Little Nickie….

Today was “Dress in the 80’s” day at Sadie’s school. People always say that Sadie looks so much like me. I’ve always half way agreed. But once she was all decked out like I used to dress at her age…I could see the resemblance so much more!

Lil’ miss DO IT HERSELF…

Kendyl has finally hit that fun stage in life where she’s discovered she can DO THINGS HERSELF (so she thinks…which is the most frustrating part as a parent. You know when you have to let them TRY to get dressed. You exercise every bit of patience as you wait for 15 minutes …as you’re anxiously waiting to get out the door….only to find yourself undressing them and re-dressing them the correct way). Everything these days is “No, do it i-self” or “Me do-eh”.

GOODBYE ARE THE DAYS OF MOMMY PUTTING THE PRETTIES IN HER HAIR:

SHE MIGHT CAN GET AWAY WITH GOING OUT IN PUBLIC WITH HER SELF-DO FUNKY HAIR….

BUT AS HER MOTHER I HAVE TO PUT MY FOOT DOWN AND HELP HER A LITTLE WITH HER DRESSING SKILLS!

Desperate message…

So the other day Sadie got in trouble and was sent to her room FOR 10 MINUTES….she screamed like I had banished her for a year. Later that day I could see from the outside of the house she had written something up in her bedroom window. I came inside to read it:

It said:

“Dere Mom if you see this I bet you’ll feel bad for me. Love Sadie”

I don’t think she got the response from me she was hoping for. Instead of feeling BAD I actually found it very funny!

I fear…

I fear for the safety of my children. If I could get away with it, I would require them to wear helmets and padding all day long. Today while I was in the bathroom getting ready I hear Sadie whispering to Mason from the loft… “Mace, you should really do it”. Mason replies “But I don’t want too, I’m scared”. Sadie rebutes “Oh come on Mason, just do it once. If you don’t like it you don’t have to do it again”.

I quickly drop my curling iron and run out to find Mason in a laundry basket and Sadie pushing him at full speed towards the staircase. I grabbed the end of the basket just as he was starting to go down. Seriously saved my boys life with no seconds to spare.

I don’t mind my kids SLIDING down the staircase, there’s just something about ROLLING down the staircase in a basket that has me fearing for their safety.

I told them to go get garbage sacks and have at the stairs….THEY LOVED IT! Meanwhile, I went and hid the laundry basket.

Kendyl got a kick out of just watching the two crazies slide out of control down the stairs. I’m starting to think she’s the one with the brains :)

Finding the good…

We are hitting that time of year in Arizona that you have to start “looking for the good” in why we live here. I really struggle with the heat…but I try to make the best of it. Here’s one thing I love about good ol’ AZ…. CITRUS!

It’s fun having an unlimited supply of citrus in the backyard. Juicing the oranges keeps my girls busy for a very long time!

Power of example…

Is what I’ve been thinking A LOT about this week. There’s so much influential power in being an example…good and bad. Is it just me or are the most irritating behaviors from your children just an imitation of your most disliked characteristic of yourself? And I chuckle whenever I call Kendyl’s name (my two year old who is just learning to speak) and she yells back “Minute Momma”. Hmm, do you think I use that response too often whenever my kids ask for my help…. “Sure in just a minute” I usually reply. I think it’s time I start putting them as first priority at least some of the time.

But I have hope that Rich and I have some positive influences on our children too. I’m sure our daily scripture study and family prayer will influence them for good. My hope is our love for exercise will be something they too will enjoy. And surprisingly our desire to eat healthy foods is already influencing this little gal….

From the time she was young she has always pushed aside her mac-n-cheese or spaghettios and inches her way to my plate of veggies I eat for lunch and munches on that until we have the plate finished. What I don’t get though…is if I make her a plate of her own veggies she pushes it away and says “NO”. So I always make a huge plate of veggies because I know I’m preparing a plate for two. (P.S She even ate the eggplant on this plate. She’s a different breed. My other kids will eat veggies as much as the next kid…but this kid craves them! I’m not complaining :)

I’M ALSO VERY, VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE POSITIVE INFLUENCE OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAVE ON OUR CHILDREN.

This is Rich’s little sis Lindsay. She is getting married at the end of this month. Sadie has been fascinated with the whole talk of Lindsay getting married. I know it’s every little girls dream to someday grow up and marry her prince. Lindsay’s decision to get married in the temple has been such a GREAT INFLUENCE on Sadie. She may be only 6 years old, but she already understands how important it is to be sealed in the temple.

I came across this in Sadie notebook (which I believe she has turned into her diary)….I know this goes against all rights of her privacy, but it’s just too cute and something I always want to remember.

 

She writes “Deren (Darren) and Lindsay are going to get mared (married). This is something funny. Thay (they) are going to kiss on the lips!”

Yesterday I was looking at their different engagement shots and there was one where they were kissing. Sadie screams out “BUT MOM THEY AREN’T MARRIED YET!!!” Then I had the privilege of explaining what’s appropriate to do while dating and what’s not.

Then I came across this insert and it gave me goose bumps. She writes (me correcting the spelling) “Again, when I’m older I will know who my try love is. It will be a new life for me. It will be wonderful. I know it will. It will be exciting for me to get married in the temple”.

SO THANK YOU LINDSAY AND DARREN FOR MAKING A DECISION THAT WILL NOT ONLY INFLUENCE THE TWO OF YOU, YOUR CHILDREN, BUT MANY OTHERS WHO YOU HAVE INFLUENCIAL POWER OVER.

Then on Monday we had a great Family Home Evening lesson taught to us by Grandpa Reeves. He taught us about the prophet and apostles and how important it is to listen to their messages at General Conference because they speak for the Lord. The next day as I was cleaning the kitchen I hear Kendyl from the other room saying “JESUS….blah..blah..blah…JESUS”. I walked over to see what she was doing and she had found the same page in the Ensign that Grandpa had shown them during his lesson. She was sitting on the couch giving the same lesson to her make believe class. It was too cute! I’ve learned our kids are never too young to learn about the Gospel.

My new goal is to better myself. I have so many shortcomings that I would never want to pass onto my children. I owe it to these sweet spirits to do the best I can to be a better example. So pray for me and my efforts of becoming a better example!

A mother moment…

So I had a mother moment tonight…you know those moments where you don’t know if you should laugh or cry! Tonight Rich was playing in a baseball game so I thought it would be fun to pack up the kids and go be his cheerleaders. I was so caught up in the “I’m going to be the best wife and mother” moment….that it slipped my mind that my boy had (what he refers to as…) sloppy poops!

So we get to the game and it didn’t take Mason long to find some big boys to shadow and pal around with at the baseball field. About 30 min. into the game Mason came running over with a look of pure desperation on his face and announced “MOM I’M GOING TO POOP!”…..OH MY GOODNESS….(I thought)….MY BOY IS GOING TO EXPLODE! I dropped everything on the ground (including my purse….I didn’t even care if someone stole what little we have….I just didn’t want to be dealing with a messy kid all the way home)…and we took off for the bathroom. Mason was in full sprint (which surprised me considering the condition he was in). I had Kendyl in my arms so we were lagging behind a bit. By the time I got into the bathroom, I hear a little voice saying “Oh no…oh no….I JUST RAN OUT OF TIME!!!”

I hesitantly opened up the first stall to find him in a squat position one foot away from the toilet….(luckily with his pants down)! Within seconds he completely destroyed the floor of that stall! I was in shock…and still am in shock…that he managed to keep it from getting on his pants and shoes. I picked him up and placed him on the toilet and we both sat there for a good minute, no words spoken, just looking at the damage. Then he says “Oh…what a mess. That’s not good”. I said “You’re right…that’s not good”…THEN I BROKE OUT IN LAUGHTER….it was either that or I was going to cry.

The only thing I had to clean up with was those really cheap paper towels (that just smear more than absorb). But what made this clean-up even more memorable was the narration Mason gave as I cleaned. Here’s some of the phrases he said “Oh gosh Mom, that’s really gross”…"I’m glad I don’t have to clean it”… “ Mom there’s still lot’s more left”… “Ewww…now your dripping”…. “Oh that’s just too bad”…“So when are you going to wipe me?'”….

AND MY ALL TIME FAVORITE…. “You know Mom, I bet we are missing some of Dad’s best plays”

Yeah…that was just what I was concerned and thinking about at that moment….what great plays Dad must be having! (NOT REALLY).

After restoring things back to normal, we grabbed Sadie and left for home. When we got in the car, Sadie asked “Where were you guys? What took you so long.” I asked Mason if he wanted to tell her what happened, he replied  "It was so horrible…you’re going to have to tell her Mom.”