Sibling love

This morning was like most mornings the kids were WIDE awake and rearing for some entertainment. M. went with Ed last night on what might be our last Costco visit in a long time (boycott due to fight with Coke), anyway M. got ice cream, that he didn’t finish but put in the freezer for later. At 9am he remembered it and got it out to eat and the following pictures will tell you about what happened next:

C. Found it.

M. took it back

She really wanted it.

He really didn’t want to share.

So she got something better.

    Now he wants to trade

Thinking about it.

     PLEASEEEEEE.

Nah, she kept it.

and so this is how my morning went. Of course she didn’t finish it and put it in the freezer for safe keeping, where he later found it and ate it.

Remembering Norah

Two years ago as I was reading through the days news my heart broke, my friend had lost her sweet Norah on her due date. As I hugged my daughter close to my heart I wept and prayed for this family.

Now, 2 years later we light a candle and place it in the window for the world to see.

Norah will always be remembered.

I know that she is forever watching over this family and someday her mother will get to hold her again.

Just because

Adventures

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest we have enjoyed the outdoors so much more than any other place we have lived. Could also help that both kids are at such an adventure seeking age that we can’t hold them back. The best part about where we live is that we don’t even need to get in our car to enjoy the outdoors. Our backyard is not huge but has enormous trees, hiding places, grass and a huge deck. The only things missing are a covered play area and a swing set (maybe Santa). Our neighborhood has a park with swings and a play set within walking distance (well some days carrying distance for Miss C.) There is also a stream that runs though and dumps into a pond, less than 1/8 of a mile from our house, where we have heard frogs live and seen ducks. All in all it is a really great neighborhood and we enjoy our afternoon walks.

Here are some pictures from these walks, the leaves falling have really added some excitement as well.

Really this is his new signature move. Too cute!

Beach Strolling

In the past 2 months I have been to the beach 3 times! It is so wonderful to live within a driving distance.

The beach holds a special place in my heart. Ed and I have been sharing the beach together almost since we first started dating. Just sitting together listening to the waves is enough for us to feel completely content. So every chance that we get we try to spend a little time at the beach.

It is great that the kids love the water as much as us, they ask to go all the time and we even went with Ouma when she was here, though Ed had to work and couldn’t go.

We finally were able to go as a family one wonderful Sunday afternoon, kids wore their rain boots and we headed to the shore. Everything was going great till a huge wave caught M. (and me) by surprise. He ended up getting to shore by the water with me chasing after him. A few scary moment but everyone was safe. We decided to dry off and head to the candy store instead ;)

Don’t worry though I’m sure we will head back there soon enough, this time though we will watch for the big waves and stay very far away, or at least wait till the water warms up.

Mr. M.

He is 4 years old. He is my hero. This morning as I laid in bed listening to them get up for the day I overheard the morning conversation between him and Miss C. it went a little like this:

M. Good Morning C.!

C. BUBBBA

M. Mommy's up, do you want help getting out.

C. yep, mommy, teddy, out.

M. Okay, you want Teddy.

and on it went. He is such a great big brother, always taking care of her and always watching out for her best interests.

When he was 1st diagnosed with Aspergers I was worried about how he would be with his sister and friends and what not. My fears are calmed, while they do have their moments, he is the greatest big brother there is. He is loving, giving and patient. For Halloween he would makes sure to always get a treat for C. and really he gave it to her and had no plans on keeping it for himself. It was so selfless.

If only we could have the love for others that he has, when we are out in the world he is always concerned about others. A smashed car , he is worried about the people’s who’s car it is. An ambulance goes by and he is worried abut the people inside. A child is crying and he wants to help them.

So today is dedicated to my little man, by whom who I became known as Mommy.

My love…

It's funny to me how a little time apart really makes the heart grow fonder. Except, every time we are apart I have had a little piece of him with me i.e. Mister M or Miss C. This trip has really opened my eyes to Ed's side of the whole traveling thing. While I know he has to travel for work, when I am in the midst of a 3 day single parent stint it so easy to forget how hard he really works. For that I admire him and so thankful for the wonderful husband and father that he is. I remember back when we first got married thinking "how can I love him more?" well time has truly shown me how much more. Each day it seems to grow and each day we become closer. Don't get me wrong neither one of us is perfect (as hard as we try), we each have our days, but through it all I always know that he loves me and I love him

Soon I will be home with my family and I can't wait! But for now here are the few things that I missed.

1. Ed, his loving touch at just the right moment, his willingness to tag team with the kids, his kisses and getting to share our day with each other every night.
   
2. My kids, this weekend I visited with 5 really great friends, most had their husbands with them and all had some of their children. What a great time it was, though my arms felt a little lonely. No one to hug while watching the fire, no one to worry about, just me. Though my friends' children were great and really fun I wish my kids could have met them too.
   
3. Our Bed, yes I missed my own bed because really no bed ever compares, plus Ed will be next to me
   
4. My car, I have had the Rodeo for over 10yrs, that 1/3 of my life and 2/3's of my driving time, so the little rental car I had just did not compare.
   

This trip was wonderful and THANK YOU Ed and Bruce (for a part ticket!) for making it happen. I will always treasure this trip and knowing that the kids while I was gone were in the best possible hands, their Daddy's, really calmed my fears.

I’m on my way…

Here I sit some 30000 miles above the ground, ready waiting and excited. Today I am off on an adventure off to meet up with some dear friends in the great state of Tennessee. Not everyone could make it, I am sad not to them but some day I will get to! I honestly am not sure but I don't think I have ever been to Tennessee.

This morning came a little early with the alarm going off at 3:30am for a 6:00am flight. After one kiss to each of my sleeping family I headed out into the dark stormy streets of Portland. Smart me thought "hey I don't need the GPS my phone has one" of course it choose today as the day not to work, must have been the rain. So with a little detour I eventually made it to airport (okay a big one and luckily I used some common sense and ended up getting to the airport right in the nick of time).

The plane was a little delayed as there was a small flood found in the back of the plane, I choose to sit close to the front for this flight, because really you can't be sure. Plus, it was dry.

The choice to come on this trip was really difficult for me. Time and money did not allow the kids or Ed to come with me so I was leaving them home with Ed for 3 days. Something I have never done before but really, always dreamed ofJ. Not in the bad way, the kids just love their Dad so much and a weekend with them will be good for all of them. Today the kids will be with a brand new babysitter while Ed works and of course I couldn't get the Magic Jack to work with Windows 7, so no phone in the house. I am praying she has a cell phone, I mean what 17 yr old doesn't right? Also, it doesn't help that I didn't think about the phone problem till 8pm last night.

The plane is getting ready to descend and soon the next part of my journey will begin!

ETA… she did not have a phone but everyone survived and the kids had a great day!

Loving and Missing

18 hrs ago I left our home; I have been missing them since.

Ed has been doing a great job, kids are fed and in bed. Hope they have fun this weekend!

It has been so long...

This summer has really taken a toll on my blogging. I can't believe how little time there is in the day, between 2 kids, 1 husband, 3 houses and some work oh and MOVING again who has time to do anything?

We have been here in Portland for just over 3 weeks and finally we are getting settled. This weekend we spent 2 great days together. Saturday we went trick-or-treating with the kids and it was a perfect night, moon, warmth and candy! We did miss the Perzack haunted house though!

I keep looking back at the past year and all the changes we have had.

Lets see, right now we have 3 houses to our name. The one we own in Utah, the one we are still renting in Nevada and the one we are currently living in Oregon. Crazy stuff, luckily the Nevada one will be done in less than 2 weeks. The one in Utah will be empty as of Dec. 1st so who knows what will happen there. It's funny, I had always wanted our home, in a neighborhood where our kids could grow up with friends they have known their whole lifes. Well here we are 2 moves later and looks like that dream has just been altered. I guess the old saying is true "go ahead and make plans God need a laugh today".

I must say that this move, while it has had it's tough moments, was not that bad. Of course having my mom here for 2 weeks was a great help and relief. Our last house there were a few friendly neighbors but really we rarely saw them and leaving was just not that hard (we had some great memories though). This neighborhood has been AMAZING. When we looked at this house (#33 in 3 days) the neighbor was very friendly and while we had a very hard choice, but I think we choose the right one. As luck would have it a woman in our old ward's sister in law lived up here and as luck would have it she also was in our new ward. So the day we moved in the Elders showed up and some great families from the ward came over to help out! They also brought over dinner that night which was amazing. In the 3 weeks we have been her we have made some friends and even a few house's over there are kids the same ages as M and C.

Ed has been enjoying work, he jumped right into it the monday we moved in, wish it could have been just a few days later but he has been doing amazing. We miss him greatly during the week and it is kinda tough getting used to the 8-5 m-f job vs the his old schedule. The weekends have been nice.

M has started preschool 4 days a week 2 hrs a day, about half of the services he was getting in Vegas but so far he has been adjusting well. Just today he "learned " to whistle. It was the greatest thing, he has been growing so much. He is such a great helper at school and truely is becoming a real little friend maker! The other day 2 "older" (like 9) boys were playing catch in the cul-de-sac and he and C. were their cheering squard, they so did not want him to play but he has so much fun cheering for them.

C. turned 2 and we moved, just like last year and she turned 1 and we moved. She is such an amazing spirit who really has brought such amazing energy to our family! She is as tough as they come and soo in love with her Daddy. M. is totally a mom and dad boy but Miss C. she is 100% a Daddy's girl. She has discovered Barbies in the last few weeks and loves dressing them, well really she only has 1 regular one and 1 one soft one but still she loves them. Her language skills are slowly emerging.

Me, I joined a mom's group here in town and actually went out to dinner with some of the girls. It was a HUGE step for me, that same day I also went to a Womans Lunchen for church. So that made 2 new groups in one day, I even took both kids to the events and survived. It is an adjustment getting used to a whole new state and area. I haven't moved to a new state since 1999, even with all the moves (9) since then always it has been between AZ, UT and NV well except for that 3 months in Cali in '03. We actually got Oregon Driver Licences and really that is a huge step.

So I have change the name of this blog to Little Leaps of Faith, since it seems really aren't all of our choices just little leaps of faith?