The weekend at home

          As I have been working on my "Scrapbook" I realized that my commentary is lacking. This is because it's difficult to remember what happened a year ago. I remembered how well blogging served me in recording our Family History. Here I go. I fell off the blogging world once we moved back to the United States. Certainly, my life is not as exciting as it once was. We are not traveling to a different country on a monthly basis. However, Realizing that beauty still exists in my quiet life I hope to blog about it.

            Justin is out of town this weekend at a scout camp. Whenever Justin is out of town I try to create something to do everyday. Yesterday this was making homemade ice cream. Lyndi was rewarded for staying in her bed all night. Homemade ice cream was her chosen treat. It is always much cleaner and quicker to make food by myself. Yesterday I held back those inclinations and let the girls join in. Yes, milk and cookies dirtied the kitchen. It seemed to be an enjoyable experience for the girls. Keanna and Lyndi mixed the milk like ingredients. Ayla and I smashed the cookies. Our ice cream was a success! I re-framed and only ate 2 scoops. In addition the girls learned that ice cream just doesn't appear. Although it's quite simple a little effort is required.


           Our event out of the house today was going to the orthodontist. It sounds dull, I know. However, for a stay at home Mom who lives 20 minuets from town, its still an outing. All the children got out of the house for a couple hours. For some strange reason leaving the house for a couple hours seems to reboot the children. I suspect that this is a tactic that most stay at home parents have adopted.

             After arriving home the girls played barbies. All 4 of the girls played barbies. This was a kind gesture on Keanna's and Ayla's part. Nothing makes Lyndi happier then to have playmates in her imaginary world. It brings me so much happiness to see the kindness my daughters have for one another. Life doesn't always look this way, but when it does I count my blessings.

             Afterwards all four girls played in our swimming pool. As my darlings were searching for their googles a thought flashed through my mind. Take pictures of your lovelies. Photography is something I truly enjoy. It usually means something else goes undone maybe the dishes or laundry. Today I chose to take pictures. I am happy with my choice. I snapped a few photo's, but it was better to be outside with my girls, taking part in the experience. The three oldest dove into the pool and then worked on their water cartwheels and headstands. I'm glad I didn't miss the "booger dance." My only explanation for this was them flopping around making odd noises. Intermingled with those low toned muffles I heard many giggles and big smiles. So much better then the cleaning the kitchen or checking my Facebook feed.

             It's been a good day, but we are still happy to welcome Justin home tomorrow.

PS photos to come later

My Dream (What is my subconscious trying to tell me)

I was in a large city with wide streets and many people on the sidewalks.  My group of friends wasn't familiar to my current circle, but we were all sharing a cab together. Just as I was about to enter the cab, I was stopped. Two men in suits blocked my entrance into the cab and coaxed me to come with them. They continued to explain  that I had valuable information . Inside my teeth.  During a routine dental procedure, they explained,  a tiny microchip was placed within my tooth. It was secured by a standard filling. They needed to recover the sensitive information. They firmly grabbed my arm and began to take me away. "Please," I explained "my husband can do it."  This statement caught their attention. "It will be much easier for you, I won't squirm and try to hurt you. He can even give me pain medication." After I mentioned pain medication the thugs loosened their grip. I could sense this was a new concept for them. Their eyes looked fiercely at mine in wonder. Could anesthesia really help? Could we recover our sensitive information in a humane way?  I flailed  my arms and stretched my face as if I were screaming. I explained that I would be hard to contain without proper pain medication. It became clear to them that this was going to be more difficult then they suspected.   They seemed to agree and consider my offer, In that moment of consideration, I seized  that opportunity. I jumped into the cab and slammed the door shut as the cab sped away. The men were puzzled, how did I slip through their fingers?

Accidents DO happen.

This season as it snowed our house was filled with excitement. We had decided to fully commit our family to snow skiing this year. This commitment required an investment in equipment, but would be worthwhile.

 

Friday December 27th I took the girls up to Anthony Lakes for a perfect ski day!!!

Saturday, was Justin's turn. They arrived home much earlier then I had anticipated and I quickly discovered why, as Ayla limped out of the car.

 

I firmly believe that Father's need to be involved in parenting. All to often I see over protective mothers hovering over their children pushing out Fathers. This comes to everyone's expense. Father's don't fully connect with their children and both loose out on valuable life lessons.

 

With this stated, the moment I saw Ayla limping, all of my protective mothering instincts rushed inside me. At that very moment I wanted to take Ayla under my wing and cover her from my husband and everyone else.

 

These are the moments of inward struggle. Intellectually, I know accidents happen. Justin didn't stand at the top of the hill and push her off a steep cliff. However, I couldn't understand how this could happen and I was a little angry. My inward battle of motherly protection vs. reason had begun.

Justin was examined and then cross examined to determine that it truly was an accident. I was assured he didn't coax her down a black diamond or encouraged to challenge herself. In the end it was the confidence of Ayla that betrayed her. She simply couldn't understand why she couldn't attempt the same stunts as her Father. Ayla's pride was wounded at the mere suggestion that she wasn't quite as good as a skier as Keanna.

I was hoping for a stressed ligament. Gunning to be back up on the mountain within several weeks. Ayla's pain tolerance seemed minor so I thought a break was out of the question, but the swelling didn't go down. A doctor's visit was in order. Upon examination, the physician was hopeful of it only being a stressed ligament. The X-ray proved otherwise. A broken bone. Crutches and a cast for six weeks. This news brought tears to Ayla. Reality of no basketball, skiing, or running was the real fear. Ayla was perplexed that a tibia  fracture would prevent her from being the fastest kid in her class.

Lyndi's haircut

I decided to take Lyndi and get a cute little pixie cut. Here she is enjoying some mac-n-cheese

on Feb 29th Lyndi decided to give herself a haircut!! She found some scissors in my bathroom and took off her hair all the way to the back of her head, I was a little sad.