Photo Dump Family Update

I had to post the last picture because our refrigerator plays a major role in my life these days.

I am SO DONE with school. Dustin brought me home an orange creamsicle snow cone to break up my eight hour online school session today.

I also love driving home and seeing the front of our house. We have green grass, mature trees (about ten less than when we bought it!) hanging baskets, an American flag, and even a statue we named "Rosy" to greet us. Our garden has been a therapeutic adventure for us and a huge dream come true for me. I've always wanted to do this. Our corn is coming up nicely and we've already been able to pick strawberries, a rare advantage in this devil climate. It's like a science experiment every day for these tikes learning how to plant, water, and weed. They've taken a huge ownership in the garden. For Mother's Day Dustin made me a big planter box for all my herbs and the kids got me some rose bushes and a lilac tree. I feel like I've aged 25 years since buying this house because now I enjoy conversations relating to our yard. I've even become one of those people who gives tours of their plants to every visitor.

We've been busy and happy and love that it's June.

Save the Date: 11/12/13

Baby #3 will make his/her debut.

After 22 months of tears and prayers and miscarriages and a whole bunch of faith, the Lord has granted us a miracle and is sending us another family member. I am 15 weeks along today and am feeling great! The kids are already deciding on names and Jack is convinced that the baby will sleep in his bed with him. It was a hard secret to keep and it still seems surreal. We couldn't be more grateful and are greatly anticipating the joys that come with having a newborn in our arms again.

The Marshall Elementary Assembly Incident

So, I'm about sort of mostly, kind of over it now, but let's just say it was my worst moment of my mortal existence. I have learned that 11 year-olds are really smart, especially the fifth graders at Marshall Elementary. They have an incredible memory for detail, such a memory, in fact, that they continued to bring up this incident in full detail all the way through my senior year of high school. I even switched schools, but I was "lucky" enough to run into several past Marshall graduates at XC events or choir festivals or the mall. Really, really lucky.

Here's the deal about my middle childhood. I was not a bad kid. And I know bad kids usually preface everything with that, but really, I was a nice, friendly, outgoing, snarly-haired girl. I never hit anyone or cheated on tests or stole things. I did, however, never have a report card from k-12 that did not at least one time mention the automated, "Needs to socialize less." I was the student the teachers moved around to the different tables every few weeks. Joke was on them, because I could even get the boring nerdy kids who wore straight leg jeans to talk about something. (This was the 90's when kids either wore Jnco jeans or stretch pants) But in the end, joke was technically on me because I received several lunch detentions ...and just a handful of visits to the Principal's office (so many blog posts, so little time).

After bribing several student council members to vote for me, I was elected to be student body president (take that Jordan Smith.). This glorified title meant I attended 2, maybe even 3 after school meetings where we picked out what assemblies to have. But the real reason I coveted this title: I got to MC these said assemblies--cordless microphone and all.

That morning I put on my best stirrup stretch pants and wore my white T-shirt with a large dog on it that loudly proclaimed: "Old Navy." It didn't even matter that it didn't match super-all-the-way, just the proclamation of my clothes being purchased from this newly opened store at Vancouver Mall would instantly reinforce my self-conceived coolness. I was obvs. so excited that day, because I never stopped talking in class and earned myself another wretched lunch detention. It was like prison. No talking, no recess (chasing around my beloved Kevin Zimmerman), and no bathroom pass.

All I remember was downing my chocolate milk then heading straight for the gym to fulfill my Student Body President duties. It's all sort of a blur, but I remember sitting on the side of the stage having to pee real bad. The speaker was suddenly all done with his presentation, and all the teachers, including our principal, Mr. Loop, all stared at me to stand up and get the microphone from this guy and dismiss everyone back to class. It was awkward, so I had no choice. All I remember was standing up and feeling a wet stream of warmth and embarrassment running down those stretch pants. Then a Kindergartner right in front of me shouted to my dismay, "She's wetting her pants!!"
Then I replied, "I know!"

This left me no option but to run out of the gym, cross MacArthur Blvd and all the way home. We only lived a block away, but still. It was dramatic.

Turns out this memory not only was glued inside my amygdala, but also into the memory of hundreds of students in attendance.

Ummmm..... so.... yeah. Joke's on me.

Denim shorts.

You know when it can take people a few weeks to get used to writing "2013" instead of "2012" after New Year's Day? That's sort of how I've been feeling every single blasted month this year. I had to rewrite a check last week because I dated it in March. Apparently it is May. And now it's May 8th. So basically in a few days it'll already be June because the months are flying by and I can't keep up. And then it will basically be Christmas!!

Yesterday I realized that our annual Zoo pass I bought Spring 2012 was good until June 2013, so after eating my toaster strudel, I took the kids to the zoo. Then we went to Winco and bought a few ingredients, then I spent upwards of two hours chopping up stuff to unintentionally make a feast-sized amount of homemade potato salad, then after the Missionaries ate and left, we all went outside and did a little bit of yard work. The kids have been in charge of finding all the rocks on our freshly plotted garden and have been having a blast finding and picking up worms along the way for their twisted enjoyment. You know how they say that most people have the same fears as their parents, and that your fears will be passed to your children? I promise I try my hardest to not look disgusted when they bring me a hand full of worms. I want them to like nasty stuff like that and fit in with their Idaho heritage, I do.

Oh, and on Monday, Dustin went with me up to Rexburg while I was in my voice lesson and masterclass and decided to just ride his bike home from the Snow building. So yeah, I think I'm allowed to brag a tiny bit about that guy. 'Parrently he went through Archer and Ririe and arrived home just after 2 hours (just over 40 miles). I've decided I will think twice the next time I complain about that drive taking me 38-40 minutes. In a car. With Taylor Swift.

So that's why our year is flying by and that's why it's May and feels like it should still be March. On top of all that, I'm currently basking in the joy of a 19 credit-load semester. I read textbooks and articles on ilearn and sing French colouratura ditty's in my "free" time. Sometimes I get around to cleaning our kitchen, and sometimes, like really, sometimes, I fold our laundry.

Lillie keeps growing out of her shoes and Jack has holes in most of his jeans. I have no idea how it happened, or when it happened. Everybody told me that these kids will grow up fast. It's really, really annoying that they were right. But now it's basically Summer, and I better get over it and get busy turning all of those jeans into shorts.

3 Weeks and 6 Days

Just 27 days until I am done with this semester, people. My grades really suffered near the begining of the semester when we were cleaning, packing, and preparing to move from that "darling" house on 6th Street.
Yo. Buying a house is stressful.
Something had to give... and I chose to slack on my 20 credits. My teacher pulled me aside on the Friday after we moved noticing that I was a frazzled mess of emotion and exhaustion (and greesy hair) and said, "Erika, really. What would happen if you get all C's this semester?" And that's when I realized that nothing would happen and everything would be fine and that perfecting my writing skills of getting in and out of diatonic secondary dominant fully-diminished seventh chords wasn't crucial to the happiness in my life.

After settling down somewhat (or not), I was able to turn my attention back to school and I've raised my grades back to all A's and 2 B's. It always evens out, my friends! It just always evens out for 'ol Erika.

And between a crazy-stupid amount of homework, memorization, and practicing, oh--and driving 34,000 miles, I am burnt out. Seriously. I have completed 82 credits (34 classes) since starting school last Fall and have not had any breaks and am in STILL in awe that my brain has been able to handle it all. I have learned an extensive amount of mostly useful knowledge, but still feel unprepared to leave for some reason. The more I go on in school, the more I realize how little I really know, and I can't quit thinking about that.

When I went back to BYU-Idaho in August 2011, I had planned to graduate Spring of 2013, but figured that some time along the way I would get distracted, run out of money, or miss Lillie and Jack so much that I would stop after one or two semesters. Now I'm here with just 17 online credits left for Spring semester and I'm still in utter disbelief that it's going to happen. Going to school wasn't an if for me, but mostly a when. I'm amazed that the Lord has graciously made it possible for me to accomplish this goal right now, all while still enjoying my cute life with my cute husband and two tenderhearted children. I have been given everything I've ever desired all before age 26.

Here are pictures from our life the past few months (in case you needed proof or something). Did I mention that Lillie learned how to ride her bike without training wheels a couple weeks ago? I also just registered her for Kindergarten. I guess I'm a real mom now with real grown-up kids that will go to a real school.
What the heck, life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disneyland: