Rebuilding the Wonder

Shortly after we moved to Vacaville, volunteers from throughout the city gathered to build a fabulous wooden playground called "Great Wonders" in Andrews Park. When the kids were little they loved coming to this playgound and would play for hours if I let them. After all these years the playground was beginning to show its age, so over the course of the past week the community gathered again to rebuild it. I had participated in the build as a part of our Young Women's activity, and when I saw in the paper on Saturday morning that they really needed more volunteers, I convinced Brad that we should take the kids and go work for a few hours. It seemed like it was the least we could do to pay back the many hours of enjoyment it has provided us.

We worked really hard. We spent the first couple of hours shoveling and moving rock. Then we spent the next hour digging up the rock so we could lay down the piping for the telephone feature. By the time we were done the boys were absolutely exhausted, but I could have stayed all day. It was so fun to feel like you were contributing to something that would bring joy to so many.

Can you see Brad? He's crouched over in the middle of the picture in a white shirt - trying to get the piping just right. What a stud!

I helped set these posts that will form the perimeter fence. Didn't I do a great job?

Camille wasn't actually old enough to be on the job site, so she had to go to the little day care center where they had pizza, snacks, Spongebob cartoons, an abundance of craft projects, and a darling clown. Needless to say, she had a GREAT time (and the boys were very jealous!).

They were supposed to finish the new park today (Sunday). We promised the kids that if it was finished we'd go spend FHE there tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

I'm thankful for you, sweetie!

In honor of Brad's birthday, I devote Thankful Thursday to him. What a great guy. I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to most of you, but I can be difficult to live with. This great guy loves me anyways! (Well, most of the time anyway!) He is patient, kind, loyal, and a great blessing in my life. He teaches me, inspires me, and sometimes even serves me. (How's that for a treat!) I'm thankful to have him and thankful for all the ways he's helped me grow over these many years. You're the best, Brad. Happy Birthday!

We enjoyed a lovely day together. He came home early from work to enjoy Matt's soccer game with me, we took the kids out to dinner (a very rare treat these days!), my parents stopped by, several loved ones called, and some lovely friends stopped by for a chat. And, at the age of *%#!, he finally got his own MP3 player. We usually say that Matthew looks like Brad, but today Brad looks like Matthew!

Why is it?

Why is it that there always seems to be an inverse relationship between the amount of time you spend preparing FHE and the successfulness of said FHE. I went all out on the lesson this week. I made the kids conference packets that were individually tailored to them so that they could take notes. On Monday night they could use their notes to answer questions about the sessions and win candy. And... if they couldn't answer the question they could "ask a friend" and both win a piece of candy. Isn't any FHE that involves candy supposed to be successful? Apparently not!

They fought the entire night...
He always gets the easy questions! That question is entirely unfair! I don't want her help because then she'll have more candy than me! The list goes on....
and on....
and on!

My intentions were good-


They started off happy enough -



Where did it all go so wrong??? Please tell me this happens to someone else besides me!

Motherhood

Today I got offered a job. There's a second grade class at our school that needs a teacher until at least January and probably until June. As those actors and actresses always say, it was so flattering "just to be nominated" (or asked, as the case may be). Me? You'd like ME to do it? The ideas started swimming around in my head. . . I'm of worth, people value my skills, they like me! And the money would be nice. We could loosen our belts a bit, finally get some new carpet, or better yet - some beautiful granite countertops to replace the worn, cracked tile in the kitchen. And then reality sets in. . . staff meetings, grading papers, report cards, parent conferences. The list goes on an on. It's not that I mind hard work, but when would I be a mom? I'm going to have to tell them no. The honest truth is that I'm just not ready to give up day to day motherhood. . . volunteering in the kids' classrooms, going on field trips, serving on the PTA, a quiet morning of laundry and pulling weeds, running endless errands, going to soccer games, driving the high school carpool. The list goes on and on. I love that I still have a few more years to do those things for my kids that I sometimes forget are the great blessings in my life. Time goes by so fast. I don't want to miss a single minute. It's going to end sooner than I'd like already. I love being a mom, and I'm going to go on doing it. Today I'm thankful for the chance I have to be a stay-at-home mom.

Patriotism

Today I'm thankful for. . .

Patriotism.

One of the great blessings

of belonging to an Air Force school district

is that people around here know how to be patriotic.

Today during Matthew's high school soccer game

the fine men and women of Travis Air Force Base

called us to attention (via enormous loudspeakers)

as they prepared to play their daily rendition

of the National Anthem.

As soon as people knew what was going on

the game stopped,

the players froze,

everyone stood,

and we all placed our hands over our hearts

and observed a few moments of silence

as the Star Spangled Banner rang across the rolling hills.

I got all choked up.

I do every time.

I love this country

and the brave soldiers who protect our freedom.

What do you love best about this great country of ours?

Fall Ball

Adam just finished another year of "Fall Ball"

and had a great time.

It's a program run by the parks & rec department --

all for fun, no keeping score, play whatever position interests you.

In other words . . .

NO PRESSURE!

Adam thrives in this kind of environment,

and I love watching him.

This year he played catcher,

and he was

AMAZING!

(not that I'm biased or anything!)

Of course the ball is easy to catch when it's a strike,

but nothing gets by Adam!!! He can catch it high,

he can catch it low,

not even those balls to the side get by him. . . AND,

he can even do it with his eyes shut!

(how's that for talent??!!)

It's a dirty, sweaty job,

but when you're this good . . .

you just GOTTA DO IT!!

You're awesome, Adam!

Reality Check

I'm one of those really nice Moms who doesn't make their kids clean their rooms and make their beds if they leave the house before 6 a.m., so I KNEW when I saw Matthew's beautifully made bed yesterday that it was a moment to treasure. Today we're back to normal. . .

5 Things

I don't know if it's because of 9/11, but from the moment I woke up today I've been keenly aware of how many little things in my life I have to be thankful for. It was a slow, relaxing morning (good thing because from 3:00 on was a whirlwind of activity!), and I remember thinking that I should document these little joys (you inspired me, Cheri) so that I will always remember them - especially on those days that are so slow and relaxing! So here are 5 simple things I was thankful for today. . .

Matthew made his bed BEFORE Seminary WITHOUT being asked - WOW!! A morning snooze on my comfy red couch (had to get up TOO EARLY to do the Seminary thing!)
An afternoon slice of key lime pie (Happy 40th Birthday, Amy Mik!) - and the willpower to save half of it for Brad because he loves it so! Leaving a plate of warm cookies on the counter for Adam and his friend because I wouldn't be there when they got home. I always thought I would be the kind of parent who served warm cookies when the kids got home from school, and today (for the first time?) I WAS!
Finishing up the fall decorations. No pumpkins yet - I can't go there until at least October!

Wow. . . that felt good! Maybe I'll do this every week - I'll call it "Thankful Thursday!" How dorky is that?

Valero Family Day

On Saturday we took the ferry out to Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay for Valero Family Day. We had lunch, played volleyball, watched Matthew disco, got our bodies painted and watched as artists made some amazing balloon creations. But by far the best part of the day was participating in our first ever sand castle contest. I was a bit leary when Brad signed us up, and we got off to a bit of a slow start (we couldn't agree on what to create), but once we got started it was a lot of fun. Our friends the Quains helped us out and in the one hour time limit we created "Crush" (the turtle from Finding Nemo) out of sand. I have to say that it is lots harder than it looks - it was a hot day and the sand kept drying out and falling apart - but here's a picture of our creation...

You can't see the three baby turtles that were crawling behind him, but the whole thing was quite impressive looking! We won the award for "Best of Show" and received $50 in movie gift certificates and $25 worth of Jamba Juice gift cards! The kids were really proud of their hard work.

Thunderbirds

On Labor Day weekend, Brad took the boys out to the Air Force base to see the Thunderbirds. They had a great time! Here are some of the highlights:


Watching the Jelly Belly plane land on the back of a pick-up truck - amazing...




Eating frozen lemonade on a very hot tarmac...

Brad finally having a chance to get some fun shots with his new camera...