This Week at Our House # 36

1. We had another busy week. It's hard not to be busy with this many kids, even when we have minimal outside the home activities. John took walks everyday this week. The weather has cooled down and being outside is very pleasant right now.
2. I spent the first part of the week trying to get things done for the house loan. On Wednesday, I took the kids to the beach because I had to drive down that way to get some paperwork to our realtor. Friday, I found out we would not be getting home insurance until the hurricane passed because insurance companies blocked our area out for no new insurance. I didn't know that happened. But today I got the message that we can get insurance now because the storm went west. We may still be able to close in September. We will see. On Sunday, we drove the 4 hours to visit my family. All of my siblings were visiting for my niece's baptism, so it was like a mini family reunion. We couldn't make it to the baptism, though, because Johnny had the ACT. But it was nice to see everyone. It has been between one and four years since I have seen most of them.
3. Ruth emails on Tuesday, so that is now my favorite day of the week. Ruth now has two MTC companions, Sister Neilson and Sister Carpenter. She said that she had fun racing the Elders to not be late to class. Ruth is obviously taking things very seriously. She always sends scriptures, and I know that she continues to study hard, just as she did all summer at home.
4. Kate flew out to Utah to help her grandma babysit 4 of her cousins. She has also been helping her grandpa build a new deck onto the back of their house. She has definitely been busy. Grandma is being very nice. She has taken her to the Temple 3 times in less than a week, gotten her In and Out Burger twice, and plenty of ice cream. Kate said that several of her little girl cousins have asked her when she is going to get a boyfriend. Kate has laughed about that. She has no intention to get any boyfriend ever, just a fiance after her mission. 
5. Johnny's foot is healing. He can walk around very normally with his shoe on now. Johnny took the ACT for the second time on Saturday. He hates all of the liberal propaganda included in the reading, english, and science sections of the test. I expect we will get his score in two more weeks.
6. Adam went to the Stake Youth Super Saturday on Harkers Isle.  They shelled freshly caught shrimp as a service project. He enjoyed that. Adam became the first in our family to try oyster on the half shell. Her liked it, but said it was a tad too salty. Adam really enjoyed all of the fisherman stuff they did. He now has 3 ideas for a career: eye doctor, farmer, or fisherman. Adam will never make a good sit at your computer all day guy.
7. Rachel misses Kate, so she started texting her. We've discovered that Rachel likes to text and could spend an hour sending messages if I let her. Rachel has now read the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the New Testament all before the age of 12. She is now reading the Book of Mormon a second time.
8. I bought Anya a book, All of a Kind Family, that I loved reading when Ruth and Kate were babies. She is loving it. It's about a Jewish family in NYC with 5 girls. Anya and Rachel have been talking about which sister they are. It's cute to see them so interested in a book. Rachel gets it next and there are a total of 5 books. I love being able to hand down books I loved to my kids.
9. Joseph has learned to swim quite well. Last year, he wore a life jacket, this year he just swims and swims. He has now joined the older kids swimming in the ocean at the beach.
10. For the first time, I remembered to grab life jackets for the littler kids at the beach. Josh and Arwen enjoyed swimming a lot more because they felt safer. I enjoyed feeling less worried  about them because I felt safer. But I think it was only a feeling because they spent a lot more time in deeper water.
11. I was on a walk with John.  He had Arwen on his shoulders. She looked ahead and saw a weeping willow and said, "look Dad, that tree is sad." She doesn't even know it is called a weeping willow.
12. John was talking to Suzy about Jesus and showing her pictures. He put up a picture of Jesus dead in the tomb. She became very concerned and said, "oh, no he died." John explained the story. Then he pushed the back arrow on his laptop and the other pictures of Jesus came back on. Susan raised her hands in the air and proclaimed, "He came back!!"
13. Sam misses Kate. All summer he had 3 moms. Then Ruth left and he had two. Then Kate left and he is keeping a very careful watch of me. I cannot leave the room without him.

Pictures

My parents and siblings from left to right: Amy, me, mom, Monika, Amber, Lila, Seth, Dad in the back

Rachel and Sam with Aunt Marie

This is what the sky looked like for about an hour of our drive on Sunday. It was pretty surreal because there was such a perfectly straight line between the two colors in the sky.

This Week at Our House # 35

1. This may be too early to be saying, but it seems that probiotics are starting to help John lose weight. I noticed that he is looking thinner than he did in our family photo taken in December, and John has said that has dropped some weight.
2. I had a very busy week of paper work and home schooling and trying to get things taken care of to be able to purchase the home. I will have another busy week this week and I think by the end of this week, we will know if everything is going to go through.
3. We hear from Ruth on Tuesdays while she is in the MTC. She loves her companion and all the sisters and elders in her district.
4. John's brother Jeremy bought a plane ticket for Kate to travel to Utah so Kate can help grandma Robertson care for Jeremy's four children while he and his wife, Rosanne are in Germany. Kate will get to see her grandparents, her cousins, the mountains, and eat at In and Out Burger after all.
5. Johnny is spending half his day on computer programming and I think that is just the right fit for him.
6. Adam has begun reading because he is enjoying it. That is a miracle. I have been waiting years for that to happen.
7. Rachel is reading Ella Enchanted and really loving it! And this is what Rachel wanted me to write about her.
8. Anya likes to play the card game that all the boys play and none of the girls have played before now. 
9. I noticed the entry way to the kitchen was very dirty and felt puzzled at how it got so dirty and then I remembered how often Joseph climbs that doorway. 
10. Joshua has been coloring a lot. He is a good artist. Some days teaching him to read or is horrible and other days he gets it so easily. He has been doing really well with Green Eggs and Ham.
11. Arwen knows all of her alphabet and sounds now, so we are moving on to words and sounding out. I hope she will pick it up with ease, but that is how I feel each time I begin teaching my kids to go to the bathroom, read, and drive.
12. Suzy will go days without having any potty accidents and then go about 4 days in a row pooping her pants. I wish she would just get it, but she is in underwear more often than not now and there are fewer and fewer messes.
13. Sam doesn't like us to put his pacifier in when he cries now. He dodges and screams harder. It's kind of funny because when we finally get the pacifier in, he calms down. I wonder if he just doesn't want to be calmed.

Pictures

This Week at Our House # 34

1. What a week! We sent Ruth off to the MTC, and Kate had her 18th birthday. We got a lot of paperwork submitted on the house, and that seems to be going better than it should, though I am not sure we will have as much money as we need yet. The closing costs are very high. John is doing well. Though we both miss Ruth's presence in our home. 
2. It was an emotional week for me, so I got a lot of cleaning done. While dirty things are a source of stress for me, cleaning tends to relieve stress because I always feel so good afterwards.
3. Ruth, of course, left for her mission. Her grandmother sent her to the MTC the morning after she flew to Utah. I heard from Ruth that she is safe and her p-day is on Tuesday. 
4. Kate had her least exciting birthday as she didn't have Ruth there, and we have to save every penny for the closing on the house. But she was happy and fun to be. And I had a spare lamb roast awaiting an occasion such as this. Kate read an Agatha Christie book to Adam and Rachel and they really enjoyed that. Kate is making a list of what books she wants to read to help prepare her for her mission.
5. Johnny's foot is getting better, so he is getting around more and doing more. Sometimes he forgets and just walks. Mostly that seems to be good.
6. I have Adam reading a lot for school. My goal for him right now is to read 50 pages a day. I am hoping to get that up to 100 by the end of the school year. So far, he is doing pretty well hitting 50 pages. 
7. Since I am in primary, I get to hear Rachel sing her little heart out during singing time and I love it. Rachel reads to Susan and Arwen all the time. 
8. Anya took Ruth's bed back, except it came with a difference this time. Ruth let Susan sleep with her all summer, so now Susan is sleeping with Anya. When we move, Susan and Sam and probably Arwen will get a separate room.
9. Joseph wrote a cute letter to Ruth telling her to look in every wardrobe in England.
10. Joshua drew a series of pictures for Kate for her birthday. Three of them were a picture of Kate and Johnny getting married. Kate laughed and laughed, but Johnny was a bit mortified. Then Kate said to Josh, "But Joshua, what if I want to marry you?" he responded thoughtfully building excitement, "that... would... be... Great!" Kate replied, "If I am going to die an old maid, will you marry me?" he jumped up and down saying "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and professed his love to Kate. Arwen then cried because she wants to marry Josh. In a similar fashion, we had the sister missionaries for dinner of Saturday. When they arrived Josh ran a circle around them chanting, "they are pretty!" I was embarrassed, but once I got Josh settled down, I realized that I was glad he was chanting, "they are pretty," and not, "they are fat," or "they are ugly."
11. Thursday night Arwen tearfully asked me when Ruth was coming back. I told her not until she was 6.5 and two Christmases went by. Then I told her that when Ruth did come home she would be grown up and need to meet a boy, get married, and have a baby. Arwen perked up excitedly and said, "Ruth can be a mother?" Yes, after her mission and marriage. Arwen lost her tooth the next day. I gave her a plastic bag to put it in and she said that she was going to save it to show to Ruth. I think she has misplaced it now.
12. We made navajo tacos for dinner Wednesday night. Suzy asked for candy for dinner. I said no, so she screamed, asked again. I said no and again she ran upstairs to cry (probably on your bed). Later she came down and asked for candy again. I said no once more and she ran back upstairs screaming. She came down a second time and asked Dad for cereal. Dad said no, so she ran back upstairs screaming. About the time everyone else was finished eating, she came down and asked for bread. We gave her the naan bread and she went to the table with it and made herself a taco and ate during family scripture study. It was pretty funny.
13. Sam does not like me teaching school. He cries and wants my attention, not just me holding him, but my full attention. He is going to have to get used to homeschool as a reality. Sam has learned to put his own pacifier in. I saw him fall down, cry, look at his pacifier hanging from his shirt, pick it up, put it in his mouth, and then happily go on his way. Another time, I saw him stressed and crying. I pointed to his pacifier. He put it in his mouth and was just fine. It's been pretty cute and funny.

Pictures

Arwen's first lost tooth

I think Kate burnt her finger while lighting her candles

At Grandma's House before reporting to the MTC

At the MTC

Getting a personal escort inside.

Happy 18th Birthday, Kate

And just like that, she is all grown up and preparing for her mission. Kate feels like she is always a year too late. I think she wishes she was Ruth's twin so they could have done everything together. Kate takes excessively good care of all of her siblings. She has a good relationship with all of them. She pays attention to and interacts with each one of them. She loves to cook, is enjoying playing the piano, loves to read, especially classic novels and is very talented with advanced mathematics. Since her father has a PhD in math, she is getting a lot of advanced math courses for free and enjoys that immensely. We all enjoy Kate's sarcasm, ready wit, and sense of humor.

Goodbye Ruth

Monday night, Ruth was set apart as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yesterday, Ruth flew from Raleigh, NC to SLC, UT. Her grandmother picked her up and took her to the MTC today. By now Ruth will have her room and companion and will be getting acquainted with the MTC in Provo.

Our house felt a little like a funeral when we got home from the airport yesterday. We will miss her. We did get to talk to her last night and this morning. But by the second call this morning's, I was done with saying goodbye. When Ruth has a little girl, she would never say goodbye when we left a friend or grandparents home. Instead she would shout that she hates goodbye and go straight to the car to cry. I think I felt the same way by the end of the phone call today. I don't like saying goodbye, especially when it means I can't talk on the phone every day, like I did with Ruth while she was at college. This was a much bigger goodbye.

Still, we are very happy that Ruth is giving up a year and a half to serve the Lord. I am happy to send my children out to give the gift of the gospel to other people. It was mothers just like me who sent their children out to find and convert my parents. I can send my children out to do the same for other people.

God Speed Ruth. I know you will serve faithfully.

2017 Wall Portraits and Group Pictures