Grandparent's Visit, Ethan's Birthday, New Clothes, School, fun stuff...

So, obviously I am doing horribly at maintaining a blog, and I'm fairly certain I've lost all my readers, but that is okay :). I'm been very busy, so I haven't had the time to update my blog. (scroll down for pictures, some are in the post and some are at the end of the post...).

Right now I'm in the middle of fall semester. I decided to take 15 credits this semester to try and get a big chunk of necessary classes out of the way. It has been very stressful, and I wouldn't recommend trying to take that many credits while being a parent. I am surviving though, as is my family. Ryan has had to help out a lot this semester with housework, and I have greatly appreciated his help. I'm loving the material I'm studying this semester, most of it is on families, parenting, and marriage. I picked a cluster (half a minor) in family studies because it sounded fairly "easy" and because it was available online. I didn't realize how powerful the material would end up being, and I've been wondering lately if this was actually the main purpose of me getting the inspiration to finish my schooling.

My parents surprised me last Thursday by calling to say that they planned on visiting this week. They have never been able to simply come up for a visit (normally they are on the way to somewhere, and they can only  visit for several hours). They arrived Tuesday and just left this morning. It was very, very nice to have them here, and I think I'm going to go into withdrawals now that they are gone. It was nice to have people around the house to talk to, and my parents were so helpful and sweet. On Wednesday Ethan skipped school and my parents took me and the kid's shopping for clothes for the kids. Violet was in heaven in the shoe section of one of the stores, because she loves shoes so much. Then Thursday my mom spent a great part of the day making and canning applesauce from apples they picked in their yard, to put in my pantry. It is the funniest color of green, but it tastes soooo good! My house smelled like apple pie and fall after I put a bunch of different spices into the applesauce. My Dad tinkered around in our semi finished bathroom, and figured out an electrical problem we have been having in our remodeling, so that was appreciated. My home had such a warm "homey" feeling having family around, with my parents tinkering and cooking and cleaning.

New clothes and dress shoes from grandparents.

Ethan playing with his birthday presents from both sets of grandparents. Avengers and batman, you just can't go wrong with those action hero's. 

It was surprisingly relaxing to have my parents here, even though I was worried about how I was going to get homework done while they were visiting. It was nice to be able to work on my homework and not feel bad about the house or kids because I knew that my mom was around to help. The kid's took really well to my parents, even though they have only seen them a handful of times. Violet even went to both my mom and dad willingly, and she thought that my dad growling at her (which use to make Ethan cry) was funny and would laugh.

Monday was Ethan's birthday, and I didn't end up having time to have a birthday party like I wanted with all of his friends, but we still managed to have a fun day with him. I didn't get his pie made until yesterday, but he was so happy to have a pumpkin pie, and he didn't mind that it was a little late.

My parents brought me some peaches, so hopefully I will get to them today. I also hope I can get to the yard work before it freezes hard or snows... we will see. I also finished Violets room, at least as much as I can do in it for right now. I was going to make her cute curtains, but I just don't have the time. So, when I either find some cute ones I like someday, or have time to make some and cute material to use, than she will get some cute curtains. Next step is to finish Ethan's room. Hopefully we can get to that soon, I think he has had pink walls long enough.

The rest of the pictures are just pictures I've taken recently of the kids. 

Violet loves to sit in her chair. I'm not finished refinishing her chair, I made the seat, but now I need to paint the rest of the chair the color I want. A project for another day... probably after Christmas... She will crawl into her chair with her blanket and a book and sit there for a long time "reading". 

It's very cute to listen to her babble while I do my homework. 

I have a photo from when I was a kid where I look identical to 

Violet in this picture, same smile, face and hair.

Violet is obsessed with drawing and "reading". She doesn't play with toys, instead she spends all of her time pretending to draw or actually drawing, or pretending to read. 

Ethan is going to be bumblebee for Halloween. He got his costume on his birthday and was pretty excited. 

our hectic life

My mom and my brother came through on their way to the MTC back in April. Unfortunately for Charlie, he had car trouble, which meant he and my mom had to sit around my house for an afternoon. It was nice having them visit, though. He is going to be serving a mission in Portugal for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for two years. Right now he is in the Missionary Training Center having a crash course in portugese... :)

 some cute pictures of Violet. I love my green livingroom, but I promise it's not as intense a color as the photos show. Or maybe it is... I don't know :)

My dogwood tree bloomed! I didn't think it was going to bloom this year, the flowers started out as tiny green hips which slowly grew and changed color 5 times. seriously. They started out green, than changed to red, than pink, then lime green and are now almost white and dying. It was the strangest thing, but I love that it bloomed. And that it didn't die of course....

Ryan and Ethan went with Ryans family to Lagoon a couple of weekends back, and had a blast. I stayed home with Violet to work on schoolwork and paintings. I'm hoping to spend this weekend painting again, and it would be wonderful if I could get this current painting finished.



Ryan pulled out his lego ships a couple weeks ago, and him and Ethan had some epic battles. Ethan spent a great while playing with them very carefully by himself by the window. The light was beautiful, so I took some pics with Ryan's phone to use a reference photo's for a future painting. This was the only pic Ryan sent to my e-mail, it's not the best out of what I took, but I still think it's cute.

I have been working hard trying to do school online, taking 13 credits. I'm also attempting at trying to keep the house clean, laundry done, and keep up with yardwork. It's been crazy. I work one day a week for several hours, which adds to the hectic craziness. We are making it, though, and I am pleased to say that for the first time in my life I am gettting straight A's. I am learning so many cool things that I'm dying to share with anyone I can, but most people really don't care to have a discussion on the creation of the universe or the early history of the American government.

I think I have worked it out that I won't be going up to Rexburg this fall for classes, after all. I decided that getting the Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2D studies was an unnecessary thing for me and my family, and would require more than I can give at this point in my life. So, I decided to go with the Bachelor of Arts in 2D studies. I will take as much online as possible, but I will still have to go to Rexburg for at least one advanced art lab class. It just won't have to be this fall, it will probably be next spring. The difference between the two majors is the fancier major requires that I go to Rexburg for two semesters, plus produce a portfolio of artwork that is held to very high standards. I still want to be a professional artist, but I don't have the time to devote to constantly producing artwork of the caliber needed.

I've gotten a lot of negative thoughts and comments from people on the subject of me going back to school and going to Rexburg for a semester, but I know in my heart that this is the right course and it will all work out. I should be done with school by the end of next spring, and I'm so excited for that. I'm also greatful for the positive, uplifting and supportive people in my life who are helping me figure out the best route to take to achieve my goals while having the best impact on my family. I'm also greatful for Ryan for supporting me in this, it would be near impossible to do if he wasn't supporting me. When I'm finished with my schooling Ryan said we could have a really nice art show for me to make up for me not getting the BFA like I always wanted. It makes me happy to plan on that.

sweet children

Ethan's Good News

I had a meeting with Ethan's teachers, principal, and speech pathologist today to go over his IEP (individual education plan). I love his teachers, they are wonderful. They work so well with him, and he is doing so well that they said if he were to be tested today he wouldn't qualify for speech therapy. This is remarkable improvement since a year ago he could only say a few words, and now he can form sentences, and ask/answer questions. Luckily, they only test every 3 years, so he can still have the help he needs. It was nice to sit with people who know my child as well as I do, and go over the concerns I had. I have had many people express concerns to me over different things Ethan does or does not do, and it was nice to sit with people who could put my worries at ease, and know that they are working with him. I'm so proud of him, he surpassed their expectations for speech and development so much that it took them completely by surprise. He is one smart little boy :).

Washington Trip Part 1

Last month I decided to go home to Washington for a visit, and stayed for about 3 weeks. I don't go home very often, once a year if that. It is a long drive with children, esp. when you are by yourself, so I decided that if I was going to go I might as well stay long enough to make it worth the long drive. The main reason I had for going home was to visit my Grandma Nelson, so she could see my children. She isn't doing well health wise and I don't know how much longer she will be around. I will post pictures of her and the kids in the next post.
I am from a very beautiful area, and I was excited to see it again. The above picture is of a canal/reservoir that is just outside my town area, along the route there. I tried to get some good pictures of it myself, but the weather didn't want to cooperate for my dinky cell phone. I have some on film i'll need to get developed. This picture is from this website, where the photographer also has several other really good pictures of the area. http://www.jeffpolston.com/eastwash.htm

While home we watched grandpa, uncle bruce and some other friends of my dad help put on his new metal roof; went to the beach on on Lake Roosevelt, behind the dam; picked 11qts of blackberries; visited friends up near Republic (very beautiful area up in the mountains north of my town); did yard work for my mother; and saw people I hadn't seen in a long time, some not even since High School 9+ years ago.

 

Ethan had fun playing on the granite boulders while I risked my life to pick blackberries. Some of the bushes were seriously monsters, they towered over me, and the thorns were nasty. It was worth it though, I now have plenty of berries for pies and other good stuff this winter.

Last thursday I drove to Spokane to spend a couple days with my sister Rachelle, and also see my brother Levi. I am so impressed with Levi, he is going to school at ITT in Spokane, and just got a job at the airport cleaning airplanes at night time. He seriously rides his bike home at 3 am from the airport, and it takes him about an hour. It scares me having him do that, but at the same time, i'm impressed with his willingness to do hardwork to achieve his goals. Things don't come easily for him, but he still works hard at them. We spent friday afternoon with Rachelle and Levi at Manito park (a botanical series of gardens and green house) in Spokane. I had never been there and it is beautiful.

I will post more picture is future posts, once they become available. I didn't have my digital camera (still broken) and so I used Ryan's nice 35mm camera. The pictures in this post were all taken with the cameras on Rachelle and my phones.

My Sweet Peas

Ethan has been so good with Violet, he tells people that she is his Violet. He can get her to stop crying, and she lights up whenever she sees him. He can get her to laugh more often than mommy. She loves her big brother, and I'm going to work hard at helping them to always be friends.

I've started feeding Violet solids, and she LOVES vegetables. She'll tolerate fruit, but you can't spoon the veggies in fast enough. She is really good at using her tongue and tries really hard to talk. She is getting better at making sounds, and will let out random squeaks and squawks that crack us up. She has discovered her hands, and yesterday she discovered her feet. Pretty soon she will have them in her mouth along with her hands. :). She is the sweetest baby, and even though it looks like she might be beginning to teeth, she is only mildly fussy. She is getting better at playing with toys, and reaching out and grabbing things.

My friend Mirinda gave her a doll, and she loves it. She cuddles it up against her face. It's very cute.

This is one of the boys I work with (i'm only a substitute now) holding Violet. The two brothers love Violet, and she likes riding around on their wheel chairs.