A Sister for a Minute

When I was pregnant with Travis and we had our ultrasound showing us that we were expecting a boy, Kaylee was devastated. She wanted a sister so badly. She loves Travis and wouldn't trade him...well maybe she would for a minute. Which she did. Kaylee took matters into her own hands (with Aaron as her accomplice) and for a triumphant 15 minutes Kaylee had her "sister". She did Travis' hair and dressed him in one of her old baby dresses and here is the result:

Travis: "Please, I beg of you, never do this to me again!"

Travis, I must say that pink is not your color!

Dreaded Days of Potty Training

These are two of my least favorite things. I despise them, but they are necessary evils:

I can't wait for the day that I can throw these putrid plastic pails away!

Nathan has been showing some interest in going potty (probably from the jar of Starbursts on our bathroom shelf that we use for bribery) and I am sick of changing his diapers so I think that the dreaded days of potty training are upon me. I have already gone through this with 2 other kids...and no, it does not get any easier...I only know what I am in for - cleaning up pee and poop off the carpet, becoming a hermit for about a week, and spending countless minutes singing songs and saying rediculous things like "keep pushing, it will make your potty SO happy to have some poo-poo in it" while I sit and wait for Nathan to do his thing.

Wish me luck! Potty training will officially commence this week...sigh, deep breath...  I am going to try this method that I found over at 71 Toes:

1) buy the most appealing panties/underwear at the store for the particular child you are potty training. (Elmo, Spiderman, Dora, etc.)

2) ooooo and ahhhhh over how amazing they are (yes, the underwear)

3) put them in a special place until the designated "potty day" (show the child the upcoming date on the calendar, count down the days, talk about how excited you are, etc....and don't schedule ANYTHING else for that day or the few days after...that's of course where it gets tricky...but I try my best)

4) on the designated day, say goodbye to diapers and get ready for lots of accidents

5) have said potty-trainee sit on toilet for endless hours and drink gallons of liquids

6) give stickers on a sticker chart AND a skittle or m&m every time there is a success

7) talk excitedly about the reward (decided together beforehand) that comes after the sticker chart is filled

8) try not to freak out more than completely necessary at the messes involved

9) enjoy your newly potty-trained child

One extra note: once potty training starts there's NO GOING BACK. Diapers are gone (except at night and for naps). No matter how hard and frustrating it gets, I've found the longest it really takes if you're serious is three days, and to me it's worth it to have a few agonizing days to get results.


If you have any other great potty training ideas, please share. I need all the help (and ice cream) I can get :)

Get Understanding

Yesterday I posted about the benefits that our children gain from reading 20 minutes a day with them. Today I was reading Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley and found a quote and scripture that affirms how important it is to read with our kids:

Proverbs 4:7 - "With all thy getting get understanding"...

my I add "With all thy giving give understanding"

"Children who are exposed to books at early ages have scholastic advantages throughout their lives. Parents who fail to read to their small children do a disservice to them as well as to themselves. It takes time, yes, much of it. It takes self-discipline and planning. It takes organizing and budgeting the minutes and hours of the day. But it is never boring to watch young minds come to know characters, expressions, and ideas. Good reading can become a love affair, far more fruitful in long-term effects than many other activities to which children give their time. It has been estimated that the average child in the United States watches something approaching 8,000 hours of television before he or she even begins school. What a difference might it make, what an influence could it have in the homes of this country if parents were to work at creating an atmosphere of learning and education at home, so that children were exposed at an early age to thoughts and concepts and attitudes that would build and motivate them for good throughout their lives."

20 Minutes a Day

Now that school has started (Yahoo!!) I have really been encouraging my kids to read at least 20 minutes a day. Kaylee's teacher gave me a great article about the benefits our kids receive from reading 20 minutes a day. Yes, I know that this is not a story for Saturday's Story...sorry, but I hope to encourage us all to find 20 minutes to read to our kids or with our kids...so pull out some of your kid's favorite stories and READ!

Here is an excerpt from that article-20 Minutes Every Day by Phillip Chipping:

"Did you know that the single-most important thing you can do for your children is to read to them (and with them) for twenty minutes, every day? That's a bold statement, but as I've been researching the topic, I have found amazing statistics and research that convince me it is true.

Consider just a few of the benefits, especially when you start your children at an early age.

Listening skills are built; children learn to sit still and focus; comprehension and understanding of events (cause and effect relationships) is enhanced; vocabulary is increased as children discover new words; a child's ability to guess meaning of new words grows; children become more confident because they know they are cared for and loved, and because they can express their thoughts and needs; imagination and creativity are encouraged and fed; children are better-enabled to make friends and good relationships because their communication skills are increased; learning in all subjects becomes much easier because the brain is literally being wired to learn and take in new information; and family bonds are strengthened and reinforced, creating an atmosphere of love, trust and communication in the home (which you will be very grateful for when you kids are teenagers!)

If you stop to think about it, it's pretty obvious that all those things would come as a result of reading with your children every day. Wat I failed to realize, though, was the sum-total of adding all those pieces together. What is that sum-total? A child who is better-prepared for the world. A child who will excel in almost anything he chooses to do. A child who will earn more in her profession because she read more when she was young and still enjoys reading today.

If you want your child to succeed in life, both socially and economically, commit to giving your children twenty minutes of undivided attention, every day. By reading to your children every day, you empower them with the tools, skills and confidence to not only succeed in life, but to enjoy life."

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I got this recipe from The Friend Magazine this month and we have already made it twice. It is really good...probably because of the chocolate chips - they make everything better!

Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup (about 3) mashed very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I added more)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Mix the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until they are light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix them into the butter mixture. Mix in the bananas, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top. Bake 55-60 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then turn it out onto a rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Dinosaur Bubble Bath

After giving Nathan and Travis a bath today, I decided that it was time for their toys to have a much needed "bath" as well. Nathan chose some of his toys that were especially dirty...you know the type-covered in drool with a few buggers on them and who-knows what else. We put them in a plastic bin, grabbed the dish soap, wash rags, and a towel and went to work. I filled the bin up with water from the hose, poured in the soap and Nathan and Izy gave the dinosaurs and other toys a bubble bath. They had a great time scrubbing the toys and playing in the bubbly water.

Then we laid them out to dry. All nice and shiny and drool free...yippee! 

Your True Love Said To You...

Disclaimer: Sorry, this is a little cheesy today!
Eric and I recently celebrated our 11th anniversary so for today's Wednesday's Words I want to share what I gave him...a little poem with something inexpensive that he likes to go along with the poem. For 11 days (for 11 years) before our anniversary I left him a message with a small gift. Eric was gone to a Scout Camp for the first part of the 11 days so I sent him a wrapped gift to open each day that he was gone. Each message started with "On the 11th (or whatever day it is) day before our anniversary your true love said to you...":

11 -(Lucky Charms)

“You tell me that I am the

“Luckiest” woman you have found…

I am only “Lucky”

Because I have you around”

10-(ball)

“Whenever I am with you

I always have a “ball”.

I miss you a lot,

Please be sure to call!”

9-(Riesen Chocolate Chews and a bag of nuts)

"There are many “Riesens” that I

love you, too many to write.

I am “nuts” about you,

I will sure miss you tonight!”

8-(Swedish Fish)

 “Of all the “Fish” in the sea,

I am so glad that you chose me!”

I will “sea” you tomorrow!

7-(Snickers Bar)

 “Your sence of humor

Is one of a kind.

When you make me “Snicker”

I really don’t mind”

6-(Mints)

 “We were “mint” to be together

From now until forever!”

5-(Puddin' Cups)

"I am not an easy woman to live with…

Yes, it’s true.

Thanks for “Puddin” up with me…

Even when I’m a shrue.”

4-(A&W Root Beer)

“I am “Soda”lighted

To have you for my man.

You are AWsome,

I’m your #1 fan!”

3-(Nerds & Pay Day Bar)

“I’m glad that you’re a computer “nerd”…

Is that ok to say?

Because you provide for our family

when its your “Pay Day”

2-(Rocky Road Bar & Deodorant)

“When life gets a little “rocky”

We don’t know where our “road” goes,

I know when things get “stinky”

With you, I can get through any lows.”

Day Before-(Sugar Daddy & Sugar Babies)

“You are a wonderful “Daddy”…

No ifs ands or maybes.

You are a great Father

To our 4 “Babies”

Day Of-(Ice Cream)

“11 years of being together…

“Ice Scream” in delight!!!

Let’s ___________

_____(fill in with a date) all right?”

Be My Best Me

Last night, Eric and I presented our new family motto to the kids. I have heard of a lot of families doing this and setting goals together to help them achieve their motto throughout the year. We decided to also give it a try.
Our motto is:

Be My Best Me

After my post about "My Own Kind of Best Mom" I started thinking that I want my kids to have that same attitude. I want them to be their best selves and not compare themselves to others. I have noticed that Kaylee especially has started to compare herself to her friends in how she looks, how she dresses, how well she reads, and how she plays soccer. I know that this will only get worse as she gets older so I hope that the kids will internalize this motto to know that everyone is good at different things.

I wrote the motto on a piece of paper for each kid with a stick figure of them. Off to the side of the stick figure, each child came up with a goal for their minds, hands, hearts, and legs and we wrote it down. Some of Aaron's goals were to learn something new every day, improve his handwriting, think of others before himself, and exercise so that his body can be strong. We will hang the paper in their rooms to remind them to "Be My Best Me". I hope it works!

Yeah for School; Nay for Shopping!

Yeah, first day of school!!! I got the kids off to school this morning with smiles on their faces and an even bigger smile on my face. Why the smile? Because this morning I thought that now I would finally have freedom...freedom to go grocery shopping without kids bugging me to buy them something and then crying when I say no; freedom to go grocery shopping without kids playing tag throughout the isles; freedom to go grocery shopping without kids climbing on top of and hanging out the side of the carts with the car in front.. stupid me...what was I thinking?

So after saying goodbye to Kaylee and Aaron, I ventured off to the grocery store with Nathan and Travis. 2 kids; no big deal...not when one of them is a "tornado"! His feet touched ground in the store and he was off...running through the store, opening packages, crying for his "lost daddy" who is only at work, and screaming that I am hurting him because I insisted on holding his hand after he ran off...4 times. I am sorry to all of the Rite Aid customers today who heard a little boy screaming throughout the store. Thank you kind man who directed me to my lost little tornado. Sorry to the employees who had a 2 year old barge in on them in their break room...up the stairs that I couldn't go with a baby so I just yelled up the stairs.

Oh man, my day is gone with no freedom had.  Kaylee and Aaron will be off the bus any minute...dang those early out days!

Dear Wonderful Children who turn into Monsters at the Grocery Store:
You are no longer invited to the store with Mom! I am done taking you! I am sorry if we are out of milk, bread, apples, cereal, or anything else that you need...it will have to wait until I can go shopping ALONE!

Love,
Your Mom who turns into a Monster when you come shopping with me

11 Years Ago

This week, Eric and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.  11 years ago I married my best friend, not knowing that we would have four beautiful children together, not knowing the trials that we would have to go through together, not knowing where our future would take us...but I did know that whatever came, I wanted to do it with Eric.  I did know that I loved him and I love him even more today! 

The Family: A Proclamation to the World says "We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

Richard G. Scott - "Love as defined by the Lord, elevates, protects, respects, and enriches another. It motivates one to make sacrifices for another"

President Thomas S. Monson - Love is the catalyst that causes change. Love is the balm that brings healing to the soul. Where love is, there is no disputation. Where love is, there is no contention. Where love is, there God will be also...True love is a reflection of Christ's love."

Eric, here's to the next years together. No matter what our road my bring, I am excited to walk down it hand in hand!

The Witch and the Duck Bunny

A while ago I posted Aaron's story "The Volcano". For today's Saturday's Story, I want to share Kaylee's story that she wrote and illustrated in 1st Grade..."The Witch and the Duck Bunny". I sure hope that their teachers encourage them to write this year because I sure love reading what they come up with! So without further delay, I now present:

The Witch and the Duck Bunny

by Kaylee

Once there was a duck who lived in a pond.

Then there was a witch. She had lots of problems with her wand.

The witch saw the duck. She was very happy because she wanted to try a spell on the duck.

The witch waved her wand and she said "Hocus-Pocus" and then the duck...

had a big, round, fluffy tail! The duck screamed "HELP, HELP, HELP!!!"

And the witch said "HA, HA, HA!!!"

Then the witch waved her wand again and the duck had big, floppy...

ears! The duck did not like it.

The duck grabbed a pail and filled it up with water from her pond.

Then the duck poured the water on the witch.

The witch vanished!

But the duck was still a duck-bunny.

Then the duck-bunny poured water on herself and the duck-bunny was a duck again!!!!!

The End

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I made these for a backyard BBQ with some friends and they were YUMMY! There are a lot of ingredients, but most of them I already had in my pantry and all of them combined make for some very flavorful BBQ chicken!

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches:

• 4 lbs chicken breasts**
• 12 rolls
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup ketchup
• 12 oz bottle of chili sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Combine sauce ingredients together in a 4 qt. slow cooker.  Add chicken and stir to coat. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Remove chicken and pull apart. Stir back into sauce. Serve over rolls/buns.

**I used chicken breasts with bone and skin, cooked it in my slow cooker in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth on low for 7-8 hours. Chicken with bone and skin comes out a lot more tender. When the chicken is falling off the bone, take it out and remove skin and bones (comes off very easily) and shred chicken. Discard the liquid in the slow cooker and combine the shredded chicken and sauce ingredients. Cook on low until warm.

I have made this recipe both ways and I like the second way better because the chicken is more tender.

Keeping "Kool" and Ready for School

The Summer is wrapping up (I just got butterflies inside...I am SO GLAD). I know that I have had enough of the summer break when Kaylee and Aaron can't stand to be around each other anymore, Nathan is screaming at them, and if I hear "I'm bored" one more time I will scream...wait, I already have. We are trying to squeeze every last activity into our last week.

Kaylee and her cousin have been trying to plan a sleepover all summer and we finally made it work.  They kept themselves busy by making a traveling Kool Aid stand.  They made signs and colored pictures to give to their customers with the purchase of a cup of Kool Aid.  Then they loaded the cups and Kool Aid into the wagon, taped the pictures on the side for decoration, and the little entrepreneurs lugged the traveling Kool Aid stand up and down the street and around the block...making $1.50. Way to go girls, you made more money than I did!

Kaylee and Aaron's school clothes also just arrived (I ordered most of them on-line because I refuse to take them shopping...more about that on a Monday's Madness post). I must say that pointing and clicking was the best way to school clothes shop! I gave the kids some options within our budget, they chose, I clicked, and the UPS man delivered. 

Today we had a little fashion show so that Kaylee and Aaron could try on their new clothes..notice that Aaron is a one-pose-model...he needs a little work in that department :)

Nathan, Izy, and I cheered them on:

I was doing cartwheels inside!

The summer has been hot, the school clothes have been bought, this week the kids have fought, I wish we had more summer time....NOT!

My Own Kind of Best Mom

I sometimes find myself comparing myself to others...I think that it is human nature. My internal dialog goes a little like this; "I wish that I could run a marathon like Cathi", "I wish that I had patience like JaNan", "I wish that I could cook like Sandi". I think that comparing yourself to others can be beneficial when you use that as motivation to work on things that you want to do better...but usually I just get discouraged with myself. As I was reading A Mother's Book of Secrets I decided that I need to be my best self and not try to be the "best" that I see in others.

"Most days I am flying by the seat of my pants, but each day that I really put my heart into it I think I come a little closer to being the mom I want to be. I want to be the best kind of mom I can be. The secret isn't to try to be the best mom I see in so many others. It's to analyze what my own strengths are, to build on them, and to apply what I know to my parenting. That way I become my own kind of "best mom." And that's what my kids need me to be."

Photogenic Four-Month Old

Usually when I have taken my kids to get their baby pictures taken, the photographer has to make a fool of herself by making funny sounds, faces, and dancing just to get a little courtesy grin...they really have to work for that smile. On the bright side, it sure makes it easy to pick which pictures to buy when there is only one or two good ones. This is the best that we could get out of Nathan:

Travis on the other hand started giggling the minute the photographer started shooting...she had it easy! She was able to take picture after picture of his huge, adorable smile. The only problem...choosing which photos to print. Here are some of my favorites of my photogenic, happy little Travis:

Nathan the Tornado

WARNING: this post STINKS!

The minute Nathan wakes up and he jumps out of bed and his feet touch the ground he turns into a little tornado. He seems to destroy everything in his path or make a mess everywhere he goes.  I feel like I am going from one natural disaster to the next...never able to keep up because while I am cleaning up one mess, The Tornado is touching ground in another room. He is just SO full of energy!

The other day, the worst "natural" disaster of all struck our home...more specifically, Nathan's room:
(can't say I didn't warn you)

This picture does not do it justice...(and yes, I am getting a little obsessed with this blog to actually pause in the middle of this catastrophic mess to take a picture)...The Tornado decided that he did not want to wear his poopy diaper and proceeded to take it off, smear it on the floor, step in it and walk around his room, use the carpet as a wet wipe, and then go and play with his blocks.  I opened the door and the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. I just stood there in shock, not knowing where to start, or how to clean it up...a BIG thanks to my Sister-In-Law for bring her carpet shampooer over and cleaning his carpet!!!

I took a picture as proof, and possibly for blackmail purposes, grabbed Nathan, shut the door, and hosed him off in the shower. As I was scrubbing and sanitizing him, he asked me "What monsters eat?" to which I replied "Little boys who take their diapers off and smear poop all over." He got a thoughtful look on his face and didn't say another word. I know this was a bit harsh; it was one of those maddening parental moments.

Does anyone have any tips for taming a tornado?

Oh, by the way, this is my 100th post...sorry it is so "crappy"!

Temples and Homes

A few days ago I was finally able to leave Travis (thanks Elayna) for a couple of hours and go to the temple...my other kids were at Grandma's (thanks Mom).  It has been over four months since I have able to get away from the chaos of life and go to the temple.  As soon as I walked in, I was overwhelmed with the peace, beauty, and cleanliness of the sacred temple.  It was so refreshing to be back! I really missed those spiritual feelings...and then I remembered this from the Bible Dictionary:

"Temple. A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness."

Did you catch that last part...only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness. It really made me stop and wonder...is my home a sacred place, a holy sanctuary, a place where those who enter feel peace, beauty, and refreshed? I know that at times it has been, but usually I am so caught up in the everyday craziness of life that I forget that my home can be a sacred, special place like the temple. It is time to get my priorities together and try to create that atmosphere in my home more often!

The Undaunted

Today I finished a novel that I was reading for myself...not to my children, not a parenting book...a novel that I actually picked for myself. That hasn't happened in a LONG time! I am hoping that once Kaylee and Aaron go back to school I will have more time to read.  I have a long list of books that I would like to read...all in good time I guess. I do love reading with my kids, but I can only take so much of Junie B. Jones!

I read The Undaunted by Gerald N. Lund. It took me a couple of months to read, granted it is 800 pages, but it was a pretty slow read for me. Gerald N. Lund is also the author of The Work and The Glory series which I LOVED so my expectations were pretty high and the Undaunted just did not compare...it was still good, but not great.

The Undaunted is a historical fiction novel about the miracle of the Hole-In-The-Rock Pioneers. In 1879 a stalwart group of Mormon pioneers were called to create a settlement that would serve as a buffer between the established communities of Utah and the lawless frontier of the Four Corners area. Their challenges were enormous as they created their own road by blasting out a trail over slick rock and through impassable cliffs.


David Miller, a professor of history at the University of Utah, wrote this about these pioneers:
"In all the annals of the West, replete with examples of courage, tenacity and ingenuity, there is no better example of the indomitable pioneer spirit than that of the Hole-in-the-Rock expedition of the San Juan Mission.  No pioneer company ever built a wagon road through wilder, rougher, more inhospitable country, still one of the least-known regions in America.  None ever demonstrated more courage, faith, and devotion to a cause than this group...who cut a wagon passage through two hundred miles of this country...Today their feat seems well-nigh impossible.  Yet they proved that virtually nothing was impossible for a zealous band of pioneers."


If you like to read LDS historical fiction, The Undaunted is good but a little too long and drawn out in my opinion.


Now, on to the next book...what shall it be???  Any suggestions?

When Life Gives You Lemons Make...

When life gives you lemons, make something delicious!  These are two lemon recipes that I have recently tried and my family loved them.


Creamy Lemon-Lime Jello
recipe from Sweet Basil
1 large box lime jell-o
1 large box lemon pudding, cook style
(You can also make this with 1 small box of the jell-o and pudding for a smaller serving)

Make the jell-o using the speed set method.  Cook the pudding according to its directions - omitting the eggs.  Pour the pudding into the jell-o and mix.  Pour into a 9x13 pan and let set for about 5 hours.
Delicious, Creamy, and a little Tart...Yum!
Enjoy!

Lemon Bars
recipe from The Essential Mormon Cookbook

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 4 beaten eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Sift together the 2 cups flour and powdered sugar. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until mixture clings together.  Press into an 11x7 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Beat together eggs, sugar, and lemon juice.  Add the 1/4 cup flour and baking powder. Pour over baked crust. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes longer. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar. Cool. Cut into bars.

Enjoy!