Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving without Geof.

bored...

bored...





















..and even more bored (mostly just sad he doesn't have a buddy with to play XBOX).































...and me? No, I'm fine. Really, I am.


(we really are fine. Geof.'s in Utah for a best friend's wedding. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with some new friends from our ward. They had kids our ages. Yah for that!)
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 17, 2009




This post might bore you, but it's done mostly for Geof., our historian. We went to Fredericksburg on Sunday after church. It's about an hour north of us. We went to check out a battlefield up there-one I wasn't aware (no surprise) was so famous. Geof. loves this kind of stuff. The few times he's teared up in our marriage have been when he's talked about either the Civil War or WW II. To think that so many men who died during the Civil War were so new to our country; "fresh off the boat", so to speak. Many of the gravestones we saw didn't even have names on them--just the plot number, and in some cases, a number stating how many bodies were buried there (I didn't see more than 4...but how sad is that?).



The kids were respectful as we could expect and didn't walk all over the gravestones, but we couldn't get them to stay off of the canon. Geof. even climbed on it a bit.


When we first arrived, we saw a dalmatian that I knew June would be ecstatic about (along with Sleeping Beauty, she watches 101 Dalmatians at least twice a week now).




















































































Friday, November 13, 2009

And it's still here (the rain, I mean)


What rain we've had!! Cold and windy and lots of it! I'm done. We're stuck at home ALL day today (as opposed to only MOST of the day for the last three). Geof.'s headed up near D.C. after work to look at a Nissan Quest. We'll see if he comes home with good news.



Dayne's had more playdates than usual this week.., but you wouldn't know it. She still talks about how little she does and how much she doesn't want to "be at home all day", again. Sorry, Dayne! We did meet Cole for lunch today which mixed things up a bit. I pulled the girls in the bike trailer, in the rain. You'd think I was riding around naked with how people stared at me. Come on, it's not even half a mile!





You think June's ready for a baby brother? I do.....don't! Yes, I adore this little baby Milo (a friend of our's son), but I don't feel any urges.




June's so, so happy, though! };
Like I said, we met Cole for lunch today. I talked with his teacher a bit before they started class. She said he was in the special reading class but still struggling. Hm.., what to do? The kid HATES flashcards, likes me reading to him, but it's like pulling teeth, no worse, plucking nose hairs, to get this kid to read to me! Ugh..
I even have a fun reading website posted on my blog that he'll do..., but I guess it's not helping. I dunno.
Well, rain, rain, go away.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Halloween

Halloween was warmer than we anticipated. June did not wanna wear her warm ladybug outfit...as cute as she was, the hood was too much for her.
We were going to do our neighborhood, but changed out mind last minute and took the kids to a neighborhood closer to downtown that's famous for its Halloween decor. It was AMAZING! The whole street was blocked off and there were a ton of people. It was a little scary for Dayne, and a bit overwhelming for Cole, so we left after a short stay. We didn't get back in time to trick or treat in our neighborhood...., next year I guess.
Cole received a ton of compliments on his cool mummy costume. We were so close to not even doing it again (we had our ward trunk or treat the night before, and what a difficult costume he had! It kept falling off and he could hardly walk). We tried some new tricks this time (duct tape) and it worked perfectly. I know he secretly loved the attention although you wouldn't know it since he ignored all the comments..
Quick, easy. A bit cold for Halloween, but we were fortunate this year.


One of the terrifying set ups found on "Hanover Street". Dayne eventually stopped going up to the doors and frankly, I was okay with that since the lines for a plain ol' smarty or dum-dum sucker were way too long.


June's favorite song lately is "I know you" (right title?) from Sleeping Beauty. She sings it non-stop! It's adorable. She gets Dayne's Cinderella and Prince Charming polly pockets out and they dance and sing the day away. So cute.

Monday, November 2, 2009

A virtuous woman (bear with me on this one...)

The morning before I delivered June, I finished the book "The Red Tent". I realize that we all have our own tastes and opinions on what is considered "good reading", but in the end (which is all that matters) what I got out of it was something great. I sat that book down and had a deeper appreciation for women. It empowered me knowing that so many before me had done exactly what I was about to do. I was grateful to God for making me a woman and allowing me to bring this baby to earth, to gain a body, and to learn from me. Yes, those were all my thoughts BEFORE having June. I really did feel calm and happy...and strong. The rest of the story doesn't go as well as you would think, but that's not the point of this post.

Now, fast forward to tonight: I went over to our friend's to pick up Geof.'s paycheck (he works for one of our friends). It was just me, all alone. The three of us sat and talked and the discussion turned to Cole and what struggles we have with him. There's days (like today) where Geof. and I both feel like we've completely failed with him. He (and we) have both lost our temper countless times and although there's a lot of NOISE in our home, there's not a lot of communication. We don't understand Cole, and he doesn't understand himself. That's what it feels like. It's a sad feeling. I don't like it at all. I think about something someone once told me, that if I'm prayerful in raising my children, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide, that my children will grow to be great people one day. I hold on to that. I look at that as a promise. I believe it. But it doesn't stop me from feeling like a failure some days.
When I arrived home, Geof. was sleeping on the couch (poor guy has the flu). I walked into the kitchen and noticed that the cornbread was still scattered all over the floor from dinner (thanks, June), the chili bowls left on the table, food that SHOULD of been refrigerated, NOT refrigerated. "Oh, it never ends!", I told myself. I swept the floor. I wiped the table off. I cleaned the kitchen. And I thought about "The Red Tent", again. Crazy and cheesy as this sounds, I felt like all the millions of women before me were cheering me on and telling me it was okay, that they'd done it too. That I wasn't alone. I thought about my sister in law Mindi's words, "Make it, eat it, clean it up". Such is our lot in life! (; But I felt happy. I felt calm. I felt peace. I couldn't believe it! Thank you, God! I'm NOT alone!

There was a time, not too long ago that I would often say that God must have a special place (in heaven)prepared for women. The honest truth, though, is that I said that to make myself feel better for all the griping I did as a mom/wife/woman. Tonight was different. I do think God has a special place for women. It's right here! We can choose to love what we're doing. We can be happy each day! We can look at our children, who melt in our arms when we show just an inkling of love, and LOVE them back! My babies have given me something greater than anything I can imagine. They've shown me what it means to forgive and to love unconditionally. They do love me and many times, I don't deserve it, but how wonderful to be loved. Thank you for that Cole, Dayne, and June.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." I can't agree more.