Two Already?!?!

It was Honey Bunch's birthday yesterday. I can't believe that 2 years have gone by so fast! She is such a joy and a blessing. Her safe arrival into this world is a miracle in itself. I love her dearly even though she is my most stubborn, independent child. (Which I didn't think was possible). I've always said that Dude is Heavenly Father's way of telling me that I don't know everything. Now, I say that Honey Bunch is His way of telling me that I still don't. She had a great day, and loved all the attention. She even kept telling me, "Happy Birthday Mommy!" It was precious. I think the highlight of her day was opening all the presents. Before opening every one she would say, "For me, my birthday!" It was a crack up. I love you, Honey Bunch, thanks for all the laughs and loves!

Back to Normal

We finally got back into a normal routine Monday. Doctor had worked 60 hours just between Friday and Monday and we finally got him back (kind of) on Monday late afternoon and Dude went back to school (and got a real life, earned himself, orange ticket!). Dude is doing great finally. We're glad to have our boys back doing what they love to do most.

The weather was 60 degrees! So, the girls spent the afternoon playing outside. It was so great to let them get outside and run around.



Unfortunately the great weather didn't last. On Tuesday when I drove Dude to school at 7:30 it was 44 degrees and sunny. When I took Princess to school at 11:30 it was 21 degrees. When I picked them up from school at 3:00, it was 7 degrees and snowing! That's our weather for you. Pretty crazy. Anyway, its great to have our lives back to normal. (Knock on wood!)

We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet

My cousin, Miss Five, posted this wonderful tribute to President Hinkley on her blog. It is truly touching. Please take a minute to watch if you haven't already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvB3z2U8DEo

I am so grateful for his call to "stand a little taller," for his 9 be's, and most especially for the Nauvoo temple. We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet.

Ode to Mr. Rhythm

Mr. Rhythm...the name we gave you because you didn't have any! Haw! What did we know anyway? :)

Bud,

I just wanted you and everyone else who's reading this to know how much I admire and appreciate you. You are amazing. I spent the majority of my life being incredibly jealous of you. You are so gregarious and fun and talented. You have so many qualities that I wished that I had had, and I hated you for it. Now in my mature adulthood I can see how blessed I am to have you for a brother. You always seem to call whenever I need a pick-me up. I'm amazed that with all you have going on, and with all the people in your life, you think of me and my little family. You brighten my day every time I talk to you. Thanks for all the calls, especially the one last night. I am so proud to call myself your sister.

Dude Update

Well Dude is doing better than he was days 3&4, but not great. He caught a cold on top of everything and has a pretty nasty cough. My heart is broken for him. He probably won't go back to school until Monday. He was well enough to build this block tower yesterday afternoon, though. The tower is actually only half done, but I didn't get a picture of the final product (which was pretty awesome) because his baby sister decided that it looked just right for the kicking. :)
Honey Bunch wanted her picture taken too, so here's a cute one of her.

Watercolors by Princess

Princess is quite artistic. She created these masterpieces and titled them herself.

"Ahvoo Leas"

"Ahvoo Nesteree"

"Roses Ahvoo Painting"

"Harp Idaho"

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I work with the Primary children (kids 18 mos to 11 years) at church. I'm staying home with Dude today, and thought that I would really enjoy the break. Well, I am enjoying the reduced stress level, but I'm finding myself missing the kids. So, I thought I'd post some of the funny things they have said.

Teacher: Heavenly Father has given each of us talents. What are some of your talents?
Boy (age 8): I have a talent for video games. I share that talent by letting people watch me play. They really enjoy it because I'm so good.
Girl (age 9): I think everyone should develop a talent for gymnastics. Because, you never know when someone will need you to use it.
(I can't tell you how many times I've needed someone to do a back flip or walk on a balance beam for me :) )

Teacher: (Talking about symbols) I'm going to show some pictures to you, and I want you to tell me what you think when you see them.
First picture - a heart
Class: Love
Second picture - a flag
Class: Our country
Third picture - a smiley face
Boy (age 4): Wal-mart!

Teacher: Does anyone know what "Divine" means?
Boy (age 4) - Yummy!

Teacher: (Teaching the song "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go") What are some places that Heavenly Father wants us to go?
Girl (age 4) - Wal-mart. (o.k. so this one was Princess. She did tell the class the story of Moses that same day, so I think that makes up for it. :) )

Teacher: Heavenly Father sent us to Earth with a mission to fulfill.
Boy (age 4) - My mission on Earth is take care of all the horses and tigers in the world.

I am so glad, truly, that I get to be around such wonderful kids every week. I'm grateful that I had this break to realize how much I really do love my calling and be reminded that it is all about these precious children. Hopefully I'll continue to remember when the stress creeps back in.

Poor Guy

So days 3 & 4 are not so good. Dude did exceptionally well the first 2 days after his surgery, but now he's miserable. He woke up yesterday morning with a fever of 102, and has been battling that off and on. The poor guy just sits in his room and stares off into space. We're having a hard time getting him to drink anything, hopefully we can keep him hydrated enough. We're hoping that he'll be back to his good ol' self soon.

Little Miss Independent

Recently Honey Bunch has been taking off her shoes and socks every time we are in the car. It has become increasingly frustrating to me. When we pick up the kids from school I easily put her shoes/socks on 4 times with all the getting in and out of the car. So, yesterday when she took them off (and she said, "Daddy did it") I decided it would be a great teaching moment. I let her get out of the car without her shoes and socks. Keep in mind our temperature is about 2 degrees. I figured she'd step down, realize how cold it was, and ask for her shoes. Well, she got down, stood up on her tiptoes and walked the entire way into the house. She didn't even look at me funny. So there goes my magical teaching moment. :) On the bright side, she has almost completely potty trained herself. Her favorite phrase is "I self, no help!" We've gone 3 days with only 2 accidents. And she hasn't even turned 2 yet.

Goodbye Tonsils, Hello Ice Cream!

Dude had his tonsils/adenoids removed yesterday. I am so grateful to report that everything went superbly well. He has really been struggling to sleep lately because the tonsils have been so large, and this surgery was much needed. On Wednesday night, I got all the kids tucked in and found myself alone and scared. Tonsillectomies are a fairly routine outpatient procedure, and certainly pales in comparison to the last surgery he had, but as his mother I was still worried. I started to sob. I was feeling sorry for myself because my husband is never home and because my son needed surgery. Maybe we can blame hormones for my outpouring of emotion. Anyway, I knelt down to pray to my Father in Heaven and plead for solace. As I was explaining to him all my woes I felt prompted to read my scriptures. I pulled them out and randomly opened them. On the page that I turned to, I read this, "Thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee." (Isaiah 30:19) I am truly blessed and am unable to adequately express my gratitude for the knowledge that I have that my Heavenly Father knows me and my situation. Even though my concerns are relatively insignificant, He answers my prayers. I then had a complete sense of peace and knew that Dude would be o.k., and that I would be o.k. Phew, thanks for letting me share.
He had to be at the hospital at 6:00am to get things started so Doctor took him then, and I came about 7:30. When I got there, they had given him Versed to help him be calm. Well, he was loony! I'm kicking myself for not bringing the camera. When they started to wheel him away for the procedure, he exclaimed, "Wow! Am I in a parade?" It was hilarious. The anesthesiologist and the ENT resident are good friends of ours and they said that when he got into the O.R., he had his arms folded behind his neck like he was relaxing at the beach. When they put the monitor on his finger to check his oxygen saturation, he said, "That didn't hurt!" When he woke up after it was all over, he looked at me and said, "When are they going to take my tonsils out?" So far he is doing excellent! Grandpa sent a super Nintendo for him, and we set that up in his room. He is in heaven! He has eaten 4 bowls of ice cream, 8 popsicles, 2 tubes of yogurt, 3 pudding cups, and one cup of jello. Pretty good I think! He woke up this morning and said, "Mom, I think my throat needs a bowl of ice cream for breakfast." He is milking this thing for all its worth. He's one tough kid and I'm very proud of him. This picture was taken about 2 hours after the surgery, pretty good, huh!

Addendum

Well, I guess my "snooze" post really struck a chord with my immediate family. I didn't realize how much they all truly suffered.
Doctor read the post and his first reaction was, "Get back on there and say how you had the volume ALL THE WAY UP, and that I slept on the couch after the first time the alarm went off EVERY morning in order to avoid being startled awake every 9 mins." I'm sorry love. You are an amazing man.
My Dad posted that the worst was my long showers during which I sang every song on the radio. I'm so sorry Dad for all the cold showers and unwanted serenades. Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad. That's you, my Dad. I'm so grateful for you and all your sacrifices on my behalf.
My brother claims that he was scarred by my abuse towards him in the mornings, and that that was not mentioned in my post. My mother agreed in her post, claiming that he endured the worst of it. Well, Bud, what are big sisters for if not for torture? Just kidding. I'm sorry for my behavior. I think you turned out o.k. You are a stronger man because of it. :)

Makes Me Laugh

The screen saver on our computer does a slide show of all our pictures. This one just came up, and it makes me smile. We had gone to a pumpkin patch and were allowed to take one home. Dude had a hard time choosing one. Hope you enjoy.

Snooze.......

To understand this post, I have to give a little background. Mom and Dad, enjoy the memories of this torturous time in your life.


The alarm clock. Ah, an amazing invention. Unfortunately, the alarm clock and I have had a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship. I remember receiving my first alarm clock for Christmas when I was 8. I was so thrilled. Then the realization of the purpose of the alarm clock set in. This evil contraption is designed to interrupt your peaceful dreamy sleep. It makes you start your day way before you really want to. I realize that some people are morning people (i.e. Doctor and my Dad) and hooray for you. I am definitely not! Enter the next love/hate (mostly love) item, the snooze button. I had a love affair with the snooze button. The alarm wakes you up, you hit the snooze, and your back in dream land. The problem is, my body became so accustomed to hitting the snooze, that I would never actually wake up in order to do it. I tried moving it across the room so that I would have to get out of bed to turn it off. That worked for about a week. I tried the volume up all the way. All this accomplished was a family full of annoyed people. I tried the buzz feature to no avail. My parents inevitably had to come down, squirt water on me, and drag me out of bed. Another great start to my day. For an alarm clock to work, I discovered that it would need to be set at least an hour and a half before I actually had to be awake. That is literally how long it took my body to recognize that the alarm was going off, and I had to be awake. When I got married, it never occurred to me that this practice might be difficult for my sweet spouse. The poor guy endured months of agonizing snooze pushes (at least an hour and a half of being woken up every 9 mins) before he snapped. Needlessly to say, I had a really hard time making it to school on time because I slept in alot without my alarm clock. Well, my wonderful children began entering my life and the need for a device to wake me up was no longer necessary. I enjoyed 5 good years without it. Then............kindergarten. Dude needs to be at the bus stop by 7:15. So, I began setting the alarm for 6:30, so I could get up, make breakfast, and help Dude get ready. The alarm that Doctor and I have is one that can be set for 2 different times. This is super convenient because he has to be out of the house by 5 or 5:30. He wakes up very easily and has the volume set at a comfortable listening level. The problem is, I don't hear it. When it goes off at 6:30, I usually don't hear it and recognize it until around 6:50. This usually isn't too bad because my first wake up typically occurs when the girls get up at 6. The alarm is really a back up in case the girls sleep in.

Okay, with that background....here's the post. Phew! My incredibly considerate daughters have begun to wake up, not come get me, and when the alarm goes off, they very sweetly come in and press, gasp, the snooze button. The past two mornings I have woken up at 7:15. This means that I gather up all the children and drive Dude to school. I wouldn't mind too much if it wasn't 2 degrees outside and gas wasn't $3/gallon. Seriously, though, if this is all I have to complain about, my life is pretty great.

As a side note, when I was a teenager, my mom discovered that I always woke up when the phone rang, so she did call me in the mornings and tell me to get up. That worked pretty well. So, if anyone would be willing to call my house at 6:30 on weekday mornings I'd sure appreciate it! (Not really. Don't call me. Seriously.)

Little Martha Stewart

Our girls love play dough. I don't pull it out as often as I should because I usually end up cleaning up a big mess. Well, today I was reminded why I need to pull it out more often. Princess made these cookies. It's hard to tell in this picture, but they each have the same design on them.

Then they were off to the conveyor belt to be put in the package. Yes, those were her words. :)

Here is the final product in the package. She gave them to her sister for a gift.

Honey Bunch had a great time, too. She made lots of little balls for me to clean up.

At Least He's Creative

In Dude's kindergarten class there is a behavior system of card changes. Every student starts the day with an orange card. If they misbehave they have to change the color of their card. If they end the day with an orange card they get an orange ticket to bring home. Dude LOVES video games, and his reward for bringing home an orange ticket is that he gets to play for 30 mins with Dad after the girls go to bed. Well, one day a few months ago Dude told us that he had received an orange ticket, but had lost it in the parent pick up line. He was so sad and almost in tears. Well, we believed him and allowed him to play that day. Then, the next day he had the same story. Hum......fishy. Turns out that he didn't even earn a ticket the day before either. So, the new rule became No ticket, No play. Yesterday Dude got in the car proudly displaying an orange ticket. Hooray, right? Well, I wish. I asked him about his day, and he told me about some trouble he had gotten in by messing around in the bathroom. I said, "Oh, did you get a card change for that?" (I'm such a smart mom, ha!") And without skipping a beat he said, "Ya." "So, if you had a card change how did you get an orange ticket?" Then the lies starting flying. Long story short, he convinced another boy in his class to give him his orange ticket so the he could play video games. He told the other boy to tell the "I lost it" story to his parents. Yikes. So, he lost his video game privilege, and had to write an apology letter to the boy and his parents. After writing the letter he told Doctor and I that he had decided not only to give back the orange ticket that he took, but that he would also give him one that he had legitimately earned. I was proud that he saw the need for restitution. Again I say, I hope he uses his powers for good.

Happy New Year!

Last night we had our annual "Family Home Evening Goal Night." We reviewed our goals from last year and gave them a percentage rating. When the goal for a monthly trip with Dad was read, Dude proudly proclaimed, "We did 100%!" He was super excited for that one. We then decided on some new goals for 2008. I'm so proud of my kids and the goals they helped set for our family and for themselves. I was impressed at how much they comprehended the need for improvement in certain areas, and by the same token, the ability to rejoice in their successes. My husband deserves the credit for this, as he is the one who encourages goal setting so fervently. When we were first engaged he brought over some paper to my house and said that he would like to write down the goals for our future. I rolled my eyes. I am not one to set goals for myself. I fear failure to much to allow that kind of set up for myself. But, I loved this man so much that I obliged his request. Among our goals for our future family was the afore mentioned family home evening once a year. I imagined to myself a painful night of boring goal setting. Amazingly enough, though, this is our most successful FHE of the year. I have actually come to enjoy it. What an amazing husband I have. I am truly blessed to be his wife.
After the signing of the 2008 goals (yes, we type them up and all sign the bottom), we decided to ring in the new year with a toast. We had sparkling white grape juice. Ignore the messy kitchen, and enjoy Dude's expression after taking his first sip.

After we were done, Princess asked, "Are we going to make toast, now?" :)