yIKEs!

Currently outside it is a little windy. However that is to be expected since a hurricane is about to make landfall in the next few hours. Today was an interesting day because the schools were closed, Scott stayed home form work and most of the stores shut their doors around noon. We spent the morning cleaning up the yard of any possible projectiles and put everything in the garage. It was gorgeous weather today. Breezy and not humid, so I was glad to get out and work in my garden which was overgrown and infested with stink bugs. After the work was done it was time to play, but really we just spent the afternoon watching the news and waiting for the action to start.

We heard from Craig and Cherise around dinnertime, and they had already lost power. They live in Pearland which is about 40 miles north of the coast and said that it was windy but not raining yet. They have boarded up their windows are prepared to wait the storm out.

Because we live over 80 miles inland we haven’t been too worried. We have been calm and what I thought was reassuring to the kids. Around dinner time when the kids were supposed to be cleaning up I was surprised to see Matthew carrying a bunch of blankets downstairs. When I questioned what he was doing he said that it was his stuff for the car for “when our house breaks up.” I guess he had been watching a little too much news. He showed me his pile; he had a pillow a blanket, his Pajamas and a blanket for Joshua too. I thought we had reassured our kids enough that we were safe, but I spent a little extra time with Matthew making sure he was alright when he went to sleep tonight.

After dinner our family enjoyed the great weather outside and the beautiful sunset as a result from the outer bands of the hurricane. It was weird to know that a hurricane is coming from the south and all the clouds were moving in the wrong direction.

We expect the eye wall of the storm to hit during the night and pass around 5:30. We are planning to get up for the sunrise so hopefully we will still have power and keep you updated. If not Samantha will be excited to break into the 72 hour kit and open our 3 lb bag of M&M’s.

Thanks Uncle Mikey!

We have decided to let the kids ride bikes to school this year, despite the fact that my new car would help accommodate a carpool. However, a week before school started I was informed that Jacob’s $3 garage sale bike was broken. He has been ready for a new bike since last year, but I thought the little bargain that I got last fall was going to buy us a little more time.

When Samantha was 3 years old we bought her first bike, we bought it a little big at the time but we never expected it to last as long as it did. She obviously got her use out of it. Last summer she started asking for a new bike, so we had her start saving up. With the help of generous gifts around her birthday she put her all her money together and got her bike. With all the work that Samantha put in, it was hard as parents just to go out and buy Jacob a new bike despite the desperate need. Although we give our kids a gracious allowance, that wouldn’t be fast enough, so we started brain storming. Jacob wanted to put up a lemonade stand, but I had a better idea…

Jacob sold CD’s door to door. Of course we only targeted people we knew, but I think it was really good for him to approach people and tell them about the great new CD that his Uncle Mike just produced. Mike has put together a great collection of original piano solo hymn arrangements, and some of his own songs. I would like to thank all of our friends and neighbors that helped contribute to this great cause, and if anyone feels bad that we didn’t knock on your door you can just go straight to the source to buy (and listen to the music) www.michaelethington.com or let me know and I will get some more.

At first Jacob really wanted me to help do the talking, but after awhile he got the hang of it. Since we were subsidizing the bike anyway I just let him put all the money from the CD’s in his savings jar. He thought he was rich and kept talking about all the things that he could buy. We had to keep reminding him how much his bike was going to cost and that he wouldn’t have any money left over. This week he finally got his new bike and he willing turned over his jar full of hard earned money. He has been riding his bike to and from school every day and loves it. Thanks Uncle Mikey!

A few funny stories

Two blog posts in one week? Don’t worry I am just making up for lost time, I wrote the Alexander Post two weeks ago when he turned one but then never posted because I was waiting till I took his official one year old picture. Besides I normally try to sit and write on Thursdays. Once again you may be alarmed because obviously it is not Thursday (at least not while I am writing, but who knows when you are reading this) but it feels like Thursday to me because last night I had my last YW activity with my girls. We went to the bishops Storehouse for some service and since the storehouse is only open on Tuesday we moved our Wednesday activity up a day. I had some bitter sweet feelings on Sunday as I was released from my calling over the 14-16 girls.

I have been working with the Miamaid group since March 2005. This calling confronted two of my biggest fears, teaching and teenagers. I was at first called as a Miamaid advisor. The very first Sunday I was in the hall with the YW Pres. and 1st counselor and they jokingly asked if I had my lesson ready. They laughed at the shocked look at my face and thought they relieved me when they said they were joking and I wouldn’t have to start teaching till the next week. However I stayed in shock because apparently I hadn’t known when I accepted the calling that the advisor’s main responsibility it to teach the lessons each Sunday. My other fear was interacting with teenagers and being reminded of my socially challenged days. Over time some of these girls became my friends and I stopped worrying about what they were thinking of my outfits or if I was cool enough. Then last year I was promoted to the 1st counselor and still stayed over the same girls but I was then in charge of the activities every week. It will be nice to technically have my Wednesday’s free; however Scott was called into the Scouts and will now have Wednesday night activities. I have been working on my Personal Progress over the last few years and my garden completed my third project. This last Sunday (about 3 minutes before I was released) I finally received my medallion.

Didn’t this post say something about funny stories? I guess I got side tracked, that tends to be a bad habit of mine. The other day Scott helped the kids fill the bath tub for a bubble bath. The week before I had banned bubble baths because of the mess and the slashing, but the kids didn’t let him in on their punishment. By the time I walked by the tub was filled and kids were innocently playing and entertained so I didn’t say anything and let things take their course. Technically, Scott consented to the bathtub so in my mind that meant he was responsible and I didn’t pay much attention and got side tracked (actually I think I was downstairs with Scott). Opps! Well later on when I was on my way to tell the boys to get out, Matthew came running (naked of course) down the hall with a big grin on his face and a big (64 oz big) cup full of sudsy water. He then proceeded to dump the water, and said with excitement, “Look it cleans!”

Luckily I was close enough to grab the cup before he emptied the whole thing. When we went into the bathroom the whole tile floor was flooded and water was soaking the carpets. It was so sweet that they thought they were helping me clean, but they still got in trouble. We soaked up all the water with all the available towels in the house and then threw them in the laundry. I guess I did get a nice mopped floor out of it, which was their intention, but it was the exact reason why I had banned bubble baths the week before. When I went looking for Scott he had fallen asleep downstairs.

Another funny thing happened just this morning. I was watching a few kids and I kept trying to follow them. When they were downstairs, I went down and cleaned up the kitchen but then I realized I was alone. So I took my next project upstairs, and the same thing happened, over time I realized the kids had filtered downstairs. I think I should just use the baby gate and coral them all in one place. I decided to stop following and wait till they came back upstairs. After awhile I noticed that it was really quiet downstairs. Normally I would think they slipped outside in the backyard, but it was really wet outside so I doubted that. I tipped toed downstairs to check on the 5 little boys (that sounds like a lot, but remember 3 of them are mine). I found the back door open, all the cushions were off the couch, and there was a trail of almonds on the counter. Then I noticed that all the boys were quietly hiding throughout the room and Jacob was hiding pantry with the fly swatter. Apparently my repeated phrase “Shut the door so the bugs won’t come in” came back to haunt me. They were looking for bugs and they were trying to lure the flies in with their tempting trail of food. I love kids and their wild imaginations. They had found the almonds and saw that there were already some nibbles on them so they knew that flies liked them. I closed the door and thought I put an end to that game, but then the next thing I knew they had moved into the garage and were looking for cockroaches.

Alexander turns One

We celebrated Alexander's birthday in Salt Lake with our families just before we came home from Utah. I can’t believe that it has been a year since Alexander was born. What a trite phase to really express how I feel but it is true. Alex is my happiest baby. He will give a smile to anyone and is always content. He slept the first two months of his life, and the months that followed it was easy to forget that he was around because he was so quiet. Now that he is getting older his personality is coming out, and he makes sure that he is not forgotten.

He loves phones & remotes and any other toy doesn’t make a good substitute. After a month long trip in Utah he adjusted well to the off schedule routine we put him on. Although he doesn’t get super cranky with little sleep, he does find ways to make it up. One day after no naps, he slept in until 11 am in the next morning.

The past month he has had an array of interesting foods. One of the days at the beach he kept trying to eat sand because he thought my reaction was so funny. A few days later I caught he trying a piece of forgotten dog poop. Yuck! That one we got out fast so at least he didn’t swallow. However when it comes to normal foods, he is now refusing pasta, peaches and macaroni and cheese. What a weird sense of taste buds, at least we know that he has a sweet tooth. He will nose dive for ice-cream and he loved his birthday cake.

He hasn’t had his yearly check up yet but I am guessing that he weighs around 23 pounds. Our drive home from Utah was his last day in the infant car seat. After we came home we cleaned out the car and then set up the forward facing car seat. His seat is in the center and he was just grinning the other day as we drove around. He can see so much and must love sitting up and facing forward.

Now that he is proficient at climbing stairs I let him explore more. He has found the toilet a few times and luckily he has only unrolled the toilet paper once. We are going to have to watch him a little more closely but so far we have been lucky that he hasn’t discovered the joys of cupboards. He still is just fascinated by opening and shutting the doors, I will be said the day that the doors won’t be enough and he will search for what is inside the cupboards.

He says “MaMa” and “DaDa” quiet a bit. I would say his first word was “Hi” although he doesn’t have it down just yet he has been trying to say it for months. Every morning he greets me with his “HAAA” trying to imitate my greeting. I think that he is going to be musical. He loves music. At church it is the most obvious because he will be wiggly and then a musical number will start and he will just stop and stare. He watches me when I sing and then starts singing himself. The problem is to get him to be quiet when the song is over. It is fun to hear him match tones so I have high hopes for him especially with the musical talent in both of our families; it has to get passed down to some of our kids.

The other day we were babysitting and holding another baby. Alex was close-by and took 3 steps to fall into my arms. I guess jealously is a good motivator. The rest of the day we tried to get him to do it again. He did it one more time on video but he hasn’t done it since, that was over 4 days ago. He is refusing to try, I guess that is his personality coming through.