Random photos by Ivy

Ivy learned how to take some pictures w/the Nikon. Here are the ones she's taken so far.

Andrew w/paper towels

She did several screen shots of Littlest Pet Shop

A screen shot of when Tom video called us on Skype

One of me talking to Tom via video

Collin & Andrew

Not sure why she took this of Andrew. Maybe he was about to turn off a dvd?

Her Littlest Pet Shop Collection: Panda

Mouse. She also has a purple peacock. I'm surprised she didn't take a photo of it.

Collin sitting on my lap today

Andrew picking a book from the shelf.

feeling crafty again

This morning, I found an online tutorial for a crayon roll. I thought it looked like a fast project and would be helpful for long car rides, at church, and keeping Andrew busy when Ivy starts swimming lessons in a few weeks. This one is Andrew's, sans crayons. He picked out the fabric. Ivy has already requested me to make one for her out of fairy fabric. Oh, before I forget, this is where I found the tutorial:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/

We have thoroughly enjoyed my sister & her husband staying with us on their short trip. Andrew really warmed up to both, which was awesome, considering a little over a year ago he didn't want my sister(then a sister missionary) to hold him. It has been really nice to have someone to talk to. I'm going to miss that soo bad.

A very short update

Ivy finishes kindergarten the end of next week, with 2 weeks off till swimming starts. Our peach tree is now empty. Tom told Ivy he'd be home soon after the last of the peaches fall off the tree. We have a pretty good idea when he will be coming back, but no "official" date till 10 days before. Not much time left till our estimated return date. I've made it this far, but doubt my ability to make it this last stretch. I told Tom as soon as he's adjusted back to this time zone and he's done w/his demobilization process, I may just take a long nap.

On the bright side, one of my younger sisters will be in the area for a short trip this week--I think for a wedding in her old mission area. Hopefully, we'll get some time with her & my brother-in-law. Oh, and we have our missing camera back. It was gone for a month & a half @ the in-laws(who didn't know it was there). It figures, after we got a replacement. I figured it was lost forever in one of many black holes at my in-laws. Have to say though, I like the way the Fujifilm takes pictures better than the Nikon I just got.

Picture of the new faucet

Here's a picture of the faucet I that I installed--the one that didn't give us any problems afterwards. The blue is the color I chose for the bathroom walls when I painted. It's almost done.

Perfect timing? (Ivy's homework)

So, as many of you may already know we had an earthquake here last night. It was originally labeled as a 5.0, but downgraded to a 4.7. Shook the house pretty hard. A few things rattled around, but nothing breakable fell or broke.

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/ci10410337.htm

So what's this got to do with Ivy's homework? Well, Tom's internet has been down for awhile now, so he's been calling home to talk after the kids go to bed. Ivy missed most of school last week(she and 5 other kids got sick, in a class of 20 kids), so I had her finishing up her homework to turn in today. The page she was working on, she had to come up with a fire safety rule, and write it on a pre-drawn firefighter hat. I was busting up laughing(so hard that I was crying) while trying to tell Tom her rule, when the earthquake started. Her rule? "Put out the fire."

The end is in sight

Who'd have thought we made it this far through our journey? We certainly couldn't have made it this far without the help of friends & family. Thanks everyone, whether it was physically helping out in some way or just being a listening ear.

Time has passed relatively quickly, thanks to keeping busy with Ivy & Collin in school & therapy for Collin.

It reminds me of a quote I found several years ago by Albert Einstein: "When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."

We've been pretty fortunate to not have so many of the "hot stove" type of moments these past several months. Not to say we haven't had our challenges: neighbor issues(a couple different neighbors, I won't go into either), behaviors from the kids, my running on less than 6 hours of sleep for about a week & a half and crying at everything because I was so drained, and Ivy throwing up several times this evening while the boys wanted me to play with them.

The end is in sight, and each day has suddenly started getting longer. I'm happy to report though that there have been some positive developments in recent days. Collin is getting more interactive, especially trying to say silly things(that he knows sound ridiculous) to see how I will react. For example "I want frosting"--we have none in the house over 98% of the time. He says this with a big smile, expecting tickles.

Collin has also learned to help with the washer & dryer, and will now ask me if he can "help laundry." Actually, all three kids like to help with that. Now, if there were only some way to get them to fold/hang up & put away their own laundry so it's not all left to me.

Another recent development is that I have been "fixing up" the master bathroom, with paint, new faucet, and a new shelf. My inspiration for the paint colors was the calm of an empty beach. I need more calmness in my life and treasure the moments when I can truly relax.