For the Love of the Game

Some of you may be wondering why I suddenly have fight songs, and other football themed music on my blog. What can I say, I've caught the fever. Football fever that is. I can appreciate a good sporting event. I love to go to Indians games. The Cavs playoff game we went to several years ago was AWESOME! I enjoy watching Katy play soccer. But, I usually can not sit in my house and watch sports on TV for hours. I get bored when I'm not actually at a game I'm watching. There's something about the atmosphere of a sporting event that keep me fascinated with the actual game. I especially find it painful to watch a game on TV that has no meaning to me. Take the baseball season... There are six months of games. Lots of games. Lots of games between teams that I don't care about that really have no meaning until the end of the season. But, all that is different with football. I LOVE FOOTBALL. A couple weeks ago as Jared was preparing his talk for church he turned the TV to a football game (wonder why it took him all day to write the talk? too many distractions maybe?) I came into the room to nurse Jacob and sat down. Before long, I found myself completely riveted by the game. I had even picked a team to cheer for. I'm not sure why I love football so much. Was it being at BYU while LaVell Edwards was still the coach? Was it being in the marching band in High school? (yes, I was a dork) Whatever it is, Football is by far my favorite spectator sport. Anyway, now that I've completely bored you.....

FHE activity

I found an idea for a FHE activity off of the LDS living website. I was looking for ideas to help excite the kids about conference when I stumbled upon this idea. The whole family loved it so I thought it was worth sharing with everyone. All you need is pictures of several latter-day prophets (you could play it with prophets from the scriptures also). We used the picture pack that has all the prophets through President Hinkley. It also has a sheet with thumbnail pictures of all the prophets-this was our"master copy". Then we played "Guess Who". One family member would pick a picture of the prophet. The rest of the family would gather around the "master copy" and begin asking questions. Does he have glasses? Does he have a beard" Is he sitting in a chair? Is he holding a book? Is his first name Joseph? Is your prophet ________ ?etc etc. We had to give everyone several turns to pick a prophet since they were having so much fun. Coupled with the lesson on King Benjamin and his people gathering to his words, it made for a successful FHE. With four little kids, I would not usually classify our FHEs as "successful".

Animal Sightings

Saturday we decided to take the kids to the zoo. They've been begging to go since we got here but the first two months were too hot to be walking around a zoo. We looked at a calendar and decided if we didn't go Saturday we might not be going until next spring. We met up with Jared's cousin's wife and kids. John was sick so he missed out on all the fun. Paul is in second grade like Katy, Megan is in Kindergarten like Xandy, and their little girl is only a few months younger than Jacob. The kids enjoyed seeing the Penguins since there aren't any at the Cleveland Zoo. (There were things I liked better about this zoo and things I liked better about Cleveland's). Xandy is constantly telling us she misses Ohio but on the way out she informed us that if we can "do everything" with Megan she'll stay here. She loved having a cousin her age to play with. Jacob was enthralled with the animals, especially the black bears, and the penguins. He threw a fit because I wouldn't put him in the water with the penguins. It was a fun day but best of all it was free! Gotta love the beer company- they pay for some neat things. There aren't any pictures of Elise and I, but we probably prefer it better that way (at least I do)!

Katy, Paul, Megan, Xandy

Jacob

Bella and Dad

Paul and Katy watching the Hippo swim by

The girls: Katy, Bella, Xandy, and Megan

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Today was a "happy sad" day. My little sweet Jacob turned one year old. This is always a bittersweet age. Its fun and exciting to see all his accomplishments and the way he starts to really interact, but its also sad to leave behind the baby stage. After church, Laura and Connell came over for dinner. It was great to see them again. We went to a nearby park so Laura could see the covered bridge. After we walked dinner off we headed home for cake, icecream and presents. Jacob had lots of fun. Maybe too much fun since he fell asleep earlier than usual. He enjoyed eating his cake and icecream. I had to give him a bath before he opened presents. I'm pretty sure there is a ring of chocolate around the tub now. The first present he opened was a Cleveland Indians eating set that includes a plate, bowl, cup, spoon, and fork. He was having so much fun with his big boy silverware it was hard to get him to open the rest of his presents. Jacob is a happy little boy, always ready with a kiss and hug for his mommy. I love the sweet spirit he brings to our home. Happy Birthday little Buddy!!

2007 (I couldn't find a picture from his actual birthdate)

2008

Here's a bunch of pictures from the day. We missed being near family but thanks to Laura and Connell for spending the day with us!

Apples, Apples, and more Apples

One of my favorite parts of fall is apple picking. Last year I even went with a 2 week old baby. The girls and I have been going for 4 years now. The first time we went with the Jannings and the Dastrups and had so much fun, we went back the next week with the Stevensons. The following year we went with the Jannings, Estons, and Tonya and Austin. Last year was a fun treat since Dad(Jared) and Grandma Reed came with us. But I'll stop boring everyone now and just post the pictures from our fun day at the Orchard on Saturday. The only bad thing was they were OUT OF CIDER!! Guess we'll just have to go back next week.


2006:

2005:



(I guess I didn't take any pictures last year. Wonder why I wasn't organized enough to snap some photos?) We've been enjoying apple turn-overs and apple crisp this week. I found the best recipe for apple crisp that also uses blackberries and pecans!!

Buckle your seats, we're in for a long ride!

No, we are not going to an amusement park or on a road trip. We are simply attempting to raise Alexandra the best we can and hope she turns out okay in the end. At dinner tonight I was recounting our day to Jared. Explaining how Jacob is sneaky and loves to pull Bella's hair. Jared's reply was "well, what are boys for?" to which Alexandra yelled ,very loudly I might add, "Kissing!". Then, there was silence. Complete silence. Jared, and I were shocked silent. Katy &Bella were relieved it wasn't them who had yelled that. They could tell by Dad's face that was NOT the right answer and sat quietly waiting to see what would happen. Xandra sat silent because she too could see Dad's face and knew she probably should not have yelled that.

Where did this child come from? I was not a boy crazy child. I was too unsure of my self to even speak to boys. Where did this giggling boy crazy girl at age 5 come from? What am I doing wrong as a parent? How do I fix this before she is older? Can LDS girls live in convents? What age is too early to send her? and WHERE IS SHE GETTING THIS FROM?????

What I learned today

There's a saying that "you learn something new everday". Today I learned 2 new things while running some errands:

1) Jacob can only take so much shopping until he's had it (he is definately a guy), at which point in order to help you understand that he is finished he will continually pull his sister's hair as hard as he can causing her to have a melt down despite her best efforts to be good and resulting in a quick dash to the check-out. (how's that for a run-on sentence?)

2)When shopping at Target, it is not a good idea to put your red and white purse in the back of the cart with your children in an effort to entertain them. This is especially helpful advice if you are frazzled and hurrying to leave the last stopto return home. The purse will blend in with the cart and you will (in your haste) inevitably drive away with your purse still sitting in the cart in the cart corral in the middle of the parking lot.

Family Pictures

Tonight we had our family pictures taken. We went to the closest Portrait Innovations since they did such a wonderful job making Bella smile last year. It is 1/2 hr away so while we were there I hit a couple of stores in that area. The whole experience reminded me of a few facts I already knew:

1) I do NOT enjoy going out to eat with a 1 yr old.

2) Taking a nap does NOT guarantee your 3 yr old will cooperate for pictures

3) No matter how pleasant a disposition your 1 yr old may have, thier attention span for pictures is 5 secs max

4)I do NOT enjoy going out to eat with a 1 yr old (did I say that already?)

5) The saying that the camera adds 10 lbs is wrong, it adds 30 lbs

6)If I was one of the camera techs that had to run around making funny faces, trying to get a family of 6 to all smile at the same time, I'd never have to workout again

One of the great things about Potrait Innovations is the pcitures are ready in 15 mins. No more waiting 2 weeks and driving back. Here is a slide show of the photo shoot.

A calm within the storm

The remnants of Ike barreled up the Mississippi before turning East and hitting other cities (like Cleveland). Some areas of St. Louis had extreme wind conditions and other areas were pelted with rain. We had some crazy wind that caused 1) our sturdy grill to blow all around 2) the ornamental grass in the backyard to take on a new shape and 3) our tomatoes plants and sand toys to be whipped throughout the yard. But despite this, our wind was not as bad as other areas. Our problem was Rain. Lots and lots of rain......Almost 6 inches in a relatively short time span.

We woke up Sunday in an attempt to arrive at church 15 minutes early. Jared and I were both speaking and I had sharing time. I wanted to be set up for sharing time before church so I could catch my breath between Sacrament and Primary without rushing around like a crazy woman. We were amazed at how hard the rain was coming down and rushed outside to secure items in the backyard. If that is how hard it was blowing and raining here, I have no desire to ever be anywhere close to an actual Hurricane. We dug rain gear our for everyone and headed on our way. We were still in our development when we almost lost control of the car. There was a huge lake of water in the street, but it was raining so hard we didn't see it until we were in it. After turning out of our neighborhood we could see a "river" ahead of us. The water was draining from the driving range, across the street, and into another development. (We'll get back to this neighborhood). It was flowing quite fast and we were hesitant to attempt to go through. We slowly made our way through and continued to church; amazed along the way at how parking lots, parks, and yards dry the day before, now looked like ponds, rivers, and lakes.
When we pulled into the parking lot there were only a handful of other cars (the Leadership meeting attendees). On my way to the Primary room I overheard the Bishop and 2nd Counselor debating whether or not we would have the last 2 hours of meetings. They advised me not to set up for Primary. Relieved to not have to speak and do sharing time on the same day I joined my family in the Chapel. Five minutes before start time with only a few people trickling in we were told we would not be speaking.
One town within our ward boundaries is right by the Mississippi. That town had suffered a lot of flooding and even had sewers backing up into homes. Several families in other towns had also suffered flooding, or had big trees blown down. One family had a large tree graze the window of their wheel-chair ridden son's bedroom on its way down. A family who lives in the developement next to ours, had close to a foot of water in their finished basement. I think that some of the childrens' bedrooms were even in the basement. The father of that home recently had surgery and could not lift or peform manual labor. (Remember the river draining from the driving range? It was headed to a drainage pipe in a basin behind this family's house. The water backed up so much it starting coming over the 5 ft fence in their backyard) Other people arrived at church late after having to take several detours and find new routes to church. The brother behind us told me he saw several abandoned cars floating down the street as he turned around to find an alternate route.

The sacrament was administered and then we got to see the organization of the church in action. The bishop asked us all to call the families we home/visit teach. The bishop and 2nd counselor gave our their cell phone numbers so we could report back as to which families were in need of help. A count of pumps, and wet/dry vacs available was taken. Reports were made of families that were already known to need assistance. Then we split up and went to work. The elder quorum president and his wife dropped their children off for me to watch, and Jared joined them in helping families clean up. It was really neat to see how everyone pulled together and helped each other out. The church is set up in such an inspired way. Compared to wards and stakes in Texas we didn't really have many problems to deal with, but its comforting to know that the same system is in place everywhere to help families. Even in the aftermath of terrible disasters, the Ensign is always filled with stories of how the organization of the church was able to efficiently account for members and issue help and supplies. The church really is a calm amongst storms.

In the excitement of it all, I didn't think to take pictures. I did steal this one from my friend Kirstin's blog though (Thanks Kirstin!). Don't worry Mom, this is not the "river" we drove through. This is on the way to the kids' school and the YMCA (which are less than 2 miles from us and just over the hill in the background).

Beautiful Bella

my three girls

Jammin' Jacob

Jared took this video while I was gone this week-end. Jacob has gotten at least some of the Buchkovich genes in that he LOVES to dance. (Although we've discovered you don't have to be born a Buchkovich to inherit a love of dance. You can acquire this love after marrying into the family. But don't let Jared know that I let his secret out of the bag!)

Anyway, here's a video of Jacob dancing. I just wish we could film his cute moments without the spotlight parasites attacking.

Time Out For Women

I went to Time out For Women this week-end. A big group from the ward went. Even though it was only 40 minutes away we used it as a good excuse for a week-end break. We went up Friday and stayed in a hotel. Several sisters went to Friday's TOFW speakers but the rest of us went out for dinner and shopping. Although the restuarant took so long to seat us that there wasn't much time for shopping. Probably better though cause that means I couldn't buy anything. I really enjoyed the whole week-end. Even though some speakers were better than others, I really felt the spirit and had a great time. We got some really cute bags and had fun browsing the books and cds from Deseret Book. I forgot to take pictures of the week-end. It was my first time being gone overnight from Jacob. We both survived, but I have a sinking feeling that it was harder for me than it was for him. We stayed up way too late watching the hurricane strike Texas. I think I'm getting old, my body does not do well without my beauty sleep. Heather and Lauren even got to see a streaker run behind the reporter from the weather channel during his report. I missed it, but you can watch it on you-tube with the link if you're curious. It takes a special kind of idiot to run naked through the streets, at night, during a hurricane.

A week with the PopPop

My dad came to visit last week. His job allows him some flexibility to work out of the office. We had the pleasure of having him work from our house last week. Bella and him arrived Saturday evening. Bella had spent the week after Labor Day with Mima and PopPop. I was worried how she would handle being gone that many days from her family. She could've cared less. She had no interest in talking to me during the week and when asked if she wanted to stay two more weeks. She said "sure, if I can swim". Jacob on the other hand could hardly await her return. He smothered her with hugs and kisses when she walked in the door.
PopPop spent the evenings going to soccer practices, dance classes, and taking walks on the bike paths. The girls were disappointed that he couldn't come to their school skate night, but Jacob was sick and he stayed home so Jared and I could go.
Wednesday, Katy did not get off the bus. I could see her on it as it drove away but she hadn't been paying attention. I threw Jacob to Xandy and Bailey (the neighbor girl we watch in the mornings and afternoons) and took off after the bus. Here's a funny picture for you- can't you just see me running down the sidewalk after the bus trying to chase it down, looking like a moron? I did finally catch up and wave it over. My first reaction was to chastise Katy for not paying attention. Fortunately, and quite out of the ordinary for me, I held my tongue. Good things too, since she got off the bus just sobbing. Too make a long story short, a boy, who she considers her best friend here, was paying more attention to another girl then to Katy. That upset her and from there her day went downhill. She was slumped in her bus seat feeling sorry for herself when she missed the stop. She told me all that had happened, and even filled PopPop in a little, but she was adamant that her Dad not be told about her day. Seriously, SHE'S NOT EVEN 8 YET!!!! I had no idea that the boy drama would start so early. I figured in 8 more years this would inevitably happen but not now. C'mon, at least give me 5 more years of boys not being important!
In an attempt to salvage her day, we threw all our evening plans out the window and headed for a park. We hiked, played on a caboose, ran over a bridge, got sick spinning on the merry-go-round (wait that was just the adults- I'm too old to spin like that after dinner!), and swung on the swings. As we were leaving, Katy exclaimed "For a day that started as the worst day in my life, this was the best day ever.!" Oh, yeah! Mission accomplished, the day was successfully salvaged.

There were some sad little girls when PopPop left on Saturday and even more tears when they were tucked in bed that night. We had lots of fun while he was here though.

A "peace" of Heaven....

The following story, incredulous as it may seem, actually happened!

As I was trying to get dinner ready one evening last week, I noticed that it had gotten strangely quiet inside. I walked to the sliding door to see if the kids were outside. I was treated to this wonderful scene of the four of them playing peacefully and contently.









I grabbed a camera and took a picture to actually prove that this happened, but was very careful not to disturb them or alert them to my presence. Wish this could happen more often!

It that time of year

It that time of year where our lives are ruled by soccer. Actually, with only one child playing this year, and neither parent coaching, it promises to be the most laid back year yet. Katy had her first game on Saturday. Its amazing how different soccer can be from one town to the next. Its not necessarily better or worse, just different. Katy was excited to be playing again. She loves soccer! Jared may have been a little sad not to be coaching but it sure was nice to have him helping with the kids.

A visit from Bunny

Two weeks ago my brother Martin stopped by on his way out to BYU. My children (as well as all his nieces and nephews) adore him. When Katy was a toddler she loved Veggie Tales. Uncle Martin used to sing the song from "Rac, Shac, and Benny" to her. Part of it went:"the bunny, the bunny, oh I love the bunny". One day she started calling him "bunny" and it stuck. He is referred to as "Bunny" or "The Bunny" by the majority of the kids. The kids had a blast with bunny even if his stay was short. I love how he gets down and interacts with them. He doesn't play the cool college kid too cool to play with the kids. He played game after game with Bella. And even though at times I bet he was bored to death, he humored her and made her feel important. Even little Jacob was enamored with Bunny. We love you Bunny, good luck at school this semester.

Tea Party in the Orchard

One of the main reasons we went to Cleveland last week-end was for my cousin Asha's bridal shower. It was at an orchard in the Pittsburgh area. The orchard had a petting zoo, little kid sized village, gift shop, and a huge farm market (Around 3-4 times the size of Pickering Hill) In the back was another building... the tea party place. When we walked in, the first room was filled with coat racks full of dresses, hats, boas, and gloves to adorn yourself. After you had sufficiently "dressed up" you went into the next room. That room had several long tables running down the middle of the room. It was set with unique pieces of china and teapots kept continually full of hot water. There were little containers filled with every flavor of tea- regular and herbal imaginable. Well maybe not quite EVERY flavor imaginable, but more than enough for someone who has trouble making choices. (Wonder who that could be?) Since I couldn't decide I had about 3 cups...it was a long ride back to Cleveland. There was even chocolate tea! Anyhow, the "hostess" was picture perfect for her job. She had long wispy hair topped with a straw hat. Her voice was very sing-songy. Basically, if you close your eyes and picture someone in a garden having a tea party, you picture her.

We rotated between playing games and eating. Props to the sister of the bride for having unique games and not the same old tired bridal shower games. I was hungry on our drive to Pittsburgh and we almost stopped for lunch. Boy were we glad we didn't. The first course was homeade scones: blueberry, cinnamon, and cranberry orange (my personal favorite) served with cream cheese butter and raspberry sauce. The second course was fruit served on pedastal platters with strawberry marshmallow dip. The third course served was cheese, crackers, veggies, and the best dill dip ever! The fourth consisted of chicken salad on croissants and heart shaped cucumber sandwiches. At this point we took a break and Asha opened presents. Then it was back into the dining room for dessert. I know, we already had scones and fruit why did we need more dessert? Because, we still had not eaten blueberry cheesecake, brownies with chocolate icing, and cream puffs. And yes, I tasted each dessert. C'mon how many times in your life do you get to go to an actual tea party? I was going to live it up.

It was a fun and enjoyable afternoon and a great change from your normal bridal showers. The groom made a guest appearance (just in time for dessert) so I even got to meet the lucky guy. It was so much fun I can hardly wait for the wedding!

The future bride and groom:

The sisters:

The cousins:

Mother and daughter:

Attack of the Killer worms

When we came home last week-end we found the top of one of our tomato plant had been eaten off. We were puzzled at first. Did a 3 ft rabbit come into our yard? Did an olympic high jumping deer somehow manage to jump the fence? And what was a the little black poop looking things all around the tomato pot? After taking a closer look we found around 4 of the fattest worm/caterpillars on our tomato plant. (No wonder they were fat they ate a good 6+ inches of the top of our poor tomato). Turns out it was a hornworm. We found the following explanation online: "Colloquially known as the "tomato bug", the tomato hornworm is the caterpillar of the Tobacco Sphinx, Manduca sexta or Manduca quinquemaculata, large night flying moths."



No wonder Rabbit (think Winnie the Pooh) was so afraid of these bugs!! They do some serious damage. But, FYI, they can really squirt when you step on them. I accidently hit a few little girls with guts (he he he).

Cleveland Rocks

We went back to Cleveland for Labor Day week-end. We packed the week-end full of fun and it went by way too quickly. I determined over the week-end that you can take the girl out of Cleveland but you can NOT take Cleveland out of the girl. We went to the Indians game Friday night with some of our awesome friends! It was a blast- even though we lost. The guys accused us of not having watched any of the game, but we did manage to watch parts in amongst our conversations. One time Jared interrupted our conversation to ask me what the score was. He was testing me to see if I had paid any attention at all. I think he about fell over when I correctly stated the current score to him. There were fireworks after the game which I always love. Saturday, Jared, my dad, and my little brother took my four kids and my nephew to the Indians game. They lost again but everyone got Asdrubal Cabrera bobbleheads that more than made up for the loss in the eyes of the kids. Mom and I went to my cousin's shower- but thats a whole different post. Sunday was church and visiting with friends and family. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone. The hardest part of the trip was pulling away without my 3 yr old darling Bella. Bella is staying the week with Mima, Pop-Pop and cousin Weston. She'll have a blast but Jacob and I will miss her. When we got back last night we ended our trip at Chick-Fil-A where we were treated to 3 free chicken tenders a person (even Jacob) for wearing our college appearel. Xandy and I sported BYU attire while Jacob, Jared , and Katy went the Ohio State route. We added a couple waffle fries and cookies and cream shakes to share. Then it was home to unpack and unwind.

The girls:

The boys:

The game:

The Indians sign that I got emotional over:

Pink Badge of Honor

Katy is very proud that she can pass the test to earn a pink bracelet which allows her to swim in the deep end of the pool. We went to the pool one last time last week. The pool closed for the season this week-end. The crowning event of our last pool excursion was Jacob and the frog slide. Jacob hates slides. All of our other children absolutely loved slides when they were his age. He screams and cries even when riding on your lap. Maybe his love for water finally won over his fear of slides. He wanted to go down the frog slide over and over again. I would hold him as far up as I could and then help him slide down and splash into the water. He couldn't get enough of it. The first time we went to the pool Bella wouldn't go down the slide. When asked why she responded "The frog might close its mouth and eat me" No amount of persuasion could convince her otherwise. The next day her Daddy took her back. Apparently she felt that Mom would be no match for the frog, but believed Daddy could save her. She timidly went down the slide after making sure Daddy was standing at the bottom. By the end of that day she was a frog slide pro. We will miss the pool until next summer. I guess its on to the indoor pool we go.