the price for being self-sufficient

I am so exasperated with the welfare situation of our country!   This afternoon I went to the Parking Garage to figure out parking for the new auto.  I told them I'd like to sign up for the roof-top parking, which Bryson was quoted last week at being $100 a month.  That's a bargain we thought!  We wouldn't mind parking on the roof to save from the usual $190 to park in the garage and vastly different than parking in the city for anywhere from $300 and up. 

However, the man looked at me and asked what our address was on the island.  When I told him, he shook his head.  "Sorry ma'm - you don't live in the right housing to get you the lower rate.  You'd have to live in one of these housing developments to get the discount - and with that he pointed to a list of housing on the island that are all "government assisted.   Instead we live in "regular" housing and with that we will be charged $190 a month to pay for parking in a garage where others are going to get a discount for about 1/2 of what we'll pay because they can't afford the regular cost.  I looked at the man, and the only thing I could think of came out...."But isn't that reverse discrimination or something that we aren't allowed the same discount as others, simply because people are assuming we can afford it?"  The man told me he didn't make the rules - he was just enforcing them.  Great - thank you sir.  Extremely helpful.  


Here is an idea for all those people that will be parking on the rooftop where there are at least 50 extra spaces that aren't used and could go to families like us that would be interested in them....DON'T have a car if you can't pay the full price for your housing, food, medical care - therefore you wouldn't need discount parking!

GRRRRR!!!!!  We are fortunate that we have a job that we can pay for things on our own and not rely on the government...but seriously why do people living on government assistance need help to pay for their parking?

What is wrong with the situation our country has put itself in with this...it's such a vicious cycle we have created for these people.   And it just is frustrating to me on many levels!  Mostly welfare and government assistant levels - but that is obviously a situation I could go on about. 

Sunday Funnies

While driving home today, I had to hide a chuckle with Bryson Jr. and these little tid-bits....

He was getting restless in his seat and complained that his leg hurt and then pulled it up and gasped, 

"AH!  My knee-pit itches and hurts SO bad!" 

I don't know why this struck me as so funny - probably because I have never heard it referred to as a knee-pit, which I suppose I am the only one....but it just made me laugh, but then I had to hide my chuckle as Bryson Jr. can be a little sensitive when we laugh at/with him!  

Then there was this one  ------

Bryson Jr. ....."and then it was all filled up." 

Me:  "Honey, don't say all filled up.  Simply say it was full or you can say you filled it up.  To say it was ALL filled up is stating something twice, and it doesn't make sense." 

Bryson Jr.:  "But I like to say it that way - that it was ALL filled up!" 

Me:  "Yes, I understand that - however it's not proper English to say it that way." 

Bryson Jr.:  "Why?  Those are English words!" 

I really had to bite my lip to stop from laughing out loud at his reasoning back with me.  As Bryson Sr. said when I got home and told him the story - each of our children are smart in their own ways.....Madeleine is leadership smart, Bryson Jr. is Book Smart - he is smarter than he knows he is, and his practical approach to everything catches us off guard all the time....and Jacob - well, at such a young age....he's street smart.   

I was trying to convince Jacob that leaving Virginia was a good think, although hard for him to leave his cousins and all the playing he had enjoyed over the past few days.  To ease the pain of leaving, I told him Daddy missed him so much we had to get home.  Which resulted in Jacob saying this anytime I stopped at a red light out of town, if he didn't think I was driving fast enough & anytime we stopped for a potty break....

Jacob:  "Drive faster Mom!  Daddy misses us!"

I love that funny boy :)  

MORE FUNNIES

While talking with our cousins one day about where their dad was --- I can't remember now but he was at work or doing something and getting home a bit later than they had thought or planned on....

Jacob:  "That's okay your dad is gone - our dad is always gone at work.  He is never home!"  

funnies...

As we were cruising along the 95 on our way from NYC to Virginia, the kids were giddy with excitement to be in their "new" car. It's not new - new....just new to us. It's an '04 Ford Explorer, but it has more bells & whistles than our '96 mini-van has, and we are in love with the fact that the kids can all sit on seperate sides of the car and there is relative peace on our drives. I couldn't decide if that or the seats that I can heat up were my favorite thing :)

Two funny parts of the trip down....

1) I had to stop in the city to have a car shop take pictures of the car to send to our insurance company. We had planned to leave between 10-11am....and we finally pulled away from the apartment building at 11:30am. I thought we were doing fairly well - and we didn't hit traffic through the city --- however, it must have all been too long for Jacob, because as I pulled up at the car shop, he let out a huge sigh of relief and stated.... "Oh good, we are finally at our friends!"

2) After we had driven for a time and the kiddos had done a few pages in their workbook, I agreed to let the DVD player come out so they could watch a show. Madeleine was trying to set up the DVD player so that all 3 kiddos could see it, and I heard them discuss that the best place to put it would be in between Madeleine & Jacob on the 2nd row - but to put down the seat so that it was a flat surface and so Bryson could see it from the back row. Problem was - I didn't know how to put down the seat and I was driving on the NJTurnpike. Not a place to stop. I told the kiddos they would have to figure something out, and after a few minutes I heard a triumphal... "AHA! I knew I could figure this out!" Bryson Jr. was so excited to tell me that he had figured out how to put his seat down & when I congratulated him, his response was.... "just call me Bryson the SMART!"

happy days are here again

I'm having a really great day today. I don't know if it's been the long winter, the small cramped apartment, living in a city that has lost its' luster in the day to day tasks, and the confusing school system....to mention a few things that drive me nuts here - but the last few months have been a struggle for my emotions.

Yesterday was a hard and good day. A day when you start to get down to the bottom of some emotions. Bryson and I read some things that made us discuss and open up. It felt great to allow myself to really think and talk. A smile came up. We laughed. We cried. We laughed some more. Life started to feel like it was climbing back to that "normal" point I keep referring to that I think is out there...somewhere! :)

Today was a better day even still. I have started to work out more than I have....in well, um too long to think about. Strange that I never worked out while we lived in Provo but that is when I lost all my weight - and it stayed off for those two years. We moved here and I technically was moving more than ever before...but the weight came on. With a vengeance.

In regards to working out, I have come to some really funny conclusions - I even know they are funny before I tell them to Bryson. Realizations that I should have figured out long ago....such as if I run faster I burn more calories. Seriously, it's so painfully obvious when I write it out that it makes me laugh at myself for this huge awakening I had last week while on the treadmill. Sometimes I am too naive...or just completely out of the loop!

We woke up this morning and after the busy weekend celebrating Madeleine's birthday - we've had very late mornings (as in yesterday we woke up at 9:15am with church starting at 10am,and today our goal was to wake up at 8:00am....so naturally we woke up at 9:30am....we are doing so totally great aren't we?!). We had brunch which finished around 11am, and Bryson was great to let me run down to the gym while he got ready to go into the office.....as it was one of those days when he had just a "few hours" of work, the miracle of it, he really only did stay there a few hours! A first I think ;) I had a great workout, where again I had some real "mind-blowing" revelations....for me. At least I am coming around, although I feel like I have missed out on some time that I should have been doing more to care for myself armed with this great information!

The kids and I then did some jobs around the house - which spruced things up and it was not so dusty and neglected...and it didn't take that long either. We really do have great helpers in the kiddos - they can be so great. Madeleine had two friends come over to play, while the boys took out Legos and Magnetix and spread them all over the living room carpet completely immersed in their imaginary play. It was amazing! I started to make dinner, as the Elders (missionaries) came to dinner - and I think my favorite part was when I served the salad and they both said that they haven't had a salad served to them in weeks and this looked and tasted like a fancy restaurant meal. Ahhh....that really made me happy. And actually it was one of the first times I didn't mind cooking a meal either - probably as the kids were all happily occupied and I'll admit I was occupied as well - I had on the Biggest Loser via Hulu on the laptop propped up on the kitchen counter to keep me company in the kitchen....and on track (meaning trying not to snitch while I was cooking!). I have never watched that show until a week ago, and I actually like it...probably the first and only reality show I've liked (wait, I do like SuperNanny)....but I find that I learn some new tid-bit on there each time. Go figure - watching other people work out is actually pushing me to want to do better myself.

Okay....the best part of the night came when Bryson bought us a car. Yes. He did. Fabulous husband is what he is.

We have talked about the option of getting a vehicle. I complain often enough how insanely hard it is to go shopping, and do anything with a car. Even though we rent a truck from some friends - we don't have it at our disposal all the time...we share on weekends, and some times I want to be able to walk out (okay walk out and then up to the parking garage!) and know that we have our own car waiting for us to use. Having a car here is a nicety. It's not something that you have to have. It can be expensive. However, he has picked up on my hints - outright (life is SO hard, the whining, the crying, the moping, etc.....I'm worse than the kids at times with how I absolutely do not want to take the subway anywhere!) - and the not-so obvious hints...which come to think of that, I'm not sure there are many of those....but thankfully on days when we don't have the truck available for our use and we want to go somewhere it's easy for us to both say..."oh, a car would have made that nice".

Although I know that I'm really the one that is going to benefit most from this. And I am so thankful that he was able to see it would really help my life out.

Bless his heart....happy days are here again.

AND - more happy to share. We are leaving tomorrow for a few days down in Virginia - our other home! The children have mid-winter break this week and are off the entire week, so I'm going to drive down with them tomorrow and stay with my sister-in-law and their family, and then hopefully if all goes as planned Bryson will take the train or bus and join us on Friday night and we'll all drive back up on Sunday evening.

I am so excited to get out of this city and have a change of pace! We are hoping for the time to head into the city and see a few of the sites that the children don't remember at all!....and to spend time letting the cousins play, for me to see a few old friends - and of course...the shopping. There are stores here, but they are a pain to get to, I pay for parking and the stores are just not the same as in other places....how I miss these little things in our life!

So....that is all. I just had to say I'm so, so, so happy today. And to share the reasons why - even if now they sound a tad superficial.

True happiness can still come from things that are a little superficial right?!

Happy Birthday - Miss Madeleine

Madeleine turned 9 years old today!

It's 10pm and we just barely turned the light out in the children's room. We are all exhausted from a fun day celebrating the life of our little miss.

I have a lot to write, but my eyelids are heavy as well.

I just wanted to save this spot on blogger-world with the date February 19th....so that tomorrow or the next day I can come back and actually write on this specific day what a great day it was. It was full of family. Ice skating fun. A friend sleepover last night (staying up until midnight - probably another main reason we are so tired today!) and the love that Madeleine felt through many generous presents.

What fun a birthday is.....more updates to follow.

To Madeleine - 9 things we love about you!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Madeleine!

We are so lucky to have this amazing girl in our family!  Here are 9 fabulous things about Madeleine:

1) Madeleine you are a born leader!  Perhaps being the oldest helps you out, but you have great leadership quality which we see daily as you help me around the home, with your brothers, and is looked towards as a leader in your class and school.  Being Class President has helped you accept leadership in a new area - and watching you blossom in this new role has been such a joy this year!

2) You are such a beautiful girl!  Inside and out.  You have been blessed with a kind heart that wants to help out....growing each year with being able to look at a situation and find ways to help those around you is a special gift you have been given.  At times you can be cautious as you see a new situation, however your heart is always in the right place!

3) Smart, smart, smart!  Not only do you have a great ability to be smart about how to lead - but Madeleine you are a girl who has a bright mind and a love for learning!  How amazing it has been to see you grow in your desire to learn and all that you have been taught and how it adds onto what you are capable of.  You especially love literature - both reading and writing it.  The growth in your writing this past year is evident in your essays, personal narratives and the work you bring home from school and do here at home.  I love that you are enjoying expressing your thoughts, opinions and views through the written word....it has helped you be able to express yourself more easily in many different ways - what a blessing and what a gift you have!  

4) Reading! Watching you pick up a good book to read is one of my greatest joys!  I love that you'll take recommendations on what to read....currently you are finishing the 'Little House' series, and I love when you tell me about what you are reading and learning about Laura Ingalls life.  I shouldn't be that amazed when you finish a book - but sometimes I still can't believe between everything else on your schedule, that you find the time to read and finish a book (usually around 200 pages) about every 2-3 days.  And again, your interest in reading has lead to adding to your knowledge....what wonderful choices you are making!

5) Sense of style!  I love how you put your outfits together, and then add a flair with a scarf, or one of your fabulous headbands, little bit of bling from some jewelry or your shoes.  Your teacher this year is just in love with your outfits and constantly tells me that she just loves when you walk in the room to see what you'll be dressed up in that day!

6) Internal Alarm Clock.  Your body has a very keen sense of what time it is.  I've never had to wake you up, or get you moving in the morning - you just seem to know what time it is and you wake up at the needed time.  Even if we it's earlier than usual!  You are able to balance your schedule and do what is needed in the time allotted you - whether that is getting ready for the day, doing your homework, practicing the piano or any number of jobs ---- you are amazing to use your time most effectively and I never rarely have to remind you to stay on task.....rarely as after all you are still human! :)

7)  You love to participate in activities!  If you could, you would be doing things from sun-up to sun-down!  Currently you are doing ballet on Monday, Piano and Girl Scouts on Wednesday and Activity Days with the girls in church on Friday nights.  The only reason you aren't doing more....is that I can't figure out how to get you everywhere you want to be without having your brothers fall apart because of the busy schedule!   You love to get into new projects and on Tuesday & Thursday you enjoy being able to have time to play with friends outside or to enjoy your American Girls.....which you still love and play with using your imagination to a level that really makes us happy to see that you are still enjoying these more simple joys in life!

8) This past year turning 8, you stepped into a new responsibility with being baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and receiving the Holy Ghost.  You have learned how to listen to the promptings this year --- you are learning how to let it guide your life.  There are times when it seems you have been able to listen and see the ways it can bless your life.  You've also had some times where you didn't make the right choice - and with consequences you realize the importance of always trying your best to listen and obey the teachings of our Savior and to follow those promptings that you are now able to receive through the gift of the Spirit.  It's a learning process - and one that you seem to be taking seriously as you have matured in a beautiful way of spiritual understanding this year.  It will be wonderful to see how you continue to grow this next year. :)

9) Change and adaptability!  You help to create a stability in our family while we have gone through some different changes with this move and look forward to different changes in our future.  You have learned that change is going to be inevitable in life, and your ability to adapt to different situations shows that you again are maturing and growing in ways that are blessing you and our family.  I find that I include you in talking about possible situations for our family - example being that we are seriously considering moving this summer.  I worried that you would take things too seriously and get worried - however you seem to be able to understand that there are things we need to discuss before decisions can be made and although you are excited and nervous about some changes - you do your best to realize that life can always through in a few surprises in life and that we can never plan completely for what will happen.  It really has helped me to have you be so mature about our families new, exciting and sometimes crazy adventures!

We love you so much Madeleine!  We remember that first time driving home with you in the car and hearing you make all those precious baby sounds and having it sink in that we were your parents!  From the beginning you have been bright eyed and ready for whatever experience life has to offer.  We love you and your excitement, that you are our sweetheart and we loved celebrating you and another amazing year in your beautiful life!

Happy 9th Birthday!

more things to love...

There is more to love. Of course there is more. There is always more to love.

I love...

Reading.

To celebrate February's 'I Love to Read' month, I wanted to talk about this little hobby that has sadly been on the back burner during the past (childrearing) years. I realize how blessed we are to have children that are such avid readers & realize that the more I find moments to read it's something I love, and I pass that love of reading on to my children.

My favorite books to read are......drumroll please.  My children's books - not just picture books, of course those are fun!....I'm talking about their chapter books.  Yes, that is right, they are definitely below my official reading level and may not provide the intellectual stimulation within every paragraph, page and chapter. However, I love that I can sit down and read through a book within a few days. It was when I was teaching school - particularly 5th grade that I realized how incredible these "children's" books are - although often overlooked due to the fact that they are in the Juvenile section. These are great finds! The books I love most are the historical fiction (historical non-fiction is absolutely even better!), as they are based around real events, real people, real emotions - although they weave in some fictional characters or situations that probably happened, but it's not documented - or they weave a few true stories together to make one large story.  

And the bonus is that it helps me read books that I can recommend to Madeleine and Bryson...and soon enough to Jacob. My favorite book that I read this week is 'Letters from Rifka' about a young Jewish girl that escapes with her family from Russia and emigrates to America. They face many set-backs, however personally she has the most challenges but turns them into significant learning and growing experiences.

With talking about the love of reading, I wanted to say how much I have loved being involved with one of the best fundraisers at the kiddos school. This year, I decided to pick the Scholastic Book Fair as another pet project for my to-do list. And I have loved it! We just finished our 2nd Book Fair and we have the 3rd in June. Each time gets better, we learn more, and I get to know more of the students, the books they love and the teachers who are so appreciative of the books that we are able to give them through the credit we earn from the sales.

I also love how much the children enjoy being at the school with me for these extra hours. And there are a lot of extra hours. The set-up for the event takes a good 2-3 days...last fall we had 2 days this time we had 3 days. The great news is that we were able to finally hold the Book Fair in the school library....seriously, you have no idea the amount of persuasion this took with our administration! They are very protective about their library, which is ironic because no one uses it! We don't have a librarian due to budget cuts, and the students can't check out books from the library. Sad to say - the library is a beautiful space that isn't used as it could/should be!

The Book Fair is a chance to start turning that around, as the Administration is now open to getting the library up and running, and that has become another project that I and another gal on the PTA are working on. I suppose even though I don't find a lot of time to read, I want to be sure that reading is available to these children and that we have options of using a space that is meant for reading, discovering and learning.

Thankfully hours of hard work has paid off in a big way with each Book Fair.

And here are some pictures of my little loves in the Book Fair - and some of the other people we know at the school as well :)

On Tuesday we had a Family Literacy Event with Super Heroes reading to the children (along with the theme of Reading Gives Us Super Powers!).  This is our principal Ms. B reading to a group of students...Bryson is in the brown laying on the bean bag.

Next a Firefighter read to a group of students...

 

love - LoVe - LOVE

an unconventional post for this Valentine's Day to celebrate some of the little things I love....

love

I kept thinking about my favorite treat today - Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears.  I tried not to think of them too much, as I have yet to find a place that sells them, or even a place that sells Cinnamon Bears that I could dip into chocolate.  Then as I was taking Jacob to preschool, our Concierge told me we had a package, and I waited patiently until after my errands to open it up.  Thankfully Grandma Joy's Valentine's Day Box included a little indulgence for myself as well as for the kiddos....there were my dreams in reality....my Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears!  I love these amazing morsels of goodness!   I love my mom more for thinking to send them to me.  I would really love if I could figure out a way to order their 25 pound box and put some of these bites of heaven into food storage.  

LoVe......
When Bryson Jr. gets excited to clean the toilet for me and tells me he is the best toilet cleaner ever!  I completely agree :)  These are pictures from last Saturday's chores, and I am still only taking pictures on my camera so the quality isn't the greatest, but I'm going crazy with not having a camera!  I feel like I haven't really documented life since my camera broke last November....ahhhhhh!  I was going to send in my camera to be fixed this week....but now I can't find the receipt which is supposed to accompany the camera.  I hope that I can find that receipt soon - I want a "real" camera again!  Anyway - that isn't what I LoVe, so back to this....

One of Madeleine's jobs was to help Jacob match the socks and then fold them up to put away.  She was very patient and made it into a fun game (she is getting great at this - many times having more patience and better ideas than I come up with!) - where Jacob took the folded socks and shot them into the basket (a.k.a. the IKEA bag) and quickly worked their way through the pile of socks while have a great time and practicing Jimmer shots!

and i LOVE these cheeks and this precious new babe!  Welcome little Juliet to the family....my sister Brooke had her second little girl early Saturday morning, and this is our only picture of this sweet new love in our family.  I wish we were closer so I could hold her and kiss those cheeks!

p.s. I don't love.....
*that I can't figure out the date system on the new blogger!  I had started this post on Valentine's Day....around 11pm.  However, Bryson got home right after that (another part that I don't love so much....the late nights home) and so I published the post to make the sure the date would hold, and then saved it as a draft.  Now, when I went to publish it - it came up for Tuesday, the 15th.  The old blogger did not do that!  What is going on?!  How can I make sure to have a post actually post on the day that I want it to?

Anyone?  Please help!! :)

Sunday Funnies

My favorite part of the newspaper when I was growing up were the Sunday Comics - or "Funnies".  Actually, those are still my favorite part of the newspaper as I can count on understanding at least one section of the news.  In honor of those days of sitting down to read the Funnies, I bring you our own Sunday Family Funnies...

******
Two days ago (Friday) we got home very late from finishing up the Book Fair. More on that later, but it's always a crazy schedule for the family - particularly myself and the kiddos - during a Book Fair week.  I'm at school each day from beginning until about an hour after, and the last day is the doozy as it's take down, clean-up and sorting through the financials...it's at least a 12 hour day on that final day and that is even with a crew of volunteers!  My kids are such champs during Book Fairs - thankfully they love it so they don't mind getting to browse the fair every day, still I find ways to reward them for their patience and help.

This time around, I let each of the kids choose their own poster from the ones that had been sold on Friday night after the week of hard work. Bryson Jr. decided on the shark. I asked him a few times if he was sure because I'm not so sure about walking in and seeing the big JAWS picture on the wall. However, he loved it!

We got home around 8pm and Bryson Sr. walked in the door about 30 minutes after us, and right away Bryson wanted to show his shark picture off! Our children wish almost daily they had more than a Pillow Pet, Zhu-Zhu Pets and Littlest Pet Shop (thanks Dan for the realization via your FB post that we DO have a lot of pets!), but due to living in an apartment and more importantly allergies for Dad....pets aren't an option in our life.

Except Bryson Jr. came up with a pet we might consider.

No worries on where we will keep it - because he thought of that as well. When Bryson Sr. asked him where a shark would go, his ready response,
"Well, we can keep it in a cage out in the East River Dad!"

See. Problem Solved. One shark delivered to Roosevelt Island, NY, NY please!

*******

Today as we were driving home from church we were trying to keep Madeleine's mind off being car sick, and Bryson Jr.'s mind off of teasing Jacob. We were asking both of them questions about their primary classes, what they liked, if they were excited for school, etc.

Apparently Jacob got a little put out that no one as asking him questions. "Hey, I had a good time in class!" or "I had a fun time talking to ________ (friend in his class)", and "I was following ________ (other friend) after church!". But still, no was asking Jacob questions.

So, he took matters into his own hands. From the backseat we heard Jacob's little voice....

"Are you happy Jacob? YES I AM!"

******

Bryson Sr. taught our FHE lesson tonight on Money Management - specifically 1) Tithing, 2) Savings (Mission, Education, etc.) and 3) Fun.

Jacob trying to patiently wait to open his present from Daddy! 

opening up their NEW banks....let's hear a hooray!  

He was excited because he bought new banks from Deseret Book for the kids to put their money into. I got them a bank last year....from Ikea....on clearance. It wasn't nearly as cool. Then again, I'm not the specialist in finances - I've always been better at spending money than saving it. :)

As Bryson Sr. was focused on the lesson, Bryson Jr. was struggling. "I don't want to pay tithing! I'm never paying tithing. EVER!"

We kept plodding along with the lesson.

We got to the part where we paid them for the jobs that they did yesterday for their Saturday work. They were so excited to see their $2, and we started to talk about what the 10% for tithing would equal to. Madeleine started to count out her money, and put it into the tithing slot.

Bryson Jr. was not happy about giving his 10%. "But Dad, it's just 10%! What is the big deal if I actually pay it?!" And we kept plodding along, Bryson Sr. being able to convince him to put the money into the tithing slot - although still at bed Bryson Jr. was saying that he did not want to pay tithing.

Baby steps. Baby steps. With each of the children they struggle with one of the principles of gospel living that for whatever reason just doesn't make sense in their mind. Madeleine does not like getting a blessing (we were really worried she'd actually refuse getting the gift of the Holy Ghost after her baptism!....thankfully all went well) and with Bryson - well, it seems to be tithing that we need to keep speaking positively about.
 
******

For Madeleine - her funny moment wasn't all that funny, but how I realized she has this really great sense of humor in her writing. Her class finished a book this week, and she was working on a final project for it this weekend. She took the role of a reporter and asked the characters in the books different questions to learn more about their feelings and the development of the story and how each person grew and changed during the story.

The reporter had some funny lines - especially bringing the guests "on" and "off" the little show that was being written about. She had everything written out by hand and I needed to type it for her, and I really enjoyed reading her words and catching this glimpse of how writing really does open up ways that we can express ourselves in a much more free and liberating way.

Madeleine has always had a great sense of humor - I just really enjoyed the extra dose of it tonight in her writing!

******

That's all for this edition of your Sunday Funnies. Hopefully we'll have a new run next week to share :)

L says R - and R says L. It's all very confusing.

There was a funny scenario tonight at piano lesson that caused me to grin. In a very big way. I actually really wanted to laugh out loud, but I thought it would probably be rude. And disruptive.

So, I held it in and realized I had to write it down.

Our teacher is a wonderful Japanese older woman who was referred by our friends from school. I realized last week that our life here has led us to know and have many wonderful friends from Japan. Madeleine's best friend Aoi and her family moved here when we did, and sadly will be returning to Japan at the end of the school year. We adore their family, and all 3 children are favorites of my children and their mother is a jewel. One of the sweetest people I have ever met. At school two of Bryson's classmates - Hiiragi and Misaki - are from Japan and I got to know the moms as we started an English Conversation Class through the PTA. The children aren't in the same class this year, but they continue to be amazing friends that are so sweet and very willing to help when I need some "adopted family" around. These friends also introduced me to our piano teacher here on the island. I found out that both Hiiragi and Misaki were taking piano from a teacher in the building right next to ours. I met the teacher, liked her a lot and decided to have the children take - and love her philosophy and teaching methods.

At church one of the sisters that I got to know and really enjoyed getting to talk to on Sunday, was Japanese and her husband a mix of Japanese-American. They moved to Brazil with work, and I miss talking with her at church. She is so real, no pretensions and crazy enough...even though they lived way downtown and had moved to our ward from Brooklyn ---- they had the same piano teacher.

It's a small world.

Last week during piano we had Aoi with us as her mom had a medical emergency that day. As we came into our lesson, we introduced Aoi to Ms. Yoshiko and she glanced up at me and said, "You know so many Japanese friends Ms. Summer! How did you do that?!"

I have no idea how it all worked out, but our lives have been so blessed by these friendships. I tell my Japanese friends if only I had been having them teach me Japanese while we lived here....then I might have learned a few important phrases! Oh well, we were focused on them learning English, and I never had Japanese on my radar until now. I suppose I need to take the hint and be ready to learn any and all languages when the opportunity presents itself.

Now - the funny story with the Japanese language. One rule of their language that we now know is that they do not say an 'L' sound. It actually comes out as an 'R' sound. We learned this with Bryson's friend Hiiragi and his mom Yukari. I could not figure out his name - I saw that it was spelled with an 'R', but I would hear his mom and it always sounded like she was saying an L or would call him the shortened version of Hila. I was confused, until one time at our English Conversation class I asked her - and she said L and R is mixed up in Japanese - they can't really say the sound of 'R' in the English language. But then again, it's bizarre as the names that we know that have 'L' in them, we can hear them saying an R - and when there is an R we hear them with more of an L sound. Now I'm really confused.

Fast forward to today at Bryson and Madeleine's piano lesson. She does about 20 minutes while each child working on individual warm-ups and pieces on the piano. Then for 20 minutes she does theory and rhythm/beat exercises for a total of a 60 minute piano lesson. Today she wanted the children to clap for a 2 beat and then 3 beat rhythm. For the 2 beats they children were to say 'Lincoln' and then for the 3 beats it was 'Washington' - a way to incorporate President's Day she said :)

The only glitch was that when she gave them the example she said as she was clapping, 'Rincoln, Rincon, Wash-ing-ton'. And I started to smile.

The kids sat with their backs to me and she was facing them and therefore, me as well. I was being very careful not to overstep and say anything during the lesson, but the difference between saying 'Lincoln' and 'Rinkin' was very evident and I didn't want the children saying it the wrong way - they should know the President is Lincoln, but I wasn't sure they would actually say it with the 'L'.

And then right as the teacher finished her example and turned it over to the kiddos to clap and chant while she played the beat - I saw Madeleine lean over to Bryson in a quick instant and whisper in his ear....

'Remember R's are L's in Japanese!!'

And I then enjoyed the exercise and hearing the children's young and small voices counting out 'Lincoln - Lincon - Wash-ing-ton' while in the background was the strong voice of our beautiful teacher calling out 'Rincoln - Rincoln - Wash-ing-ton'.

It was definitely a favorite moment of piano!

The Writing Piece

The boys and I are home sick today - head colds, runny noses and stuffed up noses. And so the marathon of cleaning up the computer and catching up on emails and blogs begins.

In my emails I found this piece of writing that Madeleine had written out on Bryson's computer and that he had emailed to me. I had never read it, and thought it was a very insightful piece of writing. I applaud the author for taking experiences from her life and writing fiction and non-fiction tied together in this piece. There were a few 'aha' moments while I was reading through, and I'm going to jot down some 'notes to self' at the end.

Enjoy Madeleine's Masterpiece ~

Ryan! Get out!!!

By: Madeleine Lord

Boom! Crash! Bang!

“Oh Ryan! Not again! Now look at the mess you made! Now get out of our room right now! Go!” Samantha yelled at her little brother.

Samantha flopped down on her bed and picked up the phone. “Hi Jessica!"

"What’s up?”, Jessica asked.

“Oh nothing. Well I’m just sitting at my desk.” Samantha answered. “Jessie! It happened again. Ryan painted all over Fluffy, messed up my papers, went on my computer, and colored all over my artwork.”

“Oh Sam! Why don’t you just ask your Mom?” Jessica answered.

“Oh Jess! You know that won’t work. Now why don’t you come over and help me clean up the papers, organize my folders, fix my computer, draw some artwork, and wash Fluffy,” Sam said.

“Okay! Do you want me to bring over my dog, Pepper?” Jessica replied.

“Sure. Well, it doesn’t really matter…..okay, sure bring her over,” Samantha answered. “Okay. Bye!” the girls both said at the same time.

Samantha put down the phone and let out a big sigh of relief.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Uggghhhhh!! Ryan! What are you doing?!?!” Samantha said.

“Nothing!” Answered Ryan.

Bump. Bump. Bump.

Samantha walked down the hall.

“Ryan! Stop! You’re always making a mess and you’re in KINDERGARTEN!!!! Oh, Gosh!” Sam said.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Samantha walked back to her room.

Plop! Samantha sat down at her desk and started to write emails to everyone. Susy started to walk in with Fluffy. “Oh Susy! I am so sorry. I wish I hadn’t woke you up! I wish I hadn’t done it.” Samantha said.

Swish! Swish! Slop!

“Oh Ryan, you are the worst little brother! Now let me see….you ruined my papers, colored and scribbled all over my artwork, went on my computer, messed up my files, and painted all over Fluffy. Why can’t you just leave or have a play date!” Samantha yelled.

Ring! Ring! Ring! The doorbell rang. “Coming!” Ryan yelled.

“Oh no you don’t! It’s for me, not for you, so I’m getting it!” Samantha told her younger brother.

Swish! Bang!

The door was so heavy because of the wind. Samantha thought that it was heavier than two rocks. “Come on in Jessica and settle down in my room,” Samantha said. Samantha and Jessica went up to Samantha’s room, sat down on her bed and began to talk. They talked about Samantha sharing a room. Then they talked about Samantha having her own room. There was silence after that, so Samantha said, “Let’s clean up the mess, wash up Fluffy, and then we can take the dogs to the park so we can have a break away from…..”

Bam! Bam! Crash!

“Ryan, come here!” Samantha and Jessica yelled. Ryan stomped down the hallway.

“What are you doing?” Samantha asked.

“Banging Dad’s hammer on your project table.” Ryan replied.

“Ryan! Why did you do that!?! You know, you aren’t supposed to do….”

Jessica interrupted by saying “Sam forget about it! Ryan just forgot … now let’s just clean up the papers while Ryan plays.”

“Ryan go play so that we can have some time away from you and your attitude.” Samantha said to Ryan. Jessica and Samantha started picking up the papers, pencils, books, organizing the files, and putting them neatly back into their places. Later Samantha and Jessica gave the dogs a bath in the huge, green, backyard.

“Ryan! Please come here!” Jessica yelled.

Ryan came running down the stairs as quick as a cheetah. “What do you want?” Ryan asked Samantha and Jessica. “We are asking you to never go on my computer, scribble on my artwork, ruin my papers, mess up my files, and to never ever paint on Fluffy.” Samantha said to Ryan.

“Sure. I will never do any of those things again. I will even cross my heart.” Ryan told Samantha. “Good! We hope you won’t do it again,” Jessica and Samantha said.

“Can we go to the park?” Ryan asked the girls.

“Sure. We will take you to the park.” The two girls said.

The three of them plus the two dogs set off to the park.

From then on, Ryan never did bother Samantha, ruin her things, or go on her things without asking. Ryan didn’t do those things because he got his own room and kept his promise.

The End

Fun Friday Outing

We had a little outing to the city on Friday night - and endured the cold to tell about it! :)

My cousin Hillary is in town, and she had been in the city sightseeing during the day, while I had some things to do at the school (Bryson Jr. had an activity with his class and it is Scholastic Book Fair time - which means I live at the school for about 2 weeks...I do look forward to this event and love every minute of it! It's one of my favorite projects by far!). Madeleine had Activity Days at the church, so I told Hillary that we should meet up at Shake Shack for dinner - it's just a block over from the F train where we come down to the church, and it's a well-known burger joint here in the city....and rather good. Problem is - the line is almost always very long and I don't like to stand in line and wait for my food when I'm hungry. However I thought with the cold maybe we wouldn't have the problem of the usual crowds. Who eats outside in these conditions?! People that have the Miller blood in their genes that's who! I was right...there was not a line when I went - but more on that below....

Here are some pictures of our lovely - icy weather! We've had some icy rain along with many parts of the country during the past few days, so I had to take a picture of the kiddos walking down the subway on the sheets of ice over the snow. It is pretty how it shimmers in the sunlight - but I prefer the plain, regular snow....ice is not very friendly.

We made our way over to Shake Shack once off the subway...I forgot how busy both the subway and sidewalks of the city are during "rush hour". It was a bit insane, but thankfully we were rewarded at Shake Shack with seats under the heaters set up outside. We quickly overtook 2 tables with our things while we waited for Hillary....and the kids played in the snow while waiting. Blessing & curse - the kept warm as they were moving around. Curse - they were sweating a little bit so when they finally sat down they to eat they quickly turned to freezing!

Madeleine and Hillary

We enjoyed our Shake Shack burgers, fries and FREE custard....crazy to eat outside in the cold, but fun for most of the time! After I took the food to the table, the kids asked for waters so I went back up to the "shack". While waiting for the waters I was talking to the people inside working.....it was warm by the window so I was trying to pass time without looking obvious that I was trying to stay by the warmth! After I told them that my cousin was here visiting from the L.A. area and that we were really enjoying our food - she said "So, do you want free custard then?!" She assured me she was serious, and I hesitantly gave her the number of just the kids - thinking I could have them split, and then she told me to give her any number - the sky was the limit! So with a laugh, I told her we had 6....and I walked back to the table where we were all already freezing with 6 orders of free custard to enjoy. The teeth definitely started to chatter as the kiddos ate that treat!

Aoi and Madeleine - inseperable friends....

Aoi loves Activity Days and likes to come with Madeleine to each one!

we told him to swallow first....ewww gross!

This is a new color combo - Blue and Orange on the Empire State Bldg. Interesting. Not my favorite color choices, but I still just love to see that building throughout this city.

With numb toes and fingers we started to walk back towards the subway --- forfeiting our idea of walking down the 6 blocks to the church. We were just too cold! Then we passed by 'EATALY' a place that I've heard about and have wanted to go in. We quickly turned around and went into warmth. And an amazing marketplace that focuses on all things Italy. It was amazing!

We walked around in awe of the beautiful produce, the many varities of cheese, pastas, bread. They have a little place in the middle where you can stand and eat sampling of food and wine.....the latter being something we wouldn't really need, but the food looked and smelled divine! It's definitely a place that I want to go back again and buy more than the Dried Tomato Tuscan Loaf that came home with us....and perhaps next time I'll go with a few less children - everyone we talked to would look at the 4 kiddos and say, "Are all these yours?!" Madeleine would usually pipe up with - "Well she has 3 of us, and this one is my friend" as if that explained so much, but still people who are only use to 1 and maybe 2 children in the city were agog. Simply agog! (thank you Music Man line)

Since our piggies were toasty warm - we went back out into the brisk air which didn't feel nearly as cold and walked down to church, where Madeleine and Aoi enjoyed a lesson on sewing for Activity Days and the boys enjoyed play time in the Nursery.

Happy Days. I think Friday nights are going to be my new Date Night. I love having some time with the kids in the city, and since we'll be coming in every Friday night for Madeleine's activity (she has a new leader who is actually planning activities which is fabulous!) ---- I think we are going to make a list of places we want to see that we can see in a short 2 hour window before we head over to the church. We'll be in the city anyway, and this way it will help me chisel out the wish list of places to see in the city if we do move out to the burbs this summer.

And the other upside....if I can't date my husband on a Friday night, I might was well take out my kiddos.....they are cute too! :)

Here is to next week's Fun Friday Adventure!

past memory

I am cleaning through each area of the apartment - I started thinking we might be moving in February and I wanted to get a head start on organizing and throwing things out. Then we decided to stay, but I realized my spring cleaning was going to be done early on so that we can play once the weather turns nice again. If that ever happens!

Last week was the hallway and I went through the many, MANY notebooks/journals and writing tablets we have. In one of those notebooks I found this little gem. Dated from October of 2009, during General Conference. And it says....

"Why do you bring up Jesus in everything?"...quoteth Bryson Jr.

I wish I would have written the context of why he said this - because I think it's a little funny, in a not-laughing at religious things way. Just that his observation was probably spot on with it being General Conference and everything revolving around the Gospel and our Savior.

As I see it - he was stating the obvious. In his very sincere, open, and honest 5 year old way.

I'm so glad I decided to clean that hallway.

another year

We signed a lease today for a 12 month contract on an apartment.

For a 2 bedroom, 880 sq. ft. apartment to be exact.

Does that sound familiar? It does? Oh, that is because we signed up for the same apartment, for another 12 months. Insane.

And yet, hopeful.

At the end of spring/early summer we will either be looking to rent a home out in the Westchester area that we could move to before the children start school. Or, if Madeleine gets into a different school we could stay here and move into a bigger apartment. And sign up for another 12 months.

That is if I don't become completely depressed by then.

I feel guilty complaining because we have a home, but this home is just getting a tad too small for us. I'm really looking forward to the day when we will move!