EMBARASSING

We have a toucher. A child who knows no boundaries, no awareness of personal space. Bella, also known as Jelly Belly. It's actually one of the things I love about her. But it also is the cause of many embarassing moments. Here's a real doozy:

Phoenix is a large enough city that you'd think we would have had a mass transportation system long ago. But it's only been a few short years since we were introduced to the Light Rail. What excitement this drummed up! Everyone was clammering to take a ride on the Light Rail. We decided to jump on the bandwagon......er, Light Rail. We got on, stroller and all, with friends of ours and decided to ride it all the way to downtown Phoenix to watch the Christmas Light Parade. All of the kids were excited. And I was too. Until I realized that there were 20 stops until our final destination. At each stop a whole slew of people came on and the seats were quickly filling up until there wasn't even standing room. We were all packed in like sardines complete with intermittent strange odors. I was getting more claustrophobic by the minute.

Enter my touchy-feely child, B. She is so affectionate, friendly, fascinated and fearless all at once. A woman with a belly like a bowl full of jelly in a really tight shirt gets on at about stop 4. (No judgment....I, too, have a belly like a bowl full of jelly). Each stop, she got closer and closer to us. Well, Miss B immediately noticed that this woman had some kind of mole that was poking through the fabric of her shirt. It is now like slow motion playback in my mind. I can see the expression change to wonderment on B's face as she notices this mole and reaches her arm out. It's like when you have a dream where you are trying to run and can't move your feet or get anywhere. I am trying to grab her arm, but I just can't do it. She touches the mole but doesn't stop there. She keeps her finger on it, rubbing back and forth trying to determine just what it is. Our friends watched the whole thing and are suffering uncontrollable laughter. The funniest part was that the woman didn't even flinch. It's as if she had no feeling in that area whatsoever. Everyone, but this woman who was being groped by a 3-year-old, watched this go down. Then B says, "Eeeeww....Mama, what is that??" I could feel my face get hot and a pit in my stomach. (Or was it the claustrophobia?) I finally snapped out of my dream-like stupor and distracted her with something else.

We vowed to never ride again.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!

Christmas-time is my favorite time of the year. I love the music, the lights and decorations, the Christmas tree decorating, traditions, food, gift-giving.....ALL OF IT!! I especially love the spirit that seems to enter everyone's hearts this time of year. Everyone is more friendly, more patient, more loving, more grateful. The spirit of Christmas, the real meaning of Christmas, is something I wish we could all hang onto all year long. But then I guess Christmas wouldn't feel quite as special.

We alternate each year with our families between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year it was Thanksgiving with the Powers and Christmas with the LaDukes. But the Powers never take a year off in the gift-giving to the kids. They are so sweet and it's so fun to see how excited they and the kids get. Here is Uncle Jim and Auntie Pam giving their gifts to the kids.

They got dress-up clothes for the girls and they LOVE it!!

I traditionally try to get a good photo with the kids in their Christmas outfits in front of the tree.

Aunt Lora, Uncle Mike and Grandpa Powers came over and brought tons of gifts. They are so good to us. Wish I would have gotten a better picture.

Our annual tradition of going to see the temple lights. This year was sooo crowded and busy that it was difficult to really enjoy it and soak it in. We will have to pick a better day to go and keep it secret!!

But it still makes me happy.....making memories with my family. I love these kids!!

Uncle Terry and his girlfriend, Jean, brought over gifts too! And Uncle Larry and his fiance, Lene, sent gifts as well. We are so spoiled by the Powers Family.

We hosted the LaDuke Christmas Eve where we read the nativity story from the scriptures and each child gets to open one present - Christmas PJ's! Surprise!! Picture left to right: Callie, Avery, Bella, Maya, Gage, Paisley, Eden, and Nate holding Will. We missed Billy and Alicia and their kids and the Tucson LaDukes couldn't come until the next day.

Christmas Day we held our traditional Talent Show with everyone. I got so sick starting Christmas Eve (I seem to always get sick on holidays) and tried to suck it up so I could enjoy.

Our little family sang Silent Night along with Alyssa, Trevor, and Mack.

There is always a lot of wrestling, strength competitions, cartwheels, and the like when we all get together.

Papa LaDuke opening his presents Christmas morning. He suffered a stroke just about two weeks prior to Christmas, which is not at all evident in these pictures. In the early morning a couple of weeks ago I got a phone call and the caller ID displayed my mom's number. My heart jumped into my throat as I knew something was wrong. She calmly told me that Dad had a stroke around 3am in bed that woke him up. In trying to get up and get oriented, he fell and hit his head on the bookcase and was bleeding a lot. She described how she loaded him in the truck and drove to the hospital in Show Low. His speech was very slurred and non-communicative. At the hospital, they did a cat scan and determined their ability to help him was limited so they med-evacuated him via helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. My mom was not allowed on the helicopter, so she had to drive back to Snowflake, pack some bags and drive here by herself. I can't imagine what that drive must have felt like. She wanted me to be at the hospital when he arrived so he wouldn't be alone. We took Gage to school, took the girls to my dear friend, Tami Farnsworth, and headed to the hospital. I called Nathan and Cameron and they actually beat us there, thankfully. When we first saw him in his room, it was quite shocking and scared me. His speech was terrible, his whole right side was paralyzed and he didn't know "what those things are that you have in your hand" (cell phones that we were all using to communicate with family). He had an MRI, which I will post about later, that didn't totally help to determine what the cause was. But, in the long run, he made a very quick recovery and gained a lot of use back on his right side. His speech returned to normal and to the naked eye, you wouldn't know he had suffered a stroke. It forced him and Mom to stay with me for a while, which we loved. For once, they couldn't rush home for golf, callings, or other things that pull them away. It was nice to spend all that extra time with them.

Paisley was so excited about everything Santa brought!

It was a wonderful Christmas and we are so grateful to have our family and friends.

LADUKE FAMILY NIGHTS

For years, my family talked about getting together once a month for family night. We wanted a way to stay connected and for all these cousins to spend time together. Thanks to Addie who stepped up and hosted the first one, we finally got it going. It has been so much fun watching these kids interact and play together. And the grown-ups get to visit with each other too.

This was our Nativity play. Each of the kids played a part. In her creativity, Addie came up with cute costumes for wise men, shepherds, angels. Cameron and the three oldest cousins that come, Gage, Maya, and Callie all took turns narrating.

They were adorable.

We look forward to these each month. We all take turns hosting each month and coming up with the lesson, activity, and treat.

THANKSGIVING TIME

Rob, the girls, and I got to go to Gage's class for a Thanksgiving play and party. The previous week I had come in to volunteer and Miss Smith asked me to make Indian vests out of paper grocery sacks. She acted like this was an easy task. And it probably was for someone besides me. I am so inept at anything crafty or artsy. I immediately began sweating and somehow fumbled my way through it. I hoped that my feeble attempts wouldn't be noticeable from afar. When the kids marched out on stage, Rob immediately commented on how the Indian vests looked odd. Ha!!

You can't really tell from this blurry picture how bad the vests are. But it didn't matter. The kids were so cute.

Gage loves Miss Smith.

And so does Paisley.

I am reminded of another embarassing day volunteering in his class. Miss Smith asked me to use a yardstick and permanent marker to make even lines on several sheets of posterboard. I started perspiring because I wanted it to be perfectly measured and even. Throughout the time, I was wiping the perspiration off my face with my hands. Unbeknownst to me, the marker from the yardstick had rubbed off on my hands and as I was wiping my face, I was inadvertantly spreading black marker all over my face. None of the kids said anything and neither did Miss Smith, but at the end of class I went to the sink to wash my hands and saw my reflection in the mirror. I was sooooo embarassed!!!

We had the Powers over to our new house for Thanksgiving. It was a great time and always fun to get everyone together. They are all so fun and have such personalities. It's no surprise where Rob gets his humor. For some reason, I only got these pictures with Uncle Larry. My camera battery must have died.

We went on a date night with Melody and Gavin Baugh (a fun couple) and had their daughter, Kyra, babysit. When we returned, this is how we found the kids. She had worn them out! Kyra is pretty much the best babysitter ever. The kids adore her. She always gets them in bed and then cleans the whole house after. We love her and all of the Baughs!!

GRATITUDE

Today, I am GRATEFUL....grateful, grateful, grateful. If I keep saying it, it will sink in, right? I woke up with an awful headache brought on by an even worse head cold. Rob left the house when it was still dark to go to the airport. I am so grateful that I got to take the kiddos to church by myself. I am so grateful that I had to take Paisley out three times and wrestle with her. She is seriously strong. I am grateful for the stares and glares given to me by wise people wondering why I bothered to come back in with her. What these wise people didn't know was that I left my 6-year-old in charge of my 3-year-old, without really even telling him he was in charge. I am soooo grateful for nursery because it ended this battle of wills (which I totally won, by the way). I'm so grateful that today as I was coming out of nursery I noticed a friend of mine who had obviously just come out of the restroom and her skirt was tucked into her pantyhose above her hiney. Seriously, I'm probably more grateful for that than anything else today because I got the best laugh from that and did throughout the whole day. I am grateful for wonderful teachers who gave uplifting lessons in the second two hours. I'm grateful that I had a visiting teaching appointment with a special lady today and got to load up the whining kids again wondering what on earth I was going to do with them when I got there. I am grateful for a VT companion who said I could drop them off with her unsuspecting husband. I am grateful that he gave me the silent treatment at the door instead of actually verbalizing the words I know he was thinking. I am grateful for Mac & Cheese because that's what we all ate for dinner quickly so that I could load the kids up again to go to a presidency meeting. I am grateful for a generous sister who is willing to watch my kids while at this meeting. I am sincerely grateful for three amazing women in the presidency who are unbelievable examples to me in all kinds of ways.


I am grateful for all of this because it makes going to bed tonight all that more sweet!!!!

And it's true what they say.....if you try to look for things to be thankful for and see the good, it really DOES make you feel better. I feel better already.

FALL FIELD TRIP

I got to go on Gage's first field trip ever. His kindergarten class loaded up the bus and we all went to Schnepf Farms. The kids got to pull plants that had harvested, go on a hayride, and play their little hearts out.

Skye, Ben, and Gage.

Gage's teacher, Miss Smith, is so great. I love her teaching style, the way she interacts with the kids, her humor. She and I have become good friends. We have a lot of the same philosophies on school, parenting, and life.

I had a great time being with Gage and he loved introducing me to all of his new friends. Gage adjusts really well to new things and new people. He has no trouble at all making friends.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

So my DVR box recorded an episode of Oprah. I just about deleted because I don't watch Oprah anymore for LOTS of reasons and haven't for a long time. UNTIL....I read in the information box what the episode was about. Are you ready??? The entire cast of The Sound of Music was there for their first interview together since they promoted the movie back in 1965. This movie is my all-time favoritest favorite movie. I just can't describe how much I love this movie. And I know that I'm not alone in this sentiment. I LOVE it so much that Edelweiss is the first lullably I ever sing to my babies. I LOVE it so much that I watch it several times a year and make my hubby and kids watch it with me at least once during the holiday season. I LOVE it so much that I begged Rob to let us name one of our girls Liesl. (I love the name and the actress who played her is a spitting image of my mother at that age. Really. She's so beautiful, isn't she? So I love Liesl even more). I love the music, the message, the love story, the actors, the breathtaking scenery of the hills of Austria. Oh, and the MUSIC!! You simply cannot watch this movie without bursting into your best Julie Andrews voice (which for me is 75% falsetto). Rob and the kids laugh at me but I can't help myself.


But......then....I was reminded of something that I surely blocked out for survival purposes. You know how they say your brain protects you from danger and suffering?? Well, here it is: Julie Andrews can NO LONGER SING!!!! She had been performing for 20 months on Broadway and her vocal chords and muscles really took a beating. So she chose to have this surgery that was supposed to quickly repair and rejuvenate them and the surgery failed. This happened in 1997!! I suppose I already knew this. I guess in all the times I watch The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins (another fav) I never noticed that she doesn't sing anymore. What a tragedy. She was given this amazing gift that has touched so many people and it was literally ripped out of her. She suffered intense feelings of depression (as you can only imagine), but emerged from that with an unbelievably optimistic perspective. She quoted the movie, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window". She began to write children's books with her daughter and has since built a successful publishing company. Her daughter told her that she lost her voice to sing so that she could find this new voice that writes. If that isn't making sweet lemonade out of sour, rotten, bitter lemons, I don't know what is.


Amazing, amazing example. I suppose I should learn something from this. And I will someday. But today I am BITTER!!!




Oh, and one more thing. On the subject of movies, I am a little embarassed to admit that I watched The Lion King for the very first time today. (I really don't know what took me so long). But that movie has a powerful message in it also. What stood out to me was Mufasa's words to his son, Simba, who would be king. "You will never be alone" and "Remember. Remember who you are." Very profound.

HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES 2010

All of the LaDuke cousins got together at Mother Nature's Farm in Gilbert to play. Our kids LOVE their cousins and have such a good time with them.

They have animals, hayrides, maze, bouncy-bounce, and pumpkin-decorating.

Paisley and Eden trying to find their way.

At Gage's school, they asked the kids to dress up as a character in a book. So we chose "Thing 2" from Dr. Suess. It was so cute. And I'm impressed that Gage is not too shy to wear it.

We went to a pumpkin lot near our house to pick out our pumpkins to carve and they had these cute ponies to ride.

Thing 2 was such a success for Gage, we thought it would be fun to dress the girls up for the ward party as Thing 1 & 2. They got so many compliments and were definitely the most original. The party also included a haunted house put on by the youth, and let me tell you, it was SCARY!!! Gage is still talking about how I got chased out of the tent by some scary guy with a chainsaw (aka Andrew Johansson).

Gage was Ironman - his favorite superhero at the moment.