Halloween crafts

Oh how I already miss the easiness of summertime. All you had to do to entertain your kids was go to the park, the library (there is currently no story time), water park, the zoo, fairy tale town, send them in the backyard, go to another park, outside play dates, etc. Now that it's getting cold, I actually have to try be a mom. So I decided to cut out some Halloween shapes & yes I know my cutting is not the best. This is what the boys came up with. 

Grant is VERY proud of his spider teeth. 

Nathan was just happy to not be watching TV. 

Aren't my ghosts beautiful?? I had to free hand everything, wasn't able to find outlines of these shapes on line. And they are proudly displayed in our windows for all passerbys to see. 

Marriage is fundamentally about children's needs, not adult desires.

Jared's Birthday dinner 2008

Trying to teach Grant how to lick his plate to get all the yummy goodness. 

Heavy Heavy Hangs over thy poor head..........

Happy 28th Birthday my love!!!

Apple Hill 2008

Kevin & Tessa asleep on the way. So cute. 

I'm not sure if Nate understood that the food was for the Geese. 

Juliette looking so cute & as if she's grown a foot in a month. 

Pumpkins all around. I'm glad we grew our own this year. 

Enjoying apple fritters & staying out of the rain. 

We had a ton of fun even though it was raining off & on. Grant slid & got his bum all muddy. Nathan ate food off the ground, a gallon of cider was $6.95 (ouch), cute crafts, & we only spent money on apples & caramel covered apples. Yummy. I'm gonna start saving up for next time to get a Rocky Road apple. Those suckers are $10, but oh so good!!

My cute boys

Whenever their jackets are on, 

they MUST

 have their hoods on also.

 Although this picture is kind 

of contradicting...jackets with 

shorts & sandals. 

Oh well, I tried. 

For all you builders out there

Invisible Mothers:
 
 It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
 
Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because  no one can see me at all.
 
I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
 Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!
 One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England.  Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty
pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
 
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work.  

 

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
 
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof?  No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
 
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does
 
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'
 
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride
 
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. 
 
 When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I had built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'
 
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. 

Darn it......

I thought I was getting a 2 for 1 deal. Grant is all potty trained, & Nate has been doing good. Refusing to poo in his diaper all week, he would scream "poop! poop!" until we put him on the toilet.  Jared nor I had changed a stinky diaper in days. But it all came crashing down this morning. Nate won't have anything to do with the toilet. Now I get to go change some number 2 bum. 

An old one

This is an old one. But so cute. Grant was only 17 months when Nate came along. My kids are growing so fast. When Charlotte comes in a couple months, they are going to look even  bigger compared to her. I'm so grateful to have parents near by to help & that we can visit often. I hope my children will always have good relationships with them. 

How lucky can one girl get??

Since Grant is potty trained, (only took a couple days) life is much easier for us. Except for the time there was no bathroom around & Grant got to "water" some plants in the parking lot. Nathan has been sitting on the potty to get some of the same attention that Grant does. Pretty cute. Until today, I was changing Nate & he said he wanted to go sit on the toilet. Sure, go for it kiddo.  30 seconds later he yells "mom! Go poo poo" Ok ok I'm coming. I go into the bathroom & sure enough, the kid did it! I know this doesn't mean anything right now, he's so young, but I won't fight against a boy not afraid to poo in the potty!

Boys on the bike

Grant about 17 months old. I remember taking this picture feeling a little uneasy about him standing on the bike. 

Nathan, now learning from his brother. They are such boys.

Too much for Mommy......

So here it goes. About 2 am Wednesday morning. Nate wakes up coughing & weezing pretty bad. He's had a bit of a cold for a day or so, so I'm thinking great, it's getting worse. So we try to get him to go back to bed. He wakes up every 20 minutes so I take him to bed with us. He's breathing super hard & still doesn't sleep. Since Jared has to be to work at 6 am, I take Nate out & rock him in the family room. He finally falls asleep around 5:30. But that doesn't last long. He cries, doesn't want to eat or drink anything. And I even tried bribing him with some soda or candy, he wouldn't take it. All he wanted was to be held. 

This was my day. Hold me hold me & lots of screaming. He was still breathing super hard & hadn't peed all day, so I called the advice nurse. She tells me how to test his respiration, & it comes out to a 60 . For a 20 month old, it should be more around 25. He is breathing more than twice as fast as he should be, so she makes me an appointment at 3:45. We go in, the docs look at him & call for an x-ray, give him some steroids & an albuterol breathing treatment. (Oh the memories of years of sitting in the hospital with a mask on my face breathing in yucky vapor come flooding back to me.) The x-ray was mostly clear, but pnemonia was ruled out, there was also no fever. Just a cold that has settled in his lungs & he's not able to control his breathing. 

They (about 5 different docs that came in to see him. Either cause he was cute or to check his breathing) said he was working too hard for his little body and needed to be observed until he calmed down. They gave him another breathing treatment, at this point he thinks it's still fun. But since it's 5 pm at the Rancho facility, they don't have the staff to help him. He needs to be transferred over to Morse. Sure, not a problem. Apparently, they think there is. They don't want us to drive him because we might get stuck in traffic or he might get worse or might have a bad reaction to the steroids. An ambulance it must be. Jared tried to call shot gun, but I said NO, he's my baby, I'm sick & can't drive, I get to go with. I won of course. 

I can't get my pics off my phone of him being strapped in his car seat on the gurney. He had 5 different wires hooked to him. But it was a sight to behold. Jared & I hadn't really taken any of it so seriously yet, until we asked the EMT if the doctors were overreacting. He said, "well, normally the human body can calm itself down or sleep to rest from working so hard. But the problem with a little guy so young is that his body doesn't have the reserves. So he will work super hard to breathe, then when he runs out of energy, he'll just stop." Oh. We started worrying a little at that point. 

So Jared goes & drops Grant off at Grandma's, & Nate & I go on our little trip. No lights or high speeds, but it was interesting. When we get in the emergency room, people are looking at smiling at Nate. They say things like, "oh that's so sad. He's so little." But Nate start seeing all the cute nurses & calls up his flirting talent. Then people start wondering what is wrong with him cause he's so happy. He even made the teenager from the car accident shut up. 

There were TONS of crazy people admitted there. Another set of EMT's were trying to trade their crazy woman for Nate. But Brian & Patrick (the EMT guys) were very overprotective the whole time to make sure Nate was taken care of. We were finally admitted, but it was soooo cold. A nurse brought me some warmed blankets & Jared showed up. They put us in a room where I could lay down, I wasn't feeling good, hadn't eaten anything, & was so tired. Nate was getting more breathing treatments sitting on my lap. So when people would walk by, they would ask who was the patient?? The whining woman all bundled up or the happy toddler with vapor being pushed into his face??

Around 10 pm, Laurie & Perry came & took me home. Grant slept with me. At the point to finally kneel down to end the day, I lost it. The whole crying & begging kind of prayer. I kept waking up at night thinking Jared & Nate were home, but never got that reponse. Around 5 am I couldn't sleep anymore. I hadn't heard any news so I called like 7 numbers to find where my boys were at. Finally I got a nurse. They had been admitted to the pediatrics ward about 2:30 am & were asleep. Nate's stats hadn't changed at all. So I get dressed, drop off Grant (he had been so good with all the waiting around) & go see my baby. The Nurses had to poke him 4 times to get a vein for the IV. He had bruises everywhere. So they gave him a bear. He finally drinks 4 juice boxes but still nothing to eat. Jared goes home to sleep. Poor guy hadn't been able to sleep more than 3 hours. & we sit & wait. Nate's pulse gets better, & breathing goes down. We wait & play all day (Grant goes to his first dentist appointment & does GREAT!!) Get some visitors to help me entertain Nate. He's so bored. 

They finally let us go about 6 pm. Yeah, we have a brand spanking new machine for treatments & a prescription for steroids. Then we get a call, we don't feel comfortable sending him home, please bring him back in. UGH. I take him back in, they wait to give him another treatment at 9:15 then check his stats. I ask if I just take him & leave, can I get in trouble?? Legally, no. So they let me go after I promise to check his stats & give him treatments every 2 hours. We get home about 11:30 pm. By Friday morning, his breathing is about a 35, & is eating & drinking a little more. We take him to a check up. What happened you ask?? They say it could have just been a bad reaction to his cold, or if it happens 2 more times, it's asthma. Great. My mom tells me stories of hearing me weeze & cough allll night long. What fun we have to look forward to. So we are good, finally recovered from the stress & sleeplessness. Nate is still a little fussy/agressive  & not eating enough, but generally happy. 

Thank you for all your prayers & calls & cookies!! We very much appreciate them. 

Nathan in the hospital

This is what I saw when I walked in Nate's room Thursday morning. He looked so small & sad in the bed. But had a good attitude for being tied down with an IV. He wasn't really able to look at books, but was getting the hang of using only the tips of his fingers from the board being taped to his hand. 

Finally getting him to eat something. Even if it was a cookie. 

Discovered the phone, his IV finally taken out. 

Realizes there is a hallway with fun things & people. He can open the door & sneak away pretty quick. People would laugh when they saw a baby opening a door & running away. These gowns are so cute. The nurse gave us some & tons of slippers to take home with us. 

They had some fun rides in the hallways. This bike & a huge wagon. Nate made me push him & walk with him for at least a couple of hours. There was a playroom, but all Nate wanted to do was go outside. But it was soooo filthy. I don't think they had cleaned it in months. He would just scream at the window & I would have to drag him back kicking & screaming to his room. 

Some videos of my baby. He did pretty well for being tied down for most of the day. 

I need your prayers.......

For anyone who reads this today (Thursday), I really need your prayers. We took Nate in to the doc yesterday, they transferred him by ambulance (my first ride ever) over to Morse where they made him (& Jared) stay the night. Everything is ok, I hope, but I'm also sick & super tired. So if you're up to it,  please mention my little family in your prayers!! I'll post later all the details. THANK YOU!!

I have the right to brag!!

So we started potty training Grant on Friday. Jared has really been keeping up on it. But for the last 2 days, Grant goes, "Mommy I need to go pee pee." AND he's been doing the # 2 with no problems. 2 days accident free, & no problems using public potties. I am soooooooo excited. Pull ups for bedtime, but he's doing it. I'm so glad I waited until he was ready. 

Charlotte Renee

So it's a girl!! Yeah. We will take whoever, but we're excited for this little girl to come our way. Her nick name will be Charly, & she'll most likely wear lots of boy clothes. I'm not really into the frilly stuff, so she'll start out like a tomboy early on in life. 

State fair 2008

Grant walking a goat. The kid's favorite part was the animals. Especially when one cow pees on the other & no one really cares. Grant & Nathan both took turns walking the goat at least 3 times. 

Brushing the hair on a pony. 

Saddled up to go wherever. They look so innocent here. 

The $5 pony ride I insist to Jared to let them do every year. It's not the cheapest, but they have sooooo much fun on them. I know that some day I'll have to buy them a pet. But that's years down the road. Of course they got all excited & laughed their heads off when one of the ponies started peeing everywhere. Boys will be boys. 

Brian & Jennifer Adams Wedding

Down to Reno for Jared's friend/ co-worker's wedding on Sat the 6th. It was SUPER nice. Definitely the nicest & fanciest wedding we have ever been to. They rented the whole golf course for the day. The flower girl came in on a mini pony. 

Bride came in a 1949 Jag. 

Lots of long stemmed roses. Beautiful people, of course not more beautiful than Jennifer. She's not only the nicest person out there, but gorgeous as well. 

Bride & groom left on the pony. That is a man who loves his wife!

We partied for a bit with all the yummy food. Jared's favorite part was the crab on top of Filet Mignon, on top of asparagus on top of the yummiest potato patty I have ever had. And I'm obsessed with potatoes! We had fun at our table with other guests from Sac. Drove home around midnight. Yeah for that Donner pass in the middle of the night. 

Spencer Mountain Ranch

Down at the shops in Carmel. All the kids got really close playing with each other for 3 days. Every morning Nathan would say, "Where's Charlie? Where's E (Ian)." Super cute. 

My HUGE glasses on my HUGE cheeks. But I love this pair. 

Showing each other their goodies they got. Yeah for the English store!! Yummy chocolate. 

That dang fountain we couldn't keep Nathan away from. I don't know how many times we had to change his clothes cause he kept getting wet. 

Attempting to get a group shot. Jared never said "say cheese" so that we were all looking. At least the other families look good. We had so much fun together. BBQ, lots of good food, staying up late to talk about everything ,  kids played so well together the whole time, Emma took great care of watching kids, trampoline, sand boxes, tree house, & especially Grandma's playhouse. That thing held the kid's attention for hours on end. Thank you to Uncle Dick & Aunt Janean for sharing their wonderful Cowboy Town!!!

Pebble Beach Aug 2008

The kids playing in the sand!! How cute is this?

Nathan buried in Jared 's hole.

We went to pebble beach while in Carmel. The Morrris family & Cedusky's were with us. It was way overcast, but my shoulders still got burnt. Dolphins were swimming back & forth along the beach. There were 7 or 8 of them just playing around in the water with a scubba diver. Our pictures didn't really catch how fun it is was to watch them. We also went to the aquarium which the kids totally got a kick out of. Thanks to Majo Spencer we all got in for free!! Since Tawney never reads blogs, I can say she was playing around on her chair with Tim & broke it! I wish I would have gotten a video of it. Too much fun.

Some happenings to our family

So on Friday, the water company came out to install our new water meter, hooray!!! NOT. They turned off our water for about an hour, then turned it back on. When they did this, I heard water running & thought, wow what are they doing?? Rinsing down the whole street?? Then a knock on my door, the worker, we'll call him Jim, said my house was leaking.... What??? So I followed him to the front yard & sure enough (you have to try to imagine this) gallons of water were coming straight up from the roof. If you're looking at the house, the roof was wet with water running down it. I looked up in the sky for one of those Eeyore rain clouds to be over just my house. But no rain. I asked what they did wrong & they looked at me like I was the idiot. 

I ran quickly through the house & into the garage. Quick note, we had just cleaned our garage. Everything was stacked neatly to one side. So of course, that's the spot all the water was coming down. I opened the garage door & yelled at them to turn the water back off. Everything was soaked. I started pulling things down & dumping water off of them. Car seats, containers of clothes, the runner, chairs, arm's reach crib, you name it, it was wet. I pulled some towels that had just finished being dried from the dryer & started moping it all up. Then my hormones kicked in. I started bawling my eyes out. I called Jared, told him to come home. Then called my landlord who could barely understand what I was saying through my hysterics. The workers & Jim had these looks on their faces as if to say, "this lady is a nutter!" They couldn't do anything for me, so they left. 

Of course this happens on a Friday of a 3 day weekend. Just like last time when our sliding glass door shattered the day before the 4th of July weekend. Who wants to work then?? Luckily my landlord is quick & got the water company & a plumber out in a couple of hours. I had been stressing about where we were going to stay if we had no water. The plumber was wonderful! He's an Astle (Astle plumbing, I recommend them), for any of you who live in Sac & go to my church, there are hundreds of them. So it was comforting knowing we had an intelligent, honest person working for us. He fixed our problem, the water company had turned the water back on incorrectly, flipped a spring switch that sent water to old unused pipes in the roof for a previous solar heater. Therefore sending water so pressured that it went through the roof. 

It has taken a couple of days airing everything out, getting the smell to go away, & trying to figure out why our water tastes funny now. But it's over, & I lived. 

On a lighter note, we went out to dinner tonight. I was ordering what to eat & Grant was saying Mommy, Mommy, Mommy etc. You know how it goes. I was ignoring him then this is what I hear. Jennifer, Jennifer. What? I tried so hard not to laugh while explaining that he needs to call me mommy. Then 10 minutes later, Jared does something silly (imagine that) & Grant says, "Jaarreedddd" sounding just like me when I'm rolling my eyes at my husband. He getting big so fast.