A Circus and a Birthday Daddy

(Just a note: I'm pretty sure that if you click on that empty space just above, it'll take you to a web album of pictures related to the following post. I'll check back in a couple of days and see if it's working properly. Okay...on with the show!)

I'm starting to freak out a bit! It turns out, we may not be able to take Shadow with us to our new place and I'm getting really worried about him! Not to mention my kids, who are very attached. We'll see...

This was a fun week. Anthon had a circus at Preschool, and we celebrated Kirk's birthday, which isn't for another two days, but he's going to be swamped this week, so we did it early. It's nice that he'll be the same age as me again. I never would have thought that I would marry someone younger than me. Having always been the youngest among my friends, it never really entered my thought process. It's turned out okay, though. He'll do. :)

I am really loving my kiddos lately. I feel like I try to always appreciate them and the time I have with them, but sometimes I just feel really super attached! They are my favorite kids in the world, and I adore them. They make me laugh, and cry, and bring so much joy to my life!

Tonight while we were reading Go Dog, Go!, Erilyn's choice for storytime, she spent the whole time either jumping on the couch, pumping her arms in the air, and shouting, "Dah! Dah! Dah!" (Which means dog.), or running around the living room in circles, laughing. How adorable?! And I finally got her curls right. We've tried again and again to curl her hair, and today it finally worked perfectly. It was adorable. I wish I would have taken a picture. And Anthon looked so handsome today for Church! I remember looking into the back seat on the way to Church and thinking, my children are so beautiful--inside and out!

And Anthon has been getting good reports both from his Primary teachers as well as from his Preschool teachers and I am so relieved. For a while, I really wondered if he'd ever settle down enough to make it through either church or school. He's still my silly little smarty pants, but he's learning to control his body better. Finally! I remember talking to Steve about it a year or so ago and being really worried, and he did such a good job of giving me hope! I'm so thankful for great brothers and sisters! And I'm so glad that Anthon and Erilyn love each other, and, perhaps even better, they like each other. They're really falling into roles that complement each other. Anthon is anxious to help Erilyn and humors her when she wants to chase him, and Erilyn continues to adore Anthon and follow him around everywhere. I just love watching their relationship grow. It's great.

We're excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Schramm this week! And Uncle Daryl and Carla! Although, I have to say, I'm a little apprehensive about making the 13 hour drive to Memphis alone with the kids. Part of me is dreading it, and part of me is gearing up for the challenge. Fortunately, my kids are really starting to be road warriors, so I think we'll make it all in one piece! I should have some good pics to post after the trip! Til then...

Park Days and Conference Crafts

One of the things we tried to do with the kids to keep them busy, but still within earshot of Conference was set up a table on our back porch with painting crafts for them to do. It worked for about an hour. They both happily painted the salt dough shapes we made a few days ago, the table, the chairs, the cement, and their faces. I think I'll call it a tie: the solid hour was great to be able to pay attention to the talks, but then we had quite a mess to clean up. They were sure cute, though!



Erilyn has also learned how to climb up to the slides herself and she loves it! She's a great park player now and loved following Anthon around the park. She very literally copies almost everything he does. It's cute...for now!

Kindergarten Tears

I attended an orientation today at the school where Anthon will be attending kindergarten. For most of the time, all the kindergarten aged kids went with the teachers to see their classrooms, etc, and as I watched Anthon line up and follow his teacher out, my heart just sank, and I started tearing up. He's my little boy! I know he's ready for kindergarten, but I'm not ready for him to go. Then the principal started talking about how children who have been taught to be independent usually excel better at school and can be self-learners and so it's important for us as parents to start getting ready to cut the apron strings a little. And that did NOT help me feel better. It just makes me so sad to think he won't be home with me anymore, and that I won't be the only adult voice he hears (along with Kirk), and that I won't have so much influence over him anymore. I'm just not ready for him to grow up! Once he starts kindergarten, it'll never be the same again. For him and me, or for our family. This chapter is really hard for me to close. Fortunately, I have a few more months to get ready to open the next chapter. Hopefully that'll be enough time.

Spring Break in San Antonio

Our Spring Break trip to San Antonio was great. It was so fun having Ciara visit us, and with us for the drive to San Antonio! She did a good job sleeping with the kids:) Sea World was great, especially for Anthon, but Erilyn had fun too. We loved seeing Kim and Melody and going to dinner with them. And going to the caverns with Steve and Karen was fun--except for the zip line, which might very well have been too much for my fear of heights to handle. I'm still trying to decide whether it was fun or just plain scary! Thanks Steve and Karen for letting us crash with you yet again!

Easter!

Easter came early this year, and even earlier for us, since we celebrated before driving to San Antonio. We did an egg hunt, and the kids made their own baskets, which was fun. I really wish I could figure out why my flash doesn't work!

Coloring kids!

Anthon and Erilyn are both obsessed with painting and coloring lately. Erilyn especially. So far I've limited it to her coloring books, the table and chairs, her clothes and body, but I know coloring on the walls and furniture are inevitable. Hooray for washable markers!

Tagged

This one's for you, Michelle!

1. What is your Hubby's name? Kirk, unless you mean his actual first name, than it's Joseph.
2. How long have you been married? 6 years in June.
3. How long did you date? Depends what you count as dating. We wrote to each other for a year, then visited each other once a month or so for another 5 months, got engaged, then continued visiting each other once a month or so for another six months. Our "courtship" was torture.
4. How old is he? Ask me again in two weeks--then he'll be 28, same as me!
5. Who eats more? Him, without question. Although, I can hold my own if we're talking chocolate.
6. Who said I Love you First? Ummm...I can't remember?! I'll have to go check my journal. Probably him. He's smooth that way.
7. Who is taller? Kirk--almost 6'. I'm somewhere between 5'6" and 5'7".
8. Who sings better? Me. But that's not saying much. I think he could be really good if he'd try.
9. Who is smarter? He's much better at logic and reasoning, but I'm a killer test taker, and have a great head for abstract stuff and writing. Toss up?
10. Whose temper is worse? We've both gotten worse since we were married! Maybe that's a sign we're getting more comfortable with each other?! I still have the worst temper, though.
11. Who does the laundry? Mostly me. Unless he wants a favor, or if he's trying to get out of doing dishes, than we trade.
12. Who does the dishes? Kirk does dinner dishes, I do the rest.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me
14. Who pays the bills? Kirk.
15. Who mows the lawn? He does, unless it's finals' week. I love the smell of freshly mown grass, but I hate the smell of gasoline that comes with doing it yourself!
16. Who cooks dinner? Me. He's a fast food junkie, though, so if I ever don't feel like cooking, he's very supportive;)
17. Who drives when together? Me sometimes, unless he's feeling scared for his life, than he takes over. I drive mostly close to home, but he drives if we're travelling.
18. Who is more stubborn? Probably me
19. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Probably him. He's very patient and very sweet and never holds a grudge.
20. Whose parents do we visit most? We try to split it pretty evenly. We visit his siblings more, because they're closer, in general. But since we've lived in Lubbock, we've been to Canada, but not to Arizona. Soon, Mom and Dad Morgan! Soon!
21. Who Proposed? He did, but only because he had to. I found the ring and confronted him! He did have something sweet planned, though. Like I said, he's smooth that way.
22. Who has more friends? Definitely me. Although both of us are homebodies and really enjoy each other's company. Neither of us needs lots of friends. If we're talking confidantes, than I'm the type who needs one or two close ones, and I'm good. He's the same. We have a lot of friends that we hang out with, though.
23. Who has more siblings? Neither. There are exactly 5 boys and 4 girls in both of our families, and we're both the youngest. Go figure.
24. Who wears the pants in the family? Ultimately, he does. But he's good at wearing his authority well and making me think I'm in charge most of the time.

10 years ago...I was finishing up a very traumatic freshman year at BYU! I had great friends, but I was severely homesick, and had a really hard time adjusting to city life, coming from a farm. I loved my classes, though, and the mental stimulation that I didn't necessarily get in a small town high school.

5 things on my to do list
1. Go to the gym
2. Get a $5 gift for Bunko tonight
3. Make dinner.
4. Clean the bathrooms (my very least favorite job. Especially Anthon's. Any hints on how to keep a little boys' bathroom clean? Specifically the toilet? I'm to the point where I make him clean the outside of the toilet himself, and I'm nearly to the point of making him sit down again.) 5. Get Anthon's show and tell ready for tomorrow

What I would do if I were suddenly a millionaire...Pay off all our debts, buy a house, go to Europe for a few months, go back to grad school, save some and invest some, go shopping.

Five places I have lived...
1. Ablerta, Canada
2. Utah
3. California
4. Arizona
5. Texas


5 jobs I have had...
1. Selling corn in a corn stand on the side of the road
2. Slave to my dad on the farm
3. Production coordinator for KBYU
4. 7th Grade English Teacher
5. Tutor

5 things people don't know about me....
1. I correct typos and grammatical errors in the books I read.
2. I'm terrible at small talk...although, this one may be more obvious:)
3. I'm an observer; which basically just means that I'm actually really shy, and if I seem outgoing, it's because I'm too nervous to shut my mouth and I have no idea what I'm saying and will not be held accountable!
4. I'm a published poet (barely)
5. I have two books in the works...but I refuse to talk about them because they are still in the very, very early stages. It'll probably be years before I finish either of them.

I think now I'm supposed to tag someone else, so, Kim (Mills) and JoDee, consider yourself tagged!

Beginning Reading and Erilyn extras

Anthon sounded out his first four words today! Well yesterday, if I'm getting technical. I'm just getting around to posting about it today. Anywho--we were very excited! I was teaching him some phonics just for fun and he sounded out "p-i-n," said the word, and then realized that he'd said the word and the smile that came over his face was just priceless! It was very exciting. He then sounded out "sit," "had," and "no." It was all very thrilling.

Erilyn is into having snacks with the cat. For some reason she loves cat food. Go figure. I really do feed her! She likes to sit next to the cat while he's eating and keep him company. She's figured out how to feed him, too, so he's getting a bit chubby. She also likes to eat my cough drops, change her shoes, throw her food on the floor, build with leggos (which she's getting very good at!), change her shoes, jump on her bed, or ours, push her shopping cart around, change her shoes, play with cars (can you tell she has an older brother?!), brush her teeth--well, eat the toothpaste, but the brush is in her mouth, so I count it--change her shoes, talk to me in mostly incomprehensible babble, chase Anthon, put make up on with me, and change her shoes. Good thing she has a lot of shoes. She's very fun. I figured out that she doesn't like to say the last consonant in her words and now I can understand her much better. Though she doesn't talk much, well, let me rephrase, though I can't understand much of what she says, she's gotten good at nodding or shaking her head to answer a question I ask her. I can't figure out why she just won't learn to talk! I read to her, I talk to her, we sing, I try to make her say the word before I get something for her, we point out objects to her, and she always says something back to us, but it's not quite the right word. She can say, relatively clearly, about fifteen words, so I'm not worried yet. I guess I'm just used to Anthon who's always doing everything before he's supposed to be ready to do it yet. He likes to push the envelope in every way. Erilyn is much more content to wait.

Daddy the hero

We went to the mall yesterday for me to return something and Kirk was sweet enough to come with me and take the kids to the little play area while they waited. When I was finished and got back to the play area, the first thing Kirk said was, "You missed all the excitement! Even the police almost got to come!" Of course, he had some explaining to do.

Apparently, there was a little boy that was being very rude to Anthon, calling him names, and following him around relentlessly. Allow me to have a proud parent moment because Anthon did not retaliate at all. What a good boy. Anyway, Kirk was keeping tabs on the situation, and at one point, Anthon walked into a little area where Kirk couldn't see him directly, and, of course, the other boy followed. They were in full view of the other boys' mom. Pretty soon, the Mom starts saying, "Chris, Chris, Chris," repeatedly, but to no effect. So, Kirk gets up to go see what's going on and he sees this boy completely bullying Anthon and knocking him into the railings (while the other Mom is watching, and not doing anything, by the way), and sweet Anthon is doing his best to avoid him and not hit back (which, frankly, I'm surprised he didn't do!). Kirk, being the fabulous father that he is, picks "Chris" up and sets him down away from Anthon, and then brings Anthon to sit by him on the side for a bit to give him some loves and to talk a bit. Chris' mother went ballistic. Literally, hysterical. She was saying, or rather screaming things like "You have no right to touch my son! How dare you!" Yadda, yadda, yadda. Crazy woman! Anyway, Kirk kept his cool (not surprising, for those of you who know him) and just tried to explain that if she wasn't going to restrain her child, than he was perfectly entitled to protect his. She threatened to call the police and was really quite out of control. A lady who had been sitting near her, and who had seen the whole thing, came over to Kirk and told him that she had seen everything, and agreed that he should be able to protect his child when another is physically threatening him. Kirk got her number, just in case he needed a witness, but eventually Chris' mother calmed down and everything was okay. Phew! What a crazy situation!

Needless to say, I was proud of Kirk for the way he handled it. From praising Anthon for not being rude back to the little boy, even before any of the craziness started, to paying enough attention to realize that something was going on beyond his direct line of vision and for doing something about it even though the other parent wouldn't get off the bench to do anything, to staying calm, to getting contact info for a witness, to being a good example to Anthon of defending yourself in a calm and dignified way; Kirk definitely had a good parenting moment!

Airplane with Daddy

The passed two weeks have been endless. Erilyn is sick. One cranky baby has the ability to put everyone on edge and exhaust the entire family! She's a bit of a drama queen when she's well; but when she's sick, she's a very high maintenance child. My back is sore from carrying her everywhere, and my patience is running thin. Not to mention the fact that I hardly have any patience to begin with. Do you think I used enough italics in this paragraph?!

Fortunately for all of us, the doctor said she should be better in a
few days. Yay! In the meantime, we gave her back her pacifier. There
goes the whole binky funeral concept. Honestly though, I bless that little
device endlessly everyday for saving my sanity...and my family!

Ahh, but this post makes me sound like a maniac. Think what you will.
All you parents out there know what it feels like to have sick children,
and for those of you who also have my level of patience, I'm sure you can
sympathize. Believe me, I'm working on the whole patience thing. Kirk
definitely came through, though. He's been great. Despite how busy he's been starting up his business. Here's to the light at the end of the tunnel!