Dear Family,

Well, it’s Monday morning and here I am getting my letter written. We were having the barf-o-rama yesterday (actually it was just Ry, but he threw up enough for the whole family!) and today I am trying to ignore the fact that my arthritis is acting up and keeping me from running, so I will just write a letter to drown my sorrows.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks. Josh has had LONG hours at work and LONG hours at church. Jillian’s new favorite phrase is, “Daddy at a meeting!” He’s adjusting to his new position at work, but it’s taking its toll. He’s gone by the time the kids get up in the morning and has sometimes been headed straight to the church from work. So, I have newfound respect for single parents.

Alex and Ryan have found new levels of volume, and I thought they were loud before! They seem to be compensating for the lack of Daddy-wrestling time with more noise. Luckily for me, they are the best of friends and Alex has an excellent imagination. The two of them have turned our back yard into a ninja training arena, and the playroom into a medieval armory. They’re either outside whacking each other with sticks, or inside pounding on their cardboard armor with plastic hammers.

Alex is going through the week-long standardized testing that Arizona uses to torture third graders and their teachers. Fortunately, the test is not actually timed, so they do one section each day and the kids who finish can pick up a book and read while they wait for the others. Thanks to the testing procedure, Alex has made some great strides toward being an independent reader this week. He’s been taking the Percy Jackson book that we’ve been reading together to school. Last night I looked over, and he was just sitting there on the sofa reading. Now, unless you know Alex, you may not realize how extraordinary it is for the perpetual motion machine to sit so still!

Alex’s teacher had asked us to take him to get his eyes tested. Sure enough, he’s already nearsighted enough to need glasses. We’ve already had the, “You don’t’ need to wear your glasses to play ninjas and on the playground” discussion. He’s really excited. I am not naïve enough to think that it will explain all of the attention issues he’s had in school, but here’s to hoping!

Ryan has discovered LEGO’s since his birthday. He spends his down time poring over LEGO catalogues and deciding what he’s saving his money for. He is gearing up for the end of preschool and keeps asking me what day he starts Kindergarten (July 28). His preschool teacher has been wonderful. She’s promised a little flag to any of the kids who learn the whole pledge of allegiance and Ryan is a pro now!

This week has also been the week when Jillian turned into a little girl. We got her a little doll stroller early this week and it seems to have awakened the motherly instincts in her. She had been pushing her doll around and came in to find me with a plastic bin and a blanket. It didn’t take her long to get across that she wanted a crib for her baby. So we folded the blanket inside and she put her baby in and gave her a binky and a toy and a bottle. We have to take the baby and her crib with us wherever we go.

Mom made her a new dress and sent it in the mail. It has a full skirt and Jillian has been wearing it around and dancing and twirling in it. She loves her Grandma Shelly dress! Jill is also a major Winnie the Pooh fan. However, she has one problem. She continues to refer to Pooh as “Poo-Poo”. She asks if she can watch poo-poo, she sings songs to poo-poo, and she loves to read books about poo-poo. If she weren’t already potty trained, I’d be beginning to wonder.

The official report from the “No TV” experiment is, “Wow! Why did it take us this long to kill our television?” Our home has been a really great place without it. The feeling here is better and Josh and I spend more time doing useful things when the kids are down. He’s almost done milling all the parts of the built-in cabinets and bookshelves he’s making for our room. It’s amazing what you get done with the number one time-waster eliminated!

I guess that’s about all from the Felt house this week. We were pleased to hear that Sunny and the girls are going to spend the summer being nomads. Josh told me to tell Sunny that we’d love to have her and the girls “come spend a year with us this summer.” I can’t wait to see them again whenever and wherever I get the chance. Still no word from Alan. He keeps showing up in my dreams, but nothing else. I hope he’s finding a way, wherever he is.

Love to all,

Cheryl

Has it really been a month? Time flies...

Well, after there weeks of play time, it’s back to reality for me. I think I’ve had enough vacation time that I’m ready! Earlier this month Josh and I went on a cruise to celebrate our anniversary. We had wanted to go somewhere for our tenth last year, but we had a little Jillian who was too small to leave. So, we switched to celebrating our eleventh. We flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where we met Gary and Debbie (Josh’s parents), and went on a 7-day cruise around the Eastern Caribbean. We made stops in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, USVI; and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. We had a wonderful time, we played on the beaches, we rode zip-lines through the rainforest canopy, Josh went snorkeling, we read books, took naps, ate glorious food, and someone else made the beds, cooked the food, and washed the dishes! For a stay-at-home Mommy, it was a perfect vacation. I think my two favorite stops were San Juan and the little island in the Bahamas.

Of course, none of this could have happened without my Mom. She very graciously agreed to come and take over management of the Felt household for the week. She was wonderful, the kids were more than well cared for, and honestly, I don’t think they missed me at all, even Jillian! She even survived the homework battle with Alex without strangling him. I was worried about asking her to do this until she said, “Let me tell you a little secret, we grandmothers wait around for chances to get our hands on your children WITHOUT you around to interfere!” That one statement put my mind at ease and I was able to leave them behind without a care. I will admit that by Thursday, five days into the trip, I really missed my kiddos, not because I was worried about them but because I wasn’t quite sure how to handle myself without them. It is amazing how much of what you do every day and who you are is defined by caring for your kids. No wonder some people get weird when their kids are all gone! (No offense intended to our parents who are only weird some of the time! Ha ha ha … :))

At the same time we flew home, my Dad flew to Phoenix from Las Vegas after running the first marathon of the year there. Go Dad!!! We got to spend the whole weekend together. While Dad was here, we celebrated Ryan’s fifth birthday. He had a family-night party at the park with his grandparents, his cousins, and “the friends,” meaning the four families that we have shared our babysitting group with: the Rosens, the Atkins, the Christiansens, and the Householders. We had dinner at the park and ate Ryan’s surf-board birthday cake. I must say, Ry’s cake was a triumph. Usually my cakes look like I made them with my eyes closed, but this one worked out really well. Maybe it’s because I’d just spent a week cruising around the Caribbean looking at the most beautiful oceans I’ve ever seen!

Birthday number five has traditionally been “The Lego Birthday” around our place. When they’re five, they’re old enough to get their very own big-boy Lego kits. Ryan has been having a great time learning how to build under the tutelage of his brother and occasionally his Mom. I realized the first time I gave Alex Legos that for the next 10 or 15 years, my holidays would be spent crouched over a pile of Legos with my sons. They are such great toys. I love watching their little minds work as they figure out how to read the instructions and place the pieces correctly. Ryan is a really sweet little boy. I think the Lord knew that I would need him. We call Ryan “the little diplomat.” He is gentle and unselfish by nature. He would rather give up something that he wants than cause an argument. Usually that means his older brother manipulates him in to giving him whatever he wants, but we’re working on that! Ryan’s small frame and big blue eyes really bring out the mother-bear instincts in me.

We spent the next two days washing laundry and re-packing our suitcases getting ready to go to Salt Lake. My mom stayed on and we planned to drive up together. In the meantime, Alex made his theatrical debut playing Willy Wonka in the third grade class rendition of the play. His teacher did a wonderful job of paring down the script so that the play was actually less than a half hour long. Each child had a part, some were speaking parts, some were singing, and the kids had all helped to color the background scenery. Alex needed a bright colored jacked and a top hat for his part. I took him to Goodwill and we found a red plaid jacket in the women’s section. He didn’t say anything at the time, but as we walked in before the play, I over heard him whisper to one of his classmates, “My mom made me wear a women’s jacket!” (I’m sure you can envision the rolled eyes here!) He did a wonderful job. He spoke up, but didn’t yell, and he spoke slowly enough that you could follow his part. Most of all, he had a lot of fun. I do so love his teacher. She has been such a wonderful influence in his little life.

The next morning, we drove out at 3 a.m. and headed for Salt Lake. We had a grand time. We got to see Uncle Greg and Aunt Shannon and their girls, and Uncle Doug came down for an overnight visit. Ryan had his another fifth-birthday party with the Felt family Sunday night and then we all went bowling together on Monday for family night. Alex and Jackson (Meggan’s little guy) had tons of fun playing together, despite their age difference. I think it has something to do with both of them being cracked out of the naughty mold. :) Uncle Rich took the boys over to his place and they made their own chart-busting track starring Alex’s fabulous beat boxing, Uncle Rich on the electric guitar, and Ryan as lead vocalist. I think I almost wet the chair in Debbie’s living room when they played it for all of us. I was really trying hard not to laugh too much because I didn’t want the boys to feel bad, but I could scarcely hold it in.

Jillian has struck up quite a friendship with her Aunt Abby. The two of them did all sorts of girly stuff: fingernail paint, hair do’s, lipstick, etc. She would wake up each morning and start singing, “Oh, I love Abby…” in her crib. She also took quite a fancy to both of her grandpas. She dragged Gary all around the house by his finger for a good 30 or 40 minutes Sunday night and loved sitting at his desk at work coloring pictures. She had loads of fun having tea parties, playing dollies, and learning all about snow (“Snow is white and cold!”) with her Bapa. We had a few days of snow, a few days of sun, and a wonderful time just being with our families every day. Mom and Dad and I also had fun watching episodes of “Foyle’s War” each night, running a whole bunch of little errands and iChatting with Sunny. Mom and I got the materials to finally make a cushion for the window seat in our playroom. We had everything cut out and ready to go, but I had to leave for the bowling party with the Felt clan. When I got back, she had a glint of accomplishment in her eye and produced a beautiful completed cushion. She’d done the whole job all by herself in one evening. SUPERMOM!!!

On the way home I asked each of the boys what their favorite part of the trip was. Ryan: “I liked my birthday, and opening presents, playing with cousins, and bowling, and going to Brenda’s house, and watching Quest for Camelot, and going to Felt Lighting, and…..” Alex : “I liked the childrens’ museum because I got to be with BOTH GRANDMAS at the same time.” I knew there was a sweet kid in there somewhere! We are back with one more week of Spring break for Alex. I think I am going to have a massive case of Grandma withdrawl to fight off. Wish me luck!

In regular, boring news: we have been trying hard to get Jillian to go to the church nursery without breaking down into hysterics. The first time I went to take her, we had prepped her and talked about how much fun nursery is—books, toys, kids, snacks—and she seemed all ready to go. Just as we got to the nursery door, she put on her best scowl—lips puckered, calculus eyebrows, and the whole bit—and said, “I NO LIKEY NURSERY!” Whereupon she proceeded to throw a massive fit, prompting the nursery leaders to bring her to me. For the next couple of weeks she was so naughty that the Nursery Leader had been carrying her around most of the time to keep her from disturbing the other kids who were trying to adjust to nursery. While we were gone, Mom took the kids up to Ken’s ward and didn’t even attempt to drop her off, given that her parents had just disappeared. When I came back from the cruise, I was walking down the church hallway talking, half to myself and half to her, “I don’t know whether to try you in nursery today or not.” She looked right up in my face and said quite forcefully, “NOT!” Today, she went in and only threw fits for the first hour. I sincerely hope the Lord has extra blessings in mind for her longsuffering nursery teachers.

Family Letter

My sister posts her family letters to her blog (slightly edited for embarassing content!), I think its a great idea. Hope it doesn't bore you to death!

We are a little bit behind on the family water-cooler chat because we have officially killed our TV—bad timing a week before the Olympics, I know. I just have a terrible time wanting to pay $50 per month for TV when things are so tight in other areas. We’ve watched a few of the clips that they show online, but it’s not quite the same thing. The boys, of course, want to see the clips about all the crashes that happen each day. Being little boys, and having never really hurt themselves, they think it’s hilarious.


I’ve been outside doing some yard work this last week. We’re trying to get our veggie garden ready for planting. I should say our tomato and zucchini garden, with a few patches of herbs since this is all we have had any success growing here. So, I am going to plant a whole herd of tomato plants and hope to have a decent harvest this year.

The kids are looking forward to having Grandma Shelly come and stay with them for a week. The boys tell me that they will not miss me at all, which is perfect. I hope they don’t. I don’t think I will miss them for about 4 days, and then I’ll be ready to cut the trip short and come home. Josh is taking me on a cruise for a week. We had wanted to go somewhere for our 10th anniversary, but we had a little Jilly that gummed up the plans. Now that she’s older (and potty trained!) we are going to leave her. So, we’re going off to celebrate our 11th anniversary and to get away from the telephone.

Jilly comes up with new words every day, she’s virtually a non-stop talker these days. Some of her words: “rasboadies” (raspberries), “yalka-yips” (chocolate chips), “beeto” (burrito), Didney an Cami (Sydney and Cami), and her very best “bye-bye Dada” (no translation needed). I think it’s a mark of the Felt in her that most of her words have to do with food. She also has a new song each week. Last week was "Zippity Do-Dah" and this week has been “I Am a Child of God."

Alex is working hard to learn his multiplication facts. He has a wonderful teacher who is very understanding of little boys and their foibles. She really likes Alex, which is helpful. His class is putting on a short play of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and she’s asked Alex to play the part of Willie Wonka. I think it may have something to do with the fact that he’s the tallest child in the class and that he loves to talk to adults. His teacher tells me that about once a week he’ll come sit by her and recess and say, “Hey Mrs. Fatka, how’s life?” or “How are your kids doing Mrs. Fatka?”

Ryan is loving his Preschool. His teacher loves to tell me the things that Ryan says to the other kids. I guess he functions as the Preschool reality checker. One of the kids was saying that the strawberry marshmallows they were eating had strawberry blood inside them. Ryan looked over and rolled his eyes and said something to the effect of, “Actually, the marshmallow is not alive and so it can’t have blood.” His two favorite words are “actually” and “technically.” He keeps his teachers amused because he’s kind of like a miniature adult. He’s very serious and very much based in reality. He’s always asking me if things are “real” or “actual.” I think he’s a lot like his Dad in that regard.

I am still terribly concerned about my little brother Alan. We haven't heard a word from him since early December. I’ve been praying and fasting that somehow we will know that he’s alive and that he’s OK. We were driving along in the car and the boys were wondering what one of the names in Kung Fu Panda meant. Ryan said we should call Uncle Alan because he knows Chinese. Whereupon Alex replied, “We can’t Ryan, Uncle Alan ran away.” I cried the rest of the way home. I sure wish he’d let somebody know that he’s ok. Until then, I will keep asking the Lord to look after him.

Love to you All,
Cheryl

Believe it or not, I am posting today and not waiting for another six months to pass before updating my blog! We made a momentous decision this week and decided not to re-up our cable contract. I've always thought paying for TV was lame, but this week we decided that we have much better things to do with $50.00 every month. I am looking forward to doing more useful things with my time. Things like yoga, reading, jogging, knitting, playing strip poker and blogging. I never realized how much time I was wasting in front of the TV. It's just so easy to crash on the sofa after getting the kids down. Now, I don't have a reason to go sit there anymore. I don't imagine that it's going to be too much of an adjustment, considering that I grew up without at TV. My friends used to call me "raised by wolves." I guess since the wolves didn't to too bad a job on me, they can come and raise my kids, too.

On Presidents' Day we were thrilled to have a whole day with our Daddy home. That's been a rarity lately. We decided to go for a hike in the "mountains" just South of our house. It's not quite spring out here, so the desert doesn't look as good now as it will in a couple of weeks. You can see from the pictures that it's just starting to turn green. In a few weeks, it will be really beautiful for a couple of days (and then it will get hot and the landscape will get fried and resume it's usual hellish appearance). Alex and Ryan were troopers and made it all the way to the top of the Goldmine mountain trail. Alex, as usual, beat me there!

Alex came home with an essay that he had written in school that I wanted to record here.

What Makes Me Special

by Alex Felt

I am special because I mow lawns really well. I am super at the Wii. My cursive is awsome. I swim fast. I read as fast as lightning. I wash cars. I am a great scout. I got the Bobcat badge. I play chase with my sister. All of these things make me special.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is real and simple truth.

Happy Valentine's Day

I've been too busy cleaning up barf to do much blogging. It's been an absolute siege around here. Someone is sick every time I turn around. And we've been potty training Jill, and teaching Alex times tables, and teaching Ry how to read.... Anyway, today I saw one of the greatest sights of my life. Josh arrived home from work with flowers for me for Valentine's Day, but also with a bouquet of red tulips for his baby daughter. She took the flowers, giggled the most spontaneous and infectious giggle, and said, "Sank you, Da da!" She didn't even want to let me take them to put them in a vase for her. Take it from an old Daddy's girl, this is the beginning of a life long love affair...

Pros and Cons

Just some random thoughts today. There are definte plusses to having your baby become more independent. She can run get her own shoes, she can throw her own fruit snack wrapper away, and she can play with her toys alone for a good ten minutes, allowing you to actually finish a job. However, she can also open the pantry and get her own box of KIX and dump it all over the floor in the family room. Hmmm....

Yesterday we did one of my favorite Christmas-time activities. We made paper snowflakes for our front window. It's the perfect activity: the kids can participate, the results are fascinating and occasionally elegant, and it costs nothing more than a few sheets of copy paper. Alex was especially proficient and prolific. Our front window is practically a blizzard.

A sports writer today wrote that he could think of only one mega-star, professional athlete who was successful at resisting sexual temptation: Jackie Robinson. That makes him even more incredible! It also makes me grateful for an average, faithful, middle-income man. I'd take the domestic tranquility over the professional dough any day.

Three Years

Adrift! A little boat adrift!
And night is coming down!
Will no one guide a little boat
Unto the nearest town?

So sailors say, on yesterday,
just as the dusk was brown,
One little boat gave up its strife,
And gurgled down and down.

But angels say, on yesterday,
Just as the dawn was red,
One little boat o'erspent with gales
Retrimmed its masts, redecked its sails
Exultant, onward sped!

--Emily Dickinson

God Speed, Little Son!