Graduation...

We attended my Grandfather's funeral this past weekend, which we lovingly refer to as his "graduation" from this life. He was such a strong willed and independent man, despite his many trials. There is no way we could understand what he had to bear. For those who did not know him, he suffered from Norrie's disease, which causes blindness, deafness, and other circulatory problems. So he lived much of his life in his own world, literally, but he endured it well.

He was stubbornly persistent in his devotion to his family, beliefs, and faith. I know he lived this life valiantly, and that is something we can all strive for. So I know that although he has passed on, really he has just graduated from this stage to be happily reunited with his sweetheart in heaven. I know I will see him again someday, and he too will be able to see me. I have many fond memories of him, which I will cherish. I loved him very much, and although he will be missed, I am very happy for him, because I know he has graduated to a much better place.

I Passed...

So, there will not be any pictures with this post, which I think, after you read it, you will be glad for the courtesy. I have decided, just like in school, where you pass from grade to grade based on your performance the same is true in motherhood. As your children get older, you learn new things and then there is a test. If you perform well enough on this test, you are passed to the next level.

Some of you heard this story before, but I will add it in for those who haven't. A few months ago, Rya and I were enrolled in a Mommy-n-Me swim class. Things were going swimmingly (excuse the pun) until the third to last class. Now going into this class, I would have never expected it to be different than any of the other classes, but I was in for a surprise. With about ten minutes left in the class, we had reached the part where we dunk our child under water. This part always makes me nervous so I was very concentrated on Rya. I dunked her and when she came out rather than sputtering for air, she was smiling. (Too be honest looking back, I think she knew something I didn't, but I digress.) I was so excited that for that moment I was totally focused on Rya. It was when I finally looked up that I noticed something different about the pool. It was as though someone had dumped dirt and leaves in the pool, or something....and then it clicked. Maybe it was the other mothers staring at me or maybe realization was just hitting me. Rya had blown out of her pants. At that moment, I felt like I was back in elementary school, having just done something wrong, and wondering if there were anyway to pretend it didn't happen to avoid telling the teacher. Being a grown-up can be so hard sometimes. There was no avoiding this, I sheepishly approached our instructor and explained what happened. They then had to evacuate the pool and cancel classes for the next 24 hours. I was mortified-- like I had just been sat in the corner in front of the whole class. Everyone was very understanding about it, but I couldn't bring myself to return for the remainder of the classes. Now, really, would you?

So this was the beginning of my lesson. Since then we have had several instances of bedwetting, and diapers overflowing. Nothing nerely as embarrasing, but if nothing else a nuisance to clean up. I guess you could say, we have been studying hard. Well, it all culmenated to my test, which happened yesterday. I was giving Rya a bath. After soaping her up, I let her play for a while. I was standing right there at the mirror putting on my makeup. I guess it serves me right for taking my eyes off of her for a moment. About a minute later, I looked over at her and had to look again. There was something, no, a lot of somethings floating in the water. You got it, we had another pool incident, but this time I would have to clean it up. I had a new empathy for the guys that cleaned the pool.

Now, I know for most of the mothers, you will just smile and nod, all having gone through this situation. But I feel this was my test. And when I saw what was going on, there was no gag reflex, just a little laugh and then immediate action. I got it all cleaned up and taken care of without much thought of how truly gross it was. It was a proud moment upon reflection. I passed a new level in motherhood, one where your children's bodily functions is just another day on the job. Now, I am sure this is not the end of this lesson altogether, but at this moment, I feel I have moved a step closer to being the kind of mom I want to be. On this particular test, I feel I passed.

Halloween Celebrations...

We took advantage of the Halloween holiday to celebrate in every way possible. We carved pumpkins as Rya watched Charlie Brown's "The Great Pumpkin" for family night. Cody carved a witch in the moon, and I carved a cat. My cat was inspired by all the cats that run around the neighborhood, I figured what's one more. I am not sure what the inspiration was for Cody's choice.I thought they turned out really good, but alas they melted only a few short days later. At least they survived through Halloween.


Some friends and us went to the nearby (in Missouri) Right Choices Corn Maze. It was built on a farm, so they had a barn with a few animals and lots of activities for the kids, including slides, a hay jump, and a corn box. The kids had a blast. We started the afternoon with a short lived picnic. I say short lived because there were so many bees following us, it made us too nervous to sit down and eat. So we had our food on the go (walking around the farm). Then we headed straight for the fun! We played until we were all worn out. We lasted a couple hours and all the kids were conked out for the ride home. We finished off our adventure with a trip to the ice cream shoppe. What a fun afternoon!



And, what you all have been waiting for...Rya's first Halloween trick-or-treating. She went as a flapper, and her costume turned out well (if I don't say so myself). Many thanks to Susan Blaylock for shortening it, or it would have looked more like a evening gown with a nice long train. We made the feather headband (I felt very crafty) and polished it off with a boa. She played the part well!

Of course, plans don't always go the way you want, but it was a good time for all of us. Rya wouldn't sleep for her afternoon nap, so had it not been for her outfit she might have been mistaken for a zombie. She was in a daze for the first bit of trick-or-treating, not her normal social self, that is until Cody decided to give her a hit of sugar. After she finished her blue lollipop (I wish it had of been a different color because her mouth and dress, arms and hands, etc. were blue for the rest of the night) she was, although prehaps artificially, back to her happy self.

We took her to Cody's office. Every year they have employees bring their families trick-or-treating. So there were two gigantic floors, with rows each decorated with a different theme where the children could load their bags with goodies. Kids were walking out with so much candy my teeth were hurting. Rya loved wandering around seeing all the strange people dressed in costumes, with the exception of the few more fierce costumes that gave her a good scare (unfortunately, Scooby-Doo was on that list also). And, as long as she had a peice of candy in either hand, she wasn't terribly concerned with adding to her candy booty (she ended up with maybe a hand full of candy by the end, which is more than enough).

Cody and I ate up all the compliments on how cute she was in her little costume; that was all the sweetness we needed. But, biased as I am, I have to agree that she did look adorable. After a couple hours wandering around looking at all the people, decorations, and collecting a little candy, we headed for home. It only took Rya a couple minutes after we put her in her carseat to come down off her sugar high and before we could even get home she had crashed. She was worn from all the excitment and slept well that night, dreaming of sugar plums and such, I am sure. I would definitely say this was one of my most favorite Halloweens yet!