Fall Happenings

I guess I have a seasonal blog now.  I'll try to hit the four seasons to document the happenings around here. My head is spinning and I am not sure where to begin to catch up so I'm sure this post will be quite random and not exactly seamless and polished. The reason my motivation for sitting at the computer has vanished, is that it is now my job. There is no quicker way to ruin an enjoyable hobby than to get paid for it. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for the job. I'm not one to tend to think that everything happens for a reason, but this one sure seemed like it was meant to be. It quite literally just fell into my lap. I half heartedly responded to a facebook post of a friend of a friend. The next thing I knew I was back in the saddle of corporate life. It was the first and only interview I have had in 17 years. The job is far from perfect. The commute is long; some days an hour each way. The work is tedious and it took me a couple weeks before I didn't feel like crying when I saw that my kids were home from school and I wasn't there.  But the people are nice, the pay is generous, and it is infinitely better than substitute teaching. My kids are adjusting and my tears dried up pretty quickly when the first paycheck landed in my account. I feel like it is a blessing right now and I am trying to see it as such. I'm thankful to have had the privilege of staying home with my kids when they were tiny, but there is still a tremendous amount of guilt and worry. I realize that the business of raising them is far from over just because they are in school seven hours a day. Plus, selfishly I just miss them. Wes is able to be home most afternoons and Cheryl, Lauren, and Mom and Dad pick up the rest of my slack without complaint. I could not do it without their generosity.

I am also way behind on my blathering. I have great kids. I could not be more proud of who they are becoming. Because of his near perfect score on his 4th grade math assessment last year, they asked if Jake could be tested for the gifted program at his school this year. He passed and is really enjoying the new challenges and more individualized curriculum. I'm like most moms in thinking that my kids are geniuses, but I've always believed that Jake was wise beyond his years. He has never thought like a kid. He was born mature. I thought maybe it was a first born thing and the fact that he is an old soul. I met with both his regular classroom teacher and his "leap" teacher for conferences a couple weeks ago. They made the comment that Jake is very unusual for a "leap" kid because he is so well rounded and doesn't have some of the emotional baggage that so many of these high achieving kids seem to have. He is learning to play the trumpet, is playing football, and was on the Dean's list for getting straight A's. They do a test in PE where they have to do as many sprints as possible while a series of beeps gets faster and faster until they can't make it back in time for the next beep. Jake tied the school record that was set three years ago with 48. Most kids were done at 20. This is turning into a Kim Jong Il type of bragging session, but so be it. I love that kid.

As to not play favorites, Dylan is also getting straight A's and is a rising football star. He stayed behind in the younger league this season of tackle football and he is a force to contend with on the defensive line. He has had several sacks and is in on almost every tackle. He has played a big part in their undefeated season. The boys play for the Special Forces. There is a chant that they yell before and after every game. It's goes something like this..Who are we? Forces. Who are we? FORCES! What are we? Dedicated, motivated, lethal. Except several kids I swear say "meatloaf" instead of lethal.  Awesome.
Sophie decided to join the cheer squad this year. It is great because instead of whining and hanging on me the whole game she has something to do. The other girls are older, but they have been super sweet to her. I worry about the long term viability of her cheer career because like her momma, she can't do the splits, a cartwheel, or certainly not a flip. She does get by with a little half bent leg kick at the end of a cheer and she can memorize cheers like no other. The memorization skill comes in handy in school too. She rocks her poems and book reports. The reading is slow go,  but I don't worry that she will grow into an illiterate adult.

On a sad note, we lost Wes' Grandpa Miller last month. I can't do justice to a man of his caliber in a blog post and it almost seems irreverent to even try. I will say that he was uncommonly generous, consistently kind, and made everyone feel important. Without fail, every single time I saw him, he would make a point to seek me out and tell me in no uncertain terms that I was special. He had so many kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, that I wouldn't have held it against him if he didn't even know my name. He was also a WWII prisoner of war. It is sad to me to realize that we are losing the last of that great generation. I am so thankful that I got chance to know Jay Miller and that my kids knew him.

We took the long way home from Joe City and found some fall leaves.

This was the kids' first real funeral and the first time they have lost someone they knew well. They were sad but handled it better than I thought they would. It is a good teaching opportunity to help them understand why death is sad, but happy at the same time.

I loved this. The Miller Family loves their homemade ice cream. I don't know whose idea it was, but this had to have made Grandpa smile.

Being the first grandchild, Wes and his cousin Jordan were charged with presenting the flag. As hard as this is, it has been theraputic for Wes. He was able to be at his side when he died. It was something that he didn't get to do for and with his Dad. What a great day it had to have been to be reunited with so many that went before him. And to have him be the one to ordain Wes a high priest will always be a priceless memory. I know that Wes has made both his Dad and Grandpa proud.



Grandpa would have been disappointed if we hadn't made time for some fun along the way. I love this picture and how it captures the personalities of my kids. It;s not often that I get genuine smiles in a picture.

Birthdays, Concerts, and 2017

My cute middle child turned nine a couple weeks ago. His birthday falls at a terrible time anyway and I was a little preoccupied. Thankfully, he is a true to form middle child, and required very little for his birthday celebration. His only request was to have a cake and to swim at Grandma Ruth's house. It of course helps that his sweet relatives spoil him rotten on his birthday.

We surprised Dylan with a Diamondbacks game and his very first concert afterwards. My boys love The Refreshments, (now Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers) music. I'm justifiably weary of taking preteen boys to a concert, but I figured it would be family friendly, being at a baseball game on a Saturday. Besides Roger seeming to have a bit of a drinking problem, they kept it upbeat and clean and it was a fun night for all. Brett and Lirio came down to the show as well. It was fun to spend some time with them.

It has been a relatively quiet first couple weeks since Wes became Bishop Whittaker. I noticed on the program this morning that some random phone number is listed on the program next to his name. I admit that I hesistated to point out the error, but in the end decided it was the right thing to do.

As such, I have come to terms with some changes in our family. Some of them awesome and some requiring some patience. In the latter catergory are the following projects that I suspect Wes will have time for in or around 2017, when his Bishop tenure expires. Here is a little photo gallery for your enjoyment.

 The eternally broken lawn mower.

 The outdoor kitchen that holds so much potential.

 The broken plexiglass on the backboard that the HOA forced the removal of.

And the model car Dylan got for his birthday. Don't worry DB will figure it out before 2017. All is well though. I'm really not complaining.

"Bishop Whittaker" Say What?

Life's funny sometimes. If there weren't some twists and turns along the way I suppose it would be boring. I was sitting comfortably in the back row of junior primary, minding my own business having no idea what was about to ambush the Whittaker Family. I won't go into details about the process of finding my husband on the stand in a suit (yes, Wes in a real suit) leading a ward, but I will say that it has been the beginning of a spritual journey that has already blessed our lives. I have no illusions about it being easy and fun all the time. I've had enough close associations with people in heavy leadership roles to know of some of the challenges that come with the title. I do know very clearly that Wes will not be alone in facing this enormous task at hand. We are deeply flawed, anything but stable, and seriously lack the polishing that perhaps a Bishop's family should posess. What I do know, and have always known is that my husband has a good heart and genuinely loves and cares about others. It is a sweet confirmation to know that his Heavenly Father recognizes this also.

We are so blessed to have such amazing and supportive families. The high council room was overflowing with family and friends who drove long distances on short notice to share in the ordination. They quietly contributed in so many ways. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the little and big acts of kindness along the way. It was not an easy thing for 88 year old Grandpa Miller to get up in the middle of the night and make his way to the valley for our cruel 8 am sacrament meeting time. But to have him be able to ordain his oldest grandson a high priest was priceless. Important life events sting for Wes, even after over 20 years. There are times when you need a hug from your Dad. It was hard to not feel the love from the circle of family there and on the other side.

It was a special day for us. Now the real work begins.

There were some concerns from a few members of Wes' family that this Bishop thing might ruin his sense of humor. So far there is no sign of that. Speaking of humor, receiving this card might be the thing we remember most about the big day. We got a good laugh out of it. People really don't know exactly what to say to you..but his might be the most appropriate.

Both boys were facinated by this strange "suit" thing that Dad was wearing. They couldn't help but try it on.

It was a fun family reunion and maybe someday Karla will fogive me for posting a picture of her. She looks beautiful so I couldn't resist.

And finally, a perk that I was not aware of is that things like this randomly show up at your door. I could get used to this.

Grand Delusions

School starts up again in 19 days, not that I am counting. I really have no idea how it has gone so fast. I had these great plans about honing the kids' math skills,  getting Sophie reading, finishing off the boys' Scout merit badges that we are behind on, getting my house decluttered and organized. We have yet to leave the metro Phoenix area which means if we don't get on the ball, my kids will face the horrible task of writing that dreaded essay about what you did this summer with no trip to talk about.

What have we been doing?

Sadly, Aunt Edris passed away.

Happily, Gabby came to visit.

Brett got very sick. Thankfully he is out of the ICU and getting better everyday.

My van broke - again. I now know how to replace a A/C fan motor, but I hope next time we have the pleasure that it is slightly less than 115 outside.

I started physical therapy on my right shoulder which mysteriously started hurting after baseball season. I stopped going because it is way too time consuming and boring. I can make dinner with the other shoulder.

Wes is actively seeking a new full time employment opportunity. We hope to be able to keep Amazing Athletes as second income. He is making progress with one particular employer that he has some inroads with a couple of friends. I'll leave it at that until we know more. 

The Haws family returned safely from their cross country adventure, What a welcome relief to have Sophie reunited with Lani. You know that famous scene from Uncle Buck where that Culkin kid asks him all the questions. That is how I was feeling during all her waking hours. She may not be reading, but that girl sure thinks, a lot.

Speaking of cute Sophie, she turned six! We did a rerun of last year and threw a little party at Grandma and Grandpa's pool. (If you wondered if we were going to save that six candle, turn it upside down, and put it on Dylan's cake next month, the answer is ubetcha.- one of the many perks of living in Queentucky..nobody is bothered by that.)

We had some fireworks fun with some kind neighbors who invited us over on the 4th. (Sophie was not injured.)

Dylan has spent most of summer vacation being sick. After a nasty bout of the stomach flu, his rattling chest earned him a trip to the doctor (nurse practitioner actually-Does anyone see actual doctors anymore?)  Unfortunately, it was the same day as his divisional swim meet which qualifies the kids for the championship meet which takes place tomorrow. We were awaiting chest x-ray results to rule out pneumonia and/or Valley Fever.  I told Dylan it was up to him if wanted to swim. He decided last minute that his breathing treatment had worked well enough to give it a try. Out of over a hundred kids, he took 10th place in both breaststroke and backstroke. The top 16 advance, so he earned his chance to compete tomorrow. (The chest x-ray was negative for pneumonia.) Jake also placed for freestyle (14th) and backstroke (12th). He missed qualifying for butterfly (17th) by 2/100ths of a second. I suppose we are getting some math lessons in this summer after all. I won't lie, four days per week of swim practice at the crack of dawn will not be missed. Now we have like an hour and a half before football season starts, So much for those "summer packets" that came home on the last day of school.

San Tan Valley All-Stars

I can't hide from the fact that I not so secretly wished that Jake would get passed over for the 9-10 year old All Star Team. We already had swim team going on and enough time had passed that I had almost forgotten about the possibility. He gets offended when I say I was suprised that he made it, because he assumes that I think he is not very good. We like baseball in the spring, but are not a family that lives and breathes baseball year round like many of the little league families. From a purely objective stand point, (if that is possible for a parent) I think baseball is Jake's weakest sport. I don't view this as an insult. Baseball is slow. Jake is not. It sure doesn't hurt to be fast and coordinated, but you don't get the kind of mileage from these attributes in baseball like in other sports we play.

I got the "Congratualtions" email on Friday morning that he had been selected and practice started Friday evening at 4:30. Most days it was around 110 degrees at 4:30. They practiced until the sun went down which is about 3 hours....everyday but Sunday and twice on Saturdays. (I hate to think how long the practices would have been if the field had lights.) This went on for over two weeks until games finally began. Wes got pulled in as an assistant coach (big surprise) so I am not going to pretend to be a martyr that sat out in the sun every evening. But even still, I had my misgivings about the value of this kind of time comittment considering the oppressive heat we live in.



 I have to say with it behind us now though that it was an invaluable character building experience for Jake. I would ask Wes nightly when Jake came home sore, red faced, sweaty and utterly exhausted if they were crossing the line in how hard they were pushing these boys. Beleive it or not, he and I are in agreement on where the line is. If our kids said tomorrow that they didn't want to play sports anymore, we would not force them to. (Frankly, the newfound free time would be a welcome relief.)They drive their desire to compete and excel. You really can't create or force that in a kid. They have that fire in their belly or they don't. Sophie doesn't, which is why dance is perfect for her. My boys thrive on it, so we do our best to nurture it in a healthy positive way. Far beyond the value of hitting homeruns or scoring touchdowns is learning to deal with teammates and coaches with all different personalities and from all walks of life. Learning to lose and more importantly, win graciously, pushing yourself to do hard things, getting back up in the face of defeat are all essential life skills.

With a full year of subbing under my belt, I have observed and interacted with a good sampling kids. There is plenty of blame to spread around from the overuse of technology to absentee parents to economic distress to learning disabliites. The list goes on and on. No knows for sure the root causes of some of the issues our kids have, but my observation is that respect for authority, peers, and self is diminishing. Social skills are lacking, and the percentage of seriously emotionally disturbed kids is alarmingly high. What I saw being instilled in these boys on this All Star team was character and respect for themselves and others.

They were coached by an amazing group of four men (my sweet husband included), who took an interest these 11 boys. They encouraged them and pushed them and made them believe that they were important. They taught them to work together, to fight through adversity, to cheer each other's accomplishments and learn from their mistakes. I couldn't help but wonder what a difference it would make if every kid entering that awkward pre teen stage had someone that believed in them and cared enough to take the time to get involved in their lives, whether it was in sports or otherwise.

 I love this boy.

 Pre-game warm up. He only played about two innings every game, but he ended his season with a great hit which led to one of only two runs scored in their final game.

The 2012 San Tan Valley Little League 9-10 All- Stars won one game and lost two before exiting the double elimination tournament. My proudest moment was when they got lit up against the best team in the tournament with 14 runs in one inning. (I know that sounds sarcastic, but let me finish.) They refused to stay down and came right back with a seven run rally the very next at bat. It wasn't enough to win the game, but it was enough to impress me with the tenacity and confidence of these kids.

Random Summer Observations

Having an 80 degree Memorial Day is heavenly and extremely rare. Don't think for a second that we didn't soak it up. The downside is that opening day for swim team was very chilly for the kids. They pushed through it and toughed it out. Driving 40 minutes everyday to get to 8 AM swim practice four days per week is expensive and annoying, but I don't have homebody kids who are content to sit at home all summer. So I have justified this inconvenience because the alternative is cranking the AC for cranky kids, and playing judge and jury all day for various pointless arguments. So we drive, take full advantage of the free breakfast and lunches being offered at the school and call ourselves fortunate to have something to fill our days. On a side note, Sophie thinks she is luckiest girl in the world because Lucky Charms somehow past the rigorous school nutrition guidelines and made it on to the menu selections for said free breakfasts. I don't ever buy Lucky Charms because my conscience won't let me feed candy to the kids for breakfast, but if it's good enough for Uncle Sam, maybe I need to lighten up.

With all this money saved from the free summer meals, I figure we can afford to indulge in some Frozen Yogurt for a treat...or maybe not. When are these sell by weight fro yo shops going to realize how much kid business they are losing by having a cereal bowl be the smallest size they offer? Of course the kids are going to fill it to the brim with five different flavors and have gummy worms jammed on top. They can't eat that much and it ends up costing more than a kid's meal. The first one who wises up and give parents  a reasonable sized option for kids will get my future business, until then we are sticking with $.79 McDonald's cones. At least I know what I am getting into.

Sophie insists she is going to be a "hair-doer"when she grows up. She begs me to let her do my hair on a daily basis. It's a work in progress for sure and it is definitely not a painless process. She gets terribly offended if don't keep her chosen style for the day which is why I have starting encouraging her to do my hair at night. It's awkward. I just hope she gets good enough to be able to do her own hair soon because she got some challenging hair. She is very proud of her red hair though which makes me happy.

We got new bigger and brighter computer monitors and now my blog face gives me a headache. I'm too lazy to change it, so I apologize.

Is it wrong for me to secretly hope that Jake gets overlooked for the Little League All-Star team? Practice every night when the lows barely get out of the 90s just doesn't sound fun. One sport at a time.

We had so much fun seeing the Hatch family in St. George back on Cinco de Mayo weekend. (I have put off posting about it because of some technical difficulties with the pictures I took.) Mark gave the Ironman race a valiant effort and it was fun to be part of the festivities. He is amazing in the way that he has elevated his fitness to the point of being able to compete in these insane races. We are so blessed with amazing and thoughtful and kind extended family on both sides. Lirio had all the little girls surrounding her the whole trip. They love her and she is so kind, patient, and genuinely interested in each of them. Bruce and Becca have returned in one piece (or four pieces actually) from their Philippine adventure. It was fun to catch up and share a few meals before heading our separate ways. Let me just say that the bar has been set extremely high for the sister in laws in the Hatch family. They are all fabulous in their own right. I anxiously await the return of my actual sister. I won't lie..it has been hard to have her away for a couple months. They are slowly inching closer to the desert, making it all the way to Dallas now. Sophie and I are counting the days!

So Long Kindergarten

I have a love hate relationship with Kindergarten. Back in the boom times when my boys were five and the Arizona government wasn't selling off the Capitol Building to pay their bills, they could offer free all day Kinder. I was reluctant to send my little ones away all day and had some friends who were bent out of shape enough about losing the half day option, that they drove their kids across town to a school that still offered it. (I've noticed that people get worked up about change no matter if it's good change or bad change. There's always some that the knee jerk reaction is going to be negative. I try to take in all the information before rejecting change, because this is a pet peeve of mine.) Anyway, after the first couple teary eyed days, my boys loved all day Kindergarten. Their teacher was fabulous and I admit that selfishly it was awfully nice to have a daily seven hour break from them. Sophie was an adorable  little two year old and she and I partied like it was 1999 everyday. We went to the mall, played at the park, hung out at Peter Piper with our friends, and took afternoon siestas. We were worn out after all.

I did not have a free all day option out here, so it was half day for her, which was a nice transition for me. I am officially done with Kindergarten now. It's crazy how fast it all goes. Sophie has done fantastic and has really thrived this year. She has made some good friends and is starting to read and write. She 's one of those kids that makes me look good even though I really didn't have that much to do with the fact that she is just a smart and more importantly sweet kid.

Every stage of parenting has it's challenges and rewards. I love to cuddle with newborns and cannot get enough of one and two year olds, but both are exhausting. My new phase of having a tweener and school agers is fun in the respect that they are "getting" more of life. I can joke around with them. Their talents and personalities are taking shape and manifesting themselves. The boys have gotten to the point in sports where it is actually competitive and frankly more entertaining to watch. Even their homework is less boring. Wes and I can go out to dinner and not have to call a babysitter. (The house is a wreck and nobody brushes their teeth, but the house is still standing and no one is bleeding when we return.) I try to cherish each phase and not waste time and energy lamenting their progress.

So school is out and we have survived the first day of summer. I invested in a slip and slide. It lasted one day, but for six bucks I really didn't expect much more. The boys are glad to be out. It has seemed like a really fast year for one and a slow one for the other, but both survived unscathed and even pulled of honor roll distinctions. Jake missed getting straight As by two-tenths of a percentage point in math. Dylan did not get a B all year. Jake's propensity for socializing serves as a distraction from academics sometimes, but I wouldn't change it. If school was all about academics, I would home school for a couple hours a day and call it good.

Sophie and awesome Mrs. Little. (Could their be a better name for a Kindergarten teacher?)

Sophie's proud family.

 Did I mention she also had a dance recital. On the way home from the recital I casually said that I should have brought her flowers, since a few of the other moms did. She said, "Oh that's ok, we can go to Fry's right now." So we did. I won't forget again. She takes her dancing very seriously and is pretty good at it. She deserved the flowers.The coordination for sure didn't come from me, but I'm glad she has it.

All smiles.

Strategic Raffling

I've expressed opinions previously about my belief that winning big in the lottery is a curse, so I never buy into the hype when Powerball gets into the hundreds of millions. I find it interesting that people will wait in long lines for a chance to win 600 million but 125 million is simply not worth their time. When you get to that level of wealth, what's the difference really? This boycott does not however cross over into raffles and small gambling opportunities. I've employed some strategies through my extensive observation of these drawings. It's pretty simple and logical, but surprisingly not very many people do it.  The first rule of thumb is to look out for poorly attended events such as the boys' elementary school spring carnival. The weather took a nasty turn and was windy, cold, and rainy. Perfect raffle conditions! These items have been donated and someone has to win. It might as well be me. The second thing you must do is differentiate your entry. Do not fold it once and slip it in the box like everyone else. Roll it into a ball or fold it as many times as you can. The person who draws for some reason always goes for the different one. It also makes it more likely to fall to the bottom of the bucket and they usually dig deep for the lucky winner. Also I've found that late entries have a higher probability of being drawn for some reason. This of course is totally unscientific, but it works for me often. My latest win was a prize package including a Build-a-Bear workshop gift card, $25.00 worth of Little Ceasar's pizza (which is dinner often during baseball season) and a free deluxe car wash. My cost? $1.00. 

So the boys crashed our old Mesa ward's Father and Son's outing this weekend, so Sophie and I had our own little outing in town. We dined on Mac and Cheese at Logan's Roadhouse then went shopping where she had to have a purple cowboy hat with a tiara attached to it. She recently got her ears pierced so now she is feeling like she needs all kinds of accessories to compliment her new fanciness. She is constantly on the lookout for earrings that she must have for certain outfits and of course high heel to match. (She's going to have to get a job to support this habit.)

 Our next stop was Build-a-Bear which is a giant rip off if you don't' have a gift card that you won. (Also according to Wes, one of the founders of Build-a-Bear is a real piece of work. She was a client back in his Charles Schwab days and they used to cast lots over who would have to take her call.) But the kids dig it. Predictability, Sophie wanted her bear to be as fancy as she would like to be. They offer high heels for their bears (for $7.50! I could get real high heels at Payless for that much.) It seemed like a good idea until I walked in on this later in that night.

It was very disturbing on many levels. This bear we adopted is going to be trouble. Maybe the whole bad luck thing does extend beyond big lotteries.

It's April, Fool.

I am happy to announce that I have lived to tell about my big surgery, and am ecstatic about having it in the rear view mirror. I debated about whether to post some of the keepsake photos I was given. (I won't.) After all, you don't have a chance to see actual photographs of your insides very often. All I will say is that my appendix, an unwanted baseball-sized mass, and a couple other non vital parts are now gone. It is just fine because I wasn't using them anyway. The recovery was not too bad, and I have no reason to believe that I will have any ongoing problems.

Being the ADD busy body that I am, it was more mental torture than physical. (Although I did do a lot of math problems in my head that first night trying to figure out when my Percocet was going to run out. Math is hard when you are on Percocet.)The pain faded quickly, and thankfully I had no need to fear. By Day 3 I had switched to plain Advil and was driving to the store, Day 7 mowing the lawn, and Day 10 back in the classroom subbing for Jake's class. I haven't been brave enough to run yet but I did attempt a Jillian workout the other day. I was quickly reminded of the staples holding things together when I got to the ab portion. Jillian will have to wait a bit longer, but for all practical purposes I am back and feeling better than ever, for which I am truly grateful.

Surgery or not life marches on in the Whittaker household. It's spring which means little league around here. Jake and Dylan are both on the Minor League Brewers this year.Wes intentionally gave himself a demotion to assistant coach this year. The Brewers aren't exactly the Cubs of last year..Ok they are 0-4, but they are in every game and playing hard. Jake recently took over the starting pitching role and has started to be a formidable strike out threat. We were really hoping to get Milan on the same team with our boys, but because of the draft we were not able to. The cousins will match up on April 10th, so that should be a fun game with some serious bragging rights on the line. They are just a teensy bit competitive so I have a feeling all three boys will bring their "A" game.

Cute boys at the Opening Day Parade.

So conference Sunday fell on April Fool's Day this year. We had all Sunday to think of jokes to play. We put "Out of Order" signs on all the toilets for starters. It fell flat when the boys just proceeded outside to do their business. Nice. Jake got me pretty good when he found an old remote that Coco chewed up when we first got her and switched it out with our good remote. Coco was not appreciative of that one.

All joking aside, I thoroughly enjoyed conference. I am trying to the kids to at least pay attention to some of it, but honestly I am not sure they get much out of it. I tried the cute conference activity packets. That got us through opening song of the first session. It is a lot of work teach your kids about spiritual matters. I felt just a little inadequate this week as I read Sophie a book about the First Easter. She was all excited that her bedtime story was going to be about Easter. I proceeded through the pages all the way through the crucifixion and resurrection. She listened intently all the way through. At the end she was quiet for a minute then landed me with this one.."That's great mom, but what does that have to do with Easter?" Ouch.

I'm actually not sure what church Sophie belongs to because this is how she sees President Monson. It's a good look for his sunny disposition, don't you think? He should consider it for next conference.

Our kids do know all about the secular side of religious holidays. The inseparable duo, Lani and Sophie made some pretty fabulous glittery funny faced eggs.

The kids were off for Good Friday today. Unbeknownst to me Jake and few boys in the neighborhood made posters and raided the pantry to set up a lemonade/treat stand. I applaud their entrepreneurial spirit and am grateful to the good people of the world who stop for lemonade stands. (I am ashamed to admit that I am not one of them usually.) The boys, all of whom were first borns interestingly (except DB who was along for the ride), made a whopping 40 bucks. Not bad for a couple hours of work. It also helps when your merchandise is "free."

And finally, I had to include a couple pictures from Lani's fifth birthday. We claim her as one of our own, so it just wouldn't be right to not have her birthday acknowledged on the blog. (Why yes, this post is totally out of chronological order.)

My  fabulous sister and cute Lani. It's hard to believe how quick our babies have grown up! What would Sophie and I do without these two? Seriously..what are we going to do???!!!

We all thought Hudson walked on water, but now we know. I can't help but see Baby Jake in Hudson. It's like having a time machine.

Lani's so so old that she almost burned the place down. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Good Sam I Am

I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why I shouldn't post about my recent medical journey on a public blog, but so be it. If there are cyber stalkers out there, then they are already sufficiently punished by having to read about my boring life.

So I've known that I need to have a cyst removed for a couple of months and have the outpatient surgery scheduled for later this month. It has a very high probability of being benign, but it also is growing pretty rapidly so leaving it alone is not an option. It has not affected me much physically other than occasional discomfort. I still run, do my Jillian workouts, pitch fast balls to the boys and even weeded the whole yard on Saturday.  I am not terribly stressed about it. My life is full and very active right now and this little medical side show drama has mostly taken a back seat...until Sunday morning when I woke to excruciating abdominal pain. A couple Advil did nothing. I seriously ration the leftover Percocet from Sophie's birth and only the most extreme cases of pain warrants reaching for that, especially since I only had three left. They only gave me 20 and that was almost six years ago, so that tells you how often my pain justifies it's use. There was no question that this qualified. It can best be described as a contraction in late stage labor that never stopped. Surprisingly, six year old Percoset still works. It effectively relieved my suffering for a few hours but as the narcotic effect began to fade the pain was back with a vengeance. I decided that masking severe pain might not be a wise strategy, and after reaching my doctor followed his advice to get to an ER. I have a fine hospital five minutes from my house, but opted to drive the hour to Phoenix where my doctor is contracted just in case my surgery needed to be moved up, as I strongly suspected this was the cause of the pain.

The Emergency Room at Good Sam is not a pretty place. I delivered both my boys there and did not have the greatest of experiences. They have the best of the best doctors there, but because of that they also have lots of interns and residents trying to learn from the masters.  You have a lot of observation time while waiting for test results, and I can say that most every walk of life is represented. The hospital serves a diverse group of folks. There was a gun shot wound patient that arrived while I was there. I learned that complete toothlessness is a more pervasive problem than I once thought, and some people just seem to enjoy getting some TLC from the nurses as they seemed to not have any real medical emergency. I saw on the news after I got home that a guy had walked into his mother's hospital room there and tried to suffocate her during my stay there. You get the idea.

But I digress. By the time I made it through the front door of the ER I was doubled over in pain and was attended to promptly. Exams, CT scans, ultrasounds, blood and urine test were all performed and came back as "inconclusive." It is certainly better than conclusive bad news, but still very unsatisfying. The appendix is always a popular thing to blame for abdominal pain and I don't fault them for assuming it. I had all the tell tale signs..right side pain, tenderness in the belly, elevated white blood cell counts, nausea and loss of appetite. But I still believed that it was caused by this cyst and not my appendix, so I declined the ever so eager young  interns who offered to remove it for me. I knew that if I had one surgery that the other one would have to be postponed, and I really want it behind me so I can get on with my life. The problem now was that they were afraid of the liability of letting me leave in case I was wrong about the appendix. So I had gotten myself into quite a pickle and was pretty much forced to be admitted for further observation. Because of the pain that I was in, I hadn't eaten anything but a piece of toast and some greek yogurt in almost 24 hours. Because I was now tagged as a potential surgical candidate they wheeled me into a shared room and placed a "no food or water" order on my chart. By this time the morphine had dulled the pain enough for me to realize that I was extremely thirsty and hungry. Let me tell you, beg all you want but if that NOFOW label is on your chart forget about it. I'm pretty sure it was a personal vendetta for declining the appendix offer.

I was vindicated, but not until two days later when my white blood cell count dropped and they reluctantly let me go home to join my family in their spring break. So that's what all the hospital drama was about in case you wondered. I will be glad to get this thing removed and get on with my life. A million thanks to my family who has stepped up to help me so many times the past year I don't even know how to begin to count. And my sweet patient husband who is unwilling to leave me even to eat or drink in my time of crisis. I kept telling him that he was not the surgical candidate but he refused to leave me anyway. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I truly won the lottery when it comes to family, and I wouldn't trade real lottery winnings for that....well maybe the Powerball..but for sure not the regular lottery. Love you guys!

Suessical the Musical

Good news...I completed my last continuing education class which qualifies me to renew my incredibly lucrative real estate license for two more years. Why I keep renewing something that I rarely use, I can't explain other than that is was painful to get and a lingering feeling that I might need it again someday. As fascinating as the online classes were (sarcasm), I've received much more in the way of actual education in living through the throes of this crazy housing market. Some people believe that this is a buyers market, but the supply of homes is way down and the really good deals are rare and get very competitive. I don't know if the banks are hoarding them all, or if all the folks with any money have scooped up any possible rental property in the hopes of selling for big gains later. I suspect it is a little of both, along with other factors.

Also the taxes are signed and delivered to Uncle Sam, which if you're someone in the W-2 category, you wouldn't understand the enormity of that task, especially when you and your co-owner (aka husband) have the kind of lackluster accounting skills that we both seem to possess. But alas, I am happy to announce that our marriage has survived one more tax season!

Dylan's third grade class did the Suessical The Musical (does that really rhyme?)this year. I'm not sure why, but my boys HATE their class plays. Even back at Love of Christ Preschool when they were 3 and 4, I couldn't get them excited about it. It is pulling teeth to get them to go. We always make them go despite the all the protesting. I don't put make up or elaborate costumes on them. I simply sent Dylan with a "bright shirt and jeans" which was the minimal suggested attire. I just don't have the heart to stand up a music teacher who has worked so hard to corral a bunch of punk third graders. He walked on stage and did not do any of the actions to the songs and did his best impression of a ventriloquist if he was singing, but darn it, he was there. I can't force him to like it, but I can encourage respect for a teacher that has worked hard, even if it's not his thing. He told me (after there was zero percent chance of having to do it) that he was offered a speaking part but declined. Having substituted for his class fours times this year, I can attest that he is one of a handful of kids in his class who actually listens, but he of all my kids does not relish the spot light. It's OK. He's averaging a 94% right now. I'm an awfully proud mom even if he doesn't have a future on the red carpet.

His expression says it all. I have this exact same picture of him in all the performances he has ever participated in. (Of course they put Dylan next to the kid whose mom hand knitted a Cat in the Hat hat and bow tie.)

Sophie, Will You Accept This Rose?

Heaven help me if I ever hear these words uttered on a prime time reality TV show, but thankfully it was just on a Daddy/Daughter date night. Sophie's school held their first annual Daddy Daughter Dance last night, and I can assure you that there has never been a more excited little girl than Sophie. She wasn't the only one. It was a smashing success for the PTO, with twice as many little girls and their Daddy's showing up than expected. I volunteered at the rose wrapping station and worked furiously for an hour and half for a line of Dad's wanting to buy their daughter a rose for the big night. It was super cute to see how seriously the girls took it. They were decked out in their semi-formals and some even had little corsages.

We have had a count down to this event ever since Sophie got wind of it a couple weeks ago. It was a bigger deal than Christmas even, because fancy always trumps gifts in her world. I was excited when I found some fancy high heels just her size at Last Chance. She wanted to wear them to bed when I first showed them to her, but she agreed to just set them out with the rest of her fabulous outfit so everything would be ready.

After asking dozens of times how many days, hours, and minutes till the dance, the big night finally arrived. She insisted on picking out Wes' clothes as well. (She's even taking to requesting that I wear certain shoes when I pick her up from school lately. Apparently her parents' attire is working against her image at school.) Anyway, Wes was able to wear something that was sufficiently "prince-like" for her standards and we were off the fanciest restaurant in Queen Creek - Chick-Fil-A. With all the money saved on not going to Morton's, we were able to afford the rose AND ice cream sundae at the dance. The event did not disappoint, and Sophie danced the night away with her super cool Dad. She's old enough to be fashion conscious, but still young enough not to realize that her Dad is a terrible dancer. She socialized with her friends and wore herself out. We had to cut out at 8:30 because she was nodding off. Like a true gentleman, Wes gave up his coat to keep her warm on the chilly ride home. I can only hope that she finds a prince someday that treats her as well as her daddy.

Loving It.

Valentine's Day is barely celebrated around here. I always get a good laugh when I hear the annual news bit on the average amount that Americans spend on Valentine's Day. I think it was $86 this year. We collectively probably are at 10 percent of that number and only because the schools force the holiday on me. If I was a cool mom, I would be on Pinterest and would have made clever personalized valentines for each of my kids 90 classmates. But I never claimed be cool and am anything but crafty, so it's store bought for my kids. You have to do it for the Kindergartener so I knew I was on the hook for Sophie, but was relieved when the boys assured me that they were too old to have a party. I believed them and was further convinced because this year Arizona's 100th birthday falls on the same day and thought optimistically that maybe that would trump all the cards and candies. Sophie's class celebrated early - on Friday so I checked the holiday off my list for 2012 and was on to the next. Until I found a crumpled up half piece of pink paper in Jake's backpack with all his classmate's names listed at 8:30 last night. You know what that means..that my kid will be the only one with nothing to pass out and I'll be that mom. I went to the Fry's to find this scene...

There were some giant candy bars, but I found a bag of Jolly Ranchers and that was going to have to do. Sure enough, all the other kids brought valentines.

I've had a couple other things to worry about so I'll cut myself some slack on it. I'm taking online real estate license renewal classes racing against the clock to get it done by March. I'm attempting to get our taxes in some semblence of order, which can best be described as a giant heaping mess. I am still subbing periodically, and finally got to sub for Sophie's kindergarten class. (It takes a very special person to teach Kindergarten and I'm just not that special as it turns out, although it was fun to teach her for a day.) I'm doing some side PR/marketing work a bit and I'm dealing with a medical issue that will likely require surgery in the next couple weeks. Life is busy and full of twists and turns, but not a day goes by that I don't feel extremely blessed for such a supportive, amazing, and generous family. You all are such a blessing to me and us. Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Birthdays, Battle Picking, and January Wrap Up

I'm bringing back the blog, well at least two posts per month. Because I have forsaken all other forms of documenting my family's life, my goal is to stay somewhat current on the comings and goings. Someday when things slow down, I'll go back to incredibly boring journal entries, which I intend to leave explicit instructions to burn as part of my final will and testament. No one should be tortured by having to read those.

It's been an eventful January full of beautiful weather. The great thing about my kids is that when the weather is nice, no other form of entertainment is needed. They ride bikes, play football, basketball, baseball, and any other game that comes knocking at the door. There are things I don't like about living in STV, (not to be confused with STD) but I have to say that the HOA in this neighborhood has stepped it up. From the football field goals to the newly expanded playground with swings, this place is a dream come true for my kids. It almost makes up for having to drive a half hour to get to a decent restaurant or movie theater. And the schools? Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled that all three of my kids have straight A's, but it sure seems like they are not working that hard. But overall we are settling in, meeting nice people, and making the best of it. I keep reminding myself that it is all about your attitude. I say that to my kids all the time, so I'm trying hard to not be a hypocrite on that.

In other news, Cheryl has been called to the Relief Society President on our ward, which means all the charity that has been showered squarely upon the Whittakers in the form of meals, babysitting, transportation, therapy etc. is now spread over the whole ward, but honestly who better than her for that? She is amazing and it was time for me to share her.

So we introduced the "take the money" option to Jake this year in lieu of a big expensive friends party. (That kid has a lot of friends.) He bit off on that and has a crisp hundred dollar bill in his wallet instead...well he did until last night, when he bought a new scooter that he has had his eye on for awhile. But we did send out a last minute text to have the family (who lives within 50 miles) to meet at the new Firehouse Subs that just opened up down the street. (It's big deal when QC gets another place to eat.) We have an awesome, supportive, and generous family so I'm pretty sure Jake pulled off a party and the cash due to the generosity of our family. I had the best of intentions to get thank you notes out, but I blinked and it's been two weeks already. Believe me, it was appreciated!

 This is what Jake looked like the very minute he turned ten in case you wondered.

 Izzy and Pepper were good sports about the fire hats, for a second or two.

 Even Hudson cooperated. Jake has the cutest cousins...

 ...and sister.

 Jake with the new shirt James got for him. He has worn it almost everyday since. I buy him shirts and they promptly get stuffed in the drawer, but it's cooler if it's from Uncle Jimmy.

 It only seemed appropriate to light up an inferno at the Firehouse.

Somehow DB became the center piece of Jake's birthday picture, but Jake is there somewhere. Thanks family for showing up so last minute with such generous offerings! Jake felt very loved at his non-party.

I gave it few days to let the smoke clear from his birthday candles before breaking the news to Jake that I could not stand to look at his shaggy hair any longer. He wants the surfer/skater/old Justin Bieber look and I ...don't. He's such a good boy that I hate to throw down on this issue, and trust me, that is the best way to put it, but it comes down to hygiene with tweener boys. The fact of the matter is that my boys are really active,  we live in a hot place, and even in the winter their hair is sweaty and stinky at the end of the day. Plus it's not a good look for him. If he had thin wispy hair, I could probably tolerate it. So I sent him over to Aunt Kacee for the day to get him in the best mood possible, then told him that he and I had a date with the clippers. He grumbled and accused me of not caring at all what he thinks, but in the end even he admitted that is was nice to have his hair cleaned up a little.  He would not allow a post picture and Sophie was not helpful when she leaned over in church to tell me that "Don't you think it's kind of cool that Jake's new haircut looks like he's wearing a helmet?" I'm not formally trained, ok...did the best I could.