Davy Love Handsome Boy

Wednesday night, I was laying in bed, unable to fall asleep for some reason, when the thought suddenly struck me that it was the last week of May and that meant graduation week for Arizona schools! And I have a younger brother that is graduating. How did that sneak up on me so fast?! Out here, the schools don't get out for another month, so graduation hasn't been on my mind at all. I even wondered if he was graduating at that very moment, but a quick text assured me it wasn't until the next night.

Well then I started getting all nostalgic and thinking about David as a baby, with his big chubby cheeks, and mischievous ways. I was nine when he was born, which meant I was in my prime babysitting years when he was just a couple years old. To me, David (or Davy Love Handsome Boy as we like to call him) has a special place in my heart. I've changed too many of his diapers to not feel like his second mom.

Unfortunately for him, being the 5th child and born amidst transitions and moves, he may have not always gotten the most attention. I have memories of him filling my new sneakers with sunscreen, getting into my oh-so-important things, and deciding the back of the couch was as good a toilet as the porcelain one. I was constantly {getting after him} resulting in crying episodes on his bed. I always felt bad later, and would go in to apologize, so often so, that one time, all I did was open his door when he sarcastically and hurtfully shouted from his bed, "I KNOW, you're sorry!". Ouch. I suppose my early {mothering} years could have used an extra dose of patience.

We moved into our new house when he was three (we had previously been living in my nearby Grandparent's house while they served a mission) and he didn't take the new transition too well. In fact, one day my mom was awakened from a nap to an elderly couple who had found David on his bike trying to cross a main road on his way "home" to Grandmother's house.

He would also get nightmares frequently, and one night I remember drowsily becoming aware that David had crawled into bed with me. Mom and Dad had a strict "no sleeping in their bed" rule and I guess my bed was his next haven. I think I was too tired to be of any real comfort and he was gone by morning.

I also remember him being afraid of his shadow and whenever he saw it, he'd hug you so tight you thought he'd never let go. I loved that. Maybe that's why we liked to point out his follower as often as we could. (Not to mention the scary Dinosaur show... you know... Not the Mama!... he was terrified of that show and we shamelessy exploited that weakness)

David is also very funny. He can always make you laugh. Him and my other brother, Christopher, are the biggest comediens. Even though he wasn't trying to be funny, we always like to bring up the time we were on family vacation, lost in California, and starving. We had been driving for hours, looking for a place to eat that would fit a family of 8, and had eventually taken to silence when we heard very young David in the back of the car, pipe up in the most pitiful and slightly vindictive voice, mutter, " I just wish you all were big pieces of chicken." We just died laughing, knowing full well how much he meant it.

Many, many years later, my parents went on vacation to Bermuda and Travis and I moved in for a week to be in charge while they were gone. Now David was 15 and had decided it would be ok to {borrow} the family suburban, even though he had neither a permit or license. I got a frantic call at work, from my siblings thinking the car had been stolen. We eventually figured out it was David who had taken the car, and not a brazen criminal who had broken into our garage. With no parents in the country, I got to track him down. I went to his friend's house first, and was getting back in my truck when he rounded the corner and saw me in the street. I will always remember the look on his face as he came to a stop, grinding the gears and realizing his fate. I felt like such a parent as I swung open the driver's side door, yelling at him to get out and berating him all the way home. Temper cooled, we had a really good talk later about what had happened. Obviously I had never done this before, and even though I was flying by the seat of my pants, I felt prompted and blessed as we talked and resolved everything.

Now David is not a hoodlum :) Maybe I haven't painted the best picture, but these were just some of the memories flooding my mind Wednesday night. David is the life of the party. He loves to have a good time and always has a lot of friends who like to soak up his fun loving personality. He is really smart and can debate any topic under the sun. To his advantage of course :) I think he'd make a crazy good lawyer. He has so much potential and after learning about some things promised in his Patriarchal Blessing, I know that he'll have a big impact for good on this earth.

Thursday was a hard day for me knowing that I couldn't be at his graduation ceremony. I cried and cried. Sweet Marcie sent me picture updates throughout the day of all the graduation festivities. That way I got to feel a bit more {a part} of the day. After passing this milestone, it has me quite apprehensive for the day he leaves on his mission. It's still nine months away, so I have some time to stock up on tissues. Not that David reads my blog, but I love you David. Thanks for helping me with my sorry parenting skills and always being my sweet, Davy Love Handsome Boy.

It doesn't get any more exciting.....

.... than looking for your lost wedding ring.

Bachelor status is at bay once again.

Scrapbook Convention

Today I spent a few hours in a foreign culture... a scrapbooking convention. There was a huge convention downtown in the Buffalo Convention Center and I was asked if I could help out one of the vendors, Heartstrings Designs. They are a company based out of Orem, UT and yes, it turns out the owners are Mormon- shocker. :)

I was in charge of teaching a little demo at this table. I got to learn how to use a {crocodile} and didn't lose any fingers in the process! The women were so funny. They were just tickled to be there. They would walk up with their stuffed bags of scrapbooking parafernalia, plop down and go to town on the stencils, ink, and ribbon. I was hoppin' busy, passing out supplies, teaching them how to do certain designs, and offering suggestions (I know... ME, teaching these fanatical scrapbookers something is a little hard to believe).

I was only there a few hours, but I actually enjoyed it. At the very least, it was interesting to be exposed to the world of scrapbooking. I felt a little our of place. I imagine it would be like walking into a Star Wars Convention or something similar and not knowing who Yoda is. You just don't quite belong. That's how I felt. And these people drop crazy money on this stuff. Aren't we in a recession? :) Oh well, all in the name of scrapbooking!

Beaver Island Beach

Just a mere 20 min. jaunt from our house lies a fantastic state park called Beaver Island. And best of all, it has a beach. Now, it may not have the best sand and there may not be waves, but gosh darn, I love it. Since the boys have Tues. and Thurs. off (which they'll be using to study for the boards- but not last week!) we headed off to Beaver Is. with the Shaws to enjoy the sweltering 78 degree day. :)

We had a little picnic.....

(I usually tear off bites for him, but I had set it down and the next thing I knew he was eating like a big boy. So cute)

.... enjoyed the warm sand, except for Collin. I think he was boycotting it because it wasn't quite Crystal Beach sand.

Turns out, he wasn't a big fan of the water either.

But baseball... well that's a different story!

He was aiming for stands, and Dad's neck got in the way.

Well, we just had to have a photo shoot....

I love both their smiles in this one...

Disregard Gavin's obscene hand gestures, I don't know what his mother teaches him! :)

It took a little while, but Collin became quite the cheeseball. He's a sucker for attention.

Well, we may have jumped the gun on the beach trips, but it worked out in our favor, because they weren't charging entrance fees yet! Score! And it looks like it's getting up to 82 degrees next week, so the beach may be calling our name again soon.

Mutual Farewell

Last Wednesday we had a combined mutual/ farewell party for 3 of our kids leaving us this month. I played a memory game with them first, using scripture masteries, then came the crazy stuff. I mostly posted about this and included the video, just so I could remember how it worked, because these would be fun to play at family parties, girls camp, etc. The kids had a blast and we all left with headaches from all the {wooing}.

 In the first game you pass the {slap} from person to person and when you {pass} you make a clicking noise. If you mess up somehow then you have to {woo} instead of click. Finally, you would have to say {moo} and then if you mess up again, you're out. The second game involved learning a sequence of hand claps that gradually get faster and faster and if you mess up then you're out. We had a good turnout which meant lots of noise and taming of the wild beasts via the leaders. I think I've finally come to terms with being a leader. At least it's not weird to me anymore. And what amazes me most is how much I love these kids. I am a lucky girl to have this calling.

Ho Hum

There's a reason I've been MIA the past couple weeks... there's nothin' goin' on! Well, nothing beside the usual anyway. The weather took a turn for the worst and I've been cursing Buffalo springs ever since. It even snowed on Mother's Day! Mother's Day for crying out loud! Which, by the way, besides the weather, was a fantastic day. Full of sleeping, eating, and not lifting a finger. And amazing talks at church.... Rachel- haven't you been translated already?

We made it through finals week. I say WE because I think I did my fair share of sacrificing. Well, maybe that's not really true. I didn't stay up at night studying, battling headaches, colds and the like. But once it was over and I got to spend time with Trav again, I felt like we were on a second honeymoon. Even though we had been {living together}, I felt like I hadn't seen him in weeks. (Mother-how do you do it?) Now he is officially a THIRD YEAR (woot woot) and 50% dentist. He just started spring extention and has his own {operatory} so it's exciting for him to have patients and start practicing what he's been studying for so long!

This also means we are starting to say goodbye to our great 4th year friends. Sadness. Briste and Dave were our first friends in the Buff. They let us stay at their house and helped us find our home. We owe them big. I will miss Briste and her carefree personality. She is so easy going and fun to be with. Last year, we didn't really have any friends graduating, so this year makes it really hit home. This experience doesn't last forever. There is a finish line. And once you reach it there's a big, fat question mark over your future. Where will we go? How do I say goodbye to the friends we've made out here? Trav jokingly asked me the other day what I'll do when I have to say good bye to Rachel. I just glared at him and told him {that's not funny}. I suppose I'll stop thinking about it. I mean, it's still far away, right?

Diana hosted one last {girls night} at her house last week for all those leaving and those of us that wanted to say goodbye. We ate "Buffalo" food, including pizza, wings, Buffalo dip, Crystal Beach drink, "Buffalo Balls", etc. Here is some of the crew!

Like I said about the weather.... yuck, yuck, YUCK! Twice, it seemed to be warm enough for a picnic, so I coerced Trav into heading to Cheektowaga Town Park. We got out, started eating, and I'm shivering from cold. It's not even enjoyable. I was ready to call it a day after 10 min., but Trav threw his jacket on me and took Collin to the playground for a couple swings.

Above, you can kind of make them out on the swings. Here I am, feeling sorry for myself.

Do you think Collin minded the cold? Of course not. He spazzed out when we tried to walk away. If you can see the ramada in the background, that's where we tried to have a ward party last Friday to say goodbye to all the families leaving. It. was. miserable. SO windy. Everyone was trying to eat their subs and visit, like we weren't about to get frost bite.

Subsequently, we've been spending a lot of time indoors. This picture was taken a few weeks ago, but shows what Collin's new favorite hobby is. (Btw, don't ya love the flat top? haha) You see, we started losing things. One night we couldn't find the remote ANYWHERE. He also has a fettish with the trash can, so Trav grudgingly went outside to rifle through the garbage that was just taken out. No remote. We searched everywhere and in the process found a stash of toys that he had thrown behind the entertainment center. Still no remote. It finally showed up in the recycling bin, but what was funnier was that the next morning when I plopped him down to play, he crawled over to the {toy corner}, saw his pile of balls and puzzle pieces that Trav had retrieved from behind the entertainment center, and promptly started putting them all back again.

Here he is depositing his ball. He loves to throw his toys or really anything, where it can't be reached. I've already had to clean out the crevice between the fridge and dishwasher. Stinker. He's also ruined my phone by sucking on the bottom where the charger goes in. My phone that's lasted 4 years. And since Trav used my update since his broke early, I've barely missed the next renewal date by a month and a half. Sigh. Such is life with a child. 

Mother's Day

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day. Trav woke up with Collin so I could keep sleeping. I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom at 8:30am and when I came out, Trav was at the base of the stairs with "breakfast in bed". So I hopped back in bed and enjoyed my pancakes with applesauce. Collin joined me for a few bites. He was wearing his Old Navy separates pajamas and I kept thinking he looked so big in my arms, opening his mouth for more, and crawling all over me. We hurried and got ready for church then picked up the LaMacchia girls. It was snowing light flakes as we drove. It hasn't snowed in over a month. What luck.

Collin was a stinker during most of church. He just wants to crawl everywhere and gets frustrated that he can't. And it's his nap time, so that doesn't help. Rachel Nielsen gave an amazing talk in sacrament meeting. I didn't think it was nice that they assigned her to speak on Mother's Day since she lost her mom in college and hasn't been able to get pregnant herself. But of course she did amazing and was the perfect speaker. If everyone spoke as well as she did, I'd pay a lot more attention during church.

Young Womens was wonderful as well. We had seven girls come and Dorothy gave a great, light hearted lesson, that involved the girls a lot. I've been sooooo frustrated with Sabina, and even thinking that maybe I needed to ask to be released, but my patience was renewed today. I feel like I'd put up with anything or anyone for these girls. I really love them so much. I love being their leader and hopefully their friend.

When we got home from church, Trav ushered me upstairs for a nap, put Collin down, and got to work in the kitchen. I was a little nervous about that, but he only came up to ask me one question, and he made an amazing dinner. I need to let go more. I walked over to invite Clare, the widow that lives two doors down, for dinner and she accepted. I felt bad that we hadn't thought of inviting her til the last minute, but I'm glad she came. Trav made a roast, mashed potatoes, HOMEMADE crescent rolls, and steamed broccoli with brownies and ice cream for dessert. It tasted great and it was nice to visit with Clare. After she left, Trav started the dishes and wouldn't let me help.

Did I mention that he also surprised me with roses? White ones with pink edges. Oh, and chocolate. Twix to be exact. And two Sweatheart rolls. He knows me well. We had an agreement that if he didn't buy me anything then I wouldn't get him anything for Father's Day. So Saturday night, we were at the grocery store and he told me to pick out a chocolate bar. I wanted a Twix but didn't think that was very fancy so I picked a Symphony bar. Well, that stinker tricked me the next day with flowers and the REAL candy I wanted. I ate way too much sugar on Mother's Day but it was worth it.

It really was a wonderful day. I felt very taken care of and pampered. Much better than getting materialstic things. I got a message from my mom while I took my nap that was so sweet. She was crying and thanking me for the package and card I had sent her. She said she felt so blessed that we were "put together" and how lucky she was to have me as her daughter and that she felt so loved. I was so glad. My mom had major surgery on Wednesday and will be recovering for 6-8 weeks. It was kind of the aftermath surgery for having so many kids. My poor mom has really paid the price for having so many children. But she never complains about that. It makes me feel selfish because I still don't feel ready to have another child and one of the reasons is what it will do to my body! It's awful, but true. It's not easy to balloon up, give birth, get no sleep and try to get back to normal. It's been much harder than I ever thought it would be. But of course, nothing, NOTHING compares to Collin's smile. His laugh. Or when he snuggles into me. I love when he just lets me hold him. It's fun to have a little shopping buddy (when I'm not in a hurry and he's not screaming :) And I love watching him discover new things and learn new "tricks". Right now, he's saying Dada and it's so cute. We're still not sure if he connects Trav to Dada, but he says it nonetheless. He's such a ham. We were at Red Robin on Saturday night and he kept trying to get people's attention, then smile super cheesy to get a reaction. He took his first steps last Thursday. He will stand up and take a few steps then fall down, but he only does it occasionally. He's just getting SO BIG! How did this happen? How do I slow it down? I love him so much I can't describe it. And as for his dad, well, I am a smitten kitten. He is so good to me. He is my best friend. He will do anything for me and shows me every day how much he loves me. Am I lucky or what? It was a wonderful Mother's Day.

Feliz Cumpleanos en Cinco de Mayo!

Last Wednesday we had a little fiesta/birthday party for mi esposo. He hit 27 this year, slowly creeping toward 30. I felt bad for him because he's been sick all week and has been studying nonstop for finals, getting next to no sleep. He actually took 2 finals on his birthday. I was excited to party and spent the whole week cleaning, shopping, and preparing to have a muy bueno time. I've also been unconscioulsy substituting Spanish words throughout my vocabulary (whether it fit or not) and I'm sure all will be happy when I've quit doing that :) We had to get decked out in our Spanish best....

Collin became instantly concerned when he spotted a much hairier mother and father.

But it wasn't long before we got to him too!

Here are some of the guests who joined us despite busy schedules and finals to study for...

It's not a party unless Kan Jam is invited

(side note.... turns out my brother sent this to us, not my parents, as a thank you for showing him around Palmyra and Buffalo... thanks Christopher!)

I didn't get a pic of the latecomers, but thanks to all who came and made it fun!

I was excited to cook up the Mexican food... we had chips and green salsa (my favorite), bean dip, taquitos, Spanish rice, and green and red enchiladas. And for dessert... Fried/No Fried Mexican Icecream. I think I'll just start calling it Fake Fried Icecream. And of course, birthday cake!

What's a fiesta without a pinata?! The kiddos took some swings at it first, then..

Trav gave it a try. But not really... Doug was making it kind of difficult to swing at something that wasn't even near by! Eventually he got a hit and the body separated from the head, but didn't spill its guts. So I had Doug just give it a punch and dump.

Jackpot!

Nice try, Collin!

I think it was a success! We jammed out to Spanish music, ate til we were stuffed, and finally got rained out. Thanks for being born Trav! I suppose some credit is due to Paula :) I love every day I get to spend with you. This makes 15 years that we've known each other, and every year gets better and better.

Now for the present....

several months ago, I was cleaning out my scrapbooking things (which never get used) and I came across some mission pictures of Trav. I remembered how he'd lamented that some of the pics he sent home never got developed and he didn't have a "mission picture book". So I thought it would be nice to collect all the pictures and scrapbook them. Funny how seemingly simple ideas turn into massive, endless projects! His mom was nice enough to scour her house and send a CD of pictures. I likewise scoured my house and collected pictures and memorabilia and got everything printed. I had no idea how to order them chronologically, so I grouped them by categories, then got rid of doubles and picked out the good ones to scrapbook. That alone took weeks. Then I shopped for paper, accessories, and books. Of course, it was all a secret, so when Collin napped and he was at school, I'd pull it all out, make a HUGE mess, scrapbook a couple pages, then have to clean it all up and put it away. I thought for sure one day he'd get home early and catch me. I almost wanted him to. I'm not a {scrapbooker} so coming up with new page layouts, trying to make it look cute, but not too cute, (has to be manly, right?), was difficult. After many hot glue gun burns, paint stained clothes, and even a blood blister from trying to unscrew the book cover, it was DONE. I'm tempted to digitally scan each page to save online so in case there's ever a fire, 40+ hours of my life don't go up in smoke. How do people scrapbook for real? I've heard it's fun, or even relaxing, but I'm just not there yet. At least I was happy with the end product. And I think he was too. I'm afraid his next birthday just won't live up. Maybe the next 10 won't. So happy birthday for the next decade babe! I love you! :)

My twins

Last Thursday, Rach and I met up with Megan at UB north campus for a little treat. When I picked Rach up, we had to laugh because our kiddos were in the exact same outfit. How embarrassing! :) She forgot to bring her stroller, which actually worked out just fine, because we realized that they both fit great in just one. When we walked into the student center, these two stole the show. They were instant hits and had no shortage of admirers.

I attempted to balance the camera on the stroller and start the timer, but I never made it back around before the camera tipped over, due to the wiggles of the babies. So here's the beautiful Rach and Meg enjoying their Jambas! Buffalo is seriously lacking in smoothie and frozen yogurt joints, so even though it's just a mini version of the real store, we are grateful for UB opening up a Jamba!

On our way out, a girl stopped to tell us that word was buzzing around the offices now that there were two cute babies in the student center. We were some pretty proud mamas. :)

We keep a gate at the base of the stairs, but every once in a while I forget to put it up and I'll be doing the dishes or something when I hear giggles (he always giggles when he gets to the top because he knows he's being naughty and shouldn't be up there) and I'll realize he's climbed the stairs. Well this time I round the corner to see a pair of pants climbing the stairs. But where are the legs? I posed him back on the stairs for the picture, but I guess his sagging pants were hindering his ascent, so he wiggled right out of them, then finished his business. Maybe this was one of those "had to be there" moments, but the pants just looked so funny perched on the stairs as though they were mid-climb.

A little about this guy....
he's still holding strong to his ear fettish. Who needs a security blanket when you have ears? He's almost always clutching them in his car seat or when he's watching TV. Or really, anytime.... tired, excited, sad. I think it's pretty endearing. He's also caught on to signing. That's a big breakthrough! He still screams for food, but if I remind him, he'll appease me with a {more} sign. We'll work on it. He also LOVES to give high fives. When I'm feeding him, he'll only take one bite, then reach for my hand to give him high five. He also loves to wave hi or goodbye. I'm actually not too excited about this one, because it gives strangers a reason to stop and touch him when he's flagged them down at the store with a wave. I don't mind visiting with the occasional doting grandparent at Wegmans, but they add up quick and so does time spent at the store.

And in case anyone is looking for a fun {weekend} activity........

... we manage to stay completely entertained throwing popcorn at each other. It all started with a carb craving and ended up being an hour long {food fight}. The goal was to make it into each other's mouths, but that rarely happened. Of course, when it did, we cheered like we had hit a home run. Then the magical moment happened when we decided to both throw at the same time, and on the first try we BOTH got it in our mouths. I know, I know. Talent like that can't be taught. Don't be too jealous of our exciting and romantical evenings together.