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."

Potty Learning Could Spell Death For My Eyebrows

Elizabeth is finally wanting to use the potty and is not having a lot of accidents. She's dangled this carrot in front of me before but I think this is it. (Shh,don't tell her I'm hopeful or she'll pee on my pillow or something, just to put me in my place.)
You're probably wondering what this has to do with my eyebrows. Since my presence is required and I must stay in the bathroom for the entire 10 minutes of Beth being "almost done mommy!", I have an enormous amount of time to study my eyebrows in the mirror. Why is this a bad thing, you say. Well, I have some problems with over plucking my poor, poor eyebrows. I've even been known to cut off 1/2 of an eyebrow before. Accidentally, of course, but still. That's what I get for using finger nail clippers to trim them. And let me tell you, it is SO MUCH FUN to walk around w/ only 1/2 of an eyebrow.
Thus far I've been able to restrain myself, but it's only been 3 days. I foresee months of my presence being required during potty time. I'm sure that I'll end up looking like one of those old ladies that draws her eyebrows on with an oily eyebrow pencil over gobs of shiny pancake makeup.
Quick, someone take away my tweezers!!!