blatant irresponsibility...

Once in a while, when I don't feel like cracking the proverbial whip, I'll do something totally irresponsible on a school night.  After shuttling Olivia to her soccer pictures, grabbing a few pizzas and visiting Andrew at the farm (Potato harvest is not something to be missed!  Granted, we only go for an hour and he eats, sleeps and breathes it for three weeks straight, 14-16 hours per day, so the novelty wears thin as far as he is concerned.), we headed home and planted ourselves on the couch to watch a 2+ hour movie.



I'd been talking this one up to the kids for at least a year, although I hadn't seen it myself for at least ten.  I'm talking 1995's Mr. Holland's Opus! Have you seen it? You should! (SPOILER ALERT!)  It chronicles the life of Mr. Holland, a young married musician whose life aspiration includes composing a symphony that rivals those of Bach and Mozart.  Unfortunately (or fortunately!), real life gets in the way, and he's forced to take a job teaching music and John F. Kennedy High School in 1960.  He's only supposed to teach for four years, until they have enough money scraped together so he can go back to his music full-time.  He winds up having a long and esteemed career there, until he's forced to retire due to the elimination of the music department. Damn those budget constraints!



I'm not often a crier during movies, and according to my brother, we watched that movie tons growing up and I don't remember ever shedding tears over it.  But seriously, the scenes with Mr. Holland's son, who was born with a 90% hearing loss, were heart-wrenching!  It was like reliving some scenes from my own past, and made me feel so, so lucky to have had Adelaide in a time and place where she has benefited so much from general knowledge and technology.  Not that I don't feel lucky every single day, because I do, but things like that always hit it home extra hard.



I think the kids enjoyed the movie, although Olivia seemed at times more interested in whether I was bawling again, than the movie. Then again, I remember doing the same thing when watching movies with my mom, so I guess that's normal?  No one got any homework or reading done, and there are still a pile of dishes in the sink, and I'm really hoping everyone has socks and underwear for tomorrow.



One more quick tangent and then I'll sign off.  The movie touches on John Lennon a bit and features a song at the end by his son, Julian.  My siblings and I had an obsession with The Beatles and each of the band members, stemming from an old record my dad played for us, as well as the ABC special, "The Beatles Anthology" from 1995.  I couldn't help myself from listening to 45 minutes straight of old Beatles and Lennon hits.  I have always had such an appreciation of the beauty of music, and gearing up for the BF concert next week (Kales, you know what I'm talking about!!), I'm reminded of how varied of my tastes are.  I love the new stuff, but damn....I love the old stuff too.

And for kicks:

happy new year...

Ask me what I did for New Year's and I will reply with one thing, and one thing only: FOOTBALL.  Growing up, the only football I knew was the kind where you couldn't use your hands. Since meeting Andrew, I've become acquainted with the other kind, and I've become a fan.  Not the fantasy-football-addict, know-the-name-of-the-players, can't-miss-a-game fan, but the yeah-I'll-take-football-over-anything-else-on-TV fan.  And the last two days of football did not disappoint.  We closed the office at 1:00 PM so we could be home in time to watch BSU's third appearance at the Fiesta Bowl at 2:00 PM. It seemed like a blow-out after the first quarter, but by the fourth, we were all biting our nails.

Boise State did NOT disappoint, and we won 38-30.  A bunch of seriously happy campers.  The game was followed by Andrew trying to teach Adelaide and Marlie how to do head-stands. The tutorial was unsuccessful. 

 We were super lame and in bed and asleep before midnight.   Which totally reminded me of this:

New Year's Day was followed by a solid 12 hours of intense football action -- every game was better than the next, it was so much fun to watch! We always rooted for the underdog, and the underdog won, every single time (I'm sure our cheering made the difference).

It looks like Adelaide sprouted a beauty mark in this photo, but it's just a lingering scab from a little scratch from Aunt Barb's dog last weekend.  Andrew's brother and sister-in-law and three kids were over for both days of football, and you might wonder how we kept six kids entertained all that time.  We honestly didn't have to - they entertained themselves (win/win for all involved). The girls played with Marlie, and Christian played with Jake and Wyatt and we hardly saw any of them. The boys would surface for air once in a while to watch a little football, and the girls would come entertain us with gymnastics routines they'd choreographed, but other than that, they kept themselves happy and that made us happy.   

It was a new and fun way to spend New Year's.  Normally, I set at least a few goals and resolutions for the New Year, but I feel like that would requiring analyzing 2014 and my life at this point, and that seems like too much work. That sounds like a good task for Monday.  Until that Monday happens, Happy New Year to you and yours!

not just di plus three anymore...

So this happened.  November 14th, to be exact. No one was as surprised as I was, I promise. I will have to do a lengthy post at some point, but not tonight. I've been wanting to get back onto the blog wagon because the days and months are slipping past me and I feel like I'm doing my kids and myself a disservice by not documenting any of it.  But.  Baby steps.  We'll work up to the lengthy posts.

summer of love...

First post of the summer. What we've been doing...

Adelaide loves to help with the dishes aka make huge water puddles...

I don't even know what to say here...dress-up gone wrong at bedtime?

Sleepovers in the living room...

Christian is running track this summer...he's not very fast, which means he collects
a lot of last place ribbons.  But as always, keeps up the positive attitude and is enjoying himself.

That blur on the right is Christian running in the 100 meter dash...

They let the little kids play in the sand pit after the jumps are done...the only way
Adelaide makes it through the 3-4 hour long track meets...

I invested in some little camp chairs that have canopies and fold up so that you can make your kid carry them on their backs, backpack style and they have been AWESOME at the track meets...
$15.99 at Costco if you're interested....

Look at those beautiful girls!  They are both doing gymnastics at the Rec, which they thoroughly adore.
Especially Adelaide, who constantly asks if it's time for "nastics".

Adelaide wears her leotard (actually a swim suit, but we're not picky)
 just about everywhere, with just about anything...


Painting rocks and campfires in the backyard with Mo & Anna...

Our little painted rock fire pit....Mo and Christian examining their handiwork...

Captions needed here.?  I think not... :)

Happy summer to you and yours!

dirty thirty...

On the eve of my thirtieth birthday, I feel the need to ramble...

How grateful I am to be turning thirty!  Once again, I must quote that complete time waster website that I love with all my heart, PINTREST...

I am so happy to be turning thirty! I have a healthy body and I want for nothing.  I have a warm, cozy home, three beautiful, happy and kind children, friends and family who love me, gainful employment, and a bright outlook for the future.

I got approved for a home loan two weeks ago!  I'm so grateful to be looking for my own little piece of heaven.  I'm excited for what life holds for myself, and for my three little ones.

I struggle so often with discouragement, and on nights like tonight, it seems so unwarranted!  I have much to be grateful for.  Saw this (also on Pintrest), and thought it summed it up nicely.  I think it will be my motto for the upcoming year.

So what if some other thirty year old is so much "further ahead" than I am! So what if they've got a rocking body, and have a better job, and live in a nicer house and drive a newer car than I do!  No more comparing!  Not to say I don't have goals, but not obtaining them will not determine my level of happiness... So anyway...lest my ramblings become incoherent and I start to type things I'll think sound stupid in the morning, let me leave you with something ridiculously funny...because everyone knows the Humor section on Pintrest is the best section, and because I totally dug my Crocs out from under the bed on Saturday morning and wore them to Fred Meyer...

sheepish...

Wow, it's been so long since I've posted, they've completely changed the format on here. Hopefully I can still find my way around.

I'm embarrassed to admit why I haven't posted for so long. Luckily, I have so few readers, I will confess what I have been doing for the last two months.  My friend Gina introduced me to "The Tudors", a Showtime series about King Henry VIII.  Seriously...I'm so ashamed of how many hours I spent watching that wonderfully addictive and smutty TV series. But ladies, when you can watch this guy:

Henry Cavill...my personal favorite...

Why wouldn't you???

Not to mention this guy:

Jonathan Rhys Meyers...definitely hotter than the real Henry VIII...

It couldn't be helped. I had to watch every single episode.  To the detriment of my laundry, dishes, and my children.  I finished the series last night, and feel like my life is kind of over.  

I also spent a couple of weeks with my sister Ro:

This smart lady has a BS in CHEMISTRY, she's crazy smart...

watching the genius that is "Downton Abbey".  Cousin Matthew is probably the only guy that can be considered somewhat handsome in this series, but the cinematography, acting, and dialogue make up for the bad teeth and homely looks. Just kidding, I don't remember any bad teeth.  This was really a great show!  

I know this may not be a compliment to the show, but do you know what I thought was coolest?  It looked like the show had been filmed in the seventies or eighties to me, and I'm not sure why! It just had an old feeling to it.  Regardless,  looking forward to the next season coming out this winter, I believe.

Lest you think I was entirely slothful and indolent, I DID work on a cross stitch for my sister's (Cynthia, this time) brand new baby boy. He's a doll.  Anyway, bought the damn thing over eight months ago and finally finished it last week.  I tried to load a photo of it, but the awesomeness was too much for my computer and it kept freezing. But this is the more important finished product; he is sincerely and utterly adorable.  

Bentley Zach Woolsey...

So I've been missing in action for a couple of months, but until the next amazing series comes along...maybe I'll find the time to post more frequently...and actually, I'm LOVING this new format!! So much easier to post pictures! When did that happen!? Ohhh...right...probably during "The Tudors".

to avoid making a budget for march, i blog...

Plus, I really felt the need to post something a little more cheerful; that last post was dreadful.  I've had a much better week.  Can I share?

I have to admit, as much as I crave and love the alone time that comes when the kids are with Ken, I really start to miss them after the first couple of days; after I've worked out enough and caught up on cleaning, laundry, and errands.  I really have a pretty amazing deal - not only do I have the best ex-husband EVER, but I get to see the kids even on the days that he has them. We meet every morning so I can take the kids to school and then I usually have them until he gets off work and takes them for the evening.

Tax season is a little different though; not only do I work the full 40 hour work week, but it's at a different time each day.  Ken's parents have been amazing helping with the girls on the days that they don't have school, and also letting me drop the kids off right after school on days I work late, rather than waiting until Ken can get them around 5:30-6:00. They get so bored being at work, and I have a very hard time concentrating (and being patient with them!!!).

Anyway, long explanation, but what I'm trying to say is that it seems that I haven't seen them so much in the last two months since tax season got underway.  So I picked them up on Tuesday and we've been having a great time!  Tuesday I got off work early and we hit the library and swimming at the Rec, followed by half-price Happy Meals at McDonald's (truly, the best day of the week!), baths, homework and bed.  Then today it was work and school, dinner at Andrew's, home for homework and washing faces, hands, teeth, brushing hair, and bed.  Nothing too terribly exciting, but it felt a bit more normal than things have felt lately and it has made me feel happy. And I love feeling that way...happy, that is.

Not so happy items thus far in the week:

*Back of my iPhone cracked! WHAT HAPPENED!?!? We'll never know, but I'm pretty sure this girl was the culprit:

Who? Me? How dare you accuse me of such a heinous crime...

I had a Zagg on the back and so I didn't realize anything was wrong until I took a very close look and saw that something was amiss, pulled the cover back and discovered the unthinkable...so I took it to Verizon, but they couldn't do anything for me since I didn't have their super expensive insurance package.  Then I called the Apple store in the Boise mall, explained the situation and that I was in NAMPA, and asked what they could do. They set up an appointment for me for 8:10 that night to replace the back for $29.00 (sweet!), and Mo and Anna were kind enough to not only accompany me, but DRIVE me there.  So we got there, and guess what?? They didn't have the part in stock!! I know, I know...I was disappointed in Apple too.  So that was lame, but it was fun to hang out with Mo and Anna.

*Olivia hyper-extended her fingers today while horsing around on furniture at Andrew's house (let THAT be a lesson to you, after I've scolded them a hundred times about not jumping on furniture). The middle, ring and pinkie fingers of her right hand were the victims, and not only are they painful, but they are starting to swell and discolor. She had to color a picture left-handed tonight, and let me tell you folks, it was not pretty.  

Olivia, in happier, goofier times...

*Can any one else explain to the adult acne fiasco to me? I avoided the awkward teenage acne years, only to be bombarded in my very late twenties.  What the hell?  Drives me crazy. Also, slightly embarrassing since Adelaide will point out any blemish on my face, quite loudly, to any one that will listen, as an "owie". Thanks for the reminder, Adelaide.

I'll leave you with some pictures from Christian's last basketball game. They didn't win a single game, but he had such a good little attitude and never complained about it once. He was just happy to be playing the game.

bad day...

No one likes to read a depressing post, so I'll keep it short.

I had a bad day. Well, I've had several as of late.  There was a great quote I found on Pintrest (man, I love that good-for-nothing, time-wasting, inspiring, yet depressing website!!) that I try and remember:  "Don't let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life".

I have such a good life; I am so blessed with health, employment, wonderful, beautiful children, and surrounded by a family that loves me and takes care of me.  But some days are hard. I feel weighed down by my responsibilities as a mother, employee, house cleaner, laundry and dish doer, etc. I don't feel like I do enough, slow down enough, enjoy enough, these days when my babies are still babies.  It makes my heart so heavy.

I know I only have like, two readers (you know who you are!), but do you ever feel like that? Like life has turned out so differently than you thought it would?  If you do, what do you do to pull yourself out of that awful funk?  Suggestions appreciated...

inspired...

So I have to tell you about my sister-in-law.  This girl is amazing.  In fact, I can't decide if she is perfect. I think she might be.  Can I tell you why?

1. She has an amazingly positive attitude; she is ALWAYS smiling or laughing!

Exhibit #1:  Mad cheerful skillz...even while hefting a large pumpkin...

2. She is Mother-Teresa kind. She always has a cheerful greeting and kind word for you, and never lets any one feel left out.

3.  She is a smart cookie!  She got her Bachelor's degree in Nursing and is an RN at St. Al's in Boise (now why didn't I think of going into nursing!?!).  And she's been doing that awhile! I think she got her RN when she was basically a teenager, which means she didn't dilly dally in college like the rest of us.

4.  She is an amazing baker. She worked in a pastry shop in Sun Valley when she was in high school (also very cool!) and she makes crap that can only be found in Food Network magazine and on pintrest. But believe me, her stuff LOOKS like the pictures.  And tastes even better.  We all hope and pray that she brings dessert to Sunday dinners every week.

Exhibit #2: Mad baking skillz....

5.  She is a bit narcoleptic.  The girl can fall asleep anywhere within 45 seconds.  Give her a shoulder, a couch to sit on, or enough room to stretch out on the floor and bam! She's out.  But she's even cute asleep, so we all just nudge each other, point, and chuckle while shaking our heads at her.

Exhibit #3:  Mad sleeping skillz...

6.  She is beautiful!! Like in a classically beautiful way.  Ro and I have compared her to Audrey Hepburn, and her patients have too.  I'm sorry, but my brother married WAY up.

Exhibit #4:  Mad beauty skillz... 

7.  She adores my brother.  They are so lovely to watch together; the way Mo teases her mercilessly, but is so terribly affectionate towards her, that you know he's only teasing her about the things that he secretly adores about her.  And the way she can't resist reaching up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek or snuggle into his arms, you know she is so happy with him.  Together they enjoy biking (like serious biking, people, not some random 10 minute ride semi-annually) in nifty spandex shorts and fancy shoes, and I think that's pretty cool too.

Exhibit #5: Mad being-in-love skillz...

8. Oh! And she is an AMAZING blogger!  She really stepped it up this last year, and I cannot tell you how much I enjoy her posts.  She is funny, well spoken, and comes up with the coolest topics and pictures.

Bottom line: I am inspired by this woman! I want to be more like her (except for the baking part, she can keep that).  It's good to have role models, even when you're almost 30.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas (except the snow)...

Ohh...and here is where I get overwhelmed.  It's been too long since I posted, and now I'm left with the decision to catch up or just start where we are now?  Boo.

This is such a great time of year.  I love Christmas. I love the music, the festivities, the decorations, and the warm, happy feeling in my heart.  Here's what we've been doing this month:

* Andrew & I decked the halls at his place...       

* We decked the halls at my place...

* We had a housewarming party with the fam! My awesome, awesome siblings and my awesome, awesome boyfriend have been helping me remodel the casita and it looks amazing. It's like living in a whole new place, and we are enjoying it so very much. Here is Ro overseeing the Lion House Wassail that we found online. It was DELICIOUS. I think it needs to be a staple at Christmas time from this time on.

We also got to take a sibling picture. This was the best we could do, but we had a riot trying.

* Andrew and I went to the Boise Philharmonic's performance of Handel's Messiah.  I wept, Andrew slept.  Well, just for a little bit.  It was so, so, so beautiful, and I was so happy that we were able to go.

* Santa sent us an elf! His name is Max, and he flies home to the North Pole every night to report on the good and evil doings of the children.

* I hurt my knee about two weeks ago. Went on a fairly short run - four miles and felt great. Two hours after I ran, I had this awful pain on the outside of my right knee. I walked with a limp for about two days. So...even though I didn't want to...I took it easy. I didn't run for another two weeks.  So then on Saturday I decided I'd try again, take it easy, run three miles. Right after two miles, it started bothering me and stubborn me - I just had to push it a couple laps more. And now I'm hurting again. :( So frustrating because I truly, truly enjoy running and everything that comes with it.  Also, I've never had an injury before. Is this a sign of getting OLDER??? I've been doing a Pilates video at home, but it's just not the same. :( All I want for Christmas is my bad knee to go away.

Plans for the rest of December include:
* A Christmas party for my work tomorrow night and then the kids are off to Ken's until Christmas Eve. Andrew and I are driving to Burley to watch the BSU bowl game and then maybe we'll head down to Salt Lake City? It's been years and years since I've been and I'd love to go again.

* Christmas Eve with the Hyer clan.

* Christmas with family, friends, and hopefully lots of good food and sleep.

Like I said, I love this time of year and all of the fond memories that are created.  New Year's resolutions are right around the corner and I'm already thinking of things I can do well for the first two weeks, and then fail miserably at the rest of the year. :)

and preschool is a go...

After a long, long process, Adelaide has finally qualified for preschool at Lakeridge Elementary School, where she will attend the Auditory/Oral classroom! She starts on November 28th and will go Monday through Thursday, 12:15 to 2:45. AND, they'll bus her to and from school! My little girl gets to ride the short bus! So excited for her.

Last weekend we participated in a community service project for the kids' school; we raked leaves for some elderly couples around Sherman.  There was about 75 parents, teachers, kids, etc. and we raked 13 homes.  It was a beautiful (and chilly!) morning, and Christian was such a trooper! He stuck with it and raked and bagged leaves the entire time, with no complaints.  Olivia made it about 1/2 an hour and then she wimped out and hung out in the van.  Andrew took Adelaide on some errands, so I didn't have to worry about her. It was just a good experience to be doing service with the kids; I hope that we're able to do more in the future.

I can't believe the holidays are upon us. I love this time of year.  I love the weather, I love the holidays (and the time off!), I love the opportunity to think about things that I'm grateful for, and I really do have SO much to be grateful for.

What (or WHO!) I am most grateful for...

Enough said.

eight weeks in review...

I am so miserable at this blogging thing.  I'm sitting here trying to remember what has even happened in the last two months, and I can't think of anything. Thank goodness for photos on my phone.


CHRISTIAN:


1. Is a FANTASTIC student. Don't tell him, but at parent-teacher conferences, his teacher let me know that he reads 160 words per minute - the fastest student of the three second grade classes. He is her top student, and such a good, kind boy. "Not a bad bone in his body", were her words.  This made my heart so full and happy. I've always known that he is a great kid, with the patience and tenderness of someone much older; but whenever I hear it validated (which is quite often), I'm so grateful that I get to raise this little boy.


2.  He's not so little. He turned EIGHT on September 26th. We had an awesome little family party with all of my family there, and my SIL Anna made an amazing ninja cake for him.  He was so excited about the whole event and we had a great time.

3. He got baptized!  Mo baptized him, and his Grandpa Bob confirmed him (along with Aaron Geyer, Grandpa Edgardo, Mo, Grandpa Hyer, and Bishop Fleshman).  It was a special experience for him, and I was happy that he made the decision.

OLIVIA:


1. She's not a bad student either! She's right on track, or ahead in all of her subjects, and her teacher reports that she is a model student. She sits next to her best friend Natalie, and her teacher said that they never talked and so she's never had to worry about moving them.  


2.  She got moved.  :)  Apparently, she figured out it's fun to talk about fun things with your friend while your teacher is teaching.  But she doesn't seem too upset.  She generally likes school very much and particularly enjoys going to PE and the library.  Last Wednesday, they went on a field trip (who DOESN'T remember and love field trips!) to Linder Farms and got to do all of the little activities out there, and pick out a little pumpkin. She had a great time!


3.  Olivia wanted to be a witch for the second year in a row.  I think she makes a pretty good witch, and after we finally figured out how to make the wig not scratch her head, she's a good sport about wearing the thing.

ADELAIDE:


1.  Obsessed with horses!! I got this for her for her Halloween costume and she wears it all the time, or drags it around behind her.  She has a couple of stuffed horses as well, and the cutest thing ever is when she puts the stuffed horse between her legs and waddles/rides it.  Always good for a smile.

2.  Did I mention it seems like we've been sick for the last two months? And this little girl has had some form of the flu about three times in the last 6 weeks or so.  She doesn't even go to daycare! Where is she getting it from?  Anyway, she's been a trooper.  And I have been, too!! I don't want to gross you out, but the amount of bodily fluids I've cleaned up in the last two months has been...depressing?  Disgusting?  Frustrating?  All of the above?


3.  I have been very busy the last couple of weeks, and more so in the weeks to come, getting Adelaide ready for preschool. There are a lot of evaluations and meetings that need to be completed and attended, and I've visited the preschool several times, trying to decide which classroom to put her in. She'll attend the preschool taught by the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB), and there are two classes: Total Communication (TC, essentially a signed english class) and Auditory-Oral (AO, NO sign, completely oral class).  I've been very conflicted because I use quite a bit of sign with her and I feel like it has been INVALUABLE in our communication. I can't tell you how many times she didn't have her implant on, for whatever reason, and I was still able to "talk" to her and know what she wanted.  She also understands better when she has that visual back-up.  And what parent doesn't want their kid to be bilingual?  And finally, she is deaf.  She always will be, and ASL is the language of deaf people.  I feel like I want to give her that, so if she wants to make that culture a bigger part of her life later on, she won't be held back.


Now, for the flip side of that.  Ken and I chose to have her bilaterally implanted with cochlear implants.  We want English to be her primary language.  That is made SO evident anytime that ANYONE talks to her.  She is comfortable with, and responds well, to a handful of people's voices that she hears all of the time. And of course, anytime there is background noise, it is also difficult for her to understand.  So if there is background noise, or a voice that she isn't familiar with, or someone who doesn't understand she is deaf, I'm constantly repeating/signing what they are saying to her.  This is fine for me now, I'm happy to do it. But, knowing her, I know that she would get frustrated by needing a translator all of the time.  And I want her to be able to communicate with her family, friends, the general population, in the language they all speak.  So, putting her in the AO classroom would force her to start learning that English, without any reinforcement from sign language.  Tough choices.


DIANA:


1.  The days and weeks go so quickly, it's frightening. I'm just sure that I'll wake up tomorrow and I'll be in my sixties.  For now, I'm enjoying the changing weather; watching the leaves fall and smelling the crisp air.  


2.  I ran a 10K with my cousin, Josh, a couple of weeks ago. The race course was on the greenbelt in Boise and it was a beautiful morning. Josh made me run faster than I ever run and I finished the race in just over 55 minutes.  And then Josh's girlfriend held my iPhone while I puked in the nearest trashcan. Not one of my finer moments; I blame it on no breakfast and Josh, for making me run so dang fast.

And just for good measure, here's a few pictures of the garden. We put it to bed a couple of weeks ago. Here is Uncle Dan and Uncle Mark harvesting potatoes on a SUPER old contraption. It made me laugh because I know how Andrew harvests their potatoes. Enough said. If you need more of an explanation, ask me.

Playing in the dirt will be missed.