Alden

Alden continues to be a pleasure to be
around.  I hope that his whole life he will be this way. He's just such a pleasant, happy, good-natured kid. He is so helpful with his brothers and is always willing to help me with them, especially with Jacob. Alden is also just losing his teeth. It's fun to hear his perspectives about the tooth fairy. It seems that our tooth fairy has much of the forgetfulness that his mom and dad have. We recently learned that even the tooth fairy keeps the Sabbath Day holy. She doesn't collect her teeth on Sunday. Unfortunately on that go round she didn't collect the tooth the following Monday or Tuesday either. Fortunately, on Wednesday, she stopped by and paid Alden for his tooth. What a forgetful tooth fairy!!! I don't remember her being so forgetful when I was younger.

Alden continues to impress me. A while back, his teacher told him that he could do a report on a famous person. He decided that he wanted to do his report on Joseph Smith. He worked really hard on it and did a phenomenal job. He got 57 out of 50.

Alden has also done really well with music. He had a music performance with the second graders and was chosen as a dancer. This was something Alden was not thrilled about, however. I kept prodding him about what he was going to do, and he kept dodging the question. Finally on the day before the performance he told me that he would have to dance with a girl. I told him that I didn't think that was so bad. Then he said in an embarrassed and quiet voice, "But Mom.... (extended studder and pause)...I (insert painful sigh) have (insert another painful pause) to hold (insert a paralyzing grimace and sigh) her haaaaand." He told Michael on their way there that he was really hoping that he'd be sick the day of the performance.

The thing I'm most pleased about with Alden musically is all that he's done on the piano as of late. He started lessons in September, but his piano teacher moved in November. He was really getting into it, so I was really hopeful that I would be able to find someone quickly. I talked to his school teacher, Mrs. Hempleman, who recommended a couple people that she had heard of. I called one and she said she'd take him that week. She is incredible! In March, she told us that she was going to do a piano recital in May and gave Alden two difficult pieces for a beginning pianist. She said that she wanted to push him a little. With some dedicated practice, Alden has memorized both pieces and plays them beautifully. He auditioned for his school talent show with one of the pieces about two weeks ago (he'd only had the pieces for three weeks at that point). I meant to send the music with him to school, but being the forgetful mom that I am, I totally spaced it. I didn't realize it until he got home, and I felt terrible. I really wanted him to audition and figured that he wouldn't be able to without the music. He told me that it wasn't a big deal and that he still auditioned. I asked him what he played, and he told me that he played his piece that he'd been practicing. I was really puzzled and told him that he didn't have the music. He said, "I know, Mom. I played it from memory." I was shocked and a little embarrassed. I figured it must have been pretty bad and asked him to play it for me. That crazy kid sat down and played the song from start to finish without hardly a mistake. I couldn't believe it. When he has his recital, I'll post a video of it here--I'm going to be a better blogger.

Anyway,  Alden is in a good groove right now. I'm really proud of who he is. He's smart, he's funny, and he tries so hard to do what is right. I couldn't be more blessed to have him as my oldest son.

Feeling Happy

Although I should be doing 100 other things, I just want to write and say how happy I am and how blessed I feel. I think I have the greatest kids in the whole wide world. They are really great! They try so hard to be good. Thobe had an assignment the other day to fill out a star that said,, "I am special because..." and Thobe wrote, "I am special because I am good." I hung that next to my phone. Whenever I see it I think, "He is good. All my boys are just so good." I love them so much. 

I also feel so grateful for Michael. He's so good to me and patient with me. I can't say how grateful I am for all he does. I love to be with him. He's my very best friend. I'm so grateful that God blessed me with him.

Maybe it's because we've had a few warm days after an extremely hard winter, but I just feel so blessed and so happy. I know that God lives and that he loves me and my family. I'm so grateful that he blessed me with Michael and my boys and also incredible parents, siblings, in-laws and friends. I love this beautiful Earth and am so grateful that I know where all these blessings originate. I truly am grateful for all God does for me.

Family Recharge

I want to preface this post by saying that I love Ohio. I loving living here and being close to Michael's parents. I also love the friends we have made here and the experiences we're having here. That being said, I also miss my family. It's hard being so far away and not being part of those day to day experiences that I miss out on constantly. I miss being at those family events and am sad that every time I see my nieces and nephews they've grown significantly and don't know me as well as they know their other aunts and uncles. But the thing I miss the very most is having my mom and dad nearby. I miss seeing them and being with them and so much want my boys to have a close relationship with their grandpa and grandma. I am so grateful that my mom and dad try so hard to foster and build those relationships despite the miles that separate us.

At the end of the January, I was feeling especially home sick though and so much wanted my parents to see how big Jacob was getting. I talked to my parents about having them take a trip out here. I called and talked to my dad who has been extremely busy with work because they not only have a huge farm that they are running, but his boss has also started building a dairy that is also requiring a lot of my dad. He told me when I talked to him that with a weekend exception of Alden's baptism, that he wouldn't be able to come out for at least a year. When he told me this, my heart dropped into my stomach, and I felt very sad. My mom, being the peacemaker that she is, assured me that she would come out regularly and that it would be okay. I was thrilled that she would come, but sad that my dad couldn't.

However, several days later, my parents called me and told me that my dad needed to go to Illinois for a training, and that my mom was invited to come too. I eagerly asked if I could meet them. We made plans and arrangements to meet in Nauvoo and then follow my dad wherever he needed to go and just spend time together. I was so excited!!!!

The boys and I left Saturday morning. Michael decided not to go to save his vacation days. I was bummed that I wouldn't get to spend Valentine's day with my Valentine, and I was especially worried because Alden had a fever, Hyrum had bronchitis, an ear infection, and a sinus infection, and the medicine that they put him on made him throw up and have HORRID diarrhea, and Jacob was really stuffy. Thobe was just getting over something, so he was having a ton of accidents--ugggh. I REALLY, REALLY wanted to see my parents though, so I loaded up the van with my sicklies and drove 8 hours to Keokuk, Iowa. 

We had such a great time!!! All the hotels that we stayed in had a swimming pool, so the boys got to go swimming almost every night. We spent time in Nauvoo, at a fun John Deere Tractor Museum in East Moline, IL, and in Peoria, IL. My dad had a rental car that fit all of us in it, so we got to ride with Grandma and Grandpa wherever we went. The first night, Alden's fever went away, and once I stopped giving Hyrum the medicine, he got a lot better too. Poor Jacob got sicker though, which made a lot of sleepless nights for me in the hotel, but I got to see my mom and dad, the kids got to see Grandpa and Grandma, so we were all really happy about that and enjoyed and treasured every minute we had.

On Wednesday morning, the boys and I headed back to Ohio. We were all really sad to say goodbye, but we were grateful that we were able to spend time together. On our way home, we stopped in Toledo and celebrated Michael's grandpa's 90th birthday with his grandparents, parents, and aunt and uncle. I am so grateful that my kids get to have two of their great grandparents in their lives. What a wonderful blessing!!!!

Priscilla

From the time that Michael and I first got married, Michael has wanted a cat. However, when we'd visit his parents' house who had a cat at the time, I would become almost incapacitated with my allergies. I was so allergic to their cat that I would wake Michael up in the night hyperventilating, insisting that we go for a ride in the car so that I could breathe. When I went to an allergist, Michael begged me to ask if I could get a weekly shot so that we could have a cat at our house. My allergist was disgusted, but I don't think she or I for that matter realized how important a cat was to Michael. 

We always said that when we got a house that we would think about getting an outdoor cat, but since the first eight years of our married life was spent in an apartment, it didn't become an issue. When we moved here to Lima, we decided that it was time to look into getting our outdoor cat. Unfortunately, the local animal pound said they wouldn't adopt a cat to a family who was going to keep the cat outside. Michael began looking at which cats were more hypoallergenic than others. We visited at Siberian cat farm (apparently allergic people have more tolerance to Siberian cats); however, trying to convince someone who wasn't all that thrilled about having a cat anyway to spend $300 on a discount cat didn't go over that well. Michael told me that he was done trying to get a cat and sadly conceded that our family would always be cat free.  I felt really bad that I had shattered his cat dreams, but he decided that it was over and insisted that we not talk about it anymore. We both assumed that we would enjoy our neighbor's cat Jake (no, we didn't name Jacob after our neighbor's cat) and have him be our adopted cat, even though he had scratched or bit both Alden and Hyrum because he hates kids.

However, around Thanksgiving life as we knew it changed a bit. The Tuesday before Thanskgiving a very cute little kitten with black and white and orange stripes made her way into our garage. Hyrum was ecstatic! He ran over to her and began petting her. She playfully rubbed against his leg and didn't do anything when he picked her up. Alden and Thobe also played with her and gave her something to eat. Michael told the boys not to give her any food so that she would go back home. That crazy kitty didn't leave though. We intentionally didn't feed her for two days thinking she'd go back home. She looked forward to us coming out to the garage and would always meow happily when she'd see us.

We knew if she was still around when Michael's dad came that we'd have ourselves a cat. He has such a soft spot for animals, and sure enough on Thanksgiving day, he asked me if I had an old towel and bowl. I found him giving the kitty water and made her a soft warm bed in the garage. I was surprised that as the boys let her in the house from time to time and as I'd pet her that she didn't make me sneeze, and soon I too became quite fond of her. I loved how good she was with my kids. I also loved that whenever I'd say, "Hi Kitty." She'd say, "Meow." I think Michael is in seventh heaven having a cat around. He loves that little thing so much!

We also decided that we should name our little cat. We had several ideas. Thobe especially liked calling her Cheerio. We also thought that maybe we could call her Tickle--Jacob's girl name that the boys gave him before he was born, but those names didn't work so well. I suggested that we call her Priscilla since she came to us at Thanksgiving, and it stuck. She gets called Cilla a lot, but it's a good name for her. She's a perfect cat. She uses her litter box perfectly. If she's in the house and needs to go to her litter box, she meows to let us know. She takes medicine well, she has never scratched any of the kids, even if they are rough with her. She is playful and fun, but not too playful, and Michael tells me that she'll be a great mouser (we've never had a mouse, but it is one of my worst fears). She loves it when the kids go to bed and she has Michael and me all to herself. She especially is fascinated with the toilet. No matter what, she runs to the bathroom if she ever hears any of us going, even if she was in a deep sleep.

Recently she got fixed so we won't have to worry about little kittens in the Spring. This was very troubling to Alden. He didn't like us messing with things like that. He very seriously told me that Heavenly Father has a plan that we all need to do, and then said, "Mom, have your prayed about Priscilla having that operation? I really think you should pray about that." He's such a good boy.

We decided to go through with the surgery, despite Alden's concern. She's been such a good little kitty. You could tell that she didn't feel well, but she still took care of all her business and was so gentle, even with Hyrum.

It's funny how she just came into our lives. I keep telling Michael that I think he must have prayed her here. I really can't imagine a better cat for our family. She's just about purrrfect.

By way of pets, I should also mention that our two crawdads that we have in our fish tank are now the proud parents of at least 20 new baby crawdads. For having no pets when we moved to Lima, we've sure acquired a lot in the last three years.

Playing catchup

I am so disappointed that I have been so bad about blogging. We have been so blessed and have had such a great last couple months. The boys are doing so many adorable things that I forget because I don't write them down. I really want to do better. My family and I have been doing a weight loss challenge where we report into a blog daily. I have to admit that more of my time has been spent there than here, but I hope that I can change that. Anyway, I hope to give a brief summary of life for the Mondays over the past few months.

Christmas this year was great for us. It was our first Christmas that we spent in with just our family. Normally, we go to Utah or at least to Toledo for Christmas. We did spend Christmas Eve and Christmas afternoon in Toledo, but ended up coming back home for Santa to visit our boys here in Lima. Although I love spending Christmas in Utah and as the old song goes, "There's no place like home for the holidays," I really enjoyed spending Christmas with Michael and my boys. It was really special.

Santa was really generous to us this year. We got so many fun things. The boys were especially excited about Mario Kart for their Wii and for their Star Wars toys. Their favorite present for the most part, was their BYU Cougar uniforms, complete with their first initial and last name and birthday for their number on the back. They all opened this gift at the same time and insisted on putting their uniforms on. As soon as they got "dressed" they told us that it was time for them to go down in the basement and play a football game, despite having a tree full of presents that still needed to be unwrapped. All three boys sprinted downstairs to verse their imaginary Ute opponents. Alden laid out the rules and told the boys that the first team to 14 won, and guess what? The BYU cougars saved the day! and won! Hooray for the cougars!!! The fun thing about doing Christmas at our house was that we were able to do that with every present. We enjoyed not being worried about holding someone up, and the boys enjoyed being able to play with their presents as we opened them.

After we spent the morning opening presents and eating a nice breakfast, we loaded up the boys and a few of their favorite presents and went to Toledo. Michael's Aunt Leslie and Uncle Jay were visiting from Utah, and Michael's grandparents were there from Toledo. It was so much fun to see them and spend time with them over the holidays. Michael's grandparents also made the decision to move to Toledo while we were there, so Michael and much of his family went to Cleveland the next day to get some of GG and Geful's essentials.  We were also able to see Michael's best friend from high school, Tim, and his wife and new baby boy, Teddy. It was so much fun to get to know is wife Jin and their cute little boy that is only a couple months older than Jacob. We went to a Rockets game and spent a significant amount of time with them. It was very fun.

Another fun thing about Christmas is that our little Jacob turned 6 months old. It's so hard to believe that he's 6 months now. He is such a good baby. He'll certainly let us know we're not paying him enough attention, but he'll still sit for hours in his swing and can easily be entertained with a few toys. We got him a toy that plays music and has little blocks that bob up and down for Christmas. It seems that that was all he needed to start sitting up. He sits up really well now and rolls all over the place. He loves chewing on everything, and even though he's 7 months now, he still hasn't cut any teeth. He especially loves pulling his socks off and sucking on his toes. For awhile he got really frustrated wtih us always trying to give him his pacifier, but since we eased off a bit, he likes it now. When he's tired, he loves for us to take him in his room, give him his pacifier and a blanket, turn on his mobile nad let him go to sleep. All my other boys insisted that I nurse them to sleep, but not Jacob. He's really a good baby. He loves his brothers so much. He gets so excited when he sees them. Without fail, Alden yelling, "Hi Jacob" over and over and over again always gets him to smile. He loves Hyrum and Thobe too, and adores me and Michael. He loves to screech really loudly and has the cutest little giggle. He loves eating. If we're eating and not sharing, he screams (sometimes that'a little annoying), but it's also very cute.  I really couldn't ask for a better baby. He's just so incredible!

Hyrum continues to be his mischievous adorable self. He's really a lot of fun. He is constantly saying the funniest things and is just a happy boy. He tells me, "I love you too, Mom" at least 20 times a day. I love it when he says that. He is really aware of other people's emotions. If I get sad, he gets very concerned. I love how he does that. He does not like to be told no and is very determined. If he asks us to do something and we tell him just a minute, he'll often not wait for us. I can't tell you how many times I've found him on top of the counter top trying to reach something changing is own diaper (potty training is still a problem because I am potty training stupid), pouring his own water or milk, or getting his own snack. He is a tornado in action. He's constantly dumping and spilling and making a disaster. The picture here is the result of him getting a bottle of blue food coloring and shaking it all over himself, his brothers and the kitchen. He is so good with Jacob. If Jacob's crying, he always tries to get him something to play with and has started getting him things to eat--this scares me. Jacob didn't like the soap that Hyrum gave him and loved the peanut butter--I wasn't excited about him eating either of those things. Hyrum is very charismatic. Everyone who meets him, loves him!

Thobe continues to be our sports fan. He loves sports and has recently become obsessed with Mario Kart. He could sit for hours watching Alden play it. When he's not watching Alden play he is constantly talking about the characters of the game. Did you know that Bowser's birthday is March 22--the same day as Michael's, and Mario's birthday is March 8? I don't know where he gets this stuff, but it's pretty funny. He's really excelled in school thsi year. He sturggles with writing--fine motor skills aren't a strength of the Mondays, but that boy can read and he is just like a sponge. I'm constantly amazed at the things that he picks up on. It's also been fun to watch him and Hyrum become closer friends. He has always gotten along with Alden, but recently, he and Hyrum have started playing together more. They fight more than Alden and  Thobe ever did, but they still love each other and are playing together well. Thobe loves wearing his BYU cougar uniform. I think he would wear that thing every single day if we'd let him. He got mad at me today when I madde him change his shirt when it was so dirty. That uniform was definitely worth it for Thobe.

Alden has grown up so much this year. He is so smart and cute. He loves to please his dad and has recently become farily good freinds with a boy at his school that speaks Spanish. We're really excited about that; Alden has a lot of friends at school, and his best friend remains to be Jack. He is really excelling on the piano and is such a good boy! He is really obedient and tries so hard to do what is right. He is also really good at outsmarting me. The other day he told me he wanted to eat school lunch if they had hot dogs. I won't go into it too much here, but I hate school lunch. I think that it is nothing but garbage. The problem is Thobe loves it, so I let them eat up to 2 school lunches a week. Alden told me one day that he wanted to have a hot dog at school. I told him I did not want to pay $2 for a gross hotdog and that if he wanted one, he could buy it with his money. He told me that he did not want to spend his money on that and I told him that I didn't want to spend my money on it either. "Well," Alden said, "I only have a little bit of money, but if I had as much money as you have, I wouldn't mind spending $2 on a hot dog." He is right, $2 to me is a lot less than $2 to him. He also continue to be a Star Wars fanatic. When I asked im why he likes Star Wars so much, he said, "Well, (he always says well), I guess that's what the laser does to people." That really threw me, so I asked him to explain. He reminded me that when he was born, the doctor cut him out of my tummy with a laser, and he concluded that the laser must have made him like Star Wars. He's really fun and a bit crazy. I love him and all my boys so much though.

Our Annual Christmas Greeting

I don't know what happened this year, but for whatever reason, I had such a difficult time with our Christmas video. I worked everyday for at least 5 hours a day since my birthday trying to get this crazy thing done (in the past I've spent 5 to 10 hours on it and had it done). I don't know if I'm just getting dumber or if the new software that I was using just had more kinks (it appeared that it would be easier). Anyway, without further complaint, here is our year end video summary and Christmas greeing. I hope that you'll enjoy watching it, and more importantly, that you have a very Merry Christmas.

2009 Monday Family Christmas Greeting

Facebook Link (this resolution is a higher quality)

The Greatest Kid in the Nation!

I have to tell you, Thobe is so much fun right now. He is so sweet and smart and just amazing. I love all the progress that he's made at school. He struggles a little with fine motor stuff, but he has no idea that he does. He loves to draw and write and color. Thobe's doing a great job with reading, and he LOVES math!!! The most amazing thing about Thobe is his ability to make connections that most kids his age don't make. When we were out in Utah and went to buy a birthday present for his cousin, he saw a magazine that talked about The Biggest Loser. He said, "Oh look, Mom, the Biggest Loser" (can you tell what I do on Tuesday night?). He then said, "Hey, Mom. Have you ever heard of the Smallest Winner," and then he chuckled softly to himself. Also while we were at the store and were looking for cards, I asked if he'd like to give James a card that said "For the greatest kid in the nation." He said he'd like to get that for him. I put the card in the cart, and Thobe asked, "Uh, Mom? Am I the second greatest kid in the nation?" I assured him that he was actually the greatest kid in the nation, so the Thobe said, "Oh, so it's from the greatest kid in the nation, right, Mom?"

He was really silly when my mom and dad were here. He often spent time quizzing my grandpa on which letter different words started with and gave him simple addition problems. One time, he said softly, "Grandpa, what does is start with?" My dad didn't hear what he said or thought he said something else, so he answered that it started with an s. Thobe promptly corrected him and responded, "Uh no, Grandpa, it starts with I." Thobe has some pretty strong gender stereotypes. One night we went out to dinner and Michael and my dad rode in Michael's car. Last minute, Alden jumped in with them, they drove away. Thobe was the most out of control I've ever seen him. "I don't want ride with the women," he hollered. "I want to ride with the MEN!!!!" He also teased my mom a lot by telling her that he only loved her a little bit but that he loved my dad a lot. I think my mom saw really how much he loved her when they were getting ready to go into the airport, and Thobe said in a sad, quiet voice, "Grandma it's sad when family you love has to leave, huh?" It still breaks my heart when I think about him saying that.

Thobe's had so much fun in school preparing for Thanks- giving. He talks incessantly about the Thanksgiving feast that his class had. He also tells us a lot about the Pilgrims. The day before Thanksgiving, Alden said, "Thobe what do you want to be when you grow up. I want to be a lawyer." Thobe thought for a minute and then said, "I want to be a Pilgrim." I hope that Thobe has the same courage and righteous faith that the Pilgrims had. What a great kid!