Saturday is a Special Day

Here's why:

Morning Cuddle Time (1 out of 4 is dressed, btw)

 The girls and I walked to the elementary school playground. Which is awesome. Buuut it was deathly hot today. Lucy wanted to be carried on the way home so she could just drink contently from the water in my CamelBak. Laura saw a concrete tube; she called it a bear's home. Then she cried that she wanted Daddy (translation: I want Daddy so he can carry me).

We got back, and Laura saw that she had left her beloved silly putty out on the apartment playground. She immediately went inside to wash it, but it was dirty and awfully dried out. I suggested that maybe we can ask (or "aks" as Laura says) Sarah to help us make some more. So, Laura immediately ran out of the house to go ask Sarah for more. And again, the silly putty is her beloved toy.

Later the Muhlesteins watched our girls while Jacob and I and the little guy went on a date to The View, which is basically what it sounds like. Although it's also a hotel/restaurant/gift shop/museum about anything and everything about the Navajo Nation. We live in a pretty cool place with some awesome history.

Meanwhile the girls got to play in the wading pool, play with shaving cream and play with play-dough and dolls. To say they were reluctant to come home is understating it by far.

Oh, and this li'l guy had a birthday. Time is flying.

Love those li'l dimples. .. =)

After bedtime for the kiddles, we finally attacked the three baskets (or bak-sets, as Laura calls them) of clean clothes that have been washed over the last couple of days. We recently got some new clothes hampers . ..some cheap-o ones, but hampers nonetheless. Normally I try to do ALL the laundry on Tuesdays, but I decided I should dub one of the hampers the "pee hamper." That way, the smelly peed-on clothes don't stink up our closet for a whole week, and they don't make sorting out the clothes a smelly chore. Then when the pee hamper is full, regardless of what day it is, the whole load gets washed. I think I created the pee hamper idea yesterday . ..maybe the day before.

Today I did the 3rd (or was it 4th?) pee load of clothes, sheets and blankets that had pee and poo on them.

Hence, the very large pile of clothes to fold and put away. Which included making at least two beds.

We were putting all these clean things away when Laura says to me from her recently-made-less-than-ten-minutes ago bed, "I pee-peed, Mommy!" Then the dreaded realization that she is wearing PANTIES!!

Sigh . . .

Well, pee hamper . ..you are full again, ready for another load tomorrow . ..

Fun Friday

Mostly is was fun because Laura didn't get time-out at all today.

And it was super fun because our neighbor Sarah helped all the kids make their own homemade silly putty. Laura has been inseparable from hers all day.

And as usual, we had the missionaries over for dinner. Cranberry chicken and couscous with a side of green beans. Yum! And this deliciousness for dessert. (The brownie stuff, not the kid. Although I want to eat her every stinkin' day)

Cards and Kisses

We have an old wipes container full of random cards. There's face cards, color cards, number cards, letter cards, Pooh cards, Elmo cards, and a few church pictures. They all used to be complete sets in and of themselves, but with kids .. .yeah right. So, we just pile them together and let the kids play with them every so often.

Here's how they were playing with them today.

Now afterwards, there was a big mess. I did not want to help the girls clean up cards AND toys AND books AND who knows what else. So I told them that they couldn't play with anything else until the cards were picked up.

My three-year old really knows how to push my buttons sometimes, and I'm sad to admit that I reacted just as she anticipated. I got angry back and grabbed her a little too roughly and spoke a little too loudly. (Am I the only mom that wants to squeeze something really hard when I get frustrated? Like my fingers instinctively clench together and my jaw clenches and I am ready to just grab a hold of something. Sadly, one of the things I grab is often my kids' arms . . .)

So, I realized. . perhaps a bit too late . .. .that my reaction was not appropriate for what was going on. I took a few minutes and locked myself in my room to cool down, pray and do some repenting. When I came back out I spoke gently with the girls apologizing for being too rough and too loud. She immediately responded with the sweetest kiss and said, "It's OK, Mommy!" And Lucy--who does absolutely everything big sister does-- gives me a big smacker on the cheek, too.

These girls melt my heart.

Of course, when I have a gentle enough heart to see it.

Repenting is hard. Changing how I react to things is unbelievably hard. But it's worth earning those sweet kisses and hugs.

But it also  makes me wonder. . .how many sweet kisses am I missing out on when I react poorly in the first place?

Only So Much You Can Do

You probably heard the phrase "There's only so much you can do."

To me this sentence indicates that you have limits -- you can't do something because there's only so much you can do, and you can't do more than that. 

That phrase popped in my head this morning when I two inconsolable babies, a frustrating hour on the phone with customer service, a floor covered in popcorn and mystery poop somewhere in the apartment.

Well, if I have limits, then I'm going to see how much I can do. Sweep and mop the floor. Wash and put away dishes. Wash diapers. Finish laundry and put it away.

And you know what. . . .it felt pretty good.

I felt almost as cool as this little goose. 

Better When I'm Dancing

I decided the real reason that I'm keeping up with my blog. It's tough being a mom to young kids, and I have a least one little melt-down every day. OK, some days it's LOTS of BIG meltdowns, but you get the idea.

So if I can find something happy and joyful to post on my blog each day, then it's something to look forward to. And it's a good way to remember my kids' "magical years" as a friend recently reminded me. So whenever I am tempted to have one of those highly explosive moments that all moms have (hear, hear), I can think on the joyful and funny moments I've added (or hope to add!) to my blog.

I was reading a book with Laura today, and the last picture was this:

She was excited to see the carousel since we rode one together at the zoo a couple of months ago. She saw the car ride in the corner of the page and said, "A car-o-sell! I wanna ride the car-o-sell! Let's jump on it and ride it, OK?"

Then she set the book on the ground and jumped on the page.

Not even kidding.

And I don't even think she's seen Bert and Mary Poppins do that either. My child is just brilliant. =)

Come 5:00 and she's getting tired and I REALLY did't want her to nap that late. So, I decided to put on some upbeat music and get us dancing.

Heidi first introduced me to this song on a lull in a day at Grandma's house. Normally, I don't like Meghan Trainer, but I really like this song. And I really like her hot red dress in this video . ..just sayin' . . .. And well, I Feel Better When I'm Dancing . ..don't you?

And apparently my kids do, too. #mommywin

Aaannd .. .I'm bookmarking this page for future use. =)

Returning the Favor

I read in a book of fiction yesterday that a character asks another if she prays. The female responds that no, she doesn't really pray to God, yet she tries to live an honest and true life. To this, the first states, "God is talking to us every day. Ought we not to return the favor?"

I like the truth of that statement. God really does talk to us every day, although we don't hear or see Him directly. He talks to us through the kind words and actions of others. He talks to us through the pleasures we enjoy every day. . .a beautiful sunset, a rainstorm, a delicious piece of cheesecake or a nice juicy burger. He speaks to us through stable employment, through education opportunities, through humor and physical touch.

I realize more and more every day that I am an imperfect parent. But I sure love it when my kids ask me for something, "Read this book to me?" "Please may I want some milk?" or when they express gratitude or joy. Jacob taught Laura to say "This is amazing Mommy!" when they're eating a particularly yummy meal that I made. And even Lucy's little "Deenk Ooo!" when I give her something is just adorable. And sometimes (or maybe a lot of times), they get into trouble because they don't do what their all-knowing-and-wise parents tell them to do. (I can't quite decide the level of sarcasm in my self descriptors there . . .)

Surely my Heavenly Father wants to hear the same from me, His daughter? He loves me infinitely and knows what I need, far better than what I need. He loves it when I ask Him for things. He lives it when I express my gratitude. He loves me despite my poor decisions and short-comings. And sometimes I wonder . .. do I act like a stubborn, tantrum-driven three-year-old to Him sometimes? That's some food for thought right there. ;)

Jesus taught:

Or what man is there of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, so ye even so to them. . . .

You may notice that this is one of the teachings found in the record of the Old World and the New World. Is it perhaps because there were parents in both audiences that needed to hear the parallel?

In speaking now of food (bread and fish, right?) and returning the favor, I now move on to my non-sequitur follow-up topic. That being ice cream.

Some of our dear dear friends in Magna would often invite a family over to their home for homemade ice cream and visiting on Sunday evenings. We were the recipients of their delicious desserts and fantastic friendship on more than one occasion. =) So when we moved, one of the first things we ordered online was our own ice cream maker. And we are "returning the favor" and inviting friends over for ice cream and visiting. And well, we love our ice cream maker so much, not every batch we makes ends up being shared with others. So far, we've had the Carlsons and the Muhelsteins over, and in a few minutes, our neighbors the Ellots are coming over for some delicious peach cinnamon ice cream with fresh peaches from our school orchard.

We might have filled this one just a bit too full. . . .

So if you're reading this, find some way you can "return the favor," whether it be to God or your fellow man.

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

P.S. We have some neighbors who are vegan. Anybody have any tried and true recipes for vegan ice cream or something equivalent?

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I am amazed at the things that Lucy learns from Laura. Lucy's vocabulary is booming, and she will repeat words, especially words of prayers, songs, or stories. She's just at that age where any word coming out of her mouth is the cutest thing ever.

They sometimes "argue" with the following dialogue:
LJr: No!
LSr: Yes!
LJr: No!
LSr: Yes!
. . . .and on and on until Laura either gets frustrated and hurts Lucy or Lucy starts laughing. It's so funny because Lucy is just being silly and saying a word she knows. However, Laura thinks Lucy is actually opposing her, so she gets into her frustrated argue phase.

Lucy gives super sweet kisses and folds her arms when she sees LSr do it. And Lucy LOVES to climb, mostly so she can be closer to whoever is sitting on the couch or on a chair. Wherever or whatever Laura is doing, Lucy wants to do with her. Lucy wants to play with the book or the toy that big sister is playing with, which leads to a few (or maybe several) altercations a day. Lucy likes to sit on the potty (fully clothed, mind you) because she sees Laura do it. Lucy follows Laura outside to play, and she wants to eat something every time LSr is eating something. Unfortunately, Lucy also learns naughty things like hitting and biting, but for the most part it warms my heart to see Lucy idolize and play with her big sister. This is why I'm so glad they're close in age .. .so they can be besties for life! =)

Here's some pictures of the kids, where in each instance, LJr wants to do what LSr is doing.

Sam's getting a facelift from big sis.

Lucy: There's room for me, right?

Just like Mommy.

And the video proof of LJr doing exactly what LSr does . . .