last few days of January

On Sunday, Dode was gone for a few hours home teaching and I was here with the kids.  Right about the time I decided to start making dinner, Luke made his way downstairs for a nap.  I cuddled him in and he fell back asleep.  When Dode got home an hour later, I was still sitting with Luke in my arms.  I told him I was sorry there was no dinner made and he told me that there were many many more dinners to be made but not very many times to cuddle with my little boy.  I’m glad we were on the same page because I was fully enjoying holding my little boy.

I belong to a Facebook group called Buy Nothing.  It is a worldwide movement where you join a group where you live.  The goal of the group is to get rid of things you no longer want and to ask for things you need.  When the groups grow beyond 1,000 people, they split the group.  The Arlington group was up around 1,500 and this weekend was when the split happened.  I have enjoyed lending things out and expressed sadness to one of the administrators that I’d no longer be able to help as many people.  She checked with the regional administrators who said that if I was an administrator in my group, I could be a member in the other Arlington group for the sole purpose of lending out my things.  Each group generally has three administrators and I was coming on as the fourth one.  I was planning on being an administrator in name only.  Well, as soon as I was announced as a fourth admin, one of the other administrators said her life was really busy and she needed to quit.  I don’t think being an administrator will be too big of a deal, there are three of us approving new member requests, dealing with questions that come up and posting encouraging things on the group page.  Since I love lending stuff, my focus is the lending library.  I’ve got several posts pending about the library to invite people to use it and to add to it.

When we finally had time last fall to work on getting firewood split, we learned that a seal on the wood splitter was leaking and could no longer hold hydraulic fluid.  Dode thought we had enough dry wood to make it through the winter, and any wood we split this winter won’t be ready to burn until next year, so getting it repaired wasn’t a priority.  I wanted it fixed because I know that summer will be just as busy this year and we have wood sitting on the ground needing split both here at our house and out at my mom’s.  The repairs on the splitter were beyond something Dode and his dad could do.  Dode took the cylinder needing repaired into a shop and they wanted $250 to replace the seal.  Dode said, “No thank you” and was on his way.  I said, “But if we have to heat with electricity, the bill will be at least that much for one month.”  Dode held his ground and refused to pay the $250 for the repair.  He ended up buying a brand new cylinder off ebay for about the same price as just getting the seal replaced on the old one.  The bonus of buying a new one is we have an entirely new cylinder, not a repaired rusty pitted cylinder that would likely break down again.  In the middle of deciding what to do with the wood splitter, we had another family who was running low on wood ask if they could use the splitter.  That really lit a fire under me.  Because life can never be too easy, the new part has to be modified to work on the splitter.  Dode has it almost ready to go, it just needs some welding and it will be ready to go.  Hopefully that last task will happen this week. 

At the end of last summer, Dode was asked to be in charge of a pioneer reenactment for the youth in our local church area called Trek.  He spent many many hours researching where to go, walking and biking trails in the nearby tree farm, by himself and with both Elizabeth and William.  His responsibilities don’t just include route finding, but all the planning that goes into making the trek happen.  The couple who are in charge of training the adult leaders (youth are organized into families with a ma and pa) have been on 7 treks but some of the adults have never participated in one, as a youth or an adult.  The trainers wanted to have access to a handcart at their training to show the leaders what they’d be working with.  Dode’s grandparents have a handcart that has been sitting in their yard as a lawn ornament since a trek Dode did as a youth almost 30 years ago.  The wooden body of the handcart had been filled with dirt and used as a planter.  After 30 years of Washington weather, there wasn’t much wood left.  When Dode asked his dad if he could borrow it for the training, his dad said he wasn’t sure how much there was left to it.  A week later he called Dode over to look at something on the cart and he’d completely rebuilt the wooden body and it was ready to go. 

Wednesday was the twins 4^th birthday.  We started the day with their well child check ups at the doctor.  They both are growing fine, following their curve somewhere between the 20-25%.  We met my mom at the Children’s Museum in Everett after the doctor visit.  Once again, the twins and Finnley mostly went their separate ways.  At the end of our last visit, my mom told Leah that when we came back for her birthday, she could get a toy from the gift shop.  She’d decided then that she wanted a pink pony she saw on the shelf.  When we got done playing on their birthday, when everyone was complaining they were hungry, we visited the gift shop.  Leah remembered and pointed right to that pink horse, she didn’t even want to look around at what else was available.  Luke picked out some trains.  We had lunch at a teriyaki restaurant a block from the museum and headed home.  The twins fell asleep on the way home so I left them in the car and kept checking on them every few minutes.  I had just enough time to make their birthday cake before we had to leave again.  Well, as time got short, I wasn’t able to check on them as often.  I looked out the window to see Luke just waking up, so I went upstairs to get Elizabeth for twin help.  By the time we made it to the car, they were both awake and hysterical.  Even when they got their feelings under control, every now and then Leah would start howling again, “you left us in the car!”  I picked up Miriam and William from school and we drove over to the chiropractor.  We go once a month and adjustments are free on a birthday so I got to get the twins adjusted for free!  After the chiropractor, we went across the street to see Isaac at the insurance agency he just started working for.  It was my first time meeting his boss.  I’m sure he was glad when we left and the office was nice and peaceful again!

On Thursday, when Elizabeth and I got done at the class we attend at the YMCA, we took the twins swimming for an hour.  I was worried we’d be stuck in the pool forever since the last time we took them almost two hours wasn’t long enough.  This time, we could play in the kiddie area for 30 minutes and then it closed and we had to use the larger pool.  I think because they were submerged, they got cold and after another 30 minutes, they were ready to go home.  I felt like a good mom for taking them to do something that I really don’t enjoy.

On Friday, my mom and I went to an event in town called the Country Charm Walk.  We picked up an empty bracelet from the chamber of commerce and then we walked from business to business, picking up a bead for our bracelet at each place.  It was a nice relaxing day.  We stopped part way through to have lunch together and were gone from home for about two hours.  That night, my mom treated us to tickets to see the play Newsies in Everett.  She saw it a week before and said that in all the plays she’s seen over the years (a season ticket holder at the 5^th Avenue in Seattle for many many years), this play was one of her favorites.  After her experience, she bought four tickets so that I, Elizabeth, Miriam and Jacob could go.  Unfortunately, right before we were going to go, Jacob came down with a stomach bug.  With less than an hour’s notice, Sharon was able to go with us.  The play was really good, the music was excellent and the dancing was amazing. 

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Eagle Festival in town for the first time.  I thought they’d like it since there are many activities for kids like a petting zoo, crafts, chainsaw art, rocks and gemstone displays.  Well, it was a complete bust.  Once we told Leah she couldn’t have kettle corn, that was all we heard about.  Over and over, “I want popcorn!”  The animals were scary, they didn’t want to do crafts, the chainsaws were too noisy, they had no interest in the rocks and gemstones. 

4th week of January

The absolute highlight of my week was our family party on Saturday to celebrate the five January birthdays, Dorrel (1/3), Jacob,(1/5), Anastaya (1/26), Luke and Leah (1/31). Anastaya showed up around 2:00. Jacob got home from work around 4:00 and a few minutes later Isaac and Natalie showed up. My heart was so full to have all my children together under the same roof. I realized that I must be getting old and maybe turning into a grandma type person if that is the highlight of my week! At the end of the night, Elizabeth told me that I seemed really really happy, she was correct!

At dinner, we went around the table sharing some memories of Anastaya. I'm going to record them here.  Elizabeth talked about how gullible Anastaya is. She just doesn't have the sarcasm gene. I once bought a book called, “How to know if your cat is trying to kill you.” Anastaya asked me if the book was true and I said yes. Well, she believed me and realized that our cats were trying to kill us because they hang out on the stairs. William shared memories of tubing behind the boat with Anastaya, singing songs that required them to clap and let go of the tube handles. My mom shared a memory of the first time we went to Ocean Shores with Anastaya for spring break. Anastaya and William had only been in our home for about a week. She jumped into the hotel pool and didn't know how to paddle her arms to move around in the water. She was so determined to swim like the other kids that by the time we left three days later, she was getting herself all around that pool. Jacob: I shared about the time she spoke at her high school graduation ceremony at the Comcast Arena in front of a huge crowd. She sounded assured and confident as she co-conducted the ceremony since she was in senior class office. She'd had bunion surgery just a few days before and was using a knee scooter for the first time. As she was going down the wheelchair ramp after she was done, she picked up a lot of speed and it seemed like she took the 180 degree turn on the ramp on two wheels. The curtains behind her were moving with the wind she was creating. I thought she was just so glad to be finished. It turns out, the breaks on the knee scooter weren't hooked up right. Some people sitting next to us commented that they were sure she was going to crash and the classmates sitting around her commented on the curtains moving. Miriam also shared how fun she made tubing behind the boat. Greg shared that he remembered her learning to play the piano and how hard it was for her to do but how proud of her he is for sticking with it until piano went from a chore to a joy. Isaac shared about what a crazy skier she was, going straight down the hill without taking any turns just to beat him to the bottom, with other skiers diving out of her way as she flew down the mountain. He also shared about how many things they learned at the same time, like learning to drive, and getting their wisdom teeth out at the same time. He remembers how happy he was when they woke up from surgery, wanting to fist bump her, while she was completely grumpy and blamed everything on him.

Dode broke his second tooth in two weeks this week. Neither time was he eating something hard or crunchy, it was just time I guess. Both areas are on a molar where there is a large filling in the middle. One of the corners of two molars just broke off. The dentist told us that the insurance probably won't pay for crowns. The insurance will only pay for two "emergency" evaluations a year.  With this second tooth getting broken, he will be out of evaluations for the year.  Hopefully no more break!  I told Dode apparently he's out of warranty now that he's turned 47.  

I made my exercise goal at the YMCA this week, getting in my 12 sessions.  Each month, the Y does a promotion to inspire people to work out more.  I usually try to participate.  If you complete 12 workouts in January, you get entered to win a 3 month membership.  For me, it's not the prize that's motivating, it's just completing the challenge.  With it being January, everyone is gung ho on their exercise goals and the classes are so full and hard to get into. If you aren't standing outside 15 minutes before class, waiting for the prior class to get out, you risk not getting any equipment when it's time for your class to start. It can be so hard to be a patient mom when it takes me extra long to get from the parking lot to the child watch and then down to the line for class, knowing that with each delay I might miss my spot in class. The kids always want their coats on, zipped up to the top, hats on, then a backpack or a bag of toys they'll just set in a cubby at child watch. There is also a part of sidewalk where they always have to “practice their balance” by walking on it like a balance beam. It takes forever but I dig deep and don't get short tempered with them.

I went visiting teaching on Friday to a friend who is the same age as me. Her kids are either out of the house or in high school. As we were talking, she mentioned that she couldn't imagine being in my situation, parenting four year olds. I thought about that later. I feel like I am in the prime of life right now. While raising little people always has its minor irritations and sacrifices (like getting into a store from the parking lot in a timely manner, pooped underwear from a reluctant potty trainer, or kids swan diving onto my bed at night when I just want to go to sleep), I completely believe that in 10 years, I will look back and say, “Those were the days, we were really living”. It is such an amazing thing to watch little people learn to navigate their world. To see them learn new things you don't even remember teaching them, to get to play and re-read treasured children's books.   We've been reading Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink a lot this week.  It's about a little girl who has a lemonade stand selling pink lemonade and cupcakes.  The twins wanted their own stand so Dode built them one for inside use.

Getting two little people to look at the camera is no joke!  The cupcakes below started out with frosting and sprinkles on top but Luke ate all the tops off!

We try to read the scriptures with the kids each night.  One night this week, as the twins saw we were gathering, they each grabbed a set of scriptures and got ready.  They wanted to "read" too.

On Saturday, Brent asked us to watch his step-son Nathan (11) for the day.  I decided to make it a cousin play day so Seth (10) and Ellie (8) came over to play too.  At one point, they were all outside playing and I told Dode it sounded like an elementary school recess out there, perfection!

This week I achieved a milestone of sorts.  The twins had their 4 year old evaluation at WIC.  Children are eligible for WIC until they turn 5 so this will be their last year on the program.  I had my first WIC evaluation when I was pregnant with Jacob, almost 26 years ago.  There have been so many changes in the program over the years.  I used to have to drive to Everett every month to pick up checks.  I had to sign each one individually and I had to let them know ahead of time what store I would be using them at.  Now, checks can be given for three months at a time, I only sign a stub for each month (one signature instead of four), they used at any participating store,  and WIC has an office in Arlington.  The foods have also changed over the years, with less juice offered and the addition of being able to get fresh fruits and vegetables.  You can also now get whole wheat bread.  They just started offering yogurt in place of some of the milk.  Last year the cereal we'd been choosing with our WIC checks, Life, was no longer eligible.  After 25 years?!  We had to switch to Chex.  When I talked to Dode during our daily lunch break phone call, I told him about my milestone.  He told me it made him feel like a pretty lousy provider.  He makes a decent wage but when you divide it up among the number of people in our family, that makes us low income according to the federal government.