I never thought I would be asked this question. . .

Another trial of Jon's beater car (an '88 Chevy Baretta). . .

So a funny thing happened on my way home from Book Club (book club was so fun, by the way)- last Thursday night. I was driving Jon's beater car and I was pulled over by a cop- and as I saw the flashing lights behind me, I couldn't figure out why I was being pulled over. I wasn't speeding, was I? The cop came up and said- "Ma'am, have you been drinking tonight? I pulled you over because you were weaving". What??? I was so astonished I choked out "no!!" He took one look at me and I could tell he knew I hadn't been drinking and that my appearance and age suprised him. He took my driver's license and came back a few minutes later, handed it back to me and nicely sent me on my way. All the rest of the way home I was trying to figure out how I had been "weaving", while freezing because I couldn't roll up the driver side window (Brooke- you might remember what happens to that window when I roll it down!). When I got home I told Jon the story, he shook his head and told me I had been profiled because of the car. The cop probably thought I was a high school student out late drinking (I was near the high school) and made up the excuse that I was weaving. Jon has been pulled over twice now because of the car- it seriously looks like a drug addicts car! Once the "reasons" he was pulled over was for having a light out, and the other was for it being loud- - both times with no ticket or even a warning - - once they realized that we are about the opposite of the "profile". One of the times it was a police officer that lives in our ward- - it was in the middle of the night in the hospital parking lot as Jon was traveling from one Hospital to the other on his rounds. He about choked when he saw it was Jon, in his white coat. Anyway- maybe this is incentive to get a new car??? Ahh the humiliation . . . Actually, I think it is hilarous. Jon will sometimes make a joke out of it when he is getting out of it in his white coat - - he will say "the down turn of the economy has been rough. . . " Again- it runs great- so we will keep driving it - - for no car payment!

Tuesdays . . .

I felt like I need to post something uplifting, after my last depressing one! Things are moving along in the Wilson Household. Even though my house isn't much cleaner, and Lillian is still constantly into and destroying everything . . . I am feeling much better. Some of the stressful things going on are on their way to being somewhat resolved- and I feel like my relationship with Jon is stronger for some of the challenges we have faced. ANYWAY- no worries about me- - except I have a horrible cold! I guess we are allowed to have our stressed out moments, as long as we learn to deal with them and move on! So- thanks for those of you who left words of encouragement. The rest of the weekend was pretty good. We made extra effort to just relax on Sunday- and didn't schedule Home teaching and we skipped choir- it was really needed. Monday on the holiday, since the kids didn't have school we went to Sunnyside for a visit. Seeing my friends there is always an upper!

I wanted to post some random pictures. TUESDAYS are a very busy day for us. I pick the kids up from school and rush off to Gymnastics where Cynthia and Marcus both take a class (back to back- so we are there for 2 hours!). THEY LOVE IT! Although it is pretty expensive, I found a way to work it into our budget (though they will have to quit if we end up with a car payment see earlier post about our really old van). It has been so worth it. Cynthia has been taking a tumbling class or gymnastics since she was 3 because of her aptitude for it. At age 3, she was doing flips off the couch and summersaulting her way around the house. She is light, athletic and wiry- so does really well! Anyway, Marcus didn't think it was fair that she got to take a class and not him- so I enrolled him in a boy's class. He isn't much interested in other sports- but he does like Gymnastics. After Gymnastics, most Tuesdays we head to the Central Washington Family Medicine dinner gathering. They have one almost every Tuesday night, because Wednesday they conduct the interviews for new residents coming in the next year. The interviewees get a chance to meet the current residents and staff at the dinner, which is hosted at a different resident's house each week. Anyway, I have been really enjoying the gatherings, and getting to know the other residents and their families. Makes for a busy Tuesday!

Cynthia- my little Gymnast!:


It's a bit blurry, but Marcus is the one in the gray shirt doing the amazing "bridge"!:


Marcus on the rings:


And I just had to post this adorable picture of Lillian with her friend Caroline who she gets to play with twice a week. Her mom and I do trades so we can volunteer in our Kindergartener's classes. They are such cute friends (and I have enjoyed becoming friends with her mom too!)

Wanna Get Away?

I keep thinking of that Southwest commercial with the slogan "Wanna get away?" I am having one of those days where I don't feel like I am handling life very well. My kids are bickering, my house is a mess, and my two year old not only has taken off her diaper and peed on the floor, but has been whining non stop all day for candy or "hot chocolate", and is now squeezing all the toothpaste out of the tube and mixing it with water (getting most of it on the counters and floor). After yelling at Marcus for freaking out at the stapler and throwing it away, and teasing Cynthia - he stormed off to write angry messages and is intermittently screaming out "I will never love you again!!" and "You'll pay for that!" - - oh an now my little "cling-on" (lillian) is trying to climb in my lap as she always does. Jon is gone and I feel sooo tired! I feel completely un-motivated to do housework or other normal tasks- all I feel like doing is hiding in my room. Why is it that my parenting skills have gone out the window? Why can't I muster up some patience and strength- I know it is in there somewhere. I KNOW why my kids are acting so horribly- it is because I am not being very nice to them. I completely over-reacted when I yelled at Marcus- so it isn't all him. I love my children so fiercely- why do I even have days like this? Granted, it has been a pretty emotionally draining week - - but I don't want to make excuses for my bad parenting and un-motivation . . . So what do I do? Writing this is helping- - and maybe with some prayers I can survive today and move on to a better evening- and tommorrow! Maybe it is OK to just survive at times.

In the market?

I think we are in the market for a new van. We have been driving a '93 toyota previa for a little over 5 years- - it has served us extremely well! For how old and how high the miles, it hasn't had a lot of problems- mostly periferal stuff like the sliding door, the automatic locks, brakes, tires, etc. Never any engine problems. It has taken us half way accross the country and back several times and more . . . and who can complain about no car payment since 2004? We bought it for a great price from a family in my home ward in Spokane (Renee- you know who!) and have absolutely loved it ever since. We love it so much, we are trying to squeeze as much life out of it as we can (especially since we can't afford a $20,000 new van). Now it has over 200,000 miles on it and is a bit rattly! In the last 6 months we have had more times than I can count where it wouldn't start. Sometimes a jump start helped, sometimes not. We have replaced the starter and battery - - and finally a place here in Yakima put some kind of relay boost on and it has worked great ever since. . . .until now. Apparently, the part met an early demise due to it getting really wet (I am guessing Spokane at New Years . . . ). They replaced the part which isn't that expensive - - but how much time to we have? The last part only lasted 4 months! I am thinking we could actually sell or trade in the van while it still runs . . . . or should we try to squeeze some more life out of the poor thing? I think we could afford six or seven thousand dollars on a van- the payments wouldn't be too bad - - so if anyone in Washington hears of one being sold, let me know. Part of me wants to still make due, and the other part would love to have something newer- with a sliding door on BOTH sides of the van that WORK without me having to use my hip to bump it closed, or a back hatch staying up and not braining me when it is wet or cold, a van that doesn't rattle so loud that pedestrians stare at us at a stop light (especially when the air conditioner is on) or the guy at the bank says "is that YOUR car making that noise?" . . .

Any other advice? We are terrible at making big purchases- we typically would rather make due without, especially with our tight income this year. In 11 years, we have owned only three vehicles (a Ford Tempo that was totalled a few months after we were married, a Ford Escort wagon, and this van) and two "beater" cars we purchased for less than $500 each for Jon to drive to work or school in recent years(one in Iowa- which stayed in Iowa, and one in Sunnyside which Jon is still driving). So- I am SURE that everyone else out there is more experienced when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle. Any advice? I think we just keep pumping money into our van to avoid the hassle of looking for a new van. Anyway we will see what happens!

Australia- a great movie

Jon and I just went last night to see one of the most amazing movies! It is the movie "Australia" with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is basically about the North part of Australia during WW II - - though only a small portion of the movie contains war related battles, etc. It wasn't too violent (there was some violence, but well handled)- and it wasn't depressing at all (which I was worried about). In fact, it was one of those movies you walk out of the theater "full" - it was very emotional and uplifting - romantic, exciting (be ready for some cattle droving and fighting an evil takover plot!), and very emotional (a main theme of the movie is about a half Aborigine child who will steal your heart). . . It is a really long movie- almost 3 hours, but I was sad to see it end! It didn't feel too long, like other long epic movies often do. I don't want to give any more of the plot away - - just know this is a must see!

Can I call in sick??

Have you ever had one of those days, where not only do you feel like your head is going to split in two, but other unpleasing things start happening? That is me today - - though I can't complain too much, this morning was OK. Besides waking up with a headache threatening, and having a REALLY hard time getting out of bed (which happens more often than not), things were pretty good. I took Lillian to the Library for story time, for the first time since Cynthia has been in school- and she did pretty good! It was fun to get out of the house and see some other adults, and even make some new friends - - and then on to Costco, which was fine (especially the BEAUTIFUL girls dresses I splurged on!). As I was coming home from shopping, I started to feel nauseated and the headach was emerging. AFter laying Lillian down for a nap (or so I thought), I took some Ibuprofen and ate something more, thinking maybe I just needed to eat more than the McDonald's snack wrap for lunch. No relief watsoever (except Lillian sleeping)- so I try to lay down, massage my head and neck, etc - and still it is getting worse. So after awhile I hear Lillian is awake and I stumble to her room to find that she had pooped, taken off her diaper and gotten it EVERYWHERE! Apparently this happened BEFORE she fell asleep, so her bed is also soaked because she fell asleep naked. Lillian often goes "number 2" right when she lays down for a nap, but ALWAYS cries and whines and won't fall asleep. She also often times undresses herself- again then she cries until I open the door and get her dressed. Not today! Groan- now my head is REALLY pounding after scrubbing everything on my hands and knees. I hope I didn't miss anything . . . . Well- I need to count my blessings. I HAVE A WASHER and DRYER!!! That in itself is amazing . . . And thank goodness I bought that Rotisserie chicken at Costco for dinner (only $4.99 and they are BIG)!

So, does anyone have any tips on how to help a super bad, head splitting head-ache?

Happy New Year in Spokane!!

Welcome to 2009!! To celebrate the passing of 2008 into 2009, we braved the snow and traveled to Spokane. First of all- the snow in Spokane was INCREDIBLE - - I have never seen anything like it, except at an alpine ski resort! Spokane got about 65 inches from mid December to last weekend! It melted down some, then would snow again - - so there was only about 2 1/2 feet on the ground, but the plowed snow berms were insanely tall. I felt like I was driving down a gauntlet on every road. We almost couldn't driving on my parents' road, which wasn't plowed well. I am glad we made it, though- I just had to see it all for myself!

The snow "mountain" at the church parking lot:


The snow cave they made out of the berm on my parent's driveway:

My parents' driveway and the front of their house:

Jon's parents' house:


New years eve we met my parents and brother, Jon's parents and my aunt and uncle Barber at Casa De Oro (a Mexican Restaurant in Spokane) for dinner. It is our family tradition to go there every new year's eve. After some good Mexican food, we went back to my parent's house to play games, watch Psych (our favorite TV show) and eat more until midnight!

We let Marcus and Cynthia stay up- they did fine. Isn't it fun to make a lot of noise outside at midnight!



New year's day was another fun holiday of playing games, hanging out and eating, then Friday we took the kids out to the Children's museum in Spokane. This was my first time there! What a fun place. It is called Mobius kids and is located at Riverpark Square downtown.




Daddy also had fun- especially at the water table where you dammed the water with little boards to make water-ways.


There even was a lot for Lillian to do . . .

We loved the straw hut - - especially Cynthia and Lillian who like to shop for food at the little Market and take it home to the hut's kitchen.

Marcus made the perfect crossing guard for the little road! He watched the light signals to know when to put his flag down.


Saturday morning we went to my cousin Melanie's daughter's baptism. I can hardly believe Ashley is 8! I remember so well when she was born when we both lived in Utah, just a few months before Marcus. It was wonderful to be there!


The rest of Saturday was fairly frustrating- mainly because our van wouldn't start. Jon, his dad, and my dad spent the day taking the battery and the starter in to be tested (which were both fine), and trying to get it to start to no avail. I mainly hung out with the kids and my mom in the house, while they slaved away in the bitter COLD outside. We ended up borrowing Jon's sister Cyndi's car for us to drive home in on Sunday- and just as we were about to leave, we tried the van again, and it started! We think it was probably too cold. We think it started because it sat in the garage Saturday night, and it was not quite so cold on Sunday. Either way, we are really glad we didn't have to hassle with it getting towed to somewhere in Spokane, and having to come back to get it later. I am also not ready to buy a new vehicle!! I know it is old (16 years old- and over 200,000 miles!), rattly and sometimes won't start- but we REALLY can't afford a new van, and I am really attached to the old thing. Can we just squeeze another year out of it??? Anyway, we are so grateful to Cyndi for being willing to lend us her car, and our dads (especially Jon's dad) who spent so much effort and time to try to help us.

Saturday night we celebrated my brother Brian's birthday early (it is Jan 6th). He is 19- I can hardly believe it! Missionary age!! It will be an exciting year for him . . . Anyway- I am so glad he is my brother! We have had fun times together, and he as done a lot for my kids as a favorite uncle.