Oh, Jonah

The letter says it all. Heath flicked applesauce at Jonah, he was about to reciprocate when (thankfully) he was caught before following through. I'm going to let Jared handle this one when he gets home.

GO COUGARS!

Rachel in Jared's Steve Young Jersey from--well, when Steve was QB

How far is too far to drive for a BYU game? Apparently 5 hours is within a good parameter.

BYU played TCU (in Dallas) and won 31-17.

Jared took Rachel and Sophie with him, along with some other ward members. They had a great time. The girls were giddy when I picked them up from school at 11:45 to go. They thought it was so cool to be leaving school for something fun! I don't know about Sophie, but Rachel was not so giddy this morning. They got home about 1:15 a.m.!

I heard it was a great game. I didn't get to watch or listen at home as I was cleaning up after Seth threw up on me and various other messes that boys make if ya know what I mean. Not as enjoyable of an evening for me, but I am glad that they got to go and that Rachel got to take Sophie...I've told her we have to seize the day and make some good memories to take with us to Boise! No more of this "let's get together sometime..." I'm famous for that one!

TODAY'S HEADLINES

What a sight! I took a picture because I don't know if we'll ever see it again. Even better, if you buy a Wal-Mart gift card you get 3 cents off per gallon! Exactly a year ago when Rita hit gas went up to above $3.00 and you could hardly get your hands on any because the trucks couldn't get through for a week or two. I've been trying to keep my tank above the 3/4 mark just in case. We must be prepared!

I had a MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH with Seth today! He cried when we turned into the parking lot of his pre-school (Windwood Presbyterian) BUT...when we talked about the playground and painting (he's been saying "I paint yellow cat!" all week from last weeks art time.) he calmed down and his teacher didn't have to pry him from me today. I'm sure she was thrilled too!

He really does like school, but the seperation thing has been difficult. He goes every Thursday from 9:00 - 2:30, and each time when I pick him up he says, "School fun. Playground fun. I play with kids and toys." I've got 2 hours of quiet left. I must use them wisely! Happy Thursday.

The Future of U.S. Women's Soccer!

Rachel & Sophie

Sophie's mom sent me this picture of the girls after a scrimmage. Sophie is the closest thing to a sister Rachel has. Rachel has been concerned because she and Sophie would like to play on the U.S. Women's Soccer team together someday, but she's afraid that if we move that won't happen. I assured her that if they both worked hard in their respective states that they could still be on the team together...and even share a hotel room as they traveled for games. She seems to be good with that for now.

I think leaving Sophie will be the hardest thing for Rachel when we head up to Boise. Actually I think it will be hard for the whole family...We love the girl! Jonah is particularly fond of her too. (as you can see she's darling and very nice to Jonah to boot!) A while back we were taking the girls to soccer practice and while Rachel was getting Sophie Jonah asked if he could sit in the back with the girls. I said yes (Rachel wasn't too pleased about it).

Sophie sat between the two of them on the back bench. As we drove Sophie was asking Jonah questions about school. He was in heaven because she was taking such interest in him. Then Sophie asked, "are there any girls in your class that you like?" Jonah didn't say anything, but Luke from the bench in front said, "He thinks you're a hotty!"

We all laughed. I think Sophie was a little embarrassed, but not nearly as much as Jonah was!

"It smells like Utah!"...

was exclaimed by all 3 kids as they walked outside to go to school. It is a brisk 62º this morning, however, we are looking at a high of 83º--but it should be nice until this afternoon. I found myself awake last night at 4 a.m.--I think because it was so hot (I've started turning the a/c off at night)--dreaming of our nice fall weather in Chicago and even Los Angeles. September and October seem to be when I think of home the most. BUT...in a month or so everyone will be complaining of the cold and snow, and we'll still be wearing flip flops!

We are excited for our trip to Cincinnati and Chicago in a couple of weeks. Then we'll get a taste of what everyone else is enjoying right now.

Seth just came in and said, "anaconda, Mommy! Come see!" I'm assuming it's on Diego and that there isn't an anaconda in the house...you never know...I told you about the lizard...

PB&H Boy

Luke making his 2nd PB&H sandwich for the night!

Our little journalist

Rachel and our annual Yellow Watermelon--a Texas A&M breed

Rachel loves to write--something I've always hated, so I'm glad she didn't inherit my distaste for it. (Sorry Uncle Travis!) Here is a piece she wrote the first week of school and copied for me for my birthday.

When I was 6 years old, I went with my family to Salt Lake City, Utah where we met up with my grandparents. I had TONS of fun with them. We went to the museum, the Ellison Park, and the Christmas lights downtown! But the best part was definately my grandparents cabin. A small wooden two story place with a beautiful balcony. My favorite part about it was the sleding, hot chocolate, and looking out the windows. The windows were actually two sides of the cabin, but looking out, seeing the snow fall softly to the ground made me feel calm as if nothing in the world was bad.

So when we got there you can probably guess how excited I was. I grabbed my jacket and ran outside in the snow. That night, I went to bed in the upstairs bedroom. I tried to stay awake and count how many snowflakes I could see. But my eyes started to close shut, and I fell asleep.

I woke up early in the morning, because of the sledding trip that day. 6:00 a.m., I went down stairs and saw my grandma peeking through the curtains. I asked her what was happening outside and she opened them all the way. What I saw made my smile touch the tips of my ears. 6 feet of snow piled up with only a little space to the tops of the windows. After the sledding trip, (which was kind of hard with all the snow), we had a fun night of s'mores, hot chocolate, and movies next to the fire. That snow was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and I won't forget it.

"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning..."

We have had two wonderful days. High's in the 80's so it wasn't painful to be outside. You can see from my beautifully manicured lawn that I was busy. I mowed and edged the front and planted a few flowers I got on clearance at Wal-Mart. It looks much better.

The mowing was a breeze, however edging is not a skill I have perfected. I was proud to even get the thing started. It was going fine, however, until the neighbors' lawn care crew showed up. (We are about the only house on our street that does our own yard.) I got the feeling after a while that they were laughing at me--not with me.

Seth was enjoying exploring the garage as I worked. He got curious when I started to plant and made up a fun game to play (for him). As I would dig a few holes and lay my trowel down he'd pick it up and throw it in the bushes. He got a good laugh every time.

After playing that fun game for a while we cleaned up and went inside. Seth needed a bath, so I stuck him in while I was cleaning the bathroom. He layed down in the tub, his ears covered with the water. After a few minutes I could tell he was no longer aware of me. He was talking trying to hear himself through the water. What was funny was what he was saying:

"Sethy. What Mommy? Don't touch it. Okay, Mommy."

He said it over and over. He was obviously repeating a conversation we have frequently. Silly boy!

You know you've been in Texas a while when...

You are in a hurry to get ready for church, you pick up a pile of clothes on the floor to move them and out scurries a lizard. You are happy that it is a lizard and not a roach, but there is no time for catching lizards. SO...you seize the opportunity and point it out to your 2 year old because you know it will keep him busy for a few minutes while you finish getting ready and guarantee he will not color on cabinets, furniture etc. while he is waiting.

*Note: I'm sure we have a dead lizard somewhere in the house. When we move next summer we should be able to locate it.

Quotes of the Morning

In the car on the way to school Luke said:

"Mom those sunglasses look like the glasses blind people wear!"

"Hey, let's play 'I Spy'. I spy some people not wearing their seatbelts!"

Luke

Boy it's fun to have Luke around! He makes me smile. Dr. Fishman called this morning. We will increase his Lamictal once again. He is still at a safe dose for his weight, and I think they'd like to keep going because the other medications have such bad side effects. We hope to see some changes soon though. He is still having up to a dozen seizures a day. It is frustrating.

Luke is loving school. I get to volunteer in his class on Thursday's which I love. Last week he got a little teary when it was time for me to go, so I came back a bit later and had lunch with him.

He says his favorite thing at school is rest time. I was surprised because that is what Jonah and Rachel hated the most...but not my snuggler. He said he likes it "because I get to lay down by all my friends." I think this is the closest thing he has to "snuggle time" during his day. He still comes home and wants to snuggle me though! I hope he always will.

This is so foreign to me...

I'm going to give this whole blog thing a shot. I've been told it's not rocket science, but 2nd grade science challenges me these days.