Birthdays and Milestones

Maryn turned 12 this year. On what planet is this possible?!?  Words can't begin to express how surreal this experience is...it really has gone by so fast.  I can still so clearly remember the details of her birth.  It's amazing that this was 12 years ago.  Not only is she not a little girl anymore, but even worse, this is the last year of "tween-dom" as next year she will officially be a teenager. Aye yi yi, somebody pass me a cane already!  LOL!

She had a friend (only one at a time for sleepovers) over for the night, and we all celebrated her milestone birthday.  She asked Avery to make her birthday meal...chicken and dumpling soup, one of her new faves.  Avery and Dad also made the above pictured chocolate cake concoction.  (I kinda like this new trend in the house...hee hee!) 

Maryn received her Faith in God award from participating in Activity Days, and so her leader (ahem) got her a pretty necklace with a key charm that says "Faith" in the middle. (I knew it was her the moment I laid eyes on it.) Coincidentally her friend got her a matching bracelet from the same store in Ottawa...small world, and great minds thinking alike, and all that jazz. :)  She got some other gifts too, among them was new bedroom furniture and bedding.  However, we are also planning on painting her room, so I will post pics when we get it all pulled together.  I must say she was mighty pleased at the prospects.  She's got the decorating bug just like her dear old mum.

As many of you know, Maryn has been taking flute lessons for a couple years now.  She has progressed into a flute ensemble with her studio that she takes lessons from, and they performed a program called "Flutes by the Fireplace" at Starved Rock Lodge.  It was really cool, and definitely got my thumbs up.  The participants are adults, teens, and some kids.  They were all fantastic, and the music and setting were gorgeous.  It sooooo got me in the Christmas spirit.

Maryn looked so cute, and did great!  This was her first real recital experience, and even though it wasn't a "solo", I could tell she was trying her best.  We're so proud of her. 

 

We are so grateful and happy for our newly twelve year old girl, and for what she brings to our family.  Happy Birthday to Maryn Elizabeth!!

My Heart

One of the girls took this picture of a tree on one of our nature walks in town.  I was immediately struck by how it resembles a heart...all of those branches like arteries and valves connected, pumping blood and oxygen to different parts of our bodies.  It made me think about my heart...it is so full right now.  I just need to get some of this out before it bursts.

Last Sunday, Mark bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting.  He expressed gratitude and love...for me and the girls and our family.  His words were so sincere, my heart was touched.  I wish I could have done the same, but alas the time was gone.

So here goes:

I am so grateful for my husband.  He is my best friend.  He makes me laugh, sometimes until I cry (or pee) or both.  He supports me in everything I do. Whether I want to work, or whether I want to take some time off, he says yes.  Whichever I choose, he has my back.  We make it work.  He supports me in my callings.  He supports my interests and projects.  He even supports my OCD issues with the house.  I am grateful for his support.  He has concern for my health, and well-being.  He knows when I'm just having a bad day, and I just need to talk.  He also has the wisdom to encourage me to go to the doctor when it seems to go beyond that.  He sometimes knows what's best for me better than I do.  He is the best dad in town.  He loves the girls without hesitation.  He makes their lives better, and I could not be a parent without him.

I am grateful for my daughters.  They are each fascinating individuals.  Their minds and bodies are healthy and full of potential.  Their hearts and souls are full of kindness, purity, and love.  They inspire me to do better, and be better.  They are examples of Christ to those around them, and desire to do good in the decisions they make.  They are growing into young ladies right before my eyes, and as I see this happen I can't imagine that my heart can stretch any further in love and pride in them and who they are becoming.  I love being their mom.  I am grateful to be a mother.

I am grateful for my parents and my siblings.  I am part of an incredible family, with rich and diverse heritage.  I am grateful for growing up in a house filled with love, forgiveness, service, laughter, and traditions.  It has made me into the person I am today.  When I think of my family, I mostly think of laughter.  That has truly been a light amidst the darkness that exists in life.  I am thankful that my siblings have always offered their love in the form of laughter and friendship.  I am lucky to have them.  I am grateful for my second family.  Who knew that my heart could stretch enough to include in-laws, more nieces and nephews, and second cousins?!?  It has.  And they have taught me valuable lessons, and I am grateful for them.  Sometimes I think about my ancestors that I have not yet met and gotten to know very well.  I look forward to the day that I can talk freely with them.  Did they imagine what their family would become generations after them?  I look forward to the same realizations when it is my posterity looking back at me.

I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation, and that families can be together forever.  I am grateful for Temples, for our Prophet, for the scriptures, for missionary work, for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for his Atonement, and for repentance.  Because of the Gospel, I know who I am, why I am here, and where I'm going.  I know that the trials and tests in life are a way for us to grow...to learn how to get back up and dust ourselves off when life knocks us down...to remember that who we are is not defined by how many times we fall, but how we rise above it.  It is all part of a glorious plan.  A plan where I am of infinite worth, and what I do matters.  A plan where I am loved unconditionally and perfectly, and where some of the only things required of me are a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  I know that it is true. 

That is what's in my heart right now, and I just had to share it. 

Respecting the Bird, Detroit Style

Thanksgiving morning, Mark and Ben took the kids downtown for the Annual Thanksgiving Parade. The weather was gorgeous, and the crowds were surprisingly friendly and happy. Great parade day! This picture actually makes me miss working downtown (a teensy, weensy, miniscule amount)!! Ha ha!

This is the spread--we had all the favorites, and they didn't disappoint!!  Thanks to Mom and Erin who pretty much cooked themselves silly.  And a special shout-out goes to our very own Avery Jane, who was the super-est Sous chef of all time!!  She was Grandma's right-hand wingman for the entirety.  She assisted with the Traditional Waldorf salad, and the sugar-free/fat-free pumpkin pie concoction (for our diabetic friends).  She chopped, fetched, mixed, and arranged; and she did not complain once!  Thanks Avery!!

This is what we did on Black Friday.  I say "pa-shaw" to shopping.  Any deals that are acquired on such a day aren't worth it to me in the long-run; making memories and enjoying family time do.  We had a fun day at the Zap Zone!  The friendly kid running the go-karts let all of us ride for the price of 3...Parker LOVED it!!  I did too, although I'm still kind of horrified that Avery smoked all of us.  Mark had to keep it low and slow cause he had Parker shot-gun, so that left spanking her to me.  I failed...miserably.  But I tried.  She is one daredevil lady!  Mark and the big girls got to do laser-tag, while I took Parker to the "jumpy" house.  She loved that!  After that, I went mini-bowling with the big girls, and was once again put to shame...this time by Maryn.  What is happening, I ask of you?!?  We all played as many token games as we could stand, and all we had to show for it were 4 bottle rockets, 2 dum-dum suckers, and a couple jolly-ranchers.

On Saturday, we took a drive north to Midland, MI.  We wanted to check out a college that just so happens to be hiring an English professor.  Midland is nice.  We liked it a lot.  Please pray for us.  We would like to go to there.  :)  The downtown area was all decked out for the holidays.  They even have a whole house next to the courthouse dedicated to Santa!!  It was so fun!!

So we are back home now, and I am feeling a little yuck-o.  I have a fever, headache, and my stomach is not quite right.  I took the day off from teaching yesterday, and am trying to get things organized around the house.  I managed to take down Thanksgiving, and am in process of putting up Christmas.  We'll see how much progress I can make this week.  There are only 3 weeks left of the semester, and I couldn't be happier about that.  Thanksgiving is over, and I am already ready for Christmas break!!

Being Thankful

It's that time of year again...Fall Open House style...ha ha!! I usually spotlight my Halloween decorations, but I decided to change things up a bit and display Thanksgiving. Even though it's a quick-turnaround taking Halloween down, and getting Thanksgiving up, just to have to take it down and get Christmas up, I still love to (as Melanie would say) RESPECT THE BIRD!! I love Thanksgiving, and the chance it gives us to spend time together as a family being grateful and counting our blessings.

This is a new addition this year, I found it at Marshall's and I love it. 'Nuff said.

This is in my kitchen/dining room area. I have loved looking at the things on my shelf that I need to remember to be most grateful for: the Temple, Jesus Christ, and my family.  Also to "Give Thanks" in everything. 

This is the top of the piano in the living room. Some oldies, but goodies. Mom, you probably remember some of these pieces...because they are hand-me-downs from you! Some pieces are from Laurie too. I like how decorating can combine our different heritages, and also how we can begin our own along the way.

This is the Thanksgiving fence that I made back in the day at a Super Saturday with Laurie and Shalee! I remember it because it was soon after (?) Shalee joined the family and we made them together (?) I think I'm remembering that, but correct me if I'm wrong Shalee. :)

I have much to be thankful for this year. 2012 has been a relatively calm, and positive year for us. I'm grateful for that!! (Especially after the last several years we've had.) Most of all I am grateful for my family, my friends, and the Gospel. That is what brings me the most joy, and without these things I wouldn't be who I am, or have the blessings I do.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Tree-pocalypse

We knew this was going to happen eventually.  We have been begging our neighbors to remove this tree since we moved in.  Basically, we knew it was only a matter of time. 

The first summer after we moved here, the first big branch broke off.  It was in the middle of a big thunderstorm, and this was when our bedroom was on the southwest side of the house.  It was night and we were in bed when we heard it come down.  It sounded and felt like our house had been hit by lightening.  When we got outside, we realized it was one of the top branches, and that it had fell uncomfortably close to the house.  We knew that when the whole thing came down, it would basically be positioned to fall right on the roof.  So that's when we asked our neighbors the first time to cut down the tree. 

The neighbors came and cleaned up the fallen branch and debris, and agreed that the tree needed to be removed.  They told us they'd have it done by the end of the summer.  Then they abandoned the house later that Fall, and we haven't seen them very regularly since.  We bumped into them this past summer at Tonica Fest.  They said they were planning on cutting the tree down, and actually rebuilding a new house on the property.  They said that it was all going to get started asap.  And since then...nothing.  So you can understand how we don't have a whole lot of trust in their word.  They still show up during the summer months to mow the grass on the property, but pretty much they have disappeared.  And the tree remained. 

At one point, we even priced it out and considered just taking care of it ourselves.  However, as life goes the money has just been needed in other areas, and we haven't pursued it either.  Although in the back of our minds, we knew it was coming down...one way or another.

So as far as the tree coming down, circumstances couldn't have been more ideal.  We feel like in a lot of ways it has been a blessing, and a good reminder of how fortunate we are.

1.  It happened during the day.  We didn't have to worry that it fell on the house while Parker was sleeping in her bed (the side of the house where it fell is right over Parker's bed).  We also could survey the damage immediately because we had daylight on our side.

2.  It happened on the weekend.  We were home when it happened, we heard it, and we were able to attend to it asap.  That may have not happened had we or our neighbors been at work, or been occupied with other things, and couldn't immediately get to it.  Also, our neighbors were home and were able to immediately attend to helping us out with it.

3.  Nobody was on that end of the house when it fell.  We were all in the kitchen, eating lunch.  It sounded like a huge thunderclap, but shook the house, so I immediately thought earthquake.  Except the ground wasn't shaking.  Then Mark and I looked at each other, and both said "the tree!"  We knew it before we could finish our words.  We both ran back there, and I fully expected to see branches in Parker's room, through the window or the ceiling at least.  But there was nothing.  No cracks, no holes, no broken glass. The items on the shelf on her wall were even still in tact.  This is where we started feeling pretty humble and grateful for how blessed we had been.  No damage inside the house!

4.  The way the tree fell is nothing short of a miracle.  Of the 3 big boughs of the tree, the 2 left big boughs literally straddled the northwest corner of the house, so only the right bough actually made contact with the house.  But because it broke in half first, it never rested on the wall, or the roof.  Lots of the medium size and smaller branches did, but not the big ones which I would guess weigh quite a bit.  There were huge sections of the tree trunk laying on the ground where pieces had snapped in half and broken off, which basically saved our house from being demolished.  We couldn't believe it.

5.  At first, the number Mark had for the neighbors didn't work.  Because we live in a small town, we only had to call the first other B******-name in the phone book to find one of his relatives.  It was his mother, and she got of hold of him asap.  Because of that, he probably felt the weight of what was happening.  Imagine your Mom calling you to tell you your tree fell on your neighbor's roof.  Uh oh!  His wife showed up, feeling terrible.  I'd never met her before.  She is obviously the sensible driving force in the family.  She assured us everything would be taken care of, and was so glad nobody was hurt.  So now he's got his mom and his wife on his case.  He showed up a little while later.  This is where we kinda go "hmmmm..." though.  He showed up with 2 chainsaws.  If he had chainsaws all along, then why didn't he just cut the cotton pickin' thing down himself to begin with?!?

6.  He assumed total responsibility.  He offered to clear off the big pieces from our roof, and cut up the remaining lumber and dispose of it.  (Actually he wanted the lumber for himself, which it belongs to him anyway.)  They told us they would pay for any repairs necessary, and were very helpful about the whole thing.  It was probably the most we've ever talked to any of our neighbors in the whole 4 years we've lived here.  Cool, I guess...I mean, under the circumstances and all. Ha ha!  At least we were able to be cool about it, we didn't flip out, which is probably what they were expecting.  Maybe we left a good impression in their minds, and maybe they will remember that the crazy Mormons next door aren't so crazy after all?!?

7.  Our Insurance adjuster is here today, filling out paperwork for our claim. It looks like our policy will cover everything.  We should have a check in a couple weeks.  It's all good.  And it hasn't snowed yet here, so we've got some time to get things repaired and fixed up. 

So you can imagine how blessed we are feeling.  It could have been SO MUCH WORSE!!  We keep repeating that over and over.  Thank goodness it wasn't worse!  Thank goodness conditions were so ideal.  Thank goodness that our neighbor hasn't been a jerk-wad about it.  Seriously, it has been a wake up call.

Especially after watching footage the past few weeks of Hurricane Sandy.  Natural disasters happen all the time people.  Especially in the last decade.  They happen everywhere.  No one is immune.  The important thing to keep in mind is preparation.  Being prepared physically is priceless.  Being prepared spiritually is also of the uptmost importance.  Having the proper perspective, we feel, has helped us to recognize God's hand in our lives.  We see this as His tender mercy being laid upon us, instead of a hardship meant to inflict punishment or hardship.  We see it as a sign He is there, watching over us, and keeping us safe.  Wow, it's been a spiritual experience.

Junior High Moments

Oh man, I am not ready for this stuff!!!!  I feel so unprepared for the whirlwind that lies in front of me...somedays I just want to swaddle her up and stick a binky in her mouth again!!  Okay, that's a really funny image...ha ha ha!!  Let me just laugh for a minute...ha ha!!  Ok, back to reality.  She's not a baby anymore! She's not even a little girl anymore!  Gone are the days of picking out a baptism dress, planning play-dates, the Tooth fairy, and Polly Pockets solving all that is wrong and unjust in the world.  Ugh!!!!!!  She's a TWEEN now!!  How did this happen?!? 

Anyway, enough of my boobing.  Maryn had her first "Middle School Dance" this month.  It was for the whole Junior High...6th, 7th, and 8th.  She looked cute, and was excited for a night out with her friends.  Mark and I both dropped her off, and seriously considered hiding in the bushes to spy on them, but alas we did not.  We spared her the humiliation!!  Can you just imagine what that would have looked like?  "Shhh...it's okay, don't mind us, keep dancing!  Click, click...shhhhh!!!"  LOL!! 

There is a boy in her class (actually a few, can you blame them?!?) who "likes" Maryn.  Mark affectionately refers to him as "Orbit Boy".  Meaning that Maryn is the Earth, and he orbits around her...drawn by her gravitational pull.  LOL!!  He is so cute, and it's hilarious to watch.  She knows he's there, and she's polite, but she seems utterly unaffected by it.  It's all quite fascinating.  So we asked if he was going to ask her to dance, and she said, "yes, he asks me pretty much every day."  Doesn't that sound like a line from Napoleon Dynamite?  Ha ha!!  Anyway, it ended up there weren't any slow songs at the Dance.  Which is actually FINE by me!! So they danced some "Fast songs".  Not sure what that means, or how on earth that looked (tee hee), but whatever!! 

So it's official, she is GROWING UP!!

The Politically Correct Version of a Ward Halloween Party

Friday night was our Ward's "Fall Festival", otherwise known as the Halloween party. I don't know why we can't just call it a Halloween party. Is it because it's at the Church? Is it because we are not supposed to acknowledge that we actually celebrate Halloween? Whatever. It was a Halloween party. There were costumes, games, a spook alley, candy, and a chili cook-off. There was supposed to be cornbread, but the members didn't get that memo. There were, however, plenty of desserts too, and fortunately they were abundant, and yummy!!

Maryn and Avery's creativity was in full swing. Avery wanted to be a "Voodoo Doll". This is what we came up with. By the end of the night, she had exactly 3 pins left in her heart pillow. Uh-oh, guess that means that people better remember to wear their shoes in the building for awhile...:) Also, hopefully those ginormous vacuum cleaners actually work!! Maryn was the "Invisible Man/Tween". She wanted to use actual strips of gauze for her face, but we decided that would be better for Halloween itself.

Parker was Supergirl again. What can I say? I bought her a frilly Dora flamenco dancer costume this summer from a garage sale, and when I brought it out to show her, she was like, "no!! I need to be a super-hero!" I guess she's got the world to save, not to entertain flamenco style. Plus I think she's kind of over Dora. She doesn't seem as interested and in love as she once was. Oh well, I'm getting used to her dramatic mood swings. LOL!!

This is Parker's little buddy at Church. They were born 1 month apart, and he is the older of the two. They have been little twins so far, but now the divide (height-wise) is growing. I just think they are so cute together. Maybe my dreams of them marrying aren't so realistic anymore?

Parker wanting to help vacuum. She hates the vacuum at home, but she loved this one!! Nothing like pulling out the industrial vacuum to tell the Ward members that the party's over! Time to go home!!

Until we meet again....next HALLOWEEN!!