Second Semester of Master's

I started school again this week. I can't say I felt totally ready for it. I have an online class Tuesdays from 4-7 pm. I'm so thankful I can take this one via distance learning this semester, but I really miss being there in person. I can see them on the computer, and they can hear me...so it's a pretty good set up. But not quite the same as being there and interacting.

My second class is Thursdays and I do have to be on campus for this one. So I still do my big drive once a week, but just for one three hour class, which means I get home about 10:30pm instead of 1:30am. Time-wise it is better, but the class is less dynamic to me. It is totally packed, and it's more of a general Special Ed class for several different master's programs, so there is less of a connection with my classmates. And my teacher has a very unusual disorder called Prosopagnosia. With this disorder, the brain cannot recognize faces. She actually can't even recognize herself in pictures! She does a REALLY good job considering how awkward it must be to be a professor and a department head when you have such a disorder! She has asked us to say our name when we approach her, because she remembers things about us...just not what we look like! Something about her disorder distracts me. I analyze what she is thinking, seeing and feeling. It makes me wonder if people will send people to class for them to take notes! Very fascinating.

I'm having a week where I am being very hard on myself. Overwhelming thoughts of never doing enough for my kids, not eating healthy enough, not spending enough time with people, not happy enough, not motivated enough, not spiritual enough, etc etc etc. The mind is a powerful thing because I know these statements are not accurate or healthy. But my brain is stuck on them this week. I'm really hoping to blame it on PMS and move on from it because it's making me feel really stifled!

Christmas Surprise

A few days before Christmas, I stopped by my mom’s and she handed me a package.  She said to open it and see if I knew what it was.  When I opened it, a strange familiarity surrounded me when I saw what was in it.  I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it, but I knew I’d seen these wall figurines before:

 

 

 

And THIS is why it felt so familiar (check out the wall hangings in this pic):

 

 

 

Though I couldn’t put my finger on WHY they were so familiar, I knew at one point they were part of my life, my childhood.  So I was excited when I found this picture to prove it!  My mom discovered the fun of eBay purchases this past Christmas, and she somehow found the identical wall hangings that she had bought for me when I was a baby!  So cool!  I have them hanging above the door in my kids’ playroom now.

Thank you mom!  What a fun blast from the past!

Sweet Baby Fun

It is so fun to have a quiet, snuggly and sweet baby around!  The other day, Kylee was hanging out in the kitchen with Lindy and I and she fit just perfectly underneath my cupboard.  She had just finished a meal and was showing us her new clapping trick.  So cute!!

 

Lexi's Self-Portrait

When I walked by the playroom the other day, I got a chuckle out of this self-portrait by Lexi :-) (missing teeth and all).

About Mr.Hofer (teacher at school)

(loved Brittany's idea to let Ame do a blog post, so here is one from Jordyn)

I have a teacher who is REALLY funny. He laughs at us sometimes. It makes me laugh! What makes me laugh so much is when he wrights emails to himself and says,"Dear Mr.Hofer you look very handsome".They are reminders too. And what REALLY made me laugh is when his marker was running out of ink and he says,"Everyone stand for this moment." And then he sings a sad song because it's like the marker is dying. It's really really funny. I was laughing SO much and SO hard. I think he's the BEST TEACHER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Jordyn Maxfield

In a Rut

I’m in a bit of a blog rut lately.  Which is different than being too busy to blog.  Even when I am extremely busy, I feel an urgency to catch up often on my blog.  This blog rut is a result of a bit of a life rut I guess.

I just feel overwhelmed.  It is such a huge responsibility to make sure EVERYTHING is done for these three humans.  Homework, getting them to dance, signing the million school papers that come home, helping in the classroom, making sure they are healthy, taking them to the doctor when they aren’t, teaching them to be kind and about Christ, teaching them to clean and how to problem solve on their own (i.e. NOT TATTLE), making sure they get good attention and enough one on one conversation, making sure they eat healthy…

 

I wouldn’t want it any other way than to have these three girls…but it’s just a lot sometimes.

 

I think part of it is how much Tucker is gone for work.  I’m really feeling some sole-responsibility-stress.  He is working extremely hard and really diving in with his sales team (himself, Chris and Robert) and their company is growing like crazy.  But it also requires him to travel all over California a lot.  Sometimes it’s a day trip to LA and back.  Other times it’s a four day trip to four different places. 

 

And I’m also feeling it extra because we’ve had some sickies around here lately.  Jordyn hasn’t felt totally healthy for like two weeks.  She has had a tummy ache, a cold and/or a headache a lot lately. 

But Pey is my biggest stress.  She has so many different ailments it is making me insane.  I actually feel worried about her, but I can’t put my finger on it.  I am so not a reactionary mom, but I haven’t been able to fix this one.  She has had a perpetual tummy ache for…I don’t even know how long now.  Months.  I’ve tried using lactose free milk and it doesn’t help.  For a long time, I attributed it to her not being a good eater, so I figured “hurt” meant “hungry”.  Which is true sometimes, but not all the time.  She probably complains of it 15 times a day. 

 

 

she was NOT happy about this pic if you can’t tell.  her poor nose is sooooo red despite the million ointments I’ve put on it

Then last week she started complaining that she still had to go potty immediately after she’d just finished.  She would cry and cry.  So I took her into her Pediatrition (for a fun sit-in-my-office-for-two-hours-waiting-with-three-bored-kids) thinking maybe it was a UTI.  Her urine test came back (his words) “her white cells are high, but there is no bacteria so it is not an infection and just indicates there is some external irritation”.  But that didn’t make me feel better.  So after some convincing that I’d like more testing, he gave me orders for urine and stool cultures (which was NOT fun for me to catch).  We’ll hear back in about a week.

 

So aside from a REALLY whiney, lethargic, tummy-ached 4 year old…then she came down with a bad flu this week.  She has been fevery, coughy, more-tummy aches and total stuffy head, congested and mucusy.  It’s been a long week.  This has also been ALL night long.  Peeing in my bed, crying in the night…makes me feel like I have a newborn again.  I just feel really helpless and like I don’t know how to help her.

 

Tonight, one of my friends mentioned the possibility of it being a gluten issue with her.  Hmmm, I’ll have to compare symptoms.  Maybe?

 

So I’m a bit worn down.  On top of the normal stressors, now no sleep, single-parenting it, worried about my sick kid and wondering how school will fit into all of this next week?

 

(there actually ARE still some happy things I will soon catch up on but for now I am just plain too tired)

Pretty Cool Article

 

Although today I am feeling highly undeserving of an article in the paper due to my extreme lack of motivation for ANYthing, let alone designing and crafts…this is still pretty cool.

“Small” Maxfield Gathering

Tucker has a big family. His dad has 9 brothers and sisters (all names begin with an “N”), so that lends to lots of cousins. Not only that, but they are REALLY good at making the effort to get together quite often. We usually miss these sorts of gatherings since we live in CA, but we were able to pop in at a cousin gathering during our trip. Tucker’s loud voice helped corral everyone together for a quick group picture. And to think this is just a portion of the family!

SNOW! (I’m not a snow girl at heart)

I think most people think snow looks pretty, and I would agree with them.  But really accepting the inconvenience of living in it is another story.  As I type, I am feeling the snow seep into the bottom of my non-snow boots making my feet wet and cold.  Everything is wet and cold.

 

I certainly don’t feel prepared when I am in it, and I’m definitely not used to it.  But I guess it’s fun to experience once a year?  The kids seem to love it (especially when they can take a really warm bath immediately after playing in it!).

 

Tiffany & Co.

We were able to spend a few hours with Tiffany, Solomon and Eliza.  It was so cute…after we walked in to her house, Peyton took a deep breath and said “It’s SO good to be back!”.  It was quite a blustery day (and bad drive back to Neal and Jeannine’s) so we just stayed indoors and hung out.  As always, never enough time!

 

 

 

Eliza’s new DSi was quite a hit.  The camera function was really fun!

 

Peyton was obsessed with holding Solomon, as if he was a baby (he’ll be 2 next month)!

 

Sol was doing a boogie to Justin Bieber’s “Baby, Baby”

Emmi – Our Babysitter!

For years, the adults have talked about how fun it will be when we can leave all the kids with Emmi (the oldest granddaughter) while we go to dinner.  Well, that day is finally here!  Emmi got to babysit 11 kids on Tuesday night so we could go out to dinner for Lyndsy’s 32nd birthday (at the Cheesecake Factory).  I knew she was perfectly capable of it, but still felt a bit nervous for her.  Luckily, the youngest is 4, so we didn’t leave her with any babies or toddlers.  But that’s still a lot of kids!

I’m not surprised that she did a wonderful job.  We were gone for about 2 hours, and we came back to a DETAILED log of how well (or not well) each kid did.  I should have taken a picture of it, it was SO thorough.  Thanks Emmi!  We’ll for sure use you again!

 

Peyton was obsessed with Mallory’s flute!

 

 

Maren and Tucker before dinner

 

Abby (9), Jordyn (8) and Boston 8 months

 

 

Brothers, Jadedn (11) and Boston

 

Bella giving Boston a foot cleaning

 

 

Cheesecake Factory!

 

 

James and Lyndsy – Happy 32nd Lyndsy!

 

 

My lettuce wraps were yummy!