New Years Eve

It's been a great year! So many blessings, good times and fun experiences! 

We decides to end it with some bowling, a Martines family tradition. Grace won a game on her lane! She was pretty glad:)

Tonight we are going to dinner with some friends and then going to bed before midnight.

Good bye 2013! You were very good to us.

nothing to do

We had a day off with nothing to do, it was great!  We slept in.  Then I walked the dogs.  Dad and Lu went fishing.  I went to the grocery store (which is something but it was still mostly nothing).  Ethan played x-box. Hannah and I cleaned her room, which it really really needed and it was a pleasant working time.  Han really wanted my help so she worked cheerfully and quickly and we got it all clean and nice.  Love it.  I love a decluttered neat room. I would say house but all the rooms clean at once, ha, never happens.
In the afternoon R and I both went to watch Lu ride.  It was a swamp at the barn but it was still really fun.  We brought some carrots, the horses always like that. Then we came home and finished Han's room (it was a big project), made dinner, walked the dogs, I read another 2 chapters of our chapter book with Grace, we read scriptures and had prayers, Grace and Ethan made rainbow loom stuff. Rob and Ethan played games and we did laundry.

music

Hannah has been playing the ukulele non stop since getting it. It is very fun for me, she sounds good and the songs are so pleasant.  Love it.

Today our sacrament meeting was all about music.  We had two beautiful musical numbers.  Also we had 6 speakers, they were all college students home for the Christmas holiday. They were each asked to speak about their favorite hymn and how it impacts them.  I thought they did an excellent job.  Each of them had good insights and the spirit was so strong.  I really was so happy to hear their words and their testimonies.  Good music is a blessing and a prayer.  I am the world's worst singer but I love the hymns and often sing them.

Yesterday R and I drove down to the temple for a special chapel and endowment session followed by a lunch, for the stake council and spouses and also the Bishops in the stake and their wives.  It was a very nice time.  I love to go with friends and to talk quietly after about things that are sacred and special, to share insights and to learn.

Ohio State visit

Headed home today. We stopped at OSU, Rob's alma mater. We have actually never been there. R found it changed and enjoyed showing us his dorm and science building and stadium and all that college stuff. Ethan says he is going to get a full ride scholarship and go there. Hmmm? That is not my plan.....go Cougars!!

one last day

Our week in Ohio is about done.  It always goes by too quickly.  R, and Abba and Ethan went out to the cemetery this morning to visit Gpa and Gma B.

We went to the Greene and did a little post holiday bargain hunting and some eating.

Dylan, Ethan's Ohio friend came over for the afternoon and is staying over night.

Tonight we are packing and then we are headed home.  It's been a very nice visit.

Merry Christmas!

This little girl woke up at 3am and tip toed into our room…is it time to open gifts??
Yawn, nope, go back to bed.
4am, tip toe in, can I open my stocking??
Double yawn, no, not yet.
5:15, a bit of a stompy tip toe, NOW??
Sigh, yes but just your stocking, you know we are waiting for Uncle Brian to come over.

fast forward, very slowly to 9am.  UB arrives!!  Yay!!
Then we ate breakfast.
Seriously this is 8 year old girl torture time.

Finally we were ready to hit the living room and the over flowing tree.

 Everyone was really happy with their gifts.  Santa, who gets none of the credit in our house FYI, did a good job!

 Some favorites:
Ethan, new soccer cleats, legos, and x box One.  Although I was surprised because he spent all day putting together his lego sets and didn't play video games at all.

 Lucy Ballerina got lots of craft kits.  That's what she loves.  She made brackets, and decorated a jewelry box and worked on making a pillow.  She wore her red Christmas nightie all day and fell asleep while I was reading her a story in bed before I had finished even one chapter.  She said "this was the best Christmas ever!".

 Hannah: has played her ukelele all day long and is getting pretty good!  She also loved her boots and clothes and other gifts.

 Rob gave me some beautiful emerald earrings and necklace, so sweet! and really we were all super spoiled, as usual.

 We enjoyed skyping with the kids and grands in Utah and hanging out and eating a most delicious dinner.

It was a successful Christmas day.

Christmas Eve

ice skating

Happy Christmas Eve!  We had a fun day.  This morning Abba and I took the kids ice skating while Nana and Dad went to Dorothy Lane Market.  Ice Staking was really fun.  It was cold outside (15 degrees) but not windy.  Luckily Abba is a good skater so he was able to drag Grace around the ice, and do spins with Ethan.  We had some hot chocolate and then came home.

Presbyterian Church Christmas Service

In the afternoon we went  over to a beautiful Presbyterian Church for their family service.  The building was so beautiful.  I took some pictures but it didn't do it justice.  After the service we went to Olive Garden for dinner then came home and each of the children got to open one present of their choice.  Hannah opened her ukulele! She was very excited and has been working on playing a song all evening long.

Ukulele

Christmas Eve!

It's early Christmas Eve morning.  My bed here at Nana's is so comfy.  Seriously I do not know how she does it but she has magical bed making powers.  Sounds ridiculous but the beds here at Nana's house are the most soft and comfy in the world.  

So I woke to the sounds of a quiet house and stretched and thought of my family, those here that I get to enjoy, those far away that we miss.  Then I heard a stir.  Our mornings are completely predictable.  Grace is awake first.  Usually before me, usually I wake up to her standing by the bed looking at me.  I try and talk her into taking out Ziva,  then I take her out :)  Hopping back in bed wakes R.  Next up comes Bub, he pops into his spot and begins his chatting.  

Nana will be up soon.  She'll go in the kitchen and start up the coffee.  We won't see Hannah until someone goes to the cave and wakes her up and drags her out, or noon, whichever comes first.

Looking forward to a happy day.  

Newport Aqaurium

We went across the bridge to Kentucky and went to the Newport Aquarium.  It was so much fun!  So nice.  We had gone once before a few years ago and it was even nicer than I had remembered.

Santa Shark

We saw lots of neat things, we saw mudskippers crawling out of the water onto land.  We saw lion fish and jellies and lots of sharks.  We saw penguins and got to pet sharks.

silly kids

all four of them together weigh the same as a great white

shark petting tank

They had a scuba santa show that was pretty funny, albino alligators, a frog area and just really great displays.  We learned a lot and saw some things we'd never seen before.

After we went to Tom*Chee, a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant.  It was delicious.  

Our last stop of the outing was to Barnes and Noble.  Bookstore heaven!  

Now we're home and are going to finish our gingerbread cookies and probably do some reading, painting (in Grace's case, she bought a rock painting kit at B&N,) soccer ball kicking, dog walking, TV watching, family fun having.

Sunday

making buckeyes

The alarm went off this morning at 7, which is not early but sure felt like it. It was still dark out and no one wanted to crawl out of bed. We did though and headed over to the Miamisburg Ward for church.  I love that we can go anywhere and enjoy the fellowship of the Saints.  The program was nice.  Lots of music, the primary did a great job!
We enjoyed all the meetings, even the kids who didn't want to stay for the whole block and grumbled at first.

When we got home we made cookies and crafted, some of us took naps.  We enjoyed a most delicious dinner and it was a lovely day.  It's always so fun to be here with Abba and Nana and UB.  Ethan and Abba played a round of their made up golf game, it's very complex and funny.  R worked on some genealogy.  Z enjoyed some walks in the rain.

working on her loom

Nutcracker

This morning R woke up early, he was excited to join Abba on the annual Saturday before Christmas men's shopping excursion.
The rest of us got a slow start to the morning and headed out in the afternoon to do some shopping.  Do you see a theme emerging?

The mall was festive and crowded.

Hannah and Nana at the mall

trying on dresses just for fun

In the evening Abba, Dad, Ethan and Grace went to play laser tag then ate pizza at home and watched movies.

UB, Nana, Han and I went out to dinner at then to the Shuster to see the Nutcracker.  The Dayton Ballet did an awesome job, it was really beautiful and we had a fun night out!

All day we were searching for a gingerbread man cookie cutter.  On the way home UB reminded us that we still hadn't found one and we stopped by Bed, Bath & Beyond, not thinking that we would find it open but it was and they had what we were looking for.  Yay!

can you believe we found a place to shop at 10:15 pm?

Driving driving driving

Off to Nanas. There are no words...

This morning before we left I had my last lesson with Allie. She's going to Patagonia to volunteer at an environmental research facility. We decided on a trail ride and I was looking forward to it all week. 

Our morning was a bit hectic. Our plans were kind of in flux and kept changing so when last night at 9pm we finally decided on our exit strategy for leaving Dodge our  clear communication and understood plan was more murky than crystal. 

So I got up and got Grace out the door and got myself ready to ride, planning to be home by 11:00 and planning that R and E and H could load the car. A plan I felt was fair since prior to that minute I had done all the shopping, wrapping, shipping, washing, packing, house cleaning, car gassing, pet coordinating, planning, ect for the trip and for Christmas itself. And everything was ready it just had to be put into the car.

R felt like I was leaving him with all the last minute stuff, which I was. And the kids commented that "they were surprised", which in our family can be code for "you're doing what??" that I would leave when there was work to do.

Anyway I almost cancelled. But did not. I felt a little guilty on the drive but as soon as I got to the barn I was happy. The tack room makes me happy. Picking up Annie from her corral makes me happy. Feeding her a pre ride carrot, happy. Grooming her, so fun. Tacking up, love it.  We went on a great ride over hill and dale, onto the beach, past a darling pond. I loved it. I'm a bit of a chicken up there but love it at the same time. When she bolted up the hill I had a teeny tiny heart attack and yelled whoa, then laughed. Anyway it was great and I went home happy and late, everything was packed (thanks honey) and everyone was in a good mood so I showered and we hit the road. 

And that is the story of how we left town and despite my selfishness all was well. 

a grouchy list

It's a beautiful December morning.  I am doing laundry and watching the Hobbit and packing for our holiday trip to Nana's.  It is an all together pleasant morning.  The gifts are wrapped and my new Christmas CD, Straight No Chaser, is playing in the car every time I drive somewhere, which is often.  Tonight R and I are going to enjoy a fun evening out with Pete and Katherine, something to look forward to!

I blog for a couple of reasons.  One the children seem to really enjoy it.  They have read it through the years and like to see themselves, and like to look back to remember.    Two, I have for some time suffered terribly from what I fear might be early onset Alzheimer's.  Can't remember anything.  It's ridiculous.  Writing helps me remember, reading even more.  Three…. hmm, don't remember what three was ;)

Anyway, despite the fact that I consider myself an easy going and cheerful person there are some things that really really bug me.  I thought it'd be fun to make a list.

in no special order

1. Not being able to find matching socks. I blame mostly Hannah for this.  While I believe that she herself prefers to wear a matched pair she does not want to enough to find matching ones…or to put the ones she wears into the hamper.  So she grabs two random socks and puts them on, at the end of the day she throws them on her floor and the next day this repeats.  When I go to wash and sort socks there are not pairs to find.  I hate that.  Making sure your family has matching socks is a sign of good mothering…(sigh)
2. when the boys do not lift the toilet seat.  Really how hard is that?
3. finding empty boxes of crackers or what not in the pantry.  When you eat the last cookie throw away the box. 
4. on a similar vein, when you use the last of the TP put on a new roll, you know someone is going to use the bathroom eventually and there is nothing worse the yelling for "toilet paper"
5. when people put stuff on the entry room table, that is decorated for the season and cheerfully greeting family and friends alike when they come to the house.  
6. Shoes under the dinning room table
7. open cupboard doors
8. freezing cold steering wheels
9. when I empty a trash can and then someone puts something huge into the newly emptied can so now it is full.  why not just take it outside to the trash?
10. when I ask someone to do something, and they indicate that they will and so I forget, then they don't, and later I discover the task undone.  I should not be expected to remember to ask for the same thing to be done multiple times.
11. when I am lazy.  I hate that.
12. pants that don't fit well.
13. circling a parking lot looking for a spot.
14. being late
15. towels that come out of the dryer stinky.
16. when the children fight over ridiculous stuff.  For example the other night we were driving to mutual/scouts/activity days.  It was dark outside, and there are no street lights.  Ethan wanted to look out his window, at nothing I suppose because you can't really see anything in the trees.  Grace had her light on.  He wanted her to turn it off because it caused him to see her reflection in his window and prohibited him from looking out into nothingness.  She did not want to and claimed she wanted to read.  When pressed as to what she was reading she picked up an empty bag of Cheetos from the floor of the car (number 17 that the children leave their stuff in the car, I hate that) and said she was reading the ingredients.  And so the stage was set for a huge quarrel complete with name calling and crying.  Why???
17. see above
18. when I wash the clothes and the children don't put them away…or worse they end up in the wash again, never worn.
19. the "mom I need an Abraham Lincoln costume tomorrow at 8am" announcements at 10pm.  OR any variation of the homework emergencies that play out like that.
20. Millie's hairballs every where.
21. toothpaste squeezed out into the sink
22. There are more but that's good for now.  

Carols, sugar cookie, braces

Our tree is so cheery! I love to lay on the couch at night and look at its soft glow. I got a peek at Dani's tree on Skype with gifts under it this afternoon. Technology makes it a little easier being so far away.

Tonight I got to go with the youth to go Christmas caroling. We went to several houses that were super excited that we stopped by, and one that was not- they turned off the porch light on us! Lol. It was a fun & freezy night.

Grace spent time over three daysaking these cute reindeer for her brownie troop friends. The girls traded Christmas swaps at the end of their meeting yesterday. I was impressed with their creativity.

Z went to the groomer today and they used sugar cookie shampoo on her, she smells sweet and is ready for some holiday traveling and visiting.

Han went to the orthodontist today, those teeth are looking pretty good:)

lovely night

new owl for my tree

I was cleaning today and found a pretty white box, with a sparkly silver bow and a note.  It was from one of our friends who came to the party last week.  They left it there for us to find.  Inside was this cute white sparkly owl for our tree.  Such a fun surprise!

so fun!

Grace's favorite day, tonight the sky was amazing! It started in the evening when she rode and when we took the dogs out just before bed the backyard was illuminated by just the light of the moon.  So pretty!

Hannah auditioned for Little Women to today, I really hope she gets a part.  She's getting to be a nice singer! I want to sign her up for voice lessons, I think she can be really good.

For FHE we worked on Grace's swaps and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.

Sunday

Ho Ho Ho

We had plans to go to see the temple lights and attend the Jenny Oaks Baker concert at the visitors center on Sunday night. Plans is the operative word, they didn't come to fruition.

Saturday night after our friends left, the dogs I headed out, in the rain, to walk to the Buxtons to pick up Hannah.  It was chilly and my feet got wet because I chose my footwear poorly but it was really only drizzling so that was okay.  She and I walked back together and it was really pretty, cold and dark but lots of folks had their Christmas lights on and they were extra sparkly in the misty night.  Hannah is always chatty at night and had lots of say about the party and her life.  We got home and dried off and went to bed.  Unfortunately I didn't sleep well, which is pretty atypical.  My back was hurting and I think more than the actual pain it was causing distress because I didn't want to start down that road again.  It was a fitful, restless night.  In the morning I had to leave early for church because I was heading up to La Plata to do some training for a new ward presidency.  I made sure the littlest two had their clothes ironed and were showered before I left and then Rob had the reins.  Anyway I took ibuprofen and got up and moving and felt better, and still feel fine.  I am really grateful about that.  Gratitude aside I was still tired.  Training went well and I was able to attend WP1's sacrament meeting before and to visit a bit with Becky and Jocelyn after.

Meanwhile back at the home ward the children sang in Sacrament meeting and Hannah fixed Grace's hair really pretty.  Both cars got home about the same time and we ate lunch together, let the dogs out, and then settled into our afternoon.  Grace has swaps to make for her brownie party tomorrow night so she and I started working on them.  We also turned on the Sound of Music.  Hannah and dad joined us in the living room and Ethan disappeared to the basement.  Dad fell asleep on the couch, he was tired.  Our plan was to eat dinner early, head to tithing settlement and from there drive up to DC.
I was tired and wanted to nap not make swaps.
Rob was tired.
We decided not to go.
The children were disappointed.

After tithing settlement we came home.  I made dinner and then put on my pajamas.  The kids all piled on my bed with me.  I had my book, which I finished and enjoyed "The Story Teller", it had twists all the way to the end, and was a good story which examined the nature of good and evil on many levels.  Thought provoking and entertaining.  I wish someone else has read it so we could talk about the ending, and if sometimes doing evil but not wanting to makes you less evil, and if someone good does something that is traditionally thought of as bad but for a good reason is it still wrong/sin….and most tragically if you ruin someone else's life while trying to absolve yourself of guilt, or with a sense of setting something right which is the greater evil?? Is telling a lie ever a selfless thing to do?

 Ethan had the lap top with sports on, Hannah had her lap top playing music and sang for us "Your Song" many times as she is auditioning for a part in the school musical today.  Grace had my phone and was watching youtube on it.  Ziva was on my pillow and Millie on the floor.  It was pretty funny actually.  R watched "Bride and Prejudice" downstairs.  The kids did some running back and forth from mom to dad and enjoyed a spumoni break in the middle.  Then we went to bed and while I was sad not to go to see the lights I was glad to be home.  

Birthday Girl

This little pumpkin is 21 years old today!  Wow! That went fast.  So, as per birthday tradition here is 21 things about my little pickle buns.

1. Jenna was the sweetest little baby.  When she was born the first thing every one said about her was woah! look at all that hair! Then they would comment on how tiny and sweet and perfect she was.  And they were right.

2. When J was little she knew her own mind.  My friend Nellie and I used to laugh that when she decided something that was it, there was no turning back.

3.  Nellie had a little boy who was two months older than Jenna.  His name is Chaz but we called him Chaz Moe.  Chaz Moe and J were good friends and he did everything she said :)  It wasn't until a couple years ago when we got his graduation announcement that she found out his name wasn't actually Chaz Moe, it was just Chaz.  She was surprised, and I laughed.

4. Jenna always makes me laugh.

5. She has a great sense of humor.

6. When Jenna was a  little girl she loved animals.  She loved dogs and kittens, cows and birds really all animals.  She wanted to grow up and be a rabbit eye doctor, a very narrow field :)

7.  J was a brownie scout for a short time, we went to 6 Flags with her brownie group and that was a lot of fun!

8.  Jenna has always had a strong testimony and a strong desire to do what is right.

9. When she was small, around 7 years old, we were at the church for a Wednesday night.  All of a sudden the sky turned green and hail started falling.  The Bishop told us to get in the bathroom and so we all piled in the girls bathroom.  Luckily I had brownies made so we ate those and tried to stay calm. There was a tornado and it passed right over us hitting down town Fort Worth and causing a lot of damage.  When it had passed we got in our cars and headed home, driving past fallen trees and broken fences.  We had power and our house was pretty much fine but the girls were scared (and so was their mother, but she was pretending otherwise).  I had the girls get ready for bed and J was upstairs in her room for awhile.  Soon she came down and told me "don't worry momma, I prayed and Heavenly Father told me we would be alright.".  She had such faith.

10. Jenna is adventurous.  Too much so sometimes.  A challenge is an invitation to her.

11. She works very hard at school, spending a lot of time studying and doing her work.

12. We moved to MD right before her junior year.  Although this was a very difficult move for her, and really would have been a huge challenge for anyone she didn't murmur and did her best to adjust. It took some time but she made friends and found things to like about Maryland.  I think she always considered herself a TX girl though.

13.  Venturing was a great thing in Jenna's life.  She learned so much about her own strength and ability and made friends that I know will last a lifetime.  She became an outdoors girl then.

14. One year the crew sold Christmas wreaths to earn money for their high adventure.  Jenna was the top sales girl!

15.  Jenna is a little mermaid, as at home in the water as  on land, which is surprising since she almost drowned when she was 3.

16. She is living my life long dream and is a cougar! Go BYU!!!

17.  She and Clayton set such a good example to her younger siblings by getting married in the temple. Their wedding was beautiful and perfect.

18. I am very happy to hear how happy they are.  That's what a mom wishes for.

19. J will be graduating this next summer! She sped through college!

20.  J spent a semester in Romania and has a real travel bug.  Someday I hope we can take an exciting trip somewhere together.

21.  Jenna is bright, creative, caring, hard working, funny, thoughtful, courageous, full of faith and love and excitement for life.  She is now and always has been a delight and a blessing to me.  Happy Birthday Jenna.

Ugly sweater

We had a fun and busy day.  This morning I took Grace to her brownie thing, while Ethan went to the Marsh's to play chess with Bro Marsh, and thus finish his chess merit badge.  Meanwhile R and H got up and going bright and early and went on a double daddy daughter date w/ the Zawadas to see the Hobbit.
Whew!
Then we spent the afternoon getting cleaned up and ready for our parties…Hannah went to Aubrey's surprised birthday party.  Gracie went to hang out with Arden and Ainsley, Ethan manned the basement and was joined by Jeffrey, and we had some friends over for minute to win it games, tasty treats and ugly sweaters.  I had a lot of fun! Tis and whirl wind season of festive celebration!

Brownie Christmas Sing a long!

ThIs morning we went to Sotterly plantation for our annual sing along. It was cold but so pretty out. Grace got to visit Santa, she told him she would like a horse. He said he had some extra reindeer but no horses. She bought some presents in the secret Santa shop for her grandparents. We had some hot chocolate and the girls sang some cute songs it was a nice morning.

Silent Christmas

Tonight was our Relief Society Christmas party. It was so nice. We got there and met in the cultural hall, which was beautifully decorated. We ate some yummy heavy appetizers and visited, then listened to a couple of Christmas stories. 

Eventually we wet invited into the chapel and asked not to talk or whisper. There we watched a lovely video about the meaning of Christmas, no talking just music and pictures and quotes. It was quite nice. 

Lastly we went back to the hall and there were gift boxes at each spot with papers set out saying "what is your gift to the Savior". Also under the tree were gifts for each of us and a cocoa bar and cake. We visited some more and then went home. 

This morning I went to scripture group. We usually finish at 11:00 but today when Amy said should we keep going we all agreed and read until 11:45. 

Nice day.

Tonight Hannah made funny elf videos and baby it's cold outside!

Dinner groups menu revisited

Last night we had the Elders and our (mostly Rob's but mine also) friends over for dinner and a discussion. I resurrected one of my old dinner groups menus that I thought went over well in TX and it went over well here too.  The cranberry chicken was moist and delicious, the cake got some ohs and ahs only this time there were no good looking grapes so I used blackberries for garnish and it looked even better.  I have thought about starting a dinner group here, it was really a lot of fun.  This lovely pedestal has since been broken, that was sad, I really liked it for serving cake.

So dinner went well and the discussion went fine, but something has been bothering me ever since.  I just can not comprehend this at all.  Our friends are good, devout Catholics.  We went with them to a meet the Catholics night a couple of weeks ago and had an interesting time then too.  We have several key differences in our doctrines and beliefs, as one would expect, and none of that bothered me.  What did really confuse me was when we were talking about where we go after this life is over and they said that they would become with God.  His intelligence would flow into theirs, in as much as they were prepared to receive, and then they would be fulfilled in His love.  They would forget their earth life and memories and relationships and, well I guess that's it.  I asked Lauren and Elise, mother and daughter, so you won't be mother and daughter any more? and they said no. They wouldn't need to have that relationship.  Hmm.  Hannah and I both were most surprised, we talked about it after while walking the dogs with Dad.  I knew that many other faiths teach that our relationships don't continue after this life but to hear them say it with comfortable confidence was frankly so strange.  I thought about it a lot throughout the night and came to this conclusion: what is the point?  Why marry, have children, build a family and have all that work and love and sorrow and hardship and joy just to forget it all and be alone forever?? And when we told them the good news that they were wrong and that they actually could be together forever, with God & their family, learning and growing and becoming like Him….well, they thought we were nuts.

There are many things I do not know.  I do not know at what point exactly the apostasy happened, I do not know why there were so many centuries of darkness, I don't know exactly how 1000 different things happen.  I don't even know how an airplane stays in the air (although Rob does).  I walk by faith on so many things, mostly in the dark sometimes, but that's okay because this is what I do know:  I know the light of Christ is real and that He will show us the way.  I know we have a living prophet today that speaks with the Lord and leads not only His church but the world, I know that by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel I will be with my family forever.  Rob will be my husband for eternity, my children will call me mom and that is what I will be, their mother, my grand children will know me and I will know them.  There is not a"that's it, the end" to our story because we get to continue.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  I know God lives and loves us.  I am soooo grateful that I know.