Conversation on a Walk

Today Kian and I had the opportunity to go outside together in the AMAZING 60-degree weather. I walked/ran (down the hills mostly) and he biked and walked alongside me. We chatted about various things and had some good conversation. On our way home, I remembered I had recently been meaning to revisit "the talk" that Matt and I had with him a long time ago, to check in with him to see if he had any questions or concerns, that kind of thing.

So, I asked him if he any questions about it. He answered, "No, not really." He had no concerns. That was cool; I kind of figured as much. A moment later he asked, "Why does Wal-Mart sell stuff with that kind of stuff on it?" His question was too vague for me to answer so I squeezed more details out of him. I clarified that he was talking about magazines at the checkout aisle that show scantily clad women and advertisements for women's underwear and such. As I clumsily formed my answer, "Well, it's because some people like to look at that stuff... I mean, you'll find when you're older you will even want to look at it... What's important is that you know not to... They sell it because people buy it."

Then he asked, "What is s*xy? Grandma used it in her online Scrabble game."

I had to form another quick answer. "Hmm, it means... (and I'm trying to figure out how to word it for a 10-year-old)... "a person who is... hmmm." I was really scrambling for the way to say it!

Then he piped up, "s*xual desire?"

"Yes, Kian, that's it! A person who is... (and again I could not find the words!)"

"attraction?"

"Yes, Kian, that's it again! A person who is s*xually attractive. You're so smart. You're thinking of all the words I'm not!"

It was so funny how he really answered his own question. I'm confident that he understands what he needs to at his age.

My Adventure in the Snow

A few weeks ago we had a snow storm. It wasn't really that bad, just snow falling out of the sky onto the roads, but it did make the roads wet and slick. I thought the snow would start after midnight so I went ahead with my evening plans to visit a friend from church for an hour or so.

When I left my friend's house around 8 pm and saw the snow falling, I wasn't worried. I reassured my friend I would be fine. I had a cell phone just in case. I drove slowly and carefully through town without incident.

When I got onto the highway that winds it's way through the countryside to my home, I could feel the slickness of the road. I had to drive extra-slow in order not to swerve. I drove on even though it was hard to see with the snow falling down, praying that God would protect me on my way home. (I had, after all, just done a good service for Him by visiting a friend from church).

There are seven miles of this hilly, curving highway to travel before my gravel road. At about the 3rd mile, I came upon a steep hill earlier than I expected. When I saw that I was at the top of the hill, I gently braked, knowing that I would naturally accelerate as I descended the hill and I didn't want to go any faster than the pokey 25 mph I already was. The slick road didn't like my braking and I immediately started veering off the road, the car angling and sliding and I knew this wasn't going to end well. I was still near the top of the hill and only slammed into the side of it without any real damage to myself or the car besides a bruise on my knee and some misalignment to the car.

The car was stuck at an angle but was out of the road thankfully. I had the cell phone which I used to call home and ask for help. Matt would come to my rescue as he often does! A couple of boys who had driven past me from the other direction in their monster truck, walked back down the hill to check on me which I felt was very kind of them. I told them that help was on its way. I waited in the car for Matt to arrive, during which time I got to watch two other cars get stuck on the same hill. They got down the hill without problem, but couldn't get traction to drive up the hill! And they were stuck in the middle of the road. It comforted me greatly to know that I wasn't the only one stuck on the road that night. It really was slick.

Matt found me safely. He called a neighbor to tow the car. We drove home on the side roads without any problem. Randi had taken care of the kids at home and kept the house warm for us while we were away.

I couldn't help wondering to myself, however, why this would've happened to me, especially when I was out doing good work, visiting a church member and serving God. Shouldn't He have protected me from accident while doing His work?!

It was three days later when I drove by the site of the accident again and I realized how very much God protected me that night. If I had started sliding off the road just ten feet further, the drop off would have been 30 feet down. The car would have rolled and the damage would have been much more severe, especially to me.

That really changed my attitude! It made me teary to think how blessed I really was that night. I feel so cared for by my husband and family, by neighbors and strangers, and most importantly by God.

I won't be driving in the snow again any time soon, thank you very much.

24 in 12

When Klaus turned one a few weeks ago, I wondered to myself where had the time gone? How could one entire year have passed since this little baby was born?! (Okay, he's not little, he's 32 pounds of delicious baby fatness--the largest baby of our family, even our extended families). I marveled that we had enjoyed this chubby, happy baby in our home for 12 whole months already!

Twelve months goes by so quickly! A person can accomplish something really great in 12 months. If I wanted to, I could accomplish something important in the next 12 months. Something that I've been meaning to do for a long time. Something I expected would have happened by now. Something I hadn't gotten the motivation to accomplish in 2011. I bet you can guess it: lose weight.

This embarrassing blog post is my public declaration that I'm serious about my goal this year. I'm calling it 24-in-12: 24 pounds in 12 months. Losing 24 pounds will get me back to my comfortable size 8 jeans. I'm squeezing myself into size 12's at the moment.

Even more embarrassing, I'm going to admit my current weight. I plan to never return to it again. At Wal-Mart this morning, I actually took a scale off the shelf, opened the package, weighed myself to get the number I needed, then put it back in it's package and returned it to the shelf! I'm too cheap to actually buy a scale because it's not an item I even want in my home! Anyway, the number was 155. Terrifying and shocking.

I'm really excited about my plan. In order to accomplish it, I commit to exercising daily (a walk or some yoga), drinking 8 glasses of water daily and eating only 2 treats per week. Wish me luck!

Oh, and here's a picture of our wonderful 1-year-old!

Life Lessons

I took Kian, Abby, and Ella to the dentist today. Here are a few tidbits to enjoy from our trip today...

• As we pulled up to the dentist's office, Abby exclaimed, "Oh, this place! I love this place!" Yes, she knew we were going to the dentist, but this office has a little play area that she likes.
• As Ella is playing in the play area, she tells me that she has to go potty. I tell her where it is, and she goes and comes back. Not 10 minutes later, she says she has to go again. This time she takes longer. Meanwhile, the dental assistant comes calling for her. I tell her Ella is in the bathroom. She turns and goes to the bathroom to tell her that it is her turn when she is done. The dental assistant comes back laughing and relates to me that as she approached the bathroom the door was open and the light was off. She called for Ella, and out popped her head from around the door exclaiming that she was going potty.

I guess there are other places we can love to visit, but I am glad that the dentist is one of Abby's. I also will make it a point to remind Ella to close the door and turn on the light when going potty.

Overheard Conversations

I don't know where they get these ideas. It's certainly not by example...

One night while we were at the church for Cub Scouts, Abby sauntered over to a friend of mine, took a feminine stance with her hand on her hips and declared, "Women don't do man's work. Women sew (exaggerated sigh), knit (flip of the hair), and clean the house." Don't worry: My friend wasn't convinced.

And then, last night at the dinner table, the kids had their own conversation:

Felicity: When Klaus is 10 or 9 he can go to Cub Scouts!
Kian: No, when he is 8 he can go to Cub Scouts.
Abby: When I'm 8 I can go to Activity Days!
Kian: I bet Cub Scouts is better than Activity Days.
Abby: I think in Activity Days you go camping.
Kian: In Activity Days you learn how to sew, mop floors and rub a man's feet.

(I just stared at him in wonder.)

Abby and I are not convinced.

Family Duties

Tonight at Cub Scouts, Kian was asked to make a job chart for all of the members in his family. One the left side was a column listing his family members. On the right side were each family member's duties. Here are his words:

Dad: Does work, bringing home snacks duty
Mom: Baby duty, new bottles duty
Kian: Rotating chores, sitting on the baby
Abby: Rotating chores
Ella: Rotating chores
Felicity: Rotating chores
Klaus: Multipurpose universal cleaning tool

He is referring to Klaus' ability to sweep and mop with his body as he crawls around the house. Kian's language and humor sometimes cracks me up.

Concert Pianists

Last night for FHE, our wonderfully talented pianists had a recital of selections of what they have been hard at work on. Here they are sharing their talent:

Here is Kian

Here is Abby

Here is Ella (she is playing songs she is currently practicing)

Here's Felicity

What a wonderful night of success and fun. These kiddos have practiced everyday, multiple times a day to learn these songs. They bring music and joy into our house. Great Job to Kian, Abby, Ella, and Felicity!!!