I can't keep up.
I'm so tired.
I need a nap.
But he keeps going.
I sit down on the couch.
He climbs onto the table.
I push in all the chairs.
He pulls them out.
I put things out of reach.
He finds a way to get into them.
And the list keeps going. Things like, I say no, he does it anyway! Despite the troubles he causes in my home, there are lots of things I love about him.
I love the way he laughs (even when he knows he's getting in trouble).
I love his hugs and kisses.
I love that he is still so cuddly.
I love storytime with him.
I love watching him sleep.
I love his mischievous look when he's getting ready to cause trouble.
I love how he says mama and dada.
I love how he growls like his daddy.
I love how he gets mad when we take his socks off!
And this list can go on forever. I love my little guy and I can't believe he is two. He just had a birthday a couple of days ago, which we celebrated last night. He has grown up so much in the past six months. Sometimes I am sad that he has grown so fast, but to watch him become more independent, I love watching this stage too. Sad tears for days gone by that cannot be recaptured, but joyful tears for the times ahead that I get to share with him.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
It pays to read with your children!
I've always heard that you should read to your children, it will help them even when they are babies. So with each of my children I have always emphasized the importance of books. We have filled our house with books. These books are readily accessible at any time to my children. We also take them to the library and let them experience different books. They have many opportunities to read. My children enjoy reading with me. Even my first grader, who can read on her own, still loves to sit and listen to stories. It has proved to be a wonderful experience for our family. It creates amazing opportunities for discussion and such between us and our children. I love to read to my children.
There are other benefits to reading to your children, or having them read to you! Over the summer there were multiple reading programs where the kids earned rewards for reading. Not that my kids needed any extra encouragement to read, but it was fun for them to mark their time and to eventually report their time at the end of the program. Even my two year old could participate in most of the programs.
First off there was the library program for kids and adults alike. We all spent time reading and received a free book in August. That was fun for the kids to go to the library and get to pick a new book, bring it home, and realize they didn't have to return it to the library in a couple of weeks! Oh the joy.
Then Amber participated in a program sponsored by the Utah State Fair for school age children. She only had to read 10 books by a certain date, I think by July. She had two or three months to read these 10 books. She completed it quickly. She would read a book and ask "Mom, will you write down this book for me?" It was fun to see her enthusiasm. So, just for reading 10 books, she received free admission to the fair, a free drink at the fair, and a free carnival ride at the fair. She also received a ribbon book mark.
The last program my kids all participated in was the Governor's summer reading challenge. I don't remember if they had a specific amount of time they had to read. But they had to read all summer long. Then we had to put their names on a postcard and say that they had completed the challenge. We sent that in to the Governor around the beginning or middle of September. The incentive for this program was to be a free kids meal for each of the children that completed the program. We just received that in the mail today. I was only expecting a kids meal certificate from McDonald's, but to our delight our kids received more than just a McDonald's kids meal. Here's what was in their package.
-- A certificate congratulating each of them on completing the program.
-- A McDonald's kids meal certificate for each of them.
-- A Chuck-A-Rama certificate for each of them.
-- A Sizzler kids meal certificate for each of them.
-- A Red Robin kids meal certificate for each of them.
The greatest part of all of these was that it was absolutely free to us! We did not have to pay to join the programs. We had such a wonderful opportunity to emphasize and encourage reading in our family this summer. We had so much fun and my kids are so excited to use their certificates. Yes, reading is wonderful, but it is even sweeter when the kids can get encouragement from a source outside of the home to read. I do hope they continue to love books and that reading will continue to be fun for them.
As a matter of fact, my two year old just fell down, came to me screaming, and has been comforted by a book. He is quietly sitting next to me looking at a book. The power of books is amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunities we have had because of books!
There are other benefits to reading to your children, or having them read to you! Over the summer there were multiple reading programs where the kids earned rewards for reading. Not that my kids needed any extra encouragement to read, but it was fun for them to mark their time and to eventually report their time at the end of the program. Even my two year old could participate in most of the programs.
First off there was the library program for kids and adults alike. We all spent time reading and received a free book in August. That was fun for the kids to go to the library and get to pick a new book, bring it home, and realize they didn't have to return it to the library in a couple of weeks! Oh the joy.
Then Amber participated in a program sponsored by the Utah State Fair for school age children. She only had to read 10 books by a certain date, I think by July. She had two or three months to read these 10 books. She completed it quickly. She would read a book and ask "Mom, will you write down this book for me?" It was fun to see her enthusiasm. So, just for reading 10 books, she received free admission to the fair, a free drink at the fair, and a free carnival ride at the fair. She also received a ribbon book mark.
The last program my kids all participated in was the Governor's summer reading challenge. I don't remember if they had a specific amount of time they had to read. But they had to read all summer long. Then we had to put their names on a postcard and say that they had completed the challenge. We sent that in to the Governor around the beginning or middle of September. The incentive for this program was to be a free kids meal for each of the children that completed the program. We just received that in the mail today. I was only expecting a kids meal certificate from McDonald's, but to our delight our kids received more than just a McDonald's kids meal. Here's what was in their package.
-- A certificate congratulating each of them on completing the program.
-- A McDonald's kids meal certificate for each of them.
-- A Chuck-A-Rama certificate for each of them.
-- A Sizzler kids meal certificate for each of them.
-- A Red Robin kids meal certificate for each of them.
The greatest part of all of these was that it was absolutely free to us! We did not have to pay to join the programs. We had such a wonderful opportunity to emphasize and encourage reading in our family this summer. We had so much fun and my kids are so excited to use their certificates. Yes, reading is wonderful, but it is even sweeter when the kids can get encouragement from a source outside of the home to read. I do hope they continue to love books and that reading will continue to be fun for them.
As a matter of fact, my two year old just fell down, came to me screaming, and has been comforted by a book. He is quietly sitting next to me looking at a book. The power of books is amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunities we have had because of books!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
R.I.P. Trixie
When we brought Trixie home 8 years ago, she was an abused dog left at the shelter. She was so starved for attention. We brought her home, loved her, and played with her. Over the past couple of years we have watched her health decline. We knew there was nothing more we could do. She had become blind and deaf and could barely make it down the one step we had to get outside. In an act of mercy we decided to put her out of her misery and free her from the pain. She left our home on October 10, 2009.
Here are pictures of the kids with Trixie on her last morning with us. We will miss her, but know that she is not in pain anymore. She has been a faithful dog. She has been so patient with the kids. I couldn't have asked for a better dog. Rest in peace Trixie!
Here are pictures of the kids with Trixie on her last morning with us. We will miss her, but know that she is not in pain anymore. She has been a faithful dog. She has been so patient with the kids. I couldn't have asked for a better dog. Rest in peace Trixie!
Monday, September 28, 2009
"The Superior Wife Syndrome"
I just read a newspaper article about Carin Rubenstein's book, The Superior Wife Syndrome. If you want to read the article, click on the title to this post and it will link you right to the article. While reading the article, I made a discovery. According to Rubenstein, I would fall into the category of, you got it, 'superior wife.' What? Really? I answered yes to 5 out of the 6 questions mentioned that help Rubenstein determine superiority. I multi-task, I keep track of the family schedule, I make a lot of the family decisions, etc, etc. I won't bore you with all the details. So yes, I guess I am a 'superior wife.'
But wait, what about attitude, necessity, and other factors? Each individual circumstance is going to be different. We cannot allow all women in charge of the household and family duties to be lumped into one category. Did Rubenstein really consider all the factors that determine distribution of responsibility within the home and family? I'm not sure. I can't make that call for sure. I haven't actually read the book. I am basing this off of the article in the newspaper.
I do not consider myself a superior wife by any means. When it comes right down to it, I would gladly let John take over the household chores. But, out of necessity I am responsible for the majority of the tasks in the home and family. John is gone between 12-14 hours most weekdays. Yeah, doesn't really facilitate giving him more responsibility at home does it? When he is home, guess who gets to change poopy diapers, clean the bathrooms, give the kids a bath, and more? Certainly not me! Yep, you guessed it. I step back and let John take over (with a little more prodding than he would care for).
What do you think about this superior wife syndrome? Read the article then tell me what you think. How do you relate to this? What are your thoughts? Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have.
But wait, what about attitude, necessity, and other factors? Each individual circumstance is going to be different. We cannot allow all women in charge of the household and family duties to be lumped into one category. Did Rubenstein really consider all the factors that determine distribution of responsibility within the home and family? I'm not sure. I can't make that call for sure. I haven't actually read the book. I am basing this off of the article in the newspaper.
I do not consider myself a superior wife by any means. When it comes right down to it, I would gladly let John take over the household chores. But, out of necessity I am responsible for the majority of the tasks in the home and family. John is gone between 12-14 hours most weekdays. Yeah, doesn't really facilitate giving him more responsibility at home does it? When he is home, guess who gets to change poopy diapers, clean the bathrooms, give the kids a bath, and more? Certainly not me! Yep, you guessed it. I step back and let John take over (with a little more prodding than he would care for).
What do you think about this superior wife syndrome? Read the article then tell me what you think. How do you relate to this? What are your thoughts? Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Fairies in our Midst
As related by my oldest daughter yesterday:
Me and Natalie were looking for fairies today. Where there is a rainbow, there are fairies! If there is a butterfly, it will be a fairy.
[It has been raining, so lots of opportunities to find rainbows!]
We found a couple of butterflies. We followed them, but we didn't see the fairies.
[Today]
We looked for fairies again, and leprechauns. [I wonder how many she saw today! With all the rain, rainbows should be plenteous today!]
Ahhh . . . the imagination of a child. I love listening to her stories. Her imagination is not lacking in any way. I am glad to hear that she has found something to entertain her. It certainly brings back memories of my own childhood, the things I would come up with. These are the times that make all the bad times worth it! Her face is full of pure joy as she talks about her fairies. Just remember, there are fairies in our midst. Nobody really knows when a fairy will appear, but we will see one, if we are looking and believe! I will not destroy my daughter's belief in fairies, at least not right now! She is learning to have faith, and if she learns faith through believing in fairies, I will not complain. There are far worse things to believe in and to have faith in! I will gently urge her in the way of believing!
Me and Natalie were looking for fairies today. Where there is a rainbow, there are fairies! If there is a butterfly, it will be a fairy.
[It has been raining, so lots of opportunities to find rainbows!]
We found a couple of butterflies. We followed them, but we didn't see the fairies.
[Today]
We looked for fairies again, and leprechauns. [I wonder how many she saw today! With all the rain, rainbows should be plenteous today!]
Ahhh . . . the imagination of a child. I love listening to her stories. Her imagination is not lacking in any way. I am glad to hear that she has found something to entertain her. It certainly brings back memories of my own childhood, the things I would come up with. These are the times that make all the bad times worth it! Her face is full of pure joy as she talks about her fairies. Just remember, there are fairies in our midst. Nobody really knows when a fairy will appear, but we will see one, if we are looking and believe! I will not destroy my daughter's belief in fairies, at least not right now! She is learning to have faith, and if she learns faith through believing in fairies, I will not complain. There are far worse things to believe in and to have faith in! I will gently urge her in the way of believing!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
And so it begins . . .
Have you heard of the mother's curse? You will have children just like you? But I was never wild and crazy so I should have perfect kids, right? Ha, my whole life-- shattered-- by just a few simple acts. My dad says it is payback. When I try to get mad at my kids, he sits back and laughs until I can't help but laugh. I do see the humor now, I just didn't at the time. So, here's the beginning of the story (this time).
Last week Jaime and I had to attend a preschool orientation. We were told not to bring our children to this orientation. So we left our 4 kids at my house with a babysitter. Now keep in mind that this orientation was only about an hour and a half. We have never had problems leaving our kids together. They play nicely -- so we thought! We got back to my house and I heard banging noises. I didn't think anything of it, John was working on the leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom. Emma, Brayden, and Timothy were downstairs. I looked down the stairs to let Emma know I was home. The light was on in the living room. I expected Emma to run around the corner. But no, I also saw the light on in the bathroom! --- You may think you know where this is going, but wait, it gets better, I think --- All of a sudden I see Brayden dart out of the bathroom to the alcove next to the bedroom. And then Timothy comes running out laughing, and then . . . (drumroll, please!) here comes Emma, sopping wet! Ugh, what had they been doing? I told her to get upstairs right then and change her clothes, thinking they had been playing in the sink! Then Timothy ran back into the bathroom. I went downstairs to close the door, when *gasp* my eyes beheld a sight I did not want to see! It was horrible. I yelled at Emma, "What did you do down here?" I was so mad I wanted to cry, but it was also so funny I wanted to laugh. I was just in shock that my children were a part of this! (I know, just tell you! I wasn't even in my right mind to take a picture of it all!) I had found the bathtub full of water. You may say, what it so horrible about that? But . . . not only was the bathtub full of water, it was also full of books! Precious books! I love books, what a disgrace that my children were part of this desecration! I think there were about 5 paper/board books and two cloth books in that bathtub. Not only were there books, but there was an open bottle of baby shampoo sunk to the bottom, an open bottle of conditioner sunk to the bottom, and an open bottle of my shampoo sunk to the bottom. Emma must have really had fun in the bath, fully clothed!
But these adventures didn't end with one incident. No, my children had to keep going. A couple of days later, I found Amber and Emma downstairs (of course it is always downstairs) where they were supposedly watching a movie. Supposedly is the key word. I should have learned from the earlier incident with the bathtub. No, this time there was no water, only a couple of small bottles of nail polish. Yikes. I had gone downstairs to do a load of laundry when a strong scent assaulted my senses. Ugh . . . I couldn't place it. That is until I walked into the living room, finding Emma with two open bottles of nail polish on my chair, and Amber with two open bottles of nail polish trying to hide from me! Emma spilled nail polish on the chair, Amber spilled on the air mattress that was folded up down there. Ugh. That's about all I can say. I just can't win.
I guess none of this compares to the Christmas cookies my husband tried to sneak when he was younger or the fireworks my husband lit on the bed. But when it comes to me, I was a perfect angel. I never did anything so egregious! :) I shouldn't be punished for my husband's misdeeds!
Last week Jaime and I had to attend a preschool orientation. We were told not to bring our children to this orientation. So we left our 4 kids at my house with a babysitter. Now keep in mind that this orientation was only about an hour and a half. We have never had problems leaving our kids together. They play nicely -- so we thought! We got back to my house and I heard banging noises. I didn't think anything of it, John was working on the leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom. Emma, Brayden, and Timothy were downstairs. I looked down the stairs to let Emma know I was home. The light was on in the living room. I expected Emma to run around the corner. But no, I also saw the light on in the bathroom! --- You may think you know where this is going, but wait, it gets better, I think --- All of a sudden I see Brayden dart out of the bathroom to the alcove next to the bedroom. And then Timothy comes running out laughing, and then . . . (drumroll, please!) here comes Emma, sopping wet! Ugh, what had they been doing? I told her to get upstairs right then and change her clothes, thinking they had been playing in the sink! Then Timothy ran back into the bathroom. I went downstairs to close the door, when *gasp* my eyes beheld a sight I did not want to see! It was horrible. I yelled at Emma, "What did you do down here?" I was so mad I wanted to cry, but it was also so funny I wanted to laugh. I was just in shock that my children were a part of this! (I know, just tell you! I wasn't even in my right mind to take a picture of it all!) I had found the bathtub full of water. You may say, what it so horrible about that? But . . . not only was the bathtub full of water, it was also full of books! Precious books! I love books, what a disgrace that my children were part of this desecration! I think there were about 5 paper/board books and two cloth books in that bathtub. Not only were there books, but there was an open bottle of baby shampoo sunk to the bottom, an open bottle of conditioner sunk to the bottom, and an open bottle of my shampoo sunk to the bottom. Emma must have really had fun in the bath, fully clothed!
But these adventures didn't end with one incident. No, my children had to keep going. A couple of days later, I found Amber and Emma downstairs (of course it is always downstairs) where they were supposedly watching a movie. Supposedly is the key word. I should have learned from the earlier incident with the bathtub. No, this time there was no water, only a couple of small bottles of nail polish. Yikes. I had gone downstairs to do a load of laundry when a strong scent assaulted my senses. Ugh . . . I couldn't place it. That is until I walked into the living room, finding Emma with two open bottles of nail polish on my chair, and Amber with two open bottles of nail polish trying to hide from me! Emma spilled nail polish on the chair, Amber spilled on the air mattress that was folded up down there. Ugh. That's about all I can say. I just can't win.
I guess none of this compares to the Christmas cookies my husband tried to sneak when he was younger or the fireworks my husband lit on the bed. But when it comes to me, I was a perfect angel. I never did anything so egregious! :) I shouldn't be punished for my husband's misdeeds!
Friday, August 28, 2009
We survived!
We have officially survived the first week of school! It has been such an adjustment for Amber to be in school all day. She is so tired at the end of the day. Meltdowns have been the norm this week. All in all we have had a successful week.
So today Amber said that she played with Issac at recess today. She said they played dinosaurs. Hmmm . . . sounds interesting, my little girl was playing dinosaurs? She has a slight fascination with dinosaurs. So John asked her which dinosaur she was. She looked at him with one of those, duh dad looks and said, "the mom!" I couldn't stop laughing. She found a way to play house with the boys. She just called it dinosaurs, but she still got to be the mom! My child is creative.
Other adventures this week: I've been walking Amber to and from school with a couple other moms in the neighborhood. So once the kids go in to school, we let our other kids play out on the playground for a bit before heading home. I think it was Tuesday that Timothy fell off the playground equipment, screamed, and screamed louder when I picked him up. He was mad that I wasn't letting him run around. But I didn't want anyone to think I didn't care about my child, so I had run to see what was wrong. I guess he's too much like me. Let me assess what's wrong before anybody asks me if I'm okay!
I am slowly getting used to Amber being gone. I have a full day where the girls aren't fighting! Woohoo! I am loving the peace in my house, which is quickly shattered as soon as we get back from picking up Amber. The day sure flies by though. I didn't realize how fast time really would go. Ha, and I thought I would have lots of time to get stuff done!
So today Amber said that she played with Issac at recess today. She said they played dinosaurs. Hmmm . . . sounds interesting, my little girl was playing dinosaurs? She has a slight fascination with dinosaurs. So John asked her which dinosaur she was. She looked at him with one of those, duh dad looks and said, "the mom!" I couldn't stop laughing. She found a way to play house with the boys. She just called it dinosaurs, but she still got to be the mom! My child is creative.
Other adventures this week: I've been walking Amber to and from school with a couple other moms in the neighborhood. So once the kids go in to school, we let our other kids play out on the playground for a bit before heading home. I think it was Tuesday that Timothy fell off the playground equipment, screamed, and screamed louder when I picked him up. He was mad that I wasn't letting him run around. But I didn't want anyone to think I didn't care about my child, so I had run to see what was wrong. I guess he's too much like me. Let me assess what's wrong before anybody asks me if I'm okay!
I am slowly getting used to Amber being gone. I have a full day where the girls aren't fighting! Woohoo! I am loving the peace in my house, which is quickly shattered as soon as we get back from picking up Amber. The day sure flies by though. I didn't realize how fast time really would go. Ha, and I thought I would have lots of time to get stuff done!
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