Morning Walks

I sure love these boys, and our lovely neighborhood too!

This morning Porter joined me and Isaac on our morning walk - a new routine for the new school year.  One of the best things I did this summer was getting back to my morning walks. With Jordan working in his office, I'd leave the kids to finish up their jobs and walk my little loop with Isaac then get back to (usually) finished up jobs and just-fine kids. (Though sometimes 1/2/3/4 children would be watching for me and race to be the first to let me know about the trouble that happened while I was away...) Our summer was really low-key as far as events, but with these five kiddos at home most of the time, it was also kind of intense for me. So I sure loved these few minutes of mostly-alone time!

Porter spent the first block this morning riding in and out of Isaac's view with lots of nonsense words and funny faces that had Isaac laughing and laughing like he only does for Porter's particular kind of silly.

I wasn't quite sure how walks would fit in with our new morning routines, so I'm excited it has been such an easy transition. Jordan also got Landon up early this morning to go for a bike ride, and they're both ready to be back to their early-morning routine again too. We'll enjoy these beautiful Fall days!

Quiet

I read this cute book - "The Quiet Book" at the airport this summer, waiting to pick up Landon from his flight home. And it's full of all sorts of quiet -- 'First look at your new hairstyle quiet. Lollipop quiet. Sleeping sister quiet.' And the illustrations are just wonderful and add to the feel of each little description.

And right now, I have "All the big kids back to school, and the littlest one sleeping quiet." And it has been a really long time since our house has had this kind of quiet! (I'm thinking probably the Fall/Winter before Isaac was born, when Porter still napped!)

We had a great cool Fall morning, including a last minute search for a sweatshirt on the way out to school.  Then a short but lovely thunderstorm - Porter and Isaac opened the kitchen windows and squeezed onto a chair right up close to watch and listen. It will be a summer day again by the afternoon when the kids come home, but this is definitely a new season (of weather, of life)!

We had a bit of a rocky start this morning (though I think we probably always do for a bit when school starts.)  There was excitement and nervousness and routine and arguments and  apologies and wondering and some crying too. (Oh, I will be more patient tomorrow!)  Then a regular kind of morning with the little boys - a morning walk, cleaning the kitchen, ordering a backpack for Porter (some things I forgot!), and a quick trip to the Library before kindergarten drop off.

And now this quiet time for me! Which is wonderful, and also...quiet. I'm looking forward to all the possibilities ahead this year, and also feeling just a little loss at all these little ones growing up and these new seasons ahead for me to grow into. And also hopeful for more time to write again, so I can remember all the sweet times of these days!

Good Friends

Cute (mostly unrelated) map from Ellie :)

Years ago, a good friend of mine (who was pregnant with her fifth child at the time, as I was pregnant with my second) commented on how grateful she was for friends who just helped each other through the days so much. We were going visiting teaching together, and as she dropped off her kids at another friend's house, she mentioned how her whole day was just full of helping and being helped in so many ways - in watching kids, pick ups, carpools, lessons, etc.

And it seemed like a nice thought, but I was also kind of new to being a mom with my one little Landon and I mostly just did my own thing so I didn't really get it! 

Today (like many other days) I was reminded of that little interaction.  I spent a few minutes in the morning emailing friends for help with a project, and answering emails helping friends with what they're working on. A friend's sitter got sick, so I was able to watch her sweet toddler for a few hours, I took Porter to another friends' for preschool, then Porter and Isaac both went to another friends' while Jordan and I helped with the Lego Robotics club at the school, then Porter and Owen ran over to join in on the soccer practice with another friend who coaches her team at the park here. And in between were texts and rides and other little normal every-day things. 

That's all kind of jumbled, but I was just so grateful today for these good friends and all the help they give to me and my family and for little chances to help too. 

Spring Break so far

Our neighbor sets this spinner out every year, and our kiddos just love it!

We decided to stay home for Spring Break this year, and it has been a fun few days so far.

A few highlights:

+ Early morning Kingsburg & Power Grid for Landon and Owen

+ Blueberry muffins to share by Ellie and Porter

+ A family lunch-break lunch to Macey's

+ The end of 5 kingdoms for Jordan and Landon

+ Church basketball fun x 2 (Today I asked Landon and Owen if they thought they could each make 'age' baskets while we were there and they both far surpassed my challenge. I just hit my age and thought that was pretty great! :)

+ Landon's first soccer practice of the season.

+ A morning rotation schedule by Landon for all the boys with bubble blowing, hammock swinging, spinner spinning, and wagon rides.

+ Story of the month prep with Ellie("The Story of the Stolen Unicorn Horn" coming soon April!)

+ A morning walk  (I'm hopeful that maybe I can get back into this habit...)  and some chilly park play time. (With a surprise that the giant apple tree there disappeared sometime since the Fall!)

+ And a little Wii time/movie time/job time/play time etc.

Daily Walk Pics

A few years ago (2015) I went for a walk each day and took a picture in this same spot. I had loved watching how these mountains by our house changed with the seasons, and decided I wanted to document it. (And having this goal helped me stick with my daily walks that year too!) This is one picture for each month that year (Feb-Jan).

Today was such a beautiful Spring day, and every time I stepped outside or looked out our windows toward the park, I felt so grateful to live in such a beautiful place! (And I guess that is what inspired me finally gather these pictures together!)

February

Whoosh! We got home last night from our trip to New York. And even though I know we tidied up before leaving, looking around the house, I could see evidence all around of the kind of full February we had :) Here are some highlights to remember:

All the job things:

No problem, I've got this.
 (Not necessarily how Jordan felt :)

Interviewing

Jordan spent a week in NYC and San Francisco with 5 days of onsite interviews (where he'd go into the office (or do this remotely)  and have a day or half day of back-to-back interviews with several different people at each company). He also spent that week wrapping up other interviews and juggling all of this around his regular working schedule! He did get to spend a little time with Kathie and Winslow while he was in California, and he really enjoyed that too.

Offers!

After a month of reaching out, job searching, applications,  emails and follow ups, phone screens and interviews, Jordan ended up with offers from 6 really great companies! (Two years ago when we went through the same process, he had just two offers - one from Microsoft which would have required us to move, and Wonderbly. So, we felt very surprised and grateful for so many great choices this time!) With how all the timing worked, he came home from his interview trip on a Wednesday night and needed a decision by that Friday. (Our friends offered to watch our kids on Thursday so we could have some time to think and talk and we were so grateful!)

Our next adventure

After some tough decision making time, Jordan was excited to accept a position at Teachers Pay Teachers!  And in kind of a silent conversation of nods in the middle of his negotiation conversations (or something like that!) we decided he'd take a week off before he started and we'd take a spur-of-the-moment trip to all go visit NYC as a family.  Jordan's first day was yesterday and he's really excited about this new opportunity!

All of this job-related stuff felt like a huge part of our lives for a while, but we also had all the regular parts of life continuing on too :)

Basketball

Landon and Owen both played basketball this season again and had a fun time. (And I loved watching their games too!) Landon had weekly practices and then each Saturday both boys had games.



Tumbling

Porter got to take a tumbling class for January-February. I think it was pretty fun for him... I don't know if we'll do it again though. This (above) is how Isaac and I spent our time while Porter tumbled :)

Science Fair

(I took this before Ellie's partner arrived, but they were a great duo!)

Ellie and her friend Aria participated in the Science Fair with a project on baking muffins (how would different amounts of baking powder affect the outcome?) Aria's mom helped the girls do the project and they did a great job.

Valentine's Day

The kids all had fun making Valelentine's for their classes (and bringing home Valentine's from their friends too :)

Funeral

We went to Utah County for a weekend to attend my Gramps' funeral. I didn't ever really know him very well, so what struck me most were all of the stories and comments from my cousins/aunts/uncles of how dearly they knew and loved him. I felt like I got to learn a lot more about him and that was really neat.

Dar Williams

I got to see my very favorite musician Dar Williams perform! I sat in the back row and nearly cried through the whole show as she sang all these songs that have been like a soundtrack to so many moments of my life, with so many sweet and tender memories! I've wanted to see her perform for a really long time, so I was just super excited that I got to see her, even right here in Logan!

(Just me and my good friend Dar ;)

Reading

At New Year's time as I was thinking ahead to the year and what I wanted to work on, etc. one thing that I was really excited about was teaching Porter to read! And just in the last month or so, he's been learning to put sounds together into words and I think it is just so fun and exciting. I love it so much!

January

Don't mind the background.. (do other people's living rooms look like this most of the time?) I thought this little moment summed up our January pretty well :) Jordan has had a lot to juggle as we found ourselves jumping back in to job search mode. When we mentioned this to a friend, I loved his response of something like "Well good! That just means there is something even greater in store for you." :)

So, once again (though no major accidents this time around!), our January was full of  searching & discussing, plus applications and interviews (and our February too for at least the next two weeks). But we are feeling really blessed with lots of great possibilities out there. We'll see what comes!

Also in January...

+ A skin cancer scare! I thought I was checking off a 'to do' by visiting the dermatologist about a little spot I'd had on my face, and was kind of shocked when he said it looked very much like basal cell carcinoma and recommended a biopsy right then.  I told him I needed to wait and went home feeling more and more scared as I looked for more info online. Fortunately, Jordan had the good sense to suggest I get a second opinion. Two days of worry later I did, and the doctor was doubtful enough that he brought in another doctor for a 3rd opinion and they both felt confident that it was just a pre-cancerous spot that could be taken care of right then. (Phewph!!) What a relief and also what a scary few days! And I am 100% more committed to sun screen and crazy hats when summertime adventures come.

+ We took the kids to see Wonder (I read this over the summer with Landon so I was especially excited to see it with him.) Reading the book, I was mostly touched by the kindness and sweet interactions between the students. But, in the movie I kept finding myself in tears at the tender feelings of motherhood that they captured so well. I really loved that. I really love being a mom.

+ Kathie was so super wonderful to come up and spend a few days in Salt Lake with us + watching the kids while Jordan and I went to the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit.  I had been watching over the past few months as they'd announce new speakers for the conference and just kept wishing we could find a way to go (yep, I really was that excited about attending a tech conference!) Finally when I heard Mitt Romney was going to be speaking, we called Kathie and just a few days later she was here and ready to play! :) The conference was really fun -- great to see and hear from (in person) a lot of people I've read about for a long time, and it was just a fun time to spend with Jordan too!

+ Landon and Owen started basketball and I've loved going to watch them play (while Jordan so kindly watches the kids at home -- we learned Isaac isn't yet excited about sitting and watching a basketball game as much as running around new interesting places :)

+ Jordan and Landon have started an early, early morning exercise plan. It's not every day, but frequently they'll get up (before their early morning scripture study) and do weight lifting, go swimming, to the climbing gym, jump roping, etc.)

+ We celebrated Ellie's birthday with a 'blueberry birthday party' planned and prepped by Ellie (with some help :) I just took all the 'blueberries' off our kitchen wall last night to make room for Valentine hearts, and was almost kind of sad because they were a very cheery decoration for the month!

+ Oh my goodness, we have had such beautiful days! I feel like I often tell people how much I love Logan "except in January". But this year, our January felt like March. Very few yucky air days. I don't think we ever went below 0 (hardly even any single digits that I can think of!) It was just so warm (not like 70's, but like 30's!) and lovely. What a blessing!