Conversations with my children

BJ: Ma.
Me: Hi Baby
BJ: MA
Me: What do you want?
BJ: MAAAAHH!
Me: Peanut Butter? Say please.
BJ: (signs please)

Sissy: I'm thirsty.
Me: Okay.
S: I WANT SOME LEMONADE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Me: (try to ignore her)
S: I WAAAAH want WAAAAH some WAAAAAH LEM. O. NADE.
Me: (give her "the look")
S: Can I please have some lemonade?
Me: Okay, here you go.
S: (after drinking some) This lemonade is making me staved.

Ammon: I want to read the story of Ammon.
Me: The Ammon from the scriptures?
A: No.
Me: Ammon David Moore?
A: Yes.
M: That story's not all written yet.
A: Oh. Can you tell it anyway?
M: Well, what is Ammon going to be when he grows up?
A: A grown-up.
M: Okay, what is the grown-up going to do?
A: Teach kids about the Gospel, and put them in time-out to teach them to listen.

Contest link-- bumgenius diapers

Interested in trying cloth diapers but they're too expensive? Enter a contest here http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2008/07/giveaway-12-bumgenius-30-diapers.html
for 12 bumgenius diapers.

More Girl's Getaway pictures

Kerry finally got some pictures posted from our girl's getaway, so I copied them here:

Gina's "Ronald McDonald" hair. So lovely! On the Ski lift:

Heidi and Gina snoozing so peacefully
Me, the cook in our tiny little hotel kitchen:

There is also a picture that they took of us on the ski lift. You can see it here.

Animal Party

The kids lately have been having "animal parties" where they gather up a bunch of stuffed animals and ask me to take pictures. I accidentally deleted some of them, but above is the first one I took. I love it when they play together-- playing pretend seminary, or school, or picnics, or animal parties. It makes them happy and mommy happy too. Thank goodness for imaginations.

Another Blog

For anyone interested, I have started another blog. Go here to view it. Or click on the sidebar link.

Look who's walking

BJ is finally walking fairly well. He even chooses to walk once in a while instead of crawl. He can really crawl faster though. On Sunday when Russ was giving his talk, BJ crawled to the front, across the chapel, and up onto the stand. By the time I realized how far he was, he was already up on the stand and I didn't want to chase after him. The organist ended up picking him up and holding him for the rest of the meeting. It's so odd sometimes to have a child who is so social! He will go to anybody, and he has some favorite people that he loves to cuddle up to.

Great website

If anyone is looking for a great website for green products, go to http://www.letsgogreen.biz. They also have a contest right now here for a box of biodegradable kitchen bags if you browse the website and leave a comment there.

Ammon's haircut and a little attitude

Ammon is a funny kid. The other day we were talking about the haircut he was going to get that evening. Russ told him that he should get a mohawk. He liked the idea, and insisted that was the haircut he wanted. Okay, he really only got to keep it for about 10 minutes. Enough time to get some "attitude" pictures. I think they turned out pretty cute. Oops, I mean really cool.

There is something that I forgot to blog about a few weeks ago that I was just thinking about. Ammon is extremely shy when it comes to doing anything in front of people. He has never gone up to sing with the primary in church, the times he's had to give a talk in primary he hides behind me and I end up giving the talk. Well, recently he was asked to give the scripture in primary. Not only did he get up there to give it all by himself-- he read it without help! (We had gone over the words beforehand.) I am so proud of him. It was a huge step for him. Here are the kids having fun in their new wading pool. It's actually been warm enough to use it. Yea!

Happy 4th! (Belated, of course)

Nicole

Me and Becky

Russ (yes, the bald one)


Janie, Sheila, Robin, Nicole

Ammon, Talia

Jarom

We had a great 4th of July this year. It started out with the annual church breakfast, where I was able to sing a few patriotic songs with Jami, Julie, and Erin. We have a lot of fun singing togther, and I hope that we were able to get everyone in the mood for Independence Day.

This year with everything going on in our country, I heard a lot of negative things and a lot of people who didn't want to celebrate. I really feel though that we do have many many wonderful things to celebrate in this country. The freedoms we enjoy are remarkable. Our founding fathers knew what they were doing and were led by God when they drafted the constitution.

We had a fun BBQ/fireworks show at our friends the Glenn's house in the evening. The kids behaved themselves amazingly well considering how late we kept them up. The weather was cool and a bit drizzly, but what else is to be expected around here? It didn't ruin the fun, but I felt bad the next day when I found that Sissy's neck and face were covered in bug bites. Ammon was just completely covered in mud. I had to make him stop running around with the boys for a couple of minutes so he could wolf down a hot dog. It was great to not fight the crowds for fireworks, and to put the baby to bed at their house. They put on a good show, and Ammon only got a little scared, and Sissy actually watched, but with her ears covered and cuddled up with daddy.

What lessons do I need to learn?

I was just thinking this morning. Surprising, I know. No, really, I was thinking about my children and the challenge they are to me on a daily basis. I can't remember the last time that I had a day with my kids that at some point I wasn't frustrated. Do all moms experience this? Do all mom's struggle to get their children to do a simple chore, not fight with one another, not have potty accidents at 6 1/2 years old, not scream and whine to get what they want? I am not feeling like a very good mother today. It is complicated right now by the fact that Sissy has a UTI that is making her very ill and she is whinier than usual. I really try to keep positive about being a stay-at-home mom, but it is hard. I hear from so many people that when my kids grow up I will miss the days when they were small. Perhaps that is true, but probably only because I will have forgotten about how draining it is physically and emotionally. So back to what I was thinking. I feel that everything happens for a purpose. What lessons do I need to learn from my children? Patience? Was I given these children with such strong personalities to strengthen me? It is a little overwhelming that I am so responsible for my children's health and well-being. Okay, so now I am feeling guilty as I think of mothers of children with disabilities and problems that are so far beyond the scope of my children's problems.

So I am going to be more positive. I will enjoy the happy moments we have, even if they seem few and far between. And I will enjoy this happy baby.