Grateful Sunday

This week has been great, I'm grateful for:

• Neal's new three-day weekend schedule. He's been having Fridays off, which has been good for everyone. He gets major relaxation time after a week of stressful patients, I get to have his help for one extra day, and the kids get more time with Daddy. This weekend, we're planning a surprise trip for the kids.
• The new little tradition Miles has started. After they brush their teeth each night, Miles wants Parker to read him a book. ("Parker read a me.") It's cute the way they smush together on the chair.
• A successful first week of school. The kids have each found a couple of friends, and I have, too!
• Half-day kindergarten. I'm so lucky that I can stay home with the kids and that half-day school works for us. I just love that I don't have to worry about Parker getting really tired at school (like poor Audrey used to). He comes home starving (no snack time!), but can relax all afternoon with me while Miles naps. It's a great transition and I'm so glad our district still does it! It's the last one in the area that doesn't do full-day.
• My Heavenly Father and the way He makes sure I am well-taken care of and can find happiness every day. I'm so blessed, and grateful for His love for me.
  

Quote of the Day XVI

We were walking the bread aisle of the grocery store the other day, when Audrey guilt trips me by saying, out of the blue:

"Mommy, I really wish I had a sister."

Me: "I know, cutie. Me too. It's just kind of dangerous for me to have another baby. You guys all came too early, it was kind of scary."

Audrey: "What would happen if we came way too early?"

Parker: "We might have had like eight limbs or something."

Ok, so maybe this show was on our DVR for a couple of weeks and Parker got kind of attached to the idea of a parasitic twin. Pun intended.

catharsis

I'm sitting here flipping through over a hundred blog comments with tears on my cheeks and thankfulness for all of you who are bidding to support the Nielsons. A few people have asked me who the Nielsons are, and there are long and short answers. Here's a long one:

Stephanie Nielson is a friend of my sister (who is also named Stephanie). Their husbands were friends in high school and they hang out every so often with their kids. She is called NieNie because she thought it was a fun name since the end of her first name and the beginning of her last name are both Nie.

Stephanie (NieNie) has a very popular blog called NieNie Dialogues, which is currently on hold because she and her husband were in a very serious private plane crash almost two weeks ago. She is now burned on over 80% of her body, her husband, 30%. The other man on the plane with them died a couple of days after the crash as a result of his burns. Stephanie has 4 children under the age of six and lives a beautiful life, decorating her home, professing her love for her husband and doting on her children. Scroll down a few posts on the blog I linked to above to see what her blog and life were like before the crash.

The story is just completely heartbreaking: Stephanie is still fighting for her life and is in a chemically induced coma, perhaps for months, while doctors try to help her heal. Her husband is not as bad off, but is still in the hospital for a long period of time. The two haven't seen or spoken to each other since they were on the plane. Her four children are now in the care of her siblings, who live in Utah. Her sister, Courtney, whose blog is also quite popular is posting updates often on her status.

Many bloggers have been inspired to help the Nielsons by contributing money to help pay for their hospital costs (which will run into the millions) and for the care of their children, since their daddy is obviously not able to work for several months. I think most of us who are affected by it put ourselves in her place, imagining what would happen if suddenly our life, our beauty, our health were snatched away in an instant. I think of her little six-year-old girl, who, like Audrey would be, is probably scared out of her mind wondering when she'll see her mom & dad again. I think of Stephanie's chubby baby who now is held all day by somebody who's not his momma. It's really terrible, and although I don't know them, it has still affected me strongly.

I felt prompted to help by participating in the auction to raise money. It's the least I can do, our hearts just really go out to them. Neal and I both feel so much sorrow for their situation and want to do what we can. If you feel you can contribute, click here to learn how. It is easy to contribute through Paypal. And as always, prayers would be welcomed.

I spent hours getting my other blog ready for NieNie day today, wondering at times if it would even be worth it, if people would even bid. When I got sick of blogging, sick of apologizing to my kids for ignoring them, I thought of Stephanie in her bed and her sweet baby's cheeks. And then I kept composing posts.

I should have known everyone would come through. It only just started a couple of hours ago, and I can't wait to see how high we end up going. Thank you thank you thank you.

Go bid some more!!

Click here to see auctions from all over the place, all for NieNie and her babies.

Baby School

After we toured the kids' new school the first time, Miles was pouting on the way to the car. "aunt mine cool," (I want my school.) Audrey proposed an idea which immediately had him smiling, "Miles!" she said, "You want to go to baby school?" He nodded his head in excitement, and I immediately thought to enroll him in Gymboree. One of the perks of not having a fourth baby . . . I get to do stuff with Miles only! I'm not one for sending my barely-two-year-old to any sort of real "school," so Gymboree it is!

We've been talking about it for weeks, and Miles had no idea what to expect, obviously, but was excited nonetheless. Well, today was our first day of Baby School. And he loved it, just like I knew he would.

1979

On this day, 29 years ago, I became a big sister.
And now my baby sister has the cutest baby ever.

Happy Birthday, Steph!

Shoobie

We have a new phenomenon going on in our house with kid number three. Meet Shoobie, Miles' imaginary friend. He's been talking about him for about a week now, and will bring him up at random times, like at breakfast this morning. Miles said "Shoobie pay lith me," so obviously they have plans today. A couple of days ago, Miles was doodling on a piece of cardboard, and came to show me that he had drawn almost an exact likeness of his dear Shoobie, who, apparently, is a cyclops with no limbs.

(Audrey was kind enough to label him for us, since she claimed she knew just how to spell Shoobie.)

Off they went!

To their first day at their new school. They seemed a bit nervous, but were fine by pick-up time. I'm looking forward to watching them walk in together tomorrow. Audrey will drop Parker off at the cafeteria to line up with his AM kindergarten class (have I said HOORAY for half-day kindergarten yet?), then continue on to her big second grade room.

Yay for school and kids who are tired by 7:30!

Grateful Sunday

I thought Audrey looked so pretty before church today.
Is it okay for me to be jealous of her beauty?

Lots of things to be grateful for, as usual, this week:

• the people who live in my house. We love each other and it makes me so happy.
• the time I had to hug my two big kids in their beds tonight. I knew they were nervous about starting school tomorrow. I told them how proud of them we are and how we love them no matter what. And to be themselves tomorrow.
• our almost constant neighborhood tours and house/lot search. Neal and I are having lots of fun planning our dream life. :)

Balloons for NieNie

We had our balloon launch to support the Nielsens right as a beautiful storm moved in tonight. As heartbreaking as their story is, the worldwide love being sent their way is so inspiring, and nothing puts a smile on your face like brightly colored balloons making their way into the clouds. We loved it.
Check A Room Somewhere later this week (Thursday) to do your part to help this family in need. I'll be participating in a silent auction to raise money for their recovery. Lovely items are rolling in from all over the country (and Singapore!), I can't wait to put them all up for bid!

faces

Miles likes to stick his fingers in his mouth and say, "mommy, a hophie do diss." (Mommy, Sophie does this with her fingers.) I think he misses his cousin.

And this face is a Happy Birthday for his "Brama," my mom, who celebrates today.
Happy birthday Mom! My example in pretty much all things: spiritual, educational, maternal, feminine and dignified. Love you!

a mighty fine thing to do

The kids and I were stopping by Target yesterday to get a birthday present for a friend and some Huggies (yet somehow that turned into more than a hundred dollars' worth of stuff). We stopped by Quizno's first (my kids loooove that place). We were having fun, picking out chips and deciding between lemonade and gatorade, giggling at Miles making silly faces. I went to pay for our lunch, when the shy young man behind the register held up a twenty dollar bill and said, to my surprise,

"Um, someone has offered to pay for your lunch."

Me: "What? Really? Who?" as I start blushing and peering around the store. (I blush way too easily.) Let's see, two teenage boys (no), lady and her granddaughter already eating (no), frazzled mother of toddler in front of me (no), dentist and his assistant from the office next door (don't think so).

"Well, who is it?" I said, a bit self-conscious.

"Can't say," he replied, smiling, shaking his head and making change.

"Come on, who is it?"

"Sorry, can't tell you."

"Huh. Um, okay. Wow. Well, I guess I won't take the change, then."

I took the kids over to our table thinking, okay, do I look like I'm having a bad day? No, I'm smiling, I'm wearing a cute skirt, don't look poor, I've got make-up on, the kids are behaving . . . I have my wedding ring on my finger, don't think it's a come-on . . . Wait, is Neal here?

I consulted Audrey while the boys chowed down on turkey & swiss on wheat (it's nice sometimes that she's a semi-grown-up). "Well, that was nice!" she said. We were stumped. I did my best to keep my smile on my face while I ate my sandwich, in case the good deed do-er was watching us. I guess I'll never know who did that for me, but it certainly brightened my day. I ought to try it sometime . . .

Lately, I've felt as though I am in a swirl of sorrow and ache for other people. So many friends and acquaintances are struggling so profoundly and I'm having a bit of "good life guilt." My life is not without problems, but they are so small in comparison. Surely all of our hours of struggle will come, I'm certainly not wishing for it, just praying for those in the middle of their hardest times. This bit of good luck in my day further confirmed my belief that people are good, and even though life can be so difficult, there is always light somewhere.

Any bright spots in your day today?

last days of summer

We're counting down until Monday: school starting. Bedtime moves up about 10 minutes a night, and I send Miles in to rouse the big kids earlier than they'd like. Last night, Neal was out of town and I was lonesome downstairs, so I let them sleep in this big pillow fort they had created for somersaulting purposes. They were inspired by the Olympic gymnasts, no doubt.

After a trip to the local bouncy place this morning (it's awfully wet outside), they got down to work. They could both use some skill refreshing before they're back in the classroom.

Miles has been busy looking old.

weekend fun

We had lots of fun with my parents this weekend, watching the olympics, catching a movie, hugging, and laughing.

the happy birthday boy

watching the sharks with Pa at the cool aquarium

audrey loved the jaguar

After we dropped my parents off at the airport, we had to do something fun to take the kids' minds off of goodbye. We found a pretty new forest park.

Have a lovely day!

Grateful Sunday

This week was really fun, I'm so grateful that

• my parents came to see us and that they like it here.
• Neal had a surprise day off on Friday, woo hoo!
• Miles had a wonderful birthday.
• it rained buckets on Friday morning. I miss all the Houston rain!
• we can enjoy safety, health and togetherness; we're so blessed.
  

red letter day

Today, my precious, energetic, fiery, talkative, cuddly, hilarious little Mama's boy,
Miles Jefferson, turns Two.
And his whole entire life has been blogged, starting here. :)

Happy Birthday little dude.

So much better!

I mentioned the projects we completed this weekend, and I thought I'd share the results. Last week, I emailed my sister, Stephanie (she has awesome design sense). I attached this picture of my family room, with the homeowner's, um, I don't want to be mean and say hideous drapes, but they were seriously gold and highly fringed. A little too Taj-Mahal for my taste. Steph couldn't believe I had left them up this long, but I had no replacement and the sun is really bright in the mornings! I was delaying, though, because the windows are so tall that I would need to make the drapes to fit, and I don't feel like making drapes. Enter Stephanie's brilliant idea to just cover the lower windows, thus solving all of my problems.

You can enlarge to get a good idea of the fringe, unfortunately, this picture doesn't show the metallic gold sequins interspersed throughout the fabric.
A quick trip to Ikea, and a very frustrating rod installation later,

Ahhh, so much better. These putty/moss colored velveteen drapes are perfect. Hooray! Any thoughts on what I should place in that alcove above the television? Anything? Nothing? My mom and I thought greenery . . .

Then it was on to the huge blank wall above the piano. Family history pictures were dying to get out of boxes,

and here we have it, the family history wall: successfully transported from our home in Houston, with a few more pictures added at the bottom.

This house we're in now is quite a bit larger than what we're used to and a lot of our stuff just seems too small (like this tree), but it would be a pity to spend a bunch of money making it look just right only to move out in a year (or two). The house will just seem a bit unfinished, which is okay. We're saving for a down payment. :) Maybe I'll hang drapes in this room sometime, but first, I'm gonna ditch that chandelier . . .

36

Thirty-six years ago today, my mom and dad were married. Congratulations! We love you!

The above photo is from a high school dance. I love it.
You can see more photos from their youth here, here, and here.

Grateful Sunday

I'm tired but grateful today. With Miles seeming to understand and personify the phrase "terrible twos" all day, and my first day in a church classroom full of babies, my day has been a long one. But I am still grateful for my husband, who realized that I needed help without asking, and for two big kids, who are still pretty darn near perfect. (Miles is, too; he was just pushing our buttons today!)

I'm also grateful that we accomplished both major household tasks this weekend: the family history wall (a huge undertaking for an un-mathematical brain like mine), and the drapery installation. Both look great, thanks to Neal for his skills.

Lastly, I'm grateful for these last two weeks before school starts. Lazy mornings are our favorites, and our days are numbered. :(

he had no hair

The kids and I were just laughing at this picture today. It's been on the side of my fridge for months, but it's just hard to believe how little hair Miles used to have! This is from last May. Oh how squishy he was.

Have a great weekend! I'll be planning for my new nursery calling and hanging drapes and pictures. We're still not done with this house!

seasoned veterans

Last Saturday, we attended our THIRD Wiggles concert. For some reason, all three of our kids have been big fans, and we've indulged them with concert tickets. Their shows are really fun, though, and we had a great time.

This time it was all about Miles, who will be two in seven days. Waah.

Our seats were a little high, so we didn't get any one-on-one Wiggles contact like we've had in the past.

Woo hoo!

randomness

just a couple more photos from sundance, i couldn't resist.

the babies made friends

my dad held daily "triangle conferences" (in the triangle room) with the children.
see steph's beautiful post about them here.

the girls discovered hand clapping games.

some of the weary fishermen, with their catch. we fished here.

general happiness all around

and sweetness.

my peeps

so many fun memories were made last week with my favorite people in the world.

audrey + annie, both seven, both great girls

jack being sweet with miles

katie, mommying. she spent an extra week away from home so we could all drool over her little five-week-old sadie. thanks, kate!

sophie + miles. just a little bit of cousinly competition between these two.

me + steph. i miss you, steph!

we celebrated my gorgeous grammy's birthday one morning. happy birthday grammy!

my brother, lincoln, and his mimi are always fun to be with.

julianne snapped this photo of me and miles on the heber creeper.

me and my five siblings. handsome, the lot of them, don't you think?

my parents. the best parents, and don't forget it.

Why is Sundance best in the summer?

Because it's positively gorgeous outside pretty much all the time.

You can launch tree bark boats just behind the house.

You can swim, if you can find a pool. (We did, thanks to some friends of my parents.)

You can find a spot on the hammock, the coolest place to hang out.

You can stare at the mountain all day. Or race down the road.

You can ride the lift to the top of the world,

then pose for a picture or take a hike, or both.
(These are 11 of the 14 P* grandkids. Sophie was napping, & the other two can't stand up yet.)

There's ice cream and milkshakes galore, the Sundance deli's newest treats.
(thanks for those, Pa. these are the four oldest kids.)

Or you can take a walk down the quiet forest trail, several times a day.

I mean, it's pretty here in the winter, too, but nothing beats summertime in Sundance.

I'll post a few more photos later (restraint, I'm trying).
Or you can just go crazy & see a bunch of the photos here.