A Princess Party

It's been a long month without Ry being home... and we sure are missing him.  He was sad he had to miss this birthday. Daisy was excited that his gift arrived in the mail right before the party started.  

We enjoyed having her friends helped her celebrate her birthday -- princess style. 

PS... A big Thank You to Cinderella for making her party awesome!

 

The roses were made from sticks of bubble gum. The beads were Strawberry Whoppers. 

Running My Brains Out

Oh boy, did I get myself into trouble today.

Daisy came in earlier this evening and flopped down next to me on the couch as she said "Mom, I just ran my brains out."

"Oh yeah?" I said, as I thought to myself, "Hey, I haven't worked out or gotten any exercise in today, maybe I should go run with her."   You see, Ryan and I both challenged each other to do certain things every day while he is in Oklahoma this month.  One of the things I'm supposed to be doing is working out.

And so, naively, I said, "Want me to run my brains out with you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked wearily, head still down on the couch.

"I mean, you take me running. I'll go wherever you go."

Can we say bad idea?  One second ago, she had been red-faced, panting, and thrown herself onto the couch, completely worn out. The very instant the words came out of my mouth, she suddenly popped up, refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to run.

I should have known then I had asked for more than I bargained for. Before we even got to the door, Braelin had his running shoes ready and was planning on going with us. Carolina was begging to come too.

"No, you take me running tomorrow okay?"

Second mistake. Boy, was I digging myself in deeper.

Daisy took off running out the door, out the gate, and around the corner. She booked it to the back gate, onto the driveway, and around to the front yard.  Before we even got one lap around the house, I was ready to quit.

Let me explain something. I never run. I hate to run!  What had I gotten myself into?!!  

She got a little gleam in her eye as she realized that I hadn't limited her to the yard and took off down the street. I tried my best to keep up with her, failing miserably evidently, because every so often she would stop and wait for me to catch up before taking off again.

This little girl had moments ago been lying on the couch, barely able to move, panting as though she would pass out any moment. Now, she was sprinting down the street as though she had trained for this all year. And that's when I realized - she had. She had been running every day at school for a year. They require the kids to run around the track three times, and though she always complained about it, she did it.

Miss Daisy - Summer 2011

There was no way she would be stopping anytime soon.

I puffed and panted, my face growing redder with every step.  I finally talked her into running to our friends house a couple blocks away, thinking then I could sit and rest a bit before talking her into running home.

No luck. Sheila wasn't home, and off we ran again. She turned right, then left, then right again, turned the corner a couple blocks down, and started headed farther west, farther away from home.

"Wait!" I cried. "The splash park is this way. Want to run to the splash park?" At this point I'm trying anything to get her to head back toward home instead of farther away.  Luckily, she agrees that the splash park would be fun, and off we go.  The closer we get, the more inviting the water looks. I'm hot, tired, and ready to go back home. She takes my hand and we run through the streams of water spraying in every direction, giggling as we went.  Yay!  She'll want to go home next, right?

Wrong.

"No Mom, I want to go 6 more places, because I'm six years old." Places. As in stores. She wants to run to stores. Like Lin's Supermarket, 11 blocks down. Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

By this point, I'm bribing her. Ice cream. A movie. Yes, I admit it. It was pathetic. But her pace hasn't slowed a bit, and I'm sure she would have no problem jogging the 11 blocks to the grocery store without breaking a sweat. Can you blame me?

We finally made it home, her teasing me the whole way that I really "walked my brains out and didn't run!" Who greets us at the doorway?  Braelin, Carolina, Taliesin, and Tyler... all reminding me that they each get to take me running too.

Oh boy. I AM in trouble. But maybe I'll also get in shape....

Wish me luck!  And if you see me running behind one of my kids this week, red faced and panting -- feel free to laugh... after you hand me a cold bottle of water.

- Rachel

My Sweet Chili Peppers

It's amazing how much better the house stays clean when I'm not working 40 hours a week.  Hmmm... maybe I'm not as horrible a housekeeper as I've felt like for the past few months. It's amazing how much more I can get done too! In the past week, I've painted the girls room (cream), the boys room (butterscotch brown), the stairway landing (white), the front porch (sandy red), the front steps, back steps, back stairway and railing (forest green), half the picket fence (white), and touch ups all over the house.

I'm painted out, for the moment... and although I would love to be at the lake right now, soaking up some sun, someone borrowed my pass. So... I decided instead to edit some photos I took of the kids in May.

I hope you enjoy them.  My Chili Peppers are the highlights of my life :)

- Rachel

A good day...

A good day is when...

They fight like cats and dogs most of the time, but occasionally they find something in common... like when they both want to do something they shouldn't, such as trying to start Amanda's scooter and ride it.  Good thing she doesn't leave the key in it!  Notice Jonnie's hat.  He wouldn't take it off for weeks... it has now disintegrated completely.

• You find a bunch of money in your old wallet while cleaning your room. (Yay!!  I was trying to figure out how to buy paint I needed for the deck.) 
• You get to sing "Love Story" and "Crazier" with your five and seven year olds. (Daisy and Lina are adorable, if I do say so myself :) 
• Good friends stop by because they miss you and have been thinking of you. (Love you Sheila and Kelly!)
• You find pictures you forgot about while emptying your camera's memory card. (See below...)
• Your 14 year old helps you de-clutter your room. (Thanks Mercy!!!)
• You get a call in for an interview and your husband has one too. (Hmmm.... which direction will our lives take?)
• Your husband sends you a sweet text saying how much he misses you. (Miss you too Babe!)
• You fit into pants you haven't fit in for a very long time! (Just three more pounds til my next goal!)

As you walk through the front door of my house, the window will rattle as the door slams shut, which is the only way it will close is if it is slammed. The dining table has sticky handprints and oatmeal crumbles left from breakfast. There are bowls of half eaten ramen noodles left from dinner (the third or fourth time the kids have had ramen in the past week). On the side table, there is a case of marinara sauce that has been sitting for a while now. Looking off to the left you'll see a big blue couchbed thing that has been in my family room for the past two months, waiting to be hauled downstairs. Walking into the kitchen you would think that the dishes haven't been done for a week or so... not true.  They were done yesterday morning. At least I think they were. Still, the counter is full of stacks of used cereal bowls and the sink has a collection of unwashed forks, spoons, and pans.

The little breakfast room has a random and unsettling collection of grocery odds and ends yet to be put away.  Cans of soup, a large package of noodles, and three number ten cans of refried beans dot the table and although you can tell we aren't starving, the question begs... why hasn't all this been put away?

The collection of coats along the pathway to the stairs leading up to the kids' rooms suggest we haven't needed them for a few days, which is true - the weather has been lovely!  We won't discuss the kids rooms, or my room.  Suffice it to say they could use a bit of straightening. The laundry room? Frightening.

The taxes are halfway finished, will require a long day of concentration plus one semi short visit to an accountant, and hopefully I can have them wrapped up before too long. Are they done yet?  No.

Meals at my house have been haphazard at best, though Ryan did make Root Beer Pork on Sunday and our weekend guests didn't go home unfed. If the trail of half eaten bites of hot dogs leading to my bedroom or the breadcrumbs all over my bed have any tale to tell, they'd say the kids are eating well enough for now at least. The mashed berries I wiped up off my carpet today say they are getting a variety of food besides ramen too, so I won't feel too guilty, yet. Still, it's time I put together some real meals.  Did I get them made today?  No.  Of course not.

So then if the taxes aren't done, the kids are making their own meals, the house isn't clean, and the van still hasn't been washed or vaccumed,  what DID I do?

I'll tell you.

I slept in til 6:30 and then took Ryan to work in St. George. I enjoyed breakfast with my kids and curled up in bed, chilly and apparently still exhausted from yesterday. I slept, slept, and slept some more.

I rocked my baby Jonnie, who isn't much of a baby anymore, until he fell asleep in my arms. And then, I rocked him some more. I talked with Braelin while Jonnie slept, helped Ty log on to his schoolwork online, and popped onto Facebook for a bit too -- lame, I know.

I walked to get the girls from school. I talked with Tyler as we walked. I played with Jonnie on the slide.  I laughed with my girls while we happily walked home. Taliesin showed me the homework he was working on, while Mercy flopped down on the blue couchbed thing to take a much needed nap. I sang the Monkey Song with Braelin. I got Jonnie some milk in his cup.  And then, I went to pick up Ry and spend some time with him.

We talked, I cried. We shared Cafe Rio on the patio, and watched a movie afterward.  When we came home, the kids were already sleeping, curled up in bed on time for once - just like I'd asked.

The house will get cleaned up, tomorrow probably. The groceries will get organized in the pantry, and the dishes washed and put away. I'll throw something in the crockpot before I go to work, and Ryan will make sure they get dinner when he comes home.

For today, I'm glad I didn't clean. Glad I didn't cook. No taxes got done. Instead, I enjoyed my babies... and my man.

Life is good. Sometimes messy, but life is good.

11:00 and All's Well!

Do you remember watching Disney's Robin Hood as a kid?  Ry's sister Barb bought it for our family when we were little and it never ceases to entertain me.  I don't know how many hundreds of times I have watched that and still love every bit of it.  Okay, so that has nothing to do with my post except for the part where the Nutsy is on guard duty and yells out "All's Well!"

Everything IS much better today.  I only got woken up three times last night by the kiddos, took another nap this morning, and another this afternoon. Sleep always helps.  And a nice conversation with my man helped too.

And I realized that it might be helpful for y'all to know really where I'm at. On a scale of 0-100, with 0 being no depression whatsoever and 100 being properly diagnosed as clinically depressed and in need of intervention.... I was at about 1,000 for 18 months after Jonnie was born and my anxiety levels were at 10,000.  Yesterday -- I was about 20. Today, I'm at a 1.  No big deal.

Today I laughed, I joked, I sang. Three songs in fact -  all with my kids. We played Boggle and listened to Carolina give her oral report on the Statue of Liberty for Family Night, after reading the prophet Joseph Smith's teachings on prayer. I played hide and seek with Jonnie and his blanket before bedtime, went shopping with Tali and Ty, and bought posterboard to make Daisy's student of the week poster with.

And,  I got a call back on an application and set up a job interview for tomorrow. Wish me luck, I might just get it.

Life is good. 

White Day

If you've ever been to our house before and taken a tour through the basement, you know already that it wasn't pretty.  It has been beat up for nearly a century, rooms built, then torn apart, projects started, never finished, half the walls are covered in plaster, the other half have layers of peeling paint.  It's generally a mess!

When we moved in, I painted over the worst parts, but the big playroom downstairs was more than I knew what do to with or had money to fix up.  Well finally, we are ready to paint the walls and stain and seal the cement floor.  But first - we have to paint the ceiling.

I picked up a gallon of paint last week, and decided today is the day.  I'll get it done.  I park the boys in front of "Nemo", get Tyler doing his schoolwork, and Daisy follows me downstairs and begins to sing me all the "Color Songs" she's been learning in kindergarten.  She starts telling me that today is "White Day" and gets pretty excited when she realizes that I'm painting white paint on White Day.  "Yay!", I say.  "I love white too!" She walks out of the room and I'm painting away, looking straight up as I do since my pole is short and my ceilings are high.

Daisy Delicious Horsey Jessop - or at least that's what SHE says her name is!

10 seconds after she walks out of the room my paint pole snaps and the roller falls straight on my face.  And yes, my mouth was open.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry so I was doing a little of both as she walked back in the room a minute later and sees me trying to spit the paint out of my mouth. 

"Mom?" she asks.

"Yes," I say. 

"Did you dip your face in the paint?"

"Nope," I reply. 

"Oh. Well you have white paint all over your face," she says. 

"Yes dear.  Thanks for letting me know."

Well, it is White Day. But I'm pretty sure I'd rather find another way to celebrate.

I'll post some pics of the basement when we're done :) 

Aches and heartaches

So I wake up in the middle of the night with a mean stomach-ache. I just want to sleep. I'm so tired I can't tell you how tired. I need my sleep. But no - I have a stomach-ache, and sleep is not easily coming.

This morning, I am finally sleeping, for a while at least. The little boys stayed home from church with me, so in between sleeping, I am also feeding Jonnie his Cheerios and milk. I finally drag myself out of bed when the bowl he brought me is emptied but I still don't feel like doing anything at all. Daisy has turned on "Cheaper By The Dozen" - the old version - which I love, so I put my contacts in and curl up on the couch to watch it with her.  I love the look on his face as he holds baby #12 and his wife looks over his shoulder down at the baby.  Such a precious picture of love.

When the movie is over I spy my computer. I feel like someone hit the back of my neck with a very big stick and my whole body feels swollen, but I can lounge on the couch with my laptop right?

Really, I feel awful, and want to do nothing but go back to bed. But as awful as I feel, I feel lucky too. My sweet friend Sheila told me yesterday that her daughter's husband is facing lymphoma. Cancer is such an ugly form of torture, and having the body aches is such a minimal thing to deal with when others face such life and death illness. I look at my husband sitting on the couch and think how blessed I am that he is healthy. And happy. This year has definitely had some major life changes for us both, but especially for him. He has struggled and it has been so heartwrenching to watch him.

And lets be honest. Sometimes I've just been super angry at him for the way he has dealt (or not dealt) with certain things.

But all of that doesn't matter when I see him crawl around the floor, laughing and chasing Jonnie.  Or when he wakes me up with a kiss to tell me goodbye before he leaves for work.  And the things I get upset about become completely insignificant and outright stupid when I think how it would be to face having him ill with cancer, and staring death in the face.

He's not. I'm grateful more than I can say. And my heart aches more than my body right now for my friend Camille and her family and the reality they face. So say a prayer for Camille and Ralph, and for their family.

I'm going to snuggle up on Ry's lap right now and enjoy the time I have with him.

BTW, the photos is from a day when he was being an impromptu model for me as I scoped out decent angles at a difficult location where I'll be shooting an upcoming wedding. He didn't realize I was taking a photo just at this moment though, and I liked it. SOOC without any editing, and horrible lighting, but it's a picture of him and I love it just for that.  He's so completely supportive no matter what hair-brained idea I come up with or new adventure I start out on. Thanks Babe!

Rachel

Stillness

Tuweap overlook of the Grand Canyon, photo by me, of course.

Fun fact for you - I'm afraid of heights. 

No, that's not true. 

I'm petrified of heights. Yes, I think that says it a little better.  

Have you ever driven on a mountain road when it's zig-zagging up the side of the mountain and one side is up against the side of the cliff and the other side is a sheer drop off and every time the wheels on the car spin they shoot a bit of gravel off the side of the road and you can watch it fall gently down the side of the mountain as though it hasn't a care in the world nor does it know that in a moment it will be pummeling into the earth below and as a result will probably no longer even be a rock but a bit of powder for the wind to blow away? (And yes I know that was a run on sentence but that's about how much goes through my brain every time the wheels on the van turn, so pretty please, bear with me.) It scares me to pieces and I really prefer that Ryan drive on these roads, when I am asleep, and never tell me we ever drove on that particular road in the first place. 

But I'm straying. Fear of heights is not what this is about today.... it's about our outing to the Grand Canyon, which thankfully did not entail a drive up a zig-zaggy cliff. 

So, lucky us - and I mean that - we had friends and family come visit us for the weekend and they took us on a drive out to Tuweap (or Toroweap as you sometimes see it spelled).  This particular view of the Grand Canyon is stunning, and totally worth the long-ish drive to get there.  The pictures I took really don't do it justice. 

Ryan and Jonnie, overlooking the Colorado River

So imagine this. Me - petrified of losing someone over the edge, and 15 kids -  7 of whom are mine, all running loose at the edge of a 3000 foot drop off. My idea of a fun time!

For the first 20 minutes, I panicked. A lot. And told myself to breathe. A lot.

Because otherwise I was a little bit out of my mind.

But after they got all their wiggles out from the car ride and got tired of looking over the cliff, they started running around inland. Then, I was finally able to enjoy it. 

The Grand Canyon is breathtaking, to say the least. I simply cannot wrap my brain around 

how this river cut so deep into the sandstone, and between the wind and rushing water, the canyon was 

formed.  It's incredible. 

It's also peaceful. And still.  That is probably what struck me most - the stillness.

After the kids all went back to the truck for lunch and I knew that Ryan had Jonnie, I had a few moments to just sit. And look. And as I sat on the ledge looking northward, I knew that somewhere down below branches were rustling in the wind and a bird was fluttering by. There were probably even chipmunks running around, or a lizard lying in the sun. But I couldn't see any of it. Everything was still, and being there helps your mind become still too. 

Enjoy the pics.  I hope that just for a moment, you can imagine being there, and enjoy the peacefulness and stillness that we need in our lives every once in a while. 

Hugs,

Rachel

PS... there are some other shots of the kids there.  Thanks for coming to visit us y'all!

Laura, sitting at the edge of the drop off.

See the boat in the water near the bottom of the picture? Yes, it's there. Look again.

Here it is "up close". Now, I have a super zoom camera, and this is as close as I could get to the boat. 

Hopefully this gives you a perspective of how deep and wide the canyon and river are at this point. 

(There are deeper sections of the canyon.)

And a few more just for fun. 

Ty, Ta, Ash - three buddies.

Boston, enjoying a nice cold root beer. 

Jonnie and Braelin in the "peek-a-boo" rock.

My cousin Kaitlyn stayed the weekend and went with us.  Fun to see you Kait!

Red Milk, and Rude!

Originally posted April 1, 2009

The thing with having a toddler who can say anything and everything, speak in paragraphs, tell jokes, and repeat scenes from movies he hasn’t seen for weeks, is that he never shuts up. For all his big vocabulary, the phrase “It’s time to be quiet” somehow escapes his understanding. 

“I want some red milk!” has been one of the sentences I’ve heard most today.... that along with “Mom - she’s being rude, rude, rude!!” 

I’ll explain. The chili peppers (my children) and I are traveling. A friend left half a gallon of red Tampico for us. Ever since then, Braelin has been asking for the “red milk”. And since I’m trying to keep him somewhat quiet (ha ha ha!!!) at the hotel we are staying at, I keep giving in and letting him have a few more sips. End result?  Barf. Red barf. All over the tile. And he insisted on cleaning it up himself so it is now smeared ALL over the tile. At least it’s not on the carpet - and hey -- he wants to clean?  My kid? Wants to clean?  He must have a gene none of the rest of them picked up because this is NOT normal for my kids. My kids are the ones who get “bathroom-itis” every time they have chores to do.  You know -- the sudden urge to sit for a long time in the bathroom hoping someone else gets the cleaning done before they get out?  Well, it’s a named  and frequently contracted disease at our house. 

So anyway, now you know about the red milk. Want to hear who is being “rude?” 

Of course, not many of you have 7 children to go on long car trips with, but I’m sure most of you have at least one. So, multiply that to get 7 kids in the car with all of the fun that goes with it. 7 times the potty breaks, 7 times the “are we there yets?”, 7 times the kids who just don’t like to be cooped up in a carseat! 7 times the running around when we do get to where ever it is we are going and stop.

Thankfully - my kids are actually really good in the car. They’re used to traveling, but Braelin with his enormous not even two year old vocabulary has said “Mom, she’s being rude, rude, rude!!!” far too many times for me to count today.  (She being Daisy - bet you couldn’t have guessed that!) The day ended with him screaming the whole way through Zion’s National Park.  Good thing I was still smiling and having a fun time.  It’s really been a great day with lots of good memories too.  I’ll tell you more about those in another entry. 

So, wow, it’s been a long time since I wrote.  Here’s a quick run down of what’s been happening with us.... 

I am feeling better.  Much better.  Good meds help :) Lots of sunshine and avoiding stress is critical to daily function but I AM functioning. I get up and dressed and can interact great with my peppers. 

I am still NOT up to crowds. Social anxiety still very high, which means homeshows are out of the question. 

I eat chocolate.  Lots of it, turns out. But since I found Healthy Chocolate -- it’s all good.

We are selling our house -- or at least trying to. We had a buyer, but that didn’t work out -- so if you know anyone who wants a cute house with a huge yard in Roosevelt -- send them my way :)  Ryan will be manning an open house this weekend!

We found a house in Hurricane, UT that we LOVE. Very cute, old historic home with a fabulous yard. I am so ready for a warm winter!  Here are some pictures  Of course - we sort of need to sell the house in Roosevelt before we buy this one.  “Thy will be done.”

Meanwhile, I could not stay at home trying to keep it clean with the four little ones at home. I was going crazy, and I’m already crazy enough! So, the kids and I moved down here to Southern Utah for the time being. We are here there and everywhere, thanks to a kind brother, aunt, and sister who have let us stay in condos, guest houses, and way cheap hotel rates.  More stories to come ....