I can hardly believe how fast times flies. It is already finals for Cal- 2 more days until we can finally relax together. I need a break just as much as Cal does! Luckily he has a few weeks off where we can soak up some family fun and relaxation. That is one benefit to being a student again! :) I'm trying to stay positive- my list of negative things is sort of long at the moment...
I have been busy, busy, busy. These days I feel like I am constantly running a marathon! When I look at myself in the mirror at night, exhausted AGAIN, I wonder HOW I could possibly get anything more done. Because there is always so much more. I think the secret (besides having your husband around) is being more efficient. Efficiency- where can I purchase you?
I have many mental pictures to share of late. They are merely mental however, because our camera finally turned over and died. I am still grieving. Then our Wii died, our gps, and our dvd player. No joke! Needless to say, I have taken many a mental picture... of Evan getting a ride in an empty diaper box around the house chauffered by his brothers, Dal practicing his letters or streaking naked through the house, Grant taking apart mechanical things and leaving screws and parts around the house, Spencer throwing his body around using amazing defenses against all things evil... many, many moments.
Without a camera, instead of capturing the visual, I've found myself listening more to the verbal communication (that could be talking or yelling or screaming or any other means- though generally I'm trying to block the noise besides conversation).
Here are some things we've been discussing lately:
According to Grant and the visiting teacher from England, to look upon the face of the queen brings certain death! I guess they were learning about England and Grant has decided he NEVER wants to go there. "They have like three hundred rules and if you even look at the queen in the eyes... (insert death sound here). " Then he says, "Mom, you could be a queen someday. But you wouldn't have so many rules, would you?" What are they teaching him in school?
Spencer has turned 9 and has really stepped up a few notches. On Fri night I met at the church with all 4 boys (finals means I am a single mom) for a Primary meeting. Our little branch is blossoming and growing in organization. When we moved in it went from 6 kids to 9 kids! Seriously! Anyway, my friend had her 3 kids as well (we make up 3/4 of the primary between us, ha ha), so we shooed them into the nursery during the meeting. It was utter chaos! Toys flying, kids screaming... oh my goodness. The Branch President went in to check on them after hearing a loud noise and came back with this report. Spencer and the girl his age were using the gospel art kit to teach the kids a lesson! For a few moments, all the kids were sitting on mats listening to him talk and draw on the board about Jesus. What a great kid. Then everyone went back to chaos and he put up his hands in defeat.
Another night he sensed how extremely overwhelmed and stressed I was and Dad was gone until late, so he started cleaning up the house! "Don't worry, Mom," he says. "You didn't get to sit all day so I"ll take care of everything." (He must hear me complain about not getting to sit down much). He cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher and swept the floor. He wanted to stay up later and "get this place spic and span," but eventually I made him go to bed. Grant said to me, "All we need to do is sort and organize. I can do that!" It just made me laugh at their sweet offers because Grant can't sort anything for the life of him, and Spencer usually complains and whines at having to unload the dishwasher! It was definitely one of those rewarding moments as a mom. Probably a once in a lifetime kinda of thing. :)
When he's not destroying boxes to build up his robot, he's reading, looking up science experiments, launching himself against the walls, or drawing. Spencer was invited to join the art club after school and he felt very privileged. It is the highlight of his week to be able to work extra on his art projects or try something new. He most definitely gets that all from his dad!
For his birthday, he got a little lego set and then he wanted a science experiment kit. Most of the reviews I read online were terrible and pricey. So instead I looked up 5 fun science experiments we could do at home, wrote them down, wrapped them up, and gave that to him for his birthday. He was SOOO excited! Just goes to show money can't buy everything. It's a good thing too 'cause being students again means we live on a tight budget! We've done 3 of the experiments so far: an exploding volcano, mentos and coke geyser, and magic cleaning of pennies. We do about one a week and I'm having a blast!
Grant is turning out to be be very interested in the way things work. We were hitting the ball outside the other day. Instead of a nice manly picture of him hitting the ball (since my camera is dead), the memory I have of that day is what he said WHILE playing ball. He kept hitting the plastic T instead of the ball and was frustrated. When I suggested he aim higher, and this was his very nerdy response: "Mom, it's just that the weight of the ball pulls down as it rolls forward when the bat hits it and gravity (something something something, didn't quite get what he was saying), and THAT is why it rolls like that when I hit it." You dont' get that from a picture!! I wanted to say, 'Stop analyzing the earth's gravitational pull and just hit the ball!' You can see his little mind putting things together in how the world works.
Dal is... well 3. That about sums it up. He's independent, stubborn, determined, bossy, and a big tease. He's also very gentle with Evan, charming, spunky, athletic, sweet, has the appetite of a horse, and is thrilled to be learning in preschool. I was so grateful to find one other mom to do preschool with here! He absolutely loves it. He walks around saying, "A says ah, B says buh..." After Halloween he had a terrible canker sore in his mouth that caused us all grief. He said pointing to his mouth, "Ah, ah, owie, Mom." :) He likes to carry a small spiral notebook places and practices writing his letters. He is very focused and precise. I love seeing how much he loves to learn. He is a powerful personality in our family. He can turn a calm dinner into chaos simply by looking at Grant and wrinkling his nose at him. Oh yes, he has mastered the art of teasing and knows exactly how to push everyone's buttons! I want to pull my hair out most days. Anyone have any great solutions to siblings fighting??? I'd buy it, whatever the solution was. In the meantime he vacillates between angel and devil. I hear teenagers behave much like they did as toddlers. I find that funny to ponder...
Dallin funnies:
Me- Do you want nachos or french toast for lunch?
Dallin- French nachos.
Dallin walked by our wedding photo for the millionth time last week. Suddenly he stopped and looked at it closely and said, "Mom! You are a princess!" Aww!
Evan is 8 months old already! He is so fun to have around. Except for when he's teething or sick and up at night. That really throws my marathon running through a loop. The other night he woke up at 11:30pm and would not go back to sleep. He wasn't crying, except when I tried to lay him down. I ended up lying on the floor on a pillow with him while he happily crawled on me and scooted around exploring 'til 2:30 am! Stinker. He's just so gosh darn cute! He goes to almost anyone and happily gets passed around in church at primary on sundays between Cal and the other 3 leaders and I. Cal and I are both in the primary so our whole family is in there on Sundays! There's nothing to do but pass him around as we alternate responsibilities, and do the same for the other leader. Sometimes we're chasing a kid, leading singing, and getting supplies from the library (which until recently we didn't have keys to and it is CLOSED during church unless you have a key! Imagine trying to run a primary where you have to search down somebody with a library key just to make copies or get a picture or borrow tape! Wow.) Anyway, sometimes some of the kids hold Evan during Primary. It doesn't really matter. He's happy to be where the people are. Man that kid is something else.
He is mobile now and it has changed everything! He seems to enjoy leisurely scooting around looking at all the treasures his brothers have left on the floor. (Literally, I pulled a penny out of his mouth this week. Aaaahhh!) Evan is still so good natured. He is a people person. He lights up when anyone comes around. This week at the store we got there right as the senior citizen shuttle showed up and about 50 old people stormed the store. On every isle some elderly person raved about how cute he was and Evan just smiles and dazzles them every time. That was kind of a fun shopping trip. Instead of looks of disapproval or disgust when Evan or Dal were noisy or loud (or on the floor in a tantrum), these sweet old people would come over and just adore them. I can handle that. What if you could rent a grandma or grandpa to shop with that will think your kid is the greatest thing on earth and distract them, even when they are being downright naughty. :) We miss being far away from grandparents!
So no pictures today. I haven't even downloaded my Halloween pictures from my dead camera yet! Instead you get to read this lengthy visual of what it looks like at our house. May we survive the last 2 days of finals and go on to live happy, healthy, productive lives...
To my friends who have done the law school thing: It gets better, right????
