Waiting Until Ready

When I was doing Joy School with the Mikey and Roger I would be so frustrated when my friends would send their 3-4 year old kids over in shoes that had shoelaces. I understood that they were trying to teach their children how to tie their shoes, and I can support that, but it was quite difficult when it was time for them to go outside and I not only had to help my four boys get their shoes on, but had to sit and tie several pairs of shoes.

I haven't focused on teaching Mikey how to tie, it just hasn't been something that I've found urgent for him to learn. Then I noticed that the velcro straps on one of his shoes is coming apart, meaning I am going to have to buy him some new shoes. I decided that maybe it would be a good time to teach him how to tie so that maybe we would get him shoes with shoelaces.

A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Mikey in-order to teach him how to tie. Twenty minutes later and very minimal frustrations, Mikey can tie shoes. I can't believe that it was so easy, and so pleasant. He now ties Grant's shoes for me (his own shoes haven't broken all the way yet, so he still doesn't have new tying shoes).

May I always remember to challenge Mikey, but to not push him into mastering something before he is ready. Life will be much more pleasant if I can do that.

Claws

My boys love to have their arms and backs scratched. They will roll up their sleeves or pull up their shirts in order for me to scratch their little bodies. I find myself always scratching someone, which I really do not mind, it's a great way for me to express my love.

Roger has found it to be a way for him to express his love (he LOVES people) and will often scratch mine, or someone else's back and ask, "Does that feel warm", because obviously warm is the feeling you get when your back is scratched.

While sitting next to Lana, Roger reached over and started scratching her back. After a couple of minutes Lana offered to scratch his back. After getting his back scratched for a minute or two, Roger informed Lana, "My mom has big claws". Apparently Lana's short nails didn't feel as nice as my "Big Claws".

Happy Birthday Bampa

Happy birthday Dad!!!

This is the song that I was listening to when I ran the Indianapolis marathon and thought of my dad.

Backpack

Grant found the backpacks and has been insisting on wearing them non-stop. Of course he prefers the one that he could actually fit inside if he wanted. It does make it difficult for me to buckle his seat belt while the backpack is still on. Let's just say there is a lot of screaming going on...by me.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

Are you wanting to try a new recipe?!!?! Hoping to find an easy and good one that has been tried? Well, here you go:

I LOVE using my crock pot. Here's a recipe that I found and tweaked so that it was Crock Pot ready.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

INGREDIENTS

Chicken
Chicken - a couple of frozen breasts, or whatever you have on hand (that's my style) -
3 Tbs lemon juice
3 Tbs olive oil1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper1/2 tsp oregano

Pasta

1 tsp garlic powder1/2 tsp black pepper
8 cups of chicken broth (I use bouillon cubes)1/2 cup lemon juice
1 (16oz.) pkg pasta

Sauce

2 cups heavy cream

2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

Throw the ingredients for the chicken into a crock pot. I keep my chicken frozen and don't bother cutting it up. I shred it later. I put the crock pot on high if I want dinner in 3-4 hours. I

put it on low if I want it in 5-6 hours.

Half an hour before you want dinner served, shred the chicken. Then add the cream and zest to the chicken. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and replace the lid of the crock pot. If you desire it, you can throw in a couple of handfuls of frozen veggies into the crock pot as well.

Fill up a saucepan with the chicken broth, lemon juice, black pepper and garlic powder. When the liquid mixture starts boiling add in the pasta. Cook the pasta over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the noodles are soft to your liking. (If you don't have the broth or lemon juice, you can go without. The mixture just helps the taste be better absorbed).

After the noodles are ready, drain the excess liquid and add the noodles to the mixture in the crock pot, and viola!!! Dinner is Served.

My boys are ALL a big fan of this meal. They eat seconds and even thirds. Todd and I also enjoy it, and I spend very little time in the kitchen. Definitely a great recipe for us. Don't be afraid to try it, you too may be pleased with it. Enjoy!

What do you do when your son comes up to you and informs you that you are a Lamanite and he is Ammon, then while pulling his little "fierce face" he does an invisible sword swish and cuts off your arm?

You play along, even switch roles, and feel gratitude, pleased and awed, especially since it's been weeks since you read this story.

William, you amaze me.

Dang Cracks

Me: Roger, What are you doing?

Roger: The cracks in my head are coming apart.
I hate it when that happens

My Mr. Potato Knucklehead

Grant loves balls and throwing anything. After finding a pair of Mr. Potato Head glasses, he insisted on me putting them on him while he ran around chasing a ball that he could barely see. The frustrating part was that the glasses kept falling off. The more frustrating part was that he wouldn't hold still so that I could take a picture of him!

I hope that you liked my kids' Valentine greetings. I thought they turned out great, and were actually quite easy. The most difficult part was getting the picture right:It's actually a wonder that I get ANYTHING done around here.

First Talk

Yesterday was a big day of first for us.

It was the first time that all four of my children sat in Sacrament meeting reverently (well...I'm not sure you would say Grant was reverent, but he was quiet) And that is with me dealing with the kids all by myself since Todd was in the middle of working a 30 hour shift.

It was the first time- in a long time- that we were actually early for church!! (Maybe there is a correlation with being early and having your kids sit quietly through church - I need to remember that one)

It was the first time any of our kids gave a talk in Primary.

Mikey was asked to do a talk on, "All mankind may be saved through the Atonement of Christ". I was a little nervous about the topic because there is such deep meaning to it, meaning that I do not even yet comprehend, nor do I realize that I don't comprehend. Then I remembered that this was written about the scriptures:

"And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled"

Moses 5:6

The doctrine is what we are supposed to be teaching our children, and they may not understand it all the first time, but little by little they will understand it.

I knew that I wanted to make Mikey's talk simple, which would be better for him and for the entire Primary. I just didn't know how to go about getting the talk prepared.

Last week for Family Home Evening, Todd gave the lesson on the Atonement. And even though I've talked with the boys about the Atonement, this was a great introduction to the topic.
I had remembered reading an article in this month's Friend on the Atonement, but when I went to look for the magazine, I could not find it. I guess I shouldn't complain that my boys like "reading" it themselves, but it was frustrating not to find it. But thankfully the church has all of the articles online (I love the LDS church) and was able to print it out.

I have been working with Mikey and Roger on their reading for the last couple of months using How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - which I love. So I wanted Mikey to read his talk rather than have me whisper it in his ear (mainly because I feared if I whispered in his ear, he may not follow my cues but rather close up and be quiet). But this still presented a problem because even though Mikey is reading very well for his age and capabilities, he still doesn't know a whole lot.

As I sat down with the Friend article, I was drawn to a paragraph that I suddenly realized that I may be able to change some of the wording and Mikey would be able to read it.

I went to work re-writing the paragraph, writing it using the style that he has been taught in the lessons, and before I knew it I had the talk written and Mikey was READING it!!!
Now, at this point you would've thought I would be calm and collected...but I am a parent and as a parent you always want your children to do well. I was nervous for him. Mostly because he can be quite shy. I was nervous that he would get up in front of the primary and refuse to speak and probably run off with tears. In my heart I prayed that this wouldn't happen, but it was out of my hands.

When closing exercises had begun for the Primary Mikey walked up to the front and stood up at the podium. I thanked him for remembering that he was giving the talk, but told him that it wasn't time yet. When it was time, he got up at the podium and was as comfortable talking into the microphone as he is talking to me. He did so great. He went through his talk without a hitch - well except for the part when I whispered for him to speak up and he yelled "repent" into the microphone.

I was so proud of my boy. I can't believe how much he has progressed. A year ago he never would have stood up in front of the other kids and spoken two words, yet now he not only stood up there and spoke, but he was comfortable. Those that know Mikey, know that this is HUGE.
The only sad thing was that Todd had to miss it because he was at work. When he got home I immediately had Mikey come and give his talk to Todd. As Mikey finished, Todd went to him and with tears in his eyes told Mikey how proud he was of him.

I was so proud of Mikey as well. And as much as I would love to say, "Yes, it's all because of me, I'm so brilliant...blaablaablaa" I am very humbled to not only have this wonderful boy in my home (a feeling I have felt quite often) but also humbled and grateful for the direction I felt from God in preparing for this talk.

As far as taking credit for the boys being reverent in church - that's all because of Todd. I swear he winds them up, so not having him there combined with some great positive re-enforcement beforehand, we had a great sacrament meeting ... and great Sabbath.

Here's Mikey performing his talk for us at Family Home Evening this week:

Happy Valentine's Day

We had fun decorating our Valentines...
At least some of us had fun decorating
others had more fun pretending the markers were little peopleI hope that you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day

Who Knew

That Laundry baskets could be so much fun?! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with giving the boys toys.

Haircut

After resembling something between a shaggy homeless guy and a madman that stuck his finger in the socket, I succombed that it was time for Grant's Official First Haircut!! Yes, my children don't need haircuts until this point - it may actually be why I don't have any girls.
He had no problem with me cutting his hair.He had to fix it though.But he was pleased with the outcomeAnd so am I

Birthday Cake

I have the most amazing calling in the LDS church - that of the Primary Chorister. Talk about wonderful. I have a guideline of what to teach (specific songs and such) but yet I am still able to allow my creative juices flow as I come up with the "how" to teach the children. Then singing time is a big playing time where I try to bring in the Spirit at some point. Children are so precious and I just love teaching them.
This month the kids are learning He Sent His Son; It is a beautiful song and has a great message. For the first week when I introduce and teach a song, I like to share the meaning of the song. Music is a great way for communicating, and I feel that when the children sing these beautiful songs they can be more in tune with the Spirit, and when they can understand what they are singing about they can further clarify what the Spirit is confirming.
All week I have been pondering on how to teach this song. I searched the web, I listened to the song non-stop, but the answer just was not coming to me.
Driving home from Costco on my birthday Saturday night I was thinking about how I was going to be birthday cakeless. That is when I was struck with wonderful guidance.
I told the kids that I hadn't gotten a birthday cake, so I was going to need their help in making a birthday cake for me. Up front I had a large mixing bowl with all sorts of ingredients. I introduced the song in the question/answer form. After the Primary could sing an entire question and answer I had one class come up and put ingredients for my cake. For some reason the children loved adding in Chili powder. The Senior primary figured out that I had both baking soda and vinegar on the table, so after a few classes went, I had to hide those ingredients.
The kids had a riot with this, trying to sing loudly and correctly so they could go up, loved stirring the mixture. By the end the mixture smelled more like a marinade than a cake.
I held up the mixture and told the kids that this is what happens when we try to make cake without a recipe or someone helping us. I then told them that God did not send us to the kitchen without a recipe - He did not send us to earth without having an example to follow. The message of the song is that God sent His Son so that we may know how to return to Him. All we need to do is follow Christ, read the recipe book (the scriptures) for understanding on how to do this.
I definitely did not even try baking the children's' mixture. I did have one sweet girl offer to make me a cake, but alas I made my own. We had it for our Family Home Evening treat.
I used a normal cake mix, then for the frosting I added vanilla pudding mix with 1 cup milk, 1 cup half and half. After I whipped that together I added some melted white chocolate chips (about 1.5 cups), 4 tablespoons of softened cream cheese, and about a cup of powdered sugar. It turned out quite delicious. Todd claims that it is the best cake he has ever had. I was just grateful for the inspiration it brought to me.

Timing

9 months before my birthday, my parents weren't planning things well; if they had they would have chosen a better time for me to be born. My birthday is notorious for occurring at a bad time. My first example:
It was my ninth or tenth birthday. It was on a Saturday. Most children would be thrilled to have a birthday on a Saturday, and usually I would've but circumstances were different. My mom had taken my younger siblings up to Northern Utah to help my aunt, Lyndee was at a friends house, and my dad took my older brothers to Mesquite for a basketball tournament. I was left home alone the entire day!! To make it worse, as my dad was leaving the house that morning he asked me to clean the kitchen before he came home. I started to nod, but then I suddenly remembered, "But Dad! It's my BIRTHDAY!!" He apologized and told me not to worry about it.
Now, my birthday is not one that is difficult to remember. It is actually something I've always had to share. I was born on my brother's fourth birthday (which was kind of cool because we always had a "Birthday Buddy" connection), then I married Todd and sure enough his sister married a (really great) guy who shares my birthday also - I just can't claim my own birthday.
Now, it's not the birthday sharing that bothers me, it's the timing. It's one week before Valentine's Day - which never bothered me as a child, but now it does for obvious reasons. Then to add insult to injury, my wedding anniversary is usually in the same week as Mother's Day (I should have planned that one better ).
In college, my birthday always fell during mid-terms. During the week of my birthday, it was not unusual for me to have 5-6 tests! With my husband being in school as long as he had, this has been the case EVERY YEAR!!! Being very left-brained, Todd and I would always just push my birthday to the side and try celebrating it later. Last year Todd decided that we would celebrate my half-birthday instead. Well, August came and went before either of us remembered the great idea.
Now Todd is working IM this month,which requires many 30 hour shifts, and wouldn't you know it, he came home from finishing a 30 hour shift on the afternoon of my birthday! Oh well, he has to do the same on Valentine's Day and his own birthday, so I don't feel like he's doing it on purpose.
So Happy Birthday to Me!
This morning I woke up, made myself a Birthday Breakfast of pancakes with applesauce and camel syrup (all homemade) that included putting a candle in my pancake. Even though I didn't even get to blow my own candle out.
And of course Grant had to have a candle in his pancake.
I told the boys that it was my birthday so they had to be nice to me, and obey me. That didn't always happen. I also told them that what I wanted for my birthday was for them to play nicely, but that didn't always happen either.
The rest of the day just went by. Nothing noteworthy, nothing special. Todd came home in the afternoon with a dozen roses. He expressed to me that he had been thinking of me all day and wanted to make my birthday a special one. I smiled and understood his sincerity but as I gazed into his half-open eyes I knew he needed some sleep. I insisted that he take a nap, which he tried to say that he wanted to spend the time with me, but sleep won out.
I was planning on making a nice dinner for us, but 5 o'clock came and I had totally forgotten to put the ham in the oven - which takes 2 1/2 hours to cook. Frustrated with myself I decided that I was going to go to Costco, buy me a cake (so I wouldn't have to make my own) and pick something up for dinner - they have great take-n-bake pizzas. With Grant and Todd sleeping, I turned on a movie for William and Mikey and took Roger to the store with me.
Roger was so much fun. I love it when I am able to go shopping with only one child. It's like giving them a little date out with mom. He kept on telling me how much he loved me and was incredibly pleasant.
I was a little frustrated/worried because when I started driving down the road I realized that I was almost out of gas. I tried to think about how much and how hard Todd works (I was in his car) so that I wouldn't get too frustrated at him for leaving the car on fumes. I barely made it to the gas station, and of course the 15 gallon tank took 15.5 gallons - really close to running out of gas there.
I got to Costco just 30 minutes before closing. I first walked to the bakery section looking at the cakes. I have had their cakes at people's birthday parties and have always been really impressed with how tasty they are, but I should have realized that they would only come in bulk. There was no way that I was going to spend $15 on a cake, especially on a cake that is bigger than my stove top - can we just think of the amount of calories I would be consuming?!
As I was leaving the bakery section I noticed Saint Dorthy. I know I have mentioned her before, and anyone that knows her would agree that she is truly a saint. I believe that she prays daily for ways that she can help and serve others for she is always around when someone needs help. My boys love her, so Roger and I snuck up behind her to say "Hi".
After talking for a few minutes Dorthy asked what I was doing. I told her about the cake and she instantly said, "Let me come over tonight while you and Todd go out." Thrilled, I took her up on this - no hesitation - is that bad manners?
I love my children, I really do, but I needed this break. Todd has been working so much, leaving me to feeling like a single parent. Then to spend most of my birthday like this was a little discouraging. She really was an answer to a prayer.
So Todd and I went out on a little date. It was great to go somewhere without having to carry and shuffle children along. It was great to have a good meal and not have to cook it, nor help my children eat. Thanks Saint Dorthy.
In the end, my birthday was a wonderful one. Even though I complained about the timing of it, timing was what allowed me to get a break. Had I not forgotten to put the ham in the oven, had I not needed to get gas, had I not gotten to Costco when I did, had I not been over in the bakery section, I would not have gotten a break. I just need to always remember that God is in charge of timing and He is very mindful of me and my needs.

Busted

I came downstairs to find this:Yes, those are white chocolate chips that Grant had torn the bag open. He's either got some great strength or a really strong hunger. It was humorous that just as I was coming to the pantry all the brothers, that had been eating the chips with Grant, scattered away. They didn't want to blamed for it.
His brothers had to help clean up, which they didn't mind.

Tired yet?

After an exhausting weekend of Grandma visiting and wedding receptions, we were a little exhausted. Then to top it off, Todd got sustained and set apart for his new calling.
Todd has been in the Elders Quorum Presidency for almost as long as I had been in Young Womens. When we first moved up here and got similar callings that we had before our move I figured there were things we hadn't yet learned or mastered. Then when we've kept our callings for some time I started thinking that these were our eternal callings. When I got released from Young Women's I thought Todd was next. Then a couple of weeks ago the Elders Quorum President got sustained for another calling. Todd leaned over to me and told me that this meant that the presidency was going to be released then. I turned to him and suggested that maybe he would be done with Elders Quorum for now. He paused for a moment then responded with, "No, I don't think so, I have a feeling I'll still be in there." A week or two later, sure enough he got called as the Elders Quorum President.
Honestly, this is a little intimidating. Todd's gone so much as it is (he's actually on a 30 hour shift right now), and has so much he needs to do in his "off time" like studying, playing with the boys, dealing with me, helping me clean, etc. But Todd has some great counselors and I know that the Lord will help us out, make it seem as though there is more time than is needed. I know that He will give Todd strength and drive to fulfill all of his obligations and me patience to fulfill mine.
My only complaint is: Why did they have to call the only man that gets all his four boys fed, dressed, and ready for 9 AM church?! I will no longer look good on Sundays...oh well.

Trouble

Saturday evening was my friend's wedding reception. This of course brought fun, food, and dancing. The kids had a ball dancing, even Grant boogied down. I got to dance with Todd once or twice before getting taken away to dance with 1-4 other charming young men. I don't think I've ever danced around in circles so much at one time!
Love was definately in the air at the party, and I'm not only talking about the bride and groom. Meet Livi: She really knows how to handle Mikey by just taking charge. They danced and danced. And even though I would like to claim it, I wasn't the one who taught Mikey the correct dancing form.
We did get a little nervous about the love birds, especially when they escaped from the gym together... but don't worry, they just went to dance on the stage. Ya, Mikey will no longer be allowed to even talk to girls until he gets home from his mission.