Whelp, Adios September!

I can't believe it's snowing--yes, SNOWING--outside right now.  September rushed by without even stopping to say hello and again I have found myself staring in disbelief at the October page of iCal.

There are too many things to expound upon, so I'll try to sum up with captions.

SEPTEMBER!

This little guy started NURSERY!  His current obsessions: cars, balls, Max and Mateo, being outdoors (he tries to escape anytime a door opens,) and bananas.

All da guyz

I received tickets to the General Relief Society meeting and got to go with my sissies.  Totally awesome, despite the miserable traffic getting there.

Took the girls to Provo City Library's annual dollhouse festival.  Their expressions say it all.

Sandra put together this great UVU-wide local music (City Sounds) fest with bands like Fictionist and Midas Whale.  Clearly, Ilse was stoked.

We received some free bookshelves that were sorely needed, but since they came from a fabric shop, they only had two shelves each.  I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of shelves cut and with the extras, I decided to play "carpenter" and built a bookcase for the kids' books. Somewhere along the way, I decided to add a few dividers and made it into a multipurpose bookcase--one which could also be used as a dollhouse.  Impractical, but fun nonetheless.

See... cars!

Since Siena's been in school, these two have found a lot of time to bond together, especially now that Ez is just down to one nap a day.

Siena's favorite things lately: planning and setting up a Barbie Club with Qiana and sometimes Ava, playdates with classmates, plans for all kinds of machines (see previous post,) and sewing lessons.  The sewing lessons are in addition to her piano lessons, but it isn't too formal so both of us can keep our sanity.

Qiana's favorite phrases: "I don't love [insert whatever chore, outfit, or healthy food here]." At least she is somewhat polite about it. :)  "Yes, of course." She's got an hilarious way of responding to a request when she's in a particularly good mood.  I love it!

Ez's 18 month check-up went well.  He was in the 37% for weight, 45% for height, and 87% for head circumference.  Oh, that cute little noggin....

Juan has been busy at work, but doesn't stop even when he's home.  He's always trying to come up with more effective management, more office efficiency and goals.  When he's not working, you can probably find him searching online for a home for our family.  We're trying to get back into the purchasing process.  Blah, but Yay simultaneously. 

Qiana wanted to have a tea party for her 4th birthday, so we threw this little shindig together.  It was pretty low-stress and highly entertaining and effective.

Thanks to DI for the tableware, and the Dollar Tree for the rest.  Best $15 I ever spent on a birthday party the night before.

I am not sure who had more fun: the girls at the party, or me preparing for it.

Qiana got to go swimming at the Rec Center for her birthday and decided to try the rock climbing wall while we were there.

Ez is starting to pay a little better attention to cartoons.  Yes, I'm turning into that mom who lets the kids watch a show nearly every morning.  At least I'm trying to get stuff done instead of shopping online, right?  #justifyanything

The garden proved to be extremely fruitful and not just another chore.  We even got to reap the blessings of the previous tenants' labors.  The grape vines produced like crazy, as did the peach trees, apple tree, plum tree, nectarine tree and apricot trees.  Sadly, the tomatoes were outta control, but since I planted them too closely and overwatered often, the millions of tomatoes didn't ever turn red.  We got a good 20 or so that we were able to use.

This apple was too cool not to mention. #yesitwasmytwin #bigfatgreekwedding #whyamIhashtagging?

 Siena took a community education ballet class again and I have to say, it has been my favorite one.

On to the San Diego Trip:

Sierra's misfortune in a relationship ended up turning a bad situation into a fun girls trip.  My mom, Tristan and I accompanied her to San Diego for a long weekend so she could give a toast at a wedding.  We took a heck of a vacay, considering we planned it only three days in advance.  We drove to Vegas on a Thursday night and stayed at the Luxor.  Then we drove to La Jolla Friday morning.  We had to hit the beach the first thing, then ate at this cute restaurant called Piatti near the shore.  The next morning we ate at The Cottage (best breakfast ever!) then walked the coast of the Marine Preserve at La Jolla shores.  Next, we dropped Sierra off at the wedding at the San Diego temple.  It was a gorgeous day and the temple couldn't have been prettier.  After that, we went to eat fish tacos at a taco truck in South Park and shopped at a little boutique nearby.  Little Italy was up next and we were able to catch the tail end of the Farmers Market they have there.  (Bought some amazing local wildberry balsamic vinegar and some infused salts!) Then we went to Balboa Park and soaked up the sights and museums there for a couple of hours.  The wedding reception was held that night at the San Diego Zoo right there near the park so Sierra skipped off to be with her friends at the zoo before the wedding reception started.  Meanwhile, the rest of us drove through the Gaslamp Quarter then went off to pick up dinner at the famed Burger Lounge (really yummy for us yuppies.)  We got our food to go so we could eat it at the beach as the sun set.  It was quite a relaxing evening.  When we left to pick up Sierra, we decided to take her to a little outdoor shopping mall near the hotel to cheer her spirits.  It sort-of did the trick, as she was pretty happy to see the Tesla store and we caught some pretty awesome sales at other stores.  The next morning we left for Utah, happy we got as much time relaxing as we did.

 She's his protector against his other older sister. :)

I love when kids discover how to make themselves dizzy.

The evolution of a smile for the camera.

Grapes!  I still have too many to deal with out on the vine at this very moment.

Showing off his haircut

Juan got a bunch of these Sports Clips coupons for free haircuts for new clients, so we decided to take advantage of them. :)

Cuddle or huddle, it's still cute.

 The last picture Qiana got before we chopped her hair off.

Siena's new "do".

Qiana's not so sure about her new "do".

Oh Sienita, you make me laugh....

Baby Lucas was born!  Definitely belongs in the family.

A mix from our garden and Grandpa Wood's garden.  So much variety!

 ...because sometimes a girl just needs a nap!

Siena and the Machine

Siena's first week as a first grader has gone pretty well.  Her favorite things are school lunch and... well, that's pretty much all she can talk about for the first half an hour home from school.  I love that she's a foodie first grader in a non-hipster way.

Recess is her second-favorite thing.  She came home from school the second day and told us that she proposed to a group of budding inventors (a.k.a. her classmates) during recess that they build a machine.  This is to be an extraordinary cleaning machine, as they have poured over the details for 4 lunch recesses now.  I was proud of her initiative from the second I heard about this machine idea, but the day she brought home a "blueprint", my heart swelled.  Since then, her classmates fellow scientists have brought her needed supplies.  For example, in the picture above you will see, alongside her blueprint, a diamond, a bobby pin, a few Q-tips, and a bag of grass.  I have asked her to label the parts of the drawing so everyone is clear, but she told me that it's really easy to know what things are just by looking at them.  :)  For the "dummies" out there, here are the names and uses for the parts, starting with the bottom left corner going clockwise: stairs up to the trash bin so responsible students can walk up to throw away their own lunch trash, a monitor for something science-y, three chairs for the trash supervisors to observe the lunchroom from above, a grabber used to pick up trash from irresponsible students, a time clock, and a slide (which I will explain in a moment.)  The center of the machine (which is on wheels, by the way) houses the control panel with which supervisors can push cool buttons.  It also contains a small bagging area where the grabber puts the irresponsible students' trash.  After that trash is bagged, it slides down the slide into a final trash resting place.

I know, I know... my child is a shining star in a sea of sickly, boring 1st graders.  We really need to get her into a science protégé group. (I wonder if I still have Bill Nye's phone number....)

What's Up.

Well, our Homestead has been a bit drama-free for a while.  No news is good news, right?  However, it makes for a very boring blog entry.

But I'll persevere and see if I can juicy things up a bit to excite the reader and myself, which probably happen to be synonymous.


Chapter One:  July

We've had quite a busy schedule, but how THAT happened escapes me since I can barely remember leaving the house. Let's see, first there was a new calling for me with the Young Women organization of our church; Juan also got a new calling in the Elder's Quorum Presidency, which has (thankfully) not been as rigorous as they all warned us it would be.  Subsequent to my new calling, I got to go to Girls Camp two weeks later for four days, which was a welcome break from Mamahood at that moment in my life.  It did, however, remind me that I should be grateful for the stage of life my littles are in right now.  I definitely can do without the attitude and laziness and self-centeredness and cattiness and... I digress.

We had a few weddings, a few ripe tomatoes, and a few birthday celebrations in July.  I guess I'll elaborate on two of those events:

Grandpa Wood turned 80 (see previous post) on the same day that Juan turned 30.  Since I was at Girls Camp that day, I promised Juan we would celebrate a week later.  The day after their birthdays was Grandpa's big surprise birthday party.  It was such a success!  First of all, he didn't do an about-face the second he got there so that alone provided a "Phew!" from all of us.  Secondly, it was a chance to reunite him with all his living siblings which was really quite a special thing for all of us.  (I did get a chance to follow-up from my last blog-post and record a conversation I had between his brother Harold and him.  If I can maneuver my way around technology, I'll post the recording.)

Juan's birthday celebration was held the next weekend and the kids and I took him camping.  It was the first time we had all been camping in a tent and in complete wilderness.  No, no.... I take that back, there was a fire pit already made when we finally chose a spot.  Regardless, we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere even though we were in the Uintah's behind Rock Canyon and could see Provo from a lookout not 15 minutes away from our campsite.  It did take quite a while to get there as we were probably not driving on a passenger vehicle-approved road.  It was such a fun night, despite the millions of attempts Ezra made at taking his life in the fire.  We had a cake and sang to Papi while the embers died down.  The idea of sleeping in sleeping bags in the tent was too exciting for the girls so we all decided to turn in early.

Well, that didn't last long.

Ezra became hyper.

Hyper is actually an understatement.  He wouldn't even sit still for a moment.  Eventually Juan and I decided to let him run himself weary through the tent while the girls drifted off to sleep, but even that didn't work.  After about an hour I held him close and realized that he had a fever.  We monitored it for a while and when it didn't improve, we stripped his clothes off.  By that time, it was pitch-black outside except the moonlight, so we didn't want to even attempt driving back since the road got really narrow in some parts.  I was worried as was Juan and we were in a predicament.  And the night just got worse. Ez started having fibral seizures (short and choppy seizures that come from a rapid rise in body temperature.)  He had had two before so I knew what they were and I knew that they are not too serious if they only last a few seconds.  He had a total of six seizures all night and since he wasn't sleeping at all, I was starting to think we were going to have to hike out.  Morning finally came and we packed up, skipped our planned hike, ate breakfast in the car, and hauled outta there.  Gratefully, with medicine and a nice, long nap Ez was fine by noon and we didn't have to worry any more.  "Happy Birthday dear Papi...."


Chapter Two: August.

Oh, the stitches! I have to tell about the stitches.

Ezra's just got BAD LUCK.

Long story-short: Ez fell down our flight of miserable, no-good, metal-fringed stairs that are at an awkward angle so no safety gate can fit.  I Hate. Those. Stairs.  I was at the bottom with my back turned to him when I heard a thump, bump, bump, thump...  I was there by the time he reached the bottom stair but it was not soon enough.  His head started gushing blood and I new he needed stitches.  Tender Mercy #1 of the month: Sierra happened to be visiting us that day and she was able to drive us to the InstaCare and watch the girls while I stayed with Ez.  The doc took quite a while to decide on whether to just use glue or to attempt stitches (turns out he has a tremor in his hand.  Such a sad thing for anyone in his profession.)  After Sierra bought some Benadryl for us at a pharmacy a few blocks away, we administered it to Ezra and waited.  And waited.  And still no sign of sleepiness.  Once the nurse started swaddling Ezra it was like World War 3 broke out.  He screamed harder and louder than when he initially fell down.  That boy does NOT like to be swaddled.  But the screaming and struggling just helped our cause in wearing him out and after the nightmare of numbing him up was over, he was lulled away into Dreamland.  Two and half hours later from our first moments with the doc, Ez had three stitches and two to go.  As his mother, I can say that I was extremely nervous with the overall outcome.  The last two didn't get done in time and Ez had woken up and started writhing in pain again.  I started crying and couldn't find the strength to pin him down for the rest, but the nurse helping was able to for me while the doc numbed him up again.  It was a horrible experience we hope not to repeat. Now poor Ez has a big scar we douse with Vitamin E cream daily.  Juan says it's a mark of manliness.  I say it's a mark of a negligent mother.

Octogenarians

In this month 80 years ago my grandfather was born.  It was quite the time to be born, too.  The World's Fair in Chicago was going on and things were happening at an alarming rate. If you've read "The Devil in the White City" you'll have a good idea of what kind of excitement was buzzing about.  We had The Great War wrapped up for a while now and there were so many immigrants nation-wide which I'm sure contributed to the development of the western half of the country. Yet, along with the good came the bad.  The Great Depression was hitting with full force and the U.S. economical future was looking grim.  FDR had just signed his New Deal, yet circumstances for most families remained desperate.

However, the worst was yet to come.  A trouble of the worst kind was brewing in Europe and soon nearly the entire world would turn its attention to the startling Nazi invasion of Poland.  By the time World War II was officially declared, my grandfather had turned 6 years old.  He was a little boy who lived on a little farm in a little town in the somewhat inconsequential state of Utah.  How did it affect him?  What does he remember?  Does he go back to that time often or rarely, if at all?

I would like to know the answers to these and many other questions, and I am really lucky to have the opportunity to find out.  We get to see my grandparents at least once every couple of months and seeing as his big 80th birthday bash is coming up, I have my chance to ask away.

I'll do a follow-up blog post on my findings with his permission, and I hope my experience will motivate myself and others to do more family history.

July, July.

July, can you already be here?

Is it really time to pick fresh peas, smell the wafting barbecue scent from the neighbor's yard, run through sprinklers, crank up the A/C, and live in flip flops?

Where did Spring go? When did the trees shed their blossoms? Why didn't I notice how fast time was passing?

Notes to self:

Count on stopping at a few lemonade stands over the next month or two. 

It's time to stop the clock and lay in the grass at dusk, just to breathe deep the smell of summer. 

Savor the flavors of juicy, sun-ripened tomatoes because those memories will get you through the harsh winter ahead. 

Slather on the sunscreen.

Laugh. Skip. Sing. Repeat.

This July, I refuse to be a victim to my schedule!

Normalcy

Normality has finally found it's way back to our household.  The month of June has been too crazy to recount fully, but between all the weddings I've been working on, and the playdates and sleepovers the kids have had, not to mention the different outings we've been enjoying, we've been running ourselves into some kind of busy frenzy.  Time to         s            l            o            w         things down a bit.

Besides the house begging to be cleaned, the kids are (subconsciously) desperate for a regular schedule again.  Siena has performed under her usual ability in piano because of the inconsistency, Qiana has started her screaming tirades and potty accidents again, and Ez has "diva" days now.  Of course, I can relate some of this to just plain Growing Up because they've cycled like this before, but I think most of the changes are due to our over-scheduled and routine-less days.

(Wow, I just read those first two paragraphs and I realize how "Parent Magazine" it sounds.)

Today, although it was a little different since we were babysitting Maximillian Robison Magleby III, we got back into the swing of things.  It took a little coaxing to get the girls to write in their journals, and watering the garden took extra long, but it sure felt good to back on schedule.

The summer is looking good again.

Keep on Cluckin'

What June has been like for us...

We've been eating out a lot (like, once a week!) because of all the summer events/activities we've been invited to.  Ez is finally back to his normal self, eating up a frenzy; he was pretty ill and lost his appetite for nearly an entire week but thanks to a lot of prayers from his sisters on his behalf, he's his chipper self again.

My latest project: refurbishing/restoring my dad's old baby high chair.  It's definitely slow-going since I don't find myself with a lot of spare time and since the rust a little bit more stubborn that I am.

June is the month for WEDDINGS!  I've had a few busy weekends where I find myself elbow-deep in flowers, but I'm grateful to get back into my profession.  I've been trying to weigh whether I want to go full-scale with Solstice or not, and I have pretty much made up my mind that I'll do what I can without advertising, since I've got a family to pay attention to.  I do still like referrals, though.... ;)

The yard is coming along.  I've only been concerned with the back yard since it is where we spend a lot of time, regardless of the rocks.  The garden is growing really well, I'm just sad that I didn't get started a lot sooner.  I was too worried about a late frost.  Anyway, we've kept busy weeding and watering and I'm grateful for the things it's teaching my daughters.

I was in charge of a wedding party for Maggie and Melvin last week and it was a huge success.  The theme was "Vintage Italiano" and thanks to a lot of people, it came together really nicely.

(Siena took this "photoshoot" of Qiana.)

Swimming at Grandma Peg's community pool.  Reminds us of Midvale and we get a little "homesick".

Juan got a tent for Father's Day from the kiddos and they were so excited about it that they camped out for three days in the loft.

Pupusas, due to a sour attempt at homemade fish tacos.  Note to self: never freeze fish again.  It's probably already been frozen once before.

Piano Girl-- we're both ÜBER FRUSTRATED at times, but the overall experience has been good.

Impromptu bike ride to Utah Lake with the Goldings.

Many fun times were had here in my youth and the memories just came flooding in once we got on the river trail.

A Birthday Fiesta for Tia Sierrrrrrr-ah.  Living near family is too awesome for words.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Let it go down in the historical books that today, the tenth of June in the year two thousand and thirteen, I, Stacia, fulfilled a near impossible dream of completing the To-Do list I set out to accomplish today. I owe all of my success on this point to my 3 year-old who complied with the idea of an afternoon nap, my toddler son who slept soundly alongside his sister, and my 5 year-old who quietly kept herself busy while I whittled away at my household chores.  It was a momentous and fulfilling moment the second I peeled off the rubber gloves and stored them away for another day. I'd also like to thank the academy for nominating my house as one of the not-so-filthy houses they'd seen, (although they may revoke that nomination tomorrow.)  And a big Thank You to the Internet for allowing me to share this special day with anyone who cares.  The best part about the whole thing: I still had time to play with my kids.

(wipe a tear and blow a kiss.)

in·sane

/inˈsān/
Adjective
In a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.
(of an action or quality) Characterized or caused by madness.
Synonyms
mad - crazy - demented - lunatic


Motherhood is a silly thing. It doesn't make you insane, it shows you how insane you already are, deep down inside. I'm starting to realize that as the days are getting longer and the nerves are wearing down; I'm forced to think about the fact that I will never be Supermom and that I'm truly... insane.

It's a good kind of insane, though. It's the type of insanity that drives a person to become a parent in the first place. See, you don't fully realize the weight of the contract when you think of starting a perfect, cute, fun (--insert any lighthearted adjective here--) little family, but you are rallying yourself up for quite a long and arduous journey, something beyond dirty diapers and sisterly cat fights. Yours becomes a life of worry and self doubt. You put yourself in the very relentless grasp of Torture by Whining. You sacrifice your physical body beyond just giving birth; it's all the bending over for something dropped or spilled on the floor and the permanent right shoulder sag from the daily weight of a diaper bag or infant car seat. And those are just in the first years of your parenthood. If you willingly sign up for all those things and countless other parental grievances, you are, by definition, truly insane. "Normal" people steer clear of uncomfortable situations like that, yet we as parents commit to a lifetime of it.

Why?

Well, I propose that we are every bit as brilliant as we are insane. In Brilliancy's favor, I think it does outshine any kind of monotony to which Parenthood contributes. We, the parents of the next generation, have got Creative Brilliance down pat.  In the primal sense, we gave life to those little rugrats because humans feel the invisible force to create.  It's by pure nature that we want to experience and perpetuate life like 99.9% of all biotic things.  The brilliancy behind the natural inclination is interwoven with complete insanity given the simple fact that we already know, or have an inkling at least, what kind of life we're getting ourselves into--yet we do it anyway.  Whether we are conscious of our brilliancy or not, we're setting ourselves up for a lifetime of not only the discomfort, but the inexplicable, unmitigated feeling of happiness that comes only from being a mother or father.

Before I had children, I would observe the interactions of parents with their youngsters and would try to empathize with them so I could set the right expectation for myself in order to form a logical and informed decision for my own future.  I noticed soon that there were many things about children that I was not keen on--the smells, the bodily fluids, the grime, the sass, the whining, the... well, you get the point.  Then I would pay attention to the smiles that parents would flash whether they were the result of a child's full-effort given, or a funny phrase spoken, or even a reaction to a completely new experience. I could tell that the parents were happy, but I did not even grasp their level of happiness.  I could not, because I wasn't a parent yet; I did not understand that those same little rugrats who drool and scream also give a powerful dose of joy that cannot be matched by any drug.

Well, you know the story for me: insanity and brilliancy won.  I became like most other people at some point--a parent--and it gives me pleasure to admit that I am not unique in that sense. Though I may have been at war with my children today, in realizing that my choice was formed from that crazy psychological potion, I find an odd comfort.  I have many more reasons, mostly religious, to find peace with my choice to have children, but I can say that even lately when the girls and I are constantly butting heads, I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

(No one has their hair brushed and we're taking a picture in the bathroom... That's just how we roll these days.)