Writing the Book

my nephew, elder b.

(surprise, sister, i just totally stole this pic from your blog. thanks.)

I was going through my post in-box, or whatever it is, and looking at all the posts I have started but never published, and I came across this draft- written over a year ago- on October 14, 2009.

Last Wednesday evening as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, the husband next to me already deep in dreamland with his hand resting on my backside, my mind was racing- not willing to rest.

I was thinking about the busy day I had just completed and the progress of the project we had been working on that day. I was thinking about the husband and his business trip the following day and how I would miss him.

And then, as thought processes are sometimes neither rational nor logical, I realized that it was Wednesday. The day that many parents send their 19 year old son or 21 year old daughter out into the world to preach the gospel. I thought of all the new missionaries being introduced to life in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Utah. And I thought about their families. And all the tear-y goodbyes and the hugs for family and the handshakes for the girlfriend or boyfriend left behind.

Such an emotional day is Wednesday for missionary families.

And Wednesday is the first chapter of a new book of adventures.

I thought this was a very appropriate for the events of the day. Because today is Wednesday, the day my nephew enters the MTC. We went to the airport to see him off this morning. And there were lots of missionaries leaving on this very same morning, headed to the MTC.

I'm pretty sure they all had pencils in hand, ready to write that first chapter.

And, I'm pretty sure there were lots of families hoping their missionary will also use that pencil to draft a few information-filled letters home.

Happy Day with Ghosts

Today my younger brother becomes a doctor.

He has been working hard learning all this stuff.

Today he graduates.

And gets a diploma and all that.

And now he can work on people.

He recently moved his family to Arizona.

We love having them close.

And now, since he has gone back to his school to graduate,

we are taking care of one of his cute children.

As my cute little nephew has been in my home these past few days,

I keep seeing the ghost of my little brother

running through my house,

playing with my own little son.

And then, I look again,

and it's like the ghost of the husband

is playing with the ghost of my younger brother.

I'm not afraid of ghosts.

And it makes me smile.

Congratulations, brother!!

I sure do love you.

14 Today!!

Today our little family celebrates its 14th birthday.

We can't wait.

The children have big plans.

We're beginning with breakfast at i-hop

before school, because how fun is that?

And we'll prolly end the day with cake and candles.

14 candles.

And we'll prolly light them 3 times,

so that each of the children gets a chance to extinguish them.

On their own, with no interference.

The husband and I snuck away a couple weekends ago

so we could celebrate in private.

And the husband has been promising a guest post

about our amazing weekend ever since,

and he has yet to deliver.

I just have one thing to say-

dude, you better hurry and post something,

because a weekend that awesome

just has to be blogged about!!

plus also, i love you!

It's Today! It's Today! It's Today!

Today Oldest Daughter gets baptized!

We are so excited.

And so proud.

photos by Heather

birthdays

today is oldest daughter's birthday. she turned 8. i was worried she might not make it to this exciting day- she was holding her breath for it all week. but we made it. and it was a glorious day.

she had her baptism pictures taken by her talented cousin, heather. pictures in her new white dress. and then there were pictures taken of her and the husband together. and it made me a little emotional to look at that handsome man in his dark suit and tie, spinning his daughter in her white dress.

and she was surrounded by family who love her. plus, she got circus peanuts. candy of the gods, according to the husband. i don't care for circus peanuts, but i sure do care for that little 8 year old.

happy birthday, i love you!

The Reveal

Won't you please welcome oldest daughter- guest blogger- here with the results of the baptism dress voting. If you missed that post, you can catch up here.

befour i reveal the dress i got i am going to explain about my baptizam . In a couple of weeks i am going to have an interveu with my bishop. when i turn eight it feels diffrent. after a couple of weeks i feel like i'm still seven. Who do i want to babtiz me? the person who i want to babtiz me is my dad.''sorry grandpa and uncles out there''

when me and my mom were going to go shopping for a babtizam dress when i tried on the dresses they were ICHY! but i looked gorgus in them. after we went and got my babtizam dress we went and got shaks and onuns rings with fry sauce. witch was a bad time to do it cause right after that we had to eat dinner and i did not eat a-lot. so i tried on my babtizam dress for them. i looked beautiful.

what was your favorite dress? here are the results of your votes:

dress a: 6 votes

dress b: 12 votes

dress c: 10 votes

NOW I CAN REVEAL THE DRESS I GOT! drum roll please rdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdr!!! the winner of the dresses iiiiiiiiis letter BBBBBBBB coungraduations people who voeted for B!

i chosse dress b cause the disines are beautiful.

i can 't wait till i get babtized.

I don't know how a guest blogger could be any cuter than that!

happy weekend to you!

Milestone Day

Today oldest daughter and I took a little time to embark on the search for the perfect white dress. She will be baptized in a few short weeks, you know.

In the car, on the way to the store, we discussed baptism. I told her she would have an interview with the bishop so he could help her understand her decision to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And then I said he would probably ask her why baptism is important. In all her humble cuteness she confessed she didn't know why baptism is important. And then she re-thought what she had just said and declared she might know why. And she told me baptism is so important that even Jesus was baptized. We discussed that baptism is essential for salvation and after she is baptized, she will receive a special gift- the gift of the Holy Ghost. Plus, she will be an official member of the Church.

As we sorted through organzas, silks, satins and chiffons, I couldn't help but think back on the eight short years we have been able to get acquainted. She is the one who introduced me to motherhood. It is she who first taught me that the husband is the best kind of father there is: patient, capable, wise enough to use even the small moments as teaching opportunities, and proud- so proud of his children. She is the one who first taught me the joy of volunteering in the classroom. Who else but she could have been a better example for her brother and sister? She has brought me fulfillment and fun and laughter- because she has a tummy she calls Frankie.

In the dressing room as she giggled in gladness at the puffs and the poofs while I zipped and buttoned and tied ginormous sashes, I delighted (delighted- truly the only word that fits) as I watched her embrace femininity as she twirled and admired her beauty in the full length mirror.

We talked of which dress she liked best. And how does one even choose? So we weeded out the least favorite and worked our way up. In the end, she made her decision. And she was excited. And giddy.

It was a good day.

A few days ago I told her she couldn't turn 8. But, darn that girl, I think she is going to go and do it anyway. A genuine rebel, that one.

Just for fun, that little blonde girl and I decided to show you the top three contenders. And allow you to choose your favorite. And in a few days, we will reveal her choice. So fun.

And seriously, the pictures don't do these dresses justice. I think they were sewn by angels for angels. They are that beautiful. Plus, don't you think all baptism dresses should be worn with bare feet? I'm convinced they should!

Dress A

Dress B

Dress C

So, cast your vote. Vote for your favorite and the one she chose. Fair warning though, she is like the best white dress try-er on-er ever! It's like the Summer Olympics- and you're the judge! Woot!

Cautiously Optimistic

I am feeling extremely blissful

about what was accomplished yesterday.

Little son's potty training is- so far-

proving to be a ha-yuge success!!!

Yippee!

He had ZERO accidents yesterday.

Can you even believe it?

That meant ZERO icky yellow liquid messes to be cleaned up.

And ZERO pairs of pants to be changed.

And ZERO moments for a mother to mutter

What we had was MULTIPLE opportunities for praise.

And MULTIPLE Rolos to be unwrapped and devoured as a reward.

And MULTIPLE trips to the little family's room (I wish we had one just for the little boys and a separate one for the little girls, but we don't and so we all have to use the one downstairs. Shameful, I know.)

And MULTIPLE moments for a mother to view

the delicious little buns of her son.

AAANNNNDDD- he is actually telling ME when he needs to piddle. Uh, Yeah!

AAANNNNDDD- toward the end of the day, he went and did his business

ALL BY HIMSELF!!

And with a son who is so brilliant at potty training,

what mother could deny him the blue nail polish

he proudly displays on his little tooties?

I think we'll just let it wear off on its own.

---------------------------------------------------

P.S. Did you catch the yellow font I used yesterday?

I thought it appropriate for the events of the day.

Tee hee

P.S.S. Can anyone tell me why I am getting a double space in that

whole paragraph about the "multiple triumphs"?

That is just about the most annoying thing that has happened to me today.

oh, except for my run-in with the law- which I will have to tell you about later.

My Motto

Oldest daughter informed me that little son was awake yesterday morning when she came downstairs. It was 6:50. Bummer. I was hoping he would stay asleep a while longer. Still, he did not materialize until after I had returned from taxiing oldest daughter to school. No doubt he was involved in an all-out Jedi battle on the plains of his bed.

Once the Jedis were sufficiently victorious, I could hear the thump, thump, thumping of a diapered bum sliding slowly down the carpeted stairs.

He joined middle daughter and me in the family room where he boldly and decidedly proclaimed, "I want to wear panties!"

Stunned and attempting to correct the terminology, I countered, "You mean you want to wear underwear?"

To which he replied, "NO! Not Underwear! I want to wear my Lightning McQueen panties- in my top drawer."

sidenote: for those who have not been with this blog since August, you will need to refer to this post to gain a little understanding on the connotation of the term "underwear" in our household. And only then will you understand why a male child might prefer panties over underwear.

We have not crossed the potty training bridge with little son yet. And now we have one foot over the bridge threshold. Ironically, I was just telling the husband the other night that I would like to have little son potty trained by Christmas. I brought this one upon myself. Those who know me even marginally well will testify that I live by the motto:

I positively DO NOT LOVE POTTY TRAINING. If there was a potty training service out there, it would be hired. I admit, I'm just plain lazy. You have to commit to potty training. When you potty train you become a slave to your house- unable to venture too far. You become a slave to your washing machine. And you become a slave to your carpet- scrubbing out all the tinkles. I am not ready to commit.

But now, like it or not, we are committed. There is no turning back. We are on the bridge. Crossing it. Little son did an awesome job. He told me every time he needed to piddle (that's what we call it at our house). And we only had a few accidents yesterday.

Now we just have to work on the terminology

And now I know that I can be grateful for listening to the spirit and not purchasing the big box of bulk diapers when I was at Sam's Club on Monday.

But I think I am going to miss the thump, thump, thumping of a diapered bum on the stairs.

going global

all i know is that i have gone international. thank you australia, canada, germany and puerto rico (in alphabetical order since i don't know who arrived first, so the accountants at price waterhouse helped me arrange you). according to my feedjit map on the right side i saw your little flags yesterday and i felt all the pride that the mother of miss teen usa south carolina 2007 must have felt at the completion of her daughter's fine speech.

i personally believe that u.s. americans need more support from germanic germans and such as. good thing i have feedjit because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and we need to teach people like south africa and the iraq and everywhere like such as.

you have made the day, maybe even 24 hour period, of this u.s. american. you are helping me to build up my future for my children.

Celebrating Post #3

So, I’m onto the blogging secret: you have to celebrate your milestone posts. Well, in true blogger spirit, I will celebrate. I have made it to post #3. This is one of the lesser-known milestones, so don’t feel bad if you didn’t celebrate your post #3. (maybe you could just celebrate your next post, cause hey, isn’t every post a celebration?) And in the tradition of great bloggers worldwide, I will share 3 little known facts about myself. (can you even contain the excitement?) Read on- it gets better. (um, before you read, could you set up a little celebration atmosphere at your place? I don’t know, you might want balloons, or candles, or party hats. Noise makers might add a nice effect. But hey, whatever you are comfortable with. Music?)

1) Contrary to what you may think from my first post, my biggest pet peeve is not rosy bloggers, but it is in fact stepping in gum on a hot day. You know, the way it strings from the pavement to your shoe as you take your first step away from it? It’s an automatic awareness that something is not right. Let’s call it “hot gum intuition”. Could there be anything worse than that? I know! I can hear your collective “uh-huhs”. And then, it has to be dealt with immediately. How do you get it off? And don’t event think about stepping back into the car and putting your foot on the floor mat, cause it WILL leave a permanent gum black spot. And here’s one for your “Can You Believe This?” files. Last summer while running errands, I happened to experience hot gum intuition four separate times! Yes, I did. I actually stepped on four different pieces of gooey gum- one at each stop I made. Yeah, betcha didn’t know that about me.

2) When I have a really great treat, it is possible I might perhaps maybe take it into the pantry to eat. Yes, this is shocking, I occasionally don’t like to share my treats with the kids. If it has a plastic wrapper, I have the technique down for muffling the crinkling wrapper sound. (Because when you are trying to be quiet, that is the loudest sound in the world.)Usually, though, their spidey senses tell them something is going on and, being the genius kids that they are, they typically find me by brilliant deduction. That being: since it happens often, they know the drill. Can’t a mom get a break? Note to self: ask the husband about installing a lock on the inside of the pantry.

3) I have had a tattoo. Gasp! Scandal! Actually, I cannot mislead you. I am not as home girl as all that. Said tattoo was actually a smiley face painted and fired onto a crown on my lower left molar. Yes, I know, a “trying to be a rebel, but gotta hide it so no one sees” type tattoo, even though my mom knew all about it. Anyway, it is all gone by now. It took about 10 years to completely wear off. And, no, I will never get a real tattoo. Even fake tattoos are outlawed at our house.

Well, I just wanted to celebrate my post #3. I made it to post # 3! (Did I mention that? Because I just thought I would mention that!) What an accomplishment! Thanks for the party. Go clean up your decorations. (But keep them handy for my next milestone post. Or whoever‘s milestone post you read next. Because it is all about the atmosphere.)