Saturday, October 31, 2009

It's Halloween Time!!

It's Halloween!! Again, already. Wow, this past year has just flown by! Here are the kids all dressed up and ready for trick or treating :)





Jonathan would only be a clown if I promised to make him look evil. I think I did ok :)

My handsome little pirate!


My beautiful witch :)

And the dead prince in the family :)


We carved pumpkins last night. Latest we've ever done them, we've just been so busy. I'm glad we managed to squeeze it in cause it's always a riot to watch each of them react to how gross it is. When they ask me to help I tell them no, I'd like them to get the full effect of having carved their own pumpkins. Really I hate the feeling just as much as they do but they don't need to know that :)


Jonathan is the only one who doesn't get grossed out. He enjoys grossing the rest of us out instead!




My dad was around for the fun :)

I'm not sure what happened. Rob put Seth's arm in the pumpkin and he flipped out!! And I don't think it was because it felt gross, he played with the stuff outside of the pumpkin, but I really think he didn't like his arm disappearing inside the thing!

Elizabeth was having a hard time too. She's like me, can't stand touching the slimy stuff.

Monday, October 19, 2009

I Am The Best Mom Ever!

At least that's what I got told over and over this evening :) My brother tipped me off to one of Jonathan's favorite authors being at Powell's today for book signings. It was Jeff Kinney author of the Diary of a Whimpy Kid series. His books are silly but fun to read and the kids love them, Jonathan especially. I knew I had to take him to this.
We found out we could show up at 2 pm today to get a ticket for the book signing which would determine our order in line. My friend and I got there early enough to get into the first group. I picked up the books as Jonathan hadn't gotten any of his own copies yet. Then I went home and hid the books in my purse and waited.
Jonathan came home and the first thing he did was pull out the new book order form from school. There was the latest book Dog Days on the back and he was just going on and on about how he really wanted that book! It was all I could do to keep pretending I wasn't hiding anything from him. I asked him if he wouldn't mind going to the store with me so we could have some one-on-one time together. He relunctly agreed to it :)
We drove down to the store but took a different route through the mall parking lot. I knew Jeff Kinney's bus would be out front of the book store. I saw the bus and pointed it out to Jonathan and asked him if he wanted to get out to look at it. He was totally excited just over the bus! Then I asked him if he thought Jeff was inside and he said he wanted to go check. Of course it was total chaos in there, all those kids who love the books! They were announcing that you could only get in line if you had gotten a ticket and Jonathan looked sad as he was hoping to at least talk to him. That's when I pulled out the ticket and the books. He just about jumped out of his skin he was so excited!! I loved it! After letting it sink in it finally dawned on him what I had done. He looked at me and said "You planned this all along, didn't you?" Of course I did :) They finally got everyone organized into their groups and he got in line. It was so great to see him so excited! Jonathan could not stop smiling! He finally got his turn with Jeff and told him how cool he thought he was and all that :) Jeff signed all four books and Jonathan walked away hugging them to his chest. We topped off the adventure with some Cold Stone. During all this time he kept telling me "You are the BEST mom ever!!" He said it one more time in the car on the way home and I told him to remember that later when I had to yell at him for not getting the dishes done and he paused for a sec and then said "Well, ok, you are the best mom for NOW" HA! I told him it didn't work that way :)
For now he is totally thrilled with his new signed books and is reading the newest one as I type this.

Jonathan and Jeff Kinney.
Jonathan and his friend Brevin by the bus.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Happy Birthday, Nathaniel!!


My oldest is now 12!! I am now OLD :) haha. I was totally ok with having a 12 year old until someone pointed out to me a few weeks ago that I would have a child in the Young Mens program at church. I am the mother of a Mutual aged child. Oh... my... gosh!! I've been ok with getting older, been ok with my kids getting older. This particular birthday of Nathaniel's has been hard for me. More changes come along with 12. Not only does he enter Young Mens he gets to take on the responsibility of holding the Priesthood. In the LDS church young men receive the Aaronic Priesthood at the age of 12, when they are ordained as a Deacon. Today he received that ordination in church. Next Sunday I get to watch my "baby" pass the sacrament for the first time. I just hope I can hold it together, I get so emotional over these things :) Silly, I know.
Nathaniel is loving all this new responsibility. He is even looking for opportunities to be more independent. I think that's what is making this birthday harder. Nathaniel doesn't need me as much anymore. He has already asked that Rob not attend a scout campout, he wanted to do it without his dad around. He started asking at the beginning of the year if he could walk to school, he didn't want me to drive him. Nathaniel has gone out of his way to find out about the upcoming school play and even went and tried out for it! We are anxiously waiting to hear if he got a part, fingers are crossed. Oh my gosh, at his age I was still so painfully shy I would never have been able to do the things he is willingly doing. He's even decided to tell all his teachers and friends at school he wants to be called Nate! When was he allowed to decide if he wanted a nickname?!! haha. So, while I love seeing him grow up and learn to be independent and responsible it makes me sad too. It really won't be long before he's 19 and packing up to go on a mission. Makes me realize how short a time we have them here at home. I remember thinking 12 years ago this age was so far down the road but when I look back now it hasn't been long enough. Nathaniel is a great kid, we love him dearly. I look forward to watching him become a man but at the same time wish he could stay my little baby :)

He got to bowling with friends for his birthday.
After, we came home for pizza and brownies.
Later that night we had a small family party with the traditional ice cream cake.


Monday, October 5, 2009

A Sad Moment

Today starts with a heavy heart. I am not writing the following to gain sympathy or pity. It's just for me to unload some emotion. I often receive comments from people who think I am so strong in the things we have to handle. Most days I smile it off because it's just life, we've been dealt our cards and we are playing them the best can :) And I know there are others who deal with alot more then we do. Most days we can forget how CF has affected our lives and feel pretty normal. Today it's a little harder.

Last night we sent our children to bed, on time for once, and then proceded to get ourselves in bed early. About 9:45 there was a knock on our door and a little girl was standing there with tears in her eyes. I was in the middle of praying and stopped for just a second to listen to what she was telling Rob, sure it was just another nighmare. But then she said something that just broke my heart and I had to change my prayer real quick asking that I be able to tell her the things she needed to hear. My poor little baby had been laying in bed thinking of all her treatments and probably her recent sinus surgery which has led to more medications and the weight of it all finally got to her. She came down to let us know it was too much. Elizabeth occassionally fights us on her treatments but for the most part she is compliant and doesn't complain. To hear her tell us that it was too much and too hard was too much for me. No six year old should have to lay in bed at night stressing over these kinds of things. We both held her tight and told her how much we loved her. We told her we thought she was so brave and so amazing. She and I cried together. I told her I also wished she didn't have to do these things, that it was hard on mom and dad too. We talked to her about why she had to do all these treatments and she knew it was to keep her healthy. We told her it was ok to be sad, that sometimes life just gets too hard and it's ok to take a moment to cry over it. Rob then turned to the scriptures to show her there were others who had felt life was too much and then read Heavenly Father's response to their prayers. I know I am not one to share my religious beliefs on here and I have my own personal reasons for that but I have to share here that I am so grateful there is a Plan. I know Heavenly Father is aware of us and my daughter. I know Elizabeth would not be nearly as healthy if it weren't for answered prayers that have been offered up by loving family and dear friends. I know He has a plan for her and will do what He can to help her along. I know she is an amazing little spirit and today is one of those days where I am truly humbled that we were chosen to be her parents. I feel so unequal to the task most days and I have to tell myself constantly what we told her last night. Heavenly Father doesn't give us anymore than we can handle. And we definitley can't do it alone, we need His help.

So for now I need to learn from Elizabeth. She had a good cry with us and was able to unload all her worries and weaknesses. Today she is running around like nothing happened, happy and cheerful :) She knows she's loved by us and Heavenly Father and for now that is enough. Takes us adults a little longer to let go of the hurt I guess :) I'll totally be fine in a few hours, just had to let myself have a sad moment.