Friday, April 26, 2013

Ours

Our responsibility, our reason, 
our beauty, and messiness, 
our joy, our frustration, 
our partners, our projects, 
our helpers, and hold-ups, 
our laughs and our cries. 
Our commitment
has grown 
and again solidified.

These five are OURS.

More new family members

Yes, unbeknownst to Matt, Jason, Whitney and Malory- they have taken their place in the Whitehead family photo album. They are also a part of most every dinner conversation, and breakfast for that matter. We stumbled upon "Studio C" in a BYU alumni magazine article. We recognized Whitney from her rendition of ""Baby Ride Your Firebolt," so when we saw her on Studio C, there was an instant connection for all the Harry Potter maniacs here in this house.

So much so, that - freakin' awesome parents that we are- we drove our kids down to Provo to wait in a two hour line for a live filming that began at 9:30 pm on a school night...



Our family has not watched a show together regularly since David A. graced American Idol. ("We love you Elder Archuletta!!) But now, every Monday night at 8:00, our new -Studio C cast -family members join us for the "activity" portion of FHE.

Last week we braved the winds for a REAL soccer game with our pals the Nebekers on Monday night. Would you believe that the next morning AT SEVEN A.M.  ALL my children were on the couch ready to catch the missed episode.  INCLUDING the child who, due to recent events- presented his Mother with THIS comic ...

Studio C's motto is "Funny, even with Mom."  Hey, if it gets him out of bed,  gives him a reward for time hard spent on homework, and gives us a relaxed weekday laugh together, I think it's a good thing.

Life of 5

Several people have asked me what life is like with 5.  I would post pics of the laundry room and kitchen sink, but I don't want to scare anyone.  Here is a peek at the goings on. 
 Science Fair was actually the day before I delivered. I remember on the way to Hobby Lobby to get paper for this display board prior to the fair, I swung a left over to Dollar Cuts to get William buzzed because the thought of standing to do it made me want to fall over into a curled up position on a jumbo sized, heated bean bag.

During the fair, I could be found on the stage steps taking a breather because going down one aisle of projects pretty much did me in. But I was very happy with how his turned out, and grateful for the families who tracked their time in different rooms to help him out.

 Gymnastics! Thankfully Grandma Peggy was in town this Friday evening to watch Wes while I took my girls to open gym at Jump Up. They've since transferred back to the Legacy Center and have their exhibition meet in May. Now during their drop off and pick up times, William is thankfully able to stay at home with his brothers. Needless to say I don't get to stay and watch much any more. Good thing we have a swing set stripped of swings which serves as a bar, a guest futon pad that serves as a hand-spring landing mat, and a 2 x 4 wrapped in a sheet to use as a makeshift beam in our basement.
 Here Caroline is on stage "opening the blinds" to see if the scary witch in her story is there. When she made it to the school level in the storytelling competition, I was at a loss for how I'd go support her. I had already had to reschedule parent teacher conferences for a time when my Mom would be in town since I wasn't ready to take Wesley to a germ filled school. (He was like 2 1/2 weeks at the time). Then thankfully sweet Aunt Marilyn came to my mind. With great effort Nate and I made it out of the house and over to Sego Lily. I had to call on the way to ask them to switch her to the end of the assembly so I'd not miss her after all that pre-arranging. As you may have heard, she was dynamite!
The day NATHAN reminded me about the upcoming  Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt was a fulfilling mothering moment for me. I had started the hunt 6 or so years earlier (before he was born) for preschoolers in our neighborhood due to the unface-able crowds at other Lehi hunts. #Utah County is FULL of happy families!!  So I continued the tradition this year of organizing it. For Nate :)  He has had some boring afternoons since the baby came, but handles it in stride. The book time on my lap has sadly been mostly replaced by nursing, but Nathan and I still hit story time weekly and hang out as the pals we have become whenever we can. We are back to tending a friend on Wednesdays and at Sego Lily for our take-home library post each Friday. It seems we're daily running errands all around the town besides, with our little portable napper  just along for the ride.

Wes



Photos by the amazing Sarah Whitehead Sidwell. Proud Aunt.