This morning I woke up with lioness hair and major bags under my eyes. So I took pictures. Why not? Then I put on the first thing I could find, (my trusty old, worn-out yoga pants and a running shirt) pulled my hair-nest back into a pony tail, called yesterday’s make-up good, and took the kids to school. Autopilot.
I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’ve always dreamed in technicolor, but my midnight mind movies have gotten super funky and/or freaky these past few months. They wake me up a lot, and then I’m just left staring out the window alone with my thoughts. I make mental to-do lists. I think back on the previous day. I think about my church calling. I think about mountain tops, my friends, Greg, and the kids. All with no particular order, rhyme or reason. Think think think. Blah. My brain betrays my sleepy self.
Last night I thought a lot about Brenden. He’s growing up into such an amazing boy. His imagination is truly something to envy. Saturday morning I woke up to the rustling of legos coming from the other room. Then Brenden bounded in to say good morning with his newest creation.
The vampire hippo: complete with blood-ed teeth and intimidating black cape.
Awesome right?! I heard him telling Miles about a book with a vampire rabbit named Bunnicula before he came in, so I can only assume his derived his inspiration from that. Yay for cell phone cameras, and pictures of his ravenous hippopotamus! When he left my room he declared, “I’M AN AMAZING LEGO ARTIST!!” haha! It made my morning.
Yesterday, Greg told me a friend came up to him, and said something to the effect of, “I’m so impressed with your son, Brenden. The other night at the scouting function, I asked Brenden if he would like to drink soda or milk. Brenden chose milk. He said his little brother couldn’t have soda, so he wouldn’t either.” Of course, I just about started bawling. When I gave Miles insulin for his cake and milk that night, I had no idea his brother smiling next to him had made that little sacrifice. We would have never known if this friend hadn’t told Greg. I noticed Brenden was listening to Greg tell me the story, so I asked him about it. He beamed as he confirmed everything. I said, “Brenden, do you know what you showed Miles that night?” His eyes got big. “You showed him that you love him.” “I know!” he chirped with a smile. Miles was sitting nearby at the table listening to every word. It was a big deal, and you could tell it meant the world to him. :) …and I thought my heart was bursting with pride at B’s lego building skills.
Brenden likes himself, and he is creative and kind. What more could I ask for?
Last night I was also thinking about how I should put some Halloween pictures up on the blog before it’s Christmas. Look at me… actually acting on one of my mental to-do lists. I’m so proud of me. :)
This year, Brenden was Harry Potter. I love that we’ve reached the Harry Potter stage. Eve went as a Pumpkin Witch, but ditched her hat any chance she could. Miles wore a different costume for every party we went to. He was a lion at our Diabetes Association party, he was Luigi at our ward trunk-or-treat, and he dressed up as Captain Hook on Halloween to walk around the neighborhood.
We forgot Brenden’s lightning scar for the trunk-or-treat. His red hair made him look a bit like Ron in Harry’s glasses, but his personality can sell any costume. I wish I would have gotten video. This cell phone pic does him a little more justice though.
Here’s Eve with her hat at her little music class.
The kids got loaded down with lots of candy. Miles was pumped about it.
Some crazy lady kept hanging around us when we were trunk-or-treating.
Boy was she sexy though!
Three cheers for me actually blogging!! Hip hip hooray!
Of Rocks And Faith
The day Miles was diagnosed with diabetes (about three years ago), was the day that I started worrying about sending him to school. How in the world was I ever going to trust public school to care for him? So many things could go wrong with substitutes, music time, P.E., recess, and library. All very worrisome. I felt an overwhelming sense of compassion and admiration for some friends of ours. Their daughter not only had special needs, but was blind as well. I sought their council, asking how they were able to send their sweet girl into the hands of others, knowing she could not advocate for herself. How did they know that she would be ok? What if something terrible happened, and they lost her? The husband almost laughed at me, and said, “So what if it did?! Listen, do you believe in the Plan or do you not? If so, then it really doesn’t matter.” I was dumbfounded, hurt, and horrified for about five minutes. It felt like a LONG five minutes. However, it was ultimately the very best thing anyone could have ever said to me. He reminded me that I after I had prepared in every way, I needed to trust in my Heavenly Father’s protection. Then if my worst case scenario happened, I could find peace and comfort in the Plan of Salvation: We lived together before we came to Earth, we have a purpose here, and we can live again as families when we leave this mortal life. I realized if I really believed that (and I did. Still do.), then I had to prepare, and know that it would all be okay. I knew it was going to take a lot for me to be able to surrender what I couldn’t control to the Lord, but I found a lot of comfort in our conversation that day.
Over the years, periods of worry have come and gone. I have been able to push them to the back of my mind, thinking I’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Sunday night I sat on my bed thinking about all that needed to be prepared for Miles’ first day of kindergarten on Wednesday. Suddenly, I was halfway across the bridge and the weight of all the worry and fear hit me full force. I may or may not have sobbed myself to sleep.
On Monday night I had a conversation, with a woman I respect a great deal, about an experience we had at girls camp. It was completely unrelated to diabetes. This was the experience: A friend of ours arranged for the young women to go on a special hike early one morning. One at a time, each girl was given an empty, bright yellow bag, and was told it represented her life. Then she was sent up the trail alone. Every so often, there was someone who would stop her, and load her bag with trials (aka: rocks). They were personal, and they were heavy. While trudging up the trail, with her ever-growing load, she would encounter a friend, parents, a YW leader, and a bishop who would encourage or help her. None could take her burden on completely, and their help was very temporary.
I watched as one girl’s shoulders visibly shook with emotion and fatigue as she climbed to the highest point on her journey. It was very hard to watch. At that moment, the trail turned down into a narrow valley. The smallness of it made it very intimate, and it was stunningly green and beautiful. A voice singing I Stand All Amazed rose over the sound of a nearby brook.
A short walk, and a parting in the trees on the other side of the brook, revealed an image of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane with two messages from the scriptures.
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. ~Palms 55:22
Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ~Matthew 11:28-29
Here each girl could physically lay down her burdens at the feet of the Lord. It was a powerful visual and physical lesson of just how the atonement works. It was an incredible experience for the girls, and all the adults involved as well.
As my friend and I talked about how awesome it was, she mentioned what a great reference tool it’s already been for her. Her daughter just went through a hard, hard breakup before coming home from college for the summer, and was still having a difficult time with it. They’ve been able to talk about how truly casting burdens upon the Lord does not mean you keep going back to the bag to rummage through the rocks. That’s when it hit me…I’m a rummager. Just when I think I’ve turned things over to the Lord, I go pick half my rocks back up. I do it with my fears, I do it with financial issues, I do it in my marriage, I do it in my parenting, ect. ect. ect. I’ve never thought about how I behave in those terms. It’s funny, I often find that lessons learned in young womens are generally more for the leaders themselves than for the girls. This was a perfect example of that.
Today I met with the school nurse, and got our plan all in order. Tomorrow I will take pictures, kiss Miles goodbye, and leave him at his classroom door. It’ll all be okay.
I am going to practice casting, and leaving my bags.
Did you know…
…our little Eve turned THREE in June?!!! I KNOW!! I can’t believe it either. She just gets more and more fun/cute/sassy the older she gets. Greg, Brenden, Miles and I all adore her, and she knows it.
From the moment she woke up, she was grinning and giggling about it being her “bir-day”. Aren’t little kids the best when it comes to celebrating?! Eve was just exuding joy all day. She absolutely loved having everyone wish her a happy birthday at church.
Then she about went bananas when she opened the jungle animals Grandma and Grandpa H. got for her. We brought out her tree house/doll house so she could get right down to the business of playing.
The afternoon was totally chill. We hung out while she’d open something, and just watch while she explored it. Eve currently loves anything to do with animals (especially horses), farms and castles. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that she hasn’t played with these new animals in her jungle. (Madison- She madly loves your old tree house!!)
Around last Christmas I found a huge Little Peoples castle set at a children’s resale store for crazy cheap. I was done with her Christmas shopping so I tucked it away for her birthday.
It had horses, and princesses, and dragons, OH MY!! :) It was so worth buying and hiding.
All three kids didn’t leave the front room until dinner time.
Eve wore the horsey party hat we made for days after. She’s been asking me for another birthday ever since. :) I’m thinking I need to look forward to my next birthday with that much excitement.
Breakfast on the porch
One fav thing for us this summer eating outside on the porch. Here are some snaps from a breakfast early in the summer. Eve was giving me some adorable half-moon-eyed smiles when Brenden startled us both by sneaking up behind.
Let’s Play Music
I have to apologize a bit for that last post. I didn’t really mean to make this place a space for advertisements, but I wanted to take a quick minute get the word out our rad music classes, and help our friend hopefully rustle up some new students. We didn’t get anything for hosting a class or having people sign up. We just wanted to share. That being said…What a boring post!! No pictures or anything! It made me realize I haven’t posted anything fun all summer. Where has it gone?!! So I figured, Let’s Play Music is actually a great place to start. You’ve heard my little review of the class…now here are some pictures from the recital the boys had. It was only a few months ago. :)
Let’s Play Music is not a performance group, but at the end of the year, all the classes come together to show off everything they’ve learned. Miles was especially excited to be center stage. No surprise there. I love his fearless attitude. Here he and the others are singing a song about three chords they’ve been learning to recognize and play.
I was really proud of Brenden though. He warmed right up, and when it was his turn, he was one of the few kids who remembered to sing and play at the same time. He played the Dinosaur Song. You can imagine by the title that it was a favorite at our house. The cool thing about LPM is each song has all this cool hidden musical information in it. This particular song taught them recognize notes stepping and skipping up and down the music staff and on their tone bells.
Miles got to play next to his cousin, Eli. They both did awesome at playing A Frog Went a-Hoppin’. For this song, they played pretty much three notes in a steady beat, leaping up and down the staff and bells, but learned to harmonize their voices with what they were playing. Cool stuff.
Here the whole group is singing the final number, Do RE MI. (Like the Do a Deer song from The Sound of Music, but the LPM version.) Brenden and Miles are in the back doing the hand signs for the notes. They were on MI. Do you like how Miles took advantage of the elevated elbows to wipe his nose on his sleeve? :) I do.
Brenden got super excited about DO. :) Yeah, remember when I said Brenden warmed up to performing? Well, not only did he warm up, he turned into THE Performer. He was absolutely killing us with how much he was getting into it. Brenden is awesome, and he was totally eating up all the attention. Miles started off strong, but ended up having some lame blood sugar issues toward the end. His infusion set had come off (of course the only time I don’t have a spare on hand) so his numbers went really high. We didn’t realize he was having a problem until almost the end. He hadn’t gotten the insulin for his snack beforehand or any base for a couple hours. He was feeling like C R A P by the finale. Still you wouldn’t have really known it until he came off the stage. Then he just fell apart.
You can see it in his face here. Poor kid. Despite lame diabetes, their recital was such a fun cap to a great year with Miss Danicia. I remember her telling me before classes ever started, that the whole mission of Let’s Play Music was to grow intelligence, increase confidence, and bond children to their parents through play and music. Don’t quote me on that, but it’s what I remember. All I know is LPM accomplished all those things for us. We can’t wait to start up again in a couple weeks!!
As Danicia would say: Adios with a ME, RE, DO! :)
Let’s Play Music
My dear friends with children ages 4-7,
Have you heard of Let’s Play Music? We found out about it last year by attending a sample class, and knew immediately that it was something special. We were able to enroll Miles and Brenden, and had such an awesome experience that we want to share it with you! :) Our teacher (and friend), Danicia Christensen, is currently holding sample classes for first year students ages 4-7, and we are happy to host one of them in our home. These last days of summer are so busy, but I hope you will take a moment to come and see why we love, love, LOVE this program.
Let’s Play Music Sample Class
Hough Home (Please comment, and I will send you the address)Thursday, August 11th @ 1:00 pm
Let’s Play Music is a music course that emphasizes total musicianship through piano playing, singing, classical music, theory, note reading, and ear training……and it’s accomplished through PLAY!!
After one year, I feel like my children already have an incredible musical foundation. I still remember Greg’s jaw dropping when he realized they were playing songs on their tone bells by sight-reading notes. It’s so exciting to think that by year three, they will be playing piano at an intermediate level, transposing music, composing their own music, sight-reading music, and prepared to excel in any further piano instruction. ….and it’s all accomplished through PLAY. The classes are just plain fun. Hope to see you soon!
With love,
Melinda, Brenden and Miles
PS: You are welcome to bring all of your children. :)
important things
We were sitting side-by-side on the couch when Miles leaned in closer to say, “Mom, I love you more than ice cream.”
There’s just something about the way little boys love their mothers. It melts my heart like ice cream in the hot July sun. I could just eat Miles up, I love him so.
I got the children dressed and ready for the day before finding clothes for myself. Eve came around the corner, and took one look at my attire, and declared, “Mom!! We sames!” I love how she says “sames” when she sees a match. It may have just been me, but on this occasion there seemed to be a hint of embarrassment in her voice when she said it. We were indeed exact sames. Black lounge pants with blue Boise State t-shirts. A complete accident even though I had just dressed her not 10 minutes prior. I was too lazy to change, so we laughed about it instead. I’m glad she’s so willing to laugh.
Brenden lost his sixth tooth on the last night he was a six year old. It happened so long ago, and I’m afraid I’ll forget about it if wait to write it down any longer. January marked seven years passing me by in such a rush I could hardly believe it. Now first grade has ended, and he has an independence and fearlessness that I can hardly recognize. I just happened to glance at the class memory book he brought home yesterday. Each child has their own page with a paragraph of important things about them with a black and white picture of themselves underneath. I turned to his page, and found he had already colored his hair vivid orange with a marker. The text read, “The important thing about Brenden is that he has a mom that he likes. It is true that he likes playing video games. He is good at “Portal 2″ and Star Wars. And he is good at listening to his mom. But the most important thing about Brenden is that he has a mom that he likes.” That was the best gift he could have ever given me today.
There are so many things about Brenden at this age that are important to me…like the way he’ll still hold my hand when I offer it. I know the time for that is quickly coming to an end. Did you know that when something really tickles Brenden’s funny-bone, he covers his mouth, and giggles with his whole body? His eyes shine when that happens. I love that. Brenden still draws or colors at every possible opportunity. He reads, reads, READS anything with type on it. He always has a tune on his lips, and a groove to go with it. Nobody moves like Brenden. He has this quirky, jerky style that is so rad. (It’s kind of like if Mr. Robot-o could pop and lock, and had Pee-Wee Herman-esk mannerisms. Awesome.) Brenden will do anything to casually get out of cleaning his room. It drives me crazy, but I have to admire his creativity about it. He’s pretty crafty. B loves to play. I’ll often overhear him challenge his siblings to “Coffee me!” Then I’ll loudly clear my throat, and he’ll say, “Oops! I mean copy me.” I think its so funny that he still mispronounces that word all the time. Brenden’s brother and sister love him fiercely. Eve-E looked at him the other day, and said, “Brenden, you’re so cute!” He blushed, and grinned in a silly sort of way. You could tell he loved her saying that. He leaned over, sniffed her hair, and declared, “Eve, your red hair smells like strawberries.” She’s obsessed with Strawberry Korrcake (Shortcake) so that was just about the best compliment he could give her in return. They are such a funny pair. (I’m glad I overheard that exchange so I had some idea why Eve was asking me to smell her hair today.) Brenden loves his Book of Mormon, and does such a good job reading when it’s his turn. He loves to ask Greg and I how to say random words in different languages. I don’t know why he thinks we speak French! (Pardon my lack of French, Bud. Let’s stick to Spanish or Portuguese.) (…or Canadian, cuz you know they have a “unique” way to say EVERYTHING, eh.)
I want so bad to freeze this gap-toothed little boy in my memory so I’ll always have this time with him.
I am so blessed to be a mom.
I have a story to tell you.
Oh, you wanted pretty pictures to go with it? RUDE. I’m totally offended. Listen, don’t be jel that you’re not this sexy. Not everyone can be. It’s a gift. (Or maybe this was just my allergy to BYU acting up. Who can know for sure?) Amazing picture aside, here is where our story begins: Me, loopy/hyper, late at night, checking into the BYU dorms, after a long drive, armed with a cell phone camera. (And showing some cleavage apparently.) (Op, made ya look.) (Sorry.)
Three and a half days away at BYU Women’s Conference with my mom and two of my sisters. YES PLEASE.
Can you see why I would have been a bit hyper upon arrival? I LOVE these women! The only thing that could have made the weekend more fun/silly/enlightening/soul-restoring would have been having more of my fristers there. (sister+friend=frister) I’m so lucky to call my sisters and sister-in-laws friends. They’re all awesome, and make my world a better place. I guess I could apply the same word combo skill to my mom, but she’s no “mister”. She is, however, AMAZING, and a dear friend as well. I love being with her. Thanks, Mama, for bringing me along! I thoroughly enjoyed spending some T.I.M.E. with you, Gwen and Reese.
My mom made women’s conference with her daughters a tradition many, many years ago. I’ve only been able to go a few times, but I have to say, this year was BY FAR my favorite. I haven’t been is so long, and the marathon of spiritual nourishment and laughter was just what I needed. I actually loved staying in the dorms too. I came home with a full notebook, and a full heart. The speakers did a wonderful job, and I can’t count how many times I’ve opened my notebook since to refer back to the things I learned.
One class that we were really excited to attend was a panel discussion with the Clark sisters: Page Checketts, Courtney Jane Kendrick, Stephanie Nielson, and Lucy Beesley. (Gwen was downright giddy about it.) (“Just look at that face. She reels you in with that little face.”) (Name that movie.) If you don’t know who the Clark sisters are, let me give you a quick introduction.
I first “met” these women when Wendy of Blue Lily photographed the families of C.Jane and NieNie what feels like forever ago. You must know, I’ve been blog-stalking Wendy for years, and have a big crush on her talent. So when she linked to two blogs that she loved, of course I clicked over. I dare you to spend any amount of time on either blog, and not like the authors. I could relate to them. They made life as a mother, wife, and woman sound awesome (and it is) when everyone else around me seemed to be complaining about it.
Then the unthinkable happened. Stephanie and her husband were involved in a plane crash. Like so many around the world, I held my breath, prayed and watched as physical bodies slept and healed, as souls were refined and strengthened, and as family supported one another. Children grew, tears were shed, laughter rang, and romances burned brighter than ever. Miracles happened, and they didn’t hesitate to acknowledge where they came from. I started out liking their blogs, but I quickly grew to love Courtney, Stephanie, and their families. They oddly became a part of my life. I discussed them with my husband. I chatted about them with my sisters. I felt joy at their successes and sorrow at their setbacks. I have to admit though, I really wanted to attend their class, because I knew I would LAUGH. With talk of boobs and the Silver Fox, they definitely didn’t disappoint. The message was sweet, the laughs were plentiful, and the tears flowed freely. I felt blessed to be there.
At the very end of the conference we were fortunate to spot Nie, and thank her for the experience.
She was as gracious and kind as imagined she’d be. She is nothing short of lovely. Plus her shoes were AMAZING.
As we were walking out, we talked about all the good feelings we had going on. Elder David A. Bednar had just given the closing remarks for the conference. I think I involuntarily say a grateful wow every time I hear him speak. This time was no exception. We had just met the much admired NieNie. I could list a million good things about her. We were also very much looking forward to dinner at Magleby’s Fresh. YUM. So so many good things to discuss, when out of the corner of my eye, I spied C.Jane walking. This leads me to the following letter:
Dear C.Jane,
Remember me? That crazy lady that practically tackled you from behind? I can explain…sometimes my brain just can’t keep up with my body and mouth. I can’t say that I’m sorry though. It felt like running over to catch an old friend. I don’t know why I think I have a right to feel like I know you, but I do all the same. When Page spoke about how she finds words put to her feelings when she reads your work, I was nodding my head, and wanted to shout “Amen, Sista!” I can’t thank you enough for the example of strength and commitment you’ve given me, for the positivity, and for the laughs. Meeting you was FUN. I’m pretty sure I even slapped my knee at one point. I may or may not have cupped your beautiful face in my hands. Um…Sorry? Let’s maybe forget that happened.
Courtney, (may I call you Courtney?) keep on keepin’ on, and writing about it, because there are thousands of women, just like me, who love you for it. Thank you for hanging out with some home-girls from Twin…not that we gave you much choice. Please accept this letter as payment for the photos.
Yours truly,
Melinda
Courtney complimented my hair, and said we were the most exciting people she had met all day. I think this sealed the deal on us being BFF’s. She was absolutely talking to me. No question.
The end.
04-11-2011
First thing in the morning, Eve put on her snow coat, and declared, “I’m going to the jungle!”
Later, (while still wearing her parka) she poked a spot on my face, and asked, “What that, Mama?”
“A mole”
“I don’t like moles. I like tigahs.” (tigers)
I started playing with her hair, and she melted into my lap like honey on warm toast. Relaxed and content, with a hint of last night’s sleep still in her eyes, she softly began to sing a sweet lullaby. “I love my tiiigah. Oh yes I doooo. I love my tii-gah. Oh yes, it’s true-ooo.”
She wore her jammies and a coat all day. She was too cute to change.
Warm heart, cold hair
Right after Christmas, we met up with my family for a winter reunion in Island Park. Pine trees fat with snow, and a white carpet of powder six feet deep…awesome. The vistas were beautiful for sure, but below zero weather made outdoor ventures extra nippy. Sledding with the kids didn’t last too terribly long, but I did have an epic run before we relented to the cold. It’s always pretty sweet when I can smoke my bros in any sort of race. I dominated despite blatant cheating. =) Only makes victory taste sweeter. For the most part, however, we just holed up in our HUGE lodge and chilled together. We had yummy food, dance parties, cousins galore, and HOT TUBBING.
It did not occur to me that there would be hair effects when hot tubbing in sub zero temps. All the steam in the air made for some pretty sweet styling. I never got my hair wet! The condensation from the steam just froze on all the individual hairs. Rad, eh?! It wasn’t long before we decided to take it to the next level. Greg dunked his head, and let our nieces style his hair. It only took a few minutes for his sweet do to freeze solid. The girls joined him, and froze their hair too. GOOD TIMES and lots of laughs ensued. We just had to pull a polar bear challenge, and run to front of the lodge in our suits. We waved in the windows until people noticed so they would come take pictures.
Even our eyelashes got frosty!!!
The longer we stayed in there the more white things got. I love how every little hair on Greg’s head and face got all Jack Frost-y.
I had to add this crazy face picture. (Even though I’m arching my back, and look four times bigger than I hope I am. YIKES.) I wanted to show my nieces’ sweet hair sculptures. One got a three-spike mohawk and the other got a Cindy Lou Who. :) Seriously so funny.
In other news, I finally got my Christmas decor taken down today, and it felt sooooooo nice. Is it just me or do Christmas decorations have the exact opposite effect after Christmas as they do before Christmas? Luckily it all comes down pretty fast once you set aside a moment to do it. So nice to have that done!
just (me)linda 