Grateful Weekend

There are a few things I'm especially grateful for this Thanksgiving-time around.

First, insightful teachers.  A few weeks ago Davy's lovely primary teacher came by late one evening to drop off a small snack she'd promised Davy during Sunday.  The children had been practicing the primary program during second and third hour of church, which means no lesson.  I think most kids were pretty happy with the arrangement, but Davy was so distressed at not having the routine that his teacher brought him aside and gave him an impromptu, personal lesson on how Jesus is the light of the world.  When I was talking with his teacher about what a hard time he was having with the primary program practices and change in general (he refused to participate the first practice and sat in the pew we'd sat in for sacrament meeting, the second was a little better, the third better and the actual performance just fine) she said, "I've notice Davy doesn't like to learn in front of others."  Ah ha!  That's it!  Exactly it.  I'd never been able to articulate it before, but this insight has been clanking around in my brain the past few weeks.  It's helped me be more understanding in those circumstances when he does have to learn something in public (or even just in front of me--if he doesn't already know how to write a letter during mommy school he freaks out until he's wrestled it out on his own, then proudly writes it for me a day or two later).  Now I know what's behind the freaking out in the beginning, it's also easier to understand how he can be so incredibly courageous and poised at performing once he's figured out how it works and feels confident.

Second, potties.  Edward has decided in the past week or so that he is past diapers and is ready for underwear.  We'd gone through a whole potty training in August when it was so hot it was easy to wear as little as possible (at least if you were under 4).  He had shown interest and I went with it with pretty low expectations.  He learned a little bit about how to do all the potty stuff but had way more accidents than successes and after about a week I lost my temper at him one time so we were both ready for a break.  But then suddenly one day last week he was like, "no diapers.  Underwear clean and dry."  So we went with it.  He is generally about 85% at home and has used those big scary monster public restrooms at lots of places now (which is a real test, in my opinion!).  Today he was 100%, actually, so I think we'll stick with it!  He still doesn't take the initiative to let me know he's gotta go, but as long as I check in with him every two hours or so he's good.

Third, thoughtful husbands and daddies.   I was settling down for a rest this afternoon during quiet time when I heard Collin on the phone with a lady in our ward who is in a rough situation.  He was offering her our old laptop and printer because she likes to tinker around with things and fix them or make new things, sometimes to sell and make a little extra cash.  I just thought it was really kind of him to think of her and do something for her when we could.  Then he sat down with Davy and played a few board games so patiently.  Davy was in heaven with his dad's attention and playing games that I never have the patience (or--let's be honest--attention span!) to play with him.

And finally, an easy first trimester.  Yep, that's right!  Announcing baby numero tres.  We're just letting family and friends know that another person will be joining our family in early June.  I'd been so dreading being pregnant (and I'm still apprehensive about the last few weeks, but it is what it is) because I didn't want to be out of commission for three months.  As nice as our bathroom is, it's really not nice enough to live in.  With Davy and Eddy I was pretty sick every day.  But this one has simply cruised along.  I'm dog tired and have periods of nausea--enough to know I'm pregnant, just not make me rue the fact.  We are so excited about welcoming another kiddo.  We'll find out the gender soon after Christmas.  I'm a little bit thinking "girl" because of the difference in degree of morning sickness . . .  We'll see!

Hurricane Sandy

Like most storms that have threatened the Boston area since we've been here, Sandy was pretty uneventful for us.  There were some strong winds and rain for one afternoon.  A tree fell down in our neighborhood but without damage to property or power lines.

It wasn't until the smoke cleared and news about New York and New Jersey came out that we realized how fortunate we were. 

About a week after Sandy hit, we received news that volunteers from our stake were being asked to travel down to the Queens, NY area to help out in any way that they could.  The particulars about when and where to go came out a little too late for us to take action on the first Saturday, but when we found out there would still be groups going down on the following Saturday, I (Collin here) decided to join one of them.

If you've seen this video going around on Facebook about the Mormon Helping Hands volunteers, those images and interviews were exactly what I experienced.  Two weeks into it, people on the streets knew exactly who we were and did not hesitate to come up to us and ask if we could help them out with specific projects.  It was a wonderful experience for me, and I'm so grateful that Rachel sacrificed her free time and our family Saturday for me to go.  Here are a few stories:

I carpooled with a woman in our ward who invited along her mother and step-father, visiting from San Antonio.  Another young mother from a nearby ward joined us in the minivan, and we headed out to Queens at about 5:30am.  Upon arrival, we were met by a few missionaries (a few from Orange County, CA) who provided us with our yellow vests and a list of houses who had already been contacted and had work pre-arranged for us to do.

As we set out and walked the neighborhoods, the outward damage was immediately evident.  Chain link fences had debris still stuck in them and left evidence of the four feet of water that had once covered it.  Cars that wouldn't start after having been submerged were abandoned in the center divider of the street.  Boats without trailers were found down every side street having no sign of the owner intending to salvage them.  Some were full of trash.  Others were spray painted with a message, "Please Take."



For the most part, it appeared as if people were going along with everyday life, but as we got into the houses, it was clear that everyone in the neighborhood was in demolition / clean-up mode.  We first stopped at a house where the resident was not at home.  We called the number on our listing and he asked if we could come back later as he wasn't quite in the area.  We started making our way to the next house when a woman called to us from across the street and ran over to us.  She said she knew what we do and asked if we'd possibly have time to help out at her brother's and cousin's houses a few blocks down.  Having done this for the past week, the missionaries knowingly provided us with a sheet to fill out people's names, addressess, phone numbers, and the help needed.  As we took down her information, she thanked us profusely and said what a blessing it was to have people around who could, at the very least, provide their time.

We had walked no more than the length of one house when another stranger stopped us and asked the same thing.  Two minutes later, another.  And then another.  Before we could even reach the second house on our list, the number of requests we had set out to fulfill had more than doubled.

The second and third residents weren't quite in the area when we passed by either, so we decided to head back to a man who had asked for just an hour or so of our time to help with a project.  Louis Debenedictis, or "Louie Logs" as he's known, had recently retired after 40 years of working for a local electric company.  He continued to make a partial living by collecting and selling scraps of wood, whether it was skinny strips or sticks for kindling, or huge logs and old scrap wood for large fires.  Louie kept this collection in his backyard, which was literally along the edge of the water.

During the storm, the rising ocean carried about a fourth of Louie's wood collection from his backyard, down towards the house, and down the alleyway that led to the main street in front of the house.  In addition to the wood, the ocean had brought in whatever else was in the water during the storm, which was mostly weeds and such, but happened to include an old floating telephone pole.  The pole had fortunately just missed smashing into Louie's house like a battering ram and settled along side the house with the rest of the firewood.  With the help of a dolly and wheelbarrow, we managed to put the firewood back into Louie's backyard so he could have access to his basement and the alleyway where he needed to get started on the rest of the clean-up work.

We got to talk with Louie a little bit after the work and found out that he was a bit of a collector.  Some notable items included a 1950's GE refridgerator that still worked after he drained it and a large international radio at least old enough to be marked "Made in West Germany".  It was a bit strange to see an antique radio belting out Adele tunes.

As we said goodbye to Louie, we gave a call to Tom Wallace, the man who wasn't quite ready for us to come by when we had first set out.  He said he could use our help tearing down four feet of sheetrock and insulation all around the house.  Tom and his wife had a frightening view of the storm because they had decided to stay in their house as the hurrican passed over.  They said they had never been so scared in their life and vowed to never underestimate a hurricane again.  Tom relayed to us the fact that the folks in their area were quite unlucky with the timing of Sandy as the worst of it hit during high tide and moon tide.

Tom knew quite a bit about how to repair the home and I learned much from him and Ray, a member of our group and former carpenter, as they discussed the next steps for getting the place back in order.  The whole experience made me a little more daunted at the thought of becoming a homeowner someday.

After only two houses, our day of work had been filled.  We dropped off our lists of names and numbers collected during the day to the local missionaries who would follow-up with them during the coming week and piled back into the car for the long, restful journey home. 

Cute Video

Hey, check out this funny and cute video made by our friends during a trip down to Rhode Island with them.  Cute boys!  Brandon and Shelby are such a talented and artistic couple!

A Bit Behind

I know it's November (already!) but I still have a few Halloween pics to include and then an update on the past few weeks.

 I made an attempt to be a fun mom.  We made personal pizzas with spooky faces.  Davy's is the right just above--if you turn your head a bit side-ways you can see a pumpkin jack-o-lantern face with a pepper smile and a broccoli stem.  Eddy's is the left above.  The spookiest of all since it's abstract.  I made a spider in an onion web for myself and a witch face for Collin.

Collin dressed up a little for his office's Halloween celebration.  Davy picked out his costume for him.  Then on Halloween day Eddy was Buzz all day.  Who do you think pulls it off better?

 

I sent the boys out trick-or-treating with their dad while I planned to clean up the day and hand out candy.  However, a few minutes later I got a phone call telling me to join the party down at Abuela's house.  We've been adopted by the sweetest lady down the street and her lovely daughter. We give the mom (a very young 85) a ride to church every week and been embraced in return.  She has spoiled our boys with books and gifts and treats and so it was not out of character for her to have prepared an entire party just for our boys when they came trick-or-treating at her house.  She had all sorts of nice treats spread out for the kids, baggies of candies and little toy frogs, and lots of kind jokes to share with her "grandsons." 

Thursday is our usual out-and-about day when we go to museums or other fun places around town for mommy school.  A little cold rain was forecast for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday this past week, however, so Wednesday morning we tried to beat the storm.  We had Plimoth Plantation booked for "I Week" (American Indian, I guess . . . it was a stretch!).  We read a book about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe then went to see what it was all about.  Even though we did technically miss the storm it was a bit chilly and very windy.  We enjoyed the discovery room inside the museum for a long time, a short walk to the Wampanoag homesite to talk with some Native Americans and learn about what they wear when it's cold and pretend to go canoeing in their hollowed-out trees.  We also went to the craft center to watch some craftsmen make things and the boys even got to hold an arrow and an ax that one of the men had made just like his ancestors did 400 years ago.  Then we had lunch at the cafeteria and the boys tried succotash and actually like it!

We drove home through the beginning of the storm and later that evening the boys ran out in glee at the first snowfall.  It continued through the night and the next morning I was dragged out of my warm bed by the boys needing coats and boots to go and play in the snow.  Luckily (for me) it melted during the day.  Here I have to tease my dear mother-in-law in the most kind and loving way.  We got a call on Thursday evening and as soon as I heard Collin pick up the phone and say, "just a little bit of snow" I knew it was his mom asking how we were doing!  She follows the weather here in Massachusetts with an incredible amount of love and concern for us.  She's heard about earthquakes and power outages and other storms in the New England area before I have!  We love knowing that someone all the way across the country cares so much for us!

Yesterday (Saturday) morning we drove into Boston's fine arts area to go to Symphony Hall and enjoy a family day performance of Peter and the Wolf by the Boston Youth Symphony.  It was wonderful!  I was so impressed at the young performers and we all laughed at the narrator's antics while he acted out the parts of the duck, the cat, the grandfather, etc..  I enjoyed the concert far more than I would have otherwise, and I know the boys had a good time.  They joined in clapping and Davy watched the story unfold with rapt attention.  Before the concert they had a "meet the characters" time and a place to try out different instruments--for real!  The boys both tried a violin, Eddy tried a clarinet and Davy tried a trumpet.  It was a really great experience and I hope to do it again next year!