April 2012

Trees in bloom in our neighborhood park

Back in the middle of March, we decided to implement a sticker chart system for C-sta so she could see her progress as she continued potty training.  About two weeks later at the beginning of April, C-sta was completely ready to use panties all day long with no more issues or accidents.  The day she earned her promised reward of a “BIG Punzel” doll was a great one for all of us!  Now Rapunzel goes with C-sta everywhere!

C-sta with her beloved "Punzel"

The same day C-sta earned her Rapunzel doll, she had a “princess tea birthday party” to attend for a friend from school and ballet.  From the moment I picked her up from preschool until we were on our way to the party, C-sta kept asking if I was going to let her stay at the party by herself.  At first I thought she was worried and wanted me to stay with her.  As the day progressed and our conversations about said party continued, C-sta made it very clear that she DID NOT want me to stay at the party with her.  When I asked her why, she very matter-of-factly stated, “I am a big girl, Mama.  Big girls go to parties by themselves. AND, my brothers go to parties by themselves, so I can too!”  Clearly she had thought this out well, so how could I argue with her logic? I did in fact leave her at the party and ran some errands instead, but it was a bittersweet “Mom moment” for me.

Our princess is all ready to PARTY!

Easter was low-key, just our little family.  Saturday we braved the cool water temp and swam with the kids before having a little outside egg hunt.  

Sunday we had a yummy dinner after Church and then colored eggs using Kool-Aid as our dye—that was pretty cool!  Since Easter weekend we’ve been increasing our time in the pool and enjoying it before it gets too hot.

A trio of cuties!

She loves her new dress!

Kool-Aid dyed eggs

The boys have been keeping busy with school projects and all their usual activities—Right now M is enjoying the Cross Country Club at school and Li'l J loves being a part of the tumbling club.  

Li'l J's Skeletal System model

M got to trade in a day of school for a day at the Country Fair when he performed there with the school band—he LOVED it!  This was the first time any member of our family has gone to the Country Fair since moving here. Li'l J got to go on a field trip to the AZ Challenger Space Center.  He enjoyed it and I wish I had been able to go with him. 

M plays his trombone with the school band

While I haven’t been able to go on field trips with the boys this year like I have in the past, I’ve been getting my “fix” to help at school as a co-room parent for the 5^th grade.  A few months back I had to stop going in to help in the afternoons when the schedule of the gal I was trading babysitting with changed.  While helping out behind the scene’s from home by sending out informative emails to all the 5^th grade parents allows me to stay involved, it isn’t quite as fun as going into the school on a weekly basis to help in the classrooms.  I miss the camaraderie with the students as well as with their teachers.

Something new J-rod and I both began participating in during the month of April, is singing in the ward choir that was started up.  Though our ward has needed one for years, there hasn’t been anyone able or willing to oversee one and now we have a sister that is AMAZING!  Our choir is small right now, but we are consistent, sounding decent for our size, and it’s been fun to sing in a choir again!

At the end of April we took our kids to the construction site of what will one day be the Phoenix AZ Temple.  It was neat to see how the construction is progressing and to think back on the groundbreaking nearly a year ago.  We are so excited to have a temple a little bit closer to us!

FHE: The Phoenix AZ Temple

Date-nights: We try to go on a date at least once a month; if our schedule permits we fit them in more frequently.  If J-rod has a day off during the week then we’ll take C-sta with us and go out on a lunch date and run errands together.  When we go out on a Friday or a Saturday we like to go to dinner and a movie; ward temple night; or a musical that has come to town.  If we are staying close by and won’t be gone for more than an hour or so, we’ll have M babysit for us.  C-sta is getting better at staying with M and he is always eager to watch his siblings since he is eager to earn some money.  If we know that we’ll be going a long distance or will be out for longer than an hour and a half then we’ll call a youth from our ward.  Though we’ve tried to do “at home” dates after our kids have gone to bed, we have found those aren’t as effective for us as actually going out on a date.  If we try to watch more than a half-hour show, J-rod inevitably falls asleep.  So if we’re going to stay home, we usually get Panda Express and watch an episode of Friends—always a favorite for us! 

Our ward temple night for April was preempted by the annual tri-stake Prom weekend.  We went two years ago as chaperon's for the Saturday night Youth Prom, but this year we got to go to Friday night Adult Prom and we went with two other couples.  It’s been a while since we’ve gone out with other couples.  We had a great time and hope to be organized enough to go on a group date again soon.  

L-R: C & P L; Zippy & J-rod; and B & J S

The theme for Church Prom 2012 was: Sweet Memories and as usual, the decorations were amazing!

March 2012: our car

The pace picked up quite a bit for our family from what we enjoyed in January and February, as March was filled with lots of activity!  J-rod and I began the month by going on a date to see Wicked--oh how I love that show!  While we enjoyed the production immensely, the real excitement happened right after the show as we were tried to make our way through traffic to head home.  After stopping at a red light in front of the theater, my car stalled and we impeded traffic for a while.  The engine would turn on, but the car would not move in any direction.  

A nice couple driving around us asked if there was someway they could help (the only ones to offer assistance, everyone else honked, yelled, and/or cursed at us--as if we had purposely chosen to just sit in the middle of traffic!).  We asked the couple to flag down ASU Campus police that was directing traffic up ahead, which they did.  ASU Campus police helped to direct traffic around us and block our car from getting hit from behind while we waited for Tempe police to come help push us out of traffic and eventually have a tow-truck meet us and take us and our disabled car home, 40 miles away.  The lively and kind tow-truck driver shared lots of fun on-the-job stories with us on the drive home, and also told us that by the sounds of what had happened to us, we were likely in need of a new transmission.  We eventually made it home, and I was very grateful I had warned our babysitter and her parents that it would be a late night (though at the time I said that, I had no idea just how late it would turn out to be!).

The next night J-rod slowly drove the car to the dealership where we left it overnight, along with keys and a description of what had happened.  The next morning I called the dealership to be sure they would be able to at the very least take a look at our car.  Not only were they able to look at it and determine that yes indeed our transmission was gone, but they provided me with a loaner car for the week and told me we were very lucky to have lost the transmission when we did.  I was confused by this statement until it was followed up by, "if you had lost it a month from now, it would no longer be under warranty."  We knew we were being watched over and were so very grateful for the blessings that had come our way!

October 2011

Let's review the craziness that was October 2011, shall we?  October was filled with the usual: soccer and baseball practices and games for M and Li'l J; a few pretty involved projects for various classes for M; piano lessons, allergy shots, and Cub Scouts as well.

~Campfire inspired Cub Scout Pack Meeting~

Keepin' Real

The first Saturday in October, I discovered too late in the morning that I hadn't written down something important in my calendar and Li'l J missed out on being in his baseball team picture but was still able to have his individual pictures taken (M's were at a different time so he didn't miss out on either of his).  I may have mentioned this last Fall but, having our boys involved in Fall sports (as opposed to playing sports during any other season) really stresses me out and this was just one of those moments that really overwhelmed me.  Thank goodness J-rod was not working that day and was able to help get the boys where they needed to be!  He did have to work the next day in preparation for the month long outage at work (shut-down and maintenance on one of the reactors), so the kids and I stayed home, stayed in our jammies, enjoyed watching General Conference and some of the great shows that followed it on BYUTV, and just basically regrouped for the coming week.

~So true~

The first week of October I scheduled in some fun time for me: I hosted the monthly gathering for the Card Swap group I have been a part of for the last three years.  I also began attending a monthly craft night with a group of ladies in the area, I came home with two neat vinyl "subway art" canvases: one for Halloween and one for Thanksgiving.  I am definitely looking forward to future fun nights with both groups.

The Kids

The second weekend of October, it was Li'l J's turn to bring home his calls "mascot": Mr. Moo, a plush cow.  Mr. Moo came to us in his overnight bag that was complete with two books to read ("Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type"--a favorite of ours!--and "Two Cool Cows") and a journal.  In the journal Li'l J had to add a page to where he told all about Mr. Moo's weekend stay with us, as well as a page of pictures.  Mr. Moo sat on the piano with Li'l J during his piano lesson, went with us to In N' Out for lunch (though he didn't eat with us since he isn't a cannibal!), held Li'l J's hand during his allergy shots, cheered Li'l J on during his baseball game the next morning, kept watch on our house while we went to church, and listened intently as we read the two stories for bedtime.  Li'l J was SO happy to have had Mr. Moo home for that weekend and was really excited to write the journal entry, print out the pictures we took, and then share it with his class the next day!

~C-sta with Lucky and M, always with a book.~

~We sure had fun with Mr. Moo~

The second week of the month I took C-sta in to have some portraits done at JC Penney and the boys brought home their school pictures.  It's good to have updated photos of all three kids on the walls!  At the end of that week I also finally got all three kids in to see their pediatrician for their annual well-checks...a bit over due for the boys, but better late than never.  M had been having back pain for a long while which we've always attributed to growing pains, but his pediatrician wanted to rule out the possibility of scoliosis (as he detected a slight curve in M's back) so at the end of October we took M in for x-rays.  It breaks my heart how M's body presents him with so many challenges and has never quite done what it should, but I am grateful that overall M is healthy and happy.

Family News

It was also during the second week of October that we got some sad news.  My half-sister J, who had been in remission for about a year from breast cancer, began having unbearable headaches so she went in to see her doctor.  As it turned out, she had a brain tumor that he doctors felt could be surgically removed and then she would be treated with chemo and radiation.  Her surgery was scheduled and the weekend before her surgery she began having seizures, difficulties maintaining her balance, and began needing help to do things for herself.  That same weekend she also ended up in the ER for a night because she couldn't keep anything down and was quite dehydrated.  While in the ER an MRI was done to check the condition of her tumor.  Her condition was deemed stable but another tumor was discovered on her back.  My brother-in-law and my three nephews were like warriors by her side helping her through all of this.

~J and N~

The morning of her surgery, the seizures continued so things were delayed for a couple hours until she was deemed stable again.  During J's surgery when her doctors when to remove the tumor, they discovered that it was not solid as they had thought but a tumor filled with hundreds of little tumors and that a portion of it had attached itself to her soft tissues making it impossible to remove the tumor completely.  When J was in recovery it became apparent that she has lost her hearing.  Her eyesight was unaffected and by the next morning she had regained movement of all her limbs.  At first he doctors were hopeful they could still help her with chemo and radiation, but once she stopped responding well during rehab she was sent home earlier than anticipated and she spent the remainder of October at home quickly deteriorating.

All my siblings were able to visit with her and her family, but since it all happened so quickly, we were unable to do so.  Going through this has been more difficult for all of us than when we went through it with our Dad.  Partially because our Dad had the blessing of living such a long and full life and partially because we had three years to get used to the idea of not having him around and to prepare for the day when his time came to leave us.  With J being so young (44) and with such a young family, this has been very difficult for me personally because it out right scares me!  The cancer-prone genes on my Dad's side of the family seem run strong.  We lost one of my Dad's younger brother's at the end of August to same type of cancer that my Dad battled.  My uncle M was diagnosed three months before he passed away, while my Dad lived for three years following his original diagnosis.  That brings the total of the C family members affected by cancer from 2007 to 2011 to five (a cousin, two sisters, my dad, and my uncle) plus my Dad's mom who passed away years ago, also from cancer.  *Sigh*  

Okay, time for the rest of our news from October.  

Family Fun/Traditions

One week before Halloween we made our traditional trip to pick pumpkins at the local pumpkin.  M, Li'l J, and C-sta all went in their costumes.  We had fun taking lots of pictures, picking our pumpkins, and watching Li'l J enjoy himself on the little train ride.  After we picked our pumpkins we kept with tradition and took the kids to dinner at Carraba's--yum, yum!!  Everyone in the restaurant LOVED that they were dining near "Mario" and "Rapunzel".  M made a quick change out of his costume as soon as we left the pumpkin patch because well of course he's now too grown up for that kind of stuff...sniff, sniff.  At least M was willing to humor me by going to the pumpkin patch in costume this year, who knows if he'll want to do it again next year.

~Getting ready for Halloween~

The Boys

The three week of October was Spirit Week at school for M and Li'l J.  On Hero Day, M went as Clark Kent/Superman (so did his Social Studies teacher) and Li'l J went as Batman; both boys accessorized their costumes with capes I made them from an idea I saw on Pinterest (I LOVE that site!).  On Nerd Day M dressed up and Li'l J decided he didn't want to dress up this time around.  On Jersey Day both boys were happy to wear their BYU Jimmer shirts.

~Spirit Week Fall 2011~

~C-sta is excited for Halloween!~

Mom's Thoughts

Also the third week of October, we had to get our four years young dishwasher repaired.  The previous week it quit working and despite J-rod's best effort to get it going again, it was done.  Fortunately it was repairable for a reasonable fee and though all the J-rod had tried to get it working turned out to be correct, the repairman said the problem was ultimately in the wiring behind a panel J-rod couldn't access.  It was nice to get it going again and be able to use it for more than just a giant drying rack!

Along with Spirit Week and dishwasher repairs, during the third week I attended for the second time a "blanket bee" started last month by a really neat gal in our ward.  When we gather for the "blanket bee" we teach each other different blanket making techniques, help one another finish projects started and abandoned long ago, as well as encourage each other to try new things.  I'm so glad to be a part of this group as I'm finally making progress on a quillow I started for Li'l J shortly after C-sta was born, um three years ago!  Once I finish off Li'l J's quillow I have a rag blanket for me that I started wa-ay back in NY and haven't touched since then.

~A monkey quillow for "our little monkey", Li'l J~

Date Night

The third weekend J-rod and I attended our ward temple night as our date night.  It was so nice to go together again, it had been a while since we were able to do that.  We didn't know if it was the State Fair, the Taylor Swift concert, or ward Halloween activities going on around town, or just what but we were very surprised that the temple was so unusually empty for a Friday night!  A special treat for us was getting meet up with our friend K for a few minutes.  We passed along C-sta's toddler bed for K's daughter R to use and in exchange K surprised us with a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for our long drive home--nom, nom, nom!

The morning after our date to the temple, bright and early our Stake participated in the National Make-a-Difference Day.  J-rod and many members of our ward worked hard all morning long to help clean up our town.  C-sta and I took Li'l J to baseball while M stayed home to recover from having spent 5 HOURS the day before at the allergist.

Fall
Yes, you read that correctly, 5 LO-ONG hours with an hour in the middle for lunch and to break up the day.  We went in the morning for M to have what we expected to be a simple skin test done to see if he finally qualifies to have a flu shot (after having been told all his life that flu shots are out of the question for him).  The skin test went well and the good news was that he does now qualify for a flu shot.  The bad news was that the asthma he had been seen and treated for two weeks earlier began to worsen so once the skin test was done, the doctor wanted to address the asthma and tried a number of different in-office tactics to get M some relief.  We were glad we didn't end up in the ER that day!  As much as I like our allergist and the staff at the office, hanging out there for that long with 3 kids was not how we had planned to spend the day!  Monday after school we went back for a follow-up to be sure the course that finally provided some relief had continued to work throughout the weekend.  All of this to help M stay healthy so he could enjoy the last weekend in October in...Catalina Island with the entire 5th grade!

Thursday night/Friday at 1:30 am, all the 5th grade students and teachers going to Catalina had to report to the school and check in baggage and any meds.  Any meds?  After what we had just been through with M?  The mother in line ahead of me lamented, "I feel like such a dork because everyone else ahead of me in line is turning meds in a little sandwich sized zip baggie and here I am turning in my son's meds in a gallon sized baggie."  I tapped her on the shoulder and held up the Hefty JUMBO sized zip bag that contained ALL of M's necessary allergy and asthma meds, the nebulizer, and a letter form the allergist detailing the unfortunate regimen he had to follow while on the trip.  I asked her, "how do you think I feel?"  She apologized for her earlier lament when she realized how bad poor M has it!

~M and his buds, I and J on the bus, ready for adventure!~

By 2:15 am the three busses full of excited students and trepidatious teachers finally pulled away from the school and made their way towards California.  Later that morning they arrived at the port of Long Beach, boarded the boat and headed off for a weekend full of adventure, amazing and positive ways to challenge themselves, and lots of fun on a beautiful island.  While on the island, they stayed at Toyon Bay in dorms at the Catalina Island Marine Institute where they snorkeled in 60 degree water, dissected squids, climbed rock walls, received lots of instruction in oceanography and marine biology labs, and were kept very well fed by an amazing staff of chefs that worked well with us beforehand in regards to M's food allergies.  The school did a good job of keeping up parents informed by posting pictures and regular updates on their Facebook page throughout the weekend.  What an amazing experience for them all.  I'm so grateful J-rod and I looked past our fears and allowed M to go on this trip!  M returned late Sunday night and we were so happy to see him again and hear all about his wonderful adventures.

~Pictures courtesy of M's school FB page~

More Traditions

While M was gone, J enjoyed play dates with friends and also attended a birthday party.  As a family, we carved pumpkins while watching the demise of BYU at the hands of TCU, made new Fall pillow cases for the kids, dressed up and attended our ward Halloween Trunk-or-Treat activity where we had lots of fun.  Li'l J went as Mario his favorite character from his favorite video game, Mario Kart Wii.  C-sta went as her favorite Disney princess, Rapunzel, complete with a Pascal at her side (a chameleon puppet we've had for years).  J-rod was a dressed-down clown (curly-rainbow wig and a BIG colorful bow tie) and I went as a blue bath scrubbie/loofah.  I carried a shower caddie filled with bottles of shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap, a wash cloth, and a shower cap.  Much to my surprise, I won "Most Creative Costume!"  Woo-hoo! 

~Pumpkin Carving~

~Boo!, from us to you!~

~Trunk-or-treat games~

Since Halloween 2011 happened to be on a Monday, the boys got to wear their costumes to school (C-sta wore her costume to her preschool party the week before).  As soon as the boys got home from school, Li'l J changed into his third costume of the season (a Jedi Padawan) and was ready to start Trick-or-Treating immediately.  Yes, that boy was lucky enough to have three costumes available to him...all which he received as gifts from his many adoring fans.  

~C-sta and her school friend B: Rapunzel and Aurora.~

Anyway...even though Li'l J was ready to head out the door, we had to wait for some friends to arrive and then wait some more for J-rod to get home from work.  Usually trick-or-treating in our neighborhood begins around 5:30, but this time we didn't get our first knock until almost 7pm and after that it took another half-hour before the steady stream we are used to finally began.  The kids had lots of fun passing out candy while waiting for their turn to trick-or-treat, though Li'l J was chomping at the bit the entire time!  Between the birthday party Li'l J went to the previous Saturday, the ward trunk-or-treat activity, and Halloween, by the end of October we had WAY too much candy in our house!  Good thing our thoughtful Bishop keeps two bowls full of candy (chocolate and non-chocolate) stocked on his desk for the youth and Primary children that come looking for candy each Sunday as soon as church is over!  Hee, hee, hee.

~Excited to go trick-or-treat~

~Happy Halloween!~

Li'l Sis

While getting C-sta ready for bed Halloween night, I noticed C-sta felt warm.  Taking temperature revealed she had a very high fever.  Then in the middle of the night C-sta climbed into our bed and I noticed she had a croupy cough.  She stayed home from school the few days to rest and get feeling better.  Poor little one!  What a way to end October and begin November, huh?