26 May 2013

 Lots of little things this week kept us humming around here.  It was the last week of school for Felicity and it was tangible in the air!

Monday we had our last in home foster licensing study.  We spent an hour and a half to two hours finishing up the questioning and getting things completed.  We have a date scheduled for our home inspection which is done by a third party and is more of a physical safety check and to ensure we are in compliance with state regulations.  I must say that this whole experience over the past few weeks has been very stressful for me.  I've not been as diligent in exercising and eating appropriately as a result, which doesn't, in reality, help.  I'll be glad when we've finished jumping through all the wickets, although I'm not confident that that is really an endpoint.  I think we'll have to continue to have our lives scrutinized.

We spent some time in the pool in the afternoons and playing outside in the yard.  I had a fruit cake to make Thursday night for a graduation party.  It turned out pretty well and was fairly quick and easy.  I had out of office training on Thursday and Friday, and that was a nice break from the monotony. Jeff and I had CPR and First Aid training in Tucson on Saturday morning and the instructor got us out of their before noon.

Nana got us some new games and so for Family Home Evening this week we played Twister.  Forget Yoga, that was a work out!  I wish I had taken some pictures of that, it was a hoot!  On Saturday after CPR class, we did some work around the house to get ready for the home inspection.  We took a trip to Home Depot for fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors.  We already had two fire extinguishers, but they weren't the right size/type.  It wasn't a cheap endeavour, but we figure that this also makes our home, in general, more safe for our own children.  We scoured the house for chemicals, cleaners, paint, glues, and medicines that all need to be locked up.  We have two cabinets with locks on them now for all of that stuff.

I made Arlo a matching bow tie and suspenders set on Saturday night after movie night, which was Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.  We had a very nice, quite Sunday.  We'll have all the kiddos home next week with Jeff and he'll be starting the first of his two summer school classes.  It looks like I won't be seeing him for 8 weeks as I'll be working from 7-4 and he'll be in class from 5:30-9:00.  If it helps him get to graduation faster, it'll be worth it!  We don't have any plans for vacation in the near future, so we're just going to keep on swimming and see how the summer plays out!

19 May 2013

I cannot believe that May is half over, where has the month gone?  It was quieter this past week it seems.  We did have ball practice and piano lessons this week.  Jeff has been home for summer break, so I’ve been working longer days which have changed the dynamic of the house.

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner on Thursday night and that was fun.  We’re spending lots of time out in the garden and I probably should not be allowed to go to Wal-Mart unattended, because I always seem to bring home something new to plant.  Our corn and sunflowers are at the top of the wall and I anticipate that we will be starting to hand pollinate the corn in the coming week.

We have had one chicken the past few days that does not seem to want to leave the nest.  She’s been sleeping in the nest and doesn’t want to come out with the other chickens to peck in the yard.  It’s a condition referred to as broodiness.  Basically the hen has it in her mind that she’s going to hatch an egg, regardless of the fact that we don’t have a rooster.    Given this, you can imagine her irritation when Jeff or I go out there every day, lift her off the nest and take the egg she’s sitting on.  The girls are having a hoot calling her “the broody chicken”.  For example, “Mom, the dumb broody chicken is sitting on two eggs and she pecked me when I tried to get them”.  We just love our little farm.

I had Friday off, and didn’t seem to accomplish as much as I would have like to.  I was baking a cake for a friend and was distracted enough that I put an extra two cups of water in the batter and ruined the first four layers!  After a trip to the store to get more cake mix, I was able to get all the cake baked and started to decorate Friday evening.  Saturday was a little hectic.  Jeff met up with some guys that I work with to do nerdy software engineering stuff for fun (lame) in the morning and I finished the cake and then took the kids to their baseball games.  Helen did really well and Felicity wasn’t feeling well, so she didn’t have as much fun.  We went into Tucson to walk the mall and have dinner after Jeff got home.

We had a nice Sunday with church in the morning and dinner with my parents.  It was a great week.  Next week we have the last of our home study interviews and Felicity’s last week of school.  We have dentist appointments and Jeff and I are doing CPR and First Aid training.

12 May 2013

 Happy Mother’s Day!  What a lovely day to honor the women in our lives who have mentored and mothered us.  We had another great week.  Our garden is a favorite spot, as it usually is this time of year.  We’re starting to see little baby veggies on full and green branches and vines.  The flowers are blooming and dotting the yard with color.  It has been a pretty mild early summer, and we’ve really taken advantage of it.  So far the shady part of the garden has been the most fruitful.  I planted spinach this year as a new crop and it has LOVED the place where I put it.  We have been harvesting a salad every night by trimming the leaves from the spinach, black seed Simpson lettuce,  and beet tops.  They all seem to tolerate the trimming well and grow leaves back, so we have a renewable source of salad.  I can’t wait until we can add tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, and radishes to the salad.  I will say, that I have had the hardest time with herbs!  I planted a wide variety and have not had much luck, so I’m going to keep working on it.  We have chives and cilantro, but I was hoping for more.

Jeff had the last of his finals this week and felt they went pretty well.  He’s done with school for a couple weeks, and will be starting summer school on the 28^th.  I’m hoping he’ll be able to graduate next year, although he said he may need an extra semester, so we will just have to wait and see.  I’m so proud of him and all his hard work.  We had baseball and piano this week as well as homework and fun time.  The girls had baseball photos on Wednesday. 

Jeff and I had our individual foster care interviews this week.  I met with the representative on Thursday morning at the library and we talked about my family and upbringing.  It was an interesting activity.  We talked about the ways were disciplined as kids, how we expressed love, how we got along.   We talked about memories of my childhood.  We also talked about loss and grief and we talked about my Nana dying, and I teared up, because I still do when I have to tell that story.   I also got to share how that experience shaped my feelings and actions in later years.  He mentioned as we were sitting down that they had received a new baby that had a high likelihood of severance and they thought of us.  That made me feel good, that we were at the top of their list for that sort of placement once we are licensed.  I’m sure the right little person will come along when the time is right.  I've been thinking about it a lot lately, especially because of Mother's Day, but I have the inclination that the dissappointment and sadness I've felt over the loss of my fertility will be suplanted the day we get add to our family through adoption.  I think that experience will be one that is completely different than giving birth to a new baby, but one that wash those feelings of longing and inadaquacy away.  I'm excited.

Helen got to go to the Sahuarita Primary school for her preschool field trip.  She got to visit a kindergarten classroom and do some work, share in circle time, and play on the playground.  She had the pleasant surprise of visiting Mrs. Vaterlaus' class, who was Felicity's kindergarten teacher and our good friend.  I got the added bonus of getting pictures of the trip because of this fortunate hapinstance!

Jeff had his personal interview on Friday, and my mom watched Helen and Arlo while he met with the guy in Tucson.  Afterward, he met me for lunch so I could interrogate him about what they talked about!  My upbringing and Jeff's were very different; however, I see that those experiences shaped the people and more importantly the parents we became.  There were things that were better in his family than in mine and visa versa, neither was perfect and neither was completely awful either.  I think the marked difference for both of us, is we recognized the things we didn't like about our childhoods and we have made a conscience effort to not repeat them.  We are certainly not perfect parents, but the goal is to strive to be the best parents we can be.

Saturday I spent time in my garden, and cleaning up the house.  The girls had baseball games in the morning and I spent some times making a fruit "cake" for my mom for mother's day.  In the evening we picked up my parents to go to dinner at the golf course.  It was a nice night for a Mother's Day dinner, but they were so slow.  Since we had the kids with us, it made dining a little less than ideal.  We did have a nice time and I was happy to spend time with my mom.  Jeff let me sleep in Sunday morning and then brought me breakfast in bed.  I got a cute gift from each of the girls, hand made at school.  Jeff bought me a new hummingbird feeder and the sweetest smelling Japanese honeysuckle.  It smells just like a gardenia, which I love.  I interpreted at church and we had a nice luncheon in the third hour.  I spent the rest of the day relaxing, I even fell asleep on the porch swing.

I wish I had something profound to say about motherhood, a way to express my innermost thoughts and feelings.  I have so much gratitude for being privileged with my children and the divine calling of mother.  I try really hard to be the best mother, wife, friend, and person that I can be.  Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fall short and that's the way of it.  I am strengthened by the example of Mom, Grandma, Nana, and so many other amazing women that gave me their own unique styles with which to weave the blanket of my motherhood.  I sometimes must remember the divinity of my calling as mother when I need to correct my course.  My Heavenly Father entrusted me with three of His beloved children and asked that I care for them for a season.  It is profound, and a stewardship with which I need to remember the importance of in the nitty-gritty details of daily life.  I try not to feel overcome by the many things that I want to do as a parent to gird up my home, making it a safe harbor from the world.  I took a lot of comfort in Elder Richard G. Scott's address in General Conference entitled "For Peace at Home".  In it he said "We need not worry if we can't simultaneously do all of the things that the Lord has counseled us to do.  He has spoken of a time and a season for all things.  In response to our sincere prayers for guidance, He will direct us in what should be emphasized at each phase of our life.  We can learn, grow, and become like Him one consistent step at a time".  I'm grateful for a day to honor Mother, to honor me, to really honor womanhood.

 To Every Mother

5 May 2013

We had a great and busy week at Casa de Davidson.  On Monday night, Helen had her second Tee-Ball game.  Prior to the game, we discussed what my expectations were for her effort.  She did a much better job and seemed to really enjoy herself.  We stopped and had an ice cream cone on the way home.

Jeff finished up classes this week and has finals next week.  We're praying that they go well.  On Wednesday evening, our foster care agency representative came out to the house for our first home study.  He was there when Felicity and I got home from baseball practice.  The kids were wild, but they answered questions and I think it went well.  I was pretty anxious having someone over to see and judge us.  He came back on Friday morning for a  second visit.  It was just Helen and Arlo and they were much better behaved the second time.  He asked us several questions about our marriage and how we handle money, decisions, parenting, etc.  He also asked us about our past relationships, which I found odd.  Jeff had one 6 month relationship in high school before we were married, and I had two previous relationships.  Seeing as one of them was when I was 15, I didn't see how it was very pertinent.  We chatted for about an hour and set up appointments for next week to have individual interviews.  I hope that we made a good impression.

On Saturday we were busy also.  We had two baseball games in the morning and then we went into Tucson and stopped at the estate sale to buy a cabinet (to lock up our garage chemicals for our home inspection).  We wandered around a few stores and then had Chinese food for dinner before heading home.  Felicity picked the movie for movie night and we watched "The Little Rascals", it was too cute and the kids really enjoyed it.

 Arlo got to start nursery on Sunday!  Since Jeff and I both teach Primary, we were allowed to take him to nursery a month early.  I walked him down to the nursery rooms, and the door was ajar.  He walked right in and never looked back.  I peeked in on him about an hour later and he was sitting in a chair happily listening.  He was cheerful when I picked him back up too.  I was glad it was a smooth transition, the girls were the same way.  Never a tear, always happy to go.  It was nice to be able to teach without the extra distraction.  Starting next week, however, I'll be back to interpreting (I should probably try to get my fingers all warmed up).

We're looking forward to summer just around the corner!