Different, but the Same

Today is my anniversary. 7 years. And I've been looking back and remembering. 7 years ago, I was nervous and excited. More excited than nervous though. I woke up very tired, but very motivated to get out of bed. This morning, I woke up very tired, and really wished I could stay in bed, but I had to get ready for church...and on mornings like this, I get up and get ready in the hopes that doing things out of duty will still count towards blessings...so the motivation is still there, but different. Seven years ago, my figure was very different, I had fewer wrinkles, and no gray hair. Today, there are signs of child-bearing and child-raising on every inch of my body. I cover the grays with hair dye...but they're there. And most of the signs of child-raising are in the form of spit-up these days. Most days I feel like we have less money than we did 7 years ago. But for all the things that have changed, and all the things that we don't have, there are a few things that have remained consistent. I still love my husband. But it's different because I love him more. I have less money, but more experience. I have less time, but more love and more joys. I cry a WHOLE lot more now than I ever did, but when I laugh, it's deep down belly laughs that only watching and listening to kids can bring. I enjoy quiet nights at home, rather than being out on the town. My frustrations and stresses seem to be more of an eternal nature. My testimony keeps renewing itself as my circumstances change. My memory is shot, but the things that are important are more firm in my mind.
The only thing that hasn't changed, and I hope will forever remain the same is how sure I am that I married the right person at the right time, in the right place. I am no more sure today than I was on that day 7 years ago...and that consistency makes me calm, which is a place I like to be.

Kids say the Darndest things

Some of the funny things of late:

Max: (pointing to his left arm), this is my extra arm.
Me: Your extra arm?
Max: yeah, if I'm holding something in my arm (his right arm) than I can use my extra arm to pick something else up!

Lucy, while listening to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw" on a baby toy said, "This sounds like barn music."

Enjoy The Show

It's become a bit of a tradition in our family to do weird and goofy things at people's weddings to embarrass ourselves or the couple that's getting married. So Sarah's wedding couldn't be any different. We hemmed and hawed over what to do that would be funny and yet perfectly suited to Sarah. Sarah and her sister Janeen belong to a trio that sing at various events around Cochrane and Calgary. They do a lot of Andrews Sisters music and have choreographed a few 'steps' to go with their singing. Tyler and Jason love to hear their sisters sing, but being brothers, they also like to tease them. Tyler said one day, 'we need to come up with a way to tease Sarah about singing, that doesn't push it too much, so she doesn't think we don't actually like her singing...because we really do.' And then an idea was born. Sarah's favorite movie is "White Christmas" and because she loves to sing so much with her sister Janeen...we though it only appropriate for Jason and Tyler to dress ridiculously and recreate the scene where Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye impersonate the female counterparts in the movie and sing a song called, 'Sisters'.

And, being the wife, I get the pleasure of laughing hysterically while watching these two rehearse.
When it came time to put on the show, the entire Williamson family was in stitches watching these two goof-balls.

I think the Merrill family was wondering what they had gotten themselves into! The best part was the fact that we were able to keep it a secret from everyone, so Sarah and her parent's reactions were the best! Lucy and Max were aware of the practicing so we kept having to remind them to keep it under wraps. At one point, Max was caught walking up to Grandma's house singing, "Heaven, help the mister, who comes between me and my sister!" until Auntie Janeen quieted him down and reminded him it was a secret.
So awesome.

So Far

Well, without a hitch is probably too much to ask for, but here's how our weekend is panning out so far. We went to leave for the mall and discovered that our van wouldn't start...for whatever reason. I groaned in frustration and the loaded the kids up into a different vehicle. As predicted, the mall with 3 kids is not fun. But it was necessary, so we persevered. First of all, the designers of some stores really drive me nuts. I mean, if you are going to a kids clothing store, you would anticipate that the people coming there would have kids, right? And possibly, I don't know, a stroller or shopping cart? But they cram so much stuff into those stores, that it's nearly impossible to navigate. Especially when you're in there with the other half-dozen mothers who decided to do their kids back-to-school shopping on the same afternoon as you, with their strollers as well. And that's the precise same time they decide to have one of those large carts in the middle of the store where some minimum wage employee is standing folding shirts. I get it, it has to get done, but seriously, move out of the way! Plus, I hate those stores that a semi-dark inside so you feel like you're in a cave and the ceiling is black, so you literally feel like someone is PUSHING you down. I can't think straight on a good day, let alone in a crowded store with 3 kids, and they decide to throw in these tricks just for fun. We made it though. With less than half of our shopping list of needs, but we made it. I guess that's to be expected when we're so close to school starting. Things are pretty picked over. Then we headed to Cole's for our book. Again, they have skinny aisles and a book-signing table right at the front of the store, making it nearly impossible for me and my big 3-kid stroller to get into the store without knocking over a book display. (Yes, we almost did). Don't they want people to come IN to the store? The inside of the store was much brighter than the last one though, so I felt like I could stay there forever. Until reality came SCREAMING back into focus. Actually, the screaming came from a baby, but that's my reality.
This sounds like some bizarre pre-agoraphobia setting in, but oh well. That's me.
We drove home, put the screamer to bed, and started reading our new-found I Spy books. Logan woke up early from his nap...who knows why. And so I vented by going outside and trying to get the van going. Gave it a boost (whoo-hoo, who needs a man? just kidding, I really do, and I called my brother-in-law to make sure I did it right), and then fed the baby so we could all go to McD's for some dinner and playing. We opted out of the park and decided to play at McD's instead, since it's so windy. We met up with a friend of Max's and they played together for a while too. Oh, and I picked up 3 chick-flicks. Now which one do I watch first?
I'm exhausted, but the day is almost done.
Tyler called me back at one point (I had called him in my frustration with the van) and I explained that I had gotten things working. I could hear laughing in the background and he was having a jolly old time, which is what he's supposed to be doing, but it makes it hard on the one still at home. I imagine it's much like how he feels when he calls me at ladies night and we're having a riot while he's at home with the kids. Kinda sucks, but I'm glad he's enjoying himself.

Here's Hoping

Tyler is away at Young Men's camp. He left yesterday evening, and will be gone until tomorrow evening. I always have mixed feelings about this time of year. We have been married for 7 years, and I believe he has gone to young men's camp at least 5 out of those 7 years. When I have a baby at home, I find it stressful. I know that I do the majority of the work as far as the baby is concerned (I'm kind of a control freak that way), but I enjoy at least having my husband's supportive company to help me cope. When my kids aren't babies, then I don't stress as much. It actually is a fun time for us to fill our days with exciting things to help the time pass faster. We do zoo trips and visit grandma; watch movies, eat out, etc. One year, I cleaned our entire house top to bottom and did a full de-junk while he was gone. It was pretty great. I don't really feel up to much cleaning this time, and I have to schedule my crammed-in fun activities for my kids around napping schedules, so it's proving to be a bit tough. The countdown is definitely on to a nap-free life. Yesterday evening was fine, and the night went very well. The night-time is the hardest because I feel the most alone. I actually kept my kids up a little later last night so I wouldn't be alone for so long. Plus, I'm always paranoid that my kids will wake in the night and I won't be able to deal. (ie. I'll be dealing with a baby, when another one calls for me). I remember one year, when Max was just a few months old, there was a terrible thunderstorm at night that scared Lucy and made the power go out, so I had to feed a baby in the middle of the night by the light of a coleman lantern. I felt like I was camping too! There was another year that the kids and I had a dance party in my bedroom every night before bed. We turned on awesome tunes and turned it up loud, and everyone had the chance to show off their best moves. Max's little 15-month old dance moves were pretty awesome.
So the plan for this time? Well, I still want to fill up my time so we're not staring at the clock, whilst still sticking to a schedule so we can have peaceful nights. We're going to do some back-to-school shopping for Lucy this afternoon and get a new Walter Wick I Spy book, which my kids totally love. Shopping with 3 kids at the mall is not something that I totally love, but we'll give it a whirl. Then it's back home in time for naps. We'll pick up some dinner in-town this evening and go to the park for a bit (I think) and maybe stop by Blockbuster for a girlie movie for me (it helps me pass the evenings alone and it's the only opportunity I get to watch those types of movies without my husband sitting there mocking them the entire time. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CHEEZY! He just doesn't get it). Tomorrow I'm not really sure, but we'll find something to do. And here's hoping all my big plans go off without a hitch.

Grown-ups

Yesterday, Tyler had an interview at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute in Calgary. They are looking for a full time Biostatistician starting next year...which he will be. We've known about the position and the interview for a little over a week, and have tried not to dwell on it too much, because we had other things on our minds and filling up our time. The interview went really well. It's pretty much a dream job in a very exciting and relevant field of research. It has all the aspects of a job that Tyler has been looking for, and it just seems weird to be staring down this aspect of our lives now. It's the real deal. A real job. It feels so grown up. I've felt like a grown up for a long time now, as far as parenting and being married is concerned, but we've always been a bit like kids playing house because we've been students for such a long time. And now that long time really seems to be coming to a close. The end is in sight. And with this job offer, it really solidifies the fact that we're not just kids any more. Less than a year and we'll be into a totally new phase of our lives. In our 30s, full-time career...and maybe, just maybe, we'll live in a real house. With a real foundation. And maybe even an upstairs.
Fortunately, our lives have had a pretty great foundation, whether our house did or not.
And our moms will be really happy that the position is in Calgary. So we'll see.

Photo-blog

Here are some of my favorite pics from Sarah and Tyson's wedding. They had an awesome photographer











This gas station is on the way from Cardston to Waterton. Tyson's parents used to go there a lot for Malts while they were dating.
If you want to see more awesome photos, go to:
http://photos.jarviedigital.com/W/2010Canada/Formals-Teaser-Gallery/13388774_QTbFc#973948217_PqfBW