Custody Battle

"Hear ye, hear he. This court is now in session. All arise for the

Honorable Judge Dad."

It all began with yet another fight between Kaylee and Aaron...a custody battle for a stuffed dog. Kaylee thought that "Cookie" was hers because she had won him at the fair. Aaron thought that "Spike" was half his because he didn't win anything at the fair. As the kids were fighting and I was getting ready to just throw the stupid dog away, Eric came up with a brilliant idea. He held a court in which each child got to present his/her case to judge Dad. Each child got to say what he or she wanted without any interruptions. Judge Dad listened, the jury (Eric and I) deliberated and we came to a nice compromise. Kaylee and Aaron will have joint custody of "Spiky Cookie". They will each get to keep him in their rooms for 2 months at a time. If there are any more custody battles, Mom gets to take out her sewing shears and cut "Spiky Cookie" in half. (I am secretly hoping that it will come to this...I think that it would prove a great point, and be fun to watch their faces as I cut the dog in half...I'm bad, I know.)

This was a great way to come to a peaceful resolution and taught the kids how to debate instead of fighting. Thanks Judge Dad!

Act for Themselves

"Children need to learn responsibility and independence. Are the parents personally taking the time to show and demonstrate and explain so that children can, as Lehi taught, 'act for themselves and not...be acted upon'?" - President James E. Faust

2 Nephi 2:26- And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

This is a picture of:

 A. Nathan acting for himself after he was asked to put his underwear on.

B. Nathan copying his dad after he demonstrated how to put on underwear.

C. The latest and greatest new line of hats.

D. Nathan being acted upon by his older brother.

You decide

The Parenting Breakthrough

I just got done reading a GREAT parenting book about teaching our kids to be independent. The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Browne Boyack is a real-life plan to teach our kids to work, save money, and be truly independent. What I learned is that as we teach our kids skills, we as parents need to have the end goal in mind - our kids becoming independent adults. It is so important for them to not only learn how to do household chores, but also budgeting, car maintenance, yard work, shopping, problem solving, and everything else before they are on their own. This book gives you tips and a plan to put this into action. It has already helped me in my parenting as I have encouraged my kids to do things that I would usually do for them. Doing so has also helped my kids develop more self confidence in their abilities. I am glad that I can now be a little better as I try to be the best parent that I can.

"As a parent, you'll never be perfect, but you'll always be the only mother or father your child will ever want. Take that as a vote of confidence and do your best, because your best is always and forever going to be good enough." - John Rosemond

Garlic Chicken and Broccoli

This is a new favorite thanks to Julia over at Live, Laugh, Love. It is healthy, tasty, and very easy:

Garlic Chicken and Broccoli

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 to 4 Tbsp minced garlic (to taste)
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups rice
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• a bunch, head, stalk (whatever you call it) of broccoli, chopped

Heat oil in a big skillet. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. When chicken is done, add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add water, rice and bouillon. Stir. Put broccoli pieces on top of everything. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Hi Ho! Chocolate-Chippy-O

Do you have a Hi Ho! Cherry-O game? If not...go get one. If you do have one, you are probably missing half of the cherries like us...right? Here's the solution: throw out the nasty cherries and liven it up a bit with some chocolate chips, M&M's, or Cheerios, or whatever little foods that your kids like. Then play Hi Ho! Chocolate-Chippy-O, Hi Ho! Cheeri-O, or my personal favorite, Hi Ho! M&Mey-O. Pull this out at snack time and your kids will think that you are the greatest! Who wouldn't want chocolate chips growing on a tree? Play the game, work on counting, and then eat the harvest.

Best Source of Self-Esteem

Yesterday I wrote about the "secret ingredients" needed to produce confident and happy children. Here is where I got my inspiration to have Kaylee take over the morning muffin making:

"If you are so determined, you can indeed keep a child happy for eighteen years. In the process, you will surely destroy the child's self-esteem. Why? Because self-esteem is reflected in the child's belief that 'I can do it myself!' Self-sufficiency is the yardstick of self-esteem. The road to self-sufficiency is paved with frustration, disappointment, failure, falling flat on one's face, and other equally 'unhappy' experiences. We cannot afford to deny children these things." - John Rosemond (Daily Guide to Parenting, Nov. 27).
"Children perceive adult functions as important and worthwhile. They know that those grown-up activities are of value. And they find such activities very attractive because they want to be mature grown-ups as well. The best source of true self-esteem will come from your child being able to competently perform adult, independent functions." - Merrilee Boyack (The Parenting Breakthrough)

Special Ingredients

I am not a mom who makes a hot breakfast every morning. My kind of breakfast is to pour a bowl of cereal and peel a banana. Warming up a bowl of instant oatmeal is pushing it. Sometimes I will make a "special breakfast" when I break out the griddle, but this is very seldom in our house .This works for my family....all except for Kaylee. She hates cereal. She is the type who wants a hot breakfast every morning...pancakes, eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls...anything that takes time, a pan, and more than two ingredients she will eat. Needless to say, she usually goes hungry.

The other day, the typical breakfast battle ensued. Kaylee wanted muffins and I didn't have time to make them (ok, I'll be honest...I didn't want to make them). Kaylee asked if she could make them instead. Usually I would have said no, but thanks to a great book that I have been reading - The Parenting Breakthrough (more on this in another post) - I relented and let Kaylee make her muffins.

She amazed me. She has been helping me in the kitchen for years, but she has never cooked something on her own. She followed the recipe and did a fabulous job. She was so proud of her muffins and her accomplishment. It also sparked a fire for cooking in her. She has been in the kitchen helping me with every dinner. She even prepared a family home evening lesson on following a recipe. Those were some of the best muffins that I have ever had because there was a new, special ingredient added to them...self confidence. I realized that if I want to raise independent and confident kids I better start giving them some freedom to be independent! Try adding some independence and confidence into your recipes and you may be pleasantly surprised with the result.

Now on to teaching Kaylee and Aaron how to make omelets, waffles, and french toast so that I never have to make breakfast again :) I will just sleep in and they will bring me a scrumptious breakfast in bed, clean up the mess, and get themselves off to school. Hay, a mom can dream can't she?

Tis The Season

"Tis the season to be jolly sick...

sneeze sneeze sneeze sneeze, cough cough cough cough, sneeze."

Travis and I had a not so fun-filled day yesterday at Insta-Care. He has been coughing and congested and his breathing sounded wheezy and he woke up with a fever to boot. I was scared that the doctor was going to tell me that he had the dreaded RSV and send us to the over-crowded hospital. Thankfully Travis wasn't sick enough to go to the hospital, but he does have a pretty bad cold that could progress into RSV plus an ear infection. The poor guy is miserable! 

I did learn some tips to keep his congestion to a minimum and hopefully prevent it from progressing into a serious case of RSV. All you moms out there probably already know these...and I should have too by my fourth kid...but I didn't. If your child is congested and wheezy, it could be RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) which causes respiratory infections in children under age two. It can also develop into bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Here are some tips to help your child's congestion/runny nose:

• Loosen things up; then suck it out. Gross I know, and they HATE it! This is a two-man job. One person needs to hold the baby's arms and head while the other person does the suctioning. Put saline solution nose drops in each nostril. You will know that you have put in enough when your hear your child make a gurgling sound (that means that the drops have reached the baby's throat). Now for the gross part. Have lots of tissues handy to catch all of the boogers. Using a suction bulb (the blue thing that comes home with your baby after he is born that is now sitting in the changing table...unused), push all the air out before putting it in the nostril. Then put it in, plug the other nostril and let the air back in the bulb - bringing lots of snot with it. Empty out the snot into the tissues and repeat until the boogers are gone.
• Use a cool-mist humidifier if you live in a dry climate to make the air around your baby more humid while he is sleeping. (Hot water vaporizers can increase swelling in the airways...whoops, we have been using these for years.)
• Elevate your baby's mattress to help him breathe better. I just put some pillows under the mattress to prop him up. For one, the pillows stay put; and more importantly, the baby won't suffocate under pillows and blankets.

Does anyone have more helpful tips? I need all the help I can get because I have been oblivious when it comes to colds for the last 9 years of motherhood.

Put It To The Test

I love The Book of Mormon. I know that it is true and inspired scripture. How do I know? The prophets have promised us many blessings if we read this book and I have received some of those blessings in my own life and as a family as we read.

Moroni 10:29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.

President Marion G. Romney said if we prayerfully and regularly read the Book of Mormon in our homes and with our children, “the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. … Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives.”

President Hinckley also promised that if we read the Book of Mormon "there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."

 Put these promises to the test...what do you have to lose? There is so much to gain by reading this great book...reverence, respect and consideration, less contention, faith, hope, charity, love, obedience, and a knowledge of God. I know that if you will sincerely read the Book of Mormon it will change your life for the better as God shows you that it is true!

If you don't have a Book of Mormon...no excuse. Go here and request a free copy!

Flipping Through My Life

For those of you who have been reading this blog (thank you by the way), you probably have gathered that I am a freak about journaling. I just celebrated another birthday and to carry on the tradition I want to post some stories out of my childhood journal...yes, my obsession started young and my spelling was terrible even back then. These are some funny stories that I read as I was flipping through my life. I am so glad that I wrote things down because I would have forgotten them.

7 years old - "Big cabin trip! Our 30th year! Dad, Mom, John, and me were the first ones to arrive. John and Dad went fishing while me and Mom put signs and decorations up all around the cabin. When we got through, Grandma and Grandpa got there. The big inner tube we used to go tubing in had a big hole in it. Grandma and Grandpa brought there VCR and TV so we could see movies. By that night everone had arrived at the cabin. During the week that we were there we went swimming, played games, watched movies, did activities, and rode the 3-wheelers. Grandpa fixed the tube and Rachel and I and Karen and Dad went tubing down the creek. Dad fell in a few times and even lost the pole to steer with. Later in the week Scott came and took me and Rachel on a helicopter ride in Jackson. We had a lot of fun. Rachel and I giggled our heads off. Sometimes the helicopter dived down."

12 years old - "It's the 6th grade Valentine's dance - my first dance! I wore one of my dresses that I got for my birthday. But wouldn't you know my hair didn't go! It looked pretty bad! It lasted for about one hour (the dance, not the bad hair day...that has lasted my whole life) and it wasn't how I planned it to be. Most of the dances were slow - which I hate. And some of the boys wouldn't even dance. We had to fill out dance cards. I had to ask some boys to dance - Yuk! My favorite dance was with Bobby. But he was shorter than me!"

 (Now you see what I mean about the bad hair day...what was I thinking? Gotta love the perms!)

16 years old - "SWEET 16! I can't believe I'm 16! This is so wierd! I don't feel like I should be this old. I got my license today - STAY OFF THE ROADS! I look like a freak - but that's ok, I can drive! (Now all I need is a car to go with it). I had to go through a semester of totally worthless Drivers Ed - That reminds me - one day John asked me why they call Drivers Ed - Drivers Ed and not Drivers Joe. It was so funny! Anyway...after dirvers ed, I had to do the stupid simulators (they are like trying to drive a washing machine) then go on the range and then go on the road - I got 87% on my drivers test that I took yesterday. I also had a practice permit for 3 months where I could only drive with mom of dad. But it was all worth it because I'm Free!
For my present, my cousins and our moms and grandma are going to San Francisco to see Phantom of the Opera. I can't wait! My mom had our neighbor dress up as the Phantom and read us a poem and gave us roses. It was so neat! So I will keep you posted on that.
I'm still waiting for a date so I will tell you everything when I do (if I ever do). I hope it is Spencer...the nicest guy I have ever met! Keep your fingers crossed! I can't believe I'm actually 16!"

19 years old - "Finals are here - Stress! They went ok though. Timmie and I were studying in the upper lounge and Tara, Erica, and Cassy came up (this was at 2:00 in the morning) and started dancing on the furniture. They had their hair in pigtails, bright blue eye shadow, blush, leg warmers, stretch pants and their shirts tucked into their bras. It was hilarious! We were laughing so hard that our RA came in. She probably thinks that we are the strangest girls alive!"

"A week before a dance we got "Q-ed" or quarenteened when we can't have guys over for a whole week - talk about torture! We made the most of it though. We made a huge poster on our door with a huge Q on it then T's in the middle - so it said that we are Q-T's (cuties) instead of Q'ed. Now we have it hanging up in our living room and we have all the guys that come over sign it.

Wow, college is an adventure! I love it. I am having the time of my life. College life is great! We are the biggest dorks, but that's ok because we make it fun. I don't want this year to end, I don't want all of the friends that I have made go their sepperate ways. I just want things to stay like they are, but I quess life goes on!"

Life does go on, and I even got to keep one of those college friends forever; my best friend, Eric.

Cheesy Potato Soup

I am so sick of the cold! I want to go outside and feel the sunshine. This recipe will make those cold nights a little more bearable and warm. It is super easy and delicious. My friend, Jill, made this and I had to have the recipe...so here it is:

Cheesy Potato Soup

• 6 cups water
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1/4 onion chopped fine
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• sprinkle of garlic salt
• 8 cooked potatoes peeled and cubed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2-4 cups grated cheddar cheese

Bring water, bouillon, onion, parsley, and garlic salt to a boil. Add the potatoes. Mix the butter and flour together separately then add to soup before it starts to boil again. Stir. When the soup starts to thicken take off heat and add the cheese. If you want it a little thinner add more water. When reheating soup add water.

Enjoy!

Baby Food Lid Match Game

I found a great gift idea, game, and learning activity that recycles baby food lids as well. Thanks to Oopsey Daisy, I was able to make this baby food lid match game:

Here's what you need:

• 24 clean baby food jar lids
• print this free download using a laser printer or the mod-podge will make the colors bleed (I just printed it out and then got a color copy at the copy store)
• paper to cover the tops
• mod-podge
• a container to hold the game

Simply cut out the cute animal pictures and mod-podge them into the inside of the lids. Cut the paper the size of the top on the lids and mod-podge them on....and presto, you have yourself an animal baby food lid match game.

Nathan loves to play with it...and tricky me tries to make it educational as well...he he he. I use it to teach counting, colors, animal sounds, and similarities/differences. So start saving your baby food jar lids because this would make a fun and very inexpensive gift for a 2-4 year old. Thanks Oopsey Daisy, we love our baby food lid match game!

Weaving

My life is but a weaving
between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors,
He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow,
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.

Not 'til the loom is silent
and the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
in the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
in the pattern He has planned.
He knows, He loves, He cares,
nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
who leave the choice with Him.

~Author Unknown

I love this poem. Those of you who have cross-stitched before know that when you turn your design over to the underside it is a mess of knots and strings with no design. The top is beautiful, but the bottom is a disaster. Life is like this. Most of the time we are stuck in messes and disasters that seem to have little or no purpose. God knows the plan and what we need to go through to make our lives beautiful. He sees the top side of our lives and what we can become. Stitch by stitch we are weaving a beautiful pattern even if it seems like a mess right now...we just need to trust in God.

My Little Butter Ball

There is a saying that goes something like this:

"If all our troubles were hung on a line,

you would take yours and I would take mine."

That is not entirely true. There are some troubles that I would love to take from someone else...like Travis.
At his 9 month check-up, his weight had dropped from the 30th percentile to the 2nd. The doctor was pretty concerned so he put Travis on a higher calorie diet. The "poor" kid has to have a spoonful of butter mixed in with every meal and some Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed in with one of his bottles...making his formula into a chocolate shake. Now why can't I have that problem??? I would love to hear my doctor say "Stacey, you need to gain some weight! Eat as much buttery foods as you can...oh, and have a chocolate shake every night before you go to bed." Lucky guy!

After a month of being on this high calorie diet, Travis has gained a few pounds...Yay! But the poor thing has to stay on this "diet" until he turns 1. Oh Travis, will you please hang your troubles up on a line so that I can take them from you? This is purely an unselfish desire on my part to ease the "suffering" of my little butter ball.

Madly In Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

I am madly in love with my little Valentines

And especailly my big one too!

We started our morning with a feast that was sweet.

The kids thought that the hidden messages were also quite neat!

(I wrote a note in white crayon on white paper and they found the secret message by water-coloring over the paper)

"I love my little Valentines", I just want to shout.

Even through all the madness, which I could really do without!

I am also madly in love with my sweetheart as well.

He is handsome, amazing, and down right swell!

Love

Matthew 22:36-39
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

"As we love our God, as we love our neighbor, we can be the recipients of our Heavenly Father’s love. Of all the blessings I have had in my life, one of the sweetest is that feeling the Lord provides when I know that He has answered the prayer of another person through me. As we love the Lord, as we love our neighbor, we discover that our Heavenly Father will answer the prayers of others through our ministry." - President Monson

"When I was a little boy, we children traded paper hearts at school on Valentine’s Day. At night we dropped them at the doors of our friends, stamping on the porch and then running in the dark to hide.
Almost without exception those valentines had printed on their face, “I love you.” I have since come to know that love is more than a paper heart. Love is of the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is more than the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arches across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. How rich are those who enjoy it in their associations with family, friends, church, and neighbors." - President Hinckley

Love You Forever

This is a great book to read to your kids during Valentine's Day. It is about the unconditional love of a mother and how she loved her son as he grew through the toddler messes, craziness, childhood rebellion, strange teenager stage, and adulthood. Through each stage the mother would sing:

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be."

What more can I say to that except DITTO!

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

It wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a heart-shaped sugar cookie covered in sugary goodness. Every February my Grandma has her grandkids and great-grandkids over to decorate Valentine cookies. My kids love it because she has every candy imaginable to decorate the cookies with...so they pile it on!

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg 

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and sour cream. Add other ingredients to make soft dough. Chill for at least 1 hour. Roll dough to about 1/4 inch on a floured surface and cut. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes, or until very light brown..don't over-bake. If you don't over-bake these they turn out really soft and really good!

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together.  Add the powdered sugar and mix.  If the frosting is too thick, add a little milk (1 tsp at a time) until it is thick and spreadable.  

 

Enjoy...especially the kid's sugar high that comes after eating these smothered in frosting and candy :)

Heart Attack

Lately it seems like there has been a lot of bickering, fighting, whining, yelling, complaining, and tattling going on in our house. Where's the love people? So I thought that it was a great time to remember why we love each other...and yes, that even means annoying little brothers.

We each wrote several things that we love about each person in our family on paper hearts.

Then we read them out loud and hung them on the kitchen cabinets.
It was so fun to listen to all of the cute ways that our family loves each other like:

• Kaylee, I love to give you hugs - Nathan
• Travis, I love you because you are such a great sleeper - Mom
• I love Nathan because he is cute and funny - Aaron
• I love Dad because he plays the Wii with me - Aaron
• I love Dad because he helps me when I feel bad - Kaylee
• I love Mom because she makes such good lunches and dinners - Kaylee

Now when we start having those angry feeling at each other, we can look at out cabinets-o-love and remember that our family is who we should be showing our love to the most....that's the goal anyway.
When the kids start fighting I am going to have them sit down and write a few more hearts to the person that they were fighting with. I have a feeling that our walls will be plastered with love notes. If the fighting doesn't get any better, it may just cause me to have a heart attack!

Hugs

Don't forget to give your kids a hug today and everyday!

Hugs

Its wondrous what a hug can do.

A hug can cheer you when you're blue.

A hug can say "I love you"

Or, "I hate to see you go".

A hug is "Welcome back again",

And "Great to see you, where have you been?"

A hug can sooth a small child's pain,

And bring a rainbow after rain.

A hug, there's just no doubt about it...

We scarcely could survive without it!

A hug delights and warms and charms,

It must be why God gave us arms.

Hugs are great for Fathers and Mothers,

Sweet for Sisters, swell from Brothers;

And chances are your favorite Aunts

Love them more than potted plants.

Kittens crave them, puppies love them;

Head of States are not above them.

A hug can break the language barrier,

And make travel so much marrier.

No need to fret about your store of em';

The more you give there's more of em'.

So stretch those arms without delay

And give someone a hug today!

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

I found a solution to my detergent dilemma. My neighbor showed me how to make my own powdered laundry detergent. I know, it sounds a little weird...but it works for me because I don't like to spend a lot of money on name brand detergent and the generic stuff wasn't cutting it, this makes a lot and you only use a little so it lasts a long time, I know what is in it...no fillers, and it was very cost effective!

Here is what you need:

• 12 cups Borax 
• improves cleaning power of detergent
• helps remove tough stains
• natural alternative to colorsafe bleach
• deodorizes and freshens
• naturally softens hard water
• 8 cups baking soda
• 8 cups washing soda
• gets out ground-in dirt and stains and cuts through greasy soils
• neutralizes and eliminates odors
• 4 bars of Ivory bar soap grated (I just used a cheese grater)
• 2 bars of Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap grated (found on laundry isle)
• stain remover
• Optional - Add about 20 drops of essential oil made specifically for soap to make the detergent to make it smell good.

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
Use 2 Tbsp of powder per full load....that's it!

This has been working great for me. My whites still come out a little dingy so I add 1/4 scoop of Oxyclean to those loads. I still hate laundry but this makes it a little more tolerable!

Airing My Dirty Laundry

Sorry to disappoint you, there is no juicy gossip in this post...it really is about laundry. I have been having a really hard time finding a detergent that works well (probably because I refuse to buy the expensive stuff that is gone in a month). My laundry has been turning out stiff, the stains are not coming out, and the whites are dingy. In this load of "clean" clothes my green shirt still has a spit-up stain on it and the red and white striped rag refuses to fold...it prefers to stand up because it is so stiff:

I am really lazy when it comes to laundry. I like to throw it in (sometimes I don't even sort the clothes) and have the work done for me. Then stick it in the dryer. I do not iron, I do not buy dry-clean-only items. So when they turn out dirty after all of my "effort" I get pretty frustrated because I don't want to spend "loads" of time on laundry. Oh, what to do, what to do??? I will share my solution in tomorrow's Tuesday's Triumph. What is your solution to stubborn laundry?

**One other little tid-bit about laundry...DO NOT let a pull-up go through the washer!! Nathan took it off with his pants so I didn't see it. What a mess! It literally exploded the absorbent gel bead things all over the clothes and washer. We had to shake the beads out of the clothes and into the bathtub (thanks Eric), clean out the washer, then clean out the tub, and then re-wash the clothes. Who knew that one little pull-up contained so much stuff? My question is; if there are that many absorbent beads, then why don't they absorb Nathan's pee at night? I just don't get it.

Well, now I am off to go do some more laundry. :(

The Comforter

“Whenever darkness fills our minds, we may know that we are not possessed of the Spirit of God. … When we are filled with the Spirit of God we are filled with joy, with peace, and with happiness, no matter what our circumstances may be; for it is a spirit of cheerfulness and of happiness. The Lord has given unto us the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is our privilege to have that Holy Ghost reign within us, so that from morning till night and from night till morning we shall have the joy, the light and the revelation thereof.” - George Q. Cannon

  John 15:26 - But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me

I tell my kids that the Holy Ghost feels like being wrapped up in your favorite blanket...warm and comforting...the best feeling in the world!

I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost or "The Comforter" who brings a spirit of cheerfulness and happiness into our homes and lives no matter what the circumstances may be. I just wish that I could be more sensitive to his spirit so that I could have that joy "from morning till night and from night till morning". Wouldn't that be great?

Kaylee's Journal

Kaylee celebrated her 9th birthday this week. I went back in her journal that I have been keeping for her each year and read some of the funny stories and memories. Here are some of my favorites:

January, 2002 - "You are so beautiful and perfect! You have a ton of dark brown hair, which I can't wait to put in bows. You have long fingers and chubby cheeks and long eyelashes. You are the cutest baby alive - and I am not just saying that because I am your mom. You have been so alert today and your dad and I can't hold you enough. Eric is such a proud father! As he holds you he sings the Kaylee Raylee song. We love you so much!"

August, 2003 - "Kaylee, you have quite the little personality; here are some funny things that you do:

• You love to walk around with a bucket on your head and every once in a while you will take it off and say "peek-a-boo"
• You call Aaron "Dubby" instead of Buddy
• At night instead of sleeping in your bed, you take your pillow and blanket and sleep in front of your door on the floor.
• You love to make funny faces at yourself in the mirror
• You love to talk on the phone. You will walk around the house with your toy phones (sometimes one on each ear) and jibber jabber.
• You have a favorite blanket which always has to be on the tied side up. If it is put on you wrong you say "other side" until it is right.
• Your are also very symetrical. When playing with your toys you will put them an equal distance apart and you will also put one toy in each corner of a blanket. One day I found that you had hidden some cereal all over the house. It was very easy to find because there was one piece under each piece of furniture by each leg."
• You are obsessed with Elmo. When you want to watch your Elmo show you do a little dance while singing "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo".

March, 2005 "Daddy was wiping the shower wall - so he was bending down and standing up a lot. You came in the bathroom and saw him and started singing "You put your bum in, you put your bum out, you put your bum in and you shake it all about" It was SO funny!"

August, 2005 "Daddy was talking to you and asked "How much do you love me?" You said 5. Then he asked "How much do you love Mommy?" - your answer was 3 and Aaron ranked as a 2, so Daddy thought that he was doing pretty good. Until he asked about Grandma (24) and Grandpa (25) and Jesus (25). It was so cute and at least we know how we are ranked on your love scale." 

I love looking back at these funny memories. I am so glad that I wrote them down! Happy Birthday my Kaylee Raylee!