It's BEAUTIFUL here. It seems like it's almost skipped Spring and moved straight into Summer. And everything exploded into bloom all at once. It's been a spectacular Spring and I don't think I've ever been more moved by the Earth waking up. Probably partly because I feel like, in a lot of ways, I'm waking up myself. This has been a good year for us with a lot of good (little) things happening, and it's been a nice feeling. We won the Health and Fitness Challenge, so I feel like I have a new me--body and spirit. Rob is in the Bishopric and I'm a Primary teacher, so we have new church responsibilities. I'm writing articles for M and C, so I have a new job. I'm on an indoor soccer team now--a renewing of old loves. And we did a No Whining Chart for Miciah (more details to come), so I feel like a new Mom! Lots of newness going around.
And then Spring came. We had a late winter storm in mid-March, and it stayed colder off-and-on until early April. And then WHAM it was 70 and 80 degrees out and all the flowers, trees, and grass that hadn't been growing or blooming yet said, "Oh. That's right," and they all decided to bloom and grow, all at once. Like I said, it's been amazing. Spring isn't my favorite season, but if I could have kept that feeling all year, I wouldn't mind that at all. Euphoria.
The Immunology Conference and Rob's Knee
Rob enjoyed the Immunology Conference all right. He said it was warmer here than it was in San Diego, and that's just not right. He didn't get out of it as much as he would have liked, but I didn't feel that bad for him since he got to eat out every night on someone else's tab.
While he was in San Diego, he injured his knee. The bad knee. The one that's already had surgery. Nice. He's been wanting to go back into the doctor for some time about other little things like his hip being really tight, and his ankle that he sprained a few months ago, but that's still hurting him. With the knee injury I finally insisted he go in to the doctor that did his knee surgery. It's normal to have some knee pain kneeling, but for it to surface 3 years after surgery, and while just walking? Odd.
By the time he got into the doctor, his knee wasn't hurting as bad, but the doc still sent him to a physical therapist. The doc took some X-rays and said his knee still looks good, and his ACL is still tight. So no worries there. And the physical therapist has been very helpful. He gave Rob lots of stretches to do and it's already helped (he's only been doing them for 3 days). What they think this whole thing all boils down to (the knee, ankle, and hip problems) is the fact that Rob's been walking differently since he hurt his knee (that was 6 years ago!). He's changed his gait to compensate for the injury, and it's finally caught up with him (Rob took off his Sunday shoes that he's had for the same amount of time he's had his injury (we're buying him new ones with the new suit he needs and we'll buy come Friday--the shoes are trashed and the suit is now too big) and showed me the bottoms of them. The right shoe--the treads were almost gone in places. But you could still see all the treads on the left shoe). They're hoping with physical therapy and the stretches, they can bring everything back to normal and set it all right. ... It's kind of a bummer to pay all this money for X-rays and doctors and physical therapists, but we've been through a period where Rob didn't have a working knee, and it wasn't good. We're willing to pay the money to make it right again. It wouldn't be very fun for Rob to have to be in pain the rest of his life.
That's Rob's news.
Indoor Soccer
My news. I am on a co-ed indoor soccer team. We're not very good, but we have fun and that's what matters (which is the slogan for losers, I know). I've only played one game so far, but it surprised me what comes to me still and what I've lost. It was nice to pull out my cleats and put them on again. I made Rob address my shoes like they were my old friends. I feel like that's what they are. I was trying to figure out how long I've had them, and I know it was since mid-high school. That's over 10 years. They're my friends. I got an assist at our game. The other team was MUCH better than we were (they've obviously played before and together): most of the people on our team have never played before at all. But it was most fun to watch the game from the bench and see who got called fouls on for what. One of the girls on our team--sweet, soft Sarah--got called on a foul. The guy stole the ball from her and was a few feet past her when he tripped, and the ref called a foul. Not only did she not actually foul the guy, she is not capable of fouling anyone. I called out (softly but loud enough), "Make sure he ties his shoes next time!"
The most exciting thing of the night was about our goalie. One of the guys on the other team who kicked the ball HARD (I'd forgotten how much more powerful guys are than girls. Every time he shot the ball, I turned away. I have a bruise on my upper arm from where I stopped one of his shots (on accident)) shot a ball right into our keeper's eyeball. His glasses flew from his face and landed a few feet away. The ref stopped play and gave the shooter a dirty look. The guy apologized profously, said he did it on accident, and got off the field fast to appease the ref. Our goalie went off, too, cause he couldn't see through one eye. His glasses weren't broken, thankfully, but he had a HUGE shiner. Didn't bruise up too colorful, but it was swollen, and his eyeball was a cool color red. :) He said he was thankful he didn't get seriously injured. Yeah. Cause it's all fun and games till someone ...
More Soccer, Different Person
Miicah is playing soccer this season. We signed her up months ago. When we got the first call from her coach, he informed us that all the games are on Sundays.
After Miciah's first practice she came home and announced, "I am a genius at soccer!" That isn't true, but she has a lot of fun playing, and she's been playing for 3 weeks and I'm super impressed with how much she's improved in that time. Plus it's warm outside now, so she's been kicking the ball around outside for fun. I showed her a move and it was hard for her to do. She said, "Practice makes perfect" and then tried over and over until she could do it. Kids are amazing.
So far Miciah is one of the weaker players, but none of them are fantastic: they're all 6- and 7-year-olds. They're just out having a good time.
I have learned several things through Miciah's involvement in soccer:
1. I'm the same kind of soccer parent that my parents were. I never really wanted to be, but now that I'm there, it sounds a whole lot nicer than being any other way. I didn't sit where the parents are "supposed" to sit. The sun was in the wrong place to sit there. I stood behind the other team's parents. You could see the field better. ... And practices and games aren't social time for me.
2. I have a hard time stomaching parents and coaches who yell at the kids. Period. Did you know these kids are 6 and 7? What's your problem? Don't yell at them!!
3. It's harder than I thought to let my two little boys wander off to play on the cool dirt pile. :) Memories flooded back to me of big soccer fields with corn fields surrounding them, or a swamp, or woods, or random dirt piles. I let Elijah and Teancom walk over to the big dirt pile, one eye on the game, one on the pile. The whole time I knew they were fine, but it was harder than I thought to just let them play 100 yards away.
Miciah's team got slaughtered for one of the games, not because the other team was better, but because there was 1 girl on the other team that was a super star. I was half glad it wasn't my team, because the parents of the other girls felt the need to make their kids be as good as that one prodigy, and they yelled at their kids mercilessly. But it struck me while watching this little girl who was exceptional, "Am I looking at myself when I was little?" That sounds cocky, so I quickly abandoned the idea that I might be. But it was an interesting thought still. Here was this 7-year-old who already knew field positioning, who was running circles around the other girls. She scored maybe 7 goals all by herself. She could dribble. She could actually shoot. She was coordinated. ... I was amazed.
We have to find another league for Miciah in the Fall.
Thank You, Barbie Mariposa
And Barbie Mariposa. Miciah has been asking for Barbie Mariposa, the newest Barbie movie, since she saw the previews on Barbie as the Island Princess (her Christmas gift). I told her I'd think about it, but the problem is, there's no upcoming event to give it to her for. Her birthday isn't till October, and by then it'll be old news. I found it for a good price and so I bought it and then held on to it and waited for inspiration to strike. I decided we should have her earn it, but I wasn't sure what for. I thought maybe for reading a certain number of books, but she needs no encouragement along those lines. I thought for something to do with school, but again, what? So finally I just showed it to her. She was so excited. I told her that she needed to earn it and it came to me right then: A No Whining Chart. For 15 days she had to not whine. Every night she'd get a sticker and when the chart was full, she could have the movie.
What amazed me most about this adventure wasn't that she could do it. What amazed me was how much I had been reacting to her whining. The whining drives me INSANE and I didn't realize until there wasn't any whining how much I was simply reacting to her yucky tone. I would reply not so nicely and she would feed off that and so on back and forth. By the end of those 17 days I was calmer, I wasn't yelling at my kids, and I was SO much happier with Miciah. It was easier for me to be patient with her, and for me to be able to see and love all her good points. Thank you, Barbie Mariposa. A few days after she had earned the movie she was back to whining and I sat down and talked with her about how much easier it is for me if she chooses not to whine. She said, "I did that chart so that I wouldn't whine for the REST OF MY LIFE?!!" It cracked me up. She's done really pretty well since, and it's been blissful for me.
Cotton Can Sport
Elijah is now a crack-up. The latest awesome thing he's come up with is Cotton Can Sport. No, you're not supposed to understand that. One night he just came up with this person: Cotton Can Sport. So far as I can tell, it's a combination of Cotton Candy and Sport. The person apparently brings lots of candy. I think he's also kind of super-hero-ish. He sits down and tells us lengthy meaningless stories about Cotton Can Sport. Usually Cotton Can Sport has a house. ...dramatic pause... And his own tools. ...dramatic pause with dramatic facial expressions... Rob and I have a hard time not laughing. It's pretty cute.
During that soccer game he loved playing on the huge dirt pile. He would go around to the backside of it where we could barely see him and sometimes he'd be out of sight for a few seconds. There came a point in time when I hadn't seen him for maybe a minute or two. I decided to send Rob over to check out where he was. Rob was turning to walk over there when the game behind us was stopped by the blow of the ref's whistle. And Rob says, "Elijah's in the middle of the field!" The ref stopped the game because our son was just strolling through their game. :) They ushered him to the sidelines and Rob went to claim him. It made me giggle that probably people were thinking, "What awful parents." Unless they were older parents, in which case they probably thought, "That's happened to us about 20 times."
Teancom
Teancom is now tan. It's Spring.
I'll send some pictures of Teancom at M's baptism. He loves dip. He walked up to M, who had a full plate of food, and started eating all the dip she had to go with her chips. Teancom loves to dip the chip (or carrot, whatever's available), suck off the dip, and then dip again. Gross. We finally got him his own plate of dip and had to take pictures of it.
I still gush Teancom about 80 times a day and he still lets me. Loving it.
High-Speed Internet
Oh! We did get high-speed internet, and that's big news for us. Sure, we're a few years behind the times, but better late than never. I've caught up on all the videos I was saving up to watch on youtube, and I've updated my facebook and myspace sites. I can actually check my gmail account now and logon to my bank page without it stalling and giving me errors.
And in light of the high-speed internet, it must be time for me to start a blog, since I've had several requests in the last month or two. My problem is that I'm lovin' the e-mail format. So I need feedback. To blog or not to blog? That is the question.
Love you all and hope you're enjoying your Spring as much as we are!!
Tamra and family
Dude, I was serious about anyone wanting baby guppies. Apparently guppies have babies like rabbits, and we have a fresh batch of 6. That's 4 that survived the first birthing, 4 that survived the second birthing, and 6 new ones. Too many guppies!
Here's a picture of Rob being goofy. So out of character for him.
And two of Teancom covered in dip. He was so cute with the dip. He had it all over him and was so excited to eat it (it was all he had for lunch, I think). Their Uncle Aaron who was there was teasing Teancom to make him give him some dip. Teancom finally looked at him like, "Well, if you REALLY want it, ..." and then started trying to put a chip in Aaron's mouth. Cute.
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