Weekly Updates

Friday Russ's mom sent an email asking her kids to come and see their grandmother before she passes away. A hour and a half after Russ and I talked he was on a plane. He is still there now. We love Grandma Delemarter and are inspired by her strength and love that she has for her faith and her family.

This week Savannah had two boys tell her that they wanted to marry her. She said one was a bad boy and  one wasn't. A few days later she told me that the boys had changed their minds. When I asked her how she felt about this she said, "Relieved," It was all I could do to not laugh.

Also this week Abbie had a boy tell her that he loved her "a million times." She was a little excited at this news. Hmmm.......

Nathan is obsessing about the cars from the movie, Cars. He has several books that he loves to go through and identify each character. He carries the little cars with him wherever he goes.

Savanah spent a good part of Saturday making a puppet stage out of a cardboard box, making puppets and getting the lighting just right. Abbie joined her and together they put on quite a puppet show.

Nathan wanted to photo bomb while I was trying to take a picture of them.

Weekly Updates

We are pretty low key Easter people. We talk a lot about the meaning and the purpose but as far as candy, bunny and baskets go, we participate but to a small degree. Needless to say, this is a disappointment to some members of our family. Thankfully, they have grandma who loves chocolate.

Last week was Abbie's perfect week. We had a ward lip sync in which the primary (Abbie) got to perform "What Does the Fox Say?",  she had a field trip to the Natural History Museum, she had a birthday party. In order to prepare her for the week we had talked about the need to get her homework done early and not complain. I made a big deal about learning to work first, then play. (Not that this always needs to be the case, but some kids.....need that lesson particularly strongly these days). Abbie went to school on Monday.....and there were no spelling words for the week. Spelling practice makes up the bulk of Abbie's homework. However, at the end of the week, when asked what the best part was she replied that while she was on her field trip, there was an earthquake drill, and she missed it.

Speaking of the lip sync, here is the primary performing. My favorite is my friend who is leading them. That girl has moves.

Savannah's highlight of the week was a special trip to the zoo with cousins. Russ's brothers' and sister's kids both had spring break this week so his sister came up from Las Vegas and we met them and his brother's family at the zoo. Savannah had a great time getting to know her Vegas cousins and sharing with them her latest jokes. Unfortunately, the zoo trip was while Abbie was at school , so it was a good thing she had all of the other activities during the week.

Russ's Grandma Delemarter's health has been declining rapidly the last few weeks. She is such an amazing woman that is dearly loved by all who know her.

Nathan and I have a daily game. It is who can grab the breakable items out of the dishwasher first while emptying it. Nathan is a cheerful competitor while I am deadly serious, by which I mean I often cheat and try to get a head start before he notices the game has begun. Unfortunately as soon as I begin he is at my side 'helping' every step of the way.....He is also this way with sorting laundry, but laundry is not breakable.

Weekly Updates

Savannah Updates

This week Savannah got an ant farm. Technically, she got it before our vacation but this week the ants arrived via the mailman. Savannah loves insects. Even though it is too early for most bugs to be out she has spent the better part of the nice days looking for bugs and captured a ladybug and Box Elder bug in her efforts. I love her dedication and passion. Needless to say, the ant farm has been greatly loved. She has it right by her bed so she can watch it before she falls asleep and then it moves to the kitchen table during breakfast so she can assess the progress though the night. Savannah took the ant farm to school and her teacher was so impressed with it that she said she would be buying one for the classroom when she got home from work that day!

Savannah's Kindergarten Report Card 3rd Quarter- Savannah is simply a great kid. She is the sweetest, most considerate, smart child. I absolutely love Savannah being in my class and I find her so entertaining.


Abbie Updates

This week Abbie came home from school as the Classroom Student of the Month for April! Each month the teachers pick a different character trait and the student of the month is the student who most embodies that trait. This month's trait was Trust, and her teacher picked Abbie. I don't know the other kids in her class, but I know this is a wise choice because one of Abbie's many character traits is strong integrity and a desire to do what is right. I have known from the time she was small that I could always trust her. I'm just so grateful to see her teacher sees it too.

Another fun update for Abbie this week is that she finished painting this fish in her art class. She is so blessed to have such a fun talent.

Abbie's 2nd Grade Report Card - Abbie has really developed her confidence and resilience over the past quarter. She contributes regularly to class conversations and is able to articulate her ideas in a very mature fashion.

Nathan Updates

This story didn't happen this week, but needs to be recorded. A few weeks ago, we were all talking in the basement after dinner. Nathan had gone upstairs and was being quite so we, unwisely, decided to ignore it. After awhile we went upstairs to see that Nathan had climbed up to the table and was eating cold macaroni and cheese straight out of the pot with his hands. Silly boy.

 In the mornings Nathan wakes up quite early...earlier than I want to be up. So often I will get Nathan and bring him into bed with me with his sippy cup, while Russ is getting ready for work. We have an entire routine where we cuddle, and hold hands, and Saturday, miraculously we both were able to fall back asleep!

Southern Sabbatical

A couple times a year we go on a family vacation down south to where the weather is supposed to be warm. It was spring break around here so we headed out. The weather forcast promised weather in the upper 70s and we packed accordingly.

Unfortunately for our vacation, too many people around us are praying for rain, snow, and an end to a massive drought. Because the forcast changed dramatically.....after we had left with only one sweat shirt and pair of pants a piece for a week.

Thankfully....you can re-wear sweatshirts a lot and most of the rain wasn't exactly on us...just around us.

So ....we finished our drive

And we enjoyed hiking to the second of the Emerald Pools at Zion National Park. (The enjoying part of hiking is new for some members of our family this year, and was one of my happiest moments.)

We played in the sand.

We flew a kite. (This was a new activity, and one we all enjoyed.)

The girls played with mom's camera.

And we did a girls only hike to the top of the Petrified Dunes. (Once again, hiking was an enjoyed activity. Yes, I am beating this very dead horse, but the years I have put in to get certain members of my family to enjoy hiking finally, finally paid off, and I am going to bask in the joy of it.)

And Dad and Nathan bonded.

For anyone who reads this, you know that these trips are an annual or semi-annual occasion for our family, for which we are very, very  grateful. We don't do much different than we do on previous trips but it is so fun to step away from it all and just enjoy time together as a family.

Return to Normal Life

This week was supposed to be my week to catch-up. My week to return to the natural groove and just get into the flow.

But then there was my epic failure to celebrate St. Patrick's day with enough enthusiasm to satisfy my children. Green milk wasn't nearly enough when the leprechauns visit their classmate's homes. The fallout has lasted for days. Unfortunately, this mom sees no need to add extra candy/make believe characters to her children's holiday calendar.  May my children survive.

Then there were our political party caucus meetings, wherein I was seeking to become a more involved citizen of my country and ended up wishing there were more involved citizens of our country.

Then there was the church Relief Society social that overlapped with my daughter's friend's birthday party. So just as the speaker began what turned out to be a very inspirational and uplifting message, I had to run and pick her up. I returned to the church...just as she was finishing her remarks. At least everyone else was uplifted.

Then there was a surprise double date with my husband and neighbors. Wherein I felt normal in the chaos and tried three new Indian dishes.

Then there was dinner with our family and another friend's who are in town from Belgium. Wherein, Nathan learned how to crawl all over the benches of a nice restaurant and did not yet master the concept of whisper.

Then there was the Saturday wherein I sat down after my kids were in bed and realized it was the only times other than meals that I sat, the entire day.

Then there was today, wherein I realized that all this insanity, constant change and moving targets is my normal life...and I love it.

This Week's Highlights

Nathan

Nathan and I took a brisk morning walk around the zoo on Thursday. The highlight was the polar bear who, for whatever reason, spent the morning diving into the water and jumping out right next to the glass where the kids were standing, over and over again. Needless to say, it was a big hit.

Savannah

A few weeks ago Savannah missed out on the father-daughter symphony because she was sick. So on Saturday, Russ took her to a children's symphony entitled Tyrannosaurus Sue. They got to have a special lunch together and then raced over to Symphony Hall where they got to enjoy a mash up of the symphony and the natural history museum. Savannah drew pictures of the different instruments while they played and loved being in such a 'fancy' place, but I think her favorite part was getting special time with her dad.

Abbie

Back in January Russ took Savannah for a special father daughter ski day. I was still healing from my knee surgery, and unable to go, but he spent the day on the practice hill with her and by the end she was ready for the lifts.
Friday, was Abbie's turn...with mom. Abbie has already been skiing a fair number of times so we headed up the mountain for the afternoon. Abbie was amazing. She has all the basics down strong, but when she did fall (which was rare) she would laugh and get herself right back up. Her good attitude is a must for skiing. She really learned the terrain and by the end was willing to try a jump! We had a great time talking and laughing on the lift. It was a perfect day.

Mother's Intuition

Remember a few weeks ago when I dragged Savannah around down town with a 103 degree fever? Well the following week she developed a cough. In our house, coughing is like breakfast...if there isn't any, something weird is going on. So we started the inhaler and moved on. But the coughing got worse, and worse, and worse. She was exhausted by the end of every day and had a right to be, the bouts were long and frequent. But Gray coughs last for weeks on end so I kept sending her to school....and gymnastics.

Friday afternoon, she had a fever and was worn out (maybe from all the gymnastics). So Saturday we went to the doctor. No sounds in the lungs, oxygen levels fine. Okay, no worries. So she played with her siblings rested for the rest of the day and stayed home from church Sunday (with poor ear infected Nathan).

By Sunday afternoon she was running around with her cousins. So Monday morning, I felt like my 5-year-old had pulled one over on me and I sent her off to school, wallowing in tears. Monday afternoon she wanted to play with friends so I was confident I'd made the right decision sending her to school.  But by the time the friend came she was asleep on the couch and later that night the fever was back.

I had just taken her to the doctor.

I have spent hundreds of dollars in false-alarm doctor visits.

But, Nathan had his two-year check-up Tuesday so I dragged Savannah along, really embarrassed that I was taking her twice in three days. I think I mentioned that I was sure I was overreacting to the receptionist, the nurse, and the doctor....just to preempt them from thinking it first.

She had walking pneumonia.

They gave her the double round of antibiotics.


Yup....I've got that mother's intuition down.

Thankfully after 24 hours on the antibiotics I feel like I've got my sweet girl back that I haven't seen in weeks. I know there are many very good reasons to limit the use of antibiotics....but I sure am grateful for them.

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Bricks

Abbie was assigned to write a story based on the story, "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly."

This is her story...

There was an old lady who swallowed some bricks. I don't know why she swallowed the bricks but didn't get sick.

There was an old lady who swallowed some glue. she got the flu when she swallowed the glue. She swallowed the glue to glue on the bricks.I don't know why she swallowed the bricks but didn't get sick.

There was an old lady who swallowed a box. She found an ox when she swallowed the box. She swallowed the box to hold the glue. She swallowed the glue to glue on the bricks. I don't know why she swallowed the bricks but didn't get sick.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat. I don't know why she swallowed a cat. She swallowed the cat to smash the box.She swallowed the box to hold the glue. She swallowed the glue to glue on the bricks. I don't know why she swallowed the bricks but didn't get sick.

There was an old lady who swallowed a door. She didn't want more when she swallowed the door.She swallowed the door to smash the cat.She swallowed the cat to smash the box.She swallowed the box to hold the glue. She swallowed the glue to glue on the bricks. I don't know why she swallowed the bricks but didn't get sick.

There was an old lady who swallowed a tree. She found a bee when she swallowed the tree. She swallowed the tree to knock down the door. She swallowed the door to smash the cat.She swallowed the cat to smash the box.She swallowed the box to hold the glue. She swallowed the glue to glue on the bricks. I don't know why she swallowed the bricks but didn't get sick.

The little old lady went up to the hill of La La, and then she jumped three times and out popped an empty house.

By Abbie Gray

Sunday Updates (and Birthday Celebrations)

(I started writing this post Sunday...)

The best part about this week was Nathan turned two yesterday! Nathan is just a joyful kid. His smile just screams "I love you, and I bet you love me too!" He shares it with everyone; people at the grocery store, people at the park. It is so fun to see grouchy old men turn and smile at him because he has been smiling and waving hello at them. For his birthday we took him to the Air Force Base Museum. He was in heaven. He just kept saying over and over, "Bear-plane, bear-plane!" He has these amazing eagle eyes that can spot an airplane in the far distance so to have roomfuls of them just sitting around in front of him was almost more than he could stand. Nathan loves his family and while Russ is definitely his favorite, the girls and I still get a running hug if he hasn't seen us in a good hour or so. We love having Nathan in our home, and while he destroys most of what he gets his hands on, he does it with such a loving smile that we don't get (too) mad. My biggest worry right now is that he just learned how to climb out of his crib. I don't know how to deal with that one.

Sunday Updates

This week started with a four day weekend. Yes, a four-day weekend in February in the Rockies...where you can do nothing unless you can take your young kids skiing on a holiday weekend (Death wish). Everyone has cabin fever. Everything is too cold outside. And everyone is BORED!  So a friend and I decided to take the train downtown and visit the planetarium and playland at the mall. The kids had a blast at the planetarium running around the Martian and moonscapes.

Unfortunately after awhile Savannah was done. And tired. While waiting for the train to take us to the playland she kept complaining about being cold. It was very windy and she was very tired so I didn't worry, tried to comfort her, and we moved on. We went to the playland. We got lunch we explored some fountains. It was a long fun day. By the time we got home Savannah crashed on the couch.....only to wake up with a fever of 103. Yup, this mother-of-the-year dragged her poor 5-year-old around the city all day with a raging fever. Poor kid.

The saddest part for Savannah is that her fever was still high two days later and she missed out on the special father-daughter symphony that she and Abbie got for  Valentine's Day. It was a Harry Potter night (Abbie's latest craze.)  Abbie got to dress up fancy, go to Olive Garden for dinner, (I know....I know) and  then off to symphony hall. She, Russ, and her friend Hazel had a blast.

Thankfully, Savannah is going to go next month to a daytime children's symphony about dinosaurs, so I think it will work out in the end. I love that we live in a city where it is as cheap to take your kids to the symphony as it is to take them to a movie theater.

The best part of our week was that my brother Britton, came home for a visit from Australia. We haven't seen him since last summer and he is a favorite of all of his nieces and nephew. We spent the day with him and he endured climbing, teasing, and tickling like any good uncle should. We miss him a lot, but had a great time catching up.

Nathan is now banned by doctor and dentist....and reluctant parents, from taking a sippy cup of milk to bed. This has been going on for ten days. Ten long days. And ten long nights. I have learned not only that he loves his sippy cup, but also that he is one determined child. Today at the 'Uncle Britton Fest' he climbed out of the pack-and-play rather than take a sippy-less nap.