We Love Bobby Bev!

My aunt Bev came to visit us this week! She drove up from Long Beach to spend a couple days with us. Aunt Bev is like another Grandma to my kids. We've always been close, but got even more so during our years at USU. She lived in Logan and Jason and I depended on her so much and spent a lot of time at her house. We love her so much! Lucy calls her "Bobby Bev" or Grandma and it makes me happy to hear it. She came in on Tuesday afternoon and stayed until Thursday morning. We had a great time watching the final week of American Idol (we both felt conflicted about which David we like more). She and I got to visit a lot and talk about life. She has been someone that I can really talk to about struggles I have in life. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives.

Lucy and Bobby Bev did some serious game playing during her stay. Go Fish, Crazy Eights, and the Dora Matching Game. She was also very impressed with Graham's jabber abilities. His chatter mode has gone up a few notches in the last week or so.We were, of course, sad to see her go. Lucy could not understand why she was only staying 2 sleeps. We'll be going down to see her later this summer. We can't wait to see her two new twin grand babies, Mia and Sadie.

Stroller Struggles

Usually I get up in the morning and workout before Jason goes to work. But every once in a while he has to be to work early or I'm too lazy to get up, so I resort to pushing the kids in the jogging stroller. Today was one of those days. Keep in mind that Lucy is almost 5 and weighs about 38 pounds. Graham is no small toddler. He ways almost 30 pounds.

On to my struggle. As I've mentioned before, I have a really hard time jogging without listening to music, so I had my Ipod shuffle going and we started on our run. It seems that Lucy saves all of her deep questions for these wonderful jogs. I hear some mumbling coming from in front so I pause the music and say, "What, Lucy?" "Mom, what are those tall poles with the wires for?" I explain how they give power to the houses so we can have lights, telephones, etc. I unpause the tunes and keep going. Not even 15 seconds later I hear the mumbling again. Pause music. "What, Lucy?" "So we can have TV, too, right Mom?" "Yes." Unpause music. About 1 minute later I hear the mumbling again. Pause music. "Lucy you have to speak louder!" "MOM! DO YOU THINK THAT SPRINKLER IS BROKEN?" "Looks like it." Unpause music. (Keep in mind that all the while I am jogging while pushing almost 70 pounds in our massive stroller.) A few minutes later I hear her talking again (no longer a low mumble because I've asked her to speak up). Pause music. "Mom.........at Christmas time.............when there is snow...........is the sun in the sky?" "Yes, the sun is still out." "No it's not. It would melt the snow." I then try to explain as quickly as I can how the sun is further away during winter, but it's still shining, etc. I then say, "Lucy, it's hard for me to talk when I'm jogging, so could you save your questions until we get home?" It stays quiet for a little bit and then she says, "Well, if it's hard for you to talk, why do you keep saying good morning to everybody that you see?" The remainder of the jog went the same way. With only about 1/2 mile to go I'm sure people in their homes could hear me screaming, "LUCY, GET OUT OF HIS FACE! GRAHAM, STOP PULLING HER HAIR!" Good times.

Can anyone relate?

Please don't go!

My brother, Blaine, and his family came to visit us this past weekend! We've been so excited to see them and were thrilled that they were willing to make the 12 hour drive out to the happenin' town of Lemoore. They came in on Wednesday evening and stayed until Sunday. The visit was WAY too short for my liking, but beggars can't be choosers. Graham and their son, George, are only 3 weeks apart, so it was fun seeing how them interact.

We had a great time. On Thursday we went to Kmart and bought a little water-pool-sprinkler thing for the kids to play in. (It got up to 103 degrees here!) The little ones were entertained for quite some time. George showed no fear and played forever. Blaine made us some wonderful bruschetta for lunch. That night we went to the big Farmer's Market that Hanford has every Thursday night. We rode on the carousel and then chowed on some kettle corn, snow cones, and glazed almonds. Soooo good! We then raced home to get the kids in bed in time to watch The Office. (Hilarious, by the way!)Friday morning, Blaine, Jason, and I ran a 10K that the base was having. Torturous! It was nearly 95 degrees already when they started the race at 8:30. WAY TOO HOT! We went home and played outside some more and then got packed up to go the coast.We stayed in a little cabin at Avila Hot Springs near Pismo Beach. Some friends from our ward here in Lemoore were camping there, too, so we had S'mores with them and breakfast the next morning. We had a fabulous time at the beach the next day! Graham and George had a rough start, but after just a little while, they were having fun playing in the sand and water. Lucy was in heaven! Lots of her ward friends were there to play. We played ultimate frisbee and did a little swimming. We wore the kids out. As soon as we got in the car the kids were asleep.That night we got the kids in bed and then ate pizza and watched The Invasion (very intense movie....I liked it). Blaine and Lindsay made us some Tres Leches cake (I think that's what it's called). Very good!

Sunday morning was a sad one. I woke up with a knot in my stomach and tried to keep from crying. We were so sad to see them go. Lucy and I cried for a little bit after they drove away. She kept saying, "Some people get to live by their aunts, uncles, and grandmas!" I told her it was okay to be sad and it would be okay. She went to her room, closed the door, and cried, "I want Blaine and Lindsay and George to come BAAAACK!" I wanted to join her in her grief, but had to finish getting sharing time together (I had forgotten it was my turn....oops).

We just loved having them all here. Here are some highlights from their visit:

-George's dancing. That kid dances anytime he hears anything even resembling music. Blaine and Lindsay have even made him his own mix CD that he dances to. Graham picked up some of his moves while they rocked together.

-Lucy's Kmart tantrum. She couldn't understand why I wouldn't buy the big pool with two slides. Apparently she thinks I have money to burn because it grows on trees.

-Singing, "Do the Tiger" all weekend. George loves The Wiggles and will do all the animal sounds to the songs. The song gets stuck in your head very easily.

-Jason's frustrated McDonald's Drive thru moment. We were all whispering because the kids were asleep. Imagine Jason and I arguing with loud whispers.

-Lindsay and I trying to order snow cones and are sandals sticking so hard to the nasty ground.

I loved it when we were hanging out in the evenings laughing and joking around. Blaine and Lindsay are two of my favorite people. We're so glad you came, but we were so sad to see you go! We'll see you in a few weeks!

Mom to the Rescue

My mother's day had a rough start. Jason had his church meetings this morning like always and Lucy was in rare form. She had decided she wanted to wear her Christmas outfit that comes with a cardigan with a furry collar and snowflakes all over it. Usually I choose not to have the apparel fight with Lucy and I let her wear whatever, but I did not want her to wear this festive outfit in the middle of May. I told her she could wear the skirt with a shirt, but no sweater. Needless to say, a battle was waged then and there. Lucy cried and cried and screamed and cried some more. Even though she did most of this crying in her room ("I want DADDY!", "Mom is SO MEAN!"), for some reason it was getting on my nerves so badly that I had to call my mother to have her stop me from going into Lucy's room and giving her something to really cry about.

My mom, true to character, calmed me down and helped me to laugh at the situation a little bit. I hung up with her and she called back and I let Lucy answer the phone to talk to Grandma. Mom made small talk for a bit and then asked if Lucy was wearing the Easter dress that Grandma sent her for this special mother's day. Lucy could not be convinced to wear anything other than the Christmas outfit, but Mom said something about how she hoped she wasn't wearing the sweater because it's just too hot. The idea worked and Lucy's mood changed as soon as she remembered that she had a mother's day gift for me that she made at preschool.

Thanks for the help, Mom!

Lucy's gift was a cute little box that she had painted with a darling little poem inside. It was the sweetest thing to see how excited she was to give it to me and how proud she was of her work. I had to laugh at how quickly and drastically her mood can change in a matter of seconds! (I wonder where she gets that from?)

On the way to church, Lucy was practicing the songs that the primary was going to sing in sacrament meeting. It made my morning so much brighter to hear her sing, "I often go walking in meadows of Grover" all the way to church.

During the talks and the primary music given during our meeting, I got a little bit emotional because I miss my Mom. I'm so grateful for all she has taught me and for the wonderful person that she is. I'm so blessed to have her as my mother.

I also miss Jason's mom. She passed away while I was pregnant with Lucy. I didn't have a chance to have a real close relationship with her, but I knew how much she loved Jason. I just know how proud she must be of Jason and the husband and father he has become.

Wow, that got kinda lengthy, but oh well. I hope you all had a great mother's day. I'm off to enjoy the dinner and brownies that Jason made for me while I took a long nap. What a guy!

New Do

Grahammer Boy got another haircut yesterday. Here's the before and after shots. He is looking so grown up! I had them cut it really short because it's getting pretty hot around here. I think he looks pretty stylin'. This kid is hilarious! His new thing is to walk backwards and say, "Bye!" or "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" (I'm not sure I'm spelling that right.) He gives me a kiss anytime I ask for it. He drops everything and walks over. Every once in a while he gives me a "No". No is his answer for everything right now. Even if he means yes. "Graham, do you want ice cream?" "No." "Do you love Daddy?" "No." "Can you say no?" "No."

This kid rarely walks. He runs everywhere he goes. He still jabbers and jabbers all the time. He probably knows about 20 signs and he's actually using them. We still can't understand 90 percent of what he's saying, but we sure love to hear how he puts little fluctuations in his voice so it sounds like he's having a real conversation. We love you, Graham!

Summer is Coming!

It's almost here! We've been having 85 degree weather here in Lemoore and we're lovin' it! When the sprinklers came on in the yard yesterday, I was finally able to let Graham run free and get as wet as he wanted (usually I have to chase him down before he gets to the water). We'll enjoy the bearable weather while it lasts. Come July when it's 110 degrees, we'll be hiding out in our air conditioned house!

What I've Been Reading

This month for my ward's book club, I've been reading The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. After hearing the title and a little bit about what the book was about, I thought to myself, "Oh great. That's all I need......a book to make me feel guilty about how I'm doing as a wife." But, I decided to at least start reading it and give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't quite finished it yet, but I have been very intrigued by the points that Dr. Laura makes. As many of you may know, she is famous for her frankness and ability to stick it to her viewers plain and simple. She doesn't beat around the bush or patronize. I have had more than a few "light bulb" moments that got me thinking and made me realize some things I need to change.

Here's a quote from the book that I thought was all too true:

A husband's inability to read his wife's mind, judge her every mood, and be responsive to her every desire does not mean he doesn't love her or that he's an insensitive boob. It more likely means that he's just a normal guy. Men generally feel in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" position. That means that if they don't say what's on their minds, they're condemned, and when they do say what's on their minds, they're condemned for "not saying the right thing".

I would definitely recommend this book to everybody. I've already noticed some changes for the better in our marriage just by making little changes in how I communicate my feelings and show my appreciation for all Jason does for us.