Friday, April 24, 2009

A great weekend

By way of explanation, my husband never gets to do anything fun with the family. Works all the time, like a crazy person. Sometimes that makes me a little crazy too, but it makes us all appreciate our "daddy time."

On Saturday, Larry took us swimming. It was SOOOOOO fun. William even mentioned in his prayer that night how great it was to have Daddy come with us. Times like these just make my heart smile.

Then, on Sunday, an amazingly beautiful Spring day, we went on a picnic, Daddy included. Two days' activities with Dad. LUUUUCKY!! When Larry got in the car to go with us, Lauren said, almost jumping out of her seat, "Daddy is coming too?!!!!! YA-HOO!"

So here are a few pics from the -nic. Enjoy!

Larry was enjoying the relaxing family time so much that he fell asleep on the blanket!

Lauren and Sarah love their food.

Don't you just LOVE the mountains behind me? I am such a mountain mama!

Hadland is the king of funny picture faces! If I could get him to do a real smile--it would be a MIRACLE!

William, on the other hand, is always waving at the camera.

I am working on the photos--and we'll be back with more! ( like when we had more family time with Daddy on Monday for family night!)

Joshua Tree

About 2 weeks ago, thanks to my wonderful sister and her husband, our family experienced the rock climbing at Joshua Tree National Park. I was so pumped for this excursion (part of our family reunion in Palm Springs) because I had never been climbing before. So we headed out on a not-too-hot day to visit the great outdoors.

Devon, being the rock-climbing stud muffin that he is, brought all the gear, set up the ropes so two separate areas could host climbers. He and Laurel are unbelievable. And super supportive of newbies.

To make a long story short, my eldest child demurred. He did a little freestylin', but then he spent the rest of the day gallivanting with his brother and cousins. My other boy climbed a couple feet and then got a little nervous. I was hoping he'd do more, but that's okay. Girl #1 got all geared up and then went up a couple inches. Girl #2 (2 1/2 years) didn't even think of anything but snacks--my kind of girl! Then Ella got on the ropes. And climbed the whole thing. She was the first kid (and a girl!) to finish the climb. I was amazed. But then, she does have climbing in her genes. By this time, I was getting a little nervous. What if I chickened out and couldn't make it to the top? Would this be a repeat of another family reunion embarrassment? I know my family probably thinks I am referring to my "interpretive dance" skills, but you all know I ROCK THE DANCE FLOOR!!! I was actually talking about that same family reunion at Lake Powell where I was such a wimp that I couldn't even pull myself out of the water while water skiing. I tried and tried, but I couldn't do it.

So with that baggage firmly entrenched in my mind, I started to climb. I was a little cocky (RED FLAG, right?) and felt like I was doing well. Then I hit the part that had stymied Jefferson. I had to try the "Emperor's New Groove" move, and I actually made it! I reached the top! I wasn't nervous, more pumped with adrenalin, and I was so proud of myself. Laurel was a great supporter, and I had a great time. It was a lot of fun, and I discovered a few muscles that I had been ignoring (hee, hee).

Overall, it was a great day. So tiring, but so fun. Then we got home, ate, and spent some time at the pool. That is what a vacation is all about--doing things you normally wouldn't be able to with family you love but rarely get to see. Lucky us!

Potty training and all that entails

So, this morning Sarah tells me first thing that she wants to go potty. I think to myself, OK, we can do the panties thing today. I don't have a ton going on. So into the panties she goes.

She went THREE times in the potty. THREE! I was so excited that it was finally clicking in her mind that telling me that she needed to go potty BEFORE she wet herself. Actually, only the third time was she completely dry when she sat to use the toilet.

I was cocky, self-assured, ready for disaster. Oh so ready.

This afternoon my brother Michael and I took the kids to the amazingly wonderful and fabulous Treehouse Museum. If you are ever in Ogden and have kids under 12, you MUST go. Really. Truly.

So I vowed to myself to stay very close to Sarah so that I could ask her every 10 minutes or so if she needed to go to the bathroom. But I have four kids that all like different things and who LOVE the treehouse museum. Needless to say, I was separated from a recently pottied Sarah at a very important crossroads.

Yep. That crossroads involved poo.

I walked into the Doll Room where I found Sarah AND an interesting smell. My (and Michael's incidentally) first thought was, wow--a mom seriously needs to deal with the diapering of her child. Then my sweet daughter looked up at me and said, "Poopy in my bum." Shock registered on my face and then the adrenalin rush. I quickly got over to her, felt her "deposit" in her training pants, and ran to the bathroom. No wipes, no diapers, no extra pants, but yes, I did have extra training pants. I won't give details about the next few minutes, but I replaced her old panties with new, unsoiled ones, and left with a child complete with a huge wet mark in her crotch. No worries, right?

The fun continued. I think that first experience taught her that it was no big deal to just wet herself in public. Probably 3 more times as we visited the museum. I was shocked, totally overwhelmed, and finally just gave up. She was wet from the first accident, so any more wet would just add to her character, right? Right???!

I repent. I was cocky. And disaster hit. But nothing a little birthday cake and ice cream wouldn't erase. Gotta love food as comfort.

P.S. I am sure you'll understand why I didn't add photos to this post...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Warning: Girl Stuff Ahead

To any man who may be reading this post, you may not want to. Girl stuff, ya know what I mean?

Ok, girls. Let's talk menstruation.

Not gross stuff, mind you. Just the cramps. YIKES!

I was just talking to my SIL today about what a bummer all that stuff is. It totally reminds me of my crazy back labor. Today as I was kind of moaning and complaining about my sore and aching back, I thought about how intense and amazing childbirth is. I thought about bringing a new life into the world--to love, to teach, and treasure. Incredible, isn't it?

But I still don't like cramps.

Does anyone have any chocolate? Ho-hos? Ding dongs? Brownies? ANYTHING?!!!!!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Note to self

When you go into the dark basement to

retrieve the candy you hid
for the kids' treat
for keeping their eyes closed
during our family prayer,

turn on the lights,

ok?

oh, and don't always hide the candy.

Guess who eats if it is hidden?

Yeah. Thought so.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

A Sarah Funny

As I was getting Sarah dressed this morning, she kept saying "Potty" and fiddling with something in between her fingers.

I thought she was just teasing me that she wanted to go potty and then pee in her training pants either moments before or after I get her panties on or off.

Then I saw this.

What does it look like to you?

I thought so.

It is actually a miniscule piece off of a clip-on earring or something.

Nothing gets by that little chickadee.

Now if she'd actually use it.

The regular sized one, of course.

P.S. nice photography skills, huh? super-macro, baby!

This is the true size of the "potty." See the normal-sized mouse? That itty bitty speck next to it is the aforementioned commode. Now you think I am an amazing super-macro photog, right?

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Another William funny

I can't even remember what was said except for one little phrase, said to or about Lauren:

"for our own sins."

I kinda did an auditory double-take. Then I finished it, "and not for Adam's transgression."

Was he really partially quoting the 2nd Article of Faith? In regular conversation?

Does that mean gospel instruction is actually sinking in against all odds and wiggliness?

You betcha! I have hope! You should, too! :)

It reminds me of Elder Uchtdorf's talk (this is a link, but it doesn't look like it--CLICK ON "TALK") in last conference (one of his talks, anyway). Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

AAAARGH!

Taxes.

Personal and about a trillion businesses.

Need I say more?