Top Ten 2008

My parents have been doing this for years and Michelle and I have talked about it. I have even blogged about it. But, for one reason or another it never seems to make the blog. So without further ado, here is the Top Ten for 2008 (in no particular order):

1. The year of vacation. We enjoy a week long ski vacation in Vermont and Grace has fun (even while running a high fever) in ski school. Even Michelle and I take some group lessons while poor Hattie isn't quite old enough to hit the slopes.
2. Harriet starts talking. At the beginning of the year she didn't say much, but by the end she was talking in complete sentences and has become quite a tease. She can also throw a good temper tantrum. She is a little monkey and is babbling most the day. Talking is like walking, you want it to happen until it does!
3. Continuing the vacation theme... We have a family reunion in SLC and this is the first time in 10 years that my entire family has all been together. It was great fun and Grace enjoyed playing with her cousins and still talks about funny Uncle John. We also get to spend time with all of Michelle's family.
4. We get to fly (well not quite) an airplane on our way back to MA from the family reunion. This was a very nice gesture from the NorthWest crew. As we entered the plane, the pilot asked if Grace and Harriet would like to see the cockpit. While Michelle stayed with the kids, I took our stuff to our seats. I get everything situated when over the intercom comes, "Would David Chapman seated in ... please come to the front of the plane. And, bring your camera!" I get up there and Grace and Harriet are sitting in the cockpit sits steering the plane and the crew takes our picture in the cockpit. I highly recommend NorthWest (hopefully the Delta merger won't change this), but they have always been extremely nice to us when we have traveled with kids.
5. Cape Cod. We had lived here for 3 1/2 years before we finally made it to the Cape, but now we have been there twice, once in August and again for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun as we went with friends both times and even Michelle says, "I think I could live here." Too bad my salary won't afford it!
6. Grace graduates from pre-school (oh yeah) and starts kindergarten. This child is so ready for school to start. It is the highlight of her day and she has even cried when she found out she was having a snow day. While I am sure that part will change, I hope that she continues to enjoy school and continues to make friends. The best part about all of this, the bus, it picks and drops her off right from our side door. Michelle doesn't have to even get out of her pajamas.
7. Michelle becomes involved with YouthLinc. She was involved with this as a teacher in Utah and through a convolution of different items has started a satellite branch here in MA. Right now she is helping three youth in the area perform community service and fund raising so that they can go to Peru this summer. A lot of work and fundraising isn't fun in this economic climate (in case you want to donate). But, hopefully she will get it off the ground and going.
8. David is rear-ended on his way home from work and his Subaru Outback is totaled. It was a sad day. I really liked that car and I still wish I was driving it. I usually agonize for weeks before spending a hundred dollars, but in this case I buy a 2005 Outback in about a day. New car is definitely not my old Subaru, and that is both good and bad.
9. December ice storm. One Friday morning in December (the day I was going to buy a ticket to the Sugar Bowl), we are awakened by Harriet throwing up in bed at 4 AM. Shortly thereafter the power goes out. After another 30-45 minutes we here an alarm sound and I go to investigate and discover several inches of water in our basement. After it is all said and done, we had 6" of water in the basement and we are $1000 poorer after purchasing a generator to run the sump pumps. Thus, no Sugar Bowl for me. However, we can now weather the storm in luxury with heat, water, and internet. What more do you need?
10. David getting called to be the second counselor in the bishopric. This was a big change and we are still adjusting. So far, it has been more of a blessing than a curse, but we are still adjusting to new Sunday schedules and me sitting up on the stand during meetings.

A Pea in the Pod

(I changed the title of this post after my sister, Melissa, called me and said "I saw your pea in your pod." It's much more fitting...)Well, I'm a big blabber mouth and some people already know this, but I think it's time to make an official announcement. I'm pregnant! Yep, we're on our way to having a 3rd child.

I had a positive pregnancy test a little more than 2 weeks ago. We've been trying since last summer, so it was exciting news. I immediately called the doctor to get things rolling and I was really surprised when they asked me to come in for an ultrasound in one week. I was expecting the old "well, let's schedule you to see the nurse in a few weeks and the doctor a few weeks after that." I was supposed to be 7 weeks pregnant for the first ultrasound, but after looking at the structures, they thought I was only maybe 5 weeks. That was last Tuesday. So, they asked me to come in AGAIN in a week. I went this morning for my second.
Today, the baby structure was more visible and you could clearly see a heart beating on the screen. It was really cool. You really couldn't see much of anything else, but the heart was totally there. They said you shouldn't be able to detect a heart beat until 7 weeks, but everything measured 6 weeks and 4 days. I'm blown away that you can get that accurate about it. The heartbeat was slow, but they said since it shouldn't even have a heart beat yet, they don't know what that means - probably that it's just an early heart beat. SO, I have to go in AGAIN for ANOTHER ultrasound next week! I'm floored. I have never heard of anyone having 3 ultrasounds before they were even 8 weeks pregnant (unless they were doing in-vitro kinds of stuff.) I'm hoping that they're doing all of this just because they want to get a really accurate due date. Considering my history of having pre-term labor and early babies and now it's my 3rd and I'm no spring chicken anymore, I'm thinking they just want to be sure about counting the weeks. When you get to the end, every day counts if you're facing a premie. I'm also really hoping my 100% maternity coverage on my health insurance holds true!

So, as of today, I have a due date of September 18th. This means I'll probably have a baby on the first day of school. (how convenient. NOT.)

I have gone back and forth about announcing this on the blog and really spreading the word. I know lots of people who wait until the 3rd or 4th month just to be safe and be sure that a miscarriage isn't in the cards. With Grace and Hattie I got so sick so fast that there was no way to hide a pregnancy for more than a day. I had to tell everyone why I was absolutely no good for anything and heading to the bathroom every 20 minutes. But, with this one, I haven't been sick yet. I know - that may or may not be a good sign. (maybe it's a boy?) Still, I want to tell everyone because no matter the outcome, this is a part of my life right now. I am pregnant and I do feel like crap (even though I haven't thrown up yet.) I'm not really worried - just unsure. It was comforting to see the heartbeat today, and comforting to know it was early - a sign of strength? But, also disconcerting that it was a low rate. Who knows what it all means. You can make yourself crazy with all the what if's and possible scenarios. Every doctor's visit can send your mind on a rollercoaster of thoughts and I have spent more than my fair share of time doing that with past pregnancies. For now, I'm just living in the moment and happy to be carrying a little life and everyone who knows me should know that I am.

kids and stuff

The MLK holiday on Monday proved to be our 3rd day at home, all together, with nothing to do. The picture of Grace and David (below) playing Guitar Hero was taken at like 9am on Sunday morning. The day went downhill from there. (when you've already played wii for 2 hours and it's 9am, your options run out quick!) Cooped up in 4 walls day after day gets ugly fast. Harriet is also going through a MELT DOWN stage and has about 5 good ones a day. So, Monday, I decided I just couldn't take a repeat of the last 2 days and said "EVERYBODY OUT!"

The kids and David started the day by snowblowing and shoveling the driveway. This is Hattie's new favorite thing to do. She has her own shovel too. We also have a big enough snow pile again that we have our own little sledding hill so we took a few runs of Chapman Hill. We really should go over to Jeanne's house across the street - she has a long, wicked hill down to the river bank.After shoveling and sledding (me still in my PJ's under snow gear), we decided to head to the barn for some nose petting. The ponies had icecicles hanging from their fur. BRRRRR. Poor Tinky. We actually bought her a really nice winter blanket a couple years back, but she keeps ruining it. Still, it's so cozy to run your hands through the thick winter coat of a pony in the winter and snuggle their muzzle. Sometimes, I still want a horse, but not enough to actually have one right now (thankfully, David says.)Things were going well until Hattie's melt-down in Ace hardware on the way home. She wanted to buy TWO birds (that means ALL of them.) She had her arms totally full headed to the check-out. Are you kidding me? They were so lucky to get to buy one a piece! (little audubon stuffed birds that have real bird sounds in them - we have a collection.) Yes, I can say no too. I had already said no to the $9 each ice block molds.

Then, it was again, an afternoon and evening full of contention and no place to go. School and work were a welcome reprieve for David and Grace on Tuesday. David even snuck out of town and left us all here to fight it out!

Tuesday evening, Grace went to her first Taekwondo class. She's extremely into martial arts right now (China thing) and is dying to take a class. We went to try one out. We're trying another place out tomorrow. She did all the stances, punches, and kicks. She was really good at it. Since her dance teacher flaked out on us in November, she hasn't had a good physical outlet. So, this will be good until we make a decision about finding a new dance place (or not.)

Grace also brought home "Dogsled Dude, the Penguin" from school. I guess this is the new thing at school - to pass around a school sponsored stuffed animal all year and write about the things you do with it before you pass it on again. When "Honey Bear" came home from pre-school late last spring, and we were one of the last families to get him, he was in pretty bad shape and terribly dirty and gross. It took the energy in every cell of my being to stop myself from having Honey Bear's first "activity" at our house in the washing machine with the appropriate picture of me holding him by the toe with 2 fingers as I dropped him in the washer. My mom pointed out that he might not come out alive and get ruined. So, we kept the grungy little guy and journaled our weekend with him. Dogsled Dude has a similar past, I think. He's a little cleaner than Honey Bear, but oh, I want to give him a bath! Penguins swim, right? I resisted again, fearing that we would be his undoing and we've been logging his activities with us. We really didn't go anywhere today (except I went to be the room mom at Grace's class) so he's been a couch potato. He did get to do the moon-bounce last night and he's met all of our audubon birds. Hattie keeps taking him from Grace (more melt-downs.) Grace will be sad when she has to take him back to class tomorrow.Oh, Hattie will now wear a pony tail when her hair gets in her face and is all static clingy. At least she knows pony tails have a function, even if she doesn't understand how cute they are!
Well, I guess that's all I've got for now.

proof

that we are the heathens we say we are (we've never tried to hide it):

What does the 2nd counselor in YOUR bishopric do when church is canceled? Here's what ours does:
Come on, I mean, we have 2 tiny kids who got up at 6:15am this morning. I meticulously got ready for church last night so that I could get them ready on my own this morning. Had the clothes all laid out, the bags ready to go with activities, snacks, scriptures, and books. Then, it has to snow on the day we are actually ready to go to church!!! David even got up and got dressed to the tie and got the cars warmed up before they made the call to cancel. The one day we are prepared, got up early, and would have been ready and on time with time to spare.

As David says, he is just spending quality time with his daughters. Can't argue with that one. I can't think of anything else I'd rather have him be doing at any time on any day. If we're heathens, then maybe the word needs to be redefined.

Dude, I feel your pain.

That was my comment to Jared when I texted him with news that I had just been called into my ward's Bishopric. It was the same weekend as the ice storm that did so much damage around New England and while we were spared from most of that trauma, I had no idea what awaited me. Jared has been in his ward's bishopric for 4+ years and I know that he had required sacrifice on his and Tara's part. Things were going to be similar for me and Michelle...

After getting our generator hooked up the power came back on Friday night. Despite the damage and the fact that many were still without power we decided to go ahead with a previously scheduled activity with the young men to take them flying. That turned out to be a lot of fun as we flew about 30 minutes to an airport west of were we lived, landed, ate lunch at the airport cafe, and then returned.

As I walked in the door, Michelle said, "Well I guess that you aren't quite the heathen you thought you were! President Durham called and wants to meet with us tomorrow morning." I immediately knew what was going to happen. Even though I tried to convince myself otherwise I knew that there was a vacancy in the Bishopric and my Sundays were going to change.

A month into being in the Bishopric and so far so good. I really enjoy working with Bishop Gentile and the other members of the bishopric and it has been a good experience for me personally as well as my family.

As I was spreading the news to family and friends I was touched by the response I got. Jared was very practical and gave me advice and how to be a good counselor. My dad was moved to tears and while I am sure he was disappointed that he wasn't around to ordain me a High Priest, he was extremely happy that I had received this calling. He told me that it would be an incredible learning experience and humbling as he pointed out one of my shortcomings and said I would need to work on overcoming that challenge.

Of course, I have many shortcomings and need help with many things. And while I can indeed say, "dude, I feel your pain" to all those bishopric members out there, I am also beginning to see the blessings of service to those around me.

Bye bye Sweet Sugar

I have been thinking about this post for awhile. I still am a little bummed about the whole affair and I think that is why I have let a few weeks go by without posting anything. Life is interesting in the twists and turns that it takes and the end to 2008 was no different.

On Thursday, December 11th, I went to bed having decided that I was going to go to the Sugar Bowl eventhough it looked like I was going to be heading down by myself. I was excited thinking that the Utes had a good chance and promising after the Fiesta Bowl of 2005 that I wouldn't miss another opportunity to see the Utes in a BCS game if it happened again. Of course, Michelle has posted about what happened on December 12. As Grace said, "Well this sucks!" Indeed it did. Instead of waking up for work and waiting to buy tickets online, my day started at 4 AM with a flooded basement, a sick child, and a rush to Home Depot. With the water rising and getting near our furnace the decision was made to buy a generator. I got to Home Depot about 20 minutes after they opened and they had already sold out most of their generators. Long story short, $900 later I had a generator and was running the essentials in the house, but instead of sweet, sweet sugar, I was dealing with some raw power. In the end I guess it worked out. Instead of the satisfaction and high of the biggest Ute victory, I get the satisfaction of knowing if (when) we have another ice storm I'm all set. I can power our well pump, furnace, refrigerator, tv, and internet. What more do you need?

I also got to watch the game with my brother Brian. That turned out to be fun and we enjoyed watching in HD from the comfort of my living room. While it was fun to watch the game and see the Utes dominate a "strong" SEC opponent, it was bittersweet. Over the last couple of weeks I have read a lot of sports writers around the country and the Utes still don't have the respect they deserve. While it was nice to reap the rewards of a big BCS payout it really is shallow knowing that the Utes will never get a chance for a national championship. I am a proponent of a 16-team playoff. Reduce the regular season to 11 games and then only 2 teams will play 15 games (1 more than most play now). The bowls games can still be in play for the majority of the teams left out of the playoff and the big bowls can be used for the 16-teams to maintain semi-neutral playing field. Of course it won't happen since those in power with all the money see no reason to spread the wealth.

Now when is it that someone besides from the PAC-10 will be playing home-and-away game with the Utes? Yeah, that is what I thought.

What they're up to now:

I was just thinking about how much growing up has happened in our house during 2008 and went back to my post in January 2008 to see how far we've come. This one is for the books (and the Grandmas.)

Grace is:
*still being driven crazy by Hattie
*sharing a room with Hattie
*loving her new ipod and all the music freedom it brings (meaning she can listen to her favorite songs over and over whenever she wants.) She also has lots of pictures and a family slide show on it that she likes to watch.
*playing with playmobile toys "playmo" as she calls them
*dressing herself for school
*wearing the color blue, head to toe, every day (this helps with her dressing herself. Her very favorite color is blue, she always wants to wear it, so ALL of her school clothes, outerwear, and everything she was sent for Christmas are blue.)
*still not doing her hair, but will now let me blow dry her bangs with a round brush so that she doesn't have "ski jump" bangs for school
*getting some loose front teeth
*my WEED. It's my new nick-name for her since her legs and arms just shoot out of her clothes and she's starting to look like a baby giraffe.
*loving kindergarten. She and her friend Eamon are the only ones who did NOT want the snow day yesterday. Her teacher told them to wear their jammies inside out and backwards and sleep with a spoon under their pillow to hope for a school cancellation. Grace wore her jammies the right way, no spoon.
*loving her friend Eamon. He and she do everything together at school and they are anxiously awaiting their next play date.
*finally used to the school bus, but still waves at us the whole time the bus backs up, turns around, and drives back down the road. Hattie and I get cold while we stand and wave back.
*reading fluently, just about anything.
*doing really well in school.
*going to speech therapy once a week at school. Her "K" sound is getting much better and we're hoping they'll get to the "G" sound before the end of the year so that her name changes from Drace to Grace.
*drawing or writing something nearly all day long no matter what else she's doing on the side
*into anything Chinese after seeing the movie Kung Fu Panda and watching the Olypmics held in China. She loves Chinese food (particularly Teriyaki chicken on a stick), chopsticks, writing, symbols, dragons, books, and plans to have a Kung Fu Panda/Chinese theme for her birthday party.
*missing the Binghams in Primary (she got new teachers this year after having the Binghams since Sunbeams)
*getting an allowance - $10 a month
*paying her tithing - now she gets to give it to her daddy!
*saying reluctant prayers that go something like "thankful for this day, thankful for............(finally she will think of one or 2 things), please bless that I will sleep and have a good day tomorrow....
*trading every other day for feeding her FAVORITE dog, Velvet. She feeds Velvet on odd days and Shadow on even days.
Hattie is:
*loving her sister
*a big girl in a big girl bed in a big girl room with Grace
*speaking, articulately, talking incessantly all day long in long complicated sentences.
*saying "you just never know" at odd times during the day
*singing the ABC song all the way through with all the letters
*counting to 12 by herself
*drawing on anything in her immediate surroundings, no matter how much paper is given to her
*not quite potty trained, but might be if her mom tried harder
*loving BABIES BABIES BABIES - real or dolls, it doesn't matter
*excited that she got the moon bounce for Christmas and tells everyone that Santa brought her a moon bounce and a baby bottle
*dressing and undressing herself
*still showering with mommy most mornings, but isn't so insistent on it
*a demon when she's tired
*an angel when she's in a good mood
*2 going on 16
*extremely photogenic and has a million dollar smile - (it's not just us, everyone says so.)
*wishing she could go to school - she might get her wish next year much to her mother's dismay (this will require potty training though!)
*loving her "class" at church, finally, she will go to nursery and stay by herself
*saying prayers that used to list every family member she could think of (extended family too), now she is down to "sank you for Gracie, amen." She is truly thankful for this one person in her life. Grace wishes she didn't love her quite so much.
*still on the OCD wagon. Her night-time, planets aligned, routine is a bit exhausting
*into anything that involves dancing, singing, music, or jumping
*watching Curious George every morning with Grace before school and then watches Sid the Science Kid after. (for the record, I do NOT like Sid the Science Kid - Curious George is a MUCH better science show. Oh well, she's only 2!)
*addicted to apple juice and will never get potty trained as long as she insists on drinking it as she goes to bed
*eating a very boring diet of cheerios, quesadillas, ramen, chicken nuggets, apples, and green beans. Oh, she'll eat soup too.
*listening to the same song in the car over and over and over and over. It's "Radio Song" by Super Bus. She calls it "sunny sunny" because it is sung in French and she can't understand what they're saying.
*excited about her new snow shovel so she can help Grace and Daddy at night.
*a good helper! She folds laundry, does dishes, cleans the bathroom, and picks up. I wish she was big enough and old enough to actually be able to do the whole chore by herself. I dread she will outgrow the desire to help before she's big enough to do it. She can actually set the table all by herself.
*trading feeding Velvet and Shadow. She feeds Velvet on even days and Shadow on odd days.

Out with the... in with the...

Hi 2009. We're saying good-bye to 2008. It was a good year, it served us well, but maybe we can do better? Maybe we'll do worse. Who knows. We started by saying good-bye to some holiday visitors yesterday. David's brother Brian, his wife Wendy, and their kids Alec, Clare, and Jeremiah, AND their puppies Argos and Helios, came to visit us for New Year's. 9 people, 4 dogs, our tiny house? SURE! (we know Shadow pooped on your floor when we came to your house... I guess we can overlook Argos peeing on our Christmas tree! But, Helios, we'll be sending you a bill...)Originally David and Brian were supposed to meet up here to go to the Sugar Bowl together. After some expensive household happenings that ate up all their trip money, they settled for watching the game at our house with family. GO UTES!!!Brian and Wendy's clan lived in Salt Lake for a few years when we were first married. We got to be good friends with them. In fact, I remember babysitting 4 month old Clare before David and I were even married. They introduced us to lots of things as a new couple from Mediterranean dining at the Cedars of Lebanon Restaurant, to cooking restaurant quality ethnic food at home, to being parents (which is why Grace was born almost 6 YEARS AFTER we got married), and to being happy as a couple. We missed them terribly when they moved to Pittsburgh, but since we have moved to New England, we see them a bit more often now that we can make the drive in a day.

Their kids have grown up. We didn't spend much time with them between the 5 year old stage and the teen-age stage, so I feel like I kind of missed out. But, they are still great kids and we were happy to have them visit. Grace was thrilled to play with Jeremiah for 3 straight days. Hattie loves her cousin Clare and is no longer terrified of Alec.

We did a few fun things while they were here. The weather wasn't too cooperative with a blizzard on New Year's Eve and bone chilling cold the other days. We went horse back riding on the blizzard day. The whole family went to our barn and got on a horse for a trail ride. We weren't able to make it too far down the trails due to our assortment of riding abilities and the trail conditions, but we did ride out in the back fields until Alec's toes nearly fell off from cold. (this didn't take long - silly teenager out in a blizzard with no warm clothes on!) It was awesome for me to see both my kids on horses at the same time. Hattie on Peppe and Gracie on Tink.
David and I didn't ride so that we could lead the non-riders, but Grace and Hattie did an awesome job at guiding the line of horses through the ride. Brian kept telling us "cold" stories he had read about while they rode. I made a mental note to read those in JULY. I think our ride may have made it into the "coldest stories ever told" category for some of them. Rita was awesome and helped us through it and took great pictures for us.

Later on that night, we tried to fool the kids into thinking it was midnight at 10pm. Our little clock-watcher Grace was much wiser. She knew we were full of it and insisted on staying up to see the ball drop at Times Square. How does she even know about that? It's a hard thing to fake it when you live in the same time zone as Times Square. If you live out West, you can get video feed of it earlier than midnight! ALL the kids, stayed up PAST midnight. They rang in the fake New Year with a fake champagne (sparkling cider) toast at 10pm (they don't look to happy do they?) Then, they did watch the ball drop 2 hours later. So much for the adults having margaritas in peace at midnight. On New Year's Day, we had our traditional brunch and just spent the day hanging out and eating. We went on a double date that night and left the kids home with their cousins. It was SO nice to get out and also to be with Brian and Wendy. They make great conversation and are fun to eat with. We ended up at the Colonial Inn in Concord. We've never eaten there before, but have visited the spot a few times. It's one of the original Inns from the days of the revolutionary war - built in 1716. A very New England thing to do. Glad we finally did it!Speaking of things to do in New England, we did venture into Boston on their last day here. As we gave them the driving tour, David realized how many things there are in Boston that we have NOT seen or done yet. Our list of excuses for being such home-bodies is long and mostly legitimate. But, it mostly boils down to the amount of energy it takes to change my moment of inertia from "stuck at home" to "out on the town." The energy barrier is just far too great most of the time. But, we are running out of excuses at the moment, so maybe we'll see more of Boston in 2009 (does that sound like a resolution? hope not because that will doom it.)

We did stop at Harvard Square to eat lunch and visit the book-store (any bookstore is a favorite haunt of Brian's) and bought some cool cheap jewelry in another little shop. It was a perfect outing considering the diversity of our group - restless children, bored teenagers, and parents who are up for anything that's not too painful or expensive.

Saying good-bye to everyone yesterday was hard as good-byes usually are. Even our dogs are depressed that their "cousins" are gone since they got to join in on the 2x a day walks with Argos and Helios. Grace never likes things to change. She is bummed that 2008 is over too. But, we did have to say good-bye to Christmas, good-bye to the Christmas tree as we threw it out yesterday for recycling, good-bye to our family, and good-bye to a year that was really, actually, pretty great to us in whole even if turmoil did swirl around us as so many things in the world were not well and so many of our family and friends suffered hardships. We have some fantastic memories though. I hope David will do our 2008 year-in-review slideshow soon.