Rearranging Furniture

We spent yesterday un-decorating from Christmas and then rearranging some of our furniture. We moved a whole bunch of our bookshelves from our office to our living room. Now we just need to get another filing cabinet for the office and tuck away some of the miscellaneous papers lying around. Some can probably be tossed, but we need to go through it. That will probably be my job. Corey's job is moving the furniture. When it's done, our office will look a lot cleaner and more spacious. We're thinking of moving Travis into the office for a little bit while Caleb adjusts to sleeping in a toddler bed. Then we'll put Caleb and Westley back together and put Travis in his own room. I'm guessing all of this won't take place until later in the year. We still need to purchase mattresses for the bunk bed frame somebody gave us. We probably won't put the boys in a bunk bed until the end of 2007, though, just because I think Westley needs to be a little older to sleep on the top bunk.

After all this rearranging is done and we have the furniture figured out, I plan on painting. I'm not sure of the colors yet, but I'm sick of white walls. Makes me feel like I'm in an apartment still...

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I'm reminiscing on today's funny comments by Westley. This morning, when he was getting out of bed, he was bringing his ducky with him. His ducky is a once-plush rag-like yellow thing with a duck head and some arms. There is a silky orange heart in one corner that he likes to rub as he's falling asleep. Anyway, I told him to leave ducky on his bed, since I'm sick of having to rummage through the house for it at naptime and bedtime. I took Ducky out of his hands and tossed it back on the bed. Westley screamed and I told him to be quiet. Then he said, "That was Ducky screaming, Mom, because you were strangling him." What?!?

Another funny thing he said about his ducky. After nap, he brought ducky out of his room and came to the table for a snack. He put his ducky on the table. He is not allowed to do this--we don't allow the kids to put their toys on the kitchen table. Anyway, I told him to move his ducky and he responded with, "I have to put Ducky on the table so Snoopy won't pee on him." Our dog, Snoopy, hasn't peed on the kids' toys EVER. I don't know where he got that idea!

Then tonight at dinner, after his second serving of tuna casserole, he pointed to his stomach and said to me, "My tummy is big because it has food in it now. But it's not too big. I can have more caterpillar casserole" (which is what he calls tuna casserole because of the rotini pasta I use).

As I was leaving his room at bedtime, I said, "Goodnight, sleep tight," and he responded with, "Don't let the bugs bite." I don't remember ever saying this little rhyme to him because he is scared of bugs. I thought it was funny that he said that.

Kids sure say funny things sometime!

Travis

Travis is such a smiling boy! He is now 3 months old, as of December 23, and is very big for his age--he weighs about 16 pounds. At his last doctor appointment, he was in the 97th percentile for his age. Carrying him around makes my arm hurt after a short amount of time.

This last week, he started laughing when we tickle him. He's very smiley and loves it when anyone pays attention to him. He cries out in dismay when such affection suddenly ceases, such as when I leave to start dinner or take care of one of the older boys. He especially loves playing with Westley. Caleb doesn't pay too much attention to him yet; he's still somewhat oblivious to the fact that he has a baby brother. But Travis sure loves big brother Westley!

We are enjoying our happy little boy and looking forward to this next year as he grows into a toddler. It will be fun to see how his personality will blossom...

Raising Kids

Raising kids is tough business. There are so many things to remember, and it's hard to hit everything.

First, we have to make sure our kids get enough exercise. One hundred years ago, exercise happened naturally while kids did their daily chores and walked to school, etc. Now, we have to pencil in time for them to exercise. Even twenty years ago we were able to walk outside, shouting, "Mom, I'm going to so-and-so's to play! Be back by dinner!" Now, we have to keep watchful eyes over our children, never leaving them unsupervised, because the world is a more dangerous place. There are child predators lurking all around us. So it becomes easier to let your kids watch a lot of TV and make them play inside.

Even playing outside in the backyard can be a dangerous plight. There are safety concerns. In our backyard, we have grass, a couple of trees and a rock border. The rocks are a safety hazard--the boys will pick them up and throw them--at each other, at the dog, at the house, into the air conditioning unit, etc. Someone's likely to lose an eye. For Christmas, the boys got a climbing unit--a little fortress with a slide and rock wall for them to climb on and play on. Now it's a safety concern to leave them back there unsupervised, lest they fall and break an arm. Then child services could swoop in, claiming that we are negligent parents and tuck our kids away in foster homes that are far worse than their real home.

So getting exercise is a tough challenge. Then there's eating. With the rise of childhood obesity, we need to carefully watch what they eat in relation to how much exercise they get. My kids will only eat peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, and homemade macaroni and cheese. They eat a lot of fat in their diet (the peanut butter, the cheese, etc), and I constantly worry that they are going to be obese. At least I can get them to take a daily vitamin, Usanimals.

Then there's sun exposure. You're not supposed to send your kids out to play without slathering them from head to toe with sunscreen. Having three kids who like to play outside means I spend a good 15 minutes slathering sunscreen before they can enjoy the sunshine, even if they only decide to play out there for 15 minutes. If I don't, they could get skin cancer.

Anyway, I just had to get that out into the universe, some of my frustrations with raising kids. Nobody ever tells you how hard it truly is. Of course, if they did, would you believe them before having kids? Probably not...same as not believing that marriage is hard before tying the knot...

Christmas

Well, that was probably the first memorable Christmas since we've had kids. Corey cashed in some of his vacation hours and gave himself a nice little Christmas bonus, and we were able to get the boys bikes, a T-ball set, and some stocking stuffer candy and matchbox cars. We also received a great family gift from the grandparents (my parents)--a play structure for the yard. Corey set it up today (Dec 26) and the boys enjoyed playing on it.

As fun as this was, I feel I missed a great opportunity to teach my children the true meaning of Christmas. We made up some fudge and took that to the neighbors--I even had the boys hand the jars of fudge to them. We talked about the nativity on Christmas Eve, but it seemed like the whole season was spent dwelling on Santa Claus and presents, rather than focusing on the Savior, which is what Christmas is really about. Next year, I intend to focus more on that, and perhaps do a family service project that involves the kids. Maybe we'll go Christmas caroling. We did manage to squeeze in a visit to the Mesa Temple Lights, and I was pleased about that. Although at that point, I hadn't taught the boys about Christ's birth and what that had to do with Christmas.

I realize they're still young and will have lots of opportunities to learn about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas, but I didn't do as much as I would have liked to this year. I hope everyone had a merry Christmas--we had fun. The best part was having Daddy home for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We really enjoyed that!

The Past 10 Years

I decided to follow in my brother's footsteps and review the past 10 years as he did. It's interesting to see where the past 10 years has taken me: who I was then to who I am now and such.

The Past Ten Years:

One Year Ago (Dec 2005):
We had just moved into our new house in Queen Creek after waiting 9 months for it to be built. It took tremendous effort to get financing because we were required to show that we had a certain amount in savings. I'm not even sure how we did it--it was a miracle!

Two Years Ago (Dec 2004):
I had just had my second baby, Caleb Hansen, in October. We were living in Prescott and Corey was still a fourth manager at the new In-N-Out there. I had also just started my Children's Writing Course.

Three Years Ago (Dec 2003):
Westley was 7 months old and we were living in Southern California with Corey's mom, Marti. I was substitute teaching while Corey was working full-time at In-N-Out, trying to figure out what he wanted to do for schooling and looking at going into management.

Four Years Ago (Dec 2002):
We were living in Idaho Falls, ID. I was pregnant with Westley and very sick, and trying to juggle teaching a bilingual kindergarten with my morning sickness. Corey was working two jobs--at Sears in the shipping and receiving and as a teacher's aide in the 2nd grade at my school. Fortunately, he worked across the hall from me, and that was helpful having him so close by several hours every day.

Five Years Ago (Dec 2001):
Corey and I were celebrating our first six months of marriage, having gotten married in June. I was in my 2nd year of teaching 2nd grade at Vista San Gabriel Elementary in Palmdale, CA in the Wilsona School District. Corey was in his second year at the junior college in Lancaster and had finished up his football season. He was also working part time at In-N-Out.

Six Years Ago (Dec 2000):
I was in my first year of teaching 2nd grade at Vista San Gabriel Elementary in the Wilsona School District. I had just begun dating Corey (our first date was Dec 9, Corey's 22nd birthday). I was living in my own apartment in Lancaster, a cute little one bedroom, one bath. It was great having my own place!

Seven Years Ago (Dec 1999):
My parents found out they would be moving to Battle Creek, Michigan. I was in my final year at BYU, getting ready to start my semester of student teaching. I lived in Regency apt 23 with some great roommates.

Eight Years Ago (Dec 1998):
I was just getting ready to start my first semester of the Elementary Education program. I was moving from Allred Apartments south of campus to the Branbury apartments further away. I was still working as a secretary in the Chemistry Department. I was also celebrating my 21st birthday.

Nine Years Ago (Dec 1997):
I was living in Belmont #13 with great roommates and pining away because I had a missionary out. It was my second year at BYU and my first year working in the Chemistry Department, one of the most favorite jobs I ever had (because of who I got to work with). My family was still living in South Jordan and I made frequent visits home via UTA bus.

Ten Years Ago (Dec 1996):
I was living in the dorms (Deseret Towers) at BYU and finishing my first semester of college. I think I was quite stressed out by all the exams. I had just declared my major and was adjusting to college life.

That is a recap of the last ten years. Now that I look at it...not too interesting. Oh well. Guess some people just lead boring lives....