Parenting 101

If I were to write a Parenting 101 book there would be a section on grocery shopping. It would discuss how if children were to compare the way parents shop for groceries, the fathers would have a higher approval rating versus the mothers.

My point being is that when Jeff does a grocery run he will usually come home with a greater selection of kid-friendly food than I might (chocolate milk, multiple varieties of cereals, chips, ice cream, & frozen pizza). Not that I'm complaining, because Jeff really is great. Having a husband/father who doesn't mind grocery shopping isn't something to complain about.

One day I was talking to Erik about his day at school. Lunch/recess is usually his favorite part and so that is what we talk about. I'll ask him what he ate, who he sat by, and what games he played during recess.

This particular day Erik said how he picked chocolate milk to drink. I asked him if he ever picked the white milk. Erik replied, "Ah Mom, we eat mostly healthy food for breakfast and dinner. At lunch I like to have a little fun."

The way he said it just cracked me up, "...have a little fun". My son is living on the edge with his chocolate milk drinking habits. Hahaha.

Easier said than done.

What is easier said than done? Oh all sorts of sayings come to mind but the one that stands out is "Enjoy the Journey." I'm telling you what, I had to repeat those 3 words every day during the month of September in hopes that eventually I'd believe it.

Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey.

I found myself day dreaming how much easier it would be to enjoy the stinkin' journey if I had a strong and healthy body.

There were moments where I quit grumbling long enough to remind myself that when I was als free I took my health for granted and found other things to be wishing for. It is easy to wish for and surround ourselves with stuff and fluff and crap that just doesn't matter.

Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey.

I know I'm not alone and that many others had a challenging month for one reason or another. With that being said if you now find yourself in 3 days into October you deserve a pat on the back or a high-five. Maybe I will make and distribute t-shirts that say:

"I Survived September 2009"
or
"I survived September '09 & all I got was this crummy t-shirt."

Ready or not here is October and there is a big bowl of candy waiting at the end.

Labor Day Weekend

We went to visit my parents over Labor Day Weekend and had a wonderful time.

The weekend was filled with activities like: an amazing trout dinner, visiting the farm where my mom grew up, looking for the Monarch caterpillars, picking raspberries to top the breakfast crepes, making arrows out of cattails & bows out of dogwood branches, not letting Jeff win in the game "Settlers" (wha-hoo Mom and Lisa!), and loading up with fresh produce from my parents huge garden.





Saturday night my Aunt Julie and her husband Alan hosted a trout dinner at their home. I'm telling you what, this was the best trout I've ever eaten. It was melt in your mouth good. From the pictures I took that turned out here is a quick look at some of the family group.


Set up the grills, melt a cube (or two) of butter, put on the trout and MMMmmm!

Butts & Grudges

Since my mom was in town for part of the weekend to spend time with the grand kids, Jeff and I got a chance to head out on a Southern Utah daytrip.

In total we drove down south about 4-5 hours to Calf Creek which is between Boulder and Escalante. It is a beautiful trail that follows a creek back a couple of miles to a waterfall. Before we even drove down I knew I wouldn't make it the entire way to the waterfall because unfortunately a 4 mile round trip hike in sand is too much for me. Jeff and I hiked around a bit and then drove on a back country road called the "Devil's Backbone". Even though I've never lived here this desert country feels like home, and it was good to be back even if only for a few hours. We initially left home at 5:45am and arrived back around 7:30pm.

On these long drives we usually don't talk a ton but will listen to a book on tape. This trip wasn't any different, although there were a couple of conversations which stood out.

One story Jeff shared came from a mission companion. While this guy was in high school he was on the basketball team. One day the coach was really upset and was just chewing the team out. In his frustration the coach yelled, "you've got to pull your butts out of your heads!!!" Jeff's friend thought this was funny (although he wisely didn't laugh) because of course what the angry coach meant to say was "you've got to pull your head out of your butt." Which is a rather rude way of saying "get your act together."

Later on I was relating to Jeff an experience I had last summer. I was visiting my parents and sister and we took the kids to a place called Willow Park. While there I saw an individual I hadn't seen in years. Background: This person and I were 2 people out of 5 who had worked for an extended time period on a group project during college. Short story is that there was a tremendous amount of unnecessary DRAMA surrounding this group. In the end I was quite happy to have moved on. Or I thought I had moved on. But 11 years later, once my brain registered who it was, I played the "I don't see you game" and tried to avoid her. Turns out I had been holding a grudge FOR YEARS and never realized it until that moment. In looking back I really wish we would have talked.

I have done a fair amount of grudge holding in my life...and I'm trying to get past it.

This story has an end!
And it is this: Holding a grudge and the phrase
"pull your butt out of your head!"
have 3 things in common:

1- Both take a lot of effort.
2- Both are a waste of time.
3- Neither one really makes any sense.

In the center of this photo you can see a teenage kid standing on a rock. He and some family had spent the previous 4 days riding 4-wheelers around Utah back country. They were visiting from Kansas.

Reschedule

Yesterday, August 19th, was initially set aside for a clinic day. But in early August I decided to push the appointment back a couple of months. I rescheduled. So instead my day was spent offering landscape suggestions to a friend, picking Claire up from kindergarten, errands, birthday party carpool, talking to distant friends on the phone, doing some dishes, reading books with all 3 kids and eating a bowl of ice cream with Jeff. It was a good day.

I look at my body and think that there have not been a lot of changes since my last clinic day. While there have not been any significant changes, muscle atrophy remains my ever constant (and always unwelcome) companion. One big example would be how much more difficult the same hikes are this year compared to last year. And despite my new poles I still manage to trip at least once per hike. One small example would be how I can't push open safety pins with my thumb.

There has been another change which is: I don't mind talking about als when people have questions. I think I realized this when one day Jeff's brother sat down next to me, took my hand and examined it. He then compared it to his wife's. Later he said something along the lines of how there wasn't much muscle left at all in my hand.

Don't you think that any of us are alive at the end of the day is a miracle? There are so many things which can go wrong on any given day. Considering that, I have over 33 years worth of miracles as it is. I love being able to laugh, cheer, scream, cry, hurt, forgive, be forgiven, heal, pray, love, and laugh some more.

And at the end of the day I love being grateful for one more miracle.

Casa de Pollo

For the past three years I have taken my kids to the local IFA store in early spring when the baby chickens come in. Every year Erik and Claire ask for one. And every year I say no. Well this was the year of the chicken, so for Easter I surprised both Erik and Claire with two chicks.

(It isn't really "the year of the chicken", I think the correct animal for the chinese calendar is the ox/bull/cow...but frankly considering the size of our backyard the bovine just weren't an option.)

Erik named his chick Rocko (yes Rocko is a reoccurring pet name in our family) and Claire named hers Sarah. They turned out to be great pets. After they were a month or so old they would spend the entire day in the backyard scratching in the dirt and eating bugs. They would take naps on our lap, and would run to us when they saw us carrying their bag of chicken feed.

When we got them there was an "exit strategy" in place. Erik and Claire knew that they would be temporary pets and after 5 or 6 weeks they would go to a different home. That 2nd home turned out to be that of Jeff's uncle and aunt, Randy and Marie. During the day these chickens are still free range, running around keeping Randy's enormous garden pest free. At night they have a fancy little coop to keep them safe. I'm telling you they have the good life.

Photos from when we visited the chickens last month.

Megan holding Sarah.

Erik and Rocko.

This third chicken belonged to our neighbor Ben, but it also joined the others at Randy & Marie's. Here is Ben reunited with 'Chicken Nugget'. The bird is MUCH larger than when Ben saw him last and it appears he is not quite sure what to think!

Chickens before...
...and after.

Yup, I love him.

In looking for a picture for this post it was hard to find one of just Jeff.

The pictures I came across were Jeff and Meg making breakfast for us. Jeff reading books to Claire. Jeff and Erik fishing. Jeff giving Meg a ride in the baby backpack. Jeff and Claire on the beach. Jeff and Erik pruning trees. This photo I used comes from February 2009. I took it just before Jeff took Claire to a Daddy/Daughter Dance. Claire was so excited to go out with her Dad and Jeff was looking all handsome in his suit (he cleans up nice).

There are plenty of things Jeff does and things I do which the other person finds annoying. But without a doubt we are good for each other. I love him. A lot.