Proof I have kids

Here are a couple of pictures about what goes on in my house.

That is a medicine dropper. I am not sure what Caleb is doing to that poor strawberry.

This is also a Caleb creation. The rest of us were trying to open the crab legs to eat. Caleb titled this 

" A crab leg puppet."

I asked Naomi to go get some kale from the garden. It took her a long time to come back. Finally I went looking for her.  She was strategically placing each of the leaves in a flower pot. Here is my lovely kale arrangement.

It's magic!

My brother Roger needed to borrow my van yesterday.Here is the pictures Phebe needed to take of him.
(He just participated in a mustache competition.)

We have one of them fancy vans with the automatic doors. You can even use the remote to open them. So as he was getting ready to leave Caleb shut the door. OK he tried to shut the door. Roger had the remote in his hand and made it stop. Caleb tried again. Roger stopped it again. They probably did it about 6 times and Caleb never suspected it was Roger.

Then Roger made the door on the opposite side open. Oh the confusion. It was hysterical. Poor Caleb trying to figure it out.

Roger never did tell him. Neither did I.

Yawn...

So Ruby had her first really rough night. She didn't rest soundly for more than 20- 30 minutes until about 5:00 am.

At 6:45 am the alarm goes off.

My husband gets out of bed and I ask him to wake the school agers up so they can get started before I get up.

I set the alarm for 7:45. and go back to sleep.

7:30 Naomi storms in to my room, "Mom! I have my field trip today. We need to go."
Yes, my dear child at 8:45 we need to leave. Not now. For now you need to go get ready for school. So I work on getting up and I hear her chasing Phebe around demanding the location of a particular jacket.

I go clear that up and realize that Caleb is wearing pajama pants as his school outfit. The pants are cute, but those teddy bears are not being worn to school today.

Enter Phebe, wearing her coat and shoes, who has been asking to go to Marie/ Alex's house for a week now. They live a full 3 hours drive from here."So when we take everybody to school today, then we will go to Marie's house right?"

Me: No, Phebe I am not taking you to Marie's house.
Phebe: Well who is going to take me?
Me: I don't know. You are going to have to find someone else if you are going this morning.
I then leave and hear Victor educating her on why none of the people she is suggesting will work.

I go to finish getting dressed and say a prayer for patience as I am exhausted and feeling very short tempered.

Then I hear the front door open and shut.

"Guys, who just went out the front door?"
"Phebe. She is going to Marie's house."

Great, so I go running outside, not remotely ready for the day. It is dark and rainy. I see a van start to speed up realizing that I am the adult with this random preschooler who is making her way down the sidewalk and that they do not need to stop to call the police or attempt to return her to her home. Yes, she is ...um... "supervised"... honest.

Later upstairs Caleb came and hugged me. He hugged me for a long time and told me he loved me. I was on the verge of tears.

Phebe came to join in too and told me "I'm sorry for going outside. I promise I won't do it again. I love you mom."

I am so glad I am a mom.

Doubting

This is a seriously amazing talk. Please take the time to listen to it. This is President Uchtdort, He is one of my favorite church leaders. You can find the transcript here. He shares insights as to why people want to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.

He suggests membership could be because of some of these reasons.-

First, this Church was restored in our day by Jesus Christ Himself. Here you will find the authority to act in His name—to baptize for the remission of sins, to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost, and to seal on earth and in heaven.

Another reason is because the Church provides opportunities for doing good.

A third reason why people join the Church is because walking the path of discipleship leads to precious blessings.

I love that he addresses this- One might ask, “If the gospel is so wonderful, why would anyone leave?”

Sometimes we assume it is because they have been offended or lazy or sinful. Actually, it is not that simple. In fact, there is not just one reason that applies to the variety of situations.

***

In this Church that honors personal agency so strongly, that was restored by a young man who asked questions and sought answers, we respect those who honestly search for truth. It may break our hearts when their journey takes them away from the Church we love and the truth we have found, but we honor their right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience, just as we claim that privilege for ourselves.

Sometimes questions arise because we simply don’t have all the information and we just need a bit more patience. When the entire truth is eventually known, things that didn’t make sense to us before will be resolved to our satisfaction.

And, to be perfectly frank, there have been times when members or leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes. There may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine.

I suppose the Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and His doctrine is pure. But He works through us—His imperfect children—and imperfect people make mistakes.

***

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.⁸ We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

***

Some might say, “I know a member of your Church who is a hypocrite. I could never join a church that had someone like him as a member.”

If you define hypocrite as someone who fails to live up perfectly to what he or she believes, then we are all hypocrites. None of us is quite as Christlike as we know we should be. But we earnestly desire to overcome our faults and the tendency to sin. With our heart and soul we yearn to become better with the help of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

If these are your desires, then regardless of your circumstances, your personal history, or the strength of your testimony, there is room for you in this Church. Come, join with us!

***

The Church of Jesus Christ seems to attract the kind and the caring, the honest and the industrious.

If you expect to find perfect people here, you will be disappointed. But if you seek the pure doctrine of Christ, the word of God “which healeth the wounded soul,”⁹ and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost, then here you will find them.  In this age of waning faith—in this age when so many feel distanced from heaven’s embrace—here you will find a people who yearn to know and draw closer to their Savior by serving God and fellowmen, just like you. Come, join with us!

***

So there you have it, one of my favorite talks from all of conference. 

Rich in contentment

This is one of the talks that was presented at General Conference. This is Elder Bednar giving additional insight on the principle of tithing. He had some rather profound statements about the blessings gained by living this law. I was also really intrigued by him explaining how the church takes care of finances. You can find the entire transcript of this talk here.

I found this to be a rather profound thought -For example, a subtle but significant blessing we receive is the spiritual gift of gratitude that enables our appreciation for what we have to constrain desires for what we want. A grateful person is rich in contentment. An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontentment

I thought this was rather illuminating. When I pay tithing I tended to have the mindset that there would be financial blessings, that is true to a degree, but that is not the only way things might work-.Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals. And when we plead for relief from physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties, He may increase our resolve and resilience.

I love this conclusion- I bear witness that such blessings often are significant but subtle.

If you would just sleep...

So my nearly 4 year old doesn't want to take naps any more.

I disapprove. Yes, I know lots of you have children that are much younger that have stopped taking naps. I like taking a nap myself and I can't just have her wondering around the house by herself. Plus I just had a baby so napping is really important right now as baby and I recover and figure out sleeping at night.

This afternoon I had finally drifted off to sleep for a few minutes when I heard Phebe calling me. So I went to check on her. She had stayed in her room where she was supposed to be. She had even been moderately quiet. However, we now had a problem.

"I have a circle in my ear."

What? Let me see.

Yes, that is indeed a circle in her ear. I thought it was a piece of a foam puzzle. I got the tweezers and tried to remove it. Nope. Not squishy enough to grab. And dang it! It keeps moving in farther every time I try to remove it. So the neighbor was called to watch Caleb and Ruby and get kids off the bus if I wasn't home in time and off the two of us went to the doctor's office.

Keep in mind I had just taken Ruby in the day before for a check up. I think Phebe just felt left out since she hadn't come along.

The Doctor thanked me for not shoving the round wooden bead farther into her ear canal and then we were on our way.

And no, you may not have a lollipop for this stunt. Foreign objects in your anatomy does not earn a reward.

Ooh so pretty!

I really enjoy the piano guys. I think they are quite talented and I enjoy the beauty of the music they perform. I have shared some of their music here before. I wanted to share this video with you. The music is nice. I enjoy listening to it. However, what I really love in this video is the blue outfit the singer is wearing. I love it. I think it is incredibly beautiful. I would love to own one like it.

The skirt on that thing looks so fun to twirl around in. Seriously, is that not a beautiful dress?

It's in the details

This is Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch. There is a large copy of it hanging in my church. There is also one in the Columbus Ohio temple. One day while I stood in the temple I stopped and actually took what is probably my first real look at this painting. The detail that suddenly caught my attention is the little boy on the left. I can't quite pinpoint why that little boy matters to me so much. I suspect it is because his actions make the portrayal so much more relate-able to me. I can easily envision my own children being caught up in the beauty of a butterfly no matter what was going on around them.



This is not my favorite piece of art but I do love that little boy. Such innocence.

A strong bond

The baby is here! Her name is Ruby. I will share more about that at another time. There will be no baby pictures put up, however you could probably just look up any generic picture of a new born and it will be pretty close. Right now I would like to share some of the high lights of having a baby and Phebe in the same house.

At dinner-
Phebe: I think the baby is asking for some asparagus.

Later that evening-
Phebe: I think the baby wants you to turn on some music so I can dance for her.


The other children have taken turns showing the baby their toys and books. We know she is really passionate about it. You can tell by the way her head slides to the side and her eyes close.

Brownie potatoes

I am currently baking potatoes.

Naomi firmly believe that it smells like brownies.

Naomi: Ooooh... that smells so good. Smells like brownies
Me: It is just potatoes. Don't get your hopes up.
Victor: What are we having for dinner tonight?
Me: Ham, baked potatoes and salad.
Naomi :What? baked potatoes?!
Me: Naomi, what kind of potatoes do you think I was cooking in the oven? Mashed?
Naomi:...brownies?

Just can't reach!

I was recently informed that I am not complaining sufficiently about the difficulties of pregnancy. I can not say that I suddenly feel the need to change that but I will indulge in a bit of "problems you probably hadn't really thought about" when you are 10 months pregnant.

*Washing dishes is more difficult. Go ahead, strap half a basketball to your front and try to wash dishes. Or your hands for that matter.

*Hugging people, especially your husband, is more challenging. It is no longer quite so straight on. Far more to the side.

*Wiping off the table or handing something to someone across from you. You just can't reach as far.

*Same thing goes for attempting to reach things in high cupboards. I just can't get close enough to reach the stuff that was barely in reach previously.

*It is far more terrifying when your children come charging affectionately at you. Yes, I want to hug you. Can we do it at a slower speed please?

*You can't carry things as close to you. The basket of laundry is far more arm work because it can't just rest against you as effectively.


So there you go, a few of the random problems that you face when you are incredibly pregnant.

Hopefully a good idea

So I am supposed to have a baby soon. As part of the preparations for that I have come up with what hopefully will be a good idea.

I have asked each of my children to draw several pictures or write messages to staple into a book for me to take to the hospital. I am trying very hard not to look at them before I leave so that they are a surprise for later. I am quite excited about it. So every once in a while when they look like they have nothing to do I will encourage them to go make another page for my book.

To me it is kind of like a reminder about why I go through all that to have children. One of the many many reasons why I have and love my children. I am so grateful for the children that I do have.

Minty fresh

So when your daughters climb out of the tub and smell strangely minty it is probably for a reason. That reason is probably that you were too trusting that they could handle playing in the water for a while after they were washed. Of course bath tub toys  and water are insufficient. The next logical step is to completely climb out of the tub to grab the entire newly opened tube of toothpaste and add it to the water.

They sure smell nice though.

It's that time again....

Yet again it is General Conference time. General conference happens twice a year, April and October. It is when the leaders of the Mormon church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speak to the whole church and anyone who happens to tune in. You are more than welcome to participate if you so desire. Here is the link . It will be going on on Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am and 2:00 pm Mountain time. It is so inspiring. So very uplifting.

Of course that is 8 hours worth of inspiring words that my children don't always um... get engrossed in. Let's just say some sessions in our past have gone more smoothly than others. Of course before Thomas Monson became the prophet I heard him say "Those are very large spirits to fit in such tiny bodies. We shouldn't get too frustrated with them when it is hard to keep still." That gave me great comfort. The idea right now is that each child and adult will have a notebook and something to write or color with. Those who can write will be required to take some version of notes, even if it is just one word that you thought was the main topic of that particular talk.

We have also tried a game in which you pick a specific word to listen for, such as love, atonement, scriptures, prayer, temple, etc. Then when the speaker says that word you get to eat an M&M or a Skittle or whatever candy we have on hand. It was rather effective and did keep focus. It was a bit on the disruptive side to have 4 children springing up constantly demanding a piece of candy. The rules are going to change for this particular conference. This time you get to keep a tally on your paper and present it at the end of the talk. I will be keeping track too, in large part so that no one tells me they heard Heavenly Father 72 times in one talk when it was only said 12 times. We will see how it goes. I have high hopes for it.

Here is a sample of what conference is like. This is the prophet Thomas S Monson speaking. I find him very loving and inspiring.

Think about what you say

I was recently reminded of this quote. -

"Restrain your tongues in criticism of others. It is so easy to find fault. It is so much nobler to speak constructively. " - Gordon B. Hinkley

I know that I find it much easier to sit back and just pick things apart. That doesn't make it a good plan of action, but it sure is easy. Being constructive really is a better road. 

Want you gone

This is the end song from the video game Portal 2. The game was very impressive and I really think this song is fun to listen to. Of course it is funnier if you have actually played (or watched) the game.

Nothing to see here

Phebe : Will you make some oatmeal for me?

Me: No, you didn't eat your cereal from earlier.

Phebe: You didn't see that.