long story short

six and one

Because Brinley's school had no Spring Break this year (yup, that's right: NO SPRING BREAK!), I ended up being the only girl on our spring trip this year. Madsen brought a friend (who seems like part of the family), so it was six boys, one girl.There was a little less of my favorite activity, lounging at the pool, and a little more adventure. See for yourself...

 

We had so much fun!

I learned a few things on this trip. I learned to ride an ATV -- fast, so I didn't get left behind (and so that my little passenger, who was so disappointed he couldn't drive, wouldn't think I was a "chump"). I learned to (sort of) conquer my fear of heights, for a moment. I learned that teenage girls aren't the only ones that will stay up late, reviewing the happenings of the night with me (but that conversation is top secret!).

I also learned that, although we had an amazing trip and I LOVED being with my boys...I am firmly opposed to "no-spring-break" policies at college. I need a morning-run, pedicure, sit-at-the-pool-reading-People buddy.

I missed you, Brins!

dedicated to brins, kai & h.k.a.

I've officially been called out for not posting on this blog in over a month. I know, it's been way too long. I had no idea that anyone would notice. Since the people who brought my negligence to my attention just happen to be some of my favorite people in the whole world, I am taking their feedback seriously and I am going to try to do better.

So, H.K.A., Kailyn and Brins...this one's for you.

Most of my readers know that I am not a particularly crafty person. So it came as no surprise that Hutton did not consult me on his assignment for the 2nd Grade African Market. The assignment was to create a product to sell at the market. The product was to be made by the student and had to somehow represent Africa.

Hutton immediately decided he would make freezer-paper-stencil t-shirts. He'd seen Brinley make them before and was sure that she would want to help. So, step one was to call her at college and set up a time for the project. Step two was to hand me the list of supplies, with instructions "not to forget to get the stuff".

Their "quick" project ended up taking several hours on two separate visits. Brinley was great. Patient, fun, enthusiastic...well, she was basically herself. But this time, she was much more appreciated by her little brother. They made an excellent team.

They made so many shirts! Four different styles, in lots of colors. Didn't they turn out great?

 

Hutton was a little nervous on the day of the African Market. He really wanted people to buy his shirts. He set up his "shop" with his best friend.

He really shouldn't have worried...

He quickly sold out and made lots of (pretend) money -- enough to buy lots of African treasures for himself.

And... a beautiful, made-by-a-2nd-grader bracelet for his behind-the-scenes partner...Brins.

 

 

 

*Stay tuned for more posts in, um, less than a month. I promise. And to Brins, Kailyn and H.K.A....thanks for keeping me on my toes. 

cousins

Every once in a while, I get a photo that I love. This is one of those. Brinley with three of her cousins. I asked for a quick picture and they started goofing around and laughing so hard...it was a fun moment. I smile every time I look at this.

These kids are all at the same college right now. They watch out for each other, support each other, tease each other. This picture says it all: these cousins like each other.

I always hoped my kids would have cousin-friends. You know, people they like to hang out with because they enjoy them, not just because they're related. So, this picture makes me happy.

I hope they realize how lucky they are to have each other. I wonder if they know how many Sister-Mothers they have. My sisters and I love each other's children so much. We call each other and share our kids' happenings, heartbreaks, funny moments, challenges and triumphs. We stress when one struggles, we celebrate when another succeeds... we love and mother them all. I've always hoped that the sister-love would spill over into our children.

Looking at this picture makes me think that maybe it has.

 

canSURVIVE

Did I ever tell you that Hutton and I were asked to participate in canSURVIVE 2011? It's an event that benefits Needs Beyond Medicine, an organization dedicated to educating and raising awareness about cancer. (I hate cancer). We were photographed several months ago and our photo, along with many others', was unveiled recently at a fundraising event downtown. (I have no idea why we look so serious in the photo. Yikes!)

My cancer experience(s) will be with me forever. I used to hate that. But now, I realize that I need to accept that those experiences, for good or bad, are part of who I am. 

This event was pretty amazing. To see photos of all those people that have battled and to read their stories... well, it was an experience. A couple of featured people were adult survivors of childhood leukemia. It was nice for all of us to see thriving grown-ups that had been through what Hutton had. It was touching to see my kids slowly going throught the gallery, reading the stories... thinking. (in case you're wondering: yes, walker went. but he got sick on the way and spent the night on the couch in the lobby. so sad).

    

Secretly, I was kind of overwhelmed by the whole thing. I was walking through, reading the stories...remembering. I held it together and tried to be extra cheerful. K's eyes were shiny though, which broke my heart. Cancer isn't just hard for the one who's sick -- people don't usually think about that.

All of the participants were asked to write something to go with their photos. I hadn't remembered what I'd written back then. It was strange to read my own words. Here's what I wrote:

{for my photo}

Being a survivor means that I can do hard things and that I can be strong. I have five children. The youngest was a year and a half old and the oldest was twelve when I was diagnosed. When you have children you learn to be strong -- for them. You learn to be happy in difficult circumstances. You learn to notice the beauty and the miracles in the everyday. You learn to keep going. When you have kids, and cancer, you don't give up.

During my cancer journey -- and my son's -- I was often surprised to find myself laughing...happy. Somehow, hope would overshadow my fear, if only for a moment. So, to others who have cancer, I say...hold your head up, keep moving forward and never, never, never lose hope.

{for hutton's photo}

When you hear that your child has cancer, your world stops for a moment. You realize that heartbreak is an actual physical feeling. You are afraid. When your child has cancer, you learn to dig deep and to be strong for another person. If you open yourself up and look past your fear, you will learn from your child.

I know I did.

Hutton taught me that every day is good, even when you feel terrible and you are afraid. He taught me not to dwell on the difficult times, but to move forward. He taught me to look for the fun in life and to laugh. Hutton taught me to slow down and watch as the beauty of our life unfolded. 

Having a child with cancer means that you will watch your child suffer and that you will be afraid. But, it also means that you will see the greatness in your child... and be changed forever.

*****

 

ps - if you want to see a few more of the portraits displayed, click here. this photographer, a cancer survivor himself, is an awesome guy.

now winter can come (i guess)

Mac's football season is over. It was a fun season and Mac played well. His team won the league championship!

But it was time for it to end, because although we had pretty great weather this season, the last couple of games were COLD! The next-to-last game looked like this:

              

And, I didn't even take my camera to the last game, because the forecast included freezing rain. FREEZING RAIN, people!  (I took this picture of Hutton at the game with my phone. We managed to miss the rain...barely).

Ick. I'm not a huge fan of the cold and, though I go to every game -- freezing or not -- I much prefer the warm fall games.

My flag football guys (Walker and Hutton) had the right idea: all of their games were over before the weather turned. I sat at their games in short sleeves, warmed by the sun. Ahhhh.

They will want it noted that they also had a great season -- undefeated! (must be the coaching).

    

Because our family seems to track the seasons by sports -- and basketball practice has started (madsen made the high school team again! yay!); AND because Mac went snowboarding on Saturday (even though there's hardly any snow)... it must be time for winter.

(i'll miss you, fall!)

 

sunday afternoons at my house

    



On Sundays, after church and lunch, our house gets quiet. The books come out, we choose our favorite quilts and reading spots and we... relax. Ahhhhhh. 

We usually bake cookies in the evening, sometimes we call cousins to come over. Today, we all curled up, like cats, in sunny spots. Some people took naps, recharging after a too-busy week. We were out of eggs (how did that happen? so weird...), so we didn't even make treats. 

I know I have so much catching up to do on my blog. But not today. Today I enjoyed the quiet, loving that all the kids were home and that there was nothing that just had to be done.

This was my spot today...

...cozy chair, my favorite quilt. I even had Hutton squeezed in there for a few minutes, while we finished Howie Bowles, Secret Agent (Howie solved the mystery, in case you wondered).

I love Sundays like today. I hope you had a good one too.

 

 

halloween 2011

Happy Halloween.

I hope you had as much fun as we did...

                        

I'm down to just two trick-or-treaters now. They both went with group costumes -- Pink Ladies & the T-Birds (how many 6th graders do you know with the guts and the attitude to go with a bunch of Pink Ladies?); and pirate ghosts (he looked so much cuter without the creepy mask!).

Brinley dressed up as an indian girl for a college party, but I don't have a picture of that (because she doesn't live here! sniff-sniff).

Madsen didn't dress up on Halloween night (generally, he hates dressing up), but he was a hot (i added "hot"-- he looks hot, right? he's going to kill me. ha! ha! ha!) cowboy for the Monster Mash dance at the high school Saturday night.

Walker went low-effort with a mask. I don't think he thought he'd be out this Halloween. But, he felt good enough to hit a party and watch a movie with friends. Not bad for two weeks post-surgery. Yay!

I handed out candy this year. Again. Which was alright... until three trick-or-treaters -- and their mom -- asked to use the bathroom. I'd never seen them before. Strangers using my bathroom is a little bit (a lot!) out of my comfort zone.

What kind of person knocks on a stranger's door, asks for candy, then lines up to use the bathroom? It was the scariest part of my Halloween, by far. 

But, even though they got a treat from me -- and the use of my bathroom -- the trick was really on them.

Turns out there was no toilet paper.

{insert evil Halloween laugh here}

 

family service project / no one looks good in a hairnet

We went as a family to volunteer at Welfare Square a couple of weeks ago. It took less coercion than I'd expected. Maybe that's because no one told us about the awesome hairnets that are required there.

Yes, we looked hideous. But we looked hideous together, which made it okay. Sort of. (i can't BELIEVE i just posted a photo of myself in a hairnet!)

We were assigned to can flour. I think we made a great team. K, Mac and Walker were the can fillers, Madsen ran the machine, I was the can labeler and hutton was the boxer/stacker/supervisor.

I was a little surprised (although I guess I shouldn't have been) at who got into it the most. Can you guess?

    

He was all business, that one. So serious about his work. He didn't not appreciate the messing around that he observed from some of the other teams, no he did not. He worked hard, he wore the hairnet and plastic gloves with pride.

I loved seeing my kids working together, donating their time to helping out. It made me think we need to do these projects a lot more often. Even though it's a rush to get there and a hassle to work around everyone's schedules, and even though we have to wear those hairnets (seriously, i can't get over it. the kids look okay, the little ones even sort of adorable, but me? yikes!)... it's worth it. And it's fun.

Yes, I think we'll go again.

Between now and then, I've got to design a better hairnet.

ebelskivers and inspiration

 

    

Do you ever make ebelskivers? We don't make them very often, but we always do on Conference Sunday, when we watch this.

The tradition started years ago when we lived in California. Our friends would invite us over and we'd watch Conference and have a huge brunch, featuring Ebelskivers By Matt. We'd wear our pajamas all day and squeeze onto the big couch together. Good times....

If I'd thought about it earlier, I would have taken pictures of the ebelskiver-making process. It's so easy. We usually fill half of them and leave the other half plain (for madsen, mr. bland-foods-only). Today's ebelskivers were filled with Sarabeth's apricot-orange marmalade (sarabeth's kitchen is the restaurant brins and i went to in new york -- you can also get the marmalade at williams sonoma). We like our ebelskivers with melted butter and powdered sugar, but they're also good with jam or good syrup. 

We eat until we're stuffed (it's one of the few times a year my kids get bacon...today there wasn't nearly enough), then we settle in to watch and listen. In California, the kids were little, so we had to provide activities to keep them occupied. But now, they listen...mostly. I like to think that they come away feeling inspired and motivated to do better, be better.

I know I do.

I also like to think that, in California, the tradition continues. That at about the same time I was carefully turning my ebelskivers, Matt was making his, too.

 

adventures in aviation

Hutton has been wanting a remote control helicopter for a while. Walker has one, but he never lets Hutton fly it. Or touch it. So, you can imagine his excitement when K walked in one night with a helicopter just for him, with lights and everything -- for no special reason even! Hutton carefully read all of the instructions, then he set a timer so that the helicopter would charge for precisely two hours, as instructed. I felt honored to be invited to the maiden voyage.

We drove to the school -- more open space, you know. There were other people there, which made this first flight even more exciting!

I helpfully pointed out this sign, which the guys ignored:

(K retorted that a model helicopter is not the same as a model airplane).

Like a good dad, K acted as the launching pad and let Hutton take the controls -- even though I think he really wanted to fly the chopper himself.

Hutton assured me that he knew what he was doing. He was so pro! He sent that thing flying! (notice the awesome lights!)

And then...

...yeah, too high. Too high, then too far, then the chopper went rogue. Seriously, it just kept flying, further and further away. Hutton's loyal companion/assistant tried to help. The spectators just stared, awestruck.

In the end, we saw helicopter fall from the sky, beyond the school, across the street and into someone's backyard. No big deal, says K. We'll just knock on the door and ask if we can get our likely-mangled helicopter. So they did. Fortunately, the lady who lived there was nice (sort of).

UNfortunately, her yard looked like this! (holy cow! it just goes to show that you never know what lurks behind someone's fence).

I know you're on the edge of your seat! Did we find the helicopter in that jungle of weeds and trees?!

What do you think?

It was a long walk back to the car...minus one super-cool helicopter with lights.

 

editors note: i'm realizing that this is kind of a sad story. would it help to know that K brought home another helicopter? yes? okay, he did. but that helicopter was kind of, well, broken. that actually makes the story even worse, doesn't it?

the only thing that saves this story is that (1) thinking about it makes me laugh; (2) even though it didn't turn out as planned, we had so much fun with hutton that day. watching him figure out the instructions and get that thing flying so high was priceless; and (3), after a few minutes, and a few tears, even hutton couldn't help grinning about the whole thing.

we haven't stopped talking about that awesome, crazy helicopter.