Busy Spencer

I mentioned in an earlier post that Spencer had an art show recently where he had an item of artwork on display. Each year the Albion Community Foundation looks at hundreds of pieces of student artwork which is usually submitted by the children's teachers. The artwork is then framed and put on display around the Albion community. Spencer's piece will be hung in the school administration building. It's a pretty big deal and we were so excited to hear that something that Spencer had made was chosen.

They put all the artwork on display in the art gallery on the college campus for a little reception first. They held a little ceremony to present each student with a certificate as well. Here is the proud artist with his rainy day picture.

If you can't tell, he made the rain drops out of tin foil. So cute.

And here he is after receiving his certificate with the other kids whose work will also be at the administration building. Way to go Spencer! (The audience got a nice chuckle and a few "aww's" when they saw how tiny he was compared to the other recipients.)


Spencer also just finished his year of preschool on Tuesday with a field trip to the Detroit Zoo. Kalen got to go with him and since every preschooler had a parent present (unheard of!!! I remember going on Lynnsey's preschool trip at 8 1/2 months pregnant and had to have four kids in my group!), he and Spencer spent the whole day hanging out and exploring together.

I am told it was a great time. The favorite was the prairie dog exhibit. There were a ton of brand new playful babies that they got to watch.

They even had these cool little tunnels that they could stand under to get a close-up look at the little critters.

They are pretty cute aren't they?

They were both exhausted when they came home but both said it was well worth it.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject of Spencer, I thought I'd share another humorous moment I had with him today. We were at Kendall and Lynnsey's soccer games and Spencer was playing with his little friend Annie when she came up to me and said: "Well, you know, Spencer is my boyfriend." On the way home I shared that with Kalen and in the back Spencer whispered, "And Annie is my girlfriend."

The Three Inch Thick Cloud That is Saving a Marriage

When Kalen and I got married, we bought a bed. It was a Seely pillowtop mattress and was so comfortable. For about the first 6 or 7 years we had it, that is. After that, we both noticed that we would wake up with sore spots or an aching back. But beds are ridiculously priced these days in case you haven't noticed and so we just put up with it. However after nearly 16 years of marriage, it became clear that we needed a new bed if we were going to make it through another 16 years together. It had become so uncomfortable that Kalen usually wound up sleeping at least part of the night in the recliner downstairs. I joked that we might as well have separate bedrooms. Except I might not actually have been joking. So the old bed had to go and we had to suck it up and go bed shopping. Of course, salesmen know exactly what they are doing. They encourage you to try the very top of the line mattress first so that when you try the more affordable option, you know you can't possibly settle for something so uncomfortable. We weren't immune to his tactics no matter how resolved we were upon entering the furniture store. So we bought it. However, before you consider us completely weak, we did some haggling and came out of the situation better than we would have. I had a figure in my head that I expected we would end up paying for a decent bed. It was more than I wanted to pay, but after researching options online, I knew that it was reasonable to expect to pay that much. At least. We ended up spending $100 less than I had planned but also came away with a new rocking recliner and a bunk bed mattress for Lynnsey. The salesman knocked $100 off the price of the bed, didn't charge tax for the recliner (which would have amounted to a significant sum), and he threw in the bunk bed matress for free and waived the delivery fee. So we felt okay about it. Then we got the new stuff and after one night on our new bed (which has 3 inches of memory foam on top, by the way), we felt like we got the best deal of our lives.We LOVE this bed. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is so amazingly absolutely comfortable. I have been sleeping so well and waking up feeling great with no sore spots or back or hip aches. It is phenomenal. Kalen has returned to our room for a full night's sleep too. So here's to another 16 years! Or so.

"Stay-at-Home Mom"

I've always wondered about that term. Stay-at-Home Mom. Most of the moms I know who don't "work", meaning they don't earn a salary, not that they sit around all day relaxing, are rarely ever at home. "In-the-Car Mom" I could believe easily. "On-the Go Mom" definitely. Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of the crazy day I had yesterday which is what got me thinking about all this again. Not all of my days are this busy, but they are always busy. And lots of other moms that I know are even busier. I don't know how they manage, especially those moms who have the paying job on top of everything else. Hats off to all of you.

Yesterday I:

Woke up before the sun, showered and dressed.

Got Spencer and Kendall up for the day. Dressed Spencer while he flopped on the floor with his eyes still closed like a limp rag doll. Fed them both breakfast and then got Spencer off to school on the bus.

Ate my breakfast. Cheerios. If you were wondering.

Read a little bit of The Lightning Thief (fantastic book) to Kendall.

Woke up my very non-morning person daughter Lynnsey. Dressed her too. She's 7 1/2 years old and will later change clothes about 12 times but before 8:00 in the morning, her arms and legs don't work.

Fed Lynnsey breakfast and signed off her homework log that I forgot to do the night before.

Rushed Lynnsey and Kendall out the door for school.

Checked e-mail and read a few blogs. (Don't judge. Even moms need a little down time)

Then Kaya, was up and hollering at the top of her lungs for me to get her out of bed. I got her fed and dressed and we spent awhile playing together. I love having conversations with that kid!

Then I sorted out the file cabinet which was overflowing and needed major help.

After that, it was time for school to let out since it was a half-day. I went and picked up all the kids and shortly after that, two other kids joined the mix since I had agreed to babysit for the afternoon.

I made a healthy lunch of macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. (Judge me when you have to make something quick and easy for seven starving children). I did add juice and bananas and carrot sticks to the menu too.

Put Kaya down for her nap and let the kids watch a movie with popcorn while I cut Taylor's hair.

Played outside for awhile with all the kids and pulled a small boudler out of the fish pond after Kaya leaned over too far and knocked it in.

Then it was time to head over to Marshall with Kendall and another kid from church for a service project that we were doing as a Faith in God activity. We planted flowers in a little park in town. Beautiful job if I do say so myself!

Then we rushed home and changed clothes. Kendall and I grabbed a quick sandwich for dinner before the whole family headed over to the college's art building where a piece of Spencer's artwork was on display. The works will be moved eventually to various locations around town but for now they were in all displayed in the gallery. They had a little awards ceremony where Spencer got a certificate. (Pictures and more details will come soon).

As soon as he got his certificate we had to leave the ceremony early to rush over to the middle school for Taylor's spring band concert. They did a great job. Taylor and a few other middle school kids joined the high school for a special brass ensemble that was pretty spectacular.

Then it was back home and past time to get the kids to bed. We got medicine given, teeth brushed, pajamas on and sang a primary song before family prayer. Then I put the kids in bed and went to change into my p.j.'s. Then I put the kids back to bed and went back downstairs to get Kaya (who had taken an extra long nap and wasn't remotely tired) to settle down a bit.

She fell asleep while I looked around the room and realized we hadn't had our clean-up time so the house was still in complete chaos. I thought about cleaning it but exhaustion won out.

I carried Kaya to bed and went and got myself ready. I fell into my own bed and immediately to sleep. Only to wake up less than seven hours later to do it all over again...

How was your day?

Triumph

When chocolate is the reward, there is no obstacle too big to overcome.

Lasts: Reflections on the Rapidly Passing Years of Childhood

Ever since I was a tiny girl, I wanted to be a mother. I played with dolls probably far longer than I should have. I mothered my younger siblings as much as they would let me. Other kids talked about wanting to be this or that when they grew up. I just wanted to get married and be a mommy.

Fast forward a few decades and here I am with the very life I wished for. With only one problem. It's going SO much faster than I ever thought it would. When my oldest son was born, I loved each new stage and recorded all of his "firsts" diligently in his baby book as I eagerly anticipated the next stage. With the rest of the kids, I celebrated all of those same milestones but was more content to enjoy the stage they were in because I had learned that time really does go by so quickly and I wasn't as eager to hurry through it. (Okay I admit, I did have occasional thoughts about how much more I was going to get done when all the kids were in school, with sleep being the number one priority).

But this last year or so as my oldest baby is approaching 14 and my youngest is all ready to be 2, I have been hit with thoughts of "lasts". This isn't a new idea. I've heard other mom's talk about it and even recently read a poem which I will share a portion of in just a second. But now that I seem to be fast leaving the young mommy stage and getting into some uncharted territory as the mother of a teenager, I've been struggling to figure out how I've missed all those lasts. When was the last time Taylor held my hand as we crossed the street? When did Kendall stop hugging me when I picked him up from school? And how did I not realize when the last time was that Lynnsey needed help writing her name? When did Spencer stop pronouncing it "Jesus wants me for a Hunbean?" And when was the last time that Kaya did "So Big" or some of those other adorable baby games? It's so interesting to me that we always notice the first time for everything but that the last time never gets noticed because we never know it's going to be the last time. It's a bit sad to me really. If I had known then that it was the very last time, maybe I would have video taped it or taken a picture or just savored that very last moment like I should have.

I came across a poem in a book by Karen Kingsbury that totally sums up the way I've been feeling lately. This poem has also been adapted into a sweet little children's book as well called "Let Me Hold You Longer". Anyway I won't quote the whole poem here but just enough that you get the idea:

"Long ago you came to me, a miracle of firsts
First smiles and teeth and baby steps, a sunbeam on the burst.
But one day you will move away and leave to me your past.
And I will be left thinking of a lifetime of your lasts.

The last time that I held a bottle to your baby lips...
Last time that I lifted you and held you on my hip...
Last time when you had a binky stuck inside your mouth...
The last time that you crawled across the floor of this old house.

Last time when you ran to me, still small enough to hold,
Last time when you said you'd marry me when you grew old.
Precious, simple moments and bright flashes from the past,
Would I have held you longer if I'd known they were the last?"

Anyway, it kind of goes through this little boy's life from birth to marriage and is just such a poignant little poem that has made me think of all the "lasts" while some of my kids are still little. I'm trying harder to appreciate each day even when it can be difficult.

What I hope most is that I'm not missing the lasts because I'm too busy worrying about the extra stuff like housecleaning and laundry and dishes and all that stuff that I don't want to do anyway.

Sister Marjorie Hinckley, said of motherhood: "The trick is to enjoy it. Don't wish away your days of caring for young children. This is your great day. Sometimes we get so caught up in the physical work and trivia that we forget the big picture. We forget whose children they really are. When the house is filled with children, noise and teasing and laughter, you get the feeling this is forever. Before you know it they will be gone...Our children grow so quickly out of our reach."

There are days where I really don't enjoy this job because it seems the demands are overwhelming. But now as I'm looking at my baby boy all ready to go to high school and only a few short years from leaving home, I am getting how precious these few short years really are. So my goal is to let the dishes sit in the sink for a few extra hours and to not be looking around at all the clutter while I should be focused on playing with a child and her Barbies or his puzzle. I hope I can do better about dropping the trivial things when my children need me. And I hope that I can enjoy those small moments with my children just in case it ends up being the last time.
Kendall gave a Mother's Day talk in Sacrament meeting today (the first speaker in our brand new very own building by the way!) and he told a cute story of a little boy who wanted to play soccer but his big brother didn't want to and his younger siblings were playing something else and his busy dad was still at work. So the little boy asked his mom to play even though he knew she had a very long to-do list. But she said yes and they went out and had a great time playing together and spending that time together. And then Kendall said: "That little boy was me." Of course, I knew it was and I remember that day well. Probably because so much of the time I do tell the kids "in just a minute" or "I can't right now." But that day, for whatever reason I did drop what I was doing. I just didn't know what an impact it had on Kendall and I was so touched that it had meant so much to him. I need to do better at creating more of those memories with all of my children.

I love being a mother. It is a huge privelege and I know that in spite of all the lasts that seem to be piling up, I still have years and years of firsts left to enjoy. I am looking forward to those years. But I'm sure part of me will still glance backward once in awhile and wonder how in the world the time has gone by so quickly.

Happy Mother's day to all the "mothers" in my life. To my own mom, to my mother-in-law, to my sisters and sisters-in-law, to my friends, to my teachers and leaders, to the mother's who haven't been blessed with their own children but are sometimes the greatest examples of mothering, to my grandmothers, and visiting teachers, to aunts and cousins, and to the moms I see at the playground or at school that I don't even know...you get the idea. My life has been influenced by so many women and I know I am a better person because of the examples of so many fabulous women. Thank you for your love and influence. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Another HUGE Catch-up Post

I can't believe how fast this past month went! It seems like we had one thing after another pretty much all month. And this one promises to be even busier. The calendar for May was booked solid before the month even arrived! Anyway, I can't possibly remember everything I had wanted to post but I do have a few things, including pictures to share. These first ones are the failed attempt to get Lynnsey and Kaya in their Easer dresses:

This next one is a picture of Taylor with a cooking experiment that he was quite proud of. But that's not why I'm posting this picture. I'm posting this picture because for once I got a shot of him smiling and showing off his braces. I'm glad we got them for him because they do seem to have helped his self-confidence improve. But he wouldn't have gotten them now if we had known that our insurance plan had some very, very fine print and won't actually cover half of the cost like we had expected. Apparently the company approved that much but our actual plan will only cover $1000 of the $5500 price tag. Nice, huh? I really despise our insurance company(and all others that we've had). This isn't the first time that we've been burned by them either. Even stuff that they are supposed to cover, a lot of times we have to call and fight with them to get them to do it. I think they make a lot of their money off of people who just give in and pay for things that are actually covered by the insurance plan. And now I guess we know that we need to start a braces savings account for the rest of the kids! But, I digress...this is supposed to be a happy post.

With things so busy, the kids tended to get ignored a little more frequently than they are used to. You know that phrase that parents use to describe kids that are so bored and restless that they "are climbing the walls"? Ours have been. Literally.

Every year the elementary schools have what they call the Forks Reading Challenge where the kids pledge to read a certain number of books and if they meet or exceed the goal they get to do something fun to the principal. This year they shaved his head. Anyway, both Lynnsey and Kendall did a great job and worked really hard to read as many books as they could and pass the comprehension tests after each one. They both did great and at the awards ceremony they received a certificate and a free book. Kendall also had the distinction of reading the third highest number of books in the whole school.

And now let me tell you a bit about Kaya. She is exceptionally bright and we don't think that is just our opinion. She isn't even two yet but she has been speaking in sentences for the past couple of months and is mostly intelligible to people outside of the family. She also has been going potty for the past two weeks! This is unbelievable. Especially when you consider that every last one of our previous children wouldn't even look at the potty until they were past their third birthdays and some closer to their fourth. I think if we put her in panties and pushed her a bit we could probably get her potty trained in a relatively short time. But we have a big trip coming up this summer and the thought of making all those potty breaks is a bit daunting so we haven't been pushing it too much, just giving her opportunites when she wants to. She has started undressing herself periodically during the day though and going potty more frequently so we may end up just letting her train herself and see how she does on the trip. I have to say the idea of no more diapers is thrilling. And she is so cute when she goes. She does a little potty dance and claps her hands yelling: "Yay Kaya!" every time. She loves to dance and sing and her current favorite music is "Mercy River", a CD I picked up at Time Out for Women. She LOVES to watch the Baby Einstein DVD's and we even let her in spite of all the talk about the big lawsuit that some people brought against the company claiming that the products didn't make their kids smarter. Duh! If you put your child in front of the TV for 8 hours a day, they won't get smart no matter how educational the show is. But we love the shows and watch them with Kaya so that we can discuss all the images. Sometimes we watch them in Spanish or French too and she's even picked up a few of those vocabulary words. She would love to watch them for eight hours a day, but of course we limit her viewing to no more than six. (I'm just kidding!) But when she can't watch the shows we sometime find her pouring over the little paper inserts that come with the movies. Kendall snapped this adorable shot of her "reading" one. She looked at this thing on the kitchen floor for a good 15 minutes that day.

Kaya is also our most active child ever. EVER! We used to call our other daughter Hurricane Lynnsey because she was so destructive. What's worse than a hurricane? Because that's what Kaya is. It takes only seconds for her to undo an hour of housecleaning. Case in point:

This took 30 seconds. No joke. THIRTY SECONDS. I left the room long enough to get a drink of water and came back to this. It's just a good thing she's such a cutie. Here's a few more shots of our little charmer:

She loves to be outside more than just about anything. We have to watch her closely too or else she'll just take off walking all by herself. I've had more than a few near heart attacks lately.

Not too busy to stop and smell the flowers though.

The other day I was in the dollar store and I had a brainstorm when I saw a package of paintbrushes. I bought them and we filled the kids' pails with water and let them go to town "painting" whatever they wanted. I used to do this with my preschool kids but had forgotten all about it until now. Spencer, Kaya, and the little boy I babysit spent over two hours painting the garage, their bikes, the porch, the driveway...everything. Best of all, it was just water so there was no clean-up to worry about.

The kids also took a free dance class offered by some of the college's dance students. We tried this a couple of years ago and our little shy-guys wouldn't cooperate. But Lynnsey decided she really wanted to try again and begged Kendall and Spencer to join her. It was free so I figured if it didn't work out, we just wouldn't go back. But they all had so much fun! Kendall was a little embarassed because he was the very oldest in the class and aside from Spencer there weren't any other boys. But once he just relaxed, he ended up having a great time too. And Lynnsey, who would never do more than stand and watch while she sucked her thumb and twirled her hair, got really into it. She wants me to consider signing her up for a "real" dance class (meaning the kind that costs my entire babysitting salary per month). We'll see. Anyway, these pictures were taken on the last day of the class which was during spring break, so there were only a couple of other kids besides ours there.

If you look closely, you can see that they had a little addition to the class. I tried so hard to keep Kaya over with me but everytime they'd start the music she just seemed to be pulled out to the floor like a little magnet. Since it was so laid-back that day, the instructors let her join them. She was so stinking cute out there and really tried to mimic what they were doing--even if she always was a couple of steps behind everyone else. She especially loved the parts involving jumping.

She also loved the stash of exercise balls that she discovered stacked in the corner. They didn't stay stacked for long.

Anyway, that's about all the pictures I have for now. I'm sure I'll think of other things I wanted to write about but without photo prompts, I am drawing a blank right now. However, I will leave you with one thing I overheard the other day. We were outside playing and I was sitting on a stump over by the fire pit sort of out of range of the kids. I was babysitting my afterschool kids and I overheard the nine-year old boy I watch confess to Lynnsey that he "kind of likes" her. Like as in LIKES her. After my heart started pumping normally again, because, lets face it, I am not even remotely ready for boys to "like" my beatiful little seven year old thank you, I listened for Lynnsey's response. She stared at him for a few seconds like she was trying to decide if she had heard him right and then she growled, quite forcefully: "You're goin' down!" I was laughing so hard I almost fell off my seat. I just hope she keeps that up for another decade or so!