Bethanyology

Want to hear about my husband’s ambitious schedule during his last semester in MBA school?  Seriously, if he pulls this off he should be awarded some kind of superman trophy. Look at this list of responsibilities he’s working on between now and mid-May:

• Me, his lovely but not always low-maintenance wife
• Three kids under 5
• Elder’s Quorum secretary at church
• Gospel Doctrine (Sunday school) teacher at church
• Home teaching for church
• A full-time job, including having been recently elected president of his weekly networking group despite his protests of being overscheduled
• A part-time job with his graduation products business
• His once-a-week Latin tutoring job
• Researching and writing his master’s thesis
• MBA Capstone class, 3+page paper due every week, two 1 1/2 hour presentations, and a group business simulation, not to mention long readings and other assignments for every class
• Preparing for and testing out of an Accounting class (why is it that those entry level classes are always harder than the upper level ones?)
• Eat healthy, exercise, sleep once in a while, keep up with diabetes, etc.
• And all the incidental appointments and assignments, plus sharing a car with me.

Are you impressed?  I am, and I have no idea how he’s going to pull it off.  The only thing we can think of is him spending every evening he can in the library working on school stuff.  I know we’re not the first family to manage family, work, and school.  So, those of you who have gone through something similar, what are your tips and suggestions for coming through it successful and sane?   If you were/are the thesis-writer, what did you do to help you stay on track?  And did your spouse do anything to make it easier?  If you were/are the spouse of a thesis-writer, what did you do to make things easier and maintain a happy outlook on life?

Just one more semester…

I spent the morning piling the kids into the car, buckling them into their car seats, then unbuckling them and unloading them. Our kids’ car seats don’t really fit in our car. I’ve tried to fix that by replacing their seats and switching Degen to a booster now that he’s old enough (birthdays!), but although they love their new seats I am afraid that I still have to slam the door in order to get it firmly latched with all three of them in the back seat. Aware that it’s safest to have them in the back seat, preferably well into adulthood, I inquired last time we were at the pediatrician whether I’m allowed to put my boostered child in the front seat–hesitantly he admitted that boostered boy can be in the front, but only if the airbag on his side is disabled. No, I don’t know how to turn off the airbag. And it’s a big hassle to move him from back to front because the only way to get all three seats in the back is to put the booster in the center (his preferred spot regardless) and moving it once it’s wedged in is a serious undertaking. And anytime our whole family needs to go somewhere, we have to put all three kids in the back.

Hmph…Thus, as soon as we can manage it, it’ll be time to go for a bigger car. A SEVEN seater (since six seaters are always just a lame third seat in the front, right?). I really like our current car’s good gas mileage and doable insurance rate. I just want something safe and affordable to buy and drive. Colin’s thinking a Dodge Magnum. Anyone have an opinion?

Today we went to Goodwill, where I almost bought a third copy of 7 Habits (the other two are in storage) and a flat iron for about $13, inclusive. But I was in the jeans section after discovering in the car that mine are fast becoming threadbare when my boy informed me that he needed to go to the bathroom. No bathroom in Goodwill, the fast food restaurant in the same parking lot was presumably closed at 9am, and with no other bathroom friendly places in sight I dropped my planned purchases for good or ill, piled the crew into the car, and drove to the nearest bathroom (yay Star Restaurant!).

Bathroom duties accomplished, we headed to playgroup at a friend’s house. I didn’t mention that it’s raining–that’s why playgroup wasn’t at a park today. This friend has a humongous tub of trains and tracks, the kind every kid dreams of. Actually, she seems to have every kind of worthwhile toy. Lots of cars, Mr & Mrs Potato Heads, blocks, an indoor playground, one of those awesome sensory tubs, and on and on. All the kids were in pretty much in heaven. And there were lots of kids today, and lots of moms, so we all got our social cabin fever treated this morning. It was really fun to visit and watch the kids interact, despite a near choking incident and another one-year-old girl pulling Heidi’s hair (hard) in innocent fascination.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but after playgroup we went to the library, where I coincidentally ran into a new friend I’d met at playgroup. Fun! But both of us were a little harried by trying to keep up with our kids going in multiple directions and constantly threatening to destroy the children’s section of the library. For example, Heidi really wanted to push the power button on every library catalog computer. And Degen and Maggie almost started a contest at one point to see who could put the most books in their take-home pile. Thank goodness I caught that one before the shelves were totally emptied! Our library has pretty much no children’s books on goal setting or learning to do chores for preschoolers, though, which was my reason for the visit. I fortuitously got one that the librarian said was good on learning to tie your shoes of which all four copies were checked out. She put a hold on it for me and lo and behold, the book was returned by the woman walking into the building as I finished checking out. Neat!

Finally we’re home, all taking naps or having quiet time after a “lunch” of bananas, leftover biscuits, and bagels sent home from playgroup. I had Costco hummus and pita for breakfast…which reminds me, the container of hummus is still in my purse. And I need to get a new purse since one of my handles is broken.

Tags: books, car seat, cars, Kids, library, playgroup, shopping

This is Colin.  I’ve created the 2010 version of my Old Testament Sunday School bookmarks.,

That means little bookmarks that say what lesson you’re on each week, 3-up and made painstakingly in Microsoft Word so you can adjust them to your schedule and print enough out for everybody.  They will thank you for them, and you can get more next year.

- LDS Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson Schedule (PDF format)
- LDS Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson Schedule (editable DOC format)
- and an Old Testament reading schedule–929 chapters divided by 365 days (actually starts January 10th per schedule)

Holler with comments or questions.

We went to the California Academy of Sciences museum yesterday on their monthly “Free Wednesday”, which was more of a life science museum than general science. It was so fun!

The planetarium wasn’t recommended for kids under six, so we skipped that. Maybe that was the “other sciences” part. But we saw the aquarium and the butterfly/rain forest exhibit (very cool, except Degen got a little claustrophobic and kept asking when we could go outside). And we saw the penguins.

A few notes in case I go again, or for those of you planning a trip:

The parking garage is pretty close, but expensive, like $12 for four hours. You might be able to get free 4 hour street parking, but don’t count on it.

We got there 30 minutes before the 9:30am opening time, and were only in line for about 5 minutes after it opened. The very long line moves fast so don’t be intimidated. It was rainy that day, so that might have affected it, but there was ZERO line when we left at 1pm.

Get in line for the rain forest immediately if you’re not going for the planetarium. Lines there get long and move slowly because they have staff supervised double doors in and out to keep the fancy butterflies and bugs in.

The food is wildly expensive. A little ham sandwich costs $8.50. A bottle of soda is $2.50. Pack your lunch and eat it in the lovely atrium in the center of the building.

I want to try to get to the roof garden next time. I think roof gardens are neat.

It’s a busy place, so bring enough adults to supervise kids going in different directions. Grandma and Grandpa came with us and we were just able to keep track of our two preschoolers running at different speeds and in different directions, plus the baby in the stroller.

The rain forest is hot. The rest of the place was slightly chilly. Wear layers.

I liked the albino alligator, the jellyfish, and getting to touch star fish, abalone, and spikey sea urchins. The kids liked getting to stomp on virtual bugs in a floor projected game and catch butterflies in a Wii-style computer game. Maggie liked touching the star fish too, but Degen would have nothing to do with touching animals.

4 hours is not enough to see the whole thing, but it’s past the amount of stimulation my 4-year-old can manage with any civility, and even worse for my 3-year-old.

Tags: academy of sciences, aquarium, field trips, museum, outings

Thank you to all the veterans, soldiers, airmen (and women), and sailors who have protected me, my family, and my freedoms.

Thank you for sleeping in sandy tents and for working in terribly uncomfortable weather.  Thank you for facing things  too frightening for most of us to think up on our own.  Thank you to your supportive families who know that their sacrifice is part of your contribution to our country.  Thank you for keeping the bad guys away so I can take my kids to church and the park and the doctor in peace.  Thank you for protecting my freedoms to worship, to speak my mind, to vote.  Thank you for doing it, even when it seems like you aren’t appreciated.

Come home safe, Rick & Gregg!

Two months ago Colin’s cousin Mark contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome. Guillain-Barre is an autoimmune disorder triggered by an acute infection (like flu) that attacks your nervous system. It causes paralysis to the point of not being able to breathe without assistance and deep nerve pain. Once the worst is over, the patient is usually able to completely recover within about one year, relearning everything from scratch (breathing, eating, walking etc.).

Mark got Guillian-Barre two weeks after his fifth child was born via emergency C-section. His family has medical insurance, but with their wage earner out of commission (he’s an award-winning Realtor–ours, in fact) and months of special hospital care behind them and ahead of them, a benefit Luau dinner is being held Saturday, November 14th, to help them out with their medical bills. If you live near Midvale, Utah and would like to go, or if you want to donate without attending, or just want to know more about his story, check out this blog for details: http://markhspencer.blogspot.com/.

Mark is working hard to get better, impressing his doctors and nurses with his progress, but he has a long way to go before he can go home and even longer before he can get back to work. If you can’t help out with a donation, I know he and his family could use all the prayers they can get.  Let’s all do what we can to help.  Thanks!

Tags: benefit, Guillain-Barre, luau, Mark

I’ve been making an effort to exercise more. It’s been a kinda half-hearted effort, and thus difficult to make myself get going. Yesterday I did it and enjoyed it so thoroughly it’s worth writing about.

I was typing away at a project on the computer after getting Maggie and Heidi down for naps. I’d been trying to think of ways to get Degen outside more often with little-or-no inconvenience to myself over the last few weeks. Then it hit me–outside, exercise! Degen is now old enough to outrun me any day (considering my out of shapeness). A year ago trying to exercise with any of my kids in tow meant dragging them along or getting jumped on in the middle of a yoga child’s pose. With the girls asleep and Grandpa home to supervise the napping, Degen and I could go outside and exercise. Two birds with one stone and all that jazz came to mind. It’s a big deal to be able to have Degen with me and get something physical done at the same time. A milestone, if you will.

We donned sneakers and walked outside. I’m blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and three houses down the street is a big ol’ wildlife preserve/open space thingy with relatively well-kept, empty, sunny walking trails. Degen and I hopped on to a trail and walked a bit till we hit a flat, straight section and I told him he could run.

Degen loves to run. He runs laps around our dining/kitchen/living room all the time. We don’t let him run as often as we think we should. So, I felt really good about letting him run as long and fast and far as he wanted. And I felt a little bad that he kept stopping and turning to ask if he’d gone too far (not complaining about his carefulness, just feel a little guilty for limiting him). But yesterday he got to run as much as he wanted, as far as he wanted, and as fast as he wanted. His joy was apparent as he paused to yell back to his slower mother about the bird he could see in a bush or the “river” (irrigation ditch) or cow or whatever. I was excited when he told me he didn’t want to go home because he wanted to “explore” some more. Exploring is something I understand and want to encourage.

He probably ran (and I walked) about two miles. If we do it more often maybe I’ll be able to keep up with him. I’d like to be able to run like him. And I like spending time outside with him. Thanks for the fun, Degen!

Tags: exercise, hiking, Kids, running, walk

Heidi is a great crawler now, and crawls with her legs straight and her rear in the air like her big brother and her father before her. Because of this, we’ve had to put a gate at the top of the stairs when we’re in the kitchen so she could explore without taking a tumble down the long flight.

But now we face the bigger challenge. Yesterday she officially climbed UP the smaller flight of stairs from the family room all by herself! Good job Heidi! Nice skill development! I discovered her practicing this new skill and repeating her performance this morning, with encouragement from her brother.

Why is this a challenge? Only because the “climbing stairs” skill comes months before the “climbing down stairs” skill–which means the former is unsafe when not closely supervised. That means I have to keep a gate at the top of the stairs when upstairs, and at the bottom of the stairs when downstairs. And I only have one gate. And every adult in the house gets annoyed with the gate already, and it’s only up when I’m upstairs and Heidi’s not in her high chair.

Funny how exciting and frustrating one simple accomplishment can be, no?

Tags: baby, climbing, development, gate, stairs

In researching Halloween costume ideas from the kind commenters on my earlier post, I was thinking about Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and all those wild hats and discovered (what many of you must already know) that there is really something called the Royal Ascot races!  And they still hold them (since 1711).  And the women really do wear outrageous hats.  I realize that I’m showing my ignorance, but I had no idea.  It’s like Halloween!  Seriously, check some of these hats out, people.  I’m thrilled and astonished.  And tempted to be a Royal Ascot Race attendee for Halloween this year.

FYI, my sister Emily says that the woman pictured in this post is “fired” because her hat looks like a “dessert got stuck in a fan.”

Tags: costumes, halloween, hats, my fair lady, Things I Like

I’m singing the “I don’t know what to be for Halloween” blues right now. I’ve got the kids figured out, and Colin has been working on his very creative and unusual costume for months now. I, however, have no idea what to be.

Halloween used to be in my top three holidays (behind Christmas and my birthday). I loved dressing up! But sometime since college I’ve lost my excitement. I finally have an idea of why my mother always seemed less than enthusiastic. Between the energy expended to dress the kids, my expanded post-baby body self consciousness, and the lack of widely available, modest, flattering, affordable women’s costumes, I’m about ready to put on my mom uniform of jeans and a T-shirt and leave the fun to the kids for the fourth year in a row. For me, it’s a little depressing to see otherwise sane women using Halloween as an excuse to dress provocatively. But I haven’t seen much between that option and a huge ugly gorilla costume on the store shelves.

When I asked my out-of-the-box husband what I should be, he started out with “It would be funny if you were…” To which I blurted the reply “I don’t want to look funny, I want to be pretty!” He said “Great, be a princess!”

Isn’t there anything slightly more creative than a princess, with more coverage than the average party-store mini-skirted pirate costume, less dark and scary than a witch or gorilla, that doesn’t cost me my Christmas budget, and that I can look pretty in? I know it’s a challenging list of requirements, but I’d really love to re-discover my love of Halloween dress-up.

Tags: costumes, dress up, halloween, women