Three Kids

You may have noticed the picture of our family on this blog lacks our family in its entirety. I am fully aware of this and have thought about getting around to update that for several months now. You may have also noticed that it's been a while since I have posted a blog. I have also noticed this. What you probably don't know is there's a pile of clothes too small for Kimball to wear laying in my bedroom, a mess of several undone projects lying around in our computer/craft room, books with bookmarks that haven't moved in months, and kids' toys scattered in every nook and cranny of my home. There is a kink I have been facing for half a year now, called three kids. Since Kimball's edition, I have entered a whole new realm of stress, multitasking, and involuntary selflessness.
I really enjoy the sweet moments of mothering: when my 4-year-old hands me weeds that have flowered and tells me he loves me all the way up to heaven and back, or when Elsie grabs my head and shoves it on her pillow, telling me to lay down with her "one more minute", and Kimball's laughs are always contagious. These moments are indeed precious, and well treasured.
However, there are plenty other moments of nose picking, diaper changing, spit-up cleaning, bum wiping, baby feeding, food warming, shoe tying, child dressing, teeth brushing, spill cleaning, fight stopping, tantrum throwing, disciplining, chore enforcing, and follow-throughing, that are mundane, tedious and/or hair pulling. They seem to never end, and still I must find time for cooking and cleaning and keeping up on regular household chores.
When I finally have a chance to breathe, I can do something constructive as a mother with my children and get some book reading, board game playing, ball throwing, chasing, hide-and-seeking, tickling, story-telling, crafting, teaching, giggling, and holding, hugging, and kissing. Motherhood definitely has it's rewards in sweet moments, but on a daily basis I frequently remind myself, "Rachel, you've always liked a challenge!" and then I dig my heels in, take a deep breath, and try to persevere without yelling, screaming, crying, throwing (an object, not my children), or quitting.
So, the piles may keep growing, blog posts may continue lagging, and books and projects will continue waiting, because I am searching for footing. As Kimball turns 6 months next week, I have noticed things are getting easier, and I feel like my tip toes are beginning to touch the ground after these 6 months of treading. It's exciting as I see things beginning to balance out and my life take on new meaning as it is shifting and adjusting as life is changing. What could be next?

A Better Sunday

Well, so far we're off on a better foot this Sunday than last. Here is a little overview of last weeks Sunday:
Reverence? It is something we teach in Family Home Evening over and over again, but there are weeks where the fruits of our labor are in serious drought! That was last Sunday. It all started during sacrament meeting when they were passing the sacrament. Worthy priesthood holders take the trays of bread and water to each pew and those who are worthy and willing to partake of the sacrament and renew there covenants, partake of the bread and water. This is the most important part of our Sabbath day worship. Well, a gentleman came to our pew with a tray of bread and Peter couldn't turn the opportunity down to strike up some conversation. "Did you know I'm a fast runner?" he asks. Not getting much of a response, he continues, "I AM!" Okay, I note to myself, we need to work on that.
Not 10 minutes later, after the sacrament thankfully, Mike pulls out an old small package of Sweetheart candy for Peter and Elsie to share. This does nothing but tick Elsie off. She yells out amongst the quiet, "I don't SHARE!", followed by a fit. So, it was out to the foyer for her.
As we split up into blocks, Peter and I went off to Primary and Elsie to Nursery. Apparently, during singing time in Nursery, Elsie got excited about her bellie-button and decided to lift up her dress to show everyone. This started a bit of a domino effect as other little girls thought that was a good idea as well. Ooops. Meanwhile, Peter is in Primary getting ready for Closing Exercises. We had just finished singing a reverent song and everyone was quiet and ready to start when we all hear being belted out, "YO HO, YO HO, A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME!" Yes, Peter was singing a solo. Sigh.
Church came to an end and later on in the day we decide to go visit a neighbor. Peter hopped onto his bike and we had a great visit. On our way home, Peter went on ahead and buzzed down the hill headed home. Only moments later we heard screams coming from the bottom of the hill. Mike handed Kimball off to me and went bolting down to our child's cries. Apparently, he had fallen and done a head plant in a pile of gravel from the wonderful chip 'n sealed roads. His forehead took the brunt of the fall, and he had cut himself pretty deep. From the sources of the kids around, they told me, "You should have seen it, there was blood everywhere!" Mike later vouched the same. I'm soooo glad Mike was there to save the day, and not me. We took him to the Insta Care where the doctor (who happend to be a lady!) deadened it with a patch (no needle thank goodness) and put in four stitches. As she was stitching him up she commented, "Oh, I see some muscle here." Ug. My stomach churned. Peter was sooo brave. He held very still and had incredible trust in his parents and care-givers.
However, by the end of the day we were all worn out. Mike took some pictures of Peter's head. I thought it was a bit morbid, but I promised I'd post them. I think it's a guy thing.:)
While the topical medicine was deadening the wound, it took about a half hour. The Insta Care was great because they brought in Bolt on a portable DVD player and had Peter completely in a trance.

here's the wound. It's not too big, but very disgusting.

It looks so much better today. We got the stitches out Friday and it is healing up so quickly. I am really relieved.

"This is What It's All About"

My family and I went to a funeral last Friday of Albert Miyasaki. He was my neighbor growing up and had a daughter my age. They lived next door to my family for 17 years. Our families were very close friends. I broke a number of their household items: chandelier, glass screen door, glasses.....you name it. Needless to say, they put up with a lot from me and I think a lot of the family. So, when "Good-ole-Al" died at age 58, it was hard to take in. My family and I drove the 2.5 hours to the funeral and my Aunt Anita (Thanks a ton!) watched Peter and Elsie for us while Mike, Kimball, and I went with my parents to the funeral. It was a tender service. My dad spoke and did a wonderful job as he talked about Albert's eagerness to serve and his sincere love and care he had for the individual. The phrase that stuck with me the most from the service is what I've titled this post.
Their son spoke at the funeral and told a story of when he was a troubled teenager and during one especially hard evening his dad, Albert, took him for a drive where they ended up at the temple grounds in Mesa. It was then he told his son as he pointed to the temple, "This is what it's all about."
I've thought about that phrase, and I must agree. Temples are a sacred place of worship for worthy LDS members. It is here where we make sacred covenants and we are sealed to our spouses and family for time and all eternity. Mike and I were married in the temple and so we will be together forever. When we die, nothing else much matters, but the way in which we have lived our life and the people that will be with us. The temple is what it's all about. I hope to always remember those words of wisdom and live my life as a testimony to that belief.

This weekend

This weekend my sisters came up and visited me! We had a fun time together, as is always the case. One night we had ice cream cones. It was Eden's (my niece) first cone and after a couple licks off the top, decided a big bit in the cone would taste good. We all laughed as we watched Eden and Elsie make a mess of themselves. They are the same age and they have sooooo much fun together!


Today at church during Primary, they were teaching the resurrection. Because of the death of Finners, Peter's fish, we have covered this topic countless times. One time Peter found a dead butterfly on the headlights of our car and told me he wanted to watch it be resurrected, so he sat still and stared at it for a while. He finally gave up and asked me to hold it until it was resurrected instead. Anyhow, I think we've got it cleared up now. So, at church, the question was asked, "What does it mean to be resurrected?"
Peter raised his hand and blurted out, "It means to rise with living breath!" (He is quoting a song they had just been singing).
The teacher said, "Yes, you're right," and then looking over at me added, "your mom is teaching you well!"
Don't worry, Peter set her straight as he replied with a pointing finger, "No, she didn't teach me. I just knew that already!" With that he folded his arms, and smirked in satisfaction for several minutes. It was too cute. As the teacher was wrapping her lesson up, she asked one more question.
"So, why do we want to be resurrected?"
Peter pragmatically blurted out (again), "Because it's no fun being DEAD!"
Now it was everybody else's turn in the primary to smirk, trying to hold in our giggles. Point well taken, Peter.

Cheers to Friends

The past couple weeks have been somewhat emmotional for me as I had a dear friend and neighbor of mine move far away. I am really going to miss Natelie. She was one of those friends I could call up and complain to, invite her over for lunch, picnic in the park with, and dump my kids off on when I needed a break. She would do the same to me, which was all the more enjoyable, knowing I wasn't the only one who needed some friendship. It's all a bit devastating because those friendships don't come around every day. However, living away from family, I know the benefits of phones, good long distance plans, and emails. Thanks Natelie for everything!
Last week was also a time to meet new people for me. My sister, Lanita's, dear friend, whom I have never met, was in town and stopped by to drop off a package from Lanita for me. She stayed for a while and I was able to get to know her a bit. Her name is Jen, and she is becoming my family's 4th sister. I had a great time and really appreciated her help as I happend to be tending a couple kids at the time.
So, the lesson I've learned is that even though it's hard to say good-bye and it makes me wonder if friends are even worth it, knowing good, uplifting people have brought some of the greatest blessings in my life.
Here's a picture Peter took of Jen and I:

My Birthday Present

Last week was my birthday. It was a pretty crazy day and I was glad when Mike came home and things could finally slow down a bit. After dinner, we quickly frosted some cupcakes I had managed to make and threw a few presents on the table. As we were getting to work to "celebrate" Peter was noticing that he had forgotten to get me a present. He came over to me and, grabbing around my leg sweetly, said, "Mom, I didn't get you a present. Do you want to know why?"
"Why?" I asked. I was hardly listening and a little annoyed I couldn't use my leg at the moment.
He genuinely replied, "Because today I am giving you my heart."
I was so touched and I told him that was the best present he could have given me. After such a busy day and feeling like I was just going through the motions of celebrating, Peter caught me off guard and reminded me how truly blessed I am.
Maybe I made too big of a deal about it because a little while later he turned to his dad and said, "and what are you giving Mom, Dad?"

Here are a couple pictures. The first one is of the kids doing their clean-up job after we sprinkled the cupcakes.

Here's to Apolo!

Alright, I'm a bit ticked off. I just watched Apolo race the 500m, and I for one thought he totally deserved the silver! Whatever and good riddance to the ref who disqualified him for touching Mr. Canada. Since when does a touch on the hip deserve a disqualification in short-track? So, Apolo, I know you'll never read this blog, but I'm saying, "Good Job and well done! You've shown great sportsmanship and you have torn the track up!"
I would just like to take a poll: all those who think Apolo deserved the silver, comment here!