the bartle bulletin

So I haven't blogged in a while. Today I'm feeling inspired, so I'll catch up with the few photos I've taken in the last 10 days.

I am really trying to enjoy Gavin more. He can be quite charming when I am in the mood to be charmed. His remarkable speaking ability blows me away on a regular basis. He loves it when people sing to him, so I have started singing familiar songs and allowing him to fill in the blanks. I'm so impressed that he can do this. Gavin knows "I Love to See the Temple," "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," the ABC song, and many others. Gavin is still obsessed with "Yo Gabba Gabba" on TV. I freely admit to feeding this obsession because the time he spends watching that show is the ONLY time during the day that I can get anything done (and the only time he is not destroying the house like the Tasmanian Devil). Sadly, Gavin has a new ear infection that has made him miserable. We didn't catch it very early; I attributed his increased orneriness to being two. Oops.




On Saturday, Zachary constructed this birdhouse with Garry. The project fulfilled a scouting requirement for Zach's den. At his last scout meeting, Zachary apparently refused all leader assistance, which is why the entire project came home with him. It turned out to be a fun bonding project with Dad anyway. Zach plans to paint the birdhouse soon and fill it with bird seed when we get to Mesa.




The other morning Garry fixed waffles for breakfast. The boys were thrilled, since this Mama never cooks in the morning. Throughout the meal, however, we couldn't stop laughing. Gavin kept calling his food "awful" -- or so we thought. Really, he was saying "waffle" without the "w."





This girl is BUSY. She is a crawling machine, and, as you can see here, she is pulling herself up to things. She is quite delighted with her new skills, which she demonstrates at every possible opportunity. We are back to being vigilant with the stair gates and cupboard locks, but she still loves to be a little vacuum cleaner and raid the open dishwasher when no one is looking. Lexi's newfound mobility is wreaking havoc with her sleep pattern, as are the four teeth threatening to break through her top gum. There's never a dull moment with our eight-month-old!

I was sitting in Sunday School, watching Lexi play on the floor. Sister Townsend (the elder) asked if anyone was visiting the class before our teacher began his Old Testament lesson. On the front row, a couple stood up to introduce themselves. They were visiting from Long Island, New York on a house-hunting trip. They knew the brother of a guy in our ward.

In the hall after Sunday School, as I handed Lexi and the diaper bag to her daddy, I told Garry that he needed to talk to the visitors and see if they wanted to look at our house. Garry exchanged information with the husband, and after church, Garry emailed our house flier.

Later, around 2:00, I mused to Garry, "What if they want to come to see our house tomorrow? That would be crazy! The house is such a mess. The house isn't on the market yet -- it's hardly show-worthy!"

Five minutes later the phone rang. I answered and had a pleasant little conversation with the wife. I hung up in sheer panic.

They wanted to come at 5:00 -- in three hours.

I surveyed the house to see if it really was as bad as I thought. Actually, it was worse. There was clutter in every corner. Five loads of folded laundry were stacked by the washing machine. I hadn't really done the dishes for a couple of days, and none of the beds were made. I hadn't cleaned a bathroom for at least two weeks. Small fingerprints were all over the windows and appliances and piano. (Feel free to judge me here. Honestly, what do I do with my time?)

I texted Melanie while hyperventilating, then dropped off Gavin and Lexi at her house a few minutes later. Then Garry, Zachary, Tyler, and I dropped into a cleaning frenzy that had our hearts pumping for three solid hours. (Who needs the Superbowl for an adrenaline rush?) I had some guilt about working like this on the Sabbath Day, but also knew there was no other way. And if Heavenly Father had sent these people to buy our house, surely he'd forgive us!

We cleaned and scrubbed and polished and vacuumed. We organized and put away and hid. We shoveled snow from the driveway. We put piles of stuff in the van and filled grocery sacks with random papers and clutter. I changed out of pajamas at the last possible minute. When 5:00 arrived, we pulled the cars out of the garage and waited.

Of course they were 15 minutes late.

Surprisingly, the couple showed up without a real estate agent. They asked me to give them a tour of the house. So we spent 20 minutes walking around the house and snowy yard. I pointed out every possible positive thing and answered a few questions. They looked in cupboards and cabinets and closets and behind shower curtains. Their little boy played with Gavin's toys.

When we were finished, they asked for some time alone in the house. I drove to Melanie's to pick up Gavin and Lexi. Garry stayed behind and answered their questions when they emerged. They wanted to know about schools and the neighborhood and the ward.

They also wanted to come back.

So yesterday I cleaned up in the morning and waited by the phone. I expected them around 3:30, but figured they would call to confirm or to adjust the time. I finally called them around 2:45. I had a boy to pick up from school and wanted to make sure we could coordinate. They surprised me by saying they planned to arrive at 3:00. I quickly picked up the few toys we had out and gathered coats and shoes for myself and three kids.

At 2:50 the doorbell rang. The cheery couple and their agent stood on my doorstep. I was barefoot and coat-less with three kids on my heels. We weren't quite ready for company! I had the presence of mind to ask for the agent's business card and express my desire to keep in touch. Five minutes later, with shoes on and kids loaded in the van, we made our hasty retreat.

Half an hour later, when I returned from the school run, the house-hunters were gone.

Again I waited by the phone.

At 5:30, I called the agent and left a cheerful voice mail. She finally called back a few minutes ago with some very interesting feedback.

Yesterday's tour went very well. The agent had positive things to say. The couple is concerned about the two small bedrooms we have upstairs, and worries that our square footage (2785) isn't enough to acommodate them for the 5-10 years they plan to stay in the house. Our home is the smallest they are considering.

The couple is flying home tomorrow and doesn't plan to make an offer on a home here until the end of next week. Their home in New York is currently for sale, but they have had tons of traffic and expect to get an offer of their own any day. Their real estate agent will keep us posted on our standing.

So again we wait. What an adventure!

I find it ironic that just as we are making plans to leave Colorado, I have come to terms with the snow. In fact, I think it is quite lovely! Today the snow is shimmering in the sunshine, and I wonder how I will find beauty in a city without four seasons.


Here's to a gorgeous winter day!

There are lots of things in life in my life that never get done, so when I actually finish I project I feel accomplished. The only finished project in recent memory arrived via FedEx this morning.

May I present my 2009 blog book? It's the red one on the right, and I am thrilled. With 440 pages and 1140 images, it is quite the historical work. Just browsing its pages brought back tons of memories from the last year.


It makes a nice companion to my 2008 blog book (at left), which is the first of its kind. Before I started this blog two years ago, I published a family newsletter via email for six years. All of those issues are in binders in the closet. I'm glad for that record, too, but I LOVE these hardcover books with glossy pages, gorgeous pictures, and numbered pages.

Plus, the books have my name on the binding, so I feel officially published. This will likely be my only claim to literary fame.

I'm OK with that.

We are regular church-goers. Every Sunday finds us sharing a pew in the LDS chapel up the road. I really love our Sunday meetings.

Since our meeting schedule changed for the new year, getting the six of us ready for a 9:00 a.m. sacrament meeting has presented a few challenges. But this morning we actually had a few minutes to spare. The kids looked awfully sharp, so I snapped a picture. I wanted to remember that today was Tyler's first day wearing his new (hand-me-down) suit, and Lexi's first day with a ponytail.


As you might imagine, our bunch struggles to stay reverent and respectful during sacrament meeting, which is a family affair. Today the kids were especially unruly, and their tired parents kind of limped through the first hour. Garry and I were happy to send the three oldest kids along to their age-appropriate classes for the next two hours while we attended our adult meetings.

In spite of our often-frazzled church experiences, today I am also remembering that we don't go to church because it is easy or because we always enjoy reverent worship with our kids in tow. We go because it is the right thing to do. We go because we fervently believe in the doctrine and principles being taught. We go because we are nurturing our young family in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love this quote from Elder Russell M. Nelson, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

"Each member of the Church bears responsibility for the spiritual enrichment that can come from a sacrament meeting. Each should sing with a grateful heart and respond with an audible “amen” at the conclusion of a prayer or a testimony. We personally ponder the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We reflect upon the significance of His suffering at Gethsemane and His Crucifixion on Calvary. At this time, each of us is to “examine himself” (1 Cor. 11:28) and reflect upon personal covenants made with the Lord. At this time, we meditate upon the sacred things of God.

Gratefully, I thank the Lord for the sacrament meeting and all that it has meant in my life. It has repeatedly rekindled my faith and allowed me to renew my covenants from week to week, helping Sister Nelson and me to live and rear our family in the glorious light of the gospel."

So at the end of another Sabbath Day, I'll say "amen" to Elder Nelson's words (full text here). And next week, when our kids are a little too wiggly on noisy on our bench, I'll try to remember them!

Tyler celebrated the 100th day of school today. He and his classmates contributed items to a "100 Things" museum. Some kids brought Cheerios and Froot Loops necklaces, paper clip chains, and boxes of action figures. Tyler was pretty proud of the Lego structure he created with exactly 100 bricks.



After school Tyler wanted to know how many days of school are left. My answer? Not nearly enough.

Tonight I received a gift from an unexpected source.

I attended a Relief Society meeting billed as a crash course on dealing with depression in yourself and loved ones. I was happy to find friendly people to sit by while listening to subject matter that so directly pertained to my life. I expected to feel emotional, to feel weighed down by frustration and discouragement that the burden of depression is sometimes mine to bear.

But instead I was overwhelmed with contentment and peace, even happiness. As I listened (and surprised myself by sharing a few times) I realized that I have learned important things in the last few years -- things about myself, things about others, things about God's plan of happiness for me -- that have greatly improved my outlook on life. I have done some hard things and survived. I have been in the low valley but now find myself in the mountains. I have learned. I have grown. I have conquered.

From my seat on the back row, I could see how far I have come. And I realized that the ability to appreciate my progress was a gift. So often I feel like I'm taking two steps forward but sixteen steps backward. I feel like the things I do every day with my little kids in my little world make no difference at all. The only movement I notice is the backward movement, or the things I'm not doing or could be doing in a better way. This new perspective was amazing.

I came home from the meeting to a quiet house. Some wonderful friends are staying with us for a couple of days. I have worried that such real-life exposure to my family life might be a straining experience for all of us. Instead, it has been great. As I talked with my friend about the events of the evening, she shared her perspective of my home and family life. She said such lovely things, further validating my impression that I am making progress. Life isn't perfect, but I am making progress. And I feel like God accepts my meager offerings. He is pleased with my work.

Tonight I'm having trouble sleeping, but not because I am worried or afraid or upset. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that I am moving in the right direction. Progress is a beautiful, wonderful thing.