Kid Funnies

Elizabeth: "Will, what is a swat team?"
Will: "It's like a team of special police fighters."
Elizabeth. "Oh, that makes sense. It's like a team of swat."

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Me: "Elizabeth, remember when we had a talk a few days ago about you leaving tons and tons of toys in the car?
Elizabeth: "Yes."
Me: "What did I say would happen if you kept leaving them in the car instead of taking them inside?"
Elizabeth: "You said that they wouldn't be my toys anymore."
Me: "Yes, that's right."
Elizabeth: (sighs) "Oh mom, I know that growing us up is a hard thing to do. You just have to keep trying and you'll get it right some day."

Last Minute Shopping and Other Christmasy Stuff

Next year I am going to have all of my shopping done by Black Friday, I swear. It's only one week until Christmas Eve and I'm not even 1/2 done!

Elizabeth has made a very specific request for a Christmas gift this year. The problem? The one place to get it for a good price (and not 3x that amount) is, you guessed it, sold out. And the store that the website hails from is not answering their phone. Or at least I guess that's what's happening since I always get a busy signal. Since it's a toy store at Christmas time, maybe all of the employees are just hiding under their counters crying at this point.

I miss the good old days when I could have a little more say in what she wanted. It was so much easier then. Well, I guess they're still happening with Ella. All I have to do for her is show her a picture and ask her if that's what she wants for Christmas. She purses her lips, taps her chin with her chubby little finger and then screams "Nyesh!!!" while she jumps up and down.

This year, Will saw a commercial for the ASPCA. He promptly decided that he would like to forgo his Christmas gift from Santa and instead ask to have Santa donate $20/month to the ASPCA instead. What a sweetheart! After a lot of consideration, he's decided that he will earn/raise money for the Humane Society here in Pocatello and then go to their adoption day in January so that he can actually see and pet the animals that he is helping. I'm so proud of how willing to give to help others he is.

And Tera, I'm sorry to say, there will be no Gingerbread house this year. I think that if I add one more thing to my to do list I'll be heard to say "Ba Humbug" and we've already got enough of that with Ben around. :)

Two Posts In One Day?

I want it to snow. Right now would be preferable. And I'd like it to stick. I'd like the roads to have feet and feet of snow piled in the middle of them, just waiting for the tractors to come and scoop it into dump trucks so that it can be driven to the river and dumped in.

I don't know of any place on earth that does things like that, other than the little town that I grew up in. Every year at Christmas time I just find myself wanting to go back there and have it be like it was when I was little. I want to drive down the snowy streets and look at the lights on the houses and watch the snow falling in the glowing light of the lamp posts. I just want to lay on the living room floor with all the lights out but the Christmas tree and bask in it's glow. I want to sled on the giant hills of snow that my dad made for us out in the pasture with his loader. I want to drive home from my Grandma's on Christmas Eve searching the sky for Santa. And then I want to fall asleep looking out my frost covered window at the Christmas lights that hang outside.

Having little kids only makes this nostalgia that I experience every year come on even stronger. When I watch how excited they are to make Christmas cookies and watch the same Christmas shows that I watched, how they keep asking when we're putting up the tree and how rosy cheeked with excitement they get when they talk about gifts that they want to get for their Daddy, it makes me so excited that my heart almost hurts. It's like I get to experience it all over again, but with a much different perspective.

It really is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Ella's First Prayer

It was the sweetest thing ever! Last night as we knelt to say our prayers before bedtime, Ella looked up at me with her little arms folded and said "No you heppie me Mommie. Me do it mine sef." She remembered to thank Heavenly Father for her wonderful day, and all of her bessings and then she said: "Tankyou poor mine Gaddy, poor mine Mommie, poor mine Bessie, poor mine Willow" I think my heart melted into a puddle right there onto the floor. She remembered to ask for help to choose the right and to be safe even! She's getting so very grown up. It's so bitter sweet that I just don't know how to feel about it. Of course I want her to learn and grow and become who she should. But at the same time, I don't think I'd be to sad if there were a way for me to keep her as my little girl for forever and ever.

North, To Alaska!

Well, we're moving to Anchorage, Alaska. Next summer, right after Ben graduates and our 4th child is born. Yep. We're crazy! But we're really, really excited. Isn't it pretty?

That big building in the middle is where Ben will be working every day. Thankfully, he's going to be working in the Tax department of the company so his travel will be minimal (after the first year, he's required to do some Auditing at the beginning). That is really my favorite part about the whole thing, Ben coming home every night.

This is a regular occurrence in Anchorage. (That's the airport in the background)

I saw 5 moose when Ben and I were there and Ben saw way more than I did. And that was just in the neighborhoods. Apparently it's not uncommon for bears to do the same thing.

Right now we're just trying to figure out the best way to get us all up there. There are tons and tons of options. The only thing that we're sure of is that we're going to sell most of our stuff in order to replace it when we get up there. But now we have to choose whether to drive, ferry, or fly up there (or more likely, choose which combination of the three is best). Will is voting for he and Ben driving or ferrying up with what things we do take. And that way, as he puts it, they can have some real "man time". Which apparently consists of watching football, spitting at any time and frequently, and not showering. If that is how they plan to go, then I'll be glad to fly, even if it means that I fly with 3 little kids and have to change planes twice.

But no matter what we choose, I'm just so proud of Ben. He has worked so very, very hard to make this opportunity happen for our family. It really is an awesome opportunity. Even if it is the opportunity that may cause this blog to be telling you, five years from now, that we're all moving to New Zealand!

Elizabeth

She is one funny girl. Pretty much every time that she does something that is frustrating, she follows it up with an explanation. And they are always, without fail, funny. Ben and I spend more time laughing than disciplining her.
One of my favorites happened right after she bit Ben on the hand. Ben of course said "Ow, Elizabeth! Don't bite me!" "Oh Daddy," she said "I did not bite you. I just hugged your pinger wif my teef!"

Sometimes her faith and sweetness pop up at very unexpected moments, too. The other night we were driving home from Dubois when we got caught in a terrible blizzard in Idaho Falls. I immediately started praying and called Ben. I can't ever remember being that afraid while driving. Ever. Halfway through the trip, Elizabeth said "I can feel the warmness, Mommy." "Oh," I said "I just turned up the heater because I was worried that you were getting cold. Are you warm enough now?" "No Mommy, not that kind of warmness. I feel the warmness from Heaven. We are going to be alright." It was kind of extra hard to drive through the blizzard after that. What with the tears and all.

I love you my little Elizabeth. For forever and ever.

It's Only Been Two-and-a-Half Months Or So...

Since our trip to Seattle, that is. And here are the pictures! I was going through all of our pictures yesterday and realized that I'd actually taken some good ones that capture a little of the fun we had. (It seems like I never take enough and I usually get people with their eyes closed or I get their hand over their face because they've realized what I'm doing before my camera can snap the picture.) So, anyway, without further adieu, here they are!

Ella in the car. We were almost there!

Elizabeth, ready to get out of the car, we couldn't get there fast enough for her!

Will, demonstrating how squished he and his long legs are in the back seat.

Poor Ben. He always drives most, if not all of the trip. Thank heavens he's a good sport about it.

Will and Manga. Not sure what they're looking at.

Ella and Cooper.

Elizabeth and Cooper.


Will and Cooper.

Bennett on the toys at the beach.

Cooper wisely took the opportunity to catch a few zzz's while my kids were preoccupied with the toys. I think it was the only time my girls left the poor guy alone!

Will on the rope climber.

What a beautiful girl! Emma sure loves to swing!

Elizabeth loves to swing too.

And Ella won't be left out of anything that Emma and Elizabeth are doing!

Super Woman Tera. She had three little girls all in constant motion and got Cooper to go to sleep. She's Super Mom!

Elizabeth trying to give me a heart attack by flipping out of the swing onto her head.

Emma loves to swing more than any other child I know!

Will, Elizabeth, and Bennett walking back to the beach to do some crabbing.

Ella, Tera, and baby Cooper.

Elizabeth and Bennett, all ready to go out and get some crabs!

Emma and Ella sharing some crackers at the park.

And last but not least, a perfect way to sum up the trip, Cooper getting one of my kids' messy faces squished into his hair.

Where Did I Put That Crystal Ball...

Both of my old blogs were pretty much peppy and comical. For the most part, anyway. Once I did post about how Ben and I couldn't agree to whether or not he should go to an extended family function with me. And a very nice man from the Netherlands named Jock chimed in. I'm not really sure who's side he was on. I'm pretty sure it was mine, but really it could have gone either way. (Sadly, I didn't transfer his comment from my first blog to my second, and so now it's lost and cannot be reviewed further. I know... I know.)

Well, the whole peppy and comical thing I had going made me feel like I couldn't post on days when I wasn't feeling particularly peppy and comical. And maybe you've noticed the fact that I haven't really posted much in the last long while. Well, that's why. I don't want to be a downer. I don't want my kids to read posts that were written when I was feeling less than stellar. But, since everyone has ups and downs, and I'm pretty sure that my children won't remember me as perfectly happy all the time, it's ok to not try to portray myself like that here.

Our lives are kind of in limbo right now. And that is so hard for me. Ben is almost done with all of his undergraduate work. It's gone so quickly and so slowly all at once. And over the next few months we will be getting all of our options in order so that we can make the decision that will decide what happens in the next few years of our lives. And whatever choice we make will really effect all of our future opportunities for our little family. That's big! Exciting and scary all at once. But I find myself feeling really restless. It's the same way I feel right after Christmas. I always want to go somewhere warm and sunny and relaxing at that time of year. I fight to feel cheerful because I know that there are months left until the world warms up, and all of the fun and beauty of the Holidays is gone for another year. I guess that I actually feel that way before every season changes. I'm always ready for it to happen weeks before it does. And just like I have no power over changing the seasons, I can't make these decisions present themselves any faster. I want to do things like search for schools and homes and unique things to do and see about all of the places that we could live. I want to look at universities that I could attend. I want to figure out what grocery store I would shop at and what style of house I would choose for that area. I even want to figure out what plants I could grow in a garden in where ever we end up. I want to map how far away we'll live from our families and research how much plane tickets to fly for visits could cost. And I can't do any of that. It's driving me nuts! It's making me feel restless and grumpy. I won't live in my apartment at this time next year. But I have no idea where I'll be.

I just keep thinking about how funny it is that all growing up I just wanted to stay in the small town where I grew up. I would have been so happy to live and die there. To have and raise at least 7 children and to live in the house they grew up in until the day that I died. And how my little sister wanted to travel the world and have the option to live anywhere. Well, I have the option to live anywhere, and she's building a house in that small town.

Today At The Store...

I needed to purchase some feminine products. You know which ones I'm talking about. Will took three steps into the aisle, realized where we were and said "You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe I'm in this aisle." "Well, you can always look at the body wash, Will." I said. "That's not really much better, Mom." Oh. Yes. I forgot. Not only are natural body cycles absolutely repulsive, but the fact that people actually wash their bodies is not to be discussed, either.

Mr. Noodle

Ella is almost two. She talks, a lot. To her, I'm Mommy, Ben is Gaggy, Elizabeth is Thethie. She says the names of her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, or something very closely resembling their names.

But Will? She won't even try. To her, he's Noodle.

There and Back Again

Yes, I am a Lord of the Rings geek.

But that is not what this post is about.

I have been an on again off again blogger for a while now. I've actually blogged on blogger before. Then I left. And now I'm back. Will I be here tomorrow? Maybe not. My sister-in-law may choose to disown me if I'm not here tomorrow, though. Kidding.

I guess that the real reason that I haven't blogged a lot this summer, or this year, how ever you want to look at it, is because I just feel so busy and overwhelmed with all that I have on my plate. And thinking of how to make my crazy life sound funny and always optimistic is a tall order for me lately.

Luckily for me, my kids take care of that problem for me. Those little ones are bursting with humor and hope and joy. Seeing the world through their eyes is the best thing ever. And you know what, I think that I just need to stop spending hours and days thinking of the perfect way to post things, because the purpose for this blog is to record my family's stories so that one day, my children can read it and remember their lives and see themselves the way that I see them. Or at least have concrete proof that their mother was crazy and it was all their fault. I'd be happy with a little of both.

The other day, Elizabeth was watching Barbie Rapunzel. In the movie, there is a large purple dragon who works for the evil chick who keeps Rapunzel locked in the tower. The dragon has a daughter. At one point in the movie, the dragon speaks rather sharply to his daughter. Elizabeth, who is watching intently, gets a very upset look on her face. She then turns to me and says: "That daddy dragon should NOT be talking to his daughter that way! My daddy would never talk to me that way because he loves me and I am a princess." And in that, she is right. She and her sister Ella both have their daddy wrapped around their little fingers. Daddy is their go-to guy. Ella's all time favorite thing to do is to sit next to him and listen to a little Bob Dylan on the Real Player on his cellphone. She's happy to just snuggle up to him and bop her little head along in time with the music that her daddy loves too. Elizabeth once tugged on her daddy's pant leg one evening after he'd just presented me with flowers and chocolate because I'd had a long, hard day. (Do you see why I am married to this man???) She looked sad and asked "Daddy, don't you love me?" He looked so shocked! Then he said "Why of course I love you!" "Then where are my flowers, Daddy? *sniff*". Yeah, he should start saving for their weddings now.

And one more cute, random story that I know I'll be glad that I typed up later, even if it doesn't really go along with this post. Or maybe it does.

Ben took Will with him to work the other day. It was the end of a big conference and Ben was going in to help take down some displays. As they were driving there, Ben was careful to talk with Will about how he needed to be on his best behavior, that Will would be meeting Daddy's boss and that it was important that he did what Ben asked and that he didn't run around like a crazy boy. Will was adamant that he understood. They walk in. Ben's boss greets them and asks Will what his name is. Will sighs and aims a thumb in Ben's direction and says: "Well, he calls me Slime."