Sunday

Sterling is at work, he'll come home and sleep probably after I'm already asleep and leave again for work first thing in the morning. Today is day 6 of his very first 7 days on. To make matters all the worse he will only have TWO days home before he flies out to Des Moines, then Miami, then home in time for another 7 days on. And after that? He flies out to another school. When he eventually does get home for a minute (he has one week off before again working 7 on, driving to an interview, and then working 7 on again) he is starting his research. Remember that? The stuff he's been trying to do for the past YEAR and has had to have reviewed about three times, switched to a different professor because the project was supposedly too big for a student? Yes? Well it has finally been accepted by both the faculty and animal use review boards and Sterling could not be more thrilled. It has been a LONG process, but since he has been officially approved he's been able to tell the exact specifics of everything at his medical school interviews which he had been very worried he would not be able to do. And the U seemed impressed that he headed up his own research and didn't just jump on someone else's, so maybe it will all be worth it? Anyway.

Today is day 6 of no husband, and I did church completely by myself. Sacrament actually went ok, I sat in front of a family with four kids and they did a good job of entertaining her so I could hold Will. Usually I make her face forward and don't let her turn around, but I knew that would be pointless since I had forgotten to bring in a carseat and therefore had to hold Will the entire time. Luckily she didn't get too out of hand and really it was probably one of her best days of sacrament meeting. I also had to sing in this women's choir I'd been bullied into (really, I understand if no one sings and you want to get the young couple to help out, but we have a big choir and they always want Sterling and I to sing and they practice after church when all we want to do is go home and put both our kids down for a nap and take a nap ourselves! anyway, since I was raised by my mother, we participate--really that's exactly what I tell Sterling whenever he wants to sneak away.) and luckily the family in front of us was the 13 yr old that I get as a babysitter on a fairly regular basis, so she and her mom just jumped back a seat during the song and it went really smoothly. 

I had to teach the lesson for our class, since Sterling was gone, and for the most part Will just crawled around on the floor and played with the girls' bright, pretty shoes. Then he got fussy and I got worried that I might just have to bag the lesson when he suddenly whined one last time, flopped his head onto my arm, and was instantly asleep. Silly boy, he falls asleep like that all of the time, mid-cry, but rarely in a lighted room with lots of noise. It was awesome for me though! He slept through most of Relief Society and only started to fuss at the very end. All in all, a very good attempt at single parenthood I must say.

I spent the evening taking pictures of my kids, because really, they are adorable. We also went on a walk, watched Brave while eating candy, and generally tried to make the time go by until bedtime. I think next week -since I don't have to teach because of Stake Conference- I am going to bail and go to my parents house. Then it won't be so lonely. Especially because Sterling will be far away in Miami and I won't even be able to dream about him coming home at night!

I bought this before he was even born and I got so many comments on how cute it was today! I'll have to try taking pictures again when he's a little more cooperative, this was the only smile I got. 

Aunt Kayli thank you so much for this dress! Unfortunately, Ruthie didn't want to smile for you.

This is the face Will always gets when Ruth is too close.

 Yes, Will's pj's say Ho, Ho, Ho. That was also a before-Will-was-born purchase that was a little riskier since it was seasonally themed. I think I got it after Christmas last year for 2 bucks. It fits him already, since he is wearing size 12 months and he is only 7 months old. Buts its ok to have a little Christmas spirit in September, right?

LOVE THIS!

I kind of love this too.

Will is such a funny kid lately, he has this hilarious chuckle (Sterling calls it a chortle) and I still almost look around to see where it's coming from when he starts laughing! But he sure gets a kick out of things these days! 

Not A Soccer Mom

In North Dakota elementary gym class they taught your basics: football, basketball, softball, volleyball. Then there was...hockey. (We also climbed a rope and I set the school record, until my little brother beat it 2 years later. He's like that. Always.) (Oh, and our gym teacher also held races at the local park-Oak Park-every Monday night, my brother and I used to do the mile run. I was one of the fastest 5th grade girls, which isn't too hard to do when there aren't that many girls. I still remember that Leah was the girl I couldn't beat, and I delivered a newspaper to her house every morning on my route. It was still fun to get the ribbons and my little brother and I loved it, and my mom and dad used to come cheer us on. Anyway.) The point of this is that we missed something that seems to be very important in Utah culture-soccer. It was never a big deal since in junior high I did track and then I did swimming, and then I stopped and did AP classes (why do they take over your life?). There is a point to ALL of this.

Last Saturday I, being the wonderful sister that I am, helped my sister out by driving her daughter to a soccer game. I packed up the kids, packed up treats, a blanket, everything necessary for a great time at a soccer game, and we headed out. Kiersten is 9 (almost?) and on a comp league, so it was clear out in Farmington. There she met up with all of her other cute little soccer-playing friends and they started the game. Kiersten didn't play the first 6 minutes so we could run to the port-a-potty. Then she was ready to go!

She has hot pink shoes, I totally approve.

Will spent the game crawling off the blanket and eating the grass. Marvelous. 

Here's where the problems started. All the other parents had chairs. We had a blanket. Thats ok, Ruth took up residence with the girls on the blanket in front of us (at first they looked confused, then they acted as if everything was normal and only glanced back at me every once in a while) and Will and I had ample room on our blanket. Then the parents started yelling useful things to all the kids. I can't even remember what they were, the instructions were so foreign. I understand the goal of the game is to kick the ball in the net and the goalie is supposed to keep the ball out. But the actual parts each player does? Nada. It seemed like Kiersten was supposed to stop at a line, but not really, maybe she was only supposed to go so far past it? 

At one point everyone was yelling good things to Kiersten about what a 'lovely' and 'beautiful' pass she had just given. I understand the statements, but I could not have critiqued her pass to save my life. I generally munched on our snacks and tried to keep Ruth from picking up other people's stuff.

Kiersten is standing up and drinking from a water bottle. I think she was supposed to be sitting down.

Converse and a 3-tiered skirt. My babe has style! No idea whose fan she is holding. 

Then it started to rain. Just slightly. So I stood up and bundled myself and Will inside our blanket. Every. Single. Other. Person. opened up a HUGE umbrella and sat underneath of it. I felt a little like a black sheep. Then it got worse, so I decided I'd had enough of this soccer business and packed up our stroller and took the kids to the van...over the DIRT parking lot...that was now sticking in huge globs to the tires of my stroller. Nice. Got the kids in the van, and went back to see Kiersten, who was desperately looking for me as the game had ended and everyone else was walking away. Poor girl. I'll definitely have to work on this soccer mom thing if any of my kids decide that's their sport of choice. Sigh. Can't I just force them all to play softball? Then grandma can coach them like she coached me for almost 8 years and I can catch for them like I did for my little brother (although he left bruises on my hand, so maybe they don't need to be that good?). And that is the saga of how I should not be a soccer mom. The end.

I did have this BEE-Utiful view while I watched though!