Catch up

The time has come for an update. It's actually way past due, I feel guilty every time one of my kids does something wonderful, or has a birthday etc. and I don't post something about it. I obviously don't feel that guilty or I would just post more. Anyway, I think the main reason I haven't been posting is because life has just been hard and not really that fun as of late. No one wants to read about that including my posterity someday so I just haven't posted anything and once you get out of practice you wonder how on earth you ever had time to keep up a blog. Maybe I am the only one with such thoughts, probably.

So, Jake turned 9 in November has been on the swim team and swam a mile without stopping, he's also been playing indoor soccer, and just built his first pine-wood derby car. I am telling ya, it looks pretty fast. I will let you know how it goes, the race is tomorrow night, I think he 's got a good chance of taking the whole derby.

Estee is my 3 year old who really thinks she is a princess. Not like oh, you are pretty as a princess, but she actually believes she is a princess. We asked her today what it takes to be a princess and she replied "you have to be pretty, you have to be smart, you have to like to clean (I love this one you better believe I will be using it later to get her to clean her room), you have to be nice, you have to be Abby's sister!" Sorry all of you who thought you had a chance of being a princess (in Estee's eyes at least) Abby only has one sister.

Andy is gone from early morning to late at night most weekdays and I kind of miss him. He is a joyful teenager, most days, and I wouldn't mind having him around more. He has been in early morning seminary all year. He rarely complains, but I have to tell you I cannot wait to move to Utah and this is one of the major reasons! Andy has been in some kind of sport all year at Pioneer, he is currently in Track and has been recruited to the pole vault team, he also runs sprints. He had a personal best at his track meet on Saturday and cleared 8 ft 6 inches. He was the highest jumper for a freshman and 9th overall with seniors and everything. Can you tell I am his mom??

Abby has recently developed an interest in Star Wars movies which has pleased her brothers very much. She said "these are so much better once you get the plot, I just thought they wanted to save the galaxy or something." Family movie time is much easier now, Estee loves Star Wars too. I am raising some kind of nerd girls, I know, I like nerds they get in less trouble. Abby has been swimming this winter, playing volleyball, playing basketball, playing cello at Hill Auditorium (which is the 3rd best auditorium in the USA--according to Abby's teacher, Mr Bailey), and playing lots of piano including competing in the SATD (no idea what that stands for) and being good enough to qualify for the next level. Can you tell I'm her mom??

Dan has been studying for boards. That pretty much sums up his last three months. I guess he's also been working. Same thing to me. He takes Oto boards this week. Hallelujah. I don't even care if he fails, lets just get it done already. Ok, I care if he fails. That means we will have to hear about it more. I sound like the most un-supportive wife in the world. It's all talk, I am really super supportive--just ask me, I will tell you. He has facial plastic boards in June. I have just about had it with all the test taking (16 years later). It's not like he goes to the hospital and an hour later comes home with the test all done. Oh, no we get to pay THOUSANDS of dollars for the privilege of taking the test. Oh, and did I mention it's a four-day three-night trip to another city, in our case Chicago and Washington DC, respectively. And guess who covers all the cost for hotel, flight, meals etc? Did I mention I am super supportive?

To vent my frustrations with Dan's money spending career path, I have taken to mile upon mile of running. I just finished my first half marathon and it felt pretty good to have accomplished that goal. Thanks to my friend Elizabeth for having the goal too, because it got me going along with her. She posted about it if you want more details. http://elderfam.blogspot.com/2010/04/martian-half-marathon.html

Over the long, cold months of winter here in MI I was working hard getting my house ready to sell. Including painting (thanks so much to wonderful friends for helping me), packing up enough of our stuff to fill a storage unit and moving it all to the storage unit, throwing out or donating mounds and mounds of junk we have collected over the last six years, and countless other fix-it projects (thanks to Dan's parents for coming to help with fix-it projects!). Now, it's all done and we sold our house without a realtor! In less than 2 weeks on craigslist!!!! We are so happy to be done with it! Now we are renting it (for less than our mortgage payment!) until Dan is finished with his fellowship and the kids are out of school. We are all ready to enjoy our last couple months in Ann Arbor.

Looking back over the last year I can see that we have been so blessed even though it's been the hardest year. I can see that our Heavenly Father was with us every step of the way helping us get through it. I am so glad to have my four pretty close to perfect kids, my good, hard working husband, and a better perspective on what really matters in life. That was probably what Heavenly Father wanted me to learn from this year. I hope I am all done with that lesson.

The End.

Abby's Night!

Abby had a piano recital tonight. She played beautifully and always does. She is so talented on the piano. I am so proud of her. She played "Variations on a Russian Folk Tune". Dan and I were able to go and listen to her with no interruptions thanks to the boys who stayed home and watched Estee. After the recital we took Abby to dinner at The Quarter Bistro, she wanted to order something really wonderful. She ordered the ALLIGATOR!! I hate reptiles and the last thing I would want to do is eat one, however she thinks it is cool that she has done something Dan and I haven't ever done--eat alligator meat! It actually looked a lot like chicken strips. Here she is eating her alligator!

She brought the alligator left-overs home and Jake was upset that we supported her buying and eating an endangered species!

Abby also had a cello AND choir concert in the last couple weeks.
She is MEGA talented girl! We are so glad she is ours and are so proud of her.

Abby's blog

I noticed Abby put up something on her blog. It made me laugh.
You should check it out.
http://therockinbookfreak.blogspot.com/

My good friend Abbi is moving today. :( It makes me sad because part of Ann Arbor is leaving for us. Ryan and Abbi were the first people we knew in AA and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We are going to miss them tons, but are happy they will be back to visit and we will still get to see them once in a while. I went over to say good-bye and she had these beautiful peonies blooming in her yard. She said I should take them and enjoy them because she wouldn't be here to enjoy them. I was more than happy to oblige! Aren't they amazing--I love peonies.

They make my house so cheery! Thanks Abbi, I am going to miss you tons!

Jake was in the Science Olympiad last Saturday, which is a big competition where many of the schools in the area compete in science events. Jake was lucky enough to be picked as one of the two 2nd graders from his school to compete in the barge building competition. His coach (who was great) told me Jake is so good at loading up the barge, he is so patient, methodical and precise. Here he is with his friend and barge building partner, Zack. This is them right after they competed in the event.

We found out a couple hours later that Jake and Zack had won first place! Jake was so excited and we were so happy for him. He is taking after his big sister, Abby, who won first place two years ago in Mystery Architecture. They had an assembly at school this week to honor the Science Olympiad competitors and made a big deal out of these two. Here is Jake with his gold medal!


Abby was in Alice in Wonderland at her school last week. She was the Cheshire cat, and the knave of hearts. She did a great job and loved it. I forgot my camera, but did make a meat pie honoring her performance. Abby got a picture of it--in case you can't tell it says "Alice in Wonderland".

This picture of Andy makes me laugh. He is always so willing to play with Estee, they were "riding bikes" here and we were laughing at our almost 14 year old, Andy, on the pink and purple princess bike! Andy is such a good sport all the time and I love that about him. Estee does too, whenever he gets home she yells "Andy, I missed you!!".

Abby's facial, Estee body paint

Abby is going to kill me for posting this, but I just want to anyway. Dan (with my assistance) gave Abby a facial. We had the whole spa treatment going with candles, music--we even banished Estee, Jake, and Andy so she could really relax. She was very resistant to this at first, but I think she secretly really liked it. She will never admit this, however. You should ask her about it next time you see her.

I love this one of Dan massaging her temples. He regularly threatens her to quit scowling or he will botox her scowl away! Ha! I hope he does it one day!!

Estee has become fascinated with painting herself. I think she must have been a warrior in her previous life because she seems to know just what to do and wants to do it all the time. She is ready for battle whenever she has ice cream, or pudding. This time in particular I was having a conversation with the rest of the family and ignored her for a few minutes--big mistake. Silly me for thinking I could have a conversation! I love the detail on the arms. I think someday she might be a painter--I am so glad I am not squashing that dream by keeping her clean.
If no body paint (ice cream) is available she finds other sources, she can be creative, pretty much anything on Abby's desk she can make good use of, she used stickers this time. Jake was her partner in crime here.

Andy scored 12 points at a basketball game yesterday and Jake did some great rock climbing! Someday when I actually attend one of Andy's games and Jake's rock climbing (besides drop off/pick up) I will take pictures and post about them! But for now, way to go boys!!

Dan seems to think my post about Abby's cello performance is inaccurate. He doesn't think I was "literally" bursting with pride. I guess I am still in one piece and haven't burst open yet so maybe he is right. I stand corrected. I am just figuratively bursting with pride.

Orchestra Concert--Abby on Cello

I am literally bursting with pride for my little cellist. Abby is a girl with many, many talents and I am so proud of her. Last week she had a orchestra/choir concert. She played the cello and even had a solo part. She is in the middle on the right, I try to zoom in on her at one point.

Then she sang in the choir concert.

It was especially nice to have Dan join me at the concert. I am really pretty use to going to these wonderful events alone. However, it is always really fun to have Dan join me and know he is enjoying our kids as much as I do. Another added bonus--Andy volunteered to stay home and watch Estee so we could listen to the concert with out any outburst or interruptions. Dreamy.

Abby is playing basketball right now as well, and I took a bunch of pictures at her first game last week and I don't know what happened to them. Estee was nearby so I think she may have had something to do with it. Hmmmm. All I have left is a video of Estee cheering Abby on before the game started. It was really cute, Estee LOVED cheering for Abby. She kept saying "go Abby" in this really angry voice. They won the game by one point!! Pretty exciting stuff. It's getting a tiny, tiny bit easier to take Estee to sporting events for the bigger kids (knock on wood, knock hard on wood).

Jake was also very fun take to the game, he is so nice to Estee and is always willing to help her (or help me with her).

Thanksgiving, Grandparents visit, Jake's Baptism/Birthday, Abby's broken arm

First things first. Jake's 8th birthday, he had a wonderful day that he graciously shared with two football games--Michigan and Utah games. We did, however, manage to be opening presents and eating cake and ice cream right as the first game started. So, he had lots of fun things to entertain him!

The next day Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. It was very fun, we had a great time with them and love all the help they give us when they come. We had a great Thanksgiving Day with them, although we didn't get any pictures of G-ma and G-pa (sorry), or the main course of our Thanksgiving dinner. We did manage to get some pictures of the pies :).
We had six different pies. Pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, apple, double-chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, and chocolate mousse. I was trying to please everyone. Chocolate mousse for Jake (and me), pecan for Dan, apple for Grandpa, pumpkin for grandma, lemon meringue for me, cheesecake for Andy, Abby, me and Dan. Wait that's way too many for me!

This was my favorite. Wait, maybe just one of my favorites.

Fast forward a week or so and Abby was playing at the ward Christmas party behind a door. The door got pushed on repeatedly by older children and Abby's arm got smooshed and broken.
She tried telling Andy that it looked funny and he said "It looks fine to me, Abby". She then came and showed it to me. I could see a wave in her arm, that did not look right. Dan was working so I found a friend/doctor in our ward. He agreed it didn't look right and we should go the ER.

My wonderful friend Michelle, took the other three kids home and Abby and I were off to the ER. I called Dan and he met us there. The ER was packed so I was so happy to have Dan with us to move us right along :).

Abby broke both bones in her right arm just above her wrist. This picture was taken right after they set it and she was still a little loopy from the anesthesia. She looks pretty happy about the whole thing. She was saying things like she was so happy she did this because her life was exciting now, and next would be her leg.

Now that she has had some time to think about it, she doesn't think it is that great. She is bummed she can't play piano (although we are trying with the left hand to keep up her lessons), can't swim, can't play basketball, can't ski. It's also kind of a pain to write, open a locker, get dressed, zip up a zipper, unscrew a lid etc, etc.

After all the excitement of the broken arm, we had Jake's baptism the very next day! It was a very nice baptism. The ward missionaries were there and both talked, Dan talked and I gave a spotlight of Jake. Jake's toe came out the first try, but the second try was successful! Abby was planning on playing a piano piece and still wanted to try. It was a little shaky, but she did fine. Dan gave Jake some nice blessing when he was confirmed and I was glad I got to hear it all, as I was chasing Estee around and trying to shush her. I am so proud of Jake, and his decision to be baptized. He is such a good person and I hope he continues to make good choices and be the great person he is. We had some friends over to the house after the baptism for some food and celebration. We had no family here for the Baptism, so we really felt blessed to have so many friends come and share Jake's special day with us. Thanks everyone!

Fall, football, Suzanne's visit, scouting, food......

I love fall. Fall in Michigan has made this my favorite season. I love watching football especially if one of my kids are playing, or if Michigan, or Utah is playing.

This is Andy playing flag football, he had a really great game. He made three touchdowns, one was after and interception. The picture below is Dan coaching Andy--and leading the team to their victory!

After the game the three of us with Estee in the stroller and Jake on his bike all went for a 3 1/2 mile run. It was the most perfect weather! Look at those beautiful leaves--I love it!

In this picture below we are trying to show off our matching Asics shoes. We could sell these because we all love how comfy they are. Ever since Andy bought his first pair we are all fans of the Asics! We are also trying to see who has the best calf muscle. I also love when there is lots of time for baking! Fall and sugar cookies go hand in hand. Estee loved these "skooky" Halloween cookies. This is Abby's spooky ghost.

I also made this triple berry almond chiffon cake.

While I was cooking one day last week I looked out my kitchen window to see this cute little chipmunk eating this little berry off the bush. You have to admit it's kind of cute, even for a rodent. Then as I was taking his picture he turned and stuck his tongue out (see picture below).

I was just watching him for a minute and thinking how cute he was when along comes a big, ugly squirrel. I am sure it was one of these annoying creatures who ate the wires in my garage, ate all my tulip bulbs, and ate all the padding off the handle bars of Dan's expensive road bike (see old post for more details on my hatred of squirrels). So anyway, he comes bounding up the bush and steals the berry away from the cute chipmunk and eats it! It might be time to get my squirrel trap out again (see old post for more details on the squirrel trap).

UPDATE** Abby is climbing trees again! Apparently the big fall and seven stitches didn't scare her at all.
Estee taking my picture. She is pretending she has a camera too since I kept trying to get her to look at me while I took her picture.
My good friend Suzanne came to visit from Japan!!! I was so excited to see her and catch up. It was fun to spend a couple days with her and for Jake and Brand to get to play again (they are great friends). Max (her other son) and Estee played really good too! It was fun to eat sushi with her and our old favorite--Indian food. Thanks for coming Suzanne--we had a blast!


And, last but certainly not least, Jake had his first scouting pack meeting. He got his bobcat badge. I can't believe it! He is growing up too fast. In this picture he is telling everybody at the meeting about his favorite activity, visiting the rabbit sanctuary. I couldn't be prouder of all my kids and I am so glad I get the chance to be their mom.

Abby actually can't fly....

I got a phone call today from Andrea:

Janie: Hello

Andrea: Abby fell out of a tree and is bleeding from the back of her head.

Janie: (freaking out)

OK, that's all I really remember of the phone call. I was scared and couldn't think properly until I saw Abby and she seemed to be her back-talking, feisty self. She was bleeding from a big gash on the back of her head.

Dan, luckily, was at a tailgate party at the stadium and was able to get back home just as Abby and I were getting home. He washed the wound out, styled her hair in small ponies (see picture), and calmly put seven stitches in the back of her head over the kitchen sink.

So, today it's worth it. The years and years of training. It was REALLY great to have Dan take care of everything and know Abby was getting the best care! OK, I guess most days it's worth it because Dan loves what he does at work every day.

I am so glad Abby is OK--and no more using ladders to climb trees! Mom's #1 rule is:

If you can't get into the tree by yourself--you can't climb it.

Thankfully Abby is doing just fine, after unsuccessfully testing her anti-gravitational abilities.

Birthdays!

We had a wonderful week, last week, celebrating Abby and Estee's birthdays!

They have birthdays only one day apart and we celebrated all week. I can't believe my baby is two, oh wait, yes, I can believe she is two. She reminds me by the minute that she is a two year old. Abby has almost passed me up in height and she has reached me in shoe size. She wore my shoes last week--and I wear a size nine!! She is eleven years old!

Here are some pictures from some parties we had for the girls!

I made these cakes for the girls actual birthdays, Estee had so much fun tearing hers apart!

Abby and her friends at her 'friends' party.

Abby's two favorite presents 1) this little video camera 2) this shirt that Dan brought home from San Francisco that says "Alcatraz swim team".

The girls even got to do their favorite thing on there birthdays--SWIMMING!

One last party and one more cake to celebrate our girls. Abby chose the ? candle--so Abby. They loved having friends over to celebrate with cake, ice cream, and blueberry pie.

Estee had so many of her little friends to play with she was in heaven! These girls are so cute playing in the water.
This is Baby Sam (and his daddy) quite possibly the cutest baby on earth. Look at that smile!
Abby took a short break from reading to have some cake and ice cream. She got some new books for her birthday and cannot stop reading them until they are all read. She laid in the hammock almost he entire party reading!