Books are great

I've been trying to read good books! I love them! I am so grateful for them.  Some are self-improvement books, others are the word of God.  Others are just a good story, and still others are based on truth.  I have always loved to read and will always, ALWAYS be grateful for a good book to read.

Current or Recent Reads: The Power of Positive Thinking, The New Testament, The Book of Mormon, A Joyful Mother of Children...

Thanks, thanks, thanks.

A tad behind:
I'm grateful for strollers.  Silly, I know.  But I love having ours to take kids walks in rather than holding the baby and trying to keep Eddie out of the road.  Thank you stroller inventor: specifically the sit-n-stand inventor.  You make my days easier.
I'm thankful for King. Obviously.  He lets me take naps after church when I just. can't. stay. awake.  Subbing for nursery will do that to you!!  He also helps immensely when I'm in a bad mood.  Its hard to stay mad when the nearest intelligent source is cracking dry jokes and smiling at you. Bless you, dear husband.  He inspires (and motivates) me to do better, to reach farther, to push myself.  I am no good at that.  Give me an organizing task or a to-do list: fine.  But ask me to push myself, to exercize, to do something (ahem: no sweets) hard?  I need King at my side first.
I'm also very, very glad we get to vote.  I may not like the tone of the campains, I may not like who is elected, but at least I got to vote!! 
Just one more:
I'm very, very grateful for popcorn.  Going without sweets is made bearable by this salty little kernal of joy. 

Gratitude Day 1

November: the time I remind myself- REALLY remind myself- to be grateful.
Thank goodness the first day is easy.

 My baby turned one.  

I'm not quite sure how that happened.  Last Halloween I was walking around, sticking out a mile, and wanting this baby HERE!  Today she is B.U.S.Y.  She's our earliest walker, our happiest (post-colic) baby, our most social, our largest, and I'm thinking our most active.

 I love that her siblings dote on her and spent so much time and energy making her happy.  She spends a lot of time every day pushing the kitchen chairs around the dining room- using them like walkers, though she doesn't need them.

 We love her smiles, her funny/quirky expressions, and her joy when Daddy comes home.

We sure love you Millaker!! We are SO very, very grateful to have you in our family.  Happy Birthday little one!

Focus

Parenthood.
It's all consuming these days. 
But isn't it supposed to be? 
I have been thinking a lot since General Conference two weeks ago.   My favorite talk so far was given by Elder Perry.   He counsels us to take the time to become goodly parents.  He encourages us to focus on a healthy, strong family culture.  Since he by far more direct, elegant, and clearer than I will ever be, I'll just quote him. 
        "Lessons taught in the home by goodly parents are becoming increasingly important in today’s world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread. As we know, he is attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society—the family. In clever and carefully camouflaged ways, he is attacking commitment to family life throughout the world and undermining the culture and covenants of faithful Latter-day Saints. Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. While other institutions such as church and school can assist parents to “train up a child in the way he [or she] should go” (Proverbs 22:6), this responsibility ultimately rests on the parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is goodly parents who are entrusted with the care and development of Heavenly Father’s children."

It's reasurring and validating to have someone so important echo the thoughts running through my head.  He gives specific directions including prayer, family time and worship (scripture study, Family home evening, family meals), using your resources such as teachers and leaders to influence your children, sharing our testimonies and creating deep, meaningful family cultures.  This last one made me smile a bit- I've been reading loads of books by the Eyres.  They must have been studying principles of the church when they came up with their concepts and books about creating family cultures, economic systems etc.  I could go on and on ...  I won't. 

So I've been searching.  Inwardly and outwardly.  I want to do better.  I want to reaffirm my commitment to my family and improve my behaviors and how my home is run so I CAN have this kind of family life.  I've set some goals after reading a few different sites.  I've also started looking good and hard at my list of goals.  Scriptures seem to be leaping off the page when they address my weaknesses.  Shall I elaborate?  Take James 1:18-19.  I'm not quite that far in the New Testament, but ran across this anyhow.

 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Ouch.  That may or may not have been written directly for me.

Other goals have been the fore-front of my mind as well.  Since I truly believe no commandment given of God is just for our physical benefit- but spiritual also- I've coerced (literally) my family (the ones I grew up with and their spouses) to do a month-long fitness/health challenge.  It includes getting your daily intake of water, fruits and veggies, limited sweets, exercize, and eliminates extra eating at night.  It's already helping me- really, truly.  I can tell.  As much as I HATE, DEPLORE, and DESPISE!! passing by treats (Costco!!), and though the book-club may tease me for turning down cookies (also TERRIBLY uncharachteristic of me), I think it will be worth the struggle in the long run- so long as I don't sprint for the nearest cookie the day this challenge is over.  I've also got a few more goals up my sleeve that I fully plan to implement.  I just need to focus.  THIS is important.  My FAMILY is important.  And improving myself so I can better teach, lead, and serve them is worth every effort- no matter how difficult.

I found the best poem today.  It perfectly defined many of my current feelings about motherhood. 
And since I can't think of a better way to summarize my ramblings- I'll let her do it.

Warp and Weft

Somewhere along the line,
your friends dispersed
like seeds scooped from a sack,
a few slipping through fingers
and back in the bag with you —
the rest flying out, pitched to far cities,
to root down in places
other than here. Here, you inch forward
in a line of cars, wondering if
the other mothers dropping off kids
are like you, or if they would like you —
and pondering the irony
that you are alike at least in this:
each of you has narrowed
the scope of your focus
to encompass only
the most pressing needs
of your family.

But you remember
when you’d woven your living
in with the weft of your friends’ —
not planning social events
in the cracks of packed schedules,
but pooling your leftovers
to share improvised meals.
Most days, now, you improvise alone —
if you don’t mind defining alone
as shadowed by a chattering child —
and later you commune with friends
through a cold screen.
You spend your time observing
your child’s likes and dislikes
and which scraps of thought
she chooses to voice;
you try to see these
as seeds of her adult self —
like fiddlehead ferns
with their Fibonacci spirals,
slowly unfurling.
You can picture, down the line,
the fully opened fronds
and how they’ll form a crown of green —
this is how you remind yourself
that in time, and with luck,
she’ll become your dear friend.
But it’s not enough, or it’s too much
that you’ve concentrated on one spot,
like a magnifying glass
clutched in patient suspension,
intensifying the rays of the sun
to the point of combustion.
You must widen your gaze.
Recall the critical importance
of dropping your shoulders
and allowing your chest to rise,
to draw open your lungs,
to permit the intake
of a full breath. And then —
remember your need
for friends to stand beside you
and breathe too.
© Sarah Dunning Park, 2012. All rights reserved.

Understatement.

Exclamation points don't do this statement justice.  I am not sure why I am so much more excited for General Conference this time around.  It does come around every six months, you know.  BUT IT'S HERE!  CONFERENCE WEEKEND!!!  Happy watching folks!

Ha: as I go to hit "Publish" I fully realize that all ten of you reading this know and watch Conference anyhow.  Oh, well.  Spread the enthusiasm!!  I am so stinkin glad its here!  Come watch with me!  We're making popcorn!

Things that make me smile

My children are finding new ways of being cute and ever so funny these days.  For example:
 
Eddie likes to choose her outfits.  It comes with being two I suppose.  The other morning she pulled on her baby sister's shirt (albeit a tad big for Millaker) and a turtleneck of hers.  She thought the turtleneck was a dress... with a tail.  No matter how much we explained there was no changing her mind.  This WAS a dress and it DID have a tail.  She liked it that way I guess.  I wish we could have gotten a better picture.  It was darling.

Today Guy had a few playmates over as we had two kid-swaps going on simultaneously.  I was listening from the kitchen when I heard! 
Friend 1: Why did you turn off the lights?
Friend 2: Because its dark in space.  There's no lights.
Guy: Yes there is!  There's the sun!!
Pause...and change of subject.
Friend 1: The enemy!  He's northwest!
Guy: No! He's SOUTH west!

What?  Since when was he smart enough to figure out the sunshine could light space, and since when does he know directions - particularly Southwest? 

Millaker has decided to join the entertainment business.  Every meal she sits in her chair and claps until she has her siblings (and parents) joining in!  Ignoring her and continuing to eat doesn't phase her.  She keeps right on going- staring you down- until you comply.   She also shakes her head "no" before and during almost every bite and makes Guy giggle till he's choking on his own breakfast.  From looking at him, you'd think she was the next Bob Hope.  It might make meals a tad trickier, but they are far more interesting and cheerful! 

Not to be forgotten, she's found her first crush... the bishop.  Now our girl is by no means shy, but when we're around she'll usually go to someone for a hug and then come right back.  Not with the bishop.  TWICE, yesterday, when she saw him, she leaned out of our arms to go to him- once planting a big, fat, open-mouthed kiss on his head.  I'm glad he's kind- her own uncle would have had a sour face at that one! 

If these don't sound terribly funny to you- trust me, you had to be there.

Children Will Learn What They Live

On the counsel of our Stake President we came home tonight and googled this poem.  I think I'll be hanging it in my kitchen.

CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE

Dorothy Law Nolte

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.

If a child lives with fear,
he learns to be apprehensive.

If a child lives with pity,
he learns to feel sorry for himself.

If a child lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy.

If a child lives with jealousy,
he learns what envy is.

If a child lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns to be confident.

If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with praise,
he learns to be appreciative.

If a child lives with acceptance,
he learns to love.

If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with recognition,
he learns that it is good to have a goal.

If a child lives with sharing,
he learns about generosity.

If a child lives with honesty and fairness,
he learns what truth and justice are.

If a child lives with security,
he learns to have faith in himself and in those about him.

If a child lives with friendliness,
he learns that the world is a nice place in which to live.

If you live with serenity,
your child will live with peace of mind.

With what is your child living?
 

Dreaming

I've written a 30 before 30 list.  You know, a list of goals with a deadline (getting ever nearer!).  On that list is to write a children's book- not published- for my own children.  We read piles of books around here.  My favorites to read are by Bill Pete, Sandra Boynton, Shel Sylverstien, and Dr. Seuss.  They would make a dream-team if you ask me.  I hardly ever tire of them.  You know they're getting to you when you start dreaming in rhymes. Seriously.  But, oh! I'd love to write a book that children would LOVE to read! That would make them (and their parents) giggle and want to read another one!  There's not a point to this post other than to make my goal known so I have people to be accountable to.  Check.

So there. That's done.  I've said my fair share,

Now on to writing while there's still time to spare.

Let's get the brain going, start the cogs and the wheels,

... and perhaps polish up on my mad, rhyming skills.

Four

*Written Yesterday- to go along with our crazy night.

Now that you've seen what our crazy nights have been looking like, I need to tell you about our four year old.

This kid has an angelic streak. (And a stubborn one... but its much smaller.)

He has become the worlds best helper in the mornings.

Usually (3-4 times a week) he wakes up before me in a chipper mood.  LOVE IT.

Since he's been banned from coming up to wake up Mom until 7 (hopefully I'm up by then, but if not it was probably a bad night so leave me alone!),  he's taken up other activites.

These include but are not limited to:

Unloading the dishwasher. Side note: we've had to tape an arrow pointing to the clean "light."  He's not allowed to touch the dishwasher unless that light is on.  We've come down many-a-morning to a multitude of stacked dishes: all dirty. :D

Setting the table.

Getting everyone water (complete with straws).

Getting out cereal.

Pouring cereal. (Why don't I have photos of these?)

He occasionally will pull out ingredients he thinks I will need to make breakfast: vanilla, salt and pepper, cinnamon, bowls, and spoons to mix.

And this morning? He made toast. Eight pieces. Toaster setting: 2 (only gets them slightly warm- not fully toasted). 

Did you catch that? EIGHT pieces.  

Thank you son. 

 I'm glad everyone likes toast.

King discovered his helpfulness when he was preparing to walk out the door (I was still lying in bed in denial that morning had come so soon).  He came back upstairs to tell me what Guy was up to prefacing it with, "Don't be upset- he's a good boy and is trying to help."

 That is the beautiful part about it.  He's truly trying to be a big helper.  And he is!  What other four year old takes such an active part in serving his mother so early in the morning?  He is so kind to me!  King stayed a little later this morning to help him toast the bread properly and made us eggs to go with it.  (I have a wonderful husband!)  During breakfast, Guy noted my tired expression and jumped out of his seat and came and kissed my arm.  (He likes to kiss whatever body part of mine is closest to his mouth.  Sometimes its my arm, my shoulder, my knee, my leg.)  Not wanting to be outdone, Eddie jumped out of her seat and came and kissed my elbow.  I love it when he teaches kind things to his siblings!

 

He is a fairly patient boy and tries his hardest to mind.  This is a difficult thing at four.

(Especially when his sisters are doing their own thing!)

 

He has the biggest stick and rock obsession on the planet.  He wanted to include them in family photos.  We obliged for a few.

 

All in all, four is great.  He is a great learner, a great helper, and a great server.  I hope four goes this well for the rest of the children.

*In case you were wondering- I slept a full eight hours last night with NO ONE waking me up. Bliss.

Sleepy

This was supposed to be a post about the four year old- but it needs some preface, so bear with me.  The next post will be about him.
I'm a tad sleepy (and hence grumpy) grumpy today. 
You see, I have three children (obviously). They are old enough to sleep through the night.  And yet lately, they don't.  Case in point.  Last night.
11 pm: King and I finished watching Anne of Avonlea (which we started a few nights ago) and hence got to bed a tad late. Well, late for us! 
Come 11:45 Eddie starts to stir. "Please go back to sleep! Please go back to sleep!" I start to chant in my mind.  No use.  She starts to cry- which will soon wake up Millaker if I don't hurry.  She can't find her "siddy tup." Luckily, mom knows.  Now, PLEASE go back to sleep!
12:30 Millaker starts crying.  I stuff a pillow over my ears.  In five minutes she's asleep again.
1:30 ish (its getting blurry here): Eddie comes in.  "I want to sleep by you." No-sir-ee. Back to bed with you!
2:30 ish: Guy comes in.  "My mosquito bite itches." I hold him for a few minutes so he won't scratch it until it stops itching.  I fall asleep in the process.
2:50: I wake up again. Time to go to your own bed, kiddo.
4:30: Millaker wakes up.  No ammount of ignoring is helping.  This time I petition King.  "PLEASE! You get her a bottle! I need sleep!"  The kind husband blindly stumbles for the kitchen to make a bottle.
4:35: "Hon, what do you put on mosquito bites- Guy says he can't sleep." Ug. Lavender- above the fridge- wait, he's STILL UP?!
4:35.5: I'm already back to sleep.
6:15 My phone alarm rings. I turn it off.
6:30 The alarm clock by the bed rings.  I turn it off.
6:40 Eddie is up. She has to go potty.  Once done, I send her back to bed
6:45 She comes back in- she has to go potty again (this happens all the time!).
6:55 Though Eddie returned to her room, all she really managed to do was wake up Millaker.
7:04 King groans in resignation.  It's time to wake up. We lost the battle.  It might be a long day.

If this were a once-in-a-blue-moon scenario we might be ok.  Sadly, that's turning out to not be the case.  We (I) sat down and had a serious discussion with the kids this morning.  We are going to STAY in bed.  You can get out to go potty. Period. That's it. End of discussion. Mosquito bites are not good justification for waking half the household. Water will have to wait till morning (they have a sippy cup in their room so they can get a drink and go back to bed! If its empty by now- too bad!).  NO coming in to sleep with mom. The answer is NO!  Do you think any of this information sunk in?  I highly doubt it- its so hard to be consistent at night when you're only 1/3 awake and tired as all get-out.  Here's hoping tonight goes better!  In the mean-time- we're napping today!  (And the struggles with napping will be saved for a later post!)