15 years later...

Rob and I met 15 years ago today! It was at a retreat up Hobble Creek Canyon, UT with the Young Ambassadors. It was the first time that the band guys and singer/dancers were introduced. Rob and I were on the same team for a scavenger hunt. Most of you may know that we didn't give each other a second thought at the time (and probably had our first real conversation about 5 months after meeting). For the record, I only realized that we first met on September 12th just a couple of weeks ago when I was going through a box of old things and found a flier giving directions to the cabin in Hobble Creek. When I reminded Rob that we were on the same team, he admitted that he didn't remember that at all but only that his team won the scavenger hunt! Not surprising.

So I neglected posting last week (again). We stuck around home for Labor Day weekend and spent a lot of time on the yard. Rob was (thankfully) feeling better after being quite sick for two weeks. I finally went against my "no digging" policy and put on my work gloves and helped Rob dig and move gravel for several hours. We are still a few inches short for the tramp and so Rob hired a 19 yr. old kid we know (leaving on his mission in December) to hopefully finish it up soon. I keep reminding Rob of how crazy he was to start this huge digging project in late July! We have finally had a few days that haven't gone into the 100s. This has been the warmest August in Phoenix on record!!! I guess we'll always remember the hottest August as the one when Rob dug a big hole.

We were pretty much burnt out on 'labor' around the house on Labor Day, so we mostly hung out and played with the kids on Monday. Rob was doing some crazy things with the kids (see photo) until I put a stop to it.

A couple of random pics of the younger kids: Wow, is Liv a handful lately. Do I say this every week? Not only is she as busy as ever getting into drawers, climbing on everything, dumping boxes of crackers on the floor, pulling off her diaper and going poo on the carpet, etc. (sigh), but she is suddenly having sleeping issues! She has been an amazing sleeper since she was tiny (napping well and sleeping through the night). She is now fighting naps about every other day and getting out of bed multiple times at night. What is happening!?! I know that 'the nap' is a war I will eventually lose, but I am determined to win many more battles. The all-time low was this weekend when she woke up at 4:45 on Sunday morning, fell asleep late on Sunday afternoon and then didn't go to sleep until 11:00 Sunday night. She ended up in bed with me (for the first time in her life) and then was up again at 5:00AM this morning. Age two doesn't last forever, right? Good thing she is so cute.She is talking more and more each day. A couple of my favorite things lately is that she says "Shaw" for "Tosh," and if I ask her something like if she is ready for bed or if her diaper is stinky she will say, "No I not."

So soccer season is here once again. This is the first year we have all three boys playing. We have a few overlaps in games, but never all three kids playing at the exact same time which is a good thing since there are only two of us.

Here are a couple of shots in the new jerseys:

Tosh looked so cute in his shin guards and cleats, although he was a little low energy at his first game. I took all the kids in for flu shots on Friday and I heard Tosh telling his coach that he couldn't run fast because he had gotten a shot at the doctor. :(

I had two episodes this week where something struck me funny and I got laughing so hard that my laughter turned to tears, which turned to complete weeping. One of these was in a public setting and it was a little embarrassing... My emotions are a little out of control to say the least. I've read a few things lately referring to blogs as being somewhat fake, and though I must admit to trying to focus on positive things to write about on here, I try to be real about my ups and downs. Even though it's been a rough year, I look around at what others are dealing with and I feel incredibly grateful and blessed for my current challenges and trials. I am really trying to find more "joy in the journey," and to just take things one day at a time.

an evening with aunt peg

While we were in Utah in July, we were able to spend an evening with Rob's awesome Uncle Bob and (very talented) Aunt Peg. Taking family pictures stresses me out like nothing else. It is so hard to get just one good shot! I knew we'd end up with some great shots of the kids, even though Tosh and Hewitt were unusually quiet and not being their usual happy and photogenic selves that night... So it goes. At least there weren't any tears :).

I'll share some favorites:

(Why is it so hard to get four kids to look in the same direction?!)I absolutely LOVE this one of Rob and Livvy.


Thanks again, Peg!

long week; short haircut

I'm not gonna lie, this was a pretty long and rough week in general. I didn't mention this in my post last week, but just after we arrived at church last Sunday, I noticed that Liv's eye was looking a little goopy. I looked over at all of the kids and Burke's eyes were also very red. I sent Rob home with all four kids and I caught a ride home after the meetings (Burke was upset about leaving before primary, but Hewitt was celebrating!).

Well, we've ended up with a bit of everything this week. First, treating three of the kids for pink eye and then discovering on Tuesday that all three boys had ear infections (all in the right ear, what are the chances?). I had everyone home on Monday and Tuesday and Hewitt was ready to go back to school on Wednesday. I kept Burke home again on Wednesday as he still had a bit of a fever and his eyes still looked bad (he was feeling well enough to catch up on all of his homework so he wouldn't be too far behind, luckily). It takes about 15 minutes to drive the kids to school every morning, so it ends up being a 30-35 minute round trip. One of the things we do every morning (besides going over spelling words, definitions and sentences), is to count all of the school buses we see. It is normally around 18-22 buses, but Burke was thrilled to make the full drive with me on Wednesday morning when we counted 27 different buses! A new record. I tell you, it was a pretty exciting week ;).

This photo catches Liv up to her usual mischief: ...getting into everything possible. I found her climbing the pantry several times this week and she also managed to get into my beads and sewing stuff. I wasn't too happy when I found Hewitt just standing next to her in the laundry room as she was unwinding thread and distributing pins and needles around the floor!

Her other favorite trick (other than climbing) is to take off her clothes and diaper. Granted, it is SUPER HOT here, but I've cleaned up about four potty spots on the carpet since having them cleaned only two weeks ago. Ugh!

Liv wants to help with everything, which is sweet, but a little stressful at times. Rob is more patient with the kids in the kitchen and let her help with pancakes and eggs with close monitoring...

I had a bit of a mommy breakdown on Wednesday and so Rob sent me out of the house that evening to just be by myself (wonderful!). I got a smoothie and walked around the brand new Target for about an hour or so. I bought small Thermos brand containers so I can send the boys to school with hot food (leftovers, soup, mac & cheese, etc.). Brilliant. I should have bought these two years ago when my good friend suggested it to me.

Rob's mom called us back on Wednesday night (again, Happy Birthday, Patti!) and was a little surprised that we were already in bed at 8:00pm! I'm trying to fight off getting what everyone else has. I have horrible pressure in my face and teeth (possibly a third sinus infection?), and feel mostly just tired. Rob has felt really cruddy since Wednesday. He went to the doctor on Friday, but no strep, just a very sore throat (still and it's Sunday night). He was really hoping to finish the trampoline this weekend, but hasn't had the energy to work on it at all.

Luckily the kids are doing fine now. I let Tosh and Liv take a couple of photos with my camera on Friday. Tosh's curls sure are coming back (doesn't seem as curly on the top as before, but the sides and back are):
I put my camera on the piano bench so Liv could have a turn pushing the button:

Tosh's turn with the camera:I had actually gotten the camera out to get a 'before' picture of Liv:We dropped Tosh off at school after lunch on Friday and headed to Tara's for the first real haircut:

Liv did a pretty good job holding still in the chair. I figured that since she has been ripping out her pony/pigtails lately, that it was time to clean up her hair and give her more of a 'big girl' look. Here she is right after:

This was after a bath on Saturday morning (and yes, she insists on wearing this dress if she sees it clean and in her drawer...so, every few days):

I went swimming with the kids on Saturday and it was nice to discover that the water is cooling down a bit (we've hardly swam at all this month!). I was relaxing and treading water with a noodle around me when I realized a dead baby frog floating right by me. DISGUSTING! I am not one to freak out over bugs or spiders, but this got a good reaction out of me.

Even though Liv is so "girly," she cracks me up because she loves wearing Tosh's swimming shorts when we swim (fine by me, all the more sun protection). I love her little tomboy look (maybe because I thought she'd be more of a tomboy with three older brothers):

That is about it for this week. We got rid of our DirectTV yesterday (I will really miss having DVR) and Qwest too (we are using Ooma for our new home phone, thus the new phone number). We got faster Internet service as well (Cox), so I'm hoping this 'no TV' thing will be okay... I can't think of much else exciting for the week; I'm super tired and sure that I am forgetting something.

Oh, I had another "jackbox" moment yesterday. I had completely cleaned the house yesterday morning and came back down in the kitchen to find that there was a little mess of crumbs all over the counters and floor. I told Rob, "This is the sort of thing that makes my blood curdle." I then started laughing my head of when I realized that I meant to say "boil," as obviously the crumbs didn't scare me or anything. At least the laughing helped me to not feel quite so grumpy...

Here's to a much better and healthier week! Sorry this post was probably very boring...

random bits

I'll start this week off with a little joke:
What do you call a guy with a rubber toe?

Roberto

It was a fairly non-eventful week (thankfully). I was able to get a lot done in the house and feel quite organized for the first time in months (translation=I cleaned up the laundry room).

Here are a few random things to share:

We got a babysitter last night because Rob was asked to run the music for a youth dance at church and I thought I would tag along. This babysitter is one of their favorites and she always brings fun things for the kids (games, stickers, glow sticks, etc.). The boys were telling us this morning about how she had let them watch part of the Yogi Bear movie (I think?) and Burke announced to us that it had a 'G' rating. At hearing that Hewitt exclaimed, "Wait, we can't watch 'G' movies, 'G' is for Grandparents!"

Speaking of babysitters, one of our other favorite babysitters (the one who babysat last weekend), gave me a card after church today. It was a card explaining that she wanted to return the money that we gave her last weekend ($45!) because she wants to be able to use the babysitting to count toward service hours. She also thanked us for letting her watch our kids and how much she likes them. Talk about a sweetheart. That would have been tough to give that money back. I love these girls!

So I am always writing things that the kids do or say, but have never admitted on here that I have a knack for mixing up expressions. It has actually become a running joke, and Rob's sister and brother-in-law still tease me about the time I said, "Jackbox" instead of "Jackpot"one time. Anyway, earlier today Rob said something crazy and I said, "Are you out of this world?" Umm, yes. Rob is pretty awesome.

Somehow we got discussing the Second Coming over dinner tonight and the kids were asking some interesting questions like "How will the world end" and "When will Jesus return?" We were explaining how the world is going to continue to get worse before the Savior comes again and Hewitt said, "Yah, but He's probably going to fix it!"

Liv is suddenly starting to talk quite a bit. Amazingly I can now understand when she is asking for a plate or a bowl or wants certain things. We all about died laughing yesterday when one of the boys moved her drink over and she said (clear as a bell), "Hey! My cup!" Her voice is so cute; it is so strange when she sounds like a little girl talking and not a baby. This morning Burke sat down in the stool where she had been sitting, and she said, "Hey! My seat!" Do you see a common thread here? The boys pretty much laugh at everything she does and usually let her have her way. Could be trouble.

I realized today that I didn't take any photos this week. Not even with my phone. I snapped this shot of Hewitt tonight. The chorister for the primary kids does balloons and she brought in these awesome props for the kids today. These go along with the song, "Scripture Power." Don't you love the "sword of truth, shield of faith, and vital armor of the Lord?" So cute.

Have I mentioned that Burke reeaaallly wants us to have another baby? He brings it up quite a bit, especially now that he's old enough to understand that it's the sort of thing we have some control over. I know it really disappoints him that we feel that our family is complete. I usually joke with him about how it's already pretty crazy around here. :) I'm writing this post from our old desktop tonight (instead of my usual laptop) and happen to have access to one of my very favorite photos of Burke. This is from the first time he held Tosh in the hospital:

Here are a couple of other faves of Burke taken in the pre-blogging days:

I can't believe that this was over six years ago! We were speculating just the other day how long it will be until the boys are taller than I am. I'm afraid it will be here before I can blink.

weekly wrap-up

This past week felt really busy and exhausting. Besides the normal crazy of kids, school, meals, cleaning, and the usual, it included (but was not limited to) the following:

• Taking Liv to the ENT for a tubes follow-up (we waited over an hour because the doctor ended up being out of town and I was squeezed in by another doc)



• Dentist appointment for me (they replaced an old filling and it was the WORST dental experience I've ever had). It was a kid fresh out of school and he was literally drilling in my mouth for over 30 min (just the drilling part). It was miserable and my mouth is still hurting a week later.



• Curriculum night at school



• Dental appointment for Hewitt (different dentist)



• Primary presidency meeting



• Took dinner over to some friends



• Doctor appointment and physical for me (I'm probably going to meet with a surgeon about my hernia. Groan).



• School pictures for the boys (Burke came home from school with pudding on his face from lunch and I discovered that the photos were taken AFTER lunch).



• Had a family over for dinner that just moved into our ward



• Taught "Sharing Time"in Primary at church



• Helped Hewitt with his "Star of the Week" poster. He was so excited to be chosen as the first one!



• Took the entire family to crazy Ikea ('nuf said).



• Rob and I went out on Saturday night to the temple and then out to dinner with friends afterwards. As we were leaving the temple some guys drove by in a truck and screamed "You're of the Devil!!!" That was a new experience...



• Our battery in the Odyssey died and I was without the van for two days.



• Had our carpets cleaned



• Re-arranged Burke and Hewitt's room a bit

...and so on. I ended up taking a two hour nap on Sunday afternoon and then went to bed by 9:30 that night.

Here are a few photos and random things about the kids this week.

Liv is very opinionated about what she wears now and insisted on wearing this velvet dress twice this week. I don't know why she didn't melt. She wants to vacuum by herself and gets upset when I try to take a turn.


Liv lost her bunny this week (both were missing and we still don't know where one of them is). It was lost for over two days and it was a miracle that she still napped and slept. She was thrilled to discover her bunny in the inside pocket of an old diaper bag out in the backyard. This girl is so busy and into everything that it is hard to keep up. She opens the freezer door to pull out ice cream now and can open the door to get into our garage. We have to watch her like a hawk.

Tosh and Liv pretended to be skiing using these old wooden blocks one day. They play really well together although we do hear a lot of, "NO Ta! (Tosh)." She is quite the little mother.

Tosh started reading this week and that is always a fun and magical thing to witness. I can't get over how one day they just get how to put all the sounds together to make words. I am having him read to me every day and he is happy to do it although he gets a little annoyed when I'm excited and start cheering over each new word he figures out. "Mom! Stop cheering. Just let me read."

Last night we were talking about serving missions during family home evening and Rob shared his testimony in Spanish and I said our family prayer in Norwegian. The boys were talking about where they want to/think they will go. Hewitt said that he wants to go to Spain like his dad, and Tosh said, "Maybe I will go to Provo!!!" Like it was the greatest place on earth. (It is, right Mom?) So cute. Then Tosh said, "Or maybe Cuba!" Hmm, we'll see.

Hewitt continues to crack me up. This week he came home from school with a science worksheet. It was all about mixing vinegar and baking soda and said:
Hypothesis. When I pour the vinegar into the baking soda, I think...

Hewitt wrote:
A rainbow will pop out!

Hewitt has been saying things like, "Yes, indeed it will!" and other funny expressions that make me smile.

Last week Burke made a fortune teller (remember doing this?) out of the church program and the kids played with it all the way to school on Monday morning. Some of the fortunes were pretty grim like, "You will fall off a cliff," or "You will die in five minutes." There was one that said, "You will be rich" and of course Burke got this fortune every time... So anyway, Hewitt made his own fortune teller on Sunday. His fortunes were so 'Hewitt' and included: "You will fall in love," "You will grow up to be a doctor," and "You will have pets." All things that Hewitt wants, no doubt.

Here is Hewitt demonstrating how his fortune teller works:
(I love this cute 'thinking' face of his.)

Rob and Burke continue to work on the big pit for the trampoline in the backyard. Burke helped him dig for about three hours on Saturday morning. It is getting quite a bit bigger, but they still have a ways to go.Burke and Rob are reading "The Hobbit" together, and I'm hoping that Burke will discover that there are other good books besides Harry Potter. Cub Scouts has started back up for Burke and that is a good thing. We just signed all three boys up for soccer (should be interesting since there are only two of us).

And finally, some pics of our four sweet Petes having fun and being silly together: