Questions for Lizzy

1.What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? Presents
3. What makes mom sad? Songs that make her cry good cries
4. How does mom make you laugh? Doing silly things
5. What was mom like as a child? A baby
6. How old is your mom? 18
7. How tall is your mom? this tall
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Watch a movie with Dad
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? She looks for me.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? She’d be famous for me.

11. What is your mom really good at? Sending emails
12. What is your mom not very good at? Reaching the sky
13. What does your mom do for her job? To be in charge of us

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Potstickers
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Giving high pushes on the swings at the park.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? An adult cartoon

17. What do you and your mom do together? Play games
18. How are you and your mom the same? I like cartoons and you like cartoons
19. How are you and your mom different? We talk different.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because I have a heart inside my body.

Ha ha ha. I tag anyone who think this would be fun to do with your kids.

Firestation

Here's a little catch-up blogging. It's been about 3 weeks ago that our ward playgroup gathered at the firestation for a little tour. We live right across the street from a firestation and so we hear the sirens loud and clear...day and night....rain or shine...in sickness or in health (ha ha - can you tell that it's not my favorite thing about our apartment). Because of this....Lizzy and Andrew have both become pretty interested in firetrucks and have asked several times when we can go see them.

This rescue squad was so nice and really even seemed to enjoy giving the tour. We saw the training rooms, kitchen, sleeping quarters and the POLE. The pole was the best since they got one of the firemen to slide down it and impress all the kids with this man who appeared out of the ceiling. The most exciting part however was, of course, the fire trucks. These pictures aren't the best, but with 15 or so kids...what'd you expect??

Andrew trying out the seats inside the truck.

Peering out the back of the ambulance.

Lizzy got brave enough to give the fireman a hug.

I love this cute picture of Pavlina. She's really lovin' it.

Mom...the Referee

The last few days the kids have been ummmm.... tired. Tired is my euphemism for grumpy, whiny, mean or otherwise exhibiting bad behaviors. This is the scenario that happens about 238 times everyday:



I'm doing something and Andrew runs in sobbing and crying sputtering words that I can't understand. When I finally understand what he is saying it is usually some variation of "Zizzy hit me" or "Zizzy touched my shirt" or "Zizzy talked mean." Sometimes I just comfort him and sometimes I go ask Lizzy what happened. Her part of the story always starts out with "Well Andrew was......" (the dots are filled with her idea of justification for whatever she did to him. Sometimes they are really funny....like "Andrew is a boy and he was trying to wear GIRL shoes"). Then I am in a quandry. Do I punish Lizzy?? Should I tell them to work it out?? Should I tell Andrew to toughen up?? Lately I've gotten so sick of it that I just holler to Lizzy...."say sorry to Andrew" which she does with a mumble and then we move on with our lives unless Andrew isn't satisfied. Sometimes he also demands "Zizzy go time-out."


It's funny that I'm writing this post since the other post I'm working on at the same time is one about what good friends they've become and how I love to see them play together. It seems like as their friendship has deepened...their fights have also grown more intense.
This picture illustrates this odd combination of friendship and rivalry at the same time.

Anyway...how do you handle sibling fights? Please give me all of your good suggestions. If I wasn't there to see what actually happened...is it fair to punish anyone??? If I don't punish.... will my kids learn just to do naughty things when Mom isn't looking?? I feel like I'm a referee and really not a very good one. My kids are the ones on the sidelines yelling...."bad call.... booooo ... bad call!!" Any thoughts?

Lookin' on the Bright Side

I know I just posted about Andrew but he is being so funny lately. Today he spilled a big full cup of water across the table at lunchtime. It created a big puddle on the table and the floor. Instead of an "uh-oh" or something like that he just splashed around for a minute in the water and then triumphantly held up his hands saying, "Look...hands all clean!!!"

Another funny thing is that he was getting frustrated trying to put the pieces in this alphabet puzzle. He said, "wone fit" I said, "It fits...you just have to wiggle it around a little". So he began wiggling "it" around. Not the puzzle piece, but his cute little bottom. It didn't help get the puzzle piece in but it sure was funny and so cute. What a character.

Memory Book

I feel like this is kind of a silly thing to blog about but I'm really excited about it and wanted others to know that they can do this. This is my memory book that I created at blurb.com I called my book "O Remember Remember" in reference to Elder Eyrings talk given last November. This book was so fun to make and ended up costing $17 including shipping. It is 80 pages long. There were a lot of fun layouts and receiving it in the mail today was so exciting. I think this is a great way to keep a journal and remember the meaningful experiences I have had. This one was compiled from my church journal that I've kept on the computer for the last 3 years and next I will work on putting my blog into a book. Yeah for technology that makes it possible for me publish my very own book.

How Old Are You?

Lately, I love asking Andrew this question. It takes at least a full minute of thoughtful action to get an answer. He can easily tell me, but he likes to show me.

Okay I'm going to do this.

Let's see... I'll need to use my hands.

Gotta tie down those other pesky fingers.

At last!!! I'm Two!!!

I did it!!!

When You're the Best of Friends

I just couldn't resist putting up some of these adorable pictures that Kaelene took of our kids together.

Mother Dear, I Love You So

I've noticed that many LDS mothers don't really like mother's day. They don't like being the center of attention and such....but I guess I don't have much humility... and I love a day of pampering and attention from my sweet family. Aaron and the kids were locked into the bedroom last night working on a "project". Today I found that they'd colored a paper doll and each piece of clothing had a note on the back with someone's gift to me. The central gift was a new dress from Aaron. (Thank you Aaron) !! Lizzy's gift was that she intends to do the dishes for me (I guess we'll see how that goes) and Andrew says he'll give me hugs and kisses. Andrew made good on his promise during church today. He hugged and kissed me throughout sacrament meeting for no reason at all. It was a little distracting, but I couldn't bring myself to stop him since I love those little kisses so much. Lizzy also delighted me during church. She was able to go up and sing with the rest of the primary kids this year. She beamed the whole time and did such a great job. After singing she ran down and sat by me again and grinned up at me and asked, "Did that make you happy?" She told me Happy Mother's Day again and said that she was going to do the dishes and clean her room and several other kind but unlikely events. Then she snuggled up to me and said "Mom, I love you." Of course at this point I became irrational and started crying. Lizzy topped off her whole little episode by pulling up the end of her dress and said, "Here Mom..use this" (to wipe my tears). Overall... a wonderful day. Of course - these little twerps make this whole motherhood thing possible for me. Thank you for being wonderful, wonderful kids.

Mother's Day was a good opportunity for me to re-read Elder Ballards talk from this last conference. I know that this talk meant a lot to many women of the church. I am included in that group. Whether you are a member of the church or not...these words are reassuring and beautiful.

There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. ...... What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.

Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

Pray, study, and teach the gospel. Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother. Parents can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because they are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, “We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised.”

That last paragraph reminds me of how grateful I am that I am not left to do this great work alone. I would fail so very terribly. I'm grateful to the Eternal Father for showing me how and helping me along the way. Lastly I want to thank the mothers in my life. Thank you Nancy and Mom for....all you are and all you have been to me and to Aaron. I'm impressed by the unique gifts and talents that you have brought to my life. And each of you have left that lasting impression that Elder Ballard expressed, "What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.." Happy Mother's Day.

Lucky Girl (that's me)!!

I'm a lucky girl because I have a wonderful husband. Aaron was out of town a few weeks ago at a conference. When he returned home, he brought me this book for no reason at all. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. It's called America, a Photographic Journey. It's a collection of picture across America. (Sorry - pictures of pictures don't really look that great.)It is awesome because we have been able to visit a lot of the places that are featured here. It includes Washington DC, Gettysburg, Amish country, Historical Philadelphia, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and many more.

I love looking through it and planning other cool places that I want to visit someday. I've always been slightly obsessed with Maine. I'm not sure why. It's probably the lighthouse thing.... lighthouses just seem very romantic to me. Although not in America, I also have a little obsession with Prince Edward Island, which of course stems from my love of Anne of Green Gables. I hope to make it to both of those places someday. I'm so glad that Aaron likes to travel too. We're going to have a blast during retirement. Thank you Aaron... you are wonderful!!! So, where have you always wanted to visit?? What trips do you have on your "someday" list?

Happy Birthday Mom

Dear Mom,

Thank you for teaching me how to make a white sauce, sew on a button and play the piano.

Thank you for not only telling me, but showing me how to serve others.
Thank you for making it impossible to have less than a 1/2 hour phone conversation with you.

Thank you for loving my kids.
Thank you for the many times you have dropped whatever you had going on in your life to help me with mine.

Thank you for being full of ideas and enthusiasm.

Thank you for coming to visit me and being excited about all the things that excite me.

Thank you for teaching me what it really means to be dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Thank you for making me want to become a Mom too.

Thank you for loving me always.

Thank you for being you.

Happy Birthday. I love you.

Beautiful Potomac and Mother Goose

Aaron and I are wondering why we didn't do this a long time ago. On Saturday, we dropped the kids off at the Harrisons (thank you Harrisons!!) and headed to Georgetown. We rented a double kayak and enjoyed a wonderful morning paddling around the Potomac. Our kayak had a small hole in it and by the time we had paddled for about 45 minutes...it was pretty full of water. We stopped at this small little island thing to dump out our kayak. We decided to stay on the rocks and eat our lunch.

As I climbed over a large log to find a better place to sit I heard a hiss. I thought it was a snake and it startled me. When I found the source of the sound, however, it was actually a goose.... a not too happy goose. She was sitting on a nest of eggs and wasn't too happy to have us barge in. She was standing up and hissing more aggressively and I didn't want to get my eyes pecked out by an angry goose. I fell over and scraped up my legs in my effort to get away. Besides this small incident, we had a wonderful time.

(Aaron was brave enough to sneak back over for a picture of Mother Goose.)

The Potomac is beautiful and lined with trees so thick that you can't even tell that there are busy streets on both sides. There is something so calming about nature. My friend recently loaned me a book called "Last Child in the Woods". I like a thought on the first page, "Unlike television, nature does not steal time; it amplifies it." I agree. I always feel calmer, happier and more connected to God after spending time amidst His creations.

I made a pie

I like to cook and I have a lot of fun trying new recipes, but I have never been a big dessert person. (Don't get me wrong I am a big dessert EATER, just not a big dessert cooker.) I always feel like it's enough to get dinner on the table and I usually don't mess with dessert. But a recent post from Tiana on our cooking blog inspired me to try a Rhubarb Pie. I'm kind of proud of my very first 100% homemade pie. If you are inspired too...click here for the recipe. I didn't put on a picture of the individual slice like Tiana did because I can't get my slices to come out quite so nicely. It was delish.