Overdue

The past two months in review (lots of pictures):

Noble's school Capstone project - he and some of his school friends played games and played music with residents at the Herriman Beehive home

Jessie started a job at Fiiz drinks of South Jordan

Noble started his summer job - washing windows in the neighborhood with his business, Bluesky Windows

A visit to the Payson Temple open house

Grace celebrated her 13th birthday with all of her buddies

We said good bye to the Henderson's who moved to Louisiana 

We had the opportunity to go on Trek with Jessie and Noble. Mike and I were a Ma and Pa. We went on Trek once before with our old stake 8 years ago. This was a totally different experience. Part of what made it special was being there with these two - even though we only saw them here and there over the 4 days. Here we are on the morning we left - still fresh and clean. Thanks Mom and Dad for sending the sweet Amish hat for Mike.

Mike and I with our Trek family - 2 from our ward

we did about 30 miles at Deseret Land and Livestock. 

Our kids - last night. 

Post-Trek - only a little worse for wear. 

We finally finished the backyard boulder wall. The kids ripped out the old retaining wall.

Sean and Kim came down to lend a little cat driving expertise.

With the rock wall finished, we sodded the hill at last! Mike put Noble, Jack and a bunch of the neighborhood boys to work.

Jack making breakfast for us his last morning with us. We enjoyed having him visit!

River helping Mike pick up a load of hay cubes. I have often been very frustrated with River over the past months - but he is finally starting to become a pretty good dog.

For Father's Day Tillman composed this tribute. We figured the 3 wishes pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Abner. This kid keeps us all on our toes.

An evening with the Utah Symphony

Sully turned 7!!

We heard the news that our little trailer - so happily situated in Torey, Utah for these past 15 years - burned down last week. So sad.

Noble's ingenuity: He and his friends rigged up this trampoline sprinkler with some sprinkler pipe, duct tape and zip ties.

Mike and Noble started the 4th of July by running the Riverton 5k. They placed 2nd and 3rd in their age groups. We thought this picture of Mike sprinting past these ladies at the finish line was awesome. Mike said it must have been REALLY embarrassing to have him pass you because the mom was saying to her daughter as he passed, "Don't worry. Its ok - we're just doing this for fun."  :)

4th of July festivities - we had about 30-40 people at the house for water games, a BBQ and fireworks. Big crowd. Big fireworks show. With the Bishop's firework connection, the whole neighborhood was alight with spectacular aerials.  It was awesome. I think Roy was the only one who was hit by shrapnel. Sorry Roy.

Baby E's ear protection

Some of the tamer fireworks

Mike arranged to have some of the Melton cousins over for dinner on Sunday night. We had a great time catching up! It was about 11:00 by the time we broke the party up.

For Abner's 4th birthday we spent the day at Seven Peaks, SLC. These two sharks had a great time!

Grace shopping for Abner's birthday presents in style. :)
She had a little incident at 4H this past week when her horse reared, then fell over backwards on her. It broke the saddle but Grace came out unscathed.

Which is more than Sully and I can say. We came away from our Seven Peaks day with a few battle wounds.We flipped the tube on one of the slides and Sully landed under me. After I righted the tube and we got back on, he spent the rest of the ride telling me, "Keep it safe, Mom. Keep it safe." ha ha haha He refuses any pity over these gashes - when I shook my head and said, "poor Sully", he immediately stopped me and said, "NOT poor Sully!" Love this kid.

There is a Reason They Write Songs About Mondays

Some days you wonder if you should have just stayed in bed. I thought about journaling about my day Monday, but in my heightened emotional state Monday night, decided to give it some time. So now, from the wizened perspective of two days on, I will add the events of  Monday, 27 April to the Melton family historic record.

Monday dawned a cool spring morning. I coaxed the kids out of bed as usual for scripture reading and prayer where I had to continue prodding to keep them awake, after which, they filed off to get ready for school. I say that loosely. A few got dressed (& ran next door to their piano lesson), one started goofing off with his little brother, and one went back to bed. At 3 min to go-time (when the Expedition departs the garage) as I was raising my voice at one child to get his shoes on (for the 10th time), and encouraging 2 others to get their teeth brushed, and for someone to take the dog out. The one who went back to bed (Noble) wandered up the basement stairs to inquire what time it was. When I replied that we were leaving in 3 min he started a desperate negotiation to buy enough time to shower. I told him, "Too late. Skip the shower." Even though I knew very well that my 8th grade son would sooner sign away his long board than go to school (where there are girls to impress) without completing his full morning hygiene regimen (shower, hair dryer, teeth brush, mouth wash, deodorant, hair coiffing paste). In some unexplained time-bending phenomenon, he trotted out to the car as we loaded up 5 minutes later (we managed to give him 2 extra min) showered and fresh (but without breakfast).

After dropping the kids at school I pulled into the driveway and noticed the dog (that stupid dog!) standing there in my garden. The garden I had spent the ENTIRE day Friday cultivating and planting. He had dug up all my mounds, trampled all my seed beds, and topped it off by pooping in the peas. I stomped out in my pj's and tried to lure him out, to which he responded by growling his "I dare you" growl at me when I approached him. (I admit to repeating under my breath the words, "I hate that dog. I hate that dog...." again and again.) When I finally got him out of the garden and fixed the wire fence around the garden which I thought would keep him contained (my first mistake). I went in to get on with my day.

After dropping Abner off at preschool, I came home to do my exercise and clean up from breakfast. As I walked into the basement to get on the elliptical I was greeted by a giant mess, making it quickly apparent that certain children had shirked their weekend duties.  Then I walked into their bedrooms. Ugh....walking into my kids rooms is stress-inducing. A half eaten banana, empty dishes, dirty clothes on the floor, clutter...Before you ask, yes we DO have rules prohibiting all these things. (Last week in the boys room I found something extra special....ever heard of a trucker bomb? Yes...that. The suburban version. It's a good thing that I have learned to be suspicious when I see something out of the ordinary. I didn't need to open the container to confirm my suspicion. Later, when the culprit offered his excuse, it was pretty laughable. Ask me sometime. Oh, these boys.) I made a mental note (several) to talk with the guilty parties after school, and withhold allowance.

11:15 rolled around and I picked Abner up from preschool. Once home he started in on the raisins in the pantry. Every time I turned around I found him breaking into a new box of raisins. I kept shoeing him away, and he would return after a short time. Like a mosquito. I finally asked him to go play outside while I finished cleaning up. He asked if he could take a treat to the dog. I said yes. So Abner began rummaging through the pantry to get a dog treat himself. It wasn't long before he managed to knock a full quart jar of last year's applesauce off the shelf with a crash.
*sigh*
I came and took him by the hand, led him around the impact zone, handed him a dog treat, and expressed my frustration. I told him to GO OUTSIDE. So he did. I spent the next 10 minutes cleaning up broken glass and a quart of splattered applesauce off all surrounding surfaces.

No sooner had I finished the applesauce clean up, than Abner casually walked through the garage door and announced that the dog was out. "Out? What do you mean, 'out'?!" I deduced from my hasty 30 second conversation with my 3 year old that Abner had opened the driveway gate and River had made his escape. I ran out and started calling for River. Nothing. I asked Abner where he went. He was a little bit vague, but pointed down the road. I grabbed my keys and ordered Abner into the car, and I called Mike. (Again, the words: I hate that dog. I hate that dog....) Mike apologized, but there wasn't much he could do.  We drove around the block, asked a neighbor to keep an eye out, at which point I was ready to surrender River to his fate. When we got back I decided to look more thoroughly in the next door neighbor's back yard. As I walked toward the back corner of their yard I saw River's hairy head pop up and look at me. Caught! I tied River up in the house and got back to the normal demands of the day (trying to get up to speed after missing my Young Women's leadership and class presidency meetings the day before for my parent's mission farewell, attempting to set up last minute visiting teaching visits, finishing plans for Tuesday's YW activity, laundry, etc.).

The usual time for Jessie's arrival from school came and went. Sometimes she checks in and asks to stay after for different things, but I hadn't heard anything from her. I finally tried calling her and she texted back that she had stayed to study for the upcoming AP examination. I made another mental note to talk to her about communicating better with me ahead of time.

Meanwhile, Abner ate about 500 more raisins.

On the way home from the Montessori school I brought up my concerns about the disastrous state of the basement and bedrooms. Groans from the kids. This continued after we got home which led me to get even more frustrated and tense and stern with the kids, right in the middle of which Jessie decided to call for a ride home. Under the circumstances I was short with her over the phone, then apologized and explained some of the contributing frustrations of my day. She was already offended when I picked her up for taking my frustration out on her over the phone. I immediately took that bate and got all up in her face for not letting me know she would be late coming home from school. To which she responded that she HAD told me last week sometime (I vaguely remember this), by informing me (in passing) that there would be an AP study group meeting alternately A days one week and B days the next. What? I CANNOT keep track of which days are A or B days and I CANNOT be expected remember all her MANY commitments. I require frequent communication. I explained all this to her, and told her how important it was, especially on a day like that one where I had stuff coming at me left and right.... but she just got more angry and sassy. I tried to stay calm, but I am pretty sure I had a little bit of talk-show-head-swagger ("oh no you di'n't") going on as I told her she was out of line.

After that I cried. First, not the last, time that day.

Meanwhile, Abner ate 200 more raisins.

I picked up my shopping list and got ready to head to the grocery store, but not before pleading with Noble to PLEASE help out while I was gone, and to set an example of positive attitude for everyone (noting that Jess was still sulking around). And I went to the grocery store with red eyes.

We had dinner sans Mike (he was teaching a Monday night Econ class) where I proposed that we all help with some much-needed weeding in the yard after our meal. More sour attitudes. But I had anticipated this, and while at the store picked up coconut Sobes to offer to anyone who would help me. And thus my crew was assembled.

As we headed into the yard Tillman ran to tell me that he thought Abner might have thrown up in the hallway. I told him to go find out for sure. After a more thorough investigation, the verdict was not throw up but diarrhea in the hallway. So I left the weeds to the kids and went in to take care of Abner. Just as I feared: too many raisins. After cleaning Abner up in the shower, we returned to the weeding where we actually made some good progress (most satisfying part of the day so far).

At this point I was running out of stamina and made a deal with Noble and Tillman that they could watch an episode of Top Gear if they would do the dishes and clean the kitchen. They eagerly agreed, and I sat down for a moment of much needed repose. But when I walked out to check on them I found the kitchen still a mess and that my kitchen crew had completely dropped the ball - each blaming the other. Fed up, I took over and did the dishes, and after a not-so-harmonious family prayer, sent EVERYONE to bed without discussion (except Jessie who had more homework to do).

Later, I split the little boys up and sent Sully to go to sleep in my bed because they were wrestling instead of sleeping.

With the dishes done, and totally worn out, I sat down on the couch. I had a headache.

Later when Mike got home, he came over to condole with me about my day. I was so tired I soon got up to go to bed, picking things up as I went. I walked into the bathroom, eyes half -closed with exhaustion and sat down to use the bathroom, only to discover to my despair that Sully had gotten out of our bed, used my bathroom (half-asleep I am sure) and peed all over the toilet seat. The one I was sitting on.

I cried. Again. (Mike says I screamed. That was probably true.) That was the last straw. I cried as I turned the shower on and washed myself.  Mike was a sympathetic spouse and came to clean the bathroom while I cried myself out of the shower and into bed. Where I slept SOUNDLY.

My consolation is that Tuesday was a great day. Luck will always change. You just have to wait long enough.

River Makes a Visit to the Vet

It was time for River to be neutered.So we made his appointment for last Friday. He spent the weekend laying around looking like this. Poor guy.

In the end it hasn't slowed him up much. I had my fingers crossed it would help bring down the energy a notch. Oh well, we will just have to stick it out till his puppy phase has passed.

Change Keeps You on Your Toes

Hi again. It's a been a while.
As I lay in bed last night at the end of another busy day I thought about updating the blog, and then thought something like,"No rush --- no one's holding their breath waiting for our latest news." But then I thought, "If I don't write it down we won't remember these things. I need to update it." I will try to be better about keeping a record.

The past few weeks there's been a familiar change in the air. My locust tree out the front window has started to turn gold. It's a little taller than last year, like my kids (a LOT taller in Noble's case). With the change in the season this year have come a few other important changes.

Speaking of the change of the season...

We took a breakfast hike up Yellowfork. River loved it! (He loved it so much he got giardia  from the stream he was drinking from. No kidding. He spent 2 full days the next week throwing up and having diarrhea. The vet helped got him back on track... G.I. track. Now we know that a young puppy's stomach is considerably less resilient than older dogs. Live and learn. 

Sully enraptured by nature.  He kept yelling stuff like: "Nature is waiting! I feel the nature!! There's so much nature just waiting for us! Wow! Nature is getting so awesome!" 

Abner with his "mustache stick"

Big Change #1.
Four of our kids started at the new Montessori charter school near our home. Everyone has been over the moon about it. The method, the atmosphere, the new friends, the gourmet lunches...

Everyone, that is, but Tillman.

We didn't make the decision to change schools lightly. We had been involved with our old school for 10 years, but felt in the last few years that things were changing. When the option of enrolling at this Montessori school presented itself in the spring we thought a lot about it, prayed and felt right about it.

We knew it would be really different for all the kids. And we knew that Tillman is the one that has struggled the most with change in the past. When we moved to this house Tillman cried every day for weeks, and begged us to move back to our old house. Eventually he got over it.
Tillman is also a kid who likes to have every detail laid out. He wants to know exactly what to expect. So we knew it would be an adjustment for him. We just didn't understand how MUCH of an adjustment. A few days in he started to complain that it wasn't like his old school, that he didn't know the kids. (It didn't help that he and Grace and Sully had to miss the first day of school because they had strep.)  Day by day he escalated the situation. He went from whining about it after school, to crying in the bathroom at school, to calling home sick, to leaving school without telling anyone and walking the 2 miles home across Bangerter Highway.

That was a nightmare day for me. Luckily he wasn't hurt, luckily the police were not involved, luckily everyone was able to get in touch and I found him by chance before they were able to ,get a hold of me by phone (I would have freaked out). Lucky all around.

After asking him (in a very loud voice, I'll admit) what on earth had happened that would cause him to leave school like that (and hearing the same stuff: "it's different from my old school, I don't like it, I don't know the kids", etc.), I made it clear that that kind of stunt was COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. Then I drove him back to school, had him apologize to the director and his teacher, and checked him back in for the rest of the day.

The thing with Tillman is, he has a stubborn streak sometimes, so this has been exhausting. He gets into a panic cycle and then there's no stopping him until he finds a way to reboot. He needs to change the way he thinks about it...but he is unwilling. He has let his anxiety grow beyond any reasonable response to the point of desperation. His siblings are totally confused by the whole thing. I've heard them shushing him in frustration when he starts to get anxious, afraid that he'll spoil everything for them in their new-found Shangri-la.

He insisted that if we let him switch to a classroom where he knew a couple of kids he would be fine. After a series of meetings with his long-suffering teacher, the director and the school counselor we agreed to change him to a different class (not the one he wanted), and made it clear that if he chose to switch classes he was responsible to make it work. He agreed, and chose the new classroom. At first it seemed to be the reset button he needed for his negative thought cycle. Since then it's been mostly better, but we've had a few tough days lately. So we will keep on working with him. I don't know that there's a magic approach that will make him want to change his attitude, but I sure hope he figures it out soon.
That kid. We have been learning a lot about him in the process. We are also learning a lot about agency.
That was a long story.

Big Change #2.
Jessie comes of age.

 Jessie started high school, got asked to Homecoming, turned 16 and got her driver's license all in less than a month (and our auto insurance doubled).  BIG changes.

Her friend from the neighborhood (son of Kris Kemp - for those of you who share my history) dressed up like Napoleon Dynamite, his little brother dressed up like Pedro - they pedaled over with Napoleon on the pegs to give Jessie a delicious pie and this drawing of Jessie. "There's a lot more where this came from if you'll go with me to Homecoming." And then rode away again. It was classic.

Her 16th birthday was magic. A few days before the big day one of her friends texted me and wanted to set up a surprise birthday party. I kept her occupied that day with a pedicure (her first!), and later that night Mike and I took her to dinner at India Palace while the invited guests arrived at the house and set up for the surprise. She claims she had no idea, but I'm not so sure.

On Sunday (her actual birthday) we thought we would just have a quiet family dinner and invited the grandparents over for cake after. Didn't turn out that way. Her good friend from next door filled her bedroom with balloons while we were at church and then brought over this DELUXE Captain America (Jessie's favorite super hero) cake. W-O-W! 

Earlier in the day we had been looking at old scrapbooks, and we were laughing about how when Jess was little every member of our families came to every birthday party (a consequence of being the oldest and only grandchild/niece for many years), and how that was definitely a thing of the past. When it came time for cake that evening however, along with both sets of grandparents, a steady stream of Sullivan family (all 5 of my siblings and their kids) filed through the door. They all happened to be over at Sullivan's before that and so they came to wish the birthday girl many happy returns. What fun!

Big Change #3.
Noble's big reveal.

Noble got his braces off last week. He was actually supposed to have gotten them off almost 2 weeks before that but some how we totally spaced the appointment. We have to be the first people in the history of braces to actually forget about the appointment where you get them OFF.  Unprecedented.
He can't stop smiling.

 Big Change #4.
Mike has a doppelganger!

Mike has River trained to sit, stay and come. Pretty good for a 10 week old. So far however, the potty training is largely unsuccessful, and he barks a lot, and has started something called puppy nipping (a  normal phase where a puppy tests his place in the pack by challenging everyone). We are working with him to nip it in the bud...more nipping. ha ha ha.
But the thing is, it scares the kids - and makes me frustrated. Why did we need a dog?
At least he's cute. Both of them.