The Scoop

Here is the highlights from the Clayton life as of late...

I spend all of my time with these precious bodies

And in the moments when I have worn down to my very last nerve and Addison is running around with poop falling out of her diaper, Brie is crying for her next meal and Taycee and Kaden are fighting over who's turn it is to play the reading game on the I-Pad, I remind myself that these days are fleeting. Someday they will be grown and I will miss their noises (even the unhappy ones) filling my every waking moment. And then I reflect back on Grandma Halladays FHE lesson a couple months back and say "I can do hard things, and I can do them HAPPILY" Sometimes that works better than others. Sometimes I do them not so happily.

So every week day I send this most handsome boy to 1st grade

And spend the next 6 and 1/2 hours with these little ladies.

Taycee has finally gotten old enough that her constant mothering is actually quite helpful. She is always so concerned about Brie, and doesn't mind bouncing her on her lap while I chop veggies for dinner or do other miscellaneous chores. She doesn't even mind doing it while Brie is crying. She is also so good to watch Addison, sometimes Addi doesn't appreciate it as much. But Taycee doesn't seem to mind her screams as she carts her around either. :-/

Addi has quite the personality as I have previously said. We are REALLY working on getting the girl to form sentences and use words. But she has her favorite 15 words that she seems content to stick with. So if any of her needs fall out of those words she simply. says "please, please, please" while rubbing her tummy until we finally guess what she pleases. Then she emphatically says "UH HUH!!" Once I figure it out I say the word over and over  until she at least attempts say it. It gets old, and sometimes I won't indulge in her lack of speaking and she ends up in nuclear meltdown on the floor. It's a work in process.

Taycee is helpful, yes. But is is also the sassiest 4 year old around. We are thinking about attempting a "sassy sauce" approach which involves a spoonful of vinegar. (Thanks to Aunt Leanna for the idea :) but I haven't quite gotten around to implementation of it. So for now she sits in her room a lot. :D

She will do great things, she will accomplish much and break through walls to do it. I really honestly believe that. She challenges and pushes and doesn't settle for anything that doesn't make sense in her 100 miles per minute brain. And all those things will work for her benefit as she gets older. She is strong willed, and determined, and way smarter than she should be. But oh boy does it make for some long days at home. My struggle is trying to figure out how to guide that spirit and reign her in without squashing all of the fire. 

The sad/funny/frusterating things I totally get her. I wish I didn't, but I do. In many of her outbursts or arguments I think, "That is probably exactly what I would say if I were you." And as I wasn't the easiest child... I guess you get what you deserve. haha.

She does make me smile and laugh. She makes herself laugh too. Whenever she does something she finds funny....

She BUSTS out in the biggest most genuine gut laugh. And even if in the moment prior I was frustrated I can't help but laugh with her because her laugh just makes me smile. 

She actually laughs this way whenever she finds anything really funny. Once she tricked Chris into getting sprayed by the sprinkler, she was kinking the hose on one end and he thought the sprinkler was clogged so he went to check it out and right when his face was over the sprinkler she let it go. Oh boy did she laugh and laugh and laugh, I was watching from the window and I laughed pretty hard myself. 

She misses her daddy a lot. This is a picture she drew a few days ago and she draws pictures like it almost every day. Last night we were Skyping to do family scriptures and prayers and she asked daddy when he was coming back to St George, he said "I am not" because he thought she knew we were heading to Virginia. (which she does) but for some reason she thought this meant she wouldn't see him again and she spent the rest of the night in tears despite all my reassurance that we would see him in another month.

We all miss our daddy a lot. And although I keep busy all day taking care of my munchkins his absence is always felt. This time has been firmed up my testimony that men and women are divinely designed to be partners. We sure do love that daddy, and we need him in our home.  After we left Virginia someone asked how it was and I said "it was pretty, but it is not home" I was wrong. Home really is where you heart is, and right now half of my heart is in Virginia. I am here in a place surrounded by family and so familiar, yet feel far away from home. And so, home will be with him. Wherever he may be

I wish I could say the time is flying by... but it isn't. That could be due to the fact that last week I spent a day with some sort of stomach bug and this week was blessed to have a bout with tonsillitis/strep/something that left me with white puss balls on the back of my throat and a fever of 103. Yesterday I broke down and went to the doctor, they gave me a doozy of a shot that almost made me pass out and although I can not walk normally today, I do feel a little relief in the throat area and was able to swallow down some yogurt this morning. Hopefully by then end of the week the antibiotic has me feeling like a normal person again.

They say when it rains it pours.. my question is WHY? Things are so much easier to take in small doses. Yet in the last two weeks,

Our car broke down.. $700 dollars later it is running like a champ, but we had to buy a new car so Chris could drive to Virginia so we are selling it. Anyone in the market for a 2000 Toyota Cam

My phone broke down. So if anyone has been texting or calling. I do like you, I just don't get any messages or calls. I was going to get it fixed this week but...

My body broke down and that sweet little visit I mentioned earlier cost me $300.

So for now all spending is put on a major hold as we are in the process of trying to buy a home which has proved to bring a set of stresses and headaches all in its own.

On the upside of things however..

Conference was amazing and I was uplifted and rejuvenated in a way only the words of prophets can do.

Afton approved a flight for me to go and visit Chris for a few days. So I get to go visit that man I love. And thanks to some wonderful helpers, aka my parents and sister in law  Lisa, my 3 oldest kiddos have somewhere to stay.

The Claytons have been more than wonderful letting us stay here. They are the kindest most gracious hosts and we are so blessed to have a place we can stay and be surrounded by so much love. The kids will really miss spending so much time with grandma and grandpa. Taycee gets up every morning and sits right by grandma on the bathroom counter while she gets ready. Grandma has even given her her own makeup bag with some of her old makeup in it. They get ready together and Taycee starts each day looking quite beautiful.

My kids are funny and say funny things that make me laugh

A few recent favorites
Taycee

• After I had finished nursing she came into the room and I hadn't quite restored my shirt to its proper order. She looked at me cocked her head to the side and said "mom, I think you need to fix your shirt. It's got a wedgie or something."
• I found her letters book on top of the microwave and she was standing there when I pulled it down. She said "I bet you were thinking, what in the heck is this doing up here!"
• She calls a hanger a "hooker" which makes for interesting sentences like " I am going to use my hooker, to pick that up." Or "I left that hooker downstairs." Or the most heart stopping so far.. "MOM!! I can't get this HOOKER out of my clothes!"
• I have been making her learn my number for various reasons but one reason I told her was that if she ever got lost and someone found her she could tell them my number and they could call me. Today I asked her what it was and after reciting it she said "I have to know that so when someone steals me and they decide they want to bring me back I can tell it to them huh!"  Now that is only funny because I have thought to myself at times, "if someone ever took her, she would sass the pants off of them wear them out and they would just return her same day" We did afterwards have a talk about how getting lost and being found by someone is very different than being taken by someone and if the later should happen she shouldn't wait for them to ask for my number
• We were talking about her birthday coming up and she said "Mom I think for my birthday I just want a car. One that drives by itself and can take me wherever I want to go." -- at least she dreams big.

Kaden

• Last night he said "Some people have brown skin, isn't that so cool mom? I don't my skin is just skin color. Some people have polka-dot skin too, like Booster" ( I think he was referring back to when Addi had that awful rash for a few month.)
• As I was putting Kaden to bed we were having what I thought was a little tender moment. I told him how much I love him and what a good boy he was and gave him a hug. Then he said, "Mom? Can I tell you something." I said "sure", expecting some sweet thing to come out of his mouth. Then he said, "did you know when your nose is stuffy it's really just a huge boulder of snot."

Life is challenging at the moment but life is good. We are blessed and happy. (Most of the time) I think I am finally mentally and emotionally ready to move to Virginia. To be at home with the one I love most. We are ready to settle somewhere and find normalcy and routine. I am itching to get Taycee into a preschool and make some new mommy friends. We will miss our friends and family here. But change has come and I am finally ready to embrace it and move forward. 

So there it is, the scoop on our life in the present. We are crossing fingers and toes that nothing else breaks, the house sale starts proceeding a little more smoothly, I don't contract any more unpleasant illnesses, and the next 37 days fly by so we can be with that Daddy again. Not to much to ask right? :D

xoxo- me

Brienut

This little angel crossed the 3 month mark

She is growing so fast, I try to embrace each new stage but most of me just wants to find a way to freeze her as she is. But how could you not want that with a face like this?

She is such a happy baby. She smiles and goos and has even started to giggle a bit.

She has the best facial expressions and this -one eyebrow raised- one always cracks me up

 

At 3 months Brie

*eats every 3 hours pretty much on the nose

*giggles, especially when tickled around her shoulders

* goes to bed at 9 and sleeps 10 hours at night

*Holds her head up pretty well

*Is her big sister Taycee's favorite activity

*Loves to be talked to

*Prefers being held

*Has big blue eyes

*Has acquired the nick name Brienut from her daddy who use to call her little peanut. 

Happy 3 months to the prettiest baby around

The up side of down

What a month we have had. So many changes. So many decisions, BIG life altering decisions. So many fears, so much help. So many prayers, so many answers. So so so many miles traveled!  I think between Chris and I we have traveled over 20,000 miles in the last 30 days.  

I knew it was all coming. Really nothing in the last little while has been unexpected. I knew we would be getting a job. I knew that job would take us far away from family. I knew we would have to go to an unfamiliar place and try to find a home. But I don't think I was prepared for the stress of it all. I like change. But big change for me constitutes chopping my hair off and dying it a different.  Color not moving 3,000 away from home. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

   Back in April Chris applied for a job with a chemicals company in Virginia. The same day he applied he received a call from one of their recruiters who went through a small phone interview with him. I remember him walking throug the door after work that day, he was SO happy. The work they were doing interested him a lot and the recruiter had shown a lot of intrest. She told him he was on a very short list of applicants she was going to recommend. Chris was ever so hopeful as we waited to hear more. and that is just what we did, wait, and wait and wait. At first he would touch base every 2 weeks to see if there was any new developments, but after 3 months we had all but given up on the possibility.

   The months of May through August were hard ones. Chris hit set back after set back with his graduate work and the defense date kept being pushed further and further away. Looking back now that it is all over it doesn't seem so tragic but at the time each setback came as a hard blow. Being on bedrest and having a a baby in the middle of it all added an extra set of challenges. The hardest reality though was that job offers were non existent. Chris had more job opportunities graduating with his bachelors than we did finishing up grad school. Of the 50 plus applications he sent in we heard back from 5 or 6 all politely rejecting his application. Intel in Oregon had a strong interest in him and wanted to fly him out to give him a tour and do a second interview. However they required a published journal article first. For MONTHS Chris worked on getting an accepted submission but every thing seemed to be working against us. His advisor went on sabbatical and took weeks to approve the submission, the journal lost his submission and had to restart the process 2 months later. The editor was slow to review. Etc. etc. etc. Graduation was quickly approaching and we had no options. All of the promised opportunity for his prestigious degree in a sought after field were no where to be found. Our dreams of having jobs to pick and choose from quickly faded into hopes of having any job at all. It felt as is all the time and money invested were for naught. 

   As a side note, back in July of 2012 we went in to get our temple recommends renewed. One of the sweet counselors in the stake presidency sat down with us and talked for awhile after the interview. During this time he asked us to take our recommends home and place them on the bed then kneel and pray together. He said to pray about whatever came to mind. He promised it would be a faith building experience. That night as we kneeled to pray my mind was taken to the big choices we had ahead of us. And I prayed for guidance in these choices. I specifically remember saying "please help the path we are to take to be clear before us. Lead us to the place that will be best for our family." 

  August came and the defense date was set for the 16th. There were still no offers to speak of. We had decided to move out of our home and in with Chris's parents in St George. We were in the middle of boxing up our bedroom when Chris received a phone call. I was knee deep in hangers clothes and Kadens old school work when he walked in the room beaming. The company in Virginia had called and they wanted him to interview the next day.  He passed the second phone interview with flying colors and they set a date for him two weeks later to fly out to Virgnina for a final interview on site. In the interm we finished packing up the house put it all in storage and moved to St George. Chris defended his thesis and and on the 28th of Aug he flew out for a 9 hour interview on site. They loved him, he loved them and we had a strong feeling we were headed to Virginia. Before we even received an offer we were in the temple and I was overwhelmed with a confirmation that Virginia was right for our family. I should have been happy to know where we were going and that it was a good place for us, instead I cried all the way home. I guess I'm not very good at this leaving home stuff.  

   

  It was no surprise that an offer came a week later. The offer wasn't spectacular, it was plenty for our needs but it wasn't what we were expecting to make. It felt right however and above all else that is what was important. That same night Chris got word his article was accepted for publication and intel contacted him to pursue the job process. Coincidence? I think not. I think that prayer offered up over a year ago was answered more literally than I could have imagined. Our way was made clear, there was no other way to go. We were led directly to this place and this job. For one reason or another other jobs were not made available. Would we have been strong enough to pass up other better offers if they had come before this one? I hope so, I hope that we could have been in tune enough to receive guidance and had the faith to wait on The Lord. But it sure makes it easier to be able to take the first offer given. And boy was our faith built. It was tested and tried and stretched first but in turn it was made stronger.

Once we accepted the job offer things got moving at full speed. We booked a flight to fly to Virginia 5 days later to find a house. I know I have said it before but we are so lucky to have families that are willing to step in and help whenever needed. Chris's sister Lisa came down with her little one and stayed the week to watch our three oldest. We took Bri and flew the 2,300 miles to the place we will call home. We looked at16 homes and on day 2 found a home we loved. We started negotiations on Thursday and had a signed contract Friday. We are so lucky to have my dad. Being a president of a credit union  he was able to pull a few strings to make buying a home possible for us. 

Because closing on a home takes awhile Chris will be heading out about a month before us. He is leaving his Friday to make the 3 day drive . He starts work on Oct 1st. as long as all goes as planned with the house, kids and I will fly out the first of November. Chris's company has been so good to us, they paid for the entire house hunting trip and they are paying for all of our relocation expenses. They are even covering a flight for Chris's mom to help me move out with the kids. We have been so impressed with them thus far and feel like we are going to really love working for them. 

And so the new chapter in our lives begin. I am trying to be positive about it all and focus on all the ups instead of dwelling on the downs. Virginia is a beautiful place, we had squirrels running through our front yard. We love the home we bought when we walked in we both felt like we were "home". There is so much history close by and some of the places I have most wanted to see are within driving distance now. I won't think about the place and people I am leaving behind because if I do.. I just might never go. 

So if your are looking for a place to visit I might recommend Virginia. We'll have a room ready. :) 

Paint Disaster

Let me set the scene for you, it was Friday. We were set to move out the next day. We were spending the day packing up boxes and moving them out to the storage shed.

Remember when I re-did the kids room like this?

 

 Well before we moved out we took down all the crayons and the kids drawings. I decided it would be nice of me to paint over the blue crayon streak in the corner so I got out the yellow paint. The paint cans were on top of the bunk beds that had not yet been moved out. The first few coats were applied and the paint cans remained on top of the beds.. with the lids on top but not closed.

Fast forward a few hours, the men decide to take them matresses to the storage shed and remove the paint cans putting them on the floor next to the wall.

Fast forward a few more hours. It is night time, the house is mostly done. I am in the garage getting the yard sale items put together, Claudia is upstairs vacuuming the bedrooms, Addi is also upstairs following grandma around. Grandma starts vacuuming out the window sill in the kids room. Then it happens. The worst thing that can happen to a house the night before you are to move out.

SHE FELL INTO THE YELLOW PAINT CAN

---

BOOM

---

SPLASH

---

 

Yellow paint all over the carpet. ( Grandma stopped to take a picture on her phone ;)

Grandma starts yelling for help. I am still in the garage and don't hear. Luckily Aunt Cass is outside the open window and comes running in Bri in arms. Between the two of them they get Addi into the tub without spreading the paint too much. (Although you can see her little yellow foot print above!) Poor Addi was hysterical, she could see everyone was really paniked and she knew it was her fault. It is a good thing Grandma was so calm with her or she would have really lost it.

 

We immediatly strting scooping it up and putting it back in the can. Unfortunately we had packed most of the house up so all we had was a sand box shovel, but it worked and we were scraping paint up by the shovel full. It was a sad sight. We ran to Wal-mart got a carpet cleaner and spent the next two hours dumping water and sucking it back out. By the time we were done the carpet looked pretty darn good. We thought we were in the clear. The next morning however was a totally different story. In the natural light of day the yellow wall didn't cast a hue on the rest of the carpet and you could very clearly see a big yellow spot on the carpet. We tried to clean it for another hour and finally gave up. Our landloards contacted us yesterday and said they were having a carpet guy come out to fix it. I am guessing we can kiss most of our deposit goodbye.

 

 

 Through it all I was amazed at how calm we all were. No one got angry,  no one raised voices. There was a lot of "Oh crap" and "you've got to be kidding" but mostly we just sighed and laughed at the horrible luck. We spent 3 years in the house with no major damage at all, and then the night before we move out we wreck the carpet. In hindsight I think I should have left the dang blue streak.

...2 months later...

2 months since this little angel enterd our lives.

 

oh how she has grown

 

 

She is such a little sunshine.

I know that all moms think this about their babies, as they should, but is she not the most beautiful thing ever? Pictures actully don't do her justice, I could sit and stare at her all day.

What is it about a newborn that is so captivating?

 

At 2 months old she is

 

-Sleeping 9-10 hours at night

-Eating 4 ounces every 3 hours

-Smiling when she makes eye contact

-Gooing and Cooing

She has been my most fussy baby but is still quite easy. For a few weekes she had a fussy hour from about 9:30- 10:30 but that has past. I think the main reason she fusses is because her poor digestive system is still figuring out just how it is suppose to work. She is incredibly gassy and only poops about once a week. I talked to the doctor about possible allergies or intolerances but for various reasons he think she just has a "more gassy" digestive system. Poor baby.
 
She loves to snuggle and be held. Which is perfect because I love to snuggle and hold. :D It does put a slight damper on getting things done however. She also loves her tummy, it is her favorite sleeping position, she is just like her mommy I guess.
 
At her 2 month check up she was
 
10 lbs -50 percentile
23.4 inches- 90 percentile
 
She grew 4 inches in 6 weeks, that has to be some kind of a record.  Basically she is really tall and skinny. Her BMI is like in the 4th percentile. She has moved onto 0-3 month clothing becuse she is just too tall for newborn. Unfortunately I didn't have the forsight to leave that clothing out so it is packed away in a box tucked safley in the very back of our storage shed. I guess there is an upside to moving, I will get her clothes back. :D
 
Love this little face.. what an expression.

Happy 2 months beautiful.

The Ride

I look at the calendar and I wonder how it got to be September. The last 3 months feel like a blur. I have been caught in this paradox of wants. I want time to slow down, I plead for more moments with a brand new baby laying on my chest and her larger than life spirit filling our home. In the same moment I am wishing for time to speed up so we can leave these months of stress, worry, and unknown behind and move on to the next adventure of life.  I want so badly to find the job and the place that is meant for us, and in the next instant I am wishing that we never have to leave and that family will always be a short car ride away (or as the current situation would have it a few stairs up) I want to lose all my baby weight and then want to stuff my face with peach dessert and peach shakes and peach cobbler... the later want always wins out... dang those peaches.

I am left feeling torn and often uneasy, but always grateful. So so grateful that we have such incredible families to miss. Grateful for that hansome man I get to keep that has worked so hard and acheived so much. Grateful for the hope and promise the future holds. Grateful for this extra time we have had to be around family. And most of all, grateful for the knowledge that there is One who is mindful of it all and has a plan.

We have learned much in the last 6 months of life if I were to wrap it all up into 5 points they would be

• We really can do hard things. All it takes is putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes we could take life in leaps and bounds but most of the time it was in inches... sometimes centimeters. And as long as you keep moving forward, even if it is only 1 centimeter, you will reach the end. Yes, we can do hard things
• Patience is hard, but the end is rewarding. We have had long lesson in patience. We have been told to "wait" far more times than I care to count. Somehow waiting always made the arrival of the long awaited object more rewarding.
• Life has a way of working itself out, even when you can't possibly forsee how. There were nights when I sat with tears streaming trying to plan and figure out just how we would make it through this summer. Yet, here we are past the summer happy, healthy, and moving on to good things. I couldn't see then the way the Lord would lead and guide, the people who would bless our lives and the lessons we needed to learn. But He did, and they did, and we did. And perhaps we are leaving this summer a little stronger, a little more faithful and a little more paitent than we started
• Children, they don't keep. They grow and change and adapt. They are resillient, and sometimes my very greatest teachers.
• We have really really good families, like the best there is. There is no possible way we could have made it through without them. They cleaned our house when I was on bedrest, they took the kids for weeks at a time, they helped box up the house, they helped move it all out, they made food, they comforted, they supported, they encouraged, they listened ( there is no better ear than a moms) and they are currently letting us live in their basement :) They were strong when we couldn't be, they fasted for us, prayed for us, and helped me throw a killer graduation party. ;) They were EVERYTHING we need them to be whenever we needed them to be it. -- Now do you see why the idea of moving away from them is so impossible?

Life has changed so much in such a short time, and the biggest changes are on the horizon. I am equally terrified as I am excited.

 

Because of the chaos of life lately I have slacked majorly in the pictures and documentation part of life. But these are good and happy times and I don't want to overlook these moments that we'll never get back.

 

 Addison has developed quite the personlity these days. Her nick namd should probably be changed from "Addi Boo" to "Addi tude" we are diligently trying to increase her vocabulary. But she seems to prefer the grunt and whine method of communication. grrr. Every once in awhile she whips out a word I've never heard her use and I am reminded that it is not a matter of if she CAN talk but if she WANTS to. She still has our hearts in her hands and makes us laugh a lot.

Taycee, oh my Taycee. I often have to stop and remind myself that she is 4, not 14. She is such a smart little bugger. She acts so much older than she is. Her new very favorite thing is doing her own hair. Using every clip and barret in the house is her specialty.

She makes it a point to get up early every day so she can run upstairs and sit with grandma while she gets ready for work. Grandma is much nicer than mom and lets Taycee put on her make-up. She always starts the morning looking quite beautiful. One morning she used a particullarly dark shade of purple eyeshadow and was quite generious in it's appliction. When she woke me up she smiled her biggest smile and said "It looks like someone punched me in the eye huh!" she was so proud.

 

Taycee has taken this transitional time the hardest out of everyone. It breaks my heart a little. She cries at night and won't sleep anywhere but our room on the floor. She doesn't like me to leave a room without her in toe and often asks about her friends back at home. I think having Kaden gone all day at school makes it especilly hard on her. She is use to having him as a sidekick all day long.

 

She is still my very best helper though. She takes especially good care of Addison. One night she was asleep on my floor and I turned on a show on my laptop, the noise woke her up and she shot up and said "Is that my Boost? Does she need me?" She loves to take the bottles after I pump in the morning and put them in the fridge, and is an excellent binki finder.

 

Kaden is thriving, as he always does. Everyone is his friend and he is happy to be wherever he is. First grade here is a little behind his old school, so things are quite easy for him. We are looking at moving him into a few harder programs.

 

We have recieved an offer from Virginia and it seems to be right. We are going to the temple tonight and hope to be able to be able to give them a desicion soon. Life is changing quickly, here is to hoping we can hang on for the ride!

 

 

A Poem for Chris

One day in the wee hours of the morning before the sun had made an appearance I was wide awake. Chris was pulling another all nighter at the school and baby girl was kicking up a storm inside my belly. So I did what I always did when sleep wouldn't come. I party planned. This particular morning I was thinking about the "speech" part of the night. I knew I wanted to "toast" Chris for his accomplishment but I also knew that I would be far too emotional that night to stand a shoot off the hip. 

As I started contemplating how best to express my feelings to him this poem was formed. And for preservation sake I will share it here.

We started on this journey just over 4 year ago

Little did we know back then just how much we’d grow

You entered into the program as a father of only one

We’ve added 3 more girls since then, oh boy, we’re in fun.

Looking back on the past 4 years the journey seems rather small

Wait, who am I kidding? That was one heck of a long haul.

These last few months seemed like they would last an eternity

Maybe it was the papers, the job hunt… or just maternity.

You’ve missed a lot of things these years. Appointments, Parties and Firsts

But you’ve always seemed to be right there whenever I would burst

You’d gently talk me off the edge and lovingly remind

In order to reap all the rewards we had to do the time

You missed a lot of things, these years but gained some new things too

Hearing Aids, Grey hairs and debt, just to name a few.

All joking set aside, it’s true your accomplishments aren’t small

Not many people I know can say they’ve climbed so great a wall.

The many nights you stayed at school Skype was our best friend

You’d call at bedtime to see the kids and all your love would send.

The kids know just how hard you work, and we’d always find it funny

When at night Kaden would pray you could go to work and buy us money.

We’ve come to the end of this journey, we stood through it side by side

We took the downs along with the ups and in turn lengthened our stride

We’ve been students of this college for all our married life.

But now I am happy to declare I’m Dr. Claytons wife.

And so my love you’ve done it! You finished out the course.

And now it’s time to move along and bring the world your reckoning force.

Before we turn the final page there is one thing you should know

I’ll follow you around the world wherever you may go

I’d follow you to China, or live in Timbuktu

But if you try to get one more degree…. I might be leaving you.