Week #15 - The Gift of Easter

This year, we had to do our Easter festivities early in the morning, like right when the kids got up - Adam was leaving for Kansas, of course. The kid woke early to see what "The Bunny" had brought them and to see if he had hidden all of the eggs they so carefully filled with all sorts of yummi-ness the night before. Sure enough, he had. The kids giggled with delight at each egg they found hidden in its own secret (or not so secret) spot. They had a lot of fun. Adam and I both had fun watching them "hunt" and find each egg.

One thing that came in their baskets was a book from Grandma and Grandpa Grimsley. Howie got a "lift and look book" with foam pages and pieces that come out of the pages. The story tells about Daniel in the lion's den. Owen and Caroline each got a Book of Mormon with their names engraved on the front cover. They were so excited. I felt guilty each Sunday Owen would come out of church asking when he was going to get his own Book of Mormon. Fortunately, I don't have to answer that question any more.

(all three of my angles - Caroline, Owen, Howie)

It was a happy Easter and a quiet one. Despite the goings on early in the morning, it was a quiet day. One that brought me into some reflection and introspection of mine own. I started wondering about my own testimony of Jesus Christ and how I came to know of His love for me. I can't say that it was one "ta-da" or "light bulb" moment. It's just kind of always been there. There have been days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years, when I didn't do much to foster it, nurture it or, dare I say it, even care about it. I wanted to do what I thought was best for me, regardless of what it may cost me, both temporally and spiritually.

But, without a doubt, without a shred of cloudy judgment, I KNOW my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me and are all too aware of me and what I do, need, think, feel, want, wonder. No other beings know me the way they do. How great a gift I was given to have my elder brother, Jesus Christ, atone for my many, many mistakes and grievances in the life. How great of a gift it is for me to know that despite my too many faults HE still loves me. He was willing to give his life for me.....ME! All to make it possible for me to repent, partake of the Atonement and return to live with my Heavenly Father again.

So, to all of you I say Happy Easter. But really, I hope you each understand the gift of Easter and what it means in your life. It is never too late to find out.

It's MY Birthday Party!

All week long we heard a daily squeal about how it will soon be "MY brithday party" from Ms. Caroline. In fact, and to be more correct, it was more like an hourly reminder.

It was adorable! This is the first year that Caroline had an "official" birthday party. She picked who she wanted to invite. I did have to limit the number of kids as it seemed like she wanted to invite everyone, and then some, to her party.

I wanted to do something a little different for her birthday party than what has been done in the past with her friends. She's always had a great time at the parties, but I was the one up for more of a change. Knowing that this sweet little girl loves (and I cannot emphasize that enough) to carry around purses, boxes, bags, whatever she can put her "treasures" into, I knew that I wanted to make some sort of craft. And, most importantly, I KNEW that I did not want that crafty mess in my house. I came up with the idea, after many trips in and out of the store, to take her to Michael's craft store and have her party there. Some thought I was crazy for even thinking of this place with 4 year old girls; some thought it would be a great idea; and still, even some thought I had completely lost all of my marbles.

Might I say, that was one of the more brilliant ideas I have had in my life! They gave me a list of things that I could do (or come up with one of my own) and when I scanned the list and saw the words "treasure box", it was like a choir of heavenly angels were signing. BINGO! - that was the ticket.

A couple of days before the party, I took her to the store to help me pick out the decoration for the boxes, the paints, and whatever else she wanted to do with them. In the end, and with a couple of girls in mind for specific decorations, we ended up with pink, purple, and white paint, bright pink bling for the boxes, different shades of pink feathers, and foam letters for the girls to stick the letters of their names onto the boxes. Of course, it being Ms. Caroline's birthday, the theme for the party day was all about pink, princess and all other things girlie.


I made the reservation about 3 weeks in advance, and I'm glad I made it that early. It seems that day was very popular for birthday parties as there were 3 more after Caroline's. But, we were first!

Caroline's friends came into the special room and we had a helper, Ms. Wendy, who took care of most of the work. Adam and I basically supplied the craft, balloons, and cake. It was that easy. Ms. Wendy helped the girls with the paint, glued on the feet to the boxes, glued on feathers, served the cupcakes, and did the clean up. Really - who could not ask for more?!

Caroline had such a great time at her party and was so happy to see everyone there. Now, she thinks she needs a birthday party every weekend. Me, I'm glad this one is done and she is looking forward to her next birthday. For now, none of us have to listen to "it's MY birthday party!" for a little while at least.

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Week #14 - Mini Me

We celebrated Caroline's birthday on Tuesday with her party over the weekend. She had a ton of fun! I think it went off without a hitch as well.

At the beginning of this semester, my teacher asked me to sum up my life in 6 words. Couldn't be more or less, just 6. Here were my two 6 word phrases that I came up with:

1. Mother of three. Wife. Daughter. Athlete.

2. Lugubrious middle daughter. Payback is hell.

Caroline not only looks like me, but is me emotionally as well. I now understand why I was picked on so much growing up - it was extremely easy to get a reaction out of me. Most of the time it was tears.

Now, being a mother to a daughter who is my mini me, in more ways than one, I feel my parents' pain at having heard me cry all those years over every little thing that would upset me.

Even so, I don't know what I'd do without her. She is so incredibly sweet, usually when she isnt' feeling threatened in one way or another. OR, the more likely scenario, when she isn't being mischevious behind my back driving one, or both, of her brothers to the point of frustration. She's growing up so fast. As hard as it is some days, I really do wish I could bottle the good days up and never let them go so I can hang on to this sweetness for years to come.

I love, love, love this girl to pieces. She makes it easy to do so being a mini me afterall.

"Keep Swimming! Keep Swimming!"

With the dog days of summer quickly approaching us, I wanted to get a jump on the swim lessons for the kids. The teacher I used last summer sent out an e-mail in February signing up kids for her semi-private lessons starting the first week in April. Each session is 3 weeks long I knew I wanted the first session absolutely, but how many after that was I willing to pay for. Hmmmmm..... in the meantime while I'm deciding, please

SIGN US UP!

After last summer and the wonderful experience the kids had with her and how much they improved in such a short amount of time, I was chomping at the bit to get them back into the pool and, especially with this instructor.

April finally rolled around and right after preschool 3 days a week, we hustle (and I mean hustle) off to swim lessons. They love it, and so do I. They've just completed their second week of lessons. In the first week of the lessons she had them going off the diving board and rolling over to their backs to get the air they need. The second week of the lessons she had them diving to the bottom of the pool (shallow end) to retrieve the "treasure" that had been "lost" at the bottom of the pool.

Owen had done this last year so I wasn't worried about him. I knew he could do it. Caroline, she's a different story. Although we've come a very long way with her, she still doesn't like to go under water. I think she fears drowning and, therefore, panics like crazy. But, I couldn't believe it when the teacher got Caroline to dive to the bottom of the pool to retrieve her treasure! Four feet down and up she came with the treasure in hand. WOW!!!

Wednesday this past week was "dive day". She was teaching the kids to dive into the pool using a racing-type start. Owen loves dive day. Caroline, not so much. But, once again, the teacher got Caroline to "dive" off of the diving board! Oh the things our kids will do for other people and not their own parents!

I am anxious to see what the third week of the first session will bring. I can hardly wait to see the growth in them at the end of the second session. I might even contemplate doing a third session or a week here or there in July. (The instructor does the July session on a weekly basis because there are so many people gone in July. I think it's smart. That way, if there's a week that is "dead" and not much going on I could put them into a "refresher week" in July.)

I finally remembered to bring the camera and snap some pictures of the kids doing their thing in the pool.

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Caroline is 4 Going on 14!

Yep, she's 4 today....going on 14 (or so she thinks). I can't believe we have been blessed with our baby girl for 4 whole years...already. This picture completely and 100% sums up her personality - sweet, a whole lot of sassy, ALL girlie, but will give you a run for your money all with a smile on her face. (She's too busy checking herself out in the mirror to look at the camera in this picture)

She is absolutely my precious girl. Regardless of her having the uncanny ability to cry and burst into tears at the drop of a hat, I love her to pieces.

We didn't do much for her birthday today, Adam is gone to Kansas (big surprise there, huh?). But, we have full intentions to celebrate big with her birthday party on Saturday with her friends. She can hardly wait. She's so incredibly excited and has been talking about her party for weeks now, literally!

So, here's to you my Biggi -lishy-lou. Happy birthday to the best 4 year old girl I know hands down. You bring so many smiles to my day. I love you and look forward to the next 14 years with you, watching you grow and becoming the princess I already know you are. I love you!

Week #13 - The Joys of Reading

When I was figuring out how I was going to teach Owen to read, I consulted many sources. The three main sources of whose opinions I valued the most were my two sisters and one sister-in-law, all of whom had used this book. They swore by it and said they wouldn't use any other. I read reviews online and it got some good ones. I decided to give it a whirl and ordered my copy of this book. But, being the skeptic that I can be sometimes, still had my doubts.

Am I ever so glad I did order this book AND listen to my sisters. I love this book!!! It is simple to follow; simple to understand; simple to use; simple for the parent and child alike. Sixty-two lessons ago, Owen started this book. He is now reading this book as well as other very simple books. In fact, the other night when Adam was home, Owen read the book "Goodnight Moon" to Adam.

There have been some serious frustrations on my part in teaching Owen to read. I'm sure he has experienced them as well. There were some lessons where it felt like we were going 1 step forward, 3 steps back. A 20 minute once a day lesson was turning into an hour lesson once a day. It became a source of struggle, conflict, contention and bad feelings between the both of us. He was dreading the reading time and, frankly, so was I.

I tried explaining to Owen how important it was that he learned to read. I said to him, "Reading is the key to freedom. If you can read, you can learn to do anything." I got the glazed-over, what-in-the-world-is-she-talking-about look. He said he understood but still, the frustration, anxiety and uncertainty lingered.

I finally sent up the flare and white flag in surrender and told Adam he had to do it. I was done! I couldn't take it anymore. No matter what I tried, he just didn't seem to understand. So, the infinitely more patient parent that I, sat down quietly with Owen and got him over the humps of frustration and insecurities (to which there are LOTS!). Slowly, ever so slowly, Owen began to understand the joys of reading.

When he and Adam would finish a lesson with the story at the end, Owen giddy with excitement and pride would run to find me clutching the book. He would flip open the page to his lesson and read me the short story at the end. It wasn't much, but the ego boosting and confidence was returning to this sweet child.

Having completed yet another lesson in this book, I am so incredibly grateful that Owen is discovering that he really can do something (after large amounts of ego stroking and "you can do its") and seeing his confidence bloom over discovering the joys of reading is all worth it to this proud mom!

"To Hear My Soul's Complaint"

Ever since the first of the year, each Sunday Owen would come home and say, "Mom can we read scriptures tonight?" "Of course we can" would be my reply and then, well, it never seemed to happen. I rationalized it by telling myself, "they won't understand 'em anyway"; "they're too young and won't sit still"; "it's just one more thing to add to the nightly routine, do I really want to do this?"

Until this last week, that is. Adam had left for Kansas for the second week in a row (with the third one coming up on Sunday's depature). After we had all dried our tears (some more than others) at seeing Daddy drive off, came the usual question from Owen, "Mom, can we read scriptures tonight?" "Yes, we can." I didn't think it would actually happen.

Afterall, being a "married but single mom" these days, I just didn't see how it was going to work. Bedtime routines take a minimum of 30 minutes longer when I am by myself. Regardless of starting them 30 minutes earlier, the kids always seem to be in bed 45 minutes past their usual bedtime. I am so exhausted by the time they go to bed I just want to collapse. But, there's the laundry to fold (forget putting it away), loads to transfer from the machines, dishes to be done, toys to be picked up (that were "forgotten" before the littles went to bed) and, oh yeah, don't forget studying to be done.

BUT WE DID IT!!!

This was a HUGE deal for all of us. I figured keeping them up a few extra minutes isn't going to hurt them and whatever I needed to get done, was going to be there whether I read them the scriptures or not. I flipped open the scriptures and we dived in. They even wanted me to read 2 chapters to them. So I did. Why stop a good thing, right? Two chapters into our first reading as a family of the Book of Mormon, and things were going well.

I am happy to report that we have read everyday this week, and are even a few chapters ahead of the usual "one chapter a day" routine. I didn't realize how much this was going to impact me until tonight's reading. I was reading 1Ne 9:6, where it reads:

"But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words."

I got choked up at those words when I was reading them. A little while before this, Adam had come into the office asking me, what was the matter. It was a simple and innocent enough question. I don't think he was ready for the torrential downpour of tears that followed. I poured out my heartaches to him and wondering how was I going to get "everything" done all the while being overwhelmed and stressed with his impending depature again on Sunday, and trying to be a good (I'll settle for decent at this point) mom to the kids.

When those words were read in my head, but more importantly in my heart, I was reminded again that I don't have to wonder how it will all get done or, if it will all get done. I am doing what is being asked of me, by Him. I hadn't said a prayer out loud regarding these things - there's just too much to be grateful for and other things of concern. But these thoughts have been deep down in my soul and in my heart for weeks, maybe even months, now.

Despite my uneasy feelings and feelings of doubt, He knew and was there "to hear my soul's complaint" and to answer it with the quiet reassurance that I needed at that moment.

Week #12 - All Things Cool

Have I told you how much I HATE the heat? I do, like A LOT! I would rather be frozen solid than be hot and sweaty (except for when I'm exercising). The feeling of sweat rolling down my back as I am standing in the shade is just so not appealing to me. I loathe the summer time around here, especially September. That has to be the worst month of the whole year. In the rest of the country, September is a sign that fall is coming and with that it will bring cooler temps. Not the case here in the Valley of the Sun. It doesn't really start to cool off until oh, mid-October.

Why is it that I live in a state that averages 100+ degrees ALL SUMMER LONG? Plus, the high heat brings out all kinds of creepy crawlies that I despise, like roaches, scorpions, crickets, cicadas. (That is almost the first question to Heavenly Father when I see him again; "What's with the scorpions and mosquitoes? Are they really necessary?") I miss the seasons, the four seasons of winter, spring, summer, fall. Here it's just jeans and shorts seasons- nothing really in between. Sometimes I don't know why I live here either.

Oh, there is the small and simple fact that my family lives here and, really minus the summer time heat, September, and the creepy crawlies, I do absolutely love it here! I think it is the perfect place to raise a family.

My whole heat v. cold reasoning is this: there are only so many layers one can take off before there are well, no more layers to take off. Jumping in the swimming pool will in fact cool you off, BUT as soon as you get out you start air drying and will be dry and hot and sweaty in a matter of minutes. Not too mention when the pool water gets too warm, it's really not very refreshing and is too warm for swimming. When it's cooler outside, the layers can just be added to keep warm. Blankets, jackets, mittens, gloves, hats, fires, snuggling with the ones you love. It all adds to the heat and the warmth.

This past week gave me the chance to remember just what is inevitable in just a matter of a few short weeks.....the dreaded summer heat. Temperatures reached almost 100 degrees. I about melted and then died.

This week made me incredibly grateful for all things cool - like ice cream, popsicles, ice water, a cold Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper, but especially the A/C. There are some who have been here for decades and have learned to live without A/C - like my grandmother. That lady is one strong lady. She has lived here for too many decades to count now, raised 4 children here, still lives in the same house as having raised those children all without A/C. She just has a swamp cooler. I don't know how she does it. I could never survive in conditions like that - trust me.

I took her advice though. Why suffer when you can do something about it. I turned on my A/C this past week. I loved the feeling of cool air on my skin. I won't love the electric bill when I see it. But, it will leave me with the feelings of gratitude and gratefulness for all things cool.

Now, excuse me while I go and turn down the thermostat to make it even colder in my house and find my Diet Coke to sip.

A Little Help Here, Please?

My nephew, Jared, is a great young man. I'm not just saying this because he is my nephew or because I may be slightly biased. It is the honest to goodness truth! He's an awesome student (straight A's), National Honor Society, on the varsity swim team - since being a freshman - for Queen Creek H.S. (Go Bulldog's!), and now he can add one more accolade to his resume....EAGLE SCOUT! He's kind, considerate of others and their feelings, funny, practical, good looking and will make some young lady very happy one day. One day in the very distant future.

From the time the eagle project was conceptualized to the day it was completed was five (5) days. Yes, you read that correctly, 5 whole days! Wednesday the call was placed to the principal at the school, Thursday it was approved, Saturday the plants and other supplies were purchased, today the project was commenced and completed. It was amazing that it happened just that quickly and with over 50 people there to help him on such short notice!

I, of course being the dutiful aunt that I am, was there to support him, help him and be the "historian" of the project. I was there with my camera, kids, and willingness and snapped away. 170 pictures snapped away to be exact! The kids dug a few holes, scratched away some rock, collected the disposable flower pots and then played and played and played on the school's playground while the rest of the crew finished up the plants and repainted and numbered the hopscoth paths.

There were oodles of teeangers around. It was fun for me to get a glimpse of what my life is going to be like in just a short 8 years. No, I'm not rushing it along - but fun to see. It was a hoot to see these big teenage boys handling these delicate little flowers, place them ever so gently into the soil and then make sure they are planted just right. Oh some of the ironies of life. In any event, it was a job well done and there was a lot of hard work that went into getting this project completed. He needed the help, asked for the help and received the help.

The principal was saying today that since last Wednesday, when Jared got his project off the ground, she has received two more telephone calls from scouts looking for eagle projects to do, including one today! She promised the two other boys that there was plenty for them to do and she would be contacting them soon to get them an eagle project.

I am so very proud of Jared and will offer him help any day of the week. All he has to say is, "a little help here, please!"

Week #11 - The Simple Things - The Basics

There weren't any fancy vacations this week. There weren't any earth shattering moments. Nor, were there any noteworthy moments. It was just the simple things - the basics that kept me going.

An established routine.

A husband who was home.

Three kids who slept through the night.

Going to the gym/running outside.

Having lunch with my sister-in-law.

Adam teaching Owen the rules of football.

The arguing and bickering between the kids.

Piles of laundry to do.

Bathrooms to clean.

Homework to be done.

You know, the basics. For that I am grateful. Life gets crazy enough with all of the ups, downs and in-betweens. So, when the simple things - the basics come along, I love it and find myself wishing it happened more and more.

'Tis not so for this coming week. I hope I have the stamina to survive the craziness ahead of me all the while wishing/wanting/longing for the simple things - the basics.

Musical Rooms Means End of an Era & Mixed Emotions

I loved this house when we first walked into it. It has 4 bedrooms. I had great plans the instant we walked through as to what all 4 bedrooms would one day become.

That day has finally happened and I don't know how I quite feel about it - still. Before venturing off to California, one of the projects at hand was to move Howie into Owen's room. This meant that my two boys would be officially - and finally - sharing a room.

My baby, my little Howie is ready to sleep in a twin sized bed? Really?! Didn't I just give birth to him? Could this really be happening?

The night before we moved him into "the boys' room", I opened the door and watched him sleeping so peacefully in the crib. I started to cry (just like I am now at the memory of him sleeping in his crib). It hit me hard in that instant that there would no longer be any more babies in our home. No more of OUR babies in our home, in our crib, in the room set up for the babies 4 plus years ago when we moved in. We officially ended the "baby era".

When Adam took the crib down, that's when I really cried. I thought back to the day when I was 7 months pregnant with Owen and Adam and his dad put the crib together in the living room of our house in Mesa. Not realizing it would be 1 inch too wide to fit through the doorway, only to have Adam take it apart and reassemble it in the room we would bring Owen home to.

We struggled and struggled with infertility. IUI's, IVF, doctor appointment after doctor appointment, injections, drugs, we did it all. It took us 4 years 'til I got pregnant with Owen. And then, POOF! The baby era is gone in a heartbeat. I can't believe it has gone by that quickly and that stage is over in our family.

With the end of this era, moving Howie around, it also meant I would be getting an office/craft room. That had always been the ultimate outlook of this room, but it brings about a lot of mixed emotions. I am teary-eyed over the end of the era, but overjoyed and thrilled that I can finally have an office, study in peace and quiet and best of all work on my projects in my own room. If I can't finish the projects right then, I can close the door and come back to it at a later point. I no longer have to clean up my project, or move it to a different location in the house, threaten the kids with bodily harm if they dare to even breathe on it. A simple lock of the doorknob and closing of the door will be all it takes to keep my projects safe.

Now, if only I can see through the tears to be able to work on those projects.

Happiest Place & Mom on Earth

After much planning and figuring, we took the kiddos to Disneyland. Most of it was to celebrate Owen's 5th birthday as a family - together. All of the kids had so much fun. I was giddy with excitement for weeks leading up to the eventful days. I knew they would be excited to go on the rides, see the princesses, see Mickey and just plain be at Disneyland.

One night at dinner, the kids asked when we would be traveling back to California. Adam and I hadn't told them we were going to Disneyland. We wanted to surprise them and have that surprise be as close as we could get it to the actual departure and trip to California. Reasoning aside, I told them we would be going in a couple of weeks. The rest of the conversation went a little something like this:

Owen: " Are we going to the beach?"
Me: "No. Not this trip. Probably the trip after this one we can go to the beach."
Owen: " Then why are we going to California?"

I looked at Adam at this point and asked if we should tell them what we were doing. He didn't care, so I told them about their surprise.

Me: "Well......... we are going to.......DISNEYLAND!"
Owen: "Caroline, we are going to Disneyland!"

The kids began to squeal with glee and excitement at the thought of going to D-land. Adam asked Caroline if she knew what that meant. Through he gleeful squeals, she yells, "NO!"

Adam and I busted out laughing. Not a clue as to what it meant, but she figured it had to be good. And boy was it!

It really is, THE happiest place on Earth. The music, the colors, the lights, the fireworks, the characters. How can anyone not be happy at that place? Impossible, I say. Even with the long lines to ride the rides (45 minute wait, during the daylight hours for just about every ride), the even longer line to see Princess Belle and Princess Tiana, the crowds, the tired feet, the whining of how hungry they were, applying sunscreen every couple of hours so our kids didn't look like little red lobsters, the sweat dripping down my back from carrying the backpack, the umpteen potty breaks, the blisters, and on and on, every last second was worth it.

Every. last. second.

The kids were champs, despite Caroline's meltdown on day #2 when she had to use the men's room because I was on a ride with Owen and my mom, Adam had to take her into the men's room, which was soooooo not appreciated by that little girl. The frustration that Adam experienced in those brief moments will not soon be forgotten. Flopping on the floor, screaming, crying, hysteria, tears...yep, it was a doozy. Glad it happened on his watch and not mine.



Owen's disappointment came when he realized he was 1/2" too short to ride California Screamin' - maybe next time buddy.

But, through it all and that being the only meltdown, the kids were fantastic. We left the happiest place on earth wanting to go back again. And that, my friends, makes me the happiest mom on earth!

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