A New Blog

I thought I better take a minute and explain my absence the past few months. We started heart transplant evaluations for Sarah a few months ago. Life has been crazy hectic since then, with all of  Sarah's appointments and Steve's political consulting business. Many of you already know about our new blog documenting Sarah's transplant journey, but for those that don't, here's the link to Sarah's Second Chance. I've been much more diligent posting on that blog, as that has been the focus of our lives lately, and our source of communication to close friends and family. I hope to someday get caught up and post here about all the fun, happy, and amazing events of all my children's lives, but it might be a while before I get there. Just know that we're hanging in there and striving daily to keep the faith and come through this triumphantly! (Thanks for all the prayers!)

First Day of School - Fall 2011

Fist day of school for the boys always comes faster than we want it to. Summers at our charter school are shorter, allowing kids to retain more skills and knowledge and giving us more time off for breaks during the school year. We love it, but wish it lined up with the the school district a little better. It's always hard going school though, knowing the big sister is laying in bed being lazy.

So, here are my handsome boys on their first day of school, August 2011...

Joshua, 3rd Grade

Bryson, 6th Grade

Nathan, Kindergarten

...And the big sister, on her first day of school, a couple of weeks later.

Rachel, Sophomore

Working Mom

About a year ago last spring, I was asking about openings at the school, looking for part-time work, hoping to be able to augment our income to help even out the deficits caused by owning two homes and not very reliable renters. At the time, the only position that was open was one that would require me to work all day, a couple days a week. With Nathan being only in kindergarten, I didn't see how that would work very well for our family. We prayed about it, and decided it just wasn't time yet, and we needed to trust in Heavenly Father (since He led us here in the first place) and trim the budget wherever we could.

Then, later that summer, when I dropped Joshua off for summer reading program, the vice-principal asked me if I was interested in a part-time job at the school as a morning aide in one of the classrooms. I went home and talked to Steve about it again. We prayed again, and decided that this fit into our lives better, and wouldn't cause too much stress for me or our family. (I am first, and foremost a mother, and I love being able to be home with my kids!) So, I interviewed and got the job! We felt like it was a blessing and answer to our prayers.

I was blessed to be assigned to 3rd Grade, to work with Mrs. Mary Harris, one of the most amazing teachers I know. She teaches kids to be responsible, holds them accountable, and empowers them to be the best they can be. Their motto in 3rd grade is "If you don't get it today, you might get it tomorrow. But only if you try." As the year progressed, I learned to really love Mrs. Harris. We became very good friends as we struggled through her mother's stroke and Sarah's illness together. We work well together, and agree on almost everything, including how to raise kids and having unwavering faith in God as our strength. She is an amazing teacher, but also a wonderful friend, whom I gained much respect for and support from.

Fast forward... in retrospect... 

Nearing the end of the school year, the other aide left and I was given the opportunity to work more hours. That helped financially, but it also meant more time away in the afternoon working and in the evenings doing the things I couldn’t do during the day…  I have since discovered that during that time, I was kind of on autopilot, whatever event, chore, or concern filled my life at the moment is what received my attention.

I love my job, but that 8-week experience taught me that there is nothing more important to me than being home. I discovered that my presence in the afternoon and evenings really does matter in my family. Did they survive? Yes. Are they unchanged? No, not really. Through this experience we all changed, and I’m grateful that we had an opportunity this summer to regroup and refocus on what really matters most and, working together to make our home and family what we want it to be, even when Mommy is working.

Costume Change Artist

There are so many things I need to blog about, and to catch up on, but I just uploaded a bunch of pictures and HAD to share. Our little Nathan is the world's best 6 year-old costume designer. Instead of trying to figure out what to do every afternoon, he spends his days deciding what to be.... Nathan lived a couple years of his young life as a pirate (seriously, every single day), and then a scarecrow for a while, and then back to a pirate. Well, he's now added a few other passions and possibilities to his list of "what to be when I grow up". Let's hope he settles on something profitable and responsible someday, before he's a husband and father!

Pierre... the mime. Or, sometimes Pierre... L'artiste de Francais!

Chef... Boyardee... uh, Nate!

A clown. He put this costume together ALL by himself. Rachel and Sarah hate clowns—they think they're scary. So, his favorite clown thing to do is to run after them, hide and jump out, and scare them. Good thing he hasn't seen Stephen King's "IT".

Superman (Love the addition of the red underwear to complete the costume!)

Shepherd in the Christmas program... this is the only costume I've EVER told him to put on. :)

This one is an old one (Christmas 2009) but still one of my favorites.

Scarecrow.... outstanding in his field.

This is proof that he literally LIVED in that costume. No matter what we were doing, and no matter where we were going, he was Nathan the Pirate...always.

National Honor Society

At the beginning of October last fall, Rachel was inducted into Century High School's chapter of National Honor Society. I came home from Utah (while Sarah was in the hospital) on the Salt Lake Express to surprise Rachel. I wanted it to be a complete surprise, but we had to tell her ahead of time. She was really, really sad that we weren't there, and must have thought we didn't care enough about her to be there for her too. When she started making plans to go with her friend and her parents, we decided we needed to just tell her. In retrospect, I see that we made a mistake about surprising her. We should have just planned with her from the beginning for me to be there. She went through a lot of agony dealing with her feelings about it all.

That aside, it was a happy reunion when I came home to be with the kids, and we all went to Rachel's induction. I was so proud of her and am so impressed with what a wonderful student she is and how much she loves learning. Her talents and abilities astound me. 

 

My little sister used to always say how much she hated when people said she "has so much potential", as if she wasn't living up to what she could be now.... But, I think they simply meant that they could see so much in her that could prove to be nothing short of amazing as she grew and developed. I see that in my incredible daughter... so much potential, and nothing short of an amazing woman in the future. Love her so much!

Hopspital Photo Ops

When Sarah was in the hospital in September and October, we tried to find things that would brighten her room and bring a little joy and light to her life. Here are some of the things we enjoyed most while "trapped" in our "sterile" boredom...

 

Sarah and I painted her windows to improve the view and brighten her room. (Housekeeping didn't really like this, so we only did it during our first stay. It was so cute though, and did make her smile!)

Sarah listened to music... and slept... a lot.

We put together puzzles and played games from the playroom. We dragged a few of our favorite games from home, too, when we realized we might be there a while.

Sarah and I added a Cricut to our list of wants... Sarah's Aunt Susie and her cousin Toni took the day off work and came to play with paper and they made darling decorations for her window! The time passed so quickly and she had a wonderful time!

We cuddled...

... and smiled, as often as possible. When it didn't seem possible at the moment, then we looked for specific reasons to smile.

Facebook, Skype, texting and the telephone were lifelines to the "outside" world. (I think she was actually ordering her dinner or lunch in this picture, but we did spend a lot of time talking to people who love her!)

A Hawaiian Luau, complete with grass skirt and flower lei....

Upon hearing that she wouldn't be heading home (yet again), a few of her wonderful aunts in Utah threw together a luau in her honor. 4 Aunts, 1 Uncle, and a handful of cousins surprised her with a little tropical get away in the 3rd floor conference room.

...And a surprise visit from her best friend, Autumn.

Reading, listening to music, and watching the "smileys" do their tricks. Sarah got one of these little guys on her breakfast tray every morning holding a card with a silly little joke on it. They became a highlight, as she would share her jokes with the phlebotomists that came to draw her blood every morning at the crack of dawn. Her brothers loved hearing them each time we talked too. Steve was entertained for a moment each day by adding another little "smiley" to her collection. They got pretty tricky by the time we went home!

Had to do just one more puzzle with Mom before heading home. (It does take more than a few hours to finally leave once they give the word!) Doesn't she look great? That's a real smile, now!

Since I've been gone...

I sit here looking at my blog, and although I know I've been somewhat neglectful, I can't believe it's really been two months since I last wrote. Getting back into my "business as usual" life wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be. After being at the hospital with Sarah, my routine was all messed up, and I was totally out of sync. Jumping back in with both feet seemed the easiest way to get back into life, but for some reason it seemed impossible to actually keep up. There are things that can be put on the back burner for a little while (like blogging, reading, and deep cleaning), and things that have to have your attention (like children, mealtime, dishes, laundry, dirty toilets and more laundry). So, once I felt like I was getting on top of at least the latter again and finding my "groove", then we started preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year, and as I cut out extra (and seemingly unimportant) stressers, we had a very nice holiday month all together with a healthier daughter, five happy kids, and two very grateful and happy parents. I'll try to catch up soon on the happenings since we've all been back together, but I won't make any promises, because I never know when something else is going to creep in and take over.