Kindie Garden

My baby started kindergarten last Wednesday.  I can hardly believe it.  I'm officially old.

It was seriously the craziest week!  I'm barely feeling like I'm recovering from it all.  :)  My mom was staying with us for a few weeks while she was between residences (her contract was up on her old place, and she was looking for a new one), and on Monday- she signed a contract for her new place and started moving in.  We got a U-Haul and everything; it was no small thing (she has a lot of stuff).  We moved a ton that night and then kept the U-Haul to use again on Tuesday.  Mom took work off on Tuesday so she could finish the move.  Derek still had to work, but the kids and I went to her house to help.  We were in the middle of it all when her phone rang, and she found out she needed to drive down to Provo ASAP- a family emergency of sorts.  Craziness.  So she left, and we came home.

I put the kids down for naps and got ready for work.  As I was hurrying to get ready (and running late), my phone rang.  It was the charter school we' ve been trying to get James into for the past six months.  I seriously had called them just about every day this month to see if James had moved up the waiting list at all.  Their classes started on Tuesday (the same day we're discussing), and I knew he was close.  Just that morning, however, I'd called to see if James had made the cut and was told he hadn't.  So I came to terms with the idea of not going there and told James all about the public school he would be attending and how cool it would be and how he could even wear shirts with pictures on them (as the charter school requires uniform-type attire).  And yet, around 5:20pm on Tuesday, they called.  Apparently one of their students in the pm class did not show up to the first day of school and there was consequently an opening.  If we wanted James in, he would start the next day.

I wasn't sure of what to do.  On one hand, I'd wanted James in this school (for various reasons) for months!  Yet on the other hand, I'd lately been feeling good about the public school and had been prepping James for it.  I told the girl I'd call her back after I talked to Derek.  After a bit of discussion (and a bit of panic on my part), we decided to go for it.  I called to tell her we were in, ran the concept by James (trying to pump him up about the idea of starting school the very next day) and stopped by Walmart on my way home from work to buy school supplies and khaki shorts.  We got everything sorted and ready, and he started kindergarten on Wednesday.

I went in with him on Wednesday while they were between classes so that he could see the school and meet the teacher.  The secretary is ridiculously sweet and took him for a little tour of the school, showing the library, playground, etc. He was pretty excited about what he saw.  Then we met his teachers (one's an aide) and dropped off the (enormous amounts of) school supplies we'd brought.  We left and hit up McDonalds for a quick, celebratory lunch before school (don't worry; his breakfast was much healthier and heartier).  Derek met us there on his lunch break.  We'd wanted to have Derek give our kids a father's blessing before their first days of school, but the craziness of how this particular first day went down made that fall through the cracks.  So we improvised.  After lunch, we piled in the car with James on Derek's lap... and Derek was able to give James a blessing after all.  :)

James and I went back to school after that.  They had me stay since I'd missed the intro day where parents sat in on Tuesday, so I got to watch and see just how wonderful kindergarten was going to be.  And it really was.  James did great!  I was so proud of him!  And so excited for him!  The teacher was fantastic; his classmates were adorable; and really, the whole day was fabulous.  He's going to love kindergarten.  It's possible he already does.

It's such a bitter-sweet thing to watch my baby grow up.  But regardless of the craziness surrounding this step toward independence and adulthood (sniff), it was a happy day.  I might just be able to let him go without me each day.  Maybe.

Dear Elder B

Here is a copy of a letter I wrote for Michael (ahem... Elder B) yesterday.  I thought it would be good to record for journaling purposes, as it covers a whole lot of what we've been up to lately.  For those of you who don't know and care to:  My little brother, Michael, is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He will serve for two whole years, 24/7, and he only recently started.  I was so nervous for him... scared he would be lonely or sad, nervous he would struggle with the language (his mission is Spanish-speaking), afraid he would have a bad first impression, etc.  As such, I was thrilled to hear otherwise: to learn that he was happy, had made friends, and was feeling the Spirit strongly and knowing that what he was doing and Whom he was doing it for were all worth it.  I'm so proud of this kid!  Anyway, here is my letter in reply to his first.  Enjoy... but be warned:  it's wordy.



Dear Elder B,

Thank you so much for your letter!  It absolutely made my day!  Your drawing was also great.  It made me smile.  :)  I'm sorry this letter is in English.  I'll work on the whole  Español thing...

So, hi!  Right now it is 9:30am.  Derek is at work, and James, Jolie and I are kicking it in the living room.  James is building LEGOs, and Jolie is trying to "help."  hehe.  I was able to distract her, though.  Right now she's coloring a picture for you.  It's spectacular ... (wink).

We threw James a birthday party on the 14th - a couple of Saturdays ago.  It was a LEGO party, and it was lots of fun.  We made a LEGO piñata, played "I Spy the LEGO Guy," did a pin-the-parts-on-the-LEGO-kid game, and ate a yummy LEGO cake.  We even scored soem LEGO-shaped candies to serve!  Super fun!  It was also super time intensive, getting everything together.  He was so happy, though.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  And that is why James is currently building LEGOs.  He got a whole bunch of sets as gifts, and he's been just a little bit obsessed since then. :)  It's kinda cute.


And what has Jolie been up to?  Hm.  Well she's been taking swimming lessons (so has James...).  She and I do Water Babies - a parent and child class.  I basically hold her and help her learn how to blow bubbles in the water, kick her legs, float on her back, etc.  She really hates floating on her back.  She can't handle getting her ears wet.  But hey, getting her angry results in more kicking.  So we'll take it. :)


As for Derek and me, we're just doing the same ol' thing.  Derek goes to work, comes home to hang with the fam, and then when kids are in bed, he generally plays games.  Currently he's into an online Lord of the Rings game.  I do swimming lessons with the kids, do the rest of the mom-things all day, and then (on Tue/Thur at least) go to work and teach people English.  After I come home, I generally stay up way too late watching Ugly Betty via Netflix!  Wow, we waste a lot of time!


We have gotten back into reading scriptures together at night again (we're kind of off and on with that, or have been lately).  It's been really fun!  We got a book from Julie a few years ago called "Unlocking the Book of Mormon."  We found it again and have been studying from it again.  We really love it!  On one side of each page, it has the (unaltered) actual scriptures.  Then on the other side of the page it has quotes from prophets and other people (scholars, etc) as well as additional helpful information: historical side notes, maps, pictures, etc.  It makes the Book of Mormon come alive for me and helps me make better sense of the plot, etc.  It's fun!  And Derek (probably thanks to his mission) knows a ton more about the scriptures than I do, so discussing it all with him is really cool.


Oh- one last thing we've been up to:  the kids (along with Shawn and Mindy's girls) dressed up as pioneers ad marched in the 24th of July parade!  They were sooo cute!  James wore a cowboy hat, bandanna and chaps.  Jolie wore a bonnet, apron and skirt.  James also carried a stick horse and "galloped" on occasion.  That got quite the crowd reaction; it was pretty adorable.  Oh, and Jolie wants to add that she carried a baby (doll).  I'll try to print out a few pictures so you can see.  No promises, though.  I'm pretty sucky at printing pics.


As for you, keep up the good work!  It sounds like you're doing really well.  I'm so, so glad to hear it.  I'm glad you've made friends with the guys in your district.  They sound like a lot of fun!  And best of all, I'm thrilled that you're having such a positive, spiritual experience there.  You're a good missionary and a good guy.  I"m so proud of you!


I love you so, so much!  I'm so proud of you as well!  You are doing the Lord's work.  Thank you.  'Hope to hear from you soon!


Lots of love,
Becca

The Athletic Andersons

If any of you know us, and it's likely you do, you know just what avid sports fans we are.  Never a Sunday passes when we are not in front of the boob tube watching some football.  All winter long, you can find us up at the university cheering our beloved Aggies on.  And Super Bowl Sunday should just be considered a national holiday already; it is in our house.

(I ran out of sports, so I had to use football again...)

Okay, fine.

So none of that is true.  We pretty much NEVER watch a game, unless "our" Sproat/Jensen family has us over for their fantabulous Super Bowl party ("I'm only here for the food." -- name that movie).  And while I was a cheerleader in high school (Go, Panthers!), most of my sports enthusiasm died when I graduated high school.  I can get into a game when I personally know the players, though.  Especially when I birthed one.

Which brings us to the point of this post:  Tee Ball.

Our super sporty little James (only slight sarcasm here; mostly he's too young to be judged either way) is playing tee ball this summer.  Although soccer was a fun experience, the scheduling was stressful, and because of this we figured we would end up nixing tee ball in the end.  But peer pressure and my fond childhood memories won out, and here we are.  And quite honestly, it's been pretty fun.

Somehow I managed to volunteer myself as a co-coach of sorts, and while I didn't really mean to, it's kinda fun.  The coach seems to be a good guy and a baseball-lover, but I'm not sure he has much experience teaching littlies.  That's pretty much where I came in... helped him break things down to be digestible by virgin-tee-ballers, practice the basics in age-appropriate and fun ways, and (apparently my cheerleading gene didn't die out completely) cheer and hooray and rev the little guys (and gal) up so they'd have a super duper fun time.

He told them to stay back while the batter hits; I made a more concrete "line" for them to stay behind.  He explained that you run from home to first to second... etc; I had them practice running with "go" and "go" and "go" and lots of high-fives at the home-plate finish line.  He told them they should cheer on their fellow teammates; I instigated a (probably annoying, once all kids have had their turn) fun little chant ("Na-than! Na-than! Na-than!" etc.) to make the batter feel special and supported as well as to keep the team involved.  I must say, I'm kind of a fun helper-coach.  :)  I especially love that the kids look to me with anticipation when they're up to bat... waiting for the chanting to start before they go.  Hehe.  They're just a little bit adorable, these kids.

So yeah.  Tee ball.

Tonight is another practice/game (both, really), so I should probably go.  Our little star athlete is getting his pre-game rest in.  Being a baller is pretty hard work, you know...

Go, Dodgers!! :)

Soccer Season 2012

James participated in his first team sport this spring: soccer!  Neither Derek nor I know much about soccer.  Derek played as a little kid.  I like David Beckham's accent.  And ... well, we watched a few games (matches?) in Paris.  I think that about sums it up.  But we thought it would be fun for James to try out, so we signed him up at the local rec center for an indoor soccer team.  He is still only four (for a few more months, anyway), but we put him in the five- to six-year-old group since his future classmates would fit into that group.  And we figured it'd be lame to play with three-year-olds.  Needless to say, he was among the teenies.  And was significantly less coordinated and 'into' the game than many of the other kids.  Granted, this also could have been due to his uber-athletic genes (sarcasm).  Either way, he learned a few valuable lessons by playing, and if nothing else looked pretty adorable in his little outfit!

Love that boy.

One of the hardest things for me as a very on-top-of-things-mom (read: overprotective, hover mom, control freak... you choose) was to let my baby do this with only Daddy and Jolie and without me.  I started a new quarter at work on the very same day that he started soccer, and the practices/games were all on Tuesday and Thursday nights, which happen to be when I teach.  So Derek got to experience single parenting, and not just the sit-at-home-and-throw-on-a-movie type.  He was thrown in head first, really.  The games were all right at bedtime, too, which didn't make things easy.  Poor guy.  I think it was a long month.  It was for me.  I hated missing all of the action!

Derek was pretty fantastic to help a mommy out, though.  I think he knew how much it killed me to miss it all.  The first night of soccer especially, he took a ton of pictures and videos so that I could feel like I was there.  So I would not sob with heartbreak at missing a first (well, not sob much).  It was soooo cute to see my little guy out there!  

He was mostly clueless and kind of wandered aimlessly.  I don't think he touched the ball for the first several games (though he did during the practice part and would tell me excitedly about all of the "goals he scored" - so cute).  He really had fun.  Mostly, he remembered the awesome treats they got at the end (seriously, this boy's gonna be a fabulous chef someday... or ridiculously obese, lol.  We'll hope for the former).  Even if Derek told me he'd had a rough night, when James talked to me he would always be way excited and tell me what a great time he'd had and how fun it had been.  Hooray for a childlike perspective (and delicious snacks to help you forget the tough stuff)!

And hooray for the ever-fabulous Lizzy (his super
cute swim instructor from last year who absolutely
adores James.  I think James is just a little bit
smitten with her as well)! She wasn't his coach
but reffed a few games.  I think she did a bad job
of masking her favoritism, but hey... :)  LOVE her!

I thankfully was able to get a sub and come to his very last game (the season finale?).  I was so excited, and I think the excitement was contagious.  Derek told me that he had never seen James so excited and engaged out there, and that he was sure it was because I was there.  That makes a mommy feel good, I'll tell ya that.  I was kind of worried about embarrassing the fam (mostly Derek... sorry, hon) but apparently not worried enough to let it stop me, because I was crazy goofy.  I'm gonna be one of those sports moms.  I've got too much cheerleader in me to keep quiet.  Or stay sitting. Or not kick my leg up every once in a while...

Seriously, though.  I couldn't help myself.

Any time James even sort of touched the ball, I would go a little wild.  I didn't care who was winning or scoring or whatever (and honestly, with kids that small and unskilled it was hard to tell whose goal was whose).  I just wanted James to get excited about it.  To keep up with the group.  To even try to touch the ball.  :)  I'm easy to please.  It was really cute how excited he'd get when he did any of these things.  He'd look over at me, smile proudly, and we'd do a mutual raise-the-roof motion.  It was fun.  We're a good pair.

Really dark, pathetic picture... but you get the idea.

I'm so glad we decided to put James in soccer this year.  I think he learned a bit of coordination and general skill.  He learned a bit about endurance and persistence. And he learned that playing a team sport (especially one with yummy treats at the end) can be loads of fun!  

Go, Team Eruption!

Graduation Day

Although Derek officially graduated in December, he was able to participate in the university's graduation ceremony this spring (they no longer have winter commencement).  I'm not sure Derek was sold on the idea of walking, but I really, really wanted him to.  I was able to walk for both my Associate's degree and my Bachelor's degree, and while I never cared about it beforehand either, I was always glad that I did it.  I knew Derek would be, too.  So he did it... and boy, were we proud!

The morning started with the Academic Procession... the parade of graduates, basically.  The morning was surprisingly cold and began way too early, but we all made it and were super excited to watch for Derek in the crowd of black clad graduates.  Grandma Julie, Grandma Marilyn, Shawn, Brynn and Claire joined us.  That made it much more fun.  We found one another, found a good spot, and waited.  The bagpipes led the procession (looove those), and the graduates followed.  We were so excited when we spotted Derek!  He snuck out of the procession for a quick photo shoot, then hurried to catch up.  The kids were so cute.  Jolie kept saying, "That's my daddy!  I saw my daddy!"  I think they felt proud.  I know I did.

After the procession, Shawn took our kidlets with him to play with cousins (Thank you, guys!!) while both grandmas and I went into the stadium to attend the university-wide commencement ceremony.  It took me a long time to spot Derek, and when I finally did he was grinning impishly at me from across the floor.  Apparently he'd spotted me much sooner than I'd spotted him.  :)  I took a whole lot of (crappy) pictures and then settled in to listen to the surprisingly good speakers.  Graduation ceremonies are worth attending, I feel, because they not only help you feel completion but also kinda rev you up.  This one was no different.  It was inspiring and encouraging and motivating.  Perfect.  Good work, speakers.

After the ceremony, Derek and I drove together to go pick up lunch (mmmm, Costa Vida take-out) while everyone else met at Julie's.  We got to Costa Vida a little ahead of schedule.  We decided that instead of just waiting, we would squeeze in a mini-celebration, a date of sorts.  We treated ourselves to some delicious pastries from the nearby bakery.  (Holy YUM!)  It was a good call.  Then we picked up our nummy lunches and joined the fam.

Julie spoiled us by buying lunch, and it was fantastic.  Derek was able to choose what we ate, and being Cinco de Mayo, he chose Mexican(-ish).  The wonderful and supportive people in attendance were: Derek, James, Jolie and I, Shawn and Mindy with their three beautiful girls, Julie, my mom- Marilyn, and Derek's cousins Brad and Garrett.  Thank you all for supporting us, and thank you, Julie, for lunch!

Following lunch, we headed back to the stadium for yet another graduation ceremony.  This one was for the College of Business.  Surprisingly, though, the stadium was much more packed than it was for the university-wide ceremony.  And funnily, we walked all the way around the building to get seats... and Derek was the very last seat opposite us.  Oops.  Oh, well.  James and I took a little 'field trip' to the other side to embarrass... er... photograph Derek up close.  You're welcome, Derek.

The talks seemed less impressive this time, but then- how impressive can a business-oriented talk be? Also, we were wrangling kids this time and therefore listening less intently.  That probably affected the quality some.  Thank you, Grandma Marilyn and Grandma Julie for entertaining the kids so that I could disappear and take bunches of photos.  (Oh, and thank you, Shawn and Mindy, for sharing your fancy camera so I could get good ones!)  James and Jolie were actually really well-behaved.  I was quite surprised!  It was well past naptime, and missing naps does not generally result in a positive situation.  I was quite grateful that they behaved so well.  Good job, kiddos!

During the College of Business ceremony, Derek was able to walk across the stage and receive his 'diploma.'  While I apparently am an incompetent photographer and therefore missed some pretty good pics, it was so, so exciting to see him cross the stage.  What a superstar!  I cannot even tell you how proud I was of him.  How proud I am.  My beautiful Bachelor.  And the kids were soooo proud to see him do it.  I am not sure exactly what they understood of it, but they knew it was a big deal.  And they knew Daddy had done something hard and great.  I'm glad they came.  It's good to see your daddy do something awesome.  :)  Congratulations, Derek!!

I know this one's out of focus, but it
seriously just makes me so happy.

Later that night, Julie generously offered to babysit our kids so we could go out on a date to celebrate more.  We took her up on it, and Shawn and Mindy joined us!  We went to Elements restaurant (the same place we went to celebrate graduation in December- ha!).  Mostly, we wanted their piña coladas .  Apparently they made an impact on us the first time. But the rest of the meal was amazingly tasty as well!  Derek ordered the house burger- a beastly and delicious piece of meat.  I ordered a steak-Gorgonzola pasta (with a balsamic reduction.... drool) that knocked my socks off.  Mmm!  Shawn ordered a turkey breast wrapped in ... wait for it... bacon.  And Mindy ordered some sort of beautiful fish atop a bed of mashed potatoes.  It looked delicious (too bad it was fish, wink).

Then, when we mostly wanted to take a nap (or maybe that was just me... it'd been a loooong day), we headed to the theater to watch The Avengers.  Luckily my catnap in the car did the trick, and I was awake and excited for the movie.  Shawn and Mindy spoiled us (sensing a theme here?) with movies on them, which was super sweet.  And we watched and enjoyed and clenched our buttocks (it was suspenseful!) and were thoroughly entertained.  It was a great movie!

Around midnight, we headed home, kicked off our shoes and crawled into bed.  Ah, bed.  What a long and glorious day!  Congratulations, my handsome graduate!  We are all so very proud of you.  You did it!! :D

A Well-Balanced Boy

Big news in the Anderson household...

JAMES CAN RIDE HIS BIKE WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS!!!

(Here he is riding to the mailbox... it got cold,

so I loaned him my jacket. E.T. anyone?)

We're all so excited! I especially am! This teaching James how to ride sans help has been... well, hellish. Mostly I am impatient and expect immediate success. I also tend to think that the drill sergeant method is the best way to booster a child's confidence. This may or may not be true... yeah, it probably isn't. But I swear it's the only thing that works with James (case in point: potty training).

We started the bike training with Derek at the helm. But that lasted all of five minutes before I took over. I thought Derek was being too soft, ha. So I kicked it into drill sergeant mode, which quickly escalated into mommy-swears-too-much mode, which resulted in Derek taking over again. Then I got the smart (no sarcasm, it really was smart) idea to try riding on the road. Our road isn't very busy being in a little subdivision and all, and trying to stay inside the confines of a tiny sidewalk whilst learning and mastering all the rest seemed a bit much. So we moved it to the black top. And that seemed to help (though asphalt is much rougher to scrape against, ow). Then we made it into a game. Derek would hold onto James, James would peddle and try to ride, and I would run in front of him. It was a chase game, and it made things a whole lot more fun. The faster I would move my feet, the faster James would peddle, and having me in front of him helped him keep his eyes on the prize (instead of looking to the side and tipping over). It was the first time bike training was fun for him. Progress.

Days passed, and rainy days as well as Easter and the family fun that accompanied it came and went. Then we tried again. And again. And again. The biggest hurdle was getting James over his fear of falling. Fear of failure (and just fear in general) is an issue with him. Finally I tried to get him to start on his own, to get peddling at his own speed. This helped him be less afraid, as he wasn't moving so quickly. Then he saw our neighbor friend Audrey who had just learned a week or so to ride unassisted, and that bolstered his confidence as well. We saw how she wiggled as she rode, and he tried to mimic her strategy.

In the end, he figured things out. He would go for quite a stretch without stopping. Then he would go even while aware that we were not holding on. And today... HE RODE CONFIDENTLY BY HIMSELF!!

Watching him ride and seeing the joy he felt doing it (finally!) made it all worth it. He was having fun! He was proud of himself!! I think that is possibly the best moment for a parent, to see your child believe in him/herself. Oh James, you're a rock star!

Star quote of the day... James had just finished riding for a long stretch (we rode to the mailbox and back, which is no small feat). He was beaming. And he said emphatically, "I'm SO PROUD of myself!!" :) Oh, baby... we're proud of you, too. We really, really are.

Green Day on the Red Rocks

My mother-in-law has lived in St. George for a couple of years now, and we have yet to visit her there. Granted, she comes up here several weekends a month. But still. Now that Derek has graduated (happy dance), he has entire weekends off. No work. No school. Nothin'. It's pretty fabulous, and we've very much enjoyed this new freedom. Anyway, now that we have a couple of days off in a row, we have travel time available to us. We decided to visit Julie for her birthday- for St. Patrick's Day. It was a spring break of sorts. And it was loads of fun.

One huge milestone for me: I let Julie drive all the way down to St. George with my babies...without me! If you know me, you know how huge this was. I can hardly let them leave my sight for a couple of hours, let alone an entire day! And traveling! It was a really emotional, difficult choice to make. But in the end, I knew they would all be okay. And they were. They had such a fun time! They were able to make lots and lots of wonderful memories with Grandma Julie, and they were able to make several fun stops along the way, taking their time, so the trip down wasn't too painful. I'm glad I let them go. I think it was good for all of us.

That Saturday ("Green" Day... though we ought to call it "winds-day" as it was super windy), we headed out to the red rocks - to "climb the mountains." James was really excited. We started out with a picnic then proceeded to explore.

Our happy family sitting in a "cave"

The pioneers (trecking settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, circa mid 1800s) had built some pretty amazing rudimentary structures amid the red rocks, and we were lucky enough to explore one. They apparently found little slot canyons (small wedges between big rocks/mts) and boarded up the top with wood. Then they built stone/brick walls to enclose the area. This one even had a window and a fireplace and chimney! Super cool! Just a tiny one-room structure, but very smart. Such a brilliant way to get out of the wind and sun (and away from the wild animals, I'm sure)! Very cool.

From inside looking out:

After exploring the pioneer house, we continued to follow trails and scale rocks. We had a wonderful time.



A lot of the more ambitious climbing was done by Derek and James. We girls stayed behind and let them do their mountain-man thing.
Jolie, however, was not entirely pleased to be left behind. :( She really hated not being with her boys. (That and she had missed nap time... that could have contributed to the extent of her sadness.)
Luckily, Jolie has a pretty phenomenal daddy. He would rescue the poor damsel and carry her along.

It was really cute to see the kids exploring. I was quite proud of Jolie, getting down and dirty with the rest of 'em. She's getting to be such a big girl!
And James was unbelievable! He is often quite the scaredy-cat, but after just a few minutes he had warmed up to the whole "mountain climbing" concept and was very brave (sometimes too much for a mommy's heart). He seemed to have summoned his inner mountain goat after all! :)
I think Grandma Julie had a good birthday. We really loved hanging out with her. We don't often get one-on-one time with her, and it was really fun to see her in this different light and just hang out.
While hiking the red rocks, we were able to get a pretty sweet view of the airshow that was going on down below. (If I'd had my glasses, it would have been substantially better for me... ugh.) Derek and Julie especially enjoyed seeing the sweet loop-de-loops and dives. Ack- so scary! It was a fun, unexpected element to our hike.

Something about the red rocks is so beautiful to me...


We are so, so glad we were able to go down. We had a wonderful time! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Happy Birthday, Grandma Julie! And Happy, Happy SPRING! :)