Sundays

Here is a good idea I got off someones blog, (wish I could take credit) I thought it was a great idea. In no way do I think I will be perfect at it, but it's always fun to try new things and if it helps me feel like I'm a good mom well, I'll give it a shot.
The idea is to have theme Sundays. For instance..

1st Sunday of the month- Fast and testimony
This Sunday of course you fast but you have your own little testimony meeting at home. We often don't get the chance to tell our family how we feel about the Savior and His gospel but we should and this is a sure way to be able to do this. Also a testimony is gained in the bearing of it so it's a good time for the kids to do it too without the pressure of a huge audience. You could also talk about what a testimony is and what is appropriate to say, etc. Plus talk about fasting.

2nd Sunday of the month- Service
This is a good time for Dad to make home teaching appointments and Mom visit teaching. Not only do you get it done early in the month but you can talk about service and even make cookies with the kids to take around or whatever to serve others Action speaks louder than words in most cases.

3rd Sunday of the month - Family History
This is a good time to tell stories about relatives or "when I was a kid". It is also a great time for journal writing and scrap booking if you do that. What a great week to invite family over too. You could also get on the Internet and do some actual genealogy.

4th Sunday of the month- Missionary
Invite someone to church. Have the missionaries for dinner, write letters to missionaries. Tell mission stories from your mission and get out pictures, eat food from where you served. Pray about who your family could invite to hear the discussions.

5th Sunday (if there is one)- P.P.I.- Personal parent interview
This is the time dad or mom or both can give interviews to their kids. A time they can vent, work out problems or just talk. I like the idea of dad doing it because my dad did it when I was little and well, there is just something nice about getting to sit down and talk with dad instead of mom, maybe because moms are usually around more.

I thought this idea of theme Sundays was great! I'm going to try it and I'm sure there will be those Sundays when it just doesn't happen. I love how it covers the 3 fold mission of the church to proclaim the gospel, redeem the dead and perfect the saints. It is definitely better than coming home and watching football the whole sabbath and maybe if we can do some family stuff I won't feel so frustrated when the TV gets clicked on!!

We love Aunt Barbara

This is Aunt Barbara. She is the kids Grandpa's sister. She lives a mile or so away from us and has been a heaven send for me. She picks the boys up from school everyday so I don't have to interrupt naps or load up the kids in the middle of the day. She is always willing to babysit even at the last minute and when I was feeling sick a week ago she brought over dinner and helped me a ton. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for her. The best thing is I can tell she really loves us and that makes it wonderful to have her around, who doesn't like to feel loved, right! I know Aunt Barbara will be reading this, so thank you and we love you!!

Quirks

My sister tagged me for telling my quirks, believe me I'm digging hard because I'm very normal.
1. I hate shopping for clothes. (I know, most women love it but I can never make up my mind so it becomes a huge chore to shop. Hence, I have limited clothing in comparison with most women.)
2.I often say my vowels in the mirror very dramaticly to try and strengthen my face muscles.
3. I always wake at 5:30am almost to the minute but don't get out of bed for at least an hour.
4. I have dreams about kids drowning at least once a week. (That one is a little disturbing I know.)
5. Sometimes if I'm really tired my eyes shake and I have to tilt my head up or down to refocus, (so if you see me walking around with my head tilted you know I had a baby up in the night which seems to be everyday lately.)
6. I have been to Costa Vida probably 100 times but I've only tried four things on the menu. and two of those were bites of Ian's food.

So now I guess it's your turn, is that how this thing works. Whatever!

Hide and Seek...

This is Ian and I am filling in for Kathryn tonight.

One thing I have asked Kat to publish is a little incident that happened a few weeks ago and one that I managed to get some good video footage of. (Good in content, not necessarily in resolution quality.)

Kat's parents recently bought a new home. We went over when they moved in to help out where we could. As we tried to put a few things together and move some of the heavy stuff, Grandma Lola decided to play hide and seek with the kids. She was having so much fun that she couldn't stop playing. Watch the video and see for yourself...

She was hiding in this storage bin in the bathtub with the lid in front of her. The kids must have gone in and out of the bathroom 5 times before they found her. Grace and Bradford were so adorable trying to help Grandma get out, but to no avail. Let's hope that this doesn't happen when no other "grown ups" are around to help.

Story Time.......

By the time bedtime comes at our house I am often past my point of sanity. I've never been great at getting the kids to bed but our routine is generally this..... we get pajamas on, read from the Book of Mormon, say family prayer then brush teeth and to bed it is. Well there are always those last minute pleas of drinks, songs and stories. Tonight was no different as I listened to Ian walk Grace down the hall, she asked for a story, he replied," you ever heard the one about Fat and Skinny?" It dawned on me that I have been telling my children that story that was told to me soooooo many times as a child. I remember hearing it nearly every night, which probably means I would ask for stories too. Perhaps someday my children will tell the story of Fat and Skinny to their kids. I'm also wondering if any of my siblings have carried on the tradition of Fat and Skinny? The story goes like this, "Fat and Skinny went to bed, Fat rolled over and Skinny was dead." And that's it!

Girl Stuff.......

Grace loves her little sister. She often cries if Abigail cries at her and gets so excited when she makes her laugh. The other day I was in the kitchen preparing dinner and I often put Abigail in her car seat on the ground with me in the kitchen, mostly to protect her from Bradford who just is all boy and well..... let's just say not so gentle. Well, anyway, I hear Grace talking to Abigail and I didn't hear the whole conversation but the part I did hear was too cute not record. She said, "When you put lipgloss on you should always do this," and she smacked her lips together, then she went on to tell her about all the dress up cloths she would share and all the different toys in her room. For a girl who has been surrounded with boys for so long she sure is girly. I always thought I would have Tom Boys for girls because I was always into sports. I'm thankful for Grace and her girliness it makes life so fun, besides how else would I know the proper way to apply lipgloss.

"Do I have school today?"

Grace is finally in preschool. She has been waiting soooo long. If any of you know Grace she is so social. When I went to pick her up and take her home she DID NOT WANT TO GO.
I'm glad she can handle being away from me but sometimes it's a little depressing when I have to take her away from somewhere kicking and screaming. She can be a little fireball at times but really, really sweet most of the time, either way I love her to pieces.