One Week Down

Last week Dea left.  Wow, was that really last week?  Anyways.  Her departure marked our official end of summer.  I'm sad without her.  Everyone should know a Dea.  She makes the world a better place.  (And you guys know me:  I'm a non-emotional one, not prone to saying things like, "She makes the world a better place" unless it's 100% true.  Science has proven in multiple peer-reviewed studies that Dea indeed makes the world a better place.)

However, it's nice to have a normal life back, with just 3 kids and a steady routine.  Thank you, school!  I go to school 1 evening and 2 mornings a week, and afternoons are to myself because this little guy goes to Kindergarten:

We had a wide range of expectations.  We had the Worst Case in our minds, where he cries all day and we receive calls mid-day asking us what is wrong with our child.  Then the Best Case, where he gets on the bus like a champ and comes home glowing.  And then multiple in-between possibilities, like he's fine at school but doesn't like riding the bus by himself.

Happily, he's been amazingly brave (for Tank), and it's been Best Case.  In fact, in the above picture, he'd just finish saying, "I love school!"  He likes being where his siblings are, he likes his teacher, and he likes learning stuff.

No, I didn't cry when he got on the bus.  That's not really my thing.  I forget that this surprises people.  I'm not a robot, I just don't think it's sad when my kids go to school.  They'll come back.

Some good First Week of Kindergarten stories (sorry, but it's my blog.  You can, however, choose not to read on through the sappiness):

Peng the Penguin
Tank's clinginess has been less as of late, which makes everyone happy, especially Tank.  He makes friends and plays well and doesn't need my legs to hide behind.  But on the day that class lists were posted, he was uber-clingy and fussy.  I was thinking, "This is the old Tank, what's up?"  And it slowly dawned on me that he was probably anxious about school.  Of course!

That same day we went to buy school supplies (don't do it with all 4 kids - trust me), and the kids wanted these cute little mini-Webkinz to put on their bookbags.  I said fine, whatever, they were $5, and Tank was happy to have one until he saw that there were mini-pillow pets as well.  He picked one out but then saw that they didn't change from a pillow into a pet.  What's the fun in that?  He went for the big bin of full-size pillow pets and would no longer be happy with the mini options.

I tried to convince him that if he did well in school, we could come back and buy one.  At $20, I didn't want to just get him one.  He was unhappy with that.  He threw a fit, I refused to budge, and we all left the store unhappy.  At store number 2, though, I decided that this was an opportunity.  I changed my tactic and tried again.  "Okay, Tank.  You can have a pillow pet, BUT if you're not good at school, or if you aren't brave riding the bus, I get to take him away.  Alright?"  He agreed and we brought home Peng the Penguin, Tank's new best friend.

It has worked wonderfully, which kinda surprises me.  Since when do pre-bribes actually pan out?  But Tank has been great, he's done everything bravely, and he gets to snuggle with Peng every night.

(And as a note:  I thought pillow pets were ridiculous until I hugged one.  Quite possibly the best hugging stuffed animal in existence.  Just so you know.)

The Kissing Hand
Do you guys know this book?  Our Kindergarten teachers use it as a way to help the kids transition to going to school away from their mommies.  It's about a raccoon who doesn't want to go to school, and his mom gives him a Kissing Hand.  She kisses the palm of his hand, and he closes his fist and the kiss stays with him and doesn't wash off.  Then, whenever he's missing his mom, he can put that hand up to his cheek, and the hand will tell him, "Mommy loves you.  Mommy loves you," and he'll be filled with warm, happy thoughts.

A few years back, when my mom was asking what books to get the kids, I asked for that one, thinking that it might help the boys transition to school even better if we owned the same book they were reading in class.  And it's been great.  Tank came home, told us he'd read the book, and we read it 3 more times together at home.  I gave him a Kissing Hand on each palm, and then he asked for a Kissing Hand from Miciah and Elijah.  Super cute.  (He put his palm on his cheek and I said, "Is it working?"  He nodded and replied, "It's saying Mommy loves me.  Mommy loves me.  I have warm, happy thoughts.")

The second day he reported that he was so good at school, and he liked it so much, that he didn't even have to use the Kissing Hand! 

On day three I put him in my arms and said, "I miss you while you're gone, Tank.  What should I do about that?"  He grabbed my hand and spread my fingers into a fan (just like in the book), and kissed my hand.  "Now, put it on your cheek," he said.  I did.  He continued, "Is it saying Teancom loves you?"  I smiled really big and said that it was indeed.

Excessive Cuddling
On day two, I took a nap in the afternoon, cause it's the perfect napping weather.  I was still in bed, but waking up when the kids arrived home.  Tank asked if he could lay down with me, which was fine.  I assumed he just wanted to suck on his fingers, and there are only 2 places where he can suck his fingers now:  his bedroom and Mommy's bed.  (And he hasn't broken that rule once.  What an obedient kid!)  A minute or two later, he was in my arms cuddling.  Elijah asked me to come see something and I went to get up and Tank yelled, "NO!" and clung to me like a monkey.  I giggled.  "Do you need some cuddle time, buddy?"  We cuddled for 10 minutes before he was satisfied.

He hasn't done that since.

First Day Off - Fail
I was excited that Tank would go to Kindergarten and I would have the afternoon to myself.  I had tried to decide what to do with my first day to myself and decided it should probably be a lot of nothing.  Sit on the couch.  Read a book.  Whatever.

And then Miciah got sick.  She came home on Thursday with a fever, and the school has a 24-hour fever-free policy.  So Miciah was home with me on Friday, even though she wasn't sick at all any more.  This was fine until Tank left around 12:45, and then suddenly it was like, "Why are you here?  You're not supposed to be here!"  I made her go to her room, which surprised her, I think.  But this was MY FIRST DAY OFF.

Here's the other Tank's First Day picture:

Oh well.  Tuesday I had the afternoon to myself, and it was great.  I made dinner and realized that it's not the making dinner that I hate, it's the making dinner with kids crawling all over me that's so detestable.

...

In other One Week Down news, I started school this week, too.  I want to smack some of the kids in class with me, but I try to be patient and remember that they're only 19 years old.  I also have to remember that it's a community college, and so I shouldn't expect it to be as demanding as BYU was.  But honestly.  My final project in one of my classes is a glorified book report.  Which is fine.  But I get 10 points JUST FOR TURNING IT IN ON TIME.  Which kinda blows my mind.  You don't bribe college kids to turn stuff in on time.  You EXPECT them to do it and punish them if they don't.  (Another 5 points for typing it.  TYPING IT!)

Oh well.  I've got 3 kids and a life to take care of, so I don't mind the easy points.  Plus, I like ASL, no matter what.

Alright.  Hope you're all having a good September!

Elijah's News, part 2

School

We had Elijah's Kindergarten Parent-Teacher Conference on Monday.  Mrs. Parker is the same teacher that Miciah had, so we're familiar with her style, and she's familiar with ours.  It was interesting to talk about how our children are different academically (she, of course, strongly advised us not to compare them).  Elijah does well in school and is hitting all the points he needs to hit--not ahead, but not behind.  Right where he needs to be.  He is serious about his work and very proud of himself when he does well.  It's interesting to watch this spastic little boy get super focused when he talks about school and about behaving for his teacher.  It's also interesting to note that Rob hadn't seen the intensity that Elijah has for school.  I guess by the time Rob gets home and asks Elijah about school, all Elijah has left to say is, "We played on the playground." 

This is Elijah's school picture:

He insisted on having his hair "spiky," even though I NEVER do his hair for school.  Ever.

The one mark that Elijah didn't meet for school was "talking at appropriate times."  Apparently he talks to his friends too much.  But, said Mrs. Parker, "We moved him and now he doesn't sit next to Richie, and he's much better."  And he still hasn't talked too much to get his card flipped (the school's behavior control system), and he's determined not to ever get his card flipped.  

Homework is getting easier for him.  He wants to do it RIGHT NOW when he gets home with it.  He finds some things very easy and delights in saying so.  Other things aren't as easy for him, but he still works hard on them, and it's getting easier for us, as parents, to be patient with him.  All in all, we'll take it.

Bullying Behavior

Over the summer, while we were away, Elijah developed his bullying side.  I still think that's odd, cause he's just not a bully.  When we got home from the trip and I repositioned myself as a parental authority, I told him that the bullying and hitting needed to stop.  NOW.  He would be going to school soon and it was simply not okay for a Kindergartener to be hitting people.  He thought about it.  We initiated a series of punishments for hitting, and within a week, the behavior nearly vanished.

I've been paying attention these days because Teancom has figured out how advantageous it is to be the little guy.  He hits his siblings.  He jumps on them.  He annoys Elijah to no end and chases him around the house while Elijah pleads for help.  But I have been very impressed with Elijah.  I have heard (and sometimes seen) Teancom get mad and hit him (Teancom even BITES sometimes, the little punk).  Elijah will even say, "Ow!", sometimes cry, and sound pretty angry about the whole thing.  But he has never hit him back. 

Elijah is a gentle soul.  Like his father.  I, for sure, would have hit Teancom back.  Or found an even better way to get even.  Elijah just doesn't think like that.

On top of that, his crazy emotional outbursts are now non-existent.  Hurray for growing up!  School has been a great thing for Elijah.

Pre-Reading

Another reason school has been great for Elijah:  He is interested in reading!  I think the boy just needed someone other than his mom and dad to teach him.  When we read books, if I skip a word that he knows (they're learning 1 sight word a week), he gets upset at me.  This is a big step for him.  They also send home simple sentences for him to read, and he sounds them out and does great with them.  He doesn't seem to remember words as quickly as Miciah did (since we're not comparing the two), but Mrs. Parker assures us this is all normal development stuff.  I'm proud of how Elijah is doing, and I love watching how proud he obviously is of himself.  I LOVE that he loves doing well.

School Halloween Party

I've never shown up to a school holiday party, but Miciah specifically asked me to show up this year.  So I went to the Halloween party this year, and it was fun to watch the kids having so much fun.  The parade beforehand is always fun (and I've gone to that every year), because you get to see all the costumes.  I missed Miciah during the parade, but this is Elijah:

It was a little windy and he refused to let go of his hat.   During the party, Elijah used that red hat to "color" his friends.  It was pretty cute.

And that's pretty much Elijah's news.  He is making friends at school and in the neighborhood.  He desperately wants to be helpful and big, but he's also patient in the getting there. He's happy and hopeful and a delightful child.

A Fall Tree:

Elijah's News, part 1

School Activities and Daddy

Elijah is loving Kindergarten and thinks his teacher is a goddess.  He's very insistent that we do EVERY ACTIVITY that they advertise at school, which gets annoying.  And it's completely impractical with our schedule.  One such activity was a Tailgate with Dad, where the kids went with their dads to eat pizza and watch a fire juggler.  But it was on a Tuesday night.  Rob works Tuesdays until 9:30.  When I told Elijah that Daddy couldn't go, he cried.

So we found a substitute. And they had a great time.  Rob feels bad sometimes, missing events when previously he could make them all.  But it's okay.  It's interesting to hear how the kids' language about it has changed.  Instead of, "Daddy, you made it home for dinner!" it's "Daddy, I'm glad you came home today!"  And Thursdays are crazy, because Rob gets home just moments before the kids are supposed to go to bed.  Which means that bedtime is chaos and the kids are jumping all over him.  Rob can get short with them, but I remind him that they haven't seen him all day.  And they love their daddy.

Miciah's Sleepover Party

Elijah had a great time terrorizing 11 girls during Miciah's birthday party.  And the girls seemed to enjoy running away from the lone Bad Guy.  We did ship him off to his friend's house for a few hours, so the girls could be girls, and that worked out pretty well.

Primary Program

Last Sunday was the Primary Program at church, and it was adorable, like always.  None of my kids stole the show, but that's okay.  This is the talk that Elijah wrote himself (I'm sure with a little prompting from his teacher):
I belong to a family I love very much.  In my family we know it's important to share with each other.  I like to share my toys because it makes me feel happy.  I am also thankful when my parents share things with me and let me take my Carebear places.  I know Heavenly Father loves and blesses me.

The first time I heard Elijah say his speech was 2 Sundays before the Program, and it happened to be one of those rare Sundays when I let him take his Carebear to church.  It happens maybe once every 4 months, and Carebear has to promise to be reverent.  That particular Sunday he said he needed to bring Carebear because "Brother Mecham hasn't seen her in a long time."  Brother Mecham is his teacher.  Pretty cute.  ...  I felt like a really good mom right then, when I heard how much it means to him to bring Carebear places, and that'd I'd allowed him to take his Carebear that day.  Every now and then it's nice to have a cute Mom moment.

Some Artwork

During the Primary Program Elijah drew these 4 pictures:

The blue one is a "water guy", and that's what all the blue stuff coming out of him is.  The yellow one and the first red one are "fire guys."  You'll notice that all of them have prominent penises and they're peeing off the page.  Yep.  He says they're having a water fight.

And the last red guy is "old fat daddy."  I kid you not.

Elijah has taken to calling Rob "Old Man" a lot.  It makes me laugh.  Rob will protest, which I'm sure only makes it more likely that Elijah will continue to call him that.

A Mid-September Update

Elijah sitting on the sidelines with 2 other kids on his soccer team. No, I don't have pictures of Miciah playing, cause I assistant coach her team, so I can't be taking pictures cause I'm too busy yelling at the refs! (Just kidding, I very rarely yell at the refs. In fact, this last game was my first Yell at the Refs moment (perhaps the first one OF MY LIFE--I leave the refs alone), cause the other team scored, and then the refs let the other team kick off! What?! That's INSULTING! At least if we're losing by 4, let us kick off when we're supposed to! That's not a judgment call, that's neglect! Anyways. Moving on.)

Life has been busy, though happy. I find that I get a ton done, but a lot more of my time has to be spent off the computer actually GETTING those things done. This has cut back my blog posting and chat times. A tragedy, for sure. But, for all my mourning, I've been able to do more work and this has allowed Rob to focus primarily on the fact that he's stressed out of his mind. And that's a blessing for him.

Rob

Teaching the Biology 120 class is the highlight of Rob's week. He loves what he's doing, and he says it's well worth the time sacrifices we're making. (I agree with that, by the way.) Last week he gave his first exam and most of the class got a D on it. Maybe they'll figure out that they need to STUDY for tests. ... I took the exam, too. Without studying. I got a 65%. What?! That's the worst grade I've ever received on a college exam! Actually, that's probably not true... Never mind.

A few places that he's applied to have now closed. The one in Cincinnati that he's most excited about (Xavier) closed on Friday. And he's not just the most excited about it because it's in Cincinnati. Of all the places he's applying, it's the place, more than any other, that he could see himself teaching for the rest of his life. It's also the place he's most familiar with, but still. I don't know how long we should expect it to take until we know if he's past the first round or not, but we're hoping it won't take TOO long. We're sort of holding our breath for it.

There are more jobs posted every week, which makes us hopeful that someone will hire him. There are places in New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee, all over the place (though not many out West, for some reason). So when Rob's not prepping for his lectures he's usually working on getting stuff ready for his applications. It's a crazy, busy time.

Tamra

Usually I'm happy enough in my new role as Super Woman. But sometimes I feel like Mr. Incredible in that movie: "I just cleaned up this mess. Can't it just STAY SAVED? For 5 minutes!" On Tuesdays Rob isn't home until after the kids are in bed, and on Thursdays the kids see him for a few minutes before bed. And even when Rob is home he's usually stressed and unable to see straight. This makes me smile because I see myself from 5 years ago up until a year ago: yelling at the kids for no apparent reason, not capable of being sane at bed time, looking like you're going to fall over at any moment. It's a comforting thing to realize that we can take turns being the "strong" one.

Miciah in school

Miciah is doing great in school, loving every minute. Her teacher says she's very helpful and friendly with the other kids, and we're glad she's keeping those traits. Miciah loves to keep her mind engaged, and when her homework isn't "hard enough", she'll turn it over and ask me to give her harder questions. What a nut! We have fun with it, though. I teach her some basic logic puzzles (in which I have declared that Scooby-Doo is smarter than Edison), and some more advanced math concepts. I'm not sure if her teacher approves, but I'm not sure I care, either.

My favorite two things about Miciah in 2nd grade:
1 - She brings home a daily planner that I have to sign every night. With a kid like Miciah, who begs to do harder math problems, is there any need to sign this planner? No. So I take advantage of the "parent comments" section and say things like, "Miciah is a stinky cheese." When I wrote that Miciah said, "No, Mom. That section is for things that are very important." So above the original message I wrote in caps: "VERY IMPORTANT:" And we've just progressed from there.

2 - She is going to be able to access all the books in the school library. Miciah is one of the top readers in her grade, and in previous years it has frustrated me that she wasn't able to pick out harder books. The librarian and the teacher apparently give different grades different access to books. Makes sense, but when Miciah is reading the Magic Treehouse books in under an hour and says she needs "more books", maybe she should just pick out harder books (not to mention books of higher quality. Magic Treehouse books are AWFUL!). I'm volunteering at the library this year and knowing how the system works made me bold enough to ask her teacher to allow her access to all the books. I don't know if Miciah will WANT to read the harder books, but I'd like MICIAH to decide that, not a teacher or librarian. I was happy that her teacher agreed with me.

Miciah playing soccer

Miciah is also playing soccer. I'm not sure if she's loving it or not, but she is steadily improving. At the last game she was much braver on the field and when I told her that she said, "I know." Of course she knew. Her team hasn't won any games, but "it's fun to play whether you win or not" (that's the loser's motto, and I love it!).

One of the really cool things about her playing soccer this year is that she's practicing twice a week. This is worth noting because the 2nd practice is with another team. It's just a rec league, and there are 2 girls in her 2nd grade class that are on another team. One of those girls, Cierra, is a super star, but that's neither here nor there. While at a classroom night, Cierra's dad, who is also the coach of her team, asked what nights we practiced. I told him only Wed. nights because neither the head coach nor I had any other nights available. Then, an hour later, when I went to the practice fields for Elijah's Thursday night practice, there they were, practicing at the SAME TIME.

So I was brave and I called him and asked if Miciah could practice with them. It just seemed silly to me to have Miciah sitting at Elijah's practice, or "practicing" with me during his practice, when another team her age, with some of her friends on it, was practice a few fields away! He said she was welcome to practice with them every Thursday, and even said that if any parents on the team had problems with it, he'd tell them to get over it! :) I think a lot of Miciah's improvement has come from practicing with this other team and watching these better girls do their thing. Before the last game Miciah said, "Mom, I learned some new tricks from Cierra's team." I asked her what they were and she said, "You'll see them at the game." Go, Miciah!

Elijah playing soccer
Elijah loves soccer, and he's not half-bad at it. He's not a super star, but he looks like one compared to the 3-year-olds that are on the team! This is lollipop soccer, so most of the kids spend their time picking flowers instead of playing. At his last 2 games there has been a super star on the opposing team. The game I went to, this last Saturday, there was this girl named Rebecca who scored at will. I was impressed, and I also felt sorry for her and her parents. Because the parents on our team were pretty ticked off. Oh, to be hated for being talented.

Elijah has a great time out there, though, and it's fun to watch him play.

Elijah in school

Elijah is LOVING school, which is fantastic. I thought that perhaps he'd be bothered with all the work he has to do there, but he comes home every day and talks about how much fun he's having! He also is greatly upset when other kids get their card flipped, which is the school's system of punishments. They get their cards flipped and then after a certain number of flips this happens and then that happens. Much like writing your name on the board. He has told us that he will NEVER get his card flipped. He seems very determined to be good, and that's adorable.

He is not digging homework, though. Some of it he's pretty good at, like letter identification and sorting. But the first week was writing his name the right way and he was NOT happy about it. He doesn't like being told how he HAS to do something, and I don't think he understands why his way isn't just as good. Sometimes I want to go on about how right he is (don't conform! You can write your name however you want to!), but the other more responsible side of me wins out and I tell him that "that's the way it's supposed to be done."

We've created special Homework time with Daddy on Monday nights, and that's helping some. I got a flunking grade on Elijah's first homework assignment. Yes, I wrote that on purpose. I, Tamra, got a flunking grade. I got so frustrated with him not doing it right that I huffily sent him away saying, "If you're just going to be stupid, then go away." He walked away slowly, head bowed. After he walked away I realized what I'd said. I didn't MEAN to call him stupid, I just meant that his BEHAVIOR was stupid, but suddenly that didn't matter: I had just called my 5-year-old son stupid. This is the kind of stuff that scars kids!! I took him aside and apologized. He forgave me, cause he's like that, and we created the special Homework time with Daddy. ... Learn some patience, Tamra!!

Teancom

Teancom is still lovely Teancom. He takes naps nearly every day now, and I'm not sure why that is. I was thinking it was because I was "boring" to him, but he's fallen asleep after the kids got back from school, while driving to the store, before Elijah even left for school, ... Whatever the reason, I am NOT complaining. It makes for a happier Teancom, and that makes for a happier everyone.

He seems to have moved past his Wiggles and Baby Einstein obsession, which means that a curtain is closing on a stage in my life. No tears will be shed. He has moved on to Dora and Diego and Scooby-Doo and Thomas. Hurray!

He is still a pro at going potty, though we've had some amusing incidents. The best two:
1 - I had been finding some pieces of wet toilet paper on the floor and assumed they were from something Teancom was doing, but I wasn't sure what. Then I came in while he was going potty and he was dunking toilet paper in the potty WHICH HE'D ALREADY USED, and was bring the paper back up and wiping himself, the toilet seat, etc. I almost gagged right there, the thought was so revolting to me. He got his bum smacked for that one, and I don't think he's done it since.

2 - We have a hand mirror that is exclusively used by Miciah. She likes to look at her hair after she puts it up by herself (why by herself? That's right, I'm too lazy to put it up for her). Anyways, one day last week I was walking by the bathroom and glanced in. I saw Teancom, just finished with the potty, naked from the waist down. He was holding the mirror behind him, glancing backwards into it, and turning his body just slightly so he could look at his bum. I forced myself to keep walking and then mentally willed myself to not break into hysterical laughter. I said, "Teancom, what are you doing?" He said, of course, "I'm trying to see my bum." ... I wiped the mirror down after that. And vowed never to touch it again.

Other Things

Kirtland

All of us in a horrible picture taken in front of the Newel K. Whitney store:

We went to Kirtland, OH with our friends, the Turleys, over Labor Day weekend. It was fun, though later my friend told me that she passed up an opportunity to camp at a Nude Campground. What?! To think we could have gone camping nude! (Seriously, do you even want to THINK about camping nude? Are you KIDDING ME? On the beach nude, okay. Sounds uncomfortable with the sand thing, but whatever. Camping?!)

Our family in front of the Kirtland temple:
The kids really enjoyed it and I will post lots of pictures in a separate post cause I took LOTS of pictures of my favorite Kirtland-area site: The John Johnson Farm.

Colerain Cardinals

On Friday night we took our kids to their first ever high school football game. Every year the local high school has "Elementary School Night" where all the elementary school kids and their families get free hotdogs and chips before the game, the kids get to form a human "tunnel" for the players to run through, and then the kids get into the game for free. We have passed up this "opportunity" in previous years, but when Elijah came home from school SO EXCITED to see the game ("Mom, there will be hotdogs and chips and cheerleaders and football players!"), we knew we were going.

What did Miciah like best? Probably the cheerleaders.
What did Elijah like best? The Army guys parachuting onto the field.
What did Teancom like best? The big red bird: the Cardinal mascot. He liked it only from a distance, though, and when he got up close he ran away.
What did Tamra like best? Listening to a conversation between two old friends, meeting for the first time in 10 years or more. It included this: "My daughter aspires to be a cheerleader. I mean, oh gosh, aspire to something better than that! And she'll say, 'But Mom, YOU were a cheerleader!' I know!"
What did Rob like best? All of it. Especially wondering why the center held the ball that way. WHO, I ask you, notices the way the center holds the ball before a snap? That's right, my husband does. It was cute.

Fun tidbit about the game. Miciah was telling someone at church about the Cardinals game. Went like this:
Miciah: "We went to a Cardinals game."
Woman: "You did? Did they play the Reds?"
Miciah: "No, the Nighthawks."
Woman: "Oh."
Teancom: "They had a big red bird there!"
Woman: "Really?"
Miciah: "Yeah. We left before the game was over, and it was like 50 to 10 when we left."
Woman, in complete disbelief: "Really? Are you sure?"

I chuckled about that and then kindly interjected that it was a FOOTBALL game, not a baseball game. And the score really was that lopsided. When we left, 10 minutes to go, it was 48 - 17.

And Teancom's been talking about the big red bird ever since. We'll walk out the door and he'll say, "Are we going to see the big red bird now?" It makes me laugh every time.

Kid Sayings

In true Tamra fashion, this post is getting way too long. I haven't updated in a while. But I have to mention the 2 best kid sayings as of late. Both come from Elijah:

"Mom, some people have a Nintendo 65. We don't have a Nintendo 65. We have a Nintendo Zero."
That's right! We have the original Nintendo!! I like "Nintendo Zero."

Out of the blue Elijah said this to me:
"Mom, it would be sad if you died. Cause I'd miss you."
I told him it would be sad, and that I'd miss him, too.
"Yeah. Mom? If you died, I want you to die at home. Know why? Cause then I could say "I love you" and "good bye.""
Elijah just smiled sweetly at me, so happy with the idea of being able to say that he loved me and wishing me well as I parted this life. And I tried really really hard not to cry.
I wasn't sure how to respond. I think I said, "Umm, thank you, Elijah." ... You'll be proud: I didn't cry.

I'll also make another post about our garden. Cause I'm obsessed with it.

And that's life here. Keeping it together somehow.

No big updates from us since last time.

Family Campout

Two weekends ago we went on a family campout. We have gone once before with two other families. This time we added one more family, but that's about as many families, I think, that will fit into the family campout scheme we have worked out. It works great to have other families there, because you share everything, including the sites and the cost, and you end up spending less than you would have just going with your own family. And that's awesome. ... The kids love the camping. We will go again in April, when it's warming up again. It's fun.

Plus, fires are pretty cool. We've been having a good time making tin foil dinners in our fire pit outside. And they're actually really really good. We have a wood pile that we intend to have used up by the time next summer comes and we'll be moving (if it all works out). So we make a fire probably once a week, sometimes more. We make s'mores and tin foil dinners and sometimes we just make the fire to make a fire. Code says that you have to be cooking over it for it to be legal to make a fire, so we always at least make s'mores. S'mores might be one of the best things EVER. So yummy. ... The other night we made a fire and as it died down (fires are like very demanding children. You can't leave them unattended), we sat around it and watched Tim Conway youtube videos. It was awesome. There's something about a fire that makes you want to just stare at it and let the world pass you by while you sit still.

Rob's Paper

Rob is really close to having his first paper finished and ready to publish. But I feel like that's where it's been for YEARS. :) Okay, it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it's dragging out. One of these days I'll send out an update saying it was published in this journal and it'll feel nice to have that completed. ... Rob has started writing his thesis and is doing experiments now for his second paper. Everyone cross their fingers that the results will come.

Miciah and School

Miciah is still enjoying school. She's a very self-motivated learner, which impresses me. Though we did have to have a discussion with her about homework. You do homework before you go outside to play or play a computer game. This discussion made Rob feel really old. How many times did our parents tell us that and how many times did we groan about it? And now here we are saying the same thing.

Teancom

Teancom has leaped ahead in just the last week. The signs we've been trying to teach him for the last 2 months (food/eat, juice, more, milk, and all done) he's now learned and is using unprompted. Out of the blue, it seems, he just suddenly was using them. So it's really really nice to be able to have him tell us what he wants. He's also taken a step for us, though he still thinks it's hysterical that we get so excited about it. ... I'm not sure I can define what's changed in Teancom. He just seems more attentive and alert and like he wants to communicate with us. Like he's trying to interact with us, whereas before he'd just smile at us when we tried to get him to sign. :) I think he likes that he can sign food and get food.

He still thinks it's pretty funny to hit me when he's tired. Usually in the face. Why he should think this is so funny, I don't know.

Elijah

Elijah was sick a week ago Sunday. He woke up puking at 6 a.m. Sunday morning and was up sick until 8:30 or so. He woke up feeling much better at 10:30 a.m. Everyone was at church except for him and me, and he turned to me and asked where Daddy was. I told him that they were all at church because Elijah was sick. He looked at me a little puzzled and said, "I'm sick?" It was cute. ... He's so sweet when he's not feeling well, really. When he first woke up, I jumped out of bed because all I heard was what sounded like Elijah choking. I ran in to find he'd thrown up all over his bed and himself. I took him into the bathroom to finish while Rob changed the sheets. After it had passed, I took Elijah into the living room. He took a detour to his room, looked in to see Rob, smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. :)

That was a pretty off day. Later I remarked to someone about how if that's how Elijah's sickness went, I'd sign up for the same thing. 3 hours and done. He woke up asking for food. I made him go slowly, but he was eating good stuff by afternoon. Anyways, when I said I'd sign up for the same sickness, I meant that I'd sign up for it to happen IN THE SAME WAY. A friend of ours was sick with some stomach bug that ailed him for 3 days during the week. Wasn't sure it was the same thing, since his sickness was so ugly and Elijah's wasn't.

And Then It Happened to Me

So Thursday night I went to bed only to dream about how I was going to throw up. I woke up at 1 a.m. to fulfill that prophetic dream. By 3 a.m. Miciah had joined in. By 5 a.m. Teancom was throwing up, too. Poor Rob, he had to get up with the kids every time because I couldn't get up without throwing up. After Rob got done cleaning up after one of the kids, he got back to bed and said, "I should set my alarm for 10 minutes from now." When the next round came, he got up and said, "Well, we made it 12 minutes." :) He got back to bed after taking care of it, and said, "Well, you might as well get up and throw up, too." I told him I would have to in a matter of minutes. Of course, by then I was just dry heaving, which is worse. We all were done by 8 a.m. and everyone slept in until almost 10.

Rob asked if I wanted to get up and take a shower and hopefully that would help me feel better. I said sure and got up. I walked into the bathroom and Rob looked at me as I was leaning on the sink for support. He said, "Are you okay?" I told him I'd probably better just go back to bed. By the time I got back to the bed, I had almost fainted. So, needless to say, Rob stayed home from school Friday. I told him I'd love to be able to take care of my sick kids, but I can't even take care of myself (and you can't pawn sick kids off on someone else). I tried twice to get up and sit on the couch. From my bed to the couch (what, maybe 30 feet) I had to stop and sit on the dining room chair so I wouldn't faint. Miciah sat on the couch watching TV all day, with a fever spiking at 102. And I slept until 5 p.m. I still wasn't feeling great, but good enough to walk, so Rob took a little nap because he was beat. Wonder why. :) We figured out that the night we were all awake sick, the longest stretch of sleep was 2 hours. Nice.

The Morning After

We all felt MUCH better by Saturday morning. This last weekend was General Conference for our church, and we were supposed to go up North to stay with M and C to watch conference and let the kids play together. We were supposed to go up on Friday night, but obviously that wasn't happening. So we went up Saturday early afternoon after we got our house back in order. On the way Teancom threw up (Rob said maybe it was just car sickness. Maybe). I was grumpy because I still wasn't feeling great. Not sick any more, but still recovering and weak (I lost 5 lbs. in a little over a day--I kept looking in the mirror wondering what was wrong with my image--guant and pale (and that's paler than normal, mind you)). We got to M's house and I laid on the couch for another few hours. Finally by dinner Saturday night I was eating some normal food. That's 48 hours after getting sick. We went to bed that night and Miciah woke up and had thrown up a little agian.

But by Sunday we were all pretty much better. And no one has had any episodes since. ... Rob's advisor did tell him that he's next. Rob said, "I hope not." To which his advisor, an MD, responded, "No. You will be." :) Let's hope not.

... Why it should be fair that I would be hit really hard by this sickness that Teancom and Elijah breezed through, .... :) Oh well. We're all better for now.

So DON'T EVER SAY YOU'D SIGN UP FOR A SICKNESS. Cause you never know what you're in for.

Here's a great picture of Elijah. I went into the kids' room last night to make sure it wasn't too cold and walked in to find Elijah, asleep, like this. :) It was awesome.


Well, that's our long update about not much of anything. Hope life is going well for all of you!

Tamra

P.S. One of the speakers during our General Conference gave a talk that really touched me. He was talking about charity and small acts of kindness. About halfway through his talk he started shaking a LOT and looked like he was going to fall over. One of the other men walked up behind him. I thought he was going to tell the speaker that he should probably sit down or something. But he didn't. Without a word or even a gesture, and without any acknowledgement, he just stood behind the speaker and supported him so he could stand. The shaking decreased, but it was with great effort that the speaker finished his talk. I thought that maybe the speaker would shorten his talk because of the situation, but I don't think he did. He wanted to give his message as it was intended. It just really struck me that here is this man speaking on charity, just trying to give his talk with a body that isn't cooperating, and then, his friend comes up and embodies the talk by supporting him. No words. Just simple, kind charity. ... After the talk the speaker said, "Thank you," and several other men helped him to his chair.

How we all lean on each other. Thank you, all of you, for showing me and my family charity and love. We appreciate you.

Last Part of the Update

Miciah is loving school. She likes to learn (though she does tell us that she's not learning a whole lot that she doesn't already know). She comes home and as quickly as possible shows us her stuff from the day. They often have things she wants to finish coloring or whatever. Sometimes she'll come home with stories to act out for us. She loves doing her homework and is very eager not only to do it and have FUN doing it (is that possible? She has fun doing homework?), but to do it right.

It did make me laugh yesterday. She came home and was trying to tell me about an event happening Monday night. She said it was a bagel thing. I was thinking about how I didn't know there was a school function that night that involved breakfast food. She then told me that they would throw things. I asked, "Throw bagels?" "Yeah!" she said. I was beyond confused. She then told me it was at 7. No, no, that wasn't right. The teacher said it was at 7:30. And we could watch it on TV. They would be playing a game. ... She was telling me about the BENGALS game. Bagels, Bengals, it's all the same. :)

Teancom still isn't walking or anything, and that's okay with me. He does say Da Da, and usually says a consistent bye-bye. That's about it. But, again, he's about the happiest kid I've ever met, so I'll take it. By this point in Elijah's life, we knew about his temper. I was wondering if Teancom would have the same temper, but it seems that he doesn't have a temper. He doesn't even get mad if he's hungry and you're not feeding him fast enough. And that's AMAZING to me. He's just really chill. It makes him a charmer because everyone falls in love with his soft temperament. Including me.

And the last thing, I've had some funky eye problem. There was a dry spot on my eyelid. Who knows what it is. I had it for over 2 weeks. As I was entering week 3 this weekend, it started swelling. First the swelling wasn't too noticable, then it got a lot worse. I finally broke down and decided I should treat it with something. I didn't know what to use, though cause just about everything topical says not to get in or near eyes. I tried melaluca oil, but it burned and made my eye feel like I put icy hot on it. So I decided to try this triple antibiotic cream that has melaluca in it. The swelling has now almost completely reduced and my eyelid is no longer red. Random of all randomness, but I'm glad it's going away. And no, I am NOT attaching a picture of it at its worst. :) That's the beauty of being the one behind the camera.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Tamra

First Day of School Update!

We made it through the end of summer! I feel like I can think about life again now that summer is over.

We went in Friday to meet for about 15 minutes with Miciah and her teacher, Mrs. Parker. Mrs. Parker is nice and showed Miciah where her seat was and her cubby and all that stuff. Then she had Miciah write her name. She told Miciah that it was great, but that she would be expected to write in the correct lowercase and uppercase now. Miciah seemed not quite to know how to respond to that. But she immediately corrected her H to an h and handed it back to the teacher. Then, all weekend, she practiced her name (she wasn't quite sure how to do a lowercase a). Over and over and over. Until she got it down. She wrote it on paper. She colored it in coloring books. She wrote it in chalk on the front porch. Then she would run and say, "Mom, Mom! Come look! I wrote my name right and went, 'Yesss!' " Too cute.

First Day of Kindergarten

Miciah's first day of school was Monday. She has afternoon Kindergarten, which will work splendidly for us, I think. But Monday she woke up and asked about every 15 minutes from the moment she woke up if it was time for school yet. No. No. No, no, no, no. Finally, at 12:25 she sat down in front of the VCR and watched the clock. I had told her that at 12:30 we could walk to the bus stop. My mom tried to distract her by asking her to put her clothes away. She said she didn't want to. I told her it would help the time go by quicker. She said, unconvinced, "How?" Well, then you wouldn't just be staring at the clock. She got up and got the clothes. During that time the clock turned to 12:26. As she walked to her room, she glanced at the clock and said, "6! Yes!" Too funny.

We walked to the bus stop and the bus was very late. Late on her first day of school. Bummer. We also had our first real experience with how we shouldn't touch litter. You don't need details, all you need to know is GROSS! ...


While Miciah was gone, Elijah said, "Mom, where is Ciah?" I told him she was at school. He said, "But I want her!" It was cute. I think he'll miss her, but I also think the time will be really good for him. And it'll be nice to have the house not be so loud.

Second Day of Kindgergarten

She came back from school talking a mile a minute about how the day went! She was excited and ready to go back the next day. Fortunately, she wasn't quite as obsessed with the time yesterday. Elijah saw her off at the bus and was excited to go to school, too! He was a little disappointed that he didn't get to go, but still, excited just to see the bus.

She came home from her second day of school. I asked her how school was on her second day. She said, "Boring." Boring? Well, what did you do? "Nothing. We didn't do anything!" :) It's funny to me that the first day was exciting and the second day was boring. She told Grandma it was boring because they didn't get to play. Grandma told her that you go to school to work, not to play, so sometimes it might be boring. I thought that was a good answer.

Kids

And that's our main update. Miciah is now a Kindergartener and that's great. Elijah is still Elijah. He's cute and full-speed ahead. Teancom is still SO dang cute. He can stand up on his own and we'll stand him up and put our arms out and try to get him to walk towards the other person. He just laughs and either sits down or falls forward. Won't even take a step. But he's happy and healthy and that's wonderful. We take him in for a doctor's appointment tomorrow. A little late on his 1 year check-up. It's a new doc who hopefully won't be obsessed about the fact that he's a little behind on the walking milestone.

No More Cats, But We Still Have Ringworm

Oh, on other fronts. We gave Fumasa back to C along with our two cats, Cleo and Ceasar. It's a little sad to be without them. They're good cats. But it's also nice to not have to hassle with some of the things that are a hassle when you have cats. ... All of us have ringworm. Rob was the last holdout, but he has it now, too. We assume the ringworm is from the cats (C's kids have it, too, and had it first), but they couldn't find any ringworm spots on Fumasa (whom we assume is the culprit), and so they can't treat it. We are all being treated for it. We didn't have it officially diagnosed, but you treat it with over-the-counter stuff, so I figured it doesn't matter. We will ask the doc about it tomorrow, though. Teancom and Rob have 1 spot a piece. Miciah and Elijah have 2. And I'm the lucky one with 4 (and maybe a 5th if this random thing on my eyelid is one, too). Fun, fun.

And who knew that ringworm is a fungus? I guess a lot of people do, but I didn't. It should be a worm, shouldn't it, if it's called ringworm? Like roundworm. Or hookworm. Those are worms. But no, it's a fungus. Though I suppose ringworm sounds better than ringfungus.

So that's our news. Hope all is well for everyone!

Two pictures of my sleeping babies. I watched them sleeping and wanted to take pictures of them. They're not as enchanting in the pictures as when I was looking at them, but they're still cute. And the one of Teancom spotlights him sucking on those 2 fingers he thinks are tasty.

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, Elijah, and Teancom (with no cats, though we still have fish)

Pictures

I'll send out pictures first, then a short update. Oh, who am I kidding? My updates are never short, even when I think they are. :)

Cats

The kitten in the picture is C's cat. We're almost done with an almost-5-week-stint of cat sitting. The kitten now gets along with the other 2 cats, and has been fun for the kids. Teancom especially has loved the kitten being around. Soon, Cleo and Ceasar, our two cats, will go home with Fumasa to C's house and she'll be their new owner. Ceasar will have a heavenly home with tons and tons of space to hunt and run around in. And then we can still visit the cats when we go see C.

And this is Teancom sporting some awesome sunglasses. :) The glasses are G's. G is holding him in this picture, actually, but is making such a weird face that I cropped him out. Besides, next to Teancom, ... nothing's cuter than that!

My New Wedding Ring

Part of my update is that we bought me a wedding ring! If you remember, I lost my wedding ring in a car accident in Jan. 2004. So for 3 1/2 years I've been wearing one of 3 cheap rings I bought on eBay for $14 a piece. We have made it a date night to go ring shopping. We've never been meaning to buy a ring, we've just been looking for my "dream ring". We found one once that was amazing, but it was almost $3,000. We didn't have that kind of money. ... Anyways, we went on a date a few weeks ago and decided once again to browse jewlery stores. We walked into our third store of the night and there was my ring. We were both enchanted and amazed, and we bought it! It's exciting to have a wedding ring again.

This is kind of neat for me. The ring is a band that matches Rob's band pretty dang well. Rob's ring is yellow gold on the outside and platinum in the middle. My original matched his sort of. It was the same sort of design, but with alternating colors of white, yellow, and rose gold on the inside. We had bought both rings on clearance, and because of that, I wasn't able to buy my ring in the size I needed. It was a size 10 that needed to be squeezed down to a size 7. Well, after that, the ring wasn't quite the same (besides, I liked Rob's ring better for me, but it was too masculine--this new one, though it's white gold, is brushed, so that takes off that masculine feeling). I wasn't too happy with how it looked after that, but whatever. It was a ring.

So this ring matches Rob's ring better, it's very similar to my original, I like the white gold look better than the tri-gold, and we could order it in my size so it's infinitely more comfortable. All in all, I like it better than the original ring we bought for me.

This is exciting news for me, so thanks for letting me bore you with sharing it.
And these two pictures of Teancom are just so dang cute I couldn't resist sharing them.

Teancom

And now for the update part. Teancom's big news is that he chipped his top middle left tooth. Yep. On Rob's head. Yep. ... Don't ask, I don't know either. But the chip is very slight and won't be an eye sore or anything, so he'll just have a chipped tooth until he's 5 or 6. Not sure that's a big deal.

Teancom has now stood on his own three times that we've seen. He cruises along furniture, too, so that's progress. He isn't ready to try to take a step on his own yet, but that'll come with time. We have also just barely taught him his first sign: more. It's about that stage where signs come in real handy.

Elijah

Elijah is a monster, but we're learning how to deal with it. He won't take a nap for like a week and then he'll be so awful and so exhausted that he'll take 3 days' worth of naps. Then the cycle starts over. Obviously, the days with naps are infinitely better than those without. ... I have started joking with my friends that I'm offering him up for legal adoption. Miciah had a really yucky year 2 and wasn't as bad for year 3. So Elijah's great year 2 didn't prepare us for a crummy year 3. Oh well.

A funny story about Elijah. Elijah still gets his binky for nap time and bed time. He'll get up in the morning and I'll say, "Elijah, I need your binky" and he'll hand it to me. If he doesn't want to give it up, he has to go back to bed and be ready to give it up when he comes back out of his bedroom. Usually this works very smoothly. Well, a few weeks back he was really fighting us about it. After him pushing the line over and over, I finally told him that I was going to throw it away if he didn't give it to me (it's one of 3, so not too big a deal, just a lesson taught). He didn't give it to me, so I yanked it out of his mouth and threw it away. Of course he was upset. We talked to him about it and he calmed down. About 10 minutes later he came to us and said, "I look binky in trash can and say, "Binky, why you go away?"" That made us smile. ... If you're wondering, Elijah has had no problem since giving us his binky. In fact, the very next time he came out of his room, he put his binky on the table, unasked, and said, "No put binky in trash can."

Miciah and the Kindergarten Pre-Screening

Miciah is ready to start Kindergarten. We took her in for her pre-screening. You know, what is this color, what are these letters, what rhymes with orange. Stuff like that. She knew all of the answers, as she proudly reported when she got back to my side. :) ... Then this funny situation occured, and I wanted to share it cause it made me laugh (when it was safe to laugh). The next kid to do the pre-screening was a boy. The same lady who took Miciah back was there to take this little boy. She said, "Are you ready?" and then the kid takes off running down the hallway and out the school doors screaming, "I'm not ready! I'm not ready!" His mom is chasing out the doors behind him yelling, "A, stop it! A, come back here!" They have a chat outside and then A comes back in the doors. He waits until Mom is safely a few feet inside the doors, laughs, and runs back outside. Mom chases. A comes back in the doors again, and the lady says, "Are you ready now?" He follows her down the hallway, still shouting, "I'm not ready! I'm not ready!"

Made me glad my kid is Miciah. Though, I won't claim none of my kids would ever do that. They probably would. It was just funny.

Rob

Rob is excited about post-docs and about getting his first paper published. He is very near having the first paper ready to publish, and that excites me, too. It makes graduating seem like a reality. It will be interesting where the next stage of life will take us. Rob would be happy to go any one of a couple of places, so we'll see where we end up. It would be weird to think about the possibility of moving next year, but if that happens, I guess that's okay. One of the possibilities is in the DC area, and I think if that becomes a real possibility, Rob would love to go there (Army Medical Research and NIH are both there, and he'd love either of those). If that happens, we're probably back to an apartment, and I can tell you I won't mind that AT ALL. I've loved owning this house, and it's my baby, but I won't mind the lesser responsibilities of an apartment.

Tamra

It's my month to talk in church, apparently. I spoke in church last Sunday. I guess it went okay, that's what people told me. And I give a lesson Labor Day weekend on the miracle of forgiveness. I've been studying a lot about the topic and it's made me want to be more humble and repentant. It's a work in progress. :)

My Parents

That's our news here. My parents are joining us later tonight. Dad will stay until next Monday and Mom will stay until Sept. 1st. It'll be nice to have them here with us. They're always a delight, and we always get to see lots more family because they're here than when they're not here.

Tamra

Update

Teancom is Army Crawling!

Teancom is army crawling, it's official! On Wednesday 2 important events occured with his army crawling. I was sitting at the computer and he crawled into the other room. I heard the noise coming from the kitchen and then jumped up to get him because we have stairs off our kitchen! He was a foot or two away from them, so I was in time, but it was the first time, so it seemed monumental. I'll be putting up the gate when I get home from my trip, so then he can only stay in the living room, or at least can't fall down the stairs. The second one. I gave him some cheerios to eat on the living room floor. He finished those, then crawled towards me quickly, like he had some purpose in doing so. He wasn't looking at me, but next to me. I looked at where he was looking on the desk and realized he was eyeing the cheerios box. So not only was that crawling, but it was a want he had, and he communicated it well enough that I knew what he wanted! It was a fun moment.

Teancom is still just as sweet as ever, he's just mobile now. He looks like he's swimming across the floor when he crawls. He uses his legs when he crawls, he just won't get up on his knees. Or he'll crawl for about half a crawl and then he's army crawling. He is very fast at it, and I wonder if he'll ever crawl for real, cause he's so fast already that I'm not sure he'll feel he "needs" to. We'll see.

Elijah

Elijah is a blast. The other day he was sitting in the living room with Teancom. He said, "Mom, I share with Tankcom." He had some crackers that he had broken up into small pieces. He then put one in Teancom's mouth and said, "Chew. Chew." How cute.

Miciah

Miciah is Miciah. The cutest story about her is from our traveling yesterday (which I'll mention later in the e-mail). She turned to me an hour and a half into a 4 1/2 hour flight. She said, "How long will it be?" Another 3 hours, I told her. "That's too long! I could throw up on the plane. I could DIE on the plane!" I thought that was funny.

Miciah's last day of pre-school was Thursday. She doesn't do her Kindergarten screening until August, they changed the dates on us. It was supposed to be in June, but that's okay with us, since we're in CA for all of June. ... Miciah and C had set up to do Art Class during the summer, once a week for an hour or so. C made up the whole cirriculum. Then we left for all of June. So they did one class early, last week. Miciah made paper flowers with her. Loved it. Then colored a plastic container with markers to make a vase. She colored the entire thing pink. Then she wrapped it up in her skirt and shirt and so was covered in pink marker. I asked her why she did that and she said, "Cause it makes it look cool!" So I couldn't even yell at her--it was in the name of art! :)

Traveling is Fun

Traveling was fun. We flew from Indianapolis to Chicago, had a 3-hour wait (that was on purpose--if giving a choice between a 45-minute layover and a 3-hour layover, give me the 3 hours for my kids to eat and run around), then flew into San Fran, then another 2-hour drive to Mom's house. We drove to Indy Thursday night and stayed in a hotel not 5 minutes from the airport. This made our morning much nicer, since the flight left at 6 a.m. Friday morning we were arriving at the airport with an hour and 15 minutes til the flight, and as Rob stopped the van to get the parking stub, the car died. Go figure. He had to push the car, with the help of the guy behind us, into a parking spot. Oh well, at least we were there. We were on the wrong side of the airport, though. Luckily Indy is a smaller airport. Found United. Well, apparently showing up with enough time but just enough time isn't a good plan. We got to the front of the line fairly quickly, but then the woman helping us had to go to the gate to help out. She checked in 2 of my 4 bags, told me I was all set, then took off. Shortly thereafter, another woman left for the gates. 20 minutes later, and as I had only 45 minutes and less to get on my plane, I finally asked if I could leave Rob with the bags and go through security. They said that was fine, and it was a good thing I did it, too, cause the security line was getting longer.

Rob got the bags through, said goodbye to me in the line, then left to take care of the car. (He had joked the night before about being able to make it to Indy with a 1/4 tank of gas. I thought he was joking, and apparently he should have been, since we ran out of gas at the airport garage. Luckily, that was ALL that was wrong with the car.) Security was fun. Elijah wasn't really awake, and wasn't happy to be there. I made him get out of the stroller and then he laid on the ground and screamed. When we had to move, I'd literally drag him and then set him back down. The other passengers seemed to be okay with all this, a little amused, a little annoyed. I joked with them about how I'd just roll him through the rest of security. Then a lady 5 people back asked if she could hold the baby. I told her I wouldn't turn that down. So then I just had to worry about dragging Elijah. He still screamed, but at least I was able to get through security. She held Teancom all the way through security, and I was pleasantly surprised they let her do that for me. Fortunately they didn't make Elijah walk through the metal detector by himself, cause it wouldn't have worked (I tried). The lady was the last person on her flight, and I was right on time for my boarding group. This was 15 minutes before the flight was supposed to leave.

Flight #1

The first flight was awesome. Teancom slept the whole time. Elijah woke up a little bit and so wasn't crying and screaming any more, and just laid there the whole time. Miciah was across the aisle from me (it was 2 seats, an aisle, then 2 seats), and she chatted off the ear of the young woman sitting next to her. But the woman gave Miciah some paper and a pen to color with, got her bag for her, did anything Miciah asked her to. I was grateful to her.

The Layover

The layover. We hung out at the next gate. A guy told me, "Young lady, you redefine 'multitasking'." I chuckled with him. The kids got to run around a little. And at about the time they were getting really bored with being there, and Elijah was crying on the floor again, a guy came up with his 9 month old daughter and offered Elijah a balloon (one of those made out of rubber gloves). He then spent the next almost hour with us until we had to board, entertaining my kids. I was grateful to him. Some other people there, about Mom and Dad's age, were smiling at my plight, and I laughed along with them. I even offered them a kid or two, but they declined. :)

Flight #2

The long flight went smootly, too. Teancom and Elijah slept for the first 2 hours of it, and I got some sleep in for an hour or so, too. Miciah chatted with the guy across the aisle from us. She must have asked him about 50 times what time it was. Eventually I told her she couldn't ask him anymore. By the end of the flight she was listening to music on the headsets with him. She'd ask what number he was listening to and then she'd change her number to that one. Once she said, "I'm on number 4, listen to number 4." He changed to that one, listened for a few seconds, then said, "BORING. Listen to number 5. It's better." So she changed to number 5. It went on like that for the last part of the flight. I was grateful to him.

Someone else held Teancom so that Elijah and I could go to the bathroom on the flight. I was grateful to him. They said, "It must be hard traveling with 3 kids." I shrugged. It was easier than travelling pregnant and with 2 kids. Easier BY FAR. Besides, we were making it! It was working!

Arrival at SFO

Then we arrived in SFO and I wasn't dead tired (though I was tired from waking up so early) or done with my kids. I was amazed at how many people had helped make our day good. Like Doug at the gate with the balloons who showed up right on time and was there just the right amount of time. We were looked after and helped out by a lot of people Friday and that was amazing and wonderful. Plus, I was gently amused by the whole situation, and that helped a lot, too. I did it without drugging myself (Advil) or the kids (Benedryl). It was a triumph of a day.

I did crash at 8:30 last night. I fell asleep while still awake, and slept through all kinds of noise and distractions. Usually that's hard for me, but it was NOT hard last night. Teancom fell asleep at 6:30 or 7. Elijah, just after that. So they both woke up early: 6:30 a.m. And even though that was 9:30 my time, it still felt like 6:30. :) Hopefully I will be able to sleep a little bit today.

So here we are. It's nice to be here. I'm looking forward to getting my kids back in schedule and used to the time zone. As well as getting them on track with behavior. I switched forms of formula on Teancom and he doesn't like that yet. And Elijah, after traveling and being in a pull-up all day plus, wet his pants this morning, which is very unusual. Plus, I let him have his binky all day traveling, so he isn't liking giving it back. We'll get it all together in a few days and then we can start really enjoying our trip. :)

Oh, Rob had to walk to a gas station, about 5 minutes walking from the airport. Got a gallon of gas, enough to drive to the gas station and fill up the tank. Then went back to the hotel and slept for almost another 3 hours. Ate breakfast at the hotel and got back to the lab in Cincy by 11 a.m.

FYI, I have our cell phone, not Rob. So if you're trying to get ahold of Rob, you'll have to call the home phone. During the week days, he'll be at the lab, of course. Just in case you need to get ahold of Rob.

Miami Beach Trip

Oh, I guess I didn't update people on our Miami Beach trip. In short: the kids loved staying with other people for a week. Miciah was with M and A, two of her cousins. They made pinatas and she got to wear their clothes and stuff, and she loved it. Elijah and Teancom were with Rob's mom who was sick the whole time, but managed. She got really sick on the day we got back and ended up in the hospital for a week with pnemonia. Yikes! But the boys are healthy and the docs told C that the boys shouldn't get sick if they aren't sick yet.

And of course WE loved the break. Rob learned some good things from the people he met and talked to at the Immunology conference. Gave him some good direction and pumped him up to finish school quickly and move on. I loved hanging around with nothing better to do than take a bath or walk on the beach or read a book. It was a welcome change. We ate out at lots of places and did whatever we wanted. We walked to the south end of the beach. We had been told it would be a 40-minute walk one way. 2 1/2 hours later we were back. I was so tired that I then took a long nap while Rob went and played in the waves at the beach. We both got a little sunburnt, Rob worse than me because I stayed out of the sun for the most part (but the sun on my back itched like crazy for a few days and I used like a whole bottle of lotion to calm that down). The sun is more potent down there, I think. It was a fun trip and I'm glad we did it, especially since now we'll be apart for a month. It was nice to be together, just us, not talking about whose turn it was to change the diaper or whatever, and to remember that at the heart of our marriage is the fact that we really enjoy being together. I remembered all over again why I fell in love with the man. It was awesome.

Tamra

Who Needs Long Hair? (an update)

I was growing my hair out, honest. I went in to get it trimmed cause it was scraggly. I told them I was growing it out and to not take off much length. Well, 2 inches or more later, ... I like the haircut, it's almost the same one I normally get, but it wasn't what I was going for. So we'll have to see if I want to go through all the growing-out stuff still. ...

Not a whole lot going on here still. The weather is trying to warm up one day, then the next it's under 20 degrees again. I don't mind one way or the other, I just wish it wouldn't do it on back-to-back days.

Miciah

I went on a field trip with Miciah today, which is a story by itself. But we went to the Post Office. It's amazing how excited the kids get to do simple things like buy a stamp by themselves. It's wonderful to see Miciah growing up and becoming so capable. She loved me being there with her. I haven't been able to get in to the pre-school this year because of Teancom being so little. So this was the first time. Last year I made sure I went in every other week. ... Miciah has finally been interested in reading and is making some progress there. She can read simple words and sentences. The other day I wrote her a letter that she read all by herself. It said "Dear Miciah, I love you so much. I am so proud of you. You are such a big girl. Love, Mommy" I was impressed that she read it all. I guess it's not much, but she wouldn't even try before, so we're excited about that.

Kindergarten Registration

I also just went in to do all her paperwork for Kindergarten registration. It's so WEIRD to be registering my child for kindergarten. It makes me feel like I should be slightly more mature to have a child in kindergarten. ... Oh well. ... I filled out the paperwork just how they said and brought all the right documents, only for them to tell me I brought in too much of this and too little of that. I showed them in the paperwork how I had brought exactly the right things, but to no avail. I suppose this is where the red tape and stupidity starts. I should get used to it. However, they DID let me leave off her social security number, which I thought was nice of them to not fight me on that one.

They gave me more paperwork for her. To make sure she's ready for her screening she should be able to recognize basic shapes like a circle. I think she's got that one covered. :) I don't regret not putting her in Kindergarten last year, though. She's grown a LOT since then and I know that she's ready for kindergarten this year in all the ways we weren't totally sure about last year. She's a stronger person this year. She's ready to tackle the world. Or disarm it with her smile.

Field Trip to the Post Office, The Story

The story about me getting to go on Miciah's field trip today starts last night. I was on the phone and Elijah walks up to me, stands 2 feet from me and proceeds to throw up everywhere! Yuck! I promptly got off the phone and Rob and I both stayed up late helping tired/throwing up Elijah. He was up every 2 hours or so through the night, throwing up almost every time (or dry heaving, poor kid). So my plan for having people watch Elijah so I could go wasn't going to work. But it wasn't just that I was having someone watch Elijah, I was picking up 2 kids from 2 different houses so I could drop off my 2 kids and go on the fieldtrip. Then I was going to drop off 1 kid, get my own 2 kids, and take the last kid home with me for the afternoon. During which time I was going to watch another 2 kids. ... Yikes. ... Rob offered to work from home today so I could still do all I was going to do. Except I didn't bring any kids home with me to watch here, cause I didn't want to get them sick. So a stressful day turned into a stress-free day cause my husband is awesome. He got to take a nap, too, which he needed cause he was up with Elijah most of the times. Rob is amazing.

Elijah

Elijah's cognitive development has skyrocketed in the last few weeks! He's talking up a storm, and in sentences. "eat" for "let's eat dinner now" has turned into "Mommy, I want eat dinner." Or, "trains" for "let's play trains" has become "Mommy, you play trains a me" as he points to himself. ... He also has picked up considerably on following directions and can and wants to do lots more things by himself. Wonderful. We're also trying over on potty-training. He laid down the other day to change his own diaper and we knew it was time. :) The first day was awful, but for the most part it's going pretty well (except for today which doesn't count cause he's sick). He's obviously ready to make the change, so we're trying to help that along.

He's still the sweetest little boy and very considerate. He says sorry the second he thinks he's done something wrong or that he's hurt you. He always wants to know what happened when it seems like something's wrong or someone's upset. His latest "rebellion", though, is sticking his tongue out. We're trying to curb that, but it's still funny that that's how he's so mean. It's almost comical. I was at my friend's house the other day and her son, A, pulled out his "lazer" (think Buzz Lightyear lazer) when he was upset. It made me smile that other kids do funny little things that are funny but that you still have to discipline.

... I wrote the above portion on March 6th and it is now March 7th. Elijah is doing much better today, so it looks like the sickness passed quickly.

Teancom

We found out last Friday that Teancom is anemic. So we are taking him to the doctor in 2 days to have them re-test and then give him an iron pill to take. Or whatever it is they give babies. We aren't sure why he's low on iron, cause he's eating solids and is drinking iron-fortified formula, but whatever. He still is not real active. He still doesn't move much. I've been keeping track. In the last month he has not rolled over once, even though I know he can. He is getting much better at grabbing things and he seems to be figuring out that those are his hands that he can move how he wants to. :) And he sucks on/chews on everything, including my face/shoulder/hands. ... He's such a well-behaved baby that I have a hard time seeing that there's anything "wrong" with him. He sleeps 12 hours through the night and coos and is happy and smiley and content and eats like a pig.

He did get an ear infection a little over a week ago. He's almost done with the antibiotics. It was funny. It was a Friday and Teancom cried/screamed all day. I called Rob at like 10 in the morning and asked if he thought we should take him in. He said to give it some time. Teancom is NEVER fussy. And even if he is "fussy," he doesn't cry. It's actually pretty hard to make him cry. Even if you startle him he has to think about it, and usually you can talk him out of it. Anyways, he cried and cried and cried. It unnerved me a little, cause I didn't know what to do with a fussy baby! You mean, I can't put him on the floor and he'll be happy? What do I do, then? Hold him? How do I get anything done? Kind of like that. ... Anyways, after a full day of crying, we took him in to an urgent care place. He got the drugs and was almost instantly feeling better. Yea for drugs!

And that's our update. A lot of nothings strung together to be our life. :) We love it!

Tamra and family

Family Update

I don't get on the computer very much any more. I should, but I don't.

Rob's Done with Classes

Today has been much anticipated. Because Rob is done with school today! Well, he's still in school, but the chaos stops today. Rob had a final on Friday, a final yesterday, and his oral qualifying exam today (one of the worst 2 1/2 periods of his life, he said). I am sure he did superbly well in all his classes and he passed his qualifying exam, so life is good. He will now be spending all his time in the lab and won't have classes to attend, so he's pretty happy about that. And I'm happy about that. Rob has been very unavailable for about a month, and it'll be really nice to have him back.

Medication for Post-Partum Depression

Fortunately, about the whole time he's been "unavailable", I've been feeling pretty dang good. I finally decided I was tired of feeling crummy and talked to my doctor about getting some help for postpartum depression. And after 3 weeks of medication, I advise everyone I know to get some medication, wether they need it or not. :) Okay, not quite, but it's really really really nice to feel normal. I can see beyond myself and I can treat Miciah and Elijah how they deserve to be treated. I don't feel like snapping at any moment and all the rage and anger have disappeared. I have no complaints about life. I told Rob, after being on my medication for a while, "This must be how women feel who have 8 kids." Cause other than being pregnant tired and stuff like that, I feel just how I did when I wasn't pregnant. And I am happy.

The Rounds of Pink Eye and Other Adventures

We have been out of commission with our kids for a while. Three weeks ago, on a Saturday, they came down with pink eye. Miciah also had an ear infection and so she got antibiotics for that. Miciah's pink eye seemed to come on gradually, but Elijah just woke up one morning with horrible horrible looking eyes. Like vampire red. I should have taken a picture. I'm sad I didn't. So we stayed home from church for week 1. We treated them with eye drops and that helped a lot. Treating a 4 year old and a 2 year old with eye drops is NO FUN. Elijah has to be pinned down, even his arms, then you hold his head still and attempt to pry open his eyes so you can put two drops in each eye. He was cooperative for round 1. Then we hit round 2 the next week. Elijah, by then, had an ear infection so he started antibiotics and we got another round of pink eye. We stayed home from church for week 2. Again they seemed to be alright for the week (though obviously not 100%) and then Saturday hit again. Round 3 of pink eye. Great. So we stayed home from church for week 3. This time I made Rob stay home cause I was beginning to go crazy. :)

Elijah also woke up Sunday with a really really bad rash. He had the starts of it Saturday, but Sunday it was horrible. They told us it was an Amoxicillan reaction. But his symptoms didn't all fit that. His rash was raised and moved all over on his body. Anyways, yesterday the rash was all gone, other than his stomach looking a little splotchy from where the rash was. We took a picture of the rash, not quite when it was at its worst, but close. At its worse the rash covered almost his entire belly. There was one spot from about an inch to one side of his belly button to his back, and probably 3 inches from top to bottom. When you're only as tall as he is, that's almost your entire stomach. He looked diseased.

Our AC

Our AC has been retarded. We've had repair guys here for 3 days now. They tell us it's fixed now (they told us the same thing yesterday), but Rob isn't convinced. We'll see. It's all been covered under the Home Warranty, so the whole thing only cost us $50. So that's nice.

Kindergarten Will Wait

Miciah is done with preschool for the year. We decided not to test her for early entrance into kindergarten. We were having some concerns about her readiness. It changes the game when you're not sure it's the right thing. So she'll be returning to Arlitt, her preschool, next year. They're going to try to keep her with the same teachers, and they said they'll be trying to have some more challenging things for her next year. We're happy about how it all turned out. ... We got all the way to Monday (the first week day after preschool was out) when Miciah pulls out the book they gave her from her preschool (it's really cute. It's like a scrapbook of her year at Arlitt), opens to a recipe, and says, "I want to make these." Pumpkin chocolatechip muffins. So she made them and they were delicious. I have a feeling Miciah will need more attention now than she did before. But this is okay with me. She's a lot of fun.

Miciah's Hearing Test

We were and have been concerned about Miciah's hearing, so we took her in to the doctor for a hearing test. This last round of ear infection reminded us about a problem that has been off and on for the past almost year. They found that one ear in particular has slight hearing loss, in the lower ranges (like men's voices). But when they tested straight to the nerve, her hearing was even above normal a little. So they told us it's just fluid build-up. They said worst-case scenario, Miciah would have to have tubes put in. So we'll see if there are on-going problems or not.

Max the Cat

And today we found out that Max, our cat, is probably dying. So this is sad news. They took his blood to do some blood work and they'll call us tomorrow to tell us for sure one way or the other. The doctor did not sound hopeful at all about Max's chances. It's a little sad to think that very shortly we could be having a talk about whether we should put Max down or not. Bummer.

But life is good. Starting tomorrow we will have a busy June. Well, we've already had a busy June. But tomorrow we go up to Toledo to see Rob's mom and dad. Then next Thursday Mom comes in town, Rob's cousin, M, comes in for 3 days starting that Saturday. Then it's the family reunion at the end of June and then July comes and by then I'll have even less energy than I do now (which is almost impossible to imagine). The upside is that during our busy June and July, our callings are very relaxed. The youth have so many stake things lined up for June and July that we only have 1 activity even scheduled for July. So that'll be nice to have things in that arena a little calmer.

Hope all is good with all of you. We love you!

Tamra and family