Worth Family Blogs

Richard and Nancy Worth—Snack Basket System

I used to feel like the Snack Time Warden. "Yes, you can have that. No, you can't have that. Yes, you can have this, but then you can't have that, too. No, that's too much." I'm sure you know how this goes. So I created a snack basket. It was a combination of several ideas I'd seen on other people's blogs. Mine works like this:
Each child gets 3 points for each snack. Snacks can only be had a certain Mom-approved times of the day. When we first started the snack basket, I would label each item with a number that was it's point value. Since we've been using this system for about a year now, I don't really have to label with point values anymore. The kids just know. Fruit snacks are 1 point. Applesauce cups are 2. Granola bars are 2. Raisins are 1. Goldfish baggies are 2. Sometimes when there's something special like homemade cookies, the kids will have to ask how many points. Sometimes when I'm feeling very generous I'll surprise the kids by putting a bag of treats in the basket labeled, "0 points!!" They love that. It's like Christmas morning.

The things in the basket change a bit, but are for the most part pretty standard. Some of the things are pre-individually packaged. Some of the things (like Goldfish) I put into my own little baggies. I just set up an assembly line of baggies, the snack, and a measuring cup and measure out an appropriate amount of the snack into each baggie.
The basket itself is a men's shoe bin from The Container Store. One of the organization blogs I read recommended them as the perfect storage bins for everything from snacks to toys. (I'm pretty sure this idea came from The Pretty Neat Company blog, but the blog seems to be down so I can't be sure.) And I have to say, I totally agree with her. I bought like 10 of them and they are now in use all around the house. They're just the right size, they're see-through so that you know what's inside even when it's up on a shelf, and they're sturdy enough to take some abuse.

The basket sits on a low shelf in the pantry. Low enough that every child can reach it. And now when I say, "Snack time!", the children can help themselves. No game of 20 questions.
This system makes me happy. Because it works so well for us.

Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Natty's first ferry ride

We thought it was about time that Natty experience a ferry ride.  How can you live in Seattle and not do that at least once!?  We traveled over to Port Orchard last April to look at a boat for sale.  It was a quick hop off and hop on kind of ride, but nonetheless we had a great time! 



Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Fun with my new lens!

Last March Mom got a new 50mm lens for her camera!   Yea!  Since then I have been using it for most of my photography work and have been very happy with it.  Here are Natty and I testing it out in my office/studio! 
Testing it out at the store...Natty makes any lens look good!

Reflection, shooting into a mirror.


 Showing off her latest preschool creation!
I have to thank Tim, for making my dreams come true and helping me chase after my passion.  I love you!

Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Together we sing!

Both and Audrey and Celeste love to sing and have been in choirs for the last 4 years.  In March 2011, their choirs came together to sing.  Here are the two songbirds (Audrey - Chief Kanim Middle School 8th grade choir and Celeste - Fall City Elementary 5th grade choir)




Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Celeste Rodriguez - Girl Scout

2011 was a fun year in Girl Scouts for Celeste.  She is with a great group of girls and leaders and they have a lot of fun.  Sadly the troop hasn't been as active this school year, but tweens do get older and find other things to occupy their time.  Here are some memorable moments from 2011.


Richard and Nancy Worth—Accidental Scheduling

I'm not quite sure how this snuck up on me, but somehow I've gotten myself and my home pretty thickly scheduled for the next two days.

Richard is out of town right now, so when the Young Women's president started emailing around about a Presidency meeting on Thursday morning, I asked that it be at my house so that Samuel could nap. Earlier in the week I'd been chatting with a friend about how I didn't schedule a book club for this month even though that is my "job". She suggested that we should just have a meeting anyway, even without a chosen book, since we really just like an excuse to get together. I said, sure, but it would have to be at my house since my husband is out of town. I also happen to have been planning on planning a casual breakfast/get-together for the parents of Isaiah's preschool class. We all jam into this tight hallway, inches away from each other, for about 2 minutes twice a day for the 3 days of each week that our children are in school. But we never get the conversation past "Hi, how are you, it's cold outside" type of thing. So I invited them all over for breakfast on Friday morning right after we drop off our Preschoolers.

And not until today did it occur to me that I am now hosting some group of people in my home Thursday morning, Thursday night, and Friday morning. The Thursday meetings are really not much pressure. They're both small groups and both filled with people who've seen my house messy and have, in fact, probably folded my underwear and scrubbed my toilets while I was on bed rest. But the Friday group is people who've never been to my house, don't really know me, and are making first impressions of me. That's pressure. But I made the choice to invite them knowing that it would be pressure. Sometimes pressure is good. Sometimes I don't mind pressure.

So basically, the next few days are kinda crazy, but I'm OK with it!

...Just sayin'.

Richard and Nancy Worth—The Word is...

I try to have a focus for each year. And I try to put that focus into one word. Last year was HOPE. I read about hope in the scriptures, paid attention to it in songs and passing references, and was amazed by how much most people take it for granted and/or don't really understand it. 
This year I think my word will be JOY.  I want to find it, remember it, seek it out, and recognize it.  So I just ordered my new vinyl.  You'll see in the picture, last years vinyl. I love these reminders.
What's your word?


Richard and Nancy Worth—Together

Cute kids after a family lunch at Famous Daves.  Ahhhh, the love!


Richard and Nancy Worth—Happiness is

Chocolate chip cookies still ooey-gooey from the oven.


Richard and Nancy Worth—New Year

Today, as a New Year's celebratory event, the kids and I looked through the blog posts from the entire past year. It was fun to think back to a year ago when Sammy was still a wiggly worm, Naomi was still learning to write, Isaiah was just breaking through in speech, and Asher was, well, still pretty Ashery. And it made me realize that I do have one New Year's Resolution for this year. To not stop blogging.

I haven't been blogging much lately and that makes me sad. I like to blog. It's good therapy, connects me with so many friends and family, helps me remember the important things in life, and is good family journaling. Often what stops me is wanting some great picture to include. So I'll try to remember to blog whether I've got a great picture or not. And I'll try to remember to take pictures so that more often I DO have a great picture to include! Another thing that holds me up is a bad attitude. I don't like to have too many whiney blog posts. I don't want my kids to read through this in 10 years and think that I was unhappy being their mother. Certainly I have some moments of unhappiness - everybody does - but I don't want that to become the theme of this blog. I want the theme to be the exact opposite of that in fact - the happiness of our family.

Richard asked me last night what I was hoping for in this new year. "A new baby?" he asked. Well, no. Probably not. Not yet. And I'm not sure what else I hope for. Happiness, I guess. A little more control and a little less crazy. And a little less control and a little more just going with it. Good times. Happy memories. It'll be hard to beat our 2011 spring break in Baltimore or our summer in Texas and Idaho. But we'll try!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Christmas Embriodery

I can now reveal the result of my secret project that I blogged about before. I kept it a secret because I was hoping some of you, my readers, would be recipients of them as Christmas gifts. But, as it turned out, I only managed to do enough of them for teacher gifts.
I'm very happy with how they turned out. I rolled each one up then tied them with a big bow in bundles of two for the teachers. I've never done something so time consuming for teacher gifts before, and likely never will, but I enjoyed this project.  ...Now maybe I should just go do a couple more for ME!


Richard and Nancy Worth—Naomi's Baptism


Saturday was Naomi's big day. Her baptism day! She has been really looking forward to her 8th birthday and her baptism for at least a year. Her Sunday School class has been talking about it, some of her friends have already done it, we've had Family Home Evening lessons about it, and now she was ready! Just one last thing: the dress! Grandma Ashurst happily volunteered to make the stunning dress that you see above. It was the perfect mix of little-girl and big-girl.

Richard used the power of the Priesthood, which he holds, to baptize Naomi. It was a perfect Daddy/Daughter moment. I remember getting a big bear hug from my Dad on my baptism day, and now Naomi has that memory, too.
Grandma Ashurst was in attendance. Grandpa Ashurst was scheduled to be there, too, but unfortunately he got sick at the last minute. We missed him very much.
Grandma Worth was there. Grandpa Worth was scheduled to be there, too, but got sick at the last minute. We missed him very much. ...Are you sensing a trend here? Grandfathers beware! They're dropping like flies around here!
Aunt Ruth was there. She sang a beautiful solo of Naomi's favorite children's song, "When He Comes Again".
Asher and Isaiah sang also. They did a beautiful job of singing a capella "I Am a Child of God". It was really touching.
Uncle Kevin, Aunt Kelly and cousin Ethan were there also. Naomi's Kindergarten teacher (who happens to also currently be Asher's Kindergarten teacher) was there. Also in attendance were several families from the ward and a non-member friend of Ruth's.
It was such a beautiful morning. Naomi beamed with her own kind of quiet joy. We love Naomi so much and are so proud of her for making such a good decision to be baptized and then handling the whole thing with such grace.

Roger and Chelsea Worth—Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving break was so great. We were so lucky to have Roger's mom, Margaret come visit for a few days prior to Thanksgiving. Then we had our good friends the Ellsworth's come visit for a Sunday dinner (which was too short, can't you spend the night next time? (I know you can't because Chris' family is here, blah, blah, blah)) Then we made the drive to Boise to spend the night with more friends before continuing on to Portland. We knew our Boise friends before we were married and I love seeing the life people have made for themselves over the past 12 years. There are so many things that we don't expect, but it always works out. We love you Cole's, it was so good to see you!

Why is Portland so far away? I wish we could see the Stewart's and the Worth's all the time. It was the most relaxing vacation. I slept in almost everyday (shocking, huh?) because the kids were happily playing with their cousins. I felt like I hardly saw our girls, they were so busy. The Stewart's always spoil us, it's like they don't want us to leave (we don't...) Thanks again, we had a great time and can't wait to do it again soon.

The Thanksgiving dinner and guests. Look at the pomegranate jello, the Vielstich's are so proud that it's a must for many a Thanksgiving dinner!


Our kids with the Stewart girls. Brooke was the best baby sitter, Liam loves you!

Richard and Nancy Worth—At the End of Last Christmas

Today as I unpacked the Christmas decorations, I found two things that really brought me back to last year.

The first thing is this nutcracker. He came to us from my Grandma Helen's house. I am so proud to add him to my Christmas collection. He is a little worse for wear and needs some repairs, but I am so glad he's mine. I'll treasure him as the heirloom that he now is.

The second thing is a note that I found on the top of one of the Christmas decoration boxes. It was written by me as I packed up the Christmas decorations last year. It says:

Dear Nancy 2011,
Please go ahead and get the Christmas dishes out.
You know you'll be glad you did. It's been years!
And the kids will love it.
PS Don't you look fabulous today!
Love,
Nancy 2010

Richard and Nancy Worth—Sammy Says:

Go! (usually while standing at the gate and shaking it)
unk (milk)
woah! (like woah, horsey! except he usually says it in amazement of something)
uff uff uff (the sound a dog makes)
Dad
Ma
Bah (bye)
Ahhhhhhh! (loudly and high pitched to get attention or something he wants)

And many other words that definitely mean something. We just haven't figured them out yet. He'll make eye contact with us and tell us something. Or ask a question. He's quite sure he's talking. Some day soon it will be English!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Spaz

I can do hard things. I'm pretty tough.

But sometimes I'm such a total spaz!

This evening I ruined a batch of frosting. By swapping lemon juice with lime juice. Just in case you were wondering, lime flavored frosting is not very good. That failure makes me feel like I'm 10 years old again. When my Mom use to tease that I could mess up boiling hot dogs. This evening I'm that girl again.

Admittedly, being over-tired not only makes me more spazy, but also makes me more emotional about my spazyness. I feel like I can't do hard things. Like I'm weak.

But I'll go to sleep now and wake up tomorrow strong and ready. I'll make a new batch of frosting (after going to the store to buy more powdered sugar). I'll do what needs to be done. I'll throw a fabulous little family birthday party for my baby who is turning 8. We'll have fun. And the only reason anybody will remember that I ruined the frosting is because I just blogged about it.

Good night, all.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Let It Begin

Today I begin a month long Christmas project. I can't tell you anything else about it since I don't want to give any surprises away. But I'm excited about it, so I'm sharing this sneak peek.


Roger and Chelsea Worth—Then and now

I can't believe it has been a whopping six months since my last post. Don't worry dear blog, I have not forgotten you. So much has changed in six months, here's just a part.

First the biggest change
Then:


Now:


We moved back home in July. I didn't take one picture of the drive out. I can't believe it either. It was a great drive out. We did it in four days. We were off the road every night by about 7 so that we could eat dinner and swim at the hotel pools. That made all the difference in the world. The kids did great and I would drive across country again in a heartbeat (not to move though, just vacation!) Roger transferred with Pricewaterhouse coopers and he is now working most weeks in Los Angeles. It is working out better than we could have hoped. I am so thankful to be home. The move was one of those things that when I look back I can't believe it worked out. We honestly hardly fussed about details, we were more action oriented. That could go horribly wrong but it didn't. I can't help but marvel at how tremendously blessed we were through the whole experience.

Then:
Now:
(Horrible sunny cell phone picture)




Then:
Liam 3 months old. Can't do much of anything yet...


Now:
Liam age 7 months. He can crawl on all fours and he has an alarming 6 teeth! A few months sure does make a difference.




There's no way I can catch up on all we've missed. We have been enjoying life and have adjusted well to the move. Thank you to everyone who helped us get out here and helped us once we were here. We are so truly blessed and are watched over in every aspect of our lives. Yay for more blogging!


Richard and Nancy Worth—Post Halloween

I think the picture says it all.


Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Searching for snow...at Grandad and Grammy's

Well, we had to search, but we found snow!  We took a little trip to Redmond, OR to spend some time with Grandad and Grammy while Dad and Becky went to look at Utah State University.  You can tell this is old, because during this trip we found out Becky got accepted to BYU.  Now she had a decision to make...cougar or aggie?  Let's just say she made the right choice (not that I'm biased or anything).  She is now in her 1st year at BYU and loving every minute of it.  Sorry, Becky I know I was more than obnoxiouly persuasive last Winter.
 
 A hot chocolate morning for Natty and Sophia snuggling with Grandad and Grammy
 We love BINGO with Grandad and Grammy.  They have had this game for years and we love playing it every time we visit.

 Pick a good one, Grandad!
 We stayed at the Eagle Crest Resort near Grandad and Grammy's house and had a ton of fun playing in the snow, and swimming.  Tim and I even played a mean game of raquetball (I won of course!  Well, not really...Tim beat me wearing socks no less!  It was a sad day...)



 Our cousin Josh celebrated his 14th birthday while we were there.  Happy Birthday, Josh.  We are so glad we could be there to celebrate with you!
 Another fun pastime is card games.  Hearts and No Peeky were 2 favorites.  Ah, Becky...you always love to get your picture taken.  She is even wearing her Aggie sweatshirt.  I wonder if she wears that at BYU?
 Naptime!
We love Grammy!

Wife Advice—Playing With Kids: Harder Than It Seems?

The family that plays together…

Some people see a picture of a family like this and have warm fuzzies. I may have had these thoughts before having kids, but here’s what this image represents to me at this point in my life:

  • Packing lunches, extra clothes and all sorts of toys
  • A long drive
  • Muddy clothes
  • Replacement clothing costs
  • Near drownings
  • Sibling sabotage in the ocean
  • Muddy car ride home
  • Buying some kind of treat on the way home
  • Muddy house
  • Over-tired, cranky kids

I thought about this the other day when I looked out my back window and saw a woman playing with kids in my neighbor’s backyard. They played for hours on the trampoline, on the playhouse and in the yard. The next day I looked out my window and saw her playing with the kids again. I was surprised to see that she spent another 2 hours outside playing.  On the third day I looked out and nearly fell over when I saw everyone playing outside for a third day in a row. I had my wife inspect the situation and asked her if this woman was the kids’ mother. She replied that it was not their mother.

“Oh, this makes much more sense,” I said. “It must be a babysitter while the parents are on vacation. No one plays with their kids that much.” My wife and I had a rare moment of agreement and had the kids watch a little more television while we went back to work.

Darn, I need to do better.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Halloween

First off, you must know that our family is completely obsessed with the show "Phineas and Ferb". Even Mom and Dad have been known to sit down and watch it, or at the very least snicker at a joke as we walk through the room. And since it's about two brothers who make huge contraptions in their backyard and their big sister who is always trying to bust them for their genius schemes, plus the family pet who happens to also be a secret agent trying to bust the bad guys- well, how could we NOT be them for Halloween?
But alas, the kids told us that Richard had to be the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, instead of the Dad in the show.
So now that you have the backstory - here we are! Isaiah as Phineas, Asher as Ferb, Naomi as Candace, Sammy as Perry the Platypus, me as the Mom, and Richard as Dr. Doofenshmirtz:
These heads were not easy to make! Asher's Ferb-head is a fruit snacks box, spray painted. With green yarn hair, styrofoam ball eyes, and folded paper nose. It stayed on thanks to a ski hat that is stapled to the inside. Isaiah's Phineas-head is a file folder (already the right color!) carefully folded and cut kind of like a party hat. It stayed on thanks to a length of elastic under his chin - just like a party hat.
Asher really, really loved his costume this year. And that is a BIG triumph!
Naomi's Candace costume was pretty simple. I made the white skirt, with belt loops for her red belt, bought the red shirt and red socks, and we sprayed her hair with two bottles of temporary orange coloring (it was easier to wash out than I expected it to be).
Dr. Doofenshmirtz was a cinch since it's really just a black tee with a lab coat over. We added the "Hi my name is..." tag just for people who hadn't seen the show. And my "Mom" costume was easy too. I did ruin the white shirt I wore with the orange hair coloring, but that's OK.
And I'll tell you more about Perry the Platypus in a minute.
Here's everybody (except me who was taking the picture) up on the stage at church during the Halloween parade. We got a lot of compliments on our clever costumes from fans of the show. And we got a lot of questions about who the heck we were from people who aren't.
All those pictures above were from our Friday night church Trunk or Treat. Here's some more Halloween activities from this year:
Isaiah marched in the Preschool Halloween parade. He wanted to wear last years dalmation costume, so out it came - which was fine since his Phineas costume doesn't make as much of a splash without the rest of us.
We carved pumpkins on Saturday. Here are the boys posing with theirs. And, yes, that's a "HTML 5" carving on the back pumpkin. Can you guess who carved that one?
We had a really great Halloween. I didn't take a single picture on the actual Halloween. Richard was out of town by then and I was way more focused on trick or treating than on cutesy pictures. But we had a great time! Naomi and Asher really got into the going door to door this year for the first time. They ran! Isaiah got pretty tired and started asking at every door, "Is this OUR house yet?" And Sammy politely sat in the stroller. There was a real sense of community in the air as we walked past our neighbors and the kids shouted greetings to their school friends. It was lovely.
Now, on to more Perry the Platypus. Because he's cute enough to warrant more attention!
Look! There's a platypus in our yard! They're the only Mammals who lay eggs, you know.
I think the tail was super cute. It's just a sheet of foam cut to the right shape, lines drawn on with Sharpie, and safety pinned to his shirt.
His costume is just little blue tights, a blue shirt (I really tried to find a body suit in the right color but never could), the tail and the hat.
The hat was made by Chris from Chris's Creations on Etsy. She made it to just my size specs and she did it fast! I just love it! I see no reason why Sammy shouldn't wear this hat all winter long.
Isn't he such a cute little platypus? They don't do much you know.

Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Sophia's baptism pictures

It's hard to believe our little Sophia turned 8 last year and was baptized.  We are so proud of her and the choices she has made to follow her Savior.  Here are a few pics I took of her for her annoucement...she was a trooper...outside in December in short sleeves.  We love you, Sophia!

 
 



Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—The 3 kings came!

Once again, The 3 Kings visited the Rodriguez household, bearing gifts to all little ones (and big ones) who left their shoes out the night before.  January of this year we awoke to this!  Thanks kings!

Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—Christmas in Pennsylvania

We traveled back to PA last Christmas and oh the fun we had.  The best part was we had almost everyone together!  It was a Rodriguez reunion!


Pappy with Aeden.  "Who is this strange man I call Grandpa?"

Vanessa and Steve made the girls the cutest aprons and cookie mix for Christmas.  So creative!
Crazy Gionvanni!  It was so wonderful to see our cute grandkids!
We always love to hang out with Oliver.  We miss you!
Josh, Mia, Giovanni and Aeden.  Florida is so far away, it was wonderful to be with them.
 
FOUR GENERATIONS!
During out time in PA, we spent the afternoon with our wonderful friends, Louis and Fran in New York.  We had Aunt Fran's famous Eggplant Parmesan and she gave me her even more famous secret cheesecake recipe! 
We also stopped in to see the Peet family, our neighbors and great friends in Newfoundland.  We had dinner and had fun playing drums, wii sing along, and  air hocky. Oliver got his first strum on a banjo!
Sophia misses her best friend in PA, Makenna.  They had some fun times together.

Sophia is baptized in Honsedale, PA!
Grandpa and Gradma Worth came for the Baptism from Virginia! 
oh, the boring plane ride back home....
Natty kept herself occupied with all her goodies she packed in her bag.  We miss you Pennsylvania!

Tim and Jolie Rodriguez—....no excuse

I am ashamed to say the family blog has fallen by the wayside.  I see my last post was about Christmas 2010 and here we are almost in November 2011!  Family is busy...my photography business is going great, but it leaves less time for family blogging.  Soon, business will slow down after the holidays and I'll have more time to catch up.  More to come...

Richard and Nancy Worth—Asher Catches Up

Kindergarten is such a fun spectator sport. Asher is just loving it and really doing great. Of course, I didn't know about the "doing good" part until his parent/teacher conference this week since he's not exactly chatty.
Below is a "story" that he wrote. It says, "IAmjobeuuyloef". Translation: "I am jumping in a pile of leaves." That's quite a bit of progress from a little boy who couldn't write his name two months ago!


And look at that cute pile of carefully crafted leaves!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Next!

That's it. I've had it. Can it please just be next year already? Next SCHOOL year, that is.

Ergh!

My schedule this year is just seriously awful. I never have more than an hour to run any errands. And honestly, most of my errands individually don't take more than an hour. But if you only have one hour between absolute deadlines, you've got to be very on the ball. One hour turns into 45 minutes which becomes half an hour very quickly. And half an hour isn't enough time to run almost any errand.

Asher and Naomi leave for school at 7:30. Then Isaiah has to be at school at 9 (Monday, Wednesday Friday). And Sammy naps until 10. And Asher gets home from Kindergarten at 11. And I pick up Isaiah from school at 12. And nap time is 1 to 3. And Naomi gets home at 3 but then there's homework and playing. And we try to eat dinner at 5:30. And bedtime is 7.

I think I'm rambling. Possibly incoherently.

Today, for example, I really needed to go to the fabric store. Just for one yard of fabric. But the fabric store is one of those terrible places where you never know how long it's going to take you to walk in, buy one simple thing, and walk out. It could take 10 minutes - or it could take 45. So I kept scheduling it in, and then it kept getting bumped because I wasn't sure I had quite enough time. Finally I fit it in after both boys got home - which means it was a time when I had all 3 boys with me. And they were awful. And it took 35 minutes. And the whole reason for wanting to go to the fabric store this morning was so that I could sew Naomi's Halloween costume during nap time, but after that crazy run to the store I really needed (OK, fine, "needed" is a bit strong of a word) to relax during naptime.

Ergh.

So, like I said, is it next year yet?

Richard and Nancy Worth—Pumpkinville

This is Year 4 for me of a Preschool trip to Pumpkinville. I actually feel pretty sad that next year I won't have a Preschooler to take me on this trip.
Isaiah started off the morning totally ramped up. He was chomping at the bit to get in there!
The first place we hit, as usual, was the petting zoo portion. Isaiah loved this silly camel. And the feelings seemed to be reciprocated! The camel kept walking away from other people to come over to where Isaiah was. (Maybe it was the hat!)
Isaiah also bravely fed a big fat pig, sheep, cows, and chickens. His favorite were the chickens. He loved chasing them.
Then the playing began.

Last year Isaiah needed help making it up this rock climbing wall. This year he was totally sure that he could handle it all by himself. And he did it! He only had trouble at the very top figuring out how to swing one leg over the ledge and climb into the spook house above.
Here he is making his scary face - just like the Jack-o-lantern.
And in the corn maze:
Admiring the tractors huge wheels:
Driving a haunted school bus. I actually learned a lot about Isaiah at this point in the trip. Isaiah is not use to fighting his own battles! It took two adults full intervention to get him his turn sitting at the wheel of this bus. He was just standing there waiting for his turn, but there were so many kids that they just kept brushing by him. Even when I coaxed him that his turn was next, he hesitated long enough that the kid behind him pushed in front of him. He must be use to Asher taking charge in situations like this. See that kid in the gray and red sweatshirt and how he's looking at me a little warily? That's because I basically had to yell at everybody on the bus to back off in order to get Isaiah his turn.
But he was happy.
Sliding down the huge slides:
On the hay ride with Mommy:
And lastly, but most importantly, with his very own pumpkin:
We'll just have to go to Pumpkinville as a family next year - but it just won't be the same as our special Mommy/Preschooler trips.

Karen and Jared Hess—Happy, to YOU!

A little birthday wish to Amy from Jessica (and J & K of course too). Love ya!

Richard and Nancy Worth—The Cruise Pictures

You know how I was bragging about what a genius I was to think to bring disposable waterproof cameras with us on our trip? Well, I was humbled when I went to develop the film and they told me that one entire camera never started working right and not a single picture from that camera came out. All dark and mostly black. Luckily, it was the second camera so we have the pics of when we were in the Bahamas but lost the pics from the next day on the boat. Oh well.

Here I am at the back of the boat as we chug our way out of Miami harbor.

And Richard looking excited and slightly amorous.
As soon as we were done admiring the view, we sat right down and ordered our first (of many) Pina Coladas. Yum!
That first night we saw the comedian and did karaoke. We enjoyed our first fancy meal and explored the boat. When we woke up the next morning, we were docked in the Bahamas!
Here we are on the pier with our boat in the background.
The Carnival Imagination! And then we were on our way to Atlantis to their waterpark.See? Those disposable, waterproof cameras did come in handy this day!
This waterpark was amazing. Millions of pools, awseome water slides, the not-so-lazy river, waterfalls...
And the water slide that goes through the shark tank. I know this next picture is a little abstract if you don't know what you're looking at - but that's the underside of a shark right above us. And the picture isn't zoomed at all - that's how close the shark was to us!
After a trip around the mile-long lazy river, we walked out of the official water park and onto the real beach. See that big gray cloud coming up behind me? Well, we didn't. It had been kinda gray and had even rained once before for about 10 minutes so we just ignored it.

And we went and rented a jet ski for Richard. Notice how he's riding right into that big black cloud? Well, again, we didn't.
About four minutes later I noticed everyone on the beach running around like crazy. When I looked out to sea I could see a huge wall of rain coming right at us really quickly. For a minute I stood there on the beach, alone, thinking I'd make sure Richard was OK. But then I gave up and ran for it. I made it back into the water park and into a covered locker area just before it really started pouring. Luckily, Richard found me there just about 10 minutes later.

We waited out that rainstorm for about 10 minutes and then it let up. But unfortunately, lightning came with that storm and they closed all the water areas. Since we were exhausted and just about done anyway we decided not to wait until they re-opened. We headed back to the ship. And that was our Bahamas adventure.

Our time on the ship was fun, too. It was slow and easy. It was naps and hot tub soaks. It was time together.

Man, that was a fabulous trip.

Richard and Nancy Worth—The Cruise

Pictures are still developing (we took disposable waterproof cameras), but the highlights of our cruise to the Bahamas are:

Seeing Adam Hunter, the comedian, and having him refer to Richard as "Jared From Subway".
Singing "Love Shack" as a duet for karaoke. Badly.
Going down a water slide that was seriously a story-high vertical drop that ended in a shark tank. With sharks. REAL sharks.
Going down a much slower water slide into the same shark tank and getting to actually look at the sharks.
Riding a mile long "lazy river" with rapids and huge waves and the option to veer right and go down a slide that drops you right back into the lazy river.
Naps.
Multiple naps in the same day.
Sipping Pina Coladas in a hot tub on the back of the boat in an "adults only" area.
Mocking the ridiculously bad "show" the cruise put on. Seriously, it was worse than most high school productions I've seen.
Ordering a fresh plate of cookies each night delivered to our room.
Beating Richard at air hockey. (OK, it was a draw - he won one, I won one.)
Freedom to do what we want when we want. Or NOT do.
Dressing up just for fun.
Chatting with total strangers like we're old friends.
Spending 3 days together without being apart one bit.
Remembering that we really do enjoy each other very, very much.

Richard and Nancy Worth—...Can't Talk Now

...I'm busy packing for my cruise. You know, the one to the Bahamas. With just my hubby. For our 10th anniversary.

Pina Colada anyone?

Richard and Nancy Worth—Planetary Orbiting and Sore Abs

When I am standing in the kitchen at the counter making lunch or dinner or whatever, Samuel feels that he needs to be close to me. Not that unusual, right? Except that how he wants to be close to me is by circling around my legs like a planet orbiting. He puts one arm on my legs and just walks in circles. If I am standing too close to the counter to allow such rotations, he screeches and pushes until I step back. Sometimes he prefers to sit between me and the cupbaord, on my toes. This often leads to me stirring or scrubbing or measuring at arms length. Which is a bit of an ab workout. Like when you're pregnant and can't seem to get close enough to anything.
But who could be mad at this sweet face?
Who could scold an angel?
Not me.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Conference Weekend

Richard was out of town this past weekend. And it was General Conference weekend. Not really a great combination. I figured that I had to really work on getting the kids wiggles out on Saturday so that they wouldn't go crazy or drive me crazy when we were home together all day on Sunday. The weather was terrible so we went to the mall Saturday morning. We rode the carousel AND the train (usually I make the kids choose) and played at the play-place. During nap time I watched some Conference. That afternoon Ruth came over to play (and to tell us about her trip to Europe!). When the kids went to bed, she and I watched more General Conference. Sunday morning I finished up the two sessions of Conference that I'd already started. Then I had to wait until noon when more Conference was on. And I watched more. And the kids napped. And we watched more.

And this is the part where suddenly it felt like I was in a never-ending cycle of Conference, grip at kids, feed them, Conference, grip at kids, feed them, Conference, grip at kids, feed them. I think I did that for a week straight. Oh, wait, it was only 6 very long hours. Anyway, the afternoon seemed long and lonely. I don't think I actually got much out of any of the Conference that I watched that afternoon. I'll have to re-watch/read it all.

Anyway, it was a long day. But it's over now. And it really could have been worse. In so many ways.

If you see my husband, could you send him home? Soon?

Wife Advice—20th Anniversary – Pure Nirvana

What did you think? Marriage is nirvana, full of flowers, bonbons, love and passion? No way. Today’s the 20th anniversary of the release of Nevermind – the best album ever! Long live Nirvana. And I guess marriage. And I guess I’ll thrown in babies since they apply to both.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Miss Naomi Goes To Washington

I have an Aunt with "connections". She generously offered to let us accompany her of a special tour of the White House along with the White House Press Core. Who would say no to that? Naomi even got a library book about the White House and it's history so that we'd be all ready. It was a school day, but I managed to sneak Naomi out (actually I totally told the truth, because what school would make one of their students miss an opportunity like this?) and she and I headed "downtown".
Here's Naomi in the Metro station. Can you see the calm exterior masking the oh-so-excited interior? This was a big adventure for her! She was really hoping to meet Michelle Obama.
When we got into DC we stopped and ate our lunch by the Old Post Office. Then we still had some time so we went to the White House visitors center. They had a display of what the inside of the White House had looked like under different President's. Naomi enjoyed seeing how the women were dressed in each painting and seeing the First Family's pets.
Then we toured. Naomi was a perfect lady (of course) and even came up with a few great questions. It was cool to have my Aunt with us because she had the inside scoop on how the big parties and functions work at the White House. Naomi decided she'd like to live there one day. When I told her she'd have to either be the president or marry a president, she decided she'd settle for attending a fancy party there. She also decided that the blue room had the prettiest curtains.
Here she is outside behind the White House. I cropped a group of protestors out of this shot just beyond the fountain. I thought it was pretty cool to be on this side of the fence.
And here is Naomi and I with our backs to the White House. See? It's WHITE.

Oh, and one last thing to brag about: Here's Naomi sitting at the President's desk in the oval office!
Just kidding. This was a prop at a gift shop we stopped at. If you bought something you could take your picture at their fake desk. So we bought a pen.

Wife Advice—Planning To Plan Is Planning To Fail??

Communication Degeneration

Have you ever heard this quote? Failing to plan is planning to fail. I think it’s been around forever but it’s a cute little phrase that people use in time management and project management courses. There is some merit to it, but I don’t think it has a place in marriage. Let me share a very recent conversation that has been quite typical in my marriage over the past 12 years.

Background: My grandparents are getting pretty old and I figure they will be dead soon. I want to capture as many stories from them that I can before it’s too late, so I am trying to plan a trip to see them. I mentioned this idea to my wife a few days ago and she seemed supportive. Then I approached her with some information.

Donkey: Do you have a minute to talk about this trip I have been thinking about to see my grandparents? I have a few ideas I want to run by you.
Wife: I don’t understand what your problem is. Why bother asking me? I heard you talking to your brother and making plans, so go do what you want.
Donkey: Well, no plans have been made. I looked into some options and want to discuss with you. That’s why I am here. I have some information and ideas now.
Wife: You should have talked to me first about it.
Donkey: Talked about what? There would be no plans to discuss. I needed to gather information before we could talk.
Wife: No, you could have talked to me about it first.
Donkey: I am confused. Here, let me play out the conversation according to what you are proposing, but I will switch the roles. Tell me what you think.

(Donkey now plays both roles, adding a high pitched voice when speaking as the Wife)
Wife: I want to see my grandparents before they are dead. What do you think?
Donkey: I don’t know. When are you thinking?
Wife: I don’t know, that’s why I wanted to talk to you first.
Donkey: Would we drive or fly? What are the costs?
Wife: I don’t know, that’s why I wanted to talk to you first.
Donkey: Do any of your siblings want to come? Are we going to visit your grandfather first and then driving down to see your grandmother?
Wife: I don’t know, that’s why I wanted to talk to you first.
Donkey: It seems like you should do some research, make a plan, and then propose something to me. How can I make a decision with no information?
Wife: Stop asking me all these questions. It’s so confusing and complex. I just thought I could walk in and and we could figure it out. Why can’t we just decide together? Love should be able to figure this out, not the Internet or common sense. You must not love me.

(Donkey is now out of character)
Donkey: I think the point has been made. Case closed. The jury can be excused.
Wife (shuts the door): Just go do what you want.

I tip my hat to husbands everywhere and encourage you to keep planning despite how illogical it may sound to our wives. Long live logic!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Me

I know it's been a while since there was much ME in this blog. It's just been events for a while now. So, just so you know, I'm still here. The first week of school, I felt like my schedule was awesome. The second week of school, I felt like the schedule was beating me down. And this week I think I've found the balance. I've been working in exercise whenever I can because we just bought tickets for a cruise to the Bahamas for our anniversary. Wa-hooo! That's next month!

...And that's really all I can think to say about myself. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, my life is way more about the family than anything else. If the family is good, I'm good. So, I'm good!

And if you must see a picture of me to feel connected, go check out the adorable pictures my sister-in-law took of Sammy and I at our Worth reunion (which I haven't blogged yet at all, but I will soon). They're on Facebook. (I think you'll be able to see them even if you don't "friend" Jolie since they're on her business page.)

Richard and Nancy Worth—Isaiah's 1st Day of School

Isaiah started school a week after the other kids since the Preschool he goes to follows the neighboring county's schedule. He had been feeling left out the previous week, so he was totally ready to go. He has one of the same teachers he had last year, so he really wasn't nervous at all. When I dropped him off in his class, he hardly even glanced over his shoulder to say goodbye. I think he just felt right at home. (Sorry for the terrible picture - the camera battery was dead so this was taken on my phone)
He also started speech therapy back up that same morning. I was very excited to have speech on the same mornings as school because that would leave Tuesday's and Thursday's commitment-free. But, alas, the teacher has since changed the schedule and we're now on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 8 am! So much for my perfectly laid out, exercising every day, getting chores done early, schedule. ...Oh well.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Sammy's First Birthday Party

We postponed Sammy's first birthday party a bit because we wanted to be able to celebrate with Aunt Ruth. So on a lovely Saturday afternoon, the party began. We started with the cake - because we figured that's what the kids would want, then presents, then just plain playing. The official "theme" was NOISE. Because after careful consideration, I decided that noise is Sammy's favorite thing.
Doesn't the cake look "noisy"? No? Well, I did my best to interpret what noise might look like. (I'm kidding, I just thought this would be a cute cake.)
The cake was banana flavored cake with cream cheese frosting.
Unfortunately, Sammy seemed to like the texture of the cake more than the flavor.

But he really liked the texture. (See that puckered face he's making in the pic below? That's his "I'm exploring and this is cool!" face.)
In keeping with the theme, the post-cake-playing got pretty crazy loud. Sammy loved the balloons.
So did Aunt Ruth. Did I mention this was also a birthday party for her? She was very gracious about sharing the spot light with Sammy.
Sammy got some fun presents, but I think his favorite was this ball spinny-popper thingy. It just so happens that it's only a hand-me-down that had previously been in the basement "out of rotation" - but who cares? See the exploring face? He loves it!
We all had fun celebrating our baby. What a good little boy he is!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Sammy's Birthday

{These pictures were all taken a couple of weeks back when we were in Idaho at Rigby Lake}








Today is Sammy's first birthday. I know everybody says the first year goes fast, but really - it does! He is, according to What To Expect The First Year, way ahead on most fronts. He already walks, babbles and imitates our sounds, rolls a ball back to you, and picks up things with his two little fingers. And on top of that, he does it all while being the cutest little guy EVER.

I was told that the video the other day of him walking was too short, so here's a little more for you. I think just yesterday is the day that he decided he'd rather walk than crawl to get somewhere. And he's been walking every since. He has, just today, mastered the art of putting his arms straight up and going stiff as a board so that you have no choice but to set him down. His days of happily hanging out in my arms are over.

My miracle just keeps on getting bigger!




Richard and Nancy Worth—First Day of School

This year Naomi ran off to second grade and Asher schlepped off to Kindergarten. Naomi couldn't have been more excited. I think she lost sleep for at least two nights prior in anticipation. Asher, however, was really totally nonchalant about the whole thing. He didn't have questions, he wasn't excited, he didn't really want to talk about it. I guess part of that is a boy thing and part of that is an Asher thing.
But, whatever the attitude, the first day of school came!
And Asher did get a little excited as he headed for the bus stop with Naomi.
I felt so good about sending Asher off with Naomi to take care of him. What good kids they are.
I was honestly a little nervous about what Asher would think of his first day. He pretty much hated his first days of Preschool. But he came back from Kindergarten happy. He has a neighborhood/church friend in his class and a couple of kids that he knows from Preschool. His only complaint was that they were so busy playing outside that they didn't have time for a snack. He hasn't said a word about actually learning anything, but I suppose he hasn't really learned much other than rules and schedule so far. His teacher is the same one Naomi had - Mrs. Butler. And Naomi has a young, cute woman named Ms. Kovacic who seems very involved in her teaching career. I think she'll be great. Naomi came back from her day with stories about all the times that she saw her best friend in the hall and the one time she saw Asher while he was at recess. I think she's thrilled to have the social aspects of school back.

So it was all a success. And my day went great, too. Our morning routine is shaping up nicely. I think this will be a great year!

Richard and Nancy Worth—New Year's Resolutions

Now is the time for New Year's Resolutions. January 1st is just a date. This is the time when our "year" really begins. Now is when we set our schedule - try to include exercise and scripture study and family prayer and night time teeth brushing and homework. Now is when new systems can be implemented and improved on. This is really the start of everything.

That's what I've been thinking about this past week. School starts on Monday and I want to have our schedule down smoothly from the first morning. Asher and Naomi will wake up, get dressed, do hair. Then everybody else will join us for family prayer, then we're going to try scripture study during breakfast - we'll see how that works out. Then it's collecting lunches and homework and brushing teeth and putting on shoes. Then it's off to the bus stop for the two elementary school kids. Then if it's a Preschool day, we'll have one hour to get Isaiah (and Mommy) ready. If it's not a Preschool day it'll be exercise THEN getting ready.

I resolve to be sweet in the mornings.
I resolve to exercise at least 3 times per week.
I resolve to have daily family prayer and scripture study.
I resolve to do more of my to-do list in the mornings than in the afternoon.

I resolve to make this year great!

Wife Advice—Brought To You By The Number 8

An infinite problem

Have you ever noticed that people respond in very similar ways when stressed out? It’s a natural thing for everyone. It’s the same type of thing that occurs when I step on a Lego piece in the house – I yell out the same phrase every time. Do you notice this same thing in your spouse? I certainly do, but it’s only been recently that I’ve noticed that my wife loves using the number 8. And it normally occurs when she is stressed out about the number of things that she has on her to-do list. For example, I’ll say, “When are you going to help me find a doctor?” And she’ll say, “When I finish the other 8 things on my list.” Fair enough. Recently, however, I’ve noticed that she has now moved to new levels of the number 8.

A few months ago a conversation went something like this, “How come you still haven’t ordered a cover for my new phone?” She responded, “Because I have about 18,000 other things on my mind.” Wow, I thought. It’s gonna be a while. Then last week I said, “When are you going to help me put the lawn edger together?” She said, “When I finish the 8 million things that I have to do.” Wait a minute. I can’t hang around for that long.

Why the number 8? What is it about 8 that fascinates my wife? Here are a few interesting things that might be down deep in her subconscious which drive this love for the number 8.

  • Perhaps it’s because 8 is a power of 2 and we are 2 people who should have power
  • It could be a result of the religious importance of the number 8 (Hanukkah is 8 days, there are 8 Beatitudes, the Buddhist symbol Dharmacakra has 8 spokes representing the noble eightfold path)
  • Or maybe it has something to do with it’s musical importance (8 notes between octaves, 8-track player
  • Maybe she fears the fact that seven ate nine
  • Possibly it’s because there were 8 maids-a-milking
  • 8 is similar to the sign for infinity and might represent all of the work my wife thinks she needs to do
  • Could it have anything to do with Crazy 8s?
  • The words eight and ate are homophones. Perhaps this is important to her because she likes to eat and ate is a form of the word eat

Any other thoughts?

Richard and Nancy Worth—Sammy Steps

I've been meaning for a while now to blog about all the "baby steps" Sammy has been taking. When we arrived in Texas, he had 1 1/2 teeth. When we left he had 4. When we arrived, he sometimes took a step on accident. When we left, he sometimes walked 5 or 7 steps. He went from mostly all bottles for meals, to only 3 bottles a day. His hair grew in. He grew tons. His face changed from "baby" to "toddler". He now claps, sways to music, points, babbles, and says something that almost sounds like "mama". Here's a little video clip of his cute walk. It's really more of a run! He wants to go fast, and his hands are always up in the air like they are in the video. He's, in Isaiah's words, supedy dupedy cute.




Richard and Nancy Worth—Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa are like super hero's. They swoop in and give children exactly what their little hearts desire. They say things like, "Oh, the kids don't really need to go to bed yet." or "How about another bedtime story?" Naomi flies off to get manicures with Grandma, Asher has endless questions answered by Grandpa, Isaiah gets never-ending cuddles from both, Sammy was never lacking somebody to hold him.




Making cookies with Grandpa!
Having Grandma and Grandpa around was definitely the best part of staying in Texas. Hands down!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Splash Pad


I don't want to sound like I'm hating on Virginia by loving on Texas so much, but there are some very cool things around Dallas that they just don't have in good ol' VA. For example, splash pads. It's a playground with water squirting all over. It's genius! It's also free - just like a playground. Grandma took us one morning and everybody had a great time (except Isaiah who is still a bit of a party pooper when it comes to water). Even Sammy loved crawling around in the puddles. As you will see from the pictures, my camera just couldn't get enough of that cute baby crawling around.

I really, really, love this picture:

The kids were so close to Grandma and Grandpa by the end of this trip. That's definitely one of the perks of staying so long.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Big Adventure -Dallas Science Museum

The Dallas Science Museum is quite a remarkable place! I wish there was something like it near us here - we would certainly be there regularly. It is so fabulously geared toward children. We dug for dinosaur bones, saw replicas of dinos dug up in China, learned about tornadoes, blew huge bubbles, explored a farm, learned about the human body, had a picnic, and splashed in water. It was a great day.






Richard and Nancy Worth—Big Adventure - Dallas Arboretum

Once Angela's family left, we resumed our Summer schedule, including Big Adventure Monday's. Our first Texas Big Adventure (not counting the whole 10 days of 10 kids in 1 house or Great Wolf Lodge...come to think of it, we had plenty of Texas Big Adventures! Monday or not!) was the Dallas Arboretum. I love the Dallas Arboretum and had visions of beautiful flowers and grassy meadows before we went. Well, let's just say that any previous Dallas Arboretum experiences that I had must not have been in July. It was hot! And there weren't a ton of flowers. Plants, yes. Flowers, well, not so much. But there were two different fun exhibits going on: Beatrix Potter (of Peter Rabbit fame) houses and Princess castles. Plus, Grandpa was able to come along for added fun.
It just so happens, that we went during "family day" so there was a little petting zoo, too!

Here are the big kids sitting on King Triton's throne outside of The Little Mermaid's castle.
Here they are exploring Squirrel Nutkins cute little house.
And since it was really, truly, stinkin' hot, here they are splashing in a fountain.
Here we are having a little spot of tea with Peter Rabbit.
Sammy was a real sport about being driven around in a stroller in the crazy heat.
But he was much happier once I discovered that I could pour water into the tray of his stroller and he could splash in it and keep himself cool.

Here are the kids hanging out the windows of Beauty and the Beast's castle.
And here we are heading back to the car after just one hour of exploring the beauty's of the Arboretum. Can you see the drooping shoulders, red faces, and sweaty hair? It was really too hot to be walking around outside. But we had a good time anyway!

Richard and Nancy Worth—Texas With Angela

I love my sister Angela. We talk on the phone almost daily. We tell each other details of our lives that nobody else wants to hear (you know, the parts that involve children's bodily functions and fluids or total failures on our parts, etc.). So getting to be in Texas at the same time as her was a great perk. But it was also great because Angela's younger children correspond in age to my children. My Asher and her Jesse are, in fact, less than 10 days apart from each other age-wise. My Naomi and her Haley are less than a month apart from each other, age-wise. And now my Sammy and her Betsy are less than six months apart from each other age-wise. It's great. Haley and Naomi are the only ones who have really bonded, so far. But the strength of their bond makes up for the fact that so far all Jesse and Asher do is antagonize each other. I think that in the 10 days Haley and Naomi were together, they were only apart when forced.

Here they are swimming in my Uncle Bill's pool:
And here they are showing off their professional manicures that Grandma took them to get:
Really, this group of "little's" got along very, very well. Here they are out in front getting ready for a bike riding party (despite the near-100-degree temperature).
And here is Angela with her sweet Betsy.
One day we took the kids to an indoor "amusement park". The rides were insanely small, but they managed to have fun anyway. But really, would you call this a "roller coaster"?
(Above: Naomi and Haley in the first car, Isaiah, Jesse and Asher in the second, and Levi in the back with his hands up)
Here's my mother and Angela enjoying some chit-chat as the kids ride bikes and run around in the front yard. The thing about my family is, we really enjoy being together.
My Dad always says that his favorite place to sit is anywhere with his grandkids on his lap. So here he is being happily (or maybe slightly begrudgingly) sat upon by three gandkids.
The stars of the show were Itsy Bitsy Betsy and Sweet Sammy:
Everybody wanted a turn holding these two.
The time was a blur, in a good way. 10 kids in the house made for some definitely intense moments. The best parts were the craziest moments and the calmest. Angela and I didn't get nearly enough time to just be together. But some day we'll have that time to just sit around, and all we'll do is reminisce about the times like this and wish we had babies to cuddle and teenagers to coax and big dinners to fix.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Great Wolf Lodge / 4th of July

I got home from Girl's Camp on July 2, expecting that we would be driving to Texas on July 6 or 7. What actually happened is that while I was taking my post-Girl's Camp nap on July 2, Richard bought us plane tickets to fly to Texas on July 4. It was a great deal and I'm thankful that we didn't have to drive, but the change was a bit sudden and really threw me for a loop. Those were a couple of crazy days. Another side effect of this change in plans was that my parents weren't actually going to be at their house when we got there. So Richard booked us a night at Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. The kids have seen the commercials for the one near our house, so they were super excited. And it really lived up to the hype! The water park was awesome, the food was decent, our room was big enough - it was really great. Naomi, Asher and Sammy really got into the water park and enjoyed it. Naomi and Asher rode their first big water slides, rode their first lazy river, and bobbed in their first wave pool. Isaiah is still a smidge chicken in the water, but we like to think he's loosening up every time. He doesn't NOT enjoy himself, he just doesn't relax and go with it. We also watched fireworks from the front parking lot of the Lodge. It was seriously underwhelming. The fireworks were so far away that we couldn't even hear them. Isaiah slept through the whole thing, laying on the concrete. Sammy never really saw them at all. I think we all were kinda just wishing it was over and we were in our beds.
So we stayed there one night, playing in the water park the evening we checked in, and the morning before we checked out. Then it was off to my parents house!

Richard and Nancy Worth—A month!

***This post was actually written July 23, but to keep the flow of the blog right I'm back-dating it.***

Holy moley! I don't think I've ever gone nearly an entire month without blogging before since I started! A whole lot has gone on in that month, and I don't really want to leave anything out, but catch up is a hard game to play. Let's start with a basic re-cap and then I'll go back and fill in blanks as I can.

Girl's Camp - I spent 5 days camping with the young women from our ward. It was crazy hot, we slept in cabins with mice and wasps and the occasional snake, my feet nearly fell off from all the walking on gravel - but the girls are so great, their faith and testimonies renewed my faith and testimony, and I'll always be glad I went.

Plan Change - The plan was that July 6 or so Richard, the kids and I would drive to Texas taking 3 days to get there. Then the very day that I got back from Girl's Camp (July 2), Richard bought crazy-cheap plane tickets for us to fly to Texas instead on July 4. Which was great, but a little crazy too. Suddenly I had 2 days to get us all ready to go.

Texas with Angela - The same day that we got to Texas, so did my sister Angela and her six kids. My parents house is pretty spacious, but 10 kids in pretty much any house is pretty intense. Angela and I figure we actually talk more over the phone across the country than we did some days while we inhabited the same house. But it was great anyway.

Texas without Angela - Their family stayed 10 days or so but now they've gone back home and it's just been the kids and I here. Richard has gone back home to work and travel. But we're certainly not lonely here since my Dad is home most days. We're keeping up our "Big Adventure Mondays" with a visit to the arboretum last week and a science museum this coming week.

The Future - We're here until the second week of August, then we're all heading off to a Worth family reunion in Idaho. Then we'll finally make it home mid-August. Then school starts!

So that's the very basics of an update. I'll work on filling in the blanks soon.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Kids Day 2011

This year's Kids Day we didn't take any pictures. We were too busy having fun! We went to the pool in the morning, had mac n cheese for lunch, had naptime where the kids were allowed to take their computers in their rooms, saw Cars 2, had mac n cheese for dinner, and then crashed into our beds hours after the usual bedtime. It was a great day. We didn't fit a carousel ride in, which we love to do to honor Gary, but we certainly thought of him and told the kids stories about him.
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Richard and Nancy Worth—Errand Friday's

This many to-do lists can only mean one thing: busy, busy, busy. Kids Day then Girls Camp then 4th of July then trip to TX. And I feel like I need to get ready for all of them today because after that Ill be busy DOING them. So errands, here we come.
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Richard and Nancy Worth—Cleaning Wednesday's

Big Adventure Monday's, Daddy Tuesday's, and Cleaning Wednesday's. So this morning I started cleaning. And the kids did their chores and helped me out, too. And by 10:30 the house was looking pretty dang good! So we headed over to a neighbor's house who has two big bounce houses set up in her yard for the day. One wet, one dry. The big kids played crazily and deliriously happily on the bounce houses with all their neighborhood friends while Sammy and I lounged on a blanket under a big shady tree nearby. Sammy was trapped on the blanket by the grass. He loves to pull the grass up with his little fists, but he won't let his bare knees or feet touch it - so he might as well have been in a cage. After about 35 minutes Sammy got super cuddly. He must have been hot and kinda tired because he just kept flopping his head into my lap or rolling over right next to my belly. If I held him, he'd just lay still and gaze at me. So the big kids played and Sammy and I had a little make-out session under a tree. It was heaven.

Richard and Nancy Worth—Big Adventue Mondays

This summer we've declared Mondays "Big Adventure Mondays". These are the days that we do things that are usually a little too far away or difficult or whatever. We had hoped to kick off this tradition with a trip to the zoo in DC, but there was too much of a chance of rain so we downgraded to painting pottery. Richard sweetly offered to keep Sammy so that made it a lot simpler. Everybody had a good time. Naomi's flower pot turned out beautifully. Ashers cupcake turned out mostly grey. And Isaiah's french fries turned out so glopped with paint that I'll be amazed if they actually fire it instead of just trashing it. But we all had a great morning! Next week we'll shoot for the zoo again and after that our adventures will all be in Texas! Splash pads, the arboretum, that famous statue of the longhorns or something... what else should we do?
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Richard and Nancy Worth—An Inheritance

#1) Richard has a sister named Nancy. The original Nancy Worth, as I always say. So when it came time for me to pick a worths email address, I chose nancy.sabina. Sabina is my Great Grandmother's name and my middle name. In my youth I thought Sabina was a terrible middle name because it was different. I wondered why there wasn't the R to make it SabRina like everybody else. In my "old" age, I think it's beautiful and I love it for it's uniqueness and it's connection to my family. Sabina was by all accounts a strong, witty, intelligent woman - all things I hope to be. When I am with the Worth family, I am now known as Nancy Sabina. They refer to me that way amongst themselves and when they are addressing me. It always catches me off guard the first couple of times, but I love it. I love the reminder of who I am.

#2) My mother has recently been reading through all the letters that my Grandfather wrote to my Grandmother while he was serving in World War II. She found intriguing things like that they had a code where the first letter of the first word in each letter told her where he was stationed without getting the attention of the censors. She also read some lovely, poetry like, love letters. This quote is especially beautiful and foretelling: Our love will be our strength though the years and far beyond our life spans. Our children will inherit from us the spirit of true love and happiness and carry it on long after we have departed.... A love like ours will always be regardless of time. I have been captivated by the thought of a love that is regardless of time. My Grandpa and Grandma have always been my example of true love. Visible true love. I am so thankful for the inheritance that I have received from them of true love and happiness that I can carry with me until, and beyond when, I am reunited with my Grandparents.

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Whether it be a name or an example of love, I am who I am because of the things that my ancestors gave me. And I love who I am!

Richard and Nancy Worth—An army of goldfish

Asher says, "I created an army of goldfish. And I'm gonna eat them and then they'll march into my tummy and push my heart and it's gonna hurt. And then when they're done they'll still have more strength and they're gonna come poke you!"
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Richard and Nancy Worth—Thriving, Flourishing Life

A few months ago I clipped a little snippet from a magazine (Experience Life magazine, which we get as a part of our Lifetime Fitness gym membership) about "The Good-Life Ratio". Basically, it says that you have to have three positive experiences for every negative one in order to create a "thriving, flourishing life - as opposed to a negative, downward spiral."

What that makes me think about is Asher. He is such a fun boy, but he often asks me for things that I just can't (or won't) deliver on. For example, he'll ask me for a cookie first thing in the morning. Or he'll ask me if he can play Wii, right after we've just watched a movie. I swear he asks me things just to hear me say no sometimes. ...Because he's got to know that's the answer that's coming. So when I think about Asher and this 3:1 ratio, I have to force myself to find "good interactions" to have with Asher. When he's just sitting still watching TV, I go up behind him and hug him. When he's sitting at the table having a snack, I give him a kiss on the head and tell him I love him. It's not really hard to find ways to praise Asher, but I do have to remind myself to do it sometimes. Naomi and Isaiah, and of course sweet Sammy, just give me more opportunities that are easily spotted.

I'm going to work on this 3:1 ratio with Richard, too, I think. We don't often have "negative" interactions, but we do often have pretty neutral ones where neither of us really engages in any emotion whatsoever. So I'm going to work on putting a positive spin on those - even if it just means ending the conversation with a hug.

If you want to read more about this and even take a quiz to test your positivity, you can check out www.positivityratio.com/single.php. Or to hear Dr. Fredrickson herself talk about how positivity can help you, go to //j.mp/PosEmote

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