Handmade Christmas

Disclaimer first: Yes, I realize it's been two and a half months since I last updated, and we've gone through a move and a whole slough of changes in my family, and I haven't documented any of it on my blog. On top of that, there are birthdays and holidays I haven't covered. I'm hoping against hope that I'll play catch-up after the new year, and you'll all be so sick of my posts that you'll be begging for me to go back to this nearly quarterly update thing. ;) But in the meantime, I thought I'd cover some stuff that I want to show off now, and not later.

Since Jesse is out of work and we don't have an income beyond unemployment, which, predictably, doesn't cover all of our costs, I decided to make a lot of gifts for the kids by hand this year. We were able to buy some things as well, thanks to some money that my mom and dad sent out, and they also got gifts from Newson relatives... but I was really excited by the things I made by hand this year. So much that every time someone asked me about my Christmas, all I could remember were the things I made.

I started the sewing binge by finally making Melinda, Jacob and Alex some stockings to match the pair I made for Jesse and myself before we had any kids. Here are all of our stockings lined up: Jesse, Becky, Melinda, Jacob and Alex. Melinda and Jacob picked their own accent fabrics from Grandma Newson's stash:

For Melinda, I made:
A fuzzy/corduroy blanket. Honestly, even with sale prices at Joann's Fabrics, the fabric for this was a splurge. But the embroidered corduroy was on sale for the same price as regular corduroy, and I made it big enough that she'll be able to enjoy through adulthood. And I hope she will. I keep wishing I had made one for myself. ;) It was also, by far, the quickest of all my sewing projects. I finished it in one night. And note of interest-- I didn't realize that the embroidered corduroy was not as wide as the pink fuzzy material. My mother-in-law Nedra happened to have a darker purple corduroy in her fabric stash that she generously let me use to supplement what I had purchased (she also did this with various other fabrics for other projects I had!). I *love* the way it turned out... it's like I did it on purpose.

I also made Melinda a matching scripture tote. We got her a new Bible and Book of Mormon, and I took the leftover corduroy and some hot-pink knit and made a tote bag to fit them snugly. It was my second time ever making a tote bag, and only the first time without someone to guide me, so the process of figuring out measurements and everything took me quite a while. It was a two-night venture. And the embroidered pocket still ended up lower than I meant it to. Oh, well.

For Jacob, I made a scripture tote as well. He loves it to pieces. The fabric I used was purchased earlier in the year when I spotted it on etsy.com. I fell in love with it (I *adore* the owls and woodland creatures, and color scheme in general!), and knew I would think of something to use it for eventually. I was leaning towards a cuddle blanket, but this works just as nicely. I very nearly finished Jacob's scripture tote in a single night, thanks to figuring out the process and measurements when I had made Melinda's tote. I only wish I had thought to reinforce the handles a bit somehow, as they're flimsy with just a single layer of cotton fabric.

One idea I had for all three kids was to make a set of bombs. Like I've mentioned before, my kids just love watching and playing video games. Jesse's made toys for them before, like foam swords and cardboard/duct-tape shields, and Metroid "guns" out of drink bottles, and they always love pretending with them so much. So one of the games they love to pretend is The Legend of Zelda. It's got a lot of fantasy elements in it, and you often need to use bombs to clear a pathway, etc. in the environment. So I found a pattern for sewing balls, and then we used braided cotton rope to make a "fuse". Nedra had some fabric pigment markers that we colored orange, yellow and red on the ends of the fuse, to make it look like they were lit. Then we also made a bag, since you can't have bombs without a bomb bag! They knew what these were the very instant they opened them up, and have enjoyed playing with them. I only made three bombs, one for each kid, but Jacob wants me to make more so he can keep more in the bag while someone else is playing with them. Also, this is the best picture I got of them, since I forgot to take a picture when I made them.

I ended up having enough time on Christmas Eve to sew a few very last-minute ideas: A Zelda hat for Jacob, and a couple keys like you would find in one of the dungeons in the game. I'm glad I got to do those, as Jacob has been running around in full Zelda gear the last few days: Hat, bomb bag, keys, sword and shield. He keeps telling me that he wants a whole costume, though... But that's more work than I can handle at the moment. I'd like to make him a harness to attach his sword on his back at some point, however.

Alex's handmade gift was quite an undertaking. I thought it would be quick...and it wasn't. I made a Mr. Potato Head completely out of felt and velcro. It's a lot of fun, and I'm glad I made it, but whew, I'm glad it's over!! (It's just one Potato Head, with multiple pieces.)

Detail of the pocket... I made just a basic pocket first, and I could barely fit my hand in it... forget about 16 stuffed pieces!! So I cut it out and added a bigger pleated section that I hand stitched on. Because there was no way I was unstuffing the thing so I could rip out the pocket and sew one on with the machine. Just my luck, the new pleated pocket fits the pieces exactly.

I was also going to make pajamas for all three of them with some fabric that Nedra and my sister-in-law Rachel picked out for me, but I simply ran out of time to even attempt it. Hopefully I'll get to it before winter is over, though. :) Binge-sewing kind of got me looking forward to more projects again. I've been designing a make-up organizer in my head, and I also need to finish up the baby blankets I promised to my sisters before their daughters have their first birthday!

Shocking!!

I have a blog!!  Who knew?!

I promise I think about updating almost every day.... but then I don't.  I *could* use the "life is busy" excuse, but who am I kidding?  I make time to play a few rounds of Bejeweled every day, and update my Facebook status... yet I don't stop over here to write a few words about my day.  Or my week.  Or apparently even my month.  I just haven't been able to commit the energy to put my thoughts into so many words, I guess.

Anyway.  I obviously don't have quite enough free time to sit down and really blog about my last month or two or three.  Even though I want to.  I want to share all the pictures and videos from Jacob's birthday two whole months ago.  All the fun photos from the last-minute summertime things we did before Melinda started school.  All the details about how very much Melinda's enjoying Kindergarten.  All the leaps and bounds Alex is making into toddlerhood.  But those will all have to wait.

For now, I'll fill you in on the life-changing details that you may not be aware of if you don't keep up with me otherwise.  Since Jesse lost his job last month, and our apartment lease ends on October 31st, we need a place to live.  We still have our condo back in Louisville, Colorado, and our renters' lease was up on October 1st.  Since Jesse wants to work in Colorado ideally, and we'd honestly both love to settle there with our family, it makes sense to go ahead and go back.  So that's what we're doing.

On October 27th, just over a week from today, we'll be getting a moving truck through ABF, and packing it up.  We've been slowly packing our things in boxes over the last month (and boxes + kids make the best entertainment ever!!), but we'll really crack down hard for the rest of the week, beginning the fun of living out of suitcases while we pack away everything we don't absolutely need.  Our goal is to be on the road by the 28th, maybe the 29th, depending on how long it takes to clean up after ourselves.  ABF drives the moving truck for us... we just have to get ourselves there.  It's a 26 hour drive, if you ask Google Maps (by way of I-70), and we're thinking of trying to make it in two days.  The longest road trip we've taken with the kids was about 9 hours, and they did great for that... but who knows how they'll tolerate a 14+ hour drive.  We'd love to get at least as far as St. Louis, Missouri on the first day, but really, our plan is to go as far as we can, till we can't stand it anymore.  We just want to get the drive over with, save a few bucks on less hotel nights, etc.  And, if we have a reeeeeally long first day, if we need to take 2 more days, at least they will both feel nice and short by comparison.

I've been trying to get rid of a lot of things in preparation for our move, but apparently nobody wants my stuff.  ;)  I took all the baby clothes out of the closet, sorted them, washed them, and took them to a consignment store across the street.  They only took about 1/3 of those clothes, because they have ridiculously high standards.  I tried listing a bunch of stuff on Craigslist, too, but only got one bite.  Thankfully, that was on my biggest bunch of clothes, and I got myself $40 out of it, but I really wanted to get rid of it all.  And I will, one way or another.  If nobody wants to buy them, they're going to be given away for free.  I'm not hauling them halfway across the country to store in a condo almost half the size of where we currently live.  I'm keeping the boys 2T clothes for Alex to grow into, but everything else is going.  And someday, when we have another child, I'll have tons of fun getting new clothes!  Hopefully it will be a bunch of baby girl clothes, because seriously -- getting rid of the baby girl clothes is breaking my heart in strange, nonsensical, unreasonable ways.  I'm not a girly girl, I didn't dress Melinda like a girly girl, but oh, I love those adorable little outfits.

I've also been trying to get rid of a few toys and pieces of furniture with varying success.  Since we won't have a playroom, the toys will belong in the kid's bedroom.  Maybe a few of them will be allowed in our living room, but I've rather grown to like having the toys stored out of my living space at the end of the day.  And I won't be taking my desk with me.  It's too big and bulky, and starting to look really shoddy anyway.  All that lovely top-quality veneer has been peeling off.  So we'll take Jesse's desk, which will disassemble nicely for moving, and we'll come up with some creative way to have both of our computers in the living room, somehow. 

We also just passed on Alex's high chair.  He's apparently such a big boy these days that he's been in love with sitting on a grown-up chair.  Well, standing more than sitting.  The first time I let him sit at the table at an adult chair, I gave him a shoebox to sit on.  He LOVED it.  Every time he went to the table after that, for the next week at least, if the box wasn't sitting there waiting for him, he looked around for it expectantly with an audible harrumph.  Because he is so entitled to sitting like a big boy at the table!  At least, he thinks he is.  ;)

Anyway, bottom line is that we're getting ready to go.  We've been saying our goodbyes, prepping ourselves emotionally as well as physically, and we've got all of one weekend left in Maryland.  It will be incredibly sad to leave the good friends we've made here.  It will be hard to say goodbye to the place I gave birth to all three of my children.  But... we've missed Colorado so much.  We've been aching to go back.  Now we're actually going!  It would be lovely if it were on a more positive note, but we're confident that the employment piece of the puzzle will work itself out with time.  I know we're following the path the Lord wants us to take.  And while we wait to figure out the how and why of it all, we'll very much enjoy living close to relatives - Grandma and Grandpa Newson, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ben and Aunt Brea - and being in our old stomping grounds.  Plus, the weather these days is practically chasing me away from Maryland.  It's been rainy, gray, and cold for almost 4 straight days.  And here I thought I got away from Seattle years ago!!   Granted, the autumn colors are just starting to show all their glory... but I need the sun.  NEED IT!  Doesn't matter if it's cold or hot, just give me anything but gray.  All gray does is make sad things even sadder.  And saying goodbye to your home and friends from the last six years is sad enough.

In the meantime, please do keep us in your prayers.  I'm sure it won't be a perfectly smooth transition (Melinda's already completely up in arms about having to switch to half-day Kindergarten once we get to Colorado), and we're very concerned about the van's ability to make the trip.  It's been giving us so much trouble the last several months.  Jesse keeps saying we may need angels to carry it... or that we'll get all the way to his parent's house (where we'll be staying until our things arrive with the ABF truck), and the van will just heave and fall to pieces as soon as we're in their driveway.  The good news is that we'll be able to walk pretty much anywhere we need to go, from our condo.  But, please keep our safety and sanity in your prayers- we'd appreciate it so much.  Being stranded in the middle of Kansas because of car troubles, with 3 kids in tow, in late October, is not a trial I would like to experience. 

I probably won't make any other updates until after we're in Colorado, and probably not until after we're at least mostly settled.   Adventure awaits us!  May we greet it with happy hearts.

Facebook Friday

Look!! I remembered to do Facebook Friday... on Friday!! Aren't you happy? Aren't you proud? Aren't you.... oh, wait. That's right, I went multiple weeks again, didn't I? So even though it's a Friday, it will still be a super-long Facebook status catch-up. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers!

Let's get the ball rolling with .... wait for it.....
....
August 24th
1:43pm

Becky is trying to think of fun things to do all week while Jesse's home from work on a forced week off. Looks like great weather, so I suppose we'll be getting plenty of last-minute summertime things into our week!

2:43pm
Becky just spent a maddening 45 minutes with a calculator, spreadsheets, scratch pieces of paper, trying to explain the discrepancy between my online checking balance and my register balance. Finally found $12 I forgot to write down after sending off some PayPal earlier in the month. Doh!

August 25th
4:32pm
Becky got to hang out at Kilgore Falls with the family this afternoon. Beautiful day, beautiful spot, lots of cool refreshing water, and great scenery. ♥ A bee stung Melinda's hand only 1 minute after we sat down to have a picnic. She probably breathed on it wrong or something... but that was traumatic for her (first bee sting for any of our children!)... Finally got distracted enough to enjoy herself.

10:32pm
Becky wonders if seeing 6 deer in one day is some sort of omen, or possibly a sign of good luck. (Of course, not hitting any of them could be construed as good luck in and of itself!)

August 26th
12:02pm
Becky didn't sleep so great last night, but it still trying to get in the fun stuff before Melinda starts school. Bike ride, check. Swimming to come after lunch sometime.

5:29pm
Swimming: Check. Got Jesse to smile by starting a splash fight. He continues to insist it wasn't fun. ;) Next up, off to donate blood. Hoping I don't get woozy or faint... last time went pretty well, hope it's the same again.

6:40pm
Becky didn't get to have a date with the vampires today, after all. Iron was too low. And, of course, the very first thing on the list of remedies is chocolate ice cream. Well, my list, not theirs. ;)

August 27th
3:26pm

Becky spent a few hours out on the beach of the Bay (Hammerman Area of Gunpowder state park), probably got a little too much sun, and had to hold Alex the whole time, who disliked both sand and water. Resting for a short while, and then we'll be heading off to Melinda's school orientation night. Exciting!

9:14pm
Becky is berating herself for turning off her computer when Jesse warned her not to. Stupid thing craps out and hangs up on the mup.sys file every now and then, and is incredibly difficult to get working again after doing so. It's been not working all day, and my hero Jesse is *trying* to get it working again. I have a photoshop project I stupidly only saved on my desktop instead of on my external hard drive! :(

August 28th
2:12pm
Becky had a little emotional meltdown last night because of frustrating computer stuff. And then good sleep was interrupted by an INSANELY constant lightning storm (looked like strobe lights I could see through my eyelids!). And of course, young kids don't like thunderstorms at 1-2am, either. Yawn. Is it naptime yet?

9:42pm
Melinda's been saying for a few days now that she doesn't want to go to Kindergarten. Finally got it out of her tonight that she's worried she'll miss her family. (aww! ♥ ) So I told her all about when I was in Kindergarten, the things I did, what I thought of it, how I liked it... and even one of my most embarrassing memories. She seemed much better and more interested in going to school, after all that. 3 days!

August 29th
11:22am
Becky convinced Jesse (without much effort) that we should get donuts for breakfast. Mmmm. And thanks to starting the mountains of laundry last night, I'll probably finish before midnight tonight! Whoopeeeeee!

10:53pm
Becky was watching Jacob interact with Jesse earlier today. Jacob patted Jesse's head, his thinning hairline, and said with complete honesty, "Daddy, I like your big forehead." And then, after a few moments, "I want my hair cut short, too!" (As in, a bald forehead??) ♥

August 30th
4:43pm
Becky snuck in an "I'm-exhauted" nap back in the bedroom. Woke up startled and panicked to Alex screaming over 20 minutes ago (he was closed in the playroom while daddy cleaned up a mess Alex had made). Still in a groggy-just-woke-up-badly sort of state.

8:49pm
Becky is cautiously excited for tomorrow, Melinda's first day of school! She got a father's blessing from Jesse tonight, and we made up "get ready for school" chart to help her in the mornings. She doesn't seem nervous anymore!


August 31st
10:14am
Becky was completely panicked when we were leaving the grocery store and I saw that Alex was not in the front of the car-cart. "Oh NO!! Where's Alex?!" Without a second of hesitation, I turned on a dime and dashed towards the store to search for him. Jesse yells, "BECKY. He's in your ARMS."

2:21pm
Becky just got back from Melinda's 1st day of school. (Though it seems deceitful, to call it a day, when it was really only 1hr., with 2 other kids...) Loved the teacher, though I wish all that effort teaching Melinda to read wasn't just so she c...ould go and learn the ABC's for a couple months before they even start phonics. Still, I think she'll really like it. Tomorrow is a half day, and then Wed. is the REAL 1st day.

September 1st
2:53pm
Becky was going to go swimming with friends after Melinda's 2 hours of school today, but they have colds and the air is chilly (Well, chilly compared to 90 and humid, that's for sure). Trying to come up with a game plan for this afternoon. Looks like I have to add the bookstore to it, since I totally forgot that Suzanne Collin's sequel to The Hunger Games is out today!!

September 2nd
12:05am
Becky is up way too late, doing things like showering, making breakfast ahead of time, making a fancy note to stick in Melinda's lunch box, all trying to get ready for Melinda's first REAL day of school, and hoping we aren't late in the morning!

11:38am
Melinda's at school, and should just be finishing up her lunch break. Picking her up in about 4 more hours. Took Alex and Jacob for a long walk this morning, but it's definitely too quiet around here. Well, maybe not *too* quiet. Anything's better than constant arguments, I guess!


1:18pm
Becky promised myself an hour ago that I would quickly check email/facebook, then go run the dishwasher, then sit down and fill out Kindergarten paperwork I've been putting off for 2 days. I'm still in front of my computer.

4:00pm
Yaaaaay! Melinda's home from school!! And she had a good day!!


September 3rd
8:50pm
Between the power being out till 2pm, playing with friends, and getting heavily absorbed in Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, I haven't turned on my computer at all today!

September 4th
1:33pm
Becky just finished reading Catching Fire. SO GOOD!! But ahhhhhh, when can I read the next book in the series?!? Such torture to wait!

10:22pm
Becky is seriously contemplating bed, as the eyelids are drooping beyond my ability to keep them open, and it's only 10:20. Methinks this week of school has been far, far more tiring for me than it has been for Melinda.


September 6th
2:48pm
Becky is trying to figure out if Alex will need to be taken to urgent care and get stitches for a gash on his eyebrow. (Jacob pushed him, playfully, into a corner.) It's not bleeding profusely, so much as it's just oozing very slowly, but it's kinda gaping open. Jesse's out looking for some liquid stitches, in the meantime, and I already shaved the poor little guy's eyebrow.

4:30pm
Becky took Alex to urgent care, after all. The doc there agreed that it was fairly superficial, but agreed about minimizing the scar. We ended up going with some dermabond skin glue, and Alex was magically calm through the whole thing, though he's currently fingering his owie & saying "eee". Jesse thinks it looks pretty jagged right now... But what's done is done. Not like an eyebrow scar can possibly look pretty.

September 7th
3:59pm
Becky is feeling a bit of a failure. I *tried* to think of only inexpensive meals for our coming week, but still ended up spending $160 on groceries for the week. I can't imagine how I'll *really* be able to drop our grocery budget significantly unless I go total beans-and-rice crazy, and never buy fresh produce. And my kids hate eating rice.
>>> Got some good ideas from people on Facebook and over the phone. Hopefully I'll do better this week!

10:06pm
Becky gets very frustrated on nights like tonight, where it takes 1.5 hours for Alex to fall asleep (fighting the whole time), long after somersaulting, wall-kicking Jacob manages to pass out peacefully. Even a nice warm shower didn't cure my "stompy" mood. Maybe a good night's rest will.

September 8th
9:47am
Becky is about to go hunting for shoes again. My last hunt yielded some nice summer shoes after a lot of pain and frustration (those darn size 10 feet!), but I'm going to need something for the upcoming cold and rain, since my last shoes died on me. ... Wish me luck... I'm hoping I can find something without spending multiple weeks looking!
>>> Found some good shoes for dressy casual, but still looking for something comfortable for every-day use.

2:15pm
Becky felt a bit sad when, after just getting hurt for the 3rd time while we were out, Jacob decided the *most important thing* to instantly wail about was how "everything is not fun" when Melinda isn't here. Poor guy, must be on his mind a lot if it's the first thing that comes out after getting hurt. :(

10:33pm
Becky cleaned up the playroom, got the laundry all folded and put away, and has breakfast baking in the oven. Productive evening!

September 9th
11:05am
Becky is discovering that when nobody else is around to do all the talking and noise-making, Jacob is quite the narrator, explaining every single thing he does in detail. ("And see, when I turn like this, then I swing this around (*whshshsshhhh*) and then it hits this chair, like this!")

1:13pm
Uhhhh... Jacob just picked up "Hop On Pop" and started sounding out the first few pages. I guess I *should* start him on reading lessons soon, huh?

4:54pm
Becky was *actually* able to take a quick power-nap on the couch this afternoon before picking up Melinda from school. W-O-W.

7:06pm
Becky rescued a very stuck husband from his hide-and-seek hiding spot. Also, I fail at hide-and-seek because a certain toddler follows me everywhere and gives me away.

September 10th
5:42pm
Becky loves it when the weather is cool enough for cooking a good, yummy soup. ♥

10:36pm
Becky found Melinda's "pretty" drawer (full of ribbons and clips and headbands she pretty much never uses) fully organized by type, size and color. Where on earth did an interest in organization come from, with Jesse as her father and me as her mother??

September 11th
11:20am
Becky has taken her husband to his job for the last time. Today he'll be signing his severance papers, and so will begin our time with unemployment. Here's to hoping it's short-lived.
>>> It strikes me that when Jesse and I heard of the terrorist attacks on the NY twin towers 8 years ago, we were listening to the morning radio as Jesse was driving me to work. It wasn't long after that when my company's business started lagging so greatly that layoffs began (leading to my layoff, a year later). And now here were are, half a country away, 3 kids later, and I'm driving him to work, knowing that his job is ending. How odd to be full-circle. The pouring, non-stop rain fits my brooding mood.

Our First Trip to Urgent Care

Today was such a long day.
We got up extra-early and got ready for church up in Pennsylvania today.  Our friends Adam and Jenn had a baby boy a few months ago, and today they blessed him, along with his new little cousin.  It was lovely to listen to it, and nice to be there for friends we met way back before we even had kids.  But between everyone taking turns waking up with various issues that needed to be resolved last night, the early morning, and a slightly unfamiliar routine, we were tired before Sacrament Meeting had even finished, and decided to go home early.

Jacob fell asleep on the way home.  Obviously he wasn't really ready to wake up at 7:30am today. Melinda whined about our choice of listening material (we turned on the General Conference podcast from April of this year).  Alex woke up when we got home, declaring his nap officially finished.  It was only 11am and the kids were pestering me for lunch as if I had starved them.... when in reality they had breakfast AND snacks. 

So, our day was not off to the best start.  But we got the kids fed- and finally satisfied- and tried to have some quiet, calm, resting time.

Not long after 2pm, Alex went into the front room to play with Melinda and Jacob.  Not 2 seconds after he got in there, he was screaming bloody murder.  When I found him, he had deep red blood dripping from his eyebrow, down his temple, and nearly into his eye.  I instantly knew this wasn't good.  Alex gets hurt a lot between his own feats of mobility and the antics and roughhousing of his older siblings.  But it's rare that he actually bleeds.

We gently cleaned his eyebrow with a cloth, and there was definitely a gash.  We found out that Jacob had pushed Alex (in play) and he had fallen against the square corner of the rocking chair seat.  Once we cleaned the wound up, though, the bleeding wasn't alarming.  It oozed very slowly.  But it was a big gash.  On his eyebrow.  Jesse and I were both thinking of what a bad scar this could leave, and not feeling sure about what we should do.

When Melinda cut her head on a dresser in Colorado a couple years ago, we were able to get some skin glue ("liquid stitches") from the grocery store just down the road, and fix her up nicely.  We decided to try that route for Alex, too.  So Jesse ran out to the pharmacy, but had no luck finding any.  Then he asked a pharmacist, who didn't seem to even know what he was looking for.  He tried a few different stores, also with no luck.  The closest he could get was liquid bandaids, which don't exactly hold skin together.  Jesse keeps grumbling about it probably being against the law to sell it in Maryland or something like that.  

While Jesse was out looking for the glue, I kept pressure on Alex's cut, and ended up shaving off his eyebrow, too, since we wouldn't want hair to heal itself into it.  Glad to have an electric razor on hand!

Still thinking of a really ugly scar, we decided to take him to urgent care.  There's an urgent care very close to us, not associated with the hospital.  They advertise little wait time, and other such niceties, so we went there.  After filling out a bit of paperwork and waiting maybe 5 minutes, they called us back.

When we got to see the doctor, he took a look and thought it might need stitches.  But after cleaning it with an alcohol wipe (it was already clotting, less than an hour later), he thought it looked too superficial to worry about, and was concerned about using the liquid stitches so close to his eye.  But he understood our concerns about a big ugly scar, and agreed that the liquid stitches could minimize the scar a bit.  He brought in a nurse to help hold some gauze over his eye while he applied the glue.  It was a messy business, but Alex was amazingly calm.  Didn't squirm or fuss or anything, just looked curiously at the people hovering over him.  The doctor couldn't stop remarking over his behavior like he was some miracle child, and it was beginning to become obvious that he had NEVER treated a child as calm as Alex.  Truth be told, I was even a little mystified, because he usually hates to be made to lay down.  You should hear him when I have to pin him down to brush his teeth!!

Anyway, I watched as the doctor applied the glue, and it seemed like he was doing a fine job, squeezing the wound together as he applied it, and after he finished, to keep it together while it dried.  But Jesse feels like it looks pretty jagged and open in some places, and is feeling pretty unhappy about it, just wishing we could have gotten a hold of some glue and done it ourselves.  Of course, I agree that we probably could have done at least as well ourselves, and saved us a trip to urgent care (and who knows how much money for a copay, I have no clue!)... but I guess that's life, when you're not sure if a wound needs stitches and you can't find any skin glue in the stores.  (Note to self: Find some online and keep it on hand!!)

We probably could have gotten away without doing anything, with how superficial it is.  But ugh, those thoughts of big ugly scars... they just wouldn't go away!  And it made us unsure about what would be best.  No big panic or big rush to urgent care... just more of a "I guess we need to do this to be on the safe side" sort of attitude.

Anyway, here's the little guy after we got home.  As you can see, he was all fine and happy already (and saying "cheese", in the likely case you can't decipher that face).  Won't be surprised if he ends up with a black eye fairly soon.  And I'm really regretting not setting up some family portraits for yesterday like I had been considering.  Because who knows what he'll look like for the next several months, right?

Ah, urgent care.  I'm not sure how we avoided it for so long, with the three kids that we have.  I suppose it was inevitable that it happen soon.  Still... it's been a very long day.

1st Day of School

It just feels wrong to call it a first day of school. I mean, really... it was a single hour of school, with a total of three children and their parents in attendance. Still, Melinda was very excited about it. She had gone from being excited all summer, to nervous and not wanting to go over the last week. I finally got it out of her that she was worried she would miss us. And when I told her all about my (few) memories of Kindergarten, and school in general, it seemed to cheer her up. And our slot for school today wasn't until 1pm. Can I tell you how tortuous it was to make her wait all day? She must have asked me a million times how much longer it would be until we could leave.

Yesterday, in preparation, we made a "Get ready for school!" chart, which shows her everything she's responsible for doing in order to get ready. From eating breakfast to going potty, you know? Just so she doesn't forget anything. Also, Jesse gave her a perfectly lovely father's blessing before bedtime, blessing her (among other things) to have a sharp mind, learn quickly, adjust easily, and make new friends.

After lunch today, we packed up all her supplies into her backpack and took pictures before we headed out the door. When we got to her classroom, her teacher, Mrs. Cibor (pronounced see-boar), greeted us. We put her supplies on a table, got a name tag, and went out to the hall to put her backpack in her very own locker. It was tricky for her to figure out the latch... it was heavy and difficult for her to slide up. Finally, two hands did the trick.

Once the other two children arrived, they did a story time followed by a self-portrait. Once they finished their self-portraits, they were free to explore the room. Melinda and the other boy there wound up getting out the large-ish lego blocks and making long lines out of them, so they could measure their bodies. It was cute. In the meantime, Mrs. Cibor talked to us about routines, paperwork, any questions we had, and everything like that. Mrs. Cibor is very nice, and has been teaching for 19 years, including at the Baltimore Friend's School, which is a very nice private school down in the city. From what she says, Pot Springs Elementary is comparable in every way to the private school. Of course, that kind of thing makes me sad when I realize we'll barely be getting into the swing of things here before we'll be moving on to who-knows-where.

I'm a little worried about Melinda getting bored in Kindergarten, now, honestly. I took all that time to help her learn to read, worrying about her being behind other kids who went to preschools, and it turns out that they'll only be working on ABC's for the first couple months, and not even starting phonics until November. After we're gone. I hope they have some sort of opportunities for her to put her reading to good use. But everything else sounds very nice. They'll even have a pet hamster. Who just happens to be blind in one eye, and apparently a little bit mean. ;)

I've got her lunches and snacks planned out for the week-- she starts her first full day on Wednesday. Tomorrow she's got school for 2 hours without me, and with half of the class (of 21) instead of with just 3. She definitely thought today's one hour was simply not long enough, so I hope she's not completely dissatisfied with tomorrow! We'll be on our way into the swing of things before long.

Melinda really likes her backpack, especially with the rainbow embroidery that we picked out a few weeks ago. She's thrilled to show it off.

Walking up the sidewalk to the front entrance of her school.

Finding her locker in the hallway, and attempting to open it. Lovely earth name tag on the locker! :)

Everyone sits in their own squares while Mrs. Cibor reads a story. They actually read a book that I recently acquired. :)

Melinda with her self-portrait. She actually asked Mrs. Cibor what color her skin was, when there were about 3 choices for skin crayons: dark brown, medium brown, and very light peach. And then later she asked me what color her eyes were (she knows!). And when she said she didn't know how to draw plaid pants, Mrs. Cibor suggested she pick one color to make the pants. But I love the detail of the bee on her shirt, and teeth (albeit scary, pointy teeth!). And when I asked (and giggled) about the short hair, she told me she drew short hair because it was faster. Silly girl.

Also, just for the sake of sharing... Melinda planned a family talent show to do after school today. Nothing fancy, but the kids sure liked it. Melinda did a bunch of cartwheels, after which Jacob tried to copy her, and then transitioned into "fighting tricks". He's getting interesting with those, lately. His level of coordination is definitely improving with his age! Jesse did his classic removing his thumb trick, with his half-thumb, which got some giggles. And I kept it simple, and decided to do something physical along with everyone else, and put my legs way up in the air while balancing on my shoulder blades. Of course, that degenerated quickly into giving airplane rides on my hands and feet to more than one kid at a time. Anyway... it was fun. And it was fun to see Melinda take some initiative in planning a family activity.

Here's to a great tomorrow!

The Last Straw

I like to think that I'm relatively stress-free these days. Sure, Jesse's losing his job. Sure, we don't know where we're going to be living in a couple months. Sure, Melinda's going off to school in three more days. But I have faith that it will all work out. I'm just going with the flow, going about our day-to-day life as it happens. It will all be fine, I know it will! We just have to get from here to there.

Still... I guess I've been perhaps more subconsciously stressed than I've been willing to admit to myself. You see, my computer's been on the fritz for a while now. Every now and then, it will just get super finicky and not boot up. When we run it in safe mode, we discover that it's hanging on a file called mup.sys. Well, the grand ol' internet tells us that this pesky little file could be pointing to problems with anything from its USB ports to the hard drive failing. Great. Usually, a good amount of completely unplugged rest time would be enough to cure it, but not yesterday. Yesterday it just wouldn't start up. Jesse finally decided to call it quits on trying to mess with it and bring it back to life, and instead sacrificed his computer to become mine. He made my old hard drive a "slave" to his, so I would still be able to access my things, while his did the hard work of actually booting up. I was relatively content with this solution... until I actually sat down to mess around with it.

Even if I tried to use my internet browser from my hard drive, it would run the browser from his. Complete with his settings, his bookmarks, his cookies. NOT MINE. If I tried to run iTunes from my drive, it would still access all of his files. Not mine. Not the ones I painstakingly organized for hours and hours. If I tried to use Outlook to access my mail, all it came up with was a blank, un-used program. None of my saved emails, my contacts, or anything. Nothing was my own, nothing at all!

This, after a long, tiring day at the beach and a school orientation meeting. The sun and humidity had sapped all my energy. I was completely drained and exhausted by the end of the day, and all the stress of trying to make things mine again was just too much for me to handle. Jesse would offer me suggestions, and it literally felt like everything he said was turning into mush once it reached my brain, because I couldn't even process the simplest of his sentences. It all started to sound like complete gibberish, even though I knew the words he was saying. After a long while of trying, and working and coming up against a brick wall, I finally gave up, shut off the computer, and found myself staring at the blank screen, just crashing into despair. I couldn't see how it would get better. Everything was just a mess, and I couldn't deal with it.

I laid my head down on my arms and buried my face in defeat.

Jesse noticed, and asked what was going on. I couldn't bring myself to make more than some guttural, nonsensical response. Again a question, again no real answer from me. Did the computer crash? "No, I turned it off," came my mumbled reply. Obviously, my face-burying was not a normal response after turning off the computer. Jesse had watched me get frustrated with the state of things during the evening... and at this point, he came over and touched my shoulder gently. "It'll be okay, Becky," he assured me.

And I lost it. It was the last straw. I started sobbing. It didn't feel like everything would be alright. Everything was a mess, it was stressing me out, and I couldn't handle it. I just wanted my computer back!!! "Nothing is right!" I choked out in between sobs. My mind raced. Saying that statement out loud suddenly made me realize I wasn't just talking about the computer. We don't have a job! My husband's not happy! Our van is too old! We don't know where we'll live! The house is a mess! My finger feels like it belongs to a leper! Alex's teeth aren't healthy! My baby's starting school! My computer shouldn't be doing this to me when I'm already dealing with so many things! Nothing is right!!

"It's so stupid to cry over a computer!" I wailed through my tears. Isn't it stupid? It's just a thing! It's not really important! All the important things I have saved on my external hard drive, nice and safe. The really important things are the people around me, and they have nothing to do with this. This is really not something to have a breakdown over. Right???

Jesse paused before he answered. "No, it's not stupid," he responded. "It's like walking into a home after it's been robbed and everything's a mess and things are missing. It makes sense to be upset."

Oh. My brain had not come to that conclusion. I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Yes, it did feel like that. Nothing was my own, it was like sitting in front of something completely foreign and unfamiliar, something completely uncooperative to my needs, when I was so used to things being exactly the way I liked them and working exactly the way I needed them to. My computer is my lifeline for so many different things, after all. Of course it was upsetting to have that all ripped away. So, with that realization, I allowed myself to feel it: All that frustration and despair.


I cried harder, not saying anything else. Jesse shushed me and caressed my shoulders, reiterating that it would be alright, these were all things I could fix. His touch was a much-needed lifeline to reality. It would just take some time. And wasn't it a good thing I didn't lose access to all my things completely? Not much longer, and my distress came to an end. The last of the tears fell, my body quieted, but I still felt a bit numb. I wasn't ready to deal with things just yet.

But I was feeling so grateful for (and particularly in love with) my husband, who has such a unique and understanding perspective that I need in my life. Who works so hard to make less-than-ideal situations work. Who supports me and loves me. He's most of the reason why I'm so confident that things will be fine. How could they not be, with Jesse taking care of us? He always comes through.

As of right now, even though I've had limited time to work on things today, I've got things mostly up and running to my general liking. I have to reinstall a couple things... but I'm confident they'll work out. There's a few things I can't seem to change (the annoying blockish font, for one...), but I'm sure I'll get used to them with time.

See? It really was fine. But, I suppose every camel's back has a last straw waiting for it somewhere. I guess mine was a computer breakdown, leading to my own personal emotional breakdown. The cry did me some good, I think, and made me realize that maybe I'm a little more stressed out than I thought. It's good to be aware of it... though it sure will be nice when life can get back to normal again. And it will also be nice when a steady income means we can start replacing the aging, decrepit sources of some of my stress, of course. ;)

Big Girls Don't Cry

I want time to stop and remain in these next few days forever.
And yet, some days, I just want to get it over with already, and see what it will be like.

I've been a mother for 5 years, 10 months and 8 days.  2,139 days.  For every single one of those days, Melinda has been by my side, never separated for more than a few hours.  Some days have been great, some days have been terrible, and some days I'll probably never even remember.  Even still, I'm not ready to let those days go.  I'm not ready to be the mom of the school girl.  I'm Becky... I stay at home with my kids.  Melinda is my #1 helper, my go-to girl.  She's the ringleader, the creative spark during playtime, the technical whiz, and often the biggest reason I convince myself to drag us all out of the house to do something interesting.  Because I know she'll like it.

My very first baby, my pride and joy.  She's a big girl, now.  Almost 6 years old.  And I sit here, trying to define all the thoughts and feelings that have been running through my head for the past few months, but more especially the last couple weeks.  I'm about to send her off to Kindergarten.  Alone in the big world for six and a half hours every day, making new friends where I can't watch, being responsible where I can't remind her what to do, making her own choices, learning her own way...

I suppose I'm lucky that I've had an extra year to get used to this idea of sending her off.  Because of her late birthday, she's just starting when she's almost 6, instead of almost 5.  I think she's ready.  Throw her into a room full of strange kids, and she'll immediately try to take lead of the situation. Nevermind if she forgets to ask anyone's name, and just shouts, "HEY, YOU!" instead.  Everything she does, she does with all her energy.  (The only way I can think to describe Melinda is to say that she's vivacious. Vibrant.)  I'm positive she'll throw herself into school with everything she's got.  In fact, she put up quite a fuss when I scheduled a time to go to her best friend's neighborhood swimming pool (at her request!) when it ended up having to be scheduled for after her 2nd day of school, in the afternoon.  "But I'll be too tired!!" she protested.  I'm sure school will be great for her.  She's already amazed me with her quick uptake on the reading. 

I feel like I'm in a constant state of rubber-necking.  Watching her grow in leaps and bounds (first it was the bike riding without training wheels, then it was swimming underwater when she used to be terrified of getting her face wet, and then it was reading whole books without any help from me)... all while constantly being reminded of the fact that she is so much the reason I am who I am.  The decisions I've made in my life, the person I've become... it's all happened largely because she was born.  And grew, day by day by day (all 2,139 of them), taking me right along with her.

And in just 6 more fleeting days, she won't be just mine anymore.  She'll be out there. 

And, yeah, I'll admit I'm quite worried if I let myself think about certain things: Will she be safe around strangers?  She has such a tendency to leap into the arms of any friendly-looking person, trusting and open-hearted as she is.... Role playing certainly didn't seem to help her grasp this concept of caution. Will she be safe???  And lesser worries: Will I plan ahead well enough give her wholesome lunches?  Will she be okay without her snacks between meals?? Will my calendar fill with crazy scheduling dances that I can hardly wrap my head around?  Will she be okay in a school setting and learn well?

Will Jacob and Alex miss her? 

Oh, definitely.  I hope they adjust well to the dynamic that the majority of their day will be without Melinda in charge.  I hope I remember how to play and interact with a 4 year old, one-on-one.  I hope I can manage to think of things that will be fun for them both.  For so long, Melinda's been my top priority when it's come to planning activities.  But now what?  If I want to think of an outing, what will I choose?  Oh my goodness, it will be boys that I'm catering to. Do I even know how to handle that??


Will I feel completely lonely without Melinda in the house?

Yes, I certainly will.  For at least a while. 
Maybe always... I don't know. 
My heart definitely wishes I could go with her, and at least watch her. 

Six more days.  Six more days I'm so grateful that I have.  I hope they will be good days that I will cherish... but I also know that they aren't enough.  I hate that I know that they won't be enough.  I'm still not ready to let go.  I don't think I'd be ready to let go if she were 30 years old and just leaving the house.

Well, maybe her teenage and adult years would prove me wrong on that one, but from my perspective here and now, I feel like I'd be heartbroken no matter when she left.

And maybe I'm being melodramatic.  Yes, I realize I'll see her every afternoon as soon as she gets home, and have every weekend with her, and many many vacations lie ahead of us... But seriously, this feels so much like the beginning of the end to me.  Once she starts school, I know that time will feel like it's going by at the speed of light, and before I know it, she'll be a teenager, then an adult, then moving out, getting married....

... And I just want her to be my baby forever.  The person who's there for her, day in and day out.  Life just won't be the same when she's gone for such a large chunk of time for so many days of the week.

Change is hard.  But it's exciting, too.  I can't wait to see her learn new things, and grow into her own person.  To see how I change and grow, too.  But mostly, I just keep thinking about these last few days being something I'll never repeat again.  It's definitely one of those life-changing moments, the day you send your very first child to school. 

It hurts to think about it.  I still don't know if I'm expressing my thoughts and emotions clearly... but I don't want this moment to go by without saying anything at all.  And I know I'm not going to be in any shape to say anything coherent on her first real day all by herself.  Maybe by the time I'm sending her off to college, I'll be more articulate.  But then again, I'll probably say much of the same, and with just as many tears: 

There goes my baby girl.

Catching Up On Facebook

Wow. It's really been a WHOLE MONTH since I last did a Facebook status update. Yikes. Ummm.... sorry?? Sometimes I just get terrible with keeping things updated. This must be one of those times. Anyway, without further adieu, here's what's been happening over the last month!

July 27th
9:30am
Becky seems to have misplaced her motivation. Which means, of course, I'm not even motivated to go looking for it.

11:07am
Becky found some motivation. Finally cleaned out Melinda and Jacob's too-small and warm-weather things from their dresser. Voila! The drawers shut again! Just Alex's left to do.

6:40pm
Becky's apartment is now sporting a broken window. Jacob was playing in the playroom, threw a hard plastic ball (meant for rolling on the ground), and broke an entire pane of the playroom window. So, now we get to both pay for a new window, AND the kids can't play in the playroom until it's fixed. Whenever that will be. Oh, the joy.
>>> Update: It looks like we probably don't have to pay for it, as nobody's said a word to us about it, and the maintenance guy sounded like he doubted we'd be charged for the repair. Nice!


July 28th
2:10pm
Becky just had the broken windowpane taken out of the apartment, hopefully returned whole and new within a day. But what is up with Jacob? After showing so much remorse about his accident, saying he didn't mean to break the window, having long talks with daddy and mommy, etc., ...not 3 minutes after he was allowed back in the room, he whacked the storm window with a wooden tinker toy stick-- Hard. ?!?!!!


July 29th
4:13pm
Becky spent 4.5 hours at the pool with friends.
1) Yay for rainy days - less burn potential, & no crowds!
2) Jacob took me on a tour of every bathroom stall with his 3 trips to the potty.
3) Melinda found a caterpillar that left a million hairs stuck in her hand like a porcupine, and they felt "pokey". NOT cool- She was a wreck.
4) Alex crashed asleep in the car 2 minutes after being buckled.
5) Who's going to cook dinner?
>>> Update from the present: She got inflamed bumps from the caterpillar hairs a couple days later that took almost a week to go away. Got a call from the same friend just last night wondering how Melinda's hand reacted after the caterpillar, as her husband thinks a current nasty boil thing on his hand might be from the same type of caterpillar, which research showed can actually shoot its hair spine things in a defensive manner. Wow.

7:09pm
Becky is dead tired. Whole body wants to be limp. The super-active day caught up with me.


July 30th
11:04am
Becky is so so so sore. From my biceps, shoulder blades, entire back, and even neck... I guess that's what carrying one child on each hip all afternoon in a pool can do to your muscles. Also explains why I was so very limp-feeling yesterday evening.

3:02pm
Becky thinks she's doing pretty good today. Dishes done, all 5 loads of laundry folded and put away, front room and playroom both picked up. Most days, I'm lucky to get just one of those things done.

7:23pm
Becky can't help but get excited about Jesse applying for a great-sounding job in Butte, Montana. Not Colorado... but a perfect halfway point between our families, and still nestled in the mountains! But I hate getting excited, too, afraid to set myself up for disappointment.
>>> Update from the present: He called to follow up not long ago. They are still reviewing resumes. He plans to call again this coming Thursday, which is 2 weeks from when he last called.

July 31st
2:04pm
Becky took Melinda for her school physical today. Car overheated on the way. Had just enough fluid to get there, called Jesse to skip his lunch and come and check it out. Got a ride home from some of his co-workers. Wonder if he got it fixed yet? Looks like it had a problem with a hose.... not the radiator again. Fingers crossed that it's a simple fix.

3:20pm
Becky wishes it were possible to physically remove the burden of stress from a loved one.
>>>Which is what I was thinking as I went on to post "Sharp Contrast".

11:53pm
Becky almost skipped past the Moonlight Sonota on the playlist... but found that it really struck a chord with her mood, after all.


August 1st
2:41pm
Becky went to lunch at Red Robin after Jesse finished working on the car. Seems to be in good shape, at least for now!


August 2nd
5:49pm
Becky is making yummy yummy cinnamon rolls.... Too bad I'll be giving them away! Maybe there will be enough to enjoy one, myself, though. :)


August 3rd
10:58am
Becky is trying to be productive amidst shrieks and fits of a grumpy Alex, and trying not to lose my cool with Jacob and Melinda who just aren't helping the situation. At least the floors are clean again.

3:28pm
Becky started grocery shopping just after 1pm. It's now 3:30pm, and I'm just home and finished unpacking, and so so so exhausted. When did grocery shopping become such a huge chore? On the plus side, I just discovered that Wegmans' in-store coffee shop has the most delicious fruit smoothies EVER, and at a reasonable price. Might have to get one every trip, now. ;)

4:14pm
Becky just became a loyal fan of Land's End. UPS claims they delivered my package on Friday... WHILE I WAS HOME with a broken car and nowhere to go... but I never got it. Not even a knock on the door, but it was marked as delivered to my front door. Called up UPS, pretty flustered and mad. They referred me back to Land's End... who *happily* and *cheerfully* replaced my entire package right there on the spot. :)

9:18pm
Becky went duck-pin bowling with the kids tonight. Upon returning home, found what was almost certainly the birth place of the millions of fruit flies that have been plaguing our home for the past week or so: A bag of forgotten, rotting, liquefied potatoes- oozing out of the bag onto the floor. (Serious GAG!!) A few wormy larvae-sort of things were even crawling around in it. SO SO SO gross! But all squeaky clean now!!
>>> Present-day update: Fruit flies still aren't completely gone, but we're getting there. Ugh.


August 4th
12:00am
Becky started a new class at jessicasprage.com, focusing on using brushes in Photoshop. Only one class in, and I'm already learning new tricks and making gorgeous projects! I'm in love. ♥

12:19pm
Becky made a trip to the post office, and came home with a large mailing tube, which we taped to the wall. Perfect for rolling cars and balls through. :)

3:48pm
Becky finally made it official: Melinda is registered for Kindergarten! The principal herself took our papers. We also took a supply list (which was thankfully small!) and already grabbed everything she needs for school, minus an art smock, which I'll probably just sew.
>>> First day of school is August 31st!! ONE WEEK LEFT!! (You can feel free to imagine me crying or dancing with glee, I keep going back and forth every two seconds!)
>>> Also... while looking for a smock pattern, I happened across a totally cute and super-functional smock on Etsy.com, and I caved and bought one there. Still waiting for it in the mail, though, as it's coming from British Columbia.


August 5th
1:23pm
Becky is hanging out at home, thanks to Jacob being ill on both ends... yet somehow he still has enough energy and oomph to run around the house maybe even a little more crazily than normal.

6:29pm
Becky spent dinnertime making quacking noises into her fist, and laughing as all the kids attempted to copy it.


August 6th
8:48am
Becky is so tired of extra laundry caused by kids pooping, peeing, or just generally being careless with spills. Sigh.

2:04pm
Becky is not in the right frame of mind today to react with anything but absolute horror when she is pee'd on- all over her feet, legs and pants- with no means for escape. On the plus side, Jacob said "sorry" and that it was "his fault". Softened me a bit.


August 7th
1:23pm
Becky managed to keep so busy today that the computer didn't even turn on until 1pm! Hot breakfast, shower (phew, glad I squeezed that one in!), feeding ducks and fish, taking Melinda's new backpack to be embroidered (she picked a lovely rainbow... w/ cloud and sun), and then lunchtime. Break time for me now, while the kids make forts in the living room. ;)

>>> And here it comes, the day goes downhill....
4:39pm
Becky is trying to decide if I should cook dinner or not. Kids pushed every button in the book today, and I just plain want out of one more chore. On the other hand, I hate making excuses for myself, and would probably enjoy real food more than restaurant food. Ugh. So indecisive.


August 8th
12:00pm
Becky should really be doing some laundry. Or making lunch. Or anything other than spacing out at the computer.

9:49pm
Becky's van went a WHOLE WEEK without stalling/dying. I'd say it's officially cured! (Well, of that particular "disease", anyway!)


August 9th
2:44pm
Becky got quite spoiled by a couple days in the low 70's. Not looking forward to the near 100 temps for the next few days.


August 10th
3:23pm
Becky cleaned up the front room, playroom, and kitchen, did lunch, the library, quick grocery trip, and *phew* finally ended with picking up Melinda's new embroidered backpack, which is just absolutely PERFECT. I'm zonked. Lucky Alex gets to nap, now. I have to cook dinner soon, on the other hand. But, shhhh... I picked up some Phish Food to help myself cool down, because it is SO HOT out there....

9:24pm
Becky is settling down with the computer to dive back into Photoshopping fun.


August 11th
9:48pm
Becky is so tired. Such a long day. But a good day. Got to visit Cara in PA. And my chicken went bad before I got to make my crock pot meal, so we went out to the buffet for dinner tonight. Kids in bed at 9pm... and Jesse fell asleep putting Alex to sleep, hehe.


August 12th
9:49am
Becky apparently woke up in the middle of the night, asking Jesse some sort of question about Photoshop. He related it this morning, and I remember clearly how he told me I was talking gibberish, and to go back to sleep. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking, "Geeze, silly man, you don't understand at all!!" and deciding I was too tired to argue about how I really WAS making sense. Even though I clearly wasn't.

11:43am
Becky appears to be suffering through yet another grumpy, cranky day. Maybe I'm looking forward to school starting, after all.

4:05pm
Becky is installing a brand-spanking-new version of Photoshop Elements. Weeee!


August 13th
10:39am
Becky is celebrating Jacob's last day as a 3 year old. :) Wondering when I'm going to squeeze in birthday-cake making, last-minute gift-making...

10:10pm
Becky is making custom Photoshop brushes instead of baking a birthday cake. I'm SUCH a procrastinator....

10:58pm
Becky hasn't started birthday cake-making just yet. But the good news is that the refrigerator has been cleaned out and a load of dishes started, so I actually have room to refrigerate the cakes when I'm done! :P

11:36pm
Becky has the cake in the oven, and the white chocolate/heavy cream "mousse" chilling.


August 14th
12:36pm
Becky finished Jacob's birthday cake... finally!
1) Angel food cake is so hard to frost without getting crumbs.
2) I can't make a toothpick outline on the cake for the picture, because it's already so full of air holes that the toothpick holes blend in.
3) Buttercream frosting in a very warm house doesn't hold up very long.
4) High five's to the first person who recognized what on earth I put on that cake!

>>> It's Link from the Legends of Zelda video games. Here's a comparison picture:

9:41pm
Becky is wondering what the future holds. Sounds like Jesse will be getting a job offer this coming Wednesday (to replace his job that is running out), but it probably involves 1) a hefty paycut, 2) a move to Utica,NY (no family AND no friends) and 3) a LOT of long-distance travel. We're extremely doubtful we'll take it, but also uncomfortable with walking away from a job with 3 kids to feed. Lots of praying to do.

(I didn't post an update about this, but on Saturday, August 15th, we went down to participate in a ward temple day. I had to stay with the kids, as the planned babysitting wouldn't take anyone younger than 18 months (though it always turns out that Jacob's a much bigger handful than Alex!). But Jesse got to go in and do a session. It was a perfectly-timed trip, gave Jesse lots of peaceful time to think and pray, and he got a very clear answer about what was the right choice. I followed up on my own a few days later with some quiet time out of the house, and found that I was definitely on the same page. We will not be going to NY.)


August 17th
5:59pm
Becky had fun at the Roosevelt Park pool... until I got back to my car and discovered I had parked in a no-parking zone. Got my first ticket ever, $27 for not noticing the sign behind the big bushy tree. :( At least my car wasn't towed...


August 18th
2:03pm
Becky thinks it feels like an honest-to-goodness sauna outside. Going to be a hermit inside the apartment with my nice air conditioning the rest of the day, thankyouverymuch.


August 19th
12:39pm
Becky is sort of on pins and needles waiting for Jesse to call today. If all goes as expected, he'll be declining an offer to move with the remains of his company (RNT) to Utica, NY to become an employee of Indium. We'll see what happens next... it's been a while since either of us have taken a leap of faith into a pitch-black future, but we're positive this is the right move for our family.

4:40pm
Becky can't seem to convince herself to stay in the kitchen long enough to do the necessary cleaning before dinner. Ugh. Need a house-elf to pick up my slack.
>>>5:21pm
oooookay. Dishes are in the dishwasher and being cleaned. Now to muster up the will to cook, lol.

6:42pm
Becky loves how easy-to-please Jacob is. He's got new birthday pajamas in the mail yesterday from Grandma Wilcox. From the moment he got them out of the box, he's been saying "I love my new pajamas SO MUCH!" about every 5 minutes. While wearing them. I got him dressed for errands this morning, but the instant we were back home, the pajamas went back on, and the adoration continued.


August 20th
11:37am
Becky had a really crappy night. Stupid gallbladder. I really need to get around to doing a cleanse.

3:06pm
Becky is sewing up some cloth napkins for Melinda's school lunchbox.
And can you believe one of the fabrics she picked was skulls on a red/orange flaming background? I wonder if she'll get more giggles or odd stares when she takes one of those.

6:02pm
(While having pancakes for dinner, when our usual is waffles.)
Jesse: "Which do you like better, Jacob, pancakes or waffles?"
Jacob: "Not pancakes. (pause) They're so wicked."
*strange looks exchanged between parents*
Jesse: "Do you even know what wicked means, Jacob?"
Jacob: "So bad."
..... *laughter* .....
Jacob: "What's so funny?!"

7:36pm
Becky just played her clarinet for the first time in many moons. Felt good. Lung capacity is shot and fingerings have been forgotten, but it still felt good.


August 21st
4:13pm
Becky 's emotional roller coaster isn't helped much when multiple strangers stop her during outings to tell her to enjoy the kids while they're little... they've got kids that they just sent to college. HELLO PEOPLE, I'M SENDING MY BABY TO KINDERGARTEN IN 10 DAYS!!!!!!!!! I **know** time goes too fast!!!


August 22nd
1:30pm
Becky is taking a break from deep-cleaning the apartment to settle Alex down and hopefully get him a nap. Looks like the laundry will take all day long. Every time it's humid, the dryer seems to take twice as long.

9:12pm
Becky is completely exhausted. Everything cleaned. Even re-organized my pantry shelves, and cooked all three meals. Laundry's still going, as I expected. Also, I married the most awesome man EVER. You should have seen him pitching in on the work today. I didn't even mention the tub or the kitchen floor in the list of chores to get done today, and he scrubbed them both down! ♥ ♥ ♥
>>> Present-day update: Yup, the playroom is already completely trashed. I think when we move, we'll be getting rid of most of our toys.


There you have it! Very nearly a full month in Facebook updates!
I'm hoping to do a few posts in the very near future, about my Photoshop classes, Jesse's job situation, Jacob's birthday, and even finishing up about Colorado (ack, before I forget!!!), but Jesse has this coming week off of work. Not by choice. And, since it's the last week before school starts for Melinda, I'm not sure I'll be spending a lot of time computer-ing, but opting for fun family activities and last-minute playdates. Still, I might find time in the evenings... so keep your eyes peeled!