I'm swimming... sort of

So I've decided to get really serious about my goal to learn to swim. I was going to try and run the Salt Lake Marathon this year, but since I'll be in the Philippines with Tyler for two weeks during some pretty critical training time- I'll save that one for later. Then, I was going to run in the Wasatch Back, but it sold out. So I've decided to train for a triathlon. Not sure I'll actually enter one, but I thought I'd go ahead and get the training out of the way! =) When I told one of my good friends I was thinking of entering a triathlon she was quick to remind me, "But Charlotte, you can't bike or swim. How's that going to work?" Kinda took the wind out of my sails. Somehow I just thought I'd figure it out in time.

So I went swimming on Friday morning. I was up at 5 a.m., completely terrified by the prospect. With running, it's so easy. If you're stride is a little off- you just run faster and it will work it's way out. Seriously- that's a proven fact. But with swimming, there is no faking it. And I'm pretty sure trying to swim faster would just make me drown.

I figured out pretty quickly that I could only swim one time across the pool. When I first tried to go there and back, I was completely pooped about halfway through the return trip. Then, I didn't realize that since I'm five foot two, when I put my feet down and try to stand up in five foot water, my head is still under. Go ahead and laugh as you picture that one. So I go over to the side to take a break. This guy decides to join my lane and says, "Feeling the burn, huh?" I proceed to explain that I don't know how to swim, etc. Yeah, I think he probably already knew that. He decides he'd rather chat with me than swim and attempts to tell me his life story. I quickly say, "I've got to figure this out" and swim away and he takes the hint and leaves. Then, I get to the other side and take a rest and who do I see, but a guy from my ward. What is this, happy hour? He asks how I'm doing and I again explain that I don't know how to swim and am trying to figure it out. I have no idea why I kept explaining that! As if watching me for 2 seconds didn't already made that point obvious! Blame it on nerves, I guess.

Anyway, by the end I could almost make it across and back without a break. And I figured something out. I kinda like swimming. When Tyler asked me what I liked about it, I had no idea. I guess, even though it was hard, it was sort of relaxing. I know I didn't work hard enough because I wasn't even sore afterward. We'll see how it goes. You know how I LOVE a challenge.

Mr. Tumnus

I recently made Oliver give up his "ba-ba's". They were two baby blankets that he slept with and chewed and sucked on. I made him give them up because I suspected they were making him throw up at night. He keep getting what I thought was the stomach flu at night. Then he would be fine during the day, only to throw up again a few days later. After three times, I decided he must be choking on the blanket. He was pretty upset and wanted to call Tyler to talk about it. When Tyler asked him if he was tired of throwing up at night, he said no- it just kind of made his belly sore. Silly kid!

Anyway, like I said, these were his baby blankets. One of them came with a matching frog made of the same material as the blanket. Since his blankets are gone, he has developed quite an attachment to the stuffed animal (don't worry- he doesn't suck it). I found this drawing of him the other day and I thought it was adorable. I have no idea why we call that little guy "Mr. Tumnus." I guess we were listening to the audio "Chronicles of Narnia" one time and the kids thought it was a great fit.

...and then there were four.

I kind of feel like our family is stuck in an old Nursery rhyme. Savannah is gone for the week to Teton Science School with the rest of the 8th graders at Salt Lake Arts Academy. I'm sure she's having a blast, but every time she leaves it reminds me that it won't be too many years until she's gone for good. And since we were already missing one, having another member of the family gone makes me even more reflective.

Tyler and I have a friend who once told us that one thing he had against the LDS church was the fact that girls weren't required to serve a mission. He felt like that was such a "rite of passage" for boys, and girls were just left out. I explained to him that it didn't matter if girls served a mission or not, their rite of passage was having a baby. No matter what had happened in their life up to that point, they would be changed forever.

I don't know what it is about having a baby. It's not even the physical part of it because I know it has the same effect on adoptive moms. Somehow your whole perspective and outlook on the future is forever changed by that tiny little helpless lump.

I can only speak from personal viewpoint, of course- but men I talk to have a very different experience. It was life changing for me. A refiner's fire for sure. It was interesting, since I didn't stay home with Savannah- much of my life remained the same, but I was forever changed. Without even meaning to, I became a mother. All those things I had watched my mother do- I was doing. Overnight life became more real and serious because I knew she would be watching and someday doing the same thing all over again with her own children. Because of this, my relationship with Savannah is different than with my other children. When I look at her, I am always a little bit in awe because she made me into the person I am. Without even knowing it, her expectations of me made me reach for a higher ground that I didn't even know was missing from my life.

As I was putting the kids to bed, Oliver decided to sleep in Savannah's room. As he laid down he said, "I miss Savannah." Emmaline replied, "I miss her more. She's my special sister." I guess I think I miss her the most.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"I"

"Heart"

"U"

Georgia used our kids to make a Valentine for Kevin. It turned out so cute, we wanted to share! Thanks Georgia. Happy Valentine's Day, Tyler. I'm so glad you're mine.

100 Days of School

Today Oliver's class celebrated their one hundredth day of school. They were asked to bring in 100 of something. Oliver said, "I've got hundreds of Legos." He decided to build a little army fort, of course, to show off his 100 items. Anything to incorporate army guys, I guess. (This is our 3rd attempt, by the way. It took a while to convince him that while he probably does use 100's of Legos to build things, he actually needed to count them and use exactly 100 this time!)

If I had it to do over again...

People are always asking me how I do it with Tyler gone all the time. Just like anything else, you do what you have to do and hope you're doing it right. I try to never think thoughts like, "I can't wait for Tyler to get home. Then things will be back to normal." That's when things seem to start to fall apart. I try to make everything as normal as possible, regardless of how crazy our life might be. I try to keep the house neat and clean, regardless of whether the man of the house might be returning tomorrow or in 19 weeks. I cook dinner every night, even though there are usually leftovers since I'm the only adult. This is by no means a post to pat myself on the back. Just a reflection on things.

But if I had to do it over again (which I WON'T- this is WAY too long for the good of our family), I would have done things very differently. I would have realized that my expectations of myself are just too high. I would have realized that everyone needs a break once in a while. I would have realized that you can't pretend that everything is "normal" for 5 months when things just aren't normal. 3 months, maybe. 5 months- impossible. I would have realized that I needed to make some lifestyle changes. But now that there are only a few (6 weeks) left, it seems a little silly to change anything, because then I'll have to change again back to "normal."

Anyway, this wasn't the post I meant to write. I was downloading pictures of the new garage (one thing I wouldn't do again- no major projects while one significant person is gone. Definitely not 2 or 3 major projects) when I started looking at all the pictures I have sent to Tyler and saw kind of a funny story. Oliver doesn't like to talk on the webcam much. I don't know if it makes him miss Tyler more or if he just thinks it is silly. Instead, he is always staging things for me to take pictures of to send to Tyler. Here are a few:

An impromptu "snowman" made of chunks of snow while we waited for Emmaline to play soccer.

A Lego dog.

Being an "Orc."

This is how an "Orc" eats. =)

When he does "talk" on the webcam, he always has to show him something.

Other things I've found- if it can break, it will. I started to make a list of broken things, but it was so long I was embarrassed. Lets just say I know a lot more about plumbing and furniture repair than I used to. If they can make a mess with it, they will. Case in point.

Yeah, don't ask. If a germ is going around- everyone will catch it. Slowly and painfully, one at a time until we are all better and someone else can get sick with something else. It's been a long winter. I think we can see the end if we can just "hold down the fort" (as Mama used to say) a little longer.

Oliver's Talk

Oliver came to me the other day with a kind of sheepish look on his face and said, "Look what Emmaline made me wear." She has loved dressing him up since birth- literally. When he was a few months old, Georgia and I heard him screaming from downstairs. When we went to check, we found her stuffing him into her Build-a-Bear Tinkerbell costume. He still adores her.

Anyway, after this, I promise to make a concerted effort to not tell stories that are sure to make Tyler sad. But I couldn't leave this one out.

The Sunday after Christmas, Oliver was asked to give a talk in Primary about Jesus. I thought I had prepared a great talk and Oliver had it pretty much memorized. We got up to the microphone and he started talking and then looked at me and said, "I can't do this." I reassured him that he could. We had practiced. It would be great. He began again and burst into tears as I realized what a bad idea this was. Here is the talk.

Right now my Dad is in the Philippines. He has been gone for a long time. He won't be back until February. I get to talk to him sometimes on the computer, but I really miss him a lot. I know that he will be back before too long and I will be really happy to see him.
When Jesus died, He told the people He would come back. After three days, he was resurrected. The people were really glad to be able to be with Him again. He has promised that He will come back again. Have you ever wondered what it will be like? I think if we are ready and we have been doing good we will be really happy to see Him. I'm trying to do what is right so that when I see Him again I will be ready.

Very inconsiderate of me to not realize how hard that would be for him! Definitely a talk we will all remember.