Updates

I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT MY BLOG! I am such a hater of those that ditched blogging for Facebooking, but I am sort of guilty of that even though it's not like I have been posting on Facebook 24/7, BUT I do have a button on my phone that takes me straight to Facebook, one for email, another for scriptures, one with news updates, even sports scores (making a phone call is the hardest thing to so on my new phone)...unfortunately, there is not an "app" that will type out all that has been happening in our lives and post it to my blog (bummer).

Since it has been forever since my last post, there are lots of things that have happened. Unfortunately, my dad's parents both passed away within 2 months of one another, which, the pastor said was probably "just fine" that Grandad didn't stick around too long after Granny passed. It was also fitting, as he pointed out, that we buried Grandad in perfectly crisp fall "football weather".

The gravity of the situation was completely lost on both Garth Lee and his 6-year-old cousin Reese. When we got to the cemetery, as everyone filed to the grave site in reverent silence, one of them shouted "Hey, isn't that where we buried Granny right there?" and "Weren't we just here?" They did pretty well, though, better than some of the adults involved, but that is an entirely different story...

Garth Lee just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. I knew once we took them off he would just go and I was right. He is such a big boy. Sunday night after Grandad's funeral, he lost his first tooth, the bottom left front tooth...which was also the first one that popped in for Gavin about a month ago. The tooth fairy brought him $5, which is a lot, but I'm pretty sure she just brings that for the first tooth. Garth Lee is doing very well in school, although he has gotten his "folder signed" 2 times already this year...once for not listening in science class and another time for not getting his homework signed. He reads very well, now, hardly ever pausing to even sound out words and he always makes 100+ on his spelling tests. He still thinks toots are the funniest thing ever and he still has to kiss me goodnight or he can't go to sleep. He is really into playing Batman on the Wii with Daddy and playing with his best friend Jackson who rides his bike over to play with Garth Lee at least 3 days a week...he probably comes everyday, but sometimes we are not there. It is so cute, he will just let himself in and be yelling for Garth to come play and they play until his mom or brother comes over to get him.

Gavin is 7.5 months old now...he has his 2 bottom teeth (which almost got him weaned) and is army crawling all over the place. He won't get off his belly and he looks like a salamander crawling around on the floor, but he gets where he is going which I guess is the important thing. Gavin still won't take the bottle, but we have just given up completely on trying, so when I work, Daddy just brings him to me to feed and he has mastered the sippy cup (although it does seem like he spits out more than he swallows)...if you see the kid, you can definitely tell he has not missed many meals so I think he will be fine, plus it doesn't hurt me too much that I get to see them a couple of times a day when I am working.

Speaking of working...I have to brag on Daddy a bit here...When I go to work (about 4-5 days a month--12 hr shifts), Daddy has the kids. We have worked it out where it is his days off when I am working. When he brings Gavin up to me to feed, he is always showered (yes, showered...not too sure how that works, but I'm just going to stay out of that one), hair gelled (in a mohawk), with a fresh diaper. The other night, Gavin wasn't feeling good and we both went to bed early, but I set my alarm for early to make sure that Garth Lee's lunch got packed and homework was done. Garth had a softball game at 8, so he let Garth Lee go with him. They got home after Gavin and I were asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night (par for the course) and went to make Garth Lee's lunch and go through his book bag...got down there and Daddy had packed his lunch, signed off on his homework and reading, even did a practice spelling test with Garth Lee and put a note in his lunch saying "We love you, Buddy, hope you have a great day at school. Love, Daddy". Never mind that he packed Garth Lee a totally random lunch (main course was a cinnamon roll and a fruit roll-up), he gets major Daddy points for all that!

We almost moved to Big Spring, but decided that family was more important than anything else. A great side effect of almost moving is getting the house ready to sell. It's funny the things you will do for someone else that you don't do for yourself. I have made a concerted effort to keep our house at the same level of cleanliness that we got it to put it on the marker and so far it has been 3 weeks and I have kept the house totally clean, all 4200 sq.ft. of it...and you know they say that if you do something for 3 weeks it becomes habit, so I hope that I can stay on top of it because there really is a lot to be said for having a clean and organized environment...a lot of things go better when you live in order as opposed to chaos.

We had a wonderful surprise visit from my Sis-in-law, Sarah, and the kids for the weekend and it was so great! We miss them so much, but we really look forward to seeing them next time.

A lot of things have happened lately that have made me so grateful for what I have. Most of all, I am so lucky to have a loving and supportive family that is also VERY helpful in lots of ways (too many to number or mention). Although I am rarely grateful for trials in life while I am in the midst of them, I am always grateful for the clarity that follows and I will try and bask in the good rather than be weary of the bad that may or may not lurk around the corner.