just kidding...

So here I was gearing up for Sunday to be our last here before we moved, ready to say goodbye to people and tear into packing to get everything out by Thursday, we were speaking in church and everything... and now the closing on the house is postponed. We need a new roof because of hail and wind damage, and we're finally cleared to get one. We were kind of expecting it, but also prepping for a whirlwind if we really were closing this week. It's good, really, because it gives us more time and clears the deal so the buyers really do want the house. It was just kind of a sudden stop when I was gearing up for a crazy week. So, maybe mid-June? It depends on paperwork and how soon they can get the roof on and all that. So we're just chillin' for the mo'.

Here's a couple pics of Calvin after his latest mishap. He was playing with the silverware in the dishwasher and his foot pivoted out from under him. He did some sort of wild turn and whacked his face on the sharp edge of the dishwasher door. It looked like an awful crash, and his nose looks terrible, but I think the wound really is superficial. It just scraped a layer of skin off his nose. He really didn't cry very long either, he's such a good kid. Good thing I got the kids' pictures done last week! I'm also putting in a picture of Calvin playing with Joshua, they were so cute! All these good friends we are going to miss when we leave!

Calvin's latest...

Here's a couple videos of Calvin, clapping and crawling and just being his adorable self. Am I biased? Naw....

Here's a picture of the girls outside enjoying a smoothie on a spring day. We had to soak up the sun while we could between storms, and they were so cute out being sisterly together.

Happy Mothers Day

Here's a Mother's Day message to the Grandmas in our lives. We love you. Thanks for being a part of our lives, and the wonderful grandparents you are to our kids. They love you and miss you so much!

It has been interesting to be alone this Mothers Day.. some sad moments, but John sent me a dozen roses (through Lisa, thanks Lisa!) and a bag of chocolates he had bought before he left, and "hidden" for the girls to give me. Then a good friend invited us over for dinner (I think four other people offered to have us over as well, but we had to decline.. I felt so loved!) and we really had a nice dinner and good company. So although I didn't get a "day off" or anything, it was a nice day, all things considered. Still... 10 days til John comes home!

Surviving...

I thought I'd post a little about how we are doing, and the above title pretty much sums it all up. John has been in Colorado for not even a week, and I'm beat. But that may have something to do with Calvin's teething/sick woes and my own lack of judgement when it is late and I'd rather watch a movie than go to bed. Calvin has been so miserable! He's cutting his front bottom teeth, he's had a runny nose and congestion and cough for a couple weeks, naps for less than an hour during the day (sometimes barely half an hour), has been running a fever, and sleeps for two hours at a time at night. He's quick to cry, which is not like him, and every little thing sets him off. And except for the fever, it sounds like I'm describing myself! I took him to the doctor, sure he had an ear infection, but he was clear in ears and lungs. The doc thought he might have a sinus infection or something because of the fever, but I think he just has a hard time with teething. However, we will continue with the antibiotics just in case. Although I think it's giving him diarrhea.
So he's been attached to my hip for the past week, and the girls have been going through a love/hate relationship as they play really well together until both want the same toy at the same time. Ah, sisters. Yesterday I gave them ice cream cones and sent them out back to eat them. I was sitting down in the kitchen (finally eating my lunch) and watching them sit in their camping chairs set right next to each other, laughing and talking and eating and just quietly enjoying being together. My heart took a picture. I thought about really taking one, but decided it just wouldn't do the situation justice. Maybe I should have, it would be fun to try and draw or paint sometime.
All in all, I think it was a good thing I did a big cleaning of the house the day after John left, because I don't know if it's going to happen again while he's gone! It's all I can do just to keep the dishes clean. And I haven't even started packing yet...
Despite the circumstances, I do feel like the Lord is looking out for us. We have such a great ward, and so many friends who have called to see how I'm doing, or made sure I know I can call them if I ever need anything. We have been invited over for dinner, offered packing boxes, babysitting and more offers of help than I could ever possibly take advantage of. I am excited to move, to be closer to family and to (hopefully) have John happy in his job; but at the same time I am amazed to realize how much I have loved it here, and that Kentucky (Kentucky!) and the people we have known here will always have a special place in my heart.
Well, time for Calvin and I to get our much-needed nap.

My Favorite Things... About My Boys

I guess first off I should state the general news and state of things. We have accepted an offer on our house and, as long as everything goes smoothly, should close at the end of May. At which point, we will be homeless. Unless we land a job between now and then, we will probably head out to Colorado and stay with family til things get settled. We think. :) For one who does NOT enjoy change or uncertainty, I'm handling things fairly well, most of the time. Anyhoo, on to part two... the menfolk.

Calvin

1. His smile. It is quick to surface, and adorable. He has a dimple on his left cheek that I love.

2. The fact that he always has a smile for me. He's definitely a mama's boy, and that's okay with me.

3. He has recently started to crawl and he also has gotten more daring with pulling himself up on things. Just tonight he pulled himself up to standing on one of the kitchen chairs. I love how proud of himself he is when he does it!

4. Baby noises. He loves to hear himself, and is delighted when you copy his sound back to him. Keeps life interesting when he starts it up during Relief Society when he's bored and tired.

5. I love his laugh. He is delighted with so many things and laughs so readily.

6. He adores his sisters. They are fascinating. And he puts up with their "care" fairly well too. He also loves his dad, and laughs and loves to play with him.

7. I have a weakness for how he says "Ma-ma-ma-ma" when he is sad and crying. Even when I'm frustrated with him, it's hard to stay that way when he's calling me (even if I'm not completely sure that he knows he's calling me). He also sticks his bottom lip out in the classic pout, and I'm a sucker for it.

8. He loves to wrestle with me. I think this might be the only time when I can hold my own with him... as soon as he gets bigger that will have to be daddy's job, but right now it's fun. He loves to be swung around and held upside-down above me, just gets a kick out of it. And he's extremely ticklish, which is fun. As I said before, I love his giggles.

9. He's definitely a boy, and I love it. I was so nervous about having a boy, but Calvin is so fun. He has an affinity for balls and cars. He will watch cars drive up and down the street while we are outside, and he has already started pushing toy cars around on the floor--he knows exactly what to do with them. And he loves his little foam soccer balls, he will chase them all over the house.

10. Calvin loves to snuggle. When he is tired he will lay his head on my shoulder, tuck his arms in, and go to sleep. I can tell he's really tired when he does that instead of sucking his thumb. He also likes me to sing to him, which is kind of fun.

John

1. John is an amazing father. He is so great with the kids. He adores them, and they know he adores them. And they adore him back, because of it.

2. He can make me laugh. He can make me laugh when I want to scream. I'm still not sure how he does it. But he's a lifesaver.

3. John doesn't worry about things. He sees no reason why he can't take the girls camping that night (no matter that he thought of it two hours before) or why he can't decide Friday night to have a garage sale in the morning. And somehow, even though I see lots of reason why not, he'll pull it off. He balances me out pretty well that way. Spontaneity is not my strong suit.

4. He does so many things around the house, just quietly. The garbage is always taken out, the dishwasher unloaded, even the shower cleaned. I'm very very lucky.

5. He can tell when I've had it with the kids. He will gather every one up, and go for a walk, or take them outside, or something so I can get a few minutes of quiet, or a nap. This was a lifesaver when I was pregnant with Calvin, and would happen every other day.

6. John is an amazing handyman. Things that I think we will just have to throw out or give up on, he fixes. This goes for anything from the microwave to the car door. He just sees how things work (or how they should).

7. John loves kids. This partly goes with him being a good dad, but it's more than that. He teaches primary kids (Emily's class) and they love him. He's so good at making things understandable to kids, getting on their level and including them in whatever is going on. He's very patient and good at teaching them.

8. He loves to be busy. Sometimes, this drive me crazy, but I do admire his work ethic. He gets so much done!

9. John sacrifices so much for our family. He put up with a miserable job for over a year in order to provide for out family and keep things stable for us. And then he would be so great about letting me go out every so often and get a night out while he put the kids to bed.

10. Most importantly, John strives so hard to do what is right. He is dedicated with scriptures and prayer, and teaching those to our children. His heart and his priorities are in the right place, and he keeps our little family on track and moving the right direction. I love you, John. Thank you.

My Favorite Things...About My Girls

My friend Brianne did a post of her favorite things about her kids, and I thought it was so cute I'm going to copy it. These are listed not in any particular order, just as they came to me. FYI, I'm putting up pictures of my kids when they were babies, just so you don't get confused... :)

Emily

1. Emily is the best big sister. She is going to be a little mom to her younger siblings, which can be both good and bad, I guess. Mostly it's good, though. She looks out for Kimmie and loves to help with Calvin.

2. Emily is extremely obedient. She is less so now since she is coming into her own and knows her own mind more, but she still listens pretty well. If she is playing outside and I tell her not to go past the mailbox on her bike, she will dutifully turn around right at the mailbox and come back. I am glad she is the oldest, she is a great example to her younger siblings.

3. Emily loves puzzles. She is very detail-oriented and discerning so she's very good at them. We had a 500 piece puzzle out and she sat and helped Grandma Durrans for over an hour. She can see where the pieces go and how they fit. There was a part that was just blurry grass and she even found where a few of those went.

4. She is an artist. I don't know how old kids normally pick up on colors and how to use them, but she knows to color leaves green, skin pink, wood brown, etc. She also uses the whole paper. When she colors with her pastels/crayons, she covers the entire paper with color. I love that she's not afraid of color, and not afraid to use the space. And she LOVES to paint.

5. Emily also seems to have a math mind. She can see four or five objects and count them in her head, and can work out in her mind how many are needed to have so many more or things like that. It is fun to see her mind work.

6. I love how her mind works. She's really putting things together, asking how things work, taking facts and then drawing her own conclusions. For example, we had some BlueBell ice cream once, with the girl leading a cow illustrated on the outside of the carton. I was trying to explain why the cow was there, by saying that ice cream was made from milk and milk came from cows... she was working that out and said, "So if the cow's froze, then ice cream comes out?" Something like that... right?

7. Emily is kind. She has a good deal of empathy, and will think of things to help Kimmie or Calvin cheer up if they are sad. She also looks out for others in social situations and can understand how they are feeling. She is very sensitive to my emotions (which have been rampant, lately) and if my voice is wavering at all she has to make sure I'm okay.

8. Emily loves to be read to. We are reading (off and on) Charlotte's Web together, and she stays with it pretty well. The first day or so that anyone will come to stay with us, she keeps them busy by bringing book after book to read.

9. Emily has gorgeous brown eyes. I hope she never wishes she had blue (tonight she said "girls have blue eyes, and boys have brown" which made me sad, but I understand because we don't know very many brown-eyed girls right now) because she has beautiful, rich chocolate brown eyes, and the eyelashes to show them off.

10. Emily LOVES horses. It has been so fun to be in Kentucky because we can really take advantage of it. She has been to Keeneland a few times, and loves to watch the horses. Brother Hyde took us to his horse farm on Wednesday and she got so excited to see the horses up close, and even see the foals. We got to see a one-week old foal, and that was pretty cool. She keeps saying that she wants one for a pet, to keep in the backyard and feed it hay and she sees no problem with that. Poor kid will be lucky if she gets a fish.

Kimmie

1. Kimmie is spunky. She loves to giggle and tease and play. She loves to tease her dad and to be teased.. until she says "You have to stop doing that." Then she's done.

2. Kimmie also loves to read. She will read book after book after book. If it's quiet, and I can't find her, I will look around and usually find her on the floor in her room next to her bookshelf, or perched on top of all the stuffed animals in the purple tub, reading.

3. She has a great smile, and great dimples. When she's really delighted with herself she'll break into this huge grine, wrinkle up her nose and hunch her shoulders while we extol her achievements. She also has show-stopping eyes. They are brilliant blue, and she also has inherited her dad's eyelashes, so their shown off properly.

4. Kimmie is a great big sister, and a great little sister. She puts up with Emily's "orders" when they are playing, and she is also very gentle with Calvin and can get him to laugh better than anybody. He gets so excited to see her when she comes to play with him.

5. She says her "o" sounds in the cutest way, with kind of an "i" mixed in somehow, and her "l"s are not quite there yet, so it's just cute to hear her talk. She says "moine" for "mine," and "dandy-woy-en" for "dandylion" and several others that I can't think of right now.

6. She is very determined, and definitely knows her mind. She will say something, and if we question it or repeat it because it was funny, she says, "Yep, that's what I said." really matter-of-fact like. The surest way to get Kimmie to eat her dinner? Tell her not to. John does it really well, because he makes it a game. He'll say, "Now Kimmie, you better not eat those beans. I'm going to eat them, don't you dare eat those!" And she will grin and grab her spoon and stuff a spoonful of beans in her mouth. No matter that 30 seconds beforehand she had been turned around in her seat refusing to touch them. She'll chew them up and John will say, "Oh, no! You can't eat those! Don't you eat any more! No more beans!" And she will grab another mouthful. Til it's gone. Reverse psychology in its barest form. Who knows what we will do when she's old enough to see through this. But right now it's hilarious.

7. Kimmie loves pink and princesses right now. Yet, she likes to be comfortable in her clothing. No overalls, no scratchy shirts, nothing like that. And NO sweaters.

8. I can never predict what Kimmie will want. Like picking out a birthday cake design: we were looking through the patterns for cakes and I kept pausing on the butterfly, duck, cat, fish, or some such things, thinking she's pick that. What did she pick? The rocketship. She picks dark pink and light pink for the colors of it, but it is a rocketship. On the way to the grocery store, though, I had a brainstorm and asked her if she'd like a castle birthday cake (knowing of her princess passion), and she thought that would be great. A pink castle, of course.

9. Kimmie loves bugs. Don't ask me why. She will pick up worms, pillbugs, (fortunately not spiders) and ants. There are ants all through the house (my arch enemies) and she will find them on the floor and sit and watch them forever. Or she'll pick one up, bring it to me and say she wants to keep it for a pet. I don't think so. I don't know where she gets it, but John thinks it's awesome.

10. Kimmie has certain phrases that she will repeat back to us at random times, like "we don't eat poop" or "I don't suck my thumb; if I suck my thumb, I will get sick" (why we can't get Emily to grasp this, I don't know). She's completely her own person, and keeps us laughing.

And I am going to have to wait on the boys (John too, no I'm not announcing anything--geez people!) :) since it is late and people actually want to go to bed for some reason. Good night!

nothing in particular

I just thought I'd post my thoughts. Not for any particular reason, just boredom. And John's at the library so I actually can work on the computer. :)
Calvin's really crawling, and loving the new freedom and ability to do what he wants. This morning he was crying and so mad, and he came chasing after me. He crawled up to me and grabbed my pant leg and almost had a hard time keeping crying, because he was so pleased with himself for getting to me!
Emily is asleep right now in my bed. The girls have a hard time when there is thunder at night. There was that big crash and Emily literally woke up screaming. Any ideas on how to make lightning and thunder less scary?!? It's getting worse instead of better as she gets older. Kimmie probably would have slept through it except she had just woken up because she peed the bed. She goes six nights in a row with a dry diaper so we decide to try underwear... and she pees the bed. Why is that?!
We showed the house for the first time yesterday. Way to clean the entire house in two hours!!! We went to the park during the showing and actually met the people who went through it down there--they recognized us from our family pictures. They liked the house, but they are shopping for his mom, so we'll see what happens. I'm not exactly sure what will happen if we sell the house before we know where we are going. John and my parents may get some extra house guests for a while. I think it might take something like that to get us going. I don't like change, and John doesn't like to plan. Between the two of us, life decisions become almost hopeless. But here's to a good husband who has planned enough to set aside enough savings that this time in our lives is not nearly as stressful as it could have been.
Also, an aside thought... It has been interesting watching this whole polygamist compound episode. In reading the comments on news articles, I have been watching to see if "Mormons" come up at all--which they have. To me I think this whole thing is an insidious way to cast doubt, again, on the LDS church, and with what they have found in their "temple" I wonder what people will start to think of ours. Another example of how something beautiful and holy has been taken and twisted into something evil. How thankful I am for the good men who lead our Church and who testify of the Savior and all that is good. I keep thinking of the admonition to not let the world define us, to reach out and define ourselves. I think that will be needed more and more as time goes on. We must not be afraid to step up and defend who we are and what we believe.

crawling!!

Here's a video of one of Calvin's first crawling episodes. He started taking off in the middle of General Conference, so you can here President Packer in the background. Emily is the photographer, so that's why it's a little shaky, but she did a pretty good job. Calvin's really taking off and loving his newfound mobility. Yesterday he broke us in by officially making his first mess: he crawled over to the dvds, pulled himself up on the shelf, and pulled all the dvds off onto the floor. And so it begins...

I'll also put in a picture of him pulling himself up on his crib so you can see how he's doing that now. Between his crawling, strength to pull himself up, insatiable curiosity and daring, my life is soon to get a lot more busy. But it's so fun!

limbo

Our house is up for sale. The sign is in the yard, realtors are calling... it's all just really strange. We have lived here for almost four years, and (outside from the job) have loved it. It is strange to have our entire way of life suddenly turned upside down. We are moving, we don't know when, we don't really know where except for short-term, and we don't know what's coming next. This is a feeling that I've had with just about every life change I've experienced, but I still have not quite learned how to deal with it. It has all seemed not quite real, until I watched the realtor pushing the "for sale" sign into our front yard. Then I nearly started to cry. I feel like I am steadily losing my foundation here, and am getting closer and closer to drifting to who knows where. I really don't do well with uncertainty, and that is the one word that epitomizes my life right now. Fortunately the kids are doing fine with it, and haven't really picked up on any worries or stress that I can tell. Emily keeps talking about going to the pool in Colorado (or Idaho, or whatever location happens to enter her head at the time... but it's always a pool.) and toys she's going to take. I think she knows a little of what's going on, but I don't think it will really sink in--for any of us--until the boxes start getting packed up. Which I guess should be happening pretty soon. Where on earth do I get boxes?

Here's a picture of the girls in our backyard. I feel blessed to be able to see one last spring in Kentucky. It is my favorite season here. The blossoms on the trees and the tulips in the yard are beautiful.

Happy Easter

Here are some pictures from our Easter weekend. It was a bit sporadic as we tried to take advantage of bits of sunny weather and work around an all day temple trip. So we had an easter egg hunt on Friday, temple trip Saturday, filled Easter baskets Sunday afternoon, Easter dinner Sunday afternoon with Joseph and Lisa, and did a treasure hunt for the Easter baskets Sunday night. I kind of liked doing the baskets on Sunday night, because then the kids aren't on a sugar high all through church and may actually eat Easter dinner.

Emily and Kimmie dashing around the backyard looking for Easter eggs. We hid the eggs twice for them since they had such fun looking for them, but couldn't interest them in a third time... they wanted the candy.

Calvin enjoyed gnawing on his token Easter egg and soaking up the sunshine while the girls did the egg hunt.

Showing off their booty! They had so much fun finding the eggs!

Here's a picture of the kids on Easter Sunday. If you can't tell, Em is trying to pose for the picture and keep Calvin from launching himself off the step! I'm learning how hard it is to get all three kids smiling and looking in the same direction at the same time!

John and Calvin on Easter Sunday. Doesn't he look just like his dad?!

I will have to post the pictures of the treasure hunt and stuff later. John is trying to reclaim the computer. Nothing to report jobwise. We are thinking about just heading out west, maybe we'd have better luck in person. Kimmie is officially potty-trained!! We haven't tried underwear at night yet, but that's next. Calvin is rolling all around the room, and will get up to crawling position and rock back and forth. He's so ready to go! Watch out world!!!

Hooray for Kimmie!!!

Kimmie went potty today! Both kinds! Can you hear the shouts of joy all the way from Kentucky?! And John is officially in charge of potty-training from now on. I can't get Kimmie to go for anything, but John got her to do both. I knew she could do it, she just is stubborn and won't do it for me. I'm still not exactly sure why. John just knows how to motivate her, I guess. Maybe she will be willing to do it now, knowing that she can. I hope so! What a relief, I was afraid she be in diapers til next Christmas!
On other fronts, Emily is finally feeling better from having hand-foot-and-mouth disease again! And I am recommitted to getting her to stop sucking her thumb!! Aaaugh! It has been so frustrating and I am sure I have shot myself in the foot several times with the whole process.
John is looking for jobs full time now, which is good and nerve-wracking at the same time. A couple leads, nothing for sure yet. But we'll be moving back west sometime soon!
I sang a duet in church on Sunday, it was really fun. I am getting a little better each time at not getting so nervous! On Easter Sunday the ward choir is singing a few numbers, and I get to sing the high part on one. Whoever thought, even a year ago, that I could hit a high B flat! Not me. All growing up I thought I was an alto.
Anyway, here's a video (for Ayden and Claire especially) of Kimmie playing with Calvin. Also a picture of Kimmie out in the rain with her "cinde-weh-wa" (somehow we've mixed that up with "umbrella", not sure why) and one of Calvin "folding" the laundry. Gotta love these kids.

Kentucky snowstorm

Last Friday the weatherpeople around here were going crazy with predictions about a huge winter storm that was going to hit that night--estimates of 6 inches of snow were conservative, they said, and signs were similar to the blizzard of 1993! John was smart enough to blow them off, but I got all hyped up about it. Friday night the roads were bad with the freezing rain and stuff, but when we woke up the next morning, what did we have? Probably about four measly inches of snow. I guess it was a pretty good snowfall for one night in Kentucky, but how disappointing! Still, we got to go out and play, and the girls had fun building a snowman with Dad. Then Emily and John went to the park to try sledding. We don't have a sled, so John finagled some cardboard with plastic on in, an old roasting pan, and a couple other things. I think Em said the pan worked best--she had fun and didn't care much what she rode in. I don't have pictures of the sledding, but here are some from our playing in the backyard.

Calvin's first snow. It's kind of bright, Mom.

Emily shows Calvin what this stuff is all about.

Emily had fun throwing snowballs at Dad. Dad had fun throwing snowballs at Mom. Mom wasn't amused.

The gang playing in the snow.

Snow baby.

Hi everybody!

Emily pelting Dad while Calvin surveys the scene.

Emiliy pushed that snowball all the way over to the other one. When she was done she said, "Phew! That was really hard!" Or something to that effect. The funniest part was the "phew!" complete with the wipe of the forehead.

The finished product. Our snowman lasted all of two days. Alas, only a couple snowballs remain of him now. But it was fun.

newport aquarium

We convinced Dad to take a day off from work for a family fun day. We went to the Newport Aquarium, just across the river from Cincinnati. It was very fun. The girls loved petting the sharks (little ones), watching the big sharks, watching the penguins, otters, alligators, turtles--but really most of all the sharks. Which was good, since that was the main attraction. John had fun being a kid too, while I had fun watching (petting sharks was not so interesting to me). I think I was ready to go home long before everyone else was... But I love that John is so good at showing the kids the wonders of the world we live in. Including sharks. Here are some pictures.

You can't see this one really well, but I thought it was so cute how Kimmie was putting her arm around her dad. She's so fun like that.

Here's Emily in the Shark Tunnel. This was by far the coolest part. I thought.

Everybody looking at the fish. Too bad I couldn't get any of the sharks in it. Some of them were pretty big.

This is how Calvin spent most of the day (ie the thumb in the mouth). He was such a trooper the whole day!

Emily, Kimmie and Dad petting the sharks. Em had a hard time warming up to it, but after she saw Kimmie having fun she decided to try. Then we had a hard time pulling either of them away!

The girls outside the Aquarium. Aren't they cute?!?

Kimmie posing with the big fish.

So we had fun. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and slept on the way home (except John, who was driving). It was fun to spend the day together!

hooray for family

We had such a fun time with my parents when they were here. Granted, some things didn't go exactly as planned--such as an ice storm on the night of our planned dance workshop, and John being sick in bed for most of their visit, but overall we had fun. The kids got lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brian. I think they read "A Fish Out of Water" about 3 times each day. I feel bad that we didn't really do anything exciting, but it was so cold and wintry and nasty outside! And I felt bad abandoning John at home alone with a fever. Hopefully no one else got sick. So far so good here, though Em's starting to get yet another cold.


Anyway, here's a couple pics from their visit.

Reading with Grandpa--yep, it's the fish book.

Grandma getting some cuddle time with Calvin. He didn't mind too much either.

Grandma putting Kimmie to bed for a nap. :)

Reading with Grandma--the fish book again!

Brian and Calvin playing with the toys. Not sure who was more fascinated with some of them. :)

So there you go. We loved having them here, and I was very sad putting the house back to normal after they left. I am ready to move back West. We just need a job...

winter fun

So it's been cold and icy here. I'm attaching some pictures of our ice storm, nothing like what it was a few years ago, but I guess it made for some interesting driving. Notice the ice layer on the windshield of the car that John had to break off, and how low the branches of the trees are (normally you can't even reach the leaves, but they were all bowed over from the ice) The storm was also fun for Emily and her Dad. Kimmie's like her mom in being not particularly fond of cold, so she stayed in; but Emily is always game for going out to play in the snow with John and building snowmen--notice the mini snowman in our flower pot.

Also attached is a video of Calvin playing peekaboo. He was so funny! He would put the cloth over his head all by himself, and then get so excited and kick all over the place until you took it off and said, "peekaboo!" I really couldn't believe he was doing it so well, since he's only 5 months old. He loves to play though. He's definitely a boy: loves sound effects, playing games, bouncing, and being swung around.

Also, Calvin slept all the way through the night last night!! From 10pm to 7:30am!!! {Insert full-blown "Hallelujah Chorus" here} My first full night's sleep in over 6 months! My, what a difference a full night's sleep makes. I think my brain is fully functional for the first time in a long time. I actually feel like doing something. I downloaded Jennifer Lopez's "Let's Get Loud" and danced the chacha around the living room--very fun, highly recommend it. Although it brought to light how very out of shape I am. First sleep, then the exercise regimen.

meanderings...

My mind is meandering today. I'm skipping choir practice today (sorry Brianne) because I have a cold and can't really sing anyway, and John made the mistake of leaving the computer on, so here I am. And I am tired. Sometimes it is very difficult to be a mom, because there are no sick days. No vacation days, no personal time to take off, no lunch breaks, nothing. And even when you do get away, your charges are there in the back of your mind the whole time. Which is a good thing, because you couldn't do the job if these kids weren't in your head the whole time and if your whole self wasn't dedicated to their wellbeing. It just gets tiring sometimes. And yet, somehow, you know you would never do anything else.

I think I am just emotionally fried because of John's job and the miserable state he is in, and the uncertainty of what might be coming. Blah, I think my mind has fallen completely off the track, not merely meandering. I better just quit. Here's some pics of the kids.

a windy night

Understatement of the year. Last night Fayettle county had its first full tornado warning since we have lived here. We have had a few tornado watches, which means that tornadoes are possible in current weather conditions, but this is the first real warning--meaning that tornadoes are likely and to get to shelters now.
I was watching the news and saw the tornado watch up earlier last evening, and knowing that my paranoid self would not be able to get to sleep with a very strong squall line approaching, I stayed up to watch. It was a unique feeling to watch these storms, moving at about 50 miles an hour, approach from the west and counties one by one light up in red on the state map as tornado warnings were issued. It was about 1:15 am when the warning for Lexington was issued, and I got John out of bed about the time the sirens started going off. Yeah, that was freaky. We got the girls out of bed and huddled on the floor in the hallway in front of the coat closet--our designated shelter spot. We stayed there watching the news until about 2 am. It was weird because we had less lightening and thunder with this storm than we've had with many others, but John went outside and said the wind was really blowing. I guess there were gusts of 60 mph at some points. Fortunately, the storm went over with no major problems. I think there was damage in other parts of the city, trees fallen on houses down in Harrodsburg (about 40 minutes south of us) and seven people dead in the state (again, mostly in mobile homes). It was a freaky moment though, with the sirens going off, and then all of a sudden the tv went to static, and I thought, "oh, here we go," but it came right back on and we really were fine. About 2 am we all went back to bed as the storm front had passed. Emily was a little scared afterward, but John told her to pray to Heavenly Father for help to not be scared, which she did. Kimmie then said she wanted to, too, so John helped her. I sang them a song and they went to bed pretty quietly. Even Calvin went back to sleep. I think we were all pretty exhausted.
Anyhoo, it was an interesting night. We are thankful for the protective bubble that seems to encase Lexington whenever there is a severe weather threat. It's things like this that remind me how much we really are in God's hands, and that life is never certain. And so, a renewed effort to live to have no regrets.
Happy calm Wednesday.
Ps... if you want to call me today, you'll have to call the home phone. John's got the cell at work today.

modern medicine

Can I just say, thank heaven for childrens painkillers?? Emily had four shots yesterday (joy of joys) and today she has been whiny and tired and upset all morning. Dose her up, and 20 minutes later she's a different kid. I was bracing for major drama yesterday at the dr. office because Emily is, let's just say, intolerant to pain. But, she didn't start crying til they laid her down on the table, and stopped fairly soon after. We have had moments of crying since then, when she has to get pants on and off and when she's afraid she's going to lose a band-aid (can't figure that one out), but otherwise she's been great.

In other news, Kimmie fell down some stairs and cracked her head on a bookshelf. She's got a nice bruise along the side of her face and on her ear, and I got all worked up worried about a concussion, but she's fine. We are thanking the Lord for His tender mercies, because it could easily have been much worse. And, Calvin LOVES his cereal. Can't get it fast enough. Never mind that it takes three or four tries to get one spoonful entirely in his mouth, he loves the stuff. And, he's also definitely my kid: I gave him a small taste of ice cream last night and let him suck on the spoon--he threw a tantrum when I took it away. Literally got mad. I had to laugh. Here's some pics of Calvin, courtesy of Emily the new family photographer:

Here's Kimmie: she loved flying, she loves her dress, her hair is cute, Mom was pooped. :)

Finally, here's a couple cute pics of the girls in their playhouse/tent. They love having their own space, and I love that it can be taken down and put in a bag for storage.