And he's off!

 Elder Pugh flew to Mexico City today!!!

He had to get up at 3 am then take a bus, train, and light-rail from the Provo MTC to the airport in time for his 9:40am flight.

Chad and I got to have a quick video chat with him while he waited to board the plane.  He seemed SUPER excited, SUPER ready, and perhaps a tiny bit emotional.  I was for sure a LOT emotional. I'm not crying.  You're crying.

I'd sent Jack a package earlier this week with a few things, including an AirTag so we could see "where in the world" Elder Pugh was.  

It was fun to watch him (and his AirTag) make their way to the other side of the hemisphere throughout the morning.  In other news...I got absolutely nothing done today.

Luckily for me, the fiancee of my nephew Scotty, (her name is Hallie and I'm a huge fan) is best friends with the daughter of Jack's mission leaders (that sounded like a joke but it's true!) Anyway... my nephew sent me this picture of Jack and the Sister mission leader. 

It absolutely MADE MY DAY!

We Love you Elder Pugh!!!!!

Where in the world?

 We have been anticipating Jack getting his mission call for a while.  Once he actually submitted his papers I would say things to Chad like, "only 10 days till we know where he's going."  

"Only one week till we know where he's going."

Then before I knew it, "tomorrow we will know where he's going"

And now we know.  

But let's back up a little. 1st I had heard it was so much work to get mission papers turned in.  I wouldn't know. Jack did all of it.  He set up all of his church interviews (we have such AMAZING youth leaders in our ward/ stake....we are so lucky).  I did set up the doctors appointment...then reschedule it when Jack couldn't go...but he's the one who went by himself, did all the paperwork and online forms etc..  

Oh, I did take him to get his passport and was super helpful by stressing out when Jack was late getting to the appointment. "they might not fit you in, this might not happen Jack..."  Of course it was no big deal and I'd made it more stressful for no reason...I'm working on that.  But we can laugh about it now.  

Right Jack?

Anyway, I guess the point is, I helped a little but mostly it was all Jack. 

The morning we expected his call to come he and I went to do baptisms at the temple that morning before school.

It was a beautiful ...but cold morning...otherwise we would have taken a selfie but me with wet hair in the freezing cold is a hard pass.

Lucy had slept in that morning so after I drove her carpool to school, I took Lucy to school 30 minutes later.  I had been home for about 20 minutes when Jack texted saying his call had come!

Family text chain went like this

Jack and Marian went to pick up Lucy from middle school (I couldn't bring myself to go back there a 3rd time within 1 hour) I walked over to get the twins and tried not to cry in the office.  Chad was working from home that day so when we all met up at home we had prayer then Jack opened up his call.

MEXICO CITY EAST MISSION!

We are so excited!  Jack has tons of relatives on the Pugh/Robinson side who have served in Mexico City and it is fun to think of Jack serving where his great grandparents and many other relatives have served.

He starts home MTC July 29th and I know it is going to be here before I know it. 

There are tons of pictures and movies from that day...and I'll get them added here...as soon as I get them off of Chad's phone!

Do do do do (snap snap)

I am probably the only one who will get that this post title is supposed to be the beginning of the Addams Family Theme.  But it is.  Just trust me.

Jack was in the pit orchestra for the high school play of "The Addams Family"

I have to be honest...it didn't have that high of expectations for it but I was

 TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY!

The sets, the costuming, the acting and singing...and the orchestra!!!  They were incredible!  The entire production was amazing and SOOO fun!

We all went for family home evening

Handsomest cellist ever up there on the back left

So proud of Jack!

He spent so many hours after school in rehearsals.  The 2 weeks leading up to opening night he was in rehearsal pretty much every night for hours and even then would come home and practice his part even more!  The hard work paid off...all the kids in the orchestra must have worked hard too because they sounded INCREDIBLE!  

Incredible enough that I didn't totally lose my mind when Jack texted to tell me he'd broken his cello bow after the dress rehearsal performance for the elementary kids.  His bow got caught between the orchestra room doors and completely snapped.  Oh baby.  

I wish I had a picture of him in the pit...so many talented musicians down there and a wonderful conductor.  I am so grateful for all the incredible people Jack has gotten to work with and the cool opportunities Jack has been able to have thanks to music.  

Music is pretty much the best thing ever!

 

THE OLDEST

It's not easy being the oldest.  The oldest is the guinea pig.  He has the most responsibility (and privileges I try to remind him...) But really I think being the oldest can be pretty hard.  Lucky for us our oldest is pretty dang great.  Sure he can tease and harass in ways only a 13 year old boy can, but he brings so much good and happiness into our home too.

Jack started taking piano lessons from Grandma Linda this summer and I really think it is the highlight of his week.  He LOVES his lessons and fills our home with beautiful music when he practices.  He also fills our home with the Entertainer about 100 x's a week....not what I would call beautiful music (at least not the 1 millionth time you've heard it) but even though I beg him to stop, I can't help smile when he plays it.

 Jack is THE most helpful person to have around when we go skiing with the family!  He has boundless energy and helps get the twins and all their gear up the hill and into their ski class.  He happily skis backwards to help coach Grant and Grace down the hill and encourages Marian and Lucy at every step.  Even though I'm pretty sure he'd rather be off hot doggin it down black diamonds...that kid is fearless, he never complains about skiing with the family.


 Thanks to an awesome woman in our ward Jack has learned how to find names of our ancestors who need temple work done for them.  It has been so awesome for me to see Jack and Marian and some of their cute friends take those names to the temple and get baptized for them.  It is also a good motivator for me to get to the temple so I can do their temple work too!

Even though he is a full blown teenager in so many ways...he's not TOO cool to leave selfies like this on my phone every now and then :)

Jack  may be turning into a big tough teenager on the outside ( it's not going to be long before he and I see eye to eye...literally ) but he still has the sweetest heart on the inside.  He has always been comfortable talking to adults and new people and turning teen hasn't changed that a bit.  We have a friend "Grandpa Jack" in our ward who we love going over to visit.  My Jack is always so warm and easy at conversations with him I can't help but be impressed.  I am certain that talking with people is one of Jack's spiritual gifts.

 We have been bombarded with snow this winter and one Sunday after staying late at church for Young Women meetings I came home to this sweet scene.  Jack recruited Grant to help him shovel our driveway and sidewalks, and the driveways of at least 4 other families on our street! 

I'm telling you, being the mother of a teen is not for the faint of heart.  Figuring out rules and expectations for  video games, phones, school, and friends that Chad and I feel good about but that also allows our first baby the chance to grow and spread his wings of independence  is overwhelming sometimes.  There have been times when I've felt bad for allowing too much and times when I've felt bad for allowing too little.  At this early stage in my teenage mothering I'm realizing that I'm going to get it wrong ...a lot.  But I'm going to get a lot of things right too and learn more and more along the way.  I'm also realizing that I am SO lucky to have a kid like Jack as my first to help me figure things out.  Even though we can get pretty steamed at each other, he is quick to forgive and even when he really REALLY doesn't like certain rules, I'm pretty sure that deep deep deep down he knows that I'm acting out of love.  And truth is, if we keep LOVE at the center of our mother-teen relationship I'm confident we will do just fine.  Love and a whole lot of forgiveness...and burger runs, and new hair styles that may or may not be something I would pick and late night youtube binge watching etc... etc...

Thanks Kids!

Dear Jack, Marian, Lucy, Grant, and Gracie, Mother's Day  was awesome!  Thank you for helping dad make a delicious breakfast.  Thank you Jack for setting the table so nicely.  Thank you Marian for making the hot chocolate extra chocolatey...just the way I like it!  Thank you Lucy for the pile of pictures and cards!  Thank you Grant for not breaking anything or throwing food during breakfast!  Thank you Gracie for singing "Happy Mother's Day to Mary" to the tune of Happy Birthday all morning long.  (but feel free to go back to calling me mom any time now!)

You are great kids and I'm pretty sure I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate all the things you do!

Jack- thank you for taking out the trash EVERY.SINGLE. DAY.  You are such a good sport about it...even when the bathroom trash is overflowing with pull-ups and diapers!  So gross- so glad I don't have to do that!  Thank you!  Thank you for being a cheerful cello practicer most days and thank you for playing my favorite songs "French Folk Song" and "Rigadoon" whenever I ask.  Thank you for always telling me you love be before you leave for school and thank you for wanting to tell me about your day when you get home.  Thank you for being my guinea pig child and loving me even when I am a total nutcase!  Thank you for mastering the art of Macaroni and Cheese and your newest specialty...waffles!  Thank you for always pushing the cart when we go to Costco and for telling me riddles and jokes you made up.  Thank you for being the first to ask how you can help when things get hectic and thank you for loving maps like I do!  Finally, thank you for making me a mom!

Marian- thank you for having the world's best giggle,  If I could bottle one sound and have it forever it would be your giggle!  Thank you for being the most cautious tooth puller ever.  You have provided me with many nights of entertainment watching you coax your loose teeth out ever so slowly and gently!  Thank you for being so organized and being a good example to your brothers and sisters for what a clean room really looks like!  Thank you for being so brave!  I love watching you do your round-off back handsprings and I am in total shock that you are brave enough to do that!  On that note..thank you for having the biggest biceps on the littlest arms I ever did see!  Thank you for putting on dance concerts at night after we finish dishes!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE watching you dance around with your sisters!  Thank you for being a book worm!  You remind me of myself when I was your age and it is so fun to see you devour a stack of books every week!  Thank you for helping me pick out what clothes to wear when I go out on dates with dad and thank you for having such great style and for being the most fun shopping partner ever! 

Lucy- thank you for making me laugh every day!  Thank you for being the best big sister Grant and Gracie could ever ask for.  Thank you for playing "puppies" with them and getting them to follow you around and do whatever you ask.  It's the cutest and makes them so happy! Thank you for being so silly and for making the "dumb face" whenever I need to laugh.  Thank you for loving lipstick! Even though I can't find my own lipstick half the time I love seeing how excited you are to wear it!  Thank you for writing love notes to everyone all the time!  Thank you for using your signature phrase "you are cool and awesome" on every note you write.  It makes me smile every time I read it.  Thank you for being so excited to read.  I love listening to you read your Kindergarten baggie books and now the library  books you are starting to read too!  Thank you for being such a big BYU fan, it makes your dad so happy!  Thank you for texting uncle Rich and other random people in my contacts.  It gives me a good giggle to see all the emoji's you use!  Thank you for changing your clothes 10 times a day then checking in the mirror for approval each time...ok actually I don't really like that you do that- it drives me crazy but it's cute and it's so you and I don't want to forget that about you.

Grant- Thank you for being a three year old version of Evel Knievel.  Every day I get a front row seat to your death defying and destructive antics!  Thank you for loving to cuddle!  You always ask for me to "hold you" when I put you to bed and I LOVE to sit on the couch in your room and hold you as long as I can.  Thank you for being my early morning buddy!  No one else seems to want to get up at 6:00 am (myself included really) but it is nice to feel so wanted!  Thank you for being so friendly.  You have more adult friends at church than I do and it's because you are so much fun to be around. Thank you for having to most amazing dance moves.  Our after dinner dance parties would not be the same without your hip shakes and somersaults. Finally thank you for miraculously having made it this far without any broken bones or even stitches.  You ride your scooter like an X-game competitor, launch yourself off of heights and into walls yet somehow you have managed to stay in one piece.  THANK YOU and keep it up!

Gracie- Thank you for being my little buddy. Whenever I am working on a project or cleaning the house you play quietly near me or just chat with me while I work.  Thank you for being a little mommy to Grant and keeping him in line...no easy task.  Thank you for being willing to drink out of cups that are not purple.  This is a recent development and has improved my quality of life drastically.  Thank you for sneaking off with my iphone to have your own private dance parties!  You have to sweetest little moves when you think no one is watching.  Thank you for being a rule follower when it comes to scooter rides.  I can always count on you to stay close by and not take off for the state border like other twins I know. Thank you for loving the gangster style Boston hat and insisting to wear it all the time.  Although I would prefer pigtails and bows, you look awesome in the hat and the fact that you love it SO much makes me smile. Thank you for singing the Daniel Tiger song about not losing your temper when your mom maybe...sometimes ...every once in a while ...might start to lose her cool.  Thank you for still falling asleep in my arms when I rock you in the rocking chair.  It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it is the happiest magic I know.

Thanks kids for being the five people most likely to make me LOSE MY MIND while still managing to be my five favorite little people on earth.  I am so grateful to have you in my life and am so glad I get to be your mom.

I don't want to forget...

There seemed to be an extra amount of cuteness and sweetness in our home this week.  Maybe I was just paying better attention or maybe the stars aligned.  Either way I want to capture it here because I don't want to forget the little things that happened like...

• Lucy, standing in the hallway doing the "hula" with her eyes crossed in an attempt to make me laugh while I was rocking Gracie to sleep.  (Lucy totally succeeded)

• Marian spending hours,  and I mean HOURS people in front of the mirror trying to extract her loose front tooth without inflicting any pain on herself.  She was adamant that no one could be in the bathroom with her while she was working on it.  I swear it was the loosest  still attached tooth ever.  She finally lured that tooth out and Marian's toothless smile is about the cutest thing ever.

• As I was cleaning up dinner this week I casually said to Grant, "ok buddy let's go take a bath".  He threw both arms into the air and yelled YES! with as much enthusiasm as a 2 year old can muster.  (for those of you who aren't familiar with 2 year olds...that's a lot of enthusiasm

• Jack has been cooking up a storm and for two days in a row has been  whipping up delicious fresh off the stove quesadillas for lunch.  He eats about 8 himself because apperently he is getting ready to grow about 2 feet.  The boy has been a bottomless pit lately!

• Grant came into his room this week just after I'd converted his crib into a toddler bed (being in the crib contained him for about 0.5 seconds then he'd spend the rest of the night crying on the floor because he couldn't get back into the crib...so it was time)  He immediately climbed into the bed, lay down on the pillow, pulled the blankets over himself and began to snore a very convincing snore.  (I think he's been listening to Chad.  Sorry babe it's true, you totally snore).

• Before heading to the BYU Blue and White game we stopped at Ripples in Provo for burgers and hot dogs Friday night.  Marian was completely devastated to find that they had put ketchup mustard AND relish on her hot dog.  Oh the humanity!  Without saying a word Jack took her hot dog, scraped off all the offending condiments, and sweetly coaxed her into eating the entire thing.

• Grace has become a bit of a parrot.  It's especially hilarious when she mimics Chad while he's on the phone with someone.  Grace does a great Chad impersonation

• Every week when we walk into our church's sacrament meeting Grant immediately starts yelling for his 10 year old cousin Abby who is in our same ward (congregation).  Grant loves Abby.  We all love Abby. If you knew Abby you'd love her too.  Just not as much as Grant does.  We quickly made it too our seats with only a few shouts of "Abby!!!" from Grant before he hurried up the aisle to where Abby was sitting.  When he got to her he couldnd't contain his excitement any longer and let out one last ABBY!!!  only this time it was so loud the entire congregation started laughing.  Including me.  It was awesome.

What families do

Being a part of a family really is an incredible thing.  By choice or by birth…all 7 members of this household are stuck together and have to learn how to navigate all the ups and downs of life together. 

  Sometimes…sometimes it is joyful and easy.  

Sometimes…especially among the kids… it is epically bad.  

But…because we are a family we keep trying to learn to love, and to forgive.  Scenes like this prove my point better than words ever could. 

Here is Jack, happily reading books on his bunk bed to Marian and Lucy…when only hours before he had nothing but harsh words and total rage for one of his sisters (whether or not it was deserved I won’t get into).  And the amount of screaming and shrieking on the sister end was almost unbearable (and I must say I have developed a pretty high tolerance for that over the years).   And during Family Home Evening when we were writing what we loved about each other on little Valentine hearts, there was more than one person who loudly proclaimed they couldn't possibly think of anything to write. It blows my mind that pictures like this are even possible after days like we had today.  But I guess it shouldn’t.  I’m learning that this is what families do.... at least our family.  

We try to love one-another…we often fail in a big way 

(myself very much included)…

but then... we try again.  

Amazing.  

So now the big question is how long do I let this moment of sibling love continue? I put them to bed an hour ago…9:00 is creeping up and I know I’ll have grumpy children in the morning if I don’t put an end to their sibling love-fest soon.   Truth is, they might be grumpy tomorrow anyway so I think I’ll go watch the DVR’d  Downton Abbey instead.  Plus…with the rate at which our basement is getting finished the kids aren’t going to be sharing a room together for much longer!  Now there is something that will really increase sibling love…separate bedrooms for all!!!! 

(Grant and Gracie are exempt from previous statement)

...unless Gracie finally gets fed up with Grant throwing every.single.item. from his crib (often including his pants) into her crib whenever he wakes up.)

Choose your own captions...

 

 

 

Back to School

It happened in one week increments at our house.

 
First, the 2nd grader

a week later, the Kindergartner

and FINALLY this week (she couldn't have waited another day) the pre-schooler!

Jack's Baptism

I don't know how it happened...but somehow it was Jack's baby blessing one day...

Then I blinked and it was his baptism day

 

 

It was such a special day.  Made even more special by the fact that Jack's GREAT-Grandmothers Jean...

and Marian were there.

I am so proud of Jack and his decision to be baptized.  He has really worked hard to be prepared to make this special promise with Heavenly Father and even though he is only eight, I think he understood what a special and wonderful event his baptism was.  I challenged Jack to memorize our Church's
13 Articles of Faith (click on the link if you are unfamiliar with them)
before he was baptized.  Man alive did he work hard to learn them all.  I think the promised reward of unlimited toppings at Golden Spoon helped a little too.  The day before his baptism he recited them all to me perfectly! And today at church he recited the 10th article of faith for the whole primary.  I asked him why he chose the 10th and he said "it's the hardest one!"

Jack is such a great big brother...which is not always easy when you have little sisters and a little brother who take/break your stuff, cry when you tease, and demand lots and lots of mom's attention.  But somehow Jack often finds a way to be incredibly sweet and helpful to all the littles.

(side note:  in the car, Jack sits in the back row between Lucy and Marian.  One night we had my brother Robby with us and so I squished in the back seat and had Jack on my lap.  I gained a lot of respect and understanding for Jack's lot in life that night because being stuck between those two girls in the back is NO FUN.)

I think Jack was happy most of the day but he was less than happy to have to stay in his Sunday clothes while we posed for pictures.  He was DYING to get into his play clothes to go run wild with his cousins.

It really was a great day.  All of the Pugh cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents were there.  Jack's great grandma's were there, even my Aunt Barb came to support Jack as well.

  We had a great web-cam chat with my parents and Robby in Australia the day before which was so fun.  The kids sang for them the song "If the Savior Stood Beside me" which they performed with all of Jack's cousins at his Baptism. It was so sweet.  My parents were lucky because they got to hear Lucy sing it.  When it came time to sing at Jack's baptism Lucy wouldn't have anything to do with it!

My sister Anne (who was out of town for the big day) dropped off for Jack his very own batch of cookies to do with as he pleased.  She also brought these flowers from her/my mom's garden which was the next best thing to having them there.

they smell even better than they look...if you can believe that.

 BONUS pics! Just for fun...cuz these babies are

SO

Stinkin

CUTE!

Sink or Swim

I REALLY want to get back into blogging because I know my memories of this season of life will be very VERY hazy...    Which, as I look at this picture, might be a good thing!

Mornings are often a "sink or swim" scenario around here.  I need to be better at getting going...but sometimes feeding 2 babies makes that all but impossible.  Luckily...my kids are swimmers.  When I came down stairs and saw this I couldn't help but laugh. The chairs are strategically placed so they can watch tv while eating breakfast (without breaking the "no food outside of the kitchen" rule.  It's good to know they're taking care of Lucy too!

Yeah for ALMOST Spring

This may have been the last time we have to bundle up to go out.  Then again this is Utah so I guess we could have a blizzard the day after 60 degree weather.  Either way, tulips and daffodils are coming up in my front yard (thanks to my mom's (and my) wonderful friend Wendy Morgan) and I have sent the kids' snow boots to storage in the basement...much to Jack's disappointment.   Now he has to wear "tie-shoes" all the time.  I REALLY wish I had gotten a picture of him riding up the street on his scooter in a t-shirt, basketball shorts and his huge snow boots the other day.  CLASSIC Jack.

Kindergarten Graduation

Do me a favor and pretend it is not now three months later and that summer break isn't already over ok?

When we moved to Utah there were just 4 weeks left of school here and so I had decided that there was no point in sending Jack to school.  Well, about 5 days into that plan I realized that with me sick as a dog with morning (ie all day) sickness, and the business of house hunting, Jack needed more in his life.   So a midst some strange, but kind looks from the local Elementary school secretary, I enrolled Jack in Kindergarten for three weeks.

It turned out to be perfect!

He got to be in the same class with his cousin.

His teacher, Mrs. Bailey was an ANGEL (the two of them bonded on the first day.  It is so nice when someone else loves your child as much as you do.  I am so bummed I didn't get a picture of her!)

And he joined the class just in time for all the fun end of year field trips (Zoo, Dinosaur museum etc...and field games.)


Plus both sets of grandparents got to come watch his cute Kindergarten graduation program where he announced that he wanted to be a lawyer when he grows up. (Chad!  Did you hear that?)
(mom...dad...?  How long are you going to be in Australia again?  Seeing this picture reminds me how much we miss you...not that we need reminding really.)

Love that little boy!

For the record, Marian (who I love) was TERRIBLE during the entire program.  She kept crying (perhaps yelling) because I was videoing Jack and not her during the program.  Sharing the spotlight is not her strong point.