Happy Birthday Kennedy!

Happy Birthday sweet Kennedy! This reminded us of you:

http://www.dashpoemmovie.com/

We hope you get to play with animals and eat some cake in heaven. We sure miss you here. We love you!

Love,

Tyler, Robby & Annie

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Dear Kennedy,

I will never forget the day you were born. I didn't know I would be able to be there until just a few hours before you came. You decided to surprise everyone by coming early, especially your mom. But then, you were always full of surprises. She had angels surrounding her that day...or maybe they were surrounding you. Either way, there were angels in the room. You were born facing heavenward, and maybe we should have seen then how soon you would need to go back home, but none of us realized how little time we would get to see your smile. I'm amazed at the life lessons you taught me. I think Heavenly Father couldn't let you talk too much because of all the things you could see, and we weren't ready to, but we still had so many glimpses of heaven through your signs and through your eyes. I love you Kennedy. Everyone who ever met you does. Thanks for watching over your mom and dad and brother and baby. They sure do miss you.

Love, Becca

The Dismal Science's Take on Financial Crisis

So, since Becca still hasn't posted in a while, you'll get another quick blurb from me. Those of you who know me well know that I sometimes lack... how shall we say... sensitivity. I like to think I have a special skill of being highly objective :-)

Anyway, after doing Accounting at BYU I decided I definitely didn't want to be an accountant, so I doubled up with a major in Economics to make sure I could get a job I wanted without being viewed as a bean counter (no offense to my really good friends who stayed in that world - haha). Going through the Econ program didn't exactly increase my "sensitivity", but gave me some great "objective" models to talk through the positions I take. Econ is often referred to as the dismal science because it's views aren't always the rosiest.

That said, I came across a great commentary by Jeffrey Miron on the current credit crisis. I probably think it's great since it's an economist's point of view and advocates some of the harsh realities of the free markets to play out -- meaning that bankruptcy and not bailout is the fate that should be met by most of Wall Street's finest. Miron explains pretty clearly how we got into this mess and gives his take on how to get out.

Give it a quick read and just hope that Becca has more free time so you don't have to hear another post from me for a while!

Time to Up the Ante

First off -- Hi Everyone!!!

I rarely write on this blog, especially since Becca has been doing such a great job. That said, I had to respond to a a rumor going around that I may have started a blog about how fat I am and my desperate need to drop 30 pounds.

Well, yes I did. So it's time to up the ante and increase the audience and thereby increase the humiliation and motivation that the blog is intended to provide. Feel free to link to it, blog about, etc. The more people that visit, the more pressure I feel. I welcome comments, suggestions, whatever... and yes, making fun is fair game.

So, here it is:drop30pounds.com

To read from the beginning, you can see the little blurb on the top right sidebar that says "new reader" or just read the first post here... then you can click on the link above each post with the title of the next post and the arrow.

Enjoy!

A Failed Attempt...and other things that make me laugh

Robby. Andrew calls him Chief. He's called him that since he was a baby. I don't really know how that started. Maybe because he's a take-charge kind of kid. Maybe because we have so many Roberts in our family that we needed a nickname that was completely separate from his given name. I know that Bear came from Ty-Bear and that Belle came from Annie-Belle. But Chief came from Robby's personality alone.

Yesterday was a failed attempt. Robby has completely refused naps for a very long time now. He gave them up sooner than Tyler did, probably because he wasn't going to miss out on anything that was going on. More likely because he is named after my father, for whom sleep is a dirty word. But rarely, even Robby will succumb.

Here's how I can tell he really needs a nap: It usually begins as an all out temper tantrum. After he gets out his excess energy and emotions, sometimes I can calm him down with a massage. (This kid is completely Pincock in this aspect. He LOVES a good massage. He'll also give a pretty good one for a fee, but I digress.) And then, if I'm really lucky, the massage will lead to sleep.

So back to the attempt. I finally got Chief lying down in bed and taking a few deep breaths while I rubbed his back and feet. His eyes started to droop. "This is it." I thought. "I knew he was tired!" I continued to rub, thinking it would only be another minute. But no, his eyes kept popping back open. I tried massaging his head, and my long time trick of running my finger gently down his nose. Nothing. If anything, he seemed to be getting more awake as time went by. I became discouraged. "I'm going to loose this battle!" I began to worry after several minutes.

I decided to make one last attempt, and lie down right next to him with my arm around him, trying to soothe him into sleep with my sleepy demeanor. Well, I sure became sleepy. And all of a sudden I realized that Robby wasn't so sleepy at all. He very carefully lifted my arm off of him and gently laid it on the bed. He then began to softly rub MY back. In a dreamy haze my mind slowly began to process what was happening. The massage on my back became softer and softer until I sleepily glanced up to see my little Chief tiptoeing out of the room.

I just can't believe how much I underestimated him. All this time, I really thought that if I didn't mention the horrible word (NAP!), but if I could just get him to relax...in bed...with the blinds closed...that I could get him to sleep without him ever knowing what I was doing. Come to find out, he not only knew exactly what I was doing, he knew that he could USE IT ON ME!!! I failed. But it sure was a relaxing failure.

My funny lesson today concerned Chief's bike riding skills. Today was gorgeous. None of us could stay inside. And so school became a long lesson in P.E. The boys love their bikes. I've known this. What I didn't know about was all the things they do on their bikes. I guess they are into tricks. Not only are they into tricks, but they like to create their own tricks, and Robby likes to name all their tricks. I mean, it makes perfect sense. I was just a little surprised by some of the names he has chosen.

One hand off a Buffalo (I've also been told that COW can be interchangeable with BUFFALO...both are acceptable terms and will be understood.)

This trick is done by taking one hand off of the handlebars while riding.

Two hands off a Buffalo

You accomplish this trick by taking two hands of the handlebars while riding.

Horns of the Buffalo

To do this trick, you need to make your hands into pointed horn shapes while riding.

A Tiger stole a Buffalo

I haven't yet had the opportunity to observe this trick, and so I can not explain it to you. I'm a little interested (and afraid) to know what it entails.

Zoom Tiger Zoom

You must ride really, really fast to complete the Zoom Tiger Zoom trick.

Tiny mouse jumps off a diving board

This is a complicated one. You must lift your front wheel while riding, and I've been told that I might not even be able to see the front wheel lift. I must observe very carefully, or I will miss it.

Mary on the donkey

My personal favorite. I hope it is not blasphemous. I just could not imagine under what context my little Cowboy was out riding his bike and thought to himself, when I ride with both my legs off to one side, I look like Mary did when she was riding the donkey to Bethlehem. Because he really does look like that, but I still find myself wondering exactly what his brilliant little mind is capable of. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He is a Chief, after all.

Mothers With Style (Part 1)

I was talking to a dear friend of mine the other day, and we were catching up on each other's lives. We don't talk nearly enough, and it was nice to hear what she has been up to. I met Marci several years ago during our BYU days...one of the 'your husband makes a friend in a class at school and wants you to meet his wife so we can all be friends' fabulous success stories. I loved her immediately. Who wouldn't? Marci is one of the most generous people I have ever met, she is incredibly intelligent and interesting to talk to-she knows something about everything, she is funny and kind, and she makes you feel good about yourself, even when you have done absolutely nothing to deserve it. We created many wonderful memories back in the days when we each had two small kids, and then graduate school took them away to a glamorous life in New York City. This woman is amazing. She juggles an insane amount of activities every single day. (And I am saying this as someone who grew up in a family that is acrobatic in their juggling abilities.) Along with discussing her adventures living in NYC with four young kids (who are all adorable and brilliant), we also talked about her cake decorating business. I know that most of you, like me, can probably only drool over these cakes, since you don't live near the Big Apple, but I wanted to show off her talents anyway. And as I was asking her for permission to share her fabulous-ness on my blog with all the people I know (and, if I'm being honest, probably some people I don't), I realized that I somehow ended up with several friends who are not only amazing mothers, but also have some stylish skills they are working hard to share. So stay tuned, because this won't be the only time I envy the skills of some women I love.

Family Fun

We wanted to do something special with the kids the day before Andrew & I went out of town.
We had a yummy breakfast (whole wheat pancakes with maple syrup) and then went miniature golfing, which everyone enjoyed. Andrew enjoyed beating everyone, Tyler enjoyed keeping score, I enjoyed being outside all together on a lovely day, Robby enjoyed taking everyone's balls at the end for multiple attempts to get a hole in one and win a free game ("Umm, Mom? Can I just see your ball for a minute?" he asks with a sly grin.), and Annie enjoyed picking out her pink club and pink ball, as well as taking a little swim when the golfing got boring.

The BYU game interfered a bit with our plans to all be together as a family the whole day, but Andrew & Tyler had a great time together at the game, while Annie & Robby & I had fun looking around Borders and then picking out a few movies at Hollywood video for a fun movie night. It was a great day.







Don't you love Annie's little 'bend one knee' pose?
Such handsome guys! My two ATPs at the game.
Robby's latest hobby: sneaking Andrew's Ipod to listen to around the house. His request: "If I can have just one thing in the whole entire universe for Christmas, can I have an Ipod? Please?!"

And the winner is...

Alright sweet Lindsay Jane, let's talk!!!

And a note for all my other friends...I miss you all, but I am really enjoying a little time away with my darling husband right now, so I don't plan to be posting much for a few days. I'll see you when I come back to the real world!

Hugs, rmp