hustle bustle 2014 edition

this year, kindin was let in on the big secret!  after crying incessently about wanting an elf on the shelf for the 3rd year in a row, we decided it was time to clue her in.  the devilish grin that immediately spread across her face was priceless but it was only 3 short days before she realized santa followed suit.  

a legos party for the boys

a day of tears following the ornament exchange with some of my most beloved and missed phoenix friends

a religious version of shake it off for the yw christmas party

stinky cast removal (it wasn't stinky- kindin just wanted to be prepared.)

it's practically a gingerbread factory around here: a party for k and 11 friends and a gingerbread event for the 1st graders   

a nutcracker tradition with our closest omaha allies

the longest date night we've had since newlywed dates with these most fun friends! 

a ridiculously humongous christmas tree

reaching 25# weight loss (sponsored by overnight oatmeal)

and dolly growing up really fast 

some things never change

jack loves his bath.  every night, jack loves his bath.  even when time is of the essence, jack loves his bath.  and... (as implied) jack loves his bath irresponsibly!  for years we have gone in and out of the bathroom at least twice nightly to police his bath-taking. (there almost always has to be a 'time to turn the water off now' reminder and an 'it's time to stop playing and get yourself clean' speech.)  we've tried various tactics to help him love bath time a bit more responsibly-  allotting more bath time, switching to showers, cutting back on showers to every other night, and giving strict time constraints- but continue to get plenty of nighttime exercise up and down the stairs a few times managing jack's bath time.

living in husker nation

some friends invited us to the unl cornhuskers game.   we had been somewhat interested in finding out what all the fuss is about so we happily obliged.  my brother was kind enough not only to watch our children* but also to boldly exhort us to wear husker colors.  we'd heard it all before in this crazy land where football is religion- how can you not?  it's hard to escape all the fuss: the supermarkets blast the game to the few shopping souls not watching the game intently; you simply can't find a donut that isn't slathered with red on game day; and a surprisingly shocking amount of households are decorated with huskers paraphanilia.  with 15 minutes before departure time, panic set in!  (we didn't want to be asked over and over how long we'd been in nebraska and we genuinely worried that our generous hosts might be annoyed if we showed up colorless.)  so we raced to target for college gear. here we are -feeling silly but embracing our billboard attire:   

here's the craziness we speak of:

and here's our wonderful friends (who yes, might have been annoyed if we weren't wearing red and black):

aahhhh... the cornhusker game is truly an experience.  and yes, we were so glad we had red on!  



*while we were gone, a funny thing happened.  justin was making mac and cheese for lunch and jack chided 'yuck' when asked if he'd like any.  he was quickly but quietly escorted out of the kitchen by his older sister and came back solemnly with his tail between his legs stating, 'I'll have a little bit please.'  

family pictures 2014

is it that time again?  the time when errands are never-ending, the house only gets clean for visitors/ parties, and every time i think my christmas to-do list is done, it's most definitely not!?!  

standing on the shoulders of giants- maxine thompson

i was recently tasked with presenting the my family story badge to kindin's brownie troop.  when i searched through family history stories, i was shocked by how much they touched my heart.  crying as i read,  i truly felt my own very fortunate circumstances are because i 'stand on the shoulders of giants'.  their lives and sacrifices have given me so much more than they ever had.  in particular, i was touched by the story of my great grandmother, Maxine, who sacrificed her own education in order to provide for her siblings.  truly it is a blessing from giants all the way back to great grandparents that both dave and i are blessed with good educations.  i trivialized her story a bit in order to make it relatable to the 8 year old audience (but i still almost cried while doing so).    

The cold toilet:

Maxine was Kindin's great, great grandmother.  Kindin never knew her but she lived all through my childhood so I knew her well.   Maxine was 1 of 10 siblings!  As a little girl, her family moved to SD when the government was giving away land for free.  Her family of 12 lived in a tiny, white house in Cavour, SD.   The tiny white house had 1 kitchen, 1 living room and 2 bedrooms AND a really cold toilet- an outhouse!  I remember going to see this tiny white house.  The floor was dirt and a wood burning stove took up a very large amount of space in the center of the room. 

Maxine was one of the oldest children and after high school she went to work to help provide for the rest of the family.  The younger 6 children were able to have college educations because of her. 

The tiny white house with a really cold toilet stayed in their family for a very long time.  It even became famous- as the oldest house in the county!  Maxine had a sister named Lucille who never moved out of that house.  She cared for her mother when she got old in the house and she cared for the youngest child, Dean, who was handicapped in that house.  She lived in the tiny house her entire life- she never moved!  The funny thing was that she did eventually build a bathroom onto the house but not a tub or shower- just an indoor toilet.  But, it still didn’t have any heat, so in the winter it was still... a very cold toilet!   And there are lots of jokes in Kindin’s family about the tiny white house with a cold toilet! 

dad's extracurriculars

dave is one committed father- 100% available to our kids with his playful and engaged interest.  and he is an impressively goal-oriented guy who undertakes a variety of creative extras with them. (call them "dad's extracurriculars" if you will.)  kindin learned to play the piano because of her time with dad.  kindin and jack have memorized the articles of faith because of their time with dad.  and most recently, i was shocked to find kindin indexing!

he correctly assumed she would love it and my heart is happy that he steers our children to such worthwhile pursuits!  

me mid- transformation

i have to document this rather mindless and mediocre shot of myself because i never want to forget the feeling i had when i saw this picture!  i was pleasantly surprised that sans clever camera angle and sans flattering filter, my face looked skinnier!  having recently abandoned my gym membership- opting instead for weight watchers meetings- i've lost 16 pounds.  (though i still have a ways to go,) i'm anxiously celebrating and remembering me mid-transformation.

halloween 2014

it was THEIR year to decide on costumes (meaning mom didn't nod, prod, or entice them with a thematic family costume) and while i do really love them matching, i also enjoy seeing them claim their character of choice.  Jack loved his made-by-dad costume, Elsa stayed in halloween garb for 3 additional halloween days, and Kindin wrote a love note to mom saying thanks for her glamorous outfit.  and it was a wonderful, chilly night enjoyed with grandparents and cousins.

We also held our yearly 'neighborhood monsters' cookie decorating party.

carved jack o lanterns and created pumpkin people for a school project

and attended the school's costume parade

 (i also reminisced about my own halloweens trick-or-treating with cousins with years cold enough to be driven from house to house and, as i do every year, missed phoenix where a warm halloween is even more magical!) 

'i heard it crack!'

just 30 minutes after dropping kindin off at a rollerskating birthday party, we returned to the rink to pick up our very tearful sweetheart.  a dim report, 'I heard it crack!' sent us racing to urgent care.  dad had his hands full holding her tight enough to prevent all movements, lurches, and bumps that worsened her pain while i attempted to problem-solve the pediatric, preferred provider technicalities.  to my credit, i did alright- considering my brain turns to mush when i'm in a fight or flight scenario!  i don't get fearful or wheepy but i freeze and although completely aware of it, i just can't seem to clear my head enough to complete a sentence or task.  (my mushy flight brain has come out before in two other scary situations for kindin- 1.) the time i accidentally locked her in the car as a toddler in the phoenix heat and 2.) when she hopped on the elevator alone in downtown san francisco)  

meanwhile, kindin handled a broken ulna with absolute grace.  her whimper was quiet- disappearing as soon as she was able to feel relief from lying on the doctor's table.  she was even making some jokes through it all.  and after her first dose of ibuprofin began to wear, she fully intended to just endure the pain.  within 24 hours, she was back to her grateful self- creating a month of service she can give to others as a result of all this attention she's received!  this pink lover is one amazing girl!

like sunning lizards

my working neighbor recently asked me what me and dolly do all day together.  well, we are busy.  we do a lot and get a lot done actually.  but, if i'm honest, our most recent daily past-time is one of my favorites:

like two sunning lizards, we lie on the trampoline and chit chat. sometimes, we even take out a picnic lunch.  it's the perfect cure for the crisp, autumn air!  

when i'm a sister

most kids say, 'when i'm older,...' as a reference point for all the cool things they'll get to do when they grow up.  (for example, 'when i'm older, i'll get to go to school.' )  but not dalia.  dalia references time as, 'when i'm a sister,...'  and remains entirely unconvinced that she is already a sister.

a 'watch dog' like no other

there's few things more endearing than seeing your husband do crosswalk duty at the school.

and few things funnier than hearing that your kids playful father himself got into trouble twice during playground duty.  

the great extracurricular debate

one of my greatest unexpected parenting dilemmas has been extracurricular involvement.

i remember my first struggle with 'extras' being guilt for dragging a sleepy, napless #3 to #1's extras.  then, it was putting my foot down about keeping the kindergarten year free of extracurricular pursuits.  next, i found myself purposefully steering my child away from yet another dance class which i didn't feel was a good fit for her talents.  now, it just seems like there is an endless amount of 'extras' i'm saying 'NO' to because i value time for old fashioned play dates, chores, plenty of sleep, and even boredom.  (however, that doesn't seem to be the way everyone else sees it.)  in the near future, i anticipate the struggle to be a financial one- how do you keep extracurricular pursuits reasonably affordable?  as i interact with teenagers, extracurricular pursuits at their age can become a very difficult question of priorities- what do you do when extras interfere with church priorities?  and a little down the line, the debate will be about when obtaining employment and practicing hard work trumps the extras.  

i absolutely believe that kids need 'extras' to find talents, build confidence, and have a place to fit in.  i'm just surprised it can be so debatable.  

it's a boating 'thang'

on a recent youth boating trip, i found myself overwhelmingly missing dave.  and i just couldn't shake it!  i was a bit surprised by my feelings as i've been boating plenty without dave and we are both fairly independent people- rarely upset about short separations.  but the more i thought about it, boating is kinda our 'thang'.  much more so than fireworks from our july 4th i love you exchanges. much more so than ultimate frisbee or scum from our first meet.  much more so than johnny carinos or the ring from our first date.  much more so than backgammon from our first anniversary.  i suppose our engagement at lake powell sealed our boating companionship forever - oh how i love this boating companion of mine!    

ps... why don't we have a boat yet???     

a whirlwind summer

there was a lot of world cup watching

junkstock- a favorite event with a favorite friend

a lot of swimming and a lot of swim team

kindin tried horseback riding

cookies the size of your face!

girls camp and youth conference

tennis lessons

the color run (my one and only yearly run)

 siblings at the park

 messy cupcakes

 the best water fight ever!

 fishing with grandpa

checking up on an old, now famous friend at CH Patisserie

 and jumping with jordy