{A mom of all boys}

Being a mom of all boys is no easy task. They are more destructive , busy, and energetic than girls , not to mention their brains are wired differently, which requires a big learning curve for me. :) They are just different.  Sometimes the testosterone in our house is a bit much for me. It can be hard to handle. The farting, wrestling, tough talk, destructiveness, energy, and their ways i just can't understand, can be overwhelming. They always want to go play football, or basketball, or golf, or xbox. It's always boy centered. I don't always want to do those things. Sometimes i feel like i am losing myself in all the testosterone. The more time goes on, the more grateful i am that i am a mom of all boys. I am also grateful for who they are, and for the gender differences. I am learning a lot from it all. Boys are such lovers. My boys love me, and want to take care of me, and they show that often. I love that about them. And i am so grateful for that.

Would i really WANT to play with hair all the time? And do makeup and nails all the time? And would i really WANT to deal with what comes in a girls life as she becomes a teenager? NOPE. I remember all too well what I was like as a teenager and the thought of having had a girl like me stresses me out. I am sure one of our boys will give us a run for our money, but it's still very different than having a girl. Yes, i wanted a girl, but i have come to peace(finally) with the fact that it's not in our plan. At least while here on this earth. :) For some reason, the Lord knew we needed boys. I feel like i have already realized a few of those reasons. A part of it was for me and because of me. :) I know it. It's something i needed for various reasons that i won't get into. But i hope that it isn't just them teaching me a bunch of lessons. I hope they were also sent to Shane and I because there is something we can provide to them as parents that nobody else can. I hope they were sent to us because we too have lots of things to teach them about life. I hope that we are the kind of parents to them that will make them grateful to have us, respect us, and love us, and follow and trust our direction. I hope we can be exactly what they need. That is my biggest prayer i hold in my heart constantly. I just want to be the kind of mom they need. That's my deepest desire.

And i also pray , constantly, that i can live everyday to make them GLAD that i am their mom. It is hard to live that way everyday...or maybe i expect perfection of myself and i am just too hard on myself....but i try everyday to be a good mom to them. Boys are special. They are more special than most people realize...more special than i ever gave them credit for years ago in my life. But my eyes are opening. They are very different from us girls, but that's a GOOD thing. We need them for their differences, even if it can be frustrating sometimes.  And there is a lot to be learned from them that we could not learn without them. They help us learn and grow and progress in this life. They help us become more like our Heavenly Father. And it's up to us(myself) to learn to love those differences, embrace it, and learn from them, and love them for it.

Boys can become extraordinary men if they are loved, nurtured, appreciated, carefully lead, and lovingly guided throughout their growing years. And i know that this world needs a lot more extraordinary men in it, and i hope and pray i can be the kind of mom to help mold and shape them into the kind of man that makes them extraordinary... not in the way the world would define extraordinary, but in the way God believes is extraordinary.

{An afternoon of Japanese tradition, food, and wonderful friends}

My friend, Jennifer, and I were invited for a New Years celebration lunch to our friend Tomoyo's home. She is someone we met when we first moved here. We were introduced by our friends the Thompsons, and have been visiting her and her family at their family owned restaurant ever since.  Tomoyo and her family are some of the nicest and most genuine  people we know. They are just wonderful.  She took the missionary discussions and was baptized. It can be hard to convert japanese because their traditions and culture are very deep rooted and go way way back. She is the most loveable and teachable person i know.  Everytime we go visit them at their restaurant we always make sure to bring a gift. They always have some sort of gift they give to us as well. That's a japanese thing too.  So, when i went to her home i decided to bring a bouquet of flowers this time. They are really into flowers. Anyway, below is a picture of some of the food they made for us. It was soooooooo delicious. One of Tomoyo's friends made something kind of like a chicken salad. It was good. They also had daikon, which is a big white radish that's popular here. It was sliced, and had been boiled, topped with miso paste. It was surprisingly very good. They also had some bamboo, that was very good. She made egg rolls that were amazing. And they had the best miso soup ive ever had since living here. Man it was good. The tofu in it was amazing. They also had some apple raisin bread, and some other breads that i didn't try. And she made this amazing drink that consisted of gingerale, cucumbers, ginger, mint, and couple more things in it. It was awesome. I am going to get the recipe. :) Now that i know what japanese food should taste like, i am going to be disappointed anytime i eat japanese back in the states.

 The missionaries were also invited to this lunch, and jaydon came along with me. Jaydon wasn't sure what to do with all the eyes that kept looking at him and gawking all over him. It made him very uncomfortable and he kept burying his face in my lap. :) I think the missionaries thought they were coming for a discussion on the temple, but it didn't go that way. :) Everyone there, including my friend jennifer, could understand most of what our japanese friends were saying, except for me. It was a bit awkward at times, but it was interesting and fun. :)

 Next to Jaydon is my friend Nozomi. She is the daughter-in-law to Tomoyo. She also has three boys like us, and she is now pregnant with her fourth. She is so kind and loving. Next to Nozomi is Tomoyo. She has the kindest spirit of anyone i know. Next to her is my friend Jennifer. She and her family have lived here for about 7 years. Next to her, more towards the back, is Eiko. I don't know if i am spelling that right. She is very sweet, and i learned that she knows how to speak French. Very cool. :) She enjoyed trying to converse with me through translations on her iphone. :) I can't remember the other two ladies names. They were a bit harder to remember. :( But they were soooo entirely kind. I really loved their company and who they are. The missionaries were from Pocatello, and from Utah...Elder Wood was from Pocatello and Elder Budge( i think i have it wrong) was from Utah. Elder Wood just arrived on island and was very new. The other Elder had been here since August. He was really good at speaking japanese though.

 After we ate and took some pictures it was time for another japanese tradition. She bought everyone these special papers, with a hard cover on the back.  She pulled out her special black ink and brush and everyone was supposed to write, in Kanji, their New Year wish or Hope for the year. Someone wrote , peace, in Kanji. Someone else wrote something about being surrounded by good friends. For mine i wanted , inner peace. It's actually a thing we have in our family, and something we took from Kung Fu Panda 2. I was trying to tell them inner peace so they could help me figure out the kanji for it. It took awhile for them to understand what i was saying. :)

 Here's Tomoyo trying to show me how to write it. We practiced on newspaper first. They are amazing at writing it so well. I learned how to write it and actually did my own, but when i compared mine to theirs i realized mine looked like a little kids handwriting. :)

 I don't know if you can see mine ...i just finished it on that piece of paper on the newspaper. :)

It was such a fun afternoon spent with wonderful people, and excellent food. I'm so happy to have gotten to know Tomoyo and her friends and family. As a parting gift, her husband gave Jennifer and i some smoked pork roast.  He makes a lot of that for their restaurant, so he gave us some meat to take home. He also smokes chicken. It's very good. She had a lovely home, and it was fun to see and go inside an actual japanese friend's house. :)

{Zukeran mini zoo and egg shop}

I took the boys to a mini zoo and egg shop/ cream puff bakery. Yes, very interesting. The Japanese come up with some different stuff. :) Anyway, in this mini zoo there were bunnies, birds, a donkey, pig, and some little weird looking things that looked like a cross between and squirrel and monkey. It was interesting. The boys liked being able to pet the bunnies.

 This statue kind of creeped the boys out. At first they didn't want to sit in that chair. haha...

 Here's one of the bunnies. It was the fluffiest fur ball i have ever seen.

 And when we were all done walking around looking at the animals, with the smell of poo in the air the whole time, we went into this little shop where they sell bulk eggs and baked goods. haha!  I bought some of their FRESH eggs, and then i bought the boys their very own cream puff. These are the biggest cream puffs we have ever seen. They were yummy too. :) Cream puffs are definitely a japanese dessert. We see these everywhere.

{Taiko Drumming}

Taiko drumming is a huge part of japanese culture. It is done year round for just about everything and anything. The kids at school have the opportunity to learn it and be part of that tradition. Gavin is in the Taiko drumming group. He has been staying after school every tuesday and thursday for practices, but they recently changed it to just one practice a week.  So far, they have performed once in front of the BX . All the parents brought baked goods so we could make money for their group in order to make some more Obi's( the red vest thing you see him wearing). They are expensive and cost 80 bucks. Little insane.  Anyway, the kids would perform and then they would walk around and attack everyone walking in and out of the BX to try and get donations. haha! We spent a lot of our time just sitting back and watching Gavin and his classmates perform. It was fun. And when they all drum it is very powerful and loud. It's very cool.

 So far, they have learned three different Taiko drumming performances. Gavin loves it and is always practicing at home. I usually make him go outside, and i have to laugh because it really is so loud and i often wonder what the neighbors think of the constant beating of the drum. haha!

{Christmas Break}

We bought tickets for christmas break way back in February 2013. We had been planning christmas for almost a whole year. The time finally came to leave and the boys and i were off. We left Dec. 9th. Shane wasn't with us, again. :(  At least not for the flight. Let's just say...good thing we are moving back to the states this summer because i wouldn't do that flight again by myself. NOPE. Even if it meant a whole year and a half of not getting back to the states. It's hard. Especially when you add in a sick, puking boy(on the flight and in the airport), the 2 1/2 hour drive back to grandma and grandpa's house right after that extremely long flight, and the drives back and forth from logan to blackfoot. And adjusting to the time change. ugh. We spent two weeks in Utah/Idaho, and then we spent two weeks in Minnesota. The flight back to okinawa was painful. Literally. Gavin got sick again(im convinced he has air sickness), and my tailbone/lower back was in a lot of pain from all the sitting. It's been hurting ever since. Stupid flight. I am soooooooooooooooooooo glad i only have to do that one more time(one way), and my husband will be with me this time. :) If he ends up not being with me, then i think i will fly alone with the baby, and he will get all three boys. :) I would take tanner along with the baby. But i will let him keep jaydon and gavin. hahaha! okay, sorry. This has been nothing but whining, but i feel i really need to express the pain and torture involved with such a long flight and all the travels, alone with three boys, and pregnant. It's rough man.

IDAHO

Now that i got that out....let's move onto the good stuff. It was soooooooo good to see family again, and at christmas time. We had tons of fun with our family in Idaho. The kids were able to get in some good playtime with the cousins. There are getting to be so many of them now that it's starting to become chaotic when they are all in the same house. It's fun though. We had a blast. Papa pulled the kids on the sled behind the 4-wheeler. They played in the snow, which they loved. We went on a horse drawn sleigh ride to tour a nativity set outside, while sipping our hot chocolate. Santa came and visited all the kids. We had a fun family christmas program where all the kids put on some kind of performance. And we did a lot of hanging out and chatting. Oh , and the guys and gals were able to get in a few basketball games.  It was so good to be with family.  I cannot wait to move back to the states. Even if we end up in florida....man, that is still so much nicer than where we are now. And i can't wait to take road trips to see family, instead of paying for plane tickets. We are already looking into a van that will be durable enough to travel long distances. :)

MINNESOTA

After two weeks with shanes family, we headed to Minnesota. All i can say is BURRRRR. We experienced the cold like we have never experienced it before.   Some days were -50 wind chills and many days were in the negatives. It was painful to go outside. Luckily there were a couple days we could go outside without freezing to death. On those days the boys went sledding down hills. They loved it. We also went to the Mall of America, which is now tradition with each visit. The boys ride all the amusement rides in the mall. Papa spoils them. :) While we were there we also played a lot of darts, ping pong, and xbox. The adults had our traditional Texas Hold'em tournament. My dad gives the 1st ,2nd, and 3rd place winners a certain amount of money for keeps. Shane got first and i got 2nd.  Last time we did this tournament with them i WON. We love our traditional Texas hold'em tournament. It's fun. And since we spent christmas day there, the boys spent lots of time playing with all their new toys. They had most fun with their new NERF guns. They got some pretty awesome nerf guns. One of them is the longest nerf gun in existence. And it hurts when the bullets hit you. My brothers LOVED the guns and they even played with them. Shane and my brothers said they want a nerf gun next year for christmas. :) And i guess if they come  to our house for Christmas next year then we can have NERF gun fights. My mom and I had fun cooking and sharing recipes, which is a hobby we both share.  And we did TONS of shopping. Oh my. I cannot wait to move back to the states. :)

...While we were there we found out some information that was going to help us decide wether to stay in the AF one more year or get out. It turns out that we will PCS and spend one more year in the AF in the states, and then get out and start pediatric school.  That also means we get to move in June, in 5 months!!!! WOOHOO!! SO excited. We should know by march where we will be stationed. We have the baby in April, and then we will be doing lots to get ready for our move in june. The next 6-7 months of our life is going to fly by and be crazy! I am excited for the adventure, probably because i am just so excited to be back in America. :)

PREGNANCY

I am just about 7 months along now. The baby is quite the mover and the kicker.This little guy actually hurts me when he kicks and moves. The other boys weren't this rough. And so many times i wonder if he is even sleeping because he is moving ALL THE TIME. Ever since we have been back in Okinawa i have been organizing our house and getting rid of things we don't need. Speaking of, i need to go do some of that right now.

It was hard to come back here after such a fun vacation, but being back makes me realize we are that much closer to living in america again. It doesn't feel like its actually going to happen, but i know it is....and im so excited. :)

 I love this picture of my boys.....

I have a Christmas card i want to put this picture in to use, but i don't know that we will end up doing it. Money. Ya know.

This week has been a crazy week...i hope we are getting this all out of our systems before we fly on monday. I hope monday goes smoothly. I am NOT looking forward to flying and the jet lag we will experience for the first 3 days while we are back hom. :(

Monday...Tanner was wheezing. I haven't heard him wheeze in a few yrs. so i took him to the ER. We were at the ER from 7-11 pm.

Wednesday: Tanner has some severe allergic reaction after rolling around in the grass. His whole eye got swollen and red and inflamed. 

Thursday: He vomitted on his bedroom floor and then on his toy room floor....but he never had any signs of wanting to throw up. He didn't feel sick and it just came on suddenly. I kept him home for an hour and he seemed totally fine, so i took him to school. I just thought it was a fluke thing.  I get a call from the nurse at noon saying tanner feels sick. I go get him and he does totally fine the rest of the day UNTIL later that night...he pukes again all over the toy room floor.  He has always been really good at getting to the bathroom to vomit. So, this kind of surprises me. Shane asked him why he didn't go to the bathroom. He said he didn't know it was coming. I think its the allergies making him vomit. He has them really bad this year for some reason. And i think he has so much snot that its upsetting his stomach.

Friday: Then this morning Jaydon comes running into the house grabbing his mouth asking for water. He licked an elephant ear plant, which are poisonous, and his mouth and throat were burning. I almost took him to the ER, but turns out i got some answers that he would most likely be fine. If he had eaten and swallowed some THEN i would take him in.

Last week, the boys left the front door open during the evening. Shane and i had no idea.  We start hearing shuffling around in the dining room. Shane goes in and there is a BIRD in our house. He started flying all over in a panic. He ppooped all over the kitchen and dining room. It was even on the walls and stuff. It was digusting.

This all makes me kind of nervous. I hope our flight and everything goes fine and smooth. Today and tomorrow are CRAZY DAYS and i don't even feel like i have time to get ready for monday! It's creeping up on me so fast. So many things to do in so little time. eek!!!

{History has a tendency to repeat itself}

Boy is that the truth! :)  I am still in shock that we will have FOUR boys. I didn't realize that i was convinced in my mind that we were having a girl until we found out it was a boy. I continue to be in shock over 24 hours later.

It's funny because the lady doing the ultrasound kept giggling because the baby kept kicking and moving all over the place. She said, "Well, it looks like he is using your bladder for a trampoline!"  I just laughed because i have felt that way ever since i got pregnant with him. With the other boys i never had to get up in the night to pee, never felt those urgencies like most women. This time i have felt it, strongly. Sometimes he will just plant himself right on my bladder because i get this sudden feeling like someone is pushing their hand on my bladder. He is definitely a mover. I feel like he is my biggest mover so far. He is always moving and kicking.

We are really excited to have boy #4...my shock will subside soon. :) We are for sure done after this one. hahaha! oh man! Good thing shane is going into pediatrics because he is going to have a lot of food and sports to pay for! CRAZY! I think how fun it will be for these four brothers to grow up together, and hopefully be really close. :)

I am excited to see what he looks like...will he have a huge head like his brothers did? probably. :) Will he have blonde hair like two of his brothers, or brown hair like one of his brothers? Blue eyes, or brown eyes? I think it would be fun to get another that looks like Tanner....Jaydon and Gavin looks so much alike, so im sure tanner would love to have someone that looks like him. :) We will see.

{Gavin's last soccer game of the season}

Here is the team, BUT there are two people missing from this picture that we actually know from church.

 They were UNDEFEATED for the season, and they were so proud of it!

  As his coach handed each of the kids their trophy he had something to say about each of the kids. He said about Gavin, "Gavin never stops. He runs until he gets that ball. He is like the energizer battery, he just keeps going and never stops."

 His last game was the first time he played goaly. He didn't like being goaly though.

{A few recents...}

1. We finished reading The Book of Mormon as a family for the second time. I am so proud of us! :)  It took awhile to get through that second time, but we did it. We start all over again tonight, and i hope to incorporate some new things to make it more exciting for the kids. :)

2. Parent teacher conferences were last week. I walked away from the conferences feeling so proud of my boys. They are well above average in all subjects at school, especially reading. And they are both very well loved by classmates and by their teacher. I felt like such a proud mommy that day, and still do. :)

3. Jaydon knows his colors!!! It took awhile for him to get it down! BUT, finally, he got it! :)

4. Thanksgiving day is in ONE week and two days!!!

5. In less than TWO weeks we find out the gender of our baby. Hopefully the baby lets the technician check. I keep thinking the baby is going to hide , like it does when they try to hear the heartbeat.

6. And in less than THREE weeks we leave for christmas in the states! yahoo!

7. I cannot believe it, but Gavin will be 9 years old next month! He is very close to achieving his wolf badge in cub scouts.  He hasn't ever been too excited about attending cub scouts, but we are working at home to get it done so he can get his badge. Maybe once he earns his wolf badge it will motivate him to want to get into scouts a bit more. We will see. One of the things he had to do to earn it was to fix dinner, set the table, and do the dishes. He cooked us dinner last night, and did it all. He was so proud of himself! It was so cute. He learned how to chop vegetables and while he is chopping he says to me, "This is actually kind of fun!" So, i think i have a new helper in the kitchen. PLUS, i think it helps that they have seen the show "Kid chef"....im not sure if that's the right name. But it's a bunch of kids who battle against each other to be the best chef. It's totally awesome, and the boys really got into watching it. I LOVE watching cooking shows, so it was fun that we could all watch a show we each really liked, together.

8. I have to do lots of stretches everyday to help my back. Ive been getting pretty bad back pains, and what feels like braxton hicks contractions, already! Ive been doing good at staying more active than i did with the other three pregnancies. I have a nice set of workout dvd's, with each month having a different work out. I have really enjoyed it. And i try to do yoga right after i do that workout. I have fallen in love with yoga. The stretches feel sooooooooo good to my body, and it is sooooo relaxing.

9. The weather here has been amazing lately....low 70's, high 60's, little humidity. I am in heaven.

10. Gavin has his first Taiko performance Dec. 7th! I can't wait to see him do his drumming! :)

{A Season for Thanks and giving}

I have never really tried the thing where people post everyday of the month of November what they are thankful for. But i did want to try to post a few times this month about what i am thankful for. The first one is, of course, my family. :) Unfortunately, i am not the GREATEST at expressing my feelings. When i feel filled with gratitude for someone, i can easily sit down and write them a letter to let them know how i feel about them. BUT as for expressing it face to face....lets just say that's not my strength in this life. I express myself on paper, not face to face. I mean, i can tell my loved ones "i love you" all day long, but to get much more than that can be hard for me. I know, you probably think "how sad." I have NO CLUE why it's hard for me.... I feel like its sappy, or corny to start spilling out my feelings of love. It's very awkward when i do it, and it becomes awkward for the person receiving it. haha!! I feel that i am good at showing my love through my actions and giving service. Hopefully my family can attest to that. So, while i might no be the greatest at expressing my feelings and emotions, im glad i have blogger so i can write it all down.

I am really grateful for my husband and my boys. They bring me so much joy everyday, even through all the small frustrations and little trivial things we experience throughout our days. Family isn't meant to be perfect. That's what is great about it. All those small frustrations and misunderstandings help us grow and learn together. Just as going through hard times in life helps us learn and grow, the same applies to family. Our family helps us learn and grow, and together we come closer to one another and gain greater joy. I go to bed feeling blessed and wake up feeling blessed that they are all mine. I am in shock sometimes when i look at a picture of all three of our boys together, realizing another sweet child will be joining our family soon. I can't believe all the lifes experiences shane and i have been through together so far. We have been married almost ten years, but i feel like i have known him forever. I am amazed that he is mine forever. Sometimes it seems hard to comprehend that. All i know is that i couldn't have picked anyone more perfect for me.  And i can't believe our three boys are OURS. We get to love them and care for them and teach them about life. And they put their trust in us. That's one of the most beautiful parts of it. They put their trust in us from the beginning.  It makes me want to make sure i do it right and not ruin that trust and love. And most important, we love them and they love us. FAMILY is a great blessing. There is no greater joy i have in this life than the joy i gain from family through making memories together, learning together, growing together, and loving each other. Family is no doubt central in lifes plan. I truly and sincerely feel so much gratitude and love in my heart for my family.

{Only two more games of the season...}

There are only two games left in the soccer season. I will not miss the practices, BUT i will definitely miss the games. I absolutely LOVE watching them play their soccer games.

This year, so far, Tanner's team is undefeated. They all do a really good job. They don't start taking score in any sports games until they reach the 9-10 year old stage. That means next year they will start keeping track of Gavin's games.  They don't keep track, but you can bet that all the kids on the teams keep track of the score. They always tell each other the score at the end.

 

 Trying to steal the ball. He is a pretty good defender. He and Gavin always play soccer in the halls of our house. It's funny.

 This is Tanner (below) about five seconds before he gets a goal! He has made a few goals this season. He doesn't show any reaction when he does it. He is so funny.

 Tanner is number 9. He and the kid next to him are battling for the ball....

{Turkey Trot}

 

Shane and Gavin ran in the turkey trot this morning. Gavin heard about it on the radio a few days ago and said he really wanted to run in it. So, he and Shane woke up this morning at 6:15 and headed over to the Risner Gym to register for it at 6:45. The race started at 7:00. Jaydon, Tanner and I walked to the corner of our street and waited for them to run by us. We were located about 3/4 mile into their run.  Tanner used Gavin's drum to cheer for them and Jaydon held up a sign that said "Go dad and Gavin"...

 

 Here are the two smiling boys. Two peas in a pod... (I do not like the way blogger is making my pictures look. They look fine until i put them in blogger...then they look all blurry. Anyone know why?)

 Here they are about 20 feet from the end of the run.... They had a big long hill to run up in the second half of the run. Shane said Gavin picked up his pace and was trying to pass as many people as he could. Go gavin! :)

 For not having prepared for this run at all, Gavin did a great job. He did it in 27 minutes. He and Shane want to start running together more often. Then about an hour after his run he had a soccer game. Poor kid. He was pooped out after his game.