Pioneer Day

The kids and I got a little creative the other day while it was raining cats and dogs. I realized that Pioneer Day is coming up (the 24th) and so I told them the 'Reader's Digest Condensed Version' of the pioneers; how they traveled across the US in search of a place where they could live in peace, without mobs chasing them out and burning down all their homes! We talked mostly about how they had to walk the whole way. They had all their things inside of covered wagons, and they cooked over a fire for every meal (of course, that's not too awfully strange, as most people do that here, too...) So, we pulled out our 'tent', got out our 'food', and I made a 'fire' right in the living room!



Josh is 'cooking' over the open fire. So is Claire, but, ummm...I didn't know that Andrew's shoes were on the menu! Look at how happy little Andrew is! :) They had so much fun! :)



Now it's one of their favorite pastimes! Josh is always asking me, "Mom, I want to play pioneer!!"

Kindergarten Woes

No, it's not Joshua having woes about kindergarten. I am desperately sad to send him off to school!!!! Has anyone else had this problem??? Every time I think about sending him to school, I have this overwhelming feeling of guilt: That I am the absolute worst mom in the world because I'm sending my child away when I am perfectly capable of teaching him here at home! Of course, I had planned on homeschooling the kids if we had stayed in Virginia (or at least the states...), but had decided that if Devin got this job that I would let them go to school since we would have access to some pretty fantastic international and private schools. So I don't know why I'm having all these struggles. I guess mostly I'll just really miss the little guy. I keep thinking that no one will be able to teach and take care of him like I can. I also know that he can sometimes be ...uhm... quite the handful. I'm worried that someone will make some comment on his boisterous nature and I'll get rather defensive. And then, what if the other kids are mean to him? I don't know that I could handle that, either. And what if he picks up mean stuff from the other kids at school? Or, worse yet, what if he likes it so much there that he doesn't ever want to come home? I just feel like sending him to school is going to rip this big hole in my chest, and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. Although, I suppose it's better to start getting it over with now, than to delay it until he's ready for college or a mission. Is this a little of what it feels like to have your kids leave home??? Josh was helping me pick out some of his new school clothes online Saturday, and that was fun. He picked out his own shirts to wear. He didn't do half bad, either! :) Gotta love Old Navy--they have a nice back-to-school sale right now, and it's $7 shipping for as much as you want!! (We even got Devin some new shirts!) He just kept saying how excited he was to start school, and how he was going to take a bus there, and have a lunch and everything. It made me want to cry! Is this normal? Am I just being over protective and overly sensitive or is this really what every mom feels like when she sends her first baby off to school? I keep thinking I should be feeling relief that he'll be with other kids his age and learning fun things (well, it'll probably be an entire year of review for him...but he'll enjoy it anyway because it will be different than the way I've presented it) and doing activities that will keep him occupied and entertained and interacting with other people...that I'll have time now to focus on teaching Claire the same things that I taught him, and be able to have some nice one on one time with her... but I don't feel any relief. I just feel uptight and sad. Does it ever go away?

Daniel Boone

No, this isn't a post about Daniel Boone...there are no 'coon-skin hats involved...maybe. Today is my little baby brother's birthday! :) I've often thought about what I would write about my little brother for this blog today... One of the hard things has been that I am 9 years older than he is...so quite honestly, he is perpetually 10 years old in my mind!!! I only really remember him as a baby and all the funny things that happened to him. I remember when he was born, and that my sister was sick at the time. (My poor, poor mom! I don't know how you handled all of that!!!) I remember him running around outside when we lived in that little trailer out on our 10 acres in southern California. What a funny little kid! Andrew reminds me a lot of you, Danno! I remember you being very happy all the time. You were always so laid back--and you still are. I remember the time we were watching a friends' dog and it was chained up to the tree in the backyard and you got all twisted up in the chain and it almost strangled you! Yikes!

Sadly, our scanner doesn't work anymore, so I can't put in some of the pictures I REALLY wanted to put in. I was hoping to find the twinkie pic...fun times, eh? And I have so many of this guy as a little tiny person... He is, of course, not so tiny anymore. :)


I remember all your friends coming over to play swords with you--although I must admit that this is a much more 'recent' memory. :)

(I have NO idea when this was taken, but you have a cool sword...'I see you have a sword! I have one, too! They are very manly and tough!')

I thought it was so awesome that you learned to play pretty much every brass instrument...and that not only did you just learn the basics, you actually played a different one in each group you were in! I'm just happy you played the French Horn! :)

(Just one of the many brass instruments he played...here he is with the Madison Marching Band...my old alma mater!)

He definitely has the Edwards' sense of humor! He's always right in the middle of some silly antic or another! But, of course, he learned from the best, right dad?
Silly boys! Daniel is the second in from the right.


Now, he is a missionary in Australia! How cool is that? He has been there for 22 months--only 2 more to go! But who's counting? :)

Elders for Sale???


Ummm...these are just gross...but, hey, he's my brother!!



Extreme close-up!



We love ya, Danno! I mean, Elder Edwards! :) Come again, Mr. Robin Hood, sir, on my birthday! Happy Birthday! See you in December!! :)

Dreams are for Rookies

I had the most interesting dream the other night, and decided it would be funny to share. In this dream, I was at a huge pool party with a lot of 'young' people (probably high school age, because I think I remember recognizing kids from my high school experience). I was walking around with some friends, and as we would pass by people, they would see me, cringe away and start screaming!! I kept wondering why they were doing that, and it was starting to make me feel bad! I looked down, and I was fully dressed; I didn't have anything like food or whatnot on my face or shirt... Then I found a mirror and looked in, and realized they were screaming at my face and I cried! I looked in this mirror and saw myself with this really horrible haircut with gray streaked throughout, and my face was covered with acne and wrinkles. I also had on those huge old-school clear plastic rimmed glasses (you know the ones that are about the size of half your face). I looked like a wreck! I woke up crying! And I have to admit, that that dream made me realize that I'm getting old! HA!! I don't really think I'm that old. I don't FEEL old--and my dad always says you're only as old as you feel (or act, for that matter). I still feel like a teenager many days. Only on days like Saturday when I throw my back out completely and can't walk, do I feel like I may actually be getting old. But this dream made me think about the fact that I'm really not getting younger. :) I suppose as I close in on that 30th birthday mark in September that I'm starting to get cold feet. Can I back out of that one? I know that 30 is not old, although I remember (or I remember my mom telling the story) when I was a little girl and I said to my mom (something to the effect of), "You're 25. Then you turn 26, then 27, then 28, then 29...and then you die." So I suppose this has stemmed from early childhood, this idea of 30 being the point of no return. :) Devin and I were even discussing the other night about how we could possibly retire when we're 50...then we discarded that idea because 50 is too young! :) When did I start thinking that 50 was too young? :) And why do I think that 30 is super old, but 50 is young? What a complicated mess I have in my head! :)

Dirty Laundry

So, I have decided that the kids need to help even more around the house. It does get rather difficult to do that if you actually have someone there everyday with the sole purpose of cleaning your house for you--but Devin and I have both felt that it is in the best interest of our kids that they help more, instead of just watching our housekeeper do all the work. So, along with the other jobs they already had on their job chart, I added doing the laundry. So every day these guys help me sort the laundry in the morning, then Josh turns on the water to the washing machine and they pour in the soap and baking soda that I've measured out for them. Then we pick a batch of laundry to wash, throw it in (this involves a lot of giggling...) and we watch the water fill up. When the washing machine is done, I hand the wet clothes out to everyone and they throw it into the dryer (which involves more giggling). It's been a great way to involve the kids. We've done it now for over a week, and it's been really fun. They even pause whatever they're doing (including a movie if it's that time of day) to help do the laundry! Pretty cool! :)

Here is Andrew, after we've put everything into the washer. He likes to lie on the dryer and watch the water fill up to the top! How fun! :)




Isn't that blue tile on the walls pretty? ;) Ha! :)

Punch Balls

We needed a quick boredom buster at our house this morning--so I pulled out the big guns! Punch balls! The kids were completely overwhelmed with excitement (Claire kept yelling out, "This is magnificent!") and we all had a lot of fun for a long time, punching the balls, throwing them in the air and trying to touch the ceiling with them (especially the 20 foot high one, that one had them occupied for quite a long time!!), running around like crazies holding onto the rubber band and dancing to music...a fun time was had by all! :)

Soccer

We had some of the neighbor kids over a few days ago, and Devin decided to entertain everyone--so he moved the couches out of the way, stuck the big area rugs together, and set up a rousing game of soccer!!!

Just see for yourself...




It is nice to have a living room that is big enough to do things like this in. We are SUPER spoiled!!! :)