Crying is supposed to be therapeudic

I must admit that I did break down a little bit today and for the first time since Dan left I felt truly alone. My mom and dad came up to spend Thanksgiving with me, and when they left all reserve fled and the tears started to fall...I was alone. Never mind the fact that I have three kids. It was the first time that I seriously considered going home early and just waiting for Dan to join me in Utah. Luckily, I called Dan and cried a bit on his "shoulder" and felt much better so when I looked at the calendar and realized that going home early wasn't going to happen it was okay. Actually, this was a good thing. It has made me re-commit myself to being a better mom while Dan is gone. I've been slacking the last little bit, and so maybe this was a good thing to go through. After all, there are only three more weeks left, and then Christmas. Three weeks is nothing...I can do anything for three weeks (like my little pep-talk to myself?)! So, needless to say, I'm very very thankful for Dan, and my parents, and my little family, and for my friends. Actually, I'm thankful for the phone too. I called a girl in our ward tonight just to talk about ward stuff and was actually prolonging the conversation to just talk...weird for me...very weird. Anyway, it was nice...until the kids started crying and screaming, but I'm sure that is beside the point (besides the point or beside...hmmm...) Maybe crying is therapeutic after all.

Two weeks down...four more to go; or there's no place like home

Well, I've survived two weeks so far. They have actually been really great weeks too. My friends have been awesome keeping me busy and occupied. Thanks guys. We just got back today from visiting Dan in Caldwell (Boise basically). I must admit that I am fairly proud of myself for driving the sixish hours there and the sixish hours back. And with three kids. Mind you, the DVD player is essential on trips like this, as well as naps (although those don't always happen). Thank heavens for the GPS, I would never had made it without it. We left friday after my meetings and the kids did really well in the car. We only stopped once for a potty break and some nutrients (in the form of an extremely healthy hamburger). It was great to see Dan, but can I admit that the last three days were harder than the two weeks by myself? My kids don't do so well at night when they are not in their own space. Sleep was a rare commodity and I didn't get much of it. Neither did Dan. I was trying to not bring so much, and I left home the toys...the kids were bored bored bored, and therefore into everything they shouldn't have been. We were going to stay at the house Dan is staying in, but after two screaming kids not wanting to go to bed (surprisingly enough it was Caden and Cole...Kember is normally the one who has problems, but she was an angel), we decided at 10:30 to stay in a hotel. We stayed at a real winner. The Sundowner. Now, I know that they were trying to be all cute with the name, but honestly, anything named "downer" not so appealing. We only stayed there because I thought it would be the cheapest place around. A hotel is a hotel...just a place to stay and I'm not very picky. This was fine and it served it's purpose, but really, the name needs help. Anyway...we stayed the next two nights at the LaQuinta. Admitidly this was a nicer hotel...and it had an indoor kiddie pool, so that was fun. I was supposed to drive home on Sunday, but I wasn't ready to make the drive back yet, so we stayed until today. Apparently that was a good decision weather wise. The drive home was non-eventful. The kids did great (love the naps...love them), and we got back in time to take Kember to school. Literally just in time. I pulled into her school right as the bus did. She looked a little funny, but there you have it. We miss Dan, but boy I'm glad to be back. I must be more of a home body than I realized. I like my home. I like to be home. I'm blessed to have this home. There is no place like home. You get the picture. Oh, speaking of pictures, I took some, but they are on Dan's camera, so probably never to be seen, but just take my word for it...they are cute.

Day 2...still going strong

I went to aerobics today. I probably shouldn't have...technically I know I am not supposed to, but I really wanted to get out of my house. I was really just going to go walking, but the place where people go walking was closed today (I'm assuming for veteran's day). So, I went to aerobics instead. Yes, I hurt a little, but it was fun and I'm glad I went.

I tried to save some money and take my own pictures of my kids instead of taking them to Sears or JC Penny or something. It didn't really work. Here are some pictures that sort of turned out cute, but definitely not a professional quality. Ahh well, what can you do? Cole was unhappy during his photo shoot, and the kids kept wanting to get in the pictures too...so then I got them ready for their photo shoot, but they were finished by that time, or just giving me those really cheesy smiles (or Kember wouldn't smile at all, but glare at the camera...grrrr).

Thiss shot was really hard to take with one hand. Needless to say I think I am going to spend the money for a professional.

So we finally put the camera away and got out the games. That's what we did for the rest of the night.

So far, so good

Doesn't this just make your heart melt? Today Dan left for his six week stint in Idaho and I took the kids out to say goodbye. I was glad I had my camera cause these are just too cute.

I made it through day one at least. Yea for me! For FHE we did a thankful turkey. I stole the idea from Miquelle. The kids didn't quite grasp the thankful concept, but they told me what they were thankful for and they got excited to put on feathers.

They liked that I hung it up on their door too!

We spent the rest of FHE singing songs. Kember and Caden would take turns making up songs aobut squirrels and bears and all sorts of stuff. Then I would say a primary song and we'd sing that. It was great fun.

Fall Photos

“It’s autumn time, it’s autumn time, the leaves are falling down. It’s autumn time, it’s autumn time, it’s all around the town” (sing with me now!).

Dan had to go build fence or something random yesterday (Nov. 1st) so I thought I would take the kids out and take some pictures. This turned out to not be such a great idea, but it gave us something to do. After getting everyone ready, which like I said in a previous post, takes a whole heap of time, it was about nap time (oops, good planning on my part). I loaded all the kidos up and we drove to the Pullman church where there are really pretty leaves everywhere. Well, it was raining, I didn’t want the kids in coats, and neither one wanted to “play in the leaves” like I wanted them too. Caden ran away from me, and I couldn’t catch him. Not to worry though, Kember chased him and caught him and then proceeded to push him over, tried to help him up, and then tried to drag him back to me. Isn’t she just so helpful? Then Kember decided she “has to go potty!” oh, and it’s an emergency (she’s doing the crossed legs clutching dance). No, the church isn’t open, so we run the kids back to the car and race home, where she decides she doesn’t want to go potty. Grrrrr! Well, I’d had enough so they went down for naps. And slept for quite awhile too. Well, I got a few pictures anyway.

The Carving of the Pumpkin

It seems like such a simple task…grab a pumpkin, cut it open, clean it out, make a face for it. However, there is more to it than that…lots more (if you’re Daniel Johnson). The process starts with picking the perfect pumpkin. What constitutes the perfect pumpkin? Apparently it has a lot to do with the stem. I admit that I still don’t quite understand, but there is an art to it people.
Next it is important to have the right tools, especially for cleaning the pumpkin out, because it must be cleaned out well. May I recommend an ice-cream scoop? It really does work wonders. And of course you need a sharp knife (both large and small), a pizza cutter, various spoons, and a power drill. Yes, these are the essential tools for carving pumpkins (don’t ask what the pizza cutter is for, I’m not quite sure, but Kember really had fun with it).

If at this point you feel like you need a rest, go ahead, take one…the most challenging part is yet to come. Next, and this part is not to be rushed, you must decide on the “face” of your pumpkin. This takes time and planning and like I said before, not to be rushed. It is an art, and Dan will take his time figuring this out, making sketch after sketch and just thinking about it. Anyway, after all is said and done this is the result. Looks simple, I know, but it’s so much more.

Halloween Adventures

Faster than a speeding bullet (okay, maybe just for me, but he ran away from me, and I couldn’t catch him)
More powerful than a locomotive (Just look at him push that thing!)
Can leap buildings in a single bound (Well, sort of..we are still working on the jumping bit, but he likes to pretend he can) Caden Johnson is….Superman! Or in his words “I Man”

Kember wanted to be a mermaid this year…and a princess...and Super-girl (after she saw Caden's costume)…So, we told her she was all three. In her words, “I’m super-princess-mermaid for Halloween!” Aren’t we creative? I didn"t get a good picture of just Kember. I think it really bothered me that her costume was pink and her hair was red...it clashed horribly.Cole didn’t get a choice as to what he was going to be. Melanie got him this little skeleton costume, and I just love it. I’m a little biased, but I think he’s a cutie.

Thanks Carol Lee for fixing Kember's costume and putting Caden's together. The kids loved them, and I think they turned out pretty great!

We had a very long day on Halloween. We started with getting up really early (for me) and making cookies for our play-group Halloween party. I thought I would have plenty of time, but making cookies, gathering supplies, getting three kids ready, plus me turned out to take longer than I thought…they all needed baths, and costume assembly took awhile (It’s hard to spray Kembers hair red)…not to mention that I like long showers (I refrained from the long portion though). Then we loaded everyone up and went to set up for the party! It was pretty fun. I felt bad it wasn’t better organized, but can’t do anything about that now. People were really good to remember if they signed up for something though, and I don’t think the kids minded that all there really was to do was run around in the gym. Anyway, a special thanks to everyone who brought really yummy food (you are all so creative) and thank you to Melanie for providing an activity for the kids. I know that was my kids’ favorite part. Oh, and again, a special thanks to everyone who cleaned up. I had to leave early for a Policy Meeting, and so I bombed out on the clean up.
I ran to Kember’s school for a meeting where they feed us lunch, had people watch my kids (I kept the baby), and we talked about things that went way over my head, but there you go. We came home and the kids napped for a long time (thank you…it was needed). Dan came home and we got ready for party number 2 at the Vet School. After that we went to party number 3 at our church. They did trunk-or-treating, but indoors and they combined it with two other wards. I was really tired and hurting, but the kids had loads of fun and who ever organized it did a very nice job. All in all it was a great Halloween!