and he had her sing with him.  They were so brave, and the teachers were impressed!  Tomorrow, his class is putting on a little Thanksgiving program, and he has been so excited about it, he has taught Joseph the songs, and sings them all day.  And, he's excited to dress up like a turkey.  I can't wait to see it!   

So, back to my original topic.... school pictures.  While I think his picture is a bit washed out (not sure if it's the lighting, or the fair skin/toe head blonde, light colored shirt against a white background issue), I think the photographer did an excellent job of capturing Darren's fun-loving, energetic, happy personality.  I will say the actual print is not quite as washed out, so looks better - I used our scanner to get this on the computer. 

Here is his class picture....

I love my fun, sweet, daring Darren!