Catching Up

This is a busy time for us. We celebrate 5 birthdays in 8 weeks.  Three of those include kid parties.  So with that, throw in a midterm, a couple of school functions, basektball, piano, etc...  Life gets a little crazy.

Adam's hip hop recital and Birthday

 

Brenna's Birthday and Picasso painting for preschool

Erin's Birthday

One day, Brenna was feeling sad.  Peter told her she could play Angry Birds on his phone. 

When I passed by ten minutes later, this is what I found. 

Nearer My God To Thee

It was a rough day.  When a baby is born at 23 weeks premature, life itself is a miracle.  I believe these tiny babes are really living somewhere between here and heaven.  Its hard to keep perspective when you see a tiny baby in this state, when you know her mother, when you know more than you should because you have seen it before and you know the odds.  When a little tiny babe returns to heaven you try to understand, think of the right thing to say, or not to say, to only hope her mother feels the love and prayers offered in her behalf.
This was what was on my mind when I came home from work today.  This is what I saw when I pulled into my drive way.  There are moments when you know the spirit is with you and you feel closer to God.  I wish I could describe what I felt, but I think maybe this sunset was for a friend, to help her feel closer to her little one, maybe a welcome home.

Creepy Feeling

I know I haven't blogged much...I'm in that phase of 3 kid birthdays in 4 weeks.   So when that passes I will post something more.  But for today, I hate feeling creepy and that is the title of this.  Back story, I went to get Brenna from preschool, came home and we were in the kitchen.  Brenna says to me.  I saw something come out of your room.  Maybe Erin is home sick.  I look down the hall and nothing.  I pick up my keys and purse and whisper to Brenna to go get in the car.  We high tail it out to the garage.  I pull out of the driveway and stop in front of my house.  Think...I glanced at the doors on the way out. All were locked.  I pull over lock the car and walk around the side.  Of course there are a single pair of tracks in the snow that lead from my back door to the playset, over to the back of the fence and then back to my door.  Crap.  I get back in my car.  I think... my neighbor works with the sheriffs dept, thats a possibility, do I call 911 based on my 5 year old who thinks she saw something in the hall?  No movement at the house.  I pull out my cell phone... Its dead.  Nice.  I forgot to plug it in and its been having problems for the last day or so.  I wait.  I get out again, this time I go into the back yard to investigate the tracks a bit closer.  Still unusual but note they are small with boot tread.  Kinda like Matthews size.  Okay, I decide to go in and check it out.  If someone had been in the house they have had plenty of time to leave from the back.  I lock Brenna in the Armada away from the house.  I go in and check every surface, closet, under beds (sigh, the reality of cleaning is now taking over the creepy), and decide no one is there.  We go back inside.  I plug in my phone and now I just feel creepy and depressed about what cleaning I need to do.  Ignorance is bliss.  I don't recommend viewing your home from the floor.

An Unsolicited Hug

I helped my 13 year old with some science this evening.  We laughed and talked.  He told me what classes he wants to take next year and why.  He talked about school and what he likes about it.  He talked about scouts and how close he is to advancing.  Then he left to get things ready for school in the morning.  10 minutes later he came in and put his arms around my shoulders from behind and hugged me, said I love you, and wished me goodnight.  I told him I loved him and how proud of him I was.  He went to bed.  I hope I get more of these moments during his teenage years.  Priceless.

Emerging

I have been holed up lately, stretching my brain to new limits.  The culprit is this book, one of three for my latest class.  I spent more hours studying for this class/final than my entire freshman year of college (no laughing those of you who may have been my roommate).  Okay maybe not, but its close.

Today I ventured online to see if my final had been graded and what the damage was.  I did just fine and my head fell into my hands and I cried.  Yup.  I did.  Thats how much stress this nice looking book has caused me for the past two months.  I am emerging from this place and have two weeks off to repair relationships with my loved ones,  clean my house, and clear my head until my next class starts.

Mom

Both of my parents have birthdays right around Christmas.  And this usually means that their birthdays get lumped into the mix or get celebrated early or late.  Today is my mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is pretty cool.  I love to hear her talk about her life.  Its like any I've ever heard, full of  heartache and hope growing up.  At a young age she found herself caring for her mother who had MS, she had to drop out of college to support them.  She converted to the LDS faith I think at 19.  She met my dad when he was a missionary and moved to Utah to wait for him to return home.  She had 8 children and dedicated her life to us as we grew up.  She ran a wedding and catering business out of our home for many years during that time.  When we all grew up she went back to school and became a real estate agent, broker, opened her own company, and is amazingly successful in this horrible economy.  On top of this, she is spiritual, funny, energetic, and insightful.  She is a workaholic, and is driven more than anyone I know.  Sure, I wish there were times we could go to lunch or just hang out, but that drive to make her business grow is also one of my favorite things about her.

Sometimes I'm told that I am just like my mother. I take it as a compliment.  I can't think of anyone else that I would rather be like. This is one of my favorite pictures of her taken about 6 years ago.  I think it captures her spirit.

My Dad

This is my Dad. Its his birthday today and well I've been thinking about him.  I chose to put this picture up because its one of my favorites.  This was a few years ago at a family party on the 4th of July ( FYI - We like to light enough fireworks to be detected by overhead satellite). On this particular night I looked over and there was little Brenna all curled up on Grandpa watching the festivities.  I particularly love seeing his hand holding her flip flop.  I don't know why but this detail is tender to me.  My dad still works full time and is very busy with his church assignment, so we don't get to spend much one on one time with him.  But its moments like this one that I know how much he loves my children individually. He is a great dad and grandpa.  Happy Birthday!