Grateful Moments

 

I have been sitting here today filled with gratitude as I have thought over a few things that have occurred recently.

The first, is continued gratitude to Discount Tire for our new tires (yes, they are going to get a card and treat from us). This past week or so has been very cold, sunny and icy here. There have been many times where we would have slid on our old tires that I give a prayer of gratitude for the new one. A couple incidences this past Saturday. We were driving home from cleaning the church building. We turned right off of SR-410 toward Sumner-Buckley Hwy. On the corner there is an Applebee's and Target. A woman in a big SUV didn't come to a complete stop before exiting the parking lot. She was busy lighting a cigarette and forgot to look both ways. Josh slammed on the brakes... accident averted. Big sighs of relief. We made it onto Sumner-Buckley which is a bit winding and was icy. Josh turned on the blinker to let cars behind us know we would be turning left onto Angeline, a street perpendicular to S-B. We were at a full stop because we needed to wait for a car going the other direction to pass before we could complete the turn. All of the sudden Josh it the accelerator. Then I heard the truck behind us sliding on the ice as he hit his brakes. I can only guess he thought we were going to turn immediately or didn't see the blinker or something. Again, the tires grabbed the road... another accident averted. So grateful for our news tires.

Second, as we finished our ride home I thanked Josh for keeping us safe on the drive home. He said, you're welcome or something. Matthew said, "Of course, he keeped us safe. He's the dad and that's what they do." I am so grateful for an AMAZING husband who is such a great example of what it means to be a man, husband and father. My son is learning the lessons.

Third, last night we were discussing some fundraising options for Ceithlinn's trip this summer with People to People. The whole family was brainstorming ideas and getting really excited about the possibilities. A sweet moment came Matthew has an idea to build a monster truck course out of mashed potatoes. He would then charge people to ride. He said he would get a whole pile of money and then he said, "I would give it to Ceithlinn for her Alaska Adventure." She immediately looked over at him with a big grin, (I was sitting between them, or she probably would have hugged him) "Oh, thank you, Matthew! That is so kind!" So grateful for my children who are learning how to truly support and love each other. They really are two of the best kids in the ENTIRE world!! So grateful for the love they share with each other.

Fourth, I am grateful to a husband who works hard to provide for our family so I have time to be at home with my children.

Fifth, overwhelmed with gratitude for the great family and friends we have that are supporting our fundraising efforts. Every time we tell people what we are doing, the outpouring of love and positivity and resources in amazing.

JUST SO GRATEFUL TODAY!

Matthew's Unspoken Rule About Losing Teeth

Matthew lost another tooth today. He was so excited. He is getting really good at this losing teeth thing. He hasn't lost that many. I think this is his fourth tooth lost in his almost 8 years. Only one tooth has been lost at school. The others have been lost/pulled with the aid of dental floss here at home. He seems to have an unspoken rule, though. (I know, you didn't realize there were rules for losing teething.) The rule is:  

Teeth can only be pulled as a stalling technique. They can be lost before bed, especially if I am already later to bed than Mom and Dad would like. OR They can be lost when I am running late for school, thus making me late for school, but it's okay because I have a great story as to why I am late.

I just had to laugh this morning as I was trying to get the kids out the door. I have learned to let it go and enjoy the moment. He gets so excited and looks so stinkin' cute with a "hole in his head," as my dad used to say. He also now has a little whistle when he says his S. Like I said, stinkin' cute.

Tire Miracle -- Jan 8, 2013

Discount Tire in Bonney Lake ROCKS!!!

Yesterday I noticed that my two front tires were bald and desperately needed to be replaced. I thought I will look at the finances and get that done tomorrow because it is supposed to snow this weekend, and driving on bald tires isn't safe. Then I was driving around a curve in the road. It was raining (I know surprising). I realized I was going a little fast and needed to slow down. I tapped the brakes and fishtailed to the right, then the left, then started to donut. I donutted off the road. I was grateful that I know how to handle that type of scenario and kept a level head. I think having two grandfathers that taught us well helped a lot. I was grateful the car was fine, I was fine and the kids were safely at school. I was also grateful I had noticed the bald tires so I was prepared for a spin in needed.

Today went to Discount Tire here. I knew I had enough in the budget for 2 tires, nothing else. I approached the man behind the counter and let him know this. He gave me an estimated cost of $248... that was about $38 over budget. I let him know that I had $210. He suggested I take out credit. I kindly turned him down saying we already had enought debt I didn't need more. He looked at the car and came back in. He told me all 4 tires needed to be replaced. They were all bald (I am horrible about rotating my tires...). I said I was sure they did, but that I only had the money for two. He said let me see what I can work out for you. He then punched in some things into the computer. He was able to lower the price to $227.94. He then proceeded to tell me that he couldn't let me leave knowing there were two unsafe tires. The quietly said that two tires would be on them. I thought I must have heard wrong and waited the half hour or so for the tires to be replaced.

A different employee told me my car was finished and signed me out. As I approached the car I noticed the back tires looked new. I thought I don't want to break down with tears of gratitude here. I will check them when I get home. Sure enough... we have 4 NEW TIRES! I am so grateful to this man and whatever funds he was able to dip into to give us new tires. I am overwhelmed with deep gratitude.

God truly is mindful of us and puts people in our path when they are needed. I am looking forward to the time when I can pay it forward and work a miracle for someone else in need.

What a week!

Nicholas Visits WA

July 20-25, 2012

This past week has been absolutely AMAZING and FUN! Come and join with me in our adventures, and hopefully, anchor memories. First, let me introduce my Marine cousin, Sgt. Nicholas St. Onge to you. We love him! Nicholas is currently serving in Washington D.C. guarding the President’s helicopter. Pretty cool job. Nicholas came for a visit in May when Obama came to Seattle. (I will write about at length later). We had lots of fun and thought that would the only time we would be seeing him in this capacity. Well, much to our joyful surprise Nicholas got to come again this past week! The conversation we had when he called to let us know he would be in town went something like this.
   N: Hi, Jeni, this in Nicholas.
    J: Hi! (I was a bit excited) Are you calling to let me know you are coming to Seattle?! (a bit sarcastically)
  N: Actually, I am. (laughing)
   J: (now a little shocked) Are you serious? You’re really coming again? (still not completely believing).
  N: Yes, I will be there sometime around the 20th.
   J: Wow, that is so cool. I am so excited! (I was dancing the jig of excitement in the kitchen)

We were all so excited to be able to hang out with Nicholas again. He arrived the afternoon/evening of the 20th and stayed through the morning of the 24th. We were able to spend LOTS of time with him thanks to his Master Sargent who agreed to take some extra shifts.

I spoke with Nicholas the evening of the 20th, just trying to figure out schedules. I let him know that our family has started hiking different trails up Mt. Rainier. I asked if he would be able to come with us. Sometimes service members have to stay within a certain radius of work in case of emergency. I was really excited when he said he could join us, that he was basically on vacation the next few days.

(little tangent) You see, I LOVE Mt. Rainier, and I love to share Mt. Rainier when I can. I have a goal to  summit Mt. Rainier in two years. Around my 35th birthday I started thinking about how I was approaching mid-life. Then I thought about mid-life crisis’ that I had heard of. I thought I don’t want a crisis. I want an event. Crisis indicates drama or upheaval for family. I just didn’t want a crisis. I continued to ponder on what makes it a crisis. I came up with a couple things. First, the person is typically between 45 and 55. Second, they do something that is very unexpected. I started thinking about what my mid-life event might be. What would others not expect of me that wouldn’t have a big impact on my family. I looked to my left and saw Mt. Rainier. BINGO!! I could summit Mt. Rainier. No one would expect me to do that because I haven’t ever climbed a mountain and I don’t really care for snow and Rainier is covered in it year round. I was so happy I discovered my mid-life event. I told Josh and he said he could support that and asked if he might be able to join me in this. I said yes. Well, the more I have thought about it, the more excited I get to summit. So, I have changed the timing to 2014 instead of 2025. That will make me 38-39 years old. That said, if 38 is mid-life then the end of my life is around age 76. I am just not okay with that. So, I will plan a different mid-life event to take place when I am 45-46 years old. I’ll keep you posted. (tangent over back to Nicholas’ visit)

Nicholas got to our house early afternoon of Saturday, the 21st. We finished packing the backpack

and fanny pack (yes, we are those hikers), got in the car and drove up to the Carbon River ranger station where the kids were given Jr. Ranger badges and were asked to take the Jr. Ranger oath. A couple week previously we had been given Jr. Ranger books for them to complete and bring back in. They are really neat books that have a variety of activities for different ages. We were able to find things on our hikes, learn about Mt. Rainier National Park, and get excited about visiting other national parks. I took a video of them repeating the Jr. Ranger oath I have transcribed it here. 

“As a National Park Jr. Ranger, I promise to…

    ·  Learn all I can about National Parks and to help others learn about these special places.

    ·  Learn and follow all safety rules.

    ·  Take care of the environment and of all living and non-living things in it.

    ·  Recycle and put liter in its place.

    ·  Become a Junior Ranger at all other National Parks. “

They weren’t able to keep the hats because they belonged to real Rangers, but they thought it was pretty cool to get to wear them.

The night before our hike I jokingly asked Nicholas if he had been warned to bring a jacket. We laughed and didn’t think much of it until we got up to the Ranger station and discovered the trail we wanted to hike still had snow. We asked if it was bad and were told no. So we packed the two newest Jr. Rangers back in the car and drove about 13 miles to the Spray Park trailhead. The trail itself is 8-9 miles long, that means it’s a 16-18 mile round trip hike. We decided to only do a portion of the trail and hike to Spray Falls. This was only 6 miles round trip. The trail was pretty easy to hike because it is well-traveled, and the incline isn’t too steep. It is really pretty, too. There were several smaller falls that we stopped to look at or crossed.

On the way to Spray Falls we stopped at Eagle Cliff Viewpoint. We were hoping to possibly see eagles. They weren’t anywhere to be seen, but the clouds parted and we got a beautiful view of the top of Mt. Rainier. Within minutes of a sweet family taking our picture clouds had moved in and the mountain was covered again. We felt really blessed and in awe. (Yes, we took photos for the other family).

We continued our hike to Spray Falls and were in awe of this AMAZING 300 foot cascading waterfall! I just kept saying WOW! We hiked a little out onto some rocks to get good photos of falls. Matthew was a little scared until we were able to convince him that where he was standing was safe. Nicholas found a spot where logs had fallen over the falls. It looked like his feet were just inches from the fast moving falls. Matthew really wanted to climb out on the logs and get his picture taken. He was very upset when Nicholas said no because it wasn’t safe. The logs were further apart than Matthew could reach and slippery. There were some tears. I looked for another log he could sit on. I pointed one out that was just barely off the trail. Matthew got even more upset because in his words, “I made a promise” to protect the forest and stay on trails. Then, “You keep your promises, Mom.” I told him he was very right that we should keep our promises. Nicholas offered a better compromise. He would take Matthew down to the logs so he could see for himself how unsafe it was and still get to do what Nicholas did. This was a great solution and worked really well. (Below are pictures of the falls and us there. Panorama view of Spray Falls, Matthew scared and then happy, Nicholas on the log and help Matthew to the log.)

We walked back to the trailhead. Along the way we got scolded by a squirrel. He was following us and chattering up a storm. He sounded really angry. Finally, Nicholas chased it up a tree where it continued to chatter after us. I don’t know what we did or what this squirrel thought we did, but we got told. We now watch for crazy squirrels on our hikes.

Once back at the trailhead the kids decided to play in the snow that was still on the ground. At first it was just them walking around in it. Then Matthew decided he wanted to start a snowball fight. He sneaked up on Josh and Nicholas and threw his snowball… Nicholas said, “Good job, Buddy. “ Then promptly picked him up and said something like “now because you snuck up on a Marine, there will be consequences.” He carried him over to the snow and put some on his neck. We were all laughing so hard, including Matthew. Then Nicholas turned to Ceithlinn and said something like “Ceithlinn, because you helped, you better watch out. “ She ran and we all laughed some more. It was fun to watch them play in the snow… IN JULY!

Snowball behind the back

We got home and checked our phone messages. Ceithlinn had a message that made her open her mouth with excited shock… this Miss America discovering she is going to be crowned. She said, “Mom! You have GOT to hear this!” The message was from our library. Ceithlinn had won her choice of either a bag or a T-shirt with the Summer Reading theme on it. Each summer the library has a reading program. The kids get to enter drawings in week if they want. They earn prizes for numbers of hours read and can have fun reading through the summer. Ceithlinn has been entering the drawing to win a T-shirt or a bag for a couple of years now. So, you can see why she was totally thrilled to have won. It was a great way to end the day. We went to the library on Monday and she choose a bag.

The next day was Sunday so Nicholas came to church with us and just hung out. It was lots of fun  to just be together. Matthew grabbed his three light saber and the battle was on… It’s a good thing we have a decent sized living room and space to have saber fights. No one got too badly hurt. They are a hard plastic and can smart if contact is made. So, lots of laughter and a few close calls and a memorable day.

Matthew also decided that he wanted us to play Twister. This was fun. It’s been a while since we have played. We all took turns with the spinner and seeing who would win. I have to say that Nicholas was the Twister champion, but next time we meet that might not be the case… We are going to practice… Oh, yeah, that’s how serious we take Twister. At one point Matthew decided he wanted to have a one-on-one competition with Nicholas. He stood on one side of the mat and while jumping up and down and punching his fists said, “I’m gonna take you down!” At another point in the round Matthew looked over at Nicholas and whispered, “I’m gonna take you down.” Nicholas was gracious enough to let Matthew win. When I posted these photos on Facebook the following conversation took place.

   N: Wait, did I "let" him win?! REMATCH!!!

    J: Just make sure you have Twister when we come visit and we'll see who wins.

   J: I just told Matthew you wanted a rematch. He said the reason he "beat him up was because I am so flllexxiblllle." I think those are fighting words. What do you think, Nicholas?

  N: Bring it punk!

   J: (after Matthew said I needed to like Nicholas' last remark for him) Matthew says he's ready. "I'm going to box you down" (then begins the fight soundtrack)

Like I said, we take our Twister very seriously. (guess it’s time for me to get back into my yoga.)

After dinner Matthew wanted Nicholas to read to him. We said just a few minutes. Well, Matthew was extremely patient as Nicholas and I continued to talk for probably 2 hours or more. He was so happy when Nicholas was able to read to him. I kept thinking about when I was 10 and reading “Green Eggs and Ham” to Nicholas when he was 3. It was nice how this came full circle.



I'm gonna take you down!

Reading Time

Monday Nicholas worked in the morning, but said he would come that afternoon. Typically, Nicholas calls before he comes over. I then let the kid know and there is much rejoicing. Well, this time Nicholas just showed up and knocked on the door. Matthew was so excited to see him. He yelled very enthusiastically, “NICHOLAS!!!” Gave him a big hug and then ran to get his light sabers. (Have I mentioned that Matthew LOVES Nicholas? No? Well, Matthew LOVES Nicholas. Throughout the visit he would randomly look and Nicholas and tell him he loved him or he would give him a kiss on the cheek. It was so sweet. It just makes my heart happy.) After Nicholas started some laundry, there was another light saber duel. This time Matthew got hit a little hard and got upset. Nicholas said no more light saber duel and I agreed. So, Matthew got Uno Attack and the Tip It. Nicholas won every round of both. Not sure how that happened exactly. I will call it beginner’s luck since he hadn’t played either of those games. Yeah, that’s what it was… We will definitely be playing games when we go visit him and his family. Not sure exactly when that will happen, but definitely sooner than later.

The previous night Nicholas had mentioned that he needed to get back by 6 to get his guys from the hanger and make sure everyone was where they needed to be. So around 5 I asked if he needed to eat something before he left. He said that Master Sargent had volunteered to do that for him so he could spend more time with him. I almost did another jig of joy in the kitchen. This was going to be our last night together because Obama was coming the next day. Nicholas was kind enough to take us out to eat that night at The Ram. A really yummy steakhouse that we had heard good things about but hadn’t been to. The kids got to eat for $1 because it was Monday. BARGAIN! When we got home we spent a little more time just hanging. This picture of Nicholas cuddling Matthew says it all. We were all soaking in as much Nicholas as we could. When Matthew told Nicholas good-bye he gave him a HUGE hug and said, "I'm glad you're my Marine cousin. Marine are best!" We felt so blessed to have him be with us for so long. I love that my kids love him. We said good-bye to Nicholas that night. As we were closing everything up for the night Josh looked at me and said, “Thanks for having such a cool cousin.” Another happy heart moment.

Tuesday afternoon was exciting for us. Nicholas had helped get us clearance to see the President get off Air Force One. Ceithlinn was so EXCITED. She really loves President Obama. I think it is because his election is the first one she remembers. It was a monumental election and so the school talked more about the election process and such than I think they normally would. Anyway, that morning Ceithlinn had made a picture for Obama that reads, “President Obama equils (equals) Awesome!!!” She wanted to give it to him. I wasn’t sure what would happen with this, but didn't’ discourage it. We showed up to the airport at our appointed time. I looked around and saw all the news vans and realized really how big this was. While we waited in line to go through security a camera man/reporter from Komo 4 News saw Ceithlinn picture and asked if she would like to be interviewed. She said, “um..sure.” He then asked simple questions like what does you picture say? Have you seen President Obama before? Are you excited? Then he saw Matthew with his stuffed Marine One helicopter and asked him if that was Marine One. Matthew said he didn’t know. It was a helicopter. The man then asked if Matthew was going to see a plane land today. Matthew said yes. It’s called Air Force One. The man then asked if he was excited and Matthew said yes. He then asked his name and Matthew gave his full name proudly… Matthew David Gates. I have looked online to see if they actually made the cut, but haven’t been able to find them. So glad I took pictures. After the interview Ceithlinn told me that she felt “shaky and excited” during the interview.

While we waited to be told where to go outside Ceithlinn and I did a little hand jiving and Josh and Matthew just talked while sitting down. We were told we could go outside, that Air Force One would soon be landing. We were some of the last people asked to go out so we were toward the back. The greeting area was about 4 people deep. The kids and I couldn’t see above people’s head. I was able to negotiate Matthew through the crowd to the front. Ceithlinn is taller now so it was a little harder to get her through. She asked a woman if she could please stand in front of her a few times and the woman ignored her. I stepped forward to see if I could get the woman to acknowledge Ceithlinn when a gentleman saw what was happening and said that his kids were up front and he was sure they could make room for Ceithlinn. We thanked him profusely. She would have been so disappointed if she hadn’t been able to give her picture to Obama.

While we waited for Air Force One to land Matthew decided he had had enough of the crowd and came back to me. I thought this might happen. He really isn’t a crowds person. I put him up on my shoulders so he could see what was happening. When Air Force One landed he was my “eye in the sky” and gave me a play-by-play. There was a woman beside me with a SmartPhone who let me see pictures as she took them. Very nice.

Air Force One landing

The President exited Air Force One and greeted the VIPs. Then he came over to us. I was so thrilled that Ceithlinn was in the front and that I have a tall husband who could take some good photos for us. He got to Josh, Matthew and I first. I was really impressed when he reached over a couple people to shake Matthew’s hand. (Nicholas had told us the night before that he really like kids. I didn’t think Nicholas was lying. I was just surprised because we were a few people back. Really cool). Obama then shook my hand and said, “Nice to see you.” He seemed genuine. When Obama came to Ceithlinn I heard him say, “Wow, that’s amazing.” I knew he had seen her picture. I then saw him sign it. I asked her what happened because I hadn’t been able to see and hear it all. This is what she said happened. He said, "Hi, how are you doing? Wow, this is amazing. I'm going to sign this. Sweetie, even though you made this for me I'm going to let you keep it after I sign it." She was so excited. If you look at the guy between the camera and Obama you will see he is pulling out a sharpie. I asked Ceithlinn if Obama brought his own pen. She said, "No. A co-worker gave one to him." Co-worker... secret service... same thing, right? She told me that while he was signing her picture she kept telling herself... just breathe... just breathe. What an AMAZING opportunity for my wonderful 10 year old!! AND wonderfully, Josh got the pictures. He said he was just clicking the shutter. He couldn’t see what he was taking a pictures of. The glare from the sun made the view finder look black. So, so, blessed to have this moment caught. Ceithlinn was on “Obama high” for about 3 hours.

Obama talks w. Ceithlinn



Obama gets pen from "co-worker"



Obama signs Ceithlinn picture

Ceithlinn w. newly autographed picture

Pres. Obama signature

The family by Air Force One after the President drove off

Nicholas surprised us with a phone call saying that once we were done with the President if we wanted we could meet up and have dinner with him. We jumped at the chance. We went to Cheesecake Factory. There Josh and I tried sushi for the first time. It was good and surprisingly not fishy. We would order it again.

Josh says, "MMMMM!" after trying sushi.

There are the latest adventure for our family. We feel so blessed. All politics aside meeting the President, any President, is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are so grateful that Nicholas opened the doors for this to happen for us. We are so grateful to Master Sargent for taking extra shifts so we were able to spend so much time with Nicholas. We are so grateful for the amazing memories and inside jokes of this past week. (you’re right, I didn’t tell any inside jokes. That’s what makes them inside jokes. Also, this is getting a bit long. I just didn’t want to lose any of it so, you get the novel).

We're BAAAACCCCCKKKK!!!! (April 2012)

Wow! I always have the best of intentions to stay caught up with the family blog. I take pictures, I think this will be great on the blog and then another week passes by and nothing is written. In going through a rough outline of what I would like you to know about our lives I am missing a month. I don’t have many pictures, nothing really noted on the calendar… either we had a really boring month or I need to be better about keeping things updated.  I would ask what do you think, but I know that if you frequent this blog you would probably like more updates. So, here’s to doing better. Where were we? Oh, yes, April… the beginning of April…

April 6, 2012

Teaching the 4th Grade

I had the most wonderful opportunity to teach the whole 4th grade at Ceithlinn’s school an Irish jig.  The thought at first was to just teach her class, but then her teacher spoke with the other teachers and they wanted in. So I attempted to teach about 75 students a jig. The space we had wasn’t big enough to accommodate that many moving bodies. I taught everyone the basic skipping step, that can be don e in place, then asked them to split in half. Half stayed standing, the other half sat and watched. Then the groups traded places. Everyone that wanted to learn to dance was able to . It was SO MUCH FUN!!! I had forgotten how much fun it is to teach dance. The kids laughed and just had fun with. We even got one of the teachers in on the action. That always makes the dancing more fun.

I just asked Ceithlinn what she remembers about this day. She said that she and her friends, Katie and Jaelyn were chosen to demonstrate the dance. They pretended to be dancing guinea pigs and the three hand star was incredibly hard for everyone to get.

I had forgotten that these three young ladies had learned the easy three hand in the 2nd grade. They sort of remembered it. I thought it would be good to show everyone what the end goal was.  Why the guinea pigs you ask. Because they are 9-10 year old girls who love to be silly, and Katie has a pet guinea pig they all love, they also love to pretend they are guinea pigs at recess sometimes. What is that three hand star? All three dancer put their right hands in the middle (think hokey-pokey) and hop in a circle, then they reverse by putting their left hands in the middle. I have yet to teach a group of people, regardless of age, that doesn’t struggle with this. The good news is that once you get it, you never forget it. It’s like riding a bike. (I forgot to bring the camera so you just get to imagine the giggling chaos of 75 4th graders.)

Foster Parent Classes

Josh and I decided years ago that we wanted to be foster parents some day. Well, we feel the time is now. So, we have taken foster parent classes and are in the process of becoming certified foster parents. We will be going through a private agency. We are going to foster-to-adopt. This means we are hoping to expand our family through adopting kids that have been in the foster care system for years. We know there are risks. We know the horror stories. We know that everything will not be all butterflies and rainbows. We also know that we have been led to this. We ask that you trust us to make good decisions for our family. If you have another horror story, please keep it to yourself. We have probably heard it. Trust us… trust that we have taken this to God (multiple times), trust that we will keep safe the children we already have (this means Ceithlinn, Matthew and any others we may adopt or foster), trust that we have done and will continue to research the possibilities, trust that we will keep our hearts and minds open...please trust us. I know this plea may seem strange, but any time we have mentioned this to those close to us we are met with skepticism, horror stories and resistance. Please support us and trust us. We are not doing this alone. We trust in God. We trust in His plan and our part in that plan. We are excited and can’t wait to share with you those kids that come into our lives.

April 8, 2012

New Tradition for Easter

We started a new tradition this year for Easter. After the kids went to bed Josh and I hid eggs all over the apartment. I then left a note on the kids bathroom mirror that said “There are 74 eggs hidden in the house. Do you think you can find them? Hint: There are none in the bathrooms or laundry. Love, Mom and Dad” I thought waking up to a note like that would be fun. I was right. They were so EXCITED! They looked all over and found most of the eggs. Yes, I said most of them… this is why we use plastic eggs. If they stay lost for a week you don’t have to worry about the stink. All of the eggs were eventually found. It was so much fun that we decided this would be our new Easter tradition.

April 13, 2012

Cowboy, Knight, Sheriff

You know how all kids go through different phases where they pretend to be someone or something else? Matthew went through one of these recently when he was a cowboy, knight, sheriff… emphasis on the cowboy part. Here is the photo of this outfit. Let me break it down for you. Cowboy… snow boots, because he didn’t have cowboy boots but could pretend they were cowboy boots. Knight… the hat, of course. What you can’t see it that the back is split almost in two and barely holding together, but he loves it and can’t get rid of it. Sheriff… if you look on the jacket you will see a sheriff’s star. So, you have a cowboy, knight, sheriff.

During this phase we were driving down the rode one day and we had the following conversation:

M: Mom, do you remember when you were a kid?
Me: (hesitantly, unsure of where this will go) Yes.
M: You know, when cowboys ruled the West and everyone rode horses.
Me: (holding in the laughter) Son, we had cars when I was a little girl. No one really rode horses and cowboys didn't rule the West. That was your great-great-grandparents.
M: (disappointed) Oh.... (I think he was looking forward to a fun conversation.)

April 18, 2012

Matthew’s SAIL Award

Matthew received a Viking SAIL award at school. You may recall from an earlier post about Ceithlinn receiving the same award that SAIL stands for:

        Safe with bodies and feelings

        Achieving excellence

        Include everyone

        Leadership - making responsible choice

This award is HUGE for him because of the struggles he has had in school due to his Autism. (Last year most of his class was scared of him because when he would get overwhelmed he would throw things… pencils, chairs… he was very unpredictable and scary. This year has become different. We have WONDERFUL support and he is really improving. This is what his teacher said, "Matthew Gates is getting this award for INCLUDING everyone. Matthew is willing to work with anyone in the class. He is a friend to all. His bright smile and ability to tell a good joke, keeps me laughing throughout the day. Thank you for being a Bunker Brainiac Matthew!" So very proud of my boy and the progress he has made. So grateful to his teacher and all the many other educators we have on our team. We feel SO blessed. Here is an example. Look at the picture of Matthew with Mrs. Bunker, Natalie, Cameron and Hannah. You may notice that Matthew is clasping his hands in front of him. What you can’t see is that he is chewing on his “chew noodle” (a piece of tubing on a clasp)… rapidly and hard. Matthew was very anxious being up in front of the school. Now, notice that Mrs. Bunker has a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and is laughing. She knew how to read him. She knew he would be tense and she kept him safe.  She stayed this way until he saw us, waved and then relaxed. This is how blessed we have been with all of the educators that have touched our children’s lives at Bonney Lake Elementary.

A side story to this: One of the other kids that received an award was one of our tenants named John. I noticed his mom wasn’t able to make it. I asked if I could take a picture of him to give to his mom. He said sure and the photo was taken. The boy next to him said my mom isn’t here either and looked at me expectantly. I said I don’t know who your mom is. I wouldn’t be able to get her the picture. He said her name is Janice (or whatever it was). I knew I needed to make this happen. So I took the picture, asked who his teacher was and said I would get her the photo to get to his mom. He was so happy! A few days later, as promised I gave both John and Travis their pictures to give to their moms. After that every time Travis saw me he would give me a big smile and a happy hello. I loved that I was able to make him feel special and hopefully help his mom be a part of something special for him.

April 18, 2012

Josh’s 36th Birthday

Josh’s birthday was on the same day Matthew received his award. Matthew decided in March that we needed to make this alien cake for Josh’s birthday. He originally wanted it for his birthday, then changed his mind. I made the M&M cake. Once that cake was made he asked where the alien cake was. I thought are you serious? Wonderfully Josh doesn’t really care what kind of cake he gets for his birthday, so we were able to appease Matthew by making this cake for Dad. It was pretty cool. Angel food cake, Twinkies, glow sticks and a few other things. Fun and fairly easy to make.

Ceitlhinn was content to give Dad a DVD, "National Treasure." Matthew also decided that he wanted to buy Josh a gift. This wonderful nerf type gun. Of course, Matthew played with it way more than Josh and it was broken and the parts were all missing within the week. It was fun while it lasts and made the cashier cry. She asked Matthew if he was getting the gun for himself. He walked away (Autism thing, we are working on it). I explained that he decided he wanted to get his dad a birthday present. She got teary and told me to cherish these moments and that we had just made her night.

April 25, 2012

Jog-a-ton

Each year the school put on a Jog-a-thon for fundraising efforts. I really like this one because the  kids are having to “work” for donations. They aren’t selling something that nobody needs and it is promoting health. The can get pledges per lap ($.50/lap) or as a flat rate ($5.00). The kids then run for 30 minutes and tell those that have pledge how well they did after the fact. For some unknown reason I don’t have pictures. I am guessing I was getting ready to move, way involved with school and finishing up being an apartment manager… just a few things. Just picture the kids running. Ceithlinn ran 12 laps and Matthew ran 10 laps. Let me put that into perspective for you. 4 laps equal a mile. So, Ceithlinn ran 3 miles, averaging a 10 minute mile. Matthew ran 2.5 miles, averaging about 10.5 minute mile. Really good. I know I can’t do that any more, though I am working toward it. WAY TO GO KIDDOS!!!

A Little Randomness

Ceithlinn and Michael Buble song

Ceithlinn has really enjoys listening to Michael Buble. One day we were in the car listening to one of his CDs and this is how the conversation went:

C: He speaks really good English.
Me: Sweetie, he's Canadian. They speak English there.
C: No they don't. They don't say "about" they say "a-boot." You really can't hear his accent at all.
Me: (I didn’t even try to hide the laughter and replied) Accents like that don't usually come across in songs. I then told her this was going to be shared. She seemed rather pleased.

I absolutely LOVE my children and how they see the world.

Anchor Memories

Someone shared this with me on Facebook and it really struck me. Basically, anchor memories are ones that we remember all our lives. They are usually something small and wonderful. The author gives the example of being pulled from school unexpectedly and being able to spend the day with his family in a sporty car. Small but wonderful.  One of the reasons we strive to do a variety of things with our kids is to give them anchor memories to fall back on when life gets tough. We also want to create fun and easy traditions. We want to create a wonderfully loving family atmosphere. What are some of my anchor memories? Dancing with my dad to Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t Make My Brown Eyes Blue” when I was 5. I can still feel my legs swaying against his hips and he rocked us back and forth… Going to Canyon Glen with my great grandparents and having the most delicious watermelon because great grandpa had put it in the river to cool. Every time I eat watermelon I think of him and smile… Hiking to Bridal Veil Falls with my mom and just enjoying the beauty of the waterfall. I think she gave me my love of waterfalls… those are a few of mine. Simple, sweet and inexpensive. For me it is about being together. What are your anchor memories? What anchor memories will you create with the children in your life?

http://jasonfwright.com/column/Summertime-is-the-perfect-time-to-create-anchor-memories.html