Week 12 "HEAR YE ! HEAR YE !"

Email from Justine today:

"Being on a mission I have realized the value of so many different things! 

Especially I have learned the value of waking up early, 

and studying the scriptures and about True to the faith!

I had no clue what that was until the MTC! 

And I keep thinking

"WHY DID MY PARENTS NEVER TELL ME THIS??" :P 

But you probably did and it never registered! 

But now I can see how much more awesome all this stuff is and how being on a mission has really taught me these things!"

I love you all! Skype you Sunday! :D I get 60 minutes of Skype time!!

Sister Nakata

*******

Oh Boy!
I'm so Glad she wrote:
But you probably did and it never registered!
This is a very important key phrase for my sanity!
Without it I would be pulling my hair out and/or asking myself what on earth have I done these past 20 years with my kids?

We've tried teaching those things - To a Nagging level!!!!
Especially the getting out of bed one!
And healthy eating, and drinking water, and exercising, and being productive,
and not waisting your time,
and reading your scriptures, and going to church every week, and
keeping the commandments, and so forth...

"All Good Habits to Have"

"It's good for you!"

I've told them & still do.

And Yes
 I know
 We didn't do it all perfectly - far from it.
 We've slacked, been lazy, indulged and missed and failed quite a bit to say the least!
But we have tried!

Isn't it lovely when our little birdies fly out of the nest 

and realize Mom and Dad did have a few good points!

My first pair of reading glasses!

It's that season in my life.
I kind of like my new accessories.
I was 46 and everyone was handing me small writings to read to them!
I felt pretty good that my vision was still superior!
Then the signs of aging appeared.
It started with my eyes getting uncomfortable and dry during the night.
I had to buy eye drops to make them feel better.
Then I had to push those small labels and writings a little further from me.
Then it was slightly bigger writings.
One night I tried Mikes ready glasses he had purchased a few months earlier!
Wow! What a difference, no more straining!

There is no turning back now!

A Birthday to Remember

5pm
Mike goes to bed sick from work exhaustion.

8:40pm
Mike wakes up and comes downstairs.
Emric - as told by his mom - asks him if he wants Chicken noodle soup.
Emric opens the can of soup.
Having trouble with the lid, he tries to get more leverage by prying it with his thumb.
- Not your best call -
His thumb gets cut and starts bleeding profusely.
With his thumb bleeding over the sink, Emric was somewhat surprised at how much blood was spilling.
So, as some of us might react, he gets queasy and passes out.

He either hit the tile floor chin first or hit the counter with his face then the floor.
- This will remain a mystery -

9pm
I get home from taking Amelie to diving to this scene:
Emric laying on the living room floor, moaning with his chin split open and a pillow under his head.
He says something is wrong with his jaw and the left side of his face is numb.
The decision was quickly made to take him to the ER.

9:15pm
 I hurriedly get into comfy clothes and grab some pillows and blankets.

Before getting up and walking supported by Mike to go in the car,
Emric - the lifeguard - asks himself how may fingers he is holding up, what day it is and what's his name!

9:45pm
He is seen by the Urgent care staff.
They take Xrays, Cat scans and put 4 stitches in his chin.

10:45pm
Mike and Amelie go home as it is getting late, and Mike has a massive headache.

11:10pm
We are told he has a fractured Jaw bone and a fractured Temporal bone.
They want him taken to Children's Hospital ER for further observation by specialists.

11:12pm
Mom is not feeling so good, is going white and need to lay down and be given some apple juice.

11:20pm
Mom says a fervent prayer with and for her kid.

11:30pm
Emric is taken in an ambulance to Texas Children' ER.
Mom is following, worried, with no idea what the future holds for her boy
and wondering what does this all mean.
Will he have life long consequences form his head injuries?

Tuesday 7th
My 47th Birthday
12:20am
Emric is admitted in room 21 of the ER.
He is put on a vital signs monitor that will loudly beep randomly every 5 sec to 15mn
for the next 10 hours!!!
Doctors and nurses randomly come and go asking questions of how it happened
while pocking and touching his face.
Often not knowing others had already come...
Emric and I just drift in and out of sleep all night - him in the bed, me on 2 chairs put together.

Sometime between 4am and 6am
Doctors come and talk to mom and Emric about his fractures.
Again, mom gets all weak and almost passes out. Crackers and OJ are prescribed.

 8:30am
We are told Emric can go home, no surgery needed just no Diving and no chewing for 6 week.
And 2 followup visits are to be scheduled, one with a Plastic surgeon and another for a hearing test.

11:00 am
Emric is discharged.

What a night!
I'm just so happy Emric has no complications!!!!
He is going to be just fine...

PS: See my feather pillow under his head? Well it never came home... :(

You Never Know - LOVE this Video!

Parenting Mistake #1075674890...

Do not buy a used Kawasaki Ninja 500 for your 17 year old inexperienced teen boy!

Who granted wants it and thinks he can handle it and would like the freedom, 

and is a responsible good kid, but and lets face it is also a little clueless and has NO Business on a bike like this monster!

What was the irresponsible mom thinking you - and everyone else to that matter including dad- asks? 

Well she wasn't!

She was clueless and made a huge mistake!

End of Story!

And Now is stuck having to selling the darn-speed-monster-thing and having to live with her shame! 

Mountains to Climb

Our Very Own New Eagle Scout

After 10 years of Cub Scouts and Scouting, Emric has finally joined the honorable rank of Eagle Scout.

Way to go Emric!

He had set a goal and made a promise to be the first Eagle in our family.
He wanted to get it at 14 years old and was well on his way, but then we moved to Texas.
And that kinda slowed things down a bit, right Emric?

But he made it!

Got his gazillion badges
 Fund-raised (THANK you Friends and Family)
Started and finished his project at the local animal shelter HERE
Aced his interviews
And last but not least, got through the paperwork!

We are
Sooooooooo HAPPY
for Him

 And only moms of Eagle scouts know how happy I am and glad it's done and over with! :)
Getting a kid through that program can be like... a 10 year birthing process!
Moms should be able to add that to their resumes!!!!

Eagle Oath

Buddy & Moms who nagged, pushed and helped make it happen!

Awesome Accomplishment! To be worn with honor...

Lovely Mentors & Cheerleaders

Eagle Official Paperwork, letters from officials, flags & Joining the Eagle's Nest

Pinning the Parents

Again Way to Go Emric!

New Braces

Amelie getting braces!

She will keep them for 18 months to 2 years.

She actually loves her braces and thinks they look good on her!?

She is one confident child, that one!

Yesterday, Mike, Amelie, Chloe and I took a little drive in the country.

We stopped by where she dives.

Amelie talked to the Horse's owner - from previous post - and asked if she could give him an apple. 

He said no. 

"This is private property" he said.

Bummer!

Sigh

I guess he has his rights...

I guess that is why some people live in the country: to get away from people like us!

The worst part is I still don't know his name!

We didn't give up though and found another lovely horse in the field behind the pool...

Isn't he beautiful?

And he loved the apple!

Yeah I know Amelie should not be on the other side of the fence!

Naughty Girl!

Christmas

 Our tree and one of the 3 baby Jesus made by the 3 older kids, years and years ago!

I believe this one is Justine's masterpiece! :)

Chloe loving her huge gigantic Christmas chew bone from her girlfriend Libby!

And that is only half of it! Libby has the other half!

We had our traditional homemade waffles for brunch after we opened presents.

The best part of my Christmas were 7 cute little love cards everyone wrote to me after
I wasn't feeling all the love from a certain someone.

I was given these by sweet Justine when I got back from a 1hour1/2 walk with Chloe all by myself.

-Yeah... Sometimes, as in all relationships, feelings can get hurt. Even on Christmas day-

I'm only posting the fun pet ones.
The other ones I will cherish for years to come! :)

 

Thank you for Yum Yums...

Thank you for Walks...

Thanks you for Scratches!

You're almost Perfect

But I wish you would've got me a squirrel...

Love Chloe

Written by Alexi

Dear Meooom!

Thank you for giving birth to master - Emric - and taking care of him so he can take care of me. 

And thank you for feeding me sometimes too.

Thanks for palace of a home where I can go where ever I want.
Including those awesome counters.

Thanks for telling the dog to leave me alone,
but i think it would just be a better idea to get rid of her, right meow

 Teeny

Written by Justine

Splashtown

We all spent a day at Splash Town!

What a day that was!

The kids and uncle Jean Claude (well besides his moment of culpability towards Nat) had lots of fun!

Nat and I had fun for about 30mn, then got on a way scary water ride for her. 

(She is not comfortable in water at all, 

never been on water rides but a small one at the pool this past week )

We all told her it wasn't too scary... And we would be together.

I had been on it once and didn't remember it was so intense!

As soon as we got to the first dip, I saw right away the expression of terror on her face.

I felt every jerk and sensation as if I was her and was terrorised myself!

It was as if time was in slow motion and there was nothing I could do to make things better!

I was powerless! 

I wanted the ride to end, or better yet to never have happened!

She trusted us not to put her on such a ride.

There are no words for how I felt. 

I betrayed her, I let her down, didn't protect her...

I thought she was going to go home early and our friendship would be damaged forever!

Sometimes our actions and mistakes are not reversible... 

We are powerless and at the mercy of the other party to forgive us when 

we do not deserve forgiveness...

I felt that she was never going to forgive me.

But she did.

******

It brought back memories of when we were teens and I went over her

10 story apartment balcony banister with nothing to restrain or protect me.

I just held on tight to the banister.

I could have fallen to my death!

I thought it was funny to scare her... 

Well it was not.

I scared myself years later when I had my first child and rethought of the moment of 

stupid unsafe dare devil prank!

Please think twice before you do dangerous stuff that might hurt those you love or yourself!

******

Nat felt better after some rest in the shade, some water, some ice cream, 

a dip in the lazy river, lunch at Panera Bread and a trip to the mall.

She really had her breath knocked out of her!

*******

Now whenever I drive by Splash Town and see the giant ride where this happened 

I think of how powerless I felt, and I think of Nat and how terrified she was 

and also of her willingness to forgive...

Merci Nat!

A Mother's Day Without a Hitch. Well Almost.

 I had a great Mother's Day today!

I do love being a mother, even if some moments/days can be hard and oh so stressful.
I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Motherhood comes with so many emotions, all of which are part of me.
They are part of who I am and who I am becoming.
It stretches my soul, makes me grow and want to be better for them.
It drives me crazy too sometimes.

But it is worth it!

Justine on Saturday night finished the laundry,
mopped the floors and cleaned up the downstairs
until 2:30am!
So the house would be nice and clean for me today...

Emric made crepes for breakfast.
They ended up being eaten for lunch.

We had no time for them before church for breakfast...

So we made yummy Diner Crepes for lunch.

 Amelie sang a mother's day song at church with all the other kids 

and made me not one, but 2 love notes at church!
By the way everything we got at church was chocolate!
Hershey bar, Hershey kisses and hugs, M&M's.
Yuck. Yuck & Yuck!
But that's OK cause at home I had some yummy stuff!

About the hitch!
I said that this was a mother's day almost without a hitch because
I kinda over-reacted when a bag of candy had spilled some sugar on the counter while I was cleaning up.
I threw the bag away, Amelie wasn't very happy and said something not nice to me!
I can get a little uptight when I have to clean up after everyone
(especially on mother's day when everything in my mind should be perfect)
I kinda locked myself in my bedroom, and worked on these pictures, but only for 5 mn.
I realized just how precious our family is.
And that our kids are only with us for a little while.
And that I over-reacted.
I though twice about it and decided to go on the bike ride with the family instead of sulking in my room because of my uncalled for reaction!
It was not worth ruining the day for something so little.
Oh how I wish I was a better mom sometimes...
I try. I fail. And try again.

I love my girls!

I got spoiled once more by my Man...
Friday night diner, movie, favorite cookies, Sunday help in the kitchen...
He is so good to me.
 I could imagine life without
 my lovable-crazy-sometimesanoying-funny-neverboring-talktoomuch-generous Man...

By the way, the cute dress I am wearing, he got it for me on his Birthday!
hihihi!

 I also got a 5 mn phone call from Elder Benny Boy Johnson!!!!

So happy to hear from him from his mission in Sacramento California.

When Things get a little Rocky

Sometimes things can get a little rocky between moms and strong-willed little girls.

Sometimes we need to take a good look at our relationship, and change some things.

And how better to know what needs to change than to ask the little girl?

So Amelie and I had a little talk about what we can do better to have a more fulfilling relationship.

Where each feels more loved and valued among the business of daily life.

I had Amelie write down a few things I can do better and what she can do better

Amelie for Mom

1. Stop threatening me sometimes.

2. Be more calm with chores.

3. Don't tell me what to do at the same time.

4. Be more patient.

Amelie will

1. Be kinder.

2. Be patient.

3. Be obedient.

(Man, do I love the last one!)

My List for Moi

1. I will cuddle her more.

2. Give her more words of affirmation & praises & 'love yous'.

3. Read books with her.
4. Give chores, one at a time.

You'd think that after 20 years of raising kids I'd be a pro by now!

Far from it!

I fail. I get distracted. I make mistakes.
What works with one doesn't work for another.
Thus the constant need to reevaluate.

 I hope that in some small way, my kids will come out OK. 

That they know I mean well.
I am still fumbling my way through parenthood.

Because I want the best life has to offer for them.

I want them to be happy and fulfilled.

I want them to be strong and courageous when tough choices and trials come their way.

I want them to be good, and caring, and happy.

All that despite my failings as a parent.
They can be all that despite me, because they have potential, they have free agency,
and they can become who they want to be.

Sunday Afternoon & My Handy Dandy Manly Man

Yesterday, Mike tried to fix the Family room Ceiling fan lights.

He spent like ALL eavening on it.

Called Electrician buddy for 3 hours. Researched online. 

Spent $150 in those manly stores he went to twice. 

And fixed... hummm... Nothing.

Today, after a delicious Sunday dinner:

Oven Roasted lemon and french herb Chicken

Green beans and garlic/parsley/butter sauteed  mushrooms.

Baked yams. Rice and corn.

Mike got back on the Internet to try to figure it out, and is now sleeping loudly next to me.

Amelie is playing some girly dress-up games on my computer.

Emric is asking me for some french homework help.

And being your typical hide-my-face-teen when I take a picture.

Chloe is zonked out at our feet...

And I am blogging like I did almost all day yesterday on my bed!

My tooshie is getting sore...

I think I have done too much blogging this week-end.

When the sun is not out I tend to stay in more...

We really should have cleaned up our very neglected back yard yesterday!

(It's a good thing it's sunny most of the time here, less winter blues...)

Emric before a Church Valentine Dance Last night.

Regional Dive Meet & Teenagers

The meet was over 2 days.

 They did 8 dives on Friday and 3 today.

Emric did pretty good... 

He came in 7th, among 16 boys, only 0.1 points behind the guy who took 6th.

Last year, there was no way he could have done a meet!

He had that going-through-puberty-awkward-growing-teen-boy thing going on.

He is finally, this year, gaining better control and confidence over his body.

This is all very promising since he has 2 more years of perfecting his dives. 

He's just going to get better and better.

Can we say maybe some college scholarship money down the road?

EVERY PARENTS DREAM

These are all from the meet yesterday.

Because today, Emric forgot to text us the time the boys were starting! 

He texted us when he was done!

We still have to work on the phone thing with him.

We pay for it so we can communicate with YOU, WHEN we need to!

 It's not just for your entertainment!

 

Thoughts About PMS

Regarding my previous post.
I should have known... The why to 'why I do that?'
I should have seen the signs. I usually do and give my man a little warning...
The sweet creme of chestnut craving. the 2 twix bars I ate. The sweet tooth.
The headaches, neck and shoulder stress... Extra sensitivity.
Teary. Impatience. And flying of the handle.

I should walk around with signs hanging around my neck.
This is what they would say.

"Handle with CAUTION!
 Can blow up anytime"

"Watch what you say! 
Everything you say will be blown out 
of proportion and held against you"

"Do not bring up touchy subjects, or past unpleasant memories.
I will relive them, suffer them all over again and make you suffer too."

"Do not blame me for anything.
And I mean NOTHING"

For the kiddos

"For the next 2 days. 
Do everything I say. How I say. When I say"

That should do. 

Most months, the symptoms are so insignificant,
I can control the PMS monster pretty well, we barely notice, no, really...

But there are the occasional months where you better stay clear. 

And no way of telling which ones!

After 22 years, our kids, our marriage and Mike have survived them all.

That's 264, 

+ the 4 pregnancies which are like 9 months each of most likely possibly worst PMS symptoms. 

Advice to my girls 

As you grow up and get married warn your husband,
discuss your 'possible' symptoms before they think 

you have been abducted and replaced by an alien or worst a monster!

Then again you might just be fine and have no symptoms.

Yeah, right. 

Don't count on it!

Advice to my Boys/Future Son-in-laws

When you get married 

Take an important-can't-get-out-of-sudden-work-church-related trip out of town for a couple of days.

Oh and do not tell the girlfriend, wife, sister, mother, friend she has PMS!

Just be kind, and caring, and helpful, and sweet, and take no offence,
if you can't do all the above, stay clear, or suffer (see previous post...)

Not My Best Day.

This morning I woke up so excited to spend the whole day with my man.

I had it all planned out.

Forest walk. Finish Amelie's Derby car. Lunch. Dive meet. Movie in bed to end the day.

With a couple of things on the guy's please-help-with-list.

Well it all went sour during our walk.

An issue from years ago resurfaced, brought back bad feelings from a disagreement

 and it ruined the rest of the day for me.

I even went berserk and lost it because the poor guy tracked sand all through the house
that I took time to clean yesterday to make our home nice for the week-end!

Berserk, like slamming doors and throwing the offensive shoes down the stairs. 

The real problem, is that I still don't feel understood and validated regarding this issue we had years ago...
 I had felt so hurt. 

Why do I do that?

I don't like who I become when I lose control!

It feels good when in the moment, you feel so justified. 

But then comes the feel crappy part.

And then I have to go through that whole process of repenting and eating humble pie, and 'I'm sorries'.

And having my poor kids look at me like... Wow!

Not fun. Really. Not fun.

But Hey. 

At least Mike made himself feel better by buying himself a new Chrome book 

(And I thought he was going to come home with flowers.)

Hey, at least he doesn't go out and drink!

He says he is not mad at me.
Oh, I feel so much better!

 And he wants me to erase all of this but I don't want to. 

Cause this is life. 

And at the end of it we forget all the bad stuff and think it was all a bliss... 

But it isn't. 

Life is hard sometimes. 

Marriage is hard. Family life is hard.
There are good days, bad days, boring days, exciting days, great days.
Good years and not so good years.
( the 3 worst years in our marriage were the 3 years we moved,  huge life stresses)
Relationships are hard.

They need constant nourishment, 

compromise, forgiveness, giving and taking,

selflessness, agreeing to disagree and so forth...

So here we are, in bed, after this not so great Saturday

Me venting on my blog. Him on his new toy.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

A good nights sleep does wonders for me when these kinda days happen.

I rarely stay upset after a good night's sleep.
To me it heals and calms mind and body. Gives perspective.

Just don't ask me to makeup anytime before that.

As for Mike, he doesn't need a good nights sleep to make things better, 

He kinda lives in LaLa land where everything is rosy and happy!

Where forgiving comes so fast and easily, where there is no offence,
where no one does wrong, and bad memories are fast forgotten...

I just don't live there yet!
I wish I did.
I wish I was more like him.

Goodnight.

(Amelie was awesome today)

My Baby Hitting Puberty? NO!!!!!!

Last night, Amelie and I did a little shopping for her.

Her dive practice got canceled last minute...

One of the things we got her was some deodorant!

Yep, she is not 10 yet!

Earlier at school she told me her teacher told all 4th graders

that they stink and need to use deodorant!

"You guys are way to old to not be wearing deodorant.

Sorry 3rd graders I wasn't talking to you.

4th graders stink!!!!"

I agree on that one... for the boys! 

Have you ever come within a few feet of a boy who just played on the playground for 10mn!

PeeYuWee!

But Girls... not so much, in my opinion!

Unless it is really humid and hot and they run a lot!

So here we were smelling deodorants at Target.

Which ones does she like the best?

Well, as you have it, she has the same tastes in smell as her mommy!

(promise, I did not coax her into anything!)

The 2 favorite ones were Vanilla and Pear.

I love Fruit scents and Vanilla scents.

He sister Justine is more of a floral lover!

So we bought the Vanilla one since I have the Pear one and she can borrow mine occasionally.

Justine was much older when we started buying deodorant.

What is next for Amelie tampons?

Hopefully I've got a few more years before my baby girl starts using those...

But she did start shaving her legs this summer!!!

( I think I was 13 when I first did it)

So I stoped her and had her use my epilator (the best invention ever!)

If she sticks with that in 20 years she will have no hair left on her legs! 

It didn't even hurt her that bad when she did it! 

The first time I did it 6 or 7 years ago, it nearly killed me!

Sorry guys about all this girl talk!

Today - Part 1

Today 

I am sad for our country. 

Today 

I am mostly sad for my 20 year old 1st born.

His disease has spread to his small intestine.

I can't imagine having to endure illness this long,

for over 2 years, with no real progress or good news...

Today 

I shed tears

I desperately try to find joy.

But it is hard, so hard...

I see a flicker here and there but I have a hard time holing on to it...

 Today 

My heart will just be sad with small glimmers of hope

as I try to dig deeper for small graces, tender mercies and gratitude.

Today 
I will open my windows and let the Sunshine in!

I will
Cary on.
And think of my boy Alexi...

*****

Hand sprained

Amelie fell off the Hammock!

She didn't remember I warned her not to use it as a swing!

One of those 'protective-optional-motherly-suggestions' that went ignored or was forgotten;

unfortunately, this time, it had a natural consequence...

It will heal fast, she will be back to her true active self soon enough!

She started a little Gymnastics class a month ago,
I guess that will be on hold for a couple of weeks.
She loves that class!
***

Car Nightmare in Panguitch UTAH

As we left our Camp Ground in Brice, my car's AC stopped working!

NOT A GOOD SIGN...

Especially in 100 degree desert weather!

After 20mn, Danny decided to stop at a gas station for an ice-cream, in the little town of Panguitch.

My car totally stopped working as I pulled in!

Since my car was not going any further,

 Danny and Aude carried on toward home with as many kids as they could.

(over a 4 hour drive)

Justine and Emric stayed with me. 

(I had to beg Emric who wanted to go with them.) 

Justine was again, in time of crises, a strong support.

We went across the street to Thomas Repair Shop.

After waiting for an hour and a half, for the car to cool down from overheating,

the car was taken there.

The owner said he would take care of us.

That turned out to be a lie!

To make a long story short, 

He kept my car for 3 hours without doing a thing!

Oh, he told me the worst case senario, that I could be stuck in Panguitch for 4 to 5 days...

He wanted to give me a $600 tow to Salt Lake 

The thermostat was kaput and may have damaged the motor!

Mike had to call around to find the part we needed: a thermostat.

He also arranged for a rental car for me to go get it in Cedar.

By the time I was going to be back with it, it was going to be past 5pm.

The owner of the Auto Shop said that he would be closed!

Nothing he could do today!

I lost it then!

I just went in the street and cried...

I vowed not to go on such a trip without Mike again!

But even though Mike was not there he was still able to be of help to his family.

He made some phone calls and got a shop that would stay open until I got back!

The guys from the rental car.

Mike told him to look for distressed woman walking down the street...

The owner came to find me and told me to follow him to his shop down the street.

He was so nice! He couldn't stay himself, he had a 'meeting' to go to on a Wednesday night...

I totally felt like a damsel in distress and someone had a heart to help...

(I saw a Book of Mormon in his office, no wonder!)

I cried again of emotional relief...

So off we went, with a minivan to Cedar, a 2h and 30mn drive round trip!

Justine helped me drive, I took a nap exhausted from the days events...

What an awesome girl she is!

I also have an awesome Man... 

In case we would have had to stay, 

Mike had found his best friend from Elementary school who lived there.

He would have picked us up and taken care of us! 

Amazing!

I'm glad we didn't need his help afterall though!

I am grateful for good helpful people...

The one fast food place in the village: Arbys

I laid out a blanket in this little Park where we hung out a bit until it rained... 

The I-will-never-go-there-again Auto-Shop. 

I'm thinking of putting a bad review for 'Thomas's Auto Repair' on google.

And an excellent one for The U-haul shop.

The beautiful skies as we got on our way towards Salt Lake City after our car was fixed.

The repair guy made sure that it would not overheat again, we were good to go!!!

We had broken down around 1pm in Panguitch and arrived in Salt Lake around 11pm.

An Amazing Sky!!!!