Moments to Remember

I am doing this mainly for myself, and I guess for Steve, because every time I tell him one of these stories, he asks, "Have you written it down?" And I haven't. So now I will write down a few.

Campbelle is growing so fast--everyday she tells me how much by touching her toes and then pointing along the length of her body to the top of her head and saying, "See! Now I'm this big!" Then she'll stand with her face in my stomach so I can measure her and show her how high she is on me. Although I have to admit there are days when I'm ready for her to grow out of a particular stage, I have plenty of moments that make me want to yell at life, "Slow down!" I just wanted to catch some of the moments I don't want to forget.

When Steve was in Rwanda, I finally got up the energy to get Campbelle sleeping back in her bed. Going to Costa Rica threw her sleeping off, but we had been home a few months, and I was more than ready to have my bed back. After two or three rough nights of screaming, she was sleeping through the night in her bed again, and we had a nice little bedtime routine. We would read five books, turn off the light and shut the door, I'd sing her our own little version of "You are My Sunshine" while we rocked. We said a prayer and I'd put her in bed. I would say goodnight, and she'd sweetly say it back. I'd say "Sweet dreams!" and she'd say it back. I'd say "I love you!" and she'd say it back. It was all so sweet! Then I'd walk out and shut the door, and she'd let out one big rebel yell, then roll over and go to sleep. It was so funny and she did it every night! I'd stand there and wait for a second, then point to the door just when I knew it was coming--like a variety show act. One night, as I put her in bed and was just about to walk out, she sighed contentedly and said quietly, "I love to scream." Trying not to laugh too loud, I walked out the door, she screamed her scream, and went to sleep. By the time Steve and I came home from our Paris trip, she had stopped doing it, and I actually kind of missed it.

That just reminded me of another little moment--the night we came home from the Paris trip, Campbelle was already in bed, and started to cry. She had had a really rough time with us gone, and I went into her to let her know I was home. I walked in and said, "Campbelle, it's Mommy!" She tried to open her tired little eyes and squinted at me, then lifted her arms for me to pick her up. I did and she draped herself around me, with a pathetic little, "Hi," that was packed with so much relief I almost cried. I rocked her for a few minutes and she was ready to go back to bed. It was priceless.

Some of you saw this on my facebook status, but one day during the Christmas season, she was playing and let out a little toot. I teased her and asked if she tooted, and she got a really thoughtful look on her face. Then she said, "Hey! Maybe reindeer have Christmas toots!

Last Sunday while we were getting ready for church, Campbelle was determined to wear her pajamas--she did not want to wear a dress. I finally got a little exasperated and told her that "sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do because it's the right thing to do!" She said, "But I don't WANT the good thing to do! I want the BAD thing to do!" Later at church, when we walked into her little three-year-old class (which I co-teach), she picked up a small bean bag the other teacher had brought for a lesson activity. It had pictures of firetrucks and dalmatians on it. After she had studied it for a few seconds, she looked at me and asked, "So what we gonna learn about today? Jesus? or Firetrucks?"

Last night, as Campbelle was playing with play dough, she hopped up and said, "I'm tired. It's time to go to bed." She had gotten to bed late the night before, so I knew she was tired. Then she said, "How 'bout we get ready for bed then cuddle in your bed and watch ONE Maisy (her favorite cartoon right now)?" I said okay, then she changed her mind, and said, "How 'bout no Maisy, and we just cuddle in your bed!" When we climbed into my bed, I started asking her about her favorite things: colors, animal, food, then she'd ask me back. If there was a lull in conversation, she'd ask me, "What we gonna talk 'bout next?" Then she'd suggest a topic, like "baskets" or anything she could see in my room. So we'd count things, or say what color they were, or talk about things we had done that day. It was such a fun tender moment.

One other classic evening moment I wanted to remember was the other night when Steve came in our room to tell me something. As we were sitting there, I could hear Aubree in her bedroom, singing her heart out; Brinnan was in the living room playing the piano (with the piano headphones on so only she could hear it--we could just hear the keys thumping mutely), and Campbelle was dressed up in a dinosaur costume, sitting on the couch watching Barney. It was just one of those contented family moments that felt so happy and good.

Anyway, that's all for now. I just wanted to remember.

All Shook Up

I guess that title could refer to a lot of things right now, especially with news of the Haiti earthquake we have been following. Steve knows of one of his co-workers (not a TNC employee, but someone he has worked with) who was killed by it. It is such an amazing disaster, it's hard to know what more we can do to help besides donate what money we can. Truly heartbreaking.

The main reference for the title is Aubree's school play which opened last night. It is titled "All Shook Up" and the storyline is based around all Elvis music, which I love (kind of like Mama Mia is based around ABBA--which I also love)! I had never seen it before, and it was so much fun! I was really amazed at the talent at the high school, not only for the leads, but the ensemble numbers were amazing! We should have some pictures soon--Steve is one of those Dad's you don't want to sit around during one of these plays, because he is constantly taking pictures, but it makes for great memories! Campbelle can't quite sit through an entire musical, yet, but she loves it at the beginning. She loved the music and sat on my lap dancing around until she couldn't take it anymore and stood up, saying, "I need to dance!" She wouldn't settle for staying right there in our row, and moved out into the aisle where she had more room to express herself! It was so funny!

As for the weather here, it is my least favorite kind of winter, so it's been hard not to get the winter blahs. Snow, then rain, then slush. As my brother-in-law in Alaska put it--"We're walking around in a Slurpee!" Yuck!

Time to Get Back on Track

I admit it. Blogging is hard for me. I usually don't feel like there is enough going on of interest in my life to get on here regularly. Being out of the country was motivation to share our experiences with family and friends, but now that we are home and back into the normalities of life, I start wondering about this idea of sharing the details of our daily life with everyone. Is anyone really that interested? If yes, why? What I have decided is that if nothing else, it is a record of our family that we will enjoy looking back on, and it is an exercise in the discipline of writing for me, which is something I would like to improve.

The highlights of the last half of this year include, but are not limited to:

Steve's annual trip with the girls to the Fort Bridger Mountain Man rendez-vous, which to his dismay focused on the discovery of BOYS. This has led to in-depth planning on what to wear the following year, and preparations to be sure to have a special dress to wear to the Buckskin Ball.



Brinnan getting her braces off: we've always thought she was a beauty, but wow! That's a superstar smile! She has also officially surpassed me in height. It will be interesting to see just how tall she gets! As soon as school got started, Brinnan was involved in Canyon View Junior High's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It was a spectacular production and a lot of hard work. They did a great job.

Aubree has been on the Orem High Ballroom Dance Team and is enjoying her first year in High School. She is performing in the upcoming musical "All Shook Up," and has been in choir. The high school Christmas Choir Concert was one of the highlights of the season--we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Campbelle has progressed from wearing only a diaper for the first half of the year, to wearing pajamas 24/7 (except for the three hours on Sunday, when I insist she wears a dress to church). She has been enjoying the co-op preschool we have been doing twice a week with two other friends, and has been potty-trained for a while now (a miracle to me, since, for a long time, she insisted that she LOVED her diapers and didn't want to be a big girl--thank goodness for a Mickey Mouse book she wanted badly enough to decide to use the potty!).

Steve had an opportunity to go to Cuba. It was an amazing experience with lots of amazing pictures. Here is a link to his photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/sschill/2009_10_Cuba?feat=directlink

He is currently in St. Kitts and Nevis working on a project. He was asked to do a blog on the project, so those of you interested in what he is up to, it can be found at http://mapskn.blogspot.com.

As for me, I hit a milestone this year, turning 40! I actually got a trip to Paris out of it, so it was almost worth it--almost. I will be working on posting corresponding pictures soon.

Hopefully, everyone is starting out on a great note this new year/new decade. Hopefully, I can rededicate myself to writing! Hopefully, someone out there will still check in after this length of time, because even though I say I'm doing this for myself, it's hard not to get excited when I come back and find that someone has left a comment! Here's to a new year!