Friday, November 27, 2009

Welcome to the Holidays

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving!




Paige kept saying, "I have to eat my turkeys." (Everything is plural to her at the moment). Well, who wouldn't love turkey if you thought it was chocolate pie topped with real whip cream and shaved chocolate!

Awesome Thanksgiving Story #2

Twelve years ago, I lived in New York. I had finished two years of college and had run out of money. I figured that if I was a nanny, and I cleaned a few houses on the side while the kids were at school, I could save up enough for the last two years of school and make enough to play a little. It was a great decision. Once I got there, I found a job for Lisa as well.

Even though I worked for truly horrible people (but I loved my boys), Lisa worked for truly wonderful people. She was surrounded by one of the most generous families I've ever met. The Grandpa of her little boy was a VP for Macy's Department Store. With Thanksgiving approaching, he helped us get into the parade. We decided to be Balloon Handlers. When we were filling out our application, we came to the section where we had to give very detailed measurements of our body. (Every balloon is assigned a color. All the balloon handlers for that balloon wear matching jumpsuits.) We decided to add a few inches to all of our measurements because we knew it was going to be freezing and we wanted to make sure that we accounted for plenty of sweatshirts, coats, scarves, long underwear, etc.

Apparently, the parade organizers already account for all that stuff. When we arrived as the warehouse Thanksgiving morning, we walked over to find that our brown jumpsuits were enormous! We picked them up off the hanger and just started laughing. I am a pretty short person. Lisa is taller, but not significantly. Seriously, the parade planners probably received our applications and thought two 6 feet 2 inch behemoths were volunteering. They probably didn't assign our balloon as many handlers because they thought that we could do the job of three average-sized people. Once we stopped laughing, we walked out of the warehouse with the crotch of the jumpsuits past our knees and the arms rolled up to our shoulders. We looked ridiculous, but we were already having a blast!

We were assigned to the Peter Rabbit balloon - quite possibly the most lame balloon in the entire parade. You see small children screaming for Spiderman and Dora, but nobody cheers like crazed Beatles fans when they see Peter Rabbit coming down the street. Plus, we soon realized that balloon handling is quite difficult and actually a lot of work. There was quite a bit of wind that day. Wind is brutal in New York City. It gets trapped between those buildings and just rips it's way along the streets. Makes your eyes water, your nose run, and giant balloons can easily crash into streetlamps and traffic lights. We were given a strict lecture about NOT letting this happen.

The parade actually starts up by the Museum of Natural History and works its way through the streets until it reaches Harold Square where it is filmed (at least in years past). So, what you see on TV has actually been going on for a few hours. We were supposed to keep the balloon down until we reached the television cameras where we let it float up for a few minutes. Each balloon has a director that keeps his/her eyes on the balloon the entire time, shouting out instructions to people to pull down or let up so we don't cause any damage.

After a few minutes of this, our balloon director asked for a few volunteers to carry our Peter Rabbit Banner (it just keeps getting better). Lisa and I eagerly volunteered. Then, our director taught us a cheer:
Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, Pete
Beatrix Potter is really neat!
At this point, we are oozing with awsomeness. But to make us even more cool, we made up our own little dance to go along with the cheer.

We had a blast! Giant jumpsuits and all.

But the very best part, by far, was the end. As soon as we passed the TV cameras, we turned a corner. We had to get the balloon down as quickly as possible since there were marching bands, floats, and more balloons behind us. In order to do this, the balloon is brought down to street level, and all of the balloon handlers and other volunteers lay on it to press out all the helium. The balloon directors and other parade officials are extremely serious about this entire process. But, honestly, how serious can you take people when they are talking in that squeaky, high voice.

There were probably 50 people throwing their bodies on top of this giant balloon and other people running around the balloon with headsets and clipboards shouting instructions and pointing to areas where the balloon was still bulging. And all 50+ people were overcome with massive amounts of helium. Lisa and I were practically useless. We were rolling around on this balloon, laughing so hard we had tears rolling down our cheeks. It really doesn't matter how "official" and "serious" someone makes their face look, if they sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks, it is impossible to take them seriously.

Good times with a great sister!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Awesome Thanksgiving Story #1

So in preparation for Thanksgiving, my mom and sisters and I divided up the Thanksgiving dishes (I think we are all responsible for 3-4 items, which would bring the total to 16 - more people than are actually attending Thanksgiving). I had to make my salad tonight because it has to chill overnight, so I decided to just do the bulk of my cooking since I was already in the kitchen.

One of my responsibilities is the stuffing. I put Kade in the Bumbo on top of the counter while I chopped veggies. I even handed him a rather long stalk of celery. He put it in his mouth the first time and made the most horrible face. Since he is only six months old, he frequently dropped the celery. He got to the point that I just had to put it in his hand and he made the horrible face (he didn't even have to taste it). After that, I just gave it back to torture him because I thought it was funny.

Eventually, I handed him a red, plastic cup to play with instead of the celery. I was just going about my business, making preparations, when I started on the onion. About half-way through my chopping, I look up and my poor baby is not crying, but his eyes are bright red with tears streaming and his nose is running.

Oops!

I'm thankful that he's such a good sport and that he and Spencer are such happy, content babies (most of the time). It has been a HUGE blessing this year. I am truly grateful.

My greatest blessings of this past year (many pounds ago):


I remember being at Thanksgiving last year. We were with Greg's family. I knew I was pregnant, but didn't know they were twins. I also hadn't told anyone yet. I remember Macy being so bored because her girl cousins were taking such a long time arriving. We are the last to have children on his side. Our kids are the youngest. I remember thinking that this poor baby inside my belly won't have anyone to play with when we are with Greg's side. Little did I know that God had already taken that worry off my plate. I'm thankful that Spencer and Kade will always have each other.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Just So You Know

St. George, Utah: The perfect escape from November snow in Salt Lake City.

And it was absolutely perfect! The weather could not have been more beautiful.

We spent two afternoons at the pool. We had it completely to ourselves. On the second day, we were sitting in the hot tub, enjoying the warmth and watching the kids jump in and out of the pool. Kade was asleep in the stroller.

I looked over and saw his little feet kicking and moving and announced: "Looks like Kade decided to wake up."

Macy immediately jumped out of the water and ran to check on her "buds" (as she calls him).

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and very carefully started tiptoeing back to the hot tub.

"Uh, Dad. There's a spider."

We look over and a tarantula had crawled out from under the stroller.

Greg bravely saved my baby from the giant, hairy monster. First, he attempted to use a frisbee, but as the beast reared up, he quickly decided on a tool with handle - a long handle. He grabbed the net hanging on the side of the pool and nudged it (from a much safer, 10-foot distance) toward the rock wall.

Everyone was mesmerized.

We spent the next half hour watching the creature crawl up the wall, fall down, and eventually into a small crevice. As far as capturing the kids attention, it was better than any movie or video game.

* * *

While we were on our mini vacation, we spent some time at Fiesta Fun. Getting there was definitely a fiesta, and in the end, pretty dang funny. We used the GPS to guide us to our destination and ended up in the middle of a trailer park community for "Over 55". As we were stopped in the corner, surrounded by immaculate white trailers, fake grass, and little garden gnomes, Greg said he felt like Michael Scott ("The Office") who drove into a river because the GPS told him to. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

Despite the confusing prices, and the even more confusing young teenagers running the joint, the kids had a blast on the go carts, and the guys took full advantage of a broken batting cage. To our luck, it never shut off. After hundreds of balls, and a few blisters (I forgot to take off my wedding ring) it seemed a shame to walk away. We had fun.

As we were buckling our crew into the car (takes us a while), I witnessed a family exit the Fun Center and walk to the car. It was a dad with his three children. The oldest child (probably 9 or 10 years old) was walking next to him. She was pitching a major fit! She was sobbing, begging, whining - all at once. The two younger children were skipping happily behind. Suddenly, the dad stopped, turned to his oldest child, and very calmly said, "I am never taking you anywhere ever again in your entire life...Just so you know." Then he calmly got into his car.

We have been kindred spirits ever since.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

What It's Like to Be the 4th and 5th Children


*Amusement provided by Paige and Tae.

**Kade in the football shirt, sitting up. Spencer in the stripes, on his tummy, sucking his thumb.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Naked Tree: Part Two

A couple of other things that have disappeared along with Summer/Fall:
  • My Hair: I am losing it by the handfuls several times a day. It is everywhere! Pretty soon, you'll see little hair sprouting all over my head. After I had Austin, my sister said, "Oh, I see you cut bangs." I started crying. "No," I explained. "My hair is just growing back."
  • Paige's Manners: She used to be so very polite and darling. But, she is getting closer to age 3 and farther away from age 2. Therefore, she is forgetting how to speak kindly and learning how to demand and torture. I still adore her, but it is so sad to see my sweetheart turn into a little Stinkerpot.
  • My Newborns: Spencer and Kade are no longer helpless little newborns. They are nearly sitting up, they love their Exersaucer, and Baby Einstein can capture their attention for an entire half hour. Kade loves to jump, and they are both little talkers. They are growing up so, so, so fast!
  • Sleepless Nights: My boys are officially sleeping through the night. I have hesitated actually saying it out loud for fear that I would jinx the blessing. But, it has been two or three weeks now, and they both eat anywhere from 9:00-10:30 at night and sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning. I LOVE them!!!
  • Macy's Hair: We spent the weekend in St. George. I think that there was a bit too much chlorine in the swimming pool. Macy's blond locks turned bright green and completely fried. I have washed and over-conditioned, but the green is here to stay. We had no choice but to trim a few inches off the end.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Naked Tree

We lost our peach tree to the giant wind storm in August. The main branch snapped in half. We decided to ignore it for a few months. The birds and the wasps were in heaven. Greg commented that our neighborhood had the fattest, happiest birds in town. A couple weeks ago, Greg trimmed the tree and this is what was left. The naked tree. It just looks so exposed and vulnerable. I am tempted to put a coat on it, perhaps a scarf and mittens just to protect it from the elements.

The harsh reality is that I can't always protect the things I love. It leaves me feeling like our little tree: exposed and vulnerable.

Greg and I have all these little kids. I find it interesting that they spend the majority of their time trying to be "grown up." They beg for a later bedtime, protest taking a nap, salivate at the thought of earning money, desperately want to walk to a friend's house "by myself" or use a public restroom without any assistance. Macy constantly begs me for "just a little make-up," and my girls raid my closet to wear my clothes and shoes at least twice a week. Paige asks me daily, "Am I big?" And the answer has to be "Yes" or she adamantly protests. Austin eagerly talks about the days when he can drive, and even my babies seem to want to do everything their siblings do. Greg and I are constantly telling them to slow down! When I check on my kids before I go to bed, I find myself running my fingers through their hair and begging them...pleading with them...to just enjoy being a kid. I whisper in their ears while they sleep contently, "Just relax. Don't be in such a rush to grow up." Being an adult is tough. The problems and trials are so much harder than they were ten or fifteen years ago. Reality is not an easy pill to swallow. People can be so cruel; life can be so harsh. Sometimes, I long to crawl into bed with my sleeping babes and just go back to that time of innocence.

When I looked at my tree this morning, I saw something interesting: a little leaf, right on the very top, still green - still clinging to life. Every November, I watch the world around me drain of color. Everything seems desolate, lifeless, and incredibly brown. But every Spring, the world rejuvenates and the tulips, blossoms, and green grass provide hope again. I guess we just have to hold on and have faith that peace, joy, happiness, and color will come back after the dark, barren times.

I believe that they will.

Monday, November 2, 2009