7

I'm behind in my blogging, as usual.  I'm trying to get caught up but it seems like so many events fall by the wayside because I just don't take the time to blog like I should.

On the 5th Addie turned seven.  Really?  Seven?  What is happening to me?  I was holding her in my arms, blinked my eyes and suddenly she was seven.

Addie's birthday actually started the night before because Kimber was dying to give Addie her gift.  Addie kept requesting a hair salon for her birthday and I just wasn't sure how to make that happen.  I wasn't going to invest in a whole get-up since we don't have the room and she would quickly outgrow it.  I thought and thought but just didn't know how to make it happen.  Then the funniest thing happened.  The gal who does my hair was having a garage sale to Kimber and I hit it up.  There, laying on the ground in the dirt was Angie's mannequin head from beauty school!   Kimber and I knew it would be perfect for Addie and the price was right, ONE DOLLAR!  Addie could curl, color, cut and comb to her little heart's content and I wouldn't feel bad when it was time to throw it away.

We kept it hid for just over a week when Kimber finally couldn't take the excitement any more.  We stuck Angie (we figured that would be her name since it was written in permanent marker across her neck) in a bag and gave Addie the goods.  Jared and I were expecting Addie to flip out when she pulled the tissue paper out and saw hair filling the bag.  But no way!  She pulled Angie out and it was love and first sight!

I'll just say that was THE BEST dollar I have EVER spent! 

Not only was it Addie's birthday but it was also her turn to be the Superstar Student for her class.  She put together a poster with all types of pictures and fun facts about herself.

Kimber, Lucy and I picked up Addie for lunch and brought her home.  We ate all kinds of nasty food like chicken strips, french fries and root beer.  Healthy, right? I think not, but it was so fun! 

After lunch we took her back to class where she served Andes Mint Cookies to her class.  Miss E. has a tradition in her room where she gives the birthday kid spankings for their birthday.  She puts them over her lap, calls a student up to catch any tears that might fall and pretends to give hard spankings.  All of the class laughs and and thinks it's so funny to watch the birthday boy or girl squirm.  And she doesn't stop once their age is reached.  She gives a few extra, one to be a good reader on, one to be a good friend on and so on.  It was really fun to see Addie get all the attention in her class for a few minutes.

Her teacher also had her do the calendar board with the class so I could see how it worked.  It was really fun to watch Addie lead the class through their routine but my favorite part was when they did compliments.  The students raise their hands and are called on by the calendar person one by one.  They give that person a compliment and in turn the calendar person thanks them.  I wasn't expecting much, just a few shallow compliments but was so surprised when the kids gave sweet compliments to my little Addie.  I heard a lot of "you are such a good friend" and "I like your shirt" but it made my heart happy when a few of the nicest boys in her class told her that she was very beautiful or that she is very pretty.  How creative on her teacher's part to give the kids an opportunity like that.

Once Addie got home from school she soaked up every minute of getting to watch Kimber and I work around her.  She was looking forward to skipping her chores as much as she was looking forward to opening presents.

For her birthday dinner she chose pizza.  Again Aunt Jeanie and uncle Kenny ate with us. 
I love these pictures of Addie as she opens her junk box.  (A RIchardson Family tradition where you get a box or bag filled with your favorite junk food.)

There must be a wad of hundred dollar bills at the bottom of that bag.  Maybe it's keys to a new car.  Could it be annual passes to Disneyworld? 

No!  It's a bottle of Sangria! 
In true Addie fashion she requested brownies with marshmallows and frosting in place of cake. 

I truly thank Heavenly Father for Addie.  She keeps this family going and is my number one help.  She is mature and organized and kind to everyone.  Last week I went to parent-teacher conference and her teacher told me that she had just done a social test with the kids to see where everyone was at friend wise, making sure there was no bullying or anything.  One by one she asked each child privately who their top three friends were.  Addie was at the very top of the list.  I'm not saying she is popular but that she is a friend to everyone.  There is one boy in particular in her class who is slow and the other kids have a hard to being friendly to but Miss E. says Addie is always patient and friendly to him.  I love returning her to school after lunch and seeing the kids hug her.  She is a sweet girl who I am grateful for every day.

Five

My little Kimbie turned five on the 28th of February.  She started her count down at least a month early and every day reminded me, many times during the day, how many days were left until she was finally five.  I think she was expecting some type of physical change when she woke up on her birthday morning but to her surprise she woke up the same ol' Kimber.  Just one day older.

Around here birthdays are all about YOU.  You choose each meal, you get to relax and skip your chores and you get all the attention.  I offered to make Kimber anything she wanted for breakfast.  I offered all kinds of stuff but in the end she chose a bowl of cereal. 

Since her birthday fell on a school day she took a treat to her class.  She chose No Bake Cookies, her favorite.  Her teacher sent her home with her favorite snack, popcorn and M&M's and some cutesy hair bows.  She's a great teacher and really made Kimber feel special.

For dinner we again offered her anything she wanted.  She is so easy to please.  All she wanted was a bean burro from El Cupido's.  Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Kenny ate with us.  It was simple but lots of fun.

Kimber could hardly wait to open her presents. She hardly ate her food but rather stared at her presents like she would suddenly get x-ray vision and the contents of her gifts would reveal themselves.

 I love my little Kimbie.  She keeps things real around here.  I love her honesty, her compassion and her sense of humor.  Can't wait to see what this year brings for her.

We started a new tradition this year for birthdays.  On the weekend closest to your birthday you get to join mom and dad on their date.  You get to choose where we eat and what we do.  Kimber got lucky and had two dates.  We didn't have a chance to take her with us when we actually should have so on her actual birthday Jared took her out.  She chose spaghetti and meatballs at a little Italian restaurant. I thought that would suffice but she made it clear that she needed a date with both parents so she got go with us this past weekend.

I remember having daddy-daughter dates with my date and how special I felt.  I saw that same glow in Kimber and realized I needed to make those dates happen more often.  We snapped a quick picture of the two of us while Jared was talking with some friends.

Food Fight!

We have food fights at our house on a regular basis.  It's always Jared and me against Addie and Kimber.  They usually involve the main course and for Addie it pretty much always involves vegetables. 

But these aren't the types of food fights you see on TV.  No food is thrown across the kitchen, no one gets a spoonful of mashed potatoes to the face.  Instead it's me and Jared trying to get the girls to eat the food that's put in front of them.  They each have a lengthy list of foods they do like but seriously, is it going to kill them to try something new every once in a while?  Or to eat something that some one else enjoys even if it's not their favorite?

On Tuesday I was feeling really good about my day since I had started my Chicken Cordon Bleu at 10:30 in the morning and all I had to do was fix my sides and put it in the oven that evening.  When dinnertime rolled around I gave both Addie and Kimber half of a piece of chicken and it was within moments that the complaints started:

"We've never had this!, I hate this!, What's in here?, Why didn't you make something else?, This looks gross!" 

It gets so old and our words sound like a broken record as we try to explain what's in the food and tell that that if they don't eat they will he hungry later because they won't be getting anything else.


But I was fed up!  It seems like they complain every. single. night.  So I finally told them that they were in charge of dinner the next night.  They had to think of it, cook it and clean it up.  They got really excited but we weren't about to make it easy on them.  We were going to give them a taste of their own medicine.

They decided on breakfast for dinner since it was something that Addie knew she could cook.  Addie took on the pancakes and Kimber was in charge of making syrup and bacon, which I helped her with.

Addie was cooking her little heart out while Jared went on and on about how hungry he was and asked her if she could hurry up.  I kept on Kimber and told her that we were starving so she needed to hurry the syrup up.  They were trying to explain that they were trying to hurry.  I could see Addie getting stressed and I knew it was beginning to work. 

Kimber was in charge of setting the table and had to get that finished while she was still working on the syrup and accidentally let it boil over.  The kitchen filled with smoke so what did we do?  We complained some more!  "It smells in here!  It's so smokey!  What did you do?"

Addie was working so hard on the pancakes but was losing little crumbs along the way.  "Addie you are getting crumbs in the other pancakes!  That's gross!."  The poor girl just kept saying she was doing the best she could.

Eventually dinner was done and on the table.  Jared and I sat down and before we could even pray I started in on them again.  "Is this all?  This doesn't seem like very much food.  Why didn't you make more stuff to go with it?"  I saw Addie's eyes begin to well up with tears and I knew she was going to lose it.  After the prayer we served ourselves and started eating.  But the girls had to get Lucy's food ready before they could eat.  While they worked on that Jared asked if there was chocolate on his pancakes.  (I have ruined my kids and they can't eat pancakes without chocolate chips.  Jared is the black sheep and the only one who likes them plain.)  "I hate chocolate on my food.  There is a piece of chocolate chip touching my pancake."

Poor Addie had had enough.  She darted to her room in tears.  I let her stew while I ate but made sure she heard my complaints.  "Is there brown flour in these?  Who put BROWN flour in my pancakes?  These are cold!  It took so long to make dinner that now my pancakes are cold.  I can't eat these now."  In all reality they were just as yummy as always.  
 
I finally felt like it was time to reveal ourselves and our little scheme.  I went to Addie's room and we talked everything over.  I asked her how she felt when I complained about the food she worked really hard at making and was SO happy when i realized she got it.  She said it really hurt her feelings because she was going the best she could but it was a lot of work.  I reassured her that her pancakes were yummy and she decided to join the rest of us. We talked about it together around the table with Kimber this time and although I don't think it sank in quite as deep, she also got it. 

So did we win this fight?  Addie told me she will always try her food now without complaining and that right there is a small victory.  Kimber had a great time playing restaurant but like I said I think it sank in a little.  Even if we just get a month's worth of complaint-free dinners then yeah, I guess we did win.

Bye Bye Pine Trees

Jared's Grandfather, who built our house, had a love for pine trees.  He planted them at every house he lived in and even at the town cemetery, thus the town named the cemetery the Reed S. Hatch Cemetery.

This was what our house has looked like since the 70's.

Not only do I not share the same love for pine trees but the roots to these giant trees have worked their way under my house pushing up some of the tiles in my kitchen.  It's also pushing my brick wall over.  In a bad way.  So they had to go.

It was no small task and was pretty intense for those involved.  Our cousin Jarom was working the lift which had a man basket attached where Jared was harnessed in that would lift him to a certain (and may I mention, very HIGH) height then push him in towards the tree where he would cut it off.  From there the crane would lift that section of the tree up and lay in on the ground.  Jared can set trusses on tall houses all day long and it doesn't phase me but seeing him swing 30 feet in the air was a little too much for me.  I was a nervous wreck!  I had to quick looking out the window because I couldn't relax.

Once the trees were down there was a HUGE pile of branches to haul off.  Our neighbor came by as they were being loaded up and asked if he could have them.  All three trees worth of branches!  I still laugh when I drive by their little house and see the piles which are about as tall as his house.  He's going to let them dry out and use them as firewood next winter. 

The crane guy traded us the logs for the crane service.  What I though would be a pricey project turned out to cost a total of $50 and that was just to pay the guy who helped load branches and clean up.  Sweet!

I guess when you live in Main Street your business is everybody's business because it became quite a spectacle.  People were pulling over, driving by slowly, I even saw one man park his truck across the street, get out and watch.

We're used to the absence of our giant trees now but it took a few days.  The morning after they came down I opened my kitchen curtains, took a double glance and said "oh yeah, that's right!"  The one thing I will defiantly not miss the sound of those pines blowing in the wind.  I feel like I am in the forest all spring while the wind blows.

Our weekend in El Paso

On Friday we headed to El Paso to spend a few days with Ben and Briana.  Whenever we travel we like to find sites along the way to show our girls.  On our way to Texas we stopped at the Mogolllon Gold Mine, a Ghost Town about 10 very winding miles off the road. 

For anyone that enjoys taking pictures this was a haven!  Awesome backdrops for people with all kinds of tastes.  Lucy wasn't interested in having her picture taken so Addie and Kimber got to be my subjects.

When we finally arrived at Ben's house the girls were not only thrilled to be out of the truck but they were thrilled see their cousins. All five of Ben and Briana's boys play the piano and a variety of string instruments. Carson and Caleb picked up their violin and cello right away and played a few songs for the girls.

They also threw me a  birthday party that night.  My Aunt and Uncle also live in El Paso so they joined us as well.  There was lots of yummy food and fun conversation.  Briana and my Aunt Shelly really went above and beyond since a birthday party was the last thing I had planned on.  Thanks a million!

After we got the kids to bed the rest of us stayed up until 2:00AM talking.  Ben always has funny stories to tell and Friday night was no exception.  I'll never forget how he can tell is a woman is really in labor.  The nurses in Labor and Delivery told him that if a woman comes in and says she is in labor she's not serious.  If a woman comes in and says "aye aye aye" she IS in labor so you better take her serious!  

Jared and the girls had a great day on Saturday but unfortunately I missed out on the fun since I was sick in bed.  I was so thankful to Briana for watching my girls while I slept the day away and keeping me hydrated with Propel Water.  Ben took Jared around town and the girls stayed behind to play with the kids.  I swear I slept over 20 hours that day but I just couldn't shake it.  By the time evening rolled around Ben finally wrote me a prescription for the nausea and vomiting.  Thank goodness for a doctor in the family!

Sunday morning I was healed and we packed up to head home.  I was feeling sad because I had missed out on Saturday so after quite a deliberation we decided to stay one more day.  I am so glad we did!  We went to church, had a yummy dinner then spent the evening at Uncle Wade and Aunt Shelly's house.  Ben and Briana are so lucky to have them nearby.

I was so sad to leave on Monday morning but it was time to get back to reality and send Addie to school.  So we packed everything up and hit the road.  I am so grateful that my girls traveled well.  They were all so patient and never complained.  Not even Lucy.

Once we got to Glenwood, NM we stopped at the Catwalk Trail.

Little Ms. Cooperation will do anything to spoil a picture.

About half way up Kimber was losing interest and Lucy was getting heavy so I headed back down with those two and Jared and Addie went on to the end. 

I am so glad we had the chance to go.  It was so fun to catch up and watch Ben's family in action.  One of the things I love to do is observe people and how they function as families, as couples and individuals.  I came back feeling inspired in ways I can improve my life and the way my family runs.  What can be better than a vacation where you get to laugh a lot, your kids have a great time and you come home feeling like a better person?

Are these really my girls?

Addie: P-U! It stinks in here!
Me: I don't smell anything.
Addie: It smells like Lucy's brand.
Kimber: It smells like your breath.

My friends are old

A long time ago I realized that all of my friends are old.  I do have lots of young friends but I'm sort of a loner and I prefer to stay to myself.  I'm not one to get together with girlfriends for a girls night or to schedule play dates for our kids so we can sit and chat.  And it seems like in any calling I serve in it's with people who could by my parent or grandparent.

I mentioned this to my sister one day and she brought up a good point.  She said it's nice to be with those kinds of people because they are seasoned and wise.  There's no competition for them.  Rather they offer wise advice on how to be a better wife, mother and person since they have already been there and done that.  I've thought about that many times since it seems like I am surrounded by so many "seasoned" people, especially women.

I wonder if this is why I often feel like I don't fit in with the young girls in my ward and around town.  I feel like we have very different interests and priorities that I just prefer to stick to myself and do my own thing.  I have even wondered if Jared's calling effects how I feel about this.  He was 26 when he was called to serve in in the Bishopric and in the nearly five years that have passed we have greatly matured.  I wonder if I feel older because we entered a phase of life people don't usually enter until they are about ten years older than Jared was.  I'm not sure if this really plays a part or not but I've questioned this.

Tomorrow I turn 30.  I'm officially leaving my 20's behind and moving on to another decade, a little more seasoned if you will.  My 20's were great but I won't miss them.  I'll never forget my 27th birthday (here and here).  It's by far the best year I've had as of yet but I'm ready to move on and anxious for what this new decade might bring.

Speaking of seasoned friends, this morning a sweet friend in my ward, Joyce Meservey, dropped by with a birthday goodie plate.  She could easily be my grandma since she is in her 70's.  She never forgets my birthday or any special event in my life.  She has dropped in for a visit after the birth of each of my girls.   

When I first moved to Taylor I was assigned as her Visiting Teacher.  I always enjoyed our visits and got to know her very well.  She is a little rough around the edges and many people are intimidated by her. But not me.  She spent many years in the Army and is strong willed, honest and blunt.  But that's what I like about her.  She also has a wonderful sense of humor.

Joyce is from Tennessee and great up in an abusive home.  I've heard her tell many times how her father would kick her mom in the stomach while she was pregnant.  She's overcome many obstacles in her life and I think that's why she is such a gem of a person.

She is your typical retired Grandma with a closet full of outdated dresses in mint condition with the shoes and purses to match.  One time she came to Church wearing a white dress, white nylons and white shoes.  Add her cotton-top and she was quite angelic looking.  I told her she looked very celestial and she asked if I believed that her dress was actually 20 years old!?  In my head I'm thinking, only 20?  But my words said, "wow!  Look at the condition of it!  It's perfect!"  It was from her son's wedding and it was still in style.  Or at least that's what she said.

Every year her and her husband, Harold, take a road-trip across the country to visit their families. (Harold actually deserves his own post.  He's from Maine and is the FASTEST talker I have ever met.  A few weeks ago I overheard a new lady in our ward ask him if he has ever done auctions.  I about died I was laughing so hard inside.)   I swear every year she tells me it's going to be their last trip.  This last time she stayed behind in Tennessee to be with her sister for a few extra weeks.  I was so surprised when Harold told me she refused plane tickets because she would be taking the Greyhound Bus!  But it also made my day when I received a postcard from her telling us she would be happy to see us when she got home.

One thing I love about Joyce is how patriotic she is.  She loves our country and there's not a doubt in my mind that if she was able to she would still be enlisted in the Army today.  Her house is adorned with America flags, as is her Grand Marquis.  She's also a cow collector and an Elvis lover.  For years and years she has got up early and went for a morning walk.  She says that's why she has stayed thin and healthy.

She recently told me that her and her husband eat dinner at 4:00 and then go to bed early because that's the way old people do it.  I love her honesty.

I'm not sure how this all ties together but in my mind my birthday has caused some reflection.  Maybe I should actually start telling people I'll be 70 tomorrow.