Tyler the Turtle Mummy

I just read my post from last night and it doesn't even make sense to me. Oh well. I am so tired. I was so glad that I was all done with costumes last night. Today was going to be a relaxing, have fun with the kids day before they went back tomorrow. Then Tyler came to me with that look on his face. I asked him what was wrong. That was a pointless question. That kid doesn't talk when he is sad or upset. He simply goes into what I refer to as "Turtle Mode". I could tell he was very upset. After several minutes of carefully prodding, I read his body language and ventriloquism to mean that he hated his Halloween costume. Never mind that he told me a month ago he wanted to be a vampire. And never mind that I had asked him more than once if he was sure before I bought the stuff. Now the tags are ripped off and the teeth have his slobber on them. So I am stuck. At first I told him he just needed to get over it and be a vampire this year. But after several hours of his turtle mode, I couldn't take it any more, and I asked him what he wanted to be. A Ghost. I wasn't sure how I would do it because they cannot wear masks to school. So I suggested a few alternatives and he settled on a mummy. How hard could that be? So off we went to Wal-Mart and then to Target to track down the needed supplies. After only five hours, his costume is almost done! I wish I had gone with the ghost. And next year, they have all been instructed that they will choose something we already have.

Fall Break

What do soccer games, toys, bridges, temple square, and pumpkins have in common? You'll never guess...that was my weekend. The kids have been out of school since Friday and they don't go back until Halloween. We have had a good time, but I don't know how much the teachers will enjoy them coming back wired on Wednesday!

Saturday was Hailey's first indoor soccer game. If you can even call it soccer. It is so different than the game we are used to watching her play. But it was a lot of fun! If you blink, you could miss something. It is so fast paced! It will take some getting used to the fact that you can kick it against the wall and the ball is still in play. Even though they didn't win, she had a blast!

After her game I ran some errands trying to round up what I still needed for some Halloween costumes. When I got back, Randy had taken all the kids to our friend's house while he helped them repair some sheet rock. I took advantage of the quiet house and cleaned out the toy closet. I was in it pretty deep when Randy returned, so he took the 5 oldest for a hike. I worked from 1-6 PM on that thing! I loaded up Randy's Jeep with toys and coats to send to DI. When the kids got home, they were quite surprised to see an almost empty toy room! Why is it that they don't care about a single toy until they are gone? Most of the toys are simply locked in a closet and they will each get to choose a bin every week or so to rotate through. I just can't take it any more! You figure, we have been collecting toys for 11 and a half years. That is 36 birthdays each with and average of three presents, Christmas X 37 with and average of 5 gifts each. That is about 284 toys. Each with an average of 10 pieces (all numbers being extremely conservative.) So I have 2,840 pieces to pick up 365 days a year. For eleven years. That is 11,402,600 toys I have picked up! OK, so these numbers may not be statistically accurate, but it gives you an idea, anyway!

Sunday was our Stake Conference. The thought of wrestling 6 kids in the dark for two hours seemed more than I could take. I know this is poor rationalization on my part, but our Sunday turned out to be very spiritually uplifting. More so than if we had opted for the wrestling, I think. We went to Salt Lake and watched them move the bridge over I-215 for a little while. It was compared to watching paint dry. It was moving pretty slowly, but when you are married to a civil engineer, these things are exciting.

After that, we went to Temple Square. Can I just say, this may be our new tradition? It was awesome! The kids loved it! After discovering acorns (Nathan recognized them from Ice Age!) we toured the visitor's centers. It has been a couple years since we have done that. Standing in front of the Christus, I showed Nathan that prints in his Jesus' hands and feet, and told him the story of the cruxifiction. I don't think he had ever heard that before- at least not that he comprehended. He just sat there staring for while. Then last night at dinner he asked what happened to the bad men that put the nails in Jesus' hands and feet.


We also went to a presentation on families that we had never been to before. You walked from room to room of a family's home watching different little clips about families. I was glad the lights were off because I got pretty emotional- as soon as we walked into the nursery. And I went down hill from there. The Spirit in there was incredible. I would love to take our friends there someday.

Hannah came down with a fever when we got home. She was acting a little strange there saying she was tired and wanted to lie down. She must have known they were all going to get flu shots today. Lucky for everyone I had to cancel the appointment!

My sister came over for dinner and then we made spiders out of suckers and some cheesecloth ghosts.

I spent a good part of today making a pumpkin costume. After only a few sewing machine glitches, I finished it. Hailey loves it. Randy took off work a little early and we went to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins. As always, the kids had a great time. Emma said, "cheese!" every time she saw the camera. She thought she was pretty funny.

Hannah wandered around for a while and then I asked her if I could help her find one. She said, "I'm trying to find one without dirt on it." That's my Hannah! And when it came to for carving, she wanted gloves on. It has always made me laugh- she is my one and only thumb sucker. yet, she can't stand things on her hands. Whenever she would take her thumb and finger out of her mouth, she would dry them off on her 'fluffy'. Yet if anyone else slobbered on her things, it had their 'germs' on it and she wanted it washed! Silly Hannah!

Snow Tanks

When we are driving in the car, Nathan loves to look for the water tanks on the hill by our house. He knows what they are for as I explained to the kids that they hold water for our homes. When he sees them he gets really excited and says, "There's the water tangs!" So the other day, he spotted them and then asked, "Mom, where are the snow tangs what give us ice?" I am amazed at the thought process of this little guy! He is so stinkin' smart!

All four of my kids in school entered the Reflections contest. Maybe that is why I was on my soap box the other day. I hate deadlines! It is just too stressful. Especially when trying to keep my home running smoothly, they are like little speed bumps.

The theme was "I Can Make a Difference". They all enjoyed doing it. Casey's was a required assignment. He drew a picture of himself and some fellow scouts and helpers removing a wrecked car from the canyon. He has already decided this will be his Eagle project. I didn't think to take a photo of it before he turned it in, so I'll post when when we get it back.

Hailey wrote a song. She just sat down at the piano one day, and out it came! Then she wrote some lyrics about being drug free, being a good friend and doing your part. She helped me on the computer enter in the notation. It was a great learning experience. Then my brother helped us record it and put it on CD. She may be the only one in the school that entered a musical composition.

Tyler made a sculpture of a cheetah out of Model Magic. It was really cute! Again, forgot to take a picture of it. His title was "I Can Help Endangered Cheetahs". He wrote that when he grow up, he wants to work in wildlife. I hope he actually does. I remember when I was younger, I wanted to work with baby tigers. He really loves "big cats"!

And Hannah drew a picture of herself and a few friends taking out the garbage (can you tell what has been the emphasis at my house lately?!) I love her little people! It is sad when their drawings evolve to more life-like looking pictures.

Emma has discovered independence. She walks around the house like one of the big kids. She even throws tantrums. At 16 pounds, she just seems too tiny to have figured that out! I guess I was hoping my 'baby' would just always be sweet and cuddly and never go through the toddler stage! What could I really expect? She has some good teachers!

Randy has been really busy with work. Not only is he still working on I-15, but now he is the project manager for the new Riverdale Road project. That is pretty intense. They have until January to complete the design. then construction will begin.

I am excited to be in primary. We had our first presidency meeting yesterday and a stake leadership training last night. The Spirit really touched me when one of the stake ladies was bearing her testimony that the Lord bought us with his life, and we need to pay him back with our service. Sometimes I think we lose sight of why we are serving. I now I have grumbled a few times about Randy's calling as scoutmaster. I try not to, and I think once I realized how much he enjoys it, I realized that was unfair of me. I hope I can keep things in perspective. After the meeting, a group of us went to TGI Friday's for dessert. It was tons of fun! I love being able to get out like that every once in a while. And Randy is always so sweet and lets me go. He has never once murmured about it. I am pretty lucky!

Allergies

When I was a kid, I hated milk. I still don't love it, but it's OK. But when I was in elementary school, it was awful! The milk sat out on a table at lunch and got warm and you had to take one. The only way you could get out of it was if you were allergic. So I used to try and tell the lunch ladies that I was allergic so I could have the ever so delicious Tampico :) ...not sure why I thought that would be better...

Last week, Hailey was getting on Hannah for not flushing the toilet. Hannah has always been afraid of flushing and now she thinks it will overflow if she puts toilet paper in. So she throws it in the trash. Now, I know this is perfectly acceptable in say...Brazil. But I don't want her leaving little presents in the garbage at other peoples' homes. So, here was Hailey enforcing the toilet rules we have in our home: "Did you wipe, flush and wash?" To which Hannah replies, "I'm allergic to flushing!"

I'm a 'Home'maker!

Ok, after that last post, I didn't want to sound too negative, so I'll leave you on a more positive note. Today, I went to pick Tyler up form a friend's house. I have met his freind's mom a few times before, but today was the first time I had been to their house. I was amazed at the cleanliness of her home....she has three boys. Need I say more? Anyway, I complimented her on it and she commented how hard she works at it. Then I asked her if she worked outside the home as well. She replied, "I'm a homemaker! And I love it!" It hit me today that the term 'homemaker' has been replaced by the 'politically correct' term "stay-at-home mom". I am guilty myself of using that phrase. Moms that work and moms that stay home. Is that all the world sees? I am here to say, there is much more than that! We are making our homes. And we work hard at it- making them havens for our families, a place they want to be. From now on, I will not make the mistake of calling myself a 'stay-at-home mom'. I am a HOMEMAKER!

My Soap Box

Please bear with me while I get on my soap box for a minute....I've been thinking a lot lately. Our life seems so busy, I feel we need to simplify. I have a friend who e-mailed me saying that she was contemplating home-schooling to simplify her life. She wanted me to talk out of it, the problem is- I agree with her. Now, this seems totally opposite of what you would think. I'm not saying either one of us would actually go through with it. I am very appreciative for my kids' teachers and the creativity, diversity and insight they have. But along with that comes a whole lot of fluff. Busy work.

I have already been to elementary school, and I don't care to do it again. But there is no way my kids can accomplish these extra assignments on their own. So I am stuck helping them. I use the word 'stuck' not because I feel raising and teaching my children is a burden, but because I feel they should get that done at school. If the teacher wants my 5th grader to write a 5 page report on Alabama, and prepare a 30 minute presentation, then teach him how. Don't send him home with a daunting task of reporting on a state he has no interest in. I am not the one coming up with this assignment, so don't make me do the work. I personally think elementary kids are too young for homework. And yet, I spend hours every day helping my elementary-aged kids with homework. You know something is wrong when your kindergartner comes home and tells you they didn't have recess because they didn't have time. And then she pulls out a folder full of homework she needs to do! How ironic that his very teacher won't have snack time because she doesn't want to contribute to childhood obesity in America! What happened to singing songs, eating gingerbread cookies and milk, and painting masterpieces?! I really don't care if she learns to read by Christmas. I would rather she enjoy being 5.

Then we hear the big push for family dinner and how crucial that is for children. You know, it is not the extra-curricular activities that keep us from having that quality time as much as all the extra school work. I think music lessons and sports are a better use of their time than more homework. They sit for a good portion of the time they are at school. When they get home from school, the last thing they need is to sit at the table or desk and do the very thing they have spent the last 7 hours doing! Let them go to karate or soccer or tumbling or whatever they enjoy doing! They aren't kids for long.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Saturday was cold and frigid. We spent the morning and early afternoon finishing up some little 'projects' around the house. We even had our lawn aerated. By the late afternoon we made a run to Costco. Our whole family went (except Hailey, who was at soccer practice.) I think that was the first time EVER. Randy couldn't wait to get out. Little did he know the kids were behaving extremely well! By the time we got back home, it was snowing. Randy even turned on the Christmas music!

It didn't seem like much, so I was surprised when Hailey came in the house asking for the 'snowman kit'.

And by the time I was finished making dinner, Tyler had created a giant snowball! (With a little help!)

You can't see it well in the picture, but it is a 'chocolate chip' snowball. Filled with little chips of dirt and grass from the aeration.

I don't even have everyone's Halloween costumes. Let alone snow clothes. It was a good trial run to see what we are missing. Casey was wearing my snow boots, and poor Nathan has no coat. You would think I should have one. After all, he has two older brothers. But we have somehow managed to lose not one, but two coats in his size! By Sunday, it was all melted except the snowball in the yard.

Yesterday, I was sustained and set apart as the first counselor in the primary presidency. I am really excited about it. We have a great president! There is a link to her (mommamin) blog on the right. I went to school with the other counselor and secretary. They are both awesome, too! I have one more pack meeting tomorrow. It has been fun to be in Cub Scouts, but I know primary is where I am suppose to be. When I was set apart, the bishop emphasized over and over about the importance of stressing the Savior in the the children's lives, and strengthening their testimonies. I think for these kids, more than ever, they will have to rely on a strong testimony early in their lives. There are so many temptations out there, that they have to be strong. I remember when I was in seminary we were always told we were save for the last days for a reason. I was never quite sure what they meant because things didn't seem that hard for me. But looking back, I realize I had a solid testimony. And things are just that much more difficult for my kids. I pray I can teach them and prepare them to face the challenges that lie ahead.

It is hard to believe October is almost over. The holidays are approaching fast. While it is my favorite time of year, I can't help but feel a little sad. Where has the time gone? Emma is getting more independent, and Nathan acts so old. My kids are getting bigger faster than I can even imagine. My older ones seem to be getting more immature by the day and the younger ones are getting more mature. How can that be? They are each so different, yet I love them all the same.

Escaped Convict

Bedtime at my house is about as fun as getting a root canal. We are so outnumbered that the kids take advantage of that. We have tried various forms of bribery and punishments throughout the years. Some of these include: an extra bedtime story, candy under their pillow, locking the door, taking away a favorite toy or their CD player, promising to buy a CD player, flipping the breaker and turning off the power to their room (*this one, BTW, is quite effective), etc., etc. Last night, it was money. I know how this sounds, but let me explain. Nathan is at the age between nap and no nap. Yesterday, he fell asleep in the late afternoon. While it is nice to have a few minutes to myself, I know I will pay for it later. So, here is was about 9:00. I had already escorted him back to his room several times. Then I caught him in my room sneaking money from my desk. He had a bag full of change. I told him he needed to put it back because it wasn't his. But, that if he went right to his room and didn't come back out, I would put a quarter under his pillow after he fell asleep. He was so excited and ran into his room. I had him right where I wanted him- or so I thought. I waited a little while and left when I felt he was there for good. I came downstairs to scrapbook a little and unwind from the day. When I went back upstairs, this is what I found:





In case you are wondering, it is a fort. He loves making forts. He makes them all day long, all over the house. His room was torn apart and he was nowhere in sight.

Then I found the little escapee in Hailey's room, asleep...


Gotta love the jammies!

Pictures from Zion National Park

Kids Say the Darnedest Things!

This morning, I was determined to be on top of things. So, as I was getting Emma ready for the bath, I decided I would just get in and shower with her. Nathan and Hannah were occupied in the living room- watching through the window, waiting for the garbage man to come. So this was my chance. I hopped in the kids' bath with Emma and showered. I was very proud of the fact that I was showered by 9:15 AM- in fact, it could be a record! After getting out and getting dressed, I was wrapping my hair in a towel when Hannah and Nathan came in. They looked at Emma, and back at me.
Hannah: "Did you take a shower in here?" (As if it is something strange.)
Me: "Yeah."
Nathan: "You got in all the way?"
Me: "Yeah."
Nathan: "You fit in there?!"

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Last week, Hannah was holding one of the kittens we named "Oreo". She turned to me and said: "I know that 'oyo' is black and goes in cars."


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Tuesday night after dinner, Randy and Casey hadn't returned form scouts yet, so I took the kids to Arctic Circle for ice cream cones. When they got back, Nathan ran up to Casey and yelled, "We got pine cones and you missed them!" (Ah man! I was hoping to get one of those!)

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I will post more of my favorite, all-time classic "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" another day. In the meantime, I would love to hear from all of you and some of the funny things you have heard kids say! Just leave it in the comments below....

Mom, come quick!

Last week, I promised the kids that is they all got their rooms clean, I would take them to a new park in town. So, after dinner, we loaded up the car and off we went. There was not much daylight left, but I had to keep my end of the bargain. The kids were excited to play on the new playground and even better- Daddy was there, too. One of their favorite games to play with him is what they call, "Beautiful Freak" (It used to be called "monster", but the song "Beautiful Freak" from Shrek changed that!) Basically, he chases after them making some moaning and wailing sounds and they all scream and run! It is really quite cute to hear Nathan ask to play "Bootifo Fweek"! Anyway, after playing that for a while Randy was tired and sat down on a bench to rest. I joined him and we were actually having a conversation. Anyone with kids knows this is a rarity. Then Nathan shouts from across the playground, "Mom! Come quick! See what I found!"
"Just a minute," I replied.
"Hurry!" he said.
"OK" I half-grudgingly got up to go see the neat rock or pine cone he found.
"Look, Mom, a snake!" he shouted.
I was looking at the bark trying to find a piece that looked like a snake.
"Right here, Mom." he pointed.

Sure enough, there was an honest to goodness, real-life snake! I don't know how in the world he saw it. It was the same color as the bark, and it was practically dark outside! He was so proud of himself as each of the kids took turns holding the poor thing. After a while, I ruined the fun by telling them we couldn't keep it and making them put it back where they found it.

I am OK with my role as fun-ruiner. You see, they love Daddy so much because he is the "fun one" that it is easy for me to leave them with him.! :) But seriously, I am so lucky to have a husband that values his role as Daddy. He is the greatest! My kids and I are so lucky to have him.

And some day...when my kids are grown, they will call and ask for "Mom". After all, it is my name Nathan called out when he wanted to share the treasure he found.

A Camping We Will Go

Aaahhhh...the smell of campfire- in our clothes, our hair, the car, and everything else permeable. We just got back from Zion's last night, and I have done no less than 7 loads of laundry today- and still goin'. Some of those have been washed more than once just trying to get the smell out. I love the fire, but when we return to civilization, I want to smell like clean laundry- that's one of my favorite smells.

We were determined to go camping one last time this season but our plans of going to The Little Sahara and rock-hounding at Topaz Mountain were ruined by the weather. This came to no surprise, as this is our life. The weather forecsated the lows in the 20's, so we headed south. Zion's it was. Of course by the time we figured this out, it was too late to make reservations anywhere...again, this is our life! We are so spontaneous!

We took off Friday around noon, after Hannah's first kindergarten field trip! She went to the Nature Center and got to ride the bus!!! YIPPEE! She had a great time!

After a few stops for last minute things (firewood at the neighbor's. oil at Checker, and back home for some bungee cords and booster seats) we actually hit the road at 1:00. Not too bad, considering!

We got to the park around 6:00 or so and found the campground full. Our back-up plan was a commercial RV park about 1/2 mile outside the park. For any of you who know Randy, this goes against everything he believes in. Luckily, we go the last tent site by the river. Of course, not long after arriving, Nathan fell in the cold water. Luckily there was not much water in it.

We spent Saturday hiking around the east side of the park and exploring some cool washes. Hannah came across the freakiest looking bug we have ever seen. We thought surely she had discovered a new species. We were thinking of names for the new insect when our plans were dashed by the ranger who identified the Jerusalem cricket. Here is a picture of the giant creepy thing:

Saturday night, Casey slept in a shelter he made down by the river. Randy and I ended up with Nathan and Emma in our bag and Hailey and Hannah shared a bag because we inadvertently forgot one of theirs. And we all froze.

Sunday we hiked to all three of the Emerald Pools. We were proud of the kids for making it the whole way. Never mind that Randy and I each had a kid on our back the whole time. After lunch, we hiked the Riverside trail to The Narrows. Randy took four of the kids up the river a ways and I stayed back with Emma (who FINALLY fell asleep) and Casey. We opted out for the reason that the water was FREEZING! We were still trying to thaw from the night before.

Sunday night, I decided we needed to huddle together to stay warm so we did a little musical sleeping bags. All 8 of us slept in one half of the 8-person tent. And we stayed warm!

Monday before we left, we did some more exploring on the east side again. We had heard we might be able to see some some big horn sheep there. It was sure nice of the rangers to put a stuffed sheep on top of this rock by the road! It made for a really cool picture...

We found a really neat wash with a giant fallen tree, and a tunnel that went under the road to another canyon. We hiked up that one until it got too narrow to go any further. We found lots of pools of water and some fun climbing rocks. The thing that is different about Zion's versus Arches that we are use to, is the vegetation. There are trees and other plants all over Zion. And Nathan stopped to pick up every stick, pine cone and cool rock he found! He trailed behind singing as he dragged his sticks in the sand. I called him 'Giddy Boy". He was so happy to just be him. It was hilarious! The kids all worked on their climbing skills and Tyler amazed us a few times with his "spider-like" abilities. I must also mention that he started the fire on Friday with 1 match. Every fire we started was the remnant of that first fire. He was pretty proud of himself and his "magic match". He also got pretty good at chopping logs with the hatchet.

We discovered something new on this trip. Apparently, we are a tourist attraction. 'We' meaning, our family. I guess people haven't ever seen a family with six kids- let alone all with blond hair and blue eyes. My favorite (I regret not snapping a picture myself) was the Japanese tourists. Randy had gone to park the car and we were sitting on a rock wall waiting for a shuttle. Two Japanese ladies come up and in broken English and a heavy accent ask, "Seex? Seex?" I nodded. She points to all the kids and then to me as if to gesture, "Are they all yours?" "yes," I replied. She pointed to her camera and asked, "OK?". "Sure," I said. She snapped a few and then along came her buddies. They each snapped a few and then one of them decided he needed to pose in the picture with us- I guess to prove to the guys back home that he really saw us! My kids were soaking it all in like movie stars. You know how hard it is for me to get all of them to sit still for one pose? They sat there through an entire photo shoot! I should have asked for their e-mail so I would have a picture for my Christmas letter this year!

They weren't the only ones staring. Everywhere we went, every time we boarded a shuttle, people looked, and counted and I heard a lot of whispering, and some out- loud comments. They were mostly good and I felt proud of my little brood.

I'm Good at Math

Sometimes I am utterly amazed at the incompetence of some people- namely cashiers. Let me illustrate:

I went to Payless Shoes today to get Emma some shoes. I had a "One Time Use" card good for $25. These cards can only be used the one time (hence the name) meaning, I can't use part today, and come back next month and use the rest. Since Emma's shoes were only $14.99, I thought I'd get Nathan some, too. And as always, there was a BOGO (buy one, get one half- off) sale. The shoes I picked for Nathan were $17.99 (way more than I like to pay for his shoes, but hey- card and sale- how could I go wrong? Boy was I wrong.) Are you with me....$17.99 + $14.99/2 = ? Now, I have been helping my kids quite a bit with their homework the past several years and have come across many math problems similar to this. In fact, just tonight, Tyler had a whole bunch just like it. Tyler is in 2nd grade.

OK, back to Payless...So, the girl rings up the shoes and tells me the total amount...$36 something. I question her. "Well, there's tax." she says. I question her again. "There's tax" she says again. So, I break it down for her. If I am buying one pair at $18, and one at half of $15- that being $7.50, my total should be around $25.50 + tax. I am assuming because I didn't automatically calculate the exact amount for tax in my head; she then replied, "Let me get Bertha, she's good at math. That is why I am only in Algebra 2." (Remember, my 2nd grader could figure this one out!) I simply replied, "I'm good at math, too!" OK, so I'm not as good as say, my math teacher sister-in-law, my husband or my dad or my brother, or...OK,that's depressing. But I'm not dumb, either. And I can certainly figure out an addition problem.

So Bertha comes over and immediately reprimands the first girl for not typing in the tax-exempt code. Unbeknownst to me, "one-time use cards" are tax-exempt. That makes the math even easier! Bertha gets on the phone and calls who I am assuming to be the corporate offices. After listening to her half of the conversation for no less than 5 minutes, she gets back to me. "OK, what I am going to do since the card has already been used and can't be used again is have you pay me $21.43" (Where did that figure come from?!!!) And then I will give it right back to you." By this point I do not trust her with my money and I am not willing to part with it, if even for 2 seconds. So I say, "How about I leave my money in my wallet and you pretend like I gave it to you." This is the ultimate... she says, "Once I open my till, I can't open it again until the next transaction." DUH! Please don't open your till. I am not giving you money, so it doesn't matter.

I would have walked out long before this if it didn't mean I'd lose the $25. "Fine." she says. Then she looks the figures over and does some sort of calculation. "OK, so you owe $0.91" She continues to amaze me with her lack of math skills. The total should equal $25.49 and my card was for $25. That leaves $0.49 if I rmemeber how to subtract. I almost reached for a dollar, just to be done with it, but by now I had to prove my point (this happened once before over a dentist bill- I had to change dentists after that one!) I explained that my remaining balance should only be $0.49. She argued with me back and forth a little, muttered something about $3 sales tax( ?!!) and threw my receipt at me and told me to expect a phone call from corporate. I might just call them first.

"It's a 'RIGHT NOW' Game!

With four kids in school in the afternoon, things are very different around here. Emma takes a nap and that leaves Nathan with no one to play with. He has never experienced that before. So last week, he decided he would change all that. I was busy with some things that needed wrapping up, and he came to me. "Mom!" he yelled, "Hurry, It's a 'right now' game!" How could I resist that?! I immediately dropped what I was doing and joined him in playing with his train set. We played for quite a while before I told him we needed to do some chores. He was happy to help me fold laundry for a while until he decided that was enough. Then it was time for another "right now game". I guess he figured that worked so well the first time, he'd stick with it. It reminded me of some poems from some needlepoints my mom did when I was little. I have always loved these...


"Cleaning and scrubbing can wiat 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs, and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep!!"

"Baby is fretting, I can't find my shoe
Ironing piled high, there are dishes to do
I stand in the middle about to cry
WHEN... we sit on the floor and play 'rock-a-bye'"

"I hope my children look back on today,
And see a mother who had time to play
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
For children grow up when we're not looking"

So now, whenever he wants me to stop what I am doing, he proclaims, "It's a 'right now' game!" He is right though. Because someday soon, I won't be playing trains with him.

What a Weekend

Saturday I went to a baby shower for a friend I haven't seen since high school. She is an ER doctor now. So is her husband. Instead of playing "silly shower games" (which I happen to really enjoy) we went around the room telling about ourselves. Four out of the six introductions before me were nurses. Another employed at the university. Then it came to me. It has never bothered me that I didn't finish college. I had my kids instead. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. But at that moment, I felt a little out of place. So this was my introduction...."I'm Christie, I do not work in the ER, but I visit there often. I have six kids." I then proceeded to ask the doctor for a punch pass...visit 10 times, get the next one free....too bad, it was a good idea. I had a great time at the shower visiting and listening to everyone give the expectant mother little tidbits of advice. As she opened the gifts of tiny outfits and baby necessities, I couldn't help but get a little sentimental.

After the shower was the Relief Society broadcast. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go at first. The weather gave me a migraine and I almost didn't go. As always, I am sure glad I did. It was a very good session as it was filled with confirmations that what I am doing is the most important thing I can do. I especially liked Sister Thompson's talk about families. Even though she has never married or had kids, like Sheri Dew, she has a unique perspective on the subject. Thinking of all this, I am reminded of a quote by UCLA's basketball coach, John Wooden. "You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give." My friends have great jobs and do a lot of good for people. I am very grateful for good doctors, nurses, and teachers to name a few. But my role as 'mom' is the best job there is. Even though at times I may feel overwhelmed or under qualified, I know there is nothing more important I could be doing.

Sunday was our ward's primary program. It was fabulous! Every one of them sang their heart out, and they each had a speaking part. They did a great job! Hailey had a long poem to quote, and Tyler sang and recited his part in the microphone (that is HUGE for him!) Hannah knew all the songs and Casey behaved very well for being the oldest kid in the primary (at this point, he thinks it is so childish) I was so proud of each of them. Nathan can't wait to be on stage next year!