I know it's been awhile since I've written regularly, but even among the sporadic posts I have done, I feel like it's been awhile since I've written about what we've been up to! So...in no particular order...

Homeschooling: We are finding our homeschooling groove. I've heard that being pregnant and homeschooling is the hardest time to homeschool. I believe it! But we're finally feeling like we've found our niche and we like the different curriculums we're using. I'm getting excited for the fall and homeschooling when NOT pregnant. We're planning for a break when the baby comes, but hopefully just a couple of weeks.

Graduate School: Eric's semester is in full-swing. Midsummer is still in the coaching stages so no late-night rehearsals yet. I'm grateful that once the late rehearsals start, they'll only last about a month. We're looking forward to this opera. It's a fun one!

An Ear Infection: November I took Esther to the Urgent Care when Esther woke up two hours after going to bed SCREAMING and inconsolable. Our girls seem to have high pain thresholds and don't usually cry when they have ear infections, but not this time. On the way out our door, she was pulling at her ear and crying, "Get it out!"

Asthma: Also November, a doctor at Urgent Care told Eric he had asthma! We realized he had been writing off the wheezing he experienced when working out and off and on otherwise (for YEARS) as him being wimpy or out of shape. Men can be silly that way sometimes...

Stitches: December, while I was in Utah, Eric took Heidi to the Urgent Care after she gouged her forehead jumping from a bed to a couch and landing on a broken drumstick. She didn't even cry. In less than a year, two of our three kiddos have had stitches! First Eric leaves and Esther gets stitches. I leave and Heidi gets stitches. We better not take any overnight vacations anytime soon or it'll be Autumn's turn! (Wow, I'm so thankful for a place like Urgent Care where they can treat serious things but not so "ER" serious things...and I'm SO thankful for health insurance!)

Chiropractor & more Asthma: January found us both visiting our primary care physician -- Eric for an official asthma diagnosis and more medication; me for a referral to a chiropractor (darn sacroiliac joint...which I think my Dr. was saying still falls into the "sciatica" category of symptoms?).

Graduate School Auditions, again: It feels like we just DID graduate auditions...because we did. But this week Eric auditioned for FSU's doctorate program. Soon he'll audition for USC's doctorate program. After the amount of time it took us to finish a bachelor's, it's strange to have been here for such a short time and already, in August, he'll have his Master's.

We all felt spoiled this Christmas and are so grateful for all that we were able to give and all that we were given. We had a great Christmas break and hit the new year energized and ready for another semester!

I got an email from a friend last week letting me know that the Church has a new website for younger kids! It's part of the official Church webpage. Like before, you can see all of the friend magazine articles (and for the ones from 2000 onward you can see the actual format you would get in the mail if you click on pdf). However, they have ADDED sections with:

• Watch Slideshows
• Listen to Stories
• For Little Friends (from the Friend)
• Watch Matt & Mandy
• Print Coloring Pages
• Print Activities
• Color Online
• Play Games
• Scripture Stories (audio for download, identical to the Scripture Readers, as well as video of the Scripture Readers, still animation I think it's called?)

Cool huh?!

And today I stumbled upon a GREAT find! [The link is for the 1st grade page but if you skip to the bottom you can select different grades.]

Math & Language Arts Games & Skill Builders (isn't that just a fancy way to say games so you'll feel better about your kids playing games?!) categorized by grade level. It goes all the way from Kindergarten through 8th grade. The selection is not as good for 3rd grade through 8th grade but it looks like those pages also redirect you to some sites that may have tons more. For K-2, there are SCADS of games! And several of the K games would be great for Pre-K too.

If you try them out, let me know what you think and which games you like best! There are so many, we've only tried a few so far.

ALSO -- does anyone else know of a good typing game for kids? Preferably free??

For Christmas I got a book called Mommy Mantras: Affirmations and Insights to Keep You from Losing Your Mind. I love it! I'm so glad Heidi found it and blogged about it and that Eric got it for me for Christmas.

The inside cover says:

Mommy mantras are phrases you can say in your head, or out loud if you need to, during those trying moments of mothering. They act to empower you, revive you, and remind you that there is always another way to see your situation.

I just started reading it this week, but it's already been good for me. I woke up this morning saying to myself, "The pump is primed." That's the mantra for acknowledging that you're already on edge, already mad, already "whatever". It can help you move past that feeling more quickly and react to the feeling less. In my case, the pump was primed because Esther woke up early waking up Autumn in the process, they were both not quiet, and I was SO tired still. But I told myself, "the pump is primed" and left the room to get breakfast going. I didn't yell. I didn't snap at them. But I was able to talk to them about being LOUD and about waking up EARLY....although the latter is not something you can convince a 2 1/2 year old NOT to do...

I love music with strings. I'm trying to make a playlist right now - violin, viola, cello, but not orchestral. Ensemble or solo (ensembles with other instruments are okay, like Eroica trio which is piano, violin, and cello). I want the playlist "just because" but I'm also thinking I'll pull from it to make one of a few playlists for labor.

Here's what I've got so far:
No. 3 Miero vuotti uutta kuuta from Five Finnish Folk Songs
(Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet, Yo-Yo Ma)
Chi passa per'sta strada
(Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet, Yo-Yo Ma)
Danse macabre, Op. 40, Camille Saint-Saens

(Devil's Dance, Gil Shaham)
La Ronde des Lutins, scherzo fantastique for violin & piano, Op 25, Antonio Bazzini
(Devil's Dance, Gil Shaham)
The Swan from Carnival of the Animals, Camille Saint-Saens
(Essential Yo-Yo Ma)
Berceuse from the opera "Jocelyn"
(Eroica Trio)
Bach Cello Suites (not sure which ones yet other than #1)
(Bach: Cello Suites, Yo-Yo Ma)

If you're not familiar with the ones above, I highly recommend hopping onto iTunes and listening to clips of them. They are all GORGEOUS.

But I need more!!!

Suggestions? Favorites?

I grinned and chuckled to myself today when I saw a thin, white-haired old man leaving the grocery store with one bag in hand, running across the street. He was wearing a gold-yellow stocking cap (not the Wee Willie Winkie kind, but the kind that still have a bit of the hat bunched atop the head, not flush with the head), carrying a brown/gold cane, wearing a white t-shirt, short gray shorts, black socks almost to his knees, and tennis shoes.

I shared with Eric when he came out of the store. He had seen him too and hoped I had.

Thank you sir, for making my day. For something to smile and laugh about. Someday I will have grandchildren of my own and they will giggle at the silly things I do too.

Last week my grandma died after a long battle with cancer. She was diagnosed in 2005 and told it would be about 3-4 months. 40 months later...I was able to fly to Utah to be at the funeral and with family (thank you Mom & Dad!!).

It was a beautiful service and I am SO thankful for the time I was able to spend with family. We were all especially grateful for our testimonies of the gospel and to know that grandma is happy where she is, no longer in pain, and reuniting with family and friends who went before her. She brought so many of us together at such a special time, Christmas time, and I know she was happy that we could all be reunited as we remembered the wonderful life she led and the great example she was to all of us. It was a sad visit at times, but overall there was a great feeling of peace.

And despite the bad weather that the whole country has seen this week, I made it back in time to snuggle with my girls & Eric on our bed and read The Night Before Christmas after setting out cookies & milk for Santa.

We all had a wonderful Christmas and are still enjoying our presents. We are blessed. Soon I'll take a picture of Eric playing Guitar Hero to add to the other Christmas pictures that I'll upload to this post.

No pictures will accompany this post. With good reason.

As I've been sitting here checking my email, Esther has visited me several times for help dressing and undressing. Help snap a onesie (on right-side out and right-side-up!), unsnap said onesie, snap onesie....she's gone from no onesie to onesie several times this morning. But the most recent unsnapping was followed by "I take off my diaper." And as I protested, "NO!" and reached for her, the diaper was already off and she was running down the hall to her bedroom.

So naturally, I followed her.

Only to find...THREE naked bums, water all over the room, an empty spray bottle, and Pachelbel's Canon in D playing on their stereo.

Pachelbel's Canon in D? It was like some weird movie scene where people are doing something crazy but the music is beautiful and calm....making it a dreamlike scene....you know the ones?