For Moo

I'm a retired blogger coming out of hiding to give a lil' shout out to my baby sister Mary (a.k.a. Moo)  I miss her (she's at BYUI) and I love her and I want her to know that.  Keep your chin up, Moo.  You can do this.  You always do.

A Fond Farewell

I have decided to shut down my blog. It's nothing crazy...just need to free up more time for some other things in my life. Maybe it's that my daughter's 13th birthday is approaching and I feel a wrench in my gut every time I think about her being with me for only five more years. Maybe it's that I'm naturally a bad manager of time and have prayed often for help learning how to "find" more time in a day to spend on the things that are most precious to me. Perhaps it's the realization that time isn't "found" it's made and that I have to let go of some things to make room for other things. Perhaps it's a little of each plus the fact that while I love the connections made via blogging I find my truest and most meaningful connections are made when I actually sit down and talk to and interact with others, face to face, or voice to voice. Time is precious and one cannot do everything...me most especially. I will miss this vehicle for online connection but know that through email and phone calls I can still connect with all of you. Thanks for your comments and support...it has been a lot of fun!
Love,
Liz

What's been happening around here? Well.....

We celebrated Charlotte's birthday and watched her be baptized. It was a special day. Below is everyone from our family who was in attendance. Jen did a fabulous job planning everything and Charlotte looked so cute in her super sparkly dress she picked out with grandma!




I spent this past weekend with my dear friend Ruthie and two of her friends who I also know pretty well. We stayed at Ruthie's beach house in Sargent,Tx. These gals are all 55 or older and VERY SOUTHERN. I can honestly say that several times amid our weekend of shopping, eating out, talking and playing cut-throat Uno, I felt like I was in the set of the movie Steel Magnolias. It was a blast and a much needed and relaxing getaway that recharged me. I didn't take my camera with me (of course) but below is a pic of me with Ruthie to my right. (beside my mom)





Monday was Faith's last volleyball game. They lost by only two points and that made them one game shy of having a perfect season. Faith improved tremendously throughout the season and was so dedicated and hard-working. She can't wait to try out again next year and is already talking about doing a volleyball camp this summer. Family and friends came out to cheer her on and she boasted the biggest cheering section of all of the players. Afterwards we celebrated with cake and pizza.


















This weekend we will go on our Annual Fall camp out with my mom's side of the family. The kids can hardly wait. I will make an effort to charge, take and use my camera. We shall see.


In other news I am finally taking the plunge to certify to teach Step aerobics at the YMCA where I've been working out for years. My certification classes are broken up into three days, totalling about 22 hours and begin next week. I am super excited and hope to be teaching at least a couple classes by the beginning of the New Year. I hope they'll give me some good ones I can teach while the kids are at school. I'll let y'all all know how it goes.

GREAT DEALS!!!!

My neighbor across the street is desperate to park her car in her garage! To do so she must sell this beautiful sofa that she bought NEW at STAR FURNITURE for $800.00. They only used it 6 MONTHS!! She is asking $300 for it. I'd buy it myself but can't fit it through the tiny doorway to my upstairs T.V. room.

Also, she has a SERTA foam mattress set for a king sized bed that she paid $1400.00 for and is selling for $400. It is 1 1/2 years old.

Leave a comment or call if you are interested. She'd love to move them by the end of the weekend. Also, pass this along to anyone you know who may be interested.

Creepy Jared

Some happenings around here. FAITH MADE THE VOLLEBALL TEAM!! I am so proud of her! And Jared even takes turns driving her to 6:50 a.m practices so it ain't so bad. I don't even want to hear about it from you seminary parents and teachers!;)

Also, here's some pics from our 80's dance. Please, oh please notice that banana clip that I barely have enough hair to fill!!

Also, Harris had his evaluation for music therapy and it went GREAT! Way better than I expected. He really wants to start so when all the paper work is done we'll see where we can squeeze it in if at all

First Day of Escuela!

Okay. So today we return to the madness of school. No more getting away with not doing laundry or buying groceries for weeks on end. We gotta do what Pabsts do worst....be on a schedule!

We woke up at 7:00 on the dot. This will be the only morning we do not hit the snooze button at least four times. Everyone got up and Jared was off to the store to buy milk (already, we are behind) Faith and Ethan get themselves completely ready and I help Harris, although he mostly does it alone. Then, I packed lunches (Faith and Ethan will do this starting next week) and helped with the last few little things. Then, after prayers, I took Harris to his first day of third grade. As you can see in the below photo he was fighting tears the entire morning. He waited until we were walking down the hall to his classroom to completely lose it and then, once he was in his seat around all of his peers, he burst into uncontrollable sobs. Poor guy. He just has anxiety like no body's business. His teacher came right over and started trying to help him and I gave him and big hug and kiss and left. I feel sad that he was sad but know that he will work through it and have a great day.....and then cry again like that tomorrow morning.

Then it was back home to grab the middle schoolerS. Yes! That's plural. Ethan is now officially a 6th grader! He was sooo nervous and he rarely gets nervous. Faith felt a little nervous too but mostly about volleyball tryouts which start today after school (Good luck, Faith!) They pulled a fast one on me and Jared (who rode with) and asked us to walk them in at the last minute. This was hilarious because Jared looked, and I am not kidding, HOMELESS! He was wearing FILTHY sweat pants, a T-shirt with what looked like a booger on the front and his bed head was OUT OF CONTROL! He kept reminding us he "didn't care" as he strode coolly up to the front of the school. What a guy....never caring about appearances;)

I can't wait til' they get home so I can hear about their days!

For Laura

While I feel totally over my blog lately, I promised my friend who just moved to Italy that I'd post more often. True to my word, as always;) Hey! Why are you laughing?





Anyway. My camera is broken. So I'm just going to have to make due with the closest thing to real life that I can find on the internet to update y'all on what's been going on in my life lately.





We went to Idaho.


For 17 days.


We drove.


I survived.


Besides the 60 hours round trip, it was seriously our best visit to Idaho yet. We did a lot of outdoor stuff (whitewater rafting, tubing, high dives at the hot springs etc.) so here's a pretty accurate pic of me in my swimsuit.


I mean, this lady's hair is clearly longer than mine but other than that I think it's a dead ringer, don't you? Wait. Why are you laughing again? Anyway, the best part of the trip was that we got to spend lots of quality time with Jared's family and that's my most favorite part.


Then we returned to home and I began the much-loved task of getting my kids ready for school. I tried hard, as I always do, to get deals and steals on everything but Faith (going into 7th) was born with an opinion, Ethan (going into 6th) just grew one and Harris (going into 3rd) is starting to think about having one. You know you're old when all the jeans look the same to you and you tell your kids that you are sure the Wal-mart ones look just like those expensive ones at the mall and their friends will never be able to tell the difference. Yeah, they pretty much looked at me like this through most of our shopping excursions.



5 pairs of skinny jeans and one Justin Beiber haircut later...we are ready.





In other news, I won the award for Best Costume at our church 80's dance. I actually found acid washed jeans! The competition was pretty much trash after that (no offense, guys) but once I found a banana clip for my hair, and used spray adhesive (I ain't even playin') to tease up my bangs, it was ovah!! If you want to see pictures of that, plus Jared in a mullet wig and earring, you'll just have to stay tuned til' I can retrieve them from his phone.





I've also had a lot of garage sale luck lately and scored a gorgeous leather club chair for my office (remember the one I talked about as being my current remodel project about 100 years ago?) Jared would say the chair looks like this:





And I would say it looks like this:





He adores my junk collecting habit.


Well, school starts Monday. We enjoyed back to back orientations for the middle schoolers, and a "meet the teacher" session for Harry B. All in all, I think the kids got good teachers and schedules. I, on the other hand, got a crappy schedule. Turns out, if Faith makes the volleyball team (and I hope she does...I promise) I get to drop kids off at school at 7 a.m., 8 a.m, AND 9 a.m. CAN'T WAIT! (Here's me, "can't-waiting")

When logging on to my computer the other day I was unable to access my blog or email until I had an access code texted to my phone, entered it in, and changed my password. When I got into my email I saw that a huge, long list of emails had been prevented from being sent (emails I never tried to send) by my security software. It was just the reminder I needed that not everyone on the world wide web is just there to check their email and blog and be on their merry way. So I really need to satisfy that nagging feeling that I'd only be protecting myself and family from any possible funny business by going private with my blog. Sorry for the added pain of what that entails. One more step may be all that is needed to keep you from tuning into my riveting, sporadic rantings about mental illness and whatnot. Drop me a line if you'd still like to read and I'll happily send you an invite. Thanks to the masses for understanding. (That masses part was a joke)

okay so i've become such a blog slacker. so lazy i'm not even capitalizing. so much has been going on and my ocd self feels the need to put it all in here...like when you journal every part of your day and then quit journaling after a week cuz it's so exhausting? anyway, i know i don't have to put everything in here but i may one day print this journal for a family keepsake since i happen to be a really bad journal keeper and picture taker so i kinda wanna put the important happenings in.

soccer ended. harris got a trophy that he was proud of. so did charlotte and claire. school ended. field day, which i attend every year to help harris, was one of our best yet. he's really getting so he can do so much more physically. they are so good to him at that school and i am so grateful. there were awards ceremonies to cap off the year and ethan won the principal's award! harris won this last year and it's a pretty big deal because in each class the teacher chooses just one boy and one girl to be recognized. i was most proud when they said the reason (these vary) was for always being kind to others. those manners and Christlike attributes are what make me most proud as a mom...way more than academics or sports stuff. summer has been pretty busy as it is every year. harris and i went to cub scout day camp which is usually a nightmare because its all outside and requires lots of physical strength and endurance (sports, bb shooting and archery) and again, harris struggles with all of that and usually cries for about a week straight leading up to camp. just like field day he totally surprised me this year! he worked hard, could do a lot more, and actually enjoyed himself! a huge part of that was that for the first time his cousin luke, who might as well have hung the moon, was in attendance. now faith is at girls camp for the first time. this makes her feel ecstatic and just makes me feel old. while she's gone i'm tending some friends' kids so they can go and so my boys feel like they are having one big awesome vacation! junk food, video games, staying up late, you get the idea. they are loving life, and i hope faith is too, up at the camp bovay.
okay. what else! we are due to leave for idaho in two weeks. i am dreading, in a way you cannot understand, the 24 hour drive, yes i said DRIVE that it will take to get there! i will post about that later. however, it will be fun to spend time with j's family, plus i'll get to see my sis mary and bro dave and his wife em who are all attending or teaching at byui. we will also get to see our niece ashley get married in the idaho falls temple which is the same one we were sealed in so that should be special. also upcoming is me using the 8 cans of satin black spray paint i just purchased on my dining room table and harris may start getting music therapy (he loves music!) phew! i think i covered it all. oh. and my hair is brown. i dyed it with a 5 dollar box of just for men i found under j's sink. i was fed up with roots and unable to find a good hairdresser (mine moved) i've since found one and gotten a few highlights so it's a little lighter but still has a ways to go. i'll post some pics of all this stuff i'm saying but it'll just be what i've got which will be sad and sorry as usual. the ones of ethan getting his award were taken on my mom's phone and i have yet to get them. oh well. hope all of you are well. i'll also be posting later about faith's band called splattered paint..it will require its own post which you'll understand soon enough

Good Times

Today I went with Harris' class on a field trip to the Museum of Natural Science. And yes, those ridiculous shots are the best pictures I got from the entire day (don't get me started on his little friend who insisted I take a picture of EVERY SINGLE GEM in the Gem Vault!) Harris loved all of the exhibits, especially the dinosaur fossils. As part of the field trip, we went to see an Imax (super 3-D) movie called Whales and Dolphins. Harris was terrified the entire time and intermittently cried and covered his eyes with MY hand on which he had a death grip for the entire hour. As soon as it ended and the lights went on he sighed loudly and said, "Oh man! That was SO good!" What a punk.






Tonight we also watched Faith's volleyball game. Her team didn't win but she was playing really aggressively and I was so proud of how hard she worked. Her last game is Saturday and then she will start practicing and working toward making the school team next year in 7th grade. Go Faith!

Ordinary Miracle

Tonight was an ordinary night. Dinner without Jared who was working late, chores with grumbles, Family Night with eye rolls, showers with wet floors, prayers with bums in the air (I hate that!) and one other thing. Harris read a book to me. But instead of the usual fussing, followed by a lot of, "I can't read!"s, followed by a lot of stopping for help and subsequent frustration, Harris read, with little help and a huge smile on his face, a book that was pretty hard if I do say so myself! He did SUCH a good job and read just like an old pro. Just like he walks and talks like an old pro. It brought tears to my eyes and made me think of how at three years old, when I sent him to Preschool For Children With Disabilities, I wondered if he would ever walk or talk. He would crawl and sign and point to little pictures in a book but I truly worried and wondered if that would ever change. And boy has it! That guy runs like the wind at recess while he plays tag with his friends. And we all know he can construct a sentence that includes the wit and sarcasm of a grown man. It is miraculous to watch him meet and conquer life's challenges and he reminds me, in his own happy way, to keep chipping away at my own obstacles that lie between me and my divine destination. I will get there, just like he keeps doing.

Happy Birthday to Me

32 things I'm grateful for on my 32nd birthday. Okay. That's excessive. Let's do 10.
1) Good friends....the kind you laugh with, and cry with, and laugh til' you cry with.
2) Patient kids. I mess up alot, and they forgive me.
3) The temple. I went there with my mom today. Man, I love that place.
4) My mom. She gave me life, and continues to teach me about it. Same goes for the greatest dad ever.
5) My sisters. They are as good as they get.
6) My brothers. None of them wished me a Happy Birthday, but Jon wished me a Happy Earth Day. I wouldn't change one thing about any of them.
7) A really funny husband who isn't nuts, but doesn't mind that I am.
8) The gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the greatest blessing I have, and without it I'd be lost.
9) A body that functions properly, water butt and all. My brain might trip me up, but my body is strong and able. I'll take what I get and be grateful.
10) Change. I'm glad I'm not who I was a year ago. I hope on my 33rd birthday I can say the same thing. I have a long way to go, but thanks to blessings one through nine, I'm getting there.

Happy Birthday Harry B!

Words fail to describe all the joy you bring into my life. I feel so lucky to be the lady who gets to be your mother. Thank you for making me smile and laugh every single day. You fight hard to do things that come easy to most of us and you don't complain about it. You remind me that progress isn't measured by how fast you get there, but that you get where you're meant to go. You were sent here to accomplish great things and in nine years you've already transformed my life and the lives of all who are blessed to know you. I have no doubt I would never become who I'm meant to become without you. I love you. Happy birthday.
Mom

Busy Beavers

We have all been extremely busy around the Pabst house, and in addition I have been extra mentally ill so put it all together and what do you get? A long blog hiatus. So, sorry folks. Let me give you the short version of what we've been up to.


Jared: He just works like a dog. He also ran a half-marathon in Seabrook this last Saturday. He will be working on some Pinewood Derby cars for the boys in the next few days. Let's face it, he'll be working on them all night just before the Derby.

Liz: I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off except for the days I can't seem to funtion due to the insane amounts of anxiety I'm experiencing from a medication I'm on. I'm also enjoying weight gain and zits from said medication. There's no rest for the crazy. I also managed to finish the same half-marathon as J-Dawg. I am getting ready to celebrate my 32nd birthday which is also giving me anxiety. Right now I'm fearful of everything including aging.

Faith: Joined the ranks of Young Women at church. Went on her first temple trip which was really special. I got to be there with her. She has also begun babysitting and is really good at it (hint hint) She loves earning money and is dutifully stashing it away until she can afford an Ipod Touch. She's also enjoying another season of volleyball.

Ethan: He and I recently went on a 10 commandment hike with some Scouts Celebrated his 11th birthday. Earned his Webelo, Arrow of Light and Religious Knot in Scouting. He has outgrown all of his clothes and shoes. He enjoyed going with me and Faith and some friends to the Capital building in Austin over Spring Break. Okay, he really just liked the BBQ we ate afterwards.

Harris: Just spent his entire week of Spring Break in Alabama with his Grandma and Grandpa Grover and cousin Luke. He learned about fishing and managed to catch 6 fish! His favorite part of the trip was eating out for almost every meal. He is excited for his fast approaching birthday and can't wait to participate in the Pinewood Derby. He's also excited to start playing soccer this weekend.

That's all. I feel like I just typed our Christmas card. Hope all my blogging friends are doing well.

Happy Holidays.
The Pabst family

Squeef

Happy 11th birthday. Ethan is our peacemaker. On an almost constant basis he gives help to his younger brother displaying a gentleness and patience that is beyond his years. He is easy to please, always sees the positive in things, and forgives quickly and completely. He is someone I am working to be more like. I love you son.

Belated Dear Jen

Sorry this birthday post is late, I kinda suck lately.
Dear Jen,
You are one of the most unique and incredible people I know. You know those people who say they don't care what other people think? Yeah, that's what people say who wish they didn't. You don't have to say it, cuz it's just who you are, no convincing needed. You do what you think is right, all the time, whether people are looking or not. Your honesty and openness give others permission to be and do the same. You never judge others, always assuming everyone is just doing the best they can. This is good news for an oft-times selfish and bratty younger sister. I am so grateful for the time and love you pour into Harris everyday. He needs you in his life so much. So do I. I have never called and asked you for a thing when the answer wasn't "Sure!" Thank you for being...well...you. You are my favorite long-tailed nanni-o!

Dear Sarah

Thirty four years, and nothin' but progress. That straight line up is a picture of your life. Every year you are a little....no...a lot more like the Savior and it doesn't get any more progressive than that. I'll never know how I got lucky enough to have you for a sister but I thank the Lord for that blessing every day. Thank you for walking a straight line for me to follow, for being so easy to look up to. Your an essential part of everything good in my life and every moment I spend with you makes me better. I love you with all my heart. Happy Birthday to the only girl who has ever punched me in the arm and cried about it.

Akathesia is for the birds!!!

Akathesia. It is like hell. It is a side effect I experienced all weekend on a med i was taking (and am now not taking, thank you very much!) To quote a gal (from online) who had the same experience, "It is a movement disorder where you become extremely restless and are constantly moving and pacing. It felt like my body was alive and it was this intense internal restlessness and a constant need to move. It was severe restlessness. I couldn't sit down for more than a couple minutes, I couldn't sleep, my body just kept moving." That is the perfect description of what I was feeling. It was like torture. So my weekend was rough. But it's starting to go away so yay.

For the Nonbelievers

Snuggie love. You either got it or you don't. At the Pabst house, we got love for the blanket with sleeves. Especially on a super cold morning when we need to eat our cereal.