Families are Forever

Quick Update: Everyone got the stomach flu (except Teddy).  It was a fun week.  It ended Thursday, so at least we weren’t sick over the holiday weekend.  

Also, I was given the go ahead to walk without the crutches as soon as my leg would hold my weight; so I practiced for several days, and as long as I don’t walk around too much I’m not using the crutches at all.  I can just use one crutch when I go out (like on Sundays).  My knee occasionally buckles unexpectedly, but the therapist thinks it’s just not strong enough yet.  I limp heavily, and the doctor wants the limp to be gone in 6 weeks when I come back.  Strength training here I come!

Lorenzo.  I love this stage.  I adore babies anyway, but this is one of the cutest stages there is.   He is 16 months.  When He was a year, he could say Mama, Dada, ba (ball), bu (binky), and bubu (bottle).  His newer words are much clearer, and I love the surprised look Shawn gets when he does or says new things.  He says book (with the “k”!), ball, drink, brothers (brus), and of course, cheese.  I’m pretty sure “cheese” was one of the first words of all my babies.  They love cheese.  He loves eggs, and if he sees them, you have to give him one (same with the cheese).  Boiled is probably his favorite, but he’ll eat them any way he can get them.  

He mimics other words too, and it’s so fun that babies who can’t even say a sentence still understand so much.  You ask where his toys are and he goes to the toy basket.  Tell him you’ll read him a story if he brings you a book (this is said an awful lot in my house, especially as I haven’t been very mobile lately), and he grabs a board book from the shelf.  Ask him if he’s hungry and he walks to his high chair and waits for you to put him in it.  This evening I told him to come lay down on the bed and go to sleep and he did!  (Love it when that happens.)

I love the games they play at this age.  He plays peekaboo, tag, catch, and we played with playdoh for an hour (at one time!) while the rest of the family was at the pool on Friday.  I didn’t even know (or maybe remember?) that babies that young could do one thing for that long.  It was fun.  And he likes me again.  Of course, if Shawn is around he still prefers to go to him first, but he comes to me and plays with me now instead of running away.  He points to body parts, but only when you say them in Chinese.  Don't worry, I'm sure he'll catch the English words soon enough.

Okay, so we’ve established that I love my baby.  I love the rest of them too :).  Xander has been an angel about potty training ever since the pull ups.  He brings me books and asks me to read them for about 45 minutes each day.  Teddy is learning to clean really well, and he’s proud of the job he does now.  He is better than me at Chinese (he practices more than me, and loves it when we practice together).  Olie is so excited about going to cub scouts in August!  He is getting better at helping to watch his little brothers.  Both Olie and Teddy love to play board games and do so at every opportunity.  They can get their chores and schoolwork done pretty quickly if they decide they want to play a game.  Demetri is just getting too old.  His feet are the same size as mine, and he steals my socks and t-shirts.  He and Shawn went on a 7 mile hike today with the Young Men.  He really wants to go on the 50 mile hike in two weeks, but I don’t know if that will happen.

One of our new hobbies for now is watching “Little House on the Prairie” or “Mister Ed” while I go through my exercises.  Now they want to live on a farm, with snow.  I’m just happy they like my old shows.  I don’t like much of anything that is newer. They laugh hysterically at "Mister Ed."  I should record them watching it.  It's more fun to watch them than the show!

I bought a hat.  It hides my hair well, which is in serious need of help.

 I'm pretty sure out of 20 pictures there was only one with everyone looking at the camera.

 Pictures.  Other than sleeping, the only time they look like they are holding still.

The Things You Find While Cleaning

When I was growing up I remember my mother was always drawing, browsing, collecting, and dreaming up house plans.  It was a big theme.  She was going to build her dream house, which evolved over the years.  For years, whenever I was cleaning and came upon one or more of her (usually) hand-drawn house plans, I would sit down and study it.  It was the topic of many a conversation.  Not only was this something that was easy to talk about with my mother, but it often delayed my chores for a while. 

For several years I did the same thing, starting sometime in high school and ending a few years into my marriage.  It was a fun thing to talk about with my husband, and we had grand plans.  While in the military though, that kind of dream is a very-far-away kind of dream.

The thing of mine most often found while cleaning my house is actually lists.  (My mother also had lists for everything, and various kinds of planners, which I loved to read through, occasionally stumbling across gift lists I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to see.)  Specifically, baby name lists.  No, this is not an announcement.  I am simply in love with baby names.  I have lists dating back to about the time I was 14 I think.  We had baby name books that I would read like novels, occasionally suggesting names to my mother for the next one. I very carefully named my stuffed animals, and many of them were named from my list of future children. (I also addressed journal entries to my unborn children for a time, haha.)  It never crossed my mind that my husband would probably want to have a say in naming his children. I still make lists of baby names.  I made one today.  Some are mistreated and lost, and then I’m upset I can’t remember the name I loved a few months ago.  Some find themselves tucked away in my filing cabinet for later reference.  Some float around the bookshelves in my room for a few years.  My husband thinks I’m balmy.  Illogical and obsessed at best. 

I still remember when my parents would announce they were having another baby, which happened, um, several times.  My greatest concern was what names they were considering.  I loved to look through my Mom’s baby name lists.  Ashley could have been Melody or Melanie.  Matthew was always in the top 5 for a boy.  I was also rather jealous.  At least two of my sisters had names that were ever so much more interesting than mine.  I changed my name to have an “e” at the end in middle school, and signed it that way—yes like in Anne of Green Gables, which was my favorite movie.  I changed it to have an “ie” in high school.  Notice, all of my children have at least 3 syllables in their names.  I think when I’m done having babies, I’m going to have to start adopting animals so I can keep using the names I love.  Hmm, or maybe I’ll just have to find another hobby before then!

My Awesome Chaotic Life (Or How Summer Has Flown By)

Ah yes, ahem.  About that blog.  Well, I wanted to write several times in May, but May was a tough month.  Shawn was gone for the entirety of it.  In Singapore.  He had fun, I survived it, and the kids didn't forget who he is.  Then I have had company (different people) for a month.  I like company, so this is good.  We tried/cooked new foods, went to the beach,/waterpark/pool a lot, did Pearl Harbor/the PCC, went to the temple with my whole family (that was pretty cool!), went paddleboarding (thanks Miguel!), more beach, got to sit around a little and talk story with some of my favorite people, and just generally had a blast.  I also went to the Army ball- which was a nice change of pace. 

This weekend my sister-in-law was visiting.  We went to Nanakuli for an hour to get some sun and ocean time before going bowling, and then Saturday we managed to get a few hours in at Pokai Bay.  Hope she didn't mind the chaos of our house and trying to get ready with so many small people.  They are very sad that everyone is gone, and want to know when we can go to Idaho (and can there please be snow).

Lorenzo started scooting a few weeks ago, and in all the mayhem, I'm not even sure I have a video of it.  He also has two teeth.  That all happened in the middle of the night, for about two weeks.  I remember, because I was up with him, pacing, and he under no circumstances wanted to sit or sleep horizontally.  There were a few rough nights, but it passed, and he's mostly back to his bouncy, happy self.  He loves the ocean.  He loves poi. 

This is Me Following Through

With PICTURES :)
So many pics, so little time.  These are the more recent ones, not the earlier ones I haven't sorted through.  Some days I'm glad Shawn likes to take pictures!

Okay, so he doesn't look too happy, but I'm happy to have him!

 One month old!

 Up close he looks like a doll-- well to me anyway.

 Demetri found a way to get out of chores AND use all of my dish soap!

He made the "bubble blower" out of yarn and straws :)

 This guy is resourceful.

 I love it when he smiles!!!

 The boys at the park.  I think each of these shows the character of each kid pretty well.  Maybe not Olie, though that cheesy smile of his is very common.  He was just happy to get up on the monkey bars like his brother.

What I’ve been up to in the past few months.

Slowing down.  No more cooking club.  About to be done with voice lessons.  Seriously looking into minimalism as a lifestyle but skeptical about how “low I can go” on the personal possessions with a house full of children.  Still- I have been throwing inanimate objects out right and left.  I try to keep the ones that holler when I pick them up :).

Homeschooling.  Not tons of creative stuff right now.  Just getting through the basics.

Gymnastics.  Because that is pretty much what life revolves around right now—sad as that may be.

Growing a baby.  20 weeks along today.  Don't feel bad if you didn't know.  This is also an announcement.  Not my favorite picture, or shirt, and no makeup, but it would take so long to get one I like…

Playing interior decorator.  Well, just basically trying to make my house look nice and put together.  *Sigh* I have a feeling this is going to take a while.  

Reading.  For the sake of my sanity.  And because the more stuff I throw out of my house, the less messy it gets and the more time I feel like I can spend reading.  Pretty much all homeschooling, pregnancy, and religious-type books.

And in the interest of organizing and minimalizing- we have redone the boys' closet.  Actually, I took everything out of their rooms except their beds.  No toys, no clothes.  They do each have a drawer up there where they can put their "treasures."  It's basically the only safe place in the house, where I won't come throw things out...but it has to fit.  This closet is downstairs--a spare one I happened to have hanging around in the laundry room.  Convenient huh?  And while it probably doesn't add much to the decor, these are the all clothes of 4 boys in one closet, right next to the washer and dryer.  No more endless trips up the stairs to gather all the dirty laundry, or getting down on all fours to inspect under the bed, only to tell the boys that shoving everything under the bed does NOT constitute cleaning the room! We pared clothes down, and may do it again; they don't wear half these clothes.  I put baby blankets and extra towels on the very top.  They each get one towel till I'm ready to wash them.  I had the hardest time getting them to stop using a new towel every day, so I finally just put them out of reach.

Yay, I think?

Ignore the messy house and bad quality video :).  He's so cute.  We're loving it...although he can reach a lot of things he couldn't before of course.  And I have to keep the screen door locked because he always tries to follow the boys outside.  Well, he really tries to go outside whether the boys are out or not, if the door is open.  And here, the door is always open.

In other news...I'm not sure there is any.  Life is good.  The kids are doing a fun science class with their dad on Saturdays, gymnastics, drama, cub scouts (just Demetri), and I'm about to start a music class with them :).  Fun, busy, and I'm told it only gets more fun and busy as they get older! 

A Long Day

Today is election day.  Also a holiday for all the children in the neighborhood- which means I had little success getting mine to stay inside and do their schoolwork today.  They did a little this morning.  But right now, there are about 8 children on my porch playing with Demetri’s CSI forensic entomology kit.  What does a bug kit have to do with CSI?  As nearly as I can tell, nothing...just hype to help make the kids want to buy the product.  Anyway, my kids, and all the neighborhood kids, seem to love it!  They’ve been catching insects and studying them for days now, from the time everyone gets home from school till dinnertime or dark, whichever comes first.

Okay, yeah, that was this morning.  As for this evening, I don’t have anything nice to say about the election, fellow Americans, etc.  Really. Nothing.  So we’ll end it there. Oh, except that Olie said to me this morning, “I vote for Jesus!” High point of the day.

Xander is teething.  His gums are swollen, he has a high fever, and he alternated between crying and sleeping on my lap all day.  Well, this is the second day.  Poor baby.  No sleep, getting nothing done, all the normal stuff for teething time.

Demetri made dinner, mostly.  They are going to learn how to cook if they have to live at home until they are 30.  Okay, so I’ll probably kick them out before that.  But they will know how to cook...and launder clothes...and clean, etc.  They each have a night to make dinner again.  Amazing how hard it is to get back into the groove after you’ve been traveling for a while.  We’re getting there.

I’m winning the war.  Every cockroach I’ve seen in the last 2 days has been dead.  That puts a smile on my face.  But, lest they should break through the ranks, I must not become complacent and slack off!  At least it keeps the house clean.

I have been called to cub scouts.  Again.  For the third time- and so far, in every place I have lived in the past 4 years. I should give in and buy the uniform this time, and accept that I’ll probably be in cub scouts for the next 10 years or more. 

A Once-lazy housewife turned Neatfreak...for all the wrong reasons :(

Okay this post was written a few days ago...I will update again tonight if it kills me!  Well, if it maims me?

Since last I wrote life has been full of...well, life.  I shall expound.  First, we moved into our house.  We like it very much.  The one thing I have found that is difficult to deal with (besides the other terrible thing, which will be addressed later) is that we live right off a major road and the noise is unbelievably loud at all times, but especially at night.  Part of that is due to the slat-style windows which make these houses more like huts in my opinion but are great for allowing the trade winds to breeze through your entire domain.  I have been assured that we will get used to the traffic and eventually be able to sleep.  This is encouraging, as I have been contemplating boarding up all my windows. :) Beware, all you who are thinking of coming to visit.  Bring earplugs.

But there are good things also.  My favorite is having a washer and dryer in my house again.  They have been missed terribly.  More than an entire kitchen, or yard, or anything else I can think of that I missed.  I like having a second bathroom.  I like having a yard- even if it is the size of a closet.  I like my neighbors, and that my kids can run around on the huge expanse of grass in front of the house.  I like the friends they are making here.  And I absolutely love living directly across from the church (also the stake center).  My ward is great, and I adore the stake choir I am in.  (There’s an orchestra yo )

Other events have included buying hundreds and hundreds of dollars of food and supplies to stock fridge, pantry, laundry room, etc; surviving our first tsunami warning (complete with the entire stake center full of people from evacuation areas) and learning about the dynamics of the homeless here (whole nother world); and encountering cockroaches for the first time in Hawaii.  In my HOUSE.  The new cockroach alarm is my blood curdling scream, shriek, or whooping and hollering “Kill it! ”  So far I have seen seven. Four of them were alive (someone must have sprayed before we were here).  I am now armed and getting ready for battle.  I am reading everything I can get my hands on about roach eradication, and I have Raid, traps, cleaners, and I’m learning tons more.  This event has marked a serious change in the way life goes around here.  All food is put in the fridge, down to the crackers and cornmeal, unless it is in a sealed, hard container.  No dishes are left in the sink overnight.  The floors are swept and mopped twice a day, after breakfast and dinner.  There is nothing on my counters, and they are sanitized with bleach water morning and night.  All pots, pans, silverware, cooking utensils, plates, etc. are in sealed containers.  Yes, I hate cockroaches that much.  Plus one of the sighted creatures was in my silverware drawer, and I just about gagged.  Then I washed everything, and made a note to buy waayyyy more of those new tupperware sets at Costco.  It’s been keeping me rather busy.

In other news, the baby has picked climbing the stairs as his entertainment of choice, Demetri started cub scouts again, and we have tried four different times to buy a car.  You know, sometimes craigslist can be creepy instead of helpful.  And it’s annoying to have long conversations with someone who never intended to actually meet with you and show you their car.  We have internet :), and decent reception at our house, unlike in California.

Still kickin'...if only barely

Monday and Tuesday the movers came (we ignored Demetri's birthday and decided to celebrate it in Kamiah); Wednesday was spent cleaning and finishing vacating the house.  Today has been graduation, paperwork, online trainings, more paperwork, hotel and naps for kids, running back and forth from hotel to post, and finally, ice cream (the kids were so patient today!).  Tomorrow depends on what the people in the various offices say- there's one paper in particular that needs to be signed before we can do anything else.
Busy week.  I'm just glad to be out of the house and hoping we can get out of here soon.  California was fun, but I'm ready to be done. I thought everything was done and we could just leave after graduation.  I should know by now and be able to anticipate the extra red tape!  (I just get optimistic when he actually has leave papers in his hand.)
Enjoying my baby- though still not comfortable enough with four children to go anywhere with them alone.  Shawn's frustrated.  Oh well, at least I was willing to have the four children; I don't know about more.  I'm savoring the newborn stage that I've missed so much.  Xander has three excited big brothers.  They love him, hold him, sing to him, play with him, and talk to him in funny voices.