Keep Walking....

Windows open and warm breezes blowing, I sit down and realize I am so sore! We finally are starting to be consistently warm - it hasn't even snowed in over a week :) With the onset of warm and sunny weather, we have been outside playing at parks and walking everyday. Our multiple trips during the week to the library have become adventurous excursions as that we have been walking and choosing different routes - added adventure points due to keeping toddlers in strollers, retrieving objects thrown in a projectile fashion from said stroller and their hands off shelves.

I can't believe how quickly my children are growing. When I snuggle Zackie while putting him to sleep, he still seems like a little baby, but yesterday at the park he refused to go down the slide - saying "No - too high! Too high!" Sophie charged this same slide, which does send you down at an amazing velocity, (it is a tube style twirly slide, and the kids literally pop out the end) even when she came out the bottom with a bump and ended up landing face first on the mulch chips. Everyday they grow more independent and say things that surprise me - such as Sophie pointing out accurately a hawk in the sky.

Melodie is going to be 12 in a couple weeks. She is, as she always has been, just absolutely amazing. I am so excited for her to be entering this point in her life - where she gets to visit the temple, participate in young women's activities, go to girl's camp, and start exploring in depth who she is, and who she really wants to be. At the same time, I wish I could hold on tight to her childhood years just a little bit longer. I miss the little girl who cuddled on my lap for stories and snuck in to sleep with me at night.

Chloe is as vibrant as sunshine. She too is growing up far to quickly for my taste. She can read stories on her own now, and has been practicing her cursive and multiplication tables. She has been having a few struggles, such as being diagnosed with ADHD (which left me giving a flustered apology to her counselor after responding "Ya think" when this diagnosis was revealed) and still suffering from some lingering depression we can't seem to shake. But for the most part we have good days, and are excited for the sunny weather when she can ride her two wheeler bike without training wheels.

And so life continues to be good and bless us. With the warmer weather and sunshine we are greeted with amazing scenery - perfect blue skies with cotton ball clouds and backdropped by snow capped mountains. It is beautiful, peaceful, and soul satisfying.

Quoth the Raven

I almost, almost have gotten used to that there are big black ravens out here, and that they have the disturbing habit of landing on the hood of my van while I am praying and cawing surreptitiously. It would be a little more helpful had I not read all those Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, and Agatha Christie books. I miss cardinals and blue jays, but their replacements have been ever so much more fun. FAT little quail run around in abundance, and it is not uncommon to see pheasants running through the neighborhood yards, or for that matter, wild turkey. At least I know that if hard times come, I won't go hungry....of course that is if all the other gun owning citizens in the valley don't get them first.

It is definitely a different world here, where pretty much everyone owns guns (more than one and legally) and they look at me like I have three eyes and antenna when I mention I don't. That fact is probably going to change, plus I am enrolling the girls in hunter's safety classes. The average person starts shooting and gun ownership out here around the ages of three or four (even the girls - I asked my Bishop's wife, and she said she was three). I don't want my children to cause an accident or worse because they don't know anything about guns or are uncomfortable with them.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Unfortunately we didn't go outside to enjoy it because my children have continued their strike on cleanliness, and I decided to hold them captive until rooms were clean. Of course that means today, with rooms clean and furniture moved, is an absolutely dreadful chilly and overcast day and taking the perpetually coughing and consistently nose running gruesome threesome of my four children outside to walk around barns and play with brand spanking new farm animals is probably out of the question. But then, if we bundled up and went today, we could avoid the crowds sure to accompany one the highest anticipated events for kids in the valley.

Along with getting the rooms clean, I managed to go through Zackie and Sophie's closets and in a burst of rebellion packed away the heaviest of the winter clothes for next season. I know it is early to do so, but I can't help but try and be optimistic. It has snowed continuously since I moved here, and snow and I are no longer on speaking terms. I also managed to pull out the stray too small clothes, and the clothes that they own but I will never ever let them wear, and should they appear on my child in my presence the result is altogether unpleasant.

Today's list of excitement on the "staycation" - inoculations, bank, WIC clinic (anyone who has ever had to go knows that you need to take camping supplies and food for three days - I have been there over nine hours before) Sam's Club (thanks to free one day passes deposited in my shopping bag at Wally World), library, possibly the DI or another thrift store, and then, if I am feeling real adventurous Target. I have not suddenly struck it rich, in fact just the opposite - I haven't gone shopping other than for groceries in a long enough period of time that we may need to use those t-shirts that have become new members of the rag pile (thanks to red crayons and dryers) as cloth diapers if I don't go. We also need to replace the newly inducted t-shirts and pants. And come up with art supplies less likely to be hiding in tiny nubs inside children's pants pockets.

Some may not have heard my bitterness over that the closest Target is through the dreaded canyon and an hour away, but in case you haven't, I am bitter and periodically suffer symptoms of severe Target withdrawal - especially since diapers, diaper rash ointment, and fruit snacks - all necessities at the moment, are cheaper there. I know that they are non veteran or charitable organization friendly, but due to that their associates are not perpetually incompetent or unfriendly, their prices are comparable or cheaper, and their product is superior, they remain on my favorite store list. How I long for the good old days where there were three Targets within a five minute highway drive from my house - none of that driving requiring navigation through a canyon of doom. But I suppose that I do have something like 15 tractor and farm supply stores - including one that sells tractors in a variety of designer shades, is something to be grateful for.

Golly gee Goliath

As some may or may not know, I am in charge of our "Orange Embrace" program at work. It is not a position I particularly enjoy or stay in voluntarily, but since it pleases that powers that be, so I remain. This often means that my register area is covered completely with paper, markers, glue, and other things that make it resemble 3rd grade arts and crafts. A customer of mine noticed that I was drawing different people and asked if I was an artist. No was a quick response from my lips, but he pressed onwards. His ward is going to be doing a talent show, and he needed help making a life size replica of Goliath. I am not an artist, I maintained, but would be more than happy to help the best I could.

So that is what I found myself doing bright and early in the sunshine this morning for three hours - marking out Goliath's massive form. His head is now gingerly shoved behind my seat for me to work on here at home - making it as three dimensional and fearsome as possible. When I got home, Melodie asked me if I was done with Goliath. No, I sighed in response, there would still be several hours of painting and reworking before Goliath will reach his complete splendor and be presented on the 23rd in the talent show.

"Mom," she replied in exasperation, "Why is it taking so long to make a giant pickle?"

Sunshine and sandwiches

I was hit with the sudden realization the other day that my children are all...well...children. Though this may sound odd, for the first year and a half or so of life, depending on the child, children aren't really children. They are instead a living force somewhat resembling something imagined by Jim Henson and his amazing muppet people that though hitting milestones and developments, still depends on you for absolutely everything. Their likes and dislikes are relative to what you have exposed them to, and what will garner approval from you. Then all of sudden one day they turn the switch from automatic to manual, and from that day forward, you have one wild, breath taking, and fabulous ride. Zachary hit this point a few days ago - and our lives haven't been the same since.

Today is the third day of my official "staycation." It was supposed to be a vacation, but alas it was not in the cards. Rather than picking up shifts at work, I decided to enjoy the time with the kids - our first real down time since moving out here. Monday we walked to the park and the library, and were rained on for the walk home. Tuesday we stayed inside - huddled together against the four inches of accumulated snow outside, and today was library and park again. Though seemingly a mundane pattern, it still was filled with moments of surprise - like surprise that wet spot on the couch was not from the leaking sippy as previously thought.

Sophie has been speaking in complete sentences for a while now, and last night recited the whole entire story of the three little pigs, complete with plenty of "huff and puff." Zachary is still doing one word at a time, but has mastered inflection, proper response, and sarcasm. (Being pushed on the swing while he laid on his stomach garnered a "wee" with as much enthusiasm as one might expect if he was being presented a spoonful of cod liver oil) Since he can say words like "dinosaur" and has been able to for a while, I suspect there is more vocal capability there then what he is demonstrating, but prefers to present himself as the strong and stoic type.

If he is going to carry off the strong and stoic thing, he is probably going to have to ditch the motto "Everyone deserves a little sparkle" especially when carried out with mass amounts of rhinestones, glitter, and his sister's tutus. We are currently trying to focus this energy in the direction of pirates and musketeers...and I personally am thrilled with his new penchant for trains...though trying to explain that not everything is a train or destined to make the choo choo noise has been a little more difficult....