My Word For 2012

As I think about this last year, I can sum it up in one word....survival!  Needless to say, I am very glad it is over.  Hallelujah.


With that said, I am trying to get myself excited about 2012.  Unlike this past year, I have made some specific goals. 


 I plan on running at least one marathon.  Training officially starts on Monday.  This is going to be very difficult, but not insurmountable.  Luckily, I have a training program that requires only 4 days of running.  I know I can do that.  With training, I want to run a half marathon in March as well. Rinar did a whole bunch of races last year, but I am not going to let that stop me from doing my thing.


I also want to be more dedicated to my kids and their education.  I have ideas of things I want to do, so this year I am going to implement them.  I think it will be easier because Harry, Julia, and Eli are older and able to do a lot more things. This is only going to get better as the year progresses.  I look forward to that.


Rinar and I plan on taking Raef and Zach to Europe in the late spring.  This is something to look forward to as well.  We have wanted to go for a long time and it will be wonderful to take them with us.


Here are just a few things going through my head right now.  I just read a blog about choosing one word for the year.  And now that I have written some of my thoughts out, I realize what my word is. Implementation.


I have a lot of ideas and now I need to implement them.

Sacramento Zoo

I live in a zoo, so why not go to the zoo? Rinar did not work today so we did a mini road trip to Sacramento.  It was a beautiful day and the little ones really enjoyed looking at the animals.

Except that Julia just couldn't walk another step. I had to hold her.

And this little guy wanted to go home after about 10 minutes.  "Can we go now?" Oh, the agony!!!

Harry had a blast. He was running around everywhere with a big grin plastered on  his face. He loved being able climb up on the railings at each exhibit. Good times.

I think someone stepped on her hand as she was descending the cement slide.

We were also able to eat at Chick-fil-a. Yay! A beautiful day and a beautiful drive.

Reflections On My Christmas Day

Another Christmas has come and gone this year. I am kind of glad it is done. This is what it looked like for us this year.

  

I really love Christmas with my kids. They are all so special and I am very grateful that Rinar and I can give them so much, though we probably gave them too much.  Surprise toy favorites: $1 laser pointer from Radio Shack.  They had fun for an hour playing with that thing.  I also found mini plastic animals at Goodwill for 59 cents and Harry would have been happy with just that.  When will I ever learn?

But Christmas kind of made me a little sad this year. I made sure to send or give something to every member of my family...parents, brothers and sisters.  Yet, didn't even get a phone call or text from anyone.  I wanted to see if anyone would remember me and call.  But, alas...  Thank goodness I have my Heather.  She is a very special sister. I have been so blessed to have her in my life.

Maybe I am being too hard on all of them or too prideful.  I heard this quote today in church by Howard W. Hunter...

“This year, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and the speak it again.” 

Examine my demands on others. This has really stuck in my head. Maybe I expect too much in my relationships with family members.  I should have just called, but I was too stubborn. I just feel kind of sad right now. I hope tomorrow will be better.

But no matter what, I do rejoice in the Christmas spirit, because the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit.  How grateful I am for His gift of eternal life. I rejoice in that.

Project Linus

Our friend Tracy hosted a Christmas service project party at her house this afternoon. There were a million kids running around while us moms were busy cutting fleece to make blankets that will be taken to some charity. It was a fun afternoon chatting and cutting.

Denice busy with the fleece.

Harry found the toys. Unfortunately, two of these cars are currently in my minivan.  My little clepto.  Such a proud  mama.  The toys stay in the van until they find their rightful home, which definitely is NOT our house. Grrrr.

I caught Haley by surprise in this picture.

Kelli had her hands full with her boys.

And They Both Looked So Innocent

The little ones have been quite a handful these past few nights. Every room in our house has its own bathroom. Unfortunately, that includes the babies' room.  There is a lock on the door, but it does not work.


And guess what they have become interested in, all of a sudden?  Yes, the faucet. Rinar found them yesterday after a long day at the office. When he had disappeared for a while, I went to investigate. He was in their room cleaning up the gallons of water that were on the floor.   


It was the last straw. I made a late night run to Walmart to get two more round doorknobs, so that we could prevent further bathroom incidents.  I installed them today and then put a child safety lock on the door.  Problem solved, right?


NOPE!


I was reading to Eli across the hallway when I heard frantic crying from my little "angel" girl.  I went to see what the problem was.  The bathroom door was open.  WHAT!?!?!?! The faucet was running. Julia was pretty wet, while Harry sat "innocently" in his bed.  She was covered in body wash. It was in her eyes. It was in her hair.


I started dousing her with water and then had to do a full-on soak of her hair in the faucet. I put it in a ponytail and changed her pajamas.  All the while, I was reminding her how naughty she was and thinking to myself that all the coal is going to this one!


How did the bathroom get opened? The child safety cover had been pulled off. I got some duct tape and stuck it back together thoroughly.


But when I put her in bed, it smelled very soapy on Harry's bed. Very soapy. Harry had just a little bit of body wash in his hair.  Don't worry. Most of it was on the sheets, and his blanket, and a book, and a puzzle piece, and toy.


I didn't have to douse him.


So, who really gets the coal around here? I am not so sure now.

Santa Is Dumb

I have officially decided that Santa Claus is just plain stupid.  The older I get and the more kids I have, the more I hate that fat, overly-jolly, sneaky old guy.  I mean, I feel like it is my obligation as a "good" parent to take my little kids to the over-crowded, depressing mall to stand in a ridiculously long line, so that I can be guilted into spending way too much for a stupid picture that I will probably lose anyways.  

At least that is what was going through my head as I waited in line with three rambunctious toddlers.  I really didn't last very long.  I got out of line, took a picture from afar of Santa and headed to the mall playground.  

Look, here is a blonde kid on Santa's knee.  My kids are blonde.  Close enough!

The line goes all the way around the back of that Christmas tree.  I am standing at the halfway point. It is a Monday afternoon, for crying out loud. Shouldn't these kids be in daycare or something, or home taking a nap? What is going on here?

But the playground sure was fun. We hadn't been in a while.  The kids had a blast.

Way better than Santa.

Violin/Viola Recital

Well, it's that time of year again when I share my kids amazing, spectacular, awe-inspiring talent with the whole world, or at least with the 15 or 20 people who will actually watch the video I am putting up for you.  See...and you don't even have to buy a ticket or anything!

But before I get to that, the recital went really well. Zach actually showed up mentally and did pretty well once he got into his groove. The beginning was a bit rough, but I was very pleased with what he did.  Plus, he didn't swing his body back and forth violently.  It was a pretty darn successful day for him.

This is Raef and Zach's music teacher, Dustin Budish. He has about 20 students in his studio and we go to his place downtown every week for lessons.

Here are a few of the other students. This is probably about half of the students who performed today.

 After the official recital and some refreshments, most of the kids played a bunch of Christmas songs with Dustin. It was a lot of fun. They were just sight-reading it. Well, except for my kids. They play out of this book all the time. In fact, they will be playing some of the same songs next week as prelude music in church.




Zach kept making really silly faces for a little boy that was sitting right in front of him. I probably should have given him the evil eye and all, but it was just cracking me up.  He is a riot, I tell you.

I really could only see the top of Raef's head, but I peeked to the side to get this shot of him.

Zach's rendition of Gavotte, by J. S. Bach

Raef's rendition of Concerto in D Minor by A. Vivaldi

Concerto in G Major by Telemann, Raef and Dustin duet

Zach and group perform Concerto for Two Violins by J. S. Bach

And finally, Zach's first piano recital number, Fiesta Espana by N. Faber