More international Children's Day

Tyler with his (sub) teacher Mrs. Vasquez (his teacher had a baby and is out til January)
Me and T
Matthew, Alyssa and I in front of Korea
Matthew and his teacher Mrs. Walsh
stamping the passports
Doesn't AJ look happy?

My friend Kim...she was the muscle behind our booth when Meredith left. She lives around the corner from us and Alyssa points out "Kims house" every time we drive by...which is several times a day.

Matthew's big day

It just so happened that matthew's 6th birthday fell on a Friday that the kids had off from school, a teacher work day. So we decided to have his party that afternoon at 3:30 since Michael gets off at 2. Since his bday is the day after Michael's, I had no time to recover. Just had to keep moving. I got his favorite Reese's Puffs cereal, and before daddy left for work, he opened presents from the Duke grandparents.
Bakugan and Pokemon to his delight. Just what he wanted:)
Then we set about working on party preparations. It was an olympic theme, and I baked the cakes, and we separated m&m's into their own colors. Conveniantly they are the olympic colors with the exception of orange.


My mom rolled into town around noon, so I had her take the kids for McDonalds while I worked at home (she got us Jason's Deli).
When everyone arrived back home, the kitchen was clean, the cakes were baked and in the freezing stage to easier ice them. We also cut out paper plates to make the olympic rings decor.


Michael arrived at 2:30 and got all the stuff together for the games we'd play. 3:30 friends began to arrive, and the games began....



high jump (measured by the belly button) how high you jump on the tramp

handstands
running races
all prepped for the high jump


limbo
pull the tail out
arm wrestling
Cake time


Everyone got a gold medal at the end. Missing the the blue gatorade bottles, you must notice the plates, napkins, tablecloth are olymic colors with the blue drinks.

Starting from left going clockwise: Boston J., Tyler, Nathan, Molly J., Ethan, Matthew, Carter, Cascade, AJ, Jordan (Jackson missing here)
opening presents

oh yeah, here's me. I got all sporty with my adidas pants, too.

my cute birthday boy

Michael's birthday pics

I got his favorite cereal, Golden Grahams, for breakfast. He left for work and the kids had a half day of school,so when I got them at 12:45, we headed over to his work to catch him at the tail end of his lunch break. His co-workers took him out to lunch, but he was back at 1:30 when we got there. The day before, I slaved over the petti fore treats you see above. My bakery friend, Melissa, taught me how. I told her I wanted to make something impressive for Michael's bday treat because I was going to take them to his work and I wanted his co-workers to "ooh and aaah" over them. I also decided to make a little collage for the delight of his co-workers to "get to know Michael a bit better." I displayed them next to each other so if they took a treat, they had to inspect the collage as well. They were pretty and delicious, and he came home saying everyone wanted the recipe...yay, it was a hit! He also said his boss said, "It seems as though your wife really likes you or something."
tyler took this and covered the flash a bit....but here we are at work.

Michael and his most precious gifts:)

Michael loves stir fry and I rarely make it...I looked up a really yummy recipe and threw in cashews because we love them. It was delish:) CLICK HERE for recipe. Below is my attempt at an ice cream cake (Michael's requested cake)....let it thaw...spread it, then re-froze it. It was a hit, hooray!
In the evening, he opened a present from his parents (a bag of cheetos and a new white church shirt) and I gave him a vintage tour de france t-shirt...Fun bday, #33. My grandparents also sent cards with a little spending $ and my parents slipped him some cash. He's easy to please.

Our first cold front!

It’s mid October and after 2 days of blessed pouring rain, we got the “front” we’ve been waiting for. It won’t stay, we’ll probably still be sweatin’ it out on Halloween, but oh the joy of the coolness in the air. It just excites me, invigorates me. After a midnight text from my friend Jessica saying she had to cancel our morning walk, I decided I still needed to get out. It’s been about a month because my walking partner has been out of town and I can’t seem to get out on my own. I decided to walk Alyssa to preschool, which was at my friend Jackie’s house this week. She lives in the neighborhood, and I figured it’d be a good amount of time for my rusty aching muscles to handle.

I put on a short sleeved t-shirt and a light jacket and that was perfect. Alyssa was happy to wear her new cupcake jacket. I chatted with AJ as we strolled, and saw another friend, Heidi, driving her son to his preschool in her new minivan which threw me off when the driver waved to me. I love seeing friends when I walk. It makes me feel like I live in a community, close to people who know me, even if there are hundreds of homes that I pass daily which hold people I may never meet, to know I know people here and here and there makes me happy.

Alyssa excitedly ran into her friend Carter’s house, and I decided to leave my double jogger with one mostly flat tire on her driveway. If it got stolen I’d be ok because I want a new one anyway. I untangled my ipod that hasn’t been used since my CT trip over a month ago. I was hoping the battery was charged enough. I was so excited to hear MY music, with no interruptions. As I started walking, I just got a smile on my face. Good music, good weather, nowhere to be. I took the long way home, and got to wave at another friend, Gretchen, who looked like she had just dropped of her child at preschool. I didn’t want my walk to end, so I made a few loops around the park at the end of my street. Then I went onto the greenbelt trail near my home. Then after an hour of walking and good music and thinking about a million different things, I sat on my driveway and stretched in the cool breeze.

Thinking about my sweet Matthew who for the past week or so gets emotional when we part and asks if I’ll come to lunch, or wants to be reminded about how long the school day is. Thinking about how I had to suffer through the cub scout pack meeting last night, wondering why I’m there….. and deciding I need to have a heartfelt prayer with my Father in Heaven so I can have a better attitude about the situation. Luckily the crazy cubmaster could tell I was “having a hard time” and kept cracking jokes trying to pull me out of the stick in the mud persona I had all over my face.

Thinking about my delightful lunch with my daughter yesterday at one of my favorites, Jason’s Deli. I had a coupon for a free kids meal, and they have ice cream free for everyone. For probably 14 years, it’s been a favorite sandwich stop for me. My mom used to get me the California Club before football games in high school. Now, I think I’ve only been once or twice and DIDN’T get the C.C. I just can’t get anything else, I love that crescent roll sandwich too much.

Thoughts turned to the loads of people who are coming to visit us in 2 weeks…trying to figure out how to get the stench out of the kids bathroom…I keep cleaning it, but I’m just not getting something. Why does it stink?! I mean, my grandmothers are coming, they need to not have that stench. Reminding myself I need to call Brooke, my hair girl…I need a cut, bad! I need to take Alyssa, too because she’s getting “crazy hair” as I call it. Yes, I take my daughter to get her hair cut at my girl because she only charges $10 and it has to be done carefully…she’s got that natural perfect layer that just needs a good trim. All the boys get their cuts at home. Girls need just a little more. Then I think about how I have to figure out how to get the list of things I have to bring to the school this afternoon to set up our Singapore booth for International Children’s Day tomorrow. It’s in an email, but my INTERNET IS DOWN! Luckily a nice man at ATT helped me get it back on again.

Thinking about when my sis in law Alayna called me last night, reprimanding me for directing her to the “Nie Nie dialogues” (and getting sucked in). The story of their tragedy being turned into something which for me has inspired me to be better, but to her, she feels bad about the things she’s not doing. Why is that? The same thing enlightens one, while discourages another? I’ve had this conversation with other blogging friends, comparing their lives to others and feeling less about themselves, thinking everyone else only has roses because that’s what they post about. Other thoughts turned to wanting to plan a trip with the chosen few (a private group blog I participate in) but how? Where? When? Oh the idea just excites me.

Then the music that I listen to, I think of my drill team peeps out there…do you do the same thing when you hear music with a beat, you just gotta wave your arms in some fashion? As I was speed walking, it reminded me of marching in parades in high school where we only did arm movements to the beat of the band. I did a few times….I think about myself how I’ve had some emotional struggles in the past year, and how pleased I am with how I’ve conducted myself…that I’m on the downside of the hill and I can look back and feel good about overcoming an obstacle.

I think about my choice of music…how I wish that my husband and I liked some of the same kinds of music, but really…we don’t. A handful of 80’s bands, we both like…I mean who doesn’t like Chicago and Air Supply? I like hip hop, pop, dance music, and yesterday as I drove to that dreaded pack meeting, I turned the radio on, hoping that in my 4 minute drive to the church, there would be ONE good song on to help me be happy. My presets were gone after a recent battery change, so I scanned and it landed on a good ole’ country song that I LOVED in high school. I don’t listen to a lot of country now, but I did back then. “Love a little stronger, Dig a little deeper.” Oh yes, it made me happy.

I like blogging…for reasons to type out the insignificant details that all add up to a lifetime of significance. I have always been an avid journal writer/family history keeper. Through my writing and photography, I hope that generations after me will care about these things. I know I do. I know I wish my mom kept a journal, so I could read her thoughts on the highs and lows of her life. I think the randomness in our lives rarely get recorded, and for this reason I type out the random thoughts of my morning. These are the things that I want to remember as well. I enjoyed the morning with just myself. Feeling good about my life right now, and remembering good memories and good people that surround me.

*I'm back logged on pictures posts, so I will be purging soon.

random pics while stalling on the birthday posts

This was a few weeks ago after the General RS Conference. I was so excited to eat chips and queso at Chuys. I ate too much that night. L to R: Liz, Me, Amber, Natalie, Emily (and baby katelyn)

I just found these...they were taken in August at a wedding I photographed. I love my kids faces...such happiness.






Lastly, I have a friend moving to Singapore tomorrow. She isn't a best friend, but a dear friend from the kids elementary school. We met 2 years ago when we were both brought together by a common friend to run a relay Marathon. She saw me at school a month later (when neither one of us new anyone) and remembered me. It was weird that I didn't notice her because I never forget a face. Our oldest kids started kindergarden together and we'd commisserate on what exactly was going on at the school. She got heavily involved in PTA and is greatly loved at the school. She wrangled me in to help her with a 5K fundraiser next month, and now she's left for a handful of us to run it without her. I'll miss her, and her boys are just the cutest and my boys love them, too. She is a no fuss kinda gal, and I love that about her.

huddled looking at Tyler's Bakugan

They'll be back in 2 years, I've hopefully convinced her to start a blog so I can "see" Singapore!

Matthew Austin is 6

I love a child's excitement for his birthday. He has been counting down the days. My second child, my second son, the middle child, my Matthew "machu pichu" "cha-chi" "moo cha chi" Duke. My tender hearted, tough guy. Seems like the two sentiments don't go together, but with him, thats how it is. Sensitive to others, loves babies, loves his mamma, blows me kisses as he leaves for school....yet has a high tolerance for pain, likes a good brawl, competative, athletic.

His was the most exciting birth. 3 weeks early after we had just moved to a new city. A short labor, he was born 20 minutes after we arrived at the hospital...au naturalle. He was READY for this world! I pulled out Matthew's birth story for anyone who wants to read it, go here. I adore my sweet boy. I love his unique birth mark that discolors his hair, his smooth milk, tan skin, his ultra blond hair after the summer rays hit, his adventurous spirit, and his delight in life. He also is very inquisitive when it comes to spiritual things and asks questions that his older brother may only think about. Then he thinks about it...stares into space and really thinks about the answers we give him, and sometimes will ask some more, while others, he'll be satisfied enough to skip off and play. He offers the most tender hearted prayers, without reminders, in behalf of those whom he has heard are suffering one way or another. He has genuine concern for others and that pleases my heart.

Birth

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6 (almost)