Switched at Birth?

Abby is one of the toddlers in Rom's nursery class at church. Her mom, Robyn, shared the following conversation.

Robyn: Abby, we need to make good choices. Abby: I want to make Santa cry.

Rom swears she's a Proffitt!

Kyara's Graduation

Tsk, tsk, tsk. I am really far behind! Well, in case some of you weren't aware yet -- Kyara graduated from high school! With honors, no less!

Although Hemet seems like a tiny little town, it is actually much bigger than it looks. We arrived early for the ceremony, but apparently not early enough! We found a spot high up in the bleachers spread over three rows. There were over 500 students graduating. We were lucky -- since Kyara was graduating with honors, we didn't have to wait to long before her name was called. We yelled and cheered! She was very cute and excited.




After the graduation ceremony, we all went out to dinner at Chili's. It was a sweet moment for all of us, knowing that our big girl would soon be moving on. And the chocolate lava cake. That was sweet, too.

Kyara ended up attending her grad night, which was held in the auditorium and lasted until something ridiculous, like 4 am. She had a blast, though, and I'm happy she went. I think she would have regretted it if she hadn't.

Congratulations, Kyara! We are very proud of your accomplishments. You are a pioneer in our family, paving the way for the rest of our kids, showing them what can be done if you put your mind to it.

I'm Thankful

I love having Thanksgiving before Christmas. It gives me time to ponder the wonderful blessings in my life, and it puts me in the mood to enjoy the true spirit of Christmas. So, today I am thankful for my family.

My husband Rom was sent to me over 21 years ago. The moment he saw me, he knew he would marry me. It took him about three weeks to convince me. His purpose in life, as he says it, is to make me happy. He is very, very successful at it! I am the most spoiled, adored wife on the planet. He loves me, supports me, encourages me, lifts me, and makes me more than I ever imagined I could be. He is so much fun, and he makes me laugh every day. Life is an adventure with him. I can't imagine facing the trials I have to face without him.

Kyara was sent to me to make me fall in love with motherhood. From the day I first held her in my arms, she has been a joy to me. She is loving, funny, kind, cool, brilliant, and independent. Just as I held my breath waiting to discover who she was as a baby, I now hold my breath waiting to discover what wonderful thing she becomes as a "grown-up."

Romney is the one who makes me stretch as a mother. He is a very challenging boy! But that is because there is such a tremendous spirit in him that it is like trying to tame a wild stallion. There is a lot of power there, and I need to make sure it is used for good. He has a surprising sense of humor and is so much fun to be around.

Johnette, the Spirit once told me, was very eager to come to our family because she and I used to be such great friends in the premortal world. She is a gentle soul. She is compassionate and empathetic. She has always been so unique! It's fun to watch her face light up as she's telling a story. I love to see her coming into her own.

Anneli is the epitome of passion. There is fire in her love and in her displeasure. People gravitate to her, because she is very accepting and fun to be with. She inspires the people around her. She can be driven and excels at everything she puts her heart into.

Gabriel is determination personified. Whatever he sets his mind to, he achieves. Whatever he chooses to do with life, he will be unstoppable. He is smart, loving, kind, and fair. He is a great snuggler and gives the best kisses ever.

Gavin reminds me that life is joyful. He dances through life with such energy and enjoyment. He has a contagious smile. He can be so quirky, catching you off guard sometimes with a strange and witty comment. He is game for almost anything!

I'm also grateful for the family I grew up in. My children love to hear stories about my parents (Dad's "I'll pinch your head off!" and Mom's wind-up toy). I learned the most important lessons about being a parent from them: unconditional love conquers all, and keep on trying to be better. I love the bond I share with my sisters and the gallantry of my brothers. I embrace my whitetrashiness! At its heart, it is living life with no pretense and giving yourself, warts and all, to the people who love you.

Happy Thanksgiving! I love you!

Soccer Season!

Last May, my boys begged me to let them play soccer this year. I don't typically encourage my kids to play on sports teams -- I really don't like the added burden to our schedule. But, if it is something they really want to do, I'll support them. So, we signed up for AYSO soccer!

When we started in August, I was so unprepared for what I had gotten myself into! We had practices Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons. Then there were two games on Saturdays, sometimes as early as 8 am! Nuts. We experienced one of the hottest summers ever, even for Hemet. The heat has continued all the way through Halloween. Our first game was in September. Never having participated in soccer before, I did not know what to expect. Well -- luckily I had brought my own chairs, because there were none. Worse, there was no shade! I sat in 105 degree heat through Gavin's game. Then, I lost my car keys and spent an hour before Josie, my dear friend, brought me a spare set from Rom. I had just enough time to return home and pick up Gabe for his game. When I got home, I crashed from all the activity -- went straight to bed and was useless for the rest of the day! And I bought an umbrella for the next week.

And yet -- it was so much fun! Gavin had never played soccer before. He plays with so much zest and pizzazz! He dances like a butterfly all over the field. He loves practice, so he has picked up a lot of skills in a short period of time. Yesterday, he played goalie for only the second time ever. The other team was way better than us. They spent most of the quarter shooting goals -- and Gavin saved all but one of them! That was better than the rest of our goalies during the other quarters. He must have made like 10 saves. One time, his shoelace was untied, and he was trying to tie it when the ball came to him. He jumped up, made the save, kicked it downfield, and went back too tying his shoe. Too cute!

Gabe has never officially played soccer, but he has played a lot at school. He is a wild man! He's the smallest guy on the team, but he has no fear. He gets right in there and makes his plays. He's awesome at passing. He has excellent field awareness -- he does an awesome job staying in position, following the direction of the ball, and being in the right place at the right time. He's probably a little better on defense than offense, because he's not afraid to engage. He is so funny! He told me before a game a few weeks ago, "Mom, I bet if I play really hard today, I'll get player of the game." I reminded him to just do his best, and we'll see. I didn't want him to get his hopes up too much and be disappointed. Shouldn't have worried -- he played awesome, and he got the player of the game!

I couldn't make it through the season without Rom. He's so wonderful! He gets up early and goes to the 8:00 games for me. That means that he no longer has a day that he gets to sleep in for an hour or so, and that's killing him -- but he's loving it! The boys love having their dad watch them play. In fact, Gabe made his first goal with Rom there. He told me that Dad's encouragement made him play harder and stick with it when he was starting to get tired, and that's when he made the goal. I was sad I had missed it, but I was excited for him.

Here's a little video of the boys. Sorry the quality is so poor. I wonder if there's a way to focus manually instead of automatically? I'll have to play with it.

Tricks and Treats

We all had a fun Halloween this year! The kids enjoyed dressing up. We went to the Van Jindelt's annual Halloween potluck before going out trick or treating. Rom came home from work and took the kids out trick-or-treating. Poor Romney -- he's usually the one who scores the most candy, but this year he was supposed to meet a girl at the park for a party, and her mom wouldn't let her go at the last minute. He vows to not let any girl get in the way of his take next year.

I stayed home and handed out candy from my chair on the porch. I wonder ... am I getting old and crotchety? Or am I just plain evil? Our neighborhood is the neighborhood that people drive to for trick or treating. So, I put all the "good" candy on the bottom of the bowl, and crappy candy on top -- you know what I'm talking about: the sweet tarts, the gumballs, the smarties, the dumdums. I give out the crappy candy to most of the kids that come by, and I dig to the bottom of the bowl for the good candy when I recognize someone who is really from our neighborhood. Other signs I'm evil? When the kids come and stand in front of me with their bags open without saying anything, I just smile at them. I wait until it becomes uncomfortable. It finally dawns on them what is going on, and they say, "Trick or treat." Then I give them a piece of candy and wish them Happy Halloween. Final piece of evidence: I laugh (a discreet giggle, not a huge guffaw) when kids come running across my lawn and trip over the cords that hold my big blow up Frankenstein in place.

At least I didn't use my whip on anyone! (I mean, the kids at least! That was Rom's trick or treat.) ;)

Hope on the Horizon

Many of you may have already heard about this from my Facebook page. Since some of you are not on Facebook much, I thought I'd share it here, too.

A new discovery is making news in the medical and scientific communities. Scientists have identified a new virus that is linked to CFS (as well as fibromyalgia and autism). While it is being reported with cautious optimism, the authors of the study are pretty confident that his may be the answer that has eluded so many people for so many decades. XMRV is a retrovirus that is similar in many ways to HIV. Because of all the work that has been done on HIV, researchers feel that we should be able to find effective treatments for it relatively quickly. They are also hopeful for a vaccine. A commercial test for the virus is expected in about a month.

Two and a half years ago, when I was about a year into this illness, my dad gave me a blessing. I remember it distinctly. He said in the blessing that 1. I would be diagnosed; 2. a treatment would be available; and 3. I would be healed completely. After the blessing, I confidently went back to my doctor for months of more tests. Everything came back negative, and I was so disappointed. I had to remind myself that sometimes things happen on the Lord's timetable, not on ours. So, I settled in to wait. Like most of you, I thought that maybe CFS was in interim diagnosis, that the doctors missed something, and that some brilliant doctor would some day discover the "real" reason I'm sick. Maybe, just maybe, my waiting is close to being over.

Hope is a dangerous thing. As I've thought about it since the news broke last week, my mind keeps wandering to thoughts I never allow myself to have. If I get healed, my kids can have birthday parties again. I can clean my house, even scrubbing the toilets and showers and mopping the floors. I can invite Nikki and Shandee over for a casual little get together. I can volunteer to host our book club at my home. I can take the kids to a pumpkin patch and let them choose their own pumpkins. I can help them carve the pumpkins. I can walk with my kids around the neighborhood to trick or treat. I can start substitute teaching and get the ball rolling to become a middle school science teacher. I can take walks with my husband in the evening. I can stay up and watch stupid sitcoms on TV and go to bed with him instead of hours before. I can stay up past midnight talking with my daughter when she comes home from college. I can drive down to visit family even if my husband is working!

I can sit with my family during Sacrament meeting and listen to wonderful talks ... or boring talks ... or mediocre talks. I can go to Sunday School when my husband is teaching. I can sneak into nursery when he's not. I can go to Relief Society again. I can share my brilliant insights with the sisters! I can hear the announcements. I can sign up to volunteer when someone else needs service.

I can exercise! I can get in the water at the beach, go out past the breaking waves, and swim until my arms ache. I can do situps and yoga and belly dance. I can get on the computer as a reward for getting things done, not because it's the only thing I have enough energy to do.

Ah. See? Hope is a dangerous thing. It makes me impatient.

This is a great interview with the people who discovered the virus. The ads are annoying, but it's worth wading through them.

http://nevadanewsmakers.com/video/default.asp?showID=938

Because If I Didn't Laugh, I Would Cry

Some days are just crappy. So, to combat, I find fun and funny wherever I can. Here's a gem Kyara introduced me to:

People Of Walmart

www.peopleofwalmart.com

Anyone look familiar?

Romney's Big Adventure

Maybe it was a feeling of foreboding, or a premonition on Tuesday, but I started the day in a terrible mood! An elderly customer helped improve my mood slightly, but I really didn't want to be at work that day. Be careful what you wish for!

Just after 1 pm, I got The Phone Call that every mother with a boy knows they are bound to get someday. Romney told me he had just been in a bike accident. I asked if it was bad, and he said yes -- there was blood all over, he thought he had broken his nose, and he had lost a tooth.

Well, that was enough information to get me to close down the store for the rest of the day! When I found him, he was disoriented, bloody, and in a lot of pain. We ended up spending the rest of the day in the emergency room.

Here's what happened. Rom Sr. had jury duty that day (curse you, our jury system!). I would be at work. I could handle the morning carpooling, and I had the afternoon carpooling taken care of, but there was one problem left. Romney Jr. leaves HAAAT after lunch to go to Hemet High for swim and water polo, and I usually drive him. He thoughtfully suggested that, just this once, he could ride his bike to Hemet High. It seemed like such a good idea at the time! Since it was not our usual routine, it did not even occur to me to check for and insist on a helmet.

Romney started off after lunch and made it just past the busiest street in Hemet. The bike he was riding has a quick release for the front tire, and apparently someone had been messing with it, unbeknownst to us. The front wheel came off, and Romney went right over the handlebars, planting his face in the asphalt. He was very lucky that another bike rider came by right about then. Romney was wandering in circles in the middle of the street; the bike rider helped get him out of the street and over to a dentist's office where he could be taken care of while he waited for me.

He was so disoriented! I'm amazed that he had the presence of mind to remember that Rom was at jury duty and I was at the store. I'm amazed he was able to remember the phone number. I'm amazed he was able to tell me the cross streets where he was waiting.

We were so lucky (blessed) that it wasn't worse than it was! He had abrasions all over his face. He had one laceration on the bridge of his nose that didn't need stitches (they super-glued it). His nose suffered only a hairline fracture. He was wearing his favorite sunglasses, and they were destroyed, but they protected his eyes from damage. He broke one tooth that we were able to have repaired the next day. He'll still probably need a root canal done on it when he's healed more. Most of the rest of his teeth have been jostled around a bit, but the dentist said they should move back into place with normal biting and chewing.

He'll probably have a few more scars on his face. I told him that since he's such a handsome boy, he must have been trying to level the playing field a little.

I hope that's the last injury for this boy! I'll be amazed if he makes it to adulthood.

Wordless Wednesday (Sorry It's So Dark!)

Kyara's Big Date

OK, I know I have a LOT to catch up on, but I thought I would share with you Kyara's first date at BYU! I'm a little fuzzy about some of the details, so if I get anything wrong, Kyara will have to correct me in the comments.

Kyara met a boy and talked with him a bit on Facebook. He wanted to take her out, so she decided to give him a chance. The first thing he asked is if she looked as good in person as she does in her Facebook picture (it's this one -- isn't she gorgeous?). She told him, no, she only gets done up like that for special occasions. He asked if she would get dolled up like that for her date, and she said, no, curling her hair like that is too time consuming.

They decided on a lunch date. He wanted her to come over to his house while they decided where to go and what to do, but she declined. So, they decided they would go to the mall.

When he arrived and got out of the truck, Kyara noticed that he was a little on the short side. He was wearing a pink polo shirt (apparently he didn't pull it off as well as Romers does!). Her first impression was that he reminded her of an arrogant high school acquaintance that she dislikes.

After being at the mall for awhile, he asked Kyara if she was hungry and if she would like to get something to eat. She said yes. He then told her that he didn't have any money. So, Kyara bought her own meal and ate it while he sat there and watched. When she was full, there was still some of her meal left over. He said, "So you're just going to let that go to waste then?" And she said, "Yes, I guess I am." He then told her to go get him a fork. She responded, "What, am I your biatch?" Although, I think she left out the "a". He said something (I don't remember what) and Kyara rolled her eyes in his face.

Kyara didn't take the opportunity to end the date there. He suggested they walk around for awhile. They did. At the end of the date, he asked if they could do this sometime again! She told him no.

Can I just say that I am so proud of how I raised my daughter right now? There is one more strong Proffitt woman out in the world right now. I am feeling really reassured that Kyara will be able to hold her own in the dating world at BYU. You go, girl!