a few things
I love mellow summer nights when the whole fam is outside together playing. It’s not always calm and quiet, but it’s MEMORIES.
This is what it’s like to try and take a group photo in our family.
Reading the news today for an hour was not rejuvenating. I do think knowing a bit of news is helpful. It helps me realize how wicked the world is getting…. how corrupt politics is… how what is right is not always what is popular. Reading news makes me want to strive harder to teach my children what is right …. to stay far away from evil. p.s. I support Chick-fil-a. It’s okay to support traditional family values because you believe it is a commandment from God. That doesn’t make you old-fashioned or a hater. Satan is twisting things so much. Arg…
There is good out there. I know there is.
I attempted to tame Little ‘Liza’s hair by putting it in piggy tails.
p.s. Hannah wants to be Princess Leia for Halloween. We’re trying out the buns today.
A little gooby, gooby
Unfortunately, this is how Truman looked when he woke from his nap today. Ever since Thursday, he’s been a goob. Sad. His cough is constant. His eyes have to be washed so many times a day. We’re using hand sanitizer like crazy. I hope he feels better very, very soon.
Cannon Ball!
The kids had so much fun!!! And then… after swimming … Tru and Max ended up with gooby eyes and coughs… I assume germs from our trip … but I don’t imagine the cold water helped. Ay-Ay-Ay! Chilling today and watching Duck Tales. The end.
a little lovin’ from goldilocks
This baby ‘Liza is AWESOME! I love her hugs. She clings so tightly to our shoulders with her pudgy hands. She’s a hugger.
The other night she woke crying so hard at 4 a.m. I snuggled and rocked her and she went back to sleep. It was a sweet moment that I hope to always remember. She is growing up quickly and I know she won’t be little much longer.
Here’s goldilocks looking through the glass with the wind in her hair … and a smile on her face. I love her teeth.
Eliza is 10 1/2 months.
She is starting to walk along furniture.
She loves to go up the stairs but doesn’t know how to go down.
She fake cries sometimes. Oh Zu-Zu.
She spits like crazy when she eats baby food.
She likes crackers and popcorn (just the fluffy part selected by a parent).
She hates getting dressed. What a fuss.
Her hair is growing in super blonde and has turned curly over the past month or so.
She has quite the glorious mane.
When she sleeps, she wraps her pink fuzzy blanket around her and sucks on it.
She sits up and folds herself in half and sleeps like that.
She’s a pleasant little soul but doesn’t smile at very many people.
She thinks she always needs mama when I’m around.
She loves her daddy and does silly play with him.
She’ll crawl on the grass … and eats it.
She has to have a popsicle if the other kids are.
She dances to music. It’s so cute.
We love our ‘Liza Lou.
a small success
Yesterday I was complaining to Jimmy, upon his return home, that the older kids don’t seem to get any of their work done unless mom is breathing down their neck. And because I took a nap, I woke to kids playing the computer and a messy downstairs. I guess they figure when mom is being lazy, they can be lazy. Only… I wasn’t being lazy – right?
anyhoo… right after I was done complaining to Jimmy, what to my wondrous ears did I hear?
“Mom, what can I do to help?” from Mr. Abraham.
Sing Praises.
I hung up the sign on the fridge on Thursday. Abe didn’t see it until yesterday morning. Smile.
I recently read a conference talk (of which I can’t find the source)… that told parents not to be discouraged when it seems their children are slow to learn. I realized that Heavenly Father has been so patient with me being so slow to learn… that I need NOT be dismayed when it seems the tots aren’t learning very quickly (uhhh…. like my 2 year old).
Every day I know I need to look for the good that is happening in my home. The go-the-extra-mile moments from the kids. When Hannah is well, she is an awesome helper. She volunteers to make dinner… or at least decide what to have for dinner. Abe wants to learn to cook and enjoys helping. Sometimes they do their chores without complaining. Grin. Even little Tru loves to help. He feels needed. He’s great at helping to empty the dishwasher. Max loves to work together, though struggles to get his chores done on his own. Progress may seem slight, but it is still progress… this I must remember.
Preparing Truman
We’re going to Maryland soon. We’re concerned about Truman. We don’t think he deals well with change… or maybe he just doesn’t deal well with anything. He keeps telling us he is too scared to go on an airplane. We’re trying to make it sound like the exciting adventure that it is. Jimmy had the idea to try and prepare his 2-year-old self as best we could so he could get excited about things (and we hope he won’t freak out). He put together this little book of a few things we are going to be doing.
Here they are enjoying the book. Tru and Max both loved it! Now Hannah wants one!
A Ninja Life
Max is our middle kiddo. He is quite the guy. He’s the most easy-going of our children. He’s generally a happy person. But sometimes I realize I have to spend so much time caring for Tru & ‘Liza that he doesn’t get much one-on-one time. Tonight I took him swimming to the Legacy Center. Hannah and Abe were going to come, but they had a major battle and lost that privilege. So – it was just me and Max. He was so happy. He came down every slide with the hugest smile. He loved his life vest. Before he’d go on a slide he’d say, “Bye mom, see ya in a million years. bwa-ha-ha-ha.” Oh, how he laughed. This week, he’s focused on the days of the week. He is so confused about which day comes next. I think he’s so excited to be counting down the days till our trip to Maryland.
On the way home we had this conversation.
It made me glad that we have no wii games this summer. I believe his 4-year-old mind might not exactly be in earthly reality. I encouraged him to not try and defeat the bad guys by himself, but to always stay close to mom and dad. Imagining is good, but I’m thinking we need to work on focusing on sweeter things. Mostly it was a really funny conversation and helped me realize what little boys think about. Oh, Max!