Mission: Make Uniform Shoes Last

Last week was Spring Break for my kids. It was such a fun, carefree week. Here's a couple of things we did:

We took the kids to see the Manti Temple, where we were married almost 8 years ago!

We had a cousin sleepover. Uriah's face says it all!

While some parents may dread days off of school, I usually enjoy them. Last week I didn't have to drag children out of bed in the morning. I didn't have to shuttle kids to and home from school three to four times a day. I didn't have to wake Uriah up from his nap to pick up RJ from school (just to give you an idea of how grumpy Uriah is when he is awakened and then put in the car, imagine yourself trying to buckle a raccoon into a car seat).

Of course, the noise volume was higher last week, going anywhere had more whining (I usually run my errands while 2 kids are at school), and there were a few "I'm bored" declarations. But, overall, I enjoyed the break from school. I am so ready for summer.

Over spring break I went through the kids' clothes to see what didn't fit anymore. I was looking at their shoes and I noticed how beat up RJ's school shoes look. RJ's school has a dress code, so he has to have a particular color and style of shoe. The toes are very worn and I have already had to color them in with a black marker. One of the shoes is also bent in the back because RJ doesn't always make sure his heel is firmly in the bottom of the shoe before he's off and running. 

It may seem like buying a new pair of shoes is no big deal. Maybe they are only $10 at Payless. Maybe I could get them during a buy one, get one 1/2 off deal. But can one put a price on dignity? Isn't there some value in enduring to the end?! For some reason I must make these shoes last. I tell myself, "There's not that many days left of school! If I buy new shoes, they won't fit him after the summer and then I'll just have to buy more for the next school year!"

That's when it hit me: I am like this worn out pair of shoes! I am so done with monitoring homework, driving to and from schools, planning school parties (as RJ's room parent), and all that jazz. I need a break and next year I promise I will take it a little more easy. If this pair of beat up black shoes can make it...so can I! Mission: Make Uniform Shoes Last is in effect!

Now don't get me wrong, it has been a great school year. I've had fun being so involved. RJ has really learned a lot. He is a great speller, reads at a 4th grade level, and seems to pick up math concepts easily. And Graham has learned a lot at preschool. He has studied the letters, worked on his temper (he can get a little frustrated when things don't go his way), and made new friends. It's not really about school, it's just nice to not have a schedule sometimes.

RJ and I at the 1st grade Valentine's Dance. I love his huge smile, because we really did have a blast!

So, there are now only 31 days of school left. Several of these days will be free dress days where RJ can wear non-uniform shoes. Armed with a Sharpie (and Dr. Pepper), we will see if these shoes (and I) can last.

Because I have big plans for the summer...

Rye Guy Birthday

This little guy had a birthday!

 

Yes folks, Uriah is 2 years old now. That means he can officially start the terrible twos. Of course, he’s so advanced that he started the terrible two phase 9 months ago.

Usually we don’t open presents until after dinner, but RJ had a soccer practice and we were going to the mall later, so we did it in the morning. It was actually more fun this way because he got to play with his presents all day on his birthday. Usually we open presents and then it’s time for bed, so the kids don’t get a lot of time to play with them.

 

 

 

My favorite birthday present for Uriah! I finally finished it, so I can check that one off of the New Year's Resolutions!

 

Instead of overscheduling the day, I decided to just stay home all morning and play. We hit balloons to each other, read books, and“built” things with toy tools. Uriah also took a bath (which he loves) and vacuumed as much as he wanted to (which he LOVES)!

Working hard with his new tool set.

 

 

Look at his face! This kid sure loves vacuums!

 

We played at the park during RJ’s soccer practice, ate Uriah’s favorite food, chicken and fries (which he pronounces as one word) at Chick-fil-a, then played at the mall play place.

It was a fun, relaxing day and I certainly enjoyed every minute.

Happy Birthday Rye Guy!

Uriah enjoys shutting himself in rooms. Back in October he had a traumatic door-related event. At the time he was only 18 months old, and could not open the door to let himself out. Well, on this particular Saturday while I was at a church activity, he went into our small laundry room and shut the door. Everything would have been fine if he had not then opened the drawer that is located inside the laundry room adjacent to the door. Once this drawer is open, you cannot open the door from the outside of the room. I took a picture from inside the laundry room to show what it looks like with the drawer open.

Uriah soon started crying because he wanted to come out. Rubin went to open the door and quickly saw the severity of the situation. He started calling to Uriah through the door, telling him to close the drawer.  Uriah would not close the drawer. He just cried and cried but did not see the simple solution!

When I got home from my activity, Uriah had been trapped for nearly one hour. Once he heard my voice, he started crying harder. It broke my heart! I put my fingers under the door and touched his fingers briefly. But when Uriah realized I was not rescuing him, he retreated to the far end of the laundry room and resumed crying. It was hard for me because I wanted at least to be able to touch him and give him some comfort, but he wouldn't come near me.

Rubin was doing everything he could to get Uriah out. Unfortunately the screws on the doorknob were on the same side as Uriah, so Rubin couldn't remove the doorknob. The hinges were inside the laudry room, so removing those pins was impossible. My husband was desperately pushing against the open drawer with a hanger that he snaked through the tiny crack in the slightly ajar door, but as he pushed the drawer closed, it simlutaneously closed the door. Finally Rubin got the idea to borrow a golf club from the neighbors. He slid the handle under the door, while holding onto the foot of the club (sorry to all the golfers out there if I am using the wrong golf club terminology!) and used the handle to hit the drawer. It took a long time to finally get the drawer all the way closed so we could open the door. But it worked and Uriah was saved!

Later I thought about the spiritual parallels of this experience. Sometimes we wonder why Heavenly Father does not just take our problems away and rescue us from difficult situations. We fail to see that we either created those situations, or that there are things we could do to ease our burdens, like closing a drawer. Also, God is always there to give us comfort during our trials. We should not withdraw from Him just because our trial is not being taken away. He is there to help us, if we will let Him.  And while it might not always be apparent, He is always helping us. More than we could ever know.

Anyway, I thought I should document this story before I forgot the details. It was funny because for weeks afterward Uriah was terrified of going into the laundry room! Lesson learned.

New Year's Resolutions

I know, it's been a long time. I almost gave up on this blog. But then I had a couple of people recently tell me they missed reading it (my mom may or may not have been one of those people). So here we go.

I made some New Year's resolutions in January. Here are several of them:

1. Run a 5K
2. Exercise more
3. Read less
4. Learn to crochet
5. Write in the blog
6. Finish 4 quilting projects
7. Go to the temple every month
8. Read the Book of Mormon as a family

Luckily I am ridiculously awesome at making and keeping goals. Here's how I'm doing so far:

1. Running a 5K in the winter is just crazy. I'll wait until spring ... or summer ... or possibly the fall.

2. I exercised every day for 2 whole weeks in January. I think we can all agree that's nothing to sneer at. And it's more than I exercised all last year. Check!

3. This one might sound a little strange, but I was definitely reading too much in 2012. I read 44 books, which, let's be honest, is pretty great. But I found I was getting a little too consumed by it. I would read rather than clean, play with the kids, interact with my husband, make dinner, etc. Also, I hardly quilted at all last year. I think I finished only one quilt! ONE! *gasp* It was ridiculous. The amount of reading has to be reined in so I can actually get things done! I have already let several books expire that I had on hold at the library (it hurt a little).

4. I learned to crochet last month, though I'm painfully slow at it.

This will eventually be a small crocheted quilt.

5. So I was a little less on top of this resolution, but I just renewed it today. That's right, I can renew resolutions at the end of February.

6. I am almost done with a quilt I started in the middle of January. It's a truck/tractor quilt (from a Buggy Barn book) for Uriah's 2nd birthday (which is in a month!). I love this quilt! Two years ago I made one each for RJ and Graham. Luckily I bought extra fabric when I made theirs so I was able to have Uriah's look the same. I'm excited to see it finished! Here's one of the quilt blocks. I will post a picture of the finished quilt soon.

7. As far as the temple, we made it in January and we are scheduled to go Thursday (so what if Thursday is the last day of February, it still counts!)

8. Finally, as a family we are in the middle of 2 Nephi. Right on track!

I think 2013 is going to be a great year! (Rubin is going to point out to me that 2013 is 1/6 of the way over already, but I don't care!)

Over-helpful Husband

I have an awesome husband. Rubin is always willing to watch the kids so I can go out with friends or get my hair done. He's really very helpful. Sometimes too helpful.

My mother-in-law gave me a copy of her house key in case I ever need it. For weeks this key sat on my dresser because it looked too much like one of my other keys. I was planning on distinguishing it with fingernail polish or something like that, but never got around to it.

One day Rubin borrowed my keys. When he returned from work that day, he handed my keys to me with a big smile on his face. Here's how they looked:

Did Rubin label only the two keys that looked similar? Nope. He decided to label all the keys on my ring. I was slightly annoyed and asked if he labeled his own keys. "No," he said, "I'm not confused by my keys."

Now every time I use my keys I feel like a dunce because I apparently need to have my keys labeled to know which one to use! Oh well, I am happy to have a helpful, or in this case, over-helpful husband.