Olympic-Sized Memory

Inspired by my dear friend Tara, I decided to show some of my Olympic memories from four years ago.

We didn't live in SLC when the Olympics came there, but we did live in itty-bitty Woodland Park, Colorado. Imagine my surprise when we found out that the Olympic Torch was making its way to Salt Lake via Woodland. Especially since it was coming down Highway 24, directly in front of the bank I worked at. I met Josh outside and we (along with a 9 1/2-month old Emma) watched as the Olympic Torch--all the way from Greece--climbed the nearly 9000 ft mountain road.

It was kinda cold.

Don't worry. Our city didn't shun the Torch or anything. That's just how many people there are in that town. It was the closest we got to the Olympics that year, but I loved that we got to be a small part of it.

And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street

Except for the couple of times I drove the streets of Texas, I've never seen so many side-road vendors as I have here in Arizona. And it's not just vendors. Businesses hire people to hold their signs on the corners. Never seen that more than I do here. Signs for pizza and other restaurants, jewelers, new homes, Girl Scout cookies. It's just people standing there, bouncing their four foot signs around to catch your attention as you drive by. But I digress.

Today, as I was driving around doing my errands I saw several roadside vendors selling all sorts of things. Here's a little rundown of things I've seen sold on the side of the road just up the street from my house:

tamales

oranges

mattresses

Dish Network

Bonsai Trees -- Today's sign read: Big trees, Stupid Prices!

Tortoises. I didn't actually see this one, but Emma convinced Josh to stop and check them out. A tortoise just larger than this was only $100, if you can believe it!

BTW, today's title is courtesy of the first book Dr Seuss wrote. His birthday is March 2. Happy Birthday, Theo!

Nephew Number 8

Today my baby brother Peter and his wife Genica welcomed Brayden Michael Williams into the world. And if you pay attention to initials, you will discover that Brayden's are BMW. That is not a coincidence. Some people's brothers are weird. But, he was born today (February 25) at 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 1/2".

I don't have any pictures of the new bundle of joy yet, but can I just say...

I'm So Happy!!!

I love my brother and I love my SIL. They are such good people and will make incredible parents. They've been given an incredible gift with this little boy. They also have some major challenges ahead of them. Brayden has Gastroschisis. That's where some of his digestive system grew outside of his abdomen. Until he was born no one knew to what degree he had it. From what I've heard, it's a bit more severe than we all hoped, but with a surgery or two (hopefully) he'll be put together and will be able to come home within about six weeks after his final surgery.

If you have any extra prayers laying around, I'm sure they would be happy to accept them. Both Pete and Genica are enrolled in school this semester. Genica has online classes, so she will be able to complete them as she stays in Salt Lake City with Brayden. Pete, however, will have to go back up to Logan to finish his classes at Utah State University. He'll have to be away from his wife and son during the week and only see them on the weekends. My heart is heavy for them, mostly because I have an inkling of what lays ahead of them: hospital living with a baby in the NICU is NO FUN! And being separated because life doesn't stop is difficult. And living with the guilt of "We live in a town not suited for my child's health problems so I can finish my degree" is extremely rough.

Luckily, both sets of grandparents are there to make immediate life easier for Pete and Genica. But if you happen to think of them, please say a prayer for them. The next few months are going to be challenging, to say the least.

I love you, Peter, Genica, and Brayden!! Wish I was there to hold all of you!

Old Photos

Look at this ADORABLE picture of the girls that I found. I was looking for some pictures of my friend's younger brother (he posted on Facebook that he wanted some pictures of him that anyone had) and I saw this. It's just the cutest picture ever. Look at Abby. She just cracks me up.

I also found some pictures of Josh on his mission. Here's my question: what is the obession missionaries have of catching each other naked or on the toilet? Not that I found any of those kinds of pictures.... Ah, crap.

Ready For a Shock?

Guess what....

....Not all the decisions I make are wrong!!!!

Today I had a few affirmations that, although I seem to make decisions that lead me down a rough road, it's the right one.

I had a few ladies from church stop by and visit today and this is where I had my realizations.

Affirmation 1: Home schooling is the right choice. As much as I complain about home school, I'm starting to get it. We're getting done by a decent time everyday, the kids are learning, and we're (for the most part) enjoying being together. One of my new friends told me that she completely understood why I wanted to home school the kids. She said that the elementary school across the street from us is the "Freddy Krueger" school. And it's not just because the testing scores are so low. I'm so glad to know that my efforts to teach, lifestyle alterations, and lessened time for myself is worth it.

Affirmation 2: Completing my theatre degree at a small college gave me more opportunity than if I went to a large school. The other of my new friends told me about how she was a Theatre Major at BYU. As I began to envy her, we started swapping stories and I realized how blessed I was to go to a much smaller school with a small department. She told me that she got to be involved in two shows during her six years in school. I was in about nine shows, directed one (the best one the school's ever seen, in my humble opinion), designed costumes, dramaturged, house managed, designed sets, and had an incredible time doing it. I'm sure she got the more complete book education, but I was able to acquire so much experience. I had always dreamed of going to BYU and never thought I was good enough to go there. Now I realize that, good enough or not, little po-dunk Adams State College gave me the experience I needed and wanted. I did more than most. How can I regret that?

I know that I don't make a whole lot of bad decisions, but it sure is nice to recognize that those things that make me question myself were/are good things after all.

A HUGE Thank You!

Some people's sisters marry real idiots. Thankfully, mine haven't. In fact, I really like both of my brothers-in-law. They are great men and they take good care of my little sisters. Okay, I'm shorter than both of them, but you know....


Anyway, my BIL Jabon has been incredibly helpful to our family. Not only did he allow us to live in his house for 2 1/2 months, but he's done all sorts of things for us. His latest achievement of the "Brother of the Year" Award happened just the other day.


Jabon built us a computer.


Yeah, read that sentence again. He built us a computer. I know a lot about using computers for lots of different reasons, but the mechanics of it all baffles me and I am amazed by people that can just grab a few extra parts laying around their house and create a desktop computer for their family to use. Hello???? Can we say "OH MY GOSH!"?


Jabon's goal was to allow us to do school a lot easier. I had no idea how badly we needed a second computer until we had one to use. The ability to multi-task has increased by a hundredfold. I can tell Emma to take one test while I work with Abby on an online assignment. It's amazing. We've shaved a good three hours off our school day.

Emma using the new desktop computer.....

....while Abby uses the laptop.

The blur back there is Matt. That's a pretty realistic shot.

And Millie hovering around the computer, that's pretty realistic too.

And so, to Jabon I want to publicly say Thank You SOOO Much! You're amazing and you totally ROCK!!

"I Will Triumph!"

Remember in the movie French Kiss when Meg Ryan is on the phone with her former future mother-in-law and she pitifully and pathetically says, "I will triumph!" and there in the background is the Triumphal Arch of Paris?

This is how I feel. It's pitiful and pathetic, but I will triumph!

This week's weight loss endeavor was as painful as the previous two weeks. One pound loss, so that's good, but only one day of exercise. School is taking over all of my day. I'm having a hard time falling asleep, which means I'm having a hard time waking up early enough to exercise before the kids wake up.

My solution is this: Insanity must wait. I've been wanting to finish the program so badly, but you have to commit to it. I can't commit to it right now. We'll return the disks to Josh's coworker who so graciously let me borrow them. Maybe by the time I have the time to do the workout I'll have to money to purchase it for myself. I think that's a reasonable goal.

In the meantime, instead of setting myself up to fail by having a painfully vigorous workout program, I'm going to start one of the other videos I have. It's less intimidating and therefore I shouldn't resent doing it or dread doing it or NOT do it. I'm sad I can't finish Insanity, but it's just not in the cards right now.

How'd you do?

Annual Salary

'Tis the season for taxes and seeing what your annual income actually is.

I don't bring home a paycheck. I'm too busy taking care of our children. I've heard that homemakers, if they were actually paid, would make 6 figures. I looked it up and for my local area and in this part of Arizona, I'd be paid around 100K. Not bad. But I wanted a more specific number.

If I took all of the salaries of the different jobs I perform everyday, I'd actually be making quite a bit more.

Operations Director..............$65,000
Live-In Housekeeper...........$25,000
Chef.........................................$30,000
Accountant.............................$50,000
Psychologist............................$45,000
Photographer/Historian.......$31,000
Child Care Provider...............$30,000
Food and Beverage Mgr.......$22,000
Activities and Education
Program Director..................$21,200
Teacher (Kindergarten).......$31,000
Teacher (2nd Grade)............$35,000
Teacher (3rd Grade)............$35,000

I put each grade separate for teacher because of the whole home school issue. Don't even consider fighting me on that. Also, Activities and Education Program Director is different from Teacher. Ever had to entertain the kids? You see what I mean by different.

I didn't include things like Fashion Consultant or Interior Designer. Those things are way low on the priority list right now. And, I didn't include nurse because honestly I pass that off on to Josh as much as possible. He has the degree in it, he can do that one.

Also, lately I've found another job that belongs to the list....

Lecturer................................$51,000

If you're a parent, or have a parent, or ever watched one on tv, you know that this one deserves to be on the list.

Funnily enough, I didn't see any salary figures for Professional Worrier.

Anyway, all of those things added together equal nearly

$500,000!

Can you believe it? Now, if only I can find a funder.......

The Walking Adventures of Millie Marie

Millie began walking yesterday. I can't believe it. It took her long enough to realize that she pretty much was already doing it, she just needed to let go of the couch or coffee table or my fingers. Silly girl.

As I've been watching her, she just makes me laugh. First of all, she's finally doing it! I'm so proud of her! At first she just did it when Josh or I coerced her to do it, but today she's been doing it on her own accord. It's so wonderful.

She also makes me laugh, though, because she's still getting used to bending her knees and all of the mechanics involved with the act of walking. So, she's a bit stilted. She kind of reminds me of the Frankenstein Phil Hartman used to portray on SNL. He was the stiff-jointed, awkward Frankie we all recognize with the added glory of the line: Fire BAD!!!! Oh, hilarious. Believe me, there'd be a clip here for me to show you if I could find one.

But, you'll just have to see Millie instead. Don't mind the end of the video, Matt had just thrown a bunch of toys in front of me that she tripped over once she got close enough. Still, it's a great thing to watch.

He's So Cute!!!!

Josh was laughing at me this morning because yesterday we got a cd in the mail from one of his cousins which contained over 200 pictures from that side of the family. Included is a picture of Josh when he was about 3 1/2. He's so cute I can't even stand it!

This is the only picture we have of Josh under the age of 19. I really, really want to raid my in-laws' pictures, but I can just see how that conversation would go:

"Hi! How are you! Haven't seen you in a while. I want pictures."

This smaller picture is cropped from this larger one. This is the day Josh's brother Jaymen was blessed. There are a lot of people in this photo I've never met, including Josh's mom's parents who passed away in the 1990s and his biological father's parents who are in CA. For that matter, I've never met his biological father. All I really have to say about that is, every family has dynamics. But that's a whole other story.

Josh's sister also found this photo. I can't believe she had a copy of it. This is Josh and me the night we met face to face. Josh had just come off the airplane, home from his mission to South Africa. He was still a missionary, and if you didn't know, missionaries aren't supposed to be too close to members of the opposite sex. So, we hammed up this picture a little, but you can see by how red our faces are that we're both a bit embarrassed about the whole spectacle.

I love old pictures.

Millie-Me, Hair-dos, A Cute Boy, and SCHOOL

I don't know if you've been properly introduced to Millie. She is my Mini-Me, or Millie-Me, if you please. Millie is determined to do everything just like her Momma. Let me show you.....

This is Millie helping me with the laundry. She looks harmless, but really, about five minutes before this picture was taken, that laundry basket was completely empty and all of those clothes were neatly folded and stacked on the empty spaces there on the couch and table. She's such a good helper.

Millie also likes to type on the computer. She doesn't pound on the keys, she lightly places both hands over the keyboard and moves her fingers as quickly as she can. She's a writer/blogger in training.

She also loves to talk on my cell phone. If you get a call from me and all you hear is a baby in the background, it's probably Millie calling.

There's more she does, but I can't remember right now. She's a cute little girl and it's so hard to scold her when she looks at me with that look that says, "What, Mom? I just love you."

I've tried to branch out on my hair-dos for the girls. Emma's hair is so long that I can do some fun things with it.

I practiced doing inside-out braids on Emma. We did a Zuzu-type style. When she played Zuzu in It's a Wonderful Life, we did braids (not inside-out) up to the top of her head and then curled the piggy tails. See?

Anyway, for Valentine's Day she wanted a heart in her hair. This was the best I could muster in about the five minutes I had to do her hair before we ran out to church.

Abby likes to have the little horns on her head. She thinks they're cool.


And, Abby lost her top front tooth. She was so happy!!!

And, of course, this is my cute boy. Please, don't call him handsome. He's cute. Not handsome. Get it right.

This new school is killing me. I don't know if it will ever get any easier. The thing is, I've committed to a full semester. So, we're roped in this program until the end of the school year. It would be an incredible program for one or two kids to do, but three that are all third grade and under is tough. By fourth grade, the curriculum is supposed to be more independently completed, but until then it's very much run by the parent. You know, I remember hearing the stories about having three kids: with two kids, you have a hand for each, but there is no third hand for that third kid. That's kind of how I feel about this school. I don't have the extra hand for the third kid. But, I'm sure, as the weeks pass it will get easier. I was able to figure out how to handle three kids everyday, and I was even able to figure out how to handle four, so I'm sure I'll get this down, but for now, I'm spending most of my days doing school. I just need an extra 5 hours in the day. That's all. Or an extra me. Dang, where's Millie-Me when I need her?

Weight Loss Whoopsie

So, yeah.

This week wasn't my best week in the weight loss arena. This new school program may just be the death of me. We got our supplies Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday was mostly spent at the cardiologist, and so Thursday was our first attempt to teach with all the required materials.

Imagine with me: Three children, three curriculum plans, two children each needing to complete four hours of school and the third needing two, one laptop computer without wireless access so it was wired in the bedroom where Josh was trying to sleep after working the night before and the wire to the router is so short each kid had to sit with me on the floor against the bedroom door. We started school at 8:30am and finished sometime around 6pm. Needless to say, I missed some exercise, for a few days in a row. Then I fell off the bandwagon with a little bit of frustration and ate any chocolate I could find. (I was surprised how much I was able to scrounge up.)

So I lost nothing this week. Ugh. But, I'll just dust myself off and try again next week. And Valentine's Day and its plethora of delicious sugar isn't helping me any at all.

But, as we always say.....

WE CAN DO IT!!!

How'd you do?

I {Heart} Matt

Today Matt had an appointment with our new pediatric cardiologist. He's been overdue for a check up, but with moving (three times, if you count when Josh came down here and our insurance changed and we had no access to AZ docs in MT) and all of the other joys of life, his appointment got postponed. But he went today.

We like our new doctor. He's an older gentleman. If we went to junior high together, then you might remember Mr Willerton. He looks kind of like him, but with a mustache. And not annoying. He's actually very quiet and seemed to be very thorough with Matt's check up. I was glad for that. I hate feeling rushed with the doc, especially when it's an important check up like this.

We went over Matt's history with him: born with Pulmonary Atresia, had 4 balloon caths, surgery to expand the size of his pulmonary valve in October 2005, and surgery to replace his pulmonary valve with a bovine valve in March 2007. Matt has been very preoccupied about his heart lately. It seems like everyday he brings it up. He says his heart hurts every so often and the doctor let us know that it's a good chance that his scar site hurts because as he grows the skin at his scar pulls a bit and can be uncomfortable. But sometimes Matt uses descriptors that worry me a bit.

Yesterday, on our way to the library, Matt said his heart "stings". I asked if it stings when he breathes and he said yes. I told him to sit still and we'd see how he felt in a minute. He seemed fine and I didn't think about it again until we were on our way home. I asked if his heart still stings or had the feeling passed. He said, "The feeling has passed. But it does sting when I look at something orange. OH! I just looked at something orange and it's stinging again." So, I don't know how seriously to take all of his comments.

Because we didn't have the medical records to compare today's test results to, we don't really have a definitive idea of how he's doing. Matt's pulmonary valve leaks. That means that blood pumps through it, but some swishes back through (like back wash). This valve has mildly leaked since it was implanted in 2007. And some people have a mild leak in their original valves and never really know it. So, a mild leak isn't a big deal. Today, however, the doc said he'd classify Matt's leak as Moderate. I'm not really sure what this means. First, we need Matt's records to compare doctors' notes and see if our new doctor's idea of a moderate leak is the same as our old doc's idea of a mild leak or if Matt's valve is losing some of its potency. Then, we'll need to find out how long we can go before replacing the old valve. Do we wait until there is a severe leak? Do we catch it before it's a higher-moderate leak? I don't know.

All I know is, I'm a mother with a son who faces heart surgery no matter what. Every check up is a tug at my own heart. Will today be the day I have to confirm my son's worst fears---that someone has to cut him open again? It scares me to death. He's so brave, though. He followed all of the directions from the nurse and doctor today, even though he thought they would have to cut him open right then and there at the appointment. It wasn't until they were putting the stickers on him to monitor his heart rate and he got a little tense that I realized he was waiting for them to cut him. But he was obedient and did what he was asked by complete strangers. He had faith in them that they would help him, but he was scared too.

When you grow up in a family that is relatively healthy, with very few accidents that happened and no major illnesses, it's hard not to resent having health issues in your own family. Sometimes I question, "Why do we have to deal with this? Why is it my son that has to face these challenges?" I don't have the answer for that. But I do know that I will be there for him and help him however I can. I'll happily sleep on his hospital bed with him as he recovers (I'm 40 lbs lighter, so I'll fit better this time). I'll drive him all the way to the middle of Scottsdale for him to see his doctor. And the wonderful thing is that Josh will do it too. He sacrificed a bunch of sleep today to go with us. He worked last night and is working again tonight, but he really wanted to be there with Matt at his first appointment with a new doctor.

I discovered today that I really hate being ignorant. As we watched the echo cardiogram take place, I couldn't tell what exactly we were looking at. It looked like most of his others, but I don't know what a healthy heart looks like, so I didn't know if there were any changes. And I always hate interrupting the doctor in the middle of it because I don't want him to miss something or lose his train of thought because I bugged him. I'm very tempted to look at learning how to be an echo cardiogram tech. I could learn what I need to for Matt and work in a doctor's office, away from the blood and gore. Maybe I'll check that out, after the kids are a bit bigger of course.

So, the bottom line is, Matt had an appointment, but we don't know how it went. He'll go back in June to make sure the leak isn't getting any worse. Keep us in your prayers.

Hair Daze

I gave Matt a haircut. I do this every so often. I'd love to take him to a barber sometime, but with our strict budget plans, barbers are not a part of our spending/savings plan. Anyway, I'm so good with my cutting skills that I do this overly complicated cutting method..... I pick a guard to put on the clippers and do his whole head the same length. I know. I should charge, right?

I decided to mess with Matt a little and let him have a sloppy mohawk for about five seconds.

He thought that was pretty cool and rushed to show his sisters. It got me thinking about Josh's constant threats to shave his head. Yes, I cut his hair too, only I let him choose the guard I clip his entire head with. But, he's always telling me that he's going to start "Bic"-ing his head again. He did this for a while in 2001-02.

(This picture could easily be Josh and Millie, but it's Emma)

Anyway, it all started when Josh and his brother were out on the porch. Josh was about to use the clippers to trim his hair and as he ran them over the middle of his head, the guard fell off and he "accidentally" shaved his head. He used his razor to complete the job. It was really hard to get used to. Really hard. Eventually, (and don't tell Josh) I did get used to it. I even liked rubbing his spiky head after a couple days of no shaving. And it did help him in his career. He was a detention officer at the county jail. Suddenly the inmates took him very seriously. He was still the same awesome, lovable guy, but a bit more intimidating.

It's just a matter of time. Any day now Josh will tell me that the guard "accidentally" fell off the clippers and he's got to shave it all off again. Any day now.

I didn't get any photos of the girls, but Emma's hair is getting so long it's almost down her entire back. Abby's is getting longer too. I played around and did some inside-out braids in her hair for church yesterday. I should've gotten the pics because it looked really cute.

Millie is starting to get a little curl in the back of her hair. Abby's did this. If you look closely in this pic, you can see how Abby's hair curled and was the cutest thing ever. I really hope Millie's develops that same curl.

My brother Peter with Emma and Abby, when Matt was born, June 2004.

How'd You Do?

It's that time again....time to admit how we did this week.

With all the new school stuff we're still trying to work through, I only got two days of workout this week. I've been a bit bummed about that, but it was recovery week and next week begins the really hard stuff.... {gulp}. I'm hoping my lack this week will not kill me next week.

In good news, I kept up on my food and I was able to lose another 2 lbs this week. My newest challenge is making sure I'm getting enough calories now. Someday I'll be able to balance it a lot easier.

It's a never-ending battle, isn't it? (BTW, Jeri Dawn, I'm very impressed with your FHE-cupcake-willpower. I couldn't have done it.)

My week was definitely overrun by school, but we'll try to do it again this next week.

How'd you do?

Our New Routine

When we moved out of my sister's house, we decided to home school the kids to avoid changing schools for a third time this year, and perhaps a fourth school before the year is over, depending on if we extend our lease here or not.

I'd say the hardest part of home schooling is feeling like you are teaching the kids enough challenging curriculum. There are lots of websites and workbooks at the store, but I need a little more of a layout. I do love the casual hours. And in an effort to teach the girls writing, spelling, proofreading, and computer skills, they each now have their own blog. (BTW, their blogs are private, but if you want an invite just let me know.)

But, I've been too afraid of not challenging them enough. Josh and I heard of a program that is actually an online public school. This means that the kids can work through the curriculum at their own pace, it is moderated by the state of Arizona so state standards must be met, there is curriculum for math, language arts, science, history, art, music, literature, and even P.E. So, we signed up.

This program will be great, I think. The problem is that the materials (provided for free because it's a public school) won't arrive until next week, so I'm trying to work online with three kids. Because it's a public school, each kid has to do lessons for 2 hours (Matt) or 4 hours (Emma and Abby) and it has to be logged or we are in trouble for truancy. This means that I have spent my mornings and afternoons doing school. Then I make dinner. Then I try to prepare for the next day of school. Then I go to bed. Once our materials arrive we can use the workbooks and student guides instead of the computer and then kids can work simultaneously instead of one at a time. I'm very excited for that. But I hate my days being overrun by school.

The day the materials come, I will party. Until then, I think I've come up with some solutions to schedule everything. It's mostly a matter of getting used to the whole thing. I'm getting there. Today I had enough time to even workout and shower. It was great.

Aw, Man!

So, have you seen the previews for Percy Jackson and the Olympiads? My cousin Jon told me about it, but I just saw the preview the other day. Sure, it looks like it's going to be interesting. Yeah, it may be well done. But, dang it, I'm bummed.

I'm currently writing my novel. Granted, I'm not very far into it and I have plenty I want to rewrite already, but I was really, really hoping there wouldn't be some blockbuster movie about Greek gods anytime soon so I wouldn't look like a copycat.

So, this movie looks like it's about a girl, the daughter of Athene, who saves the world because of her godly gifts. Mine is also about a girl, the daughter of Apollo, who saves the world using her godly gifts.

I don't know much else about the movie, and I don't know that I want to until I finish writing mine, but I think my story is different enough to be a good story. Now, since this other one is out, my story will be compared to this one. Crud.

Oh well. It's my story that I've been wanting to tell and I should just go ahead and tell it, even if I do look like I'm riding on the tail of someone else's work. Such is the life of an author, eh?