Growing Up

Most of the time, it seems like our kids grow up quite gradually. Other times, I am left almost speechless.

Here is a cute picture of Deedle and Loumy starting preschool this year. Notice how Loumy insists on wearing his backpack "Diego " style? It wasn't much of a shock to my system because they both attended preschool together last year, as well. Other things have been quite a bit more shocking. As we sat at the dinner table and listened to String Cheese tell us about her assembly at school, what she had for lunch, the new method she is learning to use for math, her friends, etc. etc., Chancho and I both had the same overwhelming feeling hit us at the same time--this girl had suddenly grown up with out us noticing (or consenting)!

Then there is Deedle and her new fascination with sewing. We were over at my Mom's house the other day and she was helping the little ones make bean bags. I thought, "my kids are too little to try any type of sewing. They will just puncture their fingers and cry." But, no, they did great. And when we came home, Deedle wanted more. I wrote her name and the year on a little piece of fabric with a pencil and she embroidered it. And she loved it! This video might look boring but it was really fascinating for me to just sit and watch her. I kept thinking, "What is my baby doing with a needle and thread? How can she do that?" It makes me wonder how many other "big kid" things my little ones are probably perfectly capable of doing. I don't know that I am eager to find out. One can only take so much change at once!

A Day on the Town

Last Saturday we took our kids on an outing. We first drove to the train station and boarded the very same train that Chancho commutes to work on. The kids thought the train was awesome. Well, sometimes. Loumy said, "It wasn't really fun, just a little fun." Our area only began running a commuter train a few months ago and it is still a work in progress. Soon it is supposed to expand and go out to the airport as well as further south. So, it is quite the novelty to ride a train around here and there were tons of families riding it just for fun. I am grateful that Chancho rides the train to work for several reasons: 1. it is much safer, 2. it takes the same amount of time but since the train has Wi-Fi, he can actually start working the minute he gets on the train, so he gets to come home a little earlier than usual, and 3. he is not nearly as stressed when he gets home as when he used to have to often wait in traffic for 2 hours.
Here we are waiting for the train:Now we are all on the train:
Deedle Deedle Deedle:
Have I ever mentioned that Chancho doesn't like getting his picture taken? But he's so handsome, I had to let String Cheese snap some, even if he only made crazy faces (ever wonder where my girls got their beautiful blue eyes?):
Me with Loumy making his "el tigre" model face (Zoolander). And I have on my new wig that my friend Sarah cut for me.We rode for about an hour, then got off and took Trax, which SC insisted on calling, "the trolley" to the Gateway Mall. We went to the Children's Discovery Museum. It wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be, but it had a lot of fun, interactive stuff and the kids enjoyed it. Deedle loved the area that was full of balls and tunnels that you could send them through. String Cheese's favorite part was when she got to go into a sound booth and pretend she was a radio DJ. Loumy's favorite part was eating at McDonalds.


Loumy the mad scientist:
String Cheese thought the Life Flight helicopter was super cool. Loumy was supposed to be her injured patient but he just kept exploring instead of lying still on his stretcher:We ate and I thought our day would be through, but Chancho wanted to go see the Church History Museum and watch the movie, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (which shows for free in the JS Memorial Building every 1.5 hours). I didn't think the kids would make it, but they did really, really well. We didn't end up getting home until 10:30 or so, but I was really glad to be able to spend the day together doing some memorable things. Kind of a last she-bang before school started.

Chancho and I agreed that our favorite part was watching the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie at the JS Memorial Building. It was a fantastic movie, very spiritual and the whole building is so beautiful, it creates a wonderful mood. String Cheese was in love with the beautiful bathroom and kept gushing, "look at these classy chairs! did you see those classy lamps?"

A couple of cool things that Loumy said that day:

* In the morning I asked, "Loumy, why aren't you wearing any pants?"
L: Because I took them off.

* Some guy at a Museum that we were talking to says to Loumy: You're 3? That's awesome! When do you turn 4?
Loumy: On my birthday.

* Loumy comes up to me crying with a very pinched looking finger.
Me: What happened?
Loumy (wailing): I bit my finger really hard.
Me: Ouch! ( I look at it and give him a hug) That looks like it hurts! How did you bite your own finger?
Loumy: With my teeth.

Gone Baby Gone...

...your love is gone. Gone baby gone, your love is gone away...gone away... (a prize for whomever names the artist first)Today my sweet little love, String Cheese (although I'm thinking I might need to change her name to something prettier--any suggestions?) started first grade. Although the first few days are "short days", she is still gone from 8am to 1:30 these first few days, then won't be home until 3:30 on regular days! I am sure I will get used to it. Many things were easier today with her away at school. I was forced to get up early and walk SC to the bus, so then I took Deedle and Loumy to the gym with me. Then they played very nicely together while I mowed the lawn. Two kids are easier than three, that is for sure. But I felt very emotional and raw all day. I don't like giving up my grip on these little ones!
"Okay Mom, seriously! Stop taking pictures now! I'm starting to get embarrassed!"

Journaling/Blurb Review

I have been blogging for about six months now and have been reflecting on why I do it. There are a lot of reasons. It has been fun to catch up with family and friends, as well as make some new friends. I am not a fantastic writer, but I do enjoy it. I like taking photos and using them to help chronicle events. I enjoy connecting to other blogs and laughing and crying with others. But when I start to feel overwhelmed with it all, I fall back on the main reason why I started a blog: it is an enjoyable way for me to keep a journal and I believe that keeping a journal is an important thing to do.

My father is a wonderful writer and has published more than a score of books, ranging from religiously doctrinal, to family humor, to a wonderful biographical account of a WWII Kamikaze Pilot. My mother is also a very good writer, and if not dedicated to publishing, she certainly is a great believer in record keeping. Both of my parents have instilled in me an importance of writing for expression and, more importantly, to keep a record. Journaling has been urged in my family for many reasons, not the least of which is because we have constantly been counseled by our church leaders to do so. I would like to share a couple of reason why I believe that journaling is important.

Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of my church, felt very strongly that keeping a journal was something that everybody should do. One thing he said, which I thought was put very beautifully, in a meeting was: “While walking in a rapid stream we cannot tread twice in the same water. Neither can we spend twice the same time. When we pass out of that door, the work of this meeting will be closed to us forever. We shall never spend the time of this evening again. Then should we not keep a record of our work, teachings, and counsel which we give in this meeting? We should.” I like the analogy of our lives being like walking through a rapid stream and that we can never experience the same moment twice.

President Kimball, also reminded us that since Old Testament times, the Lord has always commanded us to be a record keeping people. He said, “Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives”.

Another leader, Elder L. Edward Brown said, “There is something about journal writing that causes us to meditate, to recommit, and to receive spiritual impressions in the process of such pondering. Frequently, you will have cause to rejoice at how the Lord has been sensitively involved in guiding and watching over you and those you love and care about”.

I have found these things to be true since I began blogging. When I write about my family and the things we are going through, the blessings of my life are brought to light. I have found that I have more confidence in myself and I feel more peace. Of course, the majority of my blog posts are not spiritual in nature, simply the comings and goings of day-to-day life. But that is what a journal is.Today I received my first Blog Book (aka my Journal) in the mail! I must tell you, I was much happier and more excited than I ever imagined I could be! I used blurb.com to do it. I was completely satisfied with the results and am so excited to think of having these books saved for my children to read in the future, as well as for me to reflect back on this period of my life. Many of you have asked about the book being finished and how it turned out. A couple of things that I would suggest:
1. Start your book ASAP. Although downloading the BookSmart program and importing your blog is very easy and is outlined step-by-step, it probably won't look just how you want it immediately. It takes a lot of time, so don't wait! You can keep adding to it.
2. Don't publish your book until you have at least 100 pages. The bigger your book, the more money you will save. What I mean is that three different 50-page books is MUCH more expensive than one 150-page book.
3. Take advantage of printing your photos in the book. There is no price difference between a full-page photo and a b&w typed page. I added some extra photos to my book (you can import any photos you want) and had a fun time using different lay outs to go with each post.

Well, that is all I can think of for now. Let me know if you have questions. I'm sure there is even a lot more cool stuff that you can do to your book than what I did. You can probably import your own backgrounds. I don't know. But they have a lot to choose from and I had a fun time choosing the right background for each post. So, get to it! And if you have already published a blog book and have found some place that you like better than blurb, please let me know! And sorry these photos are blurry but at least they give you an idea of some of the things you can do:

Olympic Night Jumping

When I was young, the Poll family had a trampoline. They lived through the backyard and down the street. It was rectangular and the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. When I was invited over, I would look out the window longingly and finally would get up my nerve to ask if I could jump on it. If I was invited specifically to jump, all the better. Trampolines were not so common 25 years ago. In fact, I think that was the only trampoline in the neighborhood. I could jump on that thing for hours. I loved it and wanted my own trampoline so badly! I loved it in the summer when we'd put on our swimsuits and put a sprinkler on under the mat.

Of course I also loved it when I decided to jump off the deck onto the trampoline and when my feet hit, my knees slammed into my chest, causing large cracking sounds and an impossibility of breathing for several minutes. I also loved it when I sprained my right ankle so badly that I have forevermore walked with a cracking sound (yeah, Kelly, that's where it came from. You better leave a comment). This trampoline never broke down or had problems. And, here is the amazing part. Now the trampoline was moved from the Polls house to their grandma's (who lives right next to my parents) and my OWN children jump on that very same trampoline every chance they get!

With this experience in mind, I bought my first trampoline for my children. I bought it from somebody on Craig's List. I picked it up in the dark and paid $75 for it. Not bad, I thought. Turns out that this trampoline, although only a couple of years old, was the king of suck. It had these fabric type springs that I'd never heard of. No worry, I told myself, trampolines last hundreds of years. I guess not. My kids enjoyed it enough (as you have witnessed from past posts) but, a couple of months ago one of the springs ripped off. Within 24 hours, 10 more had broken off and the trampoline was deemed a safety hazard (not the kind where you crack your ribs or your ankles, rather the kind that look like they are condemned). The kids were so sad as I tore the tramp apart and took it off to the dump (although the trip to the dump with Chancho was a joy for them, naturally).
Here are a couple of photos of my little superheroes enjoying their trampoline during its brief time with us.Since that time I have realized how naive I was regarding trampolines. Obviously Charlie Poll had some sort of magical powers infused into his trampoline because it stands today. Yet I am finding out that many of these things fall apart in just a couple of years. What the heck?

Chancho was fine with us not having a trampoline. He doesn't like how it looks in the yard and he says it is hard to move around when we have to mow the lawn but by we, we mean "me" and I don't mind moving it when I mow the lawn. The kids have been spending far less time outdoors because they have no trampoline to play Nickelodeon Cruise Ship on. Oh, and also our swingset with the cool fort and slide and stuff is basically broken to pieces now, too, in only 3 years. I haven't completely condemned it yet, but its getting close. So, anywho, I broke down and bought a new trampoline and I am please blessing (Jamie) that it will live as long as my kids want to jump on it. Chancho help me set it up when he got home from work and it was dark by the time we finished, but of course the kids needed to try out all of their new Olympic moves on it.
Speaking of Olympics, aren't they cool? Loumy got a cute little medal in church on Sunday that says, "I can say I'm sorry." I told him how cool that was and how I was proud of him because he is very good at apologizing. I told him it looks like an Olympic gold medal. He suddenly got a gleam in his eye. He wore it the rest of the day, but he stopped telling people he got it at church and started telling them he got it at the, "Olymps-SIX". Watch for the "Haitian Sensation" in 2020!
Thanks to those of you worried about my mental health. Sorry for scaring you. I am actually fine. Just a couple of lame days, you know. But it's fine now. Thanks for your concern!

Things That Make Me Mad or Scared

1. Not posting for 10 days and thinking that I will never again feel the desire to blog.
2. People in the condo directly behind my house selling meth.
3. Cops knowing that people are selling drugs behind my house and not doing anything about it.
4. Feeling depressed for two days and wondering if the Black Dog is coming back. Super scary!
5. Clowns. (If you want to laugh, watch this video.)

6. People that buy Haitian children. (If you want to cry, click here and watch this video.)

You Know You Are Only Three...

...when your dad takes you to the bathroom at a soccer game and as you go to pull up your pants after doing your duty, your head smacks the toilet seat so hard that you almost knock yourself unconscious. Poor Loumy. Perfect height to hit that disgusting seat straight on with the forehead at a 90 degree angle. Yikes.
Loumy absolutely loves coming to MLS games with us. We love our local team and as we drive into the city, Loumy sees the stadium and starts chanting the team name. Okay, fine, its Salt Lake. Last time as we were driving up towards Rice Eccles and he saw the red "U" from afar, he looked at me, let out a loud sigh and said, "Mom, I love Salt Lake."
He also loves the mascot, "Leo the Lion" (until he actually comes near him). I have even had to invent a new nighttime lullaby about Leo. It goes something like this, "Leo the Lion from Real Salt Lake, Leo the Lion what a good friend you make...Leo, to Loumy you are such a dear friend, you both cheer the team on to the end..."

So I guess that's another thing that distinguishes you as a 3-year-old: You think it is super cool when your bedtime ritual involves being rocked and sang a lullaby about you and Leo the Lion.

Each night after teeth, scriptures and prayers, the kids line up at the "airport" where Chancho then flies them into their beds. Then, I go and give each one of them a lullaby or back tickles to a lullaby song on their CD player (their choice). Loumy prefers non-traditional lullabies. The other night it went like this:

Loumy: Can you sing me the motorcycle lullaby?
Me: Hm...I don't know that one. How does it go?
Loumy: (his voice getting very soft and high) Loumy rides his motorcycle...um...to Megan's house and Joe...and they ride to the horses...motorcycles...Now you do it, Mom.

So I made up a lovely lullaby about two cousins riding their motorcycles. He has requested this particular lullaby for the past 4 nights in a row. But Leo always comes back into demand when a soccer catalogue comes in the mail or we get to go to a game.

I love Loumy being three and will cry cry cry when he no longer thinks its cool for me to make up lullabies for him at night. But I will not cry when he is tall enough that he doesn't nearly knock himself unconscious on the toilet while trying to pull up his pants.