The Lovely Valentine's Day

This year was definitely like no other Valentine's Day I have ever had. Robb and I had promised not to succomb to the commercialism and buy something for the other. With all the trips we are taking this year, we decided to save our money and just do something nice for each other. That said, what made my Valentine's Day was something I would never have expected, yet was totally wonderful and helped me to wake up with a smile.

We had friends over to our house on Friday to have dinner and watch a movie. I should probably back up a little and tell you that our oldest has been extremely excited lately because she has a loose tooth. She first started noticing it the end of January, but Robb and I couldn't actually tell it was loose until about a week or so ago. Anyway, Friday evening we had a delicious dinner of fajitas and were partaking in some dessert when Olyvia became extremely upset. She was crying (the pretend crying that is extremely exagerated, but there are no tears) exclaiming that there was a popping noise and she was very worried and her tooth just has to come out right now. I called Robb over and he came right away. There was a little bleeding that we wiped with a papertowel. Robb checked it and wasn't quite sure it was ready but asked her if she wanted him to take it out. She said yes, but then said no. We decided that sticking with the no answer would be better for us and for our pocket books years from now should this become an issue that causing deep emotional scaring needing counseling. I calmed Olyvia down, dried her pretend tears and she finished her dessert, exclaiming in a high pitched hippity hoppety voice "I'm gonna loose my tooth. I'm gonna loose my tooth." Dessert was finished, teeth were brushed and the girls went to bed.

The next morning I am awoken by the sound of Olyvia, "mommy? mommy? are you awake?" I roll over barely awake and say "yes honey, what is it?" Now if I wasn't awake before, I am now. At the top of her high pitched little voice I hear, "I pulled my out my tooth. Look mommy . . . (visualize mouth wide open) my tooth is all gone." I couldn't help but smile. What a delightful way to be woken up. I gave her a huge kiss and rolled over to make sure Robb wasn't missing out on any of this wonderful first lost tooth experience.

Olyvia then got right down to business and asked "When do I get to put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy?"

Chehalis Flood 2007 & 2008

The first week of December 2007 Lewis County Washington was hit with a horrible flood. A flood that wiped out homes, roads, rail roads, farms, businesses, schools and much more. After the flood, many thought that they would have time to recover from the devastation, but just 13 months later they were hit with another horrible flood. The reported losses may have been fewer then the previous year but the losses were just as devastating.

In late January we traveled down to Chehalis to lend a hand. We traveled down with over twenty others from First Lutheran. The trip down, originally planned for the weekend before Christmas, was moved to January when we received all the snow and the roads were too treacherous. Between the time we originally planned to go down and the weekend in January that we did go down, the 2008 flood hit.

While in Chehalis we had an opportunity to help the Sanchez family who had previously lost their home in the 2007 flood. Over the last year they had acquired a home, placed it in an elevated position and began to move in their belongings. However, they had not yet moved in all their belongings. When the 2008 flood hit they again felt hard losses as their belongings, waiting in tents on their property to be moved into their house, were covered in flood water. Our job was to help them separate their damaged belongings from those that could be salvaged. All the damaged belongings were then divided into burn piles or trucks to be taken to the dump. It was devastating to watch as this wonderful family had to go through the sorrow and devastation of saying goodbye to so much all over again. Because of where the Sanchez property was positioned, they ended up with a lot of debris on their property when the waters receded. Mrs. Sanchez told us that many people will come to their property to look for belongings that they are missing.

We had a great group of people working with us and it was wonderful to be able to help as much as we could. Our girls went with us and although it was cold and our oldest spent some time in our truck trying to stay warm, they did a great job helping us. Our youngest was an amazing trouper, hauling debris to the burn piles and carrying anything her little arms could hold. Thank you to all of you who gave up your weekend to help others.

The Odd Couple

A few days ago a dear friend of mine sent me a link. One of those forwards that I will admit I usually look past. For some reason I didn't look past this one. Maybe I had an extra minute that afternoon or was intrigued by the subject line of her e-mail. Either way I decided to watch and was so glad that I did. Her e-mail was a video that was put together of Steve Hartman's visit to an elephant sanctuary in Tennesee. I encourage you to watch the short video. It is really amazing the love, trust and unabridged companionship that these two animals show to each other.


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Years ago a good friend of mine was thinking about whether or not the man she was with was the man she wanted to marry. She asked me how I knew that I wanted to marry Robb. It is hard to put into just one sentence. There is so much feeling and emotion involved and at the time I wasn't sure, I just knew. After watching this video I know now that all of these qualities that can be seen in these two animals are qualities that I felt I had with Robb. To this day I feel very blessed to have him as the partner that I share this life with; A life that can have its ups and downs.

This relationship filled with love and trust and happiness doesn't have the ability to ward off all bad things. People can still get hurt and hard times can still fall upon them. The fabulous thing is that you have someone to go through these things with.

At the end of the video Steve says about the couple that "they harbor no fears, no secrets, no prejudices. Just two living creatures who somehow manage to look past their immense differences." He then seems to challenge us to do the same in not just our primary relationships, but in all our relationships. What an amazing thing we can learn from two animals that are so different in every way. Lessons of friendship for sure, but also of hope and forgiveness. This speaks to me in a very precious way.

As a mother of two children I have recently been asking myself, "who do I want my chilren to be?" Knowing that in the end I only have so much control over this, I feel that it is my responsibility to be aware of what my intentions are as I raise them. Do I want them to be smart? Do I want them to be loving? Do I want them to be popular? Do I want them to be an athlete? All these questions have been rolling around in my head and the conclusion that I have come to, the underlying desire in my being for my children is for them to love others and to be forgiving no matter what. I want them to be the kids at school that get along and are welcoming to everyone. That aren't quick to judge but rather quick to open their arms. That is a hard thing to do and as a parent I am sure that I am going to have to teach them this quality more in how I behave and love and forgive then in telling them how to. I am excited for this challenge. I know that if those two animals can love and forgive and trust even with all their differences, then so can I. I encourage you to join me in making a difference.

Naked Girl Running!

My plan was to take a couple minutes and check my e-mail. We had just finished making pepermint frosting for the brownies I will be taking to the PUG meeting later this evening. I get the computer on, click open Outlook and no sooner have I done this I hear screaming and feet stomping as the girls go running across our garpartment like a herd of hyenas. Do hyenas even travel in herds? Maybe a pack of hyenas. Either way, screaming, yelling, laughing, and yes one of them is naked. Why? I don't know. I think she was changing into a skirt. . . Yes, I am pretty sure that is what was happening. However, midway through she was distracted and the chase began. Every minute or so I get slammed into by bodies, almost falling off the exercise ball that we use as a chair for our desk.

I am sure that any minute now there will be crying, someone will have gotten hurt and my skills will be called into action. Until that time I suppose I just try to keep them away from things that will cause permanent physical damage, like the fireplace or stove and try to encourage calmer play.

At one point my oldest slams into me with her finger in her mouth and a smile on her face. I ask he why she is smiling and all she says is "That frosting is gooood!" Having cut sweets out pretty much altogether, the sight of frosting about sent them into overload and she just couldn't help herself.

Listening to them play brings a smile to my face. I can't help but enjoy listening to them interact with each other. The love they have for each other and the pure joy they have in just being kids. The simple things that make them laugh are warmth for my heart. I hope you all get to enjoy the sound of children playing because there truly is nothing like it.

The Long Awaited Trip To The Dentist.

I should start off this post by explaining that we have attempted to take Olyvia to the dentist twice in her life. Once when she was 3 years old and again about 6 months later. Both resulted in equally unpleasant experiences where we left with her over my shoulder screaming that she didn't want to be there. This said, you can imagine that the though of taking both her and Ellie to the dentist on the same day at the same time seemed a little daunting. All worries aside, I was ready for the challenge.

The first obstacle was getting Ellie from school, Olyvia picked up, both of them home, fed lunch and then turned around and back to town for our appt at 1:30pm. I was able to pull it off, arriving at the dentist office at 1:20pm. Who knew I had such skill. :)

Upon arriving at the dental office I noticed a note on the counter. They were out of the office until 1:30. Interesting. So I quickly steer the girls to the table with small chairs and toys so that they can play quietly while we wait. I pick up a magazine and being reading. I believe it was something on traveling. As we are sitting there an older woman comes in and has a seat next to me and at two different times comments on the girls beautiful hair and how well behaved they are being. I am just praying their behavior continues throughout the remainder of the visit. Then a younger woman comes in and has a seat. By this time it is 1:30 and the receptionist steps out and hands me a clipboard piled with papers that need filled out with Ellie's information. I quickly work my way through them and turn them back in hoping that the sooner they have them the sooner we can go back.

As I am sitting there attempting to quickly fill out the paperwork the girls begin bickering and grabbing toys from each other. I try to remain calm asking them to please stop fighting over the toys, there are plenty to share. The fighting continues until just as I look over a full cup of water is knocked to the ground spilling all over. I can feel the heat rising to the surface of my skin. I calmly but ever so quickly walk over to the table and sternly explain that they are not to have any more water and that they need to go and sit in the chairs, one on either side of me. I clean up the mess, put the toys away and have a seat, reading through my magazine and praying for the dental hygienist to come in and call our names.

A dental hygienist steps around the corner, it is now 1:35pm and I am hopeful, but no, she calls one of the other ladies. I don't think they realize that the longer they wait the harder this could be. It isn't until 10 minutes later and after both of the other ladies are already back there that a nice young woman comes to get the girls. Olyvia gets to go first and she seems pretty excited about this fact.

We head back. Xrays are taken. It only took 3-5 tries per side, but later we were glad she cooperated and let the hygienist keep trying. The teeth are cleaned, using cookie dough flavoured teeth paste, yuck, and after she gets flossed it is Ellie's turn. Ellie's teeth are so little that in the time it takes me to get Olyvia to the bathroom and back her turn is done. The dentist comes over, checks them both out and there is good and bad news. Ellie is in the clear. No cavities. Olyvia however, has two cavities. Her teeth looked good he said but her flossing on her back molars is going to need a little work since her teeth are so close together. She seemed in rather good spirits though and is even excited about going back and getting them fixed up.

All together the trip to the dentist went rather well. I think the toughest part was the anticipation of how the cleaning would go and the waiting in the lobby for our turn. Patience is not a top priority with 3 and 5 year olds. :)

A trip to Sequim in the snow.

We spent a day with my parents and went up to Sequim to see how their property up there was in the snow and then went on a walk up above where we used to live. It allowed for reminiscing as we walked by some of the places I used to go as a small kid. We had a great time and although the girls got a little cold, I think they had a great time also. Here are some pics of our day.

Our Not So Teen Teens!

Over the last ten years I have been blessed with some awesome opportunities. One of those was getting to know a diverse group of teenagers. They were the very first group of teenagers to go through the youth group I was leading (some 7 plus years ago) and I have continued to be blessed by watching them grow in to amazing adults. This year Robb and I decided to have a gathering at our garpartment a couple days after Christmas to eat some good food, visit, watch a movie and play games. It was great to see them. Here are some of the pictures from our night.

Andrea!

Emily & Kerr


Emery Tallon.
We are going to miss him when he leaves for the Coast Guard.


Eric
Just a couple short hours before everyone was set to come over, Robb chopped through his leg with a very sharp ax. It was a topic of discussion for part of the evening.


We sure love you guys and can't wait to get together next year.