October--in about a thousand pictures

Fall Time = Redeemed!  Autumn has not been kind to me in years past.  It's been almost six consecutive years of morning sickness or exhaustion from a new baby that just happened to land in the fall.  And for some reason I put all the blame on the season :)  I fell back in love--just in time to move away from a good autumn from now on.  (J signed a contract this month for a job in a notably warmer climate!)

We started out the month with a minor eye surgery for Hayden.  We've been battling infections in her eyelids all summer and recently, staff marginal disease (yeah...I don't really know...)  It ended up being a bit of a bigger deal once they got in there, but everything went great.  What I was NOT prepared for was how swollen she would look and angry she would be coming out of anesthesia.  Justin told me (after the fact) that a small percentage of kids can have a violent reaction to the anesthesia.  And boy.  I was not ready for that.  I couldn't tell if she was in pain but was completely helpless to comfort her--she wanted nothing to do with me.  She only had on panties, but we eventually decided to just wrap her in hospital blankets and get her out of there, which is what finally worked to calm her.  It was disturbing to see her acting like that and my body was shaking when I sat down in the car, but I'll be better prepared for it next time! 

We spend a lot of nights at the botanical gardens by our house.  They have a children's garden that is just perfect.  I love seeing it change through each season and every corner is so thoughtfully planned out.  They grow a lot produce for visitors to pick--the girls love to make a salad every time we go.  A salad that they make Dad eat :)

Bennett is my wilderness man--he loves to be outside.  He spent a long time picking up and rearranging these blocks of wood.  Then he went straight over to a bunch of stools and did the exact same thing!  So productive :)

Abbey and Hayden's imaginations go WILD in this place.  They had some elaborate story going on about this decorative rock thing--something about needing to find all the pieces and put it at the top of the tower to save the kingdom....they wouldn't stick around long enough to explain it to me :)

  

 

  Justin's mom came into town for a weekend.  She and J have a special relationship and it's nice to see them enjoy each other's company so much.  He had a morning off work and wanted to show her his favorite park.  He takes Abbey and Hayden here a lot but I had never been.  I thought I'd come along and run along the trails, but ended up taking pictures the whole time.  It was just so gorgeous, I couldn't run past it.

The two of them LOVED this tree.  I walked past it twice without noticing it.  It is pretty stinking cool.  Justin says he just wanted to see if they could stretch their arms around the trunk but Kathy fully admitted she just wanted to hug this tree!

;

The next event was the Notre Dame vs BYU game in South Bend.  A few months ago, my good friend, Kara, offered to take my kids overnight anytime we wanted to go out.  I do love college football, especially live games, but this was not what I intended to use Kara's day for.  But it was really important to Justin--I'll cash in those points with him another time!  We had a hookup through some Notre Dame faculty so sat in a sea of Fighting Irish fans.  I was uncomfortable when we got there and looked up longingly to the section of BYU fans at the top.  But the Irish surprised us, they were awesome!  They easily complimented BYU and would turn and objectively discuss plays with Justin, I loved it.  Always a fan of good sportsmanship.  And it's always fun to listen to J talk about the game--he knows it inside and out and it amazes me what he catches and sees in each play.  I wish I would have posted something about it on facebook beforehand.  We ran into people from all different phases of our lives, but there were over a dozen more people I would have LOVED to see and hang out with if I'd known they were there.

I ended up doing a lot of photo shoots this fall and didn't think until the last week of good fall colors that I wanted a picture of MY family.  So late one afternoon I called up my friend, Sara, on a whim.  She amazingly got her whole family picture ready and met us at a berry farm an hour later.

We've been meaning to get some 1-year pictures of Ms Kate, and she was adorable, as usual.  I love that little face.

I love the next two pictures of Abbey, Hayden, and Jake.  Those three are thick as thieves.

Now finishing up with Halloween! I told the girls I'd only buy non-princess costumes.  They got around it by being a 'Spanish Princess' (flamenco dancer) and a 'Hula Princess'.  I'm not sure where Bennett's costume came from, I think it was from a pile of dress-ups I inherited from Mom's house.  He was perfectly adorable in it, though, and roared whenever we said, 'bennett the lion'.

Hayden's preschool class went trick-or-treating at the Big House earlier in the day.  I lost my locker key at the gym that morning (spoiler alert, it was in my pocket the whole time!) so pretty much missed the outing.  But the two of them gave me ten seconds to grab a picture :)  Abbey was at school--she asked that we not come to the Halloween parade.  Why?  Because she wanted to ride the bus home.  I could tell she felt bad saying it, but it would have been hard to skip Bennett's nap and expect much out of him that night, so I assured her it was fine.  Then I felt bad for feeling so relieved...sigh.  We were both happy yet full of guilt.

We had some friends over for dinner before trick-or-treating.  To round out my scattered brain day, I forgot to put the chicken in the chicken noodle soup and forgot to put the salt in the wheat bread. Then we headed out with this crew (Jake, Kate, Abbey, Hayden and Bennett; just missing Desmond the Raccoon, who figured out this night and was off to the next house).  Hayden opted out of the hula girl costume and went with 80's prom queen awesomeness.

While we were trick-or-treating, Abbey said, "Mom, you can't vote for Mitt Romney.  He stabbed someone in the back."  (She's been going back and forth this month--Obama, Romney, Obama, Romney.)  I asked what she meant by that and she motioned a stabbing gesture with her hand and said, "He killed someone!"  Oh my...the knowledge gained on the school bus.  She and I had a disjointed conversation about it in between stopping at the next few houses.  Funny girl.  Then she told Justin about the sexy girl in her gymnastics class.  He obviously questioned her to figure out what she was talking about {and why she knew that word!}  Turns out she was describing 'snotty' or 'snobby' and he told her to use that word instead (or Mom thinks NONE at all)!  She said, "Oh, I'll just use sexy to describe that."  Yikes.  So today she was asked to give a short talk in her primary at church.  Justin wrote something up for her, but last night, she said she wanted to just write it herself.  I said, "Sounds good, what do you want to say?"  She said, "You'll just have to hear it tomorrow in primary."  Yeah right!  Not after all the quirky conversations we've been having this week.  Love her; her talk was hilarious but also sweet, sincere, and appropriate.

13.1

I joined the 13.1 bandwagon!  I really did not think my body could do this, but it did!  And it felt good!  My friend, Tawna, mentioned back in June that she and some friends were going to do it AND that it was in our favorite little lakeside town (in fact, the route goes past the house we've rented every summer).  I've never considered myself to be a runner, I'm more of a gym class and weight junkie.  But there is nothing like getting faster, going further, seeing improvement every week.  I loved it.  And I'm glad the training is done, it was a time commitment!

I finished in about 1 hour 53 minutes, which was much faster than I expected.  I was on a high until 12.9 miles when it started hailing.  I think it had been raining for a while, but I hadn't noticed.  I was freezing and famished when it was done.  They officially cancelled the race and started pulling people off the course pretty soon after I was done; I'm SO glad I was able to cross the finish line before that.  What a disappointment to go that far and not finish.

We pulled the kids out of school the day before to head across the state.  We stopped at an apple orchard along the way.  No apples this year, boo, but raspberries were still good for the pickin'.

Oh, that Bennett.  I do have other kids :)  They were busy, busy, busy playing on the pirate ship, castle, and zip line.  And all of them were filthy from the barn completely filled with corn.  This place was awesome.

 I am loving my kids ages and this fall weather.  We played hooky again this week and met Melody at the zoo on Wednesday.  Then we've spent a few evenings this week at the botanical gardens.  The kids are just fun to take places right now.  Except restaurants.  Bennett stinks at restaurants.

At gymnastics the other night, another mom I'm getting to know asked, "You are planning on a fourth?"  (very unusual to have more than two around here.)  But she said it more like a statement and I agreed.  She paused, then said, "You really love it, huh."  Yes!  I really, really do.  They make me crazy and distracted and I feel I will never catch up, but it is a good, happy, busy life.

September 1913 - September 2012

Our family lost a sweet, sweet man this weekend.  Grandpa Ace passed away and my heart is sad this morning.  He is one of the greats--a quiet rock with a witty sense of humor.  He came into our family almost 23 years ago and has been every bit the perfect grandpa to us.

My favorite story about Grandpa Ace happened before he and my grandma were married.  I grabbed my grandma's autobiography this morning to read about their time together.  I was hoping the story was in there as I was pretty young when it happened and the details are unclear.  It's better in her words:

"Our family home evening group planned a vacation cruise to the Bahamas.  In the group (was)...Ace Hyer (a friend of Russell and Carols) from Ogden... I have hesitated to record this story, but Ashley, my granddaughter wants me to, so here goes.  ...We attended a special program, ate our fill of the delicious food and got to bed about 2 a.m.  Mary and I had decided we would not go to breakfast that morning.  I awoke about 6:30 a.m. to a telephone ring.

A male voice said, "This is your captain.  We have had some trouble during the night.  The ship hit an iceberg.  We want you on deck wearing your life jackets in ten minutes."

I said, "Is this serious?"

He said, "VERY SERIOUS!"

I hung up the phone, not realizing until that night that I didn't even get it back in place.  I told Mary what the captain had said.  She fell for it too.

She said, "My kids wanted me to come on this cruise.  They will be sorry now."

We both started to dress with thoughts going through our minds.  I thought, "I wouldn't think an iceberg could come this far, but then, maybe.  Should I take my money in my bra or leave it here?  We must not be too far from the Florida coast.  They should come to rescue us soon.  What should I wear to keep afloat - the best etc, etc."  I think I felt I was on the Titanic and in the water holding on to a plank or piece of wood.  We were almost dressed, but not in our life jackets yet, when a knock came at the door.  I answered it.  It was Marie Talbot.  I thought, she doesn't have her life jacket on!

She said, "Are you ready to go?"

I said, "Not quite, but aren't you afraid?"

"What of?"

 I told her and I can still her her say "Oh, Phooey!"

On our way to breakfast with the Talbots and the Williams we must have figured out who the "Captain" was.  He would rather remain anonymous.  He claims he never dreamed we would take it seriously.  He just wanted to wake us up for breakfast.  As we were eating breakfast I could see him at another table with others in our group.  His back was to me.  I picked up my large linen napkin, went behind him and put my napkin around his neck and pulled up on it.  The others at the table looked at me with surprised looks.  That's how Ace and I got better acquainted on that cruise.  The iceberg story gave us all many laughs then, and was the object of much kidding in the months to come...  I still haven't got even with Ace for that practical joke.  Maybe I did - I married him."

Of course, we all fell for him as well.  I can vividly see him leaning back in his chair, quietly chuckling to himself, as we would recount the story at dinner time and laugh and laugh at the idea of Grandma grabbing her valuables and life jacket and heading up on deck to check out the iceberg.  In the middle of the Bahamas.

I just adored this man.  I feel lucky we were able to share our lives with him.  My heart is with his children and grandchildren as well.  They were all so devoted and attentive to him.  Love you, Grandpa.  Ninety-nine years well spent!

Make a Good Impression!

 

 

Man, the camera loves that face!  Errr...I should keep the bragging to a minimum.  I imagine there are two people interested in hearing me go on and on about her.  Will try; this girl has been rockin' my socks lately!

 

So...first grade.  Her first day went well.  We pulled up and the sidewalk was lined with balloons and the kids walked up a red carpet with the paparazzi taking pictures as they went.  Her kindergarten teacher nominated her for a gifted & talented program and she and her best friend got in.  (Sidenote, I have issues with gifted and talented programs.  Especially in kindergarten.  You can tell at age 4 who's going to make it in life?!  A soapbox discussion for another day.)  But...the school is even further than the one I sent her to last year.  I hope we made the right choice for her.  We eventually found her classroom and she is sitting right next to her bestie--perfect! 

 

Some funny things about this week:

 

*We were snuggling in bed and chatting about the day.  She said, "You know, first grade is a lot more work.  *sigh*  It'll make my life better."

 

*Despite my hesitation, they persuaded me to place her in a more accelerated split 1st/2nd grade class.  I was chatting with her teacher about it and asked what we could be working on now, since she wasn't in the program last year.  Ms. D said the biggest thing she notices for kids coming in for the first time are issues with time and money.  I laughed and told her that it took me a LONG time to figure out the clock in elementary school.  Justin would say I still have issues.  She said, "For this week, just worry about the short hand.  So if it's pointing at the three..."  She paused and I said, "Oh, like 15 minutes...."  She said, "Ummm...no..., like 3 o'clock.  The short hand...is the hour hand." 

 

Oh.  My.  Word.  I laughed so hard right there; nice one, Mom.  Good luck, kid!  The odds may be stacked against you.

 

*I've been relinquishing control over her wardrobe big time this summer.  For her 3rd day of school, I casually asked if she wanted to wear this outfit (my favorite one!  the one she's wearing in the pics).  She said, "Yeah!  Mom, you pick the cutest clothes!"  Yesssss!!  I've found the secret weapon.  When she tried it on at the store, I could see her critically eyeing the detail around the neckline.  I interrupted her thoughts and said, "Oh...Abbey.  Aunt Allison would love that one."  Sold.

 

 

 

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Saturday night, as I was laying in bed I had that song, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson stuck in my head.  It is Abbey's favorite song right now and I started laughing thinking about how bad she is at singing lyrics.  Justin said, "You know she gets that from you."  It's true.  I butcher songs.

He got excited and said, "I can't believe I forgot to show you this!" then went on to tell me about reading scriptures with the girls earlier that day.  They were talking about the Fourth Article of Faith (the 13 Articles of Faith are statements on our basic beliefs in the LDS church) that talks about our belief in baptism by immersion and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Justin showed me a picture:

 

He could not stop laughing and I had no clue where he was going with this.  But I always laugh anyway when he's laughing that hard!

 

Finally he explained that Abbey jumped up and said, "I can do that right now!  I can get the Holy Ghost right now!" 

 

She's laying on her pants.  For the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Back to the Beach - 2012

We made our third trip back to Lake Michigan a few weeks ago.  We have (obviously) really fallen in love with this little spot in the world.  And it worked out perfectly for Allison and Noah to fly out and join us (I'm always amazed when they are willing to use vacation time on us!!!)

The weather was cooler than it's been in the past so we took the chance to see more of the city and get in two trips to the blueberry patch.  Oh...those blueberries.  We actually stopped the last time on our way out of town, still sandy and wet from the beach, to pick another dozen pounds for the ride home.

(berry picking pics courtesy of allison's instagram--i need to get on board with that!)

(the rileys showing off noah's pie pick from the farmer's market)

 We had to reload on s'more supplies halfway through the week.  I don't think more than a night or two went by without a roast.

Once a week the town has street performers in the evening.  Two sweet teenagers were out on a side road with jump ropes, helping little ones learn to double dutch.  Abbey got some cheers when she figured it out and started doing twists when the jumping became too boring :)

Abbey jumped off the pier a few times (into frigid water!) Hayden would go into some zen state in the sand.  I got to run the half marathon route I'll be doing with some girlfriends in September.  Bennett got out of the funk he'd been in for a few weeks (I was eating my words when I told Al and Noah earlier in the week that he just wasn't that enjoyable right now :) )  And J is at his happiest whenever we avoid hanging around the house.

At the end of their stay, Al, Noah and I were able to go do a tour of the Big House (U of M's amazing football stadium).  Here is our team...minus Hayden...plus some random kid having a meltdown in the corner.  Where was my moody kid, you ask?

This is Hayden.  Yeah...go ahead.  Impress her.