Our Life Lessons

Monday, October 16, 2017

One Year - Missouri - Week 52

The boys started school full day. They were really happy to get out of the car together each day and be picked up each day. We spend less time in the morning and afternoon with carpooling and messing around before and after school like 1.5 hours. The boys started full day school this week.

The library hosts a free art class once a month. We signed up and took 2 friends with us. They made galaxies in a bottle. With the upcoming eclipse, this was a good preparation for them to learn a little more about the eclipse.

Hurricane's front teeth have been touching. After consulting with the dentist, we started with a plastic retainer last fall. It didn't move this teeth enough to make a difference. So we started with the next step, and he was fitted for a pallet expander.

The hope is that it will be 8 weeks with 4 weeks to stabilize his mouth.

The Relief Society hosted a Favorite Things evening. The idea is to bring 1-3 things that are your favorite. I brought Sharpie markers. I love them. They are in my purse. It's a go to for me.

The school takes pictures the first week they are they are back. I got to volunteer. There was a little disorganization, and I got the students to get organized. One of the office ladies asked if I worked with teenagers. It was fun to work at the school. I really like picture day.

I joined a book club and picked the summer book for Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. As the summer went along, the book changed to The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The ladies came and we had a great discussion. We had a rainbow fruit plate and a yellow brick road with crackers (cheese and crackers). We are reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

We celebrated one year in Colorado. We took a family selfie before we left for school and work.

It was a momentous day. We are more settled into our house. We still have to put flooring in our Master bedroom and closet and then the work outside will begin with a garden, trees, and other fun surprises.

We made arrangements to go and visit my sister and her family for the eclipse. As the plan came together, my Mom and nieces came to join us.

We checked the boys out of school early and started the drive to Missouri.

We stopped 1/2 way through Kansas at a soda fountain.

The place was a lot of fun. The fountain was made out of wood and was beautiful. We got to Katie and Shaun's house real late.

The next day we played at Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun. It was blast.

Later that night we went to a Royals game.

The boys really enjoyed themselves.

*****

This was the art project from the previous month.

It was a diorama that the boys made from a story they had been reading.

We took a picture because it was time to move on to the next thing.

Art Stop Diorama

This was our supper one night.

It was pretty and yummy.

This grasshopper was just hanging out.

It didn't startle but posed for his picture.

One year selfie before school

Sunflower on the border of Colorado and Kansas

Soda Fountain in Kansas

Royals Game

Worlds of Fun

Monday, September 18, 2017

Week 51 - School Starts

The boys started school at the SAME school this year!

The first day is a testing to see what class placement the boys would be placed. They were all smiles. The first day was 1/2 day. While the boys tested, I went to classes to help the parents with their children at the school.

After school we followed with tradition and went for ice cream. We even went took our Dad an ice cream cone.

On Saturday was the boys started playing soccer. They had their first game and had a lot of fun playing on the same team. I was super excited that we only had to attend one soccer game. Because of their ages, they can be on the same soccer team. It's the first time! I was really happy about it. While the boys played soccer, Sweetheart attended a BSA Eagle project painting the Senior Center.

We started to talk about the eclipse. As Sweetheart and I started to discuss it, we talked about the different locations we could go - Idaho with my parents and brother's family, Wyoming with us getting up early in the morning and driving, and Missouri with my sister and her family. As we discussed it, the most exciting option was to go to Missouri and spend the weekend with her and her family.

I asked, and she said we were welcome. I told my Mom, and she decided she wanted to come with us too. We didn't tell the boys that my Mom was coming. We were pretty excited.

Be Well!

*****

Hurricane's New Classroom

Underfoot's New School and 1st Day

They wanted to have a sleepover before school started.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Life Is Precious!

Sweetheart writes:

It's been a long time since I've written. The move to Colorado has brought with it a lot of unexpected challenges. It has also brought with it some wonderful opportunities.

Saturday afternoon I was spraying the weeds in my front yard. My neighbor came out of her house in a panic. She called out to me, saying that she needed help and couldn't get her husband to wake up.

I dropped the sprayer and ran across the street. I went in to the room where her husband was on the bed. The pillow was soaked in sweat. He was breathing slowly, erratically. I checked for a pulse and found something. I tried to wake the man. I wasn't sure what to do, so I called Wendy. She said to call the paramedics, which we did.

The 911 operator asked me to listen for how often the man took a breath. I relayed the information and the operator told me to get the man on the floor. After doing so, the operator told me to begin chest compressions. As I placed my hands on the man's chest, I realized that this was a very serious situation. I did about 30 chest compressions before the paramedics arrived.

In a matter of minutes there were fire fighters, paramedics, and police officers all working on the man. The man's dog started to freak out, and the dog bit me as I tried to pick him up. I could see on the paramedic's diagnostic equipment a flat line. It was all kind of surreal.

While I was across the street, Wendy shared with that the wife was asked for the legal paperwork for Power of Attorney. The wife had a prepared notebook with all of their legal paperwork easily accessible. Wendy made a copy for the paramedics and returned the original to the notebook. This made all the difference in the situation. Wendy was very impressed by their preparation. We talked about making a similar book.

Wendy came over and sent me across the street to get the boys. She started talking with the wife. I got the boys ready to go for a little ride. I offered to drive the wife to the hospital in her car so that she'd have a way to get home. Wendy followed us there with they boys. When we got to the emergency room, the nurses sent us to a little room with a couple couches and a TV. The room had a keypad so that only doctors and nurses could open the door.

After a while the ER doctor came in and started telling the wife that the man may have had a heart attack but they didn't know exactly what had happened. (Later I learned from Wendy that the paramedics had asked the wife if he had a Do Not Resuscitate order. The fireman said that the man's heart had stopped.)

All my life I've seen shows and movies where someone is in trouble and a person starts beating on their chest. I never thought I would be the person doing that. I was glad that I had taken CPR training but I realize now that I was totally unprepared to handle the situation.

Take a moment to love the people you care about.

After all the excitement, we decided to do some grocery shopping. (Everybody's gotta eat.) The boys were crazy in the grocery store. I asked Underfoot what was going on. He said he was afraid that our neighbor might die. It is a very real possibility. Underfoot is a very tender child. He feels in a way that I can relate too. I remember the confusion I experienced as a child because of the social norm which told me that boys were not allowed to feel. I remember not understanding why I was not allowed to acknowledge feeling.

Two weeks ago a friend from Tucson texted me to get information about the Mormon cemetery in Tucson. I knew when we left Tucson that his mom was in bad shape. I called him back and we had a chance to catch up. As we talked, my friend related that his mom wanted to be buried in the Mormon cemetery.

So tonight after everything with the neighbor I decided to call my friend who's mom was in bad shape to find out about her condition. She passed away on Tuesday. It was interesting to hear my friend talk about how on one hand he wanted to be angry that she was gone, but on the other hand he was glad that she was no longer suffering. I wish I could go and spend some time with my friend, just to be with him as he goes through the grieving process. I know that the day will come when I will be the one to mourn the loss of my parents.

Life is precious. Don't let inconsequential things take precedence of the people you love.

Love you.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Test Drive - Week 50

Hurricane has been asking for a dog for almost 18 months. We have resisted because of many, many reasons. A family in our ward went on vacation and asked if we would watch their dog, Jackson. Jackson is a labradoodle.

The breed is considered a hypoallergenic. Jackson's personality is very mild, and he was extremely well trained. His feet never left the floor to touch furniture, people, or beds. The boys absolutely loved having Jackson around.

Sweetheart even enjoyed having the dog. They were sad to have Jackson go home but were grateful for the payment the family gave them for watching Jackson.

We have been redoing the beds in the boys' room. The beds have been sanded and are ready to be painted. We have also looked for new mattresses for them. After a search at IKEA, Mattress Firm, and Costco, we decided on the mattress from Costco.

In my effort to go and get the mattress, I hooked up our trailer. I thought that the hitch had locked onto the ball. We hit a bump and the trailer bounced off hitting the back of the car.

The bumper isn't awful, but I sure felt awful to have broken the bumper. We got the beds and placed them in the boys' room.

School registration was this week. The boys were asked to stay home. It was to turn in all the paperwork, pay fees, and get the teacher assignments for this next year. The school also hold a clothing sale since the students are required to wear a uniform. I walked away with 15 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of shorts, a school hoodie, and a bunch of shirts. We priced it out and saved a couple hundred dollars in clothing. I'm grateful the boys will wear second-hand. The boys started soccer this week. During soccer practice, Underfoot met his new teacher for next year. Her son will be playing on Underfoot's soccer team and be in his grade at school.

Underfoot finished up a requirement for Cub Scouts. He carved an arrow. His leaders thought it was a fish.

The boys have asked to go camping. For our family birthday, we decided to go to Buffalo Campground. The boys built a bridge out of logs from the forest, went on a hike with Sweetheart, played with other children at the campground, and tended the fire.

Hurricane was obsessed with the fire. He didn't want it to go out and asked repeatedly to add wood. We had an awesome fire while we were there.

Underfoot read "The Wizard of Oz," and I read part of a book as well called "How Can I Forgive You?" by Janis Abrahms Spring.

We came home and cleaned up and made a birthday cake. It was another request from our boys.

We invited people to come eat it with us. The surprising part was that Sweetheart liked the chocolate caramel frosting. He's not a big frosting fan, and he really liked this frosting.

Be Well.

*****

An Annual Picture - just to see how old we are getting.

The View from Our Campsite

The Walking Stick - He tried to sneak it home with him.

The Bazooka - It was more of a weapon. It stayed in the forest too.

The Kind Underfoot

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Music Camp - Week 49

Hurricane wanted to attend music camp this summer. He attended this week. Since he will be attending a new school, he wanted to make sure that he wanted to take orchestra at a different school this summer. The other reason was that he was trying to decide if he wanted to take private lessons or be in orchestra. He said that he had fun and wanted to continue with orchestra.

Pioneer Day was a normal day except for the evening. We were asked by Sister Miller in our ward to have our boys sing a pioneer song, lead the group in a song, and to share a pioneer story. There were pioneer games and a meal.

On Tuesday, we hosted a book group. We put out a request for books to read and checked them all from the library. We showed the books to our friends but read the book "Naked" by Michael Ian Black.

Hurricane asked if we could have water balloons. So at the end, there was a water balloon fight.

Sweetheart has been reading "Hatchet" by Gary Paulson. I went to a Cub Scout Committee Meeting and came to home to them finishing the book. They were quite enthralled by the story.

Throughout the week, we cleaned the furniture. There was a yard sale with an old Singer sewing machine in a sewing table.

The sewing machine works, and the table looks lovely. The couches look great after being cleaned.

During the week, we all got up early and weeded in our yard for an hour a day. We made great progress. The boys took out a tree that had died in our yard. It took them two days to dig out the tree. They were really proud of themselves. Granted Sweetheart did a lot of manual pushing to help the boys along.

Sweetheart worked on his commute car on Saturday. He flushed the transmission fluid and one of the cooling systems in the Prius. As he cleaned out the cooling system, the fluid came out in pink clumps. He flushed the system multiple times until no pink clumps came out. He finished working on the car late in the night. I'm grateful to know that he has skills to work on our cars.

Auntie Yvette and her children returned from the trip to the East Coast. They spent the weekend with our family. We had a good time with them and visited the Nature and Science Museum together before they headed home to Utah.

On our way home, the boys found a random rainbow in the sky. They asked to take pictures for themselves.

Be Well!

Sanding Beds - Week 48

We returned from the family reunion to a pile of work. We took the next week to strip, sand, and wipe off the sanding.

My sister suggested that I use some stripper for the beds. It saved us time, money, and sanity.

The boys worked with me every day while we did this. When one boy wasn't working on the beds, the other boy was riding his bike or scooter. They loved it when it would rain so they could ride their bikes. My shoulder and rotator cuff got really, really sore by Friday. Every part of the beds got sanded.

The boys had a tryout lessons with 2 new different piano teachers. Their previous piano teacher did a wonderful job. I had a feeling that the boys needed a different teacher for this coming year. They picked a young man to be their teacher. They are excited to start.

We started cleaning the furniture we got. We needed to finish the sanding before taking on this new project.

Before

After

On Saturday, Sweetheart found an exhibit about a train engine called a Big Boy.

It was built to go between Ogden, UT and Green River, WY. The engine was built for the Wasatch Mountains specifically. It weighted 1.25 million pounds. The Forney Transportation Museum houses one the remaining engines along with other trains. The museum also contains cars from different eras, a bicycle display, and a rotating display of cars.