Happy Birthday Em!

Emily turned five almost two weeks ago, and I'm finally getting pictures up. Better late than never, right? She had a fun birthday, just a quiet family affair, which was plenty because she got lots of presents! She wanted a heart cake with red and purple flowers on it, and fortunately we are at Grandma's house where there is a red velvet cake mix and heart-shaped pans. Perfect!! She loved it, and so did I because it was fairly easy. Too easy, since I procrastinated and was still frosting the cake while everyone was eating dinner. But it worked out. She had all her birthday meals planned out from birthday breakfast (oatmeal) to every bit of birthday dinner: bbq pork, rice, peas and carrots. She wanted to help with the cake and had fun mixing the batter and frosting the cake.

After dinner, she said presents first! (go figure) so she tore into all her gifts and was thrilled with every one! Then we ate cake and I was glad that she loved the flowers, even though the roses were a bit... mushed. Here she is with her cake and her booty... Thank you to everyone for her gifts, she really did love them all. I had to take a picture of Em and Kimmie with the crown and jewelry that Kimmie "gave" her. Kimmie was so excited to get these and wrap them up for her, and Em was excited to get them!

I have to say a bit about my Emily for memory's sake. I can't believe it has been five years, and I am constantly amazed at the incredible girl she is. I'd like to take some credit for that, but I don't think I can. She is so loving and kind to her little siblings, she is obedient (most of the time), she is so thoughtful (she's been learning about service in primary and has loved surprising me with cleaning up the room and making her bed, which is delightful), and she's smart as a whip. I can't believe she's going to school next year but I know she's ready for it and will love it. Sometimes I wish these kids would just stay young, but it is a delight to watch her grow up. I got a kick out of her inspecting her presents, and putting them up to her ear and shaking them to figure out what they are. I remember doing the same thing as a kid, but I don't think anyone taught her to do that, she's just using her powers of observation. Emily is such a great helper to me, and is always teaching me how capable she is. She loves to help feed Calvin at lunch, and keeps tabs on him and his michevious ways by hollering his name as loud as she can when he's doing something he's not supposed to. She and Kimmie are best friends and play really well together every day. Kimmie will miss her so much when she goes off to school next year! Emily is a fabulous artist and I think very logical and mathmatical because she has an innate sense for patterns and symmetry in her artwork. She is also very detailed and meticulous and wants everything to be just right. She is very creative and can make a plaything out of anything--including her fingers at dinner which drives me crazy sometimes... but it is also incredibe to watch the things she comes up with to play.

I love you, Emily, and I am so blessed to have you as my daughter. Your dad and I love you so much and are so proud of you. We hope we can be the parents you deserve and that we will be able to cultivate your many talents and help you become the incredible person that I see inside you. I know from experience how hard it can be to be the oldest child and oldest daughter, but I know that you were born first for a very specific reason, and that you will be able to be the example and trailblazer that your siblings (and your parents) need. I thank God everyday for my little Emily Rose.

Calvin

He's a boy. He's definitely a boy. And he's definitely different than the girls. How much has to do with gender wiring and how much is personality, I don't really know. But he keeps me busy. Today he found the pepper shaker, again, so I was vacuuming the kitchen, again. He also has a major temper, and everyone knows it when he doesn't get what he wants, immediately. He climbs on everything and has figured out how to climb into his high chair (my girls never did that! They never climbed on top of the table, either!). A night or two ago he woke up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep. I left him in there to see if he would fall asleep again, and all he did was work himself into a major fit. He bangs his head on things when he's mad, so when I finally gave up and got him up before he gave himself a concussion, he had scuff marks on his forehead, and now has a scab the shape of the mesh sides of his playpen because he whacked his head so hard. I can't really figure out why he does this. Any ideas? How do I stop him without giving in to what he wants? I'm toying with the idea of keeping a watergun handy...
On the other hand, he loves to snuggle and hold my hand, which I love. He's starting to say words like "hot" and other random things (though the primary mode of communication is still point and grunt). This morning he lugged this huge unopened bag of diapers (there are about 50 in it) over to me, put them in my lap and started grunting. I picked him up and got a whiff and realized he was telling me he wanted his diaper changed! He loves to look at books, he loves to play chase and peekaboo and hide and seek. He's my sweet boy, I just need to figure out this temper of his! To give him a little slack, I will say he is cutting two molars (still, it takes like three weeks for this kid to cut a tooth), so maybe that has something to do with it? I love my kids, somebody just tell me how to get them to do what I want them to!!

Other news

John has a job. He started this week at an engineering firm in Fort Collins. Right now it's part time as they figure out what they want him to do and while it's "probationary" until the first of the year. After that, he'll switch to a full-time salaried employee and life hopefully will fall into place. It's an energy efficiency firm that does energy audits and other things on other buildings to try and help them conserve energy and save money and such. If you want more details, you'll have to ask John, because that's about as far as I understand it. He's excited about it, it's in the industry he wants, and for a salary that's fairly comparable to what he had before. So, cool. I must admit, I'd be more excited if it were full time right away and we could get a house NOW, but it is a great blessing and a great relief to have a direction to go. I'm excited about Fort Collins, I have been told great things about it and we already have friends there from BYU who say they love it. We are feeling very blessed. Now if I can just stop frothing at the bit to get into my own home, and be patient!! And yet, after this, I'm going to start looking at MLS listings in Fort Collins. :) "I want an oompa-loompa now!!!"

Halloween

I think I'll do one post about Halloween and save the rest for another.
Here are the severely overdue pictures of the big night(s):

Pumpkin Carving

Kimmie chose a baby pumpkin this year. Needless to say, hers was done first.

Calvin, in true boy fashion, loved scooping out the pumpkin goop!

Emily did her pumpkin almost entirely by herself this year. With close supervision, of course. She was extremely proud of herself.

The gang having a great time. That's Grandpa Butler watching in the back.


The finished products! With Grandma and Uncle Gary

Trying on costumes... this year was significantly less stressful for me since I wasn't making any full skirted princess dresses. The girls were fairies, with dresses made from oversized t-shirts. MUCH easier. I found Calvin's dragon costume at a garage sale, and felt extremely proud of the great deal I got. Plus, he looked adorable.

Had to get a picture of Calvin with his tail, it was so cute how it would start swinging side to side as he toddled around! I will have to post a video of it later... it's on the camera phone which I don't have right now. He actually wore the costume pretty well, he just didn't wear the hood for too long at the ward party.

The Butler Boys manning one of the games at the ward Halloween party.

The girls doing the bean bag toss. I was actually kind of surprised at how much they participated, but I guess they are growing up. Too fast for me.

I tried to get a picture of all three of them at the party... it didn't work too well. Oh well, I got a pretty good one Halloween night.

Candy candy candy! Calvin digging into his stash in the trunk, at the trunk or treat. He got tired of walking around and just wanted to eat the stuff.

All the kids in the trunk... Enjoying their haul!

Halloween night, post-trick or treating, as you can tell from Kimmie's sucker. John's hiding in the back because Calvin wouldn't hold still!

The kiddles. Oh, fyi... Emily is a heart fairy, Kimmie is a diamond fairy, and Calvin is a dragon. Everyone thought they were butterflies, but oh well. We had fun decorating the wings and the shirts. The girls had wands too, but they got lost by the time Halloween night arrived. Go figure. I still don't know where Kimmie's went. Oh well, they had a great time anyway. They got lots of candy, which is the important thing, right? :) I didn't stress about pacing their candy intake and just let them eat it however fast they wanted to. Em's was gone the next day, and Kimmie ended up giving me half of hers because she didn't want to pick it up off the floor (I had threatened to take it if she didn't clean it up, and she said, "That's okay Mom, you can have it." Ohhh-kay!) I think partly because she got sick of it. I think I'll keep this strategy! I was sure the kids would be sick after eating so much junk, but apparently not. And now, since the candy's gone, I'm not pestered every five minutes about whether they can have a piece! This is great!Happy Halloween!

kiddles giggles

Here's a video of the kids from today. Not really doing anything, but just laughing together. Kimmie was blowing raspberries and Calvin thought it was hilarious. These little ones make me smile. Our bishop recently told me to "treasure your little ones," and I am doing that. They run me ragged sometimes, but they also bring great joy in my life. What would I do without them?

Also here's a picture of Calvin in one of his new shirts, which I thought very appropriate (it says "little hooligans club"), and also a pic of a halloween "garland" I did. Our RS president made the pattern up, she's very creative. But I picked out my own paper and colors, so I felt proud of myself. Also pictured is a craft I did with the girls, making ghosts out of glue. I found it online, and it was pretty fun. Turned out pretty cool, actually. We also made jack-o-lanterns and spiders out of paper plates and painted them, which the girls LOVED, but I didn't get pictures of them yet.

I also have to post this video of the girls dancing together. I was going to post it before but I don't think I ever did. Or maybe I did and I can't remember. Dunno. But I think it's hilarious. Mom, maybe you recognize some of the moves you taught Emily!

Also a picture of a post-spaghetti lunch Calvin. This kid still will eat just about anything and everything, though he might possibly be slowing down. Or else he's just getting selective. He won't eat the whole bowl at dinner, but as soon as he gets down he beelines for grandma or whoever is eating dessert!!

Gotta love these little munchkins!!!

looking up?

Well, things might be looking up.. we will still be playing the waiting game for a while to see. John met with owners of a small geothermal company that he had met at a business expo. He had offered to do some engineering for them free of charge for a month since they are short an engineer but not in a place to hire at the moment (I think?). They met for lunch and agreed on an "internship" of sorts, where John will work for them for a month and then they will review at the end and see how it went and if they want to hire him full-time, unless he is able to land a job somewhere else before that. It is a great thing because finally an alternative energy company is willing to give John a chance even though he doesn't have experience (free labor? what's not to love?) and he will be able to get some experience and learn the basics to put on his resume if they decide not to keep him at the end of a month. However, I am fairly confident that once they see how smart this kid is and what he can do for them, they will want to keep him. John was telling me about it and, from the bit I can understand, it seems like there are a lot of ways that John can contribute and make himself valuable to them. He starts this on Monday. Also, tomorrow he has an interview with a small engineering firm in Fort Collins that he visited last week, so that is good news as well. We'll see how that goes.
So I am feeling hopeful again and encouraged that perhaps we will not be living with our in-laws forever, after all. :) They have been really really great, but I am ready to move on. Any time. It is interesting that all this has happened this week, following the Sunday on which I made a renewed commitment to reading my scriptures and saying my prayers. And I have been doing a lot better, which makes me wonder if Heavenly Father has been standing ready and waiting to bless us this whole time, but could not act because I was not willing to be obedient to the commandments upon which such blessings were predicated. Makes sense to me, and also makes me feel a little foolish. But I'm learning. Again, we'll have to wait and see how things will turn out, but we are getting a taste of hope when we desperately needed it, and I believe it's because I was finally humble enough to be obedient in the little things that, perhaps, are not so little after all.
I think I will close with a Calvin story, just because I think it is funny and captures what he is up to nowadays just perfectly:
The other night I went to a RS craft activity and left John's brothers in charge of the kids for half an hour (I was just next door, so no worries, right?). When I came back to put the kids to bed (I had had them all in pjs and ready to go before I left) I found Calvin in a different pair of pjs than I had put him in. When I asked about it, Gary told me he had some watermelon and made a mess with it. I thought it odd that they had fed him watermelon at 8 at night, but shrugged it off and put him to bed. The next morning I learned the whole story: the girls were playing video games with their uncles (new favorite pasttime--it's hilarious to hear a three year old girl ask if they can play "supersmash" but kind of disconcerting at the same time) and after a few minutes looked around and wondered where Calvin had gone. When they got to the kitchen they found Calvin sitting on top of the table working on the last of two wedges of watermelon that had been left there from dinner. He was absolutely thrilled with himself that he had climbed up on his own and discovered this treasure of his favorite food (he will seriously eat a piece of watermelon down to the rind--as in the skin, not just the lighter green, he will eat that too). I found the pjs and can witness that he had watermelon all over him from his chin to his toes. I think this is hilarious because I know how fast Calvin can get up on the table (he does it multiple times a day, as soon as he discovers a chair accidently left pulled away from the table) and I can just picture the grin on his face and his laugh, and the faces of Richard and Gary as they try to figure out how on earth he made such a mess in so little time, and how on earth they are going to clean him up! They did a good job, though. And thanks for watching the kids, guys, I really appreciated the break.
PS.. I don't know if anyone else is as disturbed by current economic events as I am, but I am grateful that we have prophets who have warned us repeatedly to get out of debt and stay out, and I am grateful that we heeded that warning! What a mess. I am also looking forward to General Conference and to hear the words of prophets again. What a great blessing!!!
PPS.. Does anyone have any bright ideas of low cost, low prep activities I can do with the kids? We are all getting bored and I need to spend more quality time with my kids in things we can all enjoy. And don't say storytime at the library, I'm trying that but have yet to get there on time, in between naps and not hungry; with three little kids hanging onto me and having to chase Calvin down every time I set him on his feet, going places by myself with the kids is not high on my list. :) Thanks!!

Birthday Boy

Calvin is officially one year old. I can't believe it. Where did the time go??? We had fun celebrating with family, it was our first kid birthday to be celebrated with grandparents (well, one grandparent, I guess, but uncles were there too). Grandma made him an ice cream cake which I frosted with a yummy chocolate ganache. Delish. Calvin had a great time eating that, as you'll see from the pics. He got some fun toys, a toothbrush (two in fact, no more stealing his sisters'!) pajamas, socks and a sweatshirt that we'll be using much sooner than I'd realized... it's gotten cold here! Only a high of 63 yesterday, when we were used to 80s and some 90s. I guess fall has arrived. Anyway, since pictures speak louder than words, I'll just post them and be done. Oh, the first picture is of the kids at a local park. Loveland has a ton of these great bronze sculptures, and so we got the kids to pose on this one for us.

no news is... ok news

... But not necessarily good news in our case right now. I'd much rather have lots of news to share... like that we have a job, and a home and a place where we are supposed to be right now. No such luck. Things are pretty much the same as ever, which is why I haven't posted much at all. So, what do I say? I have been thinking about things a lot, and trying to evaluate myself (when I'm not avoiding life altogether by burying myself in a book) and figure out what the heck I'm supposed to be doing right now. Mostly I'm coming up empty. Well, not really empty but with a lot of things that I don't like realizing about myself. Like having a lot of pride and a lot less trust in the Lord than I should. I keep asking myself if we are just supposed to be waiting and trusting right now while nothing is happening, or if we are missing something that we should be doing. And I'm not sure that I have an answer. I am reminding myself a lot that we are very blessed to have a place to stay, beds to sleep in, food to eat, and money in our bank account... especially since we've been out of work for 5 months. I am trying to be grateful, but the fact remains that I am lonely, lost, and confused. I wish I had a home again.
As I am reading about kids going back to school I am grateful that Emily still has another year! She is ready for school, but I am not. And since we don't know where to live right now, it's a good thing she has a late bday. I guess I should enjoy my last year of not having to do back-to-school preparations!
Calvin turns one at the end of the month. I can't believe it. He is growing up way way way too fast. He's adorable though. I'll post pictures as soon as i figure out how to get them on this computer without saving them onto this computer... since it's running out of disk space. I'm working on it.

phew!

Okay, we are back in Colorado. And I have promised Calvin that we are not driving anywhere (long) for a very very long time. :) He was actually pretty good on this last leg, I was surprised. We had a fun visit in Washington and I was sad to leave. I got to spend my birthday up there and it was fun to be spoiled by my mom on my birthday again. Though I felt a little guilty this time, having a better idea of all the work and money and time that went into it. Thank you Mom!!! Mom also talked me into piercing my ears, which I was nervous about but I think it will be fun. We also went to the beach with my mom and had a fun time; well, Emily had a blast, but Kimmie and Calvin got tired and cold after a while. It was fun to be out at the ocean again though. I will have to attach pictures when I get them off the camera. The girls also really enjoyed the hot dog roast out in the woods and swinging on the rope swing. We also got to see my friend Lydia from high school, and that was fun too. It was nice to see how soon our girls hit it off together, but I guess it's not too hard if everyone loves princesses, dolls, and dress-up. I thought it was cute. I will refrain from saying anything about my high school reunion, just that I was disappointed.
We left Monday afternoon and drove down to the Lindsays' home (friends from Kentucky who moved to WA earlier this year) and spent the night with them. Caleb greeted us in classic fashion: bursting out the door and running up to our car as soon as we drove up, yelling, "Hi! Hi friends! You're here! Hi! Hi! Are you coming in!?" It was great. We really enjoyed seeing them again--thanks guys for putting us up for the night! We left there semi-early in the morning and drove all day... til one in the morning. Yuck. But we got to spend a day with Grandma and Grandpa Durrans at their cabin by Bear River, and that was really nice. John got his fill of seeing wildlife (deer, muskrats, fish, etc), I got some extra sleep and time reading in the sun, Calvin got to climb stairs and wander around to his heart's content, and the girls played games with Grandma, "fished" with Dad and we all played in the hot tub which felt very nice. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for letting us stay with you!
We left the next morning and drove all day to Colorado, arriving here around 6:30pm. We were all very glad to be out of the car and done with traveling for a while. However, now it is back to real life and getting things figured out. We had a very nice vacation and it was great to be able to just put all our worries and problems on the back-burner for a month and tour around the country and see just about all the family one could see in that amount of time. The kids got plenty spoiled (Emily now thinks that a treat or dessert must come after every meal... thanks Mom. ;), Calvin learned to walk with a much larger enthusiastic audience--which I enjoyed a lot since it always made me sad when my babies made big steps in life's journey and I had no family to share it with-- and to tackle stairs. The world is no longer safe, and my baby is no longer so cooperative now that he knows he can get where he wants to when he wants to if you would just put him down!! He's also getting the other front tooth (which is a doozy for this kid) and possibly another.. so nights have not been all that pleasant for the last... uh, month.
Anyway, this blog turned out much longer than I expected. We are home, we are well, and on to the next phase of life! Hopefully it will come soon, I am tired of living out of a suitcase.

westward ho!

I guess we are now about as west as we can go. We are visiting my family now in Washington state, and it has been really nice. We have done a LOT of driving and I am tired of that, so it's good to be in one place for more than three days. We went from Colorado to Idaho to Utah to Idaho to Washington. On the drive up to Washington we went the north way through Montana and northen Idaho and across Washington through Spokane. It was a very pretty drive up through Montana and Idaho, the rivers were so clear and the forests so green and the sky so big and blue... We stopped in Coeur D'Alene (I hope I haven't botched the spelling of that) and had a wonderful lunch and break on the beach. The weather was warm with a cool breeze and the water cool but warm enough to wade in and we had a hard time getting the kids (and ourselves) back in the car to drive again. I've decided I'm with Debbie, if I grew up there I wouldn't want to leave either! It was beautiful.

We got up here to Washington and got into wedding mode, and got my sister all married off. Things went smoothly and we had a fun but very very long day. The kids were troopers and were so cute in their wedding duds, I have to attach a picture:

Tomorrow we are going to the beach to play at the bay and maybe pick some raspberries. It is fun now that the wedding is over to have some real down time and be able to play and relax a bit. Next week we will have to head back to real life and all it's worries but we are enjoying our time now.

Oh, and Calvin is walking! He can go across the room now, and prefers walking to crawling. He has also figured out how to navigate the stairs up and down (we didn't have any at our old house) and is fascinated with my parents' dog (and managed to beat it up... the kid's not scared of anything except loud noises. He grabbed onto the dog (which stands taller that he does) and pulled his hair and whacked his head and nose a few times, so now the dog won't go anywhere near him!).

I also have to say "hey" to all the friends back in Lexington. I think about you guys a lot and miss you. Thanks for being so awesome and such great friends!!

we have arrived

We are here. We got here about 3 in the morning. Mom was a saint and was up to meet us. I still haven't seen Dad or Richard since I slept til about 9:30 this morning. Doesn't sound like much, except it's like 11:30am Kentucky time. It was a very very long drive. The first night, we drove through a severe thunderstorm and got separated. There was lightning everywhere, a downpour that had me with hazard lights on and going 45 mph, and wind fighting for control of the car, and the NWS telling people to seek shelter on the radio. And I had no idea where John was. I was tense and scared, Emily was praying in the backseat for all of us. John called on the cell to see where I was, told me to sit tight til he found out where the rest stop was that he was at. So I drove for a bit and then saw a rest stop myself and pulled over to wait for him. While we are sitting there the girls look across the parking lot and exclaim, "There's Daddy's truck!!" I whipped around and exclaimed, "What?!" and then looked back to the building and there was John walking out the door. I couldn't believe it, but felt supremely comforted that Someone was looking out for us on our journey across the country. Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. Almost too uneventful since we had to stop several times to catnap so we didn't fall asleep at the wheel. We are glad to be here. John's glad to be done driving the truck. Calvin's ecstatic to be out of his carseat. The girls are excited to be able to run around and go swimming this afternoon in the pool that their uncles have bought for them. It is good to be with family again.
It was very hard to say goodbye to my house and my friends. I will miss many things about Kentucky, and have learned a lot from all the people I knew there. I wish I could go through individually and thank them, but that would take too long. Thanks to all of you for teaching me about the kind of person I want to be.
I also have to put a very sincere thank you out to Jaimee, Hillary, Nancy, Lisa, the Bylunds, the Dickens, the Whites, the missionaries, and our great neighbors Carlos, Oty and Abril for their help with packing and cleaning and helping us get it all done. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. God be with you all and we love you.

by the way...

So today we get a call from our realtor (who we've been bugging a lot lately to try and figure out what's going on and when we can close on the house), and he says, "Guess what? We have a closing date! It's tomorrow." WHAT?! Okay, we've been packing and getting ready and already planned on loading a truck tomorrow anyway, but geez, it's a darn good thing!!! So tonight and tomorrow are going to be fairly crazy. We are excited to move on to the next phase, it just seems that we can't do anything without it being (or us making it) the most stressful it can possibly be. I am guessing we will be on the road Friday morning--Thursday afternoon if we are not exhausted, but what are the odds of that? So... if anyone's bored tonight or tomorrow morning, you can come over and help me pack up my kitchen!

homecoming.. and going

John is home!! Hallelujah!! It is such a relief to have someone else who is responsible for these three little crazies! I can't imagine being a single parent. I don't know how they do it.

We are doing well, all together again. Our home feels right again, and it is easier to face the world and the future with my husband back by my side. Though his time away was good, both times.. the first to make a lot of contacts, and the second time to reap some of the interview benefits of those contacts. He flew out with one interview on the agenda, and came back with three under his belt. So we feel blessed. Maybe one of these will work out. We will see.

We should be getting a new roof next week. And we may be closing on the house by the end of the week. I don't really know, it depends on how fast we can get everything together. I feel a little bit like the boy who cried wolf... we've said we are moving so many times and it hasn't happened yet, and now that it might, no one will believe us--myself included!!

It has been hot and muggy here, with thunderstorms and cicadas going crazy... it's like we're getting a full blast of everything that makes Kentucky what it is. The kids had fun in the wading pool in the backyard one day... Calvin got his first taste of swimming. I thought about taking the kids to a city pool, but wasn't sure how to handle three little kids in the water by myself! I decided to wait til their dad was back. Anyway, here's a picture from that, and another of the girls playing with their water bottles. Why do we bother with expensive water toys? I don't think I ever will...

Also a video of Calvin walking behind a toy car, and one of him standing. This is when he first started and didn't really believe he could do it. Now he's gotten a lot more daring and has been experimenting with it himself. It's so cute, because when he gets up he gets so excited and starts clapping for himself, and nearly falls down again! He's growing up WAY too fast. He'll be 10 months at the end of this month, and may be walking soon after. He's also figured out how to climb on top of things (mostly boxes) and is exploring the new vistas this affords..

With Father's Day tomorrow, I have to say that I am so grateful to have John home. I have realized how much John does for our little family, and how important he is to these kids. When we went to pick him up at the airport, we walked across the street toward him and Em saw him about halfway across, and took off running and jumped in his arms. Kimmie immediately started telling him all about everything that happened while he was gone, and even Calvin got excited and squealing and wiggly in my arms. Then Thursday I was walking down to get the mail, and as I came back I saw John sitting on the front lawn with Calvin in his lap while he was "fencing" with Em and Kimmie with twigs from the lawn. I could hear the giggles and squeals from two houses away, and I had to smile. John is a wonderful dad and I love him dearly. Hooray for Dads!!

ps.. thanks to Ashlee K for the lead to the blog designs!

butterflies

I read a book that used the phrase "a riot of butterflies" or something like that, and that's about what my stomach feels like today. John is going in for an interview today, and I am nervous and praying and trying not to think about it at the same time. I just want him to finish it feeling like he did his best, regardless of whether we get the job or not.
Our roof might get started this weekend, maybe next week, so things are slowly moving with that...
I am going to miss our home, but I am looking forward to being able to breathe through my nose and to losing the box (or roll) of tissue that is constantly attached to my person. I hate allergies!!
That's about it. Just wanted to put in a little update.

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!