Friday, September 2, 2011

August list

August was a busy month!  These are the things that I don't want to forget:

  • So many things about my dad's funeral.  Like taking pictures with most of my first cousins.  There were 12 cousins, and the picture had 8. Not bad.  I think it's probably been 25 years since we've all been in a picture together, so it's pretty cool. I wish we had everyone.  Sorry, this picture is terrible...
 

  • Coming home from my dad's funeral and getting on the treadmill and running my guts out. It was like a little celebration of life. Kind of like saying: I'm still alive!  I'll sweat a lot and breath hard for a while to prove it.
  • Seeing so many of my dad's friends in the chapel.  From my view on the stand, I could see how full the church was and it made me so happy that so he was so loved.  
  • I also don't ever want to forget the details of the day when he died.  The people who came, the conversations we had, the food we ate, where we all slept.  I didn't realize it until about a week ago, but the night he passed away, 5 of the 6 of us were all sleeping under the same roof.  Just the 5 of us. I am sure that hasn't happened for many, many years.  We were all so...united that day.  United to send off a great man to heaven.  It had a similar feeling to the way it felt the days that my babies were born.  Maybe that is why we love newborn babies so much - because they bring the essence of the spirit world with them and we get to feel that place again.  It felt the same way when my dad passed over. Incredible.
  • I learned the value of pictures after I helped make a video slideshow for my the funeral.  Every moment you capture through your lens is one more that won't be forgotten, and will show that someone meant something to you.  So smile and deal with your picture being taken, okay?  It's for posterity.  And it will make your family very happy one day when you are gone.  End of lecture.


Ok, so some not-so-serious things I want to remember for Thomas:

  • Thomas mastered handstands. He still refuses to roll out of it after he gets up, but he can now truly stand on his hands and put both feet together.  It makes me ex-gymnast heart happy to see my kids upside down.
  • Thomas passed off his addition, subtraction, and multiplication flash cards at school.  Since he has worked on this task for 2 years, I figured enough was enough and started working on getting him to memorize the answers, instead of counting to get to the number.  A few years ago I taught him songs that went along with the number (7-14-21-28! Is sung to the Marine's "from the shores of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" song.)  He finally realized (with my help!) that he couldn't count up to the number fast enough and he should memorize.  He still has a hard time with 6*7, 6*8 & 6*6, but we are doing much better.
  • Thomas also started to read Harry Potter #4.  In what can only be called rashness, a few years ago I told him if he ever finished a book that had over 500 pages, I would give him $50.  I've not worried about having to pay up, but I might have to.  I've distracted him with the Shadow Children series, so he may not get back to Harry Potter for awhile. (insert evil laugh!!)
  • He turned 10! He's so big.  I can't believe I have a 10-year-old.  I am old.
My kids with all their grandparents.


And things about Ben:

  • Ben began to wear his hair in a faux-hawk.  He even has his own hair gel and uses it every day.  It is amazing how much that kid cares about how his hair looks - he's definitely not my kid.
  • Ben also hosted a "Summer Party." I'm a mean mother and didn't let my kids have a kid birthday party. So I let Ben invite a few friends over for games and pizza.  It still gave me proverbial hives, but since it wasn't a birthday party, I didn't worry as much that I was ruining his life by throwing lame parties.  Although little boys don't care about the content of the party - just that there was a party in the first place.  I think they had fun.
  • He likes to fight me everyday about doing his reading.  I think he does things just to be difficult.  I did check out Charlotte's Web to read outloud to him after I heard a Science Friday feature on EB White.  I just love the NPR.


Things about Shane:

  • He built a fence on the side of the yard.  Now we just need a gate and it'll be done!

  • Got the satisfaction of hearing me finally say that his phone is cooler than mine.  I was buying frames (see below!!) and if I had had a smartphone, I could have pulled up a coupon on my phone and got 25% more off. As it was, I had to drive to the library to print the coupon.  It might have been the best moment of his life (might!)


Other random things:

  • We bought a printer! It has a scanner and a fax and a copier!  We don't have to go to the neighbor's house anymore to print school work and church talks anymore.  Wahoo!  We are grown-ups now for sure. Although, the kids like to photocopy their feet and their faces and stuff, so yeah, we still act childishly.
  • We went to my great-niece's baby blessing.  Oakley is such a cute baby, and it was fun to see everyone for a happy event.
My sister Suzette with Oakley, who wasn't happy at the moment.

  • Framed a family picture AND my only wedding picture larger than a 4x6 (which I only have because my sweet mother-in-law took pity on us and gave us one of the ones she ordered!) and hung them in my entryway.  It looks so awesome!
The picture. I photoshopped out an electrical pole which was coming out of Shane's head.
Entryway before pictures

Entryway after hanging pictures

My wedding picture

  • I started training for the Provo Halloween Half-marathon.  The shirt is (and this is a quote from my  sister) "Bad-ass" which is enough of a reason to run, right?  Plus I'm going to come up with a costume, and nothing is more fun than running in a costume (provided that the costume is not annoying!)
  • Added some new music to my iPod:  AC/DC, Bob Dylan (thanks to The Help), and Foster the People (Pumped up Kicks - which is a jazzy tune which happens to be about a kid getting killed for his tennis shoes - it's a little disturbing, but so kicky!).
  • Books:  (I blogged about the best ones already) Uglies, part of Pretties (but I lost interest), and currently rereading The Help (after seeing the movie with my awesome friend Melanie.)


How was your August?  I have to admit, I love this September weather.  It's cool in the mornings!  I love it.

1 comment:

Amy Sorensen said...

1. LOVE the photos on your wall! So great.

2. Ditto on what you wrote about Dad's funeral.

3. Yeah for handstands! Even better and more useful in life than math!

4. Kaleb is the same way with reading that Ben is. Shocking!!! ;)

5. I love & adore that Pumped up Kicks song, too, despite its disturbing lyrics.

6. Sorry you didn't love the Westerfield books. I'm not sure what's wrong with me but I loved them. It was the hover boards I think.

7. It is definitely cool in the mornings here too! Love it!