Huntington Randoms

As a mother of a door-to-door sales rep, and two little ones while expecting number three, life can get chaotic and redundant. I find that if I don't make an attempt to get out more often I easily fall into the "wo is me," mentality because of feeling trapped at home reading Dr. Suess's ABC's for the 200th time. At the beginning of the summer I stayed at home a lot and didn't like myself much for it. So lately we've tried to keep busy despite our crazy schedules, my growing belly and my lack of extra hands around for help. I will admit it is nice at the end of the day when my hubby and my sister can come home to offer a hand. And even though they come home to eat and sleep and start it all over the next day, I am grateful for their mere presence at those late hours.

So a couple weeks back, Alex and I found a sweet girl from our ward to watch our kids while we went to the temple in the early morning. I remember as a kid talking to Gio about how much fun it would be to try and visit every temple in the world. Well, thanx to this exciting job we're one step closer to completing our goal. I don't know if we'll ever make it to every single one but we've already been to quite a few within the US. It's still fun to try I suppose and has never ceased to bring us a peace of mind. Some of the other things we've tried to stay busy with is feeding the missionaries once a month and attending the summer playgroup/workout every friday in our ward. Feeding the missionaries has always been so pleasant in the past but we've never done it as often as I think we should. Since now my baby brother is out on his mission in Texas he has inspired us to do so more regularly. He said that the first four months in his area were hard and that in that area there were very few members who offered dinners to them but always expressed his deep gratitude for the few that did. It made me think a lot about how many times I've passed the clipboard over to someone else in relief society expecting that others would do it. The thoughts and spirit they bring to our home are so re-enforcing and much needed because of our crazy lives and nothing feels better than doing small acts of service anyways. Just because I can't feed my little brother doesn't mean I can't feed other missionaries in the field. We've found that this definitely lifts us out of our slumps that we constantly seem to fall into over the long summers.

Among other things, taking long walks to the park or simply riding our scooters/pushing strollers is enough to wear out my young children so much that they fall asleep at the table after dinners.

This last Friday some of the other office wives and their kids invited us to come along and splash around with them at a splash park. My son thought it would be funny to pull down his pants and pee out in the open while we were there. SO NOT something I taught him. But I was reassured by my cousin who also has a little boy, slightly older, that this is innate. Then Saturday we went to the Peach Festival out here. Above is a photo of the bushel of peaches I purchased to bring home to my family who all LOVE peaches. We made a yummy peach cobbler but still have half a basketful that is definitely not lasting. Some of them are still not quite ripe, but close, so that's kind of nice because in that way we don't have to worry about peaches spoiling faster than we can eat. But both my kids and myself can down peaches like no other. So juicy. So sweet. Back in Philadelphia, I recall a moment when we'd picked up peaches from an Amish town and my son, somehow still short, managed to pull a few of them down off the kitchen counter and took big bites out of each of them. I hadn't noticed he was getting into them until I heard a very loud, "Mmmmmm! MMmmmmmmm!!!" along with little smacking noices. I walked around the corner and surely enough there he was indulging himself, covered in peach juice that dripped from his chin, elbows and was very much slathered all over his shirt. How could I take them away? He looked like he was in Heaven. He still loves them just as much. And now I get to enjoy two little indulgent faces at peach-snacking-time. My family always tells me the story of how as a little kid I once requested a bowl of, and I quote, "Peaches con mono cochino." That's Spanglish for Peaches with dirty monkeys. I don't know where that came from. Neither do they. But it's become somewhat of an inside joke and from time to time they still call me that. Orion now gets called "mono cochino," because of me. Because he's my offspring. I guess there's no doubt we're a family of peach lovers.

While there, Orion had some fun bouncing around which he's a pro at.

And sliding.

And we got face paintings/tattoos for the first time. Well, it was the kids' first time. But my son insisted that I get one too and even picked out this pretty butterfly for me. I think he knows I like them. So I got a butterfly on my arm,

Orion picked out a "a pirate face ARrrr,"

And I picked out another butterfly for Chrysalis. So fitting, I know.

On our trips to walmart and the zoo, Orion's newest obsession has become any animal-like toys so his latest includes some dinosaurs, bugs, land mammals and sea creatures. Some of these were a gift from Grandma. I find these are also very helpful in teaching my daughter. Three dimensional creatures are so much easier to understand than the 2-D ones in most picture books. A most educational toy indeed. She actually says dinosaur very clearly now and can distinguish a lobster from a crab from a scorpion a little bit better than she could while I was asking for her to point them out from a board book that we have.

And since she's my daugher and quite possibly a future wife and mother herself, we recently picked up a baby doll stroller for her to play with. She LOVES it. Sometimes she'll stick her baby in upside down, but no matter. And if she can't strap it in quite right and it falls, she just picks up her baby, gives it a kiss and puts her back in sideways.

And Sundays we really try not to go swimming but this Sunday was the fourth of July and so after a yummy potluck dinner that the wives all put together quite nicely, Alex and the kids took a short dip in the pool. Chrysalis has been teething lately so this fun didn't last long but it was long enough for me to snap some photos. And Sunday evening we waited till dark to do a small box of fireworks and some sparklers for the kids. They slept well.

Orion was a little afraid of the water at the beginning of the summer but is now all over the place. I think he forgot how much fun it was. But I am excited to get back to Utah so that we can continue with swimming lessons. At least some to refresh Orion's memory on how to float without floating devices and because I loved the instructor so much, I also want to do a full course with Chrysalis. She's very much ready as she is fearless of jumping into the water. I remember Orion being a lot more cautious. Different personalities I suppose. I have more videos and pics to post soon but this will have to do for now. Hope everyone had a happy fourth and enjoys my random thoughts and happenings.

Grandma Comes to Visit us in South Carolina

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We basically just spent time together and I got a much needed hand with all the small things in life. We took another short trip to the zoo and visited the gardens at Riverbanks this time too. Didn't get too many photos but here's what I got. Hope you all enjoy. And just in case you hadn't already heard, we found out IT'S A BOY! I'll post some ultrasound pics soon. 6 months along now. We're pretty certain of his name too. It's funny because we had a boy's name all ready a while ago and had been struggling to find a girl's name. Now we finally know why. So from the belly, please meet Hinckley James Huntington.

Hating Mosquitos with a Passion

I know God created all creatures with a purpose and good reason, but can I just express how much I absolutely HATE mosquitos right now? The lower half of my legs are covered in mosquito bites. And since I've always had extra sensitivities to any bug bites and I can't control my scratching at night when I sleep I know I will have ugly scars now. I look like a leper. Will somebody please explain to me the purpose for mosquitos on this earth? I want to destroy them for good. That's probably not the answer and I probably couldn't wipe them out even if I tried, but that's how I feel right now. Just needed to get that off my chest.

Happy Father's Day!

So, I stole the cutest idea from one of the other moms staying out here in South Carolina for the summer. She was doing this as a gift for the Daddy in their family and I just had to do the same. I'm not creative enough to think up these things on my own. But I think it turned out great! Don't ask me how I got the kids to sit still long enough for me to snap these photos just right. But for not much of photo experience, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I've framed these photos and mounted them into a nice frame to hang on our wall. I hope he likes his surprise. He's also got a couple new shirts and some jeans since the last time I saw him in a pair of jeans was when he was still framing houses and those were tossed out and never replaced a long time ago. I thought it was about time he started wearing jeans again.

In just four years, we've more than doubled the size of our little family and I can't imagine I would be able to do it on my own. We are so grateful for the Father of our home. He's the most hardworking, dedicated and devoted father and I'm blessed to have him be the Daddy of our two and a half children. I love how he loves being a dad. He was feeling the baby move around in my belly one night and he says to me, "Sometimes I wish I could feel what it feels like." Sometimes I think he loves being a dad more than I love being a mom. Is that possible?

Anyways, to all daddies and grand daddies and great grand daddies out there:

Happy Father's Day!

A Day at the Riverbanks Zoo

Angela Cheesman and her little girl Elise joined us for a stroll at the zoo in about 100 degree hot and humid weather. The kids love going to the zoo. They are always so fascinated with every little detail. It really makes me discover the world all over again when I see it through their eyes. God's creations really are marvelous. We really took advantage of the little indoor exhibits to cool off as they were air conditioned. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Lately, both my kids have been really into gorillas for some reason. One look at them, and it's no wonder why. These primates features and movements are so similar to ours and yet they are still wild creatures. So we attended a short presentation about them as they were thrown head after head of lettuces and other greens.

There were some giant tortoises about this size but this was the only one you could sit on.

Angela and Elise.

A fun fish feeding with a scuba diver actually in the aquarium of the exhibit touching eels and sting rays.

Take notice of the little arm. Orion would have loved to have taken this friendly giant home for a pet. This was definitely one of the highlights of the day for the kids.

I think he tried to kiss it at one point.

Chrys was trying to feed it to draw it near but would quickly change her mind as it approached. It is a strange looking animal. But all the kids were fascinated. I expected a rough dog-like tongue but it was slightly prickly so that actually surprised me. Probably good for catching those high tree leaves. So I learned something new.

Orion said they tickled.

Lions,

And Tigers, but we couldn't find bears.

Young love.

I swear my son holds hands with more girls in the same month than I ever held hands with any guys in my entire life. He's such a little ladies' man. Last week it was Claire Bennion. Now it's Elise Cheesman. This summer office we are surrounded by little girls. Last year, Orion had tons of little boys to play with. This year it's girls.

But how could you resist such cute little sweeties? They had so much fun together.

Orion surely enjoyed feeding these little birds.

Chrys was super excited to see so many birds. But she didn't want them too close. They made her kind of nervous. Their claws were a little prickly I suppose.

Trying to capture the birds that swarmed my arms, head and shoulders.

Angela tries to show Elise there's nothing scary about the birds.

Still leery but you can see the curiosity in her expression.

Looking for penguins.

Just playing on a little dinosaur sculpture.

Lake Murray

A small group of us went to Lake Murray one Sunday evening only to get kicked out shortly after arriving. We didn't realize they closed so early. But it was still a fun little outing. Kids always seem to be fascinated with nature and its many wondrous beauties. They never seem to take one second for granted.

Chrys wasn't so sure at first about the waves, but she quickly got over it.

The little girl in pink is the Bennions daughter Claire. Orion is in love with this little sweetie. He makes many attempts to hold her hand.

My little ladies' man.

As you can see, she took to the water very quickly and was soon soaked. Didn't really come with a change of clothes so she rode home in nothing but a diaper.

Orion's little girlfriend Claire.

Learning Patience and Some Updates

Okay, so a while back, I wrote about trying garlic on the wart that had developed on my third toe. It hasn't seemed to work very well. Then again, I'm not quite sure how long a wart takes to heal. I guess I get impatient and am always looking for a quick fix. I did notice that the garlic began to peel away slight layers of skin around the wart so my guess is that perhaps it's not getting under the top callused layer where the infection is concentrated deeper in the skin. My cousin Ursula (another of my Go Natural buddies) has suggested a slightly different concoction that includes the garlic but also includes apple cider vinegar and cayenne pepper. So my next step is to try that. Please do share if you have any other ideas out there in the blog world. I'm open to anything.

As for the Relearning to See progress. It has been about a week and a half now and I've noticed my eyesight has improved but it is still too slight to say it works significantly. I am however coming to a better understanding that my life may very well be out of balance. Once again, I am not very patient. But I find that quick fixes are not really fixes at all so perhaps the Lord is trying my patience. I do notice that I'm the kind of person that easily gets stressed out at the silliest of things. I need to further develop my practice of breathing and letting go. This is not easy for me. I do believe it might also be slightly genetic. Not that I am blaming my parents but I have noticed in the past that on my Dad's side of the family, they have a tendency to carry very solemn and serious expressions on their countenances. It used to be funny to me because my siblings and I always used to ask my Dad, "Dad, why are you so upset?" to which his response would be, "I'm not upset." And his furrowed brow would quickly vanish and lines and creases of a more mellow expression would take its place. But his tendency to furrow his brow has always seemed to settle into his face whether he is happy, sad, bored or really upset. It doesn't seem to change. This leads me to believe that he's the kind of person that has somehow learned how to cope living with the stress he carries. In some ways, I think I might have the same tendency. I've noticed this in not just my own expressions but also in my son's. Then I wonder if it may not be something that is learned and picked up as children. My little girl doesn't seem to have this as much. Granted, they have a very smiley dad. My husband always seems to have a smile on his face even when he's upset. So in this, he's exactly the opposite. Who knows. I'm just throwing ideas out there. But maybe, sometime in my past as a young child, I've learned to cope with my own stresses of life and have somehow carried them on my face and within the muscles of my eyes. Again, just more ideas. I do recall many times people would ask me why I was so serious all the time. In middle school one day, I can even remember over-hearing a group of girls snickering about how they thought I was stuck-up. I remember feeling somewhat puzzled and deeply wounded by such a comment. All my life I was a quiet person. I was even voted most shy in both my middle school and high school yearbooks. I guess I figured that was all people thought of it. But perhaps it was an expression I carried externally that I was unaware of, in much the same manner that my father still does to this day. I think I've lightened up a lot since and learned to be more outspoken. But that may not change the fact that somehow I subconsciously may still carry extra tension on my face.

I think the main idea I am trying to get to is that I need to focus on letting go of excess tension before I can maim this experiment a complete failure. I can't give up yet and am inclined not to simply because I do have moments of clarity. My healing is not going to be a quick one if it really does work. So today, in a world that has become so fast-paced and adjusted to the quick fix, I pray for patience. I pray for patience and for the Lord to continue taking me by the hand and showing me the way.

These scriptures have inspired me to continue with this experiment with an extra focus on the words in verses 6 and 9 : 2 Peter 1:5-10.

In the meantime, your prayers for me to learn a little more patience would be helpful. Even if the experiment fails, I could definitely use a little more patience.