Grateful

Thanksgiving is past, but I kind of want to continue the Grateful posts until Christmas!  What a fun exercise!

But I won't do that.  Cause that would be a lot of a lot.  One last Grateful post should do it.

I'm grateful for my family.  Here's a picture:

The ones in orange are the snake and the fish.  I don't know what's wrong with all of our eyes.  Though I have to say that my eyes look the best.  Not trying to brag or anything, but the truth is the truth.

I'm grateful for this little boy:

We've started working with him on how to calm down.  It's lovely Patience Practice.  ...  Also, I have to say that months back I finally, in total sincerity, asked the Lord to help me attain more patience.  I quietly asked to skip over life-threatening illnesses and such, and I'm grateful that we've dodged that bullet for now.  However, there have been a LOT of opportunities for me to gain greater patience, and I'm insanely grateful for that.  I feel much calmer and happier and at peace.  Love it, love it, love it.

There are a billion other things that I am grateful for, and I'm not going to list them all.  If I like you, then you should know that you're on the list.  If I don't like you but you somehow make my life better, then you're probably on the list, too.  If I don't like you and all you do is weigh me down, then I'm grateful that I can practice charity towards you.  It's a work in progress.

Okay.  NOW Christmas can start!

Grateful for 382,037

Today I'm grateful for this:

I am convinced that our van has magical powers.  Proof:

1 - It has 382,037 miles on it.

2 - Some mechanics looked it over this week and agreed as a group that the van is in GREAT condition for as many miles as it has on it.  They couldn't find anything wrong.

And finally, the one that impresses me the most:
3 - Our van has me wrapped around its finger.  I don't know how it has done this, as I typically do not love cars.  Cars are ... vehicles.  But I have come to realize that every time I talk about the van I use human characteristics to describe it.  Things like, "Our van's an Old Man."  and "In the Winter it has a hard time waking up.  I turn it on and for the next five minutes, it says, "Hey!  What are you doing?!"

This van was the first vehicle I drove, my Senior year of High School.  The van and I were young together.  And now we're aging, him faster than me.  Van years are like dog years. But it feels like we were meant to be together.  For the beginning, and now for the glorious end.

Every day I wake up and I don't know if the van will run when I turn the key.  But each day that it does, I feel somehow that he's on my team.

So, thank you, Old Man.  I love the soul hidden beneath your metal.

Grateful for the Busy-ness

(I wrote this 3 days ago, meaning to post 1 Grateful blog post every day this week.  Clearly that didn't happen.  But it didn't because we've been busy.  Which is fitting for the post topic.  Thankfully, we've been busy hanging out with loved ones this week.  Blog or spend time with family, that was the question.)

One of the things that makes it so easy to forget to be grateful is the fact that we are busy.  Rob and I end up swapping the kids back and forth on our way out the door.  There's more to be done than can possibly be accomplished.  There's more that we want to say to each other than we have time to fit in.  Some days we run and run and run and still nothing seems to get done, and our exhaustion is all we have to show for it.

It can be a real downer.

But lately I've truly been grateful for the busy-ness.  It really sharpens our focus.  It's easy to see what we need and what we don't need.  Somehow it's easier to be soft and kind, because both of us realize that the other is working Hard, and both of us are trying our best.  I'm quicker to let things go, to forgive and forget, and kiss and make up.  (Rob didn't need to work on this, because he's always been good at it.)  I'm more focused on creating a happy environment at home because our home really is where we come to be at peace and wind down.  We don't have time to have an unhappy home.

So it's become a great ... purging experience for me.  I feel like a lot of my most important relationships - with myself, with my Heavenly Father, with my spouse and kids - have become simpler and yet more meaningful.  It's hard to explain.  A lot of the extra crap that I'd let exist because it COULD exist, I've striped that away.  There's just no time for extra baggage.

Plus, the busy-ness makes us 100x more grateful for the down time we do have.  I've started creating some down time every day, cause I need it.  I don't feel guilt about it, and I don't think about what I have to do next.  Then, when we get down time together as a couple or as a family, it's cherished time.  On top of that, it makes me want to do more with the kids!  There are 2 nights a week that I'm gone, so when I'm here, I want to be with them.  It makes everything more important somehow.

So hurray for busy-ness and the clarity it brings.  I feel like Heavenly Father is aware of us, that He's guiding and directing us, and I feel a singleness of purpose, even though there are so many things we're trying to accomplish.  This is one of our choicest blessings right now, and I am immensely grateful for it.

Grateful for Tithing Settlement

Today I'm grateful for tithing settlement.  If you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's our once-a-year chance to go in to our Bishop and declare ourselves a full tithe payer.  It's not mandatory - we signed up to do it - which means it doesn't feel restrictive.  It's a totally optional experience, and one that I happen to enjoy.

We were able to go in just this past Sunday and declare ourselves full tithe payers.  And it was a fun learning experience.

The first thing we noticed was that one of our tithing payments had been put down in the records as having gone to Tank's name.  Which made it look like Tank had made quite a bit of money for a 5-year-old.  We giggled about that.  (If you're wondering how that happened, remember that Tank's first name is Robert.  Then think about computer systems, lists of names, and then finding the first Robert Thacker and clicking on that name.  Easy mistake.)

Then the Bishop looked at each of the kids in turn and asked if they were full tithe payers.  Miciah said, "I didn't pay any this year."  The Bishop said that was okay, since she probably didn't make any money this year.  She thought about it and said, "I just got birthday money.  I'll pay tithing on that next week."  The Bishop put her down as a full tithe payer.

He turned to Elijah and asked the same question.  Elijah flat-out refused to say he was a full tithe payer.  He hadn't made any money, and he hadn't paid any tithing, and he was adamant that this meant he was NOT a full tithe payer.  The Bishop marked him down as a full tithe payer anyway.

Then he turned to Tank and asked him.  Tank looked at the paper in his hands and thoughtfully said, "I don't know how to read."  The Bishop said, "That's a 'yes.'"

Rob and I each were asked in turn, and it always feels really good to look over the numbers, realize how much the Lord has blessed us, and then declare that we are, indeed, full tithe payers.  There's a sense of pride and love that wells up inside of me every time.

But I'm most grateful for this tithing settlement because of the experience with the kids.  Last year the kids had been earning money for Key West, so they had tithing to pay.  And they really liked that.  We didn't even think about it this year, but we changed systems, they didn't earn anything this year, and so they didn't pay any tithing.  Miciah found a way to still pay something - scrounging up birthday money (we don't make them pay on gifts - that's a personal decision, and you can interpret gifts how you will).  But Elijah REFUSED to say he was a full tithe payer.  And while I'm glad the Bishop marked him down as one anyway, because the Bishop has a kind, discerning heart, I was touched that Elijah felt so strongly about it.  Elijah wants to be good; he wants to do all he can to serve the Lord.  He obviously felt that without paying any tithing, something was lacking. 

Rob and I determined to pay our kids something this next year, so they could pay some tithing.  Even if we don't do it all year (the idea was to save money), we could do it part of the year.  And then, when it comes time for tithing settlement in 2012, they can say with pride and love, "Yes, I am a full tithe payer!"

Grateful for Blue Monsters

It's Thanksgiving, and I'm ready for Christmas already!  Seriously, all the presents have been purchased, and I am READY.  This is actually the first year I've been ready to skip over Thanksgiving, but it's also probably one of the years I need it most.  With our lives at a faster pace than normal, I think it's extra important to remember all the great things we have.

So today I'm grateful for this blue monster:

I am not normally a sucker for buying things we don't need.  It's not that hard, and I'll tell you my secret: 
Rule #1:  Focus on what you already have and how great it is.
Rule #2:  Never go shopping with the kids. 
Rule #3:  If you do go shopping with the kids, because you forgot Rule #2, get used to saying "No."  Over and over and over. 

But this time Tank and I were at Target buying clothes for Elijah (broke my own Rule #2).  Tank looked over and saw some hats that he wanted.  He asked for the tiger hat.  It was an alright hat, but he didn't need a hat, plus all the hats were a smidgen too small.  I told him no.  And then he outsmarted me.  "How about the blue monster hat?"  I hesitated.  That hat was dang, dang cute.  I decided it wouldn't hurt to walk over and let him try it on, even if we weren't going to buy it.

And of course, once he tried it on, I was in love, and I had to buy it for him. 

Moral of my shopping story:  If you break Rule #2, you'll most likely end up breaking Rule #3.  But you'll also probably end up with a really cute blue monster.

The Rest of the Year

About this time of year, every year, I start looking ahead to sort of feel out what our Holidays will be like.  And here's the break-down.  (If you live in Utah, please pay attention!)

October 12 - 26:  My mother, grandfather, and for part of the time my father, are in town.  Hurray!
October 16:  Miciah's birthday.  Can you believe she'll be 9?!
November 1 - 12:  JURY DUTY!  I've never done jury duty before.  Can't say I'm excited, cause it'll be a massive re-arranging of our schedule, but it'll be interesting.  And it's a Grand Jury, so I won't have to live with the knowledge that I just put someone in jail.
November 19 - 29:  Thanksgiving in Key West!!!  Who's excited?!  Also, a stop over in Atlanta to visit our good friends who just moved there.
December 15 - ?:  Christmas in Utah!!!
December 20:  My brother gets married.
December 21:  Our 10 year anniversary!  10 years, man.  Crazy.  But it's been lovely.

Wow.  All of that happening in the next 3 months.  Not sure I'm ready for it.  But in some ways it'll greatly simplify our plans.  All we have to do is get to the places we're going, and hopefully they've planned something fun!

So, if you live in Utah, heads up!  Rob and I and kids will be around for Christmas.  (The dates listed include travel time.  So we won't BE THERE on the 15th.  That's the day we leave Ohio.)  We will be asking some of you to help watch the kids while we celebrate our 10 year anniversary by going to a fabulous bed and breakfast in Midway.  We're spending 2 nights this time, because 1 night is just not enough!  And then if we can join someone(s) for Christmas-type festivities, we'd be very, very grateful. 

Here's to a great rest of the year!  Cheers!

It's December 15th

and time for another update.

Thanksgiving

We'll start at Thanksgiving.  We spent Thanksgiving with Rob's family up in Toledo, and it was fantastic.  Rare for a family get-together:  there was almost no fighting amongst kids!  All the kids were old enough to just go off and play, so we didn't see them all day.  I suppose I should be lamenting that my kids aren't constantly attached to my hip any more, and I should be singing a sad song about days gone by.  ...  Whatever.  It's GREAT!  Hurray to have the baby stage behind us!

Rob also was able to spend some one-on-one time with his sister, Chiara, and I don't think that's happened in a long time.  Good times.

While we were up there, Rob's mom asked Teancom if he was her baby.  He said, "No.  I'm my mommy's baby."  It just made me smile, cause I'm always asking him if he's my baby.  Sometimes he'll say that he's big instead, but usually he's happy to be my baby and sit on my lap and suck his fingers.  He's still a cuddle bug.  He's also possessive about the term "baby cakes," which is one of the pet names I use for all my children.  The other day I called Elijah my baby cakes and Teancom said, "I'M your baby cakes!"   He's actually really possessive about just about everything that involves me.  We were watching old home videos of Teancom as a baby, and I realized that he's been possessive of me from the very beginning!  What a stinker.

Nativities and a Migraine, a story

The weekend after Thanksgiving Rob went back up to Toledo to sing in his mom's stake's Nativity with his sisters.  Miciah went with him, so it was just me and the boys at home from Friday night to Sunday morning.  They had a great time and it went well.  Plus, me and the boys sounded like a treat.  Having only 2 kids around is not a problem, right?

All except on Friday night my vision started dimming.  It was really bizarre and sort of scary, since it's never happened to me before.  I was having trouble reading because spots of light kept getting in the way of the text, and the whole left side of my peripheral vision was black, like static.  It's not like I was up late, either; I was in bed, lights off, by 10 p.m.

I didn't have time to wonder about what was going on, though, because when I woke up at 9 the next morning I had a MASSIVE migraine.  The worst of my life.  So I called Corene and she took the boys for a few hours.  Then I called the Browns and they took the boys for a few more hours.  I was finally able to get out of bed at 1 p.m., the boys were back home at 3, and we survived the rest of the day.  We didn't go to a party that evening, which was a bummer, but what do you do.  Rob came home before church to get the kids because I still wasn't feeling good, but we did go as a family to our stake's Nativity display later in the day, and it was fun, even though it completely drained me.

No more migraines like that.  It was NO GOOD at all.  And it just figures that it happened on the day when Rob was out of town, right?  I guess that's the way it goes.  How else can we be deeply grateful and in debt to our friends? 

A Working Furnace is NOT a Luxury!

Yesterday morning our furnace wouldn't start.  Luckily, it wasn't very cold outside, so the house stayed at 65°.  Rob came home to take care of stuff, and he went downstairs and randomly started tapping things with a hammer until the furnace started again.  So we have heat now, but who knows how permanent that situation really is.  So we decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and purchase a new furnace.  We've had problems with the furnace nearly every year we've lived here, and some of the problems have been large problems.

Thankfully, this year we have more money in the bank to cover this, the tax incentives are better this year than they were last year, and we'd already been through the hassle of interviewing companies.  So we just called up the 2 companies that we liked best from last year and asked for an updated quote (we still have all the paperwork.  We saved it because we figured we'd be using it this year).  The prices didn't change, and so we easily picked a company.  Zimmer Heating and Cooling will be calling us on Friday to set up a date to install our new 95% efficiency furnace (our old furnace is a nearly 30-year-old 70% efficiency model).  So either next week or the week after we won't have to wonder any more if our furnace will turn on after a cold night.  Merry Christmas to us!

Rob's News

A lot of people have asked me about the news surrounding Rob and possible jobs for the Fall.  Well, there isn't any news to share, and that's why I haven't shared it.  Rob didn't get the Xavier job he wanted, but that wasn't unanticipated.  He has applied for several more, a few of those in Cincinnati.  He's still making connections with people and institutions and generally doing a good job of putting his name out there.

Some of the job-related things he'll be up to in 2010:
- In the Spring he'll be teaching a 10-week introductory genetics course for the University of Cincinnati.
- He's made contacts with Raymond Walters (a 2-year open enrollment college), and they asked him if he wanted to teach an on-line course at some point.  They tried to make it work for January, but it's not going to happen. 
- Raymond Walters has a position opening for the Fall, and he'll be applying for it.  His contact told him they expect about 30 applicants, and she gave him pointers on how to prepare for an interview.
- He's teaching the same NKU Bio 120 lecture and lab that he's teaching right now, from January - May.  He'll probably have 2 lab sections instead of the 1 he has now, which will mean a few more hours for him, but also a little more pay.
- In July he committed to teaching a 5-week Bio 120 course for NKU.  It'll possibly be as much as a lecture and 3 labs (but probably not less than 2 lab sections).  This means he will be ending his post-doc at the end of June so that he can teach this class.  He's happy that they'll pay him enough that he can spend a month doing teaching exclusively.
- Most likely he will be unemployed for the month of August.  Nearly every job starts in Sept. 2010.  So it's a good thing there's still money in that savings account after the furnace purchase, since we'll be living off savings for a month or two.

And there you go.  That's Rob's crazy life, and therefore our family's crazy life.  Rob gives his final tonight, and I'm looking forward to our family's 2 weeks of together time.  We're in need of it.  Some days it's super easy to do everything I need to do, and some days it's just not so easy.  With the Holiday season upon us, I've had more days of Not Easy, and poor Rob is taking it personally.

June will be our "off" month, even though he'll probably be scrambling to finish up with his post-doc stuff.  I'm thinking about trying to do an extended weekend camping trip to a local-ish National Park or something.  No 6-week cross-country venture for us this year.

Christmas

On Saturday we finally did our Christmas shopping, which has made me much less tense.  2 weeks before Christmas is cutting it too close for me, but we just hadn't had the time.    I HATE that phrase now:  "Don't have the time."  Grrr.  Anyways, it's mostly done, and our Christmas time is pretty much planned, so I've got my calm again.  

Next week, Tuesday, this gift from my parents will arrive:

Hurray for a new stove!!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom and Dad.

Our Anniversary

Next Monday is our 9 year mark for marriage.  To celebrate, we're going to hang out at the museum on Saturday.  Super lame, right?  But I love it.  Next year, for #10, Rob's been informed that the date can NOT be lame (even though I really do like lame dates).  He's already thinking about it, and it may or may not require reservations for a cabin.  I'm excited in anticipation.

A Miciah Story

To end this super-long update, I'll tell a really good Miciah story.  This is from Sunday.

I walked by Miciah's teacher in the church hallway and he said that he yelled at Miciah.  I was shocked because usually Miciah is very well behaved for teachers.  He looked at me and said, "I yell at her every week, but today was an exception."  I should mention that this is the teacher who does fun things like tease Miciah by calling her Queen of Yellow when she's wearing a yellow dress.  Stuff like that.  Perfect for Miciah.

Anyways, I asked what happened and he said that he asked her to stop touching his paper.  She touched it again.  He told her to stop or she would have to leave class.  She touched it again.  (At this point in the story I rolled my eyes.  That's just SO Miciah.)  He said, forcefully, "That's it!  Get out of class!"  Miciah looked like she was about to cry so he backed down and told her she didn't have to leave so long as she didn't cry.  Then he felt bad (this is the difference between me and him.  Miciah has taught me that I can't feel bad about it.  I would have kicked her out of class and not had even an ounce of guilt) and so he said, "Am I the meanest person in the world?"

Miciah looked right at him and matter-of-factly said, "No.  My Mom says that she's the meanest, most awful person in the world, so it can't be you."

Rock.  On.

Thanksgiving Puppet Show

Here's a 5 minute puppet show that the Brown and Thacker children put together. Really, Miciah put it together and everyone else got bit parts. But, still.



Happy Thanksgiving!

I suppose it's time for another Update

Life has been pretty normal feeling since I've been back from Key West.  (More and more I'm convinced I actually went.  I have tickets to prove it and everything.)  Life here is SO not a day at the beach, but that's a good thing, I guess.  Too much of nothing is ... a song by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Soccer

Soccer is over.  Hurray!  It was so draining on our family.  I don't know how my parents did it with 8 of us playing nearly year round.  I was wiped out after 2 months.  Here are their official pictures.  It's probably illegal to scan them in, but whatever.  It's not like I'm re-selling them for profit.

 

 

 

 Miciah's coach and her daughter forgot about the pictures and hence missed them.  So I look like the awesome Head Coach in this picture.  One of the moms took a picture of all of us at a later game.

(Oh.  The team that was letting Miciah practice with them on Thursdays is going to State.  They've only lost 1 game, during the season.  Wouldn't surprise me at all if they came home State Champs.)

Miciah's Sleepover Party

Miciah had her 8th Birthday Party the day before Halloween.  I don't know how this came about, but Miciah somehow believed we'd told her that for her 8th birthday she could have 8 people sleep over.  I recall no such promise, but I figured it would be fine.  And it was.  There were 10 girls who came, but only 4 slept over.  Their moms were all apologizing for them not being able to stay, but I told them, "Trust me, it's OKAY."  :)  4 girls sleeping over is much more manageable than 10.

Miciah got lots of gifts, including lots of crafty things to do.  One of those was a gift called Bendaroos.  I wasn't even aware Bendaroos existed, but the girls had a blast with them.  For instance:

Rob also loved the party atmosphere.  He was the life of the party and directed them through several games.  I'm sure they all went away thinking he was the coolest dad ever.  Part way through the night Rob said, "Tamra, you're missing it."  And I said, "Exactly."  I'm not really a party person (I'm sure this is shocking news), so I was happy to make myself scarce.  I even attended my soccer game that night (we had Corene come as a woman stand-in, just so Rob wouldn't be alone with 10 girls.  I didn't want there to be any room for suspicion, even if I personally think Rob is above suspicion).  How's that for priorities?

Halloween

We kept things simple for Halloween.  Our October had been full of so many celebrations that I was pretty Halloween-ed out by the time the day actually came.  No annual festive meal in a pumpkin, no pumpkin carving, no elaborate anything.  Course, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I wasn't super festive.  We did put up a cool spider web on our front porch.  This made Elijah happy cause he'd told me that he "hated our house" without decorations up.  That's pretty intense.  He'll probably make his house uber-festive when he grows up, as a reaction to my anti-festive spirit.

Elijah, pretending to be "caught" in the web:

And Rob and the kids standing proudly inside the web.

Can you tell what Miciah was?  Rapunzel.  She came up with the outfit herself.  I tried to talk her out of it, or at least talk her into making it more, um, elaborate.  Her long hair, which you can't really see in the picture, was an ace bandage.  You know, the kind you'd wrap an ankle with.  She was CONVINCED it looked just like real hair.  She tied it into her hair and it flowed all the way to the ground.  Pretty cute.

Elijah's costume made me especially happy.  This is the costume my little brother Chad wore when he was a kid.  Behold the picture:

It's Ruben in green, me in pink, Justin in blue, and Chad in red.

We have the blue crayon costume, too.  So next year he could be a crayon again, if he wanted.

And yes, my Mom made those.  Pretty sweet, huh?  My Mom is good.

Teancom was Super Man, which meant he wore his Super Man pajamas and we added the cape.  He wore the cape for several more days, including to church.  It was awesome to see him all dressed up and wearing a cape.  At church I took him to the bathroom and he looked at himself in the mirror for several minutes.  He furrowed his brow, looking as serious as possible, and stood with legs apart and arms folded.  I wish I had a video of it.

Here's all the kids right before Trick-or-Treating.  We went with friends:

Chad

Our family took a short day trip to Columbus to see my brother Chad who came in town to visit a friend.  Yes, Columbus is "in town," cause he normally lives in CA.  The kids jumped all over him, demanded his attention, and said, "Uncle Chad!" about once every 30 seconds.  I think Chad liked it at first, but you could see the glazed-over look in his eyes after a while, and we partially convinced the kids to stop mauling him.

Though Elijah kept calling him Uncle Keith, even after we told him repeatedly that he was Uncle Chad.  I think Elijah might have a memory issue.

Temple

The next weekend (this last one) we went to the temple in Columbus.  We went through a session with the adult members of Rob's family and then went out to eat with them.  It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday.

Holidays

And it should be Thanksgiving already!  I can never get into the holiday season until mid-November, even with the Christmas decorations up in all the stores pre-Halloween.  We will be spending Thanksgiving with Rob's family up in Toledo.  We're excited about that.  And then Rob will go back up to Toledo the weekend after to sing in a Nativity program with his sisters.

And that's it for now.  I have more stuff to share, like always, and I'll get to it eventually.  Much love to everyone!

And Now it's December (an update)

Well, Mom and Grandpa O. left yesterday to continue their journey. The house feels very empty without them. Not quieter, though, since the noisy ones were left behind with me.

Fun Things We Did

Thanksgiving Day was spent at R&C's house. Mom and I baked all day Wednesday and most of the day Thursday (which I've never really done before--it was an interesting experience and one I don't intend to repeat for a long time to come). We had SO MUCH FOOD it was almost ridiculous, but that's what Thanksgiving's all about I suppose.

Then the day after Thanksgiving we went to Maysville, KY where B&R live. A lot of the family was there and it was a fun time. Lots more good food (R always makes good food). We also checked out the miniatures at their local museum. B&R live in downtown Maysville, in the historic part, right by the river. It's a beautiful place, and the history on display is pretty neat. They are mighty proud of their heritage, and I think that's great. Anyways, the museum was a block away, so we walked down. B has been trying to get us to go see this miniature collection for some time. Described it as elaborate doll houses. Let me tell you how interested I am in doll houses. ... Yep. About that interested.

But it's one of those things that just doesn't translate well. About halfway through our visit, I turned to B and said, "You said doll houses. These are NOT doll houses." Wow. Amazing. A 1/12 scale of the Spencer House (Princess Di is a Spencer). Incredible. If you're ever in Maysville (and why not go?), check out the miniature collection at the museum. You will say as my aunt, C did, "I know I'm getting repetitive, but wow," or as I did, "Insane." (Really it is insane when you think about the amount of money that went into purchasing minatures. The entire collection (worth millions of dollars) is ONE WOMAN'S efforts. And that is crazy. Neat. But crazy.)
The model of the Spencer House, from the front. This does not even begin to show you how cool this is.

http://www.kygmc.org/miniatureExhibits/

On Saturday my Dad was still in town, so we went to the Newport Aquarium with his sister, S. We'd never been (except Rob) till October of this year, and then we visited it twice in 2 months. Which made it really fun, because the second time we could focus on specific things we knew we wanted to see instead of feeling like this was our one and only time to take everything in. After the kids whined and complained (and this cracked me up. They kept saying, "We're going AGAIN?" like they'd been there SO MANY times.), they LOVED it again.

After the Aquarium we met up with S's daughter and family, C&B and their daughter, A, for lunch. A is about Miciah's age, and they had fun together. And lunch was lovely, too. Some fish place on the Levee. Michelle's? Something like that. Fantastic. They had tilapia, which is the only fish I've found yet that I really love (because it tastes the least like fish).

Sunday was insignificant other than the fact that Rob gave a talk at church. I love when Rob gives talks, cause I love to listen to him. Though I wasn't terribly fond of this talk (he already knows this. After I gave him my feedback he said, "Glad you enjoyed my talk" and when I tried to hug him he pulled away in mock-hurt), he did end it on a fantastic note: he sang a song a capella. I love when he sings even more than I love when he speaks. He sang The Olive Tree, which is a great song. Great song. Great singer.

Then the week after Thanksgiving when we all got to relax a little and my mom and C went into uber-project mode, as they always do when my mom is in town. Even when my mom comes intentionally without projects, they come up with about 20 after the second day of her arrival. This time we all helped (well, I didn't really help; I just watched them do their stuff and provided "technical support" as C said) C finish up her alphabet letters, a project she's been working on for years, off and on. Turned out really cute. Then Mom made all the children elves. I'll take a picture of all the kids with their elves so you can see how dang cute the elves are. ... My mom made me 2 Christmas elves and the kids liked them so much (particularly Teancom who wouldn't part with them) that she decided all the kids needed one. Miciah and Teancom are most fond of them. Miciah named hers Lilac and Teancom has no name for his, but it's HIS. He claims Lilac, too, and Elijah's (unnamed) elf.

Funny with Teancom and the elves. He calls his elf his "elb," which is a cute way to pronounce it. I worried that even though Mom made him an elf (she made his first so there would be no revolt) he would still want to play with mine. He had one he liked more than the other, and I let him hold it for a few minutes right before Mom finished Teancom's elf. Mom handed Teancom his finished elf and Teancom walked over to me, handed me my elf and said, "This is yours. Put it up," and pointed to the spot where I'd been keeping my elves.

He plays Jingle Bells with his elf, which is adorable. I got it on video and one of these days I'll get around to posting it. He says jingle bells like "JeanMon Bells." And he wouldn't let my mom sing with him. She would start singing and he would scowl, point at her and say, "Not you!"

Funny, he liked my mom less and less the longer she was here. I thought for sure he'd like her more over time. What's not to like? She's awesome! But I think he didn't like her because he thought I was going to hand off mothering responsibilities to her. And I did from time to time while she was here. He deeply objected to that.

To add to the Project Fever, Grandpa O. decided to re-do the kids' table in the basement. I asked my mom to simply make a tablecloth cover for it--one with elastic on the edge, so it would stay on the table. She looked at the wood (this is a table that is at LEAST 10 years old and you can tell) and said, "You should replace the wood, too." We thought about options and then Grandpa got wind that there was a possible project for him and he went to town. Now we have a beautiful almost completely new table for the kids. ... I won't let them use it for a while, to make sure the finish is SET. ... Thank you, Grandpa O.!

This last Friday Rob and I went on an all-day date. (My mom was in town, so I told Rob I wanted to go on a date that lasted longer than 2 hours!) We started the day at Miciah's school making a gingerbread house with her. It was so much fun! Then we went out to eat at Panera Bread (my favorite place, if I haven't said that before). On to pick up something from K, who works just south of Dayton. It cut into our day somewhat, but it ended up being really really good because Rob and I got to talk uninterupted for a couple hours. Actually, when Rob initially objected to making the drive part of our day I said, "I get to be with you. I don't really care what we do." I'll mention the drive and our talk later.

Then we went to the Museum Center. We walked around the Natural History Museum and actually READ stuff. Weird. Then we spent some time playing at the Children's Museum (Rob's idea, and a good one). We played horse (the basketball one) in the ball area (I won, of course), and then constructed a "building" in the large blocks area. The building was probably about 4 feet tall and it was fun to build. The BEST part of building it, though, was that when we were done a kid, maybe 4 or 5 years old, walked up and said, "I'm going to knock down your building!" His father started objecting when I said, "Okay. Go ahead." You have to knock down anything tall that you build when you're done anyways, so I figured he would have fun smashing it. The kid looked at me, trying to see if I was serious. I told him again that it was fine and the kid ran FULL SPEED into the building. It came down so fast and so loudly that I gasped. I thought the kid was going to get hurt. It was COOL to see it come down like that. ... And then the kid ran away saying, "Ha ha! I knocked down your building and you can never build it again!" What a snotty kid, but it was fun anyways. ... And then we did something a kid would probably never do: we picked up all the blocks and put them away.

From there we went upstairs to watch the Omnimax movie called "Grand Canyon Adventure" or something like that. I was expecting it to be more centered on the Grand Canyon, but it was really an environmental piece on the Colorado River. Should have figured that out, I guess from the subtitle of the film: River at Risk. Learned something I didn't know before: the Colorado no longer flows to the sea. Dries up well before then. The movie was pretty overtly anti-Lake Powell, which is fine with me because I am, too (just not very overtly--it's one of my opinionated opinions that I don't talk about much). Wasn't anti-Lake Mead, which surprised me (I am not personally anti-Lake Mead either), but it WAS anti-Las Vegas's "indulgent" use of water. It was an alright film. Not sure it was worth our $11, but that's okay. Again, time with Rob.

Then we ended the night with dinner at Outback. We go to Outback and order the Melbourne, which is possibly the best stake in the world. At least it's the best stake I've ever had. It melts in your mouth and is SO yummy. Get it medium rare (I dislike stakes medium rare as a general rule). Anyways, the excitement of the night about Outback is that the stake they brought us was awful! So bad, in fact, that the waitress sent out the manager to talk to us. This was our first experience sending a stake back, but it was seriously gross (I actually spit out a bite I'd taken. Like a little kid would do). The manager brought us the new stake himself (and was very nice about the whole thing: Can I get you something else while you wait?) and waited while we took the first bites. MUCH better, thank you. ... Rob said he felt like he'd grown up a little, sending his first stake back. Like a rite of passage into adulthood. So now it's official: at (almost) 30 and 27 1/2 we are Adults.

On Saturday we were going to all go to the Krohn's Conservatory to see the Christmas display. But Grandpa got sick on Friday with what seems to be the same cold we all got. NOT GOOD! Plus, Miciah woke up Saturday morning at 4:30 complaining of her ear hurting. She had just complained about her other ear a few days before--ear wax build-up. We took care of that and when she started whining about her other ear on Friday night we were less than sympathetic. But waking up at 4:30 a.m. is a different story. Rob took her into Urgent Care on Saturday morning, first thing, and she has a "raging" ear infection. We decided to not go to the Conservatory and sent my mom on with C and Mary, Mom's friend from HS that she still gets together with when she comes in town.

Miciah had a birthday party and a soccer game on Saturday night, and she ended up skipping them both, sadly, since she was sick. She had a low-grade fever (like really low grade) and she threw up once. No fun for her. So our Saturday transformed from a busy day into a lazy day. Fine with me.

Miciah stayed home from church on Sunday, and so did Mom and Grandpa and Teancom (if everyone else is home, why not keep the baby home?). So I got to go through Sacrament Meeting without losing my mind! Hurray! ... Only one kid at church. ...

On Monday my mom and I went to a bookstore. Elijah didn't want to go; he wanted to watch a movie. So he stayed with Grandpa (who played with Elijah a ton, and Elijah loved it!) and we took Teancom. And why does Teancom have me wrapped around his finger? Cause he's the best behaved baby in the world. He doesn't run away at the store. If I offer him my hand, he holds it. If I tell him to put something back, he does. If I walk to the next aisle, he follows me. If I tell him not to touch, he doesn't. ... It's unreal.

... We had his 2 year check-up last week (a little late, I know). The doctor asked if we had any concerns about his behavior. I said, "No. He's the easiest baby in the world." And the doctor said, "I'll write that down: Easiest Baby in the World." And I think he actually DID write it down. But it's true. And it's why Rob and I are addicted to the cuteness. (Do I write about this every time I write an update? I do, don't I. Shameful.)

Another fun thing I got to do with my parents when they were here: they came to see my soccer games. This doesn't sound like a big deal, probably, but it is. My dad was my soccer coach for years. My mom and dad spent every Saturday, all day, at the soccer fields when we were kids. It's a part of our make-up, it seems. So it was just like being a little kid again, having my parents drive me to a soccer game, me in the back seat. Quite pleasant. And though my teams lost both games, it was just fun to play and fun to have my parents there. Besides, I never mind losing (I'm 27, I have 3 kids, and I'm playing soccer at 9:30 on a Friday night. I am blessed).

And that's what we did when my mom and dad and Grandpa O. were in town. It was great to have them, they were gracious guests, and they are welcome back any time. ... After my dad left, he called and told me thank you for taking care of Mom. I said, "Right. She takes care of us while she's here and we all know it. Let's be clear about that." What can I say, she's still my Mommy.

Thanksgiving Week (an update)

The kids made this Happy Thanksgiving sign. It didn't come out very well on here, I guess. If you click on the picture, you can see it bigger, though.

My mother and grandfather fly into town today, so I thought I'd sit down and write my update, since it won't happen after they get here.

Things to report.

Miciah's Tooth Trauma

Round 2 of Miciah's tooth trauma. Last year right about this time, if you remember, she had to have a tooth pulled after an ER visit where we found out that her tooth was just gone. Rotted out without us being able to tell. They put a spacer in to allow the adult tooth to come in correctly.

Well, a few weeks ago she came to us in the middle of the night (4:30 a.m.) saying that another tooth hurt--this time the same tooth, just on the other side of her mouth. Rob took a look at it briefly, gave her some Tylenol and sent her back to bed. I asked him what he thought and he gave me that look that says nothing good is coming her way. So depressing for her.

We took her in to the dentist and sure enough, tooth number 2 rotted away without us knowing. They showed Rob the x-ray of the tooth from last year. The tooth was totally fine. The dentist said it was pretty incredible that that amount of damage happened in a year's time. They gave her an ultra-powerful flouride tooth treatment (FINALLY people are believing me that she just has crummy teeth!) and scheduled a tooth-pulling session for December 17th.

Dec. 17th was 4 weeks after they brought her in. I wondered if she would last that long. What if it started hurting? It took her another week or so to start complaining about it again. Some nights before bedtime of her complaining. But the last straw, really, was when she came home from school and said that she'd had to go to the school nurse because her tooth hurt. Clearly, we wouldn't be making it all the way to Dec. 17th. We called Children's Dental (the ONLY place I will be taking my kids from here on out, by the way. They're that good) on this last Friday morning and told them she was in pain and we needed to set up a time before Dec. 17th. I was ready for them to put up a fight, tell us how busy they were. But the lady just said, "If she's in pain, bring her in right now. We'll put her in the emergency chair." Oh. That was easy. WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL US THAT BEFORE?!

So we took her out of school Friday morning and Rob took her to get her tooth pulled. They said the tooth was massively infected, and it was good we didn't wait until Dec. 17th to bring her in. She got home by about noon and was pretty mopey. I remember tooth trauma from my childhood, so I'm very sympathetic about stuff like this. But by about 2 pm she was running around being crazy and she said, "I got a day off school!" I looked at her sideways, wondering if it was worth it to get a tooth pulled for a day off school! I wouldn't think so.

Snaggletooth was very nice to her and gave her a full dollar for the tooth trauma. This is the note she wrote to him:

Working the system. That's our Miciah. And she got a piece of candy.

Soccer

Miciah is now playing on an indoor soccer team, and loves it. She is the shortest, slowest, and probably youngest on the team (they didn't have a slot for her in her age group, so they put her one age group up). At her first practice one of the girls put her arm around Miciah and paired up with her for a drill. I was glad that she was able to find a friend so fast. Miciah later told me that the girl had said, "You're so cute!" and "You're so little for your age." ... I suggested to her that she could run a little faster when she was on the field and she said, "You don't run as fast as you can when you play, either." I think that's a tally mark for Miciah.

She has now played 2 games and her team has won them both. She has claimed, after both games, that she scored a goal. In fact, she was so desperate to say she scored, apparently, that she claimed that she scored a goal for the OTHER team. I think she might be wanting to be like me (and that wasn't meant to be cocky). The day before her first game I had a game and I scored 2 goals. It's interesting how compelling it is for kids to want to be just like their parents.

I think it's fun to note my own soccer playing. Mainly because soccer is (and probably forever will be) a love of mine. It's nice to be in touch with that part of me, even though it feels like I pay a small fortune to play, especially when our budget is so tight. In my last game, Friday night, I accidentally did the full splits. By the way I can't DO the full splits. On my way down I heard a sound that I knew was my muscle. Not good. And Saturday morning I woke up knowing EXACTLY where that muscle runs and where it connects in the body. It hurt the entire length. But it's fun to play. Hopefully bruises and over-stretched muscles will be the extent of my soccer injuries.

Stress

Rob's job continues to be stressful, though we seem to finally be figuring it out (slowly). Really, it's the job and calling combo that gets us. This month has felt like a culminating event in terms of stress. It was a crucial time for us to say, "Enough!" and put our lives back together the way they should have been to start with.

For instance, as related to Rob's calling: Is there another meeting that Rob could attend, please? Because I think he needs a few more. ... Ugh! NO! I finally got to a point where I said, "If I hear the word 'need' in the same sentence as 'meeting' I will scream." Because I can think of a lot of things I need and NONE OF THOSE THINGS are a meeting. But we're figuring out how to meet halfway. Rob has figured out that he can say no to some meetings, and I've become willing to let him go to all the meetings he says he needs to go to. And he's learned that if he wants to attend a meeting at all, he leaves the word 'need' out of the sentence. Instead he'll say, "Tamra, there's a meeting that I'd really like to go to..." I know he's saying roughly the same thing as before, but it's a change in attitude for both of us, and it really helps me.

Calendar

I finally have my 2009 calendar. It's amazing how much you need one for the new year come October or so. The kind I buy happen to cost only like $2.50. It was fantastic how excited I was when Rob came home with my calendar. Not quite update worthy, I'll admit, but I'm excited, so I'm including this pointless piece of information.

Sickness

This whole month feels like it's been filled with sicknesses going around our family. It took a full 3 weeks for Rob and I both to feel like we were feeling much much better again. Still, we have a cough that's just hanging around. Not bad any more, but still just hanging there until we've almost forgotten about it, and then it shows up again. Still, last Sunday I declared us all healthy. Hopefully we all stay that way.

While I was sick I lost a little weight. Not because I wasn't hungry (it was a strange sickness, really. No huge symptoms other than a cough and feeling crummy, but still apetite in tact), but because I felt too crummy to get off the couch to get something to eat. My stomach did feel a little not right a few days, because my main caloric intake was mucus drainage and cough drops.

Needless to say, the Health and Fitness Challenge Rob and I were doing was completely thrown off track by this sickness parade. There were several days where exercise was impossible, and many other days where we just didn't want to, even though we could. And after we were finally feeling better, the challenge only had a week and a half left! So the challenge is now over and we completely bombed out of it. But that's alright. We still got some good benefits from it, and Rob still lost some weight, even though it wasn't the amount he wanted to lose.

Reading

A good thing about being sick is that I read the rest of a fantastic book: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It's really long, but it's SO good. I feel like I learned a lot and it was fun to read, too. Highly recommend it.

Then I started on The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein, which I'm not quite done with yet. My brother, C, recommended it to me and then bought a copy and shipped it to me. I was 70 pages into it before I'd realized I'd spent any time on it at all. It's sci-fi, and it's fantastic! If you like sci-fi at all, I highly recommend this book. (I did read ahead to find out what happens at the end. I needed to know what happened to Mike, my computer friend.) Really. I can't emphasize enough how good this book is. I almost decided, before I started reading this book, to let almost all fiction reading cease in my life and move on to non-fiction near-exclusively. Robert Heinlein single-handedly changed my mind.

Thanksgiving Plans

My mom flys in today with my Grandpa O. (her dad). They will stay for 2 weeks. Tomorrow my dad will be here, too, and he won't stay for 2 weeks, but he'll be here for Thanksgiving. It's fun that we'll get to have them here for the holiday!

While they're here, my computer usage will probably be limited. When there's family in town, why would I spend my time on the computer? Just so you know, when you're wondering where my Thanksgiving pictures are.

Miciah's Parent-Teacher Conference

We had a parent teacher conference with Miciah's teacher, Ms. L. Miciah does great in school academically, and we knew that before we walked in there. Instead, we wanted to know if she was ever over-emotional or bossy in class. She said she's not over-emotional at all. She isn't bossy: in fact she helps other kids with their work in a way where she doesn't tell them the answers, but leads them gently to it on their own. I thought that was an excellent compliment for a 1st grader. But Ms. L did say that she occasionally has to ask Miciah, "Miciah, who's the teacher?" Miciah will quickly correct her behavior and point to Ms. L, the real teacher. When Ms. L said that I laughed and said, "We have that conversation about 8 times a day! "Miciah, who's the mom, me or you?""

She also said some very good things about Miciah and her abilities, especially her reading. Miciah is very confident about her reading. Miciah says she struggles with her math, but really she just makes silly mistakes. Ms. L said Miciah makes most of her mistakes because she's trying to get done really fast so that she can be the first one done. That competitive drive. We wanted to half-apologize for that, but Rob and I just looked at each other and said, "Yeah. That was us." Capable and competitive. Not a bad combo, so long as she's not cocky.

Pictures to Share

My boys especially love markers and crayons. Teancom likes to color the floor with crayons (I made him cry (which is not hard to do) by telling him it was NOT appropriate to color on the floor). And Elijah likes to color himself and furniture with markers. (Miciah likes to color, too, but she colors on paper--novel idea). This is one of my favorite recent colorings:

I like to tell people that I love that kids color themselves with markers and they give me this look like, "Whatever." Seriously! I think it's awesome. I would color myself with markers on a near-daily basis if I felt I could get away with it in public. In fact, maybe I should try it.

The other day the kids came upstairs talking about "snow" they were making downstairs. Uh oh, that's never good. I think they were using packing peanuts and shredding them up real small. I sent them downstairs with an order to not do that any more, but I didn't really care, cause it was my night off (soccer night, and Rob let me go early so I could buy myself some boots (I ended up buying retro little boys boots on clearance (the womens' boots were awful, I thought). I found out that I wear boys size 4) because I needed boots, and I also needed a break from the kids). Right before I left Rob walked downstairs and saw the huge mess and was about to yell at them when Miciah crawled out from under a table with her hair looking like this:

And instead of getting mad, he said (in true Tamra fashion), "I'm going to go get the camera and take a picture." And THEN he cleaned up the mess. Kids are awesome.

A fun Playing with Daddy session from a Saturday morning:

Rob attacks!

Rob wards off a Spider-Man attack from Teancom while pinning Elijah with his leg.

Elijah, still pinned, attacks Rob by pricking his ankle with something. Rob is mid-manhandling Teancom when Miciah runs up with Spider-Man for the attack!

Miciah climbs on Rob's back while Rob has Elijah pinned, and Teancom needs to take a break for a phone call.

What good memories!

One Tooth Less, and Adventures in Young Mens

My updates usually feel like non-updates, and this one is no exception. And I don't even have pictures to send out to make me feel better about sending out nothing important. :) Oh well. This is the update.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week was crazy and fun! It started with Rob's brother and his fiance (G and M) plus Rob's mom coming down on Monday night. Tuesday was Grandparents Day at Miciah's school. C had a great time with Miciah and it made Miciah feel special. Before school they had a great time making up stories and drawing pictures together. At school the Kindergarteners sang a few songs for the grandparents and then Carolyn got to check out Miciah's classroom and play games with her. Miciah LOVED it.

After school we left and drove up to P to spend the rest of the week with family. We played games, talked together, and had some great food. Yea for Thanksgiving food! Leftover turkey on leftover rolls. What's better than that?

A Wedding

Friday night we went to a wedding. D & N, two grad students in Rob's program. They are both beautiful people and her dress was GORGEOUS. It was a very fancy ordeal and it was fun to attend. We left when the party was really getting started--about 11 pm. Our kids were being watched overnight at a friend's house, and we thought, why would we stay at a public party and watch people become increasingly intoxicated, when we can go home and do whatever we want. So we went home. It was fun to wake up Saturday morning to a quiet house. A little strange, but fun.

Miciah's Tooth

Then Saturday night was fun. Around 6 p.m. Miciah started screaming about her tooth that hurt. We've known she's had a cavity for almost 2 months. We saw a hole in her tooth at the beginning of October. She had a scheduled cleaning for mid-October. At the cleaning, the dentist obviously saw the hole, too, and scheduled a return date of the beginning of November. They had to cancel that one, and the next time we could get in was mid-November. After waiting in the waiting room for 2 hours, the dentist told us that the hole was bigger than she thought and we'd have to come back another time when she had more time. That was scheduled for December 5th. Still a week away.

Anyways. Back to Saturday. Rob started checking out her tooth and noticed a huge bulge in her gum above her tooth. Bummer. So we gave Miciah some Ambesol and some Childrens Motril and started making phone calls. We called our dentist: no emergency line, of course. We called a nurses' hotline for our insurance. They suggested calling our pediatrician. We spoke to a nurse and then a doctor at our pediatrician's office. The doc said it probably was an absess tooth as we thought, but he didn't feel comfortable giving a prescription for an antibiotic until someone looked at it. So to the Emergency Room we went at 8:00 p.m. Fun times! We got in really quick. It was funny to see people's reaction when we told them what we were there for. It was a funny situation. A dental problem that was now a medical problem, too. Anyways, after fearing they would turn us away with some cop out answer like, "We can't do anything for a dental problem," the doctor was really nice and said it was an absess tooth and gave us the antibiotic we needed.

But we still have to take care of the tooth. On Tuesday we called our dentist's office, told them they were fired for not getting this taken care of in a timely manner, and then called Children's Dental Clinic. It's attached to Children's Hospital and they have a really great reputation. They also have a really long waiting list to get in. We weren't hopeful. But they got Miciah in THE NEXT DAY. Wow. So Wednesday morning Miciah went in to see what needed to be done about the tooth. Turns out that without us knowing or being able to see, her tooth had decayed away. Rob said there was a quarter inch gap between the top and bottom of the tooth. Eww. And of the 3 roots the tooth has, there was only 1 left. So they pulled the tooth. But Miciah did really really well and in a near-miraculous feat, she didn't even know they gave her a shot until I told her a few hours later. That's amazing! She stayed home from school Wednesday. Not because she couldn't go, she had just already been through a lot. So we let her chill at home.

But, for amazing feat #2 for Children's, there was a cancellation on Thursday morning, so Miciah was able to get in the next day for a new patient check-up! Wow. She was a little afraid to go back, but I promised they wouldn't pull any more teeth. They found another 3 little bitty cavities that aren't a big deal. Miciah goes back in January to fix those and also to get a spacer put in her mouth so that her teeth will still grow in the right way. The tooth that got pulled was a molar and it was supposed to stick around for another 4 years before she lost it naturally. Bummer. ... They also mentioned that Miciah doesn't have much space for her bottom teeth, so those will probably come in crooked. I told them that sounded familiar. That's my teeth, and that's what braces are for.

So it's nice that even though it wasn't a fun resolution for Miciah, we're at least now in good dental hands. Elijah will go there from now on, too. Who knows what his teeth are like. I hope he gets Rob's teeth, not mine.

So that was one adventure for this week.

Youth Fireside

Sunday was a second adventure. Sunday was the youth fireside where they basically have a Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, all that stuff, plus pies. Me and Rob and the kids all ate, then I went home with the kids and Rob finished the fireside. Not so much an adventure, really, until that night. Rob's stomach started bothering him right before we went to bed. And then from 1 in the morning until 6 in the morning Rob was up on the toilet cleaning out his system. He woke up at 9 or so the next morning feeling awful, not only because of the awful experience, but also because he hadn't slept all night. He stayed home and slept until almost 1 p.m. Wow. My system wasn't happy with me, either, but I didn't get sick like that.

The next day I asked a friend who was also at the dinner, "You guys weren't by chance sick yesterday, were you?" Yep, they were, too. None of the kids were (though Teancom did have a gross diaper on Wednesday--but that was 2 days after everyone else got sick), thankfully. Rob went to Young Mens Tuesday night and started asking around. All but 4 or 5 people got sick, most of them up through the night like Rob had been. :) They never did pinpoint what it was that got everyone sick (though the stuffing was a likely culprit, all information gathered), but it was a fun sharing experience anyway.

Pink Eye

And for our last adventure of the week, Elijah has pink eye. Not much else to say about that. I was hoping he'd get what I call his vampire eyes, just like last time. But they're just pleasantly pink instead of blood red like they were when he got them last. We called the doctor's office and they called in a prescription for us without making us come in. Yea! Her instructions were, "Try to keep him from rubbing his eyes." I laughed over the phone. Right. He's 3. She said, "It is highly contagious." Yes. Yes, I know. So we might be in for a longer adventure. Who knows? Cute little pink eyes.

Miciah is doing well. She watched the newest Barbie movie (we borrowed it from a friend) about 10 times in the week we had it. I now have most of the songs memorized. Elijah is still obsessed with Spider-Man. Miciah was watching the movie, and there's a lullabye in it. It talks about night time coming by saying, "Stars begin to climb." Elijah looks at me and says, "Mom, Spider-Man cwimb?" Yes, Spider-Man climbs. "Stars don't cwimb." No. Stars don't really climb. Cute.

Elijah also still likes playing pretend. Miciah still likes this, too, but Elijah is getting more and more into it. The other day we were in the car and Elijah said, "I play pretend. I be Spider-Man. And you, Ciah. You be Ciah." I thought that was awesome.

Teancom

Teancom is doing good. He's still not walking, but every now and then he thinks about it. The day before Thanksgiving he surprised us by walking about 10 steps. But he can't do it consistently and he refuses to try most of the time. I still swear that his left leg doesn't move straight. I call it his peg leg. :) He'll walk eventually. He is getting much more curious and that's fun. It's weird to me to think that he's almost a year and a half old. Because he's still very much a baby, not a toddler. He doesn't walk, he's still not really talking, and he's still very cuddly. Rob always says that he'll come home, and every time, within seconds, Teancom will crawl over to him and want to be held. It's cute. But it's weird to see other babies that are much further along and that are also younger than him. :) Teancom will get there. And I've no complaints.

Rob's Paper is Submitted!

OH!! There is one exciting update! Rob submitted his first paper for publication!!! That's AWESOME. I'm going to have Rob send out an e-mail explaining what it's all about. So be looking for that. We're celebrating tonight with a bottle of sparkling cider. Thought about a last-minute date, but with pink eye in the house, uhh, right. But, congrats to Rob!

Post-Doc Search

We also are getting a little further in figuring out where we'll go for his post-doc. It's been an interesting process. We will probably stay in Cincinnati (if it works out with the person he's negotiating with right now. They meet next week and so hopefully we'll know better by then), which is what we originally thought, but I'm glad the process has gone how it has. At first it was about staying here because we're comfortable here. Then we wanted to leave because it was Rob's career dream to go to the NIH. And then things started coming into focus. This is the first decision of this nature where we've had to worry about balancing work AND family. And it just gets harder, I think, to make these sorts of decisions from here on out. Because more and more factors will be added. Anyways, it's been a learning process. Particularly a lesson in patience, for me. I'm not a patient person when it comes to stuff like this. :)

Christmas

And Christmas rules! Our tree is up. The stockings are on the wall. We have 2 nativities out. One is ceramic, beautiful, and up where the kids can't touch it. The other is a Fontanini one that the kids can play with. Which is awesome--it's my favorite Christmas memory growing up: playing with the nativity set. Cute little baby Jesus. This year we added wise men and a cow (the pieces are expensive), so it feels much more complete this year. We have the holy family, a shephard, a traveller, and the 3 wise men. Plus sheep and a cow. I love playing with the set about as much as the kids do. It's awesome.

Hope you're all well. Sorry this is a boring update with no pictures. We love you anyway!

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, Elijah, and Teancom

Family Update

November has been a busy, busy month for us. Our weeks and weekends have been filled to the max with things we had to do and things we wanted to do, too. Plus, we've all been sick off and on, so it's made for some interesting times around here.

Rob and Scouts

Rob has been having fun with the Scouts. Two weeks ago he went on a camp out but didn't get to stay overnight cause I was sick. I called him home cause I just wasn't up to watching the kids by myself because of how I was feeling. But the camp out was fun with the usual instances of shaving cream in kids' shoes and on signs, and kids hiding in the van so they didn't have to clean up. It makes me laugh how different the Young Men and Young Women are. Things are about to change in the ward, though, so the scouting program will be changing anyway. Rob will be going to more camp outs from here on out, which will be great fun for him. I'm a little sad he didn't get to stay the whole time this last time, but it couldn't be helped. I don't mind camp outs at all. I know some wives do. But it's only like 20 hours away from Rob and half of that is sleep time. What's wrong with that?

Excuse Me, Could You Pass the Family Sickness, Please?

I was sick this month immediately after Elijah got over the flu. I thought I was getting the flu, too, but apparently not, which is good. It still knocked me out with a variety of symptoms for about a week. I got my sense of taste and smell back just in time for Thanksgiving. Thank goodness! ... Rob, who was spared all month while me and the kids were sick, has come down with the same cold. He'll probably be coming home early cause he feels pretty crummy. Bummer.

Miciah had an ear infection. Elijah had the flu. Elijah is still cranky, which is weird for him.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great! We spent Thanksgiving Day with R & C and their daughters and their daughters' men. It was way fun. The turkey was EXCELLENT, which is one of the first times I can say I enjoyed turkey. We made pumpkin pies and then ate 2 pies, just Rob and me, in 2 days. Yumm! I think I gained 5 pounds in a single day. :) No holding back this year. Rob had to go into school the day after Turkey Day, so while he was in school the kids and I brought out some Christmas decorations. Miciah and Elijah have been having a grand time playing with the Nativity set we got out. It's my favorite Christmas decoration. We have yet to put up the tree, but that should be happening in the next few days (or Miciah will hurt us!).

CS's Baby Blessing

Saturday we went up to C's house and it was wonderful. Sunday was CS's baby blessing and it was fun to be surrounded by family. I had to take Elijah out in the Primary Room to listen to the blessing cause he was throwing a huge fit. He's still not back to his un-sick self, so he was really really grumpy. He hasn't been napping well since he's been sick, or sleeping well, and it's starting to show. The branch president offered me a piece of candy but said I had to tell him one thing I learned at church today. I told him I learned my kids are better at our own ward than at other people's wards. He said, "Take 3 pieces." :) He's a great man and really really funny. He's the one that always has to tell us as we're leaving the church, "Kids, your parents will give you candy if you cry in the car." Funny.

The Trip Home

We got home last night at 10:00 or so. It was mostly a dang good trip except Elijah was so tired. He woke up in the car about 10 minutes away from home and was out of it. Rob finally took him in the shower and dunked his head in the water so he'd calm down. It worked. But it was a long long 20 minutes of him kicking and hitting and screaming. Elijah has also lost his voice, partly from being sick, and partly from screaming so much. But it's now a cute little raspy voice.

Teancom is an excellent traveller! The 2-hour car ride north was amazing. Teancom didn't sleep for any of it, but he was quiet the entire time! Wow! Teancom is turning into a great baby. Elijah was our good baby before, but I think Teancom is working on stealing that prize. He now goes to sleep on his own. He will get fussy and you can put his binky in, lay him down, and he's asleep in about 5 minutes. It's amazing and wonderful. He doesn't sleep through the night yet, but he sleeps during the night for about a 12 hour stretch. When he's awake he's generally very happy and smiley. He's not an easy laugher, but he'll smile at anything. Teancom also loves to hold his blanket. I wonder if he'll be like Elijah in that regard. I guess time will tell. Teancom is a joy to have and we are grateful he's in our family.

Dates (Woah. Did I say Dates?!)

We went on 2 dates this month without any of our kids! Wow! We haven't been on a date in a long time, especially one without the baby. We went first to see Aida, a musical put on by the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts. The lead was amazing! And the show was great. I'd never seen it or even heard of it, so it was a pleasure to see. One of the YW in our ward was in it, hence why we went. We saw the closing show, but had we gone earlier, I would have made Rob take me again. It was SO worth it. Rob had seen Aida as an opera in Germany. He saw it in Italian with German subtitles. So I told Rob now he's seen it in 3 languages and 2 genres. How many people can say that?

The other date was a surprise date Rob took me on the day before Turkey Day. He took me out to eat at Panera Bread (my favorite place to eat out at here in Ohio), and then we saw Pirates 2. Sadly, I did not like it near as much as I thought I would for a number of reasons. Rob really liked it, though. I am reserving final judgment on the movie until I see # 3. So for any of you wanting right now to talk me into liking # 2, save it until I've seen # 3. Cause very likely I'll like it after seeing the last movie. But it was nice to go out on a date.

Our next date will be our anniversary date on Dec. 21st. Can you believe it, we've been married 6 years! I'm waiting to see how this year's date will top last year's, though. Last year's ended with Elijah throwing up all over multiple times. Might have been Miciah, too. How do you top that? :) I guess we'll have to see what's in store for us. Rob says he's planning the date and just a few days ago told me we would be going to someone's house to watch BYU play in the Las Vegas Bowl. Wowee! Does my man know how to be romantic or what!? I'm a lucky one.

The Holidays are Upon Us

And then it's the holidays. I can't believe it's almost that time of year again. I feel like I'm just waking up from being asleep for the last year (pregnancy plus recovery), so it's amazing to me the time that feels like it's just slipped away. I have SO MUCH more energy than I used to. I find myself randomly dancing or running, just cause I can and cause I have more energy than what I use up during the day. That's a NICE feeling and a very welcome change.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I talked to a lot of you and told you how grateful I was for each of you (in a very personal way, I've been told ). For those of you I didn't talk to, thank you for being a part of our lives. We love you!

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, Elijah, and Teancom

2002 Happenings

This is our T family picture from New Year's Day 2002. L (in the purple) is only days away from giving birth to D. My family came in town and was hopeful to see the baby before they had to turn around and go back to CA. D was born the day they had to leave, so they got to see her.


I am holding Miciah, a few months old. And Grandma is holding X, a year old. X was a happy, happy kid (he's probably laughing in this picture). SO cute.


10 May 2002: This is our little family at L's apartment in SLC. L had just graduated from U of U, so we went up to participate in that. Shortly after that, L & J moved to CA.

24 June 2002: Miciah spent a lot of time in her first 2 years being watched by family members. I was working, Rob was working and going to school. This picture is from an afternoon at the B's house in Orem. They loved this picture and set it as their desktop for months, cause it made them laugh. Miciah had a funny look on her face for lots of her early pictures.


2 July 2002: This is one of my favorite pictures of Rob ever. It's not a great picture, for sure, but he's smiling that killer smile and looking hot.

3 July 2002: I love this picture of Miciah. She's sitting inside her bouncer and she's just been crying. But still cute!

3 July 2002: What a great picture of Miciah! That smile is a Rob smile. I adore this picture.

3 July 2002: Me, my mom, Miciah, and K right before he left to go into the MTC. Notice Miciah is sucking on her binky upside down, just like I did. (We tried to get Elijah to take it upside down, too, when he was little, but he wouldn't do it.) She had a binky until about 14-months-old or so. She kept losing her binkies and we couldn't keep up with it. She'd lose 5 binkies a week. Finally we couldn't find them and I refused to go buy another set. She screamed for a day and then she was over it. Was easier than I thought. (And then there was Elijah,...)

16 October 2002: Miciah on her 1st Birthday, opening gifts. We have other pictures, but they weren't digital. ... Maybe someday I'll scan them in and post them on here.

Christmas Day 2002: My mommy gave me fuzzy pajamas with feet! I love them! They keep you ridiculously warm, though.

Christmas Day 2002: Rob in the back, and me with my some of my siblings on the couch. We were at my parents house in CA for Christmas.

2002 was a happy year for us, full of love and stress! At the start of the year both of us were working part-time jobs and going to school full-time. We would swap Miciah off between classes and find babysitters for her at night so we could both go to work. We would then see each other after I got back from work, some time after 10 p.m.! After a semester of that not working, I stopped going to school so that we could have money to eat and I would be stress-free enough to survive. I figured out that, for me, I could do 2 of the 3 things, but not all 3. I could be a mom and go to school. Or I could go to school and to work. Or I could be a mom and go to work. But I couldn't do all 3 at the same time. We made a choice.

And things were better. I worked extra hours over the summer. Best of all, I got to work with my brother, C, and that was a blast. I think people at work thought C and I were married instead of siblings. You'd think that the different last names would have tipped them off. :) But often C was our babysitter for Miciah and we'd swap off at work. Or I'd bring Miciah in to visit him or whatever. C and Miciah were inseparable.

My mom came in town in July to see K off at the MTC. It's always nice to see my sweet mother, and it was fun to connect with K before he left for 2 years.

We had a great time being with family in Utah. The family outing for 2002, if I'm remembering right, was a camping trip to a lake a few hours away. There was 1 cabin and an RV or 2, but Rob and I and Miciah were in a tent. It was fun! And we stayed up late with the family singing songs around the fire and listening to Rob do his Gay French Bear routine.

In October Miciah turned 1. Miciah was a difficult baby (colicky for the first few months--seemed like eternity), and that wasn't changing as she got older. She has always had a definite opinion about things!

Miciah was a tiger for Halloween, in an outfit that my mom made matching for all 3 grandkids at the time. So cute. All 3 of my kids have been tigers for a Halloween, and Teancom still uses it as pajamas (though he's almost out of it, sadly). We'll retire the outfit and keep it for our grandkids.

We got pregnant for time #2 in the fall. October/November-ish. The pregnancy was AWFUL and I was sick a lot. I had absolutely no energy and I was going home from work early more often than I was staying to finish my shift. I was talking to Rob about seriously cutting back my hours for 2003, cause the pregnancy was just not nice to me.

I don't remember where we spent Thanksgiving. We probably bounced around from family get-together to family get-together. Turns out that long ago the Thackers and D's had done their get-together every other year to accommodate V & C when they lived close. Somewhere along the line, it had gotten mixed up and so every other year we had too many get-togethers to attend, with the middle years finding us begging to attend someone's (ANYONE's) get-together. :)

Christmas was spent in California at my parent's house. I think all the siblings were there except K, who was on his mission by then.

Some time during the CA trip, I started feeling much better pregnancy-wise. I figured it was just getting to be that time of the pregnancy. In November, I had spotted once, just a little, which was a little scary. When we went into the doctor the next time (early Dec.), he did an ultrasound and the baby was fine. The ultrasound pushed the due date back almost an entire week, and I was only 8 weeks along!

Anyways, when I went in for my next doctor's appointment at the end of December, the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat when listening to my tummy. I told him I'd been feeling better and he said, "That's not good." Then he went to do an ultrasound to see, and there was nothing in there. No baby at all.

So I spent the end of 2002/start of 2003 miscarrying pregnancy #2. This is a long story that I won't expound upon here (maybe in a post of it's own that you can choose to not read if you don't want to). Basically, I took a drug that is intended for something else, but which causes miscarriages as a side effect. Since I hadn't had a spontaneous miscarriage (only 20% of miscarriages aren't spontaneous), this was meant to throw me into "labor" to expel all the stuff. Round 1 cause contractions, but nothing major. I went back to get Round 2 and it was awful. I was very ill and in a ton of pain. I would have preferred someone shoot me. Seriously. I ended up at the hospital anyways to have a D&C to finish the job. Near-immediately after surgery I felt SO MUCH better. I rested for a day or two and then I was fine.

The miscarriage wasn't a sad thing, though. I was not and still am not sad about it. That pregnancy made me really really sick and I was happy to be well again. I didn't feel like I was losing a child. I have sympathies for those who have miscarried and it's been tough for them. My experience helped me comfort a friend who miscarried about a year later. It was her first pregnancy and they were so excited. My heart went out to her and her husband.

If that pregnancy had been carried to term, and it had been a girl (we felt it was a girl), her name would have been Claire with some middle initial A and we'd call her CAT. Fun, huh? But I guess it all turned out well enough, because M&K have had a baby girl since and her name is Clara.

(written 23 July 2008)