Triple Tagged

Okay, okay, I get the hint Marni, Mom, and Alison! To play this game of tag, post the rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Joys:
1. My children and husband--I can count on at least a few laughs and a few hugs every single day. What more could I possibly need?

2. Naptime--as much as I love those kids and husband, there is something to be said for that quiet time where I can either crash too or try to get things done without "helpers".

3. Spring/Summer--after the LONG winter, I just get so excited for the first sign of green and all the warmer, more relaxed days ahead. I love when the kids are out of school and our schedule doesn't have to be so rigid. It's still crazy and hectic, but in a totally better way!

Fears:
1. Ever since Lynnsey got lost at the beach a couple of years ago, I go into a near panic if I can't spot my kids in public at all times. Yes, I've become "that mom".

2. Becoming a widow--like Alison, I am a bit morbid in this regard. I have seriously gone over what that would mean for our family, what I would be faced with, etc. I don't know if I could handle it. I hope I never have to.

3. Bats--as much as I love spring and summer, I don't enjoy the return of the billions of native bats that return each year and sometimes find a home in our basement. I know they eat many mosquitoes which I also detest, but bats can have rabies and can poop 93 percent of their body weight in a single night (my own statistic, but one I feel is pretty accurate). They are like mice with wings and I am completely paralyzed if one comes within 20 feet of me.

Goals:
1. Get all my spring cleaning done before this baby gets here. It may not happen since I just finished the kitchen which took me all week and I still have 7 more rooms and only 5 weeks till my due date.

2. Stop procrastinating--if I could do that, maybe I'd have the spring cleaning done already. Maybe I would have even done it last year.

3. Catch up on scrapbooking--this one is a VERY long term goal. I've set a date of July 17, 2074 to accomplish this task. I will be 100 years old on that date. If it's not done then, I'll give up.

Current obsessions/collections:

1. Scrapbooking--mostly stockpiling supplies at this point, someday I will actually get some pages done.

2. Reading--once I start a good book, I just can't leave it alone. Which is maybe also one reason the spring cleaning isn't done.

3. Chocolate--I've always been a chocaholic, but this pregnancy I may actually need rehab! I could eat it all day long. I'm a little concerned about the affects this may have on the baby, but I'm too far gone to stop now so I don't even try.

Random Surpising Facts:

1. I'm not patient. People think that about me all the time. It is not true. My kids and husband will attest to this fact.

2. I have discovered with my recent spring cleaning that I am as big a pack rat as the rest of my family. I have blamed Kalen and the kids for all the clutter for years but I found many, many, many things in my cleaning that are not Kalen's or the kids.

3. I'm not actually shy. This is another thing that people think about me. I am quiet. There is a difference. While I am content to stay at home, I am perfectly comfortable in social situations. I may not be the life of the party, but if I have something to say, I'll say it. Usually I find that other people say plenty enough though without me feeling the need to share.

I now tag Nikki, Jenn, Kelly Ann, and Amber. (It's only 4 but everyone else has already done it.)

Kendall's Art Show

When I was uploading the photos that I took from Lynnsey's trip from my mom's camera I found this one of Kendall that she had taken from his art show last week, so I thought I'd add it too. This was a huge deal for him. He has had the same art teacher since Kindergarten and every year they have an art show that she organizes with various kids artwork on display at the local library. But she has never chosen any of Kendall's art in spite of the fact that he does some really great work! He has always been a little sad about not being chosen, so this year when we got the official letter from the school telling us that he'd have something on display, he was SO excited! We were invited to the special "families only" reception that they had for it and he was just so happy to be a part of it. Unfortunately, you can't actually see his painting because it was at the very top and I guess Nana couldn't quite get Kendall and the picture together, so you'll just have to take my word for it, that it was a masterpiece worthy of the Albion Public Schools annual art show!

Lynnsey's Preschool Field Trip

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go with Lynnsey's preschool class on a field trip to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. We took a bus over and then rode the Amtrak back to Albion. I have felt terrible all year long that I haven't been able to help out with the kid's classes because of babysitting, so when Kalen said he would keep Spencer with him if I wanted to go, I jumped at the chance. I had some misgivings about whether or not I was up for it, but I figured it's a museum--I'll be able to sit down while the kids are playing. Boy was I wrong! They didn't get as many parent volunteers as they had hoped for and so each parent who came was assigned 4 kids to chaperone. Well, let me tell you when you are in a 3 story kids museum with 4 kids wanting to go in all different directions, there is no sitting down time! Lynnsey and her little friend Mary (the girl next to her in the picture) did pretty good at staying with me, but the two little trouble makers on the end, Aamya and Deonta were nearly the death of me. Aamya actually did get away from me once but thankfully Mary had seen which direction she'd gone in so I left my other 3 kids with another parent while I hunted her down. It was a very long day! But Lynnsey loved having me there and in spite of all the trouble and near heart attacks, I was so glad that I could be there with her. And we are already planning a family trip back to the museum soon (my own 4 kids I can handle much better) since we haven't gone since Lynnsey was a newborn so they don't really remember much about it. The train trip was interesting. I've never been on an Amtrak before. If it hadn't been delayed for an hour (which meant an hour entertaining and keeping track of all those kids in a busy train/bus depot), it probably would have been more enjoyable. As it was, I was just relieved to board the thing since I figured that I couldn't lose anyone once we were on board. Of course the kids, instead of being tired and subdued, were SO excited to be on a train and it was all we could do to keep them all in their seats for any length of time. It was fun to see all the families waiting for the kids at the train station and how excited the kids were to tell about their adventures, so I'm sure it was all worth it in the end. But no more field trips for me this year!

"Pichal Time"

A couple of months ago we decided we had slacked off too much with our family scripture study (okay, we weren't doing it at all) and so we wanted to try to get back into the habit. The problem is, finding a good time of the day to do it. We all leave the house at different times of the morning and I refuse to wake up the younger kids at 6 a.m. if they are willing to sleep until 7:30. And bedtime is tricky too because sometimes Kalen or I have meetings that go later or Taylor has a late soccer practice, etc. So we decided to institute "Spiritual Time" where just before bed we do something with a gospel tone. The goal is to read the scriptures but if we are short on time sometimes we just have everyone say something they learned at church or we'll watch part of a living scriptures video, etc. But as a part of the ritual, we always sing Primary songs. Spencer has completely become hooked on the new routine which he calls "pichal time" and he especially loves the primary songs. It is so adorable to watch him singing. This part of the evening, he always directs. He can actually be quite bossy if someone suggests something different. He chooses which songs we'll sing and in what order and we are not allowed to sing until he counts to three first. His current favorite songs are the "Sunbean" song, I Hope They Call Me on a Mission, "Hollow"the Prophet, I am a Child of God, and Once there was a Snowman. He usually just belts out the songs at the top of his lungs (but is remarkably on key). Plus, we've had some very cute discussions resulting from some of the songs. For example, we asked the other day:"Who knows the ways Spencer?" and he said "Present Monson knows the way. I like that round guy! He's also kind of square too." Anyway, it has been good for our whole family but Spencer is definitely the highlight of most evenings.

Special Olympics

Mom may write about this too, but I just had such a fun day that I thought I'd write about a little of it before I have to go pick up Taylor from soccer practice. Anyway, today was my fourteen year old sister Kayleigh's special olympics day for school. I was able to take most of the day to go with my mom while Kalen kept Lynnsey and Spencer with him (they would not have appreciated this particular outing for long). We didn't know when Kayleigh was going to compete so we showed up first thing and watched the opening ceremonies and the lighting of the torch and then the various age groups split up for rotations at different events. As it turned out, Kayleigh's events weren't scheduled until after lunch. But actually it was really fun. The kids are just SO cute and amazing when they are running their races. I LOVE that they all just have so much fun and could care less about winning. They just have these huge grins as they are running and it is such a celebration of their own accomplishments. It was really amazing to watch and half the time I sat there with a lump in my throat. (I could blame the pregnancy hormones since it doesn't take much these days to set me off--the Juicy Juice commercial about motherhood gets me everytime--but I think this might just be one of those things that would get to me anyway.)

Kayleigh did the 200 and 400 meter walks and was so adorable. She was walking really fast and just swinging her arms as high as she possibly could. There were a lot of people from her school there and we noticed that when we all cheered for her she'd walk faster, swing higher, and smile bigger. She got to stand on the 1st place platform to get her ribbons and have her name announced and when everyone clapped for her she'd smile and wave like she was in a beauty pageant. I was just so glad that I could be there and I'm especially loving that for the first time in my life, I live close enough to her to be able to see things like this!

Babysitting

Many of you know that I babysit a couple of little kids during the week--a two year old girl named Lydia and an 18 month old boy named Aksel. For the most part this has worked out pretty well although I do find that it really limits my free time. But I've been really thankful that things have worked out the way they have because it allows me to still be at home with my own kids but also contribute to our very tight family budget (contrary to popular belief, professors don't actually make very much money--at least not Spanish professors). But now I find myself with a possible problem. We are having a new baby in a couple of months which I know will add extra stress to my daily routine, but I am still planning to babysit because we really need the money. So here's the problem: Lydia's parents are job hunting right now and are planning on not being here next year. But word has spread among the other college professors that I do childcare and that I am very good at it. I've already met with one lady who is from China and who will be bringing her 3 year old daughter to live here next year and she really likes the idea of having her in someones home rather than a daycare. So I told her that if Lydia really does move away, I would definitely do child care for her daughter. At the same time that this was happening, I knew that there was another couple who also wanted the same situation for their one year old daughter, but so far they hadn't really talked to me about it and since I hadn't heard anything, I sort of assumed that maybe they were looking at other options. Well, last night Kalen and I went to a tenure celebration with some other faculty at a local restaurant and so did this couple. I knew when they saw me that they were going to try to talk to me about watching their daughter so I spent a good portion of the evening just trying to avoid them, but suddenly there they were and sure enough they brought it up. I thought I did a very good job at explaining that I have other arrangements in the works and that I really need to limit the number of kids that I take care of. But they still gave me their phone number and asked/begged me to just keep them in mind and to be in touch over the summer because I am exactly what they are looking for. I know I should have just said, "Sorry, I can't and won't do it" but I didn't. I promised them that I would at least consider it. I know my Mom will say "Just Say No!!!" And Kalen too said it would be way too much to take on that many kids. But I am so bad about being forceful! So right now I am just really hoping that Lydia doesn't move away because I did tell them that if she stays, I am keeping things the way they are now and not taking on any new kids.

I think my biggest problem is missing time with my own kids. I know I am with them but when I have other kids too, I feel like my own grow up so much faster. I just really want to savor every day with this new baby and I know that won't be possible if I have Spencer plus 3 other kids to entertain during the day. So I know I need to just be firm and say no. But maybe after the baby is born so I can tell them that I really did consider it.

And here's something funny/sad that happened recently that made me realize once again how undervalued babysitters are: A friend approached me at school pick-up one afternoon while we were waiting for our kids and she asked me what I was doing this summer. I said, pointing to my very obvious belly: "I'm having a baby." She said: "I meant besides that. I am going to need child care for Ian (her school age son) a few days a week and was wondering if you could do it". I just looked at her and thought: she's serious! So I said: "I hadn't planned on babysitting this summer since I feel like I deserve to have maternity leave". She actually seemed surprised that I would consider babysitting her son work but she didn't respond because then her son came and that ended the conversation. My point must have been made though because she hasn't brought up the subject again. I still just find it unbelievable that some people think because I stay home, even with other people's kids, that I don't have a job. It's the same thing when the issue of my salary comes up. When I tell people what I charge I sometimes get raised eyebrows as I watch them calculate what that adds up to per week or month. I know I couldn't afford to pay what I charge. However, if they also calculated what I make per hour, they might be shocked that I work for so little--they wouldn't work for that!

And a P.S. that has nothing to do with babysitting. We went to the Kendall's soccer game today and he scored a goal! He was so excited and it was so cute to watch all his teammates high-fiving him while he's trying to act all nonchalant about it. I need to get some pictures of him when he's playing too. He has the most serious game face ever and he just really concentrates on that ball.