Happy Birthday, Michael

Over the weekend, we celebrated Michael's birthday. His birthday was Sunday, so on Saturday we went to the Shiner's Circus (this is starting to become a tradition for our family). When I asked Michael what he wanted for his birthday, this is what he requested (isn't it funny how when you become a parent that you really get the most joy from the happiness of your children?). Anyway, we had a fun time, at least Michael and I did. Michael's mom gave the kids each five dollars to buy circus junk (I say junk because the things that our kids bought are broken now). Alden and Thobe both got a lightsaber, which Alden agreed to share with Hyrum, who was asleep when we arrived. It's hard to be sure if Alden even watched the circus because was playing with his light saber so much and nearly hitting all the people around us. Thobe was really tired when we arrived and slept through the second half of the show. Hyrum was equally taken with the light sabers and enjoyed walking up and down the aisles pushing the chairs back and forth (again, I'm not sure how much of the circus he watched either). So, I guess I should say that Michael and I enjoyed the scaled down version of the circus (I guess the slump in the economy sadly has even affected the circus). When we got back to Grandpa and Abuelita's we ate birthday brownies and cookies and had a nice visit with them.

The next day was really fun. The boys gave the few presents (a whole bunch of Cousin Willie's Microwave popcorn, a pair of pants, and an alarm clock) that I bought for Michael throughout the day, and then we had a bunch of friends come over for a surprise birthday get together. I made a few roasts, mashed a bunch of potatoes, made a few boxes of jello, microwaved some of our frozen corn, cooked some Rhodes rolls, and Michael's favorite part, made an apple, blueberry, and cherry pie. We had our friends, The Richters from Bowling Green come, The Burkes, The Floyds, and the Talbots come. It was really fun. I don't know who had more fun, the adults or the kids, but I think we all enjoyed it. I'm really grateful for good friends and even more grateful for Michael. He's such an amazing man. I'm really lucky to be married to him. At the risk of making a very long post (and to copy my good friend, Becca Renfroe) I'm going to make a list of my 20 favorite things about my crazy husband--please note that these are not in any particular order and are only a few of the things in a long list that I love about my sweetheart.

1. I love Michael's sense of humor. Michael makes me laugh everyday. I think he's so funny! He often tells people that the reason he married me is because I laugh at all his jokes. Even after almost 10 years of marriage, his sense of humor continues to surprise and "tickle" me.

2. I love the way Michael plays with our children. Michael works crazy hours--he's up at 5:00 every weekday morning and usually doesn't get home until 6:00 at night (tonight it's even later than that). Despite these crazy hours, he makes sure that he plays with the kids. Whether it's chasing them around the house yelling and screaming, playing a video or board game with them, reading them a story, playing outside with them, or whatever else you can imagine, he does it. As much as he makes me laugh, he makes the kids laugh even more. It's no wonder that they all scream with glee when he walks in the door and that our house is in constant cachophony until the go to bed. When he calls them upstairs, he says, "Amigos!" I really think that all three of them consider their dad to be his best friend.

3. Almost in opposition to #2, I love the way Michael disciplines our boys. Our kids are the amazing kids that they are because of him. They know their limits with Michael. They know exactly what they can and can't do because of him. He is incredibly consistent and an incredible example to me. Whenever he gets after them, he always makes sure that he hugs them afterwards so they know he still loves them.

4. I love Michael's dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He loves God and wants nothing more than to just serve him.

5. I love that Michael will make sacrifices to do what is right. I can't tell you how many "important" sporting events Michael misses to spend time with his family, to go to a church meeting, or simply because it's Sunday. Before we were married he decided that he wanted to show his dedication to God and stopped watching TV on Sunday. We watch a lot of sports other days, but I know that sports are not the most important thing in his life. This is only one example of his many sacrifices that he makes for the Gospel and for our family.

6. I love how smart Michael is. I can't believe all the little tidbits of information he knows. I think he could carry on an intelligent conversation with anyone from any background. Sometimes when we're talking to people, I think, "How does he know that?"

7. I love that when he hugs me that all my worries seem to float away. Although I haven't ever been in therapy, I dare say that a good long hug from Michael is better than an hour of therapy for me.

8. I love how Michael encourages me to take time out for me. Whether it's exercising, volunteering at Alden's school, hanging out with the friends, teaching my adjunct courses, or just giving me a couple hours by myself, he's always willing to watch the kids for me to have some Melissa time.

9. I love how he praises me and never says a negative word to anyone about me.

10. I love that Michael likes to buy me nice gifts but that he is also very money-conscious. I love that we've never had a fight about money (I wish we could say that we've never had a disagreement about anything, but I can say that it's never been about money because he's so supportive and aware of what he spends).

11. I love that even when things are hard that Michael finds a way to stay optimistic. He is so good at helping me focus on things that are really important rather than the things that I often put too much weight on that really do not matter. I'll always remember when we were between jobs and were living in Las Vegas that Michael found such pleasure in eating our food storage and coming up with creative ways to cook it. He often reminds me that if we ever have to live off our food storage again that he'll do a lot better than I will--he's right!

12. I love that Michael loves people and wants to help others. It is very important to him that he serves his fellowman. I love that about him. Whether it's getting up at 5:00 in the morning to just being a friend to all who know him, I am constantly impressed with his ability to make everyone who knows him feel loved and important.

13. I love that Michael loves my family as his own family and does what ever he can to make sure that our children are close to all their extended family.

14. I love that Michael speaks Spanish to our children and that he seeks opportunities for them to build their Spanish skills.

15. I love that Michael meets individually with our kids when they get a report card or have something that they need to work on. It is very important to him to be involved in their lives.

16. I love that Michael is a worthy Priesthood holder and temple recommend holder. I love that he makes it a priority to go to the temple every month to strengthen our family.

17. I love that Michael is so flexible. Even when he comes home after a long day and I've just been playing Spider Solitaire all afternoon he doesn't complain. He's always willing to pick something up from the grocery store or at a restaurant on the way home from work.

18. I love Michael's creative parenting. He comes up with such good ideas to help our kids. Our classic example of this is when we were struggling to teach Alden how to use the potty when he was three, Michael got Alden's favorite Yoda toy and Luke Skywalker toy and took them in the bathroom where Alden had been sitting on the potty for at least an hour. Michael had Yoda tell Luke that in order to be a Jedi that he had to learn to use the potty. I had been struggling for months to teach the lad how to use the potty and that did the trick. Alden was completely potty trained after that because wanted to be a "Jerdi" as he would say.

19. I love the way he looks, especially just before he tells a joke. His head starts to shake just a little and he gets this little twinkle in his eye. Even when he decides not to tell the joke he had in mind, I can always tell when he's thinking of one. I love the way he does that.

20. I love that I get to spend this life and all of eternity with such an incredible man. Happy Belated Birthday, Michael. I love you!!!!

Announcing my Two New Nieces (I'm only a month late)

On March 2, 2009, my sister Kristi gave birth to her two newest daughters, Elizabeth Ann and Mary June. Poor Kristi was nearly 39 weeks when her babies were born and was measuring over 50 centimeters--needless to say, she was very, very uncomfortable. Nonetheless, early Monday morning, her body coudn't take any more and her water broke. By 1:00 in the afternoon, her two newest daughters were born naturally weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz. and 7 lbs. 2 oz. The nurses said that they've never seen two more healthy twins.

From what I've heard, life with twins has been an adjustment, but they are all doing well. Michael often wishes that we were having twins (he even went so far to tell me that he married the wrong Humphries girl), but after hearing all of Kristi's stories, I'm glad that we're just expecting one little Tickle. I'm really proud of Kristi for all she's doing and miss her and her family terribly! Ryan is blessing the twins this weekend, and I'm so, so, so bummed that I'm not going to be there. I love Ohio, but man, it's times like these that I wish we were closer. Congratulations, Kristi and Ryan. I hope you know that you're in my thoughts and prayers and heart. I love and miss you!

Logic, Reason, and Treason

Like all you moms out there, I really think my kids are incredibly cute and intelligent. I am constantly amazed at how smart they are. Hyrum is always trying to put things together and figure out how things work. Whenever I vacuum he tries to take the blasted thing apart to figure out what makes it make all that noise. He has figured out how to feed the fish, and even though today he fed our three fish two big containers full of food, he knows how it works--well sort of. He has figured out how to obtain things from the highest shelf in our cupboards and can dress and undress himself at will. Last week in Sacrament meeting during the Sacrament, he decided that his church clothes were too constricting, so he pulled down his pants when I wasn't looking and undid one of the strips of his diaper. That all too familiar ripping sound of Hyrum taking off his diaper got my attention right away, and I was able to refasten his diaper strap and quickly pull up his pants before our Sacrament meeting became R rated. He is smart...or a future streaker--I'm going with smart though.

Thobe is equally amazing. The other day he came up to me and said with a small coin in his hand and said, "Mom, this is a nickel. How many cents are in a nickel?" I asked him to tell me, and he said, "There are 5 cents in a nickel. There is one cent in a penny, and 100 cents in a dollar." I was shocked. I remember talking about money to Alden last year, and he had such a hard time understanding that. A few days later, Thobe said, "Mommy, President Jefferson is on a nickel, and so is Montecello. Did you know that President Abraham Lincoln is on a penny? He is." To admit my ignorance, I actually didn't know that Montecello was on a nickel, but when I told Michael what Thobe had told me, he was blown away (I doubt that few of you are as money illiterate as I am, but Montecello is the home of Thomas Jefferson--another little tidbit that Thobe knew that I did not). Thobe has also started reading--as I've mentioned earlier. I am serious when I say this that he is an amazing reader. I think he must have a photographic memory or something because if you tell him something, he doesn't forget it. We spend 20 minutes everyday doing this reading program, and I just can't believe how well he's doing. He's a smarty.

Alden is constantly impressing people with his smarts. All our boys speak Spanish, but since Alden is older, he's the most proficient at it. He also has a memory like a steal trap and does extremely well in school. He always loves to tell jokes and lately has come up with some really good ones that he's set up himself. For example, we've been reading a lot of Shel Silverstein poems. One of his favorites is "Peanut Butter Sandwich," which ends with the king saying, "How 'bout a peanut butter sandwich?" The other day Alden asked me why I always make him peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch. He told me he likes other kinds of sandwiches too. I asked him what other kinds he'd like me to make him, and he got a little twinkle in his eye and said in a silly voice, "How 'bout a peanut butter sandwich?"

I also want to mention that from December to the middle of February, Alden played basketball. He made huge strides over the course of his game. He worked very hard and his coach outside of the his basketball team (A.K.A. Grandpa Monday) did so much to help him be successful. It was a lot of fun watching Alden improve. He is a very good shooter.

Up until Friday, I've been very happy that my kids are intelligent. I have enjoyed watching them grow and develop reasoning skills; however, the other day, my sweet little Alden's reasoning skills turned to treasoning skills. What do you do when your child makes a logical connection that proves that you are indeed an idiot? The past few months, Michael has been working really hard to establish the Ohio Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Society (a society primarily for LDS attorneys) and met with a bunch of people in Toledo for dinner and then a fireside (I should write a post about how exciting this has been and all the miracles that we've experienced through this). Anyway, Michael's parents generously offered to meet us at the restaurant and pick up the kids and watch them for the evening but got stuck in traffic on the way there. Consequently, I waited in the car for them, and Michael went inside the restaurant where there were people waiting for him. I had a bunch of forms on the floor of the van and told the kids that they could run all over the back of the van, but they needed to stay away from my papers. Of course our van doesn't provide a lot of space for running, and the boys kept stepping on my papers. After about seven scoldings from me, Alden intelligently asked, "Mom, why don't you just put those papers up on the dashboard?"

I responded in my oh so wise motherly voice, "Because."

"Because why?" Alden asked.

"Just because," I answered fairly annoyed.

"Mom," the litte traitor responded, "You have to have a reason for things. You just can't say 'because.'"

Maybe having smart kids is more of a curse than a blessing.