Read Aloud

The past couple of weeks, we have been having a family story time before bed. The kids snuggle up with Neal and I do the reading (while Miles does some interrupting). It's fun to have that quiet time before bedtime, and it helps develop the kids' patience and listening skills. The book we just finished was so good, that I had to share it with all of you. It's called The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn-Dixie). Perhaps you've already read it. I had heard about it somewhere and heard rumors that it's being made into a film, so I picked it up at the bookshop one night. We all loved it! It's sometimes sad and often funny, some of the words are big for the younger kids, but they understood it well enough, and came to love Edward. It's a wonderful story of a selfish little china rabbit who learns how to love others after he becomes lost and alone.

Here are some of Bagram Ibatoulline's beautiful illustrations. There aren't too many, so the kids were thoroughly enchanted with all of them.















If you're looking for a good book for your kids (and yourself; I had to hold back the tears a few times), check it out! It would be great under the tree, books are the best gifts!

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• Neal, who was Mr. Mom this weekend. I was able to go to a book club retreat Friday night, take a nap the next day, attend the General Relief Society broadcast last night, and he cooked our Sunday dinner. Oh, and he fed the missionaries while I was away. He deserves a prize.
• the kids, who are usually pretty great at playing and working together. Yesterday, I asked Audrey to get Miles ready to go out. She did her best to change his diaper and put on his clothes (above). I heard mounds of giggling from all three kids while this was going on, so I ran upstairs with the camera. It was hard not to giggle, too.
  
• President Uchtdorf's talk last night about conquering feelings of inadequacy as a woman by serving others as Jesus would have us do, and by sharing our talents, finding our creativity and beauty. He definitely did his homework and chose a topic I think we all could relate to. What wise words he had. You can watch his talk here. Our stake's program before the broadcast was equally inspiring. I'm so glad I was able to go.
• our upcoming trip to California. We get to see lots of people we love, and we're excited about that!
• our relatively safe position financially. I feel good about the fact that we haven't over-extended ourselves, so to speak. Things could get scary in the next bit, and I'm glad I feel secure in the way we're living our life as a family. Makes me grateful for prophets who have counseled us as Latter-day Saints, for years, to live within our means.
  

The only problem is, now I can't say my Fs.

Audrey lost her front tooth last night. A few minutes after we put her to bed, she came downstairs giggling and holding a bloody tissue. She was shaking because she was so excited. A little tug by Neal, and out it came! She told us she had said a prayer before she came down that her tooth would come out tomorrow. "Heavenly Father decided to make it come out tonight!" she said. Silly girl.

back on the bench

The piano bench, that is. It's taken me this long to secure a piano teacher for Audrey. She had her first lesson last night and blew her teacher away. I was so glad that she hasn't forgotten her stuff, and Audrey was so pleased that her new teacher reacted in that way. I was happy for her. Miss Pam, you'd be proud!

I'm digging the Arnolfini Portrait effect that convex mirror is creating.
We may have to have some fun with that.

recitation

Miles loves his books. This one and this one are two of his current favorites. He almost has them memorized, and loves to "read" them to us before bed. You can listen to him, too.

Pure Luck

That's the only way we can think of to describe the fact that the only Wiggles-Themed Play Center in the entire country happens to be about half an hour from our house.

Needless to say, we had one happy little boy on Friday afternoon.

Grateful Sunday

feeding the fish & turtles at a nearby pond this evening. the ducks weren't interested.

This week, I'm grateful for:

• beautiful weather. I think I'm going to like fall in this part of Texas. It's already cooling down, which is absolutely thrilling!
• my Grampy, who turned 80 this week. What an incredible example he is of friendship, love and good humor. Love you, Grampy! (Read my dad's beautiful dedication here.)
• having all three kids' Halloween costumes ready to go, and it's not even October. I'm not normally this organized. In fact, I'm not ever organized at all. We were just excited to get their stuff together.
  
• the good times we had with our friends who stayed with us this week. We hope to see them again, soon. Next time, we'll have to make a trip down there. We miss Pappasito's anyway.
  
• all the small, insignificant things that make my life peaceful, and full of joy. I love that my family members love each other, that they are kind to each other, and that our house is full of happiness and not strife. I spoke with a young girl at the park tonight who volunteered information about her difficult upbringing, her family troubles and her perception that many of the problems were her own fault. It was hard to imagine how heartbreaking her youth has already been while I watched my own kids going about their happy little lives playing on the playground. I'm grateful for perspective, and for the love within my own family. I hope that girl can find that one day, too.
  

A Win-Win . . . At least for us.

the four amigos

This past week, we have been so concerned about our friends in Houston who were suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. We really hoped someone to come stay at our house rather than endure the storm. But everyone we knew stayed put and rode it out. And their stories are pretty frightening. That night is not one I'm sure they'll want to relive any time soon.

A couple of days after the storm, the Lelands, our good friends from our old town, decided that living without power was just not their idea of fun, and since the Mister of the family has had his job temporarily transferred to our area (his office building is in shambles), we were so happy and grateful when they announced on Sunday night that they were on their way to our house! Nobody was more excited than Audrey and Parker, though. You see, Cater and Callie are pretty much their favorite kids on the planet. The idea of an undetermined amount of time spent in their presence was enough to have them jumping on the couches. The nice couches this time.

During their stay, we were receiving several updates a day on the situation in their (our previous) hometown. Stories of no power, fitful sleeping in the heat, a subsequent cold front which relieved some of the discomfort, friends with ripped-off roofs and collapsed walls, no groceries or gas, limited water usage and, finally, backed up sewer pumps had us all on edge and full of flat-out pity and respect for those who toughed it out in Houston.

The Lelands had their power restored late Thursday evening and, much to the kids' sadness, are returning to their home down south today. I'm a bit sad, too, but grateful that they can start to put their lives back together! Listed below are the best aspects of the Lelands' stay at our little refuge. Although it may not have been their ideal week away from home, we certainly enjoyed it:

1. For Callie and Audrey, it was pure BFF heaven. They are two of a kind, and were reunited for almost a week! Their luck couldn't have been better, if you ask them!

2. Parker and Cater are unlikely buds, since Cater is 4 years Parker's senior. But those boys bonded like we couldn't believe. It was downright precious to see Cater with a "kid brother" and Parker with a big kid who gave him the time of day. And now Parker's sentences all begin and end with "dude." Because that's how Cater talks.

we had lovely weather and they spent a lot of time in the yard

3. For me, it was just really nice to have Rebecca here to talk to during the quiet days while the kids played. We had fun cooking and shopping, watching the kids have fun and just laughing about life. She is now fully aware that I have no life and that I am a pretty boring person, but I hope she had fun anyway, despite her anxiety about the life she left behind all week.

4. Miles got replacement siblings. As soon as Audrey and Parker were out the door to school each day, they were quickly replaced by two more playmates in Cater and Callie. Miles loved playing with them, gorged himself on their attention, and even resorted to calling Cater, "Cater Daddy," when he'd carry him around.

Leland family, we miss you already! Come back anytime, please please please!!

Great Wolf

We took our kids to a fun resort this weekend. We surprised them, packed their bags in the car and watched them freak out as we pulled into the parking lot of the big, huge hotel. They marvel at it whenever we drive by, so we thought it would be fun to check it out by checking in!

They have locations all over the country, and each one has a huge indoor water park. That was the highlight, of course, for everyone but me and Miles. He doesn't really like to swim, and I don't really like to carry him around for hours in a swimsuit. So we skipped out the second day.

But these guys loved every minute. And thank goodness Daddy likes slides, too.

Inside our room, there was a built-in "wolf den" with bunk beds for the kids. This was very very exciting. You can choose from a cabin or tent-themed room, too. Cheesy? Perhaps. But the kids eat it up. Oh, and they have pay-per-play XBox in that little den, too. We don't have an XBox at our house.

Here we are cracking up at Miles, who is certifiably crazy.
Audrey took the picture, so I snapped one of her.

Grateful Sunday

ike is evil

This week, I'm grateful for:

• our friends' safety. Although many of our friends sustained substantial damage to their homes as a result of Ike (fallen trees, collapsed living rooms, ripped off roofs), they all made it through the storm, as far as we know. There are still some that we haven't reached, but we've made contact with several. It's going to be quite a while before their lives are back to normal, and we pray for their speedy rebuilding. (Interested in aftermath updates? Check here, here, here, here, here or here. I'm sure they'll blog once they have power.)
  
• our safe haven. It's hard to talk to our friends who have been through so much, knowing that there's not much we can do from 5 hours away. We can open our doors, though. These guys are on their way here, much to the kids' excitement! I'm so glad we can offer hot showers, light switches that work, and computer connections for them. Plus, we're totally gonna have fun. And cupcakes.
• the surprise sand I received in the mail yesterday, from some old friends, Joe & Trisha. They live an exotic life in Brazil, and now I can add Copacabana Beach to my sand collection. Thanks, guys!
• our fun "staycation" on Friday night. We took the kids to a local resort, just for fun.
• $3016. That's how much we've raised for the Nielsons on my blog in the past week and a half. We'll be adding to that this week. New auctions go up tomorrow morning! Click over to bid!
  

thanks, jen, for the picture.

at our house this evening

I donned the prize I bought myself for finding the one true ring. (Parker's been watching LOTR, you'd be proud, Jooj.)

I skipped out on the shoes and went for a full apron, which I actually needed, I promise. I'm going for the "Oops, Audrey cut off my head!" look. Except that I told her to. It was 6 pm and humid today. Wasn't too pretty up top.

Audrey started a new blog post. All about Ethiopian Wolves! I know, you can't wait! Here, she is changing the text color. She's a pro. Uploads her own images and everything. Someone asked a while back if Audrey types with correct fingering, considering her impressive speed in the Google Chat arena. She does! No finger pecking for this girl! Parker, looking on, clutches GD.

We are feeling the pain for all of our friends in Houston. This is the Target we used to go to down there. Pretty much everyone we know seems to be riding out Big Bad Ike in their windowless interior rooms this weekend. Good luck everyone! You're still welcome to come up here last minute! We have clean sheets and towels! And A/C! And Ethiopian Wolves to discuss!

Thanks for letting me steal your Target pic, Rebecca! You can see the empty Target shelves on her blog.

Afternoons with the Boys

We do stuff like this.

And then some (or all) of us take naps. It's nice.

PS, This room is not completed. Pardon the stash of random furniture . . . But how cool are those mirrors?
I got them all for about 60 bucks at the craft shop last week. 70% off! Score!

Grateful Sunday

Somebody commandeered Parker's DS and the tubby was a safe place to "play" it.
Or wreck it, either one.

This week was pretty uneventful, which is good, I suppose. I remember when we evacuated from Houston for a hurricane in 2005 and I wished so much for that to be just a boring old Thursday like all the others. Instead, it was the beginning of an unforgettable marathon of emotion and worry and driving. The boring days are the best ones, I'm convinced! I'm grateful today for:

• my kids' young ages. I'm slightly (deathly) afraid of the teenage years. I really admire people who bring up responsible, spiritual teenagers in this day and age, and I feel completely inadequate when I picture myself doing the same thing. So I'm grateful that my kids are young, that we don't suffer any emotional stress because of their choices, and that an evening at the park and ice cream afterward are still things to get excited about. I often think, after a long day, that these first few years as a parent are physically trying, with the birthing and the waking up all night, and the carrying the heavy baby on my hip, but emotionally, they're so rewarding. The kids still voluntarily say 'I love you,' and long for hugs and cuddles. In ten years, I'm sure I'll be a basket case with worry and the fear of heartache, but I won't have a baby to make my arms tired.
  
  It's just so easy to have fun with them right now and they are often even appreciative of our small efforts. Last night, after we finished our treats at the ice cream shop, we put Miles in the car and he sad, "dat fun!"

the yard

our big yard and the ugly building behind it. on the other side of the yard is a pretty field.

This house we're renting happened to come with an enormous backyard, which, up until yesterday, has been pretty unused because of the summer temperatures. But, in the sort-of wake of Gustav, I suppose, we had incredible weather yesterday. The kids stayed out all afternoon, and after dinner, we were all out there on the lawn. We had some races, a bit of a handstand/cartwheel contest (winner=me) and then got to tree trimming and weed pulling while the kids started The Nature Club (Audrey's idea, of course).

I was in the midst of a tree makeover (I LOVE pruning trees, it's very satisfying), when soon I heard Neal calling me from across the wide expanse. Once I made my way out of the prickly tree, he told me that his wedding ring had slipped off into the grass. Or the weeds. Or the mulch. Just yesterday, he was telling me that he needed his ring sized down. After 10 years of marriage, who has their ring sized DOWN? Um, Neal. Anyway, it was gone, and we were quickly all on our hands and knees searching.

the kids thought a sweep of the grass with a broom would help in the search

Neal offered up a prize to the person who found the ring. He'd buy himself a new coral for his tank if he found it, Audrey wanted a Webkin(z?), Parker a new DS game, and me, a new clothing item of my choosing as long as it was under $40.

And guess who's going shopping soon. Winner=me. :)

As we were walking in the house, I said, "hmmm, guys, what should I get for myself?"
They both said, at the exact same time, "New Shoes." Yes, they know me well.

I listen to NPR.

Usually, the liberalness of it makes me crazy, but it's really my number one source of news. So it is a bit surprising to me that I have just now come to understand the difference between Anbar and ANWR. Kinda different, sure, but both in the news almost every day. Plus, they sound the same when Michele Norris says them. Am I a ditz or what. Someone tell me you're just as clueless!

photo from this flickr photostream