tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308107462024-02-20T02:34:30.523-07:00Life Upstreamlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.comBlogger238125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-20355082824703434812013-02-22T11:42:00.000-07:002013-02-22T11:42:03.426-07:00costa rica: day 6 (water and lightning)Remember that time back in 2011 that we went to Costa Rica? And I posted about the first half of the trip, but never got around to posting about the second? Probably you don't, but I do, and until I can clear the mental clutter from leaving that unfinished, I don't think I can blog anything else. And there is a lot of "else" to blog about. So I'm gonna crank this out. Here's a refresher on the first several days, just to put it in context:<br />
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Days 1 & 2: <a href="http://www.lifeupstream.blogspot.com/2011/09/costa-rica-days-1-2.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
Day 3: <a href="http://www.lifeupstream.blogspot.com/2011/10/costa-rica-day-3-happy-b-day-to-me.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
Days 4 & 5: <a href="http://www.lifeupstream.blogspot.com/2011/10/costa-rica-day-3-happy-b-day-to-me.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
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On our 6th day, we left the rain forest with some Costa Rican Oreos and milk on hand for the bumpy ride back to our hotel in Guanacaste. It was an adventure that included a few spilled cups of milk, let's just say that. Once back, we walked out of our hotel to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening playing in the sand and water. I look at these pictures and feel like this trip was just a dream. It was so perfect in every way.<br />
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I want to bring my family on every trip I take. Mostly because I love their company, but a tiny bit because I don't have to take care of my children :).<br />
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I am in love with this picture of Madeline and (a tiny, adorable) Pearl laughing at each other.<br />
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She's like, "Hey, does this nipple have milk?"<br />
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Loving her Papa, and leading him around like she's the boss. 'Cause she is.<br />
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Occasionally my family would allow John and I some time with our kids ;). Pea and I played in that glorious, toasty water.<br />
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And John helped George try out some boogie boarding, which he LOVED.<br />
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And only wiped out a few times.<br />
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But was even thrilled about that.<br />
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Pearlie in the sand while Daddy and George play in the ocean in the background.<br />
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Twede girls (minus me).<br />
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All my brothers and sisters riding the itty bitty waves. A thunderstorm rolled in that evening, but the waves never got very big. I was cool with that-- small waves make me happy.<br />
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My baby-est sister playing in the sand. She has a fierce combination of bright eyes and dark skin.<br />
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Of all my sisters, Rachel and I get told that we look alike most. Our baby pictures definitely show a pretty strong resemblance. And now people who know both Rachel and Pearl tell us that they think Pearl looks like Rach.<br />
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The empty beaches were one of the best parts of the whole trip.<br />
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And now, a billion pictures of a baby with a boogie board.<br />
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This might be the cutest ever. I love her tininess next to his tallness.<br />
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Girl knows where she wants to go.<br />
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As I mentioned earlier, a giant rain/thunderstorm rolled through that evening. It started pouring while we were playing in the ocean, and once we saw lightning we figured we should probably get out of the water. But it was so much fun to play in. Warm rain might be the most blissful thing on earth. This picture is blurry but I totally love it because you can get a feel for how awesome the storm was. My mom snapped this of John, Rachel, and me from the porch area of their hotel room.<br />
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George and Pearl eating Starbursts and watching the rain from the cover of the porch with Nenski while their parents were out running around in it.<br />
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As the sun started to set that night we realized that it was going to be a pretty show. John and I grabbed Pearl and the camera (George didn't want to come) and ran down to the beach.<br />
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This was the night that John just happened to snap this crazy cool picture of Pearl and I and lightning.<br />
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Yay, another day down! I'll be back.lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com104tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-44131295759252120532013-01-11T01:16:00.000-07:002013-01-11T01:16:00.740-07:00scenes and snapshots(I wrote the bulk of this over a month ago, but never got around to adding the photos and finishing it up. The pictures are from our outing to cut down our Christmas tree this year from a darling little tree farm just a couple of miles from our Oregon home.) <br />
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It's Saturday morning. The dishwasher is running, full of the plates from a big breakfast that John made. George is outside, perpetually playing with our neighbor, 5 year-old Kimari. Pearl is alternating between painting with watercolors upstairs (the dinosaur she painted this morning is <i>really</i> a work of art), whine-crying at the door because she wants to join her brother and his friend outside, and pulling books willy-nilly off the bookshelf. I'm sitting on the couch next to John, watching our New Team play football. It's a big game.<br />
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George just came in for a flash second to go potty, and I noticed that he was wearing his knight costume from Halloween. He and Kimari are probably playing some imaginative game where they fight off dragons and bad guys to protect their castle. John and Pearl are doing a puzzle together, and the way they converse really should be recorded because it all needs to be remembered: her sweet, tiiiny, perfectly annunciated voice ("How 'bout this piece, Dada? Where should I put this giant piece?"), her oreo-covered face because she asked for a treat after she went poop in the potty earlier, John's patient, adoring way with her.<br />
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These are the scenes of my life. I thought things might be harder by now. I thought living away from our families and friends and comforts might really make us sad. I thought I might be lonely and feel isolated without my go-to people a short drive away. I'm not saying I haven't missed people, and I'm not saying I haven't felt sad or lonely a couple of times. I also am not naive enough to think that those feelings still might not be ahead of me, and catch me off guard just when I think things are going fine. But I am surprised by how relatively seamless the transition of moving here has been. When I read back through the scenes I described above though, I wonder how I could've expected anything less than a whole lot of love and joy; the people I care about most and need most moved here with me.<br />
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Let's start with the youngest.<br />
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Pearl is just a little fireball of sunshine and spice and words. She is wildly independent and strong willed, and she has challenged John and me to be a little more thoughtful and creative in our parenting so that we all get what we need (her: autonomy, us: compliance). I have thought over and over that I am so grateful that she came to our family second and not first; I needed some time for my parenting skills to evolve enough to give space to the idea that it was okay for her to get her way sometimes, that I don't have to win or engage in power struggles just to prove that I'm right because I'm the adult. I am so grateful that I get those things now (with George I had a lot more TEACHER<i> </i>in me and I think I would have handled him differently if he had been like Pearl-- bless him for being so easy-going), and I'm so grateful that I usually can feel good about the way that I respond to having such a saucy little friend. I also think that I just really<i> get </i>Pearl. I get her because I<i> was (am)</i> her. It is so hard to explain this, but sometimes when I watch her doing what she does I am like, <i>"I KNOW, baby girl! I totally know exactly what you are feeling and thinking because I feel and think like that too!</i>" I feel like I know Pearl in a way that is different than George because she reminds me so much of me. It feels like we have the same heart sometimes, which I know sounds crazy, but I really feel like I know that heart of hers. I really understand that crazy look she gets in her eyes when she's about to deliberately mess up all of her brother's toys and run away giggling madly. That being said, she is the most eager and happy helper, and she is so affectionate and thoughtful. She loves doing chores around the house and feeling like she is important. She is everlasting entertainment and just a whole lot of pure joy. It is honestly hard to find a moment where I am NOT enjoying her-- even her precocious, feisty, naughty moments-- because she really is just sunshine. This list won't mean a whole lot to most of you, but I am going to write down the cliff notes version of some of her best moments recently or else they will be gone forever and I want to remember them for her.<br />
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For Pearl:<br />
<ul>
<li>you use enormous, correctly conjugated words in grammatically accurate sentences all the time, and people constantly comment about how it isn't possible that you are two because of your speech and vocabulary. You were wearing my glasses yesterday and I asked you to kindly return them and you lamented, "But Maaah-ahhhm! These are my professional ones!" A couple of weeks ago you mentioned that you wanted one of Daddy's dragonflies so it could "flutter around our house," and when Dad didn't give it to you you tried to get tricky by telling him that he should give it to you so that "in the meantime you can talk to Mama." You said "in the meantime." Maybe another toddler uses that phrase, but somehow I doubt it.</li>
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<ul>
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<ul>
<li>there are still a few words and phrases that you use that are so darlingly two-year-old, and I won't let anyone correct them. We were eating peas for dinner one night and you sweetly said, "I love these recipeas, Mama!" You also call those delicious tiny oranges (that you love to peel and pull apart and eat and clean up all by yourself) "lemontines." </li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>you say "yuh" instead of "you," and it is so adorable because of the way you emphasize it with that tiny voice of yours. "I'll get that for YUH." "I want to go with YUH!" I am gonna beat YUH!" Basically all the time, as cute as yuh can imagine. Along those lines, you also tend to speak with a bit of a southern drawl. We have not the slightest clue where this came from, but it is so completely awesome. "I wheee-eeel (will) go paahhtty (potty), bah (by) mah-say-elf (myself), Da-yad (dad)!"</li>
</ul>
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<li>you have the kindest motherly nature when it comes to people/creatures that are either a) little, or b) sick/hurt. You coo and turn into a puddle of mush when you see tiny animals or babies and immediately start baby-talking and ooing and ahhing in your little high voice. It is quite darling. (And only sort of miserable when the other day you sobbed for 15 solid minutes out of devastation that we could not go catch you your very own "tiiny, baby racooooon!") You also have great compassion and empathy for people who are sick or hurt. You will spread a blanket out over me if I mention I'm cold and say, "Is that cozy for YUH, Mama?" Your daddy was sick a couple of weeks ago and I left you home with him while I ran to get George from school. Daddy told me that while I was gone he had decided to take a bath and the whole time he was in there you were right by his side next to the tub, rubbing his back and washing his hair in a way that seemed so tender and aware for a little girl your age. This story almost made me cry when I heard it. You have such a dear heart, precious Pearl.</li>
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<ul>
<li>when you were in your cast you started doing this thing where you wanted to "swim" to stuff. One of us would hold you and you'd pretend to swim through the air to get around to the places you wanted to go. We loved doing that with you. Speaking of your cast, it's a thing of the past these days, but last night (totally out of the blue) when you were saying the prayer before bed you prayed, "Bless that I don't have my cast on my body anymore," and it made me wonder what exactly is in your impressionable little mind from that whole experience. </li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>you are 100% potty trained now, and have been since the week after your cast came off. I knew you were ready and was just waiting to get that darn cast off to get started, but I didn't know how easy it was going to be. It took you a couple of accidents to understand what it felt like to need to use the potty, and then, there was no looking back. I didn't have to remind you or ask you, and you let me know VERY quickly that you did not appreciate being micromanaged to use the potty-- you would go when you needed to, NOT when I sat you on the toilet. You still occasionally wet the bed at night (like once or twice a month), and I only mention that to tell you a little story. Several weeks ago you woke up in the middle of the night sobbing, "I'm wet! My legs are all wet!" Daddy went and put you in the tub while I changed your sheets. We both got you out of the tub, put you in clean jammies, and put you back in bed. The whole while you were so sweet and needy and ours. When Daddy and I climbed back in our bed, Daddy said, "It is so adorable when she wets the bed." That sounds funny, but it really is how we both felt-- it is such a pleasure and privilege to get to take care of you, even in the middle of the night.</li>
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<ul>
<li>you are very polite and say "You're welcome" like it's your job. You say it all the time, even when someone has not said "Thank you."</li>
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<ul>
<li>you watched <i>The Fox and the Hound</i> recently, and one day while we were driving in the car you said wistfully, "I wish I could go in Fox and the Hound and say 'hi' to Copper." You then went on to talk about what you would do if you were "in" the movie with the characters and it was just a sweet little peek into your mind. You thought that maybe if we went to the movie theater you'd be able to get into <i>The Fox and the Hound</i> to say hello and stay awhile with Todd and Copper.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>you have two favorite babies that you play with. One is your "snowbear" (you came up with that-- it's actually a polar bear) stuffed animal, and the other is your Corelle baby doll that you got for your birthday last year. They both sleep in your bed with you, and you can be found toting them around throughout the day. The best part about these two things is that you have bestowed upon them a couple of really fantastic names: the bear is "Bapaburrito" ("Bapurrito" for short), and the doll is "Berper." For Christmas you received another little baby doll, and you have since named her "Magenta." We do not know where these names came from, but we seriously love that you came up with them all by yourself. I said it earlier: you are everlasting entertainment.</li>
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And now, George. The other day John and I were marveling at how big George looks or seems sometimes, but that he really is just still SO young. He is still so dependent and trusting, so childish in all of the best ways. His face is still round and babyish to me, his body is still soft, and his mind is so open and eager (and do not even get me started about the tiny splash of delicate
freckles that have just begun to dust those rotund cheeks. I am
so smitten by them that I make him lay down in my lap all the time just
so I can really soak them in-- they are too slight to really notice them in passing, and trust me, those freckles require noticing). I think 5 is the magic age. When I think about George I just feel so grateful. He is happy and easy to be around. He is a good friend, and an excellent brother. He is so tender and thoughtful, and he worries about how other people might be feeling. George is totally typical in some ways-- he is silly and irreverent in primary (something that I am trying to deal with gracefully now that I am in there all the time to witness it), he finds potty talk hysterical, and he occasionally gets exasperated when I remind him to behave time after time. In other ways, George has some strengths that I think are unique-- he thinks and feels deeply about things that I would not expect him to even be aware of (I'll give some examples in a minute), and he is socially mature in a way that surprises me. He is easy to reason with and explain things to, and he is usually obedient. George makes friends anywhere and everywhere he goes. When we go to parks or playgrounds you can always be sure that George will have at least one (often several) new friends by the time we leave, and he is so confident. John is always so shocked by this because it is totally the opposite of the way he was when he was young. I was pretty social, but not nearly as friendly as George. George isn't threatened by anyone; he doesn't care about being the best at something and he's happy for other people if they're good at something even if he isn't. He doesn't have any desire to compete or be better than other kids at things. Sometimes this makes his competitive mother a little crazy, and sometimes I wish he was more motivated to improve in areas like handwriting or reading, but mostly, I am so, so grateful for a son that is just a really good person. I said earlier that I feel like I know Pearl in a way that is different than George because she is so much like me, and while that is true, I feel like I love and appreciate George in a way that is unique to him. He is just so incredibly dear to me and sometimes it feels like my heart beats just for him.<br />
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For George:</div>
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<li>you are a pray-er, George. You pray all the time, wherever we are. If we can't find something, you pray (last night it was for the Yogurt Extreme punchcard in my purse). If you want something, you pray (lately this has sort of become an issue with Christmas coming up-- your nightly prayers have become a bit of a Santa wishlist at times :). You prayed VERY fervently that Papa would draw your name in the Christmas gift exchange because we all know he gives the best presents, and you were so delighted when that prayer was answered.). If something is wrong, you pray (the other day I swallowed a chip and it was stuck in my throat and there were a few tense moments while we waited for it to painfully make it's way down. Of course when I looked over, you were in the living room on your knees.). One of the things that is most beautiful about all this praying is how full of faith you are as you speak. You talk to Heavenly Father in the same way that you talk to other people, and my favorite is your voice when you say, "I love you Heavenly Father, and Jesus, and Heavenly Mother." I love that you include all three of those people, even though we've never told you to.</li>
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<ul>
<li>I mentioned before that you think about things deeply. The other day in the car you asked me if Satan had a "holy ghost" that tries to tell people to do bad stuff. You were thinking about how Heavenly Father has the Holy Ghost to help people make good choices, and wondering if Satan had an counterpart like that (only of the evil variety), and I just thought it was so thoughtful. You also have come up with a theory about Santa Claus and how that whole thing works. You think that Santa is up in heaven with HF and Jesus all year round (which also explains the praying for presents), but that he gets resurrected on Christmas Eve so he can get a body and come back to earth to fulfill his Christmas obligations, and then dies and goes back to heaven again until the next year. I couldn't believe that you were thinking about all of that and coming up with possible solutions to explain it. It seems to me when I was five I was just happy there was a Santa, and it didn't occur to me that I should be theorizing about how he worked.</li>
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<li>on November 18th Daddy and I celebrated 7 years of being married. We watched our wedding video with you and Pearl, and your reaction was so dear. You just kept sighing and looking at me and laying down on my lap, kind of like you couldn't quite explain what you were feeling as you were watching it. I could tell you were feeling something big and asked you about it, and you looked at me so sweetly and just said, "I wish I could marry you, Mom." Oh George, you don't know how that melted me. Your sweetness and innocence and tenderness are such blessings in our home.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>your Daddy has been introducing you to the <i>Star Wars</i> movies over the past couple of months, and you have been loving them so much. There have been a couple of scenes that have been too much for you though-- I have this great video of you sobbing, "Daaaad, just tell meeee!! Does Luke dieeee? Just telll meee, Daaad! Ohhhhh noooo! Luke, don't get angryyyyy!" Stuff like that. You plug your ears and run away during any kind of suspense or awkwardness in any movie (you couldn't listen to the part in <i>Elf </i>where Buddy's brother Michael tells Buddy to "Go away!" because it makes you sad), so I have actually been surprised that you have handled <i>Star Wars</i> as well as you have. The other day you asked, "Mom, if bad guys get angry in Star Wars do the go to the Light Side?" Again, you were thinking of how if the good guys get angry they go to the Dark Side and wondering if the opposite would be true as well.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>you have always been concerned about natural disasters, and were so pleased to hear that Corvallis was ranked one of the safest cities in America, based partially on the likelihood of a natural disaster occurring. You hear about hurricanes or tornadoes and are quick to say, "But that can't happen in Corvallis, right?" When Hurricane Sandy happened you were very concerned, and now if it rains very solidly for any amount of time (and we live in Oregon, so of course it does), you will see a puddle and be like, "Oh man, I know this is a Hurricane Sandy, Mom. Is it?"And I have to reassure you that we are safely out of the hurricane danger zone :).</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>you say almost everything correctly, but there is still occasionally a glimmer of toddler-speak when you talk. One of those things is that you always say "a" in front of "tons." As in, "Whoa, there were a tons of leaves on the sidewalk!" I love that. You also say "far-est" instead of "forest." I think this is just because you think that the word refers to the fact that far-ests are usually "far" away from stuff. You only recently started to consistently get which meals (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) came at which times of day. You still talk with a tiny bit of internal stuttering (I don't know if that is an actual thing, that is just what we've referred to it as because it describes what happens), and it seems like your brain is just going too fast for your mouth. It's something like, "I just luh-uh-uhve Luke Skywalker because of his li-i-i-ght sabre." It doesn't always happen, and it's really not even noticeable unless you are listening for it, but I find it to be so delightful. These are some of the last bits of Toddler George, and I'm content for them to stick around for awhile longer. A couple of weeks ago you wanted to know what "delicate" meant, and you have since used it in your conversations here or there. My favorite was when you were talking to Pearl and said, "Oh, you are such a delicate baby!" I asked you what you meant by that and you clarified that you placed her in the delicate category because she had broken her leg. So cute.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>during the presidential election last month you listened to probably too much talk radio in the car as I'd drive you places. I knew this for a fact when you asked me, "Mom, why do liberals hate American energy?" You were also convinced that you were voting for Barack Obama and were quite happy when he won, so at least we can say that we listened to radio programming from both sides, right? :) Pearl said she was voting for Mitt Romney, and apparently you and her got into an argument in the checkout line at the grocery store when you were there with Daddy that had all the people around you chuckling.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>another talk radio commercial made it's way into your impressionable mind. It was for "Ambarin" (don't know if that's how you spell it), which is a weight loss pill. We saw a woman who was VERY obese (it was a picture, and she weighed over 800 pounds) and you said to me, "Mom, that lady needs to lose some pounds. We should tell her about Amazin." I knew immediately what you were talking about and I resolved to turn that radio down during commercials.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>your school does this thing called "Community Gathering" a couple of times a month where the whole school goes into the Movement Room (any parents who want to join are welcome), and we sing a few songs together, and then anyone who wants to can sign up to perform anything they want. It is seriously the most precious thing to see a little child standing up in front of so many people singing the ABCs or something. The first couple of times we went to this George, you acted embarrassed for the kids. I asked you if you'd ever like to perform a song or something and you were like, "No way, Mom, that would be so embarrassing!" which is kind of funny because you are not shy at all. (Like I mentioned before, you talk to anyone and everyone about anything and everything, and you make friends wherever we go. Just last week in the aisles of Target you charmed the pants off of a grandma who was trying to pick out a Christmas gift for her grandson. I was an aisle over and overheard bits and pieces of your conversation, and when I walked back to retrieve you, the woman went on and on about how she had never met a more talkative, kind, polite little boy.) But you also are not into performing or being the center of attention, so I figured we'd just sit on the sidelines this year for the Gatherings. But as the months have gone on, and we've gone to more Community Gatherings, you've warmed up to the idea, and so when Daddy taught you a sweet little Scottish song, I asked you if you'd want to sing it at Community Gathering. I was expecting you to say no, so I was surprised when you casually responded, "Sure, I guess. If you want me to." I signed you up, and this past Friday you did it. You were totally calm, sang perfectly and beautifully, and tried not to smile as you quickly walked back to sit down while everyone clapped for you. It was so fun to watch you do something like that Georgie, something that you didn't want to do at first, but that you decided to try anyway.</li>
</ul>
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I know that these sweet moments with my children are fleeting, and I am so grateful that I really am happy as I take care of George and Pearl. I don't really have many talents (really, I don't-- I NEVER have anything I could do at a talent show!), but I do know how to love and enjoy my kids. I don't want it to seem like there are not hard moments (of course there are), but as a whole, I really do just love all of this.<br />
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I am so lucky to have John by my side. He is a perfect partner for me, and I am grateful to have someone who finds George and Pearl as amusing and delightful as I do. He just finished up his first semester of his PhD, and it has been such a blessing for him to have it solidified over and over that this is the right place and path for him. He feels incredibly fortunate to be in the program he is in, and he is learning so much and working hard. A quick story because this is just so John: he and a bunch of classmates were working on classifying insects into species/families etc. and they had a google document they were all adding the different families they had collected into (ie: ichneumonidae, coenagrionidae, ptiliidae, geometridae etc.). John decided to add "gitchoofreekonidae" to the list to see if anyone noticed. Only one person did, but when he told me this story it made me laugh because that is the kind of thing he is always doing.<br />
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We made the decision that I wouldn't work once we moved here (unless the perfect situation presented itself), and that John would only work a few hours in addition to his PhD hours as a safety officer in the zoology department, so that his efforts would not be so divided and he could just work really hard at his research. So basically, we are living off of a PhD stipend, and if you look up what those typically are nationally, let's just say it's nice and below the poverty line :). We have also decided to try to not take out any student loans. If we can get to the end of this and not be in any debt, we would feel so grateful. So it is what it is, we are poor, it's the truth, and I won't pretend we aren't. The only reason I wanted to mention that here, is to say how truly happy and fulfilled we are, despite being financially destitute :). There are lots of good things about being poor: we eat 3 meals at home around the table every day (as opposed to eating out), we spend lots of time at home being together rather than out and about, my house is cleaner than ever ;). and we have found a lot of joy in coming up with creative ways to have fun that cost little/no money. I know we will look back on these years and be like, "Holy crap, we were poor. That was crazy." But right now, it's just our life, and it's working. (Although there was one particularly rough day where I was seriously doubting our ability to make ends meet and just feeling a bit overwhelmed in general. John, being well aware of my feelings, came home from school armed with a song for me to listen to. Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9_lwqWBfGw" target="_blank">here</a> (you might have to skip-- or endure-- an ad before the song starts) and get to the chorus (about the one minute mark), and then try to imagine how hard I laughed when I first heard it and how much it warmed my soul that, even though this journey can be a challenge, I have John. My endlessly patient, optimistic, and understanding husband to make me laugh all the way through it.) <br />
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We are so blessed to have extremely supportive and thoughtful families who have been endlessly generous and good to us.We also feel blessed beyond measure in peace of mind and answered prayers. We have felt so certain that God is aware of our family, that we will be happy if we remain rooted in Christ, regardless of any external circumstance. The comfort in that is just so beautiful to me, and I am grateful every day that I have that to hang my hat on.<br />
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lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-237610470755947072012-09-25T01:36:00.000-06:002012-09-25T01:36:42.984-06:006 weeks and 4 daysOne of the recurring thoughts I've had for the past few weeks is that I really wanted to make sure to get some real photos of Pearl in her cast. I've taken lots of snapshots, but I wanted to really preserve the details of what Pearl has looked liked since August 9th. We were just hanging out at a park a couple of weeks ago, I had my camera in tow, and I decided to try to shoot a few pictures right then, with zero preparation or planning. I am so glad I did. When I look at these photos years from now I really will get a perfect picture of what the past 6 weeks have looked like on our sweet Pearl.<br />
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She rarely has had her hair done; for some reason I just haven't done it. Maybe because I can't just easily stick her up on the bathroom counter to do it, maybe it's because I subconsciously don't want to confine any more parts of her than already are. I'm not sure why, but she really has been a little hair-in-the-eyes, stringy-strands flowing-in-the-wind baby ever since she was injured. I also love that she isn't wearing anything except her cast (and her diaper cover). The cast is hot, and since it hasn't seemed to slow Pearl down, she gets very sweaty when she plays. She is constantly requesting, "I wanna be a naked baby, Mama," and I am constantly obliging. This is about as naked as she can get, and she has spent a large portion of her time sans clothing. Also, shoeless. I have only recently started to remember to put shoes back on her. At first they weren't necessary; she didn't really walk for the first 4 weeks with the cast. But for the past 2 weeks she has been walking, running, bouncing, scootering, jumping, climbing, and tiptoeing around like crazy, and I just can't seem to keep shoes on those filthy little feet.<br />
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These photos are just so totally her, so perfectly what I will see in my mind's eye when I think about those weeks that she lived in a spica cast. She is messy and wild and uninhibited and spirited, and I am so glad to have that captured.<br />
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John grabbed the camera and snapped a few of me with my girl. I will be so happy when I can really squeeze her tight and cuddle close! Just a few more hours until we get that bulky, hard thing sawed off!<br />
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Pearl and I have also been exploring Corvallis by way of our morning run while George is at school. We found a super cool running path that was surrounded by a field of thistles. I had hoped to find some place to take some more "put-together" cast pictures, and this spot was perfect. I don't like these as much, but they are still her, and show how her cast was just a part of it all.<br />
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It's sort of weird to think that I tucked that casted body into bed tonight for the last time. We are off to Shriners in Portland first thing in the morning where they will break Pearl out of that filthy pink thing, and I will get to see those delightful little thighs and tickle that darling, soft belly. And give her a bath! Oh, give her a bath! And pick out a pair of PANTS for her to wear! Or better yet, TIGHTS! :) We are so excited! (Okay, actually, Pearl is not excited-- she says she does not want her cast off, and has not been receptive at all to the idea. I think now that she's used to living with the cast, she's nervous to live without it. The last time she was at the hospital for her leg it was a very painful, traumatic experience, and I think the whole idea of it makes her anxious. I've tried showing her youtube videos of casts being sawed off so that she'll be prepared, but that hasn't seemed to change her mind. I'm hoping that she'll calm down about it and do okay once she sees what's going to happen because that cast is coming off whether she want it to or not :).)lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-24282917384716745452012-09-21T02:01:00.000-06:002012-09-21T02:01:23.475-06:00hot pink pants for pearlThere's no easy place to begin when you've missed so much, so I'm just jumping in.<div>
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On August 9th, Pearl and George were happily playing in my parents' basement (we were living there at the time) when George decided to push a twin sized mattress (that was standing upright on top of a couch-- long story) down to build a fort. The story is not super clear (only G & P were there), but somehow Pearl was under it when it fell, and when I heard her screams I knew something was wrong. It took me about 20 seconds to really hear her, but when I did, I ran. She was now on top of the mattress (neither G nor P can explain that), and was just so frantically grasping and clawing at her right thigh. I instinctively grabbed her leg and immediately felt the bone poking out and it just felt all loose and jello-y. John was right behind me, and I looked up at him and immediately told him it was broken. I walked away for a moment while John jumped in with Pearl and I just started crying.</div>
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I was crying because I was sad for Pearl, yes, but I knew she was going to be okay. I was mostly crying because of the burden that I knew was ahead, both financially (for us) and physically (for Pearl). John was graduating from BYU the next day, and we had just kind of made the (unwise) decision to go without insurance until we moved to Oregon a couple of weeks later. I knew we had to go to the hospital, I knew it was going to be expensive, I knew we couldn't afford it, and in a bad mothering moment, George saw and heard my distress. John scooped up our broken baby and headed for the stairs, while her broken-hearted brother looked on, willing the tears to stay away. I watched this all in slow motion, and before I could jump in and comfort my dear boy, he had walked outside, shut the door, and begun to sob. Oh, my heart! I quickly snapped out of whatever it was that I was in, and ran to my son. I hugged him so fiercely, looked him right in his eyes and assured him that EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE OKAY. That beautiful, tender-hearted boy of mine. I immediately pulled myself right together; I needed him to know that I knew everything was going to work out. I had unintentionally put some grown-up worries in his little-boy mind, and I felt awful about it. He was talking about not having enough money and insurance, and <i>holy cow, what did I do to my son?! </i>I was feeling a little guilty for sure, but the dearness of children is such that by the time we pulled out of the driveway to take Pearl to the hospital (less than 5 minutes later), he was all smiles and thrilled that had I assured him we could re-schedule his last swimming lesson that he was now going to miss that morning. </div>
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I had put the camera right by the door so that John could take it to document that final swimming lesson, and I mindlessly grabbed it as I walked out to the car. When we ended up going through 2 hospital ERs, a transfer by ambulance, a closed reduction surgical procedure, a bright pink spica cast, and an overnight stay in the hospital with our baby girl, I was grateful I had that camera on hand to document this life-shaping event. So, a photo essay of our experience, from that first (painful) car ride to the ER to the next day when we left the hospital with some fancy hot pink plaster pants.</div>
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She mostly didn't cry on the 8 minute car ride to the ER, but she was in obvious pain. She just squeezed her right thigh to try to keep it stable, closed her eyes, and had the most enormous frown on her face.<br />
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You can see her swollen right leg in this second photo, and when I look at this all I can think about is how squishy and loose her leg felt when I first grabbed it and felt the bone broken. Ew and ouch.<br />
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Here's the first x-ray they showed us, and it's actually not even a good one, but you can definitely see that spiral fractured bone. (It should be noted that I could not stop obsessing over the absolute adorableness of her chubby little 2-year-old baby thigh that is so perfectly captured in this x-ray.)<br />
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Here's a little bit of a better view. This was actually taken 2 weeks after the injury; you can see the outline of the cast in the x-ray.<br />
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Once they had confirmed a spiral fracture, we were told we would have to be taken by ambulance to Primary Children's for surgery. They administered an IV to deliver some pain medication, and then got her leg stabilized in a splint for the ride.<br />
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She looks so out of it and in pain to me in all these photos.<br />
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There was a lot of waiting. A lot of waiting. And by this point Pearl had started asking for water. She was so thirsty, but wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything because she'd be going under anesthesia for the surgery. We did our best to distract her with Dora on Netflix, but honestly, she was just so miserable not being able to drink any water. She kept pointing to the sink right there in her room and just begging for water, and she could not understand why we wouldn't just give her some. That was really the hardest and worst part of the whole ordeal, I think. It was so painful to watch her just suffering and pleading with us for a drink, and not be able to give her one.<br />
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Eventually the ambulance showed up and we got Pearl loaded into her carseat and into the back for her first ambulance ride (my first, too). This second picture of just that perfect little foot there in that big ambulance bed makes me a little emotional. My sweet tiny girl.<br />
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Dora in the ambulance, too, which worked sporadically to keep her calm when we could get her to forget about her thirst for a little while.<br />
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We had to be admitted to PCMC's ER first, where we were told (again) that this would require surgery, and then were finally seen by the pediatric orthopedic surgeon. She took one look at Pearl and quickly dismissed surgery without even a thought. When we told her that every one else was telling us surgery was almost certain, she said incredulously, "On a 2 year old?!" We were so grateful to hear that news. She said that when babies are this little their bones are growing at such a rapid rate that her bones would heal together properly without cutting her open and putting pins in place. Instead, they would do a (still surgical, just not cutting) procedure called a Closed Reduction, where they put her under general anesthesia and manipulate the bones from the outside to gain traction and get them in their proper place, and then put her in a body cast (called a spica) from her armpits down to keep the bones immobilized and aligned. Even though a spica cast sounded intense, we were so glad to be avoiding real surgery. These pictures were taken right before Pearl was taken back into the OR, and they kill me because I can just see that dry little mouth and remember her misery.<br />
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John and I waited in the OR waiting room for about 45 minutes until I was called to go back into the PACU to be with her as she came out of the anesthesia. This part got a little comically frightening. When she first came to I immediately offered her a drink to help her not feel as sad and disoriented, which worked like a charm. She chugged the entire sippy cup of apple juice that the nurse had so quickly that she didn't have time to breath and her oxygen saturation dropped down into the low 60s (which is apparently a VERY big deal-- all these sirens and alarms and <i>oh my, rip that juice away from her immediately!</i>). This resulted in Pearl crying so desperately for a drink again that she again didn't breathe and turned blue and freaked the nurses out. I lobbied for some more drinks of water for her and just tried really hard to help her slow down a bit. She was just so happy to finally get her thirst quenched, and I didn't blame her one bit. As an aside, I was a little shocked to see her hot! pink! cast when I walked back to her. They hadn't consulted us for a color selection at all so I naively assumed they'd just do white or something, but oh no, only the brightest hot pink for my sweet girl :). Ha, it was okay, I don't mind pink, I just probably wouldn't have picked it.<br />
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Here she is coming out of the anesthesia with her oxygen mask that she would not keep on.<br />
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It's strange to think that exactly 6 weeks ago tonight this is where we were, in the hospital trying to negotiate our first night of having a 2 year old in a completely immobilizing body cast. We've come so far, and I'm soooo grateful to be on this side of that magical 6 weeks.<br />
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Pearl didn't fully wake up from the effects of the anesthesia until well into the middle of the night, and when she did, she was completely shocked to find herself inside a bulky, constricting cast. She startled awake and cried out, "I'm stuck, Daddy! Get me out!" and we had to calm her down and explain her situation to her. When she woke up the next morning she was clearly just a little emotional and confused, but was trying so hard to be herself and feel good. The beginning of this video is a little heartbreaking because you see her so confused by what she's feeling-- should I be happy or sad?</div>
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We were so scared to move her for those first few days (and weeks, actually), because it hurt her. Getting her moved and situated into the wagon to walk around the hospital that first morning was hard, but I really wanted to show her (and me) that we could still do stuff, and that we were going to make this work.</div>
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We were outfitted with a special carseat and given instructions on getting a wheelchair for her, and then we wheeled Pearl out of her first hospital stay. She wasn't happy about all of the movement.</div>
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We didn't think we'd make it out of the hospital in time for John to walk at his graduation ceremony, but we barely did. We (very hesitantly) left Pearl in the care of my family, and raced to Provo where we met John's family to try to honor our dear John who really deserved way more recognition and gratitude for all he's managed to accomplish during the last 2 years (3 jobs, a full-time master's program in biology, completing his 70+ page thesis, serving in our bishopric, and managing to be a very present husband and father). He would have been just fine to not go, to not even notice this incredible accomplishment, because that's just who he is, but it was good to go and celebrate this achievement, even just a little. Here we are, looking tired and overwhelmed (I'm wearing the same clothes and sporting the same stylish hairdo from the day before-- I was happy I wore a very comfortable dress when I found out I'd be sleeping in it :)), showing off our matching pink hospital bracelets. Bracelets that say that yes indeed, that beautiful, brave girl with the bright pink cast?</div>
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She's ours.</div>
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lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-18546876600515429572012-07-17T14:13:00.001-06:002012-07-17T14:13:48.017-06:00playing with snakes and other adventuresOh you poor neglected blog. So many posts that should be written, so many photos and stories to share.<br />
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We moved out of our home and in with my parents at the end of May, and there are just so many people to hang out with here, so many TVs to watch indulgent shows on, so many kids that do not get to bed at a reasonable hour, that blogging has not been a priority. I know that when we really move next month (as in, to Oregon), I will spend more time on this space. I'll have stuff that I want to share with family that we'll be far from, and I'll have time. Maybe I'll even get to all of the crazy back-logged stuff that I've had on my "to blog" list for months now (wishful thinking). But for now, we'll start here, with a camping trip (one of many) that we went on last month.<br />
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We set out up Sixth-Water Canyon to find a good spot (I have a husband that doesn't believe in campgrounds), and as we were driving up the canyon, John suddenly stopped, flung the car into reverse, saying something about a rattlesnake in the road back there and he wanted to check it out.<br />
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So he did. And I took pictures.<br />
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And then, because we are irresponsible, impulsive, and idiotic, we (John) decided it would be fun to hold the highly poisonous snake (I include myself in this "we" because I did not stop him, in fact, I thought it would be cool). Also, at the time, we weren't thinking about how baby rattlesnakes are more poisonous and dangerous than adult rattlesnakes and we were charmed by his littleness and pretty markings. Stupid, dumb, stupid.<br />
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This is where is gets even stupider (I hope George isn't reading this blog, he'd be very disappointed in my language). The poor, violated baby snake started trying to sink his tiny (but deadly) fangs into John's fingers. You can see the first attempts in the photo on the right.<br />
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And then this one, which would be so cool if it wasn't so blurry. And I can only say it would be cool because the fangs didn't actually penetrate John's skin. There was a small drop of venom the snake left on the tip of John's finger where he attempted to bite, but that was all.<br />
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At this point we decided to put the snake down (also dangerous), and then got back in the car. Only then did we start thinking about how that probably wasn't the best decision, and remembered how baby snakes are potentially more dangerous than adults, and realized how lucky we were that John had not been bitten. Dumb. Seriously dumb.<br />
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Happily, we made it unscathed to a spot where we set up camp. I don't know why kids love tents so much, but I think it's pretty universal. I've never met a child who didn't think tents were the most exciting place to play in the world. George and Pearl have spent lots of time in our tent, but the excitement of it being set up right at first still never wears off. I love these photos of them flying from one camping pad to the other because I can still feel how energized and excited they were to be camping.<br />
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I love that you can see his silhouetted grin in this one.<br />
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John and George then had the idea to make a "beach hut" (not sure why it was called that), so we began to collect lots of tree branches.<br />
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George dragging a rather large branch over to where John was building the hut. The light was magical.<br />
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John was a little more deliberate about log placement, but G just flung them on there, and it actually worked quite well.<br />
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Then there was a beach hut for G & P to play in. Not sure exactly what the point of having a beach hut around is, but it was fun to build :).<br />
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We spent a little (tiny) bit of time fishing before dinner. It was sort of hard to do a whole lot because Pearl was so clingy, which is not like her at all. She was holding on to anyone and everyone,<br />
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but mostly me. She just wanted me to hold her and hold her.<br />
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When I'd try to put her down and walk, she'd latch on to my legs and look up at me pathetically. It was too darling to be annoying.<br />
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And she'd make this face if I didn't pick her up quickly enough for her liking.<br />
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There were a few good fishing moments. I love being with these three people so much.<br />
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Pearl loves, LOVES fishing with her daddy. Here she is begging him to let her look at a "buggie" (a fly for fishing).<br />
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She was also clingy, remember? So this is what John's fishing experience looked like.<br />
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Not close enough...<br />
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Still wanting to be closer...<br />
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This is getting better...<br />
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Ah, here we go, just exactly the position she was looking for :). John fished like this for several minutes, actually, and it just makes my heart so happy that he is so adoring of his children. He never makes them feel like they are not welcome to be where he is, like they are a burden or nuisance or distraction (even if they are). I love that about him.<br />
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She did finally let him put her down, but she maintained a fierce grip of his hand while they walked to a new spot.<br />
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And at the new spot Pearlie caught a fish! Okay, John caught it, but Pearl reeled it in and it was HER fish. This was her spotting it in the water.<br />
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G had to get in on the action.<br />
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Hi little fishy.<br />
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This picture is my very favorite one of the trip. I just love the look of joy and pride on her little face looking at her daddy after catching that fish. Oh, she melts me.<br />
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We only fished for about 15 minutes, and then walked back along the river to our campsite. It was pretty, and the kids were cute.<br />
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Once back at camp we cooked up a fancy dinner (ha, a can of stew), and enjoyed the pretty place we were in.<br />
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Um, I'll eat dinner again here in this golden light anytime, thanks :).<br />
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After dinner we built a big fire and tried to encourage certain 4 year olds to keep the fire in the fire, if ya know what I mean.<br />
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Not very successfully, clearly. Haha, I just love his face :).<br />
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I am not a fan of s'mores, but there are people in my family that think it is blasphemous to have a camping trip without them, so we didn't.<br />
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I love all of these marshmallow roasting pictures. Quintessential camping.<br />
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I especially love George's on-fire mallow in this one.<br />
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Even though camping with small kids is hard work and tiring (especially at night-- notice how there are no photos of our fairly sleepless, chilly nights because we're trying to forget that part), it is so worth it when I look back at the memories we are creating for them. I am so grateful that they know how to cast a fishing pole, that they talk about how much they love their blue tent, that they aren't afraid of the bugs. I am so grateful that they are learning to love being outside, with each other, unplugged from other distractions. It is work, but most good things are. Making happy memories is often about creating them deliberately and with a good amount of work and sacrifice, this is a lesson I'm learning about parenthood. I am so grateful to be a parent by John's side. He makes these experiences happy for us, typically while bearing a larger-than-fair portion of the work.<br />
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It's a pretty good life.<br />
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<br />lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-83919864534952338122012-04-26T23:21:00.000-06:002012-04-26T23:21:17.072-06:00the first farewellI'm trying to prepare myself for all of the changes that are in store for our family in the next few months. I'm trying to check things off of lists and get things in order so that we're physically ready to leave Utah, but I'm also trying to be very mindful in the way that I spend my time. I feel so aware that we are moving away from the people and places that we love, that our final months here need to be filled with soaking those people and places all up. I am so excited for the adventure and growing that lies ahead for our family as we set out for Oregon, and I feel so clearly that we are on the right path. I am also realistically aware, however, that the path we are taking is full of unknowns and there will certainly be challenges. It will be really, really hard to be away from our families. That reality probably hasn't fully sunken in, but there is, like I mentioned, a constant awareness in the back of my mind that, ready or not, we are leaving.<div>
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I got a little dose of reality last Sunday as I sat in church. Our dear Bucherts (who live next door) spent their final Sunday in our ward (they are moving so Becca can attend law school), and as I watched Becca up at the organ and Martin with his young men passing the sacrament, I was so teary. We have spent the past 4 years living 50 feet away from them; our children walk in and out of both homes freely, sometimes knocking, sometimes just letting themselves in. Becca and I have spent hundreds of early mornings together working out, and countless hours beyond that just hanging out and talking. She knows and understands parts of me that few others do, and in her I have found a soul sister. Martin and John have spent hours talking and working together-- when one needs a tool or some manual labor, all they have to do is head next door, and they often linger long after a project is finished, talking about some thing that really only the two of them can understand. Saying goodbye to the Bucherts is just the first of many hard farewells in store for us, and on Sunday I became a little more aware of that.</div>
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But, on Monday we spent a lovely evening in the canyon with the Bucherts for Family Night and it was such a beautiful night. We hadn't set any concrete plans, just that we wanted to do something outside and be together, so when Martin got home from work a little after 6, we didn't have much time. It was a happy blessing to have the evening come together so quickly and well. Sometimes when things like that are left to the last minute, despite having good intentions, it becomes a comedy of errors where everything goes wrong. I was sort of bracing myself for that, but we were blessed with a pretty perfect evening. We rushed into the store to grab a few things for dinner, John threw some supplies into the trunk, we settled on a location, and we got there. And the night delivered.</div>
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The sun was just setting, the wind was softly blowing, the air was a perfect temperature. We just hung out for a bit, the kids throwing rocks and looking at bugs, while the adults talked.</div>
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We set the camera up to get a couple of photos of the whole group, and let me tell you, the fact that everyone is looking in the right direction is a complete miracle. Also, enjoy George's ninja-painted face, and the residual green fairy paint on Anna, courtesy of Soren earlier that day.</div>
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I cannot get over how much I love Anna and George in this photo. I wish Anna wasn't blurry, but still, when I saw this I melted. They are such buddies.</div>
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John and Martin maneuvered some rocks into a circle and we sat around to eat a simple dinner of rolls with meat and cheese, chips, and stream-chilled soda. We told stories and sang songs (well, we sang one song, and then Eden and Soren sang many others :)), and watched the sky go dark.</div>
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About the time that we should have been packing up, John decided to whip out the camp stove and make some fried bananas. Becca and I were laughing as the dads leisurely and obliviously chatted and continued to cook bananas while we stood on the path with tired children, ready to walk back to the cars.</div>
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We shared a closing prayer together back at the cars, and felt so grateful for the blessings that have come to our families in the time that we've lived here. It seems pretty clear to me that God had a hand in getting us here at this time, with these people. So many of our closest friends here moved in within a very short time span of one another, and, it seems, the time is coming for many of us to move on to the next place. I will always be so, so grateful for the years we spent living next door to our Bucherts.</div>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-35074143994576485562012-04-02T00:26:00.000-06:002012-04-02T00:26:02.662-06:00wind in weather and in thoughtsA couple of weeks ago I was at the park right by our house with my next-door neighbor (and dear friend) Becca and our children. It's one of those glorious things that starts to happen when spring is in the air-- sometimes it's planned (a text from me to her or vice versa: "Going to the park to ride bikes in 10 minutes, wanna come?"), and other times we just find ourselves there at the same time.<br />
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I've started keeping a list of things that I am going to miss when we move from this neighborhood, and my hang out time with Becca (both planned and impromptu) is high on the list. As we were sitting on the bench talking and watching our kids run wildly, other people started showing up at our park.<br />
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Another thing on my 'miss' list?<br />
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The fact that every person who showed up that day (and there were many-- probably at least 5 other families) was a friend that I could call by name and chat with.<br />
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I have loved living here so much. Maybe I am particularly attached to it because it is the first place that John and I lived that truly felt like "home." We have lived here for almost five years now-- it is the only home my children have ever known (well, we moved in when George was 3 weeks old), and there are so many memories and moments wrapped up into the space that we've occupied here.<br />
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I also think that I am so attached to this place because of the people that are here. Oh how I have grown to love my neighbors! I have found a group of girlfriends here that I will love and cherish for my whole life. They are the best kind of friends, I think, because they are so incredible and inspirational, but I never leave being with them feeling like I'm not good enough. You know what I mean by that, right? There is a difference between being with amazing people who just make you feel inferior and then being with amazing people who make you feel like you are pretty cool yourself-- like your particular talents and gifts (though often different from theirs) are valued and recognized and worthwhile. I feel really lucky.<br />
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The whole reason I sat down to post tonight was to post these pictures of my kids flying a kite. Weird what that turned into. Anyway, what I was planning to write was that as Becca and I walked home with our kids from the park that day George started begging me to bring him back with our kite. The wind had picked up and he was dying to fly it. I wasn't sure-- I had no clue where our kite was-- but George solved that problem immediately by proudly producing the kite from the shed. So we waited for John to come home and then we walked the 100 yards back to the park with our kite and camera. Yay for March wind and bare feet.<br />
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Pearl let the kite get away (several times) so George and I chased it down.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Pearl showing me that she is still one, but practicing her two for tomorrow :). These photos are all from tonight before I put her to bed.)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I put my one-year-old baby to bed tonight for the last time. Tomorrow she will wake up a two-year-old, and I am feeling extra tender for her as I think about just how full she has made these past two years.<br />
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She is a dream to me-- all of the good things that my heart had ever imagined having a daughter would be like are wrapped up in her tiny body and enormous personality.<br />
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As I nursed her before bed tonight I was teary just thinking about how much she means to me-- my very own baby girl. I love her most because she is mine. I love her for a thousand reasons (probably more), but the very most important one is just simply that she belongs to me.<br />
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<i>I </i>get to care for her. <i>I</i> am the one who gets to rock her to sleep at night and wake up to her tiny voice.<br />
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<i>I</i> am the one who gets to buckle her into her car seat and carry her on my hip into the grocery store.<br />
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<i>I </i>am the one who gets to watch her tease her brother and then teach her to say "I'm sorry."<br />
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<i>I</i> am the one who gets to change her diapers and carefully pick out her outfits and get her dressed each day.<br />
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<i>I</i> am the one who gets to respond when she calls out, "Mama" three hundred times a day.<br />
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<i>I </i>am the one she wants.<i> I</i> am the one she needs. <i>I</i> am her mother.<br />
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It has been a privilege and blessing that I will never be able to be grateful enough for. I am so very happy that I have so many years left in front of me to be her mama.<br />
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(All of the photos in this post are from a day last summer where we were out working on the chicken coop. The light was good so I got the camera out. I love these little faces and never posted them, so here they are now, completely irrelevant, but included nonetheless.)<br />
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My children are at such easy ages. Pearl will be two next month and I can't believe how easy it is to have two children that you can reason with and explain things to. If she cries in the middle of the night I can have a conversation with her about how it's still night time and that I'll come back and get her when it's light outside and she'll stop crying and sweetly say, "Okay Mama," and roll over and go back to sleep. George went through a little bit of a phase when he first turned 4 where he was pushing limits and testing boundaries much more than he ever had. I felt challenged as his mother to find a healthy balance between giving him some autonomy and expecting obedience. In the last few months he seems to have settled into himself more. I don't feel him pushing against me, testing my patience the way he was before. I have just had the thought over and over again lately that both kids are in places where my job feels pretty darn easy and smooth right now. I know this won't last forever and there will be hurdles for us all to get through together in the future, but sometimes right now I feel like I want 14 more kids just like them.<br />
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Speaking of which, I can't believe how much I'd love to have another baby come to our family soon. I've actually wanted another baby since Pearl was 4 months old (craziness that I cannot explain), but recently the feelings of desire for that are so intense that my heart feels a little smothered. Hopefully the time for our family will be right soon.<br />
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Also sort of speaking of which, we are moving. Probably to Oregon, but possibly to New Zealand. John was accepted to PhD programs in both places (among others, but those were our top 2 choices), and now is the time where we are really buckling down to try and make the decision that is best for our family. There are so many things to consider in this. Oregon State makes the very most sense-- it is the number one place to be in the nation for what John is studying (as in, the advisor that has accepted him is the only Endowed Chair at his position in all of the world, which brings with it a host of perks and benefits), it is in a super cool town (Corvallis) with excellent schools and safe neighborhoods, it is within driving distance to come home and visit our families which is a huge thing, and we've felt really good about Oregon since John was first thinking about PhD programs 2 years ago. The opportunity in New Zealand was a more recent development and John actually was not expecting to get the offer to come there. When it came we were totally shocked and I spent an entire afternoon, my heart excitedly pounding, searching for reasonable rentals in Auckland. The program in NZ is very good, the advisor is a well-respected and known scientist, and the adventure of it all, oh the adventure of it all. That is the main thing that pulls us in that direction. How can we turn down that opportunity?! It would be so hard for us to be that far away for that long (3 or 4 years), but it also would be a once in a lifetime experience for our family that I know we would end up loving. So we weigh the pros and the cons. Oregon State wins that battle, but it still is tough to let go of the idea of NZ. We kind of keep coming back to this though: academically, graduating from Oregon State would make John competitive to get any job he wanted at the end of all of this. And that is what we are doing it for-- the future. The opportunities and training and technology available at OSU are superior. And we will get to see our families more. But what would you do? Are we crazy to not take the opportunity in NZ? We are hopeful that if we decide to go to OSU, we will still have options to live abroad at another point during John's schooling (either during his PhD for a few months at a time doing research somewhere or while he does a post doc). John and I spend most of our free time going back and forth about this; I asked him the other day what we would talk about once we had made the decision. I'm sure we'll find something :).<br />
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Pearl just woke up. I brought her out by me where she saw a mini flag and started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I had no clue she knew that. We recite it at school each morning, but I had no clue she was catching on to all of those words. Sort of entertaining to hear this tiny person squeaking out, "to the 'public, which it stands, wif liberty, justice for all!"<br />
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I guess that's it for now.lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-82140959910665026552012-02-16T16:00:00.000-07:002012-02-16T16:00:20.265-07:00christmas in februaryWe had Christmas. And it was lovely and happy and fun. We had church at 9:00 that morning so I worried that we would be rushed to get through all of the traditional Christmas morning stuff (and we needed to go up to my parents' house right after church), but it actually wasn't that way at all. The kids woke up early and snuggled in Pearl's rocking chair while Daddy got the video camera out and ready.<div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=rock.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/rock.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=122511.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/122511.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Our babies opened some presents.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=open-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/open-2.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225111.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225111.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>George's favorite thing was probably his Ninjago Lego set, and Pearl's was her stroller. It was so much fun to watch her toddle in and out of the room pushing it.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=stroller.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/stroller.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>A close second for George was his robe; he had been asking for one like his dad's for months. I love that you can see Pearl cuddling her new baby doll in this photo as well.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=doll.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/doll.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>The kids finished opening their presents and then I realized we had forgotten to do stockings- a true tradition travesty as those are always first. We emptied them anyway, and it was actually sort of fun for George to think he was done opening presents and then have a few more in his stocking.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=stockings.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/stockings.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=stockings2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/stockings2.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Christmas morning faces.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=lights1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/lights1.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=lights2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/lights2.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=lights3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/lights3.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I was pretty excited about the present that I got for John. It was a box full of books about insects. A couple of them were more fieldwork reference books, but a couple of them were these beautiful <i>insects as artwork</i> books that I knew he would love. The beetles were important because that is the insect he is hoping to study for much of his PhD. He was totally surprised (I had given him some wacky, misleading clues :)) and happy.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225112.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225112.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>We got ready and went to church, which I think should be an annual part of Christmas. It was so lovely to spend a portion of our morning thinking so purposefully about why we celebrate Christmas. John was one of the speakers in our meeting, and I loved his words so much. My family came to church with us so they could hear John (and also so we could all have our Christmas morning stuff together-- their church would've been at 11:00 right in the middle of our festivities). Here are Madeline, Rachel, and George outside of our chapel after the meeting, and then a picture of our little family as well. I knew I wanted a picture of us in front of our church-- this building (and all of the people associated with it) has been such an enormous part of the happiness and love we've found in our neighborhood here. I've had the blessing of serving in the Relief Society presidency here for 3 1/2 years now, and John has been in the bishopric for 2 years and the experiences and opportunities that we've had (individually and as a family) because of our callings are things that I hope I'll always remember. </div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225113.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225113.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>After church we got our jammies back on (really) and went up to my parents' house for a second "Christmas Morning."</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=group-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/group-1.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Pearl immediately found her shopping cart from the night before, slapped a purse around her shoulder, and was off. This was the year of grown-up gifts in little people sizes so she could do it "all by self", which is of extreme importance to that independent little friend.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225114.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225114.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Another highlight for Pearl was the box of giant bugs that she received. Heaven. I cannot believe how much she loves bugs. She goes through them labeling and categorizing, "Praying Mantis. Beetle. Lady Bug. Scorpion. Spider."</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=bugs.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/bugs.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Oooo, a Rhinoceros Beetle! Thrilling! Look at her face :).</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=bugs2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/bugs2.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Here's a good look at her with some of her creatures. I seriously love this about her.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225115.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225115.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>George got an Angry Bird and Pearl sobbed when he wouldn't give it to her. So unfair.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225116.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225116.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>She also sobbed (SOBBED) when she discovered that the doll that my mom gave her made actual crying sounds when she squeezed it. The first two sounds are happy-- laughing and then saying, "Mama." She was okay with those-- excited even.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225117.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225117.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>But the next two sounds were traumatic. The baby whimpers and then full-on cries. She could not handle it. </div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225118.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225118.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Oh, she looks so heartbroken in that last picture! She hastily handed the baby to me and cried, "Take it away! Take it away!" So sad. And a tiny bit funny :).</div><div><br />
</div><div>The remainder of the day consisted of playing games,</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=dominoes.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/dominoes.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>trying out new sleeping bags,</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1225119.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1225119.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>wearing matching pajamas,</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12251110.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12251110.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>and driving new cars.</div><div>(Pearl started out interested in a ride, but quickly discovered that she was not a fan of her brother's crazy driving.)</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12251111.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12251111.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I love this grin. He was having so much fun.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=grin-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/grin-2.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12251112.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12251112.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>See ya later!</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=seeya.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/seeya.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>We didn't spend time on Christmas Day with John's family because we all left to spend the week together at the beach that night. Those posts are coming next. Probably.</div><div><br />
</div>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-10545912989739400052012-01-20T16:09:00.001-07:002012-01-20T23:16:39.858-07:00feeling like an outlier <a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=nurse2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/nurse2.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I have debated about whether or not it is necessary for me to add my (published-on-my-blog) voice to this topic, and after thinking about it all day today, I've decided to write about it. Mostly because I sort of feel like I'm on an island when it comes to this topic and I'm wondering why I feel so differently than most of my friends (at least the ones who've spoken up) about something that we're all so invested in. I'm wondering if by adding a different perspective I'll find that some of you actually do feel the same way that I do and I'll feel a little less weird about not being sure why I feel differently. So here we go.<br />
<br />
The topic I'm referring to is the Huffington Post article written by Glennon Melton called <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html" target="_blank">Don't Carpe Diem</a> (click on title to link to the article-- and if you haven't read it yet you'll probably want to before you read my post so you'll understand what I'm talking about). I don't often read links that people post on Facebook, but after about a dozen (literally) of my friends linking to it with such (SUCH) high praise for it, I clicked over.<br />
<br />
I immediately knew I didn't love it the way everyone else did. I immediately started questioning myself and wondering why the author's sentiments did not resonate with me the way that they did with some of my dearest friends.<br />
<br />
(A quick disclaimer: can we agree on the fact that either side (resonating with it or not resonating with it) is perfectly acceptable? I understand and respect that everyone who posted about it felt validated and uplifted by Melton's words, and I hope they would understand and respect that all this is is me feeling differently, not me feeling like what I feel is a superior. Let's all still be friends, K?)<br />
<br />
As I've thought about it today, there are about 4 things that I keep coming back to that help me understand why I (and maybe some of you?) might not relate to the opinions in the article.<br />
<br />
The first thing (and the most insignificant to me), is that I actually really appreciate and value it when someone tells me to enjoy the time I have with my children. I never hear the message <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><i style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font-style: italic !important; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN'T!" TRUST US!! IT'LL BE OVER TOO SOON! <b style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">CARPE DIEM</b></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">!" </span>I simply hear someone who has been in my spot before saying, "Hey look, I know there can be rough patches, but as a whole, these years of your life as a mother to young children are such a little blip of time and then they are over and you'll look back on them with such fondness and happiness and gratitude that YOU got to be the mother, that it was YOU that had the opportunity to spend your days in such a meaningful way." I hear someone who maybe feels a little nostalgic for the days of her past when she was the one with the screaming kids in the cart. Really. And I don't think she's trying to tell me that I can't feel frustrated and overwhelmed and frazzled at those<i> screaming cart </i>moments, just that all of it, the exhausting and invigorating, the frustrating and the glorious, will add up to the sum of our days as Mother and once we are on the other side of them, they'll seem to have gone too fast. I just hear someone else who is in this sorority of motherhood reminding me that it truly is the most beautiful blessing. And I'm always grateful for the reminder.<br />
<br />
Another reason I've thought of that perhaps explains why I don't relate to the article as a whole is because of my own childhood and mother. Again, I don't want this to sound like people who don't mother/feel the way my mom and I do are inferior or don't love their kids as much or something (ridiculous!). I am simply stating that the way my mom mothered has influenced the way I mother. And so the fact that I knew so 100% clearly that her children were her delight and joy, that she wanted us with her constantly, that I never EVER heard one word of complaint about taking care of us, that she almost never took vacations without us because she would just rather have us with her, those things all have influenced me. I also had the sort of rare experience of watching, as a teenager, my mother be a mama to new babies. I watched her drive my carpool to school the day after she had come home from the hospital with my new baby sister, and now I look back on that and wonder why she didn't seem exhausted or overwhelmed-- she had a 3 day old baby to care for now in addition to the 4 of us, and she just took it all in stride like she was made for it. (She was.) After watching her find such incredible joy in the days of her motherhood it is not hard for me to understand why I love it so much too.<br />
<br />
On that same note, I have been taking care of babies for a long time. Like, really taking care of them. When I was 9, my baby sister and I shared a room as soon as she was old enough (probably 3-4 months) to move out of the bassinet in my parents' room. From then on out, my mom never had to wake up in the night with her because I did it. If she woke up crying, I'd pick her up and bring her to bed with me. If she needed to nurse, I'd bring her to my mom and then she'd end up back in bed with me after my mom had returned her to her crib. She was my baby. I've wondered if the early (and constant) exposure to taking care of babies that I loved (I had two more baby sisters after that first one) helped me to be equipped to take many of the challenges of motherhood more in stride-- I had been blessed with 3 dress rehearsals before I had the real thing :).<br />
<br />
So, those reasons above are things I've thought about, but they aren't actually what I think are the main reasons that the article didn't resonate with me. These final two things seem more significant to me.<br />
<br />
I am not that hard on myself. I don't need someone telling me that it's okay to not feel guilty for not enjoying every moment, because I don't feel guilty if I don't enjoy a moment. I have never thought that I am supposed to be reveling in all of the tough moments as a mother-- I know they are going to be there, and I know I am going to get through them (hopefully with some amount of grace), and when they are over, I'll be glad we got through them and move on. It never occurred to me to feel "guilty and panicky" (the author's words) for not loving moments that aren't really intended to be loved. Does that make sense? I still love motherhood, and feel like I am truly soaking in these fleeting days with my children, but if I am feeling overwhelmed and frustrated in a moment where my child is pushing boundaries, I am fine with that. That is an okay time to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. I don't feel any guilt for not enjoying that specific moment. I just am not that hard on myself. Sometimes I actually feel like I am a little too easy on myself. Which leads me to my last thought...<br />
<br />
I much prefer (and need) people to expect things from me than for people to tell me that I am fine just the way I am. I need people to hold me to a higher standard, and I think it is because of what I said above, that I am not that hard on myself. This was first evident to me in a church setting. I have never been able to relate to the talks or lessons (usually specific to women) about how we need to be gentler with ourselves or stop expecting so much of ourselves. I have come to realize and appreciate that there are many women who value those sentiments because they are genuinely quite hard on themselves, and need that reminder. I feel like I need the opposite though, and end up feeling patronized by the "be patient with yourself, you are good enough" lessons. I want (and need) talks about how much better I could be doing, about how great and valuable my contribution could be if I'd just put forth a better effort. So when I read in the article about how trying to enjoy every moment "just doesn't work" for the author, I felt that same feeling of someone telling me that I am fine just the way I am, that I shouldn't worry about trying to be better. I know that wasn't the author's point (and again, I feel like her point is valid and I'm happy that it resonates with so many), but that is what I felt from it.<br />
<br />
I also felt conflicted by the idea of segmenting time into Chronos of Kairos because I feel like I should be making a valiant effort every day of turning Chronos into Kairos, of seeing and feeling the beauty in the small bits of our lives. Obviously I'm not talking about turning the moment where your 4 year old chops up your curtains with scissors into Kairos (though actually you totally could if you wanted :)), because that is an okay time to feel frustrated and angry and to not feel guilty about it (am I repeating myself enough here?). But mostly, I WANT to live in Kairos, and I WANT people to want that for me, not to tell me that it isn't possible or worth trying for. I think it is.<br />
<br />
Do any of these thoughts ring true for any of you? I'd also love to hear thoughts from those of you who loved the article. Do I seem totally off base? What was is specifically about the article that you loved? I hope I haven't muddled my words too much or made anyone feel judged or inferior. That was not my intention at all. Just wanted to express my thoughts and opinion. We can still love each other, I hope :).lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-40481581198448968322012-01-12T23:19:00.001-07:002012-01-13T08:30:52.941-07:00the days leading up toI know I write this pretty much every time I blog, but you guys! The posts! They pile up so quickly and I can't seem to catch up. Just keep plugging away, I tell myself. So, here we go. All the stuff leading up to Christmas.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>One of the things I really try to do in December is make homemade gingerbread houses. I never liked gingerbread houses until I realized that I could make my own from scratch instead of buying a kit. Then it became this delightfully drawn-out December tradition that feels sort of ceremonious and eventful to me. This year I quadrupled the batch so my little sisters and mom could join in and have a house, too.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1-8.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1-8.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I loved how all of the unassembled houses looked. So much potential in those cut-out cookies!</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=2-9.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/2-9.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Using fruit roll-ups to mimic stained glass for windows is one of my favorite tricks.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=3-7.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/3-7.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>This was a project that was mostly just for George and me. Pearl was a little too destructive and grabby this year, and she didn't mind just sitting close by and eating the candy instead :).</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=gbread.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/gbread.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Here are a few shots of the final product. I especially love the Mini Charleston Chew bricks and the Tootsie Roll wood pile.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1217113.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1217113.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1217112.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1217112.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>My little sister Rachel made this cute house and I loved how the Chocolate Frosted Mini-Wheats turned out on the roof. I never got a picture of my Mom's creation (and it was seriously awesome) because she finished a few days after us and never remembered to go back and take a picture. Blast.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=121711.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/121711.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>One of the other fun things we did in December was go to the Christmas program for our school. George and Pearl both had darling little songs to sing and do actions to and I loved how completely unintimidated they both were up on that stage in front of everyone. Pearl was especially delightful because she was (by far) the littlest one up there and she owned it. Seriously cute.</div><div><br />
</div><div>See her there in the Mrs. Claus jammies (this was a Polar Express program so all the kids wore pajamas) totally working out those actions?</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=actions.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/actions.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>And I love this one of her doing the "he knows when you're a-WAKE!" part of the song. That was her specialty. And then a photo of me with my kids since we are all at EA together.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=121411.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/121411.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Here's George and his friends doing a little Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=g-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/g-2.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><div>They pretty much wore these jammies every night in December. </div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=polar.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/polar.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Grandma and Grandpa were there to watch the kids, along with my parents and siblings (they just had to leave right after the program to soccer practices and YW so I didn't get any photos with them). So many people adore these two kids-- they are lucky little people.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=DSC_0642.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/DSC_0642.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>We also visited with Santa a few times in December, and George really loved it. Pearl actually did really well with the whole thing considering how scary this experience could potentially be. She just kind of looked at him, slightly unsure, but totally go-with-the-flow. </div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=sc1415f04c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/sc1415f04c.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Let's skip right ahead to Christmas Eve, shall we?</div><div><br />
</div><div>On Christmas Eve morning we decided to have a breakfast with John's family instead of trying to run around to everyone's houses on Christmas Day (plus we were all leaving to The Beach together on Christmas, so we thought we should simplify the other festivities). </div><div><br />
</div><div>George and Logan were pretty happy about spending the morning together.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=boys-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/boys-3.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Lisa prepared a most delicious spread of gourmet breakfast delicacies. No picture, but trust me. We were all happy, even if Topher ruined her crepes :). (They weren't ruined, by the way.)</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=fam-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/fam-3.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>The kids had a table all to themselves and especially enjoyed the Lil' Smokies.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=kids-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/kids-2.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I am not quite sure why (maybe just for fun? Or did we use coconut for something, Lis?) the boys got to try their hands at scraping out a coconut. George did it for about 37 seconds.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12241114.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12241114.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Logan did it for about 47 seconds. So Lisa stepped in and finished the job. Like she is known to do. Being productive is one of her many specialties.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12241113.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12241113.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Then it was time to open presents, yay! Pearl was seriously delighted by this stuffed penguin. I love her giant, joyful smile.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12241111.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12241111.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>A few of the other gift highlights:</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12241112.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12241112.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12241110.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12241110.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=us-4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/us-4.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Baby Stockton was too little to be in on any of the action, so he gets his own little spot. Hi cute little baby! Have I mentioned that I want a newborn? A lot.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224118.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224118.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I seriously love his little sly smile in this first one. So dang cute.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224119.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224119.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>We bid one side of the family farewell and headed over to another for the evening. We first made cookies for Santa (George was very insistent about that). Two kinds, in case Santa is picky.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=cookies.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/cookies.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=cookies2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/cookies2.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Pearl was quite thrilled to lick the beater.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224117.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224117.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>In the late afternoon we (brilliantly) decided to do our typical Christmas Eve night activities right then so we could get home a little earlier than normal to let our kids at least attempt a decent night of sleep. We opened our pajamas and the one present from the person who drew our name this year. George got the highly coveted opportunity to have my dad draw his name and was lead on a scavenger hunt around the house to the garage where he was surprised with a new car (a Power-Wheels Mini Cooper).</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224116.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224116.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Pearl was just happy to be around and included in on all of the fun.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224115.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224115.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=feet.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/feet.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>But she was not forgotten in the gift-getting, and Madeline thrilled her with a little shopping cart that she can push around by herself. She is obsessed with doing things that grown-ups do and gets so mad when I have to help her push the big grocery carts around at stores, so this was a seriously perfect present.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224113.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224113.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>So perfect that she got a little impatient while Daddy was assembling it and started yelling in frustration.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224114.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224114.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>She spent the next several hours with her shopping cart.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224112.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224112.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1224111.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1224111.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=lights.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/lights.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Later that night we had our annual Christmas Eve party with my Mom's family which is always one of my favorite things in the world (so favorite that I didn't even take my camera out once to take a photo). It was awesome though, promise.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then we changed G&P into their new jammies and headed home to put them to bed.<br />
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Exhausted little ones went right to sleep and John and I were able to put the finishing touches on our presents before Santa came. John banished me to the living room for a little while so he could wrap his gifts for me, so I took a hundred pictures of the lights on our Christmas tree. There was nothing else to do :).</div><div><br />
</div><div>Santa came, oh yes he did.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=house1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/house1.jpg" /></a></div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=house2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/house2.jpg" /></a></div>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-82303670868161067812011-12-23T17:11:00.000-07:002011-12-23T17:11:29.344-07:00whoppers and undershirtsI need at least 2 more weeks of pre-Christmas. I am not ready for the anticipation and bustle and festivities and spirit to end. Happily we have our annual trip to <a href="http://www.lifeupstream.blogspot.com/2011/01/wide-open-spaces-beach-part-four.html" target="_blank">The Beach</a> to look forward to or else I think I'd be pretty sad to see Christmas come and go so quickly. Here are just a few notes about what's been going on at our house lately mixed in with some pictures that I took of the kids a couple of Sundays ago. I had to bribe them with Whoppers to get them to cooperate for a few photos in their church clothes and as soon as I got a couple that I thought were okay the kids stripped off their clothes and sat down in front of the tree to enjoy their treat. I was folding up their clothes and watching them out of the corner of my eye when I realized that THOSE were actually the moments that I wanted recorded on my camera. I started snapping from the corner and truly ended up with some of my most favorite photos that I have of my children. I love that they are in their undershirts. I love that they are (mostly) not looking at the camera. I love that I can really feel who they are when I look at the photos.<br />
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<a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12041115.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12041115.jpg" /></a><br />
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George has been really into Luigi, our elf. He loves finding him every morning and yesterday was pretty thrilled when a man at the gas station told him that Santa came and told the man that George had been a very good boy. We got out to the car and George exclaimed to his Daddy, "Luigi HAS been telling Santa that I've been good! That man said Santa knew!"<br />
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The one gift that George has been consistent about asking for is a red ninja Lego set. I had no clue if those were even a real thing until we braved Toys R' Us to see an entire aisle dedicated to <a href="http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=11161920" target="_blank">Ninjago</a>. Who knew? I mean, besides George, obviously? His request was put into Santa and George is certain Santa will come through.<br />
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Pearl talks about Santa Claus and sings <i>Santa Claus is Comin' to Town </i>(the "so be good for goodness sakes! about kills me) and totally attempts a deep voice as she mimics, "Bye Buddy! Hope find DAD!" (If you don't know that movie I am not sure we can be friends.) She doesn't get that Santa is bringing presents really, but I know she'll love opening them and finding treasures inside. If you ask her what she wants for Christmas she tells you "a baby," but I think that's an idea her brother gave her (though she is in fact getting a baby that I know she'll love).<br />
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She is now able to have full on conversations of back and forth dialogue where she understands what she is being told/asked and answers appropriately. Most of her phrases are between 4-7 words now and it seems like she is talking more every day. I keep telling myself that I need to get her little voice recorded more often because she'll be out of this phase so quickly.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(These might be my favorite pictures of her ever.)</span></div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=12041110.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/12041110.jpg" /></a><br />
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This morning George came into our bedroom after he woke up. I had just slipped back into bed after getting home from the gym and showering so I smiled at him and motioned for him to come join me. He walked over to my bedside, bent down and gave me a big kiss on the lips before turning around to go to the bathroom. It melts me so much that <i>that</i> is who this boy is. He is so tender, so affectionate, so dear, and it is just so naturally who he is. My family watched our kids last night while J and I attended a party and my mom reported that they had watched John's and my wedding video and George could not stop kissing the TV screen whenever I came on. (She also mentioned that Pearl screamed and sobbed every time she saw me in the video because she wanted me. So nice to be so loved :).)<br />
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Pearl has been attending nursery at church for a few months now. She was slightly hesitant at first, but after a few minutes of John or me waiting with her she would warm up and get playing with the other kids and we could leave. Now one of the nursery workers (a charming old grandpa) comes and takes her out of my arms immediately after Sacrament meeting and Pea happily goes right with him into nursery. We periodically go check in on her, but she is always fine and happy. Hooray for being able to sit through Sunday School and Relief Society lessons.<br />
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Last week one of our chickens (Willa) was getting pecked by the others and was bleeding and not doing well. George was very concerned about her and as we were driving home from my parents' house to check on her we heard George in the back seat praying to Heavenly Father that she wouldn't be dead when we got home. We went into the backyard to find Willa doing better and George said, "Sometimes prayers come true, huh?"<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Here are a few of the photos of them in their church clothes)</span></div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1204117.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1204117.jpg" /></a><br />
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To finish up tonight I want to briefly mention how grateful we feel as a little family for the many ways that blessings have been poured out upon us recently. We are in the middle of making some very big decisions for our family about where we want to end up next year as John begins his PhD program and we have felt so guided and directed throughout the whole process. Part of the process began a couple of months ago when we made the decision that John should quit his early morning job at UPS. This was a leap of faith for us in many ways and I struggled to know if we would be able to really make it without the benefits and security that the job provided for us. It truly has been humbling for us to see how God's Hand has been evident in the details of our family throughout these past couple of months. From unexpected envelopes of money on our door to extended insurance benefits that we didn't know about, we have had countless confirmations that if we try our best to follow the spirit and to be in tune with what God's will for our family may be, things will work out and we will be happy. I feel overwhelmed when I take time to really think about how immeasurably we've been blessed. I am so grateful this Christmas season for our Savior and for my personal faith in Him. I don't just have blind faith and I don't always feel so certain about everything, but I have had enough personal experience with really trying hard to seek God's will for me and then being blessed so abundantly as I make those decisions that I <i>am</i> certain of His influence in my life and I am certain that He loves His children. I feel grateful to celebrate His birth, life, and atonement this weekend.<br />
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Merry Christmas, dear friends!<br />
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<a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1204114.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1204114.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=1204111.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/1204111.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=120411.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/120411.jpg" /></a>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-65403556820224166472011-12-14T23:37:00.000-07:002011-12-14T23:37:45.574-07:00the fall i was going for (mostly)I have to purge my mind of the guilt from not posting these photos. There are lots. Just so you know.<br />
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We spent a lovely fall day up at John's grandparents' cabin in Midway clear back in October. Yes, I'm going back there (not to worry, I'll be re-visiting summer once Christmas is over). I brought the camera along and snapped a few photos.<br />
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This was only a couple of months ago and already she seems so much bigger to me now than she was then. Someone get me a new baby. Mine is gone.<br />
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Lisa and I were laughing about how perfectly Pearl decided to pose with her little leaf. <i>Yes little lady, just hold that fall leaf up in the air, twirl it around daintily and beam at it for an extended period of time so I can take your picture. </i><br />
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Loved that leaf-littered path.<br />
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Here are my children sitting nicely on a rock:<br />
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And here they are making out on the rock:<br />
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I've said it before and I'll say it again: kissing is serious business in this family.<br />
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I just like these two people so so much.<br />
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Someone (maybe Lisa?) demanded the camera so that she could snap a shot of our family. I wish I could love this picture but I totally look like I have a horrific bowl-cut going on with my hair so it's a little hard. I am trying though because I really love it of the other, normal hair-styled members of my family.<br />
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To wrap a little bow on my Fall posts (ah! I haven't posted about Halloween! Maybe I won't?) I'll finish off with a plethora of photos from an afternoon that we spent at our neighborhood park just a few weeks ago. The weather was starting to get nippy, but it was the definite space of Fall before Winter. I had not planned on taking many photos and only brought the camera along as an afterthought. I had planned to read a book and lounge while the kids played but those darn leaves drew me in. Also, George and Pearl were being so cute and it is a crime to ignore cuteness when you have a camera in tow to capture the moments. So basically my book sat on a bench by itself the whole time.<br />
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I love G's face in this first shot. A little bit smirky, a little bit mischief, a little bit sweet.<br />
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Pearl is so easy to take pictures of when she will actually cooperate because of those big eyes. And those big teeth. Oh how I love those teeth.<br />
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"Saucy minx" is a new phrase that Pearl has been spouting out lately. Because she hears me call her that frequently.<br />
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"Hey kids! Come lay in these leaves and let me drop some down on your faces! Sounds fun, right?"<br />
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Haha, this one of them with matching leaves covering their mouths is funny to me. George was doing that on his own so I told Pearl to do it as well.<br />
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These were ones they threw on themselves :).<br />
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They wanted me to bury them with leaves. So I did.<br />
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George was loving riding his bike through the leaves to make them crunch and break apart. And Pearl's little face is so funny to me, flinching away from a handful of leaves thrown her way (thank you, George).<br />
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Leaf-littered paths seem to be a theme in this post, no?<br />
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Pearl looks so concerned in this one.<br />
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Look at all those leaves! We were lucky to catch them before the clean-up guys came to blow them away.<br />
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After sufficient time frolicking and laying in leaves we made our way back to the playground. I tried to entice them over to the slides so that I could sit down and read, but they insisted on playing on this big cement wall that I was sure Pearl was going to fall off of. So I stayed close by. It worked out because I got a few pictures with those barren tree branches in the background that I ended up really liking.<br />
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Aren't those branches cool? I was really enjoying them. (As you can see.)<br />
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They were pretending and playing so well together. I was spying on them through this random cut-out in the wall.<br />
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I mostly included this because that first picture cracks me up. I so love how George has Pearl captured and distressed with a simple stick to her hood. And oh his smirk. He doesn't typically tease (in fact, he usually hates teasing/being teased), but when he does it is good.<br />
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I love her little toddler legs negotiating those stairs.<br />
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We finally did make it back to the playground, but the light was almost gone so I only snapped a few pictures.<br />
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I love his handsome face so much.<br />
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And her bright, sweet face, too.<br />
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And finally, a token shot of the leaves because they are pretty. And because I like that Pearl is crying in the background.<br />
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Whew. Now I can post about winter/Christmas activities without all the guilt :).lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-36228297501289209332011-12-04T21:33:00.000-07:002011-12-04T21:33:21.186-07:00fall photo flopI am not sure why, but I am sort of attached to the idea of getting some "Fall Photos" of my kids. I am drawn in by the loveliness of colorful, crunchy leaves, maybe. For whatever reason, I have taken some of my favorite photos of my children in the fall (I've done it every year since G was born), and I was determined to keep this tradition going.<br />
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Well.<br />
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Doesn't this picture just scream, "Fall is so beautiful! We are a happy family! We love each other!"?<br />
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No?<br />
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What about this one?<br />
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Hmm. Not so much? Maybe this?<br />
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Hahaha, oh George, you are killing me. It's nice that I can laugh about this now because let me assure you that I wasn't exactly laughing at the time.<br />
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The story is this: It was a pretty Fall day. A bit chilly, but I didn't know how many more days we'd have with leaves and no snow, so when I had an open afternoon I decided to quickly rush the kids over to the park to snap a few pictures. Pearl was already wearing something that I thought was fine for the pictures, but I needed George to change because he had a Superman shirt on that had short sleeves. Plus, Superman wasn't exactly the look I was going for.<br />
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George was not happy about having to change his shirt. I mean, he <i>really</i> wasn't happy. I can almost always reason with him, and he honestly never throws tantrums. But he was unhappy about changing his shirt and he let me know it. We sort of worked it out (or so I thought) and I told him that I would just take a couple of pictures with him in the shirt I wanted and then he could put his Superman shirt back on. There weren't any tears, and only mild protests continued, so we forged on to the park. I even sang some of my best Michael Jackson to George in the car to get him to crack a smile. It only sort of worked.<br />
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We got to the park and I sat the kids down in some leaves by a tree. I backed away to start snapping like normal and noticed that George would NOT wipe the tormented expression off of his face. You guys, I take a lot of pictures of that boy. I have NEVER not been able to get him to cooperate even for just one or two shots. He wasn't budging. I started out being nice, tried getting silly, and then got frustrated. I went over to him and firmly held his arms so he would look at me in the eyes. He pulled his arms away in rebellion and accidentally smacked Pearl (who was sweetly and perfectly sitting next to him) in the face. She started to cry and I yelled at George and picked up Pearl. I almost never yell at him and rarely even raise my voice at him, so this really hurt his feelings and he lost it and began sobbing. I calmed Pearl down and then attempted another conversation with George, but he was still pretty heartbroken. He just kept saying, "You hurt my feeeeelinnngssss!" The first picture on this post was snapped at this point. Oh the drama of it all. This one was right after Pearl had calmed down. You can still see the remnants of her tears.<br />
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He did finally calm down but he continued to really have difficulty putting on a happy face. He was seriously cracking me up though because he was really in a bad mood and did NOT want to appear happy, but he knew I meant business. So he'd be like this one second:<br />
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And then I'd pull out my <i>youhadbetterlistentomeNOW</i> voice and he'd instantly do this:<br />
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Seriously!<br />
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It was honestly hysterical how fast he could pull out that smile for one photo and then put it right back away. Like so:<br />
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Oh, the grumpiness, little George. Pearl was happy though.<br />
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This is a bad picture of Pearl, but I have to post it because George had just been scowling ferociously one second earlier (the third picture from the top was taken moments before this one), and then magically did this when the threatening voice came out:<br />
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I totally felt for him. I know what it is like to just be in a grumpy mood and it is lame to have to suck up your pride and slap on a happy face. I sort of feel bad that the whole thing unfolded that way because it really was my fault initially. I shouldn't have made an issue over the shirt and I should have fed him some dinner before we left. He was hungry and his autonomy and power had been totally taken away (I hadn't tried to do that, but looking back I can totally see how he felt), and I was really sorry about that. I took a minute and had a meaningful conversation with him and apologized for what had happened. I didn't excuse his naughty behavior and he said he was sorry, too. We hugged and he smiled a real, unforced, un-coerced smile. As you can see, he had already put his Superman shirt on (though that hadn't really done anything to help his mood up to that point, and yep, count it up, that is 5 different shades of blue he is rocking).<br />
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By this time the light was almost totally gone. I took a few more photos of my now happy children and we played in the leaves (until Pearl fell down and skinned her hands, but that's neither here nor there). I didn't get any Fall Photos that I really liked, but here are some of the better ones. (By the way, who is Pearl's mother and why didn't she do her hair before these pictures? Not sure.)<br />
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This is probably my favorite one of the bunch.<br />
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I think some of these could have turned out okay had George been cooperative from the beginning and the light not faded so fast. It was just getting so dark.<br />
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Oh look, happy children playing together! Weird!<br />
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He's a sweet, smiling boy most of the time. Just don't mess with his Superman shirt.<br />
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I was actually able to get some more Fall Photos of my kids on a different day completely accidentally. Maybe it was the fact that they were unintentional that made them turn out so much better. I'll post those next.lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-43356555105717134102011-11-19T22:58:00.000-07:002011-11-19T22:58:58.267-07:00snowy updateWhen I get behind on blogging I feel like the journaling and writing get neglected most. I get anxious to catch up and feverishly try to plug away at posts that are mostly pictures with a few sentences of caption. I'm not really a fan of that. I want details and stories recorded. I want feelings expressed in words that I can re-read at a later date. I want memories described in text. I love pictures as much as anyone (we all know that), but I want to write about the details that pictures miss. Someday I want my children to be able to read about the days of their childhood from the words of their mother. So here is a start at what I hope will become a much more consistent part of this space. (Along with some pictures, naturally. These are from the first snowfall of the year that came last Saturday. George woke us up with shrieks of, "It SNOWED! Can we go outside and build a snowman?!" We bundled up and quickly found that one child had a snowsuit that was getting too little, and the other had a snowsuit that was still far too big. Oops. The kids had so much fun, though, and it was especially memorable because it was Pearl's first experience with really playing in snow.)<br />
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We have fallen into a pretty good weekly rhythm that we can count on, and, though I am totally a free-spirited <a href="http://www.harley.com/writing/time-sense.html" target="_blank">polychronic</a> (also described <a href="http://hackvan.com/etext/monochronic-vs-polychronic-time.html" target="_blank">here</a>) party girl at heart, I am grateful for the structure that we have in place to build our days around. Since our outside running weather is gone, a few friends and I have been going to the gym together at 6:00 AM. I get home around 7:15 or so and get myself and the kids ready for school. Three mornings (8:30-12:30) a week (Tuesday-Thursday) all three of us go together to <a href="http://www.elizabethacademy.com/" target="_blank">school</a> where George is in his own early childhood Montessori class (with a teacher that I adore), and Pearl is with me in a class where I am the special educator. It is a pretty incredible blessing to our family the way this whole <i>me still teaching</i> thing has worked out, and I am so grateful that we get to all be at the same place together. On Mondays just George goes to school for the morning, and Pearl and I get to spend a few hours just the two of us. George loves school and I love that I have some built-in time that is just for my girl. On Fridays we are free to go whichever way the wind blows us. We can often be found at our neighborhood park, Target, my parents' house, a friend's house, the zoo, or the mall. Sometimes we stay home and do projects or play with cars, "guys," baby dolls, or markers (Pearl's current favorite thing). We have a relatively simple life (though it doesn't always feel that way), and I am so grateful to spend my days with the people I love most. One day I'm sure I'll come back here to read this and long for the simplicity and beauty of this time. That's why I wanted to quickly jot it down.<br />
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Speaking of school, both children are really thriving and learning so much. I didn't anticipate that with Pearl (as I would have NEVER put her in a preschool at her age under normal circumstances-- it just works out that she gets to be there because I am there), but holy cow, I am constantly amazed at the way those few hours a week manifest themselves throughout the rest of our days. She loves cleaning up, and will often put her toys and things back where they go without being asked (this is because she has learned to clean up and restore the works at school when she is finished with them). She stacks things constantly (thank you, <a href="http://montessorimom.com/pink-tower/" target="_blank">pink tower</a>), and tries to roll up dish towels while doing the "pat pat pat" on both sides to keep it neat (the kids either place their works on tables or little work mats that they roll out and roll back up themselves while singing, "Roll up the mat, tap tap tap." It really is so darling.). She has learned the routine at school so well and is usually the first little student to be in her "ready body on line" when she hears the clean-up chimes. Most of the other children in the class are much older than her, but there is one other little boy that is just two weeks younger (he is the son of one of the other teachers). He is bigger than Pearl, but for some reason (probably because he is just beginning to talk and still throws little tantrums when his mama takes something away :)) Pearl insists on calling him "Baby." She calls the other students by their names, and she knows his name, but she is convinced that he is a baby that needs her mothering. If he cries she'll go pat and hug him and say, "Oh, Baby cry. Baby sad." A few weeks ago, she noticed that he had a runny nose, and without missing a beat, rushed over to the "Care of Self" area in the classroom, grabbed a tissue, wadded it up, and went over and wiped his nose while noncholantly commenting to herself, "Baby. Nose." and then threw it away in the trash. She is a confident, assertive, funny, sometimes demanding, little mother-er, and I super love that about her.<br />
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George is also a happy little student. He loves math and numbers and is starting to work on place value and basic addition. He knows almost all his letter names and sounds, though his teachers report that they have to really entice him to work in the language/reading area. He is happier in math or practical life. John and I have talked with him about how good it feels to choose and complete some more challenging works because he seems (like most people, probably) to prefer to work in his comfort zone. He'd also almost ALWAYS prefer to work with a friend. His teachers are constantly commenting about how social he is, which occasionally results in a little visit to the "Watching Chair" until he is ready to sit back on line without talking to his friends, but most often is such a dear quality in our boy. We just had parent/teacher conferences and one of the things that his teacher wrote about him was that he is well-liked by all of his classmates and an honest leader in the class community (the honest part is because if he does something he knows he shouldn't do he will readily admit guilt and tell the teacher the whole story which kind of cracks me up).<br />
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On Monday I got to accompany George and his class on a field trip to a local farm. When I walked into the classroom to get the students I'd be chaperoning, one of his teachers ran up to me giggling. She had a funny story to tell me about George, she said (this is a regular occurence). When his teachers told George that morning that he would get to be in the group with me as the leader he proudly and joyfully exclaimed, "Yeah!! 'Cause she's my BFF!!" They cracked up laughing. Oh little boy, we really are BFFs, and I am so glad.<br />
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I've had to engage in a couple of conversations over the past two weeks that I wasn't expecting to be having so soon with George. They both happened in the car when we've had quiet time to think and talk. I was just driving along minding my own business when George asked, "Mom, how are the babies in the girls' tummies?" I wasn't sure what his question was exactly so I asked for clarification. He said, "When they are mommies their tummies get big with the babies, but when they are girls, their tummies are still small. How are the babies in there?" I explained that babies are not just chilling in little girls' tummies and that when girls get older and are grown up then the babies can get in the tummies. The lightbulb moment came for him, plus an additional, lovely little question: "OH! So the babies aren't in the tummies when the girls are little! So how do the babies get into the grown-up girls' tummies?" I quickly tried to gather together the bits and pieces of my answer for him so that he was given correct information, but without giving him too much information. This isn't a conversation that I am scared to have candidly with him, but I did feel like <i>Holy cow, he is four. He doesn't need details. Edit, Liz, edit.</i> So I edited and ended up saying that the mommy and the daddy create a new little baby together with Heavenly Father. He was totally satisfied with that answer and didn't ask any further questions about what exactly that creative process entails :). In fact, I even said (mostly for fun so John could be in on this too), "George, why don't you ask Daddy that question when we get home," to which he replied, "No Mom, that's silly, we already know the answer. They get created!" So there was that. And then there was the time last week when he asked me (again in the car), "Mom, when do girls get the breasts?" (pronounced "breast-ez," naturally). So we had a conversation about puberty and how boys get hair on their faces and girls get breasts when they are 12 or 13 or 14. He was like, "Yeah, I'll get hair on my face. Probably when I am five." No sir, not you will not. We will delay those milestones as long as possibly, pretty please.<br />
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Somehow (I think from <i>Veggietales</i>, actually) George learned about castor oil and has referred to it a couple of times when describing how something disgusting tasted. It's a little funny to hear your four-year-old be like, "Ewww! That is so yucky! It tastes like castor oil!" And then this past week I got some food poisoning and threw up and when George heard about it he said, "Oh, probably because you ate some castor oil, huh Mom."<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(She wouldn't keep her mittens on but then got so sad when her hands got frozen)</span></div><br />
George got sick about a month ago and was up all night throwing up. In the morning when he woke up I sat down by him at his make-shift bed on our bedroom floor and asked, "How are you feeling, buddy?" He looked up at me and gave a sweet smile and said, "Like I love you." Not exactly the answer I was expecting, but wow does that little tender boy know how to melt his mama's heart. I love him so much.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(George had just thrown a snowball at Pearl here)</span></div><br />
Pearl is seriously a little fireball of joy and delight. Yesterday John and I were talking about how completely adorable she is (something that we discuss pretty much daily) and John asked, "Does she just have an enormous personality?" because there really isn't any other way to describe her. Enormous, happy, loving, spicy, independent. Her personality cannot be contained in adjectives.<br />
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One of the most precious things about Pearl to me is how much she still loves to nurse, and I am not so sure she'll be ready to give it up any time soon. My plan right now is to wean right around 2 (which is what George did), but I am wondering if she'll be as ready then as George was. I am giving myself permission to extend that if I feel like it isn't going to be a painless transition for her. I am a big believer in child-led weaning, and while I think I can facilitate that a little bit to meet my needs, I am not going to take something away from her that she isn't ready to be finished with. I adore our nursing time. I feel so blessed that I have been able to spend so many hours giving my children this part of me. I will never regret nursing for longer, but I know I'd regret it if I stopped too soon.<br />
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Pearl's favorite things (besides her Mama, Daddy, and Brother (who she still refers to as "Bruh Bruh")) are babies and animals. She is obsessed with babies. Mostly real ones (she cannot keep her hands off of the babies at church and her new baby cousin), but dolls will also do. She is especially in heaven if she can push them around in some kind of stroller or shopping cart. She thinks she's a grown-up. She also loves animals, which is fun because George really doesn't care for them much. He doesn't like the way dogs smell and just isn't really a pet lover (aside from our chickens-- he really loves them). But Pearl is another story. She adores my parents' dog, and cannot get enough of looking at animals in books. She tried to steal a horse calendar from a mall kiosk and cried wildly when I made her put it back, "Fosie! Fosie! Want fosie book!" (Fosie is horsey, in case you don't speak Baby.)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(These two pictures are my favorite ones from the day)</span></div><br />
George is so patient with Pearl. She steals his toys and messes up the "guys" that he spends hours arranging, and he will just calmly redirect her in his little sing-songy voice, "No no, Pearlie. These are Bruh Bruh's. You go in your room and play with your toys." He does occasionally get frustrated with her persistence (she really loves taking his toys from him and running away while squealing with delight), but he is almost always just so gentle and patient even then. And even though Pearl does love to torment him with things like that, she also just really adores him and wants to be around him all the time. George is a back-scratch lover and can often be found begging anyone nearby to scratch his back. Pearl will always do it for him and it is so heartwarming to walk into the bedroom where they are playing and see George splayed out on his stomach, his shirt pulled up, Pearl leaning over him tickling his back with her small fingers.<br />
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This post has been all over the place and got really long. I wanted to document these stories and feelings though, and mostly just want it recorded that I am in love with my little family. I had to get a prescription filled at the pharmacy the other day and when I was told it would take 30 minutes, I decided to take a walk up the street with my two little tagalongs. We ended up at Smashburger at George's request and as we sat there together eating fries and sipping root beer I marveled at how blessed I felt. Even running errands with those two little people turns into a party. There are big moments of overwhelming joy as a parent, and then there are little ones. Little ones that happen over and over again throughout the hours and days that you spend with them, even when (maybe <i>especially</i> when) you were just supposed to be running a pesky errand to the pharmacy.<br />
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It's a happy life, this one.<br />
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<a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=john-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/john-1.jpg" /></a>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-60696658442984548462011-11-08T16:31:00.001-07:002011-11-08T16:31:19.933-07:00the generalization of men with beards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pearl just saw this photo (of author Mo Willems):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih60WhkH0ujPa5ak30nYl87Y6aEQ7bt7ZZ0FvxICjwBDFqhjuZtxHN-pdvLqL2BuEkdVBKyaxbX3UbAlAId3V_ZetVKEF-bI8B8qXZYPOqZlK-9etJDsZvspNzLp9GdfewqN-2Xw/s1600/mo-willems.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih60WhkH0ujPa5ak30nYl87Y6aEQ7bt7ZZ0FvxICjwBDFqhjuZtxHN-pdvLqL2BuEkdVBKyaxbX3UbAlAId3V_ZetVKEF-bI8B8qXZYPOqZlK-9etJDsZvspNzLp9GdfewqN-2Xw/s640/mo-willems.jpg" width="467" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and declared, "Birdie, Jesus, head. Tweet tweet."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Made me pretty happy, thought I'd pass it along :).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Real post coming soon. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.designmom.com/2011/11/author-interview-mo-willems/" target="_blank">(photo source)</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-21584513475694116662011-11-02T00:14:00.000-06:002011-11-02T00:14:43.324-06:005 little pumpkins sitting on a gateI am determined to keep plugging away at this thing despite my lack of blogging mojo lately. I will get back to Costa Rica (mainly for my siblings and mother who harass me about it regularly), but tonight we'll keep it a little more current.<br />
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We have explored a different pumpkin patch every year since George was tiny (our first one was when he was 3 months old, and we've been to a new one each fall since then), and the one this year was really lovely. We were the only people out there for most of the time, and there were hundreds of pretty pumpkins for the picking.<br />
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Pearl and George wandered around checking out the pumpkins for a bit before deciding on the ones they wanted. George made good use of his feet to flip pumpkins over and check out the other sides.<br />
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There was some pretty golden light for about 4 minutes right when we arrived, and I was able to snap a few of my favorite photos ever of my little Pea. I just love her in these.<br />
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George found the pumpkin he wanted (which, upon kicking over, was discovered to have a completely flat back but he wanted it anyway-- or maybe, I'm just realizing this now, he <i>wanted</i> a pumpkin with a flat back and that is why he was kicking them all over and checking them in the first place??) and he proudly rolled it down the path towards our car.<br />
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He enlisted his sister's help.<br />
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And, naturally, she took charge just as fast as she could. (She doesn't yet know how lucky she is to have such a mild, gentle, kind soul for a big brother.)<br />
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He just nicely held her hand while she took over his hand-picked pumpkin. I really, really love these two people and all of the different things that make them just the way they are.<br />
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Happily for George, Mama stepped in and redirected Pearl towards some new pumpkins that were a little more her size.<br />
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She didn't need pumpkins to distract her once she spotted the horses. She screamed "Forsies! Forsies!" and made a beeline for them. She kept tripping over pumpkin vines so I gave her a little lift.<br />
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I love how you can tell that it was freezing outside by Pearl's watery eyes and red nose.<br />
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A closer look at that chilly little face.<br />
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We loaded our pumpkins into the wheelbarrow and let G and P go for a little ride on top of them. They thought it was the greatest thing ever.<br />
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A couple more pictures (including a rare shot of all 4 of us-- thank you, Kind Pumpkin Farmer!), and then we ran to the car and cranked up the heat :).<br />
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And what, you may ask, did we do with our pumpkins? Well, let me show you.<br />
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We scraped out the gooey guts. (Or "endocarp," as George will quickly inform you.)<br />
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Pearl got to work making sure George's was completely seed-free, bless her heart.<br />
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I love how huge the pumpkin looks compared to her head at this angle.<br />
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We drew on a scary face with the ever-important "spikey mouth."<br />
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We sliced off the tops while people watched in fear that we might slice off our hands (we didn't, and I am a perfectly competent pumpkin cutter, thankyouverymuchMomandJohn). And Pearl ate pizza.<br />
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We carved. George was very serious about this part.<br />
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I love how focused he looks in these.<br />
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He cut out that nose all by himself and would've done the rest alone too, if I had been willing to extend our pumpkin carving time by about 16 hours :).<br />
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Pearl thought carving looked like fun so she helped herself to a recently sharpened kitchen knife and the side of George's pumpkin. I didn't mind. My mom, however, did, and in case you were worried, the knife was taken away right after these pictures were snapped.<br />
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Pearl recovered quickly when she found another sharp object to hold. I am with her-- if her brother can do it, so can she, right? :)<br />
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Madeline broke out the power tools for her pumpkin.<br />
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John carved a happy pumpkin face for Pearl.<br />
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She thought he looked hungry. How about a carrot stick? No? Perhaps some pizza?<br />
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When the pumpkin didn't bite, she fed the pizza to Daddy and herself, respectively.<br />
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George and me smiling after the carving was complete.<br />
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The finished products (L to R: my mom's, Mady's, mine, Pearl's, and George's):<br />
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A closer look.<br />
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Pearl came out by the pumpkins and wanted a light. We gave her one and I told her to put it up by her eyes in the hope that it might illuminate her face enough to get it in the picture. This picture cracks me up because of how obedient she was being-- RIGHT by her eyes :).<br />
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She was being so silly and crazy right there with the pumpkins, but we couldn't really tell what she was doing because it was so dark. I turned on my flash to see if I could capture any of it. She is so entertaining. (By the way, how cool is that pumpkin on the left? My mom found that somewhere and I have coveted it all season long.)<br />
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Madeline came out and she and Pearl had fun playing with the lights.<br />
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I sort of can't believe that we just barely carved these and now it's already time to throw them away and start anticipating all of the other fall/winter holidays that I love. This fall went by so fast for me, and though I'm not quite ready for winter yet, I was super happy that Mother Nature gave us one more blissful fall day for Halloween yesterday. It was so beautiful outside that I even took George and Pearl over to a park for some pictures in their "inside costumes." (I almost always plan for a second costume that is plenty warm for trick-or-treating if the other costume they are wearing for all of the school/church parties isn't going to keep them warm enough.)<br />
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Here is a little peak of my Zookeeper and Garden Gnome.<br />
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More (lots more) to come.lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-66281724233074341462011-10-17T22:50:00.000-06:002011-10-17T22:50:21.424-06:00costa rice: days 4 & 5 (a little rainforest, please)On our 4th day in Costa Rica we set out early (really, it was around 5:00 AM) to make the 4 hour drive up to the town of Monteverde to spend a couple of days in the rain and cloud forests there. Our kids were so tired and I expected them both to sleep for a good portion of the drive. George met those expectations. His sister, however, decided she'd rather read science books and enjoy the views the entire time. She finally fell asleep for about the last hour of the ride. Just in time to ruin her afternoon nap :).<br />
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But with the incredible sights to see I guess I can't really blame her for not wanting to miss it. We couldn't get over how beautiful it all was. We drove on a highway for a little bit at first, but then the rest was little winding roads up mountainsides through rainforest. The roads started out paved (but still very narrow) like this (that is my parents' rental car in front of us):<br />
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After about an hour on that road we graduated to a dirt road with many, MANY potholes. It was an adventure. We had been warned not to attempt this route without a 4-wheel drive vehicle, and we were glad we had heeded the warnings and gone with bigger SUVs.<br />
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This was such a lovely way to see more of this remarkably beautiful country, and the 4 hours went by quickly because the drive was so pleasant (and bumpy-- it was like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland :)). I kept snapping photos out of the window as we drove because I wanted to remember those sights. Here are a few:<br />
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See all those lovely houses down there in that little valley? Can you even imagine living somewhere like that? So beautiful.<br />
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The rows of plants off in the distance we decided were coffee plants, I believe.<br />
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Here's a closer look at those pretty rows of coffee.<br />
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We drove through a few really lovely, tiny towns like this one. It was fun to see the schoolchildren out playing soccer during their recess.<br />
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I have a strange affinity for laundry that is hung out to dry and we passed dozens of lines like this one. I look at this and wonder about the people who wear those clothes-- what their lives are like, what they do for work, if they have children. John and I kept commenting about what it would be like to relocate to a home like the ones we drove past. I am certain we'd be in for some culture shock, and I'm certain we'd miss many of the conveniences that we're used to (like dryers), but in so many ways it is a lifestyle to be envious of. Hard work, hard play, not a lot of distractions. I understand that I am totally generalizing (and perhaps romanticizing) here, but the point is just that I found a lot of beauty in the simplicity of the homes and the lack of excess, and actually felt some yearning to find a way for my children to experience their youth in a place that allows for those things (hard work, hard play, few distractions). It seems so hard to come by where we are at right now.<br />
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After we arrived in Monteverde and checked into our little hotel, we headed out for some adventures in the rain/cloud forests. We started off with some ziplining (since George and Pearl were too little for this John stayed with them and didn't come on this part).<br />
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Here is my mom getting ready to take off while my little sisters watch from the stairs.<br />
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Ben looks slightly miserable, but I'm pretty sure that's just because it would be far too much work to actually look like he was enjoying something for a camera, and not because it wasn't actually fun.<br />
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See? Here we all are happily smiling for the camera as we walked through the rainforest to the next set of ziplines and there is Ben back there looking like a serial killer. He's not. Pretty sure. (I'm making this sound like he is always angry which is pretty much the opposite of the truth. He is always laughing and teasing. He just refuses to be a normal person in a picture.)<br />
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Another walk to the next set of zips.<br />
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The one and only picture of me ziplining from the day.<br />
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There were a couple of ziplines that were super long and you could choose to ride with someone. This was so great because you were zipping along forever and you could have someone up there to enjoy it with. Here are my dad and Rachel coming down.<br />
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Here are Adam and Madeline. We were chuckling as they came zipping in about Mady's long giraffe (draf) legs hanging straight down for miles. It's just because we're all jealous, Mad.<br />
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You weren't supposed to take photos while actually ziplining, but this one was so long and I was with Hannah (I always feel more rebellious when someone is around to witness it), so I snapped this shot. You can really get a feel for what it was like to float along above the canopy of trees in the rainforest. It was so much fun.<br />
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After ziplining (which spellcheck keeps telling me isn't a word), we went back to rescue John from our rowdy and tired children. Pearl pretty much fell asleep instantly when I put her in the baby carrier and nursed her. See her little legs dangling down there? We donned our rain gear and got ready to go walk along the bridges through the rain/cloud forest.<br />
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One of the many bridges we walked across. It was pretty dreamy.<br />
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I love this picture. My dad was pointing out in the distance to where you could see one of the ziplines that we had just been on way above the trees, and I just think the clouds above us and the rainforest below us look so beautiful.<br />
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George thought this was pretty exciting. He was a trooper, too. When we set out on this little adventure we had NO idea how long it was going to take. Let's just say that by about the 10th bridge (with good hiking distance between them) we were all ready to call it a day :).<br />
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Our little family. Pearl is in there asleep under my poncho.<br />
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We walked for so long that eventually Pearl woke up...<br />
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...and George really needed to go potty. Pretty sure this will be the coolest place he's ever peed for his entire life. This picture makes me laugh so hard. I added a modesty patch to keep things PG-13. That's a pretty impressive little stream, if I do say so myself :).<br />
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That night we stayed at a very quaint hotel in the rainforest that was first built by Quaker families who had settled in Costa Rica to avoid persecution. We had cozy rooms with windows that looked out into the rainforest for miles. There weren't any portable cribs to rent from the front desk like at most hotels, so we got a little creative in making Pearl somewhere to sleep. Happily our hotel room had three big beds in it (it was almost like a cabin or something), so we had plenty of space to get her all set up. We re-arranged some of the furniture, pushed the bed against the wall, and added our suitcases around as a border to keep her from falling, and voila, who needs a crib? See her slumbering over there in the corner?<br />
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The next morning we set out for a bit more of an adrenaline rush. My mom wasn't interested in huge freefalls, so she stayed at the hotel with my kids while the rest of us went to a different place for some higher adventure ziplining and freefalling. I decided not to bring my camera along this time, so these pictures were from Hannah's (much smaller and therefore more zipline-friendly) camera. There was one zipline that you could clip in so that you flew down like Superman. It was super fun and only a little bit alarming to come flying down headfirst at lightning speed towards trees and trust that they would stop you before you crashed into the large tree at the end. From top left to right, the pictures are of me, Mady, Dad, Adam, Ben, and Hannah. John did this too, but he went first with the camera to take these pictures. And Rachel was too small to fly like Superman so she just zipped down normally.<br />
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After doing about a thousand speedy ziplines, the finale was a gigantic Tarzan swing that boasted a 150 ft. free fall. It was seriously intense. So much fun. Here is my dad walking the plank. You got to the end of that platform, some guys quickly hooked you up to a couple of ropes, and then they push you off. It was crazy.<br />
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Here are the rest of us swinging back down to earth after we had jumped. (John did this too, but for some reason he ended up going at the beginning to take photos again. Why didn't that occur to me at the time?)<br />
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We loved the two days we spend in Monteverde. It was such a perfect way to break up our days at the beach and do something different. John was loving all of the insects of course, and only wished he had some vials and alcohol to bring them home in :). Here are a few pictures he took of the bugs. (There are dozens more, but I figured most people who read my blog aren't here to see pictures of insects.)<br />
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I hate spiders, but these were kinda cool guys. Like a Daddy Longlegs on steroids.<br />
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We headed home (i.e.: back to our hotel on the beach) in a ferocious downpour which caused caused some of us a little concern about the safety of the dirt roads we'd be driving down, but we were fine.<br />
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And this time the kids slept almost the whole way :).<br />
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Back to the beach next!lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-41280223658847026272011-10-04T21:01:00.000-06:002011-10-04T21:01:34.830-06:00return on our investmentI am interrupting my s l o w Costa Rican recap to bring you a chicken update. We have eggs! We actually have for about 3 weeks now, and it is so exciting. One of our most favorite things to do in the evening is go out and collect the eggs-- even though we can pretty much guarantee a few eggs a day (usually around 5 to 7), it is still pretty thrilling every day to go out and actually have a bundle of eggs to bring in. Our kids love it, too, and we cannot walk out the door without Pearl asking "Chicken? Egg?" and lunging out of my arms toward the backyard to go see for herself. George shed some tears on the first day that we got eggs once he realized that these eggs were going to be eaten rather than hatched-- he had been thinking all along that we would be getting eggs that had baby chicks in them to hatch like we did last time. He was pretty disappointed, poor little kid. I felt bad that we hadn't thought to make that clear to him and had broken his heart like that-- he really was so sad about it. He still sometimes says that he wishes our eggs had baby chicks in them, but he's not sad about it anymore, and he loves going out to get the eggs and bringing them in to be washed and put away (both chores that he completes happily).<br />
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By the way, we absolutely LOVE having our chickens. They come running to us when we walk in the backyard and they kind of hunch down when we reach out for them so we can pick them up. They are seriously the best pet in the history of earth: they live outside, they are so low maintenance, they let us hold them when we want to, but we don't have to attend to them like other kinds of pets, and hello, they give us food! I'd like to see your dog do that :).<br />
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Here are the kids on the morning that we found our first eggs.<br />
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And here is a shot of a carton that we filled up just today. We hadn't gotten the eggs yesterday, so when we went out this evening there were 14! We were laughing as John just kept pulling egg after egg out of their little nest. I love the different eggs from the different breeds (the brown/tan ones are from our Plymouth Barred Rocks (Luigi and Blue), Rhode Island Reds (Maude and Spot) , and Sexlinks (Leapy and Colorful), the white ones are from our Leghorns (Strongfluff and Willa), and the blueish green ones are from our Americana (Bevisa)). I'm telling you, go build yourself a coop and get some chickens-- you'll love it!<br />
<a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=eggs.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/eggs.jpg" /></a>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-86315367153306034462011-10-02T21:48:00.000-06:002011-10-02T21:48:41.145-06:00costa rica: day 3 (happy b-day to me)Our third day in Costa Rica also happened to be my 27th birthday (how lucky am I?), and it was such a happy day.<br />
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You know the day is going to be awesome when it starts out with your two brothers smuggling large numbers of towels out of the hotel :).<br />
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We spent the morning at Flamingo Beach and we were pretty much the only people there (except for that one guy off in the corner having a solo yoga session; he left once we got there, I'm sure because our rowdy crew started throwing his chakras all off balance). It really was so picturesque and serene. Here is a wide angle shot of various family members spread out doing their thing on the beach and in the water.<br />
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</div><div>I basically never held or took care of my children on this trip (except for at night when Pearl decided to be a newborn again). I adored having my kids there experiencing and seeing all these new things alongside us, but it was also so glorious to be able to really r e l a x (in a way that isn't possible when you are chasing around two active children) because my family members just jumped in and took care of my babies so often. Traveling with extended family is seriously underrated. Best of both worlds, for sure. Here is Rach taking Pea out for a stroll in the pretty water.<br />
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Ben and I were so! happy! to! be! there! (Rachel holding Pearl, and George and Madeline in the background.)</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=jump.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/jump.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Pearl must've learned a few moves from the yoga man before he left. Here she is with some fine down dog form.</div><div><a href="http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/?action=view&current=yoga.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/lizsproul/yoga.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
I like this baby and her unruly, wispy, flippy hair. Lots and lots.<br />
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John caught another crab. This one was bigger and more threatening than the tiny one that pinched Pearl, and she knew better than to pet him. I was actually surprised she wanted to get this close after how mad she had been the day before.<br />
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I married a pirate. A very sweaty pirate.<br />
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Remember when I said that we took lots of pictures of our toes? Yes, well, here are two more.<br />
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Pearl helped herself to a little personal ocean-bath, so we decided to get her out of her salt-water filled diaper and let her play.<br />
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Her little squished bottom makes me laugh.<br />
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After a couple of hours on the beach we had to head into town to catch a sunset sailboat cruise thing that my dad had planned for us. Once we boarded the sailboat my first order of business was to get a certain little girl to sleep. She was happy to oblige. Tired baby.<br />
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We were riding out to a beautiful little cove with a reef for snorkeling which was about an hour away. While Pea slept everyone else enjoyed the ride.<br />
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It was such a fun thing to see some of Costa Rica from the water-- it is so beautiful!<br />
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Once we got out to the cove we ate a traditional Costa Rican dinner and then had a couple of hours to explore-- we swam, snorkeled, and kayaked.<br />
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Mom and Rach lookin' fine in their masks.<br />
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My dad offered to stay on the boat with my kids while John and I (and everyone else) went out snorkeling. When we got back George was chomping at the bit to get out into the water, so my dad took him out in the kayak.<br />
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Pearl had happily watched everyone out playing in the water...<br />
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</div><div>...Until she saw George out in the kayak. Then she wanted in on the action. I rounded up a miniature lifejacket and sent her on her way. By this time George had decided the kayak wasn't as much fun as swimming, so he had jumped into the water, and I had to get John to snorkel on over to keep an eye on him.<br />
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There they all are, a little closer.<br />
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My happy, water-loving boys.<br />
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We loaded back onto the boat and began the ride home. For some reason things got a little crazy on the boat ride back. Mostly with my kids. They were being so wild. (Also with Hannah who decided to recklessly flirt with some Canadian college boys :).) Thankfully we had many people to help corral my children.<br />
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We tried to get a picture of our family, but as you can see, the kids were most uncooperative. I am blaming the Costa Rican food we had eaten for dinner.<br />
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This was the best we could do :).<br />
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We frequently made fun of Adam for bringing a book with him EVERYWHERE we went and reading it at pretty much any free second he could. We were laughing because John took this photo of all of us hanging out together at the front of the boat...<br />
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...and then he turned around and took this picture of Adam, book in hand, giving us a dirty look for laughing at him and his book-loving ways.<br />
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A couple of the calmer moments-- one of me with George (I love that he loves me):<br />
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And one of Daddy and his girl looking at the ocean.<br />
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And then one of Pearlie giving me a kiss. Oh, wait. Scratch that. This wasn't calm-- look at her! She was attacking me. We are serious about our kisses in this family.<br />
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Have I mentioned before that George is not shy? Well, he's not. Not at all. In fact, sometimes John and I cringe a little at the comfort level he has with complete strangers. He and one of the Costa Rican boat drivers became buddies. They turned the music up and had a serious dance party. We were all thoroughly entertained.<br />
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Then G's new buddy asked for him help driving the boat. George took his job seriously, and had to be redirected from time to time because he really wanted to turn that boat around.<br />
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Pearl got to help for a bit, too. I love her little hands all ready to go on that steering wheel.<br />
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This was billed as a "Sunset Cruise," but it was a pretty cloudy day so we didn't know if we'd really end up getting a sunset. The clouds parted just enough for a decent show as we were sailing back to shore, and though it wasn't the most spectacular sunset ever, it was still beautiful.<br />
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John took this one after we had walked back to shore.<br />
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It was such a full, fun day that most of the time I didn't even remember that it was my birthday. On our drive back to the hotel we decided to stop at Super Compro (our BFF-- we were there almost daily) and pick up a birthday cake to make it a legit birthday celebration. We chose some kind of concoction that was sort of like a giant tres leches, and I was officially declared 27 once my family sang "Happy Birthday" to me in the most horrific (seriously, my brothers were singing like injured cows) tune you can imagine. Just the way I like it :).<br />
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Rainforest is next. If I can find the motivation...<br />
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</div>lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-1811443523262136272011-09-19T23:05:00.000-06:002011-09-19T23:05:29.492-06:00costa rica: days 1 & 2Oh Costa Rica Pictures, why are there so many of you? I am staying up past my bedtime (ha) tonight to get a few of these posted, mostly to satisfy the demands of an anonymous commenter (that I'm pretty sure is my little sister who just went away to college). I need to go on a blogging kick this week because I literally have dozens of posts in the works. I have been negligent in keeping caught up this summer. Let's get started.<br />
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Since a soccer tournament almost cancelled our Costa Rican vacation, it was fitting that a soccer tournament also make it so that we had to catch a flight at 1:00 AM instead of a time when normal people with small children get on airplanes. John and I put our kids to bed at 7:30 PM like usual, and then woke them up at 11:00 PM to head to the airport. It felt wrong, but also made it pretty magical for George. He thought it was awesome to be up in the middle of the night to get on an airplane. The kids were really superb travelers, for the most part. George was easy as pie. He just went with the flow; he slept in crazy, hunched over positions on hard armrests, and sat quietly reading books when he was awake. Pearl was a little more difficult to get back to sleep on that first flight, and it was a bit stressful since I was sitting with her next to slumbering strangers that I didn't want to drive crazy. After forcing her to nurse for about 20 minutes, she fell into a fitful sleep (she wanted to lay down and get comfy, and being curled up in my lap was less than ideal), but she slept and was quiet. I might have gotten 15? 20? minutes of sleep in there somewhere, but who cares, we were going to Costa Rica.<br />
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When we got to the airport in Atlanta it was around 6:30 AM, so we ate breakfast and then our entourage headed to our gate to hang out.<br />
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People who did not have small children to chase around (Adam, Ben, Hannah, Madeline, Rachel, Dad) made makeshift sleeping quarters on the airport floor to try to get some more rest. It was a little difficult with my two monkeys crawling all over everyone. Notice George peeking his head out of the middle of the chairs and Pearl over all up in Hannah's sleep space :).<br />
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Adam (not to be mistaken for a terrorist) slept, and Pearl looked out the windows at the airplanes.<br />
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Lots of people walked by and laughed at John sleeping underneath a row of chairs. That man can fall asleep anywhere.<br />
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The happiest thing happened on our flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica when we realized the plane was pretty empty and we could spread out. Pearl fell right asleep and slept for almost the whole 4 hours because she had so much room to lay down and roll over. John and George were across the aisle and it was the easiest with-children flight I've ever been on.<br />
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Stepping off of the airplane and immediately being enveloped by the warm, damp air of Costa Rica was the signal that our vacation had begun. Our first order of business (after getting the royal treatment and being escorted to the front of the customs line-- having small, unruly children really does pay off at times like that) was peeling Pearl's sticky, sweaty jammies (overnight flight, remember?) off of her body and putting her into something a little more weather-appropriate, right there in the middle of the tiny, outdoor Liberia airport.<br />
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We hopped into our rental cars, turned on the A/C, and headed towards the coast. Our drive was only about 70 km, which should have taken an hour or so (the roads are bumpy!), but ended up taking us closer to two. We took some pretty awesome scenic detours, but they were happy accidents because you never can see too much of a new, beautiful place. We should have realized that we were a little too off the beaten path when our path took us down windy, cavernous dirt roads that went in circles to tiny, lovely houses where the neighbors that had gathered outside all stopped their socializing to stare and giggle in our direction. Clearly large rental cars filled with white people were not the norm in those parts.<br />
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We finally did make it to our hotel. We stayed <a href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sjojw-jw-marriott-guanacaste-resort-and-spa/">here</a>, and let me just say, it was glorious. Between the gigantic pool and the ocean being just out the back door, we didn't even have to get in the car on some days. Here we are after our first night, doing some exploring around the hotel. We were happy to be there, can you tell?<br />
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Our first full day in Costa Rica was spent mostly hanging out at the beach. We made the drive into the nearest town (Tamarindo) to do some grocery shopping (why is it that even grocery shopping feels like a party when you are on vacation?) and get dinner, but other than that, we just played in the sand and waves all day. So happy. I love these handsome boys. George was in LOVE with the ocean. We had to drag him out of the water (which was seriously the temperature of a warm bath) at the end of the day.<br />
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Despite what it looks like in this picture, Pearl really loved the water, too. She was just ready for a nap at this point and was letting me know it. That was another lovely thing about this hotel being right on this beach; one of us could take Pearl back to the cool room for her naps and everyone else could stay out and play.<br />
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Adam gave himself an exfoliating mud treatment.<br />
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And then my kids followed suit.<br />
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And then George insisted on slapping some mud onto anyone and everyone who came near him. That is why my legs are muddy in this second picture.<br />
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John caught a little crab and was showing it to the kids while I snapped this photo. Who knew that at this same moment Pearl was also giving the crab a little pet and the crab would decide to give her a little pinch? Bad, bad parents.<br />
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Poor lil' thing. She was pretty sad about it all.<br />
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John tried to show her the crab again so that she wouldn't hold a grudge against the little pinchy guy forever, but look at that face. She is a tough sell.<br />
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A close-up of the mean guy himself.<br />
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My mom played with the kids in the water,<br />
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and on the shore.<br />
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Hannah, Ben, and John held hands and were awkward. No one knows why.<br />
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Cute little babes walked along beautiful beaches.<br />
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I did not plan for them to have sort of matching swimsuits, (really, Pea's is a hand-me-down and my mom bought George's), but you know that I loved the happy coincidence that it worked out to look like they went together.<br />
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We bought this really pretty blow-up lifejacket from the Super Compro there so that George could swim and play without us having to hold onto him the whole time. It was rather unsightly, but he LOVED it. He didn't want to take it off even when he didn't need it. So thumbs up for that!<br />
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After the entire afternoon in a plastic lifejacket, there were some chin-chaffing issues so the lifejacket was removed. George didn't let that stop him.<br />
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Do pictures of feet make you uncomfortable? If so, I am sorry. This is only one of at least 30 pictures that we took of our feet. As a special pre-vacation surprise, all of us girls went and got coordinating pedicures together. And that needed to be well-documented. These toes belong to Hannah, me, and my mom, respectively.<br />
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Lastly, I'll leave you with a series of photos of Ben just casually throwing down a backflip on the beach like it is totally normal to be able to do that.<br />
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There you have it! Our first day. Next up: my birthday, Costa Freakin' style.lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-1471807600404233292011-09-04T23:46:00.000-06:002011-09-04T23:46:47.611-06:00do whatever i want dayWe had a big day on Wednesday. It was the day before George's first day back to school and I knew we needed to have a special day. I wanted us to just soak each other all in-- I wanted them (J, G, & P) to have all of me and I wanted to have all of them. I didn't have any real plans-- just to be together. That night after George had neatly laid out his school clothes and backpack for the next morning, I tucked him into bed with lots of kisses and a full heart. He was asleep quickly, but my mind didn't let me rest for awhile.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(it's a dark photo, but I had to take a picture because I love his clothes and backpack laid out on the floor. and i also love that he refuses to sleep under his covers because he doesn't like having to re-make his bed the next morning.)</span><br />
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I wanted to memorize our day.<br />
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We started off going to Provo with John. Like I said, I really wanted all of us to be together. John had a class in the morning, and then nothing else until later on that afternoon. We figured that if we went with him to Provo we could spend the majority of the day all together and just drop him off when he needed to be in class. While he went to a real fun class (ha, I believe it is called <i>Biometry and Experimental Design</i>), the kids and I explored campus. Pearl ran away and I sent George to retrieve her. Like usual.<br />
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<i>Come back, Little Sister.</i><br />
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I love the vice grip that he has on her arm; she doesn't seem too pleased about it, however.<br />
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Our first stop was the BYU Bookstore. We looked at books and clothes. We followed Cosmo the Cougar's paw prints down the stairs to the kids' clothes while George creatively (and independently) started singing, "Follow the paw prints, follow the paw prints, follow the paw prints, don't go astray!" to the tune of the Primary song <i>Follow the Prophet</i>. We ended up at the candy counter where my kids wanted to park and stay awhile. And since it was "Do Whatever I Want Day" according to George, I let them both pick out a treat and bought 1/2 pound of each. At 9:00 in the morning. (If you start to twitch at the thought of kids eating lots of sugar you may just want to skip this post. Seriously. It's bad.)<br />
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Then we meandered through the Wilk to the Cougareat (warning: more sugar ahead). I have so many memories in these places, and it was fun to be there with my kids, with no pressure to rush off to a class or the stress of needing to study. We bought two donuts: sprinkles for George, and a giant glazed Y for Pearl (ahem, me). John met up with us here so we all sat down and shared bites together.<br />
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Pearl liked hugging hers more than she liked eating it. Don't worry, it didn't get wasted :).<br />
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She did, however, really like her brother's. Luckily he likes her so he shared.<br />
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When the donuts were gone we slowly made our way around campus to our car. It was fun to just walk along at the pace of little kids and look around. The kids alternated walking and riding on dad's shoulders.<br />
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Pearl loves her daddy. He gets way more cuddles than anyone else.<br />
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Walking to the car. If she looks like she has spunk it's because she does.<br />
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I really love BYUs campus. I am partial to my Salt Lake valley mountains, but I always find myself marveling over how majestic and beautiful the mountains surrounding campus are.<br />
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We left BYU and drove towards a toy store that I had sort of heard about this one time but didn't really know if it existed or where it was (if that sounds vague it's because it is). Happily, we found it the very first place I drove to and we didn't even have to enlist the help of Google. We spent quite some time there. George rode various toys all around the store looking at all of the fun things on shelves.<br />
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Pearl wanted to ride on something, too, and was happy when she found this little pink animal. John put her on it and walked away. That didn't go over too well. Now you see her, now you don't. Sorry about the blur-- I took the picture as I saw her fall and started to move quickly to help her up.<br />
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Here she is riding something a bit more stable.<br />
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Pea LOVED the little shopping carts and she pushed hers around the store like it was her job. She was a baby on a mission.<br />
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She did make stops occasionally to point at something cool or to add something to her cart that she wanted to purchase. She thinks she's a grown up.<br />
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In the end there were no toys purchased (unless you count the $1.00 little whirly tube thing that John said he got for George but really got for himself), but we did leave with some gumballs and old fashioned sodas in glass bottles. (I love Pearl zooming by with her cart in the background.)<br />
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Oh, the sugar!<br />
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For lunch George chose pizza, and remember, it was Do Whatever He Wants Day, so pizza it was. While we waited for the pizza to cook, George colored and Pearl poured salt in my water.<br />
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And then she stirred it around.<br />
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I'm including the picture of Pearl feeding me the breadstick even though it's really awkward looking (both my face and the giant blurred breadstick in the foreground) because it's the only picture of the entire day that I am in. When my kids look back on this in a few years I want them to know I was there, too :).<br />
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Pineapple, onion, and tomato pizza. Our favorite. Except George pulls off the onions.<br />
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Pearl doesn't, though. She just goes for it. She will eat anything and everything. As long as she is allowed to feed herself, preferably with a fork. Ha ha, that full mouth is cracking me up.<br />
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After lunch we had to take John back to a class, so we went to the mall while we waited for him to be done. George wanted to go the the Disney Store and look for Halloween costumes and I had told him that he could pick out a new shirt for his first day of school. I didn't take many pictures in the mall, but George was loving these Spiderman gloves in the Disney Store so much that I had to pull it out and snap a couple. Plus I really liked the sparkley floor :).<br />
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We came home (by this time it was early evening), and I took Pearl to Target with me to pick up a few school supplies for George while the boys stayed behind. (I had wanted George to come with me to pick out his own supplies, but he wanted to stay home with his daddy, so I brought Pea with me instead.) When we got home John had to rush away for some church meetings, and while I normally would prefer him to be home with us, I actually kind of relished the time to put the kids down to bed myself and reflect alone in a quiet house. We loaded up George's backpack with his new supplies (he was so! excited! about the disposable camera that is his very own), and laid out his clothes (including the new shirt that he had picked out) on the floor. We read scriptures and said prayers on George's bed. He laid down while I went and nursed Pearl. I promised him once Pearl was in bed I would come back in and scratch his back. When I went back into his room he looked like this:<br />
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And so we are full circle, now. I scratched his back anyway, and laid down on the bed by him. I whispered to him that I loved him and that I was so glad we had spent such a happy day together.<br />
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Then I walked out the front door and under a sky of pink clouds I sat on the porch and thought about what an incredible privilege I have to be a mother. I had felt some guilt earlier in the week because I had been away from my children way more than I ever normally am. I had a bunch of meetings for work, and even though they were with either my mom or John's mom, and even though it was just for a couple of hours at a time, I still had been feeling like I had been away from my precious children too much. I don't like feeling like I am not the main person that they spend their days with. I am their mama. They need me. I need them. I just like them so much. Sitting on the porch I felt so grateful for the time we had together that day, and for the hundreds and hundreds of other days we've had together that have been perhaps less purposeful in our intent, but just as happy and just as full of soaking each other in. I know that this time in our lives is such a little blip-- that the season of just having young children at home with me is so fleeting. We are already losing bits and pieces of it three mornings a week when we head out the door to go to school. I just don't ever want to feel like I haven't sucked the marrow of this precious phase enough.<br />
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Thursday morning we were off. Both of my babies, ready for their first day. (Pearl is in the classroom with me again, but still, she really is a little student in our class. It's pretty much darling.)<br />
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George was so happy (and perhaps a little too social and talkative, but we're working on it :)) for his first day at school with his new teacher. I am excited about the things he'll learn and the growth we will surely see in his beautiful personality. But am I a little sad that he's so big? Yeah, a little. And kindergarten next year? Forget about it. (Sorry about the blur of these pictures. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to adjust the settings on my camera for the low light.)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Don't you love George's "quiet shoes"? The kids change their shoes from outside shoes to "quiet shoes" for the classroom (another Montessori thing that I love), and these slippers are hand-me-downs from my little sisters. I love them so much.)</span><br />
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And here's my baby, looking much too old herself, checking out her new classroom. I seriously love <a href="http://www.elizabethacademy.com/">this little school</a>, and am so grateful to be teaching again, so grateful that my children are blessed to be in such an enriching and nurturing learning environment, and especially SO grateful that I get to be there with them. The best of all worlds, that's what this is.<br />
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Back with Costa Rica pictures soon, as promised.<br />
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lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-82999791775363118822011-08-22T22:27:00.001-06:002011-08-22T22:29:08.839-06:00lightning on demandWe just returned home from a dreamy trip to Costa Rica, and there are hundreds of photos to sort through. I wanted to quickly post what is probably the most incredible photo of the whole trip now though (I can say that without sounding like a braggy-pants because I didn't take it-- John did). On one of our last nights there John, Pearl and I ran down to the beach from our hotel room (which took oh, you know, about 20 seconds-- I said it was dreamy, didn't I?), to catch the sunset. John was taking pictures (you think I am the only one in this family that is borderline obsessed with the camera? Wrong. I take most of the pictures of the people, but John is just as into taking pictures of nature and landscapes), and he had Pearl and I get into the frame for a few silhouette shots. Off in the distance I noticed the lightning and mentioned that it would be freakishly awesome to get a picture of the sunset with the lightning. But what are the odds, right? As we were walking back to the hotel I was clicking through the pictures on the camera to see a few and I seriously screamed "You got one with lightning!!!" We were both pretty excited. I've tried to capture lightning on camera before and it is almost impossible to time it. You just have to get lucky. And we did.<br />
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And just for the record, this is the picture straight out of the camera-- no editing to enhance colors, saturation, or contrast at all. Go John.<br />
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More from Costa Rica soon :).lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30810746.post-71779078770317541262011-08-10T08:29:00.002-06:002011-08-10T08:35:40.953-06:00terrifying children's literatureI was going through some of our little family videos yesterday because John had just uploaded them to the computer. When I got to this one from a couple of months ago I just laughed and laughed. I typically don't post videos because I don't think many people are super interested in watching long clips of other peoples' children, but this was so funny to me that I figured at least our families would enjoy it.<br />
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I was reading a new book to Pearlie one evening before bed and she was loving all of the pop-up animals on each page. Until I got to the page with a flower that opened up to reveal a cute little bumblebee inside. I have no idea why this was so incredibly alarming to her, but I thought it was so hysterical that I had John come film me torturing her with it for several minutes. In the beginning of the video John's hand is covering the screen at times because he didn't want her to see the camera and be distracted, just so you know why his big hand is blocking the view a little. It is kind of long, but I decided to post the whole thing because the flower torture continues to produce results throughout it. She literally starts running away from the book at one point. It also shows her talking a little bit (this was when she was about 14 months) and just generally being cute.<br />
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And lastly, don't mind George screaming in the background that his nose is hurt and us not doing anything about it except asking if it is bleeding. Parenting at its finest, folks.<br />
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Oh, and also (I just watched it again), many apologies about Pearl pulling down my shirt a little too much at one point. Sorry.<br />
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Funny, huh? :)lshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13416936862096902231noreply@blogger.com5