Crazy Pee

How many of us really like potty training?? If any of you raised your hand for that one you would be a little crazy I think. Matthew is just beginning his journey to "big boyhood". There are several times that he says I have to pee. He has the desire but as all first time potty goers, the desire doesn't always overcome the habit of peeing and pooping in diapers for 2 years. He is constantly taking his diaper off(another good sign that they are ready) Luckily though we have wood floors downstairs and every time something happens on the floor I am ever so grateful for those floors. This morning however he took it off first thing before even getting out of bed and well you probably guessed it already- I get to wash sheets this morning. He didn't want to put a diaper on so no pushing especially if he wants to go to the bathroom. Breakfast time. Sit down. Ask do you have to go to the bathroom first- NO. Okay here is your breakfast. I turn my back and hear pssst. Oh man its too early to have to deal with this. On goes the diaper and hear the crying. Life is never dull around my house.

Sweet or Annyoing?

Screaming about getting ties on?- Annoying probably to others hearing it, madining for me knowing they aren't getting ready like I told them to 3 or 4 times in a row
Squeals about how beautiful her hair looks after being curled with curlers? Absolutely sweet how can you even question that? And if you had seen her you would have been so impressed
Asking for the 3 time if everyone has their scriptures?? Dang annoying!!
Hearing him in the back seat singing about trains? Soooo sweet how can anyone resist such happy sounds and not want to just squeeze him. Not only for the sound but for the simple fact that he is not screaming about being hungry
Having a teacher come up and say oh by the way I will not be here next week? Sooo annoying because for the simple fact that they are suppose to get their own subs. How much time do these people think I have?
Hearing my children run through the house?? HUmmm that is a big toss up sweet because I know they are happy and enjoying themselves. A little annoying because I know any minute someone is going to start crying because they got hurt because they were running too fast or they bumped into someone.
Hearing that my husband is coming home a 6 instead of 8??? I shouldn't even have to answer that one!!!
Overall day without husband for weeks now? Pretty good despite some annoying moments because despite the annoying moments my children are good kids and the happy sweet moments can really cancel out those irritations- especially if I am in the right frame of mind.

Sweet Helpers

Do you ever take for granted how easy it is to make banana bread without any "help"? I usually make a mean banana bread but sometimes things just don't turn out the way you want them to. I had planned to make banana bread for my family and for some of the ladies that I visit teach. Emma of course wanted to help. So as a mother you can't deny them that satisfaction even though it takes twice as long and there is much more of a mess. Not to mention I tripled the recipe which makes putting together time three times as long. If Nathan had been as home he would have had to help too because he is my little cook. He even told me once he has thought about becoming a chef. So I have Emma on the counter trying to pour in flour, Matthew beside her playing in the casserole pan that was soaking from the night before and me trying to keep my patience. So finally about halfway through I got Matthew down because he wouldn't stop making a mess with the water. So I feel now like I can concentrate on Emma. Flour all over the counter, her, me and the cookbook I see Matthew had climbed back on the counter and found a blue marker and was "decorating" his hand. So what should have taken me 20 minutes took me an hour to accomplish. Then to top it all off the bread didn't taste as good as usual because I didn't use ripe bananas instead I used fresh bananas. The ripe ones as ugly as they are add quite a bit of moistness. So the whole batch came out on the dry side. I guess I can chalk it up to quality time with my kids. Oh by the way the picture is not of my banana bread. Mine came out much uglier than that!!

YOu did what???

Okay today is a school day right? Yes it is. So that means that my children are woken up at no later than 6 am. Aaron has to get up earlier than that because he catches the bus much earlier than the rest of them. So at dinner last night Aaron was telling us about mythology and this book that they have been reading as a class. He has really gotten into and comes home telling us about why this God did what he did and how this Titan got into trouble and such. So Daniel last night started just "looking" at the book. I went in about 9 pm and told him he could stay up just a few minutes longer reading. I forgot to go say lights out. Well guess what he did?? He stayed up about half the night reading that book!! Yes you read it right. He doesn't even know how long he was up for so that has to tell you something. He got to chapter 5 and there are a lot of pages with small words on them that make up just one chapter. You did what??? You now have to get up for school and all he can talk about was this book. He came down stairs with it in his hands. I had to take the darn thing away just so he would get ready this morning. I never ever in my lifetime thought I would have to take a book away from any of my kids. I told him he was going to be tired today he well I'm not tired right now. I said just wait till after you eat your lunch. I am a bit concerned about the whole situation because it shows he doesn't have self control. That is scary. Should I be concerned? Or am I just overreacting?

My realizations

I got an email from my sister in law that was a song from Josh Groban called You Raise Me Up. It was set to various pictures of Christ. It really helped me to feel the spirit. It made me realize how close to the Savior my children are. I had Matthew and Emma on my lap. Matthew kept saying "I like Jesus song". Every new picture that popped up he shouted in exclamation Jesus. As if he hadn't seem him in such a long time and he really missed him. The presentation made me realize how precious life really is. I had Sarah in the background saying turn it off mom. I said why honey and she said it makes me sad to know that someone killed him and it makes me want to cry. The presentation made me realize how different each one of my children are. How different they are in their emotions and how different they are in dealing with them. I absolutely love Christmas time. I love the smells , lights, and the feeling you get when you help someone else when they don't have a Christmas. But most of all I love the music that accompanies Christmas time. I realize how much I connect with music. I have always had a love of music and love to teach people through music. I have done that a lot more since I have been in Primary. A child may not be able to sit through a lecture but they really connect with music. I realize how much I love music and the affect it can have on us. I want you all to know that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is our brother. He is my friend and I am so grateful to have him as my friend and I know each and everyone of us can have all of these same "realizations". We are all different and we connect in different ways but Christ connects in all ways and I am truly grateful for that.

I think that there is an unwritten law with children that as soon as a mother gets on the phone, they gets have to get louder. It is programmed into their little brains just before birth. I have noticed here in our new house that that loudness while on the phone is so much worse than anywhere else. We have wood floors and I really think that any little sound bounces off the floors then back onto the walls and gets blasted in the direction of the phone. I get a little embarrassed sometimes just because it may seem like I am not listening. I just uhuh as if I really did hear everything the person on the other end did say and hope that I pick up the conversation through other clues later on in the conversation. I am sure that you all must have the same "syndrom" in your house.

Thoughts for the day

Aren't all mothers suppose to get naps?? Especially if they are pregnant? Because of these two little turkeys I have to fight for naps some days. These are just two of the crazy 8 that live at my house. How can you not love their sweet little smiles? Well its sometimes easy to get frustrated when you are tired and need some rest. I sure do love them all though.