Funny Moment

I need to write about this before I forget . . . it was right after lunch today . . . Carter was sleeping and Allison wanted to read the books we had just gotten from the library. We were sitting on the couch and I told Allison she needed to go potty before we read the books. I could tell she didn't want to and was debating in her head - and finally she said, 'OK mom - but you need to press pause on yourself. Don't read until I get back. I had to laugh! After she went to the bathroom she came back in the living room and said, "OK mom - you can press play on yourself now' I pushed my nose and we started reading. Kids really are the spice of life! :)

Simple Moments

1 - Allison running outside night or day (literally middle of the night - 2:30 am last night) whenever she hears an airplane. This is her routine. She'll get so excited - point to the airplane and say 'Hi airplane, bye airplane, come back soon airplane.' Actually he he he - as I am writing this she did it again! I'm a little nervous about the middle of the night thing. She's figured out how to undo the deadbolt on our front door . . . hmmm . . .

2 - On Wednesday this last week - I have 15 minutes between my 2nd to last piano lesson and my last piano lesson where I run over to my friend's house - who watches the kids - to pick them up. My last piano student arrived a little early and so I was in a bit of a hurry. I got into the car but it wouldn't start (I had forgotten our car broke down earlier that day) - so I ran down the street to her house. As we were leaving I told Allison she needed to put on her 'super-fast' feet as we walked home. She did so and ran really fast while I carried Carter. About half way down she stops, puts her hand to her mouth, and starts giggling. She said, "Mom - my pants fell down! That is so funny! He he he" Sure enough her elmo pants were down around her ankles. She thought it was the funniest thing! She had put on her brand new elmo outfit that morning - which was super cute, but a little on the big side, and I had forgotten to tie the tie around the waist. Anyway - it was a funny moment. :)

3 - Allison and her friend Taylor chasing each other around the kitchen table and giggling. We watched Nicole and John's kids yesterday while they went to the temple - and Allison and Taylor really hit it off. They played so well together. They spent an hour and a half outside playing in the sand box and on the play equipment together, and Anthony said that at the park they just followed each other up and down the slides.

4 - Carter's vocabularly really expanded this week. He now says the beloved 'no' all the time. Other words . . . me, eieio, uh-oh, ball, eyes, nose, mouth, (he calls his ears - eyes), more, "O" - he knows and recognizes the letter O, he also says 'I' and 'A', he'll say some animal sounds, Momma, Dadda, Alli. He also loves playing with cars and making engine noises while he plays.

5 - Carter doing the signs to 'Up on the Housetop'. I'm teaching Allison and her little friends the actions to 'Up on the Housetop' - and Carter knows them so well! It's so cute to see him try to hold his hands over his shoulder like Santa holding his big bag.

6 - Carter waking up from his nap and saying 'no, no, no' when I try to pick him up. He stands holding onto the side rail and starts jumping on the crib mattress. He loves jumping.

7 - Carter jumps off of anything and everything. We were reading stories in his room last night - and he jumped off the bed onto the bean bag and laughed and laughed. He did it again - only he caught his head on the bookshelf. He got a little scratch on the side of his eye, cried for a second and then was off again.

8 - Carter and Anthony and Allison playing 'monster' on the floor - and Carter (in slow motion), on all fours, putting one hand forward, lifting the opposite leg high in the air, and then doing the other leg and arm - like a monster.

9 - Allison, when taking Dad to work this week, having a conversation with herself in the back seat. Keeping herself entirely entertained.

10 - Allison, on our trip back from Walmart late at night, asking to put the towel that we had in the back seat over her head . . . and falling asleep 2 seconds later. He loves sleeping in the car with a towel or blanket over her head.

Husband Amazing

I am in awe of my husband tonight. Tonight we had 9 kids over at our house (it was our turn in our Friday night babysitting swap) . . . and I usually like to plan bunches of activites . . . and this day was just one of those where I seriously was home for 1 hour the whole day (which incidently was the hour I had visiting teachers over) and just had no time to plan. On a side note - I think I'm a little bit of an over-planner. I feel far more comfortable planning way too much than just keeping things simple and going with the flow. I don't get how to just 'go-with-the-flow'. That's a little bit weird huh? I need to just chill. A friend of mine does vinyl lettering - and I went to her open house this last weekend and found the saying 'Enjoy this moment, for this moment is your life'. I thought yes! I do need to enjoy this moment. (I bought the wall hanging and it is now on my kitchen wall - the place where I most need to remember to enjoy the moment). Anyway - what was I talking about . . . oh yes - my tendency to over-plan. I am trying to develop more 'Mary-like' qualities since the Martha ones come more naturally to me.

So . . . back to tonight . . . we had 9 kids over at our house - they were to arrive at 6:00 - and we pulled into the driveway at 5:56. I was thinking on our way home from picking up the car at the shop (it broke down yesterday) - that we could make cookies, and I could print out some Thanksgiving coloring pages, and we could play some Thanksgiving games Carrie sent me, and do pictionary and watch a movie. I had a plan! Well my wonderful husband complements (thank goodness) my over-planning and being a bit high-strung tendencies perfectly. And he is so good with kids! While I was trying to get everyone to understand the turkey hunt game . . . and wasn't very successful - Anthony just took over and had the kids captivated. He had them playing this turkey hunt game - all together - for a full 15 minutes! Yes - 15 minutes! He had 5 of the kids around the kitchen table making cookies . . . each one stirring 5 times before passing the bowl. Had them each choose 2 cookie cutter shapes . . . one for themselves and one to trade with someone else. Had them practice saying 'salmonella' when they asked to eat the cookie dough, then took the boys downstairs to do pictionary. Meanwhile - I cleaned the house. Yes - while Anthony kept 9 kids busy . . . I was able to clean. So while I had anticipated the house to be a wreck tonight . . . by the time the parents came to pick their kids up - the dishes were done, Alli's clothes in her room were hung up nicely in the closet, the floor was picked up. It was great! We ended the night with movie and popcorn. Anthony went over the rules of movie watching - had all the kids repeat the rules - and I had 9 kids whispering to me when they wanted more popcorn or needed more water. Anthony just has a magic way with kids - and taking any situation - and making it great! He truly can 'go-with-the-flow' and make everyone feel at ease. Thanks hun!

Potty Training Blues

I am just so exasperated with potty training. This has been over a year now of struggling - I just don't know what to do. We'll have several weeks where she's wonderful - she'll tell me when she needs to go, or she'll just go by herself - no mommy needed . . . it's great! I will think that we are finally done with this awful parenting saga. And then we'll have this week. 2 days in a row this week - she has an accident on the couch . . . not just little accidents but full blown accidents. I know she knows how to use the potty! Why does she do this? Couch cushions are not the easiest thing to clean! I hate this. This is absolutely hands down the worst part of parenting so far. And . . . yesterday we were at a friends house with lots of other families having dinner - Allison was busy playing with friends. And she has another huge accident! This one baffles me because I took her to the bathroom 45 minutes before she had the accident. She told me she didn't need help - she could go by herself - so I didn't see if she actually went . . . she must not have . . . this is so frustrating! I don't get it. I've tried everything. We've done the treats when she goes potty. I've tried putting her in the shower after she has an accident . . . (she doesn't like showers) and so I thought this would be a deterrent. We've done the potty dice - when she doesn't want to sit on the potty she can roll the dice and choose an activity to do while on the potty . . . now I've pulled out my 'Singing Makes us Happy Face' - stuck it on the fridge, put a wrapped up a My Little Pony on top of the fridge, and each day she is accident-free - she gets to choose a face piece and put it on - and once the face is completed she gets to open up the 'big girl gift'. I'm running out of ideas. The thing is - I know she can do this. I think she just gets so caught up in whatever she is doing, and doesn't want to pause to go potty . . . and then we have the accidents. And we're no where even near nighttime trained. I have no idea how to do that one.

It's a Small World After All

Each month our little family gets together with another two families in our stake for dinner - and we've been doing this for quite some time . . . but today we made a remarkable connection. It truly is a small world. Courtney (Wheeler) was talking to Shane (Walker) about the Gifford family from Rexburg - and I thought - wait - I know a Gifford family from Rexburg. I asked if there was a Whitney Gifford - and sure enough - the same family. So we made the connection that we all knew Stacie and Whit Gifford. Stacie is my cousin - and Courtney's sister married Whit's brother - and Shane grew up in Rexburg and knows Stacie and Whit and his brothers, and the whole Erickson clan, and the Flamm's, and remembers Grandpa as his stake president all growing up, and his family lives on Barney Dairy Road - where I think Uncle Robert and Aunt Tracy live . . . anyway - it was so fun to make all the connections back to Rexburg! How funny that we all are interconnected and don't even know it! :)

A 'Fill My Cup' Weekend

This weekend was wonderful - it was one of those weekends where my cup was refilled and my soul recharged. It started with Super Saturday yesterday. Super Saturday is where all the ladies at church get together and do projects and crafts. There is something about creating things that is so satisfying and rejuvenating. I loved it! I made a beaded bookmark (which, incidently, I found broken on the floor today - Allison got ahold of it - but that's OK, it was fun to make), and a decorated notebook, and some hair bows.

The other rejuvenating part of the weekend was this morning at church. Elder Bruce C. Hafen came to speak to our stake. It was very nice. I had just read his book 'The Broken Heart' - and so I was very excited to hear him speak. Things I want to remember from his talk . . .

1 - The power of covenants . . . told the parable of the hireling - the hireling runs when trouble comes, but the shepherd does not . . . told a story about his oldest son (he said that he one time said to his wife in jest that the Lord gave him his other 6 kids as compensation for putting up with the first:) I guess this was a very challenging child. It was Monday night, his wife met him at the door and told him they needed to talk - about this one child. The boy was 10 and had an overdue Indian diorama that needed to be completed that night. His wife told him that if he would take the other 6 kids and have family home evening - she would work with the oldest son to complete the diorama. Elder Hafen said, "Deal!" So he had family home evening with the other kids while his wife and the son were in the kitchen working on the diorama. Occasionally he would hear outbursts of frustation from the child - and at one point he came into the kitchen very angry, ready to discipline, but his wife said - no, everything is fine. Anyway - at the end of the night the son had completed the project and with a big smile on his face came to show his dad. He was so proud of himself. He ran and gave a big hug to his Mom (which was a rare occurance) . . . and Elder Hafen later asked his wife how she did it? She said that she just told herself that no matter what - she was going to stick with that child tonight. No matter how long it took, no matter how many tantrums were thrown, she was not going to leave him. She was going to be there to help him complete the diorama. And she did. "I didn't know I had it in me," she said. Then Elder Hafen reemphasized the power of covenants - and like the shepherd, not the hireling - sticking it out through the tough times . . . I'm not doing this justice - he said it much better . . .anyway . . .

2 - He talked about the current financial situation - and how many are struggling and reiterated the prophet's counsel to get out of debt and live providently . . . talked about the pride cycle in the Book of Mormon . . . how when the people were prosperous that often led to indulgence and indulgence often led to sin. Also, he discussed the prevalent attitude that there is no tomorrow - and many indulge today. It takes time to harvest the fruit of our labors. In discussing hardships, both temporal and spiritual, his message had such a hopeful tone. He talked about how adversity gives us a wonderful opportunity to assess where are heart is and realign if necessary. Is our heart set so much upon things of the world, or is it set upon things of a better. What is it we really want, and are we making choices in accordance with what is most important to us?

3 - I was touched by his comments on the atonement. He told us that he was once asked, Why, if the central message of the gospel is the atonement of Christ, why, in the temple, is the story of Adam and Eve taught, rather than the story of Christ. He thought about that - and came to the conclusion that the story of Christ is the story of the giving of the atonement, and the story of Adam and Eve is the story of the receiving of the atonement.

The Joy of Cooking - Jensen Style

Allison and I decided to make sugar cookies today for one of her friend's birthday. I got the bowl out, and the butter - and then I realized I needed to run upstairs to grap a clip for my hair. So I gave Allison the stick of butter and told her to unwrap it and put it in the bowl - and I'd be right back. Well while I was upstairs, the phone rang. I answered it - and our upstairs phone isn't a mobile one. So I talked on the phone for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile Carter wakes up from his nap - so I went to get him after my phone call . . . so anyway, I go downstairs and I see Allison with the happiest grin on her face. Not only was the stick of butter in the bowl, but 2 eggs, 1 egg was on the floor, the cracked eggshells on the counter. She managed to get the Oregano out of the cupboard, and so a generous portion of oregano found its way into the bowl, as well as some cream of tartar. Allison happily showed me that in the recipe book I left out on the counter - she had found the word 'eggs'. "Mom - see the recipe says eggs!" It was so funny! We started all over on the cookies, needless to say, but didn't get too far before I realized I was out of Crisco, so we made No-bakes instead. But it sure was fun!

The other picture is of Carter helping Dad make pancakes. On Tuesday nights (my piano teaching night) Dad is in charge of dinner and it's usually pancakes or french toast.