Hooray for Naomi!

Naomi is officially potty trained! Here she is holding her brand new package of princess underwear. Only one child in diapers. I almost don't know what to do with myself.

Giving

Chocolate on my Cranium

I am so excited to write about giving! What a happy topic. I have been so blessed by so many people. I’m not really sure where to start. My Mom is the first person that comes to mind. When I was in high school, I came home one day, tired and dreading my homework, and went into my room to find my bed made and my room straightened. Two things that I hardly ever did as a kid. There was a note on my pillow from my Mom, saying how proud she was of me. That changed my whole day, and my whole week!

When I went away to college I moved in with my grandparents on my Dad’s side. My Mom’s parents just lived half a mile down the road, so I got to see plenty of them as well. I feel a little guilty now that I look back on that time. My grandparents and a couple of aunts and uncles did so much to take care of me, and I am afraid that I did not act very grateful at the time. I see now that I would have had a really difficult time without all of them. In fact I was probably a little spoiled. My grandma even packed a lunch for me every day so that I wouldn’t have to spend money on lunch! My grandparents and aunts and uncles gave to me in very big ways: feeding me, housing me, letting me borrow a vehicle if mine wasn’t running, fixing my car when it wasn’t running, driving me from Rexburg to Salt Lake so that I could fly home for Christmas, letting me cry on their shoulder when I needed to.

Other people outside of my family have given to me in big ways too. Almost exactly a year ago I was very pregnant with my 5th baby. Two wonderful ladies from church, my visiting teachers, took great care of me. They watched my kids while I went to appointments, they cleaned my house, they fed us when the baby was born, and watched my kids some more so that I could get a little sleep. When I was a week away from my due date, I was on my way to the hospital to get some of the paperwork out of the way early. My two youngest girls were with me. We got into a little car accident, and thankfully everyone was just fine, but our van was not drivable. Just as a police officer was asking me if there was anyone I could call to come get me, up walked a dear sister from church. She happened to drive by and see me, and also happened to have two extra car seats in her vehicle. She waited there with me till everything was taken care of, and then took us all home. I’m sure she had other things to do that day, but she put them off so that she could help me.

Some people give to me in other ways, and those experiences are very precious to me too. Grocery shopping with little children can be a little unnerving and stressful at times. Every now and then, though, a complete stranger will say to me, “Oh, you have such a beautiful family!” Somehow that comment makes shopping a little easier. Another day I went shopping at Winco with all 5 of my kids, ages 7 and under at the time. I really like Winco except that you have to bag your own groceries. So on this particular day I was trying so hard to get the groceries bagged and put in the cart and keep everyone else happy at the same time. It was not going well. The baby was crying, and everyone else was either fighting with someone or trying to run away. Just then two teenage girls who were with their parents in the next line over came over and began bagging groceries. They didn’t ask if I needed help, they just did it. They got everything in the cart and then pushed it out to the parking lot and put everything in the van for me. I was cheered up, and my cheerfulness spread to the kids. The rest of our day went quite well, but I’m not sure it would have without the help of those two girls.

I could go on and on about the many ways people have given to me. There are way too many to name or count. I was grateful for them when they happened, and I am grateful for them now but for a slightly different reason. This morning as I was walking home from dropping kids off at school, it started to rain pretty hard. I was not prepared for this. But I had been thinking about this post and all the ways I have been blessed by others, and I was so happy. I was soaking wet and still had half a mile to walk, but I was so thankful that I could not be grumpy about the rain. (Noah was covered and dry. Somehow I was prepared to keep him dry.) What I’m saying is that all those people who have given to me are really still giving to me. Just thinking of them makes me happy. Those people and the memories I have remind me that most of all my Heavenly Father loves me. As President Spencer W. Kimball said, “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom.” I just saw that I am using the same quote as Cocoa, but that's ok. It's worth reading a time or two or more.

5$ Well Spent

I know, it's a silly picture. But I was very grateful for this 5$ poncho today. The rainy season has arrived here in Moscow. I know in other parts of Idaho there is snow. But here in the NORTH, we get rain, rain, and more rain for about a month straight before we will get snow. If this winter is like last year the snow will stay all winter, but if it is like the previous two winters, the snow will melt within a day or two and we will get more rain with some snow scattered throughout the winter. Autumn, Uncle Jim, you have Moscow experience. What were your winters like when you were here? For today, we have rain. Cold rain, at that. And we walked to school, so I am very glad I have that lovely yellow poncho at left. Anne has a bright pink one, and Stephen has a bright blue one, although I couldn't convince him to wear it today. He rode his bike to school though, so he wouldn't have gotten quite as wet as Annie or I did. And Noah came with us. He got to ride in a nice covered stroller I borrowed from my neighbor. He was nice and dry and warm. Hooray! Now, I hope what I'm going to say doesn't sound bad, but I am really very grateful that we had to get to school in the rain today. I want the kids to know that even if something is a little difficult and a little uncomfortable they can do it. I'm afraid that my kids are going to have a little harder time at life than I have had, and I want them to know that they can do things. Maybe life will be a breeze for them. I don't really know, but I want them to be ready for anything. Already, I do know that they will have to work harder in school than I did. But I think they are up for it. They already know so much, and learn so well and so quickly. They are just wonderful kids, and I'm sure that the Lord will watch over them in whatever does come in their futures.

On to lighter subjects! Since my shoes were not covered by my wonderful poncho, they are now stuffed with newspaper drying by the heater. And thanks to James and Anne going to the grocery store last night, I don't have to go anywhere today!!!! I get to stay home and fold laundry (always) and make chocolate chip cookies. Any special occasion, you might ask? Well, yes. The missionaries are coming over tonight to talk to us about a friend of Stephen's from school. His name is Marshall. Well, Marshall and his older brother, Michael, have been taking the discussions for a while with their mom and they are thinking about baptism. The boys are. Not their mom for now. She seems to be ok with them coming to church (they've only come once so far) as long as there is someone she trusts there with them. But she doesn't know anyone in the ward. (I hope I am getting this story right. This is what I got from James who actually talked to the missionaries.) I think that this is where we come in. I did meet Marshall's Mom once, but it was at Marshall's birthday party and there were lots of other parents and kids, so I don't know that she would really remember me. We'll get more details tonight. I sure am glad that Stephen and Marshall are friends!

Naomi's Ear

This is Naomi at about 3 months old. Her ear would fold down like that whenever I fed her and would stick for about five minutes. I had never seen another baby's ear do that so I had to take a picture.

I Didn't Plan To Be A Witch

I recently read I Didn’t Plan To Be A Witch by Linda Eyre. I read it because, like the title says, I did not ever plan to be a witch. I always thought of myself as a pretty nice person until I had kids and started losing my patience with them. Where did that grumpy side of me come from?

I had read little bits of this book a few years ago, but now finally read the whole thing. I really enjoyed it, especially the parts where she describes some crazy days at her house. Maybe she exaggerates, and maybe it’s because she has nine kids and I only have five, but they were way crazier than anything we have ever experienced here. That made me feel a little better about things. There are 31 chapters and each is written on a certain topic. Each chapter is pretty short and can be read independently so that was pretty nice. Since there is so much in this book, I thought I’d just write about a few specific chapters.

Chapter 3. The Key: Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. This chapter lists and explains 16 ways to simplify your life. Some that really struck me are: Set time limits for routine tasks. I used to have to do this when I was in school to get my work done, and I find it still works wonders for me. Encourage older children to take responsibility for younger children. This one is so great! Stephen and Anne are really good at getting shoes on littler people and getting their teeth brushed. And Naomi goes to the bathroom much more willingly when Ellen takes her as opposed to me! Use the toughest times to realize that the normal times aren’t so bad. Borrow four more children for a week and learn that your usual routine isn’t as difficult as you thought. I have to laugh about this one because about two days after I read it we ended up having four extra children stay at our house for about 24 hours while their mom had a baby. Life did seem pretty relaxed the next day!

Chapter 15. The Kid Is Always Right. In this chapter she talks about hearing a speaker at a business conference on the subject of “the customer is always right.” When asked what happens if the customer really is wrong the speaker said, “The customer is never wrong! Neither party is right or wrong. You have to try to look at the problem through the other person’s eyes. You will find that by looking at the problem from his perspective, although it may not be correct from your perspective, you can see why he thinks he is right. It’s often hard to take, but a great manager can always say: ‘I see your point. I understand what you mean. You’re right. Let’s work this out.’” Then she explains that the same thing can apply to our relationships with our children. She says, “Too often, we become authoritarian parents who think we are always right. When it comes to a conflict, we don’t bother to give the same courtesy to our children as we would to a brother or friend.” That kind of stung me because I realized that I do that all the time! I was feeling so terrible and then get to this part. “After all, one conflict settled with sympathy and understanding out of every ten conflicts that occur is better than none, especially if we understand each child often enough to let him know that we really care.” Life is all about trying to do a little better each day, not about being perfect the very next day. So … I will try to keep this in mind. The Kid Is Always Right!

Chapters 28 - 29. Enjoying the Present – No Matter How Bad It Is! and Keep Looking Up. These two chapters go together in my mind because they remind me of a couple of talks from this last General Conference. Of course, the first is President Monson’s talk, Finding Joy in the Journey. The other is Elder Bednar’s talk, Pray Always. In chapter 28 Linda Eyre says, “Gratitude can help us enjoy the present.” When thinking of all the good things there are in life, and all the blessings I have been given, and thinking of all the wonderful times I am having with my children right now, how can I help but be happy? And when I pray to my loving Heavenly Father who has given all this happiness to me, and I thank Him for it, how can I not be full of joy?

The New Sheriff

Just in case anybody reading this hasn't heard yet...

Last night my Dad, Len Humphries Jr., was elected Sheriff of Fremont County! We are all so excited around here. It was quite an election, (including a pretty tough write-in campain by the current Sheriff) but Dad came out on top. There was a little confusion at our house as to what Grandpa was really running for. Anne asked a couple of weeks ago, "Is Grandpa the President yet?" Ellen asked the same question yesterday.

Many congratulations to you, Dad! We are so proud of you!

Halloween and Then Some

Ellen the princess, Naomi the froggy, Stephen the mummy, and Anne the fairy.
(Naomi doesn't look very dressed up because most of her costume was lost until about an hour after the kids went trick or treating. Oh well!)

Our jack-o-lanterns.

Noah is up to about 6 steps in a row. And he loves to just stand up all over the place.

This Old House

Eight years ago today James and I closed on our very first house, our little house in Cheyenne. We were so excited to own our own home that we went out to dinner at Red Lobster, another first for us. I guess we were just so excited about buying a home that there were a few things we failed to notice when we looked at the house. Like the fact that it was only half a block away from an enormous oil refinery! To this day, we still ask ourselves how we could not have seen that! The house was pretty old. The original part (original part consisted of one bedroom, the living room, and kitchen. The other bedroom, the very small bathroom, laundry room, and dining room were added throughout the years.) was built in 1925. It had terrible carpet and some pretty terrible windows that shook when the wind blew. And this was Wyoming, so the wind did blow quite regularly. But it had a nice big flat yard with some huge trees in the front. Stephen got a tire swing for his 2nd birthday and we put it in the tree you can see in the picture above. After we moved the driveway to the side of the backyard we had a nice big garden area. We grew some really nice beets in that garden. To bad neither of us really like beets! We tried potatoes too and got great big beautiful vines, but no potatoes. Evidently that's just the way it is in Cheyenne. No one else in our ward could grow potatoes either.

Looking back at our time in that house, I am amazed we lived there for as long as we did. It was quite literally on the wrong side of the tracks. I mentioned earlier that we were half a block away from the oil refinery. It was to the south of us. Well a block and a half in the other direction took us to the railroad yard, and a very busy railroad yard it was, too. We could hear trains at almost all times of the day and night. Then about six blocks to the west of us was an ambulance shed. We saw and heard ambulances at least three times a day. Stephen and Annie absolutely loved it. As soon as they would hear a siren, they would run as fast as they could to the nearest window to watch the ambulance go past. If by some chance they missed seeing it, they would cry as if they were never going to see another ambulance again. Our house was next to a very busy street and with traffic comes accidents. The worst I remember happened in the middle of the night one night. Anne was just a baby so my ears were always tuned to listen for her in the night. I guess she was the only thing I would wake up for because I was suddenly surprised to wake up and see James standing at the window and bright red and blue lights flashing on the ceiling. A drunk driver had lost control right near our corner and ended up in our neighbor's tree just kitty-corner from us. If that tree hadn't been there, he would have ended up in our neighbor's kitchen. I had slept through the crash and the sirens.

A few months later we had another exciting experience. I had just put Stephen and Anne down for naps one afternoon when all of a sudden there was a great big boom and all the windows shook. I immediately went to check on the kids and as I was going past the window that faced south I happened to glimpse a huge ball of fire at the top of one of the towers at the oil refinery. Everything turned out fine, but we did end up spending the rest of the day at my friend Heather's house who lived on the other side of town.

We never really knew any of our neighbors there. It kind of bothered me at the time. But I think that was probably all for the best. When Stephen was 3 and Anne was almost 2, Stephen came to me and said, "Come see policeman." So I came to the window and saw not just one policeman but about 20 policemen surrounding my neighbor's house. They were there for about 30 to 45 minutes. Dad was Chief Deputy at the time and the kids had recently seen him in uniform and Annie was positive that he was over there amongst all those policemen. Towards the end of the standoff two of the officers walked across the street towards our house because they had parked their car in the alley behind our house. Anne ran to the back door calling "Pagaw, Pagaw!" (Both Stephen and Annie said "Pagaw" for Grandpa when they were little.) She was so disappointed when they drove away and no Grandpa came. We read in the paper the next day that there had been a meth bust in the house across the street.

I'm afraid it sounds like we hated living there. We really didn't. Yes the location could have been better, but it did have some advantages. We could just sit in our back yard and have perfect seats for the air show put on by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds every summer. That was a lot of fun! And we really did love Cheyenne. I never wanted to live in Wyoming. But it was wonderful. Cheyenne really was a pretty nice town (if you could get on the right side of the tracks) and the people there were just awesome. We loved our ward there. It was pretty neat to live in the capital of the state and still only have a population of 50,000 people. I saw the governor shopping in SAM's club one day. He was just getting a few groceries like I was. He's a democrat, by the way. And a member of the NRA. Dave Freudenthal. I think he's still the governor.

Anyway... Sorry to make this such a long post. I guess I'm feeling a little nostalgic tonight. That house we bought and lived in for almost 5 years isn't there anymore. The busy street we lived next to needed to be expanded and our house was in the way. Not that I regret that. It came at the perfect time for us, and we got a really good deal. If the city or county or state ever wants to buy your house, DO IT! They really don't rip you off. And thanks for putting up with my long post. It feels good to have this all typed out.

Halloween Fun at Home

Last night I made pumpkin pancakes. I should have made them with real pumpkin, but that didn't happen. I just made regular pancake batter and divided it, then colored the larger portion orange and the smaller portion green. Then I made pumpkin shapes on the griddle and after I turned them over I put chocolate chip faces on them. They turned out pretty good and the kids really liked them. The chocolate chips melted pretty quick so some of us just spread the chocolate around the pancake, and others ate it just like it was. The kids did ask for syrup but I did tell them no. With the chocolate chips they really didn't need anything else on top.

Stephen thought we needed a picture with something scary in it.

After our unhealthy supper (is there anything healthy about Halloween?) we watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow narrated by Bing Crosby. The kids had never seen the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and kept complaining that it wasn't a Halloween show. I had to keep saying, "just wait." I think they believed me by the end. I really like that cartoon because even though it is a little scary it is still really funny at the same time so even Naomi was not bothered. She just thought it was funny!

Election Issues

The assignment from Chocolate on my Cranium this week was to choose an issue: Abortion, Economy, Education, Immigration, Marriage (just between one man and one woman or should gays be allowed to marry?) ,War (Iraq, Afghanistan, or war in general). I really am not a debater, so this was kind of difficult for me. I have my own opinions and am not really wishy-washy, but at the same time, I really don't like to disagree with anyone. I like to keep my thoughts to myself. But hey, the reason I started participating in Wordfull Wednesday was so I could stretch myself a little bit, and this does. It's also starting to get late, so I really hope this all makes sense.

The kids had mock elections at school last week. Anne asked me a couple of days before the election who I am going to vote for. I told her, but I really wanted her to understand why I had made that choice and I wanted her to think about things and what she thinks is right or best. But I realized, as I started talking about different issues, that most of these issues are just over her head. Really, how do you explain taxes and health care and war to a 6 year old? At this point I had to leave Anne at school, but I continued throughout the day to ponder the issues and what I could tell her. I decided that the only things she would really understand were issues dealing with families. She is part of a family. She gets family. And family is really what matters isn’t it? Family is the only thing that doesn’t go away. It only grows. At the same time, however, I realized that I did not want to discuss these issues with my first-grader. How can I tell her (and why would I want to right now) that there are people who think it is perfectly alright to end an unborn baby’s life? That there are people who feel this way that want to lead our country?

Why am I so opposed to abortion and why can I not support any candidate who agrees with it? To me the issue of abortion is the most prevalent because it is the most basic. It deals with life. Taxes, health care, and war are really all superficial compared to abortion. If we are not alive, do we really care how prescriptions are paid for, or who is paying more or less taxes than we are, or which country has the most nuclear weapons? Those things become irrelevant.

I am a mother to five beautiful and amazing children. Each time I gave birth I was overwhelmed by the fact that a living, breathing, real person had come from me. This new person had a complex brain that functioned and worked. A heart and lungs. Limbs and fingers and toes that could move. Eyes that could see and ears that could hear. And, in the case of my fourth child, a mouth that could really smile the day she was born. I do not understand how any person can feel like they can deny another person the ability to breathe and see and hear and live. And anyone who will not fight to preserve this most basic need, the need to live, does not deserve to lead our country nor does he deserve my vote.