Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Preparing for the Weekend

Lyf was so kind to bring Linda and Margaret up here to our house from St. George. They are staying here this week while Rinar and I go out to North Carolina for my high school reunion. Amazingly enough, it has been 20 years since I graduated from high school. At least, it is amazing to me. And I am so grateful that Rinar's mom and aunt can be here to tend the kids while we are gone for a few days.

Rinar is out in California working again. He is pretty much in California every week, except when he isn't. But if you ever want to guess where he is, it would be safe to guess California. He did a seminar in Santa Barbara and was able to meet some amazing people: CEO's of super large corporations, people with a lot of  money.  It is hard to believe that a kid from a small town in Utah with no connections whatsoever now hobnobs with multimillionaires. I guess that when you work hard you never know where life will take you.

As for me, you will still see me at the thrift store!

I have no idea what this weekend will hold for me. I have a feeling that I probably will not know or remember very many people. But I feel like I should go, and am really looking forward to a few days away from the house. And Bojangles. I am definitely looking forward to Bojangles.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Refrigerator Play

This is one of those precious things I don't ever want to forget, because I know that one day he won't do this anymore. Many times Harry will sit like this in front of the refrigerator and play with those magnets. They are Nephite and Lamanite magnets. He moves them around and makes fighting sound effects. Harry will do this for hours while I cook dinner or clean up. It is one of those noises in my house I will miss terribly when they grow up and move on to bigger things.


But now, I will cherish this time.

Noelle is Filling Out

Oh, my. Look how much Noelle has grown. She is approaching six months-old now and she has really filled out.  She is rolling over from her back to her stomach lickety-split and sometimes rolls to her back again. She is starting to eat lots of different solids and takes a bottle a couple of times a day. Noelle loves to be tickled, gets kissed incessantly, and grabs for anything she can get her hands on. She especially loves my face and hair. She also uses her feet to explore stuff and has started grabbing her little toes. 


Noelle is still not very wiggly, so we can cuddle with her a lot. She is calm and many times I can hold her to sleep.  But let me tell you, she really does not like to have her nose cleaned and she will tell you in dretful tones.


Julia's Style

Here are some funny moments with my darling little daughter. She has quite an eye for style. This was one of her outfits the other day. Color is the trend this year, people: color and stripes actually. 


And before they went to bed last week, she came downstairs with this little get-up.  I think she is taking her cues from Eli, the underwear ma'am.  Oh, brother!


Tonight she was dancing with Eli. He was singing "Call Me Maybe" and they were twirling around. She told him that they were married and then they kissed. I always wanted a big brother. She is so lucky that she has four big brothers and they all love her so much.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Eli's Primary Talk

Eli was asked to give a talk on Sunday in Primary. The topic was Jesus Christ. On Saturday, Raef sat down with him to write out a talk. This is what Eli said and what Rinar wrote down verbatim:

I'm going to talk about Jesus today. I love Jesus because he blesses me. I love Jesus because of his plan for me and that he loves everybody and he answers our prayers. I love Jesus because he made the Earth and I love it.

I love him because he made all stuff, bushes and plants and islands and trees and the forest and the temple. I love to be part of his church and love Him because he made the church. I love Jesus because He loves me! 

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

As we were sitting in Sacrament meeting, he asked me if he was going to give his talk then. I told him, no. He was doing it in Primary. But you could tell that the kid was ready and willing to stand up in front of everyone and bear his testimony of Jesus Christ.

I told you, I think this kid is made of sugar on the inside.

Regional Church Ball

This past week was a sports week for me, and I am feeling it now. We had a Regional Stake basketball tournament for the Sandy/Draper area.  Our stake scraped together a team. We had never practiced together or anything, besides a couple of scrimmages with random ladies for a few weeks.  But man, when we got out there for the actual games, it was super competitive.  There were some tall chicks on those other teams. It is a very sad day when I have to play center because I am the tallest.

Heather, Tammy, Melissa, Amanda, me!

Still, I think we surprised people with how well we played. I think I surprised me, too. Our core team really knew how to play ball, even though we were a step slower than our younger years.  I actually think I am a much better baller now, because I am stronger and have more toughness. This probably comes from having 6 kids, 4 boys.

On Thursday, we won a squeaker against a very tall team. Somehow, we ended up on top by two points.  Therefore, we had a game on Friday. This team was even taller and better.  Unfortunately, we lost. However, they did not blow us out. That is for sure. I thought we were out. But it was a double-elimination tournament. Hence, another game was scheduled for Saturday. Three days in a row? Whew!  We played and we should have won. We were definitely better basketball players. However, we are old and we were just plain tired. I think the fight had petered out of us.

Still, I made some wonderful friends and had an amazing time rekindling the basketball girl in me.


Monday, March 10, 2014

School School School

This past week was all about education. I did an audit of Raef and Zach's progress and realized that they were lagging behind in a few things. Therefore, I counted everything out and divvied it up based on the number of weeks we have left.  All of their schoolwork must get completed before May 28. And this is the first year these kids have to take an end of year state exam. The pressure is on. They worked hard to complete all of their assignments, plus a little bit more. We were pretty much hermits, working hard to get the momentum rolling.

I also am going to start doing more "school" with my little ones. Harry begs me all the time to do school. He just loves it. He loves workbooks and assignments and attacks it all with gusto.  We did a bunch of different stuff on Wednesday and in this picture, they wrote their names at the top of the sheet they did. I was pretty impressed.


I also broke down and got a tablet with the express intent of using it to supplement their education. Instead of plunking them in front of the television to keep them quiet while I help Raef and Zach, I am going to plunk them in front of the tablet where they can practice letters, sounds, reading, and math. Might as well take advantage of technology, right?

And Eli was very proud of this cargo plane he built. He insisted on the picture.


Rinar had a long week of work again, gone to the nether regions of the western United States. But we were really glad to see him again. Noelle was especially happy to see her daddy.


And man, oh man. Noelle has really entered phase two of babyhood. She is starting to "get" places some way or another. I don't even know how. She is also started to grab things and puts everything in her mouth. Now the pressure is on to keep the floor clear of all potentially deadly items.  

As if I didn't have enough to do...

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Explode

A few days ago I was driving up the street thinking to myself how I desperately need to find someone I can talk to about intellectual things. I feel intellectually starved right now in my life. Where do I go? Who do I talk to? I seriously have no one. As I was driving I was thinking how nice it would be to have some kind of group or person that I could just unleash myself on, and who could give it right back to me: challenge me, push me. I really have no where to go right now. 

As I homeschool my kids, I have been reawakening thoughts and intellectual yearnings that have been dormant in myself for a while. I teach my kids stuff, but they are just sponges and they really don't "get it" yet. And then as I talk to people in my life, everything just feels so superficial. It is merely surface stuff and I always feel a bit hollow and empty. 


I really have been feeling this way for quite sometime and on Saturday I just snapped. We were at dinner with one of Rinar's childhood friends and Mike, Catye, Leah, and Jamie were there also. We started talking and I was foolish enough to think that I could talk about "deep" things with Rinar's friend. As I started to really get my mind and heart going, I could hear everyone start to make fun of me. It is not the first time it has happened. No. It happens a lot to me. I just try to ignore it because I want to be myself. But I can't. I am made a butt of everyone's jokes.


Where do I go? What do I do? I feel like I want to explode.
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