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It was a good week last week – mostly because of a visit from the Weir's furniture truck!

 

We got a settee for the piano room (more on that in the weeks ahead, as I get that room together).  And we got some master bedroom furniture from Weir's clearance center.  We got a king bed and two dressers.  And then I picked up two painted nightstands from Horchow Finale – also on clearance. 

Since we moved in to this house 3 years ago, our bedroom as been the armpit of the house.  It's the dumping ground.  We always have the door closed when people come over.  There is always stuff strewn everywhere (mostly from the kids, but sometimes from us).  Piles of things that don't have a home anywhere else.  Just not a place that I enjoyed.  So I've been hard at work trying to change that – and nice furniture always helps.  I've spent the last two weeks organizing, cleaning out, de-junking, etc.  After a run to Target, I lined our dresser drawers, and changed the lamp shades out.  And I'm so pleased with the result.  I feel like I can actually let visitors see it now!  🙂

  (the playpen is where Samuel goes when I shower and get ready)

We worked on our closet too!

I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging in a while!  I tried twice last week to post a video of Samuel, but each time it wouldn't work, so I threw my hands up and walked away. 

We had a lovely weekend.  Friday night, we met my friend Shelley at the park for a photography session.  The setting was beautiful.  A cold front was moving in and leaves were blowing everywhere (and the temperature dropped while we were there).  Samuel was NOT in a cooperative mood, so I'll be surprised to see any pictures of him smiling (or looking at the camera for that matter), but I'm excited to see what kinds of things Shelley captured.  She is always able to discover little bits of magic with that camera of hers.

Here's a preview of the clothes we wore – brown and cream!

Then we headed to a nice Italian bistro and came home to watch Kung Fu Panda…cute movie!  "There is no charge for awesomeness…or attractiveness."

 

On Saturday I ran a bunch of errands and then met my mom at the Angelika movie theater.  It's my favorite theater in town…very swank.  A few weeks ago she and I went there to see this movie:

It was so good!  Sad and moving and triumphant at the same time.  I recommend it.

On Saturday we saw this movie:

I have NEVER seen a movie that made me feel this way.  I was glued to my chair at the end.  Covering my mouth with my hands.  Breathless.  Unable to move.  Unable to speak.  My mom and I laid our heads on each other's shoulders as we watched the credits…not quite sure what to do with ourselves.  It is so well-acted…so amazingly filmed.  And the story is…well, the story is heartbreaking and moving, as you can expect from a Holocaust film.  Go see it.  But know that I warned you.  You will never be the same.

Then on Saturday night, Derek and I headed to our friends' the Kovach's for their long-planned and highly anticipated 80s party.  It was hard for me to fully play the part, because I was ages 5-15 in the 80s, so I went with a young look.  And Derek went with what Derek was doing – a mullet!  We listened to music, played trivia, and did some karaoke.  Very fun!

   

My favorite part of my outfit was the jellies – which I did wear in the 80s – a pair of pink jellies.  But when a friend accidentally stepped on my foot with her stilettos (it was my fault, she didn't know I was behind her), I remembered why it is not a good idea to wear jellies.  I'm doctoring a deep bruise! 🙂

 

1. How do I get Jacob to recognize his talent for piano and decide that it is worth the effort?  How do I teach him that working hard is just as important (if not more so) than having fun?  How do I teach him that giving up is not an option?  How do you motivate a 9-year old boy?

2. How do I teach Caleb that it is important to EAT?  We worry about his health – his coloring, his headaches, his allergies, his fatigue.  And we're convinced that his eating habits (and social habits that impede his not eating at lunch) are a big factor for his health.

3. How do I get Samuel to continue to "try" at his speech?  Or maybe the question is – how do I step back and allow him to go at his own pace?

These are the questions weighing on me today.  They're minor, in the grand scheme of things.  But important to me – since I've been entrusted with these three noble and great souls.  And I feel responsible for their well being and success in life.  This is my work.

In an effort to make room for some new furniture, I've been cleaning out drawers and looking through old albums.  I came across the pictures in this post yesterday.  There are lots of stories like this that I want to remember and record, but would never get around to if it wasn't for the blog. 

In April of 1998, Derek took me to Salt Lake City to meet his family and attend our Church's General Conference.  Being the Texas girl that I am, I had not seen a lot of snow in my lifetime.  Good, deep snow!  That Sunday afternoon we took a drive to the mountains, and it was snowing.  Derek asked me to marry him up on that mountain, in that snow, and we all know how I answered.  He wrote my name in the snow and took a picture.  He has always called me "Mer".  I think there are probably people out there who think that's my real name, because they only know me through him. 

 

During our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, he recreated it in the sand.  For 10 years he's had these two pictures side-by-side in his office at work.

 

And when we celebrated our 10-year anniversary in Hawaii this summer, he, of course, had to do it again.  I wasn't looking nearly as cute – we were on THE hike – with rain, mud, and hours of climbing thru the jungle (notice the pigtails!)!  Plus, 10 years and 3 kids has a way of adding a few pounds, wrinkles, and gray hairs to a body.  But it's a tradition that we will look back on and be glad we kept!

 

Samuel woke up this morning and the swelling from his forehead had dropped to his eye and nose.  We made another visit to the doctor (this time our real pediatrician).  It's not infected, but we're watching it closely.  Still have no idea what critter caused the bites which led to the allergic reaction.

 

I don't have a picture to prove it (surprising, I know), but Samuel today looked like a much cuter version of "Sloth" from The Goonies.

   

I watched that movie like a trillion times when I was young.  Anyone else?  It had filthy language!  Is it just me or were some of the movies we grew up on not very appropriate.  Another standard in our house was Teen Wolf with Michael J. Fox.  We had that movie memorized!!  Also inappropriate.  And Splash with Darryl Hannah and Tom Hanks.  Lots of crude movies in the '80s, and we were watchin' 'em for some reason.  My kids can NEVER read this post.  :)  Even Charlie Brown surprises me!  Have you ever noticed how often they say "stupid" in those Charlie Brown Specials…and "idiot".  My kids think Charlie Brown and Lucy have "potty mouths".  I don't remember noticing those things as a kid!  Funny…

I digress…back to Samuel.

Poor Samuel has insect bites of some kind on his forehead (two of them to be exact – bites, not foreheads). I was convinced that they were spider bites, but the pediatrician doesn't think so.  But his poor forehead is swollen the size of an egg – across his eye and the bridge of his nose, and up.  And he itches.  No fun.

Needless to say there were no family pictures today.  Shelley has been generous enough to reschedule (thank you!).

It's been a relatively quiet week around here – sure, history was made, but other than that, it's been another busy, but not out of the ordinary week.

I watched the election returns at my hairdresser's house, with foil in my hair.  I was disappointed, but not surprised.  Barack Obama is the next President of the United States.  The first African American President.  I can feel that it is BIG.  It is history in the making.  My favorite line from his speech that night was this,

"And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too."

Let's hope…he has his work cut out for him…and I don't envy him for that.

I've been cooking a lot and even made two vegetarian meals this week.  One was great -a potato casserole with spinach salad.  The other was a broccoli slaw salad with asian dressing (it was good) with carrot soup.  As Caleb put it…"this soup tastes like barf!"  I told him that was not respectful…and then giggled, because he was right – it was AWFUL! :)  None of us ate it.  And I threw the recipe away…so much for that effort.

 

This afternoon we have family pictures with Shelley, and Samuel woke up with a big welt on his forehead from a bug bite.  We're hoping a prayer by Caleb and some Benadryl will make it disappear.  And this is where you'll find him a lot of the time lately…on the piano…not banging, but playing softly a little tune all while looking at the music.  Mae – looks like you have another student in waiting!!

It’s here!  It’s really finally here!  And I don’t know ANYONE who is not thrilled to have this election over!  Thankfully, Derek and I voted last week to avoid the long lines.  I still wish I could have “wrote in” this guy…

I am still of the humble opinion that he would have been a better presidential choice, or for that matter, VP choice, especially considering the economic crisis and his background.  But, alas, it was not to be…I’m still sulking though.

Instead I had to choose between these two…John McCain (R) or Barack Obama (D):

Although it is a looonnnnggg shot, I still believe that there is a chance that the polls are not reflecting the true voice of America and my candidate will see victory.  But as is noted previously, my candidate has lost before. 🙂  We’ll see!

But it will be historic.  We’ll either have our 1st African American president-elect, or our 1st Woman vice presidential-elect.  And it will be interesting – I love the election coverage and am planning on a late night tonight!

I was thinking this morning, that as painful as it is (and it is painful!), what a great process to be a part of.  I’m grateful to live in a free country.  I’m grateful to have the right to vote.  I’m grateful to live in a nation where the people choose their leaders.  And although I know the process is far from perfect…we are still SO blessed.

I am known at the kids' school as "The Box Tops Lady" – that's how I introduce myself, and the kids will say "Hi, Box Tops Lady" as I walk down the hall.  I started a new incentive program this year that includes a build-a-bear, "Box Tops Bear" for the class that brings in the most Box Tops.  They also get a popcorn party, free ice cream, pencils, etc, etc.  Would you believe that in just a few months, the kids brought in over 10,000 Box Tops?!  That's more than $1000 for the school.  Last year we only made $800 for the whole year, so I'm thrilled with the results.  It involves a LOT of counting, though!  I actually have an assistant now to help me count all that trash!

 

Yesterday I was on the announcements (which are by video for those of you who don't have kids in school) to announce the class winners and Caleb's teacher stopped me later to tell me what he said:

"Don't you just love the Box Tops Lady?" - pause – "She's my mom!"

This might go down as my favorite-est Halloween on record.  We were joined by my mom, and my brothers and their significant others.  I made a yummy dinner (if I do say so myself – which I do!) of pumpkin/chicken soup with wild rice served in bread bowls, strawberry salad, and "slime" to drink (mint leaf/kiwi puree with club soda).  Then we sat outside and passed out candy to the hundreds of suburban children who pass by my house.  It was great fun!  I stuck to my tradition of having a costume "theme" – Jacob was Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys (pinkie tape for the broken finger, and all), Caleb was a referee (with yellow flags and whistle, and all), and Samuel was a football (with stuffing, and NFL emblems, and all)!  And I was a pseudo cheerleader with long eyelashes and pom-poms (and all!).