Delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders & jolts

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride. " --Gordon B. Hinkley

My sentiments exactly. I certainly hope I don't give off any pretenses about our family & lives with this blog. We are not perfect or pretend to be. Heck, we(meaning me) are far from being crafty/uber-organized. Those only come up once in a blue moon or as circumstances necessitate. You notice that I don't put up pictures showing how chaotic our typical days are? There's a reason for that. There are a lot of things in our day to day lives that are hard & a lot of it related to the challenges of Autism Awareness day being every day at our home, a lot from having 4 kids, some from personal issues or the impact of others' choices and how they effect us, all the while still trying to make spouse top-priority while juggling it all & having the house somewhat respectable looking with the multiple therapists and dinner made on time. Some days it takes all my energy just to survive and/or hold my tongue. In the meantime, I'm trying to "have joy in the journey"(Thomas S. Monson) and to "feel my feet"(learned about in Time Out For Women this May).

It is done!!!

So, I have made a pretty huge accomplishment that I am feeling pretty darn good about. The last of the baby weight from Brent is all off--I had about 10 extra lbs on my frame when I got pregnant with him coming up on 3 yrs ago. From the day before Brent was born 2 years ago up till today, I have lost a total of 47 lbs. The last 32 of that has come off since this February. I am now at my ideal weight, with my small bone frame, and have maintained within a couple lbs or so for about a month now.

By the way, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on exercise till my clothes are snug. It means I get to do more functional fitness and not have to worry so much about the calorie burn.

A couple days before Brent was born:

Today:

Side by sides:

And yes, that is a different pic I added for the second after shot. I wasn't too thrilled with the above pic making my hair look flat. ;)

Summer fun

One of Brent's very few birthday presents this year was a Lightning McQueen bubble maker. Whoever made it was a genius. There is no way you can go wrong when you combine 2 of boys' favorite things: bubbles and cars.

Some swim & some birthday pics

Wall art finished

I've just about finished up my little project. Decided after trying to cut out the silhouettes that the X-acto knife idea I found wasn't the smartest idea. Didn't give me crisp edges, so I resorted to tracing the images onto cardstock and cutting it with scissors. I still need to run out tomorrow and get some double-sided tape since one of the kids probably used it up. Nice.

I also need to decide if I want the silhouettes in individual frames like this, or put them in a 16"x 20" poster frame. Thoughts?

Swimming and other things

Two weeks ago, the kids started up swimming lessons. To be honest, I wasn't sure how Collin would do being in a non-"parent & me" session and handling the deep side of the pool. The first 20 minutes of class are in the shallow(3-4 ft.) and the second 20 minutes are in the deep side(6 ft). The first few days, Collin had a really hard time. The second and third day I spent all but the last 5 minutes of each 20 minutes getting Collin in the water & staying in the water. I made quick acquaintances with the pool managers. I am happy to say that I am the only parent allowed to be all the way up next to the edge of the pool when I need to assist Collin--keeping him on task & being an extra set of eyes to make sure he does not let go of the pool.

By the end of the first week(each class lasts 2 weeks), Collin had decided he liked staying in the water. Now I just have to deal with keeping Collin on task & having a bored 2 year old--Brent just turned 2 on Friday. Drew was in Collin's class. Drew's done well enough to move up to the next swim level. Collin, no surprise, is in the same class as last week. He can do most things but won't put his head or face in the water without help. Ivy's doing well, as expected. This week, she's in a new class and actually learning new things.

Brent had his 2nd birthday on Friday. Thursday night I took Brent to Target to pick out a couple toys. Between the toy stimulus overload and close to bedtime--I didn't want to take all 4 kids if I could help it--we had some pretty serious tantrums. We finally(after over an hour) came home with a Lighting McQueen toy car that sticks out its tongue, a 5 pack of Hot Wheels cars, and a book about trucks. Tom got whisked away to a Scout campout, so we only saw him for about 30 minutes between Friday morning and about 2 pm on Saturday. He got a Funfetti(?) cake with homemade buttercream frosting--I almost had a cow that the cheapest storebought frosting was like $2 for a tiny thing. I drew Elmo on it. Didn't turn out as nice as I wanted, but it was still recognizable and enjoyed by all. I did some fingerpainting with the food coloring since I forgot to set aside some frosting. Whoops. Lesson learned.

Today, keeping the kids as busy as I can. I'm making some cheap wall art today. Probably will be done in a day or two. The tutorial is here  (click for link) and here is a picture of me doing a layout with a poster size frame. Ivy's silhouette looks funny, since she had a low ponytail and I was being nit-picky about Collin's looked larger than her head size. So I cut off the ponytail and taped it on higher. Then I photocopied it 104% a couple times to get it the right size.

Here's the original picture I had for Ivy.

More pics and video of the swim class & birthday up in a couple days.

Father's Day

I'll be honest, I'm a little annoyed that the Coast Guard drill weekends tend to fall on Mother's Day & Father's Day every year. Today's no different. However, in spite of this--including an extra long drill day yesterday--we did try to get some stuff together for Tom. The best part was, for the most part we didn't have to go anywhere to make it and it was very inexpensive .

I found this printable:  http://alittledelightful.blogspot.com/2011/08/fathers-day-printable-all-about-my-dad.html, and had the kids answer the questions themselves. The answers are completely the kids' answers with no prompting. I love Drew's answers that Tom is 70 & likes to wear clothes. It's also interesting 2 of the 3 know he likes to go to church. Well, all 3 do, I suppose since technically Tom's calling in Boy Scouts is at church.

Drew:

1. My dad's name is ______ :  Daddy

2. He is ____ years old: 70

3. And  _____ tall: Really

4. He has  _______ hair and _____ eyes: Black, black

5. My dad likes to wear ____: Clothes

6. And his favorite color is _____: Pink

7. My dad likes to go to _______ : Church

8. And his car is a(n) ________ : White one

9. My dad's favorite sport is ______ : Tennis

10. And his favorite tv show is ______ : Batman

11. He likes to cook ______ : Tomatoes

12. His favorite food is ______ : Oatmeal

13. His favorite drink is: _______ : Juice

14. And his favorite dessert is _____: Peach crisp

15. My dad is the best at _______ : Testing games on the computer

16. My dad tries really hard to ________ : Tickle me

17. And he is so special to me because __________ : He lets me play the Wii

Collin:

1. My dad's name is ______ :  Daddy

2. He is ____ years old: 6-7

3. And  _____ tall: Really

4. He has  _______ hair and _____ eyes: Black, brown

5. My dad likes to wear ____: Sunglasses

6. And his favorite color is _____: Red

7. My dad likes to go to _______ : Boy Scouts with Andrew (Tom doesn't take them much anymore, but Collin never wanted to go & always volunteered Drew)

8. And his car is a(n) ________ : White

9. My dad's favorite sport is ______ : Running

10. And his favorite tv show is ______ : Biggest Loser

11. He likes to cook ______ : Spaghetti

12. His favorite food is ______ : Cornbread

13. His favorite drink is: _______ : Juice

14. And his favorite dessert is _____: Candy

15. My dad is the best at _______ : Races

16. My dad tries really hard to ________ : Sleeping (a LOT of truth to this, whenever he tries to get a nap he gets interrupted instead)

17. And he is so special to me because __________ : He's 7 years old

Ivy:

1. My dad's name is ______ :  Tom

2. He is ____ years old:  About 45

3. And  _____ tall:  Is

4. He has  _______ hair and _____ eyes: Black, Brown

5. My dad likes to wear ____: His Starry  Night tie

6. And his favorite color is _____: Blue 

7. My dad likes to go to _______ : Church

8. And his car is a(n) ________ : Elantra

9. My dad's favorite sport is ______ : Racketball(as spelled by Ivy)

10. And his favorite tv show is ______ : Biggest Loser

11. He likes to cook ______ : Yaksoba(as spelled by Ivy, she means Yakisoba)

12. His favorite food is ______ : Chicken noodle soup

13. His favorite drink is: _______ : Apple juice

14. And his favorite dessert is _____: Peach crisp

15. My dad is the best at _______ : Swimming

16. My dad tries really hard to ________ :  Teach me to play volleyball

17. And he is so special to me because __________ : He takes me to Knott's Berry Farm

I also found this printable: http://aproffittablelife.blogspot.com/2011/05/fathers-day-free-printable.html, (printed out the yellow version since our printer is black & white only) and framed it with an 8x11 frame we already had.

We made this craft at Drew's last preschool class. All the kids made one--since school was out, Ivy & Collin came along.

I also made this video for Tom, since he will likely be missing the kids singing "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" today in Sacrament meeting.

Our last Fathers' Day gift was from Brent. He made this in Nursery today at church. I think this is so cute.

Final thoughts of the day:  We are really happy that Tom was able to make it for part of second hour of church. Since yesterday was an especially long day(till 10 pm plus travel time home), they(his unit) were told they'd be off by noon today. Of course, we held our breath on that one and thought he'd maybe only make part of the last hour of church. He really enjoyed the kids being excited to see him after church--they didn't see him much yesterday, and he must have under-estimated how much they enjoy him being around. The kids gave him their gifts at home, and he said he felt like he was being treated as if he just came back from Kuwait all over again.