Tired and Grateful

You know the old saying "a mothers' work is never done"? It's true. I've been a little under the weather this week and while I'm thrilled that I am now nausea free I have the energy of a fish in one of those big tanks at the doctor's office. (You know the ones I'm talking about, you stare at them for 10 minutes before they move?) Anyway, after vacationing and playing with visiting family there's really so much to be done around the house and yard, but all I can do is stare at it helplessly as I lay on the couch or shuffle into the kitchen to get something for someone. The harder I work at motivating myself to get up and accomplish the many tasks awaiting me the more tired I get. Just today I was working up the energy to get everyone ready for church and woke up at 3:30, we arrived at our 2:00 church at 4:00. (Before you crack some joke about Brennan in your head or to your spouse, he's not feeling well either.)

Oh, and all of this mental anxiety and physical wimpiness is exacerbated by the fact that I'm pretty sure I have a semi-infected spider bite on my leg. It's really big and really sore but the worst part is imagining when and where I was victimized by some disgusting horrible arachnid. Ewww. It's emotional torture.

Anyway, as I've pondered my never-ending to-do list (okay so I don't actually have a written list, I'll get to that (assuming I live through the night) as soon as I've rescued my laundry room floor from complete extinction due to evil overflowing baskets of mostly clean clothes (they have been washed, but now a good portion of them have been stepped on by several sets of feet which are varying degrees of dirty.) that seem to be growing by the second.) I have become really grateful for the large amount of jobs that aren't on my list thanks to Brennan.

Here are a few of the recent things I'm grateful I didn't have to do:

He took my car and: 1: got the brakes fixed, 2: got the big dent banged out, and 3: got the transmission flushed.

Earned, saved and paid the money required to get an air conditioner installed in our house!!!! He also found someone to install it and totally dealt with them for me.

Discovered non-functioning sprinklers and called someone to fix them.

Takes the garbage out, I know that's kind of cliche and may not sound like a big deal but I get kind of claustrophobic when the garbage piles up but I HATE taking it out.

Pays the bills, both by working hard and earning the money for them as well as budgeting and paying them.

Cleaned up after Ben's stomach flu.

Cleans our shower.

Got up early with Ben Saturday and Sunday morning. (We usually each get one morning to sleep in)

Put kids to bed alone numerous times so I could party with my family.

Cleaned the kitchen many times over the weekend.


Those are just a few of the things Brennan has done and always does for us. I'm so grateful. For all those of you who have ever taken care of a family and a house all by yourself I don't know how and just thinking about it makes me realize I really need to get back to the couch.

Anna's Latest

Here's a few pictures of Anna's latest design. A vest she designed, made and modeled.

Update

It's been awhile since I've written about what my kids are up to and saying lately. I can't believe we're already to the end of June -- sheesh, it's FLYING!



Anna has been such a source of joy and help lately. She is an ideal oldest child as she has set the tone of kindness, interactive and imaginative play, and just plain goodness. She is remarkably patient with her younger siblings. She has really become very maternal and during our family vacation with my family there were four 2 yr. oldish boys and she was quite often playing with, holding, cheering up or somehow helping one of them. She also came to me the other day and told me she's been trying really hard not to cry when she gets hurt. It's taken almost 10 years, but I'm so proud of her for making a conscious effort; however, it did make me a little sad too -- she's growing up. We love Anna.



Abby is my daughter. Of all my kids it KILLS her to miss out on any fun. Every time we interrupted the fun on our vacation for bedtime she was in tears. She would be a zombie basically sleep walking she was so exhausted but would still tearfully, angrily try to convince me she didn't need to go to bed. Every time we're in the car listening to music she'll say, "Mom, I know what this song is about." and then proceed to explain to us which is often the first time I've ever thought about the lyrics and/or meaning. Also tonight I was talking to her about how hatred is dangerous and has caused people to do such horrible things (they were asking about Hitler because of a movie we watched for a few minutes) She was thoughtful for a moment and then said, "Mom, what did Yoda mean when he said that fear leads to anger and anger leads to the darkside." You can pretty much learn everything from Star Wars, right? Anyway, that Abby, she's always thinking and that keeps me on my toes. We love Abigail.



On our vacation we had a big tube for the boat to pull. That is exactly the kind of thing Nate talks about doing, wants to do, but just can't quite talk himself into. Fortunately his big time wall-street working uncle offered him $5 and he did it!! I was so proud of him and so happy for him to have conquered an obstacle and while I'm not sure he had fun as much as he gritted his teeth and bore it with sheer determination I think he was proud of himself. Tonight on tv he saw a group of guys singing and dancing. He said to me, "Mom their skin and outfits match." They were all African-American. To him it was like some super level of planning and coordination. We love Nate.



Poor little Ben woke up in the middle of the night last night throwing up. He went through that several times last night and this morning. Each time I held a bucket up to him knowing there was more to come he'd push it away and in a brave weak little voice say "All done!" As if he could will it so. Later this morning he insisted I bring him some toast. I was hesitant not sure if his stomach was quite settled yet. He wouldn't let it go though so I finally brought him a dry piece of toast. He looked at it and then me and said, "Butter!" Lately whenever he needs a little extra attention or love he'll come to me and in a really sad voice say "Mom, Nate push me!" I'll admit that that scenario is somewhat feasible; however, when he's accused that recently he's been nowhere near Nate. Little stink. We love Ben.

Tag - I'm it

Thanks, Becky these are good for me every now and then to make me really think. The rules are... Post these rules on your blog: List 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions/Collections, and 3 Random surprises about yourself. Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names.


3 Joys:

1. My kids interacting with each other happily.
2. Laughing with Brennan
3. Summer nights (you can't beat them here)


3 Fears:

1. Sharks and actually just the ocean in general.
2. Unlocked doors.
3. An empty social calendar.


3 Goals:

1. Keep up with my house better.
2. Prioritize time better.
3. Receive some discipline in my life.


3 current obsessions/collections:

1. My flowers and vegetable garden.
2. Cafe Rio sweet pork salad.
3. Oh and probably blogging.


3 Random Surprises:

1. I've always wanted 6 kids and 4 kids later, I still do. (want them that is, whether I get them is another story).
2. I dream of writing a book someday although I have no idea what type of book or even what the subject matter would be.
3. I'm the most UN-surprising person EVER.

I tag: Eliza, Macy, Rebecca, Dad, Mandolin and Brynn. Oops that's six, oh well.

Family Reunion!

We just got back from a wild and crazy weekend with my parents and all my siblings and their families. We haven't all been together for 3 and 1/2 years so it was high time and so much fun. We booked 4 condos for the 28 of us and after a few adventures arrived Thursday evening. We ate a wonderful dinner then went for a swim.

Anna, Victoria and Abigail

Zach, Rex and Nate

Attempted human pyramid

Oh so close, but ultimately failure.

Then a few of my brothers felt the need to jump over things. Here's Christian:

Untitled from Andrea W. on Vimeo.
And Ryan:

Untitled from Andrea W. on Vimeo.
The next day we got up and headed to the lake. We rented a boat and played and played all day long. After a 15 year or so hiatus I attempted water-skiing. It wasn't pretty, but I did get up and am still very very sore.

Melissa, Molly and Davis

Mom
Molly
Victoria
Josh and Belle
My Mom gave the little kids these hats and Oliver would not take his off the rest of the day.

After another yummy dinner we had a talent show! Here are just a few shots of that fun.

Rex and Nate light-saber fighting
Anna showing her design skills
Abby doing a dance
Davis and Ryan singing.

Lastly here's a video of Christian's talent. He came a little unprepared and so performed a little impromptu interpretive dance. Enjoy.

Untitled from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

The next morning we got up, packed up, and went to a park for a big soccer game. After that we drove home, napped and met up again for family photos, perhaps the biggest adventure of all! I hope some of them turned out.

We are so grateful we all got to be together and have so much fun. It doesn't get better than family. Thank you all of you who traveled so far to be with us and worked so hard to make it all happen. We love you all!

Birthday Party -- The Good, the Bad, the FUN!

Yesterday was a big day. For Nate's 5th birthday I decided it was finally his turn to have a party with some of his friends. The theme was fairly easy to come up with --- Star Wars!

The bad news is that Nate and several others couldn't stand the little jedi tunics I made for them.

The good news is I found the fabric at Wal-mart for a dollar a yard and look how super cute they look in them!!!

Yoda is not amused.

The bad news is, I spent 3 nights and a good part of yesterday creating a paper-mache death-star pinata that was totally demolished in about 5 minutes. (I realize that's the point, but still it was a little painful to see my work of art be so obliterated so quickly.) Plus, I forgot to take a picture of it.

The good news is the boys loved it, it was a definite highlight. What boy doesn't love to destroy, especially something so evil like the death-star.

The bad news is my Yoda cake looked more like a weird green cat.




The good news is 5 year old boys aren't particular and as long as they got a piece with some icecream they were happy.

The bad news is that my non-violent games like popping bubles with their "light-sabers" (pool noodles with tape around the bottom) occupied them for approximately .43 seconds before they started mercilessly whopping each other.

The good news is pool noodles are really soft.

The bad news is I was so busy I couldn't possibly do everything I needed to to keep things running smoothly.

The good news is I was brilliant enough to enlist the help of Anna and her bff, Chloe (who made her family delay their vacation so she could help) who were honestly MADE the party a success with all their help.

Chloe

All in all it was a great time. Boys are so much fun if you can just keep up with them! Cute Lucy was a great sport about being the only girl guest, but as you can see she took it pretty seriously.

Rex

Pod Racing

Ballet Recital

Saturday night was Anna's and Abby's ballet recital. We are so proud of them for all their hard work this year and couldn't believe the progress they made. It was so much fun to watch our two girls up on stage sparkling. I managed a couple of pictures of Abby dancing and a video of Anna dancing while Brennan and I wrestled Nate and Ben.

Abby is right in the middle.
Abby is the third from the left.

Anna's Dance Recital from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

Happy Fathers' Day!

I am the incredibly lucky daughter of the man above. He's truly a remarkable man and one of my biggest blessings. One of my favorite things about my dad is how expressive he is. He is so quick to express love and praise me. He's a great thinker and teacher and I'm amazed at all he managed to teach some often less than receptive kids. I live in the home my parents lived in for over 20 years and probably every couple of months someone at church mentions my Dad and how much he touched them through his teaching or service. He, like his father was, is a genuine people person and reaches out to people of all kind. We've associated with many colorful characters because of Dad's kindness. Many people beyond just his family recognize his wisdom, goodness and spiritual insight and seek his counsel. He's one of mine and Brennan's most trusted and helpful advisers. Lately, I've watched as he and my Mom have completely devoted their lives to God, their kids, parents, and community. I couldn't have a better example than my parents, and a more wonderful Dad than him. I love you, Dad! Happy Fathers' Day!






This is a pretty great group, huh? I'm not sure how I got such an amazing Dad for me and my kids. Brennan has been such a great person to parent with. He's extremely devoted to our kids and each of our kids knows they are adored by their Dad. He loves them and expresses it, he's affectionate, he plays with them, etc. Sometimes one of our kids gets in a state that I can't deal with. Not just because I'm out of patience (which I usually am in those situations), I honestly can't get through to them to help them. Brennan has an ability to calm them down and reason with them. I don't know what I'd do without him. I love Brennan! Happy Fathers' Day!

Here's what our kids think:

What's your favorite thing to do with Dad?:

Anna: Play "care bear" (a game he made up), hide n' go seek, tag, and go camping with him (they slept in the tent in our backyard last night.).
Abby: Play games and go places fun.
Nate: Cuddle with him and wrestling with him and going places with him.


How does Dad make you laugh?:

Anna: sometimes his hair is crazy, he does weird funny things.
Abby: Tickles me and teases me.
Nate: When he tickles me on the armpit and when he tricks me.


How do you know Daddy loves you?

Anna: Everything he does.
Abby: He says it and he hugs me and plays with me.
Nate: Cause he plays with me.


How do you feel about Dad?:

Anna: I think he's the best Dad in the world, and I love him very much!
Abby: I love him so much and he's really nice and he's the best daddy in the world.
Nate: I love him about that (arms spread way out) big.

As for Ben, well every time he needs to be changed, or put to bed or helped in anyway and Brennan's around he says, "Daddy do it!" Ben loves his Daddy.

Natey

5 years ago today Nathan was born. After two girls we were so excited to have a little boy. I instantly felt a different spirit about my new little baby boy than I had with girls. I know it sounds weird, but even with this little tiny baby I felt a protectiveness in him towards me.

Nate was my biggest baby at 8'1" and that was just enough to springboard him into legendary chubbiness. My Grandpa dubbed him "double wide". He was such a mellow, happy, responsive baby. He was so rewarding to interact with because of his ready smile and big twinkly brown eyes.




My feelings for my little boy are extremely tender. There's such a vulnerability about him especially given his sometimes extreme shyness and fear of new situations, that I'm especially protective and sensitive towards him. He can be my most perplexing child and can drive me to distraction with his off-the-chart-stubbornness (like when he insisted there was no law that forbids 4 year olds being left home alone), but there is also something so indescribably sweet and lovable about him. He can melt my heart in an instant. Even just looking at him with his long eyelashes and perfect little eyebrows and thoughtful eyes melts me.

He's developing quite a sense of humor and often has our whole family dying laughing. He loves his sisters and loves Ben. He is also a loyal and devoted friend and cousin to Rex. He has a great imagination and will sit and play forever by himself with play dough or some action figures or a ball. He asks a lot of questions and the wheels are always turning in his head. He's very tidy, he's my child who always puts his shoes on his shoe shelf and keeps very careful track of his toys and treasures. We are so incredibly grateful Heavenly Father sent us Nate. Happy Birthday, Nate. We love Nathan!

"Hey Everybody It's Family Night!"

Does anyone besides our family know that song? I think it's a Janeen Brady classic. "Hey everybody it's family night, you better take the phone off the hook. Hey everybody it's family night I've already got the family night book.."

Some of my very favorite interactions with my kids is playing games together. For the most part the times we play games is as part of our family night. (In our church we're encouraged to designate Monday nights to having a spiritual lesson and fun with our family.) Last night we played a game I vaguely remembered playing as a kid (thanks Ryan for remember how to play)called Inny, Inny Aye Over (sp????) and Sidewalk Tag. Sidewalk tag is the game where someone stands on the sidewalk and the others try to cross the sidewalk without getting tagged by the person who's it. If they do they join the tagger until everyone's been tagged. So much fun, my kids LOVED it.

As for Inny, Inny Aye Over you divide into 2 teams and one team is in front of the house while the other is in back. One team yells "Inny Inny Aye Over!" and then throws a ball over the house. If the other team catches it they run around the house and ambush the other team. If they hit someone with the ball that person joins their team. If the other teams fails to catch the ball they yell "Inny Inny Aye Over" and throw it back over the house. We did this forever last night and had a blast. The kids couldn't throw the ball over the house so Brennan and I were the designated throwers but they helped catch and attack the other team.

As usual Ben insisted on being part of the action. He amazed me with his ability to catch on. It was the cutest thing to watch his smile come tearing around the front of the house with ball in hand ready to get one of us. He actually did hit his target more than once. So funny and cute.

Anna, Abby and Nate loved every minute of both games and that's just plain fun as a parent to watch such joy on all of your kids' faces.

We have a less than stellar track record on being 100% with Family Home Evenings and even when we do have it we still have many nights when no one can sit still or quit bickering long enough to listen to a lesson. Sometimes it seems like despite our efforts it's all very fruitless, but then we have one like last night with a sweet lesson by Abby and then just great fun together that makes me totally believe this is an inspired program.

In the past I sometimes just didn't have the energy to pull it all together, but now I don't have a choice. You see awhile ago I made this:



I know it doesn't look like much, but honestly my kids won't let us not do Family Night now, they totally know what their respective jobs are and look so forward to doing their part each week. Best cheesy thing I ever made!

Weekend Update

This morning after a tall glass of chocolate milk and a face to prove it, Ben gathered up some things in Abby's bag, put Nate's hat on and bid me farewell. I asked him where he was going to which he replied, "Wex (Rex) and Woosy (Lucy). Bye, I wub you!" Rex and Lucy are two of his adored cousins. I watched him walk out of the room, heard him open the front door and when I went to see how far he'd actually go I saw him sitting on the front lawn as if waiting for his ride.

He makes me very happy.

This week we had a wonderful little get-away. To celebrate our anniversary Brennan and I left the kids with my parents (thank you!) and escaped to a beautiful mountain resort about 45 minutes away. We had so much fun just being alone together for 24 hours without the chaos and craziness we're so accustomed to. The next day I did some shopping while Brennan went back for the kids. We brought them up the 2nd day to enjoy the amazing heated pools and a fun resort stay. As soon as we unloaded the car we headed for the pool. It's an outdoor pool which they keep heated at 95 degrees so that people swim even when it's snowing. There are also like 5 little hot tub pools which each vary in temperature. After our swimming adventure we cleaned up and went out to eat and then for ice cream. It was a really fun time until Abby woke up that night to throw-up. The next morning we skipped a few of our plans and packed up and drove home. Poor little Abby was a trooper and is finally feeling better today.

11 Years

Samson

Remember the story of Samson and how his strength was tied to his hair? Well, I have discovered where my strength lies. My ipod. I lost it for like a day and I'm telling you, I was completely lost. I couldn't seem to clean or be productive in the least without some good music playing, didn't want to drive anywhere without the kids and me singing our guts out to our favorite tunes, couldn't read my scriptures (okay I know I could have cracked the book) or prepare my lesson (I download scriptures and lessons onto it). I just wandered around aimlessly (probably a lot like Samson post haircut) asking my kids over and over again if they were sure they hadn't seen it.

Fortunately for all of us I found it! Whew. It's good to be a functioning member of society again.

Happy Birthday, Brennan!

Guess who's 37 today? Woo hoo, happy happy birthday Brennan, dear! I kind of can't believe how old we're getting. Of course, he's MUCH older than me. :) I love this picture because you can tell he's saying something sarcastic the moment I'm taking the picture. You can also tell he's amused and that's because no one amuses Brennan like Brennan. I love it. The other reason I enjoy this picture is because of below:

This is actually the bottom part of the photo which shows us Brennan's current favorite foot fashion. I'm not sure it's legal to use the word fashion in association with this look, but this is what my husband wears everywhere other than church and work. Date nights, neighborhood parties, errands etc. He claims it's so comfortable. I can't see how in the world it could possibly be comfortable to have sock crammed in between your toes. He hates being barefoot and has the most lily white feet I have EVER seen.

The thing is, I have had so many wives ask why on earth I let him wear this strange footwear phenomenon out of the house. It has never occurred to me not to, okay maybe a couple of times it did; but this is precisely what I love about Brennan. He is his own man, he could care less about false impressions, he laughs and shrugs off the comments he gets, and he's full of quirks.

Brennan is kind, generous, tender-hearted, funny and always fun. You always know exactly where you stand with him. He doesn't play games with people, what you see is what you get. He's incredibly loyal and has a way of being super direct while still making people feel comfortable and loved. He's truly one of a kind and I'm so grateful he was born and that I get to be married to him. I love Brennan!

Mrs. Evelyn L. Ryan

My newest hero is a woman named Evelyn Ryan from the book I just finished, Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. (It's also a really good movie.) This woman was a mother of 10, married to a barely functional alcoholic (he managed to go to work, but spent a huge part of his minimal income on alcohol.) She juggled her children, her husband and their poverty all by herself. Again and again she faced the most dire circumstances with nothing to fall back on except her wit, faith, and the grace of God. Which, by the way, came through every time. She refused to be a victim and wouldn't allow her children that luxury either. What a woman.

The other thing I LOVE about Mrs. Ryan is that writing was her outlet. She used her trials for inspiration and transformed them into charming little poems and essays. She would have been the ultimate blogger.

I have much to learn from Evelyn. Maybe next time my relatively few children are bickering or my wonderfully loving husband fails to read my mind, or I don't have enough money to buy something really frivolous I'll stop and remember to be grateful, cheerful and faithful (after I blog about it, of course).


As a little bonus for reading my ramblings, here are a couple of poems by someone who really knew how to write, Mrs. Ryan:

Flaw

A husband's a treasure,
A jewel, and a joy;
An in-the-rough diamond;
A gem of a boy;
A pearl of great price,
It has often been said...
But mine has one foible
That makes me see red!
It's been a hard day
From the opening gong;
The washing, the cooking
Have all turned out wrong;
The kids have been hellions;
The house is a wreck.
Now, watch how far Hubby can
Stick out his neck:
With hand on the doorknob,
With pause to survey,
With "Mother, what have you
Been doing all day?"


Writer's Resolution

Enough's enough! No more shall I
Pursue the Muse and scorch the pie;
Or dream of authoring a book
When I (unhappy soul) must cook;
Or burn the steak while I wool-gather,
And stir my spouse into a lather
Invoking words like "Darn!" and such
And others that are worse (Oh, much!)
Concerning culinary knack
Which I (he says) completely lack.
I'll keep my mind upon my work;
I'll learn each boresome cooking quirk;
This day shall mark a new leaf's turning...
That sm--l! Oh H--l! The beans are burning!


Every time I pass the church
I stop and make a visit
So when I'm carried in feet first
God won't say, "Who is it?"