schluuumpp!

It's been a long time since I updated our blog. Not that Matt's birthday isn't important but it's past time to post something new. This summer's been a bit of a challenge around these here parts. A good portion of our neighborhood friends (both the kid's friends and our parent friends) moved away this spring and it's proved to be an adjustment for all of us. Thank heavens for Amber's family moving in last fall or we'd be distraught! Matt started a new job at the end of June which also included new hours. This has been an adjustment as well. So I'm in a slump and haven't been keeping up on things the way I should. We've done a few fun things and I promise to give them their own special attention here on the blog but it may be a few days down the road. Like maybe as soon as school starts next week and my brain gets up and over this slump. I'm hoping.

Have you seen me?

Name: Matthew David Thompson (Esq)

Date of Birth: July 16, 1972

Hair: Brown with a few age appropriate "highlights"

Eyes: Amazing Blue with the greatest set of eyelashes

(which he so lovingly passed on to his eldest son)

Height: 6'2"

Weight: More than his wife....which to her, is all that matters :)

Last Seen With: His wife and kids who he loves beyond measure

and tries to spend as much time with as possible!

Description: Matt is an amazing person. He's loyal and loves deeply, he's funny, smart, affectionate, forgiving, hardworking, a perfectionist, protective and kind. If you spend any time getting to know Matt you usually come away with a hug. He's got a great memory especially with faces and names and he remembers people's birthday's very very well. He's quick with a comment (sometimes a little off-color) and puts others in a conversation at ease. He's very much a people person.

Accomplishments: He's a success story! He takes the tough things life has handed him and turns them into examples of what he doesn't want to be. He works hard to be a better person and expects a lot out of himself in return. His family is his greatest accomplishment (especially his wife ;) hehehe) and he's very proud and excited to show them off. He takes his relationship with his Heavenly Father very seriously and holds his Priesthood honorably. He's worked hard to get through high school, going to school morning, noon and night to get his credits to graduate. He's since worked hard to get through College and Graduate School with a wife and kids at home. He recently started a new job at Daily's Premium Meats as Production Manager and is literally bringing home the bacon (this is very appropriate since Matt feels that bacon deserves to be in a food group all it's own).

Info: If you see Matt don't be afraid to say hello. He's friendly, sweet and chances are, you'll come away with a hug!

We love you Mattie! Thanks for all you do for our little family. Happy 37th birthday!

Nicknames

Posts without pictures are boring, huh? So I've added one that has nothing to do with what I'm writing about but it's people I love and that's good enough for me.

I saw one of my sisters friends on the 4th of July who I refer to as Jennyann even though her name is just Jen. I know one day I heard her jokingly being referred to by Kirsten as Jennyann and well, it stuck. She told me if she hears someone call her Jennyann, she knows immediately it's an Elggren. We must beat a nickname like a dead horse!

This got me thinking about nicknames. Do you have one? Do you have one for the people you love (and maybe some you love a little less)? I've realized that our family is big into nicknames. I don't know if we even realize it but we are. I think there's a nickname for almost all my siblings, some I know where they came from, some I don't and some are just a shortened version of our names. It doesn't really matter, we all use them.

Matt is Mattie (I have a few more for him but those are just for me ;) )

Celeste is Lestie (this was started by my Grandma Rigby but I don't know why or how)

Brad is Brother

I'm Ape

Amber is Ber

Russell is Russ

Danny is Dan or Stan (this is combining Dan & Staci's names. It makes referring to the couple a bit easier)

Kirsten is Kris (because she HATES it when people call her Kristen instead of Kirsten so we shortened it up and just call her Kris)

Ruth is Reese or Reesie

Joe is Jose, Homie or Jiff (the last is combining Joe and Tiff's names as well)

Mason is Mavis (also from Grandma Rigby. I'm the only one who still can't let this one go)

Mia is Mia-moo (we are phasing this one out as to avoid too much therapy)

Madden is Mad-dawg

Brennan was Bubbers (this one has pretty much warn off, much to his relief I'm sure)

Ashton is Ashtie

McKay is Mac or Mac n Cheese

I could go on and on....

My mom's family has nicknames for all of her Aunts. None of them were called by their real name. It wasn't until I was older that I realized Denny, Dutsie & Toppy weren't their actual names. They were Lucy, Annie & Margaret.

If it were me, I'd prefer my real name. I wonder if they had a choice? Probably not, we don't give anyone in our family the choice, it just sticks.

But Who's Counting

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to get away and go to girls camp. Matt was great and took the whole week off so we wouldn't have to juggle the kids around. I left early Monday morning and got back Friday afternoon, so like I said it was the whole week. Up at camp there was no cell phone service so we really were disconnected from our families. I have to admit this was hard for me and I got homesick very quickly. I wanted to call and see how Matt was doing, see how the kids were holding up, find out how Mia's eye doctors appt had gone, etc. It's hard to be completely removed, I missed my little posse.
When we came home Friday as we came down the mountain I had my phone in my hand anxiously waiting for it to stop "searching for service". When I finally had service I called home as quickly as I could. I was so anxious to hear any of their sweet voices. Mason answered the phone:
Mason: Hello
Me: HEYYYYY BUDDY!!! It's me! How are you? I miss you! (at this point I actually tear up. Man, I missed him)
Mason: MOM! I'm good. I miss you too. When are you coming home?
Me: We're on our way right now. I'll be home in about an hour and a half. Are you ready for me to come home?
Mason: Yeah. Dad's ready for you to come home too.
Me: He is?
Mason: Yeah, he's been swearing..A LOT!" (I think he'd been anxiously waiting to rat his Dad out)

After I hung up with him I told my friends who were sitting by me. One of them told me to tell Mason that most of the Dad's are swearing a lot by this point. We got a good laugh out of it.
I love the fact that Matt would take on being a single parent for a week. I know how hard it can be and I figure if a four letter word or two (or three, but who's counting? Oh yeah, Mason is.) is the worst that comes of it, so be it!
Thanks Mattie!

My Trip to "Wits End" (long post)

I've been reading this book I got from a friend for my birthday titled "A Mother's Book of Secrets". I came across a quote that I love by Orson F Whitney:"....All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our character, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable…..”

As I was reading this it reminded me of a day I had with Mia last fall. It was right after school had started again and I made the decision to keep Mia home instead of putting her in preschool. I had noble intentions, really. After sending Mason off to school I went outside to sand some shelves I wanted to put in the boys room. Mia and Madden were playing downstairs. At least that's what I thought. After about an hour I came inside to find both of them sitting on the kitchen counter with several open and empty cups of Crystal Light drink powder scattered around them. They had taken turns opening a cup, closing their eyes and blowing the contents all over. It was Raspberry Ice flavor so when it comes in contact with water it turns a deep red. There was powder EVERYWHERE !

Let me just explain what happens to me when I come upon things like this: I PANIC!!!! Real, flat out panic!! I want to SCREAM! My head starts to spin. My ears ring. I have to remind myself to breathe. My first thought is to run away because it's too overwhelming, where do you even start? Like when one of my kids would poop in the tub....PANIC!! Throw up....PANIC!!! Kids playing in the mud…PANIC!!! Overly messy diapers....PANIC!! Somehow I handle it but the panic stays with me for quite a while after. Stupid but true.

Ok, where was I? So I see the mess, FREAK…PANIC….remind myself to breathe….where do I begin?! I take one thing at a time and get the kids and the kitchen cleaned up. Not a quick task, it takes some serious time but eventually I'm finished. I talk to Mia about why this isn't ok and why we don't EVER make messes like this. I handled it, YES!. Time to move on with our day.I enter the living room. While I had been cleaning the kitchen the kids had taken a new box of Lucky Charms and emptied it on the front room floor. Then they proceeded to "dance" all over it getting it nice and ground into the carpet. They love to dance and run around the front room so when I had heard them in there I didn't think anything of it. PANIC again!! The kids help me clean up by scooping what we could into the garbage then vacuuming. I sit Mia down again and explain -a little more passionately- that this is unacceptable. Next time there will be consequences beyond just helping to clean it up. I think we have an understanding.

Lunch time and then quiet time for Mia while Madden has a nap. After a story I put a movie on for her so I can go take a shower and get dressed for the day. (Anyone else have days where you don’t get showered or dressed until right before your husband gets home from work?) After I shower and get ready for the day (evening, night…whatever it is) the doorbell rings. As I stand there talking to my neighbor Madden wakes up from his –all too short- nap and joins Mia downstairs. I’m talking to her for a while then I go check on the kids. I call out their names….no answer. Again…..no answer. As I go down the stairs I can see the popcorn Mia had while she watched the movie is dumped all over the family room floor. Smashed all over the carpet much like the cereal mentioned before. This time the panic is overshadowed a bit by my ANGER!! Now I’m not calling out their names sweetly, I’m yelling them! First, middle AND last names are used!!!! Still no answer. I hear faint voices but they are nowhere to be found. I go upstairs, nowhere. Where are they? I listen again and can here voices downstairs so I go back down. I can’t find them anywhere. I listen again……the storage room. I open the door and here’s the scene I find:

Standing in the middle of the floor are both kids with a puddle around them of thick, colorful liquid. PAINT!! In our storage room I have a spot where I have always kept paints. Most of them are bottles of craft paints but there are wood stains as well. ALL of them were emptied on the cement floor. They’re “skating” in it. They’re finger painting in it. They’re creating a masterpiece. There are colorful footprints everywhere. Forget everything that usually happens when I panic. At the sight of this mess my entire day flashes before my eyes, my mind goes completely blank and I BURST into tears. I don’t even know if panic takes place at this point, I’m beyond thought. I’m sobbing and FURIOUS! Judging by the look on Mia’s face she knew she was in serious trouble. I carry both of them into the bathroom which thankfully is right next to the storage room. I clean them off in the sink and tell her -through clenched teeth- to get her little rear-end up to her room! (I don’t know what words I used but I’m sure there were expletives somewhere in the mix)

Matt came home while I was in the middle of cleaning it up. I explained through my tears how my day had led to this point. I also explained that it would be his responsibility to give her a proper punishment. If it was left up to me she wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. I was so mad. Matt helped me clean up and left Mia in her room for a very long time. She was still there when I left for work an hour or so later. When I returned home 2 hours later the popcorn mess was cleaned up, Mia had been punished in a civil manner and I resolved to call the next morning and enroll her in preschool (for as many days a week as they would take her!)!

Looking back I know I didn’t endure this day with patience and I’m sure it didn’t make me more charitable or expand my soul. The 2 things I did learn: 1.When kids reach a certain age most of them need time away from us as much as we need a break from them. 2. One minute on time out for each year of age is rarely long enough for the Mom involved.

Photo Opp

While downloading the pictures for the previous post I found these on the camera. When I asked Mia about them she told me her Barbies and ponies needed their pictures taken because it was their birthday. Simple enough.

If you knew how messy her room was, you would know how much care she took to lay out the yellow blanket and give them a decent backdrop. There were several pictures of all her various Barbies and Ponies but I figured a few would give the idea. Maybe we should think about giving her a camera of her own maybe for her birthday or Christmas. Something cheap...start her off small. Hmmmmm......food for thought.

Kiddie Kollege No More

Last Saturday Mia and Lucy graduated from Kiddie Kollege. The program was so cute and you could tell they had practiced until they could do it in their sleep. Everyone knew when to sing, stand, sit, exit to get ready for their part, etc. It was DARLING! Grandma Elggren came to see them perform which was great.

Mia was the Statue of liberty and stood by Uncle Sam during the patriotic song.

She was so proud!

Lucy was an Easter girl with the Easter bunny. She did a great job. They were both so cute! We couldn't be more proud! Next stop......kindergarten!