It's all good . . .

The End of January

January was a bit of a whirlwind, or even a blizzard at times.  Good times.  In some ways, things are headed down the road to becoming a little closer to normal, like the fact that Lily and Derek started rehearsals for their musical, Beauty and the Beast.  We even had a combined youth activity - bowling with softballs and two liter bottles.  We had a great time!

Every year when I take my Christmas decorations down, I think I have gotten everything, and every year I find something that I completely forgot.  This year, I had already found my little mistletoe decoration, and I really did think I had packed up everything.  Then just the other day, I found this plaque hanging there.  Ha ha ha!

Speaking of Christmas decorations, I had left up all of my Christmas cards for the month - just for a little extra happiness and cheer after the new year.  But after finding the gingerbread plaque, I decided it was time to get rid of all vestiges of Christmas, so I finally took them down.

Happily, this past week, we have finally started piano lessons up again - online, but still lessons.  (His teacher is high risk, and so until she gets vaccinated, she wants to keep lessons digitally.  It means that Arthur and Derek finally have new music to practice, and so are enjoying it so much more.  I love watching them play.

As I was sitting in the music room, and as I looked around and it looked a little like guitars taking over our music room - ha ha!  Two acoustic guitars, four electric guitars, a bass guitar, and there is a ukulele hidden in a case behind one of the acoustic guitars, not to mention the three amplifiers and a guitar effects board. It's okay though, because it makes for lots of great music. And I really love the cute guitar shaped container that Kevin found to try and contain the guitar picks.

This week has also brought the return of the icky winter weather.  It has been cold, that is for sure, but the snow has come back in force, and meant that the kids had to have a snow day/virtual day - which at least means that we don't have to make up the days of school.  At least it is absolutely beautiful when it snows here.

And with cold weather, I always want to make yummy and cozy comfort food - like chicken pot pies.  They are perfect for those cold and snowy days.

One thing that Arthur and I got started and finished this past week, was to make his Valentine's for school.  (We have to turn them in early to be quarantined - crazy, I know - and so we worked on them.  First, we peeled a LOT of crayons, which is seriously the worst.  It is so hard to peel crayons.  Partway through, I started slicing through the wrapper with a knife, which helped a lot.

A few days after we made the heart shaped crayons, we put everything together into a Valentine and Arthur signed them all.  And they turned out super cute!  I love that I still have someone at home to make Valentine's cards with - at least for a few more years.

On a cold day, when the snow had washed away with rain, Kevin went outside to practice hitting golf balls, and Arthur begged to go out and practice as well.  It was the cutest thing, and so much fun!  I hope he keeps up the desire to play golf with his dad over the years :).

Speaking of golf, Kevin and I went on the best double date last night (before another huge snowstorm rolled in).  We met our friends Amy and Kevin down in Baltimore at an awesome indoor golf simulator called Five Iron.  After warming up, we patched a match against the other couple at Pebble Beach, which was so much fun.  I even hit the ball into the virtual ocean - four different times - ha ha!

At one point, the owner brought over this cardboard cutout of Phil Mickleson, and so Amy and I had to get some selfies with him.  He was right behind our chairs, and after the third time I forgot about it and then got startled by the "person" behind me, we moved him to the side of our area.  Good times!  On our way home, we stopped by the Insomnia Cookies a few blocks away for some treats for the road. It was so nice to go on a real date, and not just takeout in the basement.

Luckily for us, the storm didn't hit until this morning, and so we were able to have our fun adventure and not get snowed out.  And so January is on its way out with a blizzard, and it looks like February will be blown in with a blizzard.

Eight is Great!!

Arthur was so overexcited for his birthday, and he had been counting down ever since Christmas.  He even started planning a special birthday party that he wanted to invite friends to, but we had to break it to him that a birthday party was not going to happen this year, because of all the restrictions in place.  Instead, we would just have a great time celebrating as a family.  We started the celebration on Sunday, when he picked out his favorite dinner - homemade pizza.  He even helped me make them, and wanted the scraps to make a mini pizza.  There weren't many scraps, and so he had a very mini pizza, about the size of a quarter - ha ha!

Later that evening, Arthur had a special visit from the Primary President, Sister Berg.  She talked to him all about how special his 8th birthday was because he now gets to be baptized.  He loved her whole "Eight is Great" presentation, and it made him even more excited to get baptized.  She also gave him some great things to help him prepare.

On Monday morning, it was Arthur's actual birthday.  I had decorated his door, and per his request, I included as many colors as I could.  Amazingly enough, I had seven different colors of streamers, but none of them were purple, his favorite color.  (Walmart had been sold out when I tried to buy it last week.  Lame.) Luckily, he was okay with black as a "replacement color."  Funny guy!  His birthday just happened to fall on Martin Luther King Day this year, which meant he had the day off of school, and Kevin had the day off of work.  Everyone ended up sleeping in, and so he was awake for a bit before we came in to sing to him, but he didn't mind too much.

I made him a special breakfast of a pice of leftover pineapple and ham pizza, his favorite, as well as peaches as his side dish and juice for his drink. (He always has to have a side dish.)

A little bit later, we heard the doorbell ring, and Arthur got a special birthday surprise from the missionaries.  They brought him his favorite treats - chocolate chip cookies and Hershey chocolate bars.  They are such great elders, and Arthur loves them.

Since we had Arthur's special homemade dinner the night before, we decided to have his favorite fast food on his birthday.  Kevin and I had taken Arthur on a special errand at Walmart, and then we picked up Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Arthur was in heaven.

Later on, the kids got to play bonus video games as part of the birthday fun.  Lily played for Arthur first, and then Derek played second.  And yes, Arthur actually prefers to watch other people play, because he is afraid he won't do as well on his own.  After that, Arthur picked his favorite board game for us to play as a family, Labyrinth.  We had a great time, but there were tears shed at the end when Lily won, I got second place, and Kevin got third leaving he and Derek in last place.  Oh well.  We warned him that if he wanted to win, he should be partners with Lily - she always seems to win.

After a quick break, and a dinner of leftover pizza, it was time for presents, which definitely turned his frown upside down.  He had quite the long present train, but it was a special birthday, so lots of special presents.

Arthur was so excited about every gift, and would run and give each of us a giant hug after he opened it.  He especially loved getting his own beautiful new set of scriptures and a CTR ring.
The present that blew him away, however, was the magic set that he had been wanting for months.  It was a fabulous set and he started playing with it right away.

After presents, it was time for cake, or rather a giant chocolate chip cookie.  It was favorite and just what he wanted.

While we ate his birthday cookie, we watched the movie "Godmothered" together, which was so much fun.  After the movie, I got to tuck him in, and for his scripture reading, he pulled out his brand new scriptures and he wanted to start right at the beginning in Genesis chapter 1.  It was the sweetest thing, and just like our sweet Arthur.  I love that it was the way we finished off celebrating his birthday.

Arthur, the Eight Year Old

Oh, sweet Arthur! How did our baby boy grow up so fast? He is eight years old today, and on his way to really growing up. He is bursting with personality, always coming up things that make us laugh or amaze us, and at times he even make us want to shake our heads in frustration- ha ha!  (Like when he informs us that something is "boring to him" or tells us that he "would rather not" do something." Good times! 


Speaking of personality, when we were getting ready to head out to take Arthur's portraits, he told me, "Mom, I need a pair of sunglasses for the pictures.  But not just any sunglasses - I need dark sunglasses that you can't see through." Ha ha ha!  This kid!  I gave him mine to use, and although they were a touch big, they made for the cutest pictures, especially since he was all dressed up in his suit and tie.  He looked like a secret agent, which I think is what he was going for.

Arthur really is bursting with that personality of his, which can make life an adventure- or taking his portraits an adventure.  He thought is was hilarious to make funny faces, and when he discovered that he could stick his tongue through the hole where he is missing his two front teeth, he totally kept doing that as well.  He really does make us laugh.

Arthur loves life, and gets super excited about the smallest things, but it makes everything so much more fun and exciting to be around him.  For example, you should see his reaction when I tell him that I am making pancakes for dinner - giant hugs and exclamations of how I am the best mom in the world.  He has a way of making you feel like a million bucks.  His smile lights up the room and warms the heart of everyone it touches.

Arthur is so very bright, and not just his personality.  He is smart as a whip, and reads voraciously.  He gets obsessed with a topic, and needs to study anything and everything about it.  Luckily, I have a LOT of books, and even better, he can get things at the library.  He has gone through many different obsessions- geography, insects, math - especially large numbers, transformation magic, etc.  His most current obsession is magic tricks, and is watching videos and checking out books that teach him how to do them.  And then he tries them out on all of us, but then he loves to explain to us exactly how he did it ;).

Arthur has a growing testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and has loved studying the Bible, and especially The Book of Mormon. Arthur has also chosen to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which will happen in a few weeks.  We are so excited for him and his desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized.  

Arthur loves to share his love of the gospel, especially for The Book of Mormon, with those around him.  Ever since he was in kindergarten, when I ask him what he wants to give his teacher for Christmas, he always asks if he can give them a Book of Mormon for their present.  And he always writes a simple and heartfelt testimony of the book for them.  It is the sweetest.

Arthur loves his family, but adores his older brother, Derek, and he often reminds us that he loves Derek most of all of us. He never hesitates to show love to all of us, and he will hold my hand, sit with me, and cuddle with me still.  His favorite thing at night is getting "squishy hugs" before lights out, and he thinks it is especially hilarious if he can hold me in place while he is hugging me, so that Kevin join in with his hug and make a "mom sandwich." He is such a sweet and loving boy, and we all love him right back.  He holds a very special place in our family, and we can't imagine life without him.

**When Lily and Derek turned eight, I took their portraits at the temple, because we thought it would be special to take their portraits in such a sacred place, but since all the temple grounds are closed at the moment because of Covid, that wasn't an option.  Then we thought about the fact that we live 30 minutes from the Susquehanna River, the very river Joseph Smith was baptized in, and since it was such special place in the history of our church, we thought it was the perfect backdrop for Arthur's portraits.  It turned out perfectly.

Here are some of Arthur's favorite things:

Food: Pizza        

Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookies and Hershey Chocolate Bars

Snack: Cheezits

Color: Purple

Song: "Out of the Cage" by Keith Urban

Thing to Do with Mom: Read Books

Thing to Do with Dad: Play Video Games

Thing to Do with Lily: Fold Origami

Thing to Do with Derek: Watch him play video games

Movie: "Godmothered"

TV Show: "Wipeout"

Game: Villainous

Video Game: Paper Mario: The Origami King

Activity: Play Video Games

To Do: Magic Tricks

Book: Any book with magic in it, especially transformation magic

Place He Most Wants to Visit: Utah

Favorite Place to Visit: Idaho

Favorite Place to Vacation: Disney World

Wants to Be When He Grows Up: A video game designer

Most Excited About for this year: Getting baptized

Food: Pizza        

Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookies and Hershey Chocolate Bars

Snack: Cheezits

Color: Purple

Song: "Out of the Cage" by Keith Urban

Thing to Do with Mom: Read Books

Thing to Do with Dad: Play Video Games

Thing to Do with Lily: Fold Origami

Thing to Do with Derek: Watch him play video games

Movie: "Godmothered"

TV Show: "Wipeout"

Game: Villainous

Video Game: Paper Mario: The Origami King

Activity: Play Video Games

To Do: Magic Tricks

Book: Any book with magic in it, especially transformation magic

Place He Most Wants to Visit: Utah

Favorite Place to Visit: Idaho

Favorite Place to Vacation: Disney World

Wants to Be When He Grows Up: A video game designer

Most Excited About for this year: Getting baptized

Little Bits of Life

Coming back home after having been gone for two weeks, there was so much to catch up on - stuff for the kids, for work, for the house, for church - it was a bit overwhelming. I just happened to read this wonderful talk by Elder Waddell, and he said, "The Lord does not expect us to do more than we can do, but He does expect us to do what we can do, when we can do it." It was just what I needed to hear, and so I made my lists, prioritized, and got to work.

One of the first things I did, was take advantage of time on Saturday afternoon to go out and take Arthur's 8 year old portraits at the Susquehanna River. Luckily it was around 40 degrees, and so it wasn't too freezing for us.  I even had Derek come and work as my assistant, as I needed someone to hold my reflector for me.  The setting was gorgeous and if I didn't have the boys waiting for me, I would have stayed there and taken pictures of the entire sunset.

One of the things I checked off my list, was finally taking advantage of the awesome hot cocoa bombs that Becky gave us as a special treat. Kevin heated up the milk, and Arthur loved watching the balls of chocolate burst open and for the marshmallows pop up to the top.  They were delicious- very rich, but delicious.

This year, because the pandemic significantly increased the amount of people having things, the post office is running so far behind, that packages and letters keep arriving super late. One of those things were the magic bands I had ordered for Lily and I back in November.  We were super excited to get them, and luckily we don't need them until May, but I had to laugh that "return postmarked date" was January 9th, and I didn't receive them until the 12th.  Ha ha!

One of the extra things on my list was a Covid test so I wouldn't have to quarantine.  I had gotten a test in Idaho before I left, but the results came back inconclusive. Who knew that was an option??  So I had to cancel my sub job teaching art for the week (especially since I would have taught every single student in two different elementary schools - no way was I going to risk that), and wait on the results of a new test.  Thank goodness I got my negative results on Wednesday morning, just in time for my chiropractor appointment and a few other very important errands.

One of the very stressful parts of this last week has been the health of my mom.  The day I left, she started passing blood, and as the days went by, her hemoglobin levels dropped dangerously low, and she ended up back in the hospital for two days.  After lots of prayers and some miracles, she received a blood transfusion and was able to go home from the hospital.  She started feeling so much better, and then we finally got the pathology results on her tumor, and it was benign.  Truly a miracle!

Another amazing thing that happened this week, was that on Thursday my niece Mikeena had her first baby, a gorgeous baby boy.  He was almost nine pounds, and they named him Blays ("blaze") Jacob Fielding.  I love that my big brother, Preston, is a grandpa now - he has always adored babies.


Something else that happened, was that since my Covid test results came back negative, I could substitute teach again after coming back from Idaho.  I took a job teaching a first grade class, and when I got there, I discovered that there were three kids in my class that I knew! So fun! Yuuki (Satoko's son), Samson (Amber's son), and Jake (my kids' pediatrician's son) - I loved getting to teach them.  Being in first grade also meant that I got to hang out with my adorable neighbor, Maddie at recess (she is in a different class).  It made for a very fun day.

On Friday night, because of Covid restrictions, my nephew Austin's Jive concert was being shown virtually.  I was able to get a ticket to stream it, and so we got to watch it all together as a family.  It was a very fun concert, and our kids loved  it. Especially the part where they did songs from "Descendants" because Austin was Carlos, Cruella De'Ville's son.

It was a bit of a crazy week, and we finished it up with a nice Saturday at home.  Kevin and I even braved the cold and took a nice three mile walk through the neighborhood, and later that night we got some takeout and then watched the new Wonder Woman movie.  It the perfect way to wind down and get ready for next week.

Meanwhile, Back at Home

When I learned that my mother was going to have her surgery, Kevin and I made the decision for me to go, knowing that he would hold down the fort while I was gone.  I tried to have everything as organized as I could, and he did a fabulous job.  The first week I was gone, the kids had off of school, and so Kevin went into work the few days before New Years, and Lily did a great job making sure the boys were ok.  The first day I was gone, she even helped Arthur join in on a special library zoom magic show, which was his favorite thing - he is obsessed with magic.

Every day I was gone, we would FaceTime for family prayer, and usually as I was saying goodbye, I would remind Kevin to give the kids hugs from me.  Then I started asking the kids to give their dad a hug from me, which usually turned into a crazy group hug.  It made me so happy and made me miss them even more.

I really did miss Kevin and the kids, but I was so busy taking care of my mom and so worried about her, that I didn't have much time to think about it.  Unless of course, Kevin sent me adorable pictures of Arthur being his silly self.  Then I ached to hug my sweet kids.

Kevin was fabulous about keeping the kids fed, and only ate out a few times, cooking for them most of the time.  A couple nights, however, my friends strong armed him into letting them bring dinner, which made the whole family happy, since his cooking was pretty simple.

The week the kids were in school, Kevin took the week off, since he normally leaves for work at 4 am and he needed to help get the kids out the door for school. That left him with time to take care of the laundry and everything else, as well as time for some projects, like cleaning and organizing the storage room and repairing a broken chair.  He was busy!

The two weeks I was gone flew by, and before I knew it, I was getting picked up by Dennis and Valerie at 5 am to take me to the airport in Twin Falls. It was a long travel day, and I think I looked as tired as I felt.  Luckily I had a great audiobook and ebook to make the time go by a little faster - and I was able to pick up some yummy take-out food for the flight at the Cafe Rio right next to my gate in Salt Lake.

One of my favorite parts of the flight, was when we flew over the Rocky Mountains.  They are always spectacular, but covered in snow, they are amazing.

I was so grateful when I saw the Potomac and knew I was almost home, especially after an almost five hour flight.

I was so grateful to see Kevin when I got to BWI. The kids were all at home, because he had to leave to pick me up before the kids got out of school.  Kevin had a warm dinner waiting for me in the car, and when I walked through the door, it was to a spotless house, gorgeous roses, and the most heartfelt card.  He is amazing, and I think he may have missed me ;).

As much as I still wished that I could take care of my mother, I was so incredibly grateful to be home with my family.  And I especially loved waking up to this adorable face on Saturday morning.

A New Year's Adventure: Taking Care of My Mama

I arrived in Idaho on very late on the 28, essentially the 29th, and when I got up that morning, we hit the ground running.  My mom had her pre-op appointment at the hospital, and luckily, since I wasn't able to go in with her, my sister Heather, who is a nurse, was able to go in with her. I ran errands and worked on some things at the house while they were gone. Later on, we all went out to lunch at Olive Garden for an early birthday lunch for Heather - they even brought her some cake, which we loved getting to share.

After that, my mom and I spent a few hours taking down Christmas decorations (with some great help from Elaina, a girl my mom hires to clean her house).  My mom has a lot of decorations, and even though she didn't put them all up this year, it was a lot of work.  We took a break around dinner time to take it easy and watch a movie.  On Wednesday, we got started in the morning with finishing taking down Christmas, something we both wanted to have done before her surgery.  We worked really hard, and actually got it finished, and then we celebrated by picking up an early dinner/late lunch from the Twin Falls Sandwich Company.  I love how they have revitalized downtown Twin Falls with all the great restaurants and shops.

Later on, Heather came over with her daughter, Gracie, and we played Bohnanza and ate treats as a last little fun adventure before my mom's surgery the next day.

After Heather and Gracie left, it was time for presurgery preparations.  Good times.  We had to do it all again in the morning before I took her to the hospital as well.

Sadly, when I brought her to the hospital, I had to drop her off at the front doors and drive away.  It really is the worst, and I wished I could have stayed there and waited, like I have done for all the other surgeries my family has had.  Oh well.  Instead, I ran some errands and worked on some projects to keep me occupied.

One of the things I did was to visit my mother-in-law, where she helped me work on a special surprise for my mom - pillow covers for her Christmas pillows so that she can have them out for the rest of the year.  They turned out super cute.

By the time I was done at Valerie's, the surgery was over.  They weren't able to do it all laparoscopically, and he did have to take out a foot of her small intestine, but the doctor thought that everything went great.  Since she was only allowed one visitor per day, Heather went in and spent it with her that first night.  

It was the strangest thing being alone at my mom's house, and I realized it was the first time in about 20 years that I have slept alone somewhere.  So strange.  It also wasn't much of a New Year's Eve celebration, but I didn't mind.  I read my book, watched a bunch of Hallmark type romantic comedies on Netflix and worked on paying bills - super exciting - ha ha!

On Friday, I got to start the New Year with my mom at the hospital.  I got to go over there around 8am and be her one visitor for the day.  We talked, watched movies on my laptop, and tried to take care of her. It was so wonderful to be with her.

My sister, Heather, just happened to be working today (she is a nurse in labor and delivery), and so she got to visit on her break, which was so fun.  And it meant that my mom had a bonus visitor.

In the afternoon, while my mom napped, I went back to the house to work on a few things, like taking down the Christmas lights outside. My brother Matthew and his kids put them up, and his boys literally threw the lights up in the tree - ha ha!  It was quite the adventure taking them down, but at least it was 50 degrees outside while I did it.

After I finished all my errands and things, I went back to the hospital to spend the evening with my mom.  This time I brought a cord to connect my computer to the TV in her room, and so we watched a movie on it instead. We were having a great time, but kept getting interrupted by nurses, doctors, etc.  We finished our movie with ony five minutes before visitors were supposed to be out of the hospital.  I had to rush out of there, and since the hospital feels a little bit like a ghost town, it felt like I was going to get locked in if I didn't hurry.  It was pretty funny.

The next morning, I came back to the hospital, got a different colored visitor wristband, and spent the day with my mom.  She was extra tired, and so she napped off and on while I worked on my computer. 

After lunch, she was finally discharged and I got to take her home.  The car ride was pretty painful for her, but I got her settled, and then I went and picked up her meds.  It was so good to have her out of the hospital finally.

We had a few visitors after my mom was home and settled, one of which was my sister Heather with her new giant puppy, a gorgeous Bernese Mountain Dog named Rocky.  He was the sweetest thing, and gigantic, with paws as big as the palm of my hand, and he is only eight weeks old.

We had a good few days, watching movies, eating yummy food, and me doing projects while I had my mom rest.  She was in a lot of pain at first, but steadily improved each day, and was beginning to have much more color and vibrance, even sitting up at her desk and working on cards for people.  Every evening we would watch a movie or two, and maybe some episodes of "Remington Steele" which was very fun. One of the big projects I did was doing some deep cleaning and organizing in my mom's kitchen, going through cupboards and making it so she can find things more easily, as well as throwing out old and expired food that she didn't even know was there because she couldn't see or reach it.

On Thursday, my last day in town, my friend Terrie came over from Boise and spent the morning with me.  My mom was feeling extra tired, so she stayed in her room and rested, and Terrie and her daughter, Alia, talked and laughed with me for a few hours.  I sure loved getting to see her, and as always, it was a balm to my soul to spend time with my dear friend.

That afternoon, my mom and I finished up a Pride and Prejudice marathon, watching the second half of the five hour BBC version (aka: the very best version of Pride and Prejudice).  It was just the pick-me-up we both needed, especially since my mom was starting to not feel as well as she had the day before.  After that, she rested and I packed, and then we finished off the night with another couple episodes of "Remington Steele" - so much fun.

I wish I could say that she is doing better, but right before I left for the airport, she was bleeding and passing blood, and so we shall see what happens now.  It is so hard being so far away, but luckily, my sister Wendy, is taking over for me and caring for her now. Being able to spend these two weeks with my mother was truly a gift, and I am so grateful that everything came together for me to come and watch over and care for her for a while.