Edgeworth Family Adventures

Evan's big day!

2009-09-06T17:43:00.005-05:00

Evan turned 1 on Saturday. He celebrated by sleeping until 8:40 am! So by the time we finally heard him playing in his crib everyone was up and ready to sing. We went into his room singing "Happy Birthday" and the child smiled and glowed like he knew EXACTLY who's special day it was. So cute.

We asked a wonderful neighborhood family and some other kids over for cake and ice cream. Just to keep things simple I got the same Costco cake Brett selected for his party. We put Evan in his high chair, sang and let his brothers blow out the candle. We gave him a piece of cake and he just kind of poked and prodded it until Scott cut it up and gave him a fork. What I have noticed about Evan is that he does not make much noise while he eats and it is a bit painstaking but eventually he eats everything on his tray. So it was with the cake. With a great amount of perseverance he polished off the entire piece. Then he laid his head down on his tray as if he found the whole process simply exhausting!

Evan and mommy before the festivities begin!

Evan and his big brothers!

All clean and waiting for cake!

During the cake eating process!

Evan - the after picture - heading toward sugar coma!

Two weeks ago the boys started school. Chad and David both marched fearlessly toward third and first grades respectively. They have adjusted well to the transition from lazy summer days of hours spent playing legos to early mornings and the after school homework routine (no friends, no playing, no video games until homework is done). Brett, on the other hand, has not adjusted very well. I was "invited" to his kindergarten class after school one afternoon to consult with his teacher and vice principal on how we could help Brett follow directions in class. This was the third day of school. On the fifth day of school I got a call from the vice principal. Brett "made a sad choice. He punched two 'friends' in the stomach." Jeez. And I thought they were calling to tell me Brett was selected to be part of the Gifted and Talented program. As a result of his indiscretion Brett lost his computer privileges for the week-end. Last week was marginally better but Scott and I are really struggling with Brett right now. He has never been the most cooperative child but lately he basically fights everything we ask and need him to do. From getting up in the morning, getting dressed, and riding his bike to school to sitting at the table for dinner and going to bed ever thing is a struggle. I am very depressed about this and think I will escape from Brett tomorrow for two free yoga classes (it is Free Yoga Day in Dallas!!). Maybe downward dog will lead to inspiration!

Edgeworth brothers on the first day of school

Brett is definitely not a happy camper!

July trip to Nashville

2009-08-08T13:50:00.007-05:00

Scott recently brought home some very anemic looking tomato plants for our garden. He explained to Brett that they would need some love. He said, "Brett, I need you to water the plants." To which Brett replied so earnestly, "Is water love??"

I cannot believe it is August already which means the boys, including Brett, start school in a few weeks!

Last month we took a very spontaneous road trip to Nashville for cousins Andie and Brady's birthday party. We left Dallas Friday night around 6:30 and rolled into Nashville around 5 am. The big boys slept fine but the baby definitely objected to sleeping all night in his car seat. From about 2 am on he did that annoying cry-out-every-five-minutes routine while he was still asleep! Needless to say Scott and I got no sleep but managed to sneak a few hours when we arrived at Carrie's. Another major reason for the trip was to see Carrie's new Nashville home! They recently purchased a gorgeous home about a mile from their old house. The new house is definitely Carrie. Perfect for entertaining with beautiful flooring throughout, a gorgeous open kitchen (very difficult to find in Nashville for some reason), huge windows and lots of light. Best of all a pool which is where the kids spent all day Saturday. I especially loved the sunroom off the back of the house overlooking the entire back yard and the surrounding green hills. Nashville is stunning this time of year.

We could only stay a few days and had to drive back on Tuesday but it was worth it to see our Haslam cousins and the new house. I think that is one of the greatest blessings of our living in Dallas. Frankly a family of 6 does not fly anywhere cheap so we are extra grateful the Haslam's are within driving distance.

Crazy Brett in the hot tub

Adorable Andie at her 9th birthday party!

Brady and David swimming in the hot tub

Happy Birthday Andie and Brady!

Scott and Becky looking tired!!

Happy 5th Birthday Brett!!

2009-08-06T07:39:00.007-05:00

Brett and his best friend Luke Johnson (the sprinkler park is in the background)

We celebrated Brett's 5th birthday this Saturday at the local sprinkler park. He invited his two best friends from the gym and a neighborhood family with 5 children which worked out well because they also have kids both Chad and David's age. In fact my kids have spent a lot of time with this family during the summer vacation going back and forth from our house to theirs. They spend hours upstairs in the playroom building legos.

At 9 am on Saturday I wondered if we'd have to cancel Brett's party because of the torrential downpour ripping through Dallas. His party was scheduled to start at noon and (literally) around 11 am the heavens parted and it was sunny and blue skies for the rest of the day. So we got lucky.

Neighbors Zoe and Paulie with Chad

I love this particular park because the water activities are right next to the play structures. So the kids had a blast running back and forth between the sprinklers and the swings. I grilled hot dogs at home and brought them to the park for lunch. And of course we had cake. Brett has pointed out a particular cake at Costco each time we went for the past couple of months. After spending hours on Chad's snake cake I was only too happy to oblige and let Costco do the work!

Brett blowing out 5 candles!!

Waiting for CAKE!!

2009-07-23T18:22:00.001-05:00

More recently overheard at the Edgeworth house:

Brett: "I don't want to die on the cross because it hurts."

David: "Don't worry, they don't do that anymore. Not since, ummmm, 1973."

Whew. Glad I wasn't alive in 1973.

2009-07-22T20:01:00.003-05:00

David, Scott and Chad working on our Frisco garden

Brett is in charge of composting

Recently overheard in the Edgeworth house:

Brett: "Chad, I just found your (Nintendo) DSi in my closet. I don't know HOW it got there?" Stated in a voice that could only be described as incredulous.

Earlier in the day:

Chad: "I wish it was my birthday everyday."

David: "But then you'd be 300 years old!" Smart little guy.

2009-07-11T17:29:00.007-05:00

Beautiful picture of Evan and Grandma

I reluctantly drove my mom to the airport today. She arrived last Friday for Chad's baptism and spent a lovely week with us. I really appreciate how my mom just pitches right it and helps us out with the kids and the house. She fed Evan spaghetti and meatballs (minced in my food processor of course), watermelon, homemade banana bread and tons of oatmeal, bananas and Greek yogurt. She took the boys to the pool and the movies, Brett to McDonald's twice, David once and both Chad and David to Target on a Lego shopping spree. In between all that she did laundry, cleaned my kitchen daily and even made it to the gym with me twice and once to yoga.

She is Wonder Woman (or Wonder Grandma!).

Meanwhile I was studying like mad for the ACE certified personal trainer's exam which I managed to pass by the skin of my teeth on Friday!! Yeah! It was a great feeling of accomplishment.

So we are all depressed now and Evan will probably lose the five pounds he gained while Grandma was here because let's face it: no one loves you (and feeds you) like your Grandma!!

One last picture before leaving for the airport

Chad's baptism and Edgeworth happenings since April!

2009-07-05T10:23:00.005-05:00

Patriotic David on Fourth of July 2009

Our families gathered this past week-end for Chad's 4th of July baptism. Carrie and the Haslam cousins drove over from Nashville and arrived on Thursday. On Friday we did three airport runs to pick up the rest of the gang. The best part is watching the kids jump right back into playing as if they just saw each other five minutes earlier.

I really enjoyed the wonderful spirit at the baptism. It was a tender moment as a parent to see the front pews of the stake center filled with children dressed in white. Unfortunately Chad was very sleep deprived and cranky. He had been up until 10 pm the night before and naturally Brett woke him up early on Saturday morning. Then we realized afterward that he never ate breakfast because he was too busy playing. So between his low blood sugar and lack of sleep he was surly indeed.

After the baptism we had the obligatory 4th of July barbeque, went swimming and watched the Frisco fireworks at the church.

Other highlights from the past couple of months:

Evan and I flew to Las Vegas Easter week-end to celebrate my Grandma Waldron's 85th birthday. Between the eleven adults present the baby was hardly a moment without lavish attention. It was a fun trip for me, catching up with family I had not seen for ages.

The last month of school was one continuos celebration. At one point I felt like I was at the school as much as the boys! I was pretty glad when the end finally came and we could enjoy the respite from homework and the early 7:50 am start time for a few months. Our summer routine is pretty basic. We ride our bikes to the gym each morning. The boys need a morning outing or they are bored by 9 am! We go swimming in the afternoon and in between the boys have some reading quiet time and journal writing. Brett is really into writing letters and drawing corresponding pictures in his journal. I had despaired thinking he would not learn to write his name or any other letter of the alphabet before starting kindergarten this fall. But he finally rose up and figured it out on his own. Typical Brett.

And then there is the fighting and agitation...sigh.

Chad turned 8 in June and had a fun birthday party the Friday after school got out. We rented an inflatable water slide that was actually enclosed in a bounce house. The kids had a blast in that thing although this might be the last year we can get away with inviting the whole class. I definitely noticed that the girls did not want to play as rough as the boys and were not always amused by their antics. He also joined cub scouts and spent a week going to cub scout camp each afternoon. I chaperoned one afternoon and despite the scorching heat and humidity it was a blast watching these boys and their excitement about shooting BB guns (we are in Texas after all!).

Evan is 10 months today and is crawling everywhere, banging his head on everything and eating like a professional sumo wrestler. He is still a joy and puts up with his brothers wanting to carry him around and thrust toys in his face (Brett).

I posted some fun pictures from the above events on a Picasa web album. Here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bedgeworth/April09July09Highlights?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuxiva19oDvLQ#

Soccer Saturday

2009-04-05T21:00:00.004-05:00

Both Chad and David played their first soccer games on Saturday. And while the entire day was spent running from activity to activity (not my favorite way to spend a Saturday) it was really fun to watch them play. Chad's team, Fire and Ice, played in the morning and despite having no prior soccer experience he ran with the best of them.

David's team, Shooting Stars, played in the 80 degree afternoon. Afterward David's coach told Scott David was an aggressive player. He said, "some kids have it and David has it." What?? This is the kid that regularly walked off the baseball field last year. But sure enough I did notice that David seemed to be hustling after the ball and kicking it pretty ferociously. So maybe this will be good anger management for him!

I am just glad they are having fun. It was so discouraging last year to drag David to baseball practice. I really do not feel the need to push my kids to play sports but I did not like the idea of just giving up as well.

We also enjoyed our housing development's Easter Egg'stravaganza. We were joined by our little neighbor Zoe who is quite a regular at my house. She plays with the boys practically every day and spends nearly all day Saturday with them as well. I think she keeps them in line so naturally I am always glad to see her smiling face come through the door. The kids wanted to get their faces painted afterwards and Brett asked for a black widow. Is that strange? I think so. The poor face painter forgot the red hourglass until Brett reminded her. Can hardly blame her as I am guessing she does not get too many requests for black widows.

The next David Beckhams??

Zoe and Chad giving "Peace a chance!"

Brett and his black widow (complete with red hourglass)

Post egg hunt: checking out the goodies inside the eggs

2009-03-08T09:28:00.007-05:00

I did not fall off the wagon on my New Year's blogging resolution. It is just that absolutely nothing of interest happened in the Edgeworth household for a couple of weeks. The highlight of one week was outfitting the whole family with two pairs of Crocs each for $48 (courtesty of the Croc outlet store in Allen, TX). School, homework and housework do not an exciting blog post make.

But then a few weeks ago the most interesting thing that could happen did. A visit from Grandma Riddle who flew in from Las Vegas on Friday. She came to share her birthday week-end with us. And for her birthday we generously allowed her to babysit the kids all day (Saturday) so that we could run all our errands. Hey I did schedule her a massage for Saturday afternoon so I am not completely heartless. But as soon as it was over she was back on the job - no allowance for the post-massage nap! On Sunday after church we celebrated her birthday with filet mignon, mashed potatoes, fresh corn, homemade rolls and a half eaten chocolate cake from Costco (bought on Friday so it had been "sampled" a few times in the prior 48 hours!). The boys love these grand family dinners. I suppose they do tire of brown rice, sliced chicken and broccoli. It was so nice having my mom around on Monday and Tuesday as well. She helped me with laundry, cleaned and vacuumed the boys' rooms and bathrooms and took each child out for a solo meal with Grandma. Chad, always up for a fun restaurant experience, chose a nearby pizzeria. David and Brett chose. . . (drum roll please). . .McDonalds. Sheesh. Anyone else tired of McNuggets and Apple Dippers??

The Friday after my mom left was the last day of school before spring break. We spent all day Saturday packing and preparing for Scott to drive with the three older boys to Nashville on Sunday. They left at 9 am and pulled into Carrie's house at 9 pm. In the meantime Evan and I were enjoying a little peace and quiet! I spent the next couple of days restoring the house to some semblance of order before my Tuesday afternoon flight to Nashville. When we made our spring break plans several months ago I thought it might be nice to have a few days to myself. And I cannot lie - it was nice. And then I began to fantasize about having the whole week to myself ("Gee, sorry Scott, I missed my flight...). But in the end I would have missed out on a wonderful family vacation so I am truly glad I did not "accidently" miss my flight. Uncle Evan, Aimee and their two children arrived from California on Monday so by the time I arrived the gang was fully assembled. Carrie and Sheryl took such good care of us; from organizing massages and babysitters to cooking steak dinners and lots of fun pancake and waffle breakfasts. Wednesday night was a Sushi/Asian fusion dinner out followed by an intimate VH1 Storytellers-esque experience at Nashville's famed Bluebird Cafe (www.bluebirdcafe.com). Now for the sake of full disclosure I must admit that I opted out of the latter as it commenced at 9 pm at which time I truly do turn into a pumpkin. But Scott who is a lover of all things music had an incredible time. On Thursday we took the kids to Family Skate Nite at the local skating rink. Chad struggled a bit at first because roller skating is inexplicably more difficult that roller blading. True to first born form he has a bit of angst when things do not go as easily as expected. But after a few tears and some free Sprite courtesy of the center's number game he started to enjoy himself. We really enjoyed watching David as he spent the entire night studiously skating around and around the rink, innumerable falls notwithstanding. Brett, on the other hand, was not exactly in top form. Already sleep deprived from consecutive late nights and early mornings he could not abide that four year old conundrum of wanting to do everything himself yet seriously lacking the gross motor skills required to actually skate unassisted. He basically flipped out and turned into, for lack of a kinder explanation, the Sith Lord. After Scott fell and hurt his knee trying to help him I decided he was done and carried him screaming and crying to the car. Ask me how fun it was trying to get skates off both of our feet in the midst of said temper tantrum! On Friday morning I took Aimee to Bikram Yoga and she was a natural! Despite the appalling heat in the room she did great and worked hard. And it was a treat for me to have a yoga friend. Afterward the kids spent the afternoon at Jason's parent's house riding the quads and playing in the mud. Jason's parents built a gorgeous house about forty miles outside of Nashville on twenty acres of land - basically a kid's paradise. Saturday morning we packed up the car and were on the road by 9 am. One would think that spending twelve hours in the car with four young boys would seem like an eternity but the odd thing was it seemed to go by so quickly and somewhat pleasantly. I have to admit that the end was rather comical because Brett, having drank at least thirty ounces of gatorade, had to go to the bathroom about every thirty minutes. It was frustrating but perhaps his parents should not have allowed a child with the bladder the size of a pea drink so much liquid! A few minutes outside of Nashville David started crying and said, "I miss my cousins." That pretty much summed up all our feelings. For me, the most beautiful part of the trip was watching the cousins play together. We are so grateful for our Haslam/Edgeworth family.

The gang on St. Patrick's Day

Baby Evan (6 1/2 mos.) swinging on Carrie's backyard balcony

Visiting Dr. Jason at work so he could check Chad's leg for us

Family Skate Nite

Our Dancing King!

opps...I did it again!

Fun at the Haslam farm

The Cousins 2009

Our week in pictures

2009-02-22T17:38:00.003-06:00

David's teacher called Thursday night and told me that David had been chosen as one of the weekly World Class Students. His name would be announced at the conclusion of the school's Friday assembly. Arriving early Brett, Evan and I camped out in the multipurpose room with our fully loaded stroller to enjoy the spectacle. As luck would have it Chad's class and another second grade class opened the assembly with a rousing number about synonyms and antonyms. So I got to see both my boys in action. And I finally got to hear the pledge to the Texas flag ("Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."). Gotta love the Lone Star State. Brett particularly enjoyed singing the Hokey Pokey with all the kids. I captured that on video - Brett trying to figure out which arm and leg to put in!

Our World Class Student on the stage looking a bit nervous...

Chad's class waiting to perform

Happy Evan (5 1/2 mo.) in his jumperoo

Brett waiting for the assembly to start - holding the flashlight he carried around all day.

Brett's "Bear" impression - that is Bear from "Man vs. Wild." My kids are obsessed. Yesterday they put together an entire show called "Kids vs. Wild." I'm pretty sure they could take "the Wild!"

Our Snow day

2009-02-15T17:41:00.005-06:00

You will notice that Snow is capitalized. That is because I refer not to the white fluffy stuff but to my dear cousin Snow who lives a few hours south of us in Austin, Texas. On Saturday morning she drove up to visit us for the week-end. Knowing how much the boys love their own cousins I told them that while growing up Snow was my special "best" cousin. We used to visit each other every summer and to this day there are three things that still remind me of those fun and carefree vacations: the intro music from the soap opera Days of Our Lives ("Like sands through the hourglass so are the days of our lives..."), Fruity Pebbles cereal (not that our health nut mother's ever let us eat it; but we spent one summer together with our Philadelphia grandparents and rocked the sugar cereal!), and any 80's hair band (Bon Jovi, Guns'N Roses and especially Skid Row). As we grew up our paths diverged but have surreptitiously crossed again in the great state of Texas.

The boys are old enough to appreciate the concept of Fresh Blood. Someone who has not heard the latest knock-knock joke one hundred times, someone who still thinks playing crack-the-egg on the trampoline is a novelty, someone who is not trying to multitask while playing Guitar Hero. So between playing with the boys and holding Evan we miraculously managed to get caught up in the past five year of each other's lives. When she left this afternoon both Scott and I felt truly blessed by what we shared. Once again living apart from family we realize how much visits from loved ones lift our spirits. I am not sure if I should let this secret out of the bag but Snow is also a top-notch baby sitter. Scott and I took advantage of her presence to go to the movies on Saturday night - we saw Taken which was the perfect action/thriller type movie.

Snow and the boys - she's got in all under control!

This week the boys enjoyed fun Valentine's Day parties at school. I helped out with the craft activities in David's classroom on Friday afternoon. It was a great chance to get to know some of the moms and dads of his classmates. David's best friend in the class is a boy named Aaron and boy, I can see that those two combined give their teacher a run for her money - they could not sit still or keep their hands off each other. Hopefully it was the excess sugar and they are not normally that obnoxious! Everything is definitely bigger in Texas; the kids actually decorated ginormous sugar cookies with gobs of frosting and sprinkles - Arnold would not have approved! It was like a clip from a childhood obesity documentary - supersize me anyone??

Rub-a-dub-dub

Four boys in the tub!

The Zone

2009-02-08T17:47:00.006-06:00

Friday found me in the zone. And shockingly it was not the "zone" of nutrition and exercise. Rather it was the Lego zone. Chad brings home a color coded behavior chart each day. A few weeks ago he excitedly brought home his first highly elusive purple which represents a GREAT day. Knowing how much Chad is motivated by a reward system I challenged him to bring home 20 purples upon which he would earn something very special. Friday was Day 20 so when Chad came home from school I was excited to show him the Lego Star Wars set he earned. Turns out it was a bit too complicated for him to put together by himself and I, being quite the Lego fiend back in the day, immediately offered my assistance. An hour later I was left wondering where the time had gone! It was 6:15 pm and, while nary an item was on the table for dinner, our Naboo Starfighter looked awesome! I really do find myself scoping out Lego sets at Target and Walmart. So I wonder if I had girls would I scope out Barbie Dolls?

the finished product

On Monday I took cookies to school for David's birthday. Thanks to Ah-nold in California kids are no longer allowed to bring yummy treats for their birthdays. Instead you are left to choose other fun options such as a pencil or sugar free popsicles. WooHoo!! Clearly going overboard to compensate for prior treat deprivation I brought bags of homemade heart shaped sugar cookies sprinkled with red sugar crystals and large chocolate chip cookies made with Valentine's M'nMs. Oh and little bags of mini M'nMs. I am sure the parents were loving me that day! Saturday afternoon we took a few of David's friends to Gatti Town - an overpriced Chuck E. Cheese-esque place - here in Frisco. While Scott and I rolled our eyes quite a few times the boys seemed to enjoy themselves playing endless games of skee ball and it was fun getting to know a few of David's friends from school. He also invited a friend from his church class. Jackson has an absolutely delightful personality and I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of him. So David's 2009 birthday is officially OVER.

The Birthday Boy eating his cake.

The gang at Gatti Town

In other news: Evan was 5 months on Thursday but is really not doing anything new. Except sleeping through the night which is probably of interest only to me! But I did bust out the Jumperoo which he seems to LOVE already. Except when the boys (i.e., Brett) try to bounce the heck out of him.

Birthday Boy!

2009-02-01T07:39:00.007-06:00

David waited impatiently ALL week to open these Legos from Grandma!

Hard at work!

Happy Birthday David - love your little brother Evan!

David's 6th Birthday dinner: scrambled eggs, Hawaiian rolls w/honey butter, fruit salad and ice cream for dessert!

I love birthdays. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me as I unabashedly love my own birthday. But I really love my boys' birthdays; from the planning to the presents to the party. And I must confess that David's birthday is my particular favorite. He is the only winter birthday in our family and I like having something to look forward to after the holidays. By the time February 1st rolls around I am ready to get my party on!

David has grown up a lot this year. He started kindergarten and learned how to read. He made his first "best friend" (Landon Telford) with whom he had special play dates in California. He discovered a passion for legos and with his excellent fine motor skills spends hours following the detailed instructions for which even his mother and father have no patience. We have discovered this year that David is the jokester of the family. He loves to hear new jokes, compulsively re-tell old jokes and make up his own. At six his favorite color is blue, his favorite foods are scrambled eggs and toast, grilled cheese and Reese's peanut butter cups. In other words don't waste your money on a Michelin three star restaurant when a Sonic kid's meal will suffice! He is, like his mother and namesake grandfather, a creature of routine. Don't rock the boat folks!

Most importantly we have learned a lot more about what motivates David this year. He is, perhaps, our most private and complex child. We know that he values one-on-one time with either Scott or myself and try to use this as a reward for good behavior. I have also noticed that with heaps of positive reinforcement he is much more apt to listen and help around the house. The minute I go negative he tunes me out. This has been a difficult adjustment as the past year has been challenging for our family and I have not always had the energy or patience to be the kind of mother he needs. In fact over the past couple of months I had two very distinct dreams about David that caused me to reflect very seriously. I believe that this coupled with his growing maturity will make for a wonderful sixth year for our beloved David!

2009-01-25T17:45:00.001-06:00

We had a fun experience at church last week. As I was standing in the hall about to collect the boys from junior primary Brett's CTR 5 teacher came out into the hall. She told me that Brett had lice. Now that is what every mother wants to hear! He had fallen asleep during class and when I went in to examine his head sure enough the bugs were visible to the naked eye. I was so grossed out that I could not bear to pick him up but made him stand up on his sleepy, wobbly legs. Poor kid was about to fall over, having just been awakened from his nap, and I was not about to touch him. Had there been a lice colony at my disposal I probably would have committed him. Ewe! The sad thing is that over the past couple weeks I witnessed the child frantically complaining about and itching his scalp and truly thought it was just because it is so dry here. Then Scott tell me he noticed something in his hair and thought it was dirt. Talk about not making the c-o-n-n-e-c-t-i-o-n. I am sure our church congregation here in Frisco, TX is glad we joined the ranks.

On the way home from church we bought lice shampoo and threw him in tub immediately. After shampooing I used the accompanying gel and tiny comb to try and remove the bugs. We did not make much progress. A few minutes into this exercise in futility I reached for the hair clippers and did the unthinkable. Moments later I hardly recognized the child staring back at me in the mirror. Surrounded by his precious, golden locks I was the emotional one while he was completely blase, commenting, "I look like Chad now."

Brett - the AFTER picture

The other boys were not affected but in an act of brotherly solidarity offered to shave their heads as well. Really it was not too much of a sacrifice on their parts as they both needed a trim anyway . Regardless they are now all sporting matching hair cuts - we are calling them the buzz brothers. I suppose this is sort of a motherhood rite of pass age but definitely one I could have done without. A ll of a sudden I found myself nostalgic for puke.

The Buzz Brothers

After the lice outbreak we thankfully had an uneventful week following Grandma Sheryl's departure last Sunday. Scott took David into his office on Monday (Martin Luther King Day) which is something he tries to do when he sometimes has to catch up on the week-end or holidays. They love going to work with daddy (hello Office Supply Closet - no the apples do not fall far from this tree!!). We enjoyed all the inauguration excitement on Tuesday and on Saturday Chad got a bed! What a trooper - he's been sleeping on the floor for a month. But thanks to Craigslist his parents finally ponied up for something a bit more comfortable. We had not noticed so much time had passed until he actually started complaining that his back hurt. Nice parents that we are - one son has bugs in his hair and the other is sleeping on a hard surface for a month. Meanwhile we are nice and cozy in our super supreme cal king mattress downstairs!

Is this what daddy does at work all day??

Smokey and the Bandit

2009-01-18T02:18:00.000-06:00

On our way to church - don't we clean up well??

Grandma Sheryl loved our little Evan!

Obviously it was not the original plan to leave the cats in California. The plan was to bring them with us to the airport and check them in as baggage. And based on all prior conversations with American Airlines it was a good plan, a sensible plan. On said day, per THE PLAN, we arrived at the airport ticket counter with 4 children, 4 huge suitcases, numberless carryon bags and two cats in a crate. Alas we did not count on this fickle thing called weather. It had dropped thirty degrees in Dallas overnight. As a result all prior information we had obtained from the airline was now null and void. Now, with ninety minutes prior to take off, we needed to obtain certificates of health from a vet and a certificate of acclimation stating that the cats could fly below certain temperatures. Or, as the lady at the ticket counter so helpfully suggested, we could just all come back the next day because the temperature might be warmer in Dallas. Chad, David, Evan and I checked in and left Scott and Brett to deal with this hopeless situation. In the end our Temecula vet would not sign off on any health certificates and who could blame him considering he had not seen Smokey in ages and had never even MET Bandit!

Scott made the agonizing decision to leave the cats in the parking lot. Riverside County Animal Control then picked up the cats after a call from Carrie in Nashville. The Monday after arriving in Dallas I called animal control and confirmed that our cats were still alive and well. We really did not know what to expect. Thus began the saga of trying to get the cats to Texas. Honestly the whole experience was too frustrating to recount so I will proceed with the condensed version (I would like to not relive the mini nervous breakdown I experienced after repeatedly calling American Airline's 1-800 number). It was decided, after consulting with American Airlines ad nauseum and literally getting a different answer each time, that it would be best if Uncle Evan flew out with the cats as carry on in separate cat crates. You are wondering why we did not do this in the first place. Considering we were traveling with our children and so much luggage we thought it would be easier to check them in as baggage. So we had them in one crate which is a no-go for carry on. Oh the joy of hind sight...

Our neighbor Jeff picked them up from animal control and brought them back to Temecula where they lived in our garage thanks to the kindness of the woman who rented our house. After numerous trips to the vet and a round of antibiotics Evan was able to nurse them back to health. Certificates of health were procured and Scott cashed in frequent flyer miles to purchase Evan a plane ticket. We watched the weather anxiously because there was a possibility one of the cats would have to be checked (again difficult to get a straight answer from American Airlines). The day Evan flew out was cold. At least as cold as the day we flew out if not colder. But his ticket agent had evidently attended a different training program because she allowed him to CHECK both cats as luggage and did not blink an eye or make one comment on the weather in Dallas as being too cold. I do not even think she checked the weather!

In the end it was a blessing because we got to see Uncle Evan and enjoy 3 full days with him. He was able to help Scott put some big things together and even built a fantastic cabinet for the niche next to our fireplace in the family room. He also got to enjoy a bit of spoiling by Grandma Sheryl. Meatball soup, homemade creme puffs, pancakes for breakfast each day. Nothing is too hard for Grandma Sheryl. Evan left on Tuesday evening and we continued to thoroughly enjoy the rest of our visit with Grandma who just left us today. We are very sad.

2009-01-11T20:01:00.000-06:00

Jumping on the trampoline the boys got for Christmas - thanx G'pa David!

Leaving school on Friday - Chad took home "Bear" from his class

The boys started school on Monday amidst much parental anxiety. School starts an hour earlier here (7:50 am - oy vey!). With military precision I woke the boys at the dot of 7 am so that I would have enough time to dress them and feed them before waking the baby to feed him. It is still VERY dark here in Dallas at 7 am (and gets darker later in the evening around 6 pm) and Brett wondered why I was getting him up in the middle of the night! To make the morning even more exciting we were experiencing our first Dallas ice storm and freezing cold rain was coming down in buckets. Side note: this later turned into icicles which the boys which entertained the boys for hours after school.

I was actually not sure if I would just fill out paperwork on Monday and bring the boys back for their official first day on Tuesday. So they brought their backpacks but I did not pack lunches. After I filled out piles of paperwork (in duplicate of course) the assistant principal took them to their classes. We were able to accompany them to meet the teachers and say good bye. After handing each child some lunch money so they wouldn't starve I left thinking that the school was very efficient - it had all happened so fast!

At the appointed hour of 3 pm I was waiting by the door to see if they survived the day. To my utter astonishment they exited the building with huge smiles on their faces. The new school was a hit! A few highlights from the week: both of the boys loved buying lunch because, unlike health conscious California, a fun dessert was included. To say that the lunch menu is a step up is an understatement. Each day includes three entree choices sure to please any child, even one as picky as David! Not to mention a slew of sides and desserts. The boys love the daily C.A.M.P. activities which are computers, art, music and physical education. And due to the innate Texan friendliness the boys' classmates really made them feel welcome. Perhaps starting a new school mid-year is not always a bad thing and helped the boys to feel special. The teachers seem very nice and the homework is somewhat similar in length although my first impression is that it might be a tad easier. So far the only major downside is the early start time.

The rest of the week went well. Brett is not going to preschool right now which for him is great because it is one less place to which he must be dragged. He is fun to have around during the day and great company for me. Grandma Sheryl arrived from Nashville on Thursday night and she will be staying until the following Sunday. It is a joy to have her around! She is so helpful and generous with her time. We have also had a special visitor - our Uncle Evan who came all the way from California with our cats Smokey and Bandit. But that is a story for another day...

One really cute thing that I love about the new school is that Chad picks David up from the multipurpose room and brings him with his class to exit the second grade door. The school is really organized because obviously I cannot be in two places at one time!

2008-04-03T20:44:00.000-05:00

Proud older brother-to-be Brett!

Easter Sunday we sent out the above picture to our families. In case you cannot read the writing on the shirt (which was very hard to photograph on a squirmy three year-old!) it says: "Big Brother In Training. Reports for duty September 4th, 2008." We let Brett announce the big news - we will have our 4th baby in September.

Easter morning Scott hid the eggs the boys colored earlier in the week in our backyard along with some plastic eggs filled with little pictures of Jesus, CTR rings and other fun stuff from the local LDS bookstore. That turned out really nice and surprisingly the boys did not even mention the missing C-A-N-D-Y. We also put out a few "special" eggs that the boys opened last. Inside we put a tiny knit baby cap, a pacifier and a miniature t-shirt that at one time actually fit my big boys! After a myriad of hints they finally made the connection about welcoming a new baby into our family. It was sweet to see the huge smile on David's face. I know Chad is excited too although really I do not think Brett has a clue what is going on! Or how his life is about to change in 5 short months...

After telling the boys we were ready and excited to spread the news. Although it has been so long since I have posted anything on this blog I have no idea if anyone is still reading!

I am finally climbing out of the abyss of nausea and fatigue that tormented me during January, February and part of March. And I do have so much to post about our comings and goings thus far this year so I am hoping that this entry might get me back on track.

Happy New Year

2008-01-15T09:12:00.000-06:00

Got Snow??

We ended the year 2007 taking a fun family ski vacation in Brian Head, Utah. The Saturday after Christmas we leisurely packed up the car and drove to Las Vegas. Carrie, Jason and the Haslam cousins were supposed to meet us there and then we would all drive up to Utah together. Brian Head is about three hours north of Las Vegas. Unfortunately the Haslams got stranded in Cleveland due to a missed connection. They ended up flying into Salt Lake City and driving south to Brian Head. And because we took our time leaving California on Saturday neither of our families got to the hotel until very late Saturday night. The boys loved seeing Andie, Brady and Emme on Sunday morning. It was, as always, a joyful reunion with our beloved Haslam cousins!

Just a few days prior we had signed the kids up for ski lessons on Sunday and Monday. Should have actually done that a few weeks in advance because they ended up on standby. It was a crazy morning as we rushed over to the lodge at 8 am to be the first in the standby line. Scott, Jason and I sat out in the cold until they opened the doors at 8:45 am. Brian Head changed their registration procedures this year and the resulting chaos was very stressful. Finally around 10 am we had everyone organized. Chad, David and Andie went to ski school. Brett went to a fun wee ski class for three year olds in the morning and then the on site day care in the afternoon. Brady's class remained full so he skied with Jason. After walking back and forth from our hotel to the ski lodge (half mile round trip) at least six times with various kids and gear Scott and I were pretty worn out by the time the morning was over. And we had not even put n skis yet! Scott brought his brother Evan's snowboard so after resting and regrouping a bit he went snowboarding. I opted to stay at the hotel and have a relaxing morning and afternoon. Brian Head offers a really fun tube run right next to the ski lifts so we decided to have an early dinner and then take the kids tubing (or "tubit" as Brett called it) at 6 pm. Even Brett sat in his own tube which basically looked like a heavy duty gigantic pool inner tube. The kids dragged their tubes to the front of the line and the tube was then attached to a rope tow which pulled them up to the top of a hill. The fun part is flying down the hill and our kids loved it!

David riding his tube up the mountain

Our kids did not want to go to ski school Monday morning. In fact Chad was up to all hours the night before obsessing over not wanting to go. I do not think his performance the day before had been particularly stellar and he was a bit discouraged. Fortunately I had paid for the lessons the night before so we avoided the crowds until it was time to check the kids in at 9:30 am. Brett went to his combo day care/wee ski with no problems. David required a pep talk but then went to his determined to do his best. I promised Chad I would pick him up for lunch and take him to the lodge cafeteria. But even with that to look forward no amount of encouragement would change his attitude. He went both unwilling and unhappy. When I came back at lunchtime I found him in the "Sick and Sad" room. He had not skied all morning. I decided he needed a good solid lunch before I started lecturing so we ordered a cheeseburger with a trip to the salad bar where he selected olives, shredded cheese, green jell-o and carrots. Scott joined us a few minutes after and we both talked to Chad about not giving up. He seemed much more receptive after a good lunch! Fortunately this story does have a happy ending. When we picked the boys up both David and Brett had a great day and Chad had a fun and definitely more productive afternoon. We really appreciated the praise we received from Brett's teachers. He was taken out on skis for an hour in the morning and in the afternoon. His teachers told us that he "made their day" with his joyful personality and quick learning. I think that is the first time anyone outside of our own family has said that about our children so naturally we were thrilled.

The Edgeworth Family after a truly FUN day of skiing!

Brian Head offers a really fun and decidedly low key fire works show at 6 pm on New Year's Eve. That is the perfect time for parents with young children. And the best part is the torch parade. All the ski instructors ride up the lift adjacent to the big lodge each carrying two bright red torches. As the fireworks are going off they come skiing and snowboarding down the mountain in a pattern while carrying the torches. It was beautiful and made me so happy to watch. It reminded me of something we would see in a tiny Swiss villa. We took the kids swimming after that at the hotel pool. After a pizza dinner I took Brett back to our room to fall asleep. We were joined shortly by David around 9 pm. But Scott, Chad, Andie and Brady all managed to stay awake until 12:30 am playing the Wii. So the six year old child rang in the New Year while his mother was deep asleep! The first of many to be sure...

Edgeworths/Haslams on our way to the fireworks - last day of 2007!!

Tuesday morning we checked out of the hotel and then took the kids sledding for several hours before heading back to Las Vegas. We brought our Swiss sleds and the kids loved them. We were quickly shedding layers as it was a bright warm day outside. The best kind for sledding. One of the sleds was still wrapped in plastic bubble wrap and as Scott cut off the bubble wrap he thought it would actually made a decent sled. So we gave it to Brett and he had a great time sledding with his bubble wrap for the next two hours. It was light enough that he could easily carry it up the short hill and by the end he was laying on his stomach going down Superman style!

Brett sledding on his bubble wrap sled

It was so fun having a few more days in Las Vegas to play with the cousins and the kids really got along well. On Wednesday my mom and I took the kids roller skating. On Thursday we all went bowling at the new Red Rock Casino. I would highly recommend this kid friendly casino as it WAY off the strip and relatively smoke free. After bowling we signed the kids into the casino's huge indoor play area. They played very happily while we saw National Treasure at the movie theater next door. They were all red faced and sweaty when we picked them up!

On Friday morning I had a great massage just down the street from my mom's house (if you are ever in Las Vegas make an appointment with Jamie - www.lvhealer.com). We packed up the car and left after that in order to have the week-end to decompress. The boys were sad to leave their cousins and Grandma. And while it was hard for me to leave too I did feel that the vacation had been very restorative and that I felt much more refreshed and relaxed. It is always a blessing to be with my mom as she takes such good care of us!

Chad went back to school the following Monday and the boys finally started preschool yesterday. Not a moment to soon as I was definitely ready to hit the grocery store solo. We are busy now with Chad's flag football games and homework but with the weather mild and warm we are truly enjoying a Southern California winter! If I cannot be in Switzerland then I might as well be in Southern California...

Merry Christmas to all!

2007-12-28T08:38:00.000-06:00

Scott had to work Monday (Christmas Eve) so we began our pre Christmas festivities on Sunday night. After church the boys dressed up in their Nativity costumes and we took cookies to neighbors and friends in our little community and sang Christmas carols. Afterward we drove around looking at Christmas lights. While in the car Brett, with his angelic three year old voice, sang the complete first verse to Away in a Manger. Scott was surprised as he did not know that Brett had learned it with the older boys. We came home and tried to get the boys to sing for us on video but I am sure you can imagine how special and sacred that turned out. It quickly deteriorated within minutes to a rousing version of Jingle Bells.

Chad - Samuel the Lamanite, David - a Shepard & Brett - (very emphatically) "I'm Joseph!"

Singing Christmas carols for Mommy and Daddy

I have discovered the secret of producing children that fall asleep quickly on Christmas Eve. First, in the late afternoon of said day entice your children to ride their bikes approximately one mile to the nearest Trader Joe's. Second, after your shopping is done announce that the bike lock key is still at home while the bike lock is securely fastened around your bikes in front of the store. Third, instead of calling a friend to come pick you, your children and your bag of groceries up (the sensible thing to do) tell your children they must walk home. After Scott came home and a quick dinner and baths our boys each opened a present and went to bed. Amazingly they were each asleep within fifteen minutes.

Christmas Eve - Do you see Brett's head between the banisters on the staircase?

Christmas morning began at a fairly reasonable hour. Chad was up a bit before seven but we sent him downstairs to open the gifts in his stocking. When I got up at seven I discovered he had actually opened Brett's stocking! So we had to re-wrap everything quickly before Brett came downstairs. The boys opened their stockings and frankly that was enough for Brett. But Chad and David definitely had a bigger agenda and really enjoyed opening all their presents. This was a sporty Christmas as Santa brought them baseball mits, footballs and a tether ball pole for the backyard. Various family members bought them razor scooters and a full sized air hockey table. Best of all Santa brought the boys and daddy a Wii. David was also super excited to see Grandma Maryellen's gift for the boys: the Step 2 walk-in kitchen that he, "always wanted!"

The boys must have been extra good this year!

We spent a relaxing day playing with toys and enjoying family time. My favorite part was taking a run around Harveston Lake with Scott and the boys on their razor scooters. The weather was gorgeous and I love watching the boys in constructive motion!

'Tis the season

2007-12-21T13:09:00.000-06:00

I consciously decided to simplify this Christmas season by doing and buying less. Which is why it was distressing to have spent two days this past week feeling completely frazzled. Wednesday David and Brett had a holiday party at their preschool. So at 5:15 am, after saying good bye to Scott, I found myself dipping 60 balls of dough into melted semi sweet chocolate to make Cookie Dough Truffles (a delicious egg-free recipe if anyone is interested). A bit decadent for kids this was actually not for the children but for their teachers. I happened to be snack mom that day as well so in between dipping I was cooking quesadillas, peeling a dozen oranges and making my own lunch as I would be gone all morning. We arrived home in the late afternoon to chaos in the kitchen and utter disarray elsewhere in the house. Not exactly a pleasant homecoming!

Chad in his classroom at school

I thought Thursday would be better but it actually turned out worse. After we rode Chad to school and went to the gym I needed to get some paperwork signed at our bank. For the second time in two days I had to drag David and Brett into a place that is normally to be avoided like the plague with children in tow. But Wednesday I did not have my passport (having misplaced by CA drivers license in the move) and my Swiss drivers license was apparently not going to cut it. Today there was another hold up but the branch manager kindly processed my request with the caveat that I must call him that afternoon with some particulars I did not have on me at the time. Next stop Sam's Cub where I discovered that I left my purse inside the bank. And this is always the sign that I am trying to do too much – my brain becomes overwrought and I start to lose things. But I happened to have my check book and passport in the car so I was able to get a temporary membership so I could buy the veggie tray I needed for Chad's class party later that afternoon. After driving back to the bank to pick up my purse and then to drop the veggie platter off at Chad's school it was 12:30 pm before we arrived back home. Chad's class party and program started at 2:15 so we needed to leave by 2 pm in order to be on time. Between showering and food prep I needed to e-mail the bank with information I was unable to find on either of our computers. Scott reminded me that our old filing cabinet was out in the garage and luckily I was able to procure a phone number which ultimately led to a positive result. Bank was e-mailed and whew! Mr. Matt MCaffrey of Wells Fargo Bank would not lose his job when his books are audited in three months. At 1:53 pm I opened my pantry door to grab movie tickets for Chad's teacher. I have only seem them a million times sitting on a shelf in plain view since I bought them from Costco ages ago. But yesterday they were seemingly swallowed up in the dismal abyss of our day. I searched high and searched low but to no avail. Finally at 2 pm I cut my losses. The boys still needed shoes on their feet and that is always a five minute process. We left the house by 2:11 and David, bless his heart, rose up and biked his little heart out. Nonetheless we walked into Chad's classroom just seconds after the obviously very short program ended. The children looked like red and green angels at the front of a classroom filled with beaming parents sitting at undersized desks in miniature chairs. The minute Chad saw me his eyes filled with tears and he hurled himself at me and cried for the next ten minutes. It was pretty intense. And I felt so badly that we missed his program but at least I knew in my heart we had done our best to get there on time. I am really so careful about how much we do each day but during this season of joy and gladness there are always a few crazy days that leave you wondering about the true meaning of Christmas!

Chad and his wonderful first grade teacher Mrs. Maxwell

In the end the party was great. The boys really enjoyed dipping marshmellows and graham crackers into the chocolate fountain brought by one of the parents. I was really nervous Brett would be obnoxious but he liked the food and he and David found some toys to play with and were quite content, especially David who wanted nothing more than to sit at Chad's desk when we first arrived.

Yesterday in the late afternoon we drove to Victorville to take Scott's grandfather out to dinner. Since it was Christmas we decided to splurge on...Carl's Junior! We even treated Grandpa to a strawberry milk shake with his Classic Star combo (although later he had to loan me $3 to buy Brett a milkshake for dessert as I was out of cash!). The decidedly low brow cuisine actually tasted good to everyone and we had a fun visit with Grandpa singing Christmas carols and just enjoying his tender spirit.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum how lovely are thy branches...

2007-12-16T21:04:00.000-06:00

The boys are working hard on our lovely tree!

Last week-end Scott and Chad went to the Christmas tree lot and brought home a lovely pine scented tree which we enjoyed decorating Sunday morning. Of course tree trimming proves that small children have no sense of or desire for order and tradition despite what numerous child psychologists would tell us. Growing up my mother would sit on the couch and lovingly unwrap each ornament. She would then allow us to hang them on the tree one at a time. I vaguely recall the process lasting hours and when we were finished my father would hang a large clay Santa on the top. Basically my boys wanted to grab as many ornaments as they could hold while dashing madly toward the tree lest anyone hang more than the other. The joy of sibling rivalry. But peace did prevail and it was nice to look at each ornament and tell the boys how it was procured. Of course some were completely random but we do have a nice selection of ornaments we bought at the Swiss Christmas markets last year and a fabulous Venetian glass gondola steered by Santa Claus himself. Our tree has no interior design inspired theme but is basically a collection of memories.

Hug-a-tree!

Two weeks ago I signed Chad up for a flag football team. For his benefit, both physical and social, it is time to make our foray into organized sports. I am fortunate to have a friend with a six year old son that Chad adores. She is kind enough to tell us about such things so that we can sign up as well. Otherwise I am guessing Chad would not play sports until he was old enough to drive himself. Weekly Thursday practices are conveniently located at the sports park across the street from our house and the games are Saturday afternoons which is a great time for our family. Last Thursday at practice they scrimmaged against another team of older boys. At one point Chad was supposed to go out for a pass but instead ran in the wrong direction toward the opposing team's goal line. Undeterred, as the coaches are telling Chad to run the other way, the QB lobbed him a pass which he thankfully did not catch. The whole episode was hysterical and I was reassured by the coach that we will see a lot more of that during the season. That was definitely worth the $110 registration fee!

All I want for Christmas...

2007-12-06T08:44:00.000-06:00

I have in my possession an old fashioned fly swatter composed of orange plastic attached to a very long aluminum handle. Apparently Brett is rather taken with it. Yesterday I picked up a photocopied letter from his pre-school wherein the teachers had asked the children what they wanted for Christmas. Responses varied but most were in the realm of normal for children ages three to four. I laughed out loud when I saw Brett's response: fly smacker.

Should I be grateful that I can easily fulfill his Christmas dreams for under five dollars? Or does this suggest a propensity toward violence? I am leaning toward the latter.

David indicated that he wants a popcorn machine of which I have never seen a children's version so that is probably not going to happen either. Trust the Edgeworth boys to come up with some outlandish requests!

Going back to Cali...

2007-11-27T23:15:00.000-06:00

I always intended to continue our blog once we returned to California and by now the statue of limitations on the moving excuse has surely expired! To bring this blog up to speed I will try to sum up the last four months as succinctly as possible.

Thursday, July 5th, our final night in Geneva - standing on the Pont d'Arve

In early July we tried to enjoy our final week in Geneva but with the many things that had to be accomplished it was difficult to relax. Both Scott and I had mile long to-do lists and most things could not be checked off until our final day. Chad and David spent the week going to a day camp sponsored by the Maison de Quartier right across the street from us. It was the same camp Chad went to last summer. At almost 4½ David was too young but I was able to sign him up anyway and was so glad that he had an activity each day. A few babysitters from church helped us out with Brett while we finished up our last minute shopping and errands. The movers came Thursday morning, July 5th, at 7:30 am. The night before we had turned our playroom into the staging area and had started dividing our personal belongings into two piles: one for the boat shipment which we will not receive for two months and another for the air shipment which we will receive the Monday after we return to California. We were limited to five hundred pounds for the air shipment. Sounds like a lot but we maxed out quickly on just our summer clothes, boys' bikes, our computer and a big plastic bin of chocolate. We would not see the boys' beds, toys or anything else we brought or bought in Geneva for two months.

Even though the first couple hours the movers were packing up were pretty stressful, as we tried to stay one step ahead of the process, it was a serious luxury to have professional movers. With their perfectly matched boxes of uniform size, large rolls of bubble paper and massive tape dispensers the entire process took about eight hours and that included a typical Swiss lunch break of ninety minutes. And for Scott and I it would have been even easier except we were also trying to pack for our eight day UK/Ireland trip. That added a new dimension as the weather would not be as warm as California so instead of packing most of our summer clothes we ended up having to put them in the air shipment.

The movers left at 4:30 pm. We did not have to pick up Chad and David until 5:30 and Brett was still with the babysitter until 5 pm. That gave Scott and I a chance to sit in our empty apartment and ruminate on the past two years. What a growing experience this has been for our family and an incredible blessing and opportunity. To sum up: it was very hard to come but it was much harder to leave.

After we picked up the boys from camp we walked to a local park to meet three families from Chad's school. Chad had not seen his school friends for over a week and it was sweet to see how happy they were to see each other. We stayed until about 7 pm and just enjoyed spending our final night in Geneva with some of our local Geneva friends. The parents at Chad's school really took the time to get to know us over the past two years and were incredibly patient with our French. The moms took me out to lunch and showered me with kitschy Swiss souvenirs the Tuesday before which I really enjoyed.

Chad (and Brett) playing with his Swiss school friends Zayan and Sarah

On Friday, July 6th, nearly two years to the day we arrived, we left Geneva en route to London. I will skip that part of the adventure as that travelog is still a work in progress. Suffice it to say it was a good transition for us as it would have been difficult to simply fly from Geneva back to America.

After our fun UK/Ireland vacation with the Carrie and the Haslam cousins we flew from Dublin to Newark and I have to say it was our most enjoyable flight yet. Traveling business class with huge seats and plenty of leg room makes a huge difference! But since it was on the company dime I highly doubt we will be enjoying that luxury again. As such we were determined to make the most of it. From the moment we boarded Chad reclined his seat, put on the headphones and zoned out to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We barely heard from him the entire eight hour flight. Brett slept for at least five hours and David slept and ate ice cream sundaes from the ice cream trolley.

Nearly twenty four hours we finally landed in Los Angeles at the LAX airport. The difference between taking off in beautiful, green Dublin and landing in brown, smoggy Los Angeles was a depressingly visible reminder that our two years in Europe were over.

We spent a few nights with Scott's brother in Murrieta while waiting for rental cars, electricity and gas in our house and the first of three shipments we were to receive over the next two months. The first arrived Monday morning and it was composed of box after box of junk we left in storage for two years. Case in point: we had a sumptuous faux wood entertainment center that was purchased by Scott at Kmart the year we were married. Scott refused to allow it in the house and when Salvation Army came to pick it up they refused to take it claiming it would not sell! This was the quality of stuff we left in storage for two years. I was much more excited to see our air shipment that arrived from Geneva on Wednesday. Was it because of the boys' bikes they were dying to ride in our extra long driveway? Was it because after wearing the same shorts for four days I was anxious to see the rest of my summer clothes? No, it was the clear plastic bin tightly covered in bubble wrap labeled “Souvenirs de Geneve.” In other words my chocolate - tangible evidence of my life in Geneva. I hid the bin in my pantry so no one would discover my contraband.

We managed to unpack pretty quickly. It was kind of sad watching the boys play with that were clearly not age appropriate, such as a Little People Noah's Ark, but the majority of our Geneva stuff was not due by boat until September.

Moving and relocating is always a challenge. But thus far the biggest challenge we have faced is Scott's daily commute into Orange County from Temecula. It is a grueling ninety minutes each way. Typically he drives the whole way on Mondays because the traffic is lighter. The rest of the week he drives into Corona and takes the train to Irvine followed by a shuttle bus to his office. That actually makes the commute longer but at least he can work (or sleep) on the train. Other things that have helped: an iPod loaded with music and interesting LDS podcasts, a wireless headset for his cell phone, a hybrid SUV that gets great gas mileage and a custom installed stereo. He leaves the house by 5:15 am and is generally home by 7 pm. Or 8 pm if he stops off at the gym on the way home. Which, despite a full day with the kids, I really encourage as a way for him to blow off some steam and reverse some of the postural damage of sitting all day! We both committed to a year of “the commute” in order to get settled into American life before making any drastic changes and are determined to make the best of it. Another bonus is the Alternative Work Schedule (AWS). He works eighty hours during the first nine days of each pay cycle and has every other Friday off. On his Fridays off he takes David and Brett to preschool and often visits Chad's school to have lunch with him and play on the recess. I have to say that really makes up for the long days.

As many who know me can attest I am a self confessed morning person. I love getting up with Scott at 5 am to make his breakfast and lunch to take on the road. Then I enjoy some quiet time before the kids get up. I can honestly say that I accomplish a lot before 8 am. But since the rest of the day is pretty much a scramble that is about all that gets done! And by 9 pm, overcome by exhaustion, I can barely climb the stairs to my bedroom.

Chad started school not a moment too soon on August 20th. Scott took off from work that day and we all rode up to the school on our bikes and escorted him to class. His teacher, Mrs. Maxwell, is a twenty year veteran of elementary education. She has also worked as a reading resource teacher. This was comforting information knowing that we are facing an upward battle on the reading front. Most of the kids in his class attended the school's full day kindergarten program last year and learned essential early reading skills such as recognizing over twenty five sight words. My goal is to slowly bring Chad up to speed without “weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Because ultimately I want him to enjoy reading as much as I do and not form negative associations. To further complicate matters it should come as no surprise to those who know this darling child that sitting still and focusing are not activities that come easily to him. I volunteer in his classroom every other Thursday and could definitely see that most of the other children were initially reading much better than him. But in the past couple of weeks he has made a lot of progress. More importantly he seems to be enjoying the sensation of being able to navigate the world as a reader. He now reads street signs and billboards and words on the television. So despite these academic hurdles we all love first grade! Chad really enjoys his friends, recess and buying the school lunch once a week. I enjoy time with David and Brett and David enjoys being the boss for at least six hours of the day.

The younger boys started preschool in September with Scott's mom's best friend, Sylvia Allen. I am amazed and excited by all the things they are learning. Miss Sylvia does so many things with music and that is just what Brett needs and loves. In October they enjoyed a carnival style Halloween party with a huge bounce house and games. This month the preschool hosted a Thanksgiving picnic complete with turkey and all the trimmings. The children dressed up as Indians in brown paper bag vests and feather adorned headdresses while performing the cutest Thanksgiving songs. Chad had the day off of school and helped me out by taking pictures with the digital camera while I was on camcorder duty. Upon hearing about his brother's costumes he whipped up a brown paper bag vest and headdress which he brought to the picnic to join in the revelry.

David and Brett singing Thanksgiving songs at their preschool picnic

"Bristling Beaver" and "Dakota Chief" at their preschool Thanksgiving picnic

We have celebrated three birthdays since our return. Brett turned three in August while Scott and I just got a bit older in September! It was really fun to have my dad and sisters here for Brett's birthday. We set up a Spiderman Slip'n Slide in our backyard and after a few runs he figured out how to hurl himself down the plastic slide and there was no stopping him. He loved opening his presents and enjoyed the pink strawberry cupcakes he selected.

Brett figures out the slip'n slide

Happy 3rd Birthday Brett!

Sadly there is a downside. Historically three has not been a great year in the Edgeworth family and Brett is no exception. Bedtime is especially difficult. The child is no longer bound to a crib and makes for a very obnoxious free agent. And I must confess to a certain level of sloppiness in the bed time routine that transpired during our final months in Geneva. Things were hectic and we were traveling a lot so he and David really got used to sleeping with us. I feel like I am really struggling with him as of late and then I look at David and realize that four is only a mite bit better in our family in terms of the ability to follow rules and self govern. I feel like things really improved with Chad when he turned six. When I do the math that seems like a long way off...

We had some really fun family visits in October. Scott's sister, Carrie, and cousin, Kim Seager, spent nearly a week with us. The highlight of their visit was a trip to Disneyland! The older boys are finally big enough to go on the really fun rides and enjoyed Space Mountain, Star Tours, The Matterhorn and the Haunted House Ride. As he is no where near the forty two inch height requirement Brett missed out on a few of those but loved riding Buzz Light Year four times. For me it was especially gratifying because for the first time with the kids I actually had fun at Disneyland. Waiting in line was not torture. The kids were excited and well behaved.

Adorable Emme Haslam (Carrie's 3rd) at 10 months

Right after Carrie and Kim left we drove to Las Vegas for a Riddle Family Reunion. It was great to see my aunts and uncles again and the boys really enjoyed all the attention and especially tossing a frisbee for hours in the nearby park with my Uncle Don. It was a really fun and easy vacation for us as my mom's house is really a second home in terms of toys and activities for the boys. My sisters and I managed to surprise my dad with a 60th birthday party comprised of friends, family and his favorite foods and drinks. Our aunts and uncles just barely managed to keep him out of his house long enough to set everything up! Pam organized a really fun tapas-esque style menu followed by Grandma Riddle's meringues and strawberries for dessert. Scott and I even snuck off Saturday night and went to a really low budget (yet kind of expensive) Haunted House that I had seen driving home from yoga. Scott loves that sort of thing and I try to be supportive at least once per year! And although I tried to be brave (mainly by walking through with my eyes closed) I did have to outrun the chain saw wielding man at the end.

Riddles hiking at Red Rock

Enjoying the sun in Grandma's backyard - Brett thinks it is warm enough to swim!

Halloween was BIG in our house this year. We made the most of modest celebrations in Geneva (organized by our English speaking church congregation) but let's face it: no one loves the accumulation of free candy while wearing outrageously expensive costumes like Americans. And this year Chad and David were at a great age to trick or treat. Chad wanted to be a Transformer so we decided he would earn the money to buy the costume with homework points. Each day that he did his math and reading right after school with no whining he earned a point. I also bought a military camouflage costume from Gymboree on clearance the week before Halloween and decided David could wear that. The only sticky point was that he thought he was going to be a Transformer as well. Not wanting to spend another forty bucks on the requisite Transformer jumpsuit I convinced the boys to “share” both costumes. Not sure how I got away with that one as David really only wore the costume once to his preschool Halloween party but it seems that was enough and he happily donned the camo costume on all the other dress up occasions including the 31st. It is not as grossly unfair as it sounds because when Chad was four he basically picked a costume from our dress up bin to wear for our first Geneva Halloween. At least David was sporting a new costume...

Trick or Treat!

Throwing a slight wrench in certain October festivities were the Southern California fires. We had our first inkling of trouble when Scott drove to work the Monday morning following our Vegas vacation. The toll road that he normally takes to his office in Irvine was completely shut down. We began watching the news and discovered that there were a series of fires in San Diego, Irvine and north of Los Angeles. Throughout the day the freeway closures continued essentially trapping Scott in Irvine. It took hours to get home that evening as he was literally stuck on the road for hours with thousands of other commuters. The rest of the week he wisely took the train to work. Chad was not allowed outside for recess but was required to stay indoors playing endless games of “Heads Up Seven Up,” which coincidently I loved playing as a child and was always thrilled for the rare rainy day in Las Vegas. By Wednesday the air quality had worsened and over two hundred teachers in our school district were displaced. Not surprisingly school was canceled both Thursday and Friday. Initially I thought everyone was overreacting but the gusting winds died down on Wednesday and by late afternoon I could not go outside without my lungs hurting and eyes stinging. The ash gray sky was reminiscent of a nuclear fall out. It stayed that way for several days and was very disconcerting as part of the sky was still a bright blue.

It has taken us a couple of months to adjust to our new church congregation here in Temecula. From our first Sunday in Geneva we loved the intimacy and felt a vital part of our English speaking ward. After about six consecutive Sundays in Temecula I realized that I had not seen the same person twice! But as summer ended and school started it became easier to get to know many of the parents in my boys' primary classes. A few families in particular have become good friends and we have already enjoyed many park outings together with the kids. After campaigning just a little bit I was really excited at the beginning of November to be called as the primary chorister – my dream calling as I fell in love with teaching the primary music in Geneva. Scott is serving as a teacher in the Elder's Quorum; a great calling for him as he is a superb teacher in my humble, and yet biased, estimation.

November was a busy month with parent teacher conferences, a lot of early release days and a weeks worth of Thanksgiving holidays. My mom joined us for Thanksgiving this year as well as Scott's Grandpa Edgeworth who is currently living in a retirement home in Victorville. Thursday morning Scott got up early to pick up both him and my mom who flew into the Ontario airport. After a relaxing and fun Thanksgiving meal at Evan and Aimee's house Scott drove him back to Victorville that night. Despite the arduous drive it was well worth it to enjoy Grandpa's company and his wonderful blessing on the food. My mom took the boys to the movies both Friday and Saturday and did a great job babysitting Saturday night so that Scott and I could go to the San Diego Temple. So despite the intense pain in my heart when I think of Geneva (I have coffee table books that I literally cannot even open) we are trying to recognize and enjoy all the blessings of living close to our families once again.