Mim's Musings and Rob's Ramblings

A Quiet Weekend

2012-02-12T20:36:00.002-05:00

We had a fairly quiet weekend. We went to a ward activity, which we don't normally do, and made valentines for people. Actually the kids ran around the building, and Beth made some valentines, Jacob made one for Caleb, and I cut hearts for a heart attack for people in our ward. It was a pretty mellow activity, but I did get a chance to talk to some people, whom I've not been able to lately.

On Saturday we went and cleaned the church building, and the boys went to a birthday party. I'd been dreading our turn to clean the building, but it wasn't that bad. And we were done in just over an hour. It was satisfying to know that we had helped, even if the kids did end up running crazy by the time we were done. The boys had fun at their birthday party, and Beth read some books. She found a series (Franny K Stein) that she actually likes. I worry that the reading level is a bit young for her, but she is tearing through them. Right now I just want to get her reading.

Caleb is having a tough school year this year. I've got another meeting set up with the teacher, this time about him being bullied. My poor sweet boy. He doesn't stand up for himself, and I'm so tempted to just pull him out of school for the rest of the year. I really wish I could do it. He is losing his spark, and he is so down all of the time. I want him to love learning and it just isn't happening this year.

Jacob is doing well. He's super excited for his Valentine's Day party this year. He has started to love school, and I'm not fighting to get him out the door in the mornings. he is obsessed with video games, and often calls Rob in the afternoon to ask him to come home so he can play Ratchet and Clank, so Jacob can watch. Unfortunately for him, I'm not a video game playin' momma. I'll do board games, but I don't have the skills necessary to jump from spot to spot on the screen.

Rob is hanging in there. There is a lot of change going on at his work, which I think is motivating him to look around at other jobs. But he wants to apply for a good job that he'll be happy at. I'm still keeping busy with writing, and working, and being a mom. Right now I've gota bit of a cold that won't go away. it's not bad yet, and I'm hoping it won't get there.

I hope you all have a good week!

A Little News and a Trip to the Beach

2012-02-05T20:16:00.003-05:00

Well, I haven't updated in a long, long time. And a lost has happened in the months since I've posted anything. Everyone's gotten a little bit older, and aged up a year. The holidays are a crazy time with all the kids birthdays tacked onto either side of Christmas, but we managed to make it through the months with everything still in tact.

Beth is ten and growing up so fast. She's funny and happy most of the time, and loves to connect with people. Right now she's absolutely convinced that she wants to be a surgeon, and has begun taking her school work even more seriously as a result. She wants to take Gross Anatomy, the sooner the better, and I think she is really set on it. Right now she still has steady hands, so it's a viable option for her in the future.

Caleb is having a rough run of first grade. He's smart, and is doing well, but doesn't like to sit still or pay attention in class. He's got so much energy, and he likes to go, go go all of the time. I wish the classrooms were set up in a way that allowed boys time to move around more. But overall he is doing really well, and growing up fast.

Jacob is finally ready to start kindergarten. He kept telling me he wasn't going to go, because he didn't want his kindergarten shots. But once we got those over with he is much more open to the idea of going. he loves to play board games with Rob, and he's really good at figuring out puzzle games. He is also officially too big to snuggle up with in my lap while watching as how together. It happened today, and I almost cried. My baby can't be getting too big to snuggle. What will I do?

We haven't had a chance for any real family weekends lately, and we were positively convinced that we needed one yesterday. The plan was to to go to the zoo, since it wasn't going to be too hot, but it ended up being a rainy weekend there, so we drove away from the storm instead and went to the beach. We visited a Fort, looked for ghosts, and hit up an aquarium. Then we took a walk on the beach, since it was too cold to swim, but it was warm enough that we didn't need jackets most of the day. overall it was a great day. Sorry there were no pictures. But the kids did get to touch a moon jellyfish at the aquarium, which was pretty cool, and Jacob is now covered in shark tattoos. He looks like a biker with a shark obsession.

We haven't had much of a winter here. Maybe two or three days when we actually had a day that stayed in the 30s. And my tulips are up and ready to bloom already. The kids and I keep hoping for some crazy winter storm, but I'm almost convinced it isn't going to happen. This will be my first winter ever, with absolutely no winter storms. Talk about weird. The grass is green outside in February, because we've had rain, but no snow, and not enough cold days to warrant getting the winter coats out of the closet. jacket weather all year round is an adjustment for this Utah girl. It's strange not to have at least one day when you can go outside and throw snowballs at each other.

On a side note, I've recently decided to put my first novel up on Amazon, as an e-book. I am excited to share it with everyone, and I'll let you guys know when it is up and ready to go. It's funny because I'd never thought I do something like this, but as I've thought and prayed about my situation, I know absolutely that it's the right thing for this book for right now. Anyway, you can all read it when it comes out, sometime in the next month. I'm aiming for the end of February.

Great Wolf Lodge Video

2011-09-20T15:36:00.003-04:00

The kids had a great time at Great Wolf Lodge, swimming and playing MagiQuest (thanks to Julie for taking us all). This video features the swimming only. MagiQuest adventures to come ...

Busy Times

2011-09-19T19:50:00.003-04:00

It's been busy. The rush of school, and homework, enforced bedtimes, and the need to push everyone out the door in the morning. Exciting stuff. For the most part everyone has been pretty happy. We took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge when my mom was in town. Correction: She took us all to Great Wolf Lodge when she was in town. Rob has video he wants to edit together and post at some wonderful point. He had fun with a new case that let him take the camera underwater. So it went down slides and did all kinds of things. The kids had a great time to, and fell in love with Magiquest as much as with the water slides.

Caleb and Beth loved the bigger inner tube slides, and something has happened to me as I've gotten older. I just don't love them. I don't, but I went so it counts. Jacob had a lot of fun doing the little kid slides and the wave pool. He's so confident in the water now. My mom's visit was a lot of fun and went really smoothly. It's nice to have her visit. Sometimes it's hard being so far away from my family. The visit was a perfect way to feel reconnected.

Beth has her first male teacher. And I have to say I'm super impressed. His attitude about teaching, and the way he runs his class is impressive. I've liked all of Beth's teachers. They've been good for her, but I can see why they need more male teachers in the classroom. She's been pretty good about doing her homework this year. And she's on track to keep doing well.

Caleb's having a difficult time with his teacher and his behavior this year. I know that she's pretty strict. Beth would get a few card flips a month when she had her, and she maybe got one a year in her other classes. But it's frustrating and wearing on his self esteem. So I'm facing a dilemma. I'm about ready to schedule a conference with the teacher, and it's not going to be easy. I hate to call people out on the situation, and I don't think that Caleb is a perfect little boy that never talks out of turn or sits perfectly still, but at the same time--he is a first grade boy who wiggles, and gets excited and moves around and likes to talk to people. I don't want him to get labeled as a troubled kid. He's super smart--it doesn't take him long to do work, and I'm sure he gets bored. Actually Beth's teacher put the whole thing into perspective for me, when he talked about how he wanted his fourth graders to learn to behave, but he also realizes that they are fourth graders and aren't going to be perfect all of the time. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jacob is really progressing on his speech, and enjoying preschool. He sees his friend Miles at school most days--they are not in the same class, but I think they have recess together. He is much happier now that he has busy time each day. He misses his brother and sister when they are at school. It's nice to know that he is in a structured environment where he can have fun.

We all went to Bugfest again this year. No camera in tow, so no pictures. The boys all ate chocolate covered worms. Caleb had two. Rob came home all paranoid, and flossed his teeth and used mouthwash just in case. It made me laugh, because if you're that paranoid why eat them at all? (I'm more than that paranoid--hence no bug eating from me.) The kids got to make an antenna headband, and compete in the bug olympics and win a gold medal each. Happy times.

Overheard

2011-08-30T10:56:00.003-04:00

This morning Rob went downstairs, and Caleb had already turned on a show. The kids have been anxiously waiting for the 3rd Ghostbuster movie, which is actually going to be made. Every day Jacob asks for me to turn it on.

Rob: What are you watching?

Caleb: Ghostbusters 3

Rob: That's not out yet. Let me see.
(he checked the show they were watching on Netflix.)

Rob: That's Stripes. It's rated R.

Caleb: But dad it has Peter Vankman in it. That's how we know it's Ghostbusters.

Rob: You do know that Peter Vankman is a character in the movie played by Bill Murray. He's in lots of movies.

Caleb: No this is Ghostbusters 3.

Family Trip to the Mountains

2011-08-16T11:00:00.002-04:00

I love nothing more than a trip to the North Carolina mountains. Things are just so much more peaceful there. I love the winding roads, the cool breeze, and all the mountain streams.

We recently drove up to Price Park with family for a simple picnic and to let the kids play in the creek. We saw a surprising number of water snakes, which the kids thought was thrilling (me, not so much). And the kids loved trying to catch little fish (which reminded them of the fish we have in our aquarium at home).

It was fun spending time with family. I was really glad my aunt Kay and Grandma could come with us.

My camera's battery ran out right as we pulled up to the Moses Cone Manor, near Boone, NC, so sadly, I missed videotaping lot of really pretty scenery. Hopefully, you'll enjoy what I was able to capture.

Beth's Acting Debut

2011-08-16T09:59:00.004-04:00

Beth participated in a Kinetic Theater Camp last week. She loved it. She designed and made costumes, created puppets, and put on a fabulous show. The group worked together for less than twenty hours before their first performance, and then they also performed at the grand opening of the new arts center here. I was impressed with the entire group, and I loved how excited Beth was to participate each day. Even better she called people and invited them to come on her own. Thanks to all of you that supported her by coming out. She really appreciated it! I think we may have found the thing that makes Beth shine!

Long Time No See

2011-07-24T19:46:00.002-04:00

So it's been a super long time since I've posted. Yes it has. Now I'm supposed to give some excuse about why but I don't really have one. I've wanted to do other things that update. Silly I know, but we've been doing our same old routine. The kids are out of school for the summer and driving me batty. I never thought I'd be one of those moms that dread summer and look forward to sending my kids back to school, and in some ways I'm not. I love having them home with me, when they aren't fighting, whining or vandalizing the house. It's been super hot the last week (as it has been lots of different places across the country), but it's even too hot to go swimming. And the park is definitely out of the question.

Beth is doing great. She had a two week stay in Hickory with Grandma and her cousin Chloe. They had lots of fun. Beth came back super tan, since I think she went swimming just about every day. She's learning that it's easier to just do what is asked rather than pitching a fit about it this summer. This is a good thing, although it can very grating when she is in the middle of learning this truth. This summer she "moved out." She sent me a letter telling me she was running away. And then pasted a sign on her door with our house number and the letter B after it. She happily posted one on the boys room with the letter C on it. Conveniently she doesn't have to follow our rules when she is living in her own place. She's had lots of play dates with friends, and has started to become a big help around the house when she wants to.

Caleb and Jacob stayed home with me, while Beth was at Grandma's. They went to a day camp here. And were the rabble rousers of the entire thing. Lots of crafts. Their favorite day was bug day. Caleb has shown a determination to get things done. He is doing his summer workbook faithfully in the hopes of either earning a double Bey Blade pack or a kid guitar. I think he'll decide once he gets there. He doesn't like the workbook, but he understands the reward at the end of it. He has built several elaborate roller coasters this summer. And he battles with his Bey Blades. He likes the show (which he discovered on the Roku). He has such a soft heart, and he tries to protects his brother and sister whenever he sees them getting into trouble.

Jacob has been busy acting as an artist this month. Unfortunately he has decorated our stairs with green crayon (it comes out with WD-40 and dish soap) and today our carpet with purple marker (so far the rubbing alcohol has not done the trick as recommended by Crayola's helpful website). Jacob has acquired a new skill set which includes reading your mind and using the spell "Wingardium Leviosa". He likes to wake me up in the morning by standing two inches from my face and whispering "Mom, it's Jacob. It's morning. I'm awake, come downstairs with me." He is our early riser this summer. (Beth will sleep as late as I'll let her.) He loves doing his workbook pages and is flying through with very little help from me. This means that he'll be very ready for kindergarten next year. My baby is growing up so fast. If he wants something he will say "I command you to . . ." Rob adores this, which means that it is happening much more frequently. Jacob is obsessed with the game Plants vs Zombies" and even convinced his aunt to download it to her iPad. He can tell what each plant or zombie does and which ones to match up, but I still have to play it for him. His speech is coming along.

We finally managed to go to the beach this last weekend. We've had car issues one right after the other this summer, and it resulted in me not having a car for a week and a half. But all is better, so we headed to the beach. We went to Fort Macon, the aquarium, the beach and the fort. The kids loved looking for ghosts at the fort. They also had fun at the beach since it was a yellow flag day the waves were rougher, and good for boogie boarding. It was a good trip.

Rob and I celebrated our 12th anniversary a few weeks ago. It doesn't feel like we've been married that long. But I guess we better have with a kid that's almost ten. Yikes. He's busy working with the 11 year old scouts. It's got its ups and downs, but I think he likes it overall. I'm in the primary and I like it. So simple and fun. That's about it for now. I hope you all have a good week!

2 Agent Contests

2011-07-12T09:46:00.002-04:00

If you are interested in pitching to agents you have to check out these two contests!

1- YATopia is hosting an elevator pitch contest with Bree Ogden. Awesome right? The contest is open until midnight on July 13th. Genres are Middle Grade and YA and the manuscript must be completed!

2 - LoveYA is holding a Twitter Pitch contest with Kristin Miller from D4EO Literary agency. She is looking for young adult and middle grade books. And the books need to be completed.

Enter both or one. Either way you are looking at two great agents reading your ideas! Good Luck!

Happy Mothers' Day

2011-05-08T20:04:00.001-04:00

I created a short little slideshow for Julie and my mom and thought I'd share it. Enjoy.

Carowinds!

2011-05-01T18:35:00.005-04:00

This weekend, we pulled the kids out of school and went to Carowinds. It was an exciting day, and not too hot or crowded. Beth went on her first "loop de loop" roller coaster with her cousin Chloe, plus she rode her first wooden roller coaster (it was big), and inverted coaster. Honestly it was a big day for her. Plus she learned that she loves spin rides.

Caleb rode on the wooden roller coaster (it was small, but bigger than all the other ones he's been able to ride) five times. He also hit many other fun and scary rides and had a lot of fun. He's ready for the big coasters, but unfortunately not quite tall enough. It's frustrating as a parent, because we see kids lots younger than he is, but tall, and they are riding all the rides Caleb wants to go on.

Jacob rode the smallest roller coaster once, and a few other rides. He started out on a ride that was a bit more intense than Rob and I thought it would be. So he was overly cautious most of the day. Still he had fun and was happy.

Rob rode the three big roller coasters with Beth and then Afterburn and The INTIMIDATOR twice. And he hung out with the kids and had a good time overall. I know he had fun hanging out with Karen and the cousins too.

Then we had a nice relaxing day in Hickory. Jacob got to pick strawberries, which he has been asking to do for weeks. The boys got to go crazy in the backyard and have fun in general. Beth hung out with Chloe and her friends and swam in the lake (yuck!) but she loved it of course. All in all it was a good week.

Rob is finally getting over his round of strep. He ended up being home with us for most of Spring Break because he was sick and contagious, and then he had Friday off. He enjoyed playing Portal 2 and sleeping a lot. He slept during the day and played at night.

I've been thinking a lot about the severe weather and all the people who are affected by the tornados in Alabama. In some ways it makes me feel so helpless, and at the same time it makes me grateful for the gospel and the hope it brings. Our stake is getting together a group of people to head down there this weekend to actually help clean up the debris and help. Things like this make me want to hold my kids closer and cherish every moment that we have together. Family is what really matters, because in the end it's the only think you can take with you, no matter what.

Have a great week!

Conversation on Math

2011-04-22T21:50:00.002-04:00

Beth has decided she wants to be meteorologist. This conversation happened after she told me.

Beth: I hate it when teachers call on you when you aren't raising your hand.

Mim: You should raise your hand more, so they'll stop calling on you.

Beth: They only do it when I don't know the answer or I'm not paying attention.

Mim: Well you should be paying attention in class.

Beth: But math is boring.

Mim: You'll need math to be a meteorologist.

Beth: But math is boring.

Mim: You still need to pay attention.

Beth: Math was more fun when you could eat it. I got to eat my math in kindergarten.

Spring Break!

2011-04-19T13:38:00.002-04:00

This week is Spring Break--and I have been worried about keeping the kids happy. I've also looked at it as a trail run for the upcoming summer. We need lots of activities fast, and a clean house to keep us all happy. So far I don't know if that's going to happen.

Our week started off with a bang on Saturday with some rough weather that moved through the area. We are all fine, but we went to visit the kids' school, and their playground is covered in downed trees, and a power line or two. If school wasn't already out, I'm sure our kids would have missed school yesterday.

As it was Beth had a skate party to go, and so I took the boys to the roller rink for the first time ever. Of course it brought back memories of middle school, and the few times I went roller skating in college to pull on the heavy skates. I put on my skates so I could take the boys out on the rink, but neither of them ventured up to that. Instead they played games in the arcade. Caleb's really good at skee ball. And cashed in tickets to get prizes. Always a rip off.

Also Caleb colored Jacob's hair with magic markers yesterday, so Jacob was sporting punk rocker red and green striped hair. It washed out last night. I'm grateful for that since Jacob has his well visit today, and I don't want to give a bad impression to the pediatrician.

Beth's already complaining of boredom. Every suggestion is a no. We even went to the library to her her favorite books to read, and she won't be bothered to pick them up.

So far today we've been on a long walk (2 miles--Jacob did really well, only had to be carried the last half block home). And we've dyed the Easter eggs. They've rescued a caterpillar and managed to make a big mess downstairs. The boys are having fun together though.

Have a great Easter!

Streppin' It

2011-03-27T18:56:00.002-04:00

So Beth has strep, and I'm pretty sure the boys do as well. I'm taking them in tomorrow to find out. And Rob will likely go in and get checked, and I need to as well. So that in and of itself sums up my week. Actually it hasn't been a bad week. Caleb's overtired and over wrought and he only gets that way when he has strep throat, but overall the kids have been pretty chipper.

We didn't have a grand exciting adventure to share since we were home sick, but I did visit Beth's orchestra class at school this week. I listened to a mini concert and then they made me play the violin. I could read the music, and attempt the fingering, but drawing the bow across the strings was not pleasant. Later that day Beth told Rob "Mom was awful" though she had been quite encouraging at school.

Beth is participating in a lemonade War at school. Each third grade class is operating a lemonade stand during lunch to raise money for cancer. The unit is based on a book about a girl named Alex who had cancer and had a lemonade stand to fight cancer. Beth's class has raised over $300 in a week, and it goes on for another week. The unit is great because it teaches about economics, price point, advertising/marketing as well as giving them the chance to help out a good cause. I'm very impressed with the teachers on this unit.

Rob wants to know what I'm writing about. He's on his iPad and very happy to be looking at it. he's tired and feels streppy, so the peace and quiet is a good thing.

Jacob and Caleb both had uneventful weeks, and sometimes those are just the type of weeks that you need to have.

Arf! Weddings

2011-03-14T21:39:00.003-04:00

Most of you don't know my brother Bob. He's pretty awesome, and since high school, Arf has been his catch phrase. This weekend he got married, and I got to be there. It was a really tiring trip to be honest. I flew out to Utah and took Beth with me. Then the next day we drove up to Idaho for the wedding. I got to visit with my friend Katrina briefly before we did wedding stuff, and then on Saturday was the wedding, Sunday we drove back to Utah so we could catch our flight home at 6:30 am. Needless to say I was exhausted when I got home.

But I came home to a wonderfully clean house thanks to my mother-in-law, Gail, who took over my duties so I could go out to Utah. And then my kids threw me a wonderful birthday party. The decorations were books and chocolate bars (for Rob's they did all things Mac (iPods, iPads, and laptops) they got my interests down pat. Then we played search for the book and pin the chocolate bar on the mouth. We ate some birthday cake, which Gail made before she went home, and had a great day.

It's so nice to be with my kids and Rob again. I loved seeing my family back in Utah, but I missed my own family so much. I don't have any pictures, because I don't bother with cameras, which is sad in a way I guess, but it lets me focus on the moment that's going on right now.

This week we are getting back in to the swing of things. Beth is getting over a cold, and having a hard time adjusting to the time change. Caleb is doing great, and Jacob is sweet as usual. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's day, and so we must all wear some form of green. It's also Parent Teacher conferences for Beth. We'll see how she's doing this year.

Hope you all have a great day!

Geocaching

2011-02-27T21:35:00.002-05:00

Rob gets on kicks, and then we spend a lot of time doing the thing that he is currently enamored with. This year he has loved board games namely Ticket to Ride, Dominion and Carcassonne. Unfortunately these are not kid games, which means lots of late nights spent around the kitchen table, muttering at each other. I like Dominion the best, because I can figure out my strategy early on, and win. However, things can turn ugly, but that is only on my side. I learned at a young age (I think I was around 8--I learned that I can't play certain games without losing my cool. Unfortunately so did my babysitter, who was sitting on the porch locked out of the house when my parents got home --I still don't play Monopoly and I don't like Risk either for similar reasons and lapses in temper.) So these games kind of walk that line--but so far no major moments of no longer speaking to my husband.

That was a long tangent to say Rob is currently in love with geocaching. We tried it a bit last year when Rob first got his iPad. And while I still look back at that day as extremely frustrating, when we couldn't find three cache's and two of our three kids ended up with ticks (something I live in mortal fear of--it's not rational, I know), I kind of hoped then his interest would die quietly. But no it didn't.

Rob is a geocaching king right now. For family home evening we went geocaching at a nearby park, found two caches in the dark and let the kids run around on the playground. Last weekend in Hickory Rob went out two separate times hunting for geocaches, because that is what he does when he's on a kick. So no surprise when we ended up geocaching yesterday.

It started out simple enough, we hit three geocaches in less than three hours, easy to find track, and the kids were happy. Then we had just two left. I personally was ready to go home. But I agreed to do the last two and then go home. We parked at a local school, and then went around the grounds trying to figure out where it was. Not on the grounds, which meant walking out of the parking lot, along a road to the forest surrounding it.

At first I didn't think it was that big of a deal. We could traipse a few feet into the woods and not be in any danger. But then we kept going, and going and going. The further in we got the more brambles were growing--I'd hate to be hiking in there in the summer. It'd be a mess. There were no trespassing signs, but we kept going. It was eerily still in the woods, though a busy road was just about 100 feet away. I kept seeing old liquor bottles and smashed up beer cans, and other evidence that people sometimes visited these woods. In fact I've never been somewhere where I was so sure I'd turn and suddenly see a dead body on the ground--Rob even agreed with me. And then came the point where we had to jump a fence.

I turned to Rob and told him I didn't think I was up for that. He agreed with me, but then was just going to leave me there. So Rob helped the kids jump the fence, and then he did, and then I did, but not without getting some serious bruises. We did find the cache, but I'm not going back in those woods again. It's so not my thing.

Caleb, Beth and Jacob are doing really well. I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with the funny things they've said the last few weeks, and drawing a total blank. They've been fun, and funny the whole time.

Beth went with me to a book signing on Friday night. It was awesome five amazing authors spoke about writing, and I took Beth since one of the writer's had her name, and so I wasn't a total geek all by myself. I think next time I'll go by myself because Beth was bored. But she did really well sitting quietly and begging to play with my phone. Then she talked to the writer's and everyone thought she was cute. It was a nice time to spend one on one with her.

Jacob's sweet tooth is getting worse every day. He'll climb up the cupboards to get at the sugar, and begs me to buy him sweets like fruit roll ups or brownies. But he is drinking more milk, which is a good thing. He had a teddy bear picnic on Friday, and had a hard time deciding which one of his favorite animals to choose. He also took a bath with his friend on a play date here without asking. I was mortified, but fortunately, his friend's mom was here too and very understanding.

Caleb seems to be quite happy. He's doing well in school, and is my early riser. Up and at 'em before anyone else in the family. His energy is boundless.And his enthusiasm very loud. Today he spotted two ghosts in the house before church started, while Beth slept as late as possible, and Jacob followed his game screaming at unearthly hours.

Have a good week!

Science Fair Projects and Egg Drops

2011-02-13T21:00:00.003-05:00

This week was the science fair at school. Both Beth and Caleb had decided to enter early this year. And we had gone to the library over a month ago to get books, and do the reports. Neither of them wanted to do an experiment. They both wanted to do a model. Beth on hurricanes and flooding, and Caleb on Volcanoes. The fact that we had gone to the library early didn't mean that everything was done when this week rolled around. So we had two late nights on Monday and Tuesday as the kids wrote reports, typed them up and created display boards. Beth interviewed people and so did Caleb. (Thanks if you helped---Gail, Bob, and Renee). Beth got a red ribbon (2nd place) and Caleb got a blue ribbon (first place). We were super proud of both of them.

There was also an egg drop at Math and Science night, and everyone competed. Beth put her egg in jello and basically just dropped it down. And it worked. Caleb had a balloon contraption with a parachute and it worked. And jacob dropped it with a parachute in a Halloween pumpkin. It didn't work. But they all had fun, and then we went and explored the many hands on interactive science experiments throughout the school. It's our favorite event that Washington puts on each year. It's awesome!

We celebrated Valentines a bit early this year with a trip to Chipotle's. Yum. And today is twelve year's from the day that Rob officially proposed. So wow! I'm so glad that we got married and and have been able to spend this time together. he gets me in a way that no one else does. I've been teasing him the last few days to see if he remembers the day he proposed, and he can't. So I laugh at him. But he does remember the important parts of the day itself. So that's what's really important.

Have a great week!

Beach and Back to School

2011-01-30T20:35:00.009-05:00

Last weekend we took the kids to the beach to celebrate the boys birthdays. it was a lot of fun. Although the chlorine in the pool was a bit strong for my taste. The cousins and Gail came down and I think almost everyone had a great time. Poor Chloe got hit with a stomach bug while we were there. Rob took beautiful photos and he may inset a link in a bit, but I'm feeling too lazy to do it.

Beth had a stressful week this week. She was stressed about taking a standardized test at school. On top of that the science fair is coming up in the next week and a half and she has been working on the project. She wants to do it on hurricanes and flooding. She built a city out of paper and then put it completely underwater. While her effort was great, the accuracy and information wasn't quite right, so we will be working on a another model this week. However she can spout random facts about how much each category of hurricane will typically flood, and things about storm surge. She has been doing the research on the project.

Caleb turned six this week. He's doing well in school, and is overall happy. He came down with a little bug on Tuesday and missed school on Wednesday. It was just a little bug, but he slept a lot on Wednesday. His big gift for his birthday was a Flying Turtle. This video convinced him that the Flying Turtle was the right choice for him. There are some awesome videos of teenagers flying down hills in California that Rob showed to me too. We warned Caleb he might get hurt, and Rob said one of the biggest drawbacks was that he might get bloody knuckles. Caleb would randomly talk about it during the week, and be very excited about his opportunity to get bloody knuckles.

Well yesterday we took the kids out to the park to play on their toys--Jacob got something similar which I will describe in a minute-- and Caleb was riding on his Flying Turtle. To be honest Rob was just as keen to sit on the Flying Turtle, and he went down this hill on the walk to one park, and laughed the whole time. He got going pretty fast on it. There is a ramp that Rob wanted to ride down on the way back. The ramp leads up to a bridget that goes over the interstate and cuts back and forth several times with really sharp turns and huge drop offs over the side, with a fence that the Flying Turtle would just slide under. To be honest I wasn't too crazy about Rob riding it down that ramp because I just saw an emergency room trip with broken limbs, and trying to figure out how to get Rob to the car all busted up and broken. So when we got back to the ramp Rob decided not to ride it, and the next thing I know Caleb is going down it. He almost made it but flipped the Flying Turtle on the last turn and scraped up one arm pretty badly. But that's all he did thank goodness. Helmets are mandatory.

So Jacob got his present this week too. He got a plasma car. This is a video of the thing. Rob has been wanting to get one of these for the kids for years. Instead of the typical wheels featured on the fairly tame video--Rob upgraded to skateboard wheels. I took Jacob to the bus stop and let him ride it and I couldn't keep up with him running as fast as I could. There is a slight (very slight) hill and it took off super fast. If you ask Jacob how old he is he will hold up his fingers and say four and then he will count his fingers for you. I think it is quite cute. He also refers to himself in third person, but as Jacob Caldwell, not just Jacob. So he may come to me and say Mom, Jacob Caldwell wants some ice cream or Mom Jacob Caldwell is sleepy. Also if you ask him his name he will tell you Jacob Caldwell Joshua. Very fun.

Rob is having fun, and loved riding the Flying Turtle. I think he would have ridden the plasma car, but the thing won't hold his weight right now.

Take care!

Catch the Biggest Films This Year

2011-01-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

As soon as I showed the kids the new movie trailer feature in iMovie 11, they just had to make a few. So save up your pocket change for tickets and popcorn, cause these films are Academy Award material. Well, maybe just a Golden Globe or two .....

The Pizza Sandwich

2011-01-06T10:37:00.002-05:00

Jacob just came to me complaining of hunger.

Me: Do you want a peanut butter sandwich or a meat sandwich?

Jacob: A peanut butter and JAM sandwich

Me just realizing we have leftover pizza: Do you want a peanut butter JAM sandwich or a piece of pizza?

Jacob: A peanut butter jam PIZZA sandwich

Me: Peanut butter and pizza wouldn't be very good together

Jacob: A Pizza Sandwich

Me: No

Jacob: You just take two pieces of bread and put a pizza in between

Me: I'm not making it

Jacob: I will

He went and got the bread, and the pizza and made it himself--and ate most of it.

Christmas and Disney World

2011-01-02T21:15:00.006-05:00

A busy Christmas vacation. We drove to Florida on Christmas day. The roads were pretty empty most of the day--still not my favorite thing to do on Christmas. We had the kids open presents the day before complete with a visit from Santa. So they still got Christmas, and a Christmas Eve celebration the night before where we acted out the nativity.

The big present for everyone were Razer scooters. The kids are doing great on them. Although they've only ridden them three times. It's been too cold and icky. Even Jacob has mastered balancing and going. They have a lot of fun on them.

Rob got Caleb a marble roller coaster, which is actually pretty awesome. There have been many coasters built with short tempers and rising frustration. I think this happens when someone gets a toy he really wants to play with himself, but gives it to his kid instead. Happily today was the first built roller coaster with no yelling, snapping or frustration. It was an out and back coaster and a lot of fun. Rob is already talking expansion kits (notice the plural) and a goal of filling the entire house with a huge roller coaster.

Beth got mostly crafts and a circuit set. In her letter to Santa with the cookies she requested some photos of Santa and the elves. Well Santa delivered and it cemented her faith in him. She showed those pictures off as often as she could the next few days.

Jacob got a Batman castle since he is so fascinated by Batman currently. He is in a Batman suit complete with cape and mask more than he is in normal clothes. He's enjoyed playing with it. Rob got Jacob dressed for church today by convincing him that he needed to be Bruce Wayne for awhile and disguise himself in a suit and tie. He gave him the entire spiel and had Jacob repeat back his name and profession. "Bruce Wayne --millionaire playboy" in the hopes that Jacob would introduce himself that way at church. When I picked him up from Sunbeams he was talking about Batman with his teachers, so it may have worked.

So my baby started Sunbeams today. It's hard to believe. I look at him and he's not a baby anymore. He looks grown up, and has a fun personality all his own. Sometimes it makes me so proud other times I'm sad since I won't have another little one at home. Still I'm so proud of him--his transition was smooth and he can be mature when he wants to be.

Disney World was fun, but crowded and cold. We went early, and got there when it had just opened. And managed to squeeze in five rides in less than three hours. That was good time considering walking. It got crowded around lunch time and the lines got long. Rob was looking at an article talking about crowd control in Disney World during the busiest times and how they've managed to get the average number of rides ridden up to 10 for the day. Well we put that number to shame we counted everything we did and we got up over fifteen. That's not shabby considering we went on one of the most crowded days of the year.

Also consensus on best rides were roller coasters. Jacob rode the Barnstormer twice in a row and whoo hooed the whole way! Chloe loved Space Mountain. Caleb's and Beth's favorite was Big Thunder Mountain hands down. Beth only rode it because Kim agreed to ride with her, and they were both nervous about the ride. Now Beth wants to go back to Busch Gardens to ride Loch Ness.

It was nice to see family in Florida. They had fun playing with the kids down there. They are close to our kids age. We call them cousins, though I don't know what they are technically. Rob's cousin's son's kids.

Now we are ready - okay I'm ready - to send the kids back to school. It's been a nice week and half off, but the troops are getting restless and the weather hasn't let us get the kids out to play as much as I like.

Have a great 2011!

Beth's Concert

2010-12-21T14:31:00.002-05:00

This comes via another parent's posting of the concert. That's why the videos aren't embedded in the blog. Parts 1 and 2 have Beth. Part 3 are soloists and Parts 4 and 5 is advanced or continuing orchestra.

Part 1
Part 2

Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Busy Week

2010-12-20T14:40:00.003-05:00

This last week was busy. Beth had her first orchestra concert. She did a great job! I was actually very impressed with the orchestra and the band that played at the assembly. These are elementary school kids, and the songs weren't particularly complicated, but still they were playing real songs. Beth also turned 9. It makes me feel old to have a 9 year old particularly since I wasn't exactly young when I had her. She had a nice dinner out for her birthday.

Caleb is very enthusiastic about the upcoming holiday season. He is so positive about everything. He managed to somehow put a big crick in his neck on Saturday at Grandma's house. It was bad enough that we went to the emergency room to make sure everything was fine. We don't mess around with neck injuries. His neck is still quite stiff, but he is doing better every day. We were playing games as a family yesterday and he went out of his way to make sure everyone had a chance to win. That is the type of person Caleb is. He is always looking out for others.

Jacob is out of school for Christmas break (yes that means the other two aren't yet) and he is anxiously waiting for Christmas. I'm actually really proud of him, because he hasn't opened any of the presents under the tree. He wants to, because he has asked multiple times, but he hasn't. He learned Jingle Bells for his Christmas program, which we missed due to a doctor's appointment, and he will sing it for you if you ask. Very cute. Good news from the doctor--he grew a lot. They were worried before because his growth wasn't much. But his weight leveled out almost completely. The doctor said she wasn't too worried since he was getting over the flu. I was worried going to the appointment because I knew that his weight gain wouldn't be great--not eating much for two weeks will do that to a guy.

Rob is slowly getting better, and is looking forward to time off to spend with the kids. The plan is for him to take over my duties so I can get a lot of work done over the holidays. It should start tomorrow.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas!

Fish Funerals and Bus Accidents

2010-12-13T17:49:00.002-05:00

Today was an eventful day for the kids. First off everyone is fine. Just fine.

Caleb came running off of the bus yelling "Mom something awful happened on the bus today."

"What?" Immediately I thought of throw up. Really what could be ickier than throw up on the school bus you are on. Uggh!

Beth and Caleb together: "We were in accident on the bus."

Me: "What?"

Beth: "A car ran a red light and hit us."

Caleb: "This morning before school."

Me: "Was anybody hurt? Are you telling me the truth?" (I'm wondering why the school didn't call me--to the point that I am calling the school tomorrow--even if no one is hurt I should be informed so I can make an educated decision about the situation.)

Apparently the police came and the other car was very smashed up on one side. No ambulance came. The kids had to wait for a police report to be filled out before they went on to school.

Rob got home from work and checked on the fish. One had been looking quite sickly, and Rob almost put it down before he left for work. It passed away today. So the kids had a funeral for Zippy.

The gravestone said: "Here Lies Zippy R.I.P"

The kids said a few words

Jacob: Fish go live with Heavenly Father and let him take care of you.

Caleb: Go have a nice day with Heavenly Father

Beth: Zippy I hope you have a great life in heaven.

This is the first fish we've had die in the two years we've had fish. We had five zebra danios as a gift from Santa. When we got them we figured we would have a bunch of fishy funerals in the first few months as Rob acclimated the tank, but he managed to keep them alive. A zebra danio's life expectancy is about two years. So Rob has done an excellent job on the care of the fish. The other four look healthy, but they are nearing their life expectancy, so we are expecting a few more fishy funerals in the next months.

Everyone is doing okay so far. Have a good week!

Catching Up--Big Time!

2010-12-12T18:09:00.003-05:00

Wow! It's been a really, really long time since I've posted about the family. No excuses from me. But I'm going to try really, really hard to get back to posting once a week again. We'll see how it goes. The blog's been similar to my journal writing, really consistent for a bit, and then not so consistent for a long time.

Elisabeth is turning 9 this week. Blows me away to consider the fact that I've been a mom for that long, but that aside it's been a great nine years. She wanted and got a bike for her birthday. She also had a half slumber with ten girls over. There were some moments when I really wondered why we had invited all of them. Noisy, screaming, giggling girls. So far this year Beth has enjoyed school muchly. She's taking violin and her first concert is this week as well. I'm looking forward to it. She is growing up and can be quite helpful around the house when she wants to be. it's always a pleasant surprise to see what she has done next.

Caleb is adjusting to kindergarten. He's had his ups and downs friends wise with school, but I think he is making progress. Caleb has always been one to look out for other people's feelings and make sure that everyone else is happy and taken care of. He still does that. He'll make sure things are divided fairly or even give up some of his prize without me asking to make sure his brother and sister are happy. He's very energetic and loves to make people laugh. His biggest accomplishment off the week is armpit farting. He can go on with it for hours. This week we went to a work party with Rob, and he asked if he could do it there. (he really is proud of it) and I told him no. He asked me what if there was a grown up band of armpit farters. I said if you see such a thing you can join in. Today he was saying the opening prayer in primary and going along great, but then he suddenly said "blah, blah, blah" and then ended the prayer properly. I almost laughed out loud.

Jacob is doing good. He was pretty sick along with Rob for about two weeks, but he is over it now. Sadly his speech therapist moved on to a new position, and we will be getting a new one. This really made me sad. I don't know that Jacob quite realizes yet, but the last session the speech therapist and I were both in tears. She really helped Jacob move from not making any sounds to talking almost nonstop now. He's doing well overall, and lately I've got myself looking at him and thinking that my baby is just so big. He is missing having Caleb home with him, but preschool is helping with that, and his playdates with Miles. He is going to move up to Primary next month, and they had his class join sharing time today. Jacob sat so still with the biggest grin on his face. He was so proud of himself, and it was adorable.

Rob is recovering from pneumonia. It's been a very long three weeks, and I think he has at least another really tired one to go. But he did manage to kick his Dr. Pepper habit during that time. He told me that he hasn't had any caffeine at work or at home since. I didn't think it would actually happen. But he seems determined not to start back up since he got through the worst of it.

As for me, I'm still juggling everything that comes my way, and hopefully not dropping too many balls at once. I just telling myself that I've got the most important ones up in the air and everything else will work out. Take care!

Things from a Kid's Point of View

2010-10-28T15:59:00.001-04:00

Caleb:

"Mom are you going to be gone five grown up minutes or five kid minutes? Because they are different."

(When I got back)

"Mom you were gone six kid minutes"

Jacob:
(He wants a Batman birthday party at Myrtle Beach with friends)

"Mom I love you as much as Myrtle Beach"

Caleb's First Video

2010-10-04T20:18:00.001-04:00

Now, it's time for Caleb to get featured in his first video I ever shot of him. I hope you enjoy all of Beth's silly dancing.

Caleb's First Video from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

Beth's Day at the Park

2010-10-04T10:19:00.002-04:00

One of the first videos I made with Elisabeth. Seems like only yesterday.

Elisabeth's Day at the Park from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

Myrtle Beach

2010-09-27T17:53:00.004-04:00

We had a great time visiting Myrtle Beach with family, thanks to Karen and my mom for letting us mooch off them for a few days. They had a nice hotel reserved for Chloe's birthday, and it turned out there was plenty of room for some freeloaders, and we don't need to be asked twice, especially when there's free food and a beach involved.

We stayed at the Dunes Village resort, a great place for young kids. They had an indoor watermark that the kids loved. Caleb especially enjoyed the watersides, showing absolutely no fear. He even went down the scariest slide there, one that goes pretty much straight down, then causes you to go airborne for a split second, all inside a dark tunnel. You're supposed to be four feet or taller to ride, so I didn't really expect him to go down it, since he's not that tall. But I look away for one second and he's already at the bottom. He screamed all the way down--not screams of fear mind you, more gleeful than anyone. I guess when he's finally tall enough for roller coasters, I'll have another partner to ride the crazy ones with. He rode the slide five times in a row. Then, all of a sudden he told me he didn't like it, that it was just too scary. I said, "but you've been laughing all the way down. Why the heck did you ride it so many times if you didn't like it?" He told me he just wanted to keep riding it to see if it ever changed.

Jacob loved floating around the lazy river and pretending to be a pirate. We looked at other kids as we passed them by and yelled out at them, "Arrr! Avast!"

Beth loved getting her face painted and spending the night in Chloe's room with Chloe and Tori, a friend. Karen let them all jump on the hotel beds, a highlight of the trip, I'm sure. She also liked talking with the lifeguard at the top of the watersides, though I'm sure she would tell you she wasn't flirting--she was just being friendly.

We played mini-golf at a small course at the hotel. Jacob held his club backwards and awkwardly struck at the ball as if he was trying to club a small woodland animal. And what do you know, he got a hole in one. Pretty amazing stuff.

I climbed in a hammock to take a break from the grueling round of golf and Caleb promptly tried to tip the hammock over and dump me on the ground.

The kids loved the beach. It was perfect weather--not too hot and with a nice breeze. Jacob loved jumping waves. Beth and Caleb loved using their new boogie boards to surf waves. At night, there was an amazing full moon over the water. I really wish I had taken a tripod; I could have gotten some amazing shots of the harvest moon over the water with some fishermen's silhouettes in the foreground.

I did take some video. My apologies to everyone that is not in it. I was a slacker and never had the camera with me. The kids also kept me in the pool most of the time. Everything you see on the video was shot in about 15 minutes on the second day we were there.

I love the beach. I rarely want to leave. I think if I could live near the ocean I certainly would. I need to start checking want ads for Wilmington =)

Myrtle Beach and Fort Fisher 2010 from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

Canoeing the New River

2010-09-17T17:42:00.003-04:00

I had a great time with friends canoeing the New River. Hope you enjoy the video.

Video from Brevard

2010-08-23T19:54:00.001-04:00

We recently took a trip to Brevard, NC with family. We had a great time. The kids loved swimming in the river and standing near waterfalls. The water was freezing, as always. We camped two nights. It was the first time Beth camped, and she loved it, which made me really happy. I can't wait till we can go on river rafting trips =)

Hope you enjoy our little video. And as always, click on the actual vimeo link to view the video in HD (720p).

Human Sling Shots, and Fire Alarms

2010-07-27T09:44:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was quite the day. All day long there were moments when I thought I just have to blog about that. So here is the post.

First Caleb created a human slingshot by tying an exercise band between the two railings on the stairs. He was pulling himself up the stairs in the band, ready to launch himself when I walked down the stairs. Good thing too, since he was aimed at a wall only a few feet from the base of the stairs. We don't want another broken arm.

Next we had a great test of all of our smoke detectors. Last night we had BLTs for dinner, yummy. And so I could bacon. I didn't burn any bacon, but it got kind of smokey in the apartment. Well the downstairs smoke detector went off, and so I ran around opening windows, and then the ones upstair went off. We had five smoke detectors going off at the same time, and I couldn't turn them off. Believe me I tried. The kids were flipping out, and It was so loud I'm sure you could hear it out on the street. But now we know they really work, and they work well. So we will be safe in the event of a fire.

Beth likes to pretend she's a dog sometimes and last night she told me she was half dog. I asked which half was dog my half or Rob's, and she replied "My unique half." It was a good answer, but really made me laugh.

She also told me that she's convinced that Jacob is already potty trained, but that he wants prizes, so he pretends not to be so he can be spoiled. Yesterday we went out and got a poopy basket and filled it with toys so that when he poops on the potty he will be rewarded, since that is his major hang up. We also got a Buzz Light Year toy that he will get after being accident free fora week or two. And yesterday he was completely accident free, and very excited about his new toys and prizes. She just may be right. He was trained in April and then backslid, and so we are looking for him to get motivated so that he'll do it and we can be done.

The kids have had a busy summer with swim lessons, a trip to the beach, a visit to Hickory and some geocaching (which involved the kids getting ticks) and other exciting Saturday activities. Have a great summer!

Some Funnies

2010-06-29T12:17:00.002-04:00

Recent conversation:

Beth: Mom tell Caleb what a birthmark is?

Me: Why don't you tell him?

Beth: A birthmark is a mark you get when you are born so we know that you don't come from an alien planet.

We visited Busch Gardens recently and went on a ride that was called Tidal Wave at Lagoon, I don't remember the name at Busch Gardens, but it's big boat that goes back and forth swinging up and down. Beth wouldn't go on it, but it was one of the real rides even the boys could do. So they went. They were having a pretty could time, until people started screaming, and then Jacob started crying. We talked afterwards about how screaming makes the ride more fun, and you are supposed to scream. Jacob said: So I'll say Woo Hoo! And then he insisted that he wanted to ride it again, and he Woo Hooed the whole ride through the second time.

Caleb sat down with me to practice reading yesterday, and managed to successfully sound out the words we were going to cover. Reading with pictures is a problem because eh tries to just tell the story instead of looking at the words, but he is doing awesome. His cast is off after eight weeks, and now he is in a splint for another month. Poor Guy--but he can go swimming!

Overheard

2010-05-17T16:46:00.001-04:00

Overheard conversation: Beth and Caleb were arguing about which one should be dropped off for school first since Caleb's is closer and starts at nine, but Beth's is farther away and starts at 9:10--which means Caleb is always late for school when I have to drive Beth.

Beth: Caleb I can't be tardy, and that's why mom always drops me off first.

Caleb: What's tardy?

Beth: It's when they put a mark on your report card. And if I get a tardy it will affect whether or not I can go to a good college. BYU is a good college while some other ones aren't, and I really want to go to BYU or at least Mom wants me to. That's why I'm first.

Changes in the Way We Do Things

2010-04-28T22:13:00.003-04:00

After a few disturbing stories about predators and photos of children on the Internets, we are changing the way we do the blog. Rob and I have been going back and forth on this issue for as long as we have had the blog, but a particular event pushed us to take steps. Currently we are simply password protecting all video and pictures that are posted to the blog. This means we can post the link to the slideshows and videos, you click on it and then enter a password to view.

We want to share our lives with you, without letting all the creepies in the world join in. So you can email me at miriam (dot) caldwell (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you the password. I just have to verify that you aren't a creepy. Please don't hesitate to email me requesting the password. Rob and I are both a bit worried that this will put off old friends, that we aren't in touch with on a regular basis or make people feel uncomfortable. Basically if we can verify that one of us has met you in real life and we don't consider you scary you'll get the password.

Okay now that the awkwardness is all out of the way a bit of an update.

Last Saturday we went to the zoo and met Gail and Eldon who brought along Chloe. Beth and Caleb were excited to see her nice green cast, and I think they were a little jealous of her broken arm. It was a fun trip, not a lot of pressure, with some walking. It wasn't hot, which was super nice, but Rob didn't take the camera since they were calling for rain. It didn't rain while we were there, but Gail and Eldon left early because of Tornado Watches or Warnings.

Sunday was a typical day, but the rest of the week has just been one thing after another. Monday was okay. But Tuesday was rough. My day consisted of cleaning a broken plate and finger painting on the wall. Then we headed to the library where a little girl went missing. It was awful, she was found, but I still shake inside when I think about it. The poor mom. It really bothered Caleb, he still talks about her screaming (in grief, panic, terror). The police came. They found the little girl. But everyone at the library was really shaken up. And then we come home. It doesn't get better unfortunately. I'm taking care of a few phone calls downstairs, and then I hear Caleb crying. It's not a normal cry, and I run upstairs. He was walking towards me still screaming and clutching his arm. It looked bowed out and just funny. Plus Caleb's tough and shakes most things off.

So we head to the doctor. We left the house around 1:00 and got home after 6:00. He has a broken arm. He broke the Ulna on his left arm. It's a pretty bad break, the two pieces of bone were at an angle to each other. The radial bone is bowed out, and the doctor thinks it is probably broken as well, even though it didn't show up on the x-ray. Poor Caleb spent much of the afternoon whimpering, and wasn't happy when the doctor wrapped the cast and set the bone. He chose a green cast (no surprise since that is his favorite color) and was upset when the cast got hot as it hardened. He is already complaining of itching and he doesn't like the extra attention--at least not today.

I'd post a picture of the break, but it's in dropbox, and that's Rob's thing. I am just not that technologically savvy. I'm okay with that.

The rest of the kids are doing great. And Rob and I are trying not to feel like guilty parents. (Caleb was jumping off his dresser onto his bed for fun and landed on his arm--Jacob jumped again today---so hopefully no repeats.)

Funnies!

2010-04-20T15:50:00.002-04:00

Conversation:

Caleb: What are bulls?

Me: They're male mean cows with horns and nose rings.

Caleb: So they are dad cows that are mean to protect the babies from creditors.

Me: What are creditors?

Caleb: Bad guys who do mean things and steal.

So I didn't post . . .

2010-04-18T23:33:00.002-04:00

I didn't post last week. Nothing much had happened, and there weren't any funny stories to tell. I worked all weekend, and didn't want to spend the time on the computer. But this has been a new week. This weekend we were going to go visit the zoo, since we only have a month left on the membership, and we likely won't renew it over the summer unless we go to an aquarium again. It's just too hot to do the zoo all day in the summer.

But before we went (it was kind of a last minute decision to go) Rob decided he did want to go pick up this special release DVD of The Mountain Goats. We hurried to get in the car and drive twenty minutes to the one record shop in town that had some, but Rob neglected to tell me it was Record Store Day, which may have changed my willing ness to participate in this adventure. I drop Rob off since the parking there is awful. The store is right across from NC State on the no parking side, where they are installing the roundabouts. Meaning it's a mess. The plan was I'd do a loop or two and Rob would be out on the curb. So I loop once, really taking my time going through campus. Come back no Rob. Loop again, come back, no Rob. Loop again--no Rob. Finally after forty five minutes in the car, I decide Rob must have died and been carried off in an ambulance during one of my loops. So I find a parking spot on campus--so glad it's Saturday. Haul the three kids out of the car, and it starts to rain. Then we walk to the record store and walk in.

It is filled with old men and a line that wraps around the store. And Rob is still ten people back from the register. Wondering if they take debit cards, since everyone he's watched has paid cash, holding the LAST copy of the DVD in his hand. The kids are upset. I talked to him briefly, ask the person in front of him if they take cards (they do) and then haul the kids out of there back into the construction on the road, and we wait at the bell tower.

The kids still want to go the zoo, but I'm not too keen on the idea because we wouldn't get there until two and they close at five. But Rob's for it. But I make him check the air pressure in the tire. (And there are two previous stories where he brushed my concerns aside, but we won't go there) The air was low, and he filled it up, and found the nail that was causing the slow leak. So now I don't want to drive to the zoo. Even though I'm pretty certain we drove to the beach on that tire, because I filled it up with air a month ago.

So I suggest bowling to the kids. And they say okay, as long as we go to the zoo next week, which is our plan. Rob grumbles a bit about the bowling, but on some fluke we got mailed a certificate for four free games and shoe rentals. We'd only have to pay for one person to bowl, and that's a good deal. But we get to the bowling alley and they are in the midst of a hardcore tournament. So we leave, kids in tears.

Finally we determine to go to Earth Day in downtown Raleigh. The celebration was a lot of fun last year, but as soon as we get there we had issues. Poor Caleb is going through an extremely phobic stage. Pretty bad. And there are two things there he is afraid of dogs (lots of dogs) and the Fat Cat from the credit union, which is someone dressed up in the costume. We ended up touring the history museum, and then went back outside where Caleb had a complete meltdown, and then really hurt his dad. Yeah it was bad. So we left without doing anything at the festival. All three kids were crying, and Rob's eyes were watering something fierce. Plus he could barely walk.

To appease Beth and Jacob we decided to go to the Mordecai House (the haunted house) and check out some ghosts. The kids actually did amazingly well on the tour, which didn't talk about ghosts. It was a mall group us and three ladies. When we asked up the ladies didn't look too pleased and they whispered at each other. You know what I mean. But I'm proud to say that at the end of the tour they complimented us on our well-behaved kids, which isn't something we usually hear. Caleb is convinced there was a ghost because the rocking chair moved by itself. And Jacob wants to get a bathtub shaped like a hat that they had there.

On the way home we hit Sonic during happy hour and got some yummy drinks.

Caleb can write most of the alphabet. There are five letters he needs to work on. The only reason I share this is because i decided on Friday night that we should start working on his writing. So I sat down and said draw me an A Caleb. We went through the whole alphabet, and he'd tell me the sound and draw the letter. It's amazing to me since I haven't worked on it with him yet. And I never see him drawing and writing like Beth did at his age. Then we wrote words together, and he was able to sound most of them out. Super proud.

Beth is really starting to read more and she brought home several fours on her papers. Good stuff. I'm super proud. Jacob is doing amazing with speech. I've a feeling that we might be able to stop soon, but I don't want him to regress, so we'll see.

Have a great week everyone!

Fort Fisher Beach Trip

2010-04-05T01:15:00.003-04:00

Fort Fisher Beach from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

We recently visited the aquarium at Fort Fisher, NC. The kids loved jumping waves and playing in the sand at the beach. The water was unusually cold--freezing really. We were a bit bummed the civil war history museum was closed for the Easter holidays; the kids wanted to visit a real, live haunted Civil War fort.
And as always, I recommend you click the Vimeo link and watch the video full-screen and in HD on the vimeo site.

Easter!

2010-04-04T22:14:00.002-04:00

So Rob should be uploading video of the crazy fun that we had this week. One more day of Spring Break tomorrow, and then everything goes back to a normal schedule.

After Grandma's house the kids came home and had a pretty good week. We made cookies (and a huge mess), and then we dyed Easter eggs the next day. The kids loved that, even though they had already done it at Grandma's house. on Friday Rob had the day off and so we drove out to the beach for the day. I must say that I love where we live, where for a tank of gas, we can go spend a fun afternoon at the beach. We went to the aquarium, and then over to the beach. Rob wanted to hit Ft. Fisher, the actual fort, but it was closed. Rob wanted to see it because it is supposed to be haunted, but the kids were glad that it was closed. They were anti ghost on Friday--though it may be that they wanted to spend more time at the beach. They found a ton of HUGE seashells, and they were all whole. The great thing is that even though it was crowded it wasn't too bad.

There is something about staring out at the ocean that just brings me peace. I get the same feeling sitting the mountains or a forest or at a temple, but it is a wonderful thing. The water was freezing, and I can't believe that the kids spent as much time playing in it as they did. On the way home Rob and I had the whole buying a beach house (in our dreams) discussion. We do this nearly every time we go to the beach. I think it'd be nice to do, but only if we had enough money. We aren't at that point right now.

Then Saturday morning the Easter bunny came. Lots of fun, the kids got more Zhu Zhu pets, and the house thing and candy. Though we did significantly cut back on candy, and it is nearly gone right now. And I'm glad because it means no crazy melt downs or other silliness. Then we set in and watched Conference--which was really good in case you missed it. My major takeaway was the importance of spending quality time with your kids teaching about the gospel and building good relationships. It is nice to hear so much about focusing on your kids. I think it is a change from earlier generations (I could be wrong of course), but now I know so many families that do the same things that Rob and I do, which is spend good quality time doing things as a family, taking time to be together as a family. It is important to step away from the rush, and all of the activities that scatter you everywhere and spend time just being together, being friends and building relationships.

Anyway, sorry to get all philosophical on you all. I hope that you have a good week, and that you enjoy life. It's worth doing.

Spring Break!

2010-03-28T19:48:00.002-04:00

We have a whole week stretching out in front of us, and it should be a fun one. No school, no activities, nothing planned. The kids are at grandma's for a few days stay. So I'm going to have a whole day just to myself with Rob home in the evenings. Oh what bliss!

I've been trying to think of what has happened this last week, and I distinctly remember thinking of things to put on, but now I can't remember.

Caleb had fun this weekend playing with a big glider plane at Pap's. We almost gave it to Casey for his birthday, but decided that it was too young for him. The kids also rode bumper cars for the first time, had a cook out over a fire, and in general enjoyed themselves in Hickory--like always.

The drive home tonight was rough. We were nearly, very, very nearly in a car accident on the drive home. The weather was awful, and visibility was only about twenty feet. Cars started peeling off, and going off the road to avoid the accident that happened seconds before. It was pretty scary. All in all five cars were involved, but no one was hurt. It was one of those surreal moments, and I'm just grateful that we didn't hit anyone. The roads were really slick from the rain. And the road conditions got worse from there. There was a tornado siting in that area, and we are under a watch now. I'm sure we'll be fine, but it's not any fun driving in that kind of rain.

Later on, we're going to head to the beach. Just a day trip, and then the Easter bunny should come. Really it should be a lot of fun! I hope you guys all have a great week!

My Poor Boys!

2010-03-21T18:07:00.004-04:00

This week was spent at home. The boys were sick. All of my boys, although Rob did got to work. They boys finally felt better on Friday. Caleb went to school, Jacob had speech therapy. Things were getting back to normal. But then they both sacked out for several hour in the afternoon.

Everyone was a little stir crazy on Saturday. They wanted to go to the zoo. But I could tell they weren't up for that. We thought about a hike, since the weather was gorgeous, but no they couldn't handle that either. The solution was that we went and saw The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Caleb and Beth really enjoyed it. Jacob lasted a good hour, and then we had races up and down the aisle. All in all it was enjoyable.

It was Stake Conference today, and so that meant Rob had meetings yesterday, and then we had church two hours this morning. Caleb told me when we were getting ready to leave that his ear hurt. I wasn't surprised since Rob (the bringer of the sickness) had started with an earache on Friday. But Rob had already left, so we headed on to church. Rob ended up leaving and taking Caleb to Instacare. And then the doctor prescribed Amoxicilian (I forgot to remind Rob that he's allergic), but Caleb's been a patient there before and I know that it's in his chart and the hospital's computer system. Fortunately the pharmacist caught it. I really adore Rite Aid pharmacists. They've caught so many mistakes made by a wide variety of healthcare professionals for my family.

After Rob got home from the doctor with Caleb, Jacob started crying, and pulling on his ear. He's on Motrin, and we'll get him in tomorrow. So yeah, great day, my poor boys. Rob may head in for his ear as well.

On a positive note, Beth put on a play in her drama class at school, and she was fantabulous. Really great. She said her lines very clearly and pulled a cow up the roof and then went up the chimney with real grace. I love Beth's school, and all it gives to her.

Well that's the week. Hope you guys have a great one!

Gymnastics

2010-03-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

The kids really enjoy their gymnastics lessons each week. After trying out ballet, basketball, soccer, and other organized sports, it was nice to see the kids take to something so naturally. Caleb loves it. It's like the sport he was born to do. When I saw him walk a balance beam and swing from a bar the first time, I thought about how he's been swinging from his bed frames and walking roadside curbs for as long as I can remember. He's always been self-conscious of his smaller size, but gymnastics is something he can really excel at with his small size.

Thought you might like to see some photos. Sorry some of these are a bit blurry. It's tough taking action photos in dimly-lit gyms.

2010-03-14T18:45:00.002-04:00

So last week we went to the museum--this week we didn't. Rob spent most of the week suffering through a cold and trying to convince our stupid health insurance to cover the only medicine that works for him. (He did it because of HIPAA (secretly I was very happy for HIPAA since I deal with everyone else's stuff--we didn't know if he had authorized me on his forms, and then he had to talk to pharmacy's as well). The Jacob started running a fever Friday night, and he refuses to take any medicine. Literally he spits in your face. YOu can hold his mouth shut and do all sorts of things, and he ALWAYS wins the medicine battles. Thanks to Karen we tried chewables, and we had success. So he feels better today.

And then Karen and her family came into to town because Chloe had a gymnastics meet. I enjoyed it. Beth did too, and the boys did fairly well-though I think the only reason Jacob did so well is because he was sick. Then we took the kids over to the cousins' hotel and let them swim--yeah we let Jacob swim sick. But it brought his fever down, and there's chorine in the pool to kill germs right? They were up to late which resulted in Caleb being sick and no one going to church today. Actually I went to Sacrament meeting, but Rob told me he was too sick for me to to stay the whole time. He did sleep a lot once I got home.

My rant on the time change. I hate it! I just do. There is no need to mess with my body's schedule, and since there is confirmed germs in the house I really will get sick this year, just like I do every spring. Stupid time change. Rant done.

Tomorrow's my birthday--yeah I'm getting older. Sadly I wish I could freeze my body in that perfect state of youth--in some ways becoming a Twilight vampire has its appeal. But the whole blood lust thing is a major turn off in my book, even if I was planning on going vegetarian. I'd hie back to my 21 year old self. Maybe twenty. Yup that would be the perfect age for my body to be. But it's not, and I'm not going to dwell on what I don't have right now.

When I was thirty I had a list of 31 one things I wanted to accomplish and at the time I had accomplished one. Now I just looked it over, and I've still only accomplished one. Some of the things are lifelong things though, and I'm working on them. But I haven't exactly been idle. It's one thing to write a book--another to get it published, and published is what I had on my list. I've also found that I don't have quite the same desire to some of those things right now. For example one is to master calculus--which in my mind is passing a basic calculus class. Today I'm not really seeing the point of that. Is it a bad thing to revamp the list? I'm definitely putting thought into it. And another is to get my doctorate. And I'm thinking I'd rather have my MFA--is it all that different? Am I selling myself short?

The thing is about life is that I think it is one constant act of revision and reinvention. As we change, mature, grow older and wiser, which doesn't always happen in a specific order, life's priorities change. And I also think that there are seasons in life. Right now my kids are my top priority. I've only got two more years with babies at home, and then things will change. And I did things in a different order than a lot of people I know. (Everyone's got to do things their own way --so no judging on my part.)

Anyway--here is what you can do for me on my birthday--yeah I know I'm shameless asking for presents and everything. But really all I want you to do is leave a comment telling me which version of my query letter makes you want to pick up the book more. You don't have to say why--just pick one. I'm too lazy to set up a poll, which I should do. So in the comments just put query one, or query two. (For all you non-writers a query is a letter that you send to an agent or editor to convince them that they want to read your book--it should give you a good idea of what the book si about, and catch your interest--sort of what you'd find a book flap)

Query 1

Seventeen-year-old Isis didn’t believe in magic until she accidentally uses it to save her life. Dane, a classmate, witnesses the display and pulls her into a battle between two ancient societies. Isis learns that the strange things that happen around her and her crazy dreams aren’t signs of impending insanity. Isis’ dreams actually mean that she is the dreamer with a power more potent than any other. She has the ability to control people by altering their subconscious while they sleep and the ability to see the future.

As Dane teaches Isis to control her powers the feelings between them grow. Isis is finally finding a place in the world where she never quite fit in—until Kalli, her cousin, shows up to convince her that she’s joined the wrong side of the battle. As Isis pieces together the clues from her dreams she learns of an impending disaster planned by Kalli’s group.

Isis’ powers give her the ability to end the conflict and stop the killing once and for all, but she must choose between fighting for the good of all mankind and saving her cousin, a choice no ordinary girl should make. Good thing Isis is anything but ordinary.

DREAMING ISIS, a young adult fantasy novel, is complete at 65,000 words. It will appeal to readers who loved the intrigue of THE AWAKENING by Kelley Armstrong and to those who enjoyed the paranormal romance elements of NEED by Carrie Jones

Query 2

Seventeen-year-old Isis is tired. Tired of hiding the dreams that predict future events, and the strange things that happen around her. Tired of surviving her mom’s psychotic episodes anytime she hears about something strange Isis did. And she’s tired of her sanity being questioned at every family gathering. So she hides her headaches, which are steadily getting worse and hopes that insanity doesn’t really run in the family.

All that changes the day Isis accidentally uses her powers to save herself from an exploding car and all of her secrets start coming out. Dane, a classmate, pulls her into a battle between two ancient societies. Dane seems to have the answers that Isis has always wanted. He can help her control her powers, stop her headaches and hang onto her sanity. She finds herself drawn to his charms until her cousin Kalli shows up to convince her she’s joined the wrong side. Isis realizes that she’s not the only one who’s been hiding things.

As Isis pieces together the warnings from her dreams she learns of an impending disaster planned by Kalli’s group. Isis has the power to stop it from happening and ending the conflict for good, but she has to choose between fighting for the good of mankind or to keep the love of her family by continuing to hide. A choice no ordinary girl should make. Good thing Isis is anything but ordinary.

DREAMING ISIS, a young adult contemporary fantasy novel, is complete at 65,000 words. It will appeal to readers who loved the intrigue of THE AWAKENING by Kelley Armstrong and to those who enjoyed the paranormal romance elements of NEED by Carrie Jones

Well have a great week everyone!

Fun for the Weekend!

2010-03-07T21:57:00.002-05:00

We had a fun filled weekend. Rob and Ifelt like the kids had earned something extra fun, since they put up with us moving for an entire month. Rob wanted to go to the beach, and I wanted to go to the zoo, but we ended up at the science museum instead. it's what the kids chose--go figure. It ended up being really nice out so we did the whole loop and visited the bears, wolves and lemurs. Plus we hit the wind exhibit and the kids had a blast sailing the boats around the little pond. My favorite part was the fact that all the water exhibits were closed due to the recent stretch of cold weather. We even went to the butterfly house. The museum was the most crowded that I'd ever seen it, but it didn't feel that bad wandering around.

Then we came home and I took Beth to her school's skating night. I didn't end up skating because I forgot socks, and who in their right mind wouldn't wear socks at a skating rink? But I did watch and think. First I thought about the few times I went skating in elementary school--I think I was over it by middle school. Hmm, and then all the stories about what "happened" at skating rinks--certainly never happened to me or my friends. And then I started thinking about college. I think I went skating in college almost as much as when I was a little kid. That's thanks to my best friend Suzanne who adored skating and she would orchestrate at least one group skate a year. So yeah--skating. The sweetest thing I saw was a couple (I could tell that they were married because of the panicked looks they kept sending each other) and their two little kids out on the rink. It was painfully obvious that the adults had never been skating before. The mom held tight to the rink wall the entire night, and the dad kept losing his balance, and they were skating so slow--but the point is that they were out there with their kids giving them the experience. It was awesome!

Then we got back and Rob had made some homemade ice cream! Yum! Yum! Yum!

today the kids went on a major throw things around the house rampage, and you couldn't see their bedroom floors or the floor in the hallway. I'm telling you this has to stop. But Caleb has made his bed every day for the last little bit--so you gotta take stock in the small things!

Funny story--this conversation occurred several times

Caleb-- Mom can you take me to the robber?

Me -- Where?

Caleb-- The robber--where they give me suckers

Me -- The robber?

Caleb--you know where they cut my hair

Me--Oh the barber

Caleb--Yes, please.

Needles to say all three got haircuts on Friday. Beth's hair is now at her chin--she looks adorable. Jacob's is super short, because she cut to fix the haircut Caleb gave him, and it makes him looks so young. Caleb looks cute and he's glad his hair isn't in his eyes anymore. The stylist told me she'd never seen three kids behave so well at the hair shop. I said thanks--but I was thinking that's the only place I'd ever get that comment.

But actually I got it again at church today--granted jacob slept through Sacrament meeting, but the other two did really well, and we didn't bring anything for them to do or eat. So i was pleased.

Well that's about it! have a great week!

Thoughts on Schools

2010-02-28T22:15:00.003-05:00

Well, after a month of moving, purging and cleaning we are out of our old place. It was one of those places that was truly awful. It sucked the life out of me and I'm so very glad to be gone. Everything is going along swimmingly for the kids. No major funnies to share this week, and no major bad things either.

I am looking forward to getting back on schedule and getting the kids back on schedule as well. They were great when we were doing last minute things and Caleb took it upon himself to properly organize our food storage--and he did a great job. He was super proud of himself. Beth has been a good big sister leading her brothers in games and in a Chinese dragon dance that involved a blanket, lots of falling and giggles. Jacob is just Jacob. During Sacrament meeting, he just kept giving me kisses and saying I love you. You can't go wrong when your son is so happy.

There is a whole hotbed of debate right now because the school board went through a shift during the last elections. They are pushing for neighborhood schools instead of the bussing and shifting around. It's been interesting to talk to people about it. I get both sides of the argument. Parents are frustrated because their kids have been in three different schools in as many years. It is hard when your child is bussed away when you can walk to three different elementary schools. I'm for neighborhood schools, but I don't think they should do away with the magnet programs.

The thing is that Beth is in a magnet school, and I've seen all the extra help that the magnet students and their parents give to the classrooms by volunteering and donation wise. Beth's school is next to a housing project, and I know without the magnet status it would only be low income students that attend. And a lot of those kids are really struggling academically. Beth's in a great school, and I can't wait for Caleb to go next year. I just hope that the program sticks around until all my kids have gone through it. The school offers a lot more than most other schools, and really it could be implemented district wide without a lot of extra money. Rob and I thought a lot about whether or not the magnet programs were right for our family before we applied. The extra long bus ride was one thing we thought about. Usually Beth is home in about thirty minutes, which is the same as some other students who aren't in magnet programs, and as quick as picking her up would be. But the payoffs have been worth it. She is in a very diverse school and that makes me extremely happy. She is being exposed to a variety of cultures and learning so much.

Anyway I had to share my little rant, because I'm getting frustrated with all the people who want the magnet programs gone. I just don't agree, though I do support neighborhood schools as long as the magnets stay in place. I really think I'd feel the same way even if my kids weren't in the program. I can't stand behind something that is going to set up inner city schools to fail and as far as I can tell magnets are a voluntary way to address that problem.

Have a Great Week!

Bloggery Things

2010-02-20T22:04:00.002-05:00

Conversation with Caleb this week:

Me: Caleb you have a birthday party this Saturday.

Caleb: Really does that mean I'm six already?

(His birthday was less than a month ago-so yeah)

There was something else this morning that was super funny, but I can't remember if it was Jacob or Caleb who said it or what it was, but if I remember I'll share.

The move is going well. We made four trips to the dump today. Wow! Plus we've filled up two big garbage cans--the kinds the machines lift up and we are working on a third. Pretty much all we have left at the old place is stuff I need to run and donate. And we are Craigslisting some of the baby stuff. I hope I don't jinx myself. It is so freeing to have all of that stuff just be gone out of our lives.

The kids love the new place. They are very happy here. We did have a marker on the wall incident unfortunately. And then we found paint in the storage shed that we though matched, but it was semi-gloss instead of flat. And now we have shiny patches all over the place, because Rob went a little slap happy with the touch ups.

Beth is lost without a good book to read. Any suggestions would be swell. She adored the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series--read the whole thing in about a month. I'm impressed with her that's a book a week.

Caleb is being Caleb. Tonight he informed me that he doesn't actually sleep at night--he stays awake because that's what werewolves do and he's a werewolf--since they have sharp teeth and he does too. (My son goes from wizard to vampire to werewolf to ghost hunter--I wonder what his parents are interested in?)

Jacob is so funny. His s's are sounding lots better and I think he is making so much progress on his speech. He took a nasty fall this week into the corner and half of his forehead is black/gray bruised, plus he has a cut thing going down the center. We walked to story time this week, and Jacob absolutely adored it. I think we will be taking lots of walks once Caleb starts kindergarten next year!

Gail and Eldon came to watch the kids so we could really get stuff done this week and it made a huge different. Plus Eldon helped put some new stuff together. Thanks you guy! The kids had a lot of fun.

Take care everyone have a great week!

Science Fair

2010-02-11T20:47:00.003-05:00

I'm letting Rob post the pictures, but I'm super proud of Miss Beth tonight. The science fair project was a success. There were 152 participants at this year's science fair and they had real live scientists come in and judge the fair. She got a comment from the judge written on the project. I was impressed with the entire thing. They gave ribbons to most of the projects, white for good, red for superior and blue for outstanding. Additionally they gave t-shirts to the top scorers in each grade.

I was out in the hall with Jacob sadly when this was going on, because Beth got a t-shirt and a ribbon. I'm super proud of her hard work and her scientific method process style! Rob forgot the camera (and so did I), so we took pictures when we got home after celebrating in style with McFlurries!

Anyway the science project was how different liquids affect the growth of Jelly Crystals. She was very precise in her experiments!

Have a great weekend!

Arrgh!

2010-02-07T21:19:00.002-05:00

We are in the middle of the move. Rob pushed our big move day back a week, because we are running behind due to the weather and things in general just being icky. Then today our dryer breaks. The drum isn't spinning. Rob's fixed it before, but he is thinking that he won't fix it until we move. The reason is that the way the washing machine and dryer are in our current place, makes it a complete and utter pain to pull them out. That means Rob doesn't want to fix it until we move. So off to a laundromat I go.

The last week was long. Kids were out of school for three days. And everyone was going crazy. Caleb kept asking when he could go back to school, and there were lots of fights. It was crazy. We were all stir crazy. Totally and completely stir crazy.

This week should be better. At least that's what i'm hoping. The mess keeps coming in waves, but that's what happens when you move, right? At least I hope so. We are doing a great job of purging and even found a way to get rid of toys. We found a charity that will take them. So we can cut back on the toys. I've even purged my books. (Oh the tragedy--but it's a good thing!)

Jacob's doing great on potty training. He either tells me or takes care of it himself. Life is much easier with no diaper changes. Ahh the joy--no more diapers. Ever!

Caleb got bumped up to a more advanced gymnastics class. He's super excited, and I'm excited for him. He is so fun--he is so awesome!

Beth is doing well. She's entering the science fair this week. It should be fun and exciting. At least I hope so. She's also in the middle of a great story that she wants to enter in the PBS story contest!

Have a great week!

New Bare Naked Ladies Song

2010-02-02T23:07:00.002-05:00

Strangely enough I'm not someone who gets attached to bands. I listened to the radio a lot in high school, not as much in college, and now I generally listen to NPR. But there are a few bands that I really adore. Rob has introduced a number of them to me, and we went to see BNL in Salt Lake City when we are first married. They were my first concert (definitely not Rob's) and my second concert when we caught them a year later in Chapel Hill.

I was really sad when Steve and the band decided to go their separate ways. This song, from their new album, makes me think that it was hard on everyone. I hope that you guys enjoy. I have a feeling that they are still going to be a great band.

Mountain Goats

2010-02-02T14:11:00.001-05:00

So, yeah, it has nothing to do with our family, but for those of you who haven't heard of them, The Mountain Goats happen to be my favorite band. And here's a little clip, cause I'm the sharing type.

Photos

2010-02-01T13:24:00.004-05:00

I've posted some photos to some of the earlier blog entries, so be sure to scroll down if you want to see some photos from Birthdays and such. Hopefully I can get some videos up soon too. I've been a bit slow.

Long, long weekend!

2010-01-31T22:40:00.003-05:00

If you've read Rob's post (see below) you'll know that we got snow! This was awesome. It happened on a weekend so no pressure to go anywhere. It started snowing early enough that the kids got excited and ran around for a bit before they went to bed on Friday. And then it has stayed cold so it hasn't melted. But it's been a long weekend!

First the kids woke up at six and we went out and played in the snow. (Rob stayed in bed or you'd have pictures of the kids playing in the dark in the snow.) Fortunately they got cold and came in after twenty minutes. I was too tired to do anything but stand on the porch. Then we had sweet rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast! Yum!

Then the kids went out again at 10:30 or so. Rob was supposed to go out with them, but he ended up calling a whole bunch of people telling them that church was cancelled. Whew! So out I went again. This time I chased kids and had lots of snowballs thrown at me. The kids had lots of fun.

Then they came in and totally trashed the house. Every room was awfully messy. Difficult to see the floor. All that kind of fun.
Then they went back out with Rob for a bit in the afternoon. Only Caleb came back in because he heard a dog bark.

They went out again today, but Caleb cut it short because he slipped on the ice. Rob, Beth and Jacob walked over to the park and played on the slide and swung and had fun. Caleb and I watched Mythbusters.

Today I managed to clean the house. Right now it is clean, but I've got a mammoth pile of laundry to do. Huge!

I stocked up on food for this weekend in the event that we lost power, since they were calling for so much sleet. And I remember the great ice storm of 2002. That was not fun. Rob requested that I get a can of SPAM and so I did. (He's the only one who'll eat any of it.) I mentioned that I missed Turkey SPAM. (Sad but true I liked that stuff.) This conversation followed:

Rob: If I had some Turkey SPAM. I'd get some cranberry sauce, and some gouda cheese and make me a sandwich.

Me: But if you spent the money on gouda cheese (which is oh so yummy) Why in the heck would you put it on SPAM?

The thing is that Rob's spam sandwiches are quite complicated. It involves frying the spam, melting cheese on top, frying an egg and then eating the sandwich.

We've had a fun weekend, though we are going a bit stir crazy--with at least one more day of family togetherness since school and Rob's work are both closed down tomorrow.

Have a great week everyone! And try a SPAMwich!

Snow!

2010-01-31T20:15:00.000-05:00

The kids had a lot of fun playing in the snow this weekend, and I've been more than happy to stay home from work, sleep in, and basically not do a lot other than goof off with the kids, watch old episodes of Lost, and play an occasional videogame, because that is what snow days are all about, right?
We've built miniaturized snowmen, thrown snowballs (more like snow chunks) and ate a couple pints of snow and/or dirt in the snow. We've watched a couple episodes of "The Dangerous Catch" cause the show seemed fairly "winter-like," with its dangerously frigid fishing in the Baltic Sea. And we might even have to drink a few mugs of hot cocoa. I'll have mine with mint and melted chocolate chips, thank you.
There's still lots of photos and videos I've never gotten around to posting, stuff like birthday parties and baptisms. I'll hopefully get to all that soon, but until then, here's some snow photos for your enjoyment ...

Five!

2010-01-24T22:27:00.003-05:00

So it's officially over. Caleb had his birthday party and we are heading into smooth sailing. No more parties, life shouldn't be crazy anymore--but wait! Crap I forgot we are moving in a week. Oops. That's a lot of work in a short amount of time. But it should be all good. I'm glad that we are moving, it's a great reason to purge. (Or get rid of the junk that I don't want in my house.) I'm looking at this as positively as possible, and I'm getting a game plan together as we speak.

Caleb had a great birthday party and is currently growing lizards and dinosaurs in the kitchen. We had a lot of fun, with boys running wild during the party. They played outside for half an hour and hazarded some comments from the neighbors. We blew things up and exploded things and I even heard that Rob's magic show was hot dinner conversation. Great fun!

I must say Caleb is dreading tomorrow since his kindergarten physical is scheduled (read shots) and he's quite upset. It's important for everyone to know that we might have a wizard in the family. Caleb has a scar on his forehead and is absolutely CONVINCED that it means that he is just like Harry Potter and will be able to do magic soon. Very soon. Not magic tricks, but real magic.

Jacob! What a week for Jacob. He is pretty much potty trained. Two days with no accidents until dinner time this week. I can take him on long errands and he does great. I'm super proud. Now we just need to break the paci habit, but that will come with time, and it's only at night. Today he came up and told me three long sentences right in a row. Eight or nine words a piece. It made me so happy. He really has come far. At church today he practiced writing his name for about five minutes. Not quite legible yet, but he is showing interest.

Beth is great, and staying up late to read the Wimpy Kid books. She read sixty pages tonight. So proud. I'm glad that she loves to read, even if it mainly seems to be only at night. She's doing a science project on the Water Cycle with Rob too. So that's great news as well.

That's really all of the family news--on a side note prayers for my mom would be appreciated. She's in the hospital with Pulmonary Embolism, which means she has clots in her lungs. Things are looking like she'll be there for a few more days. Take care everyone!

A fun birthday!

2010-01-18T13:46:00.003-05:00

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Jacob's birthday. He had a ton of fun and so did everyone else. Only one more birthday party to go and that's this weekend. As I type the words I feel myself going into panic mode, but I know that it will work out. They all have. And then I'll be done for another eleven months. Great! A few months of of stress is easier than having it spread out all over the place.

The kids are restless today. I took them to the park to let them run out their energy, but they wanted to leave in just a few minutes. Then we came home and they are all over each other. Not happy. They play well for about ten minutes and then start fighting again. It could have something to do with the interrupted sleep from the drive home late last night. I'm looking forward to school starting again though! I can make it to tomorrow.

Beth has fallen in love with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. She stayed up late all last week reading, reading reading. She's currently working on designing her own book. I'm happy. Reading is officially fun, which means I've got a reader on my hands. (I hope that it will continue past these books. I think it will as her confidence keeps growing.)

Caleb had a field trip at the Science Museum. Jakey and I spent the time he was in a class riding the escalator. That's right we rode up and down the escalators for an hour. I was very ready to leave, but the boys both had a great time. And I'm glad. Caleb is growing up so fast, and I think he is so very ready to go to kindergarten. He's all excited to do practice sheets in the books I have.

Jacob has decided he won't wear diapers anymore. So Potty training here we come. I don't know why I've been so reluctant. You think I'd be looking forward to no more diapers ever. You think, but the week of work isn't so much fun. He's doing better with a successful poop on the potty over the weekend. Jacob will be potty trained soon.

Rob had a successful debut in Hickory. It matched the Apex debut. Now they just need to find a distributer and his years of hard work will have paid off. The kids were restless at the premiere on Saturday, so I spent it running around the church. It's okay though, as Caleb told me I've got the whole thing memorized.

Writing is getting back on track and things are looking up. Have a great week everyone!

A Career Change

2010-01-13T19:42:00.002-05:00

We are moving to a new apartment! Hooray, more space, and better other stuff! At least we're hoping. Anyway the past few weeks we've been hunting and we decided on our new place and finalized it today. When I told the kids they were okay. Then we had this conversation.

Caleb: "But Mom I thought we were moving to Hickory." (As far as I know this wasn't one of the options.)

Me: "It'd be nice to leave near Grandma, but Dad wouldn't have a job there."

Caleb: "But I want to live in Hickory."

Me: "Do you know a job Dad could do?"

Caleb: "He could kill deer."

Beth: "Killing deer isn't a job, it's a hobby."

Me: "Do you think Daddy could kill deer? He only went hunting once and decided he didn't like it."

Beth: "I don't like it when animals get hurt."

Me: "It's okay if you need the meat though."

Beth: "But Pap doesn't need the meat."

Me: "Yes he does. But that's one reason why we've talked about going vegetarian. It's better for the animals."

Beth: "I don't want to give up meat. I don't care if they kill chickens. They're stupid."

Me: "What about cows?"

Beth: "Cows are just big and stupid. They aren't cute like deer."

What a conversation. The boys had no opinion on killing the deer. I think they'd just rather shoot the guns. Have a great day!

An Announcement of Sorts

2010-01-12T09:31:00.002-05:00

Jacob is now three. He's informed me of this two days in a row with absolutely no encouragement from me. It's official, never mind that his birthday isn't until next week.

He keeps telling me:

"Mommy I'm big now. I'm three." Then showing me his three fingers.

I figure it's close enough that correcting him would just be pointless, but does this get us out of celebrating his birthday?

Whew! Getting Back on Track!

2010-01-10T21:46:00.002-05:00

This last week was the first full week since the Christmas break. It meant the kids were back in school, speech therapy was back on and Rob went back to work. We also said farewell to my parents and Matt on Tuesday. It was a week of recovery as well--at least for me. The older I get the more quiet time I need. Time to just be alone--it sounds awful since i'm a proud stay-at -home mom, but there it is. Caleb got sick, and slowly recovered. Then Jacob got sick and keeps dodging back and forth between great and not so great--his voice was virtually gone most of the day. And poor, poor Rob is just miserable to quote "This is the worse I've felt in six years." That statement left me wondering what awful sickness he was referring to. Strep always really knocks him out hard, and the worse time he had that when he graduated with his MA. He was miserable then, probably the worst I remember seeing him (worse than now-but I'm not feeling the way he does so who knows?) and that wasn't six years ago just four. So I'm really wondering what the worst he felt in six years means. (Note: I truly feel bad that he is sick, and I want him to get better and sleep lots and I even dragged the kids out to the store he said had echineacia and Keffir and spent over an hour looking for it in the cold, so I am sympathetic--just curious about his statement.)

It's also time to get everything back onto a schedule. We are starting a rewards system to go with our nightly chores routine. It should be lots and lots and lots of fun. At least for me. I'm going to save so much time by having us all work together.

Beth and Caleb loved gymnastics. I was super proud of Beth she got on the tallest balance beam and jumped and flipped backwards and stood on her head, and hands. Stuff I wasn't sure she was going to do. Caleb rocked it. He totally surpassed everyone in his class, but he had a lot of fun. He did have a hard time waiting for his turn and staying on task. I think he just wanted to do everything right away. At the end in his class they had the opportunity to show off a skill. Most of the kids ran in a circle--not Caleb. He did a head spin, handstand into a back flip. There was a collective gasp at his skill by all of the parents.

Beth had her first achievement day activity this week as well and she loved it. She was nervous going into it, but came out extremely happy. Extremely, extremely happy. I love the girls in our ward, her age and a little older. They are so good at being friendly and making her feel welcome.

I tested Caleb and he's doing great on his ABC's. He's got all of the sounds down and five that he needs to learn the names of. And he can write most of them. So we are in a good place. He's going to rock kindergarten next year. I registered him this week. He was so excited to go and so good while I filled out the pages of paperwork. I was super proud of him.

Jacob gets registered for preschool tomorrow. He already wants to go. I think he is going to miss Caleb once he starts school. But I know it will be good for him. It should be fun to be one on one with a kid again.

Well that's it. Have a great week anyone. No real funny stories this week, but I'll keep you posted I'm sure there will be a crazy mess sometime this week!

Family, Vacations, and Visitations

2010-01-04T21:07:00.003-05:00

The past two weeks have been busy! First we went to Hickory to celebrate Christmas. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved spending time with their cousins. They even got to play in the snow. I'm pretty sure Rob posted pictures. I stayed home a few days to really clean the house for the family that was coming to visit us after Christmas. So I missed the snow. It's okay, I'm finding the longer I'm away from utah winters the less I miss them. Right now it's cold, and I'm miserable. We may end up in the Bahamas or Florida, but only in the winters.

The kids loved their Christmas and the Zhu Zhu pets were a huge hit. Ginormous! And Beth loved her iPod and Caleb his MP3 player. And Jacob was just generally happy with everything that he got. Rob got a GPS system and was quite content to follow it around to various places in town to see if it knew what it was doing. Sometimes it did, and sometimes it did not. Today was his first day back to work, and he was quite impressed with the traffic report feature on it. He loved his toy. My big gift were pots and pans, but a super nice aluminum set, since I do not want the nonstick kind ever again. I'm actually really impressed at how much better everything is cooking in the pans. We also got couch covers, which are a vast improvement over our current ten year old and then some couches.

After having a great time in Hickory, we came home and my sister and her hubby came for a short visit. My kids were ecstatic to finally meet their only cousin on my side of the family! Jacob was a little put off. He liked Ethan, but I think he was worried he'd become a permanent fixture. Ethan was totally sweet, and it was nice to see Sarah and Cameron too. They are both awesome.

And then my folks flew in for a week bringing Matt with them. They came down for Beth's baptism. It was a great day. I'm so proud of her choice and all that she has decided to do in her life. She's growing up so fast and learning so much.

The visit with the grandparents was fun, lots of playing games, eating food, crafts and even a trip to Build-a_Bear. Jacob was over the moon. It was funny because he'd never been and as we got close to the store he took off running into the store. Jacob loves stuffed animals and he was in heaven. He got a stuffed monkey (of course) and then picked him out a prince's suit and named him King. My mom tried to convince him to get a more manly outfit for the monkey, but Jacob was set on the prince.

We set goals this week for FHE, but I'm also getting schedules set up. My life is much smoother when everyone is on a schedule. It's about to get crazer because the kids are starting gymnastics this week! I'm sure that they will love it!

Have a great week!

Celebrating Elisabeth

2010-01-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe Beth has turned eight. It seems that almost overnight she has matured so much. While preparing for her baptismal service, I decided I wanted to make a little slideshow commemorating some of her life thus far. I hope you enjoy.

Beth's Slideshow from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

Christmas Photos

2009-12-27T10:03:00.001-05:00

Sledding

2009-12-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

The kids had a great time at their grandparents house all last week. One of the highlights was sledding in the backyard.

We decided to take the kids a few days early so we could sled before all the snow melted. I'm really glad we did. The conditions were perfect: packed down snow with a layer of ice on top.

The kids had a blast. Caleb screamed the whole time. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled with all the noise at 8 am. Beth liked sledding on the disc the best. She said it was "wild and crazy."

Jacob attempted to make snow angels in the ice. Even though he couldn't manage to leave much of a print, he smiled so big the entire time. It was adorable. I took some video of our sledding adventure and I'll post it later this week. Until then, enjoy some photos.

Easy Bake Ovens, Potions and Two Boys

2009-12-14T15:34:00.003-05:00

This afternoon we have had another incident involving our usually two suspects. The two perps, Caleb and Jacob, decided that it was high time that they participated in the world of potion making.

Ingredients

Two boys
A bike
The kitchen floor
Flour
A Gallon of Milk
4 eggs (all that were left in the container)
Rice

Instructions:

Dump the said objects into a few cups, stir with spoons and throw the rest on the floor. Proceed to take the extra flour and spread it all over yourself and your brother.

Then take the bike and ride it through the pile of flour and into every other room in the house.

Then track the flour up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Tell your mom that you need a bath, get in and splash enough water that it starts dripping on her head while she is cleaning up after you.

That is the potion for crazy mom.

Have a good day!

(No pictures because I'm too mad and worried that the flour/milk/egg combination will dry into some type of cement type paste.)

Beth's Birthday Party

2009-12-14T11:18:00.005-05:00

As you know from the last post, Beth recently turned eight. I wanted to share some photos from her Harry Potter party. The apartment was a spitting image of Hogwarts. Okay, well, maybe not so much. But there were colored streamers and a Gryffindor coat of arms decorating the room.

The Past Eight Years

2009-12-13T22:51:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that Beth is turning eight this week. Quite frankly it blows my mind. Our lives sure changed when we had her, and in a good way. The day we brought her home from the hospital there were carolers right outside our door. I've really enjoyed all that Beth has brought to my life. She had her birthday party yesterday. It was a Harry Potter party that got a little bit crazy, but we managed to pull everything off. I'm just relieved that it is over. She also had her baptism interview. She's very excited to be getting baptized and I'm very proud of her. She is a good girl.

Caleb has been one for messes lately. I don't know exactly why, but he woke me up by asking me if I wanted to see his tattoos. He had drawn on himself (with some help from Beth) all up his arms and across his belly. The primary president told me today that he was sitting there in Sharing Time and pulled up his shirt for a second and everybody in Primary got to see his beautiful artwork. Caleb also gave the closing prayer in Primary, and I must say he did a totally awesome job, and only needed on nudge from Rob to finish the prayer.

Jacob has matching tattoos. He also slept through most of church today. And then came home with lots and lots and lots of energy. He is growing up and some of his words are just so clear. I mean you can really understand them. At tithing settlement today (which is another nightmare of a story you don't need to hear about -oh the horror- the bishop was very understanding and cut the meeting short) Jacob was walking around with his hands in front of him and moaning--"Brains, Brains, Brains." Yes my two year old knows what a zombie is and what a zombie eats. This is mainly due to the song "Re: Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton. We are actually big Jonathan Coulton fans.

Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Cou...

On a side note, I had a lovely conversation with my sister Ruthann, and mentioned Glee to her. My sister was in Madrigals in high school, which is the equivalent of Glee. And she hadn't seen the show at all, and she hadn't heard of it. Well only the last five episodes are up, and you really need to watch from episode one since the entire show builds on the preceding episode. But they come out on DVD just after Christmas. So you can buy it if you think you will like it. I'm going to embed one of my favorite musical numbers so you can watch and see, but there is lots of cool stuff on that show.

But as an aside, Ruthann and I were talking about how atypical our high school experience was. Really I don't think we went to a normal high school. I always thought it was because it was so big. My graduating class was over 600. But my sophomore year the principal told us that we had more than 900 kids there. The high school was split my senior year and I know that we had people drop out. The thing is that the Madrigals weren't on the bottom of the social pyramid. It was pretty much live and let live unless you were a goth. I was friends with some goths and they had crazy stories of getting beat up, but other than that I think it was pretty peaceful. Maybe I was in my own little bubble, but I was definitely happy there. My point is that it was okay to be what you wanted at school for the most part. I'm sure there were exceptions, but I wasn't really aware of them. I wasn't popular, but I wasn't an outcast either. Nicely in the middle of the road.

Well here's the clip. Hope you all enjoy. Have a great week!

I Am Slowly Going Crazy

2009-12-09T10:52:00.002-05:00

I am sharing this video because I feel as though others should truly understand what I am going through. Watch it. Please.

Unfortunately, I have had to watch this clip about ten times (and that is not an exaggeration) in the last two days. It tickles Rob's funny bone. I mean really tickles it. He will come up and sing to me the clips while I'm downstairs.

When I told him that it just wasn't that funny to me, he insisted that it was because I hadn't truly watched the facial expressions the first seven times he made me watch it. No he is not happy that I simply hear it each time he plays it again, I actually have to watch it.

I told him that the reason it spoke to him so strongly is because of his roles at Marvel's. There is a tape of him that would fit in perfectly with this clip. The simple truth is that Rob could do this. He could have an alternate life as a sketch person. If I had that clip I'd post it online. I think Greg has a tape of it somewhere. Otherwise it is lost to posterity.

I hope you all enjoy or at least not go crazy!

Autumn Photos

2009-12-04T12:01:00.002-05:00

In Approximately 10 Minutes . . .

2009-12-02T10:01:00.004-05:00

Today while I was in the shower the boys managed to accomplish all of this in approximately 10 Minutes

Dumped a Huge Glass of Water in the Toy Box

Pull all of the sheets off of my bed and take them downstairs

Caleb got dressed for school

Dumped a big bowl of cheerios in front of the television

Dumped all of the books from a shelf on the floor

and give each other haircuts

(That's the kicker. I'm not sure if Caleb got one too, when I found them after my shower his hair looked like it was intact, but I found so much hair, that I don't think it all came from Jacob, but it might have. Caleb's at preschool, I hope he doesn't have tons missing in the back. I'll post a picture of Jacob after he is done with speech therapy.)

What I did in the ten minutes after dropping Caleb off for preschool and before Jacob's speech therapist showed up

Cleaned up the bowl of cheerios

Repacked the blanket box downstairs

Put the books all back on the shelves

Picked up the shoes that were scattered around the room

Got Jacob dressed and changed his diaper

Wiped down the tables

and wondered how on earth we were going to fix Jacob's hair.

Have a great day!

The Holidays Are Fast Approaching

2009-11-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

So I haven't posted in awhile. We had a good Thanksgiving week at Gail and Eldon's. The kids had lots and lots of fun. There were two different fires to play around, a lot of leaves to burn and general fun all around. We took the kids to the Science Center there, and they had some fun with their cousins Chloe and Casey. Dinner was great. The drive to Hickory took five hours. Truth be told it was awful. We got on the Interstate and it wasn't moving. Not to mention that we needed our brakes changed (thank you for fixing them Eldon). The brakes were so noisy every time that we stopped that I was dying of embarrassment. Not to mention the safety issue when it comes to stop and go traffic. After about forty five minutes we hit the Davis Drive exit. (This is seven miles from where we got on the Interstate), Rob had decided that this wasn't going to work. Neither of us are familiar with that particular portion of Cary/Apex, but I told him to get off and I'd find 64. So we got off and we made it. Rob thought that I was crazy and that we'd missed the road, but we found it. The drive home was much, much happier.

We have instituted a chore system around the house. This is a nightly chore system, which involves mopping, vacuuming, and wiping down the bathroom each night. It really is great. The kids are super involved meaning that they actually do it. I don't know how long the novelty of using "the spray" will last, but right now I'm super excited and happy about it. We have a different spray for the bathrooms, kitchen and windows and each child wants to use it. Don't worry it is happening under close supervision, but it is nice to wake up to a super clean house.

December is tomorrow and the craziness is about to begin. We've got all our kids birthdays in the next two months, Christmas, and Beth's baptism. Plus out of town visitors and going out of town. Somehow or other we will survive. Usually we are done with present shopping by now and we haven't even started yet. The main problem is I don't know what to get the kids. I'm not in the mood to inundate them with more toys. Seriously after the great toy take away of September and October I'm not in a place where I want to provide fuel for another hostile takeover. We will see what we come up with.

Also we have been t.v. free today, and are hoping to go t.v. free for most of December. I'll let you know how long it lasts.

Have a great week!

The Dragon Ate My Homework!

2009-11-15T19:43:00.003-05:00

This week was rough as far as homework time went. Really, just one big battle after another. It's time to think about contracts, and consequences. Beth isn't going to know what hit her in the next few weeks. She has agreed to get up and read before school each day, and that will start tomorrow. And we will be doing homework as soon as she gets home from school. Friday morning I drove her to school so she'd have time to do an assignment she absolutely refused to do all week. It's not going to happen again, because I want Beth to have good study habits, and be successful, not always pushing things to the last minute.

This week I've got two parent teacher conferences, one for Caleb and one for Beth. It should be fun and exciting to see how they are both doing this year. I like talking to the teachers and getting a sense of what is important and how my kids are doing.

Caleb is very enthusiastic. He loves doing new things and he is just pleased as can be when he gets something new or tries something new. I love the fact that he is so positive most of the time.

Jacob has informed me that his best friend is a dragon. He is very tall and likes to lick Jacob. He makes Jacob very happy. The day after Jacob told me this I forgot and began telling him a story about a mean dragon. Jacob stopped me and told me that the dragon was his friend. So this guys is likely staying around for a while. If you talk to him be sure to ask him about his dragon.

That's about all for the week. It rained a lot. I mean a lot, and I hate rainy weeks. But most of this next week should be pleasant. Not too cold, and no rain. I hope you have a great one!

A Trip to the Zoo

2009-11-07T23:44:00.003-05:00

Rob agreed to post the pictures if I took the time to write about the trip to the zoo. It was a a random happening. Earlier in the week we had thrown around the idea of going down to the beach and the aquarium. We mentioned it to the kids who were super-excited, but told them that it was on the condition that they go right to bed. Two hours later (and this is not an exaggeration or hyperbole) we announced that the beach trip was officially off.

Still it was supposed to be in the 60s, and probably the last clear and warm day of the year. I mean come on it is November. Time for cold dreary weather. So Rob really wanted to do something and late on Friday we agreed to go to the zoo. We told the kids in the morning when they woke us up at 7:00. But the deal was they had to let us sleep for another hour. They willingly obliged.

We ended up waking up to the power going out. The back up batteries for our computer begin to beep. This caused both of us to jump up in alarm. Miraculously we both managed to get a warm shower before we headed out to the zoo.

It was a fun trip, although as soon as we got on the highway, Beth asked how much longer. Rob and I had an interesting discussion, while the kids slept on the way there. We headed to the Africa section first and we ended up seeing most of the animals. Beth climbed on every rock and statue and posed for the camera. Of course her little brothers followed suit. The animals were out and it was a lot of fun. There was a new baby baboon that all the kids absolutely adored. Beth also twisted her ankle and had to be carried for a bit, but she recovered nicely.

Then we headed over to the America side. It was a long walk, which we usually avoid but they had two new installations. One was a honey bee garden. The place was rife with bees and hornets. I was distinctly uncomfortable, even though I have pretty much mastered my extreme bee phobia. And then there was a fountain that was designed to look like geysers. It made me want to take the kids to Yellowstone. But we'd have to get a leash for the boys. They are both prone to run away right now. Rob and I honeymooned there, and it is a beautiful place. Rob fell in love with it, like I did on my first visit when I was ten.

Finally we went to see the otters. The animal of the day. They were cute and then we headed to the park. Caleb was doing some awesome hanging and swinging tricks when he landed funny. It was a bad enough fall that we worried about the possibility of a broken arm. Of course Caleb rallied, though we are still keeping an eye on it. Cotton candy on the way out and we were headed home.

This week has been busy. Beth did well on her report card, and Caleb seems very happy with school and life in general. We managed to get all of the kids to a park, and the house is pretty clean. Having fewer toys seems to help the kids, and they are still playing. Hope that your week was good as well!

PS Happy Birthday Mom!

Halloween and No Pictures

2009-11-03T16:59:00.003-05:00

Sadly we somehow made it without taking a single picture, everyone forgot their cameras. So you will not see Beth dressed as a witch or Caleb as Darth Vader (plus you'd miss the breathing sound effects he made when he put on the mask), and Jacob as some captain storm trooper from one of the movies. (I thought he was just a storm trooper until some guy in his twenties came up and said you are Captain Blank something blank from episode blank). Who knew? Definitely not me.

We went to Hickory for Halloween. There was a Halloween carnival in the afternoon, and then we went trick or treating in a neighborhood. It was pretty fun until it started drizzling. Then I was ready to go home, but the kids had a lot of fun. Caleb refused to go to doors with skeletons or masks. Jacob had a hard time keeping up, but he wanted to walk most of the time, and said Trick or Treat very clearly the entire time. He was too cute.

We did go to one house that was playing loud Halloween music and they had two monsters on the porch. They had decorated the foyer with lots of silhouettes of scary things. The guy handing out candy was in a Freddy mask. Jacob was brave and went up to the door. But the guy in the mask (an adult no less) got right in his face and growled at him. Honestly I wasn't impressed. Sure they went to a lot of work, and sure it was nice. But really where do you draw the line? Halloween is about scaring people, but not two year old kids.

Tonight was Math and Science night at school. Beth entered the Egg Drop contest. She and Rob came up with some design with a parachute and a balloon landing area. It took several hours to hunt up the pieces and to assemble it all. At the end Beth said that she was going to make it next year with help from me. (Rob got a little stressed and possibly demanding.)

Well the egg drop worked, but Beth didn't get her certificate because Caleb broke the egg on the way to get the certificate. Some of the kids said that Beth's looked the coolest. It was pretty. Rob wanted to get a picture of it, but we didn't have time before we got there, and then we had to throw it away because of the broken egg. So you missed a very interesting egg drop thing.

Caleb has been requesting some pretty interesting things. On the list this week: motorcylce, iPhone, and laptop computer.
Rob has been letting him play with his DS. He has referred to is as a GTS, CTR and the thing with lots of letters. It is very fun to hear him trying to describe it.

We are starting potty training Jacob in the morning. Should be an exciting and messy week!

Celebrating Ten Years

2009-10-24T22:37:00.003-04:00

So I probably mentioned a few months ago that Rob and I have been married for ten whole years! Whew! It's been great. We wanted to get away as a couple, but since Rob wanted to do an amusement park trip and I didn't want to go in the summer, we pushed it back for the fall. It was a lot of fun.

We went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It's about three hours from us and we both had a great time. First it was nice to not have to worry about the kids the entire time, especially when it got dark and it would have been hard to see the kids. Second it was just plain fun.

Rob happens to think that I'm a wuss about many things. (Bugs, hiking, swimming or touching untreated water, heights, dogs, and the list could go on.) And he told me that when he heard me talk about loving roller coasters and amusement park rides that he thought I was exaggerating my love and sense of adventure. (I think he also forgets that one of my favorite places is Yellowstone.)

Never mind the fact that we went to Lagoon together when we were dating, and again just after we were married. (Granted the rides there weren't all that intimidating--since I haven't been in nine years I can't claim to know how they are now.) But when we went to Universal Studios in Florida about six years ago, he was pleasantly surprised to see me scampering about the park, dragging him quickly from ride to ride.

So he knew that this trip would be fun for us. (The above spiel came as a result of a comment he made yesterday.) And it was. I had a lot of fun. He had a lot of fun. There were four fun coasters--although I only rode Apollo's Chariot once. It was just too tall for me, (although it was only a few feet taller than Griffin which I rode more than once). But seriously the whole way up I kept wondering what would happen if the coaster got stuck. I was looking at the stairs and they are the steel ones that you can see through at the bottom. And I knew there was no way, absolutely none that I could actually physically walk down those stairs to the bottom. Just wouldn't happen. So although the ride was fun with killer hills, I couldn't do it again.

It was the Howl o Scream or some other such thing with Haunted Houses and such. And we went to a total of one Haunted House, out of the seven. Rob does not like haunted houses, which I find quite amusing since he loves creating them, and learning about ghosts and writing creepy stories. And they had people popping out at us and following us around. But it brought back many middle school and high school memories and all of the friends I went to haunted houses with. Good times. Rob has now been to four haunted houses. I honestly don't know how many I've been to, but it's more than four (lots more).

Rob however bested me on the number of times he rode all of the coasters. He went on Apollos Chariot 4 times. He says it is his favorite of all time. Griffin 3 times, Loch Ness Monster 3 times and Alpengeist 3 Times. (Funnily Loch Ness is my age--that was kind of weird.) We were both sad that the Big Bad Wolf shut down last month for good. We looked at the track and thought it looked like fun.

We want to take the kids next year. We also briefly drove through Williamsburg, just to say that we had. We want to go spend time there, but it is the type of place that I wouldn't want to just stop at for a few minutes. So we didn't get out. Excitedly enough when Beth saw the brochure, she wanted to go visit, so that would be part of the trip too.

The kids take after Rob and devoured all the silly brochures he likes to bring home so that I can clean around them for three months before I finally throw them away. The kids love Maps, love them! They make their own maps on a regular basis and Jacob can even say maps, and identifies them anytime he see them by saying map!

Anyway we had a great time, and the kids had a lot of fun with Eldon and Gail. (Thanks for babysitting!)

Hiking Panthertown Valley

2009-10-19T10:58:00.002-04:00

Some friends and I just took our annual hiking trip. We decided to try out Panthertown Valley, a beautiful spot of land near Brevard, NC, with dozens of hiking trails branching out in all directions. There were beautiful waterfalls and overlooks. The leaves were awesome. This highly-compressed video doesn't do justice to the color of the leaves.

This video is a bit long, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. As always, click on the link underneath to view it in HD at the Vimeo site (1280x720).

Panthertown Valley Hike from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

The Last Week

2009-10-18T19:49:00.002-04:00

All righty, a quick rundown of the week, would honestly be the last post. Library books not withstanding, it was a pretty standard run of the mill week.

Beth and Caleb were in the Primary program and of course they did a bang up job of it. Caleb was super confident and fairly shouted his line into the microphone: "I love my family when I play games with my Dad" Beth was much more calm and did a very nice job.

The kids went on a hike with Rob yesterday and I got some work done. Rob has noticed how much more mature the kids are all getting. Especially Caleb. He's super impressed. I'm proud of each of them. Jacob is going through a fiercely indpendent stubborn streak with lots of pouting, but I know it is only temporary.

That's about it for the week. I hope you have a very happy October. (We actually turned on the heat, but I think Rob may have turned it back off. It's cold here. I love it!)

The Saga of the Missing Library Books

2009-10-15T13:39:00.002-04:00

This last weekend was definitely interesting. It started with Rob leaving to go on his annual fun hike with his friends. (Before you take pity on me for staying home alone with the kids all weekend, don't. Rob gets his hike, I get writer's conferences and such.) He got up bright and early and left before six.

Then the weekend began. I got Beth to the bus! Whoo! Then Caleb to preschool. Then a book I wanted from the library had come in. I checked online to see if others were on their way and realize oh no! I had 10 overdue books. We went and turned everything in on Wednesday. So began my weekend of searching for the library books.

Well a quick surface search turned up three of the books, which I turned in. But I wasn't discouraged yet. The kids room had been bordering on being condemned for a few weeks, and last week it had escalated when Caleb got into the closet and started pulling out the extra toys. I was simply convinced that the books had to be in there. All of the books were comic books that Caleb gets to read on his own. (I had a memory of stacking them all together to take back to the library, but I wasn't positive that the library trip had actually happened.)

Before I tackled their room, I hit up the front room. I moved the couches, got the flashlight and peered behind shelves and just looked everywhere. No luck.

Then I went to their room. It's time to bring out the winter clothes, switch clothes around and finally I decided to get rid of all of the baby clothes and other clothes that the kids won't wear anymore. So I simply emptied the closet all of the way. That way we could be sure the books weren't in there.

Well that happened on Saturday. By the end of Saturday the room actually didn't look any better. Though all of the toys we own were in the middle of the floor. The closet was very clean and empty. And I had broken down a few times at the thought of giving away the baby clothes. But I remembered the fact that having a newborn is not appealing to me right now, or anytime in the near future. The clothes had to go.

When Rob called to tell me he was on his way home on Sunday, I warned him that the mess was worse than he could imagine. He laughed. but he didn't laugh when he got home. He was just very silent. Not mean--he knew not to make any comments.

Monday was spent looking at the mess, and rechecking everywhere for those library books. This was a constant worry for the entire weekend. Still no stuff, but I managed to go through most of the rest of the clothes.

Tuesday we had the kids each pick two toys (yes you heard right, just two) and then I packed everything else up and put it in the closet. There are about eight bins of toys in the closet ready for a yard sale! Whew! But I was extremely happy. No more crazy mess. The kids can earn more toys by keeping their room clean. (So far it isn't going to happen.) The toys aren't put up, but the room doesn't look as though it is going to be condemned either.

Wednesday I didn't get as much done. But I still looked for those blasted library books. I was absolutely convinced they weren't in the house, but I was nearly ready to attack the coat closet, which could end in a very ugly fight. Rob is very possessive of that closet. But I decided I couldn't until the laundry I had been ignoring in my quest for books was done. No one had anything to wear.

Thursday--I've got to sort the laundry, which is piled all over my floor along with the clothes I'm going to give away (which are in big black garbage bags) making it impossible to walk on the actual floor. But instead of focusing I'm worried about those stupid library books. Worry, worry, worry.

So I decide to take the boys to story time, and I also write down the names and call numbers for each of my missing six books. And I spend time at the library with Caleb finding tattoos and looking books up on the computer and Jacob sitting patiently next to me. I look through the shelves. And I find five of the six books. Sitting on the shelf. Sigh.

So I took them up, and they forgave my late fees. And I pay for the book which had gum on it when I turned it in. $13.00 for a book about being an astronaut. Gum is off limits at my house right now.

So I didn't post because of the library books, which are mostly accounted for. Just one left, but I kind of think it is at the library somewhere. I'll keep checking.

The kids are doing well. Beth is happy. Caleb is happy and Jacob has made a major breakthrough with speech and said the SSSS sound. It's not quite right, but he was doing hard 'K' sound for all s and z sounds. Yeah.

Have a happy week.

The BYU Police Beat

2009-10-08T15:01:00.003-04:00

While I was attending BYU this was my favorite section of the Daily Universe to read.

Police Beat

Anyway I stumble upon it and thought it was too good to keep to myself. I really do miss that part of campus life. Life was so much simpler when the crimes were hot air balloons and sidewalk chalk.

Enjoy!

Where's My Update?

2009-10-06T21:45:00.003-04:00

This last weekend was not a ton of fun. It was General Conference, which of course I love. But Rob was sick, so we didn't even attempt to do anything fun this week, and somehow managed not to destroy the house very much. (Jacob is waging a war with markers on the wall, and nothing is getting it off, not even bleach! Any advice would make me happy--I've tried Magic Erasers--I think the Magic in Magic Markers is stronger than the Magic in Magic Erasers.)

This morning I was handed a Christmas list by Beth. What a list--Cell phone, I Pod and a snake. Plus a dog. So those four are out the window. But Beth still has hope, because she is sending the list to Santa who doesn't always listen to Mom (according to her). She did ask for an Easy Bake Oven or a Cupcake Maker thing. Interesting. Tangent, but I've never understood the appeal of an Easy Bake oven. The mixes were nasty, and it was always much more fun to make lots of goodies and mess in the real kitchen. So I'm leaning more towards buying her own bakeware set. (I can just her the But Mom! now).

Caleb and Jacob were at war yesterday. (Jacob was particularly cranky) Every time I'd distract one of them with a toy the other would immediately want that one instead. And man can they get at each other. Jacob is finally starting to hold his own, but that mean the fights are escalating. I need to find some constructive ways to channel that energy, I'm telling you!

Otherwise the boys are happy. Caleb got to sit in a Police Car today, with the lights on and everything. First thing he told me when I picked him up from preschool. Jacob keeps giving me hugs and saying "I'm Happy Now." Melts my heart a little bit. Well more than a little.

Anyway that's the update for the week. (And I do not approve of the M game that Caleb played with Rob sans blood and swearing. And I don't turn the games on when Rob isn't home. I believe in moderation, especially of video games.)

Dad, can I play Playstation?!

2009-10-06T12:54:00.003-04:00

So Caleb is officially a videogame addict. Every day when I get home from work, as soon as I walk through the door, he asks if he can play the Playstation, while he jumps up and down, then clings to my leg. Usually he is accompanied by Jacob, who proceeds to mimic his older brother, yelling, "Playstation! Playstation!"

I'm afraid I've created a monster.

Then again, I remember at the last church conference I attended, there was a talk about fathers needing to spend quality time with their sons. I suppose slaying demons with flaming sticks counts, right? (the videogame I'm referencing is Ico, for those not in the know ... pick it up at ebay.)

Of course, I usually get curious looks from Mim as I let Caleb play an M-rated game. It's only happened once, for all you concerned mothers and grandmothers out there, and I DID turn off the blood and gore option and the foul language option (yeah, it's considered an OPTION in this game to see blood splatter everywhere when slaying beasts with a battle axe). And I sat there with him. And it is a FUNNY game, after all, so that makes it okay for kids, right? The kid crack up while while the main character in the game, played by Jack Black, talks nonstop about how the characters in the game should start a mosh-pit. (Brutal Legend, also recommended).

But now Caleb wants to play games all the time. It's driving me crazy, despite the hours of quality male-bonding time together. I decided to make the PS2 "his" and he can play the games I approve. He's amazingly good at them for a four year old. We don't play much, but when we play, I'm constantly amazed at how well he has figured out the controls. There are 10 buttons and 2 joysticks after all.

It always comes to a point in the game, usually within the first 15 minutes when he screams for help. he throws me the controller. "I can't handle it Dad," he says. "It's too hard, " or "It's too scary." I always throw the controller back at him and tell him he can do it. We usually argue a bit. I walk away and listen for more shouts of frustration coming from near the game system. He doesn't know I'm listening. He usually gets frustrated a few more times, then miraculously gets past the monster he's trying to fight, or he figures out a puzzle in the level. And then I hear shouts of pure glee. "I did it Dad! I did it!" I come back downstairs and tell him, "See, I told you that you could."

I know it's just a silly videogame system, and parenting magazines, politicians, and even some church leaders say you shouldn't play them with your kids, or even play them at all. But for a moment, I feel proud of my son. He's discovered something that gave me years of fun in my own life (I still remember fondly hours spent playing videogames with friends in ill-lit basements with bags of Doritos and bottles of Mountain Dew) and it's something we can share together. What's more important though is that he's learned not to give up so easily when something tough comes his way. I've never really thought that videogames could teach too many lessons in life, but I see it with him. I see how proud he is of himself, how thrilled and ecstatic he is when he beats a level in a game that he thought was impossible to him. And usually he can do it with none of my help. He's learned that he's smart enough and good enough to do tough things on his own.

Now, I just can't wait until he's old enough for model rockets.

Mountain Goats

2009-10-05T09:35:00.001-04:00

So I'm in a sharing mood today. My favorite band, The Mountain Goats, is releasing their latest album, The Life of the World to Come, tomorrow, and I felt like sharing a song from the album.

Hope you enjoy.

Short Update

2009-09-28T20:58:00.003-04:00

Sorry this is going to be pretty short. I believe that I caught a cold at my conference. I've got a headache and I'm achey and I'm grumpy.

Kids were out of school today. We went to the park. It was a beautiful fall day. The park was so very crowded and all of the kids had fun playing with friends. Really that was great, but after about an hour I started feeling even worse, so I really am sick. But the sun did us some good.

Beth came down today. She and I had a discussion this morning about the fact that wearing purple pants and a blue sequiny top wasn't matching. She told me that it didn't matter at the park. Her friends there didn't care. But later that afternoon she came downstairs dressed in jeans with embroidery and a long shirt that came down mid thigh. She looked cute.

Beth: Mom am I dressed like a teenager?

Me: Yes you are. You look nice.

Beth: This how teenagers on t.v. dress (Thankfully Carly from iCarly dresses pretty modestly)

Me: Yes

Beth; Now I just need to get the shoes right. What kinds of shoes do teenagers wear?

Me: You are asking the wrong person.

Beth: What shoes did you wear in high school?

Me: (I'm geniunely perplexed. I really only had about one pair of shoes at a time. And I don't remember what type I wore even. I don't think they were tennis shoes, but I don't know.) I don't remember Beth.

Beth: How could you not know?

Well Beth asks Rob when he gets home and of course he has an answer. Ahh! I'm glad someone can guide my daughter to the cool shoes, because I definitely can't. I'm a comfort before fashion type of person, which you should know if you know me at all.

Caleb is doing great. He and Rob went out on a father son date and came home with a toot whistle. Yes, a whistle that makes farting noises. He's lucky it hasn't magically disappeared by now.

Jacob is doing pretty well. He's talking so much more now and will describe things to me and offer comments on situations. He's definitely contributing to the conversation instead of just mimicing. He also managed to color nearly in the lines on his own this morning. Impressive. But he also got a marker and colored outside of the lines, my front door is now red, red! I don't think a magic eraser will be able to fix it. Another favorite drawing surface is his stomach.

I went to the conference this weekend, so Rob had all the fun with the kids. The place didn't burn down (I'm just kidding, I wasn't worried about that) and they all seemed happy when I got home.

Hope your week goes well!

Book Update

2009-09-28T10:58:00.001-04:00

71. Princess Ben

72. Wake

73. The Adoration of Jenna Fox

74. Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies (fun book, great for self image and healthiness!)

75. When It Happens by Susane Colisanti Great love story. I do believe I've found another great author to follow. These books are along the line of Sarah Dessen. Sigh of happiness.

76. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. This is a paranormal book. It's got romance. Anyway I really liked it and currently have all of the books in the series on request at the library!

77. Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

78. Broken by Kelley Armstrong

79. The Bridesmaid

80. Forbidden Boy

81. The Other Boy

82. Waking Up to Boys

83. The Secrets of Boys

84. The Perfect Boy

85. Guardian

86. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles (loved it)

87. After by Amy Efaw Wow! A dark book because of subject matter, but Wow!

88. Love Off Limits

89. The Safe Keeper's Secret by Sharon Shinn. Loved it, very Robin McKinley kind of, but I love it. I've ordered her other books from the library, but I feel a new author will likely appear on my all time favorites list! yeah! I love it when that happens.

90. Wild Roses Deb Caletti(Wow oh Wow!)

91. The Fortune of Indigo Skye Deb Caletti I really, really liked this one too. New favorite author, oh yeah!

92. The Sweet Life of Stella Madison

93. How Sweet It Is by Alice J Wisler a very nice sweet good book. Good read if you want to find happiness. It is inspirational fiction.

94. Twenty Boy Summer This is a fun book.

95. The Truth Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn (As could as I hoped it would be. Yeah, she's up there on my author list. Yes she is!)

96. The Dreammaker's Magic by Sharon Shinn Another hit. You've got to try this author out.

97. First Come Loves Then Comes Money (I read this one to review for my about.com site, I really thought it was an excellent book, very insightful)

98. Summers at the Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

99. Waiting for You by Susane Colisanti

100. Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn (Really she's on my top list now. Really)

Yeah I did it! 100 new books this year and time left to spare!

The Kid's First Concert

2009-09-20T22:03:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Rob and I took the kids to the They Might Be Giants concert. This was the kid show and it was an outside lawn concert. The kids had a lot of fun. It was neat to see so many parents with their kids dancing and singing along to the music. Sadly for us grownups the only non-kid song they played was Constantinople. Rob and I had gone to their last concert when they came two years ago. We had great seats, eighth row and it was tons of fun. Well everyone was relaxed and it was open seating, so Rob took Beth and Caleb upfront and they were five feet from the band. They had this little dance area for the kids and it was right in front of the stage. Wow! What a concert. The show only lasted about an hour, but everyone still had fun.

This week has been about the same as always. It was Stake Conference, which actually went better than I hoped. That's always nice. The talks were good and that was happy. This next week is super busy for me. I'm going to a writer's conference and doing other stuff. Rob is going to be with the kids all week long. (I'm not going out of town, just gone a lot of evenings.)

Beth starts homework tomorrow. But she seems excited about it. I wish I could feel the same way honestly. But I don't. She is very imaginative and when she's home she leads the boys in her games. Today Caleb was the Dad and she was the kid. She kept changing her age. Dad, pretend I'm two, now I'm eight, now I'm a teenager so I can drive. Yup. Amazing at how quickly she can shift gears. Those lines were all said in about a five minute span.

Caleb is doing really well. He is adjusting to preschool very well. I think he likes the structure and the busy week. He does miss the park, so I'm going to squeeze in some trips on Tuesday or Thursday. I asked him if he wanted to still go to story time this year and he said yes. That is on Thursday. (Our library offers one on Wednesday and on Thursday. That makes it nice.) So we'll do that this week too.

Jacob has started to do lots of actions to songs. He can do The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock, Once There Was a Snowman, Popcorn Popping and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He also throws in the occasional word or approximation of a word. So that is always happy. He's so smiley and happy all the time, but he is stubborn. Rob came down today and said that he didn't know what to do with Jacob, because he knows what he wants, he won't stop (timeouts don't work well yet) and he's too cute and he knows how to get away with things.

Rob seems to be happy. He's wrapping stuff up on a video project he's been doing forever. I think he'll find something to do after that is over as well.

Well that's our last week. Have a Good One.

PS No concert pictures as there was a high chance of rain.

A Day I'll Never Forget

2009-09-11T09:39:00.002-04:00

Except that I sort of did. I woke up this morning without realizing the significance of today. As a child I remember people talking about how specific events stood out in their memories. They always remembered the day that Kennedy was shot or when the wall came down (I was alive, but a very oblivious child).

But I will never forget working and listening to the morning radio show as we got ready to open the doors. It was Bob and Sheri and they loved to pull jokes. So when they first said a plane had flown into the towers. I didn't think it was real. But then they said, no this isn't a joke it's real. One of them ran and got a television set, and started describing it.

Immediately my coworker and I want to verify it. So we go to CNN and it's down. That in and of itself was verification.

All we could do was listen to their description and account as the second plane flew into the tower. That's when I realized it wasn't an accident. I knew things were changing. My coworkers and I listened to the radio accounts all day and I raced home at lunch to watch it on the television.

Things have changed. I was so scared at first. I was pregnant with my first and wondered what I was bringing her into.

The thing I've realized since then is that we don't have to retaliate with hate, and we don't have to retaliate with fear. I am still so sad when I think of all those people who died, and the families and friends who lost those that they loved. I'm saddened to think that the world isn't quite as carefree as it once was.

But I also get hope from the brave men and women who worked to rescue those people in the buildings and the people on United Airlines Flight 93 who fought back.

Here's to remembering.

2009-09-06T21:36:00.002-04:00

What a fun and exciting week! Caleb started preschool. So far he loves it. He wants to go every day. I think he loves the structure of the environment and that he gets to be a big kid when he goes. His teacher told me he was a preschool pro. He got to lead the lines the first day of preschool. Jacob is sad when he's gone. I think Jacob would like to go as well.

Beth is doing well in school. She wants to start the homework now! I'm not so sure that she will be quite as enthusiastic as soon as it really starts. We shall see. Beth is so happy, and loves to play with her little brothers, most of the time. She's always looking for more opportunities to make a new friend.

Jacob is doing well. He is becoming quite independent. I woke up one night this week to him crying. At first I thought it was the new neighbors since the cry sounded far away. But I got up to investigate. Jacob wasn't in bed. So I listened and realized the cry came from downstairs. Jacob had gone all the way downstairs, in the dark, gotten a cup and filled it up with water. The only problem was that it was too full and he couldn't pick it up out of the sink. Wow! 2 years old and independent all ready. The potty training game, he is not so keen on though. I thought I'd try again next week.

Rob just got back from DragonCon with some crazy pictures. I think he had a good time. He came home tired from the long drive, but I think happy overall. He and Jacob are currently giggling on the bed. I think Rob wants to play a video game. Jacob loves to watch him and laughs every time Rob dies. He thinks it's hilarious!

Well I'm off to make Rob a sandwich or something to snack on. Have a great Labor Day weekend. We'll be doing something fun tomorrow.

This Week In Passing

2009-08-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

It's official Caleb gave his first talk in Primary. He was very articulate, and did a great job. Rob helped him. Every time they would go through the talk together Caleb would forget something and say Doh! (very Homer Simpsony). Rob was worried he'd do that in the middle of his talk. Caleb didn't. He was very serious the entire time and I was super proud of him.

Beth had a good first week of school. Very exciting very fun. She made some new friends and did some good stuff. I'm proud of her. She'll start homework in a few weeks. yeah Homework! (not so much)

Jacob is being happy and helpful and fun. This week will be the first week of him with just me three mornings a week. I think he is going to miss Caleb very much. But we'll do play group on Mondays, and he speech on Wednesday and Fridays which should help. Plus we need some together time.

There isn't tons of news this week. We went to the temple yesterday to prepare for Caleb's talk. The kids managed to be reverent for the majority of the time. A feat that would astound many, especially our home teachers. Our kids are awful whenever they come over. I mean awful. Sigh.

Rob worked hard this week, since school's back in session. He's tired. But he didn't get cranky, so I'm proud of him. We had a nice at home date on Friday. I quite enjoyed it.

That's about it for us. Have a great week!

Back to School

2009-08-23T20:49:00.002-04:00

Summer is over. School starts back up this week, and just in time. The kids are starting to get on each other's nerves and school will provide the perfect diversion to distract them from the fighting. The summer just slipped by and I didn't accomplish half of the things I wanted to this summer. Aw well, the kids had fun, played hard and made messes, what more could they possibly want.

Beth found out her teacher and met her. She seemed nice. Beth is going to have to make all new friends this year. Sigh. But she's really good at it, so I'm sure she'll have fun. She starts on Tuesday. Tomorrow is the last big hurrah. I've got to wear her out so that she'll go to bed early.

Caleb had a near miss yesterday. He narrowly missed a concussion, but took out a hook on the wall with back of his head. Rob thinks the hook may have already been broken. Either way I think he's lucky, but not lucky enough to avoid a tetnus shot tomorrow. I asked him to get out of the closet fifteen times yesterday because he could get hurt. He'd get out, but then sneak back in. He woke up this morning feeling great though.

Jacob is getting ready to potty train. Well actually I'm getting ready to potty train. We got some big boy underwear brand new. But summer running is over, and me changing diapers is over. Jacob can do this. I know he can. He's headed down the path to being a big, big boy. We're getting ready to wean him off of his paci as well, but that's going to prove to be difficult. Two nights we haven't been able to find a paci, and Rob's frantically gone searching for them as places are closing. Jacob cries hard enough to make himself sick. Current plan is no more day time pacis with the hope that he won't need one at bedtime. Then we can pull one out in the middle of the night so that I can sleep.

Rob's schedule at work is about to get super busy. This means he has to get to work early, which means we'll start going to bed before midnight again. Lately that just hasn't been happening. I'm excited. I'm more productive if I get more sleep, silly thing really. I ought to be able to run on just a few hours of sleep. But no, that's never been me. Not even in college. The truth is (are you ready for this it is shocking) until I started dating Rob I usually went to bed about 10:00. That was during college and everything. Well, weekends have always been a little bit different. You know it wasn't uncommon to be up until 2:00 in high school or college on a good weekend. I have lots of fun stories involving Denny's and Dee's restaurant and drunk people. They sure get honory when they're kicked out of the bars. I smiled thinking back on the grilled cheese sandwiches (I was on a kick that lasted about a year) and Wisconsin Cheese soup. Oh yum, I'd love some now. That stuff was good, especially in the middle of the night. Talking in a restaurant and feeling all bad, since I was breaking curfew.

Anyway enough about my errant youth, college I wasn't so errant, but still out late, and up late. The point is that Rob is the one to blame for my messed up sleep schedule. Truly I wasn't always a night owl (because as stated earlier weekends don't count) I was more of a morning person. It's tough to be a morning person when you are up too late. Now I've thought of a blog topic for my writing blog. But I won't post it today. I'm going to let it simmer around inside of me for a bit, so I can do the best possible poetic justice to it.

All right. Gotta go. Have a great week!

The Beach!

2009-08-18T16:48:00.003-04:00

Rob will have to be responsible for pictures, but we just got back from a very relaxing weekend at the beach. We went down with Rob's family to North Myrtle Beach and it was so nice. I was a little concerned when the trip was planned, because I despise crowds. I hate feeling crowded and rushed and ick. But the resort we stayed at was nice, and I didn't feel crowded at all, except on the elevator. It was also super nice to be with Rob's family. His sister Karen and her family came down, as well as Chris and Gail and Eldon. Super fun!

Jacob loved the sun, and the sand. He had no fear and loved to play in the waves. Rob waded out with him, until the waves were up to Rob's chest and they had a lot of fun playing in the surf. he also loved to sit in the tide pools and just dig in the sand. And of course he loved the pool at the hotel. The entire time he just hung on to Rob. I think he loved the extra attention he was getting from his dad.

Caleb was a wild man. He wasn't so interested in the ocean, but loved to dig in the sand and the tide pools. He paddled around on a boogie board in the tide pools and made an awesome castle all by himself. When I went to get him, the tide was washing up and over the castle. It didn't phase Caleb, he kept telling me that it was okay and that we could just build it again. Which we did three times! But then I told him it was time to go up to the pool again. He stayed outside all day both days we were at the beach. At the hotel he loved the hot tub and would strike up conversations with whomever was in there with him.

Beth had a lot of fun as well. She and Chloe played together a lot. Beth went and jumped the waves. She got pretty brave a few times and would wade out until it was nearly waist deep. She also went for a walk on her own (and got in trouble for it) to collect sea shells. She was sad to go.

On the way home we visited the US North Carolina. A retired battleship from WWII. It was interesting, but not a place for little kids. So many places that the boys could fall through and crazy stairs. Plus it was crazy hot. Rob wants to go back for the ghost tour in October. That's why we went, because there was an episode on Ghosthunter that featured the boat. We don't know why there would be ghosts. Only ten people died on the ship and it was only in commission for about five years. I remember that the episode wasn't very exciting.

Rob is headed back to work tomorrow. Work will start to get busy for him again, because school is starting back up. He has some early classes this year, so he won't be able to stay up until 1:00 anymore.

We still haven't gotten Beth's school letter. She's starting to panic. I may go check the mail again, since I don't think it's come yet. Meet the Teacher is Friday, and if it comes down to it, we can just visit the office on the way to school.

As for me, I will finish up my current draft of my novel, and start submitting it to agents this week. One of my top five agents opened herself to submissions for this month. I've got to get in the window. Plus it's time. A year is long enough. I'm looking forward to a little more structure to my days. So that I can get more down.

Take care!

Book Update

2009-08-12T21:48:00.002-04:00

59. My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

60. The Scribbler of Dreams

61. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan--gotta say I loved the end of this one. This was the last book in the series. It was packed full of action, battle scene after battle scene, hardly letting you come up with a breath. I liked the end. The entire end--how the fighting ended and how well the final scenes of the book went. Wow! Just Wow!

62. The Magician by Michael Scott

63. Demon's Lexicon

64. Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer. I needed this book today. It was about finding the positive, and good in the situations around you. Nice voice. I really enjoyed it.

65. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

66. The Sorceress by Michael Scott

67. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

67. Wings by E.D. Baker

68. Dairy Queen

69. The Off Season

70. The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry (This was really, really good. It was a first novel, and there was bit more I'd like to have seen at the end, but overall a really good read.)

HOT! Hot, hot

2009-08-09T21:26:00.003-04:00

This week was hot. I mean hot. Kids have been going crazy, so we did a few promised park trips.

I think we went to play group and left by 11:30. That was Monday. We stayed about an hour.

Wednesday we went to a new park instead of story time. We got there about 10:15 and left by 11:00. Poor Jacob was so red, and flushed and hot. This new park is awesome. Lots of climby stuff and the kids loved it.

Thursday we went to story time. And then came home and the house turned into a huge disaster, from which it has not recovered. That is our primary goal for tomorrow.

Friday we went visiting teaching and then to the Big Slide Park. A park which I have been avoiding all summer, since there is no shade. We got there at 11:20. Sadly I knew it was a bad idea, but I had promised the kids. We left at 11:40 with absolutely no protest from the kids. It was just too hot to be out and about. Too hot!

Saturday we got up early and went to the new park, which will either be called the Climby park or the Spider Web Park. The kids wanted Rob to see it. We got there about 9:30. The kids played, we walked on a walking trail. Beth and Caleb became very afraid of two little teeny tiny weiner dogs on leashes. And then we went over to the big field where they were having the grand opening celebration for the park. Very exciting. We avoided the speeches, but got free balloon animals and the kids made visor hats that have since been demolished. After that we went and got a slush from Sonic.

That is our week. It is so hot, we don't want to do anything. Constant headache and everything. We thought our air conditioning wasn't working until we realized Beth and turned it off. It's hot with it one, but unbearable without it! We've got fans upstairs, and it is just going to get hotter this week. The humidity level will be pretty high too.

School is only two weeks away! Yikes. It makes me sad, and happy.

Have a great summer!

When I Was Eighteen

2009-08-07T13:34:00.003-04:00

Quite honestly I can look back at my eighteenth year with a lot happiness. I moved out and had a lot of fun my freshman year of college. But this post isn't about me. It's about Caleb.

We were talking, and I told him that he could be an acrobat. Well he wanted to know what that was, and we hit YouTube for some videos. One of which was Urban Acrobat Guys running around jumping off of buildings, flipping and rolling. Really cool stuff. Then I was telling him not to try that stuff.

Caleb: Mom I know how to do that.

Me: Really

Caleb: Yeah when I was eighteen I knew how

Me: Caleb you weren't eighteen

Caleb: Yes I used to be, then someone turned me into a baby.

Me Thinking: Maybe there's something to the whole reincarnation theory (not Really)

So what could you do before you got turned into a baby?

A Week of Up and Downs

2009-08-02T21:56:00.003-04:00

Overall it was a good week. Rob worked a lot. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. Several days he left here at seven, and didn't get home until 1:00. He's currently snoring and I hope he doesn't wake up until tomorrow morning. He's got a few more tough days ahead of him.

Beth had an okay week. She ended up sick today and stayed home from church. Well I'm the only one I went and I substituted in Beth's class. It was an interesting day. We got the back to school supplies for Beth, and she is a tiny bit nervous about heading back to school. She doesn't know where the second grade classrooms are, and it is making her nervous. I'm reassuring her with the promise of Meet the Teacher in a few weeks.

Caleb announced that he is willing to go to preschool. That he is excited to go. He got a new backpack, which may be part of it. He finished up his bronchitis medicine, and now his dark circles are back under his eyes. I think I need to put him back on whole milk. That will make him happy. No soda, just whole milk with added cream. Then his circles might just go away.

Jacob is doing great as usual. Happy little guy. Today he kept throwing things down the stairs. He hit Beth with a toy train. Rob got on him about it. And Jacob was MAD! He went and got something to throw at Daddy. (What Rob didn't realize is that Beth was egging the entire thing on, from throwing stuff down the stairs to throwing stuff at Dad--so we had a little talk.)

As for me, I'm hanging in there. We had a few power outages this week, which gave me the incentive to clean out the fridge. Nothing like a real fresh start to your refrigerator. We also watched some kiddos, baked some cookies and tried to be nice people this week. The house stayed clean more than it was dirty. And that made me happy overall.

Keep smiling!

Swimming, Bronchitis and Other Fun Stuff

2009-07-26T22:01:00.002-04:00

This week was good overall. Jacob didn't have speech therapy, because his therapist was on vacation. It made scheduling so much easier, but at the same time I know how much it is helping him. So we will be back to the same old schedule this week.

The kids finished up their last swimming lessons this week. Caleb didn't care for the second week of lessons, though he loved the first. Jacob took a few of his turns, and loved it. He's good in the water. He made it very clear that he wanted to swim. He can say swim quite clearly, and on fRiday when there weren't any lessons Jacob put on his big floating suit and wore it all day long. He really wanted to go. The kids are going to miss the pool. It really makes me think seriously about getting a pool membership somewhere. They were so happy this week swimming nearly every day.

Beth did an excellent job at her lessons. I'm reading her Harry Potter at night, and she loves it. In fact all of the kids go to better so much better when I read at night. I just might do the whole series. I'm still trying to decide. Caleb says he doesn't like Harry Potter, but he doesn't like anything associated with bedtime.

Caleb has had a cough since the Fourth of July. So I finally took him in this week. I had to trick him to get him in the car. And on the way to the doctor he said he'd go visit the frog doctor (that's his neurologist) because he was so tired. I think he chose that doctor because he has never had him poked or given him a shot. But when we got the doctor, he went up and went in. Although he was mad. He was quite relieved that there was no shot involved, and said that he'd go again. He really likes his medicine and you can tell that he feels much better.

(It sounds like Caleb goes to lots of doctors, but really he is healthy. He was going to a gastroenterologist, when he stopped growing, which I'm happy to say he started again. The neurologist was to check his tremors, which turned out to be familial tremors. I have them, my dad has them, and my grandpa had them, so it wasn't surprising. We even got to do some kind of study for Duke for them. Caleb's actually been really healthy lately, minus the bronchitis, which I am happy to say runs on Rob's side of the family not mine--since all of Caleb's growing and tremor issues come from my side.)

Jacob is just talking more and more each day. Right now he is going an Uh Huh phase. The intonation is so adorable, but I'm not savvy enough to record it. So you'll just have to take my word for it. He's getting better at repeating words, and uses multiple word phrases to ask for things. I'm very proud of him.

Rob's doing okay. He's working a lot this week. His normal job during the day and some freelance gigs at night. Seriously we won't see him this week. But the jobs he's picking up in the next week and half will be as much as he makes in a month. (That's just the freelance stuff) I wish the work were always this good, because Rob could think about freelancing completely instead.

Well I'm off to do some reading. My library book is due back tomorrow. I've got a couple hundred pages to go!

Happy Week to you all. This was a very rambly post.

A Fun Week

2009-07-19T14:49:00.002-04:00

Beth and Caleb had swimming lessons this week, which meant that they got to go swimming this week. They were really happy about it. But Jacob wasn't as happy. For some reason this year, he just wouldn't get in the water. On Friday I decided to fix that, and got in my swimsuit, and went to the pool, knowing that I'd get in. At first he wanted to hold both my hands. I tried just sitting on the side, but he say "Me In, You in" very clearly meaning, if I have to get in, so do you. After a little coaxing, he began to walk by himself, around the water, then he kicked his legs and moved his arms. When Beth's lesson was over, he went and talked to her. "Coool Coool." I think he was really proud of himself. This week the lessons shouldn't be as dramatic, at least for him.

Beth and Caleb are both doing really well with their lessons. I'm proud of them.

We went and saw Harry Potter this week. It was a good movie, and I was pleased with it, except I felt gipped at the end. I love action scenes---and I'll leave it at that. Rob and I had a very long discussion about that. He had points, but I had points, and I still thing the tension would have gone up a few notches.

This week we will have more swim lessons, and it's time to buckle down with Beth and work on her match skills. She needs to be a little bit more comfortable with the subject.

Have a great summer!

Book Update

2009-07-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

56. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott (Totally fun, totally loved his magic explanations and his mythology intertwining!)

57. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen of course I loved this book. Of course I did. As always a beautiful well though out story with strong girl characters and real relationships. Happiness.

58. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins--yes it is the sequel that comes out in September. Yes it is as awesome as the first book. But I won't write anymore, because I will spill wonderful plot twists and nail biting moments. What I want to know is how does she manage to build such a level of suspense throughout the entire book? How? You've got to read this one.

A Very Quiet Week

2009-07-12T15:31:00.002-04:00

Beth and Caleb spent the week at Grandma and Pap's. They had a lot fun and managed to cross some crazy activities off of their list. And they got to do things, they wouldn't have been allowed to if I were around--but that's what grandparents are for, right?

List of things they did

Treasure Hunting
Fishing
Sleeping in a tent (in the kitchen)
Playing in the creek
Swimming in the lake (twice)
Sleepovers with cousins
Trips to the science museum and library
Caleb touched a sting ray (I think he's done this before)
Picking things in the garden, lots of things.
Riding the lawn mower

The kids had lots of fun. Jacob missed them. He was really sad each morning when he woke up and they weren't there. We did fun things too. Trips to the park, and library. We also cleaned his room--I know not so fun. Jacob was so excited to see them. His entire face just lit up in a huge grin and stayed that way for a very long time! On the way home Caleb and Jacob held hands for a long time, just grinning at other. I'm glad that my kids love each other.

I'm still plugging away at my novel. I want to send it out to agents by the end of the month. Hopefully I'll be able to.

Rob is doing the same old thing. He is working four day work weeks, ten hour days (twelve with his commute) and then Fridays off. Next week he won't be dong that since he is teaching some sort of seminar to eighth graders. The schedule has been hard on him, but he says having Fridays free is worth it.

We are both looking forward to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It comes out this week. Unfortunately we won't make it to the midnight showing. We both really want to do that, but kids put a damper on that. But we will be seeing it this week. I've watched all five movies, and Rob is starting to watch them now. And I reread book six in honor of the event! Go Harry Potter!
J. K. Rowlings is a genius.

This next week should be fun for the kids. They will have swimming lessons, a trip to the park, and other craziness! Plus chores are starting this week!

Dad When You Were a Hobo . . .

2009-07-05T22:00:00.002-04:00

Caleb has had quite a few profound statements the last week.

Conversations:

Caleb: Dad, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Dad: No, what are you thinking?

Caleb: I think you should buy more Mickey Mouse ties.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - -

Caleb (to Grandma Great (Rob's grandmother)) taking her by the hand: What's wrong with your arm? It's all liney.

Moment of Silence

Grandma Great: It's an old woman's arm.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Caleb to Rob's Mom: Grandma how did Dad get to be your son?

Moment of silence, while everyone ponders how deep to go with the answer

Caleb: Oh, I know you took care of him when he was a baby.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

My favorite (We were passing a panhandler in the car, and Rob offered him some food, when Beth said is that a hobo? We tried to explain the difference then . . .)

Caleb: Dad when you were a Hobo, did you get rained on?

Rob: I was never a hobo, but if I had been I would have been rained on.

That's it for this week. I love seeing the world through the eyes of a four year old.

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-05T21:54:00.002-04:00

Well, I know I'm a day late, but we were out of town. I must say that I'm proud of myself because I didn't take my work with me. Rob would be the first to admit that it rarely happens. But on to bigger and better things!

this weekend we went down to visit Rob's folks and to drop off Beth and Caleb for some Grandma and Pap time. The kids had a lot of fun this weekend between swimming, fireworks and four wheeling (not really it's a little kid one).They also loved picking things out of the garden.

The fireworks show we went to was amazing. Then the cops showed up. After they left it went on to be amazing. Just a little tense in the middle. One stray firework did blow up in the street. i was glad that we hadn't chosen a front row seat, but it brought back memories of the circle fireworks show. Aww memories.

We also hit the annual ward pancake breakfast complete with flag raising ceremony. As always it was fun, sticky and slightly off tune. (Well at least I was.)

Jacob is home with us, but wishes he was at Grandma's too. I don't know how we are going to handle just one little guy with us for today.

Happy Fourth! Be grateful for the liberties we have and the sacrifices of previous generations. May we all work to preserve our freedom and honor their memories!

Bowling, and Other Craziness

2009-06-28T23:04:00.003-04:00

So I'll direct you over to my embarrassing moment of the week post on my other blog. I'd post pictures of my scrapes, but that would just be gross. Maybe if you see me you can ask to see the general nastiness that is currently my knee. Enough about me, that's not why you read, and I know it.

Okay briefly this week was playgroup, playdate, speech therapy/library for Beth, Visiting teaching (not fun for the kids) and bowling. Yes, we took all three kids bowling. It was interesting. Beth did an amazing job of somehow really swinging the ball down the lanes. The boys used this weird rack thing to roll the ball and both scored higher than Beth (which made her sad, but I'm super proud of her).

Rob won--he had like a 96. I was not far behind--I think, I honestly forget. Rob got lucky and did a spare, then a strike, and then an eight. Otherwise I would have won. I was ahead of him until like turn or round eight. Enough about us. We forgot the camera. So no pics.

The boys were about done when we got to round six. They were more interested in the arcade. Plus I think they realized Mom and Dad weren't that great when super bowlers showed up and starting bowling next to us. They just kept getting strike after strike. Suddenly Mom and Dad weren't quite so cool anymore.

(Actually I though Super Bowlers were kind of sweet. They were understanding of the kids and it was a Mom and her teenage (like high school) son. They joked and laughed together and were really really good--they probably compete. It was nice to see some family bonding.)

We had the Holmes spend the afternoon with us again on Sunday. Our whole family misses them. But they are happy and having fun in Kansas, which we are so glad that they are happy.

On a small side note, Rob and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Wowza! The time sure has flown by. I love you Rob!

A Father's Day Video

2009-06-25T14:28:00.002-04:00

Here's a video the kids and I made for their grandpa Ray ...