Quilts, Ben and Stacey, and a Japanese Dinner for Seven

 I've been thinking a lot lately about the quilt I received from the hospital. I had kept it hidden away in my hope chest for about 5 months. I would take it out occasionally just to run my hand over it and cry. I had remarked to my best friend several months back that I didn't really feel like it was a very pretty quilt. It wasn't specifically made for a mother who just lost her baby. She said something that I will never forget. She told me that I may feel that way, but that I was given the "right" quilt. That quilt was meant just for me. It is the quilt that started me thinking about mothers of angel babies receiving beautiful quilts specific to their loss. I look at this quilt differently now. I finally was able to get to the point where I was ready to bring it out of its hiding place, to use it, to look at it and not cry, to cherish it. Now it drapes over the couch ready for any one of us to use.  It is a pretty quilt; I know that someone made it with a lot of love, and it's a quilt that tells a story.

Last Sunday I received a very nice surprise. A sweet friend, whose dad made three quilts for my project, had him make me a very special quilt of my own for reasons beyond losing my baby. I was telling my friend that it makes me smile whenever I walk in my room because of the sweet story that it tells.

We have two squirrels who romp about our backyard and run along our back fence. We love watching them take big leaps from the fence to the tree in our neighbor's yard and then scamper up to the tip top of the branches. Myles tried to catch a picture of one of them. They provide a lot of entertainment while schoolwork is being done.


Friday evening Ben and Stacey came to visit. I knew they were coming, but I didn't tell anyone else (except for Rhaevyn). Everyone was surprised when they showed up on our door step. Meg enjoyed lots of hug time with them and even took a nap with Stacey. Ben spent some time building Legos with Myles.

Today was the Primary Program for our ward. Elsa memorized the Sixth Article of Faith. She has been singing it the past two weeks at home, but she was able to say it without having to sing it today. Myles gave a two minute talk comparing the signs Pharaoh was given and the story of the widow who made food for Elijah., and how signs don't build a testimony if you don't already have faith. It was a wonderful program topped off with the song Gethsemane.
Aeva cooked a Japanese dish for dinner tonight. She was pretty excited about it and did it all herself. It had rice, chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, and curry. She got a thumbs up from everyone. I'm trying to talk Rhaevyn into cooking a Korean dish for us next.

Halloween is up next!

Hello, hello

Why hello..................

welcome back!

I keep thinking fall weather is here, but then 80 degree weather keeps showing up.
The leaves are certainly falling, and the trees are becoming bare.
Myles, Elsa, and Meg went outside to sweep leaves into a pile so that they could jump in it.

Last weekend Myles went over to a friend's house, and while he was there they found several tree frogs and a salamander. Myles brought the salamander home and named him Happy. We hope he is happy, as we let him go out into the leaves.

 

This was our art project from last week. Myles and Elsa had fun ripping up the paper and constructing their mummy face.
 
 

 

   Myles always loves giving me a silly face when I take pictures.

 

 

This week we made sugar cookies and delivered some to our neighbors and to our sweet friend Sister Lee. Myles informed me that sugar cookies are her favorite..............he is a good listener. She was so thrilled and even called him yesterday while she was enjoying one just to tell him how much she appreciated the cookies.

Thursday was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
I posted the following on my project's facebook page..........................

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. A special hug to all the mothers who had to say goodbye to their sweet little one (s) before they were ready to.

 

 

A sweet thank you to Karin Rasumussen for sending me the second picture. I really love what it says. I think too often babies who did not live long in the womb are dismissed as having really existed or mattered. 
I am amazed at how many people this post reached.................3,482.
I had several comments from mothers of angel babies.
It was a day where I truly felt the sorrow, but also the strength, of these mothers. 



One of the sisters I visit teach, who also does my hair, is expecting a baby in just a few weeks.
I went to her sister's house the other day to pick up several bins of baby clothes. The kids went with me and had fun seeing two little pigs, playing with their new puppy, and swinging on the rope and tire swings. I've been washing, folding, and sorting the clothes and blankets into piles according to size. Elsa and I have had so much fun doing this together. While it might seem like a sad thing, it has  actually been really wonderful. I love that part of getting ready for a baby......................and although it wasn't for my little one, it was such a blessing for me to be able to do it. Elsa and I are going to take all the freshly washed clothes over to her today. I emailed her last night to ask if she had some drawers ready for baby clothes, and she asked if I was her secret angel. I guess she was going to pick up the bins yesterday from her sister, but was informed she could not as the bins weren't there :) She was really surprised! Yeah, mission accomplished! Here are my sweet helpers in between laundry loads. 

Last Sunday night the kids and I sat and colored together. I drew a ninja and a dragon, but was informed by Aeva that I had a dead ninja because of how I drew his outfit.  I just had to laugh.

 

I've been pondering my time with the kids lately. I don't know if it is because I know that I may only have two to three years left with my older ones at home, or if it for some other reason, but I've just been really savoring and cherishing the time we all spend together; the things we talk and laugh about at dinner, the time spent drawing or reading together, the deep conversations we have, or just snuggling. I just want to hold onto those moments and not let them go.
We had a very intense thunder storm this morning at 5:40. I was kind of hoping all the kids would come clambering into bed with us. Alas, I had only one that climbed in bed. I'm glad I at least had one though. We watched the lightening together and waited for the thunder. I miss when I used to get more little ones hopping in bed with us because they were scared. Oh how I wish they didn't have to grow up so fast.

Aeva is scheduled for her final exam on Monday for her Japanese I class. After two weeks of waiting for her grade on her final quiz, she finally got it yesterday. I think we've all been on pins and needles. She was soooo nervous, as she is a bit of a perfectionist. She got 100%. I think that grade really surprised her. If she was nervous about the quiz, she is even more so for the final exam.
She has been working on drawing on the computer. Here is some of her latest artwork. One she actually did on the computer.


Here are just some pictures of Meg. She loves it when her siblings give her piggy back rides, but especially loves a ride on Myles's shoulders. Usually she rests her chin on the top of his head.

And lately she's had a fascination with wearing Myles's hat this way around the house.

With that run down of what we've been up to, I'll leave you until the next post :)

A Field Trip and a Date

This week we took our first field trip. My goal is to do one a month. We'll see how that plan goes.
We went out to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. I had wanted to go earlier in the day, but the clouds hung around for quite some time. The sun finally peeked out at about noon. Once Meg was up from her nap we headed up the road to the refuge. It was gorgeous out.  We saw some wildlife, but not like what we were hoping for. Myles thinks he either saw a river otter or a long tailed weasel. It was hard to tell from a distance.We also saw some sandpipers and a cute little bird with a pretty chirp. I'm thinking it might have been some type of warbler. We could hear it's song before we could see it, as it blended into the tree bark so well. The next time we head up there I think we will do the four mile driving loop.

Here we are at the beginning of our hike. We headed over the bridge. Down below are train tracks.

Myles liked the way our shadows looked.

Meg took turns holding everyone's hand at some point on the hike.
When she wasn't holding hands she was on my shoulders, or I was holding her in my arms.
It made for a great workout.

I'm not sure if Meg was getting tired or if she just didn't want to head back to the car, but she dropped down into a squatting position and would not budge. After several minutes she got up and ran down the path.







There were a couple of trains that we heard while on our hike. On the way back to the beginning of the trail there were two trains passing each other. Meg loved it!


We had hoped the the Cathlapotle Plankhouse would be open. We just peeked through the cracks to see what the inside looks like.

I think we hiked for over an hour, and we were all tuckered out by the end.










 

Meg likes to have us help her wrap her baby doll in a blanket, and then she likes to carry it around, rock with it, or sit and snuggle with it. All the things we do with her. It is quite funny because the doll is practically her size. 

Myles made this sign for the hall bathroom. He is such a funny guy!

Rhaevyn went on her very first "real" date. I say real because there was no parental chaperoning for the first half and no parental driving. Her friend Tanner came to pick her up. They went on a double date with two other friends to get frozen yogurt and then went back to Tanner's house for pingpong.

We've had a great weekend watching General Conference. We've made it an important tradition of watching all four sessions together, and we always try and do something special for breakfast and either lunch or dinner both days. We look forward to this time twice a year for the sweet and uplifting words from our prophet and apostles.
I went all out for "lunner" today. We had chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, buttermilk biscuits, homemade pumpkin pie, and homemade whipped cream. I have not made pumpkin pie in years, but it was really nice to have.

And here we are in October. I look forward to the memories that will be made this month.