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.

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.

Pirate Face

This is Lizzy's pirate face.

I Don't Mean to Brag...But...

The Harrison kids spent this weekend at our house. On Friday....I got all 4 kids to take a nap at the SAME time!! I know. I am amazing.

Tired kiddos

Lizzy fell asleep here while waiting for me to get her a snack. When she woke up 1 1/2 hours later she was furious. She said "Mom...you forgot my snack." I laughed and told her she'd fallen asleep and she got even more mad. "I did not!" she said. Good thing I had a picture.
Yes this is the hallway outside of our bedroom. Heaven only knows how she fell asleep there.
This picture is (obviously) not a sleepy one, but we laughed pretty hard at Andrew getting stuck in his basketball hoop and dragging it all the way down the hall searching for some help.

I can read!!

One of my favorite books is "These is My Words" by Nancy Turner. It is based on the true story of Sarah Agnes Prine....a pioneer woman. While crossing the plains...she finds a wagon full of books. Although she has lost her father and brother and faces enormous difficulty throughout her travels....she manages to bring these books with her. As she reads and gains knowledge about the world and thus herself...her life is changed. She has a passion for learning and reading throughout her life. I feel much the same way....like reading is the way I connect with something larger than myself. As C.S. Lewis said, "We read to know we are not alone." I'm amazed at how much knowledge is out there for the taking. I can sit down at my computer and in 1 minute have endless readings on a certain topic. It is unbelievable and humbling.

Another favorite quote is by Dr. Suess..." The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Well...the whole point of this post is just to document how very excited I am that Lizzy is learning to read. She gets so excited when she sees a sign somewhere and manages to sound it out. It's also fun to see her working hard at something and then really feel proud when she accomplishes it. So yeah for Lizzy and if you haven't read "These is My Words" ... you should.

The Power of Silence

Confession: I talk a lot. Several months ago I made a resolution to talk less... and listen more. I put signs up all over my house to help remind me of my new goal. I realized that I often instructed my kids so quickly that I didn't let them do anything good on their own. I needed to listen more to my husband, my friends and it was also an effort to make my prayers more meaningful....less talking and more listening. Apparently.... I was not making enough progress in this goal because on Friday I woke up to find that I had no voice. I had been getting an increasingly sore throat, but I didn't expect to lose it altogether. I could whisper and that was all. It was quite frustrating. Instead of yelling an instruction to the kids from the other room... I had to get up and walk to them and whisper in their ears. Even whispering was pretty exhausting and so I had to choose to say only the most important things. Now...3 days later... I almost completely have my voice back, but here are a few things I learned during my days of silence.

1) My kids will listen to a whisper more than to a loud voice.

2) When I was whispering...the kids also used softer voices.

3) The things I said while my kids were tantruming...were really not useful anyway.

4) My kids often would say please or thank-you all by themselves...without me reminding them.

5) Silence allows others to think.

6) I have really sweet kids.

7) My friends are the greatest. My friend Kaelene invited Lizzy over for a sleep-over to give me a break and then when I picked her up the next day...she had made dinner for us for the next evening. Kaelene--you are amazing.

Happy 2 weeks after Easter

Okay....I know I am a little behind things, but we did have a wonderful Easter. Aaron's parents were able to be here and on the Saturday before Easter....we did our annual Easter egg dye. This is always a little scary with young kids...but we managed with no major mishaps. And...if I do say so myself...we ended up with some pretty great looking eggs.

On Sunday, after church, Andrew and Lizzy found that someone had "snucked into our house" (Lizzy's words) and left us some fun surprises. My favorite was the cool animal hats that the Easter Bunny got at A.C. Moore for only a dollar. They wore them all day and ran around acting like their respective animals. I may have to follow the Easter Bunny's example and go and buy some more. They also had lots of fun with a few new books and of course CANDY!!!! We loved having Grandma and Grandpa with us and the yummy candy they provided as well.

Thank you Jackie!!!

Our friend Jackie gave us a fun paint by number Easter kit. Lizzy was so excited and I am so happy to see her having a long enough attention span to finish this that I had to post it. It is fun to see her taking more pride and enjoyment in working hard at something and doing a good job. She actually did every space in the (sort of) right color...even some that required mixing two colors. After she was done, she told me that her arms were getting so tired, but she just kept going. Way to go Lizzy.

Thanks Jackie and thanks for watching Lizzy for me in the morning. You are, as always, a wonderful example to everyone who knows you. As Michelle said about you just yesterday...."She is going straight to heaven."

The Family Performers

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I Am A Child of God

Kaelene and I have been doing a little at-home preschool a few times a week. It's been a lot of fun. Kate has also joined us a few times. This particular day we were learning about the letter "F' and I was giving them goldfish when they answered questions correctly. They wanted those goldfish so badly that they were eager to do whatever I asked. I had to take advantage of it and so at the end I told them that if they all stood up and sang "I Am a Child of God" together that they could have the rest of them. Really I was just being a little silly...but they jumped right up and did it with such gusto that it was so beautiful. What sweet kids.

I Almost Missed It

Sometimes as a parent I forget what it's really all about. A few days ago Lizzy woke up from her nap and I was thinking about all of the things that I hadn't gotten done yet. I wasn't really listening to her talk because I was mentally running through the list and deciding what to do first and what to put off for tomorrow. She snuggled up to me and said.. Mom... let's go out on the deck. I had lots of reasons NOT to go sit on the deck at that moment...but for some reason I said..okay. It was kind of chilly and so we dragged out blankets and we just sat and talked. For some reason it was a good moment for Lizzy and she just talked and talked about all sorts of things. She asked me about what's going to happen when we move in a few months. She found shapes in the clouds. She told me that she wants a garden and that we need to plant trees in our (someday) yard. Then she just snuggled up to me and said in such a sweet voice, "Mom, I love you." It occured to me that in 20 years... these are the times I'm going to miss. I certainly won't be wondering about the laundry I put off or dinner being 30 minutes later then planned. When Andrew woke up, he joined us out on the deck. . Lizzy and Andrew of course played their favorite game....Sleep time. (It is so wierd that they love to play this game since they certainly don't like the real thing.)