Thoughts on Snow

I am so, so thankful Heavenly Father made snow the color white. I don't think the view from my house would be as breathtaking to me if snow was black. Small blessings....

Hopes, Dreams, and New Paths

I recently came across this cute picture of Andrew and I cutting our wedding cake. Man oh man we had big hopes and dreams on that day. And, for the most part we made a lot of those dreams come true with a temple marriage, college degrees, four beautiful children, and 18 years of memories. The path, though, ended for us as a couple, but continues as parents of those four beautiful children.

Halloween 2011

We had another super-fun Halloween, filling the day with parties, friends, and, of course, CANDY! We started the day with parties at the kids' school. Then we made our annual trip to my office for some "chambers trick-or-treating" and lots of attention from my co-workers! They all refer to my children as their "office babies" because they've known my children since they were born. Next, we went to some friends' house for some group trick-or-treating, hot cocoa, and great conversation. All and all it was a great day and evening, although there were some sad moments as I realized this is the start of my first holiday season as a single mom. There are so many traditions that will have to be tweaked to make up for Andrew's absence. But, I'm sure we'll be able to make new traditions that the children can enjoy with each of us separately. Andrew and I are committed to making sure the children know how much we love them.

This Halloween also marked the fact that my big two are getting...well, BIG. Ally wasn't interested in trick-or-treating so she went to a friend's house to watch movies. Nick refused to dress-up, insisting it wasn't "cool." He did finally cave in before the night was over and threw on a football jersey and head out with his best buddy, Teague, to trick-or-treat. I had already put my camera away, so I don't have any pictures of him. But, here are some pictures of my little two with their friends:

The Winning Goal

Nicholas just finished the most amazing soccer season. We love, love, love his coaches. 2 are wonderful men from our church and the other 1 is a teacher at my children's school. Each coach brings a different strength that, in the end, resulted in an undefeated season! It has been such a joy watching Nicholas play soccer. He played a lot when he was 4 -7 years old. Then quit because where we use to live the spring soccer season and baseball season overlapped too much to do both (baseball is his first love!) He picked up soccer again when we moved to the valley and played like he'd been doing it all along. He mainly excels because of his stamina. Without a doubt, Heavenly Father has blessed him physically with great endurance.

Last Saturday was the last game of the season. Nick's team was up 5-0 at the half. But, things fell apart in the second half. They were tied 5-5 with less than a minute to go. That's when Nick's best friend, Teague, passed the ball to him right in front of the goal and Nick tapped it in. Awesome play and awesome celebration between two best friends afterwards. While I know Nicholas works hard and excels because of his dedication and intensity, I also recognize tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father who knows that my sweet son has had a tough year and really needed a moment like that to lift his spirits. Man oh man, I'll take tender mercies like that any time!

Here's a picture of Nicholas with his dad after the game. So great that Andrew could come up to Spokane and see the winning goal!

Hip Hip Hooray Primary Program Day!

The Primary Program is my favorite Sunday of the year. I adore watching all those children up there concentrating so hard to say their parts from memory and singing their little hearts out. Is there anything that brings you closer to the Savior than listening to children sing about Him? This year was a special treat for me because I actually got to be down with the congregation watching instead of on the stand helping with the program. It was so fun to watch my Natalie and Adam. Man, I love these two little people.

Back to School 2011

Summer went by way too fast (it always does!) We filled the summer of 2011 with lots of water skiing, a trip to the ocean, and a fun camping trip at Priest Lake with friends from our church. But, alas, the first day of school came and took us away from the lazy days of summer. Here are some pictures of our 8th grader, 7th grader, 4th grader, and 2nd grader:

2011

I just printed my blog for 2010. When the book arrived I noticed it was REALLY skinny. Yikes...that means I didn't have very many posts on my blog last year! So, I've committed to stepping it up for 2011.

The biggest change for this year is that I'm now a single mom (wow - it feels weird to even type those words!) While it's been unbelievably hard, the kids and I have decided to thrive and not JUST survive. My posts for 2011 will, hopefully, show our family embracing life and trying to move on the best we can. Here's a recap of the year so far:

January and February: Skiing, skiing, skiing. I love skiing together it's a great way to get out of the house during our long Spokane winters and embrace all the snow we get. Ally enjoyed competing for Spokane Gymnastics and took 1st place in the all-around category in 3 meets.

March and April: Soccer, Soccer, Soccer. I wish I had more pictures, but these were dark months following Andrew's departure. I just have one of Natalie's cute team...and none of Adam and Nick's :-( Natalie looks so "tough" in this picture!


May: Wicked. Finally! I stood in line for 3 hours back in March for good seats and finally the big night arrived. This picture is from Rock City (our favorite restaurant) where we ate before the big show.

May also brought a new priesthood holder into the home. Nicholas turned 12 and was ordained by my grandpa. It was an amazingly spiritual experience that our family will always remember.

JUNE: Dallas! My good friend, Jani, owns a boutique and invited me to go to market with her in Dallas. I had the most amazing time shopping and helping her pick out merchandise for her store. The 100 degree weather was an added bonus!

Well, that's the recap for the first half of 2011. Looking forward to a brighter second half.

Halloween 2010

This may have seriously been the most exhausting Halloween ever! Today, we're all coming off a 3-day party (my children's poor teachers), but boy did we have fun! Friday was the school parties. Saturday was our ward's annual carnival and trunk-or-treat. And, then, Sunday we stayed home and had some friends over for games and caramel apple cider. Here's some pictures of my little prom queen (Ally), baseball player (Nick), cow girl (Natalie), storm trooper (Adam), and some of their friends from our church party.

The "Cow Girl and the "Coug Fan" (The Coug Fan was a little grumpy because the Cougs lost 42-0)

Cute 8-year-old girl!

Cute 11-year-old boys!

Matching storm troopers: Adam and our neighbor Matthew

The Beehives!

Moose and a Mile

Woke up to a MOOSE eating the leaves off my tree this morning.

And, this handsome guy ran a 6-MINUTE MILE in health and fitness yesterday. Way to go Nicholas!

Back to (NEW) Schools 2010

This year Ally, Nick, Natalie and Adam all started NEW schools. I sent 2 to middle school for the first time and 2 to elementary school.

Ally and Nick loved their school! They were so blessed to already have several friends. Both of them informed me that they didn't even feel like the "new kid" because they knew so many other kids. Thank you church!!!

I was way more emotional an hour later when I dropped off Natalie and Adam at the elementary school. This was the first year Natalie didn't have her buddy Anna in her class (or even at her school!) I was already emotional about that and THEN I sent my baby to first grade! I was brave until first bell when Adam began to walk in the door and then looked back at Andrew and I and gave us a little smile and wave. I realized at that moment that he was a big boy now and lost it. Thank goodness I had Andrew's shoulder to cry on this morning (and the free tissues handed out by our PTA!)

Here are some pictures of my brave children, starting over at new schools without even missing a beat . . .

7th Grader

6th Grader

3rd Grader

1st Grader

Natalie and a couple friends from church - she's the only one that let me take pictures AT school.

BLASTED SPIDERS

Some of you know my great fear of spiders. Everyone has their "thing" that gives them the heebie-geebies (ya know, snakes, mice, etc.) and mine is spiders! I hate them so much that even on the ski slope when I see the "Spider" logo on ski jackets or pants, I shutter a little. Now, my dislike with the little creatures has intensified. This time it's personal . . . an 8-legged nuisance took away my summer!

2 weeks ago, I was cleaning out the garage and was bit by a Hobo Spider on the right thumb. The pain was like nothing I ever experienced before (and I've given birth naturally, TWICE). The poison went so deep that after a week of ineffective antibiotics, I had to have surgery on my thumb. They removed all the skin and fatty tissue on the back of my thumb all the way to the bone. They also had to remove half of my thumb nail. The biggest bummer of all is that it's suppose to take 6 weeks to heal! Swimming, water skiing, tubing, you name it, I'm done with it.

BLASTED SPIDERS!

Happy Fourth of July

And, thank you Idaho for keeping fireworks legal. :-)

I Tried . . . .

At best, we only get 18 summers with our children. As for Ally, we've already gone through 12. :-(


So, I saw an idea on another blog about limiting children's activities during the summer and decided that I would not sign my kids up for ANYTHING - no camps (except the church-related ones), no sports (I even took Ally out of gymnastics for July and August), no music lessons . . . just family time. I've always wanted to have a summer like this, and I figured if I was ever going to do it, this would be the summer before my 2 oldest start middle school and sports & friends begin to play a bigger role in their lives.


But, I failed.


Nicholas had a great year in baseball this spring and made the All-Star Team. He was so proud of himself. How could I say no????

"Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play"

THEN, Ally had the opportunity to be on the USTA, Jr. Tennis Team. U-High's tennis coach is in our ward and has really helped Ally with her tennis. Ally even beats her mom occasionally (okay, I have to admit this isn't hard to do!) Again, I caved.

I'm feeling a little sad because I may have lost my window of opportunity to have a "family summer." I guess my only hope is to try and take advantage of the times when I do actually have all my children together and savor the moment.

Busy as Bees

I love the final month of school. Yes, it's REALLY busy, but there are so many fun activities and events that people have worked so hard to put together. It's like the "final push" before the lazy days of summer. We've been running around (literally!) like crazy - Here's what we've been up to:

TREK 2010
This is our school's annual "jog-a-thon." This was my 3rd and final year chairing this event. Fortunately, the weather was great and everything went as planned, EXCEPT at the very end of the night . . . Andrew and I took 2 cars to the school and when he left to go home he had my car keys in his pocket and no cell phone! We live over 20 minutes from the school. When he finally got home and got my message, he felt so bad that he rushed out, leaving my car keys sitting by the answering machine. He had to go back home for a 3rd time and retrieve the keys. Oh, well - it gave me some "down time" after the event! :-)

Nicholas and Adam each earned medals for "Most Laps Ran" in their grades. We knew Nick loved to run, but we were surprised little brother is following in his footsteps. Way to go boys!



Piano/Violin/Viola
Nick and Ally both had piano recitals and strings concerts this spring. Ally plays the violin and Nick plays the viola. I love, love, love, listening to them play. We often have "mini" concerts at our house and I love watching the two of them share a similar talent.


Arrow of Light
Nick turned 11 on May 18th and earned his Arrow of Light from cub scouts. I was BLOWN AWAY by the ceremony. Our ward has individuals dressed as Native Americans come to perform the ceremony. There was fire, smoke, drums, etc. It was awesome! Goodbye cub scouts - hello boy scouts.



Sports
Nicholas is still playing baseball. But, Ally, Natalie, and Adam had their last soccer games. They all had a blast and are begging to play again in the fall . . . we'll see! :-)

Isn't this the cutest shortstop ever!?!?


Adam's ready to kick off after scoring a goal.

Talent Show

Our school also had its annual talent show. Natalie really wanted to sing this year, so I signed her up. She was a little nervous about singing in front of a large group of people. I tried to teach her the "picture them naked" trick, but she thought that was GROSS! She made it through both performances though and did a great job. She sang "The Climb," which she has been practicing for the last 2 months. Way to go Natalie!

Now I'm off to the store to start putting together "end of the year" gifts for my children's teachers. I'm a tad (understatement!) emotional because my children will be going to new schools in the fall and we'll be saying goodbye to their old school. But, I'll save that emotional blog for another day. Hope you all are surviving your "Spring Activities!"

What I love most . . . .

Andrew's been out of town all week and I've been missing him a ton! I've been pondering what I love most about him. And, without a doubt, it's how much he loves our children.

Can you see the bunny ears above Adam? Guess who taught my sweet Ally that kind of humor? You guessed it, my funny husband. He's also taught our kids to work hard (at times, I'm guilty of being the "let me do it for you, sweetie" kind of parent), he's taught my boys to help out around the house (FYI - Andrew's better than me at both dishes AND laundry), he's taught them church and church activities are important (the other night Andrew encouraged Nicholas to participate in a cub scout service project rather than his baseball game and ya all know how much Andrew LOVES baseball!), he's taught our girls to be strong (he wrestles, plays catch and goes hiking with the girls just as much as he does with the boys). Speaking of hiking, the backyard of our new house is, well, a forest. And, it backs up to . . . more forest. See below.


After we moved, Andrew started a new tradition of taking the kids one on one for a Sunday walk through the trees and having a little father/child interview. Nothing formal, he just checks in with them and makes sure everything is going okay at school, church, home, etc. The best part of these walks is I get little treasures when they return (i.e., wild flowers!) My sweet husband teaches my children to love, and remember, their mother.

It's not Father's Day or anything - I'm just missing my hubby and reflecting on his greatness. Must be something about that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing!?!?!?

Spring Break

I was literally counting down the days until Spring Break this year. I couldn't wait to have a whole week to spend with my VERY favorite people in the whole-wide world . . . my family! I was especially excited to be heading to the Tri-Cities to see my grandma. She recently had knee-replacement surgery. This woman is my rock. She's always been there for me both before and after my mom died when I was in high school. I was so lucky to live just a block away from my grandparents and spent many an afternoon sitting at my grandma's table enjoying home-made cookies. Anyway, my grandma is in her late 70s now, but has been in excellent health. A matter of fact, my grandpa mentioned that after he gave her a blessing to help her knee heal, he hadn't given her a blessing in over 40 years because she hasn't needed it (they've been married 60 years this summer!) My grandpa also has been very healthy (no surgeries, no hospital stays, nothing . . . .)Thank you - thank you - thank you for the word of wisdom!


Anyway, my true joy came last week watching my children serve their grandma. I was a little nervous about how my kids would react to her because usually when we go to grandma's house she has lots of fun activities planned and loves to entertain the kids. This time my children did the entertaining. They fell all over themselves bringing her drinks, painting her pictures for the refrigerator, writing her poems, etc. I also had the opportunity to give my grandpa a little break by being the one to take my grandma to physical therapy and to get her hair done. And, Andrew was a gem keeping everyone laughing with his jokes.


After visiting grandma, me, Andrew and Natalie jumped on a plane to Salt Lake City for general conference. We have a tradition in our family that when a child turns 8 they get to go to Salt Lake with mom and dad for general conference. I have definitely noticed an increase in spirituality in Natalie since she was baptized last month. She really enjoyed all the sights in Salt Lake and tells me her most memorable moment was seeing our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, enter the conference center.

It was a great spring break. Now, my life will revolve around the jog-a-thon I'm in charge of for my children's school and spring sports (we try to pack as much as we can in during the spring since we're right in the middle of snow-skiing season and water-skiing season!) We have 3 kids in soccer, 1 kid in baseball, 1 kid in gymnastics, 1 kid in ballet, and 2 in piano. Not to mention their church activities. The good thing is that this will all be over in a couple months and then Andrew and I can claim our sweet children for ourself and whisk them off to the lake!

An Invitation

Our sweet little Natalie is getting baptized

Saturday, March 6th at 5:00 pm.
Friends and family are invited. :-)
I'd post the place, but this is a public blog,
so I better not. I'm sure you can guess though . . . .

The Start of a New Year

Well, the move is over, I'm finally settling in to our new house, and I'm even blogging!

The walls are still pretty bare at my house, but it's starting to feel like home. I love, love, love our new ward where there are lots of other families in our stage of life and I love, love, love our new neighborhood. Everyone has been so friendly and the 14 children who live on our street make for a lot of laughing and giggling coming from our basement each day after school. I'm teaching the 6-year-olds at church and am loving every minute of it. I miss seeing my old friends on the south hill though, but thank goodness for Target and Costco where I run into most of you! :-)


We had our first Christmas in our new house. My grandparents and one of Andrew's, bachelor, brothers spent Christmas with us. I was worried Andrew's brother would be bored with all our family traditions, but he fit right in and was a great playmate for the kids (not to mention a great help at putting Christmas presents together!)


Last week, Adam and I went to San Diego for my annual mother/child trip. Each year I take a little vacation with one of my children to a destination of their choice. Adam has very patiently waited his turn and he picked Legoland in sunny southern California (thank goodness!) I had the best time with this sweet little boy. He had funny comments throughout the week, which kept me laughing. Thanks Andrew for being so supportive of these trips through the years!


Here are some pics of Christmas morning and San Diego.