(hee hee. I forgot that I had started this post in October and now it's January. Luckily kid cuteness never fades--here is it:)

Mommy, is my hair crazy?

A little.

I want to look cool for school, can you help me?

Sure, cool like how?

Cool like, you know, a rock star or something?

That was Forester--so funny, that man. And so we put a bit of gel in it and made it spiky, which he sometimes also describes as his dinosaur hair--but most of the time he insists that he wants his hair "down" which means more or less falling in his cute face.

I am blessed...

...to have four amazing little people, whose wonder never fades, to call my own.
...to have a husband who encourages and supports me in striving for my dreams, and who can make me smile and breathe just by being around, or, when he's traveling, just by the thought of him.
...to not be going through the craziness of moving this year (this will make our townhome the place we've lived longer than any other since we were married--by next June it will even be longer than our time at Riverside).
...to be riding the waves of the excitement and business of school and family.
...to be studying a period of history that speaks through the dust with its own wisdom and all that came before and yet is somehow so present in our world still.
...to have learned that I love to teach (being an editor could never be so fun!).
...to have learned that even when I only have a week to prepare a 50 minute presentation on a topic I know nothing about (Medieval Geography and Topography as it relates to Eden theme) I can learn enough to do it fluently and articulately and come off like an expert.
...to have family and friends who can take my breath away with their uncanny ability to know how to love and support me and my family (if only I could do for you all what you do for me, but my love is always with you, at the very least).
...in my life and all that comes with it.

What are windowsills for?

Forester, this morning: "What are windowsills for?"

me: "What do you mean?"

Forester: "Well, I know that they are for cats to sleep on, but we don't have a cat, so I don't know what else they are for."

me: "Some people put plants on them..."

Forester: "Oh, maybe we need a plant, then."

Hello, Hello? Yes, we're still here!

:P

Well, almost two months since my last post, and we are, umm...collected again. So, let's run through it, and later I'll highlight what I can with a post about it and some pictures:
Hawaii for a week
French Reading for Research (class for me--really great)
Best friends moving to Utah (Kelly and Rus in June, Michele and kids in August)
Summer ending
Doctor appointments for everyone under 8 (sometimes more than one--we had 5 in two weeks)
School starting (for Ilana, two weeks later for me and the other three to daycare)
Writing my first syllabus
First week of classes--including my very own Humanities 101 to teach
Figuring out paper topics for the semester
Soccer for Ilana and Forester (they love it, but what was I thinking--did I forget that we have no time as it is?)
Oh, and at the end of the month we're moving.

Ok, so we aren't moving far, just across the street and a few doors down--same rent, bigger kid bedrooms, one more bathroom, two-car garage, and an extra living room. With four busy kids we figure more space is fantastic. So, a bit of a pain to pack up and move, but worth it.

And finally, trying to choose schools to apply to this winter for PhD work, and even then, still not sure if we'll go right away or defer a year and stay here for Justin to work a bit...

Ah, it's always so exciting. But everyone is healthy and happy and growing (yippee, Ronan is actually on the unadjusted 2-year old chart for length: 10%--but at 18 mo. he was still WAY below it), and with the first real week behind us I think we'll make it through just fine.

Please, Have Mercy on the Children

I believe in listening to the Spirit as you offer an opening prayer in Sacrament meeting too, certainly, but please, be mindful of and have mercy on the children as you pray. I don't mean, ask for mercy for them, but rather you, yourself, show mercy to them by not trying to cover every possibility in one prayer and letting it go on and on and on for an inordinate length of time. Trust me, I speak from experience and know the pain an over-long prayer can inflict.

Just this past Sunday, little Forester was the victim of one such prayer. It should be noted that said prayer also affected the adults--I was squirming a bit and Justin actually fell asleep (which doesn't usually happen until a particularly droning talk begins). So, after this truly insanely long prayer, into a still hushed, post-prayer silence, Forester lets out this enormous sigh and says (quite audibly) Finally, as if it took all his 4-year old strength to keep his eyes closed for that long. I suppressed a giggle, but the woman behind us was not as successful in suppressing hers.

So please, follow the Spirit, but remember the children too.

There are moose in them thar hills

One of our favorite things to do when we don't have a lot of time but are still aching for an outdoor-fix is to take a drive in the mountains. Now, for us that inherently means going, at some point in the drive, past the pavement and into the dust. We had one such mini-adventure last night, as a Family Home Evening activity. Yes, during the Summer and Fall months we tend to have a lot of "The Natural World is a Beautiful Place Heavenly Father Created for Us"-FHE lessons, with the appropriate family drive as an activity. It may be repetitive, but at least we're doing it.

Last night we started out driving the Alpine Loop (paved, through the mountains between Sundance and American Fork Canyon). Our requisite dusty detour led us down an at times quite rough dirt road that winds around Timp, through aspen groves, pine forests, an old avalanche path now nothing more than a huge swath of crumbling rock (on either side of the still intact road--don't want to scare the grandparents) and flattened forest, and meadows.

This kind of trip you expect great scenery, but your wild life experience is generally rather limited (the sounds of birds being the most likely). But not last night. About halfway through our ramble we came around a bend and there were two enormous moose (plural is the same as the singular, there are no "meese" around here) about 15 feet ahead of us on the road. We waited as they stared at us a bit and walked out of the road and across a meadow to our right. Then we drove on, found a neat hill that overlooked this cascade of alpine meadow, and got out to take in the view. As we were looking around we saw the moose again, on the other side of the road, making their way down the hills below us. They kept stopping and looking at us, we kept quiet and respected their space, enjoying the opportunity to see such beautiful, enormous creatures. They can be dangerous if provoked, they are just so big and so fast--I think it was that grace of movement in such a large animal that is often portrayed as being so awkward, that is what captured me and why I so enjoyed just watching them move over the meadows for so long.

Last night we were reminded of not only a particular species which inhabits these mountains, but through that we were further reminded of the fact that the world is a huge place and even with a loud car bounding over ruts and shale we are a small thing in it, though one with a huge impact for good or ill--luckily that choice is up to us, whether it be environmentally or in our families or communities.

My Beloved

On Wednesday we celebrated 9 years of marriage--it sounds like a long time, but we're still silly and in love, so we still feel like kids together; still in that stage where just being in the same room can be enough to make us smile. I think that nine years and four kids later that says something special about our fit together. Through the surprises (good and bad) of life, we're always brought closer together and we always encourage one another in our endeavors and support one another in our struggles. I couldn't be the woman I am or the woman I'm working to become without him.

I guess this is just a chance to take a moment and say, Justin is my beloved, and I know that I am his, and how lucky we are to have each other.

We celebrated with our favorite meal--sushi, and a quiet evening alone together.

Who needs The Incredibles? We're all Super

We have decided that the kids each have super powers, the oldest two announced their's to Justin and me, and we figured out Aspen's and Ronan's ourselves.

Ilana: hugging and creating worlds (i.e. story telling).

Forester: throwing invisible Pokemons and, when he has the blue goggles, shooting water with his eyes, or, when he has the orange goggles, shooting fire with his eyes.

Ronan: (he has quite a system) primary super power is destruction, but the trick is, when you try and thwart the efforts of his primary super power he hits you with his secondary super power, a disarming smile, and you are helpless in the face of it.

Aspen: crying (we're hoping she'll grow into a better super power sometime soon--but she has slept through the night since she was 2 mo. old, so she does have some redeeming qualities and we still love her).

Home of the Maniacs

No, not our house, that would be Orofino, Idaho, home of the Maniacs (the high school mascot--a little politically incorrect, given that they got the name because the state mental hospital is there in town), and also home to Grammy and Grandpa Chapman and the Konkolville Motel.

We spent two days driving (there and back) and four days visiting them last week and it was wonderful. We also got to visit with uncle Jason, which was great, the kids loved swimming with him. You know it's a good vacation when even the 13 hour drive there is bizarrely fun with 4 kids. Of course, the 11 hour drive back home was alright, but not quite as fun (I guess an hour+ stop at Borders in Boise is what makes all the difference).

Anyway, our time there was wonderful. We went swimming every day, went for gorgeous drives, slept in, played games, and converted our tiny old kitchen table into a computer desk, thanks to Grandpa's woodworking talents. The motel is totally fun. Especially the part about the three oldest sleeping in Grammy and Grandpa's second bedroom and Justin and I and Aspen across the courtyard in our own room. My kids may have woken up between 6:30 and 7, but we woke up when Aspen woke up--7:30 or 8 or even 9. :) (Thank you for that not so little gift, Mom and Dad.)

Ilana, the helper, really got into the idea of "customers." She was spotted going into the courtyard as a group finished their steak dinner (a motel specialty--grill your own) and offering to clear their plates. Grandpa also caught her refilling the basket with little packages of butter one morning during breakfast--shocking! She looked sheepish, thinking somehow that she was in trouble (kids are so weird sometimes) and then explained that, "you CAN'T run out of butter, Grandpa."

Let me just take a moment more to explain some things about the pictures above. In the first we're standing on a big stump as we took a drive through the mountains. Forester is ready for swimming the moment we get back to the motel. In the second, you can see that Ronan, as were all the kids, is fascinated with the fountain and pond--hoping to see the cool goldfish that call it home (well, sometimes, apparently they keep dying...have to sort that out still).

We just had a great time, and we're thinking we'll try and spend Christmas there this year. I wonder what we can build then? :)

Aspen's Blessing

So, we are sometimes lame. Concerned that Aspen might have a baby accident on the blessing dress (she was on her 3rd outfit for the day), I changed her out of it so fast that we didn't get any pictures of her in it. So, this Sunday, when we're all dressed up for church, we'll pop her in it again and take a couple pictures--trust me, she'll never know the difference. Really, considering that Grandpa Seguine was here and the camera was out, it is shocking that somehow it didn't happen. This is the only picture I took, after the excitement was over, but it is a sweet one, a little girl and her Grandpa.

We did the blessing at home and were able to be surrounded by friends and family (Mom and Dad Seguine, Jordan and Emily, and a nice selection of Winward cousins). We enjoyed it, especially being able to share with family and spend time with them.

Two days was just too short and the kids miss Gramma and Grandpa Seguine, but are excited to see them in Hawaii in July (I think we'll have to make a countdown chain this weekend or the questions will never end). They are also looking forward to visiting Grammy and Grandpa Chapman in a week in their new digs in Idaho. Forester keeps informing me (and others) that Grammy and Grandpa live in a "hota-el" (it becomes three syllables from him, the "a" being pronounced like the name of the letter itself), always uttered with excitement and a touch of incredulity.

That should catch us up. Today is Ilana's last day of school and we'll see what the summer brings...craziness and fun, I'm sure.

Mother's Day Recap

Some women get flowers, some get candy or jewelry, but all told I think I got the best presents of all: a new purse from REI (really, could I have a purse from anywhere else?) and a hike up The Narrows in Zion National Park with Justin and all four kids. I had Aspen in the front carrier and two hiking poles--to ensure that neither of us fell in the Virgin River as we hiked through it. Justin had Ronan in the kid backpack and held onto Ilana on one side and Forester on the other. The next day his hands and forearms were so sore he could hardly grip anything, from hanging on to their little hands so tight. We almost lost Forester's hiking stick in the river at one point, but never lost a kid, so all was well; and a group was crossing the river downstream from us, saw the stick, and grabbed it for us.

For any that don't know, The Narrows is a slot canyon (though generally a pretty broad one, at least at the lower end, which is where we were hiking), but the "trail" is, for the most part, the Virgin River itself. The water was above our knees at its deepest (adult knees, which means waists for kids). The water was really cold, but it was over 90 degrees that day, so it felt great. It was gorgeous and fun and we had a great time.

It's such an interesting place, there's just something so strikingly odd and beautiful about so many people winding their way through the river. It is so quiet and full of light--off the red rock of the walls and flashing off the water all around you. In moving through your world in such a different way from the norm of everyday, even the norm of a good hike--not on it or next to it, but truly through it--you can't help but feel more connected to the spaces around you.

Jump in

At some point you just realize that the time to begin is now. So here I go, blogging. It sounds wrong and mildly inappropriate for good, upstanding citizens, but I hear that once you start you just can't quit. I'll be under construction for a bit, but once it's all up and running I think it'll be a form of correspondence that even I can handle.