A Napping House

It's 2:00 on Saturday afternoon, and half of the house is asleep.  The weather is turning colder, I can hear the neighborhood kids playing in the yard, and the big Iowa vs. Iowa State game is tonight.  But we're in the house for now.  Because it's fall, and Jason's work load is really heavy now, and will be until Thanksgiving.  And because Adam is one of sleeping babies.  He came home from kindergarten yesterday exclaiming, "I'm so tired!  I'm just so tired!"  And a few minutes later, I'm so cold!  I'm just so cold!"  And he's been feverish and napping ever since.

I think he is enjoying kindergarten.  Mrs. Johnson is strict and very down-to-business and goal-oriented (he gets to earn tickets for good behavior and redeem them for various activities), which is good for Adam's personality but exhausting for anyone at the end of a long week of trying to be on their best behavior.

I think we are all already looking forward to our week-long break from school next month when we get to go to Auntie Michelle's wedding and cousin Savanna's baptism.

Aren't they cute?  I'm so happy for Michelle. 

I have had horrible allergies for almost a month.  I've never had allergies before and I have a whole new level of empathy for people that suffer with them.  It has been horrible!  Restless sleep, itchy eyes, and an embarrassing amount of sneezing and sniffling every day.  Probably the worst side-effect is that I don't have any real taste for chocolate or sweets lately.  It is so sad!

I've been super busy with my new calling as well.  There are so many events, meetings, visits, and needs to take care of.  My favorite part is getting to know and serve so many different kinds of women at our church.  The hardest part is being away from my family, but those moments of absence definitely make my heart grow fonder!

Leah has been marching dutifully off to school each day as well.  Her third grade teacher Mrs. Keese is a delightful woman, and I can tell that she is challenging Leah's mind and creating a loving bond with her as well.  She wanted me to take this picture because she tied her shoes all by herself.  

3:05 is my favorite time of day because it's when Leah and Adam get home.  The house goes from silent and clean during naptime to a post-school whirlwind of backpacks, snacks, activities, and stories shared by everyone.  

School feels like it takes up so much of our days and our energy, we haven't been doing much else since school started.  I started up piano lessons again- this year I have two students- and we have our usual violin lessons, Activity Days, gymnastics, and piano practice.  It feels like just enough, at least for now.

We went to the temple in Omaha last weekend, and spent the day at the children's museum there.  It was loud and busy and so much fun.  

The weather has been beautiful, and we've been trying to enjoy the outdoors whenever possible, which doesn't feel like often enough.  

There just aren't enough hours in the day, but we're trying our best to embrace this season of the year and of life while we can. 

First Day of Preschool

Finally her turn came!  Emma started preschool this week and she is thrilled!  

 She told me not to stay too long the first day, that she would miss me, and that she was "super excited to go!"  

 She marched right into class, introduced herself to her teachers, and got right down to the business of playing.  

 It helps that she has three little friends in the class to help her feel right at home.  

And she is ready!  She's writing her name- 

 making her own lunches-

 and picking out her own fashions (nothing new here).

 Every time I turn around she's grown another five inches

She's constantly saying things that make me realize that this little blue-eyed beauty of ours is really growing up!
A few of the latest Emma-isms- 

While driving through downtown Omaha, we passed an elaborate sculpture of several prairie animals.  Emma looked out her window and exclaimed, "Look at all the buffalopes!"

"The what?"

"The buffalopes!"

(Prairie friend of the antelopes, I suppose.)

*****

While sorting through a pile of new-to-her clothes, she fell in love with a silky dress.  "I love it!  It feels heavenly."  But rejected a pair of cute khaki shorts.  "Not these!  They go in the no pile because they are gray."

She wanted to wear a new-found Rapunzel shirt immediately, but I explained that it needed to be washed first.  "Oh right," she said.  "Because it's been sitting down in the musty old basement."

*****

While dancing around with "Uni" the unicorn, Emma decided to decorate her.  "Her tail is so soft, and I will put a fancy bow on her "you-n"."

"Her what?"

Pointing to her golden horn "Her you-n" (sounds like the first two letters of her name- un).

*****

Worried that she couldn't set down an opened tube of yogurt on the counter, "I can't lay it down or it will all bloop out!"

*****

Reasoning with herself about her encounter with Tinkerbell this summer-

"That couldn't be the real Tinkerbell because she is fairy size and that Tinkerbell was a human size and there are no human-sized fairies!"

Similarly she was distressed one day because she wants to be a princess when she grows up.  "Like a real princess with a fancy dress and long hair!  But I just can't!"

*****

While walking home from a friend's house, I found Emma in a crumpled, crying mess on the front lawn.  When I asked her what happened, she said, "It was so bright out that I closed my eyes and was walking like a zombie and I bonked into the tree!"  

And as we recounted the story later in the day to Leah and Adam, who laughed, she declared emphatically, "It's not funny, Leah!  It's not funny!"  She says that a lot.  "It's not funny, Mommy!"

*****

In most of Adam's prayers he asks that there will never be a fire or a tornado.  Emma added to that yesterday, "and please bless that there will never be any hot lava running down the streets of our city."

Today she prayed that we will always have a good view from our seats in the car, whether we are sitting up high or down low.

And she usually thanks Heavenly Father that we have a wonderful life and a happy day.  She was asked to give a prayer during Sharing Time at church.  She marched right up to the podium, took the mike in her hands and said a loud, clear, and sincere prayer, ending with "and please bless that we will all be happy because we came to church."

She is one sweet girl, and while I'll miss her during the five hours she is going to spend at preschool each week, I am delighted for the fun and adventure that lies ahead for her!

Adult Time

I've heard so many older women say that life never slows down, that we never get less busy.  At least not while we are raising our families, and I'm not sure that that job ever really ends.  And I'm finding that it's absolutely true.  The further we get into adulthood, the more time directions we are pulled.  We spend all of our time working, serving, and, once in a while, having fun.

It's always so lovely and refreshing to spend time together as sweethearts.  Jason loves not having to make small talk, like he does for most of his business meetings, and I love that when we are together, I can truly relax and enjoy myself.  (No cutting meat into tiny bites required.)

And even though the kids resist our leaving (kind of... actually, not really, they love their baby-sitter nights), we know that they love knowing that their parents are in love.  As quick as they are to tell us to stop kissing because it's gross, they are always suppressing a smile when they say it.  And we love that too.

But like all of the best things, it takes work to make our love lasting and to keep it working.  So we plan on date nights as often as we can.  Sometimes we go out to eat.  Sometimes we run errands that would be torture to take the kids with us, and sometimes we just sit at a park and share a dessert and catch up on all of the things that we don't get a chance to say during the daily grind.  But once in a while we go on really awesome dates!

We really wanted to go stand-up paddleboarding while we were in Puerto Rico in January.  But the wind was strong and the waves were high that day, so we decided to put it on our 2015 Iowa Bucket List.   

It was one of the few things we could do in Puerto Rico and Iowa.  And we did it!  And had a blast!  We are fortunate to know an older couple from our church who are really into SUP-ing, and they were kind enough to take us out on a nearby lake for a date night.  I was a little terrified, but Jason was a pro once he figured out the turning and steering combo.  I just didn't want to fall into the water, and I didn't!  It was a nice arm workout and a great chance to talk with each other and our friends.

It was so thought-provoking to talk with them and hear their story of transitioning into empty-nesting.  They weren't used to being together so much, they wanted to find something that they could enjoy doing together, and this became their new passion.  Now they're traveling around the country, trying to paddleboard in all 50 states together.

We are deep in the season of "Mom and Dad".  The idea of traveling alone together, or even sleeping through the night alone together, is completely foreign to us right now.  But it won't always be that way.  Someday we'll go back to just the two of us- alone together again.  And it's fun to know that when that day comes, in another season of life, we will have our own adventures like stand-up paddleboarding our way across the country to look forward to!

The Magic Nesting Doll

  

by Leah, age 8

Once there was a girl named Alli.  Her grandma was very sick.  She was laying in a bed.  Alli came into her room and her grandma said, "This is for you."  Then Alli's grandma pulled a nesting doll out of her pocket and handed it to Alli.  She was about to open it when her grandma said, "Stop!  That is a magic nesting doll.  You can only use it three times when you really need it's magic."  Then she said, "Remember me."  Then she passed away.

For the next few days Alli missed her grandma.  Then she went shopping at a baker's store and he let her sleep there.  One night he told her the story of the prince and how he was a man of living ice.  Alli was amazed.  She wanted to see a man of living ice.  So the next day she set off to go see him.  She brought a basket of warm bread and the nesting doll was in her pocket.  Soon she was out of town and in the woods.  At first she was a little lost, but then she got there.  She climbed up a tree and peeped through a window.  There was the prince, laying in bed looking a nice icy blue against the red, velvety bed.  

All of the sudden someone yelled, "Who are you?!!"  She looked up, startled by the question.  "My name is Alli", she answered.  "I just wanted to see the prince.  I have never seen a man of living ice."  The guard said, "Someone put a spell on him!"  Little did the town know the prince's evil uncle had done the spell.  He had done it so he would be the new king, not the prince.  Not even the guards knew!  Alli wondered who did it and how to break the spell.

She asked, "How do you break the spell?"

"No one knows," replied the guard.

"May I come in and see him?"  

"You're more than welcome," said the guard.

When she got there she could see him up close.  Then she heard someone yell, "Throw her in prison!"  

Soon the guards had her in prison.  They only gave her bread and water twice a day.  Soon she decided to use some magic from the nesting doll.  She took off the woman's head and saw a bear's head instead.  A bear started to form.  Soon it was a live bear.

She said to the bear, "I do not like it in this dungeon.  Can you help me?"

The bear replied, "I think it would be a nice cave, but as you wish.  I will free you."  

Soon the bear had gotten the door down with his claws.  She said thank you, then he disappeared. 

After the prince's uncle found out then he had thrown into a ditch.  She opened up the nesting doll again.  This time it was a wolf.  It asked, "What do you need?"

"Can you get me out of this ditch?"  Alli asked.

He replied, "It would be a nice den, but I guess I will do it.  Hop on my back."

So she did.  The wolf leaped out of the ditch.

"Thank you!"  And he was gone. 

The third time she was put on top of a jagged cliff.  Once again she opened the magic nesting doll.  It was a fire bird.  It said, "How can I help you, dear?"

Alli replied, "Can you help me off this cliff?"

"Of course!  It would be a nice nest but I will help you get off."

"Thank you!"

The bird got her down and disappeared.

Now she had to save the prince.  She walked to the castle and saw the prince still frozen.  She told the baker she would be back by the end of two days and it was almost the end of the last day!  She was about to leave, so she kissed the prince good-bye and he unfroze!  His evil uncle froze and fell over and shattered into a hundred pieces.  And the prince and Alli got married and lived happily ever after!

The End.

Back To School

It's 1:15 in the afternoon and the house is silent.  And clean.  

I'm loving it and my heart is breaking a little bit at the same time.  

It's back to school day.

Adam has been ready for kindergarten for about 8 months now.  He was the first one up this morning, dressed and happy and ready to go.  He kept up his energy and smiles all the way to school and only wavered for a split second when he sat down at his chair, picked up his super-sharp pencil and began writing his name, the realized that it was really happening.  That's when I made my hasty exit, because Adam always has a hard time with good-byes.

Adam gets to sit right next to his friend, our neighbor, Solon.  He can read and write and do math like a whiz, and I know he's ready to learn new things and have a great time in kindergarten.  His teacher Mrs. Johnson is cheerful and confident and loving.  Adam gave her a hug the first time they met.

Yesterday he told me he wanted to do all of the funnest things he could think of so the day would go by quicker and kindergarten would finally be here.  Then we sat down and played Monopoly Junior, the game that we played during naptime all spring long.  It made him happy, but it melted my heart.  Our last game during naptime.

It's a huge milestone, but it's just one day.  As long as I don't think about the rest of his life and the fact that he's never going to be home to play Monopoly Junior during naptime or Legos in his jammies on a Tuesday or to build a fort with the babies after lunch again, I'm doing just fine.

He's ready.  And I'm so happy for him, and so excited for all of the fun that he gets to have at school, surrounded by great, loving teachers and fun friends and awesome activities and new knowledge.

But I'm also so sad for me.  He's gone!  I even bought myself an extra year by keeping him home with me until he turned six, but I still somehow never thought this day would get here so fast.  And yet, here it is, everything changing again and never able to go back to the way it was because time just keeps ticking.

But he'll be home soon.  And the Oreos he requested are stacked up and the Legos are waiting and so am I.  Because he's still my little buddy, and he always will be.

*****

Leah went back to school today, too.  Third grade!  When Leah came down the stairs this morning with her long legs and styled hair and fancy outfit I thought she looked like she was heading off to college.  How grateful I am that we are still a few years off from that!

She just keeps growing and growing and growing.  Maybe she'll be as tall as her teacher Mrs. Keese by the end of this year!

Leah was much more nervous about starting school than Adam- she knows exactly what lies ahead in these 180 days of the school year.  She spends more time remembering the parts she doesn't like (the math, the noisy crowds of crazy kids, the long days of being "on") and tends to forget about how awesome school can be (the reading and writing and art and music and chance to play with friends!) so there were many tears shed last night.  But her teacher has the fanciest class in 3rd grade (again!) and she welcomed Leah with a hug and a smile this morning, and off she went.

We have honored all of our back-to-school traditions- our back-to-school family night was all about our theme- "Believe!" As we're all heading back into school, believe in yourself, in others, in your teachers, in trying new things, in working hard, in happiness, in the power of prayer, and in God's promises!  Believe that good things will come this year.   

We each wrote something we believe will happen this year and tied it to a balloon.  I thought we could take them outside and release them up into the sky, but the kids thought that was a horrible idea!  So we kept them in the house instead.  They serve as great reminders to believe that it will be a great year.

We also had father's blessings, a back-to-school breakfast feast and family pictures waiting to be tucked into backpacks and taped onto notebooks.  After more prayers and preparations, we were ready for the day that we've all been anticipating- and dreading.

Emma, Noah and I have had a great morning together- we went to two back-to-school parties and colored with fresh new crayons before heading into naptime.  A strange part of me has been launched back to early 2011- the last time I had just a four year old girl and a two year old boy to keep me company all day long.  It's sweet, and I'm glad for the focused time that I'll get with my littles again.

So here we go!  We'll find our new rhythms and routines and have lots of laughter and tears and lost glasses (already!) and find new friends, and make lots of memories through this new school year!

Postscript- School was a hit!  Leah walked out of the building and told my she had a happy day as if I had no reason to believe she ever would have had anything but a great day.  Adam loved his three recesses and has his eye on the "red ticket" prizes his teacher hands out.  The conversation overheard between Leah and Emma after school was priceless.  They sat together on the deck and colored with the new crayons and talked about how much they missed each other during the day.  And Adam climbed on my lap and told me all about kindergarten and gave me 14 huge hugs and 8 sloppy kisses before he ran outside to play with his friends.  It was a good day.

Saying Good-bye to Summer

This was the longest summer we will ever have.  The kids got an extra two weeks of summer vacation because the school start date was pushed back for this new school year.  Next summer they'll get out in June, instead of May like we did this year.  And somehow, we have really felt that extra two weeks of summer.  Once we got back from our trip it was too cold to go to the pool, the activity that took up most of our hot summer days.  

The kids started bugging each other just a bit more than they usually do (which is not at all) and the there were even days when it seemed the friends in the neighborhood were ringing the doorbell just a bit too often.  (Not these pictured friends, who were all members of the Airjitzu club and could play together all day long.)

I never heard "I'm bored" but the feeling was obvious- our efforts were exhausted and summer had been a success.   For what as supposed to be a low-key summer, we had an awful lot of fun in Kansas City, Omaha, Indianapolis, Chicago, Des Moines and right here in our very own yard.  We swam and ate roasted marshmallows and made bird feeders and tried to catch fireflies.  We had long, lazy days in pajamas when we watched way too much tv, and more playdates and the park than we could count.  We caught bunnies and walked the neighbors dogs and rediscovered old toys in the basement.  We did a bit of back-to-school shopping and went to the movies and had ice cream treats as often as we possibly could.  It was a wonderful summer, and if it weren't for the crisp chill in the morning air and the call of the school bell, we'd be happy to hold onto summer forever!

The Beach

The last must-do on our trip was a day at the beach.  And it was one of the best memories we made on our trip.

There is something magical about digging in the sand and splashing in the waves.

Making mermaids and burying each other.

 Watching the vastness of the water as the waves roll in and out and in and out.

Sitting together and playing and talking.

 And laughing and piling up and smashing down the sand. 

 And smiling and loving and remembering that it's a treat to be together.

 Updating our sandy family heart. 

 Then piling back in the car and heading home again, hot and tired and sandy, and glad for the time we took and the memories we made.