Boxes

Our rooms are filled with boxes.

Our bed is dismantled (we have one of those select-comfort beds, courtesy of my grandparents who couldn't use it any more) and we've been sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor.

The kitchen cupboards are empty.

I haven't made dinner in three days.

All toys are packed away, minus the ones we'll take in the car.

Everett found a bright blue hanger in our packing jumble today and informed me he "Neeeeed(s) it Mommy!" so he can "hang out".

Our new place in Muscatine is ready for us.

And we. . .we are ready for it!

(after we load up tomorrow. And clean this place top to bottom. And drive for five hours. You know, those small details.)

T.P.

Everett's new thing to do with the toilet paper:

When this boy uses the bathroom, sometimes he really spends a lot of time emptying out those intestines.

No guesses as to what he does in the meantime.

You Guessed Correctly with the Easiest Clue in the World

Yes, that's right. IOWA. We're moving to Muscatine, Iowa.




Joel will be working as a financial analyst for the HON company (an office furniture manufacturer/distributor; a subsidiary of HNI) in a small town called Muscatine. It is right along the Mississippi river and is a really cute, clean, quiet little town of about 20,000 people. The LDS church there is strong--the ward is a good size with plenty of active youth. We will be about an hour away from Nauvoo, so if any of you come out that way, we would love to see you.



After Joel's MBA class had a dismal year for job finding (only 30% found jobs so far), we are thrilled about finding one that will be a good fit for us. It is different in almost every way than we expected, but the more we learn about this place, the more we like the idea of living there. The company is very family-friendly. Joel will have a great work-life balance and will be able to maintain a friendly relationship with his coworkers. He will be challenged but also have good opportunity for professional growth.

We didn't picture ourselves living in a small town. The closest Target is at least 30 minutes away (ensuring that I have to really plan out my trips there). The restaurants are not necessarily exciting. There won't be very many places to explore. But this town has everything we need: a YMCA, a library, a hospital, parks and new playgrounds everywhere you look, a children's museum, and even a community college. Families (and churches!) are everywhere. Preschool for Everett will be free when he turns four, thanks to a state-wide program. The elementary schools are highly rated, and surprisingly enough, the high school has about 1400 students. Joel is excited to become a high school athletics fan, right along with the rest of the town.

We took a trip out here together for Joel's big interview. The kids and I played at this beautiful playground overlooking the Mississippi River.

I think they approve.

It's a good thing, too--work starts the first of June!

Guessing Game: Our New Home

Is this Heaven?

No, this is ____.

Ride

Ashley loves to come out with me when it is time for Everett to get on the school bus, but it breaks her heart to see him get on and leave her behind. All she wants is to ride along on that exciting bus.

So today as Everett got on the bus, I bent down and whispered in her ear that we were going to ride "papa's bus" (the Notre Dame trolley). She was ecstatic. We went inside and waited for it to arrive; Ashley danced around, saying "Bus is coming! Bus is coming!" which made me even more excited to take her.

We packed a snack, I wrapped William in the moby, and we were off.

We had a great time. We rode the loop around campus and were back in forty minutes--the perfect amount of time.

Ashley spent the first few minutes open-mouthed and taking everything in.

Ashley gave few smiles, but that is how she usually acts. She was thrilled, really. And it was really nice to do something with just Ashley for a change.

Because I Never Save My Children's Art

I am a very mean mom. I have a rule--a rule I rarely break--that I never draw for my kids. If I do, they spend the rest of the day whining about how they "just can't do it, Mommy!"

But the truth is, they can. Ashley and Everett love to draw. It is fun to see them cooperating and making up stories as they go wild with the markers, and it is fun to see the final product they are so proud of. If I do it for them, they don't figure it out on their own and they miss out on that feeling of pride.

Since we're about to move (we don't know where yet, FYI), I know I'm going to toss out the notebooks they've spent the better part of a year filling up. Maybe I should keep them; I don't know. But I figure I should take some pictures of some of their very first drawings.

And you know what this means, don't you? It means that I fill up a blog post with pictures of random squiggles (read: abandon reading this now and go do something useful with your time).

First we'll start with Ashley. I can very easily tell the difference between her squiggles and Everett's. She is precise in her drawing and patient enough to fill up a whole page:

Sometimes it looks like she's writing sentences (this is obviously not her intention).

Sometimes she draws shapes along with the scribbles, but they all look about the same.

She really enjoys filling up coloring book pages and actually attempts to color in the pictures.

One of her favorite things to do is draw circle up on circle upon circle. She squeals and laughs as she does it. "Gircle! Gircle! Mommy, Gircle!"

But sometimes she tries to copy Everett and make pictures similar to his.

Now for Everett. His pictures are more interesting, and most of the time there is some story that goes along with them which he eagerly shares with me.

His pages are filled with monsters:

(red marks courtesy of Ashley)

. . .and more monsters,

and even more monsters ravenously coming after our family (see figure with sharp teeth and long legs, the one that is falling into the "water"). I can never tell our family figures apart, but Everett knows exactly who is who.

. . .Oh. And monsters attacking people in boats.

And we can't forget aliens and rocket ships, complete with "fire coming out the bottom, Mommy!"

There are also plenty of random animals with a gajillion legs.

Pictures of Everett going down a slide are also common.

Everett also draws random letters.

Mostly he draws letters in his name or the letters on buildings in our complex. He always gets bored and adds a few people in the mix.

Or extra "legs" on all the E's.

And then, well, there are these:

These are the pages that make me scratch my head. I can never figure these out, and to be honest, Everett usually can't after the fact, either. He thinks this one has something to do with apples and worms, but it seemed like he was pulling explanations out of thin air.

Well, there you have it. "Art" by Everett and Ashley. At least now I can clean out our notebooks and coloring books and not suffer from a guilt complex. It's just too bad I subjected you to the minutiae of it all, isn't it?

(yes, they are at least wearing pants/diapers/underwear)

"Markers, please!"

WAHOO!

CONGRATULATIONS, JOEL

. . .for earning your MBA with honors!!!!

We're so proud of you, especially Everett, who thought you looked very "pretty" in your "dress."

(I just thought you looked like you earned it.)

Now. Here are some poor-quality photos for those of you who weren't there and wish you were, or for those of you who can't imagine what it is like to see someone walk across a large room, scale some steps, and have something handed to him. (If this is the case, these pictures will be revolutionary to you, I'm sure.)

Waiting to go up.

Waiting some more. . .

You're almost there. . .

[[[[[Picture of Joel receiving diploma not taken due to hesitant shutter and/or inept photographer]]]]]

Walk of Victory?

Our good friend, whose beautiful wife just had an adorable little girl a few weeks ago.

The babies were both great during Commencement.

As soon as pictures were over, Joel ripped off his hat and dropped his gown back off at the bookstore.

[insert jab about Joel's lack of sentimentality here.]

Side note: When Joel graduated from BYU, I was holding baby Everett for the pictures. I didn't want to bring the kids to commencement this time, or I would have probably pulled out all of my hair, so in this picture it looks like we're starting over all over again.

I didn't cry, but I was proud as ever.

Can you tell?

Really, I just wanted to make Joel blush. Yes, it worked. My husband has two degrees to my none, but sometimes I can still get the best of him.

We love you, Joel. Now on to bigger and better things!

Losing is the Name of the Game

Joel and I have both gained weight in the last year. I had an excuse; he had none. After I had William, I wanted to get back down to the weight I was before I found out I was pregnant--the weight I had finally lost after weaning Ashley, the weight I had to work to achieve, and the weight I was a little bitter about adding to.

Lately I've been working out in an attempt to get back down to a size at which I can comfortably fit into my pants again. Joel informed me that he was going to lose some weight as well.

"Want to make it a contest?" I asked foolishly. "First one to lose the weight wins. . .I don't know what, but it will be good."

"Sure," Joel shrugged. He went into the bathroom to weigh himself. "What do you think I weigh?" I gave him a high number, smiled when he scoffed at my guess, then smirked when I was only two pounds off.

"Okay," Joel said, still bothered by the number he had seen on the digital display. "Now it's your turn."

This part wasn't so funny. I really wasn't bothered, though; I have just had a baby, after all, which has to be the best excuse ever for putting on weight. And it has only been two months--I don't feel particularly rushed about this.

After weighing myself and considering what I'd need to do to take off the pounds, I smirked some more. "I know it is much, much easier for men to lose weight and all, but I think I have this one in the bag."

"Oh yeah? How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know how to diet and you don't. I know the caloric value of foods and you don't. Plus, you live life by having the munchies and snacking all day, and I like to bake. I can make you all sorts of treats I am not interested in but that you won't be able to resist. It will be fool-proof."

Joel grinned and shook his head at me. I think he knows me well enough to know that this was a threat he didn't have to worry about.

I smiled to myself as Joel helped himself to a large glass of juice. There's 200 calories, I thought. I smiled even more when he went back into the bathroom to weigh himself again.

"Guess what!" Joel said excitedly. "I just lost two pounds!"

My grin lost its fervor. Well, you know, that scale must not be very accurate. I did some sit-ups and went back into the bathroom to use the scale.

I had gone up half a pound.

Joel, smirking even more, weighed himself yet again. "There goes another pound!" He laughed and punched the air. "This is awesome!"

I knew this was the inaccuracy of the scale and all, but this was just ridiculous. I'd never be able to live this down. After explaining to Joel that it only counts if you weigh yourself once a day at the same time every day, I felt satisfied. At least now he might not think this whole thing was going to be magical.

Then again, if it does turn out to be magical for him, I might have to seriously consider throwing in the towel and drowning my efforts in gallons of ice cream.

Or I'll just have to start sneaking ensure into his milk.

T-I-M-E Spells LOVE

I think Everett has really enjoyed the time he and I share together when he comes home from preschool. He gets off the bus just before two o'clock, and Ashley usually doesn't wake up until two-thirty or three.

Today, since Joel is done with school and is just waiting for graduation this weekend, Joel was sitting on the couch when Everett and I walked in the door. Everett walked two paces into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks.

"No, Mommy!" Everett immediately said in a whining voice. "I not want papa to be home. I want him to go to school!"

Joel and I laughed, then Joel turned back to job hunting on the computer.

"Why don't you want Papa to be home?" I asked, knowing full well that Everett probably wouldn't give me a real answer.

"Cause. . . ." Everett muttered, "I want Papa to go to school. I not want him to be home wight now."

I enjoyed the short laugh that I had in response to Everett's earnest comments.

After a few minutes of trying to get Everett to pay attention to something else besides the fact that his father was home during the time he usually gets me to himself, I finally succeeded in interesting him in a snack.

Joel came over to the refrigerator; Everett had opened the door and was browsing half-heartedly.

"Do you want a biscuit, Everett?" Joel asked.

Everett didn't answer.

"Everett. Do you want a biscuit? I can get you a biscuit." Joel said, this time a little louder, and this time with laughter on his breath.

Everett looked at Joel out of the corner of his eye, then turned back to the bright and disorganized contents of the refrigerator without utterance.

I knew exactly what was happening and decided to step in. "Everett, buddy, would you like a biscuit?" I asked.

Everett turned right around and sweetly said, "No thank you, Mommy." He stubbornly kept his face turned away from Joel as he said it.

Everett finally settled down with an apple and peanut butter, and, with some food in his belly, began to be more receptive to the idea of Joel being home all day. The airplane rides, wrestling, and hide-and-go-seek Joel initiated certainly didn't hurt, either!

Blessing Day

This past weekend we had the good fortune of having not one, but both sets of parents here for a visit. We decided that we would have William blessed on Mother's Day so at least some relatives could be present. I was a little hesitant to have the blessing done at church, because Mother's Day can be a difficult day for many people and I didn't want to add to their hardship, but it made the most practical sense and we didn't really have another option.

Ashley had a new dress to wear and we were all color-coordinated, so I had a friend of ours come take pictures with his nice camera. He is talented and I think the pictures came out wonderfully, even though I'm never that happy with how my forced smiles look.

First family picture with all three kids. Everett has a cheesy grin from saying "cheese", William's hand is in his face, and I don't look that happy, but really I think it turned out as well as can be expected. The photography itself is wonderful.

Our friend took a few candid shots as well. These are my favorites. The man holding Ashley is Joel's dad.

This was an impromptu shot. William looks cold and unhappy, but he was really doing pretty well.

On the way home, the kids found a little frog. I'm so glad our friend got some pictures.

My parents and us.

Joel's parents and us. I think this is the picture William looks the best in.

We had a wonderful day together. The blessing went really well. Baby blessings are something we do in our church after a child is born. The father, if he holds the priesthood and is worthy, or another person who holds the priesthood, holds the baby in his arms, assisted by others who hold the priesthood, and says a prayer. In the prayer, he addresses our Father in Heaven and gives the baby a name that is chosen by the parents. He then blesses the baby as the Holy Ghost inspires him--this is when Heavenly Father tells us things about that child and his life. It is my favorite part and a deeply meaningful occasion. This is what we learned about William, for those of you who were unable to make it out here for the blessing:

He is blessed with the power of discernment--that he will understand the needs of those around him and how to help them.

He is blessed with a life of service--he will serve on his mission and the power of discernment will help him serve better.

That he has been blessed already with the spirit of kindness.

He is blessed with a quick mind, that he will learn quickly and understand principles.

He will have many good relationships in his life.

Even though I am sad that the newborn stage is coming to a close, I am excited to see William grow up, and I am excited to see him reach his potential. We are thrilled that he has joined our family.

Picture Worthy, by Everett

Everett commandeers the camera often.

His idea of a picture-worthy subject is much different from mine, but interesting in a seeing-things-from-three-feet-tall kind of way.

Here are the results:

feet + dinosaur

trash can

stool

soccer ball

wall

(clean, no errant drawings. . .hey, maybe this one is picture worthy!)

sleeping William

toilet paper

(OR, the correct direction to have the toilet paper on the roll go)

light switch

(. . . ?)

laundry on the bathroom floor

(leftover from the night before)

favorite game

Ashley in crib having woken from a nap.