counting by 10's

My father turns 60 this year, which reminded me of attending a surprise 50th party for him a decade ago, which of course reminded me that 10 years ago this month my husband graduated from law school.

From there my thoughts turned to what life was like 10 years ago: two small children, ages three and one. One mini-van. Our first experience ever not in school: a job at a prestigious law firm, 1741 miles away in Cleveland, Ohio. A home to be bought.

2007 dreams for 10 years ahead: income!, another vehicle, a real dining table, perhaps more children, children going to school, student loans paid off, a bigger home, maybe partnership at said law firm, sharing life with friends and family.

Looking back over 10 years: economy crashed, job lost, home values plummeted, short-sold home. Moved to colorful rental. Started a law practice.

Faith.

Three more babies. Moved, three times. Two vehicles. Finally, income. Built a house. Four kids in school. Things we've tried: baseball, soccer, piano, oboe, gymnastics, tae kwon do, swimming, art, choir, student council, football, track, cross country. Still paying student loans. Friends lost, friends found. Friends moving away. Tears, laughter; exhaustion.

Looking ahead 10 years:

• a 23 year old: Mission? College? Career? Married like his parents were at that age? Children? 
• a 21 year old: Mission? College? Career? Married? 
• 19 year old: Mission?
• 16 year old: sophomore in high school. Sports, music, art. 
• 12 year old: stinky, sports, music, camping with the scouts.

Me: TBD

Same house? New house? Student loans paid off--please. Travel. A patio (Joseph?).

Tears, laughter, Hope. 

little moments like these

First post on the new computer--a laptop! I am enjoying the click of the keys while I sit on the sofa after everyone has gone to bed. I don't get on the computer and write/type very often these days, but when we brought the computer home Logan challenged me to a type-off. He is in a computer programming class and his instructor told the class that if any of the kids could type faster than he (the instructor), he will waive their final in the class. Logan is at 35 words per minute and his teacher 65. He showed me the test online, and let me just say: I've still got it. 85 words per minute and 98% accuracy. I wonder what I was typing during my college days as an English major, spitting out pages and pages of papers every single day!

Anyway, it's been an interesting week. Yesterday I read an article that asked the question, "When was a time when you really lived in the moment?" Just a few days before that a friend shared a story of a mother stating that her biggest regret was not savoring the times with her children and then she talked about a moment that she could now look back on in a photograph and wished she could remember more of the feelings she felt during the moment. The next day I saw a picture of three of my children when they were very young, sitting together on a slide. It's like someone was sending me a message or something! I have been thinking about it ever since. So much of our lives these days seem to be simply getting through the day and getting to bed so that we can start a new day tomorrow. While I can remember specific instances of savoring a moment, I don't even know if I can remember when I last really just lived and loved in the moment! The heightened awareness of the question has helped me to live in the little moments today and I wanted to jot them down.

I jumped on the trampoline with Ammon. When my 5-times a mom bladder told me I should get off and he asked me to keep jumping, I kept jumping. We did a trick-off, where one person did a trick and the other person copied. He won with a flip....this body just can't do that anymore. We also discovered that it was fun to jump-sit on our bottoms, then hop up and give each other high-fives.

I held Auggie as much as I could today, trying to memorize the way he felt in my arms, and took notice of the way his body is stretching and thinning out. We had fun kicking a balloon back and forth to each other, and I think he is finally understanding the concept of taking a bite of something he doesn't really want in order to get a bite of something he does want. I took him into the dressing room with me (I bought a dress today that I would have worn in the 90's!!), and he had so much fun looking into the full length mirror. He would walk over to the side, then stick his head in to see himself, then arms, then legs. This is really a fun stage!

I sat at the piano and helped Grant practice a new song. He was getting frustrated because it takes some practice to make your left fingers move at a different speed than your right fingers. I got a little frustrated, too, to be honest (which is why I don't even try to teach them anymore and am paying someone else to teach them). But we made an agreement: hotdogs for dinner if he played through it 5 more times. Easiest dinner ever, and he's got that song down!

Logan is in Expo, which is basically the gifted and talented program. He needed a newspaper article that demonstrated a leader who displays at least four of the leadership qualities that they have been going over in class. Just a little ironic as right now the news does not really reflect great qualities of leaders in our country! We bought the Sunday edition with the hopes of having a better chance of finding something, and by some miracle we were able to find an article about FDR and an interview with George W. Bush. We waited until everyone had gone to bed before we scoured the articles and highlighted excerpts that could fit into the list of qualities. Usually I am anxious for everyone to go to bed, but tonight I was able to really enjoy talking to him about this grown-up, deep topic of leadership and the ideas discussed in the articles.

Sadly, I didn't have as much interaction with Madison. I will have to make it a priority tomorrow. Tonight she rushed through her piano practice and ran outside to play with friends. I did let her have extra rice crispy treats (which Ammon and I made tonight). I did confront her and a friend after I caught them riding skateboards, while sitting down, down the driveway and into the road--with my van in the other side of the driveway blocking their journey. I have been trying to ask questions instead of lecturing (soooo hard!), so I asked her why I didn't want them doing that and she was able to explain to me that cars would not be able to see down so low and the skateboards were going out so quickly (our driveway is on a slope) that they would not have time to stop even if they did see them. It was was a good, short conversation--we'll see if it makes a difference.

I guess that is enough to write about today. My hope is that if I am more aware of the moments that I will live in them a little more, and more joyously. And if I write them down I might just remember them a little bit better, and maybe I will even have more of them. Fingers crossed!

History of a Texas Trampoline

I will get to the trampoline. But first, a picture to remind me of how an almost 13 year old boy thinks when he decides to make brownies by using one dish to mix and bake so he doesn't have to clean a separate bowl. 

Now for the trampoline. During the Christmas season of 2011, we thought it would be mighty fun to have a trampoline in our backyard. January 2012: the McGregors buy a 14' trampoline. 

The kids played on it. We made neighbors get permission from their parents to jump on it. It got hot. It got sunshiney. The padding deteriorated from the springs; the foam peeled off the poles. By the winter of 2013 the net was starting to get holes in it, which I (and my mother) painstakingly stitched up, and the trampoline was renamed Frankenline. 

I regularly patched the net until it was unsalvageable, sometime in 2014. At that point I cut off the worst areas and left the rest of the net hanging loose. It looked (really) bad, but by that time we had started building a house and I thought we would just replace the net when we moved. After all, we never had a net on my childhood trampoline, and we were fine!

....Until a little girl I was babysitting flew off of the trampoline and slammed into the wooden fence. (I can't get the image out of my head.)

I Amazoned it that hour. $80 and 2-days later, we had a net to replace. If you have never put a trampoline together, you might not be aware that this means you unknot every string that is holding the net on, and then restring the trampoline to the springs. Loads of fun. Especially when you guess the middle wrong and figure out it doesn't stretch that far, so you get to start over a few times. 

A few months later we moved. 2015. I was 7 months pregnant and it was ice storming while I once again unknotted and untied every net string. Luckily, some nice men from church helped us to take apart and then moved the rest of the trampoline. 

While 8 months pregnant, I (and the kids) set up the trampoline and restrung the net. I was a balancing baby-belly trampoline goddess. 

That summer (2015) the jump mat started ripping away from the springs. A neighbor fell through the side (are you seeing a pattern here?); that hour I ordered a new net. Two days and $80 later we once again unstring the net, replace the pad, and restring the net. 

2016, this week. I am away from home and come home to: the net torn off of the metal ring on top. A neighbor apparently jumped into the net and the sunburned top just ripped right through the poles. 

Today. I find black duct tape and tape around the entire top of the net. Anything to save a few bucks--and prolong the time until I will have to undo and redo the net. 

So if you are thinking about buying a trampoline and you live in Texas, you have been warned. 

in which life gets more complicated

I guess you could say I am used to having little kids. I kind of know what to expect (which is not to say that I always know what to do). However, I feel like we are starting a new area of life and I can't see very far ahead of where we are going, and that is a little scary. I will call this change of life "adolescence." Logan and Madi will both be in middle school this year. The only experience with this stage that I know is my experience, and that makes me want to hide under the covers until it's over, and unfortunately that's not an option. Well, I mean, it might not turn out well if I did that. 

Logan is starting football camp tomorrow, and I'm terrified for him. For many reasons that I don't want to go into, we decided not to invest a lot of our early childhood lives in extra curricular activities, so I am worried about him being behind everyone else. I am worried about the commitment. I am worried about him feeling like he doesn't fit in. 

Madison is beginning the oboe this year. I love music, but I know nothing about the oboe. I don't know what reeds to buy, and I just found out what a spit cup is. I guess with this, and with adolescence, we will figure it out as we fake our way through it--just like we did when Logan and Madi were newborns and toddlers, and then starting kindergarten, and eventually there will be high school and college and life. Hopefully by the time Auggie gets to middle school we will be experts. Tired experts, but maybe a little more confident...as long as the others turn out ok, that is. Man, parenting is hard!

Speaking of Auggie, he is walking all over and babbling constantly. We think he says, "yes" (which is so strange), and "cheese." We think he might have a lazy eye--it is on my list of things to ask the pediatrician at his appt this month. 

And finally, I got a new church calling. Our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is run by volunteers...well, we get volunteered and agree to volunteer. Anyway, I have been asked to be the leader over the young women ages 12-18 in our congregation (of over 500 people!! Only about 20 of those are YW). I am excited, but I have to be honest--it's a little overwhelming. The last year and a half I have been playing the piano and organ, and that has been a pretty easy and undemanding commitment. However, I accept and am happy about this new challenge and look forward to  getting to know the youth in our area. Logan also does not mind the fact that this means more girls in our lives, and next year Madi will turn 12 and will get to join us. So yes, life is more complicated, and my experience is that it will continue to get more so, and we keep on growing and at the same time expanding in our capacity. Well, that's life! 

Update

Quick update on everyone: 

Logan took a couple tests in May and as a result is skipping two years of math. I am proud of him and terrified for us both. He likes to work out and is supposed to be training for a 100 mile Appalachian Trail hike he is going on this summer. 

Madi will be playing the oboe next year in band. She loves to take pictures and she is getting pretty good at editing them. She is beginning to play the piano in her spare time, without me nagging her. She is my artistic, creative child.

Grant is officially starting piano this summer. I have been teaching him lessons off and on, but he's ready for some consistency. He and Madi both have a talent for music. (Logan takes piano as well, and is doing well, but it is a little harder for him, which is ok--he needs to know what it's like to have to work for something because everything else comes so easily to him.) 

Ammon and I are working hard on reading this summer. The first little bit is almost as frustrating as potty-training. He guesses more at the words than my other kids did. He's going to get it, though. He is probably our most athletic child--another thing I can't really help them with. 

Auggie is still content to crawl, although he has started to do the crab walk and will walk on his knees. He has become a fantastic sleeper, and I'm greatful. I'm pretty sure he says, "yes," "this," "that," "mom," and "da." He can shake his head. I have no idea how intentional any of it is. He loves vegetables (especially beans, peas, broccoli, tomatoes, and corn) and all fruits. He usually likes meats and cheeses. He does not like to eat pasta or breads. I suppose that is healthy. He loves to play balls and roll cars. He can point to his belly-button and nose and spits when you ask him where his tongue is. He has 8 teeth....and I'm pretty sure right now he is getting 8 more all at the same time! 

ready or not, here we summer!

Last week Auggie and I spent a few days in Idaho for my baby brother's wedding. It was fun to see everyone, but boy were we tired and ready to come home! Auggie was a champ, and also very adorable. Joe and the other four kids didn't come because it was the last week of school. The last few years I have set up parties for the kids to celebrate, so it was honestly a little bit sad to be missing the most exciting and fun day of the year...also I missed Madi's fifth grade graduation and Ammon's preschool graduation. Everyone survived, so I guess we will move on to summer.

I woke up on Sunday morning to kids shoving granola bars and toast in their mouths. I grouchily declared it was Fast Sunday, and I kid you not--it was like turning the light on and bugs scattering out of sight. The kids ran up stairs and disappeared. I decided we might as well go ahead and eat breakfast, and over breakfast I informed the kids of our summer schedule.

*No coming downstairs until 6:30. (WHAAAT? WHHYYYY?)

*AND your bed has to be made, bedrooms and bathrooms tidy, and dressed for the day. (NOOOOO!)

*Freetime until 7:30, when we will be eating breakfast. (BUT MOM!!!!! Don't YOU want to sleep in?)

*Also, each day a different child will be in charge of making all the meals and cleaning up after those meals. (No one seemed too upset about this.)

I won't bore you with the rest of our (very horrible and unreasonable) routine, but the best comment of the morning was Madison's, "We might as well go back to school."

Second place came from Logan, "Why can't we just have free time all day?"

HAHAHAHA! 

We are only on day 2, and so far so good. Logan's orange chicken was so delicious that last night Auggie literally licked his plate clean! We have gone swimming with friends, read and read, visited the library, and tomorrow we will run errands. Oh, and I made a list of jobs for the kids and told them they got to CHOOSE which three they wanted to do every day. Who knew that they would be in such a hurry to pick and complete theirs first--before anyone else could claim the "easy" ones.  I highly recommend this chore system.

Sooo tired on the airplane. 

Auggie played at the kids' table during the reception.

Picnic at Twin Falls.


He loved Aunt Ame's glasses!

hello sunshine!

It's been a long 19 hours. So long it took me about 30 seconds to figure out how many hours it's been since: the ceiling started leaking at 8:00 pm last night. Like--water pouring out of a light in the kitchen! This could be a really long story, but no one wants to hear that, and I'm certainly tired of thinking about it. So long story as short as possible:

The ceiling started leaking while Grant was showering last night, but it took a while (and several people) to discover what the cause of leak was because it was not under the bathroom, but under the air conditioning units, which have already been working hard because it's April in Texas. I called a water-damage specialist this morning to get an assessment, and he estimated $3,000-$4,000 worth of damage.

Now, in the long run, there are a lot worse things. I kept telling myself that it was like going to the emergency room (with our insurance, anyway), and reminded myself that money is replaceable. However, it's not really how I want to spend money.....

Our builders (contractors) came out to help solve the problem (because the first guy said he thought it was behind the wall). It is the builder's job to help fix anything that is their fault, and when they found out that everything was working right (except for my kids taking showers) they could have just walked away.

But they didn't. They listened to the first guy tell them about all the stuff we would have to do to dry out and repair the ceiling. And then when everyone was gone, our builder, Alex, called me and asked if I would like him to come assess everything and tell me his opinion. Yes, please.

He cut a hole in my ceiling and discovered that other than about a 1"x12" section, everything was dry (thanks to all that water that poured out of the light instead of pooling on the sheetrock)! He pulled up the carpet in the boys' closet, determined that the pad was only damp, and instructed me on how to care for and return it to its spot in a week, after everything has had time to dry out. He also said he would take care of the hole in the wall they had cut and that the only thing I would need to cover was the hole in the ceiling (which his people will do when they repair the other hole). Tops cost: $100, and probably closer to half that.

Lessons I'm learning:

1. Bad things always happen when Joe is out of town.
2. It must be so that I can become confident in knowing that whatever happens, I've got this.
3. Come what may and love it (Joseph B. Wirthlin).
4. Everything is going to be O.K. This ended up not being a big deal, and like I said, even if it had been a bigger deal, there are worse things in life. I know that in the end, it will be O.K. There is simply no other choice, and life goes on.
5. We need to have a family home evening lesson on how to take showers without getting water on the floor. (swimming suits everyone?)
6. If you decide to build, go with a good builder. I highly recommend Horizon/Highland Homes.

a history of tables

Our Chinese teacher at BYU-Idaho gave us our first table when Joe and I got married--almost 15 years ago. It was a heavy-duty, blond, round library table. It was also pre-digital camera, so I don't have a picture of it. It was plenty big enough for our little family of two, and we even had room to invite friends and coworkers over for dinner somewhat frequently. 

Three years and one child later we moved to a (maybe) 500 square foot cinder block apartment at BYU-Provo. We hauled that table up 3 flights of stairs and quickly realized it would not fit into our tiny, tiny kitchen space, so we took it to a thrift store and then went straight to Walmart to buy a $40 card table. That was a lot of money for us! Then we added Madison, and as you can see, it was a little tight. 

In 2007 we moved to Cleveland, Ohio to start life out of college. Our first real furniture purchase ever (and we waited until we knew Joe had passed the bar) was to buy a real table! We spent something like $800. We loved it, and we loved all the space we had for our growing family (Grant came right after). We moved that table across the country to Texas, and then moved it to two more homes (a total of four homes) and added two more kids (Ammon and August). We celebrated birthdays, made food, colored eggs, carved pumpkins, painted pictures, assembled puzzles, and created pinewood derby cars at that table. We now officially had more people than seats, and finding room for friends and family became a little tricky. 

  

We started to look for a new table, and sales clerks would laugh when I told them I needed a tough table--one that would allow fork gouges and permanent marker stains to add character. I usually start all our furniture purchases off with, "I have five kids." Eventually, I learned about this kind of table called a "farmhouse" table. As it turns out there are quite a few do-it-yourself plans online, but if you know us at all, you know that our do-it-yourself skills are pretty lame. Anyway, long story short, there is a guy about three streets away who is always making tables in his garage and on his driveway. We told him what we needed and he delivered it to our house this week. I pretty much had no idea what it would look like, and to make it even more exciting and suspenseful, I asked him to combine two different colors of stain, and this is what he came up with. 

It has taken me a few days to get used to the new look in our dining area. It seems like it's twice the size of our last table, and we are going to have to teach our kids to pass plates and food because it's too big to reach across. Someday I would like to find better matching chairs, but for now our old ones will do. 

The table isn't perfect, and there are already dings and marks in it. It is heavy duty, will last forever (hopefully!), and forks and permanent markers will only add to the beauty of the table. The bench is sturdy and can fit a lot of little bottoms on it. In fact, we can easily fit everyone at the table, and we can fit you, too!

Tonight as everyone was cleaning up after dinner (and Grant was sweeping the floor), I felt a little warm fuzzy as I realized that this is a place where we will make thousands of new memories. Food made and eaten. Hours and hours of math homework cursed at and completed. Games played. Birthdays celebrated. Friendships made. Good and hard conversations had. We will laugh and cry and pray and learn at this table. 

So anyway, make your reservations and get in on the memories.

separate identities

Yes, yes; it's been a while. I'm so far behind on the blogging that I don't think I will even try to catch up. The truth is that I'm too tired and too busy to use Auggie's nap time to blog. However, the last few days I have been made extra-aware that my children are growing up, and the memories deserve more than a facebook post.

1. Two of my wonderful, sweet babies kids have informed me that my van music (country) stinks. "Please turn it off, " they say. "It's giving me a headache." I turn it up louder so I can sing louder, but they just get louder, too.

2. This week Logan was personally invited to be in an after-school club. I am so happy. It feels like he's sort of finding his niche, and I think it's a safe one. Which club, you ask? The calculator club.

3. Auggie is nine months old. Gulp. It is happening way too quickly. Diaper-changing has turned into a battle over who can out-smart and over-power the other person. Sleep has gotten a little more consistent, so that part I'm ready for.

Well, that about takes up the 10 minutes I allotted to blogging. Back to the grind.

all things Auggie

I LOVE this age! Every day I find myself consciously trying to memorize the imprint of his body in my arms. I kiss his chubby cheeks and tickle his feet and I squish his fluffy thighs. He is happy and content and curious and fun, fun, fun. 

His first tooth is growing in nicely, and a second tooth is about to pop through. 

We started giving him solids at dinner time, and it makes him so happy!! Seriously, he physically jumps up and down in the high chair and moves his wide-open mouth to the spoon. The baby cereal says to start with a tablespoon, and I think we are giving him almost a quarter cup! He is sleeping through the night better, too, so that tale about solids and sleeping must be true. 

Auggie has been rolling over for about a month, but in the last week or so he has discovered that rolling can get him places, and he can get from one side of the room to the other more quickly than I am ready for him to move! I fear that soon he will be crawling, which means we will have to get a baby gate for the stairs and keep the floor free of Legos and beads. He is sitting up pretty well, and we've started letting him sit in the grocery cart, which makes life so much easier.

Auggie loves to read; he paws at the books and turns pages, and apprently they taste great. He is figuring out how to play (pound on) the piano, which makes my heart go pitter-patter. He loves to drop toys on the floor. He likes to play with his toes. He loves to go on walks in the stroller. 

Auggie spends a lot of time admiring his hands and fingers, and I love to watch him as he places them in front of his face and twists and turns and bends them. I wonder what he thinks about his amazing body as he discovers the things he is capable of doing. A few days ago we were playing with feet and I showed him mine and wiggled my toes. He smiled big and wiggled his toes back for me, and then laughed when I praised him. 

We are working on taking longer naps. I think because our schedule is not super consistent (with running back and forth to school, play groups, and grocery shopping), he has gotten into the habit of taking several 20-30 minute naps during the day--usually in the car. I would really like him to take a shorter nap in the morning and evening and one long nap between 12:00-3:00 in the afternoon. 

Auggie is wearing 6-9 month clothes and some 12 month clothes. He's my tall, giant baby, and we all love him. 

Every time I try to take a picture of him admiring his hands I end up distracting him. This is the best I could get. 

August in September

Better late than never? Also, maybe someday I will come up with more creative titles.

At 4 months Auggie:

• weighs 16 lbs 1 oz
• is 26" long
• can roll from front to back
• has rolled from back to front a few times
• likes to blow bubbles
• likes to make spitting noises
• likes to sleep in his crib 
• falls asleep on his own
• is not sleeping through the night very often (insert very sad face)
• is a happy baby
• likes to suck on his bottom lip
• puts everything in his mouth

 Auggie at 4ish months

And just because it's fun, we were looking at old pictures last night to see who August looks the most like. Wow! Time flies! I love the different backgrounds, too, as they remind me of the many different places we were in life as each child was added to our family. 

Logan 4ish months in Rexburg, Idaho. Joe and I were both finishing our undergrad degrees.

 Madi 4ish months (Logan 2 and Joe 25) in Provo, Utah (Wymount!) for law school.

Grant 4ish months in South Euclid, Ohio. Joe was working for Roetzel and Andress.

Another Grant at 4ish months (Madi 2 and Logan 4). I had to include this one because Ammon was playing doctor with Auggie this morning using this same doctor set. Love!  

Ammon 4ish months with his great-grandma. Picture taken at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Pennsylvania. Joe had recently started his own law practice and we had just moved to a rental home in North Dallas.

Sooo.... who do you think he looks like? 

balls and babies

Our 8 yr-old computer is slower than slow and my phone freezes every 3 seconds, so basically my communication with the outside world is nonexistent right now, which is ok, I guess. I can focus on the important things. Like the notes I find on Madison's door. (I'm sure going to miss this stage in life where my kids leave the funniest writings scattered all over the house.)

You see, a few days ago Madison and Ammon were play-fighting with an orange hopper ball. You know--those balls with a handle that you can hop on. Anyway, Madison kicked it right on top of Auggie's face. Joe and I were right there and we both kind of gasped. Auggie did, too, and then he smiled this big smile like, "Hey, I think I just felt something!" We still had to reprimand the offenders, and Madison may have shed a few tears because she knew that she had just kicked a BALL on her baby brother's face. 

We spent the rest of the day teasing her about balls and babies, which apparently she did not appreciate. 

I will say this, though. Life is a lot more fun when you can have a good sense of humor.