Part 2 of the Update

Easter

We did nothing for Easter this year, owing to the crazy home project, and it was fantastic! We didn't feel like we missed out on anything, and it helped us be calmer and more focused on the real reason for the holiday (sorry, guys, it's not all about the candy and colored eggs). We got Elijah candy for his birthday party, just a few weeks before. My mom sent the kids all an Easter gift. And we had an Easter feast with R&C, which was lovely. What's not fantastic about that?

I did promise Miciah that we could dye eggs another time: Mother's Day. I think that's a good idea, and we might just have to continue that tradition in coming years.

One thing we DID get to do for Easter is sing a duet in church. Rob and I sang "Did You See Him in the Garden?", which is one of the most powerfully moving Easter songs I've ever heard. I really connect with it, and we performed pretty well, I guess. Everyone liked it, anyway, and I LOVE sharing that song with people.

ty.com
My Mom got Miciah a beanie baby duck named Quackly (Miciah is obsessed with stuffed animal ducks, for some reason. She already has 5 or 6 and wants more and more and more) for Easter and it came with an online play. Like webkins, I imagine. She has already spent a lot of time playing on the site and she thinks it's the best thing ever. She has been able to earn enough "beans" to purchase her duck a bed and toys and all that. Weird.

The kids playing on ty.com:More Book Fun

Miciah continues to write us stories and books and such. What a fun stage! Here's the text for her latest book: The Happy Easter Book. (The book was fully illustrated with stickers and everything, but I'm only including the text.)

By: Miciah Thacker
The Happy Easter Book

One day a hen was sitting on her eggs when c....r....a....k! crakaly crak! c..r..a..k!

An egg craked open! The hen flew out of her nest! When the chick was four years old, the chick couldn't wait for Easter! I can't wait!

She couldn't wait for the Easter Bunny to bring her eggs!

Then mother hen called her. It's time to go! Go where? she asked.

Suddenly, mother hen led her chick out of the barn for a Easter egg hant! Is it Easter? she asked. Mother hen said yes!

This is the best Easter egg hant ever! she said as she picked up eggs. Relly!

Thee End

(the back cover says:
Becuause she is vary sweet and kind!
for M$. Lyon$
for M$. Lyon$
from: Miciah
(Ms. Lyons is her school teacher.))

Rob was reading the book with her and he said, "Miciah, if the chick was 4 years old, she would be a full-grown chicken." Miciah, with perfect logic, said, "Elijah is 4, and he's not a man." At this point in Rob telling me the story, I started laughing. What a good point! Rob went on to tell Miciah that it's not the same with chickens. But still, I think that's a tally mark for Miciah.

Miciah also wrote us this riveting book: Not Ugen! (This book was illustrated, too, of course, and I'm including the 2 that cracked me up.)

To: Mom and Dad
Not Ugen!
By: Miciah Lynn Thacker

Hi! I am painting a picher! Do you like it? Oh, No! Not ugen!

I Have't to take a bath when that hapens. But I don't know why.

My Mom says that It is Because I got drty ugen! How? I ased. You wer painting! And wut? I asced.

The paint splaterd you! Oh. I said. Just take A Bath! said Mom.
The End

Elijah

Elijah is still a sweet, sweet boy. Spastic as all get out, now that it's warmer outside. Which has made me think a lot about March and April weather. We despise April because it's not warm enough, but April is warmer than March, and we have nothing against March. I have decided why that is. March is our savior from winter. March is when we get to say things like, "It's finally warming up!" And April gets a bad rap because we want it to be warm like RIGHT NOW. For April we think things like, "Aren't you May already?" Poor April.

Anyways, fact remains that Elijah is a spaz. It'll be warm for a few days and then it's rainy and cold-ish for a week. And all of the kids are being almost intolerable.

But Elijah still melts my heart by saying things like, "Mom, I love you, and I like your eyes." Aw. Who can't love a boy like that?

He also is widely recognized as being the boy with a ton of expressions. In fact, a couple at our church, whom we hardly ever talk to really, just recently said to us that they refer to him as The Boy With a Thousand Faces. Elijah is always winking and smiling this cute little shy smile and nodding and raising his eyebrows. He's very expressive.

He's also very good at compliments. We had a friend come over and he said, as she was leaving, "I like your slippers." She said thank you, but they were sandals, not slippers. He thought about that for a minute and then repeated, "I like your slippers." Elijah is one of the best geniune complimenters that I know. It's adorable.

Other things that he's complimented of mine: my shirt (he's actually wearing it right now--the Mighty Mouse one), my dresses for church, and my hair. "Mom, do you know why I like your hair?" Why, Elijah? "Cause it's getting big." Elijah is excited that I've decided not to cut my hair for the rest of the year (Not growing it out, mind you. Running a social experiment and taking journalistic notes along the way). Elijah has decided that he wants his hair long, too. "Like yours," he says. I haven't talked to him about growing mine out, he just wants his long. I just shrug my shoulders. Who really cares, right? But his hair is getting really shaggy, as you can see in this picture:
I just can't see why I should turn down his request to grow his hair out a little.

Teancom

Still the most addicting child on the planet.

The other day I was lounging about the house, reading a book (this is mainly what I do these days. Lounge and read. Read and lounge. It's great.), when it dawned on me why I've been enjoying this so much. 1 - I have the time to read. My boys let me have some "me" time. Miciah NEVER let me do that. And 2 - Teancom will just come, curl up beside me, and sit with me. For hours. Literally, hours. What's not warm and cozy about that? Get yourself a cup of hot chocolate, enjoy a good book, and cuddle with your calm 2-year-old.

I have decided, though, that the drawback to Teancom and his addictive cuddling, is that he's an obsessive cuddler. He HAS to cuddle A LOT. If he wants to be held, you have to hold him or he freaks out. And he'd prefer you held him most of the time. I still carry him a lot, even though he's old enough that he should be walking everywhere. ... About this time in his life is when I should be popping out baby #4, right?, so then he would HAVE to stop being held cause I'd have a new one to hold. But as there isn't a baby #4 in the near future, we'll deal with a clingy, cuddly Teancom.

Rob and Work

I haven't written about Rob and work for a while because his work has ceased being a stressful thing. It was all Rob would talk about for months, and now it's not really a stressor for him. It's WONDERFUL.

We have realized, as Rob returns to his normal self, that he hasn't been his normal self for YEARS. We're talking years upon years. Really, almost since we got married. While he was in school and so stressed and busy that he could hardly see straight. Having Rob back is fantastic. I told him he is never allowed to go away again. I feel like he's been re-born this year. His joking around and easy smile are commonplace again.

I also told Rob that if one of our kids has his disposition, and they're thinking about higher education like a PhD, I will tell them it's not worth it. I'm not sure Rob being Dr. Thacker was worth losing Rob for 7 years. Perhaps time will change my mind on that, though, since time does things like that.

Rob and Church

Rob's calling is also no longer very stressful. Actually, a few weeks ago we had a stressful day that revolved around his calling, and it was weird, cause we haven't done that for a long time. It was a reminder to us that we need to still be diligent about our committments to each other and that if we're not mindful about balance, things won't STAY balanced.

The Temple

We went to the temple last Friday, and it was a stressful day because things didn't go down as they were "supposed to" in my planning brain. I realized, later, after I was so stressed about this that I almost cried, that this is why I rarely plan anything more involved than dinner. Cause I have a hard time adjusting to things if they don't go how they're supposed to.

Anyways, it was great to go to the temple with Rob and the kids. Rob went through a session with his parents (to correlate with Mandy going through the temple for the first time. She was in UT, we were in OH), and I took care of the kids on the temple grounds. Elijah has been BEGGING to go to the temple, and how do you tell a 5-year-old no? You don't. You take them to the temple!

Funny enough, for all his wanting to go (and he really wanted to go, cause a friend offered to watch the kids for us so we could go through together, and I mentioned this to Elijah and he said NO! He wanted to go to the temple), he had a really short attention span while we were there. He liked sitting inside and being in the garden area, but he was just your typical spazzy 5-year-old most of the time, too.

While we were there, we had some adventures like Teancom falling in the stream (he was far enough away that by the time I could have reached him, he could have been in big trouble if he hadn't gotten himself out) and saying, "I choked." Great. And Elijah saying he had to go potty and then running off in an odd direction and out of sight. I found him inside the temple waiting room (which was the OPPOSITE direction of the way he started running, of course), with a temple worker helping him go potty.

It was a wonderful night, but when Rob got out of the temple, I said, "Rob, you just got a dose of spirituality. The kids are YOURS."

April and Service

At our church, the women's group focused on Service for the month of April. April isn't over yet, but I have spent a good amount of time and energy this month on service stuff. It's been fun and interesting and I've learned a lot about service and what it is and isn't.

As part of my service efforts, I learned how to make bread. No, I never knew how to make bread before. Rob and I made 3 different recipes, all of which are very good, and I can now say that I can make bread! Hurray for me!

Losing Weight

Rob and his family are doing the 12 week Health and Fitness Challenge that Rob and I did a year ago with my sister-in-law. It's great to be back in the swing of healthy living. Our motivation this time is to be in shape enough to enjoy Yellowstone at the higher elevation, and to be able to hike Mt. Timpanogas when we're in Utah. I'm excited about that! I've never hiked it before.

And after almost 2 weeks of the challenge, Rob has already lost 7 or 8 lbs. He is now at the lowest he's been since our first year of marriage. And total weight loss, from his peak, is 70 lbs. He hopes to be able to lose another 15 lbs. during this challenge to put him actually below what he weighed when we got married. One thing I love about Rob: he has shown he can do it when he puts his heart into it. So, hurray for Rob!

And that's our update from this end. Hope you're all doing well and that life is as good to you as it has been for us.