Super Ty Guy

This little man is a super hero in my book!

A day doesn't go by when Tyler doesn't say something that cracks me up. He really makes it fun to be a mom, well, most of the time.

A few funnies:

On Monday night we were all sitting around getting ready to have Family Home Evening and Tyler walked in carrying a baby doll. He was holding the doll so sweetly and carefully. He can be gentle, I thought. He came over and gave me a turn to hold the baby. We cuddled and cooed and then, noticing that it was one of those babies that talks or cries when you squeeze the tummy, I pressed down. Nothing happened. I told Tyler that it didn't work anymore. "Yes it does Momma," he says excitedly, "Watch!" Then before I knew what was happening, he grabs the baby doll, throws it to the floor and jumps on it vigorously! I laughed so hard, I cried. Then I wished I had had the camera! (by the way, the doll did work after all!)

Later in the week, we were waiting in the car for the kids to get out of school. Tyler rolled down the window stuck his head out and said, "It is a beautiful day!" He is too cute.

Last week, I was going to put Tyler in the bath and thought I might as well bathe Lydia as well. I figured Tyler would like the idea because he adores his baby sister so much. Well, I guess he prefers to bathe alone because he told me so. He suggested I put her in the dishwasher instead! Oh my! I think he probably meant the kitchen sink, where I used to bathe her, but he was determined that she could get clean in the dishwasher!

This morning, Tyler was playing with Lydia. He always likes to get right up in her face and sing, or poke, or shake his head. Well, she just happened to sneeze at that moment. Tyler called to me and said, "Momma, Widia ("L"s are hard to say!) bwess you-ed on me!"

I love that kid!

Well, I didn't get the "jump on baby" video, but this one makes me laugh too! He had told Grandma that he wanted to race her and I was trying to catch some of that conversation. However, as is evident in the video, he gets distracted easily! It looks like he is going to whack Grandma, but he is just trying to get the bug.

I wish I had recorded all of the funny things Tyler has said. I could compile it into a book and it would probably become a best seller! I hope someday, in the next life maybe?, I will have a perfect memory of Tyler as a toddler. That would be heavenly!

Sweet, Sweeter, Sweetest

***

One of the SWEET things about living next door to my wonderful grandma is that she teaches me a lot of new things (usually involving the taste buds!!). This past weekend we bought two boxes of very yummy peaches and spent a few hours doing this:

Peaches are one of my favorite fruits and these ones did not disappoint. They were so juicy, and extremely flavorful. Wow! All the kids love them, which doesn't happen a lot. I wish they would stay fresh for weeks, but home canning really captures that amazing peach yumminess. Thanks Grandma!!

***

The next, even SWEETER news of the week is that TJ accomplished the incredible goal of reading the entire Book of Mormon in 45 days. He actually finished it a day early. This boy really loves to read, so Travis decided to challenge him to read all 531 pages of The Book of Mormon before 45 days were over. What a great thing to do at age 9. It was a great experience for me as I had the opportunity to answer a multitude of questions as he read and wondered what things meant and as he tried to understand better. He underlined many passages that were powerful and touching and I could tell that he was thinking about what the words meant. I am proud of him for wanting to know the Savior and understand the gospel.

Maybe we will challenge him to read the New Testament next. I suppose someday we should do the Old Testament together, I could use all the help I can get!!

***

The SWEETEST part about this week, so far, was going outside for foot races and football! The weather isn't exactly cool yet, but I think we are getting closer. Travis took the kids out front to challenge them to a race. The reason he did this is because they like to race him as he drives by every morning on his way to work. Well last week, I happened to have my running shoes on, so I raced Travis with the kids. I gave them a head start, of course, BUT I couldn't pull ahead of TJ. I think I barely squeeked out a win at the very last second, but I was so surprised. Did I mention that TJ was barefoot??? Well, Travis wanted his turn, so they took things outside. I figured I would need to stay inside with Lydia because she was getting fussy. Then Travis poked his head in and invited me to come out.
I am so glad I did. I had a great time watching the races and the football. Grandma came out, the neighbors came over, and a good friend stopped by. What a nice night! Travis has a great time with the kids and they love playing with him.
This video was pretty cute. Natalie said it was embarassing, but I thought it was great:



This was a fun shot. Please don't notice that Elaina is way behind. She is very sensitive and doesn't lose happily : )





This picture doesn't have anything to do with my post today except that she is my SWEETIE!

"Labor" Day

***

I guess I never really thought about why we celebrate Labor Day or what it means. However, when I asked the kids if they were excited about the holiday, TJ responded with a determined "No". Elaina said she was excited because she loves holidays. Sounded reasonable to me! So why was TJ dreading the day. At first I thought TJ was just sad to miss school (who was I kidding!). After thinking a little more about it, I realized that he thought Labor Day was a day dedicated to working!

Hmmmm... Well why not? We did have a big job that needed to be done, so we enlisted the kids' help for the morning.


Our tree house tree:




I have always loved this tree. It is great for climbing, for swings, for shade, everything you could want in a tree. But, I never knew how much work a great tree like this is. At least once a year we have to trim it way back or we loose branches from the weight. It drops tons of pods that make a mess. However, it gives us a great opportunity to work with the kids.





We had fun together! The weather was nice to us too : )


Is it just me, or can all boys turn just about anything into a sword, bow & arrow, or gun???



The finished product:





Definitely worth the work!!!





Now all we need is a tree house for our tree house tree!
Someday...

Camera Shy

I have tried and tried to get a good picture of Lydia smiling. She is too cute with her toothless grin, mouth wide open. It is great!

But whenever she sees the camera, she just stares.

Example:

She is still sweet (especially the drool!), but I really wanted that smile!

Well, I finally got my wish! Thanks for your help Travis!

Aren't baby smiles the best?!?

Now we just have to get her to laugh. I want a real laugh, a belly laugh, you know the one I mean. We can force out a whimpy giggle right now, but I am not satisfied! Give me the real thing, a sincere he-haw!

I can't wait!

Lydia is just over 3 months now! She is holding her head up all the time, grabbing things, and drooling everywhere. We sadly say goodbye to the sticky-up hair. I have been tempted to give her a little trim...I can't believe how quickly they get big!

New Project

So I am sitting here trying to get adjusted to my life with a new baby, five children in general, double the laundry load, and the list goes on! Really, it's not that bad and it is getting much easier. But, every once in a while I have one of those days where I just need a little breather. Sometimes I escape to the land of Blog for this purpose. I really enjoy reading about my friends' lives and all the happenings. I enjoy seeing the pictures and watching life change as time goes on. It is fun for me.

A couple of weeks ago I came upon a Family Home Evening blog. I loved the concept of having free FHE lessons on a blog for all to use. I am a little passionate about Family Night (is it possible to be a little passionate?) although far from perfect at it. I just know it can be a great blessing to families. So when I saw that the founders of the site were looking for people to contribute lessons, the wheels started turning. They were turning so much that I couldn't go back to sleep that night until I had written down 5 or 6 lesson ideas. You wouldn't think that I need another extra thing to do. At least I didn't think I did...

Well, I decided that I would become a contributor and have posted my first lesson! The lesson is called Secret Server and is about the importance of serving others without seeking thanks or praise for it. Go to the link if you want to take a look or need ideas for Family Home Evening. I will be trying to post about 3 lessons a month. I know this will keep me busy and hopefully the ideas will keep coming.

Why I am doing this:

1.

Sorry you aren't in this picture, T.J. You were too busy reading to get your picture taken. Surprise, surprise : )

2. I hope that others find the lesson ideas useful and that it makes having Family Night easier.

Ahhhhh! (a sigh of relief)

Saturday night I was up for the usual middle of the night feeding and the inspiration hit me: I need to stop nursing my baby. That may not sound like inspiration but the reasoning came next and it was so simple. I want to be a happy mother which means I want my baby to be happy. I knew that this was a good desire and I also knew that I had tried everything I could think of to make that happen. The fact was that she wasn't happy and I was struggling every day to keep myself together so that I could take care of five children and be a wife. I was doing none of this very well, I must add. The thing is, I don't just want to survive, I want to enjoy the journey and I don't want to just be a mother and wife, I want to be a great mother and wife. Finally I want my kids to love having a baby sister. It broke my heart when Natalie brought home a paper she did at school that was all about her, the "fill in the blank" type. The phrase started out: I worry about ________. Her answer: my baby

My answer: quit nursing!

The idea had danced around in my mind before, but I pushed it away knowing that nursing is the best source of nutrition for infants, it is FREE, it's convenient, and she was really good at it! But when it came to my mind that night, I knew I had to try it. Well... it has been nearly a week since Lydia has been on formula and I have a new baby. I am seriously shocked and absolutely relieved at the dramatic change. Lydia is peaceful during the day and naps for more than 10 minutes at a time without squirming (her official nickname is Wiggles) and fussing. She smiles more and is noticing things around her. She is interacting with the other kids and is able to sit or lay happily without being held all the time. I am feeling more and more sane each day. It is soooo nice not to have to yell at my kids over the screams of my little sweetie.
It already feels like she was never fussy or at least like it wasn't that bad!

This video isn't anything too exciting, but I thought I would post it for my sweet friend who never got to see Lydia in person. A video is sometimes more real than a photo : ) I love how she is always ready to box with her hands in fists. Check out those guns!

Photographers in Training

The other day I uploaded some pictures from my trusty companion, Digital Camera, to the computer only to find some photos that I didn't take. My camera had been mysteriously abducted and fell into some less experienced, extremely enthusiastic hands. Luckily, the camera was returned to its rightful, ever loving owner and came away unharmed with a tale to tell.

The culprits:

Miss E and dear friend Miss N

I think it is funny that they already know how to take pictures of themselves! Not bad!

Preparing their model. "Tilt your head a little to the side... a little more... a little more..."

"Just right! That was the look we were going for, serious yet playful."

"Now we need an action shot."

Tyler: "Action is my middle name!"

"Enough with the model. Let's take some more of ourselves! We are much prettier subjects and so graceful!"

Interesting!

Work the camera!

I can tell they had a fun time. Maybe the next time they decide to do a photo shoot, we can pick out some matching clothes and comb their hair!

Every once in a while I think about how different life is for my kids than it was for me. Computers: My brother had a computer when I was young. He loved working on it and figuring it all out. Something about DOS??? When I was in high school, we had an Apple computer that we could do word processing on. In college I got my first email address.

Kids today can type, run many applications, surf the web, create power point presentations, etc. etc.

Cameras: Polaroid was awesome when I was a kid because you could see the image right away. 35 mm was the most popular, just be careful you don't open the back without rewinding the film first! My kids now pose for the picture and demand to see it as soon as they hear the "click" sound effect, they can entertain themselves for many minutes scrolling through 100 plus photos stored on the memory card. They even occasionally ask me to change their hair to purple or green in our photo editing program! Fun times.

That is just scratching the surface when I think about how times have changed. And I'm really not that old! Seriously! The world seems to change and evolve so rapidly. What will it be like when I am 80? I think I need to watch the Back to the Future trilogy and let my imagination run wild for a little while!