Musings

Why is it that I can fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon while playing "Go Fish" with Nikki, but at 10 pm when the house is dark and silent I lay awake with my mind running at warp speed? This summer I got into the bad habit of staying up late and sleeping in, but this first week of school has forced me to get myself back into a more healthy routine. After I'm awake for about 20 minutes in the morning I don't mind it so much. Nate even made me laugh before I ate breakfast this morning!

In my online BYU class, my current lesson is about transmitting culture and traditions to our children.When I think about it, there are really tons of little things that we can say "in our family we do it this way." That can bring about a wonderful feeling of belonging. One thing I thought about was our spaghetti sauce. I think most of my brothers and sisters would probably still tell you that Prego is the best out there. My mom bought almost every generic product available, but she would never skimp on the spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti was her favorite supper, and there was no other option but Prego. I used to think Julie was crazy when she had supper with us and only wanted noodles with no sauce, but then her mom made her own spaghetti sauce and the Littles will tell you it just doesn't get any better than Eileen's homemade sauce (which I do happen to like very much and can't seem to make it just like she does). Anyway, in my own house I usually buy the cheap stuff. At the grocery store I always tell myself that one day I'll be in a position where I can buy the luxurious Prego, and then my family will have the best spaghetti around. But here's the sad thing -- I've realized that my girls are growing up liking the cheap stuff and won't appreciate the Prego when I do get around to buying it. That thought almost feels like I'm breaking a family tie that they could have to their Grandma Brenda. Kind of a silly thought, but then again maybe I'll buy Prego next time I'm shopping for spaghetti sauce.

So I'm starting to think that this whole episode of having our house up for sale is just to get me to be a better housekeeper. That's about the only result we are getting because the house sure isn't selling. It is really nice to have a clean kitchen, and I don't worry that when Nate gets home he'll wonder what I've done all day. I'm afraid, though, if we leave it on the market too much longer I'm going to rebel and refuse to do any dishes before bedtime. One chore that my mother would be so surprised to find that I really don't mind doing anymore is making my bed. I know, I should have mastered that by the time I was seven, but I figure getting good at it twenty years too late is better than never.

Nikki, Mommy is most definitely smart!

Today I was trying to explain something to Nikki and she said, "You don't know that. You're not the daddy. You don't know smart things." What?!! What has Nate been telling her? It seems like she is always saying something that either makes me laugh or leaves me trying to figure out where she got that from. I'm just glad her daddy wasn't there -- I think he would have enjoyed that a little too much. =)

Nikki performing for family night

Here is Nikki performing for us at family night last night. She was so cute. I wish the piano was softer, but I think you can still hear her.

First Grade

Hannah had her first day of 1st grade today. She was so excited to go. When she got home she was exhausted and a little cranky, but I think that's understandable. She has two girls in her class that were in her class last year, and she really liked that. She also saw several of the kids from her class last year throughout the day - on the playground or at lunch - and I think that familiararity was good for her. She said she was the last one at everything today. Last to finish her work, last to finish eating at lunch, last in all the lines. I can believe it and would laugh if she wasn't so frustrated by it, but I know how she is always in her own little world. She said she didn't hear the whistle on the playground that meant it was time to line up to go back inside, so everyone was already in line before she even realized they were about to leave. It took her some time last year to speed up and realize she had some deadlines to meet during the day, but she caught on then and I know she'll get the hang of it again. Overall, she had a good day and is excited to go back tomorrow.

Hannah's dream

This morning over breakfast Hannah told us about her dream last night. It went like this: "My dream was a Valentine dream. First, a magic fairy came. And she gave me a magic wand. Then I went home and then I wished for a big heart. Then I wished for a little heart that was blue and swirling all around me. Then I had lunch. I ate some carrots. Then I had my party and I wished for lots of magic things that were toys. Then I had supper." I wanted to laugh but she was just as serious about it as she could be.

Lots of Happenings

Well, it seems like we have been so busy for the past little while. Here's a little of what we've been up to.

I just got called to be the choir director at church. Our last choir director just got married and moved, and I knew my name would be considered as a replacement because I can't keep my mouth shut during choir practice. This is so out of my comfort zone, but I'm not dreading it anymore. I think it can actually be fun. Yesterday was the first practice that I have conducted, and there were only 3 men and 3 women who showed up! No tenors came at all (hurry home JW), but I was encouraged by how the basses did. They seem to always be the weakest section in this ward, but they were actually singing their part yesterday. So maybe if people will actually come to choir, it won't be so bad.

We did some furniture rearranging the other day, and the girls loved it. Hannah thought we were moving, and she told me she was surprised at how good I was at working. I moved a pretty tall bookshelf into a different room all by myself while Nate was out doing errands, and she was so impressed. Her reaction just made me laugh. I do really like our new arrangements -- now if only we could find someone to even come look at our house.

Our cousins Lydia and Eliza came to play one day last week, and that was so much fun. We got out the slip-n-slide, but I think the girls wanted to sit under the beach umbrella with their feet in a bucket of water, like Sherrie and I were doing, more than they wanted to slide. We are so blessed to have such great family close by.

I think Nikki's highlight last week was getting a new lunchbox for preschool. It's a My Little Pony one, and she gets it out to show any company that comes over. She will also probably wear out her new shoes before school even starts. She thinks she is so grown.

On Friday, Nate took the day off of work and we tried out a waterpark in Kinston. It wasn't that great. It would be a lot of fun if our girls were a few years older and able to go on the bigger water slides, but they just swam in the swimming pools and we don't have to go all the way to Kinston for that. It was a great day together as a family, though. I think I love Nate's job more than he does. He is home so much more now, and I love that he isn't working evenings or weekends or traveling, and he is so much more relaxed. He never would have been able to take off two Fridays in a row at his last job just to play with us.

Beach

Last week Alli got a babysitter for Brenna, and we took the rest of the kids to the beach for the day. It was so much fun for all of us. Jay didn't really like getting tossed around by the waves, so he and I stayed on the sand for a long time making sandcastles and playing.

Flamingo Emma -- I thought this was a pretty good impersonation
fearless Nikki -- While all the other girls were clamoring for someone's hand to hold on to when the waves came, Nikki would shake me off anytime I tried to hold her hand and say, "I can do it myself." She got dunked a few times, but she would just get right back up and go at it again. She makes me a little nervous being so brave and so small out there, but I am so glad she loves it.

Camping in the Mountains

This weekend we went camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We stayed at a campground right on the Blue Ridge parkway. It was a fun little getaway. We got to do some hiking, see some waterfalls, a cavern, and the Blowing Rock. The girls think the highlight was seeing a lizard and playing with their flashlights. Hannah was afraid she was going to burn her hand in the campfire, so she didn't really enjoy roasting hotdogs or marshmallows. I think the Doritos were a bigger hit than the s'mores. We always have graham crackers around, but we never have chips. All in all, we had a great time and hope we can go for another weekend trip this fall when the leaves are changing.

Blowing Rock

This site is interesting because at times the rain or snow blowing by the rock appears to be going up rather than falling down. It has something to do with the way the wind blows through the mountains, but there is a legend that says a long time ago there was a young Indian woman very much in love with an Indian warrior. Somehow he fell off the rock, but she prayed so hard that he would be returned to her that on the next red sunset, the wind blew his spirit back up to her.

It wasn't very windy when we were there, though.

Hike to Linville Falls

Here we are ready to begin our hike up to the waterfalls. It was such a beautiful trail.

Here is our fearless leader trying to figure out which way to go when we came to a fork in the road. Since I haven't quite overcome all of my control freak tendencies, after about fifty feet I stopped and suggested we should have gone the other way. Lucky for me, I was right. If we had continued the other way we would have found ourselves on a strenuous 7-mile trail. It turned out that we somehow had taken another wrong turn earlier. We ended up back at the visitor's center without ever seeing the water. So, we started out again, but Nikki got a little tuckered out before it was over.

At last, we finally made it to the falls. I was worried that these waterfalls would be a bit of a diappointment after just visiting Niagra Falls just a few weeks ago, but this was really beautiful, too. How can you be disappointed in God's artwork? The weather was perfect, and the girls were troopers on the hike, even with our detour. =)

Linville Cavern

We enjoyed our visit to the Linville Cavern. Before we went in, Nikki asked what a cavern was. Hannah's eyes got really big when I told them we were going inside the mountain. The tour guide turned off all the lights for a few seconds to demonstrate what it's like to be in complete darkness. Afterwards, we asked them how they liked going through the cave, and Nikki said when they turned the lights out it was "pooky" (spooky).