OLD!!

Yes, I think that would be an appropriate title for this post. Devin is OLD today! :) I love that I can tease him about being older than me...for about 2 weeks! But, since it is his birthday today, I get to do a little blurb about him right here for everyone to see and enjoy! :) These are in no particular chronological order...


Devin LOVES to be outdoors!!

Here he is with Josh at a 'beach' on the edge of Lake Erie in PA:



Another outdoorsy day with a swingset and a Joshua:



Another excursion to Presque Isle (Lake Erie, PA) about a year or two later. Claire is on his back. Devin is rarely seen without the baby backpack when we have little ones (which is pretty much all the time....)



Help me!! He is so fun!!



He takes time to play with his children--to teach them things! :) He spent hours bent over 'driving' Josh's trike for him with Claire holding on behind. They loved it!



Our big fun in Virginia! How he loved going on bike rides every weekend! He even rode his bike to work! The kids had a blast on the trail-a-bike and bike trailer...what a great idea, Dev! It was a definite wholesome recreational activity for the whole family to enjoy!



Giving 'Wheelbarrows o' fun' for the kids! They loved that, too!





Devin is the best daddy in the world. Yes, I may be prejudiced, but somehow I don't really think so!!
He always reads stories to the kids (even though he usually falls asleep)!



Like I said, he falls asleep if 'reading' too long! So sweet! :)



Holding Josh and Claire. He is so gentle and loving with his children!! :)



Proud Daddy!!! Unfortunately, once again the loss of the scanner makes me sad, as all the pictures of baby Josh are 'hard copies'... but...
Here he is with Baby Claire:



Here he is with Andrew...while enjoying a smoothie! He is just as health conscious as I am, and I'm so grateful!



Ready to go Trick-or-Treating! What a dad! He's always game to do something fun with the kids!!!




What would I do without this guy??? If it weren't for him, our trip here would have been even more horrendous than it was! He's so good with the kids--so patient and thoughtful--it makes traveling just a little bit easier!



Isn't he cute?? I thought so! Still do. (this is from our wedding, by the way, in case anyone was wondering)



Here is his birthday cake for today...



and him posing with it! :P



The traditional blowing out of the candles (including about 8 trick candles that kept coming back!! That gave oodles of fun to all the little kiddies there! We had movie night at our house tonight, so after the movie was over, we did the singing and blowing out of the candles for both Devin and a neighbor friend.) :)



Happy birthday, my one and only love! I'm SO thankful for you! You are my best friend--I am happy every day because I married you! :)

New Bikes and Happy Dynamics

Josh and Claire got new bikes this week! They worked very hard to earn them! Here is Claire on her 'pretty pink bike':



Unfortunately, we ran into some problems with Josh's bike. Devin was trying so hard to get it all put together last night--even making a few runs over to work to find some sockets. Then, as he was tightening the last bolts onto the rear axle, it cracked!!!! It was heartbreaking! Not only because now Josh has to wait for another 3+ weeks for his bike to be completed, but because Devin had worked so hard to get it together for him. Poor guy. But it is a cool bike! I'll put pics up when we get the new part and have it all together! :)

But, it hasn't been as traumatic as I thought it might turn out to be. Josh is so wrapped up with school, and LOVING it, that he doesn't have too much time to think about the loss of his bike. He comes home looking like he's grown a foot--just glowing from how much fun he's having!! He sits right down and does his homework (which I LOVE that his teacher gives him homework!!!) and Claire and Andrew do the same (Ha ha)--they all sit at the table and draw letters and pictures. Yesterday, every time they drew a letter, everyone would yell, "I did it!! YEA!!!" And we'd all clap. Pretty funny! I've been able to have some great quality time with Andrew and Claire--especially Claire, as we've been learning things and having 'classes' together. It's been nice, and she looks forward to it. We play games, sing songs, do activities and projects, and she helps me to make yummy snacks for everyone. I think she is really benefiting from Josh being at school as well. Andrew wandered around sadly the first day he was gone, but he's adjusting, too. He does some of the games and activities with Claire and me. It's been nice. I've also been teaching my housekeeper how to cook things the way I do. She's been enjoying that! :) So, as worried as I was about the new 'dynamics' of the schedule of our home, so far it seems to be a really happy one! :)

An interesting story about little Joshua's school experience: It seems that pretty much all the kids eat lunch there in the 'Canteen' (cafeteria). I guess it turns out that one of the teacher's helpers in his classroom thought that all the kids ate there, and that Josh was just bringing snacks from home, so she told Josh to get in line and get some food! I was getting really concerned that he would come home and not have eaten anything at all!! He leaves here at 7:15am and doesn't get home until almost 3pm. I know he likes to eat a lot, so I was really starting to worry about his health!! Josh, I think, knew it wasn't right, because he came home from his first day and told me he had a secret and he couldn't tell me. Then, when he got home today, he said the same thing at dinner. We finally got the story out of him, but he was afraid to tell us in case we got mad. Poor boy! We didn't get mad, of course. I sent in a note to his teacher explaining that we decided to send lunch with him instead of buying it because I like to have some control over his diet (due to allergies, etc., besides the fact that I KNOW that what I send with him is healthy as opposed to lots of deep-fried 'goodness'). I also sent him with the money to pay for the two days that he had eaten there without paying. Hopefully he learns a lot of things from this experience: #1-it's ok to tell mom and dad anything. We're not going to get mad at him for telling us the truth!!! #2-to be honest and pay for the things that you have had. #3-mom makes better food! (ha ha) He's a good kid. He helped me pack his whole lunch in tonight, so hopefully with the note explaining the situation to his teacher, a long talk with mom and dad, and having put his own favorite things in his lunch, it should be mostly resolved now. We shall see.

First Day!!

The official First Day of School picture:



Josh on his very first 'bus' ride to school! He is ecstatic!!!! :)


So, as you can see, Josh has started school! My little baby! I've been wondering about all the reasons why I've been so nervous and upset about Josh starting school. Here are a few that I'd like to share:

I had always thought that the reason I was dreading school for Josh was that I felt that I was giving up on him. Like I was admitting that I just couldn't cut the whole homeschool thing. I felt that letting him go to school was saying that I didn't want to have him home with me anymore, which, of course, isn't at all true. But what I discovered as I sat and pondered over this problem--trying to sift through all the guilt and sadness--I realized that that definitely wasn't all of it! It may not even have been the reason for the crazy feelings at all. My biggest concern, I found, was the new life dynamic. For the past 6+ years, I've been a stay at home mom with little babies. We did whatever we wanted whenever we wanted without worrying about too many schedules and hardly any conflicts. It was a laid back time--not without its stresses, of course, but very different than the school days. So, my stress turned out to be a mixture of missing my big boy, but mostly grieving for the end of that 'quiet' time with just me and my babies. Life will be different now. The time for school has started and with that comes juggling many schedules, after school activities, lunches, homework, play dates, weekend getaways...all the things that come with the start of the school schedule. And now that it's here, there's really no turning back. Josh was made to go to school. We enjoyed our homeschool time together for the past 3 years, and I think I've prepared him very well mentally, but he is VERY ready for school. I suppose I've just been preparing myself for that change of tempo in our house that will come with this. I know, as well, that with that hectic school schedule time will fly even faster! And here I am, holding on with both hands to what I still have here at home. As flustered as I can get trying to teach and train the little ones, I will miss it TERRIBLY when it's done! I'm beginning, once again, to see the method in what my mother did and said when I was young...SORRY, MOM!! :) I will miss the days of no real schedule and lots of play time. Life has taken us up a notch. And, as is always true: The one constant in life is CHANGE!! And it's not always a bad thing.

Faux Alarm Clock

So, I always thought there was no other sound more irritating than that of the grating BEEP of the alarm clock going off in the morning. I was wrong. Three children screaming their heads off in unison first thing in the morning definitely takes the cake!!! :) Don't get me wrong, I love my kiddos dearly, but that fighting scream that takes place every morning (usually either 'Josh pushed me!' or 'I want Lucky Charms first!') is getting REALLY old! Once they're settled and eating, it usually takes a break. But, depending on the type of breakfast they have, it can start right back up again within minutes! Ah, the joys of motherhood!

But, of course, mixed in with those frazzled moments come the hilarious ones, or the super sweet ones, that I wouldn't miss for the world!!!

Like the other day, we were having breakfast. Andrew decided he wanted a different spoon. So, he asked for a 'tiny spoon'. Ok. So I brought him the smallest baby spoon we have. Then he said, 'No! A tiny spoon!' I said that that was a tiny spoon! Did he want a big spoon? 'Yes'. So, I got a big spoon. 'No! A tiny spoon!' Well, I ended up giving him about 6 spoons altogether, but he had the biggest grin on his face! He kept passing the spoons out to everyone, then taking them back and counting them! It was hilarious! :)

Music time and Espanol

I admit I haven't been keeping up with my music, but, ummm...yesterday I think I got myself into some trouble! :P Josh starts school on Monday, and I was asking them about their music program--it's just a part time-part time teacher that does a little singing. NO ONE offers ANY instrumental instruction here at all! And it's a PreK-12 school! So, silly me, I mentioned that I've been a music teacher for forever and even studied it and they were excited. Many parents want their kids to study instruments--especially piano--and they even said they used to have a band and have some instruments here! So, we'll see if something pans out. I don't really want to go to work, since #1 I still have the other two little kids here, and #2 I'll be gone from here for 3 months starting in December and going through to February. So, yah. But it would be fun to do something with music again. AND, I was in this parent teacher conference yesterday, and talking with the principal and noticed that they had a poster up that was in Spanish. That's a weird thing, as no one here speaks Spanish. It's a French speaking country. So, I asked her why, and she mentioned that they were hoping to have a Spanish teacher, but the person backed out, so, again, before I thought about it..."I speak Spanish!" And her eyes got really big and she says, "Would you be willing..." Well, we'll see. Who knows, right? I would really enjoy all of that, but I DO NOT want it to take away from what I have going right now! I'm still training my housekeeper and nanny to do lots of things, I'm starting Claire in homeschool preschool--which, of course, doesn't take millions of hours every day, but it does take some time and preparation! as would teaching music and Spanish. Either way, I think I may start up a piano/clarinet studio now. Seems like it might be the opportune moment. I've just never gotten around to it, but I should.

Spiritual Cookies

So, Sunday I taught Sharing time in Primary at church. Normally, it's not so bad. I usually have someone there for crowd control. Ummmm...I was all by myself! So, I conducted, played the music, taught sharing time and singing time...then taught my regular Sunday School class...AND the lady who usually plays the 'piano' in church didn't show, so I got to play for Sacrament meeting as well. I was super busy!

But, that is all beside the point. I wanted to share what we did for sharing time because it was so funny! The theme was 'After Baptism, the Holy Ghost will help me repent and choose the right' (or something to that effect). So, I thought about what I could do for it that would be engaging enough for the kids that I wouldn't feel so much the fact that I had no help in there that day. One of the ideas for the lesson that was given, was to pass out a maze for the kids to do, following good choices as they would follow the Holy Spirit. So I thought to myself, "Why not have a live maze??" I made up about seven different signs of choices that kids have to make--sometimes on a daily basis--such as 'obeying parents', being kind to brothers and sisters, helping at home, sharing with friends, going to church, reading the scriptures/following the prophet, praying... I cut out pictures from old issues of the Friend/Liahona magazines that gave an idea of what it said on the paper (for those who couldn't read). I planned to put them at certain points in the room and make a maze using the benches there so the children could walk around them as they 'made their choices'. Then, I had two missionary helpers. One represented the Spirit, and tried to help them make the right choices. The other represented the 'dark side' and tried to get them to choose something else. For example, the first one: Obey your parents. I gave them the situation that their parents had asked them to do their homework for school before they could go play. Then the 'Spirit' would say something to the effect of, "Yes! You should do as your parents say because doing your homework will make you smarter! They love you and want you to succeed!" Then the 'other side' would pipe up and say, "Nah! Why do homework? It's completely boring and useless. You get enough school at school. Your parents are just trying to be mean. Go play with your friends instead. That would be more fun!!!!" AND to top it all off, the 'other side' had a plate full of 'cookies' as an extra enticement.



The only problem with these 'cookies', though, were that they were made out of playdough!!! I thought they looked pretty good, though! Ha! So, if they chose to follow the 'other voice', they could have a 'cookie'. Well, the kids all did really well until almost the very end of the maze, and then a bunch of them just couldn't handle the suspense anymore! Ha!! So about half of the kids ended up going over and eating some of the 'cookies'! I was laughing so hard! Most of the kids, didn't even bat an eye as they started into these nasty flour and salt creations! I couldn't believe it!!! Some of the kids took a bite, then looked at me very accusingly! :) Most of them just tried it, then dug the chocolate chips out! :) I asked them if they were yummy, and they looked kind of afraid of me as they started to slowly shake their heads!!! Then I explained that while Satan would try to entice us away from right choices, most of the time, he would make it look like a really good idea, when really it wasn't! That, just like the fake cookies, he can make things look really good on the outside! And if we give in, we will be disappointed! Then, the 'Spirit' helped them to repent and make good choices, and we all ended up at the end with a big bag of REAL chocolate chip cookies--which, again, the kids looked a bit wary to eat after their encounter with playdough counterfeits! :)



We talked about how the rewards of following the Spirit not only make us happy now, but for forever and ever; and they taste better, too! :) It was a fun lesson. The kids did get a little out of control in the middle, but I think a lot of it was because it was something so different than what they've ever done before...AND there really wasn't anyone else there to help me out. But, we all survived, and hopefully everyone came out learning something from it. :)

Antics

Here are some funny shots from the weekend:

First, we have Josh all ready for church. Yes, he dressed himself. Can't tell, can you? Ha!! When Josh walked in, I had to look away--Devin thought I was crying--I was laughing so hard!!! But, he was sure proud of himself! At least he has the white shirt and tie idea. I suppose we'll work on the shorts vs pants and buttoning up the shirt all the way, later. :)



Next, we have a snacktime. Now, snack time at our house is always a pretty funny affair. These little guys love to eat. I usually have them all sit at the table and eat whether it's snack time or meal time, so we all sit at the table together about 6 times a day! Ha!!! Usually, we tell funny made-up stories, talk about silly dreams we had, talk about things we learned at church (or 'school'), discuss what we would like to do next or what we want to eat next...Ha! Today, I was teaching the kids to make Condorman 'masks':



And here are some funny shots of Claire and Andrew, courtesy of Josh. He REALLY wanted to take pictures with the camera, and this is what he came up with:





Aren't they cute? Andrew LOVES to have his picture taken. Claire was actually posing for both of those photos. She wanted to hide behind the big bowl, and she wanted to look like she was drinking water (her cup was empty). What a ham! We ate popcorn and homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for our snack this morning! Mmmmmm....