Jump Rope School

Princess has a jump rope, but she has a hard time using it. Dude, having had learned how to jump rope in P.E., offered to teach her how. They were outside for quite awhile. When they came back in I asked how it went. Princess said, "Great! We made it all the way to lesson 6!"

***WARNING*** This next story may not be appropriate for those who get grossed out easily. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I was changing Megaman's diaper when Honey Bunch starting shouting that she had pooped in the toilet. Yay, right? So I go in the bathroom and see a disgusting mess. She had pooped in her diaper and then tried to get on the toilet. It was disgusting. There was a teeny tiny amount in the toilet. We then had the following conversation:

Me: I'm very proud of you for coming to the toilet, but if you poop in your diaper first, you need to tell Mommy so I can help you.
Honey Bunch: I pooped in the toilet!
Me: That's great! Next time if you already pooped in your diaper you need to tell Mommy so I can help you.
HB: I pooped in the toilet!
Me: That's great! I'm proud of you. You just need to tell Mommy first so I can help you.
HB: I POOPED IN THE TOILET!
Me: I'm proud of you! Just tell me first next time.
HB: (with a hint of sarcasm in her voice) Um, I'm pretty sure I pooped in the toilet.

Alrighty, then. :)

Parenthood

This week I've been thinking a lot about a time when I knew everything about parenting, children and discipline. I had all the answers and knew exactly why other people's children did what they did. Of course I'm talking about a time when I did not have children of my own. I've always said that my children are Heavenly Father's way of reminding me that I don't know everything. I sure wish I did, though. I think the thing I struggle with the most is the notion of agency. I tend to want to force my children to do things my way. I want to make all their choices for them. I'm slowly starting to realize that my job as a parent is to teach correct principles and then step back and allow them to act for themselves. The whole concept of choice and accountability has been taught to me my whole life through church, the scriptures, great parents, etc., it has just taken me awhile to catch on. I hope my children grow up to be decent human beings in spite of my parenting skills (or lack thereof). So, to Dude, Princess, Honey Bunch, and Megaman thank you for letting me be your mother and allowing me to learn right along with you. I'm a lucky, lucky mommy to have you for my kids.

Hair!

When I was pregnant with Princess, I was terrified to have a girl. I was not a girly girl myself and the most terrifying part for me was the fear of doing her hair. Ironically, now that I have two little girls I have wonderful ideas for their hair and even more, the desire to do cute things with their hair. Unfortunately, they don't share that desire. I can't get either of them to sit still long enough, or if I do, they pull it out as soon as I'm done. Mrs. Officer posted a cute link on her blog to a website devoted to girl's hairstyles. If you have little girls, you should check it out. Anyways......it reminded me of the ONE time I successfully did Princess' hair. Kudos to me for taking pictures. :)

Dessert Mix, Yum!

Dude has been asking for quite some time to make his own dessert. I finally relented after dinner last night and allowed him to do it. I thought he would make it, not like it, and never want to do it again. Not so easy. They all three claimed to love it. Here's the ingredients:

*Vanilla Ice Cream
*Strawberry yogurt
*Cinnamon Brown Sugar pop-tarts
*Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

Mix all of the above and voila! A delicious dessert!

Kids Will Be Kids

It has happened again....Dude has another black eye! I'm afraid that Child Protective Services will show up at our door because it's his second black eye since March. This time he was the victim of a friend's little brother. Metal cups are not meant to be projectiles.

Princess cracked me up the other day. I was getting ready for the day when she came in and asked, "Are you wearing make-up so you can hide all the polka-dots on your face?" Um...yep.

Honey Bunch has been abnormally tired lately. Twice in the last week while I've been cooking dinner I've found her sleeping. The first time, she had collapsed on the window seat, the second time she had climbed in her bed and I've never seen a more comatose little girl.


Megaman has been doing great. He loves to roll over and he actually slept for five straight hours the other night. I have hope now of better nights to come. He jabbers quite a bit and it is so cute. Every time I try to get it on camera, though, he gets camera shy. He is also an adorable sleeper.

I also love this picture. It looks like he's saying, "You got a problem with that?"

Just Bragging

The longest year of my life is coming to a close in a week and a half. WOOHOO!!! To celebrate this blessed event, the hospital held a banquet for the graduating interns/residents. It was a great night made superb when my fantastic husband received the prestigious Intern Of The Year award. Hooray! It was so nice to have all of his hard work and dedication to his work recognized. I'm incredibly proud. After the awards were all dolled out they had a "roast" of the graduates. Here are the highlights of Doctor's roast:

*He must be tired because he lives a block from the hospital and still drives to work everyday.

*He just had his fourth child, we think he's starting a Mormon compound.

*He wanted Derm in the worst way and was offered a prestigious residency in Detroit and turned it down. If he changes his mind again the Director of Medical Education will kill him, as will his wife.

Way to go...I love you and am extremely proud of you!

Pete & Repeat were brothers............

So, about six months ago I became aware of an annoying little quirk of mine. I am one of "those" people who repeat everything twice. Why? I have no idea. I can't help it. What's worse is that I know I'm doing it, but can't stop it. When I'm telling a story I'll say something like, "He hit a home run right over the fence. He hit a home run right over the fence." Maybe I think people don't listen to me, so I have a better chance of them hearing it if I say it twice. Who knows. I'm writing about this on my blog I guess as a disclaimer. I'm working on it. In the meantime, what was the name of Pete's brother? OK. About six months ago I became aware of an annoying little quirk of mine. :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

I had an awesome birthday thanks to my wonderful family. I woke up to Dude telling me that he and Honey Bunch had made me breakfast. They had "made" me a bagel and two go-gurts. So sweet.

Then Princess gave me a homemade card that she had written all by herself.

While I was enjoying my breakfast Dude got out the vacuum and vacuumed the house. Then he and Honey Bunch got the dusters and dusted. And if that weren't enough, they made my bed for me. When I got out of the shower I noticed that Doctor had laid out some new clothes for me to wear, complete with a necklace that the kids picked out. Doctor also got me a new clock for the living room. I was able to wear my new clothes on a lunch date with my sweetheart thanks to our friends who watched the kiddos for us. I also got some treats from my visiting teacher and several phone calls from friends and family. It was a great day, thanks everyone!

New pictures

My mom needed an updated picture of Honey Bunch and one of Megaman. We took a million pictures and some of them turned out really well. We tried to get a picture of all four, but again it was mission impossible. Here are my favorites.


This last one is for my brother and sister-in-law. We have a pirate, too!

Summer is finally here!

After the longest winter ever summer has finally made an appearance. We were able to set up the pool, and the kids had a blast. Viva warm weather!