Jake is 9!

 

Today is Jake's birthday.  Jake is our second boy and our fifth child.  He was the baby for four and a half years before Dan came to take the job.  Jake is amazing.

Balancing on this ball is an easy thing for Jake to do.  I had a picture of him on his knees -- not using his hands -- but it was too blurry to post -- one of us moved.  Jake can do amazing thing on this ball (which belongs to Kayli).  It is terrifying for me to watch him because I'm always sure he's going to fall and split his head open on the multiple sharp objects in the room -- but he never has.  When he was very young he already had such good balance that, after a while I quit cringing when he did semi-dangerous things because it was so extremely unlikely that he would fall.

This is Jake's first year playing city league basketball.  He has not been shy about it and he loves to shoot.  He's quite good at dribbling the ball too.  His Dad is his coach and today for his birthday Jake made two baskets.  He watched Connor play later and was happy to go to McDonalds for lunch.

Jake got to open presents this morning.  He got very nice things but I think this soccer ball is his favorite.  He loves soccer and he loves the color black and so a black soccer ball is perfect.  He got a camera too and both sets of grandparents sent him gifts.  I think he was very happy with his presents.

Here is Jake with his Pikachu cake.  When I was trying to figure out what would make Jake happy on his birthday I kept quizzing him on what he would like to do and what kind of cake he would like to have.  I knew I had hit on the right thing when I mentioned a Pokemon cake and got a smile.

Jake had trouble blowing out his candles.  Derek got about eight pictures of him blowing out the candles because it took so long and Jake was laughing before he was done.  We had cake and ice cream at snack time (about three o'clock at our house) and then we had a pizza picnic at dinnertime while we watched Despicable Me.  All in all I think it was a good birthday for a very good boy.

Water and Squishy Hearts

Wednesday Night at bedtime I was finally reading the note Dan's preschool teacher had sent home Tuesday at noon.  It turns out that Dan was supposed to have 16 Valentines ready for his party the next morning.  Usually I have spare ones around but, in a past cleaning frenzy, I must have gotten rid of them.  I did not want to get up early and go buy Valentines and so I cut out sixteen paper hearts and wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" on one side.  I offered to draw happy faces instead but Dan preferred letters.  Then, my amazing sweet boy sat down and wrote his name 17 times (he goofed on one and was very upset and so we made one more).  He taped smarties to sixteen Valentines.  He did it all before it was time to go.  I was very impressed.

I helped in preschool that day and we went on a field trip to the Post Office and then we had the party.  Dan started to cry when he was decorating his Valentine bag because he couldn't make the heart as perfectly as he wanted.  He didn't seem to love the party -- he cried again after delivering his Valentines.  But, at home afterwards, Dan LOVED the Valentines he'd been given.  He raved over how nice Ms. Tonya is and how wonderful that people gave him all of that candy.  He is going through the candy rather quickly. 

Through all of this I learned something about Jake.  When we were talking about the Valentines before school Jake said "Mom, I didn't like to do Valentines because it made me nervous".  He knew that Valentine's Day would be different.  It would disrupt his routine.  He'd have to hand things out.  Now I know why it was so hard for me to get him to write his name and why I often found it easier to fill in his name myself.  Hopefully he'll feel like doing his own this year.  You'll learn more about Jake tomorrow for his birthday.

Last night we had soft pretzels for dinner.  It may not be overly nutritious but we made it fun.  Tia helped me and so she spelled her whole name.  We made first initial pretzels for everyone else but I decided you didn't need a picture of ALL of them.  Derek wasn't home and so he didn't get one.  Poor Derek.

Finally, I'll end with a few tidbits of information from Dan.  He brought me a package of fruit snacks from his Valentine bag and said "It says no milk, no eggs, no peanuts, just water and squishy hearts."  Then he informed me that "Santa comes whenever we need him".  I said "Oh, really?" and he replied that "Yes, when we need some toys, we just ask him and when it is dark he brings them to us".  So now you know how to get new toys.

Okay, I had to add the S.  I thought it was superb.

The Hair Show and Happy Things

Tia's camera broke before she even got to the airport so I had to get one off the computer.  She may not like this one -- but Tia's a good sport and I have no doubt I'll be forgiven.

I think I mentioned that my daughter Tia went to a hair show in California.  A few people expressed interest in what exactly a hair show is -- since it sounds like hair will be parading across the stage displaying talents.  It turns out that a hair show is pretty much a trade show for cosmetologists.  There are many, many booths where people try to sell you their fabulous product.  You could buy a new wonder shampoo, or fabulous makeup, or gels, or hair cutting tools, or other random things.  Tia said that they were really good deals -- but she only bought makeup and something else (shoot -- I forgot -- bad mom!).  They did have some famous people there.  One named Tabitha -- but none of us were saavy enough to know who she is or what makes her famous, and the guy from What Not to Wear (I don't watch it and so I don't know who he is either).  

There are demonstrations on hair cutting techniques and other stuff cosmetologists and a few other people might be interested in.  Tia had a fabulous time.  She enjoyed the beautiful California weather and the trip to Disneyland.

Other happy things:
*My boys have recovered from their long bouts with whatever miserable cold / fever thing they had.
*Connor dealt beautifully with going back to school after missing more than a week and has been handling his piles of homework well too.
*We got to go to my nieces baptism.  My sister-in-law's Mom made us all feel like we were the most wonderful people in the world, and Brynn's baptism went well, and all of us had a really good time together.
*I got great footage of my son Connor and my nephew Porter dancing.  Poe was being Poe-lina at the time.  Hopefully soon I'll figure out how to post some of the fun dancing videos and the pretty pictures of Brynn and cousins. (New camera -- new challenges!)
*Derek and my kids are totally awesome.
*Dan loves Rosie and saved her from an early death by remembering we hadn't watered her.  She's looking a little feeble though so cross your fingers.  I left her by the sink this time -- she's more likely to be remembered.
*Angela watched Dan so I could go to breakfast with a friend.  It was fun even though I goofed and ate breakfast before I left.  I wasn't really going for the food and the visit was great.  So was the second breakfast (Hey -- if hobbits, and Dan can do it ...) 
*Shannon called.  That's always nice.
*The family "super bowl" dinner without the game was fun.  Loud.  But fun.
*Dan gave the home evening lesson and was very enthusiastic at hide and seek.  He's getting good.

New Awesome Moves

Today has had its ups and downs, and ups, and way downs and ups again.  So I wanted to count some of the ups.  First off, this morning Derek walked into the family room and Dan showed him his "new awesome moves".  He showed them to me too and they were awesome and I just went and had him perform for the camera for your viewing pleasure.  Note also that you can feel good about yourselves if you do not have unfolded laundry in your family room, or even if you do, since -- well why not?

Besides getting to see awesome moves today I was rather pleased that the television didn't stay on all morning (which is normal when I have sick ones home -- which has been all week).  Dan and I exercised by playing the Wii Explorer game -- though I finally got on the exercise bike at the end when he kept choosing one player.  He doesn't like to lose and I guess I had awesome moves this morning too -- which would account for me winning.

Next Dan helped me repot Rosey.  He said he wished she had a face so that he could talk to her and she could talk back.  After that Dan helped me make dinner.  He peeled the carrots and pushed the button on the chopper to chop up onions and tomatoes, and poured in the broth.  Then he even took some groceries downstairs to the storage room.

So on a day when everything didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked, I am very thankful for my boy with the "New Awesome Moves".

Tonya

It was a big relief to me when Tonya joined the family.  I sometimes forget that not everything is about me and I was seriously worried that all of the brothers were avoiding marriage because of me for some reason.  You know, as in "I don't want to get stuck with someone like that!"  It had been five years since Derek and I were married and Tonya's husband is NOT five years younger than Derek.  In reality it is more likely that the brothers didn't want a first apartment like ours, and even more likely that they just hadn't met the right people yet.  Anyhow, I was glad when Quinn married Tonya.  I have had a bazillion reasons to keep being happy about that.  Here are some of my favorites.

Tonya has been a good friend to me.  I enjoy talking to her about lots of things.  She lets me whine at her if I want to and she is sympathetic.  I have a lot of sympathetic family members and I appreciate each one!  That makes me wonder if I whine a lot.  Hmm.  Tonya and I both have this annoying thing where we cry really easily about lots of random things and so it's nice to have a buddy who understands when my eyes are dripping and nothing really sad just happened.

Tonya is the only Aunt in the family that is called "Ont" instead of "Ant".  When we are with her we discuss the way that apricot should be said and we smile when she insists on being the only one in the universe to use the "proper" pronunciation of some words -- which I believe she learned during acting classes.  She's an incredibly good sport about it and allows us to butcher the language however we want to as long as we don't give her too bad of a time about the fact that the "correct" pronunciation she uses isn't the common one (to us).

Tonya has the greatest number of children who are close in age to my kids in the C. family for the obvious reason that nobody else got married for a while.  My kids love to visit the cousins in the warmer part of the state.  Tonya and I always end up going to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  Dan needs soy or rice milk and (shockingly) they drink milk from a cow (No.  Not their own cow).  Tonya and I are always both buying things and I constantly try to sneak some of her stuff into my pile (since it's food we'll be eating).  She has a tendency to try to sneak my things into her pile (because we're the guests?).  It's kind of a tradition by now.

One fun memory with Tonya is during a C. reunion.  The whole family was outside and she came in to help me make missionary name tags for my girls for our skit.  We found some paper but we needed crayons.  Where are crayons kept?  In the Master bedroom, in the top drawer of the dresser.  Of course!  So, feeling like we were somehow being naughty, we snuck into the Master bedroom and opened the drawer.  Now that felt awkward!  I personally think that underthings go in the top drawer of dressers and I was worried that maybe Mom and Dad C. had changed their mind about where the crayons go.  Thankfully they hadn't and we got the crayons and started to leave the room.   Mom C. was right there on the other side of the door getting ready to come in!  We apparently looked so guilty that she started laughing and assured us that we were allowed to get crayons out of the drawer.  If it weren't for the fact that Tonya doesn't eat chocolate she might have thought we were sneaking candybars out from under the bed.

Tonya has been helpful to me when some of my kids started having asthma and, it seems like she somehow understood from the first what I was feeling when Dan's food allergies were first discovered.

Tonya is an incredibly talented person.  I'm always impressed with how well she can remember a book after reading it and even express intelligently what she liked about it and what she did not.  I can usually remember if I liked it or not -- but after a day or two I probably can't name the characters, or any other important details, or exactly why I liked it.  She is a talented writer and she expresses herself well verbally too.  I think she can even think when put on the spot which, I think, would be a great talent to have.

She and Quinn do a wonderful job of doing projects to improve their house and yard.  Tonya has a talent for doing detailed work that would drive me nuts after a few minutes (scrapbooking type things and sewing projects).  My girls enjoy talking to her too and she is generally a good person to have around for a lot of reasons. 

Tonya is a spiritual person who loves her Savior and her family.  I'm thankful that Quinn waited until he found Tonya to get married so that I could have her as a sister and a friend.

Happy Birthday Tonya!

The Murderer of Plants

Meet Rosey.  Isn't she pretty?  Derek bought this beautiful rose plant for me the other day and brought it home.  I love it.  I love it because I love roses, and I love that Derek thought of me and took the time to get me something he knows I like.  That being said, I did not react with as much gratitude as I should have because I am afraid.  I am afraid that I am a murderer of plants.  House plants in particular since we have several beautiful rose bushes outside that seem to do fine from year to year. 

Not only am I afraid I'm a plant murderer but I think I torture the poor plants first.  Unfortunately, my main method of deciding when plants should be watered is by looking at them when I walk by.  "Oh!  That plant is drooping.  I'd better water it!"  But then I might get busy and not remember until the next time I glance at the plant when I walk by.  They can handle this for a while but eventually it does them in -- every time.

I don't do this on purpose.  I feel bad every time.  It is because I was tired of feeling sad for all of my house plants that I finally just got rid of them.  I think I gave some away but most I simply never replaced after they died. Still, occasionally Derek will bring me a rose plant and I will try my best to take care of it.  Unfortunately, the last one still died in about a month.  I cried for the poor rose bush because it had come to me, and somehow, I was sure that I had inadvertently been the cause of its death.

So last night I came up with a plan.  I named the rose plant Rosey since one of the plants that I had that lived the longest had a name.  I took Charlie the plant to college with me and he lived for a very long time.  I think I used to talk to Charlie and so maybe I'd better chat with Rosey now and then.  I figure, if I put the rose plant in a bigger pot, with lovely dirt, and put her in our piano room, and let her listen to beautiful music while soaking up as much sun as possible, then maybe Rosey will thrive.  Maybe this time I will not end up being The Murderer of Plants.  Now if I can just remember the water!

*Every now and then Mom C. lets me water her outside potted plants when they are gone.  I always think this is extremely brave of her.  I always wonder if she is tempted to get someone else to check on the plants when I'm not there, or if she just prays really hard that they'll live.  So far so good.  I can even keep potted flowers outside alive at my house -- with a lot of help from Kayli!  Sadly, when I get feeling overwhelmed with my to do list I can always convince myself that those flowers are really hardy and that one day without water won't kill them.  (As if the five minutes it takes to water them will kill me!)

Counting Again

I counted blessings on my blog during the end of last year which was beneficial to me.  So today when I'm feeling like I've been home with sick boys a lot -- because I have -- I thought counting blessings might help me put things in a happy perspective again.  So here we go:

1.  When kids are sick it limits choices which makes decision making easier.  Should I go out or stay home? Stay home.  This is actually nice for a day or two.
2.  Dan really is entertaining and I wish that I could remember everything he says that is funny.  Instead here are two pictures he took of himself.

 
3.  Technology.  On those days when we can't go out and nobody can really come over it is nice that there is a way to stay connected so that I do not feel so isolated.  I enjoyed talking to family members on the phone and through e-mail and reading and commenting on blogs.
4.  Music.  When I was growing up and got discouraged I would sit down and sing.  I started with "Count Your Blessings" and usually sang "I Stand All Amazed" sometime while I was at it.  Later I began with "Come, Come Ye Saints".  I love the words by William Clayton "Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so; all is right.  Why should we think to earn a great reward, if we now, shun the fight?".  They help me stop feeling sorry for myself.  I try harder to have joy as I wend my way through life.  I don't sing music as much anymore but I listen.  Today I listened to "Hallelujah" from Handel's Messiah and "Through Heavens Eyes" from Prince of Egypt.  I liked being reminded that, though we are in charge of making the best of things, God is over all.  I trust that Heavenly Father and Jesus know what is best for me.  I like the message in "Through Heavens Eyes" because it reminds me that if I am having a grumpy perspective perhaps it's because I can't see the big picture.
5.  Media.  I enjoy reading the newspaper (or at least the headlines) and watching a good show or movie.  I love books too! 
The photo is by Dan.  I don't usually look at the newspaper from that angle.  I thought it was interesting.




6.  When Jake was feeling better but was still home because of his awful cough, he made a helicopter with his Zoobs.  He followed instructions.  I was impressed.

It really was a cool helicopter.
7. Safe travel by Tia who is at a "hair show" in California.
8.  Modern medicine to help with fevers and stuffy heads.
9.  Time away from the sick house with Kayli and her cleaning things at home so she can stay well.
10.  Hugs

Living Life Deliberately

In November I was able to attend Time Out for Women with my Mom.  One of the people who spoke was a daughter of Linda Eyre (Linda, with her husband, created Joy School and they have written 9 books on parenting).  This daughter's name is Shawni and she mentioned that she liked the word deliberate (doing things on purpose).  She likes to think of parenting deliberately -- and living our lives in a deliberate fashion.  I have thought about this quite a lot.  What do I want my children to know?  Am I doing enough things deliberately to make sure they learn them?

The more I thought, the more I figured that there had to be some small changes that we could make that would make a big difference.  I was particularly focused on the Sabbath Day.  Derek and I talked about it and we decided to implement an idea that I heard first from Shawni and her Mom.  We adjusted the idea to fit our schedule and then added to it.  The idea is to have a family testimony meeting right after church on Fast Sundays (which for those belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is usually the first Sunday of the month).  We decided that since our church started later, we would have our meeting before church.  We have only done it once so far, and Derek spent a bit of time instructing us on what a testimony is and what things can or should be included.  Derek began and then we started with Dan and went up in age until I finished up.  I loved it.  I feel like this will give our children the opportunity to think about and share their testimonies 12 times this year when they may have only shared it once, if at all, during a regular year at church.

We wanted to make every Sunday a little better and so on other Sundays we have half hour meetings too.  These are our "half hour of service".  That is about as long as we can expect Dan to pay attention and there is plenty of time to write letters to missionaries, or encouraging notes to people who need them, or whatever it is that we come up with.  So far we have been able to think of something for every week without trouble and, for the most part, it has gone well.

When I was sharing these ideas with my visiting teachers one of them shared with me a way that she and her husband had decided to spend their evenings better.  They felt like, because they didn't plan them out, they were usually wasted.  They wanted to be more careful and choose how they spent their time.  They figured they had to plan in advance or it wouldn't happen because they would be too tired.  In other words, they decided to be more deliberate.  They negotiated different activities.  They still have one movie night when they can just sit and watch television.  They have a dance night and a game night.  He agreed to learn to dance at home with a dvd if she'd have a game night with him.  They also have a night they read together.  She feels like it has made a big difference to them.

There are a lot of good ideas, and a lot of ways to choose to spend our time.  Our Sunday ideas would not have worked for me when Derek was Bishop.  I would have felt too overwhelmed.  I did not want another thing to be in charge of on Sunday.  The ideas my friend uses in the evening work well for her because her kids go to bed by 8 every night.  That doesn't mean I couldn't use my evenings better but it might work better for me to choose different activities!

Other things that we've enjoyed are having each of the kids (except Dan) have a Sunday to cook.  All of the children also have a family home evening that they are in charge of.  Putting this on the calendar helps them know it is coming and having them in charge is great for me!  As I go through my days I am trying hard to live my life in a deliberately good and happy way.

Keeping a Promise

While I was reading my blogs from the past I realized that I had promised to post Tia's pictures from the prom, which was also her first date, almost two years ago.  Many of you will have seen them, but they never made it to the blog and so I'm going to put a few of Tia's dance pictures here and keep that long ago promise.

 The pictures above are Tia before the Prom.  Her dates name is Dalton.  Tia was disappointed that her curls didn't stay in as good as she hoped and Dalton's Mom didn't think she had proper "prom hair" but they had a good time.

 This was the next school year and was maybe the Sweethearts dance.  Tia went with Hunter who wore a matching tie.

 This is the group they went with and the boys who helped serve dinner.

This is Tia and Adam before homecoming.  Derek and I were out of town and so I think Grandma F. was the photographer.  Tia has gone to other less dressy dances but I don't have pictures for those. 

Tia went on a big group date on Saturday where they went rock climbing.  I think her fingers are still sore.  It all went well until she ran out of gas on the way home.  Thankfully they were not far from where we live and so I took a full gas can (It was really a blessing that it was full!) and put some gas in the truck and sent her to the gas station while I took the other two people where they needed to go.  She was embarrassed but she is really good at laughing at herself and we were both really thankful it didn't happen on the freeway.  Derek would have gone to the rescue but he was not feeling well.  Thankfully he is better now.

So now you've enjoyed pictures of beautiful Tia and I've finally kept my promise.  Happy day!

A Trip to My Night Stand

I was talking with a friend of mine recently and I realized that I was reading a larger than normal (for me) number of books simultaneously.  I thought it would be fun for me to occasionally take a "trip to my night stand" and put it on my blog since that will give me a record of some of the things I read and what I liked, or didn't like about them.  So here's a picture of my night stand:

 At the bottom of the pile (stacked by size) is Preach My Gospel which I study with my scriptures in the morning.  During the school year I have a few quiet moments between the older kids leaving and the younger ones needing to get up and this has been a blessing to me.  Dan sometimes wakes up early but his first question is almost always "Can I watch t.v.?" and so Dora keeps him entertained until Jake gets up and I can still study.

Next is I Sher 2008-2010 which is my blog put in book form.  I like reading this one.  I guess I must write to suit myself and therefore I enjoy reading what I write!

Bonds That Make Us Free:  Healing Our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves by C. Terry Warner has been sitting on my night stand for months.  This does NOT mean I don't love it.  On the contrary, this book has already been helpful to me.  I think about what the author says and do not feel the need to plow through it.  I really want to remember it because I find helpful truths in this book.

I purchased Yoga for Christians by Susan Bordenkircher from the Christian Book Club when I was a member.  It was a really good deal and came with a yoga DVD.  I like the DVD and started reading the book years ago.  I found it interesting but put it in my night stand and didn't pick it up again until a couple of weeks ago.  I like the author and have appreciated the things I have learned, or relearned from reading her words.  She talks of letting go of self and not expecting to be "the savior of your own problems" and not to "look to your accomplishments and acquisitions to bring happiness".  Instead she talks of recognizing that the only lasting joy and peace comes from God.  I read this one at night and try to breathe properly.

A few months ago I started Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.  I have not gotten far but, again, this isn't because I don't like it.  I think it's more because it is so thick.  I'm a little like Tia -- or she's like me -- and I find the size of this book overwhelming.  I enjoy it every time I read it though and I will eventually get to the end!

My mom asked me to read The Calcium Factor:  The Scientific Secret of Health and Youth by Robert R. Barefoot & Carl J. Reich, M.D.  I confess that mostly I've learned that my Mom is a genius and that this book feels like reading a really hard and rather dry textbook to me (sorry Mom). 

Mafia to Mormon:  My Conversion Story by Mario Facione is a really thin book loaned to me by my neighbor Janet.  I should really have been done with this by now -- and probably would be if I didn't keep picking up other books and magazines and newspapers.  I've been on a reading kick.  I'll move it to the top of the pile so I'll have one less on my list.

10 Minute Home Improvement:  Hundreds of Fast Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home.  I've read / skimmed half of this and I'm sure I've learned some great things.  I just can't remember them right now.

The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison is not on the pile anymore -- but I just finished it the day before yesterday and so I thought I'd mention it.  It was creative.  I had a hard time following everything about "animal magic" but it was gripping enough during the last half that I neglected my duties and felt guilty.

Of course the question on your minds may be, "Does her night stand really look that neat?"  Well, only if I stage it.  Otherwise it looks like this:

So now you can all feel better about yourselves.  For fun I took a picture of Derek's night stand.  No staging involved.

Derek is reading a more reasonable number of books I think.  He has Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson on his nightstand and 65 Signs of the Times by David J. Ridges tucked neatly where you can't see it.  I believe he has also started Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Apostle Watch

Did you know that every time I get to sit in Dad and Mom C.'s seats at a BYU game the first thing I do after sitting down is look across to where President Samuelson (BYU's President) sits to see if any apostles are visiting?  Since I love the apostles and who they represent -- I love to listen to them and I get a bit of a thrill out of being in the same room with them -- even a big room. 

So, last night I immediately noticed that Elder Perry was in attendance with his wife.  A couple of games ago (wouldn't it be nice if I remembered who we actually played against a couple of games ago?) Elder Christofferson was there with his wife.  I like to look up at them sometimes.  They never boo.  They don't yell.  They just look on in quiet interest.  It always reminds me of what a responsibility it would be to be an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Even people who did not believe you were really an apostle, if they knew who you claimed to be, would be watching you. 

This made me think about being a Christian.  I specifically thought of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because I am one.  As a member of His church I represent Christ too.  I suspect Apostles think of who they are representing a lot.  I know that I should think of it more.  You never know who might realize that I am a Christian and might be judging the merits of Christ's teachings by my actions.  This is a sobering thought -- and a good one -- all because an apostle attended a game.

Just so you'll know, I did pay attention to the game, and we did win. 

Sweet Stephanie

This picture is of Stephanie and Brian.  Brian is my younger brother and Stephanie is the only girl he ever dated.  I think they met when he was 16.  I was already off to college and didn't meet her until later.  I think they were a bit insane and got married, if I remember right, about two weeks after he got home from his mission to the Dominican Republic.  The picture above was taken around that time.  I guess it worked for them!

Stephanie is one of those people that children take to immediately.  At least, it seems that way to me.  I think that children who have never seen her before would be happy to tell her all about what they have been doing and they recognize in her someone who cares about them.  She worked at Kinder Care for years and my sisters and I agreed at some point that she was the favorite aunt on our side of the family.  Our kids would always be excited to see Aunt Stephanie and she took the time to play with them.  She seems to find energy that we know she shouldn't have when it comes to dealing with children and people she loves.

I took this picture from my brothers album.  It's Stephanie with Noah on his baptism day.  Brian and Stephanie have four children.  Noah is third and the only boy. 

I admire quite a few things about Stephanie.  She has determination and manages to exercise most of the time, even when it is hard for her, because she knows that it will help her overall health.  She is very dedicated.  In spite of what I feel are daunting health challenges, she does what she needs to so she'll stay as healthy as she can.  She even makes herself drink smoothies with carrots in them.  Eww!

She is a great hostess.  Our kids still love to stay at their house and I don't think it is all because of the theater room.  I think a lot of it is that Aunt Stephanie comes up with fun activities for them to do and is willing to take them places sometimes.  She is easy to talk to and is a good listener.  She is so good at putting other people first that I think she sometimes has to quietly collapse for a couple of days after we leave because she has overdone it.  But she doesn't complain (to us anyhow) and she always invites us to come back.
Once Stephanie brought her kids to visit us.  I had a cold but didn't mention it because I usually don't get hit very hard by colds.  Unfortunately, this was the exception and Stephanie kindly kept sending me to bed and taking care of her children and mine and my house.  I am hoping that one day she will come when I am well and I can spoil her for a change.

Stephanie is going to college now.  She is studying to be a nurse and I would be a bit afraid to attempt the classes she is taking!  She's brave.  Stephanie is really busy, but I like that she always seems glad to hear from me if I call and she takes the time to talk to me if she can. 

I doubt Stephanie thinks of herself as "Sweet Stephanie", but she is sweet to our kids, and sweet to me and I am thankful for her.

Happy late birthday to Stephanie (whose birthday is the day after Megz -- on Jan. 2).

The Magnificent Moogie

When I was talking to my sister-in-law Mandy I got the idea of doing a blog about all of the wonderful things she does -- and then it expanded.  I have been blessed with 13 sisters / sisters-in-law who, in my opinion, are all wonderful, excellent people.  So, I have decided that I am going to tell you a little about each of them around their birthdays.  Megan is first because her birthday happens on the very first day of the year.

When I joined the C. family by marrying Derek, Megan was eleven years old.  I had to learn nick names for almost all of the brothers, but not one for Megan.  However, at some point Derek started affectionately referring to her as Moogie (said Moo-gee) here at our house.  So sometimes she is Meg, or Megz, sometimes Auntie Megan, and sometimes Auntie Moogie.  It is unusual if we call her the more usual Aunt Megan.

I thought that I should have some excellent, fun pictures of her when she was young -- but mostly she seems to have avoided being the direct subject of any picture in the albums I went through.  Here is one of her holding Trisa and standing by Doran.

Megan and her sisters took good care of my daughters.  They babysat for free and taught them letters and did art projects with them.  Before Trisa was born, when I was having to stay in bed, they would come over and play games with me.  I wish I could remember Megan as a girl better, but I do remember one story.

When Megan was about 12 she read an article on skin cancer.  So, for the family hike, in really hot weather, Megan wore long sleeves, long pants, and a hat that I think was actually tied on by a scarf.  She had sunglasses too and she was teased during the whole hike.  She took the teasing well and probably dished out a little in return.  Megan is a good sport and has a quick wit.  She was teased about this incident again years later when she was working on a fabulous tan. 

Eventually Megan grew up and went from being the girl aunt to the married woman with five children of her own.  We have a couple of kids who are the same ages and I'm glad that they don't live too far away.  Megan's sense of humor reminds me of Derek's and I always enjoy talking to her.  One of the things I admire about Megan is that I only ever hear her say nice things about Leon (Hub) and one of her favorite things is getting to talk to him every day when he's on his way home. 
She is talented, and fun, and a good organizer.  She does a good job of teaching her children a lot of things while still managing to organize in a little time for a favorite show or a book she's interested in.  She somehow keeps up on politics and I sometimes call her in the hopes she'll give me a few clues on who I should vote for.  She doesn't really go in for mushy blogs so I have tried to make this as non-mushy as possible.  I am thankful for Moogie.  She is intelligent, sympathetic, and fun.  She is truly magnificent!

Happy belated birthday!
*Really Megz, you need to jump in front of my camera a bit more often!