June 15th Cabin Time

Since Scott's parents have mentioned that they might sell the cabin, Scott has spent every chance he can up there. We spent a weekend together in June. Then Scott took Kate up just for the day, two Saturdays in a row, while I finished up some home projects and some art I was trying to finish. He is home at the cabin. Kate is too.

  Kate and Scott on a 4-wheeler ride. They put on a lot of miles this time. Kate knows where the trails lead too. Scott would get far from the cabin and when it was time to head back, he would have her lead him to the cabin and she knew right where to go.

This was an intensely relaxing weekend for me being at the cabin with these two. I woke up and went for a hike, we had breakfast together, went for a ride, watched a movie, had lunch, went for a ride, watched another movie, went for another ride, had dinner... We had some serious fun.

June 16 Scott's Toy

 Scott loves to get toys for his birthday. He is so into play and is a kid at heart. This year we went to a cool hobby shop together and Scott picked out an RC Truck. He loves it. He plays with it all the time. When friends and family come over or when we go to our parents' houses for dinner, he brings it out and all the kids and men go play with it. Such a kick.

I still have not ventured to try it. I guess it just freaks me out. The thing goes so fast, I think it is too fast for my inept reflexes. I might try it. Usually when he plays with it I have to turn away because he runs it in the street and I just know some car is going to drive along and crush it. So far, so good. I'm just glad Scott enjoys it. Playing with the truck gives him a chance to unwind after work and that is worth it.

June 5th Gymnastics Show

From January through July Kate has taken gymnastics. She enjoyed it for a while but then started to wane in her excitement. I had to push her to go. Once she got there she was usually glad she went. She complained that her teachers were mean - I watched and felt like what she was seeing as mean was just rigid structure, discipline that is typical of any sport instruction. Some teachers were more playful but I think Kate just doesn't like the structured side of it. I insisted that she at least finish things out until the show and then she could quit. She was so embarrassed at the show.

 Here is Kate at Flip's where all the classes are warming up together in preparation for the show. Kate is in the middle just above the teacher's head.

 Kate gained a lot of skills in her short time at Flip's. The Bridge is one thing she couldn't do before she came.

 Kate was so embarrassed. She wouldn't let me take a picture. Here she shook her head and turned away from the camera.

I can see how embarrassed Kate is here too. Poor girl. She reminds me so much of me at that age, in ballet. I hated the recital part of it. I just wanted to dance and have fun. I think I thought my teachers were mean too. I loved when my ballet teacher gave us free dance time at the end of class with the ribbon-wand thing. I quit ballet after a short time. I've struggled to know what to do to help Kate overcome this fear of performing. Should I push her through and make her keep doing it? Should I just accept that she is just like me? Should I wait a while and give her another try? Hard to know. I pulled her out of gymnastics for now. I think we will try something new like Jazz dance or piano lessons once the school starts again.  

May 7th & 30th Zoo Field Trip and Graduation

I was a parent volunteer in Kate's kindergarten class all year. I volunteered every Monday and I was crazy-proud of myself for making it the whole year and never missing a day - I was accidentally brilliant for choosing Monday because a lot of the school holidays fall on Mondays so I didn't have to work quite as hard as some of the other parent volunteers.

 Here are some of Kate's class mates on the Rhino at Hogle Zoo. I was glad I went along with Kate and her class to the Zoo. I worried that it would be a crazy-stressful experience going to the zoo with a bunch of kindergarteners but it ended up being quite pleasant.

 Kate with some of her class at graduation.

 Kate with Deacon and Nautica doing the actions to one of their songs.

 Kate with Mrs. Juarez. We had a wonderful Kindergarten experience and I know that was in large part to the skills of Kate's teacher. She made school the perfect amount of fun and structure. Kate never had a day that she didn't want to go to school the whole year. She loved it.

 Kate with Paula, the foreign-exchange-student volunteer, and Nautica. Paula is a 16-year-old from Guatemala. While she waited for all the details to get worked out in order for her to attend school here, she volunteered in Kate's class. She volunteered a large part of the school year and was able to polish up her English. The kids fell in love with her.

My mom and dad and Scott's mom were able to come and watch Kate graduate. I think Gary had just had surgery and wasn't able to attend. I love Kate's cheesy grin. This look says, "I'm crazy-excited that my Grandparents are here to see my fun life at kindergarten. My heart is bursting with joy and it is spilling out all over."

April 21st A Day at the Farm

We went to a family reunion at my Mom's sister's farm. She had tons of fun activities planned for all the kids that sent them all over the farm learning about how it all works. 

My most favorite childhood memories of extended family were spent with Sherie and her girls, Ann and Jamie. I think it's because my mom and Sherie were so close in age. They were always the best of friends. My mom has grown closer to her other sisters and brother since then but back when I was growing up it was Sherie that we spent the most time with. Going to Aunt Sherie's farm is like going to a piece of home.

 

Here are Sam and Kate doing the fun scavenger hunt.

 I am so lucky to have Sam. She is my little sister from another mother. I catch myself calling her Kate's aunt all the time. But these two are cousins - super-tight cousins. How lucky our family is to have an older cousin willing to play and entertain the younger ones.

 My mom and Kate looking at the baby lambs and their mommies. They were so cute - but it was quite a smelly room. Phew. I had a picture of Kate and she was not so smiley - she just couldn't give me her usual happy grins for the camera because the smell was just too much for her - she's a city girl.

 Scott helping Kate on the horse.

 I love this smirk of Kate's. This look says, "I know I'm doing something cool and I'm really excited that you are taking a picture of me doing it."

 And I love this full-out smile of Scott's. This look says, "Yup, I got me a gun."

Scott tried to show Kate how to shoot the bb gun but he kept doing it and not really let her have the time with the gun that she wanted and so Kate came to me crying. I had to laugh. I left Scott over here with the guns for a while so he could get it out of his system and I entertained Kate doing other things since Scott was having such a hard time "sharing". So funny. We had such a lovely time at Aunt Sherie's farm in Tremonton. We hope we will get to do it again soon.

April 8th More from Easter

Yes, I'm going back in the vault that is my memory card and pulling out pictures that I failed to post while in my blogging slump... I posted about Easter, I just didn't put in these pictures.

 My sweetest, most favorite, dear, darling daughter - here is Kate just before Easter doing an egg hunt at Scott's parents' house.

 Scott is such a great Dad. He is always right there with Kate - not a lazy bones - and he is mild-tempered and playful with her. Kate often prefers him to me.

 Kate and Hailey - these two girls can play for hours uninterrupted with only an occasional bathroom or snack break. One of my greatest joys is that Kate has so many cousins that she is close to and that they are her most treasured friends.

Chew, Chomp, Crunch

I don't have mono. I don't have strep. With the help of an oral surgeon who I saw about removing the hardware in my jaw, I am treating inflammation of the masseter muscle of the jaw. I find this a weird condition and I don't know if it is common. I wonder if the culprit is that gum-chewing addiction that I just quit cold-turkey at the oral surgeon's recommendation. He also suggested I eat only soft foods. Things that can be mashed with a fork. I think about chewing gum all day. I think about crunching on a salad or biting into an apple at least four times a day. I want to crunch something.

I still have swollen glands from like three months ago and I can't figure out what that is about. I can't believe how many times in the last couple months I have had my blood tested for something or other. I really need to stay out of the doctor's office. What a silly, stupid use of money. Doctors. Bleck.

Thinking of A Baby

Today, for some unknown reason I have this intense longing for another baby. I guess it could've been the three episodes of I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant that I watched while I worked on an art project... oops. But I don't want another family's baby to borrow or babysit, I want our own baby. I haven't felt this way for quite a while. All day the desire has nagged me. I even talked to God about it, said a few prayers of, "Oh, please, couldn't you just..."  I know the feeling will pass again soon. But while it's here, I am reminded of Kate as a little baby. How perfect she was. What a dear, sweet, precious infant came into our home. What a fun, spirited, beautiful girl she is now. Six years. Like a lifetime already. I'm still just over here counting more blessings...

I don't know if it's possible because I don't know exactly how these things work, and I know it's really silly, but I've always thought my Grandpa Peterson sent us Kate. When Scott and I went to visit him to say goodbye just before he died, I remember the unspoken words that I said only in my mind. I begged him to send me a baby when he made it to heaven. Remarkably, within a few weeks of his death, we found out we were expecting. Only God knows how these things work out. But just in case he really did help out a little... Thank you, Grandpa Peterson.

Maybe when Grandpa Houtz was dying, I should've asked him for one more. I was too overwhelmed with love as I heard him tell us how he loved us all "so much, so much, so much." I didn't even think to ask.  

P.S. to M.I.A.

P.S. I've had several really good days. And the last month has brought changes to our home that I've been begging and nagging about for years. It's really quite spectacular!

Some examples:

Scott and I have argued what to do about a certain part of our backyard since a couple years after moving in, which was seven years ago. That is resolved to BOTH of our liking now, if you can believe it!

We ditched our chandelier in the kitchen in favor of more mod pot-lights (or do people call them recessed lighting these days?). Making this change has allowed us to move our small dining room table around to use the space more efficiently.

Another thing we argued about was our basement bathroom. We compromised and made a few small upgrades to the room: new toilet, linoleum tiles, paint, new hardware, re-purposed- framed mirror, new ceiling tiles. Now we don't cringe when guests visit.

Scott even installed a Reverse Osmosis water purification system (gotta love my plubby).

Good changes.

As I look back on the many little things Scott has improved in our home (or hired someone to improve), I am grateful. Such silly things but they really improve how we function in our house. As a stay-at-home Mom, any improvement to my workplace is a huge boost.

Pretty soon Scott and I will celebrate our TWELFTH wedding anniversary. So cool. Scott is such a great Dad for Kate and he is so patient with me. I am counting my blessings today.

M.I.A.

So, I'm sure nobody cares or wonders why I haven't posted anything in centuries. I'm sure no one is checking my blog everyday, hoping, praying that I will post something new.

And that's fine. I'm glad. People have better things to do. Busy, busy... I understand.

But just in case anyone misses me or maybe just so I know, someday, when I see the hole in my writing and wonder where I went, I've been here, trying to hang on. Not sure why it has been so hard lately.

I've been seeing a couple doctors trying to sort out some health concerns that have been somewhat bothersome. I've had several tests so far, no answers, no real changes. I have a couple okay days and then I'm not-so-okay for a while. rollarcoaster. 

I've been hibernating - in the summer.

Lame.

I feel bad for Kate. I've done my best but it's wearing on her. I haven't invited friends over for her very much this summer and she is such a social butterfly. She is missing out because I haven't been keeping it together very well.

So, I have no pictures.

I have no clever excuses.

I am just letting time pass me by.