Happy Birthday Ila
I plan to write more about her later, but for now you’ll have to settle for a short video. In this video you’ll see how she makes kissy noises (fish face) and hear her say her name:
I love you Ila Jane!!
Author Archives: Kathleen
Ila plays and laughs
Stop Drinking!
Isaac loves to read. He enjoys reading books in bed, 
reading scriptures at night with the family and pretty much any words he sees. He has started reading billboards and signs everywhere we go. He’ll read the name of a restaurant or other such place and ask me what it is or say something like “what does see red, save green mean.†Our most interesting billboard conversation to date was on Sunday when he saw a sign that said “Stop Drinking.†He didn’t understand why they would want people to stop drinking and thought it meant to stop drinking anything (including milk and water). This sparked a rather lengthy conversation where I described all the ill affects of drinking alcohol and tried to be as honest as I could and he asked a lot of good questions like “why would anyone want to drink that†and “do you know anyone who drinks alcohol.â€
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Zach: There’s a bus coming
Isaac: If it’s 279 don’t hit it. . . Actually, if it’s going out to pick up kids or coming back from the school full of kids don’t hit it either.
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Charlotte (after learning about/eating a fortune cookie): I knew they had cookies, but I didn’t know they had cookies that could tell the future.
Happy Birthday Grandpa Bird
From Isaac:
Isaac was originally going to write a chapter book about Grandpa’s birthday in which he surprised his grandfather by jumping out of the cake.
From Charlotte:
I wanted her to write her name on the back. She refused to write it and said that if she wrote her name on the back then her book would be fiction and she wanted it to stay nonfiction.
From Nicole:
Nicole sang happy birthday as she colored, but stopped coloring when she recognized another opportunity to eat.
Flickr Stats
I currently have 20,742 pictures uploaded to flickr. 17,088 are tagged, 3,654 are untagged. Most of the untagged ones were either uploaded by Zach who is not as meticulous about tagging or are early uploads which may not all be tagged.
All good things must come to an end. . .
I don’t really believe that ALL good things must end. The very best things go on forever, like my marriage, my family, and my faith. However, it seemed like a good title for this post.
Letters to Grandparents
Here are some letters the kids wrote to their grandparents. I had them in an envelope to send, but before I put them in the mailbox, we booked some flights for grandma and decided to just give them to her in person.
Isaac was going to write a letter to each grandparent, but then he realized how much work writing is for him and decided just to have grandma tell him he loves him too.
This is the longest letter Charlotte has hand-written to date. The pink person in the red box is Charlotte.
And this one is from Nicole.
Isaac’s first school bus ride
Isaac got to ride the school bus for the first time on Thursday. When I had asked the school about riding the bus, they had told me that they only pick kids up at bus stops. With no really close stops and no sidewalks on our street, I decided that he wouldn’t be riding the bus.
On Wednesday I found out that the bus will drop the kids off at their house if they’re going right by it (which is the case for us). I’m thrilled that I won’t have to wake up any of his sisters from a nap in order to pick him up from school again!
I asked him what riding the bus was like and he said “It was amazing!â€
Reading Campout and The Lunch Bunch
On Friday I had another opportunity to go to Isaac’s school. They were having a pajama day and reading campout. The kids were asked to wear their pajamas to school and bring a blanket or sleeping bag and game. I asked Isaac to pick out his favorite pair of pajamas to wear to school. He chose to wear his space pajamas.
Instead of going out for recess, the kids laid out their blankets and sleeping bags and played games. When I arrived, Isaac was busily reading books and taking quizzes. He had been working towards joining The Lunch Bunch* and was just a few points short. As the kids started playing games, Isaac continued to read. I think he read at least 5 books and took 5 quizzes while I was there, but he was able to earn enough points to join The Lunch Bunch and even got to join the other kids for the last 5 minutes of playtime. 
After lunch, I read some books to the kids and went outside with them while their teacher went to a meeting. The official reading campout happened later that day when the kids got to read books in their sleeping bags.
*The lunch bunch is a group of kids who eat lunch in the classroom with their teacher every Friday. In order to join, you have to have 25 or more points (earned by reading and passing quizzes) and have had no cards pulled all week (good behavior). Apparently Isaac will also get a hat that he can wear all day at school every Friday.
Isaac the Architect/Foreman
Isaac has decided that he wants to design and direct construction when he grows up. He was telling me his ideas as we were 
driving home the other day. He wanted to build an apartment building with a McDonalds on the bottom. His idea was that the tenants could call for room service and someone would bring the McDonalds food up to them. He said the building would be mostly made of brick and it would be in Tennessee. He said that I could live in his building for free.
His next idea was to build a subway system in Knoxville. He said he’d have it ready when I was a grandma. He also said that I would be able to ride it for free. I asked where the stops would be and he said he would make a stop right by my house. He also said there would be a subway car for my car and that when the subway would stop for fuel it would refuel my car as well for free. I also heard him bargaining with Charlotte to work for him. He told her that he’d pay her more money than anyone else. Charlotte said that she’d pay him even more than she’d pay herself.
Goose Egg
Nicole bumped her head on Thursday. She had been playing with a blanket on her head when we heard a loud thump and a cry in the hallway. Her head swelled so quickly that it was as if you could actually see it getting bigger and it was very scary looking. I started to panic. The swelling was so abnormal looking that I started imagining the worst, like perhaps she had cracked her head open or something. We were contemplating a run to the ER when we did some quick research on the internet and discovered that it probably wasn’t a big deal. We checked for signs of a concussion and found none. Plus, by this time she had stopped crying and noticed some candy which she promptly requested.
We gave her some Tylenol and she refused to let us ice it. Within 10 minutes, the swelling had gone down some and by the next morning you could hardly tell. 
I keep waiting for the entire side of her face to turn purple, but so far her hair mostly covers it and it’s hardly even noticeable.
Fall Party
Thanks to a visit from my mother-in-law, I was able to go help out with Isaac’s Fall Party. It was held the Friday before Halloween, but it was not a Halloween party. I’m not entirely sure why not, but no one in the school dressed up in costumes. We had an orange-themed party (which worked out considering the local college football team’s primary color is orange). Anyway, I took some pictures so I thought I’d post them.
They played some games and did a craft.
Then they went to PE and library, before finishing the party off with some snacks and a group picture.
Happy Halloween!
The hugging spot
Charlotte insists that she walk along the rocks along the sidewalk. When she gets to the highest spot, she announces that she is “as tall as she can be†and I give her a big hug.
Puddles
The other day we arrived at the gym after a big rain and Nicole could not resist splashing in every puddle along the way to the entrance. 
While this is not an uncommon thing, on this particular day she could not pull herself away from her favorite puddle. I tried the “I’m going to leave you†lie and continued to walk towards the door. She didn’t seem to care at all at first. When I finally did get her attention and she saw how far away we were, she started to run towards me, but after a few paces she stopped and ran back to the puddle to continue splashing and dancing. She repeated this behavior a few times, starting off towards me and then changing her mind in favor of a puddle.
I finally had to pick her up and carry her in. She cried out for the puddle as we entered the gym.
I guess I fall just under the puddle in her scale of affection.
Feeding the 5,000
Charlotte drew this picture in primary today: 
There’s something artistic about the picture to me. She said it was a picture of Jesus feeding the people the fish and the loaves. (Can you find Jesus? He’s the one holding fish and loaves in his hand.) She said they were at church and they were hungry and he fed them.
A year long gone, a year yet to come. . .
In the midst of reminiscing about where we were a year ago, more than just the season has me feeling reflective. Zach was contacted by a job recruiter a few weeks ago and as a result he sent his resume out to a few additional companies. He is now interviewing with several companies in different parts of the country. It feels much different this time.
Last time not only did we know we had to move, but I was expecting our fourth child in just a few months and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting out all of the interview processes. Now the pressure is gone. We could reject every offer and still be ok to stay here, or we could get a really great offer/opportunity and move somewhere new. Another difference is that last time I wasn’t sure if I’d survive without the family support that I had in Utah. I still miss all the help and the family, but I know that life goes on and I can still get up each day and do much of the same things I could do before, they’re just often harder and there are less chances for relief. I’ve even figured out how to get a few more hours of sleep at night than at first.
So why has this year seemed so incredibly long? Probably because there have been a lot of changes, some good and some not so good. We had a child, lost a cat, totaled a van, replaced a van, broke a leg, got 30 stitches in a head, went to the beach, had some tonsils and adenoids removed, joined a gym, learned to read, learned to write, had a very lonely Christmas and Thanksgiving, and a not so lonely family reunion, learned more about gemstones and jewelry than we ever expected to, increased a vocabulary, learned to roll over, sit-up, and crawl (after a fashion), started piano lessons, and took trips to Ohio (repeatedly), DC, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina. It’s been a year that we’ll never forget and I wonder if next year will find us still in Knoxville, or in Atlanta, Boston, Memphis or some other place.
The kids just before we left Utah
Our family now
Fall
This time last year Zach had started working for JTV and we were in Utah getting ready for our big move. As the leaves have started to fall off the trees here, I’m reminded of when we first arrived at this house and there were leaves everywhere.
This past year has brought so many changes that it’s hard to believe that it’s only been one year.
My Two Cents
I have hesitated to write anything on this topic because I know there are some people in my life who read my blog whose opinions and feelings on this issue are opposed to mine and I do not wish to alienate those people from me and my family. Considering that, one might ask why I would write. I write because I see myself as a person who would rather stay silent than offend and I feel compelled to overcome some of my fear of offending and speak my beliefs with boldness. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation. . .†[Romans 1:16]
I do not intend to turn this blog into something different than what it has been with this post, so you can click below if you want to read this one or skip it completely. Beware, this post is a long one.
A friend who is a girl.
In our family prayer this morning, Isaac prayed that he would get to sit next to Emma at school. 
Last year I asked him who his friends were at school and he said the kids he played with the most were Emma and Storm. This year Storm is in another class, but Emma is in his class. He comes home from school everyday talking about Emma. He’ll say things like “today, we got pumpkins and I looked at them in the hall and mine was two pumpkins away from Emma’s. Is that good?†When I ask him about his day, he tells me about times he got to sit next to or play with Emma. As we drove away from school yesterday he said “Mom, Emma looked at our van!â€
I am also starting to see an increase of Emma related doodles on his paper. Here are some examples:
So this morning we had a talk that went something like this: “Isaac, do you know that when you’re 6 you should have friends that are girls, but not girlfriends?†Then I tried to describe the difference without giving him any ideas (I didn’t mention things like hand holding and kissing). As cute as a first girlfriend might seem at his age, I think it’s dangerous for kids to pair off too young. I’d be happy if he didn’t have any girlfriends until after high school. He can go on group dates when he’s sixteen.