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!

Miciah's Soccer Pictures

As promised at one time, here are pictures of Miciah playing soccer.  Game on 9/26/2009:

Warm up:

I like this one because it has both me and Miciah in it.  During the rest of the game, I had my hands either crossed in front of me or stuffed into my jeans pockets.  Because I'm a very enthusiastic coach like that.

Miciah was a captain for this particular game (all the girls took turns):

No, she isn't that short in relation to all her teammates.  Jenna, the other captain, was a good 4 inches taller than any other girl on our team.

Action shots:

 

Pretty sure both girls and the ball were out of bounds in the previous picture.

Playing goalie:

Very exciting to be goalie.  She did really good in goal, in general, and also very good in this game in particular.  She would grab the ball, even if other girls were around, then run quickly to the outside edge of the box and throw it:

Just like she'd been trained to do by the other coach, Erin (the one in black in the previous picture).

Miciah had a good season.  She was noticeably better by the end of the season, and I was proud of her hard work and improvement.  She found out that she has a strong kick and by the end was shooting with quite a bit of confidence.  She came really close to scoring one game, kicking it just wide.  Offense wasn't her favorite, though, cause you have to ... run and stuff.  I preferred defense, too, when I was her age.

So here's to soccer and here's to Miciah and the good times that were.

It's Fall! (an update)

Fall Musings

It is officially Fall, though some days it feels like Winter. It was 80 degrees and then, overnight, it was 50 and the temperatures have pretty well stayed there since. And it's raining. A lot. And I'm still mowing my lawn! Two years ago the summer was so dry that the last time we mowed the lawn was in August. It's now October and I'm still mowing my lawn once a week! I'm sure this is a blessing of some kind.

It is also officially Fall because I get lost in the shower. One of my favorite things to do is take a just-a-little-too-hot shower for way too long. I will tell Rob, "I'm just going to take a short shower," and he'll say, "okay," in a way that says he knows I'm lying, and he knows I know I'm lying. It's not like I don't intend to take a short shower, it's just that once I'm in there, it's heaven, and I close my eyes and drift away. Ah, Fall.

It's also Fall because soccer practice last night was unbearably cold! For me, anyways. I'm a wuss. I couldn't feel my toes by the end. I vowed to bring my winter coat to next week's practice.

Rob and the Swine Flu

Yes, we're pretty sure that Rob had the Swine Flu this last weekend. On Wednesday night he came down with a fever of 103 and kept that fever for just over 24 hours. It was very strange to watch, because he was fine when he came home from work, and then, within an hour, his temperature went from normal to 103. That's crazy.

He was shivering violently, even though he was wearing many layers of clothes and had several blankets on top of him. When we went to bed and I prayed with him, our fingers interlaced, I had just opened the prayer when I said, "Ouch!" and quickly pulled my hand away. He was so hot!

On Thursday I watched helplessly as he slept for hours in some kind of distant stupor. He was breathing very shallowly and seemed restless. He woke up and said, "How long has it been?" "Since what?" I asked. "Since you came in last?" "About an hour," I told him. He said, "Oh," and quickly was back asleep. Suddenly he jerked awake and said, "How long has it been?" I laughed. "Since you last asked? Oh, about 2 minutes." He was that out of it all day.

His co-workers and boss were VERY understanding, plus they didn't want to get sick themselves, so they ran an 8-hour experiment for him on Thursday. It was a time-sensitive one, so if it wasn't performed on Thursday, it would have ruined the experiment. Before we knew if they could run it, I told him that he couldn't go in anyways. He was just so sick he would have messed it up anyways, and exposed everyone else to his sickness for nothing.

At the end of the day on Thursday his co-worker called back, and between everyone in the lab, they had things covered for him until Monday. I told her we were very appreciative, and I said it in a tone that said I knew she was the best person in the world. She didn't even say "You're welcome." She said, instead, in a firm tone, "What I'm telling you is that we don't want him to come in until Monday."

Rob returned to work on Monday, but came home early because just walking up the stairs wiped him out. He then took most of Tuesday off, but taught his class Tuesday night. Wednesday was a normal day, and he seems good now.

Tamra and Miciah and the Swine Flu?

Pretty sure Miciah also had the Swine Flu (sorry, H1N1--who cares). She came down with the same symptoms within hours of Rob. She came home from school Wednesday evening and I looked at her, right as she walked in the door, and said, "What's WRONG, Miciah? Are you okay?" She looked like death warmed over. I took her temperature, which was 102, and sent her to bed. She said she was freezing, her neck hurt, and she was really tired. ... She also said that she was in the nurse's office for about half an hour, icing her neck, and that her teacher told her to "take a nap" when she got home. I was a little annoyed that she was obviously so sick and yet I didn't get a phone call. Though if it came on as suddenly as Rob's, maybe earlier she didn't have a fever.

Miciah had a low-grade fever on Thursday, but otherwise felt fine. We kept her home from school on Friday, but she was feeling fine and was spastic by the end of the day. We let her do things on Saturday again.

On Saturday I started coming down with the same symptoms. My neck hurt horribly and I didn't even what to hold my head up. I was achy everywhere, my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen and painful. Not good, not good. I took a nap and 2 hours later felt fine. ... In fact, it was all so short-lived that I wondered momentarily if I had made it up, but you can't "make up" swollen and painful lymph nodes.

So, if that's the Swine Flu, why again are we so freaked out? I've talked to several other people who had the Swine Flu (verified by a doctor, which ours wasn't, because if you think you have the Swine Flu you're NOT SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE DOCTOR unless you're horribly sick and dying), and a lot of theirs were very short-lived, too. Especially with the kids. A fever and cough for 6 hours. Feeling awful for a day. Things like that. ... Who's afraid of the Swine Flu? Not us!

Soccer vs. Piano

Soccer continues to go well enough. Miciah's team had 3 games last week, which just figures that Miciah would pick that week to get sick. She missed 2 of those games (Wed. and Fri. night). Rob took pictures of Miciah during her game 2 Saturdays ago. I'll post those soon.

I'm a little sad that soccer is ending, because I feel like the girls are now starting to learn something! We're finally getting somewhere! Oh well. I suppose that's how it goes.

Miciah has said she doesn't want to play soccer next year. We'll see what she thinks when next year comes. But we'll be happy when soccer ends at the end of October. We'll be starting up Piano Lessons for her come November, since Rob teaching her never really worked out. She's excited.

The Family Schedule

Rob is away from home a lot, but for some reason that isn't bothering me like it used to. I have re-defined what my roles/chores are, what time means, what commitment means, what sacrifice means, what love and happiness means. The tinge of bitterness that was present in my life before is just gone now. This is happiness. This is love. This is commitment. And what more could I ask for?

November is our month for breathing. The soccer schedule is taking its toll. For instance, we haven't yet been on our annual Fall Walk. Why? Because we can't find an open Saturday.

Cincinnati

Rob is now starting to "work" his Cincinnati connections in an effort to stay here in Cincinnati next year. Not just because we don't want to leave (though we truly don't want to leave), but because it seems wise to see what the options are here. So right now we're staying open to a lot of options, and I believe we will still be in Cincinnati this time next year, which is also happiness. We love it here.


And now I am going to go to the Library with the boys. I have a few more funny stories and pictures to post, later.

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.

Home and everything that means

So the Great Trip of 2009 ended on August 8th. I'll be doing a few more sum-up posts on it (like you care at this point. I know. I write this stuff for me, though). More stories and some numbers. The numbers should be a fun post. I'm excited about that one.

Home

Anyways. Surprising Rob was really fun. He was happy to see us, of course, and I was happy to hand him the kids and walk away.

My mom and dad and Dea stayed with us for another week and a half (my Dad didn't stay as long, actually, but you don't really care that much about the details anyway). It was great to have an excuse to see all our Cincinnati relatives, and there are quite a few. It was also nice to have my mom around to help unpack and make meals and do all the mountainous loads of laundry. My mother is very helpful. She is also nice to talk to.

I'll miss Dea. She is delightful and mellow, and she plays so well with Miciah. By the end, though, they were both ready to be apart again. It took them more than a month to want to spend time apart from each other.The Kitchen
The kitchen is done!!! It was nice to walk in my door and see our kitchen done, just like we wanted it. I think it's awesome, and Rob did a great job. Thank you to Dustin and Mom and Dad Thacker who helped Rob get it all done during the time I was gone.Teancom's Haircut

Everyone got a haircut when we got home (during which no one noticed lice. Go figure), but no one's cut was as dramatic as Teancom's. He doesn't like to get his hair washed, which isn't such a big deal until his hair is long and sweaty. Rob had to wash Teancom's hair in the sink on Sunday morning, and that's really when you know it's time to cut his hair.Soccer

Soccer practices have started, and Miciah played in a pre-season tournament last weekend. They didn't win any games, but we didn't have any subs and it was HOT (oh, soccer in August). It was fun to watch the girls play and see how much they improved just from one day to the next. They're really obedient at this age, even if they can't always remember which direction we're going.

A few soccer comments:
1- Miciah played excellently at keeper. She isn't afraid of the ball and her positioning is great (though the coach kept getting annoyed that she wouldn't stay on the line. I'll have to tell her that I've taught Miciah to not stay on the line. Strategically, it's usually a bad move). She's actually braver in goal than at defense. I asked her why that is and she said, "It's easier when you're goalie." ... She is improving quickly and she's excited to play.

2- Elijah got on the field for his first practice and who knew that the kid can dribble (while running, no less) and shield the ball excellently. I don't think he learned that from anywhere, and I was impressed.

3- I want to kill a kid on Elijah's team who has figured out that if he falls on the ball and pushes the person trying to get the ball, the other person can't get the ball. If he was my kid, or if I was the coach, I would NOT be kind about his behavior.

I am assisting for Miciah's team, and loosely assisting for Eljiah's team. I think Miciah really appreciates me being more involved. I don't know why that's important to her, but I can oblige.

I'll make sure to get some soccer pictures this year.

More Teancom News

Look at this picture and tell me what's different about it:That's UNDERWEAR!! We kept telling Teancom that as soon as we got home from the trip he was going to get potty trained. So Monday morning we put him in underwear. I kept saying, "You want to go potty on the potty, Teancom?" and he'd respond, "No. On the Potty Train."

Anyways, it's been entirely successful. He hasn't had an accident since, umm, Monday I think. And he hasn't had a peeing accident since last Thursday or so. I knew Teancom was ready, and I thought it would go smoothly and quickly, and that has proven to be the case. Most of the time Teancom is going potty all by himself, too. It's fanTAStic.

We haven't really done nighttime stuff, just cause I don't really care, but he's dry in the mornings about half the time. This has inspired Elijah to want to be dry during the night, too. So we bought plastic sheets (not a bad idea for Cincinnati anyways) and put them on both boys' beds. So far it's gone decently.

Firefox

I took a few more programs off our C drive, and that helped our dying computer a little. But most importantly I installed and am using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. And my computer hasn't frozen since. Hurray! ... I am still thinking about re-formating. And a new computer is still on the horizon, so thank you for everyone who gave their input. But hopefully we can stall a little while longer.

This Fall

Rob is teaching another class at NKU this fall. It's the same class he taught over the summer, but now he's teaching the lecture as well as the lab (he only did the lab before). He's really excited about it, even though it means that he's pretty stressed about everyone that's on his plate. He's preparing two lectures a week. He still has to get stuff done at work and publish a paper by November (that's his shoot-for date). He's applying for jobs all across the country. He's in the bishopric and because of the class he will be missing Tuesday night meetings. He's a father and husband, and he has to find a way to show us that we're still his priority, even though he'll be gone more. It'll make weekends more crucial. And more precious.

I'm already used to the idea of not seeing Rob as much. Not saying I LIKE the idea, but I like that he's getting to do something he loves. That it'll help his career. And the idea of a little more money in our pockets is a plus, too (paying down that debt Dave Ramsey style). All-in-all, it'll be worth it in the long run.

Back to School

School starts on August 31st for Miciah and Sept. 3rd for Elijah. ... Buying school supplies for 2 kids makes me feel very very very sorry for my parents, who had to do it for 8 kids. I spent around $100 on new supplies and hated every minute (and penny) of it! Ugh.

Anyways, Elijah has the same Kindergarten teacher as Miciah did. She was wonderful for Miciah and I think she'll be great for Elijah, too. I already warned her that Elijah and Miciah are VERY different children, so hopefully she remembers that.

Elijah is ready for school. He has just started counting almost as high as he wants. I've heard him count to 70. He also knows all his letters and their sounds, though he's not that great at putting their sounds together to make a word. I have full confidence that he'll learn how to read, and I imagine that one day it'll just CLICK, but I don't think it'll come as effortlessly as it did for Miciah. Which means that he'll actually have something to do in Kindergarten.

Not My Favorite

I have been chastised by more than one person about my obsession with Teancom, and specifically my use of the word "favorite." I will not seek to justify my actions, as much as I'd like to. All I can say is that after a few days I realized that they were right, and I should probably cut it out. Fortunately, Teancom is acquiring attributes that help out my new cause. Namely, he's getting an attitude, he's demanding to do things all by himself (and hence isn't always merely an extra appendage), he's throwing fits, and he can be clingy and grumpy and demanding.

With my mom around, I have also realized that Teancom is often only delightful FOR ME. He refused to let my mother be a part of his life, even after 6 weeks of being together. During the last few days he was beginning to warm up to her. ... Let me say that again:
During THE LAST FEW DAYS he was BEGINNING to warm up to her. ... That's simply ridiculous that it took so long. My mother is adorable and wonderful, and Teancom was nasty to her. What's up with that?

Anyways. The comments have helped me not just change my words but change my attitude. I still cuddle with Teancom the most (because he's the most cuddly), but after 3 weeks of being a single mom I was just as ready to sell him to the gypsies as I was my other children. And that's True (equal) Mother Love.

And there you go. Life is back to normal and posts should be back to the same old boring stuff. Miciah said, "Mom, next summer I don't want to go on a vacation." I told her that would be just fine. Then she added, "But the year after that, we have to go back to Yellowstone."

More Soccer Pics

Rob took more soccer pictures the very next week (April 3, 2009). So, if you want to see them, continue. If not, disregard.

Nice action shot!

We look like we're dancing!

This girl was the last defender, so I decided to do this brilliant cut into the center to beat her and be alone with the keeper. And this was the result:

Watching the other team run off with the ball. What was I thinking? This isn't outdoor! (But it WAS a brilliant cut.)

Me, trying to look intimidating next to a 220 lb. 6'3'' guy.

Tamra, the Blur, taking a free kick.

I just loved this shot of the guys in a line. ... She didn't score, by the way.

Going in for the ball!

Leaning back for the kick. I like this picture.

And the game is over. I'm standing next to Ann, our coach. Behind us is Toby, the Giant, Ann's husband.

Tamra

And It's April (an update)

Elijah being adorable and spastic at the same time.

Springtime Musings

I've been wondering why Spring didn't HIT ME this year like it did last year. Last year I was writing odes to springtime in my head, and this year Spring is just nice, like normal. I finally figured it out by observing the magnolias.

This year the magnolias are gorgeous, and this week, they're the Spring flower to see. (I figured out through this that there's another kind of magnolia called a star magnolia with gorgeous star-like pure white flowers. SO beautiful. Makes the crab apple trees look dirty off-white by comparison.) A lot of the flowering trees that I anticipate every year haven't bloomed yet: weeping cherries, red buds, dogwoods. Some of them have bloomed, here and there across town, but most of them are waiting for the magnolias to be done hogging Spring's center stage.

Now, last year. Let's review, briefly, through pictures, what Spring was like last year.
This one is dated March 3, 2008:
And this one is March 10, 2008:Spring was starting, early March. The kids were eating lunch out on the back porch. And then, mid-March was a very unseasonal cold snap. Dumped a foot of snow. And Spring was screwed up. A lot of Spring flowers didn't get their moment to shine. Or, rather, when they got their moment to shine, so did every OTHER Spring flower. The early Spring flowers got shafted (sorry, daffodils and tulips), but everything else bloomed all at once. There was the cold snap and then BAM! it was Spring! Every time I'd drive around town, I was in awe at the explosion of Spring all around me. It was beautiful.

So this year, as I waited for Spring, I was expecting the same fireworks display of flowers. It was not to be, though. Not like last year. This year we get to drag Spring out over many weeks. So, I still am reacting the same way. Just piece by piece. As Spring normally comes.

Elijah

Elijah is now 5 years old! Hurray for him! We had a low-key birthday party (it's the only kind of party I know how to throw) for him. We invited 5 families and all the kids ran around like wild children and it was lovely.

Elijah licking the icing off a candle.

Elijah chose his cake and ice cream: dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing and Superman ice cream. What a brilliant combination!

Kid chaos during the party (and this isn't even all the kids that were there):
Elijah is a gem of a kid. The day before his birthday Rob was conducting at church and told a bunch of Elijah stories that I haven't posted on here yet, cause I'm a slacker. So here's a series of Elijah stories.

Up in the Attic

The day that Rob and his dad took out our wall, Rob had to go up in the attic for several hours. During that time Teancom asked me where Daddy was. I pointed towards the ceiling and said, "Up there." Teancom said, "He's in the sky?!" Elijah perked right up and said, "He's in the sky? He's up with Jesus!" I explained that Rob was not really up in the sky, he was in the attic. Shortly after that the kids heard Rob's voice but couldn't see him. I saw Elijah's eyes get really big and you could see all over his face that it was as if Rob's voice was coming down to us from heaven. I told Rob to stick his hand down through the gap in the ceiling, so the kids could see where he was. Rob waved to them and Elijah ran up and said, "It's okay, Dad! I know you're up with Jesus!"

Later Elijah wanted to know why it was taking Daddy so long. He said, "Why is Daddy still with Jesus?". I said, "I don't know. Maybe they had a lot to talk about." ... Afterwards I told Rob that next time he visits Jesus, he ought to invite me to come, too.

Walking on Water

I know I've said this before, but I am continually impressed with Elijah's faith. Here is another example:

We were reading a kids' version of some of the New Testament stories. We got to the page about Jesus walking on water and Elijah was very interested. We had talked about miracles a few days before and told the kids that miracles can happen where there is faith. So after I finished reading what the book said about Jesus walking on water, Elijah said, "Jesus could walk on water because he had enough hope, right?" "Yeah," I said. "Hope and faith." He thought for a minute and then said, "So, if I have enough hope and faith, I can walk on water?" ... I am not sure what the appropriate response to a question like that is. I hugged him tight. I'm not sure what I said. I wouldn't have told him no, so I probably told him yes. Because he CAN walk on water with enough faith. Only, there has to be something about the will of God in there and usually there's an element of need... But it's humbling, to me, that Elijah wants SO MUCH to be good so that our Heavenly Father can bless him.

Watching the Weather

The other day Elijah decided that he needed to check the weather to find out what he should wear. He turned on the TV by himself, changed it to the right channel, and then watched the weather for a good 15 minutes. The weather channel he picked is on a 2-minute repeat, so there was nothing new to learn after the first 2 minutes. ... I just thought it was hilarious and had to take a picture of it:
How cute is that?

We are grateful that Elijah is in our home. He is a sweet boy.

Teancom

At church the other day he said, "I have super powers! I kill these people!"

Teancom is all about super powers lately. For the last 3 weeks or so, he has been alternately the Red Transformer or the Red Power Ranger. He'll furrow his brow, get into his fighting stance and weave from side to side, like he's ready for an attack. It's hilarious.

I had to take this picture of Teancom.
The brown mark across his forehead is from the top of a mug filled with hot chocolate. He was mad at me while I was taking these pictures, but I got him to smile enough to get this shot (he was trying to make a face at me).

Teancom has continued his weird-names-for-toy-dogs tradition by naming his other favorite toy dog Tofa. Like sofa, but with a T. Yeah, I dunno, either. So his 2 dogs are named Twit and Tofa. ... I like to joke with him and call his dog Tofu instead. He doesn't think this is very funny.

Miciah

Miciah made this for Rob:
It's hard to tell the shape, but it's shaped like a head, and you can see the face. She made it last night instead of going to bed on time. Before she made Rob's, she made one for me that said she loved me and on the back it said, "A long friendship." Miciah makes wonderful things and it warms our hearts. She can be very thoughtful.

(Speaking of that, if Justin and/or Katie are reading this, Miciah made you a card last week and I haven't mailed it yet. So, sorry about that. I'll remember to mail it soon.)

Soccer for Ciah

Well, indoor soccer is over for Miciah. She played in 2 sessions and the amount of improvement from the very beginning to the very end, ... INCREDIBLE. She learned to be more aggressive and go to the ball. She stopped whimpering about being tired and/or getting hurt by other players (as in: "She kicked the ball and it hit my leg"). All the players improved a ton by the end, and it makes me wonder if this age isn't just an age where there's a huge jump in physical skills. ... Miciah's team tied for 1st. They got 1st for their first session as well. The coach was really nice and gentle with the girls, and we told him that if he's going to be coaching again next year to give us a call. We can definitely sign up for that again.

Moving Blues

One of the biggest pieces of news for our family, but particularly for Miciah, is that our neighbors moved. They have 4 kids, lived across the backyard, and the kids were over like 12 hours a day. Miciah's "best friend" was one of them: Kaitlyn, who is in kindergarten. ... They weren't sure the house they were buying would close, so they didn't tell us they were moving until they were gone, pretty much. Miciah found out on Saturday that they were moving on Saturday. Kinda rough. Plus, it was Elijah's birthday party, so we didn't have time to help them move OR mourn with Miciah over the whole thing.

They moved to Indiana and they have 7 acres of land and horses and stuff. Very cool for them. Just a bummer for Miciah and the boys. Miciah has a good friend that she sits with on the bus, though. Her name is Olivia, and we had her over last night. She is delightful. Very easy-going and friendly and nice and happy. Miciah and Olivia play brilliantly together. So hopefully the playdate helped to transition Miciah from constant playmates to only her brothers and arranged intermittent playdates. And hopefully Olivia can come play lots. Cause we like Olivia!

Life in General

And that's life. We are making progress on the kitchen, but not enough to warrant another picture. We are currently taking down the wall paper and as soon as possible we will be mudding and then painting. We have picked out the flooring. It's a light tile with a blue accent in the middle, and the blue will match the blue we'll put on the walls. I think it'll look nice when it's done. We're still unsure of how the cabinets are going to go, but whatever. Who needs cabinets?

Soccer Game!

Check me out! I look like I'm flying!

Last Friday Rob surprised me with a fantastic date. First, that he planned the date and managed to keep it a secret was amazing. We could have stopped it right there and it would have been great.

Started with taking the boys to the Children's Museum mid-day. They thought it was great, and I read my book the whole time. It was fun for everyone.

Then we came home and he speed-cleaned the house for an hour, since I hadn't cleaned anything all week. Seriously, the house was a mess.

He took me on a hike at a local park, on a trail I've wanted to check out since we moved here. He also took me to the hike which he thought would be best to check out the spring flowers. It was cute and quiet and lovely (and how cute is Rob, wanting to show me the spring flowers). We went out to eat at Applebee's (someone gave us a gift card as a thank you) and they had tilapia, so I was happy (tilapia may be the world's most perfect fish, if not the most perfect meat period).

And to top things off wonderfully, he came to see my soccer game. (The end of the night was what you saw in the videos I posted in the last blog post, so truly the entire night was amazingly fabulously dream-come-true-ish.) I asked him to take pictures, and he came back with these, and I thought I'd share the best of them.

Me, watching my teammate clear the ball.

I'm clearing the ball. Love the action shot.

I kept this one, cause if you look really close (like, if you blow it up to a 40 x 40 print), you can tell that I'm smiling. Probably joking with the other team. And it highlights my chicken legs. Seriously, when did my legs get so skinny?

And we're done. Sub, please!

If you want to see more (though why would you, really?), you'll have to check out my facebook photo album.