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.
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